**SO WHICH IS FASTER: 4GB GTX680M INTEL vs 2GB 7970M AMD MSI GAMING LAPTOPS??**

[Gibbo]

Hi there


OK a lot of people have suggested that laptops using the AMD A10-4600M don't possess enough CPU horsepower to play the latest games, I've argued that at True HD resolution (1920x1080) with maximum detail settings. The FPS is far more dependent on the GPU rather than the CPU, yes a CPU will help make things faster still, but in game at such resolutions it is the GPU which matters most.

So I did a simple Heaven Benchmark on the two following laptops which we sell:-


MSI GX60 Gaming Laptop 15.6" LED Full HD AMD A10-4600M 2.30GHz CPU, 8GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, DVD-RW, AMD Radeon HD 7970 2GB GDDR5 Graphics, Win7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Black @ £999.95 inc VAT

The MSI GX60 is powered by an AMD A10-4600M quad-core "Trinity" APU, Radeon HD 7970M discrete graphics processor with 2 GB GDDR5 memory, and up to 16 GB dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory (Model here is 8GB). Its storage components include 750GB 7200rpm hard drive, DVD-RW combo drive. The 15.6-inch anti-glare screen packs 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Other gaming-grade features include Bigfoot Killer NIC, keyboard made by SteelSeries, and HD webcam.

The MSI GX60 is one of the most powerful yet best value gaming laptops on the market due to the AMD HD 7970M onboard graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory. Play any game at maximum settings in True HD resolution with smooth fluid frame rates on this awesome MSI GX60 Laptop.

This chassis uses the absolute very latest in technology such as SATA3, USB3.0, Bluetooth, WiFi but the most impressive of all is the fact this system feature an ATi Radeon 7970M with 2GB of GDDR5 dedicated memory for absolutely blistering performance.


Specification:-
- 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) LED backlight, Anti-glare
- AMD Quad Core A10-4600M 2.30 GHz Processor (Boost 3.20GHz)
- AMD A70M FCH
- 8GB DDR3 (4G*2)
- AMD Radeon HD 7660G Onboard Graphics
- AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 Graphics
- 750GB (SATA) 7200rpm
- DVD Super Multi Drive
- 3x USB3.0
- 1x USB2.0
- Card Reader (SD(XC/HC)/MMC)
- 1x HDMI (v1.4)
- 1x Dsub
- 2x Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer
- THX TruStudio Pro
- 7.1 Audio Channels
- Mic-in/Headpphone out 1/1/1(line in)/1(line out)
- SPDIF: Yes
- Wireless LAN (AW-NB100H Combo (b/g/n)
- Bluetooth v4.0
- Gigabit Killer E2200 LAN
- Webcam: HD type (30fps@720p)
- 102 key chocolate non-backlight keyboard
- 9-Cell Li-Ion
(7800mAH)"
- Turbo Battery+
- Dimensions: 395 x 267 x 55mm
- 3.5Kg (w/ Battery)
- 2 year pick-up and return


Was [£1099.99] Inc. VAT

Only £999.95 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW
















MSI GT70 0NE-467UK ONE Gaming Laptop 17.3" LED Full HD Intel I7 Gen3 CPU, 16GB DDR3, Dual 128GB SSD, 750GB HDD, Bluray Writer, NVIDIA GTX 680M 4GB GDDR5 Graphics, Win7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Black @ £2,099.99 inc VAT

The nVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M leverages NVIDIA's revolutionary new architecture to deliver extreme performance than the previous generation. Turn on lightning-fast antialiasing in a huge variety of games automatically. Get maximum playability with NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync, which adjusts VSync to current frame rates. Feel the difference with NVIDIA PhysX® technology , bringing games to life with dynamic, interactive environments.

The first Super RAID design—one notebook with two mSATA SSD RAID 0 (128GB or 256GB) units, is yet another world first courtesy of MSI. Two mSATA SSDs and one HDD can be installed in the same laptop without the need to expand the size of the laptop, increasing read, write, and saving speeds.

MSI Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) technology brings more calculating speed to enhance the system performance. It benefits the video decoding/encoding, 3D gaming and art work designing. With MSI TDE Technology, you can experience faster response time and efficient real-time data processing.

The GT60 0NE/GT70 0NE represent the first time that MSI has incorporated Killer™ E2200 Intelligent Networking into its notebooks, endowing them awesome online speeds. The Advanced Game Detect™ technology recognizes online game data packs and processes them first, accelerating them in the process. The best weapon against stuttering characters, freeze-ups, and lagging, it vastly improves the prowess of online gamers. Now, whether FPS or MMO gaming is your cup of tea, you’ll have that extra edge you need to be victorious.

