CES 2025 is here to start the new year off strong with some spicy tech!
We love CES. There are so many amazing tech announcements and gadgets to get heart eyes over – it’s like Christmas all over again. Over the next few days, we will be updating this blog article with all the hot goss coming out of Las Vegas, so be sure to give this a bookmark and check back every day. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this year’s event, too, so get commenting!
CES is a yearly event that takes place in Las Vegas, where all the big names in tech come together to show off their wares. This year’s event is happening from January 7th to 10th, and NVIDIA has already kicked things off with their keynote speech that happened on the 6th. (More on that later!)
With the likes of Intel, AMD, ASUS, and MSI in attendance, we’re sure to see plenty of innovative announcements. From new hardware to advances in AI, 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for tech.
For the first time, the Pro Gamers Group is attending CES! In our booth, we’ll be showcasing a selection of our top Pro Gamersware brands, including Ducky, Aerocool, noblechairs, HAVN, Endgame Gear, APNX, Nitro Concepts, Streamplify, and ThunderX3.
The highlight of Intel’s hardware announcements was the Intel Core Ultra mobile processors. With H, HX, and U models coming to the Intel Core Ultra 200 Series, there are some pretty exciting developments in gaming laptops coming our way – hopefully towards the end of Q1 2025.
The H and HX models are predominantly aimed at gamers, with the 200HX Series primed for enthusiast-grade performance and the 200H Series featuring premium integrated Intel Arc graphics. The 200U Series is more likely to be for everyday use, so we’re going to focus on the HX and H models here.
| Feature | Core Ultra 9 285HX |
Core Ultra 9 275HX |
Core Ultra 7 265HX |
Core Ultra 7 255HX |
Core Ultra 5 245HX |
Core Ultra 5 235HX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 8P + 16E | 8P + 16E | 8P + 12E | 8P + 12E | 6P + 8E | 6P + 8E |
| Threads | 24 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 14 |
| L3 Cache | 36MB | 36MB | 30MB | 30MB | 24MB | 24MB |
| P-Core Max Clock | 5.5GHz | 5.4GHz | 5.3GHz | 5.2GHz | 5.1GHz | 5.1GHz |
| E-Core Max Clock | 2.8GHz | 2.7GHz | 2.6GHz | 2.4GHz | 3.1GHZ | 2.9GHz |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics | Intel Graphics | Intel Graphics | Intel Graphics | Intel Graphics | Intel Graphics |
| Max TDP | 57W | 57W | 57W | 57W | 57W | 57W |
| Feature | Core Ultra 9 285H |
Core Ultra 7 265H |
Core Ultra 7 255H |
Core Ultra 5 245H |
Core Ultra 5 235H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 6P + 8E + 2LPE | 6P + 8E + 2LPE | 6P + 8E + 2LPE | 4P + 8E + 2LPE | 4P + 8E + 2LPE |
| Threads | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| L3 Cache | 24MB | 24MB | 24MB | 18MB | 18MB |
| P-Core Max Clock | 5.4GHz | 5.3GHz | 5.1GHz | 5.0GHz | 4.9GHz |
| Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics | Intel Arc Graphics |
| Max TDP | 115W | 115W | 115W | 115W | 115W |
In benchmark testing, both the 200HX and 200H Series mobile processors outperform their closest equivalent competitors. By considerable margins in certain workflows!
Of course, the buzzword from all the big manufacturers was AI, and this includes Intel. All their latest processors are enhanced by their AI Acceleration Program, which promises 200+ ISVs, 400+ AI features, and 500+ AI models supported. The dedicated NPUs are more than capable of handling current and future AI workloads.
If you didn’t catch Intel’s keynote speech, you can watch it here.
The big news to come from AMD this year was all about processors, with just hints that info on RDNA 4 and FSR 4 will be coming soon. Not that they didn’t give us plenty to be excited about in the meantime!
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D was a game changer when it launched last year, so to say we are hyped for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is an understatement! This CPU brings 3D V-Cache to a sixteen-core processor with all the benefits of Zen 5 architecture and a tasty 5.7GHz boost speed. As a result, AMD can confidently claim this is the best processor for gaming and content creation on the consumer market. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D will also be launching at the same time, hopefully around March.
| Feature | Ryzen 9 9950X3D | Ryzen 9 9900X3D |
|---|---|---|
| Cores | 16 | 12 |
| Threads | 32 | 24 |
| 3D V-Cache | 144MB | 140MB |
| Base Clock | 4.3GHz | 4.4GHz |
| Boost Clock | 5.7GHz | 5.5GHz |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon Graphics | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| Graphics Core Count | 2 | 2 |
| TDP | 170W | 120W |
In addition to this, AMD Ryzen 9000X3D processors are coming to gaming laptops! AMD announced the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D mobile CPU, alongside the Ryzen 9 9955HX and 9 9850HX processors. Code named “Fire Range”, the flagship X3D model features 16 cores, 32 threads, Zen 5 architecture, and innovative 3D V-Cache to bring incredible gaming performance to the laptop market.
