Nvidia Max-Q : Gaming Laptop Performance Uncompromised

- Arijit Chakrabarty

Thick and bulky, high-performance gaming laptops were a thing of the past, now with the dawn of a new age, thanks to Nvidia's latest technology, unfathomably named, Max-Q. What is it, and how is it you say ? Well read out, to know more.

Overview

Max-Q is a term Nvidia devised to give a name to the technology that delivers almost desktop-class GPU performance to laptops, without the need of getting bulged up. Even a few days back, gaming laptops meant huge bulky devices, which had completely excluded the concept of portability, the one main reason why people chose laptops. Think about MSI's GT series, or Asus' ROG series, or the terribly outrageous Acer Predator 21x, all of them were beefed up and were a thousand miles away from being portable. However, with the Max-Q technology, laptops now have a better power efficient and powerful GPU, without the needing much space.

Basically, Max-Q is a system design, where an elaborate array of copper channels, and a clever energy management system, coupled with a less power-hungry chip, allows the GPU to perform to it's fullest, provided the correct amount of energy needed, and a proper ventilation system to keep the device sufficiently cool. Thereby, hitting the sweet spot, the GPU capabilities increase drastically. With this clever energy management system, Nvidia is aiming for efficiency, other than power.

Significance

Usually gaming laptops turn out to be such bulky and huge due to the extra space they require cool the GPU, and dissipate the excess heat out of the chasis as a result of huge amounts of power drawn by the GPU and CPU.

Laptops featuring Max-Q technology are supposed to draw much less power as compared to conventional gaming laptops, while boasting a much higher performance range. With a cunning combination of such power consumption and brilliant heat dissipation methods, the Max-Q laptops will perform much efficiently, with an increase in battery life, as well as producing much less noise.

Nvidia partnered with laptop manufacturers to accommodate desktop class GPUs in such a fashion that the processors will function very well in a low power threshold. This translates to the fact that a low powered PSU fabricated into the system will be sufficient enough. This causes the laptop to reduce much weight as well.

The main significance of such technology, was to create gaming/performance laptops that can be portable enough, while housing graphics cards like the GTX 1080. So, gamers could get most of these laptops without developing biceps, if you know what I mean.

Availability

Announced not long ago, there are quite a few number of laptops released, dawning the Max-Q label. The laptops that make the list are, the Asus ROG Zephyrus, the Acer Predator Triton 700, the MSI GS63 Stealth Pro, the Aorus X5 MD and the Clevo P950HR.

Asus ROG Zephyrus

The first laptop launched with Nvidia Max-Q was the Asus ROG Zephyrus, a laptop just a millimeter and a half thicker than the MacBook Pro, but with 3x more the raw power. A cool feature of this laptop is that when it's opened, the keyboard deck rises about 6mm higher providing an inlet for additional ventilation, to keep the system cool. Just 5 pounds and 0.7 inches thick, the laptop houses a full GTX 1080, without breaking a sweat, and easily beats contenders like the Razer Blade Pro. The ROG Zephyrus starts at $2299, coupled with a GTX 1070.

Other features include, a stylish brushed aluminium back, featuring the ever-so-intimidating ROG logo, and the dual tone brushed aluminium back adds to the prevailing charm of the laptop. The keyboard has been pushed further back to allow more space for ventilation, and the nym-pad has been replaced by the mouse pad, however, the touch pad also doubles as a num-pad, with just a click of a button. It is, in fact , the future of performance gaming.

Verdict

With the market already flooding with laptops housing the Max-Q technology, it won't be long when most mid-rangers will also have the opportunity to boast such an advancement. The Max-Q seems quite promising, and slim gaming laptops, might become a trend soon. The only drawback ? The price. Yep, having the opportunity to carry your laptop in a small flimsy messenger bag much easily, would definitely bring a big pocket pinch. Nevertheless, this is an aspiring advancement in the world of gaming indeed.

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