Today info on the GT80 Titan was leaked on the French website Cowcotland.  The GT80 is an 18 inch portable notebook with a mechanical keyboard employing Cherry MX Brown switches, which would likely be an industry first.

The details are few, but what is known is that this info was leaked today and that MSI (TPE:2377) can’t comment yet since it has not been officially announced.  The other big news about the GT80 Titan is that the notebook will come with Chery MX Brown switches, as they are loved by gamers worldwide.  The specs two specs that were claimed were that the notebook will have a weight of 4.5Kg and a thickness of 49.1mm.  This indeed will be more of a portable desktop replacement than a laptop computer.  Another thing setting this apart from most other notebooks is that the touchpad will be to the right of the keyboard, and serving as the numeric keypad when needed. This way the keyboard is more like a standard mechanical keyboard instead of being set back into the chassis a ways.  It is said that the notebook should be easy to upgrade underneath the area behind the keyboard.

The really special thing that they are speculating about is that this is likely to have GTX 980M, and possibly have the option for SLI, which would make this an insanely powerful portable computer.  As was stated earlier, this is just speculation for now, but the notebook sure would have more than ample room for such a configuration.  One thing that is likely possible is that the graphics will be upgradable since MSI is introducing this feature with the GT72 Gaming notebook.  These will be GPUs that are available from MSI that will keep the notebook up to date with the coming generations of GPUs, thus protecting an investment is such a notebook.

When there is more info on the GT80 Titan we will be sure to cover it.

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While MSI is known for its motherboards and video cards, the vendor also dabbles in other segments, which have of late included the Nightblade barebones machine and its line of gaming notebooks. Today, the hardware vendor is launching two new Windows 8.1-based AIO desktops that are among the first in the world to feature Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) latest GTX 980M And GTX 970M GPUs.

The AG270 2QE and AG270 2QC feature a 27-inch anti-glare matte display with Anti-Flicker and Less Blue Light technology, which MSI claims is useful in reducing strain during prolonged gaming sessions. MSI mentions that the technology stabilizes electrical current to prevent serious flickering that is seen in standard displays. The resolution on both monitors is 1920 x 1080, which is a bit of a letdown as QHD would have been much more enticing to gamers. For what it’s worth, the panels offer 10-point multi-touch.

In terms of hardware configurations, both products come with an Intel Core i7 CPU along with up to 16 GB DDR3L RAM, along with the choice of either the GTX 980M (on the AG270 2QE) or the GTX 970M (on the AG270 2QC). Launched earlier this month, Nvidia’s mobile solutions offer incredible efficiency while boasting the performance figures of desktop-class video cards. MSI mentions that the cards are ideal to run visually-intensive titles such as Far Cry 4, Assassins Creed: Unity, and EVOLVE.

Other features include Killer LAN, as well as the ability to configure three mSATA SSDs. Users can also choose to configure 3.5-inch drives and a Blu-Ray writer. In terms of connectivity, the desktops come with Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an SD card reader, 2MP webcam, HDMI in and out along with VGA output. Being an AIO unit, MSI has added dual Yamaha 5W speakers for audio, with each speaker coming with a built-in full-range monomer, and an independent subwoofer monomer.

MSI hasn’t detailed pricing yet, but from what we’ve seen, based on the configuration, these models can start from $2100 and run up to $2700.

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After launching its Maxwell-based desktop GPUs last month, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is bringing the GM204 silicon to notebooks with the  launch of the GTX 980M and the GTX 970M. During the launch of the desktop GTX 980 and GTX 970, Nvidia touted features like increased power efficiency, a new anti-aliasing technology called MFAA and a downsampling feature that renders content from 4K to 1080k, all of which would be ideal for the notebook form factor.

Architectural enhancements

Nvidia’s tweaks with Maxwell include redesigned Streaming Multiprocessors, which in conjunction with efficient clock-gating and better compiler-based scheduling deliver double the performance per Watt as a Kepler-based card. It is no wonder, then, that Nvidia is claiming desktop-level performance with the GTX 980M and 970M. Both cards are still fabricated using a 28 nm process, but the inherent architectural improvements allow Nvidia to deliver much better efficiency and performance at the same time.

The introduction of the GTX 980M and the GTX 970M diminishes the gap that exists between Nvidia’s desktop and mobile GPUs. Over the last three years, Nvidia’s mobile offerings delivered around 50 to 55% of what was achieved by their desktop counterparts, but with the GTX 900 series, Nvidia claims that users will get around 75% of the performance as a desktop 980M. Considering that the GTX 980 in itself is the fastest single card solution available today, the performance delivered by a GTX 980M should then be at par or better than most desktop GPUs in the market today.

