Studio XPS 13 GPU misleading?

I ordered a Studio XPS 13 yesterday, and from reading the Dell site, understood it had a GeForce 9500m in it. But from researching these forums, I understand that it actually has a 9200m and a 9400m IGP that uses geforce boost to attain the similar performance of a 9500m.

I just sold a m1530 that had a 8600gt in it. Will the above combo at least match it? Isn't it misleading of Dell to advertise it as a true 9500m?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-8600M-GT.3986.0.html

look at the class on the right... 9500 is in the same class as a 8600, but is a successor to the 8600

and it says

Code:

NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M - 256MB 

when i config a xps studio 13 to a high config...

theres a 9400M choice if you choose a lower config

i'd say 9500~8600 (Similar), but would choose 9500

 

Thanks paper. I'm with ya there, but does the "fake 9500m" match the 8600gt? The Studio XPS 13 does not actually have a 9500m in it.......correct?

 

the studio xps 13 DOES have a 9500M in it... think the question is whether the hybrid GPU option is only a [switch between IGP and discrete for performance] or [IGP helping the discrete at high performance setting i.e. GeForce Boost]

 

Roger that paper. The reason I thought otherwise was the below conversation in the Studio XPS 13/16 thread....



Re: Dell Studio XPS 1340/1640 now available for purchase on Dell's site !!!

This question may have been answered before but searching for SLI did not return results.

Is the Dell Studio XPS 1340 able to use the 9400 and 9500m at the same time?

If so, is there any indication on the 3dMark06 score?
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Re: Dell Studio XPS 1340/1640 now available for purchase on Dell's site !!!

The 1340 is using dedicated 9200M and a 9400M IGP together in GeForce Boost to create a 9500M. Note no GS or GT.
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This is from another thread stating that the 1340 does not actually have a 9500m:


The Studio XPS 13 has this feature. It's the same as with the macbooks. So two Nvidia gpu's, one integrated and one dedicated.
A geforce 9200 and a 9400, run either or together as one and get "9500 performance".

The XPS 16 however, does not. It only has the ATI dedicated GPU.

As for how it switches, i believe its controlled via software, but i dont know if it switches on-the-fly.

Hope this helps

-Shub

 

No it doesn't have a 9500m G or GS but its called 9500m because it sits between the 9400M G and the 9500M G(s) performance-wise. So no, I don't think it's misleading.

 

I'm with ya now. Thank you. So the 9500m is a "theoretical" card. As I look on Nvidia's web site, I only see the 9500m G/GS.


So, that being said. Think the "9500m" will compare to the 8600m GT?

 

I think we'll need a review or at least some one with hands on experience to inform us of what the GPU setup is as far as the "discrete" part. We know for sure it is a 9400M "integrated". I have seen sites list the 9500M as the discrete part but as mentioned many suspect a 9500M equivalent after SLI. Waiting to see what's up myself, won't order until I know for sure how it will perform if I do wish to play a game.

 

Yes totally misleading in my opinion. You are the living proof of it.

 

what we are actually getting is integrated 9400m + dedicated 9200gs (which will look seemlessly to your system as a 9500m

on the fly it will manage performance and power requirements, and enable the 9200gs hybrid gfx boost as need.

to the end user it will be seemless, it will say 9500m is the control panel, the user will not have any idea that the 9200m is even there ... (the hybrid sli switching is on the backend of things and will be performance on demand)

so essentially in your 1340 it will show 9500m in the control panel.

on the backend driver side of things its actually a 9400m + 9200gs, that is in hybrid sli, and will delivery power and performance on demand.

i have no idea what performance to expect though, i would assume it will be like a lower end 9500gs (hence the 9500m naming scheme)

this implementation of hybrid sli is new, and is not simply just switching between integrated and dedicated

 

Phil, I'm just trying to gather information and understand. No need to be insulting, or did I take that wrong?

 

Cooljerk, You tha man! Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for the information

 

I think you took it wrong.

