M17x r3 485m gpu

Hi guys, This is NOT a thread on SPECULATION. This is more a thread for people who plan on testing out their r3 with a purchased 485m, and for them to discuss it and show results. With the 6970m out, people have the option of 5870Cf/near 5870Cf performance, but no 3d, or 3d with the equivalent to around 1 5870. Some of us would like both the power of a 6970, and 3d-hence a 485m.

Feel free to discuss anything pertaining to how the 485m could be made to work in the r3. I believe the retail ones are the same size, but it really comes down to the bios/flashing, which I do not know the faintest thing about.

Also, this is just a quick question not pertaining to the thread, is it possible to buy the 2920xm and install it in the r3? or does the r3 use a different chipset?

Thanks guys

 

buying a gtx485m alone is 800+ dollars even if you are lucky enough to get the 3d system working with the gtx485m you end up spending +900 dollars to get about the same gpu performance +250 dollars would get you. And the GTX485m produces more heat and uses more power.

I guess if you have your heart set on getting extreme gpu performance + 3d then spending the +75 for the gtx 460 upgrade then spending 800+ for the gtx 485m + buying thermal pads and grease if spending over 900 dollars to get roughly equal performance with only having to spend 250 is worth getting 3d then i guess go for it. Gotta also keep in mind if the bios will even support it and then how the drivers will work with it and you also have to think about how the gtx 485m wont have a warranty like the gtx 460m will have or the 6970 will have

and extra 650 dollars spent out ur pocket just to get 6970 performance AND 3D at the same time. 3d is not worth an extra 650 dollars and all the hassle of changing the card hoping the bios supports it and hoping the drivers work well with it and not having a warranty on that super expensive card. If you need 6970 performance put the 900 dollars back in your pocket, spend the 250 dollars and get a 6970, take the 650 dollars and buy a next gen sata III SSD with lotsa speed (nice one for 200 128GB size), change the ram to 1600mhz kingston hyper X ram (100 2x4GB leaves 2 empty slots you can expand to more hyper x later if need be), put a nice 750GB 7.2k HDD in the second HDD spot (80), get a blu ray drive and install it urself if ur gonna install a gpu then u can install ur own blu ray for 75 bucks and thats only 450 bucks to do all that. Then buy yourself 5 or 6 new games you like with the rest. And you get all that plus a buncha games and all u had to do was sacrifice 3d

 

I often wonder why no 485M, I mean alienware is hyping the 3D, and if we can only get that on the nvidia cards why not go for the big guns. On a related note ananda tech today hinted at the review of a laptop with a HD 6970M next week so we will finally get a nice comparison of how it does against the 485M. I just really wish we could get top notch tier performance and 3d....

 

People have spent a lot more on stupider things. Just remember that.

If I *had* the money I'd definitely buy a 485m and 3D... The funny part is I dropped around $1200 to upgrade from 2x 5870 in my desktop to 2x 580 when they came out a few months ago.

 

I'd imagine that Dell doesn't want to deal with overhating issues and RMA'ing a bunch of 485's down the road which could be a small disaster in itself.

 

wow 2x 580 has to be such overkill. I know the 580's are the fastest cards out for desktop but the desktop 6970 is not that far behind but its much cheaper. (350 vs 500)

I run 2 6970's in crossfire and have a 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor which is a ton of pixels to render. I play starcraft 2 and the 4.4ghz hex core + crossfire 6970's run starcraft 2 at 2560x1600 with every graphic setting cranked up to the ultra maximum and it has to be running at at least 50-60 fps cause it runs butter smooth without a hiccup even with 8 players in the game. I haven't been able to make starcraft 2 stutter at all with my current rig no matter what i do in the game. Maybe you will be playing a lot of new games and you wanted to future proof. I'm just a hardcore starcraft addict and a huge 2d mmorpg player so the crossfire 6970's are all i ever need that's why i didn't blow an extra 300 on 580's plus since my processor is AMD i thought it would be nice to have an AMD GPU too

I tried to match companies on major components.

AMD cpu + amd GPU
ASUS M board + ASUS soundcard + ASUS GPU
G skill flare ram specially designed for use with phenom II x6 processors

I figured less conflicts if i match companies together for the main stuff and for the ram I saw that the ram said it was made to run at high speeds with a black edition overclocked phenom II x6.


But yea man 2x 580's thats more power then you can even use. Do you even have a 260x1600 super rez lcd?

 

People are forgetting that the GTX 485m is a decent deal faster than the 6970 mobility. Consistently 15% faster.

