At the CES in early January 2021 AMD will present the next generation of mobile Ryzen processors alias Cezanne and Lucienne . At the same time, many notebook manufacturers are taking the opportunity and will be announcing the corresponding notebooks. NVIDIA will also probably present the mobile Ampere variants, which also means that we will see notebooks with new processors and GPUs.
IThome already seems to have corresponding information on a variant of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G. 15. With the new CPUs and GPUs, these will of course be available in different equipment variants. The high-end model will apparently be equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HX, the new top model with eight cores. This achieves a base and boost clock of 3.3 and 4.7 GHz, respectively. The CPU cores are based on the Zen 3 architecture. On the GPU side, a GeForce RTX 3080 is mentioned, which is likely to be installed in a Max-Q variant – but this has not yet been confirmed.
Equipment with up to 17 GB DDR4 memory and a 1 TB SSD is also possible. In addition to this maximum configuration, there are also model variants with a Ryzen 7 5800 H and Ryzen 5 5600 H as well as smaller GeForce RTX models.
When it comes to the display, the willing buyer has the choice between a 4K display with 60 Hz, WQHD display with 165 Hz or FHD display with 300 Hz. Depending on the display and The resolution of the screen diagonal is 15, 6 or 17 Customs.
Flood of mobile hardware and notebooks expected
The CES 2021 should have the notebook market in focus. As I said, AMD will present its Ryzen 5000 series for notebooks. NVIDIA, the mobile amp versions, and Intel is responding to the stronger competition with Comet Lake-H and Tiger Lake-H. The main focus is on the gaming hardware and so, in addition to ASUS, manufacturers such as Acer, Gigabyte, MSI, Razer and some other new notebooks will be presented.
Expected debut at CES 2021 in early January for the new gaming notebooks equipped with NVIDIA GPU of the Ampere family
by Paolo Corsini published 30 December 2020 , at 11: 31 in the Video Cards channel Ampere GeForce NVIDIA
We have already had the opportunity to report the next debut of the p rhymes versions for notebook systems of the NVIDIA GPUs of the GeForce RTX family 3000 , known to be based on arches Ampere reading . New details are now emerging online thanks to the information, in the meantime removed from public access, published on the website of the Dutch retailer SKIKK.
source: Videocardz
Various notebook models equipped with new generation NVIDIA GPUs are shown; in particular we find the models GeForce RTX 3060 with 6GB of video memory, GeForce RTX 3070 Max-Q with 8GB of video memory and GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q with well 16 GB of video memory.
The first solution should be based on GPU GA 106 , combined with memory bus from 192 amplitude bit: this would result in the amount of onboard video memory equal to 6GB. For the other two higher-end cards we will instead see the use of GPU GA 104 , with technical specifications that should be similar to those of the desktop versions even with lower clock frequencies to keep power consumption lower.
For GeForce RTX card 3080 Max -Q to report the amount of onboard video memory equal to 16 GB, higher than 10 GB of desktop card . On the other hand, this suggests that the associated memory bus will be from 256 bit , against the 320 bits chosen for the card intended for desktop systems.
We will certainly know more starting from next 12 January , the day the NVIDIA press conference at CES is scheduled 2021. All, of course, in the form of a virtual event with possible availability of the new notebooks with GPU of the Ampere family starting in the following weeks during the first quarter 2021.
Over the Christmas holidays (and shortly before) there were numerous sightings of the next generation of processors from AMD and Intel. First of all, there are signs of the imminent launch of the Intel Rocket Lake processors, as more and more samples are apparently in circulation. Intel has already officially announced this for the first quarter 2021 and also given the first details.
The 11. Core generation from Intel will use the existing LGA socket 1200 of the Comet Lake generation. They will use up to eight of the new Cypress Cove cores and should clock significantly more than 5 GHz for the high-end models. The most important new feature of the platform are four additional PCI Express lanes, all of which will also be upgraded to the 4.0 standard. All other, so far official details can be found in the message to Intel’s announcement.
The performance of the Rocket Lake processors cannot really be estimated at the moment. But Intel should be able to catch up with AMD again – at least where AMD had a small lead with the Zen 3 architecture. At the moment, however, there are no reliable figures for performance.
The mainboard manufacturers are currently preparing for the launch of Rocket Lake-S for the existing LGA 1200 – mainboards. The first BIOS updates are already being distributed and carry out the 11. Core Generation as supported models.
Alder Lake-S still raises many questions
With Alder Lake (and Alder Lake -S for the desktop), Intel is transferring the strategy of Lakefield processors to a larger product range. Alder Lake-S will be the successor to the Rocket Lake processors mentioned in the first section. The hybrid design will no longer only be used in the ultra-mobile area, but also on the desktop.
Up to 16 Cores should use the Alder Lake S processors. So far there has been talk of an 8 + 8 configuration – so eight high-performance cores should be combined with eight particularly efficient ones.
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More and more samples appear for Alder Lake-S too. However, one should not accept the details of the information read out as complete and secure. The cores seem to be following the path that Intel has taken with Sunny Cove, Willow Cove and the Atom designs. This can be seen from the size of the cache.
The question of which cores support simultaneous multithreading (SMT) and which do not remain open. At Lakefield, Intel deactivated the SMT for the Sunny Cove core because the small Atom cores did not support this. For the Alder Lake S processor shown here with 16 cores, support for 24 threads listed. Eight large cores with SMT come on threads, the eight smaller cores must therefore manage without SMT.
The Alder Lake S processors are expected at the end of 2017 and lead with the LGA socket 1700 a new platform. In addition to DDR4 and PCI-Express 4.0, it probably also supports DDR5 and PCI-Express 5.0. So far, Intel has not yet commented on which architectures or cores are used. According to the latest information, this should be Gracemont for the small cores and Golden Cove for the large cores.
