Category Archives: Computers

AMD Ryzen 7000 Series Processors Now Available in Retail

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors are perhaps one of the most anticipated updates to the company’s lineup of processors since the first announcement of the Zen architecture. The new processors come with the new Zen 4 microarchitecture. The new microarchitecture promises better, more efficient performance and also allow for higher clock speeds.

AMD Ryzen 70000 Series 4

With Ryzen 7000 and Zen 4, AMD is finally retiring the AM4 Socket and fully adopting DDR5. As such, manufacturers like ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI and ASROCK are also releasing updated, beefed up motherboards for the new series. The Ryzen 7000 processors are also bringing a big jump in performance and introducing AMD’s new EXPO technology. AMD EXPO (Extended Profiles for Overclocking) makes overclocking for the best performance a simple task with preset and optimised profiles for any game. Of course, this requires you to use compatible memory which is listed on the AMD EXPO website.

In addition, the new processors come with integrated RDNA2 cores which will give it a slight boost in graphical performance. It goes without saying that the integrated graphics cores are no replacement for dedicated GPUs. That said, with higher clocks and claimed improvements in performance, the new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs are going to cost a pretty penny.

AMD pricing

AMD has launched four versions of their Zen 4 processors: the Ryzen 9 7950X, the Ryzen 9 7900X, the Ryzen 7 7700X and the Ryzen 7600X. These processors come with a different number of cores, processing threads, cache, clock speeds and TDPs that are catered to different levels of performance. All four are available in the market starting on September 27, 2022 with prices starting at MYR1,399.

Here’s a rundown of the pricing and details of each processor and their official prices in MYR and USD.

ProcessorCoresSpeedCacheTDPPrice (USD)Price (MYR)
Ryzen 9 7950X16 – Core
32 -Thread
upto 5.7GHz
upto 4.5GHz
80MB170WUSD$ 699MYR 3,399
Ryzen 9 7900X12-Core
24-Thread
upto 5.6GHz
upto 4.7GHz
76MB170WUSD$ 549MYR 2,699
Ryzen 7 7700X8-Core
16-Thread
upto 5.4GHz
upto 4.5GHz
40MB105WUSD$ 399MYR 1,899
Ryzen 5 7600X6-Core
12-Thread
upto 5.3GHz
upto 4.7GHz
38MB105WUSD$ 299MYR1,399

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 40 Series Ushers in the New Era of Ray Tracing and Neural Rendering

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series, which they fondly refer to as the Ampere architecture processors, were rather potent. At its introduction, it presented the largest generation leap in performance from its predecessors. There were a lot of excitement for the Ampere built GPUs because of the generational gap presented between it, and the older GeForce RTX 20 series GPUs. Then there is the GeForce RTX 40 series that was just introduced by Jensen Huang last night. 

NVIDIA calls it the Ada Lovelace, and it builds upon the technologies presented in its predecessor, the Ampere platform. It is even more capable in its real-time ray tracing functions. It also packs enough power to run an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm of its own for 3D rendering and processing. That also means this time, AI is involved in rendering the pixels you see on your display.  

2X Performance

First up, you want to know how much faster the new RTX 40 series is compared to the RTX 30 series. In terms of ray tracing performance, the RTX40 is capable of up to 191 teraflops, nearly threefold of its predecessor. Its tensor cores are also capable of up to 1.32 petaflops, about five times the previous generation. But it is not just 3D rendering and ray tracing the gets the performance bump, you also get twice more NVENC decoders that allows the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series to half video workload times. 

How NVIDIA achieved these numbers is a little technical, so we might have to explore that in a different story. In short though, it is not like NVIDIA slapped twice more cores into their chip. They did put more cores into their processing chip, but they have also improved their RT cores with 4nm architectures (hence Ada Lovelace architecture). That results in an improved energy and thermal efficiency of their chips in their GPUs which also means they can push their cores even more than before. That also means that ray tracing performance is doubled over whatever that came before. Thanks to the new Micro-Mesh Engine, the new cores can also generate textures in greater detail than ever before without taking up performance and storage resources. 

