The land of Windows 11 is finally getting a feature most users will appreciate, with the introduction of the new memory scanning for issues after a blue screen of death (BSOD) happens. "We're introducing a new feature that helps improve system reliability. If your PC experiences a bug check (unexpected restart), you may see a notification when signing in suggesting a quick memory scan," noted Windows Insider Program lead Amanda Langowski. Additionally, the "If you choose to run it, the system will schedule a Windows Memory Diagnostic scan to run during your next reboot (taking 5 minutes or less on average) and then continue to Windows. If a memory issue is found and mitigated, you will see a notification post-reboot."

Microsoft notes that this first wave flags every bug check so they can watch how memory glitches turn into blue screens, and they will refine targeting of these issues in the later updates. At the moment the preview will not run on Arm64 PCs, machines that have Administrator Protection turned on, or any BitLocker setup that boots without Secure Boot enabled. Users that are part of the Windows Insiders Dev and Beta channels will be able to access this feature. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6982 (KB5067109) and Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6982 (KB5067109) are the first in the rollout, so they can beta test the feature before it hits the main stable Windows 11 branch.

NVIDIA's DGX Spark machine, designed as the ultimate AI box for local and fast AI prototyping, is reportedly operating at half the expected power and performance levels. John Carmack, founder of AGI-focused Keen Technologies and former CTO of Oculus VR, claims that the DGX Spark mini PC is not meeting its specified performance. NVIDIA rates the DGX Spark mini PC at 240 W of system power, but Carmack's benchmarks indicate it only draws about 100 W, effectively halving the power draw and performance. The DGX Spark's peak throughput is approximately 31 TeraFLOPS for FP32 and around 1,000 TOPS with NVIDIA's NVFP4 reduced-precision format. At BF16 dense compute, it is supposed to achieve 125 TeraFLOPS, but these targets are not being met. The measured compute is about 480 TeraFLOPS at FP4 and only about 60 TeraFLOPS at BF16.

After facing multiple delays, NVIDIA's DGX Spark has finally reached developers. However, many are reporting software and firmware issues on NVIDIA's end. There may also be thermal throttling problems, causing the chip to reduce frequency and voltage to prevent overheating. In some cases, the system has rebooted, potentially due to inadequate cooling. The GB10 SoC is rated for a 140 W TDP, and the 128 GB configuration of LPDDR5X could add several dozen additional watts. Therefore, a 100 W power draw doesn't seem feasible for the DGX Spark. It remains to be seen whether a software or firmware update will address these issues, or if NVIDIA will provide an aftermarket cooling solution for its $3,999 machine if it continues to overheat.

Samsung Electronics today announced the launch of its new microSD Express card lineup, the P9 Express, designed to deliver next-gen gaming experiences and optimized for leading platforms, including the Nintendo Switch 2. Based on the PCIe interface and NVMe protocol, SD Express technology significantly enhances data
transfer performance compared to UHS-I cards, making it ideal for environments that demand high-capacity processing and fast data transmission.

The P9 Express is especially valuable for hardcore console gamers who frequently enjoy a diverse range of games and Downloadable Content (DLC), often demanding additional storage capacity beyond the internal storage. To meet different gaming needs, it is available in both 256 GB and 512 GB options. It also provides an ideal solution for multiple users sharing a single console, where ample capacity is required for several different game installations, helping gamers overcome limited internal storage and enjoy a wide variety of titles without compromise. When used with a dedicated SD Express interface, the P9 Express delivers sequential read speeds up to four times faster than UHS-I, enabling creators and professionals to efficiently move large volumes of data from devices to PCs, laptops, or workstations.

ASUS today announced the shipment of the XA NB3I-E12 AI server, built on the NVIDIA HGX B300 platform. Delivering next-generation AI performance and reliability, XA NB3I-E12 gives enterprises and cloud-service providers (CSPs) early access to cutting-edge computing capabilities for the AI era. Accelerated by eight NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs and dual Intel Xeon 6 Scalable processors, ASUS XA NB3I-E12 is engineered for intensive AI workloads. With eight NVIDIA ConnectX-8 InfiniBand SuperNICs, five PCIe expansion slots, 32 DIMMs, 10 NVMe drives, and dual 10 Gb LAN, it transforms data into intelligence for real-world automation. The system is ideal for enterprises and CSPs running large language models (LLMs), research institutions and universities performing scientific computing, and the financial and automotive sectors focused on AI model training and inference.

KLEVV, the leading consumer memory and storage brand introduced by Essencore, proudly unveils a striking new colorway for its award-winning URBANE V RGB DDR5 Gaming/OC memory. The sleek new Jet Black Edition joins the popular Brilliant White, broadening the lineup and giving enthusiasts more freedom to personalize their setups without compromise.

The URBANE V RGB Gaming/OC series is designed with both style and function in mind, featuring a 2 mm-thick aluminium heatsink with refined, curved edges and precision linear grooves that ensure durability and efficient cooling. With a low-profile height of just 42.5 mm, the modules fit seamlessly into diverse builds while maintaining optimal thermal performance. A distinctive dual-beam RGB light guide delivers smooth, customizable illumination across 16 million colors, fully compatible with major motherboard lighting software. This proven design, recognized with the prestigious iF Design Award, is now available in an elegant Jet Black finish that complements today's modern gaming and creator setups.

News recently broke in a Rolling Stones interview that Halo Studios had relied on AI in the development of Halo: Campaign Evolved, with the game director, Greg Hermann, commented about "how integrated AI is becoming" in the "tooling" of the studio's development pipeline. Following this and other comments that implied AI was being heavily used in the remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, fans started assuming that varying degrees of the creative workload involved in the development of Campaign Evolved was being handled by generative AI. This comes after EA and Krafton both announced an increase in their reliance on generative AI in both the game development process and overall corporate management processes.

More recently, however, an Xbox representative responded directly to Rolling Stones, clarifying that "There is no mandate to use generative AI in our game development, and that includes Halo: Campaign Evolved," contrary to the situation facing many EA workers, who have allegedly been facing pressure to use AI tools for over a year. This response echoed the game director's prior insistence that generative AI is being used merely as a tool by the developers to improve general workflows, and that game development "really is about that creative spark that comes from people." Mentions of generative AI in video games are only becoming more frequent, and many online discussions surrounding AI indicate that it is fuelling an erosion of trust in game studios and developers.

Streaming services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus provide gamers with a wealth of games to play with the obvious drawback that you don't get to keep the games for an extended period of time. PlayStation Plus's free monthly games, however, skip this caveat and allow players to keep the game as long as it's added to their library during the month the game is featured. According to supposed leaks by DeaLabs, November's monthly free game for PS Plus subscribers will be Stray, and it will be available to claim from November 4. After that, as long as players have a PS Plus subscription, they will be able to play Stray. Stray was previously available to play via a PS Plus subscription, but it was subsequently removed around the game's Xbox launch.

Stray is a single-player indie adventure game that originally launched in 2022 for the PS5, PS4, and PC via Steam, later launching on the Xbox Series X|S, macOS, and Nintendo Switch. The game follows an orange cat as it explores an underground cyberpunk city occupied exclusively by robots in an effort to find its way back to the surface. It largely features puzzle-platformer mechanics, with a particular focus on environmental puzzles. The game will apparently be the flagship title for the month of November on PS Plus, but there will be two other as-yet unknown free games joining Stray at the same time.

The 2018 soft reboot of the God of War franchise saw Kratos face off against the gods of Norse mythology, but, as reports from earlier this year claimed, Sony was working on a multiplayer God of War game that we now know would have taken place in Ancient Greece, thanks to MP1st's insider sources. The supposed leak of screenshots of the cancelled God of War multiplayer project would have seemingly taken place before the events of God of War 3, since Hades was still supposedly actively involved in the game's events. The unreleased God of War game was being developed by Bluepoint Games, the same development studio behind Demon Souls and a handful of game remasters, including Titanfall on the Xbox 360.

Further details about the game, including how a multiplayer God of War game would look, are still unknown, but the screenshots provided by MP1st's source reveal that the game would be a return to Ancient Greece—or a territory conquered by the Greek empire. The game was seemingly still in very early development, but it is evident from the screenshots that the halls, rooms, and caverns were being designed for multiple players. Curiously, it seems as though some assets—weapons and statues that bear an uncanny resemblance to warriors and weapons from the Norse arcs—were also borrowed from the 2018 God of War reboot, although it's unclear if these were simply substitutes that would later be replaced or if they'd actually make it into the final game.

Thermals don't take a winter break—that's why your PC cooling setup matters more than ever. Ocypus, a fast-emerging name in PC cooling, has made waves at trade shows over the past decade and is now widely available across the US and EU. TechPowerUp has teamed up with Ocypus for a pre-winter giveaway, open worldwide (wherever legal). It's your chance to score one of two standout Ocypus products—or both. The grand prize winner takes home an Ocypus Iota C70 case and Sigma Pro AIO CPU cooler, pictured below. The first runner-up gets the Sigma Pro, and the second runner-up scores the Iota C70 case.

The Ocypus Sigma Pro is the star attraction here, with its floating true-color display on top of its cuboidal pump-block that can be programmed to display just about anything. Ocypus bundles software that can display system monitoring info on this display. You can also program it with cool visualizations and game stats. The Iota C70 is a spacious, wide-format ATX mid-tower case with ample room for builds with high-end graphics cards and elaborate liquid coolers, such as the Sigma Pro. It comes with a pillarless front-left corner letting you revel on your creation. The Giveaway is open worldwide and runs until November 6th.

For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

MSI has officially announced the latest entries in its Inspire GPU line-up, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Inspire ITX and the RTX 5050 Inspire ITX OC. As the name suggests, the RTX 5050 Inspire ITX line-up is designed for small form-factor PC builds, so both models feature the same compact two-slot design as the RTX 5060 version we recently reported on, measuring in at just 147 × 120 × 45 mm. Both versions of the GPU also feature the same cooling solution, with a single-fan cooler design with a Torx Fan 5.0 and a single heat pipe.

The only notable difference between the two versions is the clock speed, with the vanilla RTX 5050 Inspire ITX topping out at 2587 MHz in Extreme Performance mode (2572 MHz regular boost clocks), while the OC version is capable of 2617 MHz in Extreme Performance mode while boosting to 2602 MHz ordinarily. Both ITX cards feature three DisplayPort 2.1b ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port and have a rated power consumption of 130 W, supplied via a single 8-pin power connector. Users can select between Gaming and Silent modes in MSI Center or dive deeper into customization and overclocking in MSI Afterburner. No pricing information has been announced for the new ITX GPUs.

AMD's expertise in the supercomputers sector seems to pay off as the company secured a $1 billion partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to build two next-generation supercomputers aimed at scientific and national security challenges, from nuclear fusion research to cancer treatments. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the initiative will "supercharge" progress in nuclear energy, defense technologies and drug discovery, accelerating breakthroughs that traditionally take decades. The first system, Lux, is set to go online within six months. Co-developed by AMD, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Lux will be powered by AMD's Instinct MI355X AI accelerators alongside AMD CPUs and networking chips. ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer noted that Lux will deliver roughly three times the AI performance of today's top supercomputers, while AMD CEO Lisa Su called it "the fastest deployment of this scale we've ever seen." A second system, dubbed Discovery, will follow later in the decade. Built on AMD's upcoming MI430 AI chips, the more advanced machine is expected to be completed by 2028 and operational by 2029. Both systems are part of a broader U.S. effort to maintain leadership in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

According to Reuters, the DoE's choice of AMD reflects confidence in the company's proven HPC track record, particularly with Frontier and El Capitan, the world's fastest supercomputers, which also runs on AMD hardware. Wright added that these new systems will help simulate complex processes like plasma dynamics for fusion energy and molecular interactions for drug development. "We're going to see massively faster progress toward harnessing fusion and treating diseases that are still death sentences today," he said. Together, Lux and Discovery mark a milestone for both AMD and U.S. scientific computing and build momentum for AMD's upcoming MI400 accelerators series.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced the launch of its next-generation AI inference-optimized solutions for data centers: the Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 chip-based accelerator cards, and racks. Building off the Company's NPU technology leadership, these solutions offer rack-scale performance and superior memory capacity for fast generative AI inference at high performance per dollar per watt—marking a major leap forward in enabling scalable, efficient, and flexible generative AI across industries.

Qualcomm AI200 introduces a purpose-built rack-level AI inference solution designed to deliver low total cost of ownership (TCO) and optimized performance for large language & multimodal model (LLM, LMM) inference and other AI workloads. It supports 768 GB of LPDDR per card for higher memory capacity and lower cost, enabling exceptional scale and flexibility for AI inference.

Announced at their recent event in San Francisco, the OCA Ecosystem will democratize chip design, lower development costs, and accelerate innovation, enabling heterogeneous chiplets for plug-and-play interoperability. There are now more than 50 partners involved in the ecosystem, from leading semiconductor companies and global conglomerates to academic institutions.

For decades, the semiconductor industry has relied on monolithic, system-on-chip (SoC) designs, a process that has become increasingly complex, expensive, and time-consuming. The Open Chiplet Atlas Ecosystem directly addresses this challenge by defining a complete solution to chiplet interoperability in physical, transport, protocol, as well as, system, and software layers.

AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced the completion of the agreement to divest the ZT Systems U.S.-headquartered data center infrastructure manufacturing business to Sanmina (NASDAQ: SANM). As part of the transaction, AMD retains ZT Systems' world-class design and customer enablement teams to accelerate the quality and time-to-deployment of AMD AI systems for cloud customers. Additionally, Sanmina becomes a preferred new product introduction (NPI) manufacturing partner for AMD cloud rack and cluster-scale AI solutions to further strengthen the AMD ecosystem of ODM and OEM partners.

"Rack-scale innovation marks the next chapter in the AMD data center strategy," said Forrest Norrod, executive vice president and general manager, Data Center Solutions business unit at AMD. "By extending our leadership from silicon to software to full systems, we're giving cloud and AI customers an open, scalable path to deploy AMD performance faster than ever. Our strategic partnership with Sanmina brings U.S.-based manufacturing strength together with AMD AI systems design and enablement expertise to deliver quality, speed and flexibility at scale."

AMD just pulled another name shuffle, now with a couple of older-generation processors. The company quietly added two "new" processor families, Ryzen 100 and Ryzen 10, to its public price list, even though the dies inside very likely date back to when "Rembrandt" and "Mendocino" first shipped, around 2021-2022. If you see a bargain laptop this holiday season with one of those badges, you might be buying a rebadged Rembrandt or Mendocino chip dressed up for 2025 shelves. Early listings suggest the top Ryzen 100 models are essentially reshuffled Rembrandt, Zen 3+ parts carrying 8C/16T, a Radeon 680M iGPU and the FP7-R2 platform, repackaged with a 28 W TDP that vendors commonly tune between 15 W and 30 W.

Further down the stack, Ryzen 5 parts shave off cores and clocks but often keep the same 680M GPU. The Ryzen 10 line looks like a reuse of Mendocino, Zen 2 silicon for entry level systems that pairs 4C/8T CPU with a cut-down 2-CU Radeon 610M and typical 15 W power targets. Many of the refreshed listings still point to PCIe 3.0 as the fastest lane and leave USB4 as optional, so don't expect any modern I/O fireworks on these parts. Readers might wonder why is AMD bringing older silicon back? Our best guess is that AMD may be monetizing existing inventory, wafers and validated designs produced when 6 nm capacity was limited and costly. Having secured that capacity at TSMC, AMD was obliged to use it even if it moved on to newer CPU generations.

A new Ryzen 5 7500X3D has surfaced in a UK retail listing hinting that AMD is preparing another entry-level X3D CPU for launch at CES 2026. The listing, shared by @momomo_us includes OPN code 100-000001904, confirming it as a new SKU within the "Raphael" lineup. The 7500X3D is expected to feature 6 cores and 12 threads, 96 MB of total cache (32 MB L3 + 64 MB 3D V-Cache), and a 65 W TDP. Boost clocks will likely come in below 4.7 GHz, roughly 300-400 MHz lower than the 7600X3D. If accurate, it would be AMD's most affordable 3D V-Cache CPU yet, aimed at budget-conscious gamers.

The new chip would join AMD's growing list of X3D models, including the 7800X3D, 7900X3D, 7950X3D, and 7600X3D. With multiple Zen 5 X3D refresh parts rumored for a CES 2026 launch; such as Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, AMD's X3D family is seeing another expansion in early 2026. The rumored Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 is particularly interesting as it appears to be AMD's next flagship model featuring 16 cores, 32 threads, 192 MB of L3 cache, and 200 W TDP. As for the Ryzen 5 7500X3D, there's currently no confirmation of global availability but given AMD's past moves with region-specific launches like the 5600X3D, wider distribution is possible.

Montage Technology today announced the mass production of its Gen 4 DDR5 Registering Clock Driver (RCD04) chip. As a core component of high-performance server and data center memory systems, this chip delivers significant memory performance improvements for next-generation computing platforms.

The RCD04 chip supports data transfer rates of up to 7200 MT/s, an increase of over 12.5% compared to its predecessor. By adopting an innovative power management architecture and advanced signal processing technology, the chip not only achieves higher transfer speed but also enhances power efficiency and signal integrity, thereby ensuring stable and efficient operation of large-scale data centers.

ASRock introduced the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Challenger Standard Edition graphics card. This custom-design RX 9060 XT 16 GB card is a variant of the RX 9060 XT 16 GB Challenger OC that comes with clock speeds slightly higher than AMD reference specs for the RX 9060 XT, but lower than those of the Challenger OC. The card ships with 2620 MHz Game clock compared to 2530 MHz AMD reference and 2700 MHz of the original Challenger OC card. The Boost frequency is trimmed, too, going up to 3230 MHz compared to 3130 MHz AMD reference and 3290 MHz of the Challenger OC. The memory is left untouched at 20 Gbps (GDDR6-effective).

