Tag: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

  • Intel Arc 140V Laptops: 50% Less Power, Similar Gaming Performance

    Intel Arc 140V Laptops: 50% Less Power, Similar Gaming Performance

    Key Takeaways

    1. The Lunar Lake architecture enhances efficiency, resulting in superior battery life and reduced power usage compared to earlier models.
    2. Intel’s integrated Arc 140V GPU is its most competitive offering in recent years, showcasing improved performance.
    3. In performance comparisons, the Intel HP EliteBook X G1a delivers similar gaming capabilities to the AMD Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon while using significantly less power.
    4. The performance-per-watt advantage of Intel laptops results in longer battery life, quieter operation, and lighter/thinner designs for consumers.
    5. The difference in power consumption between the Arc 140V and Radeon 890M is influenced by their processor pairings, with Intel’s slower Core Ultra 7 V-series still performing well in gaming scenarios.

    The Lunar Lake architecture has been crafted with a focus on efficiency, and this is quite evident. Battery life is consistently superior when compared to earlier models, and power usage is also significantly reduced under specific conditions. The integrated Arc 140V stands out as Intel’s most competitive integrated GPU in recent years.

    Performance Comparison

    To illustrate this, the charts below display a comparison between the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, which is equipped with the Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 and Core Ultra 7 258V, respectively. Both devices show similar performance metrics in demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XV, and Baldur’s Gate 3, with a slight advantage for the AMD system overall. However, the Intel device impressively consumes only around ~35 W, while the AMD counterpart uses about ~77 W when playing the same game. This performance-per-watt ratio heavily favors Intel, even when accounting for variations in screen size or display types like IPS or OLED.

    Benefits for Users

    For consumers, the increased performance-per-watt means that Intel laptops can deliver almost equivalent gaming capabilities as their AMD counterparts, but with the added benefits of longer battery life, quieter operation, and designs that are lighter or thinner.

    A significant factor contributing to the substantial difference in power consumption between the Arc 140V and Radeon 890M is the processor pairing. The Arc 140V is linked to the slower Core Ultra 7 V-series, while the Radeon 890M is exclusively available with Ryzen AI HX CPUs at this time. Additionally, the Radeon 880M is only found in Ryzen AI 7 or Ryzen AI 9 systems, which are already more powerful and demanding than the Core Ultra 7 V-series. In gaming scenarios where the GPU tends to be the limiting factor rather than the CPU, the slower Intel processor has little impact on performance in most games, as demonstrated by our testing results.

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  • Lenovo Expands ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 with New Options

    Lenovo Expands ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 with New Options

    Key Takeaways

    1. New OLED Display: The X1 Carbon Gen 13 now features a brighter 500 cd/m² OLED display with variable refresh rate (VRR), improving both visual quality and battery life.

    2. Heavier Chassis Option: Lenovo introduces a heavier aluminum chassis option, moving away from the lightweight magnesium chassis that distinguished the previous model.

    3. Expanded CPU Choices: Users can now choose from multiple CPU options, including the Intel Core Ultra 5 and various Ultra 7 models, with some configurations offering 16 GB RAM to lower base prices.

    4. Enhanced Webcam and Display Options: A new optional WUXGA IPS screen with 500 cd/m² brightness and 8 MP webcam is available, alongside a new optional 5G connectivity module.

    5. Limited Initial Offerings: The initial launch had very few configuration options, but Lenovo has now expanded choices based on user feedback and plans for future releases.

    Launched in November 2024, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 received positive feedback in our review from December 2024. However, until recently, this laptop had very limited options available to users. Essentially, the only decision was between a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD. Other features like the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU with 32 GB of on-package RAM, the 400 cd/m² OLED display, and the absence of 5G connectivity were not adjustable. This seemed odd since ThinkPad models usually offer many choices, but Lenovo mentioned that this was intended as a limited launch during its announcement at IFA 2024. They indicated that more options would be introduced in “early 2025.”

    New Options Arrive

    Now that it’s early 2025, the anticipated options have finally made their debut. Lenovo has updated its PSREF database, which catalogs the most common models and specifications for their PCs, with fresh configurations of the X1 Carbon G13. Among these are some expected choices, along with a few unexpected features.

    Exciting Changes

    One of the surprises is that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon will now come equipped with a new OLED display that boasts a higher brightness of 500 cd/m² compared to the previous model, and it also supports variable refresh rate (VRR). The OLED panel that was previously used, which we also reviewed, could only reach 400 cd/m² and lacked VRR, forcing users to select between 120 Hz and 60 Hz refresh rates. The higher refresh rate could have drained the battery quicker, but VRR should help improve battery life.

    Weighty Addition

    In less favorable news, Lenovo is introducing a new chassis option that is heavier. A significant advantage of the X1 Carbon Gen 13 over the Gen 12 was its lightweight magnesium chassis, but it seems the older, bulkier aluminum chassis will still be available as an option.

