News about the upcoming GTX 680M

eBay, I sold my M11x R1 a few months ago for more than half what I paid for it at launch.

It isn't about the card, it is that Dell holds the Alienware line to very strict guidelines for things like skin temperature (how hot the actual chassis of the laptop can get) where-as Clevo does not care. There are a lot of other restrictions put on the Alienware laptops. These restrictions are what cause Alienware to have throttles that Clevo does not. On one hand you never have to worry about getting burned by your laptop, on the other it restricts the performance of the laptop to keep the temps within safe ranges.

 

I'm kinda with you on that one, however, I do think that the Dell/Alienware restrictions put in place are far too harsh. To downclock the 580m at the particular point Dell chose to do simply made no sense, as that card was (and is) capable of more, quite safely.

I imagine that the card was "castrated" simply to avoid alot of replacements that Dell thought might have occured had they not done so. Less replacements under warranty = more profit!

Just another way of looking at it....

 

It's a mixture of both I think. Dell implements limitations to keep within "laptop" limits allowing customers to actually use their computers on their laps and to avoid bad reviews of heat etc but also to cut down on the warranty replacements. They can play it either way so when there is a complaint, they can say its for the consumer's safety and internally, they know that there is a potential to make more money by sending out less parts.

 

The problem is that 78c is the core temp, but it is NOT the hottest temp on the card. When the core is at 78c the MXM slot connector and some other parts on the card will be well over 100c. There was a guy who took a FLIR image of the card, and when we did the conference call this was confirmed.

78c has nothing to do with the card, and everything to do with how hot the MXM slot is getting, how hot it is making the laptop especially on the back edge around the the power input, and how much heat is being generated and effecting the surrounding components. Pretty much no component is rated higher than 100c, and when the 580m hits roughly 78c core there are other areas of the card that are over 100c.

On the conference call the engineer said that if the core was allowed to hit its thermal maximum other parts on the card and the MXM slot would literally melt. He also made it clear that if the M17x was just a tiny bit bigger and thicker it would no longer be a problem. This is why there is no throttle on the M18x. Apparently a really tiny amount of airflow space makes a massive difference in these cases.

 

That's very good info bro! +

i'd support a slightly larger case if it meant cooler temps

 

Yes, I agree - very good info Yoda - thank you! +rep.

 

Nice summing up Yoda! I lived that conference call thread and this is how I saw it.

 

I wonder if this card will reach 1000MHz+ on stock voltages.

Also curious if it will play Metro Last Light and Crysis 3 at 1080p 40FPS+


What do you think?

 

I agree.

You have to also think that Dell have to walk a fine line between what is an 'enhancement' and what is a 'design flaw fix'. Their official line is still that a MX17 running a 580m at stock clocks with a properly pasted heatsink is fine. They have gone as far as offering new heatsinks to all owners but if the problem is simply bad design than a global class action could (worst case) arise...

 

Metro last night an c3 should have the same performance as metro 2033 and c2,

They are made on the same engines as the previous games with only minor tweaks, if anything they will perform better

 

You do know that is BS though, right? I mean the melting point of silicon is 1,410°C. You aren't melting any rated laptop material with a measly 100°C on a GPU core.

The graphic fidelity will be pumped up massively. There's no way the PC sequel isn't significantly more taxing.

C3 will not release in 2013 with the same performance as a 2011 product.

 

They are saying Last Light is using the same engine with better performance, I played the first Metro on my 580m at over 40 fps so I think the 680m will easily do it.

Pretty sure it is not the silicon they are worried about, but the other parts and even the plastic of the case. As I said, at 78c core others parts of the card and the MXM slot are way over 100c, like 120c. When the core hits 100c those other parts would be a lot hotter, hot enough to cause serious safety issues and/or damage. Remember the MXM slot is right up against the back of the laptop, if that sucker gets up to 120+c it is literally hot enough to flash burn someone who touched the back of the laptop.

 

They are the same:
GeForce GTX 680M benchmaked on MSI GT70 - Notebookcheck.net News

Not surprising really. Although, show computers come with a lot of bloatware. Technically, both red and green Vantage scores should be higher. Still, very nice though. I'm keeping 3D so I shall bat for the green side but the first proper numbers should give people peace of mind when ordering. They are essentially the same.

 

Pretty much what I was guessing a few weeks ago. Edging it out, but not bang for buck. Looking forward to your benchies Slick, anyone know if Mandrake is going to play, I haven't been around that much lately to keep track of him?

This has been my experience for over 2 years now. I go green SLi on the desktop (580s then 680s), but red single on the lap (5870m then 7970m).

The edging out that Nv provides on the desktop is not unproportional to the costs (especially launch costs) and if I do multiple gpus, they're green, you bet. However AMD does very, very well in the mobile market with price/perf and I will only ever figure to use a single gpu in a lappy. I never understood why green was so much more expensive in the mobile market, but it appears it will once again be true. Still, if you want 3D/120Hz, your choice just got cut in half.

 

Have ever seen any modern laptop melt, ever?

 

I think the guy was a bit silly to use the phrase 'literally melt' when it should have been more of a euphemism - no 'literally'. BUT if you check out 'solder' on wiki you'll see that some used in the manufacture of electrical components has a melting point around this higher temp found on the card by the guy with the IR heat sensor pics - less heat used in manufacture = less energy (cost) and less chance of damage to components , Maybe?

 

Top result on google, not a very old laptop (a few years). When Laptops Overheat and Melt « I Fix Things

So yes, it can and does happen. I have heard of Macbook Pro keyboards melting. Of course tons of reports of power adapters melting both the brick and the connection to the laptop.

Anyway, I am just relaying what he said, which was that somethings could "literally melt" at the temps the card would reach. Keep in mind a common last ditch fix for a dead video card is to bake it at 350F in the oven, if the 580m was allowed to hit 100C core then there would be parts of the card around or above 350F. That is a dangerous amount of heat.