Cezanne and Lucienne for notebook and desktop
AMD will present the next generation of APUs at the virtual CES in early January. As Cezanne and Lucienne, they use Zen 3 and Zen 2 cores and an integrated Vega graphics unit. By using the Zen 3 architecture, AMD of course makes a big leap in CPU performance. First benchmarks show an increase of up to 25%. In the TDP classes, AMD of course remains at the level of its predecessors.
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Cezanne apparently also serves as Renoir’s successor – at least for OEM use. It remains to be seen whether Cezanne, like Renoir, will be withheld from the retail market. First of all, Cezanne and Lucienne are expected for the notebooks.
Just under a month ago, the first signs of AMD’s new high-end Cezanne mobile chips surfaced with the spotting of the Ryzen 9 5900HX. That chip is likely to be unlocked for overclocking on mobile platforms, which while powerful, is likely not everyone’s cup of tea. In a slightly more mainstream fashion, today AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900H surfaced, packing 8 Zen 3 cores, 16 threads, and a boost clock of 4.64 GHz.
The information comes from a Geekbench 5 submission (as spotted by hardware detective Apisak), where the chip has been subjected to extensive performance tests.
(Image credit: Geekbench)
Getting down to brass tacks, single-core performance is where the 5900H shines, jotting down a GB5 score of 1,520 points and a multi-core score of 9,325 pts. Of course, the multi-core score can vary, depending on the thermal properties of the device the chip is installed in.
For comparison, although we haven’t had the chance to test a notebook with the 4900H ourselves, digging through the GB5 4900H submissions shows that it scores between 1175 and 1275 points in single-core performance with a few outliers and a multi-core score of about 7500 pts, again with a few outliers in both directions.
25% Performance Uplift over Last-Gen?
This makes the 5900H a solid 25 percent more powerful in single-threaded applications and about 20 percent more powerful in multi-threaded tasks. This is in-line with the 19% increase in IPC Zen 3 has over Zen 2 at the same TDP, and we would put the higher single-threaded figure down to improvements in the boost algorithm: 4.64 GHz single-core boost is nothing to scoff at even in desktop solutions — and this is a mobile part.
AMD Ryzen 9 5900H Specifications
Processor
Cores/Threads
Base/Boost Clock
TDP
L3 Cache
Ryzen 9 5900H
8 / 16
3.3 / 4.64 GHz
45 W (Probably)
16 MB
Ryzen 9 5900HX
8 / 16
3.3 / 4.6 GHz
?
16 MB
Ryzen 9 4900H
8 / 16
3.3 / 4.4 GHz
45 W
8 MB
We can’t tell which device the chip was installed in, but with the popularity of the 4900H, chances are we’ll be seeing it in quite a handful of devices. The 4900H is a 45 W part, and although the GB5 submission doesn’t state this detail, chances are the 5900H will also be a 45 W TDP part so that notebook makers can install it into their new models without having to re-engineer the cooling systems. A 5900HS will likely fall into the 35 W TDP area.
All that being said, the chip hasn’t formally been announced yet, and chances are it will still take quite some time before it shows up in laptops that you can actually buy. The 4900H reared its head this time last year, and it took until March for the formal announcement to land, with devices landing in Spring. Expect a similar timeline for the Ryzen 5000 ‘Cezanne’ mobile parts.
Most notebooks adopt displays from 16: 9 o 16: 10, however according to Chuwi the most reliable report for most activities is 3: 2. Here are the manufacturer’s recommendations
by Editorial team published 29 December 2020 , at 12: 41 in the Laptops channel Chuwi
To date, most notebooks use displays with an aspect ratio of 16: 9, sometimes the less flattened format 16: 10. This is a choice mainly dictated by multimedia needs (televisions are often 16: 10, and the film formats are approximately equal to 21: 9), while a less “squashed” format is preferable for productivity.
Microsoft itself strongly promotes 3: 2 screens on its Surface family products, and focuses on this aspect also Chuwi . It’s a ratio designed to maximize productivity and work efficiency, and the Windows operating system itself is designed to perform best on 3: 2 screens. I advantages of the 3: 2 format can be summarized as follows:
See more content : the 3: 2 format gives more space to vertical content, making it perfect for reproducing documents or web pages. In these cases it is possible to see more content without scrolling the page, thus reducing the frequency with which it is necessary to go up and down within the document being reproduced.
Best suited for document work : the 3: 2 ratio allows you to reproduce two A4-size pages each to side of the other, allowing the user to process multiple documents simultaneously or perform multiple operations during editing.
Best user experience : also thanks to the possibility to further reduce the frames, Chuwi’s 3: 2 screens offer a better user experience than the old models.
All the information on Chuwi notebooks can be found on the official website
Notebook 3: 2 by Chuwi from 13 “
CoreBook Pro Key Features – 2K Resolution | 3: 2 screen | Intel Core i3 CPU | 8GB + 256 GB
The lightweight and portable metal body, the size of a book and the full-screen panel from 13 “make it a great system for mobile office work. Adopt Intel Core i3 processor with Iris GPU 550, 8GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, features that make it perfect even for productivity activities.
It is characterized by the design similar to that of CoreBook Pro, with a level of portability also in this case excellent. The Intel Celeron J processor 4115 is proposed in “performance” configuration, with frequency maximum of 2.5GHz in Turbo. It is a system that offers basic performance for everyday activities, with low energy consumption. I 12 GB of RAM allows you to keep more apps open in the background.
Notebook 3: 2 by Chuwi from 14 “
CoreBook X Key Features – 2K Resolution | 3: 2 Screen | Intel Core i5 CPU | 13 B + 256 GB
The 2K display from 14 “of CoreBook X is of higher quality, and the operating frequency of the integrated Intel Core i5 CPU can reach 3.5GHz. The Iris Plus GPU 650 offers more than satisfactory graphics performance for the multimedia, and is perfect for tasks that require a high level of computation such as photo and video editing. Combines productivity with portability.
