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Government whistleblower says US has recovered a 'non-human' spacecraft with alien 'pilots'

Jak Connor | Science, Space, & Robotics | Jun 7, 2023 3:09 AM CDT

A new report by The Debrief has cited a former intelligence official claiming that he's provided Congress with information on a downed "non-human" spacecraft that contained dead "pilots."

Government whistleblower says US has recovered a 'non-human' spacecraft with alien 'pilots'

Firstly, it should be noted that none of the following information has been confirmed by the US government or any other regulatory body, and are direct claims from the whistleblower/s. The whistleblower's name is David Grusch, an Air Force veteran and former member of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, who claims the information he provided Congress is "proof" of the recovery of objects of "exotic origin (non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin)."

The descriptions of these objects were based on vehicle morphologies and material science testing, which included atomic arrangements and radiological signatures. Grusch explained that the recovered material "includes intact and partially intact vehicles. These are retrieving non-human origin technical vehicles, call it spacecraft if you will, non-human exotic origin vehicles that have either landed or crashed."

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Continue reading: Government whistleblower says US has recovered a 'non-human' spacecraft with alien 'pilots' (full post)

Bill Gates says it's okay to start calling him a gamer now

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Jun 7, 2023 1:27 AM CDT

Looking through the annals of Microsoft history and lore, during the early days of the Windows operating system, Bill Gates had to uninstall Minesweeper from his PC because he became addicted and realized that the games were eating up most of his time. It got so bad that one story states that engineers had to fabricate an unattainable Minesweeper high score just to get him to stop playing.

Bill Gates says it's okay to start calling him a gamer now

Bill Gates has a long and complicated history with video games; he's a fan; he dabbles but doesn't really get into them outside of the occasional sports game. He's played Halo but hasn't devoted countless hours to playing multiplayer on Xbox Live.

Then there's his initial skepticism about releasing a dedicated console, the Xbox, which according to reports, felt like an insult to his and Microsoft's legacy.

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Continue reading: Bill Gates says it's okay to start calling him a gamer now (full post)

What class is best for you in Diablo IV?

Jak Connor | Gaming | Jun 7, 2023 12:53 AM CDT

With Diablo 4 featuring five unique classes each with multiple different build paths, you may find yourself wondering what your best option is to take on the legions of hell.

What class is best for you in Diablo IV?

There are five main class options for you to choose from at the beginning of your adventure: Necromancer, Druid, Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorcerer. Each of these options provides unique strengths, weaknesses, and playstyles.

While there is no correct answer to this question, each of these options provide a very different gameplay experience as far as things like mechanical difficulty and combat loops go. In this short guide, you will find a brief gameplay overview of what each class has to offer. Please keep in mind the best choice is always what seems the most fun to you as constant balance patches are always changing the meta and what is "powerful" is always subject to change.

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Continue reading: What class is best for you in Diablo IV? (full post)

Everything you need to know about Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro AR/VR headset

Jak Connor | Extended Reality (XR) | Jun 7, 2023 12:36 AM CDT

Apple has just unveiled what it's calling the Vision Pro, an AR/VR headset that will be the company's newest 1st generation product.

Everything you need to know about Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro AR/VR headset

So, what is the Vision Pro? This is a first-of-its-kind release from Apple, and it's described as the newest spatial computing platform, providing users with a unique augmented and virtual reality experience. Apple has outfitted the Vision Pro with multiple cameras and sensors, enabling a controller-free experience through the use of eye-tracking and hand gestures. Users are also able to be aware of the world around them through Apple's seamless pass-through technology, which allows users to see a real-time rendering of the physical world around them.

How does it work? The cameras outfitted basically all around the headset scan the physical world around the user and then project a real-time 3D rendering of the world into the headset. Apple has equipped the Vision Pro with two 4K+ displays, one for each eye. Around these eye displays are cameras specifically designed to track the user's eyes, and once calibration is completed after the setup phase, the user is able to navigate the headset by simply looking where they want to click and then clicking by touching their index finger and thumb together.

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Continue reading: Everything you need to know about Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro AR/VR headset (full post)

Intel Announces Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M GPUs for the workstation market

Kosta Andreadis | Graphics Cards | Jun 7, 2023 12:04 AM CDT

Intel Arc Graphics added a couple of new professional graphics cards to their line-up with the Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M combo for workstations. Both expand the PCIe lane usage to 16 compared to other Arc Graphics products, and they support up to 12GB of VRAM with 384 GB/s of memory bandwidth - another step up over the current Arc line-up.

