ATI Radeon X800XL vs NVIDIA GeForce GO 8400

I've been using a desktop for over 3 years now & am planning to get a laptop sometime in the next 2 months.
My desktop's configuration the following,
Pentium IV 3.00GHz w/HT
2GB Dual Channel DDR 400MHz Memory - OCZ w/Heatspreaders
ATI Radeon X800XL (AGP 8X)
Windows XP HE SP2

The laptop(s) I'm looking at will have the following configuration,
Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.00GHz)
Dell XPS M1330 - 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz Memory
HP dv2500t - 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz Memory (max it supports)
NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS
Windows Vista Home Premium

The games I'd probably play on the laptop or already play on the desktop are,
F.E.A.R., S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Battlefield 2, Tom Clancy's EndWar, Crysis etc.

I want to know how would these games perform on the laptop compared to my aging desktop? Also, with such a card would I be able to get the "complete experience" from Vista, talking about things like Aero etc.?

 

The 8400M GS will run those games listed but probably won't run them too smoothly. Battlefield 2 should be fine though. For Vista, the card is more than enough.

 

Basically NO since the 8400m GS is a low/midrange card. It can probably handle Bf2 maybe FEAR at lower settings but if you really want to play those games at a nice level of game play at med-high i strongly recommend that you look for a laptop with a 8600m GS or GT(I recommend the GT).

And yes the 8400m GS can easily handle Aero(even integrated video cards like the x3100 and GMA 950 can handle Aero nicely)


Fill out the FAQ and post it in "What notebook should i buy" section of the forum

 

I have my doubts how well it will run Crysis, considering thats even gonna give the 8600m GT a run for its money and it's much faster.

 

the 8400m gs is not going to be as fast as your desktop x800xl. sad, cold, hard truth.

my 8600m gt is somewhat faster than my desktop x800. i dont know exactly how much faster it is... i would expect the 8400m gs to not lag too far behind the x800, but i dont think it will match it.

 

Hi, sorry to drag this topic up, I've been researching the same thing, I too had a 3.06GHz P4 with X800XL

Anyways, in 3DMark2006 I got 1959 on it, looking here...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile...rk-List.844.0.html?&or=&search=&sort=3dmark06

8400 gets 1456.

I 8400 does fall behind

7400 benches 800 in 3DMark2006 and I've seen someone play BF2 on medium with it on youtube, so I guess you're fine playing BF2.

 

but i should also mention that your desktop will absolutely not run new ubisoft games (which now require shader model 3.0) - at least your 8400m gs will have a shot at them. i don't know how well tom clancy's endwar will run, for example, but at least it will run.

the other games you listed will run on both machines.

 

If the X800XL had 19xx on 3dmark06 then the 8600M GT should be much faster, considering it has up to 38xx.

 

Well the thing is I'm getting a new laptop sometime between August & October & I absolutely love the Macbook. The Macbook Pro is quite powerful but it's too expensive for me & I kinda feel a laptop with a screen more than 14" is a lil too big in terms of portability. I've got an Xbox 360 so I do game mostly on that. But for the past years I've been playing my RTS games on the desktop cause I somehow prefer using a mouse + keyboard for such games. I've played some FPS on the desktop too cause I think they are nicer/better played with a mouse + keyboard. When the Dell XPS M1330 came out I had a look at it & I was quite pleased with what Dell was offering but was unsure how powerful the video card was so I decided to start a thread & find out so I could make my choice. The reason I've looked at only the Dell XPS M1330 is cause I don't want a laptop that is more than 1.2"-1.3" in thickness. Having the option to game on the notebook whilst also having the Xbox 360 would be perfect for me but now since the 8400M GS is barely powerful enough to play even games that are 12 - 18 months old I guess it's pointless getting Dell if the only advantage of the Dell over the Macbook was its better graphics card. The Macbook's video card is absolutely horrendous. Hopefully in October when Leopard is released they will release a few updates for the Macbooks--switch to Santa Rosa, LED screens, back-lit keyboard & a better graphics card (even if the upgrade is to X3100 Integrated). So, I guess I'm going to have to look into another solution then; find out if a mouse + keyboard can be used with the Xbox 360, I know it's off-topic but if anyone does have the answer to that please be kind enough to reply and help out.
Thanks =)