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COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3080 iGame Ultra: super-limited edition card

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Oct 20, 2020 9:52 PM CDT

COLORFUL has just unveiled another custom GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, with an even more limited edition version of its card -- but in the mid-range of its RTX 3080 offerings. This is the new COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3080 iGame Ultra:

COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3080 iGame Ultra: super-limited edition card

The card has a full-sized custom PCB and super-unique style with awesome holographic stickers, requires 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and available in both white and black. COLORFUL is making both the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 in its new iGame Ultra flavor.

COLORFUL is making sure this is a limited edition card, so I'm sure there will only be a few hundred cards made in total. The GeForce RTX 3080 is hard enough to buy as it is, so I'm sure this is going to be even harder. COLORFUL also doesn't make any other white graphics card, so this could be them tipping their toes in the white-graphics-card market.

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Continue reading: COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3080 iGame Ultra: super-limited edition card (full post)

ASUS shows off GeForce RTX 3070 KO (Korean Origin) graphics card

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Oct 20, 2020 8:59 PM CDT

ASUS has just unveiled its new GeForce RTX 3070 KO, with the special edition KO standing for 'Korean Origin' -- exclusive to the South Korean market.

ASUS shows off GeForce RTX 3070 KO (Korean Origin) graphics card

The new ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 KO was made by a special team of designers and managers, who all took feedback from gamers in South Korean gamers on what they would love to see in a graphic card when it comes to design, noise, temperature, and pricing.

ASUS ended using the final design from 10 candidates to make the GeForce RTX 3070 KO graphics card, with everything from the card design itself, the color scheme, and the packaging from Korean culture.

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NASA teams with Nokia to install a 4G network on the moon by 2028

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Oct 20, 2020 8:20 PM CDT

NASA is teaming with Nokia to install 4G infrastructure on the moon, which would make it the very first cellular network on the moon.

NASA teams with Nokia to install a 4G network on the moon by 2028

The US space agency has selected Nokia to deploy an "ultra-compact, low-power, space-hardened" wireless 4G network on the moon, which is part of NASA's plans to have a long-term human presence on the moon by 2030. Nokia secured itself $14.1 million, which will be installed remotely on the moon.

How exactly? It will be installed remotely on the surface of the moon using a lunar hopper built by Intuitive Machines in late 2022 according to Nokia. Nokia continued, explaining: "The network will self-configure upon deployment", while the 4G wireless network will provide "vital command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation and streaming of high definition video".

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Continue reading: NASA teams with Nokia to install a 4G network on the moon by 2028 (full post)

AMD learns from NVIDIA: Radeon RX 6000, Ryzen 5000 launch guidelines

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Oct 20, 2020 7:38 PM CDT

We all know about the mess that has been the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series launch, so it's good to hear rumors that AMD has been listening -- taking notes -- and preparing better the historic launch of its new Ryzen 5000 and Radeon RX 6000 series products.

AMD learns from NVIDIA: Radeon RX 6000, Ryzen 5000 launch guidelines

The news is coming directly from RedGamingTech on YouTube, which had a document that is reportedly from AMD and sent to their partners to curb scalpers from ripping the Ryzen 5000 and Radeon RX 6000 series launch to shreds. It's great to see AMD making these moves ahead of time, a luxury they get to enjoy since they're launching after NVIDIA.

AMD has the following rules in place:

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Continue reading: AMD learns from NVIDIA: Radeon RX 6000, Ryzen 5000 launch guidelines (full post)

AMD Radeon RX 6000 series: reference up to 320W, custom cards 355W

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Oct 20, 2020 6:53 PM CDT

AMD's upcoming Big Navi GPUs will be using a good chunk of power, just like their NVIDIA Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series competitors -- with some hot new numbers from Igor's Lab.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 series: reference up to 320W, custom cards 355W

The power numbers on Big Navi are early, but we're being told to expect the highest-end Navi 21 XT will have a TBP (Total Board Power) of 320W, while the Navi 21 XT GPU will use 235W on its own. But then we have custom Navi 21 XT-based Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards will use up to 355W, while the GPU itself will use up to 270W.

Now don't compare these directly against the GeForce RTX 30 series cards just yet, as AMD is using TBP and not TGP like NVIDIA does. AMD is using the same 320W here with the Navi 21 XT-powered (and what should be the) Radeon RX 6900 XT, as the GeForce RTX 3080 -- while the custom cards will use a bit more power, just like custom RTX 3080s.

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Continue reading: AMD Radeon RX 6000 series: reference up to 320W, custom cards 355W (full post)

Netflix rakes in $6.4 billion in Q3, expects 200 million subscribers

Derek Strickland | Business, Financial & Legal | Oct 20, 2020 5:33 PM CDT

Netflix's recent Q3'2020 earnings show strong increases in revenues, net income, operating income, and subscriber growth. The company expects this trend to continue and push total subscribers to 200 million.

