SSD & 7970M or HDD & GTX680M?

[1zikki]

Hi, I'm planning to buy a Vortex "17.3 once my refund from the AIO I just had goes through so I have 2 questions to ask

I hear that the 7970M & GTX680M aren't too far apart in terms of performance but the price difference is around £100+, but I hear that the ATI enduro system is pretty poor and that they don't update there graphics drivers nearly as often as Nvidia, has anyone experienced both and can relate in terms of performance, at the moment i'm playing WoW which will max out on both those cards but I'm awaiting GW2 at the end of august so i'm hoping to go with the best card to run it

Also, what's the difference in performance between an SSD and HDD, I just recently experienced the WOW factor of an SSD, my old PC has just a HD in it but it is really outdated and I wanted to know whether the difference between the kingston SSD and a black caviar HD is worth the extra £100 price difference again

So with those points in mind which would be the best option for longevity and overall performance?

Thanks!

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

Personally i would go for the Graphics card you feel is best as thy are more complicated to change than the HD, im not going to sudgest which graphics card as im an ATI user but i know that although there in close competition i feel the drivers for the Nvidia's are better.

If you do get an SSD it gives you a faster running operating system and games if you have them installed on it. I have a high speed HDD and i have no compaints

Hard Drive you can change at any point if you went for HDD and wanted to change at a later date. I beleive the 17" can handle 2 drives.

I have the HD6990m and i think its a beast, anything more performance than that your laughing.

Hope this helps

 

[1zikki]

Personally i would go for the Graphics card you feel is best as thy are more complicated to change than the HD, im not going to sudgest which graphics card as im an ATI user but i know that although there in close competition i feel the drivers for the Nvidia's are better.

If you do get an SSD it gives you a faster running operating system and games if you have them installed on it. I have a high speed HDD and i have no compaints

Hard Drive you can change at any point if you went for HDD and wanted to change at a later date. I beleive the 17" can handle 2 drives.

I have the HD6990m and i think its a beast, anything more performance than that your laughing.

Hope this helps

Ah are the graphics cards soldered into the chassis then? Having an SSD isn't a breaking factor just I can afford 1 again if I get the 7970M, but I would rather have the better performance rather than faster loading times which is just a nice thing to have if you can afford it but thanks for your advice I think i'm a bit closer to making my mind up now

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

No the graphics cards are changable in the Vortex series depending on drivers, just the graphics card would be the most expensive part to replace and then theres the drivers to sort out etc. If you get the better GPU then you know that graphicly your laptop will be performing at its full potential. I made the mistake of not waiting for the ATI 7000 series and now have the option of paying just under £300 and sending it back to PCS to get it upgraded and i've only had it 4 months. My own fault im an impatent person.

 

[Matchu]

I'd half expect both cards would cream GW2 when released to be honest..... As for SSD v HDD...I've recently changed to an SSD and am impressed with load times as frankly I'm impatient. Unless you are really pushing the graphics card you may notice more benefit with the SSD...but as the previous poster alludes...its nice to have the latest and best graphics card as its released if you can.

All imho...

 

[1zikki]

I'd half expect both cards would cream GW2 when released to be honest..... As for SSD v HDD...I've recently changed to an SSD and am impressed with load times as frankly I'm impatient. Unless you are really pushing the graphics card you may notice more benefit with the SSD...but as the previous poster alludes...its nice to have the latest and best graphics card as its released if you can.

All imho...

Yeah the benchmarks are where i'd expect them to be, I'm definitely getting the GTX680M now I'm stuck between getting a HDD and a Hybrid, anyone noticed the difference in loading times between them?

 

[flobber238]

Hybrids have a good reputation. That is all I can say. Just to check that for you, I just copied a 1GB file from a 750GB hybrid drive to a crucial M4 128GB drive in one second. It was presumably not in the solid state section, but I have to say, this drive is good.