With ongoing inflation in PC component prices, investing in a gaming laptop can be a wise choice to avoid the rising cost of building a desktop PC from scratch. Additionally, it is portable, allowing you to game, work, or study anywhere without sacrificing much on performance. A standout laptop deal we've spotted is the Gigabyte Aero X16, now available for its lowest-ever price of $1,099.99 at Best Buy. The laptop is originally priced at $1,399.99, so you save $300.

• Check out this deal on Best Buy

The Gigabyte Aero X16 features an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, an 8-core, 16-thread processor that can boost up to 5 GHz, paired with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD for storage. One can upgrade the RAM up to 64GB, and there is a secondary M.2 slot to add more storage. For graphics, the laptop comes with an Nvidia RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM. The laptop sports a 16-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, offering 100% sRGB color gamut coverage and up to 400 nits of brightness. It also supports refresh rates of up to 165 Hz and a 3 ms response time for a fast, responsive visual experience.

The laptop also comes with a single-zone RGB-backlit keyboard, a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. I/O options include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports, a USB 4.0 Type-C port, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, a 3.5mm headphone and mic combo jack, and an Ethernet port. There’s also built-in Wi-Fi 6E along with Bluetooth 5.2. The battery has a capacity of 76 Wh, and the charging brick is rated at 150W.

Overall, the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that balances performance, modern features, and upgrade potential, making it a compelling choice at its current discounted price of $1,099.99. Do note that the deal is only valid until June 29, so you'd better hurry before stocks run out.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

As the ongoing component crisis worsens, even the biggest companies are no longer shielded. Apple, in a historic first, raised prices on a fleet of its products yesterday, saying it could no longer protect its customers from the soaring memory and storage costs. Now, the Financial Times is reporting that Apple is trying to lobby the U.S. government to secure official clearance to buy (cheaper) memory from China's CXMT.

CXMT is not outright banned by the White House, as it's not on the Defense Department's "Entity List," which prohibits Chinese companies entirely on national security grounds. Instead, it's listed in the 1260H list, which still designates it as a Chinese military company, and doing business with it would cause major reputational damage to an American company.

Apple has apparently been reaching out to its allies in Washington to persuade the government to allow it to purchase RAM from CXMT. Unlike Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix — the coalition controlling 90% of the world's DRAM — CXMT has no real incentive to chase AI buildouts. It can therefore provide RAM at much more reasonable prices without compromising performance.

Recently, Corsair Vengeance DDR5 sticks from China were found to use CXMT modules underneath, signaling the company's entry into the mainstream. That was a 6,000 MT/s CL30 kit, so it seems CXMT certainly has the ability to produce modern silicon at a scale sufficient for a major PC vendor like Corsair. OEMs such as Dell and HP are also adopting Chinese-made RAM for those region-bound systems.

Before that, CXMT has already demonstrated its capabilities for cutting-edge DRAM manufacturing; late last year, it showed off production-ready DDR5-8000 and LPDDR5X-10667 modules. Volume is another issue entirely, but Beijing has certainly figured out how to make performant RAM. If a buyer like Apple were to enter the picture now, even just for the Chinese market, it would completely shift the paradigm.

Of course, such a precedent is subject to approval, and high-ranking officials seem adamant against it. John Moolenaar, the chairman of the House China committee, has warned that Apple partnering "with a Chinese military company would be a grave mistake." He told Financial Times that it's imperative for America not to rely on foreign supply chains for something as critical as DRAM.

Apple is in a dire situation itself, having lost $265 billion off its market cap the day it announced price hikes on MacBooks and iPads. In an uncharacteristic move, Tim Cook even admitted he'd never seen anything like this in his 40+ year stint. The Cupertino giant has always enjoyed comfortable margins on memory and storage upgrades, but it can no longer dam the "hundred-year flood."

"Trump can show the courage to keep American memory alive for our security and our competitiveness or pour it down the drain so Tim Cook can squeeze out a few more points of margin," remarked an ex-official. Another security expert said it wouldn't make sense for the administration to fiercely protect critical earths and rare minerals, while suddenly conceding in the AI race (which is the reason behind the RAMpocalypse).

Whether Apple's efforts in Washington succeed or not is also predicated on the changing of the guard, since Tim Cook will hand over the baton to John Ternus come September — a logistics wizard leaving at perhaps the most decisive moment he was needed. The AI boom is here to stay, and so is the component crisis for now, so it remains to be seen how the company navigates the oncoming challenges.

Despite Valve’s efforts to prevent scalpers from taking advantage of the Steam Machine’s limited supply, there are still a few opportunists out there who are taking the risk of selling the pre-order slot that they have won. A quick search for “Steam Machine” on eBay would pull up results for pre-order slots sold at a significant premium above Valve’s own $1,049 retail price.

We see various listings for the 512GB version selling between $1,363.70 to $2,800 — a 30% to 167% premium. Scalper prices for the 2TB version are far more egregious, with listings priced between $2,399 and $2,899, making it 93% to 140% more expensive than buying it directly from the Steam Store.

Valve has already anticipated this event, especially given the massive interest in the Steam Machine and limited supply. This has happened multiple times before, especially with the arrival of the PlayStation 5 and every Nvidia GPU launch since the 30 series. To avoid frustration among legitimate gamers who couldn’t score a console during the first run of pre-orders but see several listings from third-party sellers with excruciatingly tall markups, Valve set up a randomized reservation system to make buying the Steam Machine as fair as possible.

“A launch that starts at a specific day and time tends to reward bots, people with fast internet connections, talented gaming fingers for quick F5/refresh reactions, and those who can schedule their life around that moment. By accepting reservation signups over the course of a few days, without any incentive to be first, we're hoping to take away some of that friction,” the company said on the Steam Machine FAQ section. “The longer timeframe also allows us to do some extra validation on the signups to make sure they're real accounts, with only one per household.”

There are some stringent requirements before a Steam account can be considered for the privilege of buying a Steam Machine. This includes: a Steam account in good standing, a Steam purchase on or before April 27, 2026, and only one Steam Machine per household. These criteria will make it quite difficult for professional scalpers to scoop up multiple Steam Machine units and sell them at a premium on the used market. Despite that, it seems a few people are willing to trade their slot for cash and have put their reservations up for sale on eBay.

If you weren’t lucky enough to secure a Steam Machine reservation, you might get tempted to pick one up from these scalpers. However, we strongly advise against that, as you’re taking several risks. For one, there is no guarantee that the seller you’re talking to is legitimate. Even though they may have 100% rating, it’s quite easy to game the system to achieve this. You might end up getting scammed out of your hard-earned cash, especially if they ask for payment first before shipping the item.

While being among the first to get a Steam Machine might bring a good feeling, you shouldn’t let FOMO dictate your spending decisions. In fact, it might even be better to wait a little longer because the first batch of Steam Machines will only have one 16GB stick of RAM, meaning it won’t have the advantages of dual-channel memory. While there’s no guarantee that future releases will use two 8GB sticks instead, Valve said this may change.

Intel is expected to push the boundaries on power draw with its upcoming Nova Lake series processors, which will rival the best CPUs. According to newly leaked information, the flagship 52-core desktop variant is expected to feature a dual-compute tile architecture with a massive PL2 limit of 474W. The information was shared by LC Tech Leaks and confirmed by Jaykihn, who has a pretty solid track record with Intel hardware.

PL2, or Power Limit 2, represents the maximum power a CPU can draw during short boost periods. That said, a PL2 target of 474W remains quite demanding, although a previous rumor suggests Intel may also have a PL4 emergency power limit over 700W. It is important to note that these power limits may only apply to the top-end models with the dual-tile architecture.

Additionally, the leak also sheds light on the upcoming platform, including the previously rumored LGA1954 socket. We already know that Nova Lake-S will require a new generation of motherboards. Motherboard vendors are expected to classify their boards by sustained PL1 power levels, with configurations for 35W, 65W, 125W, and 175W CPUs. Enthusiast-grade motherboards, likely the Z990 series, are also rumored to feature three EPS 8-pin CPU power connectors instead of the traditional two. While vendors will have the option to include a third connector, its primary purpose would be to support extreme overclocking and would not affect the CPU's rated performance profile.

The upcoming Nova Lake-S lineup is expected to carry the ‘Core Ultra 400S’ moniker and will be Intel's biggest desktop CPU overhaul in years. We’ve previously reported leaked specifications indicating configurations ranging from 6 to 52 cores, with support for DDR5-8000 memory. The flagship 52-core model is expected to feature 16 performance cores, 32 efficiency cores, and a new Big Last Level Cache (bLLC) design to take on AMD's 3D V-Cache gaming dominance. The company is also rumored to introduce integrated Xe3 graphics, Thunderbolt 5, PCIe 5.0 connectivity, and an upgraded NPU for AI workloads.

While these specifications are unconfirmed, it is clear that Intel is targeting substantial gains in gaming, multi-threaded performance, and overall platform capabilities with its next-gen processors.

An aerospace worker and programmer created a GitHub-hosted program that lets your Steam Controller automatically walk back towards its charging puck as soon as you place it down on your desk. The web app, called the Auto-Charge Vision Tracker, uses a camera and computer vision to determine where your controller is, then it uses its powerful built-in motors to make it creep towards its docking station to top itself up when you’re not using it. The great thing about this web app is that you don’t need to install anything on your PC to use it. Just go to the website, connect your Steam Controller, ensure your camera is directly overhead your desk, click the puck, the front, and the back of your controller, and you should be good to go.

This is an interesting use case for the Steam Controller’s haptic motors, which are primarily designed to give feedback to gamers. Although this app, which you can run in the background on your browser, is designed to make recharging your controller more comfortable, you do need a flat surface without any obstructions to ensure that the Steam Controller can reach the charging puck. Aside from that, the vibration and movement on the desk tends to cause abrasion on the controller’s surface, meaning you’ll soon find flat spots appearing on the surface that contact your desk. Ray Foss, the maker of the GitHub repo, said that adding rubber feet should help prevent this and might also give the controller better acceleration and handling.

Another programmer has created something similar before — a web app that uses the controller’s rumble motor to let it slip and slide on your desk. But what makes this project different is that instead of manually “driving” your Steam Controller, it uses computer vision to automatically guide the controller back towards the charging puck, making it look like a robot vacuum.

These apps have limited usability — after all, the Steam Controller would still be unable to hop from the coffee desk in your living room to the TV console where your charging puck and Steam Machine are likely sitting. Nevertheless, it shows Valve’s commitment to making it easy for gamers to use their devices the way they want to. The company even released the CAD files for the Steam Controller and Puck back in May 2026, just a few days after the controller became widely available. But if you want to give this curiosity a try, you can easily do so by going to the Auto-Charge Vision Tracker website. The program’s files are also readily available on GitHub if you want to play around with the program and make your own version.

We have yet another combo deal that could help you save a significant amount on your next PC build. Newegg is currently offering the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X processor bundled with a compatible B850 motherboard and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD for just $429.99. The cost of all the parts when purchased separately comes down to $679.97, meaning this bundle saves you $249.98, which is a discount of 36% and equates to getting the SSD for free.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The Gigabyte B850 Aorus Elite Wi-Fi7 Ice is feature packed motherboard with a white finish, making it suitable if you prefer an all-white build. It supports DDR5 memory with overclocking support of up to 8200 MT/s. It also supports various DIY-friendly features such as a tool-less heatsink cover for the M.2 drives, a quick-release button for the GPU, and a simple solution to plug the Wi-Fi antenna. It also comes with the X3D Turbo Mode, a BIOS-level feature that offers optimization for Ryzen 9000 X3D and non-X3D processors to gain a slight boost in gaming performance. Other notable features include PCIe Gen 5 support, 14+2+2 twin digital VRM design, three M.2 SSD slots, Wi-Fi 7, 2.5 gigabit Ethernet, and an array of USB ports.

The Ryzen 5 9600X is a value-for-money Zen 5 processor based on AMD’s AM5 platform. It features 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock speed of 5.4 GHz. It also comes with a low TDP of 65W, which makes it power efficient, allowing it to run relatively cooler. It offers excellent performance for the asking price and holds a solid place in our 13-game FPS performance geomean.

Lastly, we have the Samsung 990 Pro, which is currently one of the best Gen 4.0 SSD that you can buy. It delivers maximum sequential read speeds of 7,450 MB/s and sequential write speeds of 6,900 MB/s. It uses a 176-layer V-NAND TLC flash chip and comes with a rated endurance of 600 TBW. In our testing, the Samsung 990 Pro proved to be one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSDs, offering excellent performance and solid efficiency with consistently low operating temperatures.

If you're planning an AM5 build, this is one of the better bundle deals we've seen in a while. For $429.99, you're getting a capable Zen 5 processor, a feature-rich B850 motherboard, and one of the fastest PCIe Gen 4 SSDs on the market, all while saving nearly $250.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Heads up, music lovers and frequent travelers/commuters. If you haven't yet purchased a nice noise-canceling headset, then you're definitely missing out on what's almost a basic necessity. There's nothing quite like putting on a pair of cans on your head and making distracting noises go away, whether at home or in public. Amazon's Prime Day sales bring you one of the best pieces of kit around for that task: the mighty Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless over-ear noise-canceling headset, currently selling for just $198, an all-time low price. Our own Jake Roach uses this daily, while I have the previous-gen XM4, and we both have nothing but good things to say about either model.

• Check out this deal on Amazon: Sony WH-1000XM5 active noise-cancelling headset

While you might chortle and say that nearly two Benjamins isn't exactly pocket change, be assured that it's an excellent deal for what's of the top-grade pair of cans. The noise canceling on these uses input from eight microphones and processes it through two dedicated DSP chips. In practical terms, this puts them nearly at the top of the market, outclassed only by the pricier WH-1000XM6 and roughly matching Apple's silly-expensive AirPods Max 2.

