The latest GPUs unveiled by NVIDIA, from the GTX 1060/70/80 and finally, the new Titan X, are likely the most exciting GPU products revealed this year, as high performance demo footage keeps pouring in, showing just how far your dollar can stretch, to get the best from gaming, video editing, and other graphic-intensive applications.
At the lowest end, the GTX 1060 can be had for as low as $300, while the top of the line Titan X’s price will start at $1000 in most of its iterations from each different manufacturer.
The big question is: will we find these GPUs in any future laptop and AIO? In all likelihood, those who expect to see any of these latest GTX cards in the next Surface Book, might want to dial down their expectations, as according to NVIDIA’s own specifications for the current model of the Surface Book, the custom chip designed to fit into the laptop belongs to a batch that won’t likely fit the newest, and more power-hungry models.
NVIDIA has its own methods to determine what GPU is more suitable for any given product line, based on performance, heat management, and power requirements, among the full array of factors involved.
The batch of chips designated for the 2015 Surface Book, included processors labeled as follows:
- GM108
- GM107
- GM206
- GM204
- GM200
Typically, the lower the number, the higher the performance, and power requirements. This is important, as this number may impact battery usage considerably, especially in a device like the Surface Book, which relies on two separate batteries.
The numbers above refer to GPUs based on a custom Maxwell processor such as the GT 940M. Currently, the GM108 is the batch to which the discrete NVIDIA GPU powering the current Surface Book, belongs to.
NVIDIA GTX 1060 and above, belong to a completely different class of GPUs based on Pascal architecture, starting at GM106. As mentioned earlier, these GPUs are simply too demanding in terms of power and heat dissipation requirements, and completely unfit for a device as thin and light as the Surface Book.
While the Surface Book 2 will be far from being a gaming laptop, there is a strong chance that it will feature an Intel Kaby Lake CPU, which is expected to bring some important graphic performance enhancements that will help leverage benchmarks for Microsoft’s next generation flagship laptop.