Tag: Asus
WTL 2021 Winter – Playoffs Preview
Windows 11 SE is Microsoft’s latest Chromebook killer
Update: On January 18, Microsoft said that it had begun to ship with Surface Laptop SE as well as a number of third-party laptops, described in a Microsoft blog post. They include the Acer TravelMate Spin B3 laptop, the ASUS BR1100F, the Dell Latitude 3120 and 3120 2-in-1 for Education, the Dynabook E10-S , and more. The original story follows.
On Tuesday, Microsoft unexpectedly announced a “simpler” version of Windows, Windows 11 SE, in its latest effort to push aside Chromebooks and make Windows the operating system of elementary- and middle-school classrooms.
For years, that operating system was Windows 10 (and now Windows 11) Home in S Mode, aka Windows 10 S or Windows 11 S, which powers the new Surface Go 3. Windows 11 SE appears to be a slightly more flexible alternative: The operating system will support third-party apps including Chrome and Zoom, Microsoft said. Windows 11 SE will also be exclusive to the education market, Microsoft said.
The new operating system has won the approval of hardware developers, too, Microsoft said. Classrooms and parents will have the option of buying Windows 11 SE PCs from Acer, Asus,
Dell, Dynabook, Fujitsu, HP, JK-IP, Lenovo, and Positivo. Even more surprising, Microsoft said it will debut its cheapest Surface yet, the $249 Surface Laptop SE. They'll be available beginning later this year, Microsoft said.
For years, the American classroom has been a battleground for the major tech players, beginning with basic Commodore computers, then moving to early Windows PCs, Apple Macintoshes, and even iPads. In 2011, however, Google moved Chrome OS off its own CR-48 pilot laptops and onto the first Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung. For the last decade, Google-powered Chromebooks have been growing in might, influence, and features, enough to make the decision between buying a laptop and a Chromebook an important choice.
It should be no surprise that Chromebooks surged during the pandemic, or that Microsoft is making a renewed push into that territory. Chromebook sales soared as kids turned to remote schooling and parents hunted down the technology that they would normally use in the classroom. According to Canalys, Chromebook sales erupted a massive 275 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2021, after climbing even higher during 2020. For the year, Chromebooks even outsold Macs, according to analyst firm IDC. (However, Canalys reported on November 1 that Chromebook sales fell 37 percent from a year ago, as students returned to the classroom. Mercury Research reported similar findings in the PC CPU market.)
What is Windows 11 SE?
Microsoft is only talking about Windows 11 SE in vague terms, though company representatives followed up with more specifics on how it will differ from Windows 11. According to a blog post authored by Paige Johnson, the vice president of education marketing at Microsoft, educators have told Microsoft that “they need options that are simpler, secure, and work on more affordable devices.” Johnson described Windows 11 SE PCs as “distraction-free” and easy to manage.
Microsoft
According to screenshots Microsoft pro vided, Windows 11 SE looks exactly like Windows 11. But there's a few key differences. For one, Microsoft did away with the distracting Widgets menu in Windows 11 SE, according to an email sent by a company representative. Apps will be launched in full-screen mode by default, too. Unlike Windows 11, kids using a Windows 11 SE PC will only be able to run two apps side-by-side, rather than four. Finally, the Start menu will only include four “Recommended” files to help kids find what they need, the representative said.
Johnson also said that the new PCs will be optimized for the most-used education experiences, including Microsoft 365, and that they'll be configured specifically for both online and offline experiences. Microsoft called out Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote as apps that will be included on Windows 11 SE PCs. As you might expect, a Windows 11 SE PC would allow the student to work offline. Students will be able to sync files with OneDrive locally, which will then connect and sync with the cloud when back online. Naturally, school administrators will be able to manage Windows 11 SE devices via InTune for Education, keeping them up to date behind the scenes.
For years, Windows 10 S and now Windows 11 S have forbidden users to download or sideload third-party apps like Chrome or Zoom in the interest of security. But as Zoom's usage soared during the pandemic and users switched out of Windows 10 S to accommodate it, it's likely that Microsoft simply relented.
Microsoft
Well, sort of. While Microsoft will allow apps outside of the Microsoft Store to be loaded onto Windows 11 SE devices, only the IT admins will be able to perform those tasks, a company representative said. That sounds like it will prevent kids from loading apps willy-nilly. According to Johnson, Windows 11 SE also includes “broad support for web-based learning apps,” though it's unclear whether Microsoft is simply talking about supporting something like Zoom's web app versus a true standalone, downloadable application.
Microsoft
Finally, it's unclear what will eventually happen to Windows 10 S / 11 S as a result of Microsoft's new operating system. Microsoft originally launched Windows 10 S in June 2017 as a solution “streamlined for simplicity” for schools, similar to the language Microsoft used to describe Windows 11 SE. But Windows 11 SE certainly seems like a middle ground between Windows 11 and Windows 11 S, and possibly an altogether wholesale replacement. For now, though, both will exist: “Windows 11 in S mode is still a great option for people looking for a general streamlined Windows experience, and in fact, it continues to ship in devices like Surface Go 3,” a company representative said.
Microsoft representatives also noted that Windows 10/11 S will be used to power retail devices, while Windows 11 SE will only be used in laptops for the education market. For now, the two operating systems are on two different tracks.
This story was updated at 10:59 AM to clarify that Windows 11 SE will only be used in the education market. This story was updated a second time on January 18 to note that the Surface Laptop SE and the third-party laptops are now shipping.
Now’s the time to hunt for a cheap graphics card
If you've been hunting for computer upgrades, it's been a rough couple of years. After the one-two-three punch of a worldwide chip shortage, a boom in cryptocurrency mining, and a scourge of scalpers (yes, “scourge” is the collective noun for scalper, I looked it up!), graphics cards in particular have been incredibly hard to find at any kind of reasonable price. But with new budget GPUs on the way from both Nvidia and AMD, your best chance to score a new card for less than a mortgage payment might be coming up very soon.
A bit of context. During CES at the start of January, Nvidia announced the GeForce RTX 3050 and AMD announced the Radeon RX 6500 XT, with retail prices at $250 and $200, respectively. We could go into a lot of detail on the respective technical power of these cards, but that's another article. Suffice it to say, they're built with budget gaming PCs in mind, targeting decent 1080p performance and bringing some high-end features like ray tracing and DLSS to a price point at which they've never been available before.
