dv9500T with GeForce 8600M GS (512MB) - How is it for gaming?

Hello everyone. I've been lurking here for about two weeks and have been very impressed with the high level of discussion here. Glad to be a part of the these forums.

I'm considering a dv9500T for my next laptop; for the price, you can't match the specs for at least another $400 w/any other brand.

My question is about the GeForce 8600M GS card. How good is it for gaming, and it does have it's own 512MB of dedicated memory, correct?

I'm assuming the 8600M will be a huge step up from the ATI X700 (64MB) that I have in my current laptop, right? (Acer TM4400)

I use my laptop when I travel on business, which is pretty frequently. After doing the proposals in Word and the presentations in PowerPoint, I game. Strictly shooters, so FPS means everything.

A "gaming laptop" is close to $3K and that is above my budget.

I think the dv9500T is what I'm looking for, but I'm concerned about the GPU.

Please give me your honest thoughts about the 8600GS. Thanks very much.

 

The 8600M-GS is not a true gamer's card, as it is a crippled version of the 8600M-GT (it only has half the shader processing power). However, for casual to medium gaming, it will do okay. You should be able to play newer games at 1280x800 or 1440x900 with mostly medium settings, though some of the advanced shading options may have to be turned down lower.

Also, if you want other recommendations, I'd highly suggest that you post a FAQ in the What Notebook Should I Buy section.

Edit: If I remember correctly, the 8600M-GS is around twice as powerful as the x700, with the difference increasing with newer games.

 

Thanks, Odin243. It really helps that you quantified it's performance. I know what Quake4 @ 1280x800 looks like on my laptop with the settings at medium...not "oh wow!" impressive, but not unplayable for the most part.

If the 8600M is twice as powerful, that would be a really great boost in the GPU dept. The fact that the laptop I'm spec'ing out is a 2.2GHz C2D would really boost performance too. Especially compared to the 1.6GHz Turion I'm running now.

I know the 8600M isn't a true gamer's card; the issue is that a laptop w/a real "gamer's card" is $2K+ and I"m not looking to spend that kind of change.

I know the dv9500 is a desktop replacement, but I wouldn't be using it as such. I have a great desktop PC already; I just need something that I can satisfactorily game on while I'm on the road.

Thanks again for your input.

 

If you haven't already looked at it, the Dell Vostro 1700/Inspiron 1720 does have a gamer's card in it, and should be priced very similarly to the HP.

 

It is a dedicated solution but the card is capable of using the extra memory from your RAM when necessary. Ofcourse the extra shared memory is not really effective in helping boost the performance of the graphics card but helps if you have low amount of dedcated memory. Both Nvidia and AMD/ATi use this 'feature ' on most of their current generation graphics. Its more of marketing crap than any real performance benefit.

The 8600M should do fine with the amount of dedicated memory it has.

 

The 8600GS is, as another poster put it, a crippled card. To see a side-by-side comparison of the 8600GS and the 8600GT, see: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600M.html

If you want basic gaming ability in a notebook that's under $2000, consider either the ASUS G2S-A1 or the Toshiba X205-S9349.

The X205-S9349 has the 8700GT, with 256MB discrete video memory, and additional shared memory of up to 255MB - specs are at: http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?seg=HHO&poid=383433&coid=-33936

Toshiba lists the X205-S9349 at $1,999, but retailers are already pricing below that; e.g., Best Buy has the system for $1,849.99, see: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...1180743303867&DCMP=KNC-TLC&ref=30&loc=KW-1153
Other retailers are pricing it similarly.

The ASUS G2S-A1 has the 8600GT, with 256MB discrete video memory, and up to another 256MB of shared memory - specs are at: http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1675&l1=5&l2=70&l3=436&l4=0

Best Buy lists its own version of the G2S-A1, which they call the G2S-X1, for $1,999, see: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8404461&st=ASUS&type=product&id=1180743500907

Other retailers, including reputable resellers, also carry the G2S-A1. Xoticpc.com lists their version at $2,029.24, see: http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php/cPath/51_150/products_id/1899

Newegg.com lists at $2,098.99, see: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220185&Tpk=g2s-a1

Amazon.com lists at $2,049.99, see: http://www.amazon.com/G2S-A1-Notebook-Intel-Processor-Premium/dp/B000RJ0E96

For comparison's sake, I configured the HP dv9500t off the HP website to match the Toshiba and the ASUS (as closely as possible, excluding the GPU) and arrived at the following:

A dv9500t configured like the Toshiba X205-S9349 prices out at about $2,275.

