PCHardCores: March 2017

Friday 31 March 2017

AMD Ryzen state of the union address

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Amid the CPU release chaos, it's easy to miss the other half of the story; the chipsets and motherboards for AMD's new processors are arriving as well.

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Intel Xeon Processor CPU X5560 (8M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 6.40 GT)

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CASH AND LOCAL BUYERS ONLY... Up for sale are 12 Intel Xeon Processor X5560 (8M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 6.40 GT). The price each CPU is $35.00 ...

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Best Tablets: Q1 2017

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Unlike the red-hot smartphone market that continues to grow, with new models appearing at a blistering rate, the tablet market is, well….a little boring. Apple still releases a few iPads every year, and Microsoft’s efforts with its Surface products has sparked some interest in Windows tablets, but Android tablets just do not seem to be a priority for OEMs, especially at the high-end of the price scale.

There have been a few notable products released over the past few months, though, including a new premium Android tablet, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S3, to compete with the iPads. Samsung also announced a new Windows 10 tablet at MWC 2017, the Galaxy Book, which focuses on productivity and the enterprise.

Apple also made a few changes to its iPad lineup. Both the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 2 have been discontinued. The 32GB iPad Mini 4 has also been eliminated, leaving the 128GB Mini 4 as the only small-screened iPad option. To fill the void at the lower end of its lineup, Apple introduced a new 9.7-inch model simply (and confusingly) named iPad, which starts at $329.

With so much activity in the smartphone market, along with our current staffing shortage, we’ve fallen behind in our tablet coverage. Normally we only recommend products we’ve reviewed, but we’re relaxing this requirement for tablets, so some of the following recommendations are based on limited time with the product or our intuition.

Best High-End Tablets: Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch & 9.7-inch), Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, Microsoft Surface Pro 4

Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro & 9.7-inch iPad Pro

The best Apple has to offer, the iPad Pro aims to blend productivity with media consumption. Productivity improvements come mostly from iOS 10’s new split-screen multitasking features and by adding accessories. The Apple Pencil, which costs $99, is comfortable to hold and easy to use. It works great for taking notes at work or school, and creative types can use it for drawing and inking. There’s also the Smart Keyboard—$149 for the 9.7-inch or $169 for the 12.9-inch—that improves the typing experience. It uses the Smart Connector for transferring data and power, so there’s no need for Bluetooth pairing or recharging a keyboard battery. Like all keyboard covers, however, Apple’s Smart Keyboard is not very sturdy and difficult to use on anything other than a table.

The larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro comes with a 2732x2048 (264ppi) IPS display and weighs either 713 or 723 grams (a little more than 1.5 pounds) for the Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi + LTE models, respectively. Weight drops to 437 or 444 grams (just less than 1.0 pound) for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which comes with a 2048x1536 (264ppi) IPS display. Both Pros include Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor, four external speakers (and 3.5mm headphone jacks), 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO, and Apple’s speedy A9X SoC.

There are a few other differences between the two Pros beyond screen size and weight, partly because the two different models were released several months apart. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s True Tone display adjusts the white point in response to ambient lighting, and it also supports the DCI-P3 color gamut. There’s also a much improved antireflective coating applied, which is the best I’ve ever seen and makes a huge difference in screen legibility. The smaller Pro also has better cameras: resolution increases from 1.2MP to 5MP for the front-facing camera, while the older 8MP f/2.4 camera gets updated to the 12MP f/2.2 module from the iPhone 6s, adding the ability to record 4K video and improving slow-motion video to 1080p120 or 720p240 instead of 720p120.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro starts at $599 (32GB, Wi-Fi) or $729 (32GB, Wi-Fi + LTE), while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 (32GB, Wi-Fi) or $1029 (128GB, Wi-Fi + LTE).

Read the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 9.7-inch iPad Pro reviews

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S3 is a premium Android 7.0 tablet that sandwiches an aluminum frame between edge-to-edge glass on the front and back and weighs in at 429 grams (0.95 pounds). The 9.7-inch 2048x1536 SAMOLED display covers 97% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and also includes a blue light filter to reduce eye strain while reading.

Inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC and 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. There’s only 32GB of internal storage, though, which is pretty limiting for a tablet. Fortunately, additional storage can be added with a microSD card. There’s also a 6000mAh battery that supports Adaptive Fast Charging.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 on Amazon.com

Like the 9.7-inch iPad Pro it’s competing with, the Galaxy Tab S3 blends media consumption with productivity. Its HDR-ready display and four external speakers that adjust audio response when the tablet is shifted between portrait and landscape makes it a "9.7-inch home theater solution," according to Samsung. Its productivity play is similar to the iPad’s, namely multi-window capability from the OS coupled with Samsung’s S Pen and optional keyboard accessories. The S Pen, which comes bundled with the tablet, uses Wacom technology to provide pressure and angle sensitivity. It also does not use batteries so it never needs to be charged.

The Galaxy Tab S3 costs $600 (32GB, Wi-Fi), the same as a similarly configured 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 is more of a laptop with a detachable keyboard than a true tablet. It’s built from PC components and runs Windows 10, which makes it more suitable for productivity than media consumption—basically the opposite of the pure tablet options.

The Surface Pro 4 comes in more configurations than can be listed here, with prices ranging from $699 for the fanless model that includes an Intel Core m3-6Y30 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB PCIe SSD, all the way to $2699 for a dual-core Intel Core i7-6650U, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe SSD. The battery capacities also vary based on CPU choice. While the base model is similar in price to the 12.7-inch iPad Pro once you factor in what Apple charges for accessories, the higher SKUs make them more like laptop replacements than tablets considering the performance and price.

Buy Microsoft Surface Pro 4 on Amazon.com

All Surface Pro 4 models come with a 12.3-inch 2736x1824 (3:2 aspect ratio and 267ppi) display, dual front-facing speakers, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and a microSD card reader. The magnesium chassis looks professional and keeps weight in check (766 or 786 grams). The Core i5 and Core i7 models are not able to be passively cooled like the Core m3 model and must use a fan for cooling.

The Microsoft Surface Pen, which costs $60, comes bundled with all but the base model, and supports 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. There’s even an eraser on the end. Microsoft's Surface Type Cover, which is not included with the tablet, costs $129 or $159 if you opt for the version that has a fingerprint scanner for authentication.

Best Mid-Range Tablets: Apple iPad (5th generation), Apple iPad Mini 4, Huawei MediaPad M3

Apple iPad (5th generation)

Apple’s newest iPad is not really new at all, but a combination of existing parts primarily from the iPad Air 1, iPad Air 2, and iPhone 6s. The aluminum shell comes from the iPad Air 1, giving the new iPad the same dimensions and weight. The 9.7-inch 2048x1536 IPS display also comes from the iPad Air 1, which means the cover glass is not laminated to the panel like on the newer models and lacks the more sophisticated antireflective coating.

Most of the motherboard components come from the iPhone 6s, including an Apple A9 SoC, with a dual-core Twister CPU and PowerVR GT7600 GPU, paired with 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Its 32.4Wh battery has 18% more capacity than the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and the outgoing iPad Air 2, which should further boost battery life, especially when paired with the phone SoC. The iPad Air 2 donates its 1.2MP f/2.2 front-facing camera and 8MP f/2.4 rear camera, neither of which is anything special.

Basically this new iPad is a slightly thicker and heavier iPad Air 2 with a bigger battery and a lower price. The 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi only version costs $329 for 32GB of storage and $429 for 128GB. The Wi-Fi + LTE version costs $459 for 32GB and $559 for 128GB.

Apple iPad Mini 4

The iPad Mini 4’s only advantage is its smaller size. Its 7.9-inch 2048x1536 (326ppi) display makes it noticeably smaller in every dimension relative to the new 5th generation iPad, with weight dropping from 469 grams to only 299 grams. It uses the slightly older Apple A8 SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but comes with 2GB of RAM like the 9.7-inch iPads, enabling support for iOS 10's split-screen multitasking feature; however, its smaller screen means that you'll often only use the iPad Mini 4 with a single app at a time, so the additional RAM is mostly useful for keeping additional Safari tabs and apps in memory. There are still some use cases for split-screen view, though, like pinning a chat app to one side. You also get full sRGB coverage on the display, along with laminated cover glass and Apple's AR coating which reduces reflections and increases effective contrast. The iPad Mini 4 comes with the same cameras, wireless connectivity options, and Touch ID fingerprint sensor as the new 5th generation iPad.

The iPad Mini 4 is not a particularly good value compared to the new 9.7-inch iPad. With a starting price of $399 for the 128GB Wi-Fi model, it costs more than the entry-level iPad and is only $30 less than a 128GB iPad, making it a tough sell unless you really need the smaller size. There’s also 128GB Wi-Fi + LTE version for $529.

Read the iPad Mini 4 review

Huawei MediaPad M3

Buy Huawei MediaPad M3 on Amazon.com

Huawei’s MediaPad M3 comes with an 8.4-inch 2560x1600 (16:10 aspect ratio) IPS display that is one of the sharpest displays (359ppi) you'll see on a tablet, with most other Android tablets of this size and resolution using PenTile AMOLED panels that have reduced red and blue subpixel density causing issues with text rendition. Powering this media-centric tablet is HiSilicon's Kirin 950 SoC, which is also found in Huawei’s Mate 8 and Honor 8 flagship phones, paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage with microSD support. There’s also 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a fingerprint sensor integrated into the physical home button, and stereo speakers built into the left and right sides of the aluminum chassis.

The Wi-Fi only version costs $299 for 32GB of storage and $349 for 64GB. There’s also a Wi-Fi + LTE version sold outside the US.

Best Budget Tablets: Amazon Fire HD 8, NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1

Amazon Fire HD 8

Buy Amazon Fire HD 8 on Amazon.com

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is a good choice for an inexpensive Android tablet geared specifically towards media-consumption. It has an 8.0-inch 1280x800 (189ppi) IPS display, and is powered by MediaTek's MT8163 SoC, which uses a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, paired with 1.5GB of RAM. Performance is hardly mind-blowing, but the point of the Fire HD 8 is that it starts at only $90 for the 16GB model. The caveat is that you’ll see ads on the lock screen and parts of the launcher. Paying an extra $15 removes the ads, and given that the ads are not really intrusive, I would imagine that the most price-conscious customers would opt to just keep them. There’s also a 32GB model that costs $120. Internal storage is tight for a media-oriented tablet, but it’s possible to expand storage with a microSD card.

It’s important to note that the Fire HD 8 does not have access to Google services. This means no Gmail app, no Chrome, no Youtube, and no Google Play. Amazon's own app store has most of the big names in the mobile app space, and the intended target market for these devices are not users who really make heavy use of apps anyway. Amazon Prime users have a lot to like about it, though, especially those in markets where Amazon's media services like Prime Video and Prime Music are available. Heavy readers will also have easy access to Amazon's library of eBooks. The Fire HD 8 even includes Amazon Alexa voice service now.

NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1

NVIDIA’s little tablet has been around forever, but despite its older hardware it’s still a capable device. NVIDIA also continues to provide software updates—it just recently received an update to Android 7.0—which is pretty amazing since it’s almost 3 years old now (it originally shipped with Android KitKat 4.4.2). The SHIELD Tablet’s software is also notable for providing a clean, stock Android experience and includes access to Google’s apps and services as you would expect.

Buy NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1 on Amazon.com

Being a product made by NVIDIA, it should be no surprise that it’s geared towards gaming and media consumption. The included SHIELD Hub app is the gateway to all of your gaming and media content, giving you convenient access to your existing titles, and allowing you to shop for new ones. It also gives you access to NVIDIA’s GameStream service that allows you to play your PC games on the tablet, which is a cool feature (the games run on your PC with NVIDIA GPU and the video output is streamed over Wi-Fi), and it’s compatible with the GeForce NOW cloud gaming service. To take full advantage of the SHIELD Tablet’s gaming options, you’ll need to buy the optional wireless SHIELD controller for $60.

It comes with an 8.0-inch 1920x1200 IPS display that can feel a little cramped when playing PC games, and its less-than-sRGB color gamut hurts color accuracy, but you have to expect some concessions at this price point. Inside the plastic chassis is NVIDIA's Tegra K1 SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and a single SMX (192 core) Kepler GPU paired with 2GB of RAM. There’s only 16GB of internal storage, but you can use a microSD card to add more. Other perks include front-facing stereo speakers and a Mini-HDMI port with HDCP 1.4 output for connecting the tablet to an external TV for gaming on the big screen.

