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AMD's commitment to its AM4 platform, which debuted back in 2026, continues with the arrival of the 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 'Vermeer' Ryzen 5 5500F processor. As a new entry-level CPU in the Ryzen 5000 Series priced at $99, the Ryzen 5 5500F differs from the Ryzen 5000G by using a multi-chiplet architecture, making it more like a cutdown version of the Ryzen 5 5600.

The key difference is lower Base and Boost Clock frequencies: the new Ryzen 5 5500F features a 3GHz Base Clock and up to 4.0 to 4.4GHz Boost Clock, compared to the Ryzen 5 5600's 3.5GHz and up to 4.4GHz. Also, the L3 Cache is cut in half to just 16MB, while the TDP remains at 65W.

For gamers, builders, and enthusiasts looking for a budget CPU option that can still be paired with DDR4 memory, the Ryzen 5 5500F makes sense, especially in the current climate of pricey components. The newer AM5 platform also has a new affordable option: the 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 'Raphael' Ryzen 5 7500 CPU, priced at $189.

TSMC has announced its latest financial report for August 2026, in which the world's leading chip manufacturer posted record revenue of NT $514.81 billion, up 53% from a year ago and over 10% from July. Breaking the NT $500 billion barrier for the first time, this equates to $16.3 billion USD in revenue in a single month, with the record attributed to continued robust demand from the AI sector.

It's also the fourth straight month of significant growth for TSMC, highlighting that accelerating demand for AI silicon shows no signs of slowing. Per a new report from the analysts at TrendForce, when it comes to silicon revenue, TSMC's market share for Q2 2026 ending in June is sitting at around 72.5%, with the company's 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm capacities fully booked.

With Q2 2026 data showing nodes like 5nm accounting for a third of TSMC's revenue, and 2nm at only 3%, current demand extends beyond next-gen cutting-edge nodes like TSMC N2. However, with N2 wafer production expected to reach 100,000 per month by the end of 2026 and Apple's new iPhone A20 Pro SoC built on 2nm technology, TSMC's revenue growth is expected to continue, especially as 3nm and 5nm revenue keep growing.

Remedy has always pushed PC graphics and cinematic in-game visuals to new heights, from the original Control, one of the first games to truly showcase the potential of real-time ray-traced lighting, to Alan Wake 2's stunning path-traced mode, which leveraged the full suite of NVIDIA's DLSS 4 technologies.

The highly anticipated sequel, Control Resonant, launches later this month, and ahead of its release, Remedy has published the final PC requirements and specifications. The specs are fairly detailed, covering the game's non-RT, ray-tracing, and path tracing modes, with the developer offering Upscaler settings for each configuration.

Yes, Remedy's specs include NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS to hit 30 and 60 FPS targets, with the game set to launch with support for the latest DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4.1. The good news is that the minimum spec calls for a GeForce GTX 1070 or an RTX 2060 SUPER for ray tracing, which suggests the game will launch relatively polished and optimized.

YouTuber Coooley is offering a $1,000 bounty to anyone that can find the rarest item in Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction.

Diablo 2 is one of the most addicting games ever mostly because of its loot system, and finding that perfect item roll is extremely satisfying. Some items in Lord of Destruction are so rare and valuable that perfect versions haven't ever been found. Players have even put paid bounties on these ultra-rare drops, offering to pay real money for proof of ownership. Diablo YouTuber Coooley is bringing this challenge back, offering $1K to whoever can prove they own a perfect ethereal Tomb Reaver on Battle.net.

"I think us D2 players can do it. In light of Diablo 2 approaching 27 years of existence, I'm bringing back the bounty. I'm pledging $1,000 of my own money to the first person that can show me a perfect eth Tomb Reaver, in D2R, on Battle.net."

A modder has apparently pushed NVIDIA's DLSS Frame Generation back another GPU generation, this time getting it working on a GeForce RTX 20-series card. The project, shared on GitHub as DLSSG for SM75, was tested on an RTX 2060 Max-Q running The Witcher 3's next-gen update in DirectX 12, where the in-game Frame Generation toggle could reportedly be switched on and produced a visible framerate bump.

This is a direct continuation of the RTX 30-series mod that surfaced just days earlier, in which modders got DLSS Multi Frame Generation running on Ampere cards through a project called DLSSG SM86. The RTX 20 version is described as a fork of that same work, adapted to target Turing's SM75 architecture instead. Unlike some older workarounds that reroute DLSS calls through AMD's FSR Frame Generation, this one reportedly runs NVIDIA's own nvngx_dlssg 310.1 runtime, just with the GPU kernels swapped for SM75-compiled versions and the architecture check tricked into reading Turing as Ada Lovelace.

