Kinda dissapointed by my 8600m GT

I see other people with 8600m GT cards, like people with Macbook Pro's or Dell XPS machins who get good results with these cards, by mine is simply not fluid.

I just clean installed my Vista 64 Bit, 4 GB Ram, T9500 C2D Zepto machine with an 8600m GT, and I got barely 2800 points in 3DMark 06 2800, using different drivers.
According to the Zepto site, they get 4100 points in 3Dmark at 1024x768 resolution!( http://uk.zepto.com/Shop/Notebook.aspx?notebookid=636 )
Another funn thing is that my 3DMark, thinks my card is 8600m GS.
I am using the 77.89 drivers, that faired a bit better than the current official one for my laptop(75.75)

I guess that my question is this - My card has 512 DDR2. I heard that the 8600m GTs in Dell and Macbook Pros, have DDR3 memory! Is that why they fair so much better?
I thought DDR3 was overrated(or that was what I heard) but maybe that was system ram, and not video ram.


This is my first laptop, so I didn't know what to expect in terms of gaming power, but it was the most expenssive thing I could afford at the time. WoW and CSS kinda struggles with playable framerates at higher settings, and World in Conflict and Company of Heroes, run awfaul - Even at lowest settings.

 

ddr3 makes a big difference, you haven't posted what resolutions you have been doing anything at though, but I would think 1280x720 would be max playable with medium settings. I'm also assuming your mean 177.89 and not 77.89?

 

have you tried updating your drivers? I have the 9500Gs which is the same as the 8600Gt DDR2 i can run wow and css on max settings! World in conflict and company of heros should run just fine with your gpu. Try updating your drivers! and also what resolution are you trying to play at?

 

Are you sure the card you have isnt actually the GS? if you have DDR2 and other 8600m GT cars have DDR3? I dont really know, just guessing, but its a possibility if 3D mark says you have the GS.

 

I was wondering the same thing. Are you sure you have a 8600 GT and not a 8600 GS?

 

Basically it says in the hardware profile in windows(where it display my index score that its a GT) it also says in 3D Mark on the first screen.
It says its a GS when I uploaded my results. It has to be a bug on their part!

 

Then that's probably not a mistake. Your card probably is an 8600 GS

 

Yes. Updated all my drivers and general tweaks.

Disabled Aero, unchecked indexing hard drive... downloaded driver for chipset, and everything from bluetooth to webcam to.. yeah the whole thing.
Updated everything windows, got nothing else installed.


It even seems that Radeon HD 2600 Pro is a bette card, but I heard it was much older!?

 

yeah i'm thinking you have a gs. Go to this website http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest and just put in any game when its done testing it will tell you what gpu you have. Try that and tell us what that website told you what your gpu is.

 

Yes. 177.89!


I am running 1200x800, now, and that got my score to 2900.



should I try downloading the Vista service pack?
I also thought about the ram management, but now that i have 64 bit vista, it should not be a problem? But I also heard that ram has no effect in 3DMark which sounds really weird?

Ain't Ram basically = power and faster?

 

CPU
Minimum: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP equivalent
You Have: 2 processors running - Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9500 @ 2.60GHz PASS
CPU Speed
Minimum: 1.7 GHz
You Have: 2.59 GHz Performance Rated at 6.42 GHz PASS
System RAM
Minimum: 512 MB
You Have: 4.0 GB PASS
Operating System
Minimum: Windows XP (32-bit version)
You Have: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, 64-bit (Build Service Pack 16001) PASS
Video Card
Minimum: 100% DirectX 9 compatible 128MB Direct3D Card (GeForce FX 5700+/Radeon 8500, 9500+)
You Have: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT () PASS
Video Card Features - Minimum attributes of your Video Card Video RAM: Required - 128 MB , You have - 2.2 GB
Video Card 3D Acceleration: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Video HW Transform & Lighting: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Vertex Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 4.0
Pixel Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 4.0


Video Card Driver Version (DirectX)
Your driver version number is: 7.15.11.7789 FYI: Your video card driver version is provided for your information, but it is not part of this analysis. But proper video card driver versions are important to the proper operation of your product.
DirectX Version
Minimum: 9.0 (included)
You Have: 10.0 PASS
Sound Card
Minimum: Yes
You Have: Højttalere (Realtek High Defini PASS


tested with BF2!

 

I'm confused lol why things are telling you you have a 8600Gt to a 8600GS to a 8600GT is beyond me lol

 

When I ran 3DMark the first time, it started smelling like burned flesh.. from the left side of the computer. the battery was completely cold, but the left side was so hot near the fan, that it hurt to have my hand their...

 

3D Mark 06 reports 8600m GT DDR3 as 8600m GS, it does also with mine, and i have GT DDR3...

Try changing your battery settings to performance mode (or power settings).

 

for a ddr2 8600 gt your seems right, especially since you are using vista. I think my old vostro with a t7300 and a 8600m gt ddr2 got 3000 running xp, but I had a higher resolution screen so the test would have run at 1280x1024. I know for sure though that I was able to run bf2142 almost with maxed settings. Not sure what else there is that you can do to get it working besides drivers.

 

I get 4318 in 3dmark06 on my 8600m gt.

 

~4300 is stock score on a ddr3...

can the OP confirm that he is running his 3dmark06 with his computer plugged in to the wall, and running at performance mode?

 

3dmark06 tells me that i have a 8600m gs as well. And that's definitely not the case. Its just that 3dmark use faulty hardware identification programs.

