Month: October 2020

Latest Xiaomi Mi 11 renders take more design cues from the Mi 3 than the Mi 10

More renders of the Xiaomi Mi 11 (or Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro even) have appeared on Weibo, and they look vastly different from those that appeared in Chinese media back in July. While there’s still a full-screen display to gaze upon thanks to the widely expected under-display camera unit, the shape of the Mi 11 and its rear-facing camera setup are much different in the latest renders.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 pictured here appears to have a “waterfall” type display that falls gracefully over the sides of the smartphone, which seems to have a surprisingly square-shaped form to it that is somewhat reminiscent of 2013’s Xiaomi Mi 3 device. Curved edges and sides have been de rigueur for the majority of smartphones over recent years, so it would be a daring change for Xiaomi to go “square”.

The rear-facing camera housing looks quite egregious in these Xiaomi Mi 11 renders, which are more likely to be fan-made efforts than leaked images from an official source. With a flagship device like the Mi 10T Pro managing to pack its quad camera system into a neat arrangement, it’s hard to imagine Xiaomi would take a backward step by placing such an unsightly block on the rear. The tech tipster on Weibo also mentions the SD 875 and 150x zoom for the Mi 11, which could see the light of day in the first quarter of 2021.

Intel quietly upgrades the Core i3-9100F processor to 10th-gen for the same price

u/Akira13645 on Reddit has observed that Intel has updated the Core i3-x100F series for the final quarter of 2020 (4Q2020). This recently-established line exists to offer budget processing without UHD graphics. The new i3-10100F still fits this mold, although it also has marked Comet Lake-afforded advantages over its predecessor.

For example, it is the first F-variant to exhibit Intel Hyper-Threading Technology – which means double the threads for its 4 cores for the first time. They can use Turbo Boost Max v2.0 for a maximal clock of 4.3GHz, whereas the i3-9100F could only go up to 4.2GHz. 

The i3-10100F also now supports up to 128GB of DDR4-2666 RAM, whereas its predecessor was rated for half that much DDR4-2400 memory. There is also a maximum bandwidth of 41.6 GB/s compared to 37.5 GB/s. The Comet Lake-based i3 F variant also uses the LGA 1200 socket rather than the LGA 1151.

Then again, the two chipsets share a TDP of 65W, a 6MB cache, have 2-channel memory and are, of course, still both 14nm. The Core i3-10100F is also still pitched at low-powered PCs, probably thin clients and tablets, and has an MRSP of US$79 to $97.

Intel Core i9-10885H is almost 20 percent slower than the Core i7-10875H

Intel vPro-enabled processors are typically slower than their non-vPro counterparts due to the overhead necessary for the integrated security features. The vPro-enabled Core i7-10810U, for example, is about 10 to 15 percent slower than the consumer-oriented Core i7-10710U even though the higher-digit naming convention might suggest otherwise.

The latest vPro CPU we tested was the 10th gen Comet lake-H Core i9-10885H as found on the Dell Precision 3551. When compared to its consumer-oriented counterpart the Core i7-10875H, the Core i9 CPU is slower in multi-threaded applications by about 20 percent according to CineBench benchmarks. Other benchmarks like Blender, 7-Zip, LibreOffice, and HWBOT show a smaller gap of about 10 percent between the two processors.

The 20 percent performance deficit against the Core i7-10875H is wider than anticipated, but we do believe the i9-10885H is able to narrow the gap if configured on laptops with better cooling. The CPU in our Precision 3551 test unit, for example, would stabilize at just 2.7 GHz when at 100 percent utilization which is only 300 MHz above the base clock rate. Intel rates the processor for much higher Turbo Boost clock rates of up to 5.3 GHz meaning there is plenty of untouched performance headroom if laptops are able to support it. The Precision 3551, being a budget mobile workstation, likely wasn’t designed to run a Core i9 CPU anywhere near its maximum potential.

It’s unlikely that we’ll get to test many more Core i9-10885H laptops as this particular processor is quite uncommon, but it’s something to keep in mind for those who want to squeeze as much performance as possible out of their vPro-enabled business laptops or mobile workstations.

Aorus 5 KB: A lot of space for storage devices

In the gaming sector, many manufacturers try to stand out from the competition through their own designs and sophisticated cooling systems. The results are usually highly adapted laptops that can more or less implement their performance well. Maintenance options or hardware expansions by the user are limited and often not even intended at all.

The laptops under the Aorus label usually also set clear accents that connect buyers to the brand. On the contrary, the Clevo barebone, on which the Aorus 5 KB is based, offers a rather plain design. But this is also accompanied by a replaceable battery. Users can also access a free SATA and a free M.2 slot inside whereby a second M.2 slot is occupied by the SSD installed by the manufacturer. The RAM, which is installed in two memory slots, can also be exchanged and expanded as desired.

But since Gigabyte now depends on the cooling system of the Clevo case, a lot of optimization is done by the software. It allows users to adjust system performance with four power modes as well as to adjust the fan control. In this way, a balanced adjustment of fan volume and performance is possible, which has a significant impact on everyday life.

An Intel Core i7-10750H, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 are used in our test configuration. In our review of the Aorus 5 KB, we’ll clarify in detail what the built-in hardware is able to achieve in daily use and in gaming.