Not too long after delivering its in-depth Switch 2 showcase, Nintendo of America and retail partners postponed pre-launch reservations for the forthcoming hybrid gaming console. An official announcement stated: "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." The vast majority of industry watchdogs reckon that company will be assessing an adjustment of launch day product MSRPs. Last week's North American presentation outlined price points of $449.99 and $499.99; for a standard package and a Mario Kart World Pack (respectively). Theorized adjustments could extend to physical copies of games, as well as accessories; e.g. the Switch 2 Pro Controller.

Gamers further north—in the neighboring nation of Canada—were relieved about last week's alert being non-applicable to their market region. Up until yesterday, pre-orders were on track at CA$629.99 (base console) and CA$699.99 (with Mario Kart World). Unfortunately, the House of Mario's Canuck branch has confirmed that recent events have had a knock-on effect for local customers. As disclosed in a statement to MobileSyrup, Nintendo of Canada explained: "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the U.S....Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." MobileSyrup's report was updated yesterday evening; with links to social media bulletins posted by the regional arms of Walmart and GameStop. Both retail outlets repeated Nintendo of Canada's disappointing message.

Today we have our final Do & Don't Comic—with only one more day to go until the release of Commandos: Origins arrives. Consider it done! We—at Claymore Game Studios and Kalypso Media—thank you for sharing your excitement for Commandos: Origins with us and we wish you lots of fun when you finally get your hands on the game from tomorrow onwards. Commandos: Origins is gearing up for digital release on April 9th, 2025, and will be available on Steam, on day one with Xbox Game Pass for console and PC and on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

ALARM! 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.

Earlier in March, Mindfactory Germany's webshop looked very threadbare—in terms of readily available modern PC hardware stock—thus generating plenty of online speculation about bankruptcy/insolvency. Regional news outlets have highlighted a recently-issued official press release—titled: "things are running smoothly again at Mindfactory." According to Heise Online, regular webstore customers were subjected to "internal changes" last week—requiring the creation of brand-new accounts. Logging in with old credentials (apparently) prompted a friendly auto-greeting message: "hey, it's great to see you back! Our store database has been technically optimized and tidied up. Please register again with your data." Additionally, Heise Online reckons that Mindfactory did not respond to any press inquiries throughout the month.

Monday's German language PR piece confirms normal service being re-established (via machine translation): "the online store is open as usual, and customers can once again access a growing selection of products...Mindfactory's suppliers have resumed deliveries—without requiring advance payments. In fact, they are even offering discounts to support the restructuring process." A portion of Heise Online's readership reported problems with Mindfactory's after-sales support department (around mid-March); the organization appears ready to address these issues: "along with sales, the company's service operations have also returned to normal. Returns and other service requests are now being processed as usual. Pending cases from the start of the self-administration process are also being gradually handled and resolved." VideoCardz put a spotlight on newly-replenished inventory turning up on Mindfactory's online shop. Multiple XFX and PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 series cards are back in stock—as of last week—with slightly elevated prices. Various AIB GeForce RTX 50-series options are also available to purchase. Heise Online noted that "Mindfactory is rarely one of the cheapest providers, at least at the moment," given the shop's €539.50 (including VAT) listing of AMD's popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D gaming CPU.

Gamers are eagerly awaiting the launch of the RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT gaming GPUs from AMD, which are widely expected to offer commendable value, thanks to comparatively reasonable prices paired with perfectly admirable raw performance that trades blows with the GeForce RTX 5070 family from NVIDIA. Interestingly, a recently leaked retail box for a PowerColor Red Devil RX 9070 XT GPU has revealed a striking detail - the AIB card will boast a whopping 900-watt requirement for a PSU. This is an absurd number, considering that the ROG Astral RTX 5090 behemoth commands a 1000-watt PSU requirement. While some may deem the image to be fake, or perhaps a typo, AMD's Frank Azor has responded to the tweet, claiming that there will be "plenty" of RX 9070 XT cards with lower PSU requirements.

The packaging also confirms that the upcoming mid-range GPU from AMD will sport 64 CUs, which is hardly a surprise. The Red Devil 9070 XT GPU from PowerColor is a very high-end unit with a 3.0 GHz boost clock and 3x 8-pin power connectors for overclocking headroom, which explains the mammoth 900-watt PSU requirement. As pointed out by Redditors, the Red Devil 7900 XTX also featured a 900-watt PSU requirement, which is 100 watts more than what AMD officially recommends. According to VideoCardz, the PowerColor RX 9070 XT Reaper (reference card) carries a 750-watt PSU requirement, whereas the RX 9070 variant requires a 650-watt PSU. The official launch for the RDNA 4 cards is just around two weeks away, which is when we will finally know for sure.

