Author: batteryforpc

Dell’s sleek XPS 13 2-in-1 uses the second highest-end 10th Gen Ice Lake processor currently available – the Intel Core i7-1065G7. That G7 suffix signifies the use of Intel’s highest-end, 64 EU Iris Plus Gen 11 graphics in the quad-core CPU. On paper, the i7-1065G7 is a four-core, eight-thread 10th Gen processor built on Intel 10nm process architecture. The clock speeds are 3.9GHz for maximum Turbo Boost speed, with a 1.50GHz base clock in the 25W configurable TDP-up implementation.

We ran Cinebench R20’s all-core benchmark to see how the i7-1065G7 scored, and also to track its operating clock speeds throughout the benchmark. Of course, the clock speeds that we observed are heavily influenced by the design of Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop and the power budget, boost durations, and cooling configuration provided.

It was, however, interesting to see the turbo clock running at close to 3.4GHz for the initial seconds of the all-core benchmark. We would expect to see this level of frequency, but it is still impressive to see the processor maintaining this despite the limited thermal capacity available in Dell’s ultra-thin chassis. The clock speed dropped down to 2.85GHz after a few seconds of run time and then 2.6GHz for the steady state period.

The final Cinebench R20 score was 1612, though this was influenced by background tasks and us messing with the system while the run was in progress. With that said, the score is an indication of Ice Lake’s compute performance uplift versus Whiskey Lake (and perhaps 10th Gen Comet Lake, core-for-core) especially in tasks that heavily leverage newer AVX instruction sets.

The new Wi-Fi 6 standard is here in a pre-release form, replacing the older 802.11ac Wi-Fi found on many recent laptops, desktops, and mobile devices with 802.11ax.

But, just because the standard is available for manufacturers doesn’t mean devices are getting hardware to support it. It’s still new, and even some of the best laptops come without it. But, we’ve got good news: In many cases, you can add Wi-Fi 6 to your device after you’ve bought it.

How you get Wi-Fi 6 support on your device will depend on the type of device you have. Right now, there are few Wi-Fi 6 modules, and support for AMD systems doesn’t appear available just yet. But, if you have a device powered by a 64-bit Intel processor, you can likely make the upgrade. Intel and Killer Networking have cards available, and more options will surely be coming in time.

If you have a desktop computer, you can use PCIe connections to add in networking cards, while laptops can use an M.2 slot to fit in the necessary module. We’ll go into a bit more detail below.

Adding Wi-Fi 6 to a desktop

The currently available Wi-Fi 6 modules from Killer Networking and Intel are M.2 cards targeted at laptops, and they won’t work in desktop M.2 slots as is. But, that doesn’t stop them from working in desktops. You can add in one of these cards by using a PCIe adapter like this one.

The M.2 card will slot into the converter, and then the converter will go into an open PCIe slot on your desktop’s motherboard. The converter should also provide antennae that connect to small slots on the Wi-Fi 6 module. Once that’s slotted into your computer, a quick driver installation will have you up and running on Wi-Fi 6.

Adding Wi-Fi 6 to a laptop

Laptops are becoming less and less upgradeable, with manufacturers soldering on components and sealing up cases. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t make this upgrade happen. All but the thinnest laptops and 2-in-1 tablets, like the Surface Pro X, tend to still have some level of access to the internals. And, even if components like RAM are getting soldered onto motherboards, networking adapters can still often be found as add-in cards.

If you can open up your laptop (it may take a specialized toolkit), there’s a good chance you’ll be able to spot the small M.2 module currently powering your device’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.

You’ll simply unscrew the screw holding the Wi-Fi module in place, and unplug the antenna wires connected to your existing Wi-Fi module. Then, you’ll just do the process in reverse to install your new Wi-Fi module.

Future solutions may get even easier

While the current processes for upgrading are simple, in the near future, it’s likely even simpler solutions will come out. We’d expect PCIe cards with the Wi-Fi module built in to make upgrading desktop Wi-Fi much easier. And, we wouldn’t be surprised to eventually see Wi-Fi 6 USB dongles that add the new connectivity in a simple, plug-and-play device.

So, if you’re on the market for a new computer and can’t wait for models pre-fitted with Wi-Fi 6 support, you take some comfort knowing that simple upgrade solutions are available. You shouldn’t need to upgrade your whole machine just to get a faster, more stable Wi-Fi connection.

Here comes another PCIe 4.0 SSD with a blistering 5,000MB/s read speed.

Yet another SSD leveraging the PCI Express 4.0 bus to deliver insanely fast read and write speeds has emerged. Called the Cardea Zero Z440, it’s one of two new products by Team Group built specifically AMD’s X570 platform, hoping to join the ranks of the Best NVMe SSDs.

The other is a new line of T-Force Dark Z α (Alpha) memory. Granted, RAM kits should work in any supported platform, but some modules are tested and validated for certain AMD and Intel builds.

In this case, Team Group says its T-Force Dark Z Alpha RAM is “tailor made” for AMD’s latest Ryzen 3000 series processors and X570 motherboards. Based on Team Group’s testing in such a platform, these are the timings the company advertises for the three speed tiers it offers:

T-Force Dark Z Alpha DDR4-4000 RAM—CL18-22-22-42, $189 for 32GB, $99 for 16GB

T-Force Dark Z Alpha DDR4-3600 RAM—CL13-22-22-42, $169 for 32GB, $89 for 16GB

T-Force Dark Z Alpha DDR4-3200 RAM—CL16-18-18-38, $154 for 32GB, $79 for 16GB

These are available in 32GB (2x16GB) and 16GB (2x8GB) packages. MSRPs range from $79 for the least expensive kit to $189 for the most expensive one, as outlined above. It remains to be seen how street pricing will shake out (memory prices tend to fluctuate more so than other PC components).

