"Old" MBP Video card vs New card(s)

[Hls811]

I know this'll probably get lost in the tons of posts regarding the new MacBooks but....

...I'm looking on the Apple site for a comparison chart of the new video cards vs the old, and interestingly they don't have it anywhere.. they compare the older MacBook video to the new and show how much faster it is now, but the comparison chart for the new MBP only shows the difference between the 9400 and the 9600 cards..

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html

Is it that there isn't much difference in video between the old (8600) and new? Seems kind of old they wouldn't compare it if there was a difference.

 

[scott85213]

I was also looking for a comparison. I was hoping that 512vram would be in the base model now, as it was in the mid model before.

But if the current cards with 256vram are comparable to the old 512's, I don't mind.

 

[cohenben]

I was also looking for a comparison. I was hoping that 512vram would be in the base model now, as it was in the mid model before.

But if the current cards with 256vram are comparable to the old 512's, I don't mind.

There is a good chart somewhere that compares all the graphics cards on the market and I remember the 8600 being way up there while the 9400 and 9600 actually ranked below it. I have no idea why, or what measurements they were using in these rankings so hopefully someone will post a link, as I'd like to see it again, too.

 

[derek1984]

I'd like to know more about these new video cards as well compared to the "older" ones. Also, how often do they tend to come out with new one's? When could you expect Apple to have new video cards again for the Macbook Pros?

 

[gumbyx84]

I'd like to know more about these new video cards as well compared to the "older" ones. Also, how often do they tend to come out with new one's? When could you expect Apple to have new video cards again for the Macbook Pros?

Usually with every release of a new MBP. http://guides.macrumors.com/MacBook_Pro_Buyer's_Guide

 

[kenned]

I don't know where you can find a performancechart or anything, but the difference between the 8600m GT and the 9600m GT is about 10-20%, the 9600m is made in a 55nm process (which means it draws less power and makes less heat), so it is clocked a bit higher in the Hz. The architecture of the GPU's are roughly the same

 

[macrem]

There are benchmarks at notebookcheck.com...

Here's an image of 9600M GT (left) & 8600M GT (right) cards to compare side-by-side:

What I don't currently see is what VRAM was used in the 9600M GT. Right now I'm guessing baseline 256 VRAM.

 

[cohenben]

There is a good chart somewhere that compares all the graphics cards on the market and I remember the 8600 being way up there while the 9400 and 9600 actually ranked below it. I have no idea why, or what measurements they were using in these rankings so hopefully someone will post a link, as I'd like to see it again, too.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Here is that chart I was mentioning earlier - but I notice that the benchmarks were not always obtained using the same exact cards available on Apple's machines - so reader beware.