GemiBook Pro Key Features – 2K Resolution | 3: 2 screen | Intel Celeron J CPU 4125 | 16 B + 512 GB
Same aesthetics and features for the integrated display compared to CoreBook X, but changes the processor under the body which is the less powerful Intel Celeron J 4125, combined here with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. Great for everyday tasks, with low energy consumption, especially for those who often work with different software in multitasking.
Chuwi points out that their systems are designed to offer a good user experience. They are all products with a good quality-price ratio, but each is configured for a specific target of users, with Chuwi intending to satisfy different needs. More details on the official website.
A while back we heard that Huawei is working on several PCs powered by its own silicon – desktop PCs and laptops. With the company already confirming its desktop PC powered by its own HiSilicon ARM chip, we now more details about the notebook too, albeit from a leak rather than an official source.
A trustworthy Weibo tipster posted a photo of the notebook’s box revealing some key specs. The device is powered by the Kirin 990 chipset paired with 8GB of RAM, 512GB SSD and a 14-inch 1080p display. The laptop runs Linux-based Deepin OS 20 but the transition to HarmonyOS will be made possible in the future.
The laptop itself is named Qingyun L410 and is expected to be a cheaper version of the MateBook 14. There’s also the possibility of the device supporting 5G connectivity given that the SoC itself features an integrated 5G modem.
In any case, though, the notebook will most certainly hit the Chinese market first before going international. If Huawei has plans to release it outside of China in the first place.
Expected to debut at CES 2021 new gaming notebooks combined with Intel Tiger Lake processors always with quad core architecture, but which thanks to the higher consumption will offer greater performance
by Paolo Corsini published 28 December 2020 , at 08: 01 in the Processors channel Intel Core Tiger Lake
One of the expected news for the edition 2021 of the CES , which due to the pandemic will only be held in virtual form, is the launch of new Intel processors of the Tiger Lake family specifically designed for pairing with high-end gaming notebooks.
These CPUs are indicated with the name of Tiger Lake-H 35
The TDP of these processors should be equal to 35 Watt , therefore greater than that of Tiger Lake U series models which have default TDP equal to 15 Watt with the possibility of being selected from a minimum of 12 Watts up to a maximum of 28 Watt depending on notebook manufacturer preferences.
These man they will keep quad core architecture , the same as those on the market, benefiting from higher clock frequencies thanks to the higher TDP. In this way Intel will be able to offer latest generation solutions in combination with the new gaming notebooks expected to debut on the market, equipped with the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs 3000 whose launch should take place at CES 2021.
These processors will be side by side, presumably during the second quarter 2021, from Tiger Lake-H proposals with TDP equal to 45 Watt and 6 and 8 core architecture depending on version. The production process at 10 nanometers and the basic architecture will be maintained, but thanks to the higher consumption and higher number of cores these CPUs will be paired with high-end gaming notebooks presumably paired with the most powerful GPUs.
The 11th generation Tiger Lake processors are used by various thin notebooks on the market ; some manufacturers have chosen to provide operating settings that push the TDP even beyond the 28 Watts from specification obtaining a net increase in performance with obviously repercussions in terms of consumption and operating noise. Tiger Lake-H processors 35 will actually push this approach further, exploiting the potential of this architecture in combination with appropriately sized cooling systems.
Intel announces that it has doubled its production capacity in the last 3 years, adding capacity with processes at 10 nanometers and 10 nanometers, in order to meet the increased market demand
by Paolo Corsini published 26 December 2020 , at 09: 01 in the Processors channel Tiger Lake Ice Lake Core Intel
Fans have had the opportunity to be updated over the last years, about p problems encountered by Intel in the transition to production technology at 01 nanometers . At present only a fraction of Intel processors are produced in this way, leaving the remaining large part still struggling with the process at 14 nanometers which has long characterized the production of American company.
The first transition to technology a 10 nanometers was in fact completely skipped by Intel , with only one processor for notebook systems that was made commercially available within a Lenovo notebook sold primarily in the Chinese market.
Subsequently the production was refined , allowing in the autumn 2019 to present the first CPUs of the Ice Lake family built with a process nanometers , More recently, in the fall 2020, Intel entered on the market the first processors of the Tiger Lake family , also better known as belonging to the 11th generation Core range.
Arrived at the end of this unexpected 2020 Intel summarizes what is its situation regarding production capacity, highlighting a very interesting data: in the last 3 years the company has doubled its wafer production in volumes in order to meet the specific needs of its customers , adding the additional capacity to 14 nanometers with that at 10 nanometers.
This result has been achieved through a series of innovations, and through the progressive transition to the production process at 10 nanometers with both an improvement in production yields . It is in fact essential, for both Intel and any semiconductor company, not only to increase the number of wafers produced but also to increase the number of working chips produced with each wafer. In a video made available in recent days, the company summarized the work that has been developed internally over the past 3 years within its factories.
Production with technology a 10 nanometers, time of type SuperFin as indicated internally by Intel, proceeds in 3 different production sites: Oregon Arizona and Israel . These factories produce 10th and 11th Generation Core processors a 10 nanometers, respectively Ice Lake and Tiger Lake, awaiting the transition to this production technology also of future solutions. In particular, in the 2021 we will see at the debut the promi processors of the Xeon range based on the 10 nanometers, with which the American company intends to consolidate its presence in the datacenter.
Bye Hello 2021! It will also kick off next year with keynote streams from the three major chip manufacturers AMD, Intel and Nvidia on the occasion of the consumer electronics trade fair CES 2021. The latter takes place purely digitally, but initially only changes slightly for end users due to the streams.