    Expected Additions

    The other updates are mostly in line with expectations: Lenovo will now offer the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 with several CPU options, including the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, the Ultra 7 256V, the Ultra 7 266V, and the Ultra 7 268V, in addition to the already available 258V. The CPUs ending in 6 will come with 16 GB of RAM, which should significantly lower the base price of the ThinkPad X1.

    Webcam and Connectivity Improvements

    Additionally, there’s a new optional WUXGA IPS screen featuring 500 cd/m² brightness, 100 percent sRGB color range, and on-Cell touch capabilities. Interestingly, Lenovo appears to be skipping the commonly used Low Power screen option, at least for now.

    Finally, there’s a new 8 MP webcam that seems to be exclusively available with the WUXGA IPS screen for now, along with the Quectel RM520N-GL sub6 5G module. This WWAN card will be included with the device, or the X1 Carbon can be optionally upgraded to 5G. Previously, the X1 lacked any 5G/LTE options.

    The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is already available for configuration with these new options on the Japanese Lenovo website, and a global release should be happening soon.

    Source:
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  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13: Intel’s Breakthrough Battery Life

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13: Intel’s Breakthrough Battery Life

    Customers who purchased Intel laptops over the last few years had to deal with poor battery life. The problem stemmed from Intel struggling to make its CPUs efficient without compromising on performance.

    The Alder Lake Generation’s Flaws

    The Alder Lake series was perhaps the worst in this regard. The 12th gen Core i CPUs brought a new hybrid design that Intel took from ARM, featuring large P cores and smaller E cores. The “E” stands for “Efficiency,” raising hopes that these laptops would enjoy improved battery life. Unfortunately, “Efficiency” turned out to mean “maximizing multicore performance.” As a result, Alder Lake actually provided less battery life than the previous 11th gen Tiger Lake CPUs.

    Progress with Raptor Lake and Meteor Lake

    Intel addressed these issues with the subsequent Raptor Lake and Meteor Lake CPUs, but the battery performance still lagged behind competitors. Then came Intel’s Lunar Lake. This first CPU mostly produced by TSMC finally enhances processor efficiency, leading to better battery life.

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon: A Case Study

    A great example illustrating Intel’s progress—or lack thereof over recent years—is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. We recently tested the latest Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 featuring Lunar Lake. Since 2021, Lenovo has kept the battery capacity unchanged at 57 Wh. We also evaluated each generation with the available 2.8K OLED display, making it perfect for comparing battery life and Intel’s efficiency.

    The statistics are revealing: while the Alder Lake variant of the X1 Carbon barely lasted five hours in our Wi-Fi test (at 150 cd/m² brightness), the newest Gen 13 model achieves nearly eleven hours—more than double. Our findings also indicate that Alder Lake (12th Gen Core i) and Raptor Lake (13th Gen Core i) represented a regression compared to Tiger Lake (11th Gen Core i). Only the Meteor Lake version (Core Ultra Series 1) of the X1 Carbon Gen 12 (available on Amazon) finally matched the efficiency levels of Tiger Lake. With Lunar Lake (Core Ultra Series 2), the performance sees a significant boost, which is why we consider the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 the best X1 Carbon to date.

    Source: Link

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  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition Launches in China

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition Launches in China

    The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition has made its debut in China. This laptop is among the first in the world to come with a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, which promises faster data transfer speeds. To put it in perspective, a PCIe Gen 5 SSD can provide about twice the performance of a PCIe 4.0 SSD due to the new interface’s higher data transfer rate of 3,938 MB/s per lane compared to the 1,969 MB/s of its predecessor.

    The Need for Cooling Solutions

    Despite the benefits of the faster data transfer, there are challenges that come with it. Specifically, PCIe 5.0 SSDs need effective cooling to maintain their enhanced performance, and Lenovo seems to have tackled this with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura. The laptop is equipped with a Gen 5 SSD that includes a dedicated heatsink, reducing the likelihood of thermal throttling. For instance, the 1 TB PNY CS3150 XLR8 Gen 5 SSD is currently priced at $152.99 on Amazon.

    Impressive Storage Capabilities

    The SSD that comes in the 2025 ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura is said to be the SK hynix PCB01, launched back in March. Featuring the Alistar ACNT093 controller, the 2 TB version of this SSD boasts a sequential read speed of up to 14,000 MB/s and a write speed that reaches up to 12,000 MB/s.

    In addition, Lenovo is also providing the 2025 ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura with a 1 TB storage option, which appears to utilize the same Gen 5 SSD. Beyond the high-speed storage, the laptop is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, a capable mid-range processor from the Lunar Lake series.

    Additional Features and Pricing

    Among other noteworthy features of the laptop are its OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a 57 Wh battery, 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, a magnesium alloy chassis, and a variety of ports. The starting price is set at CNY 15,999, which is approximately $2,200. Lenovo has already rolled it out to the global market, and it made its first appearance at IFA 2024.

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