Intel has demonstrated a laptop based on its upcoming eight-core Tiger Lake-H processor running at up to 5.0 GHz, essentially revealing some of the main selling points of its flagship CPU for notebooks. Mobile PCs based on the chip will hit the market in the second quarter, Intel said.
As a part of its GDC 2021 showcase (via VideoCardz), Intel demonstrated a pre-production enthusiast-grade notebook running a yet-to-be-announced 11th-Generation Core i9 ‘Tiger Lake-H’ processor with eight cores and Hyper-Threading technology running at 5.0 GHz ‘across multiple cores.’
The demo CPU is likely the Core i9-11980HK, which Lenovo has already listed, but without disclosing its specifications. This time around, Intel also did not reveal the base clocks of the processor and how many cores can run at 5.0 GHz, but it’s obvious that we’re talking about more than one core, implying 5.0 GHz is not its maximum single-core turbo clock.
Intel’s Tiger Lake-H processors are powered by up to eight cores featuring the Willow Cove microarchitecture equipped with up to 24 MB of L3 cache and a new DDR4 memory controller. The new CPUs also have numerous improvements over processors on the platform level, including 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes to connect to the latest GPUs and high-end SSDs, as well as built-in Thunderbolt 4 support.
To demonstrate the capabilities of the 8-core/16-thread Core i9 ‘Tiger Lake-H’ CPU, Intel used the Total War real-time strategy game that uses CPUs heavily. Unfortunately, it is unknown which GPU Intel used for the demonstration or if it was a discrete high-end notebook graphics processor or Intel’s integrated Xe-LP GPU. Since the laptop featured at least a 15.6-inch display, common sense tells us that this was a discrete graphics solution.
During the presentation, Intel said that the first notebooks based on the Tiger Lake-H processor would arrive in Q2 2021 but did not disclose whether they will show up in early April or late June.
The ever-insightful benchmark database detective @TUM_APISAK has just shared Geekbench 5 results for a Samsung laptop powered by unreleased hardware from both Intel and Nvidia. The mysterious laptop in question is called the 760XDA, and it comes equipped with a Core i5-11400H processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 mobile GPU.
This is the first we’ve heard of a Core i5-11400H, and Geekbench 5 lists the chips as a 6-core 12 thread part, leading us to believe the 11400H should be the Tiger Lake-H successor to the previous-gen Core i5-10400H.
The 11400H scored 1387 points in the single-threaded Geekbench 5 test and 4934 points in the multi-threaded test, making it 15% faster than its predecessor in the single-threaded test and 20% faster in the multi-threaded benchmark.
The Nvidia RTX 3050 is even more interesting, though. We’ve heard rumors of an RTX 3050 for months now, but this Geekbench 5 result is as close as we’ve come to seeing potential specifications for the unreleased silicon.
Geekbench 5 says the RTX 3050 comes equipped with 16 Compute Units (CUs), a 1.06GHz maximum boost frequency, and 4GB of VRAM. If we factor in that Nvidia uses 128 CUDA cores per SM on the Ampere architecture, that means the RTX 3050 should come with 2048 CUDA cores in total.
Compared to RTX 3060 mobile, the RTX 3050 mobile has less than half the CUDA core count of its bigger counterpart. That means we can expect 50% less performance than an RTX 3060.
This new entry-level GPU features “RTX” branding from Nvidia, so we can fully expect this 3050 to feature both ray-tracing cores, and tensor cores for DLSS support. If accurate, this would be Nvidia’s first entry-level GPU to feature both technologies. Hopefully, the GPU will have enough horsepower to give gamers an incentive to use Nvidia’s RTX features without suffering a severe frame rate penalty.
If this laptop is more than just a prototype, we should see Nvidia’s RTX 3050 and Intel’s new Tiger Lake-H CPUs on the market soon.
Performance results for Intel’s unreleased eight-core Tiger Lake-H parts are already being posted online. Benchleaks shared Geekbench 5 scores of the upcoming Core i7-11800H Tiger Lake-H CPU with impressive results.
Rumor has it that the Core i7-11800H will be one of Intel’s beefy 45W Tiger Lake-H parts featuring eight cores and 16 threads to compete with the likes of AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H. Like Intel’s current U-series and H35 products, the eight-core Tiger Lake variants will feature Intel’s latest Willow Cove cores powered by the 10nm SuperFin architecture, allowing for up to 20% higher clock speeds than the previous models.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Geekbench 5)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Geekbench 5)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Geekbench 5)
Strangely we have not just one, but three Geekbench results for the i7-11800H. Presumably, this was done to attain a more realistic Geekbench 5 result, as executing multiple benchmark runs and averaging the results can be more realistic than running a benchmark a single time.
When we average the three results together, the i7-11700H managed a single-threaded score of 1474 points and a multi-threaded score of 8116 points. That makes the i7-11800H around 15% faster than its predecessor, the Core i7-10875H, suggesting a healthy gen-on-gen performance improvement.
However, if we compare the i7-11800H to the best Ryzen 7 5800H Geekbench 5 scores, that puts the 5800H and 11800H within 2% of each other. That lands within the margin of error, so we can safely say that both chips offer similar performance in Geekbench 5.
If these results are true, then Intel is poised to make a major comeback in the notebook segment, finally catching up to AMD’s impressive Zen 3 notebook processors.
Intel’s next-generation desktop chips are finally here: after a brief preview at CES, the company is fully unveiling its 11th Gen Core desktop chips (better known by their codename, Rocket Lake-S.)
Leading the pack is Intel’s new flagship chip, the Core i9-11900K, with eight cores, 16 threads, boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz, support for DDR4 RAM at 3,200MHz, a total of 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes, and backwards compatibility with Intel’s 400 Series chipsets.
Eagle-eyed Intel fans might notice that the new chip is, on paper, actually a downgrade from last year’s top model, the Core i9-10900K, which offered 10 cores and 20 threads (and a similar boosted clock speed of 5.3GHz).
