AMD unveils Radeon HD 8900M laptop graphics, ships them in MSI's GX70

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="AMD unveils Radeon HD 8900M laptop graphics, ships them in MSI's GX70 eyeson" data-src-height="340" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/msi-gx70-eyes-on-1368579217.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Did you think AMD showed all its mobile GPU cards when it launched the Radeon HD 8000M series in January? Think twice. The company has just unveiled the 8900M series, an adaptation of its Graphics Core Next architecture for desktop replacement-class gaming laptops. To call it a big jump would be an understatement: compared to the 8800M, the flagship 8970M chip doubles the stream processors to 1,280, hikes the clock speed from 725MHz to 850MHz and bumps the memory speed slightly to 1.2GHz. The net effect is about 12 to 54 percent faster game performance than NVIDIA's current mobile speed champion, the GTX 680M, and up to four times the general computing prowess in OpenCL. The 8970M is more than up to the task of powering up to 4K in one screen, and it can handle up to six screens if there are enough ports.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">We'll see how long AMD's performance reign lasts, although we won't have to wait to try the 8970M -- MSI is launching the GPU inside the new GX70 laptop you see above. We got a brief, hands-off tease of the 17.3-inch GX60 successor at the 8900M's unveiling, and it's clear the graphics are the centerpiece. We saw it driving <em>Crysis</em><em> 3</em> very smoothly on one external display while powering 2D on two other screens, albeit through a bulky set of Mini DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA cables. Otherwise, the GX70 is superficially similar to its ancestor with that chunky profile, an unnamed Richland-based AMD A10 processor, Killer networking and a SteelSeries keyboard. More than anything, price should be the clincher: MSI is pricing the GX70 with the new Radeon at $1,100, which amounts to quite the bargain for anyone whose laptop has to double as a primary gaming PC. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Gallery Image" height="360" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/8900m-1.jpg" width="640" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="Gallery Image" height="424" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/dsc06876.jpg" width="640" /> <img alt="Gallery Image" height="424" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/dsc06880.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="360" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/05/8900m-4.jpg" width="640" /></div></div>

AMD unveils Radeon HD 8900M laptop graphics, ships them in MSI's GX70

Did you think AMD showed all its mobile GPU cards when it launched the Radeon HD 8000M series in January? Think twice. The company has just...

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MSI Slidebook S20 review: MSI's flagship Windows 8 Ultrabook has a flawed design

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="MSI Slidebook S20 review: MSI's flagship Windows 8 Ultrabook has a flawed design" data-src-height="410" data-src-width="617" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc05596-1364496297.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> If you've been following our reviews of Windows 8 laptops, you know we haven't been too kind to the slider form factor. It's not like we set out to pan these machines, but time and again we've found that the propped-up display ruins the typing experience. Keep that in mind as we begin our review of the Slidebook S20, MSI's flagship Win 8 device, priced at $1,200 in the US. It's a bold move from a company whose bread and butter is not ultraportables, but gaming systems. In fact, the 11.6-inch S20 is the outfit's <em>only</em> high-end Windows 8 Ultrabook. So the company must have quite a bit of confidence in that form factor, then, if it didn't bother with dockable tablets or some other kind of convertible design. Could that mean the S20 has something all the others don't?</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="DNP MSI Slider S20 review MSI's flagship Windows 8 Ultrabook has a flawed design" data-src-height="410" data-src-width="617" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc05598-1364496359.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Though we're not normally into sliders, the S20's display, ironically enough, might be our favorite thing about it. For starters, it comes stacked with excellent credentials: IPS technology for wide viewing angles, with 1,920 x 1,080 pixels crammed into an 11.6-inch panel (talk about dense). Just as important, though, MSI did a very smart thing in making the screen angle adjustable -- something you won't find on other sliders, or most dockable tablets, for that matter.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The S20 has two speakers, each located on the bottom side, though not in any sort of symmetrical arrangement. Despite the asymmetry there, the soundstage feels balanced -- until we went hunting for the speakers, we weren't sure exactly where the audio was coming from. And that's a good thing: no one wants to watch a movie with the sensation that all the explosions and sound effects are coming from somewhere on the left. I also found that although the speakers sit on the underside of the device, the sound didn't really get muffled when listening to music with the laptop in my lap. As you can imagine, the quality itself is a bit tinny, but it's no worse than most other laptops we've tested. Keep the volume somewhere short of the top level, and you should get by without much distortion.</div></div>

MSI Slidebook S20 review: MSI's flagship Windows 8 Ultrabook has a flawed design

If you've been following our reviews of Windows 8 laptops, you know we haven't been too kind to the slider form factor. It's ...

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