NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

Hello,
I am considering buying either the Sager NP5165 or NP5160. The main difference between them seems to be the graphics card as the rest of the specs can be configured to be identical. The NP5165 has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M while the NP5160 has the NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M. I did some research on both cards and from what I can see the higher clocks and everything on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M will cause it to produce more heat. However, I have been unable to find the current consumption on it to get a better idea. I know the NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M's current consumption is 35w. If someone could find this information for me it would be helpful. I would also appreciate a general idea of how the chips compare in terms of heat and how much performance I would be sacrificing if I went with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M.
Thanks!

 

its quite a jump there is a great benefit of 10+fps of the gt 555m against the gt 540m

 

I see. How about heat production?

 

also quite a jump, the TDP of the gt 555m is about 45w

 

Perhaps unrelated, I encourage you to look into the gaming 'side effects' of Optimus. I've had such an annoying time (games loading with black screens, games not loading, games freezing, being forced to load games with the Intel IGP because the 555m doesn't work, etc) with this M14x's Optimus based 555m that I'm sending it back tomorrow.

Something to think about.

 

I'd wager that the 540M is around 50% slower than the GT 555M.

By going with the 540M, you'd be moving down into a lower performance tier, and would jeopardize decent gaming in 2012.

 

I'd stick on GT 540M it's core clock is 672 MHz vs 590 and it produces less heat 35w vs 45w! but both of them are mid ranged class 2 GPUs! If you can find it with gtx 460m/560m it will perform better and it's ahigh end card

 

Tests have shown it's about 25-30% slower than the 555m (i.e. the 128-bit 555m Clevo version).
As to the 45W TDP... I couldn't find any official info or factual data on that.

 

look for the gt 445m, they are the same card

 

The 540 is 15-20% slower than the 555, not 50%.

 

^ This.

I returned a Clevo W150HR (same as the Sager NP5165) for pretty much this exact reason. When it works, Optimus is great. When it doesn't, your preferred deity help you.

Though slightly larger in terms of form factor and weight, the Sager NP8130 offers much better performance and is not much more money than the 5165.

 

Optimus could have been really great (monster gaming laptops with battery life of a Mac) but they really screwed it up.

Both look to be very similar in performance but I'd go with the GT555 just because with Optimus it can be put into sleep mode when not gaming.

 

You know what? I somehow missed that we're talking about the gimped Clevo version of the 555M.

My mistake.

 

I configured them both and the 8130 is about 261$ more than the 5165 (1039$ vs 1300$). This is after adding both W7/+20$ for 500GB and adding an i7 to the 5165. If you have the extra cash, the 8130 is a very good buy The matte screen is superb on the 8130!

Configuring Source:
GenTechPC

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm looking at a Malibal P150HM, with either the GT 555M/2GB or the GT 540M/1GB videocards - $130 difference.

I am not a gamer. This will be used mainly for Photoshop work with DSLR Raw Camera files, with probably some HD Video Editing work. Possibly some BluRay DVD play via HDMI to HDTV. The Laptop will have a 1920x1080 Display (15.6").

I understand that for intensive gaming, the GT 555M would definitely be preferred, but am unsure as to any practical difference for my non-gaming application.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

The MALIBAL P150HM only comes with high-end gaming video cards, which would be way overkill for what you're looking to do.

The Sager NP5160 or Force PBL21 would be more than sufficient for your needs. Take the money you'd save over buying the P150HM and invest it in an SSD and the 95% color gamut display. Those will improve your productivity far more than the GPU. That being said, the GeForce 540M is capable of accelerating video conversion as well as Photoshop, so you will see some benefit there.

 

I appreciate the quick and helpful reply!

I had a look at the two links you provided, and when I customize them with similar specs to the Malibal I was looking at, they come in pretty much the same, around $1200 or so.

The main upgrades are the 95% gamut 1920x1080 display, I7-2670QM CPU, 8gb 1333 RAM, 750/8gb Hybrid Drive, Centrino 6300, and a few other tweaks.

But you've answered my primary question - no benefit for me to spend the extra $130 on the GT 555M.

