680M is OUT!

Hi Brother GTO. We will not know for sure until the 680M is released. That is probably not far from accurate to assume.

In order for a game to benefit from CrossFire or SLI, it has to be able to use the alternate frame rendering feature. If the game developers do a sloppy job (as they often do) there is not proper support for that feature. That often comes over time with game patches, with additional support through drivers and tweaks.

 

here is the two apps that support quick sync transcoding AnandTech - The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested

I use DVD FAB to encode blurays

 

Thanks, Speedy. I use Nero11 Platinum HD for BluRay and I just checked. It also supports it. I just need to figure out if there is something I need to do to enable it, or if it is automatic. Do you have to switch to the IGP to use Quick Sync, or does it run while using discrete graphics, too?

I've always had great success using AnyDVD HD and Nero for transcoding DVD and BluRay from optical media to MP4.

 

Speedy, mr fox and steviejones + 1 rep to you guys.

Happy Friday. I'm really impressed that a single 680m can run Arkham city 63fps. Is this accurate?

Tell me the history of official drivers on the 6970:6990m. Did it improve greatly when the official drivers came out?

 

when I was ripping bluray with my desktop I didn't have to switch to IGP but my mobo supported Lucid virtu GPU virtualization with the laptop I believe you do have to switch to IGP to use it

if you can get DVD fab it does the job of anydvd and nero all in one and with one click only you need to enable quicksync on the settings with nero must be the same there must be a tab to enable it

I can tell you the history of AMD crossfire it's been broken forever some games just work and others refuse to work in crossfire no matter what is not different with desktop AMD GPU's you can go to the desktop forums and see nightmare stories

all the people who buy AMD CF already know this if we get some good drivers that doesn't mean all the games are going to work in crossfire perfectly

I just tell you this because you seem to be waiting on some magical fix for crossfire and that ain't happening my friend

the best you can do is disable CF and see if you can get all the FPS you want if that is not the case and enabling crossfire won't help just return your machine and wait for 680M

that's why people stick with consoles because is so simple to turn them on and start playing no drivers no crossfire issues no installing no headache computers are not for everybody

sorry if this sounds rude I try to prepare you for the worst

 

In my experience NVIDIA SLI consistently works better than AMD CrossFire for gaming. That's true even with a slightly less powerful NVIDIA GPU. There are some one-off exceptions to this. In part this is because AMD seems to pay less attention to driver quality. Possibly in greater part, NVIDIA's level of engagement with game developers is off the hook. Just compare how many games start with the "NVIDIA The Way It's Meant to be Played" splash screen to those games that actually suggest using AMD. It is way heavier in favor of NVIDIA. I don't think that's because NVIDIA is "better" per se... they just seem to pay more attention. It used to be better before AMD bought ATI. It has gradually declined since then. AMD would be better off to pour as much energy into their enthusiast GPU products as they waste of CPU products that always play second fiddle to Intel. Because they don't focus on winning the battle as much as they should, they often hold second place in both the CPU and GPU arena.

And, to add to what Speedy said about consoles. Games almost always look better on PC than XBOX 360 and PS3 when using NVIDIA GPUs. They often look better with AMD, but sometimes look about the same.

 

I'm happy with my unit anyway. If it won't unlock the true power of the cards, it is what it is.

But it would be great if the new drivers makes games improve a lot. Didn't AMD said they will make good working drivers but it takes time this time?

 

that is the answer thanks

 

AMD is working on a driver to be release soon, I think I hear some where.

 

That would be nice. I'm getting pretty decent results now with the driver I am using, but it would be nice to go from decent to awesome.

 

I dont have much knowledge of politics, as there is still not any sign of official 7970m X driver nor 675m, so wht things holdin it :S Even tho 675m release a week before 7970m but still Nvidia didnt update its driver officially. Well when comes to desktop card they do release it same day or next day after releasin hardware.
So point is they already have perfect driver(as 7970m contain same chip as desktop 7870) but they dont want to release it why?
Now days mobile gamin is really gettin popular, even ppl willin to pay 3X for mobile hardware compare to desktop, but at end company wont give a required support.

 

Where did you hear it from,friend?