They're also lighter than the corresponding AirPods at just 250g (8.8 oz) versus a whopping 384g, and the battery lasts much longer; 30 hours versus about 20. When it comes to sound quality, the XM5s also shine bright. While the default sound profile just barely trails that of the AirPods Max 2, it's also customizable via the onboard hardware EQ, which saves settings to the headphones so you can keep them sounding great no matter what you have them connected to. Compared with the AirPods Max 2, you're beholden to messy, suboptimal device-side EQ that isn't saved to the hardware.

Additional niceties include support for the LDAC hi-res audio codec, fast charging with a three-minute charge giving you three hours of playback, the ability to connect to two devices simultaneously via Bluetooth, and a collapsible design. The touchpad on the side lets you control playback and voice calls, as well as bring up Alexa or Siri voice assistants. Sony's mobile app for configuring the headphones has a lot of actually useful options, too. Get the Sony WH-1000XM5 active noise-canceling headphones for just $198 at Amazon.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

The memory chip shortage has caused the prices of consumer electronics to shoot up, meaning everything, from cheap phones to VR headsets, is more expensive now. But if you’re on the market for a Meta Quest 3S, now is your chance as it’s currently 15% off on Amazon. This $53.20 discount means that its price drops to just $296.79, making it close to the original $300 price point it launched at prior to the RAMpocalypse. However, this is a limited-time deal, so if you’re intent on getting that headset, you better get it right now.

• Check out the Meta Quest 3S on Amazon

This VR headset is a more affordable version of the top-of-the-line Meta Quest 3, which was launched about a year earlier, and is originally $250 cheaper. But even though Meta had to make some compromises, like lower-resolution displays and a shallower field-of-view, the Meta Quest 3S is still quite a capable device. It also feels as premium as the more expensive device, although the base version is limited to only 128 GB. If you want more storage, you can get the 256GB version, which is also discounted at 15% on Amazon, cutting its price from $449.99 to just $382.49. A copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow is also bundled with this purchase, making it a great deal for those who want to play a new game on their VR headset.

The Meta Quest 3S is a completely wireless affair, meaning you don’t have to worry about getting tangled when using it. Despite having a smaller battery compared to the Meta Quest 3, this VR headset could still last for a good 2.5 hours of continuous use. The included controllers are also powered by a single alkaline AA battery each, although we recommended in our review that you have at least four rechargeable lithium-ion batteries on hand so that you’ll always have a fresh set of batteries ready when the controllers run out of power.

If you’re looking for a great standalone VR device but want to save as much as you can, the Meta Quest 3S deal is exactly what you’re looking for. But you have to act quick as the discount that brings it down to pre-memory chip shortage pricing is only available today.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Gaming laptops have become more enticing during the AI boom due to their tendency to sometimes offer better value than DIY desktop systems, especially toward the high-end segment. We've found a deal that proves that in spades: Asus' ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025) is on sale for just 1,574.99 at Best Buy right now. Matching its previous record-low pricing, you're saving almost $600 on one of the best gaming laptops in this class.

• Check out this deal on Best Buy

This Zephyrus G16 comes with an RTX 5070 and Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H processor, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The GPU is more than powerful enough to play any game you throw at it, especially with DLSS on your side. The CPU comes from Intel's Arrow Lake mobile lineup and features 16 cores. It boosts up to 5.4 GHz and runs at up to 95W, while scaling down to 45W for better endurance.

We haven't reviewed this exact CPU + GPU combo before, but we'll attach a few benchmarks from our Framework Laptop 16 review that also had an RTX 5070. Note that the Zephyrs G16 features a much stronger CPU and better cooling, so you should see higher FPS across all games. At 1080p, you can even expect to fully saturate the refresh rate of that 240Hz OLED display in lightweight titles or competitive esports games.

Speaking of which, the highlight for this machine has to be that stunning 16-inch OLED screen carrying a 2560 x 1600 resolution and, of course, a 240Hz refresh rate. It can reach up to 500 nits of maximum brightness and features G-Sync. We've seen plenty of RTX 5070 laptops that are considerably cheaper, but none feature an OLED display; even if you find a cheap OLED laptop, it won't be as performant as this one.

The Zephyrus G16 is built extremely well for a gaming laptop and doesn't compromise on fundamentals like the keyboard, trackpad and speakers. You're getting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity, along with several fast USB-C and USB-A ports on either side (that can also be used for charging). Asus has also added a headphone jack, HDMI 2.1 for display out and even a full-sized SD card reader.

The battery life is outstanding as well thanks to the 90Wh cell onboard, especially if you utilize the MUX switch and disable the discrete GPU entirely when it's not needed. Third-party reviews say the laptop lasts up to 8 hours in 'Whisper mode' at 50% brightness watching 4K HDR content on Netflix. During this period, the laptop doesn't get too loud or hot either, and it already weighs less than 2 kilograms so it should be easy to travel with.

We haven't even mentioned that you get 2 months of Xbox Game Pass for free with your purchase, or that the top lid has customizable accent lighting. That's just how feature-rich this laptop really is, not to mention the Asus ROG brand name that helps with resale value as well. At $1,575 on Best Buy right now, you'd be hard pressed to find anything better, so grab the discount before the AI boom snatches it away, too!

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during a staff Q&A meeting that its latest model, GPT-5.6, is available in limited preview to only a small group of customers handpicked by the U.S. government. According to The Information, the federal government, specifically the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, asked the AI tech company to stagger the release of its latest model. While Altman did not mention how long the delay for the general release of GPT-5.6 will be, he said in a memo that he hoped it would happen in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, the U.S. government is granting access to the latest model on a case-by-case basis only.

Despite OpenAI’s agreement to the delay, sources say that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Altman to warn him against releasing GPT-5.6 to the public without prior approval from government agencies. “We’ve made clear to the U.S. government that this is not our preferred long-term model and will work with them and others in industry to achieve a more sustainable approach for future releases,” the OpenAI chief said in the Thursday memo.

This wasn’t the first time that an American AI lab has delayed the release of its frontier model due to security concerns. Back in early April, Anthropic released Claude Mythos Preview to select key institutions first, allowing them to prepare for the general release of the powerful AI model. It eventually built Fable 5, a watered-down version of Mythos with built-in safeguards to prevent misuse, and released it in June 2026. However, the U.S. government disagreed with the company’s belief that it was a safer model and put both Fable 5 and Mythos on an export control list just three days after it dropped. This meant that foreign nationals, even those who work for Anthropic, are banned from accessing the model. Since the company cannot enforce compliance, it just decided to pull the model completely from the market.

The increasing advancement of AI models has the White House scrambling to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. This is especially true as it continues to compete with rival China for supremacy. Although the U.S. has taken steps like export controls to slow Beijing’s progress, many industry leaders believe that it’s only a matter of time before the East Asian country catches up. So, even though the Trump administration initially promised that it would reduce regulations to help AI advance much more quickly in the country, President Donald Trump has changed his tune and signed an executive order earlier this month that asks U.S. AI labs to give the government access to their latest models 30 days before it gets a general release.

However, this move has got some industry experts concerned. “…this escalation of government intervention is nothing to celebrate. It is horrible for the broader AI ecosystem,” Head of AI Policy and think tank Abundance Institute and former FTC Chief Technologist Neil Chilson said in their blog. “Continued arbitrary, unexplained deployment of export control authority will make companies slow-walk new models, depriving the public of powerful new tools. Every AI model, like all software before it, will have vulnerabilities that require patching. The US government should not hang a Sword of Damocles over every lab’s head, with no indication when it might drop or why.”

In an act of defiance, Framework, the modular manufacturer behind laptops and desktops, has actually reduced prices on one of its products. The DIY edition of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro will now come with cheaper PCIe 5.0 SSDs. If you already placed a pre-order with the 500GB drive, it will be upgraded to the new 1TB option automatically, while a new 2TB option is also available in the configurator now.

• Configure your Framework Laptop 13 Pro

In the more comprehensive update posted on its website, Framework outlined that it has switched specifically to Adata's Mars 970 Plus SSDs that cost substantially less than what the company used previously — that model was never revealed publicly. The Mars 970 Plus is a proper Gen5 drive with read speeds up to 11,000 MB/s, and it's powered by the excellent Silicon Motion SM2508 controller that we've praised before.

Despite being cheaper to source, Framework says the Mars 970 Plus offers "better performance, efficiency, and long-term reliability." PCIe 5.0 drives are generally avoided in even high-end laptops today because they can be incredibly thermally demanding and require more power. Therefore, manufacturers simply opt for cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 drives instead, which are also available in a much wider variety of sizes.

A 500GB PCIe 5.0 drive sounds like it should be cheaper than a 1TB option, but because of interleaving, having an SSD with fewer channels actually means the controller isn't fully saturated to perform at its top speed. So, OEMs don't produce 500GB PCIe 5.0 drives at scale; almost every option you'll see on the market starts at 1TB. That's likely why Framework was paying more for that compared to its new 1TB inventory.

Unfortunately, we're in the middle of the component crisis, so we have to take the good with the bad. And the bad news is that Framework thinks another CPU price hike is on the horizon. It's not confirmed just yet, but when a vendor says it's receiving "signals," it's more than likely to come to fruition. The company is suggesting placing pre-orders now since it will have to update the overall prices of the Laptop 13 Pro once changes come into effect.

The Laptop 13 Pro was originally supposed to start shipping this month, but because of the unprecedented situation we're in, it was delayed to July. All orders for this laptop are, therefore, pre-orders, and that's how the company is able to easily upgrade customers from 500GB drives to 1TB on the DIY edition. The prebuilt edition of the laptop still features PCIe 4.0 drives from Western Digital / SanDisk, and storage can't be manually configured for these.

AMD has brought back its gaming champion from four years ago. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D has been revived in 2026 to breathe new life into the AM4 platform. The Zen 3-based CPU was the best CPU for gaming of its time, thanks to the first-generation 3D V-Cache technology. Since then, however, the competition in our CPU benchmark hierarchy has become more fierce.

Today's competition is Intel’s Core i7-14700K, based on the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture. At the time the Ryzen 7 5800X3D released, Intel’s 12th-gen Alder Lake CPUs were its main competition. Here, we revisit the comparison with Intel’s newer Core i7-14700K, which is available around the same price of $350.

The focus of this faceoff is to determine which CPU is the superior all-around chip. We will put the two CPUs through a series of tests spanning different categories to ultimately determine which CPU you should buy for your system.

This faceoff breaks down how two CPUs compare to each other in a head-to-head battle. If you'd like to read more about either processor, as well as see our full suite of tests, make sure to read our AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D re-review and Core i7-14700K faceoff.

Features and Specifications: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was first launched in April 2022 as a part of the Vermeer desktop CPU family. It is based on the Zen 3 architecture and built on TSMC’s 7nm production process. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a TDP of 105W and a PPT of 142W. It has a base clock of 3.4 GHz and can boost up to 4.5 GHz.

The 5800X3D only supports DDR4 memory at a rated speed of 3200 MT/s over a dual-channel interface. It is compatible with the AM4 socket, with support for 300-series, 400-series, and 500-series AMD chipsets (though check support with your specific motherboard). It also supports 20 lanes of PCIe Gen 4. However, the 5800X3D does not have integrated graphics.

On a more positive note, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was the first CPU to employ the new 3D V-Cache technology. As a result of stacking the cache vertically on the die, the 5800X3D has a total L3 cache of 96 MB. Of this pool, 64 MB is part of the 3D V-Cache stack. Core overclocking is disabled on the Ryzen 7 5800X3D due to its 3D V-Cache layout; DRAM overclocking still remains available.

Its competitor, Intel’s Core i7-14700K, uses a vastly different layout. It features the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, which is a refined version of the 13th-generation Raptor Lake base architecture. The Core i7-14700K was launched in October 2023 and was built on a 10nm production process (Intel 7).

Intel’s 14th-generation CPUs use a hybrid core layout with performance-focused “P-cores” and more efficient “E-cores.” The 14700K also follows this structure, featuring 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores, for a total of 20 cores. In the 14700K, Hyper-Threading is only available on the P-cores, so the CPU has a total of 28 threads. The chip can boost the P-cores up to 5.6 GHz, while the E-core boost clock is 4.3 GHz.

Interestingly, the Core i7-14700K supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory at 3200 MT/s and 5600 MT/s, respectively. The CPU is compatible with the LGA 1700 socket featured in the 600-series and 700-series Intel motherboards. There is also support for 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 4 PCIe Gen 4 lanes.

The Core i7-14700K has a TDP of 125W, with a higher PL2 limit of 253W. Integrated graphics are also offered in the 14700K in the form of UHD Graphics 770. There is 33MB of shared L3 cache on the chip. Perhaps more importantly, the Core i7-14700K is fully unlocked for overclocking, which is a big advantage over its competitor for today, though that requires a Z-series motherboard.

Zooming out a bit, it is clear that the Core i7-14700K is vastly superior to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D on paper. It is a newer CPU, so it has a better feature set, including PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 support. It offers more cores, a higher boost clock, integrated graphics, and an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.

⭐Winner: Intel Core i7-14700K

Nothing is decided on paper alone, but the Core i7-14700K offers much better specs, newer features, and even has overclocking support. It takes this round quite easily.

Gaming Benchmarks and Performance: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

AMD claims to have “re-engineered” the Ryzen 7 5800X3D for its 2026 re-release, so we have tested it again, along with a whole bunch of worthy competitors, including the 14700K. We chose the 1080p resolution for our 16-game test suite in order to maximize the performance differences between the various CPUs. The graphics card used was the GeForce RTX 5090 to keep potential GPU bottlenecks to a minimum. Let’s get into the results.

