M17r4 with 7970m @ 2560 x 1440 resolution?

How well can this video card handle this resolution?

I understand the technical details of obtaining the output via the mini-display port, but I'm unclear if the graphics card itself has the oomph for it.

What I mean is, while I know I can get it, is it going to be usable? Can I play WoW or CSS or any game at that resolution with decent framerates? Will Photoshop and Lightroom be good?

TIA!

 

Photoshop/Lightroom won't be a problem, but you'll probably get half the frame rates for games at that resolution vs. 1920 x 1080. The 7970m and 680m have as much oomph as anything aside from the faster desktop GPUs and dual mobile GPUs (and not all games take advantage of dual GPUs). However, if you want, you should be able to run games at, say, half that resolution (720p) and have the GPU interpolate the image to full-screen, for much better framerates.

With the extra resolution on an external display, your discrete GPU will run hotter, so you'll want to at least raise the rear of the machine 1/4" or so for better airflow (some people put plastic bottlecaps, upside down, under the rear legs to do so), or buy a notebook cooler with adjustable fans to direct more airflow into the two air intakes in the bottom rear corners of the laptop's base. Cooler electronics live longer, especially when it comes to GPU boards.

You'll want to color-calibrate the external display for any semi-serious photo processing. And that display has a 16:9 aspect ratio, whereas a 16:10 ratio is better for displaying digital SLR images. If you're able to pivot the display and switch to portrait mode on the fly, that's a huge benefit for photography. I have no idea what type of backlight the external display is using, what the gamut is, how many bits-per-color-channel it displays, or whether it's IPS, which are all big factors for photo processing. Your internal LCD display panel is white-LED-backlit, at best might cover 100% of the sRGB color space, is likely 6-bits-per-color-channel (which sucks for image processing, and requires a lot of dithering to avoid objectionable color-banding), and doesn't have the wide viewing angles or color constancy across the screen of an IPS display. So the good news is that you pretty much have nowhere to go but up from there!

The 7970m will drive a display at 8-bits-per-color-channel, max, which is fine for everything but low-noise grayscale images such as BW photography and medical x-rays. To drive a display at 10-bits-per-color-channel requires a FirePro/Quadro GPU, which you won't find in any of the gaming laptops except from Sager.

So that may be more detail than you anticipated, but my profession is digital image processing.

Good luck!

 

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I am into photography as well (serious amateur), and I have a spider 4 elite for calibration.

What I don't have is a good IPS monitor. Any good suggestions? I'm willing to spend up to about $600 or so. I asked this question because I am not really sure about the resolution issue, if 2560 x 1440 was simply too much for this card, it cut down on what monitors I could look at.

I'm aware of the cooling issues. The laptop is actually set up in such a way that there is about 2" of open air below it.

 

You will certainly be able to play those games you mentioned and many more at 2560x1440 with your 7970m .

You might have to turn down some eye candy on certain titles depending on the kinds of FPS your looking for.

Here is a very nice monitor for under $600 with that promo code.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E16824260111&gclid=CLmTkuDAt7YCFetAMgodlyIAJg

 

All 2560x1440 use IPS or PVA irrc, so quality wise, they are all pretty decent.

If your photo end up in prints, you may want to consider wide gamut monitors.

 

Yes, my photos end up as prints. I shoot in RAW only.

I'm looking at the Dell U2713HM, since it has displayport and I can use a minidp to dp cable and cut down on clutter.

 

My external display is a pro model, so I haven't researched the $600 price point, but here are the priorities I would look for:

1) RGB-LED-backlit, with a gamut of 100% Adobe RGB. You'll see more vibrant/saturated colors that exist within your photos using Adobe RGB than with the smaller sRGB color space, plus it's better for printing/publishing [ 1, 2]. Most white-LED-backlit displays can't achieve this gamut, plus white-LED and fluorescent backlights age/color-shift/dim much more quickly than RGB-LED. It's good if the display can be switched between Adobe RGB mode and sRGB mode, because non-color-managed applications (like games) will look oversaturated in Adobe RGB mode (although some people like that). Plus anything to be displayed on the web should be in sRGB.

