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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.

Affordable, fast and with excellent dual-fan cooling, NVIDIA’s two new ray-tracing cards (the RTX 2060 Super and the 2070 Super) took the place of the company’s excellent Ti lineup. NVIDIA’s release of the GPUs was, according to senior editor Devindra Hardawar, “clearly a response to AMDs new midrange” cards. Dev managed to get impressive frame rates and gaming performance out of each, awarding the 2060 Super a score of 87 and the 2070 an 86.

Last week, we asked users who had chosen from AMD’s GPU lineup to share their experiences with the cards. This week we want to hear from those who bought an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super or 2070 Super instead. What kind of frame rates did you get from the 2070 Super? How well did those dual fan coolers work for you? Is the real-time ray tracing worth it? And, of course, why did you choose NVIDIA over AMD? As someone who owns the component, you know it better than anyone else so weigh in with what impressed you, what didn’t and any other details potential buyers should know. Remember, your review could get included in an upcoming user review roundup article!

Note: As usual, comments are off for this post. Please contribute your thoughts and opinions on our NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super or 2070 Super product pages!

Rewound is a music player app that uses skins and haptic feedback to recreate the feeling of using an iPod Classic.

The catch is that the app doesn’t offer up the skin – something that would immediately get it flagged given that Apple doesn’t allow the use of images of its products or UI by people that aren’t Apple. It’s up to you to download the skin, and you can use any image you like, so it’s a just a matter of doing it after the fact.

“You can program physical appearance of a device,” developer Louis Anslow told The Verge. “It could become anything.” Currently, that ‘anything’ is an iPod Classic because that’s how the app is being positioned at the moment.

Rewound only supports Apple Music at the moment, but Anslow says that Spotify support is on the way.

Over the summer, details of a MediaTek-powered Chrome OS tablet codenamed Kodama appeared, and there’s strong evidence to suggest that this new tablet will be brought to market by Lenovo. Back in August, Chrome Unboxed found the first code commits for Kodama, noting it could be the first ARM-powered detachable Chrome OS tablet. Keep in mind the image above is an old Lenovo 10.1-inch Windows tablet, not the actual Kodama device.

Based on a number of code commits and some other circumstances, I believe that the August report is correct. And I’ve found some additional information.

Let’s talk about the circumstances first and then go over some of the device details. 

Earlier this month, a Chrome OS subreddit showed a post asking for beta testers for an upcoming Lenovo Chrome tablet. The original post came from an official Lenovo email account and was found to be verified by Reddit. The post has been removed, but not after many folks signed up to be a tester.

Today I found a Chrome OS bug for Kodama. The issue has to do with screen orientation when the device is connected to external monitors, but that’s not the important part. Of interest are the email addresses of the Google hardware partners. They’re all from Bitland. More on that in a second.

Now the “very tight” timeline and date of 12/13 could mean anything. But when taken into consideration with the recent request for beta testers on a Lenovo Chrome tablet, I smell smoke. And when there’s smoke, there’s usually a fire. So I did a little more sniffing around.

Searching for Bitland on the web yielded a China-based hardware manufacturer, which doesn’t mean much on its own. But when I looked around for what products and brands that Bitland has produced devices for, I found these two products, which hit the market with Lenovo branding:

And although I can’t confirm that this is Kodama form the test reports or other documents, it’s worth noting that Lenovo received FCC certification just yesterday for “Portable Tablet Computer” that looks like this. I’d say those look like pogo pins on the right side of the image — the bottom of the tablet in landscape mode — for a detachable keyboard, something we’ve long known Kodama will support.

That’s a bunch of timely evidence suggesting that Kodama will come from Lenovo in my book.

So what else do we know of Kodama, regardless of the brand that gets slapped on it?

