This year’s incarnation of the CES fair will be like no other. Last year, nearly 175,000 attendees filled the Las Vegas Convention Center and hotels across the Strip to catch a glimpse of the latest and greatest gadgets. This obviously cannot happen now. But the show must go on, and we still expect an incredible deluge of hardware to be unveiled at CES 2021 fully virtual, which runs from January 11th to January 14th.
Much of CES is dedicated to smart home technology, and ads have already started rolling out on our sister site TechHive. We are also certain to see a new Galaxy Phone from Samsung. But expect to see many new developments in PC hardware that are also revealing. Let’s dig.
Intel
New computer processors and graphics chips serve as the basis for new generations of laptops and desktops. We expect to see a lot of chip action at CES 2021.
First (literally): Intel. Gregory Bryant, head of Intel’s client computing group, is giving a speech entitled “Do more with computing power” at 1 pm Pacific time on Jan. 11, which you can watch on Intel’s news page. Given the title, we can hear more about the company’s “Evo” push for premium laptop experiences and perhaps see the 11th generation 8-core “Tiger Lake” chip sparked last fall. (Tiger Lake’s current lineup reaches four cores.) Intel’s H series gaming gaming chips are about to be upgraded (the 10th generation “Comet Lake H” processors launched last April), so we could hear more about it during CES 2021 as well.
Intel Key features of Intel’s upcoming Rocket Lake platform.
We definitely expect to hear about Rocket Lake, the 11th generation of desktop chips from Intel. Intel has said that Rocket Lake processors will be launched in the first quarter of the year, bringing double-digit IPC improvements and PCIe 4.0 capabilities to help battle AMD’s Ryzen resurgence. Rocket Lake will use a new “Cypress Cove” CPU architecture – although it is rumored that it will be manufactured using the old 14nm process instead of the 10nm found on Tiger Lake – and will include Intel’s new Xe graphics.
Leaks from real motherboard vendors sparking new Z590 models, but confirm that Rocket Lake will be announced at CES 2021.
OMG
However, don’t expect Intel’s main rival to be quiet. AMD recovered the desktop crown with its fantastic Ryzen 5000 series. They were launched in the fall, and we expect to see notebook chips based on the same 7 nm “Zen 3” architecture announced at CES 2021, serving as a continuation of the Ryzen mobile series 4000 of great success.
You should always accept rumors with a great grain of salt, but cell phone leaks on the Ryzen 5000 have been coming from left to right in the last month. Hopefully, the gigantic increases in CPI on desktop chips move to these mobile variants. Some initial rumors suggest that the Ryzen 5000 line will use two different architectures: Cezanne, a Zen 3 design, and also Lucienne based on Zen 2. We will soon know if this is true, as AMD CEO Lisa Su will make a lecture at CES 2021 at 8 am, in the Pacific, on January 12th.
OMGWe anticipate a successor to AMD’s fantastic Ryzen 4000 mobile chips at CES 2021.
Hopefully, AMD will reveal new graphics products of some kind as well. The company’s Radeon graphics division has just launched a new generation of graphics cards with the Radeon RX 6000 series, but we’ve only seen the cutting-edge Radeon RX 6800 series and the flagship Radeon RX 6900 XT so far. All three GPUs cost more than $ 500. Fingers crossed, we hear about more affordable graphics cards with AMD’s new RDNA 2 architecture in-house, although given the intense supply crisis for next generation GPUs, new models may be a disappearance for now. Laptop versions of the RX 6000 series are also possible, but it seems unlikely to happen yet.
It’s a long shot, but we would also love to hear more about FidelityFX Super Resolution. At the launch of the Radeon RX 6000 series, AMD introduced the technology as a more open and multiplatform alternative to Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 AI upscaling technology, but said more details would come later. DLSS 2.0 gives Nvidia’s GeForce GPUs a huge performance boost in compatible titles and makes a big difference when edge-to-edge tracking effects are enabled. AMD needs to release the details of Super Resolution sooner rather than later. Could CES 2021 be the place?
Nvidia
Nvidia Speaking of Nvidia, the company is holding its own event adjacent to CES. “GeForce RTX: Game On” will air on January 12 at 9 am in the Pacific, right after the AMD event closes. Ufa! Given the name and the fact that it is being hosted by GeForce senior vice president Jeff Fisher, this event should offer new advantages for players.
The big news should be the RTX 30 series graphics chips for gaming laptops, if leaks before the show are an indication. Videocardz says Nvidia is preparing mobile versions of the GeForce RTX 3060, 3070 and 3080, although the laptop’s chips may offer fewer CUDA cores than its full-fat desktop brothers. If Intel or AMD really plans to launch new notebook processors, having a new GeForce mobile line to accompany them would be important for Nvidia.
However, it may not be all laptops. Nvidia has a two-month lead over AMD with its GeForce RTX 30 series desktop GPUs, so we were able to hear about more affordable Ampere-powered offerings like the GeForce RTX 3060 or 3050. (The RTX 3060 Ti is already here and it’s amazing .) We could also see the amplified RTX 3070 Ti and 3080 Ti variants revealed to combat AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 boards, although the non-Ti versions are only a few months old and difficult to find. AMD came out strong in this generation, and Nvidia hates not being the clear winner in reference charts. It’s easy to imagine Nvidia launching a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with performance similar to the 3090 and anywhere from 12 GB to 20 GB of memory, just to kick the Radeon RX 6900 XT in the teeth.
Laptops, desktops and components
Of course, there must be containers for all of these exciting new chips to be shipped. Expect to see lots of laptop and desktop ads at CES 2021 and customized versions of any new components unveiled at the fair. Think about third-party versions of GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards or potentially Intel Z590 motherboards.
AcerAcer’s recently announced Predator XB273U NX monitor combines 1440p resolution with 265 Hz refresh rates and Nvidia’s Reflex Latency Analyzer technology.
We already saw a handful of ads this week before the show. Acer unveiled a trio of luxurious, ultra-fast game monitors; Acer and Samsung announced new Chromebooks; Lenovo launched new IdeaPad and Yoga laptops that function as an Amazon Echo Show; and Dell showcased business-oriented PCs and monitors.
Consider them the tip of the iceberg. We hope to see many more announcements after the formal unveiling of new chips from Intel, AMD and Nvidia. Many of the biggest PC vendors have their own events planned for CES week:
The Consumer Technology Association reveals the Innovation Award winners even before CES started, and the honorees include hardware from HP, Dell and Lenovo, so we hope to see ads from these companies during the fair as well. If a series of new CPUs, GPUs and motherboard chipsets are actually announced, we expect to see related ads from companies like Alienware, LG, Gigabyte, EVGA, Samsung and possibly system integrators like Falcon Northwest and Origin PC. their launches may not be formally linked to the program itself.
Asus A screen capture of the Asus ROG Citadel XV app that shows the new products unveiled at CES 2021.
That said, we heard from several smaller PC vendors who typically showcase new products in Vegas who are not planning any ads for the CES 2021 virtual event. Don’t expect to see the variety of exotic and enthusiast-focused specials that are often revealed in typical electronic product fairs.
In addition to upgraded computers and new computer components, expect to see new peripherals as well. CES tends to be popular for monitor and router ads, for example, and the Wi-Fi Alliance started certifying Wi-Fi 6E devices yesterday. CES 2021 would be the perfect place to roll out the red carpet for Wi-Fi 6E routers.
That ends things. Stay tuned to PCWorld next week to see how many of those predictions come true. It is turning into a spectacular CES for computer geeks.