Eurocom P150HM Racer w/ AMD 6970m out Feb 1

This is the first laptop that I have heard with the AMD 6970m card and they say its due out Feb 1st. I haven't yet heard of any other retailers announcing laptops with the 6970m but I have read some good and bad things regarding Eurocom. Would it be best to wait until companies like XoticPc or Gentech receive theirs even though some say it won't happen until March?

http://www.eurocom.com/products/future/specselectfuture.cfm?model_id=219

 

Very interesting. I hope we get the pricing on the 6970 soon.

 

Looks like the 6970M will be a $66 upgrade from the stock 460M.

It also looks like they'll have a matte screen option.

I'll probably be ordering from Eurocom.

 

Where did you get that information? $66 would be awesome, it would also mean it makes more sense to wait for HD 6970M crossifre then to buy the GTX 485M now, unless you just want a 15,6" laptop.

Also the matte screen seems to be only semi-matte, still a lot of reflections, at least that's what the notebookjournal.de test said.

 

EUROCOM P150HM Racer - Configuration

 

Too bad it's Eurocom so we have to take their pricing with a grain of salt. I doubt it will be that cheap, but if it turns out to be true, then HD 6970M Crossfire will end up being cheaper than a single GTX 485M and although that is the most powerful single card, HD 6970M Crossfire should beat it by a big margin (30 - 50%), for reference check out this benchmark. I always thought the GTX 485M is a clear win, but if the price for the HD 6970M is really that competitive the situation changes for me.

 

Wow 6970m is so much cheaper than 485m, ati has really put a very good price vs nvidia here.

Matte screen, hurray!!
Independent 2nd hdd drive caddy, woot!

I am so glad there is finally another P150HM that uses Matte screen other than Mysn.

 

This would be great. I hope the other resellers have updated info soon as well.

 

What is better though, a 485m or 6970m and by how much is it better

 

485m is ~30% faster than the 6970m.

 

Got proof?

 

Are you referring to the X7200? Isn't that the most recent SLI/Crossfire capable laptop?

The price they have up now is in line with their previous pricing of similar laptops. So, it's likely fairly close to, if not the the same as the release price.

 

6970m beats even gtx 470m according to the benches in notebookjournal very close to 485m

 

All comparisons have been done with 2920XM + 485M vs 740QM + 6970M.

Not exactly a fair comparison. I'd expect 2920XM + 6970M to be cut that 30% lead in half, at the least.

Looks like I'm going to wait for the 6970M to hit the P170HM. I hope Clevo adds it to that model.

 

I wish this was never brought up =/ The 6970 was the card I wanted from the start but the P170HM only has the Nvidia cards atm. I pre-ordered with the 470m and was happy because there was no news of the 6970 and I didnt feel like waiting forever. I'm currently waiting until "ETA end of January" for the P170 and this news almost makes me want to cancel my order if this model will be available with the 6970m shortly after.

 

None of those comparison have even shown a 30% lead to start with.

Notebookcheck.net estimates the GTX 485M's advantage as 12%, though their out-a-whack game numbers range from the HD6970M beating GTX 485M to the GTX 485M being 70% faster.

Notebookjournal.de shows a more steady 20% average advantage for GTX 485M but mostly only bothers to make the comparison in a few games that will see gains from the faster Sandy Bridge CPU.

On top of that, if the gains from the new Catalyst 11.1a are legit, then the HD6970M would end up being faster than the GTX 485M in CoD:BO and Unigine Heaven using Notebookjournal.de's numbers as a basis.


Honestly, I believe when we finally get a good comparison using the same CPU, we'll see the HD6970M and GTX 485M trading the usual win-in-some-games-lose-in-others back and forth.

 

I don't like the X7200 that much and honestly, I guess only 5% of the ppl who buy that laptop really needs the desktop CPU. I was referring to the X8100 refresh. Although the X7200 has more GPU overclocking potential (I'd like to see what max clocks you can get with GTX 485M and HD 6970M).

As you decided to get no more 15" inch laptops anymore I'd just wait for the X8101 (or whatever it's going to be called) and buy that one with HD 6970M crossfire for the same price as P170HM with a GTX 485M. But I'm repeating myself

I'd prefer mySN over Eurocom any day. But if your not in Europe, I can understand your choice. Sadly the matte option seems to be no true matte screen.

 

Assuming the 460 will not be as reliable as it's now in a year or so. The 6970m is definitely a great deal because of its price. It's performance is close to the 485m and it's cheap. I will definitely be waiting

Great deal if someone didn't care about the 4lbs difference between the two.

 

Best offer i`ve seen so far. First laptop with 1600 MHz RAM i have seen too. And the 6970 is SO much cheaper than GTX 485M. 485M costs $475 more

Too bad they don`t offer 1080p 3D-screen when it feature so good GPU options though. Bet the 485M can get some sweet FPS on 3D games.

 

Hmm, I thought the overall difference was around 30%..

Didn't get to take a look at the CPU difference there.

 

Stop right there-

 

Also, look at the stock CPU.

If only available in US.

Matte, 6970, 2720Qm...for that good cost.

 

I am leaning towards 6970m now. I would rather save the $475 for next 7970m/580m or what ever which will be faster than 485m later.

Clevo vga is upgradable, pour in $475 for the 0-20% difference is really not justified, unless nvidia cuts the price.

 

It's only 10 days till feb. What, Are other retailers leaving it as a surprise or something!!!. Why is it only Eurocom who announced this

 

Hello,

another test of the W860CU with 6970m:
Test AMD Radeon HD 6970M Grafikkarte - Notebookcheck.com Tests

 

I'm guessing that there's a Sager related NDA in the U.S., which didn't effect Eurocom.

