NVIDIA has begun requiring manufacturers of GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops to list the exact clocks and power specifications of their GPUs, as well as their unique Max-Q technology features (e.g., Dynamic Boost 2.0 and Whispermode 2.0). This is great news for consumers because each SKU in the GeForce RTX 30 Series Mobile lineup can vary greatly in terms of subsystem power (as much as 70 watts for the GeForce RTX 3080), making it difficult to discern just how powerful a GPU is and how high it can clock relative to its siblings. A GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU configured at 125 watts can actually outperform the GeForce RTX 3080 depending on how power limited the latter is, for instance.
“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,” an NVIDIA spokesperson told The Verge.
“NVIDIA says manufacturers have already begun sharing this info, including ASUS, which we confirmed at the time of publishing,” the author noted. “We’re going to keep tabs on some models coming out soon (and those currently on the market) to see how long it takes for these requirements to roll out across the industry.”
According to The Verge’s list of notebooks with GeForce RTX 30 Series Mobile GPUs, ASUS and GIGABYTE have already revised the spec sheet for select models to reduce consumer confusion. These include the ROG Zephyrus G15 and AORUS 15G, both of which now include GPU clock and power information.
| GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile | GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile | GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA® CUDA® Cores | 6144 | 5120 | 3840 |
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1245 – 1710 MHz | 1290 – 1620 MHz | 1283 – 1703 MHz |
| GPU Subsystem Power (W) | 80 – 150+ W | 80 – 125 W | 60 – 115 W |
| Memory Size | 16GB or 8GB | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |