Sunday 30 June 2019
Silicon Lottery to Bin and Sell Ryzen 3000 CPUs
Silicon Lottery, a third party CPU binning business, is ready to sell binned Ryzen 3000 CPUs.from News Tom's Hardware https://ift.tt/2XfhIpL
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Saturday 29 June 2019
Leaked Ryzen 5 3600 Benchmark Claims Better Single-Threaded Performance Than the Core i9-9900K
The as-of-yet-unreleased Ryzen 5 3600 dominates the charts on Passmark as the world's fastest single threaded CPU.from News Tom's Hardware https://ift.tt/2YoXd6G
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Friday 28 June 2019
ADATA’s HM800 DAS: Up to 8 TB, Up to 250 MB/s, Smart TV Recording
ADATA has introduced a new external hard drive that combines high capacities, high performance, as well as advanced functionality. The ADATA HM800 DAS supports Smart TV recording capability, one-touch backup, as well as TurboHDD software to boost performance.
ADATA’s HM800 external storage devices come in a black plastic chassis with anti-shock silicone inlays and pack a 3.5-inch HDD featuring a 4 TB, 6 TB or 8 TB capacity.
The DASes use a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface (up to 5 Gbps) via a microUSB 3 connector port. There's a bit of confusion in terms of the power requirement of the drive: ADATA states it consumes up to 12W, however this would be out of spec for most hosts that don't support USB PD. Indeed the company states you'll need a Y-adapter if you have a USB 2.0 host and use two port, and the drive does have an DC input port, although it's not clear if an adapter is included.
The manufacturer does not disclose which hard drives are used inside its new DAS devices, but based on the up to 250 MB/s transfer rates they are said to support, we are probably dealing with 7200 RPM-class HDDs. To guarantee high transfer rates during backup and to avoid high CPU loads, ADATA supplies the HM800 DAS with its TurboHDD software that applies 'custom profiles and algorithms'.
To protect sensitive data, the HM800 supports AES256 bit encryption, though it is unclear whether it features hardware or software implementation of AES256.
As far as compatibility is concerned, ADATA’s HM800 external HDDs can work with systems running Apple’s MacOS X 10.6 or later, Microsoft’s Windows Vista or later, as well as Linux 2.6 or later.
The HM800 DASes from ADATA are covered by a three-year warranty. The drives will be available in the near future.
Related Reading:
- ADATA Demonstrates HD830 Ultra-Rugged HDDs
- Western Digital Introduces Its First Helium-Filled HDDs for Consumer Applications
- Western Digital Launches My Book Duo 2-bay USB 3.0 DAS
Source: ADATA
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Best laptops for graphic design 2019: top picks for graphic designers
Welcome to our pick of the best laptops for graphic design in 2019. If you're a graphical designer and looking for a new laptop, then this list will help you choose the right PC for your needs.
When looking for the best laptops for graphic design work, there are a number of things you should take into consideration. For a start, you'll want to make sure you have a laptop that offers enough power to handle graphically-intensive applications.
To ensure that the new laptop can do this, you'll need a device with a powerful modern processor (such as Intel's 8th generation CPUs), and preferably a discrete graphics card as well from Nvidia or AMD.
The best laptops for graphic design will also feature impressive screens that don't just show off your work in the best possible light, but reproduce colors accurately while also making sure you don't get eye strain after working on them for long periods of time. The best laptops for graphic design should also be thin and light to enable you to take them with you while you travel.
So, whether you want a macOS device or a Windows machine, read on for our pick of the best laptops for graphic design.
Apple is renowned for making excellent products for creative professionals, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar 2018 is the best laptop for graphic design. It's also the best MacBook Pro that Apple has ever made. It comes with the Touch Bar, which is a thin OLED display at the top of the keyboard which can be used to scan your fingerprint to log in, or offering up app-specific shortcuts. It's got a stunning screen and powerful innards that will run pretty much any graphic design application with ease.
Read the full review: Apple Macbook with Touch Bar 13-inch (2018)
With the Surface Book 2 (13.5-inch), Microsoft has crafted one of the most powerful 2-in-1 laptops in the world, and a device that rivals Apple's best when it comes to laptops for graphic design. The Surface Book 2 has some powerful enough components to handle most day-to-day tasks, and if you go for a model with a dedicated graphics card, then you'll easily be able to run your graphic design apps on it. The keyboard detaches from the screen, so you can use it as a tablet, and it runs a full version of Windows 10, which makes it an excellent alternative to the MacBook Pro above if you want to stick with Microsoft's operating system.
