Yesterday, the ASUS Chinese office announced a special event—on February 25—dedicated to launching a next-gen AMD APU-powered premium notebook model: "ROG Magic X (or Illusion X) is the first to be equipped with the Ryzen AI MAX+ three-in-one chip, which can efficiently coordinate multiple modes, provide combat power and computing power on demand, and can handle e-sports, creation and AI with one chip!" The manufacturer's Weibo post has generated plenty of buzz; industry insiders reckon that reviews could be published today (February 18)—HXL/9550pro informed VideoCardz with a not so cryptic message: "STX-Halo NDA: Feb 18th 2025."

Western press outlets point out that the ROG Magic X is a local variant of the familiar ROG Flow Z13 design; a 2025 refresh brings in AMD's much anticipated "Strix Halo" APU design. Team Red-authored marketing material and pre-release evaluation leaks have hinted about impressive integrated graphics solution performance; equalling or even exceeding that of previous-gen dGPUs. Well-known North American hardware review outlets have dropped hints (NDA permitting) about AMD's Ryzen Al Max+ 395 and Max 390 processors. Hardware Canucks could barely contain their excitement regarding the potent Zen 4 and RDNA 3.5 combo package; to the point of wish listing a potential direct successor: "Strix Halo is one of the most exciting things launched into the PC space in the last half decade. Full stop...AMD can't keep this as a one-off. If it's followed up with Zen 6 and RDNA 4 next year...watch out." Naturally, Team Red's cutting-edge mobile CPU technology is arriving in devices with high asking prices. The aforementioned ROG Flow Z13 2025 model—configured with top specs—is priced at $2699. Notebookcheck reckons that ASUS has tacked on an extra $500, since an announcement of initial pricing at CES 2025.

ASUS has released version one of a BIOS update tool for its ultra-premium air-cooled ROG Astral graphics cards, OC and standard flavors. Yesterday's update advertises an improved "Quiet Mode," that implements a "more silent fan curve." TechPowerUp reviewed the quad-fan configured ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 OC Edition cards late last month. Resident GPU evaluator, W1zzard, awarded the astronomically-priced flagship model with an "Editor's Choice" badge, but simultaneously pinned on a "But Expensive" honor. The lesser (GB203-based) Astral did not receive any accolades. Both models have courted criticism for louder than expected operation; W1zzard did not enjoy listening to the Astral GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition's collective fan concerto. "Out of the box" settings were not great, and the quiet BIOS mode did not "help much" in reducing the highest-end Astral's cacophony.

TPU's GPU guru elaborated further: "the second BIOS runs a more relaxed fan curve, but it's not much quieter and achieves 36.5 dBA with 70°C. Sure, good temperature, but isn't the point of a 'quiet' BIOS that isn't quiet, even if temperatures are higher? MSI's Suprim lineup does much better noise-wise, with temperatures that aren't that much higher." The ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC Edition seems to be a less noisy prospect, given that its cooling solution is not dealing with the largest "Blackwell" GPU die. Its sound signature was less offensive, but W1zzard reckoned that there was room for improvement. On this subject he stated: "with the default (performance) BIOS, temperatures are extremely low, but noise levels are a little bit on the high side with 36 dBA. I would have preferred a more balanced setting. Good thing that ASUS includes a secondary quiet BIOS with their card. Now the card runs whisper quiet, emitting only 26 dBA, which is highly impressive for a card in this performance segment. It is not the quietest card though, the MSI Suprim SOC is a tiny bit quieter, and it is so out of the box, without requiring a manual BIOS switch change." ASUS has seemingly absorbed initial feedback from review outlets (plus early adopters)—yesterday's update arrived just under two weeks from launch time. Watch out for possible upcoming reassessments.

