NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 15, 2019 10:46 PM CDT

It's virtually confirmed at this point, with NVIDIA set to launch its new GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card in the very near future with all signs pointing to well, really soon.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250

VideoCardz is back again with their sources saying that review samples are "already on their way" and they now have some confirmed detailed on the GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card. We're looking at the TU116 GPU with 1408 CUDA cores and a base clock of 1530MHz and boost GPU clock of 1785MHz.

The 6GB of GDDR6 is all but confirmed right now, offering a decent upgrade to 14Gbps on a 192-bit memory bus compared to the GTX 1660 Ti and its same 6GB of GDDR6 but with slower 12Gbps memory.

Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER rumored for October 17 and around $250 (full post)

Here's everything up for grabs in Apex Legends Halloween event

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 10:28 PM CDT

Respawn and EA are about to enjoy their first Halloween-themed event for Apex Legends, with the new Fight or Fright event kicking off and running through to November 5.

Here's everything up for grabs in Apex Legends Halloween event

There will be a new limited-time mode, and a bunch of rare, epic, and legendary cosmetic items for you to unlock. You'll get your first Fight or Fright item as soon as you boot into Apex Legends, which is the Fight or Fright Music Pack that offers a change to the main theme of the game -- but the rest can be won through playing, or throwing down real money.

You'll need to do some of Apex Legends' new limited-time challenges in order to get some of the cosmetic loot goodness, where in the new Shadowfall mode you'll drop into a solo round of a darkened Kings Canyon. Once you're in there, and then die -- you'll respawn as a zombie or member of the 'Shadow Squad'.

Continue reading: Here's everything up for grabs in Apex Legends Halloween event (full post)

XFX Radeon RX 5500 THICC II leaked with single 8-pin power connector

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 15, 2019 10:00 PM CDT

AMD announced its Radeon RX 5500 series recently, but now it appears that XFX is the first with a custom Radeon RX 5500 graphics card in the form of the new THICC II.

XFX Radeon RX 5500 THICC II leaked with single 8-pin power connector

XFX's upcoming Radeon RX 5500 THICC II should roll out with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, drops the awesome-looking grill that the Radeon RX 5700 XT THICC II Ultra sported, and uses a full-black design. It still looks great, with a black shark fin design in place of the car grill-style of the RX 5700 XT THICC II Ultra.

Interestingly, XFX is providing 2 x DVI-D ports (AMD doesn't even include a single DVI port on its RX 5500 series reference design) as well as a single DP and single HDMI connector.

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World of Tanks enCore RT demo: ray traced shadows on ALL DX11 GPUs

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 9:33 PM CDT

Remember when I reported about World of Tanks and its impending ray tracing technology on all DX11-class GPUs? Well, the new World of Tanks enCore RT demo is here for gamers to try out. Wargaming has also got a new developer diary video covering it all:

World of Tanks enCore RT demo: ray traced shadows on ALL DX11 GPUs

Wargaming worked with Intel on this new update, with the enCore RT update made through Intel's own Embree library (which is part of OneAPI) and is compatible with every single DX11-capable graphics card on the market. The developer says that the performance of enCore RT will be as good or better than the ray tracing implementations we've seen so far on GeForce RTX hardware -- but it's only ray tracing SHADOWS here, so calm your farm, Wargaming.

In an email sent out to the press, Wargaming explains: "World of Tanks enCore RT is a demo app which allows to assess the effect that the RT tech has on the game, and also to check whether your system is capable of using it correctly. As we speak, every tanker can install the demo app on their PC and grade their system's RT tech capabilities".

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Google Pixel 4 & Pixel 4 XL: 90Hz display, and oh-so-much more

Google has finally unveiled its new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones, crammed with the latest and greatest features and while the internal specs don't make the new Pixel 4 family the fastest, that has never mattered for Pixel smartphones.

Google Pixel 4 & Pixel 4 XL: 90Hz display, and oh-so-much more

Starting with the specs, Google bakes in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, 6GB of RAM, 64/128GB storage options, and all USB-C so once again no headphone jack and no microSD card slot. The bigger differences between the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are in the display sizes and resolutions, and the changes between the batteries.

Google has opted for smoother 90Hz displays on both of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones, and while the faster 90Hz refresh rate will chew down battery faster than 60Hz, you can toggle between 60/90Hz on the new handsets. As for the screen sizes, the Pixel 4 has a 5.7-inch panel while the larger Pixel 4 XL rolls out with a 6.3-inch display -- both at up to 90Hz.

