I heard that as well. Something about the current DX10 cards not being DX 10.1 compliant or something.

I'm also fairly certain that was debunked.

If you're going with an 8600M, try to get a GDDR3 version as opposed to GDDR2. The faster memory helps a ton now, and I'm sure will come in handy down the line.

The only laptops that come with an 8600GT GDDR3 are the Asus G1S, V1S, and MacBook Pro, but more should be on the way.

Just out of curiosity, I seem to remember someone saying somewhere that the 8600M in the dv9500 was underclocked.

Could you possibly confirm/deny that?

Does GTX, GTS or GT actually stand for anything, what do they mean?

DAZZER7

Yes, it's the heirachy of cards for nVidia. From highest to lowest, it is:

GX2

Ultra

GTX

GTS

GT

GS

Meaning, an 8x00 Ultra will outpreform every other card of the same unit number, but not the GX2 variant.

If he's just doing email, then he won't need a C2D, 2GB or RAM, or the 500GB HDD.

You could chop down to a cheaper Athlon (or perhaps even Pentium Dual Core), 1GB RAM, and about a 160GB HDD.

cheers mate, ive decided to splash out and get 3 gig ram and 512 graphics at once :) thanks again

gavdav_1

Don't go by the amount of RAM a video card has; the only thing you really need lots of RAM on a video card for its if you're rendering at high resolutions. What kind of card are you looking at?

Actually its closer to between the 7800GT and 7900GS...mbukste

Which is excellent, because if I remember correctly, it draws about the same amount of power as a 7600GT.