 

10-15% faster for 100% more cost and 10-15% for more drain on the battery and more heat saturating the inside of your laptop

 

I actually had this exact same thought. I'd be a bit wary of hot Nvidia cards if I were Dell.

 

I'd buy it in a heartbeat. No sarcasm intended. SLI GTX 470's should work in the R2, as should a single GTX 485 or HD 6970. Either way, some modding will be needed, but one of those will be my next upgrade.

It looks like I'll have the funds in a couple of months to take a chance on the GTX 485m. - and prices will inevitably decrease by then.

 

I'd love to have SLi GTX 470m at least.

 

Based on the GPU power ratings shown in notebookcheck:

The 460m uses about 72 watts, the 470m uses about 75 watts, and the 485m uses about 100 watts. Judging from the best performance per watt, a single 485m will do nicely compared to SLI 460m. 28 watts difference between running a single 460m and a 485m is a bit of heat to transfer, but not near as much as the SLI systems. And for those that were using a similar fan system with the R2 and SLI 285m at 150 watts, a single 485m is less power and heat to be transferred. I am not convinced that a 485m is a heat problem.

 

I'm not saying that I plan on testing it, since I have no technical experience whatsoever. I just have read that lots of other people are trying to test it out and want to bring them all together for the most success.

Also, either way I'm just buying a base 3d r3 with maybe a 2720qm/2820qm at most. I'm going to add an intel gen 3 ssd when they get a lil cheaper, and hyperx ram and maybe a seagate momentus x. Definitely not upgrading through dell.

Battery life is not a huge issue to me, as I will keep the r3 plugged in most of the time. But the reason I can't advocate a desktop is I need something I can at least move if I need to, and 9lbs really is not that much.

Is the 485m really that hot? I mean, the 6970m is rated to be 75-100 watts, same as 485m and most reviews said the fans barely picked up. Clevos can't have that much better cooling at all, and the 15in has one.

 

I would agree with killerbunny, clevo's running the 485M in 15' and 17' models with no issues, multiple reviews on ananda-tech and note book check. So unless you are saying that alienware cant figure out an adequate cooling system, and I don't think that is the issue at hand.
The 485M is pricey, so maybe after dell's markup they decided there would not be much interest? But then again people are always willing to shellout money to be the fastest.

I just find it interesting that alienware wouldn't put the top 3d card in the line up. Or even the 470M which is considerable cheaper then the 485M.

 

I'm going to do it. No questions asked. I'll let you know how it goes in about a month. Now, anyone know how I can get my hands on one?

 

Clevo Laptop Parts :: D900F :: nVidia GeForce GTX 480M 2GB Video Card (D900F) - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

Here's a 480, contact them to see if they can get you a 485

 

RJ actually has the 485m also

NVM Dane has it right....

 

RJ Tech has them listed but they don't have them available, as of yesterday all of their stock is going to new build full systems for at least a few weeks, already been down that road have a few things up my sleeve on this so as soon as I find something out I'll let you guys know. Already have the wife's approval now I just wait for my chosen retailer to get stock and we'll see if it works

 

Well i guess that makes my post obsolete....

 

R3 doesn't do multiple graphics cards. Otherwise I'd be happy to see how some of the newer nVidia cards fare in it

 

If not the 485m, then the 470m would be great also. 480m has bad heating or something? But I heard its pretty powerful, just 10-15% off the 6970

A lot of people in the main r3 available page have listed that they have the 485m or will have and will have results up by the end of the month. I think with everybody working together trial-and-error and maybe a lil bios magic by thewiz, it could definitely happen.

 

yeap, EDD 28th but I think I'm going to purchase a 470m in addition to the 485m I already have (485m might pose a heat threat). We are pushing this too hard.... we are getting the entire cake, but we want the box it came in too lol hell... we sure can try.

 

I don't think the 470m will have support, the 485m has a better chance at working just because of the release date on the two GPU's. You already have a 485m in hand tayer?

 

What do you mean precisely about the 485m more likely to have support due to release date? I know there has never been any speculation or even jargon of the 470m being supported, so there is little chance. I guess you kinda mean like how the 5870 and gtx 460 both worked in the m15x because it was already coded in somehow? That does make sense in a way, since there are a lot of randoms typos offering the 485m in dell outlet, etc.

