Benchmark results for NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Covert)

[Covert]

Covert

Just want to say thank you for your work in keeping this thread up to date. I stop by here weekly to see the status of new drivers (I'm also running 8600M GT). Also, well done in keeping your cool around some seriously stupid/lazy/repetitive questions... I'd of lost it some time ago.

Much appreciated,

Matt

^^^^^

What he said about keeping this up-to-date! Thank you Covert, I like to have someone to compare to.

:) Thanks I appreciate it.

Hi covert and guys!! I'm trying to learn something about all theese drivers...

I have a question :what are the convenices and the incovenieces between 180.42 and 178.24 DOX's??

DOX's 178.24 drivers have many openGL and directX tweaks and many unneeded features are removed in order to make it perform faster. However the latest drivers have better stability and from the games I play, run with less stuttering or horizontal tearing. The charts only show performance in 3DMark06, if you check my CSS benchmark however, 180.42 are the best drivers in counter-strike: source. This is why I do many different benchmarks.

I will start doing HL2: Lost Coast benchmarks from now on too to help people decide drivers better since many people are now asking which are best.

[mango84]

:) Thanks I appreciate it.

DOX's 178.24 drivers have many openGL and directX tweaks and many unneeded features are removed in order to make it perform faster. However the latest drivers have better stability and from the games I play, run with less stuttering or horizontal tearing. The charts only show performance in 3DMark06, if you check my CSS benchmark however, 180.42 are the best drivers in counter-strike: source. This is why I do many different benchmarks.

I will start doing HL2: Lost Coast benchmarks from now on too to help people decide drivers better since many people are now asking which are best.

Thanks Covert!!

I had istalled some drivers like 178.24 dox's and 180.42...And i've installed RivaTuner to do some test: but i had a problem:

When applications 3d start the core clock and the memory clock skip to high performance to (PERFORMANCE 3D in RivaTuner) run well theese applications but after several minutes the core and memory return to the lower level (LOWER POWER 3D )of frequency....Why???

I make an example:

While i'm playing pro evolution soccer the clock core is set to 475 mhz and memory to 400 mhz... 60 fps...

But when core and memory go down to 275 mhz and 200 fps are 40- 50 and the game doesn'work well!!!

[Covert]

Thanks Covert!!

I had istalled some drivers like 178.24 dox's and 180.42...And i've installed RivaTuner to do some test: but i had a problem:

When applications 3d start the core clock and the memory clock skip to high performance to (PERFORMANCE 3D in RivaTuner) run well theese applications but after several minutes the core and memory return to the lower level (LOWER POWER 3D )of frequency....Why???

I make an example:

While i'm playing pro evolution soccer the clock core is set to 475 mhz and memory to 400 mhz... 60 fps...

But when core and memory go down to 275 mhz and 200 fps are 40- 50 and the game doesn'work well!!!

Disable powermizer with PerfLevelSrc at 2222 in regedit (If you already know how to disable powermizer then use 2222 as opposed to 3322, if you don't know how then use google). It seems like your GPU is downclocking because of heat. Download this: http://www.diefer.de/software/i8kfangui31.exe. It's a fan utility specifically for DELL laptops (Though it may work on other systems), install it, open the program and click "Force fans to high speed" and then go ahead and play your games :) my computer never downclocks from heat since I've been using it. If that doesn't keep your temperatures lower then buy a laptop cooler along with using the program. Also a quick fix if it does downclock is to just restart your computer.

If you want more info on the fan utility go here: http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/ it's really useful for monitoring the temperature of the GPU, CPU, Motherboard and almost any other component you can think of too.

[alexdino]

Thanks Covert!!

I had istalled some drivers like 178.24 dox's and 180.42...And i've installed RivaTuner to do some test: but i had a problem:

When applications 3d start the core clock and the memory clock skip to high performance to (PERFORMANCE 3D in RivaTuner) run well theese applications but after several minutes the core and memory return to the lower level (LOWER POWER 3D )of frequency....Why???

I make an example:

While i'm playing pro evolution soccer the clock core is set to 475 mhz and memory to 400 mhz... 60 fps...

But when core and memory go down to 275 mhz and 200 fps are 40- 50 and the game doesn'work well!!!

Then Search for software name Rivatuner download and install it.

Then go to Rivatuner Poweruser tab under Rivatuner\NVIDIA\Overclocking

Set EnableLowPower3DControl to 1

EnablePefLevelForcing to 1

The go to the main tab go to customize under Driver Settings and choose system setting

At the Overclocking tab, tick to enable driver overclocking then for all standard 2d, low power 3D, and perfromance 3d Mode set the Force constant performance level to performance 3D then apply.