The Dell XPS 13 (2019) is one of the best laptops ever made, and it's an ideal laptop for graphics design. It comes with a stunning 4K display and 8th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors. Meanwhile, the bezel-less ‘Infinity Edge’ display means your digital designs remain the focus of attention.There’s also a wide range of customization options, so you can really make the Dell XPS 13 the best laptop for your needs.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13
Yet another Apple laptop has made it onto our list of the best laptops for graphic design. This time it's the latest version of the MacBook Air. Now thinner, lighter and with a Retina display for the first time, it’s easily the best MacBook Air we’ve ever used for graphical design. That new Retina display, with wide color gamut and high resolution, makes your graphical work absolutely shine, and with 8th-generation processors, more RAM and faster SSDs and an affordable price, this really is one of the best laptops money can buy right now for digital artists and graphical designers. We just wish that these were full-fat U-series quad core chips, rather than the Y-series dual-core fanless processors. Still, this means that you’re going to easily get all-day battery out of this thing, which makes it one of the best Macs for travel.
Read the full review: MacBook Air 2018
Last year’s Dell XPS 15 was already one of the best laptops you could buy for graphic design, but with 2018's convertible Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, it has just got even better. Not only can it switch between tablet and laptop modes, it also packs a new Intel Kaby Lake G-series CPU featuring ‘discrete-class’ Radeon graphics. This means that this laptop packs serious power when it comes to graphic design.
Last year's MacBook is yet another tempting offering from Apple for graphic designers, with another gorgeous design that the company is know for. Apple has updated the processors with Intel's 7th-generation Kaby Lake range, which means you get improved performance and longer battery life without sacrificing the thin and light design of previous MacBooks. While the MacBook 2017 is not designed as a pure productivity machine, like the more powerful and versatile MacBook Pro it's still one of the best laptops for graphic design in the world right now thanks to being a super slim and light MacBook that you can take anywhere without even noticing the weight, and being a powerful showcase for macOS High Sierra.
- The best laptop 2018: our pick of the 15 best laptops you can buy this year
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Best PC for photo editing 2019: top desktops for Photoshop
Welcome to our pick of the best PCs for photo editing in 2019. The desktop PCs on this page have been carefully picked for professional photographers (or a keen hobbyists) that are looking for powerful machines that can handle Photoshop and other photo editing applications.
The best PCs for photo editing offer enough power to edit high resolution photos, which means they'll usually come with a dedicated graphics card. If you're only working with still images (and not using the PC for video editing as well), then you won't need a monster rig, but you'll certainly be after something that comes with a mid-range or higher graphics card.
Having enough RAM is also an important consideration, especially if you want to have a number of programs and images open at once. We'd recommend a minimum of 8GB for the best PC for photo editing.
You'll also want a high capacity hard drive for storing your photos on, we'd recommend 1TB or higher.
If you'd like something a bit more portable, then make sure you check out our pick of the best laptops for photographers and photo editing.
The new Mac mini was a long time coming, but it was well worth the wait, as Apple has packed it with some brilliant modern components, including the latest 6-core processors from Intel, along with support for up to 64GB RAM and loads of storage as well, all in that small and stylish body we've come to love. It's perfectly powerful enough for photo editing, and small enough for photographers to carry around with them. The only disappointment is that it does not come with discrete graphics, but Intel's integrated UHD Graphics 630 aren't too shabby, and you can also plug in an external GPU for extra graphical oomph.
The Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 is an excellent desktop PC for photo editing, as it combines speed and power with an excellent build quality and reliability which is essential for PCs used for heavy duty image manipulation. Best of all, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 comes in a range of configurations, with the top-end model boasting a huge amount of power. This flexibility lets you build a Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 that suits your needs, and there's plenty of room to upgrade and expand this desktop in the future.
If you’re looking for an incredibly powerful, yet stylishly designed, all-in-one PC that’s not made by Apple, then Microsoft’s brilliant Surface Studio will be for you. It comes at a price, but for build quality and performance, you’ll not want to look any further, especially if you work with photo editing applications. Microsoft's all-in-one PC fits comfortably on a desk, and it's built-in screen makes your photos look fantastic, even before you've edited them. As it run Windows 10 you get a huge range of comparible photo editing apps as well.
If you're a professional photographer and digital creative, then the iMac Pro is one of the best PCs money can buy. This is a seriously powerful all-in-one that was released last year with cutting edge tech, and a choice of powerful Intel Xeon W processors, bags of RAM and hefty graphical processing power. All of this in an iconic Apple design. If you have the budget for it, the iMac Pro is one of the best PCs for photo editing money can buy. However, for some people, you may find it has a level of power that you do not require, so read on for more modest (and affordable) PCs for photo editing.
If the iMac Pro above is too expensive (and offers a level of performance that you simply don't need) but you want an Apple all-in-one, then the standard iMac is more than capable of helping you with your photo editing. While the iMac 2019 doesn’t feature a touchscreen or an adjustable stand, the option for a 4K P3 wide color gamut display means it will accurately display your photos. This year's model also offers upgraded components that make it an even better productivity machine for photographers.
