512 MB (GT 330M) vs 256 MB AMD HD 6490M

[Schipperenzot]

Hi folks,

Right now I have a MBP 2,66 GHz i7. =>512 MB (GT 330M)
I want to replace it with the new MBP 2,0 i7. =>256 MB AMD HD 6490M

Would i notice a downgrade of the gpu?
But the overall feeling would be faster, right??

Regards!

 

[Meever]

if you game then yes. Otherwise no.

Thanks to the CPU everything else would be noticeably faster. Especially if you get an SSD to really take advantage of your CPU.

 

[0186279]

It's half the ram, it's going to be a lot slower. 512mb is minimum for playing most of todays games on high settings. 1gb GPU's are going to soon be the standard.

 

[aznguyen316]

It's half the ram, it's going to be a lot slower. 512mb is minimum for playing most of todays games on high settings. 1gb GPU's are going to soon be the standard.

The video ram here has nothing to do with how fast the GPU is. The 6490 with 256MB is faster than the 330m 512MB, at least in OSX OpenGL benchmarks. Although 256MB is on the low side for video ram, this really only affects high resolution textures..

A 9600GT with 512MB ram is still a lot slower than the AMD 6490 256MB...

To answer the OP. You will not notice a difference, and it's not really a downgrade on GPU overall. Plus as poster said above, the CPU is basically twice as fast as the old one, and that will make up for a lot of difference in terms of gaming and basically everything else.

 

[Schipperenzot]

Thank you to all! Have a nice day!!

 

[mark28]

The video ram here has nothing to do with how fast the GPU is. The 6490 with 256MB is faster than the 330m 512MB, at least in OSX OpenGL benchmarks. Although 256MB is on the low side for video ram, this really only affects high resolution textures..

A 9600GT with 512MB ram is still a lot slower than the AMD 6490 256MB...

To answer the OP. You will not notice a difference, and it's not really a downgrade on GPU overall. Plus as poster said above, the CPU is basically twice as fast as the old one, and that will make up for a lot of difference in terms of gaming and basically everything else.

The ATI 6490m is not faster, on the Windows side you see the 330m winning in quite a number of games. That can't happen if the card is faster. ( you won't see a 330m beating a ATI 6750m )

vRam is important if you use it for CAD and stuff like that.

 

[aznguyen316]

The ATI 6490m is not faster, on the Windows side you see the 330m winning in quite a number of games. That can't happen if the card is faster. ( you won't see a 330m beating a ATI 6750m )

vRam is important if you use it for CAD and stuff like that.

As I mentioned, in OSX benchmarks shows that it is faster. Could part of it be CPU? possibly. The OPENGL bench in cinebench seems to show the 6490 outperforming the 330m though. Whatever the case, as I mentioned, the 6490 will always be paired with the quad core in these MBP's and the 330m with dual cores so the 6490 still is the better buy, especially if gfx can be considered negligible difference.

 

[mark28]

As I mentioned, in OSX benchmarks shows that it is faster. Could part of it be CPU? possibly. The OPENGL bench in cinebench seems to show the 6490 outperforming the 330m though. Whatever the case, as I mentioned, the 6490 will always be paired with the quad core in these MBP's and the 330m with dual cores so the 6490 still is the better buy, especially if gfx can be considered negligible difference.

Cinebench R10 OpenGL is not a reliable test for the performance of the GPU.

You can see how badly Cinebench R10 OpenGL is influenced by the CPU of the following scores.

An Intel HD3000 better than the ATI 5730m and the 335m? A 310m faster than a 335m?

Core i5-2520M/HD 3000 ********** 5757
Core i7-2720QM/HD 3000 ********* 5378
Asus N61, Radeon HD 5730 ******** 4890
Acer Aspire 5943G, Radeon HD 5650 ******** 4822
Samsung QX310, GeForce GT310M ******** 4625
Samsung SF310, GeForce GT310M ******** 4619
Asus NX90, GeForce GT335M ******** 4537
Samsung NP900X3A, HD 3000 ******* 4024

Games show that the ATI 6490m is not better than the 330m which is highly dependent on GPU power, despite being gimped with a weaker CPU.

In the year 2011, a low end 6490m doesn't belong in a $1800 laptop.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Any way you look a it its pretty annoying Apple created such a huge gap between GPU's in this round of 15" MBP. Normally its closer with the main difference being amount of ram.

 

[Mackilroy]

Games show that the ATI 6490m is not better than the 330m which is highly dependent on GPU power, despite being gimped with a weaker CPU.

Reality disagrees with you.

 

[mark28]

Reality disagrees with you.

in X-plane, the 330m outperforms the ATI 6490m by 10 fps at high settings ( 1920 x 1080 )while it looses by 2 fps at Portal ( 1920 X 1080 ). I don't see the outperformance of that link you posted. And notice that the ATI 6490m is bundled with a much more powerful CPU which obviously gives it a bit more fps than it should.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

In World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Sims 3, Maffia 2, GTA 4, Resident Evil 5, the ATI 6490m does not win.

Also in CoD4, the ATI 6490m does not win but i can't find that benchmark.

The ATI 6490m really outperforms the 330m ( a 1 year old GPU ).

 

[Mackilroy]

And notice that the ATI 6490m is bundled with a much more powerful CPU which obviously gives it a bit more fps than it should.

Yes, I realize that. But seeing as you can't customize a Mac to be otherwise that point is irrelevant.

 

[NZed]

Credits goes to Exana