Continue reading: Google Pixel 4 & Pixel 4 XL: 90Hz display, and oh-so-much more (full post)

Project xCloud: Halo 5 played on Samsung Galaxy S10 at 60FPS

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 8:42 PM CDT

Microsoft finally unleashed its Project xCloud technology into the wild in the last 24 hours, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeting in happiness: "Proud of the #ProjectxCloud team for launching the public preview - it's an exciting time at Xbox".

Project xCloud: Halo 5 played on Samsung Galaxy S10 at 60FPS

But what can you expect in the real-world from the Project xCloud beta in its current form? Well, you can stream select titles including Halo 5 which someone did on their Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphone, cranking it out at 60FPS through xCloud and streamed through Wi-Fi to their handset.

'Masterchiefin' ran Halo 5 at 60FPS on his Galaxy S10 through Project xCloud, with input lag said to be "very mild" with Masterchiefin reporting that he "adjusted fairly quick and after 10 min or so I didn't really notice it". The embedded tweet has some video that you can check out.

Continue reading: Project xCloud: Halo 5 played on Samsung Galaxy S10 at 60FPS (full post)

EVGA's new GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ULTRA+ feature overclocked GDDR6

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Oct 15, 2019 8:20 PM CDT

EVGA has just announced its new suped-up GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ULTRA+ range of graphics cards, with the 8GB of GDDR6 memory overclocked by another 10% in both its FTW3 and XC variants.

EVGA's new GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ULTRA+ feature overclocked GDDR6

This means the new EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ULTRA+ series graphics cards have their 8GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at a huge 15.5Gbps, the same frequency as the higher-end RTX 2080 SUPER graphics card. This provides 496GB/sec of memory bandwidth across the 256-bit memory bus, enough to give you another 10% (or so) performance in games (where VRAM bandwidth matters).

EVGA is the only one offering per-overclocked GDDR6 on its custom GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER graphics cards so far, with the new GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER FTW3 ULTRA+ going for $599.99 on its website, while the RTX 2070 SUPER XC ULTRA+ costs $569.99 on EVGA's website.

Continue reading: EVGA's new GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ULTRA+ feature overclocked GDDR6 (full post)

Sex robots with 'consent modules' being made for ethical sex robots

The world of sex robots is an interesting one where I've previously reported that sex robots with "coding errors" could strangle, and kill you in the act -- but now let's move into the design of "ethical" sex robots.

Sex robots with 'consent modules' being made for ethical sex robots

These ethical sex robots will have to provide their partner with consent before they have sex, with university researchers from Australia and the Netherlands seeing a future where "consent modules" will be used in sex robots. These consent modules would require the sex robot to give consent before sex.

Anco Peeters of Australia's University of Wollongong and Pim Haselager, an associate professor at The Netherlands' Radboud University recently published an article that talked about a future where "ethical" sex robots were a thing. The research article explains: "We propose that virtue ethics can be used to address ethical issues central to discussions about sex robots. In particular, we argue virtue ethics is well equipped to focus on the implications of sex robots for human moral character. Our evaluation develops in four steps".

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Matrix 4 adds Neil Patrick Harris to its cast

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Oct 15, 2019 7:30 PM CDT

The Matrix 4 will surely be one of the most-hyped movies ever, with returning franchise stars in Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss being joined by How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris.

Matrix 4 adds Neil Patrick Harris to its cast

Variety has the scoop on Harris joining The Matrix 4, with no details on what role he will have in the movie. The Matrix 4 will be directed by the Wachowskis once again, while Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell co-wrote the script with Lana Wachowski (who will be the director of The Matrix 4).

Harris has been in plenty of big movies but nothing like The Matrix franchise, with my favorite role of Harris over the years definitely being Starship Troopers. He also starred in David Fincher's Gone Girl alongside Ben Affleck in an impressive, and creepy role. This news was so awesome I had to go off and make my own meme for it.

Continue reading: Matrix 4 adds Neil Patrick Harris to its cast (full post)

Fortnite Chapter 2: New island, bandage bazooka, hideouts and more

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Oct 15, 2019 6:32 PM CDT

Following its huge cosmic apocalypse, Fortnite has been completely reset with Chapter 2.

Fortnite Chapter 2: New island, bandage bazooka, hideouts and more

Fortnite Chapter 2 is now live and the battle royale sensation is back online, bringing a bunch of new content. Chapter 2 takes place on a new island with 13 locales, all of which have different biomes. There's the tropical beach by the coast, and industrial zone to the north east, a more arid dryland in the east, and the frosty mountainous highlands to the south east.

Big additions include new vehicles like boats. Players can zoom around across waterways and rivers on battleboats, and up to four users can jump in and unleash havoc on foes on land or by sea.

Continue reading: Fortnite Chapter 2: New island, bandage bazooka, hideouts and more (full post)