Starting off with our 16-game FPS geomean at 1080p, the Core i7-14700K dominates the Ryzen 7 5800X3D with an average result of 166.7 FPS across our tested games, compared to the 145.6 FPS result of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. That is a 14.5% difference in favor of the 14700K in our performance geomean. In 1% lows, the 14700K leads the Ryzen 7 5800X3D by 20% on average, putting out 114 FPS against the Ryzen’s 95.

However, there is another side to this benchmark table. The Core i7-14700K supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, so we tested it in both configurations. With DDR4-3200 memory, the 14700K’s advantage vanishes, and instead the Ryzen 7 5800X3D leads by 1.04%, or just 1.5 FPS. The 1% lows are in favor of 14700K by only 3 FPS (3.15%), which is astonishingly close.

When the Intel CPU is paired with DDR5 memory, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s cache advantage seems to be struggling against the Core i7-14700K’s raw core count and higher boost clock (along with far faster memory speeds). Looking at individual titles, we see a similar pattern with the Core i7-14700K holding a consistent lead over the 5800X3D.

In 007 First Light, the 14700K paired with DDR5 memory has a 25.7% lead on average over the 5800X3D. That lead shrinks to 21.5% in Crimson Desert, and the difference is 13.7% in favor of the 14700K in Cyberpunk 2077. Interestingly, the Core i7-14700K leads the entire pack in Flight Simulator 24, establishing a 26.6% lead over the 5800X3D in this title. The DDR5-equipped 14700K also leads the 5800X3D in Spider-Man 2, Starfield, The Last of Us Part One, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Counter-Strike 2.

However, when the Core i7-14700K is paired with DDR4-3200 memory, the picture changes completely. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D leads the i7-14700K with DDR4 memory in Baldur’s Gate 3 by 11.7%. In Crimson Desert, the lead is 3.2% for the 5800X3D, and 2.6% in Cyberpunk 2077. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D sits between the DDR5 and DDR4 versions of the 14700K in a few other titles, including Counter-Strike 2 and DOOM: The Dark Ages.

There are also some titles in which the Ryzen 7 5800X3D leads both the DDR4 and DDR5-equipped versions of the Core i7-14700K. In F1 2024, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D leads the DDR5 14700K by 5.6%, and the DDR4 14700K by 13.7% on average. The same pattern can be seen in Final Fantasy XIV, with a 6.6% lead over the 14700K using DDR5 memory, and in Minecraft RT, with a 18.5% lead over the 14700K using DDR4 memory.

It is certainly all over the place when you put both configurations of the 14700K into the mix, but the two behave more like separate CPUs. The long and short of it is that the 14700K with DDR5 memory provides the best gaming performance on average, followed by the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The DDR4-equipped 14700K is ever-so-slightly slower than the 5800X3D, but it really just depends on the game you’re playing.

During our testing, the Core i7-14700K averaged 4.93 GHz with DDR5 memory and 4.88 GHz with DDR4 memory. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D could only manage 4.34 GHz, but it sipped only 77.5 watts during our gaming tests. The 14700K DDR5 averaged 132.4 watts, while the DDR4-equipped 14700K averaged a whopping 155.1 watts during gaming. This is why the 14700K with DDR4 reached an average temperature of 80 °C, compared to 62 °C for the 14700K with DDR5 and 59 °C for the 5800X3D.

In addition to running the coolest, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is also the most efficient CPU of the bunch. The 5800X3D had an FPS-per-watt output of 1.88, compared to 1.26 for the Core i7-14700K with DDR5 memory, and just 0.93 for the DDR4 version. It is amazing how much the Core i7-14700K suffers when paired with DDR4 memory.

Lower overall performance also hurts the value proposition of the DDR4-equipped 14700K, as it puts out just 0.39 FPS-per-dollar, compared to the 0.45 of the DDR5-equipped 14700K. Astonishingly, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D falls between the two 14700K versions, delivering 0.42 FPS per dollar. This makes the Core i7-14700K the value king, but only if you pair it with DDR5 memory. I suspect that will be tricky in the current market.

⭐Winner: Tie

While the Ryzen 7 5800X3D does slightly pull away from the DDR4-equipped 14700K, both of these setups get demolished by the 14700K when it is paired with DDR5 memory. We're calling this round a tie considering the massive price disparity between DDR4 and DDR5 memory right now.

Productivity Benchmarks and Performance: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

Productivity performance spans single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads, so we tested the CPUs across a range of benchmarks covering both categories. Just like in our gaming tests, we tested the 14700K with both DDR5 and DDR4 memory, since it does impact the performance significantly.

Intel’s hybrid architecture has historically been quite strong at multi-threaded workloads due to E-cores, and that pattern appears here too. In our multi-threaded performance ranking geomean, the Core i7-14700K scores 492 points, a massive lead of 116.7% over the Ryzen 7 5800X3D that could only manage 227 points on average. Even when the Core i7-14700K is paired with DDR4 memory, it has a 105% higher average score than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

The superior core count of the 14700K is proving to be the difference maker in this category. In the Cinebench 2024 multi-core test, the 14700K with DDR5 memory is a whopping 126.6% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Even the DDR4-equipped 14700K secures a 107% lead over the 5800X3D in Cinebench. The lead for the 14700K is about 137% in POV-Ray, and it shrinks to 135% when using DDR4 memory.

Blender tests were also favorable for the 14700K, but we didn’t see a big difference between DDR4 and DDR5 systems in these benchmarks. In Junkshop, the DDR5-equipped 14700K leads the 5800X3D by 116.4%; in Monster, by 116.6%; and in Classroom, by 118.3%. The DDR4 variant follows closely behind, by 1 or 2 percentage points.

The memory generation again comes into play when we look at HandBrake x265 10-bit encoding, with the DDR5-14700K leading the 5800X3D by 90.5%, while the DDR4-14700K manages a 82% lead. The gap is even larger in x264 encoding, with the DDR5 variant gaining a 105% lead over the 5800X3D, while the DDR4 variant can only manage a 63% lead.

That still makes the Core i7-14700K far better than the 5800X3D in productivity workloads, regardless of the memory generation. However, we still have single-threaded results to look at. Our single-threaded performance ranking geomean puts the Core i7-14700K 36.6% faster on average than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Interestingly, there is no difference in single-threaded performance between the DDR5 and DDR4 variants of the 14700K.

The same trend is seen in individual benchmarks as well. The 14700K is about 25% faster than the 5800X3D in Lame’s audio encoding test, and the DDR4 variant is in the same ballpark as well. Curiously, the DDR4-equipped 14700K is slightly faster than the DDR5-14700K in Cinebench 2024 and also outperforms the 5800X3D by 36.6%. Safe to say, the RAM difference doesn’t really come into play in these tests.

Overall, though, the winner is quite clear. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a gaming-oriented chip with only 8 cores and 16 threads, so it is no match for the 20-core 14700K in productivity workloads. Whether you go for DDR4 or DDR5 is your decision, but the productivity champion of this faceoff is the Core i7-14700K.

⭐Winner: Intel Core i7-14700K

With an average lead of 116% over the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in multi-threaded tasks, the Core i7-14700K sweeps the productivity round quite easily.

Overclocking: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

Overclocking has never been a strong suit of AMD Ryzen processors; however, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D doesn’t support core overclocking at all. AMD cited the 3D V-Cache technology as the reason the 5800X3D can’t be overclocked, and they were right to assume so.

Due to the vertically-stacked cache, heat transfer from the CPU die to the heatspreader was a real issue. An overclocked 5800X3D would have sipped more power and produced more heat. Therefore, an efficient heat-transfer system was needed but could not be developed in time for the first-generation V-Cache product.

AMD has since reinstated overclocking support for Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPUs by flipping the cache layout, so it no longer hinders heat transfer. However, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s core multiplier still remains locked, but you can still tune the DRAM and Infinity Fabric clocks.

The Core i7-14700K, on the other hand, is tailor-made for overclocking. Being a K-series SKU, the 14700K comes with an unlocked multiplier and all the Intel bells and whistles for overclocking. It can reach 6.1 - 6.2 GHz on individual cores with proper cooling, and users can expect a 5.6 - 5.8 GHz all-core overclock on most setups.

Its overclocking toolkit features traditional multiplier adjustments, voltage controls, and established BIOS interfaces that most enthusiasts are already familiar with. The Core i7-14700K also has a significant amount of power headroom to play with, although temperatures become a concern as soon as the power consumption ramps up.

By all overclocking metrics, the Core i7-14700K is the superior CPU for tinkerers. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D can’t be manually tuned, at least not in the traditional sense, and therefore doesn’t really stand a chance in this round.

⭐Winner: Intel Core i7-14700K

The 14700K is the real deal when it comes to overclocking support. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is locked and therefore can’t be overclocked, so Intel sweeps this round.

Power Consumption and Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D has a base TDP of 105W and a PPT of 142W. Intel’s is much higher, with the 14700K clocking in at 125W TDP and a PL2 limit of 253 watts. However, TDP numbers don’t give us a good idea of real-world power consumption, so we ran our own detailed tests.

First, at idle, the 5800X3D consumed only 5 watts, while the 14700K consumed 27 watts. In an active-idle situation, such as YouTube playback, the Core i7-14700K consumed 28 watts with DDR5 memory and a concerning 39 watts with DDR4 memory. The 5800X3D, on the other hand, sipped only 9 watts, making it anywhere from 67% - 76% more efficient than the 14700K.

Moving on to all-core workloads, in our y-cruncher multi-threaded AVX power test, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D consumes 119 watts, while the Core i7-14700K clocks in at a staggering 335 watts, a 181.5% higher figure. Even the Core i7-14700K with DDR4 memory consumed 307 watts, which is still a 158% increase over the 5800X3D’s power consumption.

In Linpack, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is again more reserved, with the 14700K consuming 168.6% more power than the Ryzen. The DDR4 setup was not much better, with a 137.2% higher power consumption than the 5800X3D in this test. The gap widens even more in Cinebench 2024’s multi-core render and our Blender tests, which show the 14700K consuming anywhere from 250% to 285% higher power than the 5800X3D.

In our encoding tests, the situation remains pretty much the same. In Handbrake x264, the DDR5-14700K consumed 242% more power than the 5800X3D, while the DDR4-14700K consumed nearly 200% more. Similar numbers were seen in Handbrake x265 and SVT_AV1 encoding, with the 5800X3D being the clear winner.

We even looked at single-threaded workloads to determine the power consumption of those tasks. In y-cruncher’s single-threaded AVX power test, we saw the 14700K consume 157% more power when paired with DDR5 memory, and 132% more when using DDR4 memory. Safe to say, the Intel CPU does not fare any better in these workloads either.

To determine the efficiency, we calculated the watts-per-FPS number in Handbrake x265. The 5800X3D was 43.4% more efficient than the 14700K with DDR5 RAM, and about 41% more efficient in this task than the 14700K with DDR4 memory. The pattern can again be seen in Cinebench 2024’s efficiency test, where we look at points-per-watt. The 5700X3D is anywhere from 62% to 68% more efficient than the 14700K in this task.

We can also visualize the efficiency differences using our handy scatter plots. In the Linkpack power efficiency plot, the 5800X3D is towards the bottom left of the chart, while the 14700K is more towards the top. This means that the 14700K uses substantially more energy to deliver marginally higher performance than the 5800X3D. Ideally, you want to be towards the bottom right of this graph.

So, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D consumes much less power in both single-threaded and multi-threaded productivity workloads, and as we saw in our gaming tests, it runs cooler as well. The Core i7-14700K has a distinct performance advantage in all-core workloads, but the power consumption ramps up quickly once it gets going. Still, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is the clear winner in this round.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D consumes between 150% and 300% less power than the Core i7-14700K in all-core workloads, making it the definitive winner in this round.

Pricing: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

The pricing situation is a bit of a wildcard in this comparison, since these are not exactly “new” CPUs. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was recently re-released at $350, which is $100 lower than its 2022 price tag. The Core i7-14700K is currently priced at $370 at the time of writing, which makes the 5800X3D $20 cheaper in a direct comparison.

However, comparing the two CPUs is more than just comparing their sticker price. We must also look at the platform costs of the two CPUs. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D uses the fan-favorite AM4 socket, which has a whole heap of chipsets in all price brackets. You can pair the Ryzen 7 5800X3D with a mid-range B550 or a high-end X570 motherboard, but older 400-series motherboards are also compatible, depending on the board.

As far as the price goes, B550 motherboards can be purchased for $80 - $180, while higher-end X570 motherboards range from $150 - $300. Some premium models can even go beyond $400, but those are not really needed for our CPU since it doesn’t support overclocking. A nice mid-tier B550 or X570 motherboard will be more than enough for our needs.

Memory is where the price difference really grows. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D only supports DDR4 memory, so it is relatively safe from the ongoing DRAM crisis. A nice 32GB DDR4-3200 kit can run you about $140 - $160, which is definitely higher than DDR4 prices of the past, but nothing compared to current DDR5 rates. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D also needs an aftermarket cooler since it doesn’t come with one, and that can cost you about $100 - $150 too.

For the Core i7-14700K, you have the option of either a DDR4 or a DDR5 motherboard. Even then, you still have to choose between a 600-series or a 700-series chipset. For the sake of this comparison, let’s go with a Z790 motherboard since the 14700K is unlocked and we want those overclocking capabilities. A basic Z790 motherboard can be found around the $150 mark, but we would want to go with something that has decent VRMs. That can cost around $200-$250 at current prices.

Of course, as evidenced in our benchmarks, DDR5 memory is the best way to maximize the 14700K's performance. Due to the RAMpocalypse, DDR5 memory is ridiculously expensive, and a 32GB DDR5-6000 kit can cost between $390 - $550 at the time of writing. Going with DDR4 would require a motherboard swap, but it would save you between $300 and $350 on the system based on these two components alone.

