On June 18th, 2025, Fractal Design will launch its first audio product, Scape - a gaming headset crafted to deliver an immersive and intuitive wireless audio experience. Featuring Scandinavian Design with clean lines, soft fabric, and a charging stand, Scape is designed for both performance and comfort. It offers audio connectivity through a low-latency dongle, as well as multi-device Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and comes with a flip-to-mute detachable microphone.

With ambient lighting and audio presets easily customizable through our online configuration tool, Adjust Pro, Scape provides a tailored experience with no software installation or user registration required. Scape is set to launch with global availability at an MSRP of $199.99. Pricing may vary by market due to local import duties and other factors.

All Editions. All Platforms. All the Savage Planet goodness is live. It's time for everyone to clock in. Or at least, it would be if you hadn't been made redundant. After 107 years spent in cryosleep and crash-landing on an alien planet in a faraway space system, we're absolutely pumped to announce that REVENGE OF THE SAVAGE PLANET IS LIVE FOR ALL! This isn't a drill. This isn't a teaser. This isn't an elaborate HR onboarding simulation. We actually finished the game.

Well, here we are...After years of coffee-fueled brainstorming, questionable career choices, and at least one incident involving an employee dressed as a Furry in Raccoon Suit (true story), Revenge of the Savage Planet is finally ready for launch. As a small thirty-person team, when we spun up Raccoon Logic, it wasn't to become galaxy-conquering overlords (though we did pitch that at one meeting). It was to tell weird, wonderful, and art imitating life stories. To let players poke aliens with butts for faces, fire off absurd gadgets, and laugh at the strange, beautiful mess of the universe, and maybe even feel something along the way.

If you want to learn to code, then take a look at this bundle that pairs Microsoft Visual Studio Pro 2022 with the Premium Learn to Code Certification Bundle. It's a comprehensive introduction to programming paired with an industry-standard tool for mobile and desktop app development. It's on sale for $55.97. Visual Studio Pro is a 64-bit IDE from Microsoft that handles larger workloads and supports multiple languages and platforms. It's ideal for cross-platform app development with.NET MAUI and web UI creation using Blazor. It also supports development, debugging, and testing for.NET and C++ apps on Linux.

Advanced coding support tools like IntelliCode help you write code faster by predicting variable names and functions. CodeLens gives you insights into your codebase, including recent changes and test results. Real-time collaboration is easier with Live Share, so you can work together with other developers seamlessly. The other half of this bundle contains over 100 hours of instruction for beginner developers. It is comprehensive and non-linear, so you can start with the language that you want to learn. There are courses for Python 3, C++, MySQL, JavaScript, and more.

A lifetime license for Microsoft Visual Studio Pro 2022 and Lifetime Access to the Premium Learn to Code Certification Bundle is now available for $55.97 (reg. $1,999).

Unlucky owners of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors have encountered major problems that largely involve ASRock motherboards. Throughout early 2025, user feedback provided insight into numerous cases of "catastrophic CPU failures." Members of the official ASRock subreddit have kept track of these unfortunate incidents; now closing in on 200 documented "murdered" specimens. Industry watchdogs reckon that even more disagreements—involving the Zen 5-based 9000X3D series and ASRock B- and X- (AM5) boards—exist outside of this community-aggregated log. At the end of February, ASRock pushed out an important BIOS update—this fix did not resolve all problems. Over a month later, AMD weighed in with their findings—in response, ASRock released another update.

Evidently, Ryzen 7 9800X3D products continue to perish—Tech YES City's Bryan Bilowol has added Team Red's Ryzen 9 9950X model to the mix. The tech YouTuber was surprised by the death of his example; apparently caused by an ASRock X870 Steel Legend mainboard. Standard "Granite Ridge" processors—that lack 3D V-Cache—have received less attention, but observers believe that these non-X3D options are still vulnerable. Bilowol did not personally experience the moment of catastrophe—instead, a friend was borrowing an affected PC build. As demonstrated in a new Tech YES City video post-mortem, the completely dead CPU sported some worrying gray marks. Tech YES City has a fairly large audience, so ASRock leadership will likely be cursing after noticing another uptick in public scrutiny. Past reports have pointed out the manufacturer's belief that too much "misinformation" is being spread. Bilowol surmised that the company is keeping this issue: "under the radar—they seem to be hoping that the issue will just go away." Despite collaborating with ASRock for over a decade, Tech YES City will not pull any punches—await for more gory details in upcoming follow-up investigations.

V-Color Technology Inc., a leading innovator in high-performance memory solutions, is proud to announce the industry's first DDR5 OC RDIMM RGB modules. Engineered to redefine workstation and professional computing performance, these revolutionary modules will come in capacities ranging from 16 GB per module up to 64 GB or 512 GB in configurations of 64 GB x 8 and with configurations that reach 8000 MT/s delivering exceptional speeds in addition a new ultra-low timing RDIMM of CL26 now enters the line-up, fully optimized for AMD Ryzen Threadripper and Intel Xeon processor platforms. Protected under Patent No. M667728, v-color's DDR5 OC RDIMM RGB modules feature an advanced design with RGB LEDs, combining vibrant visual aesthetics with outstanding performance, bandwidth, and reliability. Designed specifically for AI development, professional multitasking, data analytics, and demanding creative workloads, these modules deliver unmatched speed, reliability, and efficiency.

Elevating Memory Performance
Crafted with Premium Original Top-Tier ICs and ON-Die ECC technology, v-color's DDR5 OC RDIMM RGB modules deliver exceptional data integrity and stability for demanding professional workloads. Featuring an advanced memory architecture, these modules push the boundaries of performance, reaching speeds of up to 8000 MT/s while also offering configurations with ultra-low Timing like 6000 MT/s CL28. Designed for AI development, real-time analytics, and complex 3D rendering, they ensure lightning-fast responsiveness in the most intensive computing environments.

Today, Grimlore Games and THQ Nordic shared another update on the development of Titan Quest II, revealing both community insights from the recent playtest and a revised Early Access timeline.

Originally slated for a Winter 2024/2025 release, Titan Quest II will now launch in Early Access in Summer 2025. The decision comes in response to a crowded ARPG release window and a desire to give the game the spotlight it deserves.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled the Razer Clio, an innovative gaming chair accessory designed to deliver headset-like immersive audio without the constraints of wearing one. Surround sound can often be complex, but with Razer Clio, use it as a standalone primary speaker, delivering powerful and clear audio on its own, or pair it with your existing front speakers on Synapse 4 to enjoy a richer surround sound experience.

Equipped with integrated near-field dual speakers that direct soundwaves straight to the ears, the Razer Clio delivers maximal acoustic performance over stereo speakers, ensuring clear sound without distortion, even outside the 'sweet spot'. This creates a fully immersive sound experience for gaming, watching movies, or listening to music.

Dear peasants of Davern! It is my greatest pleasure to announce that you can now grab your crown, some wine and a controller and go play Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall. We have poured our hearts into this game, and we really hope you like it. Everything you loved about Yes, Your Grace—we turned up to eleven. We wanted to thank every single one of you, many of you have been waiting for this game for a long time and supporting us for so many years! Your support has been invaluable all the way and we truly could not have made this game without this support.

Brave At Night will keep working on the game and update it in the coming months. We have a long list of updates that we will be working on as soon as the launch dust settles. Rule your crumbling kingdom as you try to satisfy the petty needs of your people in this cinematic kingdom management RPG. Balance your resources, collect taxes, hire agents and make difficult decisions to see your kingdom prosper or fail.

Just over a year ago, reports suggested that ASML was considering a potential expansion of its presence at the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC)—nearby to Eindhoven Airport. A "2.5 billion Euro" investment—courtesy of the Dutch government—was floated, alongside an estimated creation of ~20,000 new roles. The Veldhoven-headquartered EUVL photolithography equipment specialist seems to be in a comfortable position, but growing demand for top-level ASML gear has warranted an apparent acceleration of new facility plans. According to local news articles, company and Eindhoven municipality representatives have presented an adjusted timeline—a "northern part" of the BIC campus could welcome new recruits in 2028. Last year's target proposed a further out inauguration; possibly in 2030 or thereafter.

Stijn Steenbakkers—the Alderman for Brainport—outlined the sheer scale of the company's futuristic and uncharacteristically huge footprint: "over the past year, we have worked intensively on the first elaboration of the plans, resulting in the preliminary design of the urban development plan (VOSP) that is now available. Our future, prosperity and well-being are not self-evident. With the current economic developments in the world, it is not a question of whether we should invest in our strategic autonomy. This is of vital importance! By making the expansion of ASML at BIC Noord (North) possible, we dare to opt for the new economy: sustainable, focused on high-tech, innovation and offering solutions for major global social issues...The important points in the VOSP are: approximately 20,000 jobs, approximately 428,000 m² gross floor area for production, and support functions such as offices." Steenbakkers and ASML reps will present their proposals to Eindhoven city councillors in September; transportation and other local infrastructure considerations will be taken into account.

A quarter century after the release of the historical grand strategy game that launched an empire, the Europa Universalis enters a dramatic new era with Europa Universalis V. Paradox Interactive's flagship historical series about the early modern world is being updated with a fresh, new version for a new generation, a game that dares you to be ambitious.

Designed over five years by Paradox Tinto, Europa Universalis V builds on 25 years of tradition and experience to deliver the same captivating empire building and alternate histories that have been the hallmark of Paradox's grand strategy games. Europa Universalis V has been crafted with the devoted Paradox fan in mind, incorporating feedback delivered by the fan community over a year of public discussion, and giving this dedicated audience a voice in the realization of this new vision.

Today, 2K and Hangar 13 unveiled the Official Gameplay Trailer and 'Breaking Omerta' Developer Insights video for Mafia: The Old Country, coming to PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and NVIDIA GeForce NOW on August 8, 2025. Fans can watch the PAX East developer panel today at 2:00 p.m. EDT on YouTube and Twitch to learn about Mafia: The Old Country directly from its developers, and to pre-order the game today.

"Mafia: The Old Country is a focused, linear experience that combines quality storytelling, authentic era immersion and a refined take on the familiar Mafia gameplay," said Hangar 13 President Nick Baynes. "That focus allows us to deliver a story that's gritty, grounded, brutal and emotional. Embracing early 1900s era Sicily, this is a mafia origin story that follows our protagonist, Enzo Favara, as he takes the oath and works his way up Don Torrisi's crime family."

Greetings, Guardians! The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here—Spirit of the North 2 is officially out now on Steam! Whether you've been with us since the first game or joined along the way, we can't thank you enough for your support, your feedback, and your patience. Now, it's your turn to step into this beautiful, mysterious world once again—this time, with new powers, new companions, and a world that's bigger and more alive than ever before.

You've followed us through development, shared our excitement, and kept the spirit alive—now it's time to experience the magic for yourself. Launch day is just the beginning. We'll be keeping an eye out for your thoughts, feedback, and favorite moments. Don't forget to share your screenshots, theories, and discoveries in the Community Hub! From all of us—at Infuse Studio, and Merge Games—thank you, and we hope you enjoy the journey.

Imagination Technologies redefines edge AI and graphics system design with the launch of Imagination E-Series GPU IP. E-Series leverages its highly efficient parallel processing architecture to provide exceptional graphics performance while also scaling from 2 to 200 TOPS INT8/FP8 for AI workloads. It offers a versatile and programmable solution for future edge applications including graphics, desktop applications, natural language processing on smartphones, industrial computer vision, and vehicle autonomy.

Two new technologies underpin E-Series' potential to transform edge system design:

• Neural Cores: Scaling up to 200 TOPS (INT8/FP8), these cores deliver significant acceleration for AI and compute workloads.
• Burst Processors: A highly innovative solution delivering a 35% improvement in average power efficiency for edge applications.

Nintendo's Switch 2 hybrid console is set to arrive early next month (June 5), complete with promised launch prices. Early last month, the company's basic cost of entry for next-gen access—$450 (US)—seemed to be on tenuous ground. Nintendo and its retail partners decided to postpone their opening of pre-orders—affecting excited customers in the United States, then (days later) in Canada. Thanks to political posturing, a number of big industry players had to restrategize. Late last week, Microsoft announced their implementation of global Xbox Series price increases. In April, Sony revealed similar changes for PlayStation 5; restricted to select market territories. Nintendo has allowed a re-opening of Switch 2 pre-orders; gamers can secure core hardware at original MSRPs. Unfortunately, a compromise was made—first-party Switch 2 accessories will be more expensive, on launch day and beyond.

During a recent call with investors, Nintendo's president—Shuntaro Furukawa—confirmed that their core hardware pricing is subject to change. Launch price tags are safe (for the moment); the company will need to radiate some goodwill during their next-gen design's salad days. Commenting on a shifting political landscape, Furukawa-san stated: "at this time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware...If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider what price adjustments we should make, and implement them after considering various factors." Industry analysis has produced a scary projection; worst case scenarios could send tech prices up by roughly 70%. Considering the vintage of Switch 2's alleged internals, gaming hardware enthusiasts have questioned the value offered by this $450 hybrid handheld.

The Sennheiser brand today announces ACCENTUM Open, a true wireless open earbud for staying connected to your entertainment and the outside world on the simplest of terms. Combining the audio brand's renowned sound tuning with an open fit (non-occlusive), ACCENTUM Open is made for multitaskers that want satisfying sound without a fuss.

"ACCENTUM Open was designed to complement your busy life—not complicate it," said Friederike Menking, Product Manager. "Whether you are listening to music, catching up on a podcast at your desk or checking in with your friends on your way to the train, the ease of use is second only to the sound."

Keep the supplies moving with the latest piece of hardware for Porters heading out on a new journey - we're excited to reveal the new DualSense wireless controller - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Limited Edition. We worked closely with Kojima Productions on the controller design, customized with the insignia and motto of Drawbridge in vibrant orange. The DualSense wireless controller—Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Limited Edition will be available in limited quantities for a recommended retail price of $84.99 / €84.99 / £74.99 / ¥12,480. Pre-orders start on May 22, 2025, at 10am local time at direct.playstation.com (where available), as well as participating retailers. The exact launch date and availability for the controller may vary by country/region.

The new controller launches on June 26, 2025 on PS5 alongside Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, where players can join Sam and his companions on a mission to save humanity from extinction. Pre-order the Collector's Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition for Early Access from June 24, 2025.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, is revolutionizing mobile gaming with the launch of the Razer Basilisk Mobile and the Razer Joro. Designed to meet the needs of gamers on the go, these compact and feature-rich devices set a new benchmark for portable gaming gear without compromising on performance.

Sized for convenience, the Razer Basilisk Mobile and Razer Joro are lightweight devices that combine a sleek design with robust functionality and gaming-grade performance. Whether battling it out in an online arena or exploring vast virtual worlds, gamers can now enjoy the same quality gaming experience on the road as they do at home.

The Hardware Unboxed team has unleashed some of its sarcastic Aussie wit; in response to an alleged manipulation of GeForce RTX 5060 (non-Ti) review day conditions. In an online dig—directed at Team Green leadership—the Australian media outlet's social media account parodied NVIDIA new product decision-making: "we're not hiding the RTX 5060, we're very proud of it and gamers will love it. Also, we're going to launch the RTX 5060 on May 19th during Computex, and although reviewers have cards right now, we won't be releasing the driver until they go on sale." Mid-way through April, Hardware Unboxed's Tim Schiesser voiced his displeasure regarding a complete lack of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB evaluation samples—only 16 GB variants were sent out to testers. Curious professional reviewers opted into buying these cheaper variants (out of pocket), including TechPowerUp's W1zzard. Our head honcho's reckoning—of a custom Gainward effort—pointed out far too many compromises.

In a follow-up post, Hardware Unboxed's social media rep took a more measured approach with their disapproval of "controlled conditions." Clarifying the "context" of their earlier rant, they explained: "NVIDIA are trying to hide the RTX 5060, just as they did the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB. The strategy here is to release it the week of Computex when most of the tech media are in Taiwan attending the show. They're also blocking reviewers from accessing the driver early to evaluate the RTX 5060 and provide reviews at the time of release. So as it stands I have multiple RTX 5060 samples, and I won't be able to review any of them until about a week after they go on sale." VideoCardz, and other critics/watchers believe that a rumored "rushed" development of GeForce RTX 5060-series cards (Ti and non-Ti) resulted in an uninspiring repeat rollout of 8 GB and 16 GB VRAM configurations—albeit upgraded to GDDR7 standards.

Today at Lenovo's Tech World Shanghai 2025, Lenovo announced the new Lenovo Legion 9i (18", 10), a gaming laptop truly designed for games—both those who play them, and those who make them. Packed with features that not just deliver the ultimate gaming experience, but the ultimate game development experience.

