Short Review: Nvidia Max-Q Dynamic Boost

Quick Fix. While Nvidia's new Super GPUs are mostly identical to their respective predecessors the Max-Q variants have a nice surprise up their sleeve: Dynamic Boost. We took a closer look at this feature with the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser, ✓ Stefanie Voigt (translated by Finn D. Boerne), Published 05/22/2020 🇩🇪 🇷🇺

Since most 3D applications are GPU-bound modern CPUs tend to get bored waiting for GPUs to finish rendering. Nvidia attempts to address this issue by adding a new feature to their new Super-series’ Max-Q chips. Please note though that this feature will not be supported by every laptop. As can be seen below Dynamic Boost can dynamically adjust thermal management between the CPU and the GPU. For example, the CPU’s thermal envelope can be reduced by 15 W if that additional power is required by the GPU. We gave this new feature a quick test on Gigabyte’s new Aero 15 OLED, a 15-inch laptop equipped with a Core i7-10875H, a GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q , and 16 GB of dual-channel DDR4-RAM. More details can be found in our review.

Synthetic Benchmarks

Let’s start with the good news. Dynamic Boost is more than just a marketing hype. It can bring measurable real-world improvements, although they are not going to be necessarily noticeable. In 3DMark 11 and the various 3DMark 13 benchmarks Dynamic Boost improved overall GPU performance between 4 and 6 %.

3DMark
2560x1440 Port Royal Graphics
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	4693 Points ∼18%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	4450 Points ∼17%
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	7829 Points ∼21%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	7389 Points ∼20%
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	21121 Points ∼24%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	20029 Points ∼23%

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	28900 Points ∼25%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	27733 Points ∼24%

Gaming Benchmarks

Gaming benchmarks performed similarly. Regardless of resolution, be it FHD or 4K, the Witcher 3’s frame rate improved by around 5 % with Dynamic Boost enabled. Games should thus make sure this feature is enabled if supported by the laptop. Whether or not that is the case can be found out in the Nvidia Control panel.

The Witcher 3
3840x2160 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off)
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	52.9 (44^min) fps ∼18%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	50.5 (43^min) fps ∼17%
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+)
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	79.1 (64^min) fps ∼24%
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB Dynamic Boost Off NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q	76.2 (64^min) fps ∼23%

Read all 2 comments / answer

Loading Comments

Comment on this article

Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 577 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2009

I discovered my interest in computers in my childhood, growing up with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s. I was especially fascinated with computer games, even from an early age. From Monkey Island through Lands of Lore to Doom, I tried every game I could get my hands on. I have been working for Notebookcheck since 2009 with my focus mostly being on high-performance gaming laptops.

Translator: Finn D Boerne - Translator - 450 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2017

Born in the United States and raised in Germany I became acquainted with both languages from an early age and turned this into my profession later in life. Computers have always played an important role in my life, and my love for all things digital is a huge part of my daily routine. Virtual Reality has captured my imagination and interest in particular, and I cannot wait to see what the (near) future will bring.

Please share our article, every link counts!

> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Reviews > Short Review: Nvidia Max-Q Dynamic Boost

Florian Glaser, 2020-05-22 (Update: 2020-05-22)