NVIDIA's introduction of the Maxwell-based GTX 750 Ti represented a turning point for the desktop GPU market, moving it towards a new level of performance without an associated increase in power consumption. If anything, the GTX 750 Ti blew preconceptions away and redefined what could be achieved within a low wattage framework. These advances are now partially making their way into the notebook market with the GTX 800M's introduction.

The notebook segment has been quite volatile as of late with a large number of users gravitating towards the ?good enough? approach offered by inexpensive tablets and, to a lesser extent, the latest crop of superphones. With a simple wireless keyboard, a $300 tablet can be converted from a basic media consumption device to a pretty capable platform for content creation. As a result, sales of some traditional low and mid range notebook categories are suffering while Ultrabook sales have been decimated.

This might sound like an odd preamble since by all indications the downturn in notebook interest should sound a death knell for stand-alone mobile GPUs, right? Not so fast. While the segments that include basic entry level systems may be in trouble, recent studies have shown that PC gamers are keeping both the desktop and notebook markets humming. The potential for sales of those specifically targeted notebooks represents a potential cash cow and builders are rushing to adapt. As we saw at CES, more and more big-name companies are now refocusing of their efforts on gaming-oriented systems while slimming down any mid range offerings being savaged by tablets.