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Gigabyte GS32QC review: an exceptional value for a 1440p gaming monitor

12:00 pm | April 3, 2024

Gigabyte has earned a stellar reputation for providing quality gaming monitors at an extremely approachable price like the M32UC and the Gigabyte GS32QC continues that tradition.

At $239/£251.99/AU$334.40, potential buyers will get a solid 31.5-inch display that also provides a curved 1440p screen resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. Expect a 1ms response time alongside the ability to overclock the display to 170 Hz for more in-game performance.

Beyond that, its price point also provides display features ranging from covering 109% of the sRGB color space to AMD Freesync Premium. There are even HDR capabilities, though there will be some serious settings maneuvering to get color accuracy just right, as the monitor's default settings are really flat.

Through its price point, there are some obvious sacrifices. This includes a design that prevents posability of the monitor; especially for those who need a specific viewing angle. Then there are other missing things like a lack of internal speakers and USB connectivity. Again, at this price point, those issues are excusable. That doesn’t mean that the gaming monitor is a no-frills package. It’s quite far from it.

The GS32QC does have some significant extras that’ll impress game enthusiasts outside of performance. Extras like crosshair overlay and aim stabilizer are satisfying, but on the other hand, Black Equalizer does more harm to image quality than good.

HDR image quality is flat-out horrible by default but can look somewhat decent if some color correction settings are changed. Alongside PC gamers, multi-console gamers have a few HDMI ports for good measure outside the singular DisplayPort. Thankfully, SDR image quality is good for this price.

Gamers on a sub $300 budget in need of a 32-inch 1440p display with a high refresh rate and extra gaming-centric features should look no further. The Gigabyte GS32QC does enough magic to compete with some of the best gaming monitors that sell for twice its price. Just be mindful of the caveats as one manages expectations.

Gigabyte GS32QC: Price & availability

A Gigabyte GS32QC on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The Gigabyte GS32QC is priced at $239 (£279.99, AU$469) and is available now. Potential buyers in the U.S., UK, and AU can purchase the gaming monitor through Gigabyte’s purchasing portal, which will take you to various retailers in your region that sell the monitor where you are.

For a 31.5-inch gaming monitor with a 170 Hz max refresh rate, there aren’t a lot of rivals in its class, but if the $239 is too much, users can get the 32-inch AOC C32G2 1080p monitor that has a similar refresh rate and can be purchased for $209. Though it doesn’t have any HDR capabilities, it has better posability. Another good alternative is the 27-inch Monoprice Dark Matter 27, which you can get for just over $200.

Value 4.5 / 5

Gigabyte GS32QC: Specs

Gigabyte GS32QC: Design

Setting up for the Gigabyte GS32QC is pretty easy. Considering it’s also around 13 lbs, maneuverability makes the process even simpler. All users have to do is connect the stand to the neck via pre-installed screws and both to the monitor rear. The simplicity of putting the GS32QC together relates to the generally boring all-black plastic design. Don’t expect any aggressive angles or RGB lighting. This gaming monitor is meant solely for functionality. That also lends to the inputs located on the back panel.

On the right near the neck is the power port that thankfully doesn’t require a battery pack. On the far opposite side to the right are two HDMI ports, a sole DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. This is perfect for PC gamers who own multiple consoles as well. Considering the price, it makes sense for extras such as external speakers and USB hubs to be absent. Just understand that this is a true plug-and-play machine. One of the most significant design flaws is the fact that the GS32QC can only tilt up and down. This means there isn't any height or tilting to the side.

A small nub at the bottom of the lower bezel serves as the power button in addition to in-display controls. Holding the nub for several seconds will turn the monitor off and on. Making color changes, changing inputs, and adding crosshair overlays among others are done by clicking in the nub and going from there.

Design 3.5 / 5

Gigabyte GS32QC: Features

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Though it would have been nice to have G-Sync compatibility, the Gigabyte GS32QC does offer FreeSync Premium which is compatible with the best graphics cards from Nvidia anyway. Considering the gaming monitor is geared toward enthusiasts and more esports gamers, it's a respectable variable refresh rate solution to be offered at this price.

It doesn’t hurt that the display is HDR-compatible, too, though making changes or using features through the OSD menu controlling nub can be a bit cumbersome; especially when in the middle of a game. Having OSD software in Windows that can streamline whatever personal touches or changes need to be made is a better way to go.

The GS32QC does have three main game assist functions that will help gamers gain an advantage. The most obvious are the handful of crosshair overlays which work fine when playing games of Call of Duty, Fortnite, and other first-or-third-person shooters.

Then there’s the aim assist that reduces motion blur in speedier games like F1 2023. Be mindful that it won’t work if the refresh rate is below 100Hz and if FreeSync is activated. One way to avoid using aim assists altogether is by turning in-game motion blur off.

Finally, there is an on-screen timer which works wonders for speed runners.

Features 3.5 / 5

Gigabyte GS32QC: Performance

Taking a gaming-first approach, the Gigabyte GS32QC leans more on technical performance than overall image quality. PC gaming rigs that are powerful enough to reach high frame rates in games like Doom Eternal, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Fortnite, and the like will run fine on the gaming monitor.

Don’t expect any lag or legacy issues even when FreeSync is turned on. Games run fine and having assists like crosshair overlays helps with hitting targets in shooters. Anyone with a budget rig between 1080p and 1440p native resolutions should find the GS32QC a nice buttery smooth start.

General SDR image quality is more than solid for this type of budget gaming monitor. Contrast is fantastic at 3500:1 and the monitor makes the most of its 300 cd/m2 brightness.

Colors are bold and crisp while blacks are deep. Visuals pop appropriately when playing more visually arresting games like Alan Wake II. One thing users might want to avoid though is using the Black Equalizer, which causes more harm than good when it comes to image quality. However, it won’t matter much for those who are more concerned with winning than image quality anyway.

The biggest thing that holds back the Gigabyte GS32QC is the HDR. Toggling HDR in Windows monitor settings lends a flat and drab image. The only way to slightly fix that is through GPU color settings.

Using creative software like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, color correction was pretty much impossible. This means that creatively-minded gamers are probably going to either stick to SDR settings or look elsewhere completely.

Having a curved VA monitor does create issues with direct lighting sources like lamps and sunlight nearby since this causes glaring issues that aren’t necessarily an issue when playing in a dark to dimly lit area.

Performance 4 / 5

Should you buy the Gigabyte GS32QC?

Buy the Gigabyte GS32QC if..

Don’t buy it if…

Also Consider

How I tested the Gigabyte GS32QC:

My two weeks with the Gigabyte GS32QC were split between business and pleasure. During the day, the monitor was used during general tasks including Google Docs, Asana, and Adobe Suite.

Adobe Suite software including Photoshop and Premiere Pro were used to look into color correction and to test image quality. To test video capabilities, various YouTube videos were played to get a play of image quality as well. As a way to test streaming and input capabilities, various picture-in-picture modes as well.

I played competitive games to test out the performance of the monitor, including Fortnite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. To test image quality, I played Hogwarts Legacy and Alan Wake II, among other titles. Tests for general tasks and gaming were done in both SDR and HDR modes.

I’ve spent the past several years covering monitors alongside other PC components for Techradar. Outside of gaming, I’ve been proficient in Adobe Suite for over a decade as well, so I know a good monitor when I see one.

First reviewed April 2024

Gigabyte GS34WQC review: a good curved gaming monitor for a great price—with caveats

7:00 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Monitors Peripherals & Accessories | Comments: Off

Gigabyte has consistently been making gaming monitors primarily focused on the budget PC Gaming experience and the GS34WQC successfully leans into the ultrawide tier. The 34-inch 1440p display comes with a 120Hz refresh rate in addition to the ability to overclock to 135Hz. Performance aside, SDR image quality is quite stunning and looks great.

Then there’s an incredibly reasonable feature set that comes with various gaming assists such as crosshair overlay. Though there’s a nub to make various in-display settings changes, the GS34WQC can also be personalized through the OSD Sidekick app. For variable refresh rate solutions, the monitor comes packed with AMD FreeSync Premium to combat potential screen tearing.

For $329(£388, AU $549), this gaming monitor makes more than enough sense for PC gamers who want an ultrawide display that won’t break the bank. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be any sacrifices to pack all of this into that price point.

One of the most glaring issues is its HDR implementation. Even with changing settings through software or in-display, image quality is only going to look slightly average. To be honest, it’s best to avoid HDR on the GS34WQC altogether. Then there are some design problems that come in the general aesthetic alongside set-up.

Like other modern Gigabyte gaming monitors, some assists like Black Equilizer and Aim Stabilizer do more to hurt overall image quality than help in any way. PC gamers looking for more extras like speakers and USB capabilities are going to be a bit disappointed. Anyone with a solid 1440p rig looking to play games in the 120 frame rate range may walk away satisfied; more so if they also have PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The Gigabyte GS34WQC offers a quality PC gaming experience at the cost of things that individuals in the price range probably won’t care about.

Gigabyte GS34WQC: Price and availability

A Gigabyte GS34WQC gaming monitor on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Available now in U.S. UK and AU territories, the Gigabyte GS34WQC retails for around $329(£388, AU $549) depending on where one shops. Though available on Amazon, the gaming monitor can be grabbed at various stories depending on where one resides. In the U.S., the monitor can be purchased at Best Buy, UK residents can find it at Currys and Australian citizens can find it at MSY.

