Quiet and Beautiful

AVADirect wasn’t really a systems builder on our radar until late last year when we reviewed their Avant Mini Cube Gaming PC. After extensive testing, we found that the system was well configured, well built, and well priced, quickly propelling AVADirect to the top as one of our favorite custom PC builders.

Recently, AVADirect sent us another one of the systems in their lineup, the AVADirect X370 Quiet Gaming PC, which as its name implies is AVADirect’s quiet gaming PC offering based on AMD’s X370 Ryzen platform.

AVADirect Quiet Gaming PC Specs Desktop AVADirect X370 Quiet Gaming PC Case Phanteks Eclipse [...]

Earlier this week, AMD addressed some key questions regarding its upcoming Ryzen APUs.

To set most at ease, the APUS will be fully compatible with AM4 motherboards, with only a BIOS updated needed for newer CPU support. This lowers the cost of entry into the Ryzen platform, with tremendous upgrade options available later on.

Zen APUs are coming in Febuary which feature the Global Foundries 14nm process found in the current generation Ryzen CPUs. Both models will feature quad cores, but the Ryzen 5 2400G features SMT, a base clock of 3.6GHz/boost clock of 3.9GHz and 11 Vega CUs for $169. The Ryzen 3 2200G will lack SMT, be clocked at 3.5GHz/ boosts [...]

Dell’s XPS 13 ultrabook just received a significant performance upgrade and enhanced asthetics.

The new XPS 13 now uses Intel’s 8th gen Quad-core i5-8250 and i7-8550 CPUs. The CPUs have a baseline TDP of 15W, but can be configured for to up to 25W. Dell states that the new cooling solution in the new XPS 13 can handle up to 27W, so it’s likely that the CPUs had their TDPs increased accordingly. Despite the robust cooling, the weight of the is kept at  just 2.67 lbs.

The Dell XPS packs a display that guarantees a peak brightness of 400nits. It covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 72% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. Full HD and 4K [...]

Several weeks ago, Intel and rival AMD made headlines when the two companies announced that Intel would begin using AMD Vega graphics in some of its mobile CPUs. It appears that the first SKU is finally rolling off the production line with the model name Core i7-8809G.

The Core i7-8809G carries a 4 core, 8 thread CPU. When Intel teased this chip in November 2017, it did so under the moniker “Kaby Lake G”, which suggests that it’ll likely feature Kaby Lake architecture with some tweaks rather than the new Coffee Lake architecture that’s rolling out on some of the newer 8th Generation Core Processors.

The graphics die is the center of [...]

AMD’s former Radeon Technology Group Chief, Raja Koduri, has had an eventful week. After Hexus recently reported on an internal memo Koduri sent to his staff announcing his departure from AMD, Intel recently sent out a press release announcing that Koduri has joined Intel’s newly formed Core and Visual Computing Group.

Back in September, Koduri announced that he’d be going on a sabbatical for personal reasons. In an email, he explained to his staff that he was taking a temporary break to spend some time with his family. Given that Koduri had just overseen AMD’s launch their latest Vega GPU, it didn’t seem like a huge deal at the [...]

Aorus, Gigabyte’s gaming-centric laptop branch, has released the world’s thinnest gaming laptop that packs two Nvidia GTX 1070 GPUs in SLI.

The Aorus X9 is designed for gamers looking to play at QHD/UHD resolutions and is more than VR ready. Complimenting the dual GTX 1070s is an Intel Core i7-7820HK quad-core CPU. The CPU is unlocked, meaning users can overclock it on their own.

Two display options are available: a 17.3″ UHD 3840x2160p IPS display with 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, or a 17.3″ QHD 2560x1440p 120Hz WVA high-refresh rate display. All displays are factory calibrated for the best color accuracy.

To [...]

Microsoft released the update Surface Book 2 in a surprise announcement this morning, bringing some much needed specs upgrade to the almost archaic Surface Book.

The new Surface Book 2 is now equipped with Intel’s 7th/8th Gen dual-core and quad-core CPUs. Graphics have been boosted to either the integrated Intel UHD 620, or discrete Nvidia GTX 1050 and GTX 1060 for the higher end models. RAM and storage options remain unchanged with options up to 16GB of LPDDR3 and up to a 1TB  NVME PCIe SSD.

Both the 13″ and 15″ model carries the always-sexy PixelSense display with a pixel density of 267ppi for the 13″ model and 260ppi for the [...]

HP has released the world’s first 2-in-1 convertible mobile workstation. The HP ZBook X2 aims to bring high performance into a versatile form factor that’s also familiar to professionals already proficient to drawing tablets.

The ZBook X2’s design borrows much from today’s drawing tablets. The ZBook X2 has a column of function buttons on either side of the display, much like many high-end drawing tabs do. An adjustable kickstand at the rear lets the user’s hands rest in a comfortable position.

To provide the best experience for artists and designers, HP has opted for a 14-inch 4K IPS panel that covers 100% of the Adobe [...]

Razer refreshed its Blade Stealth laptop with Intel’s 8th Gen quad-core mobile processors, bringing more performance while retaining battery life.

The Razer Blade Stealth laptop now uses Intel’s Core i7-8550U quad-core mobile CPU. Despite being a quad-core part, the i7-8550U has the same TDP as the previous generation dual-core mobile CPUs. This enables it to be fitted into thinner devices all the while doubling the thread count. Users can expect vastly improved multi-threaded and multi-tasking performance with excellent battery life.

Other aspects of the hardware remain unchanged. The Razer Blade Stealth still features a 13.3″ [...]

MSI recently announced the Vortex G25, a small yet powerful gaming PC.

The MSI Vortex G25 is absolutely tiny. It’s slim build is almost reminiscent of a blade server. When stood up vertically, it takes up less space than a gaming console. It’s so compact, in fact, that it can be mounted on a VESA monitor mount. At just 5.51lbs, it won’t rip your monitor apart, either.

The Vortex G25 is outfitted with Intel’s 10th generation “Coffee Lake” CPUs. Users can choose from the Core i7-8700 or the Core i5-8400. Graphics options include either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or a GeForce GTX 1060. All [...]