Switchable graphics or optimus for high end graphic cards in the near future?

Hey guys,
i'm really interested in the p150HM with the radeon 6970 - awesome power you can afford. Only thing holding me back pulling the trigger is the short battery life - in respect to the fact that power saving technologies like nividia's optimus or amd's switchable graphics are in principal available but not implemented by the resellers. I would hate it if switchable graphics/optimus are available shortly after i purchased my new laptop. so what do you think or know - when will optimus/switchable graphics will be available for high end graphic cards (any manufacturer) ? e.g. could it be that optimus is implemented when the new GTX5*** models arrive? and i'm not talking about the crappy GT555M with 2 gig ddr3 ram and 128 bit

 

The Alienware MX17-R3 has switchable graphics and the 6970M.

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm only interested in 15" laptops which don't weight a ton and have a a rather "plain" look, something you can bring to the office too - not the alienware bling bling. But you are right, alienware is a role model regarding switchable graphics

 

Oh, sorry. In that case I have no answer for you sorry.

 

The issue with Optimus right now is that it routes the GPU through the IGP, and the IGP doesn't support 120Hz monitors which goes against the feature of 3D for Nvidia as well

Apparently AMD uses MUXes to actually switch between GPU and IGP to go around that issue

 

Ok, but how many laptops have a 120hz display which supports 3D? And how many people are really using the 3D feature with an external monitor? Not so many i assume. On the other hand, how many people would buy a laptop with switchable graphics/optimus and high end graphic card - a lot of people i think, regarding that there is an discussion about this topic in nearly every forum.
And why don't they offer switchable graphics for the amd cards, eg 6970, if amd avoid the 120hz issue?

 

My requirements for my next laptop are:-

2720M CPU or better (for hardware Virtualisation support) - Check
6970M or better GPU at a reasonable price - Check
17" 1920x1080 Matte Screen - Check
Non-Alienware Looks - Check

Switchable graphics while maintaining all of the above - Nope

I'm waiting for switchable graphics not for the battery life improvement, but so I can use the Quicksync video encoding acceleration built into the IGP.

Clevo are nearly there - I expect the Intel chipset that supports everything at once out of the box (X67 or something?) has been held up a bit due to the SB sata2 recall issue, but once the P152M or whatever it turns out to be called hits, I'm in.

#Wonderdog

 

Why do you think that the resellers will implement switchable graphics/optimus when a new intel chipset (X67?) is available?

 

It's up to the company

HP has a 3D notebook w/ a Radeon, Alienware has switchable 6970M, but Sager does not

If Sager/Clevo had it, it'd be the perfect notebook

 

And a proper keypad dammit!

 

Pretty much all of Nvidia's 4x0m and 5x0m line up is compatible with Optimus but OEMs don't implement it in their builds. I think your best bet is that new NP5160 with GT555m or waiting indefinitely.

Personally, I'm gonna sell my NP5160 when 2nd generation APUs hit in 2012 (according to AMD's roadmaps)

 

The whole problem is the MXM port and this all got screwed up pretty badly. Just when ODMs started to adopt MXM ports more widely, Nvidia comes up with Optimus, which soon enough becomes a must. However, Optimus can't work with the MXM port which is a must for high-end notebooks. AMD's solution seems better suited.

Either way, it seems to me both AMD and Nvidia need to find some standardised version of switchable graphics which can work through the MXM port, probably MXM 4.0 or smth like that.

 

Why can't Optimus work with an MXM port? I'm not familiar with the technical aspect, sorry. What I just don't get - obviously, as demonstrated by alienware in the M17R3, you can implement optimus or switchable graphics - and it works. So why the **** is clevo incapable of implementing is and offer the option to disable it temporarily by the user when specific "incompatibilites" occur.

 

M17R3 has switchable graphics with an AMD card. It is unclear at this time how it works exactly, but it's not like Optimus. Also, we don't know if the MXM port has been altered or not in the way it works with the Mobo. I don't really visit Alienware forums.

But I can assure you that if Nvidia could have implemented Optimus on it's high end card it would have done it by now. Thing is, all their Optimus laptops have their video card soldered to the mobo which indicates that it may not work otherwise.

Given that PCI-e 3.0 will be implemented from next year, I would expect laptops that have Ivy Bridge to use a new type of MXM port.

 

Well, it's unlikely, but I hope Clevo will adopt the solution of Alienware for AMD cards. I would be perfectly happy with a 6970M with 2h movie battery life or 3,5 - 4h office load (word, excel etc.). I'm thinking about waiting for the 560M which has far less computing power than the 6970, but is also a potent viedo card. I've heard that the power consumption was improved by a new design (GF116). So this card will maybe offer a good battery life even without switchable graphics. What do you think? Is it worth the waiting time?
I don't really need the (second) fastest graphic card, but rather a fast card like the gtx460 in combination with good battery life

 

I can't say for certain how the 560M will be compared to current cards, but I wouldn't expect anything revolutionary from it. +/- 10% performance/power consumption .

The big changes in video card performance and power consumption will come later this year, when the 28nm process starts rolling. This means waiting all the way 'till December/January.