The board design of the ASRock RX 9060 XT 16 GB Challenger Standard Edition is identical to that of the Challenger OC, with its tall, 2-slot, dual-fan cooling solution that uses an aluminium fin-stack heatsink. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. Display outputs include two DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b. Based on the 4 nm "Navi 44" silicon and powered by the RDNA 4 graphics architecture, the Radeon RX 9060 XT features 2,048 stream processors, 32 RT accelerators, 64 AI accelerators, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The card's 16 GB of memory is spread across a 128-bit wide memory interface. The chip features a full-width PCI-Express 5.0 x16 host interface. ASRock has given the box-art of this card an explicit "Standard Edition" badge, it doesn't just lack the "OC Edition" badge.

It's official; Halo marks the next chapter for the franchise with Halo: Campaign Evolved, a complete Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original campaign from Halo: Combat Evolved, including some brand-new surprises. The original Halo: Combat Evolved is a stalwart of gaming history, a cultural icon that helped define the first-person shooter experience. For Halo Studios, bottling the impact of that original campaign and all of its special moments is the ultimate goal - for new players and long-time fans alike.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is a modern evolution of that iconic story, thoughtfully brought to life in Unreal Engine 5 with stunning new 4K visuals, updated animations, remastered music, and re-recorded voice lines. Halo Studios is also bringing in a roster of beloved weapons and vehicles from later Halo titles, and adding three new bonus campaign missions, all designed to expand and celebrate the adventure that started it all. Halo's legacy of cooperative play continues here, supporting the original two-player local split screen experience on console, and, for the first time, up to four players in online co-op across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation 5.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today launched the TVS-AIh1688ATX, an enterprise-grade AI NAS that integrates the latest Intel Core Ultra processors and Neural Processing Unit (NPU), delivering up to 36 TOPS of total AI performance. Designed for AI-powered image/video analytics, virtualization, multimedia processing, and large-scale backup, the TVS-AIh1688ATX offers 12 SATA HDD bays and 4 U.2 NVMe/SATA SSD slots, with support for High Availability (HA) architecture, Thunderbolt 5, and 100GbE network expansion—making it a powerful edge AI storage platform for future-ready enterprises.

"Businesses running AI and data-heavy workloads need more than speed—they need agile, scalable infrastructure," said Andy Chuang, Product Manager at QNAP. "With the TVS-AIh1688ATX, we deliver balanced compute, storage, and collaboration capabilities to help customers confidently manage data, computation, and teamwork as business challenges grow more complex."

Biwin, a memory and storage innovation world leader, has unveiled the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 RGB DDR5 192 GB Memory Kit (48 GB x4), designed to meet the rising demand for high-capacity, high-performance memory in AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and advanced computing applications. Engineered for the developers, researchers as well as PC enthusiasts, the DW100 combines massive memory capacity with ultra-low latency, delivering DDR5-6000 CL28-36-36-102 performance at 1.4 V. The kit is built to push memory performance to its limits by offering smooth overclocking and efficient scaling for data-intensive workloads.

Mr. Rajesh Khurana, Country Manager, Consumer Business, Biwin said, "The DW100 192 GB kit represents the result of relentless innovation from our OC Lab team. It is crafted for systems where memory bandwidth, stability and low latency are critical—whether training AI models, processing large datasets, or running multithreaded simulations." Biwin DW100 launches a new line of desktop memory featuring an unprecedented 192 GB (48 GB x4) capacity. With DDR5's enhanced data channels and higher speeds, users experience enhanced memory throughput and performance in apps such as generative AI, edge computing, and real-time analytics. The kit supports DDR5-6000 MT/s—tuned to overclocked AMD platforms' sweet spot—providing tight CL28 timings for ultra-low latency and optimized access to high-volume data.

MONTECH, a leading innovator in PC cases and cooling solutions, proudly announced the launch of the KING 45 / 15 and PRO edition, in the meantime, there are the newest fans- AX120 PRO and RX120 PRO combined with PRO edition. A bold evolution in compact PC case design that brings iconic aesthetics and next-generation performance together in ATX and microATX form factors. KING 45 series scales that experience to a full ATX chassis, offering panoramic clarity and uncompromising thermal performance for those who build big. KING 15 series brings iconic curved glass to a compact microATX form factor, delivering chimney-effect cooling for next-gen GPUs without compromise.

Both KING 45 and KING 15 refine the signature panoramic glass, evolving from KING 95's 30° curve to a sleeker 15° angle for a modern, streamlined look. Its 18 % narrower dual-chamber layout hides cables, keeps airflow unobstructed, and delivers full performance in a more space-efficient footprint. Besides, the layout is different from the normal. Angled bottom fans are purpose-built to increase fresh air intake, bringing more airflow into the case. This design helps keep the entire system well-ventilated, even under demanding workloads.

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., the leading global memory brand, today announced the SR800 Magnetic Power Bank SSD, a revolutionary product and the world's first to combine external storage with a power bank. Recognizing that modern content creators rely heavily on smartphones for shooting and editing, the SR800 features an industry-first two-in-one modular design. Through a groove design on its power bank's back, the power bank and external SSD are perfectly combined to meet diverse usage scenarios. This innovation not only solves the limitation of a single port on mobile devices but will also enhance convenience and change the way content creators' film, enabling them to truly travel light and focus on capturing every brilliant moment.

Fast Charging and Fast Storage in One: A Perfect Snap for Mobile Creation
Many creators simultaneously face the dilemma of insufficient battery power and storage space, constrained by a single phone port. While current external expansion hubs offer a temporary solution for charging and recording at the same time, they often require additional phone mounts or brackets, inhibiting the convenience of mobile filming. The SR800 was born to provide video creators with both efficiency and convenience. Its external SSD features the USB3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, delivering read/write speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s—approximately 20 times faster than traditional external hard drives—and offers a massive storage capacity of up to 2,000 GB. The power bank is equipped with 5,000mAh of power, supporting up to 20 W Type-C wired fast charging and 15 W magnetic wireless charging. This not only achieves the ideal "charge and store" scenario but also makes on-site backups and cross-device editing effortless, upgrading the smartphone into a more professional mobile workstation.

SK hynix Inc. (or "the company", www.skhynix.com) announced today that it presented its next-generation NAND storage product strategy at the 2025 OCP (Open Compute Project) Global Summit, held in San Jose, California, from October 13 to 16. SK hynix said that, with the rapid growth of the AI inference market, the demand for NAND storage products capable of process large volume data quickly and efficiently is increasing dramatically. The company will fulfill customer needs by establishing the AIN (AI-NAND) Family lineup of solution products, optimized for the AI era.

Chun Sung Kim, Head of eSSD Product Development at SK hynix, presented the AIN Family during the Executive Session on the second day of the event. The AIN Family consists of NAND solution products optimized for performance, bandwidth, and density respectively which is designed to enhanced data processing speed and storage capacity.

NVIDIA appears to be gearing up for software support for "Rubin," the architecture expected to succeed "Blackwell," after a set of driver patches introduced a new identification register called BOOT_42. The initial patches landed on public mailing lists late on a Friday and include a change titled for next-generation GPUs. In the patch cover letter, NVIDIA engineer John Hubbard explains that architecture and revision metadata will transition from NV_PMC_BOOT_0 to NV_PMC_BOOT_42, with BOOT_0 being cleared. These updates were submitted to the Nova kernel driver tree, which is serving as the public platform for this early work. The patches adjust the detection path so the driver can recognize devices from Turing onward using the new register layout.

The submission also adds comments that document how BOOT_0 and BOOT_42 evolve across GPU generations, and it removes a couple of legacy types, Spec and Revision. According to the notes, this simplification removes some complexity and makes future boot42 support updates easier to follow, avoiding generation-specific adjustments when new revisions arrive. The changes confirm that current generations from Turing through Blackwell will continue to use BOOT_0 while future, post-Blackwell chips will be identified solely via BOOT_42. Targeting Rubin, this work is another example where NVIDIA is actively preparing driver support ahead of hardware launch. If Rubin enters volume production in the second half of 2026 as previously reported, having the identification and selection logic ready in advance should help reduce the gap between shipments and software enablement, meaning that fast-moving hardware release cycles will be followed very closely with optimized software.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is available in 16 GB and 8 GB models. It appears that NVIDIA is focusing more on producing the 16 GB version, as many gamers prefer GPUs with higher capacity. As a result, the 8 GB version has become less of a priority, with most attention now on the RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB. According to Board Channels, NVIDIA has directed its AIC partners to prioritize the production of the 16 GB SKU over the 8 GB model, making the latter a secondary option. It is obvious from this that the demand for this mid-range GPU is good, and that gamers in this range want to future-proof their systems to last a bit longer, as modern games increase their VRAM usage.

This is happening almost four months after we reported an insight into the sales of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB and 8 GB models from one of Germany's largest retailers, Mindfactory.de. According to the sum of the units sold, the 16 GB version of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is outselling the 8 GB version by more than 16 times, which represents a 1,600% difference. Mindfactory lists each GeForce RTX 5060 Ti model with a tag indicating the number of units sold, showing how many units were sold to customers of a specific model. Even with good availability of both SKUs, gamers have consistently opted for the 16 GB version. MSRPs of both GPUs are $50 apart, with the 8 GB SKU at $379.99 and 16 GB at $429.99.

All of a sudden, it's the end of October and it's another busy week with two major releases. In the first one, you get to be a scavenger in a futuristic post-post-apocalyptic world, whereas in the other, you get to be the hero no-one asked for, but got anyhow and it too takes place in the future, but on an alien planet. This is followed by a four player co-op survival horror game with several twists, an bloodthirsty monsters island survival horror game, a re-make of a couple of classic RPG games and finally some more survival horror, this time with a '90's theme.

ARC Raiders / This week's first major release / Thursday 30 October
In ARC Raiders, gameplay flows between the surface ruled by lethal machines, and the vibrant underground society of Speranza. Craft, repair, and upgrade your gear in the safety of your own workshop, before venturing topside to scavenge the remnants of a devastated but beautiful world. Play solo or in parties up to three, navigating the constant threat of ARC's machines and the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors. In the end, only you decide what kind of Raider you are - and how far you'll go to prevail. Steam link

Intel might be the key to re-realizing the American dream of advanced chip production and packaging on U.S. soil. Under the Trump administration, the United States has been making significant efforts to establish leading-edge chip manufacturing domestically. Achieving this goal is challenging for several reasons. In the race for the most advanced silicon, only a few major veteran players remain: Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. Among these, Taiwan-based TSMC has consistently overcome obstacles to become the leader in the semiconductor industry. Through a strategic approach to semiconductor development, TSMC has excelled in both leading-edge node production and advanced chip packaging, enhancing performance.

Historically, Intel has faced difficulties with leading-edge semiconductor node production, even outsourcing some chip manufacturing to TSMC. However, there is a significant opportunity for Intel to not only produce silicon but also establish itself as a major packaging partner for many manufacturers, including TSMC. TSMC's facilities in Arizona address the issue of USA-based manufacturing only partially. While TSMC's Arizona Fab 21 produces 4 nm wafers, these wafers must be sent back to Taiwan for packaging, disrupting the sovereign supply chain that is crucial for domestic manufacturing. Addressing these issues could present a good opportunity for Intel, even if Team Blue doesn't manufacture the underlying silicon.

Recently, after ASUS launched the ROG Xbox Ally series and rumors popped up about Xbox potentially abandoning its long line of first-party console designs, Xbox president, Sarah Bond clarified that Microsoft is "100% looking at making things in the future," and commented that next-gen hardware is in development, although her words seem to have been carefully chosen, seemingly to avoid making any concrete proclamations about the next-gen gaming console before everything was finalized. In a recent interview with Famitsu, however, head of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, confirmed that the next-generation Xbox would be Xbox's in-house design.

In the interview, when asked about what comes after the Xbox Series X|S, Spencer responded that, while the ASUS ROG Ally would be the next Xbox hardware launch, the next first-party hardware launch out of Microsoft would be the next-gen Xbox. Not only does this confirm that the next-gen Xbox will still be an in-house design, but it suggests that there will be no first-party Xbox-branded handheld gaming PCs until at least 2027, when the next-gen Xbox is expected to launch. Conveniently, this doesn't discount any potential successors to the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally before that date. Previous rumors indicated that Microsoft was developing an in-house gaming handheld, only to later offload that engineering effort onto ASUS. While there has been no word on whether Xbox is planning another handheld console to align with the next-gen console launch, Sony looks to be developing both handheld and home console systems, each with its own APU co-developed by AMD.

It has long been rumored that Battlefield 6 would be accompanied by a new battle royale game mode to replace the aging Firestorm, however there has been no official announcement of a PVP battle royale mode two weeks after the new shooter launched. New information from online data miners, however, now suggests that this radio silence may be intentional. According to @ModernWarzone on X, DICE and EA will launch the free-to-play Battlefield: RedSec battle royale game mode on October 28. The launch strategy here is rather curious, since EA apparently won't release any trailers or marketing material ahead of the launch, making it essentially a shadow drop alongside the Battlefield 6 Season 1 update.

Aside from the official name, which is getting heavily criticized online, the free-to-play battle royale game mode will closely follow the same formula as its predecessor. Previous supposed leaks from the same source indicated that Battlefield: RedSec would feature a highly destructible map with 100 players competing for first prize, and that matches would last "around 25 minutes." Of course, these rumors are from earlier this year, so they should be taken with a grain of salt. Internal Battlefield Labs update changelogs also leaked earlier this month, confirming that RedSec players will each have two slots for armor plates and that the battle royale game mode will feature both ground vehicles and helicopters for aerial combat, with the requisite countermeasures also available for players. Players will also be able to talk to one-another with proximity chat.

If you've been following along since the launch of Borderlands 4, you'll know by now that the latest entry into the legendary looter shooter franchise hasn't had the smoothest launch. While early patches were issued to address some of the more bothersome performance issues relating to frame drops and hitches, average frame rates were still what most would describe as suboptimal, with even high-end hardware struggling to hit 60 FPS at higher resolutions. The game's latest October 23 patch, however, claims to improve performance, with 2K Games and Gearbox promising "widespread stability improvements," in addition to UI polish, multiplayer fixes, and quality of life improvements for both the audio and visuals in the game. The claims were subsequently put to the test by MxBenchmarkPC on YouTube, and although the performance improvements varied by resolution, FPS saw improvements of up to 20% at 4K with Very High settings.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth performance review of Borderlands 4 is now live]

The YouTuber tested Borderlands 4 on a PC using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 paired with an Intel Core i7 14700F at 4K and 1440p with a variety of quality settings. At 4K with optimization applied in the settings page via the "Auto-Detect Graphics Preset" function, the performance difference drops to around 10%. While comparative testing was not conducted at 1440p and with DLSS and frame generation enabled, performance remained above 60 FPS at 1440p with DLSS running in DLAA mode. When DLSS was set to "Quality" at 1440p resolution with the optimized settings, the frame rate jumped up to 90-100 FPS, which is more than playable for a non-competitive game. The frame rate in the YouTube test footage is also impressively smooth, with little to no hitching visible in any of the tests.

Publisher WEMADE MAX Co. Ltd and developer MADNGINE are thrilled to announce a brand new open world action-RPG, Project TAL, coming to PC and consoles in 2027. Project TAL is a AAA single player action-RPG that reimagines Korea's traditional Tal masks, as well as the mythology and folklore that surrounds them, into an epic and deeply immersive fantasy open world for players to explore. The announcement trailer shows off the game's cinematic and fast-paced combat, with players able to leap onto massive monsters to deliver powerful attacks, exploit enemy weak spots, and perform tactical counterattacks and skill combos to keep their foes at bay.

Players won't be fighting alone, however. The trailer also highlights one of Project TAL's core features - a distinctive companion system that dynamically responds to the player's combat style and environment. Each NPC companion character has unique abilities, personalities, and combat roles, ranging from defense and support to melee, ranged, and magic. Players will encounter moments of seamless cooperation in Project TAL, such as catching a falling companion mid-battle, or watching a support companion deploy a magical barrie to deflect enemy attacks.

Epomaker already has a comprehensive line-up of wireless mechanical, Hall-effect, and even inductive keyboards, but some of the company's more interesting launches have been in the low-profile space, with recent examples including the carbon fiber Carbon 60 mechanical keyboard. Now, though, Epomaker has officially launched the Luma40, which may turn out to be far more controversial for regular users than any previous releases. Not only does the Luma40 take the small form factor to the extreme, slashing the key count to just 47 keys—similar to the Comaker TH40 we previously reviewed—it also features an ortholinear layout, meaning the keys are not staggered, or horizontally offset from one another. The Luma40 is available on the Epomaker online store for $115.99, with a launch discount bringing the price down to $98.59. It is only available in one color, with a single switch option: Kailh White Rain low-profile switches with a full POM construction and middle-weight 50 gf actuation force.

Despite the unorthodox layout and form factor, the Luma40 uses a standard qwerty layout in its stock form, although ortholinear layouts are famous for allowing customization. The Luma40 opens up customization with the open-source VIA web app, which allows you to remap keys, create macros, and select different backlighting modes and colors. The same is true for the keycaps. With the exception of the dual 2U space bars, the Luma40's keycaps feature the LAK profile, meaning they're all interchangeable, so remapping the entire keyboard to your liking, or even testing exotic layouts like Dvorak is made easy. Those keycaps are also made of transparent PC with screen-printed legends. This will allow for full RGB shine-through using the north-facing backlighting, but it also means the keycap legends will likely not be as durable as something like double-shot PBT. Those keycaps sit atop Kailh low-profile switches mounted in a PC plate and CNC-cut aluminium case. The Luma40 has both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz connectivity options, with a diminutive 1,450 mAh battery delivering an estimated 7 hours of battery life with the RGB at full brightness and 75 hours with no backlight. There's also the option of running it off the USB Type-C wired connection instead.