Considering the price, the GS34WQC is one of the most affordable 34 inch ultrawide gaming monitors available. RIght now on Newegg, the monitor can be purchased on sale for $289 which adds even more to its value. Users looking for a bit more extras can pay around $10 bucks more for the Dell 34 Curved Gaming Monitor that also comes with a healthy selection of USB ports. Meanwhile, the significantly more expensive AOC CU34G2X at $450 provides better HDR capabilities in addition to USB ports.

Value: 4 / 5

Gigabyte GS34WQC: Specs

Gigabyte GS34WQC Design

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Like other Gigabyte gaming monitors, don’t expect the GS34WQC to do much in the looks department. The all-black matted material feels more acceptable in a classroom or library than next to an RGB desktop. Again, the GS34WQC is more about function than everything else.

When it comes to maneuverability out of the box, the 18 lbs gaming monitor doesn’t feel unwieldy. Set-up is where some of the problems with the design began to show up. A singular attached screen connects the stand to the neck. However, those who don’t read the monitor may run into some issues in the next steps.

The four screws already come taped to the neck that connects to the display. Be careful not to remove the tape without catching them because they will fall and can potentially get lost. Even more so, the packaging doesn’t come with a small screwdriver so users are responsible for securing the display themselves. Both height and tilt can be adjusted on the gaming monitor too.

There are a handful of ports available to get started including one DisplayPort, two HDMI ports, 3.5mm headphone, and power jack. Power goes directly through the display so users won’t have to worry about a larger powerbrick. The port selection is respectable and will definitely satisfy gamers with at least two consoles. Switching between inputs is pretty easy through the nub as well. Considering the low price for this ultrawide gaming monitor, this is good enough for a multiplatform gaming set-up alongside a gaming PC rig.

Gamers who want extras like external speakers and USB hubs for connectivity are going to have to look elsewhere. Considering the max refresh rate output is 120Hz and 135Hz when overclocked, this is for lower-powered 1440p gaming rigs.

Design 3.5 / 5

Gigabyte GS34WQC: Features

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The Gigabyte GS34WQC isn’t necessarily feature-rich but does have a handful of tools to improve a user’s gaming experience. When it comes to variable refresh rate solutions, having AMD FreeSync is a great addition; even for users who have Nvidia GPUs. Then there is HDR capability but we’ll explain why it's not very good in the next section.

Those who don’t want to fiddle with the nub for settings outside of input can definitely give the OSD Sidekick app a shot. Though the app works well, it’s really a matter of preference in regards to usability. Users can make color changes in SDR and other display options but it’s also for toggling various game assists.

Three primary gaming assistance features are designed to provide gamers with a competitive edge on the GS32QC. Foremost among these are the various crosshair overlays, seamlessly enhancing gameplay in titles like Call of Duty and Helldivers 2, as well as other first or third-person shooters.

Additionally, there's the aim assist, effectively reducing motion blur in fast-paced games, though it's important to note its inoperability if the refresh rate falls below 100Hz or FreeSync is activated. To circumvent the need for aim assists entirely, players can opt to disable in-game motion blur. Finally, there's the on-screen timer, a boon for speedrunners seeking to optimize their performance.

Features 3.5 / 5

Gigabyte GS34WQC: Performance

PC gamers with lower-to-mid-range rigs should feel more at home with the Gigabyte GS34WQC than more expensive gaming monitors. What the display does well is make good on its native 120Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Playing fast-paced online shooters like Helldivers 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was a blast in addition to running exceptionally well. Add AMD Freesync Premium into the mix, it’s clear that the GS34WQC can run with the big dogs at similar settings. As mentioned earlier, the monitor is suitable for multi-platform gamers as well considering both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 can deliver a max frame-rate output of 120Hz.

When it comes to image quality, the GS34WQC is wonderful when running in SDR. Colors are bold and crisp with just the right amount of brightness. Blacks are deep and the contrast ratio looks pretty good. Just stay far away from the Black Equilizer which needs to be bumped down considerably. The game assists are supposed to make visuals clearer in darker spaces when playing a game but that can ruin emersion and can simply be fixed through in-game brightness settings. More visually arresting games like Alan Wake II and Cyberpunk 2077 look as well as they perform on the GS34WQC if one’s rig is up to snuff.

Just leave HDR completely alone on this gaming monitor. By default, HDR looks really washed out and flat. The monitor loses a lot of the colorfulness and lushness that SDR provides. Blacks look a bit too bright as well. Even when tinkering with settings, it's hard to get color accuracy. With that said creatives who use Adobe suite software like Photoshop and Premiere Pro might want to leave HDR alone when using the GS34WQC. It’s simply not good for gaming, creative work, or general computing tasks.

Performance: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Gigabyte GS34WQC?

Buy the Gigabyte GS34WQC if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also Consider

How I tested the Gigabyte GS34WQC

During the day, I used the Gigabyte GS34WQC for general computing tasks that revolved around using sites including Google Docs, Hootsuite, and Asana. Now and then, I would have to create graphics and cut video clips as well. There were also times when I took a break to watch videos on YouTube alongside other social media platforms.

For gaming, I tested out the monitor's performance by playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer alongside the current popular game of the moment, Helldivers 2. To test out overall gaming image quality, Forza Motorsport (2023), Alan Wake II, and others were played. All games played were tested in both SDR and HDR modes, for good measure.

First reviewed April 2024

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 review: A premium Chrome-powered portable?

9:00 pm | April 2, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Chromebooks Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Comments: Off

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Two-minute review

Google wants to push its Chromebook laptops a little upmarket and to do that it's pairing up with several big brands. The latest member of this initiative is the new Asus Chromebook Plus CX34, an Intel-powered 14-inch model.

Google is calling this new class of devices "Chromebook Plus" and it's a little like Intel's Evo standard. The idea is to dictate some minimum standards of performance and features to ensure a certain level of user experience. That applies to both hardware and software.

On the hardware side, that means at least an Intel Core i3 chip or an AMD Ryzen processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1080p screen. This Asus laptop meets all that with its Intel Core i3-1215U CPU, 8GB of DDR5 memory, 256GB of UFS storage, and a 14-inch 1080p screen.

As for software, Google builds its Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps into the OS, so they all work without needing an internet connection. Meanwhile syncing both to and from Google Drive works seamlessly. Google has also built in some extra features, including webcam enhancements like background blurring and noise cancellation that work at the OS level - and will therefore work natively with any video calling platform.

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 photographed on a tan carpet. — (Image credit: Future)

You can, of course, run most Android apps from the Google Play Store too, though the lack of a touchscreen can be problematic for apps designed to run on smartphones. More broadly, Google is making a few AI-related claims about these Chromebook Plus machines. But the hardware is nothing special in that regard, so that's a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, as a physical specimen, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34's all-plastic chassis feels mostly sturdy barring a slightly bouncy keyboard bed. The styling is pretty bland and the screen bezels are hardly minimalist. It's not exactly ultra-thin or ultra-sleek, either, and there isn't much about the design that communicates the intended upmarket vibe.

Overall performance is reasonable from the Intel chip. But this remains an entry-level device in performance terms and we can't help thinking that Chromebooks are better suited to more efficient and cheaper ARM-powered CPUs.

It's worth noting that only the highest spec model comes with a proper M.2 SSDs. Our test system was specified with generic flash storage. And of course, the usual ChromeOS limitations that apply to all the best Chromebooks remain for those who want to run Windows applications. All of which makes this a worthy enough device that offers reasonable value. But it's not cheap enough to be truly compelling.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Price and availability

How much does it cost? $394.99 / £429 (about AU$610)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK but not yet listed in Australia

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 looks like good value compared with similarly-specced Windows laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad 3. It meets the Chromebook Plus required specifications at a pretty appealing price - but the lack of touchscreen functionality is conspicuous compared to some alternatives, like the Acer Chromebook Spin 714.

Notionally, you're getting better performance than most similarly priced Chromebooks. But in practice, it's debatable how much CPU grunt matters on a device like this, and a Chromebook with a lesser CPU but a touchscreen and sleeker design like Asus's own Chromebook Flip series will arguably be preferable for many users.

Price: 4 / 5

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 photographed with the lid closed. — (Image credit: Future)

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Specs

While this is the only configuration currently available at the time of writing, Asus will be offering several other CPU, SSD, memory, and screen options. You will be able to upgrade to 10-core Intel Core i5 and i7 chips, a touchscreen, and up to 512GB of storage. However, the most significant option is arguably 16GB of RAM. That will come in handy for anyone who likes to open lots of browser tabs or indulge in heavy multitasking.

It's also worth noting that you'll need that 512GB storage upgrade to get a proper M.2 SSD. The 128GB and 256GB options make do with generic UFS flash drives with much lower bandwidth. Of course, any of these upgrades will add to the price and arguably detract from the appeal of the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34, which majors on price.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Design

Slightly generic design
Sturdy build quality
Good connectivity

The whole point of Google's Chromebook Plus standard is to deliver a new class of devices that can compete directly with full-feature Windows laptops. It's a premium alternative to cheaper Chromebooks.

