Get ready to elevate your gaming experience and dive into the gripping world of The Last of Us Part II Remastered! MSI is proud to partner with Sony to deliver a visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful journey through one of the most acclaimed titles in gaming history. Launching soon, this exclusive bundle gives gamers a free digital copy of The Last of Us Part II Remastered with the purchase of select MSI monitor products—including MSI's cutting-edge QD-OLED gaming monitors.

Engineered for ultimate immersion, MSI's QD-OLED monitors deliver ultra-rich contrast, true blacks, and vibrant color accuracy, redefining how players experience The Last of Us Part II Remastered. Explore Ellie and Abby's unforgettable story with exceptional clarity and depth. Level Up Your Gaming Monitor with MSI: The MSI x The Last of Us Part II Remastered bundle will be available soon. Stay tuned—more details will be revealed in the coming weeks.

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme 7.65 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Engineer 7.65 software, a professional diagnostic and benchmarking solution for corporate IT technicians and engineers; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business 7.65 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Network Audit 7.65 software, a dedicated network audit toolset to collect and manage corporate network inventories.

The new AIDA64 update introduces Greek localization, support for MSI MEG Ai1600T power supply units, and supports the latest graphics and GPGPU computing technologies by AMD, Intel and NVIDIA.

DOWNLOAD: FinalWire AIDA64 Extreme v7.65

In October of 2025, Microsoft will phase out support for Windows 10. For many users, it's free to upgrade, but the baseline version of Windows 11 is limited in what it can do. If you want a more advanced OS with improved security, a refined user interface, and even improvements for gaming, try Windows 11 Pro. Windows 11 Pro extends beyond the standard Windows 11 feature set, giving you advanced capabilities tailored to professional workloads. BitLocker device encryption, Hyper-V virtualization, and Windows Sandbox now come pre-loaded for secure data management and isolated testing environments.

Snap layouts and virtual desktops streamline multitasking. TPM 2.0 and Smart App Control bolster security with hardware and software-level protection. DirectX 12 Ultimate also improves GPU performance for graphics-intensive tasks like art or even gaming.

It would normally cost $199 to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro, but during this limited-time sale, it's only $14.97. No coupon needed.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solutions innovator, has officially become a Technology Partner of Network Optix. QNAP NAS now seamlessly integrates with the Nx Witness VMS platform, functioning both as a powerful video storage system and a virtualized Nx Witness VMS server—all in one device. This integration enhances system flexibility and security, enabling businesses to strengthen surveillance management without changing existing infrastructure.

"We are excited to partner with Network Optix to offer an all-in-one solution where a single NAS can run Nx Witness VMS and serve as storage," stated Song Cheng-Han, Head of QNAP's Smart Video Products Division, adding "As demands for AI surveillance and high-resolution video grow, QNAP NAS integrated with Nx Witness delivers a scalable, secure, and efficient solution that simplifies deployment across diverse industries such as system integrators, smart retail, and smart cities—meeting both multi-server and high-capacity surveillance needs on a unified NAS platform."

Kioxia Corporation, AIO Core Co., Ltd. and Kyocera Corporation today announced the development of a prototype of a PCIe 5.0-compatible broadband SSD with an optical interface (broadband optical SSD). The three companies will develop technologies for broadband optical SSDs to enhance their suitability for advanced applications that require high-speed transfer of large data, such as generative AI, and will also apply them to proof-of-concept (PoC) tests for future social implementation.

The new prototype achieved functional operation with the high-speed PCIe 5.0 interface, which is twice the bandwidth of the previous PCIe 4.0 generation, through the combination of AIO Core's IOCore optical transceiver and Kyocera's OPTINITY optoelectronic integration module technologies. In next-generation green data centers, by replacing the electrical wiring interface with optical and utilizing broadband optical SSD technology significantly increases the physical distance between the compute and storage devices, while maintaining energy efficiency and high signal quality. It also contributes to the flexibility and efficiency of data center system design, where digital diversification and the evolution of generative AI require complex, high-volume, high-speed data processing.

Beelink has unveiled its latest mini PC, the SEi13 Pro. It runs on an Intel Core i9-13900HK processor and Intel Iris Xe Graphics. This compact computer measuring 135x135x44.7 mm uses a hybrid CPU setup with performance and efficiency cores making it suitable for multitasking. The SEi13 Pro can interact with voice commands due to its built-in mic, which gets a boost from a B1 AI chip. This technology offers smart audio pickup with 360-degree omnidirectional coverage, capable of recognizing human voices within a 5-meter radius while filtering out background noise. The mini PC has two built-in speakers enhanced by DSP and a professional amplifier. The cooling system draws air from the bottom of the unit, allowing for near-silent operation at just 32dB.

On the hardware side, the SEi13 Pro is equipped with 32 GB of LPDDR5 RAM from Micron and includes an SSD from Crucial. Storage expansion is possible through dual SSD slots that support up to 8 TB. A practical dustproof design is implemented with a high-density metal filter at the bottom, preventing dust accumulation. For connectivity, the SEi13 Pro supports triple-display output through HDMI (4K at 60 Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 (4K at 144 Hz), and a rear USB-C port, allowing users to connect multiple monitors simultaneously. The SEi13 Pro with 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD is listed at $539 on Beelink website in two color options, space gray and frost silver.

Zephyr has presented a new Small Form Factor (SFF) graphics card design that houses previous-gen NVIDIA GPU hardware. The Chinese board partner showcased its GeForce RTX 4070-based "Sakura Snow X" via a 1-minute 42-second long teaser video; according to their bilibili channel this compact wonder is: "the world's first mass-produced CNC single-fan graphics card. A small space aesthetic benchmark—a balance of high performance and exquisite size." Zephyr's latest Mini-ITX offering seems to be a more premium—in terms of enclosure materials—alternative to last year's GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB "Sakura Blizzard" model—examples were placed next to each other in the AIB's demonstration video (aluminium versus plastic). This brand-new dual-slot entrant has arrived with a slightly larger cooling solution (see relevant screenshot below), and a fancier 105 mm airflow fan design—outfitted with more blades (11 vs. 9). VideoCardz has observed "Sakura Snow X" first batch listings on an undisclosed Chinese e-tail platform; launch pricing seems to be 4399 RMB (~$602 USD).

Unlike its pink-hued sibling, Zephyr's sober metal design integrates an I/O plate—giving off the impression of a unibody-esque setup. SFF enthusiasts will welcome this truly compact design, albeit with the disadvantage of playing host to old hat "Ada Lovelace" silicon. Throughout early 2025, Team Green and certain manufacturing partners have hyped up various "SFF-Ready" new-gen solutions. Last week, ZOTAC updated its "Blackwell" gaming portfolio with a dual-slot GeForce RTX 5070 Ti SOLID SFF card. This slimmed down triple-fan option is still a lengthy prospect (304.4 mm); thus quickly dismissed as unworthy of its moniker by compact graphics solution connoisseurs. Similarly, GIGABYTE sells 304 mm-long "SFF" variants—launched months ago in WINDFORCE and EAGLE guises.

Hey everyone, The Last of Us Part II Remastered is available now on PC! We're excited to bring Ellie and Abby's acclaimed stories and the roguelike survival mode No Return to a new audience. We invite you to join us on the Steam Community forums to discuss the game and share your feedback. If you run into any issues and require support, please reach out to Nixxes Support. The teams at Nixxes and Naughty Dog are closely monitoring player feedback and working on post-launch updates.

