The upcoming GPD Win Max is expected to be a cross between a handheld gaming computer and a mini laptop. Last we’d heard, it would have a bigger screen than the current-gen GPD Win 2, a QWERTY keyboard large enough for touch-typing, and an AMD Ryzen Embedded processor with Radeon graphics.

But that was half a year ago. Now it looks like GPD has switched to an Intel processor with Iris Plus graphics… most likely an Intel Ice Lake chip.

GPD’s CEO has posted a handful of pictures to Chinese social network Baidu Tieba, including one which shows the device’s exterior, and another that indicates its chipset.

Update: It looks like the Win Max will come with a choice of Intel Core i5-1035G7 or Intel Core i7-1065G7 processors. Both feature Intel Iris Plus graphics with 64 execution units.

Update 2: Here’s everything we know about the GPD Win max so far, presented in one place. 

The one picture of the device itself confirms that it will be substantially larger than a GPD Win 2, which has a 6 inch display.

While it’s possible things may have changed since last summer, the new model is expected to have a keyboard similar to the one used in the GPD P2 Max mini-laptop, which has an 8.9 inch display. That could meant the Win Max will have a similarly-large display.

But while the P2 Max has a touchpad below the keyboard, the Win max most likely will not. Instead it’s expected to have analog sticks, a D-Pad, and X,Y,A,B gaming buttons above the keyboard, allowing you to hold the computer in two hands and use the integrated controller for mobile gaming.

Here’s a photo of a keyboard prototype from July, 2019:

According to new image showing benchmark results, the latest GPD Win Max prototype has an unspecified processor with Intel Iris Plus graphics. Given Intel’s current processor lineup, it’s most likely that this means the Win Max has a 10th-gen Intel Ice Lake processor.

The first Ice Lake chips started shipping in the second half of 2019, but supply was relatively limited at the time and smaller companies like GPD didn’t have access at the time. Now it looks like that may be changing, which makes Intel’s chips a viable option for this sort of handheld computer.

Iris Plus graphics offer up to twice the performance of the Intel UHD integrated GPUs featured in 7th-gen Intel Kaby Lake and 8th-gen Amber Lake processors used for the GPD Win 2. That means the Win Max should offer a bigger display, a better keyboard, and support for games that might not run well on the company’s earlier handheld gaming computers.

There’s still no word on exactly when the GPD Win Max will ship or how much it will cost. But the fact that GPD had a booth at CES last week and did not use that opportunity to show off the Win Max suggests that it could still be at least a few months away from launch.

via /r/gpdwin

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16 replies on “GPD Win Max handheld gaming laptop to have Intel Iris Plus graphics”

  1. Too big. Pass.

    I’m hoping they can get the Win 3 to be smaller than the current Win 2 somehow to make it more pocketable.

  2. Just days after the Alienware UFO, finally have new updates about the GPD Win MAX, hope to hear some new developments about the One Netbook One-GX.

  3. Yeah, I was looking forward to it. But since the change form AMD back to Intel I will probably pass.
    Maybe Win3 or maybe competitor will show up?

    1. Why Ice Lake U which they have chosen, performs a little better than the v1605b which they had originally planned

  4. That’s too bad. Just as AMD in the Ryzen notebooks Intel also scales the GPU in their CPU, the cheaper ones get less cores, and significantly worse performance. Even a very expensive i7 has a hard time to measure up to a relatively cheap mobile Ryzen 5 and Vega 8, so it’s either a massive downgrade in GPU power, or a ridiculousy expensive device. Or maybe both. GPD has pretty much no competition in this niche, if they ask $2000, you’ll pay $2000, because they are the best at what they do – but they also know it. I kinda wish the Smatch Z team would be competent enough to show some competition to them, maybe then a price-race would start… but those bozos at this point should be happy to just finally have a device at their hands to show to their backers, any device, no matter how bad or outdated. They are quite far to pose any threat to GPD.

