The graphics processors inside the two products shown below have the aforementioned name: RTX 3070. Ane is destined for desktop PCs, and the other is a gaming laptop. But they don't even get close to delivering the same functioning. What'south going on hither? Is this a problem? Permit's get benchmarking!

Today we are checking out Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, a product that's already available in a handful of gaming laptops, and is the faster and more than expensive sibling of the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU we reviewed a few weeks ago.

Specification wise, the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU doesn't follow the exact aforementioned core configuration as its desktop counterpart. Both use GA104 silicon only the desktop GPU features 5888 CUDA cores, compared to just 5120 on the laptop version. Boost clock speeds are also over 100 MHz lower for the laptop variant in the best cases, while the 8GB GDDR6 memory configuration remains the same.

Ultimately, to take a 220W desktop GPU and shove information technology down into a 80-125W realm, some things need to be sacrificed, and for this generation information technology's both the GPU core configuration and clock speeds.

Speaking of power, the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU is bachelor in a range of power options that OEMs can utilise depending on the cooling provided by a given laptop. The minimum TGP is 80W -- which is equivalent to the one-time Max-Q variant, a moniker which Nvidia is no longer using -- the maximum is 125W, with lots of options in-betwixt. Additional power can be sent to the GPU through Dynamic Boost 2.0 equally well, so near RTX 30 Laptop GPUs have a power range they operate within.

This naming convention can be a fleck confusing for laptop buyers as the 80W and 125W variants will produce different levels of performance, notwithstanding in the concluding few weeks Nvidia has mandated that OEMs display the GPU'south TGP on laptop's spec sheets, a considerable comeback.

Today we're benchmarking two laptops that use the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU – ane with a base power rating of 80W, and another with 115W, giving united states a skilful look at the range of possible performance you can become out of this GPU.

Dynamic Boost ii.0 provides up to an additional 15W of power in both systems when CPU utilization is light, and then the TGP ranges are 80-95W in the lower power model, and 115-130W in the higher power model, although typical ability usage falls in the center of that range while gaming.

Our lxxx-95W configuration is establish inside the Gigabyte Aorus 15G, a slim and premium gaming arrangement. The Aorus 15G is also capable of running the RTX 3070 at xc-105W but to avoid making this review overly long, we're sticking to the base default configuration, which will bear witness a practical range of how the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU can perform – but buyers should notation that the Aorus 15G is a little faster when you lot set a college way in Gigabyte's software utility.

I'1000 a big fan of the build quality on this Aorus 15G laptop, the finish has a nice texture and the keyboard is slap-up. While information technology is portable, it's not the slimmest chassis. It likewise uses a Cadre i7-10870H instead of AMD'south newer and faster Ryzen 5000 APUs, although this could be due to availability – Intel'southward 10th-gen CPUs are aircraft now, while Ryzen is in a stock shortage.

The RTX 3070 115-130W laptop we accept in for testing is the XMG Apex 17, an upcoming laptop that you saw in our Ryzen ix 5900HX review. So inside is that Ryzen APU, plus 16GB of dual-aqueduct DDR4-3200 memory and the RTX 3070 with Dynamic Boost and Resizable BAR.

In today's review we'll also compare these laptops to a typical desktop gaming organization with a full GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card within. The desktop test system is kitted out with a mid-range Core i5-10600K processor, which actually has fewer CPU cores than the laptops we're testing -- vi against eight-cores for the laptops -- although of grade the desktop CPU tin can clock higher and use more ability. There's besides 16GB of DDR4-3600 retentivity in a dual-channel configuration. This volition requite us a good idea how close these laptop variants come to the desktop part with essentially the same name.

Nosotros are testing at two resolutions. The primary configuration is 1080p running using Optimus, which is the default on about laptops today despite some progress towards smart MUX solutions. This means the discrete GPU signal is passed through the integrated GPU to the display. Nosotros've also tested at 1440p using an external brandish with a direct to detached graphics connection for some of the comparing charts after in the review. This removes the pocket-size performance penalty from Optimus and also emulates what you'd get on a laptop with a 1440p display and a smart MUX solution like Advanced Optimus.