So what's different about these cards, that will make them any less susceptible to the market forces which have driven prices to double and even triple their MSRP? A few things. One, they're less powerful cards in general, especially in terms of memory, which means they'll be less desirable for cryptocurrency miners. The same number-crunching power that gives you a solid 60 frames per second at 4K also lets you tear through crypto hashes. In short: more power means more money, and the crypto miners would rather spend a few hundred dollars towards a more powerful card that will be more efficient for their purposes. Less demand from crypto miners means less interest from scalpers — trickle-down disinterest, if you will.
AMD
That will hopefully result in a lower demand from the non-gamer segment of the market. What about supply? Without getting too technical, less powerful processors can be manufactured in larger batches than the kind of screaming GPUs you see in the RTX 3070, RX 6700 XT, and higher models. The dies that create the processors are physically smaller, allowing the manufacturer to get more out of a single run — sort of like making more cookies out of the same dough by making each cookie smaller.
This means that, chip shortage or no, Nvidia and AMD should be able to get these less powerful cards out of the fabrication plants at a much higher rate. We're seeing at least a little evidence of that already: Rumors indicate that there's a full court press of RTX 3050 variants coming from Nvidia's various manufacturing partners, like EVGA, MSI, and Asus.
Nvidia
Of course, with the way things are going, you're still unlikely to snag a new graphics card simply by strolling into Best Buy on your lunch break. Gamers will probably still need to resort to pre-orders, waiting in line in front of stores, spamming the F5 button at their favorite etailer, and all the other tedious minutia of trying to get a faster gaming PC in the COVID era. (Incidentally, going for a pre-built PC might still be a better option, at least if you need to upgrade multiple components at once.)
The Radeon RX 6500 XT is scheduled to land on January 19th, and the GeForce RTX 3050 is scheduled to launch on January 27th. Good hunting.
The best 12-button gaming mice
For all your MMO needs.
The post The best 12-button gaming mice appeared first on Dot Esports.
ASUS ROG reveals ‘battle ready’ Wi-Fi 6 router
Asus follows up its CES 2022 router announcements with a dual-band speedster.
The post ASUS ROG reveals ‘battle ready’ Wi-Fi 6 router appeared first on Dot Esports.
Exclusive: Intel’s 12th-gen Core i9 is the fastest laptop CPU ever in our early tests
Intel's Core i9-12900HK indeed fulfills the company's proclamation of being the “The fastest mobile processor. Ever,” based on the results of our early, exclusive hands-on performance testing of several 12th-gen laptops.
Intel, which unveiled its 12th-gen Alder Lake laptop CPUs just last week at CES, let PCWorld take four nearly identical laptops outfitted with the Core i9-12900HK for a spin during a live stream of our Full Nerd podcast. You can watch us run the benchmarks live in the recording of our live stream below.
While the four preproduction laptops aren't quite final units, they're based on MSI's GE76 Raider with final drivers, firmware and tuning still to come. The laptops were outfitted with the 14-core Core i9-12900HK CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, 32GB of DDR5/4800 RAM, and Windows 11. The updated GE76 remains the same externally as the previous-gen model, but there have been some upgrades to it, including a new MSI “phase-change liquid metal” thermal pad that boosts the CPU's performance. MSI has also tweaked the 12th-gen laptop's GPU to 175 watts, versus the 11th-gen version's 165 watt TGP GPU.
We ran all but the gaming benchmarks on laptops set to MSI's balanced profile, rather than its extreme performance profile, and also set to hybrid GPU mode rather than discrete mode. That's actually how Intel set the laptops up in its lab, which we left intact. Normally we'd opt for the higher performance profile to get the best possible performance, but we left them as set and just wanted to point it out to shoot down assumptions that Intel might have “rigged” this performance preview by opting for the maximum cooling settings.
We picked the tests we wanted to run, and ran them ourselves live on The Full Nerd (subscribe to PCWorld's YouTube channel if you aren't already), but make no mistake—these are laptops from Intel's own testing labs so you should always read the results with some modicum of salt until independent reviews are performed. We do believe the CPU performance you see here is likely be fairly representative of performance the production laptop reaches. But no two laptops are the exact same—even among the same make and model—so you should expect a little variance in high-end Alder Lake gaming laptops, but hopefully not huge swings.
You should know, however, that a CPU and GPU's performance isn't static. The magic each PC maker brings to it in cooling, tuning, and chosen parts can have very large impacts on performance. Basically, there is no such thing as completely isolating the CPU in a laptop. You must evaluate performance based on the total platform, not just the CPU or GPU inside of it.
To give you a point of comparison, we've included two additional laptops:
- The previous-generation MSI GE76 Raider outfitted with an 8-core 11th-gen Core i9-11980HK, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU with a TGP of 165 watts, and 32GB of DDR4/3200. This laptop set to its Extreme performance setting.
- An Asus Strix Scar G17 outfitted with AMD's 8-core Ryzen 9 5900HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU with a TGP of 130 watts, and 32GB of DDR4/3200. This laptop was tested set to Turbo.
Unfortunately, due to our time constraints we were unable to update the 11th-gen Core and Ryzen 9 laptops to Windows 11. Fortunately, for many of the CPU benchmarks we ran, the OS difference can be minimal.
Intel Core i9-12900HK performance preview
We'll kick off our preview with Maxon's popular Cinbench R20 using its default multi-threaded test. Cinebench is based on the company's Cinema4D 3D modelling and rendering engine that's sold as a stand-alone application and also included in other products, such as Adobe's After Effects. It hugs cores to its body, and more cores means more speed. The results we see aren't much of a surprise when you remember that Intel's 12th-gen Alder Lake H processors feature a hybrid design, using six improved “performance cores” coupled with eight “efficiency cores” in this flagship Core i9-12900HK. That means 14-cores (even if eight of them are lighter weight than the Ryzen's and 11th gen cores) nets more performance in Cinebench R20.
Still, you're looking at the 12th-gen Core i9 outpacing the Ryzen 9 5900HX and the Core i9-11980HK by roughly 30 percent.
IDG
As much as we wish they would, the vast majority of applications people use don't tap into every core available. In fact, single-core performance may matter what for what you do everyday more than multi-core performance, so we also ran Cinebench R20 using a single-thread to gauge performance there.