The SHIELD Tablet K1 costs $200. Accessories include a flip cover that doubles as a stand for $40 and the aforementioned SHIELD controller for $60.

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Intel's Optane memory may not be compatible with Kaby Lake Pentium or Celeron CPUs

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Intel's new Optane memory promises to help speed up traditional hard drives to near SSD speeds, but it won't be compatible with lower-end Kaby Lake processors. According to the official product requirements page, Optane only works with 7th generation Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs. This is surprising since Optane...

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CPU Intel 17-3770k PC processor

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Intel i7-3770k LGA1155 CPU (incl. heat sink and cooling fan). Bought it brand new but never used it because it is incompatible with my 2nd Gen ...

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Dual Core Radeon CPU Processor

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We bought this for my son to build an computer and it was the wrong part. It is brand new, but box is open, so couldn't return. Link to Amazon ...

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Advanced Micro Devices Company Stock Raises With Record Numbers

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One of their competitors, and one of the only ones that pose a true threat to Intel's market share, just released a line of computer processors that ...

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Deals of the week: a Das Keyboard for $90 and more

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... Newegg was running a sale on the mighty AMD Ryzen 7 1700X processor. ... Newegg is still offering the CPU for only $369.99 if you use discount code ... This computer packs an Intel Core m5-6Y54 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a ...

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Stardock and Oxide Complete First Optimization for AMD Ryzen CPUs Delivering Up to 30 Percent ...

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... the completion of initial optimization of „Ashes of the Singularity” for AMD Ryzen desktop processors resulting in significant performance increases.

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AMD Ryzen Update Brings More Improvements that Strongly Suggest iMac, MacBook Pro 2017 ...

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The new patch fixes the performance, increasing the Ryzen 7 CPU ... The disruptive CPU update seems to give an answer to the doubters that Ryzen ... Pro 2 models will sport the A10 processor, Apple's fastest mobile chip to date.

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AMD Ryzen 7 Series Processors Show Significant Performance Gains With New Software ...

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Cube i35 Thinker: $700 notebook with 13.5 inch, 3K2K display, Core M3 Kaby Lake CPU

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The Cube i35 Thinker sort of splits the difference: in addition to a high-resolution display, it has a Core M3-7Y30 Kaby Lake processor, 8GB of RAM, ...

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AMD Announces Release of Initial Gaming Optimization for Ryzen in “Ashes of the Singularity”

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... the completion of initial optimization of “Ashes of the Singularity” for AMD Ryzen desktop processors resulting in significant performance increases.

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AMD Ryzen 16-Core/12-Core Behemoth And New Socket Challenge Intel; First Ryzen Patch ...

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Ashes of the Singularity, DOTA 2 optimized for AMD Ryzen CPUs

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AMD revitalized a stale consumer CPU market earlier this month with the launch of its Ryzen platform. The company’s first few chips offered incredibly impressive performance as it relates to multi-threaded productivity and content creation workloads but fell a bit short on the gaming side.

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Ashes of the Singularity, DOTA 2 optimized for AMD Ryzen CPUs

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AMD revitalized a stale consumer CPU market earlier this month with the launch of its Ryzen platform. The company's first few chips offered incredibly ...

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Intel’s Optane Memory has a catch with budget processors

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Intel launched its Optane Memory – which acts as a small turbocharging cache for a traditional hard disk for an SSD-like speed boost – earlier this week, but a caveat we were unaware of has emerged: the product won’t work with low-end Kaby Lake processors.

As we reported previously, the base requirements for Optane Memory is an M.2 storage slot (which the memory stick plugs into), an Intel 200 series chipset motherboard, and a Kaby Lake (seventh-generation) CPU.

However, as Tech Report spotted, the official list of requirements on Intel’s Optane website stipulates that users must have a Core i3, i5 or i7 Kaby Lake processor.

That’s an important distinction, because it leaves non-Core family CPUs out in the cold, even if they are the latest seventh-generation. This means Pentium and Celeron models, and on the laptop front the Core Y-series (which were referred to as Core M pre-Kaby Lake), isn’t supported by Optane either.

Pentium problems

Clearly, then, if you’re building a budget PC, and were thinking of boosting a large hard drive’s speed with 16GB of Optane Memory, this is an issue to bear in mind.

For those building from scratch, a truly budget Pentium processor, that doesn't cost much more than £50 (around $60, AU$80), won’t work with Optane, and if you want speedier boot times and system performance, you’ll have to take the traditional route of a small separate SSD to go alongside that big hard drive.

That said, a base Core i3 isn’t exactly expensive, either – you can pick one up for just over £110 (around $135, AU$180) at the time of writing. But sometimes, with extremely tight budget builds, every pound (or dollar) counts.

The other point to bear in mind is that those who own a PC with an existing Kaby Lake Celeron or Pentium processor won’t be able to do a quick Optane upgrade to supercharge their large spinning hard disk. Not unless they upgrade the CPU as well, and that really isn’t going to be economical compared to simply plugging in an SSD.

Of course, we’re assuming here that when Intel says ‘requirements’ for Optane, these are hard requirements, as opposed to a lack of official support which might mean that Optane could still work with these budget CPUs (even if it’s something Intel doesn’t recommend). From what we can see here though, that isn’t the case.

Via: Digital Trends

Thinking of simply getting an SSD? These are the best SSD deals

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Intel's Optane Memory has a catch with budget processors

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Intel launched its Optane Memory – which acts as a small turbocharging cache for a traditional hard disk for an SSD-like speed boost – earlier this ...