DLSS 3.0

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), we think, was a rather clever technology when it was introduced. While plenty of electronic giants in the home entertainment industry spoke at lengths about how upscaling is the future of television, NVIDIA took it to the next level with DLSS in gaming. You could, for example, play your games in 4K resolution while the GPU only needs to render the graphics in 1080p Full HD, for example. DLSS 2.0 was a major upgrade to the clever feature and made DLSS properly good and reliable. DLSS 3.0 make DLSS a must have feature.  

Where the previous iterations of DLSS lack is speed. While DLSS 2.0 was fast, it lagged behind when you compare it to playing games at native resolution. The AI still must take its time to render each texture from each frame and upscale them to whatever higher resolution you want your games to play in. DLSS 3.0 allows the GPU to now render entire frames for an improved gaming experience, much faster than before. This is thanks to a rather powerful and clever neural engine packed into the GPU. 

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Source: NVIDIA

2X Video Rendering

Like we pointed out earlier, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 is not just made for gaming. It is a powerful GPU made for the modern content creator too. For 3D artists, the added power and improved DLSS 3.0 makes rendering scenes and graphics on-site much faster than before. Ray tracing is much more accurate than before as well, allowing textures to be rendered more accurately and more lifelike over previous generation GPUS, and all of it can be done in real time, cutting production times.  

Thanks to the inclusion of two eighth generation AV1 encoder, video editing suites gets an extra boost in power. That also means smoother real time rendering and scrubbing. It also means that videos gets rendered twice as fast now.  

NVIDIA Broadcast also benefited from the dual encoders. Partners now have access to features like Face Expression Estimation, Eye Contact, and even more realistic Virtual Backgrounds. That also means you get better, more interactive video calls, or even better streaming graphics.  

Introducing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080

GeForce RTX 4090 Announce
Source: NVIDIA

For now, NVIDIA has only introduced the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 and high-end GeForce RTX 4080. They say that the GeForce RTX 4090 is about twice as fast as the RTX 3090 Ti while maintaining the same TDP at 450W. There are 76 billion transistors and 16,384 CUDA cores you can find on the silicon fitted on the flagship GPU. It is fitted with 24GB of the latest, fastest GDDR6X memory too.  

The GeForce RTX 4080 packs up to 9,728 CUDA cores and up to 16GB of GDDR6S memory. There is also a 12GB edition with 7,680 CUDA cores and 12GB in GDDR6X memory. They say that the 16GB variant is twice more powerful than the current GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and more powerful than the current GeForce RTX 3090 Ti while maintaining a lower power consumption.  

Price and Availability

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 will be available in select regions from the 12th of October 2022 onward. Prices will start at US$ 1,599, US$ 100 more than the RTX 3090 when it was launched. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB variant will retail for US$ 1,199 while the 12GB edition will go for US$ 899. Both NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 variants will be available only in November 2022. For more information on the new GeForce RTX 40 series, you can visit NVIDIA’s website.  

HP Trucks in their New Gaming Laptops Spearheaded by the New OMEN 16 and Victus 16

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HP is updating their gaming lineup with the latest and greatest from AMD and Intel in a totally new, larger form factor. The new laptops announced are equipped with larger displays, higher refresh rates and more features to the company’s robust gaming offerings. Expanding both the OMEN by HP and Victus gaming lineups with more robust laptops and better build quality, HP is looking to bring something for every gamer.

Together with the new editions to their gaming lineup, HP Malaysia is also bringing back their HP Gaming Truck which will be making its way around Malaysia starting with the Klang Valley.

HP OMEN 16 – Supped up to Win

The new OMEN 16 expands the offerings under the OMEN by HP gaming brand with a more robust laptop with a larger 16-inch display. The OMEN 16 ushers in a new generation of OMEN by HP Gaming laptops which look to up the ante when it comes to gaming performance.

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The OMEN Gaming Laptop 16 comes with an improved Tempest cooling system that brings physical changes that impact performance. The updated Tempest Cooling System comes with an added fifth heat pipe and an additional fourth outflow vent. The former allows for better heat dissipation from the processor and GPU while the latter allows the air to be channelled out of the chassis keeping temperatures lower. HP claims that these improvements have resulted in a 3% reduction in temperature at the GPU hinge and a 14% reduction in temperature on the bottom of the SSD. Aside from the increased cooling, the new Tempest system is also 5% quieter than the last generation.