Experience the winner of over 300 Game of the Year awards, now on PC. Discover Ellie and Abby's story with graphical enhancements, gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, and more.[Editor's note: Our in-depth performance review of TLOU Part 2 is now live]

Following last week's jam-packed Switch 2 presentation, Nintendo staffers engaged in conversation with media outlets. To the surprise of many, a high level member of the incoming console's design team was quite comfortable with his name-dropping of NVIDIA graphics technologies. Meanwhile, Team Green was tasked with the disclosing of Switch 2's "internal" workings. Attention has turned to the much anticipated-hybrid console's bundled-in detachable Joy-Cons—in the lead up to official unveilings, online debates swirled around potential next-gen controllers being upgraded with Hall Effect joystick modules. Many owners of first-gen Switch systems have expressed frustration regarding faulty Joy-Cons—eventually, Nintendo was coerced into offering free repairs for customers affected by dreaded "stick drift" issues. Unfortunately, it seems that the House of Mario has not opted to outfit its Gen 2.0 Joy-Cons with popular "anti-drift" tech.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Nate Bihldorff—senior vice president of product development and publishing at Nintendo of America—"outright confirmed the exclusion" of Hall Effect. Up until the publication of Nintendo Life's sit down interview, other company representatives have opined that Switch 2's default control system features very "durable feeling" sticks. When asked about the reason behind "new-gen modules (feeling) so different to the original Switch's analog stick," Bihldorff responded with: "well, the Joy-Con 2's controllers have been designed from the ground up. They're not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good. Did you experience both the Joy-Con and the Pro Controller?" The interviewer confirmed that they had prior experience with both new models. In response, Bihldorff continued: "so, I like both, but that Pro Controller, for some reason the first time I grabbed it, I was like, 'this feels like a GameCube controller.' I was a GameCube guy. Something about it felt so familiar, but the stick on that especially. I tried to spend a lot of time making sure that it was quiet. I don't know if you tried really whacking the stick around, but it really is (quiet)...(The Switch 2 Pro Controller) is one of the quietest controllers I've ever played." Nintendo will likely not discuss the "ins and outs" of its proprietary stick design, but inevitable independent teardowns of commercial hardware could verify the provenance of underlying mechanisms. Nowadays, hardcore game controller snobs prefer third-party solutions that sport Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) joysticks.

Unlock Infinite Possibilities in AV-over-IP with Kiloview X86-64 Compute Card powered by AMD. At Kiloview, we design solutions that empower AV professionals with unmatched flexibility and seamless operation. That's why we created the X86-64 Compute Card for the Cradle Series RF02—bringing the power of a PC into a professional AV server to simplify workflows and maximize expandability. Powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded 8645HS and Radeon 780M GPU, this high-performance computing module allows users to run Kiloview's software ecosystem or any third-party applications—from Multiview, Routing, Recording to Mixing, Switching and production, and more—all on a unified platform. With this, your AV workflow is no longer limited by hardware constraints. With software-defined flexibility and AMD's processing power, we've made AV-over-IP easier than ever.

Modern media workflows demand uncompromising performance. From 4K multi-channel encoding/decoding to ultra-low latency streaming, broadcasters and content creators need solutions with both raw power and flexibility. This is where Kiloview's latest X86-64 Compute Card, advanced by AMD, comes into play. By integrating a high-performance computing architecture from AMD with Kiloview's KiloLink Server Technology, users can significantly enhance overall efficiency for their AV production and device management. The KiloLink Server optimizes the process of IP-based video transmission to remotely bulk upgrade, restore, reset, or restart any paired Kiloview products with just a few clicks.

Last month, PG152 board designs were linked to NVIDIA's rumored lineup of upcoming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, RTX 5060, and RTX 5050 "Blackwell" GPUs. Despite the emergence of fairly legitimate looking "incomplete" technical information, claimed "128-bit memory bus" spec points (for all lower end cards) did not sit well with a portion of the PC gaming hardware community. In theory, Team Green could roll out truly next-generation budget offerings with 192-bit buses, rather than repeat some of its GeForce RTX 4060 "Ada Lovelace" series homework. Two weeks ago, a GeForce RTX 5060 Ti-specific "full specification" leak reiterated the design's (alleged) 128-bit wide GDDR7 memory interface.

Earlier today, VideoCardz unearthed another example—sourced from shipping manifests—of NVIDIA outfitting PG152 boards with a 128-bit memory bus. The "PG152 SKU 25" and "PG152 SKU 10" identifiers seem to confirm the existence of GeForce RTX 5060 and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards (respectively)—the latter design is reportedly due for launch next week. The "wallet friendly" end of Team Green's "Blackwell" GPU spectrum is expected to utilize GDDR7 memory; thus elevating new-gen options above preceding hardware. An advantageous generational leap grants bandwidths of 448.0 GB/s, rather than 288.0 GB/s.

Hey Module Makers, and welcome to a special edition of the Modulus Dev Log! We've got big news: the Modulus demo is officially live! If you've been waiting to dive into our factory automation sandbox, now's the perfect time to jump in, start optimizing, and let those conveyor belts roll. But today, we're not just celebrating the demo launch, we're also taking a look back at how Modulus has evolved throughout development. From early prototypes to the design choices that shaped the demo, we're pulling back the curtain on what it takes to bring a game like this to life. As well as introducing you to some of the team.

Award-winning developer Happy Volcano (You Suck at Parking, The Almost Gone) and publisher Astra Logical are proud to announce the first-ever demo for Modulus, a factory automation game where players build every piece from the ground up with building-block modules. Cut, color, stamp, and assemble these modules to design an impressive factory with your own creative twist. There are no fixed recipes in Modulus. Players produce each construct from the very modules they manufacture, resulting in a highly personalized approach to factory-building. Witness these structures rise and construct in real time, with each block becoming a visible part of the design. The more complex the buildings, the more advanced the modules must become.

Late last month, speculative Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 (aka SM8850) technical details emerged online. Up until then, Digital Chat Station's Weibo channel has delivered all sorts of pre-release information—mostly concentrating on Qualcomm's alleged redeployment of a familiar "2 + 6" core configuration, and selection of TSMC's 3 nm "N3P" node process. Earlier today, the veteran leaker predicted a couple of new-gen improvements—first concentrating on the alleged mobile chipset's "Adreno 840" integrated graphics solution. Digital Chat Station (DCS) believes that the company's engineering team has increased their iGPU design's independent cache size "from 12 MB to 16 MB," leading to: "early setting performance increased by 30%±." It is not clear whether this rumored upgrade has affected the SoC's L2 or L3 cache provisions, but the current-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile processor makes do with 12 MB of L2 cache per cluster. Additionally, DCS reckons that an enlargement of caches has resulted in performance of Qualcomm's "second-generation self-developed CPU architecture" increasing "by 25%±."

As interpreted by Wccftech: "the upcoming SoC will now feature 32 MB of L2 cache, with the L3 count currently unknown at this time. The initial test results revealed that the 'Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2' delivered a 30 percent performance increase, but it is unconfirmed if this delta exists between the Snapdragon 8 Elite or some other silicon." DCS has heard whispers about the upcoming chip supporting "new generations of high-speed LPDDR5X/LPDDR6" memory. The mentioning of LPDDR5X is not surprising; given that the current Snapdragon 8 Elite model is already up to snuff with this spec. Just over a year ago, JEDEC was reportedly working on the finalization of LPDDR6 standards for mobile platforms. Shortly thereafter, smartphone industry watchdogs started to theorize about the arrival of a so-called "Snapdragon 8 Gen 4" chip with LPDDR6 RAM in 2025. Fast-forward to the present day; fresh reports suggest that manufacturers will have the option to outfit next-gen flagship devices with "bog-standard" LPDDR5X or faster/more efficient LPDDR6 memory.

