Gaming

Tipster @SkullziTV recently outed another leaked image from a 2018 build of Bethesda’s upcoming space RPG, Starfield. @SkullziTV also claimed that Bethesda is aiming for a Q1 2022 release timeframe, nearly 7 years after the release of Fallout 4.

The Intel-based Neo M21 models might slightly lag behind those equipped with the Ryzen 7 5800H as far as CPU performance is concerned, but the addition of PCIe 4.0 and Thunderbolt 4 could be decisive for many users. Otherwise, the Neo 15 / 17 models powered by the i7-11800H seem to be mostly identical to the E21 AMD systems released earlier this year.

AOC has introduced a gaming monitor that could be ideal for those who own a Sony PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X. Not only does the Agon AG324UX support 4K natively, but it also runs at 144 Hz and has two HDMI 2.1 ports. A USB Type-C port with Power Delivery could be handy for laptops, too.

Lenovo has confirmed that it still plans to release the 18 GB version of the Legion 2 Pro, its latest gaming smartphone. The flagship will launch for CNY 5,999 (~US$932), over 60% more than the basic Legion 2 Pro costs.

NVIDIA has committed to releasing 'Lite Hash Rate' versions of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080. The RTX 3090 remains unaffected, but all other desktop RTX 30 series cards shipping from this month onwards will be capped at half their theoretical ETH hash rates.

The Trust GXT 258W Fyru mic has a USB interface, thus making it compatible with PCs, Macs and other devices. However, given its styling, not to mention its LEDs for RGB, it is clearly intended to pair with the PS5, especially its white SKU. Then again, with its 4 choices of recording mode and decent sampling rate, the OEM asserts it is also ideal for streaming or collaboration.

Corsair has announced that it will start switching to DDR5 in its next-gen modules. It hails the upcoming standard as a significant upgrade for memory, as well as for PCs in general, due to its increased bandwidth, maximal density per die and speed compared to its predecessor.

The Chinese mini PC maker is breaking away from its usual square-shaped builds with modest specs and is presenting its first all-AMD gaming-oriented system featuring an open air case packing a Ryzen 5 5600X processor coupled with 32 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and 1 TB M.2 SSD storage, plus a Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU.

Smach is on the verge of calling time on the Smach Z, nearly five years after taking it to Kickstarter. According to its founder, Smach is on the verge of bankruptcy, despite receiving over US$1 million from two crowdfunding campaigns.

Samsung has only just launched laptop-sized AMOLED displays in the Galaxy Book Pro line-up; now, the OEM has revealed another new party trick for these panels. They have attained an SGS certification that states they match up to this body's standards for use during gaming. They include certain levels of blur length and contrast ratio.

More GeForce RTX 30 series cards have been certified, this time the RTX 3050 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti. The RTX 3080 Ti has been certified once again too, as have numerous CMP HX mining cards.

The new Dell laptop is a full-on chassis update from last year's G3 15 series with features derived from the Alienware m15. Its thicker gen-to-gen design should hopefully provide superior cooling potential than last year's model.

The DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5 is now available in two new colourways, Midnight Black and Cosmic Red. Both variants will be available for purchase starting next month.

Intel seems to be a little more subversive than usual with the latest anti-AMD marketing ploys, as demonstrated by Alienware with the Aurora R10 AMD Ryzen 5000 systems that appear to be mismarketed in favor of the R12 Intel Rocket Lake models.

Online retailers have been trying to enforce special policies to prevent crypto miners and scalpers from wiping out GPU stocks in no time. GPUs are now usually bundled along CPUs, motherboards or SSDs, but crypto miners are obviously not interested in any of these, so they are expected to dump all non-GPU components at low prices on eBay.

GALAX has confirmed NVIDIA's plans to re-release the GeForce RTX 30 series with revised ETH mining limits. All cards bar the GeForce RTX 3090 have received new GPUs with a '2' suffix, replacing the '0' suffix from the original Ampere GPUs.

MSI has, perhaps unwittingly, listed the RTX 3080 Ti on its website. The blunder follows a crate of MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti VENTUS 3X 12G OC cards being spotted last month.