Intel's 12th-gen “Alder Lake” cores greatly boost efficiency per clock and we see that manifest itself here, where the 12th gen Core i9-12900HK is roughly 16 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 5900HX and 9.3 percent faster than the 11th gen Core i9-11980HK. Mind you, neither of those rival CPUs are slow chips either. Last summer, in fact, it felt like AMD's newly released Ryzen 9 5900HX was a monster compared to all previously released CPUs, which was then itself somewhat eclipsed by the equally impressive 11th Core i9-11980HK. Obviously, there's a new goliath in town.
IDG
Up next is the very similar Cinebench R23, which unlike Cinebench R20, takes about 10 minutes to run. That point is important because modern CPUs all generate heat as they run and ease off the pedal when they heat up. While Cinebench R20 takes maybe a minute or so to run, the 10 minutes of Cinebench R23 is likely to depress performance. The good news for 12th-gen is it's still the winner, since 14 cores is still more than 8 cores. The performance difference between the CPUs close up a little but the Core i9-12900HK still offers a commanding 23 percent advantage over the Ryzen 9 5900HX and 16 percent over the 11th-gen Core i9.
One other advantage to running Cinebench R23 is Mac fans can also compare performance directly, since Maxon's Cinebench R23 has native version for Apples new M1 line. While we have not directly tested the MacBook Pro 14, our sister publication Macworld has, and recorded a score of 12,381 for the MacBook Pro 14 with its 10-core M1 Pro CPU. That would give the 12th gen Core i9-12900HK a 21 percent advantage over a MacBook Pro 14. Macworld didn't review the M1 Max, but others outlets have outlets have reported performance to range from 12,300 to 12,700 for the faster M1 Max.
IDG
Like Cinebench R20, we also record a score in Cinebench R23 using a single thread. Interestingly, we actually see the gap open up a little here, with the 12th gen Core i9-12900HK outpacing the Ryzen 9 5900HX by about 26.5 percent and the 11th gen Core i9-11980HK by 16.6 percent. For the M1 Pro in the MacBook Pro 14, Macworld recorded a score of 1,531. That's an advantage of 23.6 percent for the 12th-gen CPU over the M1 Pro.
IDG
Up next is BAPCo's CrossMark benchmark. It's essentially a scaled-down version of its sprawling SYSMark test, which uses real applications to gauge performance. But rather than commercial applications, CrossMark is built using open-source programs and intended to gauge productivity, creative (photo and video), and responsiveness, which it defines as switching between software or starting an application. It's compiled with open-source compilers and is designed to run on Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android alike. On the Windows PCs, the 12th-gen Core i9 is a beefy 36 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 5900HX and also impressive 21.5 percent faster than the 11th-gen Intel chip.
Again, we didn't have a score for CrossMark for MacOS, but the public database BAPCo publishes puts the fastest M1 Max laptop at 1,670, which lands the Core i9-12900HK at about 18 percent faster. Like all public benchmark databases, it's always hard to know the provenance of the results, but we'll hope for the best. Looking into the details, M1 Max does slightly outpace the 12th-gen Core i9 in the Creativity portion, with a score of 2,254 vs. the 12th gen's 2,132, but the newest Intel CPU beats it in productivity by 25 percent with a score of 1,874. Interestingly the Alder Lake H system also crushes the M1 Max in CrossMark's “Responsive” test to the tune of 59.9 percent, with a score of 1,836 for the Core i9.
IDG
All-in-one suites such as CrossMark attempt to measure everything you might do on your computer, but the vast majority of the world brings home the turkey bacon using Microsoft's Office suite. So to keep Bill Lumberg happy, we also ran UL's Procyon Office test, which uses Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook to simulate what most people do all day while waiting for 5 p.m. to come. The 12th gen Core i9-12900HK wins, but it's really just a meh, with Intel's new chip outpacing the 11th-gen Core and Ryzen 9 systems by only 5 percent. Frankly, if you're using a Core i9 or Ryzen 9 with a GeForce RTX 3080 to primarily pound out a PowerPoint, you're probably doing it wrong.
IDG
Our next result is Principled Technologies WebXprt 3. It's a web-based benchmark designed to measure browser performance at photo enhancement, organizing an album using AI, stock option pricing, encryption notes, OCR scans, sales graphs, and online homework. These are fairly advanced features for a browser test. All of our results were generated using Edge on the Chromium 97.
The Core i9-12900HK again leads the field, turning in a score about 9.5 percent faster than the 11th-gen chip and 16.2 percent faster than the Ryzen 9.
IDG
We did manage to run games on the 12th gen Core i9-12900HK, but there are a lot of caveats with our comparison that we really want to highlight in yellow. Although all of the laptops feature GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPUs, their power ratings weren't the same, which can make any comparison in gaming really sketchy. That's especially true for the Ryzen 9 system, which was paired with a GPU rated at 130 watts vs. the 11th-gen's 165 watts, and the 12th-gen's 175 watts. That's basically a 27 percent larger thermal and power budget for the 11th-gen laptop and 35 percent for the Core i9-12900HK laptop. Between the 11th-gen and the 12th-gen, there's only about a 6 percent difference in GPU power.
That said, should also point out that one of the problems we saw last year was difficulty in getting a lot of gaming laptops with higher wattage GPUs. So if most 165 watt GPUs were only in Intel machines, then maybe it's actually a fair comparison?
Gaming performance isn't always about GPU wattage though and we see that below in our first result from Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation. We ran this benchmark at 1080p using the Crazy preset for graphics and opt for the CPU-focused benchmark run. The CPU-focused benchmark puts more units on the screen, which should push the CPU harder than the regular GPU-focused test. You can see the Ryzen 9 and 11th-gen systems are dead-even despite have a sizeable GPU thermal budget difference. That actually makes us even more impressed by the Core i9-12900HK's 11.7 percent lead over the others. The test basically doesn't seem to care about GPU wattage yet Intel's new chip is ahead by double-digits in the CPU test.
IDG
Our next game result is Far Cry New Dawn run at 1080p using the ultra preset. The caveat here is this game series has long given AMD's chips the raspberry, but that changed with the Ryzen 5000-series of desktop chips, which saw AMD actually eclipse Intel's best 10th-gen desktop chip at last. The laptop Ryzen 5000, however, features less cache, which may not give it the same boost. Still, given the 35 percent larger GPU thermal budget in the Core i9-12900HK laptop, we don't think it's necessarily fair to make direct comparisons with the Ryzen 9 system, so consider it there for reference.
