Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Amazon Prime Day
  • Back to school
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop
  • Best web hosting
Recommended reading
a silver card on a motherboard
CPU The Nintendo Switch 2 may not be Nvidia’s only handheld – a rumor says it’s building a new mobile gaming chip, and I’m excited for portable DLSS
Three of the best gaming laptops of Computex
Laptops Best gaming laptops of Computex 2025 - top picks from Asus, Acer, and more
Render of a new RTX 4000 Max-Q gaming laptop.
Gaming Laptops Two new laptops with Nvidia's RTX 5060 are coming, and leaked performance makes it seem like 8GB GDDR7 might actually be enough
NVIDIA
CPU Nvidia and MediaTek’s rumored gaming laptop chip could match the RTX 4070’s performance – and that’d be a potential game-changer for handhelds
HP OMEN 16 2K 144Hz Gaming Laptop on pink background with TechRadar don't miss sign
Tech RTX 5060 gaming laptops are starting to drop in price - like this $300 off HP Omen at Best Buy
Acer Nitro 16 AMD on a desk
GPU Nvidia RTX 5050 GPU spotted in Acer gaming laptops, so it could arrive soon – but I’m becoming more doubtful about a desktop variant
Nvidia DGX Spark and Station PCs
Pro Nvidia is planning to launch 11 DGX Spark and Station PCs with its partners: here they are
  1. Computing
  2. Gaming Computers
  3. Gaming Laptops

7 reasons you'll want Nvidia's Pascal graphics in your laptop

News
By Kevin Lee published 16 August 2016

Harder, better, faster – you get the picture

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Everything you need to know

Everything you need to know

Nvidia's Pascal graphics have finally come to gaming laptops and, beyond new model numbers, these next generation GPUs introduce a huge paradigm shift in power. For starters, Nvidia claims the mobile versions of the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 will perform at the same level as their desktop counterparts.

The chip maker even goes so far as to call it the full-bore Pascal experience users expect from a gaming PC squeezed into a notebook. Beyond sheer power, there are plenty of other ways these new GPUs will change laptops forever. Join us as we break down everything you need to know about Nvidia's new 10-series for gaming laptops.

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7
Big things do come in small packages

Big things do come in small packages

Nvidia isn't joking about its Pascal chips in laptops being on par with its desktop cards. The mobile version of the Nvidia GTX 1080, for instance, features the same number of cores, utilizes GDDR5X memory and even shares the same boost clock speed of 1,733MHz as its desktop counterpart.

That said, there are some variances to keep in mind. The mobile Nvidia GTX 1070 features 128 more cores, but can only be boosted up to 1,645MHz – compared to the desktop version's 1,683MHz. It's a similar tale with the laptop-grade Nvidia GTX 1060, which runs with the same number of cores but a slower boost clock of 1,670MHz.

Nvidia Pascal Laptops

Ultimately, Nvidia promises the performance gap between the mobile and desktop versions to be just 10%. Here are the key specs for each chip:

Nvidia GTX 1080

  • 2560 Cuda Cores
  • 1,733MHz
  • 8GB, 10GBPS GDDR5X RAM

Nvidia GTX 1070

  • 2,048 Cuda Cores
  • 1,645 MHz
  • 8GB, 8GBPS GDDR5 RAM

Nvidia GTX 1060

  • 1,280 Cuda Cores
  • 1,670MHz
  • 6GB, 8GBPS GDDR5 RAM
Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7
Power to the players

Power to the players

Nvidia's Pascal architecture has already proven itself to be a giant generational leap over Maxwell in the desktop PC world. Now, on the notebook side, the chip maker claims users can expect a 76% increase in performance.

All of this added power translates into several firsts for gaming laptops, including the ability to drive 120Hz screens. 4K gaming will also greatly benefit from the stacked performance bump.

According to Nvidia, it's possible to play the new Mirror's Edge and Tomb Raider at 52 frames per second (fps) with Ultra HD resolutions and high settings – meanwhile, Overwatch can run at an exceedingly silky 89fps.

And, of course, virtual reality experiences will be smoother with Pascal-powered gaming laptops as well simply thanks to the performance bump.

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7
Shaking up the lineup

Shaking up the lineup

For years, Nvidia's GPUs have followed a linear succession wherein the GTX 680M was succeeded by the GTX 780M and it by 880M and so on. However, the direct succession of chips is a little different this time around, with the GTX 970M being replaced by the GTX 1060, the GTX 1070 will take the place of the GTX 980M and the GTX 1080 effectively replacing the GTX 980 for notebooks.

As you might have noticed, for the 10-series the company has also officially dropping the M designation since the difference in power between its mobile and desktop chipsets is projected to be marginal. It'll be nice to lug around a gaming laptop free of the stigma of "mobile graphics" to those tournaments.

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7
Enhanced overclocking

Enhanced overclocking

On top of simply being more capable than Maxwell, Pascal's architecture will allow users to push their hardware that much further. A new Dual-FET power supply design drives more power to the GPU and therefore increases performance.

Nvidia has also improved the multi-phased power controller, which should increase the efficiency of the power supply and ensures more wattage ultimately gets to the graphics chip. From the get-go, the new mobile Pascal parts will also come with factory overclock support.