| Feature | Ryzen 9 9955X3D | Ryzen 9 9955X | Ryzen 9 9850X |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 16 | 16 | 12 |
| Threads | 32 | 32 | 24 |
| 3D V-Cache | 144MB | 80MB | 76MB |
| Base Clock | 2.5GHz | 2.5GHz | 3.0GHz |
| Boost Clock | 5.4GHz | 5.4GHz | 5.2GHz |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 610M graphics | AMD Radeon 610M graphics | AMD Radeon 610M graphics |
| TDP | 55-75W | 55-75W | 45-75W |
In June last year, AMD launched their AMD Ryzen AI 300 mobile processors. At CES 2025, they announced that Ryzen 7 and 5 models will be joining the line-up – bringing AI-enhanced performance, all-day battery life, and optimised multi-tasking to a wider range of users. Code named “Kraken Point”, these mobile processors will utilise Zen 5 architecture and an XDNA 2 NPU to optimise your gaming and AI workflows, all within thin and light laptops. These are expected at some point in Q1 2025.
On top of this, they are taking AI-enhanced mobile CPUs to the max with the AMD Ryzen AI MAX Series. These processors combine fastest integrated graphics, increased memory bandwidth, leading CPU performance, and next-gen NPUs to bring unparalleled performance in a Windows laptop chip.
On a single chip, there will be 16 Zen 5 cores to enhance multi-tasking, 40 RDNA 3.5 graphics compute units, and a 50 TOPS XDNA 3 NPU with unified memory architecture – all operating at a 55W TPD! The unified memory allows for 128GB cache for both the CPU and GPU, with a 256Gbps bandwidth.
If you missed AMD’s keynote speech, here is the full video!
NVIDIA knows how to kickstart CES. This year’s keynote speech was packed with spicy innovations, product announcements, and how AI is going to revolutionise tech and gaming. If you haven’t caught it yet, we have the full two-hour video right here, but we’ll be going over our highlights below.
It’s finally here! The RTX 50 Series rumours have been circulating since last year, and we are excited to see the official announcement and specifications.
Based on Blackwell architecture, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series harnesses the full potential of AI enhancements, achieving mind-blowing results and incredible uptick in performance on Ada Lovelace architecture. The 5th-gen Tensor and 4th-gen RT cores work with up to 21,760 CUDA cores (RTX 5090) to render your games and creative workloads in phenomenal detail. Plus, advances in DLSS 4, Reflex 2, and other NVIDIA technologies are set to boost performance even further. In fact, DLSS 4 can predict and generate up to three frames ahead, while Reflex 2 will reduce latency in games by up to 75%!
The real game changer for Blackwell is neural rendering. Marking the next era of computer graphics, these GPUs integrate neural networks into the rendering process to bring a level of detail in real-time rendering that we haven’t seen before. RTX Neural Shaders, like Neural Texture Compression and Neural Material Shading, will create cinematic-quality texture and lighting in real-time and are set to drive the next decade of graphic innovations. Neural rendering is the future!
The other big upgrade is video memory. NVIDIA RTX 50 Series takes the leap from GDDR6 to GDDR7 memory. Boasting speeds up to 30Gbps and a bandwidth up to 1.8TB/s, these GPUs are equipped with the world’s fastest memory.
Both dedicated GPUs and RTX 50 Series laptops were announced during CES. The RTX 5090 is set to be an absolute beast, delivering double the output of an RTX 4090 and able to play the likes of Black Myth: Wukong at 4K 240Hz/FPS with full ray-tracing and maxed out settings. Also announced were the GeForce RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070 – with release dates for January and February! The detail that really caught our eye was the fact that the RTX 5070 delivers the same performance as the RTX 4090. GeForce RTX 4090 performance at a fraction of the price? Yes, please!
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series laptops will feature an RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, or RTX 5070 – with launch dates from March. The Blackwell Max-Q suite optimises performance and battery life, enabling all that RTX 50 Series performance in a sleek, slimline package. Enjoy double the performance of RTX 40 Series laptops with 40% better battery life in a laptop as thin as 14.9mm!
If you’d like to learn more about each GPU in detail, we have a dedicated RTX 50 Series Hub with all the links you could need.
AI is the topic at the moment, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series is powered by all the latest innovations to make these graphics cards more powerful and efficient. In addition to DLSS 4, Reflex 2, and Neural Shaders, AI is being used to boost creative workflows, too. Streamers can take advantage of new features on NVIDIA Broadcast, as well as new AI agents to assist during livestreams. Game devs can use NVIDIA ACE to power NPCs and bosses to make them act more like human players and dynamically learning from player behaviour.
AI is being used to advance performance and streamline your workflows across the board, and we’re excited to see where these graphics cards take us!