The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Video Card Option

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Riftwire, Aug 21, 2011.

  1. Riftwire

    Riftwire Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    76
    Messages:
    104
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Iv pretty much always bought Nvidia cards in my desktop computers. However I find myself for the first time now questioning whether or not I should buy the GTX580m or the HD 6990m. The price difference is substantial, and I'm trying to figure out what if anything I would be gaining by going the Nvidia route.

    The nice part about this laptop is that I can upgrade the GPU later on down the road.

    Physics and Cuda seem to be two added technologies that come with the Nvidia card. Most games are not taking full advantage of Physics, so I don't see this as a huge selling point. Cuda is something I could potential take advantage off but I'm not sure its worth the extra $300.

    I'm curious what the majority of the people who bought this laptop chose when it came to the video card?
     
    Riftwire, Aug 21, 2011
    #1
  2. Tweak155

    Tweak155 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    24
    Messages:
    589
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    41
    6990M if I had to guess. Just about on par with the GTX580m and loads cheaper. NVidia wins out on a few options like 3D and Physics as you mentioned, but other than that it just costs more. A lot of people speculate this is because of the hardware put into CUDA but no one knows for a science.
     
    Tweak155, Aug 21, 2011
    #2
  3. chennaxin95

    chennaxin95 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    25
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Go for the 6990m, save the money and get other things you like, you can always change your graphic card.
     
    chennaxin95, Aug 21, 2011
    #3
  4. FUALL

    FUALL Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I got the GTX 580M with 3d lcd display.. worth every penny so far. Can't wait to play it in 3d with COD:MW3 and Battlefield 3
     
    FUALL, Aug 21, 2011
    #4