Author: batteryforpc

As reported by VideoCardz, XFX is set to release another RX 5700 XT, dubbed the THICC III. The THICC II has been around for a couple of months now (and we have a review coming soon, so stay tuned for that) and sports an attractive shroud design with a dual-fan cooler.

The THICC III takes the same core design and just amps it up, with an extra fan giving it a triple-fan cooler, while it looks like there is a significantly larger heatsink as well. Card thickness appears to be the same ‘2.7 slot’ design as the THICC II, and the card also sports an attractive ventilated backplate.

There’s more to the card then just a larger cooler, though, as XFX has also applied a hefty factory overclock to the GPU. With a rated game clock of 1935MHz, and a boost clock of 2025MHz, this should be one of the fastest RX 5700 XT cards around. For comparison, the Red Devil 5700 XT has a game clock of 1905MHz and a boost clock of 2010MHz.

We’re not yet sure when the THICC III will release, and it is not currently listed on XFX’s official website. Hopefully we will get an official announcement soon with further information including pricing and availability.

The Google Pixel Watch could launch alongside the Pixel 4 when Google shows its new tech off, according to a source close to the matter.

That unidentified source was speaking to Nikkei Asian Review, a site that’s accurately preempted tech launches before, so the rumor is worth taking seriously. The source states that as well as the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, there will be a Google Pixel 4 5G, a new notebook device, and a smartwatch.

While the Google Pixel Watch isn’t named, if Google is to unveil a new smartwatch, it’ll likely be the Pixel wearable.

Rumors in 2018 suggested Google was ready to introduce its first Pixel branded smartwatch, but it’s thought the company decided at the last minute not to unveil the wearable.

The Google Event is set to take place in New York City on October 15, and it’s there that we’re expecting to see Google’s new hardware. TechRadar will be on the ground at the event to test out all the new products, including the Watch (if it exists) so check back then to see if the anticipated smartwatch is present.

What’s so important about the Google Pixel Watch?

The Google Pixel Watch would give Google the chance to show off its Wear OS operating system in the way it intended on its own, home-grown hardware.

The same was the case for the Google Pixel smartphones, with many considering them the most pure way to experience Android, as both the hardware and software was made by the same company.

Remember Intel Kaby Lake-G? It was Intel’s line of laptop processors that paired Kaby Lake silicon with AMD Vega graphics for gaming laptops. And, well, it’s been discontinued.

This all comes via a Product Change Notice, spotted by our friends at Tom’s Hardware. These processors were the product of an unholy union of Intel and AMD, and according to the report “Market demand for the products listed in the “Products Affected/Intel Ordering Codes” table below have shifted to other Intel products.” Intel is on the cusp of releasing its own dedicated graphics architecture for both consumers an

Don’t forget about Intel Ice Lake either. Intel’s 10th-generation “Project Athena” processors for Ultrabooks are packing the latest Gen11 graphics, which should be capable of powering some light gaming workloads. Even if they’re really designed to allow the laptops to run Photoshop and other similar apps somewhat efficiently.

This might also indicate when we can expect a followup to this team-up platform. Intel G-series processors will be discontinued after January 31, 2020, and while we don’t think Intel will team up with AMD again – especially now that Intel Xe is a thing – we might see some H-series processors with Intel Gen11 graphics. Intel is really trying to push its integrated graphics as discrete-class.

Either way, you probably won’t find many gaming laptops with these Intel G-series processors in them after January – not that there were many to begin with. As for what Intel will replace them with, we’ll just have to wait and see what Intel has in store. 

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.