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Intel plans to ship "Nova Lake" in a five-SKU lineup that covers desktops and several mobile segments, with its Xe3P next-generation GPU generation serving as the integrated GPU. The lineup includes "Nova Lake-S" for desktops, "Nova Lake-U" for standard low-power laptops, "Nova Lake-UL" for ultra-low-power devices, "Nova Lake-H" for gaming laptops, and "Nova Lake-HX" for high-performance mobile systems. This range indicates that Intel aims to extend Nova Lake's reach beyond the primarily mobile-focused Panther Lake generation, offering clearer product differentiation for OEMs. The company seems to be selectively enabling advanced GPU features across these SKUs rather than providing a uniform feature set.

Initial driver listings suggest that ray tracing will be available on select models. Nova Lake-U and Nova Lake-H are expected to support ray tracing, while Nova Lake-S, Nova Lake-HX, and Nova Lake-UL may not. This type of segmentation is a common strategy to differentiate products using the same silicon, influencing purchasing decisions for gamers, creators, and laptop buyers. On the open-source front, preliminary work to integrate Xe3P identifiers and basic support into Linux and Mesa has begun. Patches have been introduced to add Nova Lake PCI IDs and entries for the Iris Gallium3D OpenGL driver and the ANV Vulkan driver, though the support is currently preparatory and marked as experimental. Early enablement suggests that we will be hearing a lot more about these SKUs soon, and how Intel plans to separate Xe3P iGPU into ray tracing and non-ray tracing SKUs.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, has unveiled the Esports Green Collection, a bold new colorway across its elite competitive peripherals. These products, favored by top esports athletes across titles such as VALORANT, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), Call of Duty, Street Fighter, and more - are now available in Razer's signature green, reinforcing their status as the gear of champions.

Built for Performance. Designed to Stand Out.
This launch celebrates Razer's iconic 802C green, the official Pantone color code that defines the brand's signature hue. Recognized instantly across the gaming world, 802C is synonymous with Razer's identity and its enduring legacy in professional esports. The Esports Green Collection marks a new chapter in the brand's commitment to competitive excellence, the spirit of champions, and the unity of a global community driven by performance.

IBM says it has successfully executed one of its key quantum computing algorithms in real time on AMD field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), marking a step toward cheaper and more practical hybrid quantum systems. The algorithm, designed to dynamically detect and correct quantum errors, was first announced in June and is now running on widely available AMD reconfigurable hardware rather than costly, custom-built control units. Jay Gambetta, IBM's VP of Quantum, told Reuters that the FPGA-based implementation performs 10× faster than required for live error correction, calling it "a big deal" for real-world quantum computing. The demonstration suggests IBM's development timeline is a full year ahead of schedule for its 2029 Starling quantum system roadmap. Quantum computers use qubits that can show both 0 and 1 at the same time but often face problems from outside factors that lead to errors in calculations. IBM's new method tackles this issue by keeping an eye on and fixing these errors as they happen, which keeps the system steady during quantum tasks. By running this quantum computing algorithm on regular AMD chips, we see how classical and quantum systems are coming together more and more opening doors to mixed setups where normal hardware handles fixing errors and running things in real time.

IBM's approach might help close the gap between the early quantum machines we have now and future ones that don't make mistakes. By showing that off-the-shelf chips you'd find in data centers can do this job well, IBM cuts down on costs and makes things simpler while also making it easier to improve performance as systems get bigger. These are big steps in moving quantum computing out of labs and into the business world. The partnership between IBM and AMD appears to be bearing fruit. Back in August, the two companies announced a close collaboration to develop next-generation computing architectures that combine quantum computing and high-performance computing, a concept known as quantum-centric supercomputing. More recently, in early October, IBM and AMD also revealed a joint effort to deliver advanced AI infrastructure to Zyphra, an open-source AI research and product company based in San Francisco. Under a multi-year agreement, IBM will provide Zyphra with a large cluster of AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs hosted on IBM Cloud, enabling the training of next-generation multimodal foundation models.

Google has announced a major breakthrough in quantum computing with its new Willow processor claiming a 13,000× performance advantage over the world's fastest supercomputers. The 105-qubit chip successfully executed a physics simulation using a new algorithm called Quantum Echoes completing in seconds what classical systems would take days to compute. The experiment simulated out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs), a benchmark for complex quantum interference, marking what Google calls the first verifiable demonstration of quantum advantage with real-world applications. The Quantum Echoes algorithm was built to leverage quantum parallelism showing both high speed and accuracy.

Google says the achievement, announced on October 22 demonstrates practical potential for quantum workloads in molecular modeling, materials science, and NMR spectroscopy. While widespread applications remain several years out, the company notes that the result validates its long-term roadmap pairing hardware like Willow with custom algorithms to achieve scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computation. Meanwhile, IBM 1,121-qubit Condor processor announced in December 2023 has yet to demonstrate comparable real-world performance. However, the scope of IBM's Condor quantum processor was to pave the way for its smaller 156-qubit Heron processor integrated into IBM's Quantum System Two. Despite Willow's smaller qubit count Google's results highlight the importance of algorithmic efficiency and error correction, suggesting that raw qubit numbers alone are no longer the key determinant of quantum computing progress.

Intel's Q3 earnings delivered a solid number, but a few interesting things are happening at Intel's Fabs that aren't related to any leading-edge node production. According to Intel CFO David Zinsner, "In Q3, Intel Foundry delivered Intel 10 and 7 volume above expectations," indicating that demand for Intel's products built on these nodes is significantly exceeding supply. Zinsner noted, "Capacity constraints, especially on Intel 10 and Intel 7, limited our ability to fully meet demand in Q3 for both data center and client products," suggesting strong demand for Core and Xeon processors built on these nodes.

Intel first introduced Intel 7 node, previously known as 10 nm Enhanced SuperFin, with 12th Generation "Alder Lake." However, that is now discontinued and Intel continues to ship 13th Generation "Raptor Lake" and 14th Generation Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" client CPUs on the Intel 7 node. For Xeon server chips, the company uses the Intel 7 node for the 4th Generation "Sapphire Rapids," 5th Generation "Emerald Rapids" Xeon Scalable and manufactures the I/O die for the latest "Granite Rapids" Xeon 6, where the compute dies are made on the Intel 3 node. High demand from the gaming sector for 13th and 14th Gen gaming CPUs, along with strong demand for Xeon processors, has created a manufacturing bottleneck. Intel will prioritize delivering data center products first and gaming products second.

Sandisk and Crayola today announced that the companies have partnered together to launch the Sandisk Crayola USB-C Flash Drive, the first officially licensed Crayola USB flash drive available for purchase starting today. Teachers, parents, and students are no strangers to stacks of schoolwork or growing collections of precious artwork. Now, they can store art projects, homework assignments, favorite photos, games, and more in an adorable crayon-shaped flash drive - perfect for making space for even more creativity.

These colorful USB-C flash drives celebrate the iconic Crayola brand, empowering artists and creators for more than 120 years. From the playful crayon shape to the signature Crayola crayon box packaging, the Sandisk Crayola USB-C Flash Drive combines nostalgia, creativity, and practicality. It is available in a range of vibrant colors, including Mango Tango, Cerulean Blue, Electric Lime, and Vivid Violet, making it a collectible and fun accessory for Crayola fans of all ages.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing the latest addition to the AMD based EPYC 4005 series CPU Servers, optimized to deliver powerful performance, efficiency, and affordability. Supermicro will feature the new MicroBlade multi-node solution, ideal for companies looking for a scalable and cost-effective solution with centralized management for power, cooling, and networking.

"We continue to expand our portfolio with the new Supermicro MicroBlade, which incorporates AMD EPYC 4005 series processors," says Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "This addition to our successful EPYC-based product line provides a very cost-effective, green computing solution for Cloud Service Providers. A single 48U rack can have up to 160 servers and 16 Ethernet switches, enabling tremendous computing power with built-in switches per enclosure."

Intel today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.8247 Beta comes with optimization for "Arc Raiders," "Europa Universalis V," "Football Manager 26," "Jurassic World Evolution 3," "The Outer Worlds 2," and "Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2." Among the game specific issues fixed with this release are an application crash observed in "Satisfactory" when the Vulkan API renderer is used. Intel recommends using the DirectX 12 renderer. An application crash noticed with "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight" when the renderer is switched to DirectX 11 has been fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.8247 Beta

Intel has just reported its Q3 earnings, delivering stronger than expected results and major revival of operational income. During the conference call after the earnings were published, Intel reassured its investors that the company is working with good, predictable 18A yields. In addition to 18A, the company confirmed that 14A node development is shaping up to be a leading-edge node co-designed with customers. CFO David Zinsner confirmed "We are making steady progress on Intel 18A. We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year. Intel 18A yields are progressing at a predictable rate, and Fab 52 in Arizona, which is dedicated to high-volume manufacturing, is now fully operational. In addition, we are advancing our work on Intel 18A, and we continue to hit our PDK milestones. Our Intel 18A family is the foundation for at least the next three generations of client and server products."

Adding to that, the CFO commented on 18A yields: "I wouldn't say Intel 18A yields are in a bad place. They're where we want them to be at this point. We had a goal for the end of the year, and they're going to hit that goal. To be fully accretive in terms of the cost structure of Intel 18A, we need the yields to be better. That's like every process. That's what happens. It's going to take all of next year, I think, to really get to a place where that's the case." For Intel, 18A yields are now at a very low defect rate where manufacturing even some of the bigger dies is not a problem or financial burden. However, as every node, it matures over time where defect rates are constantly reduced to increase operating margin and reduce waste dies. Hence, Intel is still investing into the 18A refinement, and the node will stick for a very long time.

AMD has finally set the retailer date and the price tag for its professional Radeon AI PRO 9000 series graphics cards, suitable for tasks like professional visualization or workstations that can accommodate up to four cards. Set to launch on October 27 for retailers, the flagship Radeon AI PRO R9700 will arrive at $1,299. Previously, AMD focused solely on the OEM and system integrator segment, leaving retailers and individuals building their own workstations for AI and professional visualization workloads without options. The company aimed to launch this GPU for retailers by the end of July, but supply constraints prevented this, as OEMs and system integrators consumed the entire supply.

These Radeon AI PRO R9700 GPU features a 4 nm "Navi 48" GPU, equipped with 64 RDNA 4 compute units, providing 4,096 stream processors and 128 AI accelerators for enhanced matrix operations across various data formats. A key improvement over the RX 9070 XT gaming GPU is the increased memory capacity, now doubled to 32 GB. The memory subsystem includes 20 Gbps GDDR6 across a 256-bit wide interface, delivering 640 GB/s of memory bandwidth, supported by a 64 MB 3rd Gen Infinity Cache. The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 achieves up to 191 TeraFLOPS FP16 dense performance and up to 1531 TOPS INT4 sparse performance, all within a power footprint of up to 300 W. The card is packed in dual-slot design with blower-style cooler, so dense multi-GPU configurations can be easily achieved.

Electronic Arts, the gaming giant behind games like The Sims, Apex Legends, and the Battlefield franchise, today announced a new partnership with Stability AI that it claims will help artists more quickly iterate and develop games more efficiently. However, according to a recent report by Business Insider, EA has been pushing its employees across the board to use AI for at least a year. Sources who spoke to Business Insider revealed that, despite what EA says about any AI tools it plans to develop with Stability AI in the future, the current in-house AI tools have caused more hassle than anything else. EA employees familiar with the AI tools say that the AI tools often hallucinate, to the point that developers have to go in and manually fix code that the AI tools generated.

Artists also took issue with the fact that their art was being used to train these AI models, which would theoretically devalue their work and result in reduced demand for artists. There are also reports that around 100 employees were recently terminated from the QA department because the AI could easily review and summarize tester feedback. Despite these complaints, EA is leaning into AI more heavily than ever with the aforementioned Stability AI partnership. News also just broke that Krafton, the publisher behind PUBG and the Subnautica franchise, has announced that it will be pivoting to become an AI-first company. Specifically, Krafton will be spending $70 million on GPU horsepower to power an increased reliance on agentic AI for automation and efficiency. Towards the end of September, it was revealed that EA's new owners—a group of investors—would be leaning on AI in order to "significantly cut operating costs," which has clearly already started to materialize.

We recently reported on a rumor that AMD would soon be launching desktop APUs based on its Krackan Point architecture that has until now only been featured in mobile parts. At first, it seemed as though Strix Point and its more powerful AMD Radeon 890M iGPU would be limited to the mobile side of things, however a well-known leaker, @9550pro on X, has recently pointed out that AMD's AGESA update version 1.2.7.0 does make mention of Strix Point in its code. This observation is backed up by further evidence shown in a post by @xgfancz on X, who pointed out that the list of architectures in the latest 1.2.7.0 AGESA beta update makes clear reference to "STX," presumably "Strix Point," alongside "PHX," which would be Phoenix Point, AMD's current Ryzen 8000G series of desktop APUs.

All of this suggests that AMD Ryzen 9000G desktop APUs may launch with Strix Point architecture instead of being limited to Krackan Point, as was previously the assumption. Stepping up from Krackan Point to Strix Point would mean that iGPUs in the Ryzen 9000G series may feature up to 16 CUs and RDNA 3.5 instead of RDNA 3 in the current APUs, which could mean gaming and iGPU performance right around the level of the likes of the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme now making its way to swathes of gaming handhelds. The AMD Ryzen 9000G desktop APUs aren't expected to launch until closer to the end of this year, and even if they do, there's no telling if they will launch at the same time as what is essentially the 8000G refresh we have seen in rumors before.

Electronic Arts has just announced a partnership with Stability AI, the company most well known for its Stable Diffusion image generation model. EA says that the partnership will see EA and Stability AI work together to "co-develop transformative AI models, tools, and workflows" to empower creative teams in the game development process. The stated goal is to improve efficiency and give artists "more time to focus on what matters most," although one of the examples given in the statement is generating textures for use in games, so it stands to reason that EA games will soon feature a not-insignificant amount of AI-generated content. The partnership will start with the generation of PBR materials for texturing in-game models.

While Stability AI is known for its Stable Diffusion image generation model, it is also responsible for video, audio, and 3D generation tools, and the statement makes it clear that these 3D generation tools will be used in the development process. The announcement suggest that, for the time being, the AI systems being developed in the partnership will be used to generate individual assets and "pre-visualize entire 3D environments from a series of prompts." It remains to be seen how the gaming community will respond to EA's announcement, but there has been significant push-back from gamers in other cases where AI-generated content was spotted in games or their marketing.

Intel has posted stronger than expected third-quarter 2025 results, boosted by aggressive cost-cutting measures under CEO Lip-Bu Tan and fresh capital injections from NVIDIA, SoftBank, and the U.S. government. Shares rose about 5% after its share price drop of about 60% last year. Team Blue reported $2.5 billion in operating cash flow, its fourth straight quarter of improved execution, and noted that demand is now outpacing supply heading into 2026. CFO David Zinsner said the new funding increases Intel's operational flexibility and highlights its importance to the broader semiconductor ecosystem.

Recently Intel unveiled its Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" processors and Xeon 6+ "Clearwater Forest", both built on Intel 18A process technology, alongside a new inference GPU, "Crescent Island." Meanwhile, Fab 52 in Chandler, Arizona is now fully operational, producing 18A wafers, part of Intel's $100 billion domestic expansion plan. Intel strengthened its balance sheet in Q3 with several major deals. The company received $5.7 billion from a planned $8.9 billion U.S. government, while NVIDIA invested $5 billion and agreed to co-develop future PC and datacenter platforms using NVLink. SoftBank added $2 billion to support Intel's U.S. fab expansion, and the Altera stake sale generated an additional $5.2 billion in cash. Compared to Q3 2024 Intel Foundry's revenue is still down 2% while Data Center and AI dropped 1% indicating that both divisions are still under pressure. For the fourth quarter of 2025, Intel expects revenue between $12.8 billion and $13.8 billion.

Noodle Cat Games is thrilled to reveal that Cloudheim, its physics-based action-RPG built for online co-op, will launch on Steam Early Access and Epic Game Store on December 4th. Get ready to gather loot and combine wild weapon traits with physics for endless emergent experimentation! To commemorate this launch, Noodle Cat has released an all new trailer revealing the release date as part of the Galaxies Showcase today.

The Cloudheim demo was among the most played during Steam Next Fest, so due to popular demand, it will remain available for a while longer so more players can whet their appetite by experimenting with Cloudheim's cavalcade of combos!

Assassin's Creed Shadows has been out since March already, but now Ubisoft is bringing Naoe and Yasuke's story to the Nintendo Switch 2, with an all-new trailer revealing that the latest installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise will arrive for the Switch 2 on December 2, 2025. The trailer is accompanied by a fall roadmap and an official press release with more details about what to expect from both the Switch 2 version of the game and the rest of the game's content updates. Ubisoft confirmed in the announcement that Assassin's Creed Shadows on the Switch 2 will have all of the game's current title updates and free content at launch, with the exception of the Claws of Awaji update. The aforementioned update will arrive in an update in 2026.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth performance review of Assassin's Creed Shadows is now live]

Assassin's Creed Shadows will also feature cross save for those playing on multiple systems, and Ubisoft has implemented some tweaks to the game's UI for the Switch 2's touch screen. Ubisoft also announced Title Update 10 and 11, slated for October 28 and November 25, respectively. The most notable changes coming to the game with Title Update 10 are the parkour changes, which will unlock more freedom by removing parkour barriers and tweaking parkour moves to work in more scenarios. The November Title Update 11 will be the game's third free story drop, called "A Puzzlement," which will take "a more humorous, silly tone" that Ubisoft says is more reminiscent of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. It will also adapt one of each protagonist's moves for the other character. Naoe will learn a version of Yasuke's war kick and Yasuke will learn how to "stealthily dispatch enemies in a non-lethal way." Ubisoft also teased a special collaboration coming in November, but declined to provide further details.

