NVIDIA Launches 800M Mobile GPU Line

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Today, we’re launching our GeForce 800M top to bottom line-up of new notebook GPUs. They deliver the usual massive performance improvement – 30%, 40% and in some cases even 60% over the previous generation. And we’ve again unseated ourselves for “world’s fastest notebook GPU” crown. But, let’s be honest, you’d expect this with each new generation of notebook GPU.

This launch has something different. It brings a multitude of new features designed just for gamers. The biggest is NVIDIA Battery Boost, which will untether notebook gamers from wall sockets for the first time. It delivers up to double the gaming battery life, automatically. Here’s how it works: instead of your notebook pushing every component to its max, Battery Boost targets a user defined frame rate, such as 30 FPS. The driver level governor takes over from there, and operates all your system components, including CPU, GPU, and memory at peak efficiency, while maintaining a smooth, playable experience.
 
What's interesting is that they have two 860M graphics chips-- one with Kepler, the other with Maxwell.

The Battery Boost tech sounds promising. Gaming laptops with powerful Nvidia GPUs may actually last longer than 30 minutes or an hour.
 
i recently got to use a notebook with a nvidia 750 gpu.. it ran games pretty decent if not at max settings.
 
robble said:
i recently got to use a notebook with a nvidia 750 gpu.. it ran games pretty decent if not at max settings.
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Yeah, 750M is pretty decent GPU. I have two in my IdeaPad y510p.

Just one is more than enough for medium settings in Payday 2 and ARMA 3 with a lot of settings turned down. But, games are still playable. It would be nice if I could upgrade both the 750M GPUs for either of the 860Ms, but alas, it's not possible.
 
There's an excellent run down of the new line up over at Anand. Bottom line: it's an exciting time for laptop gaming. The most interesting card is the Maxwell 860m which is essentially a desktop 750 ti. For under $1000, you should be able to run most games 1080p at high settings which is frankly amazing considering where we were 4-5 years ago with midrange mobile cards.

The high-end refresh (880m, 870m) is a bit boring as they are the same old g104 used in three generations now, although the do provide exceptional performance (the 880m/780m is an underclocked desktop gtx 770/680). My dual 780m/880m system plays everything highest settings with ease -- I actually need to output to a 2560x1600 display just to stress it. Sad that AMD has nothing to compete here (and definitely not their thrice-rebranded Pitcairn "290mx" :rolleyes:)

And once we see the high-end Maxwell cards (880mx, 885m?) Later this year things will get really interesting.
 
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so you got thg 2Gig and 4G versions i assume the 4G version is the newer one based on Maxwell ?

I was told to hold out for this, good advice!

not many bench's out yet though..
 
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Kepler GTX 860m's are likely restricted to MXM cards. While all soldered in GTX 860m's are likely Maxwell.

This makes sense in that at the end you have a drop in upgrade (both for the end user and for sellers) for an existing chassis that is already designed around a higher TDP. While at the same time Nvidia does not need to design a MXM Maxwell at this point (limited lineup) and laptop designs are likely being reworked to take advantage of the lower TDP if they will be using a soldered in GPU instead.

The GTX 850m though looks like a very good value now for entry into laptop gaming. No more DDR3 vs GDDR5 situation. Also laptop's tend to be TDP limited so the fact it carries the same shader count is rather significant. The real world performance difference (especially if you factor in OCing) is likely very small between the 860m vs 850m given the same cooling solution. Whereas before the the gap with the 750m (especially DDR3 version) and 760m+ was very big.
 
MrGuvernment said:
so you got thg 2Gig and 4G versions i assume the 4G version is the newer one based on Maxwell ?

I was told to hold out for this, good advice!

not many bench's out yet though..
Click to expand...

If you're referring to Maxwell 860m, look to 750 ti benches for an equivalent -- it will be 5-10% slower than that (although overclocking will solve that issue :)).
 
The 860m is a huge boon for the slim gaming machines and those in the 13-14" size category.
 
Meaker said:
The 860m is a huge boon for the slim gaming machines and those in the 13-14" size category.
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i was chekcing out the Sager 13.3 with the 860m, but i cant decide if a 13.3 1080 is going to be too small for me for normal usage.

i sold my desktop but did keep my Dell u24 monitor just incase...

So tempting, but 15.6 seems like a nicer sweet spot..
 
Depends how portable you need it, 15.6 inch machines pack a massive punch but are not so nice on say a plane.
 
From my experience I think 15.6in is good for a desktop replacement that is still portable. Granted this is somewhat dependent on the chassis as some are more efficient relative to their screen size. For example the current y510p is a rather large 15.6in in terms of the chassis.

14 inches to me was a bit of tweener, it was neither satisfying in screen size nor in compactness but at the same time it was better in screen size than smaller devices and more compact than 15.6 inches. Basically I wasn't happy but at the same time it was more usable than the larger and smaller option so I wasn't unhappy either (in certain situations).

Sub 13's in my opinion felt very portable. For me anyways something really small like the 10.6inch Surface Pro wasn't much more portable (from a practical functional standpoint) than say the 12.5inch Dell XPS 12. Although at this size you aren't really going to be getting "gaming" notebooks but who knows maybe someone will be creative with Maxwell parts.

Best thing would actually just be getting some first hand experience at a local store if you can especially since I believe (according to your posts) you haven't used a laptop much before. You'll get a better gauge in person. Pick up and hold it as well.

Personally I'm not really sure what I want now. Was going to get a Surface Pro but have renewed interest in a thin/light with a GTX 850m/860m.
 
The 13.3" is going to mate with people who for instance travel on the train or plane a lot, especially with a power outlet next to you and a table on the train.

The 15.6" is something you can carry in a bag or cycle around with and can be used on public transport in more in more of a pinch.
 
Messages from the manufacturer and from us resellers.

That machine has a soldered GPU and CPU.
 
All these machines with soldered CPUs and GPUs... I feel like we've gone back to 2006.

Good way, in any case, for manufactuers to ensure a solid purchase pipeline :rolleyes:
 
Well they could use Apple's excuse..

"It provides a more stable connection....."

Think this way though, with things getting thinner, soldering in the chips means 1 less socket and extra height they can eliminate
 
It makes sense in this sort of class of machine and the barebone version still uses a socket.
 
All GTX branded cards except the GTX 850m support SLI (otherwise all GTX cards have the same feature set). So the GTX 860m (both versions), 870m, and 880m support SLI.
 
http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/1...ry-boost-driver-to-double-gaming-battery-life


The Kepler/Maxwell conundrum

One of the big questions laptop buyers are going to have is which chips actually contain Maxwell DNA. The answer is a bit complicated. The GeForce 830M and 840M are both Maxwell. So is the GTX 850M and some of the GTX 860Ms. Nvidia will be selling two different flavors of the GTX 860M — an 1152-core GPU flavor based on Kepler and clocked at 797MHz (+ Boost), and a 640-core variant based on Maxwell, running at up to 1029MHz (+ Boost). According to Nvidia, both cards should offer roughly identical performance — based on what we’ve seen of Maxwell on the desktop, that’s a reasonably fair assumption.


both cards should offer roughly identical performance
I think NVIDIA should of just made them all Maxwell instead of causing this confusion, why sell an older architecture to people, besides to clear our inventory or something...What if performance is not the same, i am being sold a video card based on pure lottery luck. Am i going to have to ask who ever i buy a laptop from to verify the clock speeds to make sure i get Maxwell..
 
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