You can't get a GeForce GTX 670 or Radeon HD 7970 in a laptop. For the latter, you probably mean a Radeon HD 7970M, which is basically an underclocked Radeon HD 7870.
For the former, you could mean either a GeForce GTX 670M or a GeForce GTX 670MX, which are two totally different cards. The GeForce GTX 670M is basically an underclocked GeForce GTX 460. That's decent enough as desktop cards go, but the horrible energy efficiency means it doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop. Two of them is an even worse idea.
The GeForce GTX 670MX, on the other hand, is basically a GeForce GTX 660 with greatly reduced clock speeds. That's a more modern card that actually makes some sense in a laptop.
A Radeon HD 7970M is substantially faster than a GeForce GTX 670MX, largely because the laptop card gets more than 80% of the speed of the desktop card, rather than less than 60% of it. As desktop cards, the Radeon HD 7870 is only slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 660. But the extra speed of the 7970M means increased power consumption and an increased price tag.
Two GeForce GTX 670MXes in SLI really doesn't make sense. You only want to go with a multi-GPU setup with high end cards, as you're better off with one high end card than two slower cards. If you want an SLI setup in a laptop, then you should be looking at GeForce GTX 680Ms or GeForce GTX 680MXes. And if you think those are too expensive, then you shouldn't be looking at SLI in a laptop at all.
Two Radeon HD 7970Ms in CrossFire makes somewhat more sense, but still not very much in a laptop. If you want more performance than a single GPU offers, then you should probably just get a desktop.
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Why are you looking at a high end gaming laptop, anyway? They really only make sense for people who want to play games away from home, such as business travelers who spend a month or two per year living in hotels. Even if you need both a laptop and a gaming rig, it doesn't follow that you need a gaming laptop. For less than the price of a high end gaming laptop, you could get both a gaming desktop that is dramatically faster than the laptop and also a cheap laptop that is far more portable than the gaming laptop.
Buy a desktop. If you really need some portability, then buy a cheap laptop as well, which will probably still be less expensive than what you seem to be look at.
I have a 2gb 660m coupled with an i7, it runs most games on high or above, but Multiplayer games need to be tuned down a little bit because of the cpu intensity of them. I wouldn't go with anything less than that on the nvidia side of things. So a 670m is gonna be great too.
i just bought a I7 3630 with nvidia 670m for 1000$ and im pretty impressed as they run all games i play on ultra settings with respectable frame rates. I play Rift Lotr online and The secret world and get awesome frames of 40 or more and sometimes 60 in places. I have two 6950s and a ati fx 6100 overclocked to 4.5 and i can tell you that I notice NO difference in playing games from my laptop to my desktop for frame rates .
Why are you looking at a high end gaming laptop, anyway? They really only make sense for people who want to play games away from home, such as business travelers who spend a month or two per year living in hotels. Even if you need both a laptop and a gaming rig, it doesn't follow that you need a gaming laptop. For less than the price of a high end gaming laptop, you could get both a gaming desktop that is dramatically faster than the laptop and also a cheap laptop that is far more portable than the gaming laptop.
Because as you said yourself I travel for work and take my laptop with me. and a month or two in a hotel a year would be a very slow year for me.
Why are you looking at a high end gaming laptop, anyway? They really only make sense for people who want to play games away from home, such as business travelers who spend a month or two per year living in hotels. Even if you need both a laptop and a gaming rig, it doesn't follow that you need a gaming laptop. For less than the price of a high end gaming laptop, you could get both a gaming desktop that is dramatically faster than the laptop and also a cheap laptop that is far more portable than the gaming laptop.
Because as you said yourself I travel for work and take my laptop with me. and a month or two in a hotel a year would be a very slow year for me.
In that case, it sounds like you're one of the few people for whom a high end gaming laptop actually makes sense. The warning is necessary because a lot of people think they want a gaming laptop, but only plan on infrequently moving it around and virtually never playing games away from home.
Anyway, if you flinch at the price tag of two GeForce GTX 680Ms in SLI, then I'd like to recommend dropping down to a Clevo P170EM rather than a P370EM:
That saves you $200, and all that you really give up is the need to cool two video cards rather than one. (Technically, you also get 4 USB ports and a DVI port rather than 5 USB ports and a DisplayPort port, but it's not clear which of those is better.) Gaming laptops can run hot, so even apart from the price tag, I wouldn't want an SLI or CrossFire setup.