Netflix rakes in $6.4 billion in Q3, expects 200 million subscribers

Netflix just reported its Q3 performance and the results are stellar insofar as earnings. The company raked in $790 million in net income (+18%) on $6.436 billion in net revenues (+20%) in the three-month period ended September 30. Subscriber growth hit 2.2 million paid sign-ons, missing internal projections by 300,000 users. Netflix spent roughly $5.1 billion on marketing, costs of goods and services, tech costs, and other expenses, leaving $1.31 billion in operating income (+34%).

As of Q3, total paid subscribers sit at 195 million. The streaming titan expects this number to jump to 200 million by the holiday season in Q4 2020. APAC was the biggest contributor to Q3 subscriber growth--APAC region sign-ups were up 66% YoY and accounted for nearly half of the total market subscriber growth.

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LG's new 65-inch rollable OLED TV costs a mind-blowing $78,000

Derek Strickland | Displays | Oct 20, 2020 4:27 PM CDT

LG's new rollable Signature OLED R TV is now on sale in South Korea for a cool $78,000.

LG's new 65-inch rollable OLED TV costs a mind-blowing $78,000

LG just introduced the world's first rollable 65-inch OLED TV to the market in a bid to shake up the display industry. The LG Signature OLED R sports a 65-inch 4K UHDTV display that removes the need for any wall mounting. Instead, the ultra-flexible display can hide by rolling up in a base.

The OLED panel moves up when needed, and has three modes: full view, where the display is rolled out all the way for complete picture viewing, line view, where the display is shrunk to a specific point so the viewer can also see objects or scenes behind the TV itself, and zero view, which is when the TV is fully rolled up in the base.

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Continue reading: LG's new 65-inch rollable OLED TV costs a mind-blowing $78,000 (full post)

Modern Warfare, Warzone install size shrinks thanks uninstall options

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 20, 2020 3:26 PM CDT

Players can now slice the storage-hungry behemoth that is Modern Warfare and reduce file sizes.

Modern Warfare, Warzone install size shrinks thanks uninstall options

After months of increasingly gigantic patches that pushed the game to 250GB, Infinity Ward finally made good on its promise to shrink Modern Warfare's install size. Gamers can now carve up the game and only install modes they want to play. If you only play multiplayer, you can keep Warzone and Modern Warfare MP installed and remove campaign completely. Or you can keep campaign and nix multiplayer.

With the new season 6 update, users can modify existing installs or start a new install from scratch. The feature is similar to the custom install feature introduced with the Master Chief Collection on PC and Xbox One, which lets you select which games you want and which gametypes to install.

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Continue reading: Modern Warfare, Warzone install size shrinks thanks uninstall options (full post)

Xbox Series X will revolutionize legacy Halo games with 120FPS support

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 20, 2020 2:36 PM CDT

Halo Reach, Halo, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 will all run at high-end optimized performance on Xbox Series X, with options up to 4K 120FPS in every game.

Xbox Series X will revolutionize legacy Halo games with 120FPS support

Today 343 Industries finally confirmed the Master Chief Collection will be significantly optimized on the Series X/S consoles. The massively ambitious Halo: Infinite may be delayed to 2021, but the Series X will basically open up a new dimension of play with classic Halo games running at an ultra-responsive 120FPS at up to 3840 x 2160 resolution. You'll need a TV that supports HDMI 2.1 and 120Hz to take advantage of this feature, though.

No exact details on performance were revealed--i.e. GPU equivalency like The Coalition's Gears 5 that ran at RTX 2080 levels of perf at High settings--but 343i confirms 120FPS will be available in both multiplayer and campaign. The optimizations will of course be free for anyone who already owns a copy of MCC on Xbox One.

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SK Hynix buys Intel's NAND business for $9 billion

Derek Strickland | Storage | Oct 20, 2020 9:33 AM CDT

It's official: SK Hynix is buying Intel's storage business for $9 billion.

SK Hynix buys Intel's NAND business for $9 billion

Semiconductor titan SK Hynix has purchased Intel's NAND segment in a sweeping $9 billion deal. The South Korean memory-maker will spend $7 billion upfront to acquire three parts of Intel's business: NAND SSD IP and employees, NAND components and wafers including R&D employees, and the Intel Fab 68 plant in Dalian, China. Intel will keep the Optane brand.

SK Hynix will spend the additional $2 billion once the deal closes in 2025, and Intel will continue designing manufacturing flash memory at the Dalian plant until closing.

