Nvidia 8600M performance, general discussion

I saw somewhere that the MBP has a core and mem clock high than stock to as a default? I don't know if there is truth to that but i thought it was interesting. are u sure it as at 1280x1024? or at least 1280x800?

 

Huh what are you t alking about ??? :S I used the same resolution he did.

I dont understand what you mean with beating his score with that ? I used the same settings he did I believe :/

 

Not on stock dell drivers, lv2g.com driver here.
4838 on a high overclock, with 169.09 forceware.

 

FYI: AHHHHRT's score is benched at 1280x800. Nice score mate, almost hit that 5k.

 

Just to compare to the guys running stock clocks at 1280x800, such as big V. I did notice that I could run it a bit higher (see sig) but that was unstable and ran very hot. Almost 5 degrees hotter than on my "stable" clocks which netted me the above score.

P.S I will try for that 5k one day.

 

i still remember those times when people used to bench marks at 1025*768

 

Well, 1024x768 is standard for 3dmark05, which is still used (though not as much).

 

Finally you guys , I could Install the 169.09 drivers and I love them! they are even better than my old dell drivers.

I get 4425 3d Mark 06 scores with my clock speeds at 610 / 460

oh and call of duty plays a lot better now !

 

For some reason 169.09 are the best performers in the 169 drivers thus far.

Get this: with 169.09 OC'd to 550/1100/900 I used to get VERY HIGH frames in heavily modded Oblivion at 1440x900 and the Source games at absolute max settings, including the QAA and the AsF.

With 169.28, I couldn't even play Oblivion at all (<10 FPS) and had to turn down the resolution in Source to 1280x800, and flip the AA and AsF off. It still lagged more than with max on 169.09.

Lovely drivers, these, yes?

 

hey, guys, got a question: while running 3dmark, my memory stays at 400mhz, but once the tests are done, it bumps up to 800mhz. is that normal or what?

here's the screenshot:


u can also see that at some point it deeps down into the lowest of 200mhz(at 1:29:56min)?!

 

You have the ddr2 which means your stock mem clock is 400. The 800 number is wrong. Whenever it goes into standard 2d meaning your gpus lowest energy state it should switch to 170/100 for some reason rivatuner shows 182.xx(normal problem)/ and 8xx(same on mine). The 200 part of the test probably is the cpu portion of the test.

 

well, that screenshot was taken while playing need for speed most wanted.
so u say, it's just the riva messing up?(showing 800mhz while idle and 400mhz under load)

 

Yeah, like check out my screenshot. Thats when I'm browsing the web. Same numbers as yours. Your memory is actually at 100 at idle. Our memories can't reach that high.

 

thanx, forerunner, crap got me scared for a min. lol
oh, and about that stuttering issue: i did experience it at that particular moment(1:29:56min)? and i do get those slow downs pretty much every time i play nfsmw? maybe that's why others experience them as well?(sudden drop in the clocks)

 

Yeah no problem.
Regarding the stuttering issue. I'm kinda confused myself. I had no idea what people were talking about and still am not sure if mine is this famous stuttering problem.

The weirdest thing happened after installing the .68 and cod4. My fps was incredibly higher than usual but it was higher erratically. Like my fps jumped over 60 whenever I went indoors but would drop down to 40s in a blink of an eye and I would get screen tearing. Then overtime my fps dropped to the 30s like the usually are but my fps minimum dropped but it drd not drop much. What I noticed was the rapid spiking and declination of my fps. Thing is I didn't test for too long. I did experience alot of stuttering then which I can only blame on the big jumps and falls of the framerate.

Now with Tf2 which I've been playing alot more lately, its smmoth as butter and framerates are as they should be. Same with universe at war.

 

i hear that. had 169.28 running with cod4 rather decently, but then tried playing san andreas and it played like crap, so switched to omega's 169.21 for now.
i'll try to do some more observations and post back in the next few days. the only game i experience this "stuttering" is nfsmw.

p.s. btw, see if anything happens to ur clocks when ur fps jump up and down

 

Alright yeah. I'll try cod4 tomorrow and see if it happens again. How are the omega drivers by the way? Any performance boost? TTYL

 

dunno about any boost, but they seem to run pretty good. cod4 runs much better than on 169.04 and san andreas plays way better than on 169.28. get 374x in 3dmark on 1280*800. overall, a rather satisfying feeling so far! lol
take care, man!

 

Hey it's been a while since I've checked out the 8600 thread, is there a consensus on what is the best driver yet? Has there even been an update?

 

I think I'm going to try the 169.28 drivers. I'm getting horrible stuttering with the 169.04 in COD4, similar to what Forerunner was experiancing with the .68 drivers.

 

COD4 works fine for me on 169.09

 

Same here.

 

did you guys get decent framerates? I regularly get framerate drops to below 30 FPS (maxed everything, 1280x720)

 

Well it really depends on the location , I get anything from 13 - 60 fps.

But lets say that I get more than ~28 fps most of the time.


Lets take the mission where you have to save nikolay or whatever his name is as example , take a look at your fps at the very beginning to compare it with the others! - I will be posting mine soon , but I am downloading somethin right now so it would be hitting my performance.


*edit* just tried that level and I get 29 fps at the very beginning , what about you guys?

 

I rarely drop below 30, although I do have a few things turned down a little (read: not on max). I'm running at 1280x800 resolution.

 

hey guys how does NWN2 fully patched work on an 8600m gt? I've been thinking about getting compal ifl90 with 8600m gt.

Also should I wait?

 

What is currently the most stable driver for the 8600m GT.. Running on 169.04..also looking for a vostro OC guide

 

I think the best overall with newer games and OC is 169.28.

