999Computers, York, NY (2026)

03/30/2023

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 Notebook Review: Multitasking monster with AMD Zen4, RTX 4090 & Mini-LED

Debut for the AMD Zen4 Ryzen 9 7945HX. Asus refreshes its ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 and uses the best components you can currently get. The new GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop is supported by AMD’s Ryzen 9 7945HX, the fastest mobile CPU right now. The manufacturer also replaces the 4K screen with a new WQHD Mini-LED panel with 240 Hz, which is supported by a secondary 4K screen. Update: sRGB profile is included

Asus continues the concept of the ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 with its two screens in 2023 and uses the best technologies you can currently get for laptops. In addition to the brand-new mobile graphics cards from Nvidia, the GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop and GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop, Asus once again uses HX processor from AMD. It is actually one of the first laptops in our editorial office with the new AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX, which offers 16 Zen4 cores against Intel’s Raptor Lake HX CPUs. Asus also upgraded the display: The resolution drops from 4K to WQHD, but it is a matte Mini-LED panel with a refresh rate of 240 Hz and fast response times.

03/29/2023

Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 G8 2023 convertible in review: Intel Raptor Lake disappoints

Lenovo offers a high-end 14-inch convertible in the Yoga 9i 14, which is now entering its 8th generation. Appearance-wise, the new Yoga 9i 14 G8 remains faithful to its predecessor, but uses Intel's new mobile processor from the Raptor Lake generation (13th gen), the Core i7-1360P. In review here is the model with the 2.8K OLED screen, but the variant with the 4K OLED, which we reviewed last year, is alternatively available. Our test device with 512 GB SSD storage currently costs US$1,499.99 on Lenovo's website in the USA; the model with 4K OLED and 1 TB SSD storage costs US$1,749.99.

03/28/2023

Intel Alder Lake and Raptor Lake compared - What makes the "smaller" processors so interesting

Compared to their 11th generation Rocket Lake processors, Intel managed to achieve a big jump in performance with the introduction of their hybrid CPUs. Based on the new 1700 socket and the new Z600 processor, the Intel Core i9-12900K featured 16 cores and 24 threads in total. Just under a year later, there was already a noticeable jump in performance with the release of the Rocket Lake series. One problem which has followed Intel's top-of-the-range models for multiple generations: In certain situations where the CPU finds itself at high load, the devices' power consumption can be quite high. Power consumption in the newest model measures 253 watts - but this is just a guideline, as the built-in cooling system and the resulting temperatures actually determine the processor's performance limit if all restrictions regarding TDP limits have been deactivated in the BIOS.

When it comes to performance, the smaller models such as the Intel Core i5-12400 or the Intel Core i5-13400 actually prove to be more interesting. Both models feature 6 P-cores and even at maximum load, they are very efficient - proving they don't necessarily need a high-performance and expensive cooling system. This makes both models perfect for a budget gaming system.

We see slightly better performance - but also much bigger power consumption - in mid-range processors such as the Core i5 and Core i7 models. The free multipliers make overclocking easy for users. But is this still relevant nowadays? We would say no - because if you follow current forums or groups on social media, you will quickly be confronted by the topic of undervolting. This essentially means running the processor at the smallest possible voltage while still achieving the same performance, leading to higher efficiencies and lower power consumption. Here, it is up to you to decide what is important for you and what you are expecting to achieve.

03/27/2023

Blizzard and Nvidia investigating reports Diablo 4 is killing RTX 3080 Ti GPUs

The Diablo 4 team are investigating reports of RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards crashing or dying while playing the game's closed beta. Customer support says Blizzard is "working closely with Nvidia to identify affected hardware configurations and gather as many data points as possible to assist in the investigation.

Fresh reports suggest some RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards are running horribly, or even dying, while playing the Diablo 4 closed beta over the weekend.

In what appears to be an issue closely resembling when Amazon's MMO New World was bricking RTX 3090 GPUs, the Diablo 4 beta appears to expose a potentially fatal flaw in some high-end Nvidia GPUs. Across Reddit and the Blizzard forums, users are reporting that during the beta their monitors go black, GPU fans run full speed, and their system restarts. Sometimes these symptoms are also accompanied by an error code and a dead GPU, though not every time.

It appears that most of the users affected by the issue are using RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards manufactured by Gigabyte, however, the scale of the issue is not yet known.

YouTuber Mortismal Gaming also notes they suffered the same issue on a Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti graphics card while playing the game.