For cooling, the 14700K requires special consideration, as we have the option to overclock. Even a stock 14700K sips more power and produces more heat than a 5800X3D, but if you plan to overclock, the thermals can get out of hand pretty quick. You’ll ideally use a solid 360mm AiO liquid cooler for the 14700K, which can add about $100 - $150 to the cost of your build.

Another factor to consider when determining the value of a CPU is the longevity of its platform. AMD’s AM4 platform has been going strong for a decade, and AMD has continued to support it through updates and releases such as the 5800X3D. However, it would be hard to see AMD releasing more CPUs for the AM4 platform going forward.

On the other hand, Intel’s LGA 1700 socket was already semi-retired, but new reports suggest that Intel will bring this platform back in early 2027. New “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs will reportedly be available on the same socket and the same motherboards, so there is certainly a better upgrade path on Intel’s side.

When we put everything together, the Core i7-14700K is a bit hard to recommend from a value perspective. The motherboards for the 14700K are more expensive on average, and if you want to maximize its performance, you will have to take a massive hit to your wallet with DDR5 memory. Moreover, it is more expensive to cool, too. Its platform looks more future-proof in light of recent rumors, but that can’t guarantee it a win in this round.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The 5800X3D is cheaper to get up and running, since you only need an affordable B550 motherboard and some DDR4 memory to get started. The 14700K can be cheap, but that requires you to leave serious performance on the table and go with a DDR4 setup.

Bottom Line: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs Intel Core i7-14700K

After a grueling 6-round back-and-forth, we finally have our winner. The Intel Core i7-14700K is the superior CPU of the two. Now, it is not as black-and-white as the 4-3 score might suggest, but the 14700K is still the winner of this faceoff.

The Core i7-14700K delivers better gaming performance on average than the 5800X3D. Sure, there are some titles that favor AMD’s 3D V-Cache, but those wins were not as frequent. However, AMD’s 5800X3D has a better chance if the 14700K is limited by DDR4 memory.

Intel’s 14700K is also vastly superior in productivity and has support for manual overclocking. AMD’s main selling point for the 5800X3D in 2026 is its low price, both upfront and in terms of platform costs. It is also an easier CPU to maintain since it runs cooler and consumes less power.

Interestingly, the choice also depends heavily on your memory generation of choice. It is better to save a few bucks and go with a 5800X3D if you plan to stay on DDR4 for now. However, if you are willing to make the (difficult) jump to DDR5, the 14700K is the clear choice.

Potential buyers who want to stick to gaming should still prioritize a Ryzen 7 5800X3D over a Core i7-14700K with DDR5 memory. On the other hand, if you regularly run any type of productivity workload, the 14700K blows the Ryzen out of the water.

⭐ Winner: Intel Core i7-14700K

Nonetheless, the overall winner of our faceoff is Intel’s Core i7-14700K.

Check Out More CPU Faceoffs

• Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus vs AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
• AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Intel Core i7-14700K vs Intel Core Ultra 7 265K
• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 vs Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Price hikes! Get your price hikes here! Hot on the heels of Apple's upward push of dollar figures, ganging up with Framework, and harnessing the disillusion caused by the price of Valve's Steam Machine... It's now Microsoft's turn. The ailing division is enacting yet another increase to the price of the Xbox Series consoles, at $100 more for the 512 GB versions and $150 more for the 1 TB model. The pricing will come into effect in roughly a month and change, on August 1st.

The firm is also killing the 2 TB version of the Xbox Series X, in an echo of Apple slicing away the higher-RAM variants of its Mac Studio computers. If you were on the fence about buying one of those, it would be wise to rush, as at the current price of "only" around $799.99, stocks are unlikely to last. Here's the new pricing, in all its glory:

• Xbox Series S, 512 GB, Digital Edition: $499.99
• Xbox Series S, 1 TB, Digital Edition: $599.99
• Xbox Series X, 1 TB, Digital Edition: $749.99
• Xbox Series X, 1 TB: $799.99

Microsoft is also adding a few options for payment and alternative purchases. Buy Now, Pay Later for splitting purchases across short-term installments for consoles bought at the Microsoft store, confirming rumors of a partnership with well-known payment processor Klarna. If that's not quite your jam, there's also interest-free 12-month financing available at Amazon for Xbox hardware.

The company is expanding Xbox trade-ins, stating that it's "working with retail partners" to enable players to sell their consoles to stores for cash or store credit. This isn't a new thing in the gaming world, as GameStop and Amazon have historically had this feature, but Microsoft's wording makes it sound like the program will be expanded to more retailers. As always, you can buy a certified refurbished console from the Microsoft Store and a number of retailers.

The highly anticipated Steam Machine is being shot down by flak due to its high release price, but all of a sudden, the $1,349 on ask for the 2 TB version doesn't sound so absurd, considering the superior hardware, gigantic game library, and low prices for games. Following Microsoft's logic, the upswing for the now-dead 2 TB version of the Xbox Series X would be $300, putting it at a nice round $1,099.99. Are you not entertained, if not excited, to be living in such interesting times?

After Epic revealed its plan for Unreal Engine 6, CEO Tim Sweeney said in an interview that Valve should stop requiring developers from disclosing if they used AI in making their game. The Epic chief executive made the statement to PC Gamer as he was talking about the use of AI tools in game development. The upcoming version of Unreal Engine 6 will come with AI integrations, which will supposedly make it easier for programmers, developers, and everyone else working in the gaming industry to build games. However, the use of AI tools still carries a stigma among players to the point that titles with this disclosure get significantly fewer reviews and are often viewed less favorably.

He says that AI tools are useful for streamlining boring, repetitive, and menial labor, like reviewing code for over an hour to find an error or doing the rigging work required to make a 3D model move realistically. While it was unfortunate that some AI tech companies trained their models on stolen data, the Epic chief executive said that the AI industry has changed and is now moving towards better practices, especially when it comes to training data. He even pointed at Adobe, which he says is ensuring the provenance of the data it used for training its AI. However, PC Gamer pointed out that Epic uses Nano Banana and GPT Image, which do not claim stringent AI training data controls, and that the Unreal Engine’s AI integrations include models such as Gemini, which have been accused of copyright infringement.

“I think the main usage case that we've seen within Epic, and we're seeing developers actually find gainful, is using AI to reduce the drudge work. The software is still architected by software architects, and they're still writing the important parts of code, and artists are still coming up with a creative vision for characters, deciding between concepts,” Sweeney told the publication. He also added, “If you want to launch a game, and get it as widely publicized as possible, you've got to put it on Steam so people can wish list it, and if you want to play it on Steam, then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game. I think it's really irresponsible of Valve. They shouldn't do it, because it makes it much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success.”

The Epic executive has a point here, as AI can indeed be a useful productivity tool if used correctly and ethically. But even if that was the case, Valve still requires developers to add the AI-generated content disclosure, which could have a negative impact on reviews and ratings. While the Steam platform does not require the disclosure of the use of AI-powered tools in the developers’ workflow, they’re required to note it if AI-generated assets appear in the game or in marketing material. This would presumably include assets that have been partially built using AI tools or were based on AI-generated content.

According to market research platform Game Oracle, titles that had the generative AI disclosure received 53% less reviews than the same type of game that did not have it. Furthermore, it’s more likely to get a negative review. However, it also conceded that several other factors could be at play here, like studios substituting creativity and the proper development process with AI tools, resulting in titles that are obviously AI slop.

Sweeney argues that AI is just a tool for productivity that could help game developers create unique content. The AI disclosure warning on Steam games, in theory, should not influence how games are perceived — after all, what should matter to gamers is the experience of playing the game. Unfortunately, the controversies surrounding AI are negatively affecting the reputation of titles that use these tools. When paired with studios that substitute AI for real creativity, it’s understandable why this AI warning has such a negative impact on game titles.

Anthropic, the American AI lab that created one of the most advanced large language models available today, has said in a letter to the U.S. Senate that Chinese AI tech giant Alibaba has illicitly used Claude to train its own models. According to Reuters, the company sent the letter to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the said committee, before a scheduled hearing set to tackle AI issues.

This isn’t the first time that Anthropic has accused Chinese AI labs of “stealing” the capabilities of its AI model to train their own. Earlier this year, the company claimed that DeepSeek, Moonshot, and MiniMax used 24,000 fraudulent accounts and made 16 million exchanges collectively to train their own AI LLMs on Claude’s output. This method of training AI using the output of a more advanced model is called distillation, and while there are legitimate uses of this technique, such as when a frontier AI model is distilled to create a lighter, cheaper version of itself, it argues that competing labs can also use the same technique to build their own models at “a fraction of the time, and at a fraction of the cost, that it would take to develop them independently.”

The American AI lab says that it traced the distillation campaign back to operators that had connections with Alibaba, one of the largest Chinese tech companies often compared to Amazon, and Alibaba Qwen, its AI lab. Anthropic warns that distillation may help China create a frontier AI model that could match Mythos Preview’s capabilities — something many American lawmakers are afraid of.

While U.S. tech companies still enjoy an advantage when it comes to the latest AI models, Chinese tech companies are quickly catching up. In fact, Elon Musk estimated that a Chinese AI lab would have achieved a Fable 5-class AI model by the first quarter of next year, but the CEO and founder of Chinese AI lab Z.ai confidently replied, “won’t take that long.” Aside from that, many enterprise users are slowly switching to more affordable open-source Chinese LLMs for their agents as token costs spiral out of control, reserving the most powerful (and expensive) American models only for the most complicated tasks.

Both the U.S. and China are pushing hard to achieve AI supremacy, with the two rivals taking steps to reduce the advantage of the other. For example, Washington has been using export controls to limit Chinese access to advanced hardware needed to build the most advanced chips and for training AI, while Beijing countered this with its own controls on rare earth materials, some of which serve as key ingredients in chip making.

Valve has confirmed that the first batch of Steam Machines will only come with a single stick of 16GB RAM, limiting the device to single-channel memory. The company confirmed this in a correction to Gamers Nexus (GN), after its engineers initially said that Steam Machines could either come with a single 16GB stick or two 8GB sticks. “We misspoke here,” Valve wrote in its email to the media channel. “All units will actually have one 16GB stick of RAM.”

Tests have shown that using single-channel memory can reduce performance by about 9% to 13% compared to dual-channel memory, meaning gamers will feel the difference, especially in 1% lows. This is especially hard on the Steam Machine, which uses already aging hardware — a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU and RDNA3 graphics with only 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Note that AMD launched Zen 5 in 2024, while the RDNA4 GPUs dropped in early 2025. We also already have details for Zen 6 CPUs and have heard rumors that RDNA5 GPUs will arrive next year.

However, the company probably made this decision to keep the costs for the Steam Machine as low as possible. The device’s $1,049 base price is already steeper than what many are willing to pay for — an estimated $300+ price increase from the $700 to $750 target price that Valve presumably targeted. While its engineers did not confirm these numbers, they also said that the Steam Machine would have gotten a “probably similar” price hike to the one the Steam Deck experienced recently. Nevertheless, there is hope that later batches will have dual-channel memory, with Valve telling GN that there is a chance of this happening in the future.

This is another blow to the much-awaited living room PC console that is supposed to finally give PC gamers a chance to enjoy their Steam library with a console-like experience. Valve originally announced the Steam Machine and the Steam Controller in November last year, which was also around the same time that memory chips have started to be in short supply due to the massive demand from AI hyperscalers. The device was originally slated to launch in the first quarter of 2026, but the ongoing memory crisis forced Valve to hold off until it finally released the console this summer.

Although having only a single stick of RAM is a disadvantage to any system, more optimistic gamers can consider this a boon as they could easily upgrade the console to 32GB if they have an extra matching 16GB DDR5-5600 SODIMM stick lying around at home (or are willing to spend extra to buy one). Upgrading the console’s RAM is a rather involved affair, though, requiring you to remove a lot of components and sub-boards just to reach the RAM slots. But if you’re the adventurous kind and could score a good deal on laptop RAM, this might be a viable solution to getting more performance out of your Steam Machine.

The preorder pages for GTA will drop at midnight local time in the US tonight, and you can buy both the Standard and Ultimate editions at the links below. Digital preorders of either variant get a month of GTA+ subscription as a preorder bonus.

Hype is cyclic. Once upon a time, there was Daikatana, the game that would have John Romero making us his female canine, but flunked hard. Then there was Half-Life 2, a game that still begs for a third installment today. Spore showed us how excellent ideas still need equal execution. In modern times, No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 both had massive hype and massive flops, turned around with many years' labor. And yet to this day, there's nothing quite like the buzz surrounding Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI, or as it'll be forever known, GTA 6.

The Standard edition goes for $79.99 and has the base game, the Vintage Vice City Pack with retro-themed cosmetics, and the '55 Vapid Stanier vehicle. The Ultimate Edition goes for a cool $99.99 and contains extra side missions and activities, additional vehicles, guns, and a truckload of outfits and other cosmetics for Jason and Lucia both.

These preorders at retailers mean you purchase a physical box that has a slip of paper inside with a download code, but not physical media. As such, this is for collector's item purposes. Without further ado, click away to your favorite e-tailer.

• Amazon
  • Standard Edition
  • Ultimate Edition
• Walmart
  • Standard Edition
  • Ultimate Edition
• Best Buy:
  • Standard Edition
  • Ultimate Edition

We won't bother rehashing details about the impending sequel to Rockstar's massively successful and still giant money printer Grand Theft Auto V. Suffice to say that the November 19 release is so hotly anticipated that employees are calling sick already, and there are reports of entire workplaces planning to shut down for the day. Many publishers and studios are reshuffling their release calendars so as not to get drowned in what is guaranteed to be the talk of the Internet for at least a few weeks, too.

