8600... To wait or not to wait? Help Please

So, I've been doing some forum browsing and it seems that the mainstream affordable graphics card , the 8600 GT, isn't too far a leap from the 7000 series. Honestly, the only game I have any interest in for the future is BF3 and I'm not sure the 8600 has the capacity to run 80 player chaos. I've been looking for a reasonable 15.4 notebook with a performance 7800+ card but the new configurable laptops only ship with 8000 series. and anything over 8600 GT costs a fortune. So my question to you guys is: Would it be wise to just hold back and wait for graphic card options to grow? I'm not talking over the course of a year, I'm talking a couple months, cause BF3 is rumored to beta around Summer.

Do any of you know of new models and graphic card options that could be over the horizon? I mean, the 8000s are still relatively new so maybe giving them some time to spread their wings would be wise. I know that just waiting for new hardware is just an endless cycle of futility, but still, I just can't seem to find a decently priced 15.4 notebook with a graphics card more capable than the 8600 GT. Maybe some of you know hidden deals that I don't, or perhaps I'm just underestimating the 8600 GT. Any ideas?

Thanks for reading through this, I appreciate the help.

 

you aren't going to find a better card in a 15.4 bud, you have to hit a 17 for heavy gaming capability

 

8800gtx's are going to be coming out for 15" notebooks soon (around june probably).. they will be expensive though.. the alienware m15x already has one.

 

on 1280 x XXX resolution or something similar the 8600m will run whatever you throw at it. granted it won't be max for everything but it'll be more than ample. 8800gtx, when and if they become available for 15in notebooks will be around 500 bucks for upgrade. i would recommend the 7950gtx but it doesn't come in 15in screens and the 8600m is more future proof. you can always buy the bigger Gateway p FX with 8800mGTS for 1349 at best buy also. should handle BF3 just fine.

 

Ok, thanks for the replies, so what kind of future proof properties does the 8600 GT have? I know it's impossible to tell if it could run BF3 without knowing BF3s specs but maybe I'm just underestimating it.

 

Considering the 8600m GT has no issues running BF2 maxed out at 1280x1024 (max res with 1680x1050 screen here), and it runs Crysis admirably, probably will run it just fine at 1280x800 with decent detail. That is considering they even support widescreen. If they don't this time around they're complete morons.

Heck, I was running BF2 on battery not realizing that diminshed my CPU and GPU power about half (automatically) and still ran fine. Then I realized how antiquated BF2 is graphically.

 

That's good to hear. The prices that you can get a 8600 GT nowadays is also pretty sweet too.

 

Theres a gateway 17incher out with the 8800m GTS for $1300USD if that interests you at all.

 

What do you mean? do you mean that you played with your battery and it plugged into the wall?

 

I mean, I was using battery power and it ran perfectly fine. Then later I realized that on battery power, the GPU and GPU Memory actually run at GPU 275MHz / MEM 200 MHz instead of stock 475 / 400 MHz with power connected.

There is no way so far that I can tell that will bump the GPU up to full speed on battery. Perhaps it is a safeguard against power available from battery versus what the system requires.

 

The only thing that would be better offered in the next couple months would be an 8800, but as you mentioned, it will be super expensive. The 8600m GT is a great card, especially if you get the GDDR3 version.

 

8600m GT has been and will be the optimal price for performance mobile GPU for many months to come in a 15.4" notebook. The ATI 2600HD is a decent contender as well, with similar performance. There may be a possibility of some flavor of the 8800m in a 15" notebook sometime in near future, but nothing has been solidified.

Don't fret over DDR2 vs GDDR3 with the 8600m GT anyhow. It seems the latest run of 8600m GT's, at least from Dell, overclock very nicely both the GPU and Memory - many here have claimed 650MHz GPU and 550MHz+ with Memory. I can only get 600 GPU / 500 Memory, actually a little more than that, but use that just for a safety factor. Either way it beats out the stock clocked GDDR3 cards anyhow.

That Gateway is pretty impressive though, but it's a 17" notebook with a glossy screen and underpowered CPU (IMHO), and weighs 8.5 lbs. However, shows me that there may be some good 17" bargains to be had in the near future, and hopefully will translate to some 8800m in a 15".