At Computex 2017, NVIDIA introduced Max-Q, a new design initiative that aims to drastically reduce the size of gaming notebooks. With the initiative, NVIDIA is promising laptops that are "3x thinner with up to 3x more performance" when compared to previous generation products. What that translates to is gaming notebooks powered by the GTX 1080 that will be as thin as 18mm, or just a fraction thicker than the MacBook Air.
In the keynote, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed off a demo of Project Cars 2 on a 5lb-notebook that's touted to offer 60% more performance than a Sony PlayStation 4 Pro.
With Max-Q, NVIDIA is optimizing the workloads between the CPU and GPU to regulate heat, while engineering the "laptop, chip, drivers, thermal and electrical components" to be as thin as possible and tuning Game Ready drivers to deliver the optimal system efficiency.
That includes new chassis designs along with advanced thermal and electrical management, "elaborate heatpipe and heatsink setups, the highest-quality low-noise fans, next-generation high-efficiency energy regulators, and optimized components from top-to-bottom."
The end result is that the GPU power consumption is cut by half, allowing you to play games at 4K resolutions on a notebook that isn't all that heavier than an Ultrabook. There's also WhisperMode, which paces a game's framerates to deliver the ideal balance of graphical detail and performance during plugged-in gaming.
MaxQ-designed gaming laptops featuring the GTX 1060, GTX 1070, and GTX 1080 will go up for sale starting June 27 from the following OEMs and boutique laptop brands:
- 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
- XoticPC
No information of pricing at this stage, but we should know more on June 27. Who's excited?
