My G73 and the HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 DX11

I sold my Gateway FX 7805 just last week and loved that damn rig to death...just didnt like the appearance of it...appearance wise...it was everything I did NOT want in a laptop (fingerprint magnet...cheap feeling/looking bezzle and plastic trim) but man the thing was smooth (even though the specs were nothing great! Intel Core 2 duo 4 GB RAM) But for some reason, the Nvidia CUDA 9800M GTS produced a gorgeous gaming experience even on the lower 1400x900 display..okenough about the FX, I am just giving you my frame of reference.

Visually, the G73JH obviously drops panties...in every sense of the word..the rubber/plastic molded matte finish is very nice and the backlit keyboard pushes the eye candy of this rig even further...Not to mention the stealth jet radiator exhaust ports out the back. Ok..I am stating the obvious so lets talk about the 5870 1GB DDR5 DX11 and gaming experience....I dont know what it is, or maybe I dont have my ATI settings correct, but every game I have played (including Batman which we all know is geared HEAVILY towards a Nvidia card and PhysX) looks about the same if not WORSE than my previous Nvidia CUDA 9800M GTS!!! Now dont get me wrong, I understand that this 5870M is the single best mobile GPU to date, not to mention the only card to date that supports DX11 (so its futureproof) but I am just not seeing its visual superior performance in my gaming experience?! Batman, looks much better on my 9800M GTS card and that card is MANY levels down from this 5870. I have all my settings on this rig to performance mode, and it is not so much the FPS but the quality of shading/shadows and visuals that has not impressed me thus far! Now YES the 5870 runs everything maxed very smooth, but visually I am not seeing it shine?! Maybe I was expecting leaps and bounds in the visual department when I purchased the lappy? I dont know? Or maybe I dont have my ATI Catalyst settings right for the 5870? I have the stock drivers, but my philosophy with drivers, esp. video drivers, is to not fix it if it isnt broken! Plus, drivers dont make a WORLD of difference unless your using a terribly outdated buggy version which no one is.

The display..
Yes I have the Best Buy watered down 1600x900 yadda yadda laugh it up...but actually I wanted this res due to future gaming and not having to squint when surfing online...anyway....my opinions...
This LED LCD is very bright, and I have read the complaints about it never really going "black" due to the back-lighting design of a LED display! I can vouch for that complaint as it is almost like you always have a tiny bit of light leakage and the display is always just a little too "poppy/bright" (yes Ive played with the brightness controls etc..)..again though, some may see this actually as a benefit...but to me its not, when trying to play a horror/dark game such as Batman/Dead space/Metro 2033.


So,if its worth it, would anyone like help me actually set up what the optimal settings should be in my Catalyst control center for this 5870? Any tweaks or settings I should have changed for optimal gaming/visual performance? As of now I haven't touched the control center as its chinese to me because IM used to the Nvidia control panel. Do I run the Catalyst control center in basic mode 0r….?? so many questions ; )

 

What you are complaining about is visual picture quality, not performance. This is both a function of the GPU and ultimately the display. You can't do any comparisons of the GPUs' picture quality unless you use an external display. So, in your case, it sounds like you are complaining about the poor quality of the Best Buy lower resolution display.

Hook it up to an external monitor and see if your perception of the GPU changes.

Also, concerning your settings, you should have them all set to the exact opposite you have them now: move from performance to quality. Leave AA and AF set to controlled by the application. The 5870 is capable of running a full 1920x1080 HD monitor with full eye candy, nothing shouldn't run maxed out at your lower resolution.

 

Your philosophy is wrong; the Catalyst 10.3 driver update this month increased performance in many games by over 25%. I can agree with no updating other drivers and things like your BIOS every month, but video drivers do not fall into this category.

 

This is what I was looking for THANKS! So there is a tab or slider that says "performance or quality"? I know I can controll AA AF settings in game after I set the "controlled by app" as you stated...anything else? So just move from performance to quality? I remember changing a bunch of settings in the Nvidia control Panel?

And the Catalyst 10.3's have issues...all I ever read about is how they dont do jack for performance and have major issues (search forum?)...I think Il stick with my stock drivers Even thinking of changing/"updating" video/gpu drivers gives me anxiety with all the horror stories I read

 

The official 10.3 hasn't been released. Only the Alpha/Beta versions

 

I was thinking of buying the g73jh, I have a similar card 260m gtx and im running on a lower rez of 1440x900.

So was it worth the money as far as upgrades go?

And didn't your gut feelings tell you the hd5870 at a higher res would only play slightly better than the 9800m gts at you old rez?

And would you recommend upgrading from c2d@3ghz 260m gtx, to the g73jh for gaming?

I can't decide and after seeing the benchmarks of metro 2033 at all very high dx11 running at 7fps, I don't think this is a good year to upgrade gpus!

 

hey my 8600m gs could run games at max with 4aa 16af at 640*480, i guess no upgrade is needed, amirite?

 

This is not true, the official version were released last week. 10.3a and 10.3b which are both betas and previews are still in circulation but the official WHQL Drivers from ATI for 10.3 are out:

ATI 10.3 Mobility Drivers

 

The Official are the 10.3 on the site.