Unleash mayhem today in Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt, which introduces the Huntress - a powerful hybrid melee and ranged spear wielder, new changes to the endgame, and three free cosmetics which can be gained through Twitch Drops! Key highlights of the first major content update include:

• Huntress Class: Agile combat blending melee and ranged attacks with spear techniques and beast companions.
• Five Ascendancies: Customize your playstyle with new paths like the Ritualist's blood sacrifices and the Lich's chaotic powers.
• Expanded Endgame: Revamped mechanics, new Unique Maps, and enhanced Towers for more rewarding late-game content.
• Over 100 New Support Gems: Build diversity expands with innovative skill modifiers like Haemocrystals, Caltrops, and Enormity.
• Unique Items & Crafting: Over 100 Mid and Endgame Unique items, our first Unique Charms, crafting updates, and powerful runes.
• Rogue Exiles: Experience PVP-like combat in dynamic duels and battle against Rogue Exiles, who have Dodge Roll capabilities with smart pathfinding, targeting, and action-packed gameplay. Gain their loot upon defeating them!

Reburn is excited to announce that La Quimera, its narrative-driven first-person-shooter game set in a futuristic Latin American megalopolis, will release on April 25 on PC via Steam. La Quimera will be priced at MSRP $29.99/€29.99. To prepare for the launch, Reburn is hosting a closed beta for 24 hours starting April 12 at 7 a.m. PT/2 p.m. UTC. Fans can request closed beta access on La Quimera's Steam page, though slots are limited. Participants will be able to access a part of a pivotal mid-game mission in solo or co-op play. "Our Reburn team can't wait to finally share our hard work and vision for La Quimera with players on April 25," said Dmytro Lymar, CEO and co-founder of Reburn. "Ahead of our release, we invite players to join us in our closed beta to get an early look at the co-op experience for our vision of Nuevo Caracas and far beyond."

In addition, eager FPS fans can get an extended look at the title's unique blend of sci-fi world building, Latin American mysticism, and tense shooter combat in the first gameplay trailer. The gameplay trailer pulls back the curtain on La Quimera's intriguing blend of exosuit abilities, futuristic weaponry, and robotic enemies standing between the PMC and its objectives. Render enemies vulnerable with a multi-target electric shock, scan for hidden threats, dodge certain death with the exosuit's agility, and more. Even better, La Quimera players can suit up with two additional friends throughout each mission for co-op action, coordinating combat tactics and experiencing the city and jungles of Nuevo Caracas together.

Microids is excited to reveal an all-new trailer for Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening, a thrilling video game adaptation of the iconic animated series produced by TMS, which itself is based on the beloved manga by Buichi Terasawa. Set to launch on August 26, 2025, the game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Developed by the talented studio Magic Pockets, this game will offer players around the world a unique opportunity to relive the thrilling adventures of Cobra by exploring the first 12 episodes of the series, featuring one of its most iconic arcs: the Captain Nelson's treasure.

A past weekend leak has presented five unannounced custom GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics card models, courtesy of a momomo_us discovery. ASUS seems to be readying day one options in TUF Gaming and PRIME guises, configured with pools of 16 GB and 8 GB VRAM. NVIDIA and involved board partners are expected to launch new lower end "Blackwell" GPU products next week. Industry whispers suggest that Team Green will lift its GeForce RTX 5060 Ti review embargo on April 15.

Alleged benchmark results were highlighted last weekend, preceded by speculative price points—suggesting an imminent arrival. momomo_us did not disclose the origin of the mystery ASUS GeForce RTX 5060 Ti model identifiers, but VideoCardz has found various TUF Gaming and PRIME listings on retail and distributor web presences. Their short investigative piece envisions the eventual arrival of GB206 GPU-based budget-friendly DUAL and premium tier ROG Strix cards.

Meta has prepared a leap-forward update for its Llama model series with the v4 release, entering an era of native multimodality within the company's AI models. At the forefront is Llama 4 Scout, a model boasting 17 billion active parameters distributed across 16 experts in a mixture-of-experts (MoE) configuration. With FP4 precision, this model is engineered to run entirely on a single NVIDIA H100 GPU. Scout now supports an industry-leading input context window of up to 10 million tokens, a substantial leap from previous limits like Google's old Gemini 1.5 Pro, which came with 2 million token input content. Llama 4 Scout is built using a hybrid dense and MoE architecture, which selectively activates only a subset of each token's total parameters, optimizing training and inference efficiency. This architecture not only accelerates computation but also reduces associated costs.

Meanwhile, Llama 4 Maverick, another model in the series, also features 17 billion active parameters but incorporates 128 experts, scaling to 400 billion total parameters. Maverick has demonstrated superior performance in coding, image understanding, multilingual processing, and logical reasoning, even outperforming several leading models in its class. Both models embrace native multimodality by integrating text and image data early in the processing pipeline. Utilizing a custom MetaCLIP-based vision encoder, these models can simultaneously process multiple images and text, combining tokens into a single backend processor. This ensures robust visual comprehension and precise object anchoring, powering applications such as detailed image description, visual question-answering, and analysis of temporal image sequences.

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, has announced first-to-market industry leading performance on several MLPerf Inference v5.0 benchmarks, using the 8-GPU. The 4U liquid-cooled and 10U air-cooled systems achieved the best performance in select benchmarks. Supermicro demonstrated more than 3 times the tokens per second (Token/s) generation for Llama2-70B and Llama3.1-405B benchmarks compared to H200 8-GPU systems. "Supermicro remains a leader in the AI industry, as evidenced by the first new benchmarks released by MLCommons in 2025," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "Our building block architecture enables us to be first-to-market with a diverse range of systems optimized for various workloads. We continue to collaborate closely with NVIDIA to fine-tune our systems and secure a leadership position in AI workloads." Learn more about the new MLPerf v5.0 Inference benchmarks here.

Supermicro is the only system vendor publishing record MLPerf inference performance (on select benchmarks) for both the air-cooled and liquid-cooled NVIDIA HGX B200 8-GPU systems. Both air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems were operational before the MLCommons benchmark start date. Supermicro engineers optimized the systems and software to showcase the impressive performance. Within the operating margin, the Supermicro air-cooled B200 system exhibited the same level of performance as the liquid-cooled B200 system. Supermicro has been delivering these systems to customers while we conducted the benchmarks. MLCommons emphasizes that all results be reproducible, that the products are available and that the results can be audited by other MLCommons members. Supermicro engineers optimized the systems and software, as allowed by the MLCommons rules.

Three months ago, AMD unveiled its Ryzen Z2 APU series at CES 2025—purpose made for deployment in next-gen handheld gaming PCs. The officially announced flagship—Ryzen Z2 Extreme "Strix Point," utilizing Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies—was previously alluded to by leakers in late 2024; albeit with some curious claims regarding an "odd 3+5 core configuration." Last week, Hoang Anh Phu (@AnhPhuH) presented an alleged expanded lineup of Ryzen Z2 processors—headlined by a mysterious "Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme" SKU.