Our usual laptop examination notes apply here, not going to run through it all however again, so permit's get straight into the benchmarks.

Benchmarks

In Metro Exodus, the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU does a reasonable chore of providing more functioning than previous generation GPUs. This new variant at a 115W TGP is over 40 per centum faster than the RTX 2070, and a good for you 21% faster than the RTX 2070 Super.

Information technology also manages a 14% pb over the new RTX 3060. However information technology's non in the same league as the desktop GPU, which is 34% faster than this laptop variant.

Meanwhile, the lower power 80W variant of the 3070 is actually a fair scrap slower than the 115W model of the RTX 3060.

This volition present a problem for buyers comparing beyond dissimilar laptop designs (and well, that's the reason why this review is ever more useful). However, it holds its own against other lower power variants: ix% faster than the RTX 3060 and 23% ahead of the RTX 2070 Max-Q.

In Control, the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU at 115W is the fastest mobile GPU we've tested in a reasonable course factor. 15% faster than the RTX 3060 and RTX 2070 Super, and 35% faster than the RTX 2070. Nonetheless it falls short of the desktop RTX 2070 Super and isn't close to the full RTX 3070, which is the only GPU to average over 100 FPS in this title.

In the lower power class, it's a tight battle. The RTX 3070 80W is slightly faster than the RTX 3060 115W, but ends upwards quite a flake ahead of other Max-Q designs: it's 24% faster than the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q for example.

In Borderlands 3, the desktop GPUs end up a bit CPU limited at 1080p, and so the gains relative to the laptop parts are less notorious. The RTX 3070 at 115W pushes 12% in front of the RTX 3060 and 28% ahead of the RTX 2070, although cannot match the performance of a desktop RTX 2070 Super in a configuration that as well benefits from a desktop CPU.

Red Dead Redemption 2 saw some of the smallest gains moving from the RTX 3060 to the RTX 3070 in the 115W power class: the RTX 3070 was only 7 percent faster. This immune the desktop variant to produce 35% college performance in this game. Nonetheless, gains relative to previous generation parts are still impressive, with 36% college performance relative to the RTX 2070.

In the lower power class, we meet a stiff result for the RTX 3070: fifteen% faster than the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q at 90W, and simply 9% ahead of the RTX 3060

Rainbow Half dozen Siege running at 1080p gives united states a good thought of what a game looks like when CPU limited trying to push out as many frames as possible.

Ultimately, there isn't much difference betwixt the RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 here, and then people that savour playing on quality settings in competitive games don't accept an incentive to buy the faster configuration as the CPU performance simply isn't at that place.

The RTX 3070 on a desktop with a ability unlimited Cadre i5-10600K absolutely destroys the laptop configurations with at to the lowest degree 65% improve performance.

In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the RTX 3070 is a healthy xv% faster than the RTX 3060 within the same power level, although this operation difference shrinks to single digits when comparison in the lower power class.

While the RTX 3070 80W is most 10% faster than the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, that's one of the less impressive gains nosotros've seen so far, and in this game the desktop RTX 3070 is 30% faster or more.

While the RTX 3070 doesn't evangelize unplayable performance on laptops in Cyberpunk 2077, it is more similar a 60 FPS experience versus the xc FPS you'll go with this GPU in a desktop.

The 3070 is over twenty% faster than the RTX 3060 in this game in both power classes, which is ane of the larger margins nosotros've seen so far.

In Lookout Dogs Legion, the RTX 3070 performs well relative to the RTX 3060. Not only is the GPU faster, but information technology besides has a larger VRAM buffer: 8GB vs 6GB explaining the extra oomph.

In this detail championship, more than 6GB of VRAM is used at 1080p ultra settings, which causes one of the largest performance discrepancies we've seen: at 115W the RTX 3070 is 38 per centum faster. 6GB is looking tight in some titles. Some other example would exist Cyberpunk with ray tracing enabled, so 8GB gives yous more animate room for 1080p gaming today.

In Horizon Zero Dawn, the RTX 3070 at 115W is just 10 percentage faster than the RTX 3060. With this power limit, the laptop variant also falls considerably behind the RTX 2070 Super and the RTX 3070 desktop variants, then at that place is no doubting a desktop is superior for playing this sort of game.