Yesterday, NVIDIA confirmed that board partner GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards (minus a Founders Edition) will be hitting global retail markets on February 20. Team Green has set a baseline MSRP of $749 (USD) for North America, and €884 (plus region variable VAT) for European territories. Recent accidental e-tail listings have presented daunting price points (in Austria and France), that sit far higher than NVIDIA's guideline figure. A fresh VideoCardz news report piles on extra pain; various readership tip-offs have indicated that next week's population of launch products will be composed of mostly very expensive offerings. CaseKing.de has listed a grand total of twelve ASUS, GIGABYTE and MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti cards—the cheapest non-overclocked option comes in at €1149 (including customary 19% sales tax), plus shipping costs starting at €4.99. GIGABYTE's premium-tier AORUS RTX 5070 Ti MASTER is priced at €1399 (incl. VAT). This German retail outlet is not known to implement generous discounts, especially early on in a product's lifespan. VideoCardz looked elsewhere for evidence of baseline MSRP conformant AIB cards. Press outlets could be analyzing placeholder numbers, so things could change closer to release day.

Proshop in Denmark and Finland seem to be the only e-tail outlets (in Europe/Scandinavia) that offer a model that conforms to official NVIDIA minimum pricing decree. The non-overclocked barebones Inno3D RTX 5070 Ti X3 card is priced at 6899 kr (incl. VAT) in Denmark, and €924 (incl. VAT) in Finland. An extra €75 premium grants access to an overclocked sibling: Inno3D RTX 5070 Ti X3 OC. Potential buyers—in North America—have one baseline MSRP-friendly option, courtesy of Micro Center. VideoCardz highlighted the PNY RTX 5070 Ti Overclocked Triple Fan model's price point of $750. At the time of writing, they believe that this is the only example of a factory-overclocked card sticking to Team Green guidelines. AMD's incoming Radeon RX 9070 GPU series is set to battle it out with NVIDIA's next wave of "Blackwell" GPUs. According to industry whispers, Team Red will be deeply involved in analysis of GeForce RTX 5070 Ti market performance. Speculative first wave RDNA 4-based graphics card pricing has leaked online this week; will they commit to undercutting their main competition?

According to a fresh leak doing the rounds on the internet, NVIDIA has pushed the launch of its GeForce RTX 5070 GPU all the way to March - suspiciously close to AMD's RDNA 4 launch. The RTX 5070 Ti is still on track for a launch later this month, which can already be seen taking shape going by all the leaked retailer listings. The RTX 5070, has yet to witness any leaked listings, which adds credibility to the claim for sure. MEGAsizeGPU, the source, has further claimed that the GeForce RTX 5070 will "hit shelves" early next month.

Going by some of the rumored performance improvements, that the GeForce RTX 5070 family is poised to bring to the table, it can be said that there is a very real chance that the RDNA 4-based AMD Radeon RX 9070 family will have the upper hand in not just affordability, but also raster performance. Considering the abysmal supply that the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 recently witnessed, it is not unfathomable that the RTX 5070 family will face similarly dire circumstances. Of course, things may change, but the rumored delay surely does not inspire confidence. AMD has a real opportunity to do right by gamers by appropriately pricing its RDNA 4 cards and somehow sorting out its supply chain, although that is yet to be seen.

Earlier this week, MSI's China office admitted that it had only a limited supply of GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards available for launch day. A VideoCardz report from last night points out similar problems affecting retail channels in North America. MSI's official US store has delayed shipments of GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards. This announcement was extracted from a conversation conducted via Discord—between a company representative (MSI Spence) and a VideoCardz staffer (WhyCry). In full, MSI stated: "we are going to allow GeForce RTX 5090 pre-orders on January 30, at 6 AM PST—with a ship date of February 6. The GeForce RTX 5080 will be available for purchase on January 30 at 6 AM PST, with an immediate ship date of (same day) January 30. GeForce RTX 5090 pre-orders will open on January 30 at 6 AM PST, with a ship date of February 6."

