Review AMD Radeon HD 6970M Graphics Card on notebook check

yes I know their tests are not always the greatest but here is the link

Review AMD Radeon HD 6970M Graphics Card - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Kind of disappointing really. I was expecting at least something like a 16,000 or better in 3DMark06. The fact that we still can't max a game from 2007 is also appalling.

Seems like the gap between mobile GPU's and desktop based GPU's is growing larger with each generation.

 

To be fair, desktop gpus are really not restricted by size or heat or power draw concerns, all of these are major factors in mobile chips.

And, as ALWAYS, these benchmarks are pretty poorly done - they are using an i7-740 compared to the new sandy bridge chips because...? The actual game tests are more important and they are decently ahead of the 5870, and around the same as the 485. As long as the price is about the same as the 5870 was it'll be a winner, the 485 is way too expensive.

 

The 6970M's synthetic benchmarks should be closer to the GTX 485M if it had a Sandy Bridge processor, but like hakira stated, the actual game performance indicates the 6970M's true potential. I want to get a Sager NP8150, but if the 6970M is only $100 more than the GTX 460M, I'm more than willing to wait.

 

Well, 3dmark06 means nothing. A simple change of CPU to a sandy bridge gets the score over 17k, and to be honest, Crysis is quite a difficult game to max out, with very little visual improvement.

I find this to be a great GPU, and as the review says at the end:

"All in all, the Radeon HD 6970M shows an impressive performance. AMD's old top model, the Radeon HD 5870, is surpassed in every benchmark by about 50%—a testament to the new model's formidable performance. Even Nvidia's rugged GeForce GTX 480M winds up a whopping 33% behind the Radeon HD 6970M. Only the GeForce GTX 485M manages to top AMD's new hard hitter. Nvidia's new crème de la crème processed data almost 12% faster. Since the GeForce GTX 485M was coupled with a speedy Sandy Bridge processor, the Radeon's shortfall here is not written in stone. Paired wit a similar CPU, the Radeon HD 6970M might actually measure up to the GeForce GTX 485M in the end."

I definitely want a machine with the 6970m.

 

Guys, also keep in mind that this is an engineering sample and it doesn't use the 11.1 driver, as well as the fact that the test system was having issues. There are definitely a lot of variables which may be affecting the results here, obviously.

 

I don't know how anyone can complain about mobile GPU performance because for the first time, we really have note worthy GPU's.

Maybe we are forgetting what used to be on offer and how lucky we are to be able to max out recent games.

There is really no point comparing mobile GPU's to Desktops since you are comparing hardware that is not space, size or heat restricted to the mobile GPU that has to work with really restrictive wattage, TDP, chassis size and so many other factors.

I am glad to hear the 6970M is performing well because we need decent competition.

 

you guys have a short memory a picture of a 3dmark06 run on the alienware m17x-r3 gave the 6970m 20 000 point


stop crying and use the search function
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5979

 

Well, 3Dmark 06 is becoming obsolete for a reason... and in the Vantage tests the 6970 is much closer to the GTX485, which is nice. And again, very reasonable performance in games. Too bad they didn't test Just Cause 2, it's proven to be a reasonably good bench mark, and that's the first game I would install on a new notebook

Does anyone know a retailer similar to XoticPC that offers laptops with the new 6970? I'd love to see how much a notebook with that costs, considering I got the Sager NP8170 with GTX485 and a sandy bridge for 1800 USD.

edit : by "got" I mean "found for" xD I'm still stuck with an Acer with the 4570 and lemme tell you, calling yourself "gamer" while knowing what you "game" on is quite the endeavour x]

 

It's not available yet. Even the 6970M tested was an engineering sample.

 

I don't think using a SB CPU will improve benchmark scores by much, maybe the synthetics a bit. But I would just eliminate 3DMark06 at this point.

Even if it doesn't surpass the GTX 485m I'm not sure what people are whining about. Chances are it will be a couple hundred bucks cheaper than the 485m with similar performance. The 485m is equivalent to the 460m in SLI. nVidia and AMD have given us two great cards that are a significant improvement from their previous releases.

