Month: January 2022

Intel’s desktop CPU lineup gets a comprehensive overhaul with new 12th-gen chips

Alder Lake Core i5, Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron CPUs round out the lineup.

Intel is giving its desktop processors their first top-to-bottom overhaul in years.

Enlarge / Intel is giving its desktop processors their first top-to-bottom overhaul in years. (credit: Intel)

Intel released its first 12th-generation Core desktop processors a little over two months ago, and we were pretty impressed with the results; the chips still consume a lot of power, but they generally come with the performance to back it up. Today, Intel is announcing the rest of the lineup, including non-overclockable versions of its Core i9, i7, and i5 processors; new Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron chips that bring the Alder Lake architecture to lower-end PCs; and low-power versions of the processors suitable for mini PCs and other systems where space and cooling capacity are at a premium.

New processors, from Core i9 to Celeron

Intel is announcing a total of 22 new CPUs today, and they replace most of the company's currently available 11th- and 10th-generation desktop CPUs. Like the overclockable K- and KF-series processors that are already available, these chips will require a new motherboard with an LGA 1700 socket and can support either DDR4 or DDR5, depending on the motherboard you buy (more on those in a bit).

All of these processors are built on the "Intel 7" process, formerly known as "10nm Enhanced Super Fin." Intel justifies the name change by saying that the Intel 7 transistor density is similar to 7 nm-branded manufacturing processes from competitors like TSMC and Samsung. The 12th-generation Core lineup is the first time in about six and a half years that Intel has moved beyond some version of its 14 nm process for desktop processors.

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Alienware x14 is a 4 pound gaming laptop with a 144 Hz display and up to NVIDIA RTX 3060

When Dell launched the Alienware X line of ultrathin gaming laptops last year the company focused more on slim profiles than light weights – the smallest available at the time was a 5 pound Alienware x15 with a 15.6 inch display. But the new Alienware x14 is a smaller, lighter laptop that doesn’t skimp on horsepower. […]

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When Dell launched the Alienware X line of ultrathin gaming laptops last year the company focused more on slim profiles than light weights – the smallest available at the time was a 5 pound Alienware x15 with a 15.6 inch display.

But the new Alienware x14 is a smaller, lighter laptop that doesn’t skimp on horsepower. It’s a gaming notebook with a 14 inch full HD display featuring a 144 Hz refresh rate and a magnesium alloy chassis that measures 12.66″ x 10.35″ x  0.57″ and which about 4 pounds.

Expected to ship this winter for $1799 and up, the laptop is powered by a 12th-gen Intel Core processor and NVIDIA RTX 30 series graphics with up to 85 watts of GPU power.

Other features include an 80 Wh battery, a backlit keyboard with programmable RGB lighting effects and 1.5mm of key travel, and a 720p webcam with dual array microphones and support for Windows Hello face recognition.

The laptop features Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision certification, and the 1920 x 1080 pixel display supports NVIDIA G-Sync technology, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and up to 400 nits brightness.

Ports include:

  • 2 x Thunderbolt 4
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
  • 1 x  USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
  • 1 x HDMI 2.1
  • 1 x 3.5mm headset
  • 1 x microSD card reader

Dell will offer Intel Core i7-12700H and Core i9-12900H processor options. Both are 14-core, 20-thread chips, but the former can hit turbo boost speeds up to 4.7 GHz, while the latter tops out at 5 GHz.

GPU options include:

  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6, 50W – 65W)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (4GB GDDR6, 50W – 65W)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB GDDR6, 60W – 85W)

The laptop supports up to 16GB of LPDDR5-4800 or 32GB of dual-channel LPDDR5-5200 memory, but the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so make sure to configure the laptop with as much as you think you’ll need at purchase.

Storage options range from 256GB to 2TB of PCIe NVMe storage on a removable M.2 card. The laptop will be available with a choice of Intel AX211 or Killer AX1690i wireless cards and Windows 11 Home or Pro software.

Meanwhile if you’re looking for a bit more horsepower and don’t mind a bigger, heavier laptop, Dell is also updating its Alienware x15 and Alienware x17 laptops with new models weighing in at 5.2 pounds and 6.5 pounds, respectively, but with support for additional features including Ethernet ports, dual storage devices, higher-resolution displays, and up to a Core i9-12900HK processor, in the case of the 17.3 inch model.

Alienware x14, x15, and x17

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Dell’s XPS 13 Plus brings a MacBook Touch Bar-like experience

And a likely larger price tag.

