Early last month, video game industry watchdogs posited that Respawn Entertainment's reportedly canceled "unannounced incubation project" was some type of Titanfall IP. Certain insiders believed that the recently canceled project was a "smaller" multiplayer-focused game, rather than a full sequel to 2016's franchise entry. The long dormant first-person shooter sci-fi series has attracted a cult following, but Respawn pivoted with the IP's universe into producing Apex Legends. Hopes for a third Titanfall title have been revived once more; courtesy of two notorious Apex Legend data miners—YOROTSUKI and Osvaldatore. Earlier today, the latter figure uploaded a cryptic "Titanfall 3" logo to social media. In a more elaborate follow-up post, YOROTSUKI leaked some alleged "inner circle" info.

They dismissed comments about their collaborator simply playing a prank—too late for April Fool's day. They referred back to December, when they openly discussed Respawn's "development of a secret game." These past Discord conversations are now linked forward to an alleged still alive "Titanfall 3" project. YOROTSUKI predicts an unveiling to the public during The Game Awards 2025—so December, at the earliest. An official launch window is allegedly on the EA release calendar for 2026. As interpreted by MP1st, this new leak should be absorbed with maybe more than one grain of salt—the online publication has spent time sniffing out a Respawn Entertainment-adjacent IP. Allegedly "Project Bruno" is Bit Reactor's "Star Wars turn-based tactics game," due for an official reveal later this month.

Intel and TSMC are reportedly locked in talks to form a semiconductor foundry joint-venture (JV). This sensational piece of news comes from Reuters, which says that the two companies have reached a preliminary agreement to form the JV. Apparently, the move saves TSMC from building any hard infrastructure on U.S. soil, and instead use Intel's semiconductor foundry facilities. This would hence bring TSMC's semiconductor manufacturing IP and workforce to the U.S., however it remains to be seen if the very latest foundry technology would be handed over to the JV. TSMC would hold a 20% stake in the venture, and Intel the rest. Investors of Intel and TSMC reacted very differently to the news, with the TSMC stock falling 6% and Intel gaining 5%. Reuters also reports that it was the Trump Administration that negotiated this joint-venture between TSMC and Intel in a bid to "revitalize Intel."

MediaTek has introduced the Kompanio Ultra, the latest milestone in AI-powered, high-performance Chromebooks. Leveraging MediaTek's proven expertise in flagship innovation, this powerful new platform brings fantastic on-device AI capabilities, superior computing performance, and industry-leading power efficiency to the newest Chromebook Plus devices. "The Kompanio Ultra underscores our commitment to delivering groundbreaking computing performance and efficiency that MediaTek has shown as a leader in the mobile compute space for many years," said Adam King, Vice President & General Manager of Computing and Multimedia Business at MediaTek. "We worked closely with Google to ensure the newest Chromebook Plus devices enjoy next-generation on-device AI capabilities, superior performance per watt, and immersive multimedia."

The Kompanio Ultra is MediaTek's most powerful Chromebook processor to date, integrating 50 TOPS of AI processing power to enable on-device generative AI experiences. With MediaTek's 8th-generation NPU, users can expect real-time task automation, personalized computing, and seamless AI-enhanced workflows—with local processing for enhanced speed, security, efficiency, and support for AI workloads without an internet connection. Built on the cutting-edge (TSMC) 3 nm process, the Kompanio Ultra features an all-big-core CPU architecture with an Arm Cortex-X925 processor clocked at up to 3.62 GHz, delivering industry-leading single and multithreaded performance. Whether handling intensive applications like video editing, content creation, or high-resolution gaming, this processor ensures smooth, lag-free performance with unmatched multitasking capabilities.

I_Leak_VN, a Vietnamese PC hardware influencer/leaker, reckons that the region's first GeForce RTX 5090 GPU-based "AI/mining/scalper" rig has just emerged. Earlier today, their social media post provided an informative look at a local shop's "Training AI: X7 RTX 5090 32G" build. Apparently, the retail outlet has assembled this monstrous setup for an important customer. A Nguyễn Công PC employee sent personal thanks to GIGABYTE Vietnam; for the supply of seven GeForce RTX 5090 GAMING OC graphics cards. As showcased in uploaded photos (see below), these highly-prized units were placed neatly in a row—as part of an airy open plan system. After inspecting the store's heavily watermarked shots, Western media outlets have (visually) compared the "Training AI: X7" rig to crypto mining builds of a certain vintage.

Tom's Hardware spotted multiple Super Flower Leadex 2000 W PSUs—providing sufficient juice to a system that: "can easily be valued at over $30,000, considering these GPUs go for $3500-$4000 on a good day." Wccftech's report extended coverage to Nguyễn Công PC's other AI offerings; mainly "more traditional" PC builds that utilize dual MSI GeForce RTX 5090 card setups—a "dual rig" likely costs ~$10,000. The shop's selection of gaming-grade hardware is not too surprising, given the performance prowess of NVIDIA's GB202-300-A1 GPU variant. Naturally, Team Green's cutting-edge enterprise hardware unlocks the full potential of "Blackwell" GPU designs—but the company can charge sky-high prices for this level of equipment. Going back to early 2024, Tiny Corp. started to make noise about its "tinybox" AI platform—making use of multiple XFX Speedster MERC310 RX 7900 XTX cards, rather than AMD's freshly launched Instinct MI300X accelerator.

DELTARUNE Chapters 1-4 will release on June 5, 2025. It will be available on PC (Steam), Mac, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, like before—and now also on Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. DELTARUNE will cost $24.99. You only have to buy the game once—upcoming Chapters will be added as free updates. That's not factored into the cost, though. I only feel right charging for what there currently is, not what I say there will be. Therefore, this $24.99 to me represents the exact price of four chapters! But, it's my hope that as we complete more Chapters, you'll feel like this game was a super super super super good deal. Just wait, I'll prove it to you...!

Also, the Soundtrack on Steam will cost $14.99. With the release of Chapter 3 and 4, it'll contain over 150 songs! And, if you buy the soundtrack on Steam, every time a Chapter is added, you'll get those tracks, too. Isn't the value actually a little too good?! (hyperventilating and drools on it)...If you've already been buying the individual Chapter soundtracks on Bandcamp, Chapters 3&4 will be released as a separate release there as well.

GIGABYTE, the world's leading computer brand, announces the official availability of the AORUS MASTER 18 and AORUS MASTER 16 gaming laptops, hitting shelves and major e-tailers starting March 31st. These flagship systems are built for elite performance, designed to meet the demands of gamers, creators, and power users alike.

Equipped with up to the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 Laptop GPUs, the AORUS MASTER series unlocks next-level graphics power with up to 175 W Max TGP, delivering stunning visual fidelity, smoother gameplay, and AI-enhanced capabilities. Whether rendering 3D content, streaming high-action gameplay, or dominating in competitive titles, users can count on ultra-responsive performance across the board.

Both laptops feature WINDFORCE Infinity EX, GIGABYTE's cutting-edge thermal design, ensuring top-tier cooling under heavy loads. This system utilizes the frost fan with 158 asymmetric fan blades, the new lateral housing structure, internal blast via the third and fourth fan, and 3D VortX air-channeling with optimal airflow control to maintain performance and stability during the most intense sessions.The AORUS MASTER series will be available starting March 31st at major e-tailers. For more details, visit the official product page, and check Newegg for purchasing availability.

Earlier today, industry moles in South Korea have heard whispers about Samsung Electronics planning a new pricing strategy for NAND and DRAM product lines. According to an MK news articles, local sources believe that company leadership will: "raise memory chip prices—by 3-5% from the current level—for major global customers. It is reported that some customers have already begun contract negotiations that reflect the increase conditions." Regional watchdogs posit that the megacorporation is reacting to very current geopolitical tensions (i.e. tariffs). Earlier this week, a main rival—Micron—informed customers about forthcoming memory price increases. Naturally, the North American memory chip giant is not "fully" affected by recent seismic shifts. A "significant growth demand" has caused jacked up charges—effective across DRAM, NAND flash, and HBM portfolios—projected throughout 2025 and 2026.

Returning to South Korean shores and Samsung, one unnamed semiconductor insider opined to MK: "oversupply continued throughout last year, but supply has recently decreased as major companies have begun to reduce production...In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) devices are appearing one after another in China, and demand for semiconductors is gradually increasing due to industrial automation." DRAMeXchange—an appropriately named market research organization—has kept track relevant trends. As disclosed by the MK news piece—as of last month, general-purpose DRAM DDR4 prices: "remained flat for the fourth month in a row." Looking at conditions for DDR5 (used in high-performance PCs and enterprise equipment), prices soared by 12%. DRAMeXchange observed NAND costs rising by 9.6%: "continuing an upward trend for the third consecutive month."

RiVAI Technologies, a Shenzhen-based semiconductor firm founded in 2018, unveiled this first fully domestic high-performance RISC-V server processor designed for compute-intensive applications. The Lingyu CPU features 32 general-purpose computing cores working alongside eight specialized intelligent computing cores (LPUs) in a heterogeneous "one-core, dual architecture" design. It aims for performance comparable to current x86 server processors, with the chip implementing optimized data pathways and enhanced pipelining mechanisms to maintain high clock frequencies under computational load. The architecture specifically targets maximum throughput for parallel processing workloads typical in data center environments. The chip aims to serve HPC clusters, all-flash storage arrays, and AI large language model inference operations.

Since its inception, RiVAI has accumulated 37 RISC-V-related patents and established partnerships with over 50 industry collaborators, including academic research relationships. Professor David Patterson, a RISC-V architecture pioneer, provides technical guidance to the company's development efforts. The processor's dual-architecture approach enables dynamic workload distribution between conventional processing tasks and specialized computational operations, potentially improving performance-per-watt metrics compared to traditional single-architecture designs. The Lingyu launch significantly advances China's semiconductor self-sufficiency strategy, potentially accelerating RISC-V ecosystem development while providing Chinese data centers with domestically engineered high-performance computing solutions, ultimately bypassing x86 and Arm solutions.

Global Unichip Corp. (GUC), the Advanced ASIC Leader, announced today that it has successfully taped-out the world's first HBM4 controller and PHY IP. This test chip was implemented using TSMC's cutting-edge N3P process technology and CoWoS -R advanced packaging technology.

The HBM4 IP supports data rates of up to 12 Gbps under all operating conditions. By leveraging a proprietary interposer layout, GUC has optimized signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) to achieve these high speeds for all types of CoWoS technology. Comparing with HBM3, GUC's HBM4 PHY delivers 2.5x bandwidth while improving 1.5x power efficiency and 2x area efficiency. In line with previous GUC HBM, GLink, and UCIe IPs, this HBM4 IP integrates proteanTecs' interconnect monitoring solution to provide high visibility for testing and characterizing the PHY while improving in-field performance and reliability for end products.

The Nintendo Switch 2, unveiled April 2, takes performance to the next level, powered by a custom NVIDIA processor featuring an NVIDIA GPU with dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores for stunning visuals and AI-driven enhancements. With 1,000 engineer-years of effort across every element—from system and chip design to a custom GPU, APIs and world-class development tools—the Nintendo Switch 2 brings major upgrades. The new console enables up to 4K gaming in TV mode and up to 120 FPS at 1080p in handheld mode. Nintendo Switch 2 also supports HDR, and AI upscaling to sharpen visuals and smooth gameplay.