Meanwhile, PC gamers will have to wait a year to see the game running natively on their systems and will have to drown their sorrows in one of the literal thousands of games that never make it to consoles. Regardless, Take Two Interactive's revenue is probably going to rival that of some AI companies — but in real dollars.

These days, good Wi-Fi signal is a basic human necessity, sitting fairly low on Maslow's pyramid of needs, just above food, water, and shelter. Routers provided by your internet service provider tend to be made by the cheapest contractor, and frequently don't throw Wi-Fi beyond its immediate vicinity, and choke and sputter with more than a couple connected devices. That's why today's deal on the TP-Link Archer BE550 Wi-Fi 7 router is so darn appetizing for just $149.99, thanks to this Amazon Prime Deal, 40% off its regular price, and an all-time low.

• TP-Link Archer BE550 router at Amazon for $149.99

This box o' antennas counts a total of six signal emitters, enough to cover most U.S. households. TP-Link says the array should provide Wi-Fi signals over four bedrooms, but we figure that's a conservative estimate for wooden constructions. The speeds can go up to a combined 9.3 Gbps, split between 5.8 Gbps over the 6 GHz band (Wi-Fi 7), 2.9 Gbps on 5 GHz, and 574 Mbps on good ol' 2.4 GHz. It's worth noting that on recent phones and tablets, the router's Multi-Link Operation will let a device use both 6 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously.

The goodies don't stop there, either. While most modern routers have just the one higher-speed Ethernet wired port, the Archer BE550 comes with a full complement of 2.5 Gbps connectors — one for the Internet connection, and four for LAN devices. Since most PC motherboards in the past few years have 2.5 Gbps or 5 Gbps ports, this router lets you take full advantage of them. More than a few techies buy their own switches for this purpose, and this router obviates that expense and annoyance.

Additional niceties include most you'd expect in a modern Wi-Fi 7 router: support for multiple types of VPN servers, a USB port for sharing a hard drive on the network, mesh network capabilities, per-device QoS (ex, for prioritizing gaming devices), tagged VLANs, and many others. Get the TP-Link Archer BE550 for just $149.99 at Amazon.

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microSD Express cards are quite expensive, but they’re the only solution if you want to expand the storage on your Nintendo Switch 2. So, if you’re looking to play more games on your console, now is your chance to score a 512GB Samsung P9 microSD Express for $80 off at B&H. This is a massive 40% discount from the card’s original $199.99 price, meaning you can get it for just $119.99. However, you must act fast as this is a limited-time deal valid only for today. If you miss out on the B&H deal or don’t need that much extra storage, the 256GB version of the Samsung P9 is also on sale at Amazon. You’ll get an even bigger 50% discount, slashing the price of the microSD Express card from $79.99 to just $39.99 — that’s a savings of $40 if you get it today.

• Check out the 512GB Samsung P9 microSD Express deal on B&H
• Check out the 256GB Samsung P9 microSD Express deal on Amazon

The Switch 2 is Nintendo’s next-generation handheld console, and while it received upgraded hardware that delivered better performance, its on-board storage is a measly 256GB. So, if you want to play several AAA titles, you really need to install external storage. Unfortunately, it requires microSD Express cards if you want to play games directly from the storage expansion slot, and they’re quite pricey. This is especially true since we’re in the middle of the worst memory and storage chip crisis in history, which is now affecting even memory cards and flash drives. So, if you’re in the market for a storage upgrade on your handheld console but the prices seem out of reach, you should take this limited opportunity to get a microSD Express card at a steep discount.

The Samsung P9 might not be the best of the best microSD express cards for the Nintendo Switch 2 you can get today, but it still ranked as the best 256GB budget card in our testing. And now that it’s on sale, its value proposition just went way up for those who don’t mind waiting a few extra seconds when transferring files and games between their console and storage medium. It even comes with a three-year warranty, which is longer than the usual one-year warranty that other brands give.

These microSD Express cards would go well with these other Switch 2 accessories that are on sale to help you save money while leveling up your handheld console gaming experience. However, note that these are available for a limited time only, so if you’ve decided on getting a 512GB microSD Express card for your Switch 2, head on over to B&H and snag one while it’s available. Alternatively, you can also get the 256GB version at a much more affordable price on Amazon.

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A prebuilt gaming PC is one of the easiest ways to get a fully assembled system without the hassles of compatibility and the higher cost of sourcing individual components. If you are on the lookout for a fully assembled gaming PC, the iBuyPower Y40 is selling at a phenomenal value of $1,749 over at Walmart. Originally priced at $2,499.99, this limited-period offer saves you $750.99 if you purchase the prebuilt PC online.

• Check out this deal on Walmart

According to iBuyPower, the prebuilt PC is suitable for anyone looking to upgrade their desktop PC for gaming, streaming, and video editing. It is an all-AMD system including the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is currently our pick as the best gaming CPU on the market, featuring 8 cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 4.7 GHz, and boost speeds of up to 5.2 GHz. It comes with AMD's second-generation 3D V-Cache technology, providing a massive 96MB of L3 cache to improve gaming performance. The Radeon RX 9070XT handles graphics duties, which is currently AMD's most well-rounded graphics card offering performance that is almost similar to the RTX 5070 Ti for far less money.

The rest of the components include 32GB of DDR5 5200 MT/s memory, a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, a B650 motherboard with onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and an 850W 80 Plus Gold power supply unit. All of the parts are housed inside the Hyte Y40, which is a fishtank-style case with three 120mm ARGB fans and an iBuyPower AW4 360mm AIO liquid cooler. Included with the prebuilt gaming PC is the iBuyPower Chimera KM7 RGB bundle, which is an entry-level keyboard and mouse combo.

As you can see from our testing, the 9800X3D excels in gaming titles and will serve you well for years to come as the solid foundation of a gaming PC, even paving the way for upgrading the GPU in a few years without bottlenecking it.

Considering all the parts, the iBuyPower Y40 should offer excellent value for anyone looking to jump straight into high-end PC gaming, especially at its discounted price of $1,749. The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Radeon RX 9070 XT makes it particularly appealing for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and even 4K gaming in certain modern titles. If you've been waiting for a powerful prebuilt gaming PC without spending well over $2,000, this Walmart deal is definitely worth considering.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

The Steam Machine was finally released on Monday, and many gamers were disappointed with its $1,049 starting price, which doesn’t include a Steam Controller (you have to pay an extra $79 to bundle one). Unfortunately, Valve’s hands were tied in this due to the current RAMpocalypse, where even the cheapest RAM kits now cost four times as much as before. While engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat said that they cannot give a hard number for the console’s original price point, they told IGN in an interview that it would have experienced a “probably similar” price increase to the one the Steam Deck got in May 2026.

Given that the Steam Deck 512GB and 1TB experienced a price increase of around 45%, it stands to reason that the Steam Machine would have received the same hike if it were already in the market. So, if we extrapolate the numbers, the Steam Machine would’ve been originally priced at around $729.91. The 1TB Steam Deck’s price jumped by 46.22%, but we can’t just apply that increase to the higher-tier Steam Machine because it has double the storage capacity. But if we check our SSD price tracker, the price difference between the cheapest 1TB and 2TB SSDs was just at $28 when they were at their lowest. If we add this to the 1TB "version" of the living room PC console, then we can safely estimate that Valve’s target price for the 2TB Steam Machine is around $950-$1,000.

The Steam Machine is still more expensive than the PlayStation 5 Pro, even at its original prices, because Valve refuses to subsidize its hardware sales with the sales on the Steam store. After all, the Steam Machine has an open hardware philosophy, allowing buyers to do what they want with the console. You can install Windows 11 on it and just stick with PC Game Pass to play your games on the console, meaning Valve will make zero dollars on game purchases from you.

This stark price difference could make the Steam Machine unpalatable to console gamers who are interested in switching to PC gaming through the living room PC console. After all, several tests reveal that the PlayStation outperforms the Steam Machine in several titles (although the Valve hardware still performed well enough). But the advantage that gamers are paying for in the Steam Machine is the abilities of a desktop PC (you can pretty much install anything you want on it without going through the Steam store and you don’t have to subscribe for online play), combined with the convenience of a living room console (like HDMI-CEC and the ability to switch the console on or off from the controller). Interested gamers will also likely have a library of titles ready to play.

Hopefully, the Steam Machine’s price will come down once the memory supply finally stabilizes, but it will probably be years before this happens, if at all. Valve’s new gaming console is quite a niche product — it’s built for PC gamers with an extensive Steam library who want to play games on their living room couch or while lying in bed without going through the hassle of building an SFF PC. But if you prefer playing games on your desk or already have a substantial game library on your PlayStation, you’re probably better off sticking with your current hardware.

Whether you’re new to 3D printer or a seasoned pro working with these devices for several years, you need the proper set of tools to use and maintain your 3D printing equipment. So, if you don’t have a complete tool kit yet, it’s high time that you got one with the Creality 3D Printer Tool Kit. This 74-piece set is currently on sale for $25.49 on Amazon, giving you a 15% discount from its original $30 MSRP. This is just one of the deals on 3D printing tools and accessories you can get during Prime Day 2026, allowing you to save while building out your kit. We also have a metric ton of deals (yes, that's the official measurement) on 3D Printers in our Best 3D Printer Deals hub.

• Check out the Creality 3D Printer Tool Kit deal on Amazon

The Creality tool set comes with almost everything you need. It comes with a multi-functional screwdriver with 34 different screwdriver bits, including Philips, flathead, hex, Torx, Pentalobe, and tri-point. A universal swivel hose is included, making it easier to reach tight spaces without needing to disassemble everything around it or contort your arm into weird shapes. You also get a socket wrench, a multifunctional wrench, and an open-ended wrench for handling various nuts and bolts. When you need to clean up your 3D printer, you’ll find one needle and several nozzle cleaners for removing residual filament included in the kit, as well as a spatula and plastic blade for cleaning up surfaces.

Aside from 3D printer maintenance, you also get several items useful for working on your projects after they come out of the 3D printer. These include a chamfer knife with a 360-degree rotating head, an engraving knife, and various files. You also get a pair of bent and straight tweezers for picking out stray fibers, plus a nipper for cleanly cutting small items. There are also several more items that we haven’t mentioned, so you should check out the deal if you want to see everything that’s included.

The best thing about this toolkit is that everything comes inside a simple storage bag that unrolls flat on your desk. That way, you can keep your tools organized while you’re working and ensure that you don’t lose one at the end of the day. And when you’re done with everything, you can just fold it back into a bag with a carrying handle, and you can easily stow it away in a drawer or your toolbox. So, if you’re planning to buy one of the best 3D printers this Prime Day 2026, consider adding this Creality 3D Printer Tool Kit to your cart as well.

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If you have been eagerly saving to purchase a flagship GPU for your gaming rig, now might be the right time. The Gigabyte Gaming OC GeForce RTX 5080 is available at a limited-period discount of $250 on Newegg, bringing the price down from $1,449.99 to $1,199.99. The discount is applicable by using the promo code ‘SQGIG753S2’ at the time of checkout (There is also a "click to generate code" button on the Newegg page).

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The Nvidia RTX 5080 is one of the best graphics cards that you can get, but ever since its launch, the GPU has rarely come close to its MSRP of $999. It is currently the second most powerful Nvidia Blackwell consumer GPU with 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM using a 256-bit memory bus, and a memory bandwidth of 960 GB/s. It also features a total of 10,752 CUDA cores, a base clock of 2.3 GHz, which can further boost to 2.62 GHz.

The Gigabyte Gaming OC model of the RTX 5080 comes with a triple cooling fan configuration, along with server-grade thermal conductive gel to cool the internal components. It also features RGB lighting around the fans, a dual-BIOS feature, and the ability to boost even higher at 2.73 GHz. The company also offers up to four years of warranty on this GPU after online product registration.

We tested the RTX 5080 and found that it delivers great performance at 4K ultra settings, offering an average of 65 FPS and over 100 FPS at 1440p ultra. Notably, the gains are a lot when compared to the RTX 4080 Super by only 9% at 4K Ultra, and even less at 1440p and 1080p resolutions. That said, the RTX 5080 is one of the best in the business as it offers support for Nvidia’s latest technologies, including DLSS 4.5 with multi-frame generation and upgraded ray tracing hardware for a more fluid and visually appealing gaming experience.

While we have seen a few RTX 5080 cards briefly dip below the $999 MSRP, the Gigabyte Gaming OC GeForce RTX 5080 at $1,199.99 is one of the lowest-priced RTX 5080 models currently available. Don’t forget, you need to login to your Newegg account to use the above-mentioned promo code during checkout.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

AI GPU maker Nvidia just announced a “hotter than a hot tub” liquid cooling system that it says will cut water and electricity use. According to the company, this new solution will run coolant — composed of 75% water and 25% propylene glycol — at 113 degrees F (45 deg C). By comparison, the water in hot tubs hovers at 100 to 104 degrees F (38 to 40 deg C). This feels counterintuitive, but the company says that the “cool” water is enough to handle the heat generated by Nvidia’s Rubin chips and exit the system at 131 degrees F (55 deg C).

Traditional water-cooling methods, especially those that use chillers, often account for nearly 40% of a data center’s power consumption. Aside from that, these systems must often deal with water loss through evaporation. On the other hand, air-cooled facilities also use a considerable amount of electricity, plus they also generate noise pollution. On the other hand, Nvidia says that this new solution uses a lot fewer resources because of its higher base temperature.

Since 113 degrees F is often higher than ambient temperature, data centers can simply rely on outdoor dry coolers to expel the heat to the environment. This is also a closed-loop system; Nvidia claims an up to 100% reduction in water consumption — it’s “filled once and runs closed for the life of the facility.” This solution is most effective in regions with cooler climates, but it should still be effective in warmer areas as long as the ambient temperature is below 113 degrees F.

