So, tell me if my summary is right.

I've been reading these threads here and I'm about 4 years out of date with GPU's. (I bought my AGP 6600 GT and it was smokin back then).


Here is what I've gathered. the 8400 M is a fairly weak dx10 card. The only difference really between the 7400 and the 8400 is this one is dx 10 capable. Which in the grand scheme of things really isn't that special because the card itself is going to run dx10 games poorly.

The 8600 ~ Not a horrible choice, its a midrange card, probabbly does things about as good as old midrange, maybe a touch better. Not quite good as the 7k series high end cards. Both this and the 8400 are currently available to put on laptops.

I think there is a GT version of the 8600 which is faster? maybe, i dunno.

Now, the 8700 is a low end performance card, again dx10 capable, and should rival if not outperform by a smidge. These cards are "out" but arent really readily available.

8800 = Haas. Not availble and when it will be, it'll probabbly be in a laptop that is simillar to a cardboard box.

Anyway. Right now I need a damned laptop.
My house is an hour from my girlfriends, I work 12 hours a day and sometimes I work so late I'm going to miss raids in wow so I want to boot up at work. Basically right now I'm playing on my old 6600 GT at home, and a intel 2959 BC card that I think Jesus actually used on my girlfriends, and it sucks.


So, all I can seem to find are 8600's. I thought I understood that 8700's were out.

If they won't be for 6 months, I'll just jump at the 8600, if there is an 8700 or they will be released soon I gues I'm trying to find out what the deal is so I can go that route. My credit card finger is getting itchy, what do I do?

Oh, and if any 8700's are out can someone point me in the right direction?

 

The 8600GT can be found in a couple of notebooks all of which will run WoW maxed out on native resolution. The 8700gt was mentioned in an upcoming Toshiba 17" notebook, although it is basically just an overclocked 8600gt.

 

What are the chances that someone like me who can usually fix any computer related problem could overclock the 8600?

 

if you need one now get a 7600/7700/X1600/X1700. they will be able to EASILY play WoW.

 

It is wise not to ever overclock anything in a laptop. It voids the warranty and can cause serious and sometimes irreperable damage, too much heat in that closed in space.

 

the 8600m gt performs almost exactly like the go 7900 gs- with the added benefit of fitting in 15" laptops (high performance / watt)

the 8600m gt outperforms the 7600/7700 series by a wide margin, as expected.

the 8600m gs is crippled, and while it still performs better than the 7600, it doesn't do so by as much as many had hoped for.

the 8400m series seems to perform about like the 7400m series, but i personally expect that to change as drivers mature.

in fact, the performance difference between the 7 and 8 series cards should grow with time, in large part due to the brand new drivers we are dealing with now for the 8 series.

the 8700m gt is an overclocked 8600m gt- but you wont find it in 15" laptops, which makes it kind of pointless. most of the people who want 17" gaming laptops will want to wait for the 8800m. if you need the portability of a 15" laptop- the 8600m gt is the best choice by far.

 

I will want to play high end/new games. Wow is not my sole purpose. I for sure want a dx10. I guess I just don't know if waiting on the 8700 is that worthwhile, sounds like it's not.

 

Waiting for the 8800m yes is worthwhile while waitin for the 8700m is not..8800m should poke its head soon enough.

 

I'd be curious how much the 8800 will be cost wise over the 8600 when it does come out. Plus I'd like to get this frigging thing sooner rather then later.
If it'll be christmas time, i'll just do this now.

 

no one should be using an 8700. even after all the complete series is available.

it has nothing to do with price. it has everything to do with availability.

the stronger the gpu, the more heat it generates / power it takes. likewise, the cooling solution ends up being larger. etc.

only 17"+ laptops are able to fit the 8700m gt and the 8800m cards.

15"+ laptops can fit the 8600m gt.

So if you want the portability of a 15" laptop while retaining as much performance as possible- get an 8600m gt. It is the best available and nothing is going to replace it in the 15" market (the hd 2600 xt will match it when it becomes available)

If you want a 17" laptop- you could get an 8600m gt to save on power or you could get an 8800m to have the fastest performance available. the 8700m gt is too much of a compromise. If you are a gamer and you want a 17" laptop for high resolution gaming, you basically have to wait for the 8800m.

If you want a 15" laptop, the resolution is going to be lower, and you can go ahead and pick up an 8600m gt and it will rock. If the 8700m gt was available for the 15" package, you could get that instead.

see where this is going? 15" = 8600m gt. 17" = 8800m

 

Perhaps an insider or sharp observer here has a more accurate timeline for you, but with the 8800M cards having been announced, and possibly even announced in a couple of upcoming models, you can likely expect them to be sold from early September. If that's too late for you (or even if not), start looking at the laptops with 8600M GT cards in them now - they play everything available now on high, and will play the first slew of DX10 games on med-high for sure. With a laptop you're always sacrificing a bit of graphics strength over a desktop, so remember to temper your expectations of just how high you can turn all the settings in future games. TBH, once you get to a certain resolution, I can't see any difference with turning up features like Anti-aliasing high.

 

From what I've inferred (from ODM's) is that don't expect to see the 8800's until Christmas time, or early Jan. We shall see.

 

Good information guys.


I'm debating on buying a 300/400 dollar desktop for my girlfriends which will give me a cheap wow machine to play on (and not be pulling my hair out) and allow me to have time to make the proper decision and not rush on anything.

 

So is there any other laptop, other than the Macbook Pro, which carries the 8600GT? Cause almost all the laptops I've seen have got the 8600GS or lower.

 

Yes there is. The new dell models have 8600gt's, the compal ifl90, the sager np2090, and the asus g1s or g2s all have the 8600gt

 

The Inspiron series right?

 

Waiting for the 8800 card sounds like a good idea, but do we have any guarantees as gamers at this point, that an 8800gs will be significantly faster than a dx9 7950gtx card? Is the wait worth it?

 

The 8700GT sucks, don't bet on the 8800 being much of an improvement if its released soon. 3DMark06 scores:
7950GTX: 5400
8700mGT: 4000
'nuff said.

 

nothing is guaranteed in life except death and taxes.

judging from 8600 / 7600, i would say the 8800m gs (crippled 8800) will probably be a little faster than the 7950gtx. the 8800m gt and gtx will probably surpass its performance by a wide margin.

edit: the 8800 isn't going to be just a higher clocked 8600m gt. there is no need for that. obviously nvidia released the 8700m gt just to have something available fr 17" notebooks that was faster.

the 8800 is going to have more shaders and a wider memory bus.

 

I've posted this in another thread...

I don't think there will be a 8800M GS...

I found this on page 2 here:
http://materiel.froggytest.com/modules/magazine/article.php?articleid=181

and the translated English version here:
http://translate.google.com/transla...om/modules/magazine/article.php?articleid=181

"For the small history, in the properties of the system, the graphics board is named: 8800M GS. As confirmed to us the same person in charge Toshiba, it acts of the name of which nVidia thought initially for its 8700M WP. Here, the pilots are not yet completely up to date…"

Note: it's suppose to mean 8700M GT, the google translation mess it up.