Latest News - Page 2182

It seems all of AMD's upcoming products have been experiencing quite the information leak, where we have found out about Vega 20, Ryzen 2 and Ryzen 3, Raven Ridge, and now Ryzen 5 PRO Mobile.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 5 PRO Mobile product is the first Zen-based APU, which will also rock on-die Vega graphics. AMD is promising some great performance out of Ryzen 5 PRO Mobile, which will beat a Kaby Lake-based Core i5 processor, and absolutely thrashes AMD's last-gen efforts with Bristol A12.

In terms of gaming performance, we're told to believe it all from a 3DMark 11 run, with Ryzen 5 PRO Mobile equaling the Bristol A12-based APU, and really putting the boot into Intel's neck with their Kaby Lake-based Core i5. AMD has also made some hefty improvements to the power consumption, with idle power numbers that are slightly below the Core i5, and radically lower than the Bristol A12.

AMD has unleashed so much this year: Ryzen, Ryzen Threadripper, Radeon RX 500 series and Radeon RX Vega series graphics cards, as well as a slew of Vega-based workstation/AI/datacenter level cards like Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, Radeon Instinct, and more.

Looking into 2018, we have Raven Ridge: AMD's new APU that should be an impressive release thanks to its 8 x Zen CPU cores and 11 x Vega CUs. Raven Ridge was initially promised for late 2017, but with AMD having issues getting enough Vega GPUs into graphics cards, I'm sure there has been a good reason for the delay into the New Year.

AMD will be launching Raven Ridge on the AM4 socket for the desktop, while notebook designs will feature the FP5 notebook socket. Inside, they'll both feature Zen CPU cores and Vega CUs. We don't know about performance, but I'd expect 1080p 60FPS with great power efficiency... anything less would be disappointing.

AMD has disrupted the consumer CPU market this year with both Ryzen and Ryzen Threadripper, but if you thought they were a one-and-dump-it kinda company, you're dead wrong. Ryzen 2 and Ryzen 3 are on their way.

VideoCardz has posted up some information that was provided to them by Informatica Cero, which shows off the next-gen Ryzen CPUs from AMD coming through to 2019.

As you can see, we already have Summit Ridge on the market with Ryzen, but Pinnacle Ridge is around the corner. Pinnacle Ridge is based on the same Summit Ridge architecture, with additional performance (I'd say 10-20% possibly), on the same AM4 socket. From there we have Matisse, which will use Zen 2 cores on the same AM4 socket.

Halo 5 developer 343 Industries announced a few months ago now that there was an Xbox One X update coming for the first-person shooter, which will provide 4K support and more on Xbox One X.

At the time, 343 Industries didn't tell us what other Xbox One X enhancements there would be, but now we have some more information thanks to a post on Neogaf by Halo Franchise Development Director, Frank O'Connor.

O'Connor posted to the Neogaf forums saying:

After countless Australia-US trips in the last few years, there's nothing better than the thought of improved Wi-Fi on flights. This is something that Netflix is helping airlines with, to improve on-board Wi-Fi.

Netflix is offering their encoding technology that they developed for mobile devices, with airlines across the world in the hopes of building new partnerships. What benefit would there be to the airlines, exactly? Netflix says that streaming high quality video during a flight would reduce airlines' bandwidth-related costs by up to 75%... impressive.

Whichever airlines partner with Netflix would benefit by providing customers with a greatly improved in-flight media experience, especially if they can provide much faster in-flight Wi-Fi for constant connectivity to mobile devices.

Sony isn't making another PlayStation Vita handheld, says company bigwig Andrew House, and will continue its bullish focus on the PlayStation 4-centered ecosystem.

