Latest News - Page 45

Huawei has produced a 122TB SSD using its proprietary chip-packaging technology known as Die-on-Board (DoB), without access to the latest 100-plus-layer 3D NAND from mainstream suppliers. According to BLOCKS&FILES, US restrictions have forced Huawei to rely more heavily on domestic suppliers for its NAND needs.

Once Huawei's existing stockpile of US 3D NAND chips was exhausted, it turned to Chinese-made NAND from suppliers such as YMTC. Rather than accepting the capacity disadvantage of existing TSOP or BGA packaging, Huawei focused on board-level packaging innovation to improve capacity density by enabling tighter NAND integration.

DoB is a wafer-level packaging technology that mounts semiconductor dies directly onto a base PCB. Mainstream SSD suppliers like Samsung with V-NAND, Kioxia and Sandisk with BiCS, and Micron typically use multi-die stacking inside TSOP, BGA, or other packages before mounting them onto a base PCB. DoB enables more flexible die stacking and shorter interconnects, improving both performance and power efficiency compared to traditional packaging approaches, with a 33% improvement in capacity density, though the number of stacked layers remains undisclosed.

Riot Games has rolled out a major update to its Vanguard anti-cheat system that makes expensive DMA cheat hardware completely useless in its games. The updated system targets DMA-based cheat firmware that uses SATA and NVMe interfaces, widely regarded inside cheating communities as the safest and most "invisible" solutions available.

DMA, short for Direct Memory Access, allows hardware devices to access system memory without routing every operation through the CPU. These cheat devices use specialized FPGA software to hide them from the operating system and Vanguard while appearing to be real NVMe or SATA SSDs. In reality, the DMA device connected through PCIe is also connected to a second computer where the cheats run, making them harder to detect.

To counter this, Riot is strengthening Vanguard's IOMMU enforcement. IOMMU, or Input-Output Memory Management Unit, is a hardware-level component that controls which devices can access which memory regions. IOMMU generates repeated page faults and restarts that interfere with the firmware running on the DMA device's FPGA, corrupting it and rendering both the hardware and the associated SSD unusable.

Moore's Law Is Dead (MLID) has detailed a handful of Intel's major client CPU families through the end of the decade. The leaker claims that Intel is phasing out traditional hybrid layouts in favor of a unified-core strategy, starting with Titan Lake, scaling to the desktop with Hammer Lake, and adding back Hyper-Threading. Tucked inside the leak are also new details on Intel's upcoming high-end mobile family featuring integrated RTX graphics tiles from NVIDIA.

Titan Lake is not a direct successor to Razor Lake, but it is allegedly an intermediary and experimental platform exclusive to the mobile segment. Per MLID, Titan Lake will fill up the U/P/PX/B/BX designations. Among these, U ,P, and PX refer to mobile offerings with an Arc integrated GPU featuring up to 16 Xe3P cores, and a Titan Lake CPU die with up to 12 (8+4) Copper Shark unified cores and 4 Arctic Wolf LPE cores.

It is believed that, much like AMD's dense C-cores, Intel will feature Copper Shark P and Copper Shark E variants. The unified "E" cores are simply denser, area-optimized versions of the exact same underlying architecture. According to industry rumors, the engineering shift behind Intel's unified core initiative aligns its design philosophy more closely with the E-core lineage than with the historical P-core team.

AMD has announced the production ramp of its next-generation 6th Gen EPYC server processors, codenamed "Venice." This is a big milestone, as Venice is the first high-performance computing (HPC) product in the entire industry to enter volume production on TSMC's advanced 2nm process node. Production is currently underway at TSMC's facilities in Taiwan, with plans to later extend the ramp to TSMC's Arizona fabrication plant as well.

So what does "production ramp" mean, exactly? It refers to the transition from early, limited silicon runs into the full-scale, high-volume manufacturing needed to supply commercial customers. In other words, Venice has transitioned from an engineering sample to a production-ready state and is getting ready to ship at scale.