Intel’s head of the client division, Gregory Bryant, speaks on 11. January 2021 at 22 clock German time via desktop and notebook processors. At the 12. January 2021 at 17 o’clock follows AMD’s boss Lisa Su with a keynote about Radeon and Ryzen; Nvidia has scheduled the GeForce event “Game On” for 18 clock.
Companies like to use CES trade fairs for an outlook on the rest of the year. Intel wants 2021 to bring two new processor generations for desktop PCs: Rocket Lake-S as Core i – 11000 starts at the beginning of the year – according to speculation, the chip manufacturer is targeting March. New mainboards with 500 chipsets like the Z 590 according to the website WCCFTech could go on sale in January. These would then initially only run with Comet Lake CPUs (Core i – 10000).
Promising notebook competition With Rocket Lake, Intel is pushing another 14 – Nanometer design, but this time not again as a Skylake offshoot, but with backported “Cypress Cove” -Computing cores and Xe graphics unit. Something between Ice Lake and Tiger Lake, but with tried and tested – some might say old – manufacturing technology. Intel seems to give Rocket Lake only a short lifetime, however, because CEO Bob Swan has already confirmed that the successor Alder Lake will also appear 2021. In the series Intel brings a combination of fast Cove and efficient Atom cores 10 -nm technology, plus the new CPU version LGA 590 and DDR5 controller.
For notebooks, Tiger Lake-H, the first mobile processor from Intel with 10 – nm structures and more than four cores. The eight-core should compete with AMD’s Ryzen Mobile, which will receive an update to the Zen 3 architecture next year – called Cezanne for notebooks.
At CES 2020 announced AMD Renoir as Ryzen 4000 U (15 Watt) and Ryzen 4000 H (35 / 45 Watt) an, 2021 will probably follow Ryzen 5000 U and Ryzen 5000H. Traditionally, however, it takes months for such notebooks to reach retailers. The desktop processors Ryzen 5000 already attest Zen 3 a high single-threading performance – the duel Tiger Lake vs. Be Cezanne.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the first folding-screen PC, shows a clever way of moving mobile computing forward and is built solid. But there are some kinks to work out in Windows 10 and other software.
For
Folding OLED display
Feels surprisingly durable
Luxury materials
No bloatware
Against
Starts at $2,499 without accessories
Subpar battery life
Some software bugs need to be ironed out
Intel’s Lakefield chips aren’t very powerful
For every innovation to happen, someone has to go first. The worry is how they stick the landing, as that often has implications for the perception of new technology for months or years.
Lenovo is the first to market with a foldable Windows 10 PC. The ThinkPad X1 Fold ($2,499.00 to start, $3,099.00 as tested) is a tablet. Or maybe a laptop? Maybe a book?
That price is eye-popping, which is often the case for first-generation technology. Lenovo has built this with an eye on durability, and added in some premium leather. It’s powered by Intel’s low-power Core i5 Lakefield processor, which enables the form factor.
But Windows 10 wasn’t made for foldables. Lenovo has done some nice work with its own software to soften that blow, but there’s still a bit to be done to make foldables like this take their place among the best Ultrabooks.
Design of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
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Your first impression of the ThinkPad X1 Fold may be disbelief. The device ships flat, like a tablet. Then you can just fold it closed. Like a book. Open, close. Open, close. Yup, this laptop… tablet — whatever you want to call it — can fold.
This isn’t the first foldable device in the world, of course. Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo’s own phone arm, Motorola have all released folding phones, which have been of varying (often disappointing) quality. But this? No, this feels solid.
When it’s closed, the ThinkPad X1 Fold looks like a fat notebook – but a premium one, like a Moleskine. It’s bound in black leather with the ThinkPad X1 logo stamped in the front. On the back, there’s a kickstand that folds out. There is a bit of a space between the screens, though if you use the optional physical keyboard (more on that below) then no space shows at all.
You open the device the same way you would open a book, and that’s when the 13.3-inch foldable touchscreen amazes, revealing itself without showing the crease. There is, however, a significant bezel hiding some of the components.
While you can’t see the crease while the display is on (it’s visible when off), you may feel it. All you need to use the screen is a light touch. But if you press a bit harder, you can feel some of the pieces under the OLED panel. But I opened and closed this plenty, and I really didn’t have any doubts about durability, as long as you don’t toss it around.
The bezel and the sides are made from plastic, but the X1 Fold doesn’t feel cheap. There are, however, only two ports: a pair of USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports. You can use either for charging, and depending on the way you use the device (more on that in the next graph), it’s possible the other port will be covered. The rest of the sides are populated by a power button, volume rocker and some speaker grilles.
There are a handful of different ways you could hold or use the device. The most obvious is using the Fold as a straightforward Windows 10 tablet. That works exactly how you would expect, and you can use it in landscape or portrait, with Windows rotating automatically.
You could also bend the X1 Fold part way and hold it like a book, perhaps if you have an e-reader program that supports two pages at once, or if you wanted to consult two documents at the same time. This was the posture I used the least while trying the Fold though; I was just more comfortable holding it like a tablet.
But you can also use it folded part of the way on its side, sort of like a laptop. The Windows 10 touch keyboard leaves a lot to be desired, but you can attach the Fold’s small Bluetooth keyboard to the half with magnets and use half of the 13.3-inch display like a regular laptop.
Alternatively, you can keep the Fold like a tablet and stand it up with a kickstand. Pair that with either the mini keyboard (which works both on or off the screen and has a touchpad) or your own separate Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you’ve got an instant work setup. It won’t replace a primary monitor, though if you plug one in via USB Type-C, it could be a secondary one. This, to me, was my favorite way to use it. The kickstand works great in landscape mode, but while it works in portrait mode for those who want a taller display, it doesn’t feel as steady.
