Nvidia has refreshed its mobile GPU lineup with new Pascal chips. Today, they announced the release of mobile variants of the GTX 1080, 1070, and 1060.
Unlike previous generations of mobile GPU’s, these are not cut down versions of desktop chips, or smaller chips to begin with. Because of this, Nvidia chose to drop the M suffix that was normally found at the end of mobile models. Instead, they are lower clocked versions of the desktop cards that carry the same names. While the base speed is lower, the memory bus, speed, and size all remain the same. Nvidia claims that these new chips perform up to 75 percent better than the previous generation Maxwell GPU’s.
The mobile variant of the GTX1080 retains its 2560 CUDA cores, but drops the base clock from 1607MHz to 1556Mhz. Likewise, the 1070 sees a drop from 1506MHz to 1442MHz, and the 1060 a drop from 1506MHz to 1404MHz. The Boost Clock remains the same on the 1080, but takes a small hit on the 1070, going from 1683Mhz down to 1645MHz, and the 1060 drops from 1708MHz to 1670MHz.
In addition to architectural improvements, these new GPU’s support an improved version of Nvidia’s BatteryBost technology. BatteryBoost will automatically adjust the performance of the GPU in order to prolong the battery life if only battery power is detected.
Nvidia has also stated that they are working with laptop manufacturers to pair these GPU’s with G-Sync enabled displays, which allow for the monitor’s refresh rate to match the framerate of a game, leading to a smoother experience.
Quick Take
This is quite a step up from the previous generation Maxwell. A mobile GTX 980 was in reality the equivalent of a desktop GTX 960. Due to the lower die size of GP104, this is not needed for this generation. A large reduction in heat and power consumption will be welcome for those with gaming laptops.
