ASUS has been making video cards for 20 years and is seeing fit to celebrate the milestone with a limited edition golden version of the GTX 980 Ti, pictured here.

They claim it's the fastest 980 Ti available with a base clock of 1,266Mhz and boosted clock of 1,367Mhz, offering about 21% more frames per second over the reference design. As well, it's said to be 30% cooler and three times more quiet during demanding gaming sessions, thanks to DirectCU II cooling tech, which houses a 10mm direct-GPU-contact heat pipe, a 325%-larger heat dissipation area, and two 0dB wing-blade fans. Other specs include 6GB GDDR5 VRAM, 2816 CUDA cores, 7200Mhz memory clock, and a 384-bit memory bus.

Features include a Memory Defroster for LN2 overclocking, a color-coded Load Indicator, a Safe Mode button for easy restoration of default settings, and the environmentally-friendly ASUS AUTO-EXTREME technology for higher quality parts ("Digi+ voltage-regulation modules (VRMs) with 14-phase Super Alloy Power II components - long-life capacitors, concrete-core chokes, and hardened MOSFETs") and more overclocking headroom.

I was wondering why a quick mid-afternoon game of Star Wars Battlefront quickly turned into a frustrated wait for players, rather then my quick lunch-break frag fest that it was intended to be. With this title being released only just recently, sometimes it seems neigh on impossible to get a match going unless you're playing at peak times.

At first I thought it might be just due to a low number of Australian and New Zealander players picking up the game, so I did a little investigating on the statistical side of things. What I was greeted with is what you could describe as 'poor' player numbers, seeing SWBstats report back telling me that the 24 hour peak for this brand new title sits at only 33,337 for PC.

If we compare this to a same-day comparison of another newly released game, Fallout 4, STEAM tells us that at the time of writing this article there are 174,236 players in-game, with a 24 hour peak of 229,068. Even eight-year-old Team Fortress 2 is besting Battlefront, posting up 66,444 players in the last 24 hours.

We knew it was coming before the end of the year, but it looks like AMD is preparing to launch its dual-GPU beast in the form of the Radeon R9 Fury X2, very soon.

AMD is reportedly holding a special event in December where they'll release the Fury X2, which should be an interesting card. Considering the Radeon R9 Fury X has 2 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors, the Fury X2 might use two Nano cards combined, to keep under that 300W TDP. Where is the news coming from? Well, Johan Andersson from DICE, of course.

Andersson posted to his Twitter account: "Dat feeling when your just arrived closed liquid cooling pre-release GPU turns out to not be so closed after all". If that's not proof enough, we don't have long to wait to see if AMD does indeed unveil the Radeon R9 Fury X2 next month.

Complete with "Patented Isolated Dual System Technology," Phanteks has just announced its PH-PWSPR_1P2M 'Power Splitter' through a recently issued press release.

This product allows you to power two complete systems with a single power supply, useful for applications such as test beds or PC desks - as long as your PSU can handle the stress. Compatible with mITX, uATX, ATX and E-ATX motherboards, this unit claims to protect and control the 12V/5V/3.3V/+5VSB circuit in order to ensure fully functional operation. In addition, this power splitter comes with a soft-start circuit to help reduce inrush current.

The unit comes with a 'hook and loop sticker' and Drop-N-Lock mounting for chassis installation, depending on what your model offers, with the Drop-N-Lock mounting system being suitable for select compatible Phanteks cases. If you're planning to pick up this model for yourself, Phanteks suggests you also grab some of its extension cables in order to connect the power splitter to the motherboards, seeing as your power supply-included cables will only run to the splitter itself.

Quoted as "an improved design inspired by the legendary Microsoft Intellimouse 1.1" in a recent press release, QPAD has announced its first new mouse shape in seven years, coming in the form of this DX-20 gaming mouse.

Featuring multi-surface capabilities, the peripheral manufacturer claims that its new model will work on more surfaces than most optical sensors will, utilizing improved sensor technology that so far remains unstated. Inside the shell is an ARM processor and the exterior features RGB LED lighting strips and scroll wheel, with QPAD ensuring to mention that "beneath the exterior razzle-dazzle of the LEDs is a solid, well-tuned mouse with a balanced and professional feel" - making testimony to QPAD's competitive gaming heritage.