That’s because Intel is debuting a new desktop core architecture for the first time in over half a decade with its 11th Gen Rocket Lake-S chips called Cypress Cove. Cypress Cove finally replaces the Skylake microarchitecture, which the company has been using since its 6th Gen chips in 2015.
But the Cypress Cove design isn’t actually a whole new microarchitecture — it’s actually Intel’s Willow Cove chip designs and technologies that the company has been using on its 11th Gen 10nm Tiger Lake chips which Intel is backporting to its 14nm production process.
Since those designs were meant for 10nm chips, though, Intel is limited in the number of cores it can fit when scaling them up to a 14nm size; hence, the reduction in core count year over year. But Intel still says that the new chips will offer better performance (at least, in some cases) than the 10th Gen, with the core architecture enabling up to 19 percent IPC (instructions per cycle) than the previous generation.
Intel’s argument here is effectively that sheer core count isn’t enough on its own — frequency speed and performance matters, too, and thanks to the maturity of the 14nm production process, Intel is very good at cranking out every last drop of performance from these chips.
Intel 11th Gen Desktop Chips
Model
Cores/Threads
Base clock speed (GHz)
Boosted clock speed (GHz)
Turbo Boost Max 3.0 clock speed
Thermal Velocity Boost speed, single core / all cores (GHZ)
Smart Cache
TDP (W)
Graphics
Recommended Price
Model
Cores/Threads
Base clock speed (GHz)
Boosted clock speed (GHz)
Turbo Boost Max 3.0 clock speed
Thermal Velocity Boost speed, single core / all cores (GHZ)
Smart Cache
TDP (W)
Graphics
Recommended Price
i9-11900K
8/16
3.5
Up to 5.1
Up to 5.2
Up to
5.3 / 4.8
16M
125
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$539
i9-11900
8/16
2.5
Up to 5.0
Up to 5.1
Up to
5.2 / 4.7
16M
65
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$439
i7-11700K
8/16
3.6
Up to 4.9
Up to 5.0
NA
16M
125
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$399
i7-11700
8/16
2.5
Up to 4.8
Up to 4.9
NA
16M
65
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$323
i5-11600K
6/12
3.9
Up to 4.9
NA
NA
12M
125
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$262
i5-11600
6/12
2.8
Up to 4.8
NA
NA
12M
65
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$213
i5-11500
6/12
2.7
Up to 4.6
NA
NA
12M
65
Intel UHD Graphics 750
$192
i5-11400
6/12
2.6
Up to 4.4
NA
NA
12M
65
Intel UHD Graphics 730
$182
And Intel’s benchmarks (obviously) support that argument: head to head with last year’s Core i9-10900K, the i9-11900K offered between 8 to 14 percent better performance on games like Gears 5, Grid 2019, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Total War: Three Kingdoms. Intel also says that its top chip outperforms AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 5900X processor for those titles, although by slightly smaller margins (between 3 and 11 percent better, according to Intel’s benchmarks).
That said, Intel’s tests were all running at 1080p, so we’ll have to stay tuned for more comprehensive benchmarking down the line on a wider range of titles — and particularly, at 4K resolution.
The new architecture also brings other improvements, with up to 50 percent better integrated graphics compared to Gen9 thanks to the company’s new Xe graphics, with one-third more EUs than its Gen9 graphics.
Given that these are desktop chips that will almost certainly be paired with a high-end discrete graphics card, that’s not the most groundbreaking improvement, however. And while Intel will be offering several F-series models of the new chips without GPUs, the overall design is still the same on those models. That means that Intel isn’t going to be offering any niche models that ditch integrated GPUs to try to fit in more cores, at least for now.
The new chips also feature other improvements. The 11th Gen chips add Resizable BAR, for a frame rate boost on compatible Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. There’s built-in support for both USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 at 20Gbps as well as Intel’s own Thunderbolt 4, along with DDR4-3200 RAM. And Intel has added four additional Gen 4 PCIe lanes, for a total of 20.
As is traditional for a major new chip launch, Intel is also introducing its 500 series motherboards alongside the new processors, but the Rocket Lake-S CPUs will also be backwards compatible with 400 series motherboards.
Additionally, there’s some new overclocking options with the new chips for users looking to squeeze out even more power. Specifically, Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility software is getting refreshed with a new UI and some updated features alongside the 11th Gen chips.
The new 11th Gen Intel desktop processors are available starting today.
AMD has announced its new Ryzen Pro 5000 series mobile processors, its competitor to Intel’s vPro platform. The company claims the chips, based on the same Zen 3 architecture as most of its consumer-focused Ryzen 5000 series, will provide “uncompromised performance and battery life” for thin-and-light business laptops. They’ll appear in a slate of business notebooks including Elitebooks, ProBooks, ThinkPads, and ThinkBooks throughout this year.
On paper, the chips look pretty similar to their Ryzen 5000 counterparts. The headliner is the Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U, with eight cores, 16 threads, 20MB cache, and base frequency of 1.9 GHz with boost up to 4.4 GHz. AMD’s Ryzen line currently contains the only processors for thin-and-light laptops that use “eight high-performing cores.” Intel’s Tiger Lake vPro line is all quad-core at the moment (though its H-series has an eight-core chip on the way, and that line does appear in ultraportables from time to time) and Apple’s M1 chip uses a combination of high-power and high-efficiency cores.
The line also includes the Ryzen 5 Pro 5650U (six cores, 12 threads) and the Ryzen 3 Pro 5450U (four cores, eight threads). The three chips are identical in specs to the Ryzen 7 5800U, Ryzen 5 5600U, and the Ryzen 3 5400U, respectively; all have 15W TDP. We’ll be testing a 5800U system shortly and will have a better sense of how these chips will perform after that.
