Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, Max-Q, Dymanic Boost, Whisper Mode: our test of the most powerful mobile GPU of the moment

Summary

RTX 3080 mobile specs Test setup Breakthrough strategy 3DMark test results Assassin's Creed Odyssey Red Dead Redemption 2 Control

Cyberpunk 2077 Watch Dogs Legion Max-Q 3rd Gen Update Dynamic Boost 2.0 Resizable BAR Whisper Mode 2.0 Optimus Conclusion Comments

Introduction

The mobile GeForce RTX 3000 are finally out! If the availability of Desktop versions is still problematic, this is not (yet?) the case for mobile versions. We were able to get our hands on an MSI GS66 Stealth, a machine that embeds the fastest mobile GPU of the moment since it is an RTX 3080.

MSI GS66 // Source: Matthieu Legouge

After presenting its new generation of graphics chips in a mobile version at CES 2021, Nvidia kicked off hostilities on January 26 for the Ampere architecture and its 2nd generation GeForce RTX cards to land on laptops. . With more than 70 laptops announced, for gamers and creators alike, we must also count, at first, on the arrival of 28 variants for these GeForce RTX 3060, GeForce RTX 3070 and GeForce RTX 3080. An important nuance to understand that we explain below.

Technical specifications of the RTX 3080 mobile

The mobile RTX 3080 that equips our test machine incorporates a GA104-775-A1 chip, engraved in 8 nm by Samsung. It boasts a maximum clock speed of 1,245 MHz, a total of 6,144 CUDA cores, and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 384 GB/s. The basic TGP is 80 W on this chip, but goes up to 95 W on our machine thanks to Dynamic Boost 2.0 which we will discuss next.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

MSI GS66 Stealth 10UH: our test configuration

Regarding the machine itself, this MSI GS66 Stealth has an Intel Core i7-10870H processor with 8 cores and 16 threads for a base frequency of 2.2 GHz and 5 GHz turbo. On the RAM side, we have the right to 2 x 8 GB of DDR4 in Dual-Channel, clocked at 3,200 MHz.

The MSI GS66 Stealth 10UH also has a 15.6′′ IPS panel, 240 Hz in QHD (2560 x 1440), the definition with which we carried out our tests. Finally, Windows 10 is here in Professional edition (version 20H2), everything takes place on a 1 TB Western Digital SN730 NVMe SSD. The Nvidia Game Ready drivers have been updated to version 461.40 before starting the test.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

Source: Matthieu Legouge

Source: Matthieu Legouge

Source: Matthieu Legouge

RTX 3000: a disruptive strategy

Before getting to the heart of the matter, it seems wise to come back to this new generation of mobile GPUs. If it involves a certain generational leap thanks to the Ampere architecture, it also initiates a break with the previous generation, which will not fail to cause confusion among consumers.

First of all, and contrary to what we have read here and there, Nvidia has not abandoned the Max-Q name for its mobile GPUs. In the past, GeForce laptop cards were segmented into Max-Q and Max-P configurations, the former denoting a reduced TGP to accommodate thin and light chassis, while the latter involved more power-hungry GPUs and therefore more efficient, ultimately a story of energy efficiency and temperature management.

Nvidia offers a not very readable table for amateurs

However, the energy efficiency of a laptop is largely based on the design of its chassis, for this reason Nvidia lets the OEM determine itself the TGP of each reference, as we have seen, from 80 to 150 W for the RTX 3080, from 80 to 125 W for the RTX 3070, and finally from 60 to 115 W for the RTX 3060.

To see these variations, as well as the technical sheets of the computers unveiled recently, the risk for the consumer is not to find his way about the respective performances of each machine, firstly because it is possible that a laptop equipped with an RTX 3060 with a 115W TGP offers better performance than a model equipped with an RTX 3070 at 80W, but also, because it seems difficult to know precisely whether this or that low-power GPU will benefit from the improvements in 3rd generation Max-Q technology and in particular Dynamic Boost 2.0 which directly influences performance.

The best way to know the TGP and the technologies embedded by the GPU is still to open the Nvidia control panel and go to "system information"

In the end, with the 3rd generation Max-Q, Nvidia is talking about a "broader" approach than in the past, with "a holistic set of platform technologies", for the design of powerful and thin laptops. We thus find the Dynamic Boost 2.0, Whisper Mode 2.0, Advanced Optimus functionalities, but also the famous Resizable BAR and DLSS, so many things that we will come back to later. Where things get tricky is that PC manufacturers may choose to include only some of these features.

