Latest News - Page 400

PassMark has made an interesting observation about CPU performance in that in 2025, it's now heading downwards - for the first time ever possibly, or certainly in a long time - based on the firm's benchmark database.

As you can see in the above post on X, processor performance over the years - based on an average CPU mark (multi-threaded testing, on both desktops and laptops) - shows that there's a dip in this initial period of 2025 (representing January, and part of February).

Why might that be? PassMark guesses that maybe folks are buying cheaper hardware in the main (with slower processors), or that the root cause could be on the software front - either a greater prevalence of bloatware, or even the effect of 'Windows 11 versus Windows 10' (and presumably a decline due to the former).

It wasn't too long ago we heard about the new Windows 11 debloat tool designed to gut the operating system of any unnecessary Microsoft clutter in just two clicks. That tool is now available to download.

Those who have experienced it know exactly what it feels like to do a fresh install of Windows 11 and have to spend a considerable amount of time uninstalling Microsoft's unnecessary programs that come baked in with Windows 11. In some instances - looking at you Edge and OneDrive - simply uninstalling the program can be quite difficult. What if you could do that all that and more in just two clicks? Well, a team of developers who were frustrated with the Windows 11 bloatware built a new tool called Talon, designed to streamline the removal process.

For those who are already thinking about security concerns for your machine, firstly, good thinking. Second, Talon has been made open source, and its entire code can be viewed here. I got into contact with the development team about Talon and asked a few general questions about the software and how it can benefit both the casual Windows users and also someone who is more technically inclined. While the questions/answers below provide some great information, I do advise watching the above video for a full breakdown of the tool by the developers themselves.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a new ultra-thin iPhone model that will lack some of the high-end features seen in other models but concentrate purely on aesthetics.

We have been hearing about the rumored iPhone 17 Air for quite some time, with analyst Jeff Pu saying back in August that if Apple were to release a new iPhone variant, it wouldn't be focussed on performance at all but instead visuals, with the main attraction being the thickness of the device. More rumors about the elusive device slated its thickness to be 6mm, which, when compared to Apple's latest iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max at 8.25mm, makes for a stark difference that only can result in praises for Apple's engineering team (depending on the concessions made to achieve this thickness).

The rumors continued, and we began hearing about potential specifications for this iPhone 17 Air, and according to reports, a 6.6-inch display paired with an Apple A19 processor made on TSMC's current 3nm process is what is in the works. Moreover, Pu stated in October the device will feature an aluminum frame, presumably with the titanium coating as seen on the current iPhone line-up, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, and a 24-megapixel front camera. Furthermore, the device would come with support for Apple Intelligence, which means at least 8GB of RAM.

NVIDIA's cloud gaming platform GeForce NOW is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, it's partnering with Warner Bros. Games to bring the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite Batman: Arkham series to the cloud. This includes the Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition, Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, and Batman: Arkham Knight Premium.

These are all enhanced versions of the games, three titles widely regarded as classics in the PC gaming community. The Arkham trilogy follows the story of Batman taking on various DC Super-Villains. GeForce NOW Ultimate members will be able to experience these titles running in 4K at 120 FPS with G-SYNC support on everything from a PC to a laptop or a big-screen TV.

The Batman: Arkham trilogy games are classics, but this week, GeForce NOW is also getting something brand-new in the form of Sid Meier's Civilization VII, which will be playable via the cloud for those looking to run their very own empire. Plus, Legacy: Steel & Sorcery - a new PVPVE RPG from former World of Warcraft developers.

Meta recently announced two new breakthroughs from their global research labs. The first highlights that Meta successfully developed a model that can successfully convert brain signals into text. The second reveals how the brain transforms thoughts into words, offering new insights into language processing and AI development.

The first paper refers to an AI model that can decode up to 80% of typed sentences solely from brain activity. The model utilizes noninvasive MEG and EEG recordings, essentially sparing the need to conduct surgical procedures. It presents a few potential benefits, for example, the ability to establish brain-computer interfaces for those who have lost speech and clinical use for brain injury patients.