However, in design terms, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 has a pretty bland and basic aesthetic. The plastic chassis is sturdy enough, though the keyboard bed is a little bouncy. But the relatively large screen bezels and slightly boxy chassis don't make for a terribly slick or contemporary vibe. That design also means that this 14-inch laptop isn't especially compact, though at 1.44 kg (3.17 lbs) it is reasonably light for a 14-incher.

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The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 photographed on a white desk. — (Image credit: Future)

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Still, with two USB-C ports, two USB-A sockets, HDMI, and 3.5mm audio, connectivity is reasonable. More of a highlight is the integrated 1080p webcam. It's a definite step above most laptop webcams, even on much more expensive machines. It also has a physical shutter for guaranteed privacy.

That said, the webcam doesn't support facial recognition and there's also no fingerprint reader, so security is password-based. It's worth noting that this is a conventional laptop with no touchscreen functionality as reviewed, nor a 360-degree hinge. We're back to that basic vibe, again.

The trackpad is reasonably proportioned and there's nothing conspicuously wrong with the overall design. But the vibe is slightly dated and dreary. All of this means it's hard to get excited about the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 just based on its looks. If worthy and workmanlike is your thing, this Asus delivers. But if you're expecting Google's new Chromebook Plus platform to automatically translate into something slick and premium, you'll be disappointed.

Design: 3 / 5

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Performance

Intel CPU gets the job done
Screen and webcam are both decent
Google's AI pretensions are just that

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Benchmarks

Here's how the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Geekbench 5: 1,458 (single-core), 4,507 (multi-core)
Mozilla Kraken (fewer is better): 476ms
JetStream 2 (higher is better): 242
Octane 2.0: 83,372
WebGL Acquarium 30,000 fish: 45fps
TechRadar battery life test: 10h 21m

Thanks to a proper Intel Core CPU, albeit the fairly lowly Intel Core i3-1215U with two Performance cores and four Efficient, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 has the basic performance to take on full-feature Windows laptops. The question is whether it matters.

Google is promoting the offline capabilities of these Chromebook Plus devices, promising double the performance of typical low-cost Chromebooks. Google even makes a pitch for these devices as content creation machines, including video editing.

But that's pretty unrealistic, as is the AI narrative Google is attaching to these Chromebook Plus laptops. The Intel CPU is decent, to be sure, but it doesn't have any particular AI capabilities since it lacks a dedicated NPU. So, any remotely significant AI work will be done in the cloud.

It's also worth noting that if you're the sort of web browser that likes to have a zillion tabs open, this 8GB model won't cut it and you should opt for the 16GB upgrade which should be available soon. As I noted earlier, you'll need to upgrade to 512GB of storage for a proper M.2 SSD as opposed to the generic UFS flash storage in this model.

But short of running out of RAM, general system responsiveness is good. Realistically, most people will use a laptop like this for web browsing and web apps, plus some content consumption. And they'll find it's well up to the task.

As for the 14-inch display, it offers decent working space thanks to 1080p native resolution. Brightness is decent at 250 nits, and the colors are reasonably vibrant. But compared to, say, a typical tablet, it's nothing special for image quality or pixel density. The integrated speakers, meanwhile, are pretty terrible. The volume levels are OK, but the sound quality is horribly thin.

That said, one of the better hardware features is the 1080p webcam. It has much better image quality than most laptops, even far more expensive machines. It also benefits from operating-system level processing, including background blur and noise cancellation, which can be applied to any video calling or conferencing application.

Overall, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 has the basic grunt to take on lower-cost Windows laptops thanks to its Intel CPU. But given that Chrome OS will run just as happily on a cheaper and more efficient ARM CPU, it's hard to see the logic in paying the Intel premium.

Performance: 3.5 / 5

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Battery life

Medium-sized battery
But decent light-usage battery life

At 50Whrs, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 doesn't have the biggest battery. Nor do Intel CPUs have the best reputation when it comes to operating away from a wall outlet. But perhaps thanks to the efficiency and minimal bloat of the Chrome OS operating system, battery life in light usage is decent, with over 10 hours of movie playback possible.

You'll get a lot less than that if you put any real amount of load on that Intel CPU, so bear that in mind if you're planning to run demanding software. But given the modest price point, the battery life is in line with expectations.

Battery life: 4 / 5

Should you buy the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34?

Buy it if...

You want a sturdy, reliable, and cheap laptop
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 doesn't look exciting. But it's well built, has a decent screen, a good webcam, and reasonable battery life.

You don't need Windows
If what you want to do with a laptop mainly revolves around accessing your Google account and apps, the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 gets the job done.

Don't buy it if...

You want something sleek and slick
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34's design is a little dated, with fairly large bezels and a boxy chassis design.

You want a movie machine
If you're looking for something to take on trips and holidays for watching Netflix in your Airbnb, look elsewhere. The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34's built-in speakers are terrible.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Also consider

If our Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

How I tested the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34

Used for a week in place of my usual laptop
Office work, general web use, Android apps, media playback
Ran the Techradar benchmark suite

I spent a week with the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 giving it full reign over my Google account and running all my usual apps from web browsing to photo editing. Of course, there was a spot of YouTubing and Netflixing, too, plus our suite of more formal benchmarks. I also tested the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34's battery life for both general usage and light content consumption off the mains.

Along with assessing objective performance, the aim was to get a feel for how this Chromebook stands up as an all-round replacement for a conventional Windows laptop. Just how does Google's Chromebook Plus standard stack up?

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

Acer Predator Triton 14 review: lightweight and affordable with great performance

5:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: DLSS, Total War, USB | Comments: Off

Acer Predator Triton 14: Two-minute review

“Thinner laptops imbued with the latest hardware” is an adequate mantra for Acer’s Predator Triton series of gaming laptops. From the 500 to the 300 SE, these powerful yet slim devices continuously balance from and factor, and this is nowhere more evident than the latest Acer Predator Triton 14.

Starting at just $1,499.99 in the US (£1083.05/AU$4,599) and standing less than an inch tall when closed and weighing under four lbs, the model I reviewed is packed with a 14-core Intel i7-13700H CPU, Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD. Then there’s the 14-inch display that has a 2560 x 1600 resolution alongside a 250 Hz refresh rate.

Accompanying the wonderful gaming laptop monitor are powerful DTSX-certified speakers that are loud enough when performance isn’t being pushed. Through and through, the Predator Triton 14 is also suitable for not just gaming.

The form factor makes this great for general computing while the powerful components are more than good enough when editing photos or videos through Adobe Suite software. Portability doesn't sacrifice a respectable battery life either, with multiple ways of charging the gaming laptop as well.

The port selection is well thought out and a wonderful keyboard features per-key RGB lighting and plenty of hotkeys. All of these can be customized beyond the performance settings that can be customized through the Predator Sense app. Even the trackpad is smooth as butter with its incorporated fingerprint scanner.

Despite the balanced approach, some compromises come with the Predator Triton 14. As mentioned above, the cooling and fan system can get incredibly loud when playing a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake II, which means headphones are going to be a must. However, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem when writing a review on Google Docs while listening to music on Tidal. The underside can get uncomfortably hot when under loud as well, so make sure it's being placed on something like a desk if you intend to game on it especially hard.

Potential buyers looking for the Predator Triton 14 to be their main general-use laptop may also need to understand that this is a dedicated purchase. Unfortunately, both RAM and SSD storage aren’t upgradeable at this time. RAM-wise, 32GB is slowly becoming the top-tier standard, so having 16GB may be a bit on the lower side, but it'll still get you several years of gaming.

Meanwhile, with modern AAA games using well over 100GB of storage, 1TB really isn’t cutting it much anymore. Right now, these specs are more than adequate, but they’re coming close to “not much longer” status.

If that doesn’t necessarily matter, there’s so much to appreciate with the Acer Predator Triton 14. Not only does it look ready for action but it's ready for any type of game users throw at it. Gamers looking for solid 1440p performance who are content creators are going to have a blast with this, and given its decent price point, it easily makes our list of the best gaming laptops going.

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HP laptop various angles — (Image credit: Future - Joel Burgess)

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Acer Predator Triton 14: Price and availability

How much does it cost? It’s available in 2 configurations in U.S. and UK for $1,499 ( £1083.05) and $1,999 ( £1575.38) and AU for $4,599
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? From Acer’s online store in U.S., UK and AU

Both U.S. and UK configurations of the Acer Predator Triton 14 share the specs for their $1,499 ( £1083.05) and $1,999 ( £1575.38) price points. All configurations have identical Intel i7 CPU, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, port selection, audio and Full HD webcam.

At the base price, users get an Nvidia RTX 4050 with 6GB RAM, 1920X1200 resolution display at 165Hz and 512GB SSD storage. This is totally fine for anyone looking to stay in the 1080p native resolution range when gaming. The highest $1,999 configuration for 1440p performance comes with the Nvidia RTX 4070 with 8GB RAM, 2560 x 1600 resolution display at 250Hz and 1TB SSD storage. There is only one configuration as of print for Australia which is in line with the top tier option outside of offering 32GB of RAM.

There are two 14-inch gaming laptops that come to mind when thinking of alternatives to the Predator Triton 14. One is the more expensive Razer Blade 14 which starts at $2,399. For those who need something cheaper, the Lenovo Legion 5 Slim 14 gives up performance power for a 1,439.99 price point. With that said, the Predator Triton 14 does find a happy medium when it comes to value.

Value score: 4 / 5

Acer Predator Triton 14: Specs

The Acer Predator Triton 14 currently comes in two configurations in the United States, two in the UK, and one in Australia.

