8800M GTX SLI vs. 260M etc...

Dell is now upgrading my M1730 and I am trying to figure out want an equal or better GPU would be in a Alienware M17x. The M1730 has 8800M GTX SLI vs. a single 260M they are trying to give me. I was expecting at least 260M SLI or a 280M SLI. What does everything think?

Please give me some reasons why so I can have some information to argue with.

Also how does a 7950 compare?

Thanks for the help as I don't know much about GPU's and I don't want to get ripped off.

 

8800M GTX SLI will beat the crap out a single GTX 260M, the difference will be quite huge, going from 8800M GTX SLI to a GTX 260M will be a downgrade, not a upgrade. Ask DELL for GTX 260M SLI OR 280M SLI.

7950 was the the top line of the mobile GPUs 3 years ago, but right now it is nothing compared to 260M/8800M GTX, even a single 8800M GTX murders 7950 SLI.

 

A 7950 dont even compare to a 8800m GTX and a single GTX 260m is a preformance loss over 8800m GTX SLi. Go with a GTX 260m SLi or even 9800m GTX SLi.

 

If they are trying to give you a single GTX 260M then they might be trying to take you for a fool. That is a major downgrade and unacceptable. In some cases you could lose up to 40% + performance wise in some games or even more. Although a single GTX 260M is a great GPU, it doesn't compare to 8800M GTX in SLI.

I can't even believe they are trying to do that. Your argument is simple, what they are offering is without doubt a huge downgrade.

 

I think on synthetic benchmarks, the 8800m GTX's in SLI would def out perform the single 260m GTX. But in real world gaming, you gotta compare the specs.
A single 8800m has 96 cores, 500Mhz core clock, 1250Mhz shader, 800Mhz memory clock, 512MB memory, 256-bit interface.
A single 260m has 112 cores, 550Mhz core clock, 1375Mhz shader, 950Mhz memory clock, 1GB memory, 256-bit interface. (looks like a slightly higher clocked 8800m with 16 more cores)

The 260m will play better at higher resolutions and settings. If you choose the AFR2 setting for SLI, you are really only using 512mb of graphics memory at any one time since one card renders all the even frames and the other all the odd. So you wouldn't get the whole benefit of 1GB shared memory through SLI. Also selecting "Nvidia recommened settings" for SLI is basically AFR2 99% of the time. So with a lower resolution and high settings, the SLI setup would be able to render faster providing smoother playback. But at higher higher resolutions and settings the 260m can call on the full 1GB to render and make playing smoother.
For reference high resolution will be anything over 1920x1200, and low resolution will be anything under 1680x1050. The M17x comes with 2 screen sizes, one 1920x1200, and the other 1440x900.

So the benefits are dependant on what screen you get. If I were you, I would get the M17x and see if you can pay the difference to get the other 260m if they won't give it to you free. The resale value is a whole lot better than the old M1730 with 8800m in SLI, just check ebay.

Everyone that posted above is correct, this is just my 2 cents comparing your options. I think 40% performace loss is like the most you would lose like in a desktop setup, SLI on laptops suck right now, you would lose like closer to 15%.

 

Um, the 8800m gtx sli would definitely be better at higher resolutions.

 

this. sli only shines at high res.
to the op, ask for 260m sli at least.

is dell replacing your m1730 from warranty? cos 8800m gtx sli is the highest available option for a m1730.

 

Ask for a minimum of 260M SLi. The 260M is a great card, and Buckits does have a good point about it. But at the end of the day, you will be getting something less.

 

SLI is dependant on what method is used to scale. SLI can scale by the gpu's alternating frames (in which case one would render all the odd, and one would render all the even), this is AFR2 which is ususally the most effective method, but if you have only two 512mb cards, only 512mb is available at any one time. Thus, it will bottleneck performances over 1920x1200. However there is another method where the frames are divided into a checkerboard, and the gpu's render together, in which case the full 1gb is being used. Also there is a method where one gpu scales the top half of the screen and the others the bottom half, and in this case the full 1gb is also used.

