5790 Video card: help me choose

Okay, guys, go easy on me here--I'm not a gamer, and tho I stay up to speed on most other hardware components, I find the constantly shifting array of video cards and chips dizzying.

In looking at the video card choices on Xotic for the 5790, I see:
1) 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 8700GT DX10, and
2) 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 7950GTX w/GDDR3, for $100 more

I'm guessing the 7950GTX has a faster GPU (hence the higher price?), and since it mentions GDDR3, maybe the 8700GT has GDDR2? But the 8700 has DirectX 10, which would make it more forward-looking, wouldn't it?

As I said, I'm not a gamer, but I can imagine situations (perhaps video editing) where a fast GPU would come in handy. But if I want a more future-proof GPU, would getting the DX10 version be a better choice?

Please, help this poor confused old fellow.

 

Nope, actually the 8700GT is far more efficient in video editing, and video rendering, they both also have GDDR3.

Just that the 7950GTX has a higher bus width so it can do gaming related stuff faster. I'd definately say go for the 8700GT as it will be faster for you.

 

For your needs I'd recommend the 8700.

 

If you are not using it for games, then you should go for the 8700M GT... (or don't even buy the Sager np5790 ) The 8700M GT uses less power than the 7950GTX and runs cooler which means you're more likely going to get more battery life. And yea, the 8700M GT should be better at those video stuff.

 

Part of your reply:

confused me--why should I not buy the Sager 5790?

 

let me rephrase the question for you. Why would you get a gaming laptop if you aren't gaming?

 

Ah, I see what you're asking. I've looked at a variety of laptops from different companies, in categories including business, workstation, and the current high-end gaming/entertainment type.

While I understand that many, if not most, buyers of laptops like the 5790 might use them for gaming, I have concluded--for my own needs--that the various components used in combination in gaming-type laptops are what I'm looking for to satisfy my needs.

IOW, in all the other categories of laptops I've looked at, each category contains some of the components or technology I'm looking for, but not all. So far, the so-called "gaming" laptop pretty much satisfies what I want in a portable. This very post about the video card illustrates that I can do a minor tweak to the config--i.e. the 8700 card rather than the 7950--to make the unit more suit my needs. Laptops in other categories many times don't even offer some of the options I'm looking for.

I also have a bit of the Tim Allen "More power!" attitude in me. Arr, arr, arr! And who knows, once I have a sweet "gaming" laptop, I just might be tempted to play a game or two.

 

Sorry to bring up this month old thread here, but this thread describes exactly (well somewhat) what i am going through.

Now I am like oldcrank. Not a gamer, but i will be using my computer for hardcore data crunching (Data Mining though SAS, and R). So it is important that I have a powerful computer (awwwww Tim Allen, thank you for the grunt). Now of course, one thing I want to minimize is heat (and sound of course, but the chief source of sound is the fans usually).

So my question is, after rambling on like that, how "hot" will the 8700M get under light loads. The most I will be taxing the GPU will be through watching videos, and maybe through graphical analysis of large data sets (apparently there is 3D modelling that can be done to illustrate a trend in data cluster sets in mining..)

Regrettably i have only seen reviews here for 5790's with the 7950GTX video card (granted that was out first). But I would love to hear from someone who has the 8700M in regards to heat and the fan noise (both ambient and under hard load)

thanks people

 

Why is the 8700GT more efficient in video editing and such? I am in the same boat here. I am also looking at sticking with XP Pro and as I have read the 8700 GT is a Vista designed card. Does that mean I will run into problems running the 8700 GT in XP? Should I in fact consider Vista instead?

Also I will be running Maxon Cinema 4d 9.6 XL on this machine which is Open GL required. How would the 8700 GT fair in modelling and 3d work?

The majority of my work revolves around Flash, AfterEffects, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Illustrator and I am assuming that running the CS3 versions of each on the 8700 GT in XP Pro won't be an issue?

Can anyone confirm?

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

No you won't have any problems running the 8700M GT in XP Pro. It's just that the advantage of 8700 is DX10 and you can only use that in Vista. Which means if you use XP Pro then you're not getting the new DX10 features. And I think both the 7950 or 8700 will run all those programs very well.

 

If you can afford to wait, I'd recommend waiting until the Quadro 1600M/3500M become available on this laptop model (shouldn't be too long now). These cards are specialized workstation graphic cards with which you will see a huge performance increase in 3D applications and video editing.

The 87000GT and 7950GTX cards are consumer-level cards that can get the job done but are primarily designed for gaming.

 

Well then it becomes a cost issue. Those quadro cards cost more and from what I have read there isn't much of an improvment. At this point I am actually thinking about going with Vista to save an extra $50.

Has anyone here run into problems with Vista, and the Adobe CS3 apps?

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

could you apply the quadro drivers to a consumer card to get the same affect? i dont have any idea.