At 2.2 pounds, the X1 Fold isn’t much heavier than competing notebooks. But in such a compact package, it can feel a bit heavy in your hand. It’s 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches folded and 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches unfolded, which is remarkably thin for a Windows device.
There’s one other laptop powered by the same Intel Lakefield chip to enable lightweight designs: the Samsung Galaxy Book S, which is 2.1 pounds and 12 x 8 x 0.5 inches in a more standard clamshell shape. Another portable tablet-style device, the non-folding Microsoft Surface Go 2, is lighter at 1.2 pounds and is 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.3 inches.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Specifications
CPU
Intel Core i5-L16G7
Graphics
Intel UHD Graphics
Memory
8 GB LPDDR4X-4267
Storage
1TB PCIe SSD
Display
13.3-inch, QXGA, 2048 x 1536 foldable OLED touchscreen
Networking
802.11ax Intel Wi-Fi 6. Bluetooth 5.1
Ports
2x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2
Camera
720p
Battery
50 Wh
Power Adapter
65 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions(WxDxH)
Folded: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches / 236 x 158.2 x 27.8mm
Unfolded: 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches / 299.5 x 236 x 11.5 mm
Weight
2.2 pounds / 1 kg
Accessories
Lenovo Mod Pen, Lenovo Fold Mini Bluetooth Keyboard
Price (as configured)
$3,099.00
Productivity Performance on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
With the Intel “Lakefield” Core i5-L16G7, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, the ThinkPad X1 Fold trades some performance for flexibility. The processor is good enough for basic computing needs, but no more. Ths chip uses one Sunny Cove core for loads that need bursts of power along with four low-power Tremont cores. If you have a few browser tabs and email, you’ll be fine. Beyond that, consider alternatives.
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On Geekbench 5.0, the Fold notched a single-core score of 871 and a multi-core score of 1,799. Both of those are higher than the scores from the Lakefield processor in the Samsung Galaxy Book S, but there may have been some optimizations and software updates since then. The Microsoft Surface Go 2, with an Intel Core m3-8100Y, had a higher single-core score (1,147) and multi-core score (3,117).
The X1 Fold copied 4.97GB of files at a rate of 452.51MBps. That’s not the fastest out there, but it’s speedier than both the Galaxy Book S and the Surface Go 2.
It took the ThinkPad 33 minutes and 42 seconds to complete our Handbrake test, which transcodes a 4K video to 1080p. The Galaxy Book S took 41:16 and the Surface Go 2 lagged at 48:14. Mainstream laptops often take less than 20 minutes. The Dell XPS 13, for instance, took 18:22.
To stress test the ThinkPad, we also ran a modified version of our Cinebench R23 gauntlet. Usually, it goes for 20 repetitions, but because of Lakefield’s slow performance and an attempt to complete the test before the heat death of the universe, we ran it five times to stress test the Fold. It was largely stable. Surprisingly, the first score was the lowest at 1,775. It went up to the 1790’s across the next three runs, and then settled in the 1780’s.
Usually, we measure CPU speeds. Logging software we tried seemed to be way off on measurements, listing impossibly fast clock speeds that you can’t achieve even on high-end desktop processors. HwInfo did, however, suggest CPU temps of around 81.4 degrees Celsius (178.5 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Sunny Cove core and 82.7 degrees Celsius (180.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Tremont cores. But you should take that with a grain of salt, considering the clock speeds displayed.
Display on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
If there’s anywhere the ThinkPad X1 Fold has to completely and utterly nail it, it’s with the 13.3-inch, 2048 x 1536 foldable OLED touchscreen. After all, it’s the part the entire device literally hinges around, and it has to look and feel good.
You can’t see the hinge when the screen is flat, as long as the display is on. But it does appear faintly when the display is powered off. You also can’t feel the hinge, though if you press hard enough you may feel other components under the display. Luckily, a soft touch is all you need.
I’m not all that worried about durability or anything getting under the screen. Unlike the original Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone, the X1 Fold has a border completely surrounding the screen. Something could get in the leather folio’s spine, maybe, but it would be tough to get something under the screen.
The 13.3-inch screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is a good choice. As a tablet or monitor, it’s tall and provides plenty of space for work. When you fold it to use like a laptop, it’s more cramped — half of the monitor is covered and you get a 1536 x 1006 resolution and around 9.5 inches diagonally. The netbook is back, baby!
The display covers 104% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is one of the benefits of OLED. The blacks are deep, and in a trailer for Wonder Woman 1984, the blue seas outside Themyscira made me long for an island vacation (or any vacation, really). The Galaxy Book S (80.5%) and Surface Go 2 (76.1%) are still good, but they don’t use OLED. That preserves the battery (see the battery section below), however.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The X1 fold measured 301.4 nits on our light meter, falling behind both the Book S (334 nits) and Surface Go 2 (408 nits). I didn’t have any issues with this in the most colorful scenes, but there were a few rare times where I wanted to mash the brightness toggle just a few more times.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Stylus on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
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Without any other accessories, the keyboard on the ThinkPad X1 Fold is the touch keyboard that’s built into Windows 10. If you have the device folded halfway like a laptop, it’s still a bit cramped, and a touch solution won’t let you type as quickly or efficiently as on a physical keyboard.
There are solutions to this — you can use any Bluetooth keyboard and mouse you want, especially if you have it set up as a full display with the kickstand.
Our package included the $89.99 Lenovo Mod Pen and $229.99 Lenovo Fold Mini Bluetooth Keyboard, which really feels like the way the X1 Fold is intended to be used. The keyboard is super thin, tiny, and can be attached to half of the X1 Fold with magnets (this shuts off that half of the screen). You can also use it like a normal Bluetooth keyboard.
But to fit in the Fold, the keyboard is tiny and cramped. The letters and numbers are laid out well enough, but when you get to special characters, things get weird. For instance, one key is used for a period, right carrot, question mark and slash. It’s a period by default, or a right carrot with a shift. That’s expected.
For a slash, you need to press function and that key, and for a question mark you need to hit function, shift and that key. There are several keys like that, and most of them have common special characters that require three keys to use. It’s incredibly frustrating for even the most simple documents and emails. Some keys, like the colon and tilda, are dramatically shortened. There’s no backlight, but I can get past that.
I hit 98 words per minute on the 10fastfinger.com typing test, which is fairly low for me, and my errors skyrocketed. And that was on a test without special characters.
The touchpad is minuscule. It’s honestly kind of adorable. I was surprised to see it uses Windows Precision drivers, and with the exception that I often hit the edges of the touchpad, it largely was OK to use, even if it didn’t feel great. If you like four-finger gestures, that may be out of the question, but I could make three-finger gestures work.
You can charge the keyboard wirelessly by placing it in between the folded screen.
In the future, I would love to see Lenovo try to make something wider, or perhaps that extends. I might even be willing to work with something that wraps around the foldable for a better typing experience.
The Mod Pen fits into a loop on the side of the keyboard, so it all travels as one package. Mercifully, the pen charges over USB Type-C rather than using batteries, which many styluses of this size do. Lenovo claims it will last 156 hours on a charge. It has 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity and works at up to a 60 degree angle. I don’t see this being used much for art on this type of device, but it’s fine for note taking.
I do wish Lenovo would steal from Microsoft’s Surface Pen and include an eraser on the back, but you can assign that feature to one of two programmable buttons if you use Lenovo’s optional Pen Settings software.
Audio on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
I’m not going to say that the audio experience on the Fold is amazing, but it’s far better than I expected. In general, I’d say it’s about as good as the average laptop, but not as loud. It didn’t quite fill my apartment with sound as I listened to the Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?”, though for listening on my own it’s fairly usable. The song’s drums and bassline were clear, but lacked a kick. Interestingly, all of the speaker grills are on the left side of the device, or the top when in portrait mode, which did kind of throw off my balance.
You can change some equalizer presets in the Dolby Access software that’s included, but it’s not very in-depth, and I didn’t find it to make much of a difference.
Upgrading the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The big difference between configurations of the X1 Fold is storage. Buy what you’ll think you’ll need for the long run, because the device is effectively sealed.
Yes, there are some visible screws underneath the kickstand. There’s even a small door, but you can’t completely access it, as it’s partially covered by the cover. A maintenance manual shows that you effectively have to remove the entire leather cover and then open the device to get to anything, which could void your warranty if you’re not careful. Consider this thing a closed box.
Battery Life on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
An OLED display and a battery small enough to fit into a foldable won’t get you all-day battery life. On our battery test, which browses the web, runs OpenGL tests and streams video, all while connected to Wi-Fi and set at 150 nits of brightness, the X1 Fold ran for 6 hours and 3 minutes. This number was achieved from a separate unit with 256GB of storage, due to testing equipment being spread out during the pandemic, but we expect numbers would be similar on the 1TB version.
That means that while the device itself is extremely portable, you may have to also consider bringing the charger along, which is a bit of a bummer.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Samsung Galaxy Book S, another Lakefield device, ran for 9:40. That didn’t have an OLED screen, though. Microsoft’s Surface Go 2 ran for almost two hours more than that, lasting 11:38.
Heat on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
We took heat measurements while running our Cinebench R23 stress test. That benchmark is far more than one would usually run on this computer, so it shows us some worst-case scenarios for heat.
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Notably, our heat camera showed that the left side of the tablet (in landscape) heated up far more than the right side, suggesting that the processor is in that portion of the device. The hottest it got was 40.5 degrees Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit). On the back, the same portion hit 36.4 degrees Celsius (97.5 degrees Fahrenheit).
Webcam on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The 720p webcam on the ThinkPad X1 Fold is about what you might expect. Like many laptop webcams released this year, it takes a picture you could consider serviceable, but not great. A photo at my desk was grainy and a bit dim. The Surface Go 2 was the gold standard this year, with a camera that supports 1080p video, and I hope to see something like that in more laptops and foldables in 2021.
But the bigger issue is the placement. As a tablet held in landscape, the camera works exactly as you would expect. But if you turn it to portrait, or use it like a laptop with the keyboard attached, the image appears sideways in video calls, as that’s the way the camera is oriented (my colleagues were very confused when I called into a meeting like that).
Lenovo does have software to try to combat this, and you can use it to rotate the image. At best, then, using the X1 Fold in those postures creates an image more like a phone, tall with black bars on the side. It’s better than being sideways, but it feels more than a little unrefined.
Software and Warranty on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The ThinkPad X1 Fold we reviewed had no junk at all, not even the usual bloat that comes with Windows 10.
On most Windows 10 notebooks, Lenovo only includes its Vantage software (seen here in a dedicated enterprise version) for easy access to warranty status, quick camera and microphone toggles and to easily check your serial number.
But in this case, Lenovo has a bunch of other software just to make the foldable work as expected. When the X1 Fold was originally revealed, there was a plan to release it with Windows 10, and then later with Windows 10X, a touch-focused version of the operating system designed for foldable devices. But with Windows 10X delayed to 2021 — and starting on single-screen laptops instead of foldables — it working on regular Windows 10 is more important.
Most of the hard work is handled by Lenovo Mode Switcher, which lives in the task bar, recognizes which way your device is aligned and provides a method to move windows side-to-side or one on top of the other. It works as expected, but if you switch modes or rotate the device, the windows often don’t stay organized.