In addition to the physical heating system, HP has also spent some time looking at the internals of the OMEN 16. The new generation of OMEN 16 Gaming Laptops come with 12th Generation Intel processors ranging from the Core i5 to the Core i9 internationally. In Malaysia, this caps off at the Core i7. There are also configurations supporting the AMD Ryzen 6000 SoCs. Like the Intel versions, this caps out at the Ryzen 9. These processors are complemented with at least 16GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage.

The HP OMEN 16 comes with a 16.1-inch, QHD IPS display with a refresh rate of 165Hz. It also has a 3ms response time. The display supports 100% of the sRGB gamut with a 300-nits brightness and a micro-edge design. The laptops have configurations supporting up to the NVIDIA GeForce 3070 Ti GPU. HP isn’t skimping on ports either, the OMEN 16 comes with a full array of ports including an RJ45 ethernet port, ThunderBolt 4 and USB-A ports.

HP Victus 16 – Affordable Powerhouse

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The Victus inherits most of the ethos and DNA of the OMEN 16. However, it does it affordably; packing all the essentials. When it comes to processors, the HP Victus 16 comes with configurations supporting the 12th Generation Intel Core i7 and the AMD Ryzen 6000 series. This is paired with at least 8GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

On the display front, the 16.1-inch IPS display has a 1080p FHD resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate and 250 nits brightness. The display comes with the same micro-edge design and covers 45% of the NTSC gamut. The HP Victus 16 has configurations with up to the NVIDIA RTX3050 Ti or the AMD Radeon 6500M.

Pricing & Availability

The HP OMEN 16 and Victus 16 are already available from HP via their official store or retail partners and online stores.

The OMEN 16 is priced from MYR7,599 for the AMD version and MYR7,799 for the Intel version.

The Victus 16 is priced from MYR4,299 for the AMD version and MYR3,749 for the Intel version.

AMD Announced the Zen 4 Architecture in the Form of the Ryzen 7000 Series

The AMD Ryzen 5000 series, at its launch, was the fastest CPUs for PCs in the world at the time. At launch, Intel did not even have a proper answer to AMD’s best offerings even with their 11th generation CPUs. Their 12th generation Core CPUS’s are something special though and claimed the throne as the best CPUs for Windows 11 and gaming at its time.

The AMD Ryzen line upheld up a few key advantages still over Intel’s best offerings. One of those advantage is that AMD’s offerings was still compatible with chipsets that were a few years old. It supported the first wave of PCIe Gen 4.0 devices before Intel could even hop on the bandwagon. Of course, Intel’s 12th generation CPUs works almost exclusively with DDR5, so there is that.

Now, there is this, the Ryzen 7000 series that just launched. No, they did learn how to count. The Ryzen 6000 series of CPUs are laptop CPUs.

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Source: AMD

The new Ryzen then, the fastest gaming chips in the world, they say. The recipe has not changed all that much with the newer CPUs. There is the fact that it is technically the most advanced chip made for the PC in the modern world. It is built with 5nm process now, which means there are more transistor count on the chips compared to what you get from the Ryzen 5000 chips.

The core count has not changed all that much though. At launch, the Ryzen 5 7600X packs six cores while the top end Ryzen 9 7950X packs 16 cores. We are guessing that the most popular option out of the four Ryzen 7000 models launched would be the Ryzen 7 7700X with eight cores and 16 threads.

The new generation Ryzen processors with Zen 4 are quite a bit more power hungry this time round too. The more budget conscious option, the Ryzen 5 7600X’s rated TDP is at 105W, the same TDP rated for the Ryzen 9 5950X at launch. While you might attribute the higher power draw to the increased transistor count thanks to 5nm process, it could also be the higher clock speeds of the new Zen 4 CPUs. The Ryzen 9 7950X, for example, clocks at 4.5GHz while the Ryzen 9 5950X clocks at 3.4GHz.

Instead of Zen 3+, AMD went straight for Zen 4 with the new Ryzen 7000, rightfully so. Thanks to smaller transistors as well, the newer generation processors will generate less heat, which would explain the higher clock speeds too. At the same time, Zen 4 will be all about DDR5 instead of support for DDR4, as well as PCIe 5.0.

