Nvidia brings desktop GPU from GTX 980 to laptops

Nvidia says it is bringing the GTX 980 to laptops. For this, the manufacturer makes the GM204 GPU with 2048 cores available for laptop manufacturers. This allows them to make laptops with higher performance for games than is possible with the GTX 980M.

Nvidia does not provide many details, but it is clear that Nvidia is making the full GM204 GPU with 2048 cores available for use in laptops. Although the current GTX 980M for laptops is also based on the GM204, only 1536 cores are activated with that implementation. Compared to the desktop card GTX 980, the clock speeds in the laptop version have probably been lowered to reduce consumption, but Nvidia does not report what those speeds are. The tdp of the GTX 980 is 165W, too high for laptops.

The GTX 980 comes to the laptops as MXM. At least six manufacturers will integrate that module as such in models, including Asus, MSI and Clevo. Asus already showed with its previously announced GX700 that a substantial cooling system is needed to keep the GPU at the right temperature: the manufacturer uses water cooling. However, according to Nvidia, current fan coolers should also be sufficient, and the company advises manufacturers to give control over the fans so that users can overclock their high-end laptops too. Nvidia also recommends using at least four to eight phase power supplies. With the GTX 980M, this is a three-phase supply.