Intel Announces Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M GPUs for the workstation market

They're not only the fastest Arc workstation solutions that Intel offers, and the Intel Arc Pro A60 is single-slot slim too. Specs-wise the Arc Pro A60 features 16 Xe Cores, 256 EUs, 16 RT units, 256 matrix engines, and 12GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. The mobile-focused Pro A60M reduces memory capacity to 8GB on a 128-bit bus.

Compared to the consumer-based Arc graphics, these new workstation models increase the dedicated AI Xe Matrix Extensions (XMX) engines and even the hardware ray-tracing units. Like their discrete desktop counterparts, they support full AV1 encoding, high dynamic range (HDR), and Dolby Vision output support.

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Continue reading: Intel Announces Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M GPUs for the workstation market (full post)

Xbox hit with a $20 million fine for 'illegally retaining children's personal information'

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Jun 6, 2023 11:36 PM CDT

Microsoft is set to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $20 million for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It collected and retained personal information from children signing up to play games on Xbox without notifying parents or obtaining consent. As part of the settlement, Microsoft must also bolster privacy and protection for children on Xbox consoles.

Xbox hit with a $20 million fine for 'illegally retaining children's personal information'

"Our proposed order makes it easier for parents to protect their children's privacy on Xbox and limits what information Microsoft can collect and retain about kids," said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "This action should also make it abundantly clear that kids' avatars, biometric data, and health information are not exempt from COPPA."

According to the report, Xbox users under the age of 13 were treated like anyone else. "Even when a user indicated that they were under 13, they were also asked, until late 2021, to provide additional personal information, including a phone number, and to agree to Microsoft's service agreement and advertising policy," the FTC writes. "Which, until 2019, included a pre-checked box allowing Microsoft to send promotional messages and to share user data with advertisers."

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Continue reading: Xbox hit with a $20 million fine for 'illegally retaining children's personal information' (full post)

TSMC is expanding its capacity to meet the demand for NVIDIA's A100 and H100 GPUs

Kosta Andreadis | Artificial Intelligence | Jun 6, 2023 10:58 PM CDT

It's no secret that the demand for all things Artificial Intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing has hit new heights in 2023, so much so that NVIDIA has become a trillion-dollar company. Because the more you buy, the more you save.

TSMC is expanding its capacity to meet the demand for NVIDIA's A100 and H100 GPUs

AI-boom or not, NVIDIA's A100 and H100 chips are incredibly impressive, boasting massive performance gains over previous generations in addition to some genuinely groundbreaking architectural and efficiency advances. Delivering these chips requires TSMC's chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technologies, which not only don't come cheap but are incredibly complex to boot.

And so, with the demand for chips like the A100 and H100 being so high, TSMC is planning to expand its production capacity because things have gotten to the level where demand is exceeding supply. The plan is to increase the number of CoWoS wafers it produces each month by the thousands for the remainder of 2023 - up from an estimated 8-9,000 wafers per month.

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Continue reading: TSMC is expanding its capacity to meet the demand for NVIDIA's A100 and H100 GPUs (full post)

More games get DLSS 3 support, including former PlayStation 5 exclusive Ratchet & Clank

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Jun 6, 2023 10:27 PM CDT

With Diablo IV now officially out in the wild - breaking Blizzard sales records - if you're rocking a GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU, you've probably checked out its impressive DLSS 3 implementation. Which, even on the new GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, delivers incredible performance with all visual settings maxed out.

More games get DLSS 3 support, including former PlayStation 5 exclusive Ratchet & Clank

Diablo IV scales incredibly well across most PC hardware, it even runs fine on the Steam Deck, but the art and visuals do pop once you dial things up. As per NVIDIA's internal benchmarks playing at 4K with max settings and DLSS 3 enabled everything from the GeForce RTX 4070 to the RTX 4090 hits well over triple-digits.

Firing the game up on the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio, I pushed Ultrawide 1440p into the triple-digit region, which was impressive. The good news is that visual fidelity and responsiveness were great, too - thanks partly to NVIDIA Reflex - which makes Diablo IV an excellent example of DLSS 3 gaming.

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Continue reading: More games get DLSS 3 support, including former PlayStation 5 exclusive Ratchet & Clank (full post)

Western Digital launches affordably-priced Xbox Series X/S SSD expansion memory cards

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2023 2:36 PM CDT

Western Digital enters the next-gen Xbox storage market with its own affordably-priced SSDs.

Western Digital launches affordably-priced Xbox Series X/S SSD expansion memory cards

Western Digital today launched two new Xbox Series X/S expansion SSDs with straightforward pricing: a 500GB SSD for $79.99, and a 1TB SSD for $149.99.

