GTX 480m officially confirmed, coincides with E3/Alienware refresh

Honestly we have no idea how "hot" the chip will be (480M). We know that the M17x cooling is extremely competent. It's a year since the last design so a refresh isn't illogical.

I honestly wasn't stunned when I saw the desktop 480/470's show up, so I'm "wait and see" on that. AMD is releasing a driver a month. That's good. So I don't think the battle is one sided for either side. That means both will be competitive in price. That's good for all of us.

So speculate away, but we need to see what the game really holds before we shoot down the red or green planes Since 100w is only 25w more than the prior chips, we know we only need 50w more to run the machine. We know that the current power brick can deliver 250w or so, therefore another 50w is roughly a 20% increase in capacity, or which probably means a 10% increase in size. That's not all that scary, honest.

So wait and see. It's taken 10 years for USB 3 to get here. Waiting a couple of months for it to show up IN a M17x model seems logical since in a year or two every USB device you buy will be USB 3 based.

So wait and see. And if you don't like what you see in a month, buy the current model at that time at a discount and consider yourself as having saved money.

Seems just logical.

 

Just a quick question about the heat produced by a 5870. I have a m15x and would like to upgrade but all the sites that have done the upgrade say that heat goes up massively and the card didn't pass the furmark test.

Sorry to be a bit off topic but I wanted to know what it is like under actual gaming conditions in a m15x.

Thanks

 

Make a new thread on it, or post on the other 5870 threads to do with the m15x, or even the m15x lounge thread mate.

 

Pretty good Metro 2033 stats here....

 

I'm interested in GTX 470m/460m ! wish they could fit into M17x R2

 

Think this card (or perhaps a downclocked version) will be slapped into an m15x anytime soon?

 

I doubt it very much.

 

Hmm. I guess I'll get a 5870 than. Thanks for the hope. haha

 

As everyone knows by now, Metro 2033 is the new game to beat (fps-wise).
I tested the game (all maxed out using DX11) with 5870CF and 5% overclock on my 920xm cpu, and the game was pretty much unplayable. The fps was in the range of 10-15. According to this chart, you will get 40% increase with the 480M cards (in reality it meens around 20%-30%). So, if you have 480m Sli, you will get about 15-25fps in metro 2033 (all maxed out), which is still unplayable. So there you go, most probably Metro 2033 (dx11 all maxed out) will beat even the 480m sli.
Once they advertise a mobile gpu that is around 200%-300% better than the 5870CF, then it will make a difference in that game.
By the way, they should've listed the fps that they were getting, not some percentige numbers, since it's misleading.

 

Lol I think the point is to be misleading.

 

i really hope the 480 is not in a new model... would like some upgradability to the new m17x i just purchased.... video cards have to be supported by the BIOS in laptops right? So if they make a new m17x we wont be able to upgrade to the 480?

 

Yeah it is.

It is supported in the BIOS, but i don't think it is for SLI, ill go read the notes Besides that i don't see them making a whole new laptop for just two cards. They might give it a bigger Power supply; and maybe a thick heatsink. But i doubt they'll build a whole new system.

 

Sweet so the m17x does have current support for a single 480? Im a little new to the laptop arena... i usually build desktop PC's. Is the power supply for laptops external (ie "power brick") or is their an internal power supply?

 

The power brick is the power supply. The only thing within the laptop that is related to powering the machine is the battery.

 

Yes it does support it but the Power Brick wouldn't be strong enough to hold the 480M Dell has to release a more powerful one before you should try to install one.

 

Well, even if you combine two power supplies, still you won't be able to utilize the extra power because of the bios

 

well from avadirect the powersupply varies from 100-240v

 

I agree about the single 480M, PSU will be more than enough, I was rather referring to a potential SLI setup

 

What has me surprised is that even on the Nvidia website the GTX480M specs are announced but nothing is said about the power needs of the card. Which makes it the exception in their specs.

 

I am not sure what point you are trying to make. The voltage is only for different countries. 100 to 240v basically means you can use the adapter in any country in the world. It has nothing to do with how much power it can generate defined by Watts or Amps...


For example: 2 amps x 120v = 240 Watts - In this case the max power output of the adapter would be 240 watts.

 

Yeap, Joebarchuck is correct, for the M17x actually the numbers for the output are:
19.5 V x 12.3A = 239.85W

For a single 480M it will be enough, but not for 2 of them and even if we combine two PSUs for a total of 480W we still need an updated BIOS

 

Agreed. Another BIOS update + Bigger PSU and i can see the 480M running in SLI in the M17xR2

 

I'm not so sure. If the 5870's run as hot as joker said, and the 480M's run hotter, I don't see how this is feasible in the current chassis even with a heatsink improvement.

 

Well they'll run worser, in a Plastic system which is what the next Alienware will most likely be. Its up to dell but i doubt they would put the support in the BIOS and then turn around saying it won't support the cards.