With the new chip as well, they are finally retiring the AM4 socket and embracing a new generation of socket for the next few years at least until 2025. They call it the AM5 and the roadmap is pretty straightforward. The new AM5 platform will be exclusively DDR5 platforms with a planned update to PCIe 5.0 eventually.

AMD Premiere: together we advance_PCs

On paper, the AMD Ryzen 7000 seems like a leap in performance over the older chip. The top-of-the-line AMD Ryzen 7970X delivers 15% more performances across popular games over the older Ryzen 5 5950X in 1080p resolution. The biggest performance leap is across content creation capabilities though, at 40% average improvements over the older generation CPU. The higher performances can also be contributed to the much faster than before.

AMD’s new line-up of Ryzen 7000 processors will be available 27th of September 2022 onward. That is not necessarily when Malaysia will see the first chips hitting the market. Still, prices start at US$ 299 (MYR*) and tops out at US$ 699 (MYR*) which is about the price of the previous generation Ryzen CPUs. For more information on the next generation AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs, you can visit their website.

[Video] Daily Driving a Chromebook – Is It Even Possible?

Choosing a computer for your personal home use or even work is tough decision. You can save yourself a hassle and get an Apple MacBook. You could also go for value and get a Windows PC. But there is another option, a third option. You can buy a Chromebook.

The Chrome OS is a unique ecosystem by Google themselves that sort of bridges the differences between a smartphone interface against the PC interface. The approach to the interface is rather simplistic as well, straightforward enough that it can be familiar to any users within a few minutes of use. The best part about the Chromebook is that it will be the least costly option among the the ecosystems you choose from.

Thing is, can you really live with a Chromebook? What are its limitations? What can we do with it? Is it worth the money? Most importantly, can it be your main daily driver? We also have a comprehensive editorial series on living with a Chromebook. Check it out here.

LG’s DualUp Monitor Ergo is not Here, But Not for Games

Whenever manufacturers shout about their new monitor products recently, it is always about gaming and their new monitors are made for them. Products made for the creative professionals and productivity are not hard to find. They just rarely get attention these days. Manufacturers tend to quietly add new monitors to their line-up because of that.

LG’s new monitor deserves attention though. Not it is not some breakthrough thoroughbred with some exclusive display tuning that makes it the brightest most clear display on the market. Technically, there is nothing new about the monitor. The display panel is the same type as most displays out in the market currently. There is something different about this monitor though; it is shaped rather differently from other monitors you can find in the market.

No, it is not a round display, nor is it a pentagonal shaped monitor. There are still four sides to make it a rectangle, just not the regular display rectangle. It boasts an aspect ratio of 16:18, which also means that it is a tall display, and it is almost square-ish in shape.

LG DualUp Image 4
Source: LG

If you think about it, the display size is really a combination of two 16:9 displays stacked on top of each other. This form factor also eliminates the bottom bezel of the top display when you stack it up. The design is not without its reasons though.

The expansive LG DualUp Monitor Ergo display comes with LG’s Nano IPS panel that should offer vibrant colours and excellent contrast ratio. Important when you are going to be using it most of the day for work. The panel boasts dual QHD resolution (2,560 x 2,880) for good measure too. In that sense, movies should look excellent on it, save for the two very large black bars you will get when you watch movies on the display the size of two 21.5-inch displays stacked on top of one another.

LG DualUp Image 2
Source: LG

The design of the DualUp Monitor Ergo is such to save as much desk real estate as possible. It is also the most ergonomic way of working with two displays, since you do not really have to turn your neck or body around to read through your documents or scroll through emails. At the same time, you get more real estate for your documents, which is always nice. On top of that, to reduce the strain on your neck even more, the LG DualUp Monitor Ergo comes with LG’s Ergo Stand that mounts and clamps directly on the table for not just more desk real estate. It also allows you to swivel and position your display in any configuration you prefer or can think of.

The LG DualUp Monitor Ergo comes with HDMI and DisplayPort inputs. It also packs USB Type-C thunderbolt and display port for an added versatility for the modern thin-and-light laptops. There is also USB 3.0 ports for you to work with. You can even rely on its two 7W built-in speakers with WavesMaxxAudio to enjoy music.

