Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series laptop GPUs have been a revolution when it comes to what you can expect from a slim and sleek laptop in the gaming department. Gone are the days of downloading games from the 1990s because they were all a laptop could run.

Now, with a GeForce RTX 30-series GPU in your laptop you'll be able to play the latest games wherever you are, at high resolutions and with the sort of graphical effects normally reserved for powerful desktop gaming computers. Find out what makes these GPUs so impressive below.

RTX-enabled

Nvidia's RTX is the world's most advanced platform for ray-tracing and a range of AI technologies, and it means that you can take advantage of the most accurate lighting ever in a range of games. It simulates how light behaves in the real world, and makes for lifelike shadows, stunning reflections in windows and water, and whole scenes look totally transformed thanks to more accurate light bouncing.

You don’t need an expensive, high-end desktop system to enjoy the benefits of ray tracing. Both the Acer Nitro 5 and Asus TUF 15 have an RTX 3050Ti inside, and both take advantage of the new ray tracing technology. This is a great indication of the sorts of steps forward that Nvidia's taken in laptop graphics. 

Nvidia DLSS

It doesn’t end at ray tracing, RTX brings with it access to other Nvidia innovations, though, and one of those that's been getting plenty of attention recently is DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling. This system uses AI cores built into Nvidia's GPUs to give huge performance boosts for your games without compromising on visual fidelity.

You can get a couple of dozen extra frames per second in smoothness by turning on DLSS, which uses artificial intelligence to upscale the display resolution without putting as much strain on the graphics hardware you've got in place. It’s an increase in performance with no additional cost; you get more out of the GPU that already exists inside your laptop. That's the sort of performance boost that PC gamers dream of, and it's perfect for laptops with GeForce RTX 3050s in them, like this ASUS TUF 15 or the Lenovo IdeaPad.

Advanced Optimus

NVIDIA continues to push the laptop ecosystem forward with inclusion of Advanced Optimus. You may remember the original Optimus, a technology that uses the NVIDIA GPU to render frames but the integrated GPU (IGP) to display them to the screen. Advanced Optimus is, well, advanced. Advanced Optimus automatically changes which GPU is connected to the display based on workload.

This means gaming power when you need it, or battery life when you’re just browsing the web. It’s automatic and does not require a reboot to change GPUs. It just works the way it should.

Crazy low-latency

It's one thing to crank out great frame rates at impressive resolutions, but if you're into online games in particular you'll know the importance of latency, the time between a mouse click and a visual change on the screen. Latency is critical and can be the determining factor that separates winning from losing in a competitive environment. 

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series laptops can use Nvidia Reflex to reduce system latency down to the lowest possible levels and gives GeForce gamers an edge on their competitors. Reflex bypasses the graphics render queue and enhances the communication between CPU and GPU. This results in lower latency, which leads to faster target acquisition and increased precision, which leads to more successful outcomes.  Enable Reflex in a competitive game like Overwatch, Fortnite, or Valorant and you’ll understand. 

Pick up a laptop with the super-powered RTX 3070, like the MSI Katana GF66 or Lenovo Legion 5 and you'll feel the difference, while the even more powerful 3080 goes even further in the MSI GP66 Leopard and Asus Zephyrus.

These are just some of the incredible upsides you get from a GeForce RTX 30-series laptop, and there are plenty more laptops available with some great deals to be found. You can find the latest range of gaming laptops from Nvidia, right here.