Image: AMD
What the new chips have to offer businesses specifically are some new security features. They include a new Shadow Stack (here’s an explainer if you’re curious) designed to protect against malware attacks. AMD says the chips also include “deep integration with Microsoft and OEMs” for better security, and that PCs will have FIPS encryption certification.
The chips also include AMD’s Pro Manageability platform, which is AMD’s competitor to Intel’s Active Management Technology, and include “full spectrum manageability features.” As the Ryzen Pro 4000 series did, the 5000 line supports Microsoft’s Endpoint Manager, a platform for IT workers to manage PCs, servers, and other devices in their organization.
AMD is moving its mobile Ryzen 5000 processors into business with Ryzen 5000 Pro, the company announced today. The new series consists of three chips, the Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U, Ryzen 5 Pro 5650U and Ryzen 3 5450U, and AMD claims the processors will show up in 63 laptop designs this year, including laptops from Lenovo and HP.
All three processors are on AMD’s Zen 3 architecture and 7nm process. (In fact, they are almost exactly identical, except for cache, on specs with the consumer-focused Ryzen 7 5800U, Ryzen 5 5600U and Ryzen 3 5400U)
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: AMD)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: AMD)
Cores / Threads
Frequency
Architecture
Node
L2 + L3 Cache
TDP
Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U
16-Aug
1.9 GHz base, up to 4.4 GHz
Zen 3
7nm
20 MB
15W
Ryzen 5 Pro 5650U
12-Jun
2.3 GHz base, up to 4.2 GHz
Zen 3
7nm
19 MB
15W
Ryzen 3 Pro 5450U
8-Apr
2.6 GHz. up to 4.0 GHz
Zen 3
7nm
10 MB
15W
In benchmarks released by the company, it compared the top-of-the-line, Cezanne-based AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U to Intel’s 28W Core i7-1185G7 “Tiger Lake” part.
(Image credit: AMD)
AMD admitted to a 3% loss against the Core i7 in single-threaded performance (measured in Cinebench R20) but showed 65% gains in Cinebench R20 multi-thread and Passmark 10 CPU Mark, as well as Geekbench 5’s multi-core (single-core scores weren’t listed). In these tests, Intel’s chip was housed in a Dell Latitude 5420 with 32GB of RAM at 3,200 MHz and a 512GB SSD from SK Hynix, while the Ryzen Pro was in a reference platform with 16GB of LPDDR4 RAM at 4,266 MHz and a 512GB Samsung 970 Pro SSD.
(Image credit: AMD)
In productivity, the two tied in Microsoft Word and the Edge browser in AMD’s tests, but the Cezanne chip came out between 4% and 23% in other productivity benchmarks. Those tests switched the Intel laptop to an MSI Prestige 14 Evo with a 28W TDP, 16GB of RAM at 4,267 MHz, and a Kingston SSD of unspecified size. The AMD machine remained the reference design.
(Image credit: AMD)
Just to show off, AMD also picked some benchmarks comparing the Ryzen 5 Pro 5650U and the Core i7-1185G7, where its chip outperformed Intel in Passmark 10 CPU Mark (+25%), Geekbench 5 multi-core (+26%), PCMark 10 Apps (+4%) and PCMark 10 Benchmark (+20%). This round of testing also used the MSI Prestige 14 Evo and the reference design.
(Image credit: AMD)
Compared to the Latitude with Intel Core i7-1185G7, AMD claims that the Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U is up to 10% faster while running a 49-participant Zoom call and running the PCMark 10 applications benchmark.
(Image credit: AMD)
For battery life, AMD compared to previous generation Ryzen Pro chips, suggesting the 7nm process helps the new Ryzen 7 reach 17.5 hours on Mobile Mark 2018’s general computing test.
(Image credit: AMD)
The company is touting new security features for this year. AMD Shadow Stack is at the hardware level to prevent malware. It’s part of the Secured Core PC program, which Microsoft announced with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm in late 2019, and also meets the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: AMD)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: AMD)
To mark the launch, AMD is also showcasing six laptops coming from partners HP and Lenovo. The HP Probook Aero 635 G2 and HP Probook x360 435 G8 will be exclusive for 2021, and the Lenovo ThinkBook 16) is listed as an “AMD exclusive creator platform.” The company also listed the HP EliteBook 845 G8, ThinkPad T14S and ThinkBook 14S as highlighted notebooks.
Intel may offer more information about its upcoming products soon. The company’s hosting a session at GDC Showcase that promises to offer a “first look at the new Tiger Lake H-series notebook and Rocket Lake desktop processors.”
It’s not clear what exactly Intel plans to share at GDC Showcase, which is essentially the pre-show for Game Developers Conference 2021, especially since we got our “first looks” at Tiger Lake and Rocket Lake in September and October 2020.
We already know Tiger Lake is supposed to introduce a new ultraportable gaming segment; that models with four, six, and eight cores will be available; and that Intel claims these processors will outperform AMD’s Ryzen 4000-series “Renoir” chips.
Intel’s also claimed that manufacturers have already built more than 150 products around Tiger Lake-H processors, and even though the line is supposed to be limited to notebooks, ASRock’s already planning to use the chips in several NUC models.
We also know Rocket Lake is supposed to help Intel claim more spots on our list of the best CPUs with a claimed peak boost speed of 5.3GHz, the introduction of the Cypress Cove architecture, and the inclusion of 12th-gen Xe LP Graphics.
GDC Showcase might have been a good time for Intel to announce Rocket Lake retail availability, but the company’s already said enthusiasts should be able to get their hands on the new CPUs on March 30. (Assuming they haven’t already bought some.)
But that doesn’t mean Intel will show up to GDC Showcase empty-handed. We’re still awaiting official specs for eight-core Tiger Lake models, for example, and so far the only information we have about Rocket Lake pricing has come from retailer leaks.
So far as what Intel’s said about its plans: The session will purportedly help viewers “learn how Intel empowers software developers with the latest tools and technology helping to make the best gaming and content creation experiences possible.”
