dual graphic cards or higher graphic GB?

[Sandra Springer]

Found iBuyPower and alienware laptops on sale. The iBuyPower has dual NVIDIA GTX 970M 2GB (for 4gb total) and the Alienware has a single GTX 880M at 8GB. The iBuyPower with dual 970 is more expensive, so I was wondering if this was better despite the memory difference. I admit there are other reasons I'm partial to the alienware but am leaving this as strictly a question of graphics.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

The VRAM capacity of GPUs in SLI/CF do not add up; the same data needs to be in each GPU. Total VRAM is that of the smallest card.

That said, VRAM isn't everything.

A single, more powerful GPU tends to be preferred over multiple less powerful ones. As such, I'd probably go for the 880M.