"The most powerful gaming laptops deliver seamless performance even with the most demanding titles, and the new Lenovo Legion 9i (18", 10) laptop is designed to set a new standard," said Jun Ouyang, Lenovo's Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer Segment, Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo. "Built with top-tier hardware and next-generation AI software innovations, it combines exceptional speed and intelligence—not just for immersive gaming, but also to empower game developers, AI engineers, and designers with the high performance and optional 2K 3D support they need to bring their visions to life."

When your whole desk needs some whiteout. A PALER SHADE OF PERSONALIZATION: equipped with a white decorative top case, a white bottom case, and a matching white keycap set, this CSTM80 goes all the way with its white appointments.

MADE FOR MIXING AND MATCHING
In addition to the magnetic top case (which you can switch out for a huge range of colors), this white CSTM80 can also be configured with a host of additional add-ons-including several keyboard weights and switch plates. AND FINISHED WITH ENTHUSIAST FEATURES: alongside the top case(s) and long list of add-ons, this CSTM80 comes equipped with a host of enthusiast features: including south-facing LEDs, including removable gaskets, and a full array of foam.

Not too long after announcing the delay of their flagship next-gen AAA+ game, Rockstar Games appeased the masses with the uploading of a bombastic second trailer—showcasing Grand Theft Auto VI's various colorful cast members, Vice City locales, and spectacular visual effects. Online debaters have picked this cinematic preview apart; many doubters reckon that teaser material (mostly) consists of pre-rendered CGI—pumped out by "pro-grade" equipment. Many observers did not pick up on a small text detail—"captured on PS5"—at the tail end of the studio's GTA VI Trailer 2. To reiterate this point, the Rockstar Games official social media account sent out a bulletin. Yesterday evening's official alert insisted that their: "Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 was captured entirely in-game from a PlayStation 5, comprised of equal parts gameplay and cutscenes." This tidbit is also mentioned in the trailer's YouTube description.

Earlier today, the Digital Foundry team published their (must read, or watch) technical critique of Rockstar's forthcoming magnum opus. In their (collective) professional opinion, Rockstar's claim deserves merit: "the trailer was released in 4K at 30 FPS with black bars—producing a rather odd 20:9 aspect ratio—with text at the end of the trailer confirming it was recorded on a base PS5 instead of the more powerful PS5 Pro. Internal resolution counts come out at 1440p, or 2560x1152 to be exact—that's 80 percent of 1440p on the vertical axis. The trailer seems to be using a spatial upscaler, something like AMD's first-generation FSR, with that characteristic curved look present in fine detail like distant text. This means image quality is a little soft, but makes it more believable that the game is actually running on a base PS5, bearing in mind the relatively realistic details and graphical effects elsewhere." Going back to late 2024, another highly anticipated "AAA+" title was unveiled—The Witcher 4; with an Unreal Engine 5 underpinning. At the time, CD Projekt RED hinted about this fantasy blockbuster's introductory trailer being pre-rendered by an "unannounced NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU." We later learned that this mysterious bit of hardware was a formidable GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. Given GTA VI's (2026) "consoles first" launch, Rockstar engineers do not have the luxury of (immediately) pairing their proprietary RAGE engine with cutting-edge hardware. An elevated visual feast—on PC platforms—is expected further down the line.

Our Stargate project, an unprecedented investment in America's AI infrastructure announced in January with President Trump and our partners Oracle and SoftBank, is now underway with our first supercomputing campus in Abilene, Texas, and more sites to come. We've heard from many countries asking for help in building out similar AI infrastructure—that they want their own Stargates and similar projects. It's clear to everyone now that this kind of infrastructure is going to be the backbone of future economic growth and national development. Technological innovation has always driven growth by helping people do more than they otherwise could—AI will scale human ingenuity itself and drive more prosperity by scaling our freedoms to learn, think, create and produce all at once.

We want to help these countries, and in the process, spread democratic AI, which means the development, use and deployment of AI that protects and incorporates long-standing democratic principles. Examples of this include the freedom for people to choose how they work with and direct AI, the prevention of government use of AI to amass control, and a free market that ensures free competition. All these things contribute to broad distribution of the benefits of AI, discourage the concentration of power, and help advance our mission. Likewise, we believe that partnering closely with the US government is the best way to advance democratic AI.

Earlier in the week, reports indicated the potential introduction of an Intel Xe2 "Battlemage" B770 gaming graphics card at Computex 2025. Last night, a Team Blue tweet confirmed forthcoming product unveilings: "new Intel Arc Pro GPUs are on the way. See you in Taipei!" In the months leading up to this important trade event, industry watchdogs have drummed up speculation about "Battlemage's" future (or fate). Whispers of 24 GB VRAM-equipped variants emerged late last year—around late January, these theories were connected to an official leak: "3 new PCI IDs for BMG."

Unsurprisingly, VideoCardz has weighed in with some new inside track info—they propose that one of Intel's upcoming professional options will be an "Arc Pro B60 24 GB" model, aka "Developer Edition" (an alleged in-house reference). Despite Sparkle HQ downplaying recent "rogue claims," a company rep (in China) alluded to a possible May/June release of their own custom 24 GB "Battlemage" productivity-oriented card. VideoCardz has picked up on rumors, regarding the "Arc Pro B60's" internal setup. They propose Team Blue's selection of the familiar "BMG-G21" GPU; as used by their Arc Xe2 B580 12 GB and B570 10 GB designs. According to an unnamed inside source, this professional/workstation variant will stick with the usual 192-bit memory interface. Intel's Computex 2025 new product teaser provided a big clue about the speculated "B60" model's cooling solution.

The Bluetooth Core Specification recently moved to a bi-annual release schedule. This shift enables more frequent and consistent delivery of completed features, fostering faster innovation and continuous improvements across the Bluetooth ecosystem. Developers and manufacturers now have quicker access to the latest Bluetooth advancements, powering wireless innovation and enhancing overall market responsiveness.

"Moving to a bi-annual release cycle for the Bluetooth Core Specification represents a pivotal step forward for the entire Bluetooth technology ecosystem," said Alain Michaud, chair of the Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors. "This new cadence will ensure that incremental improvements and features can reach developers and manufacturers faster, fueling innovation and helping them meet the evolving needs of the market with greater agility."

Chinese server CPU maker Hygon, which owns a Zen core IP from AMD, has put a roadmap for C86-5G, its most powerful server processor to date, featuring up to 128 cores and an astonishing 512 threads. Thanks to a complete microarchitectural redesign, the new chip delivers more than 17 percent higher instructions per cycle (IPC) than its predecessor. It also supports the AVX-512 vector instruction set and four-way simultaneous multithreading, making it a strong contender for highly parallel workloads. Sixteen channels of DDR5-5600 memory feed data-intensive tasks, while CXL 2.0 interconnect support enables seamless scaling across multiple sockets. Built on an unknown semiconductor node, the C86-5G includes advanced power management and a hardened security engine. With 128 lanes of PCIe 5.0, it offers ample bandwidth for accelerators, NVMe storage, and high-speed networking. Hygon positions this flagship CPU as ideal for artificial intelligence training clusters, large-scale analytics platforms, and virtualized enterprise environments.

The C86-5G is the culmination of five years of steady development. The journey began with the C86-1G, an AMD-licensed design that served as a testbed for domestic engineers. It offered up to 32 cores, 64 threads, eight channels of DDR4-2666 memory, and 128 lanes of PCIe 3.0. Its goal was to absorb proven technology and build local know-how. Next came the C86-2G, which kept the same core count but introduced a revamped floating-point unit, 21 custom security instructions, and hardware-accelerated features for memory encryption, virtualization, and trusted computing. This model marked Hygon's first real step into independent research and development. With the C86-3G, Hygon rolled out a fully homegrown CPU core and system-on-chip framework. Memory support increased to DDR4-3200, I/O doubled to PCIe 4.0, and on-die networking included four 10 GbE and eight 1 GbE ports. The C86-4G raised the bar further by doubling compute density to 64 cores and 128 threads, boosting IPC by around 15 percent and adding 12-channel DDR5-4800 memory plus 128 lanes of PCIe 5.0. Socket options expanded to dual and quad configurations. Now, with the C86-5G, Hygon has shown it can compete head-to-head with global server CPU leaders, putting more faith in China's growing capabilities in high-performance computing.

TechPowerUp over the past 50-odd days surveyed our readers to understand if they're willing to pay premium for high-end factory overclocked graphics cards. This is especially important to know in the wake of GPU manufacturer MSRPs turning largely irrelevant, pushing even inexpensive non-OC cards with simpler designs way above the MSRP. We have also seen scenarios where certain GPUs are only sporadically available, and in some cases, only their premium factory-OC cards are. This would tell us if buyers are willing to pick up a premium OC graphics card if it's the only option available versus waiting for non-OC cards to become available at relatively lower prices.

Our survey gathered close to 21,000 responses. 46.4% of the responses (9,738 votes) say that they choose premium OC graphics cards, however, they do so only for the better cooling. Board partners tend to give their products premium cooling solutions to not just deal with the added heat from the OC, power-limits, and boost headroom; but also to offer low noise as a feature, besides other aesthetic touches such as RGB lighting or a premium appearance. The "Yes" option, which means that buyers want premium OC graphics cards for their superior performance, gathered an interesting 28.2% of the vote (5,908 votes). Lastly, only 25.4% (5,335 votes) say that they are not willing to pay for premium OC cards, and prefer cards either at or close to the MSRP.

Calling all wiseguys—2K's acclaimed Mafia franchise is available to stream from the cloud. Step into the gritty underworld of organized crime and experience the cinematic storytelling and action-packed gameplay that made the Mafia franchise a classic, captivating both newcomers and longtime fans of the saga. It's all part of nine games joining the cloud family this week, including Towerborne from Stoic and Xbox Game Studios. Plus, the family is waiting—the Mafia saga's highly anticipated prequel, Mafia: The Old Country, will join the cloud at launch.

The Cloud Is Made
Step into the world of organized crime with Mafia, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Mafia II and Mafia III now streaming on GeForce NOW for those new and returning to the family. Experience the gritty underworld drama and cinematic storytelling that made Mafia a legend—no need to wait for a sit-down with the don. Start with the first game in the series, Mafia. An inadvertent brush with the mob thrusts cab driver Tommy Angelo into the world of organized crime. He's initially uneasy about falling in with the Salieri family, but the rewards become too big to ignore. Plus, check out Mafia: Definitive Edition, a remake from the ground up of the classic first title, with an expanded story, gameplay and original score.

We've just published a new version of Raspberry Pi OS - our recommended (and free) operating system for all Raspberry Pi computers - and it's now available for download. Scroll to the bottom of this post to find instructions for updating, or read on to find out what has changed. As many of you already know, Debian Linux works on a two-year release cycle - every odd-numbered year, a new major version is released, and it being 2025, there will be one in the next few months.

So this is probably the final release of Raspberry Pi OS which is based on Debian 'bookworm', before Debian 'trixie' is released this summer. The last full release we made was back in November last year, and there have been quite a few changes since then, so here's a summary of the most important.

Sim racing fans, rejoice - the T598 Servo Base is finally available! Known for its cutting-edge force feedback, exceptional precision, and robust design, the T598 has become a favorite among serious racers across all disciplines: GT, Formula, rally, and endurance.

To celebrate its availability, we're also launching four brand-new bundles, combining the T598 with our most popular racing wheels. Each bundle is tailored to a different racing style and comes with up to 16% off compared to buying the items separately.

• T598 Servo Base + Ferrari 488 GT3 Wheel Add-On
• T598 Servo Base + Ferrari SF1000 Wheel Add-On + QR Upgrade
• T598 Servo Base + Hypercar Wheel Add-On
• T598 Servo Base + Evo Racing 32R Wheel Add-On

According to Chosun Biz, Intel Foundry client acquisition efforts for the 18A node have shifted into high gear, with the latest reports indicating that Microsoft has inked a substantial foundry deal based on the 18A process. Talks with Google are also said to be advancing, suggesting that Intel may soon secure a second cloud giant for a customer of its 18A technology. Intel's flagship 18A node, which entered risk production earlier this year, is slated for full-scale volume manufacturing before the end of 2025. Beyond the baseline 18A offering, the company is already developing two enhanced variants: 18A-P, scheduled for rollout in 2026, and 18A-PT, targeted for 2028. Chosun Biz reports that prototype 18A-P wafers have been produced in Intel's domestic fabs, pointing out the foundry's swift pace of new node production.

Intel has even begun sharing early PDKs for its next-generation 14A node with select partners, paving the way for continued scaling beyond the 18A era. Strategically, Intel's extensive US fab footprint, which includes two under-construction fabs in Arizona (a USD 32 billion investment), expanded packaging facilities in New Mexico, a new 300 mm logic plant in Oregon, and two Ohio fabs earmarked for the early 2030s, could prove advantageous amid ongoing tariff uncertainties. Beyond North America, Intel is gearing up Fab 34 in Ireland for mass production of its Intel 4 node and inaugural 3 nm chips later this year. In Israel, Fab 38 is being outfitted for EUV-based, high-performance wafer manufacturing, while an advanced packaging site in Penang, Malaysia, supports global assembly and testing.

Arctic presents the new Freezer 8, which is available in different socket variants. The air cooler series offers a convincing upgrade for boxed coolers and small cases at an excellent price-performance ratio. With a height of just 136 mm, the Freezer 8 fits easily into various cases and is ideal for systems with limited space and high RAM modules. Two offset direct-touch heatpipes and a pressure-optimized 100 mm PWM fan ensure quiet and powerful operation. If required, a maximum speed of 2,300 rpm can be achieved.

The compact air cooler is available in four versions for different sockets and applications:

• Freezer 8A: Supports AMD's AM5 and AM4.
• Freezer 8i: Compatible with Intel's LGA1851 and 1700 sockets.
• CO models: For continuous operation with double ball bearings.

Cadence today announced the Cadence Tensilica NeuroEdge 130 AI Co-Processor (AICP), a new class of processor designed to complement any neural processing unit (NPU) and enable end-to-end execution of the latest agentic and physical AI networks on advanced automotive, consumer, industrial and mobile SoCs. Based on the proven architecture of the highly successful Tensilica Vision DSP family, the NeuroEdge 130 AICP delivers more than 30% area savings and over 20% savings in dynamic power and energy without impacting performance. It also leverages the same software, AI compilers, libraries and frameworks to deliver faster time to market. Multiple customer engagements are currently underway, and customer interest is strong.

"With the rapid proliferation of AI processing in physical AI applications such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, drones, industrial automation and healthcare, NPUs are assuming a more critical role," said Karl Freund, founder and principal analyst of Cambrian AI Research. "Today, NPUs handle the bulk of the computationally intensive AI/ML workloads, but a large number of non-MAC layers include pre- and post-processing tasks that are better offloaded to specialized processors. However, current CPU, GPU and DSP solutions involve tradeoffs, and the industry needs a low-power, high-performance solution that is optimized for co-processing and allows future proofing for rapidly evolving AI processing needs."

The Trump administration is preparing to roll back significant portions of the Biden-era rules that govern global chip exports and AI technology transfers. According to Bloomberg's sources familiar with the matter, the so-called "AI diffusion" framework, due to take effect on May 15, will be scrapped in favor of simpler, bilateral licensing agreements. Under the current plan, rather than sorting about 120 countries into three tiers with differing volume caps, the US will negotiate individual contracts with partners like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Even with these changes, restrictions on China's access to advanced chips will stay firmly in place, and may even be reinforced. The proposed regulations are expected to maintain the outright ban on shipments to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, while adding stricter oversight for nations that have previously rerouted US-origin semiconductors toward Beijing's AI and military programs. US officials are also considering lowering the notification threshold for smaller shipments, from 1,700 NVIDIA H100 equivalent units down to around 500, to close loopholes used by alleged smuggling networks.

Industry reaction has been mixed but largely positive. Chipmakers saw their share prices climb when news of the repeal broke, citing hopes for clearer rules and fewer compliance headaches. Governments in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe are watching closely and urging Washington to provide detailed guidance during the transition to avoid market disruptions. The AI diffusion rule was introduced in January 2025 with the goal of drawing countries such as India, Malaysia, and Poland into a more stringent export regime. Critics have argued that its complex, tiered system stifled innovation and diplomatic flexibility. The incoming framework will instead rely on targeted, outcome-driven accords that tie access to strategic investments and broader trade incentives. An official announcement could come as soon as Thursday, just before President Trump's trip to the Middle East. Final details are expected to be released in the coming weeks, marking a new chapter in US semiconductor diplomacy.

TrendForce's latest investigation reveals that global OLED monitor shipments remain in rapid growth mode. With brands actively launching new models, shipments hit a record high of approximately 507,000 units in 1Q25, marking a 175% YoY increase. Thanks to strong demand—particularly for 27-inch UHD models—shipments in 2Q25 are expected to climb to 650,000 units. For the full year, shipments are projected to reach 2.58 million units, up 81% YoY, raising OLED's penetration rate in the overall monitor market to 2%.

