Gaming

The new Acer Nitro 5 is already to pre-order, months before its expected arrival. Retailers are offering the 15.6-inch edition with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, but Ryzen 9 5900HX SKUs should eventually be available. Acer has released Intel versions of the new Nitro 5, too.

A sample of the Intel Core i9-11900K has finally been unearthed on Geekbench and the Rocket Lake-S chip has produced a gigantic single-core score. Utilizing a Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master board enabled the i9-11900K to score over +32% higher than the i9-10900K and leave the Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 7 5800X playing catch up.

The Asus ROG Flow X13 GV301 laptop in combination with an AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS APU has been spotted in a couple of test runs on Geekbench. The Ryzen 9 5980HS produced strong single-core and multi-core results that hold up well against the Ryzen 9 4900H and Intel Core i7-1165G7. At one point, the Zen 3 chip was measured reaching 4.789 GHz.

At just 85 g, the Naga X is 30 percent lighter than the 120 g Naga Trinity while also costing less at retail. New optical sensors and PTFE feet make it a leaner and smoother alternative to the Trinity.

Nubia has hyped its 2021 flagship-grade gaming phone with a new spec: ultra-fast 120-watt (W) charging. A new leak suggests that there will be 2 variants of the device, only 1 of which will have the new technology. The putative Snapdragon 888-powered series is also now rumored to have other exciting features such as color-changing glass rear panels.

According to CEO Lu Weibing, Redmi will launch its first-ever gaming smartphone sometime in 2021. He has also confirmed that a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset will power it. The smartphone will be designed for mobile e-sports.

In multi-core loads, the Ryzen 9 5900HX easily steals the crown from last gen's king Ryzen 9 4900HS. However, the more impressive feat is recorded with the single-core tests that are usually dominated by Intel processors. Here, the 5900HX manages to reach the top position by defeating the workstation-grade Intel Xeon W-10885M.

Back in mid-2020, laptop OEMs explained that the inclusion of dGPUs more powerful than the RTX 2060 would not really make sense on Ryzen 4000H systems, as their performance would be limited by the 8x PCIe 3.0 lanes. However, the Ryzen 5000H systems still use only 8x PCIe 3.0 lanes, yet they come with up to an RTX 3080 dGPU option. Something is not adding up.

NVIDIA and OEMs will no longer specify whether a given Ampere Mobile GPU is a Max-Q or a Max-P variant. Ampere Mobile will be offered in a range of TGPs, and it will be the OEMs' discretion to decide which third generation Max-Q specs and TGG value should be used. This can confuse end users as a higher Watt RTX 3060 Mobile can potentially outperform a lower Watt RTX 3080 Mobile for a given workload.

Users who don't plan on exploiting the Thunderbolt 4 port of the Win 3 will be missing out on the single most important feature of the handheld as it is the secret to turning the system into a full-fledged docked Core i7 laptop PC.

Company founder and CEO Gabe Newell says that Valve is working on some single-player titles that will be announced later. He also talks about hosting The International DOTA2 championship in New Zealand, Valve Index shortages and the Cyberpunk 2077 fiasco.

A last-minute configuration change for the GA106 GPU seemed to have confused NVIDIA's add-in board (AiB) partners with respect to the RTX 3060's specifications, particularly the core clocks. We are also getting to know that the RTX 3060 may not arrive in a Founders Edition, and the render shown during NVIDIA's CES presentation was just a mockup.

Bloober Team, developers of The Medium, the first next-gen exclusive title to release on PC, recently shared update minimum, recommended, and ray-tracing system requirements for the game. PC gamers will require a GeForce RTX 1060 for a min-spec experience, with the GeForce RTX 3080 recommended for ray-tracing.

CubiOs Inc. is on the cusp of launching one of the most interesting gaming systems we’ve seen. The WOWCube is in some ways a digitalized take on the famous Rubik’s cube on the surface, but beneath its eight distinct surfaces lies a lot of clever technology and software.

AOC has introduced its latest curved gaming monitor, which supports high refresh rates and a peak resolution of 1440p. The AG323QCX2 offers a 1500R curvature and is VESA HDR400 certified.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 will soon be available with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Max-P, according to ASUS and two European retailers. Top-end SKUs will retail for as much as €2,299 and should start shipping by early February. There will be a Ryzen 7 5800HS and GeForce GTX 1650 edition, too.

The new Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ has made a couple of appearances on Geekbench that point to the convertible laptop being ideal for some light gaming sessions. The Iris Xe iGPU in the Surface Pro 7+ device’s Intel Core i7-1165G7 managed to outscore both the Nvidia GeForce MX350 dGPU and AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000 class).