Earlier today, NVIDIA happily declared that: "GeForce RTX 50-series laptop pre-orders start February 25 from OEMs." A March launch window was mentioned during the company's official unveiling of its "Blackwell" GPU architecture at CES 2025. Mobile variants of the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti are expected to ship with laptops next month. GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile-equipped devices are due in April. As reported by VideoCardz, a Finnish retailer's webstore has confirmed the February 25 pre-order start date. The Gigantti.fi site lists several new ASUS ROG Zephyrus and Strix laptops; configured with the latest Intel Core Ultra 200HX or AMD "Strix Point/Fire Range" mobile APUs, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series discrete graphics solutions. The most expensive option is listed with a €5499 price point—interested buyers are looking at a spec that includes a 16-inch OLED screen, Core Ultra 9-285H processor, 32 GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD, and a GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB mobile GPU. At the time of writing, Gigantti's "cheapest" option is a €2999 ROG Strix 16 model; sporting a Ryzen 9 9955HX APU and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 12 GB Mobile GPU.

NVIDIA disclosed official MSRPs during last month's CES presentation: $2199 for RTX 5090, $2199 for RTX 5080, $1599 for RTX 5070 Ti, and $1299 for the RTX 5070. Western press outlets have scouted North American online retail outlets. Tom's Hardware observed (ASUS and HP) price ranges starting at $1800. The most expensive offering came in at $4200; an ultra high-end ROG Strix Scar 18 laptop featuring a GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile GPU and an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. Team Green's upcoming launch partners include Acer, ASUS, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, Mechrevo, MSI and Razer. NVIDIA seems to have extra GeForce RTX 50-series announcements in the pipeline—they recommend that potential buyers: "stay tuned for more details!"

The next generation of graphics performance has arrived. We've prepared an all-new series of cards: ROG Astral. Featuring a new, sophisticated design and an outstanding cooling solution, the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 and ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 are your premium picks for supercharging the performance of your gaming PC. All this new hardware in the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 requires no small amount of power so that it can stretch its legs and run. Your PSU should be capable of at least 1000 W to run this card—more on that later. The circuitry that delivers this power is just as important, and it's one reason why many enthusiasts prefer ROG graphics cards. We've equipped the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 for premium power delivery with 80-amp MOSFETs that can supply over 35% more headroom than standard designs. A massive 24-phase VRM array for the GPU and a seven-phase VRM for the GDDR7 memory chips distribute the work of supplying power, ensuring rock-solid stability and long-lasting performance. To give you peace of mind that your 16-pin PCIe power connector is seated properly, we provide monitoring through Power Detector+ in the GPU Tweak III app so that you can verify that the connector is fully seated. The app can even tell you exactly which pin is not seated properly, if that ever becomes a concern.

Ada, meet Blackwell
With the GeForce RTX 50 Series, NVIDIA debuts its latest Blackwell architecture. Armed with fifth-gen Tensor cores, new streaming multiprocessors optimized for neural shaders, and fourth-gen Ray Tracing cores built for Mega Geometry, the new graphics cards unlock access to the next generation of graphics technologies. For many gamers, the highlight of the new architecture is DLSS 4. DLSS is a revolutionary suite of neural rendering technologies that uses AI to boost FPS, reduce latency, and improve image quality. The latest breakthrough, DLSS 4, brings new Multi Frame Generation and enhanced Ray Reconstruction and Super Resolution. But there's more. NVIDIA Reflex 2 with Frame Warp provides game-winning responsiveness, and these cards are equipped to give you the best experience with ray-traced graphics yet.

ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 was reviewed by us at launch, where we remarked that it is the most expensive custom-design, with a launch price of $2,800 against the NVIDIA baseline of $2,000 (a 40% premium). The card is further marked up by retailers, and is going for nearly $3,000. While this is going on, ASUS released its first halo variant, the ROG Astral RTX 5090 OC Dhahab Edition. Probably targeting the MENA (Middle-East and North Africa) markets, the Dhahab Edition is a luxurious collector's edition item that's finished in gold. Dhahab is Arabic for gold, and you can see elements of this across the cooler shroud, backplate, and the GPU retention bracket. Even the heatsink underneath has gold color. We don't know the exact material of this card—whether it is a gold-like polish, or gold electroplated.

Contrasting all this gold is a turquoise-like stone embellishment that refracts light in a blue-green tone, just like the actual stone. There are several other cultural elements to this design, including Arabic calligraphy, and motifs representing "strength, courage, and unity." The gold backplate even has machined regional motifs representing the desert, and skyscrapers. Given that the regular ROG Astral RTX 5090 OC is already at around $3,000 on the streets, sky is the limit for what ASUS could ask for this collector's item.

