Gaming

Acer has announced the Nitro XV272U KF, a 27-inch monitor with a lot going for it. The monitor combines a 1440p resolution with a 300 Hz refresh rate, and is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified. The Nitro XV272U KF supports HDMI VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium, too.

Labeled 2.9 “Direct Hit” and released earlier today, the latest update to War Thunder sports a rich collection of new aircraft, ships, armored vehicles, and more. Its highlights include the MiG-27M (also the first aircraft in the game to carry guided bombs), two new battlegrounds, as well as visual updates for some older models (the B-17 bombers, for example).

Intel has silently pushed the NUC X15 Laptop Kit out the door, its first reference gaming laptop. The NUC X15 has Tiger Lake processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs and up to a 240 Hz display.

RedMagic has made its 2021 flagship refresh official today (September 6, 2021). The 6S Pro may have the same basic build as its immediate predecessor; nevertheless, the OEM has crammed some new features a gaming-phone fan might enjoy into the updated device. They include an advanced ICE 7.0 cooling system, not to mention some potentially next-gen biometrics.

The old but still good game by Crytek completely overwhelmed PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles when it was released back in 2011. But on the Nintendo Switch, the Crysis 2 remake runs surprisingly well and thus presents a good opportunity for fans to experience the first-person shooter once again.

Besides the high-end Aero models, Gigabyte also offers budget gaming laptops. One of them is the G5 KC, which scores points with good performance and a low price.

The game will be released in two separate versions for Sony's last and current-gen console, and only the more expensive special editions for the PlayStation 4 will receive a free upgrade to the PS5 version. For many fans of the game who are affected by the current shortage of PS5 consoles, this means that they would have to buy the game twice should they finally snatch a PlayStation 5.

The RedMagic 6S Pro can be expected to be an iterative upgrade over its immediate predecessor, based on the Snapdragon 888+ platform confirmed by its maker. Now, Chinese regulators may have revealed that this also probably applies to the phone's looks. Meanwhile, the OEM has teased the phone with more impressive claims.

Scalpers have started raising the prices of PlayStation 5 consoles following a controversial PS5 teardown video. Two models of the Sony machine, the original 1015B and revised 1100B, have been differentiated by their heat sinks, with scalpers reckoning desperate shoppers will be willing to pay more for the launch PS5.

The RTX 3050 is ultimately a budget graphics card meaning users shouldn't be paying anything more than budget prices. For $700 USD, the Dell G15 is a decent alternative to older GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 Ti laptops.

Sony's recently announced selection of free PS Plus games for September includes three games from very different genres and should provide gamers with a lot of variety. Fans of single player stealth action, first-person multiplayer shooters and couch co-op games will certainly be happy to see the titles that PS Plus subscribers can soon download and play for free.

The Triple-A title from the year 2017 looks as gorgeous as ever on Sony's latest gaming console, and it raises the anticipation for the recently delayed successor Horizon Forbidden West, which is now scheduled to be released next year instead of this holiday season.

The Radeon RX 6600 has appeared online again, over a month after the RX 6600 XT arrived. The leaked marketing assets confirm not only 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM for the Navi 23 XL card, but also its PCB size relative to the RX 6600 XT.

Even though the INF files do not mention most of the GTX 700 Kepler cards anymore, this version still supports the old GK100 functions and runtimes are still compatible with SM 3.x. Additionally, the preview version integrates new next gen runtime compilers that may end up used by the upcoming RTX 4000 cards.

A few weeks ago, some EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 started dying after running Amazon's new game New World. It turns out that Amazon is not to blame, nor is a faulty fan controller.

Philips has unveiled new OLED+ TVs with 120 Hz panels and HDMI 2.1 VRR support. The updated OLED+ range will be available in 48-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch sizes with four HDMI 2.1 ports and a P5 AI Dual Picture Engine.

AMD has slipped against Intel in the Steam Hardware and Software Survey for August. In terms of processor usage share, Team Blue managed to regain a significant amount back from Team Red. With Alder Lake looming on the horizon, it could be a turbulent time ahead for AMD in the hotly contested CPU market.

The permanent Wi-Fi 5, tiny joysticks, lack of FreeSync, and noticeable ghosting are real bummers on an otherwise fast and well-designed Windows 10 gaming handheld.

The long-awaited shooter will require a pretty beefy gaming rig in order to run at 4k resolution, but budget PC configurations should still be able to run the title at acceptable settings.

Most gamers may very well sympathize with the spectator's burning question, since the critically acclaimed game developer is taking all the time in the world to announce the latest iteration in its popular Grand Theft Auto series.

A new leak from ResetEra tells us that Sony plans to bring all five Uncharted games to PC soon. The bundle will be announced on September 6 and will be available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

One-netbook has started selling the ONEXPLAYER 1S, which gets a processor upgrade over the regular ONEXPLAYER. The ONEXPLAYER 1S is only available with an Intel Core i7-1195G7, although for the same price as the ONEXPLAYER.

A Bahrain-based retailer just showed off a massive shipment of AMD RDNA2 graphics cards, including the Radeon RX 6900 XT, RX 6800 XT and RX 6700 XT. The firm exclusively deals with cryptocurrency miners, so most of those cards will likely end up in mining rigs.

A new rumor has started circulating that Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles will soon be appearing on the Nintendo Switch Online service. Two separate sources have claimed that one of four emulators found in datamined NES source code will be utilized to bring Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to NSO subscribers.

