Latest News - Page 193

GeForce Game Ready Driver 581.80 - WHQL is available now, and there's virtually no way it will end up being as controversial as AMD's most recent Radeon driver release, as it still offers support for select GeForce 700 Series GPUs that are now over a decade old. This one is all about support for some of this month's biggest releases, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

The latest annual release in one of the most popular shooter franchises on the planet is set to launch on November 14, featuring support for DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation for GeForce RTX graphics cards. GeForce Game Ready Driver 581.80 also adds day one support for Ubisoft's visually impressive Roman Empire city builder Anno 117: Pax Romana, launching November 13, and the latest entry in the iconic grand strategy series, Europa Universalis V.

Both of these titles are shipping with DLSS Super Resolution support to enhance the performance of GeForce RTX rigs. The latest GeForce Game Ready Driver also addresses a couple of issues, including one related to DLSS Frame Generation performance in F1 2025. Here's a look at the full GeForce Game Ready Driver 581.80 Release Notes.

The full PC specs and requirements for the November 14 launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 have been revealed, and the game will be playable on pretty much any gaming PC built in the last decade. The reason for this is that the game is optimized for PC gaming handhelds, specifically the ROG Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X. This means that the game only needs a GPU with 3GB of VRAM to run, with 8GB being the recommended spec.

For the game's 'Minimum' specs, Activision and Xbox list the mid-range Radeon RX 470 4GB graphics card from 2016, and the GeForce GTX 970 4GB graphics card from 2014. Of course, playing with the recommended specs is where you want to be, as you'll need a GeForce RTX 3060, Radeon RX 6600 XT, or Intel Arc B580 to hit 60 FPS with all graphics options set to high.

Based on the game's PC specs, it appears to be well-optimized for the platform, as the 4K 'Ultra' or competitive triple-digit performance GPU requirement is listed as either the Radeon RX 9070 XT or the GeForce RTX 5070. Regardless of the settings, as previously reported, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 requires TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot for its security and will be unplayable without them.

Lenovo has jumped into the AI smart glasses market with the unveiling of V1, a pair of smart glasses that are lighter than any other competitor.

One of the biggest problems when it comes to smart glasses is the bulkiness that users have to endure, and while companies such as Meta are ironing out this issue with each new generation, AI smart glasses are generally still thicker and heavier than a traditional pair of reading glasses. This isn't surprising, given that AI smart glasses need to house all the necessary components within the glasses' frame, but the weight trade-off may outweigh the functionality they offer, making them a dealbreaker for some users.

Lenovo is looking to scoop those users up with the AI Glasses V1, which come in at just 36g, making them lighter than the Rokid Glasses, which weigh 49 g. The V1 glasses are only 1.8mm thick and feature a resin diffraction waveguide display that has a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Additionally, the V1 glasses support a 15 x 11 mm eye-box, which assists in keeping visuals stable as the user is moving their head. Users can also switch between monocular and binocular display modes.

The rapper Soulja Boy has been called out by retro handheld company Retroid for reselling its console as his own without an official licensing deal.

Soulja Boy began informing his followers that he was selling the "SouljaGameFlip" on the souljaboygame Instagram account, with the artist recently posting a video explaining that the console is gaming-capable and also comes with apps. Soulja Boy can be seen in the video holding one of the consoles and saying, "Sonic, TikTok, Instagram, and everything ya need."

However, in a statement to Retro Dodo, the Retroid Team said, "I didn't know about this. This is not any kind of official licensing deal. He does not have permission to rebrand our products and sell them as his own. The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 is patented in the U.S by ourselves".

A design lead at Electronic Arts (EA) has confirmed that aim assist in Battlefield 6 will be getting nerfed, making it easier for controller users to aim.

While a "nerf" in gaming typically means something is being made worse, or at the very least reduced, in the instance of aim assist, a nerf will actually make the feature feel better to use, or at least that is according to design lead at EA, Matthew Nickerson. Some Battlefield 6 players have reported that, currently, aim assist feels "terrible" as the experience is that the player has to "fight the aim".

Nickerson wrote, "Far less stickiness, so it does not create that rotational persistence that is currently live," and there will be a "consistent slowdown, no ramp". Notably, the 25% recoil reduction isn't being touched by the developers, but players can expect some more fine-tuning in the future when the update is rolled out, altering the other aspects of aim assist.