 

an NDA that even restricts the mention of the card?

We'll wait till feb, it's only 10 days

 

GG Eurocom...sending out an engineering sample HD6970M to reviewers.



Under the AMD logo: 1038U ENG


(Image source Notebookcheck.net)

 

Wow, the 6970M beats the 485M in starcraft 2 (58 vs 56.5 fps) , metro 2033 (18 vs 16 fps), and crysis (24.6 vs 22.56 fps). And the 6970 isn't even paired with a sandy bridge. I think I might just wait for this.

 

woot! woot! awesome- suckerpunch to the 485m for sure - sales of the 485 will nose dive tremendously- buyer regrets for the group who got the 485 at a premium

 

Yes, the card is a home runner if paired with a SB CPU. Should be very close to 485M.

 

Let's hope it has working powerplay.

 

What are you guys talking about? The test concluded that the 485M is 12% faster than 6970. They both draw about the same wattage, 6970 have poor 3D performance. On the other hand 6970 is a whole lot cheaper...

EDIT: Wonder if the SB made a difference in the 3D-marks tests or they took that in consideration before concluding

 

There's no way to reliably figure for how much performance Sandy Bridge would add to the HD6970M scores, and the reviewer acknowledges that the results will change when HD6970M is paired with the faster CPU.

Though it's still not so cut and dry as just a CPU upgrade. Using an engineering sample for the review GPU also contributes to potential skewed results as the BIOS and VBIOS may not be finalized, driver support is less than optimal, power draw could be off, and temps could be higher than normal.

The engineering sample GPU AMD sends to notebook manufacturers for internal testing aren't exactly cherry picked cards meant to be handed out to review sites. Those Black Screen crashes Notebookcheck.net experienced while benchmarking weren't necessarily just from the wrong heatsink...they could have been from a bad GPU.

 

All valid points as usual. I guess, we'll have to wait some more, hehe...

 

How are you guys getting to the Racer configuration on Eurocom. I don't see it in their showroom with all their laptops? The only 15 inch laptop I see with the 6970m card is the cougar but that uses the old i7's and not sandy bridge. Its listed under the future products but you can't configure it.

 

5842741 has put the address at 1st page http://web.eurocom.com/EC/ec_model_config1(1,219,0)
From that page, you can reach the specification page with "Configure" button http://eurocom.com/products/showroom/specselectnew.cfm?model_id=219

However same as you, I do not know how to reach that first page from eurocom website.

 

I doubt that.
You see:
2920xm SB and 485m gpu score in 3dmark 2006 20206
2720qm SB and 6970 gpu score in 3dmark 2006 20155

I dont see the 30%, and 2720qm is also slower than 2920xm

I bet performance should be close if not better than 485m.
And with a price of 66 more dollars than a 460m, the 6970 is going to be the GPU of choice for laptops in 2011.

Also 6970 is listed by gpuz as having 115.2Gb/s bandwith vs 96 on 485m. Note 460m has 60Gb/s

 

what ever the difference in performance is, the price is unbeatable

 

But can we tap into Quicksync while using it...

Either way, 6970 looks the mutts - not significantly colder or faster/slower than the 485m, but a CRAP ton cheaper.

 

I'll be so sick if this GPU doesn't come to the P170HM.

Yeah, just like the one which kept the NA resellers from even mentioning which CPUs would be available before midnight, and they also weren't allowed to reveal that the 485M was going to be in the P150HM.

 

I can't see it NOT coming to the P170HM to be honest - Its the same MXM slot right?

 

What are the reasons why AMD GPUs is so much cheaper than Nvidia?

 

I'm considering a Sager/Clevo for my next laptop. I'm still torn on going Eurocom or someone like Xotic PC though.

Eurocom tends to really get you price-wise on RAM or HD upgrades and the configuration for this looks that hasn't changed. If you want to upgrade from 4 MB of RAM it's going to cost you a lot. Same as if you want to upgrade to a 500 GB HD.

The only reason I would really consider Eurocom is I live in Canada so if there were any return issues I'd likely have an easier time dealing with Eurocom than paying to ship a laptop back to Xotic PC in the U.S.

 

If you're a Canadian, contact Aikimox. His company's in Canada.

 

Lower production cost.

Blackcomb's die is about the same size as the GF106 based GTX 460M, and that's why their prices are close. The GF104/114 used for GTX 470M and GTX 485M is a much larger chip.

Larger dies use more silicon. Using more silicon creates less chips per wafer. Less chips per wafer means higher costs.


Last, but not least, tack on the mobile GPU tax.

 

ouch.... was hoping to but a laptop this weekend, but i don't want to drop the $$$ until i see some true SB + 6970m results. can we at least hope for a demo review before feb?

 

Here is some info/update from Sager:

 

Fisrt of all, latest amd gpus, compared to fermi line up, are much more efficient, and we are talking performance per silicon area.

This means actualy that the series 6000 architecture is a much more efficient architecture than the fermi one. AMD engineers did their job better than the nvidia ones did.

Thats why is so much more cheaper.

 

Thanks for the explaination Phinagle and Bytales.

I have always been Nvidia loyal but considering the price i might jump on to 6970 this time. Don`t like what the reviewer said about 3D though because i might buy a 3D laptop. And the Optimus that AMD is lacking is little dissappointing, but i cannot see any of the new laptops featuring GTX 460M or 485M have enabled Optimus anyway so.