Yes, it will have a detachable keyboard, as previously noted. The touchscreen may use one of two different TFT panels from a pair of vendors, but both are 1920 x 1200 resolution:

There will not be an ambient light sensor on the tablet. And powering it all will be a MediaTek MT8193 eight-core processor. There’s no doubt about that since the CPU number is listed in numerous related commits, most of which show MediaTek email addresses in the listings.

I haven’t yet been able to confirm other important aspects such as memory, storage and more, although I’ve seen clues that this will have 4 GB of memory. That wouldn’t be surprising as a device this size, powered by an ARM processor isn’t likely to have super high-end internals such as 16 GB of memory or 128 GB of storage, for example.

All of the evidence I’ve seen so far suggests that this will be a Lenovo tablet in the low- to mid-range pricing. Given that we haven’t seen many other new Chrome OS tablets hit the market, color me intrigued.

Western Digital has been promoting its microwave assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) technology for over a couple of years now, yet surprisingly, its upcoming 18 TB and 20 TB drives are not really using the tech. The reason for this lies in the company’s decision to use what they consider to be the right technology at the right time. To that end, Western Digital not only plans to use MAMR in the future, but is open to use heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology when time comes.

Energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) technologies will enable future nearline hard drives with extreme capacity and areal density, there are no doubts in the industry about that. But HDD manufacturers have different opinions about when to introduce these technologies. Seagate believes that heating the platters using laser (HAMR) is the way to go now, whereas Western Digital is confident that using microwaves to change their coercivity (MAMR) better for the foreseeable future. And both agree, at least, that in the long run HAMR will enable a higher areal density.

Having invested an ample amount of R&D money into various EAMR technologies, Western Digital discovered that transition to HAMR is a hard one as it requires the introduction of new heads as well as use all-new platters, whereas MAMR needs new heads and slightly different platters. While working on MAMR, Western Digital found that it was possible to only partially implement the technology and still get the desired result – an increase in areal density. In fact, the company’s Ultrastar HC550 HDDs (and 20 TB drives) will be the first products to use this type of EAMR technology that is currently called energy-enhanced PMR (EPMR).

According to Western Digital, EPMR is particularly easy to incorporate into hard drives, especially considering the fact that it does not use a spin-torque oscillator, which is a key element of Western Digital’s MAMR technology.

And while EPMR has changed Western Digital’s roadmap slightly, at the end of the day the company says it hasn’t changed the development philosophy: the various magnetic recording technologies that they’re researching will be used once they are needed to hit certain capacities. For the moment, then, the company has indicated that they’re looking at their options for 24 TB and 30 TB drives, and what they’ll need to do to make those capacities practical.

Here is what Siva Sivaram, president of technology and strategy at Western Digital, said at the Wells Fargo Technology, Media and Telecommunications Summit earlier this month:

“The 18 TB product that is going out this December will use a variant of the MAMR technology. We are agnostic as to which technology we will have to succeed in the long term. We will introduce the right technology at the right point when it gets to 24 TB and 30 TB. We see a path to get to 50 TB in our hard drive roadmap. As we go to 50 TB, we will introduce the right technology at the point when it actually makes sense.”

Over the past few years, Thunderbolt 3 docks have become nearly ubiquitous, with a variety of different docks offering varying sets of ports in a few different body styles. Similar docks, albeit with more limited capabilities, exist for connecting over USB-C to machines that lack the more powerful Thunderbolt 3 standard, even in some cases including the iPad Pro.

Since the introduction of Thunderbolt 3 docks, users have typically had to choose either a Thunderbolt 3 or a USB-C dock to provide additional connectivity for their devices. Thunderbolt 3 docks offer more capabilities, but they lacked backward compatibility with machines that only offer USB-C.

A new generation of docks has started hitting the market, however, offering both Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C support for compatibility with a wider range of devices. I’ve had some time to test out CalDigit’s recently launched USB-C Pro Dock, which does exactly that.

Using both a 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 3, a 2015 MacBook with USB-C, and an 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, I’ve tested the capabilities of CalDigit’s dock and come away impressed with the versatility and performance that come at a rather reasonable price compared to similar docks from other manufacturers.