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AMD Ryzen Shows Good Performance Through 'Ashes of the Singularity'; Tech Sites Proves Results

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Upgrading to Ryzen: The R7 1700 Reviewed

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Thursday 30 March 2017

Best Android Phones: Q1 2017

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Flowers are blooming and temperatures are rising, which means it’s time for our Q1 2017 Best Android Smartphones guide. There’s been a flurry of phone announcements over the first few months of the year. HTC launched its new U series phones, including the flagship HTC U Ultra, which has a 5.7-inch IPS display with a secondary 2.0-inch ticker display along the top, and the smaller, less-expensive 5.2-inch HTC U Play that comes with a MediaTek Helio P10 SoC. We also saw several new phones announced at MWC 2017, including Huawei’s P10, which shares much of its internal hardware with the larger Huawei Mate 9, and LG’s redesigned G6, which seems to correct some of the G5’s shortcomings while adopting a new, elongated 18:9 aspect ratio for its display that provides some extra screen area without making it more difficult to hold by increasing the phone’s width. Samsung took a similar approach with the recently announced Galaxy S8 and S8+ that also come with taller, 18.5:9 displays with rounded corners.

There were a number of mid-range and low-end phones announced too. At CES 2017, Huawei announced the $250 Honor 6X, which comes with a 5.5-inch IPS display and has a much better look and feel than the Honor 5X. Motorola unveiled the similarly priced Moto G5 Plus at MWC, and ZTE announced a trio of phones in its Blade V8 series: Blade V8 Pro ($250, 5.5-inch, Snapdragon 625), Blade V8 Mini (5.0-inch, Snapdragon 435), and Blade V8 Lite (5.0-inch, MediaTek MT6750).

Not all of these phones are shipping yet, though. And with our current resource shortage, we were not able to look closely enough at those that are available for them to be considered in this Q1 guide (we only include phones that we’ve reviewed). With that disclaimer out of the way, here are the Android phones we currently like.

Best Android Phablet: Huawei Mate 9

There’s a lot of options to choose from when shopping for a phablet considering the disproportionate number of Android phones having a screen size of 5.5-inches or larger. A number of these fall into the mid-range category, which we cover below. For people living outside of North America there are even more, usually less-expensive, options to consider too. But for this pick, we’re sticking with globally-available flagships.

With its 5.9-inch IPS display, Huawei’s Mate 9 is a true phablet. Its sturdy aluminum chassis with polished accents give it a solid feel and a classy look, and its good balance and rounded corners make it less unwieldy to hold than you would expect. Its $600 US price is not cheap, but it’s still less than many other competing flagships.

Inside is a Kirin 960 SoC, 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, and 64GB of UFS 2.1 storage that’s expandable via microSD card. Combining this hardware with the F2FS filesystem and other software optimizations gives the Mate 9 excellent in-app performance. Apps launch and install quickly too, and the UI feels responsive.

The Mate 9 also gets excellent battery life as long as you do not lean on the GPU or big CPU cores too hard. The Kirin 960’s power efficiency is not as good as the Kirin 950’s in the Mate 8, but Huawei was able to save power elsewhere (display), ultimately helping the Mate 9 and its 4000 mAh battery outlast the previous generation.

Buy Huawei Mate 9 (Unlocked) on Amazon.com

The dual rear camera that Huawei co-developed with Leica captures excellent, natural looking images, with consistently good exposure, gamma, and white balance. Its HDR mode is pretty weak, however, and its images do not show as much fine detail as those from Google’s Pixel XL and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge.

I was also extremely impressed with the Mate 9’s fingerprint sensor, which is by far the fastest and most accurate I’ve used. Its single, downward-firing speaker gets plenty loud, with the earpiece providing high frequency support for a pseudo-stereo effect. Huawei’s redesigned EMUI 5.0 software looks cleaner and is easier to navigate too, with a look that draws less inspiration from Apple’s iOS (there’s even an optional app drawer now).

The one area where the Mate 9 falls short of its peers is display quality. It gets very bright and has excellent black levels for an IPS panel, but an overly cool white point, imperfect gamma, and lack of a proper sRGB mode conspire to reduce grayscale and color accuracy. Viewing angles are not up to flagship standards either.

Best High-End Android Smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and HTC 10

The Galaxy S7 edge improves upon the design and features of the popular Galaxy S6 edge. The design is very similar, but Samsung has tweaked the curvature of the back, edges, and cover glass to make the phone significantly more ergonomic. The chassis does get thicker and heavier, but this allows for a significant reduction to the camera hump and an increase in battery capacity.

Buy Galaxy S7 edge (Unlocked) on Amazon.com

Its 5.5-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED display is among the best available. The 12MP rear camera with OIS and an f/1.7 aperture captures great pictures, especially in low-light, and the dual pixel PDAF is extremely fast. Battery life is pretty good thanks to a 3600mAh battery. The rest of its hardware and features are shared with the smaller Galaxy S7, including IP68 dust and water protection, fast charging, and wireless charging.

Depending on where you live you'll either get Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 or Samsung's Exynos 8890 SoC, both of which use custom ARM CPU cores, along with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of UFS 2.0 NAND with support for microSD cards. Performance is generally good, but the UI can stutter or stall occasionally.

The other phone worth discussing at the high end is the HTC 10, which manages to best the Galaxy S7 edge in at least a few areas. In terms of audio quality, design, OEM UI, and other areas like perceptual latency I would argue that HTC is just clearly ahead of Samsung. HTC also has proper USB 3.1 and USB-C support, which does make the device more future-proof than the Galaxy S7 edge’s microUSB connector in that regard. The front-facing camera is also just clearly better on the basis of having OIS and optics that can actually focus on a subject instead of being set to infinity at all times.

Buy HTC 10 (32GB) on Amazon.com

However, Samsung is clearly ahead in display and its camera is clearly the fastest I’ve ever seen in any phone, bar none. Samsung is also just clearly shipping better Wi-Fi implementations right now in terms of antenna sensitivity and software implementation, along with IP68 water resistance and magstripe payments for the US and South Korea.

To further muddy the waters, there are areas where HTC and Samsung trade blows. While Samsung’s camera is clearly faster, HTC often has better detail in their images, especially at the center of the frame, but the Galaxy S7 edge has better detail at the edge of the frame. Noise reduction tends to be a bit less heavy-handed and sharpening artifacts are not nearly as strong as they are on the S7 edge. HTC’s larger sensor also means that it’s possible to get actual dSLR-like bokeh with macro shots.

Overall, I think it’s pretty fair to say that the HTC 10 is a solid choice. If I had to pick between the two I would probably lean towards the HTC 10, but this is based upon personal priorities. I don’t think you can really go wrong between the two. The HTC 10 with 32GB of internal storage is currently $699 USD when bought unlocked through HTC and comes in Carbon Gray and Glacial Silver.

