Should I wait for the 1070m and 1080m?

[Drago212]

Hi Everyone,
I was just looking to buy a razer blade 2016 with a gtx 970m because I need a slim and lightweight preferably 14 inch laptop and I was pretty sure of my decision until I thought about how the 1080 and 1070 were just released. Last time when the 970 and 980 were released they released the m versions about a month or two afterwards. So I was just wondering if you guys think I should wait for the m versions or just go right ahead with this year's blade because it would be nice to gamae on trips.

 

[yobdab]

I would wait. The cards are already out and waiting for the M versions you shouldnt wait long. 1060 was announced today, so the 1050 maybe on the way and after that the M versions, if not before.

 

[Drago212]

I would wait. The cards are already out and waiting for the M versions you shouldnt wait long. 1060 was announced today, so the 1050 maybe on the way and after that the M versions, if not before.

ok thanks for the response! but won't it take a while for computer companies to make new computers with the new graphics cards?

 

[Eximo]

They probably already have them actually. Just waiting on assembly and distribution at this point.

The high end 1080m and 1070m will probably end up on MXM cards, so they are just plug in parts. The BGA GPUs will need to wait on motherboards that can take them, but they don't work in a vacuum, so they will have already designed them with information from Nvidia.

Worst case they will be available for the holiday shopping season, but I suspect you'll see them much sooner.

Also the trend of putting full silicon GPUs into top end products, so there may not be 'mobile' versions on the high end this time.

 

[Drago212]

They probably already have them actually. Just waiting on assembly and distribution at this point.

The high end 1080m and 1070m will probably end up on MXM cards, so they are just plug in parts. The BGA GPUs will need to wait on motherboards that can take them, but they don't work in a vacuum, so they will have already designed them with information from Nvidia.

Worst case they will be available for the holiday shopping season, but I suspect you'll see them much sooner.

Also the trend of putting full silicon GPUs into top end products, so there may not be 'mobile' versions on the high end this time.

Thank you for the information! Could u possibly explain to me what an mxm card is and what a bga card is? Also what do you mean when you say they will be plug in? Sorry im kind of a noob when it comes to graphics card vocabulary

 

[Eximo]

High end laptops have actual discrete graphics cards that can be replaced. Mobile PCI Express Module. They look like this:

http/images.dailytech.com/nimage/14752_large_GeForce_GTX_480M_MXM_3qtr.jpg

BGA is Ball Grid Array. Underside of integrated circuits have a grid of solder balls that are heated until the fuse with pads on the motherboard. It is the common way mid-range laptops/ultrabooks are built.

The latest trend is to take a full desktop GPU and put it on an MXM card, the laptop has to be bulky due to the cooling required, but it gets you desktop class performance. Intel has also released a few desktop class CPUs for mobile lately.

Really only for enthusiasts though. laptops with these cost several thousand dollars. And it is difficult to source the cards separately that aren't used. I imagine a lot of them come from warranty or damaged machines that make it onto the used market.

 

[Drago212]

High end laptops have actual discrete graphics cards that can be replaced. Mobile PCI Express Module. They look like this:

http/images.dailytech.com/nimage/14752_large_GeForce_GTX_480M_MXM_3qtr.jpg

BGA is Ball Grid Array. Underside of integrated circuits have a grid of solder balls that are heated until the fuse with pads on the motherboard. It is the common way mid-range laptops/ultrabooks are built.

The latest trend is to take a full desktop GPU and put it on an MXM card, the laptop has to be bulky due to the cooling required, but it gets you desktop class performance. Intel has also released a few desktop class CPUs for mobile lately.

Really only for enthusiasts though. laptops with these cost several thousand dollars. And it is difficult to source the cards separately that aren't used. I imagine a lot of them come from warranty or damaged machines that make it onto the used market.

When you say "high end laptops" do you mean a laptop like the Razer blade? or are you talking about the bulky laptops with actual desktop gpus in them? Also, to sum up are you saying that I should wait for a laptop with a 1080m or 1070m if i want a comparatively lightweight gaming laptop?

 

[spruce11]

I think high-end here refers to the GPU, usually GTX970M+, and some people think of GTX980M. Usually people who need these GPU spec are heavy gamers or deal with multi-tasking often. I know Razer is good at gaming accessory design, and if I were you for the gaming laptop, MSI, Alienware, and ROG would come into my mind.

 

[Fedor]

There was an article at laptopmedia about how a Bulgarian online retailer already has pre-orders for an ASUS with the 1070, with scheduled delivery on/after 20th Aug (and their page is still up as of writing). There were also rumors that NVidia would announce at Gamescom (17-21 Aug), which hits the exact same timeframe. So that's probably roughly how long you need to wait for them to hit the market in general.

In your specific situation however, Razer has not always been very fast at refreshing to the newest internals. So if they delay, you might have to look at the refreshed versions of the MSI GS40 (14" MSI notebook with 970M right now), AORUS X3 (a 13.9", 970M), Gigabyte AERO (14", 970M). From what I have seen thus far, ASUS, Acer and Alienware do not have 14" models. However, as you search, do keep in mind that *some* 15" models are only very marginally heavier than the 14", so if you are focusing on 14" to keep the weight down, you should also take a look at models like MSI GS60 and the ASUS GL502VT.

 

[Eximo]

Smaller laptops and ultrabooks are generally purpose built with BGA GPUs and CPUs. But every model is more or less unique, which is why they command a higher price than desktops.

On the high end, the vendors can configure it pretty much how they want. There are SLI capable laptops with one BGA and one plug in card in a DVD drive tray. Sometimes the CPUs are socketed, sometimes not. Whenever you see configuration options available when buying, these are generally the laptops with modular components.

The "Full" desktop GPUs is a very recent thing. This only refers to the silicon itself, not the form factor or TDP. They are clocked lower than their desktop counterparts to reduce heat output. They can be soldered on or placed on cards.

You don't have to stick the, oddly not, OEMs in this case. The actual designers of most Laptops are other companies that license the products to MSI/ASUS/Dell/etc. Clevo chassis are popular amongst enthusiasts. You can get them from direct sellers like Sager or XoticPC.