And then for the video card, take your pick between a Radeon HD 7970M, a GeForce GTX 680M, and a GeForce GTX 675MX. Under no circumstances should you consider a GeForce GTX 560M or GTX 670M. The Radeon HD 7970M is the clear value for the money pick if you trust AMD to have properly fixed a PCI Express bus utilization glitch in their Enduro drivers, or at least to fix it in the near future; tests from independent sites find that it fixes the problems with most games tested but not all, and even if it's "broken", it just means you get something like 2/3 or 3/4 of the frame rate that you should have gotten. Nvidia does have a history of better drivers for discrete switchable graphics over the course of the last two years, though AMD does seem to be catching up.
Also, don't plan on the laptop being especially portable. When you play games on it, you want it sitting flatly on a desk and plugged into a wall. Taking it from home to a hotel room will still be easy, of course; that's why you're getting a laptop.
I am fine with moving the laptop as I already have a 17" clevo which currently comes with me on travel but it is going to the better half at home as she dosn't have any PC and gives me a excuse to upgrade.
with out a cooler my current laptop with a GTX485M runs at about 90-95 degress and around 80-85 at home on the cooler stand i have.
If you're not solely set on a Clevo it seems like Sager laptops offer better prices. I have no idea about their build quality, however. Here's a configuration that comes out to $1829. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Display
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card
AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory [$200.00]
If you're not solely set on a Clevo it seems like Sager laptops offer better prices. I have no idea about their build quality, however. Here's a configuration that comes out to $1829. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Display
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card
AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory [$200.00]
Instant Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Offer with Windows 7 Purchase
No Thanks, I will not be upgrading to Windows 8 Pro Via Microsoft
Memory
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB
RAID Storage Options
Non-RAID Storage
Primary Hard Disk Drive
500GB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
mSATA SSD Drive — For Intel Smart Response Technology
Crucial 256GB M4 Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive (Primary Drive C) [$230.00]
Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Disk Drive in Optical Drive Bay with Caddy case
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Wireless Network Card
Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
Primary Battery
Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
Integrated Security Device
Fingerprint Reader
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office Starter 2010 / Office 2010 Trial - Included in Price
Warranty
Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty
Sorry but have had my fair share of different brand laptops from HP to Alienware from $500 to $3000 laptops and after all is said and done I stick to my clevos, In my opinion they have top build quilaty there very modable and robust and would not have any other brand at this stage. they can be pricey but well worth every cent and dont waste money on flashey lights and sounds ( looking at you Alienware )
If you're not solely set on a Clevo it seems like Sager laptops offer better prices. I have no idea about their build quality, however. Here's a configuration that comes out to $1829. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Display
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card
AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory [$200.00]
Instant Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Offer with Windows 7 Purchase
No Thanks, I will not be upgrading to Windows 8 Pro Via Microsoft
Memory
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB
RAID Storage Options
Non-RAID Storage
Primary Hard Disk Drive
500GB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
mSATA SSD Drive — For Intel Smart Response Technology
Crucial 256GB M4 Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive (Primary Drive C) [$230.00]
Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Disk Drive in Optical Drive Bay with Caddy case
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Wireless Network Card
Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
Primary Battery
Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
Integrated Security Device
Fingerprint Reader
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office Starter 2010 / Office 2010 Trial - Included in Price
Warranty
Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty
You do realize that Sager's high end laptops are just rebranded Clevo laptops, don't you? Clevo makes laptops but doesn't sell them to the general public. Instead, they rely on other companies such as Sager, Xotic PC, AVA Direct, Origin, Malibal, Pro-Star, and others to configure them and sell them to the public.
Clevo isn't the only laptop manufacturer that does this, of course, and Sager probably rebrands laptops from several companies. But the only companies that build high end laptops anymore are Alienware, Clevo, and sometimes MSI, depending on how they feel that year.
I am fine with moving the laptop as I already have a 17" clevo which currently comes with me on travel but it is going to the better half at home as she dosn't have any PC and gives me a excuse to upgrade.
with out a cooler my current laptop with a GTX485M runs at about 90-95 degress and around 80-85 at home on the cooler stand i have.