NVIDIA officially reserves Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50-series "Blackwell" cards, with standard Frame Generation limited to RTX 40 and above, so none of this is officially sanctioned. Early impressions are rather mixed too. It seems 2X mode is the one that actually holds up, while 3X reportedly introduces ghosting and 4X doesn't really work yet on this hardware. One user also said performance came in a bit behind what FSR Frame Generation already delivers on the same GPU, so this may not be a clean upgrade for everyone.

PC gamers may soon have one less launcher to worry about as Ubisoft is introducing new tools that break reliance on the Ubisoft Connect app.

Ubisoft today surprise-revealed that it's working on a new way to avoid having to download and run its proprietary launcher when playing Steam games. The info wasn't part of a big press release but instead nestled in an update post for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam, which is compatible with the new systems. Ubisoft says more games will be added in the future as its Steam tools expand.

"Starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, we are testing a new Ubisoft Connect Services Steam tool that keeps Ubisoft game features such as cross-progression, cross-play, player safety, challenges and rewards, among others, without requiring the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched," the announcement reads.

A modder has ported NVIDIA's DLSS 5 neural renderer from using FP8 exclusively to using a hybrid FP8/NVFP4 approach. Reported by SwurvGaming, performance from this DLSS 5 mod only increased performance by 1% to 2% using this approach, despite the raw potential NVFP4 has over FP8 in AI compute.

The modder of this port, wilsjo2, gives details on how this hybrid implementation works. In the patch notes for their OptiScaler DLSS neural rendering mod version 0.7.1, the model selector will attempt an NVFP4 hybrid where possible, with unsupported shapes reportedly staying processed in FP8 when this hybrid mode is active. In version 0.7.2, the modder changed their NVFP4 hybrid model to be the recommended option for Blackwell GPUs, as well as providing some benchmark results. In a 120-second capture of Baldur's Gate 3, the hybrid model in version 0.7.2 achieved 55.16 FPS, and the FP8-only mode achieved 54.57 FPS.

There's not much reason currently to use this hybrid approach with the NVFP4 model, due to its poor performance uplift over DLSS 5's default FP8 implementation. But it shows that modding DLSS 5 to NVFP4 is possible, and we could see better results as optimizations are made to the DLSS 5 model in the future. Porting DLSS 5 from FP8 to NVFP4 is not as simple as switching what instructions the model uses; the model needs to be retrained to take advantage of NVFP4's inherent performance advantages over FP8.

If you have been paying attention to the console side of things, you'll be aware that Sony is planning to end PS5 discs in 2028. You'd also be aware that the move has met with plenty of backlash. Xbox is also leaning into digital, but with a less hostile approach, giving players a way to turn physical games into digital codes. So despite the best efforts to fight back, it's inevitable that the video game industry is slowly moving toward an all-digital future.

However, it's not all over yet. While it can't bring back physical PC game releases at retail, GOG has found a clever middle ground for its Preservation Program by letting players build the boxes themselves. In other words, GOG is reviving the distinctive "big box" era of classic PC game packaging.

The storefront has partnered with Benjamin Wimmer's Big Box Collection, a passion project that has amassed more than a thousand 3D scans of vintage PC game boxes since 2015, to bring downloadable box art to five titles. Descent, Hitman: Codename 47, and Myst, which were already part of the GOG Preservation Program, make up three of them. Armikrog and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, added just in time for the franchise's 60th anniversary, also joined the program with box art.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is giving Xbox players a weapon skin nobody else can actually see, and it isn't hiding behind an unlock challenge or a paywall. It's tied to a pre-order bonus that every platform gets, just not equally.

Activision has announced the Inner Circuit M4 Assault Rifle Blueprint as a reward for anyone who digitally pre-orders Modern Warfare 4, regardless of platform. On PC, PlayStation 5, and Switch 2, the blueprint comes in a translucent black, mil-spec finish.

On Xbox, the same weapon glows translucent green, a tribute to the original Xbox console's 25th anniversary, complete with Xbox branding on the magazine well. It's the same sort of colour as the translucent limited-edition Xbox Series X that's coming out.

When the Switch 2 first hit the market, a big question mark hung over VRR (variable refresh rate) support after fans learned that Nintendo had removed any mention of variable refresh rate support on TVs from the Switch 2's website, eventually confirming that VRR would be available only in handheld mode.

