7970M vs. 675M

For me, the one thing that is preventing me from getting a sager right now is my concerns over the 7970M. I want to get the best performance for my money, but I don't have the money to splurge on a 680M.

The only other option is the 675M, however I have not seen all that much discussion about it.

We all know that, on paper, the 7970M should be much faster than the 675. However, the 7970 has taught a painful lesson that real world experience is a must.

I have no doubt that a lot of people are wondering about this, so please at least post your interest.

If you are able to, please post data relevant to this.

 

Between those two I would go for the 7970M, the 675M is old technology, not to mention if AMD finally fixes the issues you'll be stuck with the 675m

 

that's a big "if"...

 

+1 so true AMD do not care and that is shown by asking mod's to delete posts made about them.

I have always been an AMD supporter in the Green vs Red war but have seen enough. The 540M GT is my first ever Nvidia chip and it has caused me 0 problems and overclocks like mad.

Performance wise the 7970M will win but if I remember rightly the 580M overclocked really well and beat my 6990M by a good 500 points more than my max overclock once it was overvolted and I max every game 1080p and only have to limit AA with a couple hence why I wont upgrade to the 7970M so you could still easily get good performance from it even if it is old tech. What is the point having something new that is broken it may be months before it is fixed and in the Clevo/Sager it may never be fixed as it appears to be hardware related.

 

How do you overvolt?

 

It involves tweaking the Vbios but that was not my point I won't recommend Overvolting haha but I love my card (6990M) and the 675M is slightly more powerful than it so I am just saying do not think old tech is any worse the 7970M could be a major headache for you.

You could always upgrade to a 7970M later on as well they are not very expensive.

 

also, look around maybe you can find an used 675m and see how the 7970m deal plays out.

 

I'd say wait about 3 months and see how AMD handle this. "If" they don't do anything and still keeps their mouth shut 3 months after, then clearly going with HD7970M is gonna be the biggest mistake out there.

 

The 7970M is not playing out hence all of the posts on the forum including Hulawafu petition there is no fixing it because you cannot disable Enduro in the BIOS it is going to require a fix by Clevo/Sager who claim it is an AMD issue but AMD brush their hands of it as usual, on Alienware this problem does not exist because you can disable Enduro.

It is the ops decision at the end of the day but I can just see you being another person at the end of the a very long complaint thread by doing it. Never said this before in my life but go for the Nvidia.

 

In games that are crippled by enduro (most games) you get = performance from the 675. I personallly returned my 7970. I don't appreciate it when i spend 2200 bucks on something that doesn't work as advertised

 

And what evidence do you have to support this? The card runs fine in Alienware computers due to them being able to circumvent the malfunction, this indicates it is not a hardware problem but is related to AMD's automatic graphics switching technology, Enduro. With that being a fact, if AMD chooses not to fix the problem then people will buy Nvidia in the future. But also let's not forget Nvidia had its own teething problems with their equivalent of Enduro, Optimus. That took them 18 months to get right. The difference being at least they acknowledged the problem publicly and did not censor forum threads. Lol AMD what a joke.

 

I thought it was hardware-related because Alienware and Clevo laptops arrange their gpus differently.

 

Well, OP... if you ever want to buy a 7970M, there are many here willing to sell you theirs (including me). Lol. Save up and get the 680M or just go for the 675M to skip all this.

 

Clearly you are an AMD Fan do not think I said what I said because I am Nvidia fan as already mentioned I have always bought AMD up to now and yes Optimus had its problems but this is not the first time AMD have released a card without support, in fact I seem to remember it being a common problem.

It matters not anyway the whole point of this post is what is the better card for the OP to buy I do not care for AMD or Nvidia wars in this circumstance the OP should go with what works when money is his problem knowing that the 7970M is currently having issues with no ETA on a fix and not even a mention of there being one that is evidence enough that a recall may be required if they cannot fix it.

It is but the problem is Enduro which is AMD's problem the reason why Alienware is not suffering because they can switch it off but there is no option to do this on the Clevo or Sager model so the only option is to wait for a fix from AMD.

 

I know my old Alienware m15x had the ability to switch gpus and I got it in 2008. Unfortunately because of this special ability Nvidia stopped driver support for it pretty early. It's nice to know that idea has actually become a plus for Alienware.

 

Do you have anything to back this up or is it just a general figure? I thought that optimally the 7970m was around 40% faster. Is that really how much this enduro issue is gimping the card?

 

Sorry, but I never liked that line of thinking or type of advice when it comes to laptops.

