Notebook / Laptop Reviews Australia

The rumors were true: AMD Radeon RX 6000 "Big Navi" series comes within gnawing distance of the NVIDIA RTX 3080 in first sneak preview - Notebookcheck.net

AMD showed off a sneak preview of the upcoming Radeon RX 6000 series Big Navi's gaming performance in Borderlands 3, CoD: Modern Warfare, and Gears 5. The RX 6000 was paired with a Ryzen 9 5900X, but comparisons with available RTX 3080 benchmarks show that AM…

After having revealed the Ryzen 5000 lineup, AMD also offered a sneak peek into some fps numbers achieved by the Radeon RX 6000 series GPU a.k.a Big Navi. AMD did not name the exact SKU being previewed but did say that this is the company's biggest graphics leap yet. AMD's Dr. Lisa Su showed off the RX 6000 series performance in a few games such as Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Gears of War 5. The Big Navi GPU was paired with the new Ryzen 9 5900X. This may not really offer a true apples-to-apples comparison with NVIDIA's Ampere reviews we've seen so far, but we can still get an idea. We obviously don't have a direct comparison with an RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9 5900X setup. But considering that the benchmarks at 4K are not really CPU-bound, we can do a quick check on how these numbers fare against an RTX 3080 in combination with a Ryzen 9 3950X data for two of the benchmarks, Borderlands 3 and Gears of War 5, are from Hexus. Taking AMD's preliminary numbers, we see that the combination of the Radeon RX 6000 series with the Ryzen 9 5900X offers 61 fps in Borderlands 3 Badass Quality (RTX 3080 - 59 fps), 88 fps in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Ultra Quality, and 73 fps in Gears of War 5 Ultra Quality preset (RTX 3080 - 77 fps). From this quick top-level comparison, we see that the AMD RX 6000 series is almost on par with the RTX 3080 in Borderlands 3 and Gears of War 5. Modern Warfare numbers seem to be highly variable across reviews, though. Nevertheless, the 88 fps mark seems to be pretty decent and is likely to be within 20% of what an RTX 3080 would achieve at a similar preset. Overall, it looks like Navi 21 could prove to be a game (pun intended) changer for AMD after having lagged behind significantly in the previous generation. We are already hearing rumors that an ever Bigger Navi with more compute units than Navi 21 may also be possible. If priced right, AMD has the potential to regain significant lost ground in the GPU space as well.

The ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC is the fastest RTX 3080 around and clocks 13% higher than the Founders Edition - Notebookcheck.net

ASUS has finally announced the clock speeds of the ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC, over two weeks after the card's announcement. The ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC tops out at 1,935 MHz, making it the fastest RTX 3080 that has been announced so far. Rumour has it that 20 …

It has been a few weeks since ASUS announced its ROG STRIX variants of the RTX 3080, which it unveiled shortly after the official launch of the RTX 30 series. However, the company has only now announced the clock speeds of the ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC edition, and they are way above NVIDIA's reference speeds. The RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, although Gigabyte has confirmed that 20 GB models are incoming. The current batches of RTX 3080 cards have 8,704 CUDA cores, along with a 320-bit memory interface and VRAM that operates at 19 Gbps. The ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC is currently the fastest RTX 3080 of the lot, though. The OC has a 1,440 MHz base clock and can reach 1,905 MHz by default in Gaming Mode, which is way beyond other custom cards. However, enabling OC Mode increases the card's peak clock speed to 1,935 MHz, a 13.2% increase over the boost clock of the RTX 3080 Founders Edition. Understandably, the ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC requires 3x 8-pin power connectors. The card measures 318.5 x 140.1 x 57.8 mm, for reference, making it a 2.9-slot card according to ASUS. The ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC is still not available to order, and ASUS has not given any hints when the card will be orderable from third-party retailers. Videocardz notes that 20 GB versions of the RTX 3080 may have higher clock speeds than these initial 10 GB models, so the ROG STRIX RTX 3080 OC may not be at the top of the pile for long.

