Latest News - Page 39

Halo Reach's legendary space combat mission was directly inspired by a curious Halo 3 beta player who flew a banshee out of one of the maps...and Bungie had originally planned to release two space combat segments in the game.

New details about Halo Reach's development have surfaced thanks to an interesting interview between original Halo Reach's lead mission designer, Niles Sankey, and MintBlitz. The hour-long interview goes over many topics, including the design of Reach's famous Long Night of Solace campaign level where players blast off and take controls of a high-powered UNSC starship.

According to Sankey, the space mission itself was inspired by a Halo 3 beta player who flew a banshee up into orbit. The devs were surprised that this worked so seamlessly and decided to make it a set piece for Reach. Sankey also reveals that Bungie had originally planned to have two space combat sections in Reach's dramatic campaign, but one of them--a part that would have taken place during an explosive final level--was scrapped due to time and budget.

At Computex 2026, AMD announced its new AMD EXPO Ultra Low Latency (ULL) technology for automated DDR5 memory overclocking that it says is specifically designed to boost gaming performance. Although AMD says that gamers leveraging EXPO Ultra Low Latency can expect to see a 4% increase in FPS compared to non-AMD EXPO ULL memory, in the era of "every frame matters," it's still enough to make an impact, as there's also an improvement to the all-important 1% lows.

Yes, as noted above about non-AMD EXPO ULL-compatible memory, to take advantage of the new technology, you will need to use compatible memory kits. The good news on that front is that AMD EXPO ULL memory kits will be available starting this month, in June 2026, from its certified memory partners, including G.SKILL, Kingston, KLEVV, Lexar, TeamGroup, V-Color, and XPG.

Digging a little deeper into the expected performance gains, AMD notes that when compared to standard JEDEC non-overclocked memory, you can expect a 13% improvement to the average FPS, and a 4% improvement to the average FPS when compared to standard AMD EXPO memory. And it's a similar situation with the 1% numbers, with AMD confirming it obtained its figures by benchmarking 30+ games on a Ryzen 7 9700X CPU.

"It's about long-term value, platform stability, and giving builders confidence in their investment, a platform that grows with you over time," AMD tells us during its Computex 2026 pre-brief. "Today, we are announcing continuous support through 2029 on Socket AM5. Our commitment to longevity when choosing AMD."

Previously, AMD said that it would support AM5 through 2027 when it debuted the new socket back in 2022, so adding a couple of years makes sense when you factor in that the upcoming, and still mostly rumored, Zen 6 Ryzen architecture will arrive sometime later this year or potentially early 2027.

Although AMD didn't give us any official confirmation on what support through 2029 means regarding specific next-gen Ryzen products outside of a catch-all "new product and architectures," it would include AMD's next-generation desktop Zen 6 processors (codenamed "Olympic Ridge"), rumored to be built on TSMC's 2nm process. And with that, pushing support through to 2029 could even extend to Zen 7.

AMD launched FSR 4 alongside its latest RDNA 4-powered Radeon RX 9000 Series GPUs last year. It was a major milestone for AMD's upscaling, or Super Resolution, technology, as it shifted to an AI-powered approach that delivered a massive improvement in image quality over FSR 3, especially when gaming at lower-than-4K resolutions. So much so that it finally brought FSR to the level where it could be compared to NVIDIA's DLSS and be seen as a viable alternative.

The only downside was that it was exclusive to AMD's new RDNA 4 generation of desktop graphics cards, led by the flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, and supported in only 30 games. Like NVIDIA's DLSS 4, FSR 4 was available via a Radeon driver override feature, but because it required one of the most recent versions of FSR 3 to be natively integrated into a game, the impressive FSR 4 needed time to mature and grow.

Fast-forward to Computex 2026, and AMD has confirmed that AMD's FSR 4 and other FSR neural rendering technologies are now available in over 300 games. A massive increase over the 30 titles at launch, with the biggest jump occurring in Q4 of 2026, where the list of compatible games increases from 85 to 200.