Data centers that face occasional temperature swings that exceed this limit may still be required to turn on their chillers. Nevertheless, this should still reduce resource consumption, as it only needs to run them a few times per year. Aside from that, this should also allow these systems to run more efficiently, as the chillers don’t have to work as hard to hit the target temperature. It’s estimated that increasing a chiller plant’s target temperature by 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) would reduce electricity costs by 4%. This means that data centers would save significantly on power consumption if they set their chiller units to the 70 to 75 degrees F (21 to 24 degrees C) that traditional chillers run, according to Vertiv, to the 113 degrees F (45 degrees C) that Nvidia recommends for its Rubin chips.

This solution addresses several of the issues that many local governments raised that led to the delay of more than 75 data centers earlier this year. However, it will likely take time for this cooling system to roll out to new and existing projects, so we expect the delays and resistance to continue until Nvidia’s liquid cooling system gains wider adoption. Furthermore, this only addresses the water use of the data center itself — the GPU servers themselves still require massive amounts of electricity.

Unfortunately, most of the power used by data centers, at least in the United States, comes from fossil fuel power plants, which themselves consume a lot of water. Developments that aren’t tied to the grid and get their electricity from natural gas turbines may not need as much water, but residents are concerned about the pollution they generate. Still, this new cooling solution is a step in the right direction to help make AI more sustainable.

While the coming availability of the Steam Machine is stealing headlines about Valve, the company quietly announced that it’s also working on SteamOS to give it wider compatibility. Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the engineers Tom’s Hardware talked with to dig into the details of the upcoming console, told The Verge that the company is collaborating with Nvidia “very closely” to develop support for Team Green GPUs. Additionally, he mentioned the possibility of dual-booting SteamOS with Windows or other operating systems in the future. The measures would allow users to build their own DIY Steam Machines in future.

SteamOS 3.0 was built from the ground up for the Steam Deck, which uses AMD hardware. For years now, enterprising users could install the operating system on other systems that feature Team Red hardware. However, if you use parts from other brands like Intel and Nvidia, you’re going to run into a lot of complications. One enthusiast made SteamOS work with an Intel Arc B580 desktop GPU, but it required a lot of advanced steps and troubleshooting that would certainly turn off more casual users.

Valve released the latest version of the gaming operating system, SteamOS 3.8.10, just last week, and it comes with compatibility updates for Intel and AMD platforms, including upcoming Intel-powered handhelds. While support for Nvidia graphics cards isn’t expected to arrive this year, Graiffais told The Verge that “it’s certainly something that we’re working on in the background.” He also mentioned a SteamOS installer that would make it easier for users to wipe an existing operating system and replace it with SteamOS. While it cannot partition a drive for dual-booting yet, Pierre-Loup hinted that the feature might eventually arrive in the future.

Windows is still the most dominant OS for gaming, and we can see this in the latest Steam survey results, with Windows 11 getting nearly 70% of the market share. However, Linux, especially through SteamOS, is quickly gaining ground. Although it still has a negligible 3.99% share (compared to Windows’ overall 93.85%), it has already overtaken macOS’s 2.16%. This result is likely driven by the popularity of the Steam Deck, despite its recent price hikes, and we expect this to jump even higher once gamers get their hands on the Valve Steam Machine in the coming weeks.

LG Display (LGD) is the arm of LG that manufactures monitor and TV panels for its parent firm, as well as a great deal of other players including Apple, Dell, Sony, and Asus among many others. The company has just announced that its large-format OLED panels earned an Intertek certification for "perfect" color and brightness accuracy under ambient lighting up to 500 lux.

Large-format panels are those going into TVs, generally meaning size 48" or larger. We're taking LG Display at its word, as the press release states the certification means the TVs "accurately reproduce both color and brightness regardless of viewing conditions or content." 500 lux of ambient is actually a pretty demanding viewing environment for a TV, as it's roughly the equivalent to a well-lit office, conference room, or kitchen work surface.

LGD says the certification validates the OLED panels in question for "100% color accuracy" and "100% brightness accuracy," remarking that Intertek used multiple test patterns, and that the panels maintained both accurate color and consistent brightness with all of them. The text also notes the panels are "color cross-talk free," an impressive feat if true. Broadly speaking, OLED panels generally don't bleed light into dark areas, but color contamination in adjacent areas is a real problem thanks to subpixel cross-talk. That's actually a very tricky problem to solve (especially for tandem panels), and it's an impressive feat if LGD truly managed to kill it altogether.

Intertek is a a pretty large UK-based technology and certification company (accredited with ISO/IEC 17025), but there aren't details on the test processes it used. It's worth noting there's no standardized certification process for TV panels to begin with, unlike the monitor-specific DisplayHDR and its strict, OLED-specific True Black variant. LGD has worked with Intertek for many years, and the test results tend to include at least some actual figures.

Last month, AMD officially announced FSR 4.1 for older RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 hardware, with the RX 7000 series set to receive FSR 4.1 support in July. Well, Christmas has come early as FSR 4.1 is out now for RDNA 3 desktop GPUs, a few days before it was originally supposed to launch. It's available natively in over 300 games, and all you need to do is update your GPU drivers inside AMD Adrenaline software to unlock the latest upscaler.

• ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 : was $639 now $599 at Newegg

FSR 4.1 for the RX 7000 series is based on INT8 code that differs from the FP8 instruction set that the RX 9000 series uses. Technically speaking, only RDNA 4 has the hardware required for FSR 4.1 to work optimally, while making it backwards compatible with previous generations requires a lot of tuning and falling back on older instructions that incur a slight performance loss in exchange for better visual quality.

AMD is confident that its in-house optimizations deliver better results than community efforts, as the video embedded above shows official FSR 4.1 achieving higher frame rates in Forza Horizon 6 and Crimson Desert versus FSR 4.0.2c. That version is built from leaked code that came out last year and has since served as the foundation of Optiscaler mods that force-inject FSR 4 by making the game think it's actually DLSS.

The biggest difference will still be seen against native rendering — playing Crimson Desert at 4K, an RX 7900 XTX only managed about 43 FPS on average, while FSR 4.1 bumped that up to 64 FPS. That's nearly a 50% improvement, while looking considerably better than FSR 3.1 and remarkably close to FSR 4.1 on the RX 9000 series. Sure, FSR 3.1 could probably net a few more FPS, but the image quality won't be as sharp.

AMD also confirmed it's working on "lightweight machine learning models" to bring FSR 4.1 to RDNA 3 APUs, which should extend support to a wide range of devices. For instance, the Z1 Extreme chip inside Valve's Steam Deck is based on RDNA 3 architecture. Phoenix Point and Hawk Point silicon, i.e., Ryzen 7040, Ryzen 8000(G), Ryzen 8040, and Ryzen 200 series, also rely on RDNA 3 graphics.

RDNA 3.5 is an extension of RDNA 3, and AMD pushed back against it, not receiving FSR 4.1 just this month. If we assume this announcement also counts RDNA 3.5, then expect FSR 4.1 to also come to Ryzen AI 300 and Ryzen AI 400 series, along with Ryzen AI Max processors. AMD's current-gen Ryzen Z2 family for handhelds is also based on RDNA 3.5. For now, though, FSR 4.1 seems limited strictly to RDNA 3 desktop GPUs.

Support for older RDNA 2-based graphics cards is expected in early 2027, even though the community has interchangeably used INT8 mods for both the RX 6000 and RX 7000 series. Expect a bigger performance tradeoff on RDNA 2 compared to RDNA 3, which is what the company is likely trying to minimize in the months leading up to its launch. Nonetheless, it's exciting to see AMD at least try to catch up to Nvidia in terms of its upscaler support.

One last thing to note is that FSR 4.1.1 INT8 leaked earlier today through Proton Experimental. There was a DLL file signed by AMD, intended to work on RDNA 3.5 silicon — so basically the Steam Machine. A few people got hold of the file before it was removed and got it to work on even RDNA 2 GPUs via Optiscaler. Since the cat was out of the bag, perhaps that's why AMD decided to officially release FSR 4.1 for the RX 7000 series earlier than expected.

The ongoing component crisis has caused PC hardware to become unreasonably expensive once again. In times like these, you have to find deals on bundles, laptops, and even prebuilts. The community generally doesn't look fondly upon them, but we've found an offer that's too good to pass up. Alienware's Aurora R16 desktop with an RTX 5070 and a Core Ultra 7 265F is on sale for just $1,479 right now, down 36% from its list price.

• Check out this deal at Dell

When you open the listing, make sure to scroll down a bit and select the RTX 5070 option in the GPU configurator, which will drop down the price to $1,479. You'll also need to select a 750W power supply, but the RTX 5070 GPU actually takes $600 off the price of the configuration, hence the excellent deal.

As for the 5070 itself, we've put it at #3 in our roundup for the best GPUs you can buy. It's a 4K-ready card thanks to DLSS 4.5 and MFG, easily handling any game at 1440p with maxed out settings. Thanks to Nvidia's rich software stack and CUDA support, it's a great option for professional workloads, too.

The CPU is an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F with 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores running at up to 5.3 GHz. It's an Arrow Lake chip from last year, and we've tested the unlocked "K" variant, which should be pretty much identical in performance out of the box. It's an excellent value, landing just behind the iconic 9800X3D in our CPU Value Geomean charts. You're getting enough grunt for all sorts of tasks, whether it's gaming or productivity.

The Aurora R16 also comes with 16GB of DDR5-5200 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The motherboard is, unfortunately, proprietary, but you can still upgrade most of the parts yourself. There's an extra M.2 slot for another SSD, the GPU can be swapped out depending on its dimensions, and even the CPU can be upgraded within the Arrow Lake family that's on the LGA 1851 socket. We'd prefer a system with 32GB of RAM, and you can upgrade this in the configuration before buying, but this will add $270 to the price.

Impressively, the entire system is backed by an 80+ Platinum-rated 750W PSU. There's even a 240mm AIO liquid cooler keeping the CPU in check, and the case looks rather sleek. We configured a similar build on PCPartPicker, and it came out to over $1,600, and that's without a Windows 11 license, so the Aurora R16 for just $1,479 is a great deal. Don't forget to scroll all the way down to "Accessories" and get the Legacy of the Dark Knight bundle for free.

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The Thermaltake Argent E700 gaming chair is currently on sale at its lowest price ever, just one day before Amazon kicks off its Prime Day sale. You can pick up the Ocean Blue variant for around $620, which is less than half of its original MSRP of $1,299.99. However, you'll want to act fast, as stock is limited and this may be your best chance to get your hands on one of the most premium gaming chairs inspired by high-performance race car seats.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

According to Thermaltake, the chair offers the aesthetics of a racing bucket seat along with the functionality and comfort of a modern lounge or office chair. In fact, the Argent E700 is currently our pick for the best-looking gaming chair for 2026. Designed in collaboration with Studio F.A. Porsche, the Argent E700 comes with a hard-body plastic shell design with a reflective, glossy finish. It also features genuine leather upholstery along with polished aluminum components, including the integrated side handles that are used for tilting and elevating.

As you can read in our Thermaltake Argent E700 review, the chair also offers a 4D adjustable armrest system, adjustable seat height of 41 - 53cm, a backrest that can recline from 107 to 126 degrees, and an adjustable headrest allowing users to fine-tune their seating position. Under the leather, the company has packed high-density molded foam that provides even weight distribution and firm body support while maintaining a sedentary posture. Other notable features include a class-4 gas spring for maximized safety and reliability during height adjustments, and a grade 5-star aluminum alloy base with 7.5cm caster wheels, which are suitable for both soft and hard floors.

The Thermaltake Argent E700 is far from being a budget gaming chair, but at its current discounted price of $619.80, it is considerably easier to justify than its original price of $1,299.99. The combination of premium materials, unique racecar-inspired styling, and high-end construction makes it a worthy option for anyone looking to add a statement piece to their gaming setup or home office. In case you missed this particular deal, you can also have a look at the AndaSeat Kaiser 3, which is currently $20 off. Also, make sure to head to our Prime Day gaming chair deals list for all the latest offers.

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Building a mini-ITX gaming PC today can burn a serious hole in your wallet, primarily due to the premium pricing on ITX motherboards, SFX power supplies, and small-form-factor cases. Moreover, the ongoing AI boom has led to a sharp increase in price for memory, storage, and graphics cards. The best way to dodge this premium today is to invest in a prebuilt such as this Cooler Master NR2 Pro mini-ITX gaming PC from Newegg for $2,799.99, down from its original price of $3,199.99.

As an added bonus, customers also get a free copy of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight worth $69.99 and a one-year subscription to the NordVPN Plus Bundle worth $84.99.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The compact PC is built inside the Cooler Master NR200P Max case offering a volume of just 18.25L, which is roughly the size of a large shoebox. The case comes with a Cooler Master 280mm AIO liquid cooling solution while power is delivered via an 850W 80+ Gold SFX power supply. Powering the system is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F processor which features 20 cores, 20 threads, and max boost clock speeds of up to 5.3 GHz. The motherboard is a Gigabyte B860I Aorus Pro Ice with 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5 6000 MT/s RGB RAM.

For storage, the system comes with a 2TB Gen 4.0 M.2 SSD while the motherboard includes an additional M.2 slot in case you want to add more capacity in the future. As for the graphics card, the prebuilt includes an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 from Gigabyte with 16GB of GDDR7 memory and enough grunt to handle 4K gaming. The listing also mentions the option of a glass or mesh side panel along with modern connectivity options including Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and 2.5 gigabit Ethernet.

