DirectX 11 laptop graphics war heating up? Nvidia's mobile Fermi coming next month, according to Eurocom.

ATI had a good lead over Nvidia in the latest desktop graphics skirmish, getting its Radeon HD 5870 to market several months before its rival's GeForce GTX 480 reached online shops and gaming PC manufacturers. But that lead time appears to be a lot shorter on the laptop front, if one of Eurocom's product pages is to be believed.

While the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 graphics card is just hitting gaming laptops, it appears that Nvidia is readying its new high-end mobile offering for a June launch. Laptop seller Eurocom is listing a Fermi DX11 card for two of its desktop-replacement notebooks, even though Nvidia hasn't announced the graphics board yet. (Fermi is the name for the company's latest graphics architecture, used in the GTX 480.) Interestingly enough, when Engadget first reported this discovery, Eurocom was listing it as the GTX 480M, but that part number has been removed based on my recent search of the site. According to the site, the board supports DirectX 11, comes with 2GB of DDR5 RAM, and requires 100 watts of power—yes, 100 watts.

Whatever this card will wind up being called, Eurocom is asking a $380 premium over the 1GB Mobility Radeon HD 5870. That means it better be as extremely scorching in its performance as it no doubt will be sitting on your lap.