AI and Ray Tracing for Next-Level Visuals
The new RT Cores bring real-time ray tracing, delivering lifelike lighting, reflections and shadows for more immersive worlds. Tensor Cores power AI-driven features like Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), boosting resolution for sharper details without sacrificing image quality. Tensor Cores also enable AI-powered face tracking and background removal in video chat use cases, enhancing social gaming and streaming. With millions of players worldwide, the Nintendo Switch has become a gaming powerhouse and home to Nintendo's storied franchises. Its hybrid design redefined console gaming, bridging TV and handheld play.

Rejoice, Gungeoneers! Kaliber has heard your prayers! Enter the Gungeon 2 is in active development and will be coming to PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. You can wishlist it now, even if you don't own a PC. Enter the Gungeon 2 is a reloaded, high-caliber sequel, enhanced with a new 3D art style, new weapons, new enemies, and expanded gameplay. Battle through familiar and unknown areas of the ruined Gungeon, uncovering secrets and mastering powerful weapons while destroying legions of Gundead, previously confined to the 2D plane. Choose from an expanding roster of Gungeoneers, new and old, rescue marooned heroes, and grow stronger through powerful passive and active items, blessings, curses, and your mastery of a vast arsenal of weapons.

And seek to understand why you find yourself under assault in the Gungeon once again…We're thrilled to finally reveal Enter the Gungeon 2—you've been asking for it for so long! But please note we're still in the midst of development, so we can't share too much just yet. In the meantime, we've set up an official Discord server for Dodge Roll, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on the announcement. Join to share your feedback, get updates directly from the team, enjoy giveaways, and hang out with other Gungeoneers.

ORIGIN PC the ultimate ally for gamers, creators, and for those who need a premium high-performance experience, is thrilled to announce our latest high-performance laptops, the EON18-X, EON16-X, EON16-X3D, and EON16-S along with their corresponding workstations, the NS-18, NX-16, NX3D-16, and NS-16. Designed to meet the demands of gamers, content creators, and tech enthusiasts, these laptops and workstations combine cutting-edge hardware with premium craftsmanship to deliver top-tier performance, immersive visuals, and seamless multitasking in sleek, portable form factors.

As expected, Nintendo's lengthy Switch 2 presentation contained very little technical information—the upcoming hybrid console's feature set, software library and user experience were showcased extensively. A series of leaks and plenty of online speculation—going back to earlier in the decade—pointed to the highly-anticipated Switch successor being based on an NVIDIA hardware foundation. A mysterious "Tegra 239" chipset emerged as the "logical" choice for Nintendo's next-gen system, but company representatives will likely not comment on the exact nature of internal components. Several months after the launch of Wii U, independent analysis (Chipworks) of the host console's "Latte" GPU core verified a Radeon 4650/4670 class design. To the surprise of many industry watchdogs, a Nintendo employee has officially confirmed Switch 2's support of NVIDIA graphics technologies.

As disclosed to IGN—during a press junket—Takuhiro Dohta (senior director of the firm's Planning & Development Division) stated: "we use DLSS upscaling technology and that's something that we need to use as we develop games. And when it comes to the hardware, it is able to output to a TV at a maximum of 4K. Whether the software developer is going to use that as a native resolution, or get it to upscale is something that the software developer can choose. I think it opens up a lot of options for the software developer to choose from. Yes, the GPU does support ray tracing. As with DLSS, I believe this provides yet another option for the software developers to use and a tool for them." When pressed about the exact origins of the console's beating heart, Dohta deflected responsibility in the direction of Team Green: "Nintendo doesn't share too much on the hardware spec...What we really like to focus on is the value that we can provide to our consumers. But I do believe that our partner—NVIDIA—will be sharing some information." As pointed out by VideoCardz, Nintendo's hardware technical manager only mentioned options for the development side of things, not end user features. Yesterday's Metroid Prime 4: Beyond preview segment indicated that the title's Switch 2 Edition will arrive with four profiles; VideoCardz theorizes that DLSS will be used for differing levels—quality/performance—in handheld or docked operation.

Samsung Electronics America today announced its plans to strengthen its presence in the U.S. gaming industry with the upcoming release of its latest gaming monitor, Odyssey 3D. From March 24-28, Samsung hosted "eXperience 2025," an exclusive event for key North American customers at Fairmont Austin in Texas. This year, the event brought together nearly 600 major clients, including MicroCenter, Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart.

The event served as a platform for Samsung to unveil its newest gaming monitor lineups in front of customers, including its 2025 flagship products—Odyssey 3D (G90XF), Odyssey OLED G8 (G81SF) and Odyssey G9 (G91F) models.

Customers evaluating AI infrastructure today rely on a combination of industry-standard benchmarks and real-world model performance metrics—such as those from Llama 3.1 405B, DeepSeek-R1, and other leading open-source models—to guide their GPU purchase decisions. At AMD, we believe that delivering value across both dimensions is essential to driving broader AI adoption and real-world deployment at scale. That's why we take a holistic approach—optimizing performance for rigorous industry benchmarks like MLperf while also enabling Day 0 support and rapid tuning for the models most widely used in production by our customers.

This strategy helps ensure AMD Instinct GPUs deliver not only strong, standardized performance, but also high-throughput, scalable AI inferencing across the latest generative and language models used by customers. We will explore how AMD's continued investment in benchmarking, open model enablement, software and ecosystem tools helps unlock greater value for customers—from MLPerf Inference 5.0 results to Llama 3.1 405B and DeepSeek-R1 performance, ROCm software advances, and beyond.

Yesterday, United States President Donald Trump announced a set of tariffs imposed on US trading partners, imposing a series of 10%+ tariffs on partners, calling it a "Liberation Day." Today, we are calculating how much these tariffs will impact consumers and what is most important at TechPowerUp: semiconductors powering our GPUs and CPUs. According to one of the top investment banks, Goldman Sachs, semiconductors are exempt from the reciprocal tariffs that Trump has imposed on Taiwan. However, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment used by makers like TSMC is not exempt and is expected to be hit with the 32% tariffs. This is only half of what Taiwan imposes on imports of US-made goods. For TSMC, the number one maker of GPUs and CPUs, tariffs can be tricky to navigate. While its existing manufacturing facilities use equipment sourced from Dutch ASML and a few US companies like Lam Research and KLA Corporation, it shouldn't be a problem to ship new silicon to the US.

However, if TSMC wants to expand its manufacturing facilities in any country that is not the US, it will have to deal with 32% tariffs on US-sourced silicon manufacturing equipment. For EU-based ASML, things are looking a little different. If over 20% of the equipment is made up of US content, a tariff exemption might apply, potentially reducing import costs. If more than one-fifth of a product's components or value originates from US sources, the equipment may be eligible for tariff relief. ASML's machines include some US components, so determining whether these machines meet the 20% threshold is crucial. If they do, the tariff exemption could help lower costs associated with importing these advanced machines, reaching up to $380 million. For non-US-injected goods, EU entities are subject to 20% tariffs.

Cooler Master (CM) showcased custom GeForce RTX 50-series graphics card designs at CES 2025, but advertised these compelling parts as included in high-end pre-built gaming rigs. Months later, finalized CM GeForce RTX 5080 stock has just rolled out in China—as demonstrated by 51972's blog post on Bilibili. A generous selection of uploaded photos were accompanied by the content creator's observations when tinkering with his sample unit's modular air cooling solution: "someone commented on the post this morning and suggested replacing it with a MasterFan or Mobius. I tried it too. I thought it could only support 12025 (slim) fans. When I disassembled it, I found that Cooler Master's designers/engineers had reserved screw limit holes at different heights."

Their description continued as follows: "I tried it and found that the (Phanteks) T30 could really be installed, but the thickness of the whole card reached a terrifying 9 cm. Outrageous." Cooler Master's innovative enclosure—when configured with the thickest third-party options—manages to "outgrow" nearby competition. 51972 compared CM's plucky new entrant to an ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 card; a very familiar premium-tier quad-slotter—albeit with a relatively "svelte" 7.6 cm profile. MSI's upper crust GeForce RTX 5080 SUPRIM cards arrived earlier this year, sporting the same shroud height dimension as equivalent Astral SKUs.

We're excited to reveal that The Talos Principle Reawakened is not just a remaster, but a complete modernization of our 2014 classic, carefully redesigned for 2025 gaming standards. Because, let's be honest games today aren't just about deep thinking and careful exploration. No, no, no. We—at Croteam and Devolver Digital—know In today's gaming landscape, engagement is king and effort is optional. So, we've made sure our remaster aligns with modern industry standards: maximum retention, minimum thinking! Check out all the new features in the video below.

The Talos Principle: Reawakened introduces new content, enhanced gameplay, and a gorgeously upgraded presentation. Relive the critically acclaimed expansion Road to Gehenna and dive into an all-new chapter, In the Beginning. Discover the story of Alexandra Drennan as she faces profound existential questions while orchestrating the Simulation's first critical test, challenging players to think deeply about the human condition. Rebuilt with Unreal Engine 5, the Simulation world you remember is now more immersive and detailed than ever before. Enhanced lighting, textures, and environmental design breathe new life into every corner of the game, alongside modernized quality-of-life updates that maintain the vision of the original classic.

AMD and its board partners cleared "phase one" of RDNA 4 earlier on in March, with the launch of Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards. At the tail end of special introductory events, Team Red representatives—on both sides of the Pacific—teased a second quarter release of lower end Radeon RX 9060 Series models. A handful of AIBs have registered multiple custom Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and 8 GB SKUs, so expectations have been set for an imminent arrival. A fresh insider leak suggests that AMD has something else Navi 48 GPU-related in the pipeline; possibly scheduled for launch before rumored Radeon RX 9060 XT cards. Earlier today, IT Home picked up on chatter regarding a mysterious Radeon RX 9070 GRE model. Apparently Zhongzheng Computer (note: machine translated name) issued an intriguing tidbit on its WeChat official account—the March 9 bulletin stated: "friends who don't have enough budget for Radeon RX 9070 XT can wait for RX 9070 GRE, which will have a better price-performance ratio. Radeon RX 9060 XT will have to wait for a while."

Based on this news, VideoCardz believes that Chinese market stock of custom Radeon RX 9070 16 GB (non-XT) cards was not topped up last week. Local sources have observed regional market conditions with almost zero availability—conjecture points to Team Red's local office "deliberately" paving the way for "gap-filling" Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB options. As reported by TechPowerUp on multiple occasions, AMD's "GRE" (aka Golden Rabbit Edition) nomenclature debuted with their introduction of a Radeon 7900 GRE 16 GB model back in 2023—the Year of the Rabbit. This (now) very out-of-date naming scheme was revised earlier this year—with a modernized abbreviation of "Great Radeon Edition." Benchlife.info weighed in on rumors regarding a new-generation GRE package: "(it) uses the same Navi 48 die, that is, the RDNA 4 GPU architecture, as the Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 currently on sale, but the memory will be reduced to 12 GB and the memory interface will be 192-bit. Our sources have informed us that the Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB is currently being planned by AIB partners and is ready to enter mass production." VideoCardz has kindly assembled a relevant comparison chart—see below. Naturally, these theorized specifications place the incoming GRE somewhere in between the already released Radeon RX 9070 16 GB cards, and a rumored Radeon RX 9060 XT class.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce that two of its professional products earned an iF DESIGN AWARD. Among the world's most prestigious design competitions, typically about 11,000 entries are received. This year, 131 jurors from 23 countries selected the best and most outstanding designs, based on five criteria: idea, form, function, differentiation, and sustainability.

