[Kitrax]

Due to financial issues, the puchase of my new laptop is being pushed back to Feb...but that also means I'll be able to afford to spend a lot more. So the two laptops I'm looking at now have tvideo cards that I have questions about. They are the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT and the 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS.

I'm hoping someone can tell me what the performance difference is between these two mobile cards is. The ATI card is in a laptop that is much more expensive...and is the only available option...but that doesn't mean much.

Anyone know much about these cards?

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Hey there, take a look at this site, its a great site and i am sure if you look around you will be able to find your best buy, for my personal views, Nvidia is the best buy as they are direct x10 compatible(even though that means nothing these days) But they have been rated better than avi overall. And there 8600 series were the best till the 8800 were out. Good Luck:8}

[coastie65]

Hi kitrax, I have to second vlad's assessment. I too prefer Nvidia. I am running a GeForce 8600 GT with only 256 Mb ram. If I could do it over, I would have opted for the 512. I am not all that familiar with ati's products as I don't run them. You said that the one with the GeForce is cheaper than the other. I would look at the other factors as well , such as processor, memory HDD, and such. I am also one for memory, the more the better, so for that reason I would go for the Nvidia package if all the other factors were satisfactory. These are my opinions and the ultimate choice is yours. coastie65

[Kitrax]

Errr....I think you need to fix your link. It links to a thread about viruses on a new computer... has nothing to do with what I need...

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Ha ha sorry bra, i put in the wrong link here it is PC MAG

[Kitrax]

Errr....I think you need to fix your link. It links to a thread about viruses on a new computer... has nothing to do with what I need...


After some digging around on Google, I found this:

Card: NVIDIA 8600M GT

Pipelines: 32 - unified

Core Speed: 475 MHz

Memory Speed: 700 MHz

Memory Bus Width: 128 Bit

Memory Type: GDDR3, GDDR2

Max. Amount of Memory: 512 MB

DirectX: DirectX 10, Shader 4.0

Transistors: 289 Million



Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600

Pipelines: 120 - unified

Core Speed: 700 MHz

Memory Speed: 750 MHz

Memory Bus Width: 128 Bit

Memory Type: DDR2, GDDR3

Max. Amount of Memory: 256+

DirectX: DirectX 10, Shader 4

Transistors: 390 Million



That doesn't mean much to me...but it looks like the ATI would be faster since it has more pipelines and a faster core clock...but I could be wrong.



Also, that link still wasn't very helpful since the article was on desktop video cards and not mobile ones. IIRC, there is a difference in performance between the two types.

Oh, and one last thing, couldn't linking to PC Mag from PCW get you shot by the PCW staff? :p
Message was edited by: Kitrax

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Well the radeon has ddr3 which is good, so i think that the radeon is better, as it has a better memory ddr3 compared to ddr2, the memory speed is faster, adn the core clock so my view is the radeon and i am sure the other guys will think so to, but wait and see what they say.

[coastie65]

Hi vlad, The GeForce 8600 GT also has DDR3 AND has 512 Mbs. coastie65

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Ya it has one or the other, but don't you think the ati has better overall specs?

[coastie65]

HI vlad, You know I've never really checked. I am pretty much sold on Nvidia so don't really bother with ati. I got the ati x200 onboard crap with this thing and it sucked. I believe it was an UCed x300. I added the 7600 GS PCI-E card within a week of buying this thing. I guess I ought to pay more attention to other products as well. coastie65

[FenderGuy2112]

Personally, I'm more impressed with Nvidia and espically the GeForce 8600M GS.

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Hey ya well ati have been doing well for themselves, but even though they have more steam processors it does not mean that it is better, such as the 2500 radeon if i am not mistaken had 120 but even though it did it was a hopless card. But as you say you like nvdia and so do i, i have never had a ati and don't think i would.

[TechyGuy]

Radeon 2600XT > GeForce 8600M GS - better FPS resolutions on games

[Kitrax]

Thanks!

Could you provide some benchmarks? That's one thing I haven't been able to find. T'sH has a huge interactive chart for dozens and dozens of desktop cards, benchmarked with dozens of games...but there's not a single mobile card on the list. :-/