Cuda and PhysX vs Raw Power: NVIDIA 560M or ATI 6970M?

Hi all, I'm planning on buying a laptop and I'm pretty much decided on a Sager machine. I plan to use it for some moderate gaming, and professional work (video editing, graphical work, and some animation\motion graphics). The machine should last me for at least 2-3 years.

I'm curious as to what the non-gaming performance gains are of the Nvidia card over the ATI, if any. I realise that the ATI card is a lot faster GPU, and quite frankly, I'd go for the 6970M if the gains in Photoshop, Aftereffects and Premiere from the 560M are minimal, but if there is a significant boost to these softwares then I'd prefer to get the 560M. Has anyone done any benchmarking on various softwares comparing the two GPUs? Any ideas or experience?

Btw, a 485M is out of the question - way out of budget.

 

If 485M is out of question than 6970M is in the lead already.

 

6970m is the way to go, CUDA is overrated and mainly a hype because of clever marketing. There aren't many programs that really make a big use cuda.

 

Well, I saw performance benchmarks that showed a significant performance increase for Adobe softwares in the desktop Geforce chipsets, so I was wondering if the gains would be similar in mobile GPUs. Also, all the CUDA benchmarks set Nvidia GPUs against similarly specced ATI GPUs - I'm wondering if a faster ATI GPU can actually offset the performance gain from a lower spec Nvidia GPU in softwares that do support CUDA.

 

there is a big performance difference when using premiere pro cs5 and newer, with an nvidia cuda card. the mercury playback engine that is used for previews uses cuda acceleration and the difference is very, very apparent. it also helps in rendering the final output if certain options are selected.
with regards to photoshop and after effects, they both use opengl. they work very well with nvidia cards however i am not sure about amd/ati opengl support.
the bottom line is, the way adobe and nvidia are in partnership, i can very well see adobe moving to an all cuda acceleration solution some time in the future. if adobe is important to you, nvidia is the only solution imho.

edit:
as a reply to svl7's post, in video editing there are many programs that use cuda technology. two of the more popular cuda plugins for adobe are the elemental plugin and the mainconcept codec suite. both are proffesional solutions, both leverage cuda tech to accelerate renders in quality, and both are exceedingly expensive.

 

With professional work in video editing: make sure you build to match or exceed your most demanding software.

As trvelbug stated correctly CS5 Premiere Pro does wonders with nVidia cards - if this is one of the OP's software tools then ignoring this fact will be almost a complete waste of building a new machine.

For the recommended/currently supported cards:

See:
Adobe - Premiere Pro CS5: Third-party hardware compatibility


For the rest of the recommended hardware for Premiere Pro (use the drop downs to pick the specific parts you're considering):

See:
third-party hardware compatibility | Adobe Premiere Pro CS5

 

Thanks for the information guys. It seems both openGL and mercury support for ATI cards is limited - quite a shame. Nvidia it is then, I guess.

 

just an additional note on premiere pros cuda acceleration: there are only very few officially supported nvidia gpu's for this feature, but there is a fairly well known adobe hack (legal) that allows you to use virtually any modern nvidia gpu for cuda acceleration...

 

all the software from adobe use ati accelerated paralel processing (once upon a time stream) the same way they use cuda the 6970m is the way to go cuda is nothing more then a marketing gamic

 

Get a laptop with a Quadro or Firepro GPU ?

 

Last year I bought an Asus with the 5780m card, I have had no issues at all, but many people had BSOD and heating issues. This year I bought a Sager with an nVidia, and then they came out with the 6970m. Now there are some threads that are deja vu with BSOD and other issues. I suggest you check out the Sager/Clevo forums under manufacturers. There are a lot of people there that have this card and can give you feedback. Again, I must say, I love the 5870m in my Asus.

 

you should do a little more research before you make sweeping, erroneous statements like this.
and no i am not a fanboy, i just have used these programs myself and i am aware of their requirements.

 

On the Sager/Clevo forum one of the resellers there just stated that the 6970m is being phased out. Doesn't say why though. But it is a very recent release, so there looks to be an ongoing problem. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/568478-clevo-p170hm-amd-radeon-6970m-goodness-d-22.htm

 

Link says not found

 

i'm using these software to and i can assure you that they use my gpus for hardware acceleration

 

impossible

Learn Premiere Pro CS5 - GPU-accelerated effect performance enhancements | Adobe TV

 

i think her forgot to add the "l" in .html

 

Thanks! That fixed it.

 

I found this article on wiki that says that Stream was essentially what is now known as the OpenCL framework, and that OpenCL is supported on both Nvidia and ATI GPUs. I'm not sure what the performance benefits or support for OpenCL is like however. Also, the DirectCompute framework from Microsoft apparently allows performance benefits on Windows based systems, and enjoys greater software support than either CUDA or OpenCL. The ATI cards apparently wipe the floor with Nvidia when using DirectCompute:
Unigine crew: CUDA vs OpenCL vs DirectCompute
Unigine crew: CUDA vs OpenCL vs DirectCompute Part II
Unigine crew: CUDA vs OpenCL vs DirectCompute Part III

 

There's also GPU acceleration with ATI cards but the Nvidia Cards on this list: Adobe will have better support. But in terms of performance, the 6970 should do you well plus you would have monster gaming performance.

 

thats all well and good but adobe does not use opencl nor directcompute, because they are in partnership with nvidia.

look at your list very well, nowhere will you see anything pertaining to ati/amd gpu acceleration. in fact the list in that document list all nvidia cards.

i agree that the 6970 is a better gpu than the 560m but that is not what the op is asking.
i think this thread belongs in the windows os and software section as it is not really a question on gaming.

and also i think the op has already made his choice.

 

Honestly, the original question was just about whether the extra raw processing power of the 6970 could compensate in software performance for the 560Ms additional support for CUDA. It appears that it doesn't, and that its just a gaming advantage.

 

Why are they phasing the 6970M out? The 6990M will be much hotter and have a bigger TDP right? And I don`t think I have seen any GPU manufacturer reduce their selection before. So it is something wrong with it?

 

the last thing mentioned in the sager forums is that there is a supply problem. but this is the fist time ive heard of a gpu being discontinued because of a supply issue.
too bad, the 6970 was a really good card.

 

Adobe After Effects CS5 & CS5.5 * Render with OpenGL

the preview engine use any gpu that run openGL

ati openGL support is lacking for games but has never been an issue for professional softwares



EDIT: you were right about premiere the mercury playback engine works only on cuda tech

 

The 460m was on backorder for around 2 weeks before the resellers could release the 560m.

 

Photoshop and after effects both use opengl. Premiere pro is the only program that uses cuda tech and it doesnt support the ati/amd equivalent.
If you follow this, thread thats what weve been saying all along.