Built to exponentially accelerate your post-production process, the Lexar Professional Workflow dock includes 6 bays that allow users to customize their setup with reader and SSD modules to precisely suit their needs. Thunderbolt 4 connectivity delivers amazing 40 Gbps speed and supports 8K display on supported monitors. All six bays can work simultaneously to further maximize productivity, and a thoughtful design offers heat-dissipating, scratch-resistant aluminium housing, high-efficiency airflow channels, extra USB-C and USB-A ports, and a built-in fan to maintain maximum performance.

Audio-Technica is collaborating with Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm to bring a unique listening experience to Star Wars fans and audiophiles alike.

The Star Wars-inspired high-fidelity wireless earbuds are stylized to represent four key characters—the Mandalorian, Grogu, Darth Vader and R2-D2. The ATH-CKS50TW2 Star Wars earbuds offer powerful, full-spectrum sound and space-age convenience.

Microsoft is introducing live patch updates for Windows 11 Enterprise, version 24H2, that allow critical security fixes to be applied without interrupting users. These updates, known as hotpatches, are available for x64 devices running on AMD or Intel CPUs. Hotpatch updates are designed to install quickly and take effect immediately. Unlike standard monthly security updates that require a system restart, hotpatch updates provide instant protection against vulnerabilities while allowing users to continue working. This new process can reduce the number of restarts from twelve per year to just four. The update schedule follows a quarterly cycle. In January, April, July, and October, devices install a complete security update with new features and fixes that do require a restart. In the two months that follow each of these baseline updates, devices receive hotpatch updates that only include security fixes and do not need a reboot. This approach ensures that essential protections are applied quickly without impacting daily work.

To use hotpatch updates, organizations need a Microsoft subscription that includes Windows 11 Enterprise (or Windows 365 Enterprise) and devices running build 26100.2033 or later. These devices must also be managed using Microsoft Intune, where IT administrators can set up a hotpatch-enabled quality update policy. The Intune admin center automatically detects eligible devices and manages the update process. Hotpatch updates are currently available on Intel and AMD-powered devices. For Arm64 devices, hotpatch updates are still in public preview and require an extra configuration step: disabling CHPE support via a registry key or the upcoming DisableCHPE CSP. This update system represents a more efficient way to secure Windows client devices. By minimizing the need for restarts and delivering updates in a predictable, quarterly cycle, Microsoft aims to help organizations protect their systems with minimal disruption. We expect these live patches to trickle down to more Windows 11 versions, like Home and Pro editions.

This month, 21 games are joining the cloud gaming library of over 2,000 titles. Whether chasing epic adventures, testing skills in competitive battles or diving into immersive worlds, members can dive into April's adventures arrivals, which are truly no joke. Get ready to stream, play and conquer the eight games available this week. Members can also get ahead of the pack with advanced access to South of Midnight, streaming soon before launch.

Unleash the Magic
South of Midnight, an action-adventure game developed by Compulsion Games, offers advanced access for gamers who purchase its Premium Edition. Dive into the title's hauntingly beautiful world before launch, exploring its rich Southern gothic setting and unique magical combat system while balancing magic with melee attacks.

Intel today released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.6732 Beta comes with optimization for The Last of Us Part II Remastered. It also comes with a performance enhancement for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, with up to 15% performance increases to be had with "balanced" settings at 1080p. Among the issues fixed with this release are lower than expected performance with Returnal in Arc A-series and B-series discrete GPUs; a game corruption seen with FragPunk on Core Ultra Series 2 integrated graphics; a display corruption seen with Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition in windowed mode; and intermittent game crashes seen with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.6732 Beta

Other World Computing (OWC), a trusted leader in high-performance storage, memory, connectivity, software, and accessories that empower creative and business professionals to maximize performance, enhance reliability, and streamline workflows, today announced the release of OWC SoftRAID 8.5, the latest update to its powerful RAID management software for macOS and Windows. Packed with dozens of enhancements, OWC SoftRAID 8.5 delivers dramatic increases in reliability, functionality, and performance - ensuring next-level data protection, functionality, and system stability for everyone from video editors to IT administrators, novices to power users.

The new OWC SoftRAID 8.5 driver, included with Apple's macOS 15.4 update, introduces significant improvements for RAID 4/5 volumes, particularly when dealing with failing HDDs and SSDs. The driver now proactively marks a disk as failed upon detecting the first read or write error, ensuring uninterrupted performance by leveraging RAID redundancy to reconstruct data dynamically.

As part of the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds Title 1 update, Capcom plans to introduce a new Arena Quests mode, a ranked, timed multiplayer mode with a competitive leaderboard and in-game cosmetic prizes. In anticipation of the new game mode, Capcom has issued a stern warning to would-be cheaters, and it will be following that up with punitive measures. According to a post on X and a recent blog post about the new game mode, any confirmed cheaters may face repercussions like removal of rewards, disqualification from further participation in Arena Quests, or even account restriction or outright suspension.

Curiously, Capcom seems to be relying on community reporting for its cheater detection, since Monster Hunter Wilds notably does not feature an anti-cheat system. While this means the AAA game runs well on Linux and the Steam Deck alike, it also makes it more difficult to catch cheating players. It also presents the unfortunate side effect of innocent players being caught in the cross fire. Addressing the latter, Capcom says the following: "Individuals who are mistakenly deemed to have committed a prohibited act will not be compensated later with participation and ranking rewards," and it encourages any players who suspect that they have been teamed up with a cheater to leave the quest immediately and report the offending player.

Intel's Vision 2025 conference ended yesterday—since then, media outlets have spent time poring over a multitude of announcements made during the two-day Las Vegas, Nevada event. Notably, Team Blue leadership confirmed that their Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake" processor series is built to scale (on) 18A, and is on track for production later this year." Prominently-displayed presentation material indicated a roadmapped 2026 launch of "Panther Lake" client chips. The success of this next-gen mobile processor family is intertwined with Intel's Foundry service making marked progress. As summarized by the company's social media account, production teams are celebrating another milestone: "Intel 18A has entered risk production. This final stage is about stress-testing volume manufacturing before scaling up to high volume in the second half of 2025."

Under Pat Gelsinger's command, Team Blue set off on a "five nodes in four years" (5N4Y) adventure around mid-2021. This plan is set to conclude with the finalization of 18A, at some point this year, under a newly refreshed regime—with Lip-Bu Tan recently established as CEO. During an on-stage Intel Vision 2025 session, Kevin O'Buckley—Senior VP of Foundry Services—explained the meaning of: "risk production, while it sounds scary, is actually an industry standard terminology, and the importance of risk production is we've gotten the technology to a point where we're freezing it...Our customers have validated that; 'Yep, 18A is good enough for my product.' And we have to now do the 'risk' part, which is to scale it from making hundreds of units per day to thousands, tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands. So risk production..is scaling our manufacturing up and ensuring that we can meet not just the capabilities of the technology, but the capabilities at scale." By original "5N4Y" decree, top brass demanded that process nodes be (fully) available for production, rather than be stuck in a (not quite there) final high volume manufacturing (HVM) phase.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to ship of the world's first 1 TB microSD Express card. Built on the new SD card standard that combines PCI Express 3.0 and NVMe 1.3 interfaces, the PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Card delivers substantially improved performance, perfect for handheld gaming devices.

With up to 900 MB/s read and 600 MB/s write, the PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Card offers the fastest speeds in the microSD Express card format and gives gamers an epic performance power-up that delivers faster game loads and accelerated downloads. With capacity up to 1 TB, it also offers space for many large AAA games. It is backwards-compatible with UHS-I and UHS-II host devices (at UHS-I speeds), but future-proofed for tomorrow's cutting-edge handheld gaming systems and other upcoming devices that will leverage this next-gen technology.

NVIDIA and its laptop manufacturing partners managed to squeeze out higher end models at the start of the week (March 31); qualifying just in time as a Q1 2025 launch. As predicted by PC gaming hardware watchdogs, conditions on day one—for the general public—were far from perfect. Media and influencer outlets received pre-launch evaluation units—Monday's embargo lift did not open up floodgates to a massive number of published/uploaded reviews. Independent benchmarking of Team Green's flagship—GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile—produced somewhat underwhelming results. To summarize, several outlets—including Notebookcheck—observed NVIDIA's topmost laptop-oriented GPU trailing way behind its desktop equivalent in lab tests. Notebookcheck commented on these findings: "laptop gamers will want to keep their expectations in check as the mobile GeForce RTX 5090 can be 50 percent slower than the desktop counterpart as shown by our benchmarks. The enormous gap between the mobile RTX 5090 and desktop RTX 5090 and the somewhat disappointing leap over the outgoing mobile RTX 4080 can be mostly attributed to TGP."

The German online publication was more impressed with NVIDIA's sub-flagship model—two Ryzen 9 9955HX-powered Schenker XMG Neo 16 test units—sporting almost identical specifications—were pitched against each other, a resultant mini-review of benched figures was made available earlier today. Notebookcheck's Allen Ngo provided some context: "3DMark benchmarks...show that the (Schenker Neo's) GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile unit is roughly 10 to 15 percent slower than its pricier sibling. This deficit translates fairly well when running actual games like Baldur's Gate 3, Final Fantasy XV, Alan Wake 2, or Assassin's Creed Shadows. As usual, the deficit is widest when running at 4K resolutions on demanding games and smallest when running at lower resolutions where graphics become less GPU bound. A notable observation is that the performance gap between the mobile RTX 5080 and mobile RTX 5090 would remain the same, whether or not DLSS is enabled. When running Assassin's Creed Shadows with DLSS on, for example, the mobile RTX 5090 would maintain its 15 percent lead over the mobile RTX 5080. The relatively small performance drop between the two enthusiast GPUs means it may be worth configuring laptops with the RTX 5080 instead of the RTX 5090 to save on hundreds of dollars or for better performance-per-dollar." As demonstrated by Bestware.com's system configurator, the XMG NEO 16 (A25) SKU with a GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile GPU demands a €855 (~$928 USD) upcharge over an RTX 5080-based build.

Omdia forecasts show that Nintendo Switch 2 will sell nearly 15 million units globally in 2025, following its confirmed launch date of June 5.

This would put the Switch 2 ahead of its predecessor by around 10% during its first calendar year on the market. Historical Omdia data reveals 13.4 million Nintendo Switch systems were sold in 2017, despite its earlier March release. The key factors driving this momentum include a strong user base - Omdia estimates 105 million Switch consoles remained in active use at the end of 2024, providing Nintendo with a solid foundation for the next generation.

