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Comparative Analysis of High-End and Mid-Range Laptop GPUs

GOOVER DAILY REPORT July 21, 2024
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Summary
  2. High-End Laptop GPUs
  3. Mid-Range Laptop GPUs
  4. Professional Mobile GPUs
  5. Detailed Comparison
  6. Conclusion

1. Summary

  • The report titled 'Comparative Analysis of High-End and Mid-Range Laptop GPUs' examines the performance and capabilities of a selection of GPUs, focusing specifically on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, Intel Arc A770M, and NVIDIA Quadro T500. The analysis covers key attributes, including architecture, shader count, memory interfaces, clock speeds, power consumption, and performance metrics, to offer a thorough comparison between high-end and mid-range laptop GPUs. High-end GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 showcase superior performance in demanding tasks such as gaming at high resolutions and ray tracing. Mid-range GPUs, such as the Intel Arc A570M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, offer good performance for regular gaming and moderate workloads, while the NVIDIA Quadro T500 is tailored for professional applications, excelling in compute-heavy tasks.

2. High-End Laptop GPUs

  • 2-1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU

  • The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU (codename GN21-X9) is a high-end notebook graphics card introduced in early 2023. It is based on the AD104 chip (Ada Lovelace architecture) used in the desktop RTX 4070 Ti. The GPU includes 7,680 shaders, a 192-bit memory interface, and 12 GB of GDDR6 graphics memory, clocking at 16 or 20 Gbps. The total graphics power (TGP) ranges from 60 to 150 watts, with an additional 15 watts possible through CPU dynamic boost. The clock speed depends on the TGP and ranges from 1350 MHz to 2280 MHz. The performance of the RTX 4080 laptop GPU is contingent upon the notebook's TDP setting and cooling efficiency. In synthetic benchmarks, it surpasses the older RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, coming just behind the RTX 4090. This performance enables smooth gaming in demanding titles like F1 23 with ray tracing enabled at QHD resolution. In 4K, gaming is feasible without ray tracing. The RTX 4080 also features 232 Tensor Cores for DLSS 3 and 58 Ray Tracing Cores. It is manufactured using TSMC's 5nm process (4N) and includes 35.8 billion transistors on a 379 mm² die.

  • 2-2. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU

  • The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU (codename GN21-X11) is a high-end notebook graphics card launched in early 2023. Built on the AD103 chip (Ada Lovelace architecture) similar to the desktop RTX 4080, it comprises 10,752 shaders and a 256-bit memory interface with 16 GB of GDDR6 graphics memory, clocked at 20 Gbps. The TGP ranges from 80 to 150 watts, with an additional 15 watts possible through CPU dynamic boost. The GPU's clock speeds vary based on TGP, from 1455 MHz at 80 watts to 2040 MHz at 150 watts. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU outperforms the RTX 4080M and the older RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU significantly, although notebooks with lower power limits (125 watts) may see a performance drop of up to 20%. The RTX 4090 can handle demanding games at 4K resolution smoothly. However, using ray tracing effects in games like F1 23 may require DLSS or resolution reduction. The GPU features 45.9 billion transistors on a 379 mm² die, manufactured using TSMC's 5nm process (4N).

3. Mid-Range Laptop GPUs

  • 3-1. Intel Arc A570M

  • The Intel Arc A570M is a mid-range dedicated graphics card for notebooks, based on the ACM-G12 chip. It features 16 Xe cores (256 ALUs), 16 Ray Tracing units and 8MB L2 cache. The core clocks range from 300 MHz to over 2.05 GHz (Turbo). It has a 128-bit memory interface supporting 8GB of GDDR6 memory with 14 Gbps effective speed. Depending on the model, the TGP ranges from 75 to 95 Watts. The A570M performance is positioned in the lower mid-range for dedicated laptop GPUs, likely between the Radeon RX 6500M and RX 6600M. It is capable of handling demanding games at medium to high detail levels smoothly. Compared to the slower Arc A550M, the A570M distinguishes itself with its higher clock speeds and TDP values. The ACM-G12 chip is fabricated using TSMC's 6nm N6 process and uses a BGA2660 package. The chip supports two media engines for VP9, AVC, HEVC, AV1 8k60 12-bit HDR decoding and 8k 10-bit HDR encoding. The four integrated display pipes support 4x 4k120 HDR, HDMI 2.0B, DP 2.0 10G, and Adaptive Sync. With Deep Link, it can utilize Dynamic Power Share with a 12th generation Alder Lake CPU.

