Graphics professionals and gamers spend hours deciding the best graphics card for laptop build to serve their requirements. A highest-end GPU for portable laptops is still a hard choice among buyers due to their excessive heat dissipation. However, modern technology has started to gain control over that problem with the new innovative ideas implemented on the GPUs specially made for portable laptops, as well as software that can help you get the best out of your laptop's GPU and graphics card - see this cinebench download link for more information.

Among the two market leaders, NVIDIA is running one step ahead of AMD in this competition of inventing the highest-end graphics card for laptop choices. According to Steam reports, NVIDIA's GPU market share has already occupied 75.5% of the entire GPU sales worldwide. However, AMD isn’t lagging far behind to occupy a large chunk of this industry. In today's discussion, we have differentiated five of the best graphics cards for the Indian laptop market. Let’s see how they satisfy your needs in the long run.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Graphics Card For Laptop

(Source: NVIDIA)

Nvidia released this epic graphics card for laptop gamers back in the first quarter of 2019. And, from that time, this GPU has turned many heads towards it. Currently, it's probably the single graphics card for laptops that has no enemy. Yes, many tech pundits have tested this GPU in different computing settings, and they are pretty vocal about its masculine performance under steep gaming/processing demands. If you're more of a casual gamer, perhaps one who plays most of their games on their mobile, click this link to find some great casino games that you simply have to try for yourself. There's the potential to win cash prizes if luck is on your side, of course! Any fan of physical casinos or Vegas would be missing out if they didn't give it a go. Now, coming to its tech specs, it has an 8GB GDDR6 VRAM memory volume attached to it. Added to this, it follows the 12 nm manufacturing process. This process ensures that it's at least 50. ster than its predecessors and consumes 60% less power. Further, this GPU with 2944 cores runs on NVIDIA's latest Turing architecture that clocks a base speed of 1380 MHz, and it can go up to 1590 MHz.The memory bandwidth of this graphics card for laptop build is colossal - 448GB/Sec. yes, I'm talking about a full-fledged 4k gaming experience on your laptop with the ability to pull 60 fps ray-tracing with the best AI-powered gaming performance. Technically, RTX 2080 Ti is the most powerful GPU for gaming PCs available today, on this planet, and NVIDIA never planned to dishearten laptop gamers. The result? They removed the Ti part and made an ultra-low-power RTX 2080 graphics card for laptop gamers. Yes, its 150W power consumption never fails to push this laptop graphic card to handle extreme overclocking.

PROS:

  • The best graphics card for laptop gaming
  • Low power demand - around 150 watt
  • DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and real-time ray-tracing (RTRT) capable gaming GPU for laptop
  • 256-bit memory bus with 14Gbps memory speed
  • DisplayPort 1.4 ready
  • HDR, HDMI 2.0b, SMP (Simultaneous Multi-Projection), and H.265 PlayReady 3.0 video encoding-decoding support

CONS:

  • Too much expensive.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Graphics Card For Laptop

(Source: NVIDIA)

As it goes with the gamers - It's RTX. It's on. Frankly, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card for laptop gaming or heavy graphics designing is the second best out there in the market. Before these GPUs, heavy gaming and portability were poles apart. But, now, you can experience real gaming on your laptops. Now, coming to its tech specs, RTX 2070 (laptop) almost equals the processing power of RTX 2080 (laptop). It runs on the same Turing architecture for handling extreme overclocking. Further, it comes with an 8GB GDDR6 VRAM memory module and offers the same memory bandwidth - 448GB per second. Moving on to the other features, the base frequency of this laptop graphics card with 2304 cores is a bit slower than RTX 2080, and it's around 1215 MHz and reaches a max frequency - of 1440 MHz. Its lithography figure is the same - 12nm. And, the brighter side is that it consumes lesser power than RTX 2080, which is around 115W. Simply, this graphics card in a laptop does wonders - real gaming with low heat output. Further, the power of real-time ray-tracing is there along with the support of other popular technologies like G-Sync, DirectX-12 API, NVLink, and DLSS.So, who should go with this graphics card? Simply, if you do not have a high budget to purchase the RTX 2080 but still want to enjoy gaming at 1080p or 4K level with real-time ray-tracing, this GPU is for your gaming beast.

