Latest News - Page 57

Intel's "Bartlett Lake" lineup has been shrouded in mystery ever since its first leaks appeared. Not much is publicly known about the performance of the P-core-only lineup targeted for embedded and edge use. Intel has confirmed that Bartlett Lake-S will offer up to 12 cores with the flagship Intel Core 9 273PQE, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. We also saw a PassMark entry for the Core 9 273PQE, where the Bartlett Lake CPU was around 12% slower than the Core i7-14700K.

However, recently, a group of enthusiasts tried (and succeeded) in booting a Core 9 273PQE CPU to Windows on a Z790 motherboard. Now, a German reviewer, Zed Up Gaming, has compared the Core 9 273PQE against the Core i9-14900K. The latter is the Raptor Lake Refresh flagship, offering 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, while the Bartlett Lake challenger has only 12 P-cores.

According to the benchmarks from Zed Up, the Core 9 273PQE beats the Core i9-14900K by up to 10% in some tests. Especially in gaming, the Core 9 273PQE holds a notable advantage thanks to its P-core-only layout. There are some outliers, like Rainbow Six Siege, where the two CPUs were essentially tied, and Counter-Strike 2, where the 14900K managed a 1.5% lead, but in most other games, the Bartlett Lake flagship had an advantage.

North Korean hackers have compromised a gaming platform popular with ethnic Koreans in China, delivering a Trojanized backdoor that steals data and executes commands.

The threat, allegedly carried out by the state-sponsored group ScarCruft (APT37), has been active since late 2024 and targets users of the SQgame platform, which hosts traditional card and board games. The malware, dubbed BirdCall, exfiltrates everything from messages and media to ambient audio and clipboard data.

ESET researchers uncovered the BirdCall backdoor embedded in both Windows and Android versions of the platform. On Windows, it captures screenshots, logs keystrokes, and executes shell commands, while on Android, it steals contact lists, SMS, and call logs. All stolen data is uploaded to cloud services such as Dropbox. The malware has been updated seven times, indicating active development and maintenance.

Google is prepping a major overhaul of its Gemini Agent, positioning it as your "24/7 digital partner" with expanded capabilities across web and app actions. Essentially, this upgrade would enable Gemini to be a fully fledged digital personal assistant, capable of carrying out multi-step tasks on your behalf.

According to decompiled code from the latest Google app beta, the updated feature promises deeper integration with your digital life, including real-time monitoring, proactive task handling, and preference learning.

This isn't just another AI assistant; it's a step closer to what some people are already designing with Claude Code and OpenClaw: fully autonomous personal agents. However, with Gemini Agent, it will be singular, whereas some with an OpenClaw setup are running multiple agents.

Nintendo confirmed what fans had long speculated: the upcoming Star Fox title for the Switch 2 is a full remake of Star Fox 64.

Announced during a surprise Nintendo Direct event, the game retains the original N64 stage layouts but features a "complete visual overhaul," including fully voiced dialogue, detailed cutscenes, and an orchestral soundtrack.

Set for release on June 25, the remake marks the first new Star Fox title in a decade, and the first true sequel since Star Fox Zero on the Wii U. The new version introduces a prologue mission featuring Fox McCloud's father, expanded cinematic cutscenes, Challenge Mode, and online 4-vs-4 multiplayer battles.

Backed by the AI boom, AMD recently disclosed some impressive earnings figures for Q1 2026. The company brought in $5.8 billion from its data center division, driven by record deployment of AMD EPYC processors and Instinct GPUs. AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su had some interesting remarks regarding the ongoing debate about the importance of CPUs in today's agentic AI applications.

As we have covered before, CPUs are becoming increasingly important in Agentic AI deployments. While GPUs remain the primary driver, CPUs are no longer a back-of-the-mind consideration in these applications, and thus the demand for CPUs is going through the roof. This has led to multiple CPU price hikes from both Intel and AMD, as they reallocate resources toward more profitable AI and data center ventures.

