M17x R3 GPU - 6870M vs 460M for unplugged performance

Apologies for the noobie questions, but I actually searched the Alienware M17x forum and went back about 15 pages and couldn't find much discussion on the 6870M graphics card (plenty on the 6970M tho).

My questions are about the graphics switching. I know that the GTX 460M has "automatic" switching and the 6870M has "manual" switching.

1.) How well does the GTX 460M's automatic graphics switching work? I've heard nVidia's automatic graphics switching can be a bit buggy. How long does an R3 running a GTX 460M last on the battery while doing web browsing?

2.) How well does the AMD 6870M's manual graphics switching work? I would assume that it works well. In comparison with the GTX 460M's battery numbers, how long does an R3 running a 6870M last on the battery while doing web browsing?

3.) Is the GTX 460M card THAT much better than the AMD 6870M? The 6970M and the 460M seems to be discussed a lot...the 6870M...not so much. Does the 6870M suck in comparison? Maybe I'm reading the GPU benchmarks wrong, but it seems as if though the 6870M is right on par with the 460M...if not better?

With the bit of research I've done...it seems like I can make my R3's configuration much cheaper by going with the 6870M rather than the 460M which will give me manual graphics switching over buggy automatic switching...which will net me better battery life. Am I off course?

Thanks for any help.

 

Anyone know anything about the 6870M in these R3s?

 

I have the gtx 460 version and i really haven't had a problem with it. Only game it was having trouble with is GTA 4 and that's because it doesn't detect the 460m and uses the IGPU. other than that you should be able to run most other games at high or medium high settings. Dragon age 2 runs on high settings easy and has some stuttering on highest. I Haven't got the Witcher 2 yet and Im kinda scared about whats gonna happen when this thing tries to run it.

I have actually been impressed with the battery life of this thing. If i turn the lights off, screen brightness down, and switch windows to power saver mode, I get around 4-5 hours depending on what I'm doing. with Wifi off when it will prob last longer.

sorry i can't comment on the 6870 but hope this helps a bit.

 

Thanks for the help man.

Do the R3's with the GTX 460M have switchable graphics? Is it automatic or manual?

 

it's automatic which is both good and bad