ATI 7750M vs Nvidia 650M - Huge difference?

Hey all,

Really sorry if this is in the wrong section.

I'm at a crossroads right now. I recently got the HP Envy 15 refurbished on eBay with the 7750M graphics. But according to a friend of mine, the 650M found inside the Y400 is even better. So the

I've tried researching this on my own and haven't found a definite answer pointing in one direction aside from a couple of threads by people agreeing the 650M is slightly better.

I was hoping I could get an additional opinion on this before I decide whether to return the E15.

 

AMD Radeon HD 7750M - NotebookCheck.net Tech
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

for pretty much all gaming and media purposes they are exactly the same speed. the AMD card however will happily kick around the 650m in photoshop and some other pro applications

 

Yeah, checked there earlier today, and aside from the 3DMark benchmarks, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of data on the 7750M.

 

look fot the 7770 and shave a slight bit off. they are essentially the same but underclocked

 

Will do. Thanks!

 

Depends, check what version of 650m you are getting. The gddr3 version is a piece of crap, even though its technically more powerful, the performance is very inconsistent and the fame latencies are shocking even on hi fps games, especially at high resolutions but the gddr5 version is vastly superior to the 7750m in both gaming and power consumption. If the laptop supports it, the 650m gddr5 version will happily overclock to the speed of a 660m which is definitely better than the 7750m. Bear in mind also that the Enduro AMD gfx switching issues only just got fixed so you might still notice some errant bugs in performance. Te Optimus of the 650m is more mature and will definitely save you battery life.
In a nutshell the hierarchy of purchase
If 650m GDDR5 then definitely buy (avoid the GDDR3 version like the plague regardless of what people tell you, i speak from experience)
if 7750m with enduro but confirmed to be fixed then purchase, this should give you very smooth performance even at lower fps
7750m with no enduro but prepare for 1-2hrs less battery life
645m or 640m with GDDR5

 

Damn. I'm just an average joe, so I'm finding all these factors to account for mind-boggling!

Guess I'm staying up and doing more research.

EDIT: I'm hearing people in other forums say the Lenovo Y400 comes with the GDDR5 version.

EDIT2: Sounds like they're having problems in the switchable gfx department even with the fixes to Enduro under 13.1. Even with 13.2 beta 5 drivers installed, I had to manually input a few programs to run in dedicated mode. The switchable part won't be a huge problem for me as most of the programs I use while in battery mode are using the power-saving feature. Plus inputting a program into Catalyst and choosing a power setting is no big feat.

 

That's good to hear. The task/ability to properly configure their graphics and power options eludes some.

There's also this discussion, as well as this one for reference.

 

Hmmm. Sounds like the 7750M has lately caught up.


Reading more about the Y500 and its problematic touchpads and Lenovo's poor support. Leaning toward keeping the E15 now that I think about it.

 

Have you found more reviews in favor of HP product support? If you bought the laptop refurbished from a private seller, then they might not be very inclined to help you if it's out of warranty. I haven't had to deal with either company's support, so I don't have an opinion on that one.

If the laptop is no longer covered, then at this point, I would say go for whichever one fits your budget and needs.

 

I still have the 90-day warranty, which while lower, isn't a problem as I plan to get a Square Trade warranty slapped on top of it. Doesn't hurt that my 1 year AMEX warranty boost is available. I've in general always had better experiences with HP CSR with one glaring exception. But you're right--it probably more so varies with Lenovo and HP.

Also realizing that not many games out there have SLI/CF profiles. Of those that do, the optimization doesn't take performance that far.

But I AM a bit iffy about the E15's keyboard and the ok touchpad. Not too enthused by the Y500's mixed touchpad, and there's no data on the Y400's touchpad.

 

The Y400s touchpad is fine (at least mine is). I'll copy over some of my thoughts on the Y400 from another thread I just posted in.

"I just received my y400 on Monday, ironically the day you posted this, so my cureent experience with it is limited. However that being said, my time with it so far has been outstanding. The main concern everyone seems to have with the y400/500 is the touchpad, which in my case has not been a problem at all. It is as responive and accurate as any touchpad I've ever used (and that's been quite a few). The only downside is that it's one of those "single surface" touchpads, so the left and right clickers are integrated into the touchpad itself. If that doesn't bother you then you won't have any problems with it. I should also mention that the touchpad feels cheap, as in it's just plastic, but it doesn't have poor build quality so I expect it to last.

Speaking of build quality the laptop's casing is solid and the hinges are study with no flex. The keyboard (which looks awesome by the way) is also well built, with no flex, and comfortable to type on. Even with the stock 5400rpm HDD (I do plan on getting a mSATA SDD and recommend you do to) the system boots in under 20 seconds and is fast and responsive overall. The screen resolution of 1366x768 is not a problem whatsoever on a 14 inch screen, but the screen doesn't have the best color/contrast ratios. Even so it's lighting is fairly bright and it's pleasant to look at. Sound quality is on par with the rest of the laptops features. It is crisp and loud with minimal distortion and a wide range of tones. I have to say JBL/Lenovo did an excellent job on them.

The only downside I can think of at the moment is the fact that at 5.5lbs, it is a bit heavy compared to other laptops its size. However with this laptop that's an inconvenience I feel is worth dealing with.

Overall I highly recommend this laptop, even for non gamers. At only $750 it's a steal for the specs alone, but the excellent build quality, great looks and ultrabay really seal the deal. So yeah I recommend you pick one up."