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If you’re a Steam Deck owner, you have undoubtedly heard of the Sabrent Rocket 2230, an early retail M.2 2230 NVMe SSD that helped DIYers upgrade once-space-limited Steam Decks. However, even the original Rocket 2230’s 1TB maximum could be tight with modern games and lots of ROMs, but thankfully now you can reach up to 2TB with Sabrent’s follow-up Rocket Q4 2230. 

SD cards and external storage can only do so much with the Steam Deck and other handhelds, and if you want easily-portable, high-performance storage, a good NVMe SSD is hard to beat. The Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230 is an easy way to upgrade your Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or other portable device to 2TB of fast internal storage. It doesn’t cut corners by using old technology, it’s relatively fast and efficient, and it’s more than enough to get you gaming on the go. To provide 2TB of capacity in the M.2 2230 form factor while being single-sided, it has to compromise by using QLC flash instead of the faster TLC flash. The QLC flash reduces peak and sustained performance, but the drive performs well enough where it matters.

The drive is supported by a normal retail warranty and comes with Sabrent’s copy of Acronis True Image. The drive arrives with a copper-infused heatspreader label, which might require adjustment in some devices (such as with the EMI sleeve in the Deck). Currently, the only readily available TLC-based option in this form factor is the WD SN740, the client version of the WD Black SN770, although we may see more alternatives thanks to the 232-Layer generation of flash.

The Rocket Q4 2230 is very similar to the Crucial P3 Plus and the Crucial P3. These drives are efficient and generally run cool. Like with the Crucial P3 and P3 Plus, the Rocket Q4 2230 opts for a large pSLC cache, which reduces sustained performance compared to a drive like the Solidigm P41 Plus.

The Micron 2400, another popular 2TB choice for M.2 2230 SSDs, uses the same controller as the P41 Plus — the SMI SM2269XT — but comes with Micron’s QLC flash. That controller tends to be less efficient, and it’s possible the Micron 2400 has a larger pSLC cache, making the Rocket Q4 2230 arguably the best all-around QLC-based option for embedded devices at this time. Let’s see how it performs. 

Specifications

The Rocket Q4 2230 is currently available only at 2TB for $220 on Amazon. Price swings are common in the SSD market, and the competition’s pricing also varies.

Although Sabrent appears to have left the door open for a 1TB SKU, the 2TB is the only one currently available. It peaks at 5,000 / 3,200 MB/s for sequential reads and writes and 480K / 750K random IOPS. Write speeds can be lower for QLC, although this rated value is below what the drive can achieve, and it has enough speed to saturate the PCIe 3.0 bus present in the Steam Deck.

The drive is warrantied for five years with registration, and the drive can absorb up to 450TB of written data. This endurance rating is more than sufficient for the drive’s use in a device like the Steam Deck. Worries about QLC endurance are not warranted; Micron’s 176-Layer QLC is normally rated for 1,500 program/erase cycles with up to 100,000 in pSLC mode.

Software and Accessories

The Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230 comes with a downloadable, Sabrent-specific version of Acronis True Image which is useful for cloning and imaging. This can be nice to have, especially when working with the ROG Ally. Sabrent also has its own SSD toolbox, which will presumably offer firmware updates for the drive, if applicable.

A Closer Look

The Rocket Q4 2230 arrives in a stylish tin, showing off a mixture of white and copper coloring. While not important, the presentation is attractive and does separate it from many OEM SSDs. The drive’s label operates as a heatspreader as it is made of thermally-conductive copper.

The Rocket Q4 2230 sports an SSD controller and a single NAND package. The drive is single-sided, which is important for many embedded devices like the Steam Deck — it can be a challenge to pack in 2TB of flash with this limitation. 

The Rocket Q4 2230 uses Micron’s 176-Layer QLC (N48R) flash, which is convenient for achieving 2TB in such a small package. In contrast, the original Rocket 2230 was constrained to 1TB because it used Micron’s 176-Layer TLC (B47R).

Using 1Tb dies with TLC flash is possible, as the WD SN740 does with BiCS5, but that flash is less efficient. SK hynix also makes 1Tb dies, but given current stacking technology, we will likely see 232-Layer generation flash tackling this role (aside from maybe BiCS6), such as with Micron’s B58R TLC. This flash is already available on many drives, like the Crucial T700. 

The Rocket Q4 2230 is DRAM-less, but the host memory buffer (HMB) feature is supported on Valve’s Steam Deck, ASUS’s ROG Ally, and other devices. This should be sufficient for portable gaming workloads. The drive is also PCIe 4.0, which begs the question: does that make a difference for the Deck? In fact, this drive is somewhat more efficient when restricted to the 3.0 interface, and it’s worth going for new hardware for overall performance and efficiency on a portable platform. Such technology does not often arrive on an older PCIe interface, and with it being backward compatible, there’s little reason not to go with a 4.0 drive.

The Rocket Q4 2230 uses the Phison E21T SSD controller, which we’ve reviewed on multiple products, including the original Rocket 2230 (a.k.a. the Rocket 2230 NVMe 4.0). This controller has a history of providing good performance and power efficiency. The latter is probably more important with battery-powered, portable devices. This controller’s primary competition would include the Silicon Motion SM2269XT on drives like the Micron 2400 and Solidigm P41 Plus, the InnoGrit IG5220, and the Maxio MAP1602. However, the latter two are less commonly found on M.2 2230. The MAP1602, on paper, is faster but can run slower, which offers some flexibility.

Future controllers, like the Phison E27T and Silicon Motion SM2268XT, could usurp its position, although the extra performance doesn’t mean much for the PCIe 3.0 Steam Deck. Efficiency gains would be nice, but these two controllers will still be 12nm. Any gains would more likely come from the flash. One other worthy mention is the Kioxia BG6 with an unknown controller. Kioxia has often used Phison controllers, and the BG6 uses Kioxia’s 162-Layer TLC (BiCS6), giving it some bandwidth uplift. Efficiency remains uncertain.

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AMD’s forthcoming Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX (Storm Peak) will undoubtedly disrupt the list of best CPUs for workstations. The multi-core beast, which will lead the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000WX army, has been spotted in a new benchmark with 96 cores and boost clock speeds up to 5.1 GHz.

The Geekbench 5 submission (via Benchleaks) exposes the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX with 96 cores and 192 threads. The next-generation workstation flagship represents a 50% increase in core count over the existing Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX (Chagall). It also sports 60% more cores than Intel’s Xeon Platinum 8490H (Sapphire Rapids) server chip.

The Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX is a risky bet on AMD’s part since it’s almost a carbon copy of the company’s EPYC 9654 (Genoa) processor, which retails for $11,805. There will be a difference in features between the Threadripper Pro and EPYC platforms. A handful of processors can compete with Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX regarding core count. Only EPYC Bergamo, which scales up to 128 cores, has more cores.

Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX also comes with a significant upgrade in the cache subsystem. The Zen 4-powered workstation chip wields 384MB of L3 cache and 96MB of L2 cache. That’s the same design on the EPYC 9654. however, in comparison to the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX, the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX flaunts 50% more L3 cache and up to 3X as much L2 cache.

Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX Specifications*

*Specifications are unconfirmed.

Ignore the Geekbench 5-reported 7.97 GHz base clock, since it’s an obvious error. However, digging deeper into the Geekbench 5 report shows that the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX was reportedly boosted to 5,140 MHz, which probably is the single-core boost clock. The Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX has a 4.5 GHz single-boost clock, so the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX’s rocking a 14% higher single-boost clock.

Compared to the EPYC 9564, the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX has a 38% higher boost clock. In a way, you could consider the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX to be a faster-clocked EPYC 9564. An important factor will be the pricing — the EPYC 9564 costs $11,805, so it’ll be interesting to see how AMD prices the nearly-equal Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX.

As with all leaked benchmarks, take these with a grain (or several) of salt. The Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX scored 2,095 and 81,408 points on the single-and multi-core tests, respectively. Compared to the nearly identical Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX submission, the new chip has a 26% higher single-core performance. In terms of multi-core performance, we’re looking at around 49%. The exact numbers will likely differ slightly, so these values are more general ballpark figures.

If the information from a leaked shipping document is legit, the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX may have a 350W TDP — the same as the Xeon Platinum 8490H. This TDP rating looks reasonable, since the EPYC 9564’s TDP varies between 320W  to 400W. In this case, the 96-core Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX seemingly has a 25% higher TDP than the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX, probably to lodge the extra cores and higher clock speeds.

The leaked document with today’s Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX benchmark hints at an imminent launch for the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000WX series. We saw a couple of upcoming Noctua Threadripper CPU air coolers at Computex 2023 with an ETA of October, and the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000WX series will likely hit the market around that timeframe.

Foxconn is producing over half of Nvidia-based AI hardware and is benefiting from the brand’s dominance in the artificial intelligence field, according to Economic Daily, citing sources in the supply chain (via TrendForce). Liu Yangwei, the chairman of Foxconn, recently told analysts and investors that the company produces 70% of AI servers sold globally today, reports Commercial Times.

Foxconn appears to be the exclusive maker of Nvidia’s compute GPU modules, such as the A100, A800, H100, and H800. These modules are widely used by all makers of AI GPU-based servers — including Nvidia. The latter offers its customers DGX servers based on A100 and H100 as well as HGX boards powered by the same compute GPUs. And as it turns out, over 50% of HGX boards are also produced by Foxconn. 

But Foxcon’s involvement in AI hardware does not end with modules and boards — it also spans to servers and server cabinets, establishing a comprehensive vertical integration that encompasses the whole AI landscape.

Yangwei bragged that the company produces 70% of AI servers, which includes not only Nvidia-based products, but also servers that rely on proprietary AI processors by Amazon Web Services and Google, two large cloud service providers (CSPs). This makes Foxconn one of the largest beneficiaries of the explosive growth of AI servers. (Other beneficiaries include Inventec, Quanta, and Supermicro.)

AI servers is a huge market. Yangwei said that it is projected to expand from $30 billion in 2023 to $150 billion by 2027. To provide perspective on this growth, the entire server market was valued at $123 billion in 2022, and is expected to reach $186 billion by 2027, based on data from IDC.

The head of Foxconn claims that CSPs are the largest consumers of AI servers these days, as they strive to offer their clients appropriate platforms to run various artificial intelligence applications.

He also highlighted that the company’s enduring partnerships with North American CSPs, coupled with its production capabilities in the U.S. — notably the Wisconsin factory — enable it to provide tailored services to major clients like AWS, Google, and Microsoft, granting Foxconn a unique edge in the competitive market.

IBM, which has been at the forefront of quantum computing and a number of other research fields, recently showcased what it feels the solution to AI processing (and its costs) could be. And if IBM’s vision translates into something, the future isn’t centered around GPUs: instead, it takes place within mixed-signal, analog chips that could bring about massive improvements in energy efficiency while offering competitive performance against the market’s current go-tos.

According to a research paper published in Nature Electronics last week, IBM believes the future of AI inferencing could pass through a chip combining phase-change memory (PCM) alongside digital circuits. According to the paper, matrix-vector multiplication (one of the main workloads for AI inferencing) could be performed directly on chip-stored weights.

In this scenario, the reduced power requirements of passive, analog circuitry (which don’t require a continuous electrical current to maintain the bit value they’re holding) should allow for a reduction in the overall power required to successfully perform matrix calculations — or, at the very least, allow for the surplus energy budget of the (now) analog sections of the chip to be repurposed towards its remaining digital circuits for added throughput. The design takes clues from learnings from research in neuromorphic computing.

Developed as part of IBM’s Hermes project, the latest version of the chip counts with 64 compute tiles, which communicate with each other through a Network-on-Chip (NOC) approach that’s similar in concept to AMD’s Infinity Fabric. There’s also fixed-function hardware that’s specialized in the processing of convolutional layers (which aim to reduce complexity of the underlying information in order to accelerate processing speed and increase efficiency). Being a research chip, it’s been fabricated at a 14-nm fabrication process; perhaps IBM has room to further improve power efficiency, if the analog cells can be further miniaturized.

The phase-change-memory (PCM) cells themselves are distributed throughout each of the 64 tiles arranged in a crossbar, which can store a 256×256 matrix-vector multiplication space. To be fair, there are certain performance constraints in such a mixed analog-digital design: signals need to be converted from analog to digital (and vice-versa), which incurs penalties in both latency and energy utilization. But with appropriate scheduling optimizations, the final result is higher efficiency compared with a fully-digital chip (such as Nvidia’s A100 and H100). According to IBM, a single ResNet-9 input was processed in 1.52 μs (micro-seconds) and consumed 1.51 μJ (micro-Joules) of energy. According to Abu Sebastian at the IBM Rüschlikon Center (as covered by EE Times), the current iteration of the chip achieves a peak matrix-vector-multiplication throughput of 16.1 to 63.1 TOPC (trillion operations per second) at an energy efficiency of 2.48 to 9.76 TOPS W-1.

The still-ongoing AI “revolution” has sparked volcanic moves in the High Performance Computing (HPC) market. But besides driving home the marvel of GPUs (the general processing units responsible for accelerating most of that particular market), the gold rush for AI accelerators has showcased just how dependent on a single player the market still is (read: Nvidia), while also bringing back to the forefront questions of energy efficiency.

