Items tagged with MSI
AMD launched its well-received Ryzen 4000 mobile processors last month, and a number of OEMs jumped on the bandwagon. MSI sat out the initial round of announcements, but is coming out swinging with its Bravo gaming laptop series. MSI’s new Bravo 15 and Bravo 17 gaming laptops trade out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX Super GPUs found in its latest Comet Lake-H laptops in favor of AMD Radeon RX 5500M (Navi) discrete graphics. The primary difference between the two machines is that the former comes with a 15.6-inch 120Hz Full HD FreeSync display, while the latter is a bit larger at 17.3 inches (while still carrying a Full HD resolution and 120Hz FreeSync spec). The Bravo...
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It's rumored that Intel and NVIDIA have something big planned for April 2nd. Word on the street is that we'll see the official launch of 10th generation Comet Lake-H mobile processors alongside GeForce RTX Super mobile GPUs. Leading further credence to these rumors is an extensive leak from MSI in the form of the GS66 Stealth family of gaming laptops. This laptop has "flagship status" written all over it, as it features Intel's top-dog Core i9-10980HK. This is an 8-core/16-thread processor with base and maximum turbo clocks of 3.1GHz and 5.3GHz respectively. The Core i9-10980HK is paired with 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory and a 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD. If that wasn't enough, MSI is also...
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MSI is expanding its range of eSports monitors with the addition of the Optix MAG273 and Optix MAG273R. Surprisingly, both of the displays are incredibly similar with respect to specifications, with a few exceptions. Both the Optix MAG273 and Optix MAG273R feature 27-inch Full HD IPS panels that are rated at a low 1ms response time. Up to a 144Hz refresh rate is supported along with AMD FreeSync adaptive refresh rate technology. Both monitors support 98 percent of the DCI-P3 and 139 percent of the sRGB color spaces. Likewise, MSI lists a brightness rating of just 250 nits with a contrast ratio of 1000:1. Given the specs, it's clear that these monitors are aimed at the lower end of the spectrum...
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In recent months, most of the attention in the [production] AMD graphics card segment has been on the newly introduced Radeon RX 5600 XT. The card was launched as a competitor for the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and came with a $279 price tag. Not to be forgotten, however, is the more performant Radeon RX 5700 that normally hovers in the $350 price range. Retailer Newegg, however, is cranking out a rather large discount on the MSI Radeon RX 5700 Evoke OC graphics card for those that are looking for a graphics upgrade. Newegg has the gaming card priced at $339.99, but it is offering a $30 discount with the promo code VGAPCRW456. That takes the price down to $309.99. On top of that, the MSI is...
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AMD's Radeon RX 5600 XT announcement/launch hasn't exactly been the smoothest for the company. Things started off well enough with the announcement at CES 2020, where AMD showed off a graphics card that offered better performance than the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti/1660 Super priced at $279. However, NVIDIA quickly countered by lowering the price of the ray-tracing capable GeForce RTX 2060 to $299, or $279 in the case of EVGA. AMD's response was to issue a new vBIOS to its OEM board partners to further boost game and boost clocks, while pushing GDDR6 speeds from 12Gbps to 14Gbps. It's that latter spec change that is causing some grief for AMD's partners. In an episode of...
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Intel's next-generation of desktop processors will be based on its Comet Lake architecture, which is yet another entry in the company's 14nm lineage. Although we don't have a definite launch date in sight for the processors, the requisite motherboards for the platform are already making their presence known. As you may already know, Comet Lake-S uses a new socket (LGA 1200), which means that customers will need to use new 400-Series motherboards. Thanks to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), we now know the names of MSI's entire Z490 motherboard lineup that will launch alongside Comet Lake-S. According to the EEC, this is the full lineup: Z490-A PRO Creator Z490I MPG Z490M GAMING EDGE...
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At long last, AMD came out at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and finally introduced the Radeon RX 5600 XT, a SKU that had been the subject of numerous leaks and rumors prior to the official unveiling. As expected, several of AMD's hardware partners flipped the switch on product pages with custom models sporting fancy cooling solutions and, in some cases, factory overclocks. In a moment, we will give a rundown of the various custom Radeon RX 5600 XT models that have actual product pages. In time, even more custom models will appear, but our focus here is on the ones that we know to be real. Before we do that, however, let's quickly recap the specs and features of the Radeon RX 5600 XT. AMD...