PC hardware watchdogs believe that this speculative variant will eventually arrive with an enabled XDNA 2 NPU (a first for the series); likely readied to take on Intel's Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" processor family. MSI's Core Ultra 7 258V-powered Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ handhelds launched not too long ago, boasting all sorts of Microsoft Copilot+ capabilities. Mid-way through March, an Xbox executive introduced "Copilot for Gaming." Team Red and manufacturing partners are likely jumping onto this "AI gaming" bandwagon with the aforementioned "AI Ryzen Z2 Extreme" chip, as well as Phu's fanciful "Ryzen Z2 A" model. The latter could be a spin-off of AMD's vanilla Ryzen Z2 "Hawk Point" design, with a "switched on" XDNA NPU.

ASUS today announced the global unveiling of a signature edition series of its iconic Zenbook at the "Design You Can Feel" exhibition in Milan. This exclusive release transforms the celebrated Zenbook into a narrative of nature's splendor through four distinct, nature-inspired finishes, each a tribute to Earth's dynamic landscapes. At the same time, it reinforces the Zenbook series' legacy of combining high-performance technology with refined, functional aesthetics.

Signature Edition Series: A tribute to nature's elements
In this unique series, each Zenbook is transformed into a narrative piece that echoes the beauty and complexity of nature. Crafted using the revolutionary ASUS Ceraluminum technology—a breakthrough material that merges the strength of aluminium with the durability of ceramic—each signature edition finish is created with a sustainable, one-of-a-kind manufacturing process:

A consortium of over 50 Chinese companies, including names like Huawei, Hisense, and TCL, has unveiled a domestic alternative to HDMI that offers up to 192 Gbps bandwidth and 480 W of power delivery. This new standard, the General Purpose Media Interface (GPMI), supports next-generation multimedia devices, meeting the growing demands of 8K resolution, higher refresh rates, and simplified connectivity. There are two variants available: a smaller Type-C model providing 96 Gbps and 240 W and a larger Type-B model delivering the full 192 Gbps and 480 W. Developed as a third-generation audio and video interface, GPMI addresses the limitations of older standards such as DVI and VGA while vastly outperforming HDMI 2.1's 48 Gbps and DisplayPort 2.1's 80 Gbps in data throughput. Its design enables bidirectional communication, seamlessly transmitting video, audio, data, and power over a single cable.

The standard's architecture includes a primary data link that can be split into various configurations—such as 6+2 or 1+7 channels—to adapt to different usage scenarios. In addition to its high-bandwidth data channels, GPMI features auxiliary links for device management, cable information, and a limited USB 2.0 connection. The Type-C variant, which has received approval from the USB Association, ensures compatibility with the USB-C ecosystem, helping with the integration for smart TVs and other connected devices. Primarily developed for the domestic market, GPMI also aims to reduce China's dependence on Western-controlled standards and licensing regimes.

It's not every day that you turn on a game and realize you can't even describe its genre. Blue Prince—arriving on April 10 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC (Steam), PS+ Game Catalogue and Game Pass—is a beautifully confounding thing. It's part first-person puzzle, part-strategy deckbuilder, part-roguelite, part-narrative mystery box—and yet none of these quite communicate exactly what developer Dogubomb has managed to create here. You play as Simon, who's just inherited a 45-room estate called Mount Holly—or he will inherit it, if he can find its secret, seemingly impossible 46th room. There's also the small matter of Mount Holly being, well, magical. Every day, its floor plan changes, asking you to piece it back together again—making each journey to discover that secret room an entirely new challenge.

If that sounds a bit confusing, that's entirely the point. Blue Prince is remarkably light on traditional tutorials, instead dropping hints and tips in its shifting rooms along the way. Initially, you'll need to throw yourself into the core process of drafting rooms—upon opening each door you come across, you'll draw three possible rooms that could be behind it, drawn from a pool of potentials. Some rooms are rarer than others, while others will only appear in specific place, but almost every one includes something to collect, a puzzle to solve, or a wider effect on your current run.

PC Games Hardware (PCGH) discovered that certain AMD Radeon RX 9070 graphics cards can be flashed with the video BIOS of RX 9070 XT of a comparable board design, to achieve higher clock speeds and power limits. While the flash won't unlock any new shaders—you're still limited to 56 CU or 3,584 stream processors—it gives the RX 9070 increased power limits and clock speeds of the faster SKU. More importantly, the flashed RX 9070 was found to offer significantly improved overclocking headroom, and PCGH was able to tune up performance by 15-20% over stock RX 9070, bringing its performance to match a stock RX 9070 XT, which was confirmed by a set of 3DMark benchmarks.

There are, however, some caveats. The most obvious one is that BIOS flashing is fraught with risks, and unless you have a card with dual-BIOS, you really need to know what you're doing. Secondly, BIOS flashing might only work between two cards that share a common board design. AMD board partners tend to use nearly identical board designs between the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT, at least for the value segment SKUs. And lastly, there is no software tool that can flash Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs yet, the modder used a hardware flashing tool that interfaces with the 8-pin BIOS ROM chip on the card. The flashed card does not display "XT" in the name string.

Update 13:23 UTC: Our resident hardware guru W1zzard has the following explanation for why the card's name does not change. On AMD cards, the revision ID field is used to distinguish between variants of the same GPU. On the RX 9070 Series, the XT models uses "C0" and the non-XT uses "C3." In the past, the AMD BIOS stored the revision ID of the card, and flashing the BIOS would change the value that Windows sees, and thus the model name will change accordingly. With Navi 4x, AMD made a change to their BIOS format, so that the revision ID can no longer be changed, which protects against fake cards, but in this case it means that some properties like power limits, clocks, etc. can swap to values from the BIOS, but all the IDs and unit counts remain fixed.

From April 6-9th, UGREEN, a global leader in consumer electronics and charging technology, is showcasing its innovative NASync series at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. The UGREEN NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro have been the highlights of the display at Booth SL9210 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. These latest UGREEN NASync iDX models revolutionize data management and security for content creators through advanced AI technology, setting a new standard as the world-first AI-powered NAS.

UGREEN NASync is a series of network-attached storage devices tailored for personal, home, or business use. In March 2024, UGREEN launched a 44-day crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the NASync DXP series, successfully raising over $6.6 million achieved No.1 in the NAS category. This remarkable support highlights the strong demand for advanced storage solutions.

Colorful recently teased its new CVN motherboards series based on the AMD X870 chipset, and now the first model, CVN X870 ARK FROZEN V14, has been listed on the Colorful website. This motherboard marks the debut of Colorful's first-generation graphics card quick-release mechanism, featuring an "ON or OFF" switch placed just below the memory slots. Colorful advertises this proprietary design as being "really safe". The CVN X870 ARK FROZEN V14 motherboard features a standard ATX form factor with a striking white PCB and frost-themed heat dissipation armor. It boasts a 14+2+1 phase power supply design with 80 A DrMOS components and dual 8-pin EPS connectors for CPU power. In terms of memory, it has four DDR5 memory slots supporting up to 192 GB (single slot up to 48 GB) and allows up to 8000 MHz overclocked memory modules.

The PCIe configuration includes a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot directly connected to the CPU with metal reinforcement and quick-release support, a full-length PCIe 4.0 x4 slot (which shares lanes with the third M.2 slot), and a PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. For storage, users get two PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slots directly connected to the CPU and one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot via the chipset, which is mutually exclusive with the second PCIe slot. Additionally, the board includes four SATA III 6 Gbps ports. Networking options include a Realtek RTL8126-CG chip offering 5GbE wired connectivity and a MediaTek MT7925 module supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The Realtek ALC1220 CODEC powers audio. The rear I/O provides HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, multiple USB-A ports, a USB-C port with 40 Gbps bandwidth and DP Alt Mode support, a 5GbE RJ45 port, dual Wi-Fi antenna connectors, an S/PDIF out, and five standard audio jacks. According to ITHome, Colorful previously announced that the CVN X870 ARK FROZEN V14 will begin shipping around mid-April, pricing is yet to be revealed.

