Better? Faster? Cheaper?
Always ready to scrap, Nvidia was quick to respond to AMD's Mobility Radeon HD 6970 In CrossFire On Eurocom's Panther by pointing to lower-cost vendors selling dual-module versions of its solution at a lower price. It was finally time for us to put the whole “AMD vs. Nvidia” mobile performance supremacy debate to rest, at least when it comes to this generation of cards.
With the sole goal of testing both performance and value claims, AVADirect supplied a configuration identical to its competitor’s except for three items: the HDMI input device included by Eurcom was removed, the Bluetooth feature removed by Eurocom was replaced, and the pair of GeForce GTX 485 graphics modules in SLI would take the place of the previously-tested Radeon HD 6970 CrossFire solution.
| AVADirect X7200 Configuration | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Clevo X7200 Chassis: Intel LGA 1366, X58 Express/ICH10R, MXM-III Discrete Graphics |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Six-Core 3.33-3.60 GHz, 6.4 GT/s QPI, 12 MB L3 Cache, 32 nm, 130 W |
| RAM | Crucial 12 GB (3 x 4 GB) DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM, CL9, 1.5 V, Non-ECC |
| Graphics | Dual Nvidia GeFore GTX 485M, 2 GB GDDR5, SLI |
| Display | 17.3" Glossy LED-Backlit TFT, 1920x1080 |
| Webcam | 3.0 Megapixel |
| Audio | Integrated HD Audio |
| Security | Built-in Fingerprint Reader |
| Storage | |
| Hard Drive | Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS Hybrid, 500 GB + 4 GB Flash |
| Optical Drive | H-L Data CT21N 6x Blu-ray Reader / 8x DVD Writer Combo Drive |
| Media Drive | 9-in-1 Flash Media Interface |
| Networking | |
| Wireless LAN | Intel Ultimate-N 6300, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 11/54/450 Mb/s |
| Wireless PAN | Integrated Bluetooth Device |
| Gigabit Network | JMicron PCIe 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet |
| IEEE-1394 | Optional (not installed) |
| Telephony | Not Available |
| Peripheral Interfaces | |
| USB | 3 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0 |
| Expansion Card | Not Available |
| HDD | 1 x eSATA 3Gb/s |
| Audio | Headphone, Microphone, Line-In, Digital Out Jacks |
| Video | 1 x Dual-Link DVI-I w/VGA Adapter, 1 x HDMI |
| Power & Weight | |
| AC Adapter | 300 W Power Brick, 100-240 V AC to 15 V DC |
| Battery | 14.8 V 5300 mAh (78.44 Wh) Single |
| Weight | Notebook 13.4 lbs, AC Adapter 3.6 lbs (x 2), Total 20.6 pounds |
| Software | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Edition, OEM |
| Service | |
| Warranty | One-year parts and labor |
| Price | $4,518 |
AVADirect’s GeForce GTX 485M-based solution is several hundred dollars cheaper than its competitor’s offering based on Radeon HD 6970M, in spite of its identical processor, memory, operating system, and storage. Even the Bluetooth module AVADirect supplied is priced similarly to the HDMI input modules supplied by its competitor (according to that competitor’s price sheet), making today’s system appear a better value than the one previously reviewed. Our benchmarks will reveal whether that apparent increase in value rings true.
