Gaming

One-Netbook has brought the ONEXPLAYER to AliExpress, following its successful crowdfunding campaign. The 8.4-inch handheld has a 1600p display and is available with a Core i5-1135G7 or a Core i7-1165G7, albeit from over US$1,200.

Following The Ascent’s simultaneous launch on Steam and Xbox Game Pass, gamers noticed that the Xbox version broke support for both DLSS upscaling and ray-traced visuals. After a few days of uncertainty, Neon Giant cleared things up by promising a patch, fixing these features in the Game Pass version.

A group of hackers that hoped to make a quick buck by selling FIFA 21's source code have now dumped the whole thing online weeks after nobody expressed interest in buying it. The code in question didn't have any personal information, which is why it didn't drum up much interest.

The Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion pack, which is now part of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition collection, has apparently been spotted on the Xbox Marketplace for free play. It has been speculated that the Diablo III game might have been made free as part of the Games with Gold promotion for August.

Mark Cerny, the lead architect behind the development of the PlayStation 5, has shared the internal SSD drive he has plumped for in regard to expanding the storage on his own PS5 console. Cerny had to select a drive that could match or outpace the PS5’s own 5.5 GB/s-capable SSD, so it seems he selected a 7,000 MB/s-capable drive from Western Digital.

1080p gaming at 60 FPS is more attainable than ever this generation. The measly 8 GB of RAM, however, is still a thing. Users may want to upgrade the memory whenever they get the chance.

We were expecting to see RDNA iGPUs added to the Ryzen 5000 APUs, but AMD was not able to sync the production schedule for that to happen. Then we saw the leaked future gens with RDNA2 iGPUs, and we thought AMD is probably ditching the RDNA iGPUs altogether, but some recent Linux code uncovered by Phoronix seems to be proving us wrong.

While other manufacturers charge over 3,000 (~$3,561) or even around 4,000 Euros (~$4,748) for an RTX 3080 laptop, the Medion Erazer Beast X25 costs "only" 2,699 Euros (~$3,204) despite its very generous configuration.

AMD has now officially introduced the RX 6600 XT. The new RDNA 2-based card has 8GB of GDDR6 128-bit memory, has 32 compute units (CUs) and a clock-speed that can go up to 2.6GHz as standard. Therefore, the OEM aims it squarely at 1080p performance - not to mention potentially reasonable estimated starting prices once it emerges via partners on August 11, 2021.

As it turns out, a donut cannot just still one's hunger, but also provide valuable information on the release date of one of the most anticipated games of the year. The timely nature of this probably intentional reveal suggests that Microsoft intends to heavily promote the game ahead of its beta launch this week.

Initially supposed to launch with i7-1165G7 and i7-1185G7 processor options, the GPD Win Max 2021 handheld gaming laptop is now up for pre-order only with a surprising i7-1195G7 upgrade that is offered for the same price as the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U variant. Preordering now can further lower the price to only $999.

Sony has announced that the next PS5 beta firmware will let users expand their storage via an NVMe SSD. The SSDs need to be PCIe Gen 4 compatible and offer a sequential read speed of at least 5,500MB/s. Drive capacities can range between 250GB and 4TB.

Tipster @Olrak29_ shared consolidated specs for what appears to be AMD’s successor to the RDNA2-based RX 6900 XT. The purported RX 7900 XT is set to feature dual GPU dies connected by Infinity Fabric, for a total of 15360 shader cores.

Sony has announced that the PS5 has sold over 10 million units globally eight months after the console was launched in November 2020. The sky-high demand for the console, combined with new features like the DualSense controller and fast SSD, seems to have driven sales.

Samsung's newest Odyssey Neo G9 gaming monitor is finally here. Some of its key specifications include a 49-inch QHD curved mini LED panel with a refresh rate of 240Hz and 2,000 nits peak brightness. It supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. The monitor costs US$ 2,499 and will be available for pre-order on July 29.

The handy table makes it easy for users to compare and contrast the power levels of all the different Aero and Aorus laptops currently available with GeForce RTX graphics.

An industry blog asserts that display panels capable of ultra-high 480Hz refresh rates are now in the works. They will allegedly come courtesy of AU Optronics (or AUO) and LG Display, and may go into production at these companies by 2022. Therefore, monitors that can blow the fastest 1080p models of today out of the water might be on the way.

The 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop doesn't have the greatest specs or hardware, but it's good enough for users satisfied with 1080p gaming at 30 to 60 FPS. We recommend upgrading the 8 GB of RAM as soon as possible.

Lenovo debuted world-first 16-inch WQXGA (or QHD) laptop displays in its latest Legion 7 gaming machine. Its Ryzen 7 5800H-equipped SKUs are now available on the US market, starting at US$1,800. Its Intel counterpart (the Legion 7i Gen 6) has also now been released to the same OEM website.

The slimmer adapter is over 250 g lighter without impacting the overall performance of the laptop. Users can also now recharge the laptop via USB-C whereas that was not possible on the older G532 series.