Best (Upper) Mid-Range Android Smartphone: OnePlus 3T

The OnePlus 3T is a mid-cycle update to the OnePlus 3 that launched last summer. The two phones are the same size and weight, have the same excellent build quality, use the same 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display, come with 6GB LPDDR4 RAM, and offer the same connectivity options, including 802.11ac Wi-Fi, BT 4.2, and NFC. They also share the same 16MP Sony IMX298 rear camera with PDAF and OIS, which is capable of taking decent photos.

For the 3T, OnePlus replaces the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC with the updated Snapdragon 821, although the actual performance gain is negligible. The switch to the F2FS filesystem significantly improves storage performance, and OnePlus adds an additional storage tier, providing a choice between 64GB or 128GB, which is good because the 3T does not support microSD cards. The other notable improvement is a 13% increase in battery size from 3000 mAh to 3400 mAh. The 64GB model costs $439, while the 128GB model costs $479.

The Motorola Moto Z Play Droid costs $408 (the unlocked version costs $450) and includes a nice display, a good camera, and a large, long-lasting battery—not to mention support for Moto Mods such as the Hasselblad True Zoom Mod—but its eight Cortex-A53 CPU cores and Adreno 506 GPU cannot offer the same level of performance as the OnePlus 3T’s Snapdragon 821 SoC. The Moto Z Play Droid also comes with less RAM (3GB), less internal storage (32GB), and lacks 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Its little brother, the Moto G4 Plus costs less than the OnePlus 3T—$299 for 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal NAND—but again falls short of the OnePlus 3T’s overall user experience.

Huawei’s Honor 8 is another contender that costs about same as the OnePlus 3T ($400) and is available in the US and internationally. It also has a smaller 5.2-inch display, giving it a smaller footprint than the OnePlus 3T, although its heavily blue-tinted screen may turn some people off. General system performance is on par with the 3T, but its Mali-T880MP4 GPU cannot match the Adreno 530’s peak performance.

Best Budget Android Smartphone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro

While the rest of the planet is awash with lower-cost phones containing decent hardware, it’s difficult to recommend a budget smartphone for the US market. Take the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, for example. Its Snapdragon 650 SoC contains two high-performance Cortex-A72 CPU cores running at up to 1.8GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.4GHz, which easily outperforms the standard octa-core A53 SoCs common at this price point. Its performance is really quite remarkable, rivaling some upper mid-range and flagship devices. The Adreno 510 GPU supports the latest graphics APIs, including support for tessellation, and is fast enough to play most games currently available. Battery life is excellent too, thanks in part to a large 4050 mAh battery. There’s even an infrared blaster and support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi and FM radio.

Of course some sacrifices need to be made to reach such a low price. The Redmi Note 3 Pro’s weakest component is its 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display, whose poor black level and inaccurate white point and gamma calibration hurt image quality. The panel’s backlight does not fully cover the sRGB gamut, which further reduces color accuracy. While not perfect, it clearly moves the bar higher in this segment and raises our expectations for future lower-cost phones.

Unfortunately, the Redmi Note 3 Pro, like most phones made by Chinese OEMs, is not sold in the US and does not support the LTE frequencies used by US carriers. Because we have not been able to keep up with this category like we should, we have no budget recommendation for US consumers right now.

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Intel's Optane memory may not work on lower-end Kaby Lake chips

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However, it appears you'll need a Core i3-7100 or higher CPU in order to use it. ... database and noticed that every processor below a Core i3-7100 did not list compatibility. ... Same goes for lower power "T" versions of those CPUs.

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Razer's Upgrade Blade Pro Is The First In The World's First THX-Certified Laptop

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The 2017 Razer Blade Pro now accompanies the most recent Intel processor, the seventh generation Core i7-7820 HK Kaby Lake CPU, which CNET ...

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Ashes of the Singularity update substantially boosts AMD Ryzen performance

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“Every processor is different on how you tune it, and Ryzen gave us some new data points on optimization,” Oxide's Dan Baker told PCWorld. ... of a title that falls down to the point that a CPU optimization patch is critically required.

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AMD Ryzen 7 1700X review: a great-value, 8-core CPU, giving the $500 1800X troubles

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But if you can't really be bothered, suffice to say AMD have worked some silicon wonders to create such affordable eight-core processors.

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Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.'s (AMD) Ryzen CPUs See Significant Rises in Performance ...

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Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is a global semiconductor company that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and ...

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Ashes of the Singularity update brings big performance boost to Ryzen at 1080p

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AMD has had quite a lot of success with its new Ryzen 7 processors but one area where the chip does let us down a bit is 1080p gaming. Earlier this ...

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iMac 2017 Will Sport Either Intel's Kaby Lake CPU or AMD's Ryzen; Major Differences Between the ...

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However, the giant tech company still has to choose between Intel's CPU and AMD; the Ryzen 7 and Kaby Lake processors are queuing for the ...

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Stardock and Oxide Complete First Optimization for AMD Ryzen CPUs Delivering Up to 30 Percent ...

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... us to access multiple CPU cores, and that's why the AMD Ryzen processor has so much potential," said Stardock and Oxide CEO Brad Wardell.

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Outertech adds AMD Ryzen Processor Optimization to Cacheman 10.10 PC Performance ...

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The AMD Ryzen 7 processors consist of 16 CPU cores - 8 physical and 8 virtual (emulated) cores. The physical processor cores are placed on the ...

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Core i5-7600K CPU by Intel Review

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Recently, Intel launched the seventh generation Core i processors, codenamed Kaby Lake. At first, were launched the Core i7 and Core i5 CPUs, and ...

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Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 CPU Processor SLA9X 2.33GHz

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Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 CPU Processor SLA9X 2.33GHz. Cooling fan not included. Processor only.

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Buying the right gaming laptop – things you need to look for

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When it comes to gaming laptops, the choice is largely down to Intel processors. If you are a budget user, aim for an Intel Core i5 processor, which is ...

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Review: ASUS ROG GR8 II Mini Gaming PC

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Rocking the latest Intel Core i7 processor, up to 32 GB RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1060 GPU, it promises “unstoppable 2K & Full HD gaming”, ASUS tells us. ... Capable CPU selections range from an Intel Core i5-6400 , through to the ...

