We've had our eye on the ASUS ROG Ally X since last week. The Ally X started its life on the rumor mill as a design revision of the ROG Ally that corrects the location of its microSD slot away from a heat vent, before we learned that it's a whole new product positioned above the ROG Ally, which not just fixes the microSD slot, but also comes with a larger battery, and support for M.2-2280 NVMe SSDs to unlock the widest selection of aftermarket SSDs among any handheld console.

Mystery Lupin a source with ASUS leaks, suggests that the ASUS ROG Ally X could be priced at $799, which would be a $100 premium over the top-spec ROG Ally Extreme. For this premium, ASUS is dropping in a battery that's rumored to have a 40% higher capacity than the one the original ROG Ally Extreme comes with; and the sheer convenience of an M.2-2280 drive bay that has a 1 TB SSD. It's also rumored that ASUS may step up the memory size. The other hardware specs are unchanged—the processor is still an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, the display is still that 7-inch 48-120 Hz VRR with 1080p resolution; and with an identical controller layout. ASUS is expected to launch the ROG Ally X on June 2.

GeForce NOW brings 24 new games for members this month. Ninja Theory's highly anticipated Senua's Saga: Hellblade II will be coming to the cloud soon - get ready by streaming the first in the series, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, part of the seven new games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Plus, game across more devices than ever as GeForce NOW adds improved support on Steam Deck this GFN Thursday.

Journey into Viking Hell
Experience exceptional storytelling in Ninja Theory's award-winning game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, available to stream from the cloud this week. Set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, the game follows the journey of Senua, a Pict warrior. Her quest is to reach Helheim, the realm of the dead, to rescue her deceased lover's soul from the goddess Hela. Solve intricate puzzles with observation, engage in melee combat and get pulled deep into Senua's mind as she grapples with inner demons. Journey through the hauntingly beautiful landscapes of Helheim with ray tracing and high-dynamic range using an Ultimate or Priority membership for the most immersive and stunning visual fidelity.

Today we're taking the next step toward our vision for a more open computing platform for the metaverse. We're opening up the operating system powering our Meta Quest devices to third-party hardware makers, giving more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for. We're working with leading global technology companies to bring this new ecosystem to life and making it even easier for developers to build apps and reach their audiences on the platform.

Introducing Meta Horizon OS
This new hardware ecosystem will run on Meta Horizon OS, the mixed reality operating system that powers our Meta Quest headsets. We chose this name to reflect our vision of a computing platform built around people and connection—and the shared social fabric that makes this possible. Meta Horizon OS combines the core technologies powering today's mixed reality experiences with a suite of features that put social presence at the center of the platform.

ASUS ROG just published an interesting post on X/Twitter, previewing a future product: the ROG Mjolnir power station. This portable power solution aims to provide uninterrupted gaming experiences, even in outdoor settings. The ROG Mjolnir boasts interesting features catering to modern outdoorsy gamers' needs. It has four power outlets, allowing users to simultaneously power multiple devices such as gaming laptops, monitors, and peripherals. Additionally, the power station includes two USB Type-A and two USB Type-C ports, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of gaming accessories. Using Nordic mythology as inspiration, the ROG Mjolnir's design pays homage to Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. The sleek and rugged exterior not only looks impressive but also promises durability for outdoor use. As an added bonus, the handle of the power station doubles as a torch or light source, providing convenience in low-light environments.

While ASUS has not yet disclosed the specific capacity options or pricing details for the ROG Mjolnir, the company has confirmed that it will be officially unveiled at the upcoming Computex 2024 event in Taiwan. Gamers can expect to learn more about this interesting power station during the event, which is set to commence on June 4th. With the ROG Mjolnir, ASUS aims to provide gamers with a reliable and portable power solution that complements their gaming on-the-go lifestyle. An interesting quote from legendary Stan Lee is suitable here, which many Marvel universe fans might appreciate: "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

The ROG Keris II Ace is an ultralight 54-gram ergonomic tri mode gaming mouse with a shape tested by pro FPS players. Equipped with 42,000-dpi ROG AimPoint Pro optical sensor, ROG Optical Micro Switches and ROG SpeedNova wireless technology, the Keris II Ace levels up on ROG impressive polling rate and click latency via the ROG Polling Rate Booster, which enables polling rates up to 4,000 Hz in wireless mode and up to 8000 Hz in wired mode.