With 128kb of on-board memory to store personal profiles and Plug & Play compatibility with any Windows PC, the DX-20 will be showcased at DreamHack and is immediate available for purchase at around $74.

Samsung has just announced that mass production has started on the industry's first "through silicon via" (TSV) DDR4 RAM in 128GB modules, with the South Korean giant aiming at the enterprise and datacenter market.

Last year, Samsung revealed the world's first 3D TSV DDR4 RAM in 64GB DIMMs, but this is a new height for DDR4. Executive Vice President of Memory Sales and Marketing for Samsung, Joo Sun Choi, explains: "We are pleased that volume production of our high speed, low-power 128GB TSV DRAM module will enable our global IT customers and partners to launch a new generation of enterprise solutions with dramatically improved efficiency and scalability for their investment. We will continue to expand our technical cooperation with global leaders in servers, consumer electronics and emerging markets, where consumers can benefit from innovative technology that enhances their productivity and the overall user experience".

The new 128GB DDR4 DIMMS feature 144 x DDR4 chips, neatly arranged into 36 x 4GB DRAM packages, each featuring 4 x 20nm-based 8Gb chips using Samsung's impressive TSV packaging technology. TSV excels as the "chip dies are ground down to a few dozen micrometers, pierced with hundreds of fine holes and vertically connected by electrodes passing through the holes, allowing for a significant boost in signal transmission". Samsung's new 128GB DDR4 DIMMS will arrive in 2667MHz and 3200MHz speeds that "that help to meet intensifying enterprise server needs, while expanding TSV applications into high bandwidth memory (HBM) and consumer products".

System Shock was one of those games that really captured me, it was an incredibly detailed and haunting game - ahead of its time. Well, Night Dive Studios is ready to take it to the next level, with a complete reimagining of the first-person shooter.

Night Dive Studios acquired the System Shock IP from the Star Insurance Company, which scooped them up from the original developer, Looking Glass Studios. Looking Glas Studios was forced to give up the System Shock assets when it closed its doors. Night Dive Studios played around with the System Shock Enhanced Edition, but now the developer is working on a total remake of the game.

Stephen Kick, CEO of Night Dive Studios, told Polygon: "We have been in contact with members of the original System Shock team and any future iterations of the System Shock games, and by this I mean both new titles in the series as well as major updates to the existing games, will be very true to the spirit of the originals". Now that excites me, greatly. Check out Polygon's article, which has a bunch of comparison screenshots between the original System Shock, and the upcoming remake.

AMD has been teasing its Zen architecture for a little while now, but the new Zen-based APUs will be packing quite the performance punch when they drop in 2017.

It's said that we're looking at Xbox One and PS4 level performance, even when the Zen APU is found inside of notebooks - and personally, I think we might see it in VR headsets, too. Another exciting part of this news is that there's a rumor that AMD is working on a Zen APU that would feature High Bandwidth Memory, or HBM.

If AMD did this, it could really begin to make a dent in CPU sales for Intel, as people could choose a semi-powerful APU with HBM over a traditional CPU from Intel and DDR4 RAM.

Google yesterday commemorated the 41st anniversary of the discovery of a particular set of fossilised bones referred to as Lucy. The skeleton in question led scientists to believe man split from ape ancestors much earlier than previously thought, adding great new depth to the theory of evolution.

Creationists -- who deny the theory of evolution in favor of religious explanations -- weren't happy about the commemoration, responding to Google's tweet about it with choices words such as "since Allah(God)and creation have much proofs than evolution,i expect to see something about it also on your homepage", "Pushing your beliefs on others are you Google? Isn't that what you godless folks object to about Christians?", and "IM NOT A F*****G MONKEY @Google MAYBE WHITE PEOPLE CAME FROM MONKEYS BUT COLORED PEOPLE BEEN NATIVE TO THIS PLANET."

Google's tweet has 705 retweets, 1,182 likes, and a seemingly endless well of replies as of press time.

Microsoft pulled the Windows 10 November update downloads over the weekend. Asked whether or not this was due to reported technical issues, a company spokesperson told us, "We look into any issues our customers report and appreciate their feedback. We don't have any further information to share today."