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MSI has pulled the wraps off a new gaming notebook at CES 2020 called the GE66 Raider. The machine is due out later this year and will use the incoming Intel 10th generation H series CPUs, up to the Intel Core i9 H-series. MSI is aimed to offer the best with regards to mobile graphics performance, so it will pair the machine with up NVIDIA GeForce RTX discrete GPUs. Two of the key details regarding the machine's specs are a massive 99.9 WHr battery and an optional 300Hz 15.6-inch display, which will be a boon to 1080p eSports gamers. The battery is the largest capacity allowed on flights, as the FAA caps capacity at 100 WHr. The keyboard used in the machine has per-key RGB lighting,...
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MSI is looking to make waves at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month with its Creator 17, the world's first laptop with a mini LED display. According to MSI, it provides "top-notch, true-to-life color accuracy" with 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. It also boasts high dynamic range (HDR) support with a peak brightness of more than 1,000 nits. "Mini LED is a game-changing technology that has the potential to be used on all electronic displays. It has a simpler structure with better performance, combining all the strengths of other display technologies. Until now, Mini LED has only been used in some TVs, but with leading global display manufacturers shifting...
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Intel might have new Frost Canyon NUCs waiting in the wings, but MSI is ready to deliver right now with the latest update to its Cubi family of small form factor PCs. The newest entry is the Cubi 5 10M, which is backed by Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake processors. Like Intel's NUC family, the Cubi 5 10M is diminutive in stature, measuring just 4.9" x 4.9" x 2.1". Access to the inside of the PC is made possible by four screws on the bottom of the chassis; after which the entire bottom panel can be removed. From there, you'll have direct access to install a 2.5-inch HDD/SSD, or an M.2 SSD. Both SO-DIMM (DDR4-2666 supported up to 64GB) slots are also directly available for...
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The wait is finally over—AMD on Thursday formally introduced its next generation Ryzen Threadripper lineup consisting of the 24-core/48-thread Threaderipper 3960X and 32-core/64-thread Threadripper 3970X (there will likely be more SKUs to follow). Following suit, AMD's hardware partners have come out with new TRX40 motherboards to house this next round of high-end desktop (HEDT) silicon, including multiple models from ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI. The TRX40 platform is stout. It offers quad-channel DDR4 memory support (ECC optional), a total of 88 PCI Express 4.0 lanes, multi-GPU support (CrossFire and SLI), up to 12 native USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, up to 4 native USB 2.0 ports, two x4 NVMe ports, up to...
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Yesterday, AMD announced the first members of its third-generation Ryzen Threadripper family of HEDT processors. The Threadripper 3960X (24 cores, 48 threads) and the Threadripper 3970X (32 cores, 64 threads) are tremendous processors in their own right, but there is something allegedly even more sinister afoot from AMD. We've been hearing rumors for months that AMD is working on a monstrous 64-core, 128-thread Threadripper to plant its flag as the absolute king of the HEDT processor market. We now might actually have our first verifiable confirmation of the existence of this alleged Threadripper 3990X (or 3990WX depending on who you talk to) courtesy of MSI. The folks at WCCFTech spotted...
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Coming in slightly ahead of schedule. MSI has begun rolling out BIOS updates based on AMD's latest microcode, AGESA (AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture) 1.0.0.4. MSI had previously claimed the new microcode would introduce over 100 fixes and improvements. It appears boot times is one of them—a video comparing an X570 motherboard running the latest microcode shows it booting more much faster than the previous microcode. MSI says it is the first motherboard maker to release the latest AMD Combo Pi version 1.0.0.4 Patch B (SMU v46.54) BIOS update. According to MSI, the latest microcode "has a massive improvement at all points concerning debugs and optimization" compared to the...
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Motherboard manufacturers have been relatively mum about their plans for AMD's incoming third-generation Ryzen Threadripper 3000 processors, but there have been a number of leaks regardless. This time around, MSI has left one of its upcoming TRX40 motherboards lurking in plain sight on its website. MSI let the cat out of the bag on a promotional page that describes how you can get a $25 Steam promotional credit for submitting a review for one of its products. MSI notebooks, desktop, monitors, and motherboards are eligible, but it is what was found under the latter category that caught our eye. MSI listed the Creator TRX40 motherboard, which so far is an unannounced product....
