Tag Archives: Intel ARC

Computers, News

Dell’s XPS Line-Up Refreshed with Focus on AI

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Dell’s XPS lineup has been at the forefront of the company’s portfolio for the better part of two decades. The line has always been about pushing boundaries when it comes to performance, work and design. This year is no different, the XPS lineup continues its legacy as one of the best laptops that Dell has to offer.

XPS Expanded and Better than Ever

The new Dell XPS line is expanded. Where we had the XPS and XPS 15, there are now 3 entries: the XPS 13, XPS 14 and the XPS 16. Each laptop takes Dell’s thin and light flagship and caters it to different needs. However, they do share a similar design – one that Dell debuted with the XPS 13 Plus. The sleek design consists of tone-on-tone colours and CNC-machined aluminium. The biggest change is the inclusion of touch-enabled function buttons which line the top of the haptic trackpad. These buttons seamlessly switch between media and function keys when needed. The keyboard on the laptops is also larger with larger keycaps for a more coherent and comfortable typing experience.

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Source: Dell Technologies

The XPS lineup continues to feature the InfinityEdge panels with options for OLED touch, variable refresh rate and high resolution. This year brings improvements to the audio experience with a new quad speaker design that supports Dolby Atmos, and 3D stereo surround from MaxxAudio Pro by Waves. The XPS lineup will also feature a 1080p FHD webcam.

New Intel Processors with a Focus on Bringing AI Mainstream

The New XPS lineup will be coming fully equipped with the latest Intel Core Ultra processors. These processors features an additional NPU (neural processing unit) that Dell is leveraging to bring impactful AI-powered features to its XPS line up. That isn’t the only thing that’s changing with the NPU; these laptops will be able to leverage the NPU to speed up features that rely on AI. This also frees up CPU and GPU resources which can be better mobilised to undertake non-AI focused tasks.

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Source: Dell Technologies
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Source: Dell Technologies

In addition, the XPS line up will be coming with configurations supporting the Intel Core Ultra 7 on the Dell XPS 13 and XPS 14. While the XPS 16 supports configurations with up to the Intel Core Ultra 9. These configurations are supplemented with up to 64GB of RAM across the board and up to 4TB of PCIe 4 SSD memory. This combination alone should give you enough performance on the go for most tasks.

The XPS 14 and XPS 16, however, come with NVIDIA’s RTX Studio certification. The XPS 14 comes with a configuration supporting the NVIDIA RTX 4050. On the other hand, the XPS 16 continues to be the powerhouse of the line up with configurations supporting the RTX 4060 and RTX 4080 as well as the RTX 4050. These laptops come with support for NVIDIA’s Studio drivers out of the box and are primed for content creation on the go. They can even handle 3D rendering when you’re out and about.

Specc’d to Kill

The XPS series continues its legacy of being a top performer with more than just processors though. The line up comes with a bevvy of displays including high resolution touch displays. The XPS 13 caps out at a 3K OLED touch display while the XPS 14 pushes the boundaries a little bit more with a 3.2K OLED touch display. The XPS 16, on the other hand, caps out at a 4K OLED touch display.

Dell XPS CES 2024
Source: Dell Technologies

Of course, connectivity on the go is important for the XPS line up. Dell has decided to leverage WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 on the XPS 13 and XPS 16 while the XPS 14 has WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Pricing & Availability

The XPS lineup will be available starting in Q1 2024. Malaysia, in particular, will see the laptops in stores starting end of February 2024.

ModelBase SpecificationsPricing (US)Pricing (MY)
Dell XPS 13Intel Ultra 5 / 16GB / 512GB / 13.4” FHD+ / Intel RPL-P P28 UMA (Iris Xe) UMAUSD$1,299RM5,499
Dell XPS 14Intel Ultra 7 / 16GB / 512GB / 14.5” FHD+ / No GraphicsUSD$1,699RM8,499
Dell XPS 16Intel Ultra 7 / 16GB / 512GB / 16.3” FHD+ / No GraphicsUSD$1,899RM8,999
Computers, News

Intel’s ARC A580 GPU Finally Goes Official

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Intel has been on a mission to break into the GPU market and offer more options to gamers. The latest step in this journey is the introduction of the Intel Arc A580. Positioned as a mid-range contender, this GPU is touted to have remarkable performance and promises excellent value for your money. Currently, only ASRock, GUNNIR, Photon and SPARKLE have announced their versions of the A580.

