Convince me I don't more power: 660M VS. 675MX

sahni130 · Jan 16, 2014

Hello.
You may have read my recent threads about gutting a new computer. It all started with wanting to get a Mac Mini but then I decided/realized what I really wanted was another iMac. I'm going to get rid of my 23-inch and 20-inch Dell monitors and consolidate everything to one large screen. I decide on the 27-inch for it's screen size because I consume a lot of media and produce a lot of reports/spreadsheets. I may want to play SimCity and the rare Call of Duty if I had something to play on but hardly ever do. I also have a large music library, thousands of photos, and some movies that that I would like to encode in handbrake-though this is more cpu dependent.

My biggest dilemma right now is whether to go with the Nvidia 660m 512MB model or the one with 675MX 1GB. I believe the 660M will be more than enough for the netflix, iPhoto, aperture, etc but may struggle with the Call of Duty, GTA 4/5 and 4K streaming should Netflix/Youtube offer it in the future? Wondering if the extra dough is worth it for the higher end model? It also has a faster processor: 3.2Ghz i5 vs 2.9Ghz. I'd like to get AppleCare and keep the computer for 4 or 5 years.

The 660M model is $1499 and the 675MX model is $100 more. Either ways I'll get AppleCare and I'm keeping my MBP. What do you recommend? I'd like to spend as little as possible but whats another $100 when you're sending this much, though it would be stressing the budget? As a longtime Mac user, one would think I would know, but hey, I'll listen to what you have to say! Do I need more graphics power or am I just being silly?

As always,
Thanks in advance,
Jay

yjchua95 · Jan 16, 2014

sahni130 said:
Hello.
You may have read my recent threads about gutting a new computer. It all started with wanting to get a Mac Mini but then I decided/realized what I really wanted was another iMac. I'm going to get rid of my 23-inch and 20-inch Dell monitors and consolidate everything to one large screen. I decide on the 27-inch for it's screen size because I consume a lot of media and produce a lot of reports/spreadsheets. I may want to play SimCity and the rare Call of Duty if I had something to play on but hardly ever do. I also have a large music library, thousands of photos, and some movies that that I would like to encode in handbrake-though this is more cpu dependent.

My biggest dilemma right now is whether to go with the Nvidia 660m 512MB model or the one with 675MX 1GB. I believe the 660M will be more than enough for the netflix, iPhoto, aperture, etc but may struggle with the Call of Duty, GTA 4/5 and 4K streaming should Netflix/Youtube offer it in the future? Wondering if the extra dough is worth it for the higher end model? It also has a faster processor: 3.2Ghz i5 vs 2.9Ghz. I'd like to get AppleCare and keep the computer for 4 or 5 years.

The 660M model is $1499 and the 675MX model is $100 more. Either ways I'll get AppleCare and I'm keeping my MBP. What do you recommend? I'd like to spend as little as possible but whats another $100 when you're sending this much, though it would be stressing the budget? As a longtime Mac user, one would think I would know, but hey, I'll listen to what you have to say! Do I need more graphics power or am I just being silly?

As always,
Thanks in advance,
Jay

The GTX660M can do a good job.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-660M.71859.0.html

Here's the performance of the GTX660M.

Note that the GT750M in the Haswell 21.5" 2013 iMac outperforms the GTX660M because Apple only uses the GDDR5 variant of the GT750M.

sahni130 · Jan 16, 2014

yjchua95 said:
The GTX660M can do a good job.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-660M.71859.0.html

Here's the performance of the GTX660M.

Note that the GT750M in the Haswell 21.5" 2013 iMac outperforms the GTX660M because Apple only uses the GDDR5 variant of the GT750M.

Oh, I see. So 32.6 frames per second in a game like Call of Duty on high settings is good, right?

yjchua95 · Jan 16, 2014

sahni130 said:
Oh, I see. So 32.6 frames per second in a game like Call of Duty on high settings is good, right?

Pretty good.

As a comparison, most Hollywood movies are shot at 24 frames per second.

Steve121178 · Jan 17, 2014

sahni130 said:
Oh, I see. So 32.6 frames per second in a game like Call of Duty on high settings is good, right?

