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GeForce RTX 3000 laptop GPUs: Nvidia is now demanding transparency in performance

How fast notebooks with GeForce RTX 3080, 3070 and 3060 laptop GPU really are was hardly apparent until now. The reason is that all three classes have so much power over the maximum power dissipation (TGP) that even their differentiation from one another is blurred, but manufacturers do not have to provide any details. Until now.

Too many variants, hardly any transparency

At the market launch of the GeForce RTX 3080 and 3070 laptop GPU, ComputerBase made the 28 different configuration options that were only communicated to OEMs public. They showed that even a GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU (test) can in exceptional cases be faster than a GeForce RTX 3070 or even a 3080 laptop GPU (test) on the data sheet. Without knowing the clock rate and power loss of the built-in GPU, buyers can neither know how high the absolute performance of their mobile GPU in the gaming notebook is, nor how it compares to other options on the market, even from a different class.

«Previous performance rating Full HD (FPS) Performance rating Full HD (frame times) Performance rating Ultra HD (FPS) Performance rating Ultra HD (frame times) Next»

To make matters worse, Nvidia calls all mobile graphics cards “laptop GPU” in this generation, in order to point out the big difference in performance compared to the desktop variants in the name with the same identifier, the addition “Max-Q” for the particularly efficient, but also special slow variants are not applicable. Nvidia had encouraged manufacturers to give details in the specifications in wise foresight as to what reaction this could cause, but so far very few have done so. The criticism about it didn't stop in the last two weeks.

A request becomes mandatory

According to information from the website The Verge, which is based on statements from a spokesman for Nvidia, manufacturers will not only have to show specific clock rates on the product page of their notebooks in the future, but will also have to disclose the graphics performance of the configurations they use in a form that is available to the buyer via the Performance potential of a notebook “says everything” it needs to know. From now on, the manufacturers should disclose the overall graphics performance “both for good and bad,” the Nvidia spokesman told The Verge.

Max -Q no longer part of the GPU designation

However, the manufacturers do not have to separately mention that these graphics chips or the configuration used are a Max-Q variant, because Max-Q is “no longer part of the GPU name” in this generation, according to Nvidia. In this case, Nvidia again points out that the approach behind Max-Q is broader in this generation.

We're requiring OEMs to update their product pages to the Max-Q technology features for each GeForce laptop, as well as clocks and power – which communicates the expected GPU performance in that system.

Nvidia

However, based on the table published by ComputerBase and the first experiences with RTX 3000 notebooks, this cannot be confirmed: Max-Q variants are each with the lowest TGP and the less clocked RAM, while larger models also have features like Dynamic Use Boost 2.0 or Whisper Mode 2.0. As long as the manufacturers are communicating clock and TGP, the specification “Max-Q” is no longer necessary.

According to Nvidia, manufacturers have already started to put the new requirements into practice. The example of the Asus ROG G15 Zephyrus shows that some manufacturers are already revising their product pages. The company Schenker Technologies with the XMG brand was one of the positive examples from the start that identified the specific TGP.

ASUS ROG G15 Zephyrus (Image: Asus)

This makes it easier for customers to find out how fast the built-in GPU is. Without looking at independent tests for comparably heavily configured variants, given the number of possible variants and their wide distribution in this generation, it remains more difficult than ever.

Update 05/14/2021 12:50 PM

Three months after Nvidia wanted to demand more transparency from the manufacturers in the communication of the performance of the GeForce RTX 3000 laptop GPU installed in the notebook, many, but by no means all, OEMs are sticking to it.

Asus, Gigabyte and MSI, for example, have to be positively emphasized, which each specify the boost clock and TGP of the mobile graphics card used in the specifications of their gaming notebooks and usually also indicate whether an optional 5, 10 or 15 watts -Surcharge over Dynamic Boost 2.0 is already included. Schenker Technologies goes one step further and continues to use “Max-Q” directly in the product name * to identify the particularly efficient, but also the slowest GPUs in a series. Nvidia no longer plans this.

It is still often said: No comment!

It looks completely different with Razer, Acer or Medion. Even with the brand new Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021), Razer does not say a word about the power loss with which the mobile GeForce RTX 3000 from Nvidia is used or what clock rate it achieves. Acer's Triton 300 SE with a GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU or Medion's Erazer notebooks with a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU is no different. Even with what performance the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU will compete in the Medion Erazer Beast X25 on offer at Aldi from May 27, customers do not find out on the product page. In games, the notebook could even be slower than a system with a GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU, or even significantly faster.

The mandatory transparency announced by Nvidia to The Verge at the beginning of February has therefore not yet been implemented in the interest of the customer in the market at the beginning of May.

(*) The links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links . In the case of an order via such a link, ComputerBase receives a share of the sales proceeds without increasing the price for the customer.

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