3GB GTX560M vs 1.5GB GTX460M

Hi guys,

I'm in the market for a new laptop am trying to finalize a choice between one of two laptops (ASUS G74 vs G73).

The main difference between these laptops is graphics cards (I tailored all other parts to be the same):

Both have a 2nd Gen Core i7 2670QM
The G74 has a 3GB GTX 560M with 2GB of additional RAM and the G73 has a 1.5GB GTX460M.

So, what are your thoughts on this situation? I can get the G73 for almost $300 cheaper...

Thanks!!

Pinto

 

The GPU cores are identical, but the difference is the core clocks. The 560M has higher clocks, but the 460M can be overclocked to the same, maybe more, performance levels. However, you can overclock the 560M too. The difference between the vRAM is negligible at best for 1080p screens.

You may want to consider a notebook from Malibal or another company, since you can get one that can be upgraded.

 

The 560 is about 20% better than the 460m. If you want to save money, however, you can overclock the 460m to the 560m levels. Keep in mind though, the 560m can also be overclocked to higher levels. Video card memory beyond 1.5 gb is usually just for marketing purposes, no real difference between 1.5 & 3 gb.

 

I did play with upgrades on the different Asus' (from xoticpc.com) to get them identical. The reason why I am having this dilemma is because of the massive price difference between the G73 and G74.

I already compared the Asus vs the Sager/Clevos and the Asus came in better for me. I'll look up Malibal too.

My main purpose for the laptop is gaming so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be gimping myself with the GPU. Thanks Fahrenheit!

 

I have been doing some research on their benchmarks and they come in very very similarly (passmark and 3dmark06 they are very close) I really wanted to assuage my fears about the 1.5 vs 3gb vram though.

Thanks for the input Thex!

 

That is pretty much what I was thinking!

 

The only real benefit to having 3gb of vram is if you intend to get a screen that goes up to 2560x1600, otherwise there isn't much point.

Like godly said, go with the 460M and overclock it.

 

The 560 is only 13% faster than the 460

 

A little bit of an exaggeration, but the idea is true. A Clevo/Sager notebook will last longer, and like I said, upgrades are possible.

Just for reference, I can max out some 2011 titles on my machine, but some others I can't. There is also a couple of games that should run better but just don't because they aren't optimized.

 

I saw some good deals on used Asus notebooks in the for sale forums if you have visited there lately? I have purchased some great laptops here and saved a ton of $ over retail. Every one had issues that were resolved with a frsh install of Windows, which a person should really do anyways, even with a new OEM machine, that factory install is garbage.

 

Thanks for the insight Farenheit, that does make a fair bit of sense. I'll look more into the Sager's tomorrow (and if I don't decide to do that, the G74 still might be a better way to go).

I'll check out the used forums too Smoke. Thanks for the idea.

 

For that drastic of a price difference, the 460M is better. And also, if you can spend the money, go with something higher, but if money is your issue, my 560M has yet to run across something it can't max out (besides Crysis). I don't play BF3 and all that, but it should handle for definitely a year or two before it's outdated.

 

^ the main differences between the 460m and 560m is the slight increase of clock speeds and Im having a hard time maxing out Witcher 2 lol.

1080p and low-medium settings running around 28-30fps

 

I purchased the G73 about 8 months ago, just after the Sandybridge recall was over. I can't say that it was a bad laptop, but it definitely had its faults.

Luckily for me, the company I bought it from screwed up and actually sold me one of the old SNB Recall models and I was just able to trade it in for the G74SX-RH1 for the same price and I will tell you first hand - coming from someone that has owned both - go with the G74!!

While these may sound like minor faults, they were enough to push me to look at purchasing another new laptop if they hadn't returned my old one!

First off, to answer your question regarding the 460M 1.5GB vs the 560M 3GB GPU everyone is right that you won't see more than about 10-15% on the 1080P screen. HOWEVER, if you plan on using NVidia's 3D Vision this is a BIG plus!! I'm not just talking about the -3DE models either... 3D Vision can be used via HDMI on ANY of the 73 or 74 models! I use mine regularly on my 55" Panasonic VT25 and I noticed a remarkable difference with the 560M 3GB GPU!

The G73 had *serious* issues with the touch-pad, it used the same one as the 71 and 72 and after a few minutes of use it would become unresponsive, inaccurate and downright unusable!

