GTX 980M is a high-end graphics card that’s found in laptops, and it’s been the source of many upgrade kits to bring better gaming performance to those with older machines. Most laptop manufacturers have moved away from the MXM style GPU’s and soldered them directly to the motherboard, but a few still offer the option for upgrading later on (for example Dell/Alienware).
GTX 980 M was launched just a few weeks after its desktop counterpart but it was built with mobile systems in mind – power efficiency was a key concern. This was achieved with several changes, including a re-ordering of execution units to reduce the number that are activated at any one time.
The MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro we reviewed today is fitted with the latest Maxwell GPU, which has been tweaked for mobile use and a focus on power efficiency. It also features a powerful Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor which works alongside the GPU to keep things cool, and an impressive 17.3" 4K IPS screen.
The Gigabyte P37X v5 is a sleek, slim and lightweight notebook that’s packed with a stack of high-end hardware that would make any PC gamer salivate. It’s loaded with an Intel Skylake i7-6700HQ CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a GeForce GTX 980M with 8GB of GDDR5 vram. Thanks to NVIDIA Optimus technology the system automatically switches between the discrete GPU and integrated CPU depending on what’s being used. This helps keep temperatures low and improves battery life.