Additionally, StinceBuilt has corroborated reports of newly adjusted timeframes—the custom PC builder publicly disclosed its own dealings with the NVIDIA board partner: "we're being told by the MSI Team that the MSI RTX 5090 Variants are now being pushed back until February 6th for launch. RTX 5090 Day of Launch is going to be very rough, both on the consumer retail/ecommerce side, and to all system integrators. Stock is minimal at best. Please be patient. We've confirmed this with other shops like ourselves."

B&H Photo Video—a Manhattan, NY-based electronics retailer—has leaked out a possible late March launch date for AMD's opening salvo of RDNA 4 graphics cards. Four ASUS Radeon RX 9070 series SKUs are currently visible (via a search) on the shop's webstore—all listings sport a tag stating: "pre-order starts at 09:00 a.m ET, Sunday Mar 23." VideoCardz reckons that the product pages have been freshly updated—changing the previously listed date: January 23. Officially, Team Red has moved its Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) launch windows into March, but a specific date was not set.

B&H's listings could contain placeholder information—product launches and opening of pre-orders do not (under normal circumstances) occur over weekends. In this case, potentially on a Sunday. The New York City retailer has prepared very basic product pages for two TUF Gaming cards and two PRIME models—names and SKU codes appear to correspond with previous leaks. Artline, a Ukrainian PC hardware store, opened up an ASUS TUF GAMING Radeon RX 9070 XT OC package. MyGear took similar steps with a PRIME Radeon RX 9070 model.

Yesterday evening (GMT), Overclockers UK's product purchasing manager set expectations for his store's day one inventory of GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards. Taking to the OCUK forum, Gibbo (aka Andrew Gibson) revealed that the flagship stock count was in: "single digits at present, maybe double for launch." His "TDLR" also pointed to the store having a "few hundred" RTX 5080 models ready for launch day, with pre-orders starting on January 30 (for both Blackwell GPU product tiers). Gibbo warned potential customers about anticipated tight conditions: "we are expecting greater demand than (the RTX) 40 series, but with the launch just prior to CNY and lots of other rumors circulating initial waves of supply are poor and will probably take some time to build up. So the stock we have will be made available from the launch via the webshop, but I know what we have is likely to last only seconds, minutes at most."

Similar (predicted) circumstances have been reported across Europe and the Far East—certain outlets believe that GeForce RTX 50 series shortages will last up to three months post-launch. Potential "Blackwell" GPU customers are very likely dreading a forthcoming buying experience riddled with scalper bots, price gouging and all sorts of shady shenanigans. OCUK's product manager recommends taking a pragmatic approach when faced with a chaotic state of affairs: "to put it simply patience and expectations need to be realistic if the UK has—say 10,000 cards, and 500,000 people want one—well it is going to take time so plan ahead and also act like adults. I shall try and keep these forums updated with stock drops with heads up on the site etc. Do not call Sales or Customer service for any info or try to place orders, it shall be strictly via website only and all information will be posted on forums and on product display pages for the products as and when we have it."

Earlier today, reports pointed to an intriguingly discounted Intel "Battlemage" GPU-based graphics card on the Mindfactory.de webstore—ASRock's Arc B570 Challenger OC 10 GB model was priced at €249. European retailers would normally charge €279 for this specific SKU, but the Germany-headquartered PC hardware retail outlet offered a discount of €30, albeit briefly. VideoCardz noted that the fairly new Arc B570 Challenger OC model has been listed on Mindfactory's site since late last year—following Team Blue's early December unveiling of second wave Battlemage GPUs.

The timing of this special offer is a tad surprising, given that Arc B570-based graphics cards only reached global markets late last week. A compelling discount could have been implemented to entice buyers away from more expensive (€299 MSRP) Arc B580-equipped products, but Team Blue and its board partners have struggled—as-of-late—to keep these items in stock. Budget-minded gamers have seemingly embraced the slightly less potent B570 GPU family, and German customers surely had a great opportunity to save some Euros (over the past day or two). Mindfactory's time-limited sale produced a €50 gulf between the ASRock custom design and Intel's Limited Edition B580 model.

If the recent RDNA 4 performance leaks are anything to go by, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and the RX 9070 XT GPUs are sizing up to be excellent mid-range contenders. That is, of course, if the pricing is sane enough. A subsequent leak revealed that the RX 9070 XT AIB models will command a price tag of roughly around $549, which would easily allow it to undercut the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070.