To sum up, you will have to be attentive and vigilant when buying a laptop equipped with a GeForce RTX 30 series. Like the RTX 20 series cards, the performance is naturally not really comparable to the homonymous cards intended for desktop computers. However, we can expect here that the performance gap will widen further between a mobile version and a desktop version of an RTX 3000 compared to what was done on the 20 series.

Without further ado, let's take a look at what the MSI GS66 Stealth has in store for us when it comes to performance.

Synthetic tests

3DMark

3DMark gives us a good idea of ​​the power of a given card for a relatively precise comparative approach. During a first test with Time Spy, we obtain a graphics score of 10,126 points, for an overall score of 9,706 points, all with an average of 67.66 fps and 56.83 fps on the first and second part of the benchmark and a temperature that does not exceed 61°C.

Time Spy Extreme, a similar test but carried out in 4K with DirectX 12, shows us a graphics score of 4,887 points, for an overall score of 4,492 points. Our copy holds an average of 31.75 fps during the first part of the test and 28.11 fps on the second, with a maximum temperature of 64 ° C for the GPU.

According to the averages observed here and there, our test copy shows a performance increase of between 18 and 19% on these two tests compared to an RTX 2080 Max-Q. However, even if the comparison lacks relevance, here we observe a performance difference of around 40% compared to the desktop version of an RTX 3080.

3DMark DirectX Ray Tracing

To assess the Ray Tracing performance of our mobile RTX 3080, we used 3DMark's DirectX Ray Tracing test first, then also ran Port Royal to gauge real-time Ray Tracing performance.

During the first test, our GPU manages to obtain an average of 26.91 fps, a better result than on the mobile versions of the RTX 2080, which is even significantly closer to an RTX 3070 desktop. The second test shows well what to expect regarding real-time performance as we get a score of 6,142 points, which represents a performance gain of around 25% compared to the MSI GS66 Stealth equipped with an RTX 2080 Max-Q. Finally, during these two tests, the GPU reached a temperature peak of 71°C.

Benchmarks in games without ray tracing

Since the arrival of the Turing architecture, and now Ampere, Ray Tracing has become a reality, even on portable machines. Nevertheless, there are still only a handful of games to really enjoy it, which is why we chose Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Red Dead Redemption 2, two titles demanding enough to determine the performance of our machine excluding ray tracing of the equation.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Using the benchmark tool built into Assassin's Creed Odyssey, we raised the average frame rate by selecting the highest graphics settings (Ultra High), and disabling vertical sync, as well as adaptive definition, all in QHD (2560 x 1440).

Depending on the games, the RTX 3080 does not do better than the RTX 2080 Super

With these parameters, we note an average of 55 fps, a sign that the game runs almost perfectly at this definition in its maximum quality. For comparison, we get 59 fps setting the quality slider to “very high” and 62 fps to “high”.

Red Dead Redemption 2

If there is a game that remains particularly demanding for our graphics cards, it is Red Dead Redemption 2! The Rockstar Games title also allows us to evaluate the performance of our mobile RTX 3080 through an integrated benchmark. To do this, we set the graphics quality sliders to the maximum, while taking care to disable vertical synchronization. Like our other tests, this one always takes place in QHD, the native definition of the MSI GS66 Stealth screen.

The famous generation jump in one graph

Result of the races, the various scenes broadcast during the benchmark show us that the game runs at 58 fps on average in this case, so we can enjoy the superb open world offered here without any problem. The game runs at 63 fps on average when the quality slider is set to "balanced".

Benchmarks in games with Ray Tracing

What about Ray Tracing with this second generation of mobile GPUs under Ampere? We tried to gauge the performance of our copy by analyzing several games and comparing the readings without and with Ray Tracing, then finally with Ray Tracing supported by DLSS.

control

First case with the title of Remedy Entertainment. No in-game benchmark here, but scenes that allow us to measure performance quite accurately right from the start of the game. on average. By activating Ray Tracing, it's of course a whole different story, with 36 fps.

DLSS technology is magic

However, DLSS saves the day by maintaining the high quality of Ray Tracing with an average of 65 fps, but a resolution rendering that goes to 1707 x 960 in our case. By setting the Ray Tracing to “medium”, we manage to get 84 fps.

