Following up on last year's 980M and 970M Maxwell GPU launches, today
Nvidia's 860M represented the first generation of mobile Maxwell GPUs, and delivered about a 40% performance increase over the prior generation 760M while dramatically improving on power efficiency. (It also introduced some nice features for the laptop gaming enthusiast such as Shadowplay and GameStream.) In practical terms, that meant the potential for high performance gaming laptops less than one inch thick, able to deliver medium to high graphics quality settings at 1080p/60fps with games like Battlefield 4, Batman: Arkham Origins, Tomb Raider, and many others -- while not searing your skin!
The problem was that notebook manufacturers weren't just slimming down their shells; they were starting to push past 1080p and pursue QHD resolutions like 2560x1440. That was a lot to ask of the 860M while still cranking out 60fps at high quality settings. Now, Nvidia hasn't provided any internal benchmarks or performance uplift estimates, but given generational improvements I believe we'll see many more slim notebooks running with QHD resolutions while being able to meet gamer's demands and the requirements of increasingly demanding games like Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, and The Witcher 3.
What I'm hearing is that we won't see anything as significant as that 40% performance improvement, with Nvidia instead continuing to home performance-per-watt. Fortunately, I'll be able to answer that question directly in the near future, as Alienware is sending a refreshed version of their Alienware 13 laptop sporting the 960M. I'll be able to compare it directly to the 860M model and post my results for you.
Other notebooks, many with immediate availability, have been updated with Nvidia's 960M. These include the
It's worth mentioning that since Nvidia's Maxwell architecture supports DirectX 12, you can expect compatibility with the 960M and their entire 900M series.
Nvidia also promises improved BatteryBoost, a feature allowing users to restrict framerates and maximize unplugged game time.
Stay tuned for updates on the 960M as well as impressions of the refreshed Alienware 13.