Monday, February 8th 2021

In a Bid for Transparency, NVIDIA Requires Laptop Manufacturers to List GPU Specs for RTX 3000 Series

It seemed has if NVIDIA was dropping the Max-P and Max-Q differentiators for their mobile graphics card, which would throw consumers into disarray and confusion as to what exactly was the performance of the graphics card built into their RTX 30-series laptop. In essence, due to the RTX 30-series configurable TGP (Total Graphics Power), as well as each laptop's own capability of supplying power and cooling to that chip, users might see themselves in situations such as their mobile RTX 3080 offering lower performance than a mobile RTX 3070, configured for a higher TGP. This meant that more attentive users would have to hunt for reviews of the laptops they were eyeing, or to be forced to count on system manufacturers to actually list specifications for the included graphics solution in their laptops. This would mean, more often than not, something akin to chaos, and could in truth impact NVIDIA's brand recognition and consumer confidence in expected performance.

NVIDIA, as a way to circumvent this, has decided to not only encourage, but actually require that manufacturers list their graphics cards' TGP as well as specific clock speed stats on their online product pages. Some manufacturers, such as Asus, Acer, Razer, Origin, MSI, Alienware, and Gigabyte have already updated some product pages - but not all. An NVIDIA spokesperson clarified to The Verge that "We're requiring OEMs to update their product pages to the Max-Q technology features for each GeForce laptop, as well as clocks and power — which communicates the expected GPU performance in that system." Perhaps that will help consumers make a more informed decision.
NVIDIA reference specs example ASUS Laptop TGP Listing
Sources: The Verge, TechSpot
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17 Comments on In a Bid for Transparency, NVIDIA Requires Laptop Manufacturers to List GPU Specs for RTX 3000 Series

#1
P4-630
Old news isn't it...
Posted on Reply
#2
TheinsanegamerN
Nvidia propses clunky solutiont o problem they created
Posted on Reply
#3
dgianstefani
TPU Proofreader
Nvidia created the reality of different manufacturers having different cooling and power resources?

Hurr durr nvidia bad.
Posted on Reply
#4
Zareek
This is very good news, a solid step in the right direction. It is still going to be nearly impossible to get a solid idea of sustained clocks because cooling varies so much. Reviews, reviews, reviews, that's still the only way to accurately gauge true performance.
Posted on Reply
#5
laszlo
now we can see how the chips are binned by nv and how are used...nothing is thrown away.... :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#6
Vader
This is great news for consumers! Even if some manufacturers were going to list TGP for their chassis, nvidia requiring it is the only way to make sure all of them do so, especially in non-enthusiast laptops
Posted on Reply
#7
Vya Domus
They now list TDPs so that miners know which ones to buy.

Seriously, this can't be a coincidence can it ? I mean they obfuscate this information from consumers for years and now suddenly they decided to be "transparent" ? I am not sure I'm buying it, the timing is too perfect.
Posted on Reply
#8
mechtech
A step in the right direction
However it would be nice if base clocks were listed and ram clocks and ram chip manf # also
Laptop makers should also list monitor manf part number

Show the consumer some/the exact specs
Posted on Reply
#10
bug
Vya DomusThey now list TDPs so that miners know which ones to buy.

Seriously, this can't be a coincidence can it ? I mean they obfuscate this information from consumers for years and now suddenly they decided to be "transparent" ? I am not sure I'm buying it, the timing is too perfect.
Yes, miners were totally lost without these, they had absolutely no idea what to buy :kookoo:
Posted on Reply
#11
Verpal
Vya DomusThey now list TDPs so that miners know which ones to buy.

Seriously, this can't be a coincidence can it ? I mean they obfuscate this information from consumers for years and now suddenly they decided to be "transparent" ? I am not sure I'm buying it, the timing is too perfect.
Normally I would just join the fuck NVIDIA train but miner doesn't pop out from nowhere. miners exist during the time of Pascal/Turing laptop too.
Posted on Reply
#12
MrGRiMv25
This would be fine for the more informed buyers in the tech arena, but considering the average consumer knows bugger all about most of this stuff I imagine it's going to get confusing for them very quickly.
Posted on Reply
#13
evernessince
dgianstefaniNvidia created the reality of different manufacturers having different cooling and power resources?

Hurr durr nvidia bad.
No, Nvidia removed many differentiating sub-models numbers that allowed customers to tell mobile products apart. Adding information to the product's online page isn't going to help. Not only does that not help one bit in physical retail, it doesn't help a majority of people as most people buy from other online retailers, not the official website (assuming the official site even sells their own product, which is often the case as these are manufacturers not retailers).

In addition, listing specs does nothing for the average customer. It'd be one thing if this was PC parts, knowing things about a PC is a given there. For laptops though average people have to be able to decipher the information given to them about the product.

As another user pointed out, this is a half measure that ultimately helps less than Nvidia hurt the market by removing sub-model differentiators in the first place (save for max-q)
Posted on Reply
#14
Chomiq
Nvidia and transparency, that's a good one.
Posted on Reply
#16
Space Lynx
Astronaut
who cares? you won't be able to buy any of these laptops, miners are already buying them in bulk. bitcoin and ethereum have ruined gaming.
Posted on Reply
#17
Arpeegee
Not sure how this is a good consumer move if the costumer needs to go to the manufacturers' website for the GPU specs rather than in the store where it should be listing all specs of the PC for convenience.
Posted on Reply
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