Gaming

MSI has revealed some of the design secrets behind the company’s stylish-looking GT76 Titan gaming laptop. It appears the Taiwanese gaming specialist wanted to take inspiration from some of the world’s most incredible exotic cars for this particular notebook. This is reflected in features such as the GT76 Titan’s ventilation grilles, streamlined appearance, and stunning lighting effects.

Some revealing patents have been unearthed that give the impression Sony has overhauled the SSD units that will eventually be integrated into the upcoming PlayStation 5 console. It seems “basic” SSDs had too many limitations that would prevent the next-generation console from reaching peak performance levels.

Scuf has launched its new Xbox One and PC Prestige game pad designed to take on Microsoft’s own customizable Elite controller. Not only can the buttons be remapped, the device also includes mappable paddles and other customizable options to give players a distinct edge over the competition.

Budget gaming laptops don't have to cost $1000. With Computex 2019 right around the corner, retailers are now offering heavy discounts on last generation SKUs to make room for newer models. The best part is that these older processors are still able to offer nearly the same performance as the latest generation hardware.

ASUS is currently holding a "30 Years Together" event to celebrate 3 decades as a hardware and peripherals OEM. It involves competitions in which contestants can enter a PC-centric quiz or tell their own ASUS/ROG ownership story to gain points. The prizes to be won include laptops, cutting-edge graphics cards and accessories.

New specifications for AMD’s Navi-based RX 3080 graphics card have apparently been leaked. It’s believed the RX 3080 will offer eight shader engines and 2,560 stream processors. It seems Nvidia is not too keen on AMD’s rumored naming scheme and has filed to trademark the numbers 3080, 4080, and 5080 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

Dell is holding a sitewide Memorial Day sale that covers the full gamut of products that the American manufacturer offers. There is over US$300 in savings to be had on a Dell XPS 15 that sports an 8th-Gen CPU and discrete GPU, but even that great offer is overshadowed by the incredible price for an Alienware 15 gaming laptop that has been reduced by 44%.

Due to their small footprint, the new Intel NUC 8 Mainstream-G mini PCs have a limited number of upgradeable components. These models integrate Intel's 15 W i7-8565U and i5-8265U quad-core CPUs, but the 8 GB of LPDDR3-1866 RAM and the Radeon RX 540X GPU are soldered. There are variants with Intel Optane Memory, SSD + HDD storage combos, plus kits that come without any storage or OS.

Although the deal does not cover the Steam or console versions of the game, those interested in taking RiME for a spin on their Windows PCs can grab it for free from the Epic Games Store. This offer will expire on May 30, when City of Brass will replace it as a new Epic Games Store freebie.

GPD has posted a video of one of its upcoming P2 MAX devices being put through its paces. An intense fight sequence from Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is shown and the console/mini laptop hybrid seems to take the high demands on its hardware in its stride. The gameplay looks seamless, which will please those considering a purchase.

Asus has posted a teaser to its ROG Global Twitter account that appears to show some new hardware coming from the Taiwanese manufacturer. The four-second clip doesn’t reveal too much and is deliberately shy with details. However, Asus has already denied it’s a successor to the innovative ROG Mothership (GZ700) device.

Chuwi has increased its product line with the launch of the Chuwi GT Box mini PC. The company claims the GT Box is an affordable successor to the HiGame PC that did so well on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. This little machine sports a veteran i3 processor, 8 GB RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and it comes in a lightweight metal case.

Nvidia has shared a new video clip on YouTube that claims “something super is coming” in the video’s description. The clip itself is very short on information – it simply shows the word “super” being slowly and magnificently brought into focus. Unsurprisingly, a lot of speculation has landed on the possibility of Nvidia producing a new “super”-branded GPU lineup.

The two-year old GE63 is getting a full-on makeover with a new, thinner chassis based on the 17.3-inch GE75. MSI is promising better ventilation and faster wireless performance with the 802.11ax Killer WLAN. The announcement coincides with the recent reveal of the GT76 flagship.

