Confirmed DDR3

Weird, mine has the 320-5468, but I ordered the 1720-could that have anything to do with it?

 

Might be a 17" thing..I just ordered on 7/9/07 and my item number is 320-5639 on a 1520.

 

So far everyone with a 1520 has 320-5639 and everyone with a 1720 has 320-5468?

 

INSPIRON 1520
320-5639 ::: 256 MB GeForce 8600m GT

 

For my 1720 yes, maybe we can get some confirmation from another 1720 buyer.

 

I just did a test configuration in Dell for 1720 and I got this:

Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT 256NV86 [320-5468] 6

So I guess this is just the difference between 1520 and 1720 then...


-Vaitte

 

320-5559 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

for Vostro 1500

 

I think you and the others have identified it - 1520 vs 1720.

So maybe there is only one type of 8600M-GT (per laptop size)

(Or maybe the 1720 has GDDR3 in its card? Lol.)

Still no answer from Dell.

 

My 1720 with 8600M GT part no. 320-5468, for the record.

 

1520 for me. 5639 as well.

 

This really really bothers me now....

 

The nvidia web site

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600M_techspecs.html

Says the 8600M line was

"Designed for high-speed GDDR3 & cost-competitive DDR2 memory"

I wonder which one dell chose for my system.

 

-> Removed.. I was confused with the desktop version of the cards.

 

I really hope we got the DDR3...

 

Ordered Vostro 1500 , 8600M-GT part number is 320-5559.

 

praneeth, stop posting that , you are further adding to the confusion. That page is for DESKTOP cards.

 

1520, Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT [320-5639]

 

... don't think it will happen, sorry

 

aah.. shoot.. I thought I was helping... oops.

 

Hey guys, if you are unsure of what GDDR2 or what GDDR3 is, I made a comparison between the two, click here.

 

I'm trying to assess the performance hit of DDR2 instead of GDDR3. Using the chart found here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

It looks like they tested a GDDR3 part. Any guesses what the 3Dmark06 of a DDR2 part would be?

It's getting harder to justify the extra $169 over the 8400M if the performance increase will be minimal. I'm seriously thinking of changing my order.

 

Trust me, the 8600m GT will still be a lot better...

 

link brings u to the dell forum home page.
im quite interested...know the correct link haha?

 

I canceled my order, will just wait for the 8700 or 8800 this winter.

 

But will it be $169 better?

Here's a thread about an Acer 5920G 8600M-GT DDR2 3Dmark06 results (C2D @ 2ghz?):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=131877


I'm still on the fence...

 

If you are getting a 17"+ then good choice. If it is 15" the 8800 will not be available.

 

Here's a foreign language thread with the following benchmarks:

8600M GS DDR2 3DMark 06能跑 2770分
8600M GS GDDR3 3DMark 06能跑 3250分
8600M GT DDR2 3DMark 06能跑3470分
8600M GT GDDR3 3DMark 06能跑3820分

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:brSEHU1EvOwJ:202.99.120.116:82/gate/big5/benyouhui.it168.com/thread-551886-1-1.html+8600m-gt+ddr2+3dmark06&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us&client=firefox-a

No idea of what system or anything else, google translate didn't work for the page.

edit:

Same (Chinese?) page through google translate:

[mainstream notebook graphics performance scores of ranking

 

Yeah, was a 1720 but don't think having a 8600 GT running @ 1920x1200 will be any good, and rather not have 1440x900 on a 17inch screen.

 

Yep, just wanted to make sure you weren't expecting a 15" with an 8800, .
I would wait as well in your situation, I think it would be a mistake to buy a 17" without a real "gaming" card.

 

Everything I've googled so far seems to show a 10-15% performance hit going from GDDR3 to DDR2 on the 8600M-GT. My rough estimate is that the 8600M-GT DDR2 is 50% to 75% faster than the 8400M-GT.

 

Should be about that. remember the 8600gt has 32 stream processors over the 8400gs's 16

 

Hey, I apologize for that, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=140216

 

Apparently the 8600M-GS is an overclocked 8400M-GT, both with 16 stream processors / pipelines. It looks like the 8600M-GS gets pretty good scores so the 8600M-GT might be a decent overclocker if it doesn't get too hot.

I'll guess I'll be keeping my order. It's disappointing that the 8600 isn't GDDR3 but it should be in the same ballpark as far as games go. Can't wait to find out myself!!!

 

The graphics bandwith drops from 22.4 to 12.8 GB/S apparently.

I say "apparently" because the dell/nvidia website says 22.4 GB/S and people are measuring 12.8 GB/S, but I dont know what other factors there are.

In any case, if those numbers are accurate, that is a "theoretical" 43% performace hit, not 10-15%

I'm hoping I'm just somehow misinterpreting the numbers.

 

The replies I am getting on the dell forum are along the lines of "You need to make tradeoffs when putting a video card into a laptop"

So far they are ignoring the fact that Dell's website represents the -laptop- video card at 22.4 GB/S.

I dont mind tradeoffs, as long as they TELL me up front, and not -after- I order.

 

The 10-15% drop was in the 3Dmark06 scores. I don't know how much graphics bandwith really effects real world performance. A lot of things (bandwidth, core clock, memory clock, pipelines, ect.) can effect how a graphics card really performs.

I have seen that a few people on this board have received 1520's with 8600M-GTs, perhaps someone can run some benchmarks. HINT HINT

 

I can fully agree with that. I bought a Vostro 1500 so I'm kind of in a different boat. As far as I know none of the Vostro pages showed the 22.4 GB bandwidth (would be happy to see someone prove me wrong). I assumed that it was GDDR3 when I ordered but, to be honest, I didn't really look hard enough before I jumped.

 

i currently own a 1520 inspirion. vram = ddr2 with 400mhz!

there is not even 1 laptop from dell with gddr3! no vostro, inspirion, whatever! get over with it....

 

Have any interest in running a 3Dmark06 benchmark?

http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/

 

I must have missed this one! Inspiron 1520 with 8600M-GT review with 3dmark06 benchies.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsid=3821

 

for Dell's price (100 CAD more than the 8400GS), our DDR2 version is still an able mobile graphics card and at least the new 1520 is cool enough for us to do some serious overclocking

unless someone can name a laptop that can out perform and offers lower price than the Inspiron, I'm keeping my own with no more complaint

 

How can i measure my bandwidth on the video card to see if it is 12.8 GB/s or if its 22.4 GB/s ?

 

Good question... I was wondering the same thing...

 

From the dell forums:

I.e. "We lied and gave a theoretical bandwidth, if additional hardware that we dont actually provide was included"

And they are really stretching to justify it, with bogus comparisons.

Ugh.

This is my first experience with Dell, and it isnt a very good one.

 

thinking about it, it kind of feels like the fault is nVidia's

ddr2 and the other with gddr3 both officially called 8600M GT

dell just came along and took advantage of this lazy naming

but it makes me wonder if dell pre-arranged for this to happen to make their new Inspirons sell

 

Of course it was pre-arranged. Now they can play the blame game on each other.

Seriously thinking of cancelling my 1520 if I can find a better laptop today.

 

Honestly, just because its DDR2 does not mean your gonna be getting 10 fps in current games...

 

You're right - I just feel deceived that's all. I'm sure in an hour I won't care anymore, I hope.

 

Is there a huge difference between DDR2 and DDR3!?

Also can anyone confirm that the new Vostro line comes with DDR3?

 

No dell latops use GDDR3 in their graphics cards.