Acer Predator Triton 14: Design

The design matches aggressiveness with modesty alongside a healthy port selection
Awesome visual/audio capabilities
Outstanding keyboard layout and touchpad

The Acer Predator Triton 14 hasn’t changed its looks going as far back as the past two years and that’s totally fine. Acer’s 14-inch gaming laptop manages to have more powerful components and still manages to be lightweight and thin. Therefore, that’s an accomplishment on its own. Only coming in one color, Sparkly Silver, the Predator Triton 14 feels good enough to hold in one hand yet not fragile enough to crash if dropped. Regardless of the power packed in, there are three sets of vents on each side and rear which can turn into leaf blowers when performance is put to the max.

Port selection is solid with the right side housing an HDMI port, USB-A port, and headphone jack. The other has a charge port for the nice-sized power adapter, a USB-A port, and a USB-C port that can also be used for charging as well. At the front of the gaming laptop is a micro-USB slot which will definitely be helpful for creators looking to offload content for use later.

Once opened, the 14-inch display provides fantastic image quality and performance. For one, the display is Vesa Certified for DisplayHDR 600. This definitely provides great image quality with vivid colors that are the right amount of crisp in contrast, a high level of brightness, and deep blacks.

This means outside of gaming or watching videos, color correcting on Photoshop and Premiere is easier. Though there are a handful of games that’ll be able to match its 250 Hz refresh rate output with the performance specs, the gameplay looks purposefully smooth. When the cooling fans aren’t running loudly, the DTS:X speakers work sound great as well. Having the codec also means that users can get true virtual surround sound or Spatial Audio if using some form of headphones.

Keyboard input strikes a nice balance between being tactile and punchy. Typing out long-form editorial content is a comfortable and precise feeling. Playing games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Cyberpunk 2077 feel just as good as writing a complex email.

Then there’s the per-key RGB lighting that adds a bit of personal flair. On top of that are several function keys including some for media and access to the Predator Sense app. There’s even a button to switch between performance modes too. Even the touchpad feels great and smooth alongside the fingerprint scanner on the top left side. However, even casual gamers will know to get a gaming mouse instead.

Design score: 4.5 / 5

Acer Predator Triton 14: Performance

1440p gaming at high settings are possible
DLSS is clutch
Cooling fans get outrageously loud and lap can get hot

Benchmarks

Here's how the Acer Predator Triton 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Speed Way: 2654 Fire Strike: 24205 Time Spy: 11147
GeekBench 6: 2633 (single-core); (multi-core) 14626
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 83.6fps; (1080p, Low): 212.6fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 90.74fps; (1080p, Low): 89.15fps
F1 23 (1080p, Ultra): 43fps; (1080p, Low): 208fps
25GB File Copy Transfer Rate (Mbps): 2214.546879
Handbrake 1.6: 63 fps
CrossMark Overall: 2075; Productivity: 1980; Creativity: 2155; Responsiveness: 2132;
Web Surfing (Battery Informant): 5:17:26
PCMark 10 Battery (Gaming): 1:49

1440p gaming performance on the Acer Predator Triton 14 successfully manages to play some of the top AAA games available without much problem. As of right now, two of the most visually demanding games on the platform are Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake II. The Predator Triton 14 handles both games well at 1440p with frame rates that are usually in the 60 fps range.

Having the 14-core Intel i7-13700H and Nvidia RTX 4070 really goes a long way in helping in-game performance. Having the RTX 4070 also means that users can do AI upscaling through DLSS which can push in-game performance even more. Due to the 2560 x 1600 resolution with a 16:10 ratio, one way to get higher performance is to play a game in native 1080p and upscale from there if playing through the display. Native 2560 x 1600 is fine on its own though. Be mindful that there won’t be too many current games that’ll even come close to hitting a 250-frame-per-second mark at native resolution. The only games that could theoretically come close are possibly Counter-Strike 2, Doom Eternal, and Fortnite if graphics settings are in a reasonable range.

Both Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 are also fine examples of games that’ll test a GPU’s ray tracing capabilities as well. Thankfully, both games work excellently in that regard though Alan Wake II for sure requires some tweaks to maintain a high frame rate. Of course, these games will require max power output or Turbo mode which will have the fans running incredibly loud. If playing on the lap, the heat can get uncomfortable.

Outside of gaming, Adobe Creative Suite performance is acceptable as well. We were able to use multiple layers on photos without much slowdown when using Photoshop. Through Premiere Pro, we could edit 10 minutes worth of 4K video that took less than 10 minutes to export. When it came to general use tasks like web browsing, I had a few dozen Google Chrome tabs opened without much issue.

Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Acer Predator Triton 14: Battery life

Battery life reached the halfway mark in about 4 ½ hours
Can be charged through a charging port or USB
Recharge time is around two hours

Gaming laptops aren’t necessarily known for their battery life prowess but Eco-mode on the Acer Predator Triton 14 does lead to impressive results. It took around 4 ½ hours for the battery to reach the mid-way point. In total, we were able to get around 7 hours and some change in total. Of course, turning off features like Bluetooth alongside turning down the brightness and keyboard lighting can help reduce battery load too. Trying to play games that’ll push the laptop to the max will deliver around an hour’s worth of gaming so it’s best to keep it plugged in if one plans on doing so.

Gamers who need to get work done during a bi-coastal trip should have plenty of time before they need to charge. Users can change via the powerport which will take around two hours to get the battery to full. Meanwhile, if users forget their power brick, users can charge through the USB-C port but won’t get the same level of performance.

Battery life score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Predator Triton 14?

Buy it if...

You need a slim gaming laptop with respectable performance
Weighing under 4 lbs and as tall as a quarter, the Acer Predator Triton 14 still manages to shine when it comes to 1440p performance.

Don't buy it if...

You would like a quieter machine when pushing specs to the max
The cooling system is incredibly loud when pushing high-quality visuals and performance.

The Acer Predator Triton 14

How I tested the Acer Predator Triton 14

Tested over a two week period
Split between general tasks, creative work and gaming

My time with the Acer Predator Triton 14 lasted a little over a two-week period. During the day, I used it as my main laptop while working the office job. It was here that I was able to test general performance and speakers. During office hours, I used Google Chrome and related services like Google Docs, Tidal to listen to high fidelity music alongside creative software.

Through Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, I was able to create graphics and short-form video clips. When away from work, I took the time to play various AAA games. These games included Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Motorsport (2023), Dead Space (2023), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Alan Wake II.

Since 2020, I’ve been covering various gaming laptops for TechRadar. As a PC Gaming enthusiast, I can definitely help anyone who is looking for a gaming laptop that’s worth their performance measures and pocketbook.

First reviewed April 2024

Dell XPS 14 9440 review: a stunning laptop that gives Windows users a real MacBook competitor

11:44 pm | April 1, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, OLED | Comments: Off

Dell XPS 14 9440: Two minute review

The Dell XPS 14 is the newest entrant into an already storied line of laptops, and it is arguably the best laptop of this newest crop of XPS devices thanks to its powerful new processor, stunning OLED display, and a design that looks better than just about any other Windows laptop on the market.

The XPS 14 9440 starts at a somewhat pricey $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60, and it lacks the dedicated Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU and OLED display, so you'll want to upgrade these two specs in particular, though it will end up costing you much more for the privilege.

To be clear, Dell XPS laptops have never been cheap, but my recommended configuration, the same as the one I reviewed, will set you back nearly $2,400 / £2,650 / AU$4,300. For the hardware packed into such a slim 14-inch form factor, it's more than worth the investment as this laptop will last for years before it becomes obsolete.

In terms of design, the XPS 14 fully commits to the design changes that the Dell XPS 13 Plus introduced back in 2022, but introduces a couple of quality-of-life improvements on its smaller cousin.

For one, the down-firing speakers have been moved up top alongside the keyboard, producing far better sound in exchange for diminishing the XPS 13 Plus's infinity edge-style keyboard. This is a much better design choice, ultimately, and you don't sacrifice much in the way of key space on the deck itself.

The display is what really steals the show here: a gorgeous 3.2K OLED display with super-slim bezels. This latter feature is impressive because Dell has somehow managed to squeeze in a 1080p webcam. There's no physical privacy shutter, but that's never really been Dell's thing, unfortunately.

The Dell XPS 14's Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and the Nvidia RTX 4050 deliver powerful performance across all workloads, and in some cases can even match or exceed what you'd get from a MacBook Pro 14-inch, especially for gaming (though the RTX 4050 isn't nearly powerful enough to keep up with the best gaming laptops).

Overall, the Dell XPS 14 9440 is a powerful performer for everything from everyday computing use to 1080p gaming to moderate content creation. It's an expensive investment, but on balance, it's one of the best Windows laptops you can buy right now.

Dell XPS 14 9440: Price and availability

A Dell XPS 14 on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much does it cost? Starting at $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60
When is it out? It's available right now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Dell XPS 14 9440 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $1,499 / £1,599 / AU$2,998.60. For that price, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with integrated Arc graphics, 16GB LPDDR5x memory, 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD storage, and a 14.5-inch full HD+ (1920x1200p) non-touch display.

My review unit, which sells for $900 / £1,050 / AU$1,300 more, upgrades to discrete graphics with an Nvidia RTX 4050 (30W) GPU, 32GB LPDDR5x memory, 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD, and a 14.5-inch 3.2K (3200x2000p) OLED display.