Despite then declaring no more manual downloads the new policy, they have now been restored, so if you want to upgrade cleanly or manually as opposed to through Windows Update, you can. Here is the official statement:

"Recently we learned of an issue that could have impacted an extremely small number of people who had already installed Windows 10 and applied the November update. Once these customers installed the November update, a few of their settings preferences may have inadvertently not been retained. For these customers, we will restore their settings over the coming days and we apologize for the inconvenience. We worked to resolve the issue as quickly as possible - it will not impact future installs of the November update, which is available today."

While the Japanese tech giant might be having troubles on other fronts, Sony is doing exceedingly well in the console gaming realm. Today the company has announced that over 30.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles have been sold across the globe, continuing the sleek rhomboid's long-running reign of dominance.

The PS4 has been a powerhouse contender for Sony's PlayStation brand, surging the company far ahead of Microsoft and Nintendo. As of November 22, 2015, the PS4 has sold more than 30 million consoles since it released in 2013, making a quite impressive rate of sales for a two-year period. Back in October we reported Sony's projections that the PS4 had sold "well over 25 million" units, and we can now confirm the company wasn't lying.

"We are sincerely grateful that gamers across the globe have continued to choose PS4 as the best place to play since launch two years ago," said Sony Computer Entertainment CEO and President Andrew House. "We are committed to bringing engaging games and entertainment services to users worldwide. Thanks to the support of our partners, PS4 continues to be the premier platform for game and interactive entertainment innovation."

Imagine a Halo game that's totally free of 343 Industries' awkward influence; no bizarre story arcs, no filler, no clunky mechanics and best of all, no terrible team AI. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it? Well it gets better: imagine all of that on PC. As Microsoft has absolutely no interest in making a new Halo game on the PC front (the "Russian-only" Halo Online doesn't officially count) and instead uses the franchise as a selling point for the Xbox One, a group of dedicated fans are making their dream Halo PC game.

The fan-made project is called Installation 01, and is being developed legally under Microsoft's Fair Use Policy. Installation 01 is being created from scratch via Unity 5.2, and the team plans to feature a unique blend of Halo CE, Halo 2 and Halo 3 features and weapons while incorporating an "intricate storyline for lore-lovers" to boot. Installation 01 will have all the modes we know and love: Campaign, Firefight (yes!), Multiplayer modes like CTF, King of the Hill and Big Team Battle, as well as Forge.

"Installation 01 is a PC-exclusive Halo game that will be 100% free-to-play. Our goal is to deliver a true Halo experience on the PC platform that will be accessible to as many people as possible," reads a description on Halo Waypoint. "The game is extremely early in development, so there aren't many details I can share with you. But you can expect me to update you along the way. A public beta is planned for the future. Date undetermined. Truthfully, this game is made FOR the fans. Our 19-man team is extremely talented and dedicated, and are making this game with a unified love of Halo."

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is getting all of the headlines lately, but remember Star Trek Beyond is coming next year - with J.J. Abrams not directing Beyond, as he did with the first two Star Trek movies, as he was in the director's chair for The Force Awakens.

Well, Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot and IMAX have just announced that a digitally re-mastered version of Star Trek Beyond will be shown on IMAX screens the day it debuts, on July 22, 2016. Both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness were released on IMAX screens, but Star Trek Into Darkness had scenes that were filmed in 3D and on IMAX cameras, with no news on whether Star Trek Beyond had scenes shot on IMAX cameras or not.

Justin Lin, fresh from directing Fast and the Furious 3-6 is behind Star Trek Beyond, where he said during his announcement on his excitement for Star Trek Beyond in IMAX: "IMAX provides a one-of-a-kind movie going experience to audiences all over the world. I am excited to bring the newest journey into the 'Star Trek' universe to its screens".

Announced in a recently issued press release, COUGAR's new 450K keyboard sits alongside the freshly-promoted 450M mouse and is compatible with the COUGAR UIX software system.

Set for release early in 2016, this hybrid mechanical switch board aims to offer users a splash-proof design and tactile feedback. While not a true mechanical, this board is released with three LED backlighting options, macros and function remapping capabilities as per all top-tier products.