Sales of PCs increased sharply in 2020 as people needed new desktops and notebooks to work and learn from home. As a result, shipments of GPUs (graphics processing units) also increased compared to 2019, mostly because the majority of today’s CPUs (central processing units) come with integrated GPUs. But while many people were hoping to pick up one of the best graphics cards or best CPUs, availability was severely limited, particularly in the second half of the year. The surprising result is that, despite record demand for gaming PCs and hardware, sales of dedicated GPUs were not exactly exceptional in 2020. Data from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) confirms what we experienced, but let’s look at the details.
As PC Sales Increase, Intel’s GPUs Eat AMD’s and Nvidia’s Lunch
According to Gartner, PC shipments increased 10.7% year-over-year to 79.392 million units in Q4 2020. Quarter-over-quarter, PC sales increased by 11.2%. For the year, they totaled 274.147 million units, up 4.8% from 2019. JPR says that shipments of both integrated and discrete GPUs in the fourth quarter were up 20.5% quarter-over-quarter, as some chips are sold well before actual systems become available. That sounds good, but the actual GPU sales aren’t quite as impressive.
(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)
Since Intel remains the leading supplier of CPUs, it’s also the No. 1 supplier of GPUs. In Q4 2020, Intel actually managed to solidify its lead by increasing its market share to 69%. Meanwhile, the three GPU vendors posted mixed results in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter: AMD’s shipments were up 6.4% and Intel’s sales increased 33.2%, while Nvidia’s unit shipments decreased by a rather significant 7.3%.
As far as market share goes, Intel controlled 69% of the PC GPU market in Q4 2020, Nvidia’s share dropped to 17%, and AMD’s share fell to 15%. We’ve been talking about graphics card shortages since the Ampere launch back in September, but it’s good to have hard numbers.
Both Intel and AMD sell loads of CPUs with integrated graphics, and last year the companies released quite successful 11th-Gen Core ‘Tiger Lake’ chips as well as Ryzen 4000-series ‘Renoir’ processors for laptops and compact desktops. To that end, it isn’t surprising that the two companies increased GPU sales as shipments of notebooks boomed. Meanwhile, note that when counting CPU shipments, some of these devices may be sold to fill in backlog, or to sit in the inventory of PC makers.
Unlike AMD and Intel, Nvidia supplies only discrete GPUs and its unit shipments decreased because it suffered severe shortages of its desktop products in Q4. Despite the drop in unit sales and the deficit, Nvidia’s position as the leading discrete GPU supplier didn’t suffer. More on that later.
Sales of Desktop Graphics Cards Hit by Shortages, but ASPs Set Records
Unit sales of desktop discrete graphics cards were down 3.9% sequentially in Q4 2020. Jon Peddie Research reports that around 11 million add-in-boards (AIBs) were sold during the quarter.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Generally, approximately 11 million graphics cards sold in the fourth quarter looks like a rather modest result (it’s below Q4 2019, Q4 2017, Q4 2016, and Q4 2015), but keeping in mind how significantly average selling prices of AIBs increased recently, 11 million GPUs mean a lot of money for AMD, Nvidia, and their AIB partners. Meanwhile, since it’s extremely hard to get a new graphics board these days, it becomes rather evident that there is a great undersupply.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Overall, the market shipped around 41.5 million discrete graphics cards for desktop PCs in 2020, which is about 3 million more than 2019 but still below sales in prior years. Jon Peddie Research reports that the AIB market reached $14.8 billion last year, which means that an average graphics card cost $360 last year.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In recent months we saw numerous reports and videos about cryptocurrency mining farms using hundreds or thousands of graphics AIBs to mine Ethereum. While there certainly are mining farms using loads of GPUs, it doesn’t appear that they somehow substantially increased the total available market of video cards. Most probably, they have had added to the deficit of graphics cards on the market, but neither miners nor scalpers are the key reasons for the shortages.
Nvidia has been leading the desktop discrete GPU market since the early 2000s, and in Q4 2020 it actually captured its highest unit market share ever. Last quarter the company controlled 83% of the shipments. By contrast, AMD’s share hit an all-time low of just 17%.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Throughout the fourth quarter, Nvidia complained about shortages of GPUs and other components. However, it still managed to ship over 9 million standalone graphics processors for desktops throughout the quarter, which is its best result in two years. We do not know the share of Nvidia’s Ampere GPUs in its shipments in Q4 2020, but previously the company indicated that it was draining its Turing inventory for a couple of quarters, so the GeForce RTX 30-series was probably sold in noticeable quantities in Q4.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
AMD’s desktop discrete AIB market share in the fourth quarter 2020 dropped sharply by 6% sequentially. The company commanded 17% of shipments and sold about 1.87 million standalone GPUs for desktops in Q4 2020, 780 thousand less than in Q3 2020, according to Jon Peddie Research. For AMD, this is the worst result in two years.
During the last quarter, AMD launched its latest Radeon RX 6800/6900-series graphics cards based on the Navi 21 GPU that were sold out as soon as they reached store shelves. The company also complained about shortages of components. In addition to its desktop discrete GPUs, AMD also had to ramp up production of its Ryzen 5000-series processors as well as system-on-chips (SoCs) for the latest game consoles in Q4, which naturally decreased the number of pre-allocated wafers it could use for the Radeon products.
Nvidia Solidifies Positions as Leading dGPU Supplier
Although Nvidia’s unit sales dropped by 7.3% quarter-over-quarter in Q4 2020, the company still managed to post massive gaming revenue gains and actually increased its discrete GPU market share (which includes graphics processors for both desktops and laptops) to 82%, based on data from Jon Peddie Research.
(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)
In recent years, Nvidia has outsold AMD 7:3 or 4:1 in the discreet GPU market, which is a significant lead. Nvidia has also long dominated the standalone GPUs market for laptops with gaming GPUs for laptops. Historically, this market was small, but it grew by 7X in seven years, according to Nvidia. So far, the company has sold 50 million mobile GeForce graphics processors for gaming, which is a lot.