Dell offers some exceptional PCs for work and photo editing, and the Dell XPS Tower Edition is a brilliant example, showcasing excellent build quality with a suite of powerful components. Inside you’ll find your choice of the latest in GPU tech (essential for heavy duty photo and video editing), in addition to a blazing-fast 7th generation Intel CPU and a spacious hard drive and/or SSD. The Special Edition is only available in the US, but our readers in the UK and Australia will still be able to buy the regular Dell XPS Tower and beef it up to the same level through Dell’s configuration page.
Though at first you might confuse it for a fabric-woven Mac Pro refresh, the HP Pavilion Wave is anything but. This compact Windows machine packs in 6th-generation Intel Core processors and optional discrete AMD graphics with a uniquely integrated Bang & Olufsen speaker. Wrapped in a handsome fabric exterior, this is the perfect PC to have on the desk. If you love listening to music while you edit your photos, then this is a brilliant – and stylish – PC to consider.
If you’re looking for a great desktop experience for photo editing, but don’t have a lot of space, look no further than the Intel Hades Canyon NUC. In this tiny bare-bones PC, you have an insanely powerful 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, and discrete-class Radeon graphics – once you throw in some RAM and storage, you've got a small and easily portable PC that can handle photo editing with ease. If you often travel around and want a powerful and dependable PC for photo editing, then this is definitely worth considering.
- Best computer 2018: the best PCs we've tested
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The best laptop 2019: our pick of the 15 best laptops you can buy this year
In this guide to the best laptops of 2019, we list the top notebooks money can buy, no matter what kind of laptop you're looking for, or what your budget is.
So, you may be on the search for the best Chromebook, or perhaps the best premium Ultrabook or gaming laptop. Regardless of what you're after, our best laptops guide has top picks for you.
Every laptop in this list has been carefully tested and reviewed by us, and only the machines that have really impressed us make their way into our best laptops list. We're constantly updating this guide as well, so as soon as a new laptop gets released – and we deem it worthy – then it will make it into our best laptop guide.
We've also included our very own price comparison tool that will ensure that you're getting the best deals for the best laptops.
The best laptops of 2019:
The Dell XPS 13 has been a regular of our best laptops list for years, and the 2019 model is no exception. It retains everything we've come to love from Dell's flagship 13-incher, from the gorgeous and light design, to the powerful modern components that power it. The Dell XPS 13 rocks an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and a bezel-less ‘Infinity Edge’ display, this Dell XPS 13 continues to be the most popular Windows laptop in the world. What’s more, there’s a wide range of customization options, so you can really make the Dell XPS 13 the best laptop for your needs. The 2019 model doesn't bring a huge amount of improvements, but then not that much about the Dell XPS 13 needs improving. Its webcam has been placed at the top center of the screen, rather than at the bottom, which a lot of customers have been asking for. You also get a longer battery life in this year's model.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13
Huawei has done it again, and its latest laptop is one of our picks for the best laptop of 2019. As with last year's Huawei MateBook X Pro, the MateBook 13 comes with some of the latest components, including a discrete Nvidia MX150 graphics card, and a gorgeous lightweight design, that you'd expect to find on a much more expensive laptop. The fact that the MateBook 13 offer so much, yet comes with an impressively low price – compared to its Ultrabook competitors, like the XPS 13 below – makes it our choice for the best laptop money can buy right now. Sure, you may be missing a few minor niceties here and there to achieve such a competitive price, but on the whole, this is the most value-packed flagship laptop that we’ve ever tested. If you're after a few more bells and whistles, like super-fast Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 4K display, then the Dell XPS 13 or MacBook Pro (also on this list of best laptops) may be better choices. Recently, the US government blacklisted Huawei, which many feared would have implications on whether the Chinese company's laptops would still get support from the like of Microsoft and Intel. The good news is that both Microsoft and Intel have confirmed that they will continue to support Huawei laptops, which means the MateBook 13 and other models will still get important Windows 10 updates. This recent uncertainty has meant that many stores have dropped the prices of Huawei's laptops, so you may get an even better deal if you act fast!
Read the full review: Huawei MateBook 13
- This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of writing. For Australian readers, check out a fine alternative in the
The HP Spectre line of Ultrabooks and 2-in-1 laptops has always consisted of extraordinarily attractive devices. So, when we say that the 2019 Spectre x360 takes things to another level, that should mean something. This is one of the most beautiful laptops on the market right now, with its gem cut design and sleek profile. Couple that with the powerful Intel Whiskey Lake processors and long battery life, and you get one of the best laptops on the market right now. Its ability to flip into a Windows tablet is just icing on the cake.
Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 (2019)
If you're after the latest and greatest laptop from Apple, we suggest you look into the 2018 model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. While Microsoft had the performance edge over last year's MacBook Pro, with the Surface Book 2, Apple has come out swinging with some seriously beefed up specs for the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2018, and even more so if you go for the larger 15-inch model. The headline Touch Bar – a thin OLED display at the top of the keyboard which can be used for any number of things, whether that be auto-suggesting words as you type or offering Touch ID so you can log in with just your fingerprint – is again included. It's certainly retained Apple's sense of style, but it comes at a cost. This is a pricey machine, so you may want to consider one of the Windows alternatives. If you're open to switching to a PC, definitely consider the XPS 13 or the excellent MateBook X Pro. But, if you're a steadfast Apple diehard, this is definitely the best laptop for you!
