Shall i buy a new notebook now or wait?

I want to buy a gaming notebook with hd4870 or 260m in it but i am willing to wait if the next generation cards is around the corner. How long would that be?

 

Q3 2010 I think.

 

Damn thats a long time!

 

yea, it takes a while 'till mobile versions of modern GPU's get introduced. But if u don't bother with DX11, then just get 260m and your set (280m would be kickass tho' )

 

The 260M looks like a great card. SLi, even better. The next gen cards won't be around till middle of next year, so you might as well get something now if you need something. Otherwise, wait it out!

 

Just buy one. No matter how long you wait, there will ALWAYS be something better 'just around the corner'. New cards, chips, drivers, etc, etc.

My philosophy - accept that you buy a good system at the time, and know that in a year there will be better. In some cases (CPUs) you may be able to upgrade your system to keep up, but in most (chipsets, mobos, most graphics cards) you just have to accpet what you've got. But, generally, i find I get more overall enjoyment from getting a system sooner, enjoying it sooner, and accepting that the way tech is, there will always be something better 'just around the corner' than I would by sitting by and waiting for the new stuff.

 

I'm also a buy it now because something better is always around the corner, except in the current situation... with windows 7 (should be released for vista too) DX11 is right around the corner and some desktop cards are already capable. Also i7's are going to be more mainstream soon and offer some awesome benefits and will cost less than the current C2quads. Pair that with the SSD market and TRIM support and that's a recipe for waiting if you ask me.

I think if you have a system that even runs games at minimal settings you should stick with it until the DX11 cards are out, because the second DX11 is out you're going to want your card to supported it...

 

It depends on how long you plan to keep your notebook. If you buy one now and plan to keep it for two years, then there should be no real issue. A GTX 260m should suffice for two years, if not more.

Otherwise, expect to wait a good six months at least before getting any decent and affordable i7 and Dx11 configurations.

There will always be something better, period. Only if you know something is actually ready to be shipped, available within a month, it makes sense to wait. You never know if technologies get delayed for some reason or another.

Also consider that you can buy a cheap notebook now and sell it in a year and use that money towards one with newer tech if you really think you want or need it.

 

I am far from an expert on notebooks and GPU upgradability compared to other members here.

However, I believe if he purchases a notebook now with an MXM 3.0 slot, he would be able to upgrade to a Geforce 300M GPU next year, hopefully it wouldn't use a new MXM standard.

 

MXM is a mixed bag anyhow. There's different vendors with different variations even. Usually you get one or two upgrade options. But technically, yes you should be able to upgrade an MXM 3.0 card to the next gen nVidia.

 

Is X11 cards worth waiting for, would they improve fps or just better graphics?

 

Probably not worth it for the cost. Upgrading GPUs (if you can) is pretty expensive (anywhere from $200-500).

 

There are a few i7 260m notebooks running around.

 

Do many notebooks have MXM 3.0 slot and how do i find these loose Geforce 300M and other GPU's?

 

DX 11 is geared towards both better graphics AND better performance, that's what tessellation and GPU compute both do, they're methods to increase performance and make things look a lot better at the same time. I'd say wait, because the GTX280m is actually just a die shrunk 8800GT desktop chip using a design from way back in 2006, it's very out dated, and technology hasn't really moved much beyond the release of this card, but the new series cards are finally something more than just a rebranded OLD core. i'd say it's definitely worth the wait.

 

You mean NVidia's 3xxm series right?

 

Some of the new 2xxM series are based on the G200 core. Whether of not the 3xxM will be based on the G300 core or G200 remains to be seen.