That's hotter than you want, but gaming laptops are fundamentally about packing too much heat into too little space. You can probably see why I say two of them in SLI is a bad idea. A GeForce GTX 670M is the same GPU chip as a GTX 485M (or possibly a respin of it), but cut down somewhat and clocked differently. That would actually be a downgrade for you, not an upgrade.
Fortunately, current generation parts (whether from AMD or Nvidia) offer about 70% better performance per watt than the old Fermi cards.
If you're not solely set on a Clevo it seems like Sager laptops offer better prices. I have no idea about their build quality, however. Here's a configuration that comes out to $1829. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Display
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card
AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory [$200.00]
Instant Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Offer with Windows 7 Purchase
No Thanks, I will not be upgrading to Windows 8 Pro Via Microsoft
Memory
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB
RAID Storage Options
Non-RAID Storage
Primary Hard Disk Drive
500GB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
mSATA SSD Drive — For Intel Smart Response Technology
Crucial 256GB M4 Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive (Primary Drive C) [$230.00]
Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Disk Drive in Optical Drive Bay with Caddy case
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Wireless Network Card
Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
Primary Battery
Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
Integrated Security Device
Fingerprint Reader
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office Starter 2010 / Office 2010 Trial - Included in Price
Warranty
Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty
You do realize that Sager's high end laptops are just rebranded Clevo laptops, don't you? Clevo makes laptops but doesn't sell them to the general public. Instead, they rely on other companies such as Sager, Xotic PC, AVA Direct, Origin, Malibal, Pro-Star, and others to configure them and sell them to the public.
Clevo isn't the only laptop manufacturer that does this, of course, and Sager probably rebrands laptops from several companies. But the only companies that build high end laptops anymore are Alienware, Clevo, and sometimes MSI, depending on how they feel that year.
I did not know until I looked at wikipedia. So what makes the Horize laptops better?
You do realize that Sager's high end laptops are just rebranded Clevo laptops, don't you? Clevo makes laptops but doesn't sell them to the general public. Instead, they rely on other companies such as Sager, Xotic PC, AVA Direct, Origin, Malibal, Pro-Star, and others to configure them and sell them to the public.
Clevo isn't the only laptop manufacturer that does this, of course, and Sager probably rebrands laptops from several companies. But the only companies that build high end laptops anymore are Alienware, Clevo, and sometimes MSI, depending on how they feel that year.
I did not know until I looked at wikipedia. So what makes the Horize laptops better?
For the original poster's purposes, the key difference is probably that you can buy them in Australia.
Comments
You can't get a GeForce GTX 670 or Radeon HD 7970 in a laptop. For the latter, you probably mean a Radeon HD 7970M, which is basically an underclocked Radeon HD 7870.
For the former, you could mean either a GeForce GTX 670M or a GeForce GTX 670MX, which are two totally different cards. The GeForce GTX 670M is basically an underclocked GeForce GTX 460. That's decent enough as desktop cards go, but the horrible energy efficiency means it doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop. Two of them is an even worse idea.
The GeForce GTX 670MX, on the other hand, is basically a GeForce GTX 660 with greatly reduced clock speeds. That's a more modern card that actually makes some sense in a laptop.
A Radeon HD 7970M is substantially faster than a GeForce GTX 670MX, largely because the laptop card gets more than 80% of the speed of the desktop card, rather than less than 60% of it. As desktop cards, the Radeon HD 7870 is only slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 660. But the extra speed of the 7970M means increased power consumption and an increased price tag.
Two GeForce GTX 670MXes in SLI really doesn't make sense. You only want to go with a multi-GPU setup with high end cards, as you're better off with one high end card than two slower cards. If you want an SLI setup in a laptop, then you should be looking at GeForce GTX 680Ms or GeForce GTX 680MXes. And if you think those are too expensive, then you shouldn't be looking at SLI in a laptop at all.
Two Radeon HD 7970Ms in CrossFire makes somewhat more sense, but still not very much in a laptop. If you want more performance than a single GPU offers, then you should probably just get a desktop.
