NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 with the Max-Q design is a mobile high-end GPU from the Pascal series. It is designed for thin and light laptops and about 10-15% slower than a regular GTX 1070 for laptops based on the cooling capabilities. The base frequency (1101-1215 MHz) is also much lower than on the regular GTX 1070 (1433 MHz, at least -10%) and the Boost (1265-1379 MHz) is also much lower compared to 1645 MHz (at least -6%) for the regular GTX 1070. The memory clock, however, is identical.

The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 1070 though. The drivers for the Max-Q version were optimized for efficiency (and not performance; only for Max-Q models), there are optimized voltage converters for 1V operation, high-end cooling methods, and a 40 dB limit for the fan noise (with clock adjustments to ensure this at all times).

Features

The GP104 chip is manufactured in 16nm FinFET process at TSMC and offers a range of new features. DisplayPort 1.4 (ready), HDMI 2.0b, HDR, Simultaneous Multi-Projection (SMP), improved H.265 video en- and decoders (for PlayReady 3.0) are only some of the improvements. See our detailed Pascal architecture article for more details.

The power consumption of the Max-Q design is notably lower than the normal GTX 1070 for laptops and ranges between 80 and 90 Watt (TGP) according to Nvidia.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the fastest desktop consumer graphics card (beginning 2017). It is based on the same GP107 chip as the Titan X but with slightly higher clock speeds and a different memory configuration. It offers one memory controller less (and 11 instead of 12 GB), but the GDDR5X memory is faster clocked (11 GHz) leading to a comparable memory bandwidth. Due to the higher boost clock, the 1080Ti should be around 5 % faster compared to the Pascal Titan X and about 35 % faster compared to the GTX 1080. The TDP is equal to the Titan X with 250 Watt. A new cooler of the Founders Edition should be more efficient and quieter.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q

The Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti with Max-Q design is a power efficient mainstream GPU for laptops based on the Pascal architecture and was announced in January 2017. Contrary to the faster models, the GTX 1050 uses the GP107 chip, which is manufactured in a 14 nm process at Samsung.

The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 1050 Ti though. The drivers for the Max-Q version were optimized for efficiency (and not performance; only for Max-Q models), there are optimized voltage converters for 1V operation, high-end cooling methods, and a 40 dB limit for the fan noise (with clock adjustments to ensure this at all times).

Features

The GP107 chip is manufactured in a 14 nm FinFET process at Samsung and offers a number of new features, including support for DisplayPort 1.4 (ready), HDMI 2.0b, HDR, Simultaneous Multi-Projection (SMP) as well as improved H.265 video de- and encoding (PlayReady 3.0). A full list of improvements and the new Pascal desktop GPUs is available in our dedicated Pascal architecture article.

Performance

The performance of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti can vary quite a lot depending on the cooling performance of the laptop. Nvidia states that the Max-Q variant should be about 10 to 15% slower than a regular GTX 1050 Ti for laptops. Therefore, the GPU is most suited for Full HD and high quality settings for games of 2016.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with Max-Q design is rated at 40 to 46 Watt and therefore a lot lower than a regular GTX 1050 Ti for laptops (53 Watt). This means that the Max-Q GTX 1050 Ti is also suited for thin and light laptops.