The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Nvidia 8600M GT vs. 8400M G

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by twbocci, Sep 4, 2008.

  1. twbocci

    twbocci Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I am going to order an XPS 1530 and do not intend to do any gaming although the upgrade on the system I have configured would be only $44 more for the 8600. Would this help much with graphics on movies or anything that may be useful to me?
    Thanks
     
    twbocci, Sep 4, 2008
    #1
  2. evan5000

    evan5000 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    What's the memory difference? Personally, for $44 bucks it's worth. Even if you don't do any gaming, if your dealing with pictures it will help you render, movies should play smoother, and most importantly, it will help you run Vista Aero (I'm assuming you'll be getting a machine with Vista.) My two cents says get the upgrade
     
    evan5000, Sep 4, 2008
    #2
  3. Jstn7477

    Jstn7477 Sam I Am

    Reputations:
    213
    Messages:
    780
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Get the 8600. The performance ratio for games is basically 4:1 if you're comparing the 8600M GT vs. the 8400M GS.

    -J.B.
     
    Jstn7477, Sep 4, 2008
    #3
  4. eddyj

    eddyj Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Consider heat and battery usage as well. I don't how much more heat the 8600 produces or how much it wears down the battery. It could be minuscule or it could be immense. If he doesn't intend to game on the machine, it seems silly to spend $44 more for something that will only have negative effects (however small or great) on his planned usage.

    As I said, I don't know how much more heat/power the 8600 involves, but unless its somehow less than the 8400, go for that instead. HD movies don't play any smoother on my T9300 8600M than they do on my friend's T8300 8400M. Aero is already butter smooth on both machines. I don't know what rendering pictures means but his machine handles photoshop and lightroom just fine. A week with his machine is what convinced me to buy the XPS M1530 to begin with.
     
    eddyj, Sep 4, 2008
    #4