You can max out your configuration with 64GB LPDDR5x RAM and 4TB M.2 PCIe SSD, in addition to the above, for $3,399 / £3,238.99 / AU$5,999.40.

Value: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Specs

Dell XPS 14 9440: Design

Gorgeous design
OLED display is stunning
Upfiring speakers

The Dell XPS 14 doesn't shy away from the design choices that the XPS 13 Plus introduced, for better or for worse, but it does make some very important improvements to the previous design iterations.

For one, let's talk about top-firing speakers. Down-firing speakers are genuinely terrible. They might be necessary, but they're terrible, and any time we can get top-firing speakers on a laptop, your audio experience is automatically going to improve substantially.

The exterior finish comes in two colors: Platinum or Graphite. The finish is a CNC machined aluminum with a glass palm rest, and everything about it feels premium. The chasis itself isn't all that heavy, but it's not as light as something like the LG Gram or some of the best ultrabooks that prioritize portability over performance.

For ports, you have three Thunderbolt 4 ports with power delivery and DisplayPort output, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a microSD slot. Given its size, I'm not expecting all that much on the ports front, but it's good to see the microSD slot included since this at least gives some flexibility for creative professionals or those who might have a device that saves to microSD, like one of the best drone models.

As for the keyboard, this is one area that's not so great, since the nearly flat surface of the keys makes it difficult for touch typers who are used to a bit more definition to find their place among the keys. You'll get used to it, but it's not the best typing experience I've ever had on a keyboard out of the box.

Another major issue is the trackpad, in that it's invisible. This does give the laptop a bit of a 'future' feel to it, but at the cost of accessibility. Likewise, the touchbar along the top is in place of actual function keys. All of these features work fine enough for me, but I can see someone with reduced vision struggling with this keyboard and trackpad.

Next, you have the webcam. Somehow, Dell managed to fit a 1080p webcam into the narrow top bezel of the display panel, and it's a welcome addition. Too many laptops skip the 1080p webcam in order to retain the thin bezels, and that was fine in the pre-work-from-home era, but nowadays, you need a quality webcam, there's just no getting around it.

Finally, the air intake on the Dell XPS 14 comes in from the side and bleeds out the back though a vent underneath the display hinge. The heat management is ok, but given its thin form factor, the underside can get hot under load.

As far as Windows laptops go, this is possibly one of the best-looking laptops going. There are some who won't love—or even like—the planar-leveled keyboard and lack of physical function keys or clearly defined trackpad, but overall, there is way more to like here than to nitpick, especially if you're opting for the OLED display.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Performance

A Dell XPS 14 on a desk running resource intensive apps — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Excellent all-around performance
Surprisingly competitive against the MacBook Pro for creative work
Fantastic productivity and solid gaming performance

Finally we come down to the performance of the Dell XPS 14, and I can definitely say that it is among the best you're going to get on a laptop right now.

The direct rival of the Dell XPS 14 is the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 Pro, and the XPS 14 holds its own against the best Apple has to offer in terms of general performance, features superior gaming performance, and also manages to battle the MacBook Pro 14 to a draw for some typical creative workloads.

While the MacBook Pro 14-inch ultimately offers better single-core performance and slightly better multicore performance, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU does an admirable job against one of Apple's best processors.

In terms of overall system performance, the MacBook Pro 14 with M3 Pro (11-core) does manage to score about 23% better in our Crossmark benchmark, as well as scoring about 12% better in Geekbench 6.2's multicore performance test.

The two laptops are evenly matched for SSD performance, and the MacBook Pro 14-inch scores better in 3DMark's Wildlife Extreme and Wildlife Extreme Unlimited. The RTX 4050 in the XPS 14, meanwhile, pulls ahead of the M3 Pro's GPU in Solar Bay and Solar Bay Unlimited, which are ray-tracing workloads, so this shouldn't be surprising as Nvidia's hardware can handle ray tracing far better than Apple's chips right now.

In terms of creative performance, the Nvidia RTX GPU in the XPS 14 will outperform pretty much any comparable Apple device when it comes to 3D modeling, since just about every 3D modeling tool relies on Nvidia's CUDA instruction set, so Apple, AMD, and Intel will always be at a disadvantage.

When it comes to video encoding, the XPS 14 manages to encode a 4K video into 1080p about 7% faster in Handbrake 1.7, though depending on the app you're using, Apple's specialized encoding engine might be determinative. If you're a creative pro working in film and video, you'll know which tools play best with Apple and which lean towards Nvidia, so which is better will come down to the tools you'll ultimately need to use.

Finally, taking the average 1200p gaming performance on Max settings, the Dell XPS 14 does a better job than the MacBook Pro 14 across the board. The XPS 14 does about 62% better with Civilization VI, getting nearly 90 fps at 1200p with performance and memory impact set to max. In Total War: Warhammer III's battle benchmark, the XPS 14 gets around 40 fps, which is about 25% higher than the MacBook Pro 14-inch's 32 fps. It's only in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that the MacBook Pro 14-inch scores a win, getting 48 fps at 1200p on highest settings, while the Dell XPS 14 manages to get 47 fps, but there's a huge caveat there.

This doesn't factor in the RTX 4050's DLSS upscaler, which can push the XPS 14's fps much higher than that, depending on the settings you select. This is a huge advantage for the XPS 14 that, for right now at least, Apple's best MacBook struggles to counter since its upscaler, Apple MetalFX, is developer-dependent, and not a lot of games include it as an option.

In the end, then, the Dell XPS 14 manages to go toe-to-toe with the venerable MacBook Pro 14 and comes out with some very important wins in the process.

Performance: 5 / 5

Dell XPS 14 9440: Battery life

Intel Evo is back, baby!
Charges to full in less than 90 minutes

Intel chips have not had good battery life for years. Back in 2020, Intel Evo was a big deal, and one of its biggest qualifiers was achieving more than 9 hours of battery life on a standard battery test. With the 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake laptop processors released in 2021, battery life on Intel laptops absolutely tanked, and Intel Evo faded away for a few years as Intel went through Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and Raptor Lake Refresh, all of which had generally terrible battery life (even on an ultrabook!).

Now, with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel seems to have refocused itself on more battery efficiency rather than dumping electrons into maximum performance.

The Dell XPS 14 benefits with a nine-hour 35-minute battery life on our proprietary web surfing test, which is far better than the six or seven hours these laptops were getting just a year or two ago.

Under heavier load, the XPS 14 still struggles to get more than seven hours of battery life on PCMark 10's Modern Office battery test, and the PCMark 10 Gaming battery test only ran for about one hour 50 minutes before shutting down.

These are a far cry from what Apple is able to pull off with the MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3 Pro, which lasted about 17 hours 32 minutes in our battery tests, but knowing where Windows laptops have been in the past couple of years, I'll gladly take a laptop that can last a full workday without a charge.

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy a Dell XPS 14 9440?

Buy the Dell XPS 14 9440 if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Dell XPS 14 9440: Report card

First reviewed April 2024

How We Test

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

Samsung 990 EVO review: great for the price, just don’t expect true PCIe 5.0 speeds

8:00 am | March 25, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: PC, SSD | Comments: Off

Samsung 990 EVO: Two-minute review

The Samsung 990 EVO steps into the spotlight following the well-received Samsung 990 Pro, setting the stage for an SSD to carry forward the EVO series' legacy of performance and reliability.

The 970 EVO Plus, this SSD's predecessor, was one of the best SSD picks when it was released a couple of years back, and it's still celebrated as one of the best cheap SSDs you can get even now, despite lacking the kinds of data rates you'll get with a modern PCIe 5.0.

That leaves the 990 EVO with the ambitious task of following up a beloved budget model while introducing a hybrid PCIe 4.0/5.0 interface aimed at carving out a niche in an increasingly competitive SSD arena, and in that, it kind of succeeds - but also disappoints.

Right out the gate, the 990 EVO distinguishes itself with an interface capable of toggling between x4 PCIe 4.0 and x2 PCIe 5.0, which gives PC users a decent amount of wiggle room for their PCs if they've got a lot of drives plugged in. Coupled with a newly minted 5nm controller designed to enhance efficiency, the 990 EVO should be set up for success.

The drive opts for a DRAM-less configuration, however, that somewhat tempers expectations with its more modest bandwidth, leading to speeds that clock below what the best PCIe 4.0 drives are capable of.

Despite this, the single-sided 2TB variant I reviewed presents a versatile option for both PC enthusiasts and PlayStation 5 owners, a nod towards the growing standardization of high-capacity, single-sided drives. It lacks a heatsink, so PS5 users especially will want to look at an add-in heatsink just to be safe, but given the speeds involved, this drive doesn't really get hot enough that you'll need to be too concerned.

A Samsung 990 EVO slotted into a motherboard — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Targeted primarily at the laptops, OEM, and pre-built PC markets, the 990 EVO promises to deliver sufficient performance for gaming and everyday use, and positions itself as a compliment to the far more robust 990 Pro. It's a more cost-effective solution for gamers and others while still benefiting from Samsung's solid software support and reliability, and the option to toggle between PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 4.0 is a real value add for this drive.

