Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti laptops supercharge budget gaming

Fancy a spell of on-the-go hardcore PC gaming, but can't afford to splash the cash on a souped up, top-of-the-line laptop? Nvidia is looking to level the playing field at CES 2017, opening the floodgate for budget games by finally officially offering laptop support with GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti cards.

The efficient cards make use of Nvidia's cutting edge Pascal technology, but dial back the pixel-pushing oomph a touch to give you better battery mileage and a healthier bank balance.

That's not to say it'll be a compromised experience however - Nvidia promises that you'll be able to "play classic and modern games at 1080p @ 60 FPS with additional support for the latest DirectX 12 features" with laptops sporting the chipsets.

GeWhizz, gamers

That's 3x the performance seen on Nvidia's last generation of comparable GPUs,  while also supporting advanced features such as G-Sync (offering super smooth gameplay with supported displays) and Nvidia Ansel for pro-grade in-game screenshots.

There's room for overclocking too, while switching on the Nvidia BatteryBoost feature will squeeze double the play time from laptops using the 1050 or 1050 Ti cards while still keeping above an enjoyable 30 FPS.

Thirty laptops with the new cards will ship during Q1 2017, with manufacturers including Alienware, MSI, ASUS and Dell. Pricing will vary, but the most affordable models will start at $699 (£570 / AU$970, complete with Intel's Kaby Lake processing tech.

  • New year, new tech – check out all our coverage of CES 2017 straight from Las Vegas, the greatest gadget show on Earth
Gerald Lynch

Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.