Super-light 54-gram weight with ROG Gaming mouse build quality: Ensures quick and precise movements with minimal handling fatigue. Premium quality continues as a hallmark of ROG mice ensuring outstanding fit, finish and feel. PBT L/R buttons also offer superior durability and resistance against wear and shine over time while also offering subtle texture. ROG Polling Rate Booster: Level up beyond ASUS ROG's already impressive 1,000 Hz polling rate performance & stability. The next level awaits for those demanding the lowest input latency. Attach the ROG Polling Rate Booster to enable polling rates up to 4000 Hz in wireless mode and up to 8000 Hz in wired mode. This new level of ultra-high polling rate performance perfectly complements the latest 240 Hz+ ROG gaming monitors.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 D GPU was launched late last year in China—this weakened variant (of the standard RTX 4090) was designed with US trade regulations in mind. Chinese media outlets have toyed around with various custom models for several months—January 2024 evaluations indicated a 5% performance disadvantage when lined up against unrestricted models. The GeForce RTX 4090 D GPU is a potent beast despite a reduced core count and restricted TDP limit, but Chinese enthusiasts have continued to struggle with the implementation of worthwhile overclocks. HKEPC—a Hong Kong-situated PC hardware review outlet—has bucked that trend.

The mega-sized flagship ZOTAC RTX 4090 D PGF model has the technical credentials to break beyond the expected overclock increase of "2 to 5%," courtesy of a powerful 28-phase power PCB design and 530 W max. TGP limit. The Expreview team pulled a paltry 3.7% extra bit of performance from ZOTAC China's behemoth. In contrast, HKEPC wrangled out some bigger numbers with a sampled ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 4090 GAMING OC graphics card—matching unrestricted variants: "it turns out that NVIDIA only does not allow AIC manufacturers to preset overclocking, but it does not restrict users from overclocking by themselves. After a high degree of overclocking adjustment, the ROG Strix RTX 4090 D actually has a way to achieve the performance level of the RTX 4090 FE."

Last October, Intel handed over its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) product lines—in an official capacity—to a new patron; ASUS. A couple of months later, the latter's Republic of Gamers brand introduced a new NUC model—"Scorpion Canyon"—during their Transcendence Virtual Launch Live event at CES 2024. TPU staffers in attendance managed to spend some time with the ROG NUC, at the ASUS booth. A preview placard advertised that the best configuration could be powered by up an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile GPU. At the time, company representatives did not disclose any pricing information.

Finalized units are pre-orderable at one retailer, according to reports from Friday—Proshop's listing reveals that customers in Denmark, Germany and Finland can purchase the top-end ASUS ROG NUC 14 configuration (RNUC14SRKU9189A2I) for €2499 (~$2724). NotebookCheck has discovered the existence of six different SKUs—on ASUS Spain's official website. Despite the diverse list of (apparent) options, ROG: "only really offers Core Ultra 7 155H and GeForce RTX 4060, or (the aforementioned) Core Ultra 9 185H and GeForce RTX 4070 spec. While pricing for the former remains unknown, Proshop is selling the latter with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage for €2499 in the Eurozone...Currently, Proshop expects to begin shipping ROG NUC orders from April 10, signalling an April 2024 global launch."

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that an international group of elite overclockers has set four world records with an ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore motherboard featuring the new Intel Core i9-14900KS processor. Along with the ASUS overclocking team, overclocking expert Elmor pushed this processor to a dazzling 9117.75 MHz. Safedisk used the same setup to achieve three additional world records: PiFast completed in just 6.79 seconds, SuperPI 1M finished in 3.768 seconds, and PYPrime 32B finished in 97.596 seconds.

The ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard family is the ultimate choice for enthusiasts and overclockers seeking style and power in their gaming setup. The motherboards are built to help the world's most talented overclockers shatter barriers on their way to new records. In the past few years, the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard was used to push a 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900K processor past the 9 GHz barrier for an impressive world record, and the ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore was used to push the 14th Gen Intel Core i9-14900KF to 9043.92 MHz.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, in collaboration with ASUS ROG and Intel, celebrates a monumental achievement of setting a new SuperPi-32M overclocking world record at an astonishing 2 min 59 sec 919 ms, marking the first time this benchmark category was achieved in under 3 minutes. This amazing world record was achieved by SAFEDISK, the legendary South Korean extreme overclocker, using G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 memory, ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore motherboard, and Intel Core i9-14900KF desktop processor under liquid nitrogen cooling, demonstrating the bleeding edge of hardware performance of the latest computing hardware. For more information, visit the validation page on hwbot.org.

