Optimus

Reviews

AWARDS

REVIEWS

"We were also pleased to see that Alienware have their implementation of NVIDIA Optimus working well. Switching between GPUs was seamless, we simply opened our games and the GT335M kicked in. Exit them and we were seamlessly back on the Intel GPU at the desktop." Hardware Heaven

"Good looks, strong benchmark scores, and Nvidia Optimus technology make this bargain-buy ultraportable a standout for home and small-business users alike." Computer Shopper

"The wood certainly makes you feel like you're buying a unique device, but the draw of the machine for most will be its superior blend of graphics, performance and battery life." Engadget

"This $999 machine ($949 street) combines a Core i3 processor with Nvidia Optimus graphics to give users a good one-two punch of performance and long battery life." Laptop Magazine

"Also, the inclusion of Optimus technology, which allows the integrated graphics on the Core i5 processor and the NVIDIA GT325M discrete solution to work together and swap work loads more efficiently, definitely improves battery life and consumer-friendly usage." PC Perscpective

"Alienware channeled its resources into the one part that mattered most to gamers a powerful NVIDIA chip (now powered by Optimus)." PC Magazine

"Thanks to the Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics inside the M11x R2, you don't have to worry about checking your laptop to see if you left your discrete graphics card running. This notebook automatically detects when you need the discrete graphics and when you just need the best possible battery life." Notebook Reviews

"With Optimus, we have the flexibility of efficiency and multimedia power when needed - all without having to carry around a larger, heavier, and more expensive 9-cell battery." PC Perspective

"When the Alienware M11x first came out in May, we remarked that the system was nearly perfect save for one thing: users had to manually switch between the discrete and integrated graphics. With the advent of Nvidia's Optimus technology--which does the switching for you--it's all automatic." Laptop Magazine

"The one thing that nearly every other option is currently missing is NVIDIA's Optimus Technology, and that gives the ASUS and the N61Jv a clear leg up over the competition." Anandtech

"If you're in the market for a new laptop and you want a discrete GPU, then you definitely want an Optimus laptop." Anandtech

"With its excellent combination of battery life and performance, the Asus U30Jc-1A is a top-of-the-class thin-and-light notebook that offers something for everybody, from the casual gamer to the true road warrior." Computer Shopper

"If you ask us, ASUS has struck gold with the U30Jc's Core i3 and NVIDIA Optimus combo, and we're crossing our fingers that Sony, Apple, Alienware and others follow ASUS down this path. While other 13-inchers may be lighter on the shoulder and some other mainstream laptops may pack more power, the $899 U30Jc buys you an incredible three-way balance of performance, graphics and endurance. And that's not something we say very often about a laptop that doesn't even set you back a grand." Engadget

"It (NVIDIA Optimus) is quite possibly the best technology to come to portable computers in recent in years." Hardware Canucks

"For the seamless use of discrete NVIDIA graphics, the integration of NVIDIA Optimus in the ASUS UL50Vf creates a perfect match for a notebook and users by only using discrete graphics performance when they need it." Legit Reviews

"System performance is great with the Intel Core i3-350M processor and NVIDIA GeForce switchable graphics (Optimus), and when you aren't looking for high performance, battery life is just as great. In the 13-inch laptop category, the U30JC is easily one of my favorites." Notebookreviews.com

"NVIDIA Optimus can seamlessly switch between the two GPUs. Excellent battery life." PC Magazine

"NVIDIA has solved the issue of users having to manually switch a discrete GPU on or off, and in our experience, it worked perfectly. We shifted in and out of graphically intense apps, and each time, the GPU turned on and off without any system lag." HotHardware.com

"Thanks to NVIDIA's automatic switchable graphics (Optimus), this good-looking 13-inch notebook combines gaming cred with long battery life." Laptop Magazine

"This offers the best of both worlds: 3D graphics performance, without sacrificing battery life. Long story short? It works." Computer Shopper

"In the end, there is no other choice but to give two awards. Firstly, the technology that made all this possible. nVidia Optimus Technology is an invisible game changer." bsn*