Samsung retained its top position in 1Q25 with over 22% market share, driven by its flagship 49-inch models, which accounted for 40% of its OLED monitor shipments. As the 27-inch UHD model gains traction in 2Q25, it is expected to become Samsung's best-selling OLED monitor size.

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in memory and flash storage solutions, today officially announced the launch of its new enterprise storage brand, TRUSTA, marking a major step into the AI server, data center, and enterprise markets. Aligned with its brand spirit of "Together, Empowering Tomorrow," TRUSTA focuses on innovation, performance, and stability, striving to deliver SSD solutions that combine high-speed computing capabilities with exceptional energy efficiency. TRUSTA is set to make its official debut at COMPUTEX 2025.

Seizing Global Server Market Opportunities with the Launch of T7 and T5 Series
According to TrendForce, the global server market is projected to reach USD 306 billion in 2024, with AI servers demonstrating particularly strong growth momentum, potentially contributing nearly USD 298 billion by 2025. In response to this trend, ADATA will officially introduce the TRUSTA brand at COMPUTEX, launching the T7 and T5 series enterprise SSDs. These solutions are designed to support a wide range of applications, including AI training and inference, vector databases, high-performance computing (HPC), virtualization platforms (VM/VDI), and server boot storage, helping enterprises build complete storage infrastructures from system boot-up to intensive data operations.

ASUS today announced its continuing partnership with Bethesda and id Software to deliver the highly anticipated title DOOM: The Dark Ages directly to gamers through a comprehensive global bundle initiative. The campaign follows the launch of the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 DOOM Edition graphics card, with fittingly, only 666 produced exclusively for preorder on the Bethesda Gear Store. Encompassing over forty regions and over two hundred products, this bundle allows many fans to get an included copy of the game alongside purchases of displays, motherboards, graphics cards, power supplies, AIO coolers, ROG NUC mini PCs, and more.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer's legend. Gamers can "Stand and Fight" as the super weapon of gods and kings in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war, with idTech8 native ray tracing delivering next-level graphics fidelity, speed, and visuals. When powered by GeForce RTX 50 Series, AI-powered NVIDIA DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation boosts FPS and constructs high-quality images, further enhancing the visuals for the definitive DOOM: The Dark Ages PC experience.

AMD has released its latest version of the AMD Software Adrenalin drivers, version 25.5.1 WHQL. The latest graphics drivers update brings official support for AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE graphics card, as well as new game support for Doom: The Dark Ages and F1 25 games. AMD also added new game support for AMD FSR 4 in several games, including Ghost of Tsushima, Frostpunk 2, Everspace 2, Fort Solis, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, The Finals, and Influx Redux, as well as expanded HYPR-RX Support to new games.

The new drivers update also added Vulkan 1.4 API support with support for several new Vulkan API extensions. AMD also fixed several issues including intermittent application crash or driver timeout in Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition and Civilization VII with Anti-Lag enabled, system crash due to a memory leak when using SteamVR on some Radeon graphics cards, including Radeon RX 9000 series, and some issues with driver installation.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 25.5.1 WHQL

Starforge Systems is excited to reveal an aesthetic refresh of their GLOOMY BEAR Limited Edition PC line, featuring Crunchyroll's infamous murderous teddy bear. The updated Limited Edition PC now features a dark black-on-red design to bring a new level of fierceness to gamers' battlestations. Featuring designs inspired by Japanese artist and writer Mori Chack's fan-favorite anime series, "Gloomy the Naughty Grizzly," the latest GLOOMY BEAR PC comes bundled with a matching GLOOMY BEAR desk mat and 12x18 acrylic wall art.

All the terror of a nightmare bear packed into a pomegranate-sized build. Featuring Mori Chack's infamous Gloomy, the Naughty Grizzly, this sinister system from Starforge transforms cuteness into chaos. With high-quality printed panels on a sleek SFF case and monstrous performance under the hood, it's engineered to haunt your competition. Don't let the size fool you. This PC isn't just powerful - it's a monster.

Essencore, a leading manufacturer in memory and storage solutions, with its consumer memory and storage brand KLEVV, is excited to announce its participation at COMPUTEX Taipei 2025, held from May 20th to May 23rd at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

POWER UP WITH NEXT-GEN GAMING AND PERFORMANCE MEMORY
KLEVV's premier memory solutions will be at the center of its COMPUTEX 2025 showcase, featuring a live demonstration of next-gen DDR5 modules built to run at blazing-fast speeds exceeding 10,000 MT/s, displayed across top-tier motherboards from leading vendors. This exclusive demo offers visitors a firsthand look at the performance headroom KLEVV is unlocking with its latest technology. Alongside the showcase, KLEVV's full gaming memory lineup is receiving a significant upgrade, featuring faster speeds and lower latencies to meet the demands of modern gaming and high-performance systems.

Late last month, La Quimera did not launch on its promised release date (April 26). At the time, the game's development team—Reburn—sent out an apology (via Discord), but their short statement did not delve into too much explanatory detail. Industry watchdogs proposed revised launch windows; potentially later on in 2025. Apparently, last month's "version 1.0" review code was not well received—content and performance-wise. Additionally, a mid-month closed beta program was reportedly nixed within 24 hours of kicking off—early community feedback suggests participants experiencing a myriad of problems. As promised during non-launch week, Reburn has provided a more comprehensive update about forward progress—in the renewed form of La Quimera; available now in Early Access.

Within the title's rebooted Steam page, Reburn outlines a revised release schedule (subject to change): "La Quimera, our narrative-driven sci-fi FPS, is now live on Steam in Early Access!..We plan to remain in Early Access for up to 18 months. This timeline may adjust based on feedback and the pace of development, but our goal is to deliver a fully polished experience within that timeframe...The Early Access version currently includes the first four levels of the campaign, featuring fully integrated narrative and gameplay elements. It offers approximately five hours of story-driven content, designed to demonstrate the core experience we are building toward. The current build is stable and fully playable, though bugs and balance adjustments are expected as we continue refinement." Interested parties can give this "still in progress" iteration a try; Steam early access pricing is $29.99.

Online chaos doesn't just come from pop-up ads or autoplay videos—it's in hidden trackers, shady websites, and data leaks that turn a simple scroll into a security risk. If you're managing devices for the whole family, things can get out of hand fast. That's where AdGuard's Family Plan steps in. Right now, you can grab lifetime access for just $15.97 using code FAMPLAN at checkout at StackSocial through April 27 (reg. $169.99).

This all-in-one data privacy tool blocks ads, filters out malicious websites, and protects up to nine devices from prying eyes. Whether you're trying to stream without interruptions, game without lag, or ensure your kids aren't falling into sketchy internet rabbit holes, AdGuard's got it covered.

Get lifetime protection for your whole household with this lifetime ad blocker. AdGuard's Family Plan is $15.97 with code FAMPLAN at checkout until April 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT (reg. $169.99).

They say that the most difficult part of transportation planning is last-mile delivery. A network of warehouses and trucks can bring products within a mile of almost all customers, but logistical challenges and costs add up quickly in the process of delivering those goods to the right doors at the right time. There's a similar pattern in the AI space. Massive data center installations have empowered astonishing cloud-based AI services, but many researchers, developers, and data scientists need the power of an AI supercomputer to travel that last mile. They need machines that offer the convenience and space-saving design of a desktop PC, but go well above and beyond the capabilities of consumer-grade hardware, especially when it comes to available GPU memory.

Enter a new class of AI desktop supercomputers, powered by ASUS and NVIDIA. The upcoming ASUS AI supercomputer lineup, spearheaded by the ASUS ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3 desktop PC and ASUS Ascent GX10 mini-PC, wield the latest NVIDIA Grace Blackwell superchips to deliver astounding performance in AI workflows. For those who need local, private supercomputing resources, but for whom a data center or rack server installation isn't feasible, these systems provide a transformative opportunity to seize the capabilities of AI.

Last August, the rumor mill indicated a possible arrival of Radeon RX 7400 and RX 7300 graphics cards—potentially distributed through OEM channels. Going further back—during the early days of RDNA 3—insiders posited that true entry-level models were on the way; sitting below the already lowly Radeon RX 7600 model in Team Red's "Navi 33" GPU-based stack. Around mid-2023, Kepler_L2 envisioned humble "Navi 33 Ultra Lite with 4 CUs" designs. Currently, TechPowerUp's database alludes to a "never released" Radeon RX 7500 XT card, but AMD's (presumably less potent) RX 7400 and RX 7300 options were not deemed worthy of similar treatment.

To the surprise of many industry watchdogs, quite fresh AIDA64 Extreme (beta) release notes—version: 7.65.7415 beta (May 05, 2025)—mention "AMD Radeon RX 7300 (Navi 33)" GPU information. VideoCardz highlighted this discovery with a quick investigative piece; they did not find any official listings of this mysterious identifier. Two other RDNA 3 era models were present in the latest AIDA64 update: an already launched "Radeon Pro W7700 (Navi 32)" card and 2024's "Radeon RX 7800M (Navi 32)" mobile solution. Despite the upcoming launch of lower end RDNA 4 graphics cards, Team Red and a couple of its board partners are still pushing out "new" Navi 33 GPU-based cards—most notably Chinese market exclusive Radeon RX 7650 GRE custom models. In theory, a large surplus of "Hotpink Bonefish" GPU dies would require depletion in 2025.

In October of 2025, Microsoft will phase out support for Windows 10. For many users, it's free to upgrade, but the baseline version of Windows 11 is limited in what it can do. If you want a more advanced OS with improved security, a refined user interface, and even improvements for gaming, try Windows 11 Pro. It would normally cost $199 to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro, but during this limited-time sale, it's only $14.97. No coupon needed.

Welcome to your own haunted domain! We are excited to announce that Deck of Haunts, the rogue-like deckbuilder that puts you in control of a vengeful haunted house, has officially launched today on Steam! To celebrate the release, we have unveiled a brand-new launch trailer (see below) that beckons players to embrace their inner villain and head into the madness. Deck of Haunts lets you build the nightmare, one room at a time.

About Deck of Haunts
"Terror has a new address. Your deck is your weapon. Your house, the trap. Deck of Haunts lets you build the nightmare, one room at a time." In Deck of Haunts, you are the haunted house. By day, meticulously construct your mansion room by room, placing traps, spirits, and eerie anomalies to build a twisting, cursed domain. As night falls, lure humans into your lair and let the haunting begin. With a deck of fear-inducing cards at your disposal, you'll bend reality, shift hallways, summon specters, and drive intruders to the brink of madness. Once their sanity shatters, you'll extract their essence to fuel your growing power and expand your mansion. But your rise in infamy won't go unchallenged. The more essence you claim, the stronger your enemies become, from skeptical police to holy exorcists and the ominous Stone Masons who seek to end your reign of terror.

Digital Chat Station (DCS)—a dedicated watcher of futuristic smartphone chip developments—has returned to a favorite topic: Qualcomm's rumored "Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2" mobile chipset. The tenured technological soothsayer disclosed compelling "SM8850" details over a month ago; mostly focusing on key next-gen upgrades. His latest bulletin reiterates many past claims, but a new proposition points to a significant bump in onboard AI-crunching capabilities. DCS's latest dose of inside track knowledge points to the Gen 2 chip's NPU computing power being bumped up "to 100 TOPS."

At the tail end of their bulletin, DCS mentioned an interesting new feature: "(the SM8850) chip natively supports hardware-level sunlight screen; display brightness of new devices will be greatly improved, and the native-level super frame will be further improved." In a separate post, DCS hinted about a forthcoming "Snapdragon 8 flagship chip-powered" smartphone that will make use of a "new silicon" 7800 mAh capacity battery. Commenters have linked OnePlus to this development—Chinese electronics firms seem to be ahead of mainstream South Korean rivals, with their formulations of silicon-carbon battery technology. DCS's freshest theory did not place the cutting-edge "Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2" chip alongside a super high-capacity power cell, but examples of this potent combination could arrive later this year.

MicroProse is proud to announce that it will publish Afterconflict, a brutally realistic Cold War-era tactical FPS set in an alternate late-stage World War III. Developed with military simulation purists in mind, Afterconflict puts players into the boots of NATO and Warsaw Pact soldiers locked in unforgiving battle across the scarred landscapes of a divided Europe.

As a first taste of the game's meticulous realism, a new Tech Demo is now available on Steam. Players can try their hand at the game's Firing Range—though mastering even basic shooting mechanics won't come easy. Every bullet counts, and every weapon demands respect, with authentic ballistics, damage modeling, reloading, and wear mechanics that leave no room for run-and-gun shortcuts. The advanced dynamic lighting will also dramatically affect visibility and performance.

MechWarriors, the time for waiting is over. We're thrilled to tell you that our first MechWarrior 5: Clans DLC—Ghost Bear: Flash Storm—is launching later today for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. You'll be able to experience the continuation of the Operation Revival story from the perspective of one of BattleTech's most storied Clans. The Ghost Bear is currently at a historic low point after a catastrophic start to the invasion. But a new set of Bear Khans have a daring plan to get the Ghost Bears back in the game. We launched MechWarrior 5: Clans last October for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and day one with Game Pass, and we're extremely proud of what our team at Piranha Games accomplished. In retrospect, our goal was pretty wild: delivering a game that provides a jumping-on point for new players while simultaneously honoring decades of complex, interfactional lore. All the while, we needed to ensure that players felt like they were in the cockpit of a towering 'Mech.

The Clans campaign followed the Smoke Jaguar Clan, a faction whose aggression and obsession with leading the Children of Kerensky out of exile made them notorious among rival Clans—the Ghost Bears are a completely different beast. Where the Smoke Jaguars were obsessed over what they saw as their manifest destiny, the Ghost Bears know the power of patience; its "ambush predator" mantra perfectly attuned to the Strana Mechty Ghost Bear, whom the Clan took as their namesake. That approach hasn't served them well as of late, however. Clan Ghost Bear has fallen far behind their fellow Clans during the opening events of the Clan Invasion due to poor preparation and leadership. But newly elected Khans (Clan leaders) Bjorn Jorgensson and Aletha Kabrinski look to put that past behind them and take their rightful place among the other invading Clans.

At its annual flagship user event, CadenceLIVE Silicon Valley 2025, Cadence (Nasdaq: CDNS) today announced a major expansion of its Cadence Millennium Enterprise Platform with the introduction of the new Millennium M2000 Supercomputer featuring NVIDIA Blackwell systems, which delivers AI-accelerated simulation at unprecedented speed and scale across engineering and drug design workloads.

The new supercomputer integrates Cadence's industry-leading solvers with NVIDIA HGX B200 systems, NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs and NVIDIA CUDA-X libraries and solver software. This powerful combination delivers dramatic reductions in simulation run times and up to 80X higher performance versus CPU-based systems for electronic design automation (EDA), system design and analysis (SDA), and drug discovery applications. The supercomputer provides a tightly co-optimized hardware-software stack that enables breakthrough performance with up to 20X lower power across multiple disciplines, accelerating the build-out of AI infrastructure, advancing physical AI machine design and pushing the frontiers of drug design.

As we draw closer to a rumored May 21 unveiling of AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics cards, an uptick in accidental retail listings is expected. Earlier this week, a Brazilian shop inadvertently broke official guidelines by their revealing of a lone GIGABYTE Gaming OC 16 GB SKU. Keen watchers of new product registrations have already shared multiple instances of pre-release information—around late March, ASUS logged unannounced TUF Gaming, PRIME and DUAL Radeon RX 9060 XT models in South Korea. A series of leaks have outlined 16 GB and 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM configurations; with the latter's release status being in contention (up until last week).

As unearthed by momomo_us, ASUS seems to be readying 16 GB and 8 GB-based SKUs for an imminent launch. Four upcoming product identifiers were scraped from an unnamed retail outlet's webshop: TUF Gaming RX 9060 XT OC 16 GB, PRIME RX 9060 XT OC 16 GB, PRIME RX 9060 XT OC 8 GB, and DUAL RX 9060 XT 8 GB. Confusingly, the ASUS "twin fan" DUAL tag is applied to all identifiers—perhaps an error, or an indication of an (unlikely) all dual-fan cooled lineup. VideoCardz believes that this latest leak only represents a partial selection; past RRA registrations pointed to the existence of additional non-overclocked models.

Slimbook, a Linux hardware manufacturer based in Europe (Spain) unveiled Kymera Black, a highly configurable desktop computer designed for gamers, content creators and hardware enthusiasts. This latest model focuses on flexibility, performance and durability. Kymera Black comes with options for AMD or Intel processors, capable of housing up to the latest AMD Ryzen 9 or Intel Ultra 9 CPUs. It can support up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM running at 6000 MHz, as well as a wide variety of storage options up to 4 TB NVMe 5.0 SSDs (NVMe 5.0 optional depending on motherboard) and 80 TB of HDD capacity. For networking, it can feature up to Wi-Fi 7 (depending on motherboard) and 2.5G Ethernet connectivity, and up to 1200 W Platinum power supply units.