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Here's proof that Ryzen can benefit from optimized game code

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The CPU-focused test shows a little less performance boost when code is ... In fact, that's why I featured the same Ryzen CPU in our charts above. ... “Every processor is different on how you tune it, and Ryzen gave us some new data ...

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Ashes of the Singularity gets AMD Ryzen performance update

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With the launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs and subsequent flood of reviews there did indeed seem to be something amiss with regards to gaming ...

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Here are the most expensive gaming computers ever built

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The higher-end system is powered by the 10-core Intel i7-6950x processor, which ... They are powered by two 14-core Intel Xeon E5-2697 processors.

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Ashes of the Singularity has been updated to better support Ryzen CPUs

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Ashes of the Singularity has been updated to better support Ryzen CPUs, offering performance gains of 17% or higher.

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How to overclock an AMD Ryzen processor

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AMD's revolutionary Ryzen processor technology has provided ... Read on to find out how you can overclock a Ryzen CPU easily and safely.

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AMD Ryzen Oxide Game Engine Optimized Code Tested

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There has been a lot of talk about how AMD's new Ryzen processors have pulled up somewhat short at low resolution gaming. AMD explained that ...

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Xiaomi MBT6A5 with 4GB RAM, deca core CPU spotted

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... display with 1920 × 1080 pixel resolution and will be powered by a 2GHz deca-core processor (could be the MediaTek Helio X20/X25 processor).

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Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 CPU

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Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 CPU for sale on Trade Me, New Zealand's #1 auction and classifieds website.

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Gearburn's guide to Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin processors

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The next generation of Kirin processors (Kirin 920, 925) saw a big boost in power over prior chips. It has to be said though that the gap between ...

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Venom BlackBook Zero 14 review

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Intel's so confident that it's even rebranded Core M processors to use the same Core i3, i5 and i7 naming scheme – the giveaway is that the contain a ...

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Intel's 10nm Process: It's More Than Just Chip Scaling

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In a series of presentations yesterday, Intel gave many more details on its forthcoming 10nm process for making advanced processors, disclosed a ...

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Wednesday 29 March 2017

Which Processor Should You Choose: AMD or Intel?

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How do you choose the processor to use on your personal computer? With lots of great CPUs coming out in the market this year, let alone if you can ...

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Calyos brings fanless NSG S0 phase change case to Kickstarter

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The NSG S0 uses phase-change cooling to keep the CPU and GPU chilly. With no fans ... The company is also selling the case with pre-configured hardware, up to a Core i7-7700K processor and GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphic card.

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Cadence talks about its Tensilica processors that drives HoloLens

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Microsoft HoloLens is made up of specialized components that together enable holographic computing. In addition to the Intel CPU, the HPU also ...

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Lenovo ThinkStation P300 Gets an Upgrade

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The upgraded P300 will be known as the P320 and besides the new CPU and GPU will feature 64 GB of DDR4-2400 ... will come with a Skylake rather than Kaby Lake processor, as the later CPU has no drivers under Windows 7.

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DynamIQ Tension

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It's not backward compatible with any existing ARM processor. DynamIQ ... I'm sure the new Cortex-A processors due later this year will be wonderful.

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Rumour: AMD HEDT Zen CPUs Named ThreadRipper - 12 and 16 Core Versions Coming

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Both 12 and 16 Core processors are rumoured to be on the way, targeting the extreme high-end of the CPU market. It's now emerged that AMD has ...

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AMD has a winner with Ryzen

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AMD is betting big on its latest processor line, Ryzen. ... AMD says there's a lot more to come, but our testing puts AMD's new CPU in the game.

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Apple iPhone 8 Rumors: To Be Equipped With A11s Procesor?

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If reports from China's Economic Daily News, Digitimes, are to be believed, Apple's primetime processor supplier company, Taiwan Semiconductor ... Apple states that it has 40% greater CPU performance and 50% higher graphics ...

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AMD: Worth Over $15

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On Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Ryzen 7 takes three out of the 20 top spots in bestselling CPU processors. 91 percent of the reviews from ...

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Razer updates its Blade Pro laptop

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... GTX 1080 pixel accelerator and an Intel Core i7-7820HK processor. ... There is also an unlocked Intel Core i7-7820HK CPU and 32GB of DDR4 ...

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AMD Threadripper is a 16-Core 32 Thread Monster [Rumor]

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AMD has developed the 16-core Ryzen processors for end users by combining the MCM (Multi-Chip Module) or the 8-core dual processor core in the ...

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The future of Intel CPU design is a Frankenstein's monster of an architecture

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This may also be how AMD GPU silicon finds its way into Intel processors. CPU and GPU performance are one thing, but what about your PC's aural ...

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Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 v6 product family becomes available

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Intel has announced the availability of its Xeon processor E3-1200 v6 product family. A total of eight Kaby Lake Xeons have been made available and ...

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Is the Samsung Galaxy S8 powered by the most powerful mobile platform in the world? Let's find out

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An SoC will house a CPU for handling computational tasks, a GPU or graphics processor for handling graphics, RAM chips to improve data handling ...

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MacBook Pro 2017 Update: Apple Reportedly Opts for Intel Kaby Lake; Radeon RX 500, 16 GB RAM

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However, the chance to make a shift in processor is slim. ... Chi Kuo, who has an early verdict that MacBook Pro 2017 will rock Intel Kaby Lake Processor. ... Mar 27, 2017 AM EDTAMD Ryzen has a new addition to its powerful CPU ...

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Samsung Hurts As Qualcomm Blocks Exynos Sell, But Qualcomm Snapdragon Will Still Powered ...

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Samsung is currently the biggest buyer of Qualcomm's mobile processors and also a contract maker of the mobile processors. According to Android ...

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Razer Launches 17-inch Razer Blade Pro Laptop With GTX 1080 and i7-7820HK CPU

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Processor wise you can spot a Intel Core i7-7820HK CPU paired with an impressive 32GB of DDR4 RAM. THe Windows 10 64-bit laptop gets a ...