Read the full review: Apple MacBook with Touch Bar 13-inch (2018)
The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 is the best gaming laptop of 2019 thanks to its powerful components that include a 6-core Intel processor, and the latest RTX 2080 graphics from Nvidia. It's also one of the best Asus laptops ever made. Not only is this a brilliant performer, but it's also impressively thin and light as well (by gaming laptop standards). Asus' Zephyrus laptops have constantly pushed the boundaries of what gaming laptops can do, and this new model for 2019 is no difference, which is why it has made it straight onto our best laptops list. It's available to pre-order now, but be warned: this is a very expensive laptop. If you're looking for something a bit more affordable, check out the Acer Predator Helios 300 later on in this list.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
Microsoft's second attempt at a pure laptop device is an absolute winner in our view, and while it doesn't represent a huge overhaul of the original Surface Laptop, it offers improvements in all the areas we were hoping for, including updated hardware that brings serious performance benefits. This is a laptop that finally delivers on what Microsoft set out to do with the original: a pure, powerful Windows 10 laptop experience. If you're not sold on the 2-in-1 nature of the Surface Book 2 (which is also on this best laptops list), but love Microsoft's premium build quality and design, then the Surface Laptop 2 is the laptop for you. A very worth addition to this list.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Laptop 2
Last year’s Dell XPS 15 was already one of the best laptops you could buy, but now that Dell has taken the beautiful redesign of the Dell XPS 13 and applied it here – while also making it a convertible. Well, it’s amazing. Not only do you get one of the most aesthetically pleasing 15-inch laptops on the market, but it also packs one of those new Intel Kaby Lake G-series CPUs featuring ‘discrete-class’ Radeon graphics. This means that this laptop packs serious power – even if it can get a little loud.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a fantastic affordable gaming laptop that proves that even if you don't have the kind of money to buy the MSI GS65 Stealth that also features on this best laptops list, you don't have to sacrifice too much when it comes to power. The Acer Predator Helios 300 packs some excellent components, such as a new 8th generation 6-core Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics card and 16GB of RAM. While it's still an expensive proposition compared to regular laptops, for a gaming notebook you are getting a heck of a lot of power for the price.
Read the full review: Acer Predator Helios 300
When it comes to the best Chromebook laptop, you have a choice between two stark alternatives. There's the premium Chromebook Pixel, which we list further down this page, and then there's the excellent Asus Chromebook Flip C302, which combines premium features in a much more affordable package. For many people, Chromebooks are excellent and affordable laptops that are perfect for students, and the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 is easily one of the best Chromebooks, and one of the best laptops, money can buy. It comes with an Intel Core processor, full 1080p display, touchscreen, backlit keyboard and USB-C port.
Read the full review: Asus Chromebook Flip
When HP unveiled the HP Spectre Folio, it made some big claims about how the 2-in-1 laptop would reinvent the PC. While it doesn't quite match the hype, what we do have is one of the most beautifully-designed laptops we've ever tried. Billed as "modern vintage meets technology", the HP Spectre Folio is built directly into a piece of genuine leather. That's not a fancy cover, it's a part of the laptop. It's not just looks that has put it on this list of the best laptops of 2019, the HP Spectre Folio is also a brilliant performer as well, with modern components powering the device. It is very expensive, though, so if you're on a budget, check out the more affordable 2-in-1 Acer Switch 3 below. But, if you want the best laptop for making a statement as soon as you pull it out of the bag, then the HP Spectre Folio is the one to get.
Read the full review: HP Spectre Folio
If you want the Microsoft Surface Book 2 but you want to spend a lot less, the Acer Switch 3 2017 is definitely the your best option. It's designed around essentially the same concept as the Surface Book 2 and it's a less capable thanks to slightly lower power innards, but for most tasks it's a brilliant little machine. What's more, to add further value this 2-in-1 laptop/tablet comes with the keyboard upgrade which means no little extras to pay for. As usual it comes in several different versions, with USB Type-C, 8GB RAM, an IPS display and Intel Core i3 7100U CPU coming with the more expensive option.
Read the full review: Acer Switch 3
Last year's iteration of the MacBook is another win for Apple, and it's once again won us over with a gorgeous design, excellent performance and best-in-class battery life. Apple has updated the processors with Intel's 7th-generation Kaby Lake range, which means you get improved performance and longer battery life without sacrificing the thin and light design that the MacBook is famous for. While the MacBook 2017 is not designed as a pure productivity machine, like the more powerful and versatile MacBook Pro above, or as a gaming machine like the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501, it's still one of the best laptops in the world right now thanks to being a super slim and light MacBook that you can take anywhere without even noticing the weight, and being a powerful showcase for macOS High Sierra. If you're after a MacBook, this year's model is easily one of the best.