While the advancement is impressive, researchers are still encountering challenges with accuracy. While the AI can decode up to 80% of characters, errors still occur, making full, reliable communication difficult. It also requires stillness and a magnetically shielded room, which poses issues for practicality. So don't worry - you won't need to build a Magneto-style thought shielding helmet any time soon. It's also unclear how well this would work for patients with brain injuries and disorders.

OLED gaming monitors are undoubtedly the best gaming monitors available on the market right now, and GameMax has now unveiled a 32-inch 240Hz variant that could be worth adding to your shortlist of potential upgrades.

The GameMax Vision GMX32UCDM sports Samsung's 3rd generation QD-OLED panel, meaning the display will feature vivid, bright colors, and an infinite contrast ratio that will create a stunning picture. It's hard to go wrong with any QD-OLED panel, especially if it features Samsung's second-generation QD-OLED panel and above. Moreover, the GMX32UCDM comes with a 240Hz refresh rate for titles that benefit from a high refresh rate - think competitive shooters. Additionally, the 0.1ms (GtG) response time will give you that edge in first-person-shooter titles.

GameMax is typically known for its cases and power supplies, and this is the company's first step inot the high-end display market. The GMX32UCDM has also been designed for gamers and content creators alike with its factory-calibrated Delta E < 2 color accuracy and 99% DCI-P3 coverage. Furthermore, the GMX32UCDM comes with a 90W USB-C charging port and a built-in headset stand. For those wondering about potential burn-in problems with the QD-OLED panel, GameMax has whacked an 18-month warranty on the GMX32UCDM.

Tiktok's parent company, ByteDance, has released another AI text-to-video model. The project, entitled Goku, allows users to convert text into hyper-realistic ad videos, many of which draw clear inspiration from the real-life reels we see on social media.

The project's GitHub page showcases examples of the tool in action, ranging from landscape demos to portrait videos to marketing footage. Some of the most jarring examples are the ones that look the simplest: people eating food, unboxing products, or doing their makeup. While you can still notice that uncanny AI feeling to many of them, the gap is beginning to close on being able to differentiate AI content from real ones.

The Goku model is a 'flow-based video generative foundation model' jointly developed by the University of Hong Kong and ByteDance. Released in February 2025, industry insiders believe that the newest model 'significantly improved' the visuals' consistency, controllability, and richness. The model is based on the 'rectified flow transformer architecture' and can generate images and videos with simple text prompts.

Sony has just wrapped up the PlayStation State of Play event, where the publisher showcased a selection of titles - some of which come out later this year, and others have dates to be announced.

Below, you will find a full list of all of the announcements at State of Play, a short description of each of the titles, a release date if it has one, and a trailer for the content. Which were your favorite unveiling?

The latest sequel in the Borderlands franchise has received a release date trailer, where it's revealed the title will become available on September 23, 2025.

During Wednesday's PlayStation State of Play, Sony announced that Day's Gone, the survival action thriller released in 2016, would receive a remastered release dropping April 25, 2025.

Early reactions to the project are lukewarm. A video posted by Cycu1 on YouTube provided a side-by-side graphics comparison of the two titles, comparing footage from the original's PC version with trailer footage of Days Gone Remastered (running on the PS5 Pro).

As you can see in the video, it isn't easy to differentiate the two. The textures, lighting, and shadows appear largely the same. The original PC version even outperforms PS5 Pro in some areas. It's important to preface that the PC footage runs on an NVIDIA RTX 4080, quite a step up from the hardware that powers the PS5. Despite this, it's somewhat concerning that a remaster of a 6-year-old title is still being outperformed by its original counterpart.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, from acclaimed developer Machine Games (Wolfenstein) and Bethesda, is one of the best games of 2024 and the best looking. With Full Ray Tracing enabled on PC, you're presented with absolutely stunning environments to explore as one of cinema's most iconic characters. Running on a version of id Tech, it's also one of the best performing Full Ray Tracing or Path Tracing games currently available.