Dell XPS 13 Plus in its platinum color.

Enlarge / Dell XPS 13 Plus in its platinum color. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Dell today unveiled the latest in its long line of XPS laptops. Previous updates have ranged from minor CPU refreshes to moderate redesigns with larger screen-to-body ratios, smaller dimensions, and critical changes, like the removal of the up-the-nose webcam. But the latest XPS 13 is one of the most unusual-looking in years. And with a design built to host a more power-hungry CPU, Dell is calling it the XPS 13 Plus.

Announced to coincide with CES 2022 this week, the XPS 13 Plus (9320) will be available globally this spring with Windows 11 or Ubuntu 20.04 (XPS 13 Plus Developer Edition). Dell hasn't settled on a starting price yet but told the press it's "targeting" $1,199.99 in the US. That's a notable bump from the current non-Plus XPS, which starts at $850 (that configuration was out of stock on Dell's website as of writing. The next cheapest available SKU starts at $950). Dell said it will confirm the XPS 13 Plus' price closer to the shipping date.

One look at the XPS 13 Plus and you can tell that it offers a different experience than the prior XPS 13. The machine's keyboard stretches across the entire deck with no space between individual keys. The touchpad isn't outlined with a border or completed with left- and right-click keys. Instead, the entire deck is the touchpad, which responds with haptic feedback. And rather than topping the keyboard with a row of function keys, the XPS 13 Plus has an Apple Touch Bar-like capacitive touch strip that you can toggle to show function-row inputs or media functions.

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Dell XPS 13 Plus is a compact laptop with up to a 28-watt Intel Alder Lake processor

Dell’s  XPS line of laptops have earned a reputation for delivering solid performance in a sturdy yet slim and light package. But this year the company is bringing extra horsepower to the equation. While previous-gen Dell XPS 13 laptops have been powered by 15-watt Intel processors, the new Dell XPS 13 Plus is a compact notebook with […]

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Dell’s  XPS line of laptops have earned a reputation for delivering solid performance in a sturdy yet slim and light package. But this year the company is bringing extra horsepower to the equation.

While previous-gen Dell XPS 13 laptops have been powered by 15-watt Intel processors, the new Dell XPS 13 Plus is a compact notebook with a 28-watt, 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake-P processor. First announced in January, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is now available for purchase.

Prices start at $1299 for a model with Windows 11 or $1249 for the Dell XPS 13 Plus Developer Edition, which ships with Ubuntu Linux.

Despite the higher-power processor, the new XPS 13 Plus is still a thin and light notebook, measuring just 0.6 inches thick and weighing as little as 2.73 pounds. Dell says you can thank an improved cooling system that includes larger fans for 55% more airflow for the processor upgrade, but the company says the new fans don’t generate any more noise than previous-gen models.

While the processor upgrade is a welcome change, some of Dell’s design decisions for the XPS 13 Plus are likely to be a little more controversial.

The function keys are now capacitive touch buttons above the keyboard rather than physical keys. The upshot is that Dell says only the keys you need will be illuminated at any given time. So if you’re using media keys, those functions will be lit up. If you’re using the Fn keys, those will be illuminated.

Dell has also moved to a “seamless glass haptic trackpad,” with no visible lines separating the touchpad from the palm rest. That gives the laptop a much more interesting, uniform look… but I can’t help but wonder how often users are going to find themselves accidentally dragging their fingers past the edge or missing the touchpad altogether.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus also features an edge-to-edge backlit keyboard with a “zero-lattice” design, meaning that there’s little separating one key from the next which, again, looks pretty, but I have to wonder how functional it will be.

The laptop has a 13.4 inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and Dell will offer display options including:

  • 3840 x 2400 pixel OLED 400-nit touchscreen
  • 3840 x 2400 pixel LCD 500-nit touchscreen
  • 1920 x 1200 pixel LCD 500-nit touchscreen
  • 1920 x 1200 pixel LCD 500-nit non-touch

Processor options range from an Intel Core i5-1240P 12-core chip to a Core i7-1280P 14-core processor. Those chips are part of Intel’s new Alder Lake-P series of processors, which are 28-watt chips that sit between the U-series (15-watts) and H-Series (45-watts).

Dell will offer the laptop with 8GB to 32GB of LPDDR5-5200 memory (soldered) and up to 2TB of solid state storage.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus has an aluminum body and glass palm rest, and the laptop measures 11.6″ x 7.8″ x 0.6″.

