Dell wants to replace my 8600M GT with an ATI 4330.

Yeah, the 3 year everything warranty cost me like $350 if I remember right. Glad I bought it. I certainly didn't have the $$$ to buy a new one after I fubar'ed my Inspiron 1520.

AV1611 out...

 

Hey AV1611,
Did you ever write to [email protected] or some other Board executive?because i'm from India and i'm facing similar problem My Inspiron 1720 met accident and now they are replacing it with Studio 17 with ATI 512 MB HD 3650 which is very SLOW GPU compred to my 8600GT?Can you advice a few steps? I feel 3650 is slower because i google and found this results used software GPU-Z:-
Specification of GPU:: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650:: Nvidia 8600M GT

GPU:: M86 :: 684 M
Technology:: 55nm :: 80nm
Die Size:: 118 mm^2 :: 169mm^2
Release date:: 2008 :: 2007
Transistors:: 378M :: 289M
ROPs:: 4 Bus :: 8 bus
Bus Interface:: PCI-E x16 @ x16 :: PCI-E x16 @ x16
Shaders:: 120 Unified :: 32 Unified::
DirectX Support:: 10.1 / SM4.1 :: 10.0 / SM4.0
Pixel Fillrate:: 1.2 GPixel/sec :: 5.2GPixel/sec
Texture Fillrate:: 1.2 GTexel/sec :: 10.4GPixel/sec
Memory Type:: DDR2 :: DDR2
Bus Width:: 128 Bit :: 128 Bit
Memory Size:: 512 MB :: 256 MB
Bandwidth:: 7.9 GB/sec :: 16.5 GB/sec
Shader Clock:: 600 MHz :: 1300 MHz
GPU Core Clock:: 450 MHz :: 650 MHz
Memory:: 500 MHz :: 515 MHz

Here GPU 8600MGT is overclocked....Your help appriciated so i can get some nice Laptop I'm trying for XPS M1730 or Alienware M17x...which ofcourse this Dell Guyz are not willing to get one for me...Thanks!
Regards,
V. Gohil

 

Actually, replacing a DDR2 8600 with a DDR2 3650 is a fair trade. The 3650 benchmarks in general are a little higher, plus you don't have to worry about the Nvidea 8600 defects popping up again... you are NOT getting shafted, you just aren't making out like a bandit.

Asking for a XPS M1730 or Alienware is just crazy talk.

 

i would agree the idea of getting something like a 1730 or a m17x for an exchange is madness

i think ur getting a fair deal

 

You cant replace the 8600m gt with anything but the 8400. i had an 8400m gs and i replaced it with the 8600m gt, right now thats the only card you can get for it. they may come out with an upgraded one in the future.

 

AFAIK, they fixed the 8600m GT issues a while back.

 

AFAIK, the OP's issue got fixed a while ago as well lol

Well idk if they fixed it since it was a core architecture defect and I don't recall Nvidia changing the G84 cores.

 

Oh, thought it was a soldering issue. Thankfully (crosses fingers) that my Vostro 1500 with 8600m GT has performed admirably even decently overclocked for a couple years now.

 

Delete this post

 

You can yourself. Go into Edit and Delete... make sure to pick "Delete Message" on the bottom left.

 

It was kind of a soldering issue. I cannot remember if it was the actual solder (probably), or the material used to bond the IC pads to the internal silicon (less likely), but nVidia used a material in one of those that they really should not have. Stuff like that may not be part of the core, but there is definitely some level of design effort going into this stuff as relates to the core being developed.

Also, last I checked, nVidia changed that weaker packaging material to something more adaquate...so your laptop may in fact be okay. HOWEVER, there have been some reports that parts are still circulating that are defective...and who knows for sure if the new material actually works well (we'll know that in a year or so if/when more faulty chips start showing up).

Bottom line: I would be very cautious about nVidia products for a while.

 

You mean the GTX 260m I'm getting in my Sager NP8662 in a few weeks?

 

there are no problems with the GTX260M and the 9800 series and even the 9600 series. There are however problems with the 8000 series so don't be worried.