GPU comparison, need your advice

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gothamhunter

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Hey guys,

I am wondering about your thoughts about the two laptop GPU's below (please no Nvidia vs ATI fanboi discussion, be mature about this):

1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6570
Click to expand...
and
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 2GB
Click to expand...

I currently have a gaming desktop that sports an EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 and am looking to get a gaming laptop and sell my desktop. I am trying to figure out which of the two would be better; the GeForce seems to win by being a 2GB instead of a 1GB, but I guess I haven't done much research on these to know a lot about them yet.

I am also wondering what kind of performance hit I can expect in terms of GPU power if I switch to either of these. I think both of the laptop ones are GDDR5, but are running in GDDR3...
 
M

mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
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Last edited:
gothamhunter

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
4,464
6
81
Looks like the 540 is better all around (except the ATI has 400 pipelines...?) They both have the option of GDDR5, but I'm guessing most manufacturers will set them both at DDR3.

I'm thinking of picking this up:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X6-9500_Notebook/

I can get it down to $844 with removing the Windows option and a coupon code of "Myspace" for an additional $30 off.

According to this chart, I should be able to play recent games pretty well with it:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

What do you think?
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
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gothamhunter said:
I am also wondering what kind of performance hit I can expect in terms of GPU power if I switch to either of these. I think both of the laptop ones are GDDR5, but are running in GDDR3...
Click to expand...

This I can tell you. I think between a 9800gt and these chips its about even, mabe slightly slower for these chips in some games.
 
gothamhunter

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
4,464
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happy medium said:
This I can tell you. I think between a 9800gt and these chips its about even, mabe slightly slower for these chips in some games.
Click to expand...

Looks like the ATI is running GDDR5 but the Nvidia is running DDR3.

Also, I'm not really notebook GPU tech savvy, but it doesn't seem likely that I'd be fully utilizing the 2GB on the Nvidia since I'd be running at max 1920*1080. Would I be wrong in this assumption? If not, then the ATI is definitely looking more promising.
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
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You are going to have to take into account that Nvidia has optimus switching on the GPU, im not sure if that would work in this setup or not as it doesnt say, im going to assume it does. ATI also has switching technology on the new 6xxxM series of GPU's however, seeing as optimus has had a few months to filter into the market and get some good drivers, if battery life is important you might go with Nvidia, less of a headache in switching drivers and drivers in general.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
gothamhunter said:
Looks like the ATI is running GDDR5 but the Nvidia is running DDR3.

Also, I'm not really notebook GPU tech savvy, but it doesn't seem likely that I'd be fully utilizing the 2GB on the Nvidia since I'd be running at max 1920*1080. Would I be wrong in this assumption? If not, then the ATI is definitely looking more promising.
Click to expand...

To be honest, you would have trouble utilizing 1gb with these cards. :(
 
gothamhunter

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
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OK, sorry if this seems like thread capping, but I just went to HP and did the "ask an expert" and they confirmed they are GDDR5, so it looks like I'll be going with the ATI. The ATI GDDR5 will perform much better than the Nvidia DDR3. It will suck dropping to 1600*900 for the laptop with the ATI, but it's a 17inch vs the 15inch of the Nvidia card that's @ 1920*1080
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
My friend did that once with dell, they claimed it was Gddr5 and at stock OEM clock speeds, it came underclocked to hell and with Gddr3 so dont take everything at face value.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
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mnewsham said:
The resolution on the screen is at least 1920x1080 so it's not like it is 2Gb on a 720p screen ;)
Click to expand...

Well I'm going by the speed of the cards. They are barely faster then a 9800gt desktop model. If memory serves me right a 9800gt 512 is just as fast as a 1gb model. Going by that I would say these cards will have trouble providing good framerates in any modern game @ 1900x1080 even with 10gb of video memory. You will have to turn the details down to get good framerates ,therefore you will never use even 512mb of video memory.

In short memory amounts mean nothing in this case but memory speed is what you are looking for. One more thing that makes more memory bandwidth is is bit size. A 256 bit card clocked at 500 ddr3 memory will be faster then a 192 bit card with ddr3 memory clocked at 500 also.
Keep that in mind because at high res. 1920x1080 you need more memory bandwidth.
Just a thought.:)

edit:
Ok I just took a qick look and both cards are 128 bit.
Now you say the ATI card is ggr5 , so its faster.
I also see that you said this laptop is @ 1600x900, The ATI laptop will play your games much faster.
A 1900x1080 laptop with a 550m Nvidia card will be crap.The screen may be bigger but your game speed will suffer bad.

Get the ATI machine is my advice.
 
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OILFIELDTRASH

OILFIELDTRASH

Lifer
May 13, 2009
12,333
612
126
You are going to see a big drop off in gpu power even coming from a 9800gt. Notebook graphics are nothing like desktop. You're looking at a little below 9600gt level desktop graphics. Save up a little more cash if you're looking to replace a desktop.
 
OILFIELDTRASH

OILFIELDTRASH

Lifer
May 13, 2009
12,333
612
126
happy medium said:
Well I'm going by the speed of the cards. They are barely faster then a 9800gt desktop model. If memory serves me right a 9800gt 512 is just as fast as a 1gb model. Going by that I would say these cards will have trouble providing good framerates in any modern game @ 1900x1080 even with 10gb of video memory. You will have to turn the details down to get good framerates ,therefore you will never use even 512mb of video memory.

In short memory amounts mean nothing in this case but memory speed is what you are looking for. One more thing that makes more memory bandwidth is is bit size. A 256 bit card clocked at 500 ddr3 memory will be faster then a 192 bit card with ddr3 memory clocked at 500 also.
Keep that in mind because at high res. 1920x1080 you need more memory bandwidth.
Just a thought.:)
Click to expand...

He could only dream to get 9800gt desktop level graphics. Sad but true. 9800gt level graphics on a notebook is kick ass. Notebook graphics are a joke if you are use to a desktop.
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
If you want good mobile graphics the 460m is probably the lowest i would go, (or the new 555m)
 
gothamhunter

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
4,464
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So everyone's clear what I'm comparing..

ATI machine:

HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 3.0 hours of battery life +++
17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone + HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN
Standard Keyboard
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
Click to expand...
Final Price, $986 after tax/shipping

Nvidia Machine:
Xplorer X6-9500 Notebook

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Mobile Processor 2.00 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 2.80 GHz
HDD: 500GB 5400RPM SATA300 Hard Drive [+2]
MEMORY: 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-1333 SODIMM Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
MOTHERBOARD: Intel HM65 Chipset Mainboard
SOUND: Built-in 3D Premium Surround Sound
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 2GB PCIe Video
Click to expand...
Final Price: $883 after tax/shipping

If only I could remove the OS on the HP machine and save some more bucks...
 
OILFIELDTRASH

OILFIELDTRASH

Lifer
May 13, 2009
12,333
612
126
He's talking about a mobile 6570 though not the 485m. I bet finding a laptop with a 485m for under $2500 would be pretty hard too.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
gothamhunter said:
So everyone's clear what I'm comparing..

ATI machine:


Final Price, $986 after tax/shipping

Nvidia Machine:

Final Price: $883 after tax/shipping

If only I could remove the OS on the HP machine and save some more bucks...
Click to expand...

The ATI machine is a much better value. I'd grab that one.
I want to make one thing clear though, don't expect much gaming power with either machine.

Personally I would go with something with a less exspensive cpu and get something with more graphics power.
That cpu could run 3 6750's and beg for more.
 
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