Responding to an analyst, Dr. Lisa Su explained that the industry is moving swiftly toward a 1:1 ratio of CPUs to GPUs in Agentic AI applications. While this ratio has traditionally been 1:4 or even 1:8 in favor of GPUs, Dr. Su says we might eventually see CPUs overtake GPUs and become even more important. That does sound like a stretch, but such a prediction from an industry leader like Dr. Su cannot be simply ignored.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.5.1 is here for all Radeon gamers, and it's a big one for new game support, adding optimizations for five new PC games. This includes support for Capcom's recent sci-fi action-adventure hit Pragmata, which is shaping up to be another Resident Evil Requiem-like success for the company, critically and commercially.

The latest Radeon driver also adds support for the fantasy-based action-RPG Honor of Kings: World, the immersive FPS and highly anticipated sequel Industria 2, the critically acclaimed and vibrant Tides of Tomorrow, and the monster-taming action RPG Mongil: Star Dive. If you're playing or thinking about picking up any of these titles, be sure to grab the latest Radeon driver.

Outside of New Game Support, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.5.1 also fixes a few key issues for Radeon RX 9000 Series gamers playing Resident Evil Requiem or God of War. The latest driver fixes stuttering issues in the former and visual corruption in the latter. Here's a look at the full Release Notes.

Valve's new Steam Controller is now widely available, and with it selling out within 30 minutes in several regions, it's safe to say that the company's premium pad is a hit. If you're one of the unlucky gamers who missed out on picking one up at launch, Valve has reassured the Steam Community that a restock is happening soon. And for those out there unboxing and playing games with the new Steam Controller, Valve has formally released several 3D CAD files for modders.

"Today we're making the CAD files for the external shell (surface topology) of Steam Controller and Puck available for download under a Creative Commons license," the Steam Community post reads. "This includes an STP model of each, an STL model of each, and an engineering drawing with critical features/keep outs for each."

This is great news for the hardware modding community, as it opens the door and removes all the guesswork and legwork from creating physical mods and aesthetic add-ons for the new Steam Controller. As the controller is currently only available in all-black, these CAD files will make it very easy for modders and even third-party sellers to create custom Steam Controller skins for those who want to personalize their new pad.

Ten years ago to the day, NVIDIA formally announced the GeForce GTX 10 Series, led by the iconic flagship GeForce GTX 1080. Interestingly, the launch of the GeForce GTX 1080 and the mid-range GeForce GTX 1070 marked the first NVIDIA GPUs to feature custom, premium Founders Edition models. The first FE cards debuted in 2016, with aluminum bodies and vapor-chamber cooling to support the new Pascal architecture built on the cutting-edge, for the time, TSMC 16nm process.

The Pascal and GeForce GTX 10 Series generations are widely considered among the most impressive in GeForce history, with pretty much every model in the lineup delivering a massive generational leap. Not only in performance, but with the adoption of next-gen GDDR5X memory for increased bandwidth, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, GPU Boost 3.0, efficiency improvements, and several architectural changes to improve GPU stability, overclocking, and rendering technologies.

The flagship GeForce GTX 1080, which would be superseded by the legendary GeForce GTX 1080 Ti in 2017, arrived on May 27, 2016, with 9 TFLOPS of pure performance and 8GB of fast GDDR5X memory to kick-start the modern era of high-resolution, high frame-rate, PC gaming. Standout titles that showcased what the Pascal era brought to the table include id Software's DOOM reboot, commonly referred to as DOOM (2016), and CD Projekt Red's breakout RPG hit, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Apple has reportedly entered preliminary talks with Intel and Samsung as it explores a possible secondary source for its next-gen chips. Adding to the mix, hardware enthusiast Kepler suggests Apple's future A21 SoC might be the prime candidate for such a partnership, potentially breaking Apple's total reliance on TSMC.

Since the A10's debut, Apple has maintained a nearly decade-long relationship with TSMC. This partnership gave Apple exclusive priority access to TSMC's advanced node technologies, including 7nm, 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm processes.

However, the generative AI gold rush has placed significant strain on the Taiwanese giant. The demand for AI hardware has reached a point that, despite hitting its 3nm production goals, the foundry is now scrambling to add even more capacity just to keep up with the market. TSMC projects the ongoing shortages will last beyond 2027.