PROS:

  • Similar to RTX 2080 except with a little less memory speed

CONS:

  • Cheaper than RTX 2080 but still burns a hole in your pocket.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q Graphics Card For Laptop

Another gem from NVIDIA towards global laptop gaming. Admittedly, it's one of the best laptop graphics cards that NVIDIA mothered for laptops. Max-Q technology was first launched in 2017 to allow the rendering horsepower of the higher-end graphics cards to be fitted in slimmer form factors. NVIDIA has borrowed this concept from aerospace in which Max-Q is defined as the maximum dynamic pressure of a spacecraft after its launch. Now, coming to its beefy tech features, this graphics card for laptop gaming offers a bit diminished performance if compared to the RTX 2080 GPUs for the PC ecosystem. And it should be. We can't demand equal processing power from a GPU that draws way less power and seeks less cooling. Having said that, the reduction in both clock speed and power consumption has made it suitable to work inside ultra-thin laptops. Although its base chip is the same TU104 used in the mobile and desktop variations of this series. And thus provide similar specifications with 2,944 shaders and an 8GB GDDR6 memory module but a slightly slower memory speed of 12Gbps rather than 14. 

NVIDIA TURING TU104 chip architecture[/caption]

(Source: NoteBookCheck)

This specific chip is best known for its DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), and RTRT (Real-Time Ray Tracing) features empowering realistic lighting effects. Currently, NVIDIA has planned to market two different variants of this Max-Q design of graphics card for laptops. The low power consumption (80 Watt) version provides 735-1095 MHz core clock speed, whereas the faster variant with 90 Watt consumption offers 990-1230 MHz core velocityAnother another difference in this laptop graphics card from its regular RTX 2080 counterpart is in its drivers. The Max-Q specialty optimizes efficiency rather than performance to serve the purpose of a graphics card for laptops with thinner lap-happy architecture. However, you won’t be deprived of enjoying any demanding 4k games on maximum details.

PROS:

  • Low power-hungry design is best suited for thin laptops
  • High-definition cooling system
  • Voltage optimizing converters for 1V operation
  • 40 dBA noise limitation for fans

CONS:

  • Raytracing may reduce a lot of framerates.
  • Expensive

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q (8GB DDR5X) Graphics Card For Laptop

Our next best one is another Max-Q jewel from NVIDIA. It was one of the first models NVIDIA marketed combined with the Max-Q feature in 2017. Although this one runs on older Pascal technology-engineered GP104 chips, you can expect a clear gaming experience for most hardware-demanding games in full HD settings. Let's take a look at its tech signature and what we see in this graphics card for laptop build is a base frequency of 1101-1290MHz reaching the boost point between 1278-1458MHz. Of course, it's around 18% less than the regular GTX 1080 card, but that's the story of Max-Q, right? As we have already seen, the focal purpose of this technology is not performance, but efficiency to suit high-end portable laptops. The invitation is for the people who travel frequently. You guys are not expecting to be hardcore gaming professionals, I believe, but who doesn't want to feel the adrenalin rush of modern eventful gaming?

(Source: AnandTech)

Admittedly, you don't have to bother much about the heat dissipation and noise of your device since that's the expertise Max-Q provides in a graphics card for laptops. Talking about the price range, you may have to spend generously to pay the price of your gaming desire, but it's less than the others we talked about before. The performance is 10-15% slower than a regular GTX 1080 GPU as it maintains a high-end cooling ability inside an ultrathin notebook. You may expect similar performance as GeForce GTX Max-P 1070 cards, even when the memory clock is identical to the regular GTX 1080 series. The 16nm FinFET process is the basis of the GP104 chip architecture of this graphics card for laptops. However, the Max-Q design reduced the power consumption between 90-110 Watt (TGP), whereas the desktop version demands 180 Watt. According to NVIDIA, their Optimus engineering, combined with Battery Boost technology, expands the battery life to around double the general lifespan of a battery in Max-Q empowered GPU chips.

PROS:

  • Similar to RTX 2080 Max-Q

CONS:

  • Similar speed as regular GTX 1070 and also slower than that sometimes

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Vega 10 XL mobile) Graphics Card For Laptop

The last but not least member in today's discussion for the best graphics card for laptops is the latest AMD champion Radeon RX Vega 56 (Vega 10 XL mobile). Among the crowd of NVIDIA celebrities, this GPU card is carrying the flag of AMD gracefully.AMD replaced its old Fiji architecture with the Vega series GPUs in 2017. The RX Vega 56 technology is a bit older than the Vega series graphics chips. Still, it’s quite capable of running hardware-hungry games. It has 3584 cores, which is lesser than the other 4096-core Vega models like RX Vega 64. The memory bus is of 2,048-bit width. The Vega 10 XL GPU was launched in 2018, a newer addition to the Vega 56 family. According to LaptopMedia, this specific graphics card for laptops has occupied the 11th position in their comparative benchmark results with all the latest model GPUs. It has outrun the well-known RTX 2070 Max-Q and RTX 2060 graphics cards for laptop implementation.

