T61p vs Desktop test

I decided to compare my new t61p to a year-old XPS720 desktop, running HL2: Lost Coast video stress test. Here are the results if anybody interested.

System Configurations:

Dell XPS720.
OS: Windows XP Home.
Processor: Intel E6600 2,4GHz/ 4MB/ 1066 MHz ,
RAM: 2GB DDR2 @800MHz.
Video: GeForce 8600GTS, 256MB GDDR3.
Hard Drive: 500GB, 7200 rpm.
Monitor: 22” Dell 1680x1050.

Lenovo T61P.
OS: Windows XP Pro.
Processor: T9300 2,5GHz/ 6MB/ 800 MHz.
RAM: 4GB(showing 3GB) DDR2 @667MHz.
Video: NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M, 256MB GDDR3.
Hard Drive: 160GB, 7200 rpm.
Monitor: 15.4 WSXGA 1680x1050.

All tests were performed at 1680x1050 resolution.

Test 1: Everything is enabled and on max settings.
T61p-43 fps. XPS720-52 fps.

Test 2: Everything is disabled and on lowest settings.
T61p-85 fps. XPS720-126 fps.

Test 3: Details on high, reflection (world), trilinear filtering mode, AA disabled, color correction disabled, vertical sync disabled.
T61p-76 fps. XPS720-114 fps.

Test 4: This one I did only on the laptop, just to see how a slight change in settings will affect the performance.
Details on high, reflection (world), trilinear filtering mode, AAx2, color correction enabled, vertical sync enabled.
T61p-52 fps. XPS720-was not tested.

As expected overall desktop wins by a large margin. However, I am impressed how t61p did on the highest settings comparing to the XPS, only 9 fps difference

 

Interesting test.

 

interesting... thanks!

im more surprised that you get 8600gts for you desktop though... how unfitting dont you think? such a nice desktop such an average graphic card.

thanks for the test

 

I know, it was part of the deal when I bought it from Dell. A year ago if I remember right my option was either going with 8600gt, 8600 gts single or in SLI, or 8800 GTX for like $500 more which I could not afford. I do plan to upgrade to 8800 GTX when they will become more affordable.

 

Why not a 8800GT or a 9600GT ? They're quite powerful and well priced.

 

Will a 9600 GT be a significant improvement over a 8600 GTS and worth $180?

 

You'd be much better off getting either an 8800GT 512MB or the new G92 based 8800GTS 512MB, which is faster than the GTX in most cases judging from every review so far (anandtech.com has a good one in their "video" section). Last week, there were 3 8800GT 512MB cards selling for around $130-150 after a $50-75 rebate, which is extremely reasonable for such a powerful card (it's only about 10-15% slower than a GTX). On newegg.com and other large e-tailer sites, you can find G92 based (make sure its 512MB and not 384 or 640, those are the older G80 based ones) 8800GTS 512MB cards for around $200-250...either card will outperform a 9600GT and the 8800GT actually costs less in some cases when you factor in rebates.

Additionally, if you don't want to shell out $180-200+ for an 8800GT or G92 GTS and don't want to wait for the next wave of sales and rebates, you can get an 8800GS for a VERY, VERY low $109 from newegg. It's made by XFX, which has a transferrable lifetime warranty. $30 rebate (card is originally $140). The 8800GS is on par with the 9600GT in terms of performance, but costs a lot less at the moment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150275

Hope that helps

 

So what's the kicker here? Is it that, though your T61p has 2.5ghz over your Dell's 2.4, the Dell's proc has a 1066mhz Bus over the T61p's 800mhz? Is the 8600GTS really that much better than the quadro? I know the quadro is made for workstation apps rather than games, but from a spec sheet standpoint I know it bests the 8600GT on some numbers a bit, though they are very close. I don't know what the GTS adds.

Also, are you running geforce drivers on your T61p or just the Quadro ones?
Only other difference I see between the machines is that the desktop has faster RAM.

 

Thanks for the info, I am gonna check them out.

 

Good question, I am not sure why they did not perform equally, since the specs are very close and the test performance mostly relys on GPU which specs are the same. I use stock drivers for both cards

 

The Quadro card is equivalent to an 8600GT M, which will be slower by default than a desktop GTS card. Also, drivers for laptop cards are usually not as optimized (and rarely updated), so that can hurt performance as well.

 

If you are just using the stock drivers for the quadro I would be interested in seeing how it performs after installing geforce drivers as in this tutorial:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=209796&highlight=nvidia+geforce+drivers

The desktop 8600 will indeed be a bit faster than the mobile counterpart but the jumps in performance here seem pretty significant. If the OP feels so inclined, would you be willing to try the geforce drivers out?

 

The first thing when I saw the results was this isn't with 'gaming' drivers. Wouldn't mind seeing the results with the modded drivers from hackez or laptopvideo2go.
The desktop will stil be faster but the gap shouldn't be as wide.

Even better use the same driver version for both the desktop and laptop, then bench them.

 

I ordered BFG 8800GTS OC http://shop4.outpost.com/product/54...7WZCKx6pQ**.node2?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG I think, pretty good deal, only $229 after rebate.

 

I'll second this and was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the initial post. Set both to the same driver and do another set of tests. I would imagine the gaps would close up a bit overall, or at the least, raise both sets of scores accross the board.

 

Ok, I may gonna try that new driver sometime this week. I will let you know the results.
By saying using the same driver, do you mean installing 8600 gts driver from my desktop to the laptop? I am affraid it may bring some issues? Don't you think?

 

Search this forum for how to install custom GeForce drivers on your Quadro equipped T61

 

Yeah, that's what I thought, I did not think the stock 8600 driver is going to work.

 

Same driver version, not the same driver.
Hackez modded drivers come in 169.28 and 174.16 but only 169.28 has a desktop version. Some other desktop drivers are 171.* and you can find laptop versions of those on laptopvideo2go.com. So for example you can try 169.28 drivers on both the dekstop and laptop. Not too sure on the 17* series drivers but the 169.28 has so far been one of the more problem free ones for the 570M.