This desktop PC features a matte black metal chassis with modular components, removable panels, and washable dust filters. The case uses a combination of tempered glass and metal side panels with an optional 8-inch front display to monitor system temperature, fan speed, and component performance in real time. In terms of software, the Kymera Black offers a wide selection of pre-installed Linux distributions. These include the Ubuntu-based Slimbook OS with GNOME or KDE Plasma, as well as Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, KDE neon, Debian, elementary OS, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint, Fedora, openSUSE, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, and Lliurex.

Hermen Hulst, CEO, Studio Business Group, Sony Interactive Entertainment: "today, I am thrilled to officially unveil a new studio in the PlayStation Studios family. teamLFG originated at Bungie, but has also rallied developers from across the industry to bring to life an ambitious incubation project that I'm very excited about. The studio is now fully formed and ready to be introduced to the world. I'll let teamLFG introduce themselves properly and give a tiny glimpse of what they've been working on."

teamLFG: "Hello, world. It's a delight to meet you, and we're very grateful to be joining PlayStation Studios. Our studio is headquartered in Bellevue, WA, with team members working both on-site and remotely throughout the U.S. and Canada. We are a team composed not just of industry veterans who have shipped titles like Destiny, Halo, League of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, and Rec Room, but also industry newcomers with fresh creative perspectives and skills. We are passionate about exceptional action-based gameplay, moment-to-moment game feel, and richly social virtual worlds."

Dynabook Americas, Inc., the gold standard for long-lasting, professional-grade laptops, today introduced its latest generation of business-class laptops: the Portégé X40-M Series 2, Tecra A40-M Series 2, and Tecra A60-M Series 2. Powered by the new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors, and equipped with Wi-Fi 7, and Windows 11 Pro, these premium Copilot-ready devices represent Dynabook's most advanced and AI-enhanced generation of productivity-focused PCs to date.

"These new -M Series 2 laptops give business and education professionals the modern tools they need to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven workplace," said James Robbins, General Manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "With smarter architecture, faster connectivity, and Windows 11 Pro paired with Microsoft Copilot, we're delivering powerful, secure devices that unlock productivity in entirely new ways."

Late last month, Kurnal (@Kurnalsalts) shared a partial die shot of a supposed Nintendo Switch 2 chipset—this teaser image seemed to verify previous leaked claims about the forthcoming next-gen hybrid gaming console being powered by a custom NVIDIA "T239" SoC design. Two weeks after the fact, Kurnal has boasted about delivering an alleged "world's first Nintendo Switch 2 die shot." Their social media post included a couple of key specification data points: "Samsung 8N (8 nm), eight Cortex-A78C cores, (shared) 4 MB L2 cache, and 1536 CUDA/6TPC 'Ampere' GPU." Another leaker—Geekerwan—said that they acquired a "Switch 2 motherboard" via Xianyu. This Chinese equivalent to eBay seems to be a veritable treasure trove of tech curiosities.

Earlier on in 2025, black market sellers were attempting to offload complete pre-launch Switch 2 packages for big money. As reported by VideoCardz, recent acquisitions only involved the securing of non-functional motherboard + SoC units—Kurnal disclosed a 1000 RMB (~$138 USD) price point. Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter is a very visible advocate of the Switch 2 chipset being based on a mature 8 nm Samsung node process. His personal belief was aimed at certain critics; these opposers predicted 5 nm manufacturing origins. Older leaks suggested a larger than expected die footprint—relative to Switch 1's internal setup; almost twice the size—leading to Leadbetter's conclusion. Comparison charts—produced by Kurnal and Geekerwan—propose an occupied area of 207 mm².

Electronic Arts has confirmed that the next Battlefield title will arrive by March 31, 2026, at the latest, and a full public reveal is scheduled for this summer. The announcement came as part of EA's most recent financial report and shows the company's confidence in the franchise's future. EA CEO Andrew Wilson described the upcoming game as "a pivotal step in defining our next generation of blockbuster entertainment." His comments signal the publisher's intention to rebuild goodwill after fan disappointment with Battlefield 2042. Closed testing began in March under strict non‑disclosure agreements, but a significant amount of gameplay footage has nonetheless appeared online. In response, developer DICE announced plans to expand the trial in May by inviting additional participants from Europe, North America and Asia. Players who wish to join the tests may still register through the official Battlefield website.

During this extended phase, DICE will concentrate on fine‑tuning fundamental gameplay systems. Key focus areas include balancing weapon archetypes, adjusting damage values, refining movement mechanics and pacing the flow of combat. The team will also continue to evaluate destructible objects—such as barricades, vehicles and buildings—across multiple map environments. These tests aim to ensure that world destruction feels both dramatic and fair, allowing players to use terrain changes to their tactical advantage. Further community updates will delve into the roles of individual classes and the full scope of the all‑out War Mode later this year. EA has adopted a more transparent development process than it did for its previous release, sharing frequent insights and responding directly to player feedback. Four internal studios—collectively known as Battlefield Studios—are collaborating on this project. DICE is leading the multiplayer experience, Motive is creating both multiplayer maps and single‑player missions, Criterion is focused on the solo campaign and Ripple Effect is developing a brand‑new series component.

On Tuesday, Ampere Computing expanded its AmpereOne lineup by introducing six new AmpereOne M processors without much official press coverage or any news. The M-series chips employ a 7228-pin FCLGA socket and house between 96 and 192 single-threaded Armv8.6 plus cores operating at up to 3.60 GHz. Each core includes 2 MB of L2 cache, while a shared 64 MB system cache feeds both compute units and memory controllers. Unlike its predecessors, the new family features a 12-channel DDR5-5600 memory subsystem that supports one ECC-protected DIMM per channel and up to 3 TB of RAM. This design aims to meet the growing demands of cloud and AI workloads that rely heavily on large in-memory processing. Power consumption ranges from 239 W in entry-level models up to 348 W in the flagship A192-32M, which delivers 192 cores at 3.2 GHz. All variants incorporate dynamic voltage and frequency scaling and adaptive voltage control to regulate power draw and maintain efficiency.

On the I/O side, the processors provide 96 PCIe 5.0 lanes with flexible bifurcation options and offer 24 dedicated device controllers to connect accelerators, NVMe storage, and high-speed network adapters. While AMD's EPYC 9965 delivers similar core counts, simultaneous multithreading, and a mature x86-64 ecosystem, Ampere's focus is on memory capacity and bandwidth. By releasing the AmpereOne M series with minimal news coverage, Ampere appears to be laying the groundwork for its next-generation AmpereOne MX platform, which is expected to feature 256 cores, the same 12-channel DDR5 architecture, and a shift to TSMC's 3 nm process. According to Ampere, shipments of the M series began in the fourth quarter of 2024. Softbank, which acquired Ampere Computing in March of this year, is paying $6.5 billion in an all-cash transaction and wants to grab a piece of the enterprise AI deployments. And with CSPs requiring more cores and more bandwidth, Ampere is on the right track.

ServiceNow is accelerating enterprise AI with a new reasoning model built in partnership with NVIDIA—enabling AI agents that respond in real time, handle complex workflows and scale functions like IT, HR and customer service teams worldwide. Unveiled today at ServiceNow's Knowledge 2025—where NVIDIA CEO and founder Jensen Huang joined ServiceNow chairman and CEO Bill McDermott during his keynote address—Apriel Nemotron 15B is compact, cost-efficient and tuned for action. It's designed to drive the next step forward in enterprise large language models (LLMs).

Apriel Nemotron 15B was developed with NVIDIA NeMo, the open NVIDIA Llama Nemotron Post-Training Dataset and ServiceNow domain-specific data, and was trained on NVIDIA DGX Cloud running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The news follows the April release of the NVIDIA Llama Nemotron Ultra model, which harnesses the NVIDIA open dataset that ServiceNow used to build its Apriel Nemotron 15B model. Ultra is among the strongest open-source models at reasoning, including scientific reasoning, coding, advanced math and other agentic AI tasks.

AMD and a select bunch of its board partners are set to launch Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB graphics card models tomorrow; starting as exclusives for China's PC gaming hardware market. Just before an unleashing of retail stock, local media outlets have published reviews—mostly covering brand-new ASUS, Sapphire, and XFX products. The RDNA 4 generation's first "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) is positioned as a slightly cheaper alternative to Team Red's Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) 16 GB model; 4199 RMB versus 4499 RMB (respectively, including VAT). In general, Chinese evaluators seem to express lukewarm opinions about the Radeon RX 9070 GRE's value-to-performance ratio. After all, this is a cut-down design—a "reduced" Navi 48 chip makes do with 3072 Stream Processors. The card's 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM configuration is paired up with a 192-bit memory interface.

Carbon Based Technology's video review presented benchmark results that placed AMD's new contender on par with a previous-gen card: Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB. Considering that this RDNA 3 era Golden Rabbit Edition (GRE) model launched globally with an MSRP of $549, its Navi 48 XL GPU-based descendant's ~$580 (USD) guide price appears to be mildly nonsensical. GamerSky pitched their ASUS ATS RX 9070 GRE MEGALODON OC sample against mid-range and lower level current-gen NVIDIA gaming products: ""through testing, we can find that at 4K resolution, the GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB performs the best, 5% higher than the ASUS RX 9070 GRE Megalodon. As the resolution decreases, its lead also decreases, and at 2K resolution it is only 2% higher. At 1080p resolution, the difference is only 1%. At the same time, compared with RTX 5060 Ti 16G, ASUS RX 9070 GRE Megalodon has a greater advantage. The performance of its competitor's RTX 5060 Ti 16G is only 77% of that of RX 9070 GRE at 4K and 2K resolutions. At 1080p, its performance increased slightly to 79%." AMD and involved AIBs could be testing the waters with an initial Chinese market exclusive release, but Western news outlets reckon that a more aggressive pricing strategy is needed for a (potential) proper global rollout of Radeon RX 9070 GRE cards.

NEO Semiconductor, a leading developer of innovative technologies for 3D NAND flash memory and 3D DRAM, announced today the latest advancement in its groundbreaking 3D X-DRAM technology family—the industry-first 1T1C- and 3T0C-based 3D X-DRAM cell, a transformative solution designed to deliver unprecedented density, power efficiency, and scalability for the most demanding data applications.

Built on a 3D NAND-like architecture and with proof-of-concept test chips expected in 2026, the new 1T1C and 3T0C designs combine the performance of DRAM with the manufacturability of NAND, enabling cost-effective, high-yield production with densities up to 512 Gb—a 10x improvement over conventional DRAM.
"With the introduction of the 1T1C and 3T0C 3D X-DRAM, we are redefining what's possible in memory technology," said Andy Hsu, Founder & CEO of NEO Semiconductor. "This innovation pushes past the scaling limitations of today's DRAM and positions NEO as a frontrunner in next-generation memory."

Join us at Cooler Master HQ for an exclusive COMPUTEX experience. From cooling the demands of AI and high-performance systems to enabling everyday reliability and modular design, discover how we're shaping the future through smarter, more adaptable solutions. Cooler Master invites you to experience the future of tech—live from our headquarters. As the tech landscape evolves, we're pushing cooling further: powering the rise of AI, delivering smarter performance for everyday systems, and unlocking new possibilities through modular design. This year's showcase brings it all together under one vision.

One Cooler Master—Where Cooling Drives the Future
It's the fusion of our industrial and consumer expertise. For over 30 years, we've built advanced cooling solutions for businesses, including: AI data centers, telecom, and mobile—then brought that same innovation to gamers, creators, and everyday users. One Cooler Master reflects our unified vision: engineering that drives performance at every level.

NACON, a leader in premium gaming accessories and parent of the RIG audio brand, announces the new RIG 400 GEN2 Series. Successors to the best-selling camo gaming headsets, the new generation headsets are available in two soft-touch camo designs, Arctic Camo and Urban Camo, exclusively at Walmart stores and Walmart.com.

The 400 GEN2 delivers epic game audio with powerful 40 mm audio drivers and crystal-clear comms via a redesigned flip-to-mute microphone. Gamers can seamlessly connect with squad mates across platforms with a universal 3.5 mm audio jack, built to plug and play on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, and more.
Designed for extended gaming sessions, the 400 GEN2 features redesigned oval earcups that form comfortably around the ear. The signature snap-fit sizing and a cushioned headband ensure a perfect fit for all head sizes, offering unmatched comfort and durability.

Prepare for humanity's next giant leap in Horizon Journey, an ambitious open-world survival game set on a stunningly authentic recreation of Mars, launching on Steam on June 27, 2025. Developed using real NASA imagery, Horizon Journey challenges players to colonise the infamous Red Planet. Future pioneers can get an early taste of Martian life during the upcoming Steam Next Fest in June, with a playable demo available shortly before the event kicks off!

In Horizon Journey, players step into the boots of a member of the 17th Endeavor Mission in the year 2053. Your mission: survive the hostile Martian environment, establish a foothold for humanity, and begin the monumental task of terraforming. This is not just another sci-fi backdrop; Horizon Journey offers a vast, explorable Mars rendered with unparalleled realism, presenting unique survival challenges drawn from the planet's actual conditions.

Get ready to unfold the next big thing in retro gaming—introducing the ANBERNIC RG 34XXSP, where classic handheld nostalgia meets cutting-edge functionality.

Four Iconic Colors, One Legendary Design
Paying tribute to the golden age of handheld consoles, the RG 34XXSP sports a clamshell form factor—compact, durable, and ultraportable. Choose from four nostalgic colorways: Yellow, Indigo, Black, and Gray.

Seasonic has introduced its new MAXFlow 120 mm cooling fan series with a thickness of 30 mm. It features a reinforced frame with noise-dampening corner pads while the reverse fan design with arc-shaped blades improves the airflow. Seasonic newest MAXFlow fan measures 120 mm x 120 mm x 30 mm and runs on DC power between 9.5 V and 13.8 V with a maximum speed of 3300 RPM. The fan use high-quality Japanese NMB ball bearings with a lifespan of up to 70,000 hours.

Performance specifications include impressive airflow of 154.85 CFM and static pressure of 8.5 mm-H₂O, though noise levels reach 46.60 dB(A) at maximum speed. For convenience, a three-speed selector switch allows users to choose between quiet operation (up to 1000 RPM), balanced performance (up to 2000 RPM), or maximum cooling capacity (up to 3300 RPM). Seasonic MAXFlow 120 mm is available in white and black versions, as a single pack or triple set (this kit includes an additional 3-to-1 PWM extension cable for motherboard connection) and is backed by a 5-year warranty. Exact pricing and availability are not known at this moment, however, Seasonic is mentioning "affordable price" on product presentation pages.

AGON by AOC—the world's leading gaming monitor brand—announces the launch of the innovative AOC GAMING U27G4R, a 27-inch (68.6 cm) gaming monitor featuring groundbreaking Dual-Frame technology. This first-of-its-kind monitor in the AOC line-up allows gamers to seamlessly switch between ultra-sharp UHD (3840x2160) resolution at 160 Hz and FHD (1920x1080) at a lightning-fast 320 Hz refresh rate, eliminating the need to choose between visual fidelity and competitive performance. Additionally, AOC is expanding the G4 series with three new models: the ultrawide curved 34-inch (86.36 cm) CU34G4 with 180 Hz refresh rate, and the 23.8-inch (60.5 cm) 24G4HA and the 27-inch (68.6 cm) 27G4HA, both featuring 200 Hz refresh rates.

The U27G4R's innovative Dual-Frame technology brings sophisticated versatility to AOC's gaming monitor line-up. The UHD @ 160 Hz mode delivers breathtaking visual fidelity with a stunning 163 pixels per inch, ideal for cinematic gaming and content creation. Meanwhile, the FHD @ 320 Hz setting provides the competitive edge essential for fast-paced esports titles where every millisecond counts. Built around a state-of-the-art Fast IPS panel, the U27G4R delivers exceptional response times of up to 1 ms GtG in both resolution modes, with 0.5 ms MPRT in UHD mode and 0.3 ms MPRT in FHD mode using the Motion Blur Reduction (MBR) setting.

Mad Catz Global Limited, a leading innovator in gaming hardware, is pleased to announce the N.E.K.O. all-button arcade controller. N.E.K.O. is the first Mad Catz arcade controller designed in collaboration with FGC pro gamers and our core fans in the Japanese fighting game community. Incorporating professional and community-driven input at every stage of development, the N.E.K.O. offers players an arcade controller that delivers a competitive advantage.