I am still not sure why, as they both have similar specs but the 73 was a LOT slower than the 74 I have now. It wasn't so much slow as it would pause... No matter which program, I could look at the CPU/RAM usage and nothing was out of the norm but programs would constantly lock up for 10 or 15 seconds then respond again!? It would do this repeatedly every few minutes and I never found a way to fix it...!?

The screen on the 74 is a night and day difference (for the better). Don't get me wrong, the 73 had a great screen but the 74 is just that much better! The black levels are so much higher and the color is much more accurate. Also not sure if this was just my model or not but the 73 had several bright spots on the screen, they weren't bright or stuck pixels but rather a section of the screen (maybe a bad LED??)

They keyboard was also a known fault of the G71-73, for fast typers the keyboard couldn't keep up and would often miss a stroke or two. This has not only been fixed on the 74, but the number keypad and arrows have also been shifted over about an inch from the keyboard making it feel just like you're using a regular home keyboard!

Finally, my last complain about the 73 was expandability - if you wanted to upgrade the RAM to 16GB you had to disassemble the entire computer! ASUS geniously used a 4x2GB configuration and slots 3 and 4 were located under the keyboard. The 74 uses a single screw that can be opened with a coin and everything sits in plain view to be upgraded including your RAM, both HDD bays, and the WiFi card in case you want to upgrade to something like the Intel 6300 with true 3x3 support!

While this isn't a fault, it is worth mentioning that the G73 and earlier G74's came with the i7-2630 where the new models come with the i7-2670. Not a huge difference, both have the same IMC and features, however it is 2.2Ghz (vs 2.0) with a max turbo of 3.1Ghz (vs 2.9Ghz) Considering the ASUS G Series does not support overclocking this is a nice 10% performance gain if you don't plan on upgrading your CPU

Hope that helps in your decision, I personally recommend the 74 over the 73 to anyone - even if it does cost a few hundred more!

In case anyone is wondering, here's a list of minor con's upgrading to the 74...

1) It's heavy! The G74 is a tank (just under 10lbs) but this shouldn't be too much of a concern for anyone looking at this level of performance

2) Battery life, I haven't tested this too much because I just got the 74 but ASUS downgraded the PSU so it does take a bit longer to charge and seems to drain slightly faster.

3) The sound is GREAT for integrated speakers, it is extremely accurate and most people will be happier with it but you do lose the built in "subwoofer" that the G73 had so it isn't quiet as loud. Regardless the "subwoofer" was tiny and only helped minimally...

 

Hey JMcGrath, G74 laptops have their GPU soldered onto the motherboard and cannot be upgraded. Not so with the G73.

 

Not sure on that aspect, I generally don't look to upgrade my GPU in any laptop I've owned. The 560M is a very powerful mobile GPU to begin with, and it sounds like Kepler may be a ways out yet. Even with Kepler, there hasn't been any talk of any new features (ie DX12) - not in the near future anyways.

Even if the GPU were upgradable in the 73, more times than not the cooling isn't sufficient to support it. I can't speak for the G73, but this has been my experience with any notebook. The only times I've seen this work is in models that had the option for a faster GPU because the cooling was designed for the highest option available...

Not sure if this was in reply to my post or not, but my reference to upgrades was in regards to the CPU. The 2670 is 10% faster if you don't want to upgrade, a lot of people have upgraded to the 2720 because of the VT-d support and DDR3-1600 support.

 

You guys say the difference is negligible between 3gb and 1.5gb VRAM, but what about 2 years from now? Won't the difference be greater for the new games released then? I don't plan on buying a new laptop for a few years and am wondering if going with 3GB now is a smarter decision for games that come out a year or two from now.

 

It is not because each GPU has a maximum bandwidth it can use (that is: RAM), regardless of how much RAM you stock it. It may give some little edge in some games (I have not checked the data in detail, but someone pointed a while ago it was true in some specific cases), but nevertheless it is not a 'day and night' difference and I think it is meaningless in the long term picture.

 

If you're going to upgrade the ram, the G73 will be more of a headache since the last ram slot is under the keyboard. The G74 has all ram slots accessible from the back panel. In terms of power, the only difference I see with the G74 is its higher GPU clock speeds. As others have said, you can OC the 460M to match the 560M clock speeds.

 

Thanks for that great insight JMcGrath! With Farenheit's thoughts and your experience confirming it, I think I will get more staying power over the years with the G74.

Thanks for all the thoughts and information guys!