Author: batteryforpc

On October 23rd, Huawei officially launched the HUAWEI VR Glass which – as the name suggests – is a pair of VR glasses. The product was announced with a price tag of 2999 Yuan, around $430 at the current exchange rates. Today, we learn that the headset is finally hitting the market on Thursday, December 19th; while also acquiring further details.

So, let’s start with a very important factor when talking about virtual reality glasses: the weight. Huawei‘s VR Glass come weighing just 166 grams, for a thickness of the lens system of about 26.6mm. According to the company, this is a huge leap over current VR headsets (in terms of lightness) and it’s also what got Huawei a World VR Industry Conference Innovation Gold Award in 2019.

The HUAWEI VR Glass uses an ultra-short focus optical system, a three-stage folding optical path and a 5-pixel high-precision calibration. The glasses can be adjusted for those who suffer of myopia in a range that goes from 0 to 700 degrees; meanwhile the adaptive pupillary distance goes from 55 to 71 mm. The headset also features a breathable shading mask, making it more comfortable to wear and to enjoy the content.

Other important specs include a screen resolution of 3200×160 for a PPI of up to 1058. We then have a 90-degree field of view and 70 / 90Hz variable refresh rate.

The headset also supports 3D sound effects, IMAX giant screen mode and VR mobile phone projection screen mode. Meanwhile on the content side, Huawei will provide 30,000 hours of VR video, over 100 Mobile VR games and thousands of computer VR games (6DoF games).

So, the Huawei VR Glass appears to be a solid device in a market (VR) that’s rapidly picking up. In the first quarter of 2019, global shipments of AR / VR headsets have indeed increased by 27.2% year-on-year. Will it continue to grow in 2020? Well, we’re going to find out very soon!

Dell’s XPS 13 is widely-regarded as the pinnacle of ultrabook excellence. This 13-inch notebook weighs just 2.7 pounds and lasts over 12 hours on a charge when you have its default, 1080p non-touch screen. It also has a slew of attractive features such as a nearly-bezel free display and a luxurious soft-touch deck (on the silver / gold models).

While the XPS 13 typically starts at less than $900 for a stripped-down model with a Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a paltry 128GB SSD, you usually have to pay a lot more than $1,200 to get it with a decent processor, RAM and storage. However, right now, B&H has a configuration of the XPS 13 with a Core i7-8565U “Whiskey Lake” CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for just $1,049, reduced from $1,649. This model is in the silver color and has the bright, 1080p screen which, in Laptop Mag’s tests, hit a brilliant 375 nits.

If 256GB of storage sounds like too little for you, you can get the same configuration in Rose Gold or Frost White, but with a 512GB SSD, for just $1,143 on Dell.com by using code 12AWXPS at checkout. If you prefer Dell to B&H or B&H is out of stock, you can get the 256GB model at Dell.com at the same URL and with the same coupon code for just $1,100.

Because these Dell XPS 13s have “Whiskey Lake” Core i7-8565U CPUs, they are not the quite as fast as the brand-new Dell XPS 13 with a Comet Lake, Core i7-10710U CPU that we recently reviewed. And they still have the webcam in their bottom bezels (a problem that was finally fixed on the brand new model).

However, this generation of the Dell XPS 13, model 9380, is still plenty fast and power-efficient. The Dell XPS 13 is also one of the thinnest laptops on the market, at just 0.6 inches thick.

If the Dell XPS 13 isn’t for you and you’re looking for a different kind of laptop sale, check out our list of best holiday tech deals.

As spotted by Shaun Fosmark, Australian overclocker jordan.hyde99 has set a new world record in wPrime 1024M with AMD’s Ryzen 9 3900X processor. What’s fascinating is the fact that the AMD processor was running a much slower clock speed than the previous record holder, the Intel Core i9-7920X.

The Ryzen 9 3900X and Core i9-7920X are both equipped with 12 cores and 24 threads, so both chips are on even ground in terms of core counts. The first is based on AMD’s Zen 2 microarchitecture and rocks a 3.8 GHz base clock and 4.6 GHz boost clock, while the latter utilizes Intel’s Skylake microarchitecture and clocks in with a 2.9 GHz and 4.4 GHz base and boost clock, respectively.

Overclocker jordan.hyde99 overclocked his Ryzen 9 3900X to 5,625 MHz on liquid nitrogen and finished the wPrime 1024M benchmark run in 35 seconds and 517 milliseconds to take the crown away from the Core i9-7920X.

In comparison, the Core i9-7920X previously held the record at 35 seconds 693 milliseconds while being overclocked to 5,955 MHz with the same type of exotic cooling.

Although the Ryzen 9 3900X only managed to beat the Core i9-7920X by a negligible margin (less than one percent), the big takeaway here is the clock speed. The Ryzen 9 3900X was able to match the Core i9-7920X’s score while running with a 5.8% lower operating clock. This stands as testimony that Zen 2’s instructions per cycle (IPC) is higher than Skylake, and subsequent microarchitectures based on the same design, in many workloads.

