Month: April 2020

I made the mistake of buying a netbook years ago, one of the early models that was ill-equipped for doing much of anything outside of basic chores (like Solitaire). They eventually improved, then faded from existence. Had netbooks remained a popular form factor, they probably would have morphed into something like GPD’s new Win Max, which is being billed as the “world’s smallest handheld gaming laptop.”

That’s an interesting way of describing it, and from what I can tell, it’s not inaccurate. At its core, this is an 8-inch laptop. But it’s also designed specifically for handheld use, with an integrated Xbox 360 gamepad of sorts—there’s a pair of “ultra durable 3D joysticks” above the keyboard, along with a D-pad on the left and a set of XYAB buttons on the right. There’s also shoulder buttons. If an Nvidia Shield, Nintendo Switch, Xbox controller, and a Windows laptop had a foursome, this would be the lovechild of their romp in the design lab.

The 8-inch display sports an IPS panel with a 1280×800 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio). It’s powered by an 10th generation Intel Core i5-1035G7 processor (Ice Lake) with 4 cores and 8 threads clocked at 1.2GHz to 3.7GHz, along with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD.

Display—8 inches (IPS)

Resolution—1280×800

CPU—Intel Core i5-1035G7 (4C8T, 1.2GHz to 3.7GHz)

GPU—Intel Iris Plus 940

RAM—16GB LPDDRX-3733

Storage—512GB NVMe SSD

Wireless—Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.0

I/O Connectivity—1x Thunderbolt 3, 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A, 1x HDMI, RJ45 (GbE LAN)

Battery—57Wh (up to 3 hours of “heavy use”)

The 8-inch form factor likely precludes anything more powerful than integrated graphics, though at least the resolution is not too demanding. GDP also touts being able to connect an external graphics enclosure to the Win Max, by way of the Thunderbolt 3 port. Overall, this is an impressive collection of hardware for such a tiny system.

As to what type of actual gaming performance you can expect, GPD has provided the following set of benchmarks:

GPD notes that all games were set at their default graphics settings, and says higher framerates might be achievable by lowering them. We have not spent any hands-on time with the Win Max so we’ll have to take the company at its word, for now. Looking at the numbers, though, nothing jumps out as wildly inaccurate. And as expected, the best experiences on a system like this will be in less demanding games.

It’s certainly an interesting concept, and one that could potentially work well with something like GeForce Now, Nvidia’s cloud game streaming service.

That will depend in part on pricing. Unfortunately, GPD hasn’t provided that detail yet. We imagine it will launch soon, though—there’s an “order button” on the product page, but it’s not working yet. The closest information I could find as to when it will be available is a tweet in late February saying it will launch in a couple of months.

Microsoft is getting ready to unveil its Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2 hardware. Recent retailer leaks have hinted that Microsoft is planning to use Intel’s latest 10th Gen processors on the Surface Book 3, alongside potentially up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Rumors also suggest that Microsoft is switching to Nvidia’s Quadro graphics chips in some Surface Book 3 models. The switch will mean the Surface Book 3 will better cater to 3D animators, designers, and engineers who rely on the power of Quadro graphics cards that are optimized for a number of pro apps instead of gaming.

Microsoft is also preparing a Surface Go 2, a successor to its popular smaller tablet. Retailer leaks have also hinted that Microsoft will be offering a model with an Intel Core m3, alongside the typical Intel Pentium Gold processor option. Windows Central reports that the Surface Go 2 will also include a larger display at 10.5 inches, with slightly smaller bezels that are more similar to those found on the Surface Laptop 3.

The exterior size is said to be the same as the original Surface Go, though, so existing accessories and the Type Cover from the Surface Go will work on the Surface Go 2. The Intel Core m3 model will also reportedly include 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage, and an optional LTE connectivity.

Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Surface hardware next month, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. Those plans could change due to the pandemic, but Microsoft has been working toward these new devices for quite some time.

New benchmarks for Intel’s 10th generation Comet Lake-S desktop CPUs have surfaced online, just days ahead of the lineup’s rumored launch. 

These benchmarks come courtesy of serial leaker TUM_APISAK, who posted links to alleged Geekbench V4 listings for the 8-core/16-thread Intel Core 10700k and the 6-core/12-thread Core i5-10600K on their Twitter account. 

These processors, which will go head-to-head with the Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 5 3600, respectively, lock horns with their respective AMD counterparts, and – unsurprisingly – lead the charge when it comes to single-core performance.

The Intel i7-10700K, listed with a max frequency of 5.1GHz, scored 5,969 in the Geekbench 4 single-core test and 34,133 in multi-core, while the more affordable i5-10600K – with a 4.6GHz boost – scored 6,081 points in the single-core test and 28,523 points in the multi-threaded test.

Pulling ahead

As noted by TechPowerUp, these leaked scores put the Intel chips way ahead of their AMD counterparts when it comes to single-core performance, cementing the chipmaker’s lead as the manufacturer behind the best gaming processors. However, when it comes to multi-core, AMD Ryzen CPUs are able to just about match the Comet Lake-S lineup despite lower all-core frequencies, with Intel just a single-digit percentage ahead of Zen 2.

