Danh mục: Tin tức

Valve’s Steam Deck-focused SteamOS 3 operating system might be one of the best Linux operating systems designed for gaming; however, Valve has yet to release an official desktop version of the OS that is suitable for PC gamers. To remedy the issue, the Linux community has created a custom clone of SteamOS 3 called Bazzite that supports gaming PC hardware right out of the box — making Valve’s SteamOS desktop experience accessible to Linux gamers.

Bazzite isn’t an exact clone of SteamOS 3, but its functionality is virtually identical to Valve’s operating system. On the surface, Bazzite features an identical desktop experience to SteamOS 3. Thanks to the integration of KDE Plasma — a customizable Linux desktop environment, and Valve’s KDE themes from SteamOS, Bazzite shares the same desktop wallpapers, icons, and taskbar as Valve’s operating system. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were running the real SteamOS.

But under the hood, Bazzite’s actual operating system is not the same, as it uses an entirely different Linux distro from Valve’s operating system. Instead of using a branch of Arch Linux, which is the distro SteamOS 3 is based on, Bazzite is built using a custom version of Fedora 38, which incorporates more hardware and device support than SteamOS 3. Some of the hardware support includes baked-in proprietary Nvidia driver support for GeForce GPUs, to enable GeForce-powered systems to run Bazzite. (Sadly AMD support is unclear — but the OS does support AMD ROCm.)

One of the perks of Linux-based operating systems is that you have the freedom to build an operating system whichever way you choose, with features you want to have.

Beyond this, Bazzite has a several other features that make it stand out from SteamOS 3, including a CPU scheduler from system builder System76 to optimize CPU performance, an Android emulator called Waydroid, support for DisplayLink, and more. Bazzite is also capable of running Steam/Proton and Lutris through a virtualized compatibility layer of Arch Linux, which should improve compatibility with Steam Deck-approved titles. Even though Steam and Valve’s Proton compatibility layer is already functional on Fedora 38, having a backup system that can run games through Arch Linux is good to have.

There is even a Bazzite version optimized for the Valve Steam Deck for that special niche of users who need more functionality than what Valve’s SteamOS 3 already provides on the Deck. Most of the additions are highly technical, but one of the most unique additions is support for 32GB of memory for people who want to mod their Steam Deck with 32GB of system RAM. The Steam Deck version is definitely not for everyone, since the Steam Deck already comes with SteamOS 3, but it could be a good alternative for hardcore Linux power users.

The only issue right now with Bazzite is that the installation procedure is a bit complicated for normal users, to the point where the developers consider the OS installation process as incomplete. However, the installation shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you’re already familiar with Linux operating systems.

Bazzite is arguably one of the best efforts to get SteamOS 3’s desktop experience running on anything other than the Steam Deck. There have been other attempts to get an actual copy of SteamOS 3 to work on non-Steam Deck hardware like HoloISO, but hardware support is unreliable and, in the case of HoloISO, it only really works with specific AMD GPUs.

A Chinese TechTuber has revealed how Asus has managed to cool the powerful new AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D for laptops, as well as the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU. Bilibili user Ordinary Uncle Tony disassembled his Asus ROG Strix Scar to quite a daring degree to reveal the AMD APU as shown above and below (h/t HXL).

What you see is AMD’s powerful X3D enhanced mobile APU — without an IHS, of course — with its multiple dies visible. Solder mask, or a similar non-conductive barrier like a lacquer or epoxy resin, has been meticulously applied to the protect the processor circuitry surrounding the dies from the damage which might occur from stray drips and drops of (electrically conductive) liquid metal.

PC enthusiasts will be aware that liquid metal is coveted for its great thermal properties when used as a TIM (Thermal Interface Material), but it has some particular drawbacks.

On desktop processors with liquid metal TIM, the application placement and maintenance of the metallic goo is still tricky, but it can be constrained more simply with a uniformly shaped barrier, stopping it from flowing to areas it should not be.

Asus has been applying liquid metal to high-end laptop processors for several generations now. Before its first commercial laptop use in 2019, Asus says it took two years to experiment with production line application of the conductive but messy liquid. Asus “added a tiny barrier sponge just 0.1mm tall around the CPU socket, safeguarding against any accidental seepage.” This spongy method seems to have become redundant with the X3D mobile processor.

If it applied liquid metal to the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, it would have been first time Asus has had to cope with the complications of a multi-tile processor. With the exposed dies and electronic components on a mobile chip like the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, some more complicated TIM wrangling would be called for.

We see that the red solder mask (or similar lacquer coating) is one effective method of mitigating the presence of potentially hazardous room-temperature liquid metallic material. Solder mask is a simple, non-conductive durable barrier that has been used in electronics applications for decades. We wonder if it too is being applied by robots on the production line. Anyway, this application seems to have only been done to protect the X3D APU from liquid metal contamination from the GPU. It looks like the AMD APU contacts with the large vapor chamber cooler via a thermal pad.

In our review of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D, we noted the massive cooler and vapor chamber for the CPU and GPU. The hottest area of the system was recorded 56.6 degrees Celsius (133.88 F) on its underside. However, the thermal imagery indicated that the cooling was effective in taking the heat away from the processors and expelling most of it out the back. No evidence of thermal throttling was observed in the demanding benchmark runs.

Asus has just announced a new curved ultrawide ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM that offers a unique combination of a high refresh rate, ultra-low response time, and very high luminance. The combination should make this a hot product to watch among the best ultrawide gaming monitors and best curved gaming monitors.

The ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM is a 34-inch curved ultrawide monitor offering a 3440×1440 resolution and an 800R curvature. It also offers a variable refresh rate of up to 240 Hz with Nvidia’s G-Sync technology and a 0.03 ms response time — which is extremely low, even for OLED panels. Furthermore, the monitor boasts a peak brightness of 1300 nits (albeit on only 3% of the screen), which is higher than most LCDs on the market and unique for a gaming OLED monitor.

An interesting peculiarity of the display is that it comes equipped with a special custom heatsink to keep the operating temperatures of the panel lower and reduce the risk of burn-in.

For those seeking versatile connectivity, the ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM is equipped with a wide array of ports, including DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, and a USB Type-C port, which not only serves as an additional display input but also delivers up to 90W to the host supporting USB Power Delivery. This diverse range of ports makes it possible to connect the monitor to desktop PCs, laptops, gaming consoles, smartphones, and other compatible devices.

To make it easier to use multiple devices connected to a single display, it fully supports picture-in-picture (PIP) or picture-by-picture (PBP) modes. To make things more comfortable, the ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM comes with Smart KVM that now only allows users to control multiple devices using a single set of peripherals but also allows swift file transfers between the two connected devices using USB 3.2 connectivity — eliminating the need for extra hardware or specialized software. 

For now, Asus has not disclosed the price or availability of the ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM. But given the unique capabilities of the display, we expect it to be priced accordingly.

