Jumping from Ati HD 5870 to GeForce 850/860/870/880m

I haven't been checking on computer specs for so long, an my GPU is so.... years outdated, but somehow i remember my forum password and username
and now I want to buy a new computer...

so I have an Alienware M17x R2... with crossfire Ati HD 5870m
( ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 - NotebookCheck.net Tech)

I want to know, what can I expect if I want to sell my machine and jump into the newer gpus [GeForce 850/860/870/880m]
for the 860m ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M - NotebookCheck.net Tech) (and laptop)
an 10%~50%-70%-100% increase ? or i'll remain the same ?

what I really want is to deal with less heat and less noise, and a smaller lighter laptop..

Thanks !!

 

They will be like a 2-3 fold improvement but why not jump to 970/980M? I believe that if you want something in a thin chasis, the Clevo P650SE/SG is your best bet,, Also have a look at MSI GS60/Gigabyte P35G V3 with 980M for some thin options... However the Clevo has best cooling and least issues out of them... Otherwise for a full size laptop, Asus G751 has best cooling and least noise but weighs 4.5kgs...

 

2-3 fold on 860m?
I'm not jumping on 970 because of the money, that's why i'm more concious on the performance/price on these 3 models(860m~880m), I'm in China at the moment, the price is inflated...

What I need it for, LoL, since my alienware tend to be on heavy load when playing this game, and I want a laptop that doesn't have to stress itself to play a game like this, and enough power to play the new game at medium settings...

Also.. at the moment I'm using 1920x1200 screen resolution (my monitor have that resolution), will these gpu support it ?

Thanks for replying ~!

 

850M and 860M GDDR5 are sidegrades to Mobility 5870 CrossFire, downgrades if they are GDDR3. 870M is a decent upgrade, but 970M and 980M are best. 880M is basically broken and should be avoided like the plague. 680M, 780M, and 7970M (and its rebrands 8970M and R9 M290X) are also fine if available.

I took a quick look at your specs and I think you should keep what you have. There's a huge amount of untapped upgrade potential, why let it go to waste? Overclocked i7-920XM or 940XM, 7970M CrossFire, and 16GB RAM are all possible: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...rex-ultimate-installation-tweaking-guide.html

 

Well, do you need to upgrade now? I would wait a few months... You'll really regret it if you upgrade to the 8 series now as honestly, they're good as obsolete... 5870M CF should be fine for a few months tbh...

 

??? ???

Obsolete? 800m series are the same architecture as 900m series, just they are mid-grade cards and not slated to be replaced any time soon. There are 970m systems sure to be found for not much more than an 860m system if not now, then soon. The Clevo P650SE is one example. About $1200US buys you a basic 970m setup.

In any case to answer OP question, yes 860m can handle 1920x1080 or 1200 just fine if you run medium details for newer titles. It will be significantly faster than the Crossfire setup, and run cooler and use less power too, and depending on the battery, much better battery life as well.

 

970M is the best bang for buck right now..

 

Yeah.. seems like it right now, with the many answers thanks to the community I was able to get an insight..
I'm glad this forums exists and my account is till active

Actually I don't need to upgrade now... but is that new year is coming and I'm thinking about getting something new... didn't knew that my R2 is still in good shape

Basically, "don't upgrade if i'm not taking the 970m"

How much money it'll take and how long it'll become obsolete with those "new" hardware ? and if I get the 7970m xfire,
how it'll compare with the newer cards (860m~880m) in term of upgrade % potential ? and the new 920xm or 940xm ? will it bring my old alienware to "current generation" status ?
I'm thinking my alienware is getting old... that's why, and now it's making too much noise and sucks too much power, and my Battery doesn't works anymore


I also forgot that I want to run emulated games... so I don't know if CPU power can handle it on newer generation

Thanks for the quick reply guys.. I haven't checked computer tech for a long time and never imagined i'm so outdated

 

gddr3 versions obsolete i think not. pc games are all ports these days mid range gpus 760m and up are all fine

 

Yes, basically.

Wild guess, but I'd say maybe $1000-$1500 total for a 920XM/940XM, 7970M CrossFire and accessories, and another 4GB RAM. Overclock the XM to 3.5+ GHz and that'll bring you to current-gen 4700MQ + 980M status. 980M notebooks start at $2K and go up from there, so it'll be cheaper to upgrade the M17x.

You can buy a new battery. Cleaning dust out of the fans and repasting should reduce noise levels, but just know that performance-oriented gaming notebooks aren't whisper-quiet like weaksauce Ultrabooks/tablets and never will be. Battery life of multi-GPU systems also hasn't improved significantly either in new models due to lack of graphics switching in most cases.

As long as you overclock the XM to raise its single-threaded performance, you should be fine in emulated games.

 

Well there are many risks with this approach.. His 920XM sample has to be really good, the 7970M's need to have the right version vBIOS and even then, you can have issues.. I think its better to hold on, wait for prices to drop and upgrade to a 980M... BTW, 7970M CF can't come close to 980M... the 780M beats the 7970M by 20-30% stock so where the hell do you think the 7970M CF comes close to a 980M which beats a 780M SLI at stock...

 

Where do you get the idea that 980M beats 780M SLI? It's 10% slower.

 

I'm quite sure its the other way around...

 

Yeah... I read the guide, and it's kind of problematic to get the 7970m.... since I can order it online, and it'll be a big hassle to check if that is the correct vBios.. in china, they'll just sell you, unless I go personally, I can negotiate for the return... but checking cards by trial and error is a big time sink...

1,000-1,500 is almost a new 970m... with all the new goodies... I think I need to reconsider the math
and If I sell my m17x ? I think is too big and too bulky, since I'm using a monitor..

I'm checking this computer (is in ebay china, i'm not sure if I can post link, if not, please tell me to remove it) it is approximately 1,500usd
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.0.0.qQAdpg&id=40829262079

1,500usd almost... without all the hassle, and I can sell the m17x

I'm mostly concerned with the bulkiness of the m17x... is too big when I have to travel, and heavy... and hard to clean

 

If you shift away from Alienware and go Sager - you'll save a lot of money and still be able to pick up 980m or even sli 980m's.