“Laptops right now, gaming laptops, is probably the fastest-growing gaming platform that is out there,” said Colette Kress, CFO of Nvidia, at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Broker Conference (via SeekingAlpha). “It is up 7 times in just 7 years. Q4, for example, was our 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit year-over-year growth in our overall laptops. Our GeForce RTX 30 series laptops launch was one of our largest launches ever with more than 70-plus different devices. […] We have got 50 million GeForce laptop gamers at this time.”
Summary
(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)
Demand for PCs is booming, which helps AMD and Intel sell tens of millions of CPUs every quarter. Over 274 million systems were sold in 2020, which means these two companies supplied over 274 million client processors throughout the year, and most of these CPUs featured an integrated GPU. In contrast, the situation looks different when it comes to discrete GPU sales.
(Image credit: MSI)
Traditionally, GPU sales increase when new GPUs and new games arrive, or at least stay at high levels. Both AMD and Nvidia started shipments of their new AIBs based on the latest RDNA2 and Ampere architectures in Q4 2020. Several new AAA games were released during the quarter as well, including Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Marvel’s Avengers, and Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, despite new hardware and game launches, actual discrete GPU shipments dropped in Q4 vs Q3, which was almost certainly caused by component shortages.
Nvidia sold over 9.13 million of desktop discrete GPUs in Q4 2020, which was a bit up from the prior quarter, but the shipments were constrained. With its Radeon RX 6800/6900-series graphics cards based on the Navi 21 GPU, AMD’s Radeon products turned out to be competitive against Nvidia’s in the lucrative enthusiast segment for the first time in years. Unfortunately, the company’s market share and unit shipments declined sequentially because of the shortages and because the company had to ramp up production of other products, which lowered its ability to produce enough Radeons for the market.
In general, discrete desktop GPU shipments in 2020 totaled approximately 41.5 million units and exceeded shipments of graphics cards in 2019. That’s likely due to AMD and Nvidia both selling out of previous generation cards, rather than significant numbers of the latest generation GPUs. Shortages constrained and continue to limit AIB sales, and it’s difficult to estimate just how high the actual demand for standalone desktop GPUs was in 2020. Looking forward, there’s still unmet demand, and the GPU and graphics card makers would need to produce plenty of products to keep up in 2021. Unfortunately, that’s likely not possible, as the shortages continue to plague the industry.
Popular handheld gaming device maker GPD reportedly plans to create a new handheld built around AMD’s new Ryzen 7 5800U Zen 3 mobile processor, according to YouTuber Wild Lee. This will be GPD’s first use of an AMD CPU, and it will be by far the most powerful handheld they’ve made up to this point, competing directly with the Aya Neo.
GPD will be putting the 5800U in its Win Max chassis, so it’ll look very similar to GPDs current Win Max devices that feature both a keyboard and joysticks, so you can choose whether to play a game with a controller layout or with a mouse and keyboard.
Specs-wise, this should give the Zen 3 GPD device an edge over the Aya Neo, which features a previous-gen Ryzen 5 4500U with lower core and thread counts. The 5800U should be especially handy for emulators and AAA titles that rely heavily on CPU resources to maintain performance. While both devices pack integrated Vega graphics chips, the 5800U has 8 CUs clocked at up to 2GHz, while the 4500U only has 6 CUs clocked at up to 1.5GHz, so performance should also greatly favor the GDP handheld.
There might be a third competitor in the space as well, from GPD’s own lineup. GPD just announced the Win 3, featuring an Intel Tiger Lake CPU and a form factor similar to the Nintendo Switch Lite, with a built-in keyboard. The use of a Tiger Lake CPU gives the Win 3 Intel’s latest Xe Graphics, which might be more powerful than AMD’s current Vega graphics — depending on the games used.
It will be interesting to see where the Ryzen 7 5800U equipped GPD device lands in the handheld market. Will gamers prefer a beefier CPU, or a potentially more powerful GPU, and how will the various options actually stack up? We’ll have to wait to find out.
When Intel introduced its codenamed Tiger Lake-H processors earlier this year, it limited the announcement to quad-core CPUs aimed at a rather niche ‘ultraportable gaming’ segment and did not reveal any details about six-core and eight-core Tiger Lake-H CPUs it previously confirmed. These chips are still on track to be released in the coming months, and a PC maker recently disclosed the specifications of some of them.
DT Research sells rugged and specialized PCs for corporate, government, and healthcare clients. Such customers are willing to pay a premium for systems they need, but they also need time to ensure that the PCs comply with their requirements. Recently DT Research issued specifications of its upcoming LT375 Rugged Mobile Workstation and the publication was quickly discovered by @momomo_us/Twitter. The machine is set to be based on Intel’s Tiger Lake-H processor with six or eight cores that will be accompanied by a 17-inch 1000-nits display, up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 GPU, up to 64GB of RAM, and two SSDs (more details about the system below).
DT Research will offer its LT375 with the following three Tiger Lake-H processors:
The PC maker does not list the TDP of the CPUs, but a 17-inch desktop replacement notebook can certainly handle a 45W processor, so it is more than likely that all of these chips are rated for 45W.
What strikes the eye about the specifications of Intel’s Tiger Lake-H is their rather low frequencies when compared to Intel’s previous-generation Comet Lake-H CPUs aimed at the same market segment. We do know that there is Intel’s Core i9-11980HK coming to gaming PCs and this one has to be fast, but its younger brother Core i9-11900H (8C/16C, 2.10 GHz/4.90 GHz) looks rather pale when compared to the Core i9-10885H (8C/16C, 2.40 GHz/5.30 GHz), assuming that the specifications are accurate.