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Tuesday 28 March 2017

amd fx6300 fx-6300 desktop processor cpu & stock fan

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AMD FX6300 FX-6300 DESKTOP PROCESSOR CPU & STOCK FAN AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 3.5 GHz (4.1 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W ...

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AMD's 12C/24T and 16C/32T CPUs called 'ThreadRipper'

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AMD's 12C/24T and 16C/32T CPUs called 'ThreadRipper' ... the teased 12C/24T and 16C/32T processors coming over from the Naples CPU family ...

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Lenovo's new ThinkStation is a fully VR-certified tower of power

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... i5 or i7 processors (boasting speeds of up to 4.5GHz with Turbo), or a Xeon E3-1200 v6. Along with that CPU you can specify up to 64GB of 2400MHz ECC DDR4 system memory, and for the graphics card, the full-size tower can ...

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Future Intel CPUs could be cobbled together using different parts

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Today's processors, made using a single continuous slab of silicon, may soon give way to multiple chips interconnected at high speeds, Intel said ...

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Intel lets loose Kaby Lake-based Xeon E3 v6 processors

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We love our Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs around here, particularly when it comes to gaming, but not everyone has time for such frivolity. Workstation ...

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How to figure out which processor is right for you

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Not all about the money: Price comparisons don't really help when it comes to making sure your computer has the right processor for your needs.

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Intel digs deep to keep Moore's Law alive

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It's also much how ARM chips are designed and made, a process that integrates CPUs, modems, graphics processors and other cores into a single ...

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Two More Retail Ryzen 7 1700 Overclock Tested

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Last week we headed out and purchased two retail Ryzen 7 1700 CPUs to see what 1700 processors purchased would attain in terms of overclocking.

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Intel launches their Kaby-Lake Xeon E3-1200 v6 series of CPUs

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Intel launches their Kaby-Lake Xeon E3-1200 v6 series of CPUs, which offer ECC memory support and boost clocks of up to 4.2GHz.

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Hands on: Eurocom Sky X4E2 review

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End users can therefore configure laptops with Xeon or Core i7 CPUs paired ... £1,000 less (around $1,250), but comes with an even better processor.

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Razer launches refreshed Blade Pro with THX support, Kaby Lake processors

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Razer claims that you can overclock the CPU core to 4.3GHz by enabling “High Performance Mode,” but we're dubious of how well this will work in ...

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Corsair One Review

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Both the CPU and GPU are cooled by their own 240mm radiator. ... Packed inside is an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia 10-series GPU, and liquid ...

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HTC's upcoming flagship to come with Snapdragon 835 CPU and customizable sensors in metal ...

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Codenamed as 'Ocean', the upcoming flagship from HTC may sport a Snapdragon 835 processor and customizable sensors in the metal band which ...

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NZXT Kraken X52 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

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We have high hopes for the Kraken X52, and for just an additional $20 you get more fin area to help cool the more demanding processors in the wild ...

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Razer Blade Pro swims in the deep end of Kaby Lake

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In any case, the new processor sports four cores with SMT, a base clock of 2.9 GHz, and a boost clock of 3.9 GHz. The CPU crunches data pulled from ...

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Lenovo Launches VR-Ready ThinkStation P320 Workstation PCs

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... i7 processor or the latest Xeon E3-1200 v6 processors. However, specific CPU model numbers aren't currently available. The P320 can support up ...

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MIPS driving towards a focus on AI

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Originally launched as a processor company in the early 1980s, MIPS then tried to move into making computers ... which is using Warrior I6500 CPU in its EyeQ SoC, and with Denso, which is doing joint research with Imagination on ...

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Intel Launches Kaby-Lake based Xeons: The E3-1200 v6 Family

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A total of eight processors will be launched today under the E3 v6 name, ... and it is merely a firmware approval of a CPU and chipset combination in ...

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AIDA64 version 5.90 supports Ryzen and Apollo Lake

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AIDA64's Ryzen support includes preliminary support for server processors based on the same Zen CPU core, like the Naples chip we've heard about ...

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Razer Blade Pro updated with 7th gen Intel i7 CPU, faster RAM and THX certification

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It offers great performance because of the new overclocked 7th Gen Intel Core i7-7820HK Quad-Core processor. It also supports immersive VR ...

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Razer upgrades the Blade Pro laptop with THX certification and more powerful CPU

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Under the hood is a new 7th generation Intel Core i7 processor which can run in an overclock mode thanks to Razer's own Synapse software and it ...

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Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Gears Up for War

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With the release of its Ryzen 7 processor line earlier this month, and the ... For decades, the often-challenged (but undisputed) big dog in the CPU ...

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Intel Core i7-7740K spotted

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This new series of CPUs will be a bit different compared to what we have ... Intel Core i7-7700K) but with the integrated graphics processor disabled.

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What to look for when choosing a desktop computer

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When buying a new computer, one of the main things to look for is one with a fast computer processor. Now, if you're only going to use this computer ...

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Razer Blade Pro 2017 nabs THX certification and an overclockable CPU

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Today, Razer is giving the ultra-premium Blade Pro a mid-cycle refresh and boosting the Intel processor to the latest 7th-generation "Kaby Lake" chip.

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Razer Updates The Razer Blade Pro With THX Certification

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... i7-7820HK processor, which is 2.9-3.9 GHz, but it is also an unlocked processor, and Razer is supporting CPU overclocking in the Synapse software ...

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Razer Claims 'First' THX-Certified Laptop With Razer Blade Pro; Updated With Kaby Lake

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The company also updated the CPU to the latest 7^th generation Intel Core i7 processor. The Razer Blade Pro features an Intel Core i7-7820HK ...

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A neuromorphic, memory-centric, chip architecture

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A 3D chip, with layers of processors between layers of memory. ... Problem two: engineer the CPU/memory layers to be thin enough to support ...

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ARM Announces DynamIQ Microarchitecture with Focus on Machine Learning and AI

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Little heterogeneous computing configuration, in which a powerful core CPU can be paired with more energy efficient ones. All of the processors have ...

