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    First review of Alienware M17x with GTX 680M

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012.

  1. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    I just found this. The Alienware M17x R4 with GTX 680M have been tested.

    They scored a lot more than what we have heard lately with 3DMark 11 (Dell have optimized driver for 680M?). And the gaming scores is impressive as hell. :cool:

    Alienware M17x R4 Review | Digital Trends

    Just a quick comparison with 7970M (Mind that the review of GTX 680M was done with a 3820QM while 7970M was done with a 3610QM):

    3DMark 11
    7970M: P5600
    GTX 680M: P6282

    Diablo 3:
    Ultra, everything maxed
    7970M: 100.8FPS
    GTX 680M: 138FPS

    Skyrim:
    Ultra High
    7970M: 55.6FPS
    GTX 680M: 72FPS
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
    #1
  2. CSHawkeye81

    CSHawkeye81 Notebook Deity

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    They just need to release this badboy now!!
     
    CSHawkeye81, Jun 21, 2012
    #2
  3. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    Nice catch - and they seem to like it ;)
     
    MickyD1234, Jun 21, 2012
    #3
  4. satchmo67

    satchmo67 Notebook Geek

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    Not bad. I wonder how overclockable it will be...
     
    satchmo67, Jun 21, 2012
    #4
  5. Kingpinzero

    Kingpinzero ROUND ONE,FIGHT! You Win!

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    Cool stuff indeed, it does like a 7970m above 900/1400.
    With a possible overclock tho will widen the gap even more.
    Great card none the less.
     
    Kingpinzero, Jun 21, 2012
    #5
  6. Convel

    Convel Notebook Deity

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    These performance figures look a lot more like what one would expect.
     
    Convel, Jun 21, 2012
    #6
  7. xxiv24

    xxiv24 Notebook Consultant

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    I wonder if the heatsink of nvidia gtx 675 will be the same as 680
     
    xxiv24, Jun 21, 2012
    #7
  8. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Looks pretty promising indeed :)
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
    #8
  9. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    Good question, I'll wait until someone tries it :eek:
     
    MickyD1234, Jun 21, 2012
    #9
  10. satchmo67

    satchmo67 Notebook Geek

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    I would llike to see the 7970 score with a 3820QM, as my 3720 scored just shy of P6000.

    My guess is the 7970 will be on a par with the 680m if the same processors were used.

    Comparing the 7970m with the 680m using different processors is comparing apples and oranges.
    I would llike to see the 7970 score with a 3820QM, as my 3720 scored just shy of P6000.
    AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,CLEVO P170EM score: P5935 3DMarks

    My guess is the 7970 will be on a par with the 680m if the same processors were used.
     
    satchmo67, Jun 21, 2012
    #10
  11. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Take a look at the scores that matters. "GPU score" which is not affected by the CPU used.

    Your 7970M score 5690 in GPU score
    GTX 680M score 6026 in GPU score.
    (Notebookcheck got P5500 in GPU score BTW)

    This is in "Performance preset" aka 720p. I think the GTX 680M will increase that lead once the settings are cramped up to 1080p with 4xMSAA and such. Why? Look at various AMD and Nvidia benchmarks (Kepler vs GCN) and you will see that Nvidia shows it real strength with higher settings.

    Look at the game benchmarks, GTX 680M get a lot better FPS. Yes some of that is due to faster CPU, but a faster GPU also plays a big part.
    I am pretty shure GTX 680M will be 15% faster than 7970M in average.
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
    #11
  12. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Excellent. Thanks for the link. Time to get these 680M's out the door.
     
    The Revelator, Jun 21, 2012
    #12
  13. 5150Joker

    5150Joker Tech|Inferno

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    Lots of 7970M owners will be making up excuses soon. Then they'll abandon AMD in droves when SLi works as promised and nVidia delivers solid drivers right at release unlike AMD. AMD has had over a month to fix their broken driver support and it still hasn't happened even with the 12.7 betas. If I were an M18x owner w/7970 xfire, I'd be furious.
     
    5150Joker, Jun 21, 2012
    #13
  14. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    I just want to correct the above...why don't we compare all with a 3820 processor instead of put the 7970 was done with 3610 and the 680m was done with 3820...Skyrim maxxed is running 80fps on my laptop..default clocks

    Most people with with 3820's are scoring 5800-5900 with 7970's...stock clocks
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #14
  15. 5150Joker

    5150Joker Tech|Inferno

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    80 fps using what? The built in benchmark or running around in some dungeon? I'm not sure digital trends even mentioned what they did. We still need end user numbers.
     
    5150Joker, Jun 21, 2012
    #15
  16. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    That is an end user number!...got that using fraps...set pattern. Walking around whiterun at 75+ fps...killing dragons in the forest 80+
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #16
  17. SkittlesXD

    SkittlesXD Notebook Consultant

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    Good find detective Cloud. The 680M is $200 more than the 7970M if you configure the same build that guy had except with the 7970M.
     
    SkittlesXD, Jun 21, 2012
    #17
  18. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Totally worth it :)
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
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  19. CSHawkeye81

    CSHawkeye81 Notebook Deity

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    Any chance it gets released today or tomorrow??
     
    CSHawkeye81, Jun 21, 2012
    #19
  20. 5150Joker

    5150Joker Tech|Inferno

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    Skyrim isn't a consistent experience. Depending on where you are at and what's going on, the FPS can drastically fluctuate, even in the same area on two different systems. So your number vs the 680M one is meaningless at the moment until identical systems are running the game with its built in benchmark to ensure consistency. Someone should e-mail digital trends and find out how they tested skyrim.
     
    5150Joker, Jun 21, 2012
    #20
  21. xxiv24

    xxiv24 Notebook Consultant

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    Let me offer...no...let me throw some cold water on all of you guys....hehe....
     
    xxiv24, Jun 21, 2012
    #21
  22. StZu

    StZu Notebook Evangelist

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    call me when the gtx 680m runs crysis 2 maxed dx11 high res text pack at 60fps as my OCed 7970m WITHOUT good driver...

    Not saying that the 680 cant be overclocked - but to what extent.
     
    StZu, Jun 21, 2012
    #22
  23. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    Your observations are completely correct...this means that the numbers that cloud posted to show how much faster the 680m is are invalid because there are way too many variations, too many scenerios. Even different CPUs in the first post... Invalid.

    We all fully expect that the 680m will be a little faster, but we can't compare numbers like that.

    We dont' know how the 680m will overclock. We do know that like its desktop cousins, you will not be able to add extra voltage to the card without a hardware mod.

    What we can conclude for the time being that stock for stock, the 680m appears to be a little faster than the 7970m. The OC'ed 7970m will easily pass the stock 680m, but until we actually see how the 680m overclocks, we just don't know. However, it shouldn't be much longer now
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #23
  24. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    Interestingly the dell links in the article get:'The product or offer you are attempting to locate is no longer available.' I'm guessing the pages are prepped and ready to go?
     
    MickyD1234, Jun 21, 2012
    #24
  25. StZu

    StZu Notebook Evangelist

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    Meh to be honest the faster it is the better it is for everyone...

    Yes I'm not going to have the fastest mobile gpu n the planet but in the long run this will just make the competition come out with something better... Next year these GPUs will be able to do unthinkable things.
     
    StZu, Jun 21, 2012
    #25
  26. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    680m will have the crown until AMD responds...this is the normal cycle. Then when amd responds, nvidia will come out with a refresh.

    But it is getting trickier and trickier because we are hitting that 100w ceiling.

    I really don't know what both amd and nvidia are going to do to tweak more performance out of this generation cards while still staying at the 100w ceiling and 28nm
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #26
  27. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    I think you mean "Trickier"? :D
     
    widezu69, Jun 21, 2012
    #27
  28. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    hahaha...yes Trickier. editted...and yes, english is my first language lol
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #28
  29. m3n00b

    m3n00b Notebook Evangelist

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    Just curious where these came from. Couldn't find them in the review.
     
    m3n00b, Jun 21, 2012
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  30. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    As one might suspect, under the section entitled Performance, i.e.,

    "Of course, what you really want to know about is gaming. Our M17x includes the new Nvidia GTX 680M, which promises world-beating performance. It keeps its word by providing 3DMark 06 and 3DMark 11 scores of 23,713 and 6,282, respectively. These scores don’t just beat previous gaming laptops. They also defeat some gaming desktops, such as the HP Pavilion HPE h9.

    In-game performance was equally stunning. Diablo III at 1080p with maximum detail averaged 138 frames per second. Dawn of War 2: Retribution averaged over 100 frames per second at maximum detail and Skyrim averaged 72 frames per second at Ultra High. There’s not a game on the market today that can bring the M17x to its knees if you purchase the optional GTX 680M. It’s an impressive piece of hardware."
     
    The Revelator, Jun 21, 2012
    #30
  31. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    ^^ i think he was referring to the subpar 7970m numbers used in the comparison.
     
    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
    #31
  32. anveshs

    anveshs Notebook Consultant

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    I would only imagine how much better can 7970 get when driver gets out :p
     
    anveshs, Jun 21, 2012
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  33. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    SlickDude80, Jun 21, 2012
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  34. anveshs

    anveshs Notebook Consultant

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    anveshs, Jun 21, 2012
    #34
  35. Red Line

    Red Line Notebook Deity

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    Very nice find, + rep! It was mentioned in the review that the laptop runs hot even when idle and the keyboard feels warn under load. Can current M17xR4 owners confirm that with 7970M? Thanks
     
    Red Line, Jun 21, 2012
    #35
  36. anveshs

    anveshs Notebook Consultant

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    I never find it hot when idle not even warm I say :D running on Integrated Gpu for daily uses.
     
    anveshs, Jun 21, 2012
    #36
  37. Quagmire LXIX

    Quagmire LXIX Have Laptop, Will Travel!