To protect your eyes, the LG DualUp Monitor Ergo comes with built-in ambient LightSensor to automatically adjust the display’s brightness accordingly. Live Color Low Blue Light also ensures that blue light emissions are reduced. To allow for a more flexible working environment, the monitor also packs a Picture-by-Picture mode to divide your area of work on the display real estate.

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The LG DualUp Monitor Ergo is now available via LG’ authorized retailers nationwide or their online stores on Shopee and Lazada. It will set you back MYR 2,948, which is still considered rather premium. You are getting LG’s Ergo Stand though, and you are investing in an ergonomic set up for long term use case. For more information on the LG DualUp Monitor Ergo display, you can check out LG’s website.

Dell Announces the XPS 13 2-in-1 – It is as Flexible as it Gets

Dell’s XPS series of thin-and-light devices are quite legendary in its own market segment. The XPS series is known for their superb build quality with all-metal construction with an ultra-thin design like no other. They are not known to be the lightest devices in the market, but the all-metal body does add to some weight. It is not just premium build though, the XPS series also sets themselves apart to be a sort of benchmark in the world of thin-and-light PCs.

Dell just announced their latest XPS device, the XPS 13 2-in-1. Yes, it bears the same name as the XPS 13 2-in-1 from 2021 as well. It is a follow up model, in all fairness. It is a Microsoft Surface like tablet/PC.

Of course, as an updated model, it bears Intel’s 12th generation Core processors. You can spec it up with up to a Core i7-1250U that comes with two performance cores and eight efficiency cores totaling up to ten cores within the chip. That processor is also paired with up to 16GB in LPDDR4x (on board) RAM to ensure that multitasking is smooth and snappy. There are no discrete GPU to be found here, just a humble but still powerful Intel Iris Xe Graphics keeping everything that has to do with graphics processing in check.

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Source: Dell

The powerful chipset allows Dell to include a 13-inch 3K display with 3:2 aspect ratio. Of course, because your primary interaction with the device would be through touch, it is a touch sensitive display. The display also pushes DisplayHDR 400 at 500 nits’ peak brightness. It boasts up to 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage and up to 1800:1 contrast ratio. The Gorilla Glass Victus protected display should be more than enough for you to be immersed in your movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with Dolby Vision support.

To ensure that you have all the storage you need for work and play (not many games, we would assume), you get up to 1TB in SSD storage. To keep you entertained and your movies immersive, you get Waves MaxxAudio Pro and Waves Nx 3D audio tuning on your speakers. Of course, because this is a device for productivity, it packs two microphone arrays to ensure that your voice is crystal clear in video and tele conferences. On top of that, you get a Full HD 1080p front facing camera that is capable of taking 5-Megapixel photos. At the back is a 11-Megapixel camera that is capable of taking up to 4K resolution videos.

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Source: Dell

When you are in a call, you want a stable and fast network. Intel’s Killer WiFi with WiFi 6E support should ensure that your internet connection is ever stable for those long online conferences. If you prefer to use Wireless headphones, there is Bluetooth 5.2 connection available too.

While it is sort of a tablet, it is still a versatile PC too. It has two Thunderbolt 4 enabled USB Type-C ports that also supports display output and power delivery. Included in the box is a USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter, if you need to plug your external storage in. There is also a USB Type-C to 3.5mm AUX adapter, if you want to plug your headphones in. Within the device is a large 49.5WHs battery to ensure that you can work from anywhere through the day.

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The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 will be available in Malaysia within the month (August onward). The variant that will be available to Malaysians comes with Intel’s 12th generation Core i5-1230U, 8GB of RAM, 256GB in SSD and Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics. It will set you back MYR 5,999. For more information on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, you can check out their website.

WhatsApp Has a Native Windows App, Finally

No, this is not technically breaking news. In some sense, WhatsApp on PCs is not a new thing as well. The app has a Windows app for a while now. It is technically an incarnation of WhatsApp Web, but without reliance on web interfaces, to a certain degree.

The thing is, when you sign into your Desktop version of the app before this, you are not really signed into WhatsApp Desktop. Rather, you are signed into a web-based version of the app. Which also means that the desktop app is a lie. Well, they did not do anything to mask that WhatsApp Desktop is nothing more than web-based interface that opens on a separate window.