There's no denying that AMD's Ryzen processors with X3D technology, or 3D V-Cache, have been a game-changer for the PC gaming community. Having that stacked and increased cache capacity translates to notable improvements in gaming performance, and for gamers on the AM5 platform, the company is set to launch the new AMD Ryzen 7 7700X3D processor on July 16, 2026, with an MSRP or SEP of $329 USD.

Formally announced at Computex 2026, AMD notes that this CPU is purpose-built for gamers looking to "step into the AM5 platform" with the promise of long-term longevity thanks to AM5 socket support extending through 2029, covering next-gen Ryzen CPUs and motherboards.

The Ryzen 7 7700X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a 4.5 GHz Boost Clock, 105 MB of 3D V-Cache, and a 120W TDP. Powered by AMD's Zen 4 architecture, it can be viewed as a slightly cut-down version of the popular Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which was the successor to the very first X3D gaming CPU, the iconic Ryzen 7 5800 X3D.

AMD introduced the Radeon RX 9070 GRE GPU, or Golden Radeon Edition, last year as a China-exclusive. Utilizing the same Navi 48 GPU as the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT, albeit in a cut-down form with 12GB of GDDR6 memory instead of 16GB, it was positioned as a more affordable entry point to 1440p gaming, leveraging the company's latest RDNA 4 architecture. Cut to June 1, 2026, and the Radeon RX 9070 GRE is getting a global release with an MSRP of $549 USD.

The announcement and launch arrive alongside AMD's Computex 2026 announcements, coming at a time when we weren't expecting any new GPU releases due to the current memory, chip, and storage crisis. In fact, the current market reality means that it replaces the baseline Radeon RX 9070 16GB GPU at the $549 price point, which is seeing its official MSRP increase to $619 USD. Based on current GPU pricing, the $549 Radeon RX 9070 GRE makes the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB its closest GeForce competitor, not the GeForce RTX 5070.

And with that context, AMD notes that the Radeon RX 9070 GRE, a GPU built for 1440p gaming, is 22% faster than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at this resolution across 40 titles, with and without ray tracing. This is something we've been able to confirm as we're publishing two Radeon RX 9070 GRE reviews today, providing a detailed look at its performance and features across two models from AMD partners ASRock and Sapphire. Plus, our reviews highlight how the new FSR 4 and FSR 4.1 add even more value to the GPU thanks to its fantastic image quality at 1440p and 'free' performance boost.

AMD's AM4 socket is celebrating 10 years, during which it has supported five generations of Ryzen CPUs, covering over 125 processors and over 500 motherboards. And even though AM5 is well and truly here with the same long-term commitment, the appetite for AM4 is currently seeing a resurgence due to the affordability that comes from upgrading older hardware and the fact that DDR4 memory and AM4 motherboards present a more value-focused option for PC gamers looking to upgrade their gaming performance or put together a new rig on a budget.

And with that, AMD has formally announced that it is re-releasing the undisputed AM4 gaming champ, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 10th Anniversary Edition, on June 25, starting at $349 USD. "One of the defining strengths of AM4 has always been its ability to deliver meaningful performance gains without requiring a full system rebuild," AMD told us during a Computex 2026 pre-brief. "The 5800X3D drops into supported AM4 motherboards so gamers can unlock a new level of performance while keeping their existing system."

For a lot of gamers, this will open the door to picking up a modern high-end GPU and ensure their CPU doesn't bottleneck its performance. To add a little context, gamers upgrading from an existing AM4-compatible CPU like the Ryzen 7 2700X will see performance increase by more than 2X, while Ryzen 7 3700X owners will see their games run more than 40% faster. And compared to its flagship competition from that era, such as the Intel Core i9 14900K, it is around 10% faster.

Apple's entry into the smart glasses market has hit another speed bump. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's smart glasses, internally codenamed N50, have been pushed back to a late 2027 launch. The glasses were originally set to be revealed by the end of 2026, with shipments beginning in early 2027, but development delays have pushed that timeline back by roughly a year.

