Latest News - Page 906

Not that it's practical to take the axial fans from NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 and GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards and use them in a DIY CPU cooling setup, but you can get your hands-on the same fans, which is exactly what someone has done with the results shared on the Chiphell forums.

The axial fans from the Founders Edition GPUs were used to cool an Intel Core i5-13600KF processor, where the operating temperature dropped considerably when stacked up against traditional cooling. Compared to the Thermalright TL-C12 cooler, the temperature dropped by up to nine degrees Celsius when using NVIDIA's Founders Edition fans during the Cinebench R23 benchmark.

Compared to the Cooler Master Mobius 120P ARGB, a more well-known cooler, temperatures dropped by up to five degrees Celsius.

The new Ryzen 9 7940HS mobile processor pairs Zen 4 architecture with RDNA 3 graphics in the form of an integrated Radeon 780M GPU. The processor is featured in the new ASUS TUF A15 Gaming laptop. Even though there is GeForce RTX 4060 laptop graphics inside, tech reviewer ETA PRIME has tested the new integrated Radeon 780M GPU, and the 1080p benchmark results are impressive.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS Zen 4 processor features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.0 GHz and a max boost clock of 5.2 GHz. The RDNA 3-based Radeon 780M iGPU features 12CUs clocked at an impressive 2.8 GHz, with the ASUS TUF A15 Gaming laptop tested also featuring 32GB of fast DDR5 5600 memory (4GB of which is shared with the GPU).

Looking at synthetic 3DMark benchmarks, the Radeon 780M GPU delivers a 12% improvement over the 680M in the FireStrike test, increasing to 15% in TimeSpy. These are impressive results considering that there are no official launch drivers for the CPU, but that also meant some instability and crashing when testing certain games. ETA PRIME notes that he could not test Sony titles like God of War and Marvel's Spider-Man due to crashes.

MSI Afterburner is one of the most popular tools for tweaking and overclocking GPU hardware and monitoring performance, power, temperatures, and overall stability. Earlier this year, we reported on the news that the future of the app was uncertain due to a tech ban on Russia, which is where MSI Afterburner developer Alexey Nicolaychuk, aka "Unwinder," is based.

At the time, MSI advised that it was looking to resolve the issue of being unable to pay Alexey for this work. With today's release of MSI Afterburner 4.6.5, the popular tuning app sees its first major official update in a long time. In addition to adding official support for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series and AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics cards, it also adds power monitoring support for future AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. Plus, hardware monitoring for Intel Arc GPUs.

It's great to see MSI Afterburner back with a stable and official update, alongside MSI and Alexey figuring out a way to continue development on the app. MSI Afterburner 4.6.5 brings a lot of changes, updates, new support, and improvements. There are even new Windows 11-themed skins.

Microsoft has released DirectStorage 1.2 as part of the DirectStorage SDK, bringing several new features to the technology designed to improve game load times. Namely, support for older hard drives in the form of a new ability to open files in buffered mode that will benefit from "OS file buffering features."

What's DirectStorage? Well, it's a Microsoft technology designed to help games load faster with the aid of NVMe storage and PCIe Gen 4 speeds. With the visual fidelity of games increasing and things like textures, character models, and other files getting larger, handling all of that data can be a challenge.

DirectStorage bypasses the need for game files and decompression to go from an SDD to RAM to the CPU and GPU. It shifts the load to the GPU so files and data can be quickly decompressed and accessed. It's similar to Microsoft's Xbox Velocity Architecture that debuted with the Xbox Series X|S, which led to games loading in seconds versus upwards of a minute or longer.

With Google almost nailed-on to announce the Pixel Tablet at its Google I/O event on May 10 we're starting to see more leaks as time ticks on. We'd previously been told that the tablet would likely to be announced in May but not released until June and now we have some news in relation to the tablet's charging dock.

That charging dock is now expected to ship in the box with the Pixel Tablet no matter which storage configuration you choose we're now also finding out how much that dock will cost if you want to pick up another one for whatever reason. And it isn't going to be cheap.

The dock itself can wirelessly charge the Pixel Tablet and it holds the tablet in place using magnets. The dock also has a speaker built in which effectively turns the docked Pixel Tablet into a sort of big-screen smart home speaker. That's probably why Google is shipping one in the box, but what if you want to put another one in another room?

Unreal and Gears of War developer Cliff Bleszinski is hopeful for a Lawbreakers revival, but he'll have to get approval of the rights holder before anything happens.

Remember Lawbreakers? The 5v5 hero shooter released back in 2017, but ultimately failed to gain traction in the market due to steep competition from games like Overwatch. Lawbreakers was pulled offline in 2018 and eventually faded away to the live service graveyard, but its ghost is apparently still alive.

