Setz
Dec 20th, 2007, 08:22 PM
I have an Inspiron 1520 which I received recently, and immediately removed Windows Vista and installed Windows XP. After a couple of trial and errors (and about 4 reinstalls of XP), I have it working with all the drivers.
Intel T7500 Core 2 Duo (2.19ghz/798mhz FSB/4mb cache)
2048mb DDR2 RAM
GeForce 8600M GT (512mb dedicated GDDR2, PS/VS 4.0/4.0, 475/400 according to RivaTuner)
15.4 inch widescreen 1280x800
I'd like to play a lot of games, but I've noticed some confusing things. For starters, I find it odd I can't run Counterstrike Source at max on 1280x800, as I get 10-15fps, but Battlefield 2 on max with 4x AA at 1024x768 I get flawless 40-60fps. A lot of games that require less are having a harder time running smoothly. Crysis runs smoother at medium than Gothic 3 at medium, and better than Stalker on medium (majorly. Can barely run on minimum for Stalker...). Are some games just meant for the 8600 while other are not?
After googling for several hours on optimizing for 8600M GT, many suggest I overclock to 600/475. I downloaded RivaTuner and tried to overclock, but as I saved settings, it reverted back to the default 475/400. Perhaps it is my drivers, but any drivers on LaptopVideo2Go are incompatible. I followed a few guides to the point, and nothing solved this. I hear a lot of people are able to OC the 8600M GT, but perhaps not all versions?
tl;dr how can I get optimal performance in Windows XP for games?
Intel T7500 Core 2 Duo (2.19ghz/798mhz FSB/4mb cache)
2048mb DDR2 RAM
GeForce 8600M GT (512mb dedicated GDDR2, PS/VS 4.0/4.0, 475/400 according to RivaTuner)
15.4 inch widescreen 1280x800
I'd like to play a lot of games, but I've noticed some confusing things. For starters, I find it odd I can't run Counterstrike Source at max on 1280x800, as I get 10-15fps, but Battlefield 2 on max with 4x AA at 1024x768 I get flawless 40-60fps. A lot of games that require less are having a harder time running smoothly. Crysis runs smoother at medium than Gothic 3 at medium, and better than Stalker on medium (majorly. Can barely run on minimum for Stalker...). Are some games just meant for the 8600 while other are not?
After googling for several hours on optimizing for 8600M GT, many suggest I overclock to 600/475. I downloaded RivaTuner and tried to overclock, but as I saved settings, it reverted back to the default 475/400. Perhaps it is my drivers, but any drivers on LaptopVideo2Go are incompatible. I followed a few guides to the point, and nothing solved this. I hear a lot of people are able to OC the 8600M GT, but perhaps not all versions?
tl;dr how can I get optimal performance in Windows XP for games?