A dv9500t configured like the ASUS G2S-A1 prices out at about $1,950.

Based on these numbers, the Toshiba is definitely a better buy price-wise because you get the 8700GT instead of the 8600GS. the HP is about $100 cheaper than the ASUS; again, however, you only get the 8600GS instead of the 8600GT.

A good review of the G2S-A1 is here: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3789

and a good review of the X205-S9349 is here: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3856

With all due respect, I would urge you to reconsider the HP unless you have a strong attachment to HP already.

Finally, even the Toshiba and the ASUS pale in comparison to the offerings available from Sager/Clevo and Compal. If you haven't already read the sticky regarding who really makes the systems HP and Dell sell as "their" notebooks, I would suggest you read the following before making up your mind: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91510

Gophn does a great job in that post of pulling together the facts and laying them out - basically, HPs, Dells, and etc... are largely manufactured by companies you've never heard of, such as Clevo and Compal. HP and Dell order the basic kit in volume, add a few custom parts (e.g., particular HDD setup), then slap a neat-o exterior on and sell the system as an "HP" or a "Dell" at a significant premium.

If your budget is a little tight, and you'd rather not pay the premium for the "HP" or the "Dell" name, then you might consider some of the Sager/Clevo, Compal, and other offerings to be had from the reputable resellers, such as xoticpc.com and powernotebooks.com, among others (you can find remarks on these and other resellers in the Sager and Clevo sub-forum).

For example, for $1,621.84, plus shipping (and no tax unless you live in Nevada), you can get the Sager NP5790 from xoticpc.com comparably equiped to the Toshiba, including the 8700GT. For $100 more you can get the NP5790 with the Nvidia 7950GTX - the current reigning champ of GPUs. What you don't get, however, is the HD-DVD drive; however, more likely than not, you could upgrade the NP5790 to an HD-DVD, or possibly even a Blu-Ray drive, in the fullness of time. Xoticpc.com's specs page is: http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2023

Last but not least, the GPU in the NP5790, unlike the HP or the Toshiba, is upgradeable, which means that there is a good chance that Sager/Clevo will offer an Nvidia 8800 GPU that will fit into the NP5790 when the 8800 becomes available (no guarantees, of course). In addition, xoticpc.com is still offering its systems with Windows XP as an available operating system, so you aren't forced to abandon a (more or less) stable OS for one that, quite honestly, is still in the beta+ stage. Since MS will be supporting XP until Dec. 31 of 2008, that gives you a fair bit of leeway to have a safe, functioning OS while MS works more of the bugs out of Vista - perhaps by 12/31/08 it might be a half-way respectable OS.

Powernotebooks.com also sells the NP5790, and a configuration comparable to the Toshiba comes out to almost $2,100. Their spec page is: http://www.powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=25#id1931

Now, if you really want to step into some gaming cojones, and you don't mind lugging around about 12 pounds (without the power "brick," which apparently weighs in at about 2lb), you could move up to the Sager NP9260. Again, the beauty of the NP9260 is the degree to which you can upgrade it later on, meaning that you don't have to buy every component you might conceivably want later on. For example, the NP9260 can be configured with dual NVidia 7950GTX GPUs running in SLi or, if that's too rich right now, or not really necessary right now, can be configured with one 7950GTX and, at a later date, you can upgrade to dual 7950GTX GPUs in SLi or, once they become available, 8700GT GPUs (single or dual in SLi) and, quite possibly, the 8800GT once NVidia releases it.

The NP9260 comes with a desktop processor instead of a notebook processor, so the base model comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz, with a 4MB L2 cache. The maximum processor currently available is the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme X6800, 2.93GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 1066MHz front side bus.

The NP9260 can also have up to three (3) internal hard drives, either set up separately, or set up in RAID 0,1, or 5 configurations. Again, the beauty of the NP9260 is that you can start with just one basic HDD, enough to satisfy your current needs (as opposed to your wants) and, in the fullness of time, can be upgraded by adding up to two (2) additional internal drives. If that isn't enough, then you can go further by adding external drives.

The basic NP9260 offered by xoticpc.com lists at about $2,300 (including Windows XP) and, with memory and HDD comparable to the Toshiba (along with XP) configures out to about $2,600.

Well, I think I've rambled on enough here - much longer and you'll have gone and replaced the system you're currently thinking about before this thing gets posted.