This will force your card to run at optimum level without slowing down.

And last thing do at your own risk. (but it have been working for me perfectly .

[Guest CsG]

Hi,

I was wondering how does Team Fortress 2's performance compared to CSS's performance should be. My fps in TF2 is typically in the range of 50 to 60, which is less than half of your benchmarks on CSS :) Is this normal? :-\

As a side question, would overclocking the GPU void Dell's warranty?

[Guest CsG]

Forgot to add, using 8600M GT DDR2 256MB on Vista32. Settings in TF2 are all the recommended settings (mid-high)

[Covert]

Forgot to add, using 8600M GT DDR2 256MB on Vista32. Settings in TF2 are all the recommended settings (mid-high)

TF2 is more resourceful than CSS and is a newer game with less updates in the long run. CSS has constantly been updated for AGES and allowed for numerous performance tweaks and bugs to be fixed over the years. Tf2 has better textures amongst a few other graphical extras making it run slower than CSS. Try typing in: FPS_MAX 60 into console in TF2 and see if the game runs any smoother.

[Guest CsG]

TF2 is more resourceful than CSS and is a newer game with less updates in the long run. CSS has constantly been updated for AGES and allowed for numerous performance tweaks and bugs to be fixed over the years. Tf2 has better textures amongst a few other graphical extras making it run slower than CSS. Try typing in: FPS_MAX 60 into console in TF2 and see if the game runs any smoother.

Thanks for the info! :)

[coolcop06]

dox customized 180.43 drivers please!

sorry im really laying the new drivers on you... haha

thanks for all your hard work! :)

[Guest zeus]

Thanks Covert!!

I had istalled some drivers like 178.24 dox's and 180.42...And i've installed RivaTuner to do some test: but i had a problem:

When applications 3d start the core clock and the memory clock skip to high performance to (PERFORMANCE 3D in RivaTuner) run well theese applications but after several minutes the core and memory return to the lower level (LOWER POWER 3D )of frequency....Why???

I make an example:

While i'm playing pro evolution soccer the clock core is set to 475 mhz and memory to 400 mhz... 60 fps...

But when core and memory go down to 275 mhz and 200 fps are 40- 50 and the game doesn'work well!!!

That's the GPU bug for some nvidia cards, i also have this problem with my 8600M GT. Dell released a new bios but it changes only the fan speed. I don't think that this is a temperature problem, 'cause i tested driver which gave me max. 65° during games and the card clocked down. I like powermizer and so i downloaded the "powermizer switch" tool, try it

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273276

[Guest josh]

That's the GPU bug for some nvidia cards, i also have this problem with my 8600M GT. Dell released a new bios but it changes only the fan speed. I don't think that this is a temperature problem, 'cause i tested driver which gave me max. 65° during games and the card clocked down. I like powermizer and so i downloaded the "powermizer switch" tool, try it

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273276

im getting around 28 fps in far cry 2 on my 2.2ghz 2gb 8600m macbook pro running windows xp 32bit at high settings for general graphics and medium for the rest. overclocked to 580/530

[Stanislav Kukov]

Using Driver: 176.26

Toshiba Sattelite X205-SLi6:

Processor: T9300 2.5Ghz

RAM: 3 GB DDR2

VGA: Dual GeForce 8600M GT 1024MB VRAM total

HDD: 2x200 GB RAID 0

OS: Vista Ultimate x86

Chipset: Toshiba based on Intel 965

3dmark06 results:

At 1280x800 no AA all other settings default

8083 marks

[Guest CsG]

Hello again,

I tried the fps_max 60 setting, and it actually got worse. Faced many intermittent freezes, and so I changed it back to the default value of 300 :-\

[Covert]

Hello again,

I tried the fps_max 60 setting, and it actually got worse. Faced many intermittent freezes, and so I changed it back to the default value of 300 :-\

Okay, all doing that does is do the next best thing to vertical sync, but if the game runs at under 60 fps or just above it you should leave it off. But for games like CSS that run at around 150 fps setting it at 60 fps max removed stuttering and only allows 1 bar of horizontal tearing.

[Guest CsG]

Okay, all doing that does is do the next best thing to vertical sync, but if the game runs at under 60 fps or just above it you should leave it off. But for games like CSS that run at around 150 fps setting it at 60 fps max removed stuttering and only allows 1 bar of horizontal tearing.