Next week, the game is set to get a massive update to its visuals thanks to a new patch that will add DLSS 4 support, including the new Transformer AI model for Super Resolution, DLAA, and Ray Reconstruction. These technologies have been game changers for titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 and will undoubtedly level up the visuals in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, too.

"Using DLSS Ray Reconstruction, surface detail is improved, shadows are more precise, lighting is enhanced, and reflections more accurate," NVIDIA writes. "Even in darker scenes, temples, and forests, DLSS Ray Reconstruction adds an extra level of refinement to the image."

GeForce Game Ready Driver 572.42 has been released, and it includes day one support for Obsidian's (Fallout New Vegas, The Outer Worlds) latest RPG - Avowed. The game supports cutting-edge ray-tracing effects alongside DLSS Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, and NVIDIA Reflex. DLSS 4 support is available on Steam via the NVIDIA App's DLSS Override feature.

This includes the new Multi Frame Generation technology to boost smoothness and maximize your display's refresh rate. NVIDIA has released some Avowed benchmarks showcasing the expected 4K performance. In 4K with DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, the GeForce RTX 5090 hits an impressive 343.9 FPS, with the GeForce RTX 5080 hitting 259.3 FPS. This is with Ray Tracing, Max Settings, and the new DLSS 4 Transformer AI model.

Interestingly, looking at 1440p performance, it seems like Avowed is going to be a well-optimized game, as the GeForce RTX 5080 and the GeForce RTX 5090 can both hit 100+ FPS with Full Ray Tracing at Max Settings without DLSS. Even the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER hits 66 FPS at 1440p without DLSS - which is always great.

NVIDIA has confirmed the launch dates for the GeForce RTX 5070 Series of RTX Blackwell gaming GPUs. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti will debut on February 20th, starting from $749 USD, and the GeForce RTX 5070 will launch on March 5th, starting from $549 USD. These are the next two mid-range and enthusiast models, following the GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 launches at the end of January.

The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the first to arrive on the scene, the successor to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - with a cutdown version of the GB203 chip of the GeForce RTX 5080. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti won't be getting a Founders Edition model, so NVIDIA's partners like ASUS, MSI, and GIGABYTE will offer MSRP models in addition to OC variants.

The GeForce RTX 5070 will launch with a Founders Edition model at a lower price than the previous generation's GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 SUPER models. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti will ship with 16GB of fast GDDR7 memory, and the GeForce RTX 5070 will ship with 12GB of GDDR7 memory.

Following the release of the latest Captain America MCU skin based on Avengers: Infinity War (2018), players have been quick to notice a particular design choice left in by the developers.

In Avengers: Endgame (2019), the culmination of nearly 15 years of comic book world-building, Paul Rudd's Scott Lang delivers a joke in the third act that got a big laugh from audiences:

Samsung is reportedly working on redesigning its 6th-generation 1c DRAM to improve yield rates, in order to catch up

with its next-generation HBM4 process.

Samsung considering tweaking its 1c DRAM process is a key factor in the success of its next-gen HBM4, with a new piece from ZDNet Korea reporting that the South Korean memory giant is looking at designs for its cutting-edge DRAM processes, something it has been doing since 2H 2024, and that the company has redesigned its high-end 1c DRAM to sure its next-gen HBM processes are adopted into the AI industry, unlike its HBM3 memory being denied by NVIDIA.

Ubisoft's efforts to bolster Star Wars Outlaws sales haven't gone according to plan, the publisher says.

Despite steep discounts during the holidays, a release on Steam, and new content updates, Star Wars Outlaws still failed to meet Ubisoft's expectations. The news was confirmed during Ubisoft's latest Q3FY25 earnings call--but the company isn't giving up on Outlaws.

Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet is optimistic that Star Wars Outlaws will be a "long-term seller."

US Vice President JD Vance gave a fantastic speech at the AI Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday, where he said the Trump administration "will sure that the most powerful AI systems are built in the US with American design and manufactured chips".

President Trump has been steadfast in wanting the USA to benefit from all of its silicon prowess, and now his running mate VP Vance has said the same thing.

VP Vance said: "The Trump administration believes AI will have countless revolutionary applications in economic innovation, job creation, national security, healthcare, free expression and beyond. To restrict its development now will not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space, it would mean paralyzing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations".

TSMC is reportedly working on developing a new advanced chip packaging plant in the US, joining its development of chip-making facilities on American soil.

President Trump's second term seems to be taking things to the next level for the United States, with TSMC working favorably to get semiconductor production from Taiwan and onto US soil. In a new report from the Financial Times, we're learning that under President Trump's decision to force chip tariffs on Taiwan, TSMC has eased on its stance towards its expansion into the US, and is now reportedly working on advanced chip packaging facility in the US, which would help ease the effects of chip tariffs.

President Trump has never been a fan of Taiwan setting up factotres in the US, and didn't like the CHIPS Act saying that it is like "gifting out" money to Taiwan. In a recent House Republican discussion, President Trump reiterated his plans to impose chip tariffs on Taiwan, proposing high taxations on chipmakers.

NVIDIA and MediaTek have reportedly explored expanding its business cooperation, with rumors that the companies are now working on a new AI smartphone chip, with its Arm-based AI PC processor expected to debut at Computex 2025 in May.

In a new report from DigiTimes, we're learning that NVIDIA and MediaTek's partnership might see a new AI smartphone chip produced, without many details provided, but the decision is being driven by NVIDIA expressing its desire over the years to dominate the custom chip markets.

NVIDIA and MediaTek have been working on a new Arm-based AI PC processor that was meant to be revealed earlier this year at CES 2025, but that obviously didn't happen. The new AI PC chip is meant to be based on the Arm architecture, fabbed on TMSC's new 3nm process node, with a GPU based on the Blackwell architecture.

SAPPHIRE is working on its new Radeon RX 9000 series "Nitro+" graphics cards, custom versions of RDNA 4 that AMD just announced it will be unveiling on February 28, wtih a retail launch in early March.

In a new post on X by leaker @Olrak29_ we're learning that the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 Nitro+ graphics cards (I'm sure in both RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 form) with the next-gen Nitro+ cooler being, well, huge. It will take up considerable space inside of your system, with a massive triple-fan cooling design that draws in and pushes a ton of air across the heatsink and multiple aluminum fins, joined by copper heat pipes.

SAPPHIRE is using a tweaked design on the Radeon RX 9070 Nitro+ graphics cards, with an interesting champagne gold color aesthetic, with multiple cut-outs on the sides that have the "Radeon" logo and Sapphire "Nitro+" badges. Inside of the shroud, there are multiple RGB LEDs that emit RGB lighting underneath... but then SAPPHIRE has hidden power connectors.

AMD has officially announced it will unveil its next-generation Radeon RX 9000 series "RDNA 4" graphics cards on February 28, with the new cards hitting shelves in early March.

In a new post on X by VP and GM of Ryzen CPUs and Radeon graphics at AMD, David McAfee, said: "The wait is almost over. Join us on February 28 at 8 AM EST for the reveal of the next-gen @AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series. Get ready to make it yours when it hits shelves in early March. RSVP by subscribing to the AMD YouTube channel".

We can expect the new AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 graphics cards powered by the next-gen RDNA 4 GPU architecture, with the flagship RX 9070 XT rocking 16GB of GDDR6 memory, and a rumored price of $599. If AMD can nail that elusive $599 price for its flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT, it'll come in $150 cheaper than NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card that starts at $749.