Gaming

Latest rumors claim that AMD is preparing a March 18 launch for the RX 6700 XT mid-range gaming cards, even though Team Red is among the companies that have been hit the hardest by the global semiconductor shortages. This will most likely be another rushed paper launch to counter Nvidia's RTX 3060 release.

Call of Duty 2021 may possibly be based in a World War 2 setting, according to rumors. The new installment is being developed by Sledgehammer Games, which was also responsible for Call of Duty: WWII in 2017.

It turns out that ZOTAC has been selling both its RTX 3060 cards before NVIDIA's release embargo on February 25. Now, the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3060 Twin Edge OC Edition has popped up in a video about mining Ethereum. However, it seems that the RTX 3060 can tell that it is mining cryptocurrencies even without software drivers being installed, which points to NVIDIA having baked something within the BIOS, not just its drivers.

The Asus ROG Phone has arguably been the benchmark for Android gaming-focused powerhouses since the debut of its series in 2018. Therefore, it will see its fourth generation in 2021. Despite this, the OEM has confirmed rumors that it will be called the 5 rather than the 4.

Fans of open-world FPS titles will be pleased to know that Avalanche Studios and id Software-developed Rage 2 is free on the Epic Games Store. It can be redeemed before February 25 and will be yours to keep forever.

AMD and NVIDIA may have new 8 GB cards on the way, albeit versions of ones that they have already released. For one reason or another, an NVIDIA board partner has registered an RTX 3060 with 8 GB of VRAM with the RRA in South Korea, while a retailer claims that people can pre-order desktop PCs with an 8 GB version of the RX 6800.

Nvidia has announced in an official blog post that the upcoming GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards will feature drivers that limit the GPU’s performance if the board is used for crypto mining. At the same time, Team Green has also revealed the CMP HX processors that are specifically designed for digging up digital coins.

We recently tested the Aorus 15G XC. The gaming laptop has been updated from an RTX 2070 to a new RTX 3070. In exchange, the manufacturer seems to have made a surprising number of cuts and removed a number of the predecessor's popular features.

The Hong Kong-based video card maker ZOTAC has uploaded an image on Twitter that has already been met by considerable ire from gamers. The picture shows a lineup of White Edition GeForce RTX 30 Series cards that look like they are hooked up as part of a huge mining rig. Tags in the tweet are aimed at gamers but the caption is definitely for crypto miners.
Update: ZOTAC has now removed the polarizing tweet.

A fairly capable performance laptop for an entry-level price. The Gateway Creator 15.6 includes a Ryzen H-series CPU, GeForce GPU, and even a high refresh rate 120 Hz IPS display for a performance level that's similar to many flagship performance Ultrabooks.

The Xbox Wireless Headset may be Microsoft's latest pair of over-ear headphones, but it is a pair that the company first teased in October 2020. Easter egg or a delayed-release, the Xbox Wireless Headset is available pre-order now for US$99.99 and will begin shipping from March 16.

The passively-cooled Asus TUF RTX 3080 GPU was tested in Furmark along with a Ryzen 5 5600X and the results were a bit sketchy. While the CPU was running at 40 degrees Celsius during the Furmark test, the GPU peaked at 87 degrees Celsius and it did not even level out. Total power draw appears to hover around 410 W, most likely in idle.

Nvidia allows laptops to have 140 W GeForce RTX 3070 GPUs and 100 W GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs which can lead to some peculiarities in raw performance. Certain laptop models with the RTX 3080 are going to run consistently slower than models with the "weaker" RTX 3070 because of their wide overlapping TGP ranges.

Epic Games has stepped its dispute with Apple over developer remuneration by filing an official antitrust complaint with the European Commission (EC). It alleges that competition in the app-distribution and payment markets has been "completely eliminated" by Apple's practices of insisting that these activities are carried out through its App Store for all software intended for use on iOS.

