Gaming

Epic Games is offering Tomb Raider GOTY, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration and the Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for free on PC. The Tomb Raider Trilogy should run well on most systems, but the promotion ends soon.

At CES 2022, AMD showed off its first 3D V-cache enabled chip, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, targeted at gamers with performance that rivals that of the Ryzen 9 5900X and the Core i9-12900K. AMD CEO Lisa Su also offered the first sneak peek at Zen 4 and Socket AM5 that are slated for a 2H 2022 release

Sony will have a new virtual reality headset about five years after the PlayStation VR hit the shelves. It just previewed the PSVR2 features by tipping brand new Sense controller features, 'stunning visuals,' and an exclusive Horizon Call of the Mountain title written specifically for the PlayStation VR2 launch. Sony also released the first Horizon Call of The Mountain VR trailer, indicating that the PSVR2 launch is near.

At just 210 x 203 x 62.2 mm, the GeForce RTX 3080-powered mini PC is almost 70 percent smaller than the Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 OC that's meant for desktop form factors.

Acer has revealed the Predator Orion 5000 and the Orion 3000 gaming desktops for high-end and mid-range gaming markets. Orion 5000 desktop is the more expensive of the two with a 12th gen Intel Core i7 processor and an RTX 3080 GPU, while the cheaper Orion 3000 packs an RTX 3070.

MSI has refreshed the Raider GE76 and GE66 gaming laptops with Alder Lake processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and 3070 Ti graphics cards, DDDR5 RAM and more. Prices start at US$1,599 and go all the way up to USD 4,199.

MSI has upgraded the Creator Z17, which now supports Alder Lake-P processors and up to an RTX 3080 Ti GPU. The machine starts at US$3,249 but costs at least US$3,999 if you want a Core i9-12900H GPU. Meanwhile, the RTX 3080 Ti will set you back US$4,599.

The MSI Stealth GS77 has received a refresh to Alder Lake-P processors and NVIDIA Ampere GPUs. The upgraded machine starts at US$1,799 and rises to US$4,199 for a configuration with a Core i9-12900H, RTX 3080 Ti, 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.

MSI's updated Crosshair 17 comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-12700H and either an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or GeForce RTX 3070. The mid-range gaming laptop also features 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4x4 storage, and a 17.3-inch FHD 144 Hz display.

Liquid metal was a notable selling point for all 2021 Asus ROG laptops and a few Alienware models. MSI will finally have its own liquid metal option for some of its G series laptops beginning this year.

MSI showed off the new Crosshair 15 midrange gaming laptop, replete with either a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 or Core i9 CPU and a 30 series Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU. MSI also unveiled the Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition, which bears logos from the forthcoming Ubisoft game Rainbow Six Extraction.

MSI has revealed the Creator Z16P, a 16-inch laptop with plenty of high-end hardware inside. The Creator Z16P will be configurable with up to a Core i9-12900H processor, a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 64 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM. The laptop has a 1600p display too and starts at US$2,999.

Nvidia's fourth-generation Max-Q tech has been announced. The company claims that it can help bolster performance by making the graphics card work with the CPU. On the flip side, it can also help enhance battery life by up to 70%.

Dell has unveiled the Alienware x14 gaming laptop with an Intel Core i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3060, a 144Hz screen, and DDR5 RAM. The laptop will be available for purchase later in 2022, starting at US$1,499.

Asus has refreshed the ROG Zephyrus G14 with the Ryzen 9 6980HX, Radeon RX 6800S and a 16:10 QHD screen. It also features a MUX switch that switches between the dGPU and iGPU in real time. It will hit shelves in Q1 2022 for EUR 1,899 (US$2,150).

Nvidia has lifted the curtain off the laptop GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti variants. However, it hasn't told us much in the way of specifications, other than the fact that the former runs 16GB of VRAM. Laptops powered by both SKUs will hit shelves on February 1.

Acer has unveiled the Predator CG48, an OLED gaming monitor. As its name suggests, the Predator CG48 has a 48-inch panel, making it much larger than most gaming monitors. The Predator CG48 has a 138 Hz refresh rate too, but its high price tag and protracted release date may have some people looking elsewhere.

Acer has refreshed the Predator Triton 500 SE with the Intel Core i9-12900H, 32GB of 5,200MT/s DDR5 RAM, a 16-inch 240Hz panel and more. It will go on sale in late February 2022 for UR 2,499 (US$2,830).

