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    HD 3870 to 9800M GT

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by jejjohnson, Apr 6, 2009.

  1. jejjohnson

    jejjohnson Notebook Guru

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    Im not much of a big gamer and like to stick to games like BF2 and Left 4 Dead.

    Theres an option to have the laptop upgrade the GPU from the ATI mobility radeon HD 3870 to the nVidia Geforce 9800M GT for $150. Is it worth the upgrade? Once again, im not too much of a big gamer but just wondering is it a value for money option.

    Thanks
     
    jejjohnson, Apr 6, 2009
    #1
  2. mikeyhd

    mikeyhd Notebook Consultant

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    mikeyhd, Apr 6, 2009
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  3. JDELUNA

    JDELUNA Notebook Deity

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    What notebook do you have ?? Also I would think for $150 it would be worth it as I am guessing the 9800M GT is probably good for about another 20% increase in peformance.
     
    JDELUNA, Apr 6, 2009
    #3
  4. dtwn

    dtwn C'thulhu fhtagn

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    I'm actually curious as to which machine this is, as I can't think of a laptop that is able to equip officially both off the top of my head.
     
    dtwn, Apr 6, 2009
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  5. ichime

    ichime Notebook Elder

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    I'm guessing it's the Alienware M15x. A single 9800M GT is a stronger card than the 3870. But it is debatable if the $150 difference is worth it. Since you claim not to be a big gamer, I say stick with the 3870 and use that extra $150 on a faster hard drive or something.
     
    ichime, Apr 6, 2009
    #5
  6. SomeFormOFhuman

    SomeFormOFhuman has the dumbest username.

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    SomeFormOFhuman, Apr 6, 2009
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  7. ichime

    ichime Notebook Elder

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    haha! clutch
     
    ichime, Apr 6, 2009
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  8. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    sounds like the m15x, yeah. i'd go with the upgrade, the 9800m-gt is a beastly card. of course, if you're unlucky, AW will release the HD4870 about a week after you order :)
     
    whizzo, Apr 6, 2009
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  9. dtwn

    dtwn C'thulhu fhtagn

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    Oh yes, I totally forgot about the M15X. I wonder why. :D
     
    dtwn, Apr 6, 2009
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  10. Dustin Sklavos

    Dustin Sklavos Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Looking at their comparative desktop parts (Mobility 3870 = Desktop 3850, 9800M GT ~ 9600GSO), they'll essentially be trading blows performance wise. Definitely not worth the $150. You'd be splitting hairs going with one or the other.
     
    Dustin Sklavos, Apr 6, 2009
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  11. anothergeek

    anothergeek Equivocally Nerdy

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    3870 should be a 64 shader equiv, the 9800 GT has 96. Don't go by 3dmark06 alone, 9800 GT will easily win performance in games.
     
    anothergeek, Apr 6, 2009
    #11
  12. Dustin Sklavos

    Dustin Sklavos Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    There's no equivalency measure for shader parts. I'm going by objective reviews of these pieces of hardware in games. I know it's natural to assume that Nvidia's this incredible force for performance, but the ATI part does measure up here.
     
    Dustin Sklavos, Apr 7, 2009
    #12