Afraid of buyers remorse...

is 8400mGT a bad card?

 

it wont play games at high setting what are planning on doing with it

 

Video Editing, Photoshop, Illustrator

The only games I could possibly see myself playing are Blizzard games: WarCraft 3, StarCraft 2, WoW..

Laptop is: Sony Vaio FZ-4000

*
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz)
*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
*
2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
*
200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (7200 rpm)
*
DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
*
LCD 15.4" WXGA (XBRITE-HiColor™)
*
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
*
WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n w/Integrated Bluetooth®
*
White
*
Extended Battery (BPL8)

 

For those games, absolutely no problem.

 

he's right

 

at what settings could i set them?

what about the upcoming starcraft 2???

how bad of a card is a 8400gt?

 

For a ranking of notebook cards, see this page (especially the second column from the right)

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Grafic-Cards.130.0.html

 

it a class 3 i would suggest a 8600gt are u buying a notebook or u currently have it or u cant change the make

 

The sony vaio fz-4000 doesn't offer!...

i dont want to spend so much on a notebook...a little over 2000 is my max.

 

Also remember that once you buy it with that grpahics card, you're stuck with it for good, so make sure you future proof a bit by buying a higher end graphics card.

 

i dont like dell. i don't like hp...

so what are my options. 17inch is too large of a screen. don't want a mac anymore...

 

i could not find your sony but i look for one for u if it to much let me know


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220191

 

i did not know u did not want a 17 here a 15 a little weaker graphics card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220239

i would prefer the 1st one i gave u though more ram and alout better video card

 

this is the sony...

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921665308446

 

riceaddict, just get the FZ. I've read most of your many posts about it and i think you just gotta commit. It's a good laptop, and it'll do everything that you've been saying you require. Just get it and be satisfied. Cause if you don't get it and you get something you'll always wonder bout that FZ that got away

 

if anything....i just want to be able to run StarCraft 2...at pretty damn decent settings....

based on this:
http://www.freakygaming.com/pc/strategy/starcraft_2/system_requirements

Starcraft 2 system requirements
By Fredrik Olsson 07-05-20 11:21
What are the system requirements for StarCraft 2?
We'll have more details on specific system requirements closer to the release date, what do know however is that Starcraft 2 will run natively on Windows Vista, as well as Windows XP and that it will be released for Mac and PC simultaneously.

Scalability
You will be able to turn off are dynamic shadows and lighting, which will give you a nice performance boost according to Blizzard.

Will StarCraft II take advantage of DirectX 10?
Yes, Starcraft 2 will be compatible with DirectX 10, and Blizzard is still considering whether there will be exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects, but the graphics engine will also be very scalable to ensure that a wide range of different systems will be capable of running StarCraft 2. The new engine is also capable of rendering very large units, as well as large numbers of units on screen together.

Physics in Starcraft 2
Havok physics have been integrated into the engine for added realism, this will surely push up system requirements a bit.


Requirement estimates based on what we know

* The graphics engine will be updated and the units look quite a bit more detailed than in War3.
* Shadows are more detailed than in Warcraft 3, and are calculated from a single fixed point, like in AOE 3, but with higher resolution shadow maps.
* Havok physics will be used.


The requirements for Age of Empires (AOE) are:
Windows XP, 1.4 GHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, 64 MB video card capable of Hardware TnL.

Based on the similarities of the techniques used in Starcraft 2 and Age of Empires and considering differences like physics based detailed character movements (the protoss walkers for example) and the added graphics detail in Starcraft 2, here's the guesstimate:

Minimum System Requirements for Starcraft 2
Processor: 1.4 Ghz Processor
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics card: 128 MB RAM video card capable of Hardware TnL. DX10 is not required, but will be supported by SC2 and Blizzard are considering adding DX10 specific effects.
Pixel Shader 2.0 (Officially Confirmed)

Harddisk:
Soundcard: A DirectX-compatible 16-bit sound card.
OS: Windows Wista, Windows XP or Mac OS. (Officially Confirmed)
Connection: Access to Blizzard Entertainment's online gaming service, Battle.net, requires a low-latency, active Internet connection rated at 28.8 Kbps or faster.
Multiplayer games played over a LAN require an active connection to a TCP/IP network.