We all know that except for the enthusiasts, many users (myself included) won't risk upgrading GPUs themselves. And since upgrading a laptop at a store is a bit too pricey, a lot of guys will keep using everything as it is and opt to just wait for a new laptop purchase a few years later. Having everything all cramped in there, laptops are really not as modular as desktops, especially since you can always risk disconnecting something and then spend your time troubleshooting and the like.

Anyway, back on topic - I say go for the 7970M. Again, despite its issues, it only costs just mere dollars/euros more, and even if it won't get fixed, it is still a very powerful card that at worst will be running like the 675M on a few games. If I were on a budget, I would definitely get the 7970M, no question about it.

 

In the secret world i was getting on average 32 FPS on ultra. The 675m averages around 34. On the Witcher 2 on Ultra I was averaging right around 30, which is pretty much right where the 675 sits. On Skyrim i was getting right around 35-40 FPS on ultra. Which is also right around where the 675 sits. I was also getting huge screen tearing. If you OC the 675 it will outperform the 7970m IMHO. when I overclocked my 7970m to 975/1450 my utilization would just drop further so i would barely see any increase in FPS. AMD has basically abandoned support for its customers as well as its dealers. They have not provided an adequate base driver that allows any manufacturer to succeed in tailoring it to their systems. Crossfire in AW systems is a complete and utter joke. If I were Clevo, Alienware, or MSI I would refuse to carry their inferior product until it worked to spec.

 

It's really not that hard. If you can put a round peg in a round hole and a square peg in a square hole you can just as easily work on a desktop or laptop. If my okie redneck Uncle Bobby, that drives tractors/speaders for a living, can build his own desktop anyone can.

 

True, upgrading a desktop is not a real problem. And even though I replaced my DVD Drive with a caddy and a HDD on this laptop completely by myself, I'm still not sure I would mess around with a laptop GPU or bother ordering one separately. The problem is not actually installing the card, but more about opening the case, disconnecting stuff and risk loosening a cable or what have you. I doubt many will risk it.

 

So your advice instead of getting a GPU that works and then upgrading to the better GPU with ease once it is fixed is to just go with the broken GPU now?...

The Clevo and Sager are meant to be upgraded hence why they are so accessible. This is not an Asus.

Please. 4 screws. Hello GPU and CPU. 8 more screws and the GPU is out and 4 more screws and the CPU is out. It is without doubt the easiest upgrade you will ever face even more than a desktop and there are no cables involved.

 

I was mainly stating that many probably won't bother upgrading their GPUs so this line of thinking is a bit wasted, is all.

I would still go for 680M (and I indeed went for it), but if my option would be a 675M or a few bucks more for a 7970M, I would still take the 7970M, warts and all.

Thanks, though. If it's really that easy, perhaps I'll indeed consider upgrading when the time comes, who knows.</snip>

 

Vbios aside it is that easy, agreed though if the OP could save up for a month or two the 680M is going to be the best option that thing is a monster and it is no wonder the poor chaps who bought the 7970M are sending them back. AMD need to pull their socks up.

If money is still a problem I just don't trust AMD anymore so I still say 675M. Or even 6990M I love mine.

 

But why, really? The 7970M is working as it should about 60%-70% of the time, and by those 30%-40% that it doesn't, you still get a similar performance to a 675M.

It sucks if you expect to get a full bang for your buck, but if you know what to expect, I'm not sure sure it is that bad. I mean, it's not like the card drops to a complete low-end performance and stops running games all of a sudden, no?

 

How can you say that? LOL. You are paying hundreds of pounds or dollars for something listed and described as 100% of what is sold but are only actually getting as you say 60-70% of the time what you paid for because of a feature of the card you should benefit from.

I go into a shop and buy a 24 crate of beer for £15. I only get 20 beers because they screwed up and only put 20 beers in a crate of 24 and once they realised this they just refuse to acknowledge or correct the problem.

There is no difference at all and if this was the case there would be beer and abuse flying everywhere in the off licence!!

Nvidia must be laughing right about now, they can charge as much as they like because the more AMD fail the more profit they make. Quality control and customer service is so vital.

 

Have you used a 7970m or just going off what people have posted on the forum? The 7970m is still 30-40% faster than the 675m from what i've seen. And very close in performance with the 680m for $250-300 cheaper. Just because you may or may not have Enduro issues in some games doesn't mean i'm going to trade my 7970m in for a 675m. I've only tested one game so far since I just got mine last night but I was getting 90-175+ FPS in Dead Island. I'm installing more games now so i'll see for myself how much is over reaction and how legit the many complaints are. I don't doubt that people are having legitimate issues but I have a feeling that a lot of it is way over exaggerated and some even by people that don't own or never used the card. Some people just like to have something to complain about.