Read the full review: Apple MacBook
The best Chromebooks have experienced huge success in recent years as a result of their accessibility, and the Google Pixelbook is no exception. Even though it costs twice as much as the average Chrome OS device and doesn’t come with a stylus as you may expect, the Pixelbook is built to withstand the future. It features a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports for accessories and super fast file transfers, a hinge that flips inside out for watching movies on planes and a taste of Android. You get full access to the Google Play store on the Pixelbook, from playing Sonic the Hedgehog to watching videos in VLC. The icing on this pixelated cake is its long battery life – it lasted nearly 8 hours in our own testing, so you shouldn’t need to worry about the Pixelbook dying on you.
Read the full review: Google Pixelbook
- This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Asus Chromebook Flip C302
While you may have been convinced that ‘budget Ultrabook’ was an oxymoron up until this point, the Acer has turned this common misconception on its head with the Swift 3. That’s because the company has taken the all-aluminum chassis of the Acer Swift 7 and stuffed some more affordable components inside for everyone to enjoy. It doesn’t run macOS, but the Acer Swift 3 does put the age-old MacBook Air to shame in about every other regard, including the nigh-unbeatable price tag. Of course, in the process of demolishing the competition, Acer did have to cut a few corners in order to keep the price so impressively low. So although you can’t expect much in the way of an Ultra HD display or quality onboard sound, the performance benchmarks alone give even the Surface Laptop a run for its money.
We've also had a glance of the upcoming 2018 edition of the Swift 7 at CES 2018, which comes with boosted graphics and processing specs. It could be a shoe-in for a place on this list when it launches later this year.
Read the full review: Acer Swift 3
While it may not have the best keyboard in the world, the Samsung Notebook 9 was one of the best laptops you could buy in 2018. and that stands in 2019. Packed with more horsepower than the MacBook Pro, but at a much lower price, Samsung has crafted a laptop that has just as much substance as it does style. Plus, on top of its killer specs, it’s lightweight and thin, making this one of the most portable 15-inch laptops you can buy today.
Read the full review: Samsung Notebook 9
- This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the MacBook Pro
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Which type of laptop is best for you?
General laptops: Where the best cheap laptops are found, devices that focus more on practicality than style, portability or power. That’s not to say they can’t be fast, but you’ll typically find a non-Ultrabook clamshell laptop with an HD screen and spinning drive-based storage for less than $600 or £400.
Ultrabooks: Where you’ll find thin-and-light notebooks sporting SSD storage and display resolutions that exceed 1080p. Paired with powerful, albeit mobile-centric components and especially long battery life, the best Ultrabooks will cost a pretty penny – $700 or £500 to $2,000 or £1,800.
2-in-1 laptops: Where notebooks that double as tablets are located. The Surface Book 2 might be a ways off, but many of the best 2-in-1 laptops are available right now. Outfitted with both detachable and 360-degree rotating hinges, these hybrids are the most versatile way to experience Windows 10 (or Chrome OS) on a touchscreen.
Chromebooks: Where you’ll find the best Chromebooks running Chrome OS. These do much of what Windows and macOS can in the browser, focused on cloud storage over local, while recently getting Android app support for touchscreen models. They generally cost less than $300 or £200 and some can even withstand a slight tussle.
Gaming laptops: Need a laptop to play games (almost) just like a shiny desktop PC can? Then you’ll want one of the best gaming laptops. These machines generally cost from $800 or £600 to upwards of $3,000 or £2,800 and they’ll likely be the ones to take advantage of AMD’s laptop-grade Ryzen processors first.
Laptop-tablet hybrids: Designed from the tablet-first approach to laptop-tablet hybrids, the best Windows tablets pack beyond-HD touchscreens, sometimes with kickstands in their frames or provided via keyboard covers. These generally shine with a stylus, and range from the budget to the premium price ranges.
Linux, Windows or Mac - which one is best for you? Watch our guide video below:
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Thursday 27 June 2019
AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs Get Memory Recommendations From ASRock
ASRock has revealed the optimum memory configurations for AMD's Ryzen 3000-series and X570 chipset.from News Tom's Hardware https://ift.tt/31WNarz
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Best computer 2019: the best PCs we've tested
The best computers are better now than ever before. They’ve evolved to the point of utilizing eight-core processors and super high-end graphics cards that can handle real time ray tracing, among others – things that would have been impossible only 10 years ago.
If you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge in 2019, you’re going to want one of the best computers on this list, even if most of what you’ll do is go on Facebook and surf the internet.
Fortunately, the best computers are also more affordable than ever. These days, you can easily pick up a solid PC or even an all-in-one desktop for around $500 (about £390, AU$715). Better yet, many of them will last you a lifetime – because the best computers are upgradeable, it’s easy to keep them up to date by fitting in new and improved PC components, like fast SSDs, more RAM or maybe even the best graphics card.