Even the Nintendo Switch's global superstar success isn't enough to convince Sony to re-enter the handheld business. The console-maker feels that traditional handhelds simply aren't a big enough market opportunity for the current games industry landscape, although handheld gaming certainly was during the Vita and 3DS' heyday (the Nintendo 3DS currently has over 67 million units sold). The Nintendo Switch, which is projected to sell more than 10 million units in its first year, is a unique strategy because it's a hybrid and not just a handheld--at least that's what Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Andrew House thinks. Maybe that's why Sony filed these patents for a transforming Vita handheld.

"The Nintendo device is a hybrid device and that's a different approach and strategy," Mr. House said in an interview with Bloomberg. Outside of Asia, where the Vita is still sold and games are still made, the Vita just isn't big enough to support. "We have not seen that as being a huge market opportunity," he said.

Nintendo is pulling another classic Nintendo move by greenlighting the release of overpriced, non-Virtual Console games on the Nintendo Switch.

I've wanted classic NES, SNES, N64 and GBA games on my Nintendo Switch for quite some time, but the company seems to adamantly refuse to bring its Virtual Console service, which sells beloved classic retro games a la carte, to its newest transforming handheld-and-console Switch platform. I've argued that Nintendo is missing out on potential millions every month Virtual Console isn't available, and that the NES and SNES Classic Edition systems are the main culprit. But now the console-maker is just adding insult to injury by greenlighting the release of expensive games that no one really asked for on the device.

Any Switch owner will have noticed the eShop's classic fare consists not of golden-age NES sidescrollers or shoot-em-ups, but of "Arcade Archives" NeoGeo games sold for $7.99 a piece. Most of these games are two-player titles. That's not a mistake. Although Nintendo says the Switch is a "home console first and foremost," they really want gamers to play with others. Fast-forwarding to today and we have a new range of games in Hamster's Arcade Archives offering, which is another series of classic games that's once again devoid of the games Switch owners like myself really want to play--Super Mario Bros 3, Chrono Trigger, the Castlevanias and Final Fantasies. In their stead we have two-player versus games that simulate old 1980s arcade cabinet experiences. That's a neat sentiment, don't get me wrong, but it's not a I'll-pay-$8-to-relive-coin-op-arcade-moments kind of sentiment (at least to me).

Global entry! We have teamed up with ADATA to give away one XPG SX950 480GB SSD and one XPG SD700X 256GB external SSD.

In total, there will be two winners. One winner taking home the 480GB SSD, and the other taking home the 256GB external drive.

How to Win

GIGABYTE have unveiled their range of new Z370 AORUS motherboards that are based on Intel's Z370 chipset. The Z370 AORUS range fully supports Intel's 8th Generation Intel Core processors and includes support for high-speed RAM up to 4400Mhz. Other features on offer include ESS Sabre DAC, Smart Fan 5 and RGB Fusion, creating the ultimate gaming motherboard range.

"Following Intel's release of the Z370 chipset platform, GIGABYTE has designed a new, groundbreaking motherboard," said Vincent Liu, Senior Associate Vice President of GIGABYTE's Motherboard Business Unit. "GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS motherboards are designed for gamers who value powerful, yet highly durable motherboards. With our new digital power design, not only will Z370 AORUS motherboards unleash the power of the 8th generation Intel Core processors' they will easily fulfill gamers' demands."

The Z370 AORUS Motherboards utilize a new VRM and PWM design, this allows for 60 amps per power phase and strengthens the signal between the processor and voltage regulator. Z370 AORUS Motherboards is also able to provide extreme video quality, 4K UHD, and uninterrupted streaming to users through the use of HDCP 2.2 Technology, a HEVC 10-bit decoder, as well as a VP9 hardware decoder.

Atari has revealed that its new nostalgia-meets-present Ataribox will indeed be a fully-fledged $250 console that runs on Linux and is powered by an AMD chip.

Note: All of the images shown here are prototype pictures. The console has yet to be finalized and won't be mass-produced until the Indiegogo campaign is successfully funded.