Compared to other graphics chips/cards running 2-4 times faster then no, not really. On a 27" screen you'd also need to run it at a lower resolution as you'd expect which gives you a pretty gimped experience of the game.

sahni130 · Jan 17, 2014

Steve121178 said:
Compared to other graphics chips/cards running 2-4 times faster then no, not really. On a 27" screen you'd also need to run it at a lower resolution as you'd expect which gives you a pretty gimped experience of the game.

Ah, yeah, I was wondering what that would feel like. I don't really plan on gaming much, if at all, though. Mostly a lot of Office, iLife, browsing, storing media, and every now and then encoding via handbrake. Though, for future "proofing, (I don't like that term haha), I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have more power?

Tanax · Jan 17, 2014

sahni130 said:
Ah, yeah, I was wondering what that would feel like. I don't really plan on gaming much, if at all, though. Mostly a lot of Office, iLife, browsing, storing media, and every now and then encoding via handbrake. Though, for future "proofing, (I don't like that term haha), I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have more power?

That depends on in what context. In the context of saving electricity, then yes it hurts to have more power. In the context of heat generation, then yes. In the context of price, then yes. But when it comes to performance, of course more power will always be better - was it even a serious question?

It feels like you want us to justify why you should buy the better performing graphics card. We can't do that. That it is faster is quite obvious. The real question is whether or not the speed performance per price is worth it to you.

sahni130 · Jan 18, 2014

Tanax said:
That depends on in what context. In the context of saving electricity, then yes it hurts to have more power. In the context of heat generation, then yes. In the context of price, then yes. But when it comes to performance, of course more power will always be better - was it even a serious question?

It feels like you want us to justify why you should buy the better performing graphics card. We can't do that. That it is faster is quite obvious. The real question is whether or not the speed performance per price is worth it to you.

I think you hit the nail right on its head! I decided to get the more powerful model. For another $100 the increase in CPU clock speed and a faster card with double the VRAM doesn't sound too bad! Dang, there really is no end to these things though. I may hold out on a gaming console and play some occasional call of duty on the iMac instead--but I think I'll put windows on it for that.

sahni130 · Jan 31, 2014

So I just ordered a Late 2012 Refurbished 27-inch 2.9 Ghz iMac. This one has the nVidia 660M and 1TB 7200rpm drive. I also bought AppleCare and a 4TB WD MyBook. I want to purchase a trackpad too since I LOVE it on my MBP, but I think I've spent too much money on something I didn't NEED.

I've been getting by with a 2012 13.3 MBP so hopefully this is much faster!

Got the Mac for $1399 from Apple and figured this wasn't a bad deal. It's not too "old" is it?

Overkill for my needs?. I thought about selling my '08 20-incher but just didn't/coudln't bring myself to do it! I think I'm crazy.

magbarn · Jan 31, 2014

sahni130 said:
Oh, I see. So 32.6 frames per second in a game like Call of Duty on high settings is good, right?

Ummmm, NO

Remember notebookcheck benchmarks are run on 1080p laptops, not a 1440p screen like your 27 imac. You mentioned in your post running COD 'in the future-' (IMHO, gaming has stagnated as the majority of titles released in the last few years were made for the PS3/X360 in mind, that's changing with the much better specced PS4/XBONE) You're going to be stuck at either running it at much lower resolution with lower and lower detail as your iMac ages. If you're not really going to game much or are perfectly content to play 2-3 year old games then you're fine.

sahni130 · Jan 31, 2014

Ah, I see. Well, I don't even own a gaming console any longer if that tells you anything about how much I game. It's more of an afterthought, really. I wanted a dedicated gpu just because there will probably be 4k streaming, etc and wanted to run that kind of stuff without hiccups.

magbarn · Feb 1, 2014

sahni130 said:
Ah, I see. Well, I don't even own a gaming console any longer if that tells you anything about how much I game. It's more of an afterthought, really. I wanted a dedicated gpu just because there will probably be 4k streaming, etc and wanted to run that kind of stuff without hiccups.

Then you should be perfectly fine as you won't be able to tell the difference between those 2 doing those tasks.

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