An industry insider has prophesized that Blizzard will announce Diablo 2 Resurrected at BlizzConline, which is set to take place between February 19 and February 20. We could even some new Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 gameplay at the online-only event.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX desktop graphics cards of any nature are difficult to source currently. However, ZOTAC is now running a sale on the MAGNUS EN72070S and MAGNUS EN72070V, which have the RTX 2070 and RTX 2070 SUPER, respectively. The mini-PCs have an Intel Core i7-9750H too.

COVID-19 has caused some internet cafes to pivot their business models, with RTX 30 series graphics cards replacing people. Unsurprisingly these new graphics cards are being used for mining cryptocurrencies.

News about the RTX 3070 Ti has been quiet in recent weeks, with FinalWire adding support for the card to AIDA64 Extreme in December. Now, a retailer briefly listed an RTX 3070 Ti with 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on its website as part of a pre-built PC.

The new Prometheus XVII gaming laptop series comes with advanced features like the enhanced thermal design that supports overclocked Ryzen 7 5800H processors coupled with 150 W RTX 3080 mobile GPUs. All inside a 0.98-inch thick chassis. It also includes the Control Center 3.0 suite that lets users easily tweak CPU PL settings, custom power and fan profiles, GPU wattage etc.

Razer's new ultralight mouse has an insanely high maximum sensitivity of 18000 DPI and PTFE feet for a smooth glide on most flat surfaces. Even if you're not an MMO player, the auxiliary buttons can be just as useful for office and editing workloads.

Google has effectively given up on making first-party games for its streaming service Stadia. However, it has committed to bringing more titles from external studios to the platform in the course of 2021. They are slated to include Far Cry 6, FIFA 21 and Hello Engineer, although not all of those will form part of the first wave of these new games.

New findings support the idea that the PlayStation 5 does not support AMD Infinity Cache. The first SWIR die shot of the PlayStation 5 points to Sony having cut other RDNA 2 features too, including some FFUs and FMAs or FMADDs.

There have been reports of computer part retailers in Europe hiking prices of GeForce RTX 3060 AIB boards before the graphics card is even launched. Nvidia’s MSRPs for the GeForce RTX 3060 are US$329/€329/£299 but retailer prices have gone beyond double in some cases. Gamers have been blaming the hikes on cryptocurrency miners.

The RPCS3 PlayStation 3 emulator has improved considerably over the years. A recent YouTube videos shows an updated version of the emulator running Uncharted: Drake's Fortune at roughly 40 FPS on a Comet Lake i5: Ryzen chips like the 3600X and the newer Ryzen 5000 lineup should do even better.

NVIDIA has taken matters into its hands and has intervened on how OEMs advertise its RTX 30 series laptop GPUs. OEMs will now be required to disclose their RTX 30 series laptops' TGPs and clock speeds, but NVIDIA has removed TGP values from its official release drivers.
Updated: A GeForce Hotfix Driver has re-enabled Maximum Graphics Power information for RTX 30 series laptops.

The GeForce RTX 3070 offers 20 percent faster graphics performance than the RTX 2080 Max-Q and it even comes with the same 1 TB SSD capacity, 32 GB RAM, and 300 Hz display. Interested buyers would be better off with the newer Ampere SKU or waiting until the RTX 2080 Max-Q SKU drops in price.

NVIDIA has formally announced that the GeForce RTX 3060 will arrive on February 25, following confirmation from various sources. The GA106 card is slated to launch for US$329 too, despite its apparent limited availability and amid concerns about price increases.

The Epic Games Store is releasing all Kingdom Hearts games (across various collections) for the PC on March 30. The games appear to be direct ports from the respective console versions.

The Xbox Series controllers can switch between devices with a button press, making them perfect for gamers who regularly switch between an Xbox and a PC or a smartphone using Game Pass. The feature works on Xbox Series S and Series X controllers.

The ever-popular Nintendo Switch now has a Super Mario-themed edition. It is essentially the same as a normal SKU of this device, although it has a new red-and-blue colorway and is bundled with an appropriately-themed new carrying case, as well as JoyCon grips and straps in matching colors. It starts at US$299 on Best Buy.