Although most modern gaming PCs, which often feature tempered glass and panoramic views, utilize liquid cooling for the CPU, the traditional air cooler remains the go-to option for many, as it is often more affordable while still delivering excellent thermal and cooling performance.

Case in point, the new FROZN A410 TD Air Cooler from ID-COOLING features direct-touch heat pipes for maximum contact. The reinforced, 50mm-wide, black-coated aluminum fins offer improved heat dissipation with an expanded surface area, and a single high-quality AF-125-K PWN fan delivers airflow. The new ID-COOLING FROZN A410 TD supports CPUs with a TDP of up to 220W, for stable performance even under heavy loads.

It's also a stylish unit that features a top-mounted digital display, showcasing real-time CPU temperatures alongside other system information via ID-COOLING's easy-to-use app. Like all of ID-COOLING's latest coolers, it ships with an upgraded X25 mounting kit that includes a one-piece, universal bracket for AMD and Intel systems, pre-applied with FROST X45 thermal paste.

ID-COOLING's latest all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler delivers cooling performance on a budget while still offering impressive aesthetics thanks to the mix of lighting and the inclusion of a fully customizable display on the pump. The ID-COOLING FX360 LCD, also available in FX240 LCD form, includes a 240x240 resolution full-color LCD screen on the pump with an ARGB lighting ring surrounding the customizable display.

ID-COOLING's easy-to-use customization software makes setting up the display a breeze, with the option to choose from a range of different themes that showcase system information, such as CPU and GPU temperatures, as well as the ability to create your own. Plus, dynamic features like animated visuals add a personalized touch to any build.

Of course, aesthetics are just that, and performance is king. Underneath the display, you'll find the company's ceramic Gen-7 Pro Pump, featuring a maximum speed of 2900 RPM, delivering quiet, long-lasting cooling performance. ID-COOLING's design also relocates the water injection ports compared to other coolers, further reducing noise levels without compromising performance.

Nintendo has confirmed via its new financial results that the Switch 2 is outselling its predecessor, and since its release, more than 10 million units have already been sold.

According to Nintendo's quarterly and half-year financial results for 2025, which span the period from April to September, the Nintendo Switch 2 has sold 10.36 million units as of September 30, marking a sales pace that is outpacing the original Nintendo Switch, which took approximately 10 months to reach the same 10 million unit sales mark.

Additionally, the report reveals that 20.62 million software units have been sold on the Nintendo Switch 2, meaning that, on average, each Nintendo Switch 2 owner purchases two Switch 2 games digitally. More specifically, the software sales were largely made up of Mario Kart World copies, which moved as many as 9.57 million units, along with Donkey Kong Bonanza, which moved 3.49 million units between July and September.

We reviewed the Kingston Fury Renegade G5 SSD earlier this year, where it earned an Editor's Choice award for being a "single-sided masterpiece of PCIe Gen5 engineering and a gaming juggernaut." And as the company's first consumer PCIe Gen5 SSD, the company knocked it out of the park with its pairing of Silicon Motion's SM2508 controller and KIOXIA's 3,600 MT BiCS 8 flash technology.

In terms of pure performance, it hit the advertised sequential read and write speeds of 14,800 and 14,000 MB/s, respectively. And even though the PS5 console is limited to PCIe Gen4 storage, the Kingston Fury Renegade G5 SSD also delivered one of the fastest recorded speeds on the PS5 we've seen to date.

And with our review and testing focused on the Kingston Fury Renegade G5 4TB SSD, the largest capacity model available at the time, it's great to see that Kingston has just released an 8TB model. This makes it perfect for enthusiasts, creators, and gamers with large libraries.

A lawsuit filed in California District Court on Sunday alleges Spotify streaming fraud is taking place at a "mass scale," and that one artist in particular has benefited from "billions" of fake streams.

The lawsuit names rapper Eric Dwayne Collins, "RBX," the cousin of Snoop Dogg, as the lead plaintiff and Spotify as the defendant. The class-action lawsuit alleges that under Spotify's watchful eye, billions of fraudulent streams are generated from fake sources, such as bots or other illegal methods. The suit states this streaming fraud "causes massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers, and other rightsholders."