I’ll start by noting that I’ve long been a fan of CalDigit, and the company’s TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 dock has been my favorite for everyday use with my ‌MacBook Pro‌ among all of the many Thunderbolt 3 docks I’ve tested. It offers the perfect set of ports for my needs, 85-watt charging to fully support my 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, and a compact form factor that sits nicely under one of my external displays.

Given my experience with the TS3 Plus and some of CalDigit’s other products, I was excited to test out the new USB-C Pro Dock, and for the most part it lived up to my expectations.

The USB-C Pro Dock has a horizontal design more typical of Thunderbolt 3 docks, as opposed to the TS3 Plus. I prefer the design of the TS3 Plus, but the USB-C Pro Dock design is certainly suitable and allows the dock to sit unobtrusively on a desk. It comes in a Space Gray aluminum that closely matches Apple’s notebooks of that color, with some finning on the sides to potentially assist with heat dissipation and black plastic on the front and back.

The dock weighs just under a pound and measures in at about 8.5 inches wide, an inch high, and a little over three inches deep. It’s powered by a fairly large external power brick as is typical of these docks, although the brick included with this dock is a bit flatter than some others I’ve seen and most users should be able to tuck it away on or behind a desk.

Power Output

The USB-C Pro Dock is able to provide 85 watts of power over either Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C, providing full power a 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ or any other Mac notebooks you might use it alongside, with the exception of the brand-new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ that ships with a 96-watt power adapter. Dock manufacturers are still working out the best way to support this new higher-wattage ‌MacBook Pro‌, but for most users, even 85 watts will be plenty to keep that 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ fully powered up.

To eke out a bit more power, CalDigit has an upcoming firmware update for the USB-C Pro Dock (and the TS3 Plus) that will bump charging to 87 watts, and CalDigit tells me most users won’t have any problems charging their 16-inch MacBook Pros at either 85 or 87 watts. For those pushing their machines to the limit on heavy CPU/GPU usage for extended periods of time, CalDigit recommends those users charge their machines with Apple’s power brick to ensure they’re getting the full 96 watts.

Displays

When it comes to display compatibility, the USB-C Pro Dock includes a pair of DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, and active adapters can be used to convert to other standards like HDMI. When connected to a Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac like a ‌MacBook Pro‌ or recent MacBook Air, the USB-C Pro Dock is able to drive dual 4K monitors at up to 60Hz, offering great expansion capabilities for turning your notebook into a workhorse desktop machine.

Things are little more limited when you’re connecting the dock to a MacBook over USB-C, as the slower connection maxes out at supporting a single 4K display at 30Hz or dual HD displays, although those dual displays are unfortunately limited to mirrored mode rather than allowing for a full extended desktop.

The lack of a downstream Thunderbolt 3 port means I likely won’t be using this as my everyday dock, as I currently use a pair of LG UltraFine 5K displays, one connected through my TS3 Plus dock and one directly to my computer. I certainly could route both 5K displays directly to the ‌MacBook Pro‌ and use the dock separately for its other functions, but that increases the number of cables connected to my computer from two to three and so it’s overall less convenient, particularly when I’ve already got a TS3 Plus serving my needs.

But for someone maxing out with one or two 4K displays, particularly DisplayPort ones where you won’t need any adapters, the USB-C Pro Dock should work out just fine. In fact, CalDigit intentionally opted to sacrifice the downstream Thunderbolt 3 port in order to include two DisplayPort 1.2 ports, since most people end up using the Thunderbolt port to add another display anyway.

USB Connectivity

One of the other primary purposes of a computer dock is to provide additional USB ports for connecting a variety of accessories to your computer all through a single cable. The USB-C Pro Dock includes three 5 Gbps USB-A ports (one on the front and two on the back), as well as one data-only 10 Gbps USB-C port on the front of the dock.