Any thoughts on how the Asus N55SF-EH71 would do for my purposes, at $1150, relative to the Malibal or others that you suggest:

Newegg.com - ASUS N55SF-EH71 Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 750GB HDD 7200rpm DL DVD±RW/CD-RW NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M

Asus is a relatively known quantity, at least for me, and I don't have any experience with the Malibal or others, in terms of reliability, customer service, resolving hardware problems, etc.

Thanks again!

 

While I've not owned that specific Asus, I have owned other models from that brand. They're fine, but I think the Sager and Force machines have better build quality and keyboards. Also, the 95% color gamut screen they offer is a huge plus that will be very beneficial for your photo work. One area where the Asus excels is in the audio department. It is very much superior to either of the aforementioned notebooks.

The key to purchasing the Sager or Force is to use an authorized reseller. XoticPC (who I linked to in my first reply to you), Powernotebooks, and Mythlogic are three of the finest resellers out there. Their pre- and post-sale service and support are top-notch. They are also very active on this forum, particularly in the Sager and Clevo section. Mythlogic does not sell Sager-branded machines. Rather, they get the shells from the same place as Sager (Clevo), and assemble and test the notebooks in-house.

IMO, in the consumer space, Sager/Clevo is second only to Apple when it comes to build quality.

Force notebooks are good as well. My dad has one that's going on 4 years old, and it serves him well to this very day. He's not had a lick of trouble with it - no hardware failures, and it still looks in mint condition.

 

Thanks again. Would you include Malibal with those 3 or a lower tier?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

The Asus you were looking at gets VERY hot as well as it has a downfiring exhaust fan. But i would agree with saying that Force and Sager have better build quality. Plus you can get a great Force notebook for under $1000 from XoticPC.com with a GTX 570m which you can pop a 2670 into and still be cheaper than the Asus plus last you longer. +1 for saturnotaku for the great informative post!!

EDIT: In my opinion Malibal would be in the class just below Sager/Clevo and Force because they are now as well known as well as having a worse build quality in their laptops. Its not bad but just not as high end as Sager/Clevo's is.

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-16f2012-msi-16f2-p-3376.html

 

Your comments/advice are much appreciated.

A small tangent:

I'm inclined to go with the 750GB Seagate 8GB SSD Hybrid drive. I want the higher capacity overall, but SSD in that size is cost prohibitive. I've read a few good reports on the overall speed improvement (boot-up and during normal usage) with the 8GB SSD component, but would be interested in knowledgeable opinions here.

Thanks!

 

That's the same thing I'm facing, it will also not let me overclock.

I have called Alienware Customer Service & so far they spent more than $2000 to fix my computer. Tomorrow they are coming with a new motherboard & if that doesn't work out they are upgrading my system for free (Brand New M14x). But I'm afraid it will be the same thing -_-

 

MALIBAL gets their components from the exact same place Sager does. I would very much put them in the top tier of suppliers as well. There's also LPC-Digital, which is another extremely reputable supplier. You won't go wrong ordering from any of them.

I simply dismissed MALIBAL for DLCPhoto because they do not sell any notebooks with the GeForce 540M or 555M, and those they do have are way more than what he needs.

The hybrid SSD/HDD would be your best bet then, especially if you're going to keep your optical drive. The 8 GB of flash memory on the new 750 GB drive will provide better performance than the 4 GB flash on the older hybrids. The way to fully take advantage of it, though, is if you are using the same programs over and over. If you are constantly using a variety of different programs, you won't see much benefit over a traditional hard drive.

 

This has all been extremely helpful - thanks for all the replies. And yes, this Laptop would be seeing primary usage with a smaller number of programs (like Photoshop) on a regular basis, and this is why I thought the Hybrid SSD would be advantageous.

I'll check out all the vendors, do some comparison shopping, and with the input received here, I'm confident I'll end up with a very serviceable laptop.

Thanks again.

 

Hello , i have one question. I Had medion laptop with gt 555m 2gb , but i waterdamaged motherboard. No im waiting for new acer laptop , with the same i5 proc , but gt 540m card. Can i swap video chips ? i would like to put gt555m to new acer from my non working laptop ?

 

No you can't

 

Crap, but why ? MB cant support or chip are different shape ?

 

The chip is soldered into the motherboard.

 

Ehhh :/ thnx for info anyway .