9600M GT @ 1280x800 - Which CPU?

Hey all,

I'm getting a barebones laptop with a 9600M GT. I'll be getting 2x2GB Crucial DDR2 800MHz (max allowed on the mobo) and I already have a 320GB 2.5".

So my last decision is the CPU. Before doing a ton of research, I thought I found it here:

P8300 2.13GHz 1066FSB 3MB L2
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core2-DUO...0?hash=item1c09247950&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Then I started researching, since this price seemed REALLY low compared to the specs on it. Sadly it's an ES, which means it could be working poorly. Too much of a risk... =/ (And I don't think this processor ever made it out of ES, since there seems to be no production equivalent!)

So I'm looking at a T7250 now. 2.0GHz, 800FSB, and 2MB L2. Not terribly less powerful, but it's not an ES. So I checked with my usual PC forum (Overclock.net) and they're telling me that this will not run games very well. Frankly that doesn't make much sense, it seems as if the 9600M GT would be the bottleneck, not the T7250.

On one of my spare systems, I have an E2160 on a desktop with an 8800GT. The 8800GT is considerably more powerful than the 9600M GT, but the E2160 has 200MHz less clock, the same FSB, and half the L2 cache - but runs games beautifully at 1440x900. So wouldn't my limit on the laptop on running higher end games be on the 9600M GT, not a T7250?

Thanks in advance for your advice. I love Overclock.net, but they have a habit of recommending far too powerful hardware just because it's performance enthusiast community. (People recommending 750W PSUs for a single, medium/low powered card with no plans for SLI/XFire gets annoying)

 

What games are you wanting to run, top of your list will be Crysis @ Low or Medium @ low res. Would recommend 2.2Ghz processor on crysis just like the box says if your on vista i have minor stutters if not overclocked.

 

No Crysis, no FC2, not even Fallout 3.

The most intense games would probably be Oblivion, but I don't need to play that at max settings or anywhere near that. Not even sure how much I'd want to play that even.

Most games would be:
Sins of a Solar Empire
4X games (Civ4, GalCiv2, etc)
Total War Series (Might be the hardest - Empire - but if that's an issue I still prefer Medieval 2 Kingdoms actually)
Source games (L4D mainly)
UT3/UT3 Engine Games
WoW
Maybe the Stalker games.


On my Desktops (see below) I love maxing games out at max resolutions. But for portability, I have no issue running at medium settings. Low settings can get annoying though. =/

Laptop native is 1280x800 so that would be the ONLY res I'm interested in running at, exception being games in windowed mode where they don't support that res, or possibly games like WC3/Starcraft where they have to stretch.

 

Should have no issues with wow never really played any of those but your probably alright. Crysis era games really are the limit of the mid to high 9 series mobile chips.

Should play doom3 and fear at 60 fps no issues lol I get like 80 to 90 in doom 3 ultra 16xaa 1280x1024. Get 90 fps average in all three fears @ 1366x768.

 

Alright, thanks.

I really don't need to play bleeding edge games or anything. In fact, the game I'm playing most right now is Mount & Blade, which will actually run on DX7. (Choice between DX7/DX9)

And Crysis is really not a necessity. I view that as a fancy benchmarking tool. Never had fun with it.

 

I think on the Doom 3 ultra settings, 512mb for the GPU is requiered. I remember I read that a long time ago.

 

T7250 now. 2.0GHz, 800FSB, and 2MB L2

 

The (bottleneck) limit will be the 9600M GT which is exactly why your E2160 on the desktop with an 8800GT, even with 200MHz less clock, the same FSB, and half of the L2 cache still runs games beautifully at 1440x900. Bare in mind that the desktop GPU are always more powerful though.

However, I highly recommend you still go for a higher end GPU in your new laptop rather than the 9600M GT even if you think you won't be playing games that need it because after a few months, you will want to try something a bit more demanding or a different game might come out that gets your interest.

Spend a bit more now, save ALOT more later, trust me.

 

Thank you, that is what I was fairly certain about. Been building desktops for years, primarily gaming, so I look for a bottleneck between the GPU and CPU, and was fairly certain the bottleneck would be on the 9600M GT - not a C2D 2GHz w/ 2MB L2.

However I'm really not looking to spend a lot, and a 9600M GT will handle most games at 1280x800.

Actually, the entire build - it's a barebones - will cost me $310 for the laptop w/ 9600M GT, $50 for 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, and whatever the CPU will cost - $65 for a T7250. I already have a spare 320GB HD, so that brings the price to:

$425 for a 15.4" 1280x800, T7250, 9600M GT, 4GB DDR2 800MHz. Plus the 2.5" 320GB, which was paid for earlier for ~$50.

I think moving up to even a 9800M GT would double that price. Not worth it in cost to performance IMO. (When I want to do SERIOUS gaming, I do it from one of my desktops below - this would be for very light gaming + work)

 

Paid 899 for my current rig you can see the sig. 9800M GS definitly outperforms the 9600 GT but its still no top end performer either. Now that I have an extra hdd and some cruddy ram im looking to throw that plus the current cpu into a cheap barebones, not for gaming but a cheap machine. Seems a 9600 GT barebones costs as much as a Cruddy Intel IGP one.

 

may i ask why you have 3 desktops (all really good too)?? seems pretty overkill lol. I guess to each his own tho.

 

I think everytime he went to purchase a new cpu and gpu he was like nah just build another. Besides u ever tryed having the only computer in a house?

 

Hehe. I have two PCs in front of me, the E8400 plus the E2160. I do email/music/video/compiling/rendering on the E2160 while mainly gaming on the primary.

My girlfriend uses the E6750. Yes, it's overkill, but I also don't mind spending a bit on my desktop systems because the parts are swappable... it's no problem to upgrade them, swap parts, sell parts, etc. Laptops aren't like that, which makes me less comfortable (and why I'm only buying a barebones laptop, heh) plus I really have no need for a powerhouse portable system.