 

I don't have an updated driver for my 675m's, but the OEM driver provided with my m18x has had ZERO issues. It's been very stable and the performance has been great. The only game I haven't been able to run SLI in is classic Nexuiz (which I'm not surprised by, since it's not a common game and I can max it out with one card anyway).

What surprises me about the lack of a new 675m driver is that it should be very easy to make the 580m driver apply to the 675m since it's just a re-badge. It's not an issue for me, since I'm great with OEM driver; it just seems odd to me.

Just my $0.02

 

definitely OEM driver will work perfectly cosz 675M its just re-brand card and almost same as 580m. But there are many ppl out there who actually dont know about it, even mostly ppl just Nvidia title and throw money on it.
Actually question is, 675m contain same chip as 580m does then why still there is not any update of official driver on Nvidia.
AMD did release driver for desktop HD 7870/7970 very soon after releasin hardware, so when it comes to mobility card wht keepin them long.

 

That was my question exactly

 

So it means, laptop manufacturin company holdin them back.
Well regardin to driver issue, ive did contact to AMD support, but they just said me first ive need to contact Dell regardin to driver issue. But we all know for Dell its hard to provide support for graphics cards driver as its not their research line.

 

AMD has not released a good driver for 7970M yet. The only drivers that function well with 7970M CrossFire are hacked Catalyst packages and a modded 12.6 beta. AMD has totally dropped the ball on drivers for their new mobile GPU.

 

I guess they was waiting for 680m numbers to drop good drivers but we already saw few numbers and still nothing it won't even matter because there is not going to be a magical fix to CF we may just see a better more stable driver with better 3dmark numbers

 

Ahh lol i was talkin about Desktop card
Well right now im on errand to compare (HD7870)7970m vs (GTX 670) 680m performance. Conclusion is GTX 670 is about 20% more powerful then HD 7870 but additionally GTX 670 draws more power then 7870. When both chips come to mobility, they both were down clock about 15 to 20% respectively.
Now when power consumption comes to mobility there is will be limited, so desktop AMD HD 7870 gives best performance with normal power usage while Nvidia GTX 670 give better performance but with more power usage. But with notebook power usage will be limited as 100W.
So my final thoughts 680m will be almost same as 7970m or approx 5% faster. (But it will be varies game to game, and of course driver support)

Dual 680m will be in between £650 to £750, while Dual 7970m are £430

 

I'd be mor eincluned to think pricing would be something like £1000+ for 680m sli vs. £430 for 7970m crossfire .... in the UK anyhow - if recent trending is anything to go by. Might be a bit cheaper as its 28nm but I bet Nvidia charge ALOT initially.....

 

So based off these numbers do you think there will be a 7990m?

as in the 7970m is very competitive with the 680m and in some cases better do you think that amd will release a 7990m just to destroy the 680m? or just keep the competition of the 7970m and 680m?

 

Short answer yes there will be 7990m, cosz if AMD want to gain in market then they have to release 7990m, as i think chip will be same as in Desktop HD 7970 but with down-clocked.

 

anyone have any opionions on when that 7990 news might be coming? buying an crossfire /sli option this summer unsure if i want to wait and see all the options this year how long did it take for the 6990 to surface last year?

 

6970m was a crippled Barts gpu whereas the 6990m had all of its shaders active.

7970m is a full Pitcarn core. The Tahiti cores of the desktop 7970/7950s are too big and more power hungry, so they are out. This leaves amd with basically clock speed increases to make a 7990m.

 

I believe the 6990m was already active around now last year, and the 6970m came out beginning of last year.

 

Well, my logic is that if the past is anything to go on, we should expect to see 7990m maybe a few months after 7970m, regardless of what gets changed - even if its minimal performance gain, these mobile gpu manufacturing giants are in the business of making money and they KNOW that everyone wants the latest gpu even if it is only fractionally better than the previous.

 

Agree with that.

 

The gaming laptop market has got to be smaller than the gaming pc market. I;m new to the gaming laptop scene. are these parts release fairly quickly?

I think I might upgrade to a single 680m just to get the better power efficiency on my machine, but were talking about a single 1080p display here guys. Do we really need sli/xfire rigs to drive this?