With all of these improvements put together, Nvidia expects users will be able to achieve a 2GHz overclock on a notebook.

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7
Gaming on battery power

Gaming on battery power

If there's one thing all gaming laptop users know, it's that trying to game with their system unplugged is virtually fruitless – now, Nvidia is trying to change that assumption. Battery Boost has been refined to provide smoother unplugged gameplay, while granting users the choice of whether they need better image quality or longer battery life.

Power efficiency in general is also a big component of Pascal's design, and Nvidia claims the architecture offers 30% longer battery life for gaming laptops.

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7
A laptop for every gamer

A laptop for every gamer

Perhaps one of the coolest things about Pascal coming to notebooks is that it allows for much thinner and lighter designs. According to Nvidia, a 10-series GPU-powered gaming laptop could potentially be as thin as 18mm (0.71 inches) and weigh only 4 pounds.

That's lighter and thinner than most mainstream 15-inch laptops, and it opens the door to much more portable designs in the future. While we already have the Gigabyte Aero 14 and Razer Blade to sate our need for ultra slim gaming notebooks, we could see even more portable rigs hit the streets in the coming months.

The future of gaming laptops looks bright, and Pascal looks like just the thing we've been needing to take us there.

  • Too bad it doesn't look like the new MacBook Pro will be going with Nvidia graphics
Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
TOPICS
Nvidia
Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee
Social Links Navigation

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.

See more Computing News
Read more
a silver card on a motherboard
The Nintendo Switch 2 may not be Nvidia’s only handheld – a rumor says it’s building a new mobile gaming chip, and I’m excited for portable DLSS
Three of the best gaming laptops of Computex
Best gaming laptops of Computex 2025 - top picks from Asus, Acer, and more
Render of a new RTX 4000 Max-Q gaming laptop.
Two new laptops with Nvidia's RTX 5060 are coming, and leaked performance makes it seem like 8GB GDDR7 might actually be enough
NVIDIA
Nvidia and MediaTek’s rumored gaming laptop chip could match the RTX 4070’s performance – and that’d be a potential game-changer for handhelds
HP OMEN 16 2K 144Hz Gaming Laptop on pink background with TechRadar don't miss sign
RTX 5060 gaming laptops are starting to drop in price - like this $300 off HP Omen at Best Buy
Acer Nitro 16 AMD on a desk
Nvidia RTX 5050 GPU spotted in Acer gaming laptops, so it could arrive soon – but I’m becoming more doubtful about a desktop variant
Latest in Gaming Laptops
Asus TUF gaming A16 gaming laptop on grey background with big savings text overlay
This RTX 5070 gaming laptop is going for just $1,349 today - you won't find anything cheaper right now
HP Victus 15 gaming laptop on yellow background with don't miss text overlay
I scoured every last corner of the internet and this is the cheapest student laptop deal I could find with an Nvidia RTX GPU
Alienware Aurora 16 gaming laptop against a blue TechRadar deals background
Need a new gaming laptop? Forget Amazon Prime Day, head to Best Buy and snag the Alienware Aurora 16 for $400 off
HP Victus 15 gaming laptop on pink background with TechRadar price cut sign
Grab this RTX 4050-powered HP Victus 15 Gaming Laptop for less than $650 at Best Buy
Deal image of the Alienware 16X Aurora
This excellent early Prime Day deal on a gaming laptop is at Best Buy - save $450 on the Alienware RTX 5070
HP Omen Max gaming laptop on mauve background with lowest price text overlay
Not a typo – you can get an RTX 5080 gaming laptop for $1,480 with these two steps
Latest in News
Google Pixel 9 in green Wintergreen color showing AI features on screen
A fresh leak means we may have pricing details for the Google Pixel 10
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra camera
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is rumored to be be getting a major camera upgrade
The Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses being used by a basketball player
You can finally preorder the Oakley Meta smart glasses, but there's a catch
Squid Game's masked enforcers line up in a V formation
Squid Game: The Challenge season 3 is a win for Netflix, but one unhinged game from the K-drama can’t be replicated
ICYMI graphic
ICYMI: the 8 biggest tech stories of the week, from Prime Day deals to Samsung's shiny new foldables
Intel Core Ultra processor
Intel CEO reportedly admits 'it is too late for us' to catch AI leaders like Nvidia, but here's how it could still recover
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    What a claim! This KVM docking station switch can handle two 8K monitors - yes, you heard it right, that's 66 million pixels (or 32 Full HD displays)
  2. 2
    Want a quad-socket server with 768 cores? Sure, Intel's 192-core Diamond Rapids Xeon CPU will deliver that in 2026 — but I wonder whether it will be too little, too late
  3. 3
    Good news, movie fans! Sony's gone deals-crazy with its soundbars, and I'd rate these 5 as the best affordable home theater upgrades
  4. 4
    7 Amazon-beating appliance deals at Walmart and Best Buy knock up to $200 off air fryers, coffee makers, and more
  5. 5
    Apple deals still running! These 15 huge deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBooks and more didn't end with Prime Day – don't miss out!

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...