 

yeap already have it in hand... I ordered the r3, but they cancelled on me. I already purchased some of the components I wanted to throw in lol and the 485m was one of them. It's odd because I remember seeing it as an option! I think I'm the only person who seen it and was crazy enough to buy the 485m lol. Oh I decided to order it again and my EDD is the 28th.... *evil mad scientist laugh*

 

Want to send it to me in the mean time to test it out? No one has it in stock for just a single part right now so even if I wanted one I can't get one

 

@Dane, check PM

 

Why doesn't dell just stick it in themselves? Ho, what a grand idea. And what's this about a new 500 line that was supposed to have been released at CES 2011?! Gawd, I hate the rate technology advances!

 

Dell doesn't do it because they can string the upgrades along a longer path and play "next best" in the actual name of the product aka 5870-->480m, 460m-->485m, etc to companies like Sager and make more profit and sell more units off of speculation and the name alone. If you look at it from a business aspect their marketing plan is killing everyone else. I'm sure we'll see a 485m or 5XXm series just not for at least a few months, if it wasn't for the Intel fiasco I don't know if we'd have the 6970.

 

Dane and Tayler, why dont u guys just send me the laptop and the GPU so I can test them? My grandfather's friend's son works for Dell....I am in the middle so no one would need to be worry

 

LOL so you're going to have both an R3 and an R2? That's almost as bad as having an M15x and R3.

 

No, its like having both your wife and your chick in the same house
Btw, R2 will be returned. I do like it a lot. So sexy in red

 

Um no it's not, the R2 and R3 don't kill each other and/or you lol. There's so many people dumping R2's right now in favor of the R3 now that there's a stronger GPU showing, I knew this would happen LOL!

 

The main and the only reasons I let R2 go are:
- SB for photoshop
- I dont need dual GPUs at all.
- Weight
- Battery life

485m is nice, but it is not for me, especially for its price

 

The 485m makes sense for me if it works because it's only gonna be a little over $100 more than the 6970. The 6970's I've seen are ES and are still about $600 where the 485m is just over $700 for the real deal, with the 10%+/- you gain and the features like CUDA, PhysX, 3D, etc it makes perfect sense for me.

 

I was hoping the same thing since nVidia is more friendly with photo/video work than ATI (AFAIK). Still kinda overkill for my need. Do you know how much more power it needs in comparison with 460m/6970 ?

 

Can't say for certain as Dell changes a lot of specs on the hardware they use. They typically use custom Vbios, custom drivers, and a lot of times change the physical specs of the hardware. If we go by what standard is then the 6970m and 485m should be about the same at around 100w the 460m is about 75w.

 

If you guys have any updates, definitely let us all know

 

Hi,
I have a R3 too and i really want to upgrade with an gtx485m but i can't find one actually :/ Did someone know where i can find one ready to buy and ship?

 

This will be an interesting thread. Can't wait to see the results...

 

No one has them right now as a stand alone part, I checked with quite a few retailers and all current stock is going to new system builds. As soon as things calm down in a few weeks you will start seeing retailers having them as a single part again. I have a retailer that's going to contact me when they are available again and will update everyone when I find out.

 

Lol. Some folk in our forum has 485 SLi in his sager(or clevo) in his signature.

 

A few people have the Clevo x7200 485 sli in the forums.

 

Ok thanks^^ and i hope the bios doesn't lock it :/

 

im really interested on whether the 485m will work in the r3, if it does, down the road, ill be more than willing to upgrade to a 485m as well.

 

Another curious question: What does one need the 485m for? I know that it's much more powerful than 6970, 460m, etc., but what exactly is a "super" gpu for? Or is it simply just for gaming at max graphics?

Please advise. (I'm not gonna buy it, but just was wondering since the R3 only comes with the 6970 at most).

 

I definitely would not say its "much more powerful than the 6970m" only about 5-10% better at most. It's around the equivalent of 5870CF like in the old r2. Anyways, people would be interested in it for a variety of reasons. First, there is the obvious for 3d, since 3d cuts fps in half, a powerful gpu will let you play all but the most demanding games in 3d on max settings. The 460m does a pretty good job of this already, but some people want the best and baddest, and the 485m is the fastest mobile gpu "currently".

So ya, mostly for 3d gaming at max, having the "best currently", and maybe some gimmicks from nvidia like physx/whatever. Paired with an r3, this would make a the r3 a viable competitor for a maxed out r2

 

Ah ha! Thank you!!

 

i too am intrested in the result!! we'll just wait and see and hope it works...

 

From the comaprisons I have seen the 485 actually draws less power than the 6970. I think that is a total misconception. Also from what I have seen at 1080p on high/ulta settings the performance of the cards is almost identical. Check out the review below. They do a pretty good comparison of the two cards.

Eurocom Racer: Why the Radeon HD 6970M Rocks - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News