Design Architecture & Advanced Ergonomics
In close consultation and collaboration with FGC professional and casual gamers in Japan, the N.E.K.O. was designed to deliver superior comfort and performance through an ergonomically positioned faceplate, additional and optimally placed programmable inputs, precisely calibrated weight and dimensions, an enhanced non-slip base, and precision-engineered buttons that allow for smooth transitions from button to button—ensuring combos hit effortlessly every time.

G.SKILL., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is excited to showcase new memory products and product designs for PC enthusiasts at Computex 2025. G.SKILL will also host two major annual extreme overclocking events at the G.SKILL Computex booth - the 11th Annual OC World Record Stage 2025 and the 9th Annual OC World Cup 2025 - as well as the 5th Annual G.SKILL Extreme Mod Stage 2025 to showcase creative system mods. G.SKILL sincerely invites you to come visit our booth at Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 (TaiNEX 1), 1F, Booth J0818 during Computex from May 20 to May 23, 2025.

The G.SKILL OC World Record Stage continues to be one of the most anticipated highlights in the extreme overclocking scene. Each year, top-tier professional overclockers converge at the G.SKILL booth during Computex to push hardware to its limits and break as many overclocking records as possible, using liquid nitrogen (LN2) for extreme cooling. This year's event showcases cutting-edge performance motherboards from ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, and MSI, the latest platforms from Intel and AMD, and G.SKILL DDR5 memory.

More performance, smoother gameplay, and faster responsiveness. This can all be made possible through software enhancements and AI capabilities unlocked with XeSS 2! Since the introduction of XeSS in 2022 alongside the launch of Intel Arc A-Series, over 200 games have been supercharged with greater performance thanks to AI-based super resolution upscaling technology (XeSS-SR). Shortly following launch, support was quickly extended to Intel Core Ultra processors with built-in Intel Arc GPUs, providing a better gaming experience for millions of desktop and laptop gamers around the globe.

XeSS 2 boldly pushes this further with the addition of gameplay-smoothing AI-based frame generation (XeSS-FG) and reduced lag with low latency (XeLL) technologies. Intel's game engineering team recently released the XeSS 2 SDK to enable quick and easy integration by developers, and adoption is picking up with 19 games now offering the new suite of technologies.

AMD today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2025. First quarter revenue was $7.4 billion, gross margin was 50%, operating income was $806 million, net income was $709 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.44. On a non-GAAP(*) basis, gross margin was 54%, operating income was $1.8 billion, net income was $1.6 billion and diluted earnings per share was $0.96.

"We delivered an outstanding start to 2025 as year-over-year growth accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter driven by strength in our core businesses and expanding data center and AI momentum," said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD chair and CEO. "Despite the dynamic macro and regulatory environment, our first quarter results and second quarter outlook highlight the strength of our differentiated product portfolio and consistent execution positioning us well for strong growth in 2025."

ASUS has unwillingly revealed its upcoming ROG Ally 2 handheld through FCC filings and certification images, offering an early glimpse at two distinct models. According to Indonesian certification entries and a linked US FCC listing, the Ally 2 will launch in both black and white finishes. The black version includes a dedicated Xbox button, suggesting tighter integration with Microsoft's gaming services, while the white model adheres to the traditional ROG control scheme. This latest reveal follows ASUS's April 1st teaser of "Project Kennan," which showed an animated fusion of an ROG Ally and an Xbox controller, hinting at a formal collaboration between the two companies. Under the hood, the black edition of the Ally 2 represents ASUS's most ambitious handheld to date. It employs AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, an eight‑core chip rated at 36 W, paired with 64 GB of LPDDR5X‑8533 memory. In contrast, the white model will feature AMD's Aeirth Plus APU with four cores operating at 20 W. These hardware choices position the black version as a high‑performance Xbox-linked system, while the white version aims to balance power efficiency and sustained battery life.

Both variants are confirmed to sport a 7‑inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Notably, the screen bezels appear unchanged from the original Ally and the higher‑end Ally X. The new design instead focuses on ergonomics, with larger rear grips that resemble those of a traditional controller. The top-mounted I/O includes a pair of USB Type‑C ports, and side‑view images suggest a somewhat bulkier profile. However, the final weight and comfort will depend on ASUS's manufacturing refinements. No powered‑on images have emerged, so details about display quality or software remain unverified. We assume it could support the standard Windows 11 OS, with SteamOS being an option since we reported multiple software patches for ASUS ROG Ally on SteamOS. With multiple certifications now completed in Indonesia, the United States, and Korea, ASUS seems poised to announce the ROG Ally 2 at Computex 2025. Enthusiasts are now left to await official specifications, pricing, and availability when ASUS takes the stage next month.

Intel has revised the recommended retail prices for two of its Core Ultra 7 200S series desktop processors, making the most significant adjustment to its "Arrow Lake‑S" lineup since it launched six months ago. As of right now, the Core Ultra 7 265K carries an MSRP of $299 instead of $399, and the unlocked 265KF model is now $284, down from $384. Intel notes these are suggested prices only—actual costs will vary by retailer, region, taxes, and other factors. These price changes come alongside Intel's Spring Bundle promotion, where buyers receive blockbuster game keys and professional software licenses with qualifying purchases of Core Ultra Series 2 and 14th Gen processors. Intel emphasizes that the new MSRPs are separate from these bundles, so combining both savings opportunities is still possible. Interestingly, Intel has left the pricing for its top‑end Core Ultra 9 285/285K ($549/$589) and its mainstream Core Ultra 5 245/245K/245KF ($270/$309/$294) unchanged.

This suggests the company is focusing on mid‑range SKUs to win back market share rather than adjusting the entire Arrow Lake‑S family. This move also reflects market pressure—early stability issues with the 14th Gen chips and strong performance from AMD's Ryzen 9000X3D series have made Intel's task tougher. A glance at retailer listings shows not everyone has updated prices yet; in some cases, the Core Ultra 7 265K can already be found for under $299. Whether these cuts will drive more gamers, creators, and professionals to Arrow Lake‑S remains to be seen, but Intel is clearly betting on a winning combination of price, recently boosted performance, and bundled extras.

GIGABYTE, a global leader in technology, today announced the availability of its flagship ultra-compact mini-PC, the New BRIX Mainstream series, accompanied by an exclusive product video release. This series is powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) and boasts an integrated GPU with a remarkable 20% performance increase over the previous generation. Furthermore, it unleashes exceptional AI performance, delivering up to 96 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS), making it perfectly suited for demanding generative AI tasks and intensive multitasking scenarios.

⁠Designed to meet the growing needs of smart home solutions, commercial deployments, content creation, and edge computing, the BRIX Mainstream series packs this impressive performance into a remarkably compact 0.46-liter chassis with a sleek 3.5 cm profile. Despite its size, it offers top-tier computing power, flexible expansion options, and an eco-conscious, energy-efficient design - delivers performance that exceeds expectation.

More than 700 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and each week new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. This week and next, DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation will be multiplying frame rates in MechWarrior 5: Clans, New World: Aeternum, and Spirit of the North 2.

Additionally, DLSS Super Resolution is available now or coming soon to Bodycam, Lost Skies, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, and Necrophosis. You can also enjoy them all with a new GeForce RTX 5060 or GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU, which will hit shelves through our add-in-card, system, OEM, and retail partners starting May 19 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.

In February, we announced Battlefield Labs as our most ambitious community collaboration in franchise history to validate the future of Battlefield. Today, we'll update you on our initial learnings and how we'll continue to scale testing into the future.

Across our four initial play sessions with a small group of core Battlefield players across Europe and North America, we've completed thousands of hours of gameplay, had hundreds of thousands of player spawns, and seen over a million environmental objects destroyed, including walls, windows, crates, and buildings your squad crashed the helicopter into.

IBM has introduced the LinuxONE Emperor 5, its newest Linux computing platform that runs on the Telum II processor with built-in AI acceleration features. This launch aims to tackle three key issues for tech leaders: better security measures, reduced costs, and smooth AI incorporation into business systems. The heart of the system, the Telum II processor, includes a second-generation on-chip AI accelerator. This component is designed to boost predictive AI abilities and large language models for instant transaction handling. The upcoming IBM Spyre Accelerator (set to arrive in late 2025) via PCIe card will boost generative AI functions. The platform comes with an updated AI Toolkit fine-tuned for the Telum II processor. It also offers early looks at Red Hat OpenShift AI and Virtualization allowing unified control of both standard virtual machines and containerized workloads.

The platform provides wide-ranging security measures. These include confidential computing strong cryptographic abilities, and NIST-approved post-quantum algorithms. These safeguard sensitive AI models and data from current risks and expected post-quantum attacks. When it comes to productivity, companies can combine several server workloads on one high-capacity system. This might cut ownership expenses by up to 44% compared to x86 options over five years. At the same time, it keeps exceptional 99.999999% uptime rates according to IBM. The LinuxOne Emperor 5 will run Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Canonical Ubuntu Server. Tina Tarquinio, chief product officer at IBM Z and LinuxONE, said: "IBM LinuxONE 5 represents the next evolution of our Linux infrastructure strategy. It is designed to help clients unlock the full potential of Linux and AI while optimizing their datacenters, simplifying their operations, and addressing risk. Whether you're building intelligent applications, deploying regulated workloads, consolidating infrastructure, or preparing for the next wave of transformation, IBM LinuxONE offers an exciting path forward."

Around late April, MediaTek confirmed that their CEO—Dr. Rick Tsai—will be delivering a big keynote speech—on May 20—at this month's Computex 2025 trade show. The company's preamble focuses on their "driving of AI innovation—from edge to cloud," but industry moles propose a surprise new product introduction during proceedings. MediaTek and NVIDIA have collaborated on a number of projects; the most visible being automative solutions. Late last year, intriguing Arm-based rumors emerged online—with Team Green allegedly working on a first time attempt at breaking into the high-end CPU consumer market segment; perhaps with the leveraging of "Blackwell" GPU architecture. MediaTek was reportedly placed in the equation, due to expertise accumulated from their devising of modern Dimensity "big core" mobile processor designs. At the start of 2025, data miners presented evidence of Lenovo seeking new engineering talent. Their job description mentioned a mysterious NVIDIA "N1x" SoC.

Further conjecture painted a fanciful picture of forthcoming "high-end N1x and mid-tier N1 (non-X)" models—with potential flagship devices launching later on this year. According to ComputerBase.de, an unannounced "GB10" PC chip could be the result of NVIDIA and MediaTek's rumored "AI PC" joint venture. Yesterday's news article divulged: "currently (this) product (can be) found in NVIDIA DGX Spark (platforms), and similarly equipped partner solutions. The systems, available starting at $3000, are aimed at AI developers who can test LLMs locally before moving them to the data center. The chip combines a 'Blackwell' GPU with a 'Grace' Arm CPU (in order) to create an SoC with 128 GB LPDDR5X, and a 1 TB or 4 TB SSD. The 'GB10' offers a GPU with one petaflop of FP4 performance (with sparsity)." ComputerBase reckons that the integrated graphics solution makes use of familiar properties—namely "5th-generation Tensor Cores and 4th-generation RT Cores"—from GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. When discussing the design's "Grace CPU" setup, the publication's report outlined a total provision of: "20 Arm cores, including 10 Cortex-X925 and 10 Cortex-A725. The whole thing sits on a board measuring around 150 × 150 mm—for comparison: the classic NUC board format is 104 × 101 mm."

Following their co-op presentation, Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive have shared the ultimate trailer prior to the launch of RoadCraft, the next-gen heavy-machinery simulation and sandbox game where players reshape the Aftermath. Only two weeks to go before the May 20 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and as much to pre-order and get the vehicle DLC bonus Aramatsu Bowhead 30T. RoadCraft taps into construction sandbox fantasies fondly remembered by many.

From backyard toys to next-gen physics simulation
Boasting breathtaking CGI—courtesy of Digic Entertainment—the same studio responsible for Space Marine 2's epic The Angels of Death CGI trailer—RoadCraft's "Sandbox Memories" trailer stays true to the game's technical and graphical prowess. As its majestic visual setting blends with the familiar images of a child playing with construction truck toys, prepare to get that magical feeling back in an advanced version of your childhood backyard playtime - where the only limit is your imagination, and that of your playground partners! Collect impressive vehicles, dispatch your fleet as you see fit and invent stories and scenarios with your friends.

Over the past week or two, next-gen processor fanatics have been combing through AMD's Technical Information Portal—many truth seekers are trying to determine details of new product lineups; likely in anticipation of official unveilings (at Computex 2025). Super sleuths are still trying to find Team Red's mythical Ryzen Threadripper PRO "9995WX" processor; an alleged 96-core "Shimada Peak" range-topping beastie. Going against forward progress grains, VideoCardz has uncovered much older technologies—harking back to the days of Zen 3+ and RDNA 2. Revisiting late summer 2023, Team Red-related leaks suggested the potential arrival of (6 nm) Ryzen "Rembrandt" 6000G series desktop APUs.

We now know that AMD skipped a couple of AM5-bound steps, and eventually released its Ryzen "Phoenix" 8000G (Zen 4 and RDNA 3) family early last year. The discovery of an "AMD AM5 Functional Test Vehicle APUs (Family 19h Models 40h-4Fh) are based on the Zen 3+ 6 nm core with Radeon Navi Graphics" entry within Team Red's technical info database, has reopened online discussions about forgotten/abandoned intellectual properties. VideoCardz believes that the "19h" tag denotes "Rembrandt" family origins—additionally, their curiosity was piqued by the possibility of 6000G prototypes units escaping out into the wild. Looking ahead, the AM5 platform is expected to welcome (next-gen) Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" desktop (Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5) processors.

IBM is working with Oracle to bring the power of watsonx, IBM's flagship portfolio of AI products, to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Leveraging OCI's native AI services, the latest milestone in IBM's technology partnership with Oracle is designed to fuel a new era of multi-agentic, AI-driven productivity and efficiency across the enterprise. Organizations today are deploying AI throughout their operations, looking to take advantage of the extraordinary advancements in generative AI models, tools, and agents. AI agents that can provide a single, easy-to-use interface to complete tasks are emerging as key tools to help simplify the deployment and use of AI across enterprise operations and functions. "AI delivers the most impactful value when it works seamlessly across an entire business," said Greg Pavlik, executive vice president, AI and Data Management Services, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. "IBM and Oracle have been collaborating to drive customer success for decades, and our expanded partnership will provide customers new ways to help transform their businesses with AI."

Watsonx Orchestrate to support multi-agent workflows
To give customers a consistent way to build and manage agents across multi-agent, multi-system business processes, spanning both Oracle and non-Oracle applications and data sources, IBM is making its watsonx Orchestrate AI agent offerings available on OCI in July. This multi-agent approach using wastonx Orchestrate is designed to work with the expansive AI agent offerings embedded within the Oracle AI Agent Studio for Fusion Applications, as well as OCI Generative AI Agents, and OCI's other AI services. It extends the ecosystem around Oracle Fusion Applications to enable further functionality across third-party and custom applications and data sources. The first use cases being addressed are in human resources. The watsonx Orchestrate agents will perform AI inferencing on OCI, which many customers use to host their data, AI, and other applications. IBM agents run in watsonx Orchestrate on Red Hat OpenShift on OCI, including in public, sovereign, government, and Oracle Alloy regions, to enable customers to address specific regulatory and privacy requirements. The agents can also be hosted on-premises or in multicloud environments for true hybrid cloud capabilities.

Arctic Cooling's various thermal paste products have existed as favorite mainstays for PC builders—be it hobbyists, professionals, or influencers. Unfortunately, the disappointing presence of low-grade knock-off units has soured largely good impressions of modern MX-4 and MX-6 lines. Earlier today, Tom's Hardware put a spotlight on the Swiss-founded firm's brand-new "MX Authenticity Check" system. Worried customers can check the provenance of recently purchased Arctic thermal pastes (with updated packaging); via a QR code-based checker—the real deal will ensure "safety with genuine Arctic quality." The company's latest announcement outlined/reiterated the importance of a truly effective solution: "thermal paste plays a central role in any PC build that relies on effective cooling, as it ensures optimal heat transfer from the processor to the heat sink." In further correspondence—beyond an initial introductory email—an Arctic representative disclosed that this fresh anti-piracy strategy was rolled out in response to an uptick in counterfeit products appearing across markets. Their MX Authenticity checking program is easy to use, and authentication takes "just a few seconds." Tom's Hardware summarized this process: "in brief, when you receive your new thermal paste from Arctic or one of the many retailers that carry these compounds, you first check the seal, scratch it to reveal a QR code, scan it with your mobile, and then verify it online."