In my opinion consumers are being mislead. When a company advertises with "Nvidia 9500" one would expect a Nvidia 9500 GPU inside.

They even advertise with "Hybrid SLI" AND "Nvidia 9500". Which seems to hint that the 9400M and 9500 would work together.

 

Thanks Phil. I did take it wrong. Sorry for that.

I agree with you whole-heartedly.

 

i do agree it is misleading;

and i personally might use this "misleading info" of theirs to return my 1340 free of charge if i find the gpu performance isnt up what it should be.

it had better be very similar to an actual 9500 or its going back

 

That was what I was thinking about mine as well.

 

So...

the 1340 doesn't have the 9500m? Rather, a 9200m and 9400m?

The hell is all that about? Why would they advertise the 9500m?

I don't like that... not at all. Some gimmick they're trying to pull.

 

I also ordered the Studio XPS 13 because of the nVidia 9500, now when I'm hearing it has a lowly 9200gs and IGP9400 and together they make a 9500, I'm really put off by the whole thing. Mine is still in Stage 3 since 3 days ago. Expected ship date 2009-02-16... If I run Linux or XP which GPU will it use then? Cause I read the hybird-SLI is vista only.

 

If you look at the original news thing on dell's website, it says that a Geforce 9500M GE ( http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...e/en/2009/2009_01_08_rr_002?c=us&l=en&s=corp). With a little research, it can be found on Notebookcheck that it is a hybrid SLI setup of the 9400M G (integrated) and an entry level card like 9300M GS or 9200M GS ( http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html)

 

I was hoping the 9500m GE would compare to the 8600m GT that I have in my m1530. Looking on Notebookcheck, I see the 8600m GT is a midrange card and the 9500m GE is a low-mid card.

Now I'm second guessing the Studio XPS 13. I know it's not a gaming laptop, but I was hoping it could match my m1530 in running WoW. Looks like the 8600m GT is still gonna be the better card.

 

I noticed that the 9500M GE was said to have 24 stream processors. This means that 16 come from the 9400M G and 8 from the 9200M GS. Assuming that the GeForce Boost Engine is seemless then you could argue that performance should hover somewhere between a 9300M GS and a 8600M GS. I'd hazard about 2400 3Dmarks06. I wonder how constraining the 9200M GS's 64-bit bus width limits performance? Also, I'd like to see them use a 9300M GS in GeForce Boost just because that would add 8 more stream processors into the mix.

 

Ok look guys.
It doesn't matter how seamless Hybrid SLI and GeForce Boost work, there is no way it will deliver 9500M GS speeds. Not even normal SLI can double performance.

A 9500M will be nowhere near a true 9500M GS or GT.

 

Here is the spin directly from Nvidia ....
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9500m_g_us.html

 

Well... looking at that product page on nVidia's site... I'm still not sure, but... it looks like nVidia decided that "9500M" is a combination of chips that can be run in SLI. If that's the case, then I'd say it's not Dell being misleading... ultimately it's up to nVidia alone to decide what "9500M" means.

Now if the performance is better than the 9400 series but a little worse than say the 9500M GS... then I'd say nVidia is being reasonable in their naming, since customers will in that case be getting the level of performance they were expecting. So I'd personally say that's fair and just enjoy the extra battery life you'll be getting when you're not gaming (vs. a single-chip design). But if it isn't really in that league in terms of performance... then maybe nVidia is being misleading.

 

Nvidia could perhaps justify naming a card 9500m GE if it does fall between the 9400m and 9500m GS in power (though if Hybrid SLi is indeed a Vista-only technology, they need to come clean about that - some of us perfer to use XP, or even Linux/BSD).

Dell however are (imo) misleading customers by being vague in their description on their page. They simply mention '9500m', taking advantage of people's ignorance/lack of knowledge about the existance of the 9500m GE, and knowing well that people will assume it's the die-shrunk 8600m known as the 9500 GS. While Dell aren't technically lying, I call shenanigans to anyone who tries to claim they aren't being vague on purpose.

