So far, the GeForce GTX 770M looks to be slightly faster than the 860M. And yet, it also uses less power. Other modules follow the power curves we'd expect, given their performance. I wouldn't be surprised to see the next generation of gaming notebooks including larger and heavier coolers to contend with the additional heat.

Thermals aren't an issue for Origin PC’s full-sized Eon17-S, though. I didn’t need to adjust its fan speed at any point during our experimentation. Rather, the system sets its fans to roughly 50% under load, regardless of the graphics module you have installed. If, at some point in the future, you find your Eon17-S to be noisy, it’s probably time to blow the dust out.

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Summary
- Introducing The GeForce GTX 800M-Series
- How We Test Nvidia's GeForce GTX 800M Graphics
- Results: F1 2012 And Tomb Raider
- Results: Arma 3
- Results: Battlefield 4
- Results: Far Cry 3
- Results: Metro: Last Light
- Results: 3DMark
- Power And Heat
- Average Performance And Efficiency
- Is The GeForce GTX 800M-Series A Better Buy?
Ask a Category Expert
Previously I wouldn't consider getting a gaming laptop due to their short battery life, even when not gaming. But if a laptop with this kind of hardware can manage 5 - 6 hours, I'd consider it...
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get.
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get.
GPUs have been multi-core for ages now. Well beyond desktop cores, even. The GTX880M in particular is a 1,536-core GPU. Similar numbers have been around for a long time.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gtx-880m/specifications
Previously I wouldn't consider getting a gaming laptop due to their short battery life, even when not gaming. But if a laptop with this kind of hardware can manage 5 - 6 hours, I'd consider it...
I hate these kind of naming tricks... Even 860a and 860b or anything that gives out what you will get."
Yes, the 860M Maxwell is a 2GB card that is soldered directly onto the motherboard with only 640 cuda cores w/ 50W TDP. The Kelper 860M is 4GB and is MXM (replaceable) with 1152 cuda cores w/ 75W TDP.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-780m-770m-765m,3732.html
I was going to comment earlier and ask Thomas about this. Did Origin PC come up with custom 800M-series modules for this article?... or was half the VRAM somehow disabled? If not, I'm confused. The EON17-S as available on their web site comes with the "standard" double-memory configurations - 4 GB for the 860M, 6 GB for the 870M, and a whopping 8 GB for the 880M. I didn't see this mentioned in the article at all. On other forums, users have indicated this "double-VRAM" is a waste. It would have been nice if this article had put the "double-VRAM" to the test, especially at the QHD resolution.
I was going to comment earlier and ask Thomas about this. Did Origin PC come up with custom 800M-series modules for this article?... or was half the VRAM somehow disabled? If not, I'm confused. The EON17-S as available on their web site comes with the "standard" double-memory configurations - 4 GB for the 860M, 6 GB for the 870M, and a whopping 8 GB for the 880M. I didn't see this mentioned in the article at all. On other forums, users have indicated this "double-VRAM" is a waste. It would have been nice if this article had put the "double-VRAM" to the test, especially at the QHD resolution.