Price-wise, the 990 EVO entered the market with a recommended retail price of $149.99 for the 1TB model and $239.99 for the 2TB variant, according to Samsung's website, but even there, these prices have been marked down quite a bit, and you can find the 1TB model for about $90/£100/AU$219, depending on where you look.

This pricing strategy places it in a good balance with its Pro sibling and other competitors, especially in a market where SSD prices are on the rise.

Performance specifications for the 990 EVO boast up to 5,000 MB/s and 4,200 MB/s in sequential reads and writes, respectively, alongside impressive random read and write IOPS. These figures are complemented by a standard five-year warranty and support for TCG Opal 2.0 encryption, making it an attractive option for security-conscious laptop users.

In terms of real-world performance, I more or less achieved these speeds across the board, and the drive's flexibility to operate across both PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 interfaces is a highlight. Despite the drive's low-ish 5,000MB/s advertised sequential read speed (which doesn't come close to maxing out the PCIe 4.0/5.0 lanes available to it), the drive does at least hit or exceed this claimed speed.

Despite these technical intricacies, the 990 EVO's broader challenge lies in its identity within the highly competitive SSD market. It seeks to offer a balance between performance, efficiency, and price - a task complicated by the competitive pricing and superior performance of PCIe 4.0 alternatives like the 990 Pro, PNY XLR8 CS3140, or Patriot Viper VP4300.

All together then, the Samsung 990 EVO represents a solid addition to the SSD market. It doesn't bring you the kind of PCIe 5.0 speeds we see with the Crucial T705, but it's not meant for full-on performance. If you want that, you'll be better off investing in a 'real' PCIe 5.0 SSD, but for what it is, the 990 EVO hits the mark it needs to hit.

A Samsung 990 EVO with its retail packaging — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Samsung 990 EVO: Price & availability

How much does it cost? MSRP starting at $149.99/£100/AU$219
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Samsung 990 EVO starts at $149.99/£100/AU$219 for 1TB and maxes out at 2TB for $239.99/£169/AU$359, at least officially.

This doesn't include a heatsink, but given the rather modest speeds and energy usage of this SSD, your motherboard's heatsink will be more than enough since you really don't even need the extra heat spreader for this drive.

While the above are retail prices for this SSD (according to Samsung's website), even Samsung can be found offering these drives for up to 40% off, making this one of the best cheap SSD options out there if you're hoping to find a good balance between price and performance.

Samsung 990 EVO: Specs

Should you buy the Samsung 990 EVO?

Buy the Samsung 990 EVO if...

You want good performance for the price
This isn't the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD, but for the price, its performance is great.

You need a laptop SSD
The biggest selling point of this SSD is that it's geared more towards efficiency than high performance, so it'll be good for laptops where battery life is a concern.

Don't buy it if...

You want PCIe 5.0 speeds
The speed of this drive is ok for what it is, but don't let the PCIe 5.0 interface fool you; you're not even going to get max PCIe 4.0 speeds with this drive.

You just need any ol' SSD
If you're just looking for an SSD for extra storage and you don't actually care how fast it is, save your money and buy a cheaper SSD, maybe even the Samsung 970 EVO Plus or similar PCIe 3.0 drives.

Samsung 990 EVO: Also consider

If my Samsung 990 EVO review has you looking for other options, here are two more SSDs to consider...

How I tested the Samsung 990 EVO

I spent about two weeks testing the Samsung 990 EVO
I used it as my main system drive on my workstation PC
I used my standard battery of benchmark tests along with content creation and general use

I spent about two weeks testing the Samsung 990 EVO, using it as my primary system drive on my workstation PC that I used for content creation, general work use, and some light gaming.

Primarily, though, this drive is best reserved for mobile devices like laptops and possibly PC gaming handhelds that can better benefit from its improved energy efficiency.

I've been reviewing PC hardware for several years, in addition to earning my Master's Degree in Computer Science in 2024, so I know very well how a drive like this should perform with its given architecture and price point — knowledge I leverage to ensure you find the best SSD for your needs and budget, whether it's the Samsung 990 EVO or a competing drive.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

Crucial T705 SSD review: fantastic speed for those who can afford it

2:14 pm | March 22, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: SSD | Comments: Off

Crucial T705: Two-minute review

The Crucial T705 SSD is inarguably one of the fastest PCIe 5.0 drives to hit the market in recent months, making it a must-have for gamers, content creators, or anyone who needs outstanding storage performance.

Starting at $239.99/£245.99/AU$379.99 for 1TB without a heatsink, this isn't the best cheap SSD on the market, but you're getting a lot for what you pay for, and given that it is a strong contender for the best SSD you can get in 2024, the price isn't out of line with what you should expect to pay.

What you get for that investment is an incredibly fast SSD that reaches speeds that deliver on the promise of PCIe 5.0, including nearly 14,400MB/s sequential read speeds, so gamers especially are going to love the incredibly fast loading times you're going to get from this drive.

Its sequential write speed topped out at 12,465 MB/s in my testing, so this drive is also going to be great as a working drive for content creators like video editors who need to save or export massive files on a regular basis.

That said, seeing as it is PCIe 5.0, this isn't the best PS5 SSD since you won't be able to take full advantage of the PCIe 5.0 lanes (the PS5 is limited to PCIe 4.0, which caps out at about 7,500MB/s), so you're better off with a Samsung 990 Pro, PNY XLR8 CS3140, or a Patriot Viper VP4300, which will get you the absolute fastest PCIe 4.0 speeds on the market (and will probably save you some money too).

In a properly capable PC motherboard though, this SSD will absolutely fly. All this performance comes at the price of significantly higher thermals though, so you will need a heatsink for this drive, whether that's the one on offer from Crucial or the one that comes with your motherboard.

And honestly, you're better off with either the Crucial or a more 'powered' heatsink that has some form of active cooling like a fan, because the heat generated by this SSD is not for the faint of heart.

So, in the end, the question is really whether you should be buying this SSD for your next rig or workstation, and the answer is unequivocally yes, assuming you have a setup that can take advantage of the PCIe 5.0 tech built into this drive.

Right now, all the best graphics cards are PCIe 4.0, so you don't have to worry about splitting any PCIe 5.0 lanes just yet, but if you're planning to run a top-tier system in the coming years, make sure your motherboard can support both your GPU and this SSD, since it's quite an investment and the rollout of PCIe 5.0 drives like the Crucial T705 has driven down the price of the best PCIe 4.0 drives a good bit.

If your motherboard can only support one or the other, and you're looking to snatch up the Nvidia RTX 5090 when it drops in late 2024/early 2025, you're going to get a lot more out of a PCIe 5.0 graphics card than a PCIe 5.0 SSD. If that's your situation, you might be better off opting for the top-of-the-line PCIe 4.0 SSDs like the 990 Pro, which you can get for much cheaper than this drive. But if high-end graphics card performance is less of a concern that fast loading times for gaming and rapid exports to disk from Adobe Premiere Pro, AutoDesk, or other similar content creation apps, than the Crucial T705 SSD is a fantastic drive to get you the kind of performance you need at a reasonable price-per-terabyte.

A Crucial T705 SSD on a pink desk mat — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Crucial T705: Price & availability

How much does it cost? Starting at $239.99/£245.99/AU$379.99
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The Crucial T705 is available in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $239.99/£245.99/AU$379.99 for 1TB, without a heatsink.

For those with beefy motherboards with M.2 slot heat sinks, this should be fine, but for high-performance machines and workstations, I recommend upgrading to an included heatsink for an extra $16/£20/AU$50, which does a better job of keeping the SSD cool.

The T705 is also available in 2TB ($399.99/£454.79/AU$729, without heatsink) and 4TB ($713.99/£833.99/AU$949, without heatsink), which puts it on the higher end of the best M.2 SSD options out there. The Samsung 990 Pro, for example, is the best PCIe 4.0 SSD currently and retails for $169.99 / £155 / AU$265 for 1TB, and going as high as 4TB for $464.99/£284/AU$699, before including an option for a heatsink.

This puts the Crucial T705 on the high-end of SSDs, but it's only slightly more expensive than the best PCIe 4.0 SSD going but delivers about twice the performance, so it's hard to argue that the T705 isn't an incredible value in the end.

Crucial T705: Specs

Should you buy the Crucial T705?

Buy the Crucial T705 if...

You want fast loading times for games and apps
With incrediblly fast sequential read speeds, this drive will load your games, apps, and even your OS in no time.

You need to write large files to disk frequently
If you're a content creator, exporting a work-in-progress to disk can be time consuming, but this drive makes it much easier.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget
This is hardly the cheapest PCIe 5.0 drive out there.

You're looking for a PS5 SSD
This drive's PCIe 5.0 interface makes it way more expensive than a PCIe 4.0 drive, so PS5 users are better off going with a cheaper SSD since you won't get the full performance of this drive on a console right now.

Crucial T705: Also consider

If my Crucial T705 review has you looking for other options, here are two more M.2 SSDs to consider...

How I tested the Crucial T705

I spent about a week testing this SSD
I used it for gaming, content creation, and general storage use
I used my standard suite of SSD benchmarks as well as daily use

To test the T705, I ran it through our standard benchmark suite, including CrystalDiskMark 8, PassMark, PCMark 10, 3DMark, and out proprietary 25GB file copy test.

I used this drive as my main system storage (C:\) drive for over a week on our test bench, where I used it extensively for loading games for benchmarking purposes, content creation, and more.