Now, a further leak has revealed a product listing of an RX 9070 XT by a retailer based in the Philippines. The variant in question is Gigabyte's Gaming OC model, with base and boost clocks of 2,400 and 2,970 MHz respectively. Moreover, 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is also offered, on a 256-bit memory bus. 4,096 shading units and 64 RT cores are present as well - nothing out of the ordinary.

Recent sales data (nicely complied by VideoCardz) from one of the largest German retailers, Mindfactory, has revealed that the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor has achieved higher unit sales than all Ryzen 9000 processors combined. Despite its later market entry, the eight-core 9800X3D CPU has reached 8,650 units sold, surpassing the combined sales of the earlier-released standard Ryzen 9000 processors. For comparison, the entire non-X3D Ryzen 9000 lineup, including the Ryzen 9 9950X, 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X, has accumulated fewer total sales through the same retailer. The flagship Ryzen 9 9950X alone accounts for just 780 units, while the Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 5 9600X have moved 810 and 890 units, respectively, while the second-best selling 9000 series SKU was Ryzen 7 9700X with 2,510 units sold. However, the 9800X3D's market performance still falls significantly short of its predecessor. The previous generation Ryzen 7 7800X3D maintains a massive lead with 78,420 units sold through the same retailer.

AMD is preparing to expand its X3D lineup with several new models. The six-core Ryzen 5 9600X3D is scheduled for release, along with 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D variants expected later this month. Based on previous generation sales patterns, where higher-core models saw lower adoption rates, these upcoming high-end processors may face similar market dynamics. Of course, these sales figures are only a part of the story as Mindfactory is only a single retailer across a diverse set of sellers, so the complete market picture is unknown to anyone but AMD. PC upgrade cycles are a common bottleneck in new CPU sales, especially as consumers don't tend to upgrade their PCs every year with new CPUs and platforms. We have to wait and see how the market adapts to new X3D SKUs, and if the Zen 5 X3D CPUs can reach the previous generation fame among consumers.

By now, it's a surprise to almost nobody that NVIDIA plans to launch its next-generation RTX 5000-series "Blackwell" gaming graphics cards at the upcoming CES 2025 event in Las Vegas in early January. Previously, leaks and rumors gave us a full run-down of expected VRAM amounts and other specifications and features for the new GPUs, but these have yet to be confirmed by NVIDIA—for obvious reasons. Now, though, it looks as though iBuyPower has jumped the gun and prematurely revealed the new specifications for its updated line-up of pre-built gaming PCs with RTX 5000-series GPUs ahead of NVIDIA's official announcement. The offending product pages have since been removed, but they both give us confirmation of the previously leaked VRAM amounts and of the expected release cadence for RTX 5000, which will reportedly see the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 launch before the RTX 5090 flagship.

On iBuyPower's now-pulled pages, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB can be seen as the GPUs powering two different upcoming Y40 pre-built gaming PCs from the system integrator. The VRAM specifications here coincide with what we have previously seen from other leaked sources. Unfortunately, while an archived version of the page for the pre-built containing the RTX 5080 appears to show the design for an ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 5080 with a triple-fan cooler, it looks like iBuyPower is using the same renders for both the 5080 and 5070Ti versions of the pre-built PCs. What's also interesting is that iBuyPower looks to be pairing the next-gen GPUs with 7000-series AMD X3D CPUs, as opposed to the newly released AMD Ryzen 9000 X3D chips that have started making their way out into the market.

The launch of Intel's "Arrow Lake-S" Core Ultra 200S series of desktop processors has been a bit of a disappointment for gamers, given a slight regression in the new generation's gaming performance. While excelling in productivity tasks, these CPUs are not seemingly the top choice for gamers. According to data from Mindfactory, one of Germany's largest retailers, Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs didn't account for even one Intel-powered CPU sale since the October 24 launch. This is a massive contradiction to US-based retailers like Amazon and Newegg, which sold out their Arrow Lake stock swiftly. However, the German retailer paints a different picture.

In terms of units sold, there were 730 AMD CPU units sold, while only 40 Intel. AMD accounted for 94.81% of that week's sales, with an average selling price of 267 Euros and Intel's average selling price of 388 Euros per unit. It is worth pointing out that this information is only based on one week of sales and should not be a general guide for Intel Arrow Lake sales in Germany. We are still left to see how many units will be sold in the coming weeks, especially with the upcoming holiday season. Below is the picture from TechEpiphany on X, showing all the sold units and their quantity.