NVIDIA's board partners have begun announcing GeForce RTX 30 series graphics card for the Mini-ITX form factor. Currently, Gainward, MSI and Palit have announced single fan versions of the GeForce RTX 3060, which has 12 GB of VRAM. All cards offer memory clock speeds of 15 Gbps and NVIDIA's GA106-300 GPU.

Sapphire has introduced a passively-cooled version of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, which it has called the GPRO X070. The company intends professional users to purchase the card, but it does feature four display outputs. There is also an Efficiency Mode BIOS for running the RX 5700 XT at reduced clock speeds.

A brief hands-on video of the upcoming Asus ROG Phone 5 has leaked showing what appears to be an AniMe Matrix display on the back of the phone similar to the one seen in the ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop. The video confirms the 05 branding and also briefly reveals the Armory Crate app that can be used to customize the content on the AniMe Matrix display.

Rocket Lake-S will use the Tiger Lake Xe graphics core, but it will be named as UHD Graphics 730 (24 EUs) and UHD Graphics 750 (32 EUs), according to leaked driver listings. A UHD Graphics P750 for the enterprise is also seen. Rocket Lake-S will only offer up to 32 EUs in order to accommodate the larger CPU cores.

Gigabyte has added a sort-of-new product to its graphics card range in the form of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming OC PRO 8G (rev 2.0). Desktop PC builders will likely be intrigued by the revisions that have been made to this RTX 3060 Ti variant, but it appears the biggest difference to the original model is a height reduction.

The Huawei MateBook 14 2021 features many internal upgrades from last year's model, including a switch to Intel's Tiger Lake platform. The MateBook 14 is available with up to a Core i7-1165G7 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU and 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM. Huawei only offers the MateBook 14 2021 with a 512 GB SSD though, and in two somewhat understated colours.

ASUS has teased the release of an upgraded ROG Phone, but a leaked hands-on photo suggests that the company has not called it the ROG Phone 4. Nonetheless, the next ROG Phone will feature a 6,000 mAh battery, 65 W charging capabilities, and expected to house Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 888 SoC.

Units are expected to ship as early as January 22 while the $1800 GeForce RTX 3070 configuration will come a bit later. Asus is betting big on both AMD and liquid metal to pull itself ahead of the competition this year.

NVIDIA appears to have silently announced a GeForce GT 1010 GPU earlier this week. The GT 1010 is a Pascal card featuring the 14 nm GP108 GPU similar to the GT 1030. The GT 1010 has only 256 CUDA cores enabled, supports 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM, and has a TDP of 30 W. Availability information is not known yet.

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling game console in the USA, Japan, UK, and Australia in 2020. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only arriving at the end of the year and then suffering from severe supply issues, sales of the Nintendo Switch ended on a high in December. Switch devices grabbed 87% of console sales in Japan in 2020.

NVIDIA has just unveiled a 12 GB version of the GeForce RTX 3060, which will be available sometime in February. However, a new EEC registration by Palit suggests that even more Ampere cards are on the way. Specifically, the board partner has registered multiple SKUs for the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti; both are rumoured to be arriving within the next few months.

NVIDIA has all but confirmed that the 2021 HP Omen 15 gaming laptop will be powered by RTX 3000-series graphics. According to a clearly premature sales listing on bestbuy.com, they will comprise the RTX 3070 Max-Q hinted at in previous tips. Its latest leak puts its starting price at US$1600.

The AMD Ryzen 5 4500U-powered AYA NEO is coming to global audiences, and for as little as US$699. The Indiegogo campaign for the handheld console will begin as early as February, with device estimated to start shipping in April. Only Super Early Bird backers will be eligible to purchase the AYA NEO at US$699, though.

Initially supposed to hit the market in mid-2020, the DisplayPort 2.0 monitors got delayed by the global pandemic and are now expected to become available in the second half of 2021. DP 2.0 is clearly superior to HDMI 2.0, as it offers an 80 Gbps bandwidth that can support 4K resolutions @240 Hz with uncompressed HDR color depth or 16K @60Hz with DSC.

Cyberport has revealed the price of what will probably be the flagship SKU of the new ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15, and it is expensive. At €2,799, the ROG Zephyrus G15 features an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS APU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q GPU a 165 Hz display with a native 1440p resolution. There is only one SO-DIMM slot though, with ASUS soldering 8 GB of RAM to the motherboard.

GPD has launched its latest handheld games console on Indiegogo, and it has already proven exceedingly popular with fans. The Tiger Lake-powered machine has raised over US$1.1 million from backers in less than a day. The GPD Win3 will begin shipping in May 2021 and is available to order with a Core i5-1135G7 or a Core i7-1165G7 processor. Both CPUs feature Intel's latest Iris Xe Graphics GPUs.

