Mobility Radeon Vs. GeForce M: The CrossFire Advantage
Table of contents
- 1. A Leopard That Changes Its Spots
- 2. Leopard Skin (External Features)
- 3. Leopard Guts
- 4. Test Settings
- 5. Benchmark Results: Synthetic Benchmarks
Nvidia sells the fastest mobile graphics processor you can buy, but notebook manufactures can fit two of AMD’s top modules in in the same space. Eurocom’s X8100 Leopard answers the question: can two Mobility Radeon HD 5870 modules beat a single GTX 480M?
Using custom components to make alternative hardware work with existing platforms, mobility specialist Eurocom builds some of the most sophisticated notebook configurations in the high-end market.
The company’s latest engineering triumph adds the most powerful gaming and professional graphics configurations to a Clevo X8100 chassis that was originally designed to house a pair of Nvidia G92-based cards. Now, the GeForce GTX 480M and a pair of Mobility Radeon HD 5870 modules top the company's gaming options.
An 18.4” screen means the X8100 Leopard is far from compact. Most of its internal space is devoted to hardware like the dual MXM Type-III graphics bays and three dedicated hard drive bays that, when factored in alongside a specially-available optical drive bay adapter, enable four hard drives to support RAID 10.
| Eurocom X8100 Component List | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Intel PGA988, PM55 Express, MXM-III Discrete Graphics |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-940XM Quad-Core 2.13-3.33 GHz, 2.5 GT/s QPI, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, 45 nm, 55 W |
| RAM | Kingston 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM, CL7, 1.5 V, Non-ECC |
| Graphics | Dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, 1 GB GDDR5, CrossFire Single Nvidia GeForce GTX 480M, 2 GB GDDR5 |
| Display | 18.4" "Full HD" Glossy TFT, 1920x1080 |
| Webcam | 2.0 Megapixel |
| Audio | Integrated HD Audio |
| Security | Built-in Fingerprint Reader |
| Storage | |
| Hard Drive | Crucial RealSSD C300 256 GB, MLC, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6Gb/s SSD Up to four 2.5" drives supported internally in RAID 0, 1, and 10 |
| Optical Drive | LG CT10N Blu-ray Reader / DVD Writer Combo Drive |
| Media Drive | 7-in-1 Flash Media Interface |
| Networking | |
| Wireless LAN | Intel Ultimate-N 6300, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 11/54/450 Mb/s |
| Wireless PAN | Optional Internal Bluetooth V2.0 +EDR Module (not included) |
| Gigabit Network | Built-in 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet |
| IEEE-1394 | Integrated IEEE-1394 FireWire 400 controller |
| Peripheral Interfaces | |
| USB | 4 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0 |
| Expansion Card | Internal Only |
| HDD | 1 x eSATA 3Gb/s |
| Audio | Headphone, Microphone, Line-In, Digital Out Jacks |
| Video | 1 x Dual-Link DVI-I w/VGA Adapter, 1 x HDMI |
| Power & Weight | |
| AC Adapter | 220 W Power Brick, 100-240 V AC to 19 V DC |
| Battery | 14.8 V 4650 mAh (68.82 Wh) Single |
| Weight | Notebook 11.8 lbs, AC Adapter 2.2 lbs, Total 14.0 pounds |
| Software | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, OEM |
| Service | |
| Warranty | Standard 1-Year Warranty (Add $259 for 3-Year Extended) |
| Price | $4196 with Mobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossFire $4385 with GeForce GTX 480M |
The X8100 Leopard can change its spots from red to green by supporting the full range of Radeon, GeForce, and Quadro FX graphics cards. The only caveat is that two first-generation Fermi processors are too hot for this chassis, even when reduced to mobile graphics specifications. Two Radeon HD 5870 graphics modules reach the cooling limits of X8100 chassis, and adding Intel’s high-flying i7-940XM takes us to its power limits. Anyone who needs the cooling benefits of a thicker chassis to support more powerful hardware should consider desktop hardware-based notebooks like Eurocom’s new Panther 2.0.
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So what does this prove? That power draw isn't as irrelevant as Nvidia's fanbois claim. It also proves that Nvidia needs to do the same thing with their notebook GPU's they did for their desktop ones: lower prices immensely.
I'm curious to see what would happen when Nvidia releases a mobile version of the 460. That wouldn't be on par with dual 5870 mobilities, but could be a very compelling upper mid end offering.
How is it possible that crossfire works so well versus a single card in the mobile sector, and yet in PCs, full size cards barely give you a 20 - 30% boost with crossfire turned on?
How is it possible that crossfire works so well versus a single card in the mobile sector, and yet in PCs, full size cards barely give you a 20 - 30% boost with crossfire turned on?
The latest generation gives you far more than 20-30% performance advantage. ATI's Evergreen architecture sits close to 70% while Nvidia even manages to squeeze a 90% boost out of a second card (high end Fermi's are a failure, but they sure did the SLI scaling right). You're a generation or two behind it seems...
That is some performance. Having said that, $4200 is an insane price to pay for it.... Imagine the desktop you could build for that!
So what does this prove? That power draw isn't as irrelevant as Nvidia's fanbois claim. It also proves that Nvidia needs to do the same thing with their notebook GPU's they did for their desktop ones: lower prices immensely.I'm curious to see what would happen when Nvidia releases a mobile version of the 460. That wouldn't be on par with dual 5870 mobilities, but could be a very compelling upper mid end offering.
The GTX 460m was released ages ago. Indeed it's a little bit weaker than the mobile 5870. But an dual setup SLI will probably beat a dual crossfire. Though I haven't seen any GTX 460m SLI setups yet.
i think ATI is dead