Need help making a decision (GT 650M vs GTX 660M)

Hey everyone,

I'm facing a decision between two Clevo (actually a German brand called "ONE", but it is a Clevo reseller) laptops. One has the GT 650M, and the other has the GTX 660M.

ONE M56-2O
- ONE Computer Shop

Is based on the W150ERQ.

- GT 650M 2GB GDDR5
- 50 euro cheaper
- It is available now
- It won't be available anymore in 2 months

ONE K56-2O
- ONE Computer Shop
(the link leads to the K73-2O, but it is the same as the K56-2O except for the screen size)

Is based on the Clevo W370ET.

- GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5
- 50 euro more expensive
- I will have to wait 2 months
- Has two 2,5" sata III slots for SSD/HDD instead of one (I doubt I'm going to use two. Even only one 128GB SSD is enough for me.

So, what do you think? Wait two months for the K56-2O with the GTX 660M? I've read the following article about the GT 650M compared to the GTX 660M. Apparently it is not really worth it. http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/gtx-660m-gt-650m-gddr5/

What do you think, is the 50 euros more worth it in this case? I wouldn't do it just for the slightly better GPU, but how is the build quality of the K73-2O (Clevo W370ET) compared to the M56-2O (Clevo W150ERQ)? One thing that I know of is that the K73-2O doesn't have the glossy back finish that people are complaining about.

Thanks in advance!

 

Take the 660m.

 

Thanks for your response, but ehm... Would you mind giving some arguments? No offence, but I doubt you've read anything besides the title.

When it comes to GT 650M vs GTX 660M, at least this guy gives arguments. GTX 660M vs GT 650M GDDR5

I would certainly buy the K56-2O if it had other advantages besides the GTX 660M, because only the GTX 660M isn't worth it in my opinion. I doubt I'm going to use the extra SSD/HDD slot, but if the build quality, heat and noise is significantly improved, it would be worth the extra 50 euro.

 

"Thanks to the GDDR5-VRAM, the gaming performance of the GeForce GTX 660M is well ahead of the GT 650M DDR3 and on par with the AMD Radeon HD 6950M." -Notebookcheck

I would go with 660M GTX just because its VRAM is the current generation. Something I read said that a GDDR5 card with a 128-bit bus performs like a 256-bit bus compared to GDDR3, because GDDR5 has double the data rate of GDDR3.

So GDDR5 will be better than GDDR3, unless other things in the cards aren't equal.

EDIT: nevermind what I said above... no idea how that 650M has GDDR5, I thought it was past generation of RAM =p.

 

gtx 660M is 10% better than 650M, but 50EUR more it isn't worth it. if you really want gaming power you should consider 675M or 7970M.

about the built quality, heat and noise i don't think that you would see any improvement if you go with W370ET. W150ERQ is more popular and you can find good reviews of this model.

is you want a silent cool laptop you should consider asus g55.

good luck!

 

It's okay. I know about the difference in speed between the GT 650M 2GB DDR3 and GDDR5.

There don't seem to be any reviews of the W370ET/W350ERQ out yet, so I guess I will have to wait for that. The GTX 660M + extra SSD/HDD slot over just a GT 650M isn't going to do it for me, even though it's only for an extra 50 euro, but if someone can confirm the build quality/heat/noise/that sort of stuff is better in the W350ERQ than in the W150ERQ, I might consider paying 50 euros more.

 

Thanks for your response!

I promised myself to not go over 1000 euro. I know, this isn't super much for a gaming laptop, but I think I will do quite well with the W150ERQ. It can run STALKER: Call of Pripyat on max, and that's all I want .

I don't really care about looks and battery and that sort of stuff. I will be mainly using it as a desktop replacement. Noise can be irritating, and so can heat, but I've heard it isn't too bad with the W150ERQ. People like to exaggerate.

You say the W150ERQ is more populair. Have you seen any reviews of the W350/370? I would like to read some!

 

no, i haven't seen any reviews of the w350/370, but i have seen reviews of the w150ER. no reviews, this means it is not popular. one or more reviews, in my opion it is better and people want to hear about it!

 

Well, I think it is because the W350/370 isn't even out yet. One.de already offers it at there site, but it hasn't been officially released yet. In 2 months the W350ERQ (K56-2O) will be released to one.de.

 

That's not a W150ER. The W150ER's 650M only has 1 GB of GDDR5, not to mention this M56-2O doesn't even look like the W150ER.

 

It is based on the W150ERQ. And how is 1GB extra VRAM a bad thing? I'm just talking about Clevo to prevent confusing people. The M56-2O definitely is a Clevo, but if you say it doesn't look like a W150ERQ. Let me see if I can contact one.de support.

