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    GTX 965M vs GTX 960M vs GTX 870M. Difference?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Daniel Abrahami, Jul 17, 2015.

  1. Daniel Abrahami

    Daniel Abrahami Newbie

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    Hey guys, hopefully I can get some help here.

    Currently shopping for laptop for work/moderate gaming. Looking for something under an inch thick and weighing under 5 pounds.

    I've found a few laptops that fit the bill all with i7, SSD. But the GPU varies between the 870m, 960m, 965m. I do CAD and 3D rendering at work and play mostly CS:GO. Is there any huge difference between these GPU's? Is the 965M overkill? Thoughts/recommendations?

    Thanks!
     
    Daniel Abrahami, Jul 17, 2015
    #1
  2. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    870M and 965M are noticeably faster than 960M. Between 870M and 965M it would have to depend on notebook cooling and price. 965M is sometimes limited by its 128-bit bus and VRAM amount (for the 2GB version) so it falls behind 870M, but it does run much cooler and can overclock better.

    Edit: For CS:GO any of these GPUs will breeze through it. For your non-gaming usage 870M would be best.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2015
    octiceps, Jul 17, 2015
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  3. ethon21

    ethon21 Notebook Consultant

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    Given that you're looking for something a bit lighter and thinner, I would definitely place the 965M at the top. Maxwell runs much cooler than Kepler (870M), so it's easier to place in a smaller laptop. My current laptop has an 870M, for what it's worth.

    All all things being equal or close (price and such), I'd go with the 965M.
     
    ethon21, Jul 17, 2015
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  4. Daniel Abrahami

    Daniel Abrahami Newbie

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    Daniel Abrahami, Jul 17, 2015
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  5. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    The GS60 is $400 more because of its premium build quality (lacking plastic, great keyboard), not due to the GPU difference.

    If I could afford either, I'd take the MSI. It's sexier.
     
    Kevin, Jul 17, 2015
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  6. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Get the Gigabyte. 2GB is too limiting for 965M.
     
    octiceps, Jul 17, 2015
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  7. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    one of them has a broadwell but low vram GPU, the other had a mid range GPU but a haswell CPU.
     
    thegh0sts, Jul 17, 2015
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  8. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    J.Dre, Jul 17, 2015
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  9. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Clevo P650SE

    /thread

    And...?
     
    octiceps, Jul 17, 2015
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  10. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    Kevin, Jul 18, 2015
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  11. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    P650SE satisfies those requirements.

    LOL I just realized, wouldn't be an NBR thread without upselling. :D
     
    octiceps, Jul 18, 2015
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  12. Daniel Abrahami

    Daniel Abrahami Newbie

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    Yea. I think computers with 970M might be an issue for me. If they are thin enough, might have some heating issues.

    What does this exactly mean? I don't know the difference.

    Will the 2GB be an issue for me? I'm mainly going to do CAD work and 3D rendering and playing CS:GO.

    Thanks for all your input!
     
    Daniel Abrahami, Jul 18, 2015
    #12
  13. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    2GB is borderline too limiting for 965m. It's still only 128-bit so 2GB should be fine. I'd still consider the P650SE though. It's a great machine.
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 18, 2015
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  14. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    How many games can the 965M even run with playable framerates, at settings which would exceed 2GB VRAM?

    It's a medium/high card, no ultra included.
     
    Kevin, Jul 18, 2015
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  15. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Clevo P65xSx is thin but has no issue cooling 970M and even 980M

    If all you play is CS:GO you don't need anything faster than a 960M and 2GB would be plenty
     
    octiceps, Jul 18, 2015
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  16. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    A lot of recent console ports. Look up DF's recent comparison of the R9 285 380 2GB vs. 4GB which is in the same class of GPU.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2015
    octiceps, Jul 18, 2015
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  17. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    DF?
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 18, 2015
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  18. Game7a1

    Game7a1 ?

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    Digital Foundry?
    Ah, here. With the R9 380, which is an R9 285 essentially.
     
    Game7a1, Jul 18, 2015
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  19. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    octiceps, Jul 18, 2015
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  20. ethon21

    ethon21 Notebook Consultant

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    While perhaps not what you would expect, the 970M runs significantly cooler than an 870M. I'd definitely cast a vote for a P65xSx with a 970M, especially if you're worried about only 2 GB of vram.
     
    ethon21, Jul 18, 2015
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  21. D2 Ultima

    D2 Ultima Livestreaming Master

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    High resolution textures has little to do with processing power of a video card; same with caching of data in vRAM. What makes a difference is the quality of drawn textures and effects. If games exist where it's possible to increase texture resolution without adjusting texture quality, you can end up with very sharp (even if not the best drawn) textures, but devouring vRAM. Hence the limiting factor of 2GB.

    Some games do a thing where they combine texture resolution with texture quality, and as such people turn up texture quality, see vRAM climb and performance take a hit, and things look better. Then they get the mistaken impression that texture resolution in itself is a GPU-limited factor, when for the most part it is not.
     
    D2 Ultima, Jul 19, 2015
    #21