Nvidia Gt555m Vs Ati Radeon HD 6630m

What difference lies between them?

 

The 555M beats the 6630M by at least 30%. Check if it has a 128 or 192bits memory bus (if it features 1.5 or 3gb of memory it should be 192, otherwise it's 128), the latter performs better especially if your display is 1600*900 or 1920*1080.

 

Are you looking for a GPU to do serious gaming or just something that will run Facebook Farmville and maybe some older gen games? If the former, then stay away from the nVidia GT line and go with a GTX or an ATI equiv (not too sure on what nomenclature ATI uses to denote the differences)

 

I'm wanting to play the latest games on medium settings at least on a portable platform - I will be moving soon and have been more interested in laptops overall for their mobility factor.

I have tested current games on the Alienware M14x & it is truly amazing.

How does this:

Alienware M14x
Intel® Core i5-2430M Processor - 3.0Ghz (Superb temperatures)
(14") 1600 x 900 Upgraded Screen
500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (2x4GB)
NVIDIA Geforce GT 555m Graphics Card
Killer 1102 Wireless
Internal UK/Irish (Qwerty) Backlit Keyboard
Battery : Primary 8-cell 97W/HR
Windows 7 Premium 64 bit
3 Year Warranty

Compete against this for gaming:

Sony Vaio SA
Intel® Core i7-2640M Processor - 3.5Ghz
(13.3") 1600 x 900 Upgraded Screen
128GB SSD
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (2x2GB)
ATI Radeon HD 6630m Graphics Card
BluRay Drive
Internal UK/Irish (Qwerty) Backlit Keyboard
Windows 7 Premium 64 bit
1 Year Warranty

The reason I ask is that the Sony is £200 cheaper and is a lot more portable.
I wouldnt consider anything over the M14x's weight after I reflected on the possibility for long term travelling.
I also dont mind the smaller storage space of the SSD

Just what sort of hit would gaming take?

 

To get the most out of games while not sacrificing portability, definitely go with the Alienware. The VAIO may be half as heavy and more portable, it just won't perform as well in games. Seems to me that you make a sacrifice both ways in this choice and unfortunately I cannot tell you which sacrifice is going to outweigh the other.

 

i have a SONY VAIO SA and play Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 on it every night. you can't really compare any game with Battlefield 3, and it is more than playable on the SA.

let me tell you about 6630m. it shares the same GPU core with its big brother 6770m, but unfortunately it's paired with GDDR3 video-RAM. however, it has great overclocking headroom. the default settings for 6630m in SA are 485MHz core frequency / 800MHz memory frequency / 900mV core voltage. but SONY uses SAMSUNG VRAM modules which are designed to operate up to 933MHz. my current overclock values are 745MHz core frequency / 933MHz memory frequency / 904mV core voltage, i.e. about 53.6% overclock for core frequency, 16.6% overclock for memory frequency, 0.4% overvolt for core voltage. with these values, i get about 25% increase in performance (according to 3DMark06) with rock-solid stability in both the benchmark and in Battlefield 3. i am also using a CoolerMaster NotePal U2 cooler (with two moveable fans which i have placed directly underneath the two intake grills of the laptop, one for CPU/GPU/VRAM and one for HDD/RAM).

my Battlefield 3 settings are 1366x768, mix of MEDIUM and HIGH settings, MSAA off, FXAA HIGH, AO off, MotionBlur off. i have put "WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0" in user.cfg for Battlefield 3. with these, i get about 45+fps on all the maps, with occasional dips to 38+fps.

i am not trying to convince you to buy a VAIO SA but just sharing my own experience. and i have not used a GT555m.

good luck

EDIT 1: oh, one downside of SA is its LCD screen. it has great brightness, but its contrast ratio and viewing angles are bad.
EDIT 2: forgot the temperatures. i have disabled Intel TurboBoost on my Core i5. with the notebook cooler, i'm getting a maximum of 85C in Battlefield 3 and 78C in FIFA 12 and 3DMark06.

 

That's what you needed. Someone with first hand experience.

 

If you want portable, the new 640/650M will be popping up in 11/13" notebooks shortly and will give you really good bang for your buck.

Of the two systems, the Sony would be my pick. (The SSD and BD is nice, plus its really light)

Have you considered an M11X Alienware?

 

The M11x's processor lets me down and as much as I want to wait for those new GPU's I reckon they'll be overpriced.
The Ivybridge appears to be overhyped from what I've been reading.

I am sorely tempted by the Vaio purely on the basis of portability.
It also looks much more professional.
I will miss the lighting from the M14x however.

What difference would the processor make during emulators and CPU intensive gaming?

EDIT: What about the fan within the Vaio?
Is it always running or does it switch off?

 

for the love of god, wait for a month and buy a lappy with 650m, will be miles better than 555m...

 

Only 95 miles....

 

someone got the joke

 

Not from whats being shown here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...-ivy-bridge-benchmarks-revealed-yknyong1.html

Im not paying a premium for a marginal performance increase at best.
That and Im just not prepared to wait.

 

When you say emulators, you mean for Consoles or old DOS games? If so, ANY modern processor will absolutely tear them up.

As for CPU intensive games.. pretty much the same. You might see a few FPS more with a better CPU, but most are GPU performance dependent.

 

DUDE..

best 555m scores 5.3k on vantage..
650m will score 9k paired with GDDR5, which is almost GT X 560m... please don't get your information wrong, otherwise you will regret that decision...

 

yes, VAIO SA is very light and portable. i also love SONY's design language. if you decide to go with the VAIO, get the black version and remove the stickers on the palmrest. it'll look super slick.

the fan is on but on low speed when the graphics switch is on SPEED (i.e., when you're using Radeon HD 6630m), but its noise does not bother me at all. it'll ramp up when you do move demanding tasks, obviously. on STAMINA (i.e., when you're using Intel HD3000 and the 6630m is completely powered off), the laptop runs cooler, and, depending on what you're doing, the fan might also shut down. some people in SONY forums find the fan noise annoying; for me, it's perfectly fine.

my last comment, VAIO SA is not a gaming laptop, but a very powerful machine (given its size) on which you can also game.