16F2 vs 16F3

Hello. I have decided to go with MSI barebone for my next laptop. Since the price of MSI barebones are coming down, it is becoming very attractive since I have CPU, HD, and RAM already. compsource has following MSI barebones,

16F2 with 570M - $703
16F2 with 580M - $932
16F3 with 670M - $797
1762 with 675M - $954

Which one would you choose? And why? I am planning to play BF3 mainly. Also I use it for light 3D modeling.
I appreciate any input you might have. Thanks.

 

The 675M is a rebrand of the 580M imo so in that respect, if all the other parts are the same
16f2 50m is better value than 17f2 wih 675m,
According to this NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
The 670m is just a higher clocked 570m it could be assumed that the same performance can be achieved with overclocking (was the same with the gt555m/635m where the 555 was purposefully clocked lower so they could increase clocks when they renamed it to the 635.

Anyway, that leaves you with the two choices,
16F2 with 580M
16F2 with 570M
It's up to you if the 150$ price difference is worth the 20% better performance.

 

The 16F3 has Optimus; which should significantly increase battery life.

 

And support for Ivy Bridge processors.

 

Thank you for your inputs. One thing I am concerned about 16f2 or 16f3 is its cooling capability, especially with 580M if I overclock it. Do I have to concern about this at all? I am not planning to overclock either 570M or 580M beyond default voltage. I don't want to mess with overvolting yet.
Also is there any extra features 16f3 has that 16f2 doesn't other than optimus and ivy Bridge compatibility? To me, both seems meaningless for the gaming laptop. If I am wrong, please enlighten me. Oh, I guess 16f3 has killer lan and back lit keyboard capability. Is there anything else?
Thanks.

 

I would go for 16f3. Because it is newer generation and supports ivy bridge. Why go for older generation when the new generation is here and offers all the good for just about the same price?

 

aban714,

I agree 100%. However, those GPUs are just re-banded version. So I have been little hesitating to go with new ones.
So 16f3 with 670m at $797 vs. 1762 with 675M at $950. Does $150 difference worth the bigger screen, better GPU, and turbo fan?
Thanks.

 

You don't need Ivy bridge, though, not for games anyway. I'd go with the 16F2/570, it is what I have, I play BF3 with everything on/maxed. The 580 is about 15%/25% faster depending on the game, but I'm not sure if it is worth the extra $.

 

Thanks for the info. How is the stock cooling on 16F2? Especially if I overclock 570M to 720 or 740 core?

 

Go 16F3 imo. $100 more and you don't get last year's tech. Though for that price you could probably get a Sager barebone.

 

P150EM is selling for $919 from RJTECH. I think they are the only one selling Clevo barebones in US. It is nice to be able to fit 680M on it. However, it is too expensive right now. And if I wait for a couple of years for price drop, it will be no point to have 680M then since it will be obsolete by then. Also I figure MSI barebone has better unofficial potential to upgrade than Clevo does. So it makes sense to save money by going with MSI.
Since I started this thread, now I am contemplating whether I should go with 17.3 just for the turbo fan feature so that I don't have to mess with BIOS mod.
It is funny how my decision keeps on going around the circle. However, this is one of the funnest part of owning the computer.
I guess the main thing is whether 570M vs 580M or 670M vs 675M worth $150. I understand that 570M/670M can be overclocked very well even beyond stock 580M/675M. However, 580M/675M can be overclocked to beyond that level as well. Only thing is that I am only planning to overclock within the stock voltage. So my guess is around 740 is max. Of course, I have to worry about the cooling on 16F2/16F3.

 

If you really don't care about Optimus or IVB, then the 16f2 would probably be the best choice. But those two features are a pretty big deal imo and iirc the 16f3 can also be upgraded to a backlit keyboard. It's $100, but I don't think that's too much of a premium to ensure that you're covered whenever you want to have a couple hours more battery life.

Cooling shouldn't be a problem for the 16F2/16F3. I don't think it's as good as Sager/Clevo but it should be able to handle the components just fine. I think powernotebook or some other reseller has a youtube video up of the 16f2 under a prime95/furmark run.

 

BF3 runs great on my 16F2 with my 570 overclocked (stock bios).

Stock cooling is perfectly adequate but obviously you'll need a decent laptop cooler if you're going to have the thing in your lap while you play. The rear exhaust air is toasty but GPU temps are fine.

Expect mid to high 30's FPS if you're running BF3 on ultra settings @ 1080p (no AA)

 

Thank you. That looks awesome!

 

Cooling is pretty good on the stock 570, which is what I have. I have yet to see a need to overclock it, everything runs fine @ full HD with 30+ fps.

As red said, with 100 more you don't get last year's tech. But in practice you're just paying 100 extra for nothing, really. Go with the 16F2 and be happy.

 

I think you are right. Now they are selling 570M version with less than $700. I think it is a great deal. Also if I want to upgrade GPU, I know it is compatible with Dell 7970M (Thanks to those who tried it!). I think I can use $100 to $200 to upgrade HD to SSD, and upgrade it Killer Bigfoot wireless. Thanks guys.