Video card questions

ive been debating upgrading my laptop with a gtx 780m on my alienware m17x r4 and i was wondering if it would be worth it i currently have a radeon hd 7970m and a i7 3630qm. if i did upgrade would i need a better cpu. the main thing is i need to keep this laptop for 4 years and i would love to be able to play on ultra that entire time though im not afraid to tune itdown a bit. so should i buy the 780m or wait and hold on to this card for a while and if i do wait how long will they keep making the mxm 3.0b or whatever alienware uses. sorry if its hard to read pressed for time. Thanks in advance.

 

IMHO, upgrade your CPU and leave your GPU alone until more feedback for the new Nvidia and AMD GPUs come in. That way you can make an informed decision as to what GPU to upgrade to and what you can expect from it. In this new release, the Nvidias may be ultra stable, but the AMDs may have the better edge in gaming. Or vice versa. I don't think the new lineups have been out long enough for anyone to be absolutely certain of their performance and reliability.

I wouldn't worry about the successive release to the MXM 3.0b. I did a search on Google for MXM 3.0c and MXM 3.0 successor, nothing came up. If there was a new mobile GPU card form factor in the works, there would be articles on it.

 

There is no way to know how long they would keep making GPUs to the MXM 3.0b standard. It currently supports 100W and a 256bit bus width. As long as mobile GPUs don't go above that, they probably won't have a reason to change. If you did upgrade, you shouldn't need a new CPU. If you can afford it go right ahead. However, I would listen to radji's advice and wait for a couple of months before purchasing the newer GPUs.

 

thanks but the main thing is will i need the gpu upgrade or will i be able to ride out this console generation with this one
mainly i just want the laptop to last as long as say a ps4 or is that possible

 

The hardware inside consoles stays the same until the next generation is released. The PlayStation 3 ran (or rather will run) the same CPU/GPU combination for seven years until the PS4 is released this winter. You cannot expect a PC to last that long even if you upgrade the GPU. For example, those who purchased a system with a GTX 580m SLI three years ago, their GPUs are already outperformed by the 780m from today. Even if they get 2 780ms in place of their 580ms, their CPU might not be able to supply data to the GPU fast enough and you cannot upgrade CPUs for more than a couple of generations before Intel changes the sockets. I don't think you can replace a Clarksfield with an Ivy Bridge. So no, if you want to keep playing games on ultra, you would need to purchase a new system at the most every 4 years, probably sooner. The more you tone down your settings, the longer you can keep playing on your laptop. However, you will not be able to keep going for seven years. Video game designers include new technologies into their software that are not supported by older hardware.

 

Correct on the CPU upgrade-ability. You can sometimes go up one generation thanks to Intel's tic-tock model road-map. Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge were a tic-tock pair and therefore Intel designed the Sandy Bridge chipsets to handle and Ivy Bridge CPU if the consumer so desired. Intel Tick-Tock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But to clarify, I didn't mean for the OP to upgrade his CPU to a Haswell. I meant for him to look into a strong Ivy Bridge CPU like an i7-840QM or something. I still recommend him wait until the 780ms are fully deployed as to determine if they will game good enough to warrant the upgrade cost.

 

It's impractical to think that most laptops can cool a GPU that's over 100w on a reliable basis. Yes, it's shown that current gen cards are cooled sufficiently enough... however there's only a select handful of laptop chassis' that can handle that level of GPU. The Clevo and Alienware lineups are the only ones that can even fathom managing a 150w GPU...

 

I'm sorry I don't follow. I did not mention a laptop's cooling capability in my post. May be I am misunderstanding what you are trying to say? Coz I don't disagree what you said.

 

practically just do an upgrade I also have heard good reviews with this "gtx 780m" benchmarks looks quite impressive though' but ofcourse it gonna be a full effort for replacing the components but who cares it for the best set up so just go for it, just do an upgrade. "Good game needs good upgrade" :thumbsup:

 

so my laptop will at most last four years from now is that with or without the upgrade to the gpu? and from what a tech from alienware told me you can upgrade the motherboard or was he wrong (wouldnt suprise me one guy told me the Alienware 17 Or m17xr5 didnt exist (i had a sales catalog detailing it) another told me my gpu didnt exist as amd hadnt realesed it and the only gpu my laptop had was an Intel hd 4000)

 

If you are going to change the motherboard, the CPU (you would have to with a new MB) and the GPU, you might as well purchase another laptop. I mean you are upgrading everything except the husk if you upgrade the mobo, cpu and gpu. The Alienware 17 isn't called the M17xR5 because it is not a revision. So if the rep told you that the R5 didn't exist, he was correct. If he told you that if you could upgrade the mobo, he was probably trying to sell you a laptop. Finally, what do you mean by "my gpu"? AFAIK, you are deciding on what to purchase. So what GPU do you have right now that the rep told you didn't exist? Also, no one is going to guarantee that a given configuration is going to last you for four years. They don't know how Maxwell or Volta or whatever will perform. If that does really well, game designers could upgrade their engines and develop games that would run really crappily on your two year old laptop. On the other hand, the trend could continue as it has or even stagnate and you could play games on what you purchase for several years.

Generally, you should be good for two years with a quad core i7 and the top end nvidia or (to a lesser extent) AMD GPU.

 

Idk where you guys leading the op to instead of answering his question. Short answer is no, there is little reason to upgrade for 10-20% performance, which is not gonna "future proof" at all. Upgrade/buy a new one when you feel the machine is not powerful enough. The 780m is not going away so that "no upgrade are available".


Most Rep are clueless so don't brother trying.

 

It is okay if "ydk". OP asked questions and was given answers. If you have answers to OP's questions, answer them. There is no reason to say "IDK where you guys.... blah blah". we ARE answering his questions. You see how he asked all those questions in his last post?

 

Just trying to help no one speak directly that upgrading from 7970m to 780m will not allow the op keep doing "all max ultra" gaming for that much longer. It is good to know about all the tech/history but..

 

yea i know its the alienware 17 i ask about it and an r5 he said neither existed . i have a radeon hd 7970m he said it didnt exist . and if i upgraded the mobo then i would up the cpu and mobo then gpu on down the road would keep hdd and ram so its not entirely i mean eventually yea but upin the mobo and cpu would be cheaper than enitrely new . but it is possible to put a 17 in an r4

 

I doubt it, but you will get better answer in the alienware subforum.