Comparison of 960M, 970M and 980M

Hey guys,

I am planning to buy a gaming notebook, and I get $1.2k with 4k 960M or Alienware/MSI 970M or 980M in $2k range. I am wondering how much of a performance difference is there (40fps@1080p is playable for me).

Should I go for the 960M or go higher?

Alienware has graphics amplifier, and starts at 970M. MSI has MXM, 970M


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

The 960m is nothing compared to the 970m nor 980m since both of those cards are high end while the 960m is considered mid range. What kind of games you'll be playing and whats your budget? If you wanna play the latest games with 1080p @ 40fps+ aim for the 970m or the 980m

 

Thanks for replying. That's what I feared. I read some posts that said 970 is 10fps over 960 most of the time, so that got my hopes up.
My full question is here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10055365/

Basically, my dilemma is I'm getting 960M +4k for half the price of 1080p+970M/980M.

I want to be able to play AC unity, skyrim, Arkham origins, metro last light , battlefield, etc @ 1080p or 1440p.

For non coding horror games like battlefield, I want to be able to play at ultra.

The only vendors available to me are Alienware and MSI. I am edging towards Alienware 15 , 980M, but I read it's overpriced.

Clevo Sager not available.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I would take the MSI GT72 over the AW 2015 line-up

 

Avoid Alienware. Do not purchase Alienware. Did I forget to mention avoiding Alienware?

Maybe when the R2's come out, some improvements will be made. Just avoid for now.

 

Can you please elaborate? For 970M+ I only have the option for AW or MSI, and from the available options, AW is the cheapest for me. Of course, this is my first time buying a gaming laptop, so I have no idea what's what.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

There must be at least 10,000 posts in the Alienware section as to why you should not buy them. To sum it all up in one blow: they're simply inferior.

And why are you forced to go with MSI or Alienware? Both are far from ideal options.

 

If you want to play those games, 980m all the way home. Consider Sager as well.

 

The new Alienware computers are known for throttling your CPU speed down to 800 MHz.! Read the problems in the Alienware forums please

 

Here's an entire list of Clevo/Sager computers that I'd recommend over both MSI and Alienware:

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-clevo-sager-notebooks-ct-95_51_162.html

To my surprise, I did not give Sager enough credit. They're much better than I had anticipated.

 

You mean after all my reviews didn't sway you?

 

Your reviews are helpful. It was years ago I owned my first Clevo, so I had my doubts. Much improved.

There are many options available within your budget, OP.

 

Thanks. I explain in my post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10055365/. I love in India, and as such, AW, MSI, and ASUS ROG are the only ones. ROG only goes till 860. After that it's $2500+ only.

I can get insane deals on custom laptops from exotic pc, but from what I have searched, I would need to pay $300 for shipping. Kills the margins.

PS: if you could reply on the other thread, that would be great. I have concluded that I would rather buy a PS4 (not an option for now) than compromise below 970M.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

With your situation i think you're better off with a desktop, which are much cheaper than a gaming laptop and you can upgrade all of the components at any time. Normally with your budget you can buy a good gaming laptop like Clevo with a 980m without breaking the bank. As stated before you need at least a 970m if you wanna do some serious gaming,

 

I live in a hostel. Desktop is not an option for me. It'll be a few months before I buy. Perhaps MSI or ASUS will release a good 970M laptop.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I really highly recommend the GT72, just received mine last night and it's a fantastic laptop and I have been through a few of them.

 

They been out especially ASUS, they sell their G series with either a 970m or a 980m. Sames goes with MSI with their GT series

 

I would get an Asus with Nvidia Optimus disabled, G-Sync enabled.

 

same, but I would still go with the GT72 for the upgrade path. Also for anyone wondering, this setup will work fantastic in linux because of not having optimus.

 

If you have 1200, and you want a gtx970m laptop then get one used with warranty

 

MSI Laptops are indeed available. Can you specify the exact version you are talking about. I can get 2QD, 2QE, but seeing ( http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GT72-DOMI...=UTF8&qid=1438465898&sr=1-2&keywords=msi+gt72), they seem overpriced. And would all GT72 have MXM capability?

Besides, you have Alienware 17, 18 and now GT72 (Wow!). How do they compare? I read a review ( http://www.notebookcheck.net/Face-O...enware-17-vs-MSI-GT72-Dominator.145113.0.html) that basically said that AW can't handle stress ("blacks out")!

 

Its just the one on the bottom of my sig I believe the g 1445, 970m, gsync and mxm upgrades for 2 gens of GPUs for 1500

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

now I gotta look at that Sager NP7339 (Clevo W230SD), as I was considering the AW13 up to this moment :/

 

So I was looking at this: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GT72-DOMI...=UTF8&qid=1438465898&sr=1-2&keywords=msi+gt72

It's 980M but it's almost a year old. Will MSI update it with this year's 5th gen/1080M and I should wait for that, or do I get one of the current ones? Thanks for all you help!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

If you can wait I would hold out for the 1080m because nvidia are saying pascal will be a huge improvement but if you need it now no harm in buying with the promise of a future upgrade

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

I'd still go AW13 vs that one.

