MSI today launched its Creator 17 notebook aimed at content creators, armed with some serious specs to boot. Its product design was first showcased at the 2020 International CES, without getting under its hood. Its star attraction has to be its display: a 17.3-inch miniLED panel with 4K UHD resolution, DisplayHDR 1000 certification, and DCI-P3 wide color gamut. Under the hood, the Creator 17 features some serious kit, with an Intel Core i7-10875H 8-core/16-thread "Comet Lake" processor, 64 GB of DDR4 memory, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q graphics.

Storage features of the MSI Creator 17 include three M.2 slots (two PCIe NVMe, one SATA-only); from which one is occupied by a 1 TB NVMe SSD. Networking features include 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) WLAN, 2.5 GbE wired Ethernet, and Bluetooth 5. USB connectivity includes two each of USB 3.2 gen 2 type-A and USB 3.2 type-C. A 82 Wh 4-cell battery powers the Creator 17, and can keep it running for up to 6 hours on a full charge. Measuring 396 mm x 259.4 mm x 20.25 mm (closed), it weighs 2.50 kg. In its full configuration, the Creator 17 is priced around USD $3,500 plus taxes.

NVIDIA last week debuted its GeForce RTX 20-series SUPER Mobile GPU family with four SKUs: the RTX 2080 SUPER (mobile), RTX 2070 SUPER (mobile), and their Max-Q variants. An ASUS ROG marketing slide just revealed the third, unannounced SKU from the series, the RTX 2060 SUPER (mobile), courtesy of a Hardware Unboxed news bulletin. Likely based on the "TU106" silicon, this SKU has an identical core-configuration to its desktop counterpart, with 2,176 "Turing" CUDA cores, 136 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 272 tensor cores, 34 RT cores, and a 256-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface, holding 8 GB of memory.

Where the RTX 2060 SUPER (mobile) differs from the desktop part is clock speeds and aggressive power management. It's clocked at 1305 MHz GPU base, 1485 MHz GPU Boost (1470/1650 MHz for the desktop SKU). The memory clock is untouched at 14 Gbps (GDDR6-effective). Although the slide doesn't say so, it's highly likely that there is a Max-Q variant of this SKU with tighter clock speeds and significantly lower power targets. Find the Hardware Unboxed presentation in the link below.

Acer today announced its new Predator Triton 500 and Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebooks. Alongside significant developments in thermal performance, both devices come with the latest 10th Gen Intel Core processors and newly announced NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER and GTX GPUs.

"In addition to the latest processors and GPUs, we've made exciting across-the-board updates to the Predator Triton 500 and Acer Nitro 5 this year," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer. "Most importantly we've applied new thermal technology which keeps the devices cool so gamers can enjoy the performance improvements from the latest silicon technology."

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today revealed the next evolution of the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop, featuring up to an 8-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER GPUs, and a 300Hz display all packed into the signature black aluminium chassis. Complemented with a new keyboard layout, upgraded I/O, and abundant SSD storage, the Blade 15 gives users the power to play their best game, create their best work, and live their best life.

"The new Razer Blade 15 is simply the best laptop we have ever created," said Brad Wildes, Senior Vice President of Razer's Systems Business Unit. "We've added numerous cutting-edge features and user improvements that were requested directly from the community to make the Blade 15 more than just a great laptop for gamers, but a great laptop for everyone."

NVIDIA today released the GeForce RTX 20-series SUPER mobile GPUs. The lineup consists of the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, RTX 2070 SUPER, and their Max-Q variants. Both SKUs have identical GPU core configurations to their desktop counterparts, with the RTX 2080 SUPER (mobile) featuring 3,072 CUDA cores, and the RTX 2070 SUPER (mobile) featuring 2,560. What sets them apart are clock speeds, aggressive power-management, and the introduction of new low-power GDDR6 memory chips that run at lower voltages. Unlike the desktop RTX 2080 SUPER, which uses 15.5 Gbps memory, the mobile versions use 14 Gbps ones.

The GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (mobile) ticks at 1560 MHz GPU Boost and 14 Gbps memory. Its power envelope is set at "150 W+." The RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q is ticks at 1080 MHz, with an 80 W power envelope. The RTX 2070 SUPER (mobile) is clocked at 1380 MHz with 115 W power, while its Max-Q variant runs at 1150 MHz at 80 W. NVIDIA is introducing Dynamic Boost, its own power-balancer between the CPU and GPU, and Advanced Optimus, an improved version of its iGPU-dGPU switcher. NVIDIA is targeting these GPUs at high-resolution (1440p and above) gaming notebooks, particularly some of the newer ones that come with refresh-rates as high as 300 Hz. Notebooks with the new GPUs will go on sale starting April 15, 2020.The slide deck follows.

MSI got bored of old dark/gray/white laptop designs and decided to spice things up a bit. Say goodbye to the old boring laptops and enter the MSI Prestige 14 Limited Edition Rose Pink laptop. Designed as a premium-looking machine, it has decent specifications to back up the good looks. Equipped with a 14-inch IPS display comes in two variants, a 1080p version, and 4K edition, and it has 100% coverage of the AdobeRGB spectrum. With such specifications, we know that it is targeting the professional content creators.

Under the hood, there is Intel's 10th generation Core i7-10710U "Comet Lake" processor paired with 16 GB of LPDDR3 2133 MHz RAM running in single-channel mode. For graphics, NVIDIA's GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU is on board with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory. Storage is limited to 512 gigabytes of PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD space, as there is no room for expansion. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 5 and Wi-Fi 6 powered by Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 wireless adapter. When it comes to the IO, the Prestige 14 laptop is rocking two USB 2.0 adapter along with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one 3.5 mm headphone jack, and one Micro-SD card reader. There is also a 3-cell 50 Whr battery powering the system. Price-wise, this laptop is retailing for around $1399 on stores like Amazon and Newegg.

ADATA made its biggest product portfolio expansion this year with the introduction of new product lines: gaming monitors, gaming notebooks, and compact gaming desktops. To begin with, we caught the XPG Photon, a 27-inch 4K Ultra HD gaming monitor that also has some creator-friendly features such as 95% or above DCI-P3 coverage, and implementations of Burst Refresh and Vivid Color from PixelDisplay. Gamers get not just 4K UHD resolution put out by an eye-pleasing IPS panel, but also 144 Hz refresh-rate at 4K UHD. At the flick of a toggle, the monitor can also be transformed to Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 240 Hz and 600 nits brightness. The panel supports up to 1,500 nits brightness. There's no mention of localized dimming zones, and we didn't spy DisplayHDR logos anywhere. Behind, the monitor features a triangular RGB LED lighting element that can double-up as ambient light. The stand is quite another thing: a proper studio armature with a bench clamp that allows rotation and tilting along both axes, besides height adjustment.

Next up, are the XPG Xenia line of gaming notebooks in the 15.6-inch and 13-inch form-factors. Under the hood are 9th generation Core-H processors with options ranging all the way up to Core i7-9750H, graphics options that include RTX 2070 Max-Q and GTX 1660 Ti; a combination of ADATA's homebrew hand-sorted DDR4 SO-DIMM memory and SX8200 M.2 NVMe storage; and a mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting. All of these, crammed into a magnesium-alloy body. The 15.6-inch display is IPS Full HD with 144 Hz refresh-rate. Lastly, there's the XPG Gaia line of compact gaming desktops. One of its variants is built up to "Ghost Canyon" NUC specs; while the other is a more conventional socketed thin Mini-ITX fare. Both variants are 5-liter compact, and include ADATA XPG memory and SX8000-series M.2 NVMe SSDs. You add your own compatible graphics card (up to 20 cm length). On select variants you even get Thunderbolt 3 ports.

MSI debuted the Evoke brand of hardware targeted at creators, with its Radeon RX 5700-series Evoke graphics cards. The company is now planning to extend the brand to a range of other products, beginning with notebooks. The company teased the design of what's allegedly the first Evoke branded notebook, which ships with a minimalist and durable design, and hardware tailored for content-creation applications. The company didn't tease its specs, but you can expect anything from Intel's 10th gen "Comet Lake-H" to AMD's Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" processors, and discrete graphics options that include RX 5500M "Navi" or even Max-Q RTX 20-series. Some of the higher trims could even leverage fast NVMe storage. MSI is expected to launch its Evolve notebooks on 7th January, 2020.

