Change from 7700 to 8600GT - worth it? How much of a diff?

Hi all. A question - considering changing my A8Js, in part due to having a good buyer but also tempted by the new generation of video cards and would like a laptop like the V1S, with modular drive bay and docking station, besides a larger screen which I miss in this 14".

But part of the temptation, is having better video performance. I don't game a lot, but when I game I want smooth graphics and to see the latest games at its best (hence why I am looking for a work laptop with a good video card).

How much of a difference will I notice between the 7700 and the 8600GT? For seeing the latest DX10 effects (I know new games will work all with DX9 cards) I know there will be a large difference, but... for other games?

The V1S BTW has the DDR2 memory, vs other like the G1S (which I wouldn't buy) that have DDR3 memory. Seems to overclock decently.

Specifically, the game I play the most, Oblivion, runs more or less smooth on my PC at native res without AA or HDR. Will I be able to run it now with both on, or still too much to ask from a laptop video card?

Any website with comparison benchmarks between the two cards? All I find are for the desktop versions.

Thanks for thoughts on this, or sharing your own experiences.

Juan Miguel Venturello

 

The 8600GT is about the same as the 7900GS, so its a step up indeed.

The DDR2 8600GT is a fine video card, overclocked it can reach the GDDR3's speeds, though if the GDDR3 is overclocked, well, it'll leave a trail of fine dust

 

its definitely a step up. I would say its a 20-40% increase in performance.
if you want the best graphics laptops are not the way to go, go get a desktop.
Oblivion don't let you turn on AA and HDR at the same time for Nvidia cards i think,,, for whatever reason

 

No, it is absolutly in no case not worth the "upgrade". You will actually LOSE performance. In fact the 8600GT is a terrible "upgrade." See the link below:
http://www.barefeats.com/imacal.html

The MacBook Pro's 8600GT 256MB is always slower than the mobile 7600GT used in the older iMacs. It is even slower than the mobile ATI HD 2600 Pro used in the new iMacs. However the only notebook that uses an ATI HD 2600 is the Fujitsu Lifebook N6460. However, it is not much of a laptop replacement as it weighs 10 pounds and has a battery life of less than an hour.

 

^ Bad bad info. Yes its about equivalent to 7900 gs which is a good jump. I play fear, company of heroes, and supreme commander maxed out at 1280 x 1024 with v-sync and all no problems.

 

If you believe in synthetic benchmarks, the 8600GT gives a ballpark average of a 866 point increase in 3DMark06 which is quite a significant gain.

 

definetly get the 8600, its much better

 

well thats way wrong.. try playing at 1680x1050 with high settings and 2x aa with vsync at 60 fps with a 8600GT.. i could with my 7900GS

 

problem here is that everyone here doesnt care about your money. of course everyone will tell you to get the better card, but that involves gettng a new laptop, for the price i dont think its worth it. the 7700 is still one of the best video cards you can get in a 14" or 15" notebook. if game performance is really that important get a desktop pc. you also said you dont game much so for the money you'll be spending your not going to get something you wont be using a lot. also at the moment the difference between dx9 and dx10 is marginal, there is a crysis video around that shows in dx9 vs dx10 and its pretty hard to spot the difference. and to correct some things the 8600m gt is a good card but the 7900 gs is a better card, the 8600 only comes close to it not equivalent.

so in my opinion its not worth the money.

 

I completely agree. I have the same computer, and I say wait until at least 2008 when Intel releases their 45 nm fabrication chips. I promise you that no one will still be talking about the amazing "Santa Rosa" and the 8600 GT then. The 8600/8700 just happens to be the best thing (in terms of newer DX10 cards) out right now, so naturally that is what people will talk about and want, but the ACTUAL difference in performance from your current system, I imagine at least, will not be substantial. /end my 2 cents.

Good luck!

 

I'd say it depends how much i's going to cost you. Couple hundred dollars then maybe (after sale of your old laptop) but if it's heading up towards $500 I'd say it wasn't worth it.

 

The 3D benchmarks show a 10%-25% increase going to the 8600GT (depending on the benchmark) so I'd assume at least 15% increase in GPU horsepower.

But depending on the specs of the laptop you are going from and to, you may or may not actually see this extra 15%.

