Items tagged with Laptops
If you own an Acer laptop powered by a GeForce RTX 30 series GPU, we have good news to share. A free performance boost is potentially coming your way. It depends on which specific model you own, but by way of a whole bunch of firmware updates, Acer is bumping up the total graphics power (TGP) threshold by as much as 30W. When it comes to gaming laptops, the GPU is the most important component. In most cases, it is also not a part that can be upgraded, so it is sound advice to go with the most powerful GPU you can afford, since you are stuck with it for the life of the laptop (barring an external graphics enclosure). Components like the RAM and storage can be upgraded or replaced in a lot of models,...
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Just a few months ago, we reviewed the Alienware m15 R4, a seriously powerful 15.6-inch form factor laptop that, at the time, posted the best gaming performance benchmark results we had ever seen from a notebook. Not that we were particularly surprised—armed with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU based on Ampere and a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-10870H CPU (Comet Lake) CPU, it packs some serious artillery. Well, we've now tested an even faster gaming laptop, and it just so happens to be the 17-inch Alienware m17 R4. Call it sibling rivalry, if you wish, but the bigger 17.3-inch brother to the m15 flexes a bit more muscle as it arrived to us. Specifically, it touts an even burlier GeForce...
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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Dell over its Alienware Area-51m laptop and the limited upgrade path available to consumers. According to the lawsuit, Dell "intentionally misled and deceived" customers into thinking there would be more robust upgrade options for what had been its flagship gaming laptop at the time of its release. It is a somewhat unique case, and definitely an interesting one. For the most part, laptops at best only allow for relatively minor do-it-yourself upgrades, like adding more RAM or storage, or swapping out the wireless card. But even those parts are sometimes off limits, let alone core components like the CPU and GPU, which can rarely be upgraded (there...
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If you are in the market for a new laptop, you are in luck. There are multiple Memorial Day weekend discounts in the wild right now, which cover everything from Microsoft's Surface Pro X (shown above), to Chromebooks and gaming notebooks. We've gone and rounded up some of the more interesting bargains, starting with a couple of Surface products that are on sale. You can check out our Surface Pro X review for our full thoughts, but in short, it is a nifty Arm-powered Windows 10 machine. It sports a 13-inch touchscreen display with a 2880-x1920 resolution and 450 nits brightness, 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM (soldered), and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. But what really makes it unique is the SQ2 processor....
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Intel today formally introduced its 11th Generation Tiger Lake-H Core processor lineup, and right on cue, its hardware partners have begun announcing new laptops based Intel's latest silicon. That includes MSI, which just unveiled over four dozen new models aimed at creators and gamers, all built around Tiger Lake-H and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 series. MSI's Creator series is where "tech meets aesthetic," and to that end, it introduced a pair of stylish 16-inch Creator Z models, both with a 120Hz display and touch support. Pricing starts at $2,599 for a Core i7-11800H CPU, GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of NVMe SSD storage. And at the $2,999 price point, you get an upgrade to a Core...
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It is currently a horrible time to build a new gaming PC. From COVID-19 demand to chip shortages, droughts, and a cryptocurrency boom, many factors make obtaining critical components like high-end processors and graphics cards hard to find at MSRP. Over the weekend, we even heard about the potential for a shortage of SSDs and HDDs due to rising Chinese crypto coin. Today, more bad news is coming in for those looking to build a new rig or upgrade an existing one. Research firm TrendForce projects that DRAM prices will surge between 18 to 23 percent for Q2 2021 versus Q1 2021. The 18 to 23 percent range is for the overall DRAM market, but higher increases are expected for consumer PC DRAM versus...
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AMD is finally getting the respect it deserves, and with good reason—its latest generation Zen 3 lineup is the real deal, in both desktop and laptop form. The demand for Zen 3 is so high that Dell is updating its Alienware laptops with AMD's latest generation processors, pairing them with NVIDIA's newest Ampere GPUs. Not to be overlooked, the combination of AMD and NVIDIA in an Alienware laptop has not been done in over a decade, since the Aurora mALX in 2007. "We heard what you wanted," Dell wrote on Twitter. "The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5, now with a fresh design and AMD Ryzen 5000 series mobile CPUs. Enjoy multi-core performance designed for gaming and content creation, all in one...
