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    GT 650m ddr3 vs GT 650m ddr5, Why such a huge difference in game graphics settings

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by LostCoast707, Sep 10, 2014.

  1. LostCoast707

    LostCoast707 Notebook Consultant

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    I have two laptops with GT 650m's in them, one with ddr3 and one with ddr5. (You can see details in signature) The little one with dd3 only has a 1366x768 screen while the larger one with ddr5 has a full 1920x1080 screen. I was setting up Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare on the little one for my son to play. Even with the GPU OCed it only will run the game at 1280x720, which was the lowest resolution supported by the game, at just barely on medium settings at 25-30FPS. With the card at stock settings it doesn't even play well at the lowest possible graphics settings...usually around 15-22fps. I just figured that was all the little card could muster up. But then, I then I tried it on the larger laptop and at stock settings it will run the game at full 1920x1080 with high graphic settings at 30-40fps and with the overclock it allows ultra settings in the high 30+fps with no problem at 1920x1080.

    Just curious why such a huge difference between the two cards. They both get similar benchmark scores from 3DMark11. They both have i7 quad core CPU's from the same generation and neither show throttling on the CPU or GPU even when running their maximum OC settings.
     
    LostCoast707, Sep 10, 2014
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  2. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    did you run it with the nvidia dGPU?
     
    Mobius 1, Sep 10, 2014
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  3. D2 Ultima

    D2 Ultima Livestreaming Master

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    It could be limited by memory bandwidth... GDDR3 and GDDR5 are on the same 128-bit memory bus. If the stock memory clocks for each card is say... 1200MHz, then the effective clock for GDDR3 is 2400MHz and for GDDR5 it's 4800MHz. I can't find what the actual clocks are online, but understand that this is a possibility.
     
    D2 Ultima, Sep 10, 2014
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  4. LostCoast707

    LostCoast707 Notebook Consultant

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    It was running on the nvidia dGPU. But I think I just solved the issue. While I was double checking I decided to see which nvidia drivers each machine was using, something I completely forgot to check, and the ddr5 machine has the latest from Nvidia while the ddr3 machine had a MUCH older driver. I just finished updating it and did a fresh reboot and just like magic the FPS rates are now in the high 50's running at 1366x768 with ultra settings....which would put it on par with the other 650m running the higher resolution but with lower FPS.

    Guess I just needed a push to check some of the basics before thinking the problem is deeper and more complicated. :rolleyes:

    Thanks
     
    LostCoast707, Sep 10, 2014
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    deadsmiley and D2 Ultima like this.