How much worse? Mobile/desktop graphics comparison analysis

The black you say is not black, what white you say is white, and the GTX 960 you say is not necessarily the one you want. The naming conventions used by NVIDIA on notebooks and desktops are very similar. The desktop uses GTX 950, GTX 960, GTX 970, and so on, and the laptop is simply added a M, using GTX 950M, GTX 960M, GTX 970M This way of naming. Although it looks like no difference in numbers, is it really something that some people call GTX XXX Mobile? The difference between the mobile platform and the desktop platform graphics card today is to see how the success of the same name is worse.

Specifications comparison

The author has investigated dozens of notebooks on the market that are equipped with discrete graphics cards that introduce game concepts in their publicity. They are equipped with more than 940MX (GDDR5 version) graphics cards, and the top few have used the GTX 980 desktop version. As a comparison desktop platform graphics card, we chose several products from the previous generation of GTX 750Ti to GTX 980. The reason why we did not choose a new generation of graphics products is mainly due to the large difference in architecture and performance, and the current market share. not tall. The game test scores in the database are also scarce and the reference is not significant.

The mobile graphics card market is not as transparent as the familiar desktop graphics, and NVIDIA has prepared a variety of video memory solutions for OEMs and ODMs. The 940M and GTX 950M have two types of GDDR3/GDDR5 cards. Memory, the difference between the two versions of the performance is quite obvious, currently on the market for the 940M mostly GDDR5 version, which means that today's millet notebook mill conference air used by the 940MX. In addition GTX 965M also has two new and old core versions, using the first and second generation of Maxwell respectively. The desktop graphics are relatively stable, and each non-public version of the graphics card differs only in the core frequency and does not appear to be in the same messy situation as mobile graphics.

From the core point of view, mobile graphics cards used on desktop graphics cards and notebooks use the same code-named display cores on many models. For example, the mobile versions of the GTX 950M/GTX 960M and GTX 750Ti use almost identical display cores, but with slightly different frequencies. The graphics card with the same display core shows a big difference in memory. Since the mobile video card itself has strict control over power consumption and heat generation, the memory frequency will be relatively low. As a result, the difference in frequency will show a large gap in the memory bandwidth, which will have a certain impact on the performance.

Benchmark performance test

In order to make the test results more meaningful, notebooks were selected as much as possible using gaming notebooks using i7-6700HQ. For desktop test platforms, we chose the i5-6600K platform with similar i7-6700HQ performance for most games. Special note: The notebook with 940MX is not equipped with the i7-6700HQ model. The test results we use are based on notebooks equipped with i5-6200U processors. The results are divided into graphics card scores, CPU impact is small, and there is a certain reference value. .

Next is the benchmark performance test results comparison, we chose to use the most common and relatively authoritative graphics running software 3DMark Firestrike Extreme mode performance comparison. Performance is ranked from highest to lowest.

From the results can be concluded as follows:

The GTX 980M has approximately 75% of the performance of the GTX 980;

GTX 970M and GTX 960 have similar performance;

GTX 960M and GTX 750Ti have similar performance;

The GTX 950M is only 70% of the performance of the entry-level GTX 750Ti;

The performance of the new GTX 965M is between GTX 750Ti and GTX 950;

The performance of the 940MX is only about 40% of that of the GTX 960M used in mainstream games.

Finally talk about the millet notebook released today, it uses the 940MX this video card from our test point of view is difficult to be called "high-performance discrete graphics card", although relatively old to upgrade the GDDR5 memory but not much effect, to deal with the mainstream Stand-alone games are a bit difficult, and large-scale online games like Watch Pioneer can maintain 40-50 FPS when reducing special effects to low-middle-level games. Games with a lower demand like League of Legends are still capable. In simple terms, the core video card can play it is not much higher than the number of frames, the core chip can not play 940MX I am afraid it will not bring much surprise.

Digression: The next generation of graphics cards are worth the wait

Because the mobile platform is highly sensitive to power consumption and heat dissipation, the mobile platform's graphics cards have been using the lower positioning core of the desktop platform, which also hinders the further improvement of notebook performance. The reason is the high power consumption and heat generated by the 28nm process technology that has plagued the graphics industry for several years. With the birth of this generation of 16nm Pascal architecture and 14nm Polaris graphics cards, power consumption can be drastically reduced, making the entry of the complete core desktop graphics card into the notebook market not only a patent for individual luxury goods.

Foreign media gives specifications for GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 mobile

According to the performance parameters of the recently leaked GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 mobile versions, NVIDIA will use the complete core desktop graphics card directly in this generation of mobile platforms, but simply reducing the frequency to achieve better power control will remain unchanged. Most of the performance of the desktop GTX 1060 and GTX 1070. As a replacement for the GTX 960M, the mobile version of the GTX 1060 will have the toughest performance to surpass the desktop version of the GTX 970 to pursue the GTX 980. The gaming performance of the notebook will usher in an unprecedented leap forward. The M series graphics card marked by shrinking will be Will exit the stage. At that time, we will also conduct a similar performance test for everyone's reference.

to sum up

This performance test is not so much to show performance as it is for everyone to buy a gaming notebook to provide a reference. Frequently, players ask online and private about which mobile card is equivalent to which desktop card. The test we conducted will give this player a strong conclusion. In addition, most of the first-line IT media, including us, will use desktop graphics cards for testing when performing new gaming performance tests. It is difficult for notebook players to verify that their computers can run the game without a certain amount of knowledge. This is also the motivation and original intention of our decision to make this test. Through our labor hopes, we can help with everyone's game journey.