Review GeForce GTX 580M SLI vs. Radeon HD 6990M CF

Let us start with the test system: the 17 inch Panther 3.0 (provided by Eurocom) is a desktop replacement notebook (which is apparent from its weight of 6 kgs). Accordingly, Eurocom does not fit the laptop with a mobile processor, such as the popular Core i7-2630QM, but instead they have thrown in a hexa-core desktop CPU: the Core i7-990X (3.46 to 3.73 GHz) - one of the fastest processors available. Thanks to the Hyperthreading technology, the CPU can process up to 12 threads simultaneously.

The RAM and hard disks of the laptop are also high-end: 12 GB of DDR3-RAM and three lightning-fast Solid State Drives in RAID 0 mode (Intel 510 SSDs) ensure excellent program performance. Of course, the price for this configurations is equally "high-end": 5400 Euros (HD 6970M CF) and 5900 Euro (GTX 580M SLI) are prices which will dissuade most buyers.

Although Dirt 3 usually thirsts for processing power when running with maximum settings, both dual-GPU systems managed to deliver sufficient performance without any problem. The GTX 580M SLI ran the game at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, 4x AA and the "Ultra" setting at a respectable 80.2 fps.

AMD's Radeon HD 6990M CF had a slightly harder time with the integrated benchmark: 67.8 fps (-15%). A single Radeon HD 6990M performs half as fast, and only a GeForce GTX 580M could run the game fluidly with these settings.

Crytek's luxury shooter challenges the dual-GPU systems far more. The Radeon HD 6990M CF has a hard time with the DirectX update and the "High Resolution Textures". The AMD CF system delivers 37.4 fps on average which is not optimal for a First-Person-Shooter game (1920 x 1080, Ultra). On the other hand, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580M SLI ran the beginning sequence of the single-player campaign at a fluid 46.9 fps.

Without DirectX 11 effect and high resolution textures the frames shoot up rapidly. The Radeon HD 6990M CF delivers 65.6 fps with "Extreme" settings and the GeForce GTX 580M SLI manages a slightly better 67.5 fps.

This game has moderate hardware requirements which means that the newest Call of Duty installment did not force either dual-GPU system to deal with any big hurdles. The first mission from the single-player campaign (street fight in Cuba) was run well by AMD Radeon HD 6990M CF with very high details, 4x AA, 8x AF, and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The 6990M CF system delivered 106.4 fps which is slightly less than the performance delivered by the Radeon HD 6970M CF (110.5 fps). The lead in Black Ops is taken by the Nvidia systems (GTX 485M SLI and GTX 580M SLI), both of which deliver around 118 fps.

This action game from the Czech 2k studios has attracts gamers with its rich atmosphere and great story. Our dual-GPU systems were not impressed. The integrated benchmark ran best on the GeForce GTX 580M SLI (112.4 fps) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, 16x anisotropic filtering (AF) and high details.

The GeForce GTX 485M SLI placed 9% behind its brothers with 102.2 fps. AMD loses ground - the HD 6970M CF and the HD 6990M CF perform 23% slower (ca. 86 fps). Still, Mafia 2 does run well on all of our test systems.

Blizzard's real-time strategy game runs like magic on the monitor thanks to the dual-GPU duos. Even with ultra high details and 1920x1080 pixels, the demanding intro of the challenge, "For the Swarm" (is as demanding as later missions) runs fluidly.

While the GeForce GTX 580M SLI nearly breaks the 100 fps mark (96.3 fps), the Radeon HD 6990M CF performs slower at 81.7 fps (-15%). The HD 6970M CF delivers 88.6 fps. In our test, the Fraps tool showed that the GeForce GTX 485M SLI a mere 65.9 fps - it could be that the drivers were not up-to-date when we tested the game on the SLI system.

The Ego shooter game, Metro 2033 (based on a novel with the same name) can overtax almost every available notebook at maximum settings. Very high details, DirectX 11 mode, AAA (Analytical Anti-Aliasing), 4x AF and 1920 x 1080 pixels make both the GeForce GTX 580M SLI (32.4 fps) and the Radeon HD 6990M CF (37.6 fps, +16%) to break a sweat.

The performance of the Radeon HD 6970M CF lies right in between at 35.2 fps. The GeForce GTX 485M SLI places fourth at 31.4 fps. In conclusion: to run Metro 2033 fluidly the gamer must either lower the resolution, stay away from the DX 11 mode, or run the game without "Very High" settings.

Finally, let us take a look at the popular Battlefield "offspring": Bad Company 2. In contrast to most single-GPU notebooks, our dual-GPU systems manage to run the game in high details, 4x AA, 8x AF and activated HABO (Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion).

The GeForce GTX 580M SLI configuration delivered an amazing 105.4 fps with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, whereas AMD's Radeon HD 6990M CF ran the tutorial mission at an even better 110.2 fps (+5%). Once again, the GeForce GTX 485M SLI (96.8 fps) and the Radeon HD 6970M CF (95.5 fps) can not quite keep up.