Month: December 2019

Microsoft plans to officially stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14. Kind of. People who’ve signed up for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program will still receive, well, security updates even after the rest of the operating system is abandoned. But there was some confusion around that extended support, which is why Microsoft engineer Mike Cure recently offered some clarity in a recent AMA.

The Tech Report summarized this episode by explaining that an FAQ for ESU (which is a surprisingly catchy combination of initialisms) was responsible for the confusion. That FAQ article said “No, your Windows 7 computer is not protected by MSE after January 14, 2020. MSE is unique to Windows 7 and follows the same lifecycle dates for support.” That directly contradicted what Microsoft had said elsewhere.

Which is why Computerworld’s Woody Leonhard asked Cure about ESU customers receiving Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) updates even after January 14 during the AMA. (For anyone unfamiliar: AMA stands for “ask me anything,” and discussions of that sort are popular on sites like Reddit, where seemingly everyone is endlessly curious about practically everything that even remotely interests them.) Cure said:

“MSE will continue to receive signature updates after Jan. 14.”

The perfect response: definitive, simple and straight to the point. But in case that wasn’t enough–and we’d suggest that blindly accepting answers offered via AMA threads might be just a little naive–Microsoft also updated the FAQ. It now reads: “Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) will continue to receive signature updates after January 14, 2020. However, the MSE platform will no longer be updated.”

More information about MSE can be found on Microsoft’s website. Despite updating the FAQ to reassure people that MSE will continue to receive new signatures after Windows 7’s end of support, Microsoft also said that Windows 7 users who rely on MSE should switch to Windows 10 “to continue to receive security updates.”

Just a little while ago we were able to catch a glimpse of the Intel Core i3-10300, a hyperthreaded entry-level chip from the upcoming Intel Comet Lake-S lineup. But, now, thanks to a new leak, we may have seen the entire range of 10th-generation desktop processors.

Some leaked slides from Intel appeared on Informatica Cero showing a broad lineup of desktop processors, from the 4-core, 16-thread Intel Core i3-10100 to the 10-core, 20-thread Intel Core i9-10900K. If these leaks are to be believed, we should see some much improved multi-core performance out of Intel in 2020.

But the leaks go even further. In some now-removed slides on VideoCardz, we got to see some more detailed information about the new lineup. For instance, Comet Lake-S processors will apparently feature up to a 4.8GHz all-core turbo, which will result in some extremely fast performance when the processors are pushed to their limits. What we don’t know yet is if it’ll hold a candle to AMD.

Here are the processors that were leaked, along with their single-core Turbo speeds:

Intel Core i3-10100: 4 cores, 8 threads 4.3GHz Turbo

Intel Core i3-10300: 4 cores, 8 threads, 4.4GHz Turbo

Intel Core i3-10320: 4 cores, 8 threads, 4.6GHz Turbo

Intel Core i5-10400: 6 cores, 12 threads, 4.3GHz Turbo

Intel Core i5-10500: 6 cores, 12 threads, 4.5GHz Turbo

Intel Core i5-10600: 6 cores, 12 threads, 4.8GHz Turbo

Intel Core i5-10600K: 6 cores, 12 threads, 4.8GHz Turbo

Intel Core i7-10700: 8 cores, 16 threads, 4.8GHz Turbo

Intel Core i7-10700K: 8 cores, 16 threads, 5.1GHz Turbo

Intel Core i9-10900: 10 cores, 20 threads, 5.1GHz Turbo

Intel Core i9-10900K: 10 cores, 20 threads, 5.2GHz Turbo

According to these leaked slides, core counts see a modest bump up from 8 cores to 10 in the flagship Core i9-10900K. But unless the processor sees a healthy price cut a lá Cascade Lake-X, we’re not sure how well it will hold up against AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation processors, the flagship of which has 16 cores.

Another mystery here is how much further Intel can push performance without it moving to 10nm. Comet Lake will still be based on Intel’s 14nm manufacturing process, and we just have to wonder just how much further speed and efficiency can be pushed there.

Either way, with how fast these leaks are coming out, our guess is that we’ll learn much more about these processors at CES 2020, which is rapidly approaching.

ADATA is currently known for its high-performance DRAM and solid-state storage options, and with this existing stance, The ADATA XPG product stack is set to include monitors, gaming PCs, and laptops as of 2020.

ADATA XPG – Xtreme Performance Gear Lineup Broadens

ADATA has announced plans to expand its Xtreme Performance Gear gaming products, specifically in the form of the Xenia for laptops, Gaia for gaming PCs, and Photon for monitors. As of this moment, ADATA is set to introduce more details on these upcoming products at CES 2020, though, in the meantime, some information is available on ADATA’s upcoming XPG gaming gear.

XPG Xenia – 15.6″ Gaming Laptop

Currently, the upcoming laptop offering from ADATA is known as the XPG Xenia and will feature a 1080p IPS display along with a 9th Generation Intel Core i9 CPU. Positioned at the higher end of the gaming laptop spectrum, the XPG Xenia will take on the likes of MSI, ASUS’ ROG, and Acer’s Predator lineups.

XPG Gaia & DIY Chassis – Small Form Factor Gaming PC & Full-Size Chassis

Entering the gaming PC space, ADATA will introduce the XPG Gaia, a small form factor gaming PC, only 5 liters in size and will accommodate graphics cards up to 8 inches in length. The XPG Gaia is set to compete against the likes of systems such as the Corsair One. Along with the prebuilt XPG Gaia, ADATA will introduce a chassis under the name of XPG Volta. The XPG Volta will accommodate motherboards up to the E-ATX form factor and will include multiple features found on alternate high-end computer chassis such as tempered glass panels and metal construction, as well as various design inclusions for enthusiasts interested in liquid cooling their build.

XPG Photon – 27″ Gaming Monitor & RGB Memory Offerings

The XPG Photon will mark ADATA’s entry into the monitor space and will include PixelDisplay’s Vivid Color Eye-Safe Display technology which is a method of reducing blue light expelled from the monitor to reduce eye strain. ADATA has jumped onboard the RGB bandwagon with two new RGB DDR4 memory module designs, each featuring speedy RAM clocks of up to 4800 MHz with high capacities of up to 32GB per DIMM.

The holiday season is winding down, but there are a number of great after-Christmas sales on laptops going on, including this one. Walmart has the HP Omen 15 with a GTX 1660 Ti GPU, 144 Hz display, Core i7-9750H CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for just $999.

With these specs, the Omen 15 should provide smooth gaming at demanding settings and 1080p resolution. The 144 Hz screen will allow you to have tear-free gaming even at extremely-high settings.

While we haven’t reviewed the HP Omen 15, we’ve had great experiences with members of the HP Omen lineup. Our sister site, Laptop Mag, reviewed a slightly different configuration of the Omen 15 and praised its strong performance, stunning design and colorful screen.

One small drawback to this configuration is its 256GB SSD. With the size of modern games, even a 512GB SSD is a bit paltry. Fortunately, the Omen 15 has user-upgradeable storage and provides both SATA and M.2 slots so you can add an inexpensive secondary drive after you buy.