WD's new SSDs actually helped stabilize the expansion storage market for Microsoft's new console. For over 2 years, Seagate was the only company to offer expansion cards for the Series X/S duo, which led to aggressive pricing. Seagate significantly slashed the price of its Xbox SSDs about a month before Western Digital launched its new models, leading to a hefty reduction in MSRP.

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Continue reading: Western Digital launches affordably-priced Xbox Series X/S SSD expansion memory cards (full post)

Capcom franchise sales updates: Resident Evil breaks 142 million, Monster Hunter at 92 million

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2023 12:57 PM CDT

Capcom has just updated unit sales figures for its best-selling video game franchises, including Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Devil May Cry.

Capcom franchise sales updates: Resident Evil breaks 142 million, Monster Hunter at 92 million

Throughout FY22 (April 2022 - March 2023), Capcom sold a total of 47.1 million games across the entire year. The following top franchises made up nearly half of these sales gains. It's worth noting that some games aren't included in these figures, including Street Fighter 6, which launched earlier this month and will instead be included in Capcom's FY23 numbers.

The franchise that saw the largest gains was Resident Evil, which managed to jump by 15 million units, driven by the stellar release performance of Resident Evil 4 in March 2023 as well as catalog game sales. Below we have a better breakdown of how each of these top 5 best-selling franchises performed throughout the fiscal year:

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Continue reading: Capcom franchise sales updates: Resident Evil breaks 142 million, Monster Hunter at 92 million (full post)

Diablo IV sets new record for early access sales, gamers have spent 93 million hours so far

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2023 10:42 AM CDT

Blizzard's latest demon-slaying medieval aRPG became a huge success even before it launched.

Diablo IV sets new record for early access sales, gamers have spent 93 million hours so far

Activision has announced that Diablo IV is now Blizzard's fastest-selling game of all time, setting new records for the live service giant. There's some clarification needed with these claims, though. The press release does not have actual sales figures and the "fastest-selling" claim apparently only applies to early access sales, not launch day sales.

"Fastest selling based on more units sold on all platforms before launch (through June 5, 2023). Sell-through figures based on reporting received from digital partners and Blizzard internal reports," reads the press release.

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Continue reading: Diablo IV sets new record for early access sales, gamers have spent 93 million hours so far (full post)

Flat packed ATX chassis from DEEPCOOL and some heatsinks and PSUs too at Computex 2023

Ryan Gendreau | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jun 6, 2023 9:59 AM CDT

DEEPCOOL is a company that always seems to have something interesting to show when it comes to trade shows, so I wanted to see what they had to offer during our trip to Taipei, Taiwan for Computex 2023.

Flat packed ATX chassis from DEEPCOOL and some heatsinks and PSUs too at Computex 2023

First up was the heatsinks in the DEEPCOOL suite. These models featured a led temperature readout on the top of the heatsink. The AK500S Digital and AK500s Digital are slimmer versions of the originals, however, have the same TDPs. Available in black or white.

Next DEEPCOOL displayed a few of their new PSUs. The PX-P series PSUs feature a 16AWG 12VHPWR connector that meets the specifications for ATX 3.0. Has five dedicated 6+2 PCIe Ports. Uses twin Japanese 105C main capacitors. Is 80 Plus Platinum Certified, which is 92% or more efficient under a typical load. Includes a 120mm true fluid dynamic fan bearing. Lastly is very compact at 160mm in total length of body.

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Continue reading: Flat packed ATX chassis from DEEPCOOL and some heatsinks and PSUs too at Computex 2023 (full post)

LG confirms two UltraGear 144Hz IPS displays are officially coming

Jak Connor | Displays | Jun 6, 2023 8:25 AM CDT

LG has confirmed two new gaming monitors to be released under its UltraGear branding. Introducing the 32GR93U, and the 27GR93U.

LG confirms two UltraGear 144Hz IPS displays are officially coming

Each of these new gaming displays features a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution and an IPS-type panel with support for a 144Hz refresh rate. Notably, LG will be releasing a 31.5-inch variant and a 27-inch variant, each will come with Adaptive-Sync, HDMI 2.1 VRR, AMD and NVIDIA FreeSync and G-Sync compatibility, a 1000:1 static contrast ratio with 178 degree viewing angles. The ergonomic adjustments are the same for each monitor as well, with height adjustments up to 110 mm, a clockwise pivot, and -5 to 15 degrees of possible tilt.