Ah, I see, thanks.

I'll probably try DOX's drivers and see if there's any help to the performance as I feel that my previous driver (177.79) actually had a slightly better performance than the 180.42 =\

[Guest Guest]

Hello just wondering. Can you test the driver 175.97, its one of the popular drivers in xps m1530 and can clock really high with fine temps. :) thx

[wulfe]

nice work Covert! and thanks for all your effort to bring us more info on the latest drivers.. :)

im using DOX's 180.43 release, and im happy with it...doesn't score the highest in benchmarks, but it runs the smoothest in games so far in my experience

[Stanislav Kukov]

Could you please test 176.26. Cheers and thanks ... :) I just updated them from the Device Manager and the source is toshiba ... im runnig the x205-sli6 with dual 8600M GT 3 gig ram and T9300 and I still think im not getting half of what this machine is capable of ... which is a big pitty since i've given away so many bucks .. thanks again :)

[bluewolf]

YEAH MEN YOU ARE DOING BEST FOR MANKIND;

thanks lot

[Covert]

You're very welcome :)

I would like to say that during my benchmarks so far under Windows Vista 32 I have reformatted 3 times and there are some inaccuracies in the comparison between the drivers, you may have noticed that some drivers perform better in games compared to others yet yield worse 3DMark06 results; this is most likely because I reformatted. So..

I just recently upgraded to Windows Vista 64-bit edition, along with getting a 4GB memory upgrade! Because the results I've gotten from recent tests under this system are a bit different from Vista 32 I'm going to be benching every driver I've benched before on Vista x64. I'm also going to be bringing in benchmarks from every driver in CSS, HL2: Lost Coast, and now, Crysis. I'm currently going through every driver in my current charts under Vista 64 and will do a huge update within a few days, you can continue requesting drivers but they won't work themselves into the charts until I'm finished.

Be patient, peace.

[Mushu]

Yay! I wonder if 64bit "runs" games differently. With that reformatting thing it's hard to tell if the new DOX driver vs the 178.24 one is any different from each other. Oh well, can't wait for your new benchmarks! :)

Edited October 29, 2008 by Shaythong

[coolcop06]

You're very welcome :)

I would like to say that during my benchmarks so far under Windows Vista 32 I have reformatted 3 times and there are some inaccuracies in the comparison between the drivers, you may have noticed that some drivers perform better in games compared to others yet yield worse 3DMark06 results; this is most likely because I reformatted. So..

I just recently upgraded to Windows Vista 64-bit edition, along with getting a 4GB memory upgrade! Because the results I've gotten from recent tests under this system are a bit different from Vista 32 I'm going to be benching every driver I've benched before on Vista x64. I'm also going to be bringing in benchmarks from every driver in CSS, HL2: Lost Coast, and now, Crysis. I'm currently going through every driver in my current charts under Vista 64 and will do a huge update within a few days, you can continue requesting drivers but they won't work themselves into the charts until I'm finished.

Be patient, peace.

wow good luck.. please dont go insane! hahaha

thanks again for all your hard work

[Covert]

Hello just wondering. Can you test the driver 175.97, its one of the popular drivers in xps m1530 and can clock really high with fine temps. :) thx

Could you please test 176.26. Cheers and thanks ... :) I just updated them from the Device Manager and the source is toshiba ... im runnig the x205-sli6 with dual 8600M GT 3 gig ram and T9300 and I still think im not getting half of what this machine is capable of ... which is a big pitty since i've given away so many bucks .. thanks again :P

175.97 does not have a working modified inf for Vista x64 and 176.26 does not even have a 64 bit version to begin with. Sorry guys, I could not bench these :P

When they have 64 bit support please tell me and I will add them to the charts. Everyone from now on please ensure that the driver you want tested has a 64-bit version and the modified inf is available.

[coolcop06]

so i see the move to x64 only had you gain about 100-200 3dmark points?

thats not alot... haha

Edited October 29, 2008 by coolcop06

[Covert]

so i see the move to x64 only had you gain about 100-200 3dmark points?

thats not alot... haha

I won't tell you how long it took me to finish all those drivers and benchmarks but I sure won't being changing operating systems anytime soon.

I can now run some games in 64-bit mode and they load a bit faster and seem to run smoother, the OS is more responsive since it can now use the entire 4GB of ram I have installed and 32-bit programs have full compatibility and run pretty much the same or a bit better.

If you have or want 4GB of RAM I would highly recommend getting Vista 64-bit :)