Mobile GPU Q1/2004 Update - ATI M10, M11, and NVIDIA's NV36M

It wasn't too long ago that executives at the big system manufacturers expected the sales for notebooks to surpass their desktop line. This hasn't materialized as fast as previously predicted, but the notebook market continues to grow by leaps and bounds, particularly as the lines behind ultra-portable, thin and light, mobile workstations, and desktop replacements become blurred. Coupled with lowering prices of PC components and space saving capabilities, notebooks are finding new demographics to tap into.

So, it really comes as no surprise that more and more R&D dollars are being invested in a company's mobile division. Dothan and the mobile version of Athlon 64 are due to be out soon, and we will spend more time on that subject when the time comes. So far, we back on the subject of mobile GPUs. Gaming/rendering on the newest high-end desktop card can (for the most part) attain desirable frame rates, even with non-released games that have implemented heavily on pixel shader use.

Gaming/rendering on notebooks has never been up to par with the best of the desktop stuff (behemoth-sized desktop replacements don't count); yet, more and more people are looking for laptops that do just that. Our most recent case in point would be Half Life 2 on Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro and GeForce FX Go5650 based laptops. The laptop equipped with the Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro made Half Life 2 reasonably playable on a notebook - quite a noteworthy accomplishment. Meanwhile, the GeForce FX Go5650 (one up from the Go5600) based notebook went to a crawling halt.

Domestically, the sales for desktop replacement notebooks are uncannily high compared to ultra-portables, and vice versa for the European market. In the North American market, there is a tendency to like the biggest and baddest stuff around, and we will take it despite the price tag and size. This is why SIs and SDs are carefully watching the upcoming mobile GPU scene between ATI and NVIDIA. Unlike the desktop scene, the stage will be set not just on performance, but also on thermal characteristics. NVIDIA and ATI have an easier time on desktop cards, since they can crank up the clock speeds and slap on a bigger heatsink. Meanwhile, mobile GPUs are at the mercy of the system manufacturer (i.e. Dell, HP/Compaq, IBM, etc.), since NVIDIA and ATI need to conform their GPU's thermal characteristics to the notebook's thermal design, all the while maintaining the promised performance.