gschneider

2x680m's is good enough for the next 3 yrs I can always overclock if I need more power to rival a 780m. After all its still kepler.

I did get a good deal on it though.

I was getting one 680m in the m17x, now I am getting two 680m's and in an 18x

Besides whenever I order something it will be out of date in 10mins anyway.

Just ordered an M18x R2 after cance;ling my M17x-R4. I felt 680m in SLI was worth more to me than a single 680m. Future proofing and all that.

spec in sig, although the hard drives I will be adding the day it turns up, also corsair vengeance ram.

M18x R2, mostly because its massive and 2x680m's!

Plus for a gaming laptop I wanted something to replace my desktop this does it nicely 18" screen and also massive power with only one annoyance and the lack of optimus.

Desktop Class
Processor	680	670	660ti	660
Cuda Cores	1536	1344	1344	960
Gpu Clock	1058	980	980	1033
Mem Clock	1500	1500	1500	1500
Mem effective	6000	6000	6000	6000
Bandwidth	192.2	192.2	144.2	144.2
BF3 FPS			65	53
Laptop Class
Processor	780m	680mx	680m	675mx	670m
Cuda Cores	1536	1536	1344	960	384
Gpu Clock	797	720	720	600	620
Mem Clock	1250	1250	900	900	750
Mem effective	2500	2500	1800	1800	1500
Bandwidth	160	160	115.2	115.2	96
Overclocked	680m						Processor	780m
	Extremme - VB	OC - VB	OC only	OC only	standard		Cuda Cores	1536
Gpu Clock	1037	902	864	806	720		Gpu Clock	797
Mem Clock	1250	1100	1033	960	900		Mem Clock	1250
Mem effective	2500	2200	2066	1920	1800		Mem effective	2500
Bandwidth	160	140.8	132.2	122.9	115.2		Bandwidth	160
BF3 FPS	62.2	58	45	43	41.7		from review	62
Above Adjusted for 780m review online against the 680m review on here. Adjustment 8 FPS		680m 42
BF3 not adjusted	70.2	65	53	51	48.7

I did this earlier from around the internet to get information.

All laptop/desktop Class information is taken directly from Nvidia website

OC = overclock

VB = vbios.

red text = my own speculation based on calculation.

780m spec takjen from here: [url=http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-GTX-780M-Mobile-GPU,22546.html]Report: Nvidia GTX 780M Specifications Surface[/url]

Extremme VB taken from review of 680m on this website as is OC-VB.

BF3 FPS ultra settings 4xAA 16xAF.



I just thought it would make a good comparison for anyone.





svl7 I have noted your advice about trial and error with what works for my system.

I have come to the conclusion I wanted to aim for 1001mhz Core/2500mhz Memory. Which voltage would be best for this? 1v or 1.025v or 1.050v again aiming for stability? I might push for 1037mhz if it will let me achieve the 1001/2500. So I can match the 780m :D

I am unsure how you calculate what voltage to use in order to achieve a given speed on core/mem clocks with stability. Looking for something like a table



v0.987 = 758/1800 to 864/2000

v1.0 = ....... to ....

v1.025 = ... to ....

v1.05 = ... to ...

(above is example only)



I get that its not an exact science but a little pointer like the table about might light my path. Especially as I can't increase the voltage with software? (I only know that MSI afterburner doesnt let you adjust voltage, if another program does feel free to correct me).



Thank you

Glen

I have another question for you svl7, I read that you play most of your games on stock clock speeds. Why do you play at stock on a 680m if you can achieve a greater playable fps with your vbios and OC?

hi svl7

current exchange is £1 to $1.52 I will gladly donate case of beer for help, seems a very fair trade to me

Hi all,

First all of I have read all 208 pages of this and some how I still feel confused about somethings. I would like to thank all previous posts as you have helped me a lot

Facts to note:

Alienware M17x R4 - not yet delivered. UK variant with 200Watt power adaptor.

Nvidia driver set: 314.22, Geforce Experience is installed.

Nvidia 2GB 680m

So questions:

1. What is the difference with all the different vbios version. I know there is a volatage difference but is there a default clock and mem clock difference? or is it a case of just increase voltage so you can over clock more.

Dell 680m - 80.04.5B.00.02_'OCedition'_revised_00.zip

• Dell 680m - 80.04.33.00.32__'OCedition'_revised_00 - OV 1000v.zip
  
• Dell 680m - 80.04.33.00.32__'OCedition'_revised_00 - OV 1025v.zip
  
• Dell 680m - 80.04.33.00.32__'OCedition'_revised_00 - OV 1050v.zip
  
• Dell 680m - 80.04.33.00.32__'OCedition'_revised_00.zip
  

I am looking to increase my standard spec for more FPS in Battlefield 3 in preparation for Battlefield 4. I have read that you guys are achieving close to that of the desktop Gtx 670 and I would love to get that performance, this leads nicely into question 2.

2. Safety. How safe is it to have a vbios? I have a 3 year warranty with my system (I got it free as I haggled) I know its all about temps I remember that from the old days with my ATi 9800XT. under 85c I think I read is a good temp.

3. Is there any driver issue with vbios?

4. Does this work under windows 8 Pro 64bit?

5. Is there anything else affected? Optimus? Gpu Boost?

6. Is it better to have permanent over clock say 1000/2500 (to equal Desktop 670) or over clock when you need it?

7. Is it possible to software overvolt to achieve the 670 speeds without the need of a vbios if over clocking when needed makes more sense.

Info to help:

I have done some things in advance, I have Nvidia Inspector, GPU-Z, MSI afterburner +iPhone app, 3dmark 11 and 3d mark vantage.

This system is solely to play games on it does nothing else at all, for anything else I use a Mac or iPad. Reliability is also key to me as this system is there just to play games on it has to last 3 years before replacement hence why I want some extra juice. I don't mind having to turn on the system and load a profile from my gpu then start a game. Key is just to get a stable, reliable, safe over clock to speeds equally that of desktop 670 cards to increase FPS in games so I can use higher detail settings

I do apologise in advance if anyone feels my questions are noobish, I have been out of the PC market for 5 yrs now. I do understand the principle of over clocking, small increments, Testing and temperature monitoring against performance gain. I just haven't had to for 5yrs LOL.

I thank you all for your time in helping me

all the best

Glen

Hi there,

Just wanted to pop up and say hello. Really joined this forum after reading about 500pages worth of posts concerning vbios.

I have just got myself an Alienware M17x-R4 as in my sig. In fact it hasn't even turned up yet, Dell seem to take a month to build anything.

I'm 27 and live in the United Kingdom right on the south coast. I have always been into computers but about 4-5yrs ago I had grown tired of windows and decided enough was enough and I jumped over to mac since then I never looked back.

I now have more time on my hands and wanted to get back into gaming. I piped up for a new Alienware system as my last windows system was an Alienware back before dell owned them. I had one of the of the first AMD FX-51 processors with an ATi Radeon 9800XT which I over clocked using ATi tool. seriously old school times. Since then I have done what gaming I can on mac, mostly on my iPad to be fair as its just quick gaming. Mostly I have been programming in x-code and objective-C for a few people in my spare time. nothing fancy just have a talent for simplifying code, x-code does most of the work any.

Any Svl7, I thank you in advance for everything you have done so far. I thank you in advance of any help you give me. I'll gladly donate some beers for some help.

Nice to meet you all

Glen

PS thanks for moving my post to the right place