Overclocking Milestone Unlocked - SuperPi-32M at 2 min 59 sec 919 ms
SuperPi-32M is one of the most popular benchmarks for CPU and memory overclockers, and this extreme overclocking milestone commemorates the first time a score of under 3 minutes was achieved. Using liquid nitrogen extreme cooling, SAFEDISK lowered the CPU temperature as low as -188°C to reach a remarkable 8449.2 MHz and the G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 memory as low as -60°C to reach DDR5-9052 with 32-48-45-36 timings on an ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore motherboard. This expertly configured setup and operation under extreme conditions gives testament to the breathtaking technical performance of modern computer systems.

SafeDisk (AKA SoonHo Jeong) has tinkered with an AMD Ryzen 7 8700G APU and ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E GENE motherboard combination—earlier today, the professional overclocker set a validated/verified memory speed of DDR5-10600 world record on Team Red's AM5 platform. This has surpassed a previous result global-leading from late last week—DDR5-10346 was achieved with the same processor, but on a GIGABYTE B650E AORUS Tachyon board. SafeDisk has a distinct advantage in memory overclocking stakes, due to his workplace being the ASUS ROG labs in Taipei, Taiwan—his closest competitor, Benny Lodewijk Nitolo Lase (an Indonesian overclocker) now sits behind him in second place.

SafeDisk's test setup included the aforementioned APU plus motherboard combo, a Thermalright (not ASUS!) AIO, a twin pack of G.Skill Trident Z5 (F5-7800J3646H16G) DIMMs, and an ASUS GeForce GT 730 2 GB Silent graphics card. The ROG Crosshair X670E GENE's default set of VRM heatsinks were removed completely during test conditions. The two memory sticks were set at their default CL36 7800 MT/s speed at 1.45 V—SafeDisk's record breaking DDR5-10600 overclock was achieved with timings of 50-62-62-127-127. Wccftech noted that the: "overclock was able to boot directly into the OS and (SafeDisk) says that the whole OC procedure was very easy."

NVIDIA today launched the third and final high-end GPU in its GeForce RTX 40-series SUPER refresh. The new GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is being launched at an attractive $999 price, compared to the $1,199 that the RTX 4080 originally launched at. Besides this huge 20% cut in pricing, there's also more performance on offer, as the company chose to max out the 5 nm AD103 silicon that it's based on. If you recall, the RTX 4080 has 76 out of 80 streaming multiprocessors of the AD103 enabled, and its memory runs at an odd 22.4 Gbps speed. The RTX 4080 SUPER gets all 80 SM, and a well rounded 23 Gbps memory speed.

With 80 SM on tap, you get 10,240 CUDA cores, 320 Tensor cores, 80 RT cores, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The memory size is unchanged at 16 GB, across the 256-bit wide memory interface of the AD103; as is the total graphics power (TGP), at 320 W. All cards will include an NVIDIA-designed adapter that converts three 8-pin PCIe power connectors into a 12VHPWR that's capable of delivering 450 W of power. The target audience for this card is the same as that of the RTX 4080—maxed out 4K Ultra HD gaming with ray tracing. At $999, the RTX 4080 SUPER allows NVIDIA to better compete with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX that's sometimes spotted for prices as low as $900. Don't forget to catch our exhaustive review coverage from the links below!

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition | ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4080 SUPER OC | ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4080 SUPER OC | MSI RTX 4080 SUPER Expert | Gigabyte RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming OC | PNY RTX 4080 SUPER Verto | Galax RTX 4080 SUPER SG 1-click OC | Palit RTX 4080 SUPER GamingPro OC | Zotac RTX 4080 SUPER AMP Extreme AIRO

MSI has officially confirmed the price for all three Claw gaming handheld SKUs, including two SKUs with the Intel Core Ultra 7-155H CPU and one equipped with the Core Ultra-135H CPU. The MSI Claw starts at $699.99 for the base version with an Intel Core Ultra 5-135H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. The other two SKUs, are priced at $749.99 and $799.99, both come with a Core Ultra 7-155H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and either 512 GB or 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. Unfortunately, there is no word on the rumored SKU with 32 GB of LPDDR5 memory.

These prices make the MSI Claw just a tad bit more expensive than the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, but it should do well if the performance is there. MSI has also confirmed to The Verge that the Claw's 7-inch 1080p screen comes with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) operating between 48 and 120 Hz. The MSI Claw is rumored to launch in February or March.

