Skip to main content

Nvidia preps desktop-grade GPUs for notebooks

nvidia geforce gtx 1050 ti performance 3dmark 11 gpu z booth sign building headquarters
Nvidia is apparently preparing to make a major change to its GPU product line. Later this year, the company will launch its new range of Pascal-based notebook GPUs, and they won’t be released as mobile-specific “M” variants as has previously been the case.

Instead, gamers on the go will be able to outfit their rigs with GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 GPUs that are almost indistinguishable from their desktop equivalents. The only changes being made are intended to accommodate differences between the form factor of a laptop and that of a PC tower.

The notebook versions of the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1080 will apparently feature a slightly lower TDP, but otherwise will be the same as the standard components, according to a report from Tech Spot. Their core configurations, memory controllers and boost clock speeds are all expected to be unchanged.

This move sees Nvidia employ a similar tactic to the strategy used in relation to the GeForce GTX 980. When the company released a version of that GPU for use in notebooks, it was essentially the same component as the one used in desktops, but with a TDP that was closer to 145W than 165W.

Now, it seems that the company is preparing to drop “M” variants completely and only offer these slightly amended versions of its desktop GPUs for use in notebooks.

This would no doubt please PC gamers with a taste for portable hardware, allowing them to further close the gap between desktop and notebook builds. Of course, it will also benefit Nvidia, as their manufacturing process could be simplified and streamlined as a result of the change.

Nvidia will likely unveil its Pascal GPUs for notebooks over the coming months, but there’s still no firm date on when we can expect the big reveal.

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Microsoft explains how thousands of Nvidia GPUs built ChatGPT
Hopper H100 graphics card.

ChatGPT rose to viral fame over the past six months, but it didn't come out of nowhere. According to a blog post published by Microsoft on Monday, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, reached out to Microsoft to build AI infrastructure on thousands of Nvidia GPUs more than five years ago.

OpenAI and Microsoft's partnership has caught a lot of limelight recently, especially after Microsoft made a $10 billion investment in the research group that's behind tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2. However, the partnership started long ago, according to Microsoft. Since then, Bloomberg reports that Microsoft has spent "several hundred million dollars" in developing the infrastructure to support ChatGPT and projects like Bing Chat.

Read more
Intel may have found the solution to Nvidia’s melting GPUs
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is shown along with a hand holding the power cable adapter.

The 12VHPWR connector found in Nvidia's best graphics cards has had its fair share of issues. After dozens of cases of the connector melting during regular usage, the most common cause may have been found, but a permanent solution to the problem has been elusive. Up until now, that is.

Surprisingly, the possible fix comes from Intel, not Nvidia. The company issued a recommendation regarding the design of the connector.

Read more
Tested: Is Discord really slowing down Nvidia GPUs?
Discord logo illustration

A recent Discord update may have introduced a bug that slows down your Nvidia GPU when you use the popular voice chat app. Not all cards are affected, but it appears that the vast majority of them might be.

We tested it ourselves to verify whether there really is a performance drop. Here's what we know, and if you are affected, there's a quick fix that can solve this problem.

Read more