With Computex 2019 right around the corner, now is the time to buy new gear for cheap as many OEMs will be throwing sales on older configurations. The affordable Nitro 5 with Core i5-8300H and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, for example, will be just $630 USD all week.

The new AMD-only laptops will hopefully be cheaper than the Intel and Nvidia GTX 16-powered SKUs already in the market. The Radeon RX 540X and 560X, however, are beginning to show their age even for budget gamers.

Released for Windows in September 2014 and for macOS in February 2015, The Sims 4 received mixed reviews from both the press and the general public. Now, anyone can enjoy it for free thanks to Origin's generosity. Sadly, only the Windows and macOS variants of the game are part of this deal which will last until May 28.

Panic, a software developer better known for its Mac and iOS apps has announced its first piece of hardware and it is about as cute and cool as it gets. Its new PlayDate handheld gaming will feature retro style games on a small Game Boy-like device fitted with a high-quality black and white display a D-pad, a couple of buttons and an analogue crank.

After testing 5 different laptops with the Core i7-9750H, multi-thread processor performance is essentially identical to the last generation Core i7-8750H. Some older laptops with the i7-8750H like the Alienware m15 can still perform faster than the newer and pricier i7-9750H.

The latest version of AIDA64 - v6.00 - has been released. It adds benchmarks for the Zen2-based Matisse processors. In addition, it now also has a SHA3-512 cryptographic hash benchmark.

The Dell XPS Tower with Intel Core i7-8700 processor and 16 GB RAM is currently advertised at the company’s website for US$999.99. However, if you input a handy coupon you can knock that price down to a much more affordable US$699.99 with free shipping. The XPS Tower offers a multitude of configuration options.

Leaked information in regard to two of the upcoming heralded AMD Navi-based graphics cards has revealed a disquieting surprise. Many believed the graphics solutions from the red team would drastically undercut Nvidia products while offering almost similar performance, but this new supposed pricing scheme contradicts that belief.

Graphics card specialist Manli has not skimped on the hyperbole in unveiling the Superior Ultimate Editions of the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 Gallardo desktop graphics cards. The triple cooler boards offer the power, performance, and pizzazz that any demanding gamer would require from a high-end ray-tracing capable graphics solution.

MSI is preparing to officially unveil the GT76 Titan gaming laptop. The device features a desktop processor in the form of an i9 K-series SKU and a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics solution. The new gaming beast has already been winning awards, having been chosen for a Golden Best Choice Award at Computex 2019.

Intel used to be the biggest semiconductor maker up until 2017, when Samsung began ramping up the DRAM and NAND memory chip production. Now that memory chip demand is bottoming out and Intel is almost out of the woods with the CPU shortages, Samsung drops to second position again, but things could change by Q4 2019 when the DDR5 memory standard is expected to hit the market.

The Quest is Oculus' first all-in-one virtual reality (VR) headset. It is available for sale from today (May 21, 2019). It is also a truly wireless VR set, and uses the company's imaging and touch-sensor technology to deliver this. The Quest starts at US$399 for a model with 64GB of on-board memory.

Sony has finally shown the PlayStation 5 in action, although unfortunately you don’t get a glimpse of the console itself. A short video clip shared by Wall Street Journal writer Takashi Mochizuki shows the loading times for Marvel’s Spider-Man on both the PlayStation 4 Pro and the next-generation console. The difference is astonishing.

Codenamed "Valhalla," the X570 chipset brings PCIe 4.0 to consumer desktop computers. The motherboards to use it will support the upcoming EPYC and Ryzen processors. Although not official yet, images of two MSI boards that use the X570 chipset have just been spotted as well, so the launch of the platform is imminent.

A couple of alleged AMD Navi graphics cards, specifically engineering samples, have been spotted on two different benchmarks. Unfortunately, nothing has been shared in regard to the Ashes of the Singularity test, but there are some details offered with the Navi GPU that popped up on 3DMark. The preliminary specifications have some AMD fans worried about Navi’s future in the graphics card market.

The trailer of F1 2019 — the official videogame of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship — is now live. The trailer shows a "stunning visual uplift" and features the official F1 theme music written by Brian Tyler. The list of cars present in the game starts with the 1972 Lotus 72D and goes all the way to the 2010 Red Bull RB6, McLaren MP4-25, and Ferrari F10.