The Raspberry Pi goes with cyberdeck builds like peas and carrots. Today we’ve got another neat cyberdeck creation cooked up by a maker who goes by NoSegfaultPlz over at Reddit. NoSegfaultPlz has combined two Pi projects into one: by using a Pico to power a custom keyboard and building a Pi Zero into the unit to work as a main computer — turning it into a cyberdeck keyboard combo.

NoSegfaultPlz dubs the project ‘CyberKeeb 2040,’ and it looks great as well as being practical. This isn’t much of a surprise considering NoSegfaultPlz already has a history of similar designs. Previously, they put together a Pico Keyboard which made constructing this project a little easier (or, at least, familiar).  This cyberdeck keyboard is versatile in that it can operate as a regular keyboard or cyberdeck, depending on what you need at the time.

According to NoSegfaultPlz, the Pico is running custom firmware that handles all of the keyboard functionality. It’s able to transmit data to the Pi Zero using SPI. At the moment, the Pi Zero is only able to receive input from the Pico. However, there are plans in the works to enable the Pi Zero to send data to the Pico keyboard which would make it possible to use auto-typing.

A full breakdown of the hardware used in this project has been provided, as well. It includes the aforementioned Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller and Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. But there’s a lot more that goes into building a keyboard from scratch from switches to rotary encoders and more. You can find the full parts list over at the official CyberKeeb2040 project page at GitHub.

Thankfully, NoSegfaultPlz made the whole project open source — which is awesome, because a lot of hard work went into developing this setup and it’s always exciting to dig into what makes something like this work. The Pico firmware is called PicoMK and is available at GitHub on its own project page. 

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the demo video shared to YouTube. You can also explore the thread shared to Reddit for some extra details as well as the CyberKeeb2040 GitHub page.

US retailer Best Buy appears to have spilled some Radeon RX 7700 XT details ahead of AMD’s expected official launch. Twitter tech detective momomo_us unearthed a listing on the retailer’s website that apparently shares images and specs for a Gigabyte GV-R77XTGAMING OC-12GD. Except, it has more than a few issues.

All indications are that AMD will reveal Navi 32 GPUs with the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT in the next few days at Gamescom. Until the official reveal, we need to exercise caution with retail listings like this one at Best Buy. It looks as though someone cloned an existing Gigabyte RTX 4070 listing, updated some of the items, but missed a few pieces.

Some of the specs appear to be in line with expectations, but there are notable gaffes, like mentioning the product’s GPU is an “Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070,” and one of the images clearly showing Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900 XT packaging. The price is also most certainly a holdover from a different GPU, probably an RTX 4070 Ti given that it’s $879 — more than an RTX 4070, and also more than the typical RX 7900 XT. Oops.

But the name at least looks correct: GIGABYTE – Radeon RX 7700XT GAMING OC 12GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Graphics Card. And we can laugh at the perhaps 7900 XT pricing: It was $999.99 and has now been slashed to $879.99. Interestingly, you can add this product to the shopping cart today, with delivery by Aug 25 touted, and it qualifies for the Starfield game bundle.

While most of the listing details are quite suspect due to the mishmash of references to other SKUs we mentioned above, we are at least on some more solid ground with the Gigabyte codename. The GV-R77XTGAMING OC-12GD name indicates this is a Radeon RX 7700 XT Gaming model with 12GB of VRAM and a factory overclock. That’s the expected configuration and has been for some time.

AMD should debut both the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT graphics cards shortly. We expect the 7800 XT to have a 256-bit interface and 16GB, while the 7700 XT looks to have a 192-bit interface and 12GB VRAM. The GDDR6 memory could run at anywhere from 18 to 20 Gbps, based on other RDNA 3 GPUs, though we don’t know exactly where it will land on the cards yet. We also don’t have clock speeds, but the RDNA 3 GPUs here will probably run in the 2.5 GHz (boost clock) range.

Little or nothing has been seen with regard to Radeon RX 7800 and/or 7700 non-XT graphics cards. There would probably be room for them in the market, but we might again see AMD ignore this type of gap filling or make these models OEM exclusive. There is also a chance of more Golden Rabbit Editions (GRE) models from this generation, or using the previous gen to fill the gaps and go toe-to-toe with Nvidia rivals at the widest range of price points.

AMD has a special event on Friday at Gamescom 2023. It was previously confirmed we would get more Radeon RX 7000 cards revealed at the event, but no specific models have been officially mentioned. It’s a reasonably safe bet that it will be RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT, but check back in a couple of days for the full details.

Ever since the U.S. government blacklisted Huawei, the Chinese tech giant has experienced difficulties procuring almost all kinds of chips, because they all use American technologies in one way or another. And so to avoid curbs imposed by the U.S., Huawei has been building a secret fab network in China that can meet its demand for commodity logic, memory, microcontrollers, and even power semiconductors, according to a presentation by SIA (reported by Bloomberg).

Right now, Huawei’s network includes five fabs: Shenzhen Pensun Technology’s (PST) 28nm/40nm-capable logic fab; former Fujian Jihnua’s (aka Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., JHICC) memory fab that can make commodity DRAMs; SwaySure’s fab, which is set to produce memory chips for automotive applications, consumer electronics, and wearables; Pengxinwei IC Manufacturing Co.’s (PXW) fab that specializes on image sensors and RF chips; and Qingdao Si’En’s fab that produces microcontrollers (on 28nm – 180nm process technologies) and power electronics, such as MOSFETS, BCDs, and IGBTs.

This network is not a perfect substitute for TSMC and its leading edge process technologies — Huawei will not be able to produce advanced ASICs, processors, or SoCs for PCs, smartphones, and servers at these fabs — but it will make it easier for Huawei to procure commodity chips for a variety of applications without any restrictions from the U.S.

The SIA suggests that Huawei might be avoiding scrutiny and sanctions by creating and buying facilities under the names of other companies without disclosing its direct involvement.

To build its network, Huawei acquired fabrication facilities from JHICC and Qingdao Si’En and is assisting in the construction of fabs that belong to Pengxinwei IC Manufacturing Co. (PXW) and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co. (PST), according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, SwaySure is a state-backed company that will supply to Huawei. 

It is noteworthy that entities like JHICC and PXW are already blacklisted by the U.S. government — they cannot sell their products to multinational corporations and have problems with procuring advanced wafer equipment. Meanwhile, Huawei is assisting construction of least three additional fabs in China.

China’s ambition to become self-reliant in the semiconductor domain is evident in its hefty investments. Plans are underway for approximately 23 chip-making facilities, aiming for an investment surpassing $100 billion by the end of the decade, according to Bloomberg. By around 2030, China hopes to dominate over half of the world’s production capacity for older-generation chips, which remain crucial for industries such as electric vehicles.

However, the real concern for the international community, especially the U.S., is the potential trajectory of Chinese firms such as Huawei, which is a huge conglomerate with plenty of resources. Such companies could eventually leapfrog into leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing, which will give China access to advanced AI and HPC processors and will render international sanctions obsolete. This developmental pathway mirrors the success stories of giants like TSMC and Samsung, which once lagged but now spearhead the industry. However, it will likely take decades for Chinese companies to get into leading-edge chip production nodes using domestic wafer fab equipment.

