Nvidia aims to put laptop gamers on par with their desktop counterparts, and by releasing the GTX 10 Series for notebooks, the company more than hits the mark.
The recent rollout of Nvidia's new Pascal-based 10 Series mobile Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) will give laptop users about the same level of gaming eye candy as desktop owners.
Due to the revolutionary Pascal architecture, mobile systems equipped with Nvidia's 1060, 1070 and 1080 GPUs will show consistent performance oomph over the previous 9 Series chips. In fact, the company touts that the GTX 10 Series is miles ahead of any existing mobile GPU.
Cool, Cold Numbers
Let's start by checking out the specs. The cream of the crop, the GTX 1080 mobile, comes carrying 8 GB of GDDR5x RAM, no less than 2,560 CUDA cores and it runs at a clock speed of 1,733 MHz.
The GTX 1070 mobile has the same amount of RAM, sports 2,048 cores and is able to run at a speed of 1,645 MHz. Last, but not least, the GeForce GTX 1060 mobile only holsters 6 GB of GDDR5 RAM, 1,280 CUDA cores and runs at 1,670 MHz.
Those who are not familiar with the technical side of things should know that the figures stand pretty close to the equivalent desktop GPUs released by Nvidia earlier this year.
When comparing the laptop and desktop performance, the GPU manufacturer managed to deliver about the same level of performance, regardless of platform. The desktops will have a leg up because of better cooling capabilities and power efficiency, but the difference should stay at about 10 percent.
To put it in perspective, know that the pre-Pascal GPU generation delivers a performance that is 76 percent lower than the one on the new GTX 10 Series.
What is more, Nvidia tweaked the power usage of its graphics cards. This means that notebooks loaded with the new family of GPUs should sport extended battery life due to optimization. Specifically, gamers should get about 30 percent extra battery life.
Another first comes from Nvidia green-lighting the overclocking of its GPUs. The company's previous GPUs could not withstand overclocking, but Nvidia learned that some users are thirsty for performance. That is why the OEM decided to allow hardcore gamers to overclock the 1080 immediately, with the 1070 and 1060 set to follow in the upcoming months.
Gaming Numbers
No amount of technical specs can hold its own without being backed up by a real-world test.
Nvidia did just that, and it shows that its 1080 GPU fared awesomely in Doom and Overwatch, both resource-intensive games. The GPU delivered 140 frames per second (fps) on Ultra settings at a resolution of 1080p. When the resolution was cranked up to 4K, the GTX 1080 mobile put out a solid 70 fps for Doom and 89 fps for Overwatch.
VR-Ready Laptops
One additional value point for the new line of GPUs is that it could make VR headsets such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift laptop-friendly. So far, VR enthusiasts had to rely on heavy spec'd desktop systems to run the VR apps, which are known for their consistent computing requirements.
Not only has Nvidia managed to put laptop gamers on par with desktop rig owners, but opening up the door for VR-laptop compatibility is just as noteworthy.
Should you be interested in upgrading your laptop to a lean, mean, gaming machine, know that Razer, Origin, MSI, Lenovo, HP, Gigabyte, EVGA, Clevo, ASUS, Alienware, Aorus and Acer are offering systems containing the GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and GTX 1060. So far, no word of the Pascal-based GPUs landing on Apple or Microsoft hardware exists, but we will keep you posted when it does.
Marketing experts from Nvidia are estimating an increase in sales for gaming laptops by 30 percent in 2016, while console growth will be mostly stagnant.
"With VR, seeing is believing," Nvidia points out.
According to the company, a VR-capable notebook is ready for purchase at a price of $1,299.
"GeForce 10-Series notebook GPUs mean more VR-capable notebooks - more chances for people to see it and start believing," Nvidia notes.
