Workstation

The HP ZBook 15u G6 continues to offer the usual quality in terms of exteriors. However, some weaknesses that ought not to occur persist on the inside. Let's just hope the new AMD GPU can save the day.

Hewlett Packard's mobile workstation features good input devices and a great display. This is joined by a docking port, good battery life and a Thunderbolt 3 port. There are problems with performance.

Turtle Beach has released the Atlas Edge, a new USB adapter for any conventional wired headset. It is intended to enhance any headset connected to it with an in-house panel of software called Control Studio. This suite is designed to convert audio through the Atlas Edge into a "full panoramic 3D audio experience".

The latest Insider's version of Windows 10 updates the Your Phone app so that it is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S10 series, as well as the Galaxy Fold. This allows a user to monitor battery levels, screen-mirror and sync data. However, Microsoft has stated that these new features will be available to certain regions only to start off with.

Intel has hinted that the first of its eagerly anticipated Xe discrete GPUs will launch in June 2020. The launch date has been discerned from a cryptic tweet posted by the head of the project and former AMD GPU chief Raja Koduri.

Computational photography - or imaging that depends at least as much on software as on hardware - was worth US$7.9 billion as a market in 2018. However, the latest analysis indicates that this valuation will grow to $29 billion over the next 5 years. This market is led by companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Alphabet and Apple.

The Compubench site has added a listing for a "genuine" Intel CPU that is integrated with a "Gen12 Mobile Graphics Controller". This, then, may be the integrated graphics solution that is said to launch alongside Tiger Lake chipsets. The benchmark indicates that it has 96 execution units (EUs) and goes at 1.1GHz.

The x86 architecture has been hitting something of a wall lately but AMD looks like it could be set to inject it with a fresh breath of life. According to the rumor mill, the company has finalized the Zen 3 design and it introduces a new SMT4 feature that will allow each core to execute four threads simultaneously.

Current PCBs are eating too much space and researchers think these can easily be replaced with a new silicon-interconnect fabric that would lead to more powerful devices in reduced form-factors. The use of such new fabrics would also cut production costs and improve heat dissipation. Smartphone SoCs and servers may also benefit from the more streamlined design introduced with the silicon-interconnect fabric.

AMD has officially stated that the Ryzen 9 3950X desktop processor and the next generation of Ryzen Threadripper chips will be launched in November. Although some will be disappointed about the delay of the 16-core Matisse CPU, others will be excited about the confirmation of the HEDT chips, which start with 24-core SKUs.

Curve Digital & Kuju have announced that they are bringing a title based on the Netflix show Narcos to PCs and consoles. It will allow a user to play either for the Cartel in question or against it a DEA agent. This original content will be set in the 1980s El Patron era, and is available as a digital download from now.

A 6-core Comet Lake Intel Core i7-10710U has been put through the rigors of Cinebench R15 and R20 and has apparently struggled with the multi-core testing aspects of the benchmarks. AMD’s 15 W quad-core APU, the Ryzen 7 3700U, was able to achieve better scores in R15. The Intel chip is a part of the same MSI Prestige 15 laptop that was recently spotted on Geekbench and UserBenchmark.
MSI has stated that the performance discrepancy could be down to the Creator Center mode selected.

Sony is ready to release its Crystal LED technology to home theater systems. These next-gen panels are capable of both 8K HDR and 16K resolutions. With specs such as 140% of sRGB coverage and 120 frames per second, they are also rated for extremely high color accuracy and image quality.

LG has revealed that certain 2019 OLED TVs will gain G-SYNC compatibility via a firmware update. This will apply to 55- to 75-inch C9 and 55 or 65 inch E9 variants. The OEM asserts that this development will enhance immersion in gameplay using these devices.

Much has been spoken about AMD pitching Navi 14 against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 series. However, a recent patch to the AMDGPU Linux kernel DRM driver suggests that the company has other plans for the upcoming graphics chip too.