Only certain SLI profiles/patches are released (by Nvidia and EVGA) with specific games mentioned, and these are the ones being optimized by the last two methods where SLI would excel. But games that use AFR2, which is 95% of games, as stated above is bottlenecked because of only using 512mb at any one time (this is not the case if each card is 1gb a piece).

 

I think you are overestimating the importance of 1gb over 512mb. Sure it's nice to have, but it's not going to make up for the difference between two 512mb 8800m gtx over a single 1gb gtx 260.

 

Ask for 260M SLi or a refund. The 260M is only marginally more powerful than the 8800M GTX, and you will be losing a LOT of performance by taking only a single 260M.

 

OP,

I know Dell can sometimes be a pain the back, they give you "downgrade" options from your existing M1730. Reject to accept the offer and demand for an SLI counterpart instead; or if possible ask for a dual 280Ms. If not, then refund the machine, I believe your M1730 is still under warranty status, and thus able to give you a replacement.

Stand firm with your words. It's a coincidence I stumbled upon this post, just yesterday I helped a friend got GTX 280Ms (Yes, GTX 280M SLI) for his M17x replacement instead of a single GTX 260M as the rep on the phone offered him. I told the rep to give him complete refund if they refuse to give GTX 280Ms.

Yes, like everyone else has mentioned, and I stick by it. You're essentially getting a downgrade if you give the go to a single GTX 260M. I can tell you this difference because I have test driven the single GTX 260M and it's no way better than your twin 8800s, the difference is totally night and day.

 

Tis funny how dell thinks it can con people into an downgrade! Even a single 280M GTX would probably lose performance wise to your dual 8800M GTX!

 

I've been insisting that there are many cases in which 512mb in SLI will outperform a single 1gb card by a significant margin. The 2 cents I was trying to include was that SLI is dependant on what method is used to scale a particular game(as every games are different).

Like I said, I agree with you in a way, just giving a different perspective.

 

The 8800mGtx sli is way better than a single Gtx260m. They have to give you an Sli laptop end of. In real life gaming my laptop kicks any single Gpu laptop no doubt.

 

A card that has 1GB of video memory is not automatically faster than a 512MB GPU. SLI support is great today I know since I have an XPS M1730 myself with 8800m GTX SLI.

 

we are talking about performance, not which card is faster. If that is the case the single 260m has higher clocks, so it is faster.

Benchmarks for (you could really insert any cards here with different memory) gts 250 512mb vs a gts 1gb show there is absolutely no difference in "performance" in a game with high settings. But when you go to 1920x1200 resolution and beyond and up AA + AF, the 512mb will suffer significantly (i'm talking about graphic intensive games like far cry 2 and crysis, not L4D cause you will always get a crap load of FPS in those types of games).

If you read what i've posted, I'm not saying 1gb is always better that a 512mb gpu. I was just giving a different perspective. It seems like everyone is saying SLI is the best in ANY and ALL situations, and I've giving thoughts on when it possibly might not be. To back this, I have said more than once that I agree the SLI can out perform a single card setup.

 

Not best, but saying that SLI support is crap is dead wrong. If you know how to get the most out of your system and make your own SLI profiles then most SLI problems is non existant this includes not only GPU drivers but also update the chipset drivers from time to time which solves lots of problems people can have with stuttering etc etc. Yes the GTX 260m has higher clocks but it´s not leaps faster than a single 8800m GTX 112 SP´s, vs 96 SP´s is not a huge leap in performance. Also the 8800m GTX overclocks like crazy and those that do overvolt the GPU´s in Nibitor we can see speeds up to 700Mhz on the core alone.

Besides we know the G92 core is crap at handling AA anyway.

 

agreed! nvidia does a great job rebranding mobile gpu's...

 

Yes it´s too bad, but hopefully they will have new GPU´s out for the mobile market soon. GTX 280m is very nice, but I would like to see something along the desktop GT200 GPU´s soon.