With the generation of gaming laptops equipped with the dedicated GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards , NVIDIA introduced WhisperMode technology with which they promise much quieter notebooks than before, but do you know how it works? In this article we tell you what this technology consists of and if it really works to make laptops emit less noise .
One of the disadvantages of gaming laptops is that, in order to keep the powerful hardware inside them at a good temperature, they must integrate large and complex cooling systems that almost always end up making a lot of noise, many times to the point of ruining the gaming experience. With WhisperMode technology NVIDIA aims to eradicate this problem by making laptops much quieter, but how do they do it?
What is NVIDIA WhisperMode technology?
According to NVIDIA, this technology is based on intelligent frame synchronization and the most efficient selection of game settings, resulting in reduced fan noise while still providing an excellent gaming experience. The combination of these profiles reduces the heat generated by the GPU and therefore the heat that the laptop must dissipate, resulting in the fan being able to rotate considerably slower, thus emitting less noise.
To determine the WhisperMode setting, GPU power consumption is measured at various levels of detail in games, looking for the most efficient high-quality setting. For example, as you increase the graphics settings in Overwatch, you increase power consumption and GPU utilization, but at a certain point, increasing the graphics settings causes consumption to skyrocket, causing fans to have to spin significantly faster and emit more noise.
To achieve maximum efficiency while providing excellent visual quality, NVIDIA has created specific profiles for more than 400 games, in which they have selected the optimal configuration point where the GPU power consumption does not skyrocket.
In other words, NVIDIA’s WhisperMode technology is about analyzing and creating custom profiles for games in a way that takes the notebook GPU to the maximum point of graphics and quality settings without skyrocketing power consumption and, therefore, therefore, also the heat generated and the noise that the fans make to dissipate said heat.
Graphic quality and silence … but limited FPS
Having determined the optimal quality for a quieter experience, a smart frame cap is applied: 60 FPS in fast-paced competitive games like League of Legends or Overwatch, and 40 FPS for other more demanding hits like The Witcher 3 or Ghost Recon Wildlands. . This frame rate is set automatically when WhisperMode is enabled, so the user doesn’t have to touch anything; However, if you want to eliminate this FPS limit, it can be done from the configuration by overriding the default values.
Taken together, these WhisperMode optimizations reduce the noise level in laptops by up to 50%, which in many cases means turning an extremely noisy laptop into a just noisy one, or turning a noisy laptop into a true quiet laptop, ideal if you play without headphones.
This technology is available on gaming laptops equipped with a GeForce GTX 1060 or higher, and requires GeForce 384.76 or higher drivers and GeForce Experience software installed.
How to enable and disable WhisperMode
WhisperMode is enabled through NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience software, and the smart frame rate can be modified per game from the NVIDIA Control Panel. The software comes preconfigured with NVIDIA selected smart frame rate levels and efficient gaming settings specifications, but as always, all of these settings are fully user-customizable.
To enable this functionality you must access GeForce Experience and click on the gear in the upper right area to access the settings.
In the menu on the left select “GENERAL”, and on the right you will see the option for WhisperMode. Click on it.
In the menu on the left select now “GAMES”, and on the right side you will see if WhisperMode is active or not (and you can activate and deactivate it from there).
A message will appear informing you that the functionality has been enabled (or disabled). You can click the “OPTIMIZE” button to load the custom NVIDIA profiles automatically.
Ready, with this you already have WhisperMode running on your laptop so that it has a quieter operation in games. Of course, keep in mind what we have mentioned before that the FPS will be limited, but you can always go to the NVIDIA control panel to modify this setting or disable WhisperMode whenever you want from GeForce Experience.
