MSI Vortex cylindrical gaming mini tower is now available

[HEXUS]

Claimed to be a 6.5 litre VR-ready PC which offers "Astronomical Performance".

Read more.

[kalniel]

Just a minute... are those 980m chips.. ie the mobile version, not the real 980? Massively incongruous to say a desktop computer has dual gtx 980 in SLI if so.

[Brian224]

Just a minute... are those 980m chips.. ie the mobile version, not the real 980? Massively incongruous to say a desktop computer has dual gtx 980 in SLI if so.

I guess the

built-in 450W 80 plus Gold power supply

confirms it. NVidia's specs call for a 500W PSU if a single desktop GTX980 is used.

[scaryjim]

Let's not forget that nvidia have now started doing a mobile oriented version of the GTX 980: e.g. http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/laptop...6qf-titan-sli/

Given that's also an MSI machine, I see no reason to think that they're not using the same GPUs across both devices, so the Vortex probably uses the mobile SKU of the full-fat GTX 980....

[krazy_olie]

I presume it's this thing?
http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/...aming-laptops/

It might be easier to cool two of these than a single desktop version in an enclosure like that

[3s-gtech]

From Hexus, back in September:

"Nvidia reckons the new GTX 980 is approximately 35 per cent faster than the GTX 980M that it replaces at the top of the mobile stack. Performance is practically analogous with the desktop part, as you would expect, though it does fall off a few per cent if the supporting Intel CPU cannot muster the same throughput as an overclocked K-series processor on the desktop."

http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/86639-nvidia-releases-geforce-gtx-980-gaming-laptops/

[CK_1985]

This looks fantastic - will be interesting to see how user-upgradeable it is though! I'm guessing not very...

[Valantar]

How come it's so hard to grasp that Nvidia has two mobile solutions named 980: the GTX 980m, which is significantly weaker than the desktop 980, and the GTX 980 (see? No m there.), which is the desktop card squeezed into an enlarged MXM form factor and with a slightly stricter power limit (150W instead of 175W) which causes slightly lower clocks under load. No hardware differences.

[kalniel]

How come it's so hard to grasp that Nvidia has two mobile solutions named 980: the GTX 980m, which is significantly weaker than the desktop 980, and the GTX 980 (see? No m there.), which is the desktop card squeezed into an enlarged MXM form factor and with a slightly stricter power limit (150W instead of 175W) which causes slightly lower clocks under load. No hardware differences.

So two cards both called exactly the same name but with different specifications? That's clear then.

[Xlucine]

So two cards both called exactly the same name but with different specifications? That's clear then.

No they aren't, the 980m has an m Vs the plain 980

I guess the confirms it. NVidia's specs call for a 500W PSU if a single desktop GTX980 is used.

Recommended PSU specs are always junk, as long as graphics vendors stick to the pci-e power limits. ISTR Nvidia showing off a system with two SLI'd 250W cards a few years ago at one of the trade fairs, and Hexus power readings show just how little power modern systems pull under load

[kalniel]

No they aren't, the 980m has an m Vs the plain 980

And in addition there's the (desktop) gtx 980 which has different specification to the (mobile) gtx 980. Not clear at all.

[jigger]

Indeed. It's very unclear what performance is on offer with this mobile GTX980.

16GB of VRAM seems over the top for a mobile graphics card too.