As you can probably imagine, LG has outfitted both of the coming displays with powerful connectivity, with the 32GR93U, and the 27GR93U both supporting a 3.5 mm headphone jack, two HDMI 2.1 inputs, DisplayPort 1.4 and two USB type-A ports, along with a USB type-B upstream port. LG has also jam-packed these displays with more features such as Crosshair, Dynamic Action Sync, Black Stabilizer, Color Weakness, HW Calibration, Motion Blur Reduction technology, True Color Pro, OnScreen Control, and OnScreen Display.

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Continue reading: LG confirms two UltraGear 144Hz IPS displays are officially coming (full post)

Top 17 pieces of technology spotted by our editors at Computex 2023

Jak Connor | Computer Systems | Jun 6, 2023 6:24 AM CDT

Computex 2023 was jam packed with juicy announcements, and we have decided to gather what we consider to be our favorite unveilings.

Top 17 pieces of technology spotted by our editors at Computex 2023

From Monday to Thursday last week the TweakTown team wandered the Computex showroom floor, meeting with companies and their marketing teams to understand what is just around the corner for gamers.

TweakTown founder and director Cameron Wilmot, gaming hardware editor Kosta Andreadis, hardware editor Ryan Gendreau, and science, space, and AI reporter, Jak Connor were demoed countless products, from NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang showcasing GraceHopper on-stage at the NVIDIA press event, to the ASUS booth where we broke the news on the world's first 38-inch 4K 144Hz gaming monitor.

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Continue reading: Top 17 pieces of technology spotted by our editors at Computex 2023 (full post)

FSP reenters the cooling sector with the new high-end MX09 dual fin-stack CPU cooler

Kosta Andreadis | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jun 6, 2023 1:57 AM CDT

FSP is best known for its power supplies, and on that front, we've already seen some pretty impressive tech from the company at Computex 2023 in the form of a 2500-watt ATX 3.0 PSU, dubbed the Cannon Pro. A monster of a PSU that can run four GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards comfortably, which is more 'good to know' than something you'd probably end up doing.

FSP reenters the cooling sector with the new high-end MX09 dual fin-stack CPU cooler

But, FSP had a number of additional cool things to show off at Computex, literally, with a range of CPU coolers, including AIO-based liquid coolers with RGB lighting and a new high-end dual fin-stack cooler called the MX09.

The MX09 features two fin stacks designed differently, with recesses that consider the placement of the I/O ports and shroud on the back end of the motherboard and memory on the front side.

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Continue reading: FSP reenters the cooling sector with the new high-end MX09 dual fin-stack CPU cooler (full post)

Samsung's new OLED G9 gaming monitor gets its price and availability leaked online

Jak Connor | Displays | Jun 6, 2023 1:28 AM CDT

Samsung is preparing to roll out its newest edition to its ultra-wide line-up of gaming monitors under its Odyssey branding, and now more details have leaked about what is to come.

Samsung's new OLED G9 gaming monitor gets its price and availability leaked online

If you are an ultra-wide gamer or are looking to make the jump from the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio to 32:9, perhaps it's time to start paying attention to what Samsung is about to release. Introducing, the the highly anticipated Odyssey OLED G9, an enormous 49-inch curved monitor with Quantum-Dot OLED pixel technology at an astounding 5,120 x 1,440 resolution. The specifications don't stop there. The OLED G9 is slated to come with a 240 Hz refresh rate but at a steep price of $2,626 USD.

The leaked pricing and additional details about the OLED G9 come from the Austrian retailer Digitec Galaxus, which wrote on its website that Samsung is expected to launch the OLED G9 between mid-September and the end of September, with the earliest launch date being September 14. It's worth pointing out that if Samsung decides to stick with the price point of $2,600+, it will make the OLED G9 more expensive than the Odyssey Neo G9, which has a price tag of $2,197.

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Continue reading: Samsung's new OLED G9 gaming monitor gets its price and availability leaked online (full post)

ASRock showcases new high-end Intel Z790 Wi-Fi 7 motherboards and a new Taichi Lite range

Kosta Andreadis | Motherboards | Jun 6, 2023 12:21 AM CDT

ASRock had several goodies to showcase at Computex 2023, with everything from displays to graphics cards and motherboards. On that front, it had a couple of notable new high-end entries that will take full advantage of the new Wi-Fi 7 standard that can hit a theoretical data rate of 46 Gbps.