The Acer Predator Helios 300 has received a much-needed Alder Lake upgrade along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. Other specs include a 165Hz QHD screen (15.6-inch and 17.3-inch), 32GB of 4,800MT/s DDR5 RAM, and Wi-Fi 6E. It will go on sale in March 2022, starting at EUR 1,799 (US$2,038).

The Acer Nitro 5 gets a dose of new processors from Intel, AMD and new Nvidia graphics cards, along with a new 165Hz QHD screen, which is available in 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch flavours. Prices start at EUR 1,499 (US$1,700), and availability begins in March 2022.

HP has now brought its Victus gaming sub-brand to the desktop with the Victus by HP 15L PC. Victus by HP 15L aims to further enhance mainstream gaming by offering a choice of the latest Intel 12th gen Alder Lake processors or AMD Ryzen 7 5000G APUs along with GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU options.

The HP Envy Desktop is now official with Intel Alder Lake processors, Nvidia Ampere/AMD RDNA2 graphics cards, up to 128GB RAM, 3TB storage, and more. It will be available for purchase in spring 2022 for an unspecified price.

The HP Omen 45L will be available in select regions starting January 5. One can configure it with up to an Intel Core i9-12900K, GeForce RTX 3090, 1TB NVMe SSD, and an 800W power supply. Prices start at US$1,899 for the entry-level variant.

The affordable HP Omen 25L gaming desktop is configurable with 12th-generation Intel Alder Lake/AMD Ryzen 5000G processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti/AMD Radeon RX 6700XT graphics cards. Its price and availability will be revealed at a later date

HP is introducing a new entrant into the Omen gaming monitor lineup with the Omen 27u. The Omen 27u is a 4K gaming monitor that can offer up to 120 Hz refresh rates with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles via HDMI 2.1 and up to 144 Hz when connected to a PC via DisplayPort 1.4. The Omen 27u covers 95% DCI-P3 color gamut and also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

Intel has now made the Alder Lake-H mobile processors official. The Intel Alder Lake-H lineup is led by the flagship Core i9-12900HK and is said to offer improved raw performance and better performance per watt compared to the Apple M1 Max and the Ryzen 9 5900HX. Intel also listed the SKUs available under the Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-U families.

HyperX has revealed the Cloud Alpha Wireless Gaming Headset, a new headset with a removable microphone. The headset offers up to 300 hours of battery life and has 50 mm drivers, among other features. The Cloud Alpha Wireless Gaming Headset will be available next month for US$199.99.

HyperX has introduced the Clutch Wireless Gaming Controller, a US$49.99 controller that supports Android devices and PCs. The Clutch Wireless Gaming Controller has a familiar button layout, plus support for 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The HyperX Cloud II Gaming Headset has 53 mm drivers, a vibrant colour scheme and an audio control box. The headset offers 7.1 virtual surround sound too, along with a uni-directional microphone. The Cloud II Gaming Headset will retail for US$99.99 when HyperX starts selling it in March.

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless Gaming Mouse has arrived in two colours. The Pixart PAW3335-equipped gaming mouse supports RGB, up to 100 hours of battery life and wired or wireless connections. The Pulsefire Haste Wireless Gaming Mouse will be available for US$79.99.

The HyperX Alloy Origins 65 is a 65% mechanical gaming keyboard. The compact keyboard has dedicated arrow, delete, page up, and page down keys though, plus media controls. The HyperX Alloy Origins 65 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard will sell for US$99.99 will be available with a choice of three switch types.

The HyperX Cloud Core Gaming Headset is a US$69.99 gaming headset with removable accessories. The headset is available in one colour and has 53 mm drivers, among other features.

At CES 2022, Dell has announced the Alienware x15 R2 with upgraded internals and a design philosophy similar to last year's x15 R1. The Alienware x15 R2 can be configured in Intel Alder Lake Core i7-12700H and Core i9-12900H 14-core 20-thread options along with a choice of several Dolby Vision displays and storage tiers. The LPDDR5 RAM comes soldered on the motherboard.