Analog chips that break apart the power efficiency barriers would certainly be a welcome move, but as with any new technology, analog AI inferencing chips will have to fight to survive against the already-entrenched technologies, software stack, and techniques deployed today. Network effects and market share are real, and Nvidia’s grip on the HPC market through both its hardware and CUDA software stacks is… vice-like, to say the least.

This week, Tachyum said that by using the latest electronic design automation (EDA) tools it has managed to squeeze 50% more cores into its Prodigy processor while increasing die size by only 20%. The 192-core chip does not seem to exist in silicon as of now and the company did not share when it plans to start its sampling or shipping these processors to interested parties.

Last year Tachyum sued Cadence for providing IP that did not meet its expectations and had to switch to IP from another provider or providers. Because of this, it had to also change RTL simulation and layout tools. The company did not disclose which EDA tools it uses for Prodigy development, but it claims that the new set of programs enabled it to tweak various parameters, resulting in a 50% increase in core count (from 128 to 192), increase L2/L3 cache from 128MB to 192MB, and a jump in SERDES from 64 to 96 per chip. Die size of the processor increased from 500 mm2 to 600 mm2, or by around 20%.

Tachyum asserts that it could squeeze more of its universal cores within the 858 mm2 reticle limit, performance of all cores would be constrained by memory bandwidth, even when paired with 16 DDR5 channels operating at a 7200MT/s data transfer rate.

“We have achieved better results and timing with our new EDA physical design tools,” said Dr. Radoslav Danilak, founder and CEO of Tachyum. “[…] while we did not have any choice but to change EDA tools, our physical design (PD) team worked hard to redo physical design and optimizations with the new set of PD tools, as we approach volume-level production.”

Tachyum’s Prodigy is a versatile processor with up to 192 unique 64-bit VLIW cores that boast two 1024-bit vector units, a 4096-bit matrix unit, a 64KB instruction cache, a 64KB data cache, and a 1MB L2 cache. Interestingly, unused L2 caches from other cores can be repurposed as a supplemental L3 cache. 

When Prodigy runs native code, proper compiler optimizations can enable 4-way out-of-order processing (despite the fact that VLIW is meant to be in-order). Furthermore, Prodigy’s instruction set architecture allows for enhanced parallelism through specialized ‘poison bits.’

Perhaps the most interesting peculiarity of the Prodigy processor is that it can emulate x86, Arm, CUDA and RISC-V binaries without compromising performance, according to Tachyum. Despite past challenges faced by VLIW processors emulating x86 code, Tachyum is optimistic about its performance, even if certain translations might cause a 30-40% drop. 

 

A week ago, news about AMD’s Inception vulnerability broke, and the first deep dive into the performance impact of mitigations has been published. Linux-centric Phoronix has just uploaded eight pages of test results. Using an AMD Epyc 7763 (Zen 3) based system, running Linux (of course), the site tested a plethora of apps and tabulated before and after-patching results. Depending on workload, you might not see much difference — however, some tasks were up to 54% slower on a patched system.

Data from Phoronix benchmarking

For the above table we looked at some of the worst results, as well as some of the test results from more-familiar apps like 7zip, Blender, and Firefox. Those three familiar apps don’t suffer too much from the AMD Inception mitigations. Of the three, compression app 7zip seems to be the most affected — but how long do you spend de-compressing files in an average day?

Much more serious performance consequences are observed in applications that work on databases, code compilation, engineering, and image processing. The worst result we saw, with MariaDB, shows database operations were severely impacted on a patched Epyc system.

If you head over to Phoronix for a closer look at the data and a wider selection of results you will see that the results sometimes show more than just the AMD Inception mitigation being ‘off’ or ‘on’. There will be up to three levels of patching with different configurations — some with purely kernel-based mitigations, others with the newest microcode, and another with the most secure Indirect Branch Prediction Barrier (IBPB) mitigation. Please note that IBPB was frequently (but not always) shown to be the worst performer of all mitigations. The default AMD Linux mitigation is ‘safe RET mode’.

If there’s one thing the Raspberry Pi and maker community at large is good at, it’s creating replicas of cool stuff from the imaginative works of science fiction. From AI-powered Terminator skulls to pit droids from Star Wars, there’s no shortage of creativity to explore. Today we have another impressive replica to share, this one being a working TARS replica from the movie Interstellar created by maker and developer Charlie Diaz.

According to Diaz, the goal was to not only create a visual duplicate of the robot but also to add functionality that would bring it to life. It took several iterations to get to where the project is today but the end result was well worth all the effort. This impressive TARS replica uses our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, and is capable of locomoting for hours without issue.

This success didn’t come without its fair share of trial and error. TARS has a unique design and the walking mechanism took a bit of work to perfect. Diaz explained how the first version didn’t meet his expectations and failed to walk for long without components breaking down and causing problems. Making adjustments like swapping out heavier components for lighter versions made a huge difference in its performance.

There are 3D-printed components used to mount the legs to the main body with CAD files available for anyone who wants to check them out. It’s driven by a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ alongside an Adafruit 16-channel PWM servo driver connected to 4 SG90 micro servo motors and 5 metal gear servos. A 5-inch Elecrow display is mounted to the front and a bluetooth remote is used for remote control.

Operating system-wise, Diaz is using Raspberry Pi OS. He was also kind enough to make the project open source so you can find all of the code used in the build over at Hackster. The walking functions and remote operations are handled using a custom Python script.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check out the full project in greater detail over at Hackster. There Diaz not only shows off his hard work but also gives some insight into its development progress over time.

Intel’s Arc Alchemist graphics cards have proven worthy to be on the list of best graphics cards. The chipmaker is readying its next-generation Battlemage graphics cards for 2024 and has released some test tools for its partners that hint at Battlemage’s package sizes.

Intel has a Design-In Tools store offers its partners design and validation tools for the chipmaker’s existing and upcoming products. On this occasion, hardware sleuth Harukaze5719 discovered the BGA2727-BMG-X3-6CH and BGA2362-BMG-X2 interposers designed for testing Battlemage graphics cards. A previous Battlemage leak claims that Intel is reportedly preparing at least two silicon for the next-generation graphics cards: BMG-G10 (

The X3 tool is the larger of the two interposers. X3 features a 2,727 BGA array design, whereas the X2 tool has a 2,362 BGA array design. As per the BGA2660-DG2-512EU-GRN interposer tool, DG2-512, which fathers the ACM-G10 die that powers the Arc A770 and Arc A750, sports a 2,660 BGA array. That means X3’s package size is up to 2.5% larger than DG2-512. We don’t know what codename Intel has planned for X3, but given the dimensions, it could be the successor to DG2-512.