As for what Venice actually brings to the table, the numbers are quite impressive. The processor is built on AMD's new Zen 6 architecture and scales up to 256 cores, a 33% increase over the current EPYC "Turin" lineup's maximum of 192 cores. AMD projects a 70% performance improvement over Turin as well.

Moore's Law Is Dead (MLID) has laid out detailed coverage of Intel's client CPU plans through the late 2020s. Since some of these processors are still years away, it is important to take this leak with a grain of salt.

Rumored to launch roughly a year after Nova Lake (targeting late 2027), Razor Lake is described not as an architectural revolution but as a modest refinement step, similar to Panther Lake. The leaker says the jump from Nova Lake to Razor Lake is like the jump from Alder Lake to Raptor Lake.

Razor Lake is said to feature Griffin Cove P-cores, which, according to the leak, deliver a noticeable IPC boost over Coyote Cove in Nova Lake. The report claims that Razor Lake's E-cores are called Arctic Wolf, while earlier rumors referred to them as Golden Eagle. Both designs are believed to be similar, so final branding will be up to Intel.

We're continuing our TweakTown newsletter subscriber-exclusive giveaways, rewarding loyal readers with top-tier gear every week. For our latest giveaway, we've teamed up with Lian Li to give one lucky winner a premium white PC building combo.

There will be one winner in total, and the prize this week includes the Lian Li O11 Vision-M chassis in white and the Lian Li HydroShift II OLED Curved 360TL AIO liquid cooler in white.

The Lian Li O11 Vision-M is designed for builders who want the showcase look of a panoramic glass case without completely sacrificing airflow. It uses tempered glass on the front, sides, and top for a clean, display-focused build, while the top glass panel features a ventilated mesh cutout to help exhaust air through a 360mm radiator.

Some of gaming's most iconic franchises and brands could make a resurgence in gaming form or in other ways.

Embracer Group is splitting up into two companies, and one of them, Fellowship Entertainment, will have a treasure trove of dormant game IPs. Now the organization says they want to activate franchises like Deus Ex and Saints Row for new projects, including games and other opportunities.

The new group is called Fellowship Entertainment, a so-called "steward" that will lead the future of some of the most recognizable video game properties on the market, including Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, Metro, Kingdom Come, and Dead Island. There's also what the organization calls "the vault," which includes older brands like Deus Ex, Saints Row, TimeSplitters, Thief, Red Faction, Legacy of Kain--some of which haven't been dusted off for quite some time.

Nintendo has plans to produce tens of millions of Switch 2 consoles throughout this fiscal year as the company faces cost-pressured product margins.

Nintendo intends to manufacture up to 20 million of its new Switch 2 systems in FY27, sources tell Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki. Bloomberg had previously reported that Nintendo was cutting its Switch 2 output by 30% from 6 million to 4 million units in a purchase order made in March, and it was said that the reduction would begin in April, coinciding with Nintendo's Q1'FY27 period.

In its recent earnings report, Nintendo tells investors that it expects to ship up to 16.5 million Switch 2s in the year, and if this new estimate is accurate, the company intends for its hardware production to overshoot shipments by 21%. These estimates are known to be safe bets that the company easily beats--Nintendo forecasted 15 million NSW2 sales in FY26, but ended up selling 19.86 million instead, establishing the console's current sales mark.

UPDATE: It's since been confirmed GTA 6 will not have a physical disc SKU at launch. Zelnick's words below were misconstrued and were technically referring to GTA 6's code-in-a-box version as the physical retail presence/product.

Grand Theft Auto VI will indeed have a physical disc version at launch with a large retail presence, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has re-confirmed.

Rockstar Games won't be opting for a digital-only release for the biggest game in modern history. This rumor has been debunked already, but to squash any lingering suspicion, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick reiterated to CNBC that GTA 6 will still have physical boxed version that is sold on retail shelves.