Today, Fractal Design announced a new retailer partnership with Best Buy, one of the world's largest specialty computer and hardware retailers. Starting today, Best Buy customers will be able to find Fractal's award-winning PC cases online at BestBuy.com. This new retail expansion ensures gamers and enthusiasts have ready access to the Scandinavian design, user-centric innovation, and premium quality that Fractal infuses into each of its products.

"We're excited to expand the retail options available to customers throughout the US by making Fractal gaming products purchasable at BestBuy.com." said Keith Washo, Fractal Design Senior Director of Sales. "We believe that combining our highly acclaimed gaming hardware and equipment with Best Buy's first-rate ecommerce platform will ensure greater access to our best-selling products and a quality shopping experience for Fractal customers and new shoppers alike."

Vastarmor's Radeon RX 7900 XTX Super Alloy custom model was revealed a while back (four months ago according to VideoCardz)—for whatever reason, it has taken a long time for finalized units to reach retail outlets in China. A newly discovered JD.com listing reveals an interesting price point of 6799 RMB (~$940)—given the Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU's age at this point in time, Vastarmor has implemented quite a steep discount over the launch MSRP for Chinese markets (7999 RMB). The premium tier ARGB-appointed "Super Alloy" models sport substantial custom cooling solutions—clearly designed to temper higher boost clocks. VideoCardz has looked at the best Navi 31-based cards on the field: "(Vastarmor's latest) is actually among the fastest models on the market. Currently, the highest boost clock for RX 7900 XTX is 2680 MHz, and it can be found on models like ASRock Taichi, Aqua, PowerColor Liquid Devil, or Sapphire Nitro+."

The RX 7900 XTX Super Alloy is one of the largest high-end gaming graphics cards out there—it is a triple-slot, 330 mm x 134 mm x 69 mm design. Strangely, Vastarmor's reference specced RX 7900 XTX Starry Sky model also sports a similarly-proportioned cooling solution. ZOTAC's Prime Gamer Force (PGF) OC design remains triumphant in terms of stupendous dimensions—check out these digits: 381 mm (L) x 154 mm (W) x 74 mm (D)! ZOTAC PGF cards are Chinese market exclusives—much like Vastarmor's best offerings—only the most hardcore/deep-pocked enthusiasts outside of the PRC will be importing these vast gaming hardware delights.

EK, the renowned premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is proud to unveil its latest accessory that promises to streamline the assembly process for enthusiasts and professionals alike: the EK-Loop Stainless Steel Gauge Card. Crafted from durable stainless steel and designed for simplicity, this handy tool is an essential accessory for anyone involved in water cooling. Its primary function serves to drastically simplify the search for the correct assembly parts, ensuring that users can effortlessly find compatible components. Multifunctional by design yet primarily aimed at enhancing the water cooling experience, the EK-Loop Gauge Card is the accessory you didn't know you needed—until now.

Preventing Assembly Errors Before They Happen
With the Gauge Card, measuring and matching bolt and nut sizes becomes effortless. It accurately determines the bolt size and length for any component, including nut size measurements for M2.5, M3, and M4 nuts. This guarantees compatibility and ease of assembly across a wide range of components. The card also allows for the identification of different screw diameters (M4, M3.5, M3, M2.5, M2) and screw dimensions effortlessly, making it more straightforward to select the right parts for your build. Screw length identification up to 30 mm further ensures precise fitting and optimal security of components, while the tool aids in avoiding the insertion of the wrong bolts in the wrong places - thus preventing potential damage to sensitive PCBs. Moreover, the EK-Loop Gauge Card aids in the determination of Allen key sizes (2, 2.5, 6, 8, 9), simplifying the search for the right tool for the job.

A Crucial "CT12G56C46S5" Non-ECC Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module (SODIMM) is available to pre-order from Amazon UK—the 12 GB capacity product was spotted by everyone's favorite PC hardware sleuth;—momomo_us. March 31 appears to be the official shipping out date—current pricing is £44.99 ($57.50). Additionally, customers have the option to reserve a related 24 GB Kit (2x 12 GB) kit (CT2K12G56C46S5), priced at £87.99 (~$112.36). According to product descriptions, Crucial's upcoming laptop 5600 MHz RAM "can downclock if system specification only supports 5200 MHz or 4800 MHz."