It's hard to believe it's only been a little more than a month since our tiny No Man's Sky team launched the super ambitious VOYAGERS update. We spent over a year pouring a lot of love into it, so it has been incredible for the team to watch the reaction and see us hit our highest player numbers since launch. We genuinely never thought that would happen - what a journey it's been! It has provided some of my favorite moments of these last nine years of development, from standing in the Nexus and seeing these beautiful, creative, sci-fi ships that other players have built, or just floating in space outside of your ship in the sort of tranquil moments of calm and wonder that feels unique to No Man's Sky. It has made us instantly excited to work on a new update!

Our update for Halloween is called Breach, and it leans into the thrill of custom ship assembly, space-walking, skydiving, and community spirit introduced in Voyagers. It is free to download today for existing players.

It appears as though Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, the version of the game being developed exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2, has continued to be rather punishing to the handheld console's rather low-end hardware. According to a recent announcement on the official Elden Ring account on X, the Switch 2 port will be delayed to 2026, with the developer citing a need for "time for performance adjustments." This is not the firs time a Switch 2 game port has been delayed, with Borderlands 4 developer, Gearbox, previously announcing an indefinite delay for the launch of the Switch 2 version of the looter shooter earlier this year.

When IGN got hands-on time with Tarnished Edition at Gamescom 2025, performance was so bad that the publication called it "a disaster in handheld mode" and game journalists and influencers in attendance were banned from recording clips of the game running on the Switch 2. The performance issues were largely reported to be frame rate dips, even during actions as simple as panning the camera, but there were also complaints about confusing button mapping making the notoriously difficult game even less intuitive. As was the case for Borderlands 4, a new release date has not yet been announced, but fans have largely responded positively to the announcement, with the sentiment being that Bandai Namco should take its time to deliver a polished game that performs well enough to enjoy at launch.

Don your dusters, sharpen your spurs and check your canteen's filled: Fallout 76 heads to arid country in Burning Springs, a major free update for all players arriving December 2! Featuring one of Fallout 76's largest map expansions yet, Burning Springs opens the path for players to venture into post-nuclear Ohio. Trek through the area's perilous gulches, encounter new characters and quests and run Bounty Hunting missions for The Ghoul, making his way to Burning Springs from the Fallout television series!

Welcome to the blazing Buckeye State
Expanding the boundaries of Fallout 76's massive Appalachia region, players will explore the charred remains of Ohio, conflagrated during the Great War into a place now called Burning Springs. "Ohio is a desert wasteland now," lays out Creative Director Jonathan Rush. "Burning Springs wasn't ever really explored in the past Fallout games, so this is all new territory for us." As players discover more of Burning Springs, they will also learn of the area's history and how it fits into Fallout's greater post-nuclear world.

Microsoft brings a playful new face to Copilot with Mico, a shape-shifting animated orb that appears when users speak to the assistant. Fans of the 30-year-old long discontinued Clippy assistant might recognize the spirit, but Microsoft says Mico is meant to be less intrusive and more responsive, reacting to conversations instead of interrupting them. The rollout begins in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and for a bit of nostalgia there is an Easter egg. Tapping Mico repeatedly briefly transforms it into the classic paperclip. Mico is tied to Copilot's new memory features, which let the assistant remember user preferences and past conversations to provide more personalized responses.

Microsoft also introduced Learn Live, a teaching mode that turns Mico into an interactive tutor that walks users through problems step by step with whiteboards and visual aids. The company frames Mico as a persistent companion rather than a tool you summon only occasionally, aiming to give Copilot a consistent identity and presence. The update includes practical improvements beyond the avatar. Copilot can now support group conversations with up to 32 participants, with tools for breaking up tasks and voting on decisions. A feature called Real Talk lets Copilot push back when users make incorrect assumptions, rather than simply agreeing, and Copilot Health draws on reputable sources to answer medical questions and suggest doctors. These changes are part of the Copilot Fall Release, which starts in the United States before expanding to other regions in the coming weeks.

Inside Microsoft's Xbox gaming division there is a battle for aggressive company profits, which by the looks of it must be accomplished at any cost. According to Bloomberg, Xbox CFO Amy Hood set a company-wide target to reach a 30% profit margin for the entire Xbox unit back in the fall of 2023. Since then, the company has been undergoing significant restructuring, including price increases, layoffs, project cancellations, and budget cuts to meet this profit target. As some readers may recall, Xbox recently revamped its subscription lineup, introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate tiers, along with a PC-only plan. These plans saw a 50% price increase, leaving many gamers unhappy with the steep rise in their subscription costs.

According to estimates from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the video game industry averages profits of 17-22%. This figure reflects recent years of game development, which have seen a significant rise in costs due to the complex nature of modern games. For example, the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 is rumored to have a $2 billion budget, an astonishing amount for game development. Such high costs are necessary to support all aspects of the complex development cycle. A 30% profit margin, which Xbox aims to achieve, is rare in the gaming industry and is typically reserved for a few top-tier publishers. As we approach Microsoft's earnings call scheduled for October 29, we expect an update on the Xbox division. To reach a 30% margin, Xbox may focus on more premium hardware, higher-priced software, and budget cuts on non-essential projects.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the launch of the Razer Raiju V3 Pro, a next-generation wireless gaming controller engineered for use with the PlayStation 5 console. Featuring symmetrical TMR (Tension Magnetic Resistance) thumbsticks, Razer Pro HyperTriggers, and 4 removable mouse-click back buttons, the Raiju V3 Pro is designed to give console players the competitive edge they need.

"The Raiju V3 Pro is a game-changer on the PS5," said HyDra, 2023 Call of Duty World Champion, 100 Thieves. "The TMR thumbsticks are laser-precise, and the customization lets me fine-tune every input to match my playstyle. It gives me the speed, control, and confidence to stay locked in and clutch up."

BOOX, a global leader in E Ink technology and innovation, has announced the launch of two new additions to its product lineup: the Note Air5 C, a 10.3-inch color ePaper tablet designed for light productivity and creativity, and the Palma 2 Pro, a 6.13-inch color mobile ePaper device that brings true portability and connectivity to digital reading and note-taking.

BOOX Note Air5 C: Light Productivity Meets Premium Design
Building on the success of the Note Air4 C, the new Note Air5 C introduces seamless keyboard connectivity, Android 15, and the upgraded Pen3 stylus. Designed for professionals, students, and creatives alike, the Note Air5 C combines power and flexibility in a thin, elegant frame.

TP-Link Systems Inc., a leading global provider of consumer and business networking products, today announced the launch of the Archer GE400 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router. Expanding on the success of the flagship Archer GE800 and mid-tier Archer GE650, the GE400 delivers next-generation Wi-Fi 7 gaming features at an accessible $219.99, making it the perfect entry point into TP-Link's gaming router lineup.

As the first-to-market brand in Wi-Fi 7, TP-Link is committed to making the benefits of this new standard available to gamers at every level. The Archer GE400 is the most affordable way to experience the speed, low latency and stability of Wi-Fi 7 gaming, delivering the features serious players need without the premium price tag.

IBM today announced third-quarter 2025 earnings results.

"This quarter we accelerated performance across all of our segments, and again exceeded expectations for revenue, profit and free cash flow. Clients globally continue to leverage our technology and domain expertise to drive productivity in their operations and deliver real business value with AI. Our AI book of business now stands at more than $9.5 billion," said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Given the strength of our business, we are raising our full-year outlook for revenue growth and free cash flow."

When it comes to gaming, speed is everything. The new YUNZII RT75 PRO redefines this standard—now equipped with Dual 8K polling rate in both wired and 2.4G modes. Designed for magnetic switch enthusiasts, this next-generation keyboard merges artistic aesthetics and pro-level gaming performance in stunning black and pink colorways. Let's dive into what makes the RT75 PRO a true game-changer.

Gaming Keyboard with Hall Effect Magnetic Switches
The YUNZII RT75 PRO delivers an 8K polling rate in both wired and 2.4G modes, achieving 0.1 ms wired and 1 ms wireless response for lightning-fast precision. Built with Hall Effect magnetic switches, this triple-mode keyboard (USB-C, 2.4G, Bluetooth) ensures unmatched responsiveness and reliability for competitive gaming.

Microsoft is experimenting with integrating Copilot AI functionality across various platforms. However, this time the company is doing something that many users might not be aware of. The Gaming Copilot AI is being trained by default using users' screengrabs, performing OCR on the screenshots, and sending the extracted text back to Microsoft servers to train its large language models—all without users being informed of this process. A Resetera forum member, "RedbullCola," discovered this through network traffic analysis, noticing that the Gaming Copilot AI app was transmitting data to Microsoft servers without his knowledge. To make matters worse, this occurred while he was testing a game under an NDA. This situation raises multiple security concerns, as it could potentially breach the NDA agreement between the user and the game company, risking the leakage of text from the unreleased game.

We verified this ourselves and can confirm that the feature is indeed enabled by default. The only option you can opt-in for is model training on your voice chats, which is thankfully disabled by default. To check whether your setting for training text models from your screenshots is being used, go to Game Bar, open Gaming Copilot, head to Settings, and click on Privacy. There, you can uncheck the training slider to prevent your screen records from being sent to Microsoft for LLM training. For example, under the GDPR, using EU users' personal data to train AI requires a transparent notice. Automatically enabling screenshot collection for model training without an appropriate legal basis or explicit informed consent could breach the law, and invoke a lawsuit from EU's governing body.

With continuous support from its growing community, Epomaker has received valuable feedback and suggestions. Many community members have expressed a desire for mice that not only offer a visually striking design but also deliver exceptional performance. In response to this, Epomaker is proud to announce the launch of two new mice, designed and developed based on the input of its dedicated users.

The Epomaker CarbonX
Although Epomaker is not a traditional mouse brand, the CarbonX was designed from the outset to break the mold. Featuring an innovative aerospace-grade carbon fiber shell, this mouse combines a lightweight 50 g build with exceptional durability, efficient heat dissipation, and a comfortable user experience.
To achieve a more stable 8 kHz polling rate, the Epomaker CarbonX moves away from traditional, lower-cost sensors, opting for the high-performance PixArt PAW3950 sensor. Paired with Omron optical switches, the Epomaker CarbonX is designed to assist users in achieving peak performance in both gaming and daily use, with a lifespan of up to 1 million clicks. An 8 kHz polling rate is a rare feature found only in high-end gaming mice, providing an ultra-fast response speed that is several times that of most wireless mice.

Corsair today announced two new portable SSDs: the EX400U SURVIVOR USB4 External SSD, delivering outstanding transfer speeds in a rugged, travel‑ready design, and the EX300U USB External SSD, featuring a MagSafe‑compatible magnetic ring for effortless on‑the‑go data storage. Leveraging the high bandwidth of USB4, the EX400U SURVIVOR offers lightning-fast sequential read speeds up to 4,000 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 3,600 MB/s in a durable, impact-resistant IP55-rated housing built for real-world use.

Not just for USB4/Thunderbolt 4 desktops and laptops, the EX400U SURVIVOR is also backward compatible with USB 3.2 Type-C and supports USB Type-C-equipped iOS devices. Just plug it in for instant power and speed over one cable (30 cm/7.5 in, included). Designed for mobility, the EX400U SURVIVOR's IP55-rated, environmentally protected housing is built to withstand the bumps and scrapes of working on the go. Available in capacities from 1 TB to 4 TB, this makes the EX400U SURVIVOR an ideal tool for creators on the move, whether transferring, editing, or storing critical data, it's fast, rugged, and built for the long haul.

Mana Potion Studio and Pingle Studio are proud to announce that Becastled is now available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 & 4, Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Following yesterday's 1.0 release on PC, Becastled makes its console debut today, introducing a fully overhauled UI, mighty bosses, road-building mechanics and other refinements designed for both newcomers and seasoned defenders of the Sun Kingdom.

Becastled combines the relaxing rhythm of city-building games with intense, RTS-like siege defense. By day, players manage and expand their settlement, gathering resources, building farms, and fortifying the castle. By night, they will defend the walls against waves of attackers as rams, siege towers, and even dragons batter their gates until dawn.

The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 on GeForce NOW, launching with GeForce RTX 5080-power. Members can sink their teeth into the action role-playing game from Paradox Interactive as part of nine games coming to the cloud this week, including NINJA GAIDEN 4. Be among the first to play The Outer Worlds 2 with early access available in the cloud starting tomorrow, Oct. 24. Atlanta is the latest region to get GeForce RTX 5080-class power, with Sofia, Bulgaria, coming next. Stay tuned to GFN Thursday for updates as more regions upgrade to NVIDIA Blackwell RTX. Follow along with the latest progress on the server rollout page.

The Night Belongs to the Cloud
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, Paradox's sequel to the cult classic, invites fans to sink their fangs into Seattle's dark nightlife, putting players in the immortal boots of Phyre - the newly awakened Elder vampire with a mysterious voice in their head. In every dark corner hides a new alliance or a rival, and every choice carves a path through the bloody politics of the night.

The team at Above the Desk unveiled a ten-minute gameplay video from Above the Snow, offering the first look at the everyday challenges of running a mountain lodge high in the Alps. In this high-altitude adventure, players will be accompanied by real-world legends, including American alpinist Ed Viesturs.

Above the Desk presented the first gameplay footage of Above the Snow - a narrative tycoon strategy in which players step into the role of an alpine shelter manager. Their goal is to create a cozy place for travelers by keeping an eye on daily operations, designing hiking routes, and ensuring the safety of everyone who finds their way to the warmth of the lodge hidden among picturesque peaks.

In an era of unprecedented AI innovation and growth, the entire data center ecosystem is transforming toward more energy-efficient infrastructure to support sustainable growth. With memory playing an increasingly critical role in AI systems, low-power memory solutions have become central to this transformation. Micron Technology, Inc. today announced customer sampling of 192 GB SOCAMM2 (small outline compression attached memory modules) to enable broader adoption of low-power memory within AI data centers. SOCAMM2 extends the capabilities of Micron's first-to-market LPDRAM SOCAMM, delivering 50% more capacity in the same compact footprint. The added capacity can significantly reduce time to first token (TTFT) by more than 80% in real-time inference workloads.

The 192 GB SOCAMM2 uses Micron's most advanced 1-gamma DRAM process technology to deliver greater than 20% improvement in power efficiency, further enabling power design optimization of large data center clusters. These savings become quite significant in full-rack AI installations, which can include more than 40 terabytes of CPU-attached low-power DRAM main memory. The modular design of SOCAMM2 improves serviceability and lays the groundwork for future capacity expansion.

China is developing a system firmware standard from the ground up that will, in the future, replace UEFI and old-school BIOS in digital devices, called UBIOS. The name "UBIOS" is straightforward—it simply means Unified Basic Input Output System, and incorporates all the hardware support advancements UEFI brought to computing. The idea behind UBIOS is to decouple with predominantly Western-developed firmware standards, particularly Western firmware-level security architectures and roots of trust. The UBIOS standard has been drafted by thirteen Chinese tech companies, including Huawei, Byosoft, and Kunlun Tech, with oversight from CESI (China Electronics Standardization Institute).

The UBIOS standard has awareness for all contemporary hardware standards, including chiplets and heterogeneous computing. It also supports all modern machine architectures, including x86 (and x86-64), Arm, RISC-V, and LoongArch (MIPS-compatible). The firmware will be incorporated by Chinese computing and ICT giants designing everything from servers to client PCs, consumer electronics, network infrastructure, automobiles, and IoT appliances. China's indigenous Linux distributions will incorporate support for UBIOS. It remains to be seen if the UBIOS standard is made open to foreign firmware vendors such as Insyde, AMI, and Award.

Noctua today celebrated its 20-year brand anniversary with a fresh, completely revamped website as well as the new NP-DM3 desk mat that commemorates key milestones in Noctua's history of innovation - from the first NH-U heatsinks and NF-S12 fans to landmark products like the NF-P12 or NH-D14 all the way to the latest G2 models. "Things have come a long way since we've launched our very first CPU coolers 20 years ago. When you look at them next to today's NH-D15 G2, it's obvious how the research, materials and manufacturing have evolved" says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO).

"We're incredibly grateful that so many customers have turned out to share our passion for performance, quietness and quality. It's this shared passion that has enabled Noctua's evolution, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their continued trust." To celebrate its 20-year anniversary, Noctua is introducing the NP-DM3, a premium-grade desk mat with a distinctive timeline design that commemorates key milestones in the brand's history of innovation. The theme spans from the very first Noctua heatsink and fan all the way to the latest G2 series models. It also highlights some of the Austrian' brands most iconic models along the way, such as the NF-P12, NF-F12 or NH-D14; and it's guaranteed to bring back fond memories of your favorite Noctua products.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, excited to announce a groundbreaking achievement for extreme overclocking: renowned overclocker Sergmann has shattered the DDR5 memory speed world record, breaking through the 13000 MT/s barrier to reach an unprecedented 13010 MT/s. This significant milestone was achieved using GIGABYTE's flagship Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE motherboard paired with Corsair memory modules and Intel Core Ultra processors.

In a stunning display of performance excellence, the top three DDR5 frequency world records are now all held using the Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE motherboard. The achievements are the result of close collaboration between legendary overclocker HiCookie and elite overclockers including Sergmann, demonstrating unparalleled consistency and capability at the highest levels of competitive overclocking.