We do think it's fair to compare performance against the 11th-gen GE76 Raider, however, since both GPUs are separated by just 10 watts of power. The 12th-gen GE76 with a Core i9-12900HK inside pulls up the win by double digits, with a frame rate about 11.8 percent faster.
IDG
Our last game result is from the popular Counter Strike: Global Offensive which is a graphically low-intensity game in this age. We assumed that would make it mostly a CPU-intensive game, but the results interestingly mostly mirror the GPU wattage differences between the different laptops. The Core i9-12900HK laptop is still faster than the 11th-gen notebook, but we're oly looking at roughly a 6 percent win. We'll just have to wait for final drivers to really make any determination in gaming.
IDG
We saved our last official result for the Official Benchmark of Twitter Shouting Matches: Geekbench 5. It's a popular, cross-platform benchmark based around a set of small programming “loops” that are designed to simulate various functions such as JPEG decompression, text decompression, encryption, AI and more. We find most of Geekbench's value to be in the sub-scores that let you dive into each individual result's performance. We also generally only compare results on the same platform. But that's not how Twitter hot takes are created, so we'll stick with just the overall score here.
The result gives the Intel Core i9-12900HK a massive 56.6 percent advantage over the Ryzen 9 5900HX chip. The 12th-gen chip is equally impressive compared to its predecessor, with a 40 percent increase in performance over the 11th-gen Core i9. Again, it's worth remembering that these are not slow CPUs, with the 11th-gen Core and Ryzen 9 chips delivering jaw-dropping performance just last summer—making the 12900HK's win all the more staggering.
We don't have an in-house score for the M1 Pro, so we'll crib from Macworld again. It reports a score of 12,590 for the 10-core M1 Max and a score of 12,544 for the 10-core M1 Pro. That puts the M1 Max just 6 percent away from the 12th-gen Core i9, and although Geekbench's utility as the final word on performance has some real limits, it's still an impressive showing nonetheless for both Apple's M1 and Intel's 12th-gen chips.
IDG
What happens when you try to deconstruct the performance of an 8-core Ryzen 9 or 11th-gen Core i9 versus a 10-core M1 Max and the 14-core Core i9-12900HK? You look at GeekBench 5's single-core performance benchmark. Against the Ryzen 9, the 12th-gen Core i9 shows an advantage of 27 percent, and a 14.6 percent gain versus the 11th-gen Core chip.
Referencing Macworld's review of the MacBook Pro again, we see near identical scores of 1,774 for the M1 Max and 1,778 for the M1 Pro—basically within the margin of error. That puts the Core i9-12900HK with a 6.8 percent win over the M1 Pro and M1 Max so, yes, head for Twitter folks.
IDG
For our last score, we ran PugetBench's Premiere Pro benchmark, but this is one test where we wonder if more tuning is yet to come. PugetBench is Puget System's popular benchmark that measures a fairly advanced set of actions and exports in Adobe's Premiere Pro.
We unfortunately don't have scores for the Ryzen 9 and the 11th-gen Core i9 laptops using the current version of Premiere Pro (22.1), so we dug up some published scores from PugetBench's database of user generated scores. Since we have no idea what conditions they were run in, we don't have the same faith in them as the scores from, say, Macworld or other reviewers. Still we did see a score in the database of 693 for a Ryzen 9 5900HX laptop with a GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, and a score of 892 from an Core i9-11980HK laptop with a GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU. The Core i9-12900HK coughed up a solid 1,037, which would make you think it's case closed. The problem for the 12th-gen Core i9 is the reported score in PugetBench's database for an M1 Max MacBook Pro: 1,324. Like the Ryzen 9 and 11th gen Core i9, we don't know the conditions run for that MacBook Pro, but it's impressive nonetheless.
At the same time, we've seen very large performance swings in PugetBench's Premiere Pro benchmark based on the QuickSync capability in Intel's integrated graphics cores. It's entirely possible we'll see the Core i9-12900HK's PugetBench score move up with final drivers. And it's also possible it won't move at all either. We'll have to wait and see.
And that, ultimately, is the weakness of any performance preview. While it's been fun to see Intel's 12th-gen Core i9-12900HK strut its stuff and outpace its Ryzen 9, 11th-gen Core i9, and M1 Max rivals in many tasks, you need to wait until we have final numbers from reviewers of final products before making any buying decisions. Hopefully you won't have to wait long.
The best cheap gaming laptops
If you're in the market for a gaming laptop but aren't in a position to shell out a ton of cash, believe it or not, there are some pretty decent budget options out there. Whether you're a hardcore FPS player or a lover of story-driven games, these high-powered machines should get the job done.
Although every laptop on this list has been personally vetted by the PCWorld team, there's one that really stands out from the pack: The Acer Swift X nabbed our top spot because of its impressive battery life, attractive color scheme, and discrete graphics card. Read on to learn more.
[Best laptop deals 2022: Top picks from budget to extreme]
1. Acer Swift X (SFX14-41G-R1S6)
Between the surprising graphics performance and compact form factor, the Acer Swift X is small but fierce. This laptop comes equipped with a discrete RTX 3050 Ti GPU, which adds a decent boost in gaming capability. According to our review, the Swift X maintained a steady 52 frames-per-second while running Metro Exodus on the normal preset. 60 fps is considered acceptable, so this result is pretty good, especially for an ultraportable laptop. If you're a student who likes to game in between classes, the Swift X is a solid option.
2. HP Envy 14 14t-eb000 (2021)
The HP Envy 14 is a good choice for modest gaming or content creation. The configuration we tested features an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor and an Iris Xe/Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q graphics card. However, the most surprising thing about this laptop is its battery life. Gaming laptops generally aren't known for having good battery life, so the Envy 14 really breaks the mold here. In our tests, it ran about 15 hours on a single charge. The Envy 14 doesn't produce much fan noise, either. In our review, we found that it ran “extremely quiet during both CPU- and graphics-intensive loads.”
3. HP Victus 16 (16-d0097nr)
When it comes to the HP Victus 16, you're getting a lot of bang for your buck. The 16-inch 1080p display has a high refresh rate of 144Hz, the keyboard is surprisingly comfortable, and there are a wide range of configuration options. Although the laptop's GeForce RTX 3050Ti GPU falls on the lower end of the spectrum, it still delivers solid 1080p gaming performance. Plus, the subtle design makes it a suitable choice for either work or play.