As smartphone SoCs continue to get more powerful every single cycle, there seems to be a plethora of gaming-oriented smartphones entering the market. The pricey ASUS ROG Phone 9 lineup is perhaps the most well known in this regard, powered by the impressively potent Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. However, the smartphone is well outside most people's budgets, and ASUS seems to have taken note of that. The company has now unveiled a more affordable version, dubbed the ROG Phone 9 FE. However, the smartphone is only available in Thailand for now, commanding a price tag of $890.

On paper, it appears that the only difference between the ROG Phone 9, and the 9 FE is the chipset. While the pricier sibling utilizes the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, the FE has to make do with the substantially inferior Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Apart from that, the ROG Phone 9 FE is almost identical to the vanilla Phone 9, sporting 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory, 256 GB storage, a 50 MP primary shooter, 13 MP wide-angle shooter, and a 5 MP macro camera. At the front, a 32 MP selfie camera sits above the 6.78-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 and a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz. In synthetic benchmarks, the Snapdragon 8 Elite leads the 8 Gen 3 by around 25-30% in CPU tests, and around 30-35% in GPU benchmarks, although it does consume more power, which is to be expected.

G.Skill International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is announcing the release of high-speed, low-latency DDR5-6800 CL32 memory specification with large kit capacity of up to 96 GB (2x 48 GB), as well as DDR5-6400 CL28 32 GB (2x 16 GB) high-performance memory specification. These new memory specifications will be available under the G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal, Trident Z5 RGB, and Ripjaws M5 RGB series, with Intel XMP 3.0 memory overclock profile support.

As G.SKILL continues to push memory performance to higher limits, an ideal memory solution for overclocking enthusiasts who are looking for both large capacity and high performance is born at DDR5-6800 CL32-42-42 at up to 96 GB (2x 48 GB). This new specification has been validated on both Intel Z790 and Z890 platforms. Please refer to the screenshots below for Memtest validation on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero motherboard with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K desktop processor, and the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero motherboard with the Intel Core i9-14900K desktop processor.

AMD has just published its "How to Sell" Ryzen AI MAX series guide—several news outlets have pored over the "claimed" gaming performance charts contained within this two-page document. Team Red appears to be in a boastful mood—their 1080p benchmark results reveal compelling numbers, as produced by their flagship Zen 5 "Strix Halo" processor (baseline 55 W TDP). According to Team Red's marketing guidelines, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU: "competes with a GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile GPU at similar TDP and form factor." The first-party produced comparison points to their Radeon 8060S integrated graphics solution being up to 68% faster—in modern gaming environments at 1080p settings—than the competing Team Green dedicated laptop-oriented GPU, limited to 65 W TGP due to form factor restrictions. Overall, the AMD test unit does better by 23.2% on average (referring to Wccftech's calculations).

According to the document, AMD's reference system was lined up against an ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (2023) gaming laptop specced with an Intel Core i9-13900H processor, and a GeForce RTX 4070 mobile graphics card. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395's "massive iGPU" can unleash the full force of forty RDNA 3.5 compute units, paired with up to 96 GB of unified on-board memory (from a total pool of 128 GB). Non-gaming benchmarks place the flagship Team Red processor above Intel Core Ultra 9 288V and Apple M4 Pro (12-core) CPUs—as always, it is best to wait for verification from independent evaluators. Saying that, the "Strix Halo" APU family has generated a lot of excitement—even going back to early leaks—and the latest marketed performance could drum up further interest.

Yes, the title is correct. One of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090D "China" edition GPUs, not the regular RTX 5090, managed to run at 3.4 GHz under liquid nitrogen. With a staggering 575 W default TDP, Tony Yu, ASUS China's general manager, has performed physical modifications that allow the card to run up to 1000 W TDP. The RTX 5090D is a China-exclusive variant with virtually no difference from the regular RTX 5090, just limited general AI capability due to US export regulations. ASUS China used its top-end Astral OC variant for this stunt, which, as we proved in our review of the regular ASUS RTX 5090 Astral OC, has some pretty good chip binning, allowing the card to reach the highest overclock. We pushed the regular RTX 5090 Astral OC GPU on air to 3086 MHz, a +277 MHz over the stock boost setting. However, the RTX 5090D equivalent under LN2 manages to reach 3,390 MHz at peak loads, which is a +581 MHz difference.

