R2 vs R3

Can anyone give me some idea of the real world, graphics performace difference between my R2 with dual HD 5870m's against the latest R3 with a 580m. I am not interested in overclocking so any comparison must be for standard clock speeds.

Also is there a performance penalty for a laptop that is 3D capable as compared to the same laptop that is not 3D? Obviously one screen works at 120 hz while the standard screen works at 60 hz, so if I am playing the same game on identical computers, without 3D enabled are the frame rates the same or is the computer with the 120 hz screen slightly slower?

I am thinking of updating my R2 to an R3 and while I don't particularly want 3D, if there is no performace penalty then why not?

edit: And seriously what is Dell thinking with the the throttling of the 580m's. It is like selling a Shelby Cobra that is capable of 150mph and then putting a speed limiter on it at 60mph ..... in case we hurt ourselves.......

 

Stock for stock, the dual 5870m's will be slightly faster but the 580m isn't close behind.

There is no performance penalty when using a 3D screen, the only penalty is if you actually turn the 3D on. Remember, you will not have Optimus if you choose 3D so you will lose battery.

There are 2 workarounds for the throttling so you don't have to worry there.

To be honest, you have a great computer, just upgrade the GPU's to dual 6970m's or 6990m's and it will be quicker than any R3 out there.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

What performace gain did you get with the 6990's?

 

Haven't really done much gaming, I wiped my SSDs and have been rebuilding them, but as far as performance, pretty noticeable improvement. In the 6970 {GUIDE} thread there are a few others who could give better details.

 

Yeah. I originally started asking about how do I put 6990's in my R2 but then immediately found the guide thread so I edited my question . I will have a read through the guide in the next few days and see how it goes and think about doing it myself

 

the way 3d works is the 580m has to render the same frame twice. This effectively cuts your fps in half...so its a nice feature on paper, but in practice, its not feasible to run unless you like slideshows

 

It is far better to upgrade then buy an R3. You can have DUAL 6990's or 6970's working into the R2. Like the previous posters suggested.

 

BFBC2 mp Valparaiso 32 players
All on and high + AFx4 AAx4.

Code:

M17xR2 CF WXGA+  (gpu drivers 1 year old !!!)

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  3605,     44414,  59, 116, 81.168

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  4121,     57081,  59, 109, 72.196

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  3287,     43119,  50, 129, 76.231

Code:

M17x R3 6990m FHD (latest driver from dell website)

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  4079,     60000,  36,  81, 67.983

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  4093,     60000,  36, 145, 68.217


Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  2125,     32229,  56,  82, 65.934