 

No, I'm saying it is definitely not based on a Clevo W150ER(Q). Look at it. It does not even look like the Clevo. The fact that the M56-2O has two GB of VRAM is not a bad thing - it's a strong indicator that it is not a W150ER(Q), because that model has the VRAM soldered to the motherboard. There is only one version, and it has 1 GB of VRAM.

 

I've just sent a private message to one.de Support. Now I'm curious!



This is the M56-2O btw. Taken from this review: Test: One M56-2O mit Nvidia GT 650M - ComputerBase.

The W110ER does have 2GB of VRAM though... Are you sure there aren't versions of the W150ER(Q) with 2GB?

EDIT: could it be the MSI 16GA? http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-MS-16GA-Barebone-Notebook.77038.0.html

 

660M if a 15" laptop really no point to pick the 650M

 

I suppose you can never be 100% sure, but yes, 99.999% sure, in the event that Clevo has snuck out a version with 2 GB VRAM under the radar.

I think that's very likely! There's a review of the One M56-2O at Test: One M56-2O mit Nvidia GT 650M (Drucken) - ComputerBase which lists the M56-2O's BIOS version as "E 16GAIG6.105".

 

But the question is, is it worth the price difference of 50 euro? I think for only a slightly better GPU not, but I was more curious about the build quality of the two laptops.

Csoren is right though, nice call! The M56-2O indeed isn't the Clevo W150ER(Q). It isn't even a Clevo... I have no idea why I thought that, but it has been in my head for months.

Anyway, the M56-2O is a MSI MS-16GA (at least it looks like one to me), which is a fine laptop, and gets slightly better gaming results than other GT 650M laptops because of the 2GB of VRAM combined with GDDR5. The build quality is inferior to most Clevo laptops, and so are things like the keyboard and mousepad. The noise and heat is on par.

About the K56-2O/K73-2O, that does seem to be a Clevo, the new Clevo W370ET (source: Informationen K73-2O - ComputerBase Forum. One.de Support: "dieses Notebook basiert auf dem Clevo W370ET."

Now I guess I will have to wait for reviews of the W350/W370ET, see how the build quality and everything is compared to the MSI MS-16GA.

I think this thread is in the wrong section now, since most of it is about the MSI MS-16GA instead of a Clevo laptop.

 

It's still in the good section, let's talk about 370ET

I'm exactly in the same situation, was going to buy old Clevo but then 370ET appeared as pre-order option. And now I have to wait to see the reviews ... ( btw, is it really 2 months? Logical Blue One - Horize W370ET Clevo Notebook is estimating it's arrival on 30th of July ).

And regarding the 50 euros difference - if the build / heating / etc quality is at least at similar level in 370ET I am going to gladly pay that 50 euros more.
Why? Because 370ET looks much, much better than W150ER. And I think it's worth it :>

 

Jumping into the conversation here to answer the original question:

Because I know enough German, I decided to check out one's website for the two models you were comparing. Here are my thoughts on the matter:

-the one with the 660m seems to have a matte finish on the case (and maybe a better trackpad), while the 650m version seems to have a glossy finish. your preference.
-I personally would choose the 660m. 10% faster is 10%.
-One seems to come default with very slow CPUs and very little/slow RAM and storage space. Please upgrade all three, or you won't be able to make good use of either GPU.

I wish this post could be in german... I should have paid more attention in highschool.

 

About the release date: one.de Support said that the K73-2O (Clevo W370ET) would be released in the next month (already on their site for pre-order), and that the K56-2O (Clevo W350ET) would be released the month after. Both would replace the current MSI models of 15 and 17 inch, one being the MS-16GA. Basically, they replace the GT 650M with the GTX 660M, and the brand MSI with the brand Clevo.

The release date of one.de isn't the same as the release date of Clevo of course, so reviews should be on the web pretty soon.

For me it all depends on how good the build quality of the Clevo is compared to the MSI. Glossy or mate, I don't really care about those things. Sure, I have a preference, but I'm not going to pay 50 euro more for that.

For the M56-2O, this would be the setup I would buy:
GPU: GT 650M 2GB GDDR5
CPU: i5-3210M 2.5 - 3.1 Ghz Turbo
RAM: 8 GB (2x4 GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz
Storage: 128 GB SATA III Samsung 830 Series
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

For a total of 914 euro + 40 euro shipping costs = 954 euro/1207 dollar.

For the K56-2O, this would be the setup I would buy:
I'm using the K73-2O on the site, but the K56-2O should be the same except for being 30 euros cheaper
GPU: GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5
CPU: i5-3210M 2.5 - 3.1 Ghz Turbo
RAM: 8 GB (2x4 GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz
Storage: 128 GB SATA III Samsung 830 Series
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

For a total of 994 euro - 30 euro (15 inch instead of 17 inch) = 964 euro + 40 euro shipping costs = 1004 euro/1270 dollar.

