4850s vs 3870 for m17

as we not getting 4870s coz their too hot for our poor laptops,

the bloke at alienware says 4850s, is what we can put in instead..

is it worth it ????

 

4850s and 4870s use the same GPU and have comparable clocks (especially when overclocked) so if one has heat issues they both will.

4830s or 4860s might work but 40-nm chips are going to be scarce until they solve production yield problems.

 

Man, it's an awful lot of money to upgrade either way.

Is everyone really that dissatisfied with their 3870's, or is it the never ending quest for more power?

Everything I play works very well on my 3870's.

 

i think its a quest for more power+ i only had this laptop 5 months and its now out of date, old no good not king of the hill at a/w no more

i thought 4860s wouldnt fit anyway as their mxm3 and we are supposidly mxm2

 

i'm a benchmarler that wants the highest performing computer. and i am also going to school so while i have vacation, i am going to max out my sager.

 

We just want better graphics. The 4870s are, from what I've heard, 50% or more faster than the 3870s, which is a very significant increase.

Not to mention for the games that don't support Crossfire (such as Crysis) then having those 4870s would still allow for very good gaming performance.

I've thought of those 4860s as well, but I wasn't aware there was an issue with the 40nm chips. What's the problem with them? Seeming as they've got 40nm they would be much more viable as they would produce less heat, possibly even less than the 3870s, and they would still have very good performance.

From what I've heard though, there's still a lot of confusion over at AW about it. Some reps say they are coming and some say that they aren't. Perhaps it's because AW are still working on a way to overcome the heat issue.

In one thread, apparently several AW reps have said that they are coming and it will cost 300 GBP for the upgrade (probably around $450). In my opinion, that's a good price if they really do come, not exactly that pricey. (And knowing what AW price things like in the UK, it'll probably be more like $350-$400 for you Americans if that above price is true).

 

well i doubt it would be for 4870s as i was on phone last night to enquire about 4850s and this is the reply i got:

Subject
graphic card upgrade

Discussion Thread
Response (Kosa, Miroslav) 06/04/2009 06:43 PM
Dear Mr. Crowley

Price for additional 3870 slave card for crossfire on your m17 is 140.52 GBP including tax and shipping. Unfortunately 4850 and 3870 are not compatible for crossfire according to compatibility chart from ati web page. If you'd like to upgrade to 4850 (1GB per card) crossfire configuration, price would be 322.22 GBP including tax and shipping. not bad price for 2gig crossfire if im reading that right. not the best answer to 4870s but may be an option for that little bit of power.

and from what i can see theirs not a huge void between 4870 and 4850


Thank you for choosing ALIENWARE.

Kind Regards

Miroslav Kosa

 

Maybe the 300 GBP price didn't include shipping. Nevertheless, if a 4850 crossfire configuration is 322 GBP, the 4870s will not likely be much more than that. Even anything up to around 400 GBP, possibly more, would be a decent price in my opinion.

Aha. I just noticed. Have you got a single 3870? If you had two, it'd likely be cheaper, as I think they keep the old cards and you pay the price of what it would be to upgrade it on the configuration page when buying one. Or something like that.

But the fact that the AW rep you spoke to gave a certain price for the upgrade, that shows that 4850s at the very least are probably coming. And if 4850s are coming, the 4870s likely will be too. (Or we can hope, anyway) There's a higher chance at least of the 4870s coming if the 4850s are.

 

well tbh i would be happy with 4850's over the 3870's and yes i would willingly part with £322 to upgrade to a pair of 1gb 4850's
have they confirmed these are available for order now?

 

Looking at what kcuk was saying, they were offering to upgrade him at that very time. However, I'm not sure, the only way to find out would be to call them. I'd call several times though and talk to different AW reps and make sure they ALL say they're available for an upgrade...

And if the 4850s work in it, so should the 4870s. They use the same GPU, just in the 4870 it's a bit higher clocked.

 

if i can get an upgrade code and number that will do for me

ill call em now and come back to ya

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=387407

this is now confirmed as available, details in that thread

 

dang it people the 4850's are what are in the Asus , they are just overclocked a little they are identical cards though

this is great great news

 

hey im chuffed to bits here ive finally got some news thats helped get over 4870s,

i was that peed of with the m17 gpu i was on the phone at midnight here talking about flippin graphics cards to a/w

and now dont take this as gospel but when i was talking to the fella the only way they could put 4870s into the m17 was to downclock them, so it is just heat i think.

but im over the moon that 4850s are available as well and if i had the money i would have brought them last night.... question to you all would i have to give em my m17 to do this or will they sell me them and let me put em in myself

 

I think that they'll send you them if you want it, or you can send the laptop in. From what I heard, anyway.

 

I'd send mine in, that way if anything goes wrong they can fix it right away, also they reintegrate the machine, so

 

idd i will send mine in too esp as only just brought it

 

I'm probably ordering the cards at Christmas and I'll have to get them sent to me. I'm only in England for 2 weeks and I don't want to risk the laptop being held up in the warehouse or whatever.