Geforce

NVIDIA has just unveiled a 12 GB version of the GeForce RTX 3060, which will be available sometime in February. However, a new EEC registration by Palit suggests that even more Ampere cards are on the way. Specifically, the board partner has registered multiple SKUs for the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti; both are rumoured to be arriving within the next few months.

NVIDIA has all but confirmed that the 2021 HP Omen 15 gaming laptop will be powered by RTX 3000-series graphics. According to a clearly premature sales listing on bestbuy.com, they will comprise the RTX 3070 Max-Q hinted at in previous tips. Its latest leak puts its starting price at US$1600.

Intel's NUC 11 series is official, following months of delays. The company has unveiled three models of varying sizes and specifications, although all are based on its Tiger Lake-U platform. There is even a NUC for gamers with a dedicated GeForce RTX 2060 onboard.

Although they have different colors and frequencies (minor factory overclocks, of course), the two new ZOTAC video cards that use the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 as foundation stay within the 170 W TDP value of the reference design. Thankfully, since these are (almost) low-end parts, finding them should not be a problem.

EVGA and ZOTAC have followed ASUS in increasing the price of their NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series custom cards. The changes range from 4% to 23%, which correlate to price increases of between US$70 and US$350. Overall, prices hikes average 10% across over 30 cards.

The huge catch is that you'll have to live with an older quad-core Core i5-10200H CPU and just 8 GB of base RAM. Shipments are expected to arrive by February 2nd.

According to AMD and NVIDIA, there will not be an uptick in GPU availability for a few months yet. Stock levels of the GeForce RTX 30 series will remain 'lean' until at least May, according to NVIDIA, while AMD believes that things will improve once the impact of COVID lessens.

Asus has upgraded its ROG Strix Scar 17 with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and RTX 3080 Mobile. Like all ROG models in 2021, the Scar 17 will use liquid metal as the thermal interface material for the CPU. The Scar 17 also features a 360 Hz display, optical mechanical keyboard, ROG Keystone II, and more.

XMG has announced that the 2021 iterations of its PRO and NEO 15/17 laptops will have new, slim cases in addition to new specs. The NEO 15 and 17 also boasts fresh Ryzen 9 5900HX or 7 5800H AMD platforms, while the PROs stick with a Core i7 processor so as to be among the first on the market to combine RTX 3000 graphics with Thunderbolt 3.

Asus has refreshed its unique ZenBook Pro Duo design with updated internals. The new ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED comes with Comet Lake-H and RTX 3070 Mobile options. Asus has also improved the multi-tasking experience with the new ScreenPad Plus that now brings native support for Adobe apps.

Both powered by 11th gen Intel Core processors with Irix Xe graphics, the Asus ExpertBook B1400 and B1500 feature up to 48 GB of memory, optional NVIDIA dedicated graphics, dual storage combinations that can provide up to 1 TB SSD + 2 TB HDD of space, as well as multiple connectivity options, and much more.

MSI has unveiled an upgraded Stealth 15M gaming laptop at its MSIology event at CES 2021. MSI calls the Stealth 15M the world's thinnest gaming laptop. The Stealth 15M is powered by the Core i7-11375H and RTX 3060 Mobile and comes in Carbon Gray and Pure White variants.

At its MSIology event, MSI has taken wraps off the GE76 Raider Dragon Edition Tiamat. Embodying ancient Babylonian folklore, the new GE76 Raider will replace the GT Titan as MSI's 2021 flagship gaming laptop. The GE76 Raider is also available in a non-cuneiform design and sports the same internals including the Core i9-10980HK and the RTX 3080 Mobile/RTX 3070 Mobile options.

Gigabyte has introduced new mid-range gaming laptops powered by both Intel Comet Lake-H and AMD Ryzen 5000H Zen 3 options. These laptops are aimed at the multi-tasking crowd that also likes to game. The Intel-based Gaming G5 and G7 and the AMD-based Gaming A5 and A7 share many features with the Aorus gaming series including the Windforce cooling system.

Gigabyte has refreshed its Aorus gaming laptop lineup to feature NVIDIA RTX 30 Mobile GPUs. The Aorus 15P and Aorus 15G offer largely identical specifications including the Core i7-10870H. The new Aorus laptops take advantage of Microsoft Azure AI to offer automatic performance optimizations depending on the use case.