ASUS at the 2024 International CES expanded the lineup of BTF apparently cable-free hardware to its premium ROG product line. The company had debuted BTF with its mid-range TUF Gaming product line, which we've extensively covered here. While the TUF Gaming BTF built showcased an all-white scheme, the ROG BTF line makes no such deviations from its main scheme. First up, we have the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF motherboard, a variant of the Z790 Hero with its connectors and headers facing the reverse side of the PCB; and a power slot for BTF graphics cards.

Next up, we have the BTF-ready variant of the ROG Hyperion GR701 case. A compatible case is needed for BTF to work, because the motherboard tray needs to have cutouts in the right places for the ports and connectors of the motherboard to stick out. There's a little extra crawlspace behind the motherboard tray in the ROG Hyperion GR701, so some of the higher gauge power cables can make tight bends. The crown jewel of the ASUS ROG BTF series has to be the graphics card. ASUS has done the unthinkable—to get a GeForce RTX 4090 to run off its BTF power connector. It's a remarkable feat considering that the RTX 4090 is a 425 W TGP graphics card, and the overclocked ROG Strix version only draws more power than the average RTX 4090.

During the CES 2024 show, the ASUS booth had a wide variety of products on display. Among the more interesting solutions was the highly-anticipated ROG NUC. Initially, Intel sold the NUC design and manufacturing license to ASUS, and we were left wondering how ASUS would adapt its compact design. We had a booth tour and took pictures of the new design in person. The ASUS ROG NUC can be configured with Intel's flagship Meteor Lake-H Core Ultra 9 185H processor, a 16-core/22-thread CPU with a 115 W maximum turbo TDP that boosts up to 5.1 GHz. It features six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power performance cores. The system can be equipped with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU for graphics.

A more affordable option pairs the Core Ultra 7 155H processor with an RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. Other key specifications include support for up to 32 GB of DDR5 memory across two SO-DIMM slots, three M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD slots, Intel Killer WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, 2.5G LAN, Thunderbolt 4, as much as six USB ports, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and a choice of Windows 11 Home 64-bit, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, or no pre-installed OS. The 2.5-liter chassis shows that miniature size can equal big performance and can easily provide great gaming and productivity results.

During its "Transcendence Virtual Launch Live Event at CES 2024, ASUS has finally revealed a bit more details about its new ASUS Republic of Gamers NUC, codenamed Scorpion Canyon. The ROG NUC will be powered by up to Intel's Core Ultra 9 CPU and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, all packed in a 2.5-liter chassis.

The flagship CPU choice is the Intel Meteor Lake-H Core Ultra 9 185H CPU, a 16-core/22-thread CPU (6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 2 low-power P-cores) which has a 115 W maximum Turbo TDP and Boosts up to 5.1 GHz. The ASUS ROG NUC can also be equipped with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. The less expensive SKU pairs up the Core Ultra 7 155H with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. The rest of the specifications include two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots with support for 32 GB of memory, three M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 slots, Intel Killer WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, 2.5G Intel LAN, single Thunderbolt 4 port and plenty of other USB ports, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, and choice between Windows 11 Home 64-bit, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, or no OS.

NVIDIA Studio is debuting at CES powerful new software and hardware upgrades to elevate content creation. It brings the release of powerful NVIDIA Studio laptops and desktops from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI and Samsung, as well as the launch of the new GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series GPUs—including the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER—to supercharge creating, gaming and AI tasks.

Generative AI by iStock from Getty Images is a new generative AI tool trained by NVIDIA Picasso that uses licensed artwork and the NVIDIA Edify architecture model to ensure that generated assets are commercially safe. RTX Video HDR coming Jan. 24 transforms standard dynamic range video playing in internet browsers into stunning high dynamic range (HDR). By pairing it with RTX Video Super Resolution, NVIDIA RTX and GeForce RTX GPU owners can achieve dramatic video quality improvements on their HDR10 displays.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc, today introduced the new FireCuda 520N NVMe solid state drive (SSD) with 2230-S2 M.2 form factor. The new drive is a perfect storage upgrade for Valve's Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and other compact devices with 2230 M.2 slots.

Available in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, the FireCuda 520N is a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD specifically designed for high performing hand-held gaming devices with high octane read/write speed of up to 5,000 MB/s for the 2 TB capacity and up to 4,800 MB/s for the 1 TB model. The drive offers PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD performance of desktop gaming, and it is backward compatible with Gen 3 and Gen 2 PCIe slots. The FireCuda 520N includes Seagate's three-year Rescue Data Recovery Service plan and a five-year limited warranty. It is available now for $109.99 (1 TB) and $189.99 (2 TB).

