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    Graphics amplifier with Gtx 1080?

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by CaptainKoloth, May 14, 2016.

  1. CaptainKoloth

    CaptainKoloth Notebook Enthusiast

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    Obviously it's impossible to say until release but is there any reason to think the Gtx 1070/80 might not work with the graphics amplifier once it's released? Anyone planning to get that combination and try?
     
  2. altecX

    altecX Notebook Deity

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    I will be trying it in a few months once I get funds I have the GA already just no GPU for it.
     
  3. Chris_Wayne

    Chris_Wayne Notebook Consultant

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    I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work but I'd be concerned about the data transfer speed of the proprietary cable they use now that these cards use faster memory, not that games benefit from it now but in the future who knows...

    I'll get the 1080 but for a desktop build, $600 is already too much to even think of adding the additional $200GA.
     
  4. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    I don't see why it wouldn't work. We'll get more info soon on our main social media channels, make sure to follow Alienware there.
     
  5. CaptainKoloth

    CaptainKoloth Notebook Enthusiast

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    Any updates on whether this combination works?
     
  6. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    It will work, but you will be bottlenecked by the cable transfer rate.

    honestly, I would just look at the AMD RX480 instead.
     
  7. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    WHy would you buy a AMD 480? THe 980M inside of the ALienware laptops is almost as fast as an 970GTX desktop card. The 480 is between the 970 and 980GTX desktop cards. Not much gains at all.
     
  8. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    980M = ~960 desktop
     
  9. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    Definitely not. The 970M is around 960 speeds. DIgital foundry did a test with multiple games and the 980M was closer to the 970GTX than the 960GTX.

    The 960 has only half the buswidth of a 980M, half the memory, less cuda cores etc.Especially with a nice overclock.

     
  10. kgh00007

    kgh00007 Notebook Evangelist

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    It's true the GTX 970M = the desktop 960 when it comes to frames per second.

    I have the 970M and I'm looking at the RX 480 when it comes out because it's so cheap. When you factor in the cost of the amp as well, the 1070/1080 are just way too expensive for me right now!
     
    hmscott likes this.
  11. nzgeek

    nzgeek Notebook Evangelist

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    Benchmarks have proven that the frame rate difference between PCIe 3.0 x4 and x16 is (on average) about 5% at 1080p, with the gap closing as you move towards 4K. Even if the 1080 runs 10% slower due to the GA, it's still potentially quicker than a Titan X in a desktop.