Latest News - Page 181

Intel's new W890 platform details have leaked, created to design the company's Xeon "Granite Rapids" workstation CPUs, offering up to 86 cores and 172 threads of processing power.

The new Intel Xeon "Granite Rapids" CPUs will use the E2 Socket (LGA 4710) that will come in both Expert and Mainstream segments, supporting Granite Rapids CPUs with up to 350W TDPs and up to 16 P-Cores. On the memory side, it supports both standard DDR5 DIMMs and RDIMMs, with RDIMM support with up to 5200 MT/s speeds and up to 2TB RAM capacity.

On the PCIe lanes side of things, the Expert CPUs feature up to 112 PCIe lanes (96 x Gen5 lanes and 16 x Gen4 lanes), while the Mainstream platform supports up to 80 PCIe Gen5 lanes but lacks Gen4 lanes completely. The CPUs are connected to the W890 chipset using a Gen4 x 8 lane DMI interface, while the PCB is also packed with features.

SK hynix is one of the largest DRAM manufacturers on the planet, and while it has invested tens of billions of dollars on its semiconductor prowess, the South Korean memory giant is set to increase DRAM production by a factor of 8x in the near future due to DRAM shortages and skyrocketing prices on every product with DRAM inside of it.

In a new report published by Korean media outlet Hankyung, SK hynix has plans to increase its DRAM production capacity by more than 8x by 2026, in order to meet the demand of CSPs and companies like NVIDIA and AMD, which both make graphics cards and AI GPUs, both using more and more of the most advanced DRAM on the planet with HBM4 onwards, and GDDR7 onwards.

This falls in line with rumors that we wrote about back in June 2024, that there was a coming DRAM memory shortage, as manufacturers were pushing all-in on HBM production for HBM memory. Then just this September 2025, NVIDIA reportedly asked Samsung to double its GDDR7 production, ready for its new B40 AI GPU for China.

We know most of what we need to know about Valve's upcoming Steam Machine, but we're missing one key detail: its price, especially with suggestions that it'll cost $499... and there is NO subsidizing its price and Valve selling its new Steam Machine at a loss, says Valve.

Valve has now confirmed that it will not be subsidizing the Steam Machine, unlike many generations ago where Microsoft and Sony heavily subsidized -- sold at a loss -- for their consoles, even if the real money for Valve is in games on Steam being sold.

There have been rumors from LinusTechTips commenting to Valve that the Steam Machine could be priced at $499, but said that the "energy wasn't great" when he said that. In earlier interviews with Wccftech, Valve Hardware Engineer, Yazan Aldehayyat, said that the Steam Machine pricing would be "really competitive" to the price of building your own PC at home.

Lines of communication briefly became crossed, leading to rumblings that Naughty Dog's new game could launch sometime in 2026. But that's not the case, and Sony has no plans to release the game next year, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier says.

Despite recent social media buzz, Naughty Dog's new third-person action game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet won't release in 2026, and it won't be shown off at The Game Awards. The confusion stems from a recent episode of the Dan Allen Gaming podcast, where PlayStation-centric reporter and personality Colin Moriarty speculated about Intergalactic's release date. Despite his saying "I think" multiple times, fans mistook Moriarty's speculation for actual info, and the rumor mill starting belting out erroneous reports.

Now it's been clarified by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier that these manufactured reports are false. "I can assure you that Intergalactic isn't coming out in 2026 because people familiar with the game's development timeline have told me that it is not coming out in 2026," Schreier said on Reddit, then adding: "The game is not scheduled to come out in 2026."

Dell is now offering AMD Ryzen 9000X3D processors inside of new configurations of its Alienware Area-51 desktop gaming PC, which launched with Intel Core Ultra 200 series CPUs earlier this year at CES 2025.

AMD versions of the Alienware Area-51 system weren't offered until today, with new Area-51 systems using an Alienware X870E motherboard and either the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (8C/16T) or Ryzen 9 9950X3D (16C/32T) processors, providing even more gaming and multi-threaded performance over the flagship Area-51 system and its Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor.