The Ataribox is a very, very risky move. The new console sees Atari trying to marry nostalgic arcade classics with modern video games in a set-top box that does lots of other things including web browsing, social media, apps, and streaming. Today's console gaming market is absolutely dominated by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and more recently, Nintendo (the latter of which has made an incredibly rags-to-riches leap with its new Switch hardware), and now Atari wants to carve out its own niche in the market with a re-vamped Atari machine. But the industry has changed dramatically since the 70's and 80's where Atari was all the rage--now the billion dollar games industry makes most of its revenue from software, especially on marketplaces wholly owned by the companies that sell the consoles themselves.

ENERMAX have launched their new premium ATX mid-tower silent chassis, the EQUILENCE. Thanks to the use of high density insulation foam, the EQUILENCE is able to provide unparalleled silent performance. Featuring 4mm full-view tempered glass panel, this chassis is able to house 9 fans and multi-radiator support for liquid cooling enthusiasts.

The EQUILENCE excels in regards to liquid cooling, with the capability to mount a radiator in 4 different locations (front, rear, top and side). This allows for great flexibility when building custom loops. The open layout inside the case allows for up to 9 fans to be mounted, this increases ventilation to aid cooling without the unwanted noise thanks for the EQUILENCE's high density insulation foam.

To complete the sleek appearance of the EQUILENCE, this modern silent case incorporates LED lighting surrounding the I/O and ENERMAX logo as power-on indicator on a glossy finish front panel, which perfectly blends elegant aesthetics with practicality. Allowing up to 175 mm CPU coolers, up to 420 mm video cards, and space for 2x 3.5" drives and 6x 2,5" drives, this chassis has ample room where it matters most.

I recently reported on the success that Divinity: Original Sin 2 is achieving, with 85K concurrent players post launch and even reaching 93K concurrent players yesterday on Steam alone (D:OS2 is also released on GoG). Developer Larian Studios, have recently released their first significant patch (patch 3.0.143.324) for D:OS2 that features a number of bug fixes as well as adding the promised German, French and Russian translations to the game.

Existing save files are compatible, which is expected but not always a sure thing. This patch also features a series of improvements for the game's different endings. Below is a list of improvements and changes.

To view the entire patch notes, click here.

NVIDIA has just announced that it is going all-in with AI, pushing into the world of deep neural networks (DNNs) and artificial intelligence, with a bunch of new tools and huge partnerships with some of the largest technology companies in China.

NVIDIA founder and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang took the stage as usual, saying: "At no time in the history of computing have such exciting developments been happening, and such incredible forces in computing been affecting our future. What technology increases in complexity by a factor of 350 in five years? We don't know any. What algorithm increases in complexity by a factor of 10? We don't know any. We are moving faster than Moore's Law".

Huang unveiled NVIDIA's new TensorRT 3, which is a new inferencing platform that the company claims allowed a previously-trained DNN to run in a production environment capable of going through 45,000 images per second. This is all powered by the HGX server that has 8 x Tesla V100 accelerators.

NVIDIA have released their new GeForce 385.69 WHQL drivers, just in time for the recently released of Project Cars 2 and the upcoming betas for Call of Duty: WWII and Star Wars Battlefront 2. In the upcoming weeks, we also see the releases of FIFA 18, Forza 7, Total War: Warhammer 2 and EVE: Valkyrie - Warzone, all which have day one support.

NVIDIA have also added 3D Vision profiles for numerous games and SLI support for following games:

Included in this release is a number of bug fixes listed below.

AOC have recently announced the availability of the curved AG322QCX 32" QHD gaming monitor. Featuring a 144Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time and AMD FreeSync technology, the AG322QCX is designed for competitive esports and gaming enthusiasts.

This VA panel offers vibrant colors and crystal clear image thanks to its 2560x1440 QHD screen that features a 1800R curve. The AG322QCX's curve conforms to the way the eye sees, reducing eye fatigue and providing an immersive experience. AOC partner and recent Dota 2 champions of The International 7, Team Liquid, use AOC monitors to prepare for tournaments that allows them to excel at the highest level of esports and be a step ahead of the competition.

