M15x vs new M17x will this really blow my mind?

considering:

m17x
Intel® Core™ i7 2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
256GB Solid State Drive
17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

have:
m15x 740qm
8gb 1333
500 sata standard
1080 screen
460m
intel-n
no blue ray
warranty just expired
one year old
dell replaced a previously bad 460m for me

Will the performance of the m17x really mop the floor with the m15x?
my concerns are loosing another 460m card, I dont have much love for 460 series lately.

I use my machines for meshlab, sculpting, 3-d environments like opensim, some gaming (im not a gigantic gamer), general computing, system administration, what I consider basic stuff that isnt super taxing although I love fps and having good shadows and such.

I'm considering a 920xm install in my m15x but not sure its worth it, I could probably sell my m15x to a friend for a fair price and just move on as well.

I know the 580 is going to run circles on the 460m its my primary motivator actually. This is my only machine I currently run no desktop anymore as I've been experimenting being laptop only , besides servers at work and such, and a better workstation at work as to not crap up my alien.

 

The floor will be mopped and your mind will be blown.

 

is the 2860qx really worth the 200 premium over the 2760qm?

 

No it isn't. An extra 100Mhz per core and 2mb cache is pretty much nothing

A 2760QM is better if you are within a budget.

And if you have money to spare, buy a 2670QM and after market upgrade to 2920XM / 2960XM and sell the old one

(I have had a 2630QM, a 2860QM, and now I'm enjoying a 2920XM)

 

You will love that machine. As Geo said get the 2760QM if you do not plan to replace the CPU. If you want to get a 2920XM or 2960XM then get the 2630QM. Either way the machine is fantastic!

 

is the 580m underclocked like the 460m is?

 

In comparison to a desktop, the 580m is generally considered a downclocked 560ti. Which is pretty darn fast.
There is 2 version of it though, the default voltage, and the modded 0.92v for higher overclocking.

But in general, it'll run in circles, swim through land like Chuck Norris, and make you wonder why the 460m was so slow.

 

Oh come on man! You compare a low end first gen i7 to a mid-upper level second gen i7. If I could unrep you I would. Ok here is a question which is faster a lamborghini countach or a lamborghini diablo? Or here is another question is a 1.76ghz quad core faster then a 2.5ghz quad core? I think the 1.76 might just be a little faster. Dont ask stupid questions and not expect to get stupid answers!

 

Hi, I realize it's 'faster'. Perhaps a little background will explain better.

You made some comparisons of machines, I'll add another:

An old qx6700 OC'ed to 3.2 with 4GB of 800mhz ram and a 460SSC, vs an m15x, which after purchase you find is factory downclocked with a 740qm and 8gb of much faster RAM.

At least the same?, but this was not the case, it took throttlestop and tweaking to get the m15x to 75% of the FPS potential of the old as dirt desktop it was supposed to replace, and the video card smoked with basically no use for 6 months, as I let the alien sit a while before I even started using it much.

Just as the faster car often needs the best driver to win the race, the overall package of components and in the age of power management, downclocked specs, heat management mean alot for the resultant specification to be impressive.

You can imagine I really am not that interested in spending a few grand at this point in possibly marginal improvements without some feedback from others, especially those that have both breeds of machines to have a subjective opinion of just how that car might drive.

 

A Sandy Bridge/580M equipped R3 is a significant upgrade from the 460M equipped M15x, regardless of CPU. The benchmark scores in my signature will provide a frame of reference. I doubt that you will be disappointed.

 

I just got my M17x R3 w/ 580m and it is freaking amazing. Everything runs really well. It's the fastest laptop I've ever owned.

The only thing you'll have to deal with, coming from a smaller laptop, is the size... This thing is huge and decently heavy.

One of my favorite features is the HDMI-in port. I can hook my Xbox up to the M17x and play Modern Warfare 3. The battery life is about 4 hours on the integrated graphics....which isn't bad.

If you want a beast of a laptop, go with the M17x... It's a powerhouse.

 

ok, here is a real life example of what you will do.

in Witcher 2:

i have a first gen i7 and 460m in my asus g73

Setting on High, barely playable @ 1600 resolution. Numerous slowdowns and choppiness. Numerous settings shut off like no AA, no motion blur, no SSAO, no depth of field etc

on my M17x with 6990m and sandy bridge

Setting on Ultra, Resolution @ 1920x1080 4XAA, everything ON except uber sampling, smooth gameplay

This is the difference. The 580m that you are considering will be about the same level of performance. So you have to decide if that is enough of a difference

 

I find your lack of education disturbing (DarthVader breath here...)

The OP has the right to ask and you shouldn't be so rude to him...

 

^^^ ya, i agree. I don't think the OP was asking if it was faster. OF course its gonna be faster, but was it enough of a difference to upgrade.

My Witcher 2 example aside, The simple answer is yes, it is much faster, but if you can live with the 460m and i7 740 for now, the next gen is literally around the corner

 

^^^^Hahaha LOL.

Anyways, there are a few members here who have come from the M15x and upgraded to the M17x R3. Personally, I owned the more powerful M15x at the time when I swapped: i7 920XM and 6990m. I've been through many configurations of the M15x including a i7 720QM with 460m GTX similar to what you have at the moment. When I upgraded to the M17x R3 with 580m GTX and i7 2630QM. The performance increase was expected but still significant. The 580m is truly a top top graphics card and I have no regrets at all. I upgraded to the 2920XM CPU down the line after I found out that it can be manipulated with software.

Honestly, if your hopes aren't sky high (like believing that BF3 or Metro 2033 will run at 100fps), then you will be impressed with this new machine. However, the card you own isn't terrible. It can still hold its own in some games and I would wait a few months, maybe even just a few weeks before something fresh comes around the corner. AMD have released the 7970 and nvidia will have their 22nm refreshes out soon and mobile cards will follow. Not to mention Ivy Bridge and some new SSDs as well such as the Vertex 4 which will use the new Indilinx Everest 2 controller which honestly looks AMAZING.

 

nice one zoolian, as to widezu's post I agree 100%. If you have the patience to wait, you could get something even more faster than the 580m here soon.

 

uh, who's zooligan?

 

oops sorry, all edited and fixed

 

You were tripped up by the way that NVIDIA and AMD name their mobile parts -- they tend to give the top spec mobile part the same name as the top spec desktop parts -- even though they are based off a lower spec part. For the 460m, that's a GF106 core with 192 shaders; the desktop 460 is a GF104 core with 336 shaders. Basically the 460m is equivalent to a downclocked desktop GTS450, and the 580m is equivalent to a downclocked desktop 560ti.

There's a good article on Tom's hardware here where they compare the 580M/580 and 6990M/6990:

Radeon HD 6990M And GeForce GTX 580M: A Beautiful Lie : Mobile Model Shenanigans: What's In A Name?

 

I'm headed for a similar upgrade. It's significant. There's no reason to think otherwise. Anyone else who says differently, clearly hasn't used a Sandy bridge chip with that kind of GPU.