Geforce GTX 880M, 8 Go Ram... Is it as good as it sounds?

[nuruhuine]

Hi there

I ordered an ASUS RoG a few days ago, here are the specs:

Intel Haswell, Intel Core i7-4700HQ (Quad-Core 2.4 GHz / 3.4 GHz Turbo - cache 6 Mo)
16 Go Ram DDR3
Screen 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4 Go GDDR5
SSD de 256 Go + 750 Go 7200 RPM
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bits
2000€


The laptop was about to be sent when I recieved an email warning me of the release of the brand new MSI. That laptop's specs seem to be well above that of the ASUS for only an extra 300€.
Here are the specs:

Intel Haswell, Intel Core i7-4800MQ (Quad-Core 2.7 GHz / 3.7 GHz Turbo - cache 6 Mo)
Screen 17.3 Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
32 Go Ram DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M 8 Go GDDR5
2 SSD mSATA 128 Go + 1 To 7200 RPM
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bits
2300€

So, the CPU is better, there is twice as much memory, more space... but what I noticed first and foremost is of course the GPU... a Geforce GTX 880M with a whooping 8 Go of Ram!!!

I canceled my order and tried to know more about the beast, more specifically about the GPU, by looking over the internet...
I found a thread on overclock.net where pretty much everybody agrees on the amount of memory being utterly useless.
Here is a link to that thread:
http/www.overclock.net/t/1456471/vc-nvidia-geforce-gtx-880m-is-rebranded-gtx-780m-has-8gb-memory

However, I also read some different threads about that GPU providing a gain of 15 to 20%

Among other things, I'd like to run Crysis 3 at max settings, full HD at above 40 fps, I'd also like to run the Witcher 3 flawlessly, do some heavy work on Photoshop, etc...


So what gives?
Is that GPU as bad as these people make it sound? 8 Go of Ram being useless, etc...?
Will my computer make any use of those 32 Go of Ram with what i plan to do with it?
Is the MSI worth it compared to the ASUS for that extra 300€?


Thanks for your answers!

 

[vash_021]

dont know about the 8gb memory on the gpu

but 32 gb of ram is overkill
if you are not into video editing then that ram is useless

dont know about laptops but in desktop 8gb of ram is enough for any games + multi tasking

12gb should be way than enough on a laptop

 

[dasulman]

right now, the 880M is stuck at 780M capabilities due to a lack of a dedicated BIOS. The lack of instruction causes the 880M to throttle heavily down to the 780M level. However; being stuck at a 780M is still quite beastly. But when the BIOS update does come, then the 880M should in theory beat it by around 15-20%. the large 8GB VRAM should keep the 880M on top for a while. May be wait a while if you're bothered / worried about the throttling blocking some of the performance