The delay means Apple will enter a market in which Meta has been building momentum for several years. Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which the company recently expanded with two new AI models for prescription wearers, have seen sales triple in 2025 over the previous year. Apple is clearly taking its time to ensure it enters the space with a product worth buying rather than rushing a half-finished wearable to market.

Gurman reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook views the N50 glasses as his top priority before handing the reins to incoming CEO John Ternus on September 1. Ternus has been leading Apple's Vision Products Group for the past two years, making him a natural fit to carry the project forward.

Gaming desktops have been getting faster, cooler, and more RGB-laden every year. MSI is now taking things a step further by bringing AI out of chat and image generation and into PCs themselves. The MEG Vision X2 AI+ is MSI's new flagship gaming desktop, and its most talked-about feature has nothing to do with its processor or GPU.

The desktop's headline feature is the AI Holostage, a cylindrical display built directly into the chassis that gives digital companions, desktop pets, and custom third-party AI avatars a visible physical presence on your desk. Out of the box, the system includes MSI's own AI companion, LuckyClaw.

According to MSI, LuckyClaw will respond to natural voice commands, allowing users to control performance profiles, display settings, and RGB lighting hands-free. MSI also says more features will be added through future software updates. In simple terms, LuckyClaw is designed to make system tweaking and tuning easier, with an AI agent ready to assist whenever needed.

After the Steam Controller, Valve's next hardware, the Steam Machine, appears to be nearing launch. Hardware insider Brad Lynch has spotted that Valve quietly added the Steam Machine Welcome Tour to Steam's backend, including setup assets and welcome images that users will likely see when setting up the device for the first time.

For context, the Welcome Tour is the interactive guide that greets users when they boot up a new piece of Valve hardware for the first time, walking them through the basics before they jump in. Seeing these files arrive in the live backend means Valve has moved well past internal testing and is actively preparing the platform for public consumer setups.

Interestingly, this pattern closely matches Valve's timeline with the Steam Controller. Lynch says a similar Welcome Tour surfaced in Steam's backend roughly 25 days before Valve announced pricing and availability, and just over a month before the controller actually launched. If Valve is following a similar playbook this time, a Steam Machine announcement could be only weeks away, potentially setting the stage for an early July release.

CD Projekt Red has revealed that The Witcher 4 currently has 513 developers actively working on it, which is more than double the size of the team that built The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back in 2015. The figure came out of CDPR's Q1 2026 earnings call, where joint CEO Michał Nowakowski provided an update on the studio's current project allocation.

For reference, The Witcher 3 was built by roughly 240 developers, and the game has now sold over 65 million copies globally, a milestone Nowakowski also highlighted during the call. That kind of legacy sets the bar extremely high for The Witcher 4, and the large developer headcount tells us just how seriously CDPR is taking the project.

It is also worth noting that Cyberpunk 2077's team peaked at a similar number during its development, a production that ended in a notoriously troubled launch. As we have previously covered, CDPR has been vocal about not repeating the same mistakes with its upcoming titles. Cyberpunk 2, which is also currently in development, saw its team grow slightly this past quarter.

NVIDIA's upcoming N1 and N1X chips have been the subject of speculation for quite some time now, and we are getting closer and closer to a full reveal. The N1X, in particular, is expected to be NVIDIA's flagship Arm-based SoC for Windows laptops, combining Arm CPU cores with a Blackwell-generation integrated GPU. The standard N1 is a more affordable, cut-down version of the same chip.

Recently, NVIDIA and Microsoft both posted identical "new era of PC" teasers on their social media channels, with Arm following suit shortly after. The coordinated campaign all but confirmed that a major Windows on Arm announcement was imminent. The official reveal is expected on June 1 at Computex 2026, where NVIDIA is widely anticipated to take the wraps off the N1 family in full.

