GDDR3 vs GDDR2

Hi there !

What will be the real difference in-game between the 8600GT GDDR3 and GDDR2 ? If you are not planning on overclocking, is there such a performance boost when choosing GDDR3 ?

BTW, the new Compal FL90 will have a 8600M GT GDDR3 or GDDR2 ?

Thanks !

 

I think it's DDR2 and GDDR3 ?
The GDDR-N are basically the upgraded version of DDR-(n-1)
When the DDR-N comes out, the GDDR-N becomes obsolete.
The GDDR3 is an upgraded version of DDR2 with higher clocks and lower heat generation.

 

thanks!

and does it show a noticeable performance boost?

are there any benchmarks?

thanks

 

At the same clock speeds, GDDR3 will be slightly faster than DDR2, because of different page size or something, and use a bit less power. However, it's generally irrelevent to directly compare the two based on architecture. When notebook makers use DDR2 it's because the memory is clocked lower, usually 400Mhz. GDDR3 is for when they clock at 450MHz+. So the speed difference isn't really that GDDR3 is inheirently slightly faster, but that models clock it faster too.

 

so if i find the same laptop with the only difference being GDDR3 and DDR2 in the video card and a 130€ difference, which one would you get?

 

130 euro's is much. But it totally depends on the configuration itself. If it is an 7900GTX, then go for the GDDR3. But if it is a 7600Go, then just go for the GDDR2.

So we will need a little more info on that.

 

its a 8600m GT

 

GDDR3 is the best on that. The higher clock rates come into play with the PureView technology as well as HD rendering. I don't know about DX10 games (as they haven't come out yet) but I would suspect that it wouldn't hurt there either. The main reason, however, is that the 8 series uses universal shaders, meaning that the pixel shaders and the vertex shaders have been merged "because applications rarely use the same ratio of each." In order to optimise this a higher clock speed for the memory is very desirable. I would say at least a 20 or 30 percent increase in performance right there. But of course this is all speculative.

 

Probably should go for the GDDR2, as the 128 bit interface is going to drown out any performance gain by the faster memory.

 

I would think it would equally affect the slower memory as well...

 

ok, im going for the GDDR3 version, since i want to get the best out of a 15,4inch lappy.

Is that the best graphics card for a 15.4" laptop? i mean , the Nvidia 8600M GT GDDR3

 

It most certainly is, but I would imaging that there are/will be a few others with perhaps faster card, but you may not want do deal with heat issues of those faster cards. But 8600M GT is no sludge and should sutisfy most of your current gaming needs assuming you don't mind playing at med settings when really demanding games hit the market in upcoming cople of years or so.

 

For a 15.4 inch lappy there is no better card than the one you mentioned.

 

Its not entirely clear how a Mobility HD 2600 XT performs, but it should be around the same as the 8600M GT. Both the 8600M GT and Mobility 2600 XT should be the fastest graphics cards in a 15.4" notebook.

 

then, lets go for it!!!!

what about this configuration?

- Intel core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2Ghz/4Mb)
- 2048Mb of DDR2 RAM 667Mhz
- NVidia 8600M GT 512Mb GDDR3
- 160Gb 7200RPM

1180€

Is there any Quad processor available for Santa Rosa? When will it be available?

 

Which laptop is it? When you say that they are the same, do you mean same brand and model or same specs? Cause if you mean same specs other factors can play in to those €130.

 

I guess I should say that the 8600M GT 512 MB GDDR3 is the fastest card CURRENTLY AVAILABLE for a 15.4 inch laptop. In october or november (or even before) that may change.

 

I would go ahead and take the GDDR3 for its increased performance and slightly less power usage.

 

Some people say that monster notebooks like the Clevo D900 will be able to support desktop quad-core processors. There are also other rumors that the Asus C90S can support quad-core processors. Nobody actually has tested this yet, and Asus certainly hasn't released any drivers for quad core.

At this point, no. However, I wouldn't be surprised at all if in the next few months, Clevo releases a version of the D900 that supports quad-core processors, and Asus releases a quad-core driver for the C90S.

 

Well there aren't any mobile quad core chips and there won't be for some time. Even Penryn won't bring quad core and it's unlikely Nehalem will either since the return of HT will likely be sufficient. Any quad core notebooks are just notebooks with desktop chips stuffed in which I've always considered a waste of time.

 

Thanks for your answers.

Sorry to say, but i havent cleared things up.

1.- Why did you say 8600M GT could be taken over by another 15,4" laptop graphics card before xmas? So Nvidia will release the 9600M GT this year?

2.- When are Quad Cores going to be released? any ideas? is there going to really be a performance boost compared to the Core 2 Duos T7x00?

3.- Is the price of this laptop (see post #15) adequate? Should I wait a bit?

Thank you very much

 

The 8600M GT may get beaten in terms of performance by either the Mobility HD 2600 XT card, but it looks as though it will perform around the same. nVidia probably also has plans to release an update of the card, and we have seen an 8700M GT get mentioned. However, that seems like a card that is more driven towards 17" notebooks.

Quad cores for notebooks aren't going to happen overnight. It will most likely be into next year when we see them, if at all. Intel has Gilo planned, which is a processor based on Merom architecture, which has a strong possibility of being a quad core. There won't be many benefits in non-processor dependant tasks, but those that encode and video edit, using programs that are multithreaded, should see a serious increase in speed. For the average user, it won't offer all that much.

 

There are no mobile quad cores being planned for the next year at least. Penryn won't bring quad core to notebooks and Nehalem will introduce native quad cores to desktop, but those won't be power efficient enough to fit well in notebooks. Nehalem will bring back HT, which is probably the preferred method for notebook chips to process 4 threads. I don't expect quad core mobile chips until Gesher and 32nm in 2009. Any quad core notebooks in in the mean time are just desktop chips stuffed in notebooks which will have horrible battery life.

 

And how can I know whether the ATI would be better than the NVIDIA before this friday?

Cos its a special sale!

 

Which ATI, the HD2600XT? It'll be comparable to an 8600M GT. Really, having one card being 1-2% faster than the other doesn't really make much of a difference. If there's a special sale, just get the one that's on sale.

 

You probaly will not. That notebook looks great for its price, I would say go for it.

 

thanks you all!

know i have to convince the boss to try to make him pay a little bit. I'll say that im buying the lappy for the good of the company

Hes just stupid!! (hope hes not reading )