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    dell 1720 8600m gt

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007.

  1. shorty69187420

    shorty69187420 Notebook Guru

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    is this card running 512mb? i know it is 256 dedicated but is 256mb coming from the ram. On Dell it just says 8600m gt 256mb.

    Also is the 8600m gt a dx10 video card that you get from dell
     
    shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007
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  2. Odin5578

    Odin5578 Notebook Evangelist

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    All 8-series cards are dx10 compatiable. It's a 256 dedicated but you can get more from the RAM.

    -Taylor
     
    Odin5578, Aug 9, 2007
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  3. Mimino

    Mimino Notebook Communist

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    some web sites have 512mb version, but i was told that that extra vram comes from the system ram....256mb dedicated + 256mb system ram
     
    Mimino, Aug 9, 2007
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  4. shorty69187420

    shorty69187420 Notebook Guru

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    do i have to set these settings or does it automatically take the 256 mb out of the ram?
     
    shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007
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  5. theTORCH

    theTORCH Notebook Evangelist

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    I don't think you can 'set' a graphics card to use system RAM. It has to be built in. (that may be horribly ignorant... correct me if i'm wrong)

    On the other hand, you really don't want to. When a card uses system RAM, you'll often run into stuttering in games caused by high latencies on the data from the system RAM.
     
    theTORCH, Aug 9, 2007
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  6. shorty69187420

    shorty69187420 Notebook Guru

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    oh didn't know about the stuttering of a game but now that you mention it i believe it would seeing that memory wouldn't be as fast as the video ram
     
    shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007
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  7. theTORCH

    theTORCH Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh, btw. If you have an accelerated graphics port, you can set the amount of system RAM that your graphics card will use.

    Rule of thumb: don't use more than one-fourth of your system RAM.

    Also, I don't know if this works unless the card already uses system RAM, and most people are on PCI anyways...
     
    theTORCH, Aug 9, 2007
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  8. shorty69187420

    shorty69187420 Notebook Guru

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    does the video card run ddr2 or ddr3?
     
    shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007
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  9. theTORCH

    theTORCH Notebook Evangelist

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    The 8600m GT in the inspiron line is DDR2, contrary to some stories that DELL reps were giving out before the first shipment.

    However, there are DDR3 8600m GT cards out there. See the Asus G1S.
     
    theTORCH, Aug 9, 2007
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  10. shorty69187420

    shorty69187420 Notebook Guru

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    ;( brings a tear to my eye... i was hoping it was ddr3 but oh well i already bought the 1720...now just have to wait until i get it
     
    shorty69187420, Aug 9, 2007
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  11. theTORCH

    theTORCH Notebook Evangelist

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    If you want a practical measurement of difference between DDR3 and DDR2, DDR3 users seem to report about 7-10 more FPS than DDR2 users in gaming (all else being equal).

    Do you still feel bad?
     
    theTORCH, Aug 9, 2007
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