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Continue reading: SK Hynix buys Intel's NAND business for $9 billion (full post)

GIVEAWAY: Gaming peripherals upgrade thanks to Corsair worth $280

Cameron Wilmot | Contests & Giveaways | Oct 20, 2020 1:52 AM CDT

Global entry! We have teamed up with Corsair to give away three of its awesome gaming peripherals to one lucky winner.

GIVEAWAY: Gaming peripherals upgrade thanks to Corsair worth $280

One winner gets the chance at taking home the Corsair VENGEANCE K60 Performance FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, HS60 HAPTIC Stereo Gaming Headset with Haptic Bass, and KATAR PRO Wireless Gaming Mouse. The combined total prize value is $280.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or YouTube. You understand that you are providing your information to TweakTown and not to Facebook or YouTube. Information provided is only for selecting and contacting a winner. Your email address will be added to the TweakTown Newsletter if you decide to add it.

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Quest 2 is very good for developers, sales through the roof

Kevin Carbotte | Extended Reality (XR) | Oct 19, 2020 11:53 PM CDT

Facebook's new Oculus Quest 2 must be selling like crazy because VR developers are reporting massive gains in daily sales. It's not just SideQuest reaping the benefits of a bigger audience.

Quest 2 is very good for developers, sales through the roof

Quest 2 hit the market on October 13, and developers immediately noticed significant increases in their sales numbers. Many games are seeing 2x to 10x the sales they were getting before the new headset shipped. And free games are seeing record numbers of concurrent players.

Rec Room's developers said that they say 2.5x the number of players on Quest 2's launch compared to Quest's launch last year. And it took only a few hours for the number of Quest 2 Rec Room players to exceed the number of Quest Rec Room players.

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Continue reading: Quest 2 is very good for developers, sales through the roof (full post)

Here's a family photo of the Zen 3-powered AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Oct 19, 2020 11:27 PM CDT

We are getting our first pictures of AMD's new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, with the entire family of Zen 3-powered chips smiling for the camera. Check them all out:

Here's a family photo of the Zen 3-powered AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs

The picture was tweeted by HXL (@9550Pro) with the Ryzen 9 5950X + Ryzen 9 5900X + Ryzen 7 5800X + Ryzen 5 5600X all pictured here in a tray. They're retail CPUs getting ready to be sent to an OEM or board partner, so they can go into new PCs.

Seeing them all at once leads me to believe we should see good quantities of not just the flagship Ryzen 9 5950X processor, but the entire stack of Zen 3 chips. I'm confident the new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs are going to be very popular, with numbers higher numbers available at launch -- unlike the GeForce RTX 30 series.

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It is now possible to do mixed reality with a Quest 2 and an iPad

Kevin Carbotte | Extended Reality (XR) | Oct 19, 2020 10:51 PM CDT

An indie developer figured out how to capture mixed reality VR video without a computer, and all you need is a Quest and an iPad. The project is still a work in progress, but you can try it now.

It is now possible to do mixed reality with a Quest 2 and an iPad

Mixed reality video capture is one of the best ways to share your VR gaming experience with others, especially if you want to broadcast the footage on your favourite streaming platform. With mixed reality video, you can embed yourself in real-time within the video stream to make it look like you're inside the game, just like it feels when you're playing a VR game.

Traditionally, you would need a powerful computer with a webcam or captured video camera and software like OBS to blend the feeds. But with the new Reality Mixer app from GitHub user Fabio914, you can capture amazing mixed reality content with just two mobile devices: An Oculus Quest 2 and an Apple iPad.

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Pimax secured a $20 million investment to improve customer experience

Kevin Carbotte | Extended Reality (XR) | Oct 19, 2020 10:03 PM CDT

Pimax VR announced that it secured $20 million in a Series B funding round. The company said the new investment would give it the resources to speed up its R&D and production efforts. The additional resources will also fund improvements to Pimax customer support.

Pimax secured a $20 million investment to improve customer experience

Things are looking up for Pimax recently. The company is shipping its new Pimax 8KX ultrawide headset to pre-order and Kickstarter backers. The Kickstarter backer boxes are about to go out the door, it's Sword controllers are almost ready for primetime, and the company said that sales of its current lineup of headsets are strong. The new influx of cash from the recent Series B funding will set Pimax up to put gasoline on the fire and accelerate the business.

Robin Wang, the company's founder, said the investment would allow the company to move quickly and offer a better product and improved customer service.

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A $10,000 bounty for a Quest 2 jailbreak has already been claimed

Kevin Carbotte | Extended Reality (XR) | Oct 19, 2020 9:21 PM CDT

Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 headset hit the market a week ago, and within days, word got around that there's a bounty out for a functional jailbreak for the standalone VR headset. But don't get too excited by a nice payday. It looks like someone already claimed the prize.