I've been reviewing PC hardware for several years now, in addition to earning my Master's Degree in Computer Science, so I know how an SSD of this caliber should perform for the price, and I leverage that knowledge to help you find the best SSD for your needs and budget, whether it's the Crucial T705 or an alternative.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

Loomly review

5:27 pm | March 18, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Software | Comments: Off

Loomly is one of the newer and snappier entries into TechRadar Pro's list of the best social media management tools, and with good reason. Built for the social media era, Loomly tries to make life simple for its users – which could soon include you.

We've already thoroughly tested the likes of Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Circleboom, and while these might be more familiar names in the social media space, Loomly is definitely worth checking out.

Loomly themselves tout huge time savings of 30 hours per week for average users, who can make use of the built-in 300 or more content ideas, which can be especially helpful for smaller organizations with fewer people to bounce ideas off.

Sign up for Loomly

There's a reason that the likes of Dior, Honda, BMW, The Salvation Army, Thomas Cook, and many more use Loomly's services to manage their brand posts across every major social media channel, and some smaller ones too.

Given the world we live in has become dominated by social media platforms, making sure your business can stay ahead of the pack is vitally important. Just having a company blog no longer cuts it in 2024, sadly, as users discover services via social media and everyone is competing for attention.

In this review, we're going to cover a lot of ground and make sure you can make an informed decision about whether Loomly is your pick for best social media manager in 2024. Let's dive in.

We've also featured the best small business software of 2024

Loomly social media — (Image credit: Future)

Plans and pricing

First, the good stuff: pricing. If you're a small business, or even a one-person operation, then cost is going to be very, very important and might weigh more on the decision than the respective features.

Loomly is priced very competitively and splits its service into four very easy to understand tiers: Basic, Standard, Advanced, and Premium. We'll go through each.

Basic: as the name suggests, this is the lowest level tier that Loomly offers, with support for 10 accounts, two users, and access to interactions, analytics, a hashtag manager, post previews, and more, for $32 per month.
Standard: billed as the most popular option, a Standard subscription gives you everything in Basic plus 20 accounts, six users, advanced analytics, content exports, and Slack and Teams integration, for $60 per month.
Advanced: for larger clients, this tier supports up to 35 accounts and 14 users, plus the ability to set custom roles, create custom workflows, and enjoy scheduled reports, all for $131 per month.
Premium: finally, for the biggest companies, Loomly offers a tier that can handle everything, including up to 50 accounts, 30 users, and the ability to add custom branding, plus everything else in the other three plans, for $277 per month.

All of these subscription tiers include a discount when paying annually, which might be something your organisation wants to do anyway – a nice little addition.

Loomly also offers an Enterprise tier that comes upon request, and includes tailored support via an account manager and the ability to scale up beyond even the heights of Premium, while getting a nice little discount.

Features

With pricing out of the way, let's get into the actual features that Loomly has on offer. As standard, Loomly supports all of the major social networks – Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Google, Snap, and so on – and that applies to all of the tiers, not just the more expensive ones, which is a nice touch.

All users can also access the ability to schedule unlimited posts, publish directly, manage hashtags, use link shorteners, and store unlimited assets on the platform. Compared to some of its rivals, that's a decent list.

Loomly also lets every user access an approval workflow (which is very handy given the downsides to posting things before they're ready) and the ability to set user roles. All but Basic get Slack and Teams integrations, too.

In terms of actual content creation, Loomly offers users Basic through Premium access to post previews, Google Drive, Canva, a post inspiration tool, the ability to reply to interactions, and an analytics dashboard.

Finally, Loomly's iOS and Android apps are available to all and really help with jotting down ideas on the go or making tweaks while you're out and about. Some rivals reserve the apps for higher tiers, so this is also a nice thought.

If you thought this section went on for a little it's because, well, Loomly is very generous with the "basic" features on its service, making this ideal for any organization that doesn't want to spend too much while being able to do a lot.

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Digging a little bit deeper, let's take a look at some of the more advanced features that Loomly offers. While the company is generous, there are some features your business might want to take advantage of that require a higher plan.

Starting off with an obvious one, Loomly lets Standard tiers and upwards access its advanced analytics, which does go into a lot more detail, as well as the ability to export results. Advanced and Premium users can also schedule reports.

Exporting content, such as analytics, lists, calendars, and posts, is also not something the Basic tier can manage, meaning you'll need to go for Standard or above if those workflows sound important.

Custom branding, something big organizations will surely want, is limited to only the most expensive Premium plan. Users can utilize a branded subdomain, custom favicon, and a custom logo as part of this feature set.

To close out this section, Loomly also offers access to over five million royalty-free images and videos, plus daily post inspiration to get the ideas flowing.

We've also featured the best business laptops in 2024

Analytics and reporting

Given that keeping track is one of, if not the main reason to use social media management platforms, this section might be the most important, depending on your organization, of course.

Loomly tracks a lot. Post-performance can be measured in real time across every single major social network, labels are available to help measure campaigns, and users can schedule analytics reports at regular intervals to help keep things under control.

The main aim is to help users get a better understanding of what's working and, importantly, what's not: not every post will be a smash hit, but over time you'll be able to build up a knowledge of what works.

Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (or Twitter) all get the detailed analytics treatment, with granular insights into how posts are performing, and the ability to create new posts to "mimic" those. Having everything in one place makes life so much easier, too.

Finally, Loomly offers loom.ly domains for its clients, helping you get additional data on who is opening your links, when, where, and why. It's a neat little addition.

User interface

For our money, Loomly has one of the best UIs out there when it comes to social media managers: everything is in the right place and easy to use, even advanced features and settings.

The company recently redesigned many of its core features to make everything that much smoother based on customer feedback and it's made a huge difference.

A great example is the rebuilt Post Builder, which, as you can imagine, is one of the main places you'll be hanging out in the app. Loomly worked on reducing the number of steps to create content, such as by introducing collapsable post ideas, the ability to close content, and new ways to label different pieces of work.

Loomly's ultimate goal is actually to automate much of your workflow – part of the reason there is a focus on mimicking older posts – and that bleeds into how you spend time actually using the app. Unlike some rivals, Loomly almost wants you to spend less time on there, or at least doing boring tasks.

As the company says of its website: organize away the chaos. By making Loomly your creative and organization hub for all things social media, life becomes a bit simpler.

We've also featured best website builder for small business of 2024

Support

As you might expect, support is handled very well, from the most basic to specific customer-by-customer help. Loomly publishes a blog, YouTube tutorials, and much more to answer many of the most basic questions.

On top of these, Loomly also publishes webinars and hosts specific courses to help users make the most of its powerful software. That's the thing, ultimately: Loomly wants users to get the absolute best bang for their buck.

We found the Help Center to be super useful for answering some early questions, and in fact it helped point us towards some things we didn't immediately know about before, which in turn helped improve our workflows.

As mentioned above, big enterprise clients are assigned a specific account manager to help them out in whatever way is necessary.

The competition

As we said above, TechRadar has spent many hours assessing the best social media management tools and found that SEMrush actually ranks the highest because it also includes an SEO management platform, plus the usual features, making it an ideal one-stop shop for everything your business needs online.

Hootsuite works the best for tracking analytics, although there is an over-arching focus on Twitter (or X), while Sprout Social ranks the highest for actually creating and posting content to the platforms.

Buffer offers great post tracking tools, on top of a great all-round platform, and Hubspot is amazing for automating workflows. Meanwhile, Circleboom has an OpenAI integration that can suggest posts, which is very high tech.

Basically, Loomly has a lot of competition! But don't let that dissuade you: if anything, the abundance of quality social media managers means that your organization is the winner, being able to choose exactly the software that fits the specific need of the business.

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Final verdict

The bit you've all been waiting for. Loomly offers a great all-round package of social media manager tools in one place, designed with the current landscape in mind and offering generous benefits across all of its tiers.

While some of its rivals might be more powerful in absolute terms (more features, and so on), what Loomly offers is a really friendly UI that takes only a moment to understand, underpinned by a powerful suite of tools that aids with every step of the process, from post creating to scheduling and managing your colleagues.

Campaign tracking is up there with the best, too, with the focus being on Loomly's calendar feature, which helps you and your coworkers be on the same page.

Working in social media can sometimes feel repetitive, and so automation is key to fighting that and at least remove some of the most tedious parts of setting up posts.

As if all of that wasn't enough, there's even a 15-day free trial on most plans.

So, to summarise, we recommend Loomly to a forward-looking business that wants the absolute best of social media management with all of the modern twists.

BenQ PD2705UA review: a photographer’s dream monitor

8:00 pm | March 17, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Monitors Peripherals & Accessories | Comments: Off

BenQ PD2705UA: Two-minute review

Unless you’re looking for a super-fast monitor for competitive gaming, there's very little to fault with the BenQ PD2705UA. It’s a fantastic display, whether for work tasks or those jobs that require greater accuracy such as photo and video editing.

While 27 inches may seem small when it comes to shopping for the best monitors, it will be the perfect size for those not wanting to be overwhelmed by their display. In fact, it has all the makings of the best 4K monitors for most people, with any issues I’ve had with the BenQ PD2705UA pretty minimal.

For instance, the sound quality isn’t anything to shout about; but then I've yet to come across a monitor that has really delivered in that realm. Plus, you can always use a set of speakers.