It has a 720p webcam with support for Windows Hello face recognition, a fingerprint sensor built into the power button, dual microphones, and a 55 Wh battery. There’s support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.

One thing the laptop is light on is ports: it has just two Thunderbolt 4 ports, but Dell does include a USB-C to USB-A adapter that you can use to connect legacy peripherals.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus will be available this spring with prices starting around $1200 for a model with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.

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470 bis 694 MHz: Ministerien streiten um DVB-T2 und Veranstalterfrequenzen

Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst in Baden-Württemberg stellt sich gegen das Innenministeriums des Landes, das den Frequenzbereich dem Militär geben will. (DVB-T, Technologie)

Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst in Baden-Württemberg stellt sich gegen das Innenministeriums des Landes, das den Frequenzbereich dem Militär geben will. (DVB-T, Technologie)

Nvidia expands the RTX 3000 series with new high- and low-end GPUs

Plus a new “dual format” monitor that switches between 1440p and faster 1080p.

Nvidia's "next BFGPU."

Enlarge / Nvidia's "next BFGPU."

Nvidia used its CES "special address" today to tease the company's top-of-the-line RTX 3090 Ti GPU alongside other GPUs and a completely new class of "dual format" gaming monitor aimed at esports pros.

The 3090 Ti, which Geforce Senior VP Jeff Fisher referred to as the company's "next BFGPU," will include a hefty 24GB of G6X memory, capable of up to 21Gbps of bandwidth (Nvidia called it the "fastest ever" in its GPUs). That will help the card push out an impressive 40 Shader-Teraflops, 78 RT-Teraflops, and 320 Tensor-Terfalops, Fisher said. Pricing and release date info weren't discussed, but more details will be available "later this month," he added.

The RTX 3050 promises big frame rate boosts over older budget-minded 50-series GPUs.

The RTX 3050 promises big frame rate boosts over older budget-minded 50-series GPUs. (credit: Nvidia / YouTube)

Even with ray-tracing enabled, the 3050 will be able to surpass 60 fps on recent games with DLSS on, Nvidia said.

Even with ray-tracing enabled, the 3050 will be able to surpass 60 fps on recent games with DLSS on, Nvidia said. (credit: Nvidia / YouTube)

Elsewhere in the RTX line, Nvidia announced the RTX 3050, a $249 GPU available starting January 27. Sold in the presentation as an upgrade to the aging GTX 1050 budget workhorse, the 3050 sports 2nd-generation RT cores and 3rd-generation tensor cores using Nvidia's Ampere architecture. That will let it run AAA games like Doom Eternal and Guardians of the Galaxy at 60 fps or higher with DLSS on, even with ray-tracing enabled, Fisher said. The 3050 will be capable of 9 Shader-Teraflops and 18 RT-Teraflops and come with 8GB of G6 memory.

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TXL NXTPAPER 10s is a 10 inch tablet with a “paper-like” display

The TCL NXTPAPER 10s is a tablet with a 10.1 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel display, a MediaTek MT8768E processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It’s the latest in a line of tablets from TCL to feature the company’s “paper-like” NXTPAPER display technology which are full color, anti-glare screens designed for high visibility, […]

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The TCL NXTPAPER 10s is a tablet with a 10.1 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel display, a MediaTek MT8768E processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.

It’s the latest in a line of tablets from TCL to feature the company’s “paper-like” NXTPAPER display technology which are full color, anti-glare screens designed for high visibility, low blue-light emission, and an emphasis on reducing eye strain. The NXTPAPER 10S should be available in Europe and China later this month for $249, but there’s no word on if or when you’ll be able to buy one in North America.

TCL is positioning the tablet as an option for the education space by, among other things, bundling it with a passive that can be used for drawing or taking notes on the tablet’s pressure sensitive screen. TCL says the T-Pen is “proprietary,” suggesting you won’t be able to use a Surface Pen or other stylus with the tablet.

There will also be an optional Folio Keyboard cover, a writing case, or a flip case.

The tablet measures 241 x 158.6 x 8.3mm (9.5″ x 6.2″ x 0.3″) and weighs 490 grams (1.1 pounds) and features stereo speakers, dual microphones, an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and a 5MP fixed-focus front-facing camera.

The NXTPAPER 10S tablet ships with Android 11 software and features a microSD card slot with support for up to 256GB of removable storage. It has an 8,000 mAh battery, a USB Type-C port, and support for 9V2A charging.

TCL will offer a WiFi-only model with support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 and a cellular model that supports 4G LTE.

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