Tag: tested

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We tested DLSS 3.0 on an RTX 4090 gaming laptop — this could kill the gaming desktop

We tested DLSS 3.0 on an RTX 4090 gaming laptop — this could kill the gaming desktop

Nvidia’s RTX 40 Series laptop GPUs are here, but the raw horsepower of this card is less important than DLSS 3.0, which could allow the gaming laptop to kill the gaming desktop.

Why? Well through a little help from AI, it turns out that you can get frame rates up to 177{b7c9e2c88beb1a84f22d94ab877a147f4adc4b3519717f3f957a0f34e16918d1} faster than without it — that is at the same graphical fidelity settings across the board. No longer do you have to do the dance of choosing which options to compromise on, in order to speed up that FPS count.

So, how does it work, what does it look like in practice, and how much faster do your games run with it? We’ve done the tests and have everything you need to know about DLSS 3.0 right here.

What is DLSS 3.0?

Nvidia launches GeForce Now Ultimate and we're excited!

(Image credit: Future)

The third generation of Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology is using an AI-driven technique that is capable of boosting frame rates by an impressive amount (more on the specific numbers later).

What is it doing specifically in the background? Basically, it’s a spin on what you see in anti-aliasing in which the demand of game textures is reduced a little, but then artificially boosted by pumping it out at a higher resolution. In these finer margins, you can get away with a lot without gamers noticing any change to visual fidelity.

The additional thing being done comes in the form of the “Deep Learning” part of that name, which takes a lot of the pressure of rendering frames at a higher resolution off the GPU, and relies on AI to predict frames and deliver them. This is the end result of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that has been relentlessly training supercomputers by showing them low resolution images and then the same picture at a 64x higher resolution.

Alongside this, the CNN is also providing temporal feedback, which helps the supercomputers to know and predict where an object in an image will move over time — resulting in a solid predictive loop to shore up the frame rate. The end result is a far smoother looking picture.

How it actually looks

So, just like any company, Nvidia has carefully chosen in-game pictures that make its product look good — almost as if you don’t notice the supersampling technique happening at all!

In reality, you can see it at differing levels based on what mode of DLSS you have on. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t impact the gameplay experience, but you should get an honest representation of what each mode does and make your own conclusions.

(Image credit: Future)

The quality mode is, as you’d expect, the one for those who prefer to maintain visual fidelity while boosting frame rate. In my side-by-sides, you’ll struggle to see any artifacting whatsoever, as the DLSS effect is very subtle.

(Image credit: Future)

For the best of both worlds, balanced mode has you covered. In this mode, you can start to see a little fuzzy outline around certain objects in the distance, but in the heat of gameplay, you’re not going to notice the effect working hard to boost that framerate.

(Image credit: Future)

And finally, if you want to prioritize a super fast frame rate, performance or ultra performance modes will achieve this, but at what cost? Going back to the bar scene, you can see a lot more artifacting around the NPCs and objects, as the neural network tries to determine where things are going. Not only that, you notice it makes an impact on certain ray traced elements too like the bloom of the arrow lighting.

Like I said up top, none of this impacts the gameplay of single-player titles like these — the slight additional latency can barely be felt and any high frame rate artifacting doesn’t hinder your visibility of what’s ahead. But it is worth knowing that while there are two extremes in DLSS 3.0, it may be worth going all Goldilocks and picking the “just right” balanced option.

DLSS 3.0 tested

So we talked a big game. What’s the actual impact of DLSS 3.0? Our own tests indicate one very clear thing. Nvidia isn’t kidding around. This is quite the paradigm shift in PC gaming on the go. These numbers come from my own benchmarking on the RTX 4090-armed Asus ROG Zephyrus M16.