BOXX Technologies, the leading innovator of high-performance computer workstations, rendering systems, and servers, today announced that it is hosting demonstrations of its APEXX T4 PRO workstation inside BOXX booth #SL10113 at the 2025 NAB Show through April 9th, in Las Vegas, NV. Purpose-built to accelerate VFX, animation, compositing, film editing, and broadcast, the remarkably fast, liquid-cooled, and versatile workstation will be joined by FLEXX, the innovative BOXX data center workstation platform designed for on premise or remote installations.

BOXX APEXX: The Pinnacle of Performance
"APEXX T4 PRO is the media and entertainment workstation that does it all," said BOXX CEO Kirk Schell. "From the blazing fast AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO CPU and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs, to renowned BOXX performance tuning like liquid cooling, this system delivers unrivaled, top-tier performance for all facets of post production, live broadcast, and virtual production."

Whether you're running a Raspberry Pi or charging a laptop, the quality of your power supply makes all the difference. Today, we're excited to introduce our best power supply yet, perfect for either task: the $15 Raspberry Pi 45 W USB-C Power Supply.

Efficient regulation
Every Raspberry Pi single-board computer we've ever sold needs flash storage and a power supply. And not just any flash storage or power supply: buying the cheapest SD card or USB wall wart you can find on Amazon is a guaranteed way to have a bad experience. So over time, we started to regulate the accessories offered by our Approved Resellers. We would test resellers' SD cards, to ensure that they had sufficient random-access performance and were resilient against thousands of unplanned power loss events. Last year, we took this to the next level, launching Raspberry Pi-branded A2-class SD cards and NVMe SSDs, which are now the only storage options promoted alongside our computers.

NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti performance segment graphics card appeared in alleged Furmark online database entries. These reference the card by its device ID, 10DE-2D04. There are three instances of the card in the database, one of which sees the benchmark being run in a remote desktop session, where the card scores 5634 points or 93 FPS on average, but with its core boosting only up to 1238 MHz. The second, more plausible result sees the card score 10242 points or an average of 170 FPS, with its core going up to 2656 MHz. Both these tests are run at 1080p. The third result sees the GPU score 4411 points or 73 FPS, but at 4K Ultra HD resolution—again, plausible given its score with 2656 MHz maximum boost. The second result has Furmark read the card's maximum TDP to be 180 W.

The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti debuts the new "GB206" GPU, which probably has 36 or 40 SM. The RTX 5060 Ti is configured with 36 SM for 4,608 CUDA cores, 144 Tensor cores, 36 RT cores, 144 TMUs, and an unknown number of ROPs (probably 64). The GPU has a 128-bit wide GDDR7 memory interface, and comes with 16 GB and 8 GB memory variants. We gather from these Furmark screenshots that the GPU boosts over 2600 MHz, and it's possible that the memory ticks at 28 Gbps, yielding 448 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The 180 W TDP shown in one of these screenshots means that some if not all custom-design RTX 5060 Ti cards could feature 8-pin PCIe power connectors (150 W from the connector, plus 75 W from the slot). All rumors point to a mid-April launch of the RTX 5060 Ti.

ASUS today announced its participation in the NAB Show 2025. Visitors to the ASUS booth will have the opportunity to experience the future of content creation with live demonstrations of the latest ASUS ProArt offerings. The showcase includes the debut of the ProArt Cinema PQ09 monitor, featuring the largest-ever ASUS microLED display. The ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV and the ProArt CaliContrO MCA02 three-in-one calibrator will also be showcased. Also on show will be the 16-inch ProArt P16, a creative powerhouse laptop equipped with a 50 TOPS NPU, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU. In addition, the NAB Show 2025 will feature the latest installment of the ProArt Masters' Talks series, with renowned creatives sharing their perspectives on current trends.

The ProArt Cinema PQ09 is the latest addition to the ProArt Cinema microLED display lineup. This 162-inch 4K HDR monitor features advanced panel technologies, ultrasmall 0.93 mm pixel pitch, 1200nits peak brightness, high 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and 97% DCI-P3 color gamut. Compared to conventional microLED displays with a 1.2 or 1.5 mm pixel pitch, ProArt Cinema PQ09 delivers smoother and more vibrant visuals, making it the perfect large-screen display for home cinema, broadcasting or other uses.

Blackmagic Design today announced DeckLink IP 100G, a new PCIe Gen 4 card which can capture and playback up to 8 channels of HD and Ultra HD video simultaneously into 2110 IP systems. It also includes 2 x 100G Ethernet QSFP ports for redundancy, or connecting to two separate 100G Ethernet switches, as well as built in cooling. DeckLink IP 100G also supports GPUDirect RDMA for direct memory transfers between DeckLink and GPUs, reducing PCIe bandwidth when processing video on GPUs for a significant reduction in latency. DeckLink IP 100G will be available in July from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$1,795.

DeckLink IP 100G will be displayed on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2025 booth #SL216. DeckLink IP cards are the easiest way to capture and play back video directly into 2110 IP based broadcast systems. They have the same DeckLink features so existing software will just work. DeckLink IP cards support multiple video channels plus each channel can capture and play back at the same time. This means customers can build racks of servers generating broadcast graphics, virtual sets or GPU based AI image processing, all directly integrated into 2110 IP broadcast infrastructure. Customers can even use DaVinci Resolve for 2110 IP based broadcast editing workstations. DeckLink IP features a high speed PCIe connection so it works on the latest Mac Pro, Windows and Linux computers.

Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Cloud Backup 8, a new rack mount media backup solution that allows customers to use inexpensive computer hard drives to back up media files fast. Blackmagic Cloud Backup 8 syncs to Blackmagic Cloud for backing up collaborative projects in DaVinci Resolve. Plus, it features a rack mount design with 8 independent hard disk slots, 4 x 10G Ethernet ports for maximum performance with high capacity hard disks, and an HDMI monitor output that shows storage status. It's perfect for archiving completed projects to low cost storage. Blackmagic Cloud Backup 8 is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$1,495.

Blackmagic Cloud Backup 8 features a rack mount design, making it an ideal choice for installation in a studio alongside other network equipment or even for camera backups in a DIT cart on set. This ensures customers always have a second backup to keep their camera files safe. Customers get 8 independent hard disk slots, with all disks available simultaneously over the network. Plus, there's a built-in 4 port 10G Ethernet switch for exceptionally high performance. There's also an HDMI output to watch a live graphic view of storage operations on a TV or monitor.

Welcome to the first full week of April and this week should be a bit more exciting than last week when it comes to new game releases. In this week's major release, you take command of some isometric WWII commandos. This is followed by an existential dilemma, a folktale from the deep south, some very dark days, being a studio executive and an assault by not so wild animals.

Commandos: Origins / This week's major release / Wednesday 9 April
You have been selected for a mission which will shape the fate of the entire world. Witness the very beginning of the legendary elite WWII force in Commandos: Origins. The long-awaited sequel to the Commandos series brings you right back to the foundation of the real-time tactics genre. And to the days where Jack O'Hara, the Green Beret, and his five companions met to form the infamous unit sent to complete missions which no others would dare to accept. Steam link

NVIDIA late last week committed NVIDIA PhysX SDK and NVIDIA Flow as open-source software under the BSD-3 license. This includes the GPU source code—the specific way PhysX leverages CUDA and GPU compute acceleration, and should make it easier for game developers to understand and implement PhysX, including its various interactive 3D effects such as rigid body dynamics, fluid simulation, and deformable objects. More importantly, a deeper understanding of PhysX makes it possible for modders to develop fallbacks for their older 32-bit game titles that use PhysX to work with newer generations of GPUs, such as the RTX 50-series "Blackwell." It should come especially handy when NVIDIA is trying to push Remix—its first-party initiative to refurbish older games with modern graphics and higher resolution visual assets.