The upcoming Rocket Lake desktop CPUs can reach 5.3 GHz boost clocks and Intel hopes to reclaim the single-core crown, but it looks like AMD is ready to announce a countermove that could essentially render the whole Rocket Lake launch pointless.

An extensive comparison video has shown what to expect from the upcoming Intel Core i9-11900K on a Z590 motherboard. The Rocket Lake processor was benchmarked against AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 7 5700G, which are also eight-core processors. Intel has an edge in synthetic benchmarks, but AMD reigns supreme in gaming benchmarks.

NVIDIA recently launched a DLSS plugin on the Unreal Marketplace, potentially kicking off widespread adoption of its AI-based upscaling technology. Developers should now be able to effortlessly incorporate DLSS in games that run on the Unreal engine.

PlayStation 5 scalpers have made a misjudged effort in regard to changing the gaming public’s overwhelmingly negative opinion of their activities. Those involved with PS5 scalping have claimed that the bad press surrounding them is unjustified. A British politician has put forward a Private Members’ Bill to ban retail bot use and console scalping.

The native 1440p resolution will pair perfectly with mid-range to high-end graphics cards even more so than 4K for gamers who prioritize frame rate over resolution. The sale price is attractive considering the large 32-inch screen size.

The ViewSonic XG2705-2K may look unassuming, but it is very much a gaming monitor. The 27-inch monitor features an IPS panel capable of running natively at 1440p and 144 Hz, while supporting 1 ms response times and AMD FreeSync Premium. ViewSonic promises that the XG2705-2K will cover 96% of the DCI-P3 colour space, too.

A Weibo leaker suggests that Huawei is working on a new gaming console called the MateStation. It could be launched alongside the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in China later this year. There is also a Huawei-branded gaming laptop in the works.

Modders discovered that the MSI Leopard G76 vBIOS can be flashed on the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, allowing the RTX 3080 TGP to be raised from 115 W to 150 W. This trick can provide up to 18% increased performance, but it can also lead to serious stability issues like increased cooler noise, thermal throttling and battery problems caused by overwhelmed power supply.

A deleted tweet by a Spanish tech YouTuber claims that Xbox fans will get some "very interesting" news on February 17. Sadly, there are no details to talk about right now, but it is very likely that the backward compatibility update that promises double frame rate for old games locked at 30 fps will be finally unveiled.

Sony’s PS5 has launched to generally positive reviews but it has faced its fair share of gremlins such as discs getting stuck on the drive through to some consoles becoming bricked. Now, a US law firm is investigating a potential class action lawsuit against the company for what appears to be an emerging issue with its all-new DualSense controller.

New images and a video of Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops being used for cryptocurrency mining have been shared on Chinese social media. Hundreds of units from the laptop company Hasee can be seen lined up on shelves in a mining farm for digging up digital coins. The GeForce RTX 3060 notebooks are put straight to work right out of the box.

Back in the Nvidia Pascal days, the chipmaker boasted that its mobile GPUs have caught up to their desktop counterparts in terms of performance. Fast-forward to 2021 and that claim has all been thrown out the window.

AYA has delayed the launch of its AYA NEO Indiegogo campaign. Citing factory closures, the AYA NEO will now launch after Chinese New Year, although it is unclear when.

The next Black Shark gaming smartphone will not look as outlandish as its predecessors, according to new images published by the TENAA. The device, thought to be the Black Shark 4 Pro, retains the physical shoulder buttons of previous Black Shark smartphones, but with a simpler design.

The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is being given a new lease of life, almost half a decade after its initial release. According to a new report, NVIDIA has already started resupplying the card to plug the gap currently left by the RTX 30 series.

When it comes to NVIDIA's Ampere laptop GPUs, variation in TGPs is just one conundrum. Apparently, NVIDIA is keeping mum on Dynamic Boost 2.0 clocks due to which OEMs, apart from determining TGP and Max-Q features, are also deciding on which boost clocks to advertise further complicating matters for both reviewers and end users alike.