Mobile Graphics Card

[gbubrodieman]

I have an Alienware M17x, I bought in October. They are replacing the laptop due to several issues. Right now I have dual 1GB nVidia GTX260m SLI. In the replacement order, they have Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX. Am I getting screwed?

 

[Maziar]

No,2 HD 4870Ms perform better than 2 GTX 260Ms.
Its a good upgrade :d
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4870-X2-Crossfire.14406.0.html

 

[gbubrodieman]

I saw that site also, and a list. Some numbers were higher and some lower, but it was ranked one higher total. Also I have a quad core 2.0ghz, they are giving me an i7 2.66ghz. That's a nice upgrade too

Thanks for your help!

 

[Maziar]

Well all of notebookcheck's benchmarks aren't 100% accurate,they have some mistakes but 2 4870Ms are faster
i7 720QM/2 4870s would be a great replacement for your Q9000/2 GTX 260Ms

 

[gbubrodieman]

Sure I understand that its not 100%.

Thanks for your help Maziar!

 

[Maziar]

No problem
And yes i meant 100% (edited my post)

 

[gbubrodieman]

So I just saw that its not the 720 its Intel Core i7 620M 2.66 GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 4MB Cache)

I saw that only has two cores. Am I losing power?

Right now I have this Q9000, 2.0, 6MB, Core Penryn, E0

 

[Maziar]

In non-multi threaded apps you will get a nice boost,but in multi-threaded apps your Q9000 is faster but don't worry its a great performer

 

[gbubrodieman]

Most apps are going multi-thread though aren't they? Games at least? I play the newest games.

 

[gbubrodieman]

According to cpubenchmark.net its not better. I am guessing this benchmark was done with multi core.

 

[Maziar]

No most games aren't still optimized for Quad-Core,so they will run fine on a dual core CPU.
Also most games are GPU-Limited so they benefit more from a faster GPU than a faster CPU.

 

[gbubrodieman]

Thanks!

 

[Maziar]

No problem

 

[karen0958]

No,2 HD 4870Ms perform better than 2 GTX 260Ms.
Its a good upgrade :d
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4870-X2-Crossfire.14406.0.html

MAZIAR

YOU SEEM SO KNOWLEDGEABLE I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME. YOU ANSWERED A QUESTION:

I have an Alienware M17x, I bought in October. They are replacing the laptop due to several issues. Right now I have dual 1GB nVidia GTX260m SLI. In the replacement order, they have Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX. Am I getting screwed?

FROM GBUBRODIEMAN AND YOU SAID IT WAS A GOOD DEAL.

I JUST ORDERED AN ALIENWARE 17" LAPTOP WITH A Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX VIDEO CARD AND AN i7 PROCESSOR. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WOULD SUPPORT 3D (THEY HAVE A 3D ALIENWARE MONITOR. BUT NOW THEY ARE SAYING THAT IT WILL ONLY WORK WITH THEIR NVidia VIDEO CARD THAT IS AVAILABLE IN THEIR DESKTOP. WHAT DO YOU THINK. IS THERE ANYWAY MY CONFIGURATION WILL WORK WITH THE 3D MONITOR. I AM DESPERATE FOR HELP. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE ME.

THANK YOU SO MUCH MAZIAR.

 

[Maziar]

For now,AMD doesn't support 3D,and its only Nvidia which supports 3D monitors.

 

[karen0958]

Do you see that changing in the future since it seems 3D is going to (according to what you read and hear) be the next big thing. I mean I can't see that Nvidia could have a monopoly on this new technology - Dell is not the company it used to be. Sony and Asus are both offering both the Nvidia and i7 in a laptop and supports 3D why can't Dell. Of course I don't expect you to have answers to the last question but what do you think will happen going forward - I mean as far as other video cards supporting 3D - have you come across anything that would make you have an opinion on support by other video cards, especially the one I am getting? I am going to give AMD a call but was wondering what you thought.

Again, thanks for your ideas.

 

[Maziar]

I don't know maybe Dell will use 3D in future Alienware laptops