That said, pricing at the top end is fairly aggressive. I took a peek on Newegg and 32GB kits of DDR4-4000 memory sell for around $312 on the low end, with several other kits priced north of $400.

As for the Cardea Zero Z440 SSD, Team Group is offering it in two capacities—2TB for $499 and 1TB for $249. Both capacities are rated to deliver up to 5,000MB/s of sequential read performance and up to 4,400MB/s of sequential write performance, along with up to 750,000 IOPS for random reads and writes.

You’ll need an X570 motherboard to take full advantage of the Z440’s speed capabilities, as that is the only consumer platform that supports PCIe 4.0. Otherwise, you won’t see read and writes scale quite as high.

Team Group did not say when its new RAM and SSDs will be available to purchase.

AMD’s Ryzen 9 3950X lands in November (after it was delayed), but beforeit hits the street some interesting fresh details have been spilled on the CPU and its overclocking potential.

This comes from hardware vendor Gigabyte which made an overclocking guide for its Aorus X570 available online, detailing the firm’s results when juicing up the Ryzen 3rd-gen processor.

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We already knew that the 3950X boosts up to 4.7GHz – or at least that’s the official word from AMD – but that’s over two cores, Gigabyte notes in the documentation (and potentially the wrong – ie not active – cores, another bugbear with Ryzen 3000 CPUs which has been highlighted recently).

So how fast can the incoming flagship chip be pushed over all its 16-cores with overclocking? As fast as 4.3GHz, it would seem, given Gigabyte’s setup which utilized an EK-KIT P360 water-cooling solution and the Aorus X570 Master motherboard. That’s a good chunk faster than the base clock speed of 3.3GHz, of course.

The firm found the 3950X reached a stable 4.3GHz using around 1.4V, and the overclock meant an increase in Cinebench R15 multi-threaded from 3,932 at stock to 4,384 overclocked, an 11% boost. Not too shabby, indeed.

Thermal marvels?

Gigabyte further observed that the temperatures witnessed during the overclocking session were “similar [to] what we were getting last year using a Ryzen 7 2700X”. So for this 16-core behemoth to be pushed across all its many cores and be performing in similar thermal terms to a 2nd-gen 8-core model is, well, quite impressive.

Also remember that the Ryzen 9 3900X recorded a Cinebench R15 result of 3,097 when we reviewed the chip, so that makes the incoming flagship something like 27% faster at stock speeds.

Even more telling is the comparison between the 3950X and an Intel Core i9-9900K, with the latter hitting 1,873 – so AMD’s chip is more than twice as fast.

Of course, this is only one benchmark, and as such hardly the whole performance picture – but still, it would seem that things are shaping up very nicely for the Ryzen 9 3950X, and it could help to hammer home the big gap AMD continues to open up in sales over Intel (at least in the desktop market).

Although how easy it will be to buy one of the things may be another matter entirely, so let’s hope the launch delay is about suitably ensuring demand doesn’t once again completely outstrip supply (as with the 3900X).

macOS Catalina has just been released in full and it comes with this brilliant new feature that’s never been seen before on a MacBook and iMac.

UPDATE: Apple has now officially released macOS Catalina with it available to download on the Mac App Store.

ORGINAL STORY: If you own a Mac have now upgraded to macOS Catalina, you can now access Apple Arcade, the tech firm’s new all-singing, all-dancing app subscription service centred around games.

Apple Arcade provides instant access to a deluge of games, many of which are exclusive titles from renowned developers.

Take Rayman Mini by Ubisoft for instance, the title’s art style and gameplay are extremely reminiscent to the developer’s famed Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends, but this time the qwerty character has been miniaturised, giving stages an unexpected twist.

Other notable exclusives on Apple Arcade include ChuChu Rocket! Universe from Sega, Shantae and the Seven Sirens by WayForward and Various Daylife from Square Enix.

Apple has promised that by the end of this year Apple Arcade will be brimming with over 100 games.

It’s worth noting that no title included in Apple Arcade will feature in-app purchases or ads.

Apple Arcade costs £4.99 per month, but the Cupertino-based tech powerhouse is giving fans a month free trial.

That means Mac owners running the latest Catalina beta can take advantage of the service’s offerings right now.

To try Apple Arcade, all you need to do is head to the Mac App Store where a separate tab should appear duly titled “Apple Arcade”. From there you can instantly access all the titles on offer.

To make gaming on your Mac even better, you can pair a PlayStation 4 or Xbox controller. You can always just use your computer’s keyboard though, if you prefer.

macOS Catalina has a number of new features worth shouting about, chief of which is certainly Sidecar that allows Apple fans to use their iPad as a second display with supported apps.

Sidecar is compatible for any iPad with Apple Pencil support. The stylus itself can be leveraged to improve productivity, such as by finely editing a photo in Adobe Illustrator.

Catalina also scraps iTunes in favour of three apps called Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. Apple claims the new programmes should deliver incredibly fast performance when compared to its all-in-one offering that certainly felt bloated towards the end of its life.

Apple’s new computer operating system also revamps a number of key applications such as Photos, Safari, Mail, Notes and Reminders.