A $10,000 bounty for a Quest 2 jailbreak has already been claimed

When Facebook announced its intent to require Facebook accounts for Oculus users, Robert Long, a developer working at Mozilla on the Hubs VR platform, declared that he would donate $5000 to anyone who could provide a jailbreak for the Quest that get around Facebook's login requirements.

Long said that his definition of a jailbreak is root access to the device. He wants to replace or modify Oculus Home and the default launcher, and removal of Facebook's login requirement and telemetry tracking is also on the request list.

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Continue reading: A $10,000 bounty for a Quest 2 jailbreak has already been claimed (full post)

AMD Navi 21 XT GPU: up to 2.4GHz game clock, 250W+ TDP, 16GB GDDR6

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Oct 19, 2020 9:10 PM CDT

We have some juicy new info on AMD's next-gen Navi 21 XT -- which should be the flagship GPU that powers the flagship RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card.

AMD Navi 21 XT GPU: up to 2.4GHz game clock, 250W+ TDP, 16GB GDDR6

The new rumors are coming from Patrick Schur on Twitter, who says that the reference boards (which I exclusively revealed that we'll only see reference Big Navi cards in 2020, custom cards in 2021) will have game clocks of up to 2.3GHz -- with some cards rocking the Navi 21 XT up to 2.4GHz.

AMD reportedly has a higher-end Navi 21 XTX that will be AMD exclusive, which is not the first time AMD has done that with a flagship GPU. The most recent was the Radeon VII, which is something else I reported at the time would be an AMD exclusive with no custom cards available. It seems AMD will be doing that with what should materialize into the Radeon RX 6900 XT.

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Continue reading: AMD Navi 21 XT GPU: up to 2.4GHz game clock, 250W+ TDP, 16GB GDDR6 (full post)

Halloween's scariest game might not be playable on PlayStation 5

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 19, 2020 5:33 PM CDT

P.T., one of the scariest games ever made, may be locked to PS4 and not transfer to the PS5, Konami hints.

Halloween's scariest game might not be playable on PlayStation 5

Tis the season for fright and terror, and nothing scratches that particular itch like P.T., the playable teaser game demo for Hideo Kojima's cancelled Silent Hills game. Sadly it seems the game will be forever stuck on PS4 and may not be transferrable to PS5. The possible issue? Backwards compatibility.

Konami recently confirmed to GamesRadar that P.T. won't be available to re-download on the PS5. We've known this for a while. P.T. was de-listed some time ago on PS4 and wasn't redownloadable without some special tricks.

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Continue reading: Halloween's scariest game might not be playable on PlayStation 5 (full post)

Xbox Series X external storage: 128GB minimum and USB 3.0 required

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 19, 2020 4:22 PM CDT

Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S external storage comes with specific requirements to launch games from external drives or USB sticks.

Xbox Series X external storage: 128GB minimum and USB 3.0 required

Finalized previews of the Xbox Series X confirm a few things about the console's storage options. The system's 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD has 802GB of free usable space after OS and formatting, which is about enough to five 8 big AAA games. Any games installed on the SSD will be supercharged with faster loading even if they're not optimized, but any games with updates will benefit tremendously from the 2.4GB/sec storage upgrade.

What's interesting are the stipulations behind expandable media. We knew the Xbox Series X and S consoles require USB 3.0 external hard drives or USB sticks in order to launch games. You can't store games on a USB 2.0 drive, for example, and launch them from within the console. Now we know these drives must be at least 128GB in size, which eliminates a good portion of smaller USB thumb drives.

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Continue reading: Xbox Series X external storage: 128GB minimum and USB 3.0 required (full post)

Intel to sell NAND flash memory business to SK Hynix for $10 billion

Derek Strickland | Storage | Oct 19, 2020 3:14 PM CDT

Intel is nearing a deal to sell its flash memory segment to SK Hynix for $10 billion, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.

Intel to sell NAND flash memory business to SK Hynix for $10 billion

Intel's foray into high-performance NAND flash has been a rocky one; The company's 3D Xpoint memory created interesting applications via its Optane SSD drives, but the volatile storage market has led to inconsistent earnings for Intel. Intel's NSG branch (Non-volatile Storage memory Group) has lost money for multiple quarters in a row, and only recently returned to profitability in Q2'20, where the storage business hit all-time highs.

"Q2 was an all time record for quarterly revenue for our memory business. The business also returned to profitability this quarter, generating approximately $300 million in operating income," Intel executive VP George Davis said in a recent July earnings call.

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Continue reading: Intel to sell NAND flash memory business to SK Hynix for $10 billion (full post)

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