Qualcomm is updating its lineup of processors designed for dedicated gaming handhelds, diversifying into a line of three chips for a wider variety of devices. The flagship, the Snapdragon G3x, is getting a bump to a second generation, while the company is also introducing G1 and G2 chips for cheaper devices focused primarily on streaming games from the cloud and other devices. All of them are aimed toward handhelds running Android.

The announcement (timed with the Gamescom trade show in Cologne, Germany) is limited to chip specs. Qualcomm told me that its partners will announce devices using the chips (and their prices) in due course. In a release, Qualcomm specifically said it’s working with Aya Neo, Chinese device manufacturer Huaqin, Taiwan-based Inventec, and Thundercomm (which is typically known as an IoT provider and is partially owned by Qualcomm). Aya Neo has been teasing a new Android-powered device, called “S”, so perhaps that’s one of the devices we’ll see using these new chips.

The new flagship is the Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2. It will utilize Qualcom’s 8-core Kryo CPU with an Adreno A32 GPU. (Each of the chips use similar CPU cores). But it gets top-notch connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 7, both mmWave and 300 MHz sub-6 5G, and Bluetooth 5.3. It’s also the only chip in the stack that supports ray tracing and camera support.

Qualcomm claims that the G3x Gen 2 has a GPU that’s over two times as fast as the last generation, with a CPU that’s “over 30%” faster. The numbers here are somewhat obscured, but Qualcomm’s charts show higher performance per-watt, CPU and GPU performance compared to last gen on Genshin Impact, Geekbench and select graphics benchmarks. To measure sustained performance, however, it tested against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is a flagship found in mobile phones, not gaming devices.

The new introductions are the G1 and G2, which are more basic. The G1 is for entry level devices (perhaps around $200, a Qualcomm rep speculated to me), designed to stream while you’re in the home. It uses an 8-core Kryo CPU, Adreno A11, and older Wi-Fi 5, while supporting up to 1080p and 60 fps. It’s meant for systems with long battery life, perhaps streaming from your own PC over Steam Link, a console over PlayStation Remote Play, or from a cloud service like Xbox Game Pass or GeForce Now. That would make systems with the G1 meant to be primarily a screen for other devices around the home.

The Snapdragon G2, which is designed for a mix of streaming and local Android gaming, bumps up to an Adreno A21 GPU, faster Wi-Fi 6 and 5G options, and a display that goes up to 144 Hz and above FHD. Here, Qualcomm suggested you might want to add in content from the Google Play Store (if vendors support it) or other stores like the Amazon App Store.

All three of the chips are designed for Android-based systems. When asked about the possibility of Linux or Windows-based handhelds in the future, I was told that it was possible, but it’s not likely to happen this generation. Local play using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G2 and G3x Gen 2 is largely meant for Android games, including cross-platform titles like Fortnite, PUBG, and Minecraft.

In theory, these systems are meant for personal screens. The G1, on Wi-Fi, might power systems you use in the home (say, if your TV is taken up by family members), while the G2 and G3x are designed to power devices you use both in your home and on the go, with more wireless options and more power, including the possibility of active cooling for the most intense Android games.

The New Reference Design

When Qualcomm announced the original G3x back in 2021, it was in a dev kit made by Razer (which eventually led to the Razer Edge gaming tablet, sold through Verizon and Razer itself). For its G3x Gen 2 reference design, Qualcomm has struck out on its own. (Qualcomm reps suggested to me there are no reference designs based around the G1 and G2).

The new design, which I got to try at Qualcomm’s New York office ahead of the announcement, utilizes 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, with an option for NVMe expansion. The CPU cooler offers 15W active cooling to the G3X, which is powered by a pair of 3,000 mAh batteries (6,000 mAh total).

Additionally, it features front and rear cameras (one for streaming, the other for AR games), has a USB Type-C port and a SIM card slot, as well as stereo speakers and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Qualcomm suggested that this device, which felt a little clunky in my hands for a premium handheld, is effectively a white label system that other companies could customize to their liking.

The company also showcased the device with a Lenovo ThinkReality headset plugged in. This let me use the G3x Gen 2 reference design like a controller while playing games like they were on a TV. Personally, I preferred playing on the system’s screen, but perhaps a purpose-built headset would work better.

I got to try the reference design in controlled scenarios, playing selected games locally on Android, streaming over Steam Link from a nearby gaming laptop (which did see some hiccups over Qualcomm’s office Wi-Fi) and streaming Cyberpunk 2077 from GeForce Now, which largely worked as expected.

A second reference design, made by Carbon Mobile, wasn’t available to see, but is being showcased to Qualcomm’s partners to show what a system made of more premium materials could look and feel like. (This one is made of Carbon Fiber).

Will it Succeed?

There was only one chip the last time Qualcomm tried making chips for this type of device, and it was enthusiast level. The G3x Gen 1 landed in just one mainstream system, the Razer Edge. At the moment, it doesn’t appear that Razer is on board for a sequel, though it’s possible the company will announce something later. Logitech’s attempt at a cloud gaming handheld, the Logitech G Cloud, based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 720G, received mixed reviews. We’ll have to see what kinds of handhelds these new chips land in, at what price points, and with what features. Systems like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally are taking a different approach, focusing on desktop operating systems and the raw horsepower from AMD APUs to play games locally (as well as the option to stream through web browsers).

It’s possible that the first G3x was ahead of its time. We’ll see soon what the demand for Android-based, streaming-first devices is. But at least with this new lineup from Qualcomm, device makers will have more options.

Samsung has announced its new 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 (G95NC model) gaming monitor at Gamescom 2023. The curvaceous new display is heralded as the “world’s first dual UHD gaming monitor,” and being atop of the Odyssey line you can expect a compelling assortment of supporting specs. This isn’t the first we have heard about Samsung’s impressive G95NC, the monitor was first announced at CES 2023 in January.

Sitting directly in front of a 57-inch monitor of any type would already be rather immersive, but the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 claims to turn the immersion dial up to the max with its design and specs. The 57-inch diagonal spans a 32:9 aspect ratio, providing 7,680 x 2,160 pixels (140ppi). That’s physically equivalent to dual 32-inch UHD monitors seamlessly mated. Samsung has chosen a curved panel for the G95NC, and the arc of this display is quite pronounced at 1000R.

Of course, Samsung has equipped not just a large panel, but a high quality one. The display technology used here is dubbed ‘Quantum Matrix Technology’ and deeper reading reveals that it uses Mini LED backlighting technology. Users benefit from strong contrast and reduced blooming thanks to the highly granular backlighting control. Moreover, the display offers: VESA DisplayHDR 1000 with 1,000 nit peak brightness, plus imagery appearing “vivid and life-like, with accurate color and contrast reproduction,” says Samsung.