Intel’s Tiger Lake-H processors with up to eight Willow Cove cores have a number of advantages over its predecessors, including an all-new microarchitecture, a massive (up to) 24 MB LLC to maximize effective memory bandwidth as well as single-thread performance, a new memory controller, PCIe 4.0, and Thunderbolt 4 support. But only real tests will reveal whether these advantages are enough to beat its speedy predecessor.
Intel yet has to confirm the final specifications of its upcoming Tiger Lake-H CPUs with six and eight cores, so any preliminary and unofficial information about these chips should be taken with a grain of salt.
11th Generation Tiger Lake CPU (Image credit: Intel)
Intel’s 11th-Gen eight-core Tiger Lake-H 45W processors for mobile devices are expected to land in the first quarter, and, judging by the latest retailer listings (via momomo_us), the 10nm chips shouldn’t be far off.
Intel has launched several Tiger Lake chips that adhere to power limits under 35W. However, the chipmaker will have to roll out the 45W parts if it really wants to compete against AMD’s core-heavy Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) processors. Like all Tiger Lake offerings, the 45W processors are based on Intel’s 10nm SuperFin (10SF) process node and wield Willow Cove cores and Xe LP graphics.
Besides the power limit increase, the 45W chips also bump Tiger Lake’s maximum core count of up to eight cores, while current Tiger Lake processors on the market max out at four cores. However, the Tiger Lake-H 45W processors will allow Intel to contend with AMD in mobile high-end gaming and workstation devices.
The four Tiger Lake-H processors from the Lenovo Legion listings cover only a few of the expected SKUs. Intel will likely flesh out the lineup with other configurations with slightly lower clock speeds to tend to different needs.
Barring any last-minute surprises, we expect the Core i9-11980HK to be the Tiger Lake-H flagship chip. In the same vein as its predecessors, the Core i9-11980HK should arrive with eight cores and 16 threads of processing power. The “K” suffix confirms that it will also have an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.
The Core i9-11980HK will go up against AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900HX, which has the same core configuration and allows for overclocking. AMD claims the Ryzen 9 5900X delivers up to 14% more single-threaded performance than the Core i9-10900HK in Cinebench R20m as well as 37% and 21% higher scores in Passmark PT10 and Fire Strike Physics, respectively. Assuming that AMD’s results are accurate, the Core i9-11980HK has a lot of catching up to do.
Meanwhile, the Core i7-11800H and Core i5-11400H should be equipped with eight cores and six cores, respectively. In the case of the Core i7-11800H, the operating clocks will be what separates it from the Core i9-11980HK or the rumored Core i9-11900H.
If we look at the Ryzen 5000 lineup, it’s clear that Intel cooked up the Core i7-11800H and Core i5-11400H to confront the Ryzen 7 5800H and Ryzen 5 5600H, respectively. AMD didn’t share any performance figures for the aforementioned SKUs, though.
Tiger Lake versus Ryzen 5000 will be an interesting fight for sure. Intel’s Willow Cove microarchitecture faces AMD’s Zen 3 microarchitecture, which has shown strong IPC uplifts over the previous microarchitecture. It’s not just a battle of microarchitectures but also a struggle between process nodes, too. While AMD has tapped TSMC’s proven 7nm process node, Intel’s bringing its 10nm SuperFin to the rumble.
News outlet IThome has reported that Chinese manufacturer Asgard, which is owned by Shenzhen Jiahe Jinwei Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., has launched the company’s first DDR5 memory module.
Asgard’s memory module, which carries the VMA5AUK-MMH224W3 part number, arrives with a capacity of 64GB. However, Asgard has confirmed that it will also be available in capacities of 32GB and 128GB. The memory can be a bit rough on the eyes if you’re accustomed to fancy heat spreaders and cheesy RGB lighting. However, it’s what’s inside that really counts.
Regardless of the density, the memory module operates at 4,800 MHz, and that’s nowhere near the ceiling for DDR5. The new specification is expected to hit memory frequencies up to 8,400 MHz. Predictably, Asgard’s memory module will only draw a 1.1V DRAM voltage, which is the reference voltage for DDR5. It also adheres to JEDEC’s “B” standard, meaning its timings should be set to 40-40-40.
According to the report, Asgard has not started mass producing the DDR5 memory module, and it makes sense since there aren’t any processors that leverage the standard yet. However, the vendor expects to put the wheels into motion once Intel’s 12th Generation Alder Lake processors and corresponding 600-series chipsets are ready.
The Asgard representative even went ahead and confirmed to IThome some of the future Intel and AMD processors that will support DDR5. On the Blue Team, we have obviously Alder-Lake, Sapphire Rapids and Tiger Lake-U. For the Red Team, the spokesperson mentioned Van Gogh and Rembrandt APUs.
Whether you’re a student, a professional or just want to stay connected and productive, a laptop is one of the most important tools of the trade. But some are better than others, with wide differences in keyboards, battery life, displays and design. If you’re looking for a powerful laptop that easily fits in your bag and doesn’t break your back, you want an ultrabook.
The “ultrabook” moniker was originally coined by Intel in 2012 and used to refer to a set of premium, super-thin laptops that met the chipmaker’s predefined standards. However, just as many folks refer to tissues as Kleenexes or web searching as Googling, the term ultrabook commonly refers to any premium ultraportable laptop, whether it carries Intel’s seal of approval or not.
Of course, there’s always new tech coming down the pipe. Intel has announced its 11th Gen Core “Tiger Lake” processors with Iris Xe graphics and Thunderbolt 4, with laptops shipping in time for the holiday season. And its likely that an AMD Ryzen refresh won’t be far behind, bringing USB 4 to laptops. That’s in addition to the possibility of Apple’s first Arm-powered MacBook coming this fall.
Get a good keyboard: Whether you’re using an ultrabook to browse the web, send emails, code, write or do other productivity work, the keyboard is one of your primary ways of interacting. Get something with responsive keys that aren’t mushy. Low-travel is ok if the keys have the right feel to them, but the last thing you want to do is “bottom out” while typing.