A leaked Intel CPU has been discovered on the SiSoft database. This CPU has six cores, Hyper-Threading, and was used in a server or workstation configuration with another identical six-core for a total of 12 cores and 24 threads. What’s interesting, however, is that the amount of L2 cache per core has been increased from just 256 KB on Coffee Lake CPUs, like the Core i9-9900K, to 1.25 MB. This is even more cache per core than offered by the Core i9-10980XE (1 MB) and Ice Lake mobile CPUs (512 KB).

The amount of L2 cache per core is important to note because it has a big architectural impact on performance. This difference might be between two totally different architectures (AMD’s Bulldozer vs. Zen), or between two architectures that share the same core but almost nothing else (Intel’s Skylake vs. Skylake X). This Intel CPU likely isn’t using a Skylake core, however, considering that Intel already has an architecture in this segment that is based on Skylake: Coffee Lake, soon to be succeeded by Comet Lake. This CPU is very likely to be using one of Intel’s new architectures that it designed for the 10nm node. But which architecture is used?

Given that 10nm Ice Lake CPUs launched earlier this year and we don’t have any indication whatsoever that Intel plans to launch variants with more cores for the desktop, we can probably disregard the possibility that this is an Ice Lake CPU. We can also likely disregard this potentially being Comet Lake because the Comet Lake U series has launched as a 14nm, Skylake derivative. This CPU is extremely unlikely to be launched in the near future.

The two most likely possibilities are that either this is a 10nm Tiger Lake CPU or a 14nm Rocket Lake CPU. There is little information on either architecture, but one Tiger Lake leak revealed it has 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, just like this leaked CPU. That might be strong evidence that this is actually Tiger lake, but there has been no indication thus far that Tiger Lake will offer more than four cores, while Rocket Lake has been seen with eight cores. This leaked CPU also has less L3 cache than the leaked Tiger Lake CPU; because L3 caches can be quite large, it makes sense that a CPU on a less-dense node would have less L3 cache than a CPU on a denser node. Considering also this leaked CPU is a desktop CPU, and that Rocket Lake is expected to succeed Comet Lake, it seems more likely this leaked CPU is Rocket Lake on the 14nm node, using Willow Cove cores like Tiger Lake.

Intel has already revealed it has the option of backporting architectures intended for 7nm onto the 10nm node, so the possibility of Rocket Lake being a 14nm architecture with designs intended for 10nm CPUs is certainly there.

It is important to point out that Intel did promise 10nm desktop CPUs are coming, so that might be an indication that this is a 10nm desktop CPU, but there is little to go on. Ever since it was suggested earlier this year that Rocket Lake was a 14nm architecture, it’s been tough to see where exactly these 10nm desktop CPUs are going to slot in. Are 10nm desktop CPUs supposed to be for gamers like the mainstream 9600K, 9700K, and 9900K? Or are these CPUs going into NUCs? Or maybe Intel will position these 10nm CPUs as competition for AMD’s APUs? Hopefully, Intel isn’t planning on introducing a 10nm successor to Rocket Lake, because by then the 7nm node will power its new products.

It is worth suggesting that maybe this isn’t a desktop workstation at all, but a server using a server CPU. That opens up the possibility that this is actually Ice Lake for server, which would have more L2 cache per core than Ice Lake for mobile (see Skylake vs. Skylake X). But given the low core count and the fact that Tiger Lake has the same L2 cache per core, it would be a really weird coincidence. It is worth considering, however.

Overall, it’s hard to make any firm conclusions based on this result. The possibilities are many and the evidence is very thin. The one certainty is that this CPU is not a Skylake derivative. What isn’t certain is whether or not this is 14nm Rocket Lake with a backported core, 10nm Tiger Lake for desktop, or something totally different, like Ice Lake for server. 

NZXT is having a fire sale of sorts, with discounts on a whole bunch of stuff. One that stands out is its H700 mid-tower chassis. This is similar in design to the H710i, one of the best PC cases around, except you’re trading built-in smart functionality for a lower price tag.

In this case, we’re talking about an even $80. That’s $49.99 below its most recent list price. Though it could sometimes be found for below its MSRP earlier this year, we’ve never seen this case dip below the $100 mark. So, you’re saving a decent chunk of change on this one.

You may recall that we compared the H700 to the H500. Our only real knock against the H700 was the price. This sale shoves that concern to the side. The H700 is a clean-looking case made of steel, with a large tempered side-glass panel to show off your handiwork. There’s room for lots of storage, too—you get seven 2.5-inch drive bays and a pair of 3.5-inch drive bays.

NZXT also deserves kudos for bundling four fans with this case. All too often, case makers skimp out in this regard, and it’s unfortunately not uncommon to only get a single fan. The H700, however, includes three Aer F120 (120mm) fans installed in the front and the an Aer F140 (140mm) fan in the rear.

That’s sufficient to keep your PC cool (and adds value to this case), though you can add up to three 120mm for two 140mm fans up top (or go with up to a 360mm radiator for a liquid cooling setup).

There are newer options out there, but with this discount, the H700 deserves consideration as one of the best mid-tower cases for the money. This sale ends on 12/27, so if you’ve been looking for a new case, grab it while you can.