In Hitman iii'southward Dartmoor benchmark at 1080p we are somewhat CPU limited again, so the RTX 3070 on laptops don't pull that far ahead of other variants, ending upwardly 5% faster than the RTX 3060 on our AMD laptops, and equal on our Intel systems. With the extra CPU ability available to united states on desktop platforms, our 10600K desktops are able to pull ahead.

Dirt 5 shows i of the larger margins between the laptop and desktop variants, at 47% comparing the desktop GPU to the 115W variant. But exterior of that, laptop performance is equally expected, coming in 13% ahead of the RTX 3060 in the higher power class, and half dozen% alee in the 80W range.

The 3060 does well here all things considered, with the 115W model outperforming our 80W RTX 3070 configuration.

Performance Comparisons

We have a whole suite of functioning comparisons to get through, so allow'due south get started.

RTX 3070 vs the RTX 3060 @ 115W

First upwardly is a directly await at the RTX 3070 vs the RTX 3060 at the same 115W power level. So this might exist a comparison between the same laptop model, merely with a different GPU in its base spec and higher spec. The RTX 3070 ends up 15% faster on boilerplate at 1080p.

When nosotros remove CPU bottlenecks and the Optimus operation penalty by benchmarking at 1440p instead, this margin grows to xx percentage on average. While the RTX 3070 Laptop is more of a 60 FPS GPU at 1440p compared to higher frame rates at 1080p, it's still quite playable even on ultra settings, so those afterward an RTX 3070 Laptop may find that one with a 1440p brandish is a better choice.

RTX 3070 vs the RTX 3060 @ 80W

The margins are much narrower comparison the RTX 3070 to 3060 at 80W, indicating that the sweet spot for the RTX 3070 is its higher power configuration. On boilerplate the 3070 hither was but 10 pct faster, then in most instances the 3060 volition be better value.

In some instances you may find yourself with a choice between the RTX 3070 in a laptop at 115W, versus the RTX 3060 at 80W. In these situations the RTX 3070 is going to be much faster, 27% faster on boilerplate, which depending on the toll difference could swing much more than in favor of the higher tier GPU.

RTX 3070 80W vs the RTX 3060 115W

On the flip side, if you take an 80W RTX 3070 up against a 115W RTX 3060, on average these GPUs produce basically the same performance. The RTX 3070 with its larger GA104 die is conspicuously more than efficient, however depending on what laptops are available to y'all, you may be better off with the RTX 3060 model.

RTX 3070 80W vs. 115W

Overall the delta betwixt the 115W and 80W variants of the RTX 3070 is significant: 15% on average at 1080p, and that grows to xx% at 1440p as we remove more potential bottlenecks. This gives yous a good indication of the range of possible operation y'all can get with the 3070 in laptops, and why looking at that ability rating is so crucial. OEMs that have enough cooling to handle 115W or 125W are going to deliver a much amend gaming experience.

RTX 3070 80W vs RTX 2070 Super Max-Q

The RTX 3070 is faster than previous generation laptop GPUs. Comparison the 80W model to the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q at 90W reveals the RTX 3070 to be 12 percent faster on average.

Meanwhile in a smaller option of games, at 115W the RTX 3070 is a decent 30 percent faster on average than the RTX 2070, which is a skillful sign considering these two parts are a similar price.

GeForce RTX 3070 Desktop vs RTX 3070 Laptop 115W

When comparing the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU to its desktop counterpart, it'southward a bit of a bloodbath.

At 1080p, the desktop is 35% faster on boilerplate than the 115W laptop variant. That margin does reduce to 30% on average at 1440p without Optimus, simply it'due south undeniable that the desktop GPU is significantly faster and not actually in the same performance class.

GeForce RTX 3070 Desktop vs RTX 3070 Laptop 80W

As expected, information technology gets worse for the 80W model. This GPU really isn't an RTX 3070, with the desktop card producing 53% higher frame rates on average at 1080p and 1440p.

