Longer life in exchange for more noise? These are also some of the agenda items we’ll cover in our comparison of the Arctic P14 CO fan with the fluid bearing variant (P14). These are actually the main points. In any case, the ball bearings in the more expensive variant of these fans also have specific features that can be easily observed and distinguished even in normal, “home” use. Read more “Arctic P14 PWM PST CO or ball vs. fluid bearings”
Intel has revealed the Alder Lake CPU architecture, or actually two architectures this time. The CPUs are hybrid and besides the main „big“ ones, there are „little“ cores called Gracemont. These are not just for marketing or for low-power idle tasks like in mobile ARM SoCs, however. Gracemont should significantly add to the overall performance, the architecture is actually surprisingly beefy. Our analysis will show you more. Read more “Gracemont, the (not so) little Alder Lake core (µarch analysis)”
Since June, hardware requirements of Windows 11 have been a hot topic—the necessity of having TPM 2.0 and the supported CPU list that leaves out some PCs mere three years old. Fortunately, it looks like the hopes that Microsoft will get more pragmatic about this have come true and the company will allow the new OS to be run on older PCs that do not make the cut officially. But it is going to take an extra bit of work. Read more “MS allows Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, with caveats”
Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are poised to be the biggest hardware event this year. Intel has unveiled the core architecture of these CPUs and we have analysed the details and new improvements inside. There’s promise of huge performance and one of the biggest architectural leaps in x86 processors, for the first time with six parallel decoders and further IPC increases, showing Intel taking the same path as Apple’s highly effective cores. Read more “Intel Alder Lake/Golden Cove CPU core unveiled (µarch analysis)”
Since the last processor test (including) we have changed the way we evaluate the overall or average performance of all games. You suggested to us in the discussion half a year ago that it would be better for all games to have the same weight. However, the right time to incorporate this new calculation came only recently. So how do we actually do it and why is it better than before? Read more “HWC’s testlab #1: New average CPU score measuring method”
We’ve already discussed the middle class Intel processors (Core i5) in tests, but so far without comparing it to the equivalent Ryzen 5. We will gradually add these, but before the R5 3600, do not miss the extensive comparison of R5 5600X to Ci5-11400F. It’s a bit of an unequal fight, as the AMD piece is significantly more expensive, but maybe in your eyes it will defend its price in tasks where it is clearly better than the Core i5 Rocket Lake. Read more “AMD Ryzen 5 5600X: Worth €120 more than the Core i5?”
Monitors with 4K resolution have been here for some time now, but their significant expansion has long been hindered by their high prices. More solid models used to cost over €500, and the cheaper ones often offered relatively low-quality panels with TN. However, times have changed and 4K monitors are not necessarily a privilege anymore, but common mainstream products. This is exactly what AOC is trying to prove with the new U27V4EA. Read more “AOC U27V4EA: 4K on 27″ for the economical, but with IPS”
It seems that CPU coolers compatible with AMD AM4 will also fit nicely on the upcoming AM5 socket. And that’s with no modifications or the need for new components. This is indicated by an information leak from the technical documentation with details about the future AMD socket. Its construction changes significantly and is therefore particularly remarkable that the same range of mounting holes for coolers and other hardware is maintained. Read more “Future AMD AM5 socket will likely support current coolers”
Phanteks has released a 120-millimeter fan with an atypical thickness of 30 mm. Thanks to such a profile, the rotor with the same cross-section can have a larger blade area. And since the blade shape on the new Phanteks fan resembles that of the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM, there was immediate speculation about “the new king” and so on. However, this may not be so clear for several reasons. Read more “Thicker fan, better properties? Phanteks has a 30 mm fan”
Last week we’ve covered a leaked Intel processor roadmap showing Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake and Nova Lake processors that are to arrive after Alder Lake, Raptor Lake and Meteor Lake. We said to take it with a grain of salt, as that was the first time the Arrow and Nova codenames have shown up. But shorty after, more information on Arrow Lake has come up that could prove its existence. Looks like the mobile will pack a very fast iGPU. Read more “Intel Arrow Lake processors – high performance iGPU with 320 EU”
Intel will release new Alder Lake desktop processors in three months—with a powerful new architecture and hybrid big.LITTLE approach for the first time. These CPUs, finally manufactured on 7nm process (originally 10nm Enhanced SuperFin), should have significantly better energy efficiency. But it looks thir power needs will go up despite this. Intel is increasing the currents required from PSUs, which could mean higher power draws. Read more “Alder Lake may have a higher power draw. PSU recommendations”
Even after the release of the Ryzen 7 5700G, the Ryzen 7 3700X is currently the cheapest octa-core processor. It still doesn’t have a proper successor. The Ryzen 5 5800X is significantly pricier, but it is fully stocked in stores. This last-gen model could thus be considered up-to-date and should not be omitted in comparisons with other processors. It also beats the Rocket Lake Core i7 not only in efficiency but also occasionally in performance. Read more “Review of AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor. Zen 2 still rocks”
The 11th generation Intel Core processors (Rocket Lake) are the first mainstream desktop parts supporting AVX-512 instruction set, previously only available in Xeons or the X299 platform. One area where AVX-512 promises better performance is multimedia. We looked at one use: encoding HEVC video via x265. It’s little known, but x265 does not actually use AVX-512 by default. We’ll show you how to turn it on and what are the effects. Read more “Intel AVX-512 tested in x265: how to enable it and does it help?”
Until midnight yesterday, you had a chance to sign up for a giveaway to win the Celsius+ S28 Prisma liquid cooler. Thank you not only for your generous participation, but also for your nice comments. Based on your messages, quite remarkable statistics have been created about what cases and processors you own. For curious readers, we will also reveal this secret in the article. But of course, firstly the announcement of the winner. Read more “Giveaway results: The winner of the Fractal Design liquid cooler is…”
8 cores, 16 threads. From this point of view, it is the same configuration as the Core i9-11900K(F). However, the Core i9 is a significantly more expensive processor and, especially in games, it has a much higher power consumption. At the same time, the difference in performance is minimal. It follows that with higher efficiency, the Core i7-11700K(F) has a more attractive price-performance ratio. Read more “Intel Core i7-11700KF: A hair slower, but better value than Core i9”
Didn’t it work out for you in the first summer giveaway? Never mind, there is a new opportunity to win something valuable. We’re talking about the Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 Prisma. All you have to do is write down whether you could use this liquid cooler with a 280 mm radiator—due to its cooling capacity, but most importantly its dimensions. However, you cannot fit in every case, but if you can, it won’t collide with anything… Read more “Giveaway: Liquid cooler from Fractal Design. Can you use it?”
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