"Optimus delivers on all the things NVIDIA claims. When you launch any application deemed to require the discrete GPU, it is automatically turned on to give you the power you need. And unless you're using the testing tool we've been given which shows the status of the GPU, the whole process is invisible to the end user. There's no switch to flip, no screen flickering, just a seamless transition from one to the other - as it should be." Trusted Reviews

"the experience with Optimus was so seamless; when people use this technology in the real world there is no app to tell them when things switch. It just happens."
Brandon LeBlanc
NVIDIA's Optimus Technology Brings New Level of Switchable Graphics - The Windows Experience Blog

"I think is fair to say that NVIDIA Optimus is one of the most impressive mobile technologies we have ever seen. While switchable graphics promised us a future of mobility computing that was both light on power consumption and heavy on performance, Optimus looks like it could actually deliver on that." PC Perspective

"…Optimus is by far the best switchable graphics solution I've seen." Tech Report

"There is a simple elegance here that NVIDIA has enabled with Optimus and it's the way it should have been done a long time ago quite frankly." Hot Hardware

"The best part was that we didn't have to manually engage the GPU; it just seamlessly went from integrated graphics to the Nvidia chip when we launched the game." CNET

"Its very success is the transparency. From what we have seen, it works, and works well, and should sound the death-knell to previous iterations of Switchable Graphics." Hexus

"So we say again: no NVIDIA-based laptop going forward should ship without Optimus. In fact, if a manufacturer has a design in the works that's almost ready for market and it uses an NVIDIA discrete GPU without Optimus, please do us a favor and rework the product." Anandtech

"Honestly, we're so thrilled with Nvidia's Optimus that we hope all notebooks with switchable graphics work like this before the end of the year." Notebookreviews

"… but we're hoping we see a lot more of Optimus from every laptop vendor real soon." Engadget

"Even better, Optimus knows precisely when to switch between the two graphics subsystems. It’s remarkably effective in its simplicity; users will no longer accidentally leave their notebooks in discrete graphics mode, sapping precious battery life." Laptop Magazine

"We've always thought switchable graphics made a lot of sense on laptops, and NVIDIA's new Optimus tech looks like it's going to bring it mainstream in a serious way -- there's no more manually toggling between the powerful discrete GPU and the power-saving integrated chip." Engadget

"In real-world terms, that means we could get 70-plus frames-per-second in our Unreal Tournament III test at 1,366x768, while also getting nearly six hours of battery life in our video playback battery drain test." CNET

"That is a huge difference: the Optimus system had 30% better battery life compared to a system with switchable graphics enabled and nearly identical battery life to a system with switchable graphics disabled." PC Perspective

"NVIDIA's Optimus graphics switching and power saving technology, though a little complex to explain from a design and software standpoint, couldn't be easier to understand and see in practice and function from an end users perspective." Hot Hardware

"Optimus isn't what one would call a "sexy" technology - there's not much to see. As boring as it may be, it's really quite cool. If it works as advertised, it will be a huge boon to laptop users." PC World

"The details are interesting, but most folks shouldn’t even have to care about the inner workings: the great news is that it just works. It’s funny because that’s the way it should be, and that’s how NVIDIA puts it: if you’re driving a Hybrid car, you should not worry about which engine is currently moving the vehicle forward. That’s what Optimus is." Ubergizmo

ENDORSEMENTS

"NVIDIA Optimus is a game changer for the notebook PC industry. It intelligently and seamlessly manages graphics performance while extending battery life to provide the best notebook PC experience."
Jon Peddie
President of Jon Peddie Research, a pioneer of the graphics industry and a leading analyst

"Optimus is switchable graphics done right. No toggles, no reboots, no thinking. Finally, there is an optimized notebook solution that painlessly gives notebook users both the performance they want and the battery life they need."
Rob Enderle
President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, one of the most influential technology pundits in the world

"Switchable graphics is a great idea in theory, but in practice people rarely switch between integrated and discrete GPUs. The process is just too cumbersome and confusing. Some buyers wonder why their performance is so poor when they think the discrete GPU is active, but, unknown to them, it isn’t. Optimus fixes what is broken with switchable graphics."
Roger Kay
President of Endpoint Technologies Associates, one of the computer industry's best-known market intelligence analysts