M1730 Graphic Cards

I'm inclined to purchase a new m1730 but I noticed something weird about it's graphics card. The m1730 has dual nVidia 8700M-GT in SLi setup with 256mb each and 512mb total graphics memory. The Sager NP5791 has only one 8700M-GT, but also has a total of 512mb graphics memory. Why does the Dell use the 256mb version of the card and not dual 512s?

 

Depends on the supplier, I would guess. Notice that Dell also doesn't even offer the much better GeForce Go 7950 GTX with their system. I would guess that having that useless PhysX card creates a higher power draw that prevents them using better graphics cards.

 

Sagers may be 256 dedicated, 256 shared.

Physics card doesn't have anything to do w/ GPU. I doubt M1730's 200W + PSU has any power shortage even after Dell comes up with GPU upgrades.

 

No, Sager's 8700s use 512 MB dedicated per card. If you purchase SLI, it's 1,024 dedicated (512 per card).

 

That card has little impact, the m1730 is supplied with a 230w brick over the m1710's 130w. A 10w (at max load) physx card going to have a very small impact.

OP, not sure as to why dell use 256mb cards but the 8700m gt is too slow to make any real use of 512mb (it is an upper midrange card after all). By the time you begin to use that much memory the design of the 8700 will bring the fps down to near/unplayable levels.
Also, the 256mb is not added together as each card's 256mb is cloned onto the other card for textures.

Gotta love marketing

 

Well im not so sure its too slow to make use of 512mb.

Also, there is reason to believe that the 8700 can actually 'combine' memory from both cards. It's far from conclusive but Alienware are displaying the 7950 SLI as 512mb (each) and the 8700 as 1GB (Combined). We never did seem to find out what Dual Rank meant, and notebookcheck.net shows the SLI cards as 2x128bit..... You have to wonder if "Dual Rank" is something relating to the cards in SLI.

One reason for using 256MB over 512MB cards might be supply, or perhaps to keep the clocks high? Who knows. I found the following btw on a 8600 review @ hardocp.

 

Has anybody else noticed that Alienware is charging MORE for the 8700 GT than they do for the 7950 GTX? Nice way to cheat the customers.

 

People may think it's better since it cost more/newer card.

 

Alienware staff claim its better than the 7950 too. Then again, they are correct depending on your definition of "better".

Better in that it provides a higher 3Dmark, and better in that it supports DX10. Better in that at resolutions below 1280x it gives a higher FPS.

7950 gives advantage at higher res with AA/AF. But at the end of the day, its GPU is still not as powerful as the 8700, which tests in shader performance show. If that will count for anything in upcoming (or current?) games, and with driver improvements, who knows.

So sue me for trying to be pro-8700 btw

 

Well, there's nothing wrong with the 8700, but it's definitely a CHEAPER card than the 7950 (and the high-res performance generally is the dealmaker), so it seems kind of shady to sell it as the more expensive option.

 

My M1730 performs well at any res, it's the FSAA that kills the cards. Only the really old games allow me to use FSAA without impacting on performance. But I prefer using a higher res without FSAA then using a lower res with FSAA anyway.

 

With 1920x1200 res, in most games I have to want to notice the lack of aa, 2xaa works in most games and runs really well. Anything over that kills fps.

RobHague, after disagreeing with me, your quote backs my point up.

 

Well you can't change facts, so i posted what id found out (if it agrees with me or not) but i still disagree. I don't think the 8700 is too "low end" to not make any use of 512MB of VRAM. Anyway, how much extra would it have cost them to add it? $25? There shouldnt be much excuse not to include it at these prices.. :/ I can only think that its something to do with ~

~ Power, which seems unlikley. Its a DTR battery life is not important XD
~ Supply, perhaps the initial run of 8700's was only 256mb. Which means DELL might up it to 512 later.
~ Clock Speeds? Perhaps 512MB means lower memory speeds (as some people have reported) so they stuck with 256mb.
~ Maybe they decided it was a waste and customers would prefer money savings than pointless spec boosts. Though they include a PPU....
~ Maybe the 8800 is coming soon, and they want to offer both on the M1730 and want to create a bigger "gap" between the two.