NVIDIA today announced that 10 new NVIDIA RTX Studio laptops and professional-grade mobile workstations are being released by major partners, delivering real-time ray tracing, advanced AI and ultra-high-resolution video editing to the world's 40 million creatives.

The latest designs from Dell, HP, Lenovo and BOXX bring the number of RTX Studio models to 27 - including 17 that are now available. These laptops power more than 40 creative and design applications that have turned "RTX On", enabling tens of millions of creatives to harness ray tracing and AI in their workflows. NVIDIA RTX features are being shown at SIGGRAPH this week in software from a diverse set of independent software vendors, including Adobe, Autodesk and Blackmagic Design.

NVIDIA today reported revenue for the first quarter ended April 28, 2019, of $2.22 billion compared with $3.21 billion a year earlier and $2.21 billion in the previous quarter. GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.64, compared with $1.98 a year ago and $0.92 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.88 compared with $2.05 a year earlier and $0.80 in the previous quarter.

"NVIDIA is back on an upward trajectory," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "We've returned to growth in gaming, with nearly 100 new GeForce Max-Q laptops shipping. And NVIDIA RTX has gained broad industry support, making ray tracing the standard for next-generation gaming.

We saw a glimpse of this at the NVIDIA suite during CES 2019, with a beta version coming out shortly after. NVIDIA and OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) have since brought out the full release of a new OBS Studio, version 23.0.1, that adds improved support for NVIDIA GeForce cards. In particular, their latest and greatest RTX lineup, including the new desktop RTX 2060 as well as the mobile and Max-Q variants, will see an FPS impact drop by as much as 66% according to NVIDIA's internal testing. Some example results are seen below, with games such as Fortnite, PUBG, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - Blackout, and Apex Legends seeing a frame rate boost by up to 48% compared to x264 Fast, and 27% compared to x264 Very Fast.

Given this is a result of NVENC, NVIDIA's hardware encoder, in place, older GeForce GPUs (GTX 600-series and newer that support NVENC) will also see some benefits. GeForce RTX GPUs just get to enjoy a bit more- up to 15% more, in fact, in efficiency as far as bitrate consumption for the same graphical fidelity. NVIDIA effectively says that "GeForce RTX GPUs can stream with superior image quality compared to x264 Fast, and on par with x264 Medium", thus putting in a strong case for single-PC gaming and streaming, as opposed to having a dedicated streaming PC. They have even put out a video to go over the enhancements, which will no doubt interest game streamers on the PC platform.

NVIDIA is in the process of rolling out the first implementations of its RTX 2000 series GPUs in mobile form, and if the going is as is being reported, it's going to be a little rough for users to actually extrapolate their performance from product to product. This is because manufacturers are apparently getting a whole lot of leeway in how to clock their products, according to their solution's thermal characteristics and design philosophy.

What this means is that NVIDIA's RTX 2080 Max-Q, for example, can be clocked as low as 735 MHz, which is a more than 50% downclock from its desktop counterpart (1,515 MHz). The non-Max-Q implementation of NVIDIA's RTX 2080, for now, seems to be clocked at around 1,380 MHz, which is still a close to 200 Mhz downclock. Of course, these lowered clocks are absolutely normal - and necessary - for these products, particularly on a huge chip such as the one powering the RTX 2080. The problem arises when manufacturers don't disclose clockspeeds of the GPU in their particular implementation - a user might buy, say, an MSI laptop and an ASUS one with the exact same apparent configuration, but GPUs operating at very different clockspeeds, with very different levels of performance. Users should do their due research when it comes to the point of choosing what mobile solution sporting one of these NVIDIA GPUs they should choose.