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    I've never found it hot.


    As far as this 3610qm P5600 stuff, I'll whip out my thing with the original Dell release 7970m drivers :D and everything else loaded normal (i.e. no skeleton OS). Can't wait to see results from multiple NBR'ers. looks like a nice card!

    P5798 850x1200.jpg P5798
    P6402 950x1450.jpg P6402 (950/1450)
    X1802 850x1200.jpg X1802
    X2015 950x1450.jpg X2015 (950/1450)
     
    Quagmire LXIX, Jun 21, 2012
    #37
  38. anveshs

    anveshs Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks :D,your stock scores are higher too :eek: for this card...
     
    anveshs, Jun 21, 2012
    #38
  39. ichime

    ichime Notebook Elder

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    TBH, going from a 3610QM to a 3820QM isn't going to make too much a difference in how the GPU performs in games, especially when we're talking Sandy and Ivy Bridge CPUs. Although they picked two games to compare it with, I think the 680M looks pretty strong. I would definitely consider two of these if I can get them for the same price I got my 580Ms so I can continue trying to get SLi support in the R2s :D

    Also, I think the relative inconsistency between the R4 and the MSi with the 680M in 3d11 could be due to the TDP-dependent boost. Since it's at the mercy of the laptop's cooling, the R4's cooling might provide a higher TDP ceiling than the MSi system and thus produce better numbers.
     
    ichime, Jun 21, 2012
    #39
  40. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Young grasshopper, read the review again. Take a deep breath and let it sink.

    The keyword is: "Average"

    That is something all reviewers use in terms of performance. Meaning that it isn`t the Max FPS, nor is it the Minimum FPS. It is different scenes. If you seriously think that reviewers should play through the entire game to find the real average FPS for that game you are demading way too much brother.

    The review said Diablo 3 in "Average". Same with Skyrim. Same with the third game. So the score is highly valid. Skewed comparison compared to 7970M? Yes absolutely, since they both was tested with different CPUs :)

    Here is an example how reviewers find Average FPS in a game
    Cheers :)



    Another thing I would like to point out about this review is:

    1.
    Highly valid score since faster CPU does NOT matter

    [​IMG]

    2.
    NOT valid since faster CPU plays a big role in this game.

    [​IMG]

    3.
    Highly valid due to GPU score isn`t affected by CPU. Personally I wouldn`t care about this Performance preset since its only 720p
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
    #40
  41. dsmoke1986

    dsmoke1986 Notebook Consultant

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    Enough with the fanboy ranting...Both cards are great...When is this badboy getting released??
     
    dsmoke1986, Jun 21, 2012
    #41
  42. m3n00b

    m3n00b Notebook Evangelist

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    I was wondering if the two cards were tested in the same machine somewhere. Thanks.

    I'm not a fanboy at all. I love whichever company gives me the best top tier performance per dollar.
    ...tapatalk...
     
    m3n00b, Jun 21, 2012
    #42
  43. FiveEyedDuck

    FiveEyedDuck Notebook Enthusiast

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    It's officially released on the alienware website. Cost $350 to upgrade from a 7970m. :eek:
     
    FiveEyedDuck, Jun 21, 2012
    #43
  44. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    HOLY. CRAP. That's expensive.
     
    widezu69, Jun 21, 2012
    #44
  45. jinda

    jinda Notebook Evangelist

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    Holy cow! $350!! That's so greedy lol! Can we even haggle on parts upgrade?
     
    jinda, Jun 21, 2012
    #45
  46. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Uncalled for; too large a spread; milking the intro buzz. We need to find out whether, or more probably to what extent, they've programmed throttling into the mix to see what performance is actually available from the 680M given the premium being assessed.
     
    The Revelator, Jun 21, 2012
    #46
  47. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Clevo takes $295 for GTX 680M over 7970M
    Alienware takes $350 for GTX 680M over 7970M on M17x, while two 680Ms in M18x cost $550 over two 7970Ms. So a single 680M should really cost about $275 from Alienware.

    Pretty sneaky done by Alienware if you ask me....
     
    Cloudfire, Jun 21, 2012
    #47
  48. mrcgibb

    mrcgibb Notebook Geek

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    Not avaiable on the UK site yet what gives dell!
     
    mrcgibb, Jun 21, 2012
    #48
  49. jinda

    jinda Notebook Evangelist

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    That's the option from buying a new laptop with the 680 over the 7970. For like me who just want to upgrade our existing card, how would we know how much Dell will sell the card only?
     
    jinda, Jun 21, 2012
    #49
  50. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Just checked Eurocom. They're pricing the 680M at $725 USD and the 7970M at $514, so just $211 spread. Eurocom Corporation - Number 1 in Desktop Replacement Notebook Technology.

    Edit: the astounding thing is that with the choice between a 7970M, 675M and 680M for the R4, Dell recommends the 675M as a $50 (formerly $150) upgrade over the 7970M. Who are these people?
     
    The Revelator, Jun 21, 2012
    #50
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