Mobile vid cards vs Desktop

[consid3r]

I'm seeing more and more dedicated video cards coming out for laptops and I'm always wondering...ultimately, what's the range of performance for those cards? I look at the 9800GTX+ sitting in my desktop - it's close to half teh size of a laptop. And I'm thinking...there's probably a laptop without the i7 core that I have that will still run Crysis at the same FPS...and without tri-channel RAM. I assume their video cards must be pretty strong...

So how powerful are these mobile gaming laptops now? Are there any drawbacks? I'm having trouble accepting the thought of a laptop competing with a gaming desktop in performance...

 

[Ehsan w]

Nvidia likes to screw you over, they suck, alot
for example if you get a laptop Gtx 260 you're actually getting a desktop version of the geforce 9800gtx, which isn't close to the desktop 260's performance
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-260M.14559.0.html

Ati also screws you over, but not as much as Nvidia,
if you get a 4870 in your laptop, the performance you'll get is more like a desktop 4850.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4870.13974.0.html
don't get one....they screwed me over too...

 

[OvrClkr]

Nvidia likes to screw you over, they suck, alot
for example if you get a laptop Gtx 260 you're actually getting a desktop version of the geforce 9800gtx, which isn't close to the desktop 260's performance
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-260M.14559.0.html

Ati also screws you over, but not as much as Nvidia,
if you get a 4870 in your laptop, the performance you'll get is more like a desktop 4850.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4870.13974.0.html
don't get one....they screwed me over too...

I really don't understand your formula cause the 4850 = 9800GTX/GTS 250 and the 4870 = GTX 260 .....

It's not that either manufacturer is screwing anyone.. the mobile GPU's are just not as powerfull as the desktop ones....

 

[andyveee]

the naming schemes are relivant to the desktops in as far as the naming scheme itself, the fastest desktop cards are the 260/280 etc and the fastest mobile are called the same - of course the performance is not the same its a mobile unit that uses a 150 watt PSU - not most of a 800 watt desktop.

think about it, for putting in such little power your getting alot of gaming!!

so yeah, the naming schemes follow the desktops, if you know a 280 gtx is good on a desktop, you would be right in thinking that the 280m is good in a laptop. Just dont expect the same ACTUAL fps.