Still, with so many options, choosing the best computer for you and your needs can be hard work. So, we gathered all the best computers on the market, paying close attention to those that hit that sweet spot between price and performance. This way, you can just go through this list and pick out what you like depending on what you’ll need.
Here are our top picks for the best computers 2019 has to offer.
The Dell XPS Tower is stealthy. That is, it looks quite similar to that PC your parents used to have tucked underneath the desk when you were a kid. But, its no-nonsense exterior hides an exciting array of components. One of the best computers on the market right now, the Dell XPS Tower boasts up to a GTX 1080 graphics card, an 8th-generation Intel Core processor, and a spacious hard drive and/or SSD. This excellent special edition PC configuration is only available in the US. However, UK and Australian readers can pick up the regular Dell XPS Tower and simply beef it up to the same level through the Dell site – only with a different chassis.
Read the full review: Dell XPS Tower Special Edition
The Microsoft Surface Studio rose to fame as one of the best computers for artists when it was first released, so it’s hardly a surprise that its sequel has followed in its footsteps. In fact, packed with a Kaby Lake mobile processor and Nvidia Pascal graphics, the Surface Studio 2 is a lot more powerful than the original, and should be able to handle everything you throw at it for the next few years, at the very least. Of course, it’s also inherited that stunning PixelSense display with Surface Pen support, allowing it to retain the privilege of being one of the best all-in-one – not to mention, the best computers on this list – for artists.
Read the full review: Surface Studio 2
- See more like this: the best all-in-one PCs
If you’re in the market for an excellent desktop experience, but you don’t have a ton of space on your desk, the Intel Hades Canyon NUC might just be the best computer for you. This tiny bare-bones PC has an insanely fast 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and discrete-class AMD Radeon graphics. Throw some RAM and storage into the mix, and you should be able to triumph over the best PC games without batting an eye. It won’t stand up against a full-sized desktop, but when you’re short on space – or you’d rather have a PC that looks like a set-top box – this is one of the best computers to consider.
Read the full review: Intel Hades Canyon NUC
With the Aurora R7, Alienware continues its journey back to the top of the best computers, especially for gaming. The Alienware Aurora R7 isn’t just one of the greatest gaming PCs; it’s also among the best computers money can buy. It offers mind-blowing performance with its 8th-generation Intel Core processor and GTX 10-series graphics, and all that power is conveniently stowed away in its appealing and sleek chassis. It’s surprisingly affordable as well, considering the power on offer. And, did we mention that this PC is easily upgradeable, despite the unique form-factor?
Read the full review: Alienware Aurora R7
- See more like this: the best gaming PCs
If you’re on the market for one of the best computers with an absolutely unbelievable amount of power inside a design that will look just as good in your living room as it will in your home office, then the Corsair One i160 is your new best friend. Packed with a Coffee Lake Refresh processor and Nvidia Turing graphics – not to mention a whopping 32GB of RAM, this is an absolute beast, and will chew through any game you throw at it, even on that nice 4K TV you just bought. Just prepare yourself, as that high price tag might send you reeling.
Read the full review: Corsair One i160
It’s easy to associate Apple with inflated pricing. However, your piggy bank will be spared if you get on the Mac mini bandwagon. The Mac mini 2018 isn’t just an attractive small form-factor PC, but it’s also packed with high-end desktop parts, all for a much cheaper price than any other Mac. That makes it a solid investment for anyone who already has a slew of Mac-ready peripherals or a Mac fan who doesn’t have the budget for a pricier computer. Plus, as opposed to Apple’s recent products, you can upgrade the Mac mini… well, at least the memory up to 64GB of RAM.
Read the full review: Apple Mac mini
- See more like this: the best Macs 2019
Don’t confuse the HP Pavilion Wave for a fabric-woven Mac Pro refresh, because it is anything but. This compact Windows machine has its 6th-generation Intel Core processors trimmed with optional discrete AMD graphics and uniquely integrated Bang & Olufsen speakers. Wrapped in an urbane fabric exterior, this is definitely the most attractive of the best computers to have on the desk, and it radiates crisp sound as you browse the web or watch movies.
Read the first look: HP Pavilion Wave
Some people have issues with desktop PCs, as they tend to take up a lot of space. The Intel Core Compute Stick has essentially made that a non-issue. Looking more like a thumb drive than an actual PC, this pint-sized renegade can connect to any display with an HDMI input. It starts out with a lowly 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor running Linux, but you can configure it with up to an Intel Core m5 processor, making this one of the best computers to literally put it your pocket, whether you need to get some work done on the go or squeeze in some PC time while you’re away on vacation.