"Non-binary modules" DDR5 modules hit retail last year—we have witnessed a slow trickle out of 24 GB and 48 GB capacity sticks, granting unusual memory configurations on compatible AMD and Intel platforms. The CT12G56C46S5 and CT2K12G56C46S5 are supported by "Core 13th Gen and Ryzen 6000 Series laptop CPUs and above." Crucial's latest DDR5 SODIMM could be the first 12 GB capacity model to reach retail, unless a rival manufacturer sneaks out an equivalent item prior to March 31.

The existence of Intel's upcoming Core i9-14900KS processor has been confirmed by a series of insider leaks and premature retail listings—an "alleged" example was photographed and appeared online right at the start of 2024. French e-tail listings produced evidence of two packages—a traditional retail box version, and a barebones tray option for OEM purposes. Earlier today, the I_Leak_VN social media account uploaded proof of a single "Special Edition" box sitting in an unnamed Vietnamese warehouse—it is not immediately clear whether units have reached retail facilities, or have just arrived on Southeast Asian shores. The embargo-busting post seemingly corroborates global insider information/whispers about distribution networks receiving stock—possibly in preparation for a rumored mid-March launch. VideoCardz believes that Vietnamese customers will be paying roughly $765 a pop—30% pricier than the current cost of 14th Gen Core flagship ownership.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB reference model has reached UK shores, albeit very briefly and with a very low stock count—e-tailer AWD-IT Gaming PC (ADMI Ltd.) was the first shop in the region to offer XFX's Navi 31 XL partner card. Team Red's formerly Chinese market-exclusive Radeon RDNA 3 GPU has made its way West—as of late last year—but retail presence in Europe is less than inspiring. Circumstances could change—recent rumblings indicate that more custom options are incoming—GIGABYTE is readying a Gaming OC variant, possibly paving the way for a wider release through mainstream channels. PowerColor's Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 GRE OC model has also been spotted on European price comparison engines.

UK buyers were treated to an initial batch of a dozen (or fewer) XFX Radeon RX 7900 GRE Reference graphics card, at £659.99 (~$832) including VAT and free delivery. AWD-IT's listing is inactive at the time of writing, but the SKU remains as a searchable asset on their web store. It appears that curious UK hardware enthusiasts have snapped up the first round of Golden Rabbit Edition (GRE) curiosities, although the price point was nowhere near as attractive when lined up against past offerings within EU mainlands. For example, Italy's PSK Mega Store had reference stock priced at €542.66 (~$585) a piece, with a digital copy of AVATAR: Frontiers of Pandora bundled in. The XFX Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB SPEEDSTER MERC 310 model is currently discounted—£699.99 via Ebuyer UK—representing a very tempting higher-specced custom design prospect (going for only £40 more than the RX 7900 GRE) .

Box Limited, a popular PC and electronic retailer in the United Kingdom, has ceased doing business—this follows insider reports of Box Ltd. filing for administration last week. A few days ago, the company's web store was updated with a front page announcement that confirmed a total cessation of operations. The online store is still semi-functional (at the time of writing)—you can add items to your basket, but the checkout process automatically kicks you back to the site's main page. UK publication, eTeknix, had the inside track on Box's troubles—despite a very buoyant 2023: "Box Limited is one of the biggest PC and tech retailers in the UK, or at least… we thought they were. When Tactus bought them out last year for £100 million, it seemed like things were only on the up for Box, but according to our sources, things are looking pretty bleak for the UK retailer."

Last week's article elaborated further on problems behind-the-scenes: "Firstly, Box may be owned by Tactus, but are currently being sued by their new owner for £18 million because they had allegedly over-inflated their value before they were bought out. That's a big no-no in the business world, obviously, and while I cannot confirm if that is true or not, as that's a matter for the courts to decide, it's fairly safe to assume that it has some bearing on their more recent predicament...Sources close to us, whom we cannot disclose, have informed us that Box Limited has submitted an administration application. Further sources have indicated to distributors of various hardware that "box is end of life" and that their insurance companies are recommending they do not send products to Box Limited. No point sending hardware to them if they're going into administration, as you would just be throwing money away… not a good business move." The Tactus Group has a pretty large portfolio of UK retail presences, including: Chillblast, Horizon, Geo, and CCL Computers. The loss of Box.co.uk is certainly going to sting (following last year's £100 million investment) since their acquisition also covered several brick and mortar shops located in the UK Midlands.