After checking out MSI's newest graphics cards, we took a closer look at their laptops including the 17.3-inch GS75 Stealth which just so happens to be their most potent ultra-thin gaming notebook. It comes packing up to an 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q to deliver the best possible gaming performance. In order to facilitate that MSI also used a 144 Hz 1080p display. The system also supports up to 32 GB of DDR4-2666 memory and has 2x NVMe M.2 / SATA-SSD combo slots and 1x NVMe M.2 SSD slot. It also features MSI's Cooler Boost Trinity+ technology which improves cooling for maximum performance. Meanwhile, the touchpad has a 35% larger surface area features a glass surface, and it also has support for multi-touch gestures. The keyboard is by SteelSeries and offers per-key RGB illumination, while sound is handled by Dynaudio using a passive radiator design. All in all, it has some beefy specifications for an ultra-thin to say the least.

Razer a dominant player in the PC peripherals market is looking to make their mark when it comes to monitors with their all-new Razer Raptor gaming monitor. Its a 27-inch display featuring an IPS panel with a resolution of 2560x1440. It comes with support for FreeSync and has a refresh rate of 144 Hz. Response times are listed as 7 ms typical and 4 ms with Overdrive. The contrast ratio is 1000:1 and the screen has a max brightness of 420 nits. It also offers 95% of the P3-D65 color gamut, and yes it has support for HDR. Connectivity consists of 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB Type-C with power delivery and 2x USB 3.0.

The design features a wide stand that offers excellent stability while also providing channels for cable routing giving the system a clean and unique appearance especially with those bright green cables. As expected of Razer the Raptor monitor also supports Chrome-powered lights in the base which will sync with the rest of Razer's Chrome gear including, mice, keyboards and even laptops and speakers. In regards to availability, no date has been set just yet; however, Razer said it would be made available later this year with an MSRP of $699.99.

While we covered some of Lenovo's products at CES already, we took a closer look at the Legion series of laptops which includes the Y740 and Y540 models. The Y740 comes in 17-inch and 15.6-inch flavors and is the offering most likely to intrigue enthusiast gamers as it comes with up to an Intel Core i7-8750H processor which has 6c/12t, 2.2 GHz base clock and 4.1 GHz boost clocks. To go with that is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q for that should have no problems delivering an exceptional gaming experience considering Lenovo has paired it with a solid 1080p, 300 nits, 144 Hz, G-Sync display. Potential buyers also have the choice of a Dolby Vision HDR 400 500 nit display as well. Memory capacity ranges from 8 GB all the way to 32 GB of 2666 MHz DDR4. The choice for faster 3200 MHz Corsair memory is also available.

When it comes to storage, there are multiple choices including up to a 512 GB PCIe SSD/ 512 GB SATA SSD or 2TB HDD. Powering it all is a 57 Wh 3 cell battery in the 15.6-inch model while the 17-inch gets a 76 Wh 4 cell battery. All told the unit's base configuration starts at 2.2 kg / 4.8 lbs and 2.9 kg / 6.3 lbs for the 15.6-inch and 17-inch respectively. In terms of size the smaller of the two measures 362 x 267 x 19.95 mm (14.2 x 10.5 x 0.78 inches) while the larger offering is 413 x 305 x 21.95 mm (16.25 x 12 x 0.66 inches). Connectivity options are quite plentiful on the Y740 and include 1x USB-C ( Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, USB 3.1), 1x HDMI, 1x LAN, 3x USB 3.1 Gen2 and finally a single mini-DP port. Other features include an anti-ghost Corsair ICUE RGB backlit keyboard, RGB chassis lighting, Killer WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 and a solid aluminum chassis. The Lenovo Y740 should be available starting in February.

Players expect higher performing hardware to get the most out of their systems -- whether they're competitive eSports players, PC gaming enthusiasts, or those interested in massive multiplayer experiences or looking to play their favorite single-player titles at the highest settings. Based on feedback from the gaming community, performance is the number one thing they value most. To fulfill gamers' needs, Lenovo is turning user feedback into product ideas. And to ensure our products continue to meet and exceed users' evolving needs, we continually fine tune and improve our innovations. As a result, the latest Lenovo Legion gaming line-up is more powerful than ever -- with a new range of high-performance PCs and an entire family of re-designed gaming accessories and monitors.