NVIDIA's Lovelace RTX 40 GPU design has apparently been finalized according to a new leak. Lovelace is also likely to feature in the upcoming Nintendo "Super Switch" and could be a part of NVIDIA's Orin self-driving SoC systems. It looks like NVIDIA is planning to tackle competition from AMD RDNA 3 by ramping up production and reducing costs.

Amazon Prime Gaming is now offering new Battlefield titles for free for Prime customers starting with Battlefield 1 till August 4 followed by Battlefield V from August 2 through October 1. Prime members can claim the loot in Amazon Gaming and redeem the keys in the Origin desktop or web clients. Gamers can also experience Battlefield 1 Revolution on Steam for free this weekend.

Epic Games has announced that its store's Summer Sale 2021 event is now on. It contains deals such as 33% off Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or 20% off Days Gone. The platform has also released its usual choice of free games for the week, which currently include Defense Grid: The Awakening and Verdun.

The California-based computer hardware company promises to replace the ultra-expensive graphics cards that have been damaged beyond repair by Amazon's New World MMORPG. Meanwhile, it remains unclear what is going to happen with other GPU models that have also been bricked by the game.

The Predator offers a Core i7-10750H processor, a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU, 16 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode), and space for three drives (2x NVMe SSD, 1x 2.5-inch). In addition, there's a responsive Full HD display (IPS, 240 Hz) and quite good battery life.

The latest version of the GameCube emulator Dolphin includes an integrated Game Boy Advance, allowing players to enjoy games that rely on a connected Game Boy Advance. These include bonus features in games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as well as Game Boy Advance-controlled titles like Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures.

Netflix has officially confirmed recent rumors about its gaming expansion and announced that the new gaming features will be free of charge for existing customers. Furthermore, these games will not include any type of advertisements or in-app purchases.

Pokémon Go continues to pull in the bucks. After hitting US$5 billion in lifetime revenue earlier this year, this past weekend's Pokémon Go Fest 2021 pulled in over $21 million over just two days. The event also saw a flurry of activity from budding mobile Pokémon Masters.

Cooler Master has officially unveiled its Orb X gaming pod. The motorized enclosure features a 6-way adjustable seat for the ultimate in both immersion and comfort when gaming or working.

A YouTuber has shown how to fix Joy-Con drift, a common issue of many Nintendo Switch controllers. A little manual skill is required, but the fix is easy to carry out and reliable.

Sony's latest soundbar packs plenty of features, including HDMI 2.1, Dolby Atmos and AirPlay 2. Hence, the HT-A7000 could be an excellent option for pairing with a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X without compromising on sound.

Hopper is most likely to be a compute-only architecture, as the upcoming RTX 4000 GPUs are expected to be based on Ada Lovelace. Nvidia is probably taping out Hopper this soon in order to have everything ready by mid-2022 when Intel's Xe-HPC and AMD's CDNA2 are supposed to hit the market. Hopper is Nvidia's first attempt at a multi-chip-module design and is rumored to be produced on the 5 nm nodes from TSMC.

A report from Bloomberg has stated that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is keeping a watchful eye over the Nintendo Switch OLED, possibly with a PlayStation 5 price hike in mind. The new handheld console is US$50 more expensive than the regular Switch but comes with few revisions. If it sells wells, Sony could up the price tag of the PS5.

Samsung's 2021 Galaxy Z Fold flagship is projected to launch with the same Snapdragon 888 as its inflexible counterpart, the S21 Ultra, as sold in some regions. Now, a prominent leaker asserts that the former will cope better with heat generation during everyday tasks such as gaming compared to the former.

It may have taken Samsung over four months, but it has finally revealed the launch date of its revised 49-inch curved gaming monitor. The Odyssey Neo G9, previously called the Odyssey G9 2021, will arrive before the end of the month. Its launch price remains unknown.

Users reluctant to upgrade to the upcoming Windows 11 version will be happy to learn that the DirectStorage feature is coming to Windows 10, as well. Faster game load times and improved GPU texture decompression speeds will require Windows 10 version 1909 and up, but Windows 11 is getting the performance edge due to its improved OS storage stack.

At the ongoing GDC 2021 event, Nvidia showcased ray tracing and DLSS running on the ARM platform. The demos, which included Wolfenstein: Youngblood and The Bistro, were run on a MediaTek Kompanio 1200 platform paired with an RTX 3060. Nvidia said that it is porting several RTX SDKs to Linux and Chromium on ARM.

After testing over a dozen different laptops with the GeForce RTX 3060, users can expect up to a 19 percent performance decrease between the fastest and slowest models currently available. There's a catch, however, as real-world gaming performance on the 70 W GPU can be brought closer to average by opting for a newer CPU with higher or faster RAM.

With the TUF Gaming A15, Asus offers a powerful and comparatively inexpensive gaming laptop with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H. It offers decent gaming performance and a fast display.

The Sony Xperia 1 III has been put through its paces against a fierce competitor in the form of the Asus ROG Phone 5. Both Snapdragon 888 phones have a reputation for being fast, but it still comes as a surprise just how far ahead the Xperia 1 III manages to get against the ROG Phone 5 in this latest comparison.

Microsoft won't make a handheld XBox so Valve have done it themselves. The Steam Deck has the potential to fire up a fledging category of handheld PCs for gamers and not just enthusiasts.