On the other hand, the X2 shows a 2,362 BGA array design. We imagine it could be the direct replacement for the DG2-256 (ACM-G12). Unfortunately, while Intel offers an interposer for DG2-128 (ACMG-11), the chipmaker doesn’t sell one for DG2-256, so we can’t compare the two. However, the package size difference from DG2-128 (BGA1379) to X2 (BGA2362) is around 71.3%, so it’s more likely that the X2 is closer to the DG2-256.

Intel Battlemage Package Size

Intel has confirmed that Battlemage will come in Xe2-HPG and Xe2-LPG flavors. Therefore, Battlemage won’t just be present on discrete graphics cards. You’ll also find Battlemage inside Intel’s forthcoming processors, specifically Lunar Lake. According to a leaker, the integrated graphics solution inside Lunar Lake may wield as many as eight Xe cores, amounting to 64 Xe Battlemage execution units.

Like Alchemist, Intel won’t produce Battlemage on its own. Instead, the chipmaker will again recourse to TSMC to help make Battlemage. A recent report states that Intel is going all-in with TSMC and has reportedly booked Celestial (the generation that will succeed Battlemage). For reference, Alchemist was on TSMC’s 6nm process node. Intel hasn’t confirmed which TSMC node it’ll use for Battlemage, but many believe it’s either the 5nm or 4nm node.

Assuming there are no setbacks, Battlemage will arrive in 2024. So far, Intel hasn’t made much of an impact as the third player in the graphics card game despite Arc Alchemist being widely available and price cuts. Alchemist is Intel’s first desktop graphics card in over 20 years, so you can’t expect the company to get it right the first time, even with the Intel being as giant as it is. Let’s hope that Intel has learned from Alchemist and leverage it for Battlemage.

Intel and Synopsys this week extended their EDA and IP partnership to the company’s Intel 3 and Intel 18A manufacturing technologies. In line with the agreement, Synopsys is set to develop its standardized interface IP for Intel’s 3nm and 1.8nm-class production nodes, which will be beneficial for Intel Foundry Services (IFS) customers adopting these fabrication processes. Meanwhile, a standout aspect of this announcement is Intel’s intention to extend its 3nm-class node to a wider array of external clients.

While chip designers tend to invest a lot into differentiating their IP, most of them tend to license IP-like interfaces and memory controllers. To that end, the availability of an industry-standard IP portfolio of interfaces from Synopsys is crucial for the success of new process technologies, such as the upcoming Intel 3 and Intel 18A, as it enables chip developers to streamline their work and shrink the time-to-market. Unfortunately, it is unclear when exactly Synopsys is set to be ready with its IP for Intel 3, even though that is set to be ready for manufacturing this year. Intel 18A has a bit more time, as it’s set to be ready for production in 2H 2024.

The intriguing part is that Intel is now extending its IFS offerings to the Intel 3 fabrication process, which is a major refinement of its Intel 4 node and does not use any of the company’s ambitious innovations like gate-all-around RibbonFET transistors or the backside power rail called PowerVia. Compared to its predecessor, Intel 3 promises a 18% higher performance per watt, a denser high-performance library, reduced via resistance, and increased intrinsic drive current, which is beneficial primarily for datacenter system-on-chips. Indeed, Intel has announced zero Intel 3-based client products so far, but three datacenter SoCs: Xeon-branded Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest processors, as well as a custom SoC for a major cloud datacenter provider.

The extension of the IP partnership with Synopsys will enable Intel to make its Intel 3 node — a fabrication technology that Intel barely advertised as an offering for IFS customers — more accessible to a wider range of interested parties. That also implies that there are potentially such interested parties.

As for the Intel 18A node, this is a superior version of the company’s Intel 20A process technology that promises up to a 10% improvement in performance per watt, a refined RibbonFET architecture, and line width reduction, which implies a higher transistor density. It will be crucial for Intel 18A to have industry-standard interface IP readily available as soon as possible, as developing things like memory or PCIe controllers and PHY on a 1.8nm node is both expensive and time consuming.

If you own a 3D printer, you can fuel your passion for Minecraft games by downloading and 3D printing these interesting 8 designs.

One of the most exciting aspects of Minecraft is its unique visual style and all the details it contains. The marketplace is filled with Minecraft action figures, Legos and other toys. However, you don’t need to head to the store as there are numerous, free 3D models you can print at home.

If you search for “Minecraft” on leading design repositories such as Thingiverse or Printables, you’ll find hundreds of STL files available right now. However, not all of them are equally worthy of your time. These are the best 8 Minecraft prints we’ve seen. Just download the file(s), slice them in your slicer and send them to your printer, perhaps one of the best 3D printers.

1. Articulated Steve

Steve is an iconic character model that is the main protagonist in the game, and it features a blocky humanoid figure. It wears a light blue shirt, blue jeans, gray shoes, and a light brown beard stubble. Steve’s hair is dark brown, and his skin is a rich brown, with blue eyes.

The design comes with five parts: the arms, head, legs, pickaxe and torso. The designer 3D recommends printing the model at a resolution of 0.15mm and a 15% infill with supports. 

Designer and link to download: Kirby Downey via Myminifactory

Number of downloads: 4,074

2. Minecraft Creeper Mini Figure Kit

This is a quick-to-print and assemble design, and you can effortlessly detach the parts from the frame by simply twisting them without the need for cutters or clippers. You can use the kit as a display piece and a functional keychain ornament, and you can download the files, open them in any 3D modeling software or STL editor, and customize them based on your needs.

Despite its small size, the figure maintains the distinctive cubic body with its signature sad expression. It’s a great way to showcase your love for the game or add Minecraft flair to your keychain.

Designer and link to download: Chiz via Printables

Number of Downloads: 4,137

3. ESPADA

These Minecraft sword keychains provide a great way to showcase your love for the game while adding a touch of gamer style to your keys, and they can also spark a conversation when you meet with your fellow gamers. You can also download and 3D print them and give them to your closest friends, kids, or anyone who you know enjoys Minecraft games.

Designer and link to download: Youbit via Cults3D

Number of Downloads: 2,800

4. Textured Minecraft Grass Block Box

A textured Minecraft Grass Block Box is another attractive Minecraft design whose lid is designed to resemble the top face of a grass block, complete with the signature vibrant green color and coarse texture that players recognize from Minecraft’s blocky landscapes. 

The lid fits well, just like a puzzle piece, and it is removable. It is about 69 mm³, and the interior dimensions measure around 58 * 58 * 60 mm. You can 3D print the design and use it to decorate your desk or gaming setup. It can also serve as a great gift for a family member or friend with a gaming passion. The designer has provided STL files that anyone can download and customize based on their needs. It should be 3D printed with supports, especially the lid, but the base doesn’t require supports. 