007 First Light is a keenly awaited release, but the reception around the game just turned stormier with the news that it's going the Denuvo route.

In a last-minute revelation on the game's Steam page - well, technically a last-week revelation, as 007 First Light is out on May 27, but you get the point - the developer IO Interactive added: "Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: Denuvo Anti-Tamper."

To say that hasn't gone down well in some quarters is an understatement, although it's not entirely surprising in that there's been something of a trend of waiting until very near launch before letting gamers know that Denuvo is going to be implemented with a game. (Crimson Desert being a notable example in recent times).

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced will officially support PlayStation 5 Pro's upgraded PSSR technology, delivering enhanced visuals and performance on the next-gen console.

Ubisoft confirmed the news in a recent statement, with director Richard Knight revealing the team is "definitely" aiming to implement the feature. Knight, in an interview with WCCF Tech, stated that the studio is working to optimize the game for the PS5 Pro's new upscaling tech, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) 2.

The team's own PS5 Pro ownership and testing have driven their commitment to pushing the platform's capabilities. Players can expect higher fidelity and visual improvements, though exact details weren't provided during the interview. This move positions Black Flag Resynced as a showcase of what can be achieved with the PS5 Pro's hardware, and Ubisoft's efforts to bring the classic Assassin's Creed game up to modern gaming standards.

Google is embedding ads directly into AI-generated search answers, marking a major shift in how it monetizes its search engine.

According to new details from I/O 2026, Gemini 3.5 Flash is now surfacing tailored ads within AI Mode responses, alongside traditional organic results. The company is calling this a "new generation of ads" designed for the AI era of Search.

The new ad formats include "Conversational Discovery ads" and "Highlighted Answers." The former tailors ads to specific search queries, such as recommending products to fix a smell in a house, which could vary from deodorizer to a cheap box of baking soda.

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong has reportedly slipped into Taiwan for a meeting with MediaTek, in an effort to steal the chip designer as a foundry client from TSMC.

The move underscores Samsung's aggressive push to expand its foundry business and challenge TSMC's dominance in the sector. According to a report from WCCF Tech, Lee made the trip to Taiwan, on May 21 with a high-level entourage with the goal of meeting with MediaTek's CEO Cai Lixing.

According to reports, Lee was offering MediaTek incentives, including lucrative memory deals, or priority access to its memory. This is reportedly a common tactic by Samsung to attract new foundry partners, as it was the strategy Samsung used to attract Qualcomm as a foundry client. Furthermore, the conversation between Samsung and MediaTek comes at a time when the relationship between TSMC and MediaTek is fairly strained.

Grand Theft Auto VI is set to arrive in November 2026, as recently iterated by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick at the Take-Two earnings call.

Shortly after the call, rumors began flying that suggest Rockstar Games is preparing to drop a new trailer for GTA 6 on Tuesday next week, and the possibility of a surprise reveal at Sony's State of Play event on June 2nd. If the leaks are true, it could be one of the most hyped reveals of the year.

The trailer speculation comes from insider Graczdari, who claims Rockstar has given Sony a crumb of the GTA 6 marketing, but what it has received is something special. While the source has a solid track record, as they leaked the box version of Oblivion Remastered, the PS5 port of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and the Switch 2 port of 007 First Light. However, they are a relatively new leaker.

It appears that the original Chromecasts out there are running into serious problems, with a raft of reports from owners of the first-gen hardware suggesting that all is suddenly not well with their devices.

9 to 5 Google (via TechRadar) highlighted the reports from first-gen Chromecast owners on Reddit who are complaining that everything has become rather hit-and-miss with their hardware.

In the Reddit thread entitled 'Looks like Google just killed every Gen 1 Chromecast in existence' (see above), some folks report YouTube no longer works - that seems to be a common issue - or that other streaming services are failing, like HBO Max or Paramount+, while others are fine.

