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    Smarter choice? M1330 with nVidia 8400m GS or Intel integrated?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by stumil, Jul 10, 2008.

  1. stumil

    stumil Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK, all set to buy M1330 with 25% off coupon when I started reading all the posts about problems with the nVidia GeForce 8400M GS. How serious is the "problem" and what are the chances of me having the problem? Are 100% of these GPU's bad? Is Dell not addressing the problem?

    I'm thinking about just going with the integated Intel GPU. I'm not going to be doing any serious gaming on the 1330, but I would like to watch movies on it when travelling. Is the Intel GPU enough for my purposes? I couldn't care less about spending or not spending the $100 for the better card. Would rather make the smarter choice.

    What's your call? Intel integrated graphics or 128 mb nVidia GeForce 8400m GS?
     
    stumil, Jul 10, 2008
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  2. sefk

    sefk Notebook Consultant

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    "Are 100% of these GPU's bad?"
    I think it's maybe 0.001% chance of having a faulty hardware, but 0.001% is huge enough to affect big corporation like dell.
    "Is Dell not addressing the problem?"
    I don't think they can solve it: it's more a nvidia's problem.

    "I'm not going to be doing any serious gaming "
    what is "not serious gaming" for you?.
     
    sefk, Jul 10, 2008
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  3. stumil

    stumil Notebook Enthusiast

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    "I'm not going to be doing any serious gaming "
    what is "not serious gaming" for you?.


    Good question sefk. I'll be using this machine mostly while travelling for web surfing, e-mail, and the occasional Powerpoint presentation. I've never played a game on the laptop I've had for the last 7 years. I guess watching a movie on the plane is more important to me.
     
    stumil, Jul 10, 2008
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  4. ElKid

    ElKid Notebook Evangelist

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    Well if you're not playing games or doing any serious graphic editing, the integrated Intel graphics card will do you just fine. It will save a bit of battery life versus the nVidia card. But the 8400 GS is about 3x as powerful, and is an excellent card overall. The quality is very high, and like sefk said, the chances of you having a "problem" are minute.
     
    ElKid, Jul 10, 2008
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  5. Moidock

    Moidock Notebook Consultant

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    If you're not going to do gaming then the integrated graphics is more than fine. However, I have heard that for Blu-Ray movies the 8400 will provide better performance.

    In regard to the Nvidia card issue, it is indeed scary but we do not know the real numbers or cards affected. It is all currently just speculation.

    I have ordered four Vostro laptops in the last year, three with Nvidia 8400's for friends and one with an Nvidia 8600 for me and so far, they have been running just fine.

    We've even put them through regular benchmarking and two day lanparties and they have behaved well as far as I can see.
     
    Moidock, Jul 10, 2008
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