Quadro FX 3600M in Precision 6300 - Gaming?

Does anyone know how the Quadro FX 3600M performs for gaming? I'd be interested in 3Dmark06 results.

Basically, I don't want a XPS 1730 (or similar) - too big and heavy. Not a huge fan of the 6300 either, but I am curious nonetheless.

So yeah, does anyone know how the video card stacks up? Say compared to 8800GTX (I'm fairly sure it's better than 8600/8700).

Thanks
PS. Does that card in the Precision 6300 have DDR3? I assume so, but double checking.

 

The FX3600M is the workstation version of the 8800M GTX.

 

I understand that but I'm looking for something more specific - namely a 3Dmark06 result.

 

Given the proper drivers I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be pushing the same 3DMark06 range... something in the 7k to 8k area I think?

 

Anywhere from 8-11K depending on Proc.

 

Thanks - processor will be T9500 or X9000 depending on what I can afford.

hkman - do you have specs for the systems that achieved 9k or greater? I just want to see some hard evidence so I can gauge how my system will go. I don't mind where the info is sourced from.

Also to everyone else - is there somewhere where I'd go to find a gaming driver for the 3600M in particular? Or a modded INF for an existing GeForce driver (what version)?

Any help appreciated

 

To be honest with you, don't get the T9500 at all! The T9300 is negligibly slower and costs much lesser. Either get the T9300 or the X9000.... the X9000 is however worth it only if you plan to overclock it, where it's real high value comes in.... But the T9300 is the ideal processor otherwise.

 

Prasad007@There are new processors coming up, this time the new Penryn Montivena T9600 (2.8GHz) and T9400 (2.55GHz) all armed with an FSB of 1066MHz unlike T9500 and T9300 at just 800Mhz... At last the bottleneck is reduced. I'm selling off my 1720 for a newer processor with a more versatile graphics card.

Udi@Wow a 3600M Quadro FX card.... You're a lucky guy man, I'm a 3Ds Max and an intense graphics user and I really need that kind of workstation card immediately... And yes, with the correct modded drivers you can obtain a graphics card that performs as almost like an 8800M for games. Just remember to roll back the drivers if you intend to do some Workstation stuff. As and when you intend to game on, just roll back the gaming drivers. And yes, 3600M is a GDDR3 Card.

I'm intending to get this card immediately sometime, say maybe the Dell M6300 or HP's 8710w. But one thing I liked about HP's 8710w is it comes with a numeric keypad, which is important for graphic and cadding users who use it all the time.

You can find the drivers here:
for 32 bit vista:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16925
for 64 bit VIsta:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17740

Just use the CTRL key + F to search for 3600M in that list.

 

I've heard the 3600m is comparable to an 8800 gts, but I could be wrong.

 

Good Ques. Is this card based on the GTX or GTS?

 

In another forum in which someone tried to install a 3600m into the m1710 it was discovered that it had 64 stream processors like the 8800gts and was getting benchmark figures similar to the 8800 gts.

But since it was running in a m1710 It might also not be functioning up to his fullest ability due to driver/bios restrictions.

 

I ran 3dmark06 for you this morning on my M6300. I got 8054 @ 1280x1024. These results are with the stock Dell driver (167.57 IIRC). Not bad but more than likely it is an 8800M GTS core. Let me know if you would like any more specific details or such.

 

reds2k has a thorough benchmark here

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread216225.html

It is based on an 8800GTS has less shaders than the gtx

~8-thousand-ish 3dmark6

 

Both HP and Dell charge about $700 extra to upgrade from the Quadro FX 1600M to the 3600M. Spec-wise, the extra $700 gives you:
- 512 MB of GDDR3 instead of 256
- 256 bit memory interface instead of 128 bit
- 51.2 GB/sec bandwidth instead of 25.6 GB/sec
- 70W max power consumption instead of 50W

Can these differences justify the extra $700? Could there be additional differences between the 3600M and the 8800 GTS that justify not only the extra $700, but also the initial price difference (if there is one) between a Quadro FX 1600M 256 MB and an 8800 GTS? Could the extra cost all be in the drivers (for industry heavy software, etc)? Could there be more hardware specs to the 3600M than an 8800 GTS?

 

Thanks so much win32asmguy and zx81. Exactly what I was looking for!
So 8054 marks stock, and upwards of 8800 with overclocking and/or faster processor.

win32asmguy - What do you think of the laptop so far, any issues? anything you don't like about it? Personally I dislike the keyboard layout (page keys) but I'm prepared to get used to it. Would love to hear any gripes etc, just want to make sure it's the right one for me.

