7970M or 680M ?

[ragingspeed]

Hi,

I'm really a bit lost on what should I go for my new 15 laptop, 7970M or 680M ?! Pricewise still have to check but really really need to know performance-wise which is best

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[kiddagoat]

Are upgrading a current laptop or getting a new one???

 

[ragingspeed]

I am going to buy a new one - 15.6" core i7 3820QM 16GB DDR3 120GB SSD

 

[Homeles]

GTX 680M is the faster part.

 

[DarkOCean]

After googling "7970M vs 680M'' i've found that they trade blows with each other no clear winner so take the cheapest.

 

[Over_Lord]

HD7970M would be my take

 

[eidairaman1]

7970m definitely

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Notebookcheck.com

They do indeed trade blows with each other, and overall the 680m is the faster part, but not in every title, and not by much. The cheapest I have seen the 680m for is 295 usd higher than the 7970m. So if the marginal percentage is worth 300 bucks than go for the 680. If you want to save quite a bit of cash for almost the exact same performance, go for the 7970m. And if you are a fanboy, well then go for the brand you like I suppose.

 

[Black Panther]

Probably this is not what you want to read and I don't want to ruin any plans, but please allow me to give you some advice:

Unless you really really need a portable gaming pc I'd suggest against spending cash for a gaming laptop. Apart from it costing much much more than a desktop equivalent, there's this:

I'm speaking from experience.
3½ years ago I bought one myself, Q9450, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 8800M GTX SLi, 7200rpm HDD's in raid 0.... Cost me €3000. In my opinion it was one of the worst choices in my life.
It's fully upgradeable, true. And thank heavens for that since just after 2 years of use both graphic cards died, first one, then the other, and I was lucky to find a bargain for one 8800M GTX on these forums for only €70.

But at the end of the day, I'm stuck with the hardware. The most I can upgrade is spending around €1000 and get two 280M GTX and spending that amount of money is not worth for the performance increase. I could change the processor but it's limited to socket LGA775 unless I find a newer motherboard which fits inside its case (which is nearly impossible). Same goes for upgrading to more RAM or go DDR3.

When I bought it, it was a mean gaming machine. After a year it became mid-range. After my graphic cards started dying, I no longer risked playing demanding games on it. Nowadays I could buy a better performing laptop for €700 approximately.

 

[eidairaman1]

Well for a laptop since they really arent upgradeable you get the best you can for the money, I have a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 1 that i use for Movies anymore

Probably this is not what you want to read and I don't want to ruin any plans, but please allow me to give you some advice:

Unless you really really need a portable gaming pc I'd suggest against spending cash for a gaming laptop. Apart from it costing much much more than a desktop equivalent, there's this:

I'm speaking from experience.
3½ years ago I bought one myself, Q9450, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 8800M GTX SLi, 7200rpm HDD's in raid 0.... Cost me €3000. In my opinion it was one of the worst choices in my life.
It's fully upgradeable, true. And thank heavens for that since just after 2 years of use both graphic cards died, first one, then the other, and I was lucky to find a bargain for one 8800M GTX on these forums for only €70.

But at the end of the day, I'm stuck with the hardware. The most I can upgrade is spending around €1000 and get two 280M GTX and spending that amount of money is not worth for the performance increase. I could change the processor but it's limited to socket LGA775 unless I find a newer motherboard which fits inside its case (which is nearly impossible). Same goes for upgrading to more RAM or go DDR3.

When I bought it, it was a mean gaming machine. After a year it became mid-range. After my graphic cards started dying, I no longer risked playing demanding games on it. Nowadays I could buy a better performing laptop for €700 approximately.

 

[phanbuey]

^ that is true... i would build a budget matx or m-itx rig for $1000 and then get a cheapo laptop or ultrabook after. You would be amazed at how much better non-gaming laptops are at everything laptop (portability, battery life, not singing your nuts, not making you look like a huge dork in public places etc.)

Really not worth it.

But to pick one, always go with the best $/buck. so 7970M gets my vote

 

[kiddagoat]

I would vote for the 7970M. In the mobile sector, the nvidia cards are usually considerably more expensive than the radeon ones.

If you are looking at the enthusiast line of mobile graphics, I would assume battery life is not a big deal for you and you know going in that you will need to have an AC outlet around at all times.

I purchased my own laptop top about 2 years ago now. I would classify it as a mid-range machine.

I would highly look into something from the Clevo line of laptops. With the new MXM 3.0 standard, alot of those modular graphics card are standardized and you can upgrade them down the road.

Usually you can find Eurocom or another dealer willing to sell you upgrades at a reasonable price point.

 

[ragingspeed]

would like to thank you all veeeery much for your valuable opinions. rest assured that I have considered them ALL.

will try to answer everyone in as much summarized as possible.

well Kiddagoat, you hit the bull's eye ! since the brand I am going to buy is actually the Eurocom Racer 2.0, which I've read sooooo many good reviews and believe me they have such a nice customer service ... I liked them alot!

Regarding laptop vs pc performance, I really agree with you all, but here's my reason of the need to buy a laptop. I'm rarely home, where I've got my gaming rig, pity because I rarely use it I'm always out, and frequently need to use a portable device that I need for my heavy acad usage, development software, image editing, and, why not, in my free time I'd like gaming so many much, I'm crazy about it

Honestly I'm not one who side that brand or the other, the best gfx card I can find with reasonable performance/price, I would go for. In this case, as some of you mentioned, nvidia is only a bit better than the ati, but as I assumed, and you confirmed, it is going to be much more expensive (not just by two bucks or so) therefore I think I'm after the 7970m. It IS undoubtly a good card

Again I know I'm going to spend money same as if I'm going to build a full-on mega-rig (pc-based) but due to above mentioned reasons I've no alternative

Thanks!! helpful as always! happy gaming!