Thursday, October 1st 2020
NVIDIA RTX 3070 Mobile Qualification Sample Pictured
NVIDIA still hasn't released their desktop RTX 3070 graphics cards (those are set for October 15th), and availability for the already-launched RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 is spotty at best. However, the company is obviously gearing up for release of mobile versions of their RTX 30-series; NVIDIA's graphics solutions are manufacturers' usual top picks, after all. The RTX 3070 Mobile (Max Q) has thus been pictured already in its Qualification Sample state, and there are some details that can be gleaned already.
Markings on the chip place this as GN20-E5-A1, which allegedly refers to the GA104 GPU which is expected to power the RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. GDDR6 memory is confirmed (naturally), since markings on the memory chips, which are placed quite close towards the actual NVIDIA silicon, are Sk Hynix identified as H56C8H24AIR - the same employed on AMD's Radeon Pro 550M. The full GA104 GPU features 6,144 CUDA cores however, the desktop version has been confirmed as being shipped with 5,888 cores enabled out of those. It could be that NVIDIA plans to release the mobile version with the same cores (and likely at a reduced frequency for improved power efficiency), which would obviously equate to lower performance; or maybe NVIDIA will employ the full GA104 silicon with even more reduced frequencies for the same performance - with substantial power savings as the proverbial cherry on top. These last ideas are pure speculation, though; we'll have to wait a little while to confirm specs.
Source:
Videocardz
Markings on the chip place this as GN20-E5-A1, which allegedly refers to the GA104 GPU which is expected to power the RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. GDDR6 memory is confirmed (naturally), since markings on the memory chips, which are placed quite close towards the actual NVIDIA silicon, are Sk Hynix identified as H56C8H24AIR - the same employed on AMD's Radeon Pro 550M. The full GA104 GPU features 6,144 CUDA cores however, the desktop version has been confirmed as being shipped with 5,888 cores enabled out of those. It could be that NVIDIA plans to release the mobile version with the same cores (and likely at a reduced frequency for improved power efficiency), which would obviously equate to lower performance; or maybe NVIDIA will employ the full GA104 silicon with even more reduced frequencies for the same performance - with substantial power savings as the proverbial cherry on top. These last ideas are pure speculation, though; we'll have to wait a little while to confirm specs.
9 Comments on NVIDIA RTX 3070 Mobile Qualification Sample Pictured
Supposedly the desktop variant will have a 220W TDP and that means the mobile variant needs to run at about 35% of that power target to avoid being limited only to 6kg, 17.3", ultra-bulky models.
The problem is there is no mobile CPU atm that can fully utilize that much GPU power, at least at 1080p. Intel 10th gen mobile CPU is too inefficient and AMD Renoir is stuck with PCIe Gen3 x8.
Desktop vs mobile GPU
The 2000 series came and went too fast. The 2080 models had heating issues and were way too expensive. The 2070 models were very expensive but never really necessary as most laptop games didn't need that much power.
The 2060 models were definitely the best bang for your buck with an average laptop cost between $1100 and $1700
I feel Ray Tracing in a desktop replacement laptop just didn't make much sense.
Now, I feel the 3000 series will deliver on bang-for-buck where the 2000 series just couldn't.
Renoir already has amazing efficiency, no doubt Zen 3rd mobile will completely crush Intel in the mobile gaming laptop. Ryzen 3rd gen mobile + 3070 Max-Q would be an awesome combo for thin and light laptop, let just hope the price stay sane :D