Now, retailer listings spotted by German tech outlet WinFuture have revealed that the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 is being prepared in two N1X-based configurations: one with a chip called the N1X 650, and another with the N1X 675. The two variants are thought to differ primarily in clock speeds rather than core configuration. It is worth noting that the standard N1 will also reportedly feature in a lower-priced Yoga Pro 7 variant, sitting below the N1X models in the lineup.

Acer has officially entered the smart glasses market with two new devices unveiled at Computex 2026. Introducing the AR Vision GR0 and GI0 AI glasses.

The key difference between these two new products is that the GR100F is for viewing content through AR-style display glasses, think of it as a wearable external monitor, while the GI100 is more like Meta Ray-Ban-style AI glasses.

Let's start with the GR0 model GR100F. This external display features dual micro-OLED 1080p screens that enable a 172-inch display to be projected 6 meters from the viewer.

Intel's Core 300 "Wildcat Lake" series has been making its way onto PassMark over the past few weeks, and now the entry-level Core 3 305 has joined the party. Wildcat Lake was officially launched by Intel earlier this year as the Core Series 3 family, a budget-focused mobile platform sitting below the Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake" chips in Intel's lineup. Built on the Intel 18A node, it targets thin-and-light laptops and edge AI devices.

The Core 3 305 is one of the lower-end SKUs in the Wildcat Lake family. It is a 6-core, 6-thread chip with 2 "Cougar Cove" P-cores and 4 "Darkmont" LPE cores, no traditional E-cores, and a single Xe3 graphics core. The higher-end Core 5 and Core 7 SKUs instead get two Xe3 cores. It has 6 MB of L3 cache and operates within the same 15W/35W power envelope as the rest of the Wildcat Lake lineup.

On PassMark, the Core 3 305 posted a multi-threaded CPU Mark score of 15154 and a single-threaded score of 4011, based on a single submitted baseline from May 27, 2026. Keep in mind that with only one sample, the margin for error is high, so these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt for now.

Acer has revealed a 1000Hz gaming monitor at Computex 2026, aimed squarely at the most demanding esports players, particularly Counter-Strike players.

The new monitor, part of Acer's Nitro lineup, is built for both competitive and casual gaming, with the XV273U F5 offering a QHD resolution mode at a 540Hz base refresh rate and a 1080p mode that boosts the refresh rate to 1000Hz. Yes, 1000Hz. There are only a few competitive games that are capable of reaching 1000FPS in-game, and the first that comes to mind is Counter-Strike. I believe this monitor is solely aimed at Counter-Strike and Valorant players.

The 1000Hz model is a bold step forward in the race for speed in the gaming monitor market. While previous 600Hz and 480Hz models were already pushing the limits, Acer is now setting the bar even higher. With the introduction of a 1000Hz IPS gaming monitor and the unveiling of a 4K 360Hz gaming monitor from MS, we can see a broader trend in the PC gaming industry toward aggressive specs, especially for esports titles.

Although keyboards built for competitive gaming are something we always check out at Computex 2026, they're not exactly the sort of devices that immediately grab your attention. Like, say, compared to Acer's new flagship Predator Atlas 8 gaming handheld. At Acer's showcase this year, however, the company's new Predator Aethon 750 TKL keyboard did manage to do that (after going hands-on with the Atlas 8), thanks to its stylish, compact TKL design.

However, one feature of this magnetic keyboard was very cool to see. Magnetic switches have been making waves in the PC gaming space of late, thanks to their ability to customize the actuation point of each key/switch, which opens the door to dual-action functionality and to take advantage of PC gaming features like Rapid Trigger.

The new Predator Aethon 750 TKL keyboard features custom in-house Predator Magnetic Switches designed for competitive gamers, with the ability to adjust the actuation point by 0.1mm increments, anywhere between 0.1mm and 3.0mm. The cool feature that adds immediate access to this feature can be found next to the volume roller, and that's three dedicated keys/buttons that let you switch between three different actuation point modes on-the-fly. Basically, with these dedicated buttons, you can switch between productivity and competitive gaming modes instantly.