Turning our attention to the performance stats, which will be of most interest to avid PC gamers, this immense display also provides good refresh rates and response times. Samsung quotes a 240 Hz refresh rate and 1ms GTG response time, which should mean fast-paced gaming with reduced motion blur or ghosting effects. Additionally, Samsung has gained AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification for the Odyssey Neo S9.

For connectivity, Samsung has furnished the G95NC with several choices including a DisplayPort 2.1 standard (which supports lossless Display Stream Compression) and can output at 240 Hz to match this display. There is an HDMI 2.1 port and a USB hub too, for neater cable management.

An obvious use of this dual-UHD monitor is to replace multiple monitors. Samsung makes the transition smoother with its multi-tasking, multi-input Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes, as well as Auto Source Switch+ to instantly connect to new devices without flipping through input sources.

Supporting the enviable display, a modern ergonomic stand is provided, as shown. Last but not least, your gaming experiences can be enhanced with Samsung Core Lighting+ and CoreSync LED ambience effects.

Samsung is showing off the 57-inch Odyssey Neo S9 dual-UHD gaming monitor at Gamescom starting from today (until 27th). It says that the monitor can now be pre-ordered globally. In the UK we see it is available direct from Samsung for £2,199 including 20% VAT. We couldn’t find a pre-order page on the Samsung US site at the time of writing, but if you take 20% VAT off the UK price and apply today’s exchange rate you get US$2,220. Overall, this new monitor is looking a very likely candidate for our Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitors of 2023 picks.

At Gamescom, Samsung was also showcasing its upgraded Odyssey Ark 55-inch (G97NC model) and the the Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV.

Thermaltake’s ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36 memory kit may not look like much on paper, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve a shot to take on the best RAM. DDR5 is progressing nicely, as both Intel and AMD platforms now use the new memory standard. Unlike when DDR5 was in diapers, memory kits nowadays arrive with improved timings, and we even have access to high-end memory kits hitting DDR5-8000. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for lower-tier memory kits — not everyone chases the highest performance possible. Some still prefer the more straightforward options or a memory kit that sticks to their processor’s official supported data rate, such as DDR5-5600 for Intel’s 13th-Gen Raptor Lake chips.

Thermaltake ‘cheated’ with the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5 kit, recycling the same design as the DDR4 equivalent. You can only tell the difference between the two because the brand added the “D5” marking on the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5’s heat spreader to indicate its DDR5 memory. The aluminum heat spreader retains the same aesthetics, including the two plates in an interlocked layout with a chrome strip in the middle.

Checking in with a height of 48.35mm (1.9 inches), the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5 is far from a low-profile design. Therefore, we recommend you check the clearance space for your CPU air cooler before pulling the trigger on Thermaltake’s memory kit. The RGB illumination didn’t change, either: The memory modules still have 16 high-lumen addressable LEDs. Thermaltake provides the proprietary NeonMaker and TT RGB Plus software for control and customization. Or, if you prefer your motherboard’s software, the memory modules support Asus Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome RGB.

The memory modules arrive with a single-rank design on a 10-layer PCB with two-ounce copper inner layers and 10μ gold fingers. We found eight SK hynix H5CG48MEBDX014 (M-die) integrated circuits (ICs) under the heat spreader. The ICs have a capacity of 2GB, totaling 16GB on each memory module. Renesas provided the P8911-YZ001GR-2208DK power management IC (PMIC) for the memory modules.

The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5 defaulted to DDR5-4800 with 40-40-40-77 timings when you take it for its first run. There’s one XMP 3.0 profile for DDR5-5600 that will help you set the timings to 36-36-36-76 and the required DRAM voltage to 1.25V. See our PC Memory 101 feature and How to Shop for RAM story for more timings and frequency considerations.

Comparison Hardware

Our Intel test system runs the Core i9-13900K on the MSI MEG Z690 Unify-X with the 7D28vAA firmware. In contrast, our AMD system pairs the Ryzen 7 7700X with the MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi changed to the 7D70v176 firmware. The Corsair CUE H100i Elite LCD liquid cooler keeps our Raptor Lake and Zen 4 processor operating temperatures under check.

The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Gaming X Trio tackles the more graphics-intensive workloads, ensuring that there isn’t a graphics bottleneck in our gaming RAM benchmarks. The Windows 11 installation, benchmarking software, and games reside on Crucial’s MX500 SSDs. Meanwhile, the Corsair RM1000x Shift ATX 3.0 power supply provides our systems with clean and abundant power, directly feeding the GeForce RTX 4080 with a native 16-pin (12VHPWR) power cable. Lastly, the Streacom BC1 open-air test bench is vital to organizing our hardware.

Intel Performance

The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36 has tighter timings than the Xpower Zenith RGB DDR5-5600 C40, giving the memory kit an edge in application and gaming benchmarks. The former was generally faster, with a few exceptions where it lost to the slower memory kits.

AMD Performance

Unsurprisingly, Thermaltake’s memory kit outperformed the AMD platform’s Silicon Power memory kit. The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5’s out-of-the-box performance in applications and gaming is good for a DDR5-5600 memory kit.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5 is another of the few DDR5-5600 memory kits that wield SK hynix M-die ICs. Like its Xpower Zenith RGB rival, we got excellent overclocking results from the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5. DDR5-6800 was doable on 1.4V, with timings tweaked to 34-45-45-76.

Lowest Stable Timings

Nobody buys memory kits based on M-die to run at the advertised speed with tight timings. The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5 memory kit has 36-36-36-76 timings by default compared to the 40-40-40-76 timings on the Xpower Zenith RGB memory kit. Nonetheless, both memory kits can operate smoothly at DDR5-5600 with 28-34-34-76 timings and a 1.4V DRAM voltage.

Bottom Line

The ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36 is a sound option if you’re looking for DDR5-5600 memory that’s almost plug-and-play on modern platforms. It’s faster than the Xpower Zenith RGB DDR5-5600 C40 from the get-go and has similar overclocking potential. Nonetheless, the typical disclaimer that your mileage may vary applies here too.

Thermaltake’s DDR5-5600 memory kit is one of the hardest to find in the U.S. market. The last known price for the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36 is $193.19, putting it in an awful position. Retailing close to $200 puts the memory kit into DDR5-7000 territory. The price tag might be okay if we were still in the early days of DDR5, but curiously, Thermaltake hasn’t updated the pricing on the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36. It doesn’t look attractive beside the Xpower Zenith RGB DDR5-5600 C40 when the latter is a bit slower but has the same overclocking prowess selling with a price tag of a little over one-third of the ToughRAM XG RGB DDR5-5600 C36.

Hyper Light Breaker, the action rogue-lite previously scheduled to enter Steam Early Access this fall, has been delayed a second time. The launch window for the spiritual successor to 2016’s Hyper Light Drifter is now rescheduled for early 2024.

