How future proff is GTX260

Looking at things from a gaming perspective....
I'm trying to decide between a new laptop or building my own pc.
I can build a core i5 with 5850 GPU for less than $1300 and if I go with a laptop I would like to keep it under $1500.
If I go with a laptop with a GTX260 is it really worth putting out the extra money for the i7 or would a core2 provide plenty of power past the time the 260 becomes the chokepoint?
I really want the portability of a laptop, but if the current sub $1500 laptops will not be able to handle games at mid-high settings 2 years out, I think I would rather go with the desktop.
Again, the main question is, how future proof is the gtx260?
thanks

 

The 260M, if thats what you mean, is basically a 9800GT desktop card, performance wise of course.

 

GTX 260m Is like the third top card only bested by GTX 280m and HD 4870. Then you have to go with an SLI or Crossfire setup (dual cards) to get any better.

Core 2 Duo should power it just fine. Check my sig: P9700 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, GTX 260m 1GB, 1680x1050 15.6". Runs games maxed out for 99% out there. My rig cost a touch over $1500, but I'm satisfied and should last me through end of 2011, at least planning on it. May put in a GTX 280m and quad core CPU later though.

 

The Geforce GTX 260M is basically an overclocked Geforce 9800M GTX. It's still a notebook GPU so the GTX 260M will last max 2.5 years.

 

I say it should run games on high for about 2 years or so.

 

compared to other laptops, it's pretty good. compared to desktops however, it's slower than a 8800gt, which is pretty old.

 

Yes it slower than a desktop 8800GT, also you won´t max games on it for 2 years from now if you are talking high resolutions like 1680x1050 or 1920x1200.

 

Right. Probably not max for two years at higher resolutions, but you can always scale to 1280x800 or 1366x768 if you have a higher res 16:10 or 16:9 screen. If you can't make that compromise, well then best to get an SLI notebook, and even then its questionable if you can get everything high in two years or so.

 

'Future proof' doesnt really mean a lot, but to get a card that lasts the longest, you buy the newest, most powerful one you can afford, and preferably buy it as soon as it comes out.

With the GTX260M you're buying a card that has been out 6 or 7 months, and historicallly Nvidia have announced new high-end cards every 8 months. (8800M GTX - 11/07, 9800M GTX - 07/08, GTX280M - 03/09)

So if you are really concerned about playing games for as long as possible, it might make sense to wait for the next gen. But if you want something right now, its a great choice.

 

For desktop, I'd check the 5770 too. Almost same performances + DX11 + less power comsumtions

 

Well as we know notebook GPU´s are always behind desktop GPU´s, however GTX 260m, GTX 280m is still pretty good GPU´s and in SLI even better. So don´t worry about buying a GTX 260m now, since I think it will be a while before Nvidia releases new architecture for the notebook market.

Also we don´t need to compare desktop GPU´s to notebook GPU´s, I agree with that since we are mostly notebook users here and can run all games so far at high resolutions like 1920x1200 and full details, which is pretty good for notebook GPU´s

 

It depends on the games you play.

 

Yeah but it's still crazy when you think that a desktop $150 desktop cards is the equivalent of two $600 laptop cards in SLI.

 

Just build the desktop as the ATI 5850 will be able to last longer than a 260 or 280m and when the time comes you can just toss in another.Desktop>Laptop in terms of graphical power

 

Then again, its a smaller market (I guess), a smaller PCB and the power consumption is much lower than desktop cards of same performance.

 

Probably about a year max. People tend to overestimate the "future proof" factor of notebook video cards.

 

The nVidia 300m series are coming out fairly soon and are supposed to be a giant leap from this generation so if you can wait I would wait.

 

I just got the Asus G72 and it runs everything just fine. I'm sure it will for a few years to come, if not then I will get another laptop -

 

Based on the GT300 Core? I doubt it. ATI is not releasing the mobile RV800 chips before the end of 2010 and desktop GT300 only coming Q1 2010. I know ATI is always late on the mobile market but I doubt we'd see mobile DX11 cards from Nvidia before next summer.

 

A giant leap in Nvidia terms is probably 10% extra performance and a new misleading model number

I doubt the GTX 260M will last 2 years unless you lower resolutions / settings. Consider that the trend of releasing unoptimised piles of consolised junk will probably continue well into the future so that will give you problems too (Saiints Row 2 for example).

If you really want future proofing SLI is the only way to go really. A Core2Duo is fine and an i7 won't make much difference to gaming performance although it might give you a lovely placebo effect.

 

Future proofing doesn't work for computers since the rate of change of technology is massive. Do a search of what computers were 3 years ago and 5 years ago to today and use that as a reference to where things will be in the future. Long story short, get what you need now and enjoy it.

 

It's ridiculous to talk future proofing with a card based off the 9800 GT. It's already way behind the times.

 

The lowest mobile Core i7 has the same performances than the best C2Ds. For a fraction of the price.

 

?

Isn't the 260M the third best card out now (what I have seen said about it).

 

the 260m is based on the 9800 gt desktop card, which is way, way behind the newest desktop cards. However, I think people are over-reacting. It all depends on what games you play. If you want to play eye-candy games like crysis, then you are screwed. However, I like to play a lot of rts which are not as demanding and I know that a 260m will be able to play those for a very long time.

 

For futureproofing, consider a notebook with either an expresscard 2.0, which I don't believe exist yet, or can do a x2 1.0 link (port1 + port2 is a expresscard/mPCIe combo), together with a DIY ViDock. A desktop HD5870 at x1 2.0 can pull > 20k in 3dmark06. Of course that means the video card and display are external units. Even better performance as faster gpus are released.

 

All the games I play so far play smooth.

L4D (not to graphics intensive)
L4D2 Demo (more then 1)

Champions Online (This one can put a strain on a graphics card - not like Crysis though)

I haven't tried Crysis yet though.

 

If you want to future proof, just be sure to get an MXM 3.0 equipped Sager or AW, and you'll be ready to upgrade to a 5870 or 380M. The 260M is a decent GPU, capable of running any game besides Crysis on the highest settings. Don't expect 60+ FPS for everything, but do expect a much higher quality experience than on consoles. I think it's amazing you can buy an Asus for one grand equipped with the 260M, it's a steal.

 

I'm still hopeful they will release some variants on the old mxm3 2.1 spec.

 

Yes 260m is the third best mobile card out right now.

But you can't really compare desktop to laptop components, so don't even bother. If you want that kind of power and compact then best to go with a Shuttle box and cram the most powerful single slot video card you can get in there, and you'll be much more satisfied with cost/performance.

I have had my Vostro 1500 with 8600m GT since July 2007. I used it extensively for about one year mainly for gaming, and it satisfied the need beautifully. I still use it periodically for gaming and plays most games out there at 1280x800 resolution with medium settings. And this was a mid-grade GPU to begin with.

So with the 260m I feel confident that you can get a solid 18 months with higher detail, albeit many times at 1280x800 or 1366x768 resolution, considering it is a higher end card at the moment. And a good 24 months if future gen games you are satisfied with lower res and lower details.

The thing I find is that most games I play repeatedly are older titles. Newer games I use on my desktop.

 

as long it can play TOR I'm happy

 

I thought it was as long as you can play WoW.....