Dell announced the new Alienware x17 R2 at CES 2022 featuring Intel Alder Lake-H processors up to the Core i9-12900HK, Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti graphics, and 17.3-inch UHD 120 Hz display options. The Alienware x17 R2 also offers expandable DDR5-4800 memory, 12-phase GPU VRMs, and an optional CherryMX ultra-low profile mechanical keyboard.

AMD has taken the covers off its entry-level offerings, the Radeon RX 6500 XT and Radeon RX 6400. Both graphics cards use a Navi 24 GPU and feature 4GB of GDDR6 video memory. The Radeon 6500 XT will cost US$199 and be purchasable in the United States on January 19.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 was unveiled by Nvidia at CES 2022. It features 8GB of 16Gbps VRAM, 2,560 CUDA cores, a boost clock of 1.8GHz and a 130W TGP. It will hit shelves on January 27 for US$249.

While laptops with 120Hz 4K displays may be few and far between, the CES 2022 expo is showing that this year may turn the tide on high refresh rate 4K monitors, notebooks and TVs. The latest entrants in that trend come in the form of 4K TVs with mini-LED panels by TCL that sport the whopping 144Hz refresh rate.

The Lenovo Legion Y700 gaming tablet has appeared in a bunch of live images being thoroughly compared with the Apple iPad Mini 6 for size and appearance. The larger Android slate holds up well against the svelte iPadOS-driven machine, and Lenovo has acknowledged that the Y700 is geared toward landscape-mode gaming.

Dell has retrofitted the Alienware m17 R5 with AMD's newest Ryzen 6980Hx processor, Radeon RX6850MXT graphics card, a 17-inch 4K 120Hz screen and more. It will hit shelves in spring 2022, starting at US$1,599.

Dell has launched the Alienware Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Headset to supplement its gaming laptops at CES 2022. It can interface with a device over Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and a 3.5mm audio jack. The headset costs US$199 and will go on sale in certain regions on February 9.

The Alienware Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Mouse is now official with a 26,000 DPI sensor, 1,000Hz polling rate, and an ambidextrous design with eight programmable buttons. It costs US$149 and will be released to the public on February 9, 2022.

Dell has unveiled its newest high-end gaming monitor at CES 2022. The Alienware 34 QD OLED has a 175Hz QHD panel, 1800R curvature, Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and more. Its price will be announced once its launch date approaches in late March 2022.

Sharkoon's latest headsets come with different treats for gaming fans, so while the first one sports stylish 3D-like RGB illumination, the second comes with a subtle black design that features modular cables and a detachable microphone. Their suggested prices are 31.90 Euros (RUSH ER40) and 49.90 Euros (B2).

Scheduled to hit the market later this year alongside the existing Gold P31 and Gold S31 series, the Platinum P41 will be the first Gen 4.0 SSD with a 176-NAND layer by SK hynix. Designed to fulfill the needs of gamers and content creators, it will be available in 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB versions.

A real-world image of the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti has turned up, confirming the top-end card’s existence. The RTX 3090 Ti is expected to offer 1,008 GB/s bandwidth and a peak clock rate of 1,860 MHz. While the MSRP of the RTX 3090 Ti has not yet been revealed, it could end up going for close to US$4,000 when third-party resellers get hold of it.

OPPO's first-gen foldable phone, the Find N, has rocketed to 5th place on the AnTuTu benchmark's final ranking of Android flagships for 2021. However, Xiaomi's latest Black Shark gaming flagship was not to be knocked from its #1 spot with its Snapdragon 888+ platform. Then again, their time at the top may shortly be at an end.

The so-called Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 has looked incredibly strong in a theoretical comparison video with the Lovelace GPU demolishing the RTX 3090 and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. The RTX 4090 hits an estimated 400 FPS average rate in Doom Eternal at 4K ultra settings and even manages to top 100 FPS in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Samsung will almost certainly have a bevy of new monitors to debut at CES 2022; however, it seems the OEM just couldn't wait to show some of them off ahead of time. They include the latest addition to the Odyssey gaming line, with a "world's-first" 4K/240Hz specs profile. The new S8 and Smart M8 monitors are UHD and come with specific adaptations for their productive use-cases.

The Asus Zenfone 9 and Asus Rog Phone 6 series are surely months away from release but a new leak purports to provide a first look yet at the next-gen devices from Asus. The leak reveals what appear to be 2D renders of the three devices, with all three seemingly featuring secondary displays.