Now it looks like fans are clamoring for a Lawbreakers revival. There's just one potential issue: Cliff Bleszinski doesn't own rights to Lawbreakers. Nexon, who published the game at launch, actually owns the rights to the franchise. Cliffy B recently shared this tidbit on Twitter: "Well, turns out Nexon does own the rights to LawBreakers. Owen Mahoney, how about sliding into my DMs so we can talk about a resurrection?"

At this point it's no secret that Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 15 lineup in September 2023 and that the phones are all expected to use USB-C charting ports, a first for the iPhone. But a new report suggests that wasn't always the plan. At least originally, the iPhone 15 was going to have a Lightning port like all previous models.

That report says that all of the plans and designs for the iPhone 15 since around March 2022 have sported USB-C ports, suggesting that's when Apple made the decision to finally ditch Lightning in favor of something a little more universal.

This leak comes via a Twitter leaker who has previously been able to share details about the iPhone in the past, suggesting that they may have a contact inside Apple. However, as with all leaks like this, it's important to remember that there are no guarantee that this one is on the money.

Atari has purchased the rights to more classic video game franchises as it gears up for expansion.

As most video game publishers and developers experiment with new big-budget IPs, Atari has taken a different approach. Atari is looking to use the past to help build its future. Having once dominated the games market in the 1970s, Atari is just a fraction of what it once was, but that hasn't stopped the company from carving out a niche business model that celebrates nostalgia instead of chasing the latest trends.

Atari wants to accelerate this model and release more remakes and re-releases of classic franchises. Like the Embracer Group, who owns the rights to over 700 IPs, Atari is likewise purchasing the rights to a ton of classic games while also setting up studios to help capitalize on the rights and turn them into launchable products.

Google has pushed out an update for its Chrome browser to patch up a serious vulnerability.

This is a fix for a zero-day security flaw (CVE-2023-2136), so it's been deployed in a fair old hurry by Google, which acknowledged that it was aware that an exploit for the vulnerability exists in the wild (meaning malicious actors out there have already leveraged this flaw to their advantage).

Bleeping Computer reports that running the new version of Chrome, 112.0.5615.137 (or 138), ensures that this problem is cured, and indeed a bunch of other vulnerabilities - eight of them in total.

Sony's PlayStation 5 console firmly secures the lead in one of gaming's most important geographies.

The PlayStation 5 is on a roll and shows no signs of slowing down. According to data provided by Circana (formerly NPD Group) video games analyst Mat Piscatella, the PS5 is in the top spot in the United States, which remains one of Sony's biggest markets.

Sony's PlayStation 5 led March 2023's hardware sales and helped push overall monthly hardware spending to $566 million, Piscatella reports. The PS5 did so well in March that it set a new PlayStation platform unit sales record for the month of March. "Yes, PS5 did set a new March individual PlayStation platform unit record," Piscatella said on Twitter. The previous record-holder was the PSP, which managed to sell 620,000 units in just eight days after launch (March 24 - March 31, 2005).

Netflix is pushing into AAA gaming, and has conscripted a longtime veteran to help lead the charge.

Netflix is no longer just a streaming giant. Having pioneered and subsequently conquered the streaming market, the company has ambitious plans to expand and transform itself into a multimedia titan. Following its billion-dollar entertainment push, Netflix has more recently entered the world's most lucrative medium: Video games.

Up until now, Netflix's gaming push has delivered access to mobile games, not blockbuster titles. The new business model gives Netflix subscribers access to a pool of selected mobile titles, however the company has said from the get-go that it would eventually expand to other game types, platforms, and genres.

Time is running out for regulators to make a decision on the Microsoft-Activision merger.

UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority will publish their final decision on the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger next week on Wednesday, April 26. The final deadline for submissions has already passed and antitrust regulators are currently building an expansive document to explain their final decision on whether or not to block or approve the merger.

Experts and pundits largely expect the deal will be approved by the most impactful worldwide regulatory bodies (CMA, EC, and the FTC), and this is reinforced by the CMA's recent decision to remove one of its key theories of harm regarding the Microsoft-Activision merger.

Capcom's shares have skyrocketed to record highs following the announcement of a major new mobile game.

Capcom recently announced that it would team up with Pokemon Go's Niantic to develop a brand new Monster Hunter game. The project is called Monster Hunter Now, and is a mobile game for iOS and Android that promises an "approachable hunting experience that can be enjoyed as part of everyday life."

As Monster Hunter is Capcom's cash crop, the news has resonated strongly with investors. Capcom's shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange reached a new all-time high of 5,140 yen on the day the game was announced. Details on the game are slim, but Capcom plans to hold a limited beta test soon with a global rollout for Monster Hunter Now in September 2023.

What's that - your gaming PC doesn't have 32GB of RAM? In that case, you don't qualify for the recommended spec for Firmament, an adventure game from Cyan, the folks who brought us Myst (way back in the, er, Mysts of time).