The ConceptD 9 Pro is using the same chassis as the Predator Triton 900, but comes tailor-made for demanding CG artists with Nvidia's RTX Quadro 5000 GPUs and a Wacom ERM stylus. It also packs gen 9 i9 octa-core CPUs coupled with 32 GB of RAM and dual-NVMe SSD storage in RAID 1, plus the usual host of connectors including Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort and HDMI.

An Intel Core i7-10710U processor has been spotted being put through its paces on both UserBenchmark and Geekbench 5. The energy-efficient six-core CPU, which was tested in MSI’s new Prestige 15 laptop, particularly shines in single-core benchmarks where it manages to outclass the quad-core Ryzen competition from AMD.

Qualcomm has introduced its latest "add-on" for its 2nd-generation 5G modem, the Snapdragon X55. The QTM527 is an antenna that confers mmWave reception on the chipset. It is intended to enable the X55 to handle fiber-level connections for homes and businesses, regardless of their location.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (or VESA) is the body that can confer official certifications for state-of-the art quality standards such as DisplayHDR on new screens. Its latest update to the criteria by which they are granted is called version 1.1. It calls for ultra-modern specs such as active dimming, as well as tougher yardsticks for color gamut and luminance.

Acer's new series of XV3 gaming monitors offer modern refresh rates of up to 240Hz and response times of as low as 1 millisecond. They are also G-SYNC ready with the variable refresh rate (VRR) necessary to handle either the RTX or GTX 10-series of graphic cards. These new IPS panels come in either 24.5- or 27-inch variants, and will start at €249 (about US$275).

Asus has claimed that its ProArt StudioBook lineup includes the “world’s most graphically-powerful laptop” with the ProArt StudioBook One (W590) workstation. The device comes with a 9th Gen Intel mobile processor and Nvidia’s Quadro RTX 6000. The new series also features the ProArt StudioBook Pro X (W730) that offers up to a Quadro RTX 5000 and incorporates the innovative ScreenPad 2.0 secondary display.

NVIDIA has introduced a new mobile Quadro RTX card, the mobile Quadro RTX 6000 at IFA 2019. The specifications of the mobile Quadro RTX 6000 are yet to be officially disclosed, but NVIDIA's performance numbers show that it performs within 10% of that of its desktop counterpart. NVIDIA is working with partners to create mobile workstation laptops based on its Ace Reference Design and a total of 39 RTX Studio laptops and desktops will be made available.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has finalized the specification for USB4. A few things are different this time around including the way the it named, as well as its support for another standard in the form of Thunderbolt 3.

Some consumers may have found that having a 4K display does not always result in pin-sharp content. This is because 1080p image data is not always scaled effectively to match the more up-to-date resolution. NVIDIA has addressed this by introducing integer scaling in its latest Game Ready Drivers update.

With a gaming performance comparable to the more affordable RX 5700 XT, the Radeon VII GPU is already put on EOL status after a short-lived 6 months. Still, the high-end GPU is a solid option for heavy compute tasks and demanding renderings, so the remaining stocks may eventually end up in select workstations.

AMD has released Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.8.2, an update that adds compatibility with HDCP 2.3 on the RX 5700 series of graphics cards. It also boosts performance while playing Control using DirectX 11 compared to the previous version of this driver. 19.8.2 may also address a range of glitches associated with this version.

Some of Lenovo's most popular ThinkPad laptops, the X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga, T490, and X390, have been updated with Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake CPUs. The L13 and L13 Yoga have also been given a thinner, lighter design makeover.

Usually reserved for 15-inch models and up, MSI now offers 4K display options for the 14-inch Prestige models, as well, plus all screens are factory-calibrated. Users can also opt to equip the laptops with quad-core or six-core Comet Lake-U CPUs, while the graphics processing is ensured by Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q GPUs.

Mojang, the makers of Minecraft, has announced that its hit game will become able to use real-time ray tracing in early 2020. Furthermore, NVIDIA has broken the news that a number of other titles will get these features. They include upcoming Metro Exodus DLC, Control and Dying Light 2.

