Why do mobile graphics chips have so much memory?

[KemoKa]

Probably posted somewhere else, but I was wondering why mobile graphics cards in gaming laptops are stacked with amounts of video memory that they will likely never be able to take advantage of? I mean, in terms of resolution, most gaming laptops are running lower than 4K displays, so why are there these R9 M290Xs with 8GB of GDDR5, especially seeing as these mobile chips are less powerful than their desktop equivalents.

[MegaDave91]

Higher the number, the more it appeals if you don't know any better.

[Geekazoid]

Higher the number, the more it appeals if you don't know any better.

Precisely this ^ @KemoKa.

[AlwaysFSX]

It's a selling point to people that don't know what they're looking at.

[Samfisher]

Like having a 4GB GT 620 and everyone asked me if it was good cos, 4GB!

[Humbug]

Bigger numbers = good

For people who don't know about how performance characteristics scale.

[STRMfrmXMN]

A lot of people who buy laptops for gaming are dumb, I.E. "WOW THAT LAPTOP HAS 6 JIGGAHERTZ OF RAM THAT MEANS REALLY GOOD PING RIGHT"

[SlaughterSmurf]

Probably posted somewhere else, but I was wondering why mobile graphics cards in gaming laptops are stacked with amounts of video memory that they will likely never be able to take advantage of? I mean, in terms of resolution, most gaming laptops are running lower than 4K displays, so why are there these R9 M290Xs with 8GB of GDDR5, especially seeing as these mobile chips are less powerful than their desktop equivalents.

Marketing please

[KemoKa]

urrrrgh... That's annoying...

[Guest]

-snip-

I own a y410p and it meets my needs. Die in a hole moron....

[simson0606]

because moar number == moar better

[D2ultima]

Uhh... when laptop chips ONLY have high memory counts, how exactly is it marketing? The GTX 580Ms only came with 2GB vRAM... how exactly is it some marketing quip? Same with the 780Ms, ALL of them had 4GB; no 2GB chips. The 880Ms and 980Ms only have under 8GB vRAM when they're integrated chips or in ASUS laptops, and nobody should ever want an integrated high-end GPU of any kind.

 

That being said, I believe I remember reading somewhere that it had something to do how the laptop interfaces worked, but I cannot remember which interface was the limiting factor which determined higher vRAM counts for mobile chips, but it's been this way as long as I can remember. 280Ms only came in 1GB flavours too; even though the 9800GTX+ it was based off of didn't have anything above 512MB.

[ottavianus]

this may be completely wrong and i would like somebody else to confirm it, but i know that laptops lower the vram clock in order to save power so maybe having more at lower speed might help. aaand marketing ofc

[D2ultima]

this may be completely wrong and i would like somebody else to confirm it, but i know that laptops lower the vram clock in order to save power so maybe having more at lower speed might help. aaand marketing ofc

The lower is for TDP/heat, and some vendors use lower quality memory for the mobile chips. For example, Hynix RAM the MSI cards can OC exceedingly high for the 780Ms, but the Clevo cards with the Samsung RAM can't go nearly as high.

 

Otherwise, it's pretty much artificial limiting so they don't match desktop chips, basically.

 

That being said, extra vRAM only helps with the amount of data it can store. Higher frequency can benefit lower vRAM buffers in how fast new data can be emptied/added, sure, but if the amount of data that needs to be stored flat out exceeds the buffer size on the card entirely, you'll still run into a bottleneck. For games that don't fill the vRAM buffer (for example 1.6GB usage at max graphics 1080p), then a 2GB card with a fast memory bandwidth will be better than a 4GB card with a slower mem bandwidth.

[I/O]

I own a y410p and it meets my needs. Die in a hole moron....

What are you needs ? Perhaps like most people a smart phone would be good enough for you to do everything you need to.

[solarflare]

Well considering many games want 3+GB of video memory it seems like its a good idea considering the price of the mobile GPU's. 

2nd . slower memory frequencies means it takes longer to load textures into memory so a larger buffer is going to help esp in games that demand vid mem. 

3rd. many people who use Gaming laptops also Doc them at home into larger monitors - often either Triple display or larger displays with 1440P+. resolutions effectively using the laptop as a desktop replacement so the GPU needs to be able to handle all these scenarios.

