Nvidia's 'fastest' chip to speed games
For many years the idea of a "gaming laptop" was something of an oxymoron, unless you were into intense sessions of Myst or Spider Solitaire. These days, laptop GPUs can go head-to-head with all but the fastest desktop models, and laptops have even moved into the SLI era.
This week's Digital Life show was Nvidia's choice to unveil its latest mobile GPU, the GeForce Go 7950 GTX, which the company claims is the fastest laptop graphics chip on the market. It's immediately available in select systems, including the newest revision of Dell's high-end XPS M1710.
Besides gamers, hi-def movie fans will be interested, because along with the rest of Nvidia's GeForce 7 series, the 7950 offers GPU acceleration of HD video formats such as H.264--a must-have for the next generation of laptops with built-in HD-DVD or Blu-ray dives.
(Photo: Nvidia)
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