Cyberpunk 2077

Ha, Cyberpunk! Mocked upon its release due to major optimization problems, the long-awaited game from CD Projekt Red has however benefited from a few welcome patches in recent weeks. We wanted to see what it looks like with Ray Tracing on the very qualitative panel of our GS66, but also to measure its performance.

Ultra or Ray Tracing, you will have to choose one of the two

The results are obviously less appealing than with other titles, but we managed to run it without too much difficulty, but without ever exceeding 60 fps, even when DLSS is activated in performance mode, in which case we we get an average of 58 fps. With Ray Tracing in Ultra, the game collapses at 22 fps on average, by selecting the "quality" mode for the DLSS we measure 41 fps. Let's hope that future patches will allow us to taste it more serenely on a laptop!

Watch Dogs Legion

Watch Dogs Legion is also an excellent game to judge the performance of our GPU, in particular thanks to its open world and its many Ray Tracing effects. Its built-in benchmark includes a long scene in the middle of London, thanks to which one can get a good idea of ​​the performance according to the graphics settings.

Watch Dogs Legion runs fine on this laptop

The game runs relatively well in Ultra, without Ray Tracing, with 54 fps on average. By lowering the graphics quality option to “very high”, we reach 62 fps. By activating Ray Tracing, without DLSS, the game has a hard time running correctly with an average of 33 fps in Ultra and 40 fps with Ray Tracing on “high”. Once again the DLSS saves the day to take advantage of Ray Tracing with 57 fps when it is configured on "performance".

Max-Q 3

and

generation: update on what's new

As said above, not all laptops equipped with RTX 3000 cards will benefit from it, but Nvidia has lent us here an MSI GS66 Stealth integrating all 3 Max-Q technologies

and

generation.

DynamicBoost 2.0

With the Resizable Bar, the Dynamic Boost in its 2.0 version is the great novelty of this 3

and

generation of Max-Q. New, because although this feature was deployed with the previous generation, it only worked in one direction, allocating power from the CPU to the GPU and not the other way around. It now allows the operation to be carried out in both directions, adding graphics memory to the equation on top of that. Nvidia above all evokes an important evolution in the management of Dynamic Boost 2.0, now driven by several AI networks.

On paper, Dynamic Boost 2.0 is therefore supposed to offer us a performance gain of up to 16% according to Nvidia. On our test copy, it actually allows the TGP to be increased from 80 to 95 W, but the manufacturer, MSI in our case, can choose to only unlock 5 or 10 W with this technology. Unfortunately, unlike the first iteration, it is no longer possible to activate or deactivate Dynamic Boost 2.0, for which we could not test Nvidia's comments concerning it. Either way, the performance gains are definitely there over the previous generation of mobile GPUs.

Resizable BAR

Another expected novelty is the Resizable Bar, a feature that allows the processor to access all of the VRAM in the form of a single addressable block and no longer only by blocks of 256 MB. Already deployed by AMD under the name of Smart Access Memory (SAM) for its Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards, this feature is actually based on the Base Address Register (BAR) specification of the PCI-Express interface.

The equivalent of Smart Access Memory (SAM) at AMD

In fact, the Resizable Bar technology not only accesses the entire video memory, but also executes transfers simultaneously rather than one after the other. This would result in a significant performance gain, up to 10% on games whose engine is optimized for, but also in certain 3D rendering applications.

Here too we unfortunately could not put the technology to the test. Indeed, if the Resizable Bar can be activated and deactivated at will via the BIOS on certain motherboards, this is not the case on our MSI GS66 Stealth.

Whisper Mode 2.0

For this version 2.0 of Whisper Mode, Nvidia suggests that it has completely redesigned its acoustic control system. Using AI-powered algorithms, WhisperMode 2.0 dynamically manages CPU and GPU usage to control and influence machine temperatures and fan speeds.

As shown in the screenshot below, GeForce Experience lets us choose between three volume levels, or rather noise levels, as well as 7 framerate levels, between 30 and 60 frames per second. Fortunately, the option can be activated and deactivated at will via the Chameleon software. Whisper Mode 2.0 then takes care of reducing noise pollution while trying to keep the indicated framerate.