We tested the top-tier configuration, which is still relatively affordable at $1,250. However, as we mention in our review, these models can go as low as $730. The cheaper models use the older GTX 1650 GPUs, which lack DLSS and Ray Tracing support. With that being said, these laptops should still provide decent gaming performance with lower graphics settings.
4. Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advanced Edition is an all-AMD laptop that delivers fast CPU and GPU performance at a reasonable price point. It's packing an AMD Ryzen 5900HX processor, an AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU (with 12GB of GDDR6), 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. According to our review, the GPU “doesn't outpace higher-wattage RTX 3080 laptop GPUs, but it's a worthy competitor for conventional gaming tasks.” Unsurprisingly, the Strix G15 is one chunky machine, measuring 28mm at its thickest part. Although the additional thickness allows more space for cooling components, it's not very portable. That said, so long as you don't plan on taking this laptop everywhere with you, it's a powerful gaming rig that's well worth the money.
We understand that the $1,650 price tag isn't “cheap” in the traditional sense, but this all-AMD laptop costs significantly less than comparable laptops in power. If you look on Best Buy or Nvidia's website for 3080 machines, they cost upwards of $2,200 to $3,000.
What you should look for in a budget gaming laptop
When it comes to picking the right gaming laptop, it really depends on what you want to do with it. Do you plan on playing lightweight indie titles like Stardew Valley (no shade, I love this game) or something more visually demanding like Metro Exodus? Are you going to use the machine for work as well as play? It's possible to get reliable performance out of a gaming laptop that costs under a grand, but you'll need to take a hard look at the individual components. You don't need a powerful GPU for something like Fortnite. The guts, my friends. That's what matters.
- GPU: The thing about the GPU is that it can't be swapped out and upgraded later, so you need to be real choosy about which one you pick, as this component will determine how well your machine runs games. Luckily, you don't need the best of the best to get reliable gaming performance. The GTX 1650 is an entry-level GPU that's affordable and good enough for 1080p gaming with mid-to-high graphics settings. That said, expect lower frame rates on newer titles. If you're looking for a bit more power, we'd recommend opting for a GTX 1660 Ti or higher, or a more current RTX 30-series GPU.
- CPU: Like the GPU, the processor can't be upgraded either, so you'll want to be selective. For Intel, we'd recommend an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7. For AMD, you'll want to spring for a Ryzen 4000 or 5000. A processor with at least four cores is good, but six cores or more is better.
- RAM: You'll want at least 8GB of RAM. If you can afford 16GB of RAM, go for it. Memory is normally upgradable, so you can always swap it out and add more later on.
- Storage: Storage impacts how many games and applications you can install on your laptop. Like RAM, storage is upgradable and can be swapped out later. However, you should aim for at least 512GB of SSD storage plus a hard drive, as AAA titles tend to eat up a lot of space. SSDs load games faster, as data is stored on chips rather than spinning disks.
- Display: 1080p is what you can expect at this price range. Budget gaming laptops don't always have the best displays, as that's where manufacturers tend to cut corners to keep the cost low. If you've got a dim display, you can always pick up an external monitor to plug into it.
- Battery life: Generally speaking, gaming laptops are known for having poor battery life. That's because they use a ton of power. They also tend to be heavier than other laptops because they need more space for heatsinks and other cooling components. Depending on the use, most will last anywhere from four to six hours on a single charge. That said, there are a few exceptions. The HP Envy 14 (featured above), for example, hit the 15 hour mark during our battery test.
Nvidia’s 12GB GeForce RTX 3080 packs a bigger GPU and a much bigger price tag
Nvidia only just revealed the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3090 Ti during its CES 2022 keynote last week, but that wasn't all the company had up its sleeve. On Tuesday morning, Nvidia quietly and surprisingly launched a new 12GB version of GeForce RTX 3080 that fixes our biggest (albeit minor) gripe with an otherwise stellar graphics card.
The 10GB of VRAM on the original RTX 3080 felt somewhat lacking right out of the gate, as games like Doom already chew up immense amounts of memory with every graphics knob cranked at 4K resolution. It probably wouldn't be something you'd have to worry about in most games soon, but the new version's 12GB of GDDR6X completely alleviates any potential concerns. Nvidia also expanded the memory bus width in this model from 320-bit to 384-bit, which helps boost overall memory bandwidth to 912GB/s, up from 760GB/s in the original.
Nvidia also tweaked the GPU configuration of the new 12GB RTX 3080, bumping the CUDA graphics core count from 8704 in the original to 8960 now. That, combined with the upgraded memory, should make the 12GB RTX 3080 just a wee bit faster than the original, though we would've preferred that Nvidia gave this card a slightly different name (like RTX 3080 Super) given the small-but-key GPU tweaks.
Don't bother trying to hunt down a Founders Edition version of this graphics card. Nvidia told PCWorld to contact board vendors (like EVGA, Asus, MSI, et cetera) for more product information—including pricing. Yes, Nvidia didn't even slap an official MSRP on this bad boy. Gulp. The original 10GB version ostensibly retailed for $700 but is currently impossible to find in traditional stores, and is going for $1,500 to $2000-plus on Ebay depending on the model. Thanks to the ongoing GPU shortage, don't expect this upgrade to come cheap.
Update: Yep, these aren't cheap. EVGA's standard 10GB RTX 3080 XC Ultra Gaming model costs $840 on the company's website. The 12GB RTX 3080 XC Ultra Gaming costs $1,250—a $410 markup, and even more than the non-Ultra version of the step-up RTX 3080 Ti XC Gaming, which costs $1210. Well, if any of them were in stock, that is. Considering that mining desirability is largely driven by memory bandwidth, that isn't really surprising, even if it's a bit disheartening.
Still, more GPUs is better than fewer GPUs. You might not have noticed the 12GB RTX 3080's launch if you weren't paying close attention—Nvidia didn't release any announcements or blog posts, it only quietly updated the RTX 3080 family's spec page and slipped mention of the GPU into its new driver release notes—but it's here. We'll try to get our hands on one for testing.
Surprise! Nvidia’s 12GB GeForce RTX 3080 packs more memory and a bigger GPU
Nvidia only just revealed the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3090 Ti during its CES 2022 keynote last week, but that wasn't all the company had up its sleeve. On Tuesday morning, Nvidia quietly and surprisingly launched a new 12GB version of GeForce RTX 3080 that fixes our biggest (albeit minor) gripe with an otherwise stellar graphics card.