    1. There’s no way this will cost anywhere near $2000, it’s a mobile Ice Lake chip inside, not an i9-9900K. Intel’s mobile chips are usually very cheap and offer acceptable performance. That’s why you can usually buy low power Intel Celeron laptops in the $99-150 range. I don’t know what kind of wholesale prices OEM’s pay, but I’m pretty sure mobile Intel chips are cheaper than mobile Ryzen chips currently due to the lack of ultra cheap Ryzen laptops. I would guess the cost of this Win Max will be less than the $1000 mark too.

      1. That’s old news especially with the new product reveals at CES. The 7nm, Zen 2-based Ryzen 4000 is the new kid on the block, actually, and it destroys Ice Lake and Comet Lake both while drawing much less power than either. Ryzen 3000 mobile processors use older technology than their desktop counterparts and are analogous to Ryzen 2000 series desktop CPUs. Ryzen 4000 series, on the other hand, are a whole other ball of wax, with the latest Zen 2 architecture, TSMC’s extremely efficient 7nm manufacturing process (50% power reduction), and much more. Intel’s 10 nanometer had to be heavily modified to be workable and its efficiency is just barely ahead of their old 14 nanometer stuff.

          1. Actual improvements of the exact root causes of those differences especially in battery life.

            tl;dr the main difference there was comparing Zen 1 cores to Icelake. No low-voltage DDR, worse capabilities in the CPU. Having fixed that, the root cause of the problem is gone. It’s exciting.

            Pretty foolish to ask about “actual product review” of a product whose CPU is not released yet though. Straw man? Straw man.

      2. Intel i7-1065G7(video metions the G6) vs AMD Ryzen 7 3700U –
        Iris Plus 940 vs Vega 10 – Gaming Performance
        both mobile cpu/gpu are 15W
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3S7jFP8cAo

        HP 15-db1020ng AMD Ryzen 7 3700U “Picasso” Radeon Vega 10 2x8GB DDR4-2400 Driver: 19.9.2 VS
        Dell Inspiron 5593 Intel i7-1065G7 “Ice Lake” Iris Plus Graphics 940 2x8GB DDR4-2666 Driver: 26.20.100.7212 UWD
        00:01 – Resident Evil 2 | 1080p (70%), medium
        03:10 – Dota 2 | 1080p (66%), high
        06:43 – Wolfenstein II | 1080p (66%), low

        AMD vs Intel Picasso vs Ice Lake Ryzen 7 3780U and Ryzen 5 3580U are around 10% faster than their non Surface counter arts

        I also wonder what the AMD 4000u series does with the AMD’s smartshift technology ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uifnsgXCFew ) in action and if it works with older AMD 3000u and what the result is.

    1. Not necessarily, depends how much Ice Lake chips cost. Just a few years ago, Intel was selling Atom chips for a couple dollars per SoC to manufacturers. It’s possible this switch to Intel was because Intel’s Ice Lake chips are cheaper than the AMD equivalent.

      1. > It’s possible this switch to Intel was because Intel’s Ice Lake chips are cheaper than the AMD equivalent.

        Very unlikely. Ice Lake parts are extremely expensive to produce due to low yields on Intel’s 10 nanometer process. Intel may have enough dues to go around now but certainly not after having to toss many defective dies in the trash. Also from what we saw at CES, outside of the gaming models, the Renoir Ryzen 4000 laptops appear to have a much more cost of entry. Keep in mind that Zen 2’s yields at TSMC are around 90% thanks to a very low defect rate.

        1. Agreed.
          And I don’t quite like this size. It’s actually larger than the switch, and cannot be taken with you on the go as easily as a phone. It’s definitely not pocketable. You will need to bring along your purse, or for guys a courier bag.

          The GPD XD is pocketable, the GPD Win 2 is on the limits of that.
          I was hoping for a GPD Win 3 that’s slightly more pocketable than the GPD Win 3, and using the best embedded chip (7nm, Zen 2, 4c/8t, Navi-8, etc etc). Well, looks like we will need to wait for another 1-2 years.

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