It's already been updated with the new Intel CPUs and G-Sync.

 

Reasons?

 

I wouldnt wait that long unless you dont need a gaming laptop anytime soon, there always new technology coming out every year which is better than previous tech. Just get the one with a 980m since its the best notebook GPU thats out now and it should last for years running games at max settings

 

Hey Guys,

I tried sagernotebook.com and built this:
NP9753 Notebook

- 15.6" 4K QFHD Samsung Display with Super Glossy Surface (3840x2160)
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M GPU with 8GB GDDR5 Video Memory / G-SYNC Technology [+$300.00]
- 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790 Processor ( 8MB L3 Cache, 3.60GHz)
- Stock Standard Thermal Compound
- Windows® 8.1 64-Bit Edition Preinstalled, (with 64-Bit DVD Recovery Media)
- 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 1 X 8GB
- 128GB Micron M600 M.2 SSD - as an OS Drive (Primary Drive C) [+$100.00]
- 1TB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
- Killer™ Dual Band Wireless-AC 1525 M.2 AC Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Module [+$20.00]
- 230W 110V/240V autoswitch AC Adapter
- Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
- Fingerprint Reader
​

I can get the above for $2269 + $400 (WW Shipping) = $2669 + INR to USD tax ~3% = $2749.07
This equals INR 176077.80.

Alienware 15 retail in India:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4710HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)
Windows 8.1 Single Language (64Bit) English
16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz (2x8GB)
128GB m2.80 NGF TLC SSD + 1TB 5400RPM
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M with 4GB GDDR5
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display
Killer 1525 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1
A/C Adapters: 180W
Ports
(1x) Power/DC-in Jack
Killer™ E2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
(3x) SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Port
(1x) SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Port with PowerShare Technology
(1x) Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port
(1x) Mini-Display Port
(1x) HDMI 1.4 Output
(1x) 9-in-1 Media Card Reader
(1x) Audio Out 1/8" Ports (Compatible with inline mic headset)
(1x) Line In Microphone 1/8" Port
(1x) Noble Lock port (cable and lock sold separately)​

I can get this from an Indian Retailer for INR 167990.00 + 7K 240W PSU = INR 177990 = (~$2778.9).

What do you guys think?

1. Alienware has the Amplifier option, and I am sure even Pascal cards will support PCI or nobody could buy them (not SLI).
2. Pascal has NVLink and stuff and I am not sure if MXM or Sager will allow upgrades.
3. The MSI Dominator Pro is the old one, no G-Sync (No go).
   
4. I might need to add ports to Sager (No idea how to build)
5. I am not sure the 980M will ever need 8GB VRAM @1080p.

 

I touched it and just wasn't impressed by the fit and finish. I don't like how hot the CPUs run, or the fan noise.

Think about warranty situationsb, and how much trouble (and money) it'd be to ship back and forth from your country to another. Always buy in your own region when you can, so I'd take the Alienware all day.

 

Eh, I wouldn't not recommend to someone based on personal opinion of the fit and finish, it's very well built and easy to access components. Main issue is the paint on the palm rest wears over time. I just ended up putting a screen protector on it and solved that problem. It's a very popular laptop with many happy users. And CPU doesn't run that hot or noisy. It's a 45W CPU vs 15W in the AW13, so it's hard to judge it on that. That's 3x as much TDP as the AW13. Not saying the AW13 is bad, I'm sure it's a fine laptop, but based on specs alone and personal experience, I'd recommend the Clevo.

 

@HTWingNut Kevin is a Clevo hater

 

All fair points sir, I respect your views. I just wish Clevo would put a little more into the build quality.

Really dude? Grow up. I criticize every brand, and there's nothing wrong with pointing out where a brand is lacking. There are only 2 Clevo models that I actively dislike.

I love the P6 series, and recommend them frequently, more than any other brand/model, in the gaming laptop recommendation thread I run on NeoGAF.

My only real problem with Clevo, is that the community would be effed without Prema updating BIOS to keep them GPU upgradeable. That man is doing the Lord's work.

I've owned more Clevo machines than most of this board, going way back. I don't speak from a position of ignorance.

 

U mad, Kev?

 

Mad, no. Just disappointed.

 

I'm passing on that one due to inadequate cooling. You cant possibly cool down a 47W CPU with that long heatpipe (and one only). This laptop should have been a dual fan from the beginning, but I guess they try to use the old chassis. Various threads out there with people having heating problems.

So at this point I'm back to the AW13, an example of how a cooling should be done at least for that size powerful laptops :/ . Another story is that I dont really like the hinges of that one but it is what it is.

