Skip to main content

Corsair’s first gaming laptop ever goes all-in on AMD

Corsair launched its first gaming laptop ever during AMD’s Computex 2022 keynote. The machine, called Voyager, is launching exclusively with AMD hardware. It also has a few unique touches that make it “the first laptop ever designed to be a truly mobile streaming solution,” according to AMD’s Frank Azor.

Those additions include a 10-key streaming command center at the hinge of the notebook and a Full HD webcam. Both are bolstered by two key pieces of Elgato software: Stream Deck for the command center, and Camera Hub for the webcam, which allows you to adjust field of view, change video inputs, and tweak the look of your video.

Frank Azor from AMD presenting the Corsair Voyager laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Corsair Voyager is part of the AMD Advantage program under the hood, so it’s equipped exclusively with a Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPU. AMD didn’t mention specifics during its Computex presentation, but it said the machine will launch with the latest generations for both parts. A leak from earlier in May referenced a Corsair laptop with a Ryzen 9 6900HX and Radeon RX 6800M, which may be the flagship configuration for the Voyager.

In addition, the machine comes equipped with Corsair DDR5 memory, as well as a 16-inch 240Hz 1440p display with FreeSync Premium support.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

As part of the AMD Advantage program, the Voyager has access to a suite of AMD Smart technologies, including SmartShift and Smart Access Memory. It will not have the newly-announced Smart Access Storage, however. This technology enables Microsoft’s DirectStorage API on AMD Advantage laptops, helping boost loading times in supported games.

We don’t know much about Smart Access Memory now, but AMD says to expect more news in the coming months. AMD says it allows the GPU to decompress game assets instead of putting that work on the CPU, which should improve loading times. We’ve already seen this type of technology at work in Forspokenwhich could be capable of loading in less than a second.

A close up of the Corsair Voyager gaming laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Corsair Voyager will be available this summer, both in preconfigured models and customizable versions available through Origin PC. We don’t have word on pricing yet, but with a Touch Bar-esque streaming command center and flagship AMD hardware, it’ll likely be expensive.

That’s not all the news AMD had to share on the laptop front at Computex 2022. The company also announced new Mendocino processors for “the everyday laptop.” These chips support up to four cores, and they target Windows laptops and Chromebooks between $400 and $700.

These new chips are still built on the 6nm manufacturing process as the rest of the Ryzen 6000 range, and they come equipped with an integrated RDNA 2 GPU. Despite using the new manufacturing process, however, they’re based on the older Zen 2 architecture. AMD says the first machines with Mendocino chips will launch in the last few months of 2022.

Editors' Recommendations

Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
This is how you can accidentally kill AMD’s best CPU for gaming
Someone holding the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in a red light.

It turns out that one of AMD's best gaming CPUs, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, can accidentally be killed if you try to overclock it, and it's all because there are no limitations as to how far you can push the processor.

Igor Wallossek of Igor's Lab found that the software used for overclocking and overvolting Ryzen CPUs currently doesn't impose any limits when you try to ramp up the voltage. And that's a recipe for turning a fun performance boost into an overclocking nightmare.

Read more
AMD might finally beat Intel for the fastest mobile gaming CPU
AMD Ryzen 6000 laptop chip.

AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX, the mobile flagship for this generation, was just spotted in some early benchmarks. The test results show that AMD might be really competitive in gaming laptops this year.

The CPU outpaced its last-gen equivalents by miles, and it kept up with Intel's best processors despite having far fewer cores.

Read more
New AMD laptop CPU destroys its predecessor, winning by 90%
AMD CEO holding the Ryzen 7040 series processor.

New benchmarks suggest that there's a lot to be excited about if you're a laptop gamer. The leaked tests show off the performance of the upcoming AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX, as well as AMD's latest Ryzen 7040 laptop APU.

The former completely destroyed its predecessor, while the latter proved itself to be a strong alternative to a traditional gaming laptop -- perhaps even better than Valve's Steam Deck.

Read more