Acer has introduced a refreshed Nitro 5 with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA RTX 3080 Mobile internals. The Nitro 5 is also being offered with three display options, one of which includes a 360 Hz FHD panel.

Dell has refreshed the Alienware m17 with NVIDIA Ampere mobile graphics. The Alienware m17 R4 features a largely similar configuration as last year and offers a slew of customization options including a 360 Hz FHD panel. The laptop is also recognized as a CES 2021 Innovation Award Honoree in the Gaming category.

Asus is throwing all of its craziest ideas onto its latest 13-inch convertible laptop including liquid metal cooling, an AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS CPU, vapor chamber external graphics, proprietary PCIe x8 connector, and a 16:10 120 Hz Gorilla Glass touchscreen.

NVIDIA has introduced a new member to the RTX 30 family, the RTX 3060 12 GB. The RTX 3060 is intended at those who are looking to upgrade from a GTX 1060-class card and features 3,584 CUDA cores, 12 GB of GDDR6 192-bit memory, and will be the first RTX 30 card to support resizable BAR. The RTX 3060 12 GB will be available in late February starting from US$329.

The latest iteration of the 15.6-inch Acer Predator Helios 300 could easily be mistaken for the last. However, the OEM asserts that it is rated for even smoother gameplay thanks to its new GPU and display option. Can these new specs help it blow the cobwebs of 2020 away?

The new Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 desktop PC brings Ryzen 5000 series CPUs to Alienware's desktop family. The machine can be configured with a number of AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs as well as the newest GPUs from Nvidia and AMD.

The refreshed models still feature the Comet Lake-H CPUs, as they are limited to Thunderbolt 3 connectors. However, Gigabyte is now offering upgraded professionally calibrated displays, as well as the newly released RTX 3000 mobile GPUs, plus redesigned thermal management. The new AERO laptops are also among the first to feature HDMI 2.1 connectors.

Dell has refreshed the Alienware m15 to feature Intel Comet Lake-H and NVIDIA Ampere mobile offerings. The Alienware m15 R4 continues to offer vapor chamber cooling, up to 4 TB of PCIe storage, and also comes with an OLED panel that is HDR500 compliant.

Lenovo has announced a refresh to its Legion 5 15 and Legion 5 17 laptops to bring the latest AMD Ryzen Mobile CPU and Nvidia GeForce GPU options to consumers. Both offer good higher framerate displays with the 15.3-inch reportedly having a sub-3ms response time.

Even though the spec sheets do not mention the exact processors, the ACH denomination added to the products names suggests that Lenovo is equipping these models with AMD's Ryzen 5000H processors. The 14p model does not get discrete graphics, but offers an OLED panel option, while the 16p version offers Nvidia RTX 3000 dGPU options and a Pantone calibrated IPS panel.

Lenovo has announced its latest slim gaming laptop, the Legion Slim 7. The machine features up to AMD Ryzen 7 5000 series APUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs in a chassis that tapers to 15.9 mm. The Legion Slim 7 has a 15.6-inch display, available in either a 1080p and 165 Hz variant or a 4K one that tops out at 60 Hz and 500 nits. The Legion Slim 7 starts at 1.9 kg and will come in two colours.

Lenovo's flagship gaming laptop of 2021 is here, and it packs a 16-inch QHD display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The Legion 7 16ACH-06 also includes the latest AMD Ryzen 9 5000 series APUs, NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 30 GPUs and more I/O than you could shake a stick at.

The new Legion 5 Pro features a new display, CPUs and GPUs. The gaming laptop now offers a 16:10 and 16-inch IPS display with a native QHD resolution, a 165 Hz refresh rate and 3 ms response times. Additionally, AMD Ryzen 5000 APUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs now power the Legion 5 Pro, which will be available from March for €1,399 and up.

ZOTAC has unveiled its mini-PC, albeit one that has an 8.3-litre case. Nonetheless, the ZBOX MAGNUS ONE features an Intel Core i7-10700 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. The ZBOX MAGNUS ONE supports up to 64 GB of RAM too, and has plenty of I/O.