Fast forward 16 months, and Switch 2 docked VRR support has finally arrived with system software update 23.0.0. But there's a catch. Digital Foundry reports that the feature works on a "whitelist" system, meaning it's only available on games that developers have flagged as supporting docked VRR. Right now, that list is only about a single title long, and it includes Nintendo's own Switch 2 Welcome Tour. That's it.

This means that unlike the PS5, which can force VRR support at the system level even on games that don't natively support it, Switch 2 VRR will be available on a title-by-title basis.

Saudi Arabian stakeholders are weighing a combination that could see EA merged with Savvy Games in a bid to unify and align the business, sources tell Bloomberg.

New reports indicate that Saudi Arabia's PIF management are contemplating merging the newly-acquired Electronic Arts with its existing Savvy Games Group. The goal, sources tell Bloomberg, is to help balance its games business and "ensure better coordination between its assets."

Savvy Games has made megaton billion-dollar acquisitions over the years, and is in the habit of paying big for teams with proven hits; $4.9 billion for Scopely in 2023 (they produced Monopoly Go, which made $6 billion faster than any other smartphone game in history), $3.5 billion for Niantic in 2025, and $6 billion for Moonton, once that deal closes this year. Counting EA, Savvy/Saudi Arabia's PIF has made and/or funded 3 out of the top 10 video game acquisitions of all time.

A new PC optimization app made by the team behind Compready has been released called HyperTune geared towards mainstream gamers looking to overclock their systems. The new overclocking and optimization tool is backed by Intel directly and is designed by experienced individuals in the PC tuning and overclocking industry to squeeze out the most amount of performance from a system without compromising stability or longevity.

The Hypertune app runs on a subscription-based model for $9.99 a month or $119.99 a year - though Hypertune is offering a 50% discount on its yearly subscription at the time of writing. The app focuses on improving both hardware and software by providing automated tools for overclocking the CPU and GPU, tuning memory, and optimizing the PC's network connection. There are also tools for optimizing graphics settings through game profiles, and optimizing Windows by cleaning up unnecessary background apps. If that's not enough, users can also book a call with experienced IT technicians through Hypertune to provide a manual tune-up of your PC for $80.

The app is reportedly built on Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) software developer kit and was made in close collaboration with Intel. The developers behind Hypertune also worked with Pieter Plaisier to help improve Hypertune's overclocking capabilities. Plaisier is a famous overclocker, known as SkatterBencher, who has helped break countless overclocking records over the years. He also provides overclocking guides and puts loads of effort into making guides for real-world overclocks that focus on stability.

Nintendo today announced a customer appreciation sale that discounts games, apparel, accessories and more, but it's only in the US, as the sale itself is only made possible due to the tariff refunds that Nintendo received from the US government.

Following the recent developments on tariffs in the United States, Nintendo is now giving back to US consumers, but not in the form of direct tariff refunds. Nintendo is instead offering a sale running from September 13 - 26 that will discount dozens of Switch digital games and bundles by 30%, as well as price reductions on DLC, accessories, amiibo, and other merch.

"The Customer Appreciation Sale is our way of saying thank you to Nintendo players for their continued support and is made possible in part by tariff-related refunds. While Nintendo absorbed most tariff-related costs, the refunds helped make promotions like this one possible."

Despite how far gaming has come, as the GTA 6 extended look reminded us all this week, one milestone still remains unchecked. There is still no official Android version of Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar has shown no real interest in bringing GTA V to mobile, so with no movement from the big dogs, a community developer has now stepped up to take on the challenge.

The project comes from M0jso of Paralympics Productions, who some of you might recall as the developer behind the recent unofficial GTA V port for the original Nintendo Switch. The developer confirmed on Discord that an unofficial Android port of Grand Theft Auto 5 is now in the works.

Unlike running the Windows version through Winlator, this project is intended to run GTA V natively on ARM hardware. The Switch port uses GTA V Legacy 1.0.2699, recompiled for Nintendo's ARM-based Tegra X1 and reportedly based on the GTA V source code leaked in 2023. Since the Android work comes from the same developer and follows the Switch port, it likely uses the same codebase.

NVIDIA's built-in statistics overlay has quietly picked up one of its most requested missing features. Version 11.0.9 of the NVIDIA App adds CPU temperature, clock speed, and power consumption to the overlay.

NVIDIA notably did not mention the addition in the official 11.0.9 release notes, which only document DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, per-application Resizable BAR controls, and a handful of interface changes. It went largely unnoticed until Reddit picked it up.

It's worth mentioning that NVIDIA has offered CPU monitoring through its separate FrameView utility for years, but those metrics were not available in the NVIDIA App's own in-game statistics. The new update finally brings them directly into the same interface used for GPU, FPS, and DLSS information.

