So who is buying the GTX 680M?

Yah pricing is back to how much the previous top end Nvidia cards were (GTX 580M, 485M etc)

 

That looks more like AMD having issues with the drivers associated with those games...........claiming the 680 is a clear %15+ increase over the 7970 is a wildly inaccurate statement.

The fact that the 680 is also slower in any of those categories should leave you some pause for thought .

 

Any idea with the Bigfoot Network cards will be back in stock? Thanks.

 

On Xotic PC the 680M adds $295 to the price of a notebook with the 7970, and $495 to the price with the 670M. That is quite a lot...

 

no ETA on the 1103, seems everyone is having a hard time getting them at this time and we can't get an ETA either.

 

The same can be said about the drivers of the 680M regarding the games it is slower than the 7970M...

 

Ah man. I know when it comes time for me to order. I'd be fine with a GTX 660M of anything. I'd love the GTX 680M, just not sure if forking the extra $300 is a smart decision or not since this will be a longterm investment.

 

It is expensive, but it would make sense to those with the money. If you are going to get the absolute best you are going to have to pay for it, and many easily can. I'd love to have a GTX 680M, no doubt, but it's too expensive.

Also the driver issue is indeed important this early on. The 680M may get better and the 7970M may get better as time passes with new drivers. Despite what happens later, the GTX 670 desktop has a 4,032 score (110 samples) on passmark, while the HD 7870 has a 3,419 score (84 samples). There you have a 18% increase in benchmark performance, and both M cards are based on those respected desktop chips.

 

Which is why I intend to buy the 680M after some time, there is no need to buy it now... I'll wait till the price becomes reasonable (8 months to a year I think, around the time the 700 mobile series will be the new trend) and then upgrade the notebook with it, until then I can handle things with the 670M.

After that I don't think I'll need another upgrade before the 800 mobile series comes out.

 

Unlikely, Nvidia drivers are usually are fairly accurate representation of release performance. They would not have poor driver support for a AAA title such as Diablo or Crysis 2 etc.......

AMD on the otherhand is still probably getting things sorted out for BF3. Regardless the numbers would barely justify a $100 increase let alone $300 increase.........sorry but Nvidia dropped the bed pan this go round.

 

I got a helpful person who owns a GTX670 to downclock his card so we could see the 680m's expected fillrates:

for comparison a stock 7970m has 27.2GP/s and 68 GT/s
I know the 7970m can be overclocked to reach the texture fillrate of the GTX680m but we don't know how well that card overclocks either so for now please only compare stock v stock!

Given the slightly different focus of the 680m compared to the 7970m it makes sense that it would trade blows in games.

 

thank you. that seems to be the more reasonable and insightful comparison so far.

ok but the memory bandwidth is quite different in the GTX680M compared to the GTX670. it's not just about the clocks..


also guys you are all neglecting something very important!
the notebookcheck scores and stuff are all with a 2GB GTX680M ... the 4GB GTX680M should beat the AMD counter by a more significant margin

 

Couldn't find a rated speed for the memory so I just ignored it.

If you are suggesting that 4gb is always better than 2gb well I have to burst you bubble. There is basically no game that uses more than 2gb of memory currently on the market. Yes I know you can mod a few to use unreasonably huge texture files but those don't count for standard benchmarks now do they?

 

here you go:
GeForce GTX 680M - GeForce

i was not. but will all the benchies really be 100% the same as the 2GB model ?

 

Almost without fail.

1800*2*2*(256/16)= 115,2gb/s so it also has less memory bandwidth than a 7970m.

 

in current games / benchmark applications - yes. There are no games that use more than 2Gb at the moment.

 

why did you do the math if the numbers are right there on the specs of each card ? -.-'
the memory bandwidth difference is what seems could explain why the 7970M scores higher in certain games.. don't know for sure but it does make a big impact on performance

you don't get many trolls around here do you ? i could go trollord on you right now man xD



now in a more serious manner, if i buy the 680M, i want the 4GB version. you think it will help in keeping FPS' up when using dual monitor? that would save me some trouble...

 

Posting an idiotic statement then pretending to only have been acting like an idiot is not trolling.

Trolling is going to a Twilight forum and calling Edward Hitler.

