860M 4GB vs 970M. Is it worth the extra money?

I play league of legends only, but want a fast and reliable card. I have 2 options when looking at the MSI gs60 gold. I can get $1399 edition with FHD screen, 860M 4GB... or I can get $1899 edition with 4K and 970M 6GB. Which version is really worth it?


FHD 1399:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=CIaI5uXl5sUCFQqVfgodLKcAtw&gclsrc=aw.ds

4K 1899:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=COHW-uvl5sUCFYWSfgodwYsAEA&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

It depends on you. Theoretically the 970M at 4K should be a bit better than the 860M at 1080p, at least as far as LoL is concerned. That 970M MSI has quite a bit of nice specs too.

I'd say if you can afford it AND ONLY WANT TO PLAY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS as far as gaming goes, then the 4K 970M model should be the better choice. It also has a larger SSD too.

 

Agreed with D2 Ultima.

Keep in mind LoL is not constant. It has increased its visual quality over the years. I was an original beta tester and used to run the game on a netbook at 15 fps. Now it won't even load haha. the 970m is the all around better choice.

EDIT: Forgot that the 4K screen in the GS series is apparently 48hz, so I would suggest to get the 970m version with 1080p resolution instead.

 

I would personally look for FHD and 970 combo instead. Newegg should have it.

 

Actually, now that you mention it, I think the GS with 4K is limited to 48hz display, so yeah, it is advisable to get a 970m with FHD display.

 

Is the GS60 a good pickup? Heard some things about heat and noise.... do the pros outweigh the cons?

 

Absolutely love mine. I've currently got the 970m version, but had the 860m version previously... liked the chassis so much I bought the newer version.

I would definitely go for the 1080p version over the 4K edition, mainly due to the 48hz the 4K is stuck at.

 

Should I get the gold version (860m 4gb, 128ssd/1tb, 16gb ram) for 1399, or black version for 1799 (970m 6gb, 256ssd/1tb/16gb ram). I love the gold color, but is the 970m version worth the extra couple hundred? I play league of legends only, but I found that 970m 3gb plays it fine, so I'm wondering if 860m 4gb would do ok as well. What do u think?

and can you also tell me your experiences with the heat/fan noise of the laptop?

 

Hands down 970m, and the other stuff that comes with it is worth the upgrade too.

 

how is the heat/fan noise of the gs60? Why can't they have a non-4k gold version of the gs60.... or silver! not just boring black

 

Fan noise is higher pitched whine, not real loud, but noticeable. The fan runs constantly too at idle, although at a very low RPM so not really noticeable. The heat is higher than most systems with similar GPU's only because it's such a slick laptop.

You can see my review here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...with-gtx-970m-6gb-review-by-htwingnut.765829/

Scroll down to "System Temperature" section for heat.

 

Are you serious? Here, I found your perfect notebook:

Spoiler

 

Because color is important to its performance. That is why my car is red.

 

Is it really now...

 

Hey guys come on... appearance plays some role in laptop for me. I see that the temps get a bit up there when gaming, but does it run hot when surfing the web? I don't really like it when the exhaust is spewing lava level heat onto my legs when I'm doing normal tasks like watching YouTube or checking my email ... same reason why I returned the Alienwsre 15

 

You returned the AW 15 for that reason? It's one of the better cooled gaming notebooks out there, certainly better than the thin-and-light stuff you're looking at now. Oh boy.

 

Pretty sure the 860M in the GS60 is Kepler and not Maxwell, so definitely go for the 970M.

 

It was absolutely horrible though. It got hotter than my toaster HP laptop from 4 years ago that I'm using now. I think the cooling might be overrated on it

 

Did you send it in for warranty or try to troubleshoot it yourself? If nothing else, AW's are pretty good with cooling.

 

Not the new ones, the keyboard gets more than just warm when it's only idling.

 

If you pursue form over function you'll end up with neither.

 

Yeah this... most people were experiencing similar problems. I hope the gs60 isn't as bad?

 

As others said, LoL is a constant evolving game... I would definitely go 970M.

 

There is literally no scenario in existence, outside of budget concerns, in which I'd choose or recommend an 860M over the 970M.

 

may as well go big and get the 980M.

 

I'd take a 770 or 780 any day over any 8 series GeForce GTX Definitely go for the upgrade but might as well top it off with the 980 while you're at it

 

The Aw15 is stupidly designed, CPU+GPU is directly under keyboard.. As for GS60, as long as you have thermal paste properly applied, you will be fine.. I would personally buy from somewhere like XoticPC, have them repaste with IC Diamond and pay for it since the GS60 is really hard to repaste... That way you will be sorted for sure!