Getting new laptop: 7970M Crossfire vs. 680M

Hi, I am pretty much new to laptop gaming. I am having a hard time deciding between getting the 7970M Crossfire or just a single 680M card. I know the Crossfire is more powerful, but hearing how everyone is complaining about AMD's driver issues, is it really worth the additional price? I can't afford the 680 SLI.

Does anyone have any opinions on either GPU in general? How many years do you think they will last for ultra/high settings?

Thanks

 

Most of AMD's recent driver problems stem from Enduro, which is the company's name for automatic graphic switching. Since this is not possible with Crossfire, it would not be an issue with the setup you want. Go with the 7970s.

 

X2 .... Enduro is the only issue

 

Thank you for your replies.

Does anyone know how much battery life a Crossfire 17.3 inches laptop has?

 

Go with 680M, just because AMD are such jerks about drivers for mobile users.

1. AMD WON'T ADMIT anything about their mobile drivers, you can't read it about on tweets or on their blog etc, unless following happens.

2). Users create a huge organized stink on nearly every tech outlet.

+

3). Tech Review sites publicly start asking AMD openly, what's going on? Fix it.

Those are hard to do, to get people to go on various sites and make a stink. And it's hard to get review/tech sites o do anything, because they know first hand how bad driver support for mobile is from AMD. So it's a very good chance they use a MacBook with Nvidia or an Alienware with Nvidia. Chance of them knowing about the problem you are having with AMD, possible, but they probably ignore it too, they just buy Nvidia I suspect.

In contrast:

AMD Desktop users get public admission from AMD about their issues. They don't have to go to ONE blog sits AnandTech to get an update. They will tweet about it, blog about it and inform dozen other sites about it. And irony is... There is no desktop single core GPU card that is nearly as expensive as their top mobile card. 7970M is about $600-700 depending where you get it. A 7970 Ghz Edition is about $450, doesn't matter where you get it.

It's stuff like the above, even if the 7970M is a better value and working, it's just not worth supporting a company that has a policy of treating mobile users like garbage.

We did make a stink on nearly any major site we could think of, had AnandTech and Tom's Hardware asking AMD, , do something. 7970M first shipped with problems, 2nd batch started in June. Made the stink in June. It wasn't until November of 2012 that AMD admitted something was going on and did something. And even then, they did NOT do what they said they would.

In contrast:

Nvidia is ahead of the curve. They implement technology and work on it for mobile before their competition does. They don't do something just because they are falling behind 3 years of their competition like AMD does. It's hard to get Nvidia to admit to something also, but at least when they fix it, they generally fix it. And your tech will be 3 years ahead of AMD, AMD is playing catch up all the time for mobile.

Right now it seems to me this is where AMD's priorities are at:

1). Low power server chips
2). Console APU chips (360, PS4 and Wii GPU).
3). Desktop gaming
4). APU for PC
5). Mobile gaming.

Nvidia I'm sure have something similar but they seem to be large enough and that their prioritization doesn't seem so evident. With AMD it does to me. Probably cause they lose 2 billion nearly every year since 2008.

- So great. Maybe it works and maybe you got a better value for your money. If you have any issues with it in the future, good luck getting it fixed. ROFL, yeah that's a laugh.

 

Or you could go with the smart purchase and buy the dual 7970's......................

 

My opinion, smart purchase is the 680M, easily.

Just look at this for example. AnandTech | AMD Comments on GPU Stuttering, Offers Driver Roadmap & Perspective on Benchmarking

Frame interval, rendering, latency. This has been a part of Nvidia driver development for over three years now, confirmed by Nvidia rep. AMD has JUST begun to change and still won't admit their old way of developing drivers was wrong. They ONLY are doing this because Tech Report, AnandTech, Guru3D, HardOCP, and Toms Hardware all have done articles that show AMD's fault with driver development, even Rage3D a AMD specific site.

So yeah, the smart choice is Nvidia. They do things right and ahead of the curve without being prodded to do so. AMD works on stuff years after Nvidia.

Smart choice is Nvidia, at least to me. I won't be supporting AMD mobile ever again.

 

I would go with the single GPU setup anytime of the day (np9150), buy 7970m or 680m (choose at your own will, I think both are marvelous cards). Save yourself the "painful shoulders every night" and get a lappy under 9 pounds (preferably 6.5 pound np9150). But I would wait a month (literally) to see what's coming..

