Worries surrounding 7970M in this spec. 680M really worth premium pricing? Advice pls

[brukin]

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,362.00 including VAT and delivery.

Have hard disk and SSD I can put in it already, that's why I've got it listed with the default drive.
Should I just bite the bullet and pay extra for the small performance difference and piece of mind for better drivers and get the 680M?

Proposed used(edited):

StarCraft II, Battlefield 3, Diablo 3 and future titles. Also an amateur photographer so will be using Lightroom 4.1 on it as well. Also trying to get into some 3D modelling too, so the more powerful processor(2.6 over 2.3) is useful for that too.

 

[neiman]

i have just order a 17" screen with similar spec and having researched it a lot have decided to go for the 680M. The 7970m is 3 months older and although the heat/temp is slightly lower overall, the benefits to the 680m are worth the extra cost in my opinion.

 

[Marks]

Is there room for 2 drives + optical drive in the 15" vortex 3?

You can ring them up and ask for it with no HDD if you choose.

Check how many drives it can take though as you might need the 17" one to take 2 hdd + OD.

You don't say what you want to do with it, but you could maybe lower the processor to the 2.3ghz quad and get the 680M without the overall cost going up too much.

 

[brukin]

Is there room for 2 drives + optical drive in the 15" vortex 3?

You can ring them up and ask for it with no HDD if you choose.

Check how many drives it can take though as you might need the 17" one to take 2 hdd + OD.

You don't say what you want to do with it, but you could maybe lower the processor to the 2.3ghz quad and get the 680M without the overall cost going up too much.

Oops, think I lost my original post and retyped without detailing proposed use of the system...

StarCraft II, Battlefield 3, Diablo 3 and future titles. Also an amateur photographer so will be using Lightroom 4.1 on it as well.
I'll check with them about the hard drive capacity and maybe even check about getting it without HD, although that might complicate buying it with an OS.

Is tempting to drop the processor to the 2.3Ghz and grab the 680M, but then again the higher speed processor does make a difference with image processing. Also trying to get into some 3D modelling too, so the more powerful processor is useful for that too.

 

[brukin]

i have just order a 17" screen with similar spec and having researched it a lot have decided to go for the 680M. The 7970m is 3 months older and although the heat/temp is slightly lower overall, the benefits to the 680m are worth the extra cost in my opinion.

Thanks for the input Neiman, just seems a lot of money for very similar performance. Although have now read quite a few threads around the internet about problems with AMDs graphics switching Enduro system. Hmm. What to do...

 

[SkinnyBadger]

i don't know if this will help, but i chose to cancel my vortex order which was originally with the 7970m and have now re-ordered with 680m. Yeah the extra price is annoying, (i was trying to keep it below £1500) but at least i will have a fully functional graphics card and not one thats been out for over 3 months and still doesnt have official drivers and suffers from the terrible enduro issues.

 

[SkinnyBadger]

Oh and i believe the vortex 15" only has room for either 2 HD or 1 HD + optical drive. So if you are going to input your HD + SSD, im afraid your going to have to replace your DVD/BLU-RAY Drive. The 17" can use 2HD and an optical drive though.

I'm not 100% sure, so don't just take my word for it

 

[brukin]

Oh and i believe the vortex 15" only has room for either 2 HD or 1 HD + optical drive. So if you are going to input your HD + SSD, im afraid your going to have to replace your DVD/BLU-RAY Drive. The 17" can use 2HD and an optical drive though.

I'm not 100% sure, so don't just take my word for it

Thanks, I'll double check the disk spaces with them. Not too fussed about the Bluray drive anyway, just nice to have something else that can play them other than the PS3.

 

[Marks]

Oops, think I lost my original post and retyped without detailing proposed use of the system...

StarCraft II, Battlefield 3, Diablo 3 and future titles. Also an amateur photographer so will be using Lightroom 4.1 on it as well.
I'll check with them about the hard drive capacity and maybe even check about getting it without HD, although that might complicate buying it with an OS.

Is tempting to drop the processor to the 2.3Ghz and grab the 680M, but then again the higher speed processor does make a difference with image processing. Also trying to get into some 3D modelling too, so the more powerful processor is useful for that too.

If you buy with an OS then you get an installation disk. Of course, if you decide to get no optical drive that makes it a bit more awkward.

Lightroom is not designed to use the gpu unfortunately so that is all down to the processor.

It seems the 3720qm can be mildly over clocked in some systems, but not in most of the clevo designs it would seem.

So for the extra £107 you go from 8404 (3610qm) to 8908 (3720qm) cpumarks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html 54 and 47th respectively.

If you drop from 3720qm to 3610qm and upgrade from 7970m to 680m you are looking at the price increasing by around £90 on the 15" vortex 3.

Its up to you if you want the faster processor but if you search the internet most people say not to bother going 3720qm over the 3610qm unless you have the money to burn or you need it for its extra virtualization feature.

Its up to you though, so best you have a search for posts and benchmarks on the net to see if it is worth the % performance increase for the cost.

 

[brukin]

If you buy with an OS then you get an installation disk. Of course, if you decide to get no optical drive that makes it a bit more awkward.

Lightroom is not designed to use the gpu unfortunately so that is all down to the processor.

It seems the 3720qm can be mildly over clocked in some systems, but not in most of the clevo designs it would seem.

So for the extra £107 you go from 8404 (3610qm) to 8908 (3720qm) cpumarks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html 54 and 47th respectively.

If you drop from 3720qm to 3610qm and upgrade from 7970m to 680m you are looking at the price increasing by around £90 on the 15" vortex 3.

Its up to you if you want the faster processor but if you search the internet most people say not to bother going 3720qm over the 3610qm unless you have the money to burn or you need it for its extra virtualization feature.

Its up to you though, so best you have a search for posts and benchmarks on the net to see if it is worth the % performance increase for the cost.

Thanks Marks, just thought the extra CPU power would be good for Lightroom, I'm aware it doesn't use the GPU at all.
Spoke to PCS rep and they can't do it without HD but with OS as they have to be sold together.

Really considering dropping the CPU to the 2.3Ghz one and getting the 680M, particularly after reading of many GPU under utilization issues with AMDs latest gen cards and their Enduro graphics switching feature.

 

[brukin]

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,461.00 including VAT and delivery.

Slight reworking to have the 680M instead. Think this might be the spec for me (will switch out HD for 500mb Seagate Momentus 2.5 drive that I already have).

 

[Marks]

Spoke to PCS rep and they can't do it without HD but with OS as they have to be sold together.

Thats odd. But if you have to have a hdd it may be about another £7-£10 to get 500gb then when you take it out get one of those £5 hdd cases and you can use it as a portable 500gb backup drive.

 

[Kreeeee]

Is that not because the OEM Windows licence requires a HDD to be shipped with the machine?

 

[Marks]

Is that not because the OEM Windows licence requires a HDD to be shipped with the machine?

I guess they may be required to pre install it.

 

[brukin]

Thats odd. But if you have to have a hdd it may be about another £7-£10 to get 500gb then when you take it out get one of those £5 hdd cases and you can use it as a portable 500gb backup drive.

Think that's not a bad idea, or will stick it in my desktop (as that's where the 2.5 Seagate Momentus 500GB drive currently resides, never got round to putting it into my current laptop).

Is that not because the OEM Windows licence requires a HDD to be shipped with the machine?

Pretty much what I was told, has to be sold with HDD.

 

[brukin]

In the end I've gone with the 7970M, if I'm not happy within 7 days of its performance due to "fault" I can return it (albeit at my own cost for postage and if no "fault" is recognised, a cancellation fee of £36 or something around that).

 

[brukin]

In the end I've gone with the 7970M, if I'm not happy within 7 days of its performance due to "fault" I can return it (albeit at my own cost for postage and if no "fault" is recognised, a cancellation fee of £36 or something around that).

And cancelled. Really can't order it without knowing the Enduro problem is fixable by software/drivers. Don't want to be stuck with a lemon. Now pricing up a 680M system and trying not to think of the extra cost for same performance

 

[HonestFlames]

I'm a recent recipient of a 17" Vortex 3 with 680m.

It's amazing. There are some driver issues, but nothing that will not be sorted out fairly quickly. I have only encountered issues with Minecraft and Fallout 3, but they are things I can work around (if I bother to try).

Performance is mind-blowing. I recently bought an AMD FX8150 based system, threw 16GB RAM into it and a GeForce 280. My laptop now kicks my desktop's backside in everything except disk IO (my SSD's for the laptop are still on order).

I cannot recommend the 680m more highly. 4GB VRAM. 4GB! That's enough to give Rage plenty of space to play with textures whilst running at 1920x1080 with anti-aliasing.

Save up some pennies and team up the 680m with a good CPU. I ordered mine with the cheapest RAM and HD. Upgraded RAM with some Corsair Vengeance (1600MHz, 2x8GB, 9-9-9-24 timings) and I saved a little bit of money, which I put toward the top warranty and dead pixel guarantee.

 

[brukin]

I'm a recent recipient of a 17" Vortex 3 with 680m.

It's amazing. There are some driver issues, but nothing that will not be sorted out fairly quickly. I have only encountered issues with Minecraft and Fallout 3, but they are things I can work around (if I bother to try).

Performance is mind-blowing. I recently bought an AMD FX8150 based system, threw 16GB RAM into it and a GeForce 280. My laptop now kicks my desktop's backside in everything except disk IO (my SSD's for the laptop are still on order).

I cannot recommend the 680m more highly. 4GB VRAM. 4GB! That's enough to give Rage plenty of space to play with textures whilst running at 1920x1080 with anti-aliasing.

Save up some pennies and team up the 680m with a good CPU. I ordered mine with the cheapest RAM and HD. Upgraded RAM with some Corsair Vengeance (1600MHz, 2x8GB, 9-9-9-24 timings) and I saved a little bit of money, which I put toward the top warranty and dead pixel guarantee.

Thanks for the input HonestFlames. Have the money at the moment for the 680M, just don't like paying the extra when a non Enduro hobbled 7970M will give the same performance for £180 less (or whatever the price difference works out as). I guess the other option is to go for Alienware or something that has the option to disable the Enduro, but then the excellent savings from getting a Clevo based laptop are lost... ARGH

 

[HonestFlames]

Thanks for the input HonestFlames. Have the money at the moment for the 680M, just don't like paying the extra when a non Enduro hobbled 7970M will give the same performance for £180 less (or whatever the price difference works out as). I guess the other option is to go for Alienware or something that has the option to disable the Enduro, but then the excellent savings from getting a Clevo based laptop are lost... ARGH

Just to put this out there: If you use an external display, you will sidestep any Enduro / Optimus issues, as external displays are driven directly from the faster GPU.

I do honestly think the 680m is a better card, overall. Nvidia drivers may not be supremely awesome, but they are a darn sight better than AMD/ATI's offering!