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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 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 1080 for laptops based on the cooling capabilities. The base frequency (1101-1290 MHz) is also much lower than on the regular GTX 1080 (1566 MHz, at least -18%) and the Boost (1278-1458 MHz) is also much lower compared to 1733 MHz (at least -16%) for the regular GTX 1080. The memory clock, however, is identical.

The clock is not the only difference compared to the regular GTX 1080 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).

The performance is nearer to the normal (Max-P) GeForce GTX 1070 than to then GTX 1080 (at least in the Asus Zephyrus). Therefore, most demanding games should be playable in full HD and maximum detail settings (see game benchmarks below).

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 1080 for laptops and ranges between 90 and 110 Watt (TGP) according to Nvidia.

ManufacturerNVIDIA
GeForce GTX 1000 Series
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti compare 3584 @ 1.48 - 1.6 GHz352 Bit @ 11000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1080 SLI (Laptop) compare 5120 @ 1.56 - 1.73 GHz256 Bit @ 10000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Desktop) compare 3840 @ 1.51 - 1.68 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop) compare 4096 @ 1.44 - 1.65 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) compare 2560 @ 1.61 - 1.73 GHz256 Bit @ 10000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile compare 2560 @ 1.57 - 1.73 GHz256 Bit @ 10000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (Desktop) compare 2432 @ 1.61 - 1.68 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop) compare 1920 @ 1.51 - 1.68 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q 2560 @ 1.1 - 1.28 GHz256 Bit @ 10000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile compare 2048 @ 1.44 - 1.65 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q compare 2048 @ 1.1 - 1.27 GHz256 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop) compare 1280 @ 1.51 - 1.71 GHz192 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile compare 1280 @ 1.4 - 1.67 GHz192 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q compare 1280 @ 1.06 - 1.34 GHz192 Bit @ 8000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile compare 768 @ 1.49 - 1.62 GHz128 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop) compare 768 @ 1.29 - 1.39 GHz128 Bit @ 7008 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q compare 768 @ 1.15 - 1.29 GHz128 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop) compare 640 @ 1.35 - 1.46 GHz128 Bit @ 7008 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile compare 640 @ 1.35 - 1.49 GHz128 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q compare 640 @ 1 - 1.14 GHz128 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop) compare 384 @ 1.23 - 1.67 GHz64 Bit @ 6000 MHz
CodenameN17E-G3 Max-Q
ArchitecturePascal
Pipelines2560 - unified
Core Speed1101 - 1290 - 1278 - 1468 (Boost) MHz
Memory Speed10000 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5X
Max. Amount of Memory8192 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 12_1
Transistor Count7200 Million
technology16 nm
FeaturesMulti-Projection, VR Ready, G-SYNC, Vulkan, Multi Monitor
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement30.05.2017

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
45.3 pt (48%)
Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) -97%
...
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 -9%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti -8%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI -8%
AMD Radeon R9 390X -7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile -5%
AMD Radeon RX 570 (Desktop) -4%
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop) -3%
AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop) -2%
AMD Radeon R9 Fury -2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Desktop) 3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop) 5%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 6%
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop) 9%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile 10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop) 11%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q 12%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M SLI 13%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) 14%
...
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (Desktop) 109%
0%
100%
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Score
min: 5390     avg: 5592     median: 5591.5 (32%)     max: 5793 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy Graphics
min: 5636     avg: 5869     median: 5868.5 (31%)     max: 6101 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics
387951 Points (61%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Graphics
252862 Points (35%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score
min: 27935     avg: 28242     median: 28375 (38%)     max: 28416 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
min: 104506     avg: 111542     median: 114542 (57%)     max: 115579 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score
min: 13822     avg: 14269     median: 14273.5 (37%)     max: 14631 Points
+ 6 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
min: 17151     avg: 18110     median: 18191.5 (37%)     max: 18505 Points
+ 6 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics
min: 251370     avg: 271726     median: 281682 (38%)     max: 282127 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 16333     avg: 16947     median: 16910.5 (44%)     max: 17829 Points
+ 6 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 21816     avg: 23358     median: 23540 (40%)     max: 24425 Points
+ 5 benchmarks and specifications   - Hide comparison chart
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
69346 Points (72%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
Unigine Valley 1.0 - Unigine Valley 1.0 DX
84.8 fps (44%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 DX 11
197 fps (65%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
SPECviewperf 12
specvp12 sw-03 +
specvp12 snx-02 +
specvp12 showcase-01 +
specvp12 mediacal-01 +
specvp12 maya-04 +
specvp12 energy-01 +
specvp12 creo-01 +
specvp12 catia-04 +
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GLBench 2.7 T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 +
GLBench 2.7 T-Rex HD Onscreen C24Z16 +
GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen
min: 427     avg: 433     median: 432.5 (47%)     max: 438 fps
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan
min: 116     avg: 118     median: 118 (32%)     max: 120 fps
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Offscreen
294 fps (67%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
GFXBench - GFXBench Car Chase Onscreen
116 fps (44%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Room GPU
2094 Samples/s (21%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Sala GPU
4618 Samples/s (16%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
ComputeMark v2.1 - ComputeMark v2.1 Result
min: 13701     avg: 13756     median: 13756 (31%)     max: 13811 points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PassMark PerformanceTest 9 - PerformanceTest 9.0 3D Graphics Mark
10968 Points (100%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Power Consumption - Witcher 3 Power Consumption *
min: 148     avg: 156     median: 159 (35%)     max: 160 Watt
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Clock Speed - GPU Clock Witcher 3 ultra
min: 1430     avg: 1473     median: 1470 (77%)     max: 1520 MHz
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Dirt 5

Dirt 5

2020
low 1280x720
119  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
78.7  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
62.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
37  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Watch Dogs Legion

Watch Dogs Legion

2020
low 1280x720
65.7 fps  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
65.6 fps