Since its official reveal, Ubisoft has given a lot of details about Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. The game is edging closer to launch, and earlier this month, Ubisoft hosted an event to let select members of the community play an early copy of the game. During the event, the directors gave even more details about the game and made it clear that Resynced was much more than a graphical overhaul of the 2013 classic.

According to Kotaku, creative director Paul Fu and game director Richard Knight were adamant that Black Flag Resynced was a completely new game from the ground up. They likened it more to being the next mainline Assassin's Creed game than a remaster of a past one. They also claimed that the game contains "zero code" from the original Black Flag, and the new one uses Ubisoft's Anvil engine, which is also the basis of Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

Bungie is set to hold more job cuts following a decision to dial-back its breadwinning live service game.

Disappointing news for Destiny fans today as Bungie announced that they will be retiring the game from active development, effectively sunsetting the project into maintenance mode and ceasing all future content. This means all upcoming expansions have been cancelled.

There was hope among Bungie faithful that Destiny 3 could be in development, but that's not the works right now, so fans shouldn't expect to see a surprise announcement at Sony's upcoming State of Play. Sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that the Destiny 2 dev team does not currently have a project lined up, and that these workers are pitching new ideas to management, including new games set in the Destiny series.

If you play Fallout 4 on a Gen 9 Xbox, Bethesda has some good news for you.

Fans have been waiting months for an update on expanded mod support in the recent Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, and now after months of waiting, Bethesda has dropped some news. The studio says that all platforms are getting a mod storage boost, allowing all console users to download and hold more mods and creations in their digital queue.

A new Fallout 4 update will release on May 27th that drastically increases the mod storage on Xbox Series X/S consoles to a whopping 100GB. That's bigger than some games, which basically allows Fallout 4 gen 9 Xbox users a new kind of freedom that they haven't ever experienced before, and it could be a signal of things to come for new Bethesda titles, maybe even The Elder Scrolls VI and/or Fallout 5.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to help drive Take-Two's record-breaking earnings forecast of up to $8.1 billion revenue for FY27.

Rockstar's incoming GTA 6 is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches in history when it releases onto the market this November, and the game is forecasted to do some pretty big numbers on the financial side. Take-Two Interactive just posted its last earnings results, including some eye-opening expectations for this fiscal year, FY27.

According to the slides, Take-Two expects to earn between $7.9 and $8.1 billion in net revenue during FY27, with Grand Theft Auto 6 strongly contributing to the results. Net bookings will be higher at $8 - $8.2 billion, the company predicts, with recurrent consumer spending making up 65% of net bookings for the year, or $5.2 to $5.3 billion.

The devs behind 007 First Light uncovered several new engine upgrades that are being implemented into their upcoming James Bond game. In a video by Digital Foundry, DF's Alex Battaglia sat down with six developers from IO Interactive discussing 007 First Light's graphical upgrades and performance. Some of these features include a new real-time global illumination system, dynamic asset streaming, and a software-based ray tracing solution that is highly optimized and scalable across multiple platforms.

The lighting system in 007 First Light has been significantly upgraded since the engine was used with Hitman 3. IO Interactive has developed a new ray-traced real-time global illumination system that takes advantage of a screen space component to adjust lighting on a per-pixel basis, with a probe-based solution serving as a fallback. By contrast, the Hitman games used an inferior static solution using box reflections.

The ray-tracing system 007 First Light is using is a proprietary software-based solution that does not take advantage of RT cores on NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel GPUs. Despite this, IO Interactive states its RT solution is very well optimized and is not lacking in capability. The switch from hardware-acceleration to software is aimed at providing better scalability across a broad range of platforms. Having one ray-tracing solution for the engine simplifies the rendering pipeline, making the engine run better on various hardware and reducing development time on the development side. IO Interactive also revealed that the ray-tracing pipeline has been almost entirely rewritten to take better advantage of GPU resources.