XMG Ultra & NEO Laptops Close-Up & Teardown At CES: Enthusiast Laptops With Up To i9-13900HX & RTX 4090

XMG provided us with a press tour of its CES 2023 exhibit, during which we got an up-close look at its next-generation Ultra and NEO enthusiast laptops, both of which were equipped with an i9-13900HX and an RTX 4090.

XMG is Going Nuts With Its Next-Gen Ultra & NEO Lineup of Enthusiast Laptops, Featuring Flagship Intel Core i9-13900HX CPUs & NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPUs XMG is Going Nuts With Its Next-Gen Ultra & NEO

The lineup of Enthusiast Laptop

A few days ago, we discussed XMG’s roadmap, which details the company’s whole stack of 2023 lines and includes the Ultra, NEO, PRO, and Focus ranges. The Ultra unit presented to us was a prototype, but it offered complete support for the Oasis cooling unit, which now comes with a magnetic tubing lock. This was one of the selling points of the Ultra unit.

Additionally, we saw the interior heatsink assembly, comprised of a large assortment of heat pipes. In contrast, the Oasis has its own thermal heat pipe loop positioned right above the GPU. During the performance demonstration, we saw a temperature drop of 10-15 degrees Celsius while utilizing the Oasis. Still, the GPU reached its maximum temperature of 85 degrees Celsius when the Oasis did not cool it.

Statement to the Press: January 5th and 6th, 2023, in Las Vegas and Leipzig, Germany — XMG will be presenting their brand-new, top-of-the-line gaming laptops from the NEO series at CES 2023. The XMG NEO 16 is the first 16.0″ variant of this model series, and just like the XMG NEO 17, which is identical in most aspects of its specifications, it combines fully maxed-out power limits with the Intel Core i9-13900HX processor and NVIDIA graphics cards up to the GeForce RTX 4090. The XMG NEO 17 is also identical in most aspects of its specifications.

Compatibility with the XMG OASIS liquid cooling system for external laptops is a feature that is unique to NEO laptops and sets them apart from other laptops. In addition, they include high-speed WQXGA screens with a resolution of 240 hertz in a 16:10 aspect ratio, a configuration option for mechanical keyboards with CHERRY MX ULP Tactile switches, DDR5-5600 or DDR6-400 RAM, and opportunities for overclocking RAM and undervolting CPUs.

Core i9-13900HX and GeForce graphics cards up to RTX 4090 are included in Fujitsu’s XMG NEO (E23).

XMG’s NEO E23 model generation laptops, which represent the company’s pinnacle of performance in the realm of portable computing, are the first to contain the most recent components available from both Intel and NVIDIA. The NEO 16 and the NEO 17 include a central processing unit (CPU) powered by Intel’s Core i9-13900HX. This CPU has 24 cores (8 P-cores and 16 E-cores), 32 threads, and 36 MB of cache.

Compared to mobile processors with the H and HK suffixes, the Core i9 with the HX suffix provides significantly more cores and performance. However, in the case of the 12th Core generation, the differences between the seats in terms of their specifications and, therefore, their version were noticeably smaller. The Intel Core i9-13900HX achieves a staggering 30,331 (NEO 16) and 30,483 (NEO 17) on the multi-core portion of the CineBench R23 benchmark.

In terms of graphics cards, not only is there an update to NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 40 series, but there is also a wider variety than in prior NEO laptops. In each instance, the acceptable power restrictions are pushed to their absolute maximum. This is true for the RTX 4090 and 4080, which each have a full graphics power of up to 175 watts, and the RTX 4070 and 4060, which each have a full graphics power of up to 140 watts.

A potent air cooling system, power limitations, and an optional liquid cooling system are included.

When one considers the components’ ability to maintain their performance over time, one realizes that the air cooling mechanism of the XMG NEO laptops is quite potent: At full load, as measured by CineBench R23, the constantly sustained CPU package power of the Core i9-13900HX is around 100 watts (NEO 16) and 125 watts (NEO 17).

Even the GeForce RTX 4090 can perform the 3DMark Time Spy stress test at its maximum power setting of 175 watts without experiencing thermal throttling. When compared to the XMG NEO 15 (E22) from the previous year, which included an Intel processor, this is owing, in part, to the substantially more powerful air conditioning system.

An interconnected system with five heat pipes, separate heat sinks on all four air outlets, two large fans with low-frequency, unobtrusive sound characteristics, and liquid metal (Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut) are utilized to cool the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) in both the NEO 16 and NEO 17 models.

In addition, the XMG OASIS laptop liquid cooling system, which is an optional extra, can be used to cool the NEO laptops. This results in significantly lower temperatures for both the CPU and the GPU, which allows for a quieter overall operation of the system, mainly when it is under full load or when it is being used for gaming.

The OASIS system will undergo several further enhancements in preparation for the launch of the next generation of laptops. One of these enhancements will be installing a magnetic docking mechanism for the liquid cooling ports on the laptops. Later, XMG will issue a second press statement in which they will go into further detail. By simply switching off the connecting tubes, pre-existing OASIS water cooling systems may be retrofitted to work with brand-new laptop models beginning with the E23 generation.