For those who don't know how Spotify pays artists on its platform, streaming royalties are paid out through what is called a "streamshare" model, which involves all subscription and ad money placed into a big pool. That money is then divided up and paid out to artists based on the total number of streams their music receives.

TINY PS5 Redux is a DIY solution that transforms a large and bulky PlayStation 5 console into a slim and compact device resembling a mini PC. Covering both the launch edition and the slimline redesign, TINY PS5 Redux is a comprehensive mod that includes guides, diagrams, 3D printer files, and detailed instructions on how to assemble your own compact PS5.

Created by Not From Concentrate (NFC), you can watch a detailed breakdown of the creation of the TINY PS5 Redux in the video below. The project wasn't undertaken to make the PS5 console smaller in size, but also to improve cooling and enhance features like WiFi and Bluetooth performance. Compared to the original TINY PS5, the Redux edition is larger, but also more premium and stylish in its overall design.

The cooling is definitely one of the more impressive aspects of the mod, as it incorporates an Alpenföhn Black Ridge CPU cooler with two slim 120mm Noctua fans, along with a heatsink panel that enhances airflow through a push-and-pull system. Cold air is pulled through the back of the system, with three additional 60mm slim Noctua fans exhausting the heat through the side of the unit.

The Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) is a Japanese anti-piracy and copyright-related organization that represents a large number of game development studios and publishers, including Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and FromSoftware - creators of some of the most influential and recognized gaming franchises. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Tekken, Pac-Man, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and more.

And on October 27, CODA submitted a written request to OpenAI regarding its Sora 2 AI video generator. "CODA has confirmed that a large portion of content produced by Sora 2 closely resembles Japanese content or images," the announcement says. "CODA has determined that this is the result of using Japanese content as machine learning data."

The organization is requesting that OpenAI respond "sincerely such that both the healthy development of AI technology and the protection of rightsholders and creators' rights are ensured."

Activision has confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 technologies to play, which isn't the case for the currently available Call of Duty titles.

In a new blog post, Activision has explained that Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) and Secure Boot will be required to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 when it launches on PC on November 11, and that previous Call of Duty titles don't have these new security requirements, but the upcoming Black Ops 7 does.

For those who don't know what these technologies are, TPM 2.0 is a dedicated microchip built onto a motherboard or CPU that provides hardware-level encryption and security functions that verify a system's firmware and operating system haven't been tampered with.

GIGABYTE has just set a new DDR5 memory OC world record using its Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE motherboard, with in-house overclocker "HiCookie" hitting 13,034 MT/s speeds.

As it stands, GIGABYTE is enjoying the top three positions for DDR5 OC memory speed records using its Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE motherboard, where it was just last month that the motherboard spilled over the 13,000 MT/s barrier, and now it's done it again with 13,034 MT/s.

GIGABYTE's in-house overclocking legend, HiCookie, is behind the feat, using an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor installed onto a Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE motherboard. The CPU had its E-Cores disabled, and was using just a single 24GB module of ADATA's XPG Lancer RGB DDR5 memory.

With the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally gaming handhelds, we got our first look at Windows 11's 'Full Screen Experience' for Xbox and PC gaming. Designed for controllers and PC gaming handhelds, it's designed to offer a "clean, distraction-free interface for handheld gaming." And now, as part of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7051, the 'Full Screen Experience' is available for MSI Claw handhelds.

The MSI Claw gaming handhelds are available in both Intel and AMD form, offering powerful portable gaming on par with the competition. As Windows 11 devices, access to the 'Full Screen Experience' should not only make it easier to navigate settings, apps, and games, but also improve performance as the mode minimizes and stops non-essential background tasks.

Enabling FSE is straightforward and can be found in Windows 11's 'Settings > Gaming' section, where you can select 'Xbox' from the 'Choose home app' drop-down menu. You can also set your handheld to boot straight into the 'Full Screen Experience' on startup. Although rolling out today on YouTube, the gaming handheld-focused creator ETA PRIME was able to test the full-screen Xbox experience on an Intel-powered MSI Claw 8 AI and found it to be a fantastic update.