 

It will improve the benchmark scores, the notebook CPU is underpowered on pushing those GPUs. Check Sandybridge CPU bench and you will see how big boost with the same GPU..

 

i guess tthe post was adrealy on the previous page so im reposting here is a run of the 6970 with a sandy bridge cpu

 

yeah... it's linear growth. the absolute gap is increasing. the relative gap is not.

as far as not being able to max out crysis in 2011, that speaks more about crysis than our current hardware. think about how much of their coding optimization effort (dollars) went into optimizing the features that no one could run anyway on the hardware of the day of release?

 

I agree with htwingnut on this one. 6970m vs 485m, AMD is winning that one if the price of Eurocom is true or partial true. Even if 6970m is like 5% slower.
It would even have been a major blow in Nvidia`s face if AMD made some sort of automatic switchable graphics with 6970m because no one is offering the 460m, 470m, 480m and 485m with Optimus.

 

They are working on it, but realistically speaking, if no one is offering switchable graphics with high-end Nvidia cards, why would they offer it with high-end AMD cards?

 

Because
A) It would give AMD a benefit -> More sales

B) High end GPUs are the one that produce most heat. They use most power which takes a big hit on the battery. If any laptops need it, it is laptops with these.

What is the point of having a bigas* GPU on when you do office work, watching movies, surfing the web, when you can use the CPU chip to do all the work. I understand that desktop users would not give a damn since they have power plugged in all the time and have like 5 fans cooling the cabinet. But for laptop owners that want a quiet, cool and long lasting laptop it is very important imo

 

I think you've misunderstood me. It's not up to AMD to include switchable graphics in a notebook; it's up to OEMs. Every single mobile Nvidia card since Optimus was released supports it, but OEMs just won't use it in with high-end cards by choice. If it were up to Nvidia, I'm sure that we'd see more high-end cards using Optimus. It's just that the OEMs don't want it, and unless AMD has done something totally different that removes any and all possible compatibility issues, there's no reason for OEMs to treat AMD differently.

 

Sager's reason was because of too many compatability issues with Optimus. I can appreciate that. So I don't see them offering it for AMD based GPU's either. But still there could be manual switching.

 

You are right. But its still AMD that makes the hardware and makes the drivers. Maybe they can make a better system than Nvidia? They would sell more if they offered Optimus and switchable graphics. I know some people are dissappointed in the Alienware forum because the manual said M17x supported Optimus but it is disabled.

 

What kind of issues btw? Dell, Asus, Apple etc have midrange GPUs with Optimus enabled, and it works for them.

 

I have serious doubts about AMD's system, considering that it's taking so long to come out despite the fact that customers are being screwed over right now (see: SB-based HP dv6/7 and Lenovo Y4/560p). I don't think it'll be good enough to change the minds of OEMs.

 

Apple does not use Optimus but their own strange implementation.

problems let me see..... No suport for other OS's other than windows. driver issues all over. the Punkbuster issue. the slowdown since the final display is handled by the IGP. setting up sotware tables to say WHICH GPU to use. Many mfgrs have issues where the discreet card wont shut down fully so battery life is not improved. and once again, pain in the rear driver quirks still.

Optimus is not realy graphics switching as augmented

IGP - Display or Discreet to IGP to display. it just adds another step and keeps the IGP in play as there is no MUX for the discreet GPU.

 

But that is for Optimus in general correct? Not just for high end GPUs? Seems like they have a lot to fix :/

 

yes its optimus in general. I am findng alot of issues with Nvidias drivers and more than 3 monitors though .. but for 95% of people thats a non issue

 

I know that it hasn't been benchmarked properly but the 6970 sounds great, I expect the performance to be somewhere inbetween the 480 and 485. It will never be as powerful as the 485 and even less so with a dual comparison but AMD have really hit mark in pricing again that is for sure. The 485 will be on the very edge of the market because most consumers will not splash another $300-$400 on a 10% performance increase that includes myself. I just wish this card would fit in the m15x

 

Eurocom have the ATI 6970 as $66 more expensive than a nvidia 460m. This is insane, how are nvidia competitive against this and who in the world keeps buying their cards? Even if I wanted to I couldn't buy a 485m....