I need to check what other manufacturers have made with that video card, if any though.

 

See here.. CPU temps at load in low to mid 80's. Not that bad: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sager-np7339-clevo-w230sd-review-by-htwingnut.774424/

Heating problems are usually people trying to use the laptop elevated significantly (like over 30 deg) and that is a known design decision / flaw (however you want to see it) that the heatpipe does not do gas/fluid exchange properly like that.

 

I saw that review the other day, thank you for which. However, my likes for cooling system would be when I leave Intel's linpack benchmark (LinX) running for half an hour at room temperature and come back to see that the CPU is still running at full speed and not topping say 85 deg C. At least for the CPU part where I think the problem with this laptop is.

Back in the day I passed on upgrading my T61 with X9000 CPU (also 45W TDP) due to cooling issues, thus settled with the T9500 (35W) instead.

kind of like my laptops to last, lol, that's all.

 

just thinking out loud - if you think a 45 watt CPU is a but much for the W230SD, then get a dual core 35watt CPU for it. IMO, still much better than any ULV chip.

 

LOL then why are you even considering the AW13? That low TDP ULV CPU would TDP throttle like a b*tch in LinX.

 

LOL, that, and 85C is not unreasonably hot, 92C is where I start to get concerned. But even if you manually throttle the CPU back a bit with slightly reduced clock speed and undervolt, it will still run significantly faster than that ULV CPU and run much cooler.

 

I've specifically asked in the AW13 owners thread if the CPU throttles due to temperature, and the answer (from one person only so far) is that it does not suffer from throttling issues as the AW15 and AW17. Maybe a good idea to ask them to run LinX and report how it goes. I hope more people would report though .. as obviously it's hard to rely on one opinion only. But I know what you mean, I have doubts about that as well.

I would think the only way to manage the quad core in the Clevo would be to limit it's turbo (as well as undervolt of course). But then, what's the benefit of having fast CPU if you cant use it to its full potential, lol. And then how is this laptop more appealing over the AW13 where you can connect external GPU I guess the prema mod there would unlock some video chard OC, but then we're back on square one with the overheating issues .... and I dont really want to change the fan on it, lol.

who else makes small laptops with the GTX 960m ?

 

I said TDP throttle, not thermal throttle

@HTWingNut can give you the scoop on that, but regardless the Clevo has a socketed MQ CPU so you have much more control over it

 

If you want external GPU then AW13 is the way to go, I guess. That ULV CPU will limit it big time. But sure, if you think every CPU should run at max performance in any laptop it goes into, then it may not meet that criteria. I think the MSI GS30 is the better option with a full 47W CPU.

In the W230SD, ihe i7-4710QM will run fine though. And I'm not even saying to disable boost. Reduce CPU speed by 200MHz and undervolt by 50mV and temps will likely remain well under 85C. It will still be twice the performance of the ULV which as octiceps indicated, will very likely TDP throttle. Although Alienware indicates that they put no such limitations on the chip like many OEM's do, where it will TDP throttle at 60C. My whole point was not to diss the Clevo for no apparent reasoning.

 

External GPU + ULV CPU is going to see HUGE bottlenecking.

 

Define huge. Because from the numbers I gathered, with a GTX 960, it was only a 16% on average loss at 1080p. That includes the lower bandwidth compared to PCI-E 3.0 x8 or x16.
That's pretty close to the numbers Techpowerup got for their GTX 980 with the same amount of bandwidth (2.0 x4). And their benching included a significantly more powerful CPU.
The same, however, can't be said about my R9 285.
In any case, as for TDP throttling, I'm not sure how many times it's supposed to happen. Whenever I game (and monitor), I've never seen go beyond 15w and drop its boost clock. I do know that my CPU will TDP throttle when I run something like Prime95. I can test again, if need be with some CPU intensive games I have (not a lot, but still). This isn't to say it's as great a full volt CPU. The i7-3740QM I used to have never gave (throttle) problems in my m14xR2 and stayed usually around 80 C in gaming, until late in its life. If the Clevo WS230 gives off slightly higher temps with a CPU as powerful as the 3740QM, then I see no problems with it being hot.

 

The Alienware 15 does throttle (980M), on the default 180W adapter. But if you invest in a 240W adapter, this goes away (not talking about thermal throttling).

Sent from my H60-L04 using Tapatalk

 

Also, can somebody post whether the 970M or 980M support DX11 fully?

Sent from my H60-L04 using Tapatalk

 

Dude GTX 480M supports DX11 fully

 

Why would you use a GTX 960 in the GA considering the internal 980M/970M is stronger . Obviously he's referring to powerful desktop cards like 980/980 Ti and Fury/Fury X, where even i5-3570K is a bottleneck in games like GTA V.

@miro_gt another thing to consider is you can tweak an MQ quad-core CPU into a ULV but not vice-versa. The MQ is simply faster in every scenario whether single- or multi-threaded.