Designer and link to download: MARCELWO41EDYNKI via Cults3D

Number of Downloads: 852

5. Minecraft Chess Set

Minecraft chess set not only offers the classic game of chess but also adds a delightful layer of Minecraft-themed strategy and fun. It’s an excellent way for fans of both chess and Minecraft to enjoy a unique gaming experience that combines the best of both worlds. 

Just like the rest above that we have described, this set makes for a fantastic gift, a collectible item, or a centerpiece for your gaming setup. It has eight parts, and the designer printed it with a layer height of 0.1mm and a 10% infill.

Designer and link to download: Guilbert Benjamin via Myminifactory

Number of downloads: 2,100

6. Minecraft Block Lamp

A Minecraft block lamp is a decorative piece replicating one of the game’s recognizable blocks, like the grass block we have just described above. The lamp emits a soft and comforting glow, making it a great bedside lamp. 

You can also place it on a desk, shelf, or any spot where you can emit the light well. Whether reading, gaming, or simply relaxing, the Minecraft block lamp creates a warm and inviting atmosphere with a nod to your favorite virtual world.

Once you 3D print the parts, you can use glue to stick the four faces together and you add an LED strip. The designer recommends using 100% infill, a layer height of 0.2mm, and no supports or rafts are required.

Designer and link to download: Bithur_Factory via Cults3D

Number of downloads: 827

7. Minecraft Portal Style Phone Charging Dock With Animation

The swirling pattern and vibrant colors of the Minecraft portal-style phone charging dock replicate the Nether portal from Minecraft. It adds a practical functionality of a phone charging dock and a touch of interactivity to your charging experience through the animations. 

You can put a phone measuring 80 x 165 x 12.8mm inside. If your phone is smaller, you can scale the design until you achieve the perfect size. You can use glue to stick the detachable pieces together. No need to use supports when 3D printing, and the designer recommends using 8% v-roid infill, four overlayers, and four underlayers. 

Designer and link to download: Impresoen3D via Cults3D

Number of downloads: 1,300

8. Minecraft Chest Single and Double

You can download and 3D print these Minecraft boxes and use them for storing your items and keeping them secure and organized. The single chest provides a single storage compartment with 27 available item slots. The double chest, on the other hand, is an expanded version of the single chest and provides a much larger storage capacity. 

You can 3D print each panel without a brim. When 3D printing the double chest, the designer recommends printing with an infill of 20%, 0.2mm resolution, and no need for rafts and supports.

Designer and link to download: Spradlinb via Printables

Number of downloads: 1,465

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Frore Systems, the inventors behind the world’s first solid-state cooling devices, has unveiled a new 64TB U.2 SSD storage device cooled by the company’s AirJet Mini. Made in collaboration with OWC, the storage enclosure is known as the Mercury Pro and is the first storage enclosure to utilize Frore System’s technology.

For more details on Frore System’s solid-state cooling technology, check our previous coverage. The quick summary is that Frore System’s AirJet Mini and AirJet Pro coolers are the world’s first solid-state cooling devices featuring no moving parts. With a thickness of 2.8mm and a heat dissipation of 5W for the Mini and 10W for the Pro, respectively, the cooling capacity per mm is much higher than traditional cooling methods. Both devices can actively cool incredibly slim or compact devices that previously could only be cooled via passive cooling, or with weak active cooling solutions.

OWC’s new Mercury Pro is the first external storage enclosure to use an AirJet cooler. In the past, Frore Systems advertised its AirJet Mini and Pro as CPU/SoC coolers specifically, but in this case, the AirJets have been adapted to cool storage devices instead, thanks in no small part to the AirJet Mini’s ultra-thin form factor.

The unit houses eight M.2 SSDs in a compact 3.5-inch U.2 enclosure, with four SSDs residing on the top while the other four are installed on the bottom of the case. Each SSD gets its own AirJet Mini, attached to the SSD with a copper heat exchanger and thermal pads. OWC’s variant comes with eight 8TB SSDs, yielding 64TB of capacity as a whole, with throughput of 2200MB/s and 2600MB/s for sustained sequential writes with the added cooling capacity.

Thanks to the AirJet’s cooling capabilities, the Mercury Pro is able to dissipate 40W of heat, in a form factor the size of a single SATA hard drive. If this same amount of cooling potential used conventional fans, the storage enclosure would have to be significantly thicker to accommodate the extra hardware.

Sadly, OWC and Frore Systems have not announce a potential release date for the enclosure, and it goes without saying that it targets enterprise customers. We suspect both companies need to do more testing to ensure the AirJet-equipped enclosure is reliable enough for extended run times. Frore System’s new AirJets appear capable, but the design methodology is still very new and mostly unproven in the real world. That will change, once more OEMs start using AirJet coolers in their systems — like Zotac’s AirJet-powered ZBox.

In 2020, Chinese chip champion Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. was two or three generations behind global leaders. Today, following several rounds of crippling U.S. sanctions against the Chinese semiconductor sector, the People’s Republic’s chip industry is at least five generations behind — and the gap can expand, according to Gerald Yin, chief executive of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc., a wafer fab equipment manufacturer from China, reports DigiTimes.

The past two U.S. administrations have introduced 15 semiconductor-focused sanctions to keep China’s semiconductor production technologies generations behind the global leaders — namely Intel from the U.S., Samsung from South Korea, and TSMC from Taiwan. Back in 2020, SMIC was about to start making chips on its 7nm-class manufacturing process that featured a logic transistor density akin to that of TSMC’s N7 and Intel’s 10nm. At the time, SMIC was a couple of generations behind TSMC, which was gearing up to start production of chips on its N5 (5nm-class) node.

But the sweeping sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on October 7, 2022, and followed by Japan and the Netherlands in 2023, have set the Chinese semiconductor industry back by at least a decade. Wafer fab tools manufacturers need to obtain a special license to ship equipment that can be used to make logic chips with non-planar transistors on 14nm/16nm nodes and below, 3D NAND with 128 or more layers, and DRAM memory chips of 18nm half-pitch or less to a Chinese entity. This effectively limits China’s semiconductor industry to 28nm and thicker nodes — unless it can come up with its own wafer fab tools, or the export licenses are granted.

The ramifications of these restrictions are palpable in the Chinese semiconductor landscape. SMIC, a front-runner in China’s semiconductor domain, had once been vocal about its advancements with 14nm and 12nm nodes. Yet, by mid-2023, any mention of these technologies disappeared from its website and other official communications. Despite these setbacks, some insiders are optimistic, viewing the U.S. obstacles as an opportunity for China to bolster its domestic semiconductor equipment prowess.