  • 3-2. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU

  • The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU is a mid-range notebook graphics card introduced in early 2023, based on the AD107 chip (Ada Lovelace architecture). It features a 96-bit memory bus with 6GB GDDR6 memory clocked at 16 Gbps. The TGP ranges from 35 to 115 Watts, plus an additional 10-25 Watts Dynamic Boost from the CPU. The boost clock ranges from 1605 MHz (35W) up to 2370 MHz (115W). The GPU's performance is strongly dependent on the TDP. Benchmark tests position the RTX 4050 between the RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU and the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU. It performs best for 1920x1080 gaming at high to maximum detail settings. The RTX 4050 includes 80 Tensor Cores for DLSS 3 and Frame Generation, which can significantly boost performance in supported games with minimal quality loss. However, the 20 Ray Tracing Cores are less likely to be fully utilized due to the GPU's overall performance limitations with Ray Tracing effects. The AD107 chip is fabricated using TSMC's 5nm process (4N).

4. Professional Mobile GPUs

  • 4-1. NVIDIA Quadro T500 Mobile GPU

  • The NVIDIA Quadro T500 Mobile GPU, formerly known as Quadro T500, is a professional mobile graphics card tailored for laptops. It is based on the Turing architecture (TU117 chip) and is effectively a professional version of the consumer GeForce MX450. The T500 includes 896 CUDA cores and a 64-bit memory bus, with available memory configurations of either 2 GB or 4 GB of GDDR5 or GDDR6 graphics RAM. The Thermal Design Power (TDP) of the T500 ranges between 18 to 25 watts depending on the variant. Manufactured using 12nm FinFET technology at TSMC, the Turing generation innovated by allowing concurrent execution of floating-point and integer operations, a new unified memory architecture, and doubling the cache compared to the Pascal generation. This results in up to 50% more instructions per clock and a 40% more power-efficient usage. Unlike faster Quadro RTX cards, the T500 does not include raytracing and Tensor cores, focusing instead on efficient performance for compute-heavy tasks. Benchmark tests show that the T500 excels in various professional scenarios such as SPECviewperf and Cinebench benchmarks, but it is less optimal for gaming, particularly at higher resolutions and detailed settings. The T500's support for DirectX 12_1 and OpenGL 4.6, combined with PCIe 4.0 compatibility, ensures it remains a versatile choice for professional applications. Its performance metrics indicate strong capabilities within its class, making it suitable for CAD applications, 3D modeling, and other GPU-intensive professional tasks.

5. Detailed Comparison

  • 5-1. Intel Arc A770M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU

  • The Intel Arc A770M is a dedicated mid-range GPU for laptops, based on the ACM-G10 chip. This GPU supports 32 Xe-Cores, 32 ray-tracing units, up to 16GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 256-bit memory interface. The clock speeds range from 300 MHz to 2050 MHz, depending on the mode, and the Total Graphics Power (TGP) ranges between 120 and 150 watts. It features advanced media engines for decoding and encoding various video formats and supports up to four displays. In comparison, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU is a high-end GPU launched in early 2023. It uses the AD103 chip with a maximum of 10,752 shaders and a 256-bit memory interface with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. The clock speeds range from 1455 MHz to 2040 MHz, and the TGP ranges from 80 to 150 watts plus an additional 15 watts for Dynamic Boost. This GPU excels in synthetic benchmarks and can handle demanding games in 4K but requires DLSS for ray-tracing effects. It supports four displays and includes the latest Tensor and Ray-tracing cores.