-----
Why are you looking at a high end gaming laptop, anyway? They really only make sense for people who want to play games away from home, such as business travelers who spend a month or two per year living in hotels. Even if you need both a laptop and a gaming rig, it doesn't follow that you need a gaming laptop. For less than the price of a high end gaming laptop, you could get both a gaming desktop that is dramatically faster than the laptop and also a cheap laptop that is far more portable than the gaming laptop.
You make me like charity
Because as you said yourself I travel for work and take my laptop with me. and a month or two in a hotel a year would be a very slow year for me.
http://www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/542-horize-p370em-clevo-gaming-laptop.html
is the laptop and graphics i'm looking at
In that case, it sounds like you're one of the few people for whom a high end gaming laptop actually makes sense. The warning is necessary because a lot of people think they want a gaming laptop, but only plan on infrequently moving it around and virtually never playing games away from home.
Anyway, if you flinch at the price tag of two GeForce GTX 680Ms in SLI, then I'd like to recommend dropping down to a Clevo P170EM rather than a P370EM:
http://www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/526-horize-p170em-clevo-gaming-laptop.html
That saves you $200, and all that you really give up is the need to cool two video cards rather than one. (Technically, you also get 4 USB ports and a DVI port rather than 5 USB ports and a DisplayPort port, but it's not clear which of those is better.) Gaming laptops can run hot, so even apart from the price tag, I wouldn't want an SLI or CrossFire setup.
And then for the video card, take your pick between a Radeon HD 7970M, a GeForce GTX 680M, and a GeForce GTX 675MX. Under no circumstances should you consider a GeForce GTX 560M or GTX 670M. The Radeon HD 7970M is the clear value for the money pick if you trust AMD to have properly fixed a PCI Express bus utilization glitch in their Enduro drivers, or at least to fix it in the near future; tests from independent sites find that it fixes the problems with most games tested but not all, and even if it's "broken", it just means you get something like 2/3 or 3/4 of the frame rate that you should have gotten. Nvidia does have a history of better drivers for discrete switchable graphics over the course of the last two years, though AMD does seem to be catching up.
Also, don't plan on the laptop being especially portable. When you play games on it, you want it sitting flatly on a desk and plugged into a wall. Taking it from home to a hotel room will still be easy, of course; that's why you're getting a laptop.
I am fine with moving the laptop as I already have a 17" clevo which currently comes with me on travel but it is going to the better half at home as she dosn't have any PC and gives me a excuse to upgrade.
with out a cooler my current laptop with a GTX485M runs at about 90-95 degress and around 80-85 at home on the cooler stand i have.
If you're not solely set on a Clevo it seems like Sager laptops offer better prices. I have no idea about their build quality, however. Here's a configuration that comes out to $1829. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Sorry but have had my fair share of different brand laptops from HP to Alienware from $500 to $3000 laptops and after all is said and done I stick to my clevos, In my opinion they have top build quilaty there very modable and robust and would not have any other brand at this stage. they can be pricey but well worth every cent and dont waste money on flashey lights and sounds ( looking at you Alienware )
You do realize that Sager's high end laptops are just rebranded Clevo laptops, don't you? Clevo makes laptops but doesn't sell them to the general public. Instead, they rely on other companies such as Sager, Xotic PC, AVA Direct, Origin, Malibal, Pro-Star, and others to configure them and sell them to the public.
Clevo isn't the only laptop manufacturer that does this, of course, and Sager probably rebrands laptops from several companies. But the only companies that build high end laptops anymore are Alienware, Clevo, and sometimes MSI, depending on how they feel that year.
That's hotter than you want, but gaming laptops are fundamentally about packing too much heat into too little space. You can probably see why I say two of them in SLI is a bad idea. A GeForce GTX 670M is the same GPU chip as a GTX 485M (or possibly a respin of it), but cut down somewhat and clocked differently. That would actually be a downgrade for you, not an upgrade.
Fortunately, current generation parts (whether from AMD or Nvidia) offer about 70% better performance per watt than the old Fermi cards.
I like haveing CLEVO HORZIE on my laptop I like dealing with the OEM rather then re-brands. but thats just me
I did not know until I looked at wikipedia. So what makes the Horize laptops better?
For the original poster's purposes, the key difference is probably that you can buy them in Australia.