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Benchmark Performance Turbo Turbo + DLSS Balanced Turbo + DLSS Quality Turbo + DLSS High Performance
Cyberpunk (2560 x 1600 Ultra RT) 53.82 fps 67.79 fps 108.78 fps 95.19 fps 149.11 fps
Hitman 3 (Dartmoor 1920 x 1200 High/Ultra settings RT) 49.47 fps 60.69 fps 129.46 fps 124.07 fps 134.06 fps
F1 22 (Miami 2560 x 1600 Highest settings) 50 fps 62 fps 151 fps 133 fps 168 fps

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is an up to 177{b7c9e2c88beb1a84f22d94ab877a147f4adc4b3519717f3f957a0f34e16918d1} increase in average frame rate compared to our out-the-box standard results, and a 119{b7c9e2c88beb1a84f22d94ab877a147f4adc4b3519717f3f957a0f34e16918d1} jump over Turbo mode. That is utterly bonkers, especially when you take into account the pure power potential of the 4090 here.

Turns out that AI is not only the answer to making the most of that 240Hz display in the Zephyrus M16, it could also be the answer to making your gaming laptop the next great desktop replacement. With resolution upscaling and refresh rate increased through DLSS, you may not need to buy a massive tower that engulfs your desk anymore.

Outlook

It’s easy to misinterpret the importance of DLSS 3.0. Desktop gamers look upon it as the holy grail, as it unlocks AI resolution upscaling and refresh rate boosts unlike anything you’ve seen before.

But on an already lower resolution display of a gaming laptop, why do you need it? Well the answer is obvious — frame rate. To see Cyberpunk run so buttery smooth on a portable system is, frankly, mind blowing to me.

What will be most fascinating to see going forward is how this tech works on lower priced gaming laptop GPUs. Because sure, with the huge gains seen in the RTX 4090, supersampling is going to be simply glorious. But if Nvidia can pull off similar improvements in frame rate on lower end options too, then we’re in for a true game changer.

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Hurry! The best gaming laptop we’ve tested is $650 off at Best Buy now

Hurry! The best gaming laptop we’ve tested is 0 off at Best Buy now

Best Buy is quickly becoming the retailer to beat when it comes to seriously good weekend sales, and that’s no different right now as it’s just launched another three-day sales event (opens in new tab) that is set to run until Sunday (April 23). 

Among the various tech deals are some excellent savings on the best gaming laptops, including a major discount for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. This is our top pick when it comes to gaming laptops and we love its vibrant display, elegant chassis and strong battery life. It’s a machine we’ve previously recommended at full price but now it’s available with such a hefty discount it’s an even better buy. 

Right now, this Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop is on sale for $999 at Best Buy (opens in new tab). That’s a sizeable $650 off its full list price of $1,649, and it’s the lowest price we’ve ever spotted for this particular configuration. In fact, this isn’t just a great gaming laptop deal, it’s also one of the best laptop deals you’ll find in general.  

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Asus ROG Zephrus G14 key features
Display 14″ LED (2560 x 1600), 120Hz
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 6000
GPU AMD Radeon RX 6700S
Storage 1TB SSD
Ports 5 (HDMI, 2x USB-4 3.2, 2x USB-C 3.2)

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 — What you need to know

Price history: Like most gaming laptops the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is available with a range of internal components which has a direct impact on its price. We’ve seen top-of-the-line models retail for as much as $1,899, but this specific model was on sale for $1,199 during the holiday sales last year. It subsequently dropped down to $1,099 back in March, and it’s now hit $999 which is its lowest price ever.  

Review consensus: In our Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review, we labeled the laptop a “portable powerhouse” and praised for it “delivering a potent blend of performance, portability and power efficiency” while noting that “it can’t match the outlandish battery life of its predecessors, but the brighter screen is worth it.” We did have a few performance hiccups during our testing, and the 720p webcam made us grumble, but there’s a reason this laptop tops our list of the best gaming laptops. It thoroughly earns its Editor’s Choice seal of approval. 

Toms Guide: ★★★★☆ | TechRadar: ★★★★★ (opens in new tab) |T3: ★★★★☆ (opens in new tab)  

Buying guides: Best laptops, best gaming laptops, best laptops for video editing, best Windows laptops

Buy it if: You want a solid gaming laptop for a reasonable price. It’s also a great pick if you value style as the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 sports a generally sleek aesthetic that is very easy on the eye. It’s also worth considering if you want strong battery life as we managed more than 10 hours on a single charge in our testing. 