Connecting a fast CalDigit Tuff external SSD to that 10 Gbps front USB-C port and to my ‌MacBook Pro‌, I found solid speeds of 475 MB/s write and 500 MB/s read, which is typical for this drive over a 10 Gbps connection. Using the same setup but connected to a 2015 MacBook over USB-C, I saw speeds dip slightly to 411 MB/s write and 415 MB/s read, but that’s still solid performance.

The front-facing USB-A port on the USB-C Pro Dock supports standalone charging, so you can charge your iPhone, Apple Watch, or other devices via the dock even when your notebook isn’t connected or turned on. CalDigit also provides a driver to increase the power available over USB to allow the dock to support Apple’s SuperDrive.

SD, Ethernet, and Audio

Moving beyond displays and USB, the USB-C Pro Dock includes three additional features to increase the capabilities of a connected computer. One is a Gigabit Ethernet port to give you a speedy and reliable wired data connection, and the other is a UHS-II SD 4.0 card reader to make it easy to quickly transfer photos and files from a standalone camera or other devices.

Finally, there is a 3.5mm combination analog audio in/out port on the front of the dock to support speakers, headphones or combined headphone/microphone headsets.

‌iPad Pro‌ Support

While Thunderbolt and USB docks have traditionally been used to expand the capabilities of Macs, the adoption of USB-C on the ‌iPad Pro‌ has opened the door for Apple’s tablets to take advantage of USB-C docks as well, and CalDigit’s USB-C Pro Dock does the job here as well.

With a single cable connecting your ‌iPad Pro‌ to the dock, you can open support for an external display running at up to 4K and 60Hz, USB-connected drives, SD cards, ethernet, and audio in/out. The dock also lets you use external accessories like keyboards and mice, and it allows for fast charging of your ‌iPad Pro‌.

Backward Compatibility

For those users with older computers, the USB-C Pro Dock can be used with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 ports with appropriate adapters, although capabilities are more limited due to the lower bandwidth and you won’t be able to charge your device, for example.

You can even get some limited dock functionality out of the USB-C Pro Dock when connecting to a machine that supports only USB-A, provided you have a USB-C to USB-A adapter available. You won’t be able to drive any displays or charge your computer over that connection, but you’ll at least be able to take advantage of the additional USB ports, SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet port, and audio capabilities.

Wrap-up

Overall, CalDigit’s USB-C Pro Dock strikes a great balance of performance and versatility, giving you the ability to connect to a range of devices to expand your connectivity options. If you want the flexibility to connect to a Mac and an iPad with the same dock, or if you’ve got both Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Macs around the house, this dock is definitely worth taking a look at.

If you’re all in on Thunderbolt 3, make sure you take a look to see if this dock’s capabilities will be sufficient for your needs. If you’re using a Thunderbolt 3 external display, for example, you won’t be able to connect it through this dock.

On the flip side, if you don’t need the full capabilities offered by Thunderbolt 3, there are smaller and cheaper USB-C-only hubs out there that might do the trick for you, although many of those are bus-powered from the computer itself and require passthrough charging with your existing adapter.

With 85 watts of charging power on CalDigit’s USB-C Pro Dock, nearly every portable Mac can be charged at maximum speed, with the exception of the brand-new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, but even on that machine most users shouldn’t run into any problems keeping up with power demands.

While many full-featured Thunderbolt 3 docks are priced at $300 more, CalDigit’s USB-C Pro Dock undercuts that price point significantly, currently coming in at just $200 on Amazon and in CalDigit’s online store. A 0.7-meter cable that works with both Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C connections is included.

The Sigma fp is a camera that defies labels. It is so small that you can actually carry it around in a trouser pocket. Admittedly, that’s without a lens fitted… but it does give you a fair idea of just how compact this camera is. But despite looking like a chunky compact camera, the Sigma fp is in fact a full-frame interchangeable lens camera that is designed for both serious stills shooting and 4K cine shooting alike.

