Tag: Lunar Lake

  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Boosts Performance with Arrow Lake H

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Boosts Performance with Arrow Lake H

    Key Takeaways

    1. Lunar Lake chip offers significant efficiency improvements for business laptops, enhancing battery life and quiet operation.
    2. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, equipped with Lunar Lake, is considered the best version of the X1 in years.
    3. Lunar Lake has a RAM limit of 32 GB, whereas older ThinkPad models supported up to 64 GB; new CPU options could change this.
    4. Arrow Lake H CPUs, with 14 cores, promise better multicore performance compared to Lunar Lake’s 8 cores.
    5. Lenovo is also launching Arrow Lake H and Arrow Lake U for the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition, increasing versatility in their laptop lineup.

    Lunar Lake has proven to be a significant advancement for Intel, particularly in the realm of business laptops. This chip, designed for optimal efficiency, is ideal for laptops that need to deliver excellent battery life and quiet operation in an office setting. The impact has been notably positive for devices like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon series (X1 Carbon G12 available on Amazon), which had struggled with the less efficient previous Intel CPUs. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, featuring Lunar Lake, is regarded as the best iteration of the X1 in several years.

    Limitations of Lunar Lake

    Nevertheless, there are some drawbacks with Lunar Lake. One such limitation is the RAM cap of 32 GB; older versions of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon could support up to 64 GB, but the new X1 Carbon G13 is restricted to 32 GB. This situation is changing, however, as Lenovo has revealed new CPU options for its flagship ThinkPad. The X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is set to begin shipping with Intel Arrow Lake H and Arrow Lake U CPUs in the near future, which might raise the RAM capacity to 64 GB.

    Performance Enhancements

    This development could not only allow Lenovo to provide more RAM but might also enhance the CPU performance of the ThinkPad X1. While Lunar Lake excels in GPU and single-core performance, its effectiveness in multicore tasks is somewhat limited. In contrast, Arrow Lake H features 14 cores compared to the eight found in Lunar Lake, suggesting that the X1 Carbon G13 equipped with Arrow Lake H could handle tasks like rendering and compiling more efficiently.

    Besides the X1 Carbon Gen 13, Lenovo has also introduced Arrow Lake H and Arrow Lake U for the convertible Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition. Both models are expected to start shipping this month, adding more versatility to Lenovo’s offerings.

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  • MSI Claw 8 AI+ Handheld: 20% Faster Than ROG Ally X

    MSI Claw 8 AI+ Handheld: 20% Faster Than ROG Ally X

    In the tough world of gaming handhelds, MSI discovered that some risks don’t pay off. Their last handheld, the Claw, received harsh criticism and struggled to compete against devices like the ROG Ally. However, with the new Lunar Lake-powered Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+, things seem to be looking up for the company.

    Promising Performance

    As per the official slides from ETA Prime, the outlook for MSI is bright. The Claw 8 reportedly outperforms the ROG Ally X, which runs on the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, by about 20% at 17 watts with lower graphics settings and XeSS/FSR activated. This result is no surprise since the Arc 140V integrated GPU is indeed much quicker than the old Radeon 780M in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Nevertheless, with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme expected to debut at CES 2025, MSI’s edge might be temporary, especially since the Claw 7 AI+ and Claw 8 AI+ won’t hit the market until the end of this month.

    Upgraded Features

    The Claw 8 AI+ comes with several impressive upgrades compared to the ROG Ally X, such as a bigger 8-inch 1080p display, faster Wi-Fi 7, and up to 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory, plus dual Thunderbolt 4 ports. The price for the Core Ultra 7 258V model stands at $899, which is $100 higher than the Ally X. Now, everyone’s waiting to see if Asus will step up with a refreshed version of the ROG Ally X, and with CES 2025 just around the corner, the answer will be revealed soon.

    Source: Link

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  • Intel Graphics Drivers Increase Gaming Performance by 24%

    Intel Graphics Drivers Increase Gaming Performance by 24%

    Intel has launched a fresh set of graphics drivers that bring major performance improvements and optimizations for many games, along with support for new titles. The drivers, 32.0.101.6127 WHQL and 32.0.101.6044 Non-WHQL, cater to integrated GPUs (iGPUs) in the Core Ultra 200V series processors (Lunar Lake), as well as discrete Arc Alchemist GPUs. Users can expect significant enhancements, with Lunar Lake iGPUs achieving up to a 24% performance boost, while Arc Alchemist GPUs can enjoy as much as a 20% increase in game performance.

    Fixes and Enhancements

    Alongside performance upgrades, Intel has resolved various known issues with this driver update, which enhances overall stability and functionality:

    Nevertheless, Intel has stated that some problems are still under investigation. These lingering issues include flickering in Doom Eternal (Vulkan), crashes in Blender during specific rendering benchmarks, corruption issues in Adobe Premiere Pro when using 8K AV1 Encode, and stability concerns in Star Wars Outlaws.

    Download Availability

    The 32.0.101.6127 WHQL and 32.0.101.6044 Non-WHQL drivers can be downloaded and are compatible with Intel CPUs from the 11th Generation up to the latest Lunar Lake processors. Nonetheless, Intel recommends that users should opt for OEM-customized drivers instead of the generic Intel versions. The OEM drivers are tailored for specific devices and have gone through rigorous testing to ensure they are compatible and stable.

    Another noteworthy point about this release is the increased driver package size, now reaching 1.4GB. This is due to the combination of drivers for both Arc GPUs and Lunar Lake iGPUs. Although this merger is expected to be temporary, it currently means that users of either GPU will need to download the entire package.

    Intel via Tom’s Hardware

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