MARCH 2021 PCWorld 45by 16 percent. Dynamic Boost 2.0 previously
only allowed power to be shifted from the
CPU to the GPU, but now it can actually flow
back to the CPU from the GPU if the game is
CPU-bound rather than GPU-bound. Nvidia
said it can also now balance power with the
graphics memory.
On laptops that support it, Dynamic Boost
2.0 will be on all the time without the option
to turn it off, as in the previous version. On
older laptops that support Dynamic Boost,
you will continue to be able to turn the feature
off. While pretty much any RTX laptop can
support Dynamic Boost 2.0, it’s up to the
laptop maker to enable it. We didn’t get deep
into this feature here, but we plan to soon.
WHISPER MODE 2.0
Nvidia said it has an answer for fan noise, too,
using AI to help target fan curves and frame
rates during gaming on a laptop. Unlike the
older version that just slowed fans down,
Nvidia said the new version manages CPU
power, GPU power, and temps, along with
the system fans and frame rate, to hit the
target the gamer sets.
HOW WE TESTED
For our test today, we used a Gigabyte Aorus
17 equipped with an 8-core Intel Core
i7-10870H, 8GB GeForce RTX 3080 (Max-Q),
32GB of RAM, and a 17.3-inch 300Hz panel.
Note that you’ll see us use “(Max-Q)”
throughout the story. Nvidia no longer uses
that designation for its more-efficient mobile
GPUs because they’re all from the same
die—it’s just how the laptop maker configures
the laptop around it. If vendors choose to
implement Max-Q Technologies, then it’s still a
GeForce RTX 3080 laptop—but with Max-Q
Technologies enabled. The “(Max-Q)” is our
way of telling you what power and thermal
capabilities the laptop maker has built in.
For comparison, we drafted the same
Acer Predator Triton 500 we used for our
Dynamic Boost story. It features a 6-core Core
i7-10750H, GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q,
32GB of RAM, and a 15.6-inch, 300Hz panel.
The Predator Triton 500 had its CoolBoost
feature enabled, which runs the fans harder.
The Gigabyte Aero 17 had the CPU and GPU
in the boost setting, and fans were using the
“Gamer” profile.
Using the Ultra preset in Far Cry, the results
give the RTX 3080 laptop about a 12-percent
lead over the RTX 2080 Super laptop.
Moving onto Gears Tactics run at
1920x1080 and set to Ultra, the RTX 3080
laptop has about a 14-percent advantage in
this turn-based tactical game.Far Cry: New Dawn
Ultra 19x10
Frames per second
Acer Predator Triton 5006-core Core i7-10750H
Gigabyte Aero 178-core Core-10870H
LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE89
100