Intel IGMA x3100 vs. Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS

[Idontwantspam]

OK, I'm helping a friend order a new laptop from Dell, and for the video card, there are three options:

128 MB Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS (+$99)

256 MB Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT (+$199)

Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator x3100 (Included in price)

Now, the 8600 of course is the best of the three, but an extra 200 bucks is more than he's willing to spend on the graphics card. He is willing to spend an extra hundred on the 8400 if it's going to be better than the integrated graphics. Now the question is, which is better? A dedicated graphics card is of course usually better, but I have heard that the x3100 is actually fairly decent - max 384MB of VRAM, OpenGL 1.5, DX10 (!!). So for someone who's only a casual gamer, would the x3100 or the 8400 be better for the price? The x3100 is included in the price, so if it's better or if the 8400 is only a little better, then would it be a better choice?

[Kelsenellenelvian]

NO, NO, NO.... Don't buy the extra from dell!

Go here and look! http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....amp;Order=PRICE <---- 8400's

Easily save him 50 or more dollars! And when you get the pc just pop it in and go!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....=GeForce+8600GT <--- 8600s for 100 bucks!

[Idontwantspam]

So it is possible to just open it up and replace it? I was under the impression that replacing the vid card on a laptop was not easy... but I will give it a try! Thanks for the help.

EDIT: The 8600's you linked to don't look like they're for laptops... am I being stupid, or did I not explain sufficiently? They all look waayyy too big to fit in a laptop, and none of them are 8600M, which would imply that they're not for mobile... right?

Edited December 23, 2007 by Idontwantspam

[Zxian]

Erm... Kel must be smoking some really really good stuff there...

@Idontwantspam - Don't listen to Kel. He's forgotten that you're dealing with a laptop. Personally, I'd always go with a dedicated card over integrated video solutions. The only question is - does the 8400M-GS use dedicated VRAM, or is it the "turbocache" version? The 8600M-GT is likely a purely dedicated solution, but sometimes the "mid-range" cards will be nVidia/ATI but still use shared video memory.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

)*&$@# LAPTOP!!!

I am so sorry I really skipped that part. I was to excited on saving you money.

[Idontwantspam]

Thanks for clarifying, Zxian.

@ Kel

I'm not sure... I'm pretty sure the 8400 is dedicated graphics.

[puntoMX]

I'm not sure... I'm pretty sure the 8400 is dedicated graphics.

It is partly, 128MB, up to 512MB shared it normally is. But for real, the x3100 has the same performance although it uses completely shared memory. Biggest pro for x3100 is the 128bit memory structure vs. 64bit for the 8400M GS card.

Better of with the: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) [add $130] option .

[Idontwantspam]

OK, thanks for your input, PuntoMX. I will probably suggest to him that he leave the GPU as is and go with a better CPU or maybe a bigger screen. I'll have to see what he'd rather have. We're already planning on getting the standard RAM from Dell and then buying some more elsewhere for cheaper.

[iceangel89]

Hi,

i am also in the same situation, wondering if GMA X3100 is better than GeForce Go 8400/8600 and ATI too. but its for my own future laptop. Dell or Acer for now. acer is getting dirt cheap

i know that X3100 has DX10 (but isit true?) but for performance isit ok at least? from the display sets i see, X3100, NVIDIA & ATI has not much of a difference

ATI HD series has DX10 but not the X series true? so which is better?

by the way, i saw the Vista Performance Index many

X3100 has index of abt 3.5

NVIDIA 8400 index of 3.7

NVIDIA 8600 index of 4.7 < this is a huge jump

so which is better now? i know that Vista Performance index does not really mean anything tho...

[puntoMX]

Okay, let clear some things up:

The x3100 does support DX10 but the drivers will be out in some months to use those DX10 features.

Only the "HD" series from ATI support DX10, indeed not the "X" series.

There is a HUGE difference between the GeForce 8400M G and the GeForce 8400M GT! The GT has 2 times the number of Stream Processors then the G and 128bit memory bus instead of 64bit. The GeForce 8400M GS has the same amount of Stream Processors as the GT, but only a 64bit memory bus.

You can’t compare the 8600M GT with the 8400M GS, the 8600M GT has twice the Stream Processors as the 8400M GS.

By the way, where did you get those numbers from?

Most people with an 8400M GS only get 3.1, but you have to look also at the gaming index. Remember that both the x3100 and 8400M GS only run older games at 1024*768 to 1440*900 (HL2 and NFSU2 for example). NON of both will run the newest games, not even on the lowest settings, smooth enough. Even the 8600M GT isn’t fast enough but can be used to play games at the lowest settings, the 8700M GT would do way better because of it’s faster shader clock (950 vs. 1250MHz) and isn’t that much more expensive then the 8600M GT, the 8800M GTX is still the winner, but that would be clear for all of us .

[iceangel89]

By the way, where did you get those numbers from?

from windows performance index thingy. from a computer shop

Most people with an 8400M GS only get 3.1, but you have to look also at the gaming index. Remember that both the x3100 and 8400M GS only run older games at 1024*768 to 1440*900 (HL2 and NFSU2 for example). NON of both will run the newest games, not even on the lowest settings, smooth enough. Even the 8600M GT isn’t fast enough but can be used to play games at the lowest settings, the 8700M GT would do way better because of it’s faster shader clock (950 vs. 1250MHz) and isn’t that much more expensive then the 8600M GT, the 8800M GTX is still the winner, but that would be clear for all of us .

i am not too sure if its a GS or GT tho... the specs didn't show that so i guess its the lower one... tho the websites should show that

oh ya and i am talking laptops too, dont see any higher than 8600 in singapore

[puntoMX]

i am not too sure if its a GS or GT tho... the specs didn't show that so i guess its the lower one... tho the websites should show that

It´s the GT , the laptop fom Dell has the GS, so a score of 3.1...

[iceangel89]

and 1 more thing, is the battery life ok? for those graphics cards 1? and which will u people get?

[Zxian]

If you're worried about the battery life, get yourself the 9-cell battery. Mine's over a year old, and I still get a good 4 hours of use out of this system while surfing the web and listening to music.

[Idontwantspam]

OK, we're going with the x3100. Sounds like it has comparable performance to the 8400 for less money.

And b.t.w, 9-cell battery was what we were getting in the first place... on my laptop though I can get my regular 6-cell to last ~4 hours if I don't use DVDs, play graphics-intensive games, etc. and dim the screen.