Razer this week introduced an upgraded version of its latest Blade laptop that is now powered by Intel’s quad-core Kaby Lake processor along with…
Razer this week introduced an upgraded version of its latest Blade laptop that is now powered by Intel’s quad-core Kaby Lake processor along with DDR4-2400 memory and has 4K display and 1 TB SSD options. The 14” gaming notebook uses the same 17.8 mm-thick chassis introduced last year and has the same I/O capabilities, but some minor differences in weight. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the entry-level Razer Blade now costs $100 less than it used to last year, but at the expense of a lower-resolution display.
The new Razer Blade is based on the Intel Core i7-7700HQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8 GHz, 6 MB, 45 W) processor as well as the HM175 PCH (so, the same motherboard as before). The new chip is powered by the Kaby Lake microarchitecture, has higher frequencies compared to its predecessor that was used in last year’s Blades (Core i7-6700HQ) and supports Speed Shift v2 technology as well as other improvements. Along with the Kaby Lake CPU, the new Blade also got 16 GB of faster DDR4-2400 memory (soldered to the mainboard). In addition to 256 GB and 512 GB M.2 (NVMe/PCIe) SSDs, Razer now also offers a 1 TB PCIe drive as an option. When it comes to graphics, the new Blade uses NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB of GDDR5 memory and an HDMI 2.0b output, just like the predecessor introduced last fall.
Apart from the CPU and DRAM upgrades, Razer changed display options for the latest breed of Blade laptops. Last year the company only offered its Blades with touch-enabled IGZO LCDs featuring 3200×1800 resolution, and a matte 1920×1080 on the entry level. This year the higher-end Blade machines will feature touch-enabled UHD displays (3840×2160). Usage of the lower-resolution panel allowed Razer to reduce the price of the entry-level Blade to $1899 (or by $100), but at present we do not know how much the 4K SKUs is going to cost. In any case, systems featuring FHD panels will be slightly lighter and will have a longer battery life than models with UHD monitors. We haven’t heard back from Razer on if the new UHD display continues to be a Sharp IGZO panel or not. Apart from displays, different Blade systems will look and feel exactly the same: both use a solid CNC-milled aluminum chassis with a matte black finish.
As for the rest I/O capabilities, they remained very similar to those of the last year’s Razer Blade models (because the chassis and the motherboard are the same as those used on the late 2016 Blade): Rivet Networks‘ Killer 1535 802.11 2×2 Wi-Fi + BT 4.1 controller, one Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Type-C port, three USB 3.0 headers, an HDMI 2.0b output, a 2 MP webcam, built-in speakers and a microphone, a TRRS audio connector, a keyboard with RGB backlighting and so on. In a bid to appeal to those who care about security, there is a TPM 2.0 security chip installed.
The new Razer Blade notebooks with FHD screens are available now in North America and Europe starting from US$1,899/C$2,749/€2.149/£1.799. The laptops with 4K UHD panels will be available in Q2 and Razer does not have pricing available at the moment, but expect it to be similarly priced to the outgoing QHD+ model.
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© Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/11127/razer-blade-gets-core-i77700hq-adds-4k-touchscreen-1-tb-ssd-options
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There are more new fighters in this game than any Tekken game before.
Meet Kazumi, Katarina, Gigas, Shaheen, Josie, Lucky Chloe, Claudio and Akuma, your new tools of Iron Fist destruction.
Namco Bandai aren’t messing around when it comes to Tekken 7. The seventh installment in the series will bring seven completely new fighters — more additions than any Tekken game before it.
One of the most intriguing is Kazumi, the thought-to-be-dead wife of Heihachi and mother of Kazuya Mishima. She’s joined by J-Pop Idol worshiping Lucky Chloe, Filipino kickboxer Josie, mutant Gigas, „supernatural exorcist“ Claudio and Shaheen, a bodyguard in a private Saudi Arabian military.
Oh yeah, and Street Fighter’s Akuma, one of the most badass fighting game characters ever, is here too — and he’s totally got beef with the Mishimas. Plus, there’s also Master Raven, though she’s essentially a palette swap for Raven.
Namco says Tekken 7 will mark the end of the Mishima Saga, the story that’s underpinned the franchise for the past 20 years. Enjoy these characters while they last!

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/tekken-7-has-a-crew-of-new-fighters/
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Oppo’s latest handset doesn’t deviate much in design and keeps to a very iPhone-ish look found on earlier phones.
Want to see the future of car technology?
Brian Cooley found it for you at CES 2017 in Las Vegas and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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With an aggressive mix of price and performance, AMD’s Ryzen will charge into the high-end PC processor space next week. Analysts say Intel may be forced onto the defensive.
Ryzen is here. AMD said Wednesday that it plans a “hard launch” of its first three Ryzen processors on March 2, outperforming Intel’s high-end chips while undercutting its prices by as much as 54 percent.
AMD executives confidently unveiled the first three desktop chips to attack Intel’s Core i7, supported by several top-tier motherboard vendors and boutique system builders. In many cases, executives said, AMD will offer more for less, as early Ryzen benchmarks prove. The top-tier Ryzen 7 1800X will cost less than half of what Intel’s thousand-dollar Core i7-6900K chip does—and outperform it, too. You can preorder Ryzen chips and systems from 180 retailers and system integrators today.
