7200 RPM vs. 5400 RPM Gaming Performance - Page 4

No, the Sandy Bridge i7 is not just slightly better, but a lot better, at least in the instances where its extra power is taken advantage of. I personally don't run anything that requires such a fast processor so I am quite happy with my first generation i7. However, Shogun: Total War 2 and StarCraft 2 are two of the most CPU-intensive games out there right now and they do run faster on Sandy Bridge.

I wouldn't say you fudged up on the graphics card. The performance difference I'm talking about isn't night-and-day, and is really dependent on the game and which settings you run it at. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, these are the frame rates that these different cards get in the most GPU-intensive game on the planet, Crysis. Benchmark was run at 1920x1080 on "high" settings.

Mobility 5870: ~30 FPS
GTX 460M 1.5GB (192-bit): ~27 FPS
GTX 560M 2GB (128-bit): ~24 FPS

The 5870 score was my own. The other two are pulled from NotebookReview.com's reviews of the Asus G53SW and G53SX. As you can see, the performance difference between the nerfed 560M and my 5870, in this case was about 25%, and it only seems like a huge deal because of the low frame rates we're talking about. So all other things being equal, I would say that the difference is very minor, and is only really apparent at the extreme where all of these cards are really being pushed to their max and can barely maintain playable frame rates.

For GTX 560M, 1.5GB & 3GB VRAM versions are 192-bit (60 GB/S memory bandwidth). 2GB & 4GB versions are 128-bit (40 GB/S bandwidth). Only the more expensive G74SX's have the 192-bit 560M, except the Best Buy G74SX-BBK7 which is 128-bit. All G53SX's have the nerfed 560M, but the older G53SW's have a 192-bit GTX 460M. The reference (not nerfed) GTX 560M differs from the 460M only in that it has higher clock frequencies. The nerfed GTX 560M is, as you can see above, actually slower than the 460. It can get pretty confusing at times, which is why research is a good idea before pulling the trigger on one of these babies.

The 2GB of VRAM will do nothing to make your 560M faster. As I have already shown above a 460M will less VRAM is faster. Pretty much anything above 1GB of VRAM for a laptop chipset is pure marketing because laptops can't run games at the extreme settings and resolutions necessary to take advantage of such a large amount of VRAM.

So, to answer your question, no, your 560M won't be quite as fast as the 5870.

I would say as of right now (2011), most games should be playable at highest settings and resolution with AA except for the newest releases such as Skyrim, Rage, BF3, and, of course, Crysis. So all in all, nothing to sneeze at, especially for a laptop. And also, I heard that the GTX 560M overclocks like mad, so have fun with your new rig when you get it.

You're welcome. That G53SW would be faster in games due to the GTX 460M.

Don't get the HP. It's not really designed as a gaming laptop and the AMD 6770M is a quite a few steps below the other graphics cards I've been mentioning here.

If I were you, seeing how you can afford to spend $1250 for the G53SX you bought on Amazon, I'd take a look at these customizable laptops from XoticPC and Malibal:

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-1761-msi-1761-p-3152.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/force-16f2012-msi-16f2-preorder-p-3376.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8130-built-clevo-p151hm1-custom-sager-laptop-p-2973.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=285

The first two come with the much faster GTX 570M while the last two come with the 192-bit GTX 560M. Customize the first two with an i7 2630QM, 8GB RAM, and 750GB 7200 RPM hard drive and your total is only $1200 (less if you pay with cash, check or money order), which makes it not only cheaper than the G53SX but also much faster. Not to mention you get a free copy of Battlefield 3 with it. The GTX 570M is one of the fastest mobile graphics cards out there right now and is around 50% faster than the nerfed GTX 560M.
Edited by octiceps - 12/6/11 at 8:51am