This is Sigma’s first full-frame digital camera, but already this 24.6 megapixel mirrorless camera has its own family of lenses and accessories, thanks to Sigma’s partnership with Panasonic and Leica in the L-mount alliance. This means there are a healthy number of lenses already available for the fp, with the a promise of over 40 primes and zooms by the end of 2020 on the L-mount lens roadmap. Sigma has also launched three new dedicated L-mount lenses alongside the fp, including the compact 45mm f/2.8 used for much of our testing.

Thanks to Sigma’s MC-21 and MC-31 adaptors, the fp can also be used with many, more Canon EF, Sigma SA, and Arri PL-mount lenses. This adaptability may be more relevant to cinematographers than regular stills photographers, however, and it’s worth sounding a note of caution – the Sigma fp is designed to be small, but the majority of L-mount lenses are most definitely not.

You can use compact classic lenses from Voigtländer for example, via adaptors, and use the Sigma fp as a kind of low-cost Leica, but for mainstream autofocus photography, the majority of the L-mount lenses you can get right now are designed on a much larger scale than this camera body.

In video, where the Sigma fp is at the centre of a much larger shooting rig, this is not an issue, of course.

SPECIFICATIONS

Sensor: 24.6 MP full-frame (35.9mm×23.9mm) back-illuminated CMOS

Color filter System: RGB Primary color filter

Lens mount: L-Mount

Storage media: SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card(UHS-Ⅱ supported) / Portable SSD (USB 3.0 connection, USB bus power supported

Still image file formats: Lossless compressed RAW (DNG) (12 or 14 bit), JPEG, RAW+JPEG

Image aspect ratios: 21:9, 16:9, 3:2, 2:1, 4:3, 7:6, 1:1

Color space: sRGB / Adobe RGB

Movie Recording Format (internal): CinemaDNG (8bit / 10bit / 12bit) / MOV:H.264 (ALL-I / GOP)

Audio format: Linear PCM (2ch 48kHz /16bit)

Recording pixels / Frame rate: 3,840×2,160 (UHD 4K) /23.98p, 25p,29.97p, FHD(1,920×1,080) /23.98p, 25p, 29.97p, 59.94p, 100p, 119.88p

HDMI External Output Movie Format: HDMI Loop out External recorder: ATOMOS Ninja Inferno, Blackmagic Video Assist 4K supported

Audio format: Linear PCM(2ch 48kHz /16bit)

Recording Pixels / Frame Rate: 3,840×2,160 (UHD 4K) / 4:2:2 8bit 29.97p / 25p / 23.98p FHD (1,920×1,080) / 4:2:2 8bit 119.88p / 100p / 59.94p / 50p / 29.97p / 25p / 23.98p

Focus: Contrast detection system, Single AF, Continuous AF (with moving object prediction function), Manual Focus

AF modes: Auto, 49-points selection mode, Free Movement mode, Face / Eye Detection AF mode, Tracking AF mode

Metering System: Evaluative, Spot, Center Weighted Average Control

Still Image Shooting modes: (P) Program AE (Program Shift is possible), (S) Shutter Speed Priority AE, (A) Aperture Priority AE, (M) Manual

Movie shooting modes: (P) Program AE, (S) Shutter Speed Priority AE, (A) Aperture Priority AE, (M) Manual

ISO range: 100-25600 (expandable options:. ISO6,12, 25, 50, 51200, and 102400)

Image stabilization: Electronic system

Shutter type: Electronic shutter, 30 to 1/8,000 sec, Bulb

Drive modes: Single shooting, Continuous shooting, Self-timer, Interval shooting

Continuous shooting speed: Hi: 18 fps (up to 12 shots), Med:5 fps (12 shots), Low: 3 fps (24 shots)

