Most likely my last question before buying a new laptop

I know I've asked a bunch of questions about different aspects but I just want to make sure I'm not wasting money(either when purchasing or in the future if I ever need an upgrade)... I'm still planning on either buying the Malibal P151HM1 or the P150HM, depending on some people reactions/comments in this thread.

Just wondering, is the P150HM worth getting for an upgraded video card over the P151? For example, the specs for a P150 I configured are:

Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.7 95% NTSC Glossy Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 4 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1102 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
Warranty: 4 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Price: $1,549

and a P151:

Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.7 95% NTSC Glossy Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 4 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1102 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
Warranty: 4 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Price: $1,274

Almost a $300 difference, mainly for a different videocard(along with a different finish on the laptops). I checked notebookcheck and I did see a slight improvement from the 6970m over the 560m, but is it worth the $300? I'd like to play new games with high details, but a $300 difference somewhat turns me off... Would I be better off just getting the cheaper laptop and if necessary, upgrade the card in the future?

Also, I was wondering if anyone knows why the AMD® Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5 is $45 cheaper than the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 470M 1.5GB GDDR5. I checked the cards out the the 6970 gets slightly higher framerates than the 470m, so why would it be cheaper(just a question from curiousity)?

 

the 6970m slightly better than the 560m? its over 50% more performance.

and the 6970m is cheaper because nvidia puts the price higher/have a bigger die, has cuda....

 

huh maybe I'm thinking of the wrong thing somehow...? I don't really understand most of the benchmarks so I usually just go by the framerates of games listed on notebookcheck... thought it was usually only about 15% higher or so...

 

Eh, it's closer to 30-35% on average.

6990m is probably the one that's 40-45% better.

 

IIRC some resellers (and Sager?) pulled the 6970m because it either didn't meet their standards (Sager) or it had way too high of a failure rate during stress testing ( some resellers).

I have read about some people having heat issues, but last year when I bought my 5870m Asus, the same issues happened. Either you had them ( I suspect many more with issues go to a site to talk about it) or you didn't ( I didn't, and I suspect most people that don't have an issue do not come to a site) so make of it what you will. I am very happy with my 5870m. Runs pretty cool and no issues at all.

It is a little weird though that they would be pulled so fast after initial release. (They came out a good while after the 485m in the Sager, but was pulled after about a month, with a long line of people waiting on it for their order. This had to have cost money in lost sales, but I think that Sager and the resellers were more concerned about reputation in the long run.

I am not a fanboi of either. I have had both over the years, and have seen and read about both having issues. I think they both try too hard to outdo the other, and as a result often rush cards out, only to find that their QC was lacking. Having had a couple of HP lappys a number of years ago have their vid cards go out right after the stock warranty (1 year), I would suggest that whatever card you decide on, put your best test to it. If you game, play your hardest on it, and if you have any issues, either return or RMA it. Good luck in your decision.

I should add, I have a Sager 8150 with the 485m. I was actually waiting to buy the one with the 6970m, but it had not been released yet, and I found a guy that actually works for Sager that buys them ( at employee discount) and sells them brand new, still unboxed, on CL. I got a killer deal. Otherwise I would have waited for the 6970m. But I am very happy with my 485m. Just saying.

 

Wow that's pretty interesting.. hopefully if I decide to get the 6970, it won't have issues.. I'd get the 485m but it's even more expensive that the 6970(about $100 more).. $1,500 is pushing it for me with the 6970 lol.

Also I'm a little worried about getting an ati card since currently I have a 4-5 year old laptop with an integrated card, and have had so many issues finding a working driver, even from ati's website.. I know it's an old card but I should be able to get a working driver I think. I'm pretty sure I still have one from 2008 because I couldn't find any new ones, even though I often get update reminders, the packages just don't install a driver. Don't want to spend 1500 for a laptop and not be able to find decent working drivers, y'know?

 

Yeah, I hear you. Like I said, I am very happy with my 5870m. I love my 485m. But you should let us know what games you would be playing, and unless you absolutely need the better card, you might be happy with the 560m. And later you should be able to upgrade. Malibal has a great rep for putting put upgradeable machines and providing parts and support for them.

Also, you should go on the Sager/Clevo threads here on the NBR and check out other people's opinion that have had each of these cards. A lot of very informed people and a ton of great info on there.

 

I will say, there is no reason why you shouldn't get the 6990m instead. Its barely more expensive and is well worth it.

 

Hmm well I'd most likely be playing Battlefield 3 when it's released, maybe try out Crysis 2 since I loved the first one... Possibly an mmorpg like Tera/Guild Wars 2/ArchAge, and Diablo 3.

Yeah I'm gonna have to check out that subforum when I get home from work .

And I just didn't know if I would actually need/want the 6990.. It brings the price to about $1600 which is about 400 over what I initially wanted to spend. I've just kept looking and doing a little research and kept increasing the cost of the laptop, lol. I don't even think I'd need one of the best video cards released atm anyways