 

You can still overclock your 8600m gt ddr2 and get some very nice results. Ive heard of people getting slightly over 4k in 3dmark06 running in 1280x800. That would be impressive and you'll basically be able to run the game close to stock 8600m gt ddr3 speeds!

 

Thats low for a gDDR2 8600m GT. My Vostro 1500 8600m gddr2 hits over 4000 no sweat in 3dmark06 with no OC.

T7100
3.5gb ram
120gb 5400 rpm
8600m GT gDDR2

Download GPU Z that should put an end to wondoring what card you actually have

 

how many times must I ask....post your freak en resolution people. As I stated in my post, I tested it 3dmark 06 default resolution of 1280x1024 if your screen does not support that resolution 3dmark06 scores are run at a lower resolution often greatly increasing your score.

 

Something definitely doesn't sound right , if drivers aren't solving it maybe its a faulty card

 

that sounds right if you have the ddr2 version of the 8600m gt. ddr3 for desktops is overrated- its more expensive per clock. but it can also achieve higher clocks, so eventually people will switch to ddr3. the gddr3 version of the 8600m gt wouldn't matter if the clock speed was the same, but it just so happens that they are able to clock the memory almost twice as fast in the gddr3 version... thats where the difference in scores is coming from.

 

If you are running 3dmark at 1200 by 800 as I believe you indicated in a previous post... then it seems to me that your 8600M GT is flawed in some way... and if not then it must be in the very bottom of the performance spectrum of said card.

I have the same card as you and a resolution 1200 by 800.

With default display drivers and stock clocks, I posted a 3dmark06 score of approx 3300.
With updated drivers and stock clocks, I got approx 3700.

It seems to me that 2800 is a considerably low score.

It you performing the test at a higher resolution then maybe it would be appropriate.

 

Something is wrong with either the drivers or the card because I have never seen a DDR2 8600M GT get less than 3000 in 3dmark6 at 1280x800, nevermind 1024x768. Here is a thread with various results (all of the Compal xFL9x machines feature a DDR2 8600M GT and are generally 1280x800): http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=221477 . Everyone in that thread is using a processor inferior to your T9500, but they all get higher scores.

 

They are already set to performance.

 

I get 3.3k 3dmark06 (1280x1024) and I can still play all the latest games on my ddr2 8600mGT.

 

With 1280x 1024 (tested on external) I hit 3600

 

Both of you - Are your cards OCed and what driver did you use?

 

I hit 4300s @ 1280x 1024 with my 8600M GT DDR2, have to say i OCed, but that shouldnt matter that much..

And as i can see your processor is way more powerful, plus the fact that you have 256MB extra dedicated memory..

As far as my OC I'm running @ 595/1532/526

 

I have a Zepto Znote 6324W. It has a 8600m GT with 512MB of DDR2. I can get 3912 in 3Dmark 06 at 1280*800. I have not overclocked it and I am using 174.12 drivers. Any of the newer drivers cause my GPU to downclock to 275MHz core and 200MHz memory after a short time. When it does this my GPU is NOT overheating in anyway, and my 3D mark scores drop to about 2000. I don't have the problem if I use 174.12 or earlier drivers. Try changing your drivers to earlier ones. Even using 167.59 I was able to get good 3dMark 06 results.

 

Nope stock clocks. When OC'd 500/500 I got 3.8-4k, but saw no real gameplay improvement. Im using 177.89 currently.

 

I get 3625 with my dell vostro with 8600m gt.

When oced to 600/450 i get 4150.

These tests were all run on 1280x800

 

There is no much difference between DDR2 and GDDR3 8600GT cards.

His score is way too low. My scores are:

1280x854 (weird res, I know)= 3940
slight O/C= 4154

1280x1024= 3522 no O/C

Stock clocks 475/950/400
slight O/C 510/1050/415

 

Could it be that he is using Vista 64 bit?

 

yeah maybe its vista doing it. maybe the software doesn't play nice with 64 bit vista.

 

cant be, heaps of people have 64 bit and dont have a problem.....

far out, just downlaod GPUZ and tell us what the card is!

 

dude what do you expect most people are overstating the performance. however im cant beileve you have issues with css/wow. WiC and the other game you listed are very demanding even my gaming laptop cant play them maxed totally. just stick to older games with that card. thats what i would do.

 

GPU-z also says its 8600m GT 512 DDR2


I ran 3dmark, with gpu-z in the background, and GPU temperature got up to 71 degrees.

when I am not doing anything it is at 70 degrees. the fan is always at 100%. it doesnt seem like the fan is kicking in or making alot of noise.


i reformated several times... but I recall I once used atitool or something to set the fan speed to 100% all the time because I recall the machine getting so hot. would the GPU remember those settings if it was reformatted? several times!?


when I got the machine a long time ago(6-8 months) I could get good scores at 300-3500 I recall.


Is my diminished quality strong enough for me to be able to return it to zepto for an exchange? or am I just another victim of Nvidias little f**k up?


I am starting a college thingy in a few days, and I dont wanna be without gaming... goddamit.

 

WoW can actually be pretty demanding depending on where you are or what you're doing (and of course your settings). Source however, shouldn't be so bad. Might as well call this Zepto and find out yourself as soon as you can.

 

I just thought of something...

this zepto came with vista 32 bit pre configured. then I changed it to 64 bit and it performs worse... could that have something to do with it?


can the system somehow be configured in bios as a x86 system?

 

The Zepto definitely has 8600mGT DDR2 guys. Just to clear that one up.