NVIDIA GTX 560M 1.5GB vs 3GB

Hello everyone, long time since I've posted here.

I'm shopping around on Newegg for a computer as they offer 12 month financing on their laptops and found the perfect laptop (or so i thought).

Unfortunately it was too good to be true as I noticed the GPU is only 1.5GB GDDR5 as opposed to the norm of 3GB GDDR5. Now usually, sometimes numbers are deceiving, but I thought I'd get everyone's opinions and try and find out just how gimped or not gimped the 1.5GB GDDR5 model is exactly.

 

There is basically no difference. 1.5GB is more than enough memory in almost all cases.

What laptop are you looking at?

 

I am looking at...

Newegg.com - MSI GT683R-242US Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 15.6" 12GB Memory 1TB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

Which is the MSI GT683R-242US.

I picked this model over the others as it doesn't seem to have the same keyboard issues plaguing the more expensive models.

As a bonus, I can add a 2 year extended warranty for a very reasonable price.

Also, thank you for the speedy reply.

 

yea I'd agree you really shouldn't see a difference between 1.5GB and 3GB ...

 

Ah, so this is not the same type of issue as certain GTX560M cards being 128 bit and others being 192 bit?

What exactly is the limitation of the 1.5GB as opposed to the 3GB assuming I somehow would manage to take full advantage of the 3GB?

 

That's quite a high price for what it is, I wouldn't buy that. And the build quality isn't as good as with other laptops in the same tier.

Look at the Sager NP8130 (Clevo P151HM1, Lotus P151HM1, Pollux 1511)

Links:
Sager NP8130 (Built on Clevo P151HM1) XOTIC PC
MYTHLOGIC :: Configure Your System
Lotus P151HM1 - MALIBAL

Scroll down and select an OS, and I'd suggest getting the 95% gamut display for only $30 unless you want a matte screen.

It comes out to ~ $1290 for exactly the same specs as the MSI, except:
- The build quality is better
- The screen is better (all three screens are better, probably including the stock screen, but the 95% gamut blows it out of the water)
- It's much cheaper
- It's a bit lighter

Also, if you can go ~$200 above your price, look at the Sager NP8150.
Sager NP8150 (Built on Clevo P150HM) Custom Gaming Laptop
MYTHLOGIC :: Configure Your System
Lotus P150HM - MALIBAL

Scroll down and select an OS, then get the GTX 485M GPU upgrade.
Or if you can wait 3+ weeks, and are buying the one from Mythlogic, get the AMD 6990M GPU upgrade since the 6990M is for all practical purposes the best mobile GPU currently available.

 

Wow, that sure is one nice machine. If only it had dynaudio speakers, there would be no reason to even buy MSI haha.

 

Do any of those 3 companies offer any financing options?

Edit: Also, I do believe the 6990M will be a bit out of my paygrade.

Edit Again: Oh, also, I noticed that the custom configurations on Lotus at least also has a 1.5GB instead of a 3GB... so just in case you guys missed it, what would I be missing out on assuming that I was somehow able to take full advantage of the 3GB model over the 1.5GB model if not speed?

 

The 3GB version is 128-bit, is it not?

 

I haven't the slightest clue, but I'd find that odd since the newer ASUS
G74SX-A1 holds 3GB.

 

Naw only the 1gb and 2gb 560m cards are 128bit.

And honestly, with the price being so low($1130 shipped) on this G73SW-XN1, when it's in stock I seriously put it into consideration.

Newegg.com - ASUS G73 Series G73SW-XN1 Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

 

If you want to get the same benefit from upgrading to the 3gb version, take out some money from your wallet, put it in the toilet and flush.

You will get no benefit from the 3gb version over 1.5gb, maybe you are thinking it might help some little bit occasionally but even that is a big lie.

It is a big win for the marketing department and profit margin for the company selling and not for you

 

No difference. Even on a top-end desktop card, the maximum a game will be using on ultra settings is around 1.5GB when gaming on a higher resolution than 1920x1080, so 1.5GB is more than enough for mobile 1080p gaming.

This info comes from a post regarding running Crysis 2 on a desktop card, but I forgot where the post was.