Asus has refreshed its ROG Zephyrus S17 with new Intel Tiger Lake-H and NVIDIA Ampere RTX 30 Laptop GPU offerings. Unlike the previous generation, the 2021 ROG Zephyrus S17 uses a rising keyboard mechanism for enhanced cooling. Also, the new Zephyrus S17 offers QHD 165 Hz and UHD 120 Hz panel options with no FHD 300 Hz in sight.

Samsung has applied to trademark the term "Activate Fan Mode" in Europe. This possible new setting applies to smartphones and tablets, thus strongly suggesting these devices will start launching with physical fans soon. This would be a particularly advanced next step in mobile-device cooling, if so.

The latest form of NVIDIA's Studio standard for creator-grade laptops combine in-demand specs such as RTX 3000-series graphics, 1440p screens and device heights of as little as 16 millimeters in some cases. The company has also now officially announced the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti platform for laptops, which are to be found in gaming machines as well as those for professionals soon.

GPD has upgraded the Win Max Mini, one of its handheld gaming PCs. The Win Max Mini 2021 will soon be available with Intel Tiger Lake and AMD Ryzen 4000 processors, which should both have improved gaming performance compared to last year's model.

An Intel Alder Lake processor showed up on CapFrameX's database running DOTA2. On average, the game ran at 189 FPS, which is somewhat low, given that it isn't particularly resource-heavy. It could have happened due to DOTA2's inability to recognize Alder Lake's core configuration properly.

The Nintendo Switch Pro has been namechecked in a Universal Display Corporation earnings call. According to UDI's CEO, Nintendo has chosen a display for its next handheld console, which would be a significant upgrade over the displays found in current models.

After recently introducing the Alienware m15 R4 and Ryzen Edition R5, Dell is offering yet another Alienware m15 laptop — the Alienware m15 R6. The Alienware m15 R6 offers several Tiger Lake-H and RTX 30 Ampere GPU options along with displays up to 360 Hz and an optional CherryMX ultra low-profile mechanical keyboard.

The RTX 2080 Ti has been modded to support 22 GB of VRAM. NVIDIA's former flagship card comes with 11 GB of VRAM as standard, but the company left in the ability for it to use double its default capacity.

The new Asus TUF Gaming F15 and F17 gaming laptops are finally here. One can configure them with up to an Intel Core i9-11900H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB NVMe SSD. Asus will tell us more about their prices and availability later.

The upcoming Alienware X17 compact gaming laptops will feature a couple of industry's first solutions, including the Element 31 thermal interface material made of a Gallium Silicone matrix for improved heat transfer and a quad fan cooling system. The press release also mentions 11th gen Intel CPUs and RTX 3000 GPUs, while the teaser images reveal a Thunderbolt 4 connector on the back, plus a 16:9 display.

Lenovo has upgraded the Legion 7i gaming laptop to offer Intel Tiger Lake-H CPU and NVIDIA RTX 30 Ampere Laptop GPU options. This year's Legion 7i is being pegged as the world's first 16-inch QHD gaming laptop with a 165 Hz 16:10 NVIDIA G-SYNC display. The Legion 7i also comes with a Corsair RGB keyboard and the Legion AI Engine to dynamically shift power between the CPU and the GPU.

MSI has launched a new gaming laptop powered by Intel's latest Tiger Lake-H chips. Key MSI Pulse GL66 specs include an Intel Core i7-11800H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, 15.6-inch screen with 144Hz refresh rate, and more. It will be available for purchase on May 16, starting at US$949.

Lenovo has upgraded its Legion 5i offerings to Intel Tiger Lake-H CPUs and NVIDIA RTX 3050/3050 Ti Laptop GPUs alongside the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 Laptop GPU options. Like the Legion 7i, the Legion 5i Pro also offers a 16-inch 165 Hz WQXGA panel and comes with Legion AI Engine to dynamically shift power between the CPU and GPU depending on the load.

Lenovo has launched two new variants of its Legion 5i gaming laptops. One comes with a 17.3-inch 144Hz FHD screen, while the other packs a 15.6-inch 165Hz QHD panel. Other Lenovo Legion 5i specs include an Intel Core i7-11800H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, and more.