The overall design of the new AMD-powered Alienware Area-51 gaming PCs isn't changed, with a positive pressure cooling system consisting of dual 140mm fans, dual 180mm fans, and up to three 120mm intake fans. The cool air inside of the system is pushed towards the CPU and GPU, with warm air blowing out of the passive rear exhaust.

Valve says it is working closely with developers to get anti-cheat solutions on the Steam Machine, but ultimately it will be up to the individual third-party teams to make it happen.

The lack of anti-cheat support is one of the biggest disadvantages of the Steam Machine. Not being able to play big online games like Call of Duty or Battlefield 6 on the Steam Machine will inhibit its mass-market appeal and impact sales potential. Valve is hopeful that developers and publishers will opt to build their anti-cheat systems on SteamOS, but there's no guarantee. That's not stopping Valve from trying to accelerate the process from the backend, though.

In a recent interview with SkillUp, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais gives an update on the current status of how anti-cheat will work on Steam Machine.

The Steam Machine was mostly inspired by gamers who hooked up their Steam Decks to TV sets, showing an interesting hardware innovation crossover.

While Nintendo created consoles first, handhelds, second, and then finally a unified handheld-console, Valve's own hardware journey has been a bit different. Valve tried Steam Machines in 2015, which failed due to lack of content. Then Valve pushed the Steam Deck, leading to major learnings, and now 10 years later after their first introduction, the Steam Machine is back in the limelight.

This time around, Valve has taken everything it's learned from the Steam Deck, most notably the significant SteamOS advancements and Deck Verified software spec. The current Steam Machine was ultimately informed by a specific part of the Steam Deck userbase--those that ended up using their Decks as makeshift PC consoles.

Intel will officially launch its new Core Ultra 3 series "Panther Lake" CPUs at CES 2026 on January 5, but before that we've got a new leak and some early testing of a 10-core Panther Lake "ES" processor with 16GB LPDDR5X memory, and tested with up to 65W PL2 rating.

A new post with a bunch of juicy pictures and early tests from leaker @YuuKi_AnS on X shows an early engineering sample of Intel's new Panther Lake CPU, with some early silicon on the PTL 16C/4Xe3 die configuration. We have four tiles and a filler tile on the SoC, with the package base around a BGA 2540 socket configuration, with this specific CPU featuring a "000C06C0" device ID.

The test platform used was the Intel RVP (Reference Evaluation Platform) that supports both LPCAMM2 and standard LPDDR5X memory configurations, with this particular ES processor featuring 16GB of LPDDR5X memory that is assembled using an ADL-P "Alder Lake" frame. There are four SK hynix "H58G56BK8BX068-418A" DRAM modules with a rated speed of 7467MHz.

LPDDR6 prices are set to be much higher than anticipated, with rumors swirling that Qualcomm and MediaTek will be the only ones with flagship chipsets in the future that feature the next-gen LPDDR6 memory standard.

In a new post by leaker Digital Chat Station on the Weibo forums, we'll only see "Pro-level" chipsets with next-gen LPDDR6 RAM in 2026, and that Chinese memory manufacturers are preparing for mass production of LPDDR6 memory next year, which should give Qualcomm and MediaTek some leverage when it comes to pricing for their next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 processors, respectively.

Digital Chat Station wrote: "industry forecasts suggest that memory price increases may ease in 2027, with the latest LPDDR6 standard expected to see significant price hikes next year, likely only appearing in Pro-level flagship processors like the Dimensity 9600 and Snapdragon 8E6".

ASML has just opened up its first training facility on US soil, with the new facility in Phoenix, Arizona, set to train thousands of engineers on how to use their industry-leading EUV machines.

Right now, US semiconductor investments are growing by the week with the likes of TSMC opening up semiconductor facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Intel and Samsung with their foundry operations on US soil. However, there aren't enough US-based workers in the R&D divisions of these companies to get them trained up on how to use ASML's leading High-NA EUV lithography machines.

