8600 GT 128mb, is it enough?

Hope this question hasn't been asked before, but I have not been able to find concrete information about it on this forum or anywhere else.

My main question is, is 128mb of dedicated Vram enough for most applications - ie. games & connecting it to external panel (I want to connect it to a 24"-40"+ lcd/tv in future) etc.

From the Apple forum on this site, there was also a comparison of 3Dmark06 scores between the 128mb vs 256mb (both GDDR 3 memory) and the difference was quite major. The 128mb can go as low as 2500 stock. That is lower than a 8600 GS with 256mb of Vram (I know this because my friend's Benq S41 notebook scores about 2700 on similar resolution).

So my next question is, the 128mb version of the GT can be on par or even lower performance wise than the 256mb of the GS?

This is perhaps the last thing on my mind to decide what laptop I will be going for. Thanks in advance.

 

The 128mb version of the GT would handle the 256mb version of the GS easily. I've heard of Apple underclocking their cards, so be conscious of that too.

3dmark scores can be deceiving because '06 will test at different resolutions based upon screen resolution, this can change the numbers around a fair amount. Be sure to ask the exact resolution 3dmark06 was on both tests.

 

You say most apps= yes should be fine.
GT will always beat GS even with less memory, think of this, a big gas tank does not make a car faster the engine does. Can you link to the Apple page you site, I am suspicious of performance difference on amount of memory alone. Tests show 7950GTX 256MB and 512MB perform about the same.256 bit bus vs 128 bit bus (8600) I would think the bus is the bottleneck more than 128MB vs 256MB.

 

Yes Apple underclocks mildy, I think they use 600mhz and the Asus G1S uses 675mhz, In comparison Dell and Compal both have theirs clocked at 475 so its still pretty decent. When driving higher resolutions on large screens lots of Vram is a must, If your just watching movies and stuff and are just interested in extending your viewing pane then 128mb is fine. If your planning on gaming on those big panels with High res your going to need more Vram. Have you considered the V1S? Its cheaper than the MBP and comes with 512mb of Vram.

 

The apple info was from these forums which I digged out after a search.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=130879&highlight=benchmark

I know I shouldn't be comparing stuff 'just' based on 3dmark06. However, these scores towards the bottom especially the 2771 and the ones below it sort of bugs me. My friend's Benq S41 with a 256mb GS gets a score of 2712 on 1200x800 resolution and this can be confirmed by

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=774663&p=6

 

I live in Australia and I don't think the V1S is available here yet. Furthermore, I think most 15" laptops are a bit too big/heavy for my liking, as my original choice was a 14.1" until I noticed that the MacPro was actually extremely light and is comparable to a lot of 14.1"'s weight (at first I didn't even believe it, thought that weight of 5.5ib does not include battery).

My other choice atm is a Benq S41. Not sure if many of you's know about it since it's not offered in USA. It has a 8600GS with 256mb memory.

I have read that 256 vs 512mb of Vram is very neglectible. But 128mb vs 256mb concerns me a little. Somewhere I read if the card uses up all the memory, the fps will drop dramatically? But turbocache will help in that, but by how much?

My concern is that I am paying for about $500-600USD extra and I cannot really justify it if my Macpro is outperformed by a much cheaper laptop. (I know build quality, looks, etc etc comes in too)

 

You're a Aussie?. Go to bed man, Its 3:30am!. Anyway, The MBP is massively overpriced here ($2900) Go with the V1s, You can import one for 2500AUD and you get a 2 year global warranty

 

The V1S has a advertised weight of 5.6lbs though its quite possible that could be 5.9lbs as someone has made a error converting from KG to lb, It still could be 5.6 though and you get a real right click . When I say you can import one for 2500 I mean you can buy one, Ship it to Australia, And pay customs on it for $2500. You might want to take a look at the V2s (14.1") if its more your style, Only has a 8600GS though.

 

Haha, hey it's the weekend and I just got back from a night out, however my mind was filled with laptop stuff all night

With a student discount + gst discount (I plan to travel overseas in a bit over a month), it works out to be quite cheap, around the 2400 mark. Cannot really justify the price for the power model though. So the only choice left is to get the macpro standard or the benq, whereby the deciding factor will be on the graphics card.

If I was to get the VS2, I would rather get the Benq as it basically has the same specs, but Benq is much cheaper. However, cannot beat an apple on the design & battery power and I've heard great things about OSX (really wanna try it out). Thanks for the advice though, I might do some more research on the Asus versions.

 

The thing that really stopped me from going with the MBP, and I really was considering buying one, Is the one year warranty, In a business class laptop its very odd to only offer one year, And to upgrade it is $570AU which is huge. Ive also heard that the batteries tend to die very quickly and only have a 6month warranty, In comparison the Asus machines all come with 2 years standard, and $129 US to upgrade to 3 years (129 USD == 147 AUD) Which is a damsite less than Apple.

 

How did you manage $2400? The student discount is $300 so that brings it to $2600 and I dont think Apple offers a Duty Free option (Never seen them at the Duty free Store)

 

I see, I will ask a few friends with the Macbook Pro's for about 8months now and see how their batteries are holding out. Yea, that's the only downside, but I guess you can't have it all. I notice the new Dell XPS has the same thing (or similar, but bit cheaper).

Anyway, time to sleep before the thread sidetracks till it gets removed by a moderator, haha, hopefully when I wake up I will have an answer to which laptop I will be buying.

 

Oh, that's through the TRS system. http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=4366

As long as the good is bought in Australia and is not imported, you can claim GST. My friend who travelled end of last year bought a MacPro from Apple.com.au and was able to claim this + the student discount. He told me about it.

 

well if its any incentive there have been 4 macbook pros stolen last semester in my class of 300 at USYD. They scream "Steal Me" in my opinion.

-Thought I should clarrify, Only two were stolen on campus, The other two were on a train and a mugging on the street : /

 

I have the core as 475Mhz and memory at 700Mhz. So looks to me like core and memory are being interchanged here?
Gaming at high resolution high settings is going to max out more than just the memory.