The 10GB of VRAM on the original RTX 3080 felt somewhat lacking right out of the gate, as games like Doom already chew up immense amounts of memory with every graphics knob cranked at 4K resolution. It probably wouldn't be something you'd have to worry about in most games soon, but the new version's 12GB of GDDR6X completely alleviates any potential concerns. Nvidia also expanded the memory bus width in this model from 320-bit to 384-bit, which helps boost overall memory bandwidth to 912GB/s, up from 760GB/s in the original.
Nvidia also tweaked the GPU configuration of the new 12GB RTX 3080, bumping the CUDA graphics core count from 8704 in the original to 8960 now. That, combined with the upgraded memory, should make the 12GB RTX 3080 just a wee bit faster than the original, though we would've preferred that Nvidia gave this card a slightly different name (like RTX 3080 Super) given the small-but-key GPU tweaks.
Don't bother trying to hunt down a Founders Edition version of this graphics card. Nvidia told PCWorld to contact board vendors (like EVGA, Asus, MSI, et cetera) for more product information—including pricing. Yes, Nvidia didn't even slap an official MSRP on this bad boy. Gulp. The original 10GB version ostensibly retailed for $700 but is currently impossible to find in traditional stores, and is going for $1,500 to $2000-plus on Ebay depending on the model. Thanks to the ongoing GPU shortage, don't expect this upgrade to come cheap.
Still, more GPUs is better than fewer GPUs. You might not have noticed the 12GB RTX 3080's launch if you weren't paying close attention—Nvidia didn't release any announcements or blog posts, it only quietly updated the RTX 3080 family's spec page and slipped mention of the GPU into its new driver release notes—but it's here. We'll try to get our hands on one for testing.
Best laptop deals: Top picks from budget to extreme
Whether you're buying a new laptop for school or trying to find a high-end gaming laptop, it's possible to find good laptop deals no matter the season. We're scouring the web daily to find the laptop deals you don't want to miss.
Mind you, not all advertised laptop deals are actually deals, so we've only included the ones we consider actual bargains—and we've explained why. We'll add new laptop deals as we see them daily and remove any expired sales. Right now, we're seeing strong discounts on gaming laptops, Microsoft Surface devices, and more. If you're looking for Chromebooks we've got those deals in here too!
We've provided a handy list of laptop-specific shopping tips at the end of this post, and immediately below are the deals themselves.
The best laptop deals in 2022
Microsoft Surface Pro 7+
From: Walmart
Was: $999.99
Now: $599 ($400.99 off)
If you're looking for a well designed Windows tablet, there's no beating Microsoft's Surface line and this Walmart's sale offers an excellent bargain. This version of the Surface Pro 7+ comes with a Core i3 processor, 128GB of onboard storage, 8GB of RAM, and a black Type Cover. We reviewed the Surface Pro 7+ nearly a year ago, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars and an Editors' Choice Award. We called it “the most potent upgrade Microsoft's Surface Pro line has offered in years.”
See the Surface Pro 7+ at Walmart
Lenovo Legion 5
From: Walmart
Was: $909.99
Now: $649 ($360.99 off the list price)
If you're looking for a solid 1080p gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion 5 is a great option. It comes equipped with a GeForce GTX 1650, which was the most popular GPU during the 2021 holiday season. While it's not the most exciting graphics processor, the 1650 is still a good performer at 1080p with medium settings. The rest of the laptop features a 17.3-inch 1080p display, a Ryzen 5 5600H CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of onboard NVMe storage. It's a respectable performer at a good price, that's for sure.
See the Lenovo Legion 5 at Walmart
Inspiron 15 3000
From: Dell.com
Was: $479.99
Now: $431.99 ($48 off)
The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 is a great laptop for getting day-to-day work done. It has a Core i5-1035G1 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of NVMe storage, Wi-Fi 6, and a 15.6-inch 1080p display. It's also light enough to tote around with ease, as it weighs just 3.82 pounds. This deal is only available until Monday, January 10th at 7AM central time. Make sure you enter the coupon code SAVE10 at checkout.
See the Inspiron 15 3000 at Dell.com
HP 17-by4061nr
From: Walmart
Was: $679
Now: $499.00 ($180 off)
This HP laptop has a lot going for it. The CPU is an Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-1135G7 with four cores, eight threads and a boost to 4.2GHz. The processor is packing Iris Xe graphics, which will provide surprising performance for an integrated GPU. It also has 8GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a 1080p display. If need a new laptop to kick off 2022, then this is a nice choice.
See the HP 17-by4061nr at Walmart
Asus L510
From: Walmart
Was: $279
Now: $219 ($60 off)
This deal puts us in an odd position. We're not huge fans of laptops with just 128GB of onboard storage (especially this one's onboard eMMC storage) and generally don't recommend Windows PCs running Celeron processors. For a price around $200, however, we're willing to overlook these shortcomings but with some big caveats.
First, you'll get exactly what you pay for with this clamshell, but that just might be a good thing given the price. It's running Windows 10 Home in S Mode and we would not recommend upgrading this laptop to regular Windows 10. Instead, use this laptop like a Chromebook, so focus on using it for web apps like Google Docs or Office Online. Then, if you absolutely need a desktop program download, run whatever you need from the selection in the Windows Store. We wouldn't try editing a photo on this since it has just 4GB of RAM and deathly slow flash storage. Still, the Intel Celeron N4020 will get the job done for basic uses and a 15.6-inch 1080p display offers a bigger display than what you'd get from a Chromebook around the same price.
Lenovo Yoga 6
Lenovo
From: Best Buy
Was: $949.99
Now: $849.99 ($100 off)
The Lenovo Yoga 6 has an eight-core, sixteen thread Ryzen 7 5700U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The screen is 13.3 inches with 1080p resolution and is touch based. As with other Yoga laptops, it can sit around as a regular clamshell or bend over backwards to go into tent mode. It's also rocking Wi-Fi 6 and it's fairly lightweight at just under three pounds.