Xbox is getting its first new boot-up sound in years, and while it might seem like a small change, it signals something much bigger happening behind the scenes at Microsoft.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma revealed the updated startup sound in a recent X post, confirming it will begin rolling out to Xbox consoles next week. The refreshed animation features a more modern, glass-inspired version of Xbox branding alongside a redesigned sound effect, replacing the startup audio players have been hearing since the Xbox Series X and Series S launched in 2020.

The update arrives during a major transition period for Xbox. Since taking over earlier this year, Sharma has overseen sweeping changes across the division, including the return to the "We Are Xbox" branding, Project Helix announcements, Game Pass pricing changes, and a renewed focus on console identity after a tragic marketing campaign that left Xbox fans confused and what an Xbox console actually is, or, at the very least, what Xbox was trying to be as a brand.

Anthropic is dramatically increasing Claude's usage limits after striking a massive compute partnership with SpaceX, highlighting how the AI arms race is quickly becoming a battle over infrastructure.

The company announced it has secured access to SpaceX's Colossus 1 AI supercomputer, gaining more than 300 megawatts of new compute capacity powered by over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Anthropic says the added power will directly improve availability for Claude Pro and Claude Max subscribers, while also allowing the company to raise API and usage limits for developers substantially.

This is a major moment in the broader AI industry narrative. Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, and Google are no longer just competing on models; they are competing on raw compute access. Anthropic has faced mounting criticism in recent months over aggressive Claude rate limits, especially surrounding Claude Code and Opus usage.

Capcom has doubled down on its design for Resident Evil Requiem's character Grace, despite widespread backlash over how NVIDIA's DLSS 5 neural rendering altered her facial features. Notably, the NVIDIA video linked below is measuring at

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, producer Masato Kumazawa framed the controversy as a positive, stating that the strong fan reaction to Grace's original design proved the team "got the design right."

Kumazawa and director Koshi Nakanishi emphasized that the game has been well received overall, with over 6 million units sold in just 16 days, making it the fastest-selling Resident Evil title to date.

Project Fantasy is the game that Hitman developer IO Interactive has always wanted to make, but has it been scrapped? CEO Hakan Abrak confirms the game is still in development.

Three years ago, IO Interactive announced Project Fantasy, a new online RPG set in a fresh IP. The game, which had previously been known through rumors and reports as Project Dragon, represents an unexplored frontier for the action game studio that explores "deeply personal" feelings about old-school gaming origins, including the classic Fighting Fantasy roleplaying books from days of yore.

While details on Project Fantasy are light, it was believed that Xbox was funding the project. Specifics haven't been confirmed, and Xbox has cut lots of funding for third-party projects throughout the years as it downsized to cut costs, laying off thousands of workers, shutting down studios, and canceling first-party games in the process. It's now been confirmed that Project Fantasy hasn't been scrapped, and that it's in a good position financially.

Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer Biostar has announced plans to showcase "next-generation AMD" motherboards at Computex 2026. This makes Biostar one of the first vendors to hint that next-gen AMD platforms will appear at the show, potentially tied to Ryzen CPUs based on the upcoming Zen 6 architecture. The lineup is expected to include a new Valkyrie gaming model for enthusiasts, as well as more mainstream designs to suit a range of users.

Biostar doesn't explicitly say what it means by "next-generation," but the context isn't hard to read. AMD is working on Zen 6-powered Ryzen desktop CPUs codenamed Olympic Range, which are rumored to scale up to 24 cores. Along with the usual generational uplift in performance and efficiency, platform updates are also expected. We have already seen early groundwork, with board makers rolling out features such as EXPO 1.2 support for CUDIMM and low-latency DDR5, as well as upcoming enhancements like CPPC Highest Frequency.

Given these factors, it seems plausible that early designs of next-gen AM5 motherboards could appear at Computex, not just from Biostar but other board partners as well. However, another possibility is that Biostar is branding a refreshed 800-series lineup as next-generation. AMD has already advanced its AM5 platform to the X870E and X870 generation, so if Biostar is pointing to a genuinely new chipset rather than another X870 refresh, that would suggest X970 or a related 900-series platform for next-gen Ryzen processors.

Valorant Mobile has hit 10 million daily active players in China without a global release, proving just how hungry mobile gamers are for competitive FPS action.