Don’t buy if it: You demand top-of-the-line specs. This Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is well-equipped to play loads of the best PC games, but it’s not the most powerful option on the market. Of course, if you want more power that will come with an increase in the overall price you’ll have to pay.    

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MSI Titan GT77 HX review: Intel’s most powerful laptop chip, tested

MSI Titan GT77 HX review: Intel’s most powerful laptop chip, tested

Okay, now this is just ridiculous.

For those of you just tuning in, Intel announced an absolutely monstrous mobile processor back in January — the Core i9-13980HX with 5.6Ghz of turbo frequency, 157 watts of maximum turbo power, and 24 cores (eight performance, 16 efficiency). It is, on paper, the most powerful laptop CPU in history. So, naturally, I had to get my hands on one.

I’m writing this to you live from the MSI Titan GT77 HX. This is an absurd device. It’s got a 17.3 inch 144Hz Mini LED screen. Inside are a GeForce RTX 4090, 2TB of storage, and 64GB of memory. If anything can display Intel’s flagship processor at its finest, it’ll be this gigantic thing. Micro Center currently has it listed for, you know, just $4,699.99, a very reasonable and normal price to pay for a computer.

But let me tell you — I deeply envy the 11 people who are going to buy this because the chip inside it is an absolute beast. And here’s what’s most surprising: The battery life, while not what I would call “good,” was better than I expected it to be.

How we rate and review products

Benchmark results

These are some of the best gaming results you’ll see from any laptop. In particular, I want to draw your attention to that CS:GO score. CS:GO score is a particularly CPU-heavy title, and this laptop scored higher than I’ve ever seen a laptop score on that before by a solid margin. I mean, 574 frames per second is just hilarious.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX facing away from the camera.

It looks similar to the GE models but bigger.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX keyboard seen from above.

The arrow keys are on the small side, but they worked fine for me.

To see how much this CPU is adding to the conversation, you can compare the Titan to the recently announced Razer Blade 16. The model of that laptop I just reviewed includes the same 4090 GPU with a very slightly less powerful Core i9-13950HX. The Titan displayed some form of increase on most settings that we ran.

The MSI Titan GT77HX seen from above, displaying the MSI logo on a desktop background.

The touchpad is quite roomy, but it picks up fingerprints.

On Cinebench, the Titan scored a 2,098 on single core and a 28,479 on multicore. Those are far and away the highest scores I’ve ever seen from any machine, laptop, or desktop that I’ve ever run that test on. So if you were waiting for confirmation, this chip is a monster.

How that raw power translates to the real world will depend on your use case. The Titan took two minutes and 53 seconds on our 4K video export test and scored an 1,124 on PugetBench for Premiere Pro. Those are fine results, but they show how gaming-oriented the system is. If you want a device primarily for video work — and I’m not sure I ever expected to be typing this sentence in my life — you will actually save money by going for a 64GB / 2TB MacBook Pro with M2 Max, which did better on our Premiere tests.

The back left vent of the MSI Titan GT77 HX.

It’s not quite as garrish as the bright LED strips that you see on some big gaming laptops (hello, Asus ROG).

And then the biggest surprise of the day. Battery life: surprisingly okay. I averaged five hours and seven minutes to a charge using this device as my primary driver, which entailed working in around 20 Chrome tabs, very light photo work, and some occasional Spotify streaming overtop. You know what? I’ll take it.

I’d expected this device’s battery life to be around nine minutes, so five hours well exceeds my expectations. The Titan’s size allows for a massive 99.9Whr battery, of course, but I’m still happy to see that the 16 efficiency cores built into this CPU seem to be pulling their weight. (This was done with the RTX 4090 GPU disabled, of course — I wouldn’t expect you’ll get this result with that chip running at full speed.)

The vents on the back of the MSI Titan GT77 HX.

It’s fairly subtle, right?

The ports on the right side of the MSI Titan GT77 HX.

There aren’t ports on the back of this like you’ll find on some 17 inchers.

The chip and its power are the main attraction of the Titan GT77 HX, but if you’re curious about the laptop itself, here are a few things to know about it.