Consider what you need in a screen: At a minimum, your laptop should have a 1920 x 1080 screen. Some laptops offer 4K options, though it’s sometimes harder to see the difference at 13-inches or below. While 4K may be more detailed, 1080p screens give you much longer battery life.
Some laptops can be upgraded: While CPUs and GPUs are almost always soldered down, some laptops let you replace the RAM and storage, so you can buy cheaper now and add more memory and a bigger hard drive or SSD down the road. But the thinnest laptops may not have that option.
Battery life is important: Aim for something that lasts for 8 hours or longer on a charge (gaming is an exception). For productivity, many laptops easily surpass this number. But be wary of manufacturer claims, which don’t always use strenuous tests. Some laptops are starting to add fast charging, which is a nice bonus.
The HP Spectre x360 14 is everything a modern ultrabook should be. This laptop has an attractive design, but isn’t about form over function. It has both Thunderbolt 4 over USB Type-C, as well as a microSD card reader, all in a thin chassis.
But what really wows is the display. The
3:2 aspect ratio
is tall and shows more of your work or web pages, and is also more natural for tablet mode. The OLED model we reviewed also offered vivid colors, though you would likely get longer battery life with the non-OLED, lower resolution panel.
The other big plus is the Spectre x360’s keyboard, which is clicky and comfortable. Sure, it’s no desktop mechanical keyboard, but for a laptop, it’s very responsive and feels great to use.
The Dell XPS 13 has long been celebrated for both its form and function. The laptop is tiny, but packs a punch with Intel’s Tiger Lake processors and adds some extra screen real estate with a tall, 16:10 display (many laptops have a 16:9 screen).
We also like the XPS 13’s keyboard, with a snappy press and slightly larger keycaps than previous designs. The screen is bright, and we shouldn’t take its thin bezels for granted, as Dell continues to lead on that front.
Admittedly, the XPS 13 is short on ports, opting for a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports for booth charging and accessories. Its performance, portability and long battery life are likely to make up for that for those on the go.
Read: Dell XPS 13 (9310) review
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1)
The Best Mac
CPU: Apple M1 | GPU: 8-core GPU on SOC | Display: 13.3-inch, 2560 x 1600, True Tone | Weight: 3.0 pounds / 1.4 kg
M1 is powerful and fast
Runs cool and quiet
Apps just work, even if emulated
Long-lasting battery life
Strong audio
Limited ports and RAM options
Touch Bar isn’t very useful
Poor webcam
While some people may still want the power, large display and port selection of the
16-inch MacBook Pro
, Apple has proved with the 13-inch version that its own home-grown M1 chip is capable of the needs of plenty of people. This is Apple’s first step in breaking away from Intel, and it is extremely impressive.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro runs cool and quiet, while the chip is faster than its competition in most cases. It’s also efficient and ran for more than 16 and a half hours on our battery test.
Many apps run natively on the Arm processor and those that don’t use Apple’s Rosetta 2 software for emulation. Even then, users will barely know that emulation is being used at all. Everything just works.
The big difference between the Pro and the Air, which also uses M1, is that the Pro has a fan. Those who aren’t doing intensive work may be able to save a bit and get a very similar machine by going with the Air, and they will get function keys instead of the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.
Read: Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1) review
MSI GE66 Raider (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. MSI GE66 Raider
The Best Overall Gaming Laptop
CPU: Intel Core i9-10980HK | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q | Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 300 Hz | Weight: 5.3 pounds (2.4 kg)
Great gaming performance
300 Hz display
Well-executed RGB light bar
High-end build
Cramped keyboard
Tinny audio
The MSI GE66 Raider is a gaming laptop, and it’s saying it loud with a massive RGB light bar. It’s new look is aggressive, but it’s not just talk, with options going up to an Intel Core i9-10980HK and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q.
For those looking for esports-level performance in games like League of Legends or Overwatch, there’s an option for a 300 Hz display.
And while it’s not the slimmest laptop around (or even MSI’s thinnest), it does feel remarkably portable considering the power inside, and we can’t help but appreciate high-end build quality.
Lenovo’s ThinkPads have always been favorites, and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) continues that trend with a slim design, excellent keyboard and an excellent selection of ports to keep you connected to all of your peripherals.
If you get the 1080p option, you can count on all-day battery life (the 4K model we tested didn’t fare as well, but that’s often the tradeoff for higher resolution among ultrabooks).
Of course, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon also attracts one other audience: fans of the TrackPoint nub in the center of the keyboard.
Read:Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) review
Asus ZenBook Duo UX481 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
6. Asus ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
Best Dual Screen Laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-1165G7 | GPU: Intel iris Xe | Display: 14-inch 1080p (1920 x 1080) touchscreen, 12.6 inch (1920 x 515) ScreenPad Plus | Weight: 3.5 pounds / 1.6 kg
$999 starting price with an i5
Very good battery life
Loud speakers
Improved hinge mechanism and keyboard layout
Keyboard/touchpad are awkward
8GB of RAM in lower configurations
Asus has begun to refine the dual screen laptop. Sure, there’s a more powerful version, but for a laptop with two screens, this one is fairly light, and ran for over 10 and a half hours on a charge.
Windows 10 doesn’t yet natively support dual screen software, Asus’s ScreenPad Plus launcher has improved since launch, with easy flicks and drags to move apps around the display. For Adobe apps, there’s custom dial-based software.
The keyboard and mouse placement are the big compromises, as there isn’t a wrist rest and they can feel cramped. But if you want two-screens, this is as good as it gets for now.
If you’re going for a big screen, the Dell XPS 17 shines. The display on the laptop is bright and colorful, especially on the 4K+ option that we tested, and with minimal bezels around it, your work (or play) is all that’s in focus.
With up to an Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q, there’s plenty of power here. While it’s not on our list of best gaming laptops, you can definitely play video games on it, including intensive games that use ray tracing.