The main reason this looks quite promising is because of the chunky nature of the design. Reminding us of the 'keyboards of old', COUGAR has done a good job here making a keyboard look chunky without looking like a space abomination - unlike some others. There's no massive flaps and chunks hanging off the side, there's no fake metal bolts and there's no slew of 90 macro keys. For those who like something study, simple and yet a little fancy, I'm quite interested in seeing the reviews that come out of this product, especially looking at how the keys perform when under pressure.

Riot Games isn't happy with the "toxic behavior" found in League of Legends, so for the first time ever the developer will be locking players out of the new crafting and loot system. Lead Game Designer of Social Systems for Riot, Jeffrey Lin, said to Polygon in an interview: "If you're a player who is punished for toxicity or intentional feeding or so on, you can't get loot".

The new crafting and loot system for League of Legends will roll out next year, with the loot system featuring chests and key drops when the game is finished. The keys will unlock the chests (duh) with a loot system including seven-day rentals for new characters, up to and including full character and skin unlocks. This is the first time League of legends has rewarded new character skins for free.

Lin added that Riot is still working on the "details on the point at which a player's account will be cut off, he confirmed that players who are consistently tagged for negative behavior will not get any drops. Likewise, they will not be able to use crafting, where undesired drops can be traded in for something else", reports Polygon.

Released alongside a short press release, Electronic Arts has announced its latest app venture in the form of an Apple and Android compatible smartphone game called Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

This game urges users to "collect iconic characters from every corner of the Star Wars universe, build powerful teams, and craft cunning strategies to battle through memorable locations," being released as a free-to-play game through Google Play and the Apple App Store. With squads available for both light and dark sides of the force, Galaxy of Heroes has been produced by Capital Games. There's also a seemingly strong focus on strategy, with the press release further mentioning that each custom team can be constantly upgraded with new gear and loot won through battles.

As this is a free-to-play game, there must be some way for the companies involved to make a return, but that hasn't been highlighted just yet.

While $50 million in pre-sale tickets have been sold for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney is downplaying some of the estimates of the domestic opening of the movie - with some estimates seeing the movie hitting $300 million.

Disney is predicting around $170 million for the opening weekend, with other estimates having it open to somewhere between $185 million and $210 million. The biggest December opener in the United States until now is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which pulled in $85 million, less than half of the lower estimates for The Force Awakens.

But, The Force Awakens is now going to be fighting huge openings like Jurassic World, which stomped away with $208.8 million.

Most people have had those days when they just don't want to go to work, but Aaron O'Neill took it a step too far by asking his friend to call in a bomb threat at his work, so he wouldn't have to slump into his job as a sub-contractor at Intel after a big night of drinking and recreational drugs.

O'Neill paid his friend Colin Hammond to call in a hoax bomb threat to Intel, which ended up with a motorway being shut down, disrupting air traffic control and stopped some 4000 employees at Intel from having to go to work. Intel reportedly lost around 6000 hours of production in a "conservative estimate" according to Garda Eamonn McFadden.

Hammond called the authorities, saying that there were bombs located at Intel that would explode in 12 hours. Hammond told emergency services: "You will not find them. This is a warning, we're everywhere now". When asked who was making the call, Hammond stepped over a big line by saying he was a part of the terror cell "Islamic State".

With Disney looking beyond the eagerly awaited Star Wars sequel 'The Force Awakens', they've just dropped the new trailer for the first Marvel release of 2016 - 'Captain America: Civil War'.

Returning Chris Evans as Captain America as well as 'Avengers' cast members Robert Downey, Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Anthony Mackie, the plot of the film has Cap going head to head with Iron Man.

'Captain America: Civil War' hits 3D and 2D cinemas worldwide in May 2016.

Brandishing 768 CUDA cores and 2GB of GDDR5 memory, BIOSTAR's GeForce GAMING GTX 950 is set up for DirectX 12 and 1080p gaming. With further support for NVIDIA PhysX and DSR technology, this new card will set users back only $199 off the shelf.

Outputs on this new product include four monitor support through dual-DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI, with NVIDIA-exclusive features on offer to improve user experience, including GeForce Experience, Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR), Multi-Frame SuperSampling, native PhysX acceleration and more.

Branded as DirectX 12 ready, this video card features an LED illuminated BIOSTAR logo with it's own 'Warship design'. More information can be found on BIOSTAR's GeForce GTX 950 here.