Monitor: TFT color LCD monitor Aspect Ratio 3:2, 3.15″, Approx. 2,100,000 dots

Color mode: 12 types (Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Portrait, Landscape, Cinema, Teal & Orange, Sunset Red, Forest Green, FOV Classic Blue, FOV Classic Yellow, Monochrome)

Interface: USB3.1 GEN1 Type C, HDMI Type D (Ver.1.4), Release Terminal – also used as an external microphone terminal, Headphone output

Li-ion battery: BP-51 *USB power supply available (when the power is turned off)

Dimensions: 112.6×69.9×45.3mm,

Weight: 422g (including battery and SD card), 370g (body only)

KEY FEATURES

Part of the explanation for the small size of the Sigma fp is that it does not have a mechanical shutter at all, only an electronic shutter. The electronic shutter does present its drawbacks for stills photography, though. There’s an increased likelihood of ‘rolling shutter’ effects with fast panning or fast-moving subjects, and the maximum flash synchronization speed is a very slow 1/30sec.

The back of the camera is where you get the detail of the Sigma fp, with controls both to the right and below the LCD. The display is touch sensitive, but while you can use to select focus points, you can’t use it for making menu selections, hence the wide choice of buttons. A QS quick selection control takes you to your main options in any situation, and these are navigated to using the rear jogwheel control, But there is (naturally) a Menu button to take you to the extensive set-up options for this camera.

A good example of the range of options can be seen when looking at those of those for the optional Director’s Viewfinder… Here you can specify the screen proportions you want this to give, replicating those of industry-standard cine cameras from Arri, Sony and Red.

The Sigma fp does not offer Log or LUT options for video, but this is offset by its CinemaDNG capture, which offers a lot of headroom for grading later. Alternatively, the Tone button at the back does allow you to tweak contrast so that you can set a flat video output which can give you a wide dynamic range that you can then tweak to your liking in the grading process in post production. There are a frightening selection of Color options too, including the ‘Teal and Orange’ look that’s currently in vogue in Hollywood movies.

BUILD AND HANDLING

Sigma has also announced, already, that there will be a range of add-ons with the fp…. and when you pick up the camera, and realise just how small it is, you see why. This is little more than a box, which has been stripped right down to make it the size that it is. There is no electronic eyelevel viewfinder as standard – and the LCD does not tilt or rotate. There is no grip built-in for comfortable stills shooting (though you can buy one separately). And there is no built-in flash, or even a hotshoe, and if you want a strobe you need to buy the right add-on.

9 Sigma fp accessories have therefore been announced so far, including an eyepiece viewfinder, a choice of grips and a hotshoe unit. And you are almost certain to need to buy one or more of these to adapt this camera for your own use.

But although this camera is pared back, it is not pared to the bone. Far from it. The camera has been designed with lots of functional keys and controls, to help you get the set-up that you want quickly. Sigma has resisted the temptation to hide key things in sub-menus or buttons that are too small for human hands.

In fact, this all-aluminium body has a solid, almost industrial feel to it, which gives the impression that is here to do business, and to do it well.

The top plate spells out this approach perfectly. There is a big on/off switch, a shutter button with a sensibly proportioned control dial, and a separate video record button at its side. In the middle there is a simple two-position control that allows you to choose between Cine or Still.

Choosing video or photography at this point then completely changes the UI of the camera – and the options that you get on screen at the back of the camera. We have seen this less-than-traditional approach to camera design most recently on the Fujifilm GFX100 medium-format camera, the Leica SL2 and Panasonic Lumix S1H – and it makes a lot of sense here too.

At the side of the camera there are three different covers. One for USB, and one for microphone input or for use with an remote control. The middle cover is removable (so must not be lost if you want to ensure maximum weatherproofing) and hides the connector for the hotshoe accessory and an HDMI port.

The shoulder strap lugs at either side of the camera also have a solid industrial feel… but there are good reasons for each. Each strap holder is held in with a 1/4in screw – so when remove give you two further standard-size tripod bushes for mounting your camera for upright shots, or for attaching other accessories.

