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GTX 680MX vs M395X

S

SBruv

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 25, 2008
647
321
Hi all,

I'm currently running the top-spec late-2012 27", and I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to one of the new 5Ks.

I can't find any meaningful info on this online, but what kind of gaming performance increase could I expect going from my Nvidia GTX 680MX to the M395 or 395X?

Thanks!

S_B
 
Don't know about the 680MX but the M295X could run modern games like GTA V at 1080P 30FPS medium graphics. Expect slightly better than that with the M395X.
 
SBruv said:
Hi all,

I'm currently running the top-spec late-2012 27", and I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to one of the new 5Ks.

I can't find any meaningful info on this online, but what kind of gaming performance increase could I expect going from my Nvidia GTX 680MX to the M395 or 395X?

Thanks!

S_B
Click to expand...

I also don't know the exact real world differences between the two GPUs, but I do have the same iMac as you currently (2012 i7 with 680MX). I ended up building an external GPU and use that for gaming from the iMac on TV or monitors. I stuffed a GTX 970 into a thunderbolt PCIe chassis and game in Windows and OS X externally over Thunderbolt. Works pretty great over TB1 connections. I feel like our 2012 iMacs are still great machines, and I bet I couldn't get more than $1300 for it if I tried to sell it now. Plus, I use the eGPU on my MBA as well (or any other mac).

Thunderbolt 3 should usher in full blown eGPUs from manufacturers, so I'd consider holding out for TB3 if at all possible. Otherwise, I feel all these mobile GPUs are struggling to push 5k rez right now and I assume gaming is stifled due to the mobile GPU and the super high rez.

Something to think about.
 
martinm0 said:
I also don't know the exact real world differences between the two GPUs, but I do have the same iMac as you currently (2012 i7 with 680MX). I ended up building an external GPU and use that for gaming from the iMac on TV or monitors. I stuffed a GTX 970 into a thunderbolt PCIe chassis and game in Windows and OS X externally over Thunderbolt. Works pretty great over TB1 connections. I feel like our 2012 iMacs are still great machines, and I bet I couldn't get more than $1300 for it if I tried to sell it now. Plus, I use the eGPU on my MBA as well (or any other mac).

Thunderbolt 3 should usher in full blown eGPUs from manufacturers, so I'd consider holding out for TB3 if at all possible. Otherwise, I feel all these mobile GPUs are struggling to push 5k rez right now and I assume gaming is stifled due to the mobile GPU and the super high rez.

Something to think about.
Click to expand...

I have a GTX 970 in a gaming computer but I just purchased an iMac. What did you buy for the eGPU enclosure?
 
im2slick4u said:
I have a GTX 970 in a gaming computer but I just purchased an iMac. What did you buy for the eGPU enclosure?
Click to expand...

I grabbed an Akitio Thunder2 chassis, Dell DA2 PSU for power and some cabling. Cost probably around $550 with the 970 GPU and the rest of the parts. Works pretty damn well overall, but does need some futzing now and then to get it recognized in Windows.

Check out Techinferno for tons of info and help.
 
martinm0 said:
I grabbed an Akitio Thunder2 chassis, Dell DA2 PSU for power and some cabling. Cost probably around $550 with the 970 GPU and the rest of the parts. Works pretty damn well overall, but does need some futzing now and then to get it recognized in Windows.

Check out Techinferno for tons of info and help.
Click to expand...


Does a full size GPU fit into the Akitio or did you use the mini GTX 970?
 
martinm0 said:
I also don't know the exact real world differences between the two GPUs, but I do have the same iMac as you currently (2012 i7 with 680MX). I ended up building an external GPU and use that for gaming from the iMac on TV or monitors. I stuffed a GTX 970 into a thunderbolt PCIe chassis and game in Windows and OS X externally over Thunderbolt. Works pretty great over TB1 connections. I feel like our 2012 iMacs are still great machines, and I bet I couldn't get more than $1300 for it if I tried to sell it now. Plus, I use the eGPU on my MBA as well (or any other mac).

Thunderbolt 3 should usher in full blown eGPUs from manufacturers, so I'd consider holding out for TB3 if at all possible. Otherwise, I feel all these mobile GPUs are struggling to push 5k rez right now and I assume gaming is stifled due to the mobile GPU and the super high rez.

Something to think about.
Click to expand...
Can you further explain this eGPU situation? It works in Bootcamp on the iMac? That would certainly be cheaper than building a gaming PC separate from an iMac and you could get the iMac with the base GPU to save some money
 
im2slick4u said:
Does a full size GPU fit into the Akitio or did you use the mini GTX 970?
Click to expand...

It can fit, but you'd need to bend open the rear of the Akitio case to accommodate the full sized card. I did go with the mini 970 (Zotac) which fits in the case once I removed the fan shroud.

Melodeath said:
Can you further explain this eGPU situation? It works in Bootcamp on the iMac? That would certainly be cheaper than building a gaming PC separate from an iMac and you could get the iMac with the base GPU to save some money
Click to expand...

Correct. The eGPU works both in OS X and Bootcamp over Thunderbolt. For OS X, a forum member wrote a script to patch up the kext files automatically, and I've found using it in OS X is pretty bomb proof where it works 100% of the time. In Windows, there are sometimes issues with Windows recognizing the Thunderbolt connection at boot up, or other shenanigans. I've had pretty good luck, but there are times I have to reboot the machine over and over, while making changes to the eGPU (moving cables, fully powering down, booting straight into Windows without it, then booting with it, etc. In any case, still a fun project and offers the option to upgrade the GPU's over time.

Go read up in these forums for more details: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/
 
Based on what we (think) we know about the m395x, you should basically assume it will perform similarly to the m295x unless Apple and AMD managed a massive thermal improvement this generation. There are lots of benchmarks available around the web showing the performance of the m295x vs the 680mx (for example barefeats), and several still active threads on the performance (and thermals) of the m295x on this very forum.
The short answer is that depending on the game and the drivers, you'll likely see a significant improvement but it won't be on the level of improvement that the 680mx brought over the 6970m
 
im2slick4u said:
Oh wow. I didn't want to make an overstatement (I have seen that video in the pas but don't remember the exact numbers), but that makes me feel better about my purchase of the R9 M395X.
Click to expand...

The reason is because AMD is more competitive at higher resolutions due to fast ram. I have a r9 290x that plays everything at highest settings 4k on Win 10 (Minus AA for new games) and I never get drops below 30 fps due to it.

The 290x plays 4k better then the Nvidia 970 and alot/most of the time better then a 980

The irony of all of this is that some games run slower on 1440p and 1080p then 4k.... I'm not kidding. You may want to try boosting to 4k and 5k first.
 
Malus120 said:
Based on what we (think) we know about the m395x, you should basically assume it will perform similarly to the m295x unless Apple and AMD managed a massive thermal improvement this generation. There are lots of benchmarks available around the web showing the performance of the m295x vs the 680mx (for example barefeats), and several still active threads on the performance (and thermals) of the m295x on this very forum.
The short answer is that depending on the game and the drivers, you'll likely see a significant improvement but it won't be on the level of improvement that the 680mx brought over the 6970m
Click to expand...

Good answer – thanks. :)
 
im2slick4u said:
Don't know about the 680MX but the M295X could run modern games like GTA V at 1080P 30FPS medium graphics. Expect slightly better than that with the M395X.
Click to expand...
I have 30/40 fps with WoW or Diablo III @ 5K resolution with almost everything on ultra, 30+ Fps in Metro last light High @4K

At 1080p you can run everything in ultra and cap the 60fps, probably even at 1440p
 
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