Even if it would not melt it would be dangerous. As I said, the MXM slot is right up against the back of the laptop. If that sucker is at like 250F+ then that is dangerous. A user finishes gaming, goes to pickup the laptop to put it in a bag or something and gets serious burns on their hand.

This is just the design of the M17x, it is what it is.

 

dell alienware m17x m18x nvidia gtx 680m - YouTube

 

Good find, He states the 680M is the fastest mobile graphics card which means AW has done some testing on their end.

 

I'm sure it's not the video's author intention but for me it feels like that clip was made solely to troll this and the other versus thread. He said yes, the card it is in there and then go showcase the side ports.

Just ignore me, I'm just craving for GTX 680M info as much as anyone.

 

Of course it is faster. And yeah, they already have the darn 680M in their posession. So unfair

Troll thread? Relax dude

 

no date yet for release , i am itching to order m17x

 

end of june/ begining of july

 

I'm curious, who is speaking in the video? Is it someone that works for Nvidia? I ask because he says the GTX680M is the fastest notebook GPU that we make. Makes it sound like he works for them.

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions based on this video. It doesn't show us anything. Just because he states it's the fastest mobile GPU they make, but it doesn't make it the fastest mobile GPU out yet.

Now, I have a feeling it will be slightly better than the 7970M, similar to last years 580M vs 6990M. But I wonder if AMD has anything up their sleeves for the 7990M.

 

Hey, my friend is already playing with the 680m in china. He is a senior engineer at Dell factory...
He sent me this, I really want to kill him..

 

Maybe just break his legs?

Well, It's getting closer, I have my pennies saved. I'm a bit confused though from that screenshot. Does it have 2 Gb or 4 Gb of DDR5? I'm really hoping it is only 2 - and cheaper for it. From all the opinions I've read the 4 Gb is total overkill and is just a numbers game on Nvidia's part

 

I wonder if this will throttle like the Dell 580M's

 

its 2048mb (2GB) >> dedicated video memory

 

Thanks, that's the way I read it, the other figure there confused me and everything I've read said it will come with 4Gb - better be cheaper then

 

Looks like he's running Windows 8 as well. Maybe the 2GB versions have faster memory? Edit: Or not. Just saw the pic again.

 

LOL . I was just checking the pic when you reposted...

 

Awesome man. Make him do 3DMark 11 Extreme preset

 

Nice idea, but I doubt even the 'water torture' will 'make' him give out any performance data. Dell will have this so tightly under wraps until they are ready for data publication the guy would almost certainly be risking his job!

Can't hurt to ask though

 

I just requested him to do so!
i am going to buy couple of the 680m chips from him...i have somebody travel back from China at the end of this month.

It is 2Gb..

 

cant wait to see a head to head with the 7970m - if the 680 stock is as fast as my 7970m OCed - im selling my newly purchaised r4 and buying a new one

 

the stock 7970m only scores 4800..how much does your OCed 7970m score?

 

?!?!? The stock 7970m scores 5600 in 3DMark '11. THat is with tessellation on. No tricks. Where are you getting your numbers from?

 

What stock 7970m have you seen!!?!? Lol

My stock 7970 ran 5500 in 3dmark 11
OCed im running 6500+ i posted the result in the benchmark thread, and thats a result on a oc that can stull be pushed further whilst keeping temps under 68c

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3684352

 

Here we have a stock 7970m score:
AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P5821 3DMarks

 

i wonder how much "visual" effect does tessellation make?

My sansumg 830 256ssd just arrived. got from ocuk under 150....

 

There is a small but significant change. However turning tessellation off via AMD CCC is considered cheating and I was just pointing out that the stock 7970m scores at least 5600 without any tricks or cheats, not the 4800 that you quoted.

 

It's HUGE! Take a look at the Heaven DX11 benchmark and switch it off and on real-time. Of course it depends on a game using it well....

Edit: Take a look at Nvidia's demo 'Endless City' as well. Only game I have seen use it to any extent so far is batman AC, and then only in some places.

 

Max Payne 3 makes good use of it. It basically makes curved surfaces smoother. So for example you might look at Max's ear, with tess off you can kind of see these jagged edges of the polygons that make up his ear. With it on it is perfectly smooth. When applied to a whole scene is makes a good difference. On the other hand, it is a setting that if I did not know it was off I am not sure I could spot it in normal play. You kind of have to be looking for it.

 

That's only part of it though, I have MP3 and it's not used much in any of the surface textures that I can see - there is an extra level of depth and detail added when implemented well. If you have BM AC, look at the large root in the sewers near the end of the in-game benchmark, or the cobblestone floor and more so the dragon in heaven DX11, a whole level of detail 'pops' that was not there without it, not just smoother curves. I was very impressed with what it CAN do. But like you say don't know if I'd miss it if I didn't know it should be there.

 

Wondering if the processor really affects the 3dmark 11 score all that much? The highest I could get was about 6545 running the 3610QM and the 7970m OC'd to 955/1460... is the cpu holding me back that much behind your score of 6759 (@ StZu)

Also, I got a stock clock score of P5923 when everyone was getting scores in the range of 56xx to 58xx.. What is going on?? lol

 

yes the processor plays a big roll in the total 3dmark11 score...people scoring extremely high scores normally are running OC'ed XM cpu's

So it makes a lot of sense to look and compare GPU scores

 

So when is the 680m going to be officially available for the M17x? Any official date yet?

 

This week or next week. Potentially 21st - 22nd of June.

 

i hope so and i hope that the uk geats the option at the same time as well

 

No, the 3610 is not holding u back , I scored over 6900 in 11 and I could go farther , CPU has not bottle necked me yet