More PlayStation 5 model numbers hint at DualSense controller variants and even a black console but don't expect a PS5 Pro or 1.65 TB SSD premium pack just yet - Notebookcheck.net

More model numbers relating to the PlayStation 5 have appeared online. While many of the model codes are already connected to the console SKUs or PS5 accessories, a few unknown entries certainly hint at different types of DualSense controller. A black PS5 con…

The model numbers for the PlayStation 5 and Digital Edition PS5 have recently been revealed, although they are believed to be region-specific: So, CFI-1015A and CFI-1015B might be the relative model codes for Hong Kong only. This is important to remember when looking over a new model number list shared by tech tipster wellgamer789 (@welltest789). Because right underneath the two aforementioned PS5 codes are two more, which at a first glance could indicate even more console SKUs are being held back by Sony to eventually spring on an amazed audience. The likely truth is more prosaic than the appearance of a teraflop-busting PS5 Pro or a next-gen console arriving in a premium pack with a handy 1.65 TB SSD, though. As pointed out in a Twitter comment, the CFI-1018A and CFI-1018B model numbers are more likely connected with regional-specific SKUs. However, its not all rain on this parade as a silver lining on the cloud can be taken from the four model codes aligned with the DualSense controller, with only CFI-ZCT1G confirmed. Another tipster has opined that it could be a different code for a different color, and that could also indicate something many fans want from Sony a black PlayStation 5. If the four numbers for the DualSense do relate to colors, then its highly likely one of them would be black. Its possible that the CFI-1018A and CFI-1018B console codes dont pertain to region but actually pinpoint color therefore, a black PS5. Its pure conjecture, but it would certainly be a welcome move from Sony to produce such a console. Other codes on the list, such as CFI-ZAA1 and CFI-ZMR1E, are also unexplained although the latter is associated with the PS5 media remote control (CFI-ZMR1) in some manner. It appears Sony really does have some surprises left to reveal in terms of the PS5s hardware and accessories.

The GeForce RTX 3080 has an insane 320 W TDP. What will this mean for gaming laptops? - Notebookcheck.net

Even the biggest and fastest laptops at the moment carry "only" the 150 W - 180 W TDP GeForce RTX 2080 GPU. Exactly how Nvidia will translate its massive 320 W desktop GeForce RTX 3080 to mobile form factors will be interesting to see.

One of the biggest challenges to designing a gaming laptop is how to cool everything inside. GPUs in particular often have TDP ranges over four times that of the CPU and therefore require more attention in terms of cooling. The mobile GeForce RTX 2080, for example, is rated for a minimum TDP of 150 W and very few laptops actually carry the GPU as most utilize the lower-end 80 W GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q instead. The upcoming Nvidia GeForce 30 desktop series is set to be even more power hungry than the GeForce 20 desktop series with the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 specced at 220 W and 320 W(!) TDP, respectively. When considering that the top-end mobile GPU at the moment is only 150 W minimum, this has us concerned about how Nvidia will introduce the inevitable mobile versions of the RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 without incurring significant performance penalties. Currently, the raw performance difference between mobile and Max-Q GeForce 20 GPUs can be anywhere between 5 to 20 percent, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a wider gap between the desktop RTX 3080 and mobile RTX 3080 derivative considering the huge jump in TDP as shown by the table below.

Honor Watch ES launches for £99.99/€99.99 with a large touchscreen and an abundance of sensors - Notebookcheck.net

Honor's answer to the Huawei Watch Fit has arrived. Called the Honor Watch ES, the device features an elongated AMOLED screen, an optical heart rate sensor, a SpO2 sensor and a 6-axis IMU sensor. The Honor Watch ES retails for £99.99/€99.99 and comes in three…

Honor has launched an elongated smartwatch called the Watch ES. The Watch ES looks remarkably like the Watch Fit that Huawei announced last week. In fact, the Honor Watch ES and Huawei Watch Fit are essentially the same device. The Watch ES has a 1.64-inch AMOLED screen that operates at 456 x 280 pixels, which corresponds to a watch frame size of 30 mm. Like the Watch GS Pro, the Watch ES has an optical heart rate sensor, a SpO2 sensor and a 6-axis IMU sensor that features an accelerometer and a gyroscope. Honor claims that the Watch ES is 5 ATM water-resistant and will last up to 10 days with Huawei TruSleep tracking and heart rate monitoring enabled. The smartwatch also supports Huawei TruRelax for monitoring stress levels and Huawei TruSeen 4.0 for monitor heart rate levels. Honor has included a menstrual tracker too, but there is no GPS module. There is a built-in digital assistant though and 96 workout modes for the likes of cycling, running and swimming. The Watch ES costs £99.99 in the UK and will be available to pre-order from tomorrow. The smartwatch is coming to France, Germany, Italy and Spain throughout this month for 99.99, also. Honor and third-party retailers should stock the Watch ES in Meteorite Black, Coral Pink and Icelandic White.