Acer is stepping out of traditional gaming displays with a new offering unveiled at Computex 2026. Introducing the immersive Predator XB273K 3D monitor, a 27-inch 4K display that uses AI to convert 2D content into 3D visuals in real time.

Before we get into my personal experience with the Predator XB273K 3D, it features a 180Hz refresh rate, 4K (UHD) resolution, and support for both AMD FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA G-SYNC to reduce any screen tearing. It also introduces 3D eye-tracking and an onboard AI model that transforms standard 2D games into immersive 3D experiences, all managed through the new SpatialLabs 3D Hub app.

This launch marks a bold step in the evolution of gaming displays, as Acer aims to make 3D gaming more accessible without requiring game developers to produce native 3D content. The monitor's 95% DCI-P3 color gamut and 1.07 billion color support ensure vivid visuals, while a 400-nit brightness and 100,000,000:1 contrast ratio deliver deep blacks.

Acer's new Predator Helios 18 AI gaming laptop is a beast; it's the company's latest flagship, and it pairs the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU. Acer notes that it's "purpose-built for enthusiast gamers and esports competitors in need of top-tier performance."

And with its massive 18-inch Mini LED WQUXGA display, featuring an impressive peak brightness of 1000 nits in HDR mode and Calman Verified 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy, it's a full desktop replacement. The display is also a rarity in the gaming laptop space, as it's Dual Mode, meaning it can switch between 4K 120 Hz and Full HD 240 Hz for ultra-smooth motion clarity when playing competitive games.

Acer's clearly gone all out here, as it can be configured to include as much as 256GB of memory and 6TB of internal SSD storage, specs that we'd be scared to see what that would do to the price. At Computex 2026, we got to go hands-on with the laptop in an isolated sound booth, and yeah, it's an impressive laptop - albeit not something you'd call lightweight or portable. Translation: it's a flagship gaming laptop.

MSI has unveiled the world's first 27-inch WQHD gaming monitor featuring 5-layer QD-OLED technology, and it's being showcased at Computex 2026 in Taipei.

The monitor, named MAG OLED 271QPX32, features Samsung's proprietary Penta Tandem pixel technology, designed to address brightness challenges associated with higher pixel density in high-resolution panels. The display was showcased alongside an LCD monitor to highlight performance differences in real time.

With a focus on high refresh rates and reduced input lag, the 271QPX32 is engineered to meet the demands of high-end gamers while advancing QD-OLED pixel technology. The advanced 4th-generation QD-OLED panel, paired with Penta Tandem technology, delivers significant improvements in brightness, efficiency, HDR performance, and panel lifespan.

The last couple of years have seen the arrival of several PC handhelds, from Linux- and SteamOS-powered models to Windows 11-based devices, all built for portable, on-the-go gaming. With the majority of these devices sporting AMD hardware and delivering similar results, the upcoming launch of Acer's new Predator Atlas 8 is a little different: its flagship model is powered by Intel's brand-new Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor. And it's a game-changer for performance.

At Computex 2026, we spent considerable time benchmarking the Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor with its powerful integrated Intel Arc B390 graphics in Forza Horizon 6 on Acer's new Predator Atlas 8 gaming handheld, which is set to launch in October 2026. Right off the bat, the performance is a game-changer, with the game running smoothly on the handheld's 1920 x 1200 resolution 120 Hz display without any upscaling. And that's with Medium and High graphics settings.

Of course, Forza Horizon 6 is an exceptionally well-optimized PC game, but the performance here paints the picture of the Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor becoming the PC gaming handheld champ when it hits retail shelves. With Medium settings and no ray tracing, we got an average of 56 FPS in the game's internal benchmark mode, which dropped to 48 FPS when the graphics preset was increased to High. Turn on XeSS 3's AI-powered Super Resolution with the Quality preset, and the Medium performance setting increases to a smooth 60 FPS with minimal impact on image quality.