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Inspiron 1520 nVidia 256Mb GeForce 8600M-GT Issue?
Hello
I have a technical question for anyone who is able to answer.
I recently ordered an Inspiron 1520 with the 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 8600M-GT video card.
I based this decision on Dell's web site, especially their comparison page here:
On that page, and elsewhere, Dell describes the 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 8600M-GT for the Inpsiron as having a graphics memory bandwidth of 22.4 GB/S
I'm hearing from people who have recived theirs, that their 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 8600M-GT only has a graphics memory bandwidth of around 12.8 GB/S
After doing further research, it appears that the 22.4 GB/S speed that dell advertises is only reachable if the video card's 256MB dedicated memory is GDDR3 ram running at 700Mhz. Some (or all?) of the 256MB nVidia GeForce Go 8600M-GT cards shipped appear to have slower, older DDR2 memory running at only 400MHZ
My questions is this: Is there any way to determine if the system I ordered will have the graphics capability that Dell advertises it to have? Or am I going to get something slower, and only about half the speed of what I paid for?
Im seeing that people are reporting two different item/part numbers for the card, in their orders:
320-5468 and 320-5639
Is there any way someone from dell could give me/us information on what the difference is? Are some of the cards actually capable of the performance that dell advertises? (i.e. GDDR3) or is there some other difference? (Edit: Im hearing that the part number difference might just be Inspiron 1520 vs Inspiron 1720 and nothing else.)
Im very concerned now about my order. I was very excited about my Inspiron 1520, but Im feeling worried that Dell might have done a bit of a bait-and-switch on me. Dell continues to advertise 22.4 GB/Sec on their ordering website.
Thanks for any help anyone reading this can offer
-Mike Tyler
Message Edited by mtylerjr on 07-11-2007 01:03 PM
Message Edited by mtylerjr on 07-11-2007 01:36 PM
Message Edited by mtylerjr on 07-11-2007 01:39 PM
egouin
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April 11th, 2009 12:00
Mine is a DDR2 8600M GT. Using ATI Tool, i see the card running stock CPU 475 RAM 400 Mhz at full #D power. I am able to overclock it to CPU 630 RAM 500 Mhz. However it randomly crashes here and there. When it does crash, the screen lags for about 1 sec then the game still goes on but at 2D (CPU 170 RAM 100) or low power 3D (CPU 275 RAM 200) speeds. I have to reboot Vista 32-bit for the card to be able to reach full speed again. I am using the latest nvidia driver from Dell that is 175.97. I have tried a lot of different more recent drivers from laptopvideo2go.com all having the same issue. Even if i dont overclock using atitool, it still randomly crash this way but seems to be less often. SO forget about overclocking this card DDR2 RAM to 700Mhz. I suspect a driver issue that prevent the card to go back to it s full power after overheating. When the GPU becomes too hot, the card drops performance (speed in Mhz) to cool the GPU but should go back up when GPU is cool enough and it does not.
egouin
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September 25th, 2009 19:00
I have been running Nvidia drivers 185.81 for a while now. It fixed all crashes. I am not overclocking it but could without crashing either. I got the drivers from laptopvideo2go.com I also always put the computer on standby instead of shuting it down, and this driver is working perfectly, comes back from standy no problem.
mtylerjr
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November 27th, 2009 15:00
I upgraded my Inspiron 1520 (8600M gt) to Windows 7 32-bit yesterday. I found the latest drivers for everything, and everything seems happy - except....
When I watch videos full screen at some web sites (most notably the NHL.COM hockey game highlight recaps) the video always freezes after about 20 seconds.
In addition, my "Windows Experience Score" dropped from 5.1 to 4.7 - do to reduced "aero" performance.
I am using the 195.62 driver I believe. Ive tried about 10 different versions of the Nvidia Driver - they all "work" except for the video freezing problem.
Any ideas? Is this just something I need to live with using Windows 7 on an Inspiron 1520? (Dell says that Windows 7 is not supported on the 1520??)
ejn63
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November 27th, 2009 15:00
More likely, the indexes have changed rather than the performance - the 8600GT was a mid-range card when Vista arrived. It's now outdated and low-end -- the center of the market has moved up, and the card has fallen behind. If anything, the overall performance of 7 should be better than it is for Vista, though the 8600GT is obsolete for many newer games.
Count your blessings if the card is still working - the 8600GT is one of nVidia's problem children.