There’s no sign of the Intel Core i9-10900K, the 10-core/20-thread flagship processor in the Comet-Lake S lineup, in this latest leak. However, the CPU made an appearance on Geekbench 5 earlier this month where it earned a 10% lead in single-core performance compared to AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

The CPU, like its less-expensive counterparts, again fell short in multi-core tests. It raked up a score of 11,296 which isn’t quite as powerful as AMD’s current-generation flagship.

Intel’s 10th-generation Comet Lake-S desktop CPUs are expected to launch on 30 April, though it’s likely notes that the first official benchmarks and reviews won’t arrive until the second week of May.

The CPUs are rumored to require new Intel 400-series motherboards built around the new LGA1200 socket, and these are expected to be unveiled at the same time.

If you can remember our MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GAMING X TRIO, I deemed that product to be a classic (albeit an expensive one). All of the sudden a GAMING Z TRIO just surfaced at MSI, mind the Z. 

Initially, when looking at the specs it all seemed a little familiar, however, the Z model is well .. the same product, however now with 16 Gbps specced memory. So the story goes like this:

MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GAMING X TRIO (review)

Boost: 1,755 MHz / Base: 1,350 MHz

Memory 14.0 Gbps GDDR6 (effective data-rate)

MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GAMING Z TRIO

Boost: 1,755 MHz / Base: 1,350 MHz

Memory 16.0 Gbps GDDR6 (effective data-rate)

Interesting right? We might see a completely 2080 Ti rehash from AIbs with a new type of GDDR6 memory.

Updated: MSI outs a press-release on the new SKU.

[Taipei, Taiwan] As the world’s most popular GAMING graphics card vendor, MSI is proud to unleash the most powerful Turing-based gaming graphics card onto the market. The famous GAMING TRIO series has reached its ultimate form in custom GeForce graphics cards to push the limits of performance once more. Making sure gamers will bask in glorious amounts of frames, MSI has fitted the GeForce® RTX 2080 Ti with extremely fast 16 Gbps memory. Outperforming the MSI GeForce® RTX 2080 Ti GAMING X TRIO by over 5% out of the box, the industry-leading MSI GeForce® RTX 2080 Ti GAMING Z TRIO sets a new bar for extreme gaming.

Rocking the mighty TRI-FROZR design with supreme cooling power allows the MSI GeForce® RTX 2080 Ti GAMING Z TRIO to deliver top notch in-game and thermal performance. Featuring MSI’s patented TORX 3.0 fans, the unique fan design combines the advantages of two differently shaped fan blades to generate huge amounts of concentrated airflow while remaining virtually silent. The Wave-Curved 2 fin design helps to dissipate heat from the heatsink quicker than ever to keep you cool in the heat of battle.

An aggressive gunmetal grey & black look emphasizes the glorious RGB glow on the card. Using the updated & improved MSI Dragon Center software, controlling and synchronizing your LED-lit components and peripherals is just a few clicks away.

MSI DRAGON CENTER

MSI Dragon Center is a brand-new software platform with the goal to integrate all MSI software for components, desktops, laptops and peripherals. The all-new software features Gaming Mode, which instantly optimizes your hardware for the best gaming experience including SSD, monitor and network settings. Mystic Light enables you to customize RGB effects to enhance the gaming atmosphere around you. This budding new software platform will continue to improve and evolve, including more unique functionalities and benefits for MSI users.

MSI AFTERBURNER

MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card Overclocking software. It gives you full control of your graphics card and enables you to monitor your system’s key metrics in real-time. Afterburner gives you a free performance boost for a smooth in-game experience thanks to higher FPS.

The race for bezel-less smartphones gave birth to trends like waterdrop notches, pop-up cameras, and punch-holes. So far, the only limitation for companies to deliver a truly bezel-less smartphone is the front-facing camera. While companies like Asus adopted a single camera that snaps to the front when needed, not every one of them wants to give up the selfie snapper. After the under-display fingerprints, OEMs are now working to deliver a proper under-display camera. Several companies such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Samsung already working on it. But which company will be the first to deliver a smartphone with this characteristic? According to a report, it will be HMD Global with its Nokia 9.3 PureView.

THE NEXT NOKIA FLAGSHIP COULD BE THE SMARTPHONE WITH THE MOST INNOVATIVE SELFIE CAMERA OF 2020

Earlier this year, we saw a report claiming that the Nokia 9.3 PureView could be one of the first phones to feature this technology. More recently, another report revealed that HMD Global will make its flagship official during Q3 2020. Today, a fresh report from Nokia Power User once again states that the Nokia 9.3 PureView will come with an under-display front-facing snapper. It cites information from a source that is very close to the Finnish firm. According to them, the new smartphone will come with PureDisplay V3 technology. Besides it, the new handset panel will deliver a 120Hz refresh rate.

According to the source, HMD Global has been testing the under-display selfie camera along with a pop-up mechanism. The company is reportedly found the under-display camera tech to be stable enough to come in a new flagship. The Nokia 9.3 PureView is said to come with a Penta-Camera setup featuring 108MP primary camera, 64MP sensor, and another three unspecified sensors. When it comes to the selfie camera, it is said to deliver a 48MP camera. If Nokia delivers this under-display technology, we are very curious to see how the quality will be.

Apart from the camera specs, the new handset will debut with Snapdragon 865 and Android 10.