GPD WIN Max shown running The Witcher 3 thanks to 10th Gen Intel Core CPU

By Ewdison Then/

Technology and manufacturing have truly come a long way if an 8-inch "laptop" can run AAA games. At least that's the idea that China-based GPD (GamePad Digital) is trying to make with its biggest and most ambitious product to date. The GPD WIN Max aims to combine the best of both worlds in a small size and while the demonstration might be impressive, there is still one important question that remains unaddressed.

The GPD WIN Max is basically what you get if you smashed the GPD WIN 2 and the GPD P2 Max together. It is an 8-inch gaming PC handheld and any other label you can throw at it. Given its size, some might have doubts about whether it can handle anything more than indie PC games. Fortunately, GPD came across a leak (read: not so subtle marketing ploy) that proves that it can.

The video shows "someone" playing The Witcher 3 on the unreleased device, presumably on medium settings or lower. It is still quite an accomplishment, given how resource-intensive the game is known to be. In a subsequent post on its Facebook page, GPD hints at the secret to its success, the tenth gen Intel Core i5-1035G7 and its 11th gen Iris Plus Graphics 940.

GPD says that it initially looked at the AMD Ryzen 5 5200U but when Intel came out with its latest chips, it found that the Core i5 offered better performance than AMD's equivalent. It also compared the Intel integrated GPU and claimed it beat both AMD's integrated ATI and even a discrete NVIDIA GeForce MX250.

While GPD may have proven the WIN Max's gaming performance, some still call into question how comfortable it will be to use as a handheld gaming device given its unorthodox design. In trying to also cater to a market that wants a powerful 8-inch laptop, it may have unintentionally alienated gamers in the process.

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