If this does not happen, the gap between China’s semiconductor industry and the global leaders will expand even further, barring other changes in government policy.

The Raspberry Pi Zero form factor has launched a plethora of handheld Linux machines. For this project, pseudonymous maker IMBalENce has created Blackberry Pi, which pairs the Zero W with RIM’s Blackberry keyboard (remember those?) for a pocketable computing experience.

The Raspberry Pi Zero W is not the most powerful Raspberry Pi, as that accolade lies with the Raspberry Pi 4. But the Zero form factor does provide us with the Zero 2 W, a machine comparable to the Raspberry Pi 3B.

Blackberry Pi Bill of Materials (BoM)

• Raspberry Pi Zero W
• Composite LCD (320×240) Link
• Solderparty BBQ20KBD keypad
• Adafruit Powerboost 1000c power supply
• Raspberry Pi camera NoIR v2.1
• 5V fan for cooling
• 2500mAh LiPo battery
• (Optional) USB hub for external usb port
• (Optional) RTC clock
• (Optional) ADC ADS1015 battery voltage monitor

The 3D printed case was designed using Solidworks, and printed using a modified Creality Ender 3 3D printer, possibly one of the Ender 3 range that features on our best 3D printers page. IMBalENce cleverly used multi-color printing to add a rainbow accent to the case, emulating the Sinclair ZX Spectrum’s famous rainbow mark. Some 3D printer slicing software will detect multi-color prints and from there you can specify the point to change and purge the filament. If not, then you can write some G Code to make this happen.

The overall Blackberry design is accentuated by SolderParty’s BBQ20KBD keypad, which is a breakout for Blackberry keypads. The keypad is connected to the Pi via the GPIO, specifically the I2C interface as it draws less power than a USB hub. Want to use some of the best Raspberry Pi HATs with Blackberry Pi? Well you can! IMBalENce has added a GPIO breakout to the top of the case. You will need a breakout board, such as Pimoroni’s Black HAT Hacker, to access the connector, as otherwise you’ll obscure the screen. If you’re just connecting jumper wires, you are all good.

A series of brass inserts are located around the top of the unit to provide secure anchor points for future expansions. The brass inserts are melted into the 3D print using a soldering iron. The TS100, TS101 and Pinecil smart soldering irons have specialist tips designed for the task.

Around the back is a Raspberry Pi NoIR 2.1 camera. It’s a fixed-focus (well, you can break the glue on the lens to manually focus) camera that offers decent quality live video and images in low light conditions. Power is provided by a 2500 mAh LiPo cell via an Adafruit Powerboost 1000C, which provides a stable 1A output (2A or 2.5A for a short time) to power everything and enable the battery to be charged while in use. A 5V fan connected to the Powerboost keeps everything cool, not a massive issue for the Pi Zero W, but should IMBalENce choose to upgrade to Pi Zero 2 W, the extra cooling will be beneficial.

The 320 x 240 px screen is good enough for the size and IMBalENce chose to boot directly into the terminal and set the framebuffer to match the resolution. This means that the screen is easy to read and ready to go for some terminal action. 

IMBalENce Blackberry Pi is an impressive project. It crams a lot of tech into the Blackberry form factor. You can read more about the project here.

UL Solutions, the firm behind the well known 3DMark benchmarks suite, has just released 3DMark Solar Bay. This is a new cross-platform benchmark that’s designed to measure and compare ray tracing performance. At the time of writing the benchmark is available for both Windows and Android users, across a range of stores (e.g. Android Play, Windows Steam).

In a press release about Solar Bay, UL first describes the purpose and scope of ray tracing graphics technology, in case anyone has been living under a rock since the Nvidia Turing generation. It then indicates that ray tracing is quite mainstream in 2023, with dedicated GPUs in desktops and laptops having excellent ray tracing acceleration for several years, and both iGPUs and smartphones now boast some usable ray tracing frills. It thus sets the scene for why a benchmark like Solar Bay is now useful.

If you are more interested in PC ray tracing performance, and not so much cross-platform comparisons, UL reminds us that it already has “heavier ray tracing benchmarks” like Port Royal and Speed Way. That hasn’t stopped legions of 3DMark testers from running this new set of tests on their ultra-powerful RTX 4090 cards, though. Check out the 3DMark Solar Bay leaderboards on the official site.

3DMark Solar Bay passes the tested device through three stages, ramping up ray tracing workloads by 100%. The Vulkan 1.1 API built benchmark is said to take typical ‘bursty’ mobile games as its inspiration. At the end of the tests, users will be presented with four scores: an overall score, and a score for each ray traced section. Over a 20 minute test run, users can see how well their device performs, and by the end of the test see if there has been any thermal throttling — a phenomena that most often adversely affects SFF, laptop and mobile form factors.

If you are interested in giving Solar Bay a run on your PC, and you are already a 3DMark for Windows owner, you are in luck as it should become available to download within the app. If not, you can purchase the software directly from UL Solutions, or via Steam or the Epic Games Store. Android users can just download this benchmark for free via Google Play. We don’t know if this benchmark will be released for Mac or iOS users (like 3DMark Wild Life is, for example), though that seems likely.

Some Example Scores

The 3DMark Solar Bay benchmark is only just out, but you may be wondering about how the best graphics cards for PCs perform, and how much faster they are compared to iGPUs and smartphones. Luckily, there is already a leaderboard to explore and search for scores. For example, the top ranked overall score today is 228,491 by LunerK9 using a GeForce RTX 4090.

Product Manager of 3DMark at UL Futuremark, Christian Klass, also shared his results on Twitter/X. As you can see, his modest GTX 1070 desktop card scored 14,380. The best score we could see today for an AMD Radeon was 155,445, for an RX 7900 XTX owned by Andybuc/Schwarzbacke. Meanwhile, the most recent Nvidia Ada Lovelace GPU, the GeForce RTX 4060, could only muster a score of around 50,000, at best.

What about smartphone and integrated graphics users? We couldn’t find any smartphones listed in the official rankings, sadly. But an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D using the 2 CU integrated graphics turned in a result of 3,210. That GPU should still beat the one in the Samsung Exynos 2200, if you’re wondering, thanks to its higher clocks. AMD’s latest Radeon 780M (integrated into the Ryzen 9 7940HS) meanwhile chalked up a best current result of 13,148, while for reference the Intel Arc A380 has a single result of 10,008.

One of the most extraordinary things about today’s gaming laptops is that it’s hard to find an absolute dud. OEMs have stepped up their game in recent years, and we’re seeing laptops that deliver higher frame rates, last longer per charge, and have better screens than we could have imagined just a few years ago. And more importantly, gamers don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get decent performance these days.

