Gaming

Little known company SZDiiER has started selling the D-007, a compact gaming handheld that clearly takes inspiration from the Powkiddy RGB20S. Accordingly, the SZDiiER D-007 relies on a Rockchip RK3326 SoC and has a 3.5-inch IPS display, among other features.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB scores 146,10 and 144,910 points in Geekbench's CUDA benchmark. It packs 4,325 CUDA cores and has a boost clock of 2.54 GHz. Nvidia is expected to announce the graphics card later this month.

This discounted configuration also includes 16 GB of DDR5-5200 RAM, 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage and a 15.6-inch IPS screen with 1080p resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate. As a bonus, Lenovo is throwing in a 3-month Xbox game pass.

One disadvantage of the current QD-OLED monitors is the matte finish that reduces the contrast and produces slightly raised blacks when hit by light sources. This problem is finally alleviated with the introduction of the glossy finish on the upcoming second generation QD-OLED gaming monitors.

It appears GPU sales in the German market are experiencing a considerable slowdown. According to TechEpiphany’s data compiled by 3DCenter, MindFactory’s total GPU unit volume of the 19th week of 2023 came in at 2,775 which represents a 22% decline compared to the 2022 annual average and a stark 38% fall vs the 15th week of the current year.

Logitech has announced European and UK pricing for the G Cloud, its 7-inch gaming handheld based on the Snapdragon 720G. Despite always having the G Cloud on sale in the US, Logitech has decided to sell the device for about as much as a Steam Deck in Europe and the UK.

Philips is on the verge of releasing the Evnia 25M2N3200W, a 24.5-inch gaming monitor with a 240 Hz refresh rate and a 1080p native resolution. The Evnia 25M2N3200W will be available later this month in multiple markets, including in the Eurozone for €219.

Philips continues to expand its Evnia gaming monitor. The Evnia 25M2N5200P has a fast IPS panel with 1 ms response times that also delivers 400 nits peak brightness. Philips combines the bright panel with a 280 Hz refresh rate and numerous ports, among other features.

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is now going for US$650 off at Best Buy for the Ryzen 9 6900HS and Radeon RX 6800S configuration. The laptop is highly rated with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars on Best Buy and for good reason, as it is both portable and powerful.

Although the discount to US$2,999 may still feel steep for an RTX 4070 laptop, the XPS 17 does include premium features like a 17-inch 4K touchscreen, quad-speaker setup and a sturdy chassis made of CNC machined aluminum and carbon fiber. This configuration also packs 32 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM and 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage.

Unveiled at the end of 2022 with a list price of US$1,499.99, the 34-inch Samsung Odyssey G85SB QD-OLED curved gaming monitor (model number LS34BG850SNXZA) is now available for US$1,299.99 via both Amazon and Samsung US. Its highlights include a 175 Hz refresh rate, a minimum response time of 0.03 ms, HDR True Black 400, and more.

Jensen Huang received compensation for his role as Nvidia president and CEO totaling US$21.356 million for Fiscal 2023. Astonishingly, the executive could have actually earned almost US$25 million if Team Green had met all its sales targets for the year. However, a “tough 2022” meant that Huang had to settle for a few dollars less.

A relatively small but certainly welcome 7% discount makes the Acer Nitro 16 configuration with an RTX 4070 a reasonable choice for impatient gamers who cannot wait for the inevitable price drops that these 2023 gaming laptops will eventually experience.

VideoCardz claims to have obtained more information about the forthcoming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Purportedly, NVIDIA plans to bring an abundance of VRAM to its next mid-range graphics card, which will also be joined with a TGP bump.

Asus' latest Android gaming flagship smartphone builds on the most advanced and unusual features of its most premium forebears, an in-built AeroActive cooling portal included. However, none of that prevented the 6 Pro's JerryRigEverything bend-test fail. Can its 2023 counterpart do any better?

Available on Amazon since mid-October 2020, the Asus ROG Swift PG329Q gaming monitor has been priced for a long time at US$699.99. A few days ago, it dropped to the lowest value recorded so far, which is US$483.12. According to Camelcamelcamel, its average price based on the last 50 changes is US$634.33.

A possible Nintendo Switch 2 release date has emerged out of a mixed bunch of rumors, leaks, and news lately. An eclectic mixture of incidents has led some observers to believe that Nintendo will release a Switch 2 console in 2023, despite some seemingly convenient mistranslation work in recent reports.

Also available with Intel Core i7-12700H and i9-12900HK processors, the Alienware x17 R2 gaming laptop with i9-12900H is now available for US$1,999.99, US$900 less than Dell's estimated value of US$2,899.99. This discounted configuration also comes with GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics, 16 GB RAM, a 1 TB SSD, and Windows 11 Home.

Sometimes you don't want to play a battle royale or MOBA game and instead want to feel like you're part of an expansive world brimming with colour and adventure. Well, action adventure games tend to deliver that in spades. This May, some of Steam's best action adventure game releases in recent years are on sale.

Nvidia's next gen RTX 50 Blackwell with purported 144 SMs isn't reaching ambitious performance gains in internal testing, according to latest rumors. Apparently, Blackwell's performance gains vis-à-vis AD102 are in the range of what we've seen from Pascal to Turing, but Nvidia wants more. This could imply that Nvidia might go for higher SMs counts with GB102 and possibly even a multi-chip module architecture similar to the purported GB100 datacenter GPU.