“So we need just a bit more time on Hyper Light Breaker before we launch into Early Access,” Alx Preston, founder and Creative Director for developer Heart Machine, said in a video announcing the delay. “This means we’ll be pushing our date to early next year in 2024.” He said the additional time will “allow us to bring the game to its full potential.” Preston thanked fans for their patience and support, promising “a new adventure that lives up to what fans expect from a Heart Machine title.”

Heart Machine / Gearbox Publishing

Hyper Light Breaker shifts gameplay from 2D to 3D while adding up to three players for co-op play. While the 2016 original honored elements from classic top-down Zelda games, the upcoming open-world installment incorporates some Breath of the Wild basics. These include exploring open countrysides scattered with ruins while soaring through the air with a glider and surfing down hills. However, Hyper Light Breaker uses procedurally generated environments, which should help with replayability. Its combat also appears to depart from Nintendo’s modern Zelda games. The game’s first trailer gives you a closer peek.

“We have a lot of wild ideas we want to put into the game, which is exciting and thrilling since the format and tech we’ve created allows so much possibility,” said Preston. “This short push will give us the best chance for a stronger first step into open development in early access next year.”

While AMD’s Ryzen 9 7945HX3D processor with 3D V-Cache that launched today is positioned as the world’s highest-performing CPU for gaming notebooks, this device is one of the highest-performing processor for gaming in general. That makes it a perfect candidate for compact gaming PCs. Minisforum wasted no time in announcing plans to use the new CPU for its upcoming 6-liter gaming PC.

Minisforum calls its forthcoming system Project DRFXI — to emphasize its Dragon Range nature — and this is one of the company’s first small form-factor (SFF) desktops with a Mini-ITX motherboard, as reported by VideoCardz. The PC can handle CPUs with up to 100W thermal design power (TDP), enough to handle AMD’s new 16-core Ryzen 9 7945HX3D CPU. The company plans to use a low-profile air cooling system for the processor, though we can only guess for now whether it will be able to keep the CPU at its peak boost clocks for long.

The machine has two slots for DDR5 memory modules and two M.2 slots for SSDs, which is about as good as you get for a Mini-ITX motherboard. In addition, it will feature Wi-Fi, GbE, USB (Type-A and Type-C), audio connectors, and display outputs.

One of the interesting peculiarities of Minisforum’s DRFXI is that supports desktop graphics cards of all length and height, giving it a lot of flexibility. There is a catch though: The graphics board must be installed on top of the system, outside the case. This does not necessarily look good, but at least it provides lots of options and even support for future PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics cards. All you need is a sufficient PSU and you could even stick an RTX 4090 on top of the chassis.

Minisforum hasn’t detailed specific plans for when it will make its Project DRFXI available, nor do we have a price estimate. Given the relatively unique design, with a high-end CPU and support for the largest graphics cards, it’s aimed at demanding gamers. That typically means the resulting product won’t be cheap.

I’ve been a notebook person for most of my life. I’ve had dozens of notebooks over the years that served as repositories for to-do lists, story ideas, meeting scribbles and everything in between. But at a certain point in my adult life, I turned away from physical notebooks because it became easier to save all of those things digitally in various apps that were always available to me on my phone. I sacrificed tactile satisfaction for digital convenience, and a small part of me mourns for all of the half-filled notebooks I left in my wake.

For some like me, an E Ink tablet may be the solution to those dueling impulses. They can combine the feeling of writing in a regular notebook with many of the conveniences of digitized documents. E Ink tablets allow you to take all of your notes with you on one device, while also letting you scribble with a stylus just like you would with pen-and-paper. Unlike regular tablets and styli, though, E Ink tablets are nowhere near ubiquitous — but there are just enough players in the game to make deciding which one to buy more complicated than you might think. We tested out a bunch of the most popular models available now to see how well they work, how convenient they really are and which are the best tablets using E Ink screens available today.

Are E Ink tablets worth it?

An E Ink tablet will be a worthwhile purchase to a very select group of people. If you prefer the look and feel of an E Ink display to LCD panels found on traditional tablets, it makes a lot of sense. They’re also good options for those who want a more paper-like writing experience (although you can get that kind of functionality on a regular tablet with the right screen protector) or a more distraction-free device overall.

The final note is key here. Most E Ink tablets don’t run on the same operating systems as regular tablets, so you’re automatically going to be limited in what you can do. And even with those that do allow you to download traditional apps like Chrome, Instagram and Facebook, E Ink tablets are not designed to give you the best casual-browsing experience. This is mostly due to the nature of E Ink displays, which have noticeable refreshes, a lack of color and lower quality than the panels you’ll find on even the cheapest iPad.

Arguably the biggest reason why you wouldn’t want to go with an iPad (all models of which support stylus input, a plethora of reading apps, etc) is because it’s much easier to get distracted by email, social media and other Internet-related temptations. An e-reader is also worth considering if this is the case for you, but just know that most standard e-readers do not accept stylus input. If you like to make notes in the margins of books, underline and mark up PDFs and the like, an e-reader won’t cut it.

What to look for in an E Ink tablet

I discovered four main things that can really make or break your experience with an E Ink tablet during my testing; first is the writing experience. How good it is will depend a lot on the display’s refresh rate (does it refresh after every time you put pen to “paper,” so to speak?) and the stylus’ latency. Most had little to no latency, but there were some that were worse than others. Finally, you should double check before buying that your preferred E Ink tablet comes with a stylus. Believe it or not, many of them require you to purchase the pen separately.

The second thing to consider is the reading experience. How much will you be reading books, documents and other things on this tablet? While you can find E Ink tablets in all different sizes, most of them tend to be larger than your standard e-reader because it makes writing much easier. Having a larger display isn’t a bad thing, but it might make holding it for long periods slightly more uncomfortable. (Most e-readers are roughly the size of a paperback book, giving you a similar feeling to analog reading).

The supported file types will also make a big difference. It’s hard to make a blanket statement here because this varies so much among E Ink tablets. The TL;DR is that you’ll have a much better reading experience if you go with one made by a company that already has a history in e-book sales (i.e. Amazon or Kobo). All of the titles you bought via the Kindle or Kobo store should automatically be available to you on your Kindle or Kobo E Ink tablet. And with Kindle titles, specifically, since they are protected by DRM, it’s not necessarily the best idea to try to bring those titles over to a third-party device. Unless the tablet supports reading apps like Amazon’s Kindle or the Kobo app, you’ll be limited to supported file types, like ePUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, PNG and others.

Third, most E Ink tablets have some search features, but they can vary widely between models. You’ll want to consider how important it is to you to be able to search through all your handwritten notes and markups. I noticed that Amazon’s and Kobo’s E Ink tablets made it easy to refer back to notes made in books and files because they automatically save on which pages you took notes, made highlights and more. Searching is less standardized on E Ink tablets that have different supported file types, but their features can be quite powerful in their own right. For example, a few devices I tested supported text search in handwritten notes along with handwriting recognition, the latter of which allows you to translate your scribbles into typed text.

