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    6990M or 580M?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Osiris7349, Dec 21, 2011.

  1. Osiris7349

    Osiris7349 Newbie

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    I currently have an Asus G73 with the AMD 5870M card and it does pretty good in most games. I am very close to stepping up and ordering the M17 R3 and need some input on the video cards.

    I will mainly be playing SWTOR & Skyrim. From the benchmarks it looks like the two cards are very close and I don't see a preference on the forum. I am leaning towards the Nvidia simply because the ATI drivers are normally buggy; however, with Intel and AMD and pushing the integrated graphics, I wonder where Nvidia will be in the next few years.

    Which card do you think is better long term?

    Any good feedback is appreciated.

    Thanks!
     
    Osiris7349, Dec 21, 2011
    #1
  2. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    If you're leaning towards nvidia, then you should get nvidia. Just be aware that the 580s suffer from throttling on the alienware's...which means you will 100% have to repaste and apply a power throttle fix easily found here. There is no fix for the temp throttle except you have to keep temps down
     
    SlickDude80, Dec 21, 2011
    #2
  3. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    You can't go wrong with 6990ms. Price and performance ratio they are better than 580m.
     
    qohelet, Dec 21, 2011
    #3
  4. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    They're actually the same price at the moment through Dell.

    If you can handle a few minor issues with a few tweaks, get the 580m. If you want the card ready to play without messing on it too much, the 6990 works too.
     
    zoolian982, Dec 21, 2011
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  5. inap

    inap .........................

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    this was right. but now they are both the same price, so 580m would be the way to go, with phsyX, cuda and can be overvolted.
     

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    inap, Dec 21, 2011
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  6. Xenn0X

    Xenn0X Notebook Evangelist

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    have 6990M, but already broke it.
    waiting for repair but system intermittent locks up and only happens on the 6990M and not on intel card.

    over all card is great.
     
    Xenn0X, Dec 21, 2011
    #6
  7. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    Huh, the 580m is free on your pic.
     
    zoolian982, Dec 21, 2011
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  8. inap

    inap .........................

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    a free upgrade from the 6990. would be nice if they were free, hahahah
     
    inap, Dec 21, 2011
    #8
  9. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Hello, Osiris and welcome to NBR!
    You've asked a great question and one that is often the subject of controversy among fans of each brand.

    If you're primarily interested in getting a pulse on what performs the best, a good option is to read this thread, look at the results being posted, and ask questions there:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...alienware-m17x-benchmark-thread-part-4-a.html

    Below you will find a few useful threads for NBR members:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/site-suggestions-help-announcements/109941-forum-rules.html
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ion-how-search-forum-read-before-posting.html
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/sit...5516-reputation-points-power-user-titles.html
     
    katalin_2003, Dec 21, 2011
    #9