This week, IBM and Tokyo Electron (TEL) announced an extension of their agreement for the joint research and development of advanced semiconductor technologies. The new 5-year agreement will focus on the continued advancement of technology for next-generation semiconductor nodes and architectures to power the age of generative AI. This agreement builds on a more than two-decade partnership between IBM and TEL for joint research and development. Previously, the two companies have achieved several breakthroughs, including the development of a new laser debonding process for producing 300 mm silicon chip wafers for 3D chip stacking technology.

Now, bringing together IBM's expertise in semiconductor process integration and TEL's leading-edge equipment, they will explore technology for smaller nodes and chiplet architectures to achieve the performance and energy efficiency requirements for the future of generative AI. "The work IBM and TEL have done together over the last 20 years has helped to push the semiconductor technology innovation to provide many generations of chip performance and energy efficiency to the semiconductor industry," said Mukesh Khare, GM of IBM Semiconductors and VP of Hybrid Cloud, IBM. "We are thrilled to be continuing our work together at this critical time to accelerate chip innovations that can fuel the era of generative AI."

Quantum Machines (QM), a leading provider of advanced quantum control solutions, today announced its intention to work with NVIDIA at its newly established NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center (NVAQC), unveiled at the GTC global AI conference. The Boston-based center aims to advance quantum computing research with accelerated computing, including integrating quantum processors with AI- supercomputing to overcome significant challenges in the quantum computing space. As quantum computing rapidly evolves, the integration of quantum processors with powerful AI supercomputers becomes increasingly essential. These accelerated quantum supercomputers are pivotal for advancing quantum error correction, device control, and algorithm development.

Quantum Machines joins other quantum computing pioneers, including Quantinuum and QuEra, along with academic partners from Harvard and MIT, in working with NVIDIA at the NVAQC to develop pioneering research. Quantum Machines will work with NVIDIA to integrate its NVIDIA GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips with QM's advanced quantum control technologies, including the OPX1000. This integration will facilitate rapid, high-bandwidth communication between quantum processors and classical supercomputers. QM and NVIDIA thereby lay the essential foundations for quantum error correction and robust quantum algorithm execution. By reducing latency and enhancing processing efficiency, QM and NVIDIA solutions will significantly accelerate practical applications of quantum computing.

Defend Your Empire! And help us shape what comes next! It's finally happening: Roman Triumph is out in Early Access! Five years of solo dev, a mountain of coffee, endless playtests, and a ridiculous number of spreadsheets… and now we're here. Huge thanks to everyone who played the demo, sent feedback, or just cheered us on—you helped shape this game more than you know! To celebrate its launch, the game is available for $24.99 with a 25% discount. That discount won't last forever, and the price will go up once we reach 1.0, so if you've been thinking about it, now's a great time to dive in.

Roman Triumph is a survival city-builder / colony-sim set in Roman times where you must lead your people, build a city from the ground up and fortify it with walls, ballistae, archer towers and other Roman defenses to survive against the hordes of Barbarians, ferocious Hydra, Minotaur, Cerberus, and other mythological beasts. In order for your city to thrive, you must keep your citizens fed, safe, healthy, and happy. Strategically designing your city in this randomly generated world will improve your empire's chances of attracting new citizens, increase your resource and food production efficiency, please your gods, and maximize safety during attacks.

TechPowerUp's W1zzard did not honor the ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Edition graphics card model with any awards—as disclosed in his late January evaluation, a major negative point was highlighted: "no additional power limit increases allowed." The premium-tier ASUS offering managed to top TPU's "Maximum Overclock Comparison" GeForce RTX 5080-class table; comfortably leading the pack with an out-of-the-box (default) 400 W power setting. Reviewers and well-heeled owners—of this $1500+ special quad-fan package—have lamented the apparent lack of extra headroom. Sitting in fifth place was GIGABYTE's RTX 5080 GAMING OC SKU; a card that can support up to 450 W. As reported by VideoCardz earlier today, ASUS has taken onboard aforementioned feedback.

Resultant under-the-hood tinkerings were implemented mid-way through last month. The "ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB GDDR7 OC Edition" support page has welcomed a new downloadable file—authored on March 14—this BIOS update is advertised as being capable of: "increasing the (model's) maximum TGP to 450 W." Additional bragging rights will be granted with this patch; owners can boast about their expensive bits of kit being further enhanced—NVIDIA's reference specification TGP/TDP is 360 W. Thumbs up go to Team ASUS once again—mid-February Astral series updates tweaked noise profiles; not too long after an absorption of launch day criticism.

MangoBoost, a provider of cutting-edge system solutions designed to maximize AI data center efficiency, has set a new industry benchmark with its latest MLPerf Inference v5.0 submission. The company's Mango LLMBoost AI Enterprise MLOps software has demonstrated unparalleled performance on AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs, delivering the highest-ever recorded results for Llama2-70B in the offline inference category. This milestone marks the first-ever multi-node MLPerf inference result on AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs. By harnessing the power of 32 MI300X GPUs across four server nodes, Mango LLMBoost has surpassed all previous MLPerf inference results, including those from competitors using NVIDIA H100 GPUs.

Unmatched Performance and Cost Efficiency
MangoBoost's MLPerf submission demonstrates a 24% performance advantage over the best-published MLPerf result from Juniper Networks utilizing 32 NVIDIA H100 GPUs. Mango LLMBoost achieved 103,182 tokens per second (TPS) in the offline scenario and 93,039 TPS in the server scenario on AMD MI300X GPUs, outperforming the previous best result of 82,749 TPS on NVIDIA H100 GPUs. In addition to superior performance, Mango LLMBoost + MI300X offers significant cost advantages. With AMD MI300X GPUs priced between $15,000 and $17,000—compared to the $32,000-$40,000 cost of NVIDIA H100 GPUs (source: Tom's Hardware—H100 vs. MI300X Pricing)—Mango LLMBoost delivers up to 62% cost savings while maintaining industry-leading inference throughput.

Last week, industry reports pointed to evidence of NVIDIA H20 AI GPU shortages in China—supply chain insiders expressed frustration about limited availability, and alleged price hikes. Days later, local media outlets have disclosed staggering sales figures. Two unnamed sources opine that the likes of Tencent, Alibaba and ByteDance have spent roughly US$16 billion on H20 purchases, across the first three months of 2025. Back in February, Reuters noted an extraordinary surge in orders for: "(Team Green's) H20 model—the most advanced AI processor legally available in China under U.S. export controls—driven by booming demand for Chinese startup DeepSeek's low-cost AI models." The unprecedented rush—to secure precious AI-crunching hardware—was likely motivated by whispers of elevated restrictions; coming from across the Pacific Ocean.

Curiously, local government bodies have allegedly "advised" a stoppage of H20 orders—a recent Financial Times article suggested that this message was directed at the nation's largest AI players (mentioned above). A few industry moles believe that NVIDIA's engineering department is working on another Chinese market exclusive AI chip, although it is not clear whether a new entrant will be designed to conform to recently introduced "not very strict" environmental regulations. Anonymous sources have made noise about an upgraded H20 variant; sporting fancy HBM3E modules.