 

(Source: AnandTech)

Coming to the specs, this card is built on a 14nm MOSFET technology, the predecessor of the 22nm process. The GPU architecture is Vega 10 XL mobile with the support of DirectX 12.0. The base to boost the GPU frequency range is 1138MHz to 1302MHz. The fast HBM2 type VRAM bears the capacity of 8GB storage. It runs on 800MHz frequency, providing a bandwidth of 409.6GB/s. This GPU is compatible with plenty of gaming-oriented technologies like Radeon FreeSync Technology, Radeon VR Ready Premium, AMD Eyefinity Technology for gaming, OpenGL 4.5, OpenCL 2.0, Frame Rate Target Control, AMD PowerTune, TrueAudio Next, Video Code Engine (VCE), Unified Video Decoder (UVD), The Vulkan API, Virtual Super Resolution, and some others. The performance of this GPU card is directly comparable with NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1070 chip. Having a 210W power consumption feature is not a good sign compared to its closest NVIDIA sibling having only 150W of the same. It looks like this laptop GPU chip is bearing a significant downfall in the performance-per-watt ratio. Besides, the primary cooling technology with only a single radial fan is not an acceptable option for a graphics card made for laptop hardware systems.

PROS:

  • High-end gaming performance.
  • Fast memory support with 8GB capacity.
  • DirectX 12.0 compatibility.
  • Supports several modern gaming technologies
  • Low price than others.

CONS:

  • PPW is not good.
  • The cooling system requires improvement for a graphics card for laptop build.

Last Verdict

Okay, we have reached the end. So, decision time, right? Which is always a difficult task. Besides, the best choice is always relative to the purpose you are sorting for. That said, our selected winner among the nominated list of five GPU cards may not be your favorite one of yours. Still, we are choosing GeForce RTX 2080 as the best graphics card for laptop build, according to a general verdict. Feel free to comment on the best choice from your point of view as well.

People also ask: 

How to check my graphics card on a laptop?

There is a very simple procedure that anyone can follow to check the graphics card in any laptop you have possessing the windows operating system installed in it.  The dedicated methodology by which you can check your laptop’s graphics card’s details is mentioned below:

  1. Press the Window key + R, type ‘dxdiag’ and press Enter when the Run search bar appears on the screen.
  2. Now, click the ‘Display’ tab and look at the ‘Name’ field in the particular ‘Device’ section.
  3. You will now see the relevant details of your GPU.  Apart from this, you will also be able to view other statistics like the amount of video memory (VRAM) built into your GPU.

How to replace the graphics card in a laptop?

People are seen pondering upon the situation to change or replace the concerning graphics card in a laptop.  However, most laptops possess the category of Discrete GPUs which are embedded within the corresponding motherboard of the respective laptop.  Hence, we have listed a number of steps in the following by which you can hassle-free replace the graphics card in your laptop:

  1. Check the compatibility of the graphics card with your laptop.
  2. Uninstall your Old Drivers related to the previous version of the graphics card.
  3. Remove the Old Graphics Card.
  4. Installing the New Graphics Card.
  5. Install New Drivers.
  6. Your new Graphics Card is ready to use.

How do insert graphics cards into a laptop?

There are two prominent ways by which one can insert a graphics card inside a laptop, one is to upgrade the current laptop configuration with the latest version and the second is to plug in an external GPU drive through the USB Port.  We have mentioned both of the procedures one by one in the following steps:

Upgrading the current Graphics Card in the laptop

  1. Check the compatibility of the graphics card with your laptop.
  2. Uninstall your Old Drivers related to the previous version of the graphics card.
  3. Remove the Old Graphics Card.
  4. Installing the New Graphics Card.
  5. Install New Drivers.
  6. Your new Graphics Card is ready to use.
  7.  You may work now as per your choice.

