What is the point of a 3GB GTX 555m??

[jacktesterson]

I just picked up a Dell XPS system in my Sig.

It has a whopping 3GB GTX555m video card.

I wanted a laptop capable of some light gaming, but why is Nvidia wasting money on 3GB when clearly 1.5GB would be lots for these cards? And what's funny, Dell charges MORE for a 3GB model over a 1.5GB model, on a laptop with a 1600x900 screen unless you pay to upgrade.

Is it really just to fool people into thinking, "wow, 3GB VIDEO CARD!!" ?

 

[Madcatatlas]

hmm, probably good for some tasks/programs.

The question that begs to be asked though is.. why did you opt for a 3gb card? Doesnt Dell also supply 580m with 1,5gb? or something less potent with 1gb or 1,5gb?

 

[railven]

hmm, probably good for some tasks/programs.

The question that begs to be asked though is.. why did you opt for a 3gb card? Doesnt Dell also supply 580m with 1,5gb? or something less potent with 1gb or 1,5gb?

He probably got a work laptop and wanted to make sure the "light gaming" criteria was covered.

"I just want to get a car that gets me to work and back."
"So why don't you just get a Ferarri?"

See the logic fail?

 

[jacktesterson]

Nope.

I bought a pre-configured system so it shipped fast. It worked out with savings codes to be cheaper than building a base model that only had a 1.5GB.

I would have never ordered the 3.0GB myself.

I don't need the 580m found in the Alienware line. I only do "light gaming" with this notebook.... hotel stays, etc.

Just found it funny a Medium powered notebook video card had 3GB of memory.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

When your average person looks for a video card, Ram is the primary metric they look at.

 

[Madcatatlas]

He probably got a work laptop and wanted to make sure the "light gaming" criteria was covered.

"I just want to get a car that gets me to work and back."
"So why don't you just get a Ferarri?"

See the logic fail?

But...my post was all questions, not a single argument..

i never made any logical claims/arguments.

And his answer below yours is what i was thinking of.

 

[railven]

But...my post was all questions, not a single argument..

i never made any logical claims/arguments.

And his answer below yours is what i was thinking of.

I wasn't claiming you were making arguements. Just your thought pattern didn't seem on the same page as his post. He said "light gaming" for a laptop, the 580m is definitely not light gaming and the price difference wouldn't even be close to the difference of that extra 1.5GB on the 555m.

Not trying to accuse you of anything, just that that stuck out to me haha. Like, what I've deemed is an on-going joke, Barfo recommending the GTX 580 to everyone.

 

[Madcatatlas]

hehe
well i did mention less potent cards.

anyway, im still holding on to the belief that the 3gb on that card CAN be used by some program.

 

[railven]

hehe
well i did mention less potent cards.

anyway, im still holding on to the belief that the 3gb on that card CAN be used by some program.

Haha, your guess there would be as good as mine. I'd only guess some kind of GPGPU function, but I'm not even sure the 555m let alone any laptop is ideal for such tasks.

 

[dust]

When your average person looks for a video card, Ram is the primary metric they look at.[/Q]

Lol

True, all the salesmen will answer the question-"Which graphics card has it got?" with-"2Gb"

 

[SlowSpyder]

OP, you answered your own question, "And what's funny, Dell charges MORE for a 3GB model over a 1.5GB model..." Remember, businesses exist to make money, 3GB will do nothing for this card, but clearly there are people who will pay for it. So Dell/Nvidia make a few more dollars, even if it's not a logical configuration.

 

[96Firebird]

I thought a lot of lower-end laptop GPUs used some of the computer's RAM instead of having its own (or something to that effect). No?

 

[jacktesterson]

I thought a lot of lower-end laptop GPUs used some of the computer's RAM instead of having its own (or something to that effect). No?

GTX 555m is not a lower end GPU for a Laptop. Its actually considered a Lower High End card.

In fact, a 555m is more powerful then 9/10 Laptops you find at Best Buy sadly.

Its powerful enough to handle High/Ultra settings 768p/900p

 

[Arkadrel]

3gb is a bigger number than 1gb.

However it just makes the card cost more, and use more power.
And Im doubtfull a mobile card like the 555 will allow you to run resolutions that make use of 3gb of memory.

Hell most laptops dont even have 1920x resolutions (screen's).


555m (mobile gpu) = ~ 1299 score in 3Dmark11
5770 (not mobile) = ~ 2700 score in 3Dmark11

radeon 5550 GDDR3@700/950mhz = ~ 1270 score in 3Dmark 11.

Its faster than a discrete 5550 card.... but why would a card like that need 3gb? it doesnt, and Id say the same to anyone who's looking to buy a 5550 card.

 

[bryanW1995]

I just ran into an issue like this while buying a dv7t on BF. The 6770m 1gb was $50 less than the 6770m 2gb, yet in discussion forums many users had opted for the 2gb card bc it had MOAR RAM. I made a few comments about it and probably saved a couple of people the $50, but hp knows that they'll get some people with this trick.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Bigger numbers sound more impressive on the spec sheet and VRAM is cheap.

Purely for marketing and niche programs.

 

[Throckmorton]

I just ran into an issue like this while buying a dv7t on BF. The 6770m 1gb was $50 less than the 6770m 2gb, yet in discussion forums many users had opted for the 2gb card bc it had MOAR RAM. I made a few comments about it and probably saved a couple of people the $50, but hp knows that they'll get some people with this trick.

There are games that use over 1gb RAM... all of those games will bottleneck with a 1gb RAM limit.

 

[Panopticon]

Alienware used this card in the M14x. They had an "upgrade" option for the 3gb version that was like $100 difference at launch and did absolutely nothing for performance. That GPU doesn't have the oompf to push anything that would need 3GB of ram but for what it is the 555m is a decent little card for light gaming. I think the benches put that card close to the 260m which is like an overclocked 9800. Anyway to answer your question only needs one word... Marketing.