Thermaltake, a leading PC DIY brand for premium hardware solutions, proudly announces the Toughpower PT Platinum Series, available in 850 W, 1000 W, and 1200 W models. Engineered for enthusiasts, creators, and professionals, the PT Platinum Series delivers Intel ATX 3.1 compliance, native PCIe Gen 5.1 support, and 80 Plus Platinum certification, ensuring rock-solid performance, modern compatibility, and exceptional efficiency.

Platinum Efficiency for Today and Beyond
The Toughpower PT Platinum Series comes in 850 W, 1000 W, and 1200 W variants, each designed to deliver outstanding power efficiency and reliability across different PC setups. Whether for a compact gaming build or a high-end configuration, the series offers premium components, platinum-level efficiency, and next-gen compatibility—all at a competitive price point that makes top-tier performance more attainable than ever.

Samsung has secured a significant win for its previously struggling foundry business as Tesla has decided to divide the manufacturing of its new AI5 accelerator between Samsung and TSMC. The chips will be produced at Samsung's plant in Taylor, Texas, and TSMC's facility in Arizona. This decision is part of a supply strategy following Samsung's previous $16.5 billion agreement to manufacture Tesla's upcoming AI6 processor. By using both top-tier foundries, Tesla aims to rapidly increase capacity while maintaining production within the United States. This dual-fab strategy is a pragmatic choice, allowing Tesla to avoid bottlenecks and build excess capacity for both its vehicles and expanding data-center needs. Elon Musk has praised Samsung's foundry capabilities, noting that the company already manages components of Tesla's AI4 platform, making the shared production of AI5 a logical step.

Meanwhile, Samsung is investing in next-generation High-NA EUV equipment and high-precision tools to close the gap with competitors on advanced nodes. The design of the AI5 chip is Tesla's desire for tight control of the componentry. Engineers have reportedly removed legacy GPU and image-signal blocks to create a more simplified chip optimized for real-time driving and AI workloads. This approach reduces die size and enhances cost efficiency. Tesla claims that the new architecture offers significantly better performance per dollar compared to its older designs, with company benchmarks indicating substantial improvements over AI4. In some cases, up to 40x performance improvements. Maybe the dream of Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) can now be accomplished with newer chips and better technology, if the conditions allow it.

Leading provider of industrial PC solutions AAEON (Stock Code: 6579), has introduced the BOXER-6649-RAP, the company's first fanless embedded computer equipped with four independent full-speed PoE LAN ports. Available with a choice of 28 W 13th Generation Intel Core processors (formerly Raptor Lake), the BOXER-6649-RAP notably offers a 50% increase in DDR5 memory capacity over previous generations alongside a robust mechanical design for industrial deployment. AAEON has highlighted that the BOXER-6649-RAP is primarily targeted for use in the smart security, safety, and surveillance sectors, which is reflected in the system's I/O specifications. The BOXER-6649-RAP's four PoE LAN ports each offer 2.5GbE speed, and are joined by a fifth RJ-45 port, also offering 2.5GbE LAN. The system comes with two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, four USB 2.0, and both DB-9 and DB-15 ports for RS-232/422/485 and an 8-bit digital I/O, respectively.

For memory, the BOXER-6649-RAP can support up to 96 GB of DDR5 via two SODIMM slots, a substantial increase from the 64 GB provided by previous products from its Rugged Box PC series. AAEON has specified that the purpose of this is to help customers locally store large data models and run real-time AI inference without frame drops, particularly suitable for the product's target applications.

It appears as though the gaming industry is continuing its brutal trend of studio closures and layoffs. This time, Ubisoft has announced a double-whammy of layoffs affecting two studios in a cost-cutting effort. The two affected studios are RedLynx and Massive, with affirmed job cuts at Massive and the proposed restructuring at RedLynx entering collective negotiations on October 30. The job cuts at Massive appear to be final, and the announcement doesn't clarify how many jobs will cut, but the stated justification is to focus on The Division franchise, the Snowdrop engine, and Ubisoft Connect. The RedLynx announcement, however, cites a renewed focus on "small screens," a reduction in costs, and stronger prioritization as justifications for the proposed job cuts, which would result in the "reduction of a maximum 60 positions." The shift would see RedLynx transition fully from a multiplatform studio to developing exclusively for small screens—presumably referring to smartphones and tablets.

Eligible staff at Massive will have the option of taking part in a "voluntary career transition program" that will give them "the opportunity to take their next career step on their own terms." The transition program also comes with an unspecified severance package, although the online response to the announcement was still bitter, with many netizens questioning the ambiguity of the statement on X and the studio's apparent reluctance to refer to the changes as layoffs. This news comes after Ubisoft earlier this month announced a consolidation of many of its IPs under a new subsidiary called Vantage Studios, which saw the Chinese gaming giant, Tencent, scoop up a 25% stake in some of Ubisoft's most recognizable AAA games.

With talks of next-gen console hardware now afoot, both on the Xbox and Sony sides of things, conversations have started to spring up about the potential performance and fidelity improvements that will materialize with the likes of the PS6 and next-gen Xbox. Shuhei Yoshida, however, argued in a recent episode of the FPS podcast on the Skill Up YouTube channel that we are beyond the point where graphics and performance are the differentiating factor. Yoshida seems to suggest that Sony should pursue frame rates rather than graphical fidelity, "Graphics have almost hit the level that even I cannot tell the difference between some of the graphics capabilities, like ray-traced or not ray-traced, unless it's side by side, or higher frame rate," going on to say that higher graphical fidelity may have some continued niche appeal. The current-gen Sony PS5 and PS5 Pro both offer high framerate gameplay options, although those frame rate modes generally sacrifice some graphical fidelity in the process by dropping the resolution. An improvement in processing power on the PS5 may mean that these performance modes will no longer need to drop the image quality or resolution.

Current rumors suggest that the PS6 console launch could see an additional PlayStation 6 Portable handheld device launch alongside the living room console, a strategy that affirms Yoshida's position. The former Sony executive is confident that Sony's "new generation" management, which is led by 47-year-old CEO, Hideaki Nishino, is capable of pulling off the necessary innovations. Yoshida also touched on the Japanese game publishing scene during the interview, specifically mentioning that the indie publishing scene appears to be growing. The indie game industry has recently earned itself a reputation for eschewing high-resolution graphics, with a lot of indie titles garnering attention thanks to innovative game mechanics instead.

The Qwertykeys Neo65 keyboard line-up, known for its premium build quality, customizability, and relatively affordable price, was recently updated with a Hall effect version in the Sonic He+, with Qwertykeys promising an upgrade module akin to the one offered by Wooting for the 60HE+ for Neo65 mechanical keyboard owners. That Sonic He+ PCB module has now become a reality, offering Neo65 owners a drop-in upgrade to turn their mechanical keyboard into an HE keyboard with 8,000 Hz polling. Unlike the Wooting 60HE+ module, the Sonic65 He+ module kit comes with just about everything you'll need to convert a mechanical Neo65 keyboard to its Hall effect sibling. That means the PCB and a carbon fiber plate, a new ribbon cable, mounting and assembly hardware, Owlab Nova Magnetic switches, stabilizers, case and plate foams, and even the frosted translucent keycaps with the cyberpunk green or purple legends.

It also includes accessories, like an upgraded keycap and switch puller, USB cable, and a tool to remove the PCB and plate assembly from the plate. The Sonic65 He+ module is available at $80, and users have a choice of white or green legends on the smoky keycaps. The Sonic65 He+ offers similar features to similar Hall effect gaming keyboards, including customizable actuation distance, Rapid Trigger, SOCD, Dynamic Keystroke, and macro creation via the proprietary NeoFlux web driver. The Hall effect sensors offer 0.01 mm sensitivity, and the Owlab Nova Magnetic switches included with the module have 3.5 mm of travel and a 50 gf bottom-out force, which is similar to the linear red mechanical switches that come with many old-school gaming keyboards. The switches also feature a closed-bottom design and a box stem, which should offer a cleaner sound profile and minimize stem wobble.

OwLab is known for its premium enthusiast DIY mechanical keyboards, like the $499 PT750, with sister company Qwertykeys bringing up the rear with midrange enthusiast DIY kits. Now, however, OwLab has announced a new sub-brand called Ticktype, which appears to fill the pre-built keyboard niche. While the new keyboard brand has only just been given a name, two keyboards that previously fell under the Qwertykeys brand, the Evo75 and Evo80, will now be sold under Ticktype. That said, Ticktype has also debuted the DP104, a new full-size wireless mechanical keyboard that takes inspiration from retro gaming—much like the QK65 MK3 we covered recently—and the custom mechanical keyboard scene, but with the benefits of a pre-built keyboard.

The Tick type DP104, aside from being a full-size mechanical keyboard with a proper num pad and an aluminium case, boasts a number of features that make it both fun to use and easy to mod for beginners just looking at their first mechanical keyboard. For starters, the DP104 has a quick-release ball-catch top case, meaning the top case releases by applying only a little pressure in the correct direction, allowing you full access to the keyboard's interior for stuff like modifications, cleaning, or changing out the gasket mounting system for something stiffer or with more give. The other neat feature is the colorful "interactive pixel display" located above the num pad. This small landscape display can be used for fun features, like the reactive fireworks mode, real-time typing mode, and an "audio reactive mode" that displays an equalizer that reacts to nearby sounds, or you can make it display keyboard status, like battery charge, OS mode, the time, and caps lock status. The DP104 also has a customizable RGB light bar and two volume control buttons just above the arrow keys.

Intel is still finalizing its next-generation "Nova Lake" specifications. However, the core microarchitecture has been done, the NPU design is finished and upgraded, and the instruction set is finalized. It could be the case that these consumer CPUs will again lack support for Intel's AVX10, APX, and AMX instruction set—designed to encompass 512-bit acceleration and fast vector/matrix multiplication for tasks like content creation, encoding/decoding, AI, and much more—remaining exclusive to Intel Xeon processors. According to the latest GCC compiler patch, the initial Nova Lake enablement patch does not include AVX10, AMX, or APX. This might suggest that support for these new x86 instructions could be missing from the next-generation CPU. Initially, Intel decided to disable AVX-512 for "Alder Lake" and "Raptor Lake" client-oriented CPU lineups, meaning that only server-grade Xeon CPUs got the accelerated 512-bit data paths.

This GCC patch seems to contradict the findings from August, when Intel introduced AVX10.2 support for "future Intel Core processors" in the oneDNN software library, likely targeting the Nova Lake series. We need to wait for more information from other enablement patches or direct confirmation from Intel regarding whether AVX10, APX, and AMX will be included in the 52-core Nova Lake SKUs. Enabling fast vector and matrix acceleration on 52 cores would be ideal for consumers, content creators, gamers, and workstation users alike. In comparison, AMD introduced full AVX-512 support with its "Zen 5" cores across its product range, providing a performance boost in optimized applications for both desktop and server CPUs. This marked the first time AMD did not emulate 512-bit AVX, which previously required splitting 512-bit data into two 256-bit units to be processed over two cycles.

Today, Battlefield Studios released the official Battlefield 6 Season 1 trailer, revealing new details about what's in store for players beginning on October 28, plus a look at the season's upcoming phases later this year.

The first phase of action-packed seasonal content begins with Rogue Ops next week, which includes a new map called Blackwell Fields built for all-out warfare chaos and an intense new 4v4 mode called Strikepoint. This is followed by two additional first season content releases. California Resistance launches on November 18, and includes a map set in the suburbs of Southern California called Eastwood and a new mode called Sabotage where players must destroy as many sites as possible before the round ends.

NVIDIA has decided that covering the earth with data centers is not enough, so the company now wants to accelerate infrastructure in the outer space. According to the latest blog post, NVIDIA will be a part of an AI-equipped satellite from Starcloud, powered by a single NVIDIA H100 "Hopper" GPU. After many months or even years of validation and testing that goes into designing a space payload, Starcloud and NVIDIA have designed a 60 kg package the size of a small fridge, that will be installed in space satellite orbiting the planet Earth. This will be more powerful than any current space infrastructure, at more than 100x compute capacity than the existing accelerators. We still don't know if this GPU has been radiation hardened, or it has just been isolated enough for space radiation to not represent a problem.

In space, the power requirements can easily be neglected. With the use of solar panels, any hardware is capable of tapping nearly infinite energy for powering the infrastructure. That way, NVIDIA H100 GPU can run at full throttle crunching any AI computation without any issues, and making sure that the Starcloud satellite is doing its job. The cooling structure of this AI module is intriguing. It is engineered to function effectively without relying on convective cooling, instead using radiative heat rejection into the cold expanse of space. Since outer space is essentially a vacuum, there is no air to conduct heat away. Therefore, the module must internally conduct heat from the computing components, such as CPUs and GPUs, to external radiators that emit infrared radiation into deep space. When oriented favorably, with radiators facing away from direct solar irradiation, the module can maintain a lower operating temperature than would be possible on Earth. However, this is not a "magic" solution. The design must carefully balance factors such as the thermal interface, radiator area, emissivity, orientation, and internal heat flow.

NextSilicon, a startup company founded in 2017 has detailed its Maverick-2 Intelligent Compute Accelerator (ICA), claiming it outperforms NVIDIA's HGX B200 GPU and Intel's Sapphire Rapids CPUs in high-performance computing and AI workloads. Built on TSMC's 5 nm node, Maverick-2 is available as a single-die PCIe card with 96 GB of HBM3e (300 W) or a dual-die OAM version with 192 GB of HBM3e (600 W). According to internal benchmarks, Maverick-2 delivers up to 4× higher FP64 performance-per-watt than the HGX B200 and over 20× higher efficiency than Intel's Xeon Sapphire Rapids. In GUPS benchmarks, it reached 32.6 GUPS at 460 W, reportedly 22× faster than CPUs and 6× faster than GPUs. In HPCG workloads it achieved 600 GFLOPS at 750 W, while consuming roughly half the power of competing solutions. The company attributes these gains to a data-flow based architecture that shifts overhead management from hardware to adaptive software, allowing most silicon area to be used for computation rather than control logic.

Alongside Maverick-2, NextSilicon announced Arbel, a RISC-V-based enterprise-grade chip also built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The company claims Arbel already surpasses current RISC-V designs as well as Intel Lion Cove and AMD Zen 5 cores. Arbel features a 10-wide instruction pipeline with a 480-entry reorder buffer for high core utilization, running at 2.5 GHz. The chip can execute up to 16 scalar instructions in parallel and includes four 128-bit vector units for data-parallel workloads. A 64 KB L1 cache and large shared L3 cache ensure high memory throughput and low latency to reduce bottlenecks in compute-intensive applications. No release date or full benchmarks were disclosed, but NextSilicon says Arbel represents a move toward a fully open, software-adaptive silicon platform for future HPC and AI systems.

A new generation of SK hynix DDR5 memory chips has surfaced online, reportedly marking the debut of second-generation 3 GB A-die ICs. First shown by Team Group's Kevin Wu on Facebook, the chip carries the X021 marking and "AKBD" part code. According to leaker @unikoshardware, the X021 label identifies it as the successor to the 3 GB M-die used in early DDR5 modules. Based on SK hynix's internal binning scheme, the "KB" designation in AKBD likely corresponds to a native 7200 MT/s JEDEC speed following the company's established progression from "EB" (4800 MT/s) through "HB" (6400 MT/s). This new bin suggests SK hynix is preparing faster DDR5 ICs aimed at next-generation Intel platforms, with Panther Lake and Arrow Lake Refresh expected to support up to DDR5-7200.

The sample shown reportedly uses an 8-layer PCB, which could limit headroom for extreme overclocking beyond 8000 MT/s. To fully exploit the new A-die's potential, manufacturers are expected to move to 10 or 12-layer PCBs for greater signal integrity. While SK hynix has yet to officially unveil the part, this early appearance of the 3 GB A-die AKBD hints that production may already be underway. To add some background, Samsung was reigning supreme in the DDR4 days with high-end memory modules pretty much always having Samsung's hand-picked B-die chips. However, things have changed in the DDR5 world with SK hynix taking the lead with its A-die and M-die chips grabbing all the attention.

TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology (TCL CSOT), a global leader in advanced display technologies and a subsidiary of TCL Technology, today announced the commencement of construction of the world's first 8.6-generation Inkjet Printing OLED (IJP OLED) production line in Guangzhou, China. The new project, referred to as "t8", which officially broke ground on October 21, will have a designed monthly capacity of 22.5 thousand sheets (based on 2290 mm x 2620 mm substrate size), focusing on high-end displays for tablets, laptops, and monitors, with a total investment estimated to reach over approximately USD 4 billion.

"Our t8 production line marks a breakthrough for the global display industry, showcasing technological capabilities and market potential in the high-generation AMOLED sector," said Jun Zhao, Senior Vice President of TCL Technology and CEO of TCL CSOT. "By bringing together the entire value chain, from foundational materials to final product assembly, we are building a fully integrated, end-to-end industrial cluster designed to compete on a global scale."

beyerdynamic introduces a new DJ headphone, available in two versions. While the DJ 300 PRO X embodies a clean, focused aesthetic, the stylish CLUB edition stands out with a bold, distinctive design. Both models can be used as on-ear and over-ear headphones, giving DJs full freedom when producing and performing. The ear cups of both versions can also be customized with unique designs via the beyerdynamic online configurator. The DJ 300 PRO X and DJ 300 PRO X CLUB will make their public debut at the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE).

Seamless transition between on-ear and over-ear
The new DJ headphones from beyerdynamic represent flexibility and individual expression like no other. Thanks to their unique 2-in-1 system, the modular design can be transformed from on-ear to over-ear headphones in just a few simple steps. Users simply swap the included ear pads for either configuration. No matter which option they choose, the ear pads ensure long-lasting comfort in every situation.

