8400m GS questions.

I am looking for a mid range notebook for my girlfriend. She mainly surfs the internet, but with this notebook she will be doing some light gaming. I am not so concerned about this particular card running the games she will be playing,i am mainly concerned about the quality and endurance of the card. I had heard that dell screwed up with some cooling component on this and the 8600, which led most of them to fail and die. Did dell fix this? If the card does fail, is it covered by warranty? Thanks.

 

Don't get it- avoid all 8 series Nvidia GPUs like the plague.

(see sig)

 

As nu_D has written, it is an issue related to 8 series nVidia GPUs. It is not specifically a Dell issue. Some Dell notebooks with the affected cards carry an extra 1 year warranty (not sure about the specifics). However, those GPUs are doomed from the start; many will likely fail within a year or two and only give problems.

Although I think an Intel X4500 will likely suffice for some light gaming, it won't be anything compared to your nVidia 8800M GTS.

 

Any other opinions?

 

let me see she does mid gaming what games does she like?
whats your price range?
screen size?
need info so i can do my best
new or used?

 

the 8800m is the only 8 series i'd recommend. if you want a cheap/mid gaming machine look at something with a 9600m

 

Hi i have had an 8400gs in a vostro 1400 and if ur interested in endurance u might want to look for other options.

Sure its an ok GPU for light gaming but it also gets pretty hot (which affects endurance and lifespan).

While gaming (warcraft3) it got to 100C+ (100C sustained, 105C peaks) but even while doing normal tasks the temps where a bit high (67C - 70C while browsing, word procesing, etc).

AFAIK its that the 8xxx series have flaws that make em run hotter, so those temps are pretty "normal" (u wont get any better temps from any other brand/cooling system).

BTW my GPU fried after a 1/2 year of use but it was coverd by the warranty. After that fried again 1/2 year later and i was pretty much done with it .

gl

 

I have a 8400m GS and i game like crazy and i overclocked it without any issue ... ! Never had a problem ! never get any hotter than 85 degree

 

I don't know anything about this, but my mom has this card in her laptop and I have noticed that the fan start to be noisy very fast (and she uses it only to text documents and a little YouTube.)