The game, launched in August 2025, is already outperforming expectations, with Tencent and Riot Games reaping the rewards of a focused regional rollout.

Riot Games confirmed the milestone via Weibo, noting the mobile title has already surpassed 10 million daily players in just under a year. With 170,000 downloads and $1 million in first-day revenue, Valorant Mobile has become one of the most successful mobile game launches in recent memory.

CCP Games just bought back its independence from Pearl Abyss for $120 million, and now the developer is changing its name and making an ambitious AI partnership.

Eve Online developer CCP Games today announced big changes at the company. The group has rebranded to 'Fenris Creations' and has teamed up with Google's DeepMind AI to help build its EVE Forever initiative.

Specific details on the partnership and how exactly Google's AI will be used remain vague, however, the studio says that it's primarily research-based, and that all testing will be done in secured, offline versions of EVE. This isn't about funding, as Fenris Creations' CEO Hilmar Veigar explains that the game is still quite lucrative: "the company remains profitable, with strong reserves and the ability to keep investing in the long-term health of New Eden."

Elon Musk has settled a years-long legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $1.5 million over his delayed disclosure of a major stake in Twitter.

The agreement, reached without Musk admitting fault, marks the end of a contentious dispute that began in 2022 when the SEC alleged he waited 11 days to reveal his purchase of a 5% stake in the company. The regulator claimed the delay was intentional and that Musk would not have had to pay approximately $150 million in potential shareholder losses.

The settlement, approved by a court, resolves one of Musk's most high-profile legal entanglements. The SEC argued that Musk used "gamesmanship" to stall its investigation, while Musk previously accused then-SEC chair Gary Gensler of "harassment." This case is the largest of its kind in SEC history, with the fine reflecting the severity of the alleged violations, according to a Reuters report.

Campaign Evolved won't be the only Halo game that comes back, as sources tell game reporter Rebs Gaming that Halo Studios is working on two new Halo remakes--including a Halo 3 remake that could launch during a well-timed anniversary.

There are plans underway to remake Bungie's entire mainline Halo trilogy, not just CE. New reports indicate Halo 2 and Halo 3 will also be remade in Unreal Engine 5, complete with new features and content that weren't previously available in the games. The new chapters are said to be in early development at Halo Studios, and it's likely that both games will also launch on PS5 similar to Halo Campaign Evolved.

No release window information was offered, but we can't help but notice Halo 3 will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2027. The original game launched in 2007, and we could see Halo 3 remake, or maybe even a Halo 2 & 3 remake double-game package, release next year to coincide with this momentous occasion.

It's hard to ignore Microsoft's recent efforts at improving the Windows 11 experience, including more control over updates, faster performance, and storage fixes. AMD is now joining that effort in its own way. According to the latest patch series posted to the Linux kernel mailing list (via Neowin), AMD is adding a new CPPC-based element called "Highest Frequency" that could improve how Windows 11 and Linux handle CPU scheduling and boost behavior.

For context, CPPC, short for Collaborative Processor Performance Control, already helps operating systems figure out which CPU cores are fastest for a given task. Windows 11 and Linux rely on CPPC to prioritize preferred cores for gaming, productivity, and multitasking.

However, on some systems, the relationship between CPPC performance values and actual clock speeds doesn't always map cleanly across all cores. This mismatch leads to inaccurate boost prediction and less efficient scheduling. That is what AMD's new Highest Frequency is designed to fix.

Nintendo fans may soon have a full slate of new games to sink their teeth into, as a leaker has said that new Metroid, Zelda, and Smash Bros. titles/content are currently in development.

The claims, which suggest 2027 - 2028 will bring new entries or updates to these iconic franchises, have reignited excitement around Nintendo's next-gen hardware and IP roadmap. To maintain the pace of Nintendo Switch 2 sales, Nintendo needs to keep releasing new titles to give gamers a strong reason to upgrade.

According to KiwiTalkz, a prominent video games journalist who regularly interviews developers, Nintendo is currently working on something new in the three aforementioned franchises for the Nintendo Switch 2. Kiwi Talkz hinted at a potential wave of first-party games slated to launch in a "year or two".