 

Several monitors do not take advantage of more onboard memory unless you run 2 games on each screen or so.. or you play minecraft twice.

 

dude, don't ruin my fun or i'll have to find a different way to have fun. that wasn't even meant at you, did you notice?

if only certain games would let me run 2 clients/exe at once it would be fun... right now i can't even play in fullhd on dual monitor mode, not to mention dual monitor 3D...

 

Nah, I'll pass. Which is disappointing because I strongly prefer Nvidia cards, but an extra $295 is ridiculous for such an insignificant difference in power.

Nvidia will never learn.

 

It's funny you know.

What is there to learn? They've got more than half the market, and with such power, they blindly pull consumers towards their products. Nothing to learn if you ask me.. although a cheaper price might attract more customers, but I'll leave that to nVIDIA to decide... the 680M basically destroyed the 7970M in Metro 2033, just sayin'

 

I'll need to see tests which weren't published by the Nvidia PR machine. I doubt they'll be different by more than 10-15% in pretty much every game on the market, outside of Dirt 3.

The price per performance math on that is all kinds of messed up.

I'm not going to judge anyone who chooses the GTX 680M though.

 

Probably only just a side-effect of currently immature drivers on AMD's part. And there's much to learn, even if nVidia were a monopoly. Reasonable pricing isn't only just a competitive matter, it's an ethical one.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for large companies to act ethically. Bidness is bidness.

 

BAZINGA!
right where it hurts. and i say that despite preferring nVidia. if they priced their products more aggressively ATI (AMD nowadays) would go bankrupt in little time.

there are company's that have respectably strong ethics. they tend to have a very loyal and strong marketshare

 

Sure, but general business mentality does not encompass ethics beyond what is legally required. How much is something worth? Whatever the market will bear. Nvidia isn't having any problems selling their components.

 

like AMD and nVIDIA? ................. sure

 

For one, trolling is against the forum rules, so if you want to keep trolling go for it, you'll get banned. Second, the effects of more vRAM are a common and legitimate question on these forums, no need to act like a snob afterwards because someone was trying to actually help you.

Back to OP, this seems like the 6990M/580M all over again. I'll be looking for the 7970M when I get to upgrading, can't justify the steep price of the 680M with nvidia's benchmarks.

 

Guys nvidia is showing charts and numbers with their drivers that are more mature than Amd.
I want to think that since there's not an official Amd driver for the hd7970m available publicly, there's a lot of room for improvements.

Let's be honest and say that even if the card is available and in hand of some customers there hasnt been any official package as yet.
Once the card is wide spread around I bet they will release a more refined and mature driver for it.
And also this comes from an nvidia user. The gap isn't that huge, IMHO when we're talking about 20-25 or even 30% increase it would justify the premium price tag.

But if I can get a cheaper card that with a bit of OC (and we know that usually we can achieve even a 20% OC easily) can shorten that 3% gap even more well in sold.

Giving the power those cards have it will suffice for a while and I bet without even bothering about OC if not for benchmark-bragging reasons.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Like Kingpinzero is saying, AMD should still have potent room to tweak drivers for better results in games like Battlefield 3. BF3 along with Metro was the "big 30%" leap over 7970m.

The 680m also has integrated clock boost and even if it only means +5% we don't know yet how much more OC ability this card can offer.

It comes down to who will OC the most and what will the results be, imho..

(We already know the 7970 is very OC friendly)

 

I am for sure muhaha but I do want the 3d screen when I order my m17x haha
But I'm hoping that it OC's well
Sent From My Rooted EVO 3D

 

^^this. no point speculating, we need to wait till 680m is available and is benchmarked properly. Stock speed is important, but so are temps and overclocking headroom. Normally I would prefer NVidia myself due to CUDA and better drivers, but not if it costs me double for 10% fps increase.

 

Well in fairness nvidia drivers will continue to mature as well.

I think ( emphasis on not sure ) that nvidia will hold on to the mobile performance crown when all is said and done. It will also continue to cost a couple hundred more ( just like always ).

In the end we all win with two great cards, at two different price/performance points, to choose from.

 

This is true, but I think some people wanting/owning the 7970m are hung up on the BF3 performance boost of the 680m. It's realistic to think that tweaked amd drivers compared to tweaked nvidia drivers will close the gap a fair bit in favour of the 7970m.