At the base, the battery and the card slot are found behind the same door. The battery is the 7.6V 1200mAh NP51 type,- which is completely interchangeable with the widely used Panasonic DMW-BLC12 pack; so spares will be easy to find at a variety of prices.

There is just one card slot here, and it is a regular SD type, and not one of the faster types (like XQD and CFexpress). Sigma tells us that you need to make sure that you use V60 class (or faster) UHS-II SDXC cards if you want to take advantage of Cinema DNG recording in the camera itself, but you still won’t reach the Sigma fp’s full potential (12-bit Cinema DNG recording) without a plug-in external recorder or SSD.

Shooting high-resolution video, as many will know, causes lots of problems with excessive heat, and this creates headache for camera designers. The Sigma solution here is a giant heat sink – a series of grill-like holes that surround all four side of the camera just behind the 2.1 million dot, 3.1in LCD. It is another piece of functional design, that you might usually see only on high-end cinema cameras. This is a passive cooling system with no fan, so there are no worries about audio interference while filming.

PERFORMANCE

The Sigma fp uses a contrast AF system rather than the theoretically faster phase-detect/hybrid systems used by Sony and Nikon (Panasonic has stayed with contrast AF). In the past, this might have been a worry. Contrast AF has a reputation for sluggishness, particularly with larger sensor sizes. In fact, the Sigma fp’s autofocus is surprisingly snappy. We’ve only been able to test it with the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 ‘kit’ lens so far and other lenses may react differently, but with this lens the fp’s static AF speed feels as fast as any of its rivals.

That’s a pleasant surprise and could be due to a couple of factors. Camera processors have become faster and more powerful, and AF algorithms too. We’re also seeing faster and more powerful AF actuators in modern lenses – focus speed ultimately depends on the lens as much as the AF system.

The face/eye detection appears to work well too, tracking moving faces quite easily. The focus tracking mode doesn’t work so well, especially in continuous AF mode – it can lock on to a subject relatively well and follow it around the frame as long as the movement isn’t too erratic, but even if the focus markers are over the subject, the AF can hunt quite badly and throw some shots in a burst completely out of focus. The static AF performance is fine, but the continuous AF mode is pretty patchy.

The fact is, despite its 18fps burst mode, the Sigma fp is not really camera for sports and action. Quite apart from its continuous AF performance, Sigma quotes a buffer depth of just 12 shots – that’s less than a second’s worth of shooting at full speed.

It does have electronic image stabilization, but it’s no substitute for the real thing. It captures and merges three shots (for stills) or two frames (video) to produce a sharper image, which adds to the processing overhead and, when shooting stills, it works for JPEG capture only.

There are other aspects of the Sigma fp which feel very much like a work in progress. You can shoot merged HDR images in-camera but only with JPEGs, and HDR will come to the Cine mode in a future firmware update. Sigma is also promising an in-camera Cinegraph feature but, again, only via a future update.

The camera does have Sigma’s shadow-boosting Fill Light feature built in, and now you can turn it up to +5 (versus the old +2 maximum). This did not work correctly on our sample, however, producing a flat and visibly processed HDR look at low settings and and a wild solarization affect at higher values. It does look like there’s something wrong here that needs fixing.

The still image quality is very good. Both our lab tests and our real-world shooting confirm that the Sigma fp matches its 24-megapixel full frame mirrorless rivals for resolution, noise and dynamic range (though this does take a dip past ISO 1600). It might feel as if it’s been designed as a ‘video first’ camera, but it works well for stills photography and there’s no compromise in image quality.

We will update this review with a longer verdict on the video capabilities of this camera with some real-world testing, but a couple of points are worth mentioning. Like other 4K cameras, this one needs an external recorder to reach its full performance. If you’re recording in the CinemaDNG format internally, you’re restricted to 8-bit capture (10-bit and 12-bit need an external recorder) and a maximum frame rate of 25/24p. If you want to shoot 4K UHD at 30p internally, you’ll have to switch to the MOV format.

