Alienware's M18x, Part 2: AMD's Radeon HD 6990M in CrossFire
by Dustin Sklavos on October 14, 2011 12:00 AM ESTGaming Performance
We've seen that as far as Futuremark is concerned, the AMD Radeon HD 6990M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M are essentially comparable. 3DMark doesn't tell the whole story, though, and we've seen graphics hardware perform well in it and then go belly up in actual benchmarking situations. Maybe our game testing will break the stalemate?
At least in our "high" preset, the two tend to trade blows, though when the GTX 580M wins it wins big, blowing past the Radeon in STALKER, Mafia II, and surprisingly DiRT 2, where the Radeon puts in an unusually poor performance. The 6990M is still totally playable in every case, but the GeForce is always at least on par with it.
The gap closes a bit in our "ultra" testing suite, but still generally favors the GeForce in multi-GPU settings while the single GPU solutions perform roughly on par with each other. Meanwhile, our multi-GPU solutions are oftentimes faster than our gaming desktop, and that's not too shabby. For users that want a desktop-level gaming experience in a notebook and are willing to pay for it, SLI and CrossFire look ready and able to provide it.
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mclazer - Sunday, October 16, 2011 - link
Based on your statements, it seems weird that you even clicked on the link for the review. We already know this laptop isn't for everyone.I for one am very grateful for the review, a "gaming laptop" was exactly what I was looking for.
See you in 6 months
bennyg - Monday, October 17, 2011 - link
Big accomplishment, you read something about a product you don't like and won't buy, and against all odds, emphatically reinforce your own opinion.I, however, can take my gaming laptop into the next room in all of 5 seconds, or outside (thanks to my matte 1080p screen) if I wish. Or hook it up to my large TV should I choose. That's the flexibility it offers, and yes price/perf is the tradeoff, and you obviously desperately need 3dmarks and fps at ultra settings in a way I just ... don't.
The thought of sitting at the one desk my whole life is what appals me.
ebatts - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Does anyone know how long this laptop battery is expected to last with normal use? It also seems like a huge battery, but carrying spares might be a good idea, especially if you're gaming away from a charging socket. Check out http://www.ebatts.com/alienware_laptop_models.aspx for some spares.Mystermask - Saturday, October 22, 2011 - link
no need to say more