That is the case with the Lenovo Legion Slim 5, a 16-inch gaming laptop sporting a QHD+ display, an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. The laptop has an MSRP of $1,529.99, but it sells for as low as $1,149.99 on sale, making it an excellent bargain among the best gaming laptops. 

Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Specifications

Design of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

The design of the Legion Slim 5 is similar to others in Lenovo’s gaming line, like the Legion Pro 5i. In other words, you’ll find a plastic chassis finished in onyx grey and an understated aesthetic. It is a gaming machine, but it wouldn’t look out of place sitting on a desk in an office.

Thin bezels surround the display, although a slightly larger protrusion at the center of the top bezel houses the 1080p webcam. The webcam doesn’t have a physical privacy shutter like some other gaming laptops, but a physical switch on the right side of the chassis turns off the webcam when it is not needed. The only other port residing on the right side of the chassis is the full-size memory card reader. Switching to the left side, there are two USB-C ports and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The back panel features two USB 3.2 (Type-A) ports, gigabit Ethernet, and a proprietary jack for the power adapter.

The Legion Slim 5 measures 14.16 x 10.25 x 0.99 inches, which is similar in footprint to the Legion Pro 5i, although the former is slightly lighter (5.29 versus 5.6 pounds). The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is also within spitting distance for size and weight (5.79 pounds), while the Razer Blade 14 has a much smaller footprint due to its 14-inch display and is over a pound lighter than the other three laptops (4.05 pounds).

Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gaming Performance

The Legion Slim 5 uses an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, an 8-core/16-thread processor. The base clock in this laptop is 3.8 GHz, while the maximum boost clock is 5.1 GHz. The processor is paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory (2 x 8GB).

The competitors I have lined up for the Legion Slim 5 match closely in specs, apart from the Razer Blade 14 (Ryzen 9 7940HS, RTX 4070, 1600p), which has a smaller display and more powerful GPU. The other two competitors are a more even match, including the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (i7-13700HX, RTX 4060, 1600p) and the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (i7-13700HX, RTX 4060, 1600p).

I played Cyberpunk 2077 on high settings with ray tracing enabled, DLSS Balanced, and DLSS frame generation enabled, averaging 94 frames per second (fps) at 1200p. Increasing the resolution to 1600p saw the performance dip to around 62 fps.

Kicking off our gaming benchmark suite, I turned my attention to Shadow of the Tomb Raider (highest settings). The Legion Slim 5 hit 96 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and 55 fps at 1600p. This performance put it just slightly behind the Predator Helios Neo 16 by 1-2 fps but well behind the similarly-equipped Legion Pro 5i.

Grand Theft Auto V (very high settings) testing saw the Legion Slim 5 slide into second place with 91 fps at 1080p and 52 fps at 1600p. However, the rankings were very tight across the board at 1080p and 1600p for the competitors. Only the Legion Pro 5i ran away from the competition at 1080p resolution at 97 fps.

Far Cry 6 (ultra settings) also saw a tight grouping of the laptops. While the Legion Slim 5 technically came in last place at 1080p with 83 fps, we wouldn’t exactly call that a poor showing versus the 85 fps for the Blade 14 and 88 fps for the Predator Helio Neo 16. The Legion Slim 5 put up a respectable 62 fps at 1600p.

Moving on to Red Dead Redemption 2 (medium settings), the Legion Slim 5 tied the Predator Helio Neo 16 for third place, achieving 65 fps at 1080p and 39 fps at 1600p. However, the Blade 14 led the field with 73 fps at 1080p and 45 fps at 1600p.

Borderlands 3 again showed how evenly matched the Legion Slim 5 and Predator Helio Neo 16 are, with each garnering around 80 fps at 1080p and just over 50 fps at 1600p. The Blade 14 again showed its muscle, delivering 98 fps at 1080p and 64 fps at 1600p.

Rounding testing out with the Metro Exodus Benchmark (RTX settings), the Legion Slim 5 ran through 15 loops at 1600p resolution. The Legion Slim 5 hit 49.96 fps averaged across the 15 runs. During the run, the Ryzen 9 7940HS averaged 3.93 GHz at 70.67 degrees Celsius (159.2 degrees Fahrenheit). The GeForce RTX 4070 GPU ran at an average of 2.12 GHz and measured 70.53 C (158.95 F).

Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Productivity Performance

The Legion Slim 5 features an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory and a 512GB SSD.

The Geekbench 5 synthetic CPU benchmark saw the Legion Slim 5 running neck and neck with the Raptor Lake-based competitors in single-core performance (1,893) and slightly behind the Blade 14, which uses the same Ryzen 9 7940HS processor. However, both the Legion Slim 5 and the Blade 14 were clobbered in the multi-core benchmark, with the latter delivering a score of 11,046 compared to 14,967 for the first-place Legion Pro 5i.

Moving to the file transfer test, which involves shuttling 25GB of files, the Legion Slim 5 garnered 1,733.97 MBps, putting it just shy of the first-place Legion Pro 5i.

In the Handbrake test, where we transcode a 4K video to 1080p, the Legion Slim 5 completed the task in 4 minutes and 34 seconds, nipping the Blade 14 by 11 seconds. However, neither matched the Legion Pro 5i, which completed the task in just 3 minutes and 39 seconds.

Display on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

The Legion Slim 5 comes standard with a 16-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS display, but our review sample arrived with an upgraded QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate.

I spent a lot of time playing Overwatch 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. Given that this is an IPS panel (with an anti-reflective coating applied), the display had excellent viewing angles, and the colors were reasonably vibrant. However, you won’t find OLED levels of color here, and darkened areas in Cyberpunk 2077 looked more like a dark grey as the LED backlight shined through.

For video performance, I turned my attention to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which was recently released on Disney Plus. As was the case when I watched the movie in theaters, I fought back tears during the gut-wrenching scenes detailing Rocket’s origins. It also gave me a chance to scope out the generally good color performance of the display, particularly when the Guardians arrive at Orgocorp headquarters in their brightly-colored spacesuits (yellow, red, orange, blue and green). While there was a noticeable drop-off in color compared to the Mini-LED display on my daily driver laptop, the performance here for a laptop retailing below $1,500 was admirable.

In our tests, the Legion Slim 5 fell behind its Legion Pro 5i stablemate across the board. Based on our colorimeter, it hit 78.1 percent of the DCI-P3 and 110 percent of the sRGB color space. The display was also the least bright in this field at 318 nits, compared to 349 nits for the Legion Pro 5i and 499 nits for the Predator Helios Neo 16.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

The keyboard on the Legion Slim 5 was instantly recognizable to me, as it is essentially the same unit found in the Legion Pro 5i that I reviewed earlier this year. The keys are all in the same place, the handy number pad remains, and even the centrally-positioned power button (right above the F9 and F10 keys) is unchanged.