At the end of our launch livestream last month, we teased Framework Laptop 12, a colorful little laptop that is the ultimate expression of our product philosophy. We received a ton of interest around this product, and we have a lot more to share on Framework Laptop 12… in exactly a week! We're opening pre-orders on April 9th at 8am Pacific. That's also when we'll share the full specifications, pricing, and shipment timing. We have a hunch that the early batches are going to go very quickly, so you may want to set up your Framework account ahead of time. In the meantime, you can check out the hands-on video we just posted on our YouTube channel where we go deeper on the design decisions we made.

We know that a lot of you are eager for updates on Framework Laptop 13 and Framework Desktop too. We're happy to share that we've started manufacturing ramp on the new Ryzen AI 300 Series-powered Framework Laptop 13, along with the new translucent Bezels and Expansion Cards. We expect first shipments to go out and press reviews to go live in mid-April. We have a lot of manufacturing capacity ready to work through the pre-order batches quickly.

Today in the Nintendo Switch 2 Showcase, we got to announce the big project we have been working on in the background: STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions! STARSEEKER will take players on a multiplayer voyage of discovery, cooperative expeditions, and camaraderie. Exploring deep space on the ESS Starseeker, players will need to work together with the entire crew of the space station to complete planet-wide objectives across a multitude of star systems using cutting edge technology. STARSEEKER is a multi-platform game that is slated to release in 2026.

If you would like to follow development and get your hands on BETA access as soon as it becomes available, make sure to join our Discord; using this link. To answer the biggest question that Astroneer fans: No, STARSEEKER is not a direct sequel or Astroneer 2. STARSEEKER exists within the same universe as Astroneer, but it's a very different game. That being said, Astroneer is still in active development!

NVIDIA has not formally announced the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU, but its existence was leaked months ago via usual insider channels. Despite whispers of a launch happening mid-way through this month, Team Green did not host a rumored special preview event back in March. Premature listings of lower end "Blackwell" GPU-powered pre-built gaming systems have popped up online; Lenovo is the latest company to join in one the fun. Their "Legion Tower 5i Gen 10" pre-build is advertised as "coming soon," and configurable with GeForce RTX 5070, RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 discrete graphics solutions. Curiously, Lenovo is prepping this model with an "Intel ARL-HX customized HM870" microATX motherboard—implying that the Core Ultra 9 APU (285HX or 275HX) will be soldered on.

Lenovo's NDA-busting product page does not go into as much (GPU-related) detail as HP New Zealand's webstore and Best Buy Canada's listings. Last week, reports focused on a new-generation OMEN 16L compact pre-built series—providing further evidence of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards being readied with 16 GB and 8 GB pools of VRAM. Interestingly, TechPowerUp's GPU curator has scrubbed the alleged GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB model's page from the site's database. VideoCardz has trained its expert eye on the Legion Tower 5i Gen 10 model's spec sheet and promotional imagery—their investigation put a spotlight on Lenovo's pre-rendered mock-up of a dual-fan card design that sports a single 8-pin power connector. In the recent past, AIB insiders have alluded to several custom models being configured with this older standard. VideoCardz noted that the forthcoming Legion pre-build is listed with "limited DisplayPort 1.4 support." This could be a pre-release mistake (based on placeholder material), or an indication of NVIDIA's cheaper GeForce RTX 50-series options arriving without DisplayPort 2.1 capabilities.

Surface defects on the GPU die of a PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 XT Hellhound have been linked to excessive thermal hotspots, according to analysis following Igor's Lab's investigation. Microscopic examination revealed 1,934 pits across the silicon die surface despite proper thermal interface material application. The defects affect over one percent of the chip's surface area, with the largest measuring 12.59 µm in depth and 212.36 µm in diameter—significantly exceeding industry tolerances. These imperfections impede heat transfer, causing localized temperatures to reach 113°C, exceeding the 110°C threshold for RDNA GPUs and triggering thermal throttling. The defects appear to stem from flaws in the backgrinding process that thins silicon wafers for packaging. Improper process control creates surface irregularities that compromise thermal conductivity and structural integrity.

The discovery raises questions about the effectiveness of automated optical inspection systems in detecting subtle surface abnormalities. TSMC, the maker of these chips, uses optical recognition tools to see if any defects occurred. AMD stated: "We are aware of the reported issue and believe this to be an isolated incident. We are working with our partners and internal teams to understand the issue." The company maintains this is an isolated case, though the findings suggest potential gaps in quality control protocols. Users experiencing thermal issues with affected RX 9070 XT units should initiate the RMA process for replacement while AMD and PowerColor investigate whether these defects exist beyond the identified sample. We hope no further issues are present, and so far, PowerColor hasn't received any customer complaints. We are on the lookout for further situation development. We reviewed PowerColor's Radeon RX 9070 Hellhound, and found no issues on our unit, so this indeed remains an isolated case so far.

CRKD, the premium collectible gaming brand behind the award-winning Nitro Deck and NEO S collectible controllers, has announced an udderly incredible creative collaboration with Coffee Stain North, bringing the charm of the farm to the end of your arm with a new range of Goat Simulator-themed collectible controllers! The announcement came during Goat Simulator Direct, a presentation looking at the future of Goat Simulator, and reflecting on the last year of goat-tastic announcements in celebration of the franchise's 10-year anniversary.

Available exclusively from crkd.gg and for a limited time only, the new collectible controller collection is the collaboration ewe never knew you needed, and hooves that CRKD is delivering what gamers are bleating for. Easily the most popular goat-based video game released in modern times, Goat Simulator is a worldwide phenomenon hailing from the genius minds at Coffee Stain North. Celebrating ten years of farm-based fun, Goat Simulator 3 recently enjoyed a physical release on Nintendo Switch, ideal for pairing with one of CRKD's award-winning collectible controllers!

A small number of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUs have had trouble starting up on some ASRock AM5 motherboards. The issue was first noticed in February 2025, and both AMD and ASRock immediately looked into the problem. The investigation found that the older BIOS versions on specific ASRock boards had memory compatibility problems. When a Ryzen 7 9800X3D was used, the computer could not complete its normal boot process, known as POST. ASRock quickly released a beta BIOS update to fix the memory issue, and after testing, a final version of the update was made available as of now. Users who update their BIOS should now see the problem disappear. In one case, a report suggested that a Ryzen 7 9800X3D had been damaged. However, further checks showed no burn marks on the motherboard. The issue was simply due to some debris, and after careful cleaning, the motherboard started normally and passed further tests.

AMD pointed out that many reasons can cause a computer to not start up properly, and a POST failure does not always mean the CPU is broken. They advise users to update their BIOS to the newest version available for their motherboard model. If the problem continues even after updating, users should reach out to customer support for help. In a few cases, if the problem cannot be fixed on the spot, the CPU might need to be replaced. This quick fix shows that AMD and ASRock work well together to solve problems. Even though only a few systems were affected, the issue was taken seriously and fixed fast. With the latest BIOS update, users can now expect their systems to boot without trouble, ensuring that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D offers good performance for everyday tasks and gaming.

According to a fresh Money Today SK news article, Samsung is expected to launch a next-generation Galaxy Ring model later this year—this tiny wearable device is touted to operate with a "dream battery" design. The South Korean giant's Electro-Mechanics division is reportedly tasked with the challenging development of "all-solid-state" batteries for all manner of ultraportable products. Yesterday's report suggests that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring sequel—apparently scheduled for launch within Q4'25—will be driven by the Electro-Mechanics team's pioneering effort. The production of all-solid-state battery units is an expensive endeavor, so industry watchdogs have predicted tough retail conditions for the forthcoming "Galaxy Ring 2" rollout—the original unit was not exactly a "hot property" in terms of sales figures.

Money Today's inside sources reckon that the Electro-Mechanics branch will—eventually—fit all-solid-state battery designs inside new-gen earphones (aka Galaxy Buds) by Q4 2026, and very futuristic smartwatches by the end of 2027. Given cost considerations, larger all-solid-state solutions—potentially for usage in smartphones—are not in the pipeline. Around early February of this year, the development of Samsung's (inevitable) "Galaxy S26" mobile series was linked to alleged 6000+ mAh silicon-carbon battery units. The South Korean's smartphone engineering team is reportedly trying to play catch up with more advanced solutions, as devised by competitors in China. The status of Samsung's proprietary silicon-carbon prototype is the subject of much online debate, but certain insiders believe that employees are still working hard on the perfection of an ideal "battery formula."

It's time to confront some magical creatures (or maybe just your backlog) with these games coming soon! Some surprise benefits and announcements you might have missed, day one games (with some amazing music; looking at you South of Midnight), and more. Let's get to it!

Coming Soon
Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) - April 3
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition packs bazillions of guns and is a mayhem-fueled adventure, featuring the base game plus all four campaign add-ons, Director's Cut content, and all cosmetic packs! Blast through worlds and enemies as one of four Vault Hunters, each with deep skill trees, abilities, and customization. Play solo or join with friends to take on insane enemies, score loads of loot, and save your home from the most ruthless cult leaders in the galaxy.

Today, MLCommons released its latest MLPerf Inference v5.0 benchmarks, showcasing Intel Xeon 6 with Performance-cores (P-cores) across six key benchmarks. The results reveal a remarkable 1.9x boost in AI performance over the previous generation of processors, affirming Xeon 6 as a top solution for modern AI systems.

"The latest MLPerf results demonstrate Intel Xeon 6 as the ideal CPU for AI workloads, offering a perfect balance of performance and energy efficiency. Intel Xeon remains the leading CPU for AI systems, with consistent gen-over-gen performance improvements across a variety of AI benchmarks." - Karin Eibschitz Segal, Intel corporate vice president and interim general manager of the Data Center and AI Group

If learning a new language has been on your bucket list for as long as you can remember, Babbel makes it easier than ever. This language-learning app makes the experience more like a game than school, so you don't lose motivation—and StackSocial is offering an unbeatable deal on the app. This weekend, you can get a Babbel lifetime subscription for just $124.99 with code LEARN at checkout (worth $599 on Babbel's website). You'll get forever access to their mobile and desktop apps and 14 language courses, including French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and more.

Babbel encourages you to set a weekly language-learning goal, but you set the pace with 10-15 minute lessons that you can take as frequently as you like. Each builds your skills in conversation, grammar, and pronunciation. A brand-new app update added an AI-powered conversation partner that helps you practice your language skills in real time. You'll build listening, comprehension, and speaking skills in an environment where you're completely free to make mistakes.

Don't miss out on this Babbel discount from StackSocial: $124.99 with code LEARN at checkout (reg. $599). This code expires on March 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Mark Gurman—Bloomberg's resident soothsayer of Apple inside track info—has disclosed predictive outlooks for next-generation M5 chip-based MacBooks. Early last month, we experienced the launch of the Northern Californian company's M4 MacBook Air series—starting at $999; also available in a refreshing metallic blue finish. The latest iteration of Apple's signature "extra slim" notebook family arrived with decent performance figures. As per usual, press and community attention has turned to a potential successor. Gurman's (March 30) Power On newsletter posited that engineers are already working on M5-powered super slim sequels—he believes that these offerings will arrive early next year, potentially reusing the current generation's 15-inch and 13-inch fanless chassis designs.