When it comes to what makes this monitor special, I have to start with its ergonomics, specifically the PD Ergo Arm. Instead of the usual stand, it clamps onto the lip of the desk for incredible stability. From there, you can swivel the monitor to either side by a massive 275 degrees. Its tilt is a bit more modest at five degrees down and 30 up, although I don’t find it to be too bothersome. More interestingly, it’s very easy to pivot the screen 90 degrees into portrait mode – perfect for coders.

A BenQ PD2705UA monitor on a desk — (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Also worth mentioning about the Ergo Arm is the fact that cable management is built right into it for a very clean-looking setup.

Port selection impresses, too, with HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C options. The latter is particularly welcome; I no longer need a dongle to plug in a MacBook, plus it comes with charging to keep that MacBook juiced up during use.

There’s also a USB-hub with KVM capabilities, so you can use the same keyboard and mouse no matter the source – and while this isn't a new feature, it’s implemented well here. Again, that USB-C shines insofar that you don’t need an upstream cable connected to that computer to use the KVM feature. Unfortunately, there’s only one upstream cable included, despite the inclusion of two ports. As such, if you want to use the KVM feature between an HDMI and DisplayPort source, you’ll have to invest in an extra cable.

As far as controls are concerned, they’re situated on the monitor's back-right corner and consist of three buttons and a joystick. Using them to navigate the OSD menu is about as straightforward and intuitive as it gets. However, BenQ also includes a hotkey puck with a dial for some easy manipulation, which can be customized in the OSD menu.

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The display itself is a 27-inch IPS panel with a 4K resolution at 60Hz. Unless you want total immersion, which I think is more important for gaming over anything else, it’s actually the perfect size. And, with 99% Rec.709, 99% sRGB color coverage, it’s vibrant enough for any media and can handle any color work you need to complete.

While it’s plenty bright at 250 nits, its 350 nits peak in HDR is only adequate. It’s nice to have, but I do wish HDR was a bit better. However, considering this is a sub-$600 monitor with so much going on, I’m not surprised.

There are some additional features that really add to the experience, though, with two that photo editors in particular will appreciate. First, there are a number of color modes (specifically: Animation, CAD/CAM, Darkroom, DICOM, HDR, Low Blue Light, M-Book, Rec.709, sRGB, User) for different situations, so you can adjust the color coverage and temperature for your work or for matching your laptop’s screen – the M-Book to match an Apple laptop’s XDR display, for instance.

The second is an extension of those color modes. Specifically, you can split the screen between any two color modes so that you can see what your work will look like on different screens.

Additionally, Picture-In-Picture and Picture-By-Picture are available with the BenQ PD2705UA. My only issue with either is the fact that it takes a bit of work to adjust each source’s resolution manually to fill the screen, although that’s probably more of an issue with Windows than with the monitor.

As mentioned before, the BenQ PD2705UA comes with two 2.5W speakers. It isn't particularly loud, there’s little bass, and it can sound a little boxy. However, it will do in a pinch, if need be. That said, I'd recommend using the monitor with a set of external speakers, especially for any audio work when working on video.

BenQ PD2705UA: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $549.99 / £549.99 / AU$739
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK and Australia

A price tag of $549.99 / £549.99 / AU$739 could be considered pricey; but if you consider all that the BenQ PPD2705UA has to offer, it’s more than reasonable. Especially if you have an awkward setup and are in need of its ergonomics or want good color coverage.

Consider, for instance, the LG 32UN880, which has been around for a few years already. It’s still priced higher, even though we reviewed it back in 2020. At the time, it went for $699 (£599, AU$1,203) and now seems to hover closer to $630. Of course, it's bigger at 32 inches and has a similarly useful ergonomic arm, not to mention top-notch color coverage (or 4K resolution). However, the cable management and range of KVM implementation on the BenQ PD2705UA is better.

This BenQ model is just a bit cheaper than the BenQ PD2706UA I reviewed last year priced at $629.99 (about £503.60, AU$932.65). And, as far as I can tell, the PD2706UA is just a bit brighter with a focus on its DCI-P3 color coverage.

Price: 4 / 5

BenQ PD2705UA: Specs

Should you buy the BenQ PD2705UA?

Buy the BenQ PD2705UA if...

You need a great screen for photo editing
With 99% sRGB and Rec.709 color coverage, not to mention that sharp 4K resolution, accuracy of photo editing work won't be an issue with this monitor.

You care about ergonomics
The Ergo Arm stands above typical stands in more than just a literal way. It can turn in all sorts of directions, making it perfect for those who have an awkward setup or want to put their monitor in portrait mode.

Don't buy it if...

You want a high refresh rate
If you’re looking for a high-refresh-rate monitor, this isn't for you. It’s capped at 60Hz and is meant for creatives and worker bees, not competitive gamers.

You’re on a budget
While the price is good for those who need such a monitor, technically it still can't be classed as cheap. Of course, for editing work, you’re better off saving up for a monitor such as this over opting for a cheap model.

BenQ PD2705UA: Also consider

If my BenQ PD2705UA review has you looking for other options, here are two more monitors to consider...

How I tested the BenQ PD2705UA

Used regularly for a week
Tested with multiple sources
Tried out all the features

I used the BenQ PD2705UA regularly for a week. While I did play some games on it (which went very well), it was mainly used as intended. I tried multiple sources and used the various features to see how well they worked, especially the KVM and various color modes. I also played around with the Ergo Arm to assess its limitations.

Having used this monitor, it’s clear that it’s meant for professionals and creatives, particularly photographers, who want a great monitor that doesn’t break the bank.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years, from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise to deliver an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

BenQ PD2705UA: Price & availability

TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5: the best DDR5 RAM you’re going to find at this price

6:08 pm | March 14, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Computing Components Gadgets | Tags: RAM | Comments: Off

TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5: Two-minute review

The TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 isn't the effective default DDR5 RAM for most custom builds just for its pretty aesthetics, as it turns out.

It's been about two years now since the best DDR5 RAM kits started hitting the market, and as more and more consumers have upgraded their systems to DDR5-capable processors from Intel and AMD, TeamGroup's T-Force Delta RGB has been a mainstay for builders and casual upgraders alike for its mix of fantastic design, awesome performance, and accessible price.

The RAM kit I reviewed, currently priced at $109.99 (about £90 / AU$150), is not the cheapest DDR5 RAM on the market, but it is the best RAM at this price point that we've tested, offering an incredible value on balance against much more expensive kits on the market.

A set of TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 RAM modules in a motherboard — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The design of the Delta RGB DDR5 modules is sleek as hell, featuring an aluminum heat spreader finished in matte black. This choice not only provides an attractive (if aggressive) look but also ensures effective heat dissipation.

While the branding on the heat spreader may not be to everyone's taste, it does little to detract from the overall design quality. Standing at a height of 46.1mm, these memory modules are built to fit comfortably under the best CPU coolers, though a compatibility check is always recommended before buying.

Given its RGB branding, illumination is a key feature of the Delta RGB DDR5, with RGB lighting integrated through a diffuser along the top, enhanced by a distinctive 'R' cut-out on the heat spreader for an even more captivating display. You'll need to check your motherboard compatibility for the RGB scheme, but given TeamGroup's prominence, you're likely to be fine as far as RGB compatibility goes.

Out of the box, the memory operates at DDR5-4800 with standard timings (which aren't great, to be honest), but engaging XMP profiles can raise the performance to DDR5-6000, with a slight adjustment in voltage and timings. This fine-tuning capability highlights the memory's balance between default efficiency and the potential for enhanced performance.

Overclocking the memory revealed substantial headroom, with minimal voltage increases yielding significant performance improvements, raising it to the top of the list of RAM kits running at 6000 MHz.

For most people, this is going to be more than sufficient for their needs, underscoring the TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5's appeal to enthusiasts who want both out-of-the-box efficiency and the ability to push their hardware beyond standard specifications.

In the end, it's easy to see why TeamGroup's T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 is often found in custom PCs and topping the lists of sought-after components for the PC build community, given the excellent balance of price, performance, and design. As far as midrange DDR5 RAM kits go, you really can't get much better.

TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5: Price & availability

How much does it cost? $109.99 (about £90 / AU$150)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 RAM kit is available in the US, UK, and Australia. There are a whole plethora of speeds and timings available that make it unwieldy to track here, but the kit we reviewed, a 2 x 16GB kit running at 6,000MHz / CL30, will run you $109.99 (about £90 / AU$150).

This is the lowest price of the various DDR5 RAM kits we've tested that are running at 6,000 MHz, and given that its performance generally outpaces its rivals, there's no question that this is among the best values you're going to find for a midrange DDR5 RAM kit right now.

TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5: Specs

Should you buy the TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5?

Buy the TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 if...

You want the best performing DDR5 RAM for the price
The best thing about this RAM kit is the level of performance on offer for the lowest price at this speed.

You want great looking RAM for your build
Between the stylish silouette and the RGB trim, this is some great looking RAM.

Don't buy it if...

You want the absolute fastest RAM
While I tested a midrange RAM kit, the T-Force Delta RGB caps out at a lower level than some other RAM kits.

You're on a restricted budget
At more than $100 (about £80/AU$140), this RAM kit is hardly the cheapest DDR5 kit on the market right now.

TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5: Also consider

If my TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 review has you looking for other options, here is another DDR5 option to consider...

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2024

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