WhisperMode 2.0 theoretically limits the sound level generated by the machine

Examining this feature is not really easy, for the good reason that this feature adapts different parameters dynamically, volume variations are therefore not necessarily noticeable upon activation. In its press release, Nvidia mentions for example a reduction of about 6 dB on Shadow Of The Tomb Raider in QHD without falling below an average of 60 fps, all by selecting the "balanced" parameter and aiming for the 60fps.

In our case, we tried the experiment on Control with Ray Tracing (high) and DLSS activated. Our first measurement without WhisperMode 2.0 gives us a sound volume of 36.5 dB while the game is running at an average of 65 fps. Once activated in balanced mode (60 fps), we note an average of 59 fps and a slightly lighter nuisance at 34.2 dB. Keeping our target of 60 fps, but with the “quieter” mode this time around, the sound volume drops to 31.2 dB for an average framerate of 55 fps.

WhisperMode 2.0 seems relatively efficient depending on the mode chosen

Concretely, although we left the game volume at 0 for our measurements, this slight reduction in nuisance is almost imperceptible in normal conditions where very generally we use headphones, or the integrated speakers. Nevertheless, it may make the difference to avoid annoying our entourage in the middle of a gaming session.

However, this mode may have more relevance on titles whose frame rate is much higher. Only, at the cost of a few decibels you will limit your gaming experience to 60 fps, which is surely not what we want on competitive games like Apex Legends, Fortnite or even Overwatch to name a few.

AdvancedOptimus

Already known for many years (2010 to be precise), Optimus aims to save battery power without sacrificing the graphics performance of the dedicated GPU, by automatically juggling between the latter and the iGPU (the chip processor-saving graphics). We are not going to go into detail on its operating principle, but Optimus had a major drawback in the past since it did not allow you to take advantage of the display functionalities that you expect to find when you connect an external screen to a laptop PC equipped with an Nvidia GPU. We think for example of the G-Sync variable refresh technology, the possibility of displaying 4K at 120 Hz, or even a QHD definition at 240 Hz.

Advanced Optimus Option

With the Advanced Optimus, Nvidia has integrated a simple hardware switch into its new mobile cards, allowing the dedicated GPU to fully manage the displays connected to the machine while keeping Optimus activated. This means that when this is the case, the functionality of HDMI 2.1 is directly available for the external monitor or TV, in this case the PC screen will be managed by the iGPU. Finally, provided that the laptop has other outputs, via USB-C or HDMI, it is now possible to manage up to 3 external screens with the Advanced Optimus.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, let's start by pointing out that the generational leap with the Ampere architecture and Samsung's 8nm chips seems to hold all its promise here. The performance gains are much more significant than when upgrading to the GeForce RTX 20 Supers last year.

It should however be remembered that our test revolved around an RTX 3080 with TGP of 95 W, the results of our benchmarks are exciting and show that it is quite possible to take advantage of Ray-Tracing in QHD in many good conditions. However, these results are not to be taken literally for all the laptops that will appear on paper with this same GPU and we should probably expect more or less large variations depending on the choices made. by the OEM, regarding the TGP and features related to the Max-Q technology of 3

and

generation.

For further

Everything you need to know before buying a laptop equipped with a GeForce RTX 3060, 3070 or 3080

Precisely, Nvidia has, in our opinion, perfectly taken up the bet with Max-Q. Admittedly, confusion still reigns, which is not good news for the consumer, and some will no doubt find the chameleon's communication strategy hazardous. Despite everything, the overall increase in performance is accompanied here by essential technologies to design ever more powerful, thin and light laptops, which are ultimately intended for both gamers and creators. We are of course thinking of Dynamic Boost 2.0, the Advanced Optimus, but also the Resizable Bar, with which Nvidia is catching up with AMD. We are however less enthusiastic about WhisperMode 2.0, but this depends greatly on the design of the machine itself and its cooling system, so it will be necessary to build a more in-depth opinion by examining other machines. .

There remains the price of machines powered by RTX 3000 mobile GPUs. It is certain that at nearly €3,700 (Fnac, Darty), our test copy will make some of our readers smile gently. Remember, however, that this is a high-end gaming laptop, particularly compact and which includes all the Max-Q features. The reflection expressed above is therefore valid once again here: it will be necessary to compare what is comparable, at the same price, by testing other machines and also to see what Nvidia has prepared for us with its RTX 3060 and 3070 mobiles .

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