Should I get the 980m or the 970m

Hi, I have two years of college left and I would like to buy a gaming laptop that will suffice until I graduate. I plan on buying a desktop afterwards, but in the meantime, I want to game on a mobile GPU that will be able to handle new games on medium to high settings. I notice there is price difference of about $350, will there be a noticeable difference in 2 years?

 

980m for sure.

 

Both good cards. The 980M will give you that guaranteed 30+ FPS gaming experience without sacrificing much in regards to the settings. But if you don't care for maximum detail, and want to save a few bucks, go for the 970M. It'll last you 2 years at high(ish) settings.

Both are compatible with DirectX 12 (aka. Windows 10). So, no worry there. Windows 10 is free for the first year from ANY Windows (7 - 8.1).

 

980 offcourse. The 970 has some issues with the memory clocks

 

this is assuming you get a mobile GPU that's on an MXM board over the soldered on crap!

 

what?
Where?

 

If you can afford it, 980m for certain.

 

The desktop 970 has throttling issues when you exceed 3.5GB of VRAM usage. Not the 970M.

 

Gamers Start Petition For GeForce GTX 970 Refund – EVGA Okays Returns in UK

 

Your confusing desktop 980 and 970 with 980M and 970M

FTFY

 

ah, I thought it was across both, my bad

 

PM @woodzstack if you want a reasonably priced 970M or 980M.....they're offering the 980M for $850 Canadian.

 

You really should do some research before you make statements like that, man. People eventually see and get the wrong idea.

As for the 970's issue, I wrote about it already in some detail here http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/198568-the-video-ram-information-guide/

 

I don't think that the difference between 980m & 970m is 30+fps.
Its about more 15+ fps

 

I didn't say it was 30+ FPS more?

 

If all you want is 2 years, and don't need max settings and will play at 1080p, the 970m will be just fine.... It's a fantastic card for the money, and maxes out just about everything today while staying nice and cool. It's a good bit better than the top of the line last year.

If money isn't that important, then of course go with the 980m.

 

You missed the point. They meant if you want a 30+fps experience on high settings at 1080p: go for a 980M.

If you're not really into having the high textures then go for a 970M.

 

And to add since this became a confusing thread ha, you'll get 60+ FPS at 1080p today on either choice, the 980m will of course last a bit longer, but the 970m isn't far behind and you'll always be able to play the same games, just at a slightly lower setting or framerate. On modern games, neither will be stuck at 30FPS currently....

 

Right. There's a handful of games if you MUST run at absolute maximum detail, will run 40-50FPS with the 980m, and maybe drop 5-6FPS with the 970m. But everything else at max detail or even dropping the detail in those more demanding ones slightly will put you back up to 60FPS.

 

If the 980m is within your budget ... Might as well

 

I'd go 970M, if you're building a desktop in a couple years.

 

I'm personally going with the 970m. I seriously can't warrant the 980m at double the price. In the UK it is around £500 - £550!! The 970 on the other hand can hopefully be had for around £300 - £350.

 

For example I paid 900$ for sli 970m which is 100$-150$ more than the 980m.
The performance difference is 40%-45% more power.
I use only 1 970m oc and I can play bf4-bf hardline multiplayer stable at 55-65 fps ultra at 60c-62c max
And they are very cool cards.
$ to $ I think the 970m is more interest.
That is perfect for me

 

the nice thing about the 980m unlocked is that it can do dying light at 1080p 60fps on the default settings