What is it? What's the formula, the secret ingredient to make a VR game bring pure excitement and adrenaline to the players? How can we make them smile and go "wow" after they take off the headset? For us devs at Something Random working on Harpagun, it all comes down to a few simple elements. Let's take it from the top.

Movement that matters: Speed, control, and immersion
Action games are all about movement. An issue mostly already solved in flat screen games but still problematic in VR. Some forms of locomotion allow for precision but are pretty slow and unresponsive. Others let you zoom around the locations, but can be uncomfortable. Those that are, are limiting or take you out of the illusion of "being there." In Harpagun we needed a system with a clear set of goals: comfort, simplicity, responsiveness, speed and immersion. In a proper arcade game players have to be able to react in a blink of an eye, immediately focus on what's the most important, change their position to avoid danger or get a better shot at an enemy. We managed to achieve that with our "pylon and anchor" system. Players move between sets of points with their eyes anchored to points of interest such as a path forward or center of the combat area. The movement is smooth but fast enough to be comfortable while allowing for total control of the battlefield.

According to Gamespot, Nintendo has cancelled pre-orders of the Switch 2 in the US due to the recently announced tariffs by the US government. The company has issued a statement to the publication that reads "Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." This suggests that the Switch 2 will still reach US shores, but the question is if the pricing will remain as announced.

Besides affecting end customers, this is likely to affect all of Nintendo's US retail partners, since retail chains such as Best Buy, Target and Walmart have been preparing to start accepting pre-orders for the new handheld console on the 9th of April. Nintendo's statement doesn't really give away any details, but it suggests that the company is re-evaluating its MSRP, as Japan was hit with a 24 percent tariff by the US. If the tariff was to be handed straight over to the end consumers, this could mean the Switch 2 will retail for closer to US$560 than the promised US$450, which would make it prohibitively expensive for many potential buyers. Hopefully Nintendo will figure out what it'll do quickly and keep its fanbase update with what it'll do in plenty of time ahead of the launch in June.

Within the past few days, Best Buy updated its product inventory with brand-new CyberPowerPC GamerMaster desktop SKUs, featuring NVIDIA's unannounced GeForce RTX 5060 8 GB graphics card. Earlier today, the ever watchful momomo_us spotted NDA-busting listings on the North American retail chain's webstore. Similar information turned up weeks ago, albeit from a French vendor. At the time of writing, CyberPowerPC's "GMA2600BSTV2" and "GMA2600BST" models are no longer visible/accessible on BestBuy.com.

Thankfully, VideoCardz's investigative article contains preserved screengrabs—their fresh news piece also extends to coverage of Newegg's premature listing of upcoming GeForce RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060-based STORMCRAFT pre-built SIRIUS desktop gaming systems. The online publication has deduced a possible $299 price point for Team Green's lower end GB206 GPU-driven, given fresh rumors of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB and RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB being tagged with speculative guide figures: $499 and $399 (respectively). A guesstimated verdict was reached following their analysis of (now removed) CyberPowerPC and STORMCRAFT product pages, with a comprehensive comparison of leaked system integrator price tags vs. speculative GeForce RTX 5060 Ti guide digits.

If you've been missing the streets of Los Santos, I'm excited to share that Grand Theft Auto V is making its way back to Game Pass on April 15! And for those of us who play on PC, I'm even happier to announce that GTAV Enhanced will be playable with PC Game Pass, and includes the latest features, like Hao's Special Works Vehicles and more. Ultimate, PC, and Standard players—keep an eye on @GamePass and @XboxGamePassPC on April 15 for our favorite "available today" reminder!

GTA Online Features
Everyone playing GTAV Enhanced on PC will have access to new vehicles and modifications, Chameleon Paints, and a bunch more all in Hao's Special Works. When playing GTA Online, you'll need to make sure you and your friends are all playing in the same edition so you can squad up—the good news is that Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Standard players have access to all console and PC editions so you can download to play whatever your friends are on. And PC Game Pass players, both editions are available for you to download and play, even if your friends are on Steam or Epic Games.

Early last month, a source in China leaked very speculative information regarding AMD's—not-yet-official—Radeon RX 9070 GRE model. PC hardware news outlets have just picked up on this low-key prediction—according to rumors, Team Red is readying a cheaper Radeon RX 9070 series SKU. RDNA 4's first "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) card is tipped for launch prior to AMD's officially announced Radeon RX 9060 series—at some point in Q2 2025. The original leaker suggested that Team Red's Radeon RX 9070 GRE would offer a "better price-performance ratio" when compared to the current-generation flagship: Radeon RX 9070 XT. Yesterday, Benchlife.info disclosed fundamental spec points—Navi 48 die, 12 GB VRAM, 192-bit memory bus—likely procured from contacts within the board partner industry. The online publication believes that AMD and involved AIBs will release Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB cards for the Chinese market, in the near future.

Historically, GRE models have always launched as regional exclusives—starting with RDNA 3's Radeon RX 7900 GRE. Upon arrival—in July 2023—Team Red's curious Navi 31 GPU-based offering was linked to a potential global rollout. This milestone goal was achieved, albeit many months later—following various periods of "testing the waters" in smaller European regional markets. Since then, AMD China has pushed out other GRE options—most notably their extremely popular Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and 10 GB cards. Post-internationally available Radeon RX 9070 GRE, nothing else GRE-related has experienced widespread distribution outside of China. Back in February, board partners introduced custom Radeon RX 7650 GRE 8 GB designs, as "step-ups" from already launched Radeon RX 7600 cards. Potentially, AMD could gauge local uptake of the nascent Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB model—with healthy sales figures (in China) paving the way for a wider release.

Are you ready to set sail on an adventure like no other? Following an incredible reception at February's Steam Next Fest and becoming one of the top played demos during the event, Lost Skies, the highly anticipated cooperative open-world survival adventure from Bossa Games, launches into Early Access on April 18th. Whether teaming up with friends or braving the skies alone, get ready to explore an extraordinary universe filled with breathtaking floating islands, rich mysteries, and ever-present dangers high above the clouds.

In Lost Skies, team up with up to five friends to explore four vast, unique floating islands teeming with ancient ruins, intricate puzzles, and hidden secrets. Design and build your own custom skyship that will serve as your home and warship, as you take on colossal enemies in the sky. Master the grappling hook for seamless navigation, harness advanced technology to manipulate gravity, and shape your path through the open skies full of endless possibilities.

ROCKFISH Games has revealed the release date for their upcoming new expansion for EVERSPACE 2, their award-winning space looter-shooter RPG. EVERSPACE 2: Wrath of the Ancients continues the EVERSPACE 2 story, taking space pilots to new explorable star systems filled with fresh challenges and never-seen-before enemies to overcome. The expansion will launch on Steam, GOG, Xbox, and PlayStation May 12, 2025 and will be priced at $29.99 / €29.99 / £24.99 / ¥3900, fully voiced in English and German.

EVERSPACE 2: Wrath of the Ancients adds new post-game and side quest storylines to Cluster 34. Players will discover four new explorable star systems each with multiple locations packed with new enemies, secrets, and puzzles, as well as a new spaceship, introducing a new playstyle through powerful ability combos.

Intel introduced its new brand to the world Tuesday at the Intel Vision 2025 event in Las Vegas. Leading with "That's the power of Intel Inside," Intel leans into the essential role the company—along with its partners and customers—plays in the world while giving a nod to the company's wildly popular "Intel Inside" campaign of the 1990s.

