Mobility Radeon Vs. GeForce M: The CrossFire Advantage

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omvo

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I can set my 1080p monitor to 1600x900 on Desktop Properties in CCC. HD5870 and 10.9 drivers, I can also see 1600x900 as a selectable resolution in Starcraft II. I can send you screenies if you want.
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]omvo[/nom]I can set my 1080p monitor to 1600x900 on Desktop Properties in CCC. HD5870 and 10.9 drivers, I can also see 1600x900 as a selectable resolution in Starcraft II. I can send you screenies if you want.[/citation]
OK, so the original problem was with the notebooks, because those had 1920x1080 displays and I wanted to test at three native aspect-ratio resolutions. I have a bunch of notebook charts here with ATI and Nvidia solutions, where the 1600x900 data is there for the Nvidia notebook but not the ATI. That's because the notebook didn't allow me to set 1600x900. So, I rechecked a desktop card:
Radeon supported 1600x900 on a 1080p display, just like you said. Thanks for pointing that out. The problem was that, because the "Extreme" profile in 3DMark requires at least a 1920x1200 display, I was using either a 1920x1200 or 2560x1600 display to test desktop graphics. The odd part is, Radeon supports 1920x1080 on the same16:10 displays, but not 1600x900. And it's not a fault of the monitors, because my GeForce drivers support 1600x900 on everything.

More information: If you look at Radeon and GeForce card options, using the same display, Radeons usually support a bunch of weird resolutions that GeForce does not, while GeForce supports a few resolutions that Radeon does not. But I was looking for 1600x900 specifically to find a 16:9 ratio to test that falls about half-way between 1280x720 and 1920x1080.

Making a long story short, in order to run the benchmarks in the preferred manner, ATI requires me to swap monitors while Nvidia does not.

Check This Search Queue for more information on ATI's checkered past with 1600x900, to see how confusing this issue can be.
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]fisco[/nom]don't forget nvidia's faulty material chips[/citation]
You mean bad bumps? I think Nvidia fixed that a long time ago. The two reasons I'd pick ATI over Nvidia in notebooks right now are price and power consumption.
 

whooleo

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Is it me or is that CPU cooling system a little weak? I mean it doesn't even have a fan just passive, I know it has a slot for one but still...
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]whooleo[/nom]Is it me or is that CPU cooling system a little weak? I mean it doesn't even have a fan just passive, I know it has a slot for one but still...[/citation]The reason you don't see the CPU fan is because it's mounted to the lid. If you take the lid off, you take the CPU fan off. If you don't take the lid off, you can't see inside :)
 

WarraWarra

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So I can build 2x htpc (i7-920 + server headless video junk "Ati5850" on micro atx) for the same price and 4 times the performance about of these laptops.

Weighs about the same and just as ugly as these laptops + it is portable as well.

How the laptop has fallen from the last Apple laptop "Mac Book Pro ati9700" / Dell 17" nv7950gtx to this state of pathetic and it is in crossfire :(
 

troger5troger5

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$4196 with Mobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossFire
$4385 with GeForce GTX 480M

I just wish a solution was found for the battery still sucking in 2010. If companyies did not have to invest millions into making something use less power, might be able to compete with the desktop as far as performance. You still have to make everything smaller but at least power would not be the big x factor it is now.
 
G

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"Though 1600x900 is an option for both the flat panel display and the competing GeForce GTX 480M, AMD's Radeon (Catalyst) drivers don’t support it."

Oh really? More correct would be to state that the drivers don't enable it by default, but it's pretty easy to hack in support. If you don't want to get your hands dirty in the registry, try googling "ati resolution tool" and you should get it on the first hit.

Anyway, it's no surprise that two HD 5870s beat a single 480M. The new Clevo X7200 with 480M SLI on the other hand is in another ballpark (both in power and in performance): http://www.anandtech.com/show/3970/avadirect-clevo-x7200-worlds-fastest-dtr/
 
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