Nvidia GTX 680M vs AMD 7970M: Mobile supremacy

Olikan

Platinum Member
Sep 23, 2011
2,023
275
126
...the 7970M is 380 dollars cheaper :eek:

actually, you can buy two 7970M and it will still be cheaper o_O
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
Both have a 100 watt TDP, that seems rather high to me for a notebook. My low end Llano based laptop gets warm enough in my lap as it is. :)
 

Smartazz

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2005
6,128
0
76
Both have a 100 watt TDP, that seems rather high to me for a notebook. My low end Llano based laptop gets warm enough in my lap as it is. :)

I'd imagine you'd get burned if you tried to game on your lap with these cards heh.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
8,548
2
0
The 7970m wins many of those tests, why does nvidia declare the 680m the fastest? Its just confusing because of actual games they split victories 60/40 (in favor of 7970m) while the 7970m is 400$ cheaper. Doesn't make much sense.
 

TakeNoPrisoners

Platinum Member
Jun 3, 2011
2,600
1
81
The 7970m wins many of those tests, why does nvidia declare the 680m the fastest? Its just confusing because of actual games they split victories 60/40 (in favor of 7970m) while the 7970m is 400$ cheaper. Doesn't make much sense.

Because nVidia has a loyal following of people that will pay anything for their stuff. They can get away with charging stupid amounts of cash for their laptop parts.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
145
106
Do people realize the 680M is the 4GB version? And I dont think that adds a tiny premium like on the desktop due to power contrains.

And if you google around the price difference varies alot. The 680m does cost more tho. But again, its basicly 7870 vs 670. So what you expect.

Not to mention the 680M holds battery about twice as long.
 
Last edited:

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
7,381
2,414
146
Interesting, my dad is considering between these two. I assume 670 and 675 are not real contenders because they are fermi based? (Not kepler) also, he may want to dual boot with linux on the laptop, (going to get a sager with an M4) how is the AMD support for linux these days?
 
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
10
76
Wow, look at the CAD results... all that and it still beats the 680M in gaming.

@_@ BF3 what is going on?? NV crippled bandwidth too much?

LOL @ at the battery test.. srsly, who buys a 17' behemoth to play games unplugged? Not only that, unplugged everything downclocks to <50% so whats the point. Might as well throw the battery out and lug a lighter desktop replacement around.
 
Last edited:

sgrinavi

Diamond Member
Jul 31, 2007
4,537
0
76
Doesn't help the fact that the reviewers never bothered to use new drivers for both GFX cards; this is a cause for concern about the accuracy and reliability of this review.

What he said.

Either way the price difference is just stupid.
 

tviceman

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2008
6,734
514
126
www.facebook.com
The 680m *should* be faster, but Nvidia likes to starve their mobile GPU's with severely inadequate memory bandwidth. The 680m has 80% of the gtx670's texture fillrate (80.6 vs. 102.5), but only 60% of it's memory bandwidth (115.2 vs 192.2).

Why they do this? I have no idea.
 

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
8,115
0
71
Most people gaming on that kind of laptop is probably going to plug it in.

Really?

Seems like a stupid thing to do.

Waste money on a high performance laptop then turn around and use it as a desktop.

Is the 680M worth the extra cost, I dunno, but I'd imagine with some vram overclocking you'd get a nice boost out of it and I'd imagine if someone was truly mobile they'd think the extra cost for the sheer amount of extended battery life each recharge would be well worth it in the end.
 

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
8,115
0
71
Or someone who wants to get the same performance for eight hours instead of four on a mobile device.

$300 on a what, $2000+ laptop, woo swayed.
 

Olikan

Platinum Member
Sep 23, 2011
2,023
275
126
Or someone who wants to get the same performance for eight hours instead of four on a mobile device.

$300 on a what, $2000+ laptop, woo swayed.

lol, you don't use mobile device much huh?

8 hours of gaming on a laptop... yeah, on a car batery
 

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
2,836
218
106
The 680m *should* be faster, but Nvidia likes to starve their mobile GPU's with severely inadequate memory bandwidth. The 680m has 80% of the gtx670's texture fillrate (80.6 vs. 102.5), but only 60% of it's memory bandwidth (115.2 vs 192.2).

Why they do this? I have no idea.

Good point, they should have paid more attention to that bit. The GPU is very capable but memory bandwidth is lacking.
What's with the very high price also?? Not worth it at all, no matter how much better it's features are.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,715
7,004
136
Really?

Seems like a stupid thing to do.

Waste money on a high performance laptop then turn around and use it as a desktop.

-And yet that's what many people end up doing with gaming laptops. As someone that sells computers, I generally try to talk down college students looking for a 1500 gaming laptop to a $1000 dollar gaming machine and a $500 dollar laptop. It never ends up working out how they imagined: The laptop weighs as much as a bag full of books by itself, is huge and unweildy for setting up in class, doesn't even make it through one 1:30 tues/thurs class let alone a whole day. They also end up gaming far less on the go than they think they will and usually have it plugged in on their desk in the dorm instead (where it is promptly stolen). These things are mobile desktops, NOT laptops in the traditional sense.

Oh I was talking about Angry Birds where the Nvidia system switched over to the 10w igpu with Optimus™ while the AMD system gobble gobble.

-Of course, this addresses the $2000 dollar desktop replacement hard core angry bird gamer crowd, also known as the bulk of laptop buyers. The few people that buy this class of laptop for Battlefield or Total War can take solace that one will sit on the lock screen for 8 hours.
 

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
8,115
0
71
It did address your school situation where the longer battery life obtained through superior hardware allowed a Nvidia based laptop to fill both a desktop and laptop style role providing both cutting edge performance, and unopposed dominance in the battery life area.

You're one heck of a salesman though, I'm going to start looking into one of these cherry laptops.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I would prefer the nVidia solution for Optimus and using it when having to travel, but I really don't think that's worth that much. I'd like Optimus because I like having my laptop on the couch (sometimes) regardless of size. Sometimes I'll use a tablet instead, but it I ever want to type, those are less than stellar.
 

hawtdawg

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2005
1,223
7
81
Not to mention the 680M holds battery about twice as long.

I have an M17x R1. You cannot game on a laptop like that on battery. the PSU is 200w+ and the battery is like 90w. they all have switchable graphics for when you're on battery. If i try to game on battery it will last like 45 minutes and I'll get shit framerates because the clock speeds downclock considerably.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,715
7,004
136
It did address your school situation where the longer battery life obtained through superior hardware allowed a Nvidia based laptop to fill both a desktop and laptop style role providing both cutting edge performance, and unopposed dominance in the battery life area.

You're one heck of a salesman though, I'm going to start looking into one of these cherry laptops.

-No, it really only addresses ONE of the problems in that scenario. Of course, its not my business to tell people what to do with their money, and there are definitely legitimate uses for such a class of laptop. College freshman, IMO, is not one of those situations.
 
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
10
76
I have an M17x R1. You cannot game on a laptop like that on battery. the PSU is 200w+ and the battery is like 90w. they all have switchable graphics for when you're on battery. If i try to game on battery it will last like 45 minutes and I'll get shit framerates because the clock speeds downclock considerably.

There you have it.. users who buy expensive gaming laptops don't game on it using battery power because intel's HD3k or 4k is not a real gaming GPU.

If you care about battery life and your game of choice is Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja, get an ultra book or even a netbook.