For memory, the overclock is equally impressive with 34 Gbps. Regarding performance, the LN2-overclocked RTX 5090D surpassed stock performance by approximately 16%. During benchmark tests, the GPU outperformed multiple previous-generation graphics cards, including a dual RTX 3090 Ti configuration in Port Royal and a quad GTX 1080 Ti setup in Fire Strike. Power consumption figures indicate that 1,760 W was used in total for a rig with ASUS ROG Astral RTX 5090D, which is paired with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on the ASUS ROG X870E Hero motherboard. This roughly yields a 1,000 W power consumption by the card, which has seen its PCB get physical modifications to output such high power.

Although it wasn't present at the CES 2025 when we were around, ASUS has officially announced the new ASUS ROG NUC, pairing it up with Core Ultra 200HX CPUs and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU. According to ASUS, the new ROG NUC will also get an upgraded cooling system, a better "easy-to-upgrade" toolless chassis system, and a slightly different design, all packed in a 282.4x187.7x56.5 mm (bottom: 146 mm) 3L chassis.

As far as the CPU goes, the ROG NUC will get a Core Ultra 9 Series 2 ARL-HX CPU, although it is possible that we will see an SKU with Core Ultra 7 200HX CPU as well. The GPU is NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory, and it supports up to 96 GB of DDR5-6400 memory in two SO-DIMM slots. It supports up to 2 TB of SSD storage in M.2 slot, and comes with one Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, a couple of USB 3.2 10 Gbps Type-A and one USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port, two DisplayPort 2.1 and two HDMI 2.1 outputs.

Alphacool has unveiled new waterblocks for NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards at CES 2025. The company has redesigned its Core GPU waterblock series with updated component spacing and flow characteristics, developed through fluid dynamics simulations and practical testing. A change from previous water blocks for RTX 40 series includes the switch to chrome-plated copper cooling surfaces instead of nickel plating, which offers improved durability and surface finish. The waterblocks retain brass fittings and feature a Core emblem above the jetplate. The waterblocks will support cards from major manufacturers including ASUS, MSI, Palit, Gainward, and Inno3D. Specifically, compatibility extends to ASUS ROG Strix and TUF Gaming models, as well as MSI Suprim and Gaming variants. Both RTX 5090 and 5080 Core waterblocks are priced at €199.98.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd, the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, in cooperation with the ASUS ROG team, is showcasing multiple overclock achievements on the newly announced ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard, including a high memory speed of DDR5-10600 and another operating at DDR5-6800 CL28 in 1:1 mode, both under Memtest stress-test. Additionally, G.SKILL DDR5 memory is used by ASUS in-house overclocker, Safedisk, to break several overclock records with the latest AMD Ryzen 9 9950X desktop processor.

Exploring OC Limits at DDR5-10600 2x24 GB
Aiming to explore the limits of memory overclock potential of the new motherboard, Safedisk challenged the fastest possible dual-channel memory speed with Memtest stress-test running. The screenshot below shows a 48 GB (2x24GB) memory kit operating at DDR5-10600 with the ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard and AMD Ryzen 5 8500G desktop processor, completing the Memtest stress-test with CPU and memory under water chiller cooling.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today unveiled a groundbreaking lineup of gaming technology at its Unlock the ROG Lab: For Those Who Dare virtual event for CES 2025. Embracing the spirit of ROG Lab, where innovation breaks new ground, this year's collection redefines what's possible in gaming. Featuring cutting-edge graphics cards, gaming laptops, mini PCs, desktops, monitors, routers, and external GPUs, each product is meticulously crafted to unlock every gamer's full potential, pushing the boundaries of power and performance like never before.