First GeForce RTX 3080 benchmarks by NVIDIA showcase insane 100 percent performance gains over the GeForce RTX 2080: Control and Minecraft with RTX blaze past 4K/60 FPS - Notebookcheck.net

During the NVIDIA GeForce Ampere RTX 3000 series launch, NVIDIA unveiled benchmarks for the GeForce RTX 3080 which indicate that its claim of a 2x performance improvement wasn’t sleight of hand. The GeForce RTX 3080 appears to genuinely double the RTX 2080’s …

During its Ampere launch event, NVIDIA shared a performance benchmark slide giving us a clear picture of the GeForce RTX 3080s capabilities. It appears that, as promised, the GeForce RTX 3080 will indeed deliver up to twice the performance of the Turing GeForce RTX 2080, meaning that NVIDIAs new US$799 flagship will likely leave the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti behind as well and offer a true 4K/60 experience.  In the benchmark slide, NVIDIA compares the GeForce RTX 3080 to the GeForce RTX 2080 as well as the Pascal GeForce GTX 1080 in three titles, Control, Minecraft RTX, and Borderlands 3.  In Control and Minecraft RTX, DLSS is enabled. If NVIDIA had only shown titles that leverage RTX and DLSS in this performance comparison, it would have been hard for us to obtain a clear picture of raster performance since improved tensor and RT cores could skew the numbers. Fortunately, NVIDIA also shared performance figures for Borderlands 3, a title that supports neither RTX effects DLSS. Remarkably, Borderlands 3 delivers that promised 2x performance uplift, from a framerate in the mid-30s to an average framerate above 60 FPS with all settings maxed out. In Control and Minecraft RTX, the GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a stunning 80 FPS at 4K, doubling the RTX 2080s 40 FPS update.  If Borderlands 3 signposts the GeForce RTX 3080s rasterisation capabilities, gamers looking for a genuine 4K/60 experience sans compromise might just have found their match. Were interested to see how AMDs Big Navi will compete in the months to come.

Amazfit Band 5 fitness tracker from Huami now available for pre-order on Amazon: blood oxygen saturation monitor, 24/7 heart-rate tracker, and Amazon Alexa for US$49.99 - Notebookcheck.net

The Huami Amazfit Band 5 fitness tracker is now officially available to pre-order from Amazon. The wearable has a price tag of US$49.99 and offers users Amazon Alexa built in, heart-rate tracking, SpO2 monitor, women’s health tracking, and up to 15 days of ba…

The Amazfit Band 5 fitness tracker from Huami has appeared on the Amazon.com website and is available for pre-order. The wearables strap currently comes in a choice of two colors, midnight black and orange, and the activity tracker has an AMOLED display that will offer the user over 45 watch faces to choose from. The Amazon listing also states typical features for a modern fitness tracker, such as 24/7 heart-rate tracking, sleep monitor, activity tracker, stress monitoring, and 5 ATM water resistance. Those looking for a fitness tracker with a blood oxygen saturation monitor and a built-in virtual assistant (in this case Amazon Alexa) will find both features with the Huami Amazfit Band 5. To add to its already impressive health-monitoring credentials, the Amazfit Band 5 also comes with womens health tracking, 11 sports modes, and the PAI health assessment system (Personal Activity Intelligence). The accessory is geared towards contributing to a healthier lifestyle for its wearer, and it also includes typical smartphone synchronization utilities and up to 15-day battery life (power-saving mode: up to 25 days). The Amazfit Band 5 measures 7.52 x 2.99 x 0.91 inches and only weighs 0.423 ounces. According to some exclusive information shared by TizenHelp, the wearable features a handy magnetic charging system (like the Xiaomi Mi Band 5), although this is not specifically mentioned in the current Amazon listing. Shoppers looking for a fitness tracker with built-in Alexa assistant, 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, and SpO2 measurement can pre-order the Huami Amazfit Band 5 now for US$49.99, with the gadget being shipped out from September 30.