 

Yiddo, agreed overall, but I've seen the 7970M going for 30 Euros more than a 675M in major companies like MySN, and I'm sure you can find it even cheaper if you insist.

Under these price differences, the 7970M is worth it, IMO.

 

True enough, just the feeling of not getting what you paid for really ticks me off.

Clearly you do not read many of the posts on the forum this is not someone's opinion or being over-exaggerated this is a fact it is causing problems for Clevo and Sager owners you cannot just go on what FPS you see if you do not know what you should be getting.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...ile-gpu-amd-fix-enduro-think-tank-thread.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...uro-public-get-backing-prominent-blogger.html

AMD Gaming
AMD Game Forums - The Clevo 7970M Enduro/under-utilization debacle.

Rage3D
7970M Enduro Issue - Rage3D Discussion Area

HardForum
AMD Enduro Problem - [H]ard|Forum

Guru3D
AMD Enduro, AMD Response Help - Guru3D.com Forums

 

I read plenty of the forums. You saying they are fact is an opinion. Not a fact. So tell me O Wise One do my screenshots below trump all others on this forum as fact? No. But so far I'm 0 for 3 in finding a game that isn't running right. I'm installing more as I type this to test them too. Just because a handful of squeaky wheels are having issues doesn't mean it isn't being over exaggerated. And i'm not saying they aren't having issues either. So unless you've actually got the 7970m in front of you and can test for yourself then people going on and on like parrots repeating what other people are saying means jack squat.

Skyrim


Dead Island


Metro 2033

 

Clueless Trolling. Enjoy your 7970M but those screenshots are about as useful as a chocolate teapot to compare to half the clevo/sager community who have a 7970M do not lie.

@OP hope you make the right choice I think in your case the 675M is a safer bet but Mr Foxx makes a good point too if it is only a slight increase in price and you can afford it until a fix gets the issues sorted it may be worth the gamble. 680M seems the way to go if you can wait though . Ta ra.

 

Many of those people are the ones who buy their computers solely from Best Buy and Wal-Mart. It's almost always enthusiasts who buy Clevo/Sager.

 

I am perfectly fine with upgrading the laptop some time after I buy it, but my main concern is how the issues with the 7970 are treated. For example, there were a large number of problems with the 5000 series cards, and instead of fixing them AMD just made the 6000 series. Thus leaving the people who bought 5000 series cards to buy yet another card to resolve the problem.

 

I am extremely upset with the Enduro issue and I don't like recommending a half-working card, but in truth, even in its gimped state, the 7970M is equal to or performs better than the 675M in almost every game. Add to that the possibility that they should (knock on wood) fix the Enduro problem in the near future to make the 7970M even more powerful, and I think the 7970M would actually be the better option.

This probably isn't the best way to measure it, but if you look at the game benchmarks here, my gimped 7970M outperforms the high/ultra numbers for every game I have tested.

 

The 7970m destroys the 675m guys, there is no comparison (yes even with Enduro). If it ever matches the 675m it will be rare and only happen in a couple games.

The 7970m was tested with Enduro enabled:
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Max Payne 3: HD 7970m *50FPS, GTX 675m *19FPS
Diablo 3: HD 7970m *95FPS, GTX 675m *74 FPS
Skyrim: HD 7970m *56FPS, GTX 675m *48FPS
Battlefield 3: HD 7970m *36 FPS, GTX 675m 24FPS
Batman: Arkham City: HD 7970m *56FPS, GTX 675m *35FPS
Deus Ex Human Revolution: HD 7970m *86FPS, GTX 675m *51FPS
Metro 2033: HD 7970m *28FPS, GTX 675m *17FPS

Enduro may affect some games, but the base power of the 7970m is loads ahead of the 675m. Numbers don't lie guys. If you buy a GTX 675 thinking you are getting performance even near the 7970m IN IT'S CURRENT (not good) STATE, you are being fooled by false exaggerations.

 

Maybe the 7970 is for me then. At least it sounds cooler to say 7970 than to say 675 (Partially joking)

 

Four numbers is better than three hehe. Jk.

But even with its issues, as some people have already mentioned, the 7970m is still better than the 675m, even if only marginally in some instances. And as it was with 6970m and 6990m, better drivers will be released, if not months later hehe. If you can afford to save up for 680m, I say go for it. But if you are within this budget, 7970m&gt;675m, even with gimped enduro issues.

Ps. AMD has commented saying the issues are being investigated, as reported by CatalystCreator

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Hahaha righto yep good job on using those super sleuthing skills of yours. My last 4 cards have been Nvidia...

