HD6850M DDR3 vs. GT555 GDDR5 - which is better?

I understand that the 6850M's in the Acer line up are neutered with DDR3 memory, while the GT555 is actually a GT540 upgraded with GDDR5.

I can't find an apples to apples comparison between the two...similar hardware and game setting to see which is better and which one actually can play at higher resolutions (1600 x 600) with reasonable frame rates.

can anyone edjumicate me?

 

The 555M would be slightly faster, like, 7-10%. I'd go with whatever's cheaper. But if they're the same price, the 555M will offer better performance, but not much.

 

Dont forget the choice of Optimus or no Optimus.
Switchable graphics can be a pain when its not working.
(Same goes for AMD.)

 

Automatic graphic switching is a pain, regardless of whether the GPU is AMD or NVIDIA. At least with AMD, on some notebooks you have the option of manual switching, including the ability to run on the integrated GPU on battery and the discreet GPU when plugged in.

 

The 6850m should be faster.

 

Only fully fledged 555m with GDDR5 is in the MSI GX680 and would be faster (and upgradable) the DDR3 variants will be slower.

 

AMD Radeon HD 6850M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
vs
NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Looks as if the 6850M is slightly slower.

 

Who knows what GPU versions notebookcheck have used. It could be the 6850M with GDDR5 which is not what OP is asking about.

 

If it is slower, the version is GDDR3. Plus if you click on bench specifications you will see its the acer with gDDR3.

They are similar in performance. The HD6850 has more power in everything but its being held back severely by the memory configuration so it will not perform that great depending on resolution, textures etc, so for now the GT555 will have an upper hand and when games become more taxing, that upper hand will be no more and thus they will fall around the same range in performance.

 

Yeah you know what scores which versions got in benchmarks, but not in actually gameplay tests. Like the comparisons you can do here
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

You`re right, it is GDDR3 not GDDR5 like quoted in the top page of the spec page.

 

Depends which GT555M it is though. From slowest to fastest:

96 shader, 4 ROP, 128bit GDDR5
144 shader, 16 ROP, 128bit DDR3
144 shader, 24 ROP, 192bit DDR3
144 shader, 16 ROP, 128bit GDDR5

 

Yeah the 555m results are probably skewed from the 144 shader versions.

 

Hi, this is my first post on this forum, so hello everyone.
I wish to join this thread as I am going to buy new laptop soon.
I did a research myself, and now what I can tell you.. as far:
These four mobile graphic cards have very similar performance NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, AMD Radeon HD 6770M, and AMD Radeon HD 6850M.
From my research performancewise it would look like this 6850m(ddr5)>6850m(ddr3)>555m(144cores/DDR5)>6770m(ddr5).
I cannot say by myself as I have none of these but read a lot recently about all of these four. But thru info and notebookcheck forums and 3dmark results page I can tell you that even on DDR3 AMD 6850m should be the fastest. that is confirmed if you see the most revelant to GPU 3dMark Vantage the 6850m has highest scores. regardles 3dMark 06 scores. I would say next is geforce 555m with DDR5 and 144cores. it is faster in 3Dmark 2006 but slower in Vantage, and 3Dmark 2011. what would suggest that 6850m DDR3 is a faster card. I won't mention that it is clear that 6850m with DDR5 is much faster than DDR3 version. Finally AMD Radeon 6770m has "only"480 cores but has DDR5 memory and in tests is just a tiny fraction slower than Geforce 555m.
These are my observations.
On the other hand I read on some forum that 555m can be easly Overclocked and can reach 13.500 or even 14.500 points in 3Dmark 06. Of course you can also OC 6770m or probably the fastest of those three - 6850m...
these are my observations, please correct me if I am wrong
I wish to clarify if 6850m is actually the fastest of those three and if anyone knows if it can be overclocked a little bit to a stable and safe clocks. anyones opinion about 6850m DDR3 in Acer lineup?

Best regards, to all mobile gamers
Roco

 

Be aware that p scores in vantage/11 are at low resolutions so may mask bandwidth issues.

 

Yes your'e right, anyway raw computing power of 6850 is higher than all these mentioned cards. So theoretically, 6850 should run highest frames without AA, and up to medium resolution eg 1366x768 or 1280x720, anyway, some should do the test with all three laptops to pick up a clear winner, and do OC'ed tests as well to see the power potential of all three cards.