Hideo Kojima and Sony are temporarily separating, and Kojima's next two games will be published by Xbox. Now the famed visionary clarifies some details on what happened behind the scenes.

After supporting Death Stranding 1 & 2, Sony has now opted not to publish Hideo Kojima's next games. This has led to a breakup of sorts between Kojima and Sony after decades of working together. Sony was originally set to publish Kojima's new Metal Gear successor PHYSINT, but that deal fell apart.

Kojima has now flipped sides to join with Xbox, and Microsoft's games division will publish both of KojiPro's new games; the spine-tingling OD and the tactical espionage sim PHYSINT. Kojima has revealed new details on what happened, confirming that Sony abruptly cancelled PHYSINT with no warning back in June.

8BitDo has announced what it's calling its "most advanced controller to date" with the new Ultimate 3E for Xbox and PC gamers. With a wide range of pro-grade controllers on the market, one feature that sets the 8BitDo Ultimate 3E apart is its hot-swappable ABXY Module. You can choose between face buttons with crisp, tactile micro-switches or a more traditional silicone membrane feel.

The 8BitDo Ultimate 3E is chock-full of customization, including the ability to switch between a four-way or circular D-pad and swap out the thumbsticks for different heights and feel. And speaking of the thumbsticks, in addition to being magnetic Hall Effect sticks for drift-free gaming, they also feature the latest Tunneling Magnetoresistance sensor technology for accuracy and power efficiency.

The magnetic Hall-Effect tech also extends to the Impulse Triggers, which you can adjust for a snappier response in shooters or an analog feel in racing games. The 8BitDo Ultimate 3E also includes two programmable rear buttons, or paddles, plus two additional shoulder buttons (L4/R4), offering more low-latency input options.

With the current memory crisis driving up consumer-grade DDR5 prices, any new product launch in this space will always raise the question: 'but at what cost?' That said, G.SKILL's Trident Z5 Royal NeoX Series DDR5 Memory definitely looks the part, adopting the Royal lineup's mix of silver, gold, and a crystalline light bar that looks like diamond jewelry with added RGB.

G.SKILL calls it luxurious and sophisticated, adding a touch of elegance to the brand's pristine reputation for overclocked performance. What makes G.SKILL's Trident Z5 Royal NeoX Series DDR5 Memory stand out is its support for the latest Ultra Low Latency technology for AMD EXPO, called EXPO ULL. Basically, it delivers lower latency at the same memory speed.

G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal NeoX Series DDR5 Memory supports speeds of up to DDR5-6000 with memory sub-timings of CL 26-36-36-32, 28-36-36-32, 30-38-38-32, and 36-36-36-76. G.SKILL notes that the Trident Z5 Royal NeoX Series will be available in 32GB kits (16GB x 2), with stock expected to become available in various markets "in phases."

Although liquid cooling has become the go-to for many when it comes to CPU coolers, there's still an argument to be made for air coolers, especially when it comes to models like the new XERON NEX A61 ARGB air CPU cooler. With its single tower design, XERON notes that the NEX A61 ARGB has been custom-tuned and engineered for AMD's AM5-socket Ryzen processors.

Powered by dual silent ring-blade fans, the NEX A61 ARGB also features direct-touch heatpipes with "triple-parallel-pipe precision" coverage for improved heat transfer, plus a physical design that accounts for memory clearance for higher-profile RAM or DDR5 modules. The fans are set up in a push-pull configuration for increased airflow, too, with speeds up to 1800 RPM and noise levels as low as 29.9 dB(A) for quiet performance.

Although XERON notes that the engineering was based on AMD AM5-socket processors like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, Ryzen 7 9850X3D, and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, the NEX A61 ARGB offers broad compatibility with Intel LGA 1851, 1700, and 1200 motherboards, plus support for AMD AM5 and AM4-socket boards.

R18+, including titles like Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and Resident Evil Requiem. Both Sony and Microsoft have implemented the check for Xbox and PlayStation gamers; however, with Valve now jumping on board with Steam, the whole process is causing a negative response from PC gamers in the country.

The reason is simple: Valve chose an age-verification method unlike other gaming platforms and services. Basically, if you want to access R18+ content, which includes opening a store page for a game, you're presented with the following message.

"Valve is required by the Age-Restricted Material App Distribution Services Code to verify that you are 18 or older before accessing mature content. If you wish to do so, please add a valid Australian credit card to your account and afterwards update the Mature Content Preferences. Add a credit card to this account."