Also, please keep in mind that when I refer to reputable resellers, I don't just mean xoticpc.com and powernotebooks.com - I just tend to use them as examples because (a) they maintain the greatest presence on this forum (i.e., their owners constantly contribute postings here) and (b) they're the ones I've consulted the most in considering my own next notebook (haven't made up my mind yet, however). There are other reputable resellers, and you should be able to find them by looking through the threads in the non-brandname subforums.

 

I've got a DV6500T with integrated graphics and one with the 8400GS. I've found that gaming on a laptop is different from a desktop. I'm more comfortable on the desktop.

I went on a trip to the UK for a week and didn't play any games on the laptop. I watched a movie on the way over, and resized pictures on the way home.

I'm about to purchase another laptop, which is going to be for me, and I really don't have a need to game on it. At first I thought I would, but now I realize I'm more comfortable on the desktop.

If you're in a college dorm, and this will be your only computer, then I could see someone wanting a high end GPU. But if you have a desktop at home, that will be where you game.

So the first laptop I bought (x3100) is going to my dad now that I've got it set up, the other one I bought was given to the people in the UK as a gift for letting us stay with them. Now I can buy anything I want, and you know what I'm probalby picking? A DV6500T with the 8400GS. Farcry plays just fine on it. Sure, it may not play Crysis, but it's fast enough. And like I said, I really don't game on it that much.

Hotels charge for internet access. They say free access, but when you go to the welcome page, it says $5 for an hour, or something similar. Gaming in a hotel room is tuff, because you're set up at a tiny table, the keyboard is different, and it's not the same as a desktop.

So the point I'm trying to make, is although you may be looking for the fastest high end GPU for your laptop, you may end up not playing games on it that much after you try it. In that case, the HP laptops are a great choice because they're all around solid, and I've got the guide to install XP which makes things easy once it's set up as a dual boot system.

 

Well said. That, when all is said and done, is what everyone should be aiming for - a realistic appraisal of the things you're really going to be using the computer for. If, when you finally get bluntly honest with yourself, you admit that, as nice as it might seem, you really will not have the time or the inclination to use your notebook for gaming or some other graphics-intensive use, then you would be better off not spending the money on components you'll never use.

In your case, it sounds like your money (your computer budget, that is) is best spent on the desktop system, not the notebook, in which case a system with the 8600GS should be more than serviceable.

However, even then, I would still check out the systems offered by the less well-known resellers, because they will frequently have exactly the same sort of system you're looking for from HP or Dell, but without the name-brand premium added to the price. The key point here is making sure that you get good post-sale support and, quite frankly, HP has been a little disappointing in that department in my case.

For example, from iBuypower.com you can get a decently appointed 17" system based on their Battalion 101 LX-775 II, with 1680x1050 widescreen, an Intel T7100, Windows XP OS, MS Office Basic, 2GB RAM, the 8600GT GPU, and a 120GB, 5400rpm HDD, for about $1,610. That system is otherwise equal to the HP dv9500t, but with the better GPU (8600GT vs 8600GS) and for about $400 less than the HP. You also don't get nearly as much so-called bloatware as you would with the HP.

 

Shyster1: That's one heck of a post! Thank you very much for all the information and links; it is very helpful.

Also, thank you, robvia. I understand what you're saying.

It's looking like I'm going to have to adjust my expectations downward a little. I'm just not in the market to spend $2K+ on a laptop ATM. Now I'm realizing that I'm just not going to get a top-line videocard in a sub-$2K laptop. It didn't use to be that way. In the not too distant past, you could configure your laptop (at the major brands, anyway) with anything you wanted. I.E. top line videocard with tiny HD and slow CPU, if you wanted.

I will keep looking; I'm not pressed for time w/this purchase. This forum is the best source I've found so far. I'm sure it will factor heavily into my decision. Thanks again.

 

You're welcome, and good luck.

 

Well, I just went on www.costco.com and ordered a DV6500T fully loaded just like the one in my guide. 2.0 Ghz, 2 gigs, 160 gig hard drive, 8400GS. Final price with tax came out to $1403.43.

I'm an FPS gamer too, I'm waiting for Crysis to come out. Lately there haven't been any new FPS games to play. Crysis is going to be the one that makes everyone upgrade, just like Farcry was a few years ago. I'm sure the DV6500T will play it on low settings, and the resolution is only 1280x800. It's not some high number like people have on a desktop. When Crysis finally arrives, I'll build a new desktop, the prices have been coming down.

I could have ordered a Sager or an Asus, but I just ordered the DV6500T and I'm happy about it. Good luck with your choice.