For hard-core gamers who demand extreme audio performance, the GT60 0NE/GT70 0NE is the best and only choice!

In the other hand, the MSI Audio Boost design enhances sound output by 30%. The gold flash audio jack provides stable sound transmission (reduced obstruction) and works in conjunction with the optimized AMP (Audio Power Amplifier) design, characterized by low noise and low distortion, to greatly enhance headphone performance and faithfully reproduce each acoustic detail.


Features:-
- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
- The latest 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
- 17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) anti-glare LCD panel in LED backlight
- High-end NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 680M discrete graphics card (with GDDR5 4GB VRAM) provides great detail images quality
- Super RAID with 2 SSD RAID0 gives you over 1000MB/s storage speed!!(option)
- Killer Gaming Networking for priority online gaming
- A Keyboard made just for gamers by SteelSeries
- Exclusive TDE technology to speed up the performance easily
- Exclusive Audio boost design for crystal clear audio fidelity
- Sound by Dynaudio for extreme audio performance

Specification:-
- Processor: Intel Ivybridge I7-3630QM 2.40GHz
- Chipset: Intel HM77 Chipset
- Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, 4 slots, Max: 32GB
- LCD Size: 17.3" Anti glare full HD 1920x1080 LED backlight
- Graphics: nVIDIA Geforce GTX680M 3D Graphic Card
- Graphics VRAM: GDDR5 4GB
- HDD (GB) 2*128GB SSD in RAID 0 + 750GB 7200RPM SATA
- Optical Drive: BD Writer / Blu-ray
- Audio: Audio Boost, 2 Speakers, 1 subwoofer
- Webcam: HD Webcam(30fps@720p)
- Card Reader: SD(XC/HC)/MMC/MS(PRO)/xD
- LAN: 10/100/1000 Bigfoot Killer E2200 series
- Wireless: LAN 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0
- D-Sub: (VGA) 1
- HDMI: 1(v1.4)
- USB 2.0: port 2
- USB 3.0: port 3
- eSATA: 1
- eSATA/USB Combo: 1
- Mic-in/Headphone-out: 1/1
- Line-in: 1
- Sensor N/A
- Express Card N/A
- Modem port N/A
- AC Adapter 180W
- Battery 9 cells
- Power Management MSI execlusive ECO engine
- Dimension 428 x 288 x 55mm
- Weight (KG) 3.9


Was [£2,399.99] Inc. VAT

Only £2,099.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW
















As you can see the Intel based laptop is more than double the price, but it does sport one of Intel's latest Quad Core processors and NVIDIA's flagship 4GB GTX 680M.

So surely a laptop at half its price based on AMD's new platform has no chance featuring the A10-4600M APU and ATI 7970M graphics?

Its irrelevent to myself or OcUK which you buy, as we sell them both, yes the more expensive unit is larger and has more features, but its really not much better at gaming if any at all.

So there you have it, the new AMD platform really is a superb option on mobile computing whether your a hardcore gamer, the new platform can handle it.

 

[Gibbo]

I would stay away from testing the fps on individual games as some games favour a certain brand of gpu over the other such as batman arkam. it was made for nvidia in mind so the nvidia card in the 2k laptop you would expect to smash the amd card in the 1k laptop. however if you tested dirt showdown it would switch round and the 1k laptop would smash the 2k laptop

im presuming anywho? i think the benchmarks above show that the 1k laptop at half the price is a force to be reckoned with and will be hard to justify paying 1k extra for just gaming.

The 2K laptop in theory has the faster CPU and graphics card, but Heaven which is GPU intensive shows the 7970M is a very formiddable mobile option and even though in games the faster CPU in the 680M laptop will help it a bit, you have to consider, is it really worth paying double for. As one thing for sure, the the AMD 7970M based laptop will play all the games with ease.

 

[Gibbo]

Are they loud? My 8800gtxm was like an aircraft taking off, hated it, will probably never buy a gaming laptop again.

The AMD setup is quieter for sure, but both generate noise after doing some intensive gaming work.

 

[Gibbo]

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...e-f2a85x-up4-amd-a10-5800k-review-w-discrete/

yeah I can see what you mean? All that bottlenecking. Just look how it performs compared to the cheap Intel. These figures are from the desktop variant. Thing is unless you go i5 or above trinity actually appears the better deal and be prepared to pay more for the intel.

Thanks for posting that!

I am gonna do some benchmarks myself though, got Shogun 2 and Sleeping Dogs, so shall see how the two compare, I am sure the 680M will be faster, but not twice as quick or even close to twice as quick!