Leading the charge was the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 50 Series, a brand-new line of high-end graphics cards inspired by the limitless expanse of the cosmos. Designed for elite gaming, these cards took center stage by demonstrating new heights of graphics performance with their exceptional cooling, stability, and power. The newly launched products include the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080, the ROG Astral LC GeForce RTX 5090, and the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and 5070 from the expanded ROG Strix portfolio.

AMD at the 2025 International CES debuted the Ryzen AI Max 300 series of mobile processors. These chips are designed to go up against the Apple M4 Pro, or the chip that powers the Apple MacBook Pro. The idea behind it is to provide leadership CPU and graphics performance from a single package, minimizing the PCB footprint from having a discrete GPU. In stark contrast, the Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake," is designed more to go against the Apple M4, or the chips that power the latest MacBook Air but not quite the MacBook Pro. What sets "Strix Halo" functionally apart from "Lunar Lake" or even the M4 Pro, is that the AMD chip doesn't have memory-on-package (MoP), it relies on discrete LPDDR5X memory chips.

The "Strix Halo" processor is "Fire Range" on steroids. There are one or two "Zen 5" CCDs, for up to a 16-core/32-thread core configuration. Each of these "Zen 5" cores are unlike the ones on "Strix Point," in that they feature a fully unlocked AVX512 hardware pipeline (512-bit FP). The CCD shares a lavish 32 MB of L3 cache among 8 "Zen 5" cores. This is hardly the star attraction. Unlike "Fire Range," which features the small 6 nm client I/O die from "Granite Ridge," The new "Strix Halo" features a massive SoC die built on the 5 nm EUV foundry node. This packs the star attraction of the processor, it's oversized iGPU that has a massive 40 compute units (2,560 stream processors).

The ASUS ROG Apex brand extension is reserved for motherboards with the best CPU and memory overclocking capabilities. Since Intel processors tended to overclock better than AMD, Apex remained confined to the Intel platform, until now. ASUS at CES showed off the ROG Crosshair X870E Apex, the first AMD platform motherboard to feature this brand extension. The board features a powerful CPU VRM solution meant for sub-zero overclocking of Ryzen 9000X3D processors that are fully capable of overclocking. It also comes with a 1 DIMM-per-channel memory topology, with just two DDR5 DIMM slots. 1DPC is the most optimal dual-channel topology for memory overclocking.

The topmost M.2 Gen 5 NVMe slot features an elaborate fan-heatsink solution. Right next to the two DDR5 DIMM slots, is a breakout DIMM.2 module that provides additional M.2 NVMe slots. There are a couple of more Gen 4 NVMe slots scattered across the board. The board features an I/O feature-set that's at least as good as the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero. The board draws power from two 8-pin EPS, a 24-pin ATX, and an additional 8-pin PCIe power input. The board is packed to the gills with features professional overclockers would look for, including onboard buttons, diagnostic readouts, a hydrophobic PCB surface treatment, dual-BIOS, and clearly labelled voltage domains.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced a pair of 27-inch OLED gaming monitors—the Swift OLED PG27UCDM and Strix OLED XG27AQDPG. Both monitors feature the latest fourth-generation ROG QD-OLED technology for exceptional visuals and infinite contrast, as well as the latest ROG OLED Anti-Flicker 2.0 technology to further minimize onscreen flicker during intense gaming.

The PG27UCDM is the world's first 27-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor with a superfast 240 Hz refresh rate and a pixel density of 160ppi for sharper images and clearer text compared to previous generation panels. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 formats, all selectable via the OSD menu. The monitor offers extensive connectivity options including DisplayPort 2.1a UHBR20, HDMI 2.1, USB-C with 90-watt Power Delivery, and a USB hub. For user convenience, the ROG DisplayWidget Center offers quick access to monitor settings as well as OLED Care Pro features.

It is barely a surprise that the desktop RTX 50X0-series cards will be accompanied by laptop variants soon after their launch. And as such, multiple listings of upcoming gaming laptops have appeared on the internet. The information is rather intriguing, to say the least. The leaked listings indicate that both AMD and Intel will have products ready to join forces with Blackwell, with Intel's Arrow Lake-HX and, rather shockingly, Ryzen 7000HX-series from Team Red - much to the chagrin of those expecting Ryzen 9000HX to drop sooner. The listings also reveal some other specifications, such as the display, but there is nothing notable there - it's the typical spread of mini LED and OLED panels.

