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Nvidia has announced the new 800M range of notebook graphics cards, including what it claims to be the “world’s fastest notebook GPU”.
The 800M range of cards provide performance boosts of up to 60 per cent compared to the previous 700M generation.
The mid-range 860M and 850M cards are built for power efficiency, and are based on Nvidia’s much-touted Maxwell architecture.
The higher-end 870M and 880M – the latter of which is said to now be the “world’s fastest notebook GPU” – are based on the Keplar design, and aim to provide high-end gaming at 1080p resolutions.
Nvidia’s accompanying graphics software has also been given a major update.
The biggest addition to the software is Nvidia Battery Boost, which claims to provide up to double the gaming battery life of a notebook, automatically.
Battery Boost can be set to provide a user-defined frame rate, such as 30 FPS. The software then operates at a driver level, adjusting the system’s processor, GPU and memory to run at a high enough level to enable smooth gameplay without drawing unnecessary power.
The technology joins Nvidia’s Optimus technology, which automatically shuts off the GPU when unneeded, to further save battery life.
Previously only available on desktop systems, Nvidia’s GeForce ShadowPlay is also coming to notebooks. ShadowPlay is a feature in the GeForce Experience software that allows users to capture in-game footage or stream video to Twitch, with what is claimed to be “virtually no performance impact”.
GameStream, which allows owners of the Nvidia Shield to stream games from their computer to the Shield, has also been added.
The new 800M range supports all of the new software features, with existing GeForce GTX 700M and GeForce GTX 680M, 675MX, 670MX and GTX 660M GPUs also gaining support for ShadowPlay and GameStream.
A number of new 800M-equipped notebooks from vendor partners of Nvidia were also unveiled.
The Gigabyte P35R, Lenovo Y50, MSI GS 60 and GS 70 and Razer Blade are designed to be thin and light machines, and come with the lower-end 800M cards inside.
Meanwhile, gamers wanting to get an almost desktop-like gaming experience on their notebook could consider the Alienware 17, Asus G750JZ and MSI GT 70 and MSI GT 60, which all include the GeForce GTX 880M.
Read more about the new line of notebook GPUs – and why the market for gaming notebooks is only going up – in our interview with Nvidia senior manager for product marketing Mark Aevermann here.
