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    Sager NP8850 - DX11 User upgradeable??

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by mostwanted115, Aug 14, 2010.

  1. mostwanted115

    mostwanted115 Notebook Consultant

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    Hello.

    i am customizing a Sager NP8850 on lpc-digital.com and the VGA slot option says:

    nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 480M with 2GB GDDR5 Memory
    DX11 (User Upgradeable)

    what does that mean? the GTX 480M supports DX11 by default. so do they mean installing DX11 software and drivers or are they referring to some hardware issue?

    Thanks
     
  2. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    Basically they mean that if u want to upgrade ur graphics card in the future to something better than GTX480M in the same MXM format , you (the user) can do so and u will not void the warranty.
     
  3. mostwanted115

    mostwanted115 Notebook Consultant

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    thanks sean,

    so what do u think? U still happy with ur Asus G73jh with all the new games coming out this fall?

    Shall i invest in the np8850? i will anyway....am not going back to a 5870. just wondering if you are in this section to consider buying a GTX480M laptop instead.
     
  4. ettornio

    ettornio Notebook Deity

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    All "user upgradeable" means is that as long as the MXM type on a newer GPU is the same and remains within a 100W TDP, you can swap out the GTX 480M for something better.

    A GTX 480M has a faster tessellation engine than a 5870, so in the long run, the GTX 480M will win when it comes to newer games for this fall and beyond.
     
  5. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    Hahaha, no not Sean.

    My advice, on the NP8850? I'd get a notebook with the GTX 460M instead.
     
  6. mostwanted115

    mostwanted115 Notebook Consultant

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    OO why is that? ur saying it is a more cost-effective solution considering the low difference in FPS gain compared to theGTX 480M ??

    any benchmarks?

    You sure u want that for me lol, am a hardcore gamer.
     
  7. mostwanted115

    mostwanted115 Notebook Consultant

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    am so confused, shall i get a laptop with i7-740QM + GTX 480M? (W880CU)

    or i7-840QM+ ATI5870 ? (W8760)

    the benchmarks are so close as far as FPS is concerned.
    The 480M is more future proof maybe; tessellation-ready for all the upcoming DX11 games?
     
  8. ettornio

    ettornio Notebook Deity

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    If there is no budget limitation, and you truly are a "hardcore gamer", go for the W880CU with a GTX 480M and don't look back.

    A GTX 460M is slightly below the ATi MR5870, so yes, it would be a smarter option if you were really hell bent on having a high-end Nvidia GPU and wanted to be cost-effective.
     
  9. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    No benches yet, but the GTX 460M should be faster than the 285M, which means it's right in the 480M's ballpark.
     
  10. Daniel Hahn

    Daniel Hahn Notebook Evangelist

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    If your truely a hardcore gamer go for the X7200...