But in terms of release date. 10.3 is the oldest.

10.3, then 10.3a, then 10.3b.

10.3b is the latest that solves some of the glitches in BC2.

If you are going to compare Batman to ATi you need to turn off PhysX, then compare also.

 

Ya that makes sense...so ATI does not use PhysX correct? It is Nvidia software? Then why did it install on my rig when I installed Batman? Can I uninstall it as it will never be used?

Ya Batman was probably a bad game to review the 5870 on huh...actually probably the worst

easy_e:
"was thinking of buying the g73jh, I have a similar card 260m gtx and im running on a lower rez of 1440x900.

So was it worth the money as far as upgrades go?

And didn't your gut feelings tell you the hd5870 at a higher res would only play slightly better than the 9800m gts at you old rez?

And would you recommend upgrading from c2d@3ghz 260m gtx, to the g73jh for gaming?

I can't decide and after seeing the benchmarks of metro 2033 at all very high dx11 running at 7fps, I don't think this is a good year to upgrade gpus!"
________________________________________________________________

-the 5870 is not similar to the 260M GTX, it is much superior
-worth it? absolutely, best rig out there imo (even better than alienware)

"And didn't your gut feelings tell you the hd5870 at a higher res would only play slightly better than the 9800m gts at you old rez?"
-You cant be serious with this comment..first off the 5870 is leagues above the 9800M GTS and by "high rez" if you mean 1600x900 is "high rez" above my old 1440x900????

"I can't decide and after seeing the benchmarks of metro 2033 at all very high dx11 running at 7fps, I don't think this is a good year to upgrade gpus!"
-Huh? first comment is wrong and second is a terrible opinion

 

My notebook runs everything at max. This thing overclocks well.

 

Anyone? Regarding Cataylst control center.

"So there is a tab or slider that says "performance or quality"? I know I can controll AA AF settings in game after I set the "controlled by app" in control center...but anything else? So just move from performance to quality is the only setting/tweak I need to make? I remember changing a bunch of settings in the Nvidia control Panel?"

 

Yea mate! p7805u FTW!
My overclocked 9800m gts has never failed to please my gaming needs ^^

 

I guess u just have to put it on quality and then change in game settings to max... i doubt there's anything else u can do... and hey don't complain so much... u got one of the best gaming notebooks on the marketplace... i'm literally dieing for mine.. if someone can , plz go to my for sale thread and buy some stuff so i can get G73!

 

Ummmm sooo ya...In Catalyst control center I changed the slider to maximum quality rather than where it was by default in the middle of quality and performance...um ya...this 5870 is disgusting...I knew I had some setting wrong!

 

And is it fixed?

Just so you know, NVIDIA and ATI cards both have these features.

 

I wouldn't buy a lappy with HD 5870 anyway, because I consider HD 5xxx a prototype of DX 11 teselation mobile GPU's and I never belive first line of "breakthrought" GPU's to be error free.

Still, that thing scores 13K in 3Dmark06 AFAIK, so it's a definite future proof toy.

Damn....and to think 8800's with ~10K in desktops, once ruled them all.....

 

Hmm i eat you all, MUAHAHA jokes, but the 4850 at 1440x900 plays every game out there too . Well the majority haha.

If you want visually stunning, go into CCC, go to 3d, and set everything to high quality, then go to aa, set it to edge detect and set 24xaa, now the g73 is a power horse, but i don't know how well it'l run say dark knight, but i run 24xaa on eve online and let me tell you, quality is unbeatable .

 

Hater...but you tried to redeem yourself The 5870 takes hot steamy dump on everything out there as of current..try and play metro 2033 on DX11...oh wait you cant

To catacylsm-Yes in CCC in 3D section the meter is maxed to best quality...if you then go to AA and change the settings, it in turn changes the quality max setting back bc it figures you are customizing it...so unfortunately I just leave the quality at max and the aa at 4x edge detect sample 12x. Thats as much as it will let me tweak until it changes my standard settings quality bar in turn...With quality slider maxed, it in turn puts AF to max of 16x which is ideal, but defaults AA mode (multi-sample AA) to performance (all the way left). Mipmap is at highest quality....

So in short..these are the max controls I am allowed to set in CCC for quality.
1. Standard Settings is at optimal quality (slider all the way to the right)
2. AA level at 4x set to edge detect with a sample of 12x ( I cannot chech use application setting as it defaults every setting to that..they are synced) 3.AA Mode at performance (multi-sampling)
4. AF mode maxed at 16x
5. MipMap maxed at optimal quality

Anything I should change here for optimal visual quality? If theres something I should lower bc it takes a toll on frames or performance and doesnt do much for the visuals let me know. Thanks!

 

Even my 8800m gts still plays games well at 1440x900.