Lenovo has launched a new gaming monitor alongside its Tiger Lake-H laptops. Key Legion Y25g-30 specs include a 24.5-inch FHD IPS panel with a 360Hz refresh rate, Nvidia G-Sync support, and a hub with three USB Type-A and one USB Type-C port. Lenovo will disclose its price and availability at a later date.

Thunderbolt 4, PCIe Gen 4, improved palm rejection, and an even thinner chassis round up the list of major changes for this year's premier gaming laptop from Razer.

MSI expects availability by the end of the month with display options that exactly match the GE76 Raider. If you've handled a GS66 before, then the new GS76 will feel very familiar.

Additional specifications of Intel's upcoming Xe-HPG DG2 GPU have leaked alongside a board layout diagram. The specs indicate a 100 W TDP for the 512, 384, and 256-EU variants. Xe-HPG DG2 could also feature support for DisplayPort 2.0. Intel is expected to launch Xe-HPG DG2 sometime between October and December this year starting with the low-end SKUs.

Kingston recently revealed a new lineup of HyperX DDR4 modules that clock up to 5333 MHz, which would make them among the fastest commercially available DDR4 stick on the market. The new HyperX parts will, unsurprisingly, be expensive, with a 16GB set to cost over US$1200.

A report by Spanish outlet Area Jugones indicates that Sony is planning to bring new DualSense controller variants to the market soon, in a wider range of colors. According to the outlet, both Red/Black and Grey/Black DualSense controllers are set to arrive as alternatives to the standard White/Black DualSense color scheme.

AMD is a whisker away from claiming 30% of the PC processor usage share in Steam’s hardware and software survey. The latest information from the popular game platform has AMD with 29.54% share and Intel on 70.46%. However, Alder Lake could be on course to take some of the shine off Ryzen’s critical acclaim.

Days Gone was released in 2019. Two years after, it's starting to look like Sony has no plans to make a sequel. Fans of the first game aren't too thrilled about that, though, and well over a hundred thousand of them have come out to make their feelings known as regards the release of Days Gone 2.

Redmi recently launched a 'game-focused' version of its premium K40 smartphone with MediaTek's flagship Dimensity 1200 processor. Now, the prolific leaker Digital Chat Station claims the Xiaomi-owned brand will launch a device with the "next step down", the 1100, soon. Could it be a Gaming Enhanced Edition Lite?

It's 2021, and, thus, a great time for Gigabyte to launch world-first pre-builds under its Aorus brand. The new Model X and Model S gaming PCs each have 10GB of GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, with "factory-tuned" Ryzen 5000 or Rocket Lake Core i9 platforms. The OEM claims to have crafted them "meticulously" out of first-party components, and are thus equipped to compete in the performance-focused rig space.

Initially believed to launch towards the end of 2021, AMD's alternative to the Nvidia DLSS technology could arrive in June, but only for PC gamers. According to Youtuber Coreteks, AMD's FSR will be based on a software-level algorithmic super sampling approach that is easy to implement by game developers and also works on non-AMD hardware like Nvidia GTX and possibly even Intel GPUs.

It seems that an AMD-powered Razer Blade laptop is on its way, going off teasers from Frank Azor and Ming-Liang Tan. The laptop is expected to be a Blade 14 with Ryzen Cezanne H APUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs.

The GPD Win 3 is now available from multiple retailers, following a successful crowdfunding campaign. The handheld games console is based on Intel Tiger Lake processors and has a slide-up display.

Sony and Nike have teamed up with basketball player Paul George and PS5 designer Yujin Morsawa on the PG 5, a pair of PlayStation 5 sneakers. Unsurprisingly, the PG 5 has a PlayStation 5-inspired colour scheme and incorporates many design elements from Sony's latest console. The Nike PG 5 will sell for US$120.

With Resident Evil Village set to release soon, outlets with review copies have published benchmarks that indicate that the game will scale very well on lower-end hardware. PC Gamer even managed to get Resident Evil Village running on the Ryzen 5 3400G with integrated graphics, albeit at 720p/60.