There’s also Lenovo Camera Settings, which lets you rotate your camera picture, Lenovo Display Optimizer to calibrate the OLED screen and the optional Lenovo Pen Settings to adjust the buttons on the pen and check its battery status.
All of this points to one issue — Windows 10 isn’t fully there as a tablet-only operating system, nor as one for foldables. Windows Hello is needed, and Lenovo deserves credit for getting it to work this much, even if there is some jankiness around it. Once, I got the Windows 10 login screen to turn vertical, as if it were on a Windows phone, with large black bars on the sides. It stayed that way on the desktop, too.
Lenovo sells the ThinkPad X1 Fold with a 1-year warranty, which can go up to three years at an additional cost.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Configurations
Our ThinkPad X1 Fold review unit was the top-end, $3,099 configuration with an Intel Core i5-L16G7 “Lakefield” processor, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM a 1TB PCIe SSD and Windows 10 Pro.
There are a number of other configurations, but they all have the same CPU and memory. The other differences come down to the amount of storage, which version of Windows 10 you get, and if the package includes the keyboard and stylus accessories.
The base option is $2,499, with 256GB of SSD storage and Windows 10 Home. Notably, this option doesn’t include the keyboard or stylus. If you want those later, the Mod Pen costs $89.99 on its own, while the mini keyboard runs for an eye-watering $229.99.
To get that option with the accessories included in the box, it’s $2,749 with Windows 10 Home or $2,799 with Windows 10 Pro. From there, prices increase with storage and all have Windows 10 Pro.
In 2021, configurations with 5G support will be available, but exact pricing and availability hasn’t been announced.
Bottom Line
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There is no doubting that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a first-gen product that isn’t for most people. If the $2,499 and up price tag (before accessories) doesn’t scare off all but tech-savvy CEO’s, it’s the fact that there are still some kinks to work out in the software.
And yet, I’m really surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed using it. While the Core i5 Lakefield chip isn’t the most performance-oriented slice of silicon, all of my x86 apps work on it, and as long as I stick to my normal workflow of browsing, writing, using some spreadsheets and watching video, this will handle things nicely. For photo editing, I would want just a tad more power.
The keyboard is a smart idea that needs more time in the oven. No individual key on the keyboard should require three buttons to press, especially if it’s as commonly used as a plus sign, a hyphen or a question mark. I would also like to see it somehow attach to the back of the device, as I tended to leave it elsewhere in my apartment and had to search for it when I needed it.
The hardware could use some slimming down, but it’s sturdy. I trust this to fold and not break. But I need Lenovo — and any other PC vendor considering moving into folding PCs — to ensure that the UX is perfect. That may mean waiting for Windows 10X, if Microsoft does a better job of adapting its own OS to the form factor than an OEM could do.
But Lenovo, for a first try, has impressed. Still, the expense and the quirks you get for this high price mean that you should probably wait for future generations. But I have hope that these kinds of devices will get a lot better before too long.
[Editor’s Note: The Tom’s Hardware staff first published a version of this poem in 2014 on Christmas Eve. We updated it a little bit and ran it again each year at the same time. The poem was given a complete overhaul in 2018 and 2019.
We understand that this holiday season follows a challenging year unlike any other, and wish you and your loved ones the best. In putting out this simple poem, we hope to spark a bit of joy. Thank you all for the support and participation you offer throughout the year, and we wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.]
‘Twas the holiday season and where the elves roam,
All the PCs worked on Folding@Home.
Some folded protein for research assistance,
But the rest helped Santa give gifts from a distance.
He booted a Windows PC (that’s one in a billion),
But his Excel rows counted a trillion.
So he ran XLOOKUP to match data with flair
From the comfort of his fifteen-hundred-buck chair.
Then he a got a drink from his Xbox fridge,
But he couldn’t be late, not even a smidge.
The children had waited for presents for days,
Santa can’t ape Intel’s 7 nanometer delays!
Santa couldn’t go into houses right now,
But he found a way to do his job anyhow.
He’d fly planes from Microsoft Flight Simulator To deliver gifts from here to the equator.
And while this may sound silly or a little bit funny,
Santa Claus had to spend Lisa Su-level money To buy all of the planes, the supplies and the wares
And he hadn’t made much with his Corsair shares.
But the gifts this year were all very large
There were several PlayStation 5s in his charge,
And in the cargo hold he’d need to find spots
For RTX 3090s that take up three slots!
But he managed to get everything packed,
Like Zen 3 CPUs and some new M1 Macs,
And for those who need places to go rest their heads,
He readied embarrassing twin gamer beds.
Of course some companies bought gifts for themselves. Nvidia grabbed Arm – that didn’t need elves. AMD took hold of Xilinx for $35 billion,
Bringing it to team red. (Or is it more vermillion?)
The planes took to the skies without any hitches,
And Microsoft patched most of its flight sim glitches.
They dumped Big Navi GPUs through the air
With RGB keyboards that were glowing like flares.
The only tech that didn’t fall through the sky
Was that one Ryzen laptop that you couldn’t buy,
So that Ryzen 7 4800U Yoga Slim 7
Was the one notebook that didn’t rain from the heavens.
When Santa was almost done with his gift-giving spree,
The plane sprung a leak, like Windows XP.
He tried to land safely on the earth’s ground floor
But crashed harder than Cyberpunk on PS4.
But Santa’s moves at the flight stick were simply outstanding,
And he used the sim to pull off an emergency landing.
Santa couldn’t stop when he’d gotten this far,
Luckily he’d included an emergency car.
That he could pilot remotely and control on a whim
With Razer’s concept esports racing sim.
He felt every bump, every turn, every drift,
But his car helped deliver every last gift.
As the snowy weather started to worsen,
He said “next year I hope to do this in person.”
Then he stood from his chair and he shouted “I did it!”