A new report has revealed NVIDIA has found a new stream of income by selling its highly sought-after AI GPUs to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The report from the Financial Times states Microsoft has received regulatory government approval to send NVIDIA's AI GPUs over to the UAE, with Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, telling the publication on Monday that in September Microsoft became the "first company to receive a license under the Trump administration" to export NVIDIA's AI chips to the UAE.

The approval comes at a time when the US is defiantly against providing China with AI hardware that could give the nation a leg up in the AI race. Moreover, the approval of NVIDIA chips being exported to the UAE is being seen as critical to America's efforts to strengthen the US's alliance with the UAE and reduce China's influence in the region, according to the FT.

AMD's most recent Adrenalin Edition software release and Radeon driver for PC gamers have sparked controversy over the fact that it states all 'new game support' and day-one optimization will be limited to RDNA 3 and RDNA 4 graphics cards going forward. With RDNA 2 GPUs, such as the Radeon RX 6600, being the most popular AMD GPUs for gaming and only four years old, the move left many wondering if they were being left behind.

In one follow-up statement, AMD confirmed that RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 support was entering "maintenance mode" and would receive updates and new game support dictated by "market needs." Adding to the confusion, this response suggested that RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 GPUs would only receive 'new game support' for certain games, and not in a timely manner. This sparked even more backlash, which forced AMD to backtrack and release a full statement.

Titled 'Continued Support for Every Radeon Gamer,' AMD clarified that Radeon RX 5000 and RX 6000 series GPUs would continue to receive "game support for new releases, stability and game optimizations, and security and bug fixes," albeit on a separate driver branch to RDNA 3 and RDNA 4. AMD's reasoning is related to rolling out new Radeon features and technologies that are exclusive to GPUs, such as the Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Apple is yet to release the next generation of Siri that it marketed with the previous generation of iPhone, and now we are hearing the Cupertino company will be leaning on Google's Gemini AI model to improve the voice assistant.

Apple's next generation of Siri is meant to help the company catch up to the likes of OpenAI and other AI companies that have created products such as ChatGPT, which far exceed the capabilities of Siri. Apple has been lagging behind in the integration of AI into its products and services, and in order to catch up to its competitors, the company is looking to integrate already established models such as Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Notably, ChatGPT is already available on Apple's AI-compatible devices, but the OpenAI product isn't fully integrated into the iPhone, meaning the service isn't accessing personal user data such as contacts, messages, etc. For Apple to fulfill what it used as a selling point for the previous generation of iPhone, the selected AI will give Siri the power to access personal user data, broadening the capabilities of the voice assistant and enabling users to request much more refined information from it.

Amazon and OpenAI have just announced a new partnership, where Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be one of the primary compute providers to the AI startup, hosting NVIDIA's GB200 and GB300 AI servers.

The multi-year partnership between AWS and OpenAI will see OpenAI getting access to a pool of Amazon's NVIDIA GB200 and GB300 AI servers, in a deal worth around $38 billion, and will span 7 years. OpenAI gets access to NVIDIA GB200 and GB300 AI servers which is important, as all planned capacity is expected to be deployed for use by the end of 2026.

This means that OpenAI will have even more access to the best NVIDIA AI GPU hardware by next year, helping it continue to expand its AI operations and services. OpenAI has been signing new deals left, right, and center, including with US tech giants NVIDIA, AMD, Microsoft, Broadcom, and Oracle, and now adding Amazon to that growing list.

Apple might have just released its next-gen M5 processor inside of new MacBook Pro laptops, but the previous-gen M4 Max chip is a powerful SoC that has been benchmarked in Alan Wake 2 at 80FPS average.

Reddit user u/oyskionline has posted about using his 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the Apple M4 Max processor, which sports a 14-core CPU and 32-core GPU, where he used CrossOver to play Alan Wake 2. However, not even a year ago, this was not possible. CrossOver has had a bunch of updates and optimizations over the last year, and with Remedy already delivering Control 2 to Apple Silicon-powered Macs, Alan Wake 2 ported over is running well.

The user ran his M4 Max-powered MacBook Pro and Alan Wake 2 at an average of 80FPS using an internal resolution of 1800 x 1169, and in-game graphics settings set to High. MetalFX upscaling was used on the Balanced preset, and Frame Generation was turned on, but we're probably seeing the AMD FSR 3 Frame Generation mod being used on Alan Wake 2 and the M4 Max-powered laptop.