 

Thanks all for your opinions. Remember, that its not only the video card for my money's worth - I also like/want the larger screen, better finish, multibay and docking station (my usage is all the day plug/unplug at home, many days 2x).

But from reading everyone above, its NOT going to be 'night and day' difference between the cards. 15%-30% or so. Things will run smoother - or the same at native res (this laptop has 1650 vs my current 1440 laptop)...

F.E.A.R. is running very smooth on my 7700 (overclocked) at native res, 1440x900, at max settings - no AA, no soft shadows, . No need for more perf on this game. C&C3 is a tad slow, oblivion... would love to see it more smooth, see more stuff. The nVidia 8 series... were'nt they able to do AA+HDR at the same time? Thought so (havent check it up, just from memory).

Also a factor is... my laptop still quite new, its easy to sell at a decent price. Yeah, every year will be the same with the next gen. Desktop - no-no for me, I travel a lot, my laptop is my only computer.

Thanks all!

 

You can easily get laptops with the Geforce Go 7700 for around $1000. Check the ASUS F3 series. The laptops with the 8600M GT are like over $1500, which IMHO, ain't worth the extra bucks. You never know, next year they come up with the Geforce 9600M GT and it completely decimates the 8600M GT.

@ Venturello

Odd... You say CnC3 is slow? What FPS do you get? Mine's maxed out except for shaders and shadows set to medium, and 2x antialiasing (through the Nvidia Control Panel). I run it at 1440x900 and I get a smooth 25-30 FPS almost all the time (well, maybe except during a nuke strike which reduces my FPS to something like 10. LOL). Too bad running it at 1680x1050 (my native res) takes a lot of toll on the GPU. Reduces my FPS to around 20, which I refuse to play with especially because it's a fast-paced RTS game.

Just curious Venturello, but, is that you and your baby? OMG your baby is so cute. O_O *stares*

 

I really hate the posts that say, "WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR WHEN INTEL..." This is every year. If you wait, you will be waiting your whole life. If you want a new card, go get one. The 8600 does a good job and I am able to play all the recent releases at good frame rates on a Dell 1520. Or you can wait until next year when AMD releases the AMD Flux Capacitor Upgrade with 1.21 Gigawatts of Laptop Power.
Best Wishes, SXO792

 

Its not as good as a 7900gs, which is why some found it to be a disappointment but it is quite a good card for laptops which typically have lower resolutions.

But considering there is about a $400-500 gap between the two cards right now its not worth it IMHO. It is inbetween the 7700 and 7900gs but it is much much closer to the 7700 in performance then most would have liked.

 

SymphonyX, yep, that's my first baby, about year and a half ago (more pics at blog)

Don't know how to tell the FPS in C&C3. My laptop is well optimized, or so I think - it runs all games well, gets decent 3dmark scores. All options are on high and resolution is at native, 1440x900. I will research how to tell FPS, but I know it feels sluggish, and more so it being a fast paced RTS game. Will try lowering a bit of detail and resolution.

Anyway, thanks for comments!

 

FRAPS will show you your FPS in games and some games have a console command (~) to also display your FPS

 

Here's the thing, when they upgraded from unbelievably crappy Geforce 5 FX series to the Geforce 6 series, the difference was very big. The difference in performance of the Geforce 6 series to the newer Geforce 7 series was considerable enough for an upgrade. The difference however of the Geforce 7 series to the newest Geforce 8 series isn't big enough for most people to consider an upgrade. Heck, they even benchmarked the 7600GT against the 8600GT. No, we're not talking about 3DMark benchmarks (crappy nVidia-biased benchmarking software), it's real-world performance. There was at most a 5-10% performance increase, and in many of the games, there was barely any difference at all. Not enough for justify the $500 premium of the 8600M GT over the Go 7700. The newest things can be a lot better or just slightly better than the old one.

 

Had some sluggish with C&C 3 as well, turned off shadows and now runs like a charm.

 

Hi guys, what if I'm considering either the Asus A8Js and the F8Sv as a new laptop? which would you recommend? I'm totally new to laptops so please advise!

Also, I can't remember the model number for the other F8, it is the one with ATI's HD 2600. Would this(512 megs) or the 8600GT(256 mb) be better? I'm looking at light to medium gaming for games 1-3 years old, not at the latest games maxed out. (I'd be happy if I could play them at any settings though.)