With Nvidia poised to unveil the next generation of mobile GeForce GPUs for laptops this week, now is the time to get a GeForce 20 laptop for cheap. Manufacturers like Lenovo are already trying to clear stop of its last generation gaming laptops at deep discounts.

Asus uses the most current technology in the ZenBook 14: A Tiger Lake processor, GeForce MX450 graphics core, 16 GB of working memory (quad-channel mode), and Thunderbolt 4. A 63-Wh battery ensures a good battery life.

NVIDIA will definitely be unveiling GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs for laptops tomorrow, based on the company's latest teaser. Up to seven Ampere-based GPUs are expected to arrive, from the GeForce RTX 3050 to the GeForce RTX 3080. There will be Max-Q variants of all but the GeForce RTX 3050, too.

At CES 2021, HP has announced the Envy 14 aimed at mobile content creators. The Envy 14 offers a combination of the Core i5-1135G7 and NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q and comes with a 14-inch IPS touch display that is color-calibrated out of the box.

Chinese electric automaker NIO announced that its latest electric vehicle ET7 will use NVIDIA Drive Orin SoC for AI-assisted driving. The ET7 will use Orin in a cluster of four to form the Adam supercomputer, which is capable of processing 8 GB of data from the vehicle's 33 sensors each second. The ET7 is certified to meet ISO 26262 ASIL-D safety standards and will ship in 2022.

Modder specikk’s City H4ck mod for Cyberpunk 2077 overhauls the game’s hacking mechanic, including vehicle and door hacking options that are strongly reminiscent of Watch Dogs.

Altex, a retailer from Romania, recently listed an ASUS TUF Gaming A17 laptop model configured with the GeForce RTX 3070, alongside the Ryzen 7 5800H, for less than US$1700.

MSI will be announcing new products on January 13, but it briefly listed new versions of the GF65 Thin on its website. The 15.6-inch gaming laptop will be available with at least the GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q, along with up to an Intel Core i7-10750H processor. It seems that no AMD options will be available, though.

Lenovo has launched the Yoga AIO 7 desktop PC at CES 2021. The Yoga AIO 7, also known as Yoga 27 in China, is powered by AMD Renoir 4000 H-series APUs and the NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU. The Yoga AIO 7 comes with built-in casting hardware and a future update will enable the AIO to function as a standalone 4K smart TV as well.

An AMD Ryzen 9 5900H APU has been tested on various synthetic benchmarks as part of a Mechrevo gaming laptop that also comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 GPU. The results for the Zen 3 Ryzen 9 5900H chip in Cinebench showed welcome generational performance improvements over fellow 8-core chips Ryzen 9 4900HS and Intel Core i7-10875H.

A couple of Asus ROG Strix laptops have been spotted being tested on Geekbench and both featured potent Ryzen 5000/GeForce RTX 30 series combinations. A Ryzen 7 5800H was paired off with a GeForce RTX 3070 while an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX teamed up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU. The OpenCL scores in both tests were outstanding.

The Aorus 15P WB brings all modern computer games smoothly onto the screen (Full HD, IPS, 144 Hz). In addition, there's an NVMe SSD, 16 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode), and very good battery life.

NVIDIA plans to release Ampere-based graphics cards with Ultra branding, of which the RTX 3060 Ultra may be the first. The first leak of the RTX 3060 Ultra confirms that it will have 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM and that it should arrive later this month.

Lenovo has improved the CPU performance of the current ThinkPad X1 Extreme, but the Intel CPU is still inferior to AMD's current processors. The X1 Extreme Gen3 is a very good multimedia laptop and we especially like the excellent keyboard, but there is still room for improvements for upcoming iterations.

The RTX 3080 Max-P would only be a few percent faster than the RTX 3060 Ti desktop GPU, since it appears to be limited to 115 W TGP by default. On the other hand, the 80 W RTX 3080 Max-Q would be as fast as the GTX 1080 Ti desktop model, and 74% slower than the RTX 3080 desktop GPU.

These budget models feature the unannounced i7-11370H and i7-11300H Intel CPUs that should be unveiled at CES next week. Configurations seem solid for what looks like $700-800 laptops, except maybe the GTX 1650 GPUs could have been replaced with the RTX 2060.