7970m or 680m?

Its been a while since i dont read the forums, and im going to buy a clevo notebook. Now the question is: 7970m or 680m?

i already know that their performance is almost the same and the 680m costs more. What i would like to know is:

- which one runs cooler?
- is any of them having driver problems? (i read there is some issue with enduro, is optimus fine? What if you disable enduro/optimus?)
- i also read that there is a clevo model with some problem related to the 7970m, but i dont remember the model name.
- if they were priced the same, which one would you get?

plz no fanboy answers, i really need to make up my mind. Thanks!

 

Go for the 680M, it runs cooler and doesn't have any driver issues. Even if you get the 7970M driver issues fixed it still runs extremely hot. I read this on the forum that solidified my choice in the 680M. "Don't buy something expecting it to be fixed, buy something that already works."

I hope that helps

 

cant disable enduro on clevos. if price same obviously 680, but it is 250 more expensive. i am ordering a 7970 myself. i can live with 30 frames , while some people seem to want 120 for some weird reason

 

It was really hard for me to shell out an extra $250 for the 680m

But there are issues with the 7970, both software and hardware related( the way it's wired on the clevo's ) making it impossible to disable or turn off the integrated GPU.

It's hard to recommend a product that is not 100% functional, specially when we are talking about performance computers.

 

I see....
So you cant turn off enduro in all clevo models, or just some models have this problem? But if new drivers are released, it will be possible right? Sager has this problem too?

also, i read that the problem is that the GPU doesnt go past 60% use because of enduro, what program u guys use to see the % use during the game?

what about temps, which one is hotter at stock clocks?

 

The 7970m is probably a little slower and runs a little hotter than the 680m at stock speeds, but I couldn't justify the extra $300 (at the time I ordered) difference between the two. Frankly I'm happy with my 7970m, it runs everything I throw at it with great FPS. I'm running stock thermal paste at the moment and I haven't broken 80C yet while gaming. (I have yet to play for an extended amount of time but I can't see my temperatures rising that much more dramatically.)

The only games I'm getting low % utilization in so far are GTA IV and BFBC2, though I haven't gamed as much as I'd like this week due to final exams.

 

Agree with others who own the 7970M. Unless you are obsessed with showing off benchmarks or obsessed with always having 60 FPS constant, I wouldn't worry about it. Get whatever you are happy with.

I can say, guaranteed, there isn't a game out now that the 7970M can't run on all settings maxed with 2x AA. I've played Metro 2033, Crysis 2, Shogun 2 and Witcher 2, which I think are the most intensive and beautiful games out now, 7970M goes through them like a boss.

Drivers should improve, which means the it's only going to get better. There are some games that are terrible. Prototype 2 runs at 30-50 FPS even though it's a DX9 with low textures on even a 3930K and GTX 680 desktop system. Too many 7970M members who post on NBR don't seem to really see whether it's a GPU or a software issue (software as in the game itself).

 

Enduro can't be turned off in EM models and isn't enabled in older HM models(probably a good thing at the moment).
Sagers are Clevos. Clevo designs and manufactures the barebones.

 

If you've got the cash to burn, go with the 680m. Personally, I went with the 7970M because there are so many things I could do with the $300 I saved. The performance is generally within 10%, but Enduro will slow you down by about 25% in certain games, hopefully to be fixed in the near future.

 

I have a 7970m and even though its the best mobile gpu I have ever owned, I wish I got the 680m. If I got a constant 30 fps I would be thrilled...unfortunately the 35fps average on bf3 I get is an average of fps as high as 60 and as low as 18. On ultra I don't expect a ton more, but the fact it doesn't improve on medium or even low settings is the deal breaker. The user who said don't buy something and hope it gets fixed is spot on...buy something that is proven if you can spare the coin.

Fwiw, I don't have heat problems...never seen the 7970 above 75. Repasted with mx-2 immediately upon arrival.

 

(Puts on flame suit) I honestly don't understand why someone, assuming they are informed of the enduro issues, would today order an EM model with the 7970M. I'm not talking about early adopters / owners who stumbled into this (I was one of them). I get that it's $295 cheaper than the competiton but you're already spending $1500+ on a new enthusiast laptop. Even if the games you play are not impacted, it just doesn't make sense to buy right now. Either wait for the fix or go Green. It's like buying a new fully loaded and fully drivable car but one of the key features is non-functional and might be fixed in a few months. Nonsense in my opinion and none of you would do it. I'm not saying don't buy the 7970M, just don't buy it yet.

 

Don't bother with the 680M. Yes, it is a better card, but it is not $250 better.

The 7970M runs every game on max settings perfectly. I run BF3 on ultra with 40 FPS, and that's with 70% utilization. Once the drivers get fixed, which I am sure will happen eventually, even though we are talking about AMD, the 7970M is going to run games flawlessly.