All of that comes in an attractive design similar to the XPS 13 and XPS 15, though the trackpad takes advantage of the extra space. It’s a luxurious amount of room to navigate and perform gestures.
Read: Dell XPS 17 (9700) review
CPU
GPU
RAM
Storage
Display
HP Spectre x360 14
Up to Intel Core i7-1165G7
Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
Up to 16GB LPDDR4-3733
Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
13.5-inch touchscreen, up to 3000 x 2000 resolution, OLED
Dell XPS 13 (9310)
Up to Intel Core i7-1165G7
Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
Up to 16GB LPDDR4x-4276
Up to 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
13.4-inch touchscreen, 1920 x 1200 resolution
MacBook Pro (16-inch)
Up to Intel Core i9-9980HK
Up to AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
Up to 64GB DDR4
Up to 8TB SSD
16 inches, 3072 x 1920
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Up to AMD Ryzen 4900HS
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 with ROG Boost
Up to 16GB DDR4-3200 (8GB on-board, 8GB SODIMM)
1TB PCIe 3.0 M.2 NVMe
14 inches, 1920 x 1080, 120 Hz
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8)
Up to Intel Core i7-10610U
Intel UHD Graphics
Up to 16GB LPDDR3
Up to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
14 inches, up to 4K with Dolby Vision and HDR400
Asus ZenBook Duo UX481
Up to Intel Core i7-10510U
Nvidia GeForce MX250
Up to 16GB DDR3
1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
14 inch 1080p (1920 x1080) touchscreen, 12.6 inch (1920 x 515) ScreenPad Plus
As usual, Intel’s poised for a busy year. The company has already launched its new 11th Generation Tiger Lake H35 mobile chips, and 11th Gen Rocket Lake should blast into the market this year to take on the likes of AMD Ryzen 5000. This week during The Tom’s Hardware Show, Intel also discussed the role resizable BAR is playing in its efforts to boost performance for gamers opting for those chips.
Through an advanced feature available through PCIe , resizable BAR lightens the burden on a GPU’s VRAM by only transferring data, like shaders and textures, when needed and, if there are multiple requests, simultaneously. This should boost gaming performance by allowing the CPU to “efficiently access the entire frame buffer,” as Nvidia put it. AMD already tackles this with its Smart Access Memory (SAM) feature available with Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards, but Nvidia added support for RTX 30-series mobile cards in January, with desktop graphics card support beginning in March.
Intel’s GM of premium and gaming notebook segments, Fredrik Hamberger, got into support for resizable BAR on The Tom’s Hardware Show, saying Intel collaborated with graphics card makers, namely Nvidia and AMD, for implementation. The goal, he said was a “standard solution” that could be compatible with multiple vendors.
Intel’s H35-series mobile chips, which target ultraportable gaming laptops, already support resizable BAR, as do all of Intel’s Comet Lake-H series chips and upcoming H45 series, Hamberger said. It’s just up to the laptop and graphics card makers to make the feature usable.
“The final drivers, from our side, it’s already there,” Hamberger told Tom’s Hardware. “Some of the OEMs are working on finalizing exact timing on when they have the driver from the graphics vendors, so I think you’d have to ask them on the exact timing.”
The exec also pointed to some games seeing performance gains of 5-10%.
“It is a pretty nice boost by just turning on this pipeline and, again, standard implementation versus trying to do something custom and proprietary,” Hamberger said.
Of course, the more games that support resizable BAR, the better. But Hamberger has confidence that we’ll see a growing number of game developers make that possible.
“It’s a pretty late feature that … is being turned on, but since it’s following a standard, I think that the nice thing is if you’re a developer you don’t have to worry about it being like, ‘Hey, [only] these three systems have it.’ It’s gonna be available both on notebooks … it’s part of our Rocket Lake platform as well on the desktop side,” Hamberger said.
“Our expectation is that you’ll see more and more developers turn on the ability to use this, and we’ll continue to scale it.”
You can enjoy this week’s episode of The Tom’s Hardware Show via the video above, on YouTube, Facebook, or wherever you get your podcasts.
While Intel’s NUCs come pre-built and ready to work out-of-box, some of the higher-end NUCs can get an aftermarket treatment from fanless chassis makers. Due to higher TDPs, that will apparently not be the case with the latest NUC 11 systems (codenamed Phantom Canyon). The new NUCs come powered by Intel’s quad-core 11th-Gen Core ‘Tiger Lake’ processor as well as Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2060, but the powerful combination pushes TDPs up to 150W, making passive cooling impractical.
As it turns out, Intel’s NUC 11 for enthusiasts has a combined TDP of 150W, as noticed by FanlessTech in a Twitter post. Such a high TDP makes it impossible to build a small passively-cooled chassis for the unit. By default, the system (which measures 221 × 142 × 42 mm) has a rather sophisticated cooling system featuring five heat pipes and a fan. A third-party fanless cooling solution would be too bulky, and therefore impractical for a small form-factor PC.
In fairness, Intel’s NUC 11 Enthusiast is a rather capable system. The PC packs the quad-core Intel Core i7-1165G7 (up to 4.70GHz, 12 MB cache, 28W TDP-up) processor that is accompanied by 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory (upgradeable to 64 GB), Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2060 discrete GPU with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, and Intel’s Optane Memory H10 (32 GB + 512 GB) or H20 SSD.
(Image credit: FanlessTech)
The CPU can be configured for a 15W or a 28W TDP, but the mobile GeForce RTX 2060 GPU can consume 80W or more (a desktop card consumes 160W). Considering that there are other components too, a 150W combined TDP seems fair for a Phantom Canyon system (especially considering various burst modes modern CPUs and GPUs have).
Without a doubt, it is disappointing for enthusiasts of ultra-quiet computing and passive cooling that it will be impossible to build a fanless PC using components of Intel’s NUC 11 Enthusiast. Meanwhile, for those who want to have a very small PC that can run modern games, this system still makes a lot of sense.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