"My Agon monitor is essential to me during practice and tournament play," said Team Liquid Dota 2 TI7 Champion, Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen. "With Dota 2 matches lasting anywhere from thirty minutes to two-and-a-half hours, using monitors with technologies that reduce eye fatigue are really important."

I think even my grandparents have heard of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the epic battle-royale shooter from Brendan 'PlayerUnknown' Greene. PUBG has continued its rise to the top with recently surpassing 1.5 million concurrent users.

As you can see from the graph above, PUBG's playerbase is rising at a rapid rate. It took 4 months for Battlegrounds to reach 500K conconcurrent players and build an established playerbase. In the previous 3 months we've seen the playerbase not only double, but triple to 1.5K concurrent players. Twitch viewers has maintained a steady viewing audience of 150-200K throughout PUBG's reign, peaking at 450K during the Gamescom Invitational 2017.

During a recent Reddit AMA, Mr. PlayerUnknown stated that he would "love" to add a single-player campaign to PUBG. Greene said: "I would love to add a single-player campaign to the game," he said. "I think the island we have could be a great location for an interesting story, but unfortunately we just don't have the time or the resources for this at the moment!"

Battlegrounds is one of the most-played PC games right now, with a new peak 1.5 million concurrent gamers playing the game at once. But what about the promised Xbox One beta?

"DOGGAVELI" tweeted out to Xbox Games Marketing boss Aaron Greenberg, asking: "do u know when the Pub beta is coming to @Xbox one", to which Greenberg replied: "We are working on that now, will share more news when we can, but we are all incredibly excited to get some Chicken Dinners on Xbox!"

PUBG has set the PC gaming community on fire, as I'm just as obsessed with it as the next person - but Xbox One gamers are going to love it when it hits consoles. I'm looking forward to seeing what Bluehole can do with the console version of PUBG, where I hope that it still looks great and runs well considering Unreal Engine 4 powers countless console games right now.

Call of Duty: WWII's upcoming beta will be unleashed on September 29 for PC gamers, with the return to the World War II setting to start pre-loading on Steam... right now.

Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software, the developers behind COD: WWII are recommending NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 as the GPU of choice for gamers running COD: WWII @ 1080p.

Call of Duty: WWII PC Open Beta Recommended Spec

Intel has been scratching to keep up with AMD all of this year, but in one area they might exceed Team Red is in making the first "self-learning" processor that is designed to learn like the human brain.

Intel is calling this new processor the "Intel Loihi test chip", something Chipzilla refers to as a "neuromorphic chip", meaning that it is designed to learn from its environment. This new self-learning processor could be used in any number of AI-intensive applications, but Intel says that it will make a huge impact in industrial automation and personal robotics.

Michael Mayberry, Managing Director of Intel Labs, wrote in a statement: "The Intel Loihi research test chip includes digital circuits that mimic the brain's basic mechanics, making machine learning faster and more efficient while requiring lower compute power. This could help computers self-organize and make decisions based on patterns and associations".

Intel pulled the NDA up on their new Core i9-7980XE processor, with our review on it right here, but now EVGA along with their resident OC champion K|NGP|N have broken 4 world records in 3DMark.

K|NGP|N used the new Core i9-7980XE and put it under LN2 cooling to reach 5.7GHz, using 4 x EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti K|NGP|N graphics cards @ 2.3GHz GPU clocks each, blowing the doors off of previous 3DMark world records.

K|NGP|N said: "Using the new Intel Core i9 7980XE CPU at over 5.7GHz on an EVGA X299 Dark and 4x EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti K|NGP|N's at over 2.3GHz, allowed me to annihilate the existing 3DMark Time Spy World Record at 37,596 points! The new Intel Core i9 7980XE CPU, EVGA X299 Dark and EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti K|NGP|N are incredible!".