This alone, along with the great OC abilities and the friendler price of the 7970m, will be a deal breaker for many I think.

 

Other than the graph in the first post, where 680 has about 5% advantage in BF3, I haven't see any other graphs. Is there another one?

I did notice on the nvidia site they specify 60fps but that is with no AA.

 

I am referring to nvidias own benchmark of the 680m, which is biased of course.

It shows 47,4 fps with 4x/16x. 7970m is at 34,7 with current drivers.

 

I almost bought the 7970 it is really an awesome card and certainly blown everyone minds and that is why it has very short availability, but I really prefer the Nvidia drivers and additions like CUDA, Physics, and the thermal interface Kepler promises, for me it alone justify the price diference. Performance wise both are on pair with Nvidia a bit ahead like always. So I just pulled the trigger on a computer that must be enough for me for the next long time (if I can control myself LOL) 95% matte screen (with calibration), i7 3720 and gtx680m (with icDiammond), 12 GB Kingston HyperX, 240GB Intel 520, and Intel 6235 wifi+ bt ( if the Bigfoot 1202 shows up before shipping it will be included). Expensive I would say just wish it surpasses my expectations and that it makes me good for a long long long long time LOL! At least until I give up those dam demanding games! Cheers for all AMD and Nvidia fans.

 

I would agree if I bought a laptop now, the difference between 7970M and 680M is not significant.. but it's definitely noticeable and contrary to a lot of people on this forum, I myself do not have infinite money, which kinda sets me in a weird position between purchasing now, later or wait until something new appears lol

but I can imagine the anticipation you're having right now

 

Too expensive.. i am out..

 

If money isn't an issue then getting a 680M is a no brainer. For everyone else the price vs performance of the 7970M is win.

I am really impressed NVIDIA have managed to surpass the 7970M. The pricing structure shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. It falls in line with what they have done in the past (6970M vs 485M, 6990M vs 580M).

GG NVIDIA!

 

Speaking of which, if I wanted to update my rig to the 680m, where could I actually get one when they come out? Or are they going to be only available to resellers?

 

Well, if the price gets lower I would consider it even before the 7970, mostly because is 3d capable.

 

They all show up here on RJTech, eventually.

 

You should be able to get the cards from a number of places, always worth asking your reseller if they can get one. Won't get a 680m myself. Don't like being ripped off. Drop the price, maybe.

 

Kevin is correct, the cards might eventually wind up there, but generally they are used or leftover stock.

Essentially, the only other option if you need a brand new card is to try and order it through laptop builders, generally not through resellers (there may be a few exceptions).

You may also want to check out the Alienware forums, they seem to have some answers for where to get the new cards as well.

 

The thing is my current P150hm has a 6990m and compared to the old fermi architecture it was a better tech at the time IMO. This time around I am more impressed with Kepler than Southern Isles and will more than likely buy the 680m in a p150em once I sell this laptop in a month.

what can I say, I like well designed technology. Also price isn't an issue with me at all.

 

You know you want the 680M. Give in, give in

 

Hmm you are right, thanks for pointing it out but business has really gone beyond ethical questions now..

.. maybe I will, it'll sure be after I know whether the 680M can be overvolted or not, and it better be fast as my M1530 might die at some random point lol

 

Actually the competition isn't working as it has failed to force Nvidia to lower it's prices.

The bios doesn't support the 680m.

My afternoon has just been booked solid

Wrong, it's in short availability because Clevo made a bad batch and had to pull it.

What's your rig? Assuming it supports it, various resellers/builders will sell it.

Unfortunately there's only one way the price will get lower and that's the same way that the 675m got so cheap.

For big business, all that's left seems to be greed. We used to have a very good restaurant/hotel in my town, but the owner was dodging taxes on the business and he was taking all of the money for himself, paying barely minimum wage. The Feds kept warning him that he was behind on rent payments, and the money existed to pay them, but he just kept everything until finally the government shut him down. He just left for South Korea (with the money, he never paid the bills) and now all that's left is an empty building and some jobless waiters. And that's not the worst of it, he sold the business (after it had been shut down) to an unwary friend over in South Korea who got hounded by the US government for the unpaid bills. Eventually, he paid them, but then didn't have any money left to start up the business again.