Computer Talk; Nvidia 8M series cards

[Invain]

I've already asked on a computer forum but haven't had any responses yet. Figured I'd post here incase anybody is a giant computer nerd.

I'm buying a new laptop very soon, and I have it narrowed down to either an HP dv9500t or a Dell Inspiron 1720. After customization, both computers have:

New Santa Rosa Intell T7500 processors (2.2 ghz 4MB L2 cach2)
2 gigs ram
250 gb hard drive
17" screen
3 year accidental damage warranty.

The only real difference is the graphics card. The HP has a 512 mb 8600 GS, while the Dell has a 256 mb 8600 GT. From what I've read the GS is a chopped down cheaper version of the GT and has half as many stream processors, so the 512 mb doesn't really matter as there tends to be a bottleneck.

The Dell is about 400 - 500 bucks more, but with the $350 online coupon code the difference isn't as much. You guys think it's worth the extra money for the 8600 gt? Even though I don't absolutely love Dell, I've never heard anything bad about the Inspirion notebooks and they are usually rated pretty high.

[Unholy]

Dude the inspiron books rock, and dell warranty is unbeatable. I would get accidental coverage, 3 years down the line hit the laptop with a baseball bat and get a brand new one for free.

[Invain]

Yeah, I put the 3 year accidental coverage on both. The one thing I like about the Dell is the 3 year theft recovery as well. They can track the notebook if it's stolen.

And lol at the baseball bat, I seriously thought about doing the exact same thing right before the 3 year warranty is up so I have a nice new 'puter.

[Unholy]

I have a friend thats on his 3rd in 5 years, you can renew the warranty on the new one for like 250 and do it again when you want a computer. I love dell.

[WBBIRL]

Any GS card is usually a crippled version of the GT card.

They max out clocks on inferior hardware to match stock settings on better hardware. They use GDDR2 instead of GDDR3 and use 64 bit memory interfaces instead of 128 bit.

The GT version is better, but whats the total price difference? Know that either way the PC will suck arse for gaming.

[Invain]

The total price difference is really only like 50 bucks.

As for sucking arse at gaming, it's a laptop for around 2 grand, I'm not expecting miracles. I'm hoping though with an Intel Centrino Pro 2.2 ghz processor and 2 gb of ram that it'll be decent even with new games. I've read a lot and it seems that the 8600 gt is still slower than a 7900, but the 8M series is direct x10 compatable. I don't really want to wait longer for the 8700 card to come out, and even when it does it'll probably only be in the XPS notebooks and a lot more expensive.

Besides, my desktop at home is like 4 or 5 years old now and doesn't even have 1 gig of ram, as well as geforce fx 5500, and I can still play games like Doom 3 on about medium. This laptop should freaking crush anything our dinosaur desktop can do.