Review GeForce GTX 680M vs. Radeon HD 7970M

[Redaktion]

Battle of the Giants. A few weeks after AMD launched their flagship HD 7970M, Nvidia took the spotlight with the reveal of the GTX 680M.  The GeForce GPU is said to outperform the Radeon HD 7970M in nearly all aspects: performance, features, and energy efficiency. We compare the two graphics solutions to find out who takes the mobile graphics crown.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-GeForce-GTX-680M-vs-Radeon-HD-7970M.77110.0.html

[Andrew]

I am a fan of AMD so I want a laptop with 7970M, but this ENDURO problem concern me it seems like a big problem. My question is: If I buy a laptop armed with 7970M and AMD releases a patch in near future, will this patch fix it? Or if I buy 7970M now, ENDURO switching is beyond repair?
Thank you

[Louis]

ok
i've noticed that 680m has a max memory of 4gb.
so if a laptop have 2 slots of gpus,
can it be like 4x2=8gb sli ?

[Ksyruz]

In terms of pricing the GTX680M is OK. Due to the fact if you look at past mobile GPU releases, the HD 7970M is on par with the GTX675M, ie GTX570M/HD 6970M. When AMD releases their HD 7990M the pricing would be the similar to that of the GTX680.

[WOAOW]

HD 7970m IS NOT ON par with GTX 675m, it outright flattens it, with the new 12.6 driver HD  7970m's performance will go up and so will GTX 680m with newer Nvidia driver. Doesn't help the fact that the reviewers never bothered to use new drivers for both GFX cards; this is a cause for concern about the accuracy and reliability of this review.

[Benjamin Huang]

WHAT??!!7970M on par with 675M?? Sir, please study more on this issue before making such statement!! 7970M is much more powerful than 675M sin the 675M is only 580M!!

[Florian Glaser]

@ WOAOW: The official drivers didn´t work at the time of the review.

[outsider]

The 7970M has no official drivers yet, so not much can be judged.

[jeffreybaks]

380$ surcharge is astronomical and ludicrous for the 680m.  As they say a fool and his money are soon parted and this is no exception from my thinking, especially in current times.  Software will get better for the AMD brand, but your money never comes back once youve payed triple the price.

[William]

 Driver is always a problem with AMD's card. But I love AMD GPU ^^

[NVidia's Worker]

Hint: Both card are good enough and future proof. You can play Battlefield 3 and Crysis at the same max settings. In fact, if you and your friends synchronize both games and a similar map, you can play both with the same mouse.

P.S: I ain't a NVidia's representative, I just work in NVidia in finance department.

P.S.2: Fortune, fame, mirror, vain, gone insane! But the memory remains! Just be happy with your card!

[Francisco]

You can always change the low load gpu/memory clock on the 7970 to something lower to get more battery life, on the other hand the nvidia gpu seems to have more space for overclocking if you ever do need it. If you do buy mobile gaming amd gpus one thing i recommend is pay a few extra bucks to get one with thermal compound, the difference is usually very high and you will avoid overusing the fans which leads to less buildup of dust and, consequently, maintenance. My current laptop has a 5870m which i had to personally do this because the stock paste is horrible, and I think i'll go with the 7970m, although if there wasn't an inexcusable $200 price difference I would consider the 680m simply for nvidia's awesome driver support, like stated here before.

[Christian A.]

Hint: Both card are good enough and future proof. You can play Battlefield 3 and Crysis at the same max settings. In fact, if you and your friends synchronize both games and a similar map, you can play both with the same mouse.

P.S: I ain't a NVidia's representative, I just work in NVidia in finance department.

P.S.2: Fortune, fame, mirror, vain, gone insane! But the memory remains! Just be happy with your card!

Isn't that a Metallica's song? Well, I don't about playing TWO games simultaneously, but the 7970m is good enough for me. I'd like to try the GTX 680m and know if the $200 price difference is worth it. I hope it is!

[John]

380$ surcharge is astronomical and ludicrous for the 680m.  As they say a fool and his money are soon parted and this is no exception from my thinking, especially in current times.  Software will get better for the AMD brand, but your money never comes back once youve payed triple the price.

You suffer from poor boy syndrome...$380 is not a lot of money at all, if it is to you then I suggest getting a better job.  The fact is the 680 gtx is a better overall card, more memory that you will need in the future, optimus, and superior 3D over the AMD card.  So just because you cant handle it, doesnt mean people are fools out there, we are rich for a reason.

[Garin]

380$ surcharge is astronomical and ludicrous for the 680m.  As they say a fool and his money are soon parted and this is no exception from my thinking, especially in current times.  Software will get better for the AMD brand, but your money never comes back once youve payed triple the price.

Nvidia is superior in every way. What's next, you're gonna want Intel to lower their prices? There's a reason why the superior manufacturer makes their product cost more than its rival's, it's because it's better. ***