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 a new Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 memory kit specification at DDR5-8400 CL40-52-52-134 48 GB (2x24GB), aimed at the latest 14th Gen Intel Core desktop processor & Intel Z790 chipset platform.

Extreme Memory Speed at DDR5-8400 CL40
Developed on the latest 14th Gen Intel Core desktop processor and Intel Z790 chipset platform, G.SKILL is announcing a new DDR5 memory specification at DDR5-8400 CL40-52-52-134 with 48 GB (2x24GB) kit capacity. As shown in the screenshot below, this extreme speed memory kit is validated on the Intel Core i9-14900K desktop processor and ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore motherboard, and demonstrates incredible memory bandwidth speeds at 128.88 GB/s read, 127.03 GB/s write, and 123.83 GB/s copy in the AIDA64 memory bandwidth benchmark.

Norway's Proshop listed an ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 APEX Encore motherboard by mistake, with an eye watering price of 9790 NOK including VAT (~$890). Elite and record-breaking overclocker enthusiasts with deep pockets need only apply—this "Encore" 14th Gen Core-ready refresh of the existing (and recently discontinued) APEX board is expected to coincide with this month's launch of six "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs. The Norwegian listing did not an include any photos of ASUS ROG's ultra-premium board, but Benchlife and a bunch of social media leakers have released imagery into the wild.

On first inspection of leaked specification details, the only major upgrade appears to be WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. Gigabyte and MSI are reported to be refreshing their own "next-gen" Z790 boards with these newer standards. We get the usual designation of two DIMM slots for maximum memory performance in this league—really fast DDR5-10000 memory configurations are on the expected support list (Proshop mentioned DDR5-5600). The current APEX has logged speeds of DDR5-11000 MT/s, so the successor and accompaniment of "next-gen" processors could push things further.

NVIDIA Reflex is a must-have in games, reducing system latency so your actions occur quicker, giving you a competitive edge in multiplayer matches, and making single-player titles more responsive and enjoyable. NVIDIA Reflex is now used by over 50 million players each month, is available in 9 of the top 10 competitive shooters, including the Counter-Strike 2 beta, and is activated by 90% of GeForce gamers in over 70 supported titles.

NVIDIA Reflex is synonymous with responsive gaming, and can be found in the latest and greatest games, including Party Animals, Warhaven, and Witchfire, which all launch this week. Additionally, Nexon's First Descendant Crossplay Open Beta will boast support, too. This month also sees the launch of the first 540 Hz NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultra Low Motion Blur 2-capable monitor, from ASUS. When activated, ULMB 2 gives you 2,160 Hz of effective motion clarity, for the definitive competitive gaming experience.

We have had to wait a bit longer for the launch of a lesser ASUS ROG Ally variant—the Windows 11 handheld gaming PC was officially revealed sporting an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU. A non-Extreme variant was teased to launch at a later date, which appears to be within the last couple of days—emerging first in North America. The more affordable—$599—offering has popped up for sale on Best Buy, and the ASUS store has a listing although it is currently "out of stock." This non-Extreme model's (RC71L-Z1512) arrival at retail coincides with Valve running a 20% price reduction on its Steam Deck handheld gaming range.

The $100 saving over the ROG Ally Extreme ($699) nets the customer largely identical features and specifications, apart from the main choice of APU. The Z1 non-Extreme chipset was analyzed earlier this month, with its "Phoenix 2" origin revealing usage of Zen 4c cores. The standard Z1 seems to be very similar in makeup to the mobile series Ryzen 5 7540U APU. The AMD Ryzen Z1 is a six-core Zen 4/Zen 4c APU with four RDNA 3 compute units, which is nowhere near as fierce as the "Phoenix 1" Ryzen Z1 Extreme—sporting eight cores (all Zen 4) and twelve RDNA 3 compute units.

ASUS has been teasing their first-ever ROG-aligned liquid metal thermal compound-cooled solution since the start of summer, in the form of a truly flagship Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB graphics card. Their late May reveal boasted about the importance of bleeding edge technology and a continuation of their Matrix product line's "special" legacy. A third quarter 2023 launch window was outlined—today they have narrowed that timeline down to a specific date—September 19. The ASUS ROG North American branch posted on its socials: "The wait is almost over!😎 Count down to the official launch of our flagship graphics card - the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090. 🔥" A live stream has been organized to coincide with the headliner's retail debut (Sept 19th, 9:00 AM | New York and Sept 19th, 9:00 PM | Taipei).