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The new update to the Windows version of WhatsApp Desktop is a little different though. At first glance, they changed on the visuals a little. There are more green accents on the interface. Thy interface also looks somewhat a lot more streamlined than before, less clunky. You also see a video call and phone button now, which means you can make calls from your PC now, instead of your smartphone. Then you turn to your smartphone and instead of “Google Chrome” or “Microsoft Edge” listed on your linked devices, it is now “Windows”.

This is all a part of WhatsApp making their interface native to Windows. Other than a few visual differences, there are also added a few capabilities to the app.

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While you might not notice it too much, WhatsApp being made native to Windows does have a performance boost. It should now load faster, work faster, and is a lot more stable than before. Other than the optimization you get on WhatsApp for Windows, you can also now receive messages and notifications even when your smartphone is offline. It is not completely reliant on your smartphone anymore. Of course, now you can make video calls and phone calls via the app on Windows PC.

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WhatsApp for Windows is now live on the Microsoft Store. If you have WhatsApp Desktop already installed on your machine, you simply need to update it via Microsoft Store. The Desktop App is currently limited to Windows. They are working on a working version for Mac currently which also means that it should be available to Mac users soon.

Samsung Launches the Odyssey Ark – Let Samsung Take You on a Magical Gaming Journey

The world of large format gaming displays is not necessarily a crowded space. There is a good reason for that. When you buy a large format display like a TV, you want something that can at least project up to 4K in resolution. Anything lower than 4K with displays less than 40 inches can look rather weird and pixelated (the days of 1080p Full HD TVs are far behind us).

At the same time, while 4K TVs are abundant today, 4K gaming is not something that is easily accessible today. Well, when we say not easily accessible, we are mostly talking about PC gaming more than console gaming. Sure, the PlayStation 5 and latest Xbox Series X can easily play games at 4K resolution and boasts up to 120fps for displays that does 120Hz. But at the same time, not every game can run at that framerate at 4K resolution too.

In the world of PC gaming, 4K gaming is not unheard of, it is just rather rare. The most common high-end gaming set up in the world of PC gaming sports displays that tops out at 1440p at 165Hz these days. That is also because in the world where your display is no more than an arm’s length in front of you, you never really need anything that is more than 30 inches big and more than 1440p to look good. At the same time, the amount of money you want to spend on hardware that can run games at 4K resolution at up to 120fps always is ridiculous.

Odyssey Ark PR dl1
Source: Samsung

That does not mean that there is no such market though. For those with enough money to get something like an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and Intel’s latest 12th Generation Core i9 processor combinations, Samsung has something that will wet their beaks and make full use of their hardware. They have this, the Odyssey Ark.

The argument behind the Samsung Odyssey Ark is plenty simple. The idea is to make the best gaming display money can buy. They came up with a 55-inch behemoth that is curved at 1000R.

The 55-inch curved display sports Samsung’s highly acclaimed Quantum Matrix technology with Mini LEDs. With up to 14-bit processing, 16,384 black levels, your blacks look deep, and your images looks ultra-realistic. At 55-inch, you are going to be fully immersed in the game world too. At 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio with HDR10+, finding things in the darker areas of your map is a breeze.

It is not just a beautiful looking 4K display too. It is a super-fast display; it is a gaming display after all. It sports up to 165Hz in refresh rate. Its Grey-to-Grey response time is as low as 1ms for the fastest response you can get out of your display. It even supports AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro for not just a tear free gaming experience, but also a super responsive one.

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Source: Samsung

You might want to forget going for a VESA mount for this monitor. The stand it comes with is plenty enough to handle the weight of a 55-inch gaming monitor. It is also a tiltable base so that you can use it in what Samsung calls the “cockpit mode”. You flip the display vertically and it really wraps around your head.

A display this size also requires big sounds. Because it takes up so much space on your desk, you might want to not get a sound bar, or a speaker set up. This one offers you four speakers with Dolby Atmos certification. They call it the Sound Dome Technology with object tracking capabilities for the most immersive experience available.