In a new report from Reuters, the outlet reports that the Netherlands-based company is opening a technical training center in Arizona, which will be training over 1000 engineers each year, and will become one of the core tenets of the US semiconductor industry.

Intel's next-gen Panther Lake CPUs will be launching at CES 2026 in January, rocking new Xe3-based Arc B390 integrated GPUs, and now we've got some very early performance metrics leaks.

In a new post on X by leaker @OneRaichu, we're hearing that the Xe3-based Arc B390 is scoring over 7000 points in graphics run of 3DMark TimeSpy, meaning it doubles the Xe2-based Intel Arc 140T on Lunar Lake, and easily doubles the RDNA 3.5-based Radeon 890M on the AMD Strix Point APU.

This is just a synthetic benchmark and not indicative of gaming performance, but we should expect some good gaming performance out of Panther Lake CPUs. Intel has promised that its new Arc GPUs with 12 Xe3 GPU cores will deliver "more than 50% faster graphics performance vs. the previous generation", so these leaked 3DMark scores are on the right track.

Estimates from analyst firm GSD indicate that launch sales of Black Ops 7 have been halved in Europe.

European consumers are buying far fewer copies of Activision's latest Call of Duty game. According to GSD data that was shared with The Games Business, sales of Call of Duty Black Ops 7 are down roughly 50% compared to last year's Black Ops 6. It's worth mentioning that at one point, a Microsoft employee described Black Ops 6 as the highest-grossing Call of Duty game from Activision. This was later removed, however Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had said that Black Ops 6 was "the biggest Call of Duty release ever."

Black Ops 7 is a different story, at least in Europe. According to the data, Black Ops 7's full game sales are down when compared to both previous Call of Duty games as well as major competitors like Battlefield 6. Estimates indicate Black Ops 7 sold 63% fewer copies than Battlefield 6 in Europe (side note: EA has confirmed that Battlefield 6 sold 7 million copies globally in 3 days).

ASUS has a custom 800W XOS BIOS that it made for its flagship ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 5090, but now it has been flashed onto other non-ASUS RTX 5090 cards with some huge GPU boost clocks.

This has been achieved previously through shunt-modding, but that is a much more serious process as it requires physical hardware changes to the PCB. ASUS unveiled its new ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 5090 in August, with a high-end custom PCB design, but one of the biggest selling points was its huge 800W XOC BIOS, paving the way for 323MHz+ boost clocks over stock.

ASUS charges over $4000+ for its ROG Matrix RTX 5090, but now if you have a non-ROG Matrix RTX 5090, you can flash the monster 800W XOC BIOS (you can download it here) and enjoy the higher power limit it allows, and the higher GPU boost clock speeds.

Microsoft's first-party game studios are happy about the decision to break exclusivity and start selling games on PlayStation, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier says.

Last year, Xbox made the decision to break exclusivity and bring four games to PlayStation. This was a Pandora's Box moment, and soon it was confirmed that any Xbox game could cross-over to rival platforms. This move has proven to be popular for both executives and game developers, as Microsoft is making more money now than it ever has before--sometimes even dominating the PS Store's top charts.

Now in a recent interview with 404 Media, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says that Xbox's first-party teams are excited about launching their games on PlayStation. After all, this means more revenue for individual studios, all of which balance their own books. Elated teams include Halo Studios, who recently confirmed that all future Halo games would come to PlayStation.

Assassin's Creed Shadows and Mirage both outperformed for Ubisoft in Q2, resulting in strong player engagement across the brand.

Ubisoft's latest Q2 results seem to dispel worries about Assassin's Creed Shadows' performance on the market. According to Ubisoft's CFO Frederick Duguet, Assassin's Creed Mirage doubled its player count throughout the period from 5 million to 10 million players. Duguet attributes this rise in players to Mirage's recent Valley of Memory update.

