Casual gamer question - 8400GS or 8600GT?

I'm about to buy a new notebook (a Dell Inspiron 1420 or 1520) and I was wondering... how much difference are between an 8400GS (1420) and a 1520 (8600GT)???

For example.. say.. Doom 3. How much fps differences might I get considering I'm playing both on same specs?? And another games'?

I'm just a casual gamer so I don't really need a gaming laptop, but being able to play from time to time is nice.

Is there a BIG difference?? Is there something 8600GT will play finely and 8400GS won't play it at a playable speed? (i don't need crysis nor that stuff, maximum speaking: quake 4, halo 2, i don't know... bioshock *maaaaybe*)

Thanks... i'm a noob when it comes to laptop 3D cards.. and also my english is very poor sorry =P

 

Unless laptop size/weight is your main concern, I would recommend 8600GT.

8400GS will play all the games you listed extremely well. You might not notice any difference when playing Doom 3 on either cards. But if you do decide to go for the 15in notebook, get the better card.

Here is another thread that discusses same issue.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=163153&highlight=8400+v+8600

 

Depends on your budget, but if you want to KNOW that your computer will play a game well get the 8600GT, not that the 8400 is bad, but i think its only an extra $100 for the 8600GT.

 

The 8600 GT is hugely better. Like approximatly 2x better. At least. And it will enable you to play new games for a longer time.

 

Here's what I posted in response to similar question:

I have a Vostro 1400 with a 8400GS, and while its no where near high-end its far from useless. I was playing Half-Life 2 episode 1 for a while on it, with high-settings (no AA/AF) at 1280x800 and got a fairly consistent ~60 FPS (and while HL2 is 3 years old, episode 1 is a good deal more demanding). I've played Command and Conquer 3, and while the card struggles with the "medium" quality preset, on the low preset it runs very smoothly at 1280x800. Likewise, Star Wars Empire at War also ran very smoothly at 1280x800. And while the BioShock demo didn't run very well at 1280x800, lowering the resolution at bit I could get it running at a very playable setting. I've also run the demo of World in Crisis at 1280x800 on low settings (I think) at high FPS.

 

i think this really comes down to what your main worry is. Screen size and weight, or the over perception of how well your games are playing. The 8400mGS will play most of what you said at around Low/Med Settings, at approx. 30FPS avg or so.

The 8600GT on the other hand will play them at much closer to High/Med, in many cases also around 30FPS avg, it differs greatly a lot of games though, and lowering the resolution for either card would help with FPS quite a bit.

 

I would think that to be a bit off the mark, Doom 3 will certainly run well but Halo 2 and Bioshock will certainly not run 'extremely well', 'extremely smooth' definitely but only on lowish settings. The difference of power won't show up as much in titles like Doom 3, where it'd be more a case of 'good vs great', but will be huge in Halo 2 and Bioshock.

If you are playing games at all then yes it's worth the upgrade to the 8600GT without doubt.

 

Dont skimp on the Vid card dude if you wanna play any games at all you will regret getting the 8400 over the 8600 remember you cant change your mind after you buy it.

 

what voltus said

 

That summarizes it pretty well. The 8600 probably will have better longevity, as well, due to its increased performance.

 

how much is your budget and what will you use it for?

 

I'm trying to choose between a Dell 1420 or a 1520, nothing else, no other brand nor model. It's juts between those two.

It'll be a 2.0 core 2 duo (wich I plan to OC to 2.2 maybe) and 2GB ram.

So, if its a 1420, it'll have an 8400GS, but otherwise it'll be an 8600GT.


BTW: How much difference between GDDR2 and GDDR 3 8600GT??

And will I be able to play Battlefield 2, FEAR, DOOM 3 and maaaybe Quake 4 somewhat high on an 8600GT GDDR2????

 

8600GT all the way. The 14" isn't that much smaller or lighter, and with the 1520 you get a bigger screen and much more performance out of the 8600m GT, especially for the price.

Casual gaming or not, if you want to play, you want the power to play. The 8600m is no replacement for a desktop GPU but should hold its own for newer games, and even for games released in the next year or so. Heck it plays Bioshock and World in Conflict fine with decent settings, and those are pretty demanding games.