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Irrespective of the brand you choose, the heart of these cards remains the same: the Intel Arc A580 GPU. This GPU is not only about providing an additional choice for PC enthusiasts but also about introducing a new tier to the desktop graphics card lineup. The Intel Arc A580 belongs to the Intel Arc A5 family, fitting snugly between the high-performance A750 and A770 and the budget-friendly A380 GPUs.

But what sets the Intel Arc A580 apart is its hardware specs. It comes equipped with 8 GB of VRAM, which should be ample memory to run 1080p games. Memory bandwidth is equally impressive, boasting a total of 512GB/s.

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While the Intel Arc A580 falls between the A380 and A750 in terms of positioning, its hardware specs align more with the A750. What truly sets it apart is the number of Xe-cores, the computational powerhouses behind the graphics magic. The Arc A580 sports 24 Xe-cores, which positions it close to the top end of the A-Series GPUs.

Moreover, “OC” in most of the add-in board names indicates overclocking. All three cards are configured to run at 2000 MHz, approximately 18% faster than Intel’s 1700 MHz reference specification.

Gaming Performance

The Intel Arc A580 leverages the power of Game On driver updates to ensure top-notch performance in both new and legacy games. It’s equipped to handle even the latest games at 1080p High settings with ease. Intel touts that titles like “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart” and “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” run natively on the A580 at over 60 FPS. But here’s the exciting part: there’s more performance potential to be unlocked in these cards.

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The Intel Arc GPUs come packed with powerful AI capabilities and take full advantage of Intel® Xe Super Sampling (XeSS). The Intel Arc A580 is no exception, offering impressive performance enhancements when XeSS is enabled. For instance, in the case of “Remnant II,” enabling XeSS boosts the A580’s performance from around 50 fps to a highly playable 73 FPS—a remarkable 46% improvement according to Intel. In well-optimized games like “Ghostwire Tokyo,” XeSS takes performance to a new level, delivering over 2x the speed with this technology.

Beyond Gaming

Intel Arc GPUs have always been about more than just gaming. Content creation is a breeze with these cards, offering AV1 video encoding hardware, AI acceleration through XMX engines, and a streaming studio within Arc Control software. This combination unlocks endless possibilities, from AI-generated art to supercharged video editing.

One of the most exciting features for video editors is the introduction of dual encoding, designed to save precious time. By utilizing both Multi-Format Codec Engines (MFXs) on the Intel Arc A580, video encoding is accelerated, reducing encoding time by an impressive 35%. This feature is already rolling out to various applications, ensuring a smoother and faster editing process.

Pricing and Availability

The Intel Arc A580 is now available globally. Prices for these GPUs start at $179 (MYR703.12).

News

Acer Teases Predator GPUs at MYDCF in Kuala Lumpur; Officially Coming Soon to Malaysia

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MYDCF – the Malaysian Digital Content Festival – is underway in Kuala Lumpur! The annual event has kicked off with a showcase of the latest and best that studios in Malaysia have put forward. This year’s event also showcases the works of studios like PlayStation, Bandai Namco, Passion Republic Games and more.

Part of the show floor of MYDCF is Noizucon, a conference for gamers, cosplayers and more. This show, behind a MYR60 ticket, is also hosting Malaysia’s Finals of Acer‘s Predator League happening there. The 2024 Predator League finals will be happening on the 30th of September 2023 (Saturday) for DoTA 2 while the finals for PlayerUnknown’s Batttlegrounds (PUBG) will be happening on 1 October 2023 (Sunday).

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However, Acer has a little something up their sleeves at the Predator League show floor. Snug among the chaos of the competition and the showcase of Acer’s latest Predator and Nitro offerings was a little surprise – two new graphics cards emblazoned with the Predator logo. The new GPUs on display were the AMD Radeon RX7600 8G OC and the Intel ARC A750.

