E6400 graphics question

I found a E6400 in my local store that's $1500 (which is way too much) with a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M, does that graphics card is the reason why it's so expensive, other than being a C2D P9500 with 4gb ram?


I really don't care about dedicated graphics card, as my current x3100 suffices. And I don't game, expect rarely BF2, which is fine with the x3100

 

Check out the Dell Outlet store for prices. There is a 15% off coupon right now. The Nvidia graphics add very little to the price.

 

Is it a gaming card, or at least superior to a x3100 or the x4500?

 

It allows you to play some games better than the x4500, but I wouldn't call it a gaming card.

 

The nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M is based on the nVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS, so the performance is very similar. The 160M performs roughly 80-90% better than the Intel X4500.

 

If you don't game, get the 4500MHD.

 

Based on test and benchmark I saw, the Quadro NVS 160M using the Geforce drivers form Nvidia web site, and looking at the specification of the GPU, arrives to the conclusion that the Quadro NVS 160M is a factory overclocked Geforce 9300M (not crazy overclock, just a bit) in the gaming world. However the GPU is still optimized to draw more polygons and (with the Quadro drivers) Anti-aliasing as well (but you lose gaming performance). Quadro GPU's are deigned to handle more heat and for much longer periods of time over a Geforce series, (hens explain one of the factors of the high price of Quadros). Of course, this last statement is hard to see if it's true as it's Foxcoon that make the motherboard (GPU is soldered on it), so I don't know if they used cheaper quality components of not. Based on my experience, I think it does have higher quality components, not to mention the crazy overclock I performed on my GPU using Nvidia tool (see signature for more details). I can play all the latest games including Crysis, and when I lead the overclock I can play the same games with higher FPS or higher settings

Intel X4500MHD has the performance equivalent to a Geforce 7300M (Half Life 2 and Portal is playable but at near minimum settings, then on the Quadro NVS 160, you can put it at high settings all with 1440x900 resolution).

Going Nvidia give you the ability to use PhysX in compatible games (see benchmarks under my overclock guide), CUDA (dont' expect a major increase in performance over CPU, as this is a mid/low-end gaming GPU), and this:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/08/25/nvidia-releases-windows-7-direct-compute-dr/1 with Windows 7. Not to mention the better driver supports and no software support list, unlike Intel.

However, you do lose battery life (well it's a more powerful GPU) (think about 30-45min less, depending on how you configure your Windows and which windows you are using (XP/Vista/7).

 

I own two E6400 laptops for my business. I bought the first one in 11/08 with Intel P9500 procressor, nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M, 2GB RAM, 80GB 7200rpm hard drive, 14.1" WXGA (1280x800) LED-backlit display and 6-cell battery. I hired my first employee/consultant in 1/09 and issued my existing E6400 to him. Then I bought an E6400 with Intel P8600, Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics, 3GB RAM, 320GB 7200rpm hard drive, 14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900) LED-backlit display and 9-cell battery.

The unit with Intel integrated graphics is a bit more energy efficient than the nVIDIA GPU, which I expected. The E6400 with Intel graphics generates significantly less heat (fan runs much less and all surfaces are cooler than the E6400 with nVIDIA graphics).

Unless you NEED the nVIDIA dedicated graphics card, I recommend sticking with the Intel GMA 4500MHD! I also highly recommend getting the WXGA+ (1440x900) LED display in lieu of the standard WXGA (1280x800)!

A note regarding the nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M- Dell uses the DDR2 version of the 160M for the E6400, but the E6500 gets the GDDR3 version! The difference on 3DMark06 is almost 500 points.

 

thanks for the info guys, i'll continue my search and see if there's an E6400 with a 4500HD!

 

Are you located in the US? If so, I can help you find the best deal on an E6400!