Specifications (as reviewed)
| Product | Dell XPS Tower Special Edition | Microsoft Surface Studio 2 | Intel Hades Canyon NUC | Alienware Aurora R7 | Corsair One i160 | Apple Mac mini (Late 2018) | HP Pavilion Wave | Intel Compute Stick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8700 | Intel Core i7-7820HQ | Intel Core i7-8809G | Intel Core i7-8700K | Intel Core i9-9900K | Intel Core i3-8100 | Intel Core i5-7400T | Intel Atom x5-Z8500 |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | AMD Radeon R9 M470 | N/A |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 | 32GB DDR4 | 16GB DDR4 | 32GB DDR4 | 32GB DDR4 | 8GB DDR4 | 16GB DDR3 | 2GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, 1TB HDD (7,200 rpm) | 1TB PCIe SSD | 118GB Intel Optane SSD 800P Series (NVMe), 512GB Intel SSD 545s Series (M.2 SATA) | 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, 2TB HDD | 480GB M.2 NVMe SSD, 2TB HDD | 128GB PCIe SSD | 1TB HDD | 32GB |
Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article
Image Credits: TechRadar
- While you’re at it, we’ve also found the best gaming desktop PC you can buy
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Best Android Wear smartwatches in the UAE for 2019
After a shaky start, Google's Android Wear is now an increasingly mature platform thanks to the update to Android Wear 2.0 and a plethora of new watches running the software.
Now Google has rebranded its smartwatch platform to Wear OS in an attempt to make its watches more palatable for those who own an iPhone, but we don't currently know what new features are planned for the latest iteration of the wearable operating system.
Existing Android Wear watches have been updated to the new Wear OS software, so if you buy one of the devices on this list you'll likely find it will upgrade to the new branding when you're setting it up.
We'll be referring to the devices in this list with Android Wear and Wear OS for the time being, but you'll soon notice us calling all of these watches by the latter name.
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Asus isn't an obvious name to associate with Android Wear watches, though with the ZenWatch 3 it has more than earned in place.
Launched at $229/£250 (around AU$340), though is now almost always a little cheaper, Asus' latest is one of your best bets, especially since it packs Android Wear 2.0.
It has a great display, useful hardware buttons and good battery life. The styling might not be for everyone, but Asus did a commendable job designing a watch that looks more like a premium watch than a piece of lifeless technology.
Read the Asus ZenWatch 3 review
With the Huawei Watch, the Chinese behemoth was very definitely aiming at the top end of the market, although the price has dropped substantially since launch and the introduction of the Huawei Watch 2.
The main strength is the screen - which is a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, running at 400 x 400 - one of the highest resolution watches available, ensuring PPI on par with the Apple Watch. Helpfully too, the screen is always on - it will dim after a few seconds of inactivity, but the time will still remain visible.
Spec-wise, the watch is slightly less remarkable - with a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a 300mAh battery it is roughly on a par with its top-end rivals. That said, the price is now a lot lower so it sits above the Huawei Watch 2 in this list.
Read the Huawei Watch review
One of Fossil's most recent watches, we really like the Q Venture despite the fact it is missing some of the key features you'd hope for on an Android Wear watch.
The highlight here is the design that looks like your average high-end watch, but instead it's stealth packing all of the features we know and love on Android Wear 2.0.
If you're looking for a fitness watch, this won't be it though as there's no heart rate monitor, GPS or even NFC. If you're instead after a watch with good battery life and an attractive design, you may be the perfect match for the Q Venture.
Read the Fossil Q Venture review
The Huawei Watch 2 is an attempt by the Chinese company to widen the use of Android Wear watches. Huawei has tried to include a variety of new features in its latest smartwatch and it's not entirely clear if it has succeeded with the Watch 2.
We like the built-in GPS and NFC on the watch as well as the option to have a 4G model, but the Huawei Watch 2 can be sluggish and the screen is a little small for some.
This may suit you though with an attractive design and a plethora of features, but the price is much higher than the original Huawei Watch which we currently have ranked above this one.
Read the full Huawei Watch 2 review
Fossil is a traditional watchmaker that has been trying to solve the problem of becoming a tech company, before tech companies can fully become watchmakers. That's why it came up with the Fossil Q Founder Android Wear watch.
As Fossil's first smartwatch, the Q Founder features a combination of a brushed and polished metal face as well as a plastic back so it can charge wirelessly.
While the screen is lower resolution than some competitors, it is barely noticeable. Perhaps the only annoyance on-screen is the so-called "flat tire" at the bottom, which means the screen isn't a perfect circle. This is to leave room for the ambient light sensor.
So it certainly has the looks - and the innards are promising too with 1GB of RAM. But at the end of the day, this watch doesn't stand out like the ones above it in the list.
Read the Fossil Q Founder review
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Early Amazon Prime Day offer cuts price of AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor to just £125
Amazon has released another tempting pre-Amazon Prime Day deal, cutting the price of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 to just £124.97, which is one of the cheapest prices we've seen for this AMD processor.
