Advise on upgrading R3

So my MBP and R3 specs are in my signature ....I need some advise from everyone on here

Here is what i thought ....... i can sell my MBP 15 2011 and from the money that i get ...i can purchase a 2920 processor and a 7970m card for my R3 + SSD

and for my Mac needs i can get a mac mini ( i have a gift card for that) so technically I would still have a mac and a windows machine ....cause to me ...having two laptops is not making huge sense...i end up using just one of them...my R3


Also i dont travel a lot so portability is not a major concern for me now .....maybe sometime in the future but not now .....and i have a 27" Display .

What do you guys think ...would this be a good idea ....or spending so much on a R3 might not be the best way to go ????

 

what is the primary purpose for this upgrade? Gaming?

If this is the case, just the vid card will do. The 2920xm isn't required

The 7970m works wonderfully on the R3 because there are no enduro issues (you have to disable integrated graphics to install the 7970m) and is probably the best bet value wise.

Compared to your 6870m, the 7970m will be like trading in a minivan for a porsche

SSD is also another great upgrade

 

Im in a similar situation. I think I've decided I want an m18x. Probably get one next year. So for this year I'm gonna get a 680m, when some of the kinks get straightened out and a bigger ssd with sata 3. I thought about the 2920 but since I'm gonna get a m18x next year I'm just gonna pass on that. If I was planning on keeping this machine for 2+ years I'd probably get the 2929 as well.

 

SSD and 7970m are a must. You will notice a HUGE performance boost with those.

What do you use your MBP for anyway?

 

I guess I'll continue to beat this dead horse.

Definintely upgrade the GPU. The 7970M is an amazing card. So is the 680M. It just depends on what you are able to afford.

An SSD is a great upgrade. Before I got mine, I didn't think it was a necessary upgrade. Now it's going to be a standard option in all my systems.

As far as CPU goes, if you don't do anything like rendering or anything CPU bound, then what you have will do the job. I'm upgrading my CPU because I might need it for school. Plus it was something I've wanted on my system since I purchased it. If you do feel the need to upgrade the CPU, but don't want to spend what most are selling them for ($500+, unless you find a great deal on eBay ) go for the 2760QM or 2860M. Although it may be unnecessary for you, it's your money, spend it on what you want.

 

I honestly , dont need a fancy CPU , I have always wanted to own a extreme CPU , but considering the next couple of months might turn out to be rough for me , I might skip on that upgrade ...but i still wanna get a decent GPU as well as SSD for sure. What would be a good deal on a 7970 according to you guys ??

Also i know this is a Alienware forum but what do you guys abou the mac mini switch , cause that is what is going to get me the money for the rest of it , I usually use my MBP for browsing , school documents , and a bit of photography ...thats all ...i just prefer MAC as a better OS ...for day to day activities but i can sacrifice that to get a more powerful R3 ...if it makes sense......since i only travel with my laptop twice a week ...so portability not a major concern

 

It depends on what you need your Mac for. Will you need some portability, then you might want to take a look at a reman Macbook Air.

It was suggested to me that the Nvidia 680m is a better GPU choice than the AMD 7970m. The 680m supposed to be much faster and more stable than the 7970m. I know they are out of stock in some places right now. But if you can stand waiting to upgrade the GPU, you might want to take a look at the 680m. I am.

 

I haven't been too active on the forums for the past few weeks. From my understanding, both cards run pretty much neck and neck. With both edging out the other in certain games. As far as benching goes, the 680M does have better numbers, but that don't mean squat. The real numbers are in gaming. Plus, if you plan on doing any rendering, you'll want to stay away from the 680M. Both cards are great, whichever you choose, you'll be satisfied with.

 

Not questioning you but I'm curious to know why that is. Thanks

 

I was recommended the 680m because I do a lot of video transcoding. Will the rendering limitation of the 680m be a problem for me?

ps: I was recommended the 680m also because it has fewer compatibility problems with the R2. Not sure what the compatibility is between the 680m or 7970m and the R3.

 

Just to provide you guys an update ...I sold my R3 .just got a great price for it ..now its more like I can buy a air and an R4 (refurb) or just get a 18x r1 with 2920xm processor .or a retina ..sorry I know I am a confused soul ...I will not argue on that

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Yeah, get an m18x and a Macbook Air. Or a retina Macbook Pro and an m14x. Soo many choices.

 

They removed much of the gpgpu functionality out of the keplers and moved them to the quadro. The 7970m runs circles around the 680m if you are going to do rendering.

The 680m is currently the most powerful mobile gaming card available...but it was not created for pro apps

Our resident expert here is KCETech1...we can get her to chime in if you're really interested on the specifics

 

Thanks for that. +rep
I'd love hear what she has to say. I'm always up for learning more.