The final factor to consider is sharing and connectivity. Yes, we established that E Ink tablets can be great distraction-free devices, but most manufacturers understand that your notes and doodles aren’t created in a vacuum. You’ll likely want to access them elsewhere, and that requires some form of connectivity. All of the E Ink tablets I tried were WiFi devices, and some supported cloud syncing, companion mobile apps and the ability to export notes via email so you can access them elsewhere. None of them, however, integrate directly with a digital note taking system like Evernote or OneNote, so these devices will always be somewhat supplementary if you use apps like that, too. Ultimately, you should think about what you will want to do with the documents you’ll interact with on your E Ink tablet after the tablet portion is done.

The latest reMarkable tablet isn’t topping our list because it’s the most full-featured or even most interesting E Ink tablet we tested. Rather, it provides the best mix of features people will find useful in a device like this. We’ll get into them all, but first, it’s worth mentioning build quality. The reMarkable 2 weighs less than one pound and is one of the sleekest E Ink tablets we tried. It has a 10.3-inch monochrome digital paper display that’s surrounded by beige-colored bezels, with the chunkiest portion at the bottom edge where you’d naturally grip it. There’s a slim silver bezel on the left side, which attaches to accessories like the folio case and the new Type Folio keyboard. Hats off to reMarkable for making an E Ink tablet that feels right at home with all of your other fancy gadgets.

Let’s start with the writing and reading experiences on the reMarkable 2, both of which are great. From the get go, scribbling, doodling and writing was a breeze. We tested out the Marker Plus, which has a built-in eraser, but both it and the standard Marker are tilt- and pressure sensitive pens, and require no batteries or charging. I observed basically no lag between my pressing down onto the reMarkable 2’s screen and lines showing up. The latency was so low that it felt the closest to actual pen-and-paper. But I will say that this is not unique among our top picks in this guide – almost all of the E Ink tablets we tested got this very crucial feature right.

When it comes to reading, the reMarkable 2 supports PDFs and ePUBs, and you can add files to the device by logging into your reMarkable account on desktop or via the companion mobile app on your phone. You can also pair your Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox account with your reMarkable account and access files that way as well. That should be good enough for anyone who, say, reads a lot of academic papers or reviews many documents for work. It’ll be harder for people who purchase their ebooks from online marketplaces like the Kindle or Kobo stores, but there are other options for those.

Another fun way to get documents onto the reMarkable 2 is via the Read with reMarkable extension for Google Chrome. After installing it and pairing your reMarkable account, you’ll be able to send articles you find online directly to your reMarkable 2 so you can check them out later. You can even customize these files to be sent as text only, which will let you change their format directly on your reMarkable, or as a PDF file. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll be able to mark up these articles as you would any other file on the E Ink tablet. I used this extension a lot and I did enjoy reading longform articles on the reMarkable 2 more than on my iPhone. Being able to underline, highlight and otherwise mark up those stories was more of a bonus than a necessity for me, but for others who glean sources from online materials will be better off for it.

Overall, it’s pretty easy to get files onto the reMarkable 2 and it is possible to access them elsewhere when you may not be able to whip out the E Ink tablet. Those with a reMarkable Connect subscription will have the best experience, and it’s a nice perk that you get a one-year membership when you buy one. The $3-per-month subscription provides the ability to edit existing notes and take new ones from anywhere using the desktop and mobile apps, plus unlimited cloud storage and syncing. On that last front, if you don’t pay for Connect, only “notes and documents synced online in the last 50 days” will be available in reMarkable’s companion apps. I suspect 50 days worth of document syncing will be enough for some, but not power-users. Putting the ability to take notes anywhere behind a paywall is a bit of a bummer no matter what and makes it much harder for anyone to use the reMarkable ecosystem as their main note-taking space.

That said, I kept most of my testing to the reMarkable 2 itself and was impressed by its ability to be a digital notebook without a steep learning curve. You can create different notebooks and “quick sheets” to organize your handwritten notes, and folders to make sense of imported files. You’ll find eight different brush types with which to mark up documents and take notes, along with customizable line thicknesses and “colors” (which just show up as shades on the tablet itself). You can even type wherever you want in a doc, and the reMarkable 2 can translate handwritten notes into machine-readable text with surprising accuracy.

It was no shock that the reMarkable 2 ended up having the best mix of features, along with a relatively low learning curve. The company was one of the first on the scene with a truly viable E Ink tablet back in 2017, and they’ve been refining the experience ever since. But that comes at a cost – the reMarkable 2 isn’t the most expensive E Ink tablet we tested, but it’s not cheap either. The tablet alone will set you back $299, and then you’ll have to shell out either $79 or $129 for the Marker or Marker Plus, respectively. In all, you’re looking at $430 for the best version of the reMarkable 2 you can get (and that assumes you skip the new $199 Type Folio Keyboard). You could get a 9th-gen iPad and the 1st-gen Apple Pencil for the same price and you’d have a more flexible duo, purely based on the capabilities of iOS.

But you’re probably not considering an iPad for a specific reason, whether that’s your love for E Ink or the feeling of pen-to-paper writing, or you simply want a more distraction-free experience. If you’re looking for an E ink tablet that will not take ages to get used to, offers a stellar writing experience and makes it relatively simple to access notes elsewhere, the reMarkable 2 is your best bet.

Best e-reader E Ink tablet: Amazon Kindle Scribe

You really have two options in this space: the Amazon Kindle Scribe and the Kobo Elipsa 2E. The Scribe edged out the Elipsa 2E purely because of its low-latency pen-and-screen combination. The Elipsa has its merits, which we’ll get into in a bit, but it just couldn’t compete with the Scribe when it came to a seamless and smooth handwriting experience.

We already gave the Kindle Scribe the full review treatment, and in general, I enjoyed it while testing it out for this guide, too. As mentioned, there’s little to no latency when writing on the Scribe with its companion pen. Thanks to the latest software update, you also have more brush types to choose from now, including fountain pen, marker and pencil, which add to the charm. Like other E Ink tablets, the Scribe makes it easy to create multiple notebooks, and you can add pages to them and change up their templates if you wish.

As an e-reader, the Scribe shines not only thanks to its 10.2-inch display with auto-adjusting front lights, but also because you have Amazon’s entire ebook store at your fingertips. If you get most of your reading material from Amazon or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you’ll be able to jump right into all of your titles instantly on the Scribe. In addition, the Scribe can connect to Audible via Bluetooth. It’s also easy to get ebooks from your local library and read them on a Kindle. This will be crucial not only for voracious readers, but especially for students who buy or rent digital textbooks and those who consume books regularly for research purposes.

I thought about students a lot when using the Scribe. I started college in 2009, two years after the first Kindle was released and one year before the first iPad came out. Getting textbooks digitally really wasn’t an option for me – but I can understand the appeal a note-taking device like the Kindle Scribe would have for students. It’s arguably even better than a standard Kindle because its bigger screen size, which will make it less tiring to stare at for long periods of time. Adding the ability to take handwritten notes while you’re studying is icing on the cake.