Advantech is proud to announce the release of the DPX S460, the newest member of its S-series gaming platform family. Powered by AMD's Ryzen Embedded 8000 Series APUs, the DPX S460 combines cutting-edge Zen 4 architecture, RDNA 3 graphics, and integrated AI acceleration, making it a game-changer in regulated gaming markets.

"The DPX S460 exemplifies our dedication to leveraging advanced technologies to create powerful and flexible gaming solutions," said Craig Stapleton, Product Director for Advantech. "With AMD's 8000 Series chipset, we're delivering a platform that meets the most demanding requirements of the gaming industry."

Intel Arrow Lake refresh is getting closer with new details starting to appear, and this time is about a CPU reportedly named Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. According to a recent Geekbench 6 entry, the processor features 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, which aligns it more closely with the current Core Ultra 9 285K rather than the 20-core (8P+12E) Ultra 7 265K it was rumored. The benchmark lists a 3.7 GHz base clock and 5.5 GHz boost, matching the 265K, and shows the chip paired with an RTX 5090D GPU, hinting that it was tested on a new Lenovo desktop system in China. Performance results came in at 3215 points (single-core) and 22,720 points (multicore), essentially on par with the Ultra 9 285K.

While Intel hasn't confirmed any of this information, the leak also suggests potential official memory support up to 7200 MT/s, possibly part of a broader Arrow Lake refresh expected in Q1 2026. Other rumored models include a Core Ultra 9 290K Plus (24 cores) and Core Ultra 5 250K (14 cores). Intel is unlikely to change core configurations dramatically but may introduce new SKU names and tuned frequencies to align with the refreshed lineup. However, we still don't know for sure Intel's complete plan for Arrow Lake Refresh. For now, all we can hope for is something like Intel's Application Performance Optimizations (APO) applied out of the box for Arrow Lake Refresh. The current APO stack targets modern Intel Core desktop and mobile processors with six or more performance cores. It requires BIOS enablement of Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology and Windows 11. Advanced Mode unlocks wider compatibility for other 12th-generation and newer processors when Intel DTT version 11405 or later is present. Intel cautioned that real-world responsiveness may vary based on system configuration and graphics hardware. Additionally, Intel's promise back in August was to deliver more APO tuning. The latest update introduces 15 new titles, which can yield up to a 14% FPS increase, and as much as a 21% increase in 1% lows.

MSI proudly announces the launch of the Cubi 5 1M, a next-generation mini PC that expertly combines exceptional performance, intelligent efficiency, and an aesthetically pleasing compact design within a 0.83-liter chassis. The Cubi 5 1M series is powered by an Intel Core 7 processor, which provides outstanding computing power suitable for multitasking, business applications, and professional workflows, all while ensuring quiet and energy-efficient operation.

Despite its compact dimensions, the Cubi 5 1M is capable of supporting up to three displays via Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, and DisplayPort, thereby facilitating seamless multitasking and enhancing screen real estate. The inclusion of dual LAN ports (2.5G and 1G) guarantees rapid, stable, and secure network connectivity, making it particularly well-suited for both professional and enterprise environments.

We are excited to introduce our latest 4U rack server chassis, the UNC-409S-AIO-OP. Designed for demanding industrial environments, it combines robust performance, flexible configuration options, and reliable durability.

The UNC-409S-AIO 4U rack server chassis is engineered to deliver robust performance and dependable reliability in demanding industrial environments. Constructed from 1.2 mm thick SGCC steel, it offers superior hardware protection and serves as a durable, long-term solution with flexible configuration options.
To enhance thermal efficiency, the chassis supports the installation of a 360 mm all-in-one (AIO) water cooler, enabling effective CPU heat dissipation. It accommodates various motherboard form factors, including SSI-EEB, allowing for high-performance configurations. It supports either a standard ATX PSU or a mini-redundant PSU, ensuring stable power delivery and system redundancy for mission-critical operations.

Intel's next-generation "Nova Lake" desktop processors will feature 6th generation Neural Processing Unit (NPU) design, which is an entire generation ahead of the 5th generation NPU Intel introduced with "Panther Lake." As the latest Linux patch from Intel's engineers confirms, Nova Lake will already feature an upgraded NPU, making the 5th generation NPU in Panther Lake lasting only a single generation.

The patch states: "Add support for NPU6 generation that will be present on Nova Lake CPUs. As with previous generations, it maintains compatibility so no bigger functional changes." As a reminder, the 5th generation NPU in Panther Lake boosts up to 50 TOPS, making it compatible for Copilot+ AI PCs. So we can expect the NPU in Nova Lake to get a bigger TOPS budget, with the same software compatibility. This is great news for software that introduced NPU acceleration in the previous generations, as the additional performance increases will go smoothly.

Intel is reportedly in talks with Taiwanese ASIC design house Alchip over the development of its next AI accelerator family, codenamed "Jaguar Shores." The design could be wrapped up by the first half of 2026, and be Intel's first solid footing in datacenter AI hardware after years of playing catch-up. Additionally it also comes at the time as the company shifts to a faster, more regular cadence for AI product refreshes. If the timeline holds, Jaguar Shores will be one of the clearest tests yet of whether Team Blue can stand as a meaningful challenge to the well-established players like NVIDIA, AMD, and countless other ASIC designers.

Under the deal being discussed, Alchip would not simply be a contractor but a deep engineering partner, taking on tasks from RTL integration and extensive verification to advanced packaging and system-level validation, while leaving wafer fabrication to leading foundries. Intel will be supplying IP and system requirements, while Alchip will be supplying custom ASIC execution. This could shorten development cycles and reduce risk. For Intel, outsourcing those heavy-lift engineering stages makes sense as it lets the company focus on architecture and software while leveraging Alchip's experience getting complex AI designs from spec to silicon.

Following Apple's recent move to upgrade the Vision Pro with the latest M5 SoC and a new band, Samsung and Google revealed the first Android-powered mixed reality headset to challenge Apple's Vision Pro at nearly half the price. The Samsung Galaxy XR has dual 4K Micro-OLED displays with up to 72 Hz refresh rates (with 90 Hz "upon service request"), and it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 SoC, which supposedly delivers 20% faster CPU performance and 15% faster GPU frequencies. The virtual display has a field of view of 100° vertically and 109° horizontally. Much like the Vision Pro it is meant to compete with, the Galaxy XR uses cameras for video passthrough, relying on two 6.5 MP sensors with 18 mm, f/2.0 wide-angle lenses.

The inside-out tracking uses six cameras to track the world and your hands, and the Galaxy XR also has a depth sensor and five IMUs (inertial measurement units) to accurately interpret head movements. Controls are handled by a mix of eye tracking, voice commands, hand tracking, or the Samsung Galaxy XR Controllers, which are designed for gaming. In addition to eye tracking, the Galaxy XR supports iris recognition for biometric access to both the device and certain apps. The headset also comes with dual two-way speakers and a six-microphone array with support for beamforming. The headset weighs in at 545 g, with an additional 302 g coming from the external battery that should provide 2-2.5 hours of continuous use, depending on the application. It is only available with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, and there is no microSD expansion. The Galaxy XR is available now on Samsung's online store at $1,799.99.

Modoyo is a new game studio out of Stockholm, Sweden, and its first game is Heart Electric, a fast-paced elimination hero shooter that pits 16 players against one another in teams of four, with the added twist of the "Flux" maglev traversal mechanic that adds verticality to the map. Heart Electric is still under development, with Niklas Fegraeus—who served as design director on Star Wars: Battlefront II and lead designer on Battlefield V—at the helm as creative director, but it seems as though a release date might not be too far off. No launch date has been announced, but the game has a Steam Store page, and Modoyo recently opened applications for a play test scheduled for October 24-26.

Modoyo says that Heart Electric is being developed "with player feedback at its core," suggesting that the game will change significantly ahead of its launch based on community feedback after this play test. Currently, it features a colorful, cartoonish art style somewhat reminiscent of that of Paladins or Fortnite. There are four playable heroes currently announced, each with a unique design, and Modoyo has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of tactics, teamwork, and synergy, with mods, perks, mods, and different weapons serving those goals. The minimum system requirements call for a 4th-Gen Intel Core i5, 8 GB of RAM, and at minimum an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, although this is subject to change.

We have seen previous rumors claim that AMD would launch Ryzen 9000G series APUs for its AM5 platform sometime soon, although there has been no official announcement from AMD, yet. Most recently, though, data miners combing through AMD's AGESA 1207 code have managed to find evidence of new Krackan Point desktop APUs. Krackan Point has been spotted in MSI BIOS updates with references to the 00B60Fxx microcode, and the changelog for ASUS X870 beta BIOS versions mentions "new APU support," which could only really be Ryzen 9000G. These new APUs are said to be based on Zen 5, but previous leaks said that they would instead be a rehash of the 8000G APUs, making them a Zen 4 refresh. At any rate, it will likely still be a while before launch, since this is the first time the code has been spotted in desktop BIOS versions.

Until now, Krackan Point APUs have been limited to mobile applications, with the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 and Ryzen AI 7 350 both coming to laptops earlier this year. Until now AM5 owners looking for an APU have been limited to something like the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G, which launched all the way back in January 2024. If the laptop silicon is anything to go by, Krackan Point will bring AMD's RDNA 3.5 to the desktop, although with iGPUs falling short of the powerful Strix Halo 8060S. We will likely see APUs top out at the same Radeon 860M iGPU as the laptop variants, or potentially step up to the Radeon 890M iGPU, where the Ryzen 8000G APUs topped out at the 780M. The 890M would bring 256 more shaders into the mix for a decent performance uplift, although this seems to be a GPU configuration reserved for Strix Point. Current speculation also suggests that CPU core counts will be limited to eight and six cores for the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 CPUs, respectively.

One of the weirder gimmicks to come out of the enthusiast keyboard market is mini displays on keyboards, generally used to display anything from keyboard battery life and connectivity or OS modes to typing speed. The Qwertykeys QK65 MK3, however, takes the idea of a keyboard-mounted display to the next level. As the Instagram teaser and Discord announcement revealed, the QK65 MK3 includes a tiny vertical color screen—unclear whether it will be OLED or LCD, although LCD seems likely—on the right edge of the keyboard, replete with a set of built-in games that can be played on the screen. It seems as though the games will be controlled by two, maybe four, small buttons mounted directly under the display and potentially two Game Boy-inspired buttons mounted along the top edge of the keyboard, similar to shoulder buttons on a controller or gaming handheld.

The design of the QK65 MK3 also sets it apart from its kin, with a decidedly retro gray and beige aesthetic and bright accents clearly inspired by the design of old Nintendo game consoles and retro PCs. That said, it will also likely be available in a multitude of colors, as is usually the case with Qwertykeys keyboards. QK65 keyboards have also historically been available with wireless PCB options, so it stands to reason that this will be an option for buyers as well. Aside from the 65% layout, the rest of the specs, materials, and details for the QK65 MK3 are as yet unknown, although it will likely be available with an aluminium case and a variety of plate options—specifically FR4, aluminium, POM, PC, and carbon fiber—like its predecessors. It's unclear just how much the QK65 MK3 will cost, but the QK65 v2 comes in at $165 without keycaps and switches, and the QK65 v2 Classic is priced at $175. Qwertykeys keyboards are generally sold as custom kits, meaning buyers will need to bring their own switches and keycaps or buy them separately from Qwertykeys.

The ASUS ROG Ally Xbox and ROG Xbox Ally X are Microsoft's Windows-based response to the Valve Steam Deck and its streamlined, touch-optimized SteamOS based on Arch Linux. While Microsoft claims to have done a lot of work to optimize Windows for the handheld, and that appears to hold true in many cases, it looks as though Linux might still be the superior choice—at least in some cases. Cyber Dopamine on YouTube tested the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X with Bazzite, a Linux distribution that follows Valve's SteamOS formula very closely, and found that not only is the start and resume functionality better, but there is a performance uptick in some games.

As demonstrated by the YouTuber, the Xbox Ally X suspends and wakes from sleep significantly quicker running Bazzite than it does running Windows, even if he's in-game. Apparently, the controller also sometimes fails to initialize after waking from sleep when the handheld is running Windows—an issue also reported by other users on Reddit—which is not the case on Bazzite. More importantly, however, frame rate testing reveals that, even running games via Steam's Proton compatibility layer, there is a notable improvement in frame rate and efficiency. Running at 17 W TDP, the Xbox Ally X manages around 47 FPS in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, while the same settings and power options result in 62 FPS on Bazzite. The same plays out at lower TDP settings. At 13 W, Windows manages 35 FPS, while Bazzite gets around 37 FPS. Hogwarts Legacy also saw a jump from 50 FPS on Windows to 62 FSP on Bazzite at 17 W. Bumping up to 35 W sees the gap shrink to just 5 FPS, with Bazzite remaining in the lead. He also mentions that the frame rate was more consistent on Bazzite, with frequent noticeable frame rate dips on Windows that weren't present on the Linux distribution. It should be noted that Bazzite isn't perfectly implemented on the Xbox Ally devices just yet, with support for features like LED control on the joysticks still missing. The developers behind the project have promised that "you're getting full support in a few days" when it comes to those hardware features currently missing.

Almost nobody cares about third-party antivirus applications, much less pay for them, a surprising set of TechPowerUp Frontpage Poll results show. There was a time when you couldn't have a reliable PC experience without a solid third-party antivirus software, paying protection money each year for subscription to updates. Then Microsoft decided to significantly up the ante with endpoint security. It began with Windows Defender, a free antivirus that's part of Windows that you used if you had nothing else. Over the years, Microsoft hardened Windows with features such as Malware Removal Tool, Secure Boot, BitLocker, TPM-based root of trust, and Virtualization-based Security, which ran the whole user-space in a secure enclave, as a virtual machine, which couldn't let malware break its host. All these mean that endpoints are safer than ever, and this reflects in our poll results. Our poll had a total of 34,316 responses.

A comfortable majority of 60.5% voted for Windows Defender as their AV software of choice. A small but not insignificant percentage of 15.7% says that it has no antivirus software installed whatsoever, which is difficult if not impossible as Windows runs Defender in some limited form. A combined 24% of the responses say they use third-party AV software. The biggest choice is "Other," which includes brands not covered in the poll. A good share of these could include Kaspersky. 6.1% of the total responses say they use Bitdefender. This is followed by Avast at a surprisingly low 2.9% given that it has a free version; and an even more surprising 1% for AVG. Among the known paid-only applications, Bitdefender is followed by Norton at 1.9%, and McAfee at 0.7%.

More than 800 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and each week new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. Last week, DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation came to Pax Dei, Keeper and Farlight 84, and accelerated frame rates in the ARC Raiders server slam.

This week, The Outer Worlds 2, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 and Jurassic World Evolution 3 all launch with day-one support for DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation. Additionally, NINJA GAIDEN 4 launches today with DLSS Super Resolution, followed by GODBREAKERS on October 23rd. And on October 30th, you can tune in to the Seoul GeForce Gamer Festival live on Twitch for RTX announcements, and more, starting at 19:00 KST/10:00 UTC/03:00 PT.

OpenAI has introduced a new web browser called ChatGPT Atlas, designed to serve as the ultimate AI experience center. This browser is a fork of Google's open-source Chromium and aims to compete with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. While challenging the dominant trio in the browser space is difficult for most companies, OpenAI is determined to make its mark. Initially launching on macOS, Atlas opens searches with answers generated by ChatGPT, while still providing quick access to traditional search results, images, and other views. A persistent Ask ChatGPT sidebar allows users to interact with the assistant without leaving the page. Advanced agent features, which can perform web tasks, are initially available to paid users, though the basic browsing experience is accessible to everyone from the start.

Atlas is designed to streamline the transfer of information between tabs and chat windows. The assistant can summarize pages, compare products, answer questions about on-screen content, and assist with editing or checking code by having contextual access to the active tab. The browser also includes a memory function to tailor responses over time, a Cursor Chat tool for inline editing, and an Operator agent that can handle small tasks like making reservations, creating shopping lists from recipes, and filling out forms. Familiar browser tools such as tabs, bookmarks, history, and password management are also included, presented in a straightforward layout.

PFU America, Inc., the primary authorized distributor of the award-winning Happy Hacking Keyboard (HHKB) in the United States, today announced the launch of HHKB Professional Classic Type-S—a high-performance, cost-effective, wired, compact keyboard that preserves HHKB's original minimalist design and simple configuration while featuring the Type-S key structure HHKB enthusiasts have come to know and love.

Making its public debut in 1996, the HHKB design embraces a unique 60% HHKB key layout that prioritizes simplicity and efficiency. The HHKB Professional Classic Type-S—available with stamped legends in charcoal, white, and snow—offers the next evolution in original minimalist design, while integrating key technological advances based upon customer feedback.

In a world where gaming rigs and creator workstations are getting louder as they get faster, silence has become a luxury. SAMA's new L70 AIO liquid cooler, launching globally, is designed to change that. Delivering powerful thermal performance with noise levels as low as 28 dBA, the L70 gives builders the freedom to push high-performance CPUs and overclocked systems without filling their environment with fan noise.

Designed to be seen and not heard
At the heart of the L70 is SAMA's in-house engineered pump, a custom ceramic design built for long-term reliability and optimized acoustics. Unlike generic OEM pump solutions, the L70's pump is tuned specifically for SAMA's radiator and fan system, ensuring smoother liquid flow, lower vibrations, and extended durability.

