NVIDIA will force laptop makers to disclose more GeForce RTX 30 specifications

As we wrote last month, comparing laptops with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 laptop GPUs isn't easy because most laptop makers don't provide enough specification to make an informed decision. The problem is that the performance depends heavily on the power configuration used by the laptop maker, which can result in a "fast" RTX 3060 outperforming an "energy-efficient" RTX 3080.

There's some good news now as The Verge reports NVIDIA is now making it mandatory for its laptop partners to disclose specific clock speed stats and total graphics power on online product pages. Up until now, this was only a recommendation, which was ignored by a lot of manufacturers:

Nvidia is now requiring, not just encouraging, companies selling laptops with its new RTX 30-series graphics chips to be more transparent about the kind of power people can expect. Nvidia tells The Verge these companies will have to disclose specific clock speed stats and total graphics power on online product pages — all of which tells people everything they need to know about a laptop’s graphics potential, for better or worse.

However, companies won’t have to mention that these chips are Max-Q variants because, according to an Nvidia spokesperson, “Max-Q is no longer part of the GPU name.” Rather, Max-Q is now solely used to communicate that a laptop with an RTX 30-series graphics chip ships with efficiency features like Whisper Mode 2, Dynamic Boost 2, and Advanced Optimus. Previously, seeing Max-Q branding made it easy to determine a laptop’s general performance without having to know its specific clock speeds.

Definitely a snip of good news to start this week. Unfortunately, whether you will be able to get your hands on a laptop with the RTX 30 series is a big question mark. Supply of GPUs is low and over the weekend news hit the web that Chinese cryptocurrency miners are now buying RTX 30 laptops in bulk to mine Ethereum. Cryptocurrencies are hitting new all-time highs and that's bad news for gamers as they now have to compete again with miners for the scarce supply of GPUs.