A Taiwanese retailer has shared details about the Predator XB323KRV, a forthcoming Acer gaming monitor with a high resolution and fast IPS panel. The Predator XB323KRV will also feature plenty of ports and DisplayHDR 600 certification.

ASUS is now selling the ROG Ally, its first gaming handheld. For now, the ROG Ally only comes in its most expensive Ryzen Z1 Extreme trim. A Ryzen Z1 model is on its way, but not until Q3 2023 at the earliest.

RTX 4000-powered gaming laptops are gradually receiving bigger and bigger discounts, which has now resulted in a decent deal for the current Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 that sports a quick AMD processor and Nvidia's RTX 4070 dGPU.

Even though Ed Boon and WB's CEO specifically mentioned that Mortal Kombat 12 would be the title of the next MK game, it looks like this is no longer the case. According to Twitter leak, the title has been changed to Mortal Kombat 1 and it will be launched this year for PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Nintendo Switch.

GPD is now offering its G1, which it claims is the world's smallest eGPU. The GPD G1 relies on the AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT with OcuLink and USB4 ports for connecting compatible devices.

GPD is now taking orders for a 2023 refresh of the Win Max 2. As expected, the Win Max 2 2023 features AMD Phoenix APUs, faster RAM and an OcuLink port for connecting eGPUs. Prices start at US$799 or US$1,049 for Ryzen 7 7840U models.

Available on Amazon since the end of February 2022, the 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G50A (model ‎LS32AG500PNXZA) is a WQHD flat gaming monitor sporting an IPS panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time. Thanks to a 28% discount, it is now available for the lowest price so far: US$299.99.

AYN Technologies has revised plans for its LOKI gaming handheld series. Previously, the company hoped to deliver seven models consisting of two Intel SKUs and five AMD options. However, the company claims that limited demand has forced it to abandon three SKUs, including all Intel models.

According to a recent report by 3DCenter, consumers are seemingly moving away from buying GPUs with 8 GB RAM as users are apparently choosing cards with more than 8 GB of memory. 3DCenter’s analysis is based on the sales data collected by TechEpiphany from German retailer MindFactory.

The new RedMagic 8 Pro is an Android flagship with the claim to fame of being the only gaming smartphone with an under-display camera (UDC). Then again, its 2022 counterpart the 7 Pro can say the same - and also has an attractive discount as part of the brand's upcoming fifth anniversary celebration. RedMagic is also doing a giveaway on some of its PC accessories as well as its mobile devices to mart the event.

The higher-end Ryzen 9 7000X3D sales are certainly eclipsed by the Ryzen 7 7800X3D ones all over the world. Retailers like Newegg are now trying to entice AMD fans with 10% discounts on the more expensive models with 3D V-Cache.

A listing from an unknown Singapore-based retailer says the AMD Radeon RX 7600 will cost S$545 (US$410). The graphics card hits shelves locally on May 26.

Powkiddy is now selling its X55 gaming handheld directly. While a third-party retailer priced the Powkiddy X55 at just under US$150, Powkiddy has listed the same device for over 40% less.

A new leak says the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti will launch in two models, one with 8 GB VRAM and the other with 16 GB. The former is expected to hit shelves in May, while the latter goes on sale in July.

(Update: RTX 4080 model also discounted) Even with its steepest discount to date, the 16-inch Lenovo Legion Pro 7 remains a sinfully expensive RTX 4090 gaming laptop that is worth consideration for demanding high-end gamers with a large budget of almost US$3,000.

Joystick drift has become an increasingly common discussion point for many gamers as a result of the return of controller gaming. It's an understandable concern given the popularity of the likes of the Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and platformer games. Joystick drift can be eliminated though, by purchasing a good game controller that utilises hall-effect sensors.

Anbernic has released the RG353PS, a 3.5-inch gaming handheld powered by the Rockchip RK3566. Offered as a cheaper version to the RG353P, the RG353PS also features 1 GB RAM and no built-in storage.

The Powkiddy X28 is a compact gaming handheld powered by an entry-level Unisoc Tiger chipset. Available for under US$150, the Powkiddy X28 also has 64 GB of storage and a 5.5-inch display, among other features.

GPD is now offering a fix for display issues that affect every Win 4 unit. While the fix is solderless, it still requires you to obtain a few parts and open the back of the device.

The Acer Predator X45 combines an 800R curvature with a 1440p resolution, a 240 Hz refresh rate and 1,000 nits peak brightness. The gaming monitor also has plenty of video outputs, including USB Type-C, and a USB hub.

New versions of the GPD Win Max 2 are on their way with several upgrades over current models. Not only has GPD upgraded the Win Max 2 to the Ryzen 5 7640U and Ryzen 7 7840U, but it has also brought faster LPDDR5x-7500 RAM and an OcuLink eGPU connector to the 10.1-inch gaming handheld.

The Predator X27U is Acer's latest OLED gaming monitor. Equipped with a 27-inch panel as its name suggests, the Predator 27U promises to provide up to 1,000 nits peak brightness, a 1440p resolution and a 240 Hz refresh rate, among other features.

Aside from the RTX 4060, the 16-inch gaming laptop also features the fast Intel Core i7-13650HX CPU as well as an FHD display with decent color space coverage and a 165Hz refresh rate. For early adopters in particular, this deal for the Asus ROG Strix G16 might be worth a look.

Steam's free games roster is constantly growing, with new additions coming almost daily. April 2023 saw a number of particularly good new releases come to Steam. Here are four fun free games you might want to check out if you're in the mood for something new.