AMD seems to be preparing an update to its "Granite Ridge" Ryzen 9000 X3D series, introducing two new chips targeted at high-performance gamers and creators. Among the two, a new SKU type has appeared, carrying the "X3D2" suffix. Leaks suggest a new flagship model, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, featuring 16 cores and 32 threads. This chip reportedly includes 3D V-Cache on both chiplets, totaling approximately 192 MB of L3 cache. It is said to operate at a base frequency of 4.30 GHz, with a boost up to around 5.6 GHz, and has a TDP of about 200 W. The 9950X3D2, with its new naming convention, suggests a tradeoff of slightly lower peak boost speeds (-100 MHz) compared to the single-stack X3D Ryzen 9 9950X3D model, but offers significantly increased cache capacity. This combination could be a sweet spot for cache-sensitive workloads and certain games.

The expanded cache and increased thermal headroom may necessitate more attention to cooling and VRM design for system builders, potentially leading AMD to price these chips at a premium or adjust current MSRPs. A companion model, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, is expected to follow a similar design with eight cores, 96 MB of L3 cache, and a boost up to 5.6 GHz, with a 120 W power envelope. The 9850X3D appears to be a refined, higher-clocked (+400 MHz) alternative to existing 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D models, offering improved single-thread performance that is highly valued by gamers, while maintaining a relatively modest TDP.

Lenovo unveiled its new generation of ThinkCentre desktop next-gen AI PCs powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors with up to 50 TOPS of integrated NPU capability: the streamlined ThinkCentre neo 55a Gen 6 all-in-one (AIO), the small form factor ThinkCentre neo 55s Gen 6, and the tiny ThinkCentre neo 55q Gen 6. Designed for small and medium-sized businesses looking to supercharge their productivity with AI, the ThinkCentre neo Gen 6 desktop family offers unique Copilot+ PC experiences, the performance to excel, the flexibility and expandability to adapt, and the efficiency and support for peace of mind.

"AI has, is, and will continue to reshape the way we interact with technology - with 90 percent of organizations planning or exploring AI-powered PC rollouts this year," said Sanjeev Menon, vice president and general manager, Worldwide Desktop Business in Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo. "Lenovo is helping businesses of all sizes become smarter, more efficient and even more productive through our extensive AI portfolio. The new Lenovo ThinkCentre neo 55 Gen 6 family of desktop AI PCs offer a unique selection that adapts to individual business needs with personalized AI experiences, stable performance, scalability and data security."

Crucial, a brand of Micron Technology, Inc., is deepening its commitment to gamers with the debut of Crucial DDR5 Pro Overclocking (OC) 6400 CL32 Gaming DRAM. Engineered for tech enthusiasts and offered in 32 GB kits or 16 GB single modules, this new memory delivers faster speeds, lower latency and a bold new design that looks as good as it performs. This launch cements Crucial's commitment to PC gamers with new 10-nanosecond/CL32-class latency and delivers on feedback related to aesthetics, now with a new elevated heat spreader design.

"Today's AAA games are more immersive, fast paced and demanding than ever. They push systems to their limits with real-time action, intense multitasking and ultra-high frame rates," said Dinesh Bahal, corporate vice president and general manager of Micron's Commercial Products Group. "Gamers need memory that can keep up. Crucial DDR5 Pro OC 6400 CL32 is designed for those who want to win on both performance and style. It helps players load games faster, react instantly and stay ahead of the competition. It's fast, reliable and looks incredible inside your rig."

[Editor's note: Our in-depth Crucial Pro OC DDR5-6400 32 GB CL32 Review is now live]

With the release of the October 2025 cumulative update (KB5066835) for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, Microsoft has expanded Prism emulation for Arm64 devices. This update enables Windows to emulate x86 vector instructions such as AVX and AVX2 on Arm PCs. As a result, many apps and games that previously couldn't run on Arm hardware can now at least launch. Intel's AVX is a set of SIMD instructions commonly used by media tools, game engines, and creative applications to speed up tasks like video encoding, physics, and effects. Arm-based chips like Snapdragon do not natively support Intel's proprietary AVX instructions, which often led to failures or poor performance in these programs. Prism's emulation translates AVX instructions, allowing these programs to run on Arm devices. However, because it is emulation, there is additional CPU overhead, and performance will vary significantly depending on the application.

Arm, on the other hand, offers the Scalable Vector Extension (SVE), which enhances vector processing capabilities in the Armv8-A architecture, with SVE2 being its successor in Armv9-A. Unlike traditional SIMD designs with fixed-size vectors, SVE supports flexible vector lengths from 128 to 2048 bits in 128-bit increments. This flexibility allows chip manufacturers to select the vector size that best suits their processors. The main advantage is that programs written for SVE can run on any SVE-compatible processor without recompilation, regardless of the processor's vector size.

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA), a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation (SEC), today refreshed its professional projector portfolio with the A series models XP-A824U, XP-A104U, XP-A155U, XP-A175U, and the V series models XP-V731U and XP-V801U. Designed with WUXGA native resolution and 4K input support, these laser projectors deliver exceptional brightness to overcome ambient light and help ensure clear, vivid images in well-lit spaces. With flexible installation options, including optional long and short-throw lenses, they adapt easily to diverse environments from classrooms to corporate venues.

A Series: Extreme Brightness and Dust-Free Reliability
The XP-A824U (8,200 lumens), XP-A104U (10,000 lumens), XP-A155U (15,000 lumens), and XP-A175U (17,000 lumens) deliver uncompromising image quality through Sharp's proprietary high-performance video processing and scaling chip, paired with a dual blue laser system. Unique to the A Series is its IP5X-rated Sealed LCD cooling system, which prevents dust from entering the optical path - ensuring consistent brightness, pristine image clarity, and virtually maintenance-free operation without filters.

Corsair is thrilled to announce the launch of the groundbreaking AIR 5400 triple-chamber mid-tower case. This unique and innovative PC chassis separates the hottest components from each other with isolated cooling zones that reduce heat and fan noise and enhance performance. With dual airflow ducts in the main chamber, a wraparound glass exterior with swing-open doors, pre-installed reverse-rotor RGB fans, and a wide-open CPU chamber exhaust, the AIR 5400 delivers class-leading thermal performance and innovation. Just as Corsair brought dual-chamber cases into the mainstream in 2013 with the original AIR 540, it is poised to once again disrupt the status-quo of the PC case market with an even more functionally elegant solution.

Unique Triple-Chamber Design
Winner of multiple "Best of Computex" awards when the prototype was revealed in May 2025, the AIR 5400 sets new standards for visuals and cooling performance in ATX mid-tower cases. Its triple-chamber layout transcends the case design mold by introducing a third chamber made for a 360 mm all-in-one (AIO) CPU liquid cooler (sold separately). Most single- and dual-chamber cases require mounting an AIO in the top of the case, which provides the CPU cooler with air warmed by the GPU, which can result in less efficient CPU cooling.

Axelera AI, the leading provider of purpose-built AI hardware acceleration technology, today announced Europa, an AI processor unit (AIPU) that sets a new performance/price standard for multi-user generative AI and computer vision applications. Europa's combination of processing power, energy and thermal efficiency, compact packaging, and multiple form factor options make it ideal for compute-intensive, multi-modal AI inference applications from the edge to enterprise servers. Designed to be cost-effective and accessible, Europa enables any organization to unlock the power of cutting-edge AI applications.

Next Gen Architecture For Real World AI Processing Power
The Europa AIPU features eight second-generation AI cores, each incorporating Axelera's advanced Digital In-Memory Compute (D‑IMC) technology and large vector engines, delivering up to 629 TOPS at INT8 precision. Complementing the AI cores are two clusters of eight dedicated RISC‑V vector processing cores for non-AI pre- and post-processing, achieving a peak performance of 4915 GOPS. An integrated H.264/H.265 decoder further offloads media tasks, enabling customers to reserve the host CPU entirely for business logic and application-level workloads. These cores, programmable through the Voyager SDK, will provide better total cost of ownership than having to offload to other hardware.

How do you make a great desktop into a fantastic desktop? Easy—chip away at the rough bits, polish the good stuff, and add awesomeness. After 29 years of development, KDE's got the foundation nailed down. Plasma 6.5 is all about fine-tuning, fresh features, and a making everything smooth and sleek for everyone. Ready to see what's new? Let's dive into Plasma 6.5!

New Features
Plasma 6.5 includes a number of highly-requested features:
First up: rounded bottom window corners! Breeze-themed windows will now have the same level of roundness in all four corners. If you don't like this, you can un-round them, too.

Unveiled back in January 2025, NINJA GAIDEN 4 is now available on PC, ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. Team Ninja and PlatinumGames have also released an official launch trailer for the game as well as full PC system requirements. The developers have continued the legacy of NINJA GAIDEN, building upon the story of Ryu Hayabusa, but also introduced a new protagonist, Yakumo. A young prodigy of the Raven Clan, Yakumo brings a new layer to the NINJA GAIDEN series. The combat system has been upgraded to modern pacing and layered control, allowing switching between different forms and giving the game a more tactical approach.

"Experience a return to the intense, high-octane action that established NINJA GAIDEN as a premier action game series. This long-awaited 4th installment introduces an all-new protagonist in Yakumo, a young ninja prodigy whose fate is intertwined with the legendary Ryu Hayabusa himself. Prepare for a legacy reborn with exhilarating style and thrilling action for a new generation of players. With adjustable difficulty settings and customizable experience, NINJA GAIDEN 4 will push action game veterans to their limits while inviting newcomers to rise to the legendary ranks of "Master Ninja."

D-Link, one of the global leaders in networking and connectivity solutions, proudly announces the launch of the DGS-1530 Series Gigabit Stackable Smart Managed Switches purpose-built to address the growing demands of digital transformation, cloud workloads, and increasingly complex enterprise networks. As organizations face rising challenges of bandwidth-hungry applications, stronger security requirements, and modern cyber threats, along with the need for efficient operations, D-Link delivers innovative, solution-oriented, and future-ready infrastructure that safeguards against vulnerabilities and empowers IT teams to scale with confidence. This new portfolio reflects D-Link's commitment to creative innovation, one-stop service, and sustainable design, helping enterprises accelerate digitalization while building resilient networks for the intelligent era.

Available in models ranging from 8 to 48 Gigabit ports, the DGS-1530 Series Gigabit port and 10G uplink connectivity, for seamless performance for bandwidth-heavy applications such as cloud computing, video conferencing, 4K/8K streaming, and large-scale data transfers. This versatility makes it an ideal choice for enterprises and SMBs seeking to balance scalability with high-performance networking at a competitive total cost of ownership.

Whether it's the cherry blossom trees of Japan, or the realms of fantasy and cyberpunk - the SKILLER SGP40 mouse mat will bring a fresh and exciting illustration design to the top of your desk! The nonslip mouse mat has a textile surface that is made for all kinds of use and offers a cinematic format of 1,000 x 500 mm for sweeping gaming moves, but which still leaves plenty of space for your essential equipment and accessories.

Cinematic Format
With a length of 1,000 mm and a width of 500 mm, the SKILLER SGP40 mouse mat offers an almost tabletop-sized surface for large-scale mouse maneuvers and for plenty of accessories and peripherals.

ASUS today announced the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Special Edition of the TUF Gaming Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card, created in collaboration with AMD and Call of Duty. This unique graphics card features the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 insignia with orange accents in signature Black Ops style. First displayed at the Call of Duty NEXT press event in Las Vegas on September 30, this limited-edition card will be sold at select retailers around the world and bundled with a digital copy of the standard PC version of the game.

TUF Gaming Radeon RX 9070 XT cards feature the latest RDNA 4 architecture from AMD, 16 GB of VRAM, and AMD Software with the new ML-Powered AMD FSR 4 Upscaling Technology. This card offers next-level immersion with the latest AI-powered features from AMD, and improved gaming experiences with faster ray tracing. In addition, AMD Software can upgrade select FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.12 games to the latest ML-powered model, delivering an incredible balance of detailed imagery and fluid frame rates to over 85+ games. Plus, DisplayPort 2.1 outputs give users massive bandwidth for going big on resolution while supporting high-end refresh rate.

TerraMaster proudly launches the F4-425 Plus and F2-425 Plus series, two hybrid Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices designed for tech enthusiasts, small businesses, and home users. The F4-425 Plus features a pioneering 3+4 bay design, while the F2-425 Plus offers a 3+2 bay configuration for entry-level expansion. Both are equipped with dual 5GbE high-speed networking, three M.2 SSD slots, AI-driven privacy protection, and hybrid storage capacities of up to 144 TB/84 TB. These two products set a new benchmark in the NAS market with outstanding performance, top-tier security, and versatile applications. Combined with TerraMaster OS 6 (TOS 6) software and the Business Backup Suite (BBS), they provide seamless management and comprehensive data protection.

Powerful Performance and Scalability
The F4-425 Plus and F2-425 Plus are powered by Intel N150 quad-core processor (up to 3.6 GHz), 16 GB/8 GB DDR5 memory, and dual 5GbE network interfaces, achieving transfer speeds of up to 1010 MB/s to handle high-demand data processing with ease.

Just three days ago, NVIDIA and TSMC celebrated the production of the first "Blackwell" GPU at TSMC's Fab 21 complex in Phoenix, Arizona. This marked a significant milestone for both companies, as it signifies the creation of the world's most powerful silicon on U.S. soil. However, the production phase is only part of the story, as the chip benefits not only from an advanced node but also from TSMC's advanced packaging systems. Specifically, the Blackwell family of GPUs utilizes TSMC's Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) packaging system.

For CoWoS access, TSMC must send these chips back to the Taiwanese facilities overseas and house the raw die in a CoWoS-S configuration with silicon interposer. This establishes a supply chain dependency on Taiwanese facilities, which remain essential for completing the production of advanced silicon. As a result, the chip isn't entirely manufactured on American soil, indicating that some issues still need to be resolved. TSMC produces NVIDIA's Blackwell chips using a custom 4N 4 nm class node specifically designed for NVIDIA. This die is paired with eight stacks of HBM3E, all housed within a CoWoS-S package.

Intel's latest Core Ultra X7 358H CPU has appeared in recent Geekbench tests, marking the debut of the "Panther Lake" series with 12 Xe3 cores in online benchmark databases. Notably, this is the first instance of the Xe3 GPU in its complete integrated form. This lineup features the fastest memory subsystem among all Panther Lake models, with a speed of 9,600 MT/s, and a CPU architecture that includes four P-cores, eight E-cores, and four LPE-cores, totaling 16 CPU cores running at a max frequency of 4,776 MHz. While this SKU is most likely an engineering sample, it should be close to the final clocks Intel plans to ship. In OpenCL testing, the Panther Lake iGPU scored 52,014 points, which is not particularly high. This score places it in the range of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3050 discrete desktop GPU.

Historically, Intel's integrated GPUs tend to score lower in OpenCL benchmarks within Geekbench's GPU testing suites, where AMD and NVIDIA usually perform better. Therefore, this result should be interpreted with caution. When comparing Intel's iGPU performance across generations in this benchmark, from the "Arrow Lake-H" Arc 140T iGPU to the 12-core Xe3 GPU, there is roughly a 25% improvement favoring the newer architecture. Interestingly, the PTL iGPU performs closely to the Arc A550M discrete GPU, which features 16 cores on the first-generation Xe "Alchemist" microarchitecture, with a 60-80 W TDP and 8 GB of GDDR6. This may suggest that the OpenCL testing in Geekbench may not be fully optimized with drivers and performance enhancements. Before the official release, Intel is expected to update the drivers to ensure the GPU can deliver maximum performance.

Global memory solutions leader Team Group Inc. today announced the launch of its latest addition to the Team Group NV series—the Team Group NV10000 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD. Delivering read speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s, the NV10000 ensures stable, uninterrupted performance with exceptional speed and efficiency, whether handling large file transfers, daily workloads, or data backups.

The Team Group NV10000 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD features advanced 3D NAND flash technology and the latest PCIe Gen 5 x4 interface, offering outstanding read speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s. Available in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities, the NV10000 is compatible with the latest Intel and AMD platforms and is suitable for both desktops and laptops. Combining high capacity with superior durability, it is equipped with Team Group's exclusive patented graphene heat dissipation label, which effectively reduces operating temperatures and enhances thermal efficiency, ensuring consistent performance even during extended operation.

When news first broke about the ASUS Xbox Ally gaming handheld, there was a lot of talk about Xbox abandoning its first-party hardware in favor of similar partnerships. Recent rumors refuted these suppositions already, but now a more official statement has been made by Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, in an interview with Variety. The executive explained that the decision to partner with ASUS for the Xbox Ally because the two could innovate and "transform the experience" more quickly and more innovatively working together rather than separately.

Bond goes on to say that, while the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally is meant to be just one tool in the Xbox gaming arsenal and that Xbox has not wavered in its development of next-gen console hardware. "We are 100% looking at making things in the future... We have our next-gen hardware in development." She also emphasized Microsoft's partnership with AMD, which was only just announced in June 2025 and would see the two companies collaborate to combine "the power of Ryzen and Radeon for consoles, handhelds, PCs, and cloud." She goes on to comment that there's "more innovation to come," hinting that Xbox would lean further into its handheld development, which will seemingly materialize in both hardware and software. Currently, it is expected that the next-gen Xbox console will arrive in 2027.

NVIDIA's RTX PRO 5000 "Blackwell" GPU has officially appeared with 72 GB of GDDR7 ECC memory, on the company's product page. Initially, NVIDIA launched an RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell GPU with 48 GB of GDDR7 memory spread across 24 modules with the capacity of 2 GB, sandwiching the PCB on both sides. However, NVIDIA has now decided to update the GPU with the new 3 GB memory modules, which are upping the total capacity to 72 GB on a 512-bit bus with 1,344 GB/s memory bandwidth, making the card a much more attractive offer for professionals working in the fields of data science, AI, HPC, and many other areas such as professional video editing. However, this 24 module design with 12 GDDR7 modules on each side is less impressive than the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU, which arranges 16 such modules on each side of the PCB to achieve a remarkable 96 GB capacity.