4th. not ever gaming laptop is required to use 1080p as a screen ., some have been coming out with 1440p displays requiring more vid mem they are likely going to make the gpu''s capable for all conditions not just specific ones.

I see alot of posters in this thread assuming that mobie GPU's are slow and somehow equal to the likes of say a 610.. your dead wrong btw esp the recent gen mobile gpu's they are getting far closer to the mid to high end desktop gpu performance levels now then they ever have been. 

 

and to offer those levels of performance in a reduced frequency you cant be skimping on things like a few gb of mem. *Esp when a mobile gpu costs like 600 or so $ to implement*. 

 

Look at the 970/980 mobile performance reviews vs standard desktop gpu's for examples of what im talking about.

[D2ultima]

4th. not ever gaming laptop is required to use 1080p as a screen ., some have been coming out with 1440p displays requiring more vid mem they are likely going to make the gpu''s capable for all conditions not just specific ones.

I see alot of posters in this thread assuming that mobie GPU's are slow and somehow equal to the likes of say a 610.. your dead wrong btw esp the recent gen mobile gpu's they are getting far closer to the mid to high end desktop gpu performance levels now then they ever have been. 

 

Look at the 970/980 mobile performance reviews vs standard desktop gpu's for examples of what im talking about.

Interestingly enough I've been hunting for a 1440p screen for ages. Everything is 1080p, 3K or 4k. I don't want 2880 x 1620 or 3840 x 2160, but 2560 x 1440 is apparently the most difficult thing in the world for laptops >_>.

 

As for the 970M and 980Ms... don't even bother with those artificially cut down crap yet for comparisons. Sometime next year, possibly around june or so? You might see the "980MX" or "1080M" or something come out... they'll have shoved a full GM204 into laptops by then, and performance should be so close to a GTX 980 it'll be a joke. They could do it right now (since full GK104s ARE in laptops already; 780M and 880Ms, and GK104 is both hotter AND draws more power than GM204) but they won't because they need something to sell us next year. By the time they release though, desktops would likely have the Titan II or Titan X or whatever it is, and the power gap between flagship mobile and flagship desktop will remain fairly tangible.

[Guest]

What are you needs ? Perhaps like most people a smart phone would be good enough for you to do everything you need to.

Wow....

You think any smartphone could do what a laptop does?

dear god......

[Bhav]

And for a long time high end desktop GPUs had too little (1-1.5 Gb days). Even 2 Gb quickly became too little once WQHD and 4K screens became more popular.

[Bhav]

I've had 1200p for like 4-5 years and switched to 2560x1440 144 hz this year lol.

[I/O]

Wow....

You think any smartphone could do what a laptop does?

dear god......

For many common folk a smart phone does everything they need.

[I/O]

And for a long time high end desktop GPUs had too little (1-1.5 Gb days). Even 2 Gb quickly became too little once WQHD and 4K screens became more popular.

4k just came out LOL. 1080P is finally the standard and many people are still on lower resolutions than that.

[othertomperson]

Wow....

You think any smartphone could do what a laptop does?

dear god......

 

Most people use their laptops for checking facebook, answering email and watching the odd video on YouTube. So yeah. Word and Excel (or equivalents) are a pain in the arse on phones, even with a keyboard though.

 

I doubt that marketing's the reason though. The 780 and 780 Ti could have done with more RAM and didn't have it, if they were so generous on mobile it would have just made sense to be as generous on desktop cards.

[Guest]

For many common folk a smart phone does everything they need.

except everything a laptop does...

Also im on this forum and have a 2k build underway. Do you really think im "common folk" when it come to my usage scenarios?

Most people use their laptops for checking facebook, answering email and watching the odd video on YouTube. So yeah. Word and Excel (or equivalents) are a pain in the arse on phones, even with a keyboard though.

This^ cant really do anything work related on a phone, or at the very least do it efficiently. Also hats off if your smart phone can run bf3/bf4, modded skyrim, and other games like this....

[I/O]

except everything a laptop does...

Also im on this forum and have a 2k build underway. Do you really think im "common folk" when it come to my usage scenarios?

This^ cant really do anything work related on a phone, or at the very least do it efficiently. Also hats off if your smart phone can run bf3/bf4, modded skyrim, and other games like this....

Most people don't game and most people are not you. Facebook, Email, YT, Google maps, picture taking and texting etc this is what the majority of the public use computing devices for. Gamers and power users represent a minuscule portion of the tech world.