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Earlier today, AMD launched desktop and mobile versions of its new mainstream 7nm Navi-based Radeon RX 5500 Series. In our initial story, we briefly touched on the MSI Alpha 15, which will be the first gaming laptop to ship with the Radeon RX 5500M graphics cards. Now, MSI is officially announcing the Alpha 15, and is giving us all of the pertinent specs on its new 15-inch gaming monster. The Radeon RX 5500M inside the laptop has 6.4 billion transistors, 22 compute units, 1408 stream processors, a 1448MHz game clock, 1645MHz boost clock and 4.6 TFLOPs compete performance. Given that this a mainstream GPUs, it’s limited to just 4GB of GDDR6 in this mobile configuration. The Radeon RX...
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Following the launch of Intel's latest Core X-series (Cascade Lake-X) of high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, MSI has come out with a trio of new X299 motherboard options for creators and professionals, including the Creator X299, X299 Pro, and X299 Pro 10G, the latter of which comes bundled with a 10G "Super LAN" card for ultra-fast wired connectivity. MSI X299 Pro 10G And X299 Pro The bundled LAN card (Aquantia AQC107 controller) is addition to the dual LAN ports that already come on the X299 Pro 10G. One of those is a regular 1GbE LAN port (Intel I219-V controller) and the other is a faster 2.5G LAN port (Realtek RTL8125-CG controller). "Designed to satisfy any professional workflow, X299 PRO...
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AMD is off to a strong start with its Ryzen 3000 family of 7nm Zen 2 processors. We've seen month after month that the processors have been gaining strength in the retail market, and have been walloping Intel's current-generation Core CPUs in some regions. The folks at MSI are looking to expand their family of X570-based motherboards for the Ryzen 3000 family with the launch of the MEG X570 Unify. For those that prefer a stealthier look for your rig that doesn't alert its presence from a mile away, you'll be glad to know that the MEG X570 Unify doesn't come with RGB LED flourishes throughout. "By eliminating all the redundant RGB LED from the motherboard and adopting the UV black printing,...
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We recently had the chance to spend some time with the folks at Maingear HQ and built a beautiful, water-cooled AMD Rzyen 3000-based rig. That system was destined for Dave’s lab and has become his daily workhorse – in fact, that rig produced the video you’ll see below. Not long after we took that trip to Maingear though, my personal rig started acting up. I have been rocking an Ivy Bridge-based system for about 7 years now that has made it through multiple OS upgrades and served me quite well. I had been planning to build a new rig for many months, but my current rig had been so reliable, and my personal and professional workloads so intense, I just couldn’t pull the trigger....
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During the most recent episode of its Insider livestream, MSI shared some details about its upcoming Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700 graphics cards, including its custom models. One of those product families, the Mech Oc series, will feature dual-axial fans and factory overclocks when they become available several weeks from now. Here in the early going, every single Navi card that is available at retail uses AMD's stock cooling shroud, which is a blower-style cooler. They also stick to reference clockspeeds. However, custom cards are definitely coming—AMD confirmed they will start arriving around the middle of August, and ASUS has said it will have custom models available in September....
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The initial flurry of Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700 graphics cards that are available at retail sites like Amazon and Newegg are all based on AMD's reference design, with the stock blower-style cooling shroud. Navi cards with custom cooling solutions are coming, though, as leaked slides by MSI confirm. In case you are wondering, AMD stuck with the blower-style cooling solution for Navi because it expels hot air directly out of the case. The coolers are similar on the Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700, though not exactly the same—the former has a indent in the shape of a "7" (because of Navi's 7nm manufacturing process) that supposedly optimizes airflow, and a vent on the rear...
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Earlier today, we presented you with our review of the GeForce RTX 2060 Super and GeForce RTX 2070 Super. You can think of both cards as a preemptive strike against the yet-to-be-released Radeon RX 5700, Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition. Although we suggest that you read our review to get a full idea of how the new Super cards perform, there should probably be some cause for concern from the AMD camp. With that being said, the first round of cards from NVIDIA's OEM partners have been announced, and should be hitting store shelves within the next few weeks. This afternoon, we have entries from EVGA, MSI and Zotac. You should already be familiar...
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AMD is looking to one-up Intel on numerous fronts with its Zen 2-based announcements at Computex 2019. In addition to introducing us to the first members of the Ryzen 3000 family, AMD also introduced the X570 chipset that natively supports the new processors. Perhaps the biggest feature addition with X570 is the availability of PCIe 4.0 support, and MSI is taking full advantage of that additional bandwidth by showcasing a new [unnamed] Phison PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe PS5016-E16-based SSD. Needless to say, this PCIe 4.0 SSD delivers some scintillating performance according to MSI. In the provided CrystalMark benchmark (seen below), the Phison-based SSD was able to record sequential read/write...
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