 

Too bad it's not actually the 9500M G. Dell did link that though. If it was a 9500M G with a 9400 that would be kinda nice (9500M G can do Geforce Boost as well if I remember correctly).

 

But we don't know for sure. Wait for the reviews to show up!

 

I believe buying equipment until it has been on the market for at least 4-6 months is a mistake. In those first few months is when reviews pop up and most issues are realized, brought to the publics attention and rectified by that time.

 

unless you are an Apple fan.... in that case, u'll probably get screwed by the first revision

but still, if you need a laptop and the studio xps suits you, go get it.... dont think there are cheaper 13.3" alternatives in such a price range and graphical power...

 

Well according to their news release when the studio xps laptops came out, in combination with notebookcheck.com, it's very likely that the "it's a 9400 with a 9300/9200" opinion is correct.

 

no, the 9500m being a GeForce 9400M G + 9200M GS is fact

check out page 52 of the dell studio xps 1340 service manual for proof

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/sxl13/en/sg/sg_en.pdf

i'm just concerned about what kind of performance this will actually have

 

It tickles me immensely that this is a bona-fide technical term.

 

More good information from page 26 of the referenced DELL manual:

Video information

• 
  Discrete
• Video type integrated on system board
• Video controller GeForce 9500M
• (GeForce 9400M G + GeForce 9200M GS)
• Video memory 256 MB dedicated memory
  UMA
• Video type integrated on system board
• video controller GeForce 9400M G
• video memory based on system memory
• LCD interface LVDS
• Display support VGA, HDMI, and DisplayPort

 

I've tried to do some research on the "9500m GE", but information about it is pretty much non-existent. Is this the first laptop implementation of this "virtual GPU" ?

 

To clarify. The Studio XPS 13 does not contain a 9500M G, GS, GE or G-Any other letter. It is simply a 9400M G and 9200M GS running together labelled as a 9500M. I assume they label it a 9500M as it's better than a 9400 but not as good as the 9600.

Where it falls in the 9500M Series performanace-wise is up for debate, and until we get some solid benchmarks you can't really make any comparisons.

 

Speaking of the Studio XPS 13, any word on what GPU the Dell Adamo is going to be using? Will it use the same hybrid graphics (GeForce 9400M G + GeForce 9200M GS)?

The Dell Adamo was shown at CES, but the specifications were not revealed for some reason.

 

Actually, the combination of the two video cards SLI'd is considered a "9500m GE". At least that's what Nvidia told me.....

 

funny.. i wonder why Dell linked to nVidia's 9500m G page when describing the 9500m GE for the XPS 13 here under news:

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...ce/en/2009/2009_01_08_rr_002?c=us&l=en&s=corp

when they are clearly not the same. i'd agree it's pretty misleading on both Dell's part.

 

Yep, it was called the "9500M-GE" when I ordered on Dell's NZ site.

 

I think, to be clear to the OP, there is no way that the graphic power in the studio xps 13 will rival that of your old 8600GT DDR3. That's just the factual truth. It MIGHT come close, but no it will not be the same and you shouldn't expect it to be teh same anyway because it's aiming for higher battery life

 

Sorry, my bad. I think you're right.

 

I thought I linked to the thing that specifically said that it was a GE a couple pages back. Oh wait, I did. http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...s&l=en&s=corp

 

it doesn't look like it'll even do that as it seems to barely achieve par with the DDR2 version of that card.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-GE-Hybrid-SLI.14029.0.html

 

Achieve par with the DDR2 8600M GT? Yeah right. I doubt it will be much better than a 9400M.

 

but... but... it's a 9500M GE!!

 

nVidia's naming scheme is crap.

That is all.

 

I think it'll perform better than a 9400m in SLi profiled games..

In games where nVidia haven't configure SLi you won't get any gains I don't think..

Anybody with the laptop care to benchmark?

 

i know. i was just slavishly toeing the company line as far as Dell's claims to its performance.