680m vs 870m

garretts43

Honorable
Dec 31, 2013
19
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10,560
I can save about 200 bucks if i get the 680m, but with a i7 3610qm processor rather than an i7 4800mq. Would it be better to go with the latest processor (4800mq) but with gpu that is slight slower (870m) or would the 680m and 3610qm suffice?
 
Depends entirely on your own preferences - gaming or cpu and (importantly) providing the performance vs cost differences are justified enough for you.

Have a look at a few 680m/870m reviews ...the following is a good start:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-870M.107792.0.html

Do the same with the 2 cpu's.
Take note of performance comparisons, and price differences.
Then, based on what's important for you, make your choice.



 


That shows the 870M equaling or outperforming the 680M in all benchmarks except Diablo 3, and given that the D3 result has the 680M with twice the fps as the 870M I would view the data with skepticism.

gpuboss.com is a fine place to get a quick glance at spec comparisons, but its information should not be depended upon without further investigation. http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-295X2-vs-GeForce-GTX-780-Ti is a good example of what I mean. What gpuboss.com deems a "winner" in their comparisons means little in the real world.

That said, the 870M generally outperforms the 680M, and the newer processor is clearly the better one. I would say the upgrades are worth the extra $200, but it really comes down to how important that extra bit of performance is to you. The older hardware still performs well, and assuming this is a gaming laptop, the 680M is definitely a capable GPU. Either way, you will be able to get High graphics out of most games.