However, Amazon’s execution of book notes is not my favorite. You actually cannot take notes in the margins of Kindle ebooks. Instead you press and hold the pen’s tip on the screen to highlight text or add a note to a particular word or phrase. If you do the latter, a window pops up on the bottom half of the screen where you can either take a handwritten note or type a text note using the Scribe’s mildly frustrating and sluggish on-screen keyboard.

Amazon recently rectified this a bit with a software update that allows for direct on-page writing in certain Kindle books. The Kindle Store now has a section that showcases “Write-on Books,” which is currently mostly made up of journals and game books that feature puzzles like crosswords and sudoku. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but it means you still won’t be able to mark up your favorite fiction and non-fiction books until they support the new feature.

This is where I give a nod to the Kobo Elipsa 2E, where you can write notes in the margins, underline, circle and otherwise mark up your reading material. It’s a more natural (and fun) experience since it mimics what you’d do if you were reading a physical book. It’s a shame that the latency on the Elipsa was just a hair more noticeable than that of the Scribe. If it weren’t for that, it might have beaten Amazon’s device here.

What that extra bit of latency translates to in practice is handwriting that can come out just a bit messier, and that increases precipitously the faster you write. But that also means that you’ll notice this the most when taking notes longhand on the Elipsa; if you’re primarily using an E Ink tablet to mark up documents, it won’t affect you as much. Despite that, I did like the way Kobo executed notebooks on the Elipsa. You can have a standard notebook where you can write and scribble away, or an “advanced” notebook that supports handwriting-to-text conversion and inserting things like diagrams and formulas. Text conversion is actually pretty accurate, too, even when dealing with some of my ugliest handwriting.

Kobo also has a pretty sizable ebook marketplace, so it’s certainly a decent option if you want to stay clear of the Amazon ecosystem. But Amazon has the upper hand when it comes to price. The Kobo Elipsa 2E pack that includes its stylus is $399, while the 16GB Kindle Scribe with the premium pen (which includes dedicated eraser and shortcut buttons) comes in at $369. Even if you max out the Scribe with 64GB of storage, you’d only spend $20 more than you would on the Kobo Elipsa. That, combined with the Scribe’s strong overall performance and the ubiquity of Amazon’s ebook offerings will make it the better choice for most readers.

Best E Ink tablet for note-taking: Supernote X

I spent a while testing all of these E Ink tablets, and the Supernote X is the one I was consistently most excited to use. As a notebook nerd, I find this thing so cool. Available in 10.3-inch (what I tested) and 7.8-inch sizes, the Supernote X has a “FeelWrite” screen protector that has a different feel than a standard E Ink screen. When writing on it with Heart of Metal Pen 2, which is weighty and looks like a fountain pen, you get a gel pen-like feel rather than the subtly scratchy vibe that other E Ink tablets have. In fact, the Supernote X has one of the best writing experiences out of any tablet I tested.

The Supernote X supports a range of file formats, including PDF, ePUB, Word (.doc), PNG and JPG, which really opens up the content you can put onto the thing. I wanted to see if I could treat it almost like a digital bullet journal, and that wasn’t hard to do. There are built-in page templates, but I was able to download daily, weekly and monthly planner templates online, resize them and move them onto the Supernote X using Android File Transfer. The device has a dedicated “MyStyle” folder where you can save files you want to use as templates. The most difficult part was making sure I had the dimensions right while resizing the documents. Once saved in the right folder, I could make an entire notebook out of the templates I had gotten from the internet for free.

Supernote does have its own “app store,” but there’s not much in there, and its Play Store offerings are limited to only the Kindle app. This device doesn’t have a backlight, so it won’t be easy to see in dark environments. But you can download Amazon’s ebook app and read just like you would on a standard tablet (no, you can’t mark up books here either).

Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do with the Supernote X was read, though. The device really shines as an E Ink notebook and the company clearly put a lot of thought into “building a better mousetrap,” so to speak. You can translate handwritten words into typed text, but you don’t have to do that in order for the software to recognize your handwriting. There’s a keywords feature that lets you basically bookmark important phrases for quick access later. All you need to do is lasso the word, press the keyword button and the tablet’s software will translate your writing into typed text. Then you can add it as a keyword and quickly jump back to it from the left-side tablet of contents menu. Similarly, you can bookmark titles and add stars to pages that are important, all of which help you jump between important bits.

That said, the Supernote X sometimes felt a little inconsistent. The writing experience was top-notch, but there were other things that felt a little less polished. For example, you can swipe down on the right bezel to bring up a menu that lets you quickly navigate between favorited notes and recent documents – that’s quite thoughtful. But then the Files page just has a couple of starkly named folders like Export, Screenshot and Inbox that I didn’t touch once, and the pen sidebar has more options than most people will know what to do with (and none of them have text labels).

These are small nit-picks, but they go to show that the Supernote X might not be the best device for tech novices. There is a learning curve here, but notebook nerds like myself will be thrilled with all that the Supernote X has to offer. Unsurprisingly, all those advanced features come at a steep price: the A5-sized tablet with a folio and pen will set you back at least $532, making it the most expensive set on our list.

Honorable mention: Boox Note Air 2 Plus

If you removed some of the notebook-specific features from the Supernote X and added in a more complete version of Android 11, you’d get the Boox Note Air 2 Plus. Boox makes a number of interesting E Ink devices and the Note Air 2 Plus is the one that best compares to the others on our list thanks to its 10.3-inch display. This is an E Ink Android tablet, so that means you can actually download Android apps like Kindle, Kobo and others. There’s even a web browser, and yes, you can watch videos on this thing, too.

Of course, just because you can do all of that doesn’t mean you should. E Ink screens are truly best for reading and writing, so I didn’t spend much time binge watching YouTube on the Note Air 2 Plus – but I was happy that I had the freedom to do so. Really, the utility of Android comes in with the app store and I expect that most people will use it to download all of their favorite reading and writing apps. Much like a standard tablet, the Note Air 2 Plus will be a great option for anyone that gets their reading material from a bunch of different places — and since you can manually transfer documents from your computer to the device, too, it’s far-and-away the most versatile option on our list.

I experienced little to no latency when writing on the Note Air 2 Plus and I was happy with the number of brush options it has. Like the Supernote X, it comes with a bunch of page templates you can use, or you can bring in your own PDFs and other documents to use as templates. There’s an “AI recognition” feature that translates a whole page’s handwriting into typed text, and it’s actually pretty accurate. (Though, it did consistently confuse my “&” for a capital A). I also appreciated that you can add other kinds of material to your notes, including web pages and voice recordings, and share notes as PDFs or PNGs via email, Google Drive and other services. Features like those ensure that, with this partially analog device, you don’t miss out on some of the conveniences that a true digital notebook system would have.

