Upgrading graphics from 280m...

Hey guys! I'm in the process of trying to sell my Nvidia gtx 280m MXM 3.0b on the marketplace right now and i was wanting to upgrade to either a gtx 460m or a 5870....which should I pick? Any input / opinions are very much welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

I would wait for the 470m, it will be released very soon.

 

do you think it will be that much better? I've also heard that it will be like $500 and that's just too much money for me to spend.

 

Go for the 5870. It's quite cheap and gives about similar performance to the 460 I think ._.

 

nvidia's market target is as follows;
460-5850
470-5870
480-6870

 

Nvidia does not decide the competitor. The price does. The 460m is the competitor of the H5870.

 

While I see the logic there, I've read reviews and benchmarks that make the 460 on par with the majority of the 5870's performance... (correct me if I'm wrong here of course). My max price would be around $350. So, while i would LOVE to have a 470, I'm guessing they may be out of my price range. Still no word on pricing yet for the 470's right?

 

you can distort or use a variety of 'benchmarks' that could give either an advantage. That is what nvidia is targeting with the 4xx cards, both will perform better in some situations because of driver optimizations versus the other.

Clevo's and Sagers do not count as a price comparison given that they charge large amounts for pre order items anyway. When the GTX460M is as expensive an option in an Acer or Dell, then it will be a competitor, and currently, it's being used in cheaper 15.x laptops versus 5870s being used in more expensive 17" laptops. Find a 17" DTR that offers a 460M and 5870 at the same price point and I will retract my statement.

 

Thank you for all your input. I have a source that I can buy either a 460m with a heatsink for my clevo or a 5870 with a heatsink for the exact same price ($350). Keep the opinions and recommendations coming!

 

We are talking about the card itself and the average price you can get it for. Using a similar configuration between machines trying to hold the exact same config, you can reach a price that varies a little between brands etc. The 460m seems to be between 350dlrs and 400dlrs last time I checked.

Taking the whole machine into consideration is another deal.

And well, the HD5870 and 460m are basically on the same level. Older DX9 and DX10 will tend to run better by a slight margin on the Hd5870, while newer DX11 will run better on 460m.

It should be mentioned though, neither company has a proper mobile GPU for DX11, except maybe 480m though it is still stupidly expensive and not powerful enough. Enabling DX11 effects (there is more to it than tessalation) begins to cripple performance.

My advise is to wait for 470m and new Ati radeon series. They should be launching soon. Then you can at least get a broader image of the performance you can get.

Finally... both 460m and Hd5870 are good overclockers, so you can squeeze good performance anyways. I game on mine at 870/1030 with awesome temps and no performance issues. And that's not even my max OC.

 

ryzeki, so if you had the choice when building your laptop , would you pick 460 or 5870 if they were the exact same overall price?

 

doesn't the 5870 have down clocking problems while idle in the clevo's?

 

They did when they were reviewed, couldn't comment on whether it was fixed or not.

The OP seemed to ask for a performance opinion, I tried to give him one.

 

I would go for the HD5870, or more like, I had the choice and went with the radeon mainly because my previous laptops were nvidia and I wanted to return to ATi for a while.

It was slightly cheaper, and runs the games I want better (mostly DX9-10 titles) so I am happy with my choice.

I expected a bit more from the 460m, as I actually wanted it to beat soundly the radeon, but well, I guess that's up to the bigger 470 and 480m.

I think your best bet is making a list of what you play and want to play, and users with both GPUs can help you see overall performance you can expect.

 

I would like to know this as well before I plop down $350!

 

I would wait for the 470M. If you get the HD5870, you will barely notice any performance difference at all.

 

Another option: could sell up and get a Sandy Bridge notebook in Q1 2011 and DIY ViDock it with a US$220/$280 GTS450/GTX460. ie: x1 2.0 + Optimus. Will benchmark faster than the mobile 460M or 5870. Add a pci-e 3.0 video card and get more performance again.