Predator’s AMD Radeon RX7600 8G OC comes with 1 HDMI 2.1 output and 3 DisplayPort 1.4 output. This supports up to 60Hz refresh rate at 8K resolution for a single display or 4 displays at 4K/60Hz. It comes with 8GB of vRAM with speeds of up to 288 GB/s and clock speeds of up to 2320 MHz. The clock speed can even be boosted to 2725 MHz. The GPU is cooled by a ringed axial fan & blower configuration.

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The Intel ARC A750 that was on display, on the other hand, came with 3 Display Port 2.0 and a single HDMI 2.0 output. It supports the same resolution and refresh rates as the Radeon RX7600. It also has 8GB of GDDR6 vRAM with speeds of up to 512GB/s. For cooling, the Intel GPU card comes with a hybrid setup which employs both a ringed axial fan and a blower fan. Predator has tuned the GPU to support up to 2200 MHz clock speeds.

It remains unclear if the cooling will employ Predator’s Bifrost technology. Acer Malaysia is remaining tight-lipped with the details of the Predator graphics cards. Of note, there doesn’t seem to be an NVIDIA SKU of the Predator GPUs. At the very least, they didn’t tease it at the Predator League in Malaysia.

Pricing & Availability

That said, both of the GPUs on display are already available in the USA. The Predator BiFrost Intel ARC 750 series is retailing for USD$269.99 (MYR1,267.52) while the Predator BiFrost AMD RX7600 8G OC is retailing for USD$289.99 (MYR1,361.40).

For Malaysia, the AMD RX7600 8G OC will be officially priced at MYR1,498 while the Intel ARC 750 will be retailing at MYR1,299. The GPUs will officially be available in October via Acer’s official partners – Just IT, Brightstar and Monaliza.

Computers, News

Acer’s Swift X & AiO Lineup Gets More Extensive

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Acer’s Swift X lineup debuted last year with a unique combination of both performance and power in a sleek, lightweight package. This year, it seems like the new lineup is here to stay with more sizes and even more power. Their AIO Aspire C lineup has been a budget offering that’s been delivering consistently when it comes to a one size fits all package. This year, they get all new processors.

Acer Swift X Makes A Bigger, More Powerful Return

Acer’s ultra-portable Swift lineup has always been one of the go-to laptops when looking for a thin and light laptop. Last year, the company supercharged its thin and light offerings with the Swift X and this year, they’re taking it a step further. The Swift X isn’t just getting its insides upgraded, it’s getting a bigger sized variant for those who are looking for even more screen real estate without compromising on form.

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The new Swift X will be available in 14-inch and 16-inch versions. The former weighs a meagre 1.4kgs packing the latest, 12 generation Intel Core i processors with up to 12 cores and NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU. The 16-inch version of the Swift X also comes with the 12th Generation Intel Core i Processors, however, it doesn’t sport an NVIDIA GPU instead, the laptop has the honour of being one of the first laptops with Intel’s ARC discreet GPU.

Both come with up to16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage. They also come with an IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The 14-inch version has a 2240×1400 pixel resolution while the larger 16-inch version has a WQXGA resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. Both come with narrow bezels and have 92.22% screen to body ratio and 100% coverage of the sRGB gamut and up to 400 nits brightness.

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When it comes to connectivity, the Swift X comes with Intel WiFi 6E and a full array of ports including USB Type-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 4 and two USB Type-A Gen 3.2 ports with an HDMI 2.0 port. It also supports Windows Hello with a built-in fingerprint reader.

Acer Aspire C27 and C24 AiOs

Acer’s AiO lineup is also getting a taste of the latest and greatest internals. The new Aspire C27 and C24 will be shipping with the latest 12th generation Intel Core i processors with configurations supporting up to the Core i7. It will also ship with the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 GPU. These configurations will also support up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage and 1TB of HDD storage.

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The AiOs will come with a full array of ports and sport either a 24-inch (C24) or 27-inch (C27) display. Together with this, it comes with a 5.0-megapixel webcam and support for WiFi 6E. It also has support for Bluetooth 5.2 and Thunderbolt 4.

Pricing & Availability

No pricing or availability for either the Swift X or Aspire AiO has been announced at the time of writing.