Video Card Help!!!

Hello I need a question answered ASAP. Its very important which will decide on my purchase of my laptop.

What is the difference between a Dual/Crossfire video card in a laptop, and a non-crossfire video card? Please explain me in detail.

Example: Crossfire ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 (VS) 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6870M
Out of the these to video cards, which one would handle better for gaming use? A game would be Starcraft 2 at high settings. So please tell me soon.

Thanks

 

Dual/Crossfire is 2 video card working together.

Non-Crossfire is 1 video card.

 

^ He obviously meant performance wise, as he said "which is better for gaming use". I don't know why you posted that.

CF is nearly 2x as powerful.

However, you chose a particularly interesting example, becauase... 1x 5870m is faster than 1x 6870m.

The only cards that can even come close to beating 5870m CF right now is the GTX 485m, 580m, and amd 6990m.
And of course, other cards in CF or SLI.

 

To expand on that a little... This will give you a good picture... The 5870 has 800 shaders and a 128 bit memory bus with 1gb gddr5.
The 6990m has 1120 shaders with a 256 bit memory bus and 2gb gddr5.

2x 5870 is like having 1600 shaders with a 256 memory bus.

Also with the 6000 series, there were some misc. unknown optimization which improve performance per shader/clock/memory speed.

 

Ok so now niffcreature you recommend me towards Crossfire video card?

 

I posted what I did, because of the wording the OP used. These words to be exact; "What is the difference between a Dual/Crossfire video card in a laptop, and a non-crossfire video card?"

Which led me to believe he thought that there was a single video card named Crossfire.

 

Yep.
And I posted what I did... Because of the exact wording he used, "which one would handle better for gaming use"

Yea, I suppose you're right, so I take back what I said. We both answered 2 different parts of the question.

 

So which combination should do you guys recommend me to go for? Crossfire or no crossfire? Based on the configuration of the 2 video cards I gave. I am buying a laptop this week.

 

This depends on the laptop BRAND you prefer. When you get into higher end options like this, it really limits the brands you can use.

The other difference with crossfire is of course things like power consumption, size of the laptop, size of the power supply, the total heat it creates, all of these wont be double but very close to it on crossfire. And, battery life will be less.

Alienware is the only brand that is offering Sandy Bridge (newest CPUs) with CF dual graphics cards.

Clevo/Sager is the only brand that offers the single GPUs I listed with performance close to 2x crossfire.

So I think that will affect your decision more than what I recommend.
Although, occasionally running 2 cards in crossfire can cause some issues, and it will be harder to resolve than with 1 single GPUs.

The only laptop/card I can recommend from another brand is the MSI gt780 with gtx 570m. This is the best performance you will get with 1 single card other than a Clevo model.

Clevos look 'boring' and have horrible sound quality, while alienwares look a little like something at a sci-fi convention.
MSI makes a very good compromise, with some really nice effects, a few LEDs on the case, a backlit keyboard, but the design overall is still pretty subtle.

 

Oh, but based on the configuration you gave? 1x 6870m will be much much slower, and probably not worth the money.
For that performance I wouldn't pay over 900$ or so.

Assuming alienware, get the 5870 crossfire, or the 460m SLI if its offered.

 

Crossfire is AMD and depending on the notebook you buy, AMD and (insert notebook manufacturer of choice) might not be on the same page as to how important updated/always current drivers are, so I would say not only no Crossfire, but not AMD gpu either.

nVidia is currently the superior platform right now (both in performance and broader driver availability for the notebook platforms), especially if you are considering anything with a combination igpu/dgpu configuration.

(Note that nVidia does not have the support (SONY!!!!) of all notebook makers for it's Verde platform drivers either - but AMD is still far worse).

My $0.02.

 

Haha...

I'm just going to say, if its 2 cents then why put dollar sign in front if it.....

 

uhh. I am more confused now. Should I look for a laptop with crossfire radeon 5870 or Nvidia? Alienware certainly has interested me and I have added that as one of my choices. Actually its my only current choice lol. I will look at Clevo and MSI today and do a detailed research.

 

^ Dude, there is no video card that does not accelerate rendering of 2d graphics. They don't exist anymore. And I've never seen a video card that features firewire.

 

Maybe what has you confused is thinking you need the best.

The best is the AMD 6990m in crossfire or GTX 580m in SLI. There isn't a lot of reason to get the 580m since it cost 2x as much for the same performance.

And, there is no reason to get the gtx 460m in SLI or the 5870 in crossfire if you can get 1x single 6990m because the performance will be pretty close. Unless you want to upgrade later.

This is pretty much it, and everything else you can guess from the model names. Or you can look here:
Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Can you please tell me what laptop company or what laptop comes with the AMD 6990m crossfire video card or the GTX 580m SLI card? I want to look into those laptops.

Thanks

 

alienware m18x and the clevo x7200

 

Thank you, but I just looked and they are too big and too expensive and I assume very heavy.

 

I have another question for video cards.

Which one is better in performance and why?

1. 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
2. 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M

I compared these video cards to the game Starcraft 2.
I used this website as well but I cant make a decision on which would be better for gaming use.

Website:
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Thanks you again for helping me out everyone.

 

Why not read a review of the 580M and find out?

 

I have read and researched both video cards, all over google and review sites, but I can't decide which one to go for because they are both close. Some people say Nvidia is better and some say AMD so I am getting confused. So I am asking the experts here on forums which have currently helped me so far. I am a novice to buying a gaming laptop. I understood good processor, Ram, hard disk (such as SATA and RAID, etc.), wireless cards, bluetooth, backlit keyboard lights, and many other stuff. I need help deciding on a powerful video card and I am stuck on that.

 

Well read between the lines, its obvious both are similar, so maybe look at other factors like price, weight, battery life etc.

 

Which one do you recommend and why?

Also price is not a matter to me at the moment.