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As time goes on, more laptops built around Intel's Evo platform are emerging, bringing with them a combination of specifications and features that meet or exceed specific baseline criteria for performance, battery life, connectivity, and a few other bits. These common threads weave through Intel's Tiger Lake silicon with Xe graphics, which are key cogs in the Evo machine. HP's latest refresh of its Spectre X360 13 for 2021 is one of those laptops, blending luxury styling with Intel's newest generation CPUs and graphics, and the result is an absolutely gorgeous convertible with plenty of zip. The gas mileage is decent on this convertible as well, which is something we'll talk about a little later....
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When it comes to OEM system builders, AMD has been a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, in that it sometimes can't "get no respect," to quote the former comedian (RIP). The company's Zen architecture has been a game changer, though, especially its latest generation Zen 3 CPUs. They are so enticing, there is a rumor Razer will launch its first AMD-based gaming laptop. Up to this point, Razer has exclusively sharpened its Blade laptops with Intel's silicon. Available in 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch variants, each current model sports an Intel Core processor, with Comet Lake, Ice Lake, and Tiger Lake CPU options. But what you won't find among any of Razer's laptop models is an AMD processor. Not yet,...
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Remember those leaked photos of an upcoming Dell gaming laptop that we wrote about last week? Well, they turned out to be real—Dell today formally introduced a new G Series gaming laptop, providing us some additional information that was not available last week, though most of the juicy tidbits will still have to wait a little bit longer. The reason for that is because Dell announced its new G15 laptop in limited capacity in China, and is holding off introducing it in the United States and the rest of the world until next month. Dell tells us it will provide more details soon, related to the upcoming global launch as well as "other exciting consumer launches happening this spring," whatever...
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It appears Dell is readying a new gaming laptop with a bit of an Alienware edge to it (at least in the external design language), but will not actually be part of the Alienware family. Instead, it will occupy a spot in Dell's ever-growing laptop family as the G15 5510, and a handful of leaked images give us a glimpse of the supposed upcoming model. We can't say for sure if the leaked images are legitimate, but they are certainly striking. The design motif is very similar to the Alienware m15 R4 we recently reviewed. This is evident in the above photo, which shows a thicker and different color exhaust system compared to the rest of the laptop, as well as the ventilation slits on the side and bottom....
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Between the bots and scalpers, silicon production shortages, and yes, even cryptocurrency mining (again), gamers are having a tough time buying the latest PC and console hardware. As it applies to the latter, Ethereum is on a sharp rise, having quadrupled in value over the past three months. While depressing, it is not too surprising to learn that miners are even employing the latest generation laptops with GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs nestled inside. NVIDIA only recently announced its mobile GeForce RTX 30 series lineup. Laptop makers are busy making new models that pair the latest and greatest from NVIDIA with the newest silicon from AMD (mobile Ryzen 5000 series) and Intel. The prospect of playing...
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A new generation of high-powered gaming laptops is on the horizon, so on the surface, it may not seem like the best time to buy. And that is true if paying full price. However, retailers have started to clear out inventory to make room for the new stuff, paving the way for some fantastic deals on current generation hardware. Like a hefty $400 discount on Dell's G7 with a 300Hz display (1080p). You can find Dell's G7 marked down to $1,299.99 at Best Buy right now (down from $1,699.99). That is an enticing price for the hardware and form factor—this one takes aim at people like myself who still appreciate and gravitate towards a larger 17.3-inch display. The fast refresh rate stands out and...
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Today is a pretty big day for gamers on the go—it marks the launch of GeForce RTX 30 series laptops sporting the company's latest generation Ampere GPUs, in mobile form. And right on cue, NVIDIA has released a driver update and a bolstered version of its GeForce Experience utility, the latter of which brings support for WhisperMode 2.0. There is a bit to unpack there. Let's start with the laptop GPUs, of which there are three main versions: GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3070, and GeForce RTX 3060. Each one can be configured to different power profiles and clockspeeds by the OEMs. And if you are curious what to expect, have a look at our GeForce RTX 3080 laptop performance preview, as well...
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NVIDIA unveiled its Ampere-based RTX 30 series mobile GPUs at a special GeForce Event during this year's virtual CES 2021 festivities. A wide range of notebook design wins were also showed off at various events, spanning a variety of form factors. With the GeForce RTX 30 series, NVIDIA is targeting high-performance gaming notebooks in form factors as thin 16mm, even with the flagship GeForce RTX 3080. Thinner, higher-performance form factors aren’t the only features NVIDIA is touting. A number of upcoming notebooks will also be sporting 1440p, ultra-high refresh rate IPS displays. In fact, the test vehicle we were lucky enough to evaluate for this article – an MSI GS66 Stealth...
