Focusing on Nvidia's newest GeForce GTX 800M-series graphics modules and Origin PC's mobile platform for today’s performance analysis simplifies the value comparison for us, since we only need to look one place for our pricing. Granted, the old parts were discontinued as soon as the 800Ms launched, so I did have to use February pricing in my calculations.
That also meant subtracting $78 from the configured price of the refreshed machine, since the old CPU, which Origin PC custom-installed for us, was $78 cheaper. Still, that's a marginal subtraction on a system that costs as much as ~$3000 with high-end graphics.

You do pay more for Nvidia's faster GeForce GTX 800M-series graphics modules. Regardless, the new GPUs offer enough of a performance boost to offset their premium as part of a complete system. Not only does the latest and greatest win out on performance, but also value.
A little adding and subtracting from quoted prices for various Eon17-S configurations suggests that Origin PC charges about $900 for the GeForce GTX 880M, around $600 for the 870M, and roughly $500 for the GTX 860M, as part of the package deal. That makes the 860M roughly twice as pricey as the GeForce GTX 765M. Then again, Nvidia's GK104 is a more expensive graphics processor than GK106.
Some folks will suggest that only the cost of the component under test can be used to calculate value, even when that piece of hardware affects the performance of an entire system. I tend to disagree, but went ahead and created a chart for them based on my findings, too.

This chart makes certain assumptions based on Origin PC's prices. More problematic, its results suggest that the rest of the notebook is free. The first diagram is more realistic, conveying that the biggest generational improvement happens going from GeForce GTX 770M to 870M. And that's probably the GPU I'd choose if I were spending my own money. It's adequate through our benchmark suite at the most demanding settings.
Of course, if you need even higher frame rates for 3D Vision or more taxing details in games like Metro: Last Light, you could always spend the few hundred extra dollars on the GeForce GTX 880M. That is, unless you'd like to wait for AMD's response.
- Introducing The GeForce GTX 800M-Series
- How We Test Nvidia's GeForce GTX 800M Graphics
- Results: F1 2012 And Tomb Raider
- Results: Arma 3
- Results: Battlefield 4
- Results: Far Cry 3
- Results: Metro: Last Light
- Results: 3DMark
- Power And Heat
- Average Performance And Efficiency
- Is The GeForce GTX 800M-Series A Better Buy?
Previously I wouldn't consider getting a gaming laptop due to their short battery life, even when not gaming. But if a laptop with this kind of hardware can manage 5 - 6 hours, I'd consider it...
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get.
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get.
GPUs have been multi-core for ages now. Well beyond desktop cores, even. The GTX880M in particular is a 1,536-core GPU. Similar numbers have been around for a long time.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gtx-880m/specifications
Previously I wouldn't consider getting a gaming laptop due to their short battery life, even when not gaming. But if a laptop with this kind of hardware can manage 5 - 6 hours, I'd consider it...
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get."
Yes, the 860M Maxwell is a 2GB card that is soldered directly onto the motherboard with only 640 cuda cores w/ 50W TDP. The Kelper 860M is 4GB and is MXM (replaceable) with 1152 cuda cores w/ 75W TDP.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-780m-770m-765m,3732.html
I was going to comment earlier and ask Thomas about this. Did Origin PC come up with custom 800M-series modules for this article?... or was half the VRAM somehow disabled? If not, I'm confused. The EON17-S as available on their web site comes with the "standard" double-memory configurations - 4 GB for the 860M, 6 GB for the 870M, and a whopping 8 GB for the 880M. I didn't see this mentioned in the article at all. On other forums, users have indicated this "double-VRAM" is a waste. It would have been nice if this article had put the "double-VRAM" to the test, especially at the QHD resolution.
I was going to comment earlier and ask Thomas about this. Did Origin PC come up with custom 800M-series modules for this article?... or was half the VRAM somehow disabled? If not, I'm confused. The EON17-S as available on their web site comes with the "standard" double-memory configurations - 4 GB for the 860M, 6 GB for the 870M, and a whopping 8 GB for the 880M. I didn't see this mentioned in the article at all. On other forums, users have indicated this "double-VRAM" is a waste. It would have been nice if this article had put the "double-VRAM" to the test, especially at the QHD resolution.