The Cooler Master NR2 Pro prebuilt offers a convenient way to avoid the mini-ITX premium as well as the painful process of bringing it all together. At its discounted price of $2,799.99, it is a recommended option for gamers who are looking for a powerful yet compact prebuilt without the hassle and expense of building a comparable mini-ITX system.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

While it’s nice to have several full-sized displays to ensure that every app you need is available at a glance, there are times that you simply do not have the table space to host three ultrawide monitors on desk. Corsair lets you solve this with the Xeneon Edge 14.5-inch LCD touchscreen, which is now available on sale at $199.99 on the Corsair website. That’s $50 off the $249.99 retail price, giving you a 20% discount ahead of Prime Day.

• Check out this deal on the Corsair website.

This tiny touchscreen is designed to either sit below your monitor with the included magnetic stand or to be mounted horizontally or vertically on any metal surface with its magnetic backplate. It also supports HDMI and USB-C DP-Alt Mode connections, allowing you to use it both with your laptop and desktop PC.

Despite its small size, it has a relatively high-resolution of 2560 x 720 and a 60Hz refresh rate — it might not match the specs of the best gaming monitors, but these numbers are more than enough to show apps and additional information that will streamline your workflow. Aside from displaying your miscellaneous apps and tools (like Spotify or YouTube), Corsair also designed the screen to be paired with iCUE software to monitor your fan speed, CPU, and GPU utilization, and more, right in front of you (or beside you if you prefer to stick the screen in your case).

This tiny touchscreen is designed to either sit below your monitor with the included magnetic stand or to be mounted horizontally or vertically on any metal surface with its magnetic backplate. It also supports HDMI and USB-C DP-Alt Mode connections, allowing you to use it both with your laptop and desktop PC.

Despite its small size, it has a relatively high-resolution of 2560 x 720 and a 60Hz refresh rate — it might not match the specs of the best gaming monitors, but these numbers are more than enough to show apps and additional information that will streamline your workflow. Aside from displaying your miscellaneous apps and tools (like Spotify or YouTube), Corsair also designed the screen to be paired with iCUE software to monitor your fan speed, CPU and GPU utilization, and more, right in front of you (or beside you if you prefer to stick the screen in your case).

Some of the use cases that Corsair showed include a media control center, a dedicated voice communication screen through Discord, and a screen mounted vertically on the side of a monitor so that you can see the comments on your stream while your game is on full screen. The company also says that it uses an AHVA panel, helping ensure that you get the widest viewing angles — a crucial feature for a screen designed to be placed at an angle to the user. And because it’s a touch screen, you can also configure it to become a virtual Stream Deck to help you become more efficient in everything that you do on your PC.

A few people might argue that you should just get one of the best budget 4K monitors or best portable monitors if you’re really intent on getting more screen real estate. But if tabletop space is at a premium for your desktop PC, this might just give you the best of both worlds. It’s also a great accessory for those who simply want to build the best battle station, and you can get the Xeneon Edge straight from Corsair at just $199.99.

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The world is getting warmer every year due to worsening climate change. If you live in certain parts of the world affected by El Nino, you're likely seeing your devices overheat right now if you live without an air conditioner. So, what if you could devise a solution to keep your computer cool regardless of ambient temps? That's precisely what YouTuber TrashBench did by altering a standard countertop ice machine to work as a GPU cooler.

We've covered TrashBench's escapades before, such as that time they used car antifreeze to cool a GPU, or when they put the entire test bench inside a freezer, or even the video where they dunked the entire graphics card into transmission fluid. In this case, the idea of using an ice machine actually came from fellow modder MrYeester who already cooled a CPU with a smaller one — now, it was time to take the concept to another level.

The YouTuber began by disassembling an RTX 3060; he removed the stock cooler and mounted a custom retention frame over the die to fit the liquid-cooling tubes. He then put a submersible water pump inside the ice machine and simply filled it up with water to create the loop. The hot water from the GPU falls into the bucket where it should be cooled before being looped back to the card.

Just for the sake of it, the modder tested the GPU without turning the ice machine on and it actually achieved around 44°C in benchmarks. The temperature wouldn't stabilize because nothing is cooling the water, so he turns on the machine, and the temps actually fall by more than 10 degrees. However, the GPU is heating up faster than the water can cool it down because the ice machine is on a fixed clock cycle.

Basically, the compressor only runs for a few seconds at a time before turning back off once the ice has been discharged into the water. This interval is controlled by a thermostat that can't be adjusted, so it was time to rip it out entirely and replace it with another one. TrashBench luckily had another one that will bypass the internal logic and force the compressor to stay on perpetually.

But just running the compressor longer doesn't result in better cooling. The evaporator coils are responsible for facilitating the heat exchange and they weren't submerged enough in the water. To fix this, the YouTuber simply put a small plastic bowl under the coils to the point they were completely drowned. Hot water coming from the GPU will now hit the evaporator, which helps improve the cooling efficiency, while the new thermostat ensures the compressor doesn't turn off.

Once everything was ready, TrashBench ran the numbers once again and the results were a success, to say the least. Before the modding began, the RTX 3060 was reaching around 60°C in Cyberpunk 2077. Now, it was casually chilling at 22-23°C, and it was stable. The GPU hot spot was sitting at 75°C before, while the modified ice machine brought it all the way down to just 34°C.

There were some leaks in the middle that the YouTuber dealt with, and the entire modding process was a bit too involved for a quick and fun experiment. Not to mention, messing with the internal componentry of an electrical device that's carrying water isn't exactly the safest thing to do. Still, the results speak for themselves, and we can only wonder how far you could take this RTX 3060 now with extreme overclocking.

69-year-old Claude Guillemot, who founded Ubisoft alongside his four brothers, died on Friday, June 19, after his private twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed on approach to La Baule-Escoublac Airport in France, near the country’s Atlantic coast. Le Parisien said that Ubisoft has confirmed the passing of one of its founders in the accident.

“Ubisoft ‌was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman ​of Guillemot Corp, in an accident,” the company said. “Our thoughts are with his family ⁠and loved ones during this difficult time. No ​further statements will be made at this time.”

Claude and his brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986 when they established the business by importing and distributing games in the country. It was also during that same year that it launched its first game, Zombi. In 1989, the startup was already making millions of dollars in sales and revenue, but it made its first globally successful original title, the platformer Rayman, in 1995. This allowed the company to go public in 1996, when it raised $80 million in its IPO.

Its successful public debut injected enough cash for it to open studios across the world, including Canada, China, and Japan. From humble beginnings, the company grew into one of the biggest names in gaming and entertainment, owning some of the most popular gaming titles and franchises in the past and present like Assassin’s Creed, Brothers in Arms, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Prince of Persia, The Division, and Watch Dogs, among others.

Despite its success, Ubisoft has recently been facing some troubles. This includes a major cyberattack on its servers which forced the company to take Rainbow Six Siege completely offline as well as issues with generative AI in Far Cry 7, with one insider saying that it “looks like s**t.”

The Guillemot brothers no longer own 100% of Ubisoft, although they still own a considerable stake. According to Investing.com, Guillemot Brothers S.A., a holding company that manages the brothers’ stake in Ubisoft, is still the largest shareholder with 12.27%, while institutional bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the second largest shareholder with 9.94%. Chinese gaming company Tencent Holdings Limited owns 9.46% of the company, with the rest spread out across different mutual funds and ETF, retail investors, and other institutional investors.

Claude Guillemot was the president of the Guillemot Corporation (different from the Guillemot Brothers S.A.), which was the original company founded in 1986 and still owns brands like digital audio solutions provider Hercules, DJ equipment maker Djuced, and gaming accessories manufacturer Thrustmaster. His younger brother, Yves Guillemot, still serves as the CEO of Ubisoft.

Aside from helping build one of Europe’s largest gaming empires, reports say that Claude also holds a pilot’s license and was an avid and experienced pilot. He was en route to the airport near the accident site for a planned air show this weekend when the tragedy struck. Alongside the Ubisoft co-founder, a 70-year-old flight instructor was also killed in the accident.

Officials haven’t made any statements yet regarding the cause of the accident. It will likely take months, if not years, before we get a comprehensive accident report from the Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile (BEA), the French equivalent of the U.S. NTSB, tasked with investigating aircraft accidents.

Pricing for the best gaming monitors has generally been trending downward, particularly the 1440p high-refresh segment which continues to be the sweet spot for most gamers. Take for instance the Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C curved gaming monitor. Originally launched at $349.99, it is now available at its lowest-ever price of $189.99 on Amazon just days ahead of Prime Day, representing a discount of roughly 46%.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C gaming monitor offers a 32-inch 1000R curved VA panel offering a 165 Hz refresh rate and 1440p QHD resolution. This monitor is suitable for gamers with mid-range systems, especially if they are looking for a curved screen for increased immersion. It is also HDR10-compliant, which should result in vivid colors, although the peak brightness levels are limited to 300 nits.

The Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C gaming monitor offers a 32-inch 1000R curved VA panel offering a 165 Hz refresh rate and 1440p QHD resolution. This monitor is suitable for gamers with mid-range systems especially if you are looking for a curved screen for increased immersion. It is also HDR10-compliant, which should result in vivid colors, although the peak brightness levels are limited to 300 nits.

The 1ms MPRT response time achieved using backlight strobing, should help in reducing any sort of blurring while support for AMD FreeSync should ensure that the monitor and GPU stay in sync for a smooth and tear-free experience. In terms of connectivity, the monitor comes with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 inputs allowing one to connect more than one device. There are no inbuilt speakers, however, the 3.5mm audio jack allows you to plug in headphones or external speakers.

At its discounted price of $189.99, the Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C offers compelling value. It may not offer the best color accuracy or HDR performance when compared to IPS or OLED displays, but it is definitely worth considering for gamers who are looking to step up from a 1080p monitor. With Prime Day just around the corner, it may be worth keeping an eye on similar deals, although this discount already represents solid value for anyone planning a gaming monitor upgrade.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Dr. James Ries, the founder of Twenty Mile Medical, proudly proclaims that he’s a Razer Naga V2 Pro user. The most surprising thing about this tidbit is that he uses it while seeing patients remotely. Before you get your pitchforks out, no, the doctor isn’t playing World of Warcraft while evaluating a patient — instead, he uses it to simplify his and the rest of his team’s workflow. Dr. Ries mentioned this interesting piece of trivia during TextExpander’s interview with the healthcare provider, where he showed how he used the service to standardize patient care, reduce the cognitive burden on medical professionals, and quickly write more accurate clinical notes.

Doctor fatigue is one of the biggest issues that telehealth faces today. “Discharge instructions going out at 8 am from a fresh provider look nothing like the ones going out at 4 pm from the same provider after eight hours of visits,” TextExpander said. Dr. Ries said that he addressed this by using master Snippets (a snippet is a short text command, like “;sig” that would run a programmable command, like inserting your signature).

Instead of typing out a fixed phrase, sentence, or paragraph, which is what TextExpander is usually used for, the shortcuts he created bring up the relevant clinical scenario and give options to select appropriate responses as needed. He’d have snippets for general patient communication, sinus infections, psych refills, and more, and then there are check boxes that he can click in each master snippet to ask questions, add instructions, write prescriptions, and more.

Each master Snippet has its specific command, and this is where Dr. Riesa’s Razer Naga V2 Pro comes in. Instead of having to memorize the commands needed to launch the workflow, he assigned them to the customizable buttons that sit on his right thumb. He also assigned other buttons to insert his most commonly used typed paragraphs, like his intro paragraph and signature. You might think that this is excessive — after all, you’re only saving a few seconds by typing four characters instead of pressing one button. But even if that is true, you’ll save a lot of time if you use the shortcut often enough.

More than saving time, it also reduces the cognitive load on doctors. Decision fatigue is a real phenomenon across industries and professions, where people make bad calls not because they’re poorly trained or careless, but simply because they’re tired. Combining the text shortcut with the macro keypad on the mouse helps reduce this, as you don’t even have to lift your hand off the mouse to launch the master Snippet.

Dr. Ries says that the functionality isn’t limited to gaming mice — you can also use a macro pad like the Stream Deck Neo to assign commands and shortcuts, too. Nevertheless, he still prefers the Razer Naga V2 Pro because he doesn’t have to lift his hand off the peripheral to insert what he needs.

Watch the video below to see how the doctor uses his gaming mouse for productivity.

A Lithuanian startup developed an Android app that lets verified users monitor the general area for the acoustic signature of Shahed-type drones used by Russia to strike targets and report their approximate location. According to state broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television, the app uses an embedded algorithm to isolate and analyze targets from environmental noise. It reports a possible detection on a public map. With the app running on enough devices, the system could determine the potential location and direction of these drones and warn both civilians and the military of an impending strike.

Shahed-type drones have been widely employed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is quite effective for its relatively low price compared to other, more advanced missile systems. Ukraine has been taking steps to counter this threat, including requiring users inside the country to register their Starlink units to avoid getting blocked because Russia has been using the service to guide its drones as late as last year. Other nations are experimenting with cost-effective countermeasures, too, including microwave drone swarm killers and man-portable anti-drone laser systems.

What makes these drones deadly is their price — because they’re so cheap, it’s easy for an enemy to launch them en masse and overwhelm defenses. However, if you can catch them far from their targets, they’re quite vulnerable (at least for the older propeller-driven models); even gunners armed with a shotgun or assault rifle seated inside a 50-year-old single-propeller trainer aircraft can reliably shoot them down.

The biggest issue for air defense systems is that these drones are quite small and made of lightweight materials, which gives them a relatively low radar cross-section (RCS). A Shahed-type drone usually measures around eight to 12 feet in length and has a wingspan of around eight feet. Although they could be detected by standard radar systems, their speed and size mean that the radar receiver would also pick up a lot of other clutter, such as birds, making it hard to distinguish relevant targets from background noise. These characteristics, combined with their low flight cruising altitude, mean that ground-based radars have trouble picking them up unless they’re flying relatively close.