Among the leaked laptops, we have the ROG Strix Scar 18, which will pack up to a Core Ultra 9 285HX "Arrow Lake-HX" CPU, along with either an RTX 5080, or an RTX 5090 GPU. Disappointingly, it appears that the RTX 5090 will be limited to only 16 GB of VRAM, which is half that of its desktop counterpart. The RTX 5080 will also be available with 16 GB of VRAM, which certainly makes us sigh in relief. A lower-tier laptop, namely the Strix 16, has also been leaked, packing either an RTX 5070 Ti, or an RTX 5060 GPU with 12 GB and 8 GB of VRAM respectively. The laptops further down will also have the entry-level RTX 5050, with 8 GB of VRAM as well. Of course, all of this is on the new GDDR7 spec. The full-resolution image of the leaked listings can be found here.

Just recently, we covered a juicy new leak regarding the Geekbench performance of the upcoming Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU. It is no secret that AMD plans on launching the Strix Halo lineup at CES 2025, which happens to be less than a month away. Unsurprisingly, leaked listings of upcoming laptops and other products have been steadily popping up on the internet, with the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 being the rumor mill's latest victim.

As revealed by the product listings by retailers, the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 will indeed pack some truly impressive specifications. Needless to say, the product will feature a variant with the highest-end Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU with 16 cores and 32 threads, along with an RDNA 3.5-based iGPU with 40 CUs, likely named the Radeon 8060S, which is expected to match mid-range discrete graphics in performance. A slightly lower-tier variant is also listed, with a 12-core Ryzen AI Max 390 APU.

The gaming performance of Intel's latest Core Ultra 200-series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors missed the mark by quite a bit, ending up slower than the 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors. Adding pressure to Intel is AMD's recent launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which extends the company's leadership in gaming performance, ending up to 12% faster than the top Core Ultra 9 285K at gaming (1080p). The company then announced that it has identified possible reasons why gaming performance of "Arrow Lake" ended up below expectations, and that it's working on a microcode-level update to the processor.

A discussion in the ASUS ROG Forums sheds light on what this microcode update could be. Allegedly, it's called the Intel 0x114 Microcode Update, and you can expect it soon in a beta UEFI firmware update from ASUS and other motherboard vendors, which makes it possible that we see a public release of the microcode either by yearend, or in Q1-2025. There's still no word on the extent of gaming performance gain from this microcode, but if we were to speculate, Intel wouldn't bother with such an update if it didn't at least bring "Arrow Lake" to the same gaming performance level as "Raptor Lake," if not higher.

Microsoft has long been rumored to be working on a gaming handheld to compete with the likes of Valve's Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, but all we've had to go on until now is unfounded rumors and leaks. Now, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming, has confirmed that the software giant is actively working on a Steam Deck challenger, although details are scant, and the timeline is unclear at best.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Spencer confirmed that Microsoft is working on an Xbox handheld, although he was very careful to not overpromise or provide any firm release dates, going so far as to confirm that an Xbox handheld is still years away from release. Spencer reiterated in the review that Microsoft was still looking to grow its presence in the gaming industry, which is one of the company's motivations for getting into the gaming handheld market, in the first place. He also confirmed that Microsoft will be pursuing further mergers and acquisitions in the future as part of its gaming push—a move that might not be looked upon favorably by many gamers and regulatory bodies.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, in collaboration with ASUS ROG, has set a new overclocking world record for DDR5 memory frequency, reaching an unprecedented DDR5-12112. This DDR5 memory frequency world record is submitted by ASUS ROG extreme overclocker Safedisk, using G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 memory, ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard, and Intel Core Ultra 9 285K desktop processor under LN2 extreme cooling.