 

Well 6970 isn't available yet as far as I know, and won't be for at least a couple months, so if you're buying a laptop now, your best option is 485m. Pricing hasn't been fully disclosed either. Not sure how Eurocom are getting pricing.

 

Eurocom lists the card on their site, go to the " upgrade center" and then you can choose it under VGA... it's 368$... nice price imo.

I wonder why it's on the site... can you already order it?? Seems almost like it.

 

1) The test was done with an engineering sample card not a production unit. That's why you can't rely on those numbers both heat and performance wise.
2) The difference between the i7-740QM and i7-2920XM is enormous, so you can't have a fair comparison between the 485M and 6970M at this point

 

How much faster is i7-2920XM in 1080P games?

 

imvho the 6970M engineering sample will perform as good as a retail card. just look at ES cpu's, the performance is really the same, there isn't much difference, if there's any difference at all.
it's not like AMD would change the whole chip design comparing with the sample. It will have at most some features disabled.

 

That's right, performance-wise it must be like the consumer version... otherwise it woudn't make any sense to send them to the OEMs.

 

Don't trust Eurocom's price list.

Before the 460M and 470M launched, EC had them both listed as under $500. How'd that turn out? The 470M was almost $800.

 

An ES GPU comes as part of an ES sample card, which have VBIOS, BIOS, drivers, and cooling that are not necessarily finalized by the manufacturer prior to a notebook's release.

An ES CPU comes as just a CPU, and when a consumer buys one off fleaBay they're typically installing it in a released notebook that's already had all the bugs worked out. Before they go retail, notebooks start out with loads of performance issues using ES CPU.

 

That should blow GTX 485M right away.. hopefully notebookbench change the position after sandybridge with 6970M coming out

 

It absolutely doesn't and will not blow it away. It will match it, or come very close, though.

 

Consider 485M on Sandybridge got less than 18,0000 score, it will beat 485M pretty much.

 

Gah! 3DMark06 WHO THE HELL CARES!??? And there's no indication of resolution or anything either. Is it at native 1280x1024 or run on a 1366x768 screen which defaults to 1280x768 I believe?

Run some real benchmarks and do some comparisons and provide the pertinent detail.

 

the m17x does not suport a 768 screen the lower it got is a 900 but i agree it does not mean much

but notebook cheq test mean even lest its the worst gpu classifyin site i ever seen it class my 4850 quite low but testing proved that they run on ppar with some 280

 

Notebookcheck is ok. It's a good overall reference and place to start.

I didn't realize it was an M17x that it was run on. My bad. In the past I just see people touting these 3DMark06 scores and then realizing they've been running it at 1366x768 or 1280x720 which boosts the score by a good 20-25%.

In either case I considered waiting for the 6970, but I've been waiting months and months for the Sandy Bridge refresh, and the GTX 485m was a good performance option. At least the 485m will be comparable, if not better than the 6970, even if more expensive. That's the other thing, there's been no concrete pricing. I'm certain it will be cheaper, but by how much?

 

Hrm well, the 460m is/was about $75 more than a 5870 and though I never even heard of anyone with a 470m it was supposedly $200 more than a 460. I very much doubt that the 6970 will be $300 more than a 5870 - I'd guess $100 more. So maybe $200 less than a 485? Quite a bit to pay for cuda

 

6970m is officially available for alienware m17x R3 in the UK website now
Dell charging 200Pound more for it over GTX460

Note :R3 itself cost more in the UK than the US, so Pound=/-$ in the worst case scenario dell will charge 200$ more for it which is still way less than GTX485 price

 

Yeh and you have to remember the silly price bumping Dell pulled with the R3 over the better R2 here in the UK proving that pricing cannot be alligned in a linear graph. The US price difference might only be $100, maybe even less but we'll see. Either way it will be way cheaper than a 485m and probably even cheaper than a 470m which is laughable.

I don't even want to know the prices of a 485m if they ever appear on the Dell website, you would have to remortgage your family home.