NVIDIA Max-Q promises to make gaming laptops thin and light

NVIDIA didn't reveal Volta-based gaming cards at Computex but the company did launch a new treat for mobile gamers. The company tweaked Pascal for higher energy efficiency and created a platform that promises to deliver powerful gaming laptops that are just 18mm thick and with a weight of a mere 5lbs (2.27kg).

The first gaming laptops with NVIDIA Max-Q will arrive on June 27, the company claims its partners will launch over 15 models with the GeForce GTX 1080, 1070 and 1060 GPUs. No firm details about how this will perform, just a blanket statement that this GeForce GTX 1080 will be about 3x faster than the three-years old GTX 880M.

COMPUTEX -- NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today introduced Max-Q, a new design approach that redefines gaming laptops from the ground up -- making them thinner, quieter and faster. They will be available from all major OEMs worldwide, starting June 27.

Max-Q, an integral part of NASA's mission to launch man into space, is defined as the point at which the aerodynamic stress on a rocket in atmospheric flight is maximized. Thus, the design of the rocket is precision-engineered around Max-Q. NVIDIA has applied a similar philosophy to designing gaming laptops, enabling OEMs to build laptops that are 3x thinner with up to 3x more performance of previous generation products.

The results: a high-performance gaming platform, that is as small as 18mm thick -- as thin as a MacBook Air -- with up to 70 percent more gaming performance than what is currently available.1

The Marvels of Max-Q
At the heart of this performance is NVIDIA Pascal™, the world's most efficient gaming GPU architecture. To deliver more performance to thin laptops, NVIDIA has further optimized and configured Pascal for even higher efficiency. And with Max-Q, everything in the design is precision engineered -- including the laptop, the GPU, the drivers, and the thermal and electrical components -- to ensure peak efficiency.

With its blend of rocket science and exacting design, Max-Q pushes PC gaming on laptops into another stratosphere:

Powerful GPUs at Max Efficiency: Based on the NVIDIA Pascal GPU architecture, GeForce® GTX 1080 is manufactured on the leading-edge FinFET 16nm process, and features cutting-edge GDDR5X memory. Max-Q combines a new way of operating the GPU for peak efficiency, with optimizations such as a low voltage optimized clock curve that wrings out gaming performance while reducing power.

Optimal Playable Settings: In addition to efficient GPUs operating at max efficiency, NVIDIA Game Ready drivers have been tuned to deliver optimal system efficiency while delivering a great gaming experience for every game on every system.

Advanced Thermal Solutions and Optimal Regulator Efficiency: To squeeze even more performance out of a system, these Max-Q designed laptops are engineered with sophisticated thermal and electrical design. New advanced thermal solutions, along with unprecedented regulator efficiency, enable dramatically higher performance and quieter operations in thin gaming laptops than in anything else currently available.

The Ultimate Gaming Laptop
With Max-Q designed laptops, gamers can experience high-fidelity gaming and high-resolution entertainment whenever and wherever they want it. Max-Q designed laptops support the entire GeForce gaming platform, which includes the latest gaming technologies, Game Ready drivers, NVIDIA G-SYNC™ display technology, VR, 4K gaming, and more.

Max-Q designed laptops are also ready for NVIDIA GeForce Experience, a complete software platform that provides automatic game profiles to ensure gamers are playing with the right settings out of the box, ensuring an optimal gaming experience every time.

NVIDIA WhisperMode Technology
NVIDIA also introduced WhisperMode technology, which makes laptops run much quieter while gaming. WhisperMode intelligently paces the game's frame rate while simultaneously configuring the graphics settings for optimal power efficiency. This reduces the overall acoustic level for gaming laptops. Completely user adjustable and available for all Pascal GPU-based laptops, WhisperMode will be available soon through a GeForce Experience software update.

Availability
MaxQ-designed gaming laptops equipped with GeForce GTX 1080, 1070 and 1060 GPUs will be available starting June 27 from the world's leading laptop OEMs and system builders, including 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. Features, pricing and availability may vary.