  • 5-2. Intel Arc A770M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU

  • The Intel Arc A770M, a mid-range GPU, is based on the ACM-G10 chip and sports up to 32 Xe-Cores and 32 ray-tracing units. It includes 16GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit interface, with clock speeds varying from 300 MHz to 2050 MHz and TGP between 120 and 150 watts. Fabricated using TSMC's 6nm process, it supports advanced video encoding/decoding and multiple display outputs. Comparatively, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU is also a high-end GPU, utilizing the AD104 chip with a maximum of 7680 shaders. It comes with a 192-bit memory interface, 12GB of GDDR6 memory, and clock speeds ranging from 1350 MHz to 2280 MHz, supporting a TGP between 60 and 150 watts plus an additional 15 watts for Dynamic Boost. This GPU is known for smooth QHD performance in demanding games with ray tracing enabled and supports DLSS 3. It also supports multiple display outputs and is optimized for performance in high-demand applications.

  • 5-3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU

  • The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU is a top-tier GPU released in early 2023, featuring the AD103 chip with up to 10,752 shaders. It has a 256-bit memory interface supporting 16GB of GDDR6 memory, with clock speeds from 1455 MHz to 2040 MHz and TGP ranging from 80 to 150 watts, plus an additional 15 watts of Dynamic Boost. This GPU is excellent in synthetic benchmarks, performs well in 4K gaming with DLSS for ray tracing, and supports four displays. On the other hand, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU utilizes the AD104 chip with up to 7680 shaders, a 192-bit memory interface, and 12GB of GDDR6 memory. The clock speeds range from 1350 MHz to 2280 MHz with a TGP of 60 to 150 watts plus 15 watts for Dynamic Boost. It provides remarkable performance in QHD gaming with ray tracing enabled and supports DLSS 3. Like the RTX 4090, it also supports up to four displays and is built for high-demand gaming and professional applications.

6. Conclusion

  • The comparative analysis reveals significant differences in architecture, shader count, memory interfaces, clock speeds, and power consumption among the GPUs examined. High-end GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 stand out in performance benchmarks, exhibiting strong capabilities in ray tracing and DLSS-supported tasks. These GPUs are highly suitable for high-resolution gaming and demanding professional applications. Contrarily, mid-range GPUs such as the Intel Arc A570M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 deliver balanced performance, making them ideal for regular gaming and moderate workloads. The NVIDIA Quadro T500 distinguishes itself in professional environments, providing efficient performance for tasks that demand high computational power despite lacking advanced graphics features such as ray tracing. Addressing technological needs, each GPU presents unique strengths and tailored use cases, reflecting the continuous advancements in GPU technology. Future developments in this field are likely to focus on enhancing power efficiency and performance scalability across various applications, with potential improvements in ray tracing and machine learning integrations. Practical applications of these findings include better-informed choices for consumers and professionals looking to optimize their computing power according to specific needs.

7. Glossary

  • 7-1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU [Technology]

  • A high-end laptop GPU based on the AD104 Chip, featuring 7,680 shaders, 12 GB GDDR6 memory, and TGP of 60-150 Watts. It includes Tensor cores for DLSS 3 and Raytracing cores, offering performance between RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 3080 Laptop GPU.

  • 7-2. Intel Arc A570M [Technology]

  • A mid-range laptop GPU with 16 Xe cores, 8 GB GDDR6 memory, and a TGP of 75-95 Watts, offering performance between Radeon RX 6500M and 6600M.

  • 7-3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU [Technology]

  • A mid-range laptop GPU based on the AD107 Chip with 6 GB GDDR6 memory and a TGP of 35-115 Watts, positioned between RTX 3050 Ti and RTX 3060 in terms of performance.

  • 7-4. NVIDIA Quadro T500 Mobile GPU [Technology]

  • A professional mobile graphics card based on the Turing architecture with 896 cores and 64-bit memory bus, available with 2 or 4 GB graphics RAM. Suitable for modern games and compute-heavy workloads, though lacking raytracing and Tensor cores.

  • 7-5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU [Technology]

  • A high-end laptop GPU with advanced features such as ray tracing and DLSS, suitable for high-performance tasks and gaming.

  • 7-6. Intel Arc A770M [Technology]

  • A high-end laptop GPU with performance metrics and features comparable to other top-tier GPUs, analyzed for architecture, shader count, memory interface, and more.

8. Source Documents