That's a great price for an excellent little processor. With six cores and a base clock off 3.4GHz, it's a good choice if you're building a gaming PC. The fact that the price is so low means you'll be able to build a powerful budget gaming PC for even less cash – so you have more money to spend on games.
We're not sure how long this deal will last, but it's likely to beat many of the deals you'll see when Amazon Prime Day starts properly on July 15.
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Apple makes key hire with ARM's lead CPU architect as it looks to an ARM-based future for Macs
Rumors of Apple using ARM-based chips for its Mac products have been around for years. The company already deploys its ARM-based T series of chips as a co-processor on various Mac laptops and desktops to handle features like the Touchbar, TouchID, secure boot and storage encryption. It now looks to...
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Intel Puts 10nm Ice Lake CPUs on an M.2 Stick, Meet the Nervana NPP-I Accelerator
Intel's NPP-I comes as a modified 10nm Ice Lake processor that will ride on a PCB that slots into an M.2 port.from News Tom's Hardware https://ift.tt/2X7fkRM
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Apple hires ARM’s lead CPU architect – further evidence that it's dropping Intel
Rumors have been swirling for a while now that Apple is planning to move away from Intel processors for its Mac devices and instead design its own CPUs, and now we've heard that the company has hired Mike Filippo, ARM's lead CPU and system architect.
Filippo’s LinkedIn profile states that he joined Apple last month. During his time at ARM, he led the development of the Cortex-A76, Cortex-A72, Cortex-A57 chips.
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Filippo has also worked as a lead CPU and system architect at Intel and a chip designer at AMD, so he’s got a huge amount of knowledge and experience when it comes to processors. His hiring could be a real win for Apple’s CPU ambitions.
Dropping Intel
The fact that Apple has employed such a senior ARM architect could be seen as further proof that it's planning to launch ARM-powered Macs as early as 2020.
Apple’s move makes a lot of sense – if that’s indeed what it's doing. The company has been vocal about how its reliance on Intel hardware hasn’t been ideal. Earlier this year, Apple blamed Intel’s processor shortage for slump in Mac sales.
The fact that Intel’s processors have also been victim to high profile security vulnerabilities may also have cemented Apple’s decision to build its own processor.
Apple already makes its own processors for its iPhone and iPad devices, as well as the T2 security chip in recent Macs, so this move wouldn’t be completely out of the blue.
It also follows news that Microsoft is apparently looking to stop exclusively using Intel chips for its Surface devices, with the company testing prototypes with AMD and ARM processors.
So it’s not been great news for Intel recently. Its former partners looking to use its competitors (or make their own CPUs) is something we warned would happen.
- AMD vs Intel: which chipmaker does processors better?
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Wednesday 26 June 2019
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 benchmarked early, shows performance barely slower than Intel i9-9900K
Spain-based tech reviews site El Chapuzas Informatico put the newest AMD CPU to the test against the Ryzen 7 and an Intel Core i9-9900K and found it running between the two and even beating both in some cases. This seems to confirm a previous leak we reported on at the...
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Mysterious 16-core AMD Ryzen chip appears on leaked benchmark
When AMD announced the Ryzen 9 3950X back at E3 2019, we already knew that the Zen 2-based processor was capable of a lot, and the subsequent overclocks proved as much.
However, AMD might have an even more powerful chip up its sleeve. An unknown 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen processor has appeared on Geekbench – the kicker is that it's running an all-core 5.2GHz boost. You may be thinking that this is just an overclocked Ryzen 9 3950X, but this chip is running a base clock of just 3.3 GHz – 200MHz below the 3950X's spec of 3.5GHz.
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The most important takeaway from this is that the unknown chip scored extremely high. This chip got a single-core score of 6,714 and a multi-core score of 64,953. The Intel Core i9-9980XE, a $1,979 (about £1,520, AU$2,800) chunk of silicon, scored single and multi-core results of 5,117 and 42,497, respectively, in our tests. This AMD chip absolutely crushes the Intel HEDT flagship.
We're not sure what this chip is, but it's obviously overclocked – and likely using exotic cooling. It's possible that this is an unannounced Threadripper 3rd Generation chip, even though we're expecting AMD's next generation of HEDT chips to appear early next year – previous rumors have pointed to a delay until 2020 for HEDT chips. We'll just have to wait and see.
It's hard to say when we'll see it, though. With its 3.3GHz base clock, it's likely that it's a Threadripper chip – we don't think AMD would release a mainstream processor between the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 9 3950X. However, AMD is using a special binning process to produce the 3950X, so this chip with a lower base clock might just see the light of day as a mainstream part.
Still, we don't even know if this AMD processor is real, so we'll just have to wait and see.
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A full-size recreation of the Commodore 64 arrives this year
First released back in 1982, the original Commodore 64 sported a 1MHz CPU, 64KB of RAM, and cost $595, the equivalent of around $1,550 today. It went on to shift 17 million units, making it the best-selling computer model of all time.
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