The record-breaking achievement of DDR5-12112 demonstrates the exceptional memory overclocking performance of the latest Intel Core Ultra 200 K-series desktop processors, Z890 motherboards, and G.SKILL DDR5 memory. The overclock record has been submitted to HWBOT and CPU-Z. Refer to the following links and screenshot to see the record submission: HWBOT | CPU-Z Validation.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is excited to announce the launch of Trident Z5 CK and Trident Z5 CK RGB series extreme overclock DDR5 CU-DIMM memory, featuring a built-in clock driver (CKD) and available up to a blistering overclock speed of DDR5-9600. Designed for use with the latest Intel Core Ultra 200 K-series desktop processors and Intel Z890 chipset motherboards, the Trident Z5 CK and Trident Z5 CK RGB series comes with mirrored black finish heatspreaders and pushes the boundaries of memory overclock to new heights. The Trident Z5 CK and Trident Z5 CK RGB series DDR5-9600 memory kits are currently listed on Newegg.com.

DDR5 CU-DIMM - The New Generation of DDR5 Memory
The Trident Z5 CK and Trident Z5 CK RGB series is built on the new CU-DIMM standard, which introduces a built-in clock driver (CKD) chip on the memory module. Designed to strengthen signals between the CPU and memory IC chips, the CKD helps in improving stability in high-speed memory operations.

Valve has rolled out a significant system update for Steam Deck, introducing substantial improvements across all models while delivering specialized enhancements for the OLED variant. The v3.6.19 update focuses on system stability, display quality, and overall performance optimization. Steam Deck OLED owners will particularly benefit from this update, which includes several display-specific improvements, including better color balance at low brightness levels and enhanced display uniformity. A previous memory leak issue affecting OLED units during gameplay has also been resolved, ensuring more stable long-term gaming sessions. The update brings the Linux kernel to version 6.5 and updates the graphics driver to Mesa 24.1, improving system performance and hardware compatibility. Users can expect better responsiveness from the Steam UI and enhanced performance during memory-intensive situations.

External display support has seen notable improvements, with fixes for various blank screen issues and better frame pacing with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) displays. Bluetooth connectivity has also been enhanced, with improved pairing for Apple AirPods and support for additional Bluetooth profiles. The Steam Deck Docking Station also receives attention, with new HDMI CEC features allowing for TV remote input, wake-up functionality, and input switching. The dock's firmware has been updated to improve compatibility with high-refresh-rate VRR displays. LCD model owners haven't been forgotten, with the update promising up to 10% better battery life during light usage and the addition of overclocking controls. Security improvements include fixes for Flatpak vulnerabilities and various system-level security enhancements.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today released a significant update to its bundled Virtual Assistant software (formerly known as Virtual Pet). This new software package comes preinstalled on the ROG Zephyrus G16 gaming laptop and leverages the incredible power of AI to significantly level up the capabilities of the Virtual Assistant, including an intelligent chat and Q&A interface, written document summarization, and voice transcription tools. This update is available on laptop models with AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors as a free download via ASUS Live Update.

Intelligent chat support
The Virtual Assistant gives users a leg up when they're using an unfamiliar program or system tool. With a local chat and Q&A feature, even when disconnected from the internet, the Virtual Assistant can help users navigate complicated menus and activate the features and settings they need. For example, if a new user is looking to adjust fan settings, they can request that from the Virtual Assistant, and it will direct them to the appropriate settings menu within the Armoury Crate app. Applications like MyASUS, GlideX, and ProArt Creator Hub are supported, and the chat functionality adds a new layer of support for end users.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is thrilled to showcase an incredibly high-speed overclock of G.SKILL DDR5 memory at DDR5-9000 CL44-56-56 with 48 GB (24 GB x2) kit capacity, featuring AMD EXPO overclock profile and demonstrating the memory overclock capability of the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO motherboard and the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G processor.

A New High-Speed Frontier with 24 GB x2 Continuing to explore the overclock limits of DDR5 memory speed in conjunction with the new ASUS NitroPath DRAM technology that provides enhanced DDR5 memory overclock performance, G.SKILL demonstrates an amazing DDR5-9000 CL44-56-56 with two 24 GB capacity modules. Refer to the screenshot below to see this G.SKILL memory kit reaching the astounding overclocked memory speed on the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 7 8700G processor