NP910 Pre-buy questions help

Specifically looking to see if there is any real noticeable benefit to the below upgrades.

1. Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module [+$60.00]- If I do wireless online gaming and web surfing with a broadband cable connection will this improve latency and overall performance?

2. 7970M GPU- Yes, the dreaded 7970m question. Where do I go here with this.

--A. Nvidia GTX 670M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory -> stock free
--B. Nvidia GTX 675M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory --> $100 upgrade
--C. AMD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 --> $200 upgrade

Thank you in advance for the help/advice.

P.S- what would a AMD 7970m after market cost, I don't see any listed on vendor sites. This might help determine things as well. :thumbsup:

 

I think you mis-pasted C. I myself am going with the 670M, performance is still great.

On the Killer, surprisingly, it is actually better than the other cards. Latency as a whole is largely going to depend on the quality of your internet connection, then on your modem, then your wireless router. But assuming all of those are great, you'll get better speeds and ping times from the 1103. From what I can tell, their other cards are nothing but overpriced bunk, but the numbers don't lie on this one...

 

Okay, with the Killer N-1103 you will not really notice any gains unless you have internet speeds of 450Mbps from your ISP. If you don't have that, there is no point as it would be similar to buying a Ferrari to drive around a parking lot.

As far as the graphics card question, well, as you noted you do have choices.

How much gaming will you be doing on your rig? Understandably, the 7970M does have a few bugs to work out with the Enduro switching graphics. If you are not willing to wait for a fix in drivers and if you are a gaming enthusiast then I recommend either the 675M or the 680M depending on your budget. The 670M and 675M are more or less rebadged 570M and 580M graphics cards from the previous generation. The 675M will get you better performance than the 670M, obviously. If you do have the means to, I would definitely recommend the 680M because it will certainly blow the "doors" off of the other aforementioned graphics cards, giving you the best possible performance.

As far as your last question on obtaining the 7970M at a later date and where to find one, well, these aren't exactly sold on newegg.com as you probably already have guessed. If you are looking to obtain a newer graphics card for your laptop at a later date, some resellers (mainly system builders which, because I am also representing a reseller I can not mention others) should be able to sell you a graphics card with heatsink. I can not give you a price either as each reseller/builder may differ in price so it would be best to check with them.

 

Incorrect. Again, I'm normally the first to trash "gamer optimized" products, but ping times are actually better with the 1103. The numbers don't lie. Is it worth the $60? It's up to each user. Real-world performance, as far as speeds, will depend on the router (or access point, for some). Obviously, no wireless card will boost internet speeds. Whether a router will or not depends entirely on the bandwidth supplied. Intra-network transfers will see a speedup with the 1103. Tom's Hardware used a good two-stream router, the Cisco E4200, not even a triple-stream, which the Intel 6300 and Killer 1103 both support.

 

Thanks for you help and insight you two. Also, thank you K0nane for pointing out my typos, I had very tired eyes working in haste, never a good combo.

That leaves me with the GPU then.

1. Is the 675m much better than the 670m GPU; therefore worth the additional $100?

2. Is the 7970m noticably better then the 675m even with the enduro issues? Essentially is it worth a $100 more or $200 from the base 670m?

3. Yes, I do not see myself spending 1/3 the laptop cost just for a GPU; thus that rules out the 680M. "IF" the 7970M is seriously going to get up and running to its potiential then that IS a viable option for me. No one can really answer this with certainty though, which makes it a BIG risk, correct?

 

Check out Notebookcheck.net's comparison. I've used that list for years. Keep in mind its 7970 numbers aren't going to reflect Enduro.

The GTX 675 is about 16% faster than the 670; whether that's worthwhile at $100 is up to you. The 7970 at full potential is stupidly fast, according to the numbers above.

 

The 7970M, if the Enduro issues are corrected, is certainly the best bang for the buck. It is supposed to about 50% faster than the 675M and actually within 2-3% margin of comparison to the 680M. Again, this is if and when the Enduro issues are resolved though.

As K0nane has stated, you can certainly see the numbers for yourself on the notebookcheck.net website.

 

If the 675GTX is 16% faster than the 670GTX is there any data on the 7970M in its current state (with the enduro issues) noting how much faster, if at all, than the GTX 675?

 

I have first hand experience with the 7970m, 680m, and 580m (675m is just a rebaged 580)

the problem with the 7970m is that some of the games that are affected by the enduro issues become outright unplayable because turning down your graphics just lowers the utlization of the card so you dont pick up any additional FPS. The 7970m dips down to 15 FPS in sleeping dogs, low 20s in BF3 on certain multiplayer maps, The secret world dips in to low 20s when there is lots of foliage. Turning down setting doesnt fix this because enduro just gimps the card further. On my buddies g73 w/ GTX460m I was able to adjust settings to get a steady 40+ FPS in every game i mentioned. sure the 7970 may get better frame rates at ultra, but it may not at high or medium settings. Its ridiculous and I am beyond happy I contacted my reseller in time to swap. Get the 675m if you want something you know will be able to achieve PLAYABLE frame rates at high/ ultra settings for most games

 

Regarding the Bigfoot NICs, is there a great deal of difference between the 1103 and the 1202? I selected the 1202 for my build because I wanted integrated Bluetooth, am I losing out in other areas?

 

1103 uses 3 antenna so it will pick up weaker signals better vs the 2 antenna 1202. For areas where you are further away from the access point like hotel, airport, or school campus it will help. Also transfer up to 450Mb/s vs 300Mb/s the 1202 does which you really wont see that difference in speed unless transferring files within your network, you wont see a difference in download speeds.

 

And have the triple-stream router to support it.

 

Well.............I can't say that quote isn't a bit frightening........

Even the resellers are losing hope that a fix for the 7970 will come, which raises the question of "What will those of us with the 7970 do if it doesn't come......." *grabs dynamite stick and walks toward Sager HQ*

 

To answer your question regarding aftermarket 7970m purchase. I got three quotes from three different places. $430-560. Ask around to get your best price. Honestly I wouldn't go for a $500 laptop gpu if I could help it. For that money I could get a serious desktop gpu and then some, but that is a whole other bag of discussions

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

If the GTX 675 is 16% faster than the 670m, how much faster is the 680M vs. the GTX 675?

What else does the 680 net over the general speed (i.e. extended battery life, cooler temps, etc.)?

Thanks!

 

can you explain this point as if i was incapable of looking it up myself?

 

The 680 will net about 69% more performance than the 675, and all but double the performance of the 670m. It will also run hotter and consume more battery. A lower-powered card of the same series consumes less battery and produces less heat.

300mbit is two simultaneous streams (via two antennas), 450mbit is three simultaneous streams (via three antennas). If your router doesn't explicitly support the latter, you won't get 450mbit (theoretical, real-world performance will not reach that for a single device).