In a mid-February predictive report, Gurman theorized that Apple was planning a major overhaul of the MacBook Pro design. A radical reimagining of the long-running notebook series—that reportedly utilizes M6 chipsets and OLED panels—is a distant prospect; perhaps later on in 2026. The Cupertino-headquartered megacorp is expected to stick with its traditional release cadence, so 2025's "M5" refresh of MacBook Pro models could trickle out by October. Insiders believe that Apple will reuse existing MacBook Pro shells—the last major redesign occurred back in 2021. According to early February reportage, mass production of the much-rumored M5 chip started at some point earlier in the year. Industry moles posit that a 3 nm (N3P) node process was on the order books, chez TSMC foundries.

Today, MLCommons announced new results for its industry-standard MLPerf Inference v5.0 benchmark suite, which delivers machine learning (ML) system performance benchmarking in an architecture-neutral, representative, and reproducible manner. The results highlight that the AI community is focusing much of its attention and efforts on generative AI scenarios, and that the combination of recent hardware and software advances optimized for generative AI have led to dramatic performance improvements over the past year.

The MLPerf Inference benchmark suite, which encompasses both datacenter and edge systems, is designed to measure how quickly systems can run AI and ML models across a variety of workloads. The open-source and peer-reviewed benchmark suite creates a level playing field for competition that drives innovation, performance, and energy efficiency for the entire industry. It also provides critical technical information for customers who are procuring and tuning AI systems. This round of MLPerf Inference results also includes tests for four new benchmarks: Llama 3.1 405B, Llama 2 70B Interactive for low-latency applications, RGAT, and Automotive PointPainting for 3D object detection.

In the latest MLPerf Inference V5.0 benchmarks, which reflect some of the most challenging inference scenarios, the NVIDIA Blackwell platform set records - and marked NVIDIA's first MLPerf submission using the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 system, a rack-scale solution designed for AI reasoning. Delivering on the promise of cutting-edge AI takes a new kind of compute infrastructure, called AI factories. Unlike traditional data centers, AI factories do more than store and process data - they manufacture intelligence at scale by transforming raw data into real-time insights. The goal for AI factories is simple: deliver accurate answers to queries quickly, at the lowest cost and to as many users as possible.

The complexity of pulling this off is significant and takes place behind the scenes. As AI models grow to billions and trillions of parameters to deliver smarter replies, the compute required to generate each token increases. This requirement reduces the number of tokens that an AI factory can generate and increases cost per token. Keeping inference throughput high and cost per token low requires rapid innovation across every layer of the technology stack, spanning silicon, network systems and software.

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. In the near future, DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation is multiplying performance in Steel Seed. STORROR Parkour Pro is available now with DLSS Frame Generation. And check out new DLSS 4 trailers for Cyberpunk 2077 and FragPunk.

Steel Seed Launching With DLSS Multi Frame Generation, DLSS Frame Generation & DLSS Super Resolution April 22nd
Storm in a Teacup and ESDigital Games' Steel Seed is a stealth-action adventure set in a dark sci-fi world where humanity stands on the brink of extinction. Join protagonist Zoe and her flying drone companion, KOBY, as they investigate the depths of a hostile underground facility in search of answers and the key to the survival of mankind. After a catastrophic event rendered Earth uninhabitable, machines took control of the remnants of humanity's survival. The underground facility is a vast, machine-built structure designed for machines - not humans. Each region presents unique environmental storytelling, hazards, and secrets waiting to be uncovered. From towering industrial landscapes to eerie biodomes, the world of Steel Seed is as haunting as it is immersive. Explore a hand-crafted world filled with dynamic combat, formidable enemies, and an immersive narrative that challenges the very definition of humanity.

No kidding. This is not a drill. Monster Train 2 will be in your hands in under two months. If you haven't already, please enjoy the trailer (watch below), wishlist the game, and get ready for five all-new clans, dozens of new cards, and surprises of all shapes and sizes. As we ramp up towards launch, we'll be back at a regular cadence giving you deep dives into Monster Train 2's new content, from clan deep-dives to new game mode reveals and more. All aboard.

If you've spent enough time on the internet, you already know what today is about. It's about goofs. It's about tricks. It's about "pulling a fast one." April Fools' Day in the video game world is a particularly special time for video game studios like us. With the right April Fools' Day announcement, your game can land at the top of the gaming news sites and subreddits.

All Together, Anytime, Anywhere. With new ways to play and new ways to connect players, the Nintendo Switch 2 system arrives June 5 for a suggested retail price of $449.99 in the United States. Discover reimagined Joy-Con 2 controllers, each of which can now be used as a mouse in compatible games and that snap to the system with magnetic connectors. Experience the system's powerful processing speeds delivering visuals via a bigger screen showcasing vibrant color and clarity. From Nintendo Switch 2 games to compatible games in existing Nintendo Switch libraries - connect and play with friends and family in surprising new ways!

"Nintendo Switch 2 is the next step in at-home gaming that can be taken on the go based on eight years of play and discovery that began with Nintendo Switch," said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa. "With its new features that expand the possibilities of gaming experiences, I truly believe that Nintendo Switch 2 is a leap forward in our journey of putting smiles on the faces of everyone that Nintendo touches."

Just over two weeks ago, Acer unveiled its brand-new Predator BiFrost and Nitro Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards. Despite being a late contributor to AMD's opening salvo of RDNA 4, the Taiwanese manufacturer made a big impression with its reveal of four premium specced models. In particular, Acer's Predator BiFrost Radeon RX 9070 OC 16 GB and Nitro Radeon RX 9070 XT OC 16 GB SKUs will be joining an elite group of custom options that boast 3100 MHz boost clocks. Mid-March press material did not provide any insight into launch pricing—weeks later, Overclockers UK has opened up pre-orders for the four Predator BiFrost and Nitro RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 cards. Just prior to RDNA 4 launch time, Overclockers UK (OcUK) received plenty of press attention—in particular, their building of a sizable cube out of an impressive quantity of Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT retail stock.

The British retailer seemed confident with its pre-kickoff accumulation of various AIB models, but demand quickly outstripped supply on day one. Unfortunately, OcUK has implemented dreaded price hikes across its Radeon RX 9070 Series product listings. Looking at Acer's main competition in the premium custom Radeon RX 9070 XT tier, OcUK has jacked up prices by £20 to £30 (approx.). ASRock's Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi OC model—one of the elite 3.1 GHz boosters—launched at £700 (including VAT, shipping fee is extra), but was adjusted up to £728.99 (~$943 USD) at some point last month. The British store's pre-order price for the "cheaper" Nitro Radeon RX 9070 XT OC SKU is £749.99 (inc. VAT), while the flagship Predator BiFrost costs £779.99 (inc. VAT) for reservation. GIGABYTE's (almost) £800 AORUS RX 9070 XT ELITE model is the only other 3.1 GHz boost-capable option sitting above the £750 mark. Looking at "on paper" information (e.g. aluminium backplates, state-of-the-art cooling, etc.)—Acer's two headliners are impressive offerings, but rival cards already exist with similar credentials at "lower prices." Historically, TechPowerUp's resident GPU reviewer—W1zzard—has not received any graphics card samples from the manufacturer. Perhaps this drought will end in the near future...

StationPC, a reputable brand known for its private cloud innovations, has announced the launch of PocketCloud, the world's first truly portable NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution. Now live on Kickstarter, PocketCloud redefines data storage and backup, offering an intuitive, compact, and powerful way to safeguard files anywhere, anytime. Early backers can secure their PocketCloud at a special Kickstarter price starting at $199, a $100 discount from the $299 MSRP.

PocketCloud introduces a seamless, user-friendly data management experience. Designed with a compact form factor, it eliminates the complexities and bulk of conventional NAS systems while ensuring strong performance on the go. Photographers, content creators, and professionals can now back up, store, and secure their files effortlessly, without the need for large, stationary storage setups.

Qualcomm today announced the acquisition of MovianAI Artificial Intelligence (AI) Application and Research JSC (MovianAI), the former generative AI division of VinAI Application and Research JSC (VinAI) and a part of the Vingroup ecosystem. As a leading AI research company, VinAI is renowned for its expertise in generative AI, machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. Combining VinAI's advanced generative AI research and development (R&D) capabilities with Qualcomm's decades of extensive R&D will expand its ability to drive extraordinary inventions.

For more than 20 years, Qualcomm has been working closely with the Vietnamese technology ecosystem to create and deliver innovative solutions. Qualcomm's innovations in the areas of 5G, AI, IoT and automotive have helped to fuel the extraordinary growth and success of Vietnam's information and communication technology (ICT) industry and assisted the entry of Vietnamese companies into the global marketplace.

Rebellion, one of the world's most successful independent video game developers and publishers, has announced that Atomfall significantly surpassed the one million player mark over the weekend, having only launched last week. In total Atomfall has now been played by over 1.5 million players. A brand-new IP set in the north of England, Atomfall is Rebellion's most successful launch in the company's 32-year history.

"We are delighted that so many players are enjoying Atomfall," said Jason Kingsley CBE, CEO and co-founder of Rebellion. "To have surpassed the one million players in such a short space of time speaks volumes for the creativity and dedication of the entire team here at Rebellion. Our size and stability mean that we can take risks to create something as different as Atomfall. Happily, that risk is paying off. We are a British company, and the game is a true reflection of that. Not only is it set in the lush, beautiful countryside but Atomfall also draws inspiration from so many classic British books, films and TV series. We hope that players continue to enjoy exploring the world of Atomfall and are looking forward to future content for the game."

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced availability of the ROG Strix OLED XG27UCDMG gaming monitor, the second 27-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor offered by ROG. Positioned just under the flagship ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM, the XG27UCDMG caters to a wider audience looking for a monitor for gaming, content consumption, and daily use. It features 4th generation ROG QD-OLED technology with a pixel density of 166 pixels per inch to deliver supersharp imagery, incredibly clear text, and infinite contrast.

It also offers the latest ASUS OLED Care Pro features, including a Neo Proximity sensor that protects the OLED panel from burn-in. New firmware updates to optimize the Neo Proximity sensor for both the Swift OLED PG27UCDM and the Strix OLED XG27UCDMG will be available in April 2025. In addition, ROG OLED Anti-Flicker 2.0 technology minimizes onscreen flicker even during intense gaming sessions. XG27UCDMG offers a host of comprehensive features including Auto KVM, a full-function USB-C port with DP Alt mode and 90-watt Power Delivery, along with Aspect Ratio Control.

Adobe recently announced support for 4:2:2 video color formats with Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder, and NVIDIA today announced that its GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs and RTX Pro Blackwell series GPUs will receive support and optimization for them. The 9th Gen NVENC and 6th Gen NVDEC video accelerators on Blackwell GPUs, as well as its display engine, come with support for 4:2:2 color formats, which help greatly reduce file-size in comparison to 4:4:4 formats, while also offering superior color depth compared to 4:2:0. 10 bits per cell 4:2:2 retains more color information compared to 4:2:0 with 8 bits per cell. For video professionals, this also offers superior chroma keying ("green screen" background replacements). GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs when paired with Windows 11, come hardware acceleration for H.264 and HEVC 10-bit 4:2:2 formats.