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Lenovo Updates ThinkStation P320 with Intel Xeon E3 v6 and NVIDIA Quadro Pascal

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Today Lenovo is announcing an upgrade to its entry-level ThinkStation P300-series workstations. The update revolves around two new updates: firstly Intel’s Xeon E3 v6 (or 7^th generation Core) processors featuring the Kaby Lake microarchitecture, but also secondly NVIDIA’s Quadro professional graphics cards powered by the Pascal architecture. The new ThinkStation P320 systems inherit form-factors and price-points from the previous-generation ThinkStation P310, but offer higher performance due to newer CPUs and GPUs as well as faster M.2 SSDs. The machines will be available starting from late April.

The Lenovo ThinkStation P320-series tower and SFF workstations are based on Intel’s C236 PCH, which relates back to the new Xeon E3 v6 announced today. Variants of the P320 using Intel’s 7^th generation Core i3/i5/i7 processors without ECC memory and other advantages that Xeon CPUs provide will also be available. The workstations support up to 64 GB of DDR4-2400 memory, two M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (up to 1 TB each) as well as up to 2/4 (SFF/tower) 3.5” storage drives or up to 3/4 (SFF/tower) 2.5” SSDs/HDDs.

When it comes to I/O capabilities, both tower and SFF machines are equipped with a 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 module (Intel's AC8265), gigabit ethernet, USB 2.0/3.0 ports, DisplayPort and D-Sub outputs and so on. Just like other ThinkStation computers from Lenovo, the P320 workstations support the company’s Flex Modules (up to four per machine) that can add a Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Type-C connector, a 29-in-1 card reader, a FireWire port, a slim ODD or an eSATA header to the front panel of the PC.

Gallery: Lenovo ThinkStation P320 Family

Traditionally, graphics is what divides Lenovo’s big and small workstations. The tower version of the ThinkStation P320 can support up to two NVIDIA’s Quadro P4000 professional graphics adapters featuring the GP104GL GPU (1792 stream processors, up to 105 W TDP) with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory each. Meanwhile, the SFF flavor of the ThinkStation P320 supports up to two low-profile Quadro P1000 cards based on the GP107GL GPU (640 stream processors, 47 W TDP) with 4 GB of memory. The new Quadro video cards featuring the Pascal architecture represent a significant upgrade for Lenovo’s entry-level workstations as current-gen ThinkStation P310 machines are shipped with Kepler-based Quadro K1200 introduced over two years ago (and based on an architecture from 2014).

Lenovo ThinkStation P320: General Specifications
	SFF	Tower
CPU	Xeon E3-1220 v6 (4C/4T, 3.0/3.5 GHz) Xeon E3-1225 v6 (4C/4T, 3.3/3.7 GHz) Xeon E3-1230 v6 (4C/8T, 3.5/3.9 GHz) Xeon E3-1240 v6 (4C/8T, 3.7/4.1 GHz) Xeon E3-1245 v6 (4C/8T, 3.7/4.1 GHz) Xeon E3-1270 v6 (4C/8T, 3.8/4.2 GHz) Xeon E3-1275 v6 (4C/8T, 3.8/4.2 GHz) Xeon E3-1280 v6 (4C/8T, 3.9/4.2 GHz) Intel Core i-series 7000-family CPUs Intel Skylake-based CPUs, Xeon E3 v5 for Win7
Chipset	Intel C236 SKL, KBL support, up to 20 PCIe 3.0 PCIe lanes x1, x2, x4 bifurcation RAID, vPro, TXT etc.
RAM	Up to 64 GB DDR4-2400 with ECC
GPU	Up to 2 × NVIDIA Quadro P1000	Up to 2 × NVIDIA Quadro P4000
Storage	3.5" SATA: up to 2 × 4 TB 2.5" SATA: up to 3 × 3 TB M.2 PCIe: up to 2 × 1 TB Up to three drive form-factor storage devices.	3.5" SATA: up to 4 × 4 TB 2.5" SATA: up to 4 × 3 TB M.2 PCIe: up to 2 × 1 TB Up to four drive form-factor storage devices
Expansion	PCIe x16 PCIe x4 (x16 mechanical) 2 × PCIe x1 Flex Modules (up to four)
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet Intel Wireless AC8265 (802.11ac, 2 × 2, 2.4 GHz/5GHz + Bluetooth 4.0)
I/O	2 × USB 2.0 7 × USB 3.0 Thunderbolt 3 - optional USB 3.1 - optional 9-in-1 card reader - optional 29-in-1 card reader - optional FireWire - optional slim ODD - optional eSATA - optional
Dimensions	101.6 × 394.5 × 337.8 mm 4.0" × 15.5" × 13.3"	175.3 × 426 × 376 mm 6.9" × 16.8" × 14.8"
Volume	12 L	25 L
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro x64, Windows 7 Pro x64 (Skylake), Ubuntu and RHEL Linux
Various	Windows 10 Preloads: CyberLink PowerDVD CyberLink Create Lenovo Companion Lenovo Solution Center Microsoft Office 2016 (trial)	Windows 7 Preloads: Adobe Acrobat Reader CyberLink PowerDVD CyberLink Create Lenovo Companion Lenovo Solution Center Microsoft Office 2016 (trial) McAfee LiveSafe 30-day trial ThinkVantage System Update Rescue and Recovery Lenovo Solution Centre Lenovo PowerEngage

The added graphics horsepower enabled Lenovo to position the ThinkStation P320-series workstations not only for entry-level 3D CAD/CAM applications but also for VR workloads for mechanical and design engineers. Meanwhile, if the systems are ordered primarily for 2D and business applications, Lenovo can also equip them with appropriate NVIDIA NVS multi-monitor graphics cards.

Gallery: Lenovo ThinkStation P320 Tower

Since there are still customers who use Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system and who intend to do so for a while, Lenovo offers Windows 7 x64 on its ThinkStation P320-series workstation by downgrading the Windows 10 Pro x64. Since the official support for Windows 7 does not exist for the new Kaby Lake CPUs, Lenovo allows customers to install appropriate Skylake processors – either the Xeon E3 v5 or the 6^th generation Core i3/i5/i7.

Gallery: Lenovo ThinkStation P320 SFF

Lenovo plans to start selling the ThinkStation P320 Tower and the ThinkStation P320 SFF in late April. Pricing of the products is still being finalized, but it should be consistent with the previous generation P300-series workstations, the company told us. At present, the ThinkStation P310 Tower and the ThinkStation P310 SFF start at $719, and we expect the P320 to be similar.