It's a hard chore to convert a 220W GPU into an 80W GPU, and the results testify us just that. While the laptop variant is technically more efficient and delivers meliorate functioning per watt, 80W is just too slim for an RTX 3070 to show what information technology's capable of.

GeForce RTX 2070 Super Desktop vs RTX 3070 Laptop 115W

In reality, the RTX 3070 at 115W is closer to an RTX 2070 Super desktop – and fifty-fifty then the RTX 2070 Super is ten% faster on boilerplate. Hopefully that will requite buyers a sense of where their RTX 3070 laptop sits in the overall graphics market.

What We Learned

There are two distinct ways to expect at the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU. One is purely from the perspective of the laptop market, and the other is looking at the gaming landscape as a whole, also factoring in desktop cards.

From a gaming laptop perspective, the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU is a decent simply non earth shattering GPU upgrade for 2022 gaming notebooks. Compared to its predecessors, the 3070 is up to 15% faster than the RTX 2070 Super, and effectually thirty% better than the RTX 2070 at the same power level.

There is no dubiety that the Ampere design on Samsung's 8nm process is more efficient, then laptops that have the aforementioned cooling capacity – eastward.g. a refresh of the same blueprint – should be a respectable amount faster. The gains aren't as significant equally we saw comparing Turing to Ampere on the desktop, only it'south hard to eek out more performance when power constrained.

Another big positive is for laptop buyers is that Nvidia has made RTX 30 series laptops a flake cheaper than the Turing generation in this tier. The RTX 3070 is essentially replacing the RTX 2070, so these laptops should be cheaper than previous generation RTX 2070 Super systems, and that'southward basically what we've seen so far. Whether you look at information technology as being 15% faster than the 2070 Super for a lower price, or xxx% faster than the 2070 at the same toll, either fashion that's a pretty good effect and similar to the operation per dollar gains we saw with the RTX 3060 vs 2060 in laptops.

There are some drawbacks though. The RTX 3070 Laptop GPU does do good more than than usual from a higher power configuration, so buyers should probably avoid 80W "Max-Q" configurations as the gains relative to the RTX 3060 are small. In general the RTX 3070 is also not as good value as the RTX 3060 – in the Aorus 15G, for example, the 3070 configuration is 20% more expensive for what we expect x-xv% better performance. That's non unusual as you motion up the product stack, but it'southward something to keep in listen.

Information technology's also of import to await out for those power configurations. We're thankful Nvidia are forcing OEMs to make this information public, because at that place is the possibility for an RTX 3070 low power config to perform below that of an RTX 3060 in a higher power config.

It'south also hard to ignore the elephant in the room: this GPU does not provide RTX 3070 desktop-similar performance. We practice believe the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU is quite decent overall in its ain niggling laptop bubble, merely confronting a desktop, information technology'southward not even shut. At 115W, the desktop variant is 30% faster, and honestly the difference between a low power RTX 3070 Laptop GPU and the full desktop card is embarrassing. Two products with a larger than 50% performance delta simply should non have a name that's and then similar.

The main concern here is a laptop buyer that's seen all the hype around a desktop RTX 3070 (the card that launched last year), and is looking at buying a laptop expecting that level of functioning. The RTX 3070 is a bit of a beast, simply with over 200W of power consumption it tin't be put into a reasonably-sized laptop. There's plenty of room for fast gaming laptops, but it'south merely non realistic to believe the two GPUs will perform the aforementioned, and thus perhaps they should be named more appropriately.

Ultimately our recommendation for gaming laptops is the aforementioned that it's ever been. Buying a gaming desktop is going to be faster and/or cheaper for a given level of performance. But laptops are withal a practiced product if you require something portable, and Nvidia is pushing operation further alee with the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.

Yous only need to brand sure y'all are genuinely moving your laptop from place to place, because if it's merely sitting on your desk hooked upwardly to a monitor all the time, what we've seen again today is that a laptop is no match for a true desktop-form product.

Shopping Shortcuts
  • GeForce RTX 3070 Laptops on Amazon
  • Gigabyte Aorus 15G RTX 3070 on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 3060 Laptops on Amazon
  • Ryzen 9 5980HS Laptops on Amazon
  • Intel Core i7 Tiger Lake Laptops on Amazon