CUDA? 470m, 6970m or 485m?

I just pulled trigger on a Sager NP8170-S1.

Screen: 17.3" 90% Gamut
CPU: i7-2720qm
RAM: 8gb DDR3
GPU: hd 6970m
HDD: Intel 310 160gb x 2 SSD | 500gb HDD

The laptop is going to be used for custom framing / interior design demonstration to clients while I am abroad (3~4 times per/yr and 3~4 weeks each stay). Programs that I use are Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw, 3dmax and occasionally Premiere.

I am a casual gamer at best, WoW and TF2 are the only games I play now days (maybe future Titan).

Because I would like to play every game that I play on ultra setting, so I went with hd 6970m initially. But after reading CUDA support in nVidia chipsets, I am debating whether I should switch to 470m or even upgrade to 485m. Does anyone know how CUDA scale in content creation software?

470m (save $145)
hd 6970m ($0)
485m (add $300)

Also, should I just get (1) Intel 510 250gb SSD instead of (2) Intel 310 160gb RAID 0?

Any thoughts?

 

premiere pro is cuda only. adobe isin business partnership with nvidia. although their other programs such as photoshop and after effects use open gl now, i would not be surprised if they made the whole master collection cuda only in the future.
its a big reason why i still choose nvidia even with the price premium.

 

Thank you for the quick reply, what I am interested is the CUDA performance scale in Premiere. Since I only use Premiere to edit family video, your information can help judge if the performance gain in Premiere worth the gaming loss. (hd 6970m vs 470m)

Say if I downgrade to 470m, I am looking about 10%~15% decrease in gaming performance right?

 

If CUDA is of use to you, and you feel you won't be playing anything demanding in the lifetime of the laptop, 470m is good. If not sure, and you have the cash, why not go for the 485m.

If CUDA is not of any use to you, then the 6970m is equal to an 485m in performance, assuming you don't care about 3D Vision and PhysX.

 

imho cuda is not such a big deal in prmiere as it will only accelerate effects and transitions (not all of them even). it will decrease your rendering time by a small amount if you use a lot of effects and transitions.
i am however talking about ppro cs 5 and have not used premiere elements yet.
i tend to favor nvidia over amd/ati and i do use cuda. also the 6970 was not available yet when i got my laptop. if it was, maybe i wouldve stuck with nvidia still (cuda plus battery life)but thats just me since i use my laptop for more than just gaming.
imho you have to choose between the 485m and 6970. if price is an issue pick the 6970. dont choose the 470/460 when you can have the 6970. and the 470 is more like a 30-50% from the 485/6970 iirc.

 

You mean hd 6970m is 30-50% more performance than 470m? If this is the case, I would definitely keep hd 6970m.

Yes, I remember reading on the Adobe forum that CUDA enhance preview functionality in Premiere. But again, I don't use Premiere often.

After giving some thoughts, it doesn't make much sense to spend extra $300 going from hd 6970m to 485m.

I am expect to have "less" time playing time as I age. Now, when you say 3D Vision do you mean only nVidia supports 3D? I have gtx 580 in my desktop, does it support 3D? assuming the TV is capable running 3D.

 

Also, should I go with (1) Intel 510 250gb SSD or (2) Intel 320 160gb SSD in raid 0?

 

if the prices of the ssd's are the same id go with a single 256gb ssd as there is less chance of failure.
also i highly doubt whether an ssd in raid0 would be much benefit- could be wrong though.

 

For doing heavy-duty photo and video editing, there would be some benefit to having SSD RAID. It's offset by the fact that the TRIM command still can't be passed through a RAID array. As such, I personally think it would be better to go with a single drive, especially if you're going to be doing a lot of writes to it by editing pictures and videos.

 

though I'm a 470 user I think you'd better add $300 to get a 485

or next-gen gtx570m is OK

in fact 470 is very good , equal to desktop gts450+

overclock win7 score is 7.5

I think a oc-470 is equal to (default-485) * 95%

so it's about 5%-10% decrease , 470's 535MHz is too low for a better oc performance

 

It's more than that. Check notebookcheck.net for benchmarks.

Yes, only nVidia has a well developed 3D system at this time. If your TV supports 3D, all you need is the 3D Vision Kit.

You're better off asking the SSD question here: Solid State Drives (SSDs) and Flash Storage

 

I think TRIM is supported in RAID array with Intel's newest tool 9.6.0.1014

 

Not true I'm afraid. Emphasis mine.

Link