Is 8600M GT DDR2 Enough?

What current games such a card cant run?
Whats the optimum processor & ram would be needed if i order a laptop with this card? Mostly a Vostro 1500 (Fits my Budget)
Thanks in advance

 

Sticky: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=139489

 

My only advice is! When I price Dell for any system and bring it up in components it always cost's more. So what I recommend is price from the "midrange" system or "top" one, I think it ends up cheaper? If you want to game do not get the X3100, it is an IGP so as good as it is it can only do so much. If you do office tasks the X3100 is more than enough even with Vista. But if you want to game? Get a card!

 

Give examples..I am new here

 

I can't, I'm sorry, the 8600m GT is at best an upper mid level card. More comparable to a 7600 card. It is all that was available until recently. If you want to game just post I will give you a link that is better and cheaper than Dell if you are going to spend 1,500 or more.

 

If you can try to get the 8600GT with DDR3 it's significantly faster...

 

My question Was:
In which other cheaper laptops will I find 8600M GT (265)?

 

(looks at your first post) you sure that was your question?

anyway, based on your first post, i play all of the orange box games (hl2, portal, tf2) on almost full settings (at a lower resolution but that doesnt bother me a bit, it's still quite good looking). i hear crysis can be played about medium settings. and it can paly all the older games no sweat.

if you want to, get the new dell xps 15.4" model with the DDR3 ram b/c it's better and will get you a few more fps depending on the game. however, the lappy i have is DDR2 and runs as i stated in the paragraph above. i am very happy with it.

many other computers have the 8600GT so you'll have to look around. check out xoticpc.com or powernotebooks.com and see what ones have the 8600. also a simple google search or a search here on notebookreview should tell you all you need to know. good luck!

 

I still stand by my first question. Thanks for answering.
The second question was for powerpack (my falt not addressing it to him) as he said some would be cheaper than Dell in same specifications. I could configure Vostro 1500 in 1000$. Cant pay more (Too bad). Many BTO like yours would cost more (which is OK, you get what you pay for).

 

With custom drivers (laptopvideo2go) and little OC~ing, you can play games like Need For Speed Pro Street 1200x800 everything maxed (exept AA), Oblivion everything maxed out etc.
And you'll get like 30+ all of the time.

 

8600m GT - Oblivion Maxed?

Umm, no. There's screenshots in the sticky.

 

Marginally, but not significantly. It'll give you a few more frames, but nothing that would make-or-break your gaming experience.

 

If you will leave the AA alone, then you can max everything with 1200x800. =o

 

Yikes! How many more "How good is the 8600m GT" threads will there be?

8600m GT is a upper mid-range card. It will handle any game out there currently as I can attest to first hand. Don't expect miracles from a GPU typically outfitted in a $1000 laptop, but it will play the latest demanding games like Crysis, World in Conflict, and even Oblivion. No you won't be able to max everything out at 1680x1050, but you can run reasonably well at 1280x800 with medium and some high settings. Older games / game engines like Source (Half-Life 2) or Doom 3 run superbly on this card at high settings.

 

Nice to hear that

 

I own a Vostro 1500 (2.0 Core2Duo GHz/ 2GB RAM/ 8600m GT). From the card (8600m GT), as it was mentioned before, can handle any game today at least on medium on resolution of 1200x800. As a rule of thumb: any game released on 2006 and before can be played almost at max.

Now regarding to your original question: 2GB of RAM should be enough (if you will buy it with vista, then its a basic requisite), and any processor (Core 2 Duo) from 1.6GHz should suffice. Now, I have read in these forums that if you want to play RTS (like World in Conflict, etc.) then from 1.6 to 2.0 GHz in the processor makes a difference.

A note on Oblivion: you can play almost with everything on max and get ~30fps IF you are in a cave or dungeon. When walking in the forest with lots of grass, it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get more than 24fps even on high settings.

Edit: I could never find any 15.4'' laptop with the 8600m GT cheaper than on Dell.

 

Oh its' a great card. I run stalker, and hellgate london on 1440x900 on very high and high.

I even run the Bioshock demo on 1440x900 on high wth DX10 lighting and It's smooth. It's an amazing card for the price...since you can get it cheap on Dell's.

 

I concur with the above posts. When I was buying my vostro, it was by far the cheapest laptop I could find tiwh a C2D and 8600gt, infact cheaper by 200 dollars.

 

what setttings will modern games run at with the M1530 with: T7500,8600GDDR3 , 3GB RAM ?

 

I disagree...I think. I just got a 1530 with the 8600GT, T7500 2.2, and 3GB ram and I SIGNIFICANTLY plays CS Source faster than my Inspiron 1520 with T7300, 8600GT, and 2GB ram. Both have the 7200rpm HD. I don't know if its the DDR3, the 10% increase in processor, the extra GIG of ram, or just a combination of all but my fps has literally doubled. I can play 1650x1080 no problem now with an average of 75fps as opposed to my previous 35fps!

 

Then there was something wrong with your Inspiron 1520. CS Source is not very demanding at all. You should be able to get 50-60 fps with an 8400 GS.