The adventure game puzzler (yes, it looks very Myst-like) has just had its PC hardware requirements aired, with that eye-catching demand for 32GB of system memory, at least in the recommended spec - albeit with a caveat.

Firmament's recommended spec calls for an AMD Ryzen 7 3800X (or better), 32GB of RAM, and either an AMD Radeon RX 6800XT or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card.

All eyes are currently on the freshly launched NVIDIA RTX 4070 GPU, and that could be the reason why some price cuts have been spotted with higher-end RTX 4090 and 4080 graphics cards.

As Wccftech pointed out, there's evidence that pricing on these GPUs is dropping, at least on some versions at certain retailers in the US. The catch with the RTX 4090, though, is that the deal which was glimpsed is now out of stock - but there's still an opportunity to get an RTX 4080 on offer you'll doubtless be glad to hear.

The MSRP (manufacturer's suggested price) of the RTX 4080 is $1,199, but you can now pick up a GIGABYTE Eagle RTX 4080 for $1,149 at Best Buy, a healthy reduction of $50.

If you thought Elden Ring was hard on a standard controller, imagine trying to beat the game using a device that scans your brain signals and converts them to inputs.

Twitch streamer and psychology graduate Perrikaryal has attempted that very challenge, announcing that she was going to try and beat Elden Ring using nothing electroencephalogram (EEG), which monitors brain activity through sensor pads attached to her head. These sensor pads monitor her brain's electrical activity, and the device was trained to recognize specific states that were then bound to in-game inputs, such as the character's attack input.

Perrikaryal further explained how the device works and said the device can recognize what her brain activity looks like normally, when she is speaking to her viewers on stream, and when she is visualizing attacking or moving forward. For example, to move her character forward, Perrikaryal says she imagines pushing an object forward. The imaginary object doesn't need to be the same every time, but when the pushing motion is imagined, the in-game character responds within seconds, moving forward and then attacking an enemy.

A 3D printer that outputs chocolate creations? Sounds decadent and delicious. And the complete opposite of using plastics and resin to create 3D prints. The Cocoa Press 3D chocolate printer has been in the works for quite some time, with creator Ellie Rose Weinstein working on iterations, improvements, and refinements since 2014.

And the Cocoa Press 3D is available for pre-order now with a deposit of USD 100 - with DIY kit shipments shipping in Fall 2023. The complete chocolate 3D printer costs USD 1,499 and, as per above, will arrive in a DIY kit for assembly. There are also "Professional Packages" starting from USD 3,995, shipping in early 2024.

The official site notes that the Cocoa Press DIY kit is "intended for users with prior 3D printing experience" and features an assembly time of around 10 hours.

The ASUS ROG Ally is a gaming handheld running Windows 11, launching soon. However, we still don't have official word on the underlying hardware and specs apart from ASUS stating that it will feature the "fastest" AMD APU built on a custom 4nm process with Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architecture.

But, as with hardware mysteries, we have more info from two sources. One is a marketing image outlining the capabilities and broad specs of the ROG Ally handheld. The other is a shipping manifest calling out a specific Ryzen hardware as part of the "Handheld Console PC." Namely the Ryzen 7 7840U.

The marketing slide mentions a custom AMD Ryzen Z1 Series processor, which could be the Ryzen 7 7840U with modifications and specific custom features. Either way, the ROG Ally will ship with an AMD Phoenix APU, which can deliver double the in-game performance of Valve's Steam Deck with improved power efficiency.

College students from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be sending the first US autonomous rover to the Moon.

The small rover called Iris was developed over three years by college students, faculty, and former students from the university. Over the course of NASA's 65 years of lunar exploration, the space agency has yet to land an autonomous rover on the surface of the Moon, but in May, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the 4.4-pound rover with wheels the size of bottle caps will begin its 60-hour-long mission exploring the surface of Moon.

What scientific operations will Iris be conducting on the Moon's surface? According to reports, Iris' mission involves taking a plethora of images of the lunar surface, mostly with the intention of capturing as much geological information as possible throughout its mission. Additionally, the small autonomous rover will be testing out new techniques for relaying its important data and photographs back to Earth. The small rover will launch on the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket on May 4 alongside multiple lunar projects.

According to reports, Microsoft is working on its own AI hardware, code-named Athena, that will be built using TSMC's 5nm process. Microsoft has been working on the project since 2019 (as per The Information) to directly respond to the surging costs of running AI hardware.

The report indicates that a small group of Microsoft and OpenAI employees is already testing the chips. It aims to perform better than the hardware it currently buys from vendors like NVIDIA, not to mention save them a lot of money, with the AI boom showing no signs of slowing down.

Microsoft has invested billions with Open AI, the makers of ChatGPT, and is in the midst of an AI arms race when implementing models into its product suite. These AI chips could be ready and widely available as early as next year, making them a potential revenue stream for Microsoft and Azure.