2) Look for an 8-bit-per-color-channel LCD panel, a.k.a. a "24-bit" panel, and not just a display that accepts an 8-bit-per-color-channel input signal (you might need to google the spec sheet for the LCD panel model that's inside the display itself to check this). You can throw away half your resolution with dithering on a 6-bit-per-color-channel panel, which are what go into most laptops nowadays. So a 720P frame, blown up on your external display, may actually look better than a 1080P frame on your M17x R4 display.

3) IPS, for better color uniformity from the center to the corners of the display.

4) A pivoting display, which automatically switches to portrait mode when you pivot it. On a 2560 x 1440 display in landscape mode, your portrait-mode dSLR shot will occupy 1440 x 960 pixels. Flip the display into portrait mode, and that same shot will instead occupy 2160 x 1440 pixels, a 50% increase. Note that dSLR shots have a 3:2 aspect ratio, so the closer your display comes to that ratio, the more of your screen your photos will occupy (and a 16:10 display is closer to 3:2 than is a 16:9 display).

5) A measured brightness in reviews of around 300 NITS. A higher brightness can always be turned down. 200-220 NITS will seem dim. Calibrating will always reduce brightness.

6) Response time. At a refresh rate of 60Hz, you want motion within the display to look crisp, not fuzzy or with trails.

7) No major non-uniformities, matte vs. glossy surface, etc. Shadow details tend to be hard to see on glossy displays, particularly if the area behind you is bright. Some displays use a wave-cancellation process to eliminate reflections, which looks sharper than a matte surface.

Check objective reviews that measure display characteristics and that compare them with other displays (I don't trust user reviews of displays, because everyone thinks the one they own is the best). And display manufacturers frequently lie or misrepresent gamut measurements, so the measurements in reviews are essential. Since color spaces are three-dimensional (i.e., use separate coordinates for red, green, and blue), you want gamut measurements describing what percentage of VOLUME WITHIN the Adobe RGB space is covered by the display's gamut.

 

Thanks a ton for that info. That helped me alot.

Based on that, it seems the Dell U2713HM will suffice. I would prefer a pro level monitor, but I've got to draw the line somewhere, at least until I can make money from these prints. :thumbsup:

 

Just be aware that a lot of people have reported bad back lighting issues with the 2713HM. I am personally considering a Korean model myself now.

 

I am eyeing up those as well, some have been overclocking pretty well too.

 

So far from my research, I am pretty set to go with a model that has displayport input and a stand that can go from landscape to portrait mode. A few of these monitors seem to easily overclock to 75 Hz which is a bigger bonus. Now just trying to see which specific model/brand to go with.

 

With the Koreans make sure you have a mini-dp to dual link DVI adapter. They are $70 at Monoprice. Get a dual link DVI cable while you are at it. This is why they say the card is not for laptops in the Ebay ad, as most laptops do not have a displayport output.

One issue with the Korean monitors is they do not have a scalar chip in them and can only output at their native resolution. Its not a showstopper, but you must have the above part, as they only accept dual link DVI.

 

I am going to get one with DP to not have to deal with any adapters and issues henceforth. The DP port monitors also have scaling I believe.

 

Dell presently has a great deal on 3 ultrasharp monitors including the U2713HM which after another 10% discount code and a $75 Dell gift card meant $470 after taxes for me. No way I could pass that up. Can't wait to join the 1440p club!

 

I use this resulotion on my own monitor and i have problemen getting 60fps on my gtx 680 (water cooled and volt modded)
So yes you will definetly turn off most eye candy since this resolution is al almost 70% more pixels then Full HD

I use a [=http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/consumer/computer-peripherals/monitors/commercial/LS27A850DS/XK?subsubtype=sa650-and-sa850-led] Samsung[/url] but i've had that puppy since day one.

The main advantage is, it has NO input lag as the DellU27xx series

 

Need info please!

 

The deal's over now, sorry.