15" MBP GPU vs 20" iMac GPU

[mynewromantica]

I don't know very much about GPUs and I am considering selling my 2year old 20" iMac for some extra money for a 15" macbook pro. But my biggest concern is the video card. Is the MBP card as good as the one one I currently have?

 

[Hellhammer]

Would be a lot easier if you told us what iMac you have and what GPU does it have...

 

[Bradan]

I think the 20" iMac had a 2600 pro, so the GT330 (=9600GT=8600GT) should be about 10-15% faster. I remember making the exact comparison about 3 years ago for a friend who was rebuilding.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Hellhammer]

I think the 20" iMac had a 2600 pro, so the GT330 (=9600GT=8600GT) should be about 10-15% faster. I remember making the exact comparison about 3 years ago for a friend who was rebuilding.

Sounds like a plan.

330M isn't the same as 9600M GT... 330M has 48 stream CPUs while 9600M GT has 32. 330M is 40nm while 9600M GT is 65nm...

330M is same as 230M, just higher clocked

3xxM = 2xxM
3xxM ≠ 9xxxM

Anyway, 330M is ~50% faster than 2600 XT and about 2.5 times faster than regular 2600 (there is no 2600 PRO)

 

[mynewromantica]

Sorry, it is the Radeon 2600

 

[thejadedmonkey]

The worst part is that my MBP has an x1600, which is roughly 15% slower than the 8600GT. You'd think that Apple could have improved the GPU by more than 30% in the past 4 years

Also, if you don't mind an older MBP, I have one in very good condition I'm looking to sell, here.

Mods: If I'm not allowed to pimp my post like this, feel free to delete it.

 

[Bradan]

330M isn't the same as 9600M GT... 330M has 48 stream CPUs while 9600M GT has 32. 330M is 40nm while 9600M GT is 65nm...

330M is same as 230M, just higher clocked

3xxM = 2xxM
3xxM ≠ 9xxxM

Anyway, 330M is ~50% faster than 2600 XT and about 2.5 times faster than regular 2600 (there is no 2600 PRO)

Woops, I thought the mobile part had 48 shaders. Nvidia has misleading naming schemes. :/

Edit: Everything is cut down of the mobile platforms apparently..

 

[Hellhammer]

Woops, I thought the mobile part had 48 shaders. Nvidia has misleading naming schemes. :/

Edit: Everything is cut down of the mobile platforms apparently..

Of course they are cut do they fit in laptops! NVidia's naming system simply sucks. They rename their GPUs so people think they are new (like 8xxx -> 9xxx and 2xxM -> 3xxM). If I recall correctly, there is/was a lawsuit about this as it's very misleading and wrong because it cheats customers

 

[mynewromantica]

So, I think this post has gotten off on a tangent or maybe I missed something. So is the consensus that the 330M is better than the Radeon 2600? I know that everything else will be good but I just want to make sure my games will run great on this computer.

 

[Hellhammer]

So, I think this post has gotten off on a tangent or maybe I missed something. So is the consensus that the 330M is better than the Radeon 2600? I know that everything else will be good but I just want to make sure my games will run great on this computer.

Yes, 330M is at least 50% better