How long will a 7970m last me?

I can currently get a really good deal on a sager clevo p150em right now. It comes with a i7 3720qm and 7970m. I want to know how long will that 7970m last me? Will I be able to upgrade it to say like a 9970 or something. Can I get like 4 years out of it playing on good settings on a 7970m?

 

I don't think this card will last you for 4 years, maybe for 1 year. I am about to order an Clevo too, but with 780M SLI. It's expensive, but it will surely last for 4 years. Or if it's too expensive, go for a single 780M.

 

One year on max settings (ultra). I know people still using 200-300 series NVidia cards, playing games on medium.

It mainly depends on the game, but the 7970M will last you another 2-3 years, unless you need to play on the highest settings possible.

 

Eh 780m are to expensive and I want a 15.6 screen and there is no p150sm yet

 

Is the 7970M upgradable? Will the i7 3720qm bottle neck future cards?

 

Um, it is possible.

Assuming you get (or have) the 7970M/680M now, and you hope to upgrade in three years, you will likely run into issues. Not only with throttling (bottleneck), but compatibility. I can't see into the future, so, I don't know. What I am trying to say is: be prepared to buy a new machine. You may not have to, but if you plan to throw the latest GPU's in your system a few years from now, it might not work out.

On the other hand, you could probably get a 7970M now and upgrade to an 8970M next year. The 3720 won't bottleneck these in a single GPU setup (8970M & 780M).

 

Ughhh I hate pc gaming on laptop I wish I could just get a desktop that will last me forever with a 7970. But I need a laptop for school... So a 7970m won't be a decent card able to play games like a few years from now..

 

if you need a laptop for school get a cheap 500 dollar ultrabook (theres lots of deals on old ultrabooks going out, since new haswell ones are coming in soon) and then build yourself a desktop.

 

Na I'm going to just get a laptop. I can't afford both and the 7970m should last. It should play games on medium settings like 4 years down the road.

 

1500 dollar laptop or a 500 dollar laptop and a 1000 dollar desktop with more horsepower than the laptop seems like a better choice to me, but your call of course. And I really doubt that you will be playing whatever the new crysis type game is in 4 years with a 4 year old mobile graphic card.

 

The 7970M is an excellent GPU for today, for tomorrow it's less certain! Now that there's a new generation of consoles coming out (Xbone & PS4), then I think over the next 2 years we will see graphic intensiveness increase in PC games. The 7970M runs most games maxed out, some with reduced settings, so in the years to come you'll more than likely have to start lowering the detail. I reckon you'd be able to run games at max or close to max for the next almost 1-2 years, and then you'll have to lower the detail progressively up to 4 years, and then after that it's probably obsolete. Just some real quick, possibly fairly inaccurate theorising for you right there!

I think a lot of the Clevos, Alienware, etc, that employ MXM style graphics cards are upgradeable, but it's normally up to the manufacturer to provide BIOS support to enable that to happen. If the BIOS doesn't fully support the new GPU's you may add in the future, then quite often there are work arounds to get the new GPU's to work, although often foregoing things like Optimus. This is exactly how I got my 670MX to work in my M17xR3, which doesn't officially support that GPU.

 

fantastic question, i have the 7970M, and i bought it despite knowing the driver issues AMD are known for, any how, it's bang-for-buck, works for now, and hopefully get a medium grade or so with games of the future ( watch dogs, GTA5 etc..)

i did however have the same question, if one has a (enduro/optimus) designed system (my R4) is it simply ok, to put in a 680M or 780M when needed, and the system just boots???

because the way enduro is built in my laptop, there is a physical switch between IGP and 7970M ONLY......so you can switch between either

 

I guess it depends on system bios support in that case paradigm. The R4 is fairly modern. I am sure you can upgrade. The ancient M15x can run even the 8970M and 780M lol (although it doesn't have an IGP whatsoever)

OP the 7970M will last you quite some time. If you want to play highest settings then it should remain able until the next true gen of GPU's are released within a year from now.

 

If you have a Clevo with 7970m in P150EM you should be able to upgrade to a 780m later which will give you a significant boost in performance. At least you'll have some sort of upgrade path. It won't be necessarily cheap but in 2 years you should be able to throw in a 780m as long as Prema's efforts are successful, and give you a solid 40-50% boost in performance.

But as someone else mentioned, buy a $500 general purpose laptop then build a desktop for ~ $1000 and you've got two great options. Even build a small form factor one like the Cooler Master Elite 120. It will be hold the latest micro ITX motherboard, quad core CPU's, full length GPU's, and use traditional power supply.

 

I guess the m15 without an igp is better for compatibility sakes, less integration. I guess the OP and myself are in a similar predicament 37xx series with a 7970m...

So If I have the bios, then only can an upgrade work?..... Oh well here's hoping