 

[Gibbo]

Going to run some Sleeping Dogs and Shogun 2 benchmarks!

 

[Gibbo]

Any luck with the GTX 680M results yet?

Yes!

They prove exactly what I've being saying all along. At 1080p its down to GPU performance and as such even in Shogun 2 this AMD based laptop is nearly as quick as the Intel 680M based laptop costing twice as much.

Of course at lower resolutions, the more powerful Intel CPU shows its muscle, but I stand by my original point, on a gaming 1080p laptop you game at 1080p as the GPU is powerful enough. Here is the Shogun 2 results:-

Shall post Sleeping Dogs results later or tomorrow in a nice a chart.

My point all along has being that 1080p gaming is far more reliant on GPU, and this does indeed seem the trait, as now proven in Heaven and Shogun 2. Fact is at 1080p gaming the CPU does very little, its mostly down to GPU performance. If playing at lower resolutions, then of course the CPU aids performance quite a bit.

Fact is for 1k you won't get a faster 1080p gaming laptop on the Intel/NVIDIA side. The AMD CPU is slower for sure, but it does not spoil your 1080p gaming experience.

Of course soon AMD will release the Enduro Hotfix so then those of you insistent on having Intel will be able to have the best of both worlds, an Intel based laptop with 7970M which is cheaper and a match for the more expensive 680M.

Truth is right now if you want an Intel gaming laptop for 1k, the best GPU you will get is a 660M/570M which simply won't offer the same performance in games at 1080p, not even close to this all AMD Laptop.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Here is the Sleeping Dogs results, the 7970M is on top when visual settings are all set to extreme, which enables AA/AF I believe. However setting to normal so AA/AF is not on the 680M platform seems to have a big performance pull back, beating the 7970M, maybe thats the faster processor flexing its muscle?

We sell both laptops so I have no personal gain by saying buy the cheaper one, but I've run the benchmarks requested and pretty much proven my point, the 7970M AMD based laptop offers superb 1080p gaming performance, if thats your aim your not gonna find a better gaming laptop for the money. If the 680M Intel laptop was £200 more, then I'd consider it, but even if you remove the SSD, larger screen, bluray, your still talking an additional £500. I'd simply not spend it.

Of course the best option all round shall be when AMD release the hotfix for Enduro problem, then you can have full blown 7970M performance with Intel processor.

But please those saying that AMD Trinity is a bad match with 7970M is miss-leading, its just as capable in games at 1080p as the more powerful Intel based counterparts which cost considerably more.

 

[Gibbo]

Actually the normal settings performance pretty much says it all about the CPU performance differenct between the two laptops. Intel's minimum 45fps and averaging nearly 60fps is much more playable than AMD's minimum 22.9fps and average 39fps.

As for extreme setting, I feel that I need to point out that Sleeping Dogs would use SuperSampling under this setting, and as far as I know, Nvidia cards don't handle SuperSampling as well as AMD's cards, so the much bigger performance drop on the 680M comparing to 7970M make sense. However despite the 7970M is faster than the 680M at handling SuperSampling, looking at the minimum and average frame rate it is still not playable performance. Even on the desktop PC platform, I don't think there are many people would play the game under Extreme settings, unless they have at least a highly overclocked 7950, and/or have at least minimum 35fps.

How about the Shogun results then?

Regarding playable, I found Sleeping Dogs was perfectly playable on both machines at Extreme settings as did others here.

Facts remain the MSI 680M is twice the price of the MSI 7970M machine, my money would go on the 7970M machine because at 1080P it plays the games fine.

However a better solution would be an Intel based laptop, with 7970M with Enduro hotfix and also for under 1k. I am working on making this possible right now.

 

[Gibbo]

For the Shogun 2 result...can you comparing the minimum frame frate while having lots of units on screen at the same time?

Any chance MSI be releaseing a simliar spec gaming laptop to the AMD's one, but with the Intel CPU/platform for may be around £1300?

Nope I am having to do all the hard work myself, here it is for the first 10 units sold:-


OcUK Limited Edition P170EM 17.3" LED Full HD Intel Processor, 1600MHz DDR3, SSD + HDD, ATI HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card - Windows - Black @ £999.96 inc VAT

This Limited Edition of 10 units only now makes it possible to have a state of the art hardcore gaming laptop for under £1000. Though we do recommend customising the laptop with more memory along with additional storage. But now you can have an Intel based 7970M powerhouse of a gaming laptop all for under £1000, though you can also spec the system up with options that take it beyond the £1000 price too. Rest assured the 7970M graphics in this laptop can handle any game with ease.