Like Intel, AMD’s Ryzen offerings consist of three new chip families: the premium Ryzen 7, the midrange Ryzen 5, and the cheapest Ryzen 3. AMD is rolling out its fastest, premium Ryzen 7 chips first, including the Ryzen 7 1800X ($499), the Ryzen 7 1700X ($399) and Ryzen 7 1700 ($329). AMD’s Ryzen 5 and the Ryzen 3 will ship later this year—at the moment, AMD’s not saying exactly when.
AMD will begin taking preorders for the Ryzen today for shipment next week.
Unlike Intel’s massive January launch of more than 40 Kaby Lake chips, AMD’s playing it slow. Here are more details on the three new Ryzen 7 chips:
AMD’s Ryzen 7 1800X is the “fastest 8-core processor in the market today,” AMD’s Lisa Su said.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700X , a 95-watt, 8-core, 16-thread chip, runs at 3.4GHz and boosts to 3.8GHz. Using the multicore Cinebench benchmark, the $399 1700X scored 1,537, 4 percent faster than the $1,089 Core i7 6900K chip.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700X is aimed at gamers and content creators, according to AMD.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700 , consumes up to 65 watts and runs at 3GHz, boosting to 3.7GHz. It, too, includes 8 cores and 16 threads. According to AMD’s own tests, it recorded a score of 1,410 on the multicore Cinebench test, a whopping 46 percent better than the $339 Core i7 7700K. Using the Handbrake video-encoding test, the R7 1700 finished in 61.8 seconds, AMD said, versus 71.8 seconds for the 7700K.
Though the cheapest Ryzen 7 AMD announced, the 1700 still packs a punch.
According to AMD, the Ryzen 1700 will be packaged with a new Wraith Spire cooler, which will run at 32 decibels. (The other two Ryzen chips will not.) AMD also confirmed the Wraith Stealth cooler, too.
“We not only beat our goal, we beat it by a lot,” Su said.
All three chips will be supported by motherboards from ASRock, Asus, Biostar, Gigabyte, and MSI—82 different boards in all, AMD said. They’ll be based on the AM4 platform, and AMD’s X370 and B350 chipsets. At launch, 19 “elite builders,” per AMD, are expected to debut Ryzen systems, with a total of 200 expected during the first quarter. PC towers designed for gaming from top hardware makers are also coming during the same period, AMD said. Next up: Radeon Vega , AMD’s next-gen PC graphics solution, scheduled to launch in the second quarter.
Su reiterated that she believes AMD will have adequate supplies of Ryzen on hand to meet customer demand, a claim that Moor Insights analyst Pat Moorhead says he’s confirmed.
“So far, talking to the partners here, it sounds pretty good,” Moorhead said. “They’re telling me that they’re getting the volumes that they want to get when they expect to get them. And that’s good.”
AMD believes that Intel’s rested on its laurels, delivering a series of minor improvements year in and year out. To its credit, however, Intel has maintained operating profits even as it negotiates a gradual shift away from a shrinking PC market by prioritizing profitable high-end PC processors. With Ryzen, AMD sees an opportunity to steal some of that high-margin share.
Intel, however, has several opportunities to respond, including simply lowering its prices. Intel’s latest official processor price list remains unchanged since early January. Still, as Moor Insight’s Moorhead pointed out, AMD has a lot more to lose than Intel has to gain by a price move.
What does Intel have up its sleeve?
“The way that I think [Intel will] react is to say, ‘let’s see if this is for real,’ and determine what Ryzen’s performance actually is,” Moorhead said. “But they might have two or three things in the hopper,” he added, including pushing single-threaded chips like the Core i3, and adding additional cores to its existing lineup. The third option is Optane , Intel’s super-speedy storage technology, which Intel could use to pooh-pooh CPU performance and push system-level improvements.
Adding cores seems most likely, however. With the exception of the 6900K—as well as its eight- and ten-core Extreme Edition chips—Intel’s Core i7 chips top out at six cores, compared to eight for AMD’s Ryzen. “AMD has a core advantage, and eventually I am expecting AMD to layer in cores,” Moorhead said.
A statement from Intel, meanwhile, provided a fourth alternative: sowing dissent via a tried-and-true PR strategy known as “fear, uncertainty and doubt.”
“We take any competition seriously but as we’ve learned, consumers usually take a ‘wait and see’ approach on performance claims for untested products,” Intel said in a statement. “Seventh-gen Intel Core delivers the best experiences, and with 8th-gen Intel Core and new technologies like Intel Optane memory coming soon, Intel will not stop raising the bar.” ­
Until Ryzen chips become available for benchmarking, we won’t know for sure how well the Ryzen will compete. For now, though, anticipation is running high.
A closeup shot of AMD CEO Lisa Su holding the Ryzen processor.
Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight 64, said Ryzen is “clearly the most competitive chip they’ve fielded in a decade,” a statement that Moor Insight’s Moorhead, an AMD veteran, echoed. Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds noted that AMD has extended the single-core performance that Intel itself offers over eight cores, with high-memory bandwidth to boot.
AMD’s Su had a simpler take: “The best starts now,” she said.

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