Nvidia GTS360M vs ATI HD5650

[Klosteral]

Hello Tom's Hardware,

I am looking at purchasing a portable gaming laptop. The laptops I have been looking at all have:
Intel core i7-720QM processors
6GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
15.6" Screens

The only defining features are:
Blu-Ray vs DVD drives
500GB vs 2x640GB drives
1GB Nvidia GTS360M vs 1GB ATI HD5650 GPU

I can judge my own requirements in terms of Screen size, CPU, RAM, HDD and DVD/Blu-Ray drives... and most other things
But I am completely in the dark when it comes to Graphics Cards.

Any help would be appreciated.
-Klosteral

 

[Maziar]

GTS 360M is significantly more powerful than 5650M in gaming.

 

[Klosteral]

Hmm... That poses a problem as the more preferred machine - with 2x640GB drives and Blu-Ray has the ATI card.

What can be said of the ATI HD 5730M when added to this comparison?
What would it mean if I was to go from 6GB DDR3 down to 4GB DDR3?

 

[Maziar]

5730M is slightly faster than 5650M,so its slower than GTS 360M.
and 4GB vs 6GB don't have a noticeable difference in performance in almost all games.

 

[Klosteral]

Also, the computers I am comparing are listed in my post here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/64364-35-best-laptop-gaming-2000#t254075
And are from the MSY store here:
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/notebook.pdf

 

[Klosteral]

5730M is slightly faster than 5650M,so its slower than GTS 360M.
and 4GB vs 6GB don't have a noticeable difference in performance in almost all games.

So it would be better for me to get this laptop:
ASUS G51JX-HD-SX232V - $1639
CPU: Intel Core i7 720QM
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
RAM: 6GB DDR3
HDD: 500GB SATA
Graphic: Nvidia GTS360M
1GB Dedicated VGA
Screen: 15.6” Lcd Screen
* 2yrs World Wide Warranty * BT * DVD RW
* Wifi 11N * Webcam * HDMI * 6 Cell Batt

Than either of these:
Pavilion DV7 4002 TX - $1459
CPU: Intel Core i7 720QM
OS: Win7 Home Premium
RAM: 6GB DDR3
HDD: 1TB - 2 x 640GB SATA
Graphic: ATI HD5650
1GB Dedicated
Screen: 15.6” LED (1366 x 768)
* 1yr Warranty * Webcam * 6 Cell Battery * HDMI * eSata
* Blu Ray Combo * WiFi N * Gigabit Lan

ASUS N71JQ-TY013V - $1509
CPU: Intel Core i7 720QM
OS: Win7 Home Premium
RAM: 4GB DDR3
HDD: 1TB - 2 x 500GB SATA
Graphic: ATI HD 5730M
1GB Dedicated VGA
Screen: 17.3” (1600x900)
* 2yrs World Wide Warranty * BR Combo
* Wifi 11N * BT * 6 Cell Batt * HDMI

Providing I can live with the decreased hard drive capacity. I think I should be able to as I plan only use about 300GB on my laptop at any given stage; my desktop needs more space for backup and archival purposes (photos, hdd images, program downloads etc).

If you can confirm this, I would greatly appreciate it and will be able to finalise my order, hopefully getting me my laptop by Christmas
-Klosteral

 

[Maziar]

My vote still goes for the first one because it has the most powerful VGA between those choices.

 

[Klosteral]

What if I was to add the following?
nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1.5GB (ASUS G73)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5850 1GB (MSI GX640)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5870 1GB (MSI GX740)

Which is better? I am going to get this laptop - Hopefully as a Christmas present for myself and I want my $1800 (+ shipping) to be spent as best it can.

Sorry for being so picky,
-Klosteral

 

[Maziar]

5870M is slightly faster than 460M(In most games the difference isn't noticeable) but 460M runs noticeably cooler and quieter.
So performance wise,its like this
5870M>GTX 460M>5850M

 

[Klosteral]

Cool.
I am glad this is the case as the MSI laptop with the HD5870 card is also the one with the better battery life and no backlit keys.
(I believe the G73 had poor battery life BECAUSE of the backlit keys and rumor has it it had heating problems)

I think I will get me this MSI GX740 from XOTIC PC and have them ship it to Australia... I just hope it doesn't break because it won't be cheap to send it back.
Merry Christmas me

Cheers Maziar,
-Klosteral

 

[Maziar]

Well,ASUS G73JW(the one with GTX 460M) has better battery life than the older model(G73JH) and its pretty much on par with GX740 so both will give you 2-3hrs of battery life.
Anyway,you can't go wrong with either,hope you enjoy whatever you buy