Nvidia Hybrid SLI-enabled laptops coming in Q3

Reuben Lee | May 08, 2008

Expect an onslaught of new notebooks equipped with the latest hybrid graphics chipsets to hit the market mid-year. After AMD's earlier announcement of its Puma platform (with its ATI Hybrid Graphics) slated for the later part of this quarter, Nvidia has also indicated in its recent press release that it will launch Hybrid-SLI-enabled notebooks in Q3.

Hybrid graphics systems (ATI calls it Hybrid Graphics, while Nvidia terms it Hybrid-SLI) generally come equipped with both integrated and discrete graphics chipsets. While previous PC systems allow only one of the two to be used for graphics processing, the new hybrid systems employ both graphics chipsets during operation. For instance, the integrated graphics chipset is activated when the user is deploying the PC for simple applications such as email and Web surfing. But when intensive 3D graphics processing is needed in apps like gaming, the discrete graphics chipset kicks in. The result is a robust system that uses less power (which translates to cost savings) for everyday apps, yet can step up to the task of demanding graphics when needed.

Hybrid graphics systems are currently employed in desktop PCs. It will be interesting to see how Nvidia and ATI's offerings will impact on the graphics-processing speeds and battery life of notebooks.

Filed under: Notebooks
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