Exact pricing is likely to be announced during launch day proceedings, but industry experts are setting expectations at $2000+. The fancy Matrix trimmings and highly selective binning process of Ada Lovelace silicon will come at a steep premium. The ASUS marketing talk from May boasted: "No reason to beat around the bush: the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 has the highest boost clocks of any RTX 4090 on the planet. Featuring a custom-engineered coldplate that captures heat not only from the RTX 4090 GPU die, but also the VRMs and memory chips, this card has even more headroom to push its clocks higher, for longer, allowing us to bin only the absolute best dies for this showpiece graphics card. In addition, the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 features an ROG first: liquid metal thermal compound on a graphics card."

To help consumers get the most out of their handheld gaming PC experience, WD_BLACK from Western Digital is introducing a new premium, high-performance M.2 2230 solution architected for today's handheld PC gamer. Building upon the WD_BLACK legacy of performance storage for all kinds of competitive gamers, the company is introducing the WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD. According to a recent Gartner report, the handheld gaming console market is expected to reach 14.8M by 2027. As the mobile gaming market continues to grow and more AAA titles are released, new and innovative storage solutions are being released and developed to ensure mobile gamers are able to make the most of their on-the-go gaming experience.

"With game sizes continually becoming larger, it's easy for handheld game consoles to fill up over time with new games and regular updates," said Eric Spanneut, vice president of client SSDs for Western Digital. "The new WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD boosts available storage up to 2TB2 and is specifically designed to handle the peak performance of demanding games for handheld gaming PCs."

The Republic of Gamers (ROG) department at ASUS started to tease its lineup of official Evangelion tie-in products in late July, with a ROG Strix customized NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 card attracting some attention thanks to its very prominent red and black aesthetic. The marketing spiel revealed that: "the EVA Editions of the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 come equipped with a myriad of performance-enhancing ASUS features, such as Axial-tech fans with reverse rotation and 0 dB technology, an exclusive vapor chamber design, top-shelf power delivery and a sleek metal exoskeleton for maximized rigidity. The expertly engineered fan shroud and right-hand side of the card now sport an EVA-02 color theme, and Asuka art takes over the backplate."

The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC EVA-02 Edition was shown off at last month's Gamescom trade fair in Germany, but PC hardware enthusiasts in China will be getting first dibs on retail units. As reported by ITHome and VideoCardz, units can be pre-ordered via JD.com, with shipments starting tomorrow (September 5). The special edition livery and pack of themed accessories will set you back 17,999 RMB (~$2475) in the region. ASUS ROG has not revealed pricing for Western territories.

AMD today announced the Ryzen 9 7945X3D mobile processor, which it claims is the fastest notebook processor for gaming, faster than even Intel's Core i9-13980HX. The 7945X3D is a 16-core/32-thread processor that leverages AMD 3D Vertical Cache technology. Much like the desktop Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the 7945X3D features 64 MB of stacked 3D vertical cache memory on one of its two "Zen 4" CCDs, which gives it 96 MB of last-level cache. The second one is a regular "Zen 4" CCD with 32 MB of L3 cache—again, just like the desktop 7950X3D. The most interesting aspect has to be that AMD claims to have pulled off leadership gaming performance at a 55 W+ TDP.

The Ryzen 9 7945X3D is based on the "Dragon Range" multi-chip module. This is essentially a mobile-optimized BGA variant of the desktop "Raphael" MCM, with a higher degree of power optimization. The processor features 16 "Zen 4" CPU cores spread across two CCDs, each with 1 MB of L2 cache. The first CCD has 96 MB of L3 cache thanks to the 3DV cache, while the second CCD has 32 MB of it. Despite its power constrained form-factor, the 7945X3D has a maximum boost frequency of 5.40 GHz. Each of the two CCDs is built on the 5 nm EUV foundry node. The L3D (the die stacked on top of the first CCD) is built on 6 nm, as is the client I/O die (cIOD). The processor supports dual-channel DDR5, and has a 28-lane PCI-Express Gen 5 root complex. AMD claims that the Ryzen 9 7945X3D is on average 15% faster at gaming than its current flagship processor, the 16-core Ryzen 9 7945HX. This should mean that the processor is faster than the Intel Core i9-13980HX. The first notebook to debut the AMD Ryzen 9 7945X3D is the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 X3D, which goes on sale on August 22, 2023.