ASRock showcases new high-end Intel Z790 Wi-Fi 7 motherboards and a new Taichi Lite range

The flagship Wi-Fi 7 board from ASRock is the Phantom Gaming Z790 Nova Wi-Fi 7, which features a 20+1+1 Phase Power Design and plenty of expansion opportunities. Storage-wise, it features a single 'Blazing' M.2 slot (PCIe Gen 5x4), five additional 'Hyper' M.2 Slots (PCIe Gen 4x4), and three SATA ports.

USB-wise, you're looking at 19 in total (10 on the rear and 9 on the front), with two being Type-C and four being USB 3.2 Gen2. In addition to Wi-Fi 7, you've also got an impressive Realtek 5GbE LAN connection.

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Continue reading: ASRock showcases new high-end Intel Z790 Wi-Fi 7 motherboards and a new Taichi Lite range (full post)

G.SKILL OC World Cup 2023 Grand Finals results, Seby9123 wins OC title pushing DDR5-11158

Kosta Andreadis | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jun 5, 2023 11:28 PM CDT

The G.SKILL OC World Cup 2023 Grand Finals took place at Computex 2023, where the world's most talented overclockers came together with an ungodly amount of LN and put their OC skills to the test in front of a live audience.

G.SKILL OC World Cup 2023 Grand Finals results, Seby9123 wins OC title pushing DDR5-11158

After a gauntlet of overclocking challenges and tests using the Intel Core i9-13900KS CPU, ASUS ROG Z790 Apex motherboard, and G.SKILL DDR5 memory, Seby9123 from the United States took home the OC Champion crown.

Three finalists made it to the Grand Final round, Seby9123, CENS, and Rauf, which took place on June 2. The Grand Final round consisted of two maximum frequency challenges and three benchmarks with CPU clock speeds fixed at 7GHz. A remarkable display of OC skill and talent, especially when you factor in that, this was all done in front of a live audience at a packed Computex 2023.

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Continue reading: G.SKILL OC World Cup 2023 Grand Finals results, Seby9123 wins OC title pushing DDR5-11158 (full post)

MSI Project Zero offers a clean look by keeping motherboard cables hidden

Kosta Andreadis | Motherboards | Jun 5, 2023 9:58 PM CDT

One of the big themes of Computex 2023, at least in terms of complete PC builds, was looking at ways to improve cable management through the smart motherboard and case design. With MSI creating everything from motherboards to fast SSDs to GPUs and cases, it was no surprise that 'MSI Project Zero' was on hand to showcase a glimpse at the p[otential future of cleaner and more visually appealing builds.

MSI Project Zero offers a clean look by keeping motherboard cables hidden

It all comes down to a brand-new motherboard design with no visible circuits or cabling on the front, which in turn leads to a clean-looking build. All the major stuff is on the back of the Micro-ATX MSI B650M Project Zero motherboard, from the chunky 24-pin motherboard power connector, front panel connectors, RGB headers, fan headers, and even SATA connectors.

The B650 chipset supports the current generation of AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors, dual PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, DDR5 memory, 2.5G LAN, and support for Wi-Fi 6E. What separates the MSI Project Zero build from similar stealth projects at Computex 2023 is that everything you see here is on track for a release this year.

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Continue reading: MSI Project Zero offers a clean look by keeping motherboard cables hidden (full post)

MSI showcases a 240Hz 49-inch ultrawide QD-OLED Concept Monitor at Computex

Kosta Andreadis | Displays | Jun 5, 2023 9:32 PM CDT

OLED panel technology for PC gaming monitors has been one of the biggest advances in recent years, and MSI is fully embracing the OLED life with a number of new QD-OLED displays on the way. QD-OLED, which adds Quantum Dot technology to deliver a brighter and more colorful image than standard OLED, is quickly becoming the new sought-after OLED display tech.

MSI showcases a 240Hz 49-inch ultrawide QD-OLED Concept Monitor at Computex

On that front, the MEG 342C QD-OLED Gaming Monitor is definitely drool-worthy, offering an ultrawide 3440 x 1440 resolution display with a fast 175Hz refresh rate and an immersive 1800R curve. Throw in the infinite contrast you get from OLED's self-lit pixels (not to mention the nearly instantaneous response times) for pristine black levels, and it's one of the best gaming monitors you can pick up right now.

But, at Computex 2023, MSI had one more QD-OLED display to showcase, a massive 32:9 49-inch display with a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate. This thing is a monster and was one of the show's highlights for me. MSI had this beast of a display connected to a GeForce RTX 4090 powered rig running a full Microsoft Flight Simulator setup with the Top Gun expansion.

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Continue reading: MSI showcases a 240Hz 49-inch ultrawide QD-OLED Concept Monitor at Computex (full post)

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