As always, I visited keyhero.com to measure my typing speed and managed 85 words per minute with 95 percent accuracy. This essentially mirrored my performance on the Legion Pro 5i. (What a shocker!)

The keyboard features four-zone RGB lighting, which is controlled via the Lenovo Vantage software. You’ll find the settings under Lenovo Spectrum, where you’ll find several effects to choose from, along with options for changing the speed and brightness of the RGBs. However, you won’t find per-key controls on the Legion Slim 5.

The plastic touchpad, while not as large as some of the behemoth control surfaces in the laptop world, was easy to use and had a nice “click” sensation. With that said, I spent most of my time with the laptop using a Razer Atheris mouse wirelessly connected via Bluetooth.

Audio on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

The Legion Slim 5 uses a pair of 2-watt speakers with Nahimic audio. Nahimic audio software allows you to tweak settings to dial in sounds to your tastes. However, after playing around the presets, I didn’t notice enough of a difference to change my mind about the audio quality.

Voices in Cyberpunk 2077 sounded a bit muffled, which was a bit of a disappointment given the dialog-heavy nature of the game. Gunfire, explosions and vehicle engines sounded slightly better, but I’d stick with headphones while gaming anyway.

When listening to music, I turned to “Stranger” by Hooverphonic, from their The President of the LSD Golf Club album. Geike Amaert’s ghoulish vocals landed flat with the Legion Slim 5’s speakers, as did the bass guitar. The keyboard was the only part of the track that survived unscathed, leaving me underwhelmed.

Upgradeability on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

Like most Lenovo laptops, gaining access to the internals is simple. Ten Philips head screws stand between you and access to the Legion Slim 5’s upgradeable bits. In this case, you can see that the battery is replaceable, and there are two SO-DIMM slots for future memory upgrades. However, note that both slots are currently occupied in this 16GB DDR5-5600 configuration.

The Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo card is also readily accessible, as are the two M.2 slots for SSDs. One M.2 slot is pre-populated by the 512GB SK hynix SSD, and another is free for additional storage if you so choose.

Battery Life on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

The Legion Slim 5 was no slouch in the endurance category. As we saw with the Blade 14, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS is a highly efficient chip. In our testing, which involves web browsing, light graphics work and video streaming while connected to Wi-Fi with display brightness set at 150 nits, the Legion Slim 5’s battery lasted for 7 hours and 21 minutes. While that couldn’t top the Blade 14’s performance (8:34), it left the Raptor Lake competition in the dust.

As we saw in the gaming benchmarks, the Legion Pro 5i, with its Core i7-13700HX, led the way in several benchmarks. However, the Legion Slim 5 has a clear advantage regarding battery life.

Heat on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

While running our Metro Exodus stress test, the dual fans in the system kicked into high gear (as we would expect for a gaming laptop). However, the rush of air was not objectionable while gaming. While it was ever-present in the background, it didn’t intrude on my gaming experience once I cranked up the volume to about 40 percent. It would be a non-issue if you’re using a pair of the best gaming headsets.

We measured degrees 22.22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit) on the touchpad and 39.88 C (103.8 F) between the G and H keys during the Metro Exodus stress test. The hottest spot on the underside of the chassis (near the far-left corner) was 50.11 C (122.2 F).

Webcam on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

Like most new laptops introduced today, the Legion Slim 5 uses a 1080p webcam, a notable step up from the 720p units that have long been standard equipment.

Image quality was on par with other laptops in this class, delivering realistic skin tones, good detail and low noise. I’d happily use this camera for my Google Meet work calls or when chatting with family over Skype. As I mentioned earlier, there is no physical shutter to block the webcam. Instead, a little switch on the right side of the chassis (next to the SDXC slot) quickly enables/disables the camera.

Software and Warranty on the Lenovo Legion Slim 5

Four branded apps are installed from the factory on the Legion Slim 5. Legion Arena allows access to your games across Battle.net, Epic Games, Steam, Xbox, and Ubisoft services. Lenovo Hotkeys gives you a rundown of function shortcuts available on the system and Lenovo Voice provides controls for the microphone and text-to-speech functionality.

The most important of them all, however, is Lenovo Vantage. This is Lenovo’s command center for controlling and monitoring most aspects of the Legion Slim 5’s hardware. You can oversee system vitals for the GPU, CPU and SSD, change power profiles, and overclock the GPU (among other things). You can also access RGB settings for the keyboard within this app and perform system updates (drivers, software, BIOS, etc.).

Other installed apps include Nahimic (audio controls), X-Rite Color Assistant (display color profiles), Dolby Vision and a Lenovo-sponsored Dropbox promo. Of course, you’ll also find Microsoft’s usual smattering of junkware shortcuts to apps like Netflix, and TikTok sprinkled through the Start menu.

The Legion Slim 5 comes backed by a one-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Configurations

I’ve only found two configurations for the Legion Slim 5, with the base system available direct from Lenovo. It features an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS processor, 16GB of DDR6-5600, a 512GB SSD, a GeForce RTX 4050 and a 16-inch 1920 x 1200 display for $1,019.99. That same configuration is $1,349.99 at Best Buy.

Our review unit is available as a Best Buy-exclusive and carries an MSRP of $1,529.99. That price includes a Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, 16GB of DDR5-5600, a 512GB SSD, a GeForce RTX 4060 and a 2560 x 1600 display. However, at this time, the laptop is on sale for $1,149.99 at Best Buy, representing a $380 discount. That is a lot of kit for less than $1,200, making the Legion Slim 5 a knockout bargain. However, if the laptop were priced closer to its $1,529.99 MSRP, the Legion Pro 5i would likely be a better choice.

Bottom Line

The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 didn’t dominate our gaming benchmark suite, but it was in the running or at least mid-pack in all the tests. It turned out solid productivity numbers, including high marks for its storage performance. However, the laptop was a real trooper regarding endurance, lasting over seven hours per charge in our tests. That was nearly two and a half hours longer than the Legion Pro 5i.

I would have liked for the screen to have been a bit brighter, but it is by no means a deal-breaker. The speakers are rubbish, but which is more of a concern if you plan on gaming with headphones. If you want a much brighter display and slightly better audio, the Acer Predator Helio Neo 16 is an option worth considering.

However, what’s most impressive about this laptop is the pricing. While its MSRP of $1,529.99 would give me a bit of pause, considering the generally superior performance of the Legion Pro 5i, the sale price of $1,149.99 makes the Legion Slim 5 a true bargain that can’t be ignored.

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