See the Lenovo Yoga 6 at Best Buy
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Gaming
Lenovo
From: Walmart
Was: $849.99
Now: $749 ($100.99 off)
Lenovo probably isn't the first name you think of when it comes to gaming machines, but they do make nice laptops, and this one has some very nice specs. The IdeaPad 3 Gaming has a 15.6-inch display with 1080p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. The CPU is a Zen 3-based AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, which has 6 cores and 12 threads, and a max boost clock to 4.2GHz. It also has 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, with graphics are handled by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050–a 1080p laptop GPU that brings DLSS and real-time ray tracing to laptops in an affordable package. This is a solid laptop, a great price for a 1080p gaming machine.
See the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Gaming at Walmart
HP Laptop 15-ef2126wm
HP
From: Walmart
Was: $549
Now: $429 ($120 off)
This HP laptop is very capable given the specs (though we'd hesitate to call it a workhorse). The processor is a Zen 2 Ryzen 5 5500U with six cores, twelve threads and a boost to 4GHz. It has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 8GB or RAM, and a 256GB SSD. HP says you can expect around 9.5 hours of battery life with mixed usage. This would be an excellent laptop for students, home use, or even for taking on the road for business trips.
See the HP laptop 15-ef2126wm at Walmart
Vostro 5301
Dell
From: Dell.com
Was: $1,712.87
Now: $729 ($983.87 off)
The Dell Vostro 5301 is an excellent business laptop. However, you might be able to sneak in a little lightweight gaming on the side during off hours thanks to the onboard GeForce MX350 GPU. This laptop is packing an Intel “Tiger Lake” quad-core, eight thread Core i7-1165G7 with Iris Xe onboard. You're getting 8GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage as well. For ports, it has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 standard ports, and HDMI 1.4b. The display is 13.3 inches at 1080p resolution with a max brightness of 300 nits.
See the Dell Vostro 5301 at Dell.com
Asus VivoBook 15 F513
Asus
From: Office Depot
Was: $749.99
Now: $599.99 ($150 off)
This VivoBook is rocking 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. That's not a ton of storage, but if you have most of your files in the cloud it's manageable. The display is 15.6 inches with 1080p resolution. For ports, it has three USB ports, one HDMI out, and Wi-Fi 6. Normally, we wouldn't recommend this as an everyday laptop. However, as a travel laptop, it's light and easy to carry while still offering good performance.
See the Asus VivoBook 15 F514 at Office Depot
HP Spectre x360 14
HP
From: HP
Was: $1,399.99
Now: $1099.99 ($300 off)
If you're looking for the best thin and light laptop money can buy, you've come to the right place.
This 14-inch HP Spectre convertible strikes a great balance between performance (from Intel's Tiger Lake CPUs) and design, even if it's a little on the heavy side at 3 pounds. Its 1920×1280 IPS display is another highlight, whether you're making use of the 360-degree hinge and touchscreen or not. The deal highlighted here is on the model we reviewed, but all configurations are currently discounted.
See the HP Spectre x360 14 at HP.com
Asus ROG Flow X13
Asus
From: Best Buy
Was: $1,499.99
Now: $1,249.99 ($250 off)
Asus ROG Flow X13 is a nice gaming laptop with good specs and it's $100 cheaper right now than the price we saw during the holidays. It's not a huge laptop, but it does have HDMI out if you want to game on a larger screen. The display, while on the smaller side, is pretty nice with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1920-by-1200 with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, which will offer high to ultra graphics capabilities, and 16GB of RAM for snappy responsiveness. It also has 512GB of NVMe SSD onboard storage, Windows 11 Home, and Wi-Fi 6 for wireless capability.
See the Asus Rog Flow X13 at Best Buy
HP Victus 16t-d000
HP
From: HP.com
Was: $999.99
Now: $749.99 ($250 off)
HP is offering a very nice gaming laptop at an excellent price.
The HP Victus 16t-d000 features a 16.1-inch 1080p display with a boost to 144Hz and a maximum brightness of 250 nits. Driving that screen is a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, which will provide some nice graphics capabilities with high graphics settings, depending on the game. This RTX GPU also supports DLSS and real-time ray tracing. In addition, It has 8GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe M.2 SSD, and a six-core, twelve thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-11400H CPU.
See the HP Victus 16t-d000 at HP.com
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i
Lenovo
From: Walmart
Was: $699
New: $449 ($250 off)
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is a nice everyday use laptop. It has 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which is more than enough for web browsing and whatnot. This laptop is running Windows 11 Home and the processor is a quad-core, eight thread Intel “Comet Lake” Core i5-10210U. That's a generation behind, but it's still a capable processor. The screen is also 14-inches with a 1080p resolution.
See the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i at Walmart
Acer Chromebook 315
Acer
From: Walmart
Was: $289
Now: $229.99 ($59.01 off)
If you'd like something a little beefier than the Lenovo Chromebook at Best Buy, take a look at this deal at Walmart. The Acer 315 is a 15.6-inch laptop with a 1080p touch display. Again, this is not a convertible laptop so no bending back the keyboard for a tablet-like experience. The processor is the Intel Celeron N4020, which is pretty standard for Chromebooks. It has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0.
See the Acer Chromebook 315 at Walmart
Gigabyte G5 MD
From: Newegg
Was: $1,199.00
Now: $849 ($350 off after $100 rebate)
Gaming laptops are tough to find at a discount right now, and this one is a decidedly mixed bag of pros and cons. Inside is a Core i5-11400H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD behind a 144Hz 1080p screen. The RTX 3050 Ti is usually considered to be a bum deal compared to the RTX 3060…if you can find one? And, whoa—there's a $100 rebate card you need to fill out? If you're willing to jump through these hoops, though, the price and savings aren't bad at all. This offer ends just before midnight Pacific time on Tuesday, November 30.
See the Gigabyte G5 MD at Newegg
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go (Platinum)
Microsoft
From: Microsoft Store
Was: $699.99
Now: $549.99 ($150 off)
We gave the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft's 12.4-inch budget laptop, 3.5 stars out of 5 in our Surface Laptop Go review. We felt it was a little overpriced. Dropping the price by $150 on its midrange version (Core i5/8GB RAM/128GB SSD) certainly helps! Just be aware that the Laptop Go's display is sub-1080p quality—but, in our experience, it didn't really matter.
See the Surface Laptop Go on Microsoft.com
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet
Lenovo
From: Walmart.com
Was: $299.99
Now: $192.95 ($107.04 off)
If you like the concept of a Chrome OS tablet but think that the Chromebook Plus V2 price is too high, consider the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, which we looked at last year. This tablet ships with 4GB of memory and 64GB of integrated storage.