 

wait- are you saying the next generation of graphics cards will be even FASTER?!?

no...

almost every graphics card adds some new features.

the ati hd 2k series added direct x 10 (it was kind of meh).

the 3k series didn't add much new (so this makes it better? eh... it was ok)

the 4000 series did direct x 10.1 (and this series rocked)

the 5000 series did direct x 11 (and this rocks a TON also)

good luck waiting for a non-first-feature line GPU series

 

haha lol i do agree.. like this , u might as well not buy any GPU but wait... looks like u won't mind buying rebagged NVDIA cards? How long do they take to get new features in and how many times do they rebaggage... well , we got an indirect NVDIA fanboy

 

You're not going to see any leaps in performances for GPU anymore. It's not like 7800 to 8800 with 70% improvements, it's going to be 20-30%.

So wait if you want, but don't cry when you don't get the improvements you waited a year for.

This will remain until they find a way to stuff water cooling into laptops.
- The only way to use fans is to do what Alienware does and that means you have to suffer jet engine noise.
- Most consumers except hardcore high end laptop fans would want this and companies like Asus, HP, Gateway, etc. won't even risk installing such a loud cooling system. Laptops are about being portable, thin as possible and as quiet as possible, even on high-end, Alienware/Clevo are the only exceptions.
- For most consumers including laptop gamers, Alienware/Clevo are so bulky and loud, people ask, ummm, why don't you just build a desktop?

 

What he was saying is to turn off the Nvidia's PhysX GPU acceleration. However, since the game is coded using PhysX physics engine, you will need the physX runtime AKA the systemsoftware installed to be able to even run the game at all.

 

honestly I would just set AA and AF to "application managed" that works best for most games IMO

 

Maybe better tessellation

 

wish my 8800m still did well in all games. Even OC'd it is having some issues in games like L4D2 and others. That is why I am getting a G73. Will miss my P6860 FX though. Best computer I have ever owned. The G73 has a lot to live up to when it get here

 

I hope it treats you as well as it has been treating me. Despite my worries on the GPU temps, I have not yet had any graphical problems, no artifacting, no shut downs or overheating and the fan doesn't go on full majority of the time while gaming.

A few things I guarantee will blow you away after using your Gateway.
- The fan noise is negligible. It's like using a MacBook Pro, except it's not wussy POS.
- The screen is excellent. You will like it.
- The battery life is unheard of for a high end laptop. 2 hours on battery now without hybrid technology.
- It looks awesome. When I use this on the train, anyone who is interested in laptops whisper to their friends asking what is that. When the lid is closed, it really does look stealthy.

 

Really??? Would be awesome if it was the case

 

My 5830 will run L4D2 at 1920x1080, 2xAA, 2xAF, high everything, and is quite playable (pegs the vsync limited 60FPS most of the time, haven't seen it drop below 30, and it's never felt like it couldn't keep up). The 5870 in the G73 will have no problems at all, I'll bet the fan won't even turn on

 

Some time ago last year, a company proved that they had developed fans that run completely silent by manipulating air at the nano level. The fans can be of any size and although I doubt we will see them in laptops any time soon, it is nonetheless a potential and shows that one should never underestimate the future of technology. Just imagine if these fans were used in a laptop, you could have many with absolutely no noise and maximum cooling efficiency. If anyone remembers the youtube clip from the developers of these fans or a link feel free to let us know because I sure don't remember them.

 

I am surprised you aren't getting the Sager with the 5870 in because that one will have more future upgrade options compared to the G73's proprietary GPU.

 

Interesting. But does this new innovation increase cooling? Sounds to me just reduces some mechanical noise, but the air blowing would still be annoying at high rate.

Also the next problem after that is power. Desktop GPU's are consuming close to 200 watts which is 50 more watts than my entire system. That's going to be the next bottleneck.
- I believe that is the main issue for GDDR5 256 bit for Mobile, not enough power.

 

indeed. there will be noise if there is a lot of airflow through a small cross section area. and i have doubts about it's efficiency.

 

From what I remember of the video clip, the fan wasn't blowing air at all, it seemed more like a vibration at such a low level that I couldn't hear anything in the video and no one else could hear anything in the room at all. The component that was doing this looked like it wasn't moving at all too. Surely something that works at the nano level is not going to be making the same noise as something that doesn't which was the whole point of the invention. Regarding cooling efficiency, those fans were designed so that they could be placed almost anywhere and even directly on components.

 

The idea of fans aren't to blow on the components but to blow the hot air out. So I still don't see how this would be better than finding a way to get water cooling on laptops.

 

Could be talking about Tessera's ionic-cooling system.

 

Interesting. It will be interesting if they can create something that lasts for 30,000 hours with no work requires other than blowing out some dust.
- And making it cost effective so we can use two of them.
- If they do it, it sounds like there will be more room for ports and whatnot for the high performance laptops too!

 

Are you talking aout the 8760? Didn't think the GPU could be upgraded just that you had a choice of GPUs whe you ordered it.

A lower (but still relevent) concern is cost. Configured the same way as a G73 the Sager is about 600 more.

 

It's about $900 more.

I'm guessing this is why. And for me, it doesn't matter about the GPU upgrading.
- This is why. I plan to use this for about 2.5 years. By then, there will be a much better CPU and better GPU. By then I expect there will be new sockets for both. By then I expect better ram. So I would need to replace the MB with new chipset and CPU to support it. In other words, I'd want an entirely new laptop anyways.

Fully configured so it's EXACTLY what the Asus G73-A2 comes with.

 

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