All else being equal, will a 6990m perform MUCH better than a 460m?

Hello. I'm currently debating between two laptops right now. They are generally the same, except for their video card (and thus, the price). The 6990m laptop ( Sager NP8170) looks very appealing, but I don't know how much better the performance is and if it's worth the $200-300. The nVidia 460m laptop I'm looking at is this one: ASUS G73SW-A1 . I'm mostly concerned about longevity so that I can play games in future years without having to upgrade so soon. The 6990m is clearly the better option here, right?

Thank you very much.

 

the 6990m is comparable to the 580m in performance with the 580m inching a bit, so definitely has much better performance than the 460m.

definitely worth the 200-300$ but at the end of the day, it's still up to you if you'll sacrifice the graphics for the price.

personally I'd pay for the vidcard before adding ram, ssd etc... the other stuff you could upgrade later on while the vidcard and processor would be limited to or expensive to replace.

 

If money isnt an issue (such that, you dont have a set budget) the 6990m will topple over the 460m.

Its worth it for the next few years of High Graphics gaming.

 

Yes, HD6990m is a much better card.

Also, the Sager is probably a much better laptop for a gamer. The Sager laptop has a standard MXM GPU card so unless they update the MXM standard you'll be able get a new GPU in the future if you so desire. The G7sw uses a custom module that is extremely difficult, maybe impossible, to upgrade. Also Sager laptops have very robust cooling so it might overclock better, but that also depends on the quality of each individual card.

The G73 on the other hand will probably be quieter while staying cool to the touch on the exterior. The G73 has a very stylish chassis design but style is subjective.

I have a G73jh and I love it but at the same time the fact that the GPU can't be upgraded without alot of headaches is very frustrating.

 

The 6990M destroys the 460.

 

I'd say at least 30% better performance and maybe as high as 50%.
The 460m is still a decent GPU and will allow you to play at high settings at 1080p in almost all current games and maintain playable framerates.

The 6990m will allow you to max out all settings except AA in almost every game on the market. Also if you're the type who likes to have a solid 60fps then the 6990m will allow you to do that without sacrificing as much image quality as the 460m.

It's definitely a better choice for serious or competitive gamers.

It is worth mentioning that Nvidia has special features like PhysX and some poeple are of the opinion that Nvidia drivers have better quality and reliability. However that's outweighed by the fact that the 6990m is in a completly different performance league at a reasonable price. The Nvidia equivalent to the 6990 is the 580m, but the 580m is so expensive that it's out of the price range for most poeple.

 

from what i've seen on the AW forums, a stock 6990m will be 30-40% faster than a stock 192bit 460m. Overclock the 6990m to a conservative 800/1100 and now we are talking 50-60% faster

These cards are in different leagues

 

if you're looking for benchmarks, it's similar to the difference between a desktop 6850 (very similar in performance to the mobile gtx 460) and a desktop 6870 (very similar in performance to the mobile 6990)

- that might help you figure out the performance difference so you can compare it to the cost.

of course, if someone has laptop benchmarks handy, those are good too.

 

That doesn't seem right. Isn't the 6970m the mobile version of the 6850, and the 6970m is about equal to the 485m GTX (which is still much more powerful than the 460m)?

So the 460m would still be considerably weaker than a desktop 6850.

 

the GTX460m is a GTS450 with higher memory bandwidth. IT is much weaker than an HD6990m even on stock both.

an overclocked 460m will still fall behind considerably enough to a stock 6990m.

 

Yeah guys no competition here. If you want to OC most 6990Ms can do a 20% oc with no issues (mine maxes at 24%). But I run mine stock, its more than enough for skyrim at 1080p.

 

6990M is the latest gpu for AMD thus far. So for an extra $200-300, it's definitely a steal. I have a 460m laptop and I don't enjoy playing battlefield 3 in low-med setttings @ 1080p. With the 6990M, you'll be able to play at high-ultra settings with a better frame-rate of course. It makes a lot of difference if you ask me. So yes, go with the 6990m. 460m won't get you as far as the 6990m will.

 

Have the gtx460m myself, and could not agree more. Do yourself a favour and go with the 6990

 

6990m = SLI 460M (seriously)

 

if like you said if everything on both gpus are equal (i suspect the price also) then go for the 6990m. 460m can also play games (only midstream imo but still okay) if you want the best for now then its 6990m for you.