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Laptop

Post Date: 2012-08-08
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Pandemonium View Drop Down
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Posts: 14 		  Quote Pandemonium Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Laptop
    Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 1:14am
Am looking to get a new laptop. This will mostly be used for gaming, internet surfing and some microsoft office usage. Am mostly curious as to the quality of the AMD 7970M as I had read somewhere there were problems with the drivers and card itself. As for price range I'd like to keep it around 2k.
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Posts: 14 		  Quote Pandemonium Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 1:16am
Should add looking to play skyrim, diablo 3, some older rpgs and strategy games such as company of heroes.
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Bobby View Drop Down
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Posts: 322 		  Quote Bobby Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 10:51am
The price difference between the 7970M and the 680M is $319.00 so, if you're budget is tight, that is something to consider.
 
With respect to the quality of the 7970M you're asking about...the GPU hardware itself is great. It runs warm but within specs and cooling is fine. It's a laptop; parts will always run warmer because of the form factor. I run the x17 with a 3820QM processor and the 7970M GPU. I have it on a hard smooth surface and my temps are fine. Just don't block those big fan openings in the back.
 
The card itself is fine...what you have heard is the driver support, more specifically Enduro, the automatic switching between the cpu graphics and the card is not developed yet by AMD. The 7970M card is AMD's newest mobile GPU and AMD is notorious for working mobile drivers much later than desktop drivers in addition to AMD stopping their regular monthly updates to a "when they get around to it" schedule.
 
The Enduro issue directly affects utilization; that is, in many games the GPU utilization is not 100% so the game is sometimes running off the Intel graphics rather than the video card. I see that in the game I run.
 
Based on the games you are playing, you will see under utilization of the GPU till AMD gets Enduro fixed. In my opinion, if you can afford the extra $319.00, I'd go with the 680M card because NVidia has already matured their Optimus switching technology and their driver support for mobile graphics is more reliable. If the $319. is out of your range, go for the 7970M. It is a great piece of hardware...just be aware that you'll be waiting till AMD matures their drivers and Enduro before you get full utilization of the card.
 
Hope that answers your question.
 
Bobby
 
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Pandemonium View Drop Down
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Posts: 14 		  Quote Pandemonium Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 3:41pm
Thanks for the info. While budget is not a problem necessarily I am trying to keep it within reason. How would a 675M or 670M run most of those games. I am looking at the 17" laptop myself.
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Bobby View Drop Down
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Posts: 322 		  Quote Bobby Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 5:09pm
The thing to keep in mind is the 675M or 670M are both based on the Fermi 40 nm architecture whereas the 680M is based on the Kepler 28nm architecture so their is a significant boost in performance. I can't say how each will impact your games. Someone else with the NVidia GPU's will need to post about their experiences
But, in my opinion, if you're getting a cutting edge gaming laptop with a Ivy Bridge procecessor, I'd probably want to go with the Kepler GPU's.
 
Remember we almost always wish we had better hardware while playing games Big%20Smile
 
 
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Posts: 27 		  Quote T-Byrd Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 5:54pm
I got the DS x17 with the 7970 a month ago and it smokes. not literally. all the games you listed run on ultra with zero issues. all i had to do was tell the catalyst control center which GPU i preferred and viola. 
<<insert config here>>
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Posts: 14 		  Quote Pandemonium Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 11:25pm
Thanks for all the info. Will take a day or two to decide and probably order early next week.
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