Diablo 4 is unlikely to be the cause of the issue itself, more so a catalyst for exposing a weakness that may have already been present in the affected cards. This was the case with New World. EVGA noticed some poor soldering on a batch of its cards that, when running at extremely high frame rates and with spiky load—in that case while playing New World—would result in failure.

03/26/2023

Intel NUC 13 Extreme

What makes an NUC, an NUC? The acronym stands for Next Unit of Computing, and it was created as an attempt by Intel to completely reinvent what a computer is at its core. Mostly NUCs were about squeezing a whole PC's worth of components into a tiny, compact chassis. But that's not strictly true of the new Intel NUC 13 Extreme. It's comparatively massive compared to the NUCs we've seen before.

The NUC 13 Extreme is about as big as some weak-hearted enterprise PCs—think of your run-of-the-mill HP office unit. That means it's definitely smaller than your average gaming PC but a big size creep on the small form factor Hades Canyon NUC I've tried out in the past. That Hades Canyon NUC really was a beautiful piece of kit, but it wasn't half as powerful as the NUC 13 Extreme.

The NUC 13 Extreme is extremely well-provisioned for something of a small form factor PC. That's partially due to its cleverly routed case, which offers ample room for a high-end graphics card, a 750W PSU, and the Compute Element.

The Compute Element within the NUC 13 Extreme is the more NUC-like piece of the NUC 13 Extreme. It encompasses an Intel Core i9 13900K CPU, custom motherboard, 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM RAM, Wi-Fi card, 1TB SSD, and I/O provided by the Z690 chipset. That's all on a single, removable board, and is basically what comprises any other NUC in its entirety, but the NUC 13 Extreme also sees Intel jam a whole RTX 3080 Ti inside for serious gaming performance.

03/20/2023

Manufacturers will put a screen on anything' I say staring at a distro plate with a 7-inch monitor built in.

EK, manufacturer of water-cooling components, has stuck a screen on a distro plate for Lian Li's popular O11D XL case. At a whopping 7-inches, this screen isn't going to make for much of a second monitor, but it does continue a long trend of PC manufacturers slapping screens on things.

I will admit the EK-Quantum Reflection PC-O11D XL D5 PWM D-RGB – Screen Edition (catchy name) did catch my eye. Though mostly that's because distro plates are absolutely gorgeous, screen or otherwise. A few years ago I built an EK Fluid Gaming PC with an EK distro plate much like this one (sans screen) within the standard-sized Lian Li O11D case, and I often caught myself just staring at it in awe.

A part of me is a little sad that some of this particular distro plate is covered up by the 7-inch panel, but I'm sure some modder will find a way to make motion pictures a part of their build in spectacular fashion. Someone's got to put that compact IPS panel to good use, anyways.

It's easy enough to tweak the 1024 x 600 pixel panel. The EK-Quantum Lumen screen is hooked up just like any other: with an HDMI cable. There's also an internal USB 2.0 connection required to get it up-and-running.

The distro plate itself comes with all the trimmings you might expect: D5 pump; support for a CPU block, GPU block, and three radiators; and full RGB lighting around the edge. The 7-inch screen is also made out of a single piece of aluminium, and shouldn't ruin the industrial look if you're going for that.

Both this and the screen-less EK-Quantum Reflection² distro block are expected to be available from March, but do prepare to pay a tall sum for the benefit of that little 7-inch IPS. The standard plexi distro is €352.86, while the Screen Edition is €504.12. A big sum for such a tiny panel.

03/19/2023

Intel NUC 12 Pro Kit (Core i5-1240P) mini PC review: Snappy with great connectivity

Thunderbolt 4 in a tiny bottle. The Intel NUC 12 Pro Kit is a tiny but powerful mini PC. Its powerful 12th-Gen Alder Lake Core i5-1240P offers great computing power, although graphics performance is lacking. Like it's bigger brother, perhaps its greatest strength is its excellent port selection, which includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Intel's NUC lineup continues to be a leader in the mini-PC market, and the latest Wall Street Canyon NUCs are no exception. With powerful and efficient 12th-Gen Alder Lake CPUs and Intel's Iris Xe Graphics, the Wall Street Canyon NUCs should make short work of most home and office computing work. We recently reviewed the NUC 12 with an Intel Core i7-1260P and found a lot to like about the tiny desktop. Today, we'll look at it's little brother, the NUC 12 with an Intel Core i5-1240P. Specifically, we will look at a NUC 12 Pro Kit, which includes 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

Since our NUC 12 review unit is built in a similar case as the NUC 12 in our prior review, we will focus only on the differences in performance. The key difference in build is that our review unit today is slightly higher than the Core i7-1260P Wall Street Canyon NUC (45.6 mm vs 37 mm) to accommodate a 2.5-inch SATA drive in the base of the case. Otherwise, the port selection, build quality, and all other physical factors are the same between the devices. For details on these items, please refer to our review of the Intel Core i7-1260P Wall Street Canyon NUC.