RAM of type DDR5 with possibilities for manual tuning and two M.2 SSDs connected through PCIe 4.0

Memory and storage options are versatile thanks to the inclusion of two SO-DIMM sockets for up to 64 GB DDR5 RAM and two M.2 connectors for quick PCI Express 4.0 solid-state drives. XMG provides customers with specialized tuning options for the RAM, enabling them to get the most out of their system’s clock frequencies and timings.

In addition, it is intended to equip both the NEO 16 and the NEO 17 with specially designed DDR5-6400 overclocking DRAM modules provided with CL40 latency. However, we have not yet made a statement on the date when the product will be available.

IPS panels that are quick and have a resolution of 16:10 with 2560 by 1600 pixels and a current connection

The screen properties of the XMG NEO 16, which has a display size of 16.0 inches, and the XMG NEO 17, which has a display size of 17.0 inches, are comparable with one another. The IPS panels come in a 16:10 aspect ratio and have a resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels and a refresh rate of 240 hertz. The brightness and coverage of the sRGB colour space are 380 nits and 99 percent (NEO 17), respectively, whereas the coverage of the sRGB colour space is above 95 percent at 350 nits (NEO 16).

The connection is the same throughout. It is essential to highlight that the integrated DisplayPort stream of the Thunderbolt 4 connection is again directly connected to the NVIDIA discrete graphics processing unit (dGPU) in the NEO 16 and NEO 17 with Intel CPUs from the 13th Core generation.

They are, therefore, completely compatible with the VR headsets already on the market and enable the attachment of an external G-SYNC display using either the Thunderbolt 4 connector or the HDMI 2.1 port, both of which are linked to the discrete graphics processing unit (dGPU). In addition, there is a connector for a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, three USB A 3.2 ports, a card reader that is compatible with full-size SD cards, and separate jacks for microphones and headphones (compatible with combo plug headsets). Certification for Wi-Fi x is being worked on and should be finished in time for shipment.

99 Wh battery, power supply up to 330 watts, and two different keyboard versions are included.

The XMG NEO 16 has dimensions of 358.44 by 266.8 by 26.1 millimetres, weighing 2.5 kilograms. This makes it somewhat more portable than the NEO 17, which has dimensions of 381.7 by 272.8 by 27 millimetres and weighs 2.8 kilograms. Aluminum is used in the construction of the display lid of the 16-inch model, while the material is used in constructing the 17-inch model’s bottom shell.

Additional distinctions include the configuration of the RGB lighting on the rear air vents, which consists of the following: While the NEO 17 uses RGB strips, the NEO 16 incorporates LEDs into the ventilation vents on the rear of the chassis.

When connected to mains power outlets, the RTX 4090 and 4080 utilize a power supply of 330 watts (with RTX 4090 and 4080) or 280 watts (with RTX 4070 and 4060), respectively. Mobile power is provided by a battery that is 99 Wh in capacity. The new model with 330 watts has the same level of performance as its predecessor from the previous year but is around 20 percent lighter.

In addition to a glass touchpad measuring 150 x 95 (NEO 17) or 114.5 x 70 mm (NEO 16), the E23 model generation can select between two fundamentally distinct keyboard layouts. The high-end version still uses a mechanical keyboard with CHERRY MX Ultra Low Profile Tactile switches that are very flat and accurate, as well as RGB per-key lighting.

On the other hand, individuals who like the least audible inputs can select a silent keyboard with membrane technology and four-zone RGB illumination. Both have big arrow keys, N-key rollover, anti-ghosting, and a separate numeric pad.

Information on costs and quantities

The Intel Core i9-13900HX processor, a GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, 16 GB (2×8) DDR5-4800-RAM, a 500 GB Samsung 980 solid-state drive, a 240 Hz WQXGA IPS display, and a silent membrane keyboard are all included in the base configuration of the XMG NEO 16 (E23). XMG NEO 17 (E23) gaming laptops, which can be freely configured on best Both products have beginning costs of € 2,199 (NEO 16) and € 2,249 (NEO 17), which include 19% VAT.

Upgrades such as the GeForce RTX 4070 (€ 375), RTX 4080 (€ 1,050), and RTX 4090 (€ 1,687) are available for an additional cost, as is a mechanical keyboard with CHERRY MX ULP Tactile switches (€ 125), and faster DDR5-5600 and DDR5-6400 RAM will be offered as soon as it is in stock in large quantities.

Pre-orders will begin on February 1st (for laptops with RTX 4090 and 4080 graphics) and February 14th (for everything else). This is by NVIDIA’s embargoes (laptops with RTX 4070, 4060). Shipping can begin on February 8 (for RTX 4090 and 4080) and February 22 (for other models) (RTX 4070 and 4060).

The XMG NEO 17 with RTX 4090 and 4080 will be available for purchase beginning February 8; meanwhile, the NEO 17 with RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 and the XMG NEO 16 will be available for purchase in the weeks that follow.