The heats not really an issue. The 680M will run cooler, but that's not to say the 7970M runs at anywhere close to dangerous temperatures in the first place.

You can't do that either in the 680M, by the way. It's connected to the motherboard in the same way.

I bought it because the $1500 I was paying was already $300 over my budget. I couldn't justify the extra $250 over.

What I don't like people saying is that the 7970M isn't functional. No, it isn't 100% functional, but it is still extremely functional. As far as I'm concerned, maxing out the most demanding games on the market with only 70% utilization is functional, and I can live with that limited functionality until drivers are released since that limited functionality is not a huge problem.

 

Let me compile the information I've gathered from research on the subject. I am not a fanboy of either company.

The issues with the 7970m are a combination of hardware and software related. In the current clevo models (P150EM and P170EM) enduro cannot be disabled, and causes performance issues in some specific games, for most people. This does NOT necessarily mean the games are unplayable. From what I understand, most of the time they are still quite playable with the possible exception of BF3 in multiplayer. They hope they can fix these performance issues with driver updates, but it's not 100% guaranteed. Not being able to disable enduro is a hardware issue and will not be fixed. Their old model (P150HM and P170HM) did not support enduro, don't have the performance issues, and afaik are not for sale anymore.

Some people also experience heat issues due to the heatsink not being flush with the chip, or the board, or whatever. This is not the case for everyone, and I'd even go so far as to say this is much more rare than the performance issues, and can probably be fixed with a better application of thermal paste.

The 680m does not suffer from driver issues, performance issues, or heat issues. When both cards are working optimally, they perform about the same. Even so, the 680m runs a little cooler. They both have serious overclocking potential.

My advice, since you asked, is fairly straight forward. If you can't afford the 680m, or if you don't intend to do a lot of gaming, get the 7970m. It's a great card, with a few flaws that will hopefully be fixed, and even more hopefully be fixed soon. If you CAN afford the 680m, it's probably the better bet, especially if you plan on playing a lot of games. It's more reliable, better supported, runs cooler, and gives better battery life... which is what the extra 250 is paying for.

p.s. - Yes, Optimus (Nvidia's version of enduro) also cannot be disabled due to the fact that the 680m is connected to the laptop the same way the 7970m is. Specifically, they are fed through the Intel gpu as opposed to Alienware's choice of running the dGPU and iGPU to a mux that allows you to force only one to be running. When Nvidia first came out with Optimus, it also had a number of problems, but they've been resolved and not only does it work well, but it's the reason for increased battery life over the 7970m.

 

Fair enough. I didn't mean to state the GPU is non-functional I see how it came off as such. I was really impacted by it which is why I couldn't take it. F1 2011 has been my favorite game over the past 6-7 months with all the nice car and season mods it is insanely addictive and re-playable. I was getting barely 30 fps playing at 1600x900. In a racing game the poor fps is more obvious compared to other games. I would've liked to have kept it but I was still in the return period when I realized the problem so I didn't.

 

OP, if you have the budget set aside for the 680M, you get it. Don't bother with the 7970M. Just get the 680M.

 

Might as well ignore everything else and read shadowprophet99's post.

There's also a few other differences between the cards. 7970M is much better at compute tasks than 680M, and as far as I know 680M has much more overclocking potential. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, and it's up to you to decide which ones to pick.

 

Here is a good side by side comparison made by the guys at Xoticpc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtyBtZnu854&sns=em

If you are worried about mobility the 680 gives you a little more battery time (by Xotic's tests)
56min 7979
1h40min 680

 

from wat i see, the $250 you save now could go towards an upgrade of your card next year or the year after

 

680m for driver stability?

 

All you have to do is look at the poll found at 7970M survey! - View Poll Results. Hilariously some people (at least five) voted they had no problems even though they didn't own a Clevo EM with the 7970m. (They owned an Alienware, didn't own the 7970m, etc.) What I got from this fake voting was that there's a lot of people that just want people to believe the 7970m works even though it currently doesn't, at least not to its full potential. There's no reason to get the card and wait for AMD to fix this when they historically have bad driver support and they'll probably end up ditching the people that bought this card as soon as they release a new one. (All it took to find that out was a google search.)

 

Honestly I don't know how much "cooler" it runs. I have one and it tops out at 90C during both games and 3DMark11. I probably have a bad paste job from the factory, despite ordering the IC Diamond upgrade, and have not performed any of the cooling mods suggested in this board, but still. Out of the box it's not GUARANTEED to run cooler.

 

Probably time to repaste, I upgraded from GTX675M to GTX680M myself, 3DMark11 peak temp at stock was only 67C, long hour gaming peak temp was 77C and both are without any mod also the backplate was on.