Nvidia annouces Max-Q Designed GPUs for thinner and lighter gaming laptops!

[Radian]

I am really glad that Nvidia announced this just in time for universities to start! Just like mine, I know there are tons of threads on these forums by people looking to strike the balance between gaming laptops and portability and I stumbled upon this while researching for my own laptops. This looks really promising, and I can't wait for the laptops to release. 

Quote

NVIDIA MAX-Q Design is a combination of software and hardware including reference designs to help NVIDIA’s gaming laptop partners to deliver a thinner high-performance laptop. The thing that makes MAX-Q different is that NVIDIA is no longer shooting for the absolute fastest performance possible as they have in the past. The company is offering the choice to go performance at all costs which is today and MAX-Q, which is approximately 90% performance with much thinner and cooler laptops.

Source - 1
 

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Attendees at Computex 2017, where Max-Q was unveiled, will be able to go hands on with several models, including the ASUS “Zephyrus” GX501. This powerhouse is 18mm-thin, weighs 4.94 lbs, and packs a GeForce GTX 1080, which feeds into a G-SYNC 1920x1080 120Hz display, enabling max setting, high frame rate gaming. And under the hood there’s an innovative Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) cooling design that expands the rear-bottom corners of the chassis when the lid is opened, increasing airflow space by 20%, and total airflow by 30%, keeping the laptop cool even during marathon gaming sessions.

The Clevo P950HR, meanwhile, is 19mm-thin, 4.18 lbs, and features a GeForce GTX 1070. For the display, buyers can choose between a 1920x1080 or 3840x2160 panel. Look for models based on this design from several of the aforementioned system builders.

And finally there’s the MSI GS63, which is 18mm-thin, weighs just under 4 lbs at 3.96 lbs, and packs a high-performance GeForce GTX 1070. And like the Clevo, buyers can pick from a 1920x1080 or 3840x2160 display.

Source - 2

[vanished]

So they're just going to magically make them thinner?  I have to say I'm skeptical... if there was an easy way, other companies would already be doing it. How are they going to make them thinner without making them louder, and/or hotter, and/or much less powerful?

[Glenwing]

And here I am thinking "what does a laptop have to do with maximum dynamic pressure..."

[Enderman]

Those are some nice looking laptops

[rn8686]

So much for no more mobile chips, unless they can magically dissipate more heat.  

[avg123]

The keyboard is in a horrible position. The keyboard should always be at the top with the trackpad just below the spacebar

[Senzelian]

5 minutes ago, avg123 said:

The keyboard is in a horrible position. The keyboard should always be at the top with the trackpad just below the spacebar

But that's only the ASUS.
The other two are fine.
 

12 minutes ago, rn8686 said:

So much for no more mobile chips, unless they can magically dissipate more heat.  

"And under the hood there’s an innovative Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) cooling design that expands the rear-bottom corners of the chassis when the lid is opened, increasing airflow space by 20%, and total airflow by 30%, keeping the laptop cool even during marathon gaming sessions."

 

Y U NO READ?! 

[Radian]

12 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

How are they going to make them thinner without making them louder, and/or hotter, and/or much less powerful?

Here's an excerpt:

Quote

Features like smart fan algorithms to dynamically adjust to the different power states of the GPU not only enable optimal cooling but also to reduce noise. NVIDIA has also tested and profiled over 400 different games to find the right settings to optimize quality and power consumption which ultimately translates to heat and sustained performance. By using the crowd-sourced data from the GeForce Experience (GFE), NVIDIA can determine which game settings suck down the most power and which ones are worth turning on.

I share your skepticism though, but Nvidia did also say that Companies design Chassis with Nvidia for supposedly 'optimal' cooling. They are probably going to use every gimmick they can I guess. Here's another laptop using the same tech:
Aorus X5 MD

 

[Radian]

2 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

"And under the hood there’s an innovative Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) cooling design that expands the rear-bottom corners of the chassis when the lid is opened, increasing airflow space by 20%, and total airflow by 30%, keeping the laptop cool even during marathon gaming sessions."

 

Y U NO READ?! 

That's only for the ASUS as well. The other's have different cooling mechanics. 

[Senzelian]

6 minutes ago, Radian said:

That's only for the ASUS as well. The other's have different cooling mechanics. 

Y I NO READ?! 

[MageTank]

52 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

So they're just going to magically make them thinner?  I have to say I'm skeptical... if there was an easy way, other companies would already be doing it. How are they going to make them thinner without making them louder, and/or hotter, and/or much less powerful?

They are going to be much less powerful. Max Q was leaked quite a while ago, and the reports we saw showed the "Max Q" 1080 being about as fast as the mobile 1070, which makes sense given it's TDP being nearly identical (albeit, slightly lower). Your average 1070 MXM is 115w, the Max Q 1080 was reportedly 110w. Down from 160w of your standard 1080 MXM. 

 

All they did, was take a binned 1080, undervolt and underclock it to it's most efficient voltage steppings (similar to doing so manually with MSI's voltage curve) and call it a new GPU. People have already been doing this with Pascal laptops, and the difference in temperatures were quite dramatic. Upwards of 15C difference. While this undervolted/underclocked GPU will certainly be able to work in a thin laptop, I still question the CPU's themselves, which get extremely hot in thin designs. I also expect unified heatsinks at this size limit, meaning your CPU and GPU will be dumping heat on top of each other. Either way, would trade thin "gaming" laptops for something thicker with more cooling power. If gaming was my goal, thickness shouldn't matter.

[MageTank]

7 minutes ago, Tedny said:

G-sync monitor on laptop, I will pass 

Why?

[MageTank]

Just now, Tedny said:

no mod on Igpu on those laptops( fully passive mode) 

Oh. I find that to be a boon, as I've always had bad luck with Optimus. Though, I suppose people that care about battery life will certainly want a functional iGPU. If I am buying a gaming laptop, battery life is the least of my concerns, lol.

[Radian]

20 minutes ago, Tedny said:

I don't need overkill GPU on work meeting 

Well. If no one finds out...

[Radian]

54 minutes ago, MageTank said:

If gaming was my goal, thickness shouldn't matter.

Also, it is true. But for people who are going to use laptops like these mainly as school drivers and secondary for gaming/workflow stuff, it pretty much makes sense that these laptops are undervolted. Even if you end up buying a Razer Blade 1060, you are getting a marginally less performance over the Desktop version, and the majority of people still end up undervolting to improve day to day performance and thermals. Even the Aero 15 and Alienware 15 R3 are being undervolted as well, so I would honestly not mind a little degradation in performance if I get more mobility and temps, like many people I am sure. 

But yeah, I agree. If you have a main focus towards gaming, this won't be the one for you. And you are probably better off getting a Clevo anyways. 

[tlink]

4 hours ago, MageTank said:

Oh. I find that to be a boon, as I've always had bad luck with Optimus. Though, I suppose people that care about battery life will certainly want a functional iGPU. If I am buying a gaming laptop, battery life is the least of my concerns, lol.

yea optimus works really fucking horrible in my experience, they shouldn't do it from operating system level. just give the igpu its own connection to the monitor and let the monitor switch sources instead. i mean you lose the ability to run programs on both at the same time but honestly, its not worth the sacrifice.