 

Do we need more than one 7970/680 on this, no not really. However since laptops are a great deal harder to upgrade its kinda nice to have overkill now and "still good" in two years.

 

It really depends on what settings you want to play at on what games. Some of the more demanding games such as BF3 and The Witcher 2 on fully maxed out setting you will want SLI or Crossfire to push FPS up to always smooth levels.

Of course, it helps when NVIDIA or AMD don't relabel old tech as a new card (prime example being the 675 which is a renamed 580). Once I found out what Nvidia did, I called up and cancelled my M18X R2 order with SLI 675's and reordered the crossfire 7970Ms cheaper, and 50 to 70% more performance. I really like Nvidia quality and drivers, but relabeling old tech and charging more for it really irks the ^$%& out of me.

 

Both cards, in single configuration, will be sufficient for the majority of people's useage "Today". They are both immensely powerful and will run "Today's" games extremely well. As to wether we NEED Sli or crossfire to do the same "Today", I'd probably say we don't right now. Chances are if you are throwing down big money on such a gaming system, you want the best you can get. A dual gpu system is by far the more potent solution and would be more than adequate to handle anything thrown at it for some time to come.

The way I look at it is that a dual gpu machine will be able to handle "Tomorrows" games alot better than a single gpu system - futureprofing your system can be beneficial if you aim to keep it for some time without performing aftermarket upgrades which can run alot more expensive on mobile platforms.

As always, my advice to anyone (and its purely my own humble opinion) is to get the best specification your pocket will allow at the outset. It will serve you well in the years to come and wont cost you as much to upgrade later should you feel the need further on down the road.

 

Watching Mr. Fox's video I feel comfortable upgrading my own video card later. As for getting the max card now so that it will last two years? I think all the people on this forum XTREME GAMERS that will buy a new computer every year anyways.
Not trying to pick a fight... I have a desktop top end machine and this M18x is just to move the gaming upstairs during the day time. For me I'll get the machine to play the games and if I can upgrade the CPU/GPU that is worth the buy in price.

 

In your case, thats cool. A second machine doesn't need to be as powerful if it is simply that - a second portable system.

For me, I dont have the money for both a desktop and a laptop, so I chose a maxed out laptop because I can then take it anywhere and still beat the crap outta quite a few desktops lol

 

... All I'm trying to say is everyone admit the 675 is the fastest card out there and close this thread so I'm not tempted to spend $1000 on dual 680's when they come out.

 

The 675 is 50 to 70% slower than the 7970M. I am not sure why you want us to admit that the 675 is the fastest...

 

*sarcasm. Sorry i forgot the /sarcasm....*

 

You have GOT to be joking...

 

Here the video showing the 675 is the fastest...

675 - The FAstEST!

If one sourse isn't enough here's a second...

675 - Fasestest ever totally

 

No worries, the comment itself implies sarcasm and for your wallet's sake I'll concur with what you've said. The 675 is the "fffastest"

 

You have GOT to be lacking sarcasm.

 

And you have GOT to be lacking the right semantically sensible way of expressing it. In any case, that sarcasm comment wasn't posted till I posted. And that post looked like clear ignorance.

 

I though this thread is focusing on 680m and nothing else. Does anybody got any further updates?

Regards

 

None at this time.

 

Anandtech hes prelim info. Not the same proc but it's showing bench scroes vs the 580m.

AnandTech - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M: Kepler GK104 Goes Mobile

 

I read something online last night that said AW has promised to have the 680m available on the m17x and m18x by end of June.

 

available to order, but won't be available for your enjoyment until mid july the earliest i suppose.

 

dell alienware m17x m18x nvidia gtx 680m - YouTube

 

Looks nice, but no hard data on game performance!

 

This is likely to be the case. The 580M story repeats itself. The cards could be ordered from the very beginning of July 2011 but first orders started arriving in Europe some 3 weeks later. I ordered within the first week of July and the order was sent exactly 22 days later (that's +3 days for delivery from China). I had to say that Dell processed my order quickly enough, within 2 days after my payment it went into production, but was put on hold for almost 3 weeks because of unavailability of 580Ms.

 

Fine with me. I've waited this long. Hopefully by then AMD will have released a decent 7970M CFX driver, too.