The Slimbook Titan offers an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H APU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and a 165 Hz display with a native QHD resolution. The machine currently starts at €1,599 and is intended for Linux users, but you can also configure it with Windows 10 licenses. The inclusion of a 93.4 Wh battery should keep the Slimbook Titan ticking over, too.

Eve has delayed the release of its Spectrum monitors in what is the least shocking news of 2021, and probably 2020. The company had originally planned to begin shipping its latest product on February 26, but now will not until April 20 at the earliest. The 144 Hz QHD model will not arrive until the 'end of Q2', too.

The latest addition to the Sound Blaster Z lineup comes with updated features, new gaming profiles, microphone and headphone EQ presets. The Sound Blaster Z SE has the same audio specs as the regular edition, such as up to 116 dB SnR and 24-bit/192 kHz sound. However, now there is virtual 7.1 support for headphones and 5.1 discrete audio on speakers.

The Zen 3 Cezanne part AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS has been spotted on Geekbench as part of the fascinating Asus ROG Flow X13 2-in-1 laptop. However, the results don’t seem as high as could be expected, when the Ryzen 9 5900HS should be flying past the Ryzen 9 4900HS and Tiger Lake Intel Core i7-1165G7.

Although they have different colors and frequencies (minor factory overclocks, of course), the two new ZOTAC video cards that use the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 as foundation stay within the 170 W TDP value of the reference design. Thankfully, since these are (almost) low-end parts, finding them should not be a problem.

CDPR CEO Marcin Iwiński has apologised to fans for the ongoing mess of Cyberpunk 2077. Iwiński has shared insights into the launch of the company's latest game and an update roadmap for Cyberpunk 2077 throughout 2021. The first patch is due this month, with another patch and free DLC to follow later this year. Iwiński has teased the arrival of the update for next-generation consoles, too.

EVGA and ZOTAC have followed ASUS in increasing the price of their NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series custom cards. The changes range from 4% to 23%, which correlate to price increases of between US$70 and US$350. Overall, prices hikes average 10% across over 30 cards.

The huge catch is that you'll have to live with an older quad-core Core i5-10200H CPU and just 8 GB of base RAM. Shipments are expected to arrive by February 2nd.

Asus has upgraded its ROG Strix Scar 17 with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and RTX 3080 Mobile. Like all ROG models in 2021, the Scar 17 will use liquid metal as the thermal interface material for the CPU. The Scar 17 also features a 360 Hz display, optical mechanical keyboard, ROG Keystone II, and more.

XMG has announced that the 2021 iterations of its PRO and NEO 15/17 laptops will have new, slim cases in addition to new specs. The NEO 15 and 17 also boasts fresh Ryzen 9 5900HX or 7 5800H AMD platforms, while the PROs stick with a Core i7 processor so as to be among the first on the market to combine RTX 3000 graphics with Thunderbolt 3.

For almost a decade, Electronic Arts has had exclusive access to the Star Wars IP. EA was the sole creator of AAA Star Wars games - an arrangement, which did not turn out to be very productive. And it is now coming to its end: Disney's new Lucasfilm Games division is opening up the IP for other partners, starting with Ubisoft.

Asus unveiled three new 4k monitors with HDMI 2.1 and support for gaming at 3840x2160 144 Hz. The company also announced a 1440p display with a blazing fast 240 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time.

The new ChromeBook CX9 and Flip CX5 models from Asus powered by the latest Intel Tiger Lake-U CPUs show that the Chrome OS laptops can easily match the performance of the traditionally more powerful Windows-based systems. The new premium-grade CX9 business laptop comes with enhanced security features and two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, while the Flip CX5 focuses on an expanded cloud-connected gaming experience.

The Asus TUF Gaming Dash F15 is the newest addition to Asus' TUF line of gaming laptops. It comes with 11th-generation Intel Tiger Lake processors, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, a 15.6-inch 240Hz screen, up to 32GB of user-upgradable RAM and 2TB of solid-state storage. It will hit stores in Q1 2021, with the price to be revealed at a later point.

Nubia has confirmed that its RedMagic series of premium Android gaming smartphones will get a new generation in 2021. This new device's first teaser reveals that its 4500mAh will be capable of charging by up to 120 watts (W). It is also likely to launch with the top-end Snapdragon 888 processor.

MSI has unveiled an upgraded Stealth 15M gaming laptop at its MSIology event at CES 2021. MSI calls the Stealth 15M the world's thinnest gaming laptop. The Stealth 15M is powered by the Core i7-11375H and RTX 3060 Mobile and comes in Carbon Gray and Pure White variants.

The MSI GP76 Leopard and GP66 Leopard gaming laptops have been unveiled at CES 2021. Both notebooks come with a 144Hh screen, 10th-generation Intel CPUs, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards, up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of solid-state storage. Their prices and availability will be revealed at a later time.