Samsung Electronics today announced the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 FE+, offering new entry points to the Galaxy ecosystem on a premium tablet design. Equipped with the largest screen yet on the Galaxy Tab S FE series and slimmer bezels that expand its display, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ provides a fun, immersive viewing experience for everything from entertainment to studying and day-to-day tasks. Samsung's Intelligent Features empower users to get more done with ease, while a slimmer design helps users to achieve their creativity and productivity on the go.

"The new Galaxy Tab S10 FE series brings advanced mobile AI experience and Samsung's connected ecosystem to even more tablet users, while still offering leading performance and design," said Changtae Kim, EVP & Head of New Computing R&D Team, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. "We're confident that the slim bezels and expansive displays, in addition to a whole host of functional improvements, will inspire people to do more, create more, and discover more."

Today, publisher ESDigital Games and Italian studio Storm in a Teacup announced that the release date of the highly anticipated stealth-action adventure Steel Seed has been pushed back to April 22 on PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, rather than launching on April 10 as previously announced. These extra few weeks will give the talented team behind the game more time to fine-tune both platform adaptation on consoles and game optimization.

"Since the game's announcement, your excitement has been truly inspiring, and we know how much you've been looking forward to a deep dive into a dark sci-fi future on all platforms. That's why we want to be completely open with you: We encountered some technical hurdles related to platform adaptation when running our platform certification tests. Rather than rushing the console release and risking a potentially substandard console user experience that requires swift patching, we have made the difficult, but necessary decision to delay the launch," said Ilia Svanidze, Head of Marketing of ESDigital Games.

XPG, a gaming brand of ADATA Technology, a global leader in memory modules and flash memory, is proud to announce its successful collaboration with GIGABYTE Technology. Leveraging the XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 memory and LN2 (Liquid Nitrogen) cooling technology, achieved an astonishing 12,762 MT/s overclocking speed, breaking the DDR5 memory overclocking world record. This remarkable achievement has been verified by the renowned international overclocking scoring platform, HWBOT, reinforcing XPG's leadership in extreme overclocking memory.

A Legendary Overclocking Record By Two Industry Titans
This record-breaking overclocking effort was spearheaded by GIGABYTE's renowned overclocker and engineer, HiCookie. The setup featured the Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE motherboard, meticulously designed for overclocking, paired with the XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 memory and an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor. The XPG LANCER's optimized PCB design, IC tuning capabilities, and integrated circuit technology ensured stable operation even under the extreme LN2 environment, laying a crucial foundation for this world record. The Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE motherboard, boasting an array of overclocking-centric features, including an OC button and an LN2_SW liquid nitrogen mode switch, further facilitated the CPU's ability to achieve its peak performance under extreme conditions.

AAEON's UP brand, has released the UP 710S Edge, the company's smallest Intel Processor N-powered Mini PC with Wi-Fi support, measuring just 92 mm x 77 mm x 38 mm.

Positioned as a compact platform for companies to upgrade industrial automation setups, the UP 710S Edge is available in models featuring the full Intel Processor N series family (formerly Alder Lake-N), as well as offering an 8-bit GPIO with optional SPI, I2C, and PWM, a first for the product line.

In response to user feedback, MSI has announced an enhanced update to its highly acclaimed OLED CARE 2.0 technology, delivering an even better experience for gamers and tech enthusiasts worldwide.

This update refines the Panel Protect activation timing based on cumulative usage. Originally set to activate automatically every 16 hours, some users reported that it could unexpectedly interrupt their ongoing activities. To enhance user experience and minimize disruptions, MSI has extended the refresh interval to 24 hours, ensuring greater flexibility while maintaining the panel's exceptional durability.

Team Group Inc., a global leader in memory solutions, proudly announces that its creator-focused brand, T-CREATE, has been honored with the iF DESIGN AWARD 2025 for the CinemaPr P31 Portable SSD. Designed specifically for camera crew and filmmakers, the CinemaPr P31 embodies an artistic design while supporting comprehensive media storage formats, real-time recording and storage capabilities, as well as high-speed data transfer. Powered by multiple patented technologies, its exquisite and compact palm-size design symbolizes a key to imagination, unlocking a world of infinite inspiration.

The iF DESIGN AWARD, often referred to as the "Academy Awards" of the design industry, is one of the world's most prestigious design honors. Each year, it attracts top-tier submissions globally, which will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges based on five key criteria: function, idea, form, differentiation, and sustainability. This year, sustainability has become a core focus of the evaluation process. Standing out among over 10,000 entries from 66 countries, the CinemaPr P31 Portable SSD was recognized for its innovative design and exceptional performance, reaffirming Team Group as the leader of design innovation.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc, a leading innovator of mass-capacity data storage, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Intevac, Inc. (Nasdaq: IVAC) ("Intevac"), a supplier of thin-film processing systems. The previously announced cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Intevac for $4.00 per share, payable in cash at closing, without interest and subject to reduction for any applicable withholding taxes, by Irvine Acquisition Holdings, Inc. ("Merger Sub"), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Seagate, expired one minute after 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on March 28, 2025. Computershare, the depository agent for the tender offer, has advised Seagate that 23,968,013 Intevac shares, representing approximately 87.95% of the outstanding shares of Intevac common stock, were validly tendered pursuant to the tender offer and not properly withdrawn prior to the expiration time. All of the conditions to the consummation of the tender offer have been satisfied, and on March 31, 2025, Merger Sub accepted for payment, and will promptly pay for, all shares validly tendered pursuant to the tender offer and not properly withdrawn.

AAEON's UP brand, a leading provider of professional developer boards, has announced the release of the NV8600-Nano AI Developer Kit, available exclusively on the company's UP Shop. Comprised of an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano module with Super Mode support, custom AAEON carrier board, and a preinstalled Jetson Platform Services software package, the NV8600-Nano AI Developer Kit reflects a notable expansion for UP, which since its inception has been renowned for its ability to leverage the newest Intel technologies across a range of industrial maker boards across standardized form factors.

While not AAEON's first developer kit to provide preinstalled software tools, the NV8600-Nano AI Developer Kit is the company's first to do so on an NVIDIA-accelerated platform. This new offering will provide AAEON customers an array of software tools dedicated to AI model optimization, distinguishing the kit from AAEON's broader NVIDIA-based product catalog, which typically focuses on industrial, deployment-ready system-on-modules.

Industry insiders posit that TSMC's two flagship fabrication facilities are running ahead of schedule with the development of an advanced 2 nm (N2) process node. A cross-facility mass production phase is tipped to begin later this year, which leaves room for next-level experiments. Taiwan's Economic Daily News has heard supply chain whispers about the Baoshan "P2" plant making internal preparations for a truly cutting edge 1.4 nm-class product. According to the report, unnamed sources have claimed that: "TSMC has made a major breakthrough in the advancement of its 1.4 nm process. (The company) has recently notified suppliers to prepare the necessary equipment for 1.4 nm, and plans to install a trial production 'mini-line' at P2 (Baoshan Fab 20)."

Their Hsinchu-adjacent "Fab 20" site is touted as a leading player in the prototyping of this new technology. Industry moles reckon that "1.4 nm expertise" will eventually trickle over to nearby "P3 and P4 plants" for full production phases. Allegedly, these factories were originally going to be involved in the manufacturing of 2 nm (N2) wafers. Additionally, TSMC's "Fab 25" campus could potentially play host to trial 1.4 nm activities—the Economic Daily News article proposes that four plants based in the Central Taiwan Science Park are pitching in with collaborative work. As interpreted by TrendForce, "P1" could begin "risk trial production" by 2027, followed by full-scale output within the following year.

We are giving away a special item pack as a token of appreciation for everyone's support of Monster Hunter Wilds. Hello hunters! This is Yuya Tokuda, the director of Monster Hunter Wilds. Thank you so much for playing Monster Hunter Wilds. As announced yesterday, Monster Hunter Wilds has now sold more than 10 million copies globally. We are very happy that so many people around the world are playing the game. To commemorate the 10 million milestone, we have released a free item pack for the community.

We would also like to thank you for the many comments, thoughts and feedback we have received since the game was released. The development team has been reading your feedback, and we are encouraged by it. We are also using the comments and feedback we have received to help us plan our future actions. In this message, I'd like to take a moment to run through some of our upcoming plans based on your feedback, including a few areas that have already been in the works.

Intel's freshly concluded Vision 2025 "Products Update and GTM" showcase included a segment dedicated to forthcoming Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake" client processors. Industry watchdogs have grabbed a select few screenshots from Team Blue's broadcast from Las Vegas, Nevada—one backdropped slide confirms that Intel's next-generation mobile CPU series will launch in 2026. This information mirrors the company's Chinese office presenting of an AI PC roadmap—coverage of last month's event highlighted a scheduled first quarter 2026 "volume" arrival of "Core Ultra Next-gen Panther Lake (18A)."

Going back to early March, Intel leadership refuted online rumors of "Panther Lake" mobile CPUs being delayed into 2026, due to alleged problems encountered during the development of the Foundry service's 18A process node. An interviewed executive repeatedly insisted that his firm's brand-new series was on track for release within the second half of 2025. Fast-forward to the end of last week; Lip-Bu Tan expressed a similar outlook in a letter addressed to investors. The newly-established boss stated: "we will further enhance our (leadership) position in the second half of this year with the launch of Panther Lake, our lead product on Intel 18A, followed by Nova Lake in 2026." Industry insiders propose that the Core Ultra 300 series will become available in a very limited capacity come October, via an Early Enablement Program (EEP). Returning to this week—Jim Johnson, senior vice president of the firm's Client Computing Group, informed a watchful audience about the merits of his group's design: "I'm personally excited about Panther Lake because it combines the power efficiency of Lunar Lake, the performance of Arrow Lake, and is built to scale 18A and is on track for production later this year...Our client roadmap is the most innovative we've ever had, and we are far from done."

Quantum Machines (QM), the leading provider of advanced quantum control solutions, has recently announced the NVIDIA DGX Quantum Early Customer Program, with a cohort of six leading research groups and quantum computer builders. NVIDIA DGX Quantum, a reference architecture jointly developed by NVIDIA and QM, is the first tightly integrated quantum-classical computing solution, designed to unlock new frontiers in quantum computing research and development. As quantum computers scale, their reliance on classical resources for essential operations, such as quantum error correction (QEC) and parameter drift compensation, grows exponentially. NVIDIA DGX Quantum provides access to the classical acceleration needed to support this progress, advancing the path toward practical quantum supercomputers.

NVIDIA DGX Quantum leverages OPX1000, the best-in-class, modular high-density hybrid control platform, seamlessly interfacing with NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips. This solution brings accelerated computing into the heart of the quantum computing stack for the first time, achieving an ultra-low round-trip latency of less than 4 µs between quantum control and AI supercomputers - faster than any other approach. The NVIDIA DGX Quantum Early Customer Program is now underway, with selected leading academic institutions, national labs, and commercial quantum computer builders participating. These include the Engineering Quantum Systems group (equs.mit.edu) led by MIT Professor William D. Oliver, the Israeli Quantum Computing Center (IQCC), quantum hardware developer Diraq, the Quantum Circuit group (led by Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon Professor Benjamin Huard), and more.