03/16/2023

ASRock cuts prices of its Intel Arc graphics cards so low you may actually want one

There are no bad products, just incorrectly priced products. So, the saying goes and if it's right, Intel's Arc graphics may have just come good thanks to a major price cut from ASRock.

As spotted by TechPowerUp, You can now have ASRock's 8GB version of the top Intel Arc A770 chipset for just $270 from Newegg, well down on the $320 it used to sell for. The full 16GB reference A770 from Intel itself remains at $349.

Next up, the ASRock Arc A750 8GB drops from $290 to $240, mirroring the recent price cut of Intel's own reference A750 from $289 to $249. Then there's the ASRock Arc A380, reduced from $150 to just $120.

If a flagship GPU for just $270 in the A770 seems like a steal, the reality is that it's a relatively modest performer. The Intel Arc A770 is probably slightly faster most of the time for plain old raster rendering than an Nvidia RTX 3060, which sells for well over $300.

If that's a comparison that looks good for Intel, the contest with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is tougher. It can be had for pretty much the same money as the newly reduced ASRock A770.

Oh, and if you are slightly miffed that it's an 8GB version of the A770 going cheap rather than a 16GB board, well, the A770 is probably best suited for 1080p gaming, for which 8GB should be plenty. Having 16GB would be preferable if 1440p is your target resolution, it's just questionable whether the A770 is a true 1440p-class gaming GPU for the latest and most demanding titles.

03/15/2023

Nvidia's CPU hogging bug finally and fully nixed with official driver release

After releasing a Hotfix driver version 531.26 last week, Nvidia has now implemented a full WHQL release to finally and fully fix the bug that caused Nvidia's Container software to continue hoovering up CPU resources on exiting a game.

As we reported previously, there were existing workarounds, including rolling back to a previous driver or simply popping a cap in the Nvidia Container task in Task Manager.

The Nvidia bug was one half of a pair of wonky driver updates from Nvidia and AMD. If Nvidia's bug was a minor inconvenience, AMD's glitch could actually leading to corrupted Windows installations. Nasty.

To be fair the AMD, their issue seemed as much a consequence of Windows Update being hell bent on doing its update thing, whatever the impact, as AMD's badly written code. AMD itself advised users how to ensure the confliction with Windows Update doesn't happen.

"We recommend users ensure all system updates are applied or paused before installing the driver, and that the 'Factory Reset' option is unchecked during the AMD driver installation process."

Another win for Windows update. Not. Anyway, you can download the new Nvidia driver here. And with that, we are officially calling a close on this fun little graphics driver saga.

03/14/2023

Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX8H Review: High-end RTX 4080 performance powerhouse

With a retail price close to €4,000, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX8H, which we now have for review, cannot really be considered a bargain. However, this price offers you a Core i9-13900HX, 32 GB of DDR5-5600-RAM (2x 16 GB), and a 1 TB PCIe Gen 4x4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU with 12 GB GDDR6 VRAM takes care of demanding graphics tasks. The matte IPS display in a 16:10 format with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels is rated to achieve 100% sRGB and 500 nits of peak brightness. Lenovo has equipped the 240 Hz panel with support for Nvidia G-Sync in addition to AMD FreeSync, which is a good thing.

03/13/2023

Fractal Design North hands-on: The PC case with "Wife Approval" factor
PC cases have undergone quite a few changes in recent years. The boring gray boxes with a purely functional designs are long gone. Nowadays, the case of the home computer has to reflect one's own taste and personality no less than a car, a smartphone, or a style of clothing.

While case trends such as tempered glass are now actually part of the basic equipment of gaming PCs, the voices for more airflow have also become louder and louder in recent years. Your high-performance hardware should not only be attractively packaged but ideally also well-cooled.

To achieve this, mesh front panels have been increasingly used, but Fractal Design goes one step further and decorates the case front of the new North series with real wood. The stylish ATX PC case is available in black or white, and in both variants, the user has the choice between a mesh side panel or the above-mentioned tinted glass. To convince ourselves of the qualities of the new case, we quickly moved our video workstation.

03/12/2023

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 2023 G834JY review - Gaming laptop with RTX 4090
Equipped with a mobile RTX 4090, Core i9-13980HX, and 240-Hz 18-inch display, Asus offers the fastest, currently available components for laptop gamers in the Scar 18.

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