Nvidia Go7700 vs Nvidia 8400M

Alright, gotta have some expert advice on this one.

Basically I'm looking to buy the A8SC laptop when it launches, but I am perturbed by the difference in graphics card quality.

Nvidia Go770 - 256 dedicated VRAM

vs

Nvidia 8400M - 128 dedicated VRAM

I don't get it, if the 8400M is a newer version, why is it that it only has 128 dedicated VRAM? Overall is it more powerful than the 7700?

 

the 8400m is the new version of the 7400go, not the 7600go/7700go. the 8400m seems to perform somewhere in between the 7400go and 7600go, but not better than the 7600go.

 

Oic thanks for the help!

 

If the main purpose of this laptop is gaming, then the 7700Go is what you should get. The 8400M is much less powerful, and it's got a 64 bit bus. The 7700Go comes out over the 8600GS, in synthetic benchmarks, so the only notional advantage that you'd have with the 8400 is DX10 compatibility, which isn't much considering that it isn't powerful enough to play any DX10 games anyway. The 7700 on the other hand is a proven card, and should be good enough to game on for about a year or so.

 

The first digit "8" is the generation, 8 is DirectX10, 7 is still DirectX9c.
Second digit "4" indicates its performance grade, so 8400 is 8th generation with grade 4.

 

Well it is indeed intended for gaming, but I am torn between having to go for a Santa Rosa laptop (A8SC) and having better graphics (A8JS)

And I am intending to use this laptop for at least 4 years, so I also have to think about the future as well....

It might be a bit off-topic to post this question in an Asus thread, but is there any other laptop with better design but similar specs to the A8 series?

 

Yes, the F8 is coming in August. It's meant to replace the A8, but offers a better chassis so it doesn't scratch when you touch it, like the old A8 series did.

Why don't you consider an Asus G1S? It's a Santa Rosa computer with the most powerful video card available on a 15.4" laptop, the 8600M GT? The 8600M GT easily comes close to matching the power of the Geforce Go 7900GS of the previous generation.

 

Asus G1s.. definitely an issue for me because of budget constraints. And I find the 15.4'' screen a tad bit too big because I would also like to maintain an element of portability.

Yes, I am buying a laptop for gaming purposes, but I am not extremely particular about running the games at max graphic settings. As long as the rendering is smooth at medium settings, I am a satisfied person.

That's why I'm wondering if the 8400M can deliver that medium range of performance. I do not have a chance to test out the platform yet....

 

Since your on a budget it might not be a bad idea to check out the 8400M, which if im not mistaken has a GT version which is actually based on the core of the 8600M. It most likely can deliver that medium range of performance at a budget that your looking for.

 

I just got a A8JS with Go7700, but I would like to know whether DX10 games can be played on it? I read that DX10 games can be played on it but some features are not enabled. What does that mean?

Also, I've got DX version 10 installed on my Vista platform... I don't get it.. Shouldn't it be DX version 9+ ?