Sean Hollister/CNET

Gaming laptops used to be thick. Chunky. Bulbous.

Then there was the Razer Blade. By liberally borrowing from Apple's MacBook Pro playbook, Razer built a gaming laptop that wasn't nearly as thick.

Now, with its Max-Q initiative, graphics chipmaker Nvidia has decided that such thin gaming laptops should be the norm, rather than the exception to the rule -- and today's Origin PC Evo 15-S is one of the first examples of Max-Q.

Enlarge Image Sean Hollister/CNET

At just 0.73 inches (18.5 mm) thick and weighing 4.3 pounds, this 15.6-inch aluminum laptop is nearly as thin and light as Razer's latest Blade (0.70 mm, 4.1 lbs); only here, you've the option of a notably more powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics chip instead of the GTX 1060 that Razer uses.

And unlike the other Max-Q laptop we showed you the other day -- the $2,700 (roughly £2,100 or AU$3,600) Asus Zephyrus with its lift-up base -- this VR-ready machine probably won't break the bank.

Mind you, we've only spent a few minutes with this laptop so far, so it's not clear exactly how well it performs, or if the final build quality will be anywhere close to the competition. Plus, Nvidia's Max-Q 1070 may not be quite as powerful as the 1070 in a thicker laptop or a beefy desktop PC.

Enlarge Image Sean Hollister/CNET

(It's also worth noting that, as usual, Origin PC doesn't make its own laptops: Though we like Origin's service and support, you may be able to snag this Clevo P950HP6/Sager NP8952 from other outlets as well.)

It does feel like it might have a competent keyboard for a laptop this thin, though, and it's neat to see an integrated fingerprint sensor in the touchpad. Plus, it's got loads of ports: three USB 3.0 ports, two USB-C ports, an HDMI jack, two Mini DisplayPorts, a fold-out Ethernet jack and a full-side SD card reader in addition to 3.5 mm audio sockets. The company says it should support up to three monitors, and/or an Nvidia G-Sync one.

Sean Hollister/CNET

Origin PC says the new Evo15-S (not to be confused with the previous model) is "coming very soon," and should start at around US $1,800 for the GTX 1070 version, or US $1,600 for a GTX 1060.

More specs and features:

7th Generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor

Optional 15.6-inch 4K UHD (3,840x2,160) or a FHD (1,920x1080) HD IPS display

Up to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 VR-Ready GPU

Up to 1x2TB m.2 PCIe and 1x2.5 inch 4TB HDD/SSD

Up to 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 2666MHz Memory

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260

Built-in HD webcam

Windows 10 Creators Update

Sound BlasterX Pro-Gaming 360

2xUSB Type-C 3.1, 3xUSB 3.0, 1xUSB 2.0, and a six-in-one push-push card reader

Backlit multicolor keyboard and optional custom paint

Includes free lifetime 24/7 US-based tech support