 

169.04 is a good driver. It's stable and offers good performance. As mentioned, the latest, 169.28 also appears to be good. You can overclock with RivaTuner.

 

is there a guide to OC with rivatuner? i looked and it and ive never OCed before

 

I don't know if there is an official guide, but here is how you do it...

1. Open RivaTuner
2. Click next to "Customize" under "Driver Settings" on the first tab (Figure 1)
3. Then click on the 1st icon, which should look like a video card. It will take you to the "System Tweaks" options
4. From there check the "Enable driver-level hardware overclocking" box and adjust the frequencies.
**Make sure you adjust the clocks for 3D Performance only.

**Remember, increase the frequencies 5-10mhz at a time and then check for artifacts. I'd recommend doing a search as to what clocks others have overclocked to. I personally run at 550/1100/451.
**Also, make sure you adjust 3D Performance clocks only.

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you I will try it in a couple days when i can get rid of the blue screen of death issue

 

You're welcome.

 

Hey everyone, just a quick question:

Given that I'm using Vista, which driver (if any) would you say is the best and most stable performer all around? I don't plan on changing drivers frequently just to get the best performance for the specific game that I'm playing. From what I can tell, 169.04 and 169.09 seem to be the best bets. What do you all think?

 

169.28 for sure.. fastest, most bugfixed and best in newer games.

 

Also don't forgot - adjust the clocks for Performance 3D only.

 

You're right, I forgot to mention that. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Hi all,

I'm looking at a HP dv9700t with a 512MB 8600M GS. What concerns me is that they don't explicitly use the word discrete--is this an integrated card? I see others use this for gaming, I just want to be sure before I buy that this one I'm looking at will in fact be able to play the latest games.

I'm also concerned because the description talks about shared memory:"If configured with the 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm), there will be 512MB dedicated memory and up to 257MB shared memory. If configured with the 2GB System Memory (2 Dimm), there will be 512MB dedicated memory and up to 767MB shared memory. If configured with the 3GB or 4GB System Memory (2 Dimm), there will be 512MB dedicated memory and up to 1,279MB shared memory."

Thanks in advance

 

No, the 8600M GS is a Discrete graphics card. But if you are looking to play the latest games, I recommend you go with the 8600M GT, at least.
Not sure about the shared memory though.

 

Shared memory is system RAM that the GPU uses to assist itself. However, it is much more inferior to dedicated RAM, so you should always value dedicated RAM over shared RAM.

Also, if you want better performance, get a notebook that has the GDDR3 version of the 8600m GT, not the DDR2 version.

 

Don't worry it's a discrete chip (there is no integrated GF8600).

And don't worry about the memory 512MB of dedicated VRAM is the most you can get on a laptop currently, and more than most apps need, thinik of the TurboCache numbers as a bonus add on that help make it 512+ and not just 512, only using it when it really needs it yet still being smart enough to make sure it is dedicated more to CPU than GPU if there is ever a power struggle for resources. TurboCache and HyperMemory are far more intelligent than the old dumb shared setups, and they dynamically adjust to help out.

But like Crash says always focus on the dedicated VRAM as that will be the stuff it accesses quickly.

Only in very VERY rare situations will large amount of HyperMemory ever be worth more than larger amounts of dedicated VRAM, and that's usually in modeling apps, where the nice thing is during the render output that memory goes back to the system for the final output.

Generally 512MB+TC>512MB-alone>256MB+TC>256MB-alone > 128MB+TC.

Once you get low enough 64MB + larger TurboCache might perform better than 128MB without, but usually that's a rare game setting, and that level of GPU usually would simply perform better anyways on lower settings.

 

I have a question, I am getting a Laptop and I want to know how well Oblivion would play using the card It came with:

Intel Core 2 Dou T7500 (2.20ghz)
1gb or RAM (I'm up grading to 2gb)
NVIDIA 8600M GS (256) (dedicated card)

I'm new to the forum so if I have posted in the wrong place let me know.
I know the 8600M GT is better but I can't get it right now.

 

You should be able to run it at very high settings (keep grass low and everything should be fine). Also look for the Oblivion section in www.tweakguides.com for improving the game performance by making use of the high amount of RAM you plan to have.

I hope this can help you.

 

Thanks, I'll note that. I've been looking everywhere for some feedback, and you're the first to reply. Thanks again!

 

Which is better?

512MB 8600GS on HP dv9700t or
256 MB 8600GT on XPS M1530

Please help me with this

 

256MB 8600MGT on XPS M1530 is better.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I saw your signature with 1530 do you have any problems with the screen?

 

Read the sticky

But hell, I'll answer your question anyways...

the 256MB 8600m GT on XPS M1530

1. Because it uses GDDR3 RAM
2. the GT is significantly more powerful than the GS

EDIT: Wow I was slow, sorry for the late post.

 

Thanks a lot .. I know But I couldn't figure out if 512MB 8600GS was better then 256MB 8600GT. Thanks for the help. That does help me decide on the laptop I want.

 

Actually, I'm still waiting for my 1530 to arrive . But if you're going to be playing a lot of modern games, I'd recommend you order the WXGA(1280X800) screen because as games become more and more demanding, the lower settings you will play on, and if you order a WXGA+ or WSXGA screen, then you will have to play at non-native resolutions. The WXGA is the best for modern games. The WXGA+ is the best for internet/older games(2006/some 20070) but you may get a grainy screen. Most of the WSXGA screens are grainy, text will look too small, and the 8600M GT won't be able to play many games at the native resolution of 1680x1050.