Other: Mouse and Keyboard

============================================

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
• 200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (7200 rpm)
• DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
• LCD 15.4" WXGA (XBRITE-HiColor™
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
• WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n w/Integrated Bluetooth®
• White
• Extended Battery (BPL8)

be honest...please. i am tough enough to take the truth...do you think based on those speculations...that i could run StarCraft 2 without a hitch? ...and how about WarCraft 3 TFT or WoW on high settings?

 

Bad, REALLY bad. So bad that you should pee on it when it arrives, smash it to bits, flush it down the toilet, and run screaming into the night.

Ok seriously, it's a fine card. No it's not outstanding but it will easily hold it's own on 80% of the things you throw at it. I'm coming from an SZ with 64MB GeForce Go 7400. I played all Half-Life games and episodes on it and with the exception of Episode 2 and TF2, had them running happily at medium settings. Now with my upcoming FZ with 256MB 8400M GT, I expect to run everything with much better settings - and I was pretty happy with a crap 64MB chip!

So pick your card and deal with it. It's a notebook for crying out loud and it's a pretty inexpensive one at that.

 

Take it from someone who takes ******* FOREVER to buy a notebook and I finally caved in and bought an "outdated" model. Your notebook won't last forever, even if you end up with something outdated, there's always next time, the future to get your "perfect, dream" notebook.

I'm glad I finally caved in and bought mine, I'm enjoying it, even though it doesn't have the latest chipset liked I wanted, but I'll wait for the next ultraportable from Sony, (hopefully with Montevina) and enjoy this one now.

I hate to see someone suffering like me, wanting to buy a notebook so badly but afraid to make a bad decision, want the perfect notebook.

 

Your laptop should play current and near future games fine at medium-low settings. However, if you really want a better graphics card, try the Vaio FZ21s. It's a European model so may be hard to get, but it's virtually the same as the one you have except it has the older Merom CPU at 2.2ghz, however it does have an 8600 GS. I have been able to reach a 3dmark06 score of nearly 4000 with a slight overclock on that compared to the 1500 score of the 8400 GT so the difference is quite a bit. I know that synthetic benchmarks are not always the way to go, but a difference of nearly 2500 marks is enough to indicate a serious improvement.

I have currently tried playing Gears of War, Double Agent, Kane and Lynch all at near-max settings, and all run smoothly, with the GPU temperature not exceeding 75 degrees.

 

if u want something for gaming get a desktop, notebook wise it doesn't get much or any better for the price

 

...now, i'm actually starting to think about just making a damn desktop. configured a high end desktop for around the same price as the laptop on newegg.com.

if that damn gpu wasn't so iffy...i just wanna be sure i can play starcraft 2...i would get it in a heart beat....

but, i don't want a desktop...cause i wanna take my computer with me...@!@!$@$

this is causing myself too much of a headache..

 

There's plenty of laptops out there for you with a more powerful GPU, do you only want a Sony? How about posting in the "What Notebook should I buy" section at the top of the forum? There is a notebook out there for you. : )

 

For the price of the sony you could build a pretty sick desktop, no portability though

 

1 Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: Nine Hundred
Item #: N82E16811129021

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1 ASUS P5K64 WS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
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Item #: N82E16813131200

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$219.99 $219.99
1 XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #: PVT88PYDF4
Item #: N82E16814150252

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$259.99 $259.99
1 HIPER HPU-5K680 ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 680W Power Supply - Retail
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Item #: N82E16817128011

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1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail
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1 G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-2GBNQ - Retail
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2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
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Subtotal: $1,797.88


i didn't want to do a desktop...but, the more i think about it...the more use and value a custom desktop will give me...and at the same price i would have bought that laptop...

 

Booooo this isn't Desktop Review...
If you're willing to get a desktop, then just get a bigger notebook with a high powered GPU. sheesh!

 

i really fought this with myself...i wanted portability...however, the more i thought about it...the more i was conflicted with being able to run something later down the road. I could always just buy a Macbook or something for cheap...or whatever for that. I guess I'll just build this desktop...which would take anything thrown at it: video editing, photoshop/illustrator, 3d rendering, and any games i may feel like playing...and i can always upgrade it.

this whole thing about the notebook was almost a complete headache...almost as bad as car buying...

 

You just have to decide whats more important, power or portability. Its strange you were heavily considering the FZ and now are looking at a desktop, huge difference. Why not look at other 15" notebooks with more powerful GPUs? Why did you only look at the FZ?

 

the warranty that sony offered was way better than applecare. the discount they were giving me...and the overall spec and etc and style was quite attractive.