Acer today unveiled two new Windows 10 gaming notebooks, the Predator Triton 900, a 17-inch performance notebook featuring a slim design and convertible 4K display - and the Predator Triton 500 - a 15-inch all-metal gaming powerhouse measuring just 17.9 mm (0.70 inches) thin. Both gaming notebooks combine new, functional designs with powerful internals that rival gaming desktops.

"We are pushing the envelope on what a gaming notebook can be with designs that offer more uses while still packing in the computing power," said Jerry Hou, General Manager, Consumer Notebooks, IT Products Business at Acer. "The Predator Triton 900's one-of-a-kind flipping screen allows for multiple gaming scenarios and better ergonomics, while the Triton 500 offers superb gaming performance in a slimmer, all-metal body for gamers on the go."

Making its debut at CES 2019, the all-new ROG Zephyrus S GX701 takes hardcore gaming to the next level with the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs with Max-Q design and 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor plus the GX701 doubles down on the display. It expands the 144Hz refresh rate screen to 17 inches, frames it with super-narrow bezels and adds NVIDIA G-SYNC and Optimus technology for the best gaming experience. The panel is Pantone Validated for serious content creation work before playing the latest blockbuster games.

Even with these upgrades and a much larger screen, the ROG Zephyrus S GX701 maintains an impressively slender profile and surprisingly compact footprint. It's more immersive, powerful, and versatile than any Zephyrus before without sacrificing the portability that defines the family.

NVIDIA today announced GeForce RTX 20-series mobile GPUs coming to as many as 40 new notebook models with hundreds of sub-variants. 17 of these 40 are Max-Q certified. Max-Q is an NVIDIA initiative in aggressive power and thermal management that strives to bring desktop-like gaming performance to a thin notebook. CEO Jen-Hsun held up a GIGABYTE-branded Aero notebook with RTX 2080 Mobile GPU, which is faster than a desktop powered by a GTX 1080, and 6K RED video editing. Also shown is a Max-Q notebook based on the RTX 2060 Mobile, which is faster than a desktop GTX 1070.

With NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 20-series having already released for desktops, it was only a matter of time until laptops got the RTX treatment as well. Current rumors are suggesting that Nvidia will officially launch their GeForce RTX 20-series mobility GPUs on January 6th at CES with the RTX 2070 and RTX 2070 Max-Q taking center stage. An embargo date of January 26th has also been set, with NVIDIA delaying their final release drivers until then. Meaning final performance results for the new mobile GPUs won't be available until after the embargo date, which should coincide with the general availability of RTX 20-series equipped laptops.

Along with the RTX 2070 and 2070 Max-Q mobility parts, the flagship RTX 2080 Max-Q which isn't expected at the show, is still in the works, with its TU104M 1eab device ID having been leaked earlier. The rest of the GeForce 20-series mobility GPUs are likely to use the GTX moniker if NVIDIA's desktop lineup is anything to go by; however, that is merely speculation at this point.

NVIDIA is giving finishing touches to its first GeForce RTX 20-series Mobility GPUs for notebooks, based on the "Turing" architecture, with product launches expected from Q1-2019. The company could debut the series with a high-end part first, the GeForce RTX 2080 Mobility Max-Q. The rest of the lineup includes the RTX 2070 Mobility Max-Q, RTX 2060 Ti Mobility, RTX 2060 Mobility, RTX 2050 Ti Mobility, and RTX 2050 Mobility. What's interesting about this list is that NVIDIA is limiting the Max-Q design to its top-tier RTX 2080 Mobility and RTX 2070 Mobility parts.

Max-Q is an all-encompassing laptop thermal-design methodology, which allows gaming notebook designers to come up with thinner notebooks with higher performance. One of the key aspects is special Max-Q ready variants of the GPUs, which are probably binned to run the coolest, and least voltages. With a device ID 1eab, the RTX 2080 Mobility Max-Q is based on the TU104M chip, while other SKUs could be carved from the TU106M or a chip even smaller. It's being reported that with this generation, NVIDIA is playing a more active role in helping its partners engineer their Max-Q notebooks, and helping them meet NVIDIA's strict Z-height minimums.