With just one day to go on the NVIDIA Ampere countdown, new ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 image leaks and Gainward lists RTX 3090 Golden Sample specs on website - Notebookcheck.net

With just one day to go before NVIDIA’s big GeForce Ampere reveal on September 1, the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 was pictured in a leak. Furthermore, Gainward appears to have accidentally listed the RTX 3090 Golden Sample variant on its website before qu…

With just one day to go before the official NVIDIA GeForce Ampere launch event on September 1st, we appear to have one final wave of GeForce RTX 3090 leaks on our hands. Videocardz captured an image of what appears to be the ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090, showcasing a massive 2.7-slot design with three fans. The over-engineered cooling solution points to this being an overclocked model with headroom well beyond the GeForce RTX 3090s rated 1695 MHz boot clock.  Concurrently, tipster @harukaze5719 spotted an unintentional Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 Golden Sample listing on Gainwards website. While the product listing was quickly taken down, the tipster managed to capture screenshots that clearly list specifications for the upcoming GeForce RTX 3090 variant. With just one day left before launch, we can be fairly certain that were looking at final specs here. The Gainward Golden Sample variant features a 1725 MHz boost clock a slight bump over stock while retaining the stock 19.5 GHz memory configuration. At stock, the GeForce RTX 3090 delivers 936 GB/s of bandwidth. Itll be interesting to see if OEMs will deliver custom variants with overclocked memory that pushes bandwidth beyond the stratospheric 1 TB/s point, previously only achieved by the Radeon VII.

Galaxy Note 20 likely to be the last of its kind as Samsung plans on shipping the Galaxy S21 Ultra with an S Pen - Notebookcheck.net

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is billed to be the first Galaxy S device to come with an S Pen, according to a report from a South Korean news outlet. Samsung is reportedly planning on merging the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note line of phones in 2021. An equally-pric…

Rumors of Samsung's plans to ditch the Galaxy Note series of phones have been around for quite some time. Although the recent Galaxy Note 20's existence conclusively proves them wrong, there is still a possibility that Samsung might deviate from its decade-old release cycle. A new report from a South Korean news outlet hints at something similar. Thelec.kr (via Sammobile) suggests that Samsung's upcoming 2021 flagship will come with an S Pen. Much like its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 will come in three flavors. Only the top-of-the-line Galaxy S21 Ultra is expected to get an S Pen. The report suggests that Samsung is doing this to help Galaxy Note aficionados transition to Galaxy S series phones, indicating that Samsung might not have plans for a Galaxy Note 21. An S Pen-powered Galaxy S21 Ultra should help bolster sales too. Samsung's decision to cancel the Galaxy Note series will not sit well with fans and enthusiasts. Samsung is, after all, one of the few OEMs who sell phones with a stylus. However, this leaves Samsung with a product short in its H2 release cycle. The company will likely replace the Galaxy Note phone with an equally-specced foldable. Despite their lukewarm market reception and prohibitively high prices, it seems that foldables are the future, and they aren't going away anytime soon.

Quick Charge 5 is official: Qualcomm says up to 50% charge in just 5 minutes and 100% in 15 minutes - Notebookcheck.net

Qualcomm's new Quick Charge 5 specification and hardware supports 100W charging for rates up to four times faster than the previous Quick Charge 4 specification at 1.7 times the efficiency. Supported by the Snapdragon 865 and 865+ as long as the phone has the…

Qualcomm pioneered smartphone quick charge solutions when they released Quick Charge 1 (QC) back in 2013. Then the successive QC2, QC3, and QC4 from 2015 2017 managed to iteratively improve on the specification and design, progressing up to a 2.5 times improvement in charging speed. The new Qualcomms Quick Charge 5 hardware announced today allows for 100W+ charging in the same footprint as the previous QC4 equipment. The increased voltage tolerance and hardware changes allow QC5 to be up to 10x faster than the original quick charge specification, and 4x faster than the previous generation QC4. During the presentation by Josh Warner, Director of Product Management for Battery Charging at Qualcomm, it was claimed that QC5 is the worlds fastest commercial charging solution. The headlining feature is its ability to take a 4500 mAH battery from 0 50% in just five minutes, or to give a full charge from 0 100% in about 15 minutes (Note: both 4000 mAH and 4500 mAH were shown during the presentation, but 4500 mAH appears in the press material and the small print about the claims). QC5 is up to 70% more efficient than QC4, and the surface temperature of the phone can be up to 10 C cooler, which means we could assume that all the related hardware could also run cooler under the new specification when given the right conditions. There are 17 different protection measures for voltage, current, temperature, and time. To achieve the full advertised performance, QC5 requires the battery to be split into two packs in series to allow twice the voltage to be supplied while keeping current at a lower level to minimise temperature issues. Qualcomms battery saver technology is supported for reducing wear on the battery, but we suspect that manufacturer implementations (e.g. Sony Battery Care) would still be beneficial here. Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 will arrive in Q3 2020 and is supported in Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 865+ devices provided they also have the SMB1396 or SMB1398 PMICs (Power Management Integrated Circuit). Competing technology includes OnePlus Warp Charge, Oppo Super VOOC, and Huawei SuperCharge.