So, what am I paying 50 euro/63 dollar more for? The better GPU? Better build quality? Better trackpad? An extra HDD/SSD slot? I hope reviews of the Clevo W350/370 will tell me this!

 

If I had to guess, I would think the answers to those questions would be yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Now, ignoring all of the previous posts:
What are you going to use this machine for the most? How long do you want it to be relatively speedy?
Obviously, a combo of the 3610qm CPU and 660m GPU is better than choosing one over the other, but if you weren't doing a lot of gaming and just wanted a pretty fast computer, I would choose getting the 3610qm over the 660m (the 650m is pretty fast in its own right).

 

I think this article may also help in the decision making GTX 660M vs GT 650M GDDR5

Ultimately, it will come down to what other features the laptops that offer these 2 cards have to offer.

Formerly, nVidia had an easier naming scheme with the GTX label being supposedly being reserved for the mid to higher end cards and the GT was a middle of the road performer with better power savings. It doesn't really seem to be so much the case anymore though, especially with the comparison of the 2 cards given in the title of this thread.

 

Thanks for your responses!

I know gaminglaptopsjunky.com, and I know the guy that made the site. He gave me a lot of good advice. After a lot of research and help from him I settled on the GT 650M.

The same guy from gaminglaptopsjunky.com has also made an article about dual core vs quad core. I know some people swear by quad core, but I'm not convinced. My goal is being able to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat on max settings smoothly. The GT 650M seems like it could do just that. And for the CPU, dual core is enough. I would rather buy a dual core with a higher clock speed than a quad core with a lower clock speed. Certainly because quad core is more expensive. Cause that's another thing: I promised myself not to go over the 1000 euros. You have to draw a line somewhere.

And I know, quad core is a better investment. But now, not a lot of games actually use four cores. Certainly Call of Pripyat runs just as smooth on a dual core. And that's what I want. So I don't want it to be super speedy for a long time. It's not really why I made this thread. I already know what GPU I want, what processor I want, I was just wondering about the first laptop versus the second, MSI versus Clevo, and also maybe GT 650M versus GTX 660M.

 

Just a quick note - I read somewhere than in old Clevo's you needed I7 to actually use 1600mhz of your RAM - with i5 it would clock only at 1333mhz.

I'm not sure if there's really a huge difference in that, but I guess you could save few bucks by buying 1333mhz RAM?

 

Thanks for pointing that out, but for me 1600mhz is actually cheaper... Don't ask me why, but these are the options for 8GB:

8192MB DDR3 1600Mhz (2x 4096MB) +34.99EUR
8192MB DDR3 1333Mhz (1x 8192MB) +74.99EUR

So yeah... I will be going for the 1600Mhz anyway.

 

Thats because its 2 modules vs 1 module.

A module with greater memory costs more than 2 giving the same memory.

so 1x8GB > 2x4GB

Advantages of 1 module is that you can drop another one anytime to double the memory if you have limited ram slots.

 

Ah, that makes sense. Well, I think 8GB will do for a while. It is already more than I need.

 

Hi,

Thought this would be of interest, I have just built a W150ER machine specs are:

3820QM processor (cost €260 - great deal )
16GB of 1600Mhz Ram (2* 8GB modules)
512GB Crucial M4 SSD

whole lot cost me just under €1000 + vat

When I got it I installed Windows 7 64bit and did some benchmarking. Note this laptop is interesting in that it uses NVidia Optimus technology so the machine uses the graphics chip built into the main processor for almost all tasks - it will only use the GEForce for 3D work (games) if you set the Nvidia control plan to run the particular program using the GEForce.

Note there is a button on the laptop to restrict it to the Intel graphics processor but not to the GeForce (i.e. it is "optimus technology" or Intel graphics).

Anyway if you are not doing games then save the €50 as you won't be using the 3D processor anyway and put it towards a good SSD - it will make all the difference.

W.

 

But both the MSI MS 16-GA and the Clevo W150ER have the same GPU, the GT 650M. And the W350ETQ will have the GTX 660M, but just like the GT 650M it has the Optimus technology. The W350ETQ should have the button you are talking about, but I don't know about that with the W150ER and MS 16-GA.

Wow, that really is a great deal! At what website did you buy? That's a huge amount of RAM, an amazing processor and a very big SSD! I can't believe you managed to keep it below 1000 dollar!

By the way, I will play games. Just only games that already exist. I don't need it to be "future proof".

 

Hi,

1) price is Euros not Dollars
2) got the bits from different places - the actual chassis was very cheap (I got "barebones" - no processor, memory, hard disk etc)
3) processor is an ES one from China (Engineering sample)
4) Crucial M4 SSDs have fallen in price recently (by about 35-40%)
5) If you buy memory online it should cost about $50 for an 8 GB module.

Not sure you can future proof for games.

W.

 

I've never considered buying some components myself. Thanks for pointing that out!