  • I’m obsessed with this keyboard. The Titan has a Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical keyboard with two-piece keycap structure and “cross-point contact system.” I do not exaggerate when I say that it is my favorite laptop keyboard I’ve ever used. The keys have a perfect actuation point with just the right amount of click. I easily hit my normal typing speeds with an accuracy rate that I don’t think I’ve ever achieved on a typing test before. I’d love to have a keyboard like this in my daily process, and I wish more manufacturers went for it. I’m typing this now on a Razer Blade, having recently moved over from the Titan, and I just feel sad. One caveat: the arrow keys and number pad don’t use mechanical switches, which may feel inconsistent during gaming.
  • It’s flashy and bold. If you’re looking for a product that people will turn to stare at as they walk by, this is the one. The keyboard, back vents, and lid logo are all full of RGB. It’s also a large device, at just over 0.9 inches thick and 7.3 pounds. In today’s laptop market, that’s about as thick and heavy as they come. Carry this anywhere, and people will notice, is what I’m saying. Oh, and the 330W adapter is truly gigantic — like, the size and weight of a hefty book. (It only charged the Titan up to 49 percent in 60 minutes, which was slower than I’d hoped, considering the size.)
  • The display is a dream. The 144Hz 4K Mini LED screen on my test model is exceptional. It achieved a whopping 885 nits of brightness, which means you shouldn’t have issues seeing your games in any indoor or outdoor setting. I only needed to keep it between 20 and 30 percent brightness during my day-to-day work. Given that many prominent gaming laptops are… not the brightest, that’s an impressive spec to see. Between that brightness, the deep blacks and vivid colors that the Mini LED provides, the 144Hz refresh rate, and the 4K resolution, this is undoubtedly one of the best screens — if not the best screen — that you can get on a gaming laptop right now.
  • The chassis is solid. Build quality is excellent, with very little flex in the keyboard or screen. It has all the ports you need, including Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, ethernet, and an SD card reader.
The MSI dragon on the lid of the Titan GT77 HX.

The familiar MSI logo remains, though it now changes color.

MSI TITAN GT77 HX SPECS (AS TESTED)

  • Intel 13th Gen Core i9-13980HX
  • 64GB (32GB*2) DDR5
  • GeForce RTX 4090 / 16GB GDDR6
  • 2TB SSD
  • 17.3-inch UHD (3840 x 1260) Mini LED panel, 144Hz refresh rate
  • IR HD webcam (30fps @ 720p)
  • 15.63 x 13 x 0.91 inches (397 x 330 x 23mm), 7.28 pounds (3.3kg)
  • Four-cell, Li-Polymer, 99.9Whr
  • 330W power brick
  • Three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, one SD Express memory card reader, one audio combo jack, one RJ45, one HDMI (8K @ 60Hz / 4K @ 120Hz), two Thunderbolt 4 / DP / USB Type-C, one Mini DisplayPort, one DC-in
  • Cherry Mechanical Per-Key RGB gaming keyboard by SteelSeries
  • Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690, Bluetooth v5.2

There are two downsides to note. For one, it’s a fingerprint magnet (though the smudges are easier to wipe off than they tend to be on Razer Blades). It’s also quite loud. I mean, I don’t imagine that anyone’s buying a laptop that’s literally called the “Titan” and expecting it to be subdued and stealthy. But yes, to confirm, the GT77 HX’s fans are quite audible when running at full speed.

Finally, I do have to come back to the price here. When a device is several hundred dollars more expensive than a similar MacBook Pro (a laptop widely critiqued as an inaccessible luxury), giving buying advice about it feels almost unnecessary. Rather, we can view this device as a fantasy — a look at gaming technology at its marvelous, once unattainable peak.

If you’re looking for a 17 incher with a high-resolution screen and cool-looking lights but find the Titan a bit out of your price range, a 4K version of Alienware’s x17 is currently going for well over $1,000 less than this Titan unit. Those looking for something more compact might instead try the UHD 144Hz Razer Blade 17 (currently $3,499.99), which has a colorful (but more subdued) keyboard. These are still expensive laptops, to be sure, but they’re quite a bit closer to the ground.

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge