GeForce GTX 480M: AVADirect’s W880CU Is Packing The Heat

[Fokissed]

[citation][nom]dragonsqrrl[/nom]Many people were praising the Mobility Radeon HD5870 for its relatively low power consumption, especially in comparison to the spec sheet for the GTX480M, which described Nvidia's latest high end mobile part as having a TDP of 100W. In fact according to the spec sheets the Mobility HD5870 uses significantly less power then even the GTX285M at full load, 50W in comparison to 75W. However, it quickly became apparent that something wasn't adding up.http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 15-11.htmlWhat many of the people who were bashing the TDP's of the GTX285M and GTX480M didn't understand was that ATI and Nvidia calculate TDP differently. ATI only figures in the power draw of the GPU itself, while Nvidia measures the entire board including memory. So direct comparisons based solely on the numbers provided by the spec sheets won't accurately represent real-world differences in power consumption. In many cases the actual power draw of these mobile parts is much closer then the official spec sheets would have you believe.[/citation]
Yet the 480m notebook still uses 50w more under load than the 5870m.

 

[Guest]

Sure its nice to have the single fastest card, but then again Alienware puts 2 5870's in their M17x. I think that comparison should have been included.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

" ........must be plugged into a power outlet before gaming commences. The biggest problem for the GeForce GTX 480M is thus portability.........."


.......like a desktop..and more expensive

 

[elbert]

That's why the OTHER reviews are misleading. I don't know anyone who actually goes through the effort of MANUALLY CONFIGURING DX9 mode for DiRT2 in REAL LIFE. Thus, you must come here to get an honest evaluation.

Read the authors name and you have one. Secondly if you note in dx11 the 5870M doesn't get the 40fps the author likes then DX9 is the only compromise. I love how the author writes this quote.

the GeForce GTX 480M is the only mobile solution to keep its head above water (40 FPS average) in DX11 mode when using the panel’s native 1920x1080 resolution.

yet the 5780M is the only mobile solution to keep its head above water (40 FPS average) in DX9 mode when using the panel’s native 1920x1080 resolution on Ultra Quality.

The article mentions lots of places where the results don't really matter, so you're still getting the straight scoop.

LOL so no comment on Stalker high preset DX11 the 5870M beats the 480M is both high resolutions but again its not moved up the graph.

All of the charts are arranged by AVERAGE performance. You only complain when that arrangement doesn't suit your personal goals?

I'm sorry but I was pointing out mistakes or misleading graphs. If its on average then that a mistake. Its a mistake because no one would pay the price for these notebooks to play at 1280X720. At the very least the 1280X720 shouldn't be weighted as high. I guess the authors assumption that 1280X720 is a resolution gamers would play at is a mistake.

You're only guessing that because you don't like the results.

Its only a guess if I had no facts. I pointed out the facts of mistakes or misleading statements.

 

[buzznut]

For others here and myself, heat is a significant factor when making buying choices. I have a laptop that gets quite hot, however it appears that it is mainly the CPU. Because of my older 8200M graphics, I can't use the flash drivers for gpu acceleration.
My pc gets quite hot running hulu and netflix, yet stays nice and cool for gaming!
Anyway, posting numbers for heat generation seems like a good metric to include in laptop reviews. I might have reconsidered my original purchase had I known the AMD cpu was such a toaster oven!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]Digitalwiz[/nom]Sure its nice to have the single fastest card, but then again Alienware puts 2 5870's in their M17x. I think that comparison should have been included.[/citation]While it's been a while since Alienware has chosen to participate in these articles, we'll have to contact the firm right away to see if it wants to prove how big its CrossFire advantage is![citation][nom]hardcore_gamer[/nom]" ........must be plugged into a power outlet before gaming commences. The biggest problem for the GeForce GTX 480M is thus portability..........".......like a desktop..and more expensive[/citation]Actually it's more like carrying around a desktop display...you still need to add the desktop computer itself, along with its keyboard and mouse...to get a true idea of how well these compare in "ease of transport".

 

[elbert]

and still manages to outpace the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 in DX11 mode.

This is incorrect as the 5870M wins in DX11 in both 1920X1080 by 1FPS and 1680X1050 by 0.1 fps. The native resolution of 1920X1080 make the 1FPS more important that a small win of 2.3FPS at 1280X720.

 

[snqwerty]

As usual, you do not say anything regarding movie playing and such.
While I can not argue with the numbers, I would like to know if you can stream movies and sound through an HDMI cable.
Though It is nice the my laptop can play games, I wonder how it does with multimedia, i.e portable HTPC ?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]elbert[/nom]Its only a guess if I had no facts. I pointed out the facts of mistakes or misleading statements.[/citation]All of his reviews arrange the charts by average performance. That's what we call consistency. Don't fret when consistency doesn't come out in support of your POV.