Of course, it comes with its own Samsung TV style remote, because it is that big. It also comes with something called an Ark Dial. It is a smart remote thing that allows you quick and easy access over the TVs more prominent and more frequently accessed functions. At the same time, like the latest Samsung TVs, it comes with a One Connect Box for a much easier access to all its four HDMI 2.1 ports, LAN port, and USB ports.

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The Samsung Odyssey is nothing short of breathtaking. It only comes in black, but it also has RGB strips on the top and bottom of the back plate. It does not matter though what colour the display comes in, the 55-inch curved Mini LED panel stands out like a sore thumb anyway. The Odyssey Ark is now available for pre-order in the United States of America (U.S.A.) and select regions. Malaysia? Not yet, but we can expect it to come pretty soon, since the 49-inch ultra-wide behemoth has already landed. In the U.S.A. it will set you back US$ 3,500 though, about MYR 15,631*, or the price of a very high-end, very big TV from the likes of Samsung. More information the Samsung Odyssey Ark can be found on their website.

*Approximately based on conversion rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.47 as of 16/08/2022 on xe.com

Lenovo’s Sustainable ThinkPad Z Series with AMD Ryzen PRO-6000 Series Now Available in Malaysia

Lenovo is bringing their new sustainable ThinkPad Z series to Malaysia. The new lineup marries performance, sustainability and cutting-edge design into a sleek form factor. The new laptop takes on a new, more contemporary design philosophy which uses sustainably sourced and recycled materials and provides a premium experience overall.

1. ThinkPad Z13

Powerful Performance with AMD Advantage

The new ThinkPad Z lineup comes in two sizes: the compact and portable ThinkPad Z13 and the powerful ThinkPad Z16. The Z13 is built for portability while the Z16 packs a power-packed combination of AMD’s Ryzen PRO-6000 processors and the AMD Radeon 6500M graphics card. The ThinkPad Z13 also comes with AMD’s Ryzen PRO-6000 processors with an added option for the Ryzen 7 PRO 6860Z – a processor designed exclusively for the ThinkPad Z13. The processor is developed collaboratively between AMD and Lenovo to be optimised specifically for the ThinkPad Z13. These processors are also the first commercially available with Microsoft’s Pluton security processor for an added layer of security and hardening for Windows 11 PCs.

2. ThinkPad Z13

The ThinkPad Z16 is an AMD Advantage laptop with performance that is bound to benefit from the Ryzen and Radeon combination. With AMD’s Smart Shift technology, the CPU and GPU are able to dynamically adapt to shifting workloads. Their algorithms allow them to adapt to and prioritize workloads so that video editing, graphical editing and even gaming are seamless and smooth with AMD’s Infinity Control Fabric. This allows the processor to prioritise memory and processing power to ensure optimal performance.

Designed for Sustainability & Functionality

The ThinkPad Z series is designed to be minimal and sleek but stays true to the ThinkPad ethos. It keeps functionality and productivity front and centre. The signature TrackPoint makes a comeback in the ThinkPad Z series with thoughtful updates. You’ll be able to double tap the TrackPoint to launch a new Communications Quick Menu to access common settings for the camera and microphone. It also comes with added customizability. The Haptic ForcePad is also the largest on a ThinkPad so far. The ThinkPad Z16 comes with a 120mm wide Haptic ForcePad which provides added durability and functionality.

6. Recycled Materials Packaging

The ThinkPad Z series also has the slimmest bezels in the ThinkPad series. The Z13 comes with a 91.6% screen-to-body ratio while the Z16 comes with an impressive 92.3% screen-to-body ratio. The slim bezels provide an even more immersive viewing experience from their 16:10, QHD+ displays. The Z13 comes with a 13.3-inch 2.8K display while the Z16 comes with a 16-inch 4K display. Both have options for OLED panels. The displays support Dolby Vision and emit lower levels of blue light.

In addition to this, the laptops are made of 75% post-consumer recycled aluminium and come in packaging that is made of 100% bamboo and sugar cane. There is also an option for PET leather. This makes them one of the more sustainable laptops available right now.

Pricing & Availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z series is now available in Malaysia. The ThinkPad Z13 is priced from MYR6,879.13 while the ThinkPad Z16 is priced from MYR7,879.55.

Official Specifications

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