How is the display quality also - clarity, brightness, etc? Other little things like touchpad/buttons/keyboard feel and quality...

Also, are the palmrests made of metal, or is the surface painted? I'm worried about fading over time.

EDIT - some more questions to add. Which display did everyone pick? Right now you can choose between matte WUXGA and glossy WUXGA, I'm not sure which to go for.. is one better than the other? I have a matte UXGA display currently, and am happy with it - the glossy ones seem more vivid/clear though? Also, does the driver CD that comes with these allow a clean install of OS, and then installing drivers individually? Is that recommended? I hate bloatware.

Cheers
Any thoughts appreciated

 

I love the M6300. I have both it and the M90, see signature.

I got the truelife glossy WUGA in the M6300 and the matt WXGA in the m90

Previously I was biased for the 1440x900 but with 120dpi for viewing folders, and a quick ctrl + in firefox, then there are no drawback to the higher resolution. I wish I had known that years ago

Very bright, sharp and no graininess. I have not touched the colour adjustment, its perfect out of the box. I have learned to tune out the reflections under bright lights, the advantages outweigh them

The matt one is great for no reflections, but has very poor viewing angles. I have a half matt wxga in an old 9300 by LG and it has great viewing angles and colours but is not very bright.

 

Another thing is, I chose dell again because of their warrantee and also because of my older laptops the batteries/chargers etc are the same. The chassis is magnesium and aluminium, very strong, and if you do get paint chip or wear (the 9300 light silver painted plastic on the palm rest wore over time with rough use) then dell do replace them under the excellent warrantee - so I would not worry about it.

The 3 button touch pad is excellent. The keyboard - there are variances, I swapped the M90s to the new laptop as I preferred its feel - both were marked as chinese, they are only ~$10 on ebay anyway if it came to it

There wasnt any bloatware on mine but I bought through a reseller on ebay. I did a fresh vista install anyway on a new drive, all of the drivers are on the dell site, and on a CD

 

udi, pm sent

 

Thanks, that's helpful.
I'm already using 1600x1200 on a 15" display so I'm used to the size, just wasn't sure whether to go matte or glossy next time - I think I'll go glossy.

I'm also wondering (just in general, or in this case specifically) does XP or Vista get higher 3dmark06 results? The 6300 here comes preinstalled with XP SP2, and Vista included on a disc. I'm tempted to just leave XP, I don't want to run anything DX10 - unless my DX9 games will actually play better on Vista or something...

Thanks for the link too, but there's no 3600M laptops listed there I don't think. In any case the whole point of buying dell is so I can buy here in Australia and have the genuine warranty, I'll get 50% off through work so that makes the precision affordable (I think it's pretty overpriced otherwise, nice combo of specs to size though).

Oh another question since I'm on a roll here (thanks so much for responding) - how big/heavy is the power brick? Have you got dimensions and/or a weight on it by curiosity? And in reviews, I've read battery life is quite good... what's it like with the 3600M in there, say on medium brightness how long will you get for web browsing?

 

I would suggest going with matte. The display on my M6300 is easily useable in most lighting situations. I have had the glossy type panels in the past and cannot say as much.

XP will bench faster than Vista by about 10%, however driver updates in the future could change this. Vista is still young even though it is now a year old and has a service pack. I think the best of both worlds is to get Vista Business with an XP downgrade option included. This way, you can use XP for now, then migrate to Vista when the drivers/applications you need are optimized for that platform.

If you can't buy from Dell Outlet in Australia, then just buy in their small business store, perhaps waiting for a coupon if they do those in your region. The only other option would be to buy used, but I would only do that if you can inspect the machine in person before purchase.

The PA-13 (130w) power supply is about 2.5" x 7" x 1.5". It weights about one pound. Battery life for me is between 2-3.5 hours, depending on the load. The screen consumes the most power on the machine. The 3600M does not use much more power than the 1600M on battery mode due to nVidia using aggressive clock gating on the chip.

 

I posted in that earlier thread with my 3dmark6 scores, 9231 in vista64. Like I wrote, very happy, even though the test resolution is higher because of the wuga, its still ~50% more than the fx3500 in my M90, much more than I thought I would get with a gts. Overclock was 660/980 (500/800 standard)

Nice card and laptop, so yeah it'll be good for gaming as the M90 was great itself

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread216225.html