Geforce GT 330M really as bad as people say?

Hi,

It seems like I keep hearing that the NVIDIA Geforce GT 330M is terrible for gaming and is a very bad graphics card. Is this really true? I have the Samsung R780 which has the GT 330M and it seems fine, I could play Crysis on high settings too. Is it worth upgrading to something better or can the 330M (at least on the R780) handle most new games on medium-high graphics?

Thanks,

shwh45

 

I'm not sure where you're getting this info but the card seems to get good reviews for a medium graphics card.
Maybe those that claim it to be bad, are the ones that expect high/ultra performance from this.

 

Yeah that makes sense, it does seem pretty ridiculous that someone can say this card is terrible. It has been great for me so far and I have played a few newer games on max graphics without any problems at all.

 

The GT 330M is a 128-bit mainstream card - it's not as great as a 256-bit enthusiast card but it's no slouch compared to 64-bit budget ones. You can't upgrade your card AFAIK, as most notebooks solder the GPU into the motherboard - so you'd have to buy a new notebook. Your GPU should be fine to run most games on medium-high, depending on your resolution and other settings though.

 

Alright well that's good, I definitely don't want to get a new notebook because I love the r780 so far. Thanks a lot for the info, I'm definitely adding to your rep.

 

I know it's a stupid meme, but I would like to seriously ask if it can play Crysis well. I recently ordered a Sager NP5125 (see sig) and I want to know how well games like that will run.

 

It will run crysis on medium-ish settings probably around 30 fps.

 

I think it's below average, seeing how the ATI 5650 is also a 128-bit mainstream card, yet the ATI 5650 outperforms both the GT 330M and GT 335M, has a lower power consumption and has DX11.

 

Notebookcheck: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
you got some game benchmarks on the bottom of the page

 

Exactly. That's the whole point. GT330M is a rebranded GT240M and even though it scores pretty good in 3DMarks it does lose to HD5650 quite severely in real game benchmarks.
It's not about GT330 being bad per se but being the worst mid-range card.

 

Sadly enough even the ATI 4650 outperforms the GT330M by a small margin.

 

That's sort of good to know because I was deciding between the two when purchasing my system a while back. I do miss nvidia's drivers though. I've rarely had issues with games and compatibility with their cards vs ATI's stuff and I've always like the option to adjust digital vibrancy.

 

It's not a high end card by any means but it will run most games just fine. I play Starcraft 2 on it on high detail settings. Even newer games like Mass Effect 2 run great on it in high detail. If it's paired with a lcd panel above 1366x768 you may run into more trouble, but at this lower resolution the card does fine.

Latest Optimus drivers are painless too.

If your laptop is your main gaming machine, you are better off going for a high end card, but if its your secondary/travel gaming machine it will be fine. For me I am out of town a lot on weekends so I wanted a laptop that could do some mild to moderate gaming, but most of my gaming is done on a desktop with SLI GTX 460's and all the bells and whistles.

 

I'd go with a 5870m if you plan on seriously gaming on the laptop. Just a much better experience, and the 5870m really alleviates the need for those big bulky desktops! Just get an external battery pack if you plan to be mobile a lot.

 

The GT330M is only a "bad" GPU, when it's in an Apple product, with only 256MB of RAM.

 

totally agree.. but idk about external battery pack.. only the sager needs it with 30min 3 cell battery

its bad overall but even more bad in apple.. its the cheapo apple worst edition GT330M.. how can people be so stupid to buy macbooks when apples rips u off in upgrades and crappy initial stuff?

 

marketing and the OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH its pretty factor.

 

The ATI 5730 is a good card...you can find good prices on laptops that have em!!!

 

Is there a better laptop than the Sager NP5125 for gaming under $1000? I need a 1920x1080 screen, and it seems everything else with that screen is over $1k or has a worse video card.

 

1366 X 768 is really not a bad resolution...a lot of computers with good video cards are using this reso now.

 

I need the resolution for coding, not games.

 

Hey don't poke fun at my sager . It's actually 1 hour with the 5870m at 250/300 clocks using amd gpu clock tool, in power saver mode, with display dimmed down all the way. With a 9 cell I'm sure I could get 3 hours by just surfing the internet and using word docs...

 

too bad i have a nine cell

 

Hey I'm new here so if someone doesn't mind can they tell me if I'm doing something wrong Thanks

Okay to the point- I am thinking of getting Battle Field: Bad company 2 but I don't think it will run well on high or maybe medium quality.
I went to "CanYouRunIt" and it past minimum and in recommendations it said my video card isn't recommended (Nvidia GT Geforce 330m) but I saw someone on Youtube play it very well using same card.

Can someone tell me if this game will work on- Windows 7 (64-bit), Toshiba Satellite P500, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 520 @ 2.40GHz-3.15GHz Boosted, 4GB DDR3 RAM (Hopefully getting 8GB soon)

(Sorry if it's so long) THANKS

 

It probably should be posted in "can my notebook run it" thread but anyway- it will run it but not smooth (unless on low detail settings)
See here (bottom of the page) 27 fps on medium settings and barely 20fps on high detail.
That's why is considered a poor performer- ATI HD5650 scores 42fps on medium settings and around 29fps on high settings.

 

I'm surprised to hear the disappointing reports on the GT 330m. I've been considering the sony vaio z 13 which has this AGP, and that's a pricey machine to have such lacklustre performance. Too much to expect for any 13" lappy perhaps?

 

^Well, there's Acer 3820TG, 13.3'' with ATi HD5650...

 

Only for the cheap companies to save money. I wouldn't recommend a 1366x768 unless you're running a 12" or smaller laptop. Otherwise 1600x900 is best up to about 15" then 15" 1920x1080 is good, and almost required for 17".

 

Except it only has a 1366 x 768 screen while the Z13 has either 1600 x 900 or full HD.

 

I liked all other aspects of the z13 I'm surprised its AGP doesn't measure up to other (much cheaper) 13in lappy's.

I see the Acer 3820TG advertised at Staples in Canada with the HD5470 (512Meg), rather than the HD5650. Are these both faster than the 300m?

 

HD5650 > GT330m > HD5470
and I remember, in Canada, HD5650 version is available now...

 

only the full HD screen is available now for the Z13. Which makes the 300m seem even more underpowered.

 

PORTABLE ONE: Sony VAIO Z VPCZ11RGX/S 13.1

There are a number of them with 1600 x 900 listed at Portable One and a few other sites.

Edit: For Z13 CTO, Sony Style Canada only lists full HD while the US site lists both 900p and full HD.

 

Perhaps it's just sonystyle in Canada that sells the Z13 now with only the 1080p screen. They told me that's the only screen available now.

 

Kobalt in the uk upgraded all their 330M cards with 425M cards at no extra cost. i wonder if most companys will do this or fleece the customer with the lower spec 330.

 

In which lappy's?

 

GS510 for the Kobalt.
Look into Sager NP5135 for the US model.

 

yes, sager NP5125 > NP5135 upgraded 330gt to 425gt and also the i5 450m to i5 460m.

 

Kabes i am playing starcraft 2 since long time, i have same resolutions, geforce gt330m , i5-430M, 3 gb ddr3ram. And on all settings LOW (just everything) my FPS drops to even 20 in big battles in 1/1 game. My Laptop is also tweaked to have better perform= Just tried almost everything;/ Could u help me ?
Acer Aspire 5741G.

 

Could someone help me;>?

 

what are your temps? update your drivers.

and the gt 330m should handle things on low

 

CPU 73 degree max , after few hours of playing.GPU something around 55-60.
Tried many drivers. The newest one too.

 

its big battles, when there are 200 units on the field it gets that way, do you have optimus?

 

Its not during big battles only, it happen in many different moments in the game.What do u mean Optimus?

 

switchable gpus, do you switch back and forth between the intel gpu and the nvidia gpu?

 

I use only nvidia GPU i think my pc doesnt have second gpu, but i am not sure:>

 

sincerely with those load temps there is something strange going on, what is the model of you notebook?

 

Its Acer Aspire 5741G, i expect some fps drops very much when some voice appear, but cant find any newer drivers to my sound card.
i5-430M/ GeforceGt 330M/ 3gb ddr3 ram, windws 7 32bit profesional.

 

get a pic from gpu z and post here

 

Here are my screens.