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is heating up springtime in Boston with can't miss activations at PAX East, including a brand-new demo for FromSoftware, Inc.'s hotly anticipated next game, ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN. The demo will feature large in an immersive theater on the show floor, where popular content creators will enlist players to take on the game's challenging three-player co-op action, and if successful win prizes for everyone the audience. SHADOW LABYRINTH, the 2D action platformer with a surprising Sci-Fi take on the iconic PAC-MAN, will also be at the show as part of the panel "A Platform for Adventure: Metroidvania Game Makers Roundtable." Organized by Bandai Namco, the panel brings together developers, and (subject matter expert) Jeremy Parish as moderator to discuss the resurgence of the genre.

PAX East 2025 takes place May 8 - 11 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN is located at the Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. booth (#16055). SHADOW LABYRINTH will be on the panel "A Platform for Adventure: Metroidvania Game Makers Roundtable" taking place at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 10, at the Albatross Theater. For show information, visit: www.bandainamcoent.com/events/pax-east.

Despite recent whispers of TSMC losing a key 4 nm node process customer, industry analysts reckon that Taiwan's premier foundry business will remain in a comfortable leading position for the foreseeable future. "Optimistic" expert opinion points to "revenue growth for supply chain players," driven by the rapid progress of the firm's 2 nm manufacturing prowess. Naturally, their cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities—supposedly bolstered by GAAFET—are being tracked with keen interest. According to a fairly fresh Ctee Taiwan news piece, the usual big players are reportedly queued up and present within factory order books. The likes of Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Broadcom are mentioned. Mid-way through last month, Team Red officially announced a big collaborative milestone: "(our) next-generation AMD EPYC processor—codenamed "Venice"—is the first HPC product in the industry to be taped out and brought up on the TSMC advanced 2 nm (N2) process technology."

Ctee's report cites recent statements by C. C. Wei. Apparently, the TSMC CEO has stressed (on multiple occasions) that there is "unprecedented" demand for his company's 2 nm production pipelines—far exceeding previous levels for 3 nm. In addition, TSMC reps—who are currently touring the States; hosting technology symposiums—have revealed 2 nm (N2) defect density trends. Ctee outlined these intriguing details: "(N2's) defect density (D0) performance is comparable to that of the 5 nm family, and even surpasses the 7 nm and 3 nm processes of the same period, making it one of the most technologically mature advanced nodes." Wei's foundry team seems to be well ahead of main competition; insiders reckon that alleged equipment upgrades signal a push into 1.4 nm territories. Crucially, mass production of 2 nm (N2) wafers is expected to begin later this year—a cross-facility push was uttered by industry moles.

Copilot+ PCs continue to define the next wave of personal computing—fast, long lasting, secure PCs that are purpose-built to unlock AI experiences that empower us to get more done. Today, Microsoft and Surface expand the Copilot+ PC family with the new Surface Laptop, 13-inch and Surface Pro, 12-inch, designed with performance and portability in mind. These new PCs reflect the next chapter of Surface innovation bringing ultra-thin, lightweight and powerful Copilot+ PCs to more people at even lower price points.

Last May, we introduced a new category of devices—Copilot+ PCs, the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever, with our flagship Surface Laptop and Surface Pro representing the ultimate Copilot+ PCs from Microsoft. Copilot+ PCs are lightning fast, responsive devices with long battery life, built to be secure by design and by default, and unlock exclusive AI experiences, running locally thanks to the Neural Processing Unit in their advanced processors. Windows continues to invest in Copilot+ PCs, with a new agent in settings and new Copilot+ PC experiences announced today—rolling out first to Windows Insiders. Today, we are proud to introduce two new Surface Copilot+ PCs, powered by Snapdragon X Plus processors, that deliver great experiences for great value. You now have more options to choose the right Surface Copilot+ PC to fit your needs.

As some of you may know, Danish company Asetek has had something of a monopoly in the all-in-one liquid cooling market and this was large due to a single patent that expired today. The patent in question PCT/DK2005/000310 or US8240362 has been used by the company to force many of its competitors either out of business, or cost them a small fortune as they tried to circumvent it. This is why so many companies have licensed AIO liquid cooler designs from Asetek and why there hasn't been a ton of innovation in the market until the past couple of years, when we've finally seen some innovative solutions that work around the patent.

By now, this is a 20 year old patent that was filed by Asetek founder André Sloth Eriksen on this day in 2005. What this means for Asetek at this point in time is unclear, but with the company no longer being able to sue its competitors for producing AIO coolers with the pump integrated into the waterblock, it seems like they no longer have an edge over their competitors. That said, it's unlikely we'll see a dozen new competitors cropping up, as the liquid cooling market is already quite competitive and hardly the most profitable business to be in. With that said, Asetek did mention in their last quarterly report which was released in April, that they've been approached by a company that is interested in taking over their liquid cooling business, so we might see Asetek divesting from liquid cooling in the future.

Kodak North American brand licensee C+A Global is excited to announce the availability of the KODAK LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector | Google TV, the newest addition to their acclaimed Kodak LUMA projector line. With its versatile capabilities and designed to elevate portable entertainment, this small projector transforms any space—whether a living room or the great outdoors—into a cinematic escape.

Enhancing user convenience, the KODAK LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector | Google TV offers seamless voice control with the new integration of Google Assistant, allowing users to effortlessly navigate settings and access streaming apps through voice commands. Available in black and white and equipped with built-in popular streaming apps, this sleek and compact projector delivers stunning Full HD resolution, with auto-focus & keystone correction, it's complete with HDR and 4K support, ensuring every image is crisp and vibrant in 150" screen size.

By Azura, by Azura, by Azura—I hope you're getting some good time in with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered—this adoring fan has been loving it. And when you do get a break from your time in Cyrodiil, we have long list of games for you to get pre-installed, including day ones like DOOM: The Dark Ages and more. Let's get to the games!

Available Today
Dredge (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard—Dredge is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.

A Brazilian e-tail outlet—TerabyteShop—has inadvertently listed an announced Gigabyte graphics card product. At the time of writing, this offending item has been scrubbed from the shop's webstore—fortunately, VideoCardz has preserved crucial details and images. Almost a month ago, the Taiwanese manufacturer registered two semi-mysterious custom Radeon RX 9060 XT models in South Korea. The latest leak seems to confirm Gigabyte's readying of a Gaming OC option; configured with 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. TerabyteShop's publication of a telling product identifier/code—"GV-R9060XTGAMING OC-16GD"—matches information present within last month's Radio Agency (RRA) filing. AMD and its board partners are expected to release 8 GB variants, but insiders reckon that these cheaper options will receive less press coverage.

Team Red has not publicly admitted that it is working on a specific Radeon RX 9060 XT launch—instead, company representatives have indicated a forthcoming second quarter release of their Radeon RX 9060 Series. Late last month, industry moles predicted a May 21 reveal—very likely to happen during AMD's Computex 2025 presentation. In theory, TerabyteShop could have relied on placeholder material—their accidentally published page contained a promo shot of Team Red's "non-existent" triple-fan Radeon RX 9070 XT reference/MBA design. Additionally, it is not clear whether they sourced an image that depicts Gigabyte's large triple-fan Radeon RX 9070 (XT) Gaming OC design.

Just days after confirming delays, Rockstar surprised gamers by dropping the second official Grand Theft Auto VI trailer here. Clocking in at just over two minutes, the cinematic preview shifts the focus from raw spectacle to rich, character‑driven storytelling. The description of the video has a few hints about the story: "Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida—forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive."

While gameplay remains largely mysterious, the trailer offers glimpses of high‑octane heists, heart‑pounding car chases through narrow backstreets, and gritty shoot‑outs atop rain‑slicked overpasses, all fueled by a pulsating, synth‑infused theme. With the release now planned for May 26, 2026, we hope to see more trailers to keep gamers interested.Below is the new trailer!

Semidynamics, the only provider of fully customizable RISC-V processor IP, announces Cervell, a scalable and fully programmable Neural Processing Unit (NPU) built on RISC-V. Cervell combines CPU, vector, and tensor capabilities in a single, unified all-in-one architecture, unlocking zero-latency AI compute across applications from edge AI to datacenter-scale LLMs.

Delivering up to 256 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) at 2 GHz, Cervell scales from C8 to C64 configurations, allowing designers to tune performance to application needs—from 8 TOPS INT8 at 1 GHz in compact edge deployments to 256 TOPS INT4 in high-end AI inference.

NVIDIA today announced that the GeForce RTX 5060 (non-Ti) graphics card will be available from May 19, 2025. This includes availability of graphics cards from NVIDIA's board partners, and pre-built desktops with RTX 5060. The RTX 5060 was announced by NVIDIA alongside the RTX 5060 Ti in April, however, availability of the RTX 5060 was pushed to sometime in mid-May. With the 2025 Computex Taipei getting underway on May 20, and the press expected to start their coverage of the expo by May 16 at least; it's highly likely that launch of the RTX 5060 will get obscured by the deluge of Computex content.

NVIDIA also confirmed the specifications of the GeForce RTX 5060. The card is based on the same GB206 silicon as the RTX 5060 Ti, but is configured with 30 streaming multiprocessors (SM) out of the 36 present on the silicon. This works out to 3,840 CUDA cores, 120 Tensor cores, 30 RT cores, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The GPU is clocked at 2.50 GHz max boost. The RTX 5060 only gets an 8 GB memory option, there's no 16 GB. The 8 GB of GDDR7 memory runs across the GPU's 128-bit wide memory interface. The company didn't mention the memory speed. NVIDIA configured the TGP of the RTX 5060 to be 145 W, a significant reduction from the 180 W of the RTX 5060 Ti, which means most partner cards should make do with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector; it wouldn't surprise us if some cards even come with 6-pin.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) announced the arrival of new configurations of its popular and acclaimed Strix line-up as well as the new ASUS TUF A18—now available for pre-order. Both ASUS' and ROG's cutting-edge line-up involves the latest from NVIDIA, with innovative graphics technologies like DLSS 4 and Frame Generation to enjoy ray tracing at more accessible price points. Our line-up available for pre-order includes both Intel and AMD equipped ROG Strix G16 or ROG Strix G18 as well as our refreshed TUF 16 and new TUF A18—the first 18-inch laptop in the TUF Gaming line-up. These will be made available at our select retail partners for pre-order.

ROG Strix G16 & G18 (Intel): Empowering Every Gamer
Designed to unite squads and elevate gaming experiences, the ROG Strix G18 deliver fast AAA gaming performance and seamless content creation, powered by Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 275HX. Paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPUs, these devices offer unmatched performance and stunning graphics. With up to 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, they ensure smooth multitasking and efficient handling of resource-intensive applications. The advanced Tri-Fan Technology, full-width heatsink, and full-surround vents provide exceptional thermal management, allowing users to maintain peak performance during intense gaming sessions. Both models are equipped with dual PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD slots and designed for tool-less access, with Intel models supporting PCIe Gen 5 on one of the slots for Strix G this allows for seamless storage upgrades. With customizable hotkeys for quick access to essential functions, the ROG Strix G18 empowers gamers to rise to victory.

Manli introduced its new generation Polar Fox graphics design earlier this year; accompanied by an "exclusive two-dimensional" product mascot. Prior to 2025, the manufacturer did not market these mid-range offerings with cute character illustrations and graphics. Several Chinese graphics card specialist companies have adopted this aesthetic; seemingly taking major influence from Yeston. According to the Manli's PR material, the latest Polar Fox graphics cards are: "perfect for users who love anime...we've crafted a unique IP identity that makes Polar Fox truly special. The most special feature is wave-shaped heat sink, it enhances airflow to minimize noise, delivering a quieter and more comfortable experience."

The brand launched their icon-themed GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB factory overclocked custom design early on in March, starting off with sections finished with an unusually deep blue tone. As observed by VideoCardz, this aesthetic—covering a significant portion of the card's shroud and a central 9 cm cooling fan—is not a subtle prospect; especially when showcased via a vertical orientation. The brand has prepped a less flashy variant—swapping out the launch model's dark blue tones, in favor of a light-hearted shade of aqua teal. Manli's signature mascot backplate illustration remains the same across both SKUs, although the newer option features additional fractal graphics and "Polar Fox" text. Going back to last month; the manufacturer unveiled this lighter teal setup during an introduction of (mostly dual-fan) new GeForce RTX 5060 Ti models.

Optoma, the No. 1 DLP Laser brand worldwide, today introduced the GT4000UHD, a compact 4K UHD laser ultra short throw projector for optimal gaming experiences and home entertainment viewing. Joining the company's line of award-winning projectors, the GT4000UHD projector delivers high brightness at 4,000 lumens, reliable long-term usage, and installation flexibility for a variety of home viewing occasions.

The GT4000UHD features superior color performance and a 500,000:1 contrast ratio delivering ultra-smooth motion and vivid color accuracy that make every movie, show, or live sports or gaming feel more immersive, vibrant, and real than ever. For smaller spaces, the GT4000UHD displays up to 100-inch images from less than 12-inches away, (120" maximum) from the screen for convenient use in any room, no matter the size or location.

With the rapid advancement of gaming laptop performance, more users are turning to notebooks for demanding tasks like AAA gaming, video editing, and streaming. Brook proudly introduces the Saviortop Gaming Laptop Cooler—a gaming-focused cooling solution designed to unlock the full potential of entry- to mid-tier gaming laptops. This external laptop cooling pad not only stabilizes system performance but also helps prolong device life and eliminate gameplay disruptions caused by heat.

Powerful Thermal Performance
The Saviortop laptop fan is equipped with a high-speed 3500 RPM turbofan and Brook's exclusive memory foam airflow sealing ring. This unique structure increases airflow pressure and locks the airflow path directly onto the laptop's thermal output zones. In real-world tests, the Saviortop reduces CPU/GPU temperatures by up to 20°C, keeping frame rates stable and gameplay smooth even under maximum load.

SilverStone Technology has listed the Crown 04, a new home theater PC (HTPC) enclosure built with all-steel construction and a brushed aluminium finish (3 mm-thick front aluminium panel and a 2 mm-thick top aluminium panel). The Crown 04 follows the 5U rackmount standard with dimensions measuring 440 mm width, 239 mm height, and 458 mm depth. This size makes it compatible with larger graphics cards, including the RTX 50 series, and provides room for future GPU generations. The enclosure supports motherboards from ATX to SSI-EEB form factors and offers eight PCI expansion slots, allowing users to build powerful systems with high-end components.

The Crown 04 gives users plenty of room for storage as it can fit two 3.5-inch hard drives and three 2.5-inch SSDs inside. For cooling, SilverStone included 3x 120 mm fans while additional fans can be added (1x 120/140 mm on the rear, 3x 120 mm at the top, and 3x 120/140 mm on the side). Radiators up to 360 mm can be placed on top and the side of the enclosure.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (GF) today announced preliminary financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

Key First Quarter Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $1.585 billion
• Gross margin of 22.4% and Non-IFRS gross margin of 23.9%
• Operating margin of 9.5% and Non-IFRS operating margin of 13.4%
• Net income of $211 million and Non-IFRS net income of $189 million
• Diluted earnings per share of $0.38 and Non-IFRS diluted earnings per share of $0.34

Philips Monitors announces the release of a brand-new esports-focussed model from the Evnia 5000 Series, the Philips Evnia 25M2N5200U. Designed specifically with competitive esports players in mind, this model offers superior speed, precision, and control, ensuring a competitive edge and an unforgettable gaming experience every time.

"The Philips Evnia 25M2N5200U is built for the esports scene, delivering the speed, precision, and responsiveness that competitive gamers need to perform at their best, without forgetting our commitment to a welcoming, innovative, and playful community of gamers all around the world. It builds on Evnia's commitment to the gamers' experience, strengthening our role in the esports space and increasing the impact on pro-level gaming as reaffirmed by our ongoing partnership with Team Vitality, with whom we share the vision of making gaming inclusive and enriching", commented Xeni Bairaktari, Marketing Director Europe of Philips Evnia.

AMD has reportedly decided to move its 4 nm chip orders from Samsung to TSMC's facilities in Arizona, United States. This is a significant loss for Samsung, as AMD had been working closely with Samsung on the SF4X process for EPYC server processors, Ryzen APUs, and Radeon graphics cards. It's worth noting that in May 2023, AMD announced the exact opposite—moving from TSMC to Samsung for some of its 4 nm CPUs. This partnership was an important part of AMD's strategy to use multiple manufacturers; however now appears to be failing. Reports indicate that AMD's decision comes from concerns about the stability and consistency of Samsung's manufacturing process, leading AMD to cancel plans for mass production of graphics chips using Samsung's 4 nm technology.

These changes in manufacturing strengthen TSMC's leading position in the chip manufacturing industry, even though relying on a single manufacturer creates geopolitical risks. AMD continues to deepen its relationship with TSMC, committing to use TSMC's advanced 2 nm technology for its upcoming "Venice" processors, which have completed testing at TSMC's Arizona facility and remain on schedule for release in 2026. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics has reportedly achieved better-than-expected results in testing its SF2 (2 nm) process, with initial yields above 30%. The company plans to stabilize this process in the second half of 2025 to begin mass production of the Exynos 2600 mobile chip. Building on this progress, Samsung is reportedly close to securing an agreement to manufacture Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 using its new 2 nm process.

