485M SLI vs AMD 6970M Crossfire

Wait...wait...wait...for the AW M18x to be released. While I wait for this beast to hit the market, I would like to know what the best GPU option is. Both of these cards get great reviews but here are some points I have found. Nvidia seems to have the best driver support but tends to produce more heat and the AMD runs a little cooler and does not offer 3D support (although the M18 may not support 3D). It seems to me that driver support is very important for the future of you rig. I will be using my lappy for basic gaming, web browsing, and movies. Here is the comparison chart: Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Also, here is an AW M18x slideshow: YouTube - Alienware M18x "Avenger"

 

This will probably turn into a flame war between which is better (ATI [AMD]/ Nvidia) you do know that, right?

In the end it is all up to personal preference of which company you like better (and if you will be using a CAD/ other programs which AFAIK support Nvidia better)



Personally I always go Nvidia as I just don't like ATI [now AMD] and its support, especially with mobile cards... but that is just my opinion

 

Price/performance: 6970m

Performance: 485m

I doubt the 485m runs a lot hotter than the 6970m. They have both a similar TDP (When looking up numbers keep in mind that Nvidia usually states the TDP for the whole card whereas AMD talks about the TDP of the die...)

 

I wanna know which is better too , currently I'm using 5870 xfire , never touched nVidia , any suggestion?

Form what i know amd has a lots of bugs and some issue of low fps in some games. is nVidia more stable then 6970?

Until today , I still unable to find a gpu gadget for amd....but for nVidia are one click and install the gadget...

 

Where as I like ATI's drivers because they will install without hacks on a modified computer

 

6970M will be better price/performance, the 485M will probably have more performance, but not necessarily by a lot (CF scales better than SLI these days, but some games favor Nvidia more than AMD, etc.)

As for drivers issues... I think it's overblown. Every side has had their issues. For instance, Nvidia had issues w/ drivers killing the desktop GTX 590 - AMD has never had drivers outright kill hardware. OTOH, AMD has had issues w/ the mouse cursor and so on. So everyone has had their issues.

AMD definitely had more issues in the past, but in recent times, they've come a long way - and their CF scaling has been excellent - look at some CF scaling benches for their desktop cards, it's pretty stunning.

Overall, IMO, I'd go w/ the 6970M CF (well, the 485M SLI isn't even an option anwyays) because the 485M SLI is likely to cost twice as much for at most a 5-10% performance improvement.

I'd then put the rest of that money towards an SSD (faster performance on your system overall, noticeable all the time too) and future GPU upgrades

 

485M SLi is the best if you're aching to spend $1000 on a whole bag of nothing. But then I can also give you my paypal account, I accept donations.

 

if don't compare by price , which would be better?

 

Depends on the games you play.

 

Man poor laptop that have to put up with all this heat
And what on earth would you use these 2x cards options for? 6970M/485M alone will let you play all games today on ultra mode

EDIT: oh well, that hardcore game Metro 2033 will only give you 16 FPS with Ultra. Imagine having to suffer through only "high" details in 1080p.

 

Both are good. I expect the 6970M Crossfire to better. Invidually , the 485M would beat the 6970M just barely however crossfire scales better than SLI so i strongly guess the 6970M would be better. Also ATI releases drivers monthly so you don't have the ton of NVIDIA drivers to choose from. Its like a minefield.