The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Power consumption 8700M GT vs FX 1600M

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Tankbuster, May 25, 2008.

  1. Tankbuster

    Tankbuster Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    52
    Messages:
    215
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Title says it all really.
    According to the websites of the developers, the 8700M GT has a max power consumption of 27 W, versus the FX 1600M with 50 W.
    But what I don't get is: into how much battery gain does this translate? Just because one video card uses double as much power as the other, doesn't mean that the entire laptop uses double as much power, I imagine.
    How much difference are we talking about here?
    Or does it depend on the laptop? (It's for a Sager NP5793)

    Sorry if this question has been asked before, I've been searching for a while but haven't found it.
     
    Tankbuster, May 25, 2008
    #1
  2. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    This figure is the maximum power consumption as you already noted. If you are doing rendering while on the go and utilizing the GPU at 100% capacity for the laptop's entire battery life, you will probably notice a big difference. You can estimate battery life knowing its battery capacity. For example, if your battery has a rating of let's say 69WHr and you are using the max GPU power (the difference is 23W between them) so this translates to consuming 1/3 more power per hour. If your system draws 69W with the 8700M GT then the other draws 92W. The corresponding (approximate) life is 1 hour with the 8700M GT and only 2/3 of an hour (or 40 min) for the FX 1600M. However, since most users are idle for 90+% of the span of a notebook's lifetime, I don't think there would be considerable difference in battery life.
     
    sgogeta4, May 25, 2008
    #2
  3. Tankbuster

    Tankbuster Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    52
    Messages:
    215
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So if I'm taking my laptop to class, for typing, watching powerpoint, simple programming, the difference in battery life will be small? 0-10 minutes?
     
    Tankbuster, May 26, 2008
    #3
  4. eleron911

    eleron911 HighSpeedFreak

    Reputations:
    3,886
    Messages:
    11,104
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    No, it`ll be pretty big,maybe 30mins or more.
    Why not get the 8800M GTX, which is twice as fast as the FX1600M and has lower power consumption? Granted,it`s not a workstation card,but it should be fast enough...
     
    eleron911, May 26, 2008
    #4
  5. boyciejunior

    boyciejunior Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    89
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    if this is all you are doing why do you need a 8700m GT or a FX1600m?
     
    boyciejunior, May 26, 2008
    #5
  6. Tankbuster

    Tankbuster Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    52
    Messages:
    215
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I'll be doing graphic rendering, video editing (and probably a bit gaming) at home, but when I go to class, I'll need it just to type and watch powerpoint.
    I'll be using my card, don't worry :p I just don't want to buy two laptops, just because this one would die after an hour of typing on battery.

    Yes, I imagine it will be fast enough. It's nearly the most powerful notebook card on the planet! :p
    The 8800M has 35WHr max... You're right, that will probably be a negligeable difference with the Quadro...
    Problem is it costs a lot... But if it's really going to be 30min difference, then maybe I won't take the FX1600M...
     
    Tankbuster, May 27, 2008
    #6