Taiwan's electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers are accelerating their North American production plans in response to tariff threats, but component shortages and capacity constraints at US chip plants could hamper the AI server market for years, according to industry sources.

"Since Trump's election, Taiwanese manufacturers have been strategically expanding their US presence," said Yen Chou, an analyst at DIGITIMES Research. "Most server manufacturers are concentrating in Texas, with Foxconn's FII already operating there and planning expansions."

With the DT 770 PRO X, beyerdynamic is permanently expanding its headphone portfolio. Originally developed as a limited special edition to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary, the model is now offered as a permanent part of the PRO series due to high demand. The DT 770 PRO X combines the sonic and design characteristics of the DT 770 PRO with modern features for the demands of current production workflows.

A studio icon redefined
For over four decades, the DT 770 PRO has been considered a benchmark in recording and monitoring. Its balanced sound, robust construction, and exceptional comfort have established it in countless studios and among professional users - from sound engineers and producers to artists of various genres, such as Paul McCartney, Sting, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Windows 11 version 24H2 update is now in its final rollout phase and will soon be delivered automatically to millions of Home and Pro users around the world. As of May 2, 2025, any unmanaged device running Windows 11 versions 21H2, 22H2, or 23H2—or even Windows 10—will see the 2024 Update download in the background. After the download completes, users can choose when to install the update or postpone it by going to Settings, then Windows Update. This release introduces a variety of useful improvements. File Explorer search has become more intuitive, the Clock app now includes focus sessions to help you stay on task, and Snap Layouts provide greater flexibility when organizing open windows. If you own a Copilot+ PC, you will continue to receive additional AI‑powered features in stages; these releases start within the Windows Insider community and may differ depending on your device's processor and region.

Although automatic delivery makes it easier to stay current, devices with limited storage may struggle if the update files consume too much space. To avoid disruptions, Windows Update offers a four‑week postponement option. Should you need more time, you can use command‑line tools or adjust local policies to stop or block the update permanently. Microsoft has published a detailed list of known issues and safeguard holds alongside the rollout information. For example, Azure Virtual Desktop users who experienced App Attach failures will see those problems fixed, and Remote Desktop freezes caused by the January 2025 preview update have been resolved. At the same time, devices running certain Dirac Audio drivers, sprotect.sys applications, or outdated Easy Anti‑Cheat or Intel Smart Sound Technology drivers will not receive the update until compatible versions become available. Some wallpaper customization and camera‑dependent apps may also encounter temporary glitches while patches are prepared. IT administrators looking for programmatic access to update health data can use the Windows Updates API in Microsoft Graph. For immediate assistance with update issues, open the Get Help app or visit the Microsoft Support website.

MSI, a global leader in industrial computing solutions, proudly announces the release of the MS-C927, a highly compact and fanless embedded Box PC designed to meet the growing demand for power-efficient edge computing in harsh and space-constrained environments. Powered by Intel 's Meteor Lake-U and Arrow Lake-U series Core Ultra processors, the MS-C927 delivers high performance, reliable connectivity, AI acceleration, and rich I/O in an ultra-compact form factor.

Feature-Rich, Future-Ready
With a footprint of only 130 x 155 x 40 mm, the MS-C927 fits seamlessly into tight enclosures while offering exceptional processing power and industrial-grade durability. It features DDR5 memory up to 96 GB, dual 4K DisplayPort outputs, dual LAN including 2.5GbE, and multiple M.2 slots for NVMe storage, wireless connectivity, and cellular communication.

As a global leader in memory modules and flash memory, ADATA Technology will join forces with its new enterprise storage brand, its industrial-grade embedded storage brand ADATA Industrial, and gaming brand XPG under the theme "Advancing AI Innovation" at COMPUTEX TAIPEI, the world's largest computer industry trade show, from May 20 to 23. The exhibition will focus on three key areas—AI Computing, Smart Living, and Gaming Lifestyle—showcasing innovative products that shaping the next generation and inviting consumers worldwide to experience the future firsthand.

"The AI Computing Zone" will spotlight the debut of ADATA's new enterprise storage brand, delivering SSDs optimized for AI servers and data centers with exceptional performance and energy efficiency. For industrial applications, the company will showcase high-capacity, low-latency industrial SSDs and patented software offering full lifecycle monitoring and stable, efficient performance. Also featured are JEDEC-compliant DDR5 LPCAMM2 modules and high-capacity memory, engineered to deliver fast, energy-efficient AI computing for next-generation laptops.

Even after NVIDIA tuned its GB202 SKU for Chinese gamers, it looks like the GeForce RTX 5090D will be banned from selling in China altogether. Back in April, NVIDIA warned its AIC partners about a potential supply cutoff for the GeForce RTX 5090D GPU, more specifically, the restriction of selling the GB202 dies to Chinese AIC customers. Today, we have another report from the Chinese "Channel Gate Vision Convergence," stating that no new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090D GPUs will be sold in China in Q2. All new orders being placed for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090D kits, which are essentially a GPU die and GDDR7 memory for AICs to add on their PCBs, have been temporarily cancelled, which is an action equivalent to a full-scale sales ban.

The machine-translated post states the following: "NVIDIA RTX5090D series models are basically confirmed that there will be no GPU available in Q2, which means that RTX5090D cannot be sold to the Chinese market, and graphics card brands will not be able to receive GPU orders. NV has basically confirmed that RTX5090D series GPUs will not be able to receive orders in Q2. All orders for 5090D chips that have been placed and undelivered POs have been temporarily canceled, which is equivalent to the RTX5090D being officially banned from sale." As a reminder, NVIDIA optimized the RTX 5090D to comply with export regulations. Despite having 21,760 CUDA cores and 32 GB of memory, the card was intentionally restricted in its AI performance through firmware limitations. This strategy enabled NVIDIA to sell the card in China, a country listed under US export regulations, while the standard RTX 5090 was banned.

Die shots of Intel's "Arrow Lake" desktop processors have appeared online, confirming the chiplet design we have known about since the launch. The images annotated by the YouTube channel HighYield show a four‑tile arrangement mounted on a base die made with Intel's 22 nm FinFET process. The compute tile sits at the top left, built on TSMC's N3B node and covering 117.24 mm². To its right are the SoC tile on TSMC's N6 node measuring 86.65 mm², and the GPU tile, which houses four Xe cores alongside an Arc Alchemist render slice. The I/O tile, at 24.48 mm² on the same N6 node, completes the group at the bottom left. Intel has redesigned its hybrid core layout for Arrow Lake, moving away from separate P‑core and E‑core clusters. Four of the eight high‑performance P‑cores line the die's outer edges, with the remaining four in the center. In between these lie the four efficiency E‑core clusters, each sharing 3 MB of L2 cache. A unified 36 MB L3 cache ring bus connects to every core, allowing E‑cores to tap into that larger cache pool for the first time. Intel aims to spread heat more evenly and boost background task performance.

The I/O tile integrates Thunderbolt 4 controllers, PCIe buffers and PHYs. The SoC tile carries display engines, media accelerators and DDR5 memory controllers. All tiles are bonded to the base die via Intel's Foveros Omni stacking technology. Arrow Lake also reflects a shift in Intel's manufacturing strategy. Plans to use Intel's 20A node were dropped in favor of TSMC processes, making this the first desktop CPU from Intel that relies almost entirely on external foundries. On the software side, Intel has begun offering its IPO profiles in select prebuilt systems. These presets optimize CPU and memory settings for a hassle‑free performance boost that remains within warranty limits. Meanwhile, the native 200S Boost overclocking option is rolling out via BIOS updates. Early tests suggest that 200S Boost alone yields modest gains unless paired with very high-speed DDR5 modules, while IPO profiles deliver more consistent improvements with mainstream memory configurations.

Intel today released the latest version of the Arc GPU Graphics drivers. Version 101.6790 WHQL comes with a handful of fixes. To beign with, it fixes an issue where "Warhammer 40000: Darktide" shows display corruption and blacked-out textures with Arc B-series GPUs. The drivers also address an issue with "The Last of Us Part 2" where the game puts out flickering on shadows with Arc A-series GPUs. Lastly, a general software issue where Blender experiences compatibility issues when interacting with the camera gizmo on the iGPU of Core Ultra series 2 processors ("Lunar Lake") has been fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.6790 WHQL

Mid-way through April, a few Asian media outlets proposed a fairly recent formation of Xiaomi's "chip platform department"—most likely operating as part of the Chinese corporation's mobile phone development operation. Industry insiders claimed that this special branch was tasked with the designing of "Xuanjie" chipsets, with added expertise provided by an ex-Qualcomm marketing director. Weeks later, Jukanlosreve has weighed in with alleged new details. The keen tracker—of unannounced flagship smartphone chips and semiconductor business revelations—believes that previous leaks were of merit, but made some corrections.

Given reported greater than expected "new division" headcounts, Xiaomi probably established its "Xring SoC" team a while ago—on this topic, Jukanlosreve divulged: "it operates as a new company; independent of the original parent firm. It's not a small team either—it has over 1000 people. To be honest, I see it as a positive development if a domestically produced chip gets used in a domestically made smartphone and sold globally. I genuinely hope it becomes reality. If Xring succeeds, it might encourage more companies to get involved, and even engineers currently working at major firms could see better pay opportunities."

Stack Your Way to the Throne! The wait is over—Drop Duchy is now available on Steam! It's time to start building your glorious duchy, outsmart your enemies, and claim your place as the greatest ruler of them all! A Medieval puzzle-strategy game like no other: in a charming, maquette-inspired medieval world, Drop Duchy blends deckbuilding, puzzle mechanics, and rogue-lite progression into one seamless, strategic experience.

Build your duchy piece by piece by thoughtfully placing terrain tiles and buildings. Gather resources and rally your forces to vanquish your enemies. Customize your deck with over 110 unique cards to match your playstyle and optimize your realm's growth. Enjoy endless replayability by unlocking new cards and uncovering fresh combos and strategies with every run! With its unique blending of genres, Drop Duchy has a charming, minimalist look that you'll love, along with fun and refreshing tactical gameplay that'll keep you coming back for more!

Not long after announcing an "end of the road" for World Rally Championship (WRC) franchise development, Electronic Arts (EA) reportedly implemented an unspecified number of layoffs at Codemasters. This long-running British racing game specialist became a fully EA-owned property just over five years ago. Since then, the studio continued work on the F1 franchise—in addition, teams also branched off into the making of well-known EA racing IPs: Grid and WRC. On forums and social media, (non-Codemasters) EA staffers indicated that colleagues had lost their jobs. Video Games Chronicle reached out to the publisher, for comment on last week's conditions. On April 29, the American video game company announced the cutting of hundreds of roles, and the cancelation of unannounced projects.

In a statement issued to VGC, an EA spokesperson explained: "as a business, we are constantly evolving to meet the growing needs of our players and driving greater focus across our portfolio. This has led us to look at reducing some roles, while we redeploy as many as possible against our strategic priorities." As reported earlier this year, the company tends to "reshuffle" its development staff following the completion of projects. It is not clear how much of the internal setup at Codemasters has been re-jigged, but an EA Racing franchise social media manager provided a little bit of insight. In a past weekend forum post, they posited that: "there's a lot of talent up for grabs now—the audio and vehicle art teams were some of the best in the business; and any game with cars in it should tap them up." Criterion could be an ideal location for transfers, but this Surrey, UK-based studio's focus has been redirected to non-racing IPs.

Gears of War: Reloaded is a celebration of one of gaming's most iconic franchises. Featuring 4K resolution, 120 FPS support, and the ultimate multiplayer experience with cross-progression and cross-play, across all platforms, this is the definitive way to experience the game that started it all. As we approach the 20th anniversary of Gears of War in 2026, we're reflecting on what this franchise means. It's about the stories we've told, the friendships we've built, and the unforgettable moments we've shared together. With Gears of War: Reloaded, we're opening that door to more players than ever.

A Modern Classic Goes Multiplatform
Originally released in 2006, Gears of War: Reloaded brings the full experience forward once again—enhanced for the latest hardware across multiple platforms, introducing the Gears of War franchise to a new generation of players. Developed by The Coalition in partnership with Sumo Interactive and Disbelief, Gears of War: Reloaded launches August 26, 2025, for $39.99 SRP on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation 5, and Steam, and arrives on day one with Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Play on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC with Xbox Play Anywhere. Gears of War: Reloaded includes the full breadth of content from the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, delivering the most complete version of the original game to date. Players will gain immediate access to all post-launch downloadable content at no additional cost—this includes the bonus Campaign act, all multiplayer maps and modes, and a full roster of classic characters and cosmetics unlockable through progression.

Best Buy USA has updated its webstore with a "PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Overclocked 8 GB GDDR7 PCI Express 5.0 Graphics Card with Dual Fan" black edition card. NVIDIA and several of its board partners have already revealed forthcoming products, but a firm launch date was not announced during "GeForce RTX 5060 Desktop Family" introduction week. Inside track knowledge indicates a potential unveiling at Computex 2025; specifically on May 19. VideoCardz believes that GeForce RTX 5060 (non-Ti) evaluation samples were distributed well in advance of this month's big hardware conference. Two weeks ahead of an alleged simultaneous unveiling/retail launch, a barebones dual-fan PNY factory overclocked offering has appeared online. Best Buy's advertised $299.99 price point hovers just above Team Green's $299 starting line. A reference specced equivalent is present within TechPowerUp's GPU database; will retail outlets sticker this one with a just below $300 tag?

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB design received very little fanfare last month—certain members of the media had to fork out cash from their own wallets ($379 MSRP), in order to secure units for review purposes. Non-TI 8 GB (GB206 GPU-based) cards are not expected to receive widespread critical acclaim, but potential mainstream buyers could be enticed by "perceived value for money." Interestingly, PNY's mid-April "GeForce RTX 5060 Family" PR material teased a forthcoming "Single Fan RTX 5060" model. No promotional renders were provided, but Best Buy's listing has included an exploded depiction of the AIB's dual-fan solution. The contained (and suitably) stubby board design could be transferred quite easily to a smaller enclosure. Unlike GIGABYTE's recently uncovered short configuration, PNY has opted to go with a regular length PCIe interface.

Added Offline Single Player Mode: players can now enjoy Deadzone's single-player mode offline, without an internet connection! This was our top-requested feature, and the #1 priority for our team to deliver this week. We really wanted to address this for the community ASAP, and hope you can enjoy the improved experience this weekend! Note: this is a large change for our back-end systems. We expect performance to be stable after internal testing, but will monitor the patch to make sure it acts as expected. Co-op mode will also still require an online connection, so players can share the same game experience in real time.

Added a new mission—Uniform Chaos II
In this mission, each room randomly spawns a horde of the same type of enemies to defeat. This approach builds on the Uniform Chaos I mission, and offers an even deeper level of enemy variety and challenge for experienced players. This mission can be found in Zone 2, we hope you enjoy it!

Despite featuring the biggest GB202 configuration—24,064 CUDA cores distributed across 188 streaming multiprocessors running at up to 2,617 MHz, paired with 96 GB of GDDR7 ECC memory—the RTX PRO 6000 'Blackwell' GPU from NVIDIA is yet to have an official launch date or pricing disclosed. Early European retailer listings show the card starting at €8,982, including 21 percent VAT. Some vendors are already asking for more than €10,900. However, business customers evaluating net costs can anticipate a significant saving, with a rough estimate of €7,430 before tax, subject to local tax regulations and import fees. NVIDIA is expected to offer the RTX PRO 6000 in several variants, including Workstation, Server, and Max‑Q editions that tailor power envelopes and cooling designs to different professional environments.

In Japan, pre‑release listings place the RTX PRO 6000 at ¥1,630,600 (around $11,326), reflecting a similar premium level. The appearance of these price tags suggests that initial shipments have quietly reached distributors well before any formal announcement. One Redditor even got his hands on it early, preparing for a trial run. Of course, before NVIDIA releases RTX PRO-optimized drivers, the performance will lag behind the gaming GeForce RTX 5090 SKU. Geared toward enterprise workstations and professional workloads that demand high memory capacity and massive compute performance, this pricing profile distinguishes the RTX PRO 6000 from gaming-grade SKUs. Still, it is below the server-grade GB200-based Blackwell GPUs aimed at AI and HPC workloads.

