NVIDIA ‘Max-Q’ gaming laptops: ultrabooks with GTX 1080 power

Based on NVIDIA’s 2017 Computex announcements, PC gamers won’t have to choose between bulky gaming laptops and desktop-level processing power for much longer. A new design called “Max-Q” is arriving in laptops that it claims are both three times thinner and three times more powerful than their predecessors. Think: 18mm thick, 5 pounds and with the power of NVIDIA’s GTX 1080 inside. Plus, there’s “WhisperMode,” which can pace the game’s frame rate to keep the laptop cool and quiet during a plugged-in gaming session.

When the new laptops go on sale beginning June 27th, the top-of-the line options well outpace current thin gaming laptops like Razer’s GTX 1060-powered 4K Blade, with power that’s similar to the bigger, heavier Blade Pro. There aren’t specific benchmarks listed, but a graph on the official website claims an average 1.8x performance increase over GTX1060 when running “AAA” titles at 4K. During the demo, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed off a 5-pound laptop running Project Cars 2, saying it was 60 percent faster than the PS4 Pro.

ASUS Rog Zephyrus, an NVIDIA Max-Q gaming laptop

NVIDIA says that they’re not only engineered to be thin and light across the “chip, drivers, thermal and electrical components,” but that its software optimizes settings and the workload across CPU/GPU to regulate power and heat. They aren’t all superpowerful, however, with models on the way from Acer, Aftershock, Alienware, ASUS, Clevo, Dream Machine, ECT, Gigabyte, Hasee, HP, LDLC, Lenovo, Machenike,

Maingear, Mechrevo, MSI, Multicom, Origin PC, PC Specialist, Sager, Scan, Terrans Force, Tronic’5 and XoticPC, they will include GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 level GPUs inside. In fact, Acer has already unveiled the Predator Triton 700 gaming laptop, which it says was designed using Max Q guidelines and will come with GTX 1080 (overclockable) graphics cards.