 

[elbert]

All of his reviews arrange the charts by average performance. That's what we call consistency. Don't fret when consistency doesn't come out in support of your POV.

There is nothing consist if the graphs cause the author to make a wrong statement.

and still manages to outpace the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 in DX11 mode.

I know very few People who play a game out of native reslution when the FPS is ample. The 5870M get 1FPS higher in the stalker bench yet the author make this statement. If the author is mislead by the graphs then there is something wrong with the graphs. Would you agree?

 

[elbert]

All of his reviews arrange the charts by average performance.

All good reviews I see are by highest resolution. Lowest resolution eschew with the results.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]elbert[/nom]All good reviews I see are by highest resolution. Lowest resolution eschew with the results.[/citation]If you want to see love for ATI, look to the previous review or...wait for this...the response from Alienware concerning its Mobility 5870 CrosFire system! Which of course, will also have charts arranged in order of average performance. I expect that average performance, best high-resolution performance, and best low-resolution performance will all favor the CrossFire configuration, but we will have to wait and see by how much.

 

[elbert]

If you want to see love for ATI, look to the previous review or...wait for this...the response from Alienware concerning its Mobility 5870 CrosFire system! Which of course, will also have charts arranged in order of average performance. I expect that average performance, best high-resolution performance, and best low-resolution performance will all favor the CrossFire configuration, but we will have to wait and see by how much.

I don't really care which wins. Over all there is no question the 480M wins. The problem is this way of graphing depends on the uniform results. IE better optimized drivers at a lower resolution can eschew results. Each game at given resolution or DX has its own advantages. These advantages will be hidden by averages. This will cause readers to find mis-analyzes of the graphs. Question the results of the author and possibly motives.

Think its best to save averages for the conclusion.

 

[razercultmember1]

The day someone stuffs GTX 480M quad sli in a laptop is the day the world gets nuked by its heat

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]fokissed[/nom]Yet the 480m notebook still uses 50w more under load than the 5870m.[/citation]
Yes, that is true according to Crashman... but these are two different desktop replacements you're comparing. It was also mentioned that the AVADirect W880CU containing the GTX480M integrated a larger screen. Because this is a 17.3" model, many other components in the system could have contributed to the power discrepancy besides the GPU, and the monitor by itself will definitely be making a difference. So again, especially in this case, the actual power draw of these mobile parts is much closer then the official spec sheets would have you believe.

 

[silicondoc]

This notebook is terrible because it beats the 5870 notebooks, and I hate that, so I agree with the review.

 

[youssef 2010]

great article, it really puts things in perspective on the mobile gaming front.

 

[saliwok]

Excellent article. I have to say that I'm a bit surprised that with all the added tech that went into the 480, it didn't do better against the 5870. I really agree with the folks who want to see how the 480 stacks up against a dual 5870 Crossfire machine. Based on what I'm seeing here, I'd expect the Crossfire to kick a single 480. I'm in the market for a high end laptop and it's really tough to decide between the extra power of a Crossfire setup versus the 3D capability that comes with Nvidia. Hopefully Tom can supply some numbers to help me out.

 

[Poisoner]

You should think of this new laptop card as a mobile folding stating.

 

[Poisoner]

Station, I meant station.

 

[Reynod]

Thanks Crashman.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]snqwerty[/nom]As usual, you do not say anything regarding movie playing and such.While I can not argue with the numbers, I would like to know if you can stream movies and sound through an HDMI cable.Though It is nice the my laptop can play games, I wonder how it does with multimedia, i.e portable HTPC ?[/citation]
If you're referring to Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, then no it's not supported. As far as I know the GTX480M uses the exact same gf100 GPU and comes with the exact same features as the desktop GTX480, minus the deactivated SP's. This means no TrueHD or HD Master Audio over HDMI. If you want this feature in addition to high-end gaming performance you'll have to go with an HD5000 series card, at least for now. Otherwise it should be capable of streaming all other audio/video standards over HDMI.

 

[scook9]

Funny no one else noticed this, there is an SLI connector on the GTX 480m card Means Clevo will be doing an SLI GTX 480m machine - should throw a challenge to the dual 5870m Alienware M17x

The white plastic thing that is vertical half way up the left side for those who are not familiar with laptop cards

 

[eddieroolz]

Good to see that Nvidia was able to bring down power consumption. At least it beat its chief competitor, but at a prohibitive price, I'm not sure about what this victory really means.

 

[salgado18]

Thermal Detonators. Powered by Nvidia's GTX 480.