 

Sorry I am late to the party gentlemen.

Ok first off in GPGPU functions the 680m is pretty abysmal. in CUDA it is normally on par with a 580/675 but in a few things us up to 25% slower
Benchmarking the new Kepler (GTX 680)
that link is for a desktop gtx 680 but you get the idea. worst part is sort function is highly used in most CUDA apps I use. real life for me in CS 5.5, 3DsMAX, and Civ 3D is about a 20-35% real world performance hit for CUDA, and yes the 650 in the MBP's take quite a hit too.

secondly, OpenCL ... all I can say is OUCH the new keplers get whipped, stomped on then shot. they benchmark a mere 30-40% under their predecessors and are outmatched in the 120-150% range by the 7970m. smallLux is one of the largest noticable comparisons. I enclosed an image showing desktop cards, but since a 680m is an underclocked 670, and a 7970m is a slightly underclocked 7870 you get the basic idea.

real world for me, Adobe CS6, and a new MAYA and Autocad beta .... NO COMPARISON, renders are less than half on the AMD gear

also see the cad section at this review
Review GeForce GTX 680M vs. Radeon HD 7970M - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

since you have an r3 and are not forced to use enduro ( the big issue with the 7970m ) your actually nuts not to go with the 7970m unless your applications NEED CUDA. you may take a small hit on gaming performance, wipe the floor with the 680 in other GPGPU functions and save cash.

 

Thanks very much for your input! It will take me a while to digest the information but I'm beginning to understand difference in the cards.
If I were to upgrade my R3 from the 460M, between the 580M, 680M and 7970M, which would you recommend?

Also, while I have your attention, I do have a question that's off topic and I apologize in advance for this. It seems that a significant number of people (that I've met) that work with graphics design or similar professions that use programs such as the Adobe CS collection or AutoCAD seem to prefer Mac's over PC's. Is there a reason for this or is it just because the Mac's are pretty?

 

for a comprehensive answer I would need to know what your applications used are, but if none are heavy on CUDA go 7970m, as I said you can ignore the enduro issues in an R3

Oh never feel bad about asking questions, most in the design field are stuck on Macs because that USED to be the traditional hardware/os used, and I used to be one of them. many of us have moved away now, I can get more done on my Elitebooks than a current Mac Pro, and about thrice as much as a MBP in a day ( broadcast video editing ) and not need to hook into a calibrated external display ( my laptops exceed ACD screen quality )

CAD users have ALWAYS been traditionally a windows crowd snd until last year many Autodesk applications had zero OSX support.

but in a nutshell designers like macs because that's what they know and they're stylish ...... and a handicap in actual productivity

 

I don't run many professional applications. I'm currently using the CS4 collection but only on occasion for non-professional use (mostly editing personal pictures with Photoshop and odd project in Flash, Dreamweaver and Soundbooth).
Most of the other graphically demanding applications are games.

heh, some forumites in forums I frequent are rather anal about staying on topic in each thread so it's become a habit to try and stay on topic in each thread.
Thanks again for the info. I did not know that AutoCAD was Windows exclusive until recently. Learn something new everyday!
BTW, is the Elitebook you refer to the one from HP? I'm envious of the stats ( pun intended )

 

Muchas garcias. You present a good point. Defnintely something to think long and hard about. That is why I am waiting to see if the HDMI issues with the 7970m are resolved. I only use Photoshop every now and then, and gone are the days of me using 3DS Max so I am not concerned with overall program performance with the GPU. The two main issues I need to balance are having AMD APP/Nvidia CUDA assist in transcoding my DVDs & blu-rays to my HDD, and the HDMI functioning fully so I can watch said movies on my HDTV. Everything else is optional. I wouldn't mind taking a 20% hit to CUDA performance over AMD if the HDMI issues might never be fixed in the 7970m.

 

if its in budget I would say either 680m or 7970m, why go that far backwards when either of these cards is as fast as an SLI/x-fire 675/6990?

I don't mind some deviation as good information can be found. and to clairify a point a bit, in some ways MANY design and CAD apps are IMO are still windows exclusive even with an OSX version available as the ports are bad. A-CAD for example has many missing features in the OSX version as does many other CAM/CAD apps, Solidworks is a prime example where the Mac port is neutered. on the design side, most of CS6 is better on windows, I really see it in Premier, Illustrator and After Effects. Photoshop is identical

and you link me to a consumer HP envy?? I should give infractions for that!, I guess I better put my 8770w on the sig now

 

Thanks for your input. I guess I'll go for the 680M since I'm partial to the green company.

Again, thanks for all the great info. I've learned a lot from this thread.
Oh I know you love the consumer products too