GeForce GTX 480M: AVADirect’s W880CU Is Packing The Heat

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Test Settings

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Test System Configuration
CPU	Intel Core i7-820QM PGA 998 1.73-3.06 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache
RAM	2 x Kingston KVR1333D3S9/2G (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1333 CAS 9-9-9-24. 4.0 GB Total
New GeForce Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GTX 480M 2 GB 425 MHz GPU Core, GDDR5-2400, Mobile Driver Version 258.68
Previous GeForce Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GTX 285M 1 GB 600 MHz GPU Core, GDDR3-2000, Mobile Driver Version 187.71
Competing Radeon Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1 GB 700 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000, Mobile Driver Version 8.683-091217a-094159C-Clevo
System Hard Drive	Corsair CSSD-V128GB2-BRKT SSD 128 GB, SATA 3Gb/s
Sound	Integrated HD Audio
Network	Integrated Gigabit Networking
Power	HIPRO 18.5V 6.5A (120W) Power Block 11.1V 3800mAh (42.18Wh) Battery
Software
OS	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Desktop Graphics	AMD Catalyst 10.3
Chipset	Intel INF 9.1.1.1020

Knowing that desktop users would need a frame of reference for comparing today’s high-end gaming graphics engines to more familiar desktop parts, we carried over the desktop system data from our previous notebook graphics comparison to today’s review. Unlike the aggressive Turbo Boost-enabled LGA 1156-based processors that only appear similar at a glance, the Core i7-920 processor in this platform has the same single-core and dual-core multiplier modifier (3.06 GHz and 2.80 GHz) as the Core i7-820QM used by all three notebooks, providing the most accurate performance parity in games. Complete details of the desktop system components can be found in its debut article’s test settings page.

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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS) Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
Crysis	Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 4x AA
DiRT 2	Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat	Call Of Pripyat Benchmark version Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes	Version:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min Default format AAC
Handbrake 0.9.4	Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1.0 GB) to .mp4, High Profile
TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPress	Version: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX Codec 6.9.1	Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.2	Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1	MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4	Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010	Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0	Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90	Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB)
7-Zip	Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8 Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark Vantage	Version: 1.0.1, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage	Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010	Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark

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Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.

53 Comments Comment from the forums

bin1127

It plays Crysis!
Reply
Tamz_msc

....all of these notebooks must be plugged into a power outlet before gaming commences.
I think that sums it up.
Reply
Lmeow

Portable vasectomy!
Reply
Tamz_msc

LmeowPortable vasectomy!LOL +1
Reply
xyzionz

Quite a surprise on the power consumption...
Reply
sprunth

That's a crazy heat pipe setup...

Agree on the naming thing on the last page, that would be helpful.
Reply
Maziar

Great review.
Before its launch,it was rumored that it will have a much higher power consumption than 5870M, but now it seems they are close
Reply
"Notice that the component on the left uses both fans and has two-thirds the total number of heat pipes" Ummmmm if I'm looking at the picture correctly the GPU and the majority of the heat pipes are on the Right, you may want to retype that.
Reply
are there no temperatures for gpu in article or i missed it?
Reply
Plyro109

The funny thing is, AMD actually DID use the naming scheme you like in their LAST generation of mobile GPU's. The Mobility 4850 matched the standard 4850's number of stream processors, albeit with lower clock speeds. Same with the Mobility 4870 and Mobility 4870x2.

They changed it in response to Nvidia's naming scheme, which is a shame. I liked the matching of desktop/laptop performance to names, too. :/
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