 

Part of the reason I am so cautious is because I (in my so far short lifespan) have only owned Nvidia cards, so I don't know what to expect with AMD. However, I guess I will be going with the 7970. Most of the programs I use are not affected by the issues with the 7970M.

Also, the 7970 is optimized for CAD more than the 680, and that is my primary purpose in buying a laptop. If it turns out there is never a fix, at least the card is still quite powerful, and I intend to upgrade, if not replace my computer in 2 years.

 

listen, at the moment the 7970M (with all the damn Enduro issue) is much better than the 675M; IF (a very huge IF indeed) and when AMD fix Enduro the 7970M will be as good as the 60M for 300 USD less.....so choose ur destiny.

PS if u can buy either AW or ClevoHM then the 7970M is as good as the 680M even now. Actually if i were u, i d buy a ClevoHM and 7970M and laugh at everybody here, including me, who are struggling with AMD for the Enduro issue.... :-/

 

We should try and avoid turning this into another Clevo utilization thread, that issue is widely documented on these boards and simply pointing people in the right direction should be more than enough than rehashing what has already been discussed many times over.

With regards to comparing the 675M and 7970M, if the price difference is as small as detailed already I think that makes this an easy decision. Even an underutilized 7970M is going to perform better than the 675M by a significant margin, and at worst be on par. I don't see the point in buying dated hardware that is worse than another offering if the difference in price is insignificant, regardless of the problems currently facing the 7970M.

Will these problems get fixed? We can only hope so, and sooner than later would be nice for those affected. The best case scenario is that you get the hardware you paid for working to its potential. Worst case, you get something that is insignificantly more expensive than the other offering available which either performs as-good-as or better-than said offering.

I'll agree that it sucks the 7970M isn't performing as it should on current generation Clevo machines. However, I think it would suck more to pick the 675M at essentially the same cost and then down the road these Enduro issues are resolved and your stuck with last gen hardware for the same cost.

 

If your willing to accept the risk and be fine with gaming complications (over heating, dx11 crashes bauds etc) and since your primary purpose is CAD work then go for the 7970m.

If your not willing to take those risks, then keep the base build of the laptop, add the gtx680m. (Mechanical drive, 8gb ram 1333MHz).

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

I think always going for the latest and greatest Video Card is not always a smart thing to do.. especially if there is no real technology change that will really make a difference. The 675m should be fine for any game currently out and ones that are in development, add in the fact that you can overclock it some to boost its performance even more. So if you are on a budget dont feel you have to break it because you have the 3rd video card option. If I was getting a laptop it would be between the 680 and 675 right now and if I didnt want to fork over all that extra cash for the 680 then be happy with the money you save with the 675 and look into overclocking it a bit if its speed worries you.

 

As most other people have said already, get the 7970m. The issue will get fixed soon enough. There have been multiple confirmations that AMD is currently working towards a solution.

 

Amd just had sager pull down its issue logging thread... How is that helping anyone? If anything they are covering up their lack support

 

Get the 7970m no question. Despite the enduro issues it is massively more powerful than the 675m.

 

AMD have since acknowledged the problem and are working on a fix.

 

Doesn't mean it will be fixed (talk sounds optimistic though) - could even be a hardware issue as some have suggested. In saying that, the 7970 is still a better card as far as I understand. I will be buying it soon myself.

 

I was in the same boat as you. I have always bought Nvidia cards and I truly am an Nvidia fanboy at heart. But still, I can't justify spending $300 more for a 680M which would provide marginal performance increases once the Enduro problem is fixed.

I have only seen DX11 crashes widely reported for one game and that is MP3. There is no overheating issue with the 7970M either.

What do you mean? The 7970M has brand new architecture compared to the 675M and runs cooler and consumes less power. That is a "real" technology change, no? Plus, even in its gimped state, it performs significantly better than the 675M. 45 FPS at 70% utilization in BF3 for the 7970M is much, much better than 25 FPS at 99% utilization for the 675M.

If you play modern games, there is no reason to go for an old card when the price differential is so small for such a large performance increase.

 

I am not the one buying the laptop.. he is at his budget limit and the 675m (Which was released only this year) will be fine. I dont know any gamer who cares about power consumption when you pretty much have to keep your laptop plugged in while gaming. But some people here are acting like his laptop with the 675 wont be able to do anything.

As for the 7970.. I was all in with this card until I did research. I couldnt recommend someone buying a laptop with this card in its current state. $100+ extra for similar or worse performance and many people have more serious issues is something that shouldnt even be sold.

 

I do care about battery life. My school doesn't have all that many plugs, so I might need to go an hour or 2 without recharging, then plug it in for 30 min. and go another hour.