The chip-maker SK Hynix has released HBM2E, its new storage standard. It is described as having up to 50% higher bandwidth at double the size compared to the previous generation. This new chip is aimed at uses in machine learning, AI and high-tier GPUs.

The Quartz Canyon series will feature the first NUCs that allow users to add high-end GPUs. The systems are advertised as workstation kits due to the inclusion of Xeon E and Core i7 vPro CPUs. Other features include dual Thunderbolt 3 connectors, Wi-Fi 6 interface, Optane and ECC memory support, plus an internal 500 W power supply.

Samsung claims that its upcoming vertically-stacked NAND (or V-NAND) for SATA-based SSDs confers improved read- and write-speeds on the resulting drives. They are composed of 100 or more layers of stacked flash cells, whereas previous generations had 99 or less. This increased scale is the new 3D memory's main advantage over its predecessors.

Linux laptop seller System76 recently announced a new workstation. The Adder WS, which is set to release on August 8, is the retailer's first laptop with a 15.6-inch 4K OLED display. The laptop will also pack a power Core i7 or Core i9 CPU and an Nvidia RTX 2070 GPU into its chassis.

Comparative benchmarks between AMD Ryzen 9 3900X systems running Windows 10 1903 and Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS show that Microsoft's work in optimizing the OS for MCM CPUs such as Ryzen has paid off. Although Linux does have an overall lead, the scheduler improvements in the latest Windows version have managed to narrow the performance gap significantly.

UPDATE 8/2: Intel has responded with a clarification of Raja Koduri's statement. See below. In a recent interview with a Russian YouTube tech channel, Raja Koduri (chief architect at Intel) stated that Intel's upcoming Xe GPU will start at a competitive $200 and that at least some models will use HBM. While it's unlikely that the $200 entry-level Xe GPUs will have HBM (due to the high cost of HBM), the GPUs are looking more competitive than ever.

Internal Asus documents point to at least two AMD X590 boards in development. This was confirmed by an Asus source to Videocardz. Not much is known about the X590 chipset at the moment apart from the fact that AMD could be aligning its launch to that of the 16C/32T Ryzen 9 3950X in September. Also on the anvil is an AMD X599 Zenith II Extreme for the upcoming Threadripper 3000 series.

The XPS 15 7590 has suffered from a severe GPU throttling issue under sustained load since it's release over a month ago, but Dell has finally pushed out a BIOS update to help fix the issue.

A 10-core 20-thread Intel Cascade Lake-X CPU belonging to the Glacier Falls platform has surfaced on UserBench. Not much information is gained from the listing itself, but we do see the CPU being listed with low base and boost clocks.

Well, well, well. We might have just got our first sight of an AMD Threadripper 3000 series processor, courtesy of a posting on UserBenchmark. The processor, which we expect to see before the end of the year, is compatible with the TR4 socket and existing X399-based motherboards. It leaves the Threadripper 2950X and Ryzen 9 3900X in its wake in multi-core tasks too.

The full specifications for Lenovo's latest P53 mobile workstation ThinkPad, revealing a variety of configurations for CPU, GPU, and display. Unfortunately, the removable battery of the P52 has become a casualty of the 2019 update, however.

Microsoft has marked an important NASA anniversary by taking part in Project Egress, in which engineering teams were challenged to re-make a component of the Apollo 11's landing module. The Redmond cohort were charged with making the craft's hatch, a small but complicated part that required advanced CNC to replicate.

Everybody was expecting Arcturus to be the high-end version of Navi and a true competitor for Nvidia's RTX 2080 / Ti gaming GPUs, but the latest Linux AMDGPU shader compiler code update suggests that Arcturus is more of a professional GPU in-line with Radeon Instinct. It will most likely be manufactured on the 7 nm EUV node from TSMC and could launch in early 2020.