But no gifts for Huawei, theU.S. forbidit.
He went to go sleep; his energy hit rock bottom,
Tomorrow he’ll build with parts Mrs. Claus bought him.
The AMD Ryzen 7 5800 H is one of the most anticipated laptop processors, The first leaks show a performance increase of up to 20% above the current one 4800 H which has already turned legs top the market for notebook CPUs offering a performance never seen before.
It seems that Acer has already prepared a new model of its notebook Nitro 5 that will arrive with this 5800 H , in fact, this not the first leaked laptop with this processor and the ASUS TUF Gaming A 17 was the first that we could meet with this new model.
In addition to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 H, the Acer Nitro 5 will have an RTX 3080 in its maximum configuration
Appeared in a German online store (already deleted the web, but captured by videocardz), the Nitro 5 also lets us see another interesting novelty: the RTX 2080 that will accompany this processor, the graphics destined to become the most powerful in the laptop market.
A FullHD screen of 90 Hz, 1 TB NVMe SSD and up to 24 3 GB DDR4 memory . 200 MHz The price of 1.948,61 euros would be within what is expected, currently there are laptops with RTX 2080 for amounts s Similar.
Possibly not Let’s take a moment to see this team in the market, as it is expected that both AMD and Nvidia will present their news at this CES 2021.
End of Article. Tell us something in the Comments or come to our Forum!
Antonio Delgado
Computer Engineer by training, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love gutting everything that comes my way, especially the latest hardware that we get here for reviews. In my spare time I fiddle with 3d printers, drones and other gadgets. For anything here you have me.
The video is unboxed and presents 1599 euro-denominated Omen gaming laptop with new wireless Spacer keyboard and Vector mouse
Commercial cooperation with HP and NVIDIA
In addition to HP gaming brand Omen’s affordable gaming laptop unboxing, the video introduces the notebook’s features and tries out gaming with the new Call of Duty Blackops Cold War game.
The more specific model name of the Omen 15 laptop is en 500 and the insides include AMD’s 8-core Ryzen 7 4800 H processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card and in addition 16 gigabytes of main memory and 500 gigabyte NVMe M.2 SSD. 15 – inch screen supports Full HD resolution, 144 Hertz refresh rate and is equipped with FreeSync support.
The wireless and mechanical Spacer keyboard will go on sale at retailers next year 144 in euros. The TKL keyboard is equipped with brown Cherry MX switches and ABS plastic key caps. The vector game mouse, on the other hand, is available for sale in a wireless version 100 at a price of euros and a wired 60 in euros
Omen Finland website
Giant, Omen 16 – gaming laptop 1599 €
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX video card 3000 and AMD Ryzen processor 5000: these are the technical features of an Acer gaming notebook appeared online, which will presumably debut in January 2021
by Paolo Corsini published 23 December 2020 , at 11: 11 in the Portable channel RyZen AMD Ampere RTX GeForce NVIDIA Acer
On the occasion of the edition 2021 of the CES , which this year will take place completely in virtual format, the presentation of numerous innovations is expected by leading hardware and PC companies. Intel, NVIDIA and AMD have already anticipated that they will hold presentation conferences at CES, with which they will show the new products expected for the first part of the year.
A German online retailer, as reported by the videocardz website, has added information on a new to its website Acer notebook, model AN 517 – announced in the first weeks of 2021. In this model there are in fact a AMD Ryzen processor of the series 5000 based on Zen 3 architecture and one NVIDIA GeForce RTX video card 3080 based on Ampere architecture, in declination for notebook systems.
For the AMD Ryzen 7 processor 5800 H , this is the model indicated, the consumption should be equal to 45 Watt with a 8 cores and 16 threads ; the rumors that have emerged so far speak of a lock frequency of 3.2GHz, with the possibility of going up to 4, 45 Ghz as the maximum boost clock frequency. GeForce RTX video card 3080 may be Max-Q version low consumption , so as to ensure compatibility in terms of power supply and thermal dissipation. The power supply supplied is from 180 Watt, a power that is precisely inclined towards a Max-Q family GPU.
During the first weeks of 2021 we will see all the notebook manufacturers struggling with announcements of new models based on next generation AMD processors and the new NVIDIA video cards of the Ampere family . There should also be news from Intel , with new CPU proposals for more powerful notebook systems for gaming and personal productivity.
It seems that the processors AMD Ryzen 5000 for notebooks are around the corner around the corner, and is that although they recently launched for the desktop market, for now they had not made any appearance in the laptop market, reason why we are talking right now a performance leak.
The processor seems to have been tested on a laptop Xiaomi Mi Notebook and has 6 cores and 12 threads running at 3.3GHz base frequency and a maximum frequency of 4. 24 GHz , although we do not know if it is a turbo frequency is standard or there is some opportunistic overclocking algorithm.
In the present case, we come across the performance results of Geekbench 5, something that gives us a score of 1372 points in single wire performance and 5713 stitches in multithread , a 37% higher than Ryzen 5 4600 H in single wire and a 18% higher in multithreading, since the current chip obtains scores of 996 and 4837 points respectively.
If we compare with respect to Intel processors, the Ryzen 5 5600 H is higher than the Intel Core i7 – 10750 H with scores of 1147 stitches in single thread and 5530 in multithread , and even equals the Intel Core i7 – 10700 K in single-wire performance , something that exhibits the great CPI that AMD has achieved with the new Zen 3 architecture for the Ryzen processor series 5000.
End of Article. Tell us something in the Comments or come to our Forum!
Jordi Bercial
Avid enthusiast of technology and electronics. I mess around with computer components almost since I learned to ride. I started working at Geeknetic after winning a contest on their forum for writing hardware articles. Drift, mechanics and photography lover. Don’t be shy and leave a comment on my articles if you have any questions.
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