A whole bunch of custom GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER and 4070 Ti SUPER graphics card models were available to purchase via online retail outlets last week—several ZOTAC options were available on Amazon USA for a brief period over the weekend. Enthusiastic customers have jumped at the chance to acquire potent Ada Lovelace SUPER cards ahead of NVIDIA's official review embargo and launch dates—TPU's resident GPU Judge has just published his first set of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER evaluations. An early example was documented on the /NVIDIA community subreddit—user "LightMoisture" provided evidence of his PNY RTX 4070 Ti VERTO Triple Fan purchase arriving two days before the sanctioned release date (January 24).

It is not too surprising to see retailers ship out pre-ordered products a tad prematurely (given delivery lead times), but intriguing posts on social media have been highlighted by VideoCardz. A very fortunate soul has received an ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 4080 SUPER OC graphics card, well in advance of Team Green's preferred January 31 launch day. The plucky owner has asked around for functioning drivers (good luck)—LightMoisture also ran into this issue with his PNY RTX 4070 Ti VERTO. The next public GeForce Driver release (551.15) is due tomorrow, with (presumed) support for GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER GPUs. LightMoisture's evidence included screenshots of the aforementioned PNY card's crendentials being displayed in TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.57.0, and test results generated by Maxon's Cinebench 2024 suite.

Samsung seems to be preparing follow ups to its current selection of Portable T7 SSDs—the series debuted back in early 2020, so a couple of successors are more than due. Last week TechRadar started to pick up on various retail listings popping up in Australia, France and the Netherlands. This information was posted online prematurely and by mistake—the involved organizations have since removed entries from their web stores. Samsung's Dutch division has been slow to respond, and its portal for a "MU-PG2T0B" model is still active (at the time of writing). France's Grosbill and P12.fr had listings for two T9 variants (1 TB and 2 TB configurations) sporting the aforementioned product code. Similar details appeared over in Australia, courtesy of the Microboss site. One of the French e-tailer spec sheets mentioned that Samsung's T9 SSD read and write speeds maxed out at 2 GB/s.

TechRadar believes that Samsung will be blowing out current T7 models during November's Black Friday sales week, in anticipation of clearing the way for all things T9. The publication managed to catch some (likely) placeholder prices from its sources, prior to removal: "There's also every chance it could be cheaper at launch than the T7, with PC12.fr retailing the T9 SSD for €236.52 including VAT (roughly $250) and Gosbill Pro retailing the device for just €199 (roughly $215) - though it's unclear if this is inclusive of taxes." There is also speculation regarding the integration of Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, since the older T7 generation relies on the preceding standard.

Intel 14th Gen Core CPU series leaks continue to emerge this week—MSI let slip an NDA slide during a livestream a few days ago, and now a retail outlet in the Ukraine has listed six Raptor Lake-S Refresh SKUs on its online store, as spotted by the ever watchful momomo_us. The placeholder product pages that have popped up on Telemart seemingly provide us with yet another look at SKU names, basic specifications, cache sizes, as well as maximum clock speeds. These appear to reaffirm information gleaned from previous leaks regarding 14th generation K and KF models.

Intel's Innovation 2023 event is set to take place on September 19 to 20—where Team Blue is expected to make a big presentation on Raptor Lake Refresh processor ranges (as well as Meteor Lake), so it is somewhat surprising to see retail listings appear well in advance of next month's official announcements, and the anticipated 14th Gen Core K-series product launch in October.

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 8 GB GPU debuted in late May, with an official MSRP of $269 for North America, and €299 for European territories. The lower than expected entry price point for US customers came as a surprise to some media outlets—launch MSRP was expected to be closer to $299, but Team Red allegedly made some last minute adjustments. Board partners often charge more for their custom designs—with beefier heatsinks, extra cooling fans and RGB lighting zones adding to costs. Acer seems to be taking quite a bold approach with their Southern European pricing strategy for two new Radeon RX 7600 Predator BiFrost models.

Potential customers in the States seem to be getting a slightly better deal—the Predator BiFrost Radeon RX 7600 8 GB card is reported to retail for roughly $274 while its overclocked sibling could cost around $290. Acer Spain has stated in official press material that their Radeon RX 7600 Predator BiFrost series will start at €399 (~$448), and confirmed to local tech site El Chapuzas Informatico that this higher than expected figure was not a typo. Retailers in the region have had a difficult time shifting units, and implemented price cuts shortly post launch time—the current cheapest custom RX 7600 card on the market is going for €259. It will be interesting to see whether the rest of Europe will be treated to the €399 starter prices for Acer's debut foray into Radeon graphics technology.