Nvidia announces Geforce GTX 980 for laptops

The primary goal of the Maxwell architecture was to squeeze power consumption, partly to be able to be used in the Tegra X1 system circuit but also to be able to accommodate more performance in thermally limited form factors such as laptops. Now the latter is closer to desktop than ever, but Nvidia does not end there.

Today, Nvidia announces the Geforce GTX 980 (you read that right) for laptops. As the name suggests, this is nothing less than GTX 980 for desktops, which means 2,048 CUDA cores at 1,126 and 1,216 MHz at base respective boost and 4 or 8 GB GDDR5 in 7,000 MHz.

The specifications also mean that the graphics card draws considerably more than normal, where portable flagships are usually at 100 or 122 W. This places extra high demands on cooling, which is why Nvidia has been involved in advising and supporting partners in the development of computers with the maxed graphics card.

Nvidia also gives manufacturers a lot of freedom with the implementation of the graphics card. This means that the clock frequencies, and thus performance and power consumption, will vary between different systems. Thus, some computer models will be at about the same level as a desktop GTX 980 while others will fall under. A clock frequency that persists regardless of implementation is the GDDR5 memory.

Another interesting thing is that Nvidia encourages overclocking. Each computer will come with software for adjusting the graphics card’s clock frequencies, but controls for voltage, temperature limit and power limit should not be available to end users. In addition, the software will also include support for adjusting the computers fan curves.

The first laptops with the Geforce GTX 980 will be launched in early October.