Plugin in an external GPU drive through the USB Port:

  1. Detach the wireless adapter and plug in the adapter's cable from the corresponding available adapter.
  2. Now, plug in the GPU to the adapter.
  3. Here, we need to plug the 6-pin connector into the adapter.
  4. Now, you need to plug in or attach the 6-pin, 8-pin, 8+6, or 8+8 pin into the GPU (if suitable)
  5. Here, you are required to plug in the PSU and turn the laptop on.
  6. You just need to download the essential supporting GPU drivers and you are ready to go!
  7. YOU MAY WORK NOW!

Where is the graphics card located on a laptop?

In most laptops, the graphics card is embedded in the motherboard as it possesses a Discrete GPUs category of graphics card.  They are also used for high-functioning images and video functionalities work processes.  Anyone can find the graphics card there but it is cannot be detached.

How to upgrade an integrated graphics card laptop?

It is certainly not possible for any common man to upgrade the integrated graphics card in a laptop since it cannot be detached from it due to its embedment with it.  Only a professional person can install the integrated graphics card in the motherboard or else the entire motherboard can be changed with a new one with a better version graphics card for updated work functioning.

Can I change the dedicated graphics card on my laptop?

It is highly not possible for a common person to change the graphics card in the laptop since they are coming embedded with the corresponding motherboards of the laptops.  You can only buy a new laptop with a better version of the graphics card installed in it to accomplish more complex goals in your day-to-day functioning apart from it, you can call a highly qualified and experienced technician of NSS Laptop Service by calling them on the hotline mobile number at +91-9717150098 and let the professional do the functioning just for you at very pocket-friendly prices.

How to know what graphics card I have on my laptop?

By following some simple steps of checking the dedicated graphics card on your laptop, you can have all the relevant details related to the graphics card in no time.  The steps are described below:

  1. Press the Window key + R, type ‘dxdiag’ and press Enter when the Run search bar appears on the screen.
  2. Now, click the ‘Display’ tab and look at the ‘Name’ field in the particular ‘Device’ section.
  3. You will now see the relevant details of your GPU.  Apart from this, you will also be able to view other statistics like the amount of video memory (VRAM) built into your GPU.

What is the graphics card on my laptop?

This question can be answered by your laptop by merely following some simple steps and letting it give the needful answer to you.  You just need to follow the instruction by which you can obtain the required details directly from your laptop as follows:

  1. Press the Window key + R, type ‘dxdiag’ and press Enter when the Run search bar appears on the screen.
  2. Now, click the ‘Display’ tab and look at the ‘Name’ field in the particular ‘Device’ section.
  3. You will now see the relevant details of your GPU.  Apart from this, you will also be able to view other statistics like the amount of video memory (VRAM) built into your GPU.

How to replace laptop graphics cards?

It is highly difficult or impossible in most cases to replace a laptop’s graphics card as most laptops are coming with the graphics card embedded with the corresponding motherboards of the laptops.  A user can only purchase a fresh laptop with a higher version of a graphics card to obtain larger benefits from it. Apart from it, the technicians of the NSS Laptop Service can make it possible through the experience and expertise they possess from years of continuous practice in your service.  You just need to call them at +91-9717150098 and book a slot for their visit at your place and the rest will genuinely be handled by them.

How to check the graphics card on a laptop windows 7?

The genuine and verified method to check the corresponding graphics card in the laptop having Windows 7 Operating System installed in it via the following simple steps

  1. Make a right-click of your mouse on the desktop area
  2. Choose Screen Resolution there.
  3. Here, you need to click on the Advanced Settings link.
  4. No, click the Adapter tab to see the installed graphics card details.

How to attach a graphics card to a laptop?

The dedicated procedure to attach a genuine external graphics card to a laptop is mentioned below:

  1. Detach the wireless adapter and plug in the adapter's cable from the corresponding available adapter.
  2. Now, plug in the GPU to the adapter.
  3. Here, we need to plug the 6-pin connector into the adapter.
  4. Now, you need to plug in or attach the 6-pin, 8-pin, 8+6, or 8+8 pin into the GPU (if suitable)
  5. Here, you are required to plug in the PSU and turn the laptop on.
  6. You just need to download the essential supporting GPU drivers and you are ready to go!
  7. YOU MAY WORK NOW!

Can I put a graphics card on my laptop for gaming?

We cannot guarantee that you can add a graphics card to your laptop just for gaming purposes.  It is a bizarre method but you can plug in an external graphics card to your laptop through the USB port just like a pen drive.  In this case, you will resolve your purpose to add a graphics card to your laptop whether it is attached from outside of the laptop.