Maxwell GTX 900M Graphics Cards Series launched

Nvidia’s new series of Maxwell Mobility graphics cards is here – the GTX 970M and GTX 980M are now available and have already been listed by major OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). The second generation of Maxwell Mobility GPUs for gaming laptops is now here to quince the thirst of those avid notebook gamers, and I’m sure that it’s one of the best news they could get this year. As notebook gamers have always asked for desktop class performance from Nvidia’s mobility GPUs, this new Maxwell generation is stronger than ever. True connoisseurs will be able to evaluate their performance compared to the high-end Kepler models.  

The new GTX 900M series is based on the GM204 core (the same core that fuels the desktop GTX 970 and GTX 980), and taking into account the fact that these new GPUs provide full DirectX 12 support, they might be in for a long run on the market, perhaps for a few good years. Take a look at the GTX 970M and GTX 980M specifications, in contrast with the previous Kepler 800M generation:

 

Specifications: Geforce GTX 980M and 970M

 

Model GTX 980M GTX 970M GTX 880M GTX 870M
Architecture Maxwell Maxwell Kepler Kepler
GPU GM204 GM204 GK104 GK104
CUDA cores 1 536 1 280 1 536 1 344
Texture Units 96 80 128 120
Raster Devices 64 48 32 24
Clock Speeds 1 038 MHz +Boost 924 MHz +Boost 954 MHz +Boost 941 MHz +Boost
Memory Bus 256-bit 192-bit 256-bit 192-bit
Memory Amount 4/8 GB GDDR5 3/6 GB GDDR5 4/8 GB GDDR5 3/6 GB GDDR5
Memory Frequency 5 000 MHz 5 000 MHz 5 000 MHz 5 000 MHz
Memory Bandwidth 160 GB/s 120 GB/s 160 GB/s 120 GB/s

 

The above specs were provided by sweclockers.com, and we can see that these new mobility cards are starting to reduce the noticeable performance imbalance shown so far in comparison to desktop versions. The Geforce GTX 980M has been clocked at 1038Mhz with boost of approximately 1100Mhz. It will have two different versions; one with 4GB DDR5 and the other with 8GB DDR5 memory, and 256 bit Bus.  The GTX 970M will be firing at 924Mhz with boost reaching 1Ghz. Having a bus width of 192 bit, this GPU will ship with either 3GB or 6GB GDDR5 memory clocked at 5000Mhz. Nvidia has allegedly said that the GTX 980M will output up to 70% the performance of its desktop counterpart, the GTX 980. 

The time of 4K on high-end notebooks has now come. The high rendition capability combined with the Dynamic Super Resolution of the Nvidia 900M series, will ensure a crystal clear and smooth 1080p/60 FPS Full HD experience. The new mobility pair, the GTX 970M and GTX 980M are introducing a new BatteryBoost system which will increase battery life up to 30%, while the Multi-Frame Sample Antialiasing feature will allow gamers to enjoy a 30 % boost in gaming performance without any impact on visuals at all. Looks like Nvidia knows how to take care of notebook gamers as well. Take a look at some ultimate gaming laptops: