Nvidia releases GeForce 970M and 980M mobile GPUs
Nvidia has released two mobile variants of the GM204 “Maxwell” GPU. Nvidia promises higher frame rates with lower power consumption. The performance per watt ratio would therefore double compared to the Kepler architecture.
The GTX 980M and 970M are based on the same GM204 GPU as used in the GTX 970 and 980. In addition, the number of Cuda cores has decreased considerably; the 980M gets 1536 cores, while the 970M gets 1280 cores. Remarkably enough, the memory bus of the 970M has been reduced from 256 to 192 bits, in combination with a maximum of 3GB of RAM. The GTX 980M can use up to 4GB of memory. Just like the desktop versions of the GM204, the mobile GPUs are baked at 28nm at TSMC.
Nvidia lists a default clock frequency of 1038MHz for the 980M and 924MHz for the 970M. Laptop manufacturers can slightly adjust those speeds and the boost speed themselves, if the cooling allows it. The new mobile GPUs support the same new features as the desktop GPUs, such as VXGI, MFAA and DSR. In addition, the GPUs use BatteryBoost. This is a function that was introduced with the first mobile Maxwell GPUs, and where the frame rate can be limited to save energy in order to be able to play longer on a battery charge. In addition, in GeForce Experience it is possible to run a game on different, lighter settings when switching to battery power, to save energy.
| Cuda cores | 1536 | 1280 |
| Clock frequency | 1038MHz (+boost) | 924MHz (+boost) |
| Memory Size (Max.) | 4GB | 3GB |
| Memory Speed | 2500MHz gddr5 | 2500MHz gddr5 |
| Memory bus | 256-bit | 192 bit |
The first laptops in which the new GPUs will appear are the G751 from Asus and three models from MSI, the GT72, GS60 and GS70. Gigabyte and Clevo will also use the new Nvidia GPUs in their laptops, with Gigabyte even putting two 970M chips in sli. That information was already known at the end of September when a presentation from Nvidia leaked.