Btw, I would like to point out Zymphad (aka Hulawafu) just chose SINGLE 680m over 7970m CFX, check the morning skies from the west tomorrow..

 

P370EM with 7970M CFx without any Enduro issues because Crossfire/SLI doesn't support graphics switching. So, the best choice would be 7970M CFx rather than a single 680M.

 

Depends on your plans for the future. If you think you might upgrade in the future, or you're getting an NP9370, then get the 680m. That way you won't have to deal with the NP9370's cooling issues on the slave GPU, and you can add another 680m down the road. If you're not planning on upgrading and if you're getting an M18x, then go with 7970 cfx. There will be some driver issues, but they're mostly minor from what I read these days.

The best option is to go ahead and get two 680ms now. Want a cheap maxed-out powerhouse with a 4 year warranty? Then the rig in my sig (lol that rhymes) is for sale.

 

Oh bro, you gotta bench that babe (Titan), and let us know the results (sorry for stealing the thread, but I already wrote something about it )

 

What is coming in a month? The 780M? The problem is, will it be even more expensive than the 680M? Will the 680M instantly get cheaper after 780M is released?

 

I'm aware of the issues that surround AMD, but to say they aren't fixing it is a pretty "ill-informed" opinion. Bottom line is that it's a quality product at a quality price, I'll likely be placing my money in the corner of AMD's next flagship release..........and coming from someone who doesn't really have any budget constraints that should say something. Crossfire drivers are not nearly as good as Nvidia SLI, but if your budget is constrained to choosing CFX or single gpu then go with CFX if you are worried about max power.

 

Price won't be different. For mobile, since you have buy it from notebook builders/resellers, they keep the price up at max for up to 4 years. Even a GTX 280M will cost more than a brand new desktop 7870...

It is likely that the 680M will still be about the same price as 780M at release. I wouldn't worry about the price. If it is cheaper, 680M be a good bet since the 780M will just be a rebrand. Maybe a few more cores, but I don't think for gaming performance, it will make much difference. At most 20-30% and 20-30% of the most demanding games isn't that much, maybe 3-5 FPS.

I would recommend a single 680M over a CFX every single time. You get hit so many times with CFX. AMD drivers for notebooks are already rubbish. Their CFX is the worst support between Intel, Nvidia and AMD. And you will always have the inherent problems with AFR. It's just bad bad and then bad. If you can get it to work, great, I guess. That's just me at least. I'd go with single 680M and overclock it like a beast and be done with it.

Also AMD support for overclocking on mobile is ZERO, ZILCH, NONE. The only way to do it really is to use Afterburner which uses unofficial methods, it's a workaround on a driver bug. The creator of Afterburner said, if AMD ever closes that driver bug, no overclocking support at all for mobile AMD then, none.

 

Easily 7970M Crossfire if you care about money, which you obviously do otherwise the SLi 680M would be the proper choice (I'm semi-biased).

I've got the 6970M OV'd and OC'd haven't had a problem once, even though I hated the guts of AMD at my point in life. Got a 680M OV'd and OC'd to hell and beyond.

Both working just fine, so go what you think will suit you best

 

If your budget isn't constrained then why chose the inferior product just to save a few bucks? When speaking in terms of the overall purchase, Nvidia's price premium is a drop in the bucket. It's what, $200 more for better drivers, overclocking, and a generally smoother experience? Why not, if you're already spending well over a grand on the laptop in the first place.

 

wut! you just got that and been lighting up these boards with your grin , why sell? then I read...

...and thought, that might be a reason, your budget was constrained and now need to sell? or does your wallet overfloweth and you're gearing up for SLi 780m?

 

Better drivers indeed, but people overblow issues way over the top. I have been using both nvidia and AMD gpus and drivers for the past 5 years on notebooks, and I tend to use more nvidia GPUs because they appear in way more brands and models.

I have had far more issues with every single nvidia GPU than what I have had with all my radeon GPUs combined. I do acknoledge they are not perfect, and there will still be games around which has issues, or horrible things like Enduro which was severely botched.

You pay 200dollars more for a mature set of drivers that benefit in some games, don't work in some as good, and brand name. Performance and quality of nvidia are hardly that above AMD. If you don't mind tweaking with custom drivers, vbios etc, you will have quite a headache.

My GTX260m and GTX680m have already died on me once. I replaced the GPU. And it died without overclocking, just gaming on stock. I have had utilization issues with some games, and subpar performance in some (like Tomb Raider) which improved upon driver update.

My HD5870m gave just a two issues in it's lifetime. 1) The whole Rage driver fiasco (which also affected nvidia) and 2)I coulnd't overclock to hell and beyond my memory, only my core. And that second one, is not really an issue.

Now, as some of you have echoed across the forum, I strongly prefer single GPU solutions to CFX/SLI, but to each their own. As far as single GPUs, I would gladly choose AMD over nVidia for high end, but when they make it so hard to obtain (Alienware and Sager only) and one of them is severely botched (freaking Enduro)... Well I choose the competitor.

And finally,,, Yeah, nvidia currently produces better drivers themselves for mobile, which is an area that AMD severely lacks from. I am not saying AMD is better. But I feel the need to emphazise that people scream too much hate, when they do have incredibly fine working products at affordable prices. If you are not used to fixing problems first on your own, you will be quite vocal.

Personally I would go for Crossfire over single 680m. But if you have the resourses and you'd rather not fiddle with issues, get nvidia. Even when you get issues with nvidia you will still be happy and shout how much better they are, because you know the other team has more issues. Even if you still have some in your system.

 

I think his budget is very much unconstrained considering the TITAN he purchased He just wants P25k 3dmark11, naughty

 

@ryzeki sorry about dying cards. But on Clevo/Sager, there number of people that have issues with AMD vs Nvidia is like ummm 999999999:1. I'm not exaggerating, it's that ridiculous.
- My 5870M was released broken and it was never fixed, still broken today. AMD vBIOS FTL.

And that includes way too many 6990M and 7970M dying for my liking.
- 7970M vBIOS cannot be modded
- 7970M does not have any overclocking support from AMD, none, zero, absolutely zilch. I have to go through the unstable unofficial method with Afterburner's driver bug exploit.
- 7970M still doesn't utizilize properly
- 7970M has DX11 artifacting and bugs.
- 7970M has DWM.exe crashing and BSOD with latest Intel. Guess who doesn't have that? Yup.. Nvidia.

680M in Clevo, has none of the above. Drivers? Yeah, at least for Optimus 680M, they are absolutely spanking AMD. It's no contest. Not even on the same level. It's pathetic.

 

The question then is, why do you keep buying Clevo? hahaha

I know you have issues. There are issues with every single brand and every electronic ever. With HD5870m, Asus botched it's own version of the card and it was released with even more issues. My MSI card is, to this day, without a single issue.

Keep in mind that "overclocking" is not supported by any manufacturer and it is a cause of warranty elimination. Thing is, even if a particular maker develops tools to overclock, that does not mean you have "official" support. I couldn't overclock my 680m GPU until I flashed my vbios and unlocked it. My HD5870m overclocked with AMD control catalyst directly.

7970m vbios can't be modded? or your Clevo specific card can't be modded? Utilization issues are indeed the worst culprit. Enduro was released too early. No one was ready.

Artifacting and bugs are very hit and miss too, there seems to be a lot of hardware issues. 6990m was released with a lot of hardware issues, specifically for Clevo too.

680m works much better on Clevo, no contest. But it seems to me, you should be switching brands as well. Clevo is also very slow to update bios themselves and to give proper support.

 

I own an m17x, and I would prefer a 680m to a 7970m, but Dell charges $400 more for 680m than for the 7970m. My only issue is that my 7970m can't overclock worth anything, but I imagine that any 680m will overclock better and stabler than any 7970m. I would not choose the 680m over 7970m CF, however, for an m18x.

 

For gaming purposes (which is why most of us have these systems right?) I think OC is way overrated (I know all the world will flame on this comment). I can understand an OC from a computational point of view (either professional or just pure benchmark). I still cannot understand ~5fps boost a good OC provides to increase your temps by ~10C during many hours of gaming sessions.. maybe its just me but I like to keep my stuff in pristine condition

 

It depends on platform and the video card's overclock potential. The 680m in the right notebook can overclock like crazy and still maintain good temps. My M18x for example will handle a 40% oc and still have peak temps in the low 70s. The performance gain is huge as well. It's pretty handy when playing demanding games like Crysis 3; you can crank the settings up and still never drop below 60fps.

Then there are platforms that can't handle a 10% oc well... it all depends on the card and the cooling system.

 

why not buy a 680M for now, and get another one later,e lee@upgrademonkey