Combined with Assassin's Creed Shadows, gamers have played 211 million "session days" in the franchise throughout 2025. These metrics are more important for long-term goals, as playtime is a macro measurement that represents potential monetization as long as content can be sustained.

Kingbull's Black Friday 2025 sale is officially underway, offering riders a chance to upgrade their e-bike experience with some of the best prices of the year. From November 5 to December 5, enthusiasts can enjoy incredible savings across Kingbull's lineup of high-performance electric bikes. Whether you're looking for rugged off-road capabilities or practical city commuting, there's a Kingbull model to meet every rider's needs.

At the forefront of the lineup is the Hunter 2.0, now available at $799, with a $900 discount from its original price. This model is engineered for adventurers who value versatility and reliability. Its 750W motor provides strong, consistent power, paired with a 48V battery capable of handling up to 55 miles on a single charge. With 26x4.0" tires, a front suspension fork, and a 7-speed Shimano drivetrain, the Hunter 2.0 ensures comfort and control on varied terrain.

The Hunter 2.0 double set is priced at $1,348 and includes standard bundled gifts, making it an ideal choice for riders looking for a durable, ready-to-go e-bike. This model is also eligible for the additional $250 off when purchasing two bikes.

Ubisoft management says that big things are in the pipeline for future years, including a "significant" amount of content that will roll out through the next two years.

Ubisoft's latest financial report is out, giving a look at where the company currently is and where it's going. The French games-maker has closed its $1.3 billion investment deal with Tencent, and Ubisoft plans to use this funding to pay back debt and transform its games business. The biggest change is that Ubisoft is splitting up its games and divisions into Creative Houses, and the first will lead Ubisoft's three largest franchises--Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.

In the earnings report, executives promise that some pretty substantial high-level games will release in FY27 and FY28, which means we'll see more high-profile AAA games in 2026 and 2027. The slate is potent enough that Ubisoft expects the games to help drive them to positive free cash flow throughout next year.

Sony's Black Friday offers on all its PS5 models are now live, and if you've been thinking about picking up a variant of the console, it might not be wise to pass up these deals.

The deals consist of $100 off all PS5 models, which means that the PS5 Pro is down from $749 to $649, and the PS5 Digital Edition is reduced from $499 to $399, with the PS5 disc model chopped from $549 to $449.

Are we likely to see a PS5 at $399 next year? That's somewhat doubtful, as there are unfortunate component headwinds with price hikes on memory - RAM and storage alike - which are very likely to push up pricing for all devices, consoles included.

Ubisoft is going all-in on generative AI and will use the technology to build new games and experiences in a paradigm shift that hearkens back to the late 90s days of 3D gaming, company CEO Yves Guillemot confirms.

In a recent earnings call, Ubisoft has confirmed that it will be using gen AI in future games and content. CEO Yves Guillemot is particularly evangelistic about gen AI, saying that all of Ubisoft's studios are using AI tools, and that gen AI is as transformational for the modern age of gaming as the monumental shift from console 2D sprites to 3D polygonal graphics in the late 90s.

"On the innovation side now, we are making great strides in applying gen AI to high-value use cases that bring tangible benefits to our players and teams. It's as big as a revolution on our industry as the shift to 3D, and we have everything to lead on this front," Guillemot said in the call.

Ubisoft is about to make some big organizational changes as it nears the completion of a substantial $1.3 billion deal with Tencent.

Armed with a mighty billion-dollar investment from Tencent, Ubisoft is ready to restructure its business. Tencent invested $1.3 billion into Ubisoft, acquiring a 25% stake in a new subsidiary called Vantage Studios. This deal is about to close, and a recent earnings report gives an update on what's next for its major brands.

Ubisoft will split its creative game-making organizational structure into what it calls Creative Houses. Each of these units will oversee various franchises. It's been confirmed that Vantage Studios is the first of these Creative Houses, which indicates that each house unit will not be limited to a single franchise. Vantage will be in creative control over all of Ubisoft's most valuable franchises--Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six Siege will be managed by the Vantage-led Creative House.