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    Upgrade or wait?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by supertoast92, Sep 22, 2012.

  1. supertoast92

    supertoast92 Notebook Consultant

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    Hi everyone,

    I'm currently running the laptop in my sig, and it's a very nice machine that's been serving me well for the past year. The only thing is, the GPU is pretty mediocre, which is what I was partially expecting when getting this machine. However, after leaving behind my GTX 680 machine while heading back to college, I've been missing getting decent frame rates :D

    I've been eyeing up Keplar based laptops recently, specifically the Asus machine here: Asus - 15.6" Laptop - 12GB Memory - 750GB Hard Drive - Black - G55VW-DS71

    That's such a beastly looking machine, but it's pretty heavy as expected. I think my L502x pushes 6-7lbs with the 9 cell battery it has.

    I know the 660m would give me a pretty good boost over a 540m, but I just don't feel the upgrade is really that necessary...too bad you can't simply upgrade the GPU in a laptop :( Maybe by next summer the gt 7XXm series will be out.

    I guess my question to you would be, what do you all think about the 660m vs the 540m? Worth an upgrade, or too soon?
     
    supertoast92, Sep 22, 2012
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  2. Onasi

    Onasi Notebook Guru

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    Too soon in my opinion. The specs on the AMD 8000 series (specifically 8870 and the 8850) are already leaked. As far as I know the mobile 8970 should be based on the desktop 8870, and apparently I've been hearing that the 8870 is almost as good as the GTX 680(!), if not just as good. My guess for next generation is Dec this year or early next year.

    If you feel that you need more performance now then by all means, shoot for the 670M atleast though.
     
    Onasi, Sep 22, 2012
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  3. supertoast92

    supertoast92 Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's pretty incredible to hear that the next generation is coming so soon! I wouldn't be surprised about it either.
     
    supertoast92, Sep 22, 2012
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  4. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    Yeah it didn`t take long for AMD to announce news about the 8000 series. Much faster than what I expected, but then again, its almost a year since 7970 was released. Damn time flies so fast. So does the tech. :)

    The most interesting isn`t the 8970 btw, its the 8870 because thats what our next 8970M will be based on. :D

    TDP goes down 10% while the performance is rumored to equal GTX 680. Core count goes from 1280 to 1792. :D

    AMD Sea Islands HD 8850 and 8870 Specifications Leaked | PC Perspective

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Cloudfire, Sep 22, 2012
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  5. jaug1337

    jaug1337 de_dust2

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    Just wait for the Winter, we'll have a lot of good announcements there ;)
     
    jaug1337, Sep 22, 2012
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  6. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    I missed this :) another generation of gpus are coming, and the excitement is building up, I hope we will be able to upgrade the gpu again. 8870 looks amazing, very curious what nvidia has in mind :)
     
    maxheap, Sep 22, 2012
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