Brett Hannath, chief marketing officer for Intel, says the new brand platform anchors on the idea that "Intel ignites the greatness within"—in every employee, customer, consumer, community, partner. All the while, it allows Intel to reflect on its proud heritage. (The Intel Inside co-marketing campaign launched in 1991 helped Intel become a household name around the globe over the next decade.) More than a marketing initiative, "That's the power of Intel Inside" is an avenue for amplifying Intel's importance in today's world. Intel's leaders plan to leverage the new brand platform to drive differentiation, revenue growth, and equity with customers and partners.

NVIDIA's unannounced GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB and 8 GB models are reportedly due for an official unveiling mid-way through this month; previous reports have suggested an April 16 retail launch. First leaked late last year, the existence of lower end "Blackwell" GPUs was "semi-officially" confirmed by system integrator specification sheets—two days ago, reportage pointed out another example. Inevitably, alleged launch pricing information has come to light as we close in on release time—courtesy of Board Channels; an inside track den of some repute. The "Expert No. 1" account has alluded to fresh Team Green rumors; they reckon that the company's incoming new model pricing will be "relatively aggressive."

Supply chain whispers indicate that NVIDIA will repeat its (previous-gen) MSRP guide policies, due to the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti cards offering "estimated similar performance" to GeForce RTX 4060 Ti options. Speculative guide price points of $499 and $399 are anticipated—according to industry moles—for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB and RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB SKUs (respectively). Expert No. 1 has tracked recent GeForce RTX 4060 Ti price cuts; intimating the clearing out of old-gen stock. Team Green's GeForce RTX 5060 design is reportedly a more distant prospect—slated for arrival next month—so supply chain leakers have not yet picked up on pre-release MSRP info.

Audio-Technica, a leading innovator in transducer technology for over 60 years, is expanding its R-Series line of professional open-back headphones with the introduction of the ATH-R30x Open-Back Reference Headphones. First previewed in January at the NAMM show, they join the ATH-R50x and flagship ATH-R70xa, both of which launched to rave reviews earlier this year. Open-back R-Series headphones provide a natural, spacious sound akin to that produced by a speaker monitor system, ideal for mixing, mastering, and creating in a studio or other private space. ATH-R30x headphones offer the natural R-Series open-back listening experience at an affordable price. Ideally suited for those working in a home studio, or anyone interested in exploring open-back sound, these headphones provide extremely accurate audio reproduction with a spacious soundstage that replicates live performance.

Fully open-back sound relies solely on the performance of the 40 mm drivers, with each diaphragm movement directly translating into sound—ATH-R30x headphones are engineered to eliminate internal resonances and provide extremely quick transient response to deliver an authentic open-air experience with minimal distortion. The spacious soundstage and audio clarity are the result of Audio-Technica transducer design with very little additional tuning or damping. High-efficiency magnets and pure alloy magnetic circuit design reduce distortion and ensure accurate and extended high-frequency response. Acoustically transparent, honeycomb-mesh housings provide a natural and spacious open-back sound.

Following the successful launch of our AMD-powered AI-PC NA10H7, Shuttle is proud to announce the release of two new additions to our compact XPC nano family: NT10H5 and NT10H9. Designed in the same ultra-compact 1-liter chassis, both newcomers offer powerful AI-acceleration and multitasking capabilities - now based on Intel's cutting-edge Core Ultra processors.

Compact Yet Powerful: The New NT10H Series
The NT10H5 and NT10H9 mini-PCs carry the same DNA as the NA10H7, delivering high-performance computing in a nano-sized footprint (132 x 143 x 55 mm). They are equipped with Intel Core Ultra 5-125H and Intel Core Ultra 9-185H processors respectively, featuring integrated Intel Arc graphics and the dedicated Intel AI Boost NPU. These systems reach up to 34 TOPS of AI performance, making them ideal for machine learning, content creation, and real-time data processing in modern business or creative environments.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is thrilled to announce a new high-speed memory overclock DDR5 specification with an ultra-high kit capacity - DDR5-8000 CL44 with 128 GB (64 GB x2) kit capacity. This is the world's first DDR5 memory kit with 64 GB high-capacity modules to reach the extreme overclock level of DDR5-8000, setting a new milestone for high-performance computing, content creation, AI applications, and advanced workstation workloads.

New Era of Overclocking High-Capacity DDR5 64 GB Modules
Engineered for high-capacity overclocked performance, the DDR5-8000 128 GB (64 GB x2) combines ultra-high memory speed with massive memory kit capacity, surpassing the previous module capacity maximum at 48 GB per module. At last, power users and content creators who seek overclock performance memory for capacity-hungry applications will have the ideal DDR5 memory solution. Refer to the validation screenshot below to see DDR5-8000 CL44-58-58 128 GB (64 GB x2) tested on the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX motherboard with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X desktop processor.

CPU-Z's Q1 2025 validation data indicates a new trend in CPU core count preferences among PC users. Eight-core processors now account for 24.7% of all validations, a significant increase of 32.6% compared to previous data. In contrast, six-core processors have declined to 22.5% of validations, down by 6.9%. The higher core count of eight-core CPUs aligns with the increasing demand for multithreaded performance in various computing environments, from professional workstations to high-end gaming systems. Market share figures also reveal adjustments in consumer preferences regarding CPU manufacturers. Intel retains a majority of presence with 56.3% of the market. However, AMD's share has risen notably at 43.7%, representing a 16.6% increase from the previous year.

The shift in market shares suggests that users are increasingly drawn to AMD's offerings, which include competitive eight-core processors. A key contributor to the trend toward eight-core CPUs is the rising popularity of specific models. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, for example, has significantly impacted this new statistic, becoming the most popular CPU according to the CPU-Z validations. This indicates that users are interested in eight-core offerings with 3D V-Cache technology for increased gaming performance. The shift away from six-core configurations, which now represent a smaller portion of the validation data, shows that eight cores are now a sweet spot for many gamers. For multitasking and gaming, it seems like a perfect choice.

While semiconductors are exempt (for now at least) from Trump's tariffs, other components going into our PCs are not. According to Tom's Hardware, which spoke to multiple system integrators, tariffs are about to hike PC costs by at least 20%, with system integrators hurt the most. The tariff package imposes a 54% rate on Chinese goods, 34% on top of earlier tariffs, and significant duties on Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam products. These countries supply essential PC components such as SSDs, RAM, cases, and graphics cards. Wallace Santos, CEO of Maingear, highlighted the immediate effects on production: "Tariffs have a direct impact on our cost structure… which we have to pass down to our customers." He further explained that some suppliers have halted production in China, leading to scarcity and escalating costs. Santos estimates that prices for his PCs will rise "20 to 25% as a result of the tariffs."

Other company leaders express concern over the limited alternatives available. Kelt Reeves, CEO of Falcon Northwest, stated, "Sadly the overwhelming majority of PC component manufacturing is not done in the US and never has been. There's no US alternative supplier for most PC parts." Reeves added that even US-based system integrators are "facing skyrocketing costs" due to the tariffs, which are set to worsen an already challenging market situation caused by ongoing GPU shortages. Jon Bach, CEO of Puget Systems, shared his perspective in a recent blog post, noting that his company might absorb some costs to minimize consumer price increases. However, even before the latest tariff updates, Bach predicted a price rise of "20 to 45 percent by June." Critics of the tariffs warn of broader economic issues. Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, condemned the policy as "massive tax hikes on Americans that will drive inflation, kill jobs on Main Street, and may cause a recession for the US economy." With these tariffs taking effect, the PC industry faces a period of adjustment marked by increased costs and significant supply chain challenges.