After pages of complaints online from Legion laptop owners in Germany, Lenovo has finally returned full GPU functionality to their Legion laptops. The lack of this feature caused many issues, including crashes in certain GPU-accelerated applications.

RedMagic has announced that it will unveil a refresh of its 2021 Android gaming flagship 6 range later in September 2021. For now, it is hyping this 6s Pro with previews of specs such as its touch-sampling rate. The OEM has also revealed that the phone will have a new, "aerospace-grade" thermal-management system.

The Chinese Government has introduced a new rule that will allow minors to play online games for an hour on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays between 8 PM and 9 PM. It is also working with game developers, teachers and parents to educate children about the ill effects of gaming addiction.

Nvidia killed the Max-Q brand earlier this year as the manufacturer deemed it more confusing than it was helpful to consumers. However, the core concept of Max-Q and all of its advantages and drawbacks remain on the latest GeForce-powered laptops.

Netflix has confirmed the existence of its new mobile gaming arm through the release of its first two compatible titles. Then again, they are only available to its subscribers in Poland and on Android thus far. Both of the games in question are from the Stranger Things franchise, and can be played without ads through their new portal.

A revealing PlayStation 5 teardown video has compared the launch PS5 against the new revised PS5. It appears Sony has cut a crucial corner to help turn the popular console from a loss-making product into profit-providing hardware. The thorough teardown uncovered exactly how the new PS5 manages to be 300 g/0.66 lb lighter.

Eyesafe, a body that issues standards and certificates for low blue-light emissions in display products, has announced a new addition to its board of directors. Frank Azor finds it an honor to join Eyesafe in this capacity, and has noted its potential role in user health protection, particularly as screen-time has skyrocketed during the Covid-19 era.

Gigabyte has announced 2021 back-to-school deals on select hardware from its premium gaming brands and series, AORUS and Aero included. These discounts are mainly found on Newegg or Amazon, and may involve up to US$900 on certain OLED-display options in some cases.

While the labels are clearly stating 20 GB, there is nothing else attesting to the actual VRAM capacity of these cards. These are probably some mislabeled models that still pack 12 GB, but just imagine the ridiculous prices asked by retailers if 20 GB models were indeed real.

New photos of the PlayStation 5's die have showcased the chip in great detail. Sony's SoC contains 8 CPU cores, 36 GPU cores and larger memory interfaces linking the chip to the console's 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

The Gracemont little cores are now rumored to provide better performance than previously thought, helping Intel's Alder Lake mid-tier model outperform even the Ryzen 7 5800X by around 5% in multi-core loads at a ~$100 lower MSRP. However, this price difference may actually be offset by the need to buy a new motherboard, DDR5 modules and a separate cooler.

The ELITE SHARK CA700 has just arrived as Sharkoon's latest and most ambitious PC case to date. This open-frame PC case can accommodate up to eight RGB fans and a water-cooling system with two 360 mm radiators and includes five 120 mm RGB LED PWM fans, all for a manufacturer's suggested price of 399 Euros (roughly US$469).

According to a market research report by Newzoo, factors from COVID-19 to the current GPU/console shortage mean that cloud gaming could see major growth over the next few years.

Nvidia may introduce an RTX 3090 Super later this year to probably counter Intel's upcoming Xe-HPG Alchemist GPU launch in early 2022. The RTX 3090 Super is expected to be based on the GA102 core and will feature 10,752 CUDA cores and a higher 400 W+ TDP. Other specifications are not yet available.

Microsoft has launched its first special edition Xbox Series X console. The new machine is Halo themed and is being launched to coincide with the release of Halo Infinite in November.

Panasonic has launched its take on what is often called the "wearable speaker" in 2021. Like some others on the market, the accessory is worn around the neck for "immersive" sound. The OEM is pitching this version - the SoundSlayer WIGSS or SC-GN01 - at gamers, with wired compatibility for consoles such as the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch.

SS appears to be the best of both worlds. On the one hand, it is AI-based and should provide high quality results similar to DLSS, but on the other hand, the tech aims to become completely open source by the second or third iteration.

It seems that Microsoft's own store accidentally let slip the Halo Infinite launch date. The listing says that the game is slated to be launched on December 8. Sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that the aforementioned date is correct.

After missing its March release date, tactical RPG King's Bounty II is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, as well as PCs (via Steam). The game is available in three editions (regular, Duke's, and Lord's) that feature additional weapons, skins, units, and media content.

The Playdate has been snapped up by 20,000 people, just a few weeks after Panic opened pre-orders for the device. iFixit has torn the compact handheld down too, revealing its electromagnetic crank handle.

LG has reportedly delayed its first 42-inch OLED panels, extending the wait for smaller OLED TVs. The South Korean company announced that it would manufacture 42-inch OLED panels this year, but this now been delayed until 2022.

Lenovo has released the Legion Phone Duel 2 (also known as the 2 Pro) as its flagship Android gaming phone for 2021. Now, the OEM has announced that a third generation of this line is indeed on the way, and will be powered by the true successor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 on its launch.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 struggles to keep its VRAM temperatures in check anyway, with the GA102-based card shown to exceed temperature thresholds in stress tests. However, NVIDIA left a finger glove inside a Founders Edition card during assembly, much to the surprise of its owner.