In last year's workstation Labs (see issue 336, p74), Intel staged a comeback, at least at the lower end of the price range. The good news is that, 12 months later, there's a new generation of Intel Core i9 CPUs that are still competitive against a new generation of AMD Ryzen processors. But the high end is back to being dominated by AMD, now that the Ryzen Threadripper Pro is generally available.
This year, we stuck with the same price points of £4,500 inc VAT for the lower end and £10,000 for the higher end. While the lower figure is still realistic for a very capable general workstation, the higher one was more problematic. Inflation has meant that most manufacturers have had to make compromises rather than deliver the best of every component at this price.
The result has been many different choices and combinations, giving us the biggest variety that we've seen in this category for many years. Instead of essentially the same CPU and GPU choices for the two different prices, with only the quality of implementation to separate them, almost every system this month has a different balance of these two key components. There's even a promising new AMD Radeon Pro graphics card in attendance.
Denne historien er fra Summer 2023-utgaven av PC Pro.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2023-utgaven av PC Pro.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 (AMD)
By no means the last word in excitement, but the ThinkPad E16 is a good-value choice for business users
Huawei MateBook D16
The best and biggest screen here, plus a powerful Core i9 processor, ensure the MateBook D16 stands out
Acer Aspire Go 14
It's tough to argue with this laptop's value for money or battery life, but speed lovers should look elsewhere
HP Spectre x360 16 (2024)
This sleek 2kg convertible packs everything you need, including a Core Ultra chip and optional Nvidia graphics
Five ways to get cloud computing wrong
Don't let your migration projects go up in smoke. Steve Cassidy runs through the blunders to avoid
Control your computer with your face and head -it's the future!
As if to show nothing is new in the world of technology, eye tracking and gesture control date back decades. But if Apple's on board, maybe their time has finally come, suggests Nicole Kobie
Chip off the old block
Standalone sales of the Z80 CPU have finally been discontinued after 48 years. David Crookes looks back on a chip with a staggering impact
Cloud backup 2024
Whether it's through attack or error, your business data is always at risk. Dave Mitchell explains how cloud services can add extra protection and puts four contenders to the test
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra
A brilliant advert for resinbased 3D printing, with a host of features that make it easy to obtain great results
HP All-in-One 27 cr-0014na PC
A speedy and temptingly priced all-in-one PC with a fine 27in display-but note its 1080p resolution