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During her CES2021 keynote address, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su, along with a handful of partners, revealed the AMD Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors. At that event, the overall line-up and a few details were disclosed, and over the course of CES many design wins were announced by multiple OEMs as well. Shortly thereafter though, AMD hosted a deep-dive press briefing and discussed a number of additional details regarding the Ryzen 5000 Mobile Series. And today, we’re able to disclose to you more details of AMD's robust new laptop platform, but before we do, a bit of a recap is probably in order... Ryzen 5000 Series Zen 3 Mobile Processor Line-Up Recap There is a wide array of new processors in...
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Shopping for a gaming laptop might soon require a bit more research than it normally would, because of a supposed change in how NVIDIA intends to promote its third-generation Max-Q technology. The latest Max-Q standard is a big part of Ampere's push into mobile territory, which NVIDIA announced at CES 2021 last week, but upcoming laptops might not explicitly discern between a full-power or lower-power GPU. The way things work now is that OEMs typically attach a Max-Q label on laptops with lower power GPUs inside. These are mostly intended for thin and light designs. A full power GPU tucked inside a slim gaming laptop can run hotter than what the system's cooling potential allows. In light of...
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In an effort to facilitate even skinnier laptop design and blanket the laptop market with OLED screens, Samsung Display is getting ready to introduce new OLED panel for notebooks that are thinner than any US coin, be it a quarter, nickel, dime, penny, or anything else. Samsung is calling it the "Blade Bezel," and to achieve the extreme thinness, the company moved the webcam underneath the display. We don't mean the webcam sits at the bottom of the display, as Dell experimented with on some of its previous laptops, like the XPS 13 9370 in 2018—we were never big fans of that placement, because nobody needs a clear view of our nostrils (and fortunately Dell went back to putting the webcam...
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It is CES 2021 time and companies are beginning to show off what they have created over the last year. Now, Dell is back in business with a number of different laptops that have been refreshed with the latest Intel Core processors and some extra nifty features. We have compiled some of what they have to show down below, and there are certainly some interesting things this year... Latitude 5000 Series The Dell Latitude 5000 Series could be the best choice for business and educational purposes of all the offerings from Dell. While that statement is bold, the laptops have some bold specs to back that up. Within the 5000 Series is the 13.3” Latitude 5320, 14” Latitude 5420,...
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A staple of a premium laptop is an OLED display. Not all premium laptops leverage OLED, but the ones that do tend to stand out from the crowd, like Dell's XPS 13 we reviewed last year. Expect to see more laptops sporting OLED screens in 2021. Helping to make it happen, Samsung is planning to unveil more than half a dozen new OLED displays for laptops at CES 2021. From Samsung's vantage point, there is an expanded opportunity to shovel OLED displays into the laptop marketplace, due to rallying demand for laptops as more people find themselves working from home, engaging in online education, and of course gaming. "Just as Samsung’s OLED displays have outstripped LCDs in design elegance and...
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It is incredibly difficult to find a GeForce RTX 30 series card in stock from a seller that has not jacked up the price, but eventually things will settle down. Hopefully sooner than later. Also happening presumably sooner than later—NVIDIA will launch Ampere in mobile form for laptops. As we wait, a retailer in Europe has already posted preorder listings for laptops with mobile GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs inside. To be clear, NVIDIA has not yet launched or even acknowledged a mobile Ampere lineup. We know a launch is coming, however, because (A) it would be silly and bad for business to skip this generation in the mobile sector, and (B) leaks and rumors have been piling up. And typically...
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As time goes on, Intel's 10-nanometer Tiger Lake processors will pounce on more laptop designs, given that it has only been a handful of weeks since the chip maker launched its latest mobile CPUs (which replace Ice Lake). Lenovo was quick out of the gate, however, and the company sent us an interesting sub-$1,000 Tiger Lake configuration from its rather plentiful 2-in-1 lineup. Specifically, the Lenovo Yoga 7i that arrived on our doorstep, and it's a flexible 14-inch convertible which is also the first to land in our lab armed with an 11th Gen Core i5-1135G7 processor in tow. Our dalliances with Intel's Tiger Lake platform up to this point have been encounters with higher end SKUs, including...
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