Nvidia GTX 260M vs. Nvidia GeForce 9600M

Is there a significant difference between these two video cards? I've been looking around and some sites say that the 260M is the best out there and it runs extremely well, but many laptops I've been looking at don't carry that, but the 9600M. Is there a noticeable difference?

 

very huge.

the 9600M is a mid-range (128-bit memory interface) card

the GTX 260M is a high-end (256-bit memory interface) card

over twice the performance difference.

please refer to the GPU Guide.

 

huge difference lol

like double the performance or more

 

Its like comparing 1500 horse power to just 100 horse power...lol

 

I didn't mention, but this is a 9600M GT

 

doesnt matter.

still mid-range.

 

alright, thank you for the quick input guys!

 

200-300% difference. I can vouch for that since I've owned a 9600 before, and the 280 isn't much different from the 260.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.org/Tarjetas-graficas-moviles-lista-de-Benchmarks-nueva.2552.0.html

 

The difference is like comparing a cycle to a sports car.

 

It's like getting hit in the balls with a tennis ball or getting hit in the balls with a sledgehammer.

 

It's like picking up the hot girl at the bar at 10pm or the girl you think is hot at 4am.

 

nice nice nice!!!!

 

There were WAY to many "It's like" statements here... i think the thread reached its limit about 3 statements ago.

But
Its like the difference between jumping off the bottom step of your stairs or sky diving

 

Hey, keep in mind some of us still have to use bicycles/tennis-ball-groin-shots/alcohol-influenced-romances/stair-jumping.
The 9600M GT will be less expensive, and found in smaller notebooks due to the lower cooling demands. I would not be surprised if the GTX 260M is kept to 17"+ notebooks and the rare expensive 15.4/16".
But for raw gaming power, the GTX 260M is pretty damn good.

 

the only 15.4" notebook with the GTX 260M is:
- Clevo M860ETU (aka. Sager NP8662, Kobalt Nexus, etc..)

 

That's actually just the laptop I'm looking at right now. Its cooling is good enough to handle the 260M though? I haven't found any quality reviews on the NP8662 to date.

 

the GTX 260M is perfect cooled in that system.

as for reviews.... look up:
- Clevo M860TU
- Sager 8660
- Sager NP8660

same system.

here is a start:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4590

 

So I'm guessing that in a MSI 1722 with a 9600M GT, there will be no way to upgrade it to anything better, much less to the GTX 260M? Is this correct?

 

It can be upgraded to a 9800m GS or GT. You would need to change the heatsink or mod it.. I got a 9800m GT last week but my current heatsink wont work. I am ordering one for a GT725. Hopefully it works. The card it self fit into the MXM slot but I couldnt try it due to the heatsink problem.

I doubt the GTX 200 series will work though.

 

How about the GTX 130M? Or is it a different MXM? I have heard this is a slight improvement on the 9600s.

 

same core different clocks, still nowhere near gtx260/280 level.

 

Eurocom is selling the GTX 280m for $605.00 USD.

 

And everyone else is selling it for about $490 USD. Typical Eurocom.

 

LoL pwn3d. GTX 260M is a high end card w/ 256-bit memory width. It will be double the performance of any mainstream (128-bit) card such as GT 130M, 120M, 9700M GT, 9650M GT, 9600M GT or their ATI equivalents HD 4670, 4650, 3670, 3650.

 

Huh that's not how it works. 256bits means it has 2 times more memory bandwidth for the same memory clocks. But there are more that matters than memory speed. The best G84-based cards would pwned with a 256bits one though (8700M GT, 9600+MGT, GT130M) and so would the 4670.

 

High end cards are typically defined by their memory bandwidth (ie. 256-bit is high end, 128-bit is mainstream, and 64-bit is low end). While the main determinant in nVidia cards are shaders, memory bandwidth plays a huge part at higher resolutions. You can check out the link in my name for more details on GPU specs.

256-bit cards have anywhere from 48 to 128 of them compared to the 128-bit cards, which have 16-32. So I'm not sure what you mean by the best G84 cards would pwn a 256-bit card, because they clearly won't. 8700M GT/9600M GT/GT 130M and HD 4670 are all far inferior to the 98xx series (256-bit) and GTX 260M/280M and HD 48xx series.

 

go 260M go

 

BTW, how do you compare 260m and 88m SLI?