This is a camera that really needs an external recorder to reach its proper video potential (it doesn’t have its own audio monitoring socket, either), and ideally a good stabilizing rig too for mounting mics and lights.

LAB DATA

We chose three 24-megapixel full frame mirrorless cameras to measure the Sigma fp’s performance against: the Panasonic Lumix S1, Nikon Z 6 and Sony A7 Mark III.

It’s small wonder that with all four cameras packing ~24MP sensors, all resolve identical amounts of fine detail up to ISO 3200, and differences remain minor further up the sensitivity scale.

Our signal to noise test measures image clarity, specifically the ratio of the actual image ‘data’ you want to capture, versus the image noise that you don’t want, but will inevitably be visible when shooting at higher ISO sensitivities. The higher the score at a given ISO sensitivity, the better.

Though the Sigma fp scores well in this test, it’s narrowly beaten by the Panasonic S1 and Sony a7 III through most of the sensitivity range, and struggles to match the Nikon Z 6’s image clarity at middling ISO settings.

The Sigma fp delivers respectable dynamic range at low sensitivities and closely matches its key rivals. However, at ISO 1600 and beyond it trails the pack, by as much as a 2EV margin at ISO 6400 when compared to the Nikon Z 7 and Panasonic S1.

VERDICT

It’s hard not to fall in love with the miniature size of the Sigma fp and it’s utilitarian, industrial design. Sigma has always dared to be different with its cameras, and it has once again done this with its first full-frame mirrorless model.

Given that there are now so many different full-frame mirrorless systems, this has to be a good thing. This is a camera that is designed to be a start of a system where you need to buy add-ons that suit your shooting style; and that alone will appeal to lots of people who like this modular approach. And thanks to the L-mount alliance, there will be plenty of lenses available for this camera too.

We suspect that ultimately this is a camera that will work better for filmmakers than photographers, but it’s worth stressing that this little camera can match the still image quality of any of its rivals.

The Sigma fp is very small for a full frame mirrorless camera but the size of its lenses may prevent it ever being truly pocketable. You do need lenses to take pictures, and the size of the camera body alone is only part of the story.

We like the Sigma fp a lot and look forward to seeing how it’s used by stills photographers and film makers – and it does ask some awkward questions of its rivals. Why are they so big, do they really need hybrid phase-detect AF, and why can’t they shoot raw video too?

ASRock announced this week that renown overclocker Nick Shih has filled ASRock’s X299 Taichi CLX workstation-grade motherboard with 1TB of memory when the motherboard only officially supports up to 256GB.

To achieve this feat, Shih paired an Intel Core i9-7900X with eight SK Hynix 128GB LRDIMM (load-reduced DIMM) modules. This is quite fascinating, considering we were told that the X299 chipset doesn’t support EEC (error-correcting code) memory, much less LRDIMMs. It’s unknown what kind of magic Shih had to use to get the aforementioned memory to work on the ASRock X299 Taichi CLX.

SK Hynix already has a couple of 256GB LRDIMMs in its portfolio, but they max out at 2,666 MHz. The ones that Shih used seem to be unreleased. According to the screenshots shared, the LRDIMMs carry the HMABAGL7MBR4N-WM part number and come clocked at 2,933 MHz with CL21-21-21-47 timings and a 1.20V operating voltage.

What makes Shih’s accomplishment even more spectacular is that fact he was able to push the LRDIMMs to 3,471.8 MHz with the memory timings configured to CL20-24-24-56. That Core i9-7900X must have one heck of an IMC (integrated memory controller) to support up 1TB of memory operating at those speeds.

Samsung revealed its 256GB LRDIMMs last year. It would certainly be mind-blowing to see 2TB of memory running on a consumer-grade motherboard. The tools are there ready for anyone to use. Now, we just need a daring overclocker to attempt it.