Support runs through June 2029.
Buy the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook at Walmart
Laptop deal buying tips
If you've shopped online before for laptop deals you're probably aware that there's a vast range of laptop configurations available.
A good place to start is with the processor. Buy laptops with Intel 10-series Core chips or higher, such as the Core i5-10510U, or the Core i7-11800H (for even more details see our Intel 10th-gen mobile CPU buying guide); or go with an AMD Ryzen processor (but not an AMD Athlon or A-series chip). Avoid laptops with Pentium or Celeron processors unless it's a Chromebook (running Chrome OS). You're going to need to pay attention with gaming laptops, too, as some GPUs, like the RTX 3050 Ti, don't offer much boost over their RTX 2xxx-series cousins, and Nvidia has dropped the Max-Q designation on certain low-power options. Our laptop CPU and GPU cheat sheet can help you shop smart.
Display resolution is a gotcha. If you see a laptop labeled as “HD” resolution that means 1366-by-768 and often isn't worth your time for a laptop under 13 inches unless the deal is absolutely standout. What you want is “Full HD” or “FHD,” which means 1080p.
Don't buy laptops with under 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage—though on a Chromebook, this configuration is acceptable. We have more explanation in our laptops versus Chromebooks buying guide, as well as in our primer on how to buy a budget laptop without getting screwed. Also watch out for eMMC storage, which is something we don't recommend for a Windows laptop but works fine for a Chromebook.
Reviews can be helpful. Even if you can't find a review of a specific configuration, try related models. They'll often give you a good idea of the build quality and performance. Also buy from brands you trust. Amazon's daily laptop deals right now are full of brands we've never tested or talked to (Broage, Teclast, DaySky, Jumper) and it's just a good idea to be wary.
Most older laptops will run Windows 10, and that's fine—there's no rush to upgrade. Windows 10 in S Mode, though annoying, can be switched out of easily if you find it on a budget laptop. If you want to buy a Windows 10 PC with the intent of upgrading it to Windows 11, we recommend you start here with a list of older laptops that are Windows 11-eligible.
Updated on January 7 with additional deals, and to remove expired deals.
CES 2022: The Biggest Gaming News
CES 2022 has been taking place this week, and during the Consumer Electronics Show, we saw several companies unveil or reveal more details on plenty of gaming technology. This included entirely new devices, new chips to power PC games, and a very literal desktop PC. The show was a lot different than in the past because of the pandemic, but there were still plenty of exciting announcement for eager players. These were the biggest gaming stories at CES 2022.
PlayStation VR2
Sony had previously shared a few details regarding its PlayStation VR successor, including its plans for one-cable connections and an advanced controller, but it offered much more information during CES 2022. Officially named PlayStation VR2--yes, no space--and coming bundled with the PlayStation VR2 Sense controller, the PS5's VR platform includes 4K HDR resolution, an OLED display, inside-out head tracking, and eye-tracking technology. This means the days of needing a camera and glowing Move controllers to detect your motion are behind us, and a headset motor will provide more haptic feedback to increase immersion.
Razer's Project Sophia
When you hear "desktop PC," you're probably imagining a PC tower that goes next to your desk, connected to a monitor. Razer's Project Sophia is a literal desktop PC, in that it's a desk with a PC built directly into it--including a built-in display. The device shown off at CES featured magnetic modules for customization, THX spatial surround sound, a wireless charger, and even a cup warmer so you can have hot coffee during your raid sessions. Because of the module system, it's a versatile device that you can change for when you're working or gaming, and the massive OLED display is available in either 65-inch or 77-inch versions. It even features a chat viewer and stream production controller for creators broadcasting their gameplay.
LG C2
LG has been the biggest name in (relatively) affordable OLED TVs for a while, and its offering looks to be getting even better with the C2. The lineup will include the first-ever 42-inch OLED TV so those with smaller rooms can still enjoy the benefits of the display technology, as well as sizes ranging all the way up to 83 inches. With the 2022 lineup, you can use a special Game Optimizer menu to switch between settings, including FreeSync, variable refresh rate, and a Dark Room mode to play for when your gaming sessions run a little bit long. There is also a preset sports mode so you can switch to watching live games and then toggle it back to your console or PC.
Arcade1Up and iiRcade
The home arcade scene is getting a little bit more premium with new offerings from both Arcade1Up and iiRcade. Arcade1Up announced the first cabinet in its more-expensive Pro Series, Killer Instinct, which sports a taller form factor, bigger screen, better speakers, Suzo Happ sticks and buttons, Wi-Fi multiplayer, and no more separate riser. On the iiRcade side, the company revealed its first Premium model, Dead Cells, which comes with a more arcade-accurate form factor and discrete speakers, along with a lit marquee and gorgeous cabinet artwork. Both companies are clearly attracting the most dedicated players with these designs, many of whom have taken to turning entire rooms into arcades over the last few years.
Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti
Nvidia continues, at least on paper, to pull away from AMD with its high-end GPUs, and that continued at CES 2022. The company revealed the RTX 3090 Ti, a unit sporting 40 TFLOPs of performance, which is a full four more than the RTX 3090. It also has 24 GB of GDDR6X RAM. It'll likely have a price to back up the power, given the current $1,500 cost for the older GPU, but Nvidia made the announcement as its competitor focused primarily on low-cost and mobile processors during its own showcase.
Asus ROG Flow Z13
Sure, many hardcore PC players want a traditional tower PC or a laptop to play their favorite games, but others are looking for something a bit more versatile and convenient. That's who the Asus ROG Flow Z13 looks to serve, supporting many of the same functions as a two-in-one like the Microsoft Surface but supporting up to an Intel Core i9-12900H CPU and an RTX 3050 Ti GPU. It also supports the XG Mobile eGPU line, so you can dock the system, connect to an external monitor, and get even better performance out of it when you're back home.
Alienware Concept Nyx
There are currently a few different companies offering cloud gaming services, letting you move from your game from a TV to a phone in another room if your family wants to watch something. The Alienware Concept Nyx is different, however, using a physical home server in order to make a transition like this seamless so you don't lose any progress when moving from one display to another. By using "smart switching" of devices, Alienware plans to have you lose literally no progress when doing this, rather than having to go back to the last checkpoint like you may with other more widespread cloud solutions. For those with several players in the house, especially where there are data caps, it could be the perfect solution.