 

I think the next system will be a magnesium alloy base with plastic for the rest of the build. It should still be somewhat solid, just not the quality our current R2's are. If Dell does go that direction I'd say they're quite foolish. I understand the need for lighter laptops but NOT for your top machine. Go ahead and nerf the M11x/M14x (if there ever is one) but don't touch the flagship model. Hopefully they came to the same conclusion.

Anyway, the 5870s memory runs very hot, the core itself isn't too bad. But because the memory is so hot, it causes the fans to rev up quite often. I don't see two 100 TDP fermi's working in the M17x-R2 at all. If they do decide to go that route, they'll have to rework the cooling otherwise it'll be a furnace.

 

BTW I call those charts comparing the cards a fail.. because they're throw out basic numbers lol. Nothing scientific at all.

 

Well I wont be getting my refund for my R2 for two odd weeks, lets hope they throw something in E3, If they do bring it out full plastic I wont be buying it. I think that's kinda silly. A Full Hardcore gaming laptop that's plastic?

I think the R2 'could' support one. As it states in the BIOS it can have one. It all comes down to E3 and see what they've got in the works. But i seriously doubt anything "Special" Or to write home about.

 

well apparently this place is great for leaked info lol

 

If that range of scores is true, -> major fail.
I'd like to see some real benches.

 

I don't know how accurate this is but look at this article which says they benched the Clevo X7200 with GTX480M SLI: Bench

They say they were not impressed as the score is lower than a single ATI 5870.

 

Wow that's a huge disappointment if its true

 

Well I surely hope that it's not true otherwise Nvidia is simply just mocking us. They have lost touch with the end consumer.

 

But then again, it would seem strange... Clevo would not call his PC the fastest in the world if it was faster with the 5870 in crossfire which makes me think that they tested the two options first...

Maybe the journalist that first benched them had the PC in some kind of stealth mode or low performance mode.

 

I dont think Clevo's have a low performance option, correct me if im wrong?

 

It could be that the SLI is not working at this point. The 3d mark score of 16620 is the expected score for a single 480, so we won't know till later.

 

Yep that could be it. Maybe it is just one card working.

 

Everyone is talking about the GTX480M but what about the counter product from ATI. One can only imagine it will be coming quite soon enough. Wouldn't that be more worth the wait compared to the 200w SLI option?

 

Wow that's a very lack luster score, lack luster look, and oh my god is that power brick as big as my doorstep?

There is nothing appealing about that in a laptop. I would expect 30 minutes of battery life at full performance, hot sweaty fingers(not too much how much warmer it would make your room), loud f16 fans, and a side of bacon everytime I load up Metro.

Sorry nVidia, sorry Clevo, try again soon.

 

As I stated in another thread...

"Well this all proves we are going to have to wait. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have some trustworthy numbers. For the single 480M that is. I wouldn't expect SLI numbers until July."

It's just too early to really know...imo.

 

I think, could be wrong, but isn't that the 5870s?

 

Well I am thinking a 5970 isn't too far away maybe around fall or christmas. It's been out in desktop for quite a while now...

 

All the rumors leaking out are pointing to Northern Islands by the end of the year...and there's no good reason for ATI to fire back before that with another 5000 card.

Alleged ATI Islands Roadmap

 

The roadmap you are linking is not working properly but I went on the site and saw what you are referring to. It seems ATI high end next chip will be late 2010 or even early 2011 and part of the Island architecture.

 

Follow the source link or go three posts down for the pic as an attachment.

 

Phinagle what do you think about the Granville ati series will it be at the same graphic level of the mobility radeon 5870??

 

Dunno. No way of definitively saying without more info.

If Granville gets to be the GPU for a Mob. HD6850 then it's possible it'll be as strong as the Mob. HD5870....otherwise I wouldn't see much point in offering a new GPU series on the same performance level as the existing series.

Another possibility might be Granville gets used for a Mob. HD6700 model that's on the performance level of the current Mob. HD5830/50...and we won't get to see any Mob. HD6800 models until Blackcomb.

Or the article info could all be junk.


The good info that's missing (and I'd really like leaked) is Stream Processor counts. Hopefully the Vancouver GPUs get the bump up that Manhattan didn't get. At least 960 or 1040 SPUs on Blackcomb would be nice.:yes:

 

I actually thought that black thing behind the laptop was some type of cooler. But now i looked closer its a powerbrick, oh god its huge.

 

I'll take two Blackcomb's thanks.

 

I would like to see Vapor-X come to laptops. I see no reason why it would not work. My cards in my main desktop utilize it, and it works like a charm.

Edit: This link shows how Vapor-X works, and you can see for yourself that it would be perfectly safe in a laptop. The problem is getting the rights from Sapphire.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/VaporX/VaporX_index.aspx?cid=2

 

What did you use to get the memory temps readings?