 

I agree with nando partially, waiting to trade up is a good plan since new radeons are around the corner.

 

It's a nifty novelty, but people buy a gaming laptop for a reason, and it's all the reasons why vidock isn't an option. If one was in the market for just a netbook with a home setup only for gaming, then yes I can see the ViDock as an option, but would personally prefer a desktop than using a netbook with ViDock myself.

To get HD5870M performance
$145 External 21.5" LCD 1080p (Not easily portable), closest I could find for 17" 1080p on NewEgg
$25 145 Watt PSU (BIG) (Not easily portable)
$139 Gigabyte HD5770 (BIG) (Not easily portable)
$55 Expresscard Adapter sticking out (As if we want another wire sticking out) (Sort of portable, connected to HD5770, Not easily portable)

$364 very nice price, but all of the above, exactly why people buy a gaming laptop, ViDock 100% defeats the reason why someone wants to buy a gaming laptop. My backpack wouldn't have enough room for all the ViDock setup, nevermind having spare room for my headphones, the NETBOOK, and a few books.

Cheapest laptop I could find with an i7 720QM is $900+$364. Considering you can buy a G73jh from Best Buy for less, the ViDock is not compelling.

Upgrading later, wouldn't matter. The next gen hardware will likely use a different CPU socket when upgrading is needed, so a new rig has to be bought anyways. As a user of a large high performance laptop, I budget and plan for upgrading at a later time, so upgrade-ability isn't an issue or something even considered.

 

Optimus driver allows transparent internal LCD usage, though with a performance penalty on x1 1.0 setups. pci-e 3.0 ports on Sandy Bridge notebooks with equivalent of x4 1.0 will have the bandwidth to pull it off at much faster performance. 12V/120W GTS450 setup is portable enough to carry around. Could even do a 12V/150W GTX460 AC adapter setup

Sandy Bridge systems making a portable NVidia DIY ViDock a serious option to consider.

 

Makes me wonder what kind of backpack or laptop bag you use...

Not portable especially when connected to ViDock adapter. Would get destroyed in my backpack and if I build a casing for it, then even less portable.


GTS 450 on Nvidia website pulls 106 Watt, but actual usage Nvidia is ALWAYS wrong. So let's say safely 125 Watts. 145 Watt PSU is smallest I could find with the proper connectors. 100% not portable!


Lastly I buy a high performance gaming laptop because I want to view at 1600*900 minimum and not a netbook screen or some crummy 14" laptop screen.

 

Some folks happy to make allowances for 'portability'. Eg: A i7 12" Lenovo X202 + 12V/150W GTX460 setup will get you a el-primo pocket rocket with gaming cred. No desktop + netbook necessary to clutter your life.

I of course don't want built in gpu redundancy in my system, forcing a system upgrade every 1.5years, so will always go a desktop card where I can upgrade very easily. Also NVidia had rumours of creating their own external desktop graphics solution so may customise the hardware for more portability.

@Lozz- the 12V/75W GT430, 12V/120W GTS450 and 12V/150W GTX460 adapter solutions take up very little space. I expect a much higher uptake of DIY ViDock with highly portable SB notebooks in favor of gaming and/or desktop+netbook solutions in the coming months.

 

some folks also buy clevos too. There will always be takers in anything, that doesn't make it a legitimate solution. Vidock is a good DTR solution to hook into, but that's it. I can't see very many people filling even a nich market that are willing to lug around a 7-8lb laptop, another 10-15lbs in an additional desktop card, and an additional PSU, being 4 units in total. It's definitally not something I can see casually lounging around with at starbucks.

last I checked, the M17X R1(and c2Q/G92b based computers) plays 95% of games on high-maximum settings just fine still? Granted mobile gpus are typically behind the curve, but it's not like all mobile products aern't anyway either. The 940XM, a $1200 cpu is clocked as high as a regular desktop $300 950, and the 950 doesn't clock throttle as heavily as the 940XM does too. If you need to upgrade every 1.5years, a vidock isn't going to cure anything.