As far as the two cards are concerned, Nvidia cites a performance divide of around 30% between the GTX 980M and the GTX 970M. While the increased performance will allow gamers on notebooks to play at resolutions beyond 1080p, although there is a clear dearth of notebooks that offer 4K panels. For users on 1080p displays, Nvidia solution is Dynamic Super Resolution, a technology that samples a game at higher resolutions and then scales down to lower resolutions, resulting in much better visuals.

While Nvidia isn’t disclosing TDP, it is possible that the GTX 980M will be around 110W given that it delivers 75% of the performance of the desktop GTX 980. Nvidia has managed to significantly reduce the power consumption with Maxwell, and the same should be reflected in its mobile offerings.

As for how fast the current-generation cards are when seen against Nvidia’s earlier offerings, the vendor states that the GTX 980M is around 40% faster than the GTX 880M, and twice as fast as the GTX 680M. The GTX 970M is similarly 40% faster than the GTX 870M and twice as fast as the GTX 860M. We’ll have more detailed benchmarks during our review, but for now here’s a look at the figures shared by Nvidia:

The GTX 980M and 970M also feature Battery Boost, which is also tweaked to allow for more untethered gaming. When removed from a power source, Battery Boost throttles the GPU so that users get just the amount of performance they need to run games at their desired frame rate target. The enhancements mean that gamers can now play titles like League of Legends, GRID 2, and Tomb Raider for twice as long when not connected to a power source.

All of this is geared at a growing market, as Nvidia mentions that over the last three years, the gaming notebook segment has witnessed a 5x increase. With Maxwell, gamers on notebook can look forward to playing visually intensive games like Battlefield 4 and Metro: Last Light at resolutions of 2560 x 1440 and on ultra settings.

Nvidia has a strong foothold in the mobile GPU segment, and with the launch of the GTX 980M and the GTX 970M, it is poised to consolidate its position in this category. With numerous design improvements, increased performance and greater power efficiency figures, Nvidia has a clear winner on its hands with its Maxwell mobile GPUs. As for availability, several mainstream vendors like MSI and Asus have already started selling gaming notebooks laden with GTX 900M series cards, as have boutique vendors like Digital Storm, Origin and others.

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After Nvidia launched the GeForce GTX 980 based on the company’s latest Maxwell architecture, it was merely a matter of time until they also allowed Maxwell to trickle down into gaming laptops. This obviously brought about the announcement of today’s GTX 980M and GTX 970M mobile gaming GPUs. Do keep in mind, that Maxwell was actually first introduced in the GTX 800M series, but only in the low-end and midrange while the high-end remained Kepler-based (GTX 880M).

The added efficiency of the GTX 900 series does in fact mean that this new crop of mobile GPUs in laptops will get not only deliver significantly better performance but also better battery life. While we haven’t quite yet had a chance to test any of the new Maxwell-based GTX 900M series GPUs, but it is worth noting that the GTX 980 desktop GPU improved performance by about 100% over the previous generation and at the same time reduced power by 20%. So, when we look at these new GTX 980M and GTX 970M there are a lot of pretty amazing expectations for these new GPUs. As a result, Nvidia is slowly closing the gap between desktop and mobile GPU performance t the point where the GTX 980M is around 80% the performance of its desktop counterpart.

Nvidia has also baked in a lot of awesome mobile gaming features into the GTX 980M and GTX 970M. One of the most important features of these new GTX 900M series GPUs has to be the ability to increase gaming battery life while on battery and to not automatically throttle down the GPU to the point of being unplayable on battery. Not just that, but they also have the ability to do essentially all of the things that the desktop GPUs can do, which include the Shadowplay, Game Stream, DSR and MFAA. MFAA allows for a higher quality image at essentially no performance penalty, allowing gamers to run games at higher settings without taking the performance or battery life hits they would normally expect.

Most gamers want performance improvements, and those are coming too, just like they did in the desktop GPU. Most GTX 980M and GTX 970M laptops will see approximately 100% better performance than their Kepler-based counterparts. In mobile, this is huge because now Nvidia can implement frame rate targets to improve battery life and give you the same or better gaming experience at possibly double the battery life.

Unsurprisingly, a multitude of new laptops were announced today in conjunction with the new GTX 980M and GTX 970M GPUs. Some of the most notable vendors include ASUS, MSI, Maingear, Origin PC, Digital Storm, Gigabyte and Clevo. I would also very likely expect to see a new Razer Blade based upon these new GPUs, but nothing has been announced quite yet. They will probably save that for the 2015 Razer Blade, which may give prospective buyers of the Razer blade a reason to wait for the 2015 model.

EVO15-S-09S

Above is Origin’s EVO 15-S with the GTX 970M inside.

Origin PC Eon15-s-v3

Here you also have the Origin PC EON15-S  with the GTX 980M

MSI GT72 with GTX 980M

Above we have the MSI GT72 2QE Dominator Pro with the GTX 980M as well.

Last but not least is Maingear’s Nomad 17 gaming notebook.

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