returning an integrated geforce for a go 7600 - worth it?

Hi there.

I know some desktop stuff but am out of date even with that and new to the world of notebook gaming. I recently had an HP dv8000 (Win XP) fry on me; got a replacement (free), but with vista on it. The replacement was actually a decent upgrade except for the vid card. They sent me one with a 6150 integrated chip. I see on their site that I should be able to return this notebook and get one with a 7600 instead. I use this mostly for work but the one game I would play on it alot is LOTR Online which is a system hog. With this notebook i have to play it in a window@1024x768 with low settings and that sucks on a 1650x1050 17" screen. I think it's probably going to be worth trying; but I wanted to make sure. Do you guys think going to a 7600 is worth the hassle?

I already talked with one HP guy and he was ready to give me a new one if I agreed to pay 99 dollars for the 7600 added on. I asked to talk with my former case rep and got disconnected

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

fOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO IT! Huge difference between 760 go and intergrated. Do not pass go do not collect 200$ do this NOW.

 

I'm curious, will you please post the specs of your old dv8000 and the replacement? I think the dedicated GeForce Go 7600 is worth the $99.

 

If the specs are identical or better (not including the GPU) then I would go for the 7600 one. You'll get better performance (if your playing LORTO) but remeber your also sacrificing heat and battery power.

On my x1400 I can run LOTRO on max settings + 1680x1050

Look at the gfx card guide for a basic feel of what you'll get with the 7600:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=65548

 

yep I figured it was worth it (just wanted to be sure). Thanks psxsage. And eternal here are my specs:

laptop 1: Win XP
dv8000
AMD turion 64 1.8ghz
1GB RAM
ATI Radeon 200M

Replacement: Vista
dv9000
AMD Turion 64 2.0Ghz
2GB RAM (thumbs up)
Geforce 6150 (thumbs down)

Sad thing is that the dv8000 ran LOTRO a little better than the replacement. And if you're curious the reason I had it replaced was that it tried to kill me when i plugged in an external monitor - bright blue electrical current/smoke/melted cable and scorched laptop case - scary stuff!

 

I blame Vista and the shoddy nVidia drivers for the OS. The 6150 is currently the most powerful IGP (integrated graphics processor) on the market AFAIK.

 

Thanks I will check that! Yep I don't mind the heat or the battery life as long as it has good performance. I travel some for work and need the power on the go. (and the gaming )

 

The go 6150 is definitely a decent integrated graphics processor--but if you want to do any more gaming at all...I would go for the go 7600 for $99 more--assuming all the other specs are the same.

 

bakly, thanks for the extra info.

i hope you're able to get the 7600, please keep us posted. one of my biggest concerns with laptops is warranty/repair/customer service, so it's always nice to hear about someone's personal experience.

Since you guys were talking about gaming on XP vs. Vista this article from extremetech.com may be of interest, Game Performance: Vista vs. XP and ATI vs. NVIDIA.

 

Funny that I read that an hour before this post

I'm not sure about nvidia but I do believe ATI should have better results now. The article was published when ATI was on catalyst 7.1. ATI is now on 7.3. Just my penny of thought though

 

Thank you all for the help. I will let you know how it turns out!

 

Well so far no luck actually talking with anyone that can/will do anything. They ("case manager") should be calling me back tomorrow. If not, maybe I will simply ask for my money back. We'll see.

 

Was your call anything like THIS?

 

ive played every current game (and old ones too) there is with my rig and haven't even had a studder, your gonna love the go7600

 

yea i say get it too!

 

You guys aren't reading the entire post. Come on, it's only 2 pages thus far.

 

Well, it's been a while but I'm back and so far, very satisfied and a little surprised.
I was finally able to get in contact with my first case manager (they gave me a new one and he NEVER called me - long story in and of itself - pretty lousy experience). Anyway, one day out of the blue my former case manager called me, she asked me what the problem was about and I told her mainly the video card. She let me pick out a new one myself and fax her the model and specs. Well, I took a chance and it paid off - I got on the website about two weeks ago and they just started listing a model with the 8600GS and I sent her a fax saying thet this was 'the one' if I could seriously have my choice. She didn't call me back, but I got it today and it is a serious upgrade.

Pavilion dv9500
Intel Core Duo 1.8ghz (had to switch to the Intel to get the video card)
2 gigs RAM
Geforce 8600 GS
160 GB HDD

So, thank you all for the advice. I'm glad I stuck to my guns (I wanted to give up at one point because of the bad case manager experience). Hopefully, after I test out my new rig a little I will be able to confirm my suspicions and be extremely satisfied.

Thanks again for the feedback!
-bakly