Instead of going into all of the features the Note Air 2 Plus offers, I think it’s most useful to talk about the value of this device. A bundle with the tablet, a standard pen and a folio case comes in at $500, putting it on the higher end of the price spectrum among the devices we tested. But considering it’s a full Android tablet, that doesn’t seem absurd. Those who want to avoid distractions most of the time while still having access to email and a web browser might gravitate towards a device like this. Also, most of Boox’s devices operate in the same way, so you do have more affordable options if you like this blueprint. For example, the Boox Nova Air 2 is a 7.8-inch version of the Note Air 2 Plus, with slightly different RAM and storage specs to match, and its bundle comes in at $370.

Today, Philips launched the Evnia 49M2C8900. This monitor is the newest addition to the Evina 8000 gaming monitor series. It promises a host of features such as a 48.9-inch 32:9 aspect ratio QD-OLED display, a 240 Hz refresh rate, a response time of 0.03 ms GtG, a built-in 30W DTS speaker system, and immersive Ambiglow surround lighting.

Philips characterizes the Evnia 49M2C8900 as a premium gaming monitor but says it is also an excellent display for work. It backs up its statement by highlighting its comprehensive USB-C docking station, which offers 90W power delivery, the integrated KVM switch, a VESA mounting option, and included ergonomic stand. Users with their eyes glued to the screen for extended periods will also benefit from OLED’s true blacks and a LowBlue mode.

Gaming is, of course, where the Evnia 49M2C8900 excels. Its resolution of Double-QHD (5210×1440) delivers plenty of detail (remember to buy one of the best graphics cards for gaming). Gamers will appreciate the 240 Hz refresh rate, a response time of 0.03 ms GtG, and VESA ClearMR (Clear Motion Ratio) 13000 certification to ensure blur-free gaming.

Helping provide a good overall and integrated immersive experience, this 1800R curved Evnia also features built-in DTS Sound with 30 W output (via 4x 7.5W speakers). Ambiglow lighting is also built-in to extend the on-screen action to the surrounding periphery.

The display’s great color stats will benefit both games and more serious work. Philips says the true 10-bit QD-OLED panel used is certified for DisplayHDR True Black 400, and offers up to 450 nits peak brightness. The monitor’s color gamut covers 99% DCI-P3, equivalent to 153.1% sRGB. Factory calibrated, users should find the display’s sRGB mode offers a

Connectivity is provided by the monitor’s 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB type-C (with DP-Alt mode, and 90W power delivery), and an audio jack. The aforementioned USB-C hub provides four USB data ports.

Philips mentions mid-September availability for the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900. We don’t have US pricing yet, but the UK MSRP is £1,650, and buyers in mainland Europe will be asked to spend €1,950. Depending on the finalized price and test performance, the Evnia 49M2C8900 might find a place in our Best Ultrawide Gaming Monitors 2023 feature.

Samsung’s Cheaper Challenger (Same Panel)

If you like the look of the above monitor, you might also be tempted by the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 DQHD gaming monitor, now available for $1,799 at Best Buy. Both monitors are based upon the same Samsung QD-OLED panel; however, the Evnia’s supporting features like DTS Sound and Ambiglow might give it the edge.

Microsoft’s Stefan Kinnestrand announced today that Microsoft Excel will officially support Python integration. This will be accomplished via a partnership with Anaconda which brings a huge repository with common libraries like statsmodels, Matplotlib and pandas. The new Python integration is available starting today as a preview for those in the Beta Channel Microsoft 365 Insiders group.

The integration will become a part of the many tools offered in Excel’s repertoire. As such, you won’t have to take any additional steps to add Python to your copy of Excel. More specifically, this integration will be implemented as a part of Excel’s data transformation tool known as Power Query.

If you want to get in on the early action, you’ll need to be a part of the Beta Channel Insider group in the Microsoft 365 Insider Program. The preview will be automatically included in the latest Insider build. Just install the latest copy of Excel offered and open a new workbook. In the ribbon go to ‘Formulas’ then ‘Insert Python’. There you should have an option to try the preview.

Anaconda has more details about their work on the project over at their official website. We definitely recommend checking it out for an inside look at what the new Python support is capable of. They also offer training courses which can help you get off the ground with the new addition.

The preview will only be available for a limited time so now is your chance to check it out and see what it’s like hands-on. The preview will also be extended to Microsoft 365 subscribers. Once the preview expires, it will still be available but with limited functionality. To restore full access, users will need to purchase a license.

If you want to get a closer look at the details of the new rollout, we recommend both reading through the official announcement shared by Microsoft as well as the official documentation from Anaconda.

Arm Holdings this week submitted a Form F-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of its planned initial public offering of its standard shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The specific number of shares and their pricing for this offering are still to be decided, but it is believed that this will be the biggest IPO in years as we are dealing with a key player in the microprocessor design landscape.

Approximately 70% of the global population employs products powered by chips featuring instruction set architecture or designs developed by Arm. In the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2023, various chipmakers shipped 30 billion chips based on Arm’s technology, marking a growth of 70% from 2016, reports Nikkei. To date, Arm’s technology was used in 250 billion chips and according to SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son this figure is anticipated to eventually hit the one trillion mark.

Given the ubiquitous nature of Arm technology, Arm Holdings’s valuation is estimated to fall between $60 and $70 billion. Though initial ambitions aimed to raise up to $10 billion, SoftBank’s choice to retain a larger portion of Arm might adjust this figure. Arm Holdings is currently owned by SoftBank, a Japanese investment conglomerate, which intends to capitalize on Arm’s strengths in traditional markets as well as in the expanding AI computing sector.

“A strong performance from Arm will not only be a major windfall for SoftBank, but also reinforce its AI strategy by showing the market hype around AI has not waned,” said Kyle Stanford, an analyst at PitchBook, reports Bloomberg. 

Leading tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Intel, Nvidia, and Samsung are reportedly considering becoming anchor investors in Arm’s forthcoming initial public offering, according to media reports.

Nevertheless, Arm’s trajectory is not devoid of headwinds. Recently released financial documents revealed a slight decline in its revenues, dipping to $2.68 billion in the year that ended this past March. The chip industry at large, remains mired in sales challenges, accentuated by inventory surpluses. Even powerhouses like Apple, Intel, and Qualcomm are not insulated from this downturn. Also, geopolitical tensions, such export restrictions imposed by the U.S. and U.K. against China, further imperil Arm’s prospects in the lucrative Chinese market. For example, Chinese companies cannot license Arm’s high-performance Neoverse V-series CPU IP used for high-performance computing applications.

But perhaps the biggest challenge for Arm besides economic downturn and government restrictions, is the growing adoption of the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture by emerging and established applications. While simplistic RISC-V-based SoCs have been addressing emerging applications like smart meters and sensors for a while, recently the technology has been adopted for AI and HPC applications, cash cows for companies like Nvidia.

This forthcoming listing has garnered attention as potentially the most significant IPO this year. If successful, Arm’s listing will not only be a beacon of hope for SoftBank but will also be the most significant since Rivian Automotive’s $13.7 billion IPO in 2021. The magnitude of this event aligns it with tech behemoths Alibaba’s 2014 $25 billion offering and Facebook’s 2012 debut of $16 billion.