Last week, GIGABYTE issued an official response to an initial case of "thermal conductive gel slippage," involving an ultra-expensive AORUS GeForce RTX 5080 MASTER ICE, a vertical-mounted graphics card setup, and very non-intensive MMO gaming sessions. The Taiwanese manufacturer believes that this problem is isolated within a first wave of products: "every graphics card is inspected and verified against our quality standards before leaving the factory. The thermal conductive gel is an insulating, deformable, putty-like compound. It is engineered to remain in place when applied properly, and can endure at least 150 °C before any melting or liquification could happen. In some early production batches for the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 50 Series, a slightly higher volume of gel was applied to ensure sufficient thermal coverage. The overapplication may cause the excessive gel to appear more prominent, extended, and could potentially be separated from the designated area. While the appearance of extra gel might be concerning, this cosmetic variance does not affect the card's performance, reliability, or lifespan. We had already inspected the issue, and adjusted the gel to the optimal amount in (subsequent) production runs."

Despite sending out a public assurance to a worried audience—"(we) take your concerns seriously and want to provide clear information"—GIGABYTE will not be recalling problematic products. VideoCardz reckons that the company is "downplaying" current conditions. Based on further evidence—shared by several members of the TechPowerUp forum (commenting on news coverage)—unfortunately, the first reported case (emerging from South Korea) was not an isolated incident. Given the contents of GIGABYTE's public bulletin, they seem to be aware that this special thermal material (reserved for fancier SKUs) is troubling owners of early batch "GeForce RTX 50 Series and Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards." TPU forumite, remekra, shared two images and the following bit of feedback (plus a warning): "I have mine mounted in Lian Li SUP01 case, so GPU is basically standing that's why it drips into the direction of ports. So far it does not overheat on memory modules. I will hold off sending it to GIGABYTE customer service, as I don't have good memories of them; so until it overheats or stops working I will use it. But if you have a vertical case or stand then be aware."

You've got to have good fundamentals if you hope to survive the battle for humanity's fate in Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. That's why we're going to be showing off a series of introductory videos filling you in on the basics of this action-packed sequel's gameplay systems. In this teaser, you not only get a good look at several of the weapon types you can equip on your Arsenal, but what benefits they can provide beyond firepower on the battlefield. It's a harsh planet full of deadly threats, and you'll need every advantage you can get if you hope to survive.

Our "Combat Basics" video is the first in a series of gameplay system introduction trailers releasing for upcoming dark sci-fi action game, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, ahead of its launch for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam on 5 September, 2025. Offering a detailed view into the armored suit known as the Arsenal, as well as useful on-field tactics, it provides an exciting look at the fast-paced combat, as well as a glimpse of some of the titanic bosses waiting to challenge your skills. Created and produced by Kenichiro Tsukuda and featuring stunning mechanical designs from Shoji Kawamori, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion takes the franchise in a dramatic new direction. Join the Reclaimers in their fight against the Axiom. Humanity's battle for liberation begins now!

Last September, AMD leadership publicly revealed UDNA—an "unforking" of previously separate enterprise and commercial GPU branches. Not long after this announcement, TechPowerUp's resident Serbian correspondent—AleksandarK—sat down with Team Red's Andrej Zdravkovic. The Chief Software Officer (and SVP) stated that a fair chunk of UDNA-related development work would be done by local engineers. Zdravkovic discussed this technology's eventual deployment in futuristic "AI PCs," but gamers have been salivating at the prospect of a proper successor to RDNA 4. A next-gen graphics architecture seeker—MrMPFR—has combed through official documents for any sign of UDNA preview material. The noted /Hardware subreddit member managed to distill their initial (very long) set of findings into an "easily digestible overview." They stated that this was just a small case of: "reporting and a little analysis on AMD's publicly available US patents filings," and other public-facing resources/archives.

Gleaned information included: "finalized architectural characteristics in future RDNA generations, AMD DXR IHV stacks (driver agnostic), and AMD sponsored titles. But please take everything with a grain of salt given my lack of professional expertise and experience with Real-time ray tracing (RTRT)". MrMPFR believes that Team Red started picking up former NVIDIA and Intel engineering talent, back in 2022/2023. In addition, a lot of new hires were apparently sourced from academic institutions. In theory, these newer team members have not had the time to make major inroads—in terms of getting finalized products out into the wild. MrMPFR reckons that noticeable contributions will accelerate AMD's making of "RDNA 6+/UDNA 2+," and beyond. Early 2025 leaks have pointed to the company collaborating with Sony; their "PlayStation 6" console is tipped to be powered by some fork of Team Red's "UDNA" graphics technology.

Independent Developer Raccoon Logic have today launched the Cosmic Hoarder edition of sci-fi adventure Revenge of the Savage Planet on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC - with the standard crash landing on 8th May. Playable in both singleplayer and co-op (couch and online), Revenge of the Savage Planet sees you abandoned on an alien planet with no job and no plan, after Alta Interglobal, your now former employer, deems your mission to colonise space too costly, leaving you to scavenge your way across four unique (and savage) planets in an attempt to return home.

Pioneers heading into deep space today with the Cosmic Hoarder edition will receive the Cinco de Mayo Trash Panda skin (First Month Only), Shama Lama's D.I.A.P.E.R (Ding Dong Influencer Accelerator Program Extreme Routine) 4 New Missions, HR Enforcer Deluxe Suit, Gold Lamé Space Suit, and the Official digital Soundtrack and Artbook.

Intel appears ready to broaden its Arc "Battlemage" lineup with a new, more powerful desktop graphics card likely to be called the Arc B770, potentially arriving as soon as next quarter. Until now, Team Blue has introduced only two Xe2 Battlemage models, the B570 (10 GB) and B580 (12 GB), both of which earned praise for solid performance at accessible price points. Enthusiasts have long speculated about successors like the B750, B770, and even a B780, but Intel shifted its public focus to upcoming AI PC processors after the B570 launch, leaving GPU fans uncertain which designs would materialize. Recent shipping manifests uncovered a "BMG‑G31" GPU die en route to Intel's Vietnam assembly plant, the same site that produced limited‑edition B570 and B580 cards, while insider Haze2K1's documents hint at a "B7XX" special‑edition series. Simultaneously, chatter about a 24 GB Developer Edition based on the earlier BMG‑G21 die suggests Intel is also eyeing workstation and creative‑professional markets.

A well-known tipster, OneRaichu, has further fueled excitement by reporting that the Arc B770 could pack between 24 and 32 Xe2 compute units, a 256‑bit memory interface, and 16 GB of GDDR6, positioning it squarely against rival xx60‑series models and promising a meaningful boost in gaming and compute workloads. Beyond Battlemage, Intel's next‑generation graphics architecture, Xe3 "Celestial," has reached pre‑silicon validation. According to Intel engineer Tom Petersen and corroborating industry leaks, Celestial's core media engines, Xe cores, XMX matrix units, and ray‑tracing hardware are fully designed and are now being tested in a hardware model to fine‑tune power consumption and clock speeds. With Computex 2025 kicking off in late May, Intel may at last clarify both its high‑end Battlemage refresh and the broader Celestial roadmap, potentially reshaping competition in the mainstream and next‑generation GPU markets.

Intel today announced that it is the only company to achieve full neural processing unit (NPU) support in the newly released MLPerf Client v0.6 benchmark. The result marks the industry's first standardized evaluation of large language model (LLM) performance on client NPUs. Intel's measurements of MLPerf Client v0.6 show Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors can produce output on both the graphics processing unit (GPU) and the NPU much faster than a typical human can read.

"We are proud to lead the industry in enabling full NPU acceleration and industry-leading GPU performance for AI workloads on client PC platforms. This success reflects Intel's deep hardware-software co-optimization and commitment to democratizing AI for PCs everywhere," said Daniel Rogers, Intel vice president and general manager of PC Product Marketing.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. has announced that SHADOW LABYRINTH is available for pre-order in three physical editions, inviting players to team up with PUCK and explore the mysteries of the labyrinth. SHADOW LABYRINTH is an action-packed 2D platformer from Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. Developed by Bandai Namco Studios Inc., the game is an epic journey through a hostile planet where dangers both new and familiar challenge players, and where they must explore, hunt, and consume the dark creatures around them in their quest to become the planet's apex predator. SHADOW LABYRINTH is slated for release on July 18, 2025, and is available now for pre-orders on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The game is also launching on Nintendo Switch 2, with pre-orders to be announced at a later date.

As a departure from any previous PAC-MAN game, SHADOW LABYRINTH puts players in the role of another character as protagonist, a warrior named Swordsman No. 8, but with the mysterious yet familiar yellow companion PUCK at their side. PUCK's role is that of guide and guardian, teaching players that their aim in this treacherous world is to escape it, and to achieve that they must consume everything that waits in the darkness to survive and grow more powerful. Along the way, they encounter challenging enemies and puzzles with game play that weaves fluid tried and true 2D action platformer mechanics with inspired modern game design. SHADOW LABYRINTH offers a vast maze-filled world to explore as players uncover terrifying secrets about the planet and its inhabitants, discover powerful weapons and abilities, and encounter ever more challenging enemies including memorable bosses.

COUGAR, a global leader in PC cases, gaming furniture, peripherals, tech lifestyle, and esports solutions, proudly unveils OmnyX, a bold new case built to meet the vision and performance demands of creators, gamers, and hardware enthusiasts. Designed around the innovative Omnidirectional Dynamic Flow System (ODF), OmnyX delivers ultimate cooling efficiency, full orientation freedom, and clean, cable-free aesthetics.

Omnidirectional Dynamic Flow System for Total Placement Freedom
At the core of OmnyX is the revolutionary Omnidirectional Dynamic Flow system (ODF), enabling a perfectly symmetrical chassis that supports left, right, or center placement without compromising airflow or usability. This orientation flexibility lets users optimize desk space, improve cable routing, and achieve a cleaner, more functional setup.

iStorage, the global leader in hardware encrypted data storage and cloud encryption solutions, has once again raised the bar in data security with the launch of the world's first 26 TB PIN authenticated, hardware encrypted desktop drive. The groundbreaking diskAshur DT3 and diskAshur DT2, already trusted by governments, defense organizations, financial institutions, healthcare providers and media agencies around the world, are now available in an industry-leading 26 TB capacity. These high-capacity drives continue to set the benchmark for robust, portable and user-friendly data protection.

Raising the Bar in Government-Grade Security
The diskAshur DT3 is among the first encrypted HDDs pending certification under the new FIPS 140-3 Level 3 standard, the latest U.S. government benchmark for cryptographic security. It features TAA compliance, FIPS PUB 197-validated AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption, and a Common Criteria EAL5+ certified secure microprocessor, ensuring maximum defense against unauthorized access.

GIGABYTE Technology, a global leader in computing innovation, will return to COMPUTEX 2025 from May 20 to 23 under the theme "Omnipresence of Computing: AI Forward." Demonstrating how GIGABYTE's complete spectrum of solutions spanning the AI lifecycle, from data center training to edge deployment and end-user applications reshapes the infrastructure to meet the next-gen AI demands.

⁠As generative AI continues to evolve, so do the demands for handling massive token volumes, real-time data streaming, and high-throughput compute environments. GIGABYTE's end-to-end portfolio - ranging from rack-scale infrastructure to servers, cooling systems, embedded platforms, and personal computing—forms the foundation to accelerate AI breakthroughs across industries.

It appears that Wester Digital is getting ready to launch a new performance NVMe SSD in the shape of the WD_Black SN8100, as the drive has tipped up online. Oddly enough, it's not branded as a SanDisk drive, at least not in Europe where the drive is listed for pre-order. It was first spotted by @momomo_us on Amazon Germany, but the company only had the 1 TB SKU listed and a little bit of sleuthing on our side, quickly found the 2 TB and 4 TB SKU's listed with various etailers around the world.

It seems like WD has decided to use the Silicon Motion SM2508 NVMe SSD controller for the SN8100, although this has as yet to be verified and it's likely to be an OEM version of the controller without markings if true. The SN8100 is said to deliver read speeds of up to 14,900 MB/s and write speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s, with the 1 TB SKU being a bit slower at 11,000 MB/s. It should also deliver up to 2,300K IOPS, for both read and write operations. In Europe, the MSRP currently appears to be €200, €300-310 and €550-560 respectively for the different SKUs, which is a massive increase over the SN850X, but in line with recently launched PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs like the Kingston Fury Renegade G5. It's also listed for C$374 and C$560 for the 1 TB and 2 TB SKUs respectively by a Canadian etailer and £170, £260 and £455 in the UK for each of the three SKUs. The official launch date is the 30th of May according to Amazon.

Under the theme "Access the Intelligent Transformation," Apacer (TWSE: 8271), a global leader in industrial-grade digital storage, returns to the COMPUTEX main hall to showcase next-generation storage innovations that drive intelligent, sustainable, and high-performance computing—and meet the evolving demands of enterprise and consumer markets alike. At Booth J1217a, Hall 1, Nangang Exhibition Center, Apacer will present a full product lineup featuring:

Sparkle announced availability of its flagship custom-design Intel Arc B580 graphics card, the Sparkle B580 ROC Luna OC Ultra. The card derives its name from an all-white appearance, with white making up not just the cooler shroud and fan impellers, but also the PCB solder-mask underneath. The card's design appears to balance elements to appeal to both gamers and creators. It comes with a 2.5-slot thick design that's at least an inch taller than what constitutes full-height. It uses an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that's ventilated by a pair of 90 mm fans.

The Sparkle Arc B580 ROC Luna OC Ultra comes with the company's highest factory overclock for the B580, with a max boost frequency of 2800 MHz compared to 2670 MHz reference, and 2740 MHz of its Titan OC graphics card. It also comes with increased power limits of 210 W, compared to 190 W reference. It draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The company didn't reveal pricing, but we expect it to be between the $250-300 mark.

TechPowerUp and Sudokoo brought you the 2025 SuperUser SuperCool Thermal Upgrade Giveaway in late-April, for our readers in the US, with entries slated to close last weekend. We have decided to extend this deadline to May 11. Up for grabs are two of Sudokoo's finest creations in the field of CPU cooling—the Proteus 360, and the SK700V Digital. Both are designed to go up against the industry's very best. The Proteus 360 is a premium 360 mm AIO CLC with contemporary touches, such as a large true-color display that can be made to put out just about any information; and a compound fan that's designed to minimize cable clutter; while the SK700V Digital is a heavy air-type cooler with a top-plate that has an LED segment display that puts out useful system monitoring info pulled from ACPI. There will be as many as five lucky winners, two of whom get the Proteus 360, and three of which get a SK700V Digital. All you have to do is fill up a brief form to help us get back to you if you've won. You can increase your chances of winning by sharing the Giveaway across your socials, retweeting any TechPowerUp post on the TechPowerUp X account, liking the Giveaway on Reddit, or visiting the Sudokoo Amazon store.

For more information and to participate, visit this page.

ASUS earlier this year introduced the limited edition ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab graphics card. The card sports a gilded appearance, with sapphire blue metallic accents, and ASUS ROG branding resembling calligraphy. The card was debuted in the UAE and was expected to be available in limited quantities in the region. It looks like the company wants to extend this niche brand to even the GeForce RTX 5080, and is working on the ROG Astral RTX 5080 Dhahab Core. This card is based on the air-cooled ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC, but with the same aesthetic treatment as the RTX 5090 Dhahab.

The aluminium fins in the cooler have golden appearance (not actually gold-plated); as do the alloy cooler shroud, the fan impeller hubcaps, and the copper heat pipes. In place of chrome accents, it has contrasting sapphire blue metallic tones. There are other cultural icons, such as gold calligraphy set against black. At this point we're not sure what ASUS is referring to with the "Core" branding. Perhaps Core could denote the entry level into the Dhahab brand itself, with the RTX 5080 serving as a nice entry point.

According to the Financial Times, gathering data from satellite images and industry intelligence, Huawei has endeavored to develop a domestic AI supply chain to bypass foreign tech restriction influence. In Guanlan, China, Huawei started developing a complete facility for manufacturing semiconductors on 7 nm technology for its custom processors. Out of frustration with SMIC's low output capacity, Huawei has secured the entire silicon production, from sourcing materials, chemicals, and wafer fab equipment to chip-making equipment to actual chip design. According to Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis, "Huawei has embarked on an unprecedented effort to develop every part of the AI supply chain domestically from wafer fabrication equipment to model building," adding, "We have never seen one company attempt to do everything before."

It is also reported that Huawei's rivals in silicon manufacturing, SMIC and SMEE, have deployed engineers to help Huawei develop its own manufacturing flow. A few companies, all backed by Huawei with funding and research, are the backbone of this operation. SiCarrier, which we reported on back in March, supplies optical and X-ray inspection tools, atomic force microscopes, and alignment systems for metrology; gas-based and atomic layer deposition tools for film coating; plasma etchers for patterning; rapid thermal processors for material tuning; and electrical testing platforms for reliability screening. SwaySure and Fujian Jinhua supply memory chips, Si'En and Pehgjin supply power chips, and PWX and PST deal with logic.