Over the past weekend Jukanlosreve declared via social media that Samsung's: "Exynos 2600 (mobile SoC) is definitely back, and it will be used in the Galaxy S26 series. But the chip volume is so limited that it'll likely be similar to the Exynos 990 situation. I'm not sure if SF2 is actually any good." Mid-way through March, the keen observer of semiconductor industry conditions posited that Samsung's Foundry business could abandon a 1.4 nm (SF1.4) process node. SF2 (aka 2 nm GAA) seems to be in a healthier place, according to insiders—thanks to rumored assistance from an external AI-specialist partner. The development of next-generation flagship Exynos smartphone processors are allegedly closely tied with Samsung Foundry's 2 nm GAA manufacturing process.

As alluded to by Jukanlosreve's recent prediction, the statuses of leaked 2 nm-based "Exynos 2600" and "Exynos 2500" chips were often questioned by industry watchdogs in the past. The latter is purportedly destined for rollout in forthcoming affordable "Galaxy Z Flip FE" models, albeit in mature 4 nm form. Vhsss_God—another source of inside track info—has weighed in on the topic of Samsung's next-gen chipset roadmap. Compared to Jukanlosreve's musings, their similarly-timed weekend projection seemed to be quite fanciful: "exclusive leak...Samsung doesn't want to use Exynos or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips anymore. S26 line is targeted to launch with the new Samsung developed chip (2 nm)—formerly referred to as Exynos 2600. (The company) will try its hardest to ditch Snapdragon on the entire Galaxy line next year." Perhaps there is too much of a negative stigma attached to Samsung's long-running chipset nomenclature, but the majority of foundry moles continue to label incoming designs as Exynos processors.

Altera Corporation, a leader in FPGA innovations, today announced production shipments of its Agilex 7 FPGA M-Series, the industry's first high-end, high-density FPGA to feature integrated high bandwidth memory and support for DDR5 and LPDDR5 memory technologies. Offering over 3.8 million logic elements, Agilex 7 FPGA M-Series is optimized for applications that demand the highest performance and highest memory bandwidth, including AI, data centers, next-generation firewalls, 5G communications infrastructure and 8K broadcast equipment.

As data traffic continues to increase exponentially due to the growth of AI, cloud computing and video streaming services, the demand for higher memory bandwidth, increased capacity, and improved power efficiency has never been greater. Agilex 7 FPGA M-Series addresses these challenges by offering users high logic densities, a high-performance fabric and a memory interface that accelerates data throughput speeds while reducing memory bottlenecks and latency.

GlobalFoundries is considering acquiring United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) in a plan called "Project Ultron." The two companies want to work together to make older types of semiconductor nodes. Both companies have moved away from making the newest, most advanced chips. Instead, they focused on making older nodes (28 nm and larger) better and cheaper, keeping them from competing directly with giants like TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. This type of market is mature nodes, which is the main target of automakers and commercial electronics (fridges, washing machines) that aren't CPUs or GPUs, where the latest nodes aren't essential. If GF and UMC merge, they could control about 28% of the mature node market, making them stronger against growing rivals. The possible team-up comes as Chinese companies like SMIC are putting more money into making similar chips, creating more competition.

The combined companies would have factories in the United States, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. Spreading factories across regions could help them keep making chips even if problems happen in one region, be it some tense geopolitical situation or sanctions/tariffs. It might also appeal to customers who worry about supply chain problems. Money issues could make the deal tricky. GlobalFoundries is worth about $20.41 billion but would need to borrow money or get more funding from its main investor, Mubadala, to make the purchase. Government approvals are another big hurdle. Taiwan might not want a foreign company controlling UMC, while China might only approve if the new company promises to keep or add factories in China. UMC has Fab 12X in China, producing 25,000 wafers per month. All of this is happening as GlobalFoundries prepares for new CEO Tim Breen to start by the end of April. He must handle these merger talks while keeping the company running smoothly in a challenging mature node market. Meanwhile, UMC has denied merger talk, but Tom's Hardware claims it has reviewed documents of the merger assessment.

Mecha fandoms collide in an epic battle to determine the world's future in the upcoming tactical RPG series SUPER ROBOT WARS Y. Published by Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. and developed by Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc., the game features immersive strategic game play and is a return for the legendary series to the West in a English localized installment, following the success of SUPER ROBOT WARS 30. The anticipated sequel brings together iconic mecha characters and units from beloved series including COMBATTLER V, Aura Battler Dunbine, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury (Season 1), Majestic Prince, Macross Delta: Passionate Walküre, Code Geass Lelouch of the Re;surrection, Getter Robo Arc, and more. SUPER ROBOT WARS Y will launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

In the looming calamity of inevitable ruin, SUPER ROBOT WARS Y challenges the guardians of steel to rise and conquer fate. The lauded series combines an all-star mecha cast, action-packed attack animations, and an upgrade system to customize various units and pilots. The game also features a deep and engaging original story that weaves together universes from a variety of mecha anime. In a battle to determine the world's future, players strategically command an army on a grid-based battlefield, utilizing their arsenal of weapons and abilities to defeat the opposing army. SUPER ROBOT WARS Y is the anticipated new entry to the franchise, following the 2021 hit SUPER ROBOT WARS 30, as a must-have for fans of the long-running game series in the West.

PC hardware media outlets have uncovered a not yet officially announced Kingston Fury Renegade G5 SSD product family. Promotional images and fairly detailed specifications were reportedly sourced directly from the North American manufacturer's main web presence. Three next-gen PCIe 5.0 SSD options were highlighted; likely coming soon—in quick response to Samsung's recently launched 9100 PRO Series. The South Korean megacorp's cutting-edge proprietary Presto
S4LY027-controlled offerings are considered to be the world's fastest SSDs, but this elite level of performance has arrived with substantial price tags. At several points, W1zzard's evaluation of the $300 Samsung 9100 Pro 2 TB model touched upon cost-performance considerations. Kingston's forthcoming Fury Renegade G5 4 TB, 2 TB, and 1 TB SSD NVMe M.2 2280 SKUs possess the potential to match main rivals—according to a leaked spec chart, the flagship boasts up to 14,800 MB/s read and 14,000 MB/s write speeds.

The apparent selection of Silicon Motion's SM2508 controller is a key point of interest—this "superior performance" low-power PCIe Gen 5 x4 NVMe 2.0 SSD solution was announced late last summer. September preview material painted a promising picture, in terms of promised power efficiency. By late December, a Chinese manufacturer demonstrated 14.5 GB/s sequential reads enabled by Silicon Motion's flagship controller. At CES 2025, TechPowerUp staffers documented a handful of previewed SM2508-controlled commercial products. Returning to the present day, Kingston's inadvertent self-leak did not reveal Fury Renegade G5's eventual launch window or price brackets—these facts are expected to arrive online with a possible imminent issuing of official press material.

Run, don't walk! It's time to play the full game. HASTE is finally out! It's been a long journey since our initial wobbler prototype in late 2021, and we're very excited to finally be able to share the full game with you all! HASTE: Broken Worlds is a high-speed third-person running game, set in a collapsing universe. Race through a variety of worlds, master your movement and use items and abilities to progress through each level before it falls apart around you. The game consists of ten Shards, each featuring a collection of procedurally generated levels that must be completed without fail to unlock the next. You'll encounter challenges and characters on your journey, seeking answers about what lies behind the destruction, and how to escape it!

Thank you to everyone who played the demo and helped us with the final feedback and motivation to get this game through the end portal! We hope you hit the ground running—literally—and have a great time with Zoe's crew. For any questions, support, or bug reports, please post in the Steam forums or reach out to us at support@landfall.se! Join the official HASTE Discord!

EMTEK has released a new custom GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card in South Korea; fresh retail/e-tail listings have popped up online via the Danawa price comparison engine. Similar circumstances were observed around mid-February for the launch of the brand's GeForce RTX 5080 MIRACLE WHITE D7 16 GB SKU. EMTEK's GB205 "Blackwell" GPU-based offering sports a slightly smaller shroud design; its larger siblings are 2.5-slotters. As noted by VideoCardz, the GeForce RTX 5070 MIRACLE WHITE D7 12 GB model's 329 mm-long triple-fan cooling solution tempers a less potent key component.

EMTEK's brand-new card conforms to NVIDIA's reference specifications, so a relatively slim heatsink seems appropriate for this deployment. A dual BIOS switcher grants access to "Cooling" and "Silent 0-db" modes. Another nearby physical switch can enable/disable the MIRACLE WHITE D7's integrated "Auto ARGB" system. EMTEK's pricier pale-toned offerings—in GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti guises—feature intriguing USB-C connected Windows 11-controlled lighting schemes. The cheapest price for a RTX 5070 MIRACLE WHITE D7 card is 1,030,000 won (~$700 USD) according to Danawa SK aggregation. EMTEK products are only available in South Korea, therefore attract very little Western press coverage. Interestingly, the company also acts as a regional distributor of various PALIT GeForce and Sapphire Radeon graphics cards.

Lightmatter, the leader in photonic supercomputing, today announced Passage M1000, a groundbreaking 3D Photonic Superchip designed for next-generation XPUs and switches. The Passage M1000 enables a record-breaking 114 Tbps total optical bandwidth for the most demanding AI infrastructure applications. At more than 4,000 square millimeters, the M1000 reference platform is a multi-reticle active photonic interposer that enables the world's largest die complexes in a 3D package, providing connectivity to thousands of GPUs in a single domain.

In existing chip designs, interconnects for processors, memory, and I/O chiplets are bandwidth limited because electrical input/output (I/O) connections are restricted to the edges of these chips. The Passage M1000 overcomes this limitation by unleashing electro-optical I/O virtually anywhere on its surface for the die complex stacked on top. Pervasive interposer connectivity is enabled by an extensive and reconfigurable waveguide network that carries high-bandwidth WDM optical signals throughout the M1000. With fully integrated fiber attachment supporting an unprecedented 256 fibers, the M1000 delivers an order of magnitude higher bandwidth in a smaller package size compared to conventional Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) and similar offerings.

Hello, Creators. We have seen concerns in the community about the "short break" mentioned in my recent letter of gratitude to players. To be clear, the inZOI team's "short break" was just two days of vacation. We apologize for causing worry with our vague wording. We are aware of the wide range of feedback and improvement requests you have shared. Additional hotfix patches are scheduled for this week, and we are continuing to monitor feedback and develop builds. We are prioritizing fixing various bugs and issues that disrupt gameplay. But to reassure you about our dedication to making inZOI a better game, we would like to share our future update plans and how we will communicate them.

Short-Term Update Plans
As explained in our online showcase, we originally planned content updates for inZOI about once every two months during Early Access. However, given the spirit of Early Access—completing the game together with you—we intend to quickly apply fixes for reported issues through hotfixes during April. These short-term updates are smaller in scale compared to major updates, but we expect that rolling out content faster and incorporating feedback more promptly will have a more positive effect on your gameplay experience. Additionally, whenever we identify critical issues, we plan to keep addressing them through hotfixes. As mentioned, we want to stay true to our words about not taking advantage of the term "Early Access," and show gratitude to those who purchased the game by continuing to release updates and maintain open communication. We will continue to wait for and welcome your feedback.