However, their low flight path also means that they could easily be heard by observers on the ground. So, if enough people can detect their aural signature and report it to a central database, defense forces could mobilize and engage these threats while they’re still distant from their targets and away from population centers. This is similar to the acoustic mirrors and acoustic locators that militaries used in World War I before the advent of radar, wherein they built massive concrete dishes aimed upward, or used smaller, more portable metal horn arrays, crewed by trained personnel listening in to detect the low-frequency sound coming from aircraft piston engines from far away.

We expect this to be far more accurate, though, because it uses advanced algorithms and thousands of detectors operated by verified users. While using this system alone is probably not enough to accurately detect these drones, pairing it with modern radar systems could make the radar operators’ job far easier, as they would have another data source to confirm whether they’re actually seeing drones on their screens or just a flock of birds.

Looking to build a high-end gaming PC but stuck with soaring prices during the AI boom? Worry not as we've identified a great deal that can get you started with some excellent components. Micro Center bundles are now available on Amazon and, as such, we have a Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU combo with an MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wi-Fi motherboard and 32GB of Klevv CRAS V memory on sale for just $1,066.26 right now.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D holds the first position in our best CPUs roundup for gaming. This is a world-renowned processor that doesn't need a sales pitch. It's the best choice for playing games across every resolution. Sure, it's beaten by the much more expensive 9950X3D2 sometimes (it's very rare), but that chip costs twice as much, so it's terrible value. You're getting 8x Zen 5 cores clocked up to 5.2 GHz with 96MB of L3 cache and just a 120W TDP.

The motherboard this beast will be socketed inside is the MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wi-Fi with native Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 support. It has a 12+2+1 phase VRM and includes three M.2 slots, with support for PCIe Gen 5.0 SSDs. The rear I/O is fantastic with plenty of speedy USB-A and USB-C ports, along with a 5 Gbps Ethernet connector. The board looks pretty clean, too, with its white and grey aesthetic complemented by blue accents.

Lastly, the bundle also features a Klevv CRAS V 32GB (16x2) kit of DDR5 RAM running at 6,000 MT/s with a CL30 latency. It's the perfect kit for AM5 systems looking to strike the balance between optimal performance and stability, at least until EXPO ULL becomes commonplace. We don't need to remind you how expensive memory has gotten in the past few months, so securing it in a combo deal like this can save you a lot of money.

Overall, you're looking at an excellent base of operations that only really leaves the GPU to worry about. Fortunately, we're hunting for a lot of those deals as well, so keep an eye out. Till then, don't miss out on this curated selection for just $1,066.26 on Amazon — the listing even shaves off an extra 8% off the original price.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Alongside memory, SSD pricing has been at an all-time high thanks to the ongoing AI-apocalypse. But it seems that we might finally see some respite as Prime Day approaches. Western Digital has cut the price of its popular WD Black SN7100 PCIe 4.0 SSD, with the 2TB storage variant dropping from $299.99 to $242.96 on Amazon, a significant discount of around 20%.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The WD Black SN7100 is a successor to the SN770, featuring Sandisk’s proprietary Polaris 3 controller and 218-layer TLC (BiCS8) flash. The lack of DRAM can degrade sustained performance during heavy, prolonged transfers. However, it supports HMB (Host Memory Buffer), which compensates for this by using a portion of system memory as cache.

We tested the SN7100 and found it capable of delivering sequential read speeds of up to 7,250 MB/s and write speeds of up to 6,900 MB/s, along with an above-average endurance rating of 1,400 TBW (terabytes written). It also offers excellent random read performance while consuming less power than most PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market.

This efficiency makes it particularly well-suited for battery-powered devices such as laptops and handheld gaming consoles. Lower power consumption also translates into lower operating temperatures, allowing the drive to run comfortably without an additional heatsink in most everyday workloads. The SN7100 is also compatible with the Sony PS5, delivering performance comparable to other high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs while maintaining lower power consumption and temperatures.

If you're on the lookout for a speedy storage upgrade, the 2TB WD Black SN7100 at $242.96 is a solid deal, if not its lowest-ever price. Considering this SSD climbed as high as $400 at one point and was selling for around $300 last month, now seems like a good time to purchase.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Putting together a brand-new gaming PC right now is a tough ask because of the skyrocketing prices of pretty much every piece of hardware. That's why turning to laptops and prebuilts can be a more practical choice, and we've found a great deal on a 1440p-ready system that doesn't cut corners. Asus' ROG GM700 is on sale for $1,199.99 on Newegg, pairing a Ryzen 7 8700F CPU with an RX 9060 XT GPU for solid performance across all workloads.

• Check out this deal on Newegg

The Ryzen 7 8700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from AMD's Zen 4 family. It can boost up to 5 GHz, and since it sits on the AM5 socket, you have a decent upgrade path ahead of you, too. Technically, this is a laptop chip repurposed for desktop use — a Ryzen 7 8700G without integrated graphics —, so it's slower than AMD's similar 8-core options, but it's still a perfectly capable CPU in its own right.

The RX 9060 XT, on the other hand, needs no introduction. We call it "the best enthusiast value graphics card" in our top GPUs roundup. This is the full-fat 16GB model, so you're getting more VRAM than the competition at this price point. Thanks to its RDNA 4 architecture, features like FSR 4 are available right away, and the GPU performs better than the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, its direct MSRP rival.

Other than the main components, you're getting 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, all on a midrange B650 motherboard with Wi-Fi 6. The case looks rather nice; it has a strong front I/O, preinstalled ARGB fans, and RGB accents across the PSU shroud. Speaking of which, there's a 600W 80+ Gold power supply powering everything.

Asus says the case is tool-free, so the company is already setting you up for a potential upgrade path when prices normalize a bit. Overall, the Asus ROG GM700 is a competent gaming PC that feels more like a DIY system than a prebuilt. For just $1,199 on Newegg right now, you're getting it for less than it would cost to put all these parts together yourself.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Over the years, resin 3D printers have started offering higher resolution, faster printing speeds, and greater ease of use. If you are looking for one of the most user-friendly resin printers on the market, the newly launched Anycubic Photon P1 is a great choice. It is also currently on sale at Amazon, where you can get the printer bundled with the dual-color material print kit for $619.99, down from its listed price of $969.99, effectively offering savings of 36%.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

One of the standout features of the Photon P1 is the build plate. While most resin 3D printers offer an aluminum build plate, the Photon P1 uses a precision-ground steel build plate, which is flatter, stable, and more durable. The company claims that it doesn’t deform during model removal because it is twice as strong as aluminum. It is also corrosion-resistant and offers surface roughness tolerance of under 80µm, which is thinner than a human hair. It also comes with an industrial-grade ball screw for higher precision and longer lifespan.

The printer comes with a 4.5-inch touchscreen display that is easy to navigate without detracting from the machine's overall design. The interface is simple and responsive, while the touch feedback sound has a quirky microwave-like tone. In addition to USB support, the printer allows wireless printing over Wi-Fi through the slicer software or Anycubic's companion app. The vat or container that holds the liquid resin is built of high-quality aluminum and offers a unique locking system. Instead of using a standard screw-style system, it offers a dual slide-out, lock-in-place system.

In our review, we found the Anycubic Photon P1 to be one of the most feature-packed and user-friendly resin printers currently available. It impressed us with its easy setup process, excellent print quality, fast performance, and modern features, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced users. We also appreciated the optional dual-material printing system, though it may feel more like a niche feature for certain buyers.

If you have been considering getting into resin 3D printing, the Anycubic Photon P1 is worth a look at its discounted price. At $619.99 bundled with the dual-color material print kit, the printer offers a strong combination of premium features, ease of use, and impressive print quality.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

The Chinese government quietly approved the Space Computing Industry Innovation Center in early June, which aims to bring together rocket and satellite manufacturers, semiconductor fabs, and AI tech companies to build a space computing network. According to the Beijing government, this aims to “connect the entire industrial chain of space computing and boost the development of the satellite Internet of Things (IoT) sector. Research firm SemiAnalysis said on X that China made this move a week before Elon Musk announced his AI1 satellite, which will run AI workloads while orbiting in space.

The center is set to be officially launched later this month, and it will focus on six major research areas: highly reliable, heat-resistant space-native computing chips, high-performance hyper-interconnected space computing payloads, space computing satellite platforms and standard systems, space-based large models under constrained power conditions, integrated space-ground cloud-based measurement and control networking, and space computing power service-oriented and tokenized operations. These are designed to build an orbiting AI data center that will not rely on Earth-bound energy sources and will avoid the bottlenecks that many ground-based data center developments face today.

While Beijing made this quiet announcement earlier than Musk’s AI1 reveal, we should note that Elon already had technical details available during the interview. In fact, the world’s first trillionaire has been talking about compute in space since November last year and filed for a one-million-satellite Orbital Data Center System with the FCC in February 2026. Jeff Bezos is also getting into the game with the 51,600-satellite Project Sunrise set to operate in a sun-synchronous orbit.

What makes China’s announcement different, though, is that it’s making multiple companies work together to build a system. On the other hand, SpaceX and Blue Origin are going at it alone — the two companies are competitors, and it doesn’t look like they’re cooperating with each other to develop the technologies required for space-based AI compute. It even seems that the former is intent on vertical integration, with its new 11-million-square-foot (around 190 to 200 football fields) Gigasat factory and Musk’s TeraFab megaproject.

We’re unsure which technique will be more effective in the long run: having one or two companies pour massive resources into this megaproject (with its success or failure being solely borne by those firms) or making several smaller companies and institutions work together to build a Space Intelligent Computing Research Institute, with the output presumably available for use by Chinese firms. But one thing is certain: Beijing is taking space-based data centers seriously enough to pour resources into them — a significant move for a nation with ample excess electricity and available infrastructure to build power-hungry data centers.

Most all you hear about "running an AI model" involves a GPU of some sort, but not every AI task is suited to that hardware. Smaller models or single-user latency-sensitive operations can benefit from running on the CPU instead, as it avoids the overhead of shuffling data to and from the GPU. There are also many situations where there is no GPU available to begin with, or it's a meek integrated affair with limited capabilities. Intel and AMD have recently released the full specification for the ACE CPU extensions that make it easier and more power-efficient to run the aforementioned AI tasks on x86 processors.

ACE comes in by offering a technical standard that leverages the existing AVX10 registers but adds silicon dedicated to matrix multiplication. This brings multiple benefits, but the key advantages are better power efficiency, easier development and optimization, and leveraging AVX's 512-bit inputs. The latter makes for easy integration with existing designs by eschewing the need for ACE-specific inputs.

Matrix multiplication is the cornerstone of AI workloads: take a table of numbers, and run a multiplication-addition loop over the whole thing. This has always been possible with most any CPU, though at limited speed. Even today, running these loops uses a lot of power, even when leveraging x86's AVX10 multiply-accumulate instructions — something that's technically a hack, as AVX wasn't designed with 2D matrix operations multiplication in mind.

For the same number of input vectors, ACE can perform 16x as many operations, compared to AVX10. Note this doesn't necessarily mean a 16x speedup, as that will depend on each individual implementation, but it's reasonable to expect that Intel and AMD will dedicate more silicon to this task in future designs to improve performance. Plus, as each ACE instruction performs more work than its equivalent AVX10 loop, there's less CPU instruction overhead and potentially better RAM bandwidth usage right off the bat.

The benefits go far beyond just using fewer instructions for the same thing. ACE is intended to be implementation-agnostic, meaning that ML frameworks and their underlying libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow) can just write one code path instead of having multiple variations depending on the underlying hardware and its degree of AVX support.

ACE native supports most every data type used in ML operations (including but not limited to INT8, INT32, FP8, FP16, FP32, BF16), but it also can use Open Compute Project's MX block-scaled formats natively, something that AVX10 does not provide. Developers will also be able to move some NPU-specific workloads back to CPU when they need something done now and fast. In those situations, not having to deal with the fact that each NPU is different is a huge boon, too, as ACE offers a consistent target across x86 hardware.

An extremely unfortunate PC builder is the latest to fall victim to Amazon's prolific returns scams, after the Nvidia RTX 5070 they received from the website turned out to be a DVD re-writer, a mousepad, and the busted logic board from an early 2000's Kenwood AV receiver.

what i got sent instead of a 5070 from r/pcmasterrace

The victim was gifted a brand new MSI Ventus 2X variant of the RTX 5070 from Amazon by a friend at a cost of 605 euros ($700). A few days later, when the package arrived, it weighed the same as the real thing, but it certainly did not have a graphics card inside. Instead, the customer received what appears to be a broken logic board from an old Kenwood AV receiver, a DVD rewriter, and what seems to be a mousepad.

"This was shipped and sold by Amazon," u/luutherr told Tom's Hardware. They also provided us with proof of purchase and confirmed the item was a gift from a friend, making the scam all the more galling. That means someone in the middle is the bad actor. In reality, what most likely happened was a scam-swap, where someone previously bought the item, emptied its real box contents, and filled it back up with junk that weighs the same. They then filed for a return, probably citing personal preference as the reason.

Since the box still carried the same weight and the product wasn't returned because of a defect, it ended up back on sale after passing some basic checks. Someone else buys it, and Amazon or the seller unknowingly sends that person the fake item, completing the circle. Believe it or not, this whole process actually used to be worse before Amazon ended its commingling program last year, which sellers exploited to avoid being traced.

In the end, the same system that delivered OP the wrong product should come in handy for delivering justice. A simple return request should get them their money back, but it will certainly erode the customer's trust in the platform. We would say this is a reminder to always stay vigilant when buying PC hardware with prices that seem lower than usual. But since this was bought from the official MSI store and sold directly by Amazon, it's simply a consequence of deceitful human nature.