GTX 980M worth compared to GTX 970M?

Hello everyone,

I have been looking up some laptops lately, and what I have seen, GTX 980M graphics card laptops are usually around $250-$300s more than GTX 970M counter parts. I will be getting something like Sager 8651/8652 (Clevo P650SE/SG), planning to play on 1080p. Is it worth the extra cost to upgrade? I want to know your opinion. Thanks.

 

Depends on what you play, and whether or not you're going to overclock/manually improve cooling.

If you are going to OC and keep it on 24/7 and stuff, the 970M might be an economical buy and OCs like crazy with Prema vBIOS etc.

If you're only going to OC slightly, and leave cooling mostly stock, or not going to OC at all, or really need the extra 1GB of vRAM, then the 980M is the way to go.

 

That's strictly on you. Both play games well at 1080p, both run cool. 980m is about 25-30% faster in general.

 

As mentioned by the two above me.

(they are noobs don't listen to them) ps im just kidding lol

Yeah, well ACTUALLY I would just say you can't go wrong either way.

Both cards are very well performing.

Check the LinusTips video (not the best one he's made but it clears the deal none the less)



The 980M wins hands down though. You need to justify if the performance is worth the money and future investment.

 

Soldered? Probably more so, yes. 4GB's of VRAM will come in handy over the 3GB 970M.

MXM? Depends more so on longevity of ownership and what kind of gaming you plan to do.

More times than not: Yes, I think the 980M is well worth it.

 

If it was me, yes, I'd definitely want a GTX 980M for a high-performance gaming laptop. It's about 20% - 30% faster than a GeForce 970M, which is a pretty respectable bump in performance.

Both GPUs are going to be more than enough for 1080p gaming today. But a GeForce 980M will give you some buffer room for demanding games in the future, which is a nice-to-have feature.

 

depends on what kinda guy u are: if u upgrade every 1-2 years anyways, go for a 970M. if, like me, u plan to keep a machine for at least 4 years, then a 980M it is

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25-30% faster and has a minimum of 4GB VRAM, was worth it for me. If you plan to keep the laptop for 2+ years, the 980M is essential, especially in a laptop that has a soldered GPU.

In a machine with no option to upgrade, you always take the strongest part available.

 

I think for $250 - 300 for about 30% extra performance is well worth it. You'll probably thank yourself in the near future.

 

Currently debating this as well and this has generally been my conclusion. If it were $400+, I'd probably stick with the 970M, but in the $250 range seems more reasonable.

Probably different for everybody though, it's close enough I think to give you some pause.

 

Go with the 970m obviously price is a concern to you otherwise you would have jumped in already with a 980m no? Get the 970m and sleep better at night. Plus the 970m could take you even longer than the 2 years as most say I actually think it will last just as long as a 980m since nvidia upgrades both with constant driver support plus it can be Over clocked. You want a budgeted laptop I can tell go for what will make you feel better.

 

Exactly you hit the nail on the head... 970M can easily be Oced to 980M levels so it will last 2 years for sure... If you go for an upgradeable laptop like the P771ZM/DM, that makes it easy to replace it with 990M or 1080M...

 

Looks like it's still a bit of time yet before Skylake laptops become available, so I've got a bit more time to waffle. Appreciate the insights regarding overclocking so I can do a little more research in the meantime.

 

as the mythbusters say "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing!" so if you're gonna get a gaming laptop....pimp the f***in' s*** out of it!

 

gotta loooove the mythbusters!

 

I end up with the GTX 980M, but thanks for all the suggestions. I just hope that the 180W PSU for the Clevo P650SG is good enough.

 

You'll be fine.... Unlike the Alienwares the Clevo does fine with the 180W PSU since that actually delivers enough power unlike the Dell one and hence doesn't throttle like the Alienwares

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As long as you're not overclocking your 980M, you should be just fine with the 180W PSU.

 

I probably won't for a long while. If I do, is there a >200W PSU that will work with the Clevo P650SG? Just wondering.

 

not that i know, ud either have to mod the psu cable or use an adapter to make it fit with your machine...

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You can use a 240W Dell PSU.... You need a barrel connector and something else to be able to do so.. @HTWingNut has done this so I'll let him pitch in on this...

 

Yep. This connector: http://www.bixnet.com/cntx75.html

with a Dell 240W PA-9E (usually best deal on eBay). Make sure it has Dell or Delta label on it, Flextronic is OK too.

In US, will run you from $50-70 for the PSU depending on what deal you get at the time, and about $7 for the adapter.

 

After having a 880m die one month out of warranty I went with a 970m. The price for performance is very good. In 2 years not as rough as walking away from a $720 card. Things can only get so pretty on my 17 inch screen lol.

 

i feel like i am getting my money's worth!

 

I tend to keep my laptops for 1-2 years AT MOST. As such, for me a GTX 980M isn't really worth it.

If you plan on keeping it longer, a 980M might make more sense.

If you have an MXM machine, it doesn't really matter, as you can upgrade down the line. I'd still get the 970M in this case, as in current games at 1080p, you won't notice any benefit from a 980M (mostly). Unless you're running a 120/144Hz panel, in which case the 980M would be better.

 

Yeah, I plan to use it for 4 years for my entire college life. Hopefully the GTX 980M will last a long while.

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