As a reminder, the RTX PRO 5000 GPU is based on the GB202 GPU and carries 14,080 CUDA cores, 440 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Upgraded NVENC/NVDEC blocks speed up high-quality encode/decode for live production and fast video editing. Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) gives IT and cloud/VDI admins an easy way to split a GPU into isolated instances, so more users get guaranteed, accelerated performance. NVIDIA has wrapped all of this in a 300 W TDP in a dual-slot GPU, with a blower fan. Pricing structure is still unknown, but given that its older sibling, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, is retailing just under $10,000, we could see the 72 GB version just a grand or two lower. Additionally, as we see NVIDIA incorporating 3 GB GDDR7 memory modules inside more products, the company could be gearing up for a "SUPER" overhaul of the Blackwell gaming lineup.

Cooler Master today introduced the Hyper 212 3DHP, its first CPU air cooler to implement its proprietary 3D Heatpipe technology that the company showcased at the 2025 Computex in May. The cooler introduces a unique new heatpipe design. While most aluminium fin-stack tower-type coolers have their heatpipes designed such that they are bent in a U-shape, with their middle regions being part of the cooler's base that makes contact with the heat source, Cooler Master's 3D Heatpipe design involves a branch of the heatpipe right in the middle of the heatpipe that projects upward, through the middle region of the fin-stack. This design more uniformly spreads heat across the fin-stack, as heat from each heatpipe is spread both across the central and peripheral regions of each fin.

There are two variants of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 3DHP, the main variant with ARGB LED-illuminated fan, and the Hyper 212 3DHP Black, which comes with a black, non-illuminated fan. Besides lighting, both variants offer identical specs. The cooler measures 133 mm x 86 mm x 158 mm (WxDxH), the company didn't disclose weight. The cooler comes with two 3D heatpipes, which branch out to a total of six ends. The heatpipes make contact with the CPU over a copper base. The included 120 mm fan turns at speeds of up to 2,050 RPM, pushing up to 63.1 CFM of airflow at 2.69 mm H₂O of static pressure, and a maximum noise output of 27 dBA. Unlike other coolers from Cooler Master in this category which come with 2-year warranties, the company is backing this cooler with a generous 5-year warranty as added confidence in the build quality of its 3D heatpipes. The company is pricing the Hyper 212 3DHP Black at $29.99, which is the same price as the current Hyper 212 Black.

Cooler Master, a global leader in PC components and tech lifestyle solutions, today announced worldwide availability of the V4 Alpha 3DHP Black CPU air cooler. As the newest standalone product under the company's Thermal Excellence campaign, V4 Alpha couples Cooler Master's patented 3DHP technology with a minimalist, single-tower form factor that fits effortlessly into mainstream and high-end builds.

"With the V4 Alpha 3DHP, we condensed our V-engine concept into a design that runs cooler, quieter, and cleaner than anything else in its class," said Matteo Stracciari, GM of Cooler Master. "It's proof that Thermal Excellence can fit any build—no compromises required."

In light of the recent flood of AI-ready mini PCs coming from the likes of Framework and GMKtec, Zotac has announced its own competitor, this time opting for a slightly different approach than the hyped AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU. Instead, the component company known for its mini PCs and discrete NVIDIA GPUs has equipped the Zbox Magnus (stylized as ZBOX MAGNUS) with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and up to a 20-core (8 performance, 12 efficiency cores) Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU paired with dual memory slots for up to 96 GB of DDR5-6400 CSODIMM or DDR5-5600 SODIMM RAM—all in a mere 2.65-liter chassis. By default, however, the Magnus doesn't ship with RAM or storage, with a barebones variant currently listed on the company's Chinese site at a converted price of around $1,966 (13,9999 Yuan).

The product page lists the cooling solution as a heatsink and fan, but it's unclear whether there are separate heatsinks and fans for the CPU and GPU, raising questions about potential thermal throttling, given the tiny chassis. Zotac says that the Zbox Magnus is the first mini PC of its size to offer a desktop-class GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB GPU in a chassis that small, with the chassis measuring in at just 210 × 203 × 62.2 mm. That small chassis comes with the caveats that the Zbox Magnus needs a 330 W external AC-DC adapter, and that it features a soldered laptop-class CPU. Despite the small chassis, the Zbox Magnus has a decent selection of ports, with five USB Type-A ports, dual front USB Type-C ports, and dual Ethernet ports. It also comes with wall mount hardware and Wi-Fi antennae in the box.

Dead Cells has been one of the most talked-about indie games in the seven years since its launch, with fans clamoring for a sequel that seems to never be coming—despite plenty of other content having recently been added to the game. In a recent interview with PCGamesN, Motion Twin, the developer behind the smash-hit roguelite, has addressed the demand for a sequel to Dead Cells. The co-creative director and game designer at Motion Twin, Yannick Berthier, explained that Motion Twin is "a collective of individuals that are creative and want to create stuff," and that the company's unorthodox structure allows it to follow creativity instead of pursuing profits.

Berthier went on to say that part of the reason Motion Twin made Windblown instead of Dead Cells 2 is that the team wanted to create something in "a new universe, super bright, that could be co-op." He also supposed that the company's indie nature allows it to continue exploring things that the creative team want instead of appealing to shareholders or the internal pressures of a parent company. Windblown launched nearly a year ago, on October 24, and although it's still in Early Access on Steam, it's still notable that it has not yet surpassed Dead Cells when it comes to player counts, at least according to SteamDB. Despite this and the continued pressure from fans for the sequel to the beloved roguelite, Berthier says that Motion Twin doesn't regret pursuing Windblown instead of Dead Cells 2, going on to say that the eight-person, employee-owned studio "followed its heart." Windblown has changed greatly since its launch, with frequent updates mostly based on player feedback, but it still seems to be fighting a bit of an uphill battle to be able to compete with its predecessor. Currently, Windblown is only available in Early Access on Steam, and a full 1.0 launch date has not yet been announced.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced it is nearing completion of JESD328: LPDDR5/5X Small Outline Compression Attached Memory Module (SOCAMM2) Common Standard, an upcoming standard for low-profile LPDRAM modules developed specifically for data center AI applications. When published, JESD328 is designed to provide a memory platform that delivers modular, low-power, high-bandwidth memory for AI CPU servers and accelerated computing platforms. JESD328 will define a compact, serviceable LPDDR5X-based module, Small Outline CAMM2 (SOCAMM2).

JESD328 SOCAMM2 is set to introduce an optimized, compact form factor for servers with a mechanical outline designed for high-density data center chassis and board layouts, with scalability to provide a path to support the large module capacities required by AI training and inference servers.

Iceberg Interactive and Grey Wolf Entertainment are proud to announce the release date of Second Sun, a beautiful, fast-paced FPS that masterfully blends several genres into one. Second Sun is set to release on the 5th of November 2025 on PC (Steam) with a 15% launch discount.

Inspired by old-school shooters and ARPGs, Second Sun is a loot-and-shoot game that blends open-world elements with RPG-style progression and storytelling. Though it has fixed landmarks, the game offers a fresh experience at every new start by procedurally generating new dungeons. The movement-based action is the key to making all of these elements work in symbiosis.

NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic and physical AI. Google Cloud today announced the general availability of G4 VMs, powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs. Plus, NVIDIA Omniverse and NVIDIA Isaac Sim are now available as virtual machine images (VMIs) on the Google Cloud Marketplace to unlock physical AI-driven applications for key industries like manufacturing, automotive and logistics. This powerful combination creates a versatile, multi-workload platform for enterprises to accelerate their most demanding challenges on Google Cloud.

NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs excel at high-performance AI inference for multimodal, generative and agentic AI deployments, while also powering complex visual and simulation workloads ranging from computer-aided engineering and content creation to robotics simulation. Customers like WPP are using G4 VMs with NVIDIA Omniverse to instantly generate photorealistic 3D advertising environments at global scale, while Altair is using the platform within Altair One to accelerate demanding simulation and fluid dynamics workloads.

In Win Development Inc. proudly announces the launch of its latest open-frame PC chassis: SHIFT. Engineered as a canvas for creative expression, SHIFT reimagines the possibilities of PC case design by fusing artistry, versatility, and precision engineering into a bold, futuristic platform. It seamlessly transitions between testbench, gaming rig, and hardware showcase, offering flexible hardware configurations and adaptable orientations that empower users to build a setup that truly reflects their individuality.

SHIFT embodies the spirit of InWin's iBuildiShare initiative, which encourages DIY enthusiasts to embrace the joy of building, crafting, and sharing; transforming PC assembly into a more interactive and meaningful experience.

XPPen today unveiled the groundbreaking Artist 12 3rd, a new dial shortcut portable display featuring the state-of-the-art X4 smart chip stylus. This compact device incorporates major feature upgrades that set the trend for portable creation. Representing one of the most significant updates in the drawing display category, the Artist 12 3rd combines the revolutionary X-Dial shortcut keys, 16K pressure levels, and a paper-like display—delivering an unprecedented creative experience that redefines efficiency, control, and portability for artists worldwide.

"At XPPen, we remain committed to enhancing the user experience through technological innovation," said Amy Yuan, Brand Director at XPPen. "For the latest Artist 12 3rd, we have reimagined the user interface with our innovative industrial design language—the X-Dial shortcut keys—to provide creators with a more intuitive and efficient workflow. Technically, the upgraded X4 smart chip in the stylus delivers significantly more processing power that translates to a faster response rate, heightened sensitivity, and exceptional precision. Our aim is to bridge the gap for entry-level creators and those who value portability by offering a device that doesn't compromise on professional performance."

GSI Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: GSIT), the inventor of the Associative Processing Unit (APU), a paradigm shift in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance compute (HPC) processing providing true compute-in-memory technology, announced the publication of a paper led by researchers at Cornell University. Findings confirmed that GSI Technology's APU CIM (Compute-In-Memory) architectures can match GPU-level performance for large-scale AI applications with a dramatic reduction in energy consumption due to high-density and high-bandwidth memory associated with the CIM architecture.

Key findings include:

• GPU-class performance - The Gemini-I APU delivered comparable throughput to NVIDIA's A6000 GPU on RAG workloads.
• Massive energy advantage - The APU delivers over 98% lower energy consumption than a GPU over various large corpora datasets, underscoring its efficiency and sustainability.
• Faster and more efficient than CPUs - The APU's unique design allows it to perform retrieval tasks several times faster than standard CPUs, shortening total processing time by up to 80%.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage has just taken down half of the known internet. However, services are now recovering. Just as Monday started on the Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), AWS reported incidents of multiple AWS services being down, with a simple confirmation that "We are investigating increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services in the US-EAST-1 Region." Online services like Amazon.com, Alexa, ChatGPT, Epic Games Store, Epic Online Services, social media like Snapchat, and games like Fortnite, have been down since.

A few hours later, AWS confirmed that it had isolated the issue. "We have identified a potential root cause for error rates affecting the DynamoDB APIs in the US-EAST-1 Region," they stated, adding, "This issue also impacts other AWS services in the US-EAST-1 Region. Global services or features that rely on US-EAST-1 endpoints, such as IAM updates and DynamoDB Global tables, may also be experiencing issues. During this time, customers may be unable to create or update Support Cases. We recommend customers continue to retry any failed requests." Subsequently, AWS confirmed that the "underlying DNS issue has been fully mitigated, and most AWS service operations are now succeeding normally."

Update 19:45 UTC: AWS is still experiencing some outage, but full recovery is in progress. The team stated "We continue to observe recovery across all AWS services, and instance launches are succeeding across multiple Availability Zones in the US-EAST-1 Regions."

Apple is making a notable comeback in the VR/MR market with its upgraded Vision Pro, which still uses OLEDoS display panels. The device aims to drive the next generation of head-mounted devices by enhancing computing power and weight distribution.

TrendForce's latest report on "2025 Near-Eye Display Market Trends and Technology Analysis" indicates that OLEDoS, the preferred display technology for mid-to-high-end VR/MR devices, is experiencing significant breakthroughs in both supply chain and application areas. Consequently, OLEDoS adoption in VR/MR is projected to rise to 58% by 2030.

Foxconn has begun engineering validation for NVIDIA's "Vera Rubin" NVL144 MGX liquid-cooled racks, with plans for mass production in the latter half of 2026, according to internal supply-chain documents obtained by Taiwan Economics Daily. Each NVL144 unit features 144 Rubin GPUs with HBM4, updated 88-core Vera CPUs, and ConnectX-9 NICs and NVLink 6 interconnect for CPU-to-GPU and GPU-to-GPU communication, effectively doubling the compute density of the current NVL72 platform. The Taiwanese contractor Foxconn currently handles about 60% of NVIDIA's AI server output and is expanding its immersion-cooling and copper-plating lines at its Wisconsin and Houston facilities to meet new domestic manufacturing requirements.

The gap between GB300 peak shipments and Rubin's first silicon will be six to eight months, the shortest generational gap in NVIDIA's history. Despite the accelerated roadmap, Blackwell Ultra remains NVIDIA's main revenue source through mid-2026. Procurement data shows that cloud providers have reserved around 400,000 GB300 nodes for delivery in late 2025 and early 2026, indicating strong near-term demand. At the same time, OpenAI has placed a large preorder for Vera Rubin silicon, securing initial production volumes and supporting Foxconn's capacity investments. The rapid transition from Hopper to Blackwell and then to Rubin within 30 months marks the fastest acceleration of datacenter equipment cycles, leading hyperscale operators to speed up depreciation schedules.

Longsys has announced the industry's first integrated-packaging micro SSD (mSSD), featuring a fully chip-level design that eliminates the traditional PCB assembly process. The new mSSD uses wafer-level System-in-Package (SiP) technology to integrate the controller, NAND, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) and passive components into a single package removing nearly 1,000 solder joints found in standard PCB-based SSDs. According to Longsys, this approach boosts reliability, reducing defect rates from ≤1000 DPPM to ≤100 DPPM and improves production efficiency by removing multiple surface-mount (SMT) and reflow steps. Moreover, this helps streamline manufacturing and lowers additional costs by more than 10%, while cutting energy use and carbon emissions.

Despite its compact 20 × 30 × 2.0 mm size and 2.2 g weight, the mSSD delivers full PCIe Gen 4 ×4 performance with sequential read speeds up to 7400 MB/s, writes up to 6500 MB/s, and up to 1000K / 820K IOPS in 4K random workloads. The device is equipped with an aluminium frame, graphene thermal pad and thermal silicone for heat dissipation. The mSSD supports TLC and QLC NAND configurations with capacities from 512 GB up to 4 TB, and includes a modular clip-on heatsink that allows conversion between M.2 2230, 2242, and 2280 form factors. Longsys says the product is now ramping into mass production and has applied for related international patents.

Axiomtek, a world-renowned leader relentlessly devoted to the research, development, and manufacture of innovative, highly efficient, and reliable industrial computer products, proudly announces the launch of its IMB701, a high-performance server-grade ATX motherboard designed to meet the demands of AI, high-performance computing, and advanced image analysis. Powered by the latest 5th/4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors (up to 350 W TDP), the IMB701 delivers unparalleled computing performance with enterprise-level reliability.

High-Performance Architecture
The IMB701 supports the Intel Xeon Scalable platform with an LGA4677 socket, handling processors with up to 350 W TDP. It offers eight DDR5-5200 R-DIMM ECC slots, enabling up to 512 GB of high-density memory for demanding workloads. Its advanced architecture includes five PCIe x16 Gen 5 slots, enabling the integration of multiple GPUs and acceleration cards, making it highly scalable for AI workloads and video analytics, AOI, and LLM applications.

It seems like Microsoft has encountered a significant issue with the latest Windows 11 25H2 October update, KB5066835. The company confirmed that this update disrupts mouse and keyboard functionality within the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), making them unresponsive and unusable. As a result, the WinRE feature is completely inoperative. WinRE is a built-in troubleshooting toolkit included with Windows. It's intended to assist users when their computer encounters startup problems or system issues. WinRE activates automatically when Windows crashes or fails to boot properly, but users can also access it manually to utilize various repair tools.

However, with the current problem affecting keyboard and mouse input, WinRE is essentially ineffective. Microsoft stated that "the USB keyboard and mouse continue to work normally within the Windows operating system," and assured users that they are "working to release a solution to resolve this issue in the coming days. More information will be provided when it is available." This is yet another incident related to the recent Windows 11 updates, which have previously caused localhost issues. The list of Windows 11 problems continues to grow as the latest updates are released. Microsoft maintains a Windows 11 version 25H2 known issues and notifications website that provides status updates on the latest problems, including this one.

Update October 21 16:05 UTC: Microsoft has issued a hot fix. The company claims that "this out-of-band (OOB) update includes quality improvements. This update is cumulative and includes security fixes and improvements from the October 14, 2025, security update (KB5066835)..." which you can check out here.

Welcome to the second to last week of October, a week which bloodies its fangs with a major release involving pale skin tones in dark corners of Seattle. The week continues with a fantasy RTS which is followed by ninjas that aren't wearing pyjamas, a different take on super heroes, some old school arcade action but with modern graphics and finally landing in a big sticky mess of a ball. There are a lot more new releases this week as well, just in case none of the other games suits your blood type.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 / This week's major release / Tuesday 21 October
You are the Nomad—an elder vampire awakening from a century-long slumber, new to the modern nights. Trapped in your Blood is a stranger's voice. This entity, a vampire detective known as Fabien, will be your guide to 21st-century Seattle. You will explore the city through his eyes as well as those of the Nomad, as you revisit a cold case from a hundred years ago that is threatening undead and mortal society alike. Steam link