For hardcore gamers the OcUK Extreme P170EM is the perfect choice. There is no more powerful or better constructed option, with the latest Intel Core I7 Processor there is no shortage of power and for those who only demand the most powerful, we can construct the OcUK Extreme P170EM with an Intel I7 Extreme processor too.

This chassis uses the absolute very latest in technology such as SATA3, USB3.0, Bluetooth, WiFi but the most impressive of all is the fact this system feature an ATi Radeon 7970M with 2GB of GDDR5 dedicated memory for absolutely blistering performance. Infact this is the fastest gaming laptop we sell and more importantly its also one of the best value and offers you the ability to tailor to your exact needs.

With a backlit keyboard you will no longer have problems finding the keys during the dark or whilst playing your favourite shoot 'em up! Not only that but with a choice of colours to suit your environment and taste your notebook will look more stylish than ever!

With a LED backlit 17.3" screen with True HD (1920x1080) resolution games have never looked so good on the go or ran so smooth due to the power of the ATI HD 7970M onboard graphics. The OcUK Extreme P170EM feature a blue backlit keyboard and high quality THX speakers for the ultimate gaming experience.

For memory we only use the highest performance and most reliable for laptops, which is Corsair Vengeance which is set to run at 1600MHz with T1 memory timings resulting in absolute instant response. 8GB is the default choice which is more than adequate for all task and gaming, we only recommend 16GB kit if your also doing a lot of photography work or heavy multi-tasking. Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz will extract the very best performance from the OcUK Extreme P170EM causing zero bottlenecks in the system.

For hard drive options, we recommend the primary drive as an SSD drive, this means from point of pressing power on your should be at the Windows 7 Desktop in approx 10 seconds and with an SSD applications and games load more or less instantly. Of course if you preferre capacity you can choose a large capacity HDD or a Hybrid drive too. Our recommendation is to select an SSD for the primary drive along with a HDD as the secondary drive for storage.

Specification:-
- Operating System: Choose from the drop down options!
- Display: 17.3" SuperBright LED True HD Display (1920x1080 Resolution)
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ HD7970M 2GB GDDR5
- Storage: Choose from the drop down options!
- Optical: Choose from the drop down options!
- HD Audio
- Mic Noise Suppression
- Dolby Home Theatre®
- 4W Stereo Speakers (2W x 4)
- Subwoofer
- 2 megapixel Webcam
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 / i7 Processor - Choose exact model from drop down options!
- Physical Specification: 412mm x 276mm x 41.8~45.4mm (3.9kg with battery)
- Memory: 4GB DDR3 System Memory at 1600MHz (4GB x 1) OR choose 8/16GB DDR3 Options
- Main Chipset: Intel HM77
- Communication: 10 / 100 / 1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN,Wireless LAN, Widi Support
- Intel Centrino Wireless N 2230
- Bluetooth Connectivity
- Bluetooth 3.0
- 1x HDMI Port
- 3x USB3.0 Ports
- 1x USB2.0 Port
- 1x E-SATA
- 1x DVI-I
- 1x DisplayPort
- 1x Microphone IN
- 1x Headphone OUT
- 1x DC IN
- 1x RJ-45 Jack
- 1x IEEE 1394a
- Kensington Lock: YES
- 8 Cell Smart Lithium-ION Battery
- Fingerprint Scanner
- 9in1 Card Reader
- 2yr Warranty (1yr Parts, 2yr Labour)


Service Package
- Full 24 Month collect and return warranty (12 month on parts)
- Each specification is assembled from handpicked components for compatibility and stability
- Telephone, web note and forum technical support

Is this Notebook for You?
Immense performance, powerful graphics and sleek hardware all combine to create the "OcUK Extreme P170EM", perfect for the gaming enthusiast.

Note - If you would like to make a small change to the specification call our sales team on 0871 200 5052 and they will be happy to help.

* No OS systems are fully tested with the same extensive methods as systems chosen with an operating system. Including tests such as CPU, memory and GFX stress tests. All no OS systems are formatted completely before shipping.

*Please allow between 48 and 96 hours for your system to be built and configured. This may take longer during busier periods. You can choose from the drop down options to jump the queue by selecting one of our Fast Track options. If your choosing the 24hr next day service, to get the laptop delivered next working day you need to order pre 10:30am to give us enough time to build, test and get your laptop shipped out, otherwise you will get it the following day.

Was [£1183.96] Inc. VAT

Only £999.96 inc VAT. (ONLY 10 AVAILABLE - PRE-ORDER SPECIAL)

ORDER NOW