NVIDIA and its laptop/notebook manufacturing partners have just about managed a very last minute launch of GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, RTX 5080 Mobile, RTX 5070 Ti Mobile GPU-powered devices at retail. According to the latest reports, yesterday's—March 31—small trickle out of high-end portable "Blackwell" hardware qualified as a launch within the first quarter of 2025. Due to Team Green's GeForce RTX 50 series being affected by ROPs anomalies—across desktop and mobile platforms—involved firms anticipated deliveries being delayed into April. As stated early last month, unnamed industry sources divulged details about official instructions: "manufacturers (must) inspect already-produced notebooks with new mobile GeForce RTX 5000 graphics chips." Going further back in time, supply chain moles predicted that the entire product stack—starting at the top with GeForce RTX 5090 M, going down to RTX 5070 M—would be subject to postponements.

PC gaming hardware watchdogs noticed a very limited supply of GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile-based laptops on "day one," at least in North America. VideoCardz spent some time combing through Newegg listings, after hearing about the Q1 launch via official social media announcements. The likes of ASUS, GIGABYTE, HP, Lenovo, MSI and Razer opened up direct pre-orders on February 25, but yesterday's embargo lift seemed to extend to general retails outlets. VideoCardz noted that the cheapest—at $4299—GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop options were already sold out. MSI's North American store lists an "out of stock" Titan 18 HX Dragon Edition Norse Myth 18-inch model with an eye-watering price tag of $6199.99. Additionally, the publication pointed out the best GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop starting price: $2499.99. GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptops start at $1899.99 on Newegg, but RTX 5070 Mobile-based options seemed to be absent. The online retailer's stock notification system predicts late April or early May replenishments of higher-end stock.

Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB data storage devices, today announced the release of the Aegis Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station, designed to maximize connectivity, efficiency, and security for today's flexible workforce. The new docking station provides seamless device integration and high-speed data transfer, making it an ideal solution for professionals who require reliability and performance in both office and remote environments.

In a recent survey conducted by Apricorn, 54% of respondents primarily operate in a hybrid work environment, with 48% utilizing a hotdesking setup, underscoring the increasing need for technology that supports efficient transitions between remote and office settings. Additionally, nearly 68% of respondents use a docking station daily, highlighting the device's essential role in current workflows. Among the top reasons professionals use or consider using docking stations are connecting multiple monitors (95%), reducing cable clutter (80%), and quickly switching between home and office setups (65%).

Yesterday, at Intel Vision 2025, IBM announced the availability of Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators on IBM Cloud. This offering delivers Intel Gaudi 3 in a public cloud environment for production workloads. Through this collaboration, IBM Cloud aims to help clients more cost-effectively scale and deploy enterprise AI. Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators on IBM Cloud are currently available in Frankfurt (eu-de) and Washington, D.C. (us-east) IBM Cloud regions, with future availability for the Dallas (us-south) IBM Cloud region in Q2 2025.

IBM's AI in Action 2024 report found that 67% of surveyed leaders reported revenue increases of 25% or more due to including AI in business operations. Although AI is demonstrating promising revenue increases, enterprises are also balancing the costs associated with the infrastructure needed to drive performance. By leveraging Intel's Gaudi 3 on IBM Cloud, the two companies are aiming to help clients more cost effectively test, innovate and deploy generative AI solutions. "By bringing Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators to IBM Cloud, we're enabling businesses to help scale generative AI workloads with optimized performance for inferencing and fine-tuning. This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to making AI more accessible and cost-effective for enterprises worldwide," said Saurabh Kulkarni, Vice President, Datacenter AI Strategy and Product Management, Intel.

Jagex is thrilled to announce RuneScape: Dragonwilds, an all-new open world survival crafting game set in the beloved RuneScape franchise. Wishlist RuneScape: Dragonwilds on Steam today to be notified of the game's release, and to be amongst the first to experience this epic new adventure. On RuneScape's forgotten continent of Ashenfall, dragons have awoken. Gather, build, skill and craft to survive in this co-operative survival crafting game. Only by mastering survival and uncovering ancient secrets can you hope to slay the Dragon Queen—alone or with allies.

Wield wild, transformative magic to survive and level up skills to overcome challenges in this brand-new adventure powered by Unreal Engine 5. Explore a stunning, hand-crafted landscape infused with magical energy in an adventure that blends high fantasy with light RPG elements and iconic RuneScape lore. Harness the power of Anima to reshape your experience. Summon spectral axes to fell trees in an instant or channel nature's energy to repair broken armour. Discover RuneScape: Dragonwilds unique progression system to unlock new spells, crafting recipes and abilities, providing adventurers countless ways to interact with the world around them.

Rapidus Corporation today announced that its plans and budget for fiscal year 2025 have been approved by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The approval covers two commissioned projects under NEDO's "Post-5G Information and Communication Systems Infrastructure Enhancement R&D Project / Development of Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (Commissioned)." These projects are the "Research and Development of 2 nm-Generation Semiconductor Integration Technology and short TAT (turnaround time) Manufacturing Technology Based on Japan-U.S. Collaboration" and "Development of Chiplet, Package Design and Manufacturing Technology for 2 nm-Generation Semiconductors."

The first of these projects, focused on front-end processes, was launched in November 2022 as part of Japan's next-generation semiconductor R&D effort. Under this program, Rapidus has continued construction of the Innovative Integration for Manufacturing (IIM) facility in Chitose, Hokkaido, which will serve as its production base. It also sent engineers to IBM in the U.S. to jointly develop 2 nm logic semiconductor mass production technologies and continued to achieve target performance as planned. Furthermore, Rapidus has installed EUV lithography and other production equipment at the IIM facility, and started cleanroom operation. As a result of these efforts, the company achieved its performance targets for FY2024.

NVIDIA's stellar quality control with the $2,000 GeForce RTX 5090 saw quite a few customers end up with cards that had fewer ROPs than they should—168 as opposed to its original spec of 176. The 8 fewer ROPs results in a roughly 5% drop in performance. When you're ponying up over two grand, this is the last thing you want. But what if we told you there are cards out there were more ROPs than they should have? We have with us an ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 LC graphics card that we detected 192 ROPs on. That's right, the card has all the 192 ROPs active that are present in the "GB202" silicon, or two ROP partitions (16 ROPs) more than it should have. We received our ROG Astral RTX 5090 LC sample just a few weeks ago, and haven't had time to thoroughly test it yet, because we're in the middle of a full retest with new games and new drivers.

The ASUS ROG Astral LC is a factory overclocked card, with ASUS giving the card a generous OC to benefit from the liquid cooling solution (2580 MHz boost vs. 2407 MHz reference or +7.1%). To account for that, we tried our best to clock the card back down to reference specs, which is presented as the orange bar. This still isn't the same card as the RTX 5090 Founders Edition, because the superior cooling solution and power limits mean that the GPU enjoys better boost frequency residency, but this is as close as we can get to simulating reference spec. We ran the card through a battery of game tests, which show an average of 8% performance gains over the RTX 5090 Founders Edition.

In a letter to customers, Micron has announced upcoming memory price increases extending through 2025 and 2026, citing persistent supply constraints coupled with accelerating demand across its product portfolio. The manufacturer points to significant demand growth in DRAM, NAND flash, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) segments as key drivers behind the pricing strategy. The memory market is rebounding from a prolonged oversupply cycle that previously depressed revenues industry-wide. Strategic production capacity reductions implemented by major suppliers have contributed to price stabilization and subsequent increases over the past twelve months. This pricing trajectory is expected to continue as data center operators, AI deployments, and consumer electronics manufacturers compete for limited memory allocation.

In communications to channel partners, Micron emphasized AI and HPC requirements as critical factors necessitating the price adjustments. The company has requested detailed forecast submissions from partners to optimize production planning and supply chain stability during the constrained market period. With its pricing announcement, Micron disclosed a $7 billion investment in a Singapore-based HBM assembly facility. The plant will begin operations in 2026 and will focus on HBM3E, HBM4, and HBM4E production—advanced memory technologies essential for next-generation AI accelerators and high-performance computing applications from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and other companies. The price increases could have cascading effects across the AI and GPU sector, potentially raising costs for products ranging from consumer gaming systems to enterprise data infrastructure. We are monitoring how these adjustments will impact hardware refresh cycles and technology adoption rates as manufacturers pass incremental costs to end customers.

The upcoming collaboration project between Microsoft and ASUS is slowly materializing in the form of a handheld gaming console, as recently released promotional material shows. The latest teaser video shows an ASUS ROG Ally and Xbox controller merging into a single unit, becoming an animated character, indicating a hardware partnership that combines Microsoft's software ecosystem with ASUS's portable hardware expertise. Project Kennan, as the device is reportedly codenamed, contradicts earlier Xbox executive statements regarding development timelines. Initial projections suggested the hardware launch within a 2-3 year window, yet current information suggests a potential Q3/Q4 2025 release, with perhaps an announcement in Q2 this year. Following Steam Deck's market success, the accelerated schedule may come from increased competitive pressure in the handheld PC gaming segment.

The device appears to feature a predominantly black chassis, though other specifications remain undisclosed. AMD architecture integration will likely continue the foundation established in both Xbox Series consoles and the ROG Ally platform. This hardware choice would prioritize performance-per-watt efficiency crucial for portable gaming applications. A significant technical decision remains regarding the operating system implementation: whether to deploy standard Windows with Xbox integration or develop a custom Xbox-centric interface layer. This choice will directly impact ecosystem compatibility, application support, and user experience fluidity. Both companies have maintained limited official communication regarding the project, with the teaser video serving as the primary confirmation of their collaboration.

When Microsoft first introduced the Copilot+ program alongside its renewed push for Windows-on-Arm laptops, the AI-powered assistant features were mostly limited to Snapdragon X-powered devices. In addition to the inclusion of these features on Intel and AMD systems, Microsoft is also announcing Voice Access, a new accessibility feature that will first launch on Qualcomm Snapdragon systems and make their way to Intel- and AMD-powered systems. These new updates come by way of the March 27 Preview update titled KB505365. However, there is still no mention of an AMD and Intel launch for the much maligned Recall feature that Microsoft was testing late last year and recalled due to privacy concerns.

According to the latest Windows Experience Blog post, users of AMD- and Intel-powered PCs will now be able to access features, like Live Captions, Cocreator, Restyle Image, and Image Creator more broadly across the line-up of Copilot+ PCs with Intel Core Ultra 200V and AMD Ryzen AI 300 CPUs. Live Captions is officially pitched as an accessibility feature, meanwhile Restyle Image and Image Creator are AI-powered image editing and generation features, and Cocreator lies somewhere in between as a text-to-image tool that is meant to augment drawing in Paint. Cocreator will be rolling out as of the announcement, and Restyle Image and Image Creator will be available in the Photos app on Intel and AMD systems. As for Voice Access, Microsoft claims that it will allow users to be more flexible with their language when using speech to navigate their PCs, as opposed to "learning complex steps, commands and syntax that voice access previously required" for voice navigation on PC. Voice Access will initially be limited to Snapdragon X PCs, but it will roll out to AMD and Intel Copilot+ PCs later this year.