7970M and 680M + old games?

Hi everyone!

I'm new here though I've been following the discussions for some weeks, especially those on the 7970M issues. First I'd like to thank all the posters who have contributed to the threads and shared their valuable experience in this delicate matter!

I'm about to buy a P170EM and thus have to decide on whether to take the 7970M or the 680M - nothing you are unfamiliar with now . I'm constantly reading the discussions on the web. In this post, I'd like to ask the following question: How well, with the most current drivers, do both GPUs work with older games such as Warcraft III, UT 99, GTA IV etc.? Have you encountered any problems or glitches with those games? I'm interested in this because I've read posts that reported the 7970M's problems with DX 9 titles, and on another place someone was complaining about the 680M not being recognized by GTA IV.

I'd like to be able to fluently play as many games as possible - including old ones - so maybe it's good to ask around before finally picking the GPU.

Thanks in advance!

 

Games made in DX9 and above will at least run on these video cards, but there can be strange bugs in any random title. Skyrim had a lot of flickering along with a handful of other games, but that issue has been mostly fixed. I think the 680M will have the least amount of graphical bugs, so if you want to pay the price, go with that video card.

For DX8 games and under, you may have trouble getting the game to even open with one of these new video cards. Deus Ex 1 wouldn't run with my 7970M without a DX9 dll fix, and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow won't run on my 7970M and unfortunately does not have an available DX9 dll fix. When this happens, the game defaults to the HD 4000 which seems to work well enough for older games. Unfortunately, the HD 4000 isn't a beast and gaming with it won't be the best of experiences. Even in Deus Ex 1, there are certain areas where FPS will drop below 60 with the HD 4000.

 

below 60fps i can live with as long as its above 25 and smooth

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Thank you, also for the info on Deus Ex 1 and Splinter Cell PT! At the moment, I'd say the 680M is my slight favourite too.

Yes, I agree! Fortunately the HD 4000 seems to be able to cope with games that were published around 2000.