108 PCWorld JULY 2019HERE’S HOW INTEL’S 10TH-GEN CPU
be faster, but probably not enough for most
people to tell the difference. Its fancy new AI
performance offers an advantage only in
apps that can use it. The encoding will be
much faster only if the software supports it.
For the average user buying an ultrathin
laptop to drive Office or a web browser, the
difference between an 8th-gen laptop and
10th-gen laptop will mostly be incremental.
It’s not the quantum leap we saw with the
change from 7th gen to 8th gen, where you
doubled the amount of CPU cores.- GAMING IS BETTER, BUT
IT’S NOT A GAMING LAPTOP
Graphics performance on the new 10th-gen
cores are indeed a big step forward for
integrated graphics. Adaptive Sync support
also helps by smoothing out less-than-ideal
frame rates.
Unfortunately, these big improvements
don’t mean 10th-gen laptops can suddenly
game. Far from it. In fact, if you look again at
the “1080p Gaming” chart above, the
performance will probably be far worse with
newer games. We’re not being haters but if
you want to play games on a thin, light,
10th-gen machine, learn how to use an
external GPU with a laptop (go.pcworld.
com/xtgc) for far better results. - 10TH-GEN LAPTOPS WILL
BE PRICIER
If you’re driven by a deal more than sheer
performance, 8th-gen laptops are the better
choice at the moment. In the early days,
sparse availability will keep 10th-gen prices
high. The new LPDDR4X RAM will also add
to the cost. When 10th-gen laptops finally
roll out in large volumes, you’ll see 8th-gen
laptops offering discounts and other
incentives.- 10TH-GEN LAPTOPS WILL
BE HARD TO GET
There are two kinds of CPU launches: The
kind where the new CPU seems to replace
the previous model overnight, and the kind
where both live alongside each other in
harmony for so long, you’re confused as to
which one to buy. Like this time. If you have
to buy a laptop today for work or school, it’ll
be far easier and more affordable to get a
good 8th-gen laptop. - 8TH-GEN WHISKEY LAKE
LAPTOPS ARE REALLY,
REALLY GOOD
Intel’s 10th-gen CPUs bring a lot of new
advantages, but the current 8th-gen
“Whiskey Lake” laptops are really, really
good. They’re so good that the move to
10th-gen is going to be incremental for
most people. Unless you must always have
the newest hardware, or you really live on
the edge of performance, buying from
today’s 8th-gen Whiskey Lake CPUs is not
a mistake.