Nvidia has raised the stakes today after the company announced its latest line of mobile GPU's for laptop computers in the form of the GeForce GTX 980M and GTX 970M. Both GPU's have a similar architecture (Maxwell) to their desktop counterparts, the GeForce GTX 980, and GTX 970.
With the curtains finally pulled away from these super-powered mobile GPU's, we can finally see the future happening before our eyes. Both GPU's have closed the gap significantly between desktop and laptop gaming, and it shouldn't take long now before desktop and laptop gaming to be on par with each other if things continue like this in the coming years.
The GTX 980M in particular, is expected to deliver 80 percent the performance of the desktop version, which is quite spectacular. A difference of 20 percent is still huge no matter how one looks at it, but it is a smaller number when compared to 5 years ago.
With Maxwell on mobile, gaming laptops will be able to play games beyond the 1080p full HD sweet spot, something that was impossible last year. In the usual setting, gaming laptops used to struggle to hit 1080p HD at a decent frame rate. All of that changed in 2012, and now 2 years later, gaming laptops will push the envelope even further.
What about battery life?
Good question, gamer. As we know, with great power comes less battery life, but it appears as if Nvidia has figured out to give gamers a few more minutes on the battery with its BatteryBoost technology.
"Instead of your notebook pushing every component to its max, BatteryBoost sets a maximum frame rate from 30 to 60 FPS," according to Nvidia. "The driver-level governor takes over from there, running all your system components including CPU, GPU and memory at peak efficiency. All while maintaining a smooth, playable experience."
At this rate, PC gamers might no longer require to use a desktop to experience video games at their best. Then again, as long as desktop computer parts and accessories are cheaper when compared to purchasing a gaming laptop, it is possible most PC gamers will continue to give laptop gaming the middle finger in spectacular fashion.
Game on, the PC Master Race.