Nowhere else can you find a gaming laptop powered by a Ryzen 7 3750H CPU and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU — for now, at least. Asus continues to be the only OEM offering 35 W Ryzen H-class options even after half a year since the initial unveiling of the new processor series.

Cherubi, Gible, Hippopotas, and other Pokemon originally discovered in the Sinnoh region are now coming to other areas. The latest Pokemon GO update also comes with a new Ground-type move (Earth Power), as well as Glacial Lure Modules, Mossy Lure Modules, and Magnetic Lure Modules.

Chinese manufacturer Colorful has announced its iGame G-One all-in-one PC. As an all-in-one (AIO) solution, the iGame G-One does away with the need for a tower and houses the CPU and GPU within the display frame. In this case, the AIO PC comes with a high-performance Coffee Lake mobile processor and a graphics card from Nvidia’s Turing-based GeForce RTX 20 series.

The recently unveiled Minecraft Earth is a free-to-play, augmented reality Minecraft title to be added to the Minecraft universe. However, those interested can only sign up for a chance to play the limited beta — which is scheduled to arrive this summer — for now. Signing up will also get them a free Earth skin for Minecraft Bedrock.

AMD has been showing off another fantastic custom desktop PC that utilizes a processor and graphics card from the red team. The build was created by Xidax PCs especially for a Borderlands 3 reveal event. The rig features an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU that is paired with a high-end Radeon VII 16 GB graphics card.

OPPO has confirmed that the upcoming K3 smartphone will be launched on May 23, 2019. This new mid-range device will apparently be equipped with VOOC 3.0, with a fresh range of accessories to match. They are said to include power banks with the same technology.

Khronos Group, the consortium behind the development of the Vulkan API, has listed the Google Games Platform Gen 1 aka Stadia as being powered by a custom AMD datacenter GPU based on the GCN 1.5 architecture in its Vulkan Conformant Products page. Google Stadia's GPU is said to be a custom Vega 56 with 56 CUs and a memory bandwidth of 484 GBps. The platform is based on Google's customized Debian Linux and SDK, and uses Vulkan as the graphics API of choice.

Samsung’s new Notebook Odyssey gaming laptop (NP850XBC-X01US) is now available for pre-order. The somewhat distinctive-looking device features a display that seems to sit precariously on a large central hinge. Featuring an i7-8750H and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, Samsung is optimistically charging US$1,999.99 for its latest laptop.

Huawei has revealed what will be its first 5G smartphone to hit the market. The device is an update of the behemoth Mate 20 X that features the Chinese company’s home-grown Balong 5000 5G chipset.

Enter through our Facebook post for a chance to play one of these solid single-player titles. This time, we want to hear what graphics cards you have and what your favorite gaming genres are.

It takes a lot of time, effort, and thought to create the perfect PC build. Not only is there a mountain of potential problems to overcome, but selecting a perfect CPU and GPU combination is also of paramount importance. Sometimes, an i5-8600K and GeForce GTX 1080 really need to be combined with a miniature sports car.

The increased fluidity and reduction in motion blur are undeniable when compared to a 60 Hz display. Even so, we'd be lying if we said we could definitively recognize a 240 Hz panel from a 144 Hz panel.

Golden Emperor International Ltd (GeIL) has released a new DDR4 memory product based on the long DIMM form factor. As it has collaborated with ASRock for its design, this new line of RAM is called the EVO SPEAR Phantom Gaming Edition. They have variants optimized for AMD and non-AMD boards.

It’s been reported that some of the executives at BioWare, the EA-owned game developer, have been blaming Anthem’s issues on the gamers that play it. Great things were expected from the title, but within days of its release in February it was already facing a lukewarm response from critics and complaints about hardware crashes from players.

As if the Playstation 5 and XBox rumors haven't been rampant enough, we can expect even more speculation pieces once AMD gives the deep technical dive into both Zen 2 and Navi during the private Hot Chips 2019 conference.