Nvidia GeForce MX150 laptop graphics explained
A slew of new laptops were unveiled at the IFA 2017 show in Berlin, many of which feature Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics. What is it, how powerful is it and should you care? We take a look.
Nvidia GeForce MX150 gaming performance
For many gaming-loving laptop buyers, the promise of dedicated or discrete graphics is like a warning sign to a bull: it means extra performance in the latest 3D games. The MX150 is a replacement for the GeForce 940MX that has appeared in many laptops over the past few years. The MX150 was first announced in May, but it won’t appear in laptops we can buy until the end of August 2017.
It’s also a replacement for any Intel HD graphics hardware (now called UHD) built into your laptop’s processor. Intel graphics have never been known for their gaming performance, so it’s easy to avoid almost any laptop without a discrete GPU as something.
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So far we haven’t had an MX150 laptop to test, but Nvidia has provided some of its own numbers to give you a rough idea of what performance to expect. First and foremost, the MX150 is not a high-end GPU. Nvidia’s marketing material for the MX150 only mentions playing eSports games like Dota 2, CS:GO, LoL and World of Tanks in Full HD resolution at 60 fps.
The company makes no claims as to what graphics settings you’ll be running, although this point is quite debatable, as we recommend that you let the Nvidia GeForce Experience software take over and do the heavy lifting of deciding which graphics settings you should be running at.
So only eSports? Maybe, but we can use some other data to see how more advanced games are performing.
In our recent review of the HP Specter x360 15, we ran some benchmarks with the included 940MX GPU. There we saw a performance of 50 fps in Dirty Rally at Full HD, medium settings and 30 fps in Shadow of Mordor at Full HD.
Nvidia claims the MX150 is 25% more powerful than the 940MX (and 4x more powerful than the last-gen Intel HD Graphics 520). So we can conclude that while this GPU isn’t designed to run the latest AAA games, it can technically run them if you dial down the graphics settings and/or the resolution.
Again, if the game is powered by GeForce Experience, Nvidia should automatically be able to tune your game to the best compromise between performance and eye candy.
Nvidia Marketing Material
What you should consider here is that this GPU is commonly found in laptops with relatively low-power 7th and 8th Gen Intel Core CPUs. These chips are often a bit of a bottleneck for your games – some more advanced titles like Battlefield 1 struggle without a really beefy processor, no matter how good your GPU is.
Video and photo editing
According to Nvidia, the MX150 is a master of photo editing in Adobe products. The company reckons you’ll be able to crop and remaster photos up to 2.5x faster than standard Intel HD graphics and up to 4x faster color remastering when working with video content .
Nvidia Marketing Material
Should I Buy a GeForce MX150 Laptop?
Until we’ve tested one for sure we can’t make a final judgment, but we can offer some general advice. The GeForce MX150 will likely be found in thinner and lighter laptops than the full-desktop style GPUs like the GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti. If you’re really looking for a gaming laptop, consider a thicker and heavier machine. If you want thin and light, and want to play legacy or eSports titles, these new MX150 should be for you. Check back here when we know more about the MX150 benchmark results.
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