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    NVIDIA GT 550m or 555M 3GB help?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by autofans, Mar 17, 2011.

  1. autofans

    autofans Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is there a big difference between the two video card?
     
    autofans, Mar 17, 2011
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  2. FASTCLEAR

    FASTCLEAR Newbie

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    FASTCLEAR, Mar 17, 2011
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  3. Rennie2011

    Rennie2011 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Rennie2011, Mar 17, 2011
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  4. autofans

    autofans Notebook Enthusiast

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    Can the GT 550m handle "Starcraft 2" at any setting?
     
    autofans, Mar 17, 2011
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  5. FASTCLEAR

    FASTCLEAR Newbie

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    [​IMG]

    they both probably cant handle ultra mode with playable FPS
     
    FASTCLEAR, Mar 17, 2011
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  6. autofans

    autofans Notebook Enthusiast

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    Planning to get the i7-2720QM, 8GB, and GT 550m. without the 3D.
    would this help increase the FPS?
     
    autofans, Mar 17, 2011
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  7. FASTCLEAR

    FASTCLEAR Newbie

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    the non 3d models use optimus technology which (if i understand correctly) give unstable FPS in some games (i understand that with 3D the onboard graphics can be disabled and without 3D they can't)

    i'm not 100% informed about all the above, it had something to do with the GPU mounted directly to the 3D panel and that wasn't the case for non 3D....

    this will probably be fixed with a driver update soon, but for now.....

    also the 900p panel will increase FPS which is helpfull. a good I7 Quad can also help but that totally depend on how the game is programmed to use more cores

    maybe somebody can clarify the 3D non 3D info because my story isn't the best out there i know

    it's like this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/562788-gta-4-a.html
     
    FASTCLEAR, Mar 17, 2011
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  8. autofans

    autofans Notebook Enthusiast

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    Too bad the Dell XPS 17 does not have the option of ATI Mobility Radeon HD cards like the Alienware models. I am still waiting for the M15x with the second generation intel chips to come out before making a purchase.

    Thanks for the info FASTCLEAR
     
    autofans, Mar 17, 2011
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  9. Rennie2011

    Rennie2011 Notebook Enthusiast

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    The 3D option uses the Nvidia GPU all the time. No Optimus switching at all.
    This obviously uses more power so may affect battery time if this is important.

    Optimus is still a bit of an unknown at the moment. I doesn't always switch when it should. There are a few workarounds i.e. forcing apps onto the Nvidia GPU, but they require a modicum of knowledge and can be a bit of a nuisance.

    Also the 900p screen got some pretty poor reviews.

    The choice is yours, just think about what is important to you and you'll make the right call.
     
    Rennie2011, Mar 17, 2011
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  10. whackamac

    whackamac Notebook Geek

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    I would get the 1080p and the 555M with the extra shaders and overclock it. You do NOT want optimus if you game a lot. I have my toshi in my sig and granted this laptop is faster than ...., I have not been able to defeat the frame lag and shader problems in games with anything I can find to throw at it.

    They may be able to write better drivers to tighten up the frame lag and other problems, but we have not seen it yet. At least they finally got a set of drivers to work Optimus with punkbuster...
     
    whackamac, Mar 17, 2011
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  11. Rennie2011

    Rennie2011 Notebook Enthusiast

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    That is pretty pricey config, If you were in the US the better option would be an ASUS G73. It really wipes the floor compared to any XPS 17 but you may get some funny looks if you take it into the boardroom for a presentation, if you know what i mean:wink:

    I would bite your hand off for a Asus G73 but sadly they are extremely rare in the UK.

    Good luck anyhoo.
     
    Rennie2011, Mar 17, 2011
    #11
  12. joco

    joco Notebook Consultant

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    joco, Mar 22, 2011
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  13. grenadier

    grenadier Notebook Enthusiast

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    People have already metioned that the 555M has more shaders, but it also has the advantage of a 192 bit memory bus (vs 128 bit). All that said the current 525/540/550/555M's are all bottlenecked by slow ddr3 memory which prevents there from being much of a noticeable difference between them.

    So... the 550M is clocked significantly higher than the 555M and the lack of memory bandwidth prevents the extra shaders on the 555M from making more than a slight difference in performance. Also the 550M and 555M come in variations with 2GB and 3GB of memory, but anything more than 1GB of memory for cards in this performance range is a waste.

    Best bet @30W / 15" - get a 525M and overclock the bejezus out of it :cool:

    The next step up significant enough to be noticeable would be a 460M or 6870M...
     
    grenadier, Mar 25, 2011
    #13