TechPowerUP NEWS

[NextPowerUP]

Get ready, anime fans! Starforge Systems, the Austin-based PC manufacturer known for their highly customized pre-built gaming systems, is suiting up for their latest anime-inspired Limited Edition PC based on the ultra-popular series, Kaiju No. 8. Ahead of the second season slated to debut later this year, this monstrous rig includes Kaiju No. 8 themed plate light inserts, a high-quality desk mat and striking wall art showcasing characters and scenes widely celebrated in the series.

The Kaiju No. 8 PC from Starforge Systems is a Honju sized gaming machine. Equipped with a 9070 XT from AMD and an Intel Core i5-14600K, this machine is sleek and deadly as a monster can be. Built in an embossed Lian Li O11 Evo RGB the details on this case light up and glow from the custom Starforge Plate Light that serves as this kaiju's core.
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[NextPowerUP]

To celebrate this year's March 14th, aka International Pi Day 2025, we are pleased to officially announce the BC1 Pi. The Raspberry Pi transformed computing with its compact size, affordability, and versatility, making it a favorite among hobbyists and engineers. As creators of the BC1 Open Benchtable, we know a thing or two about what goes into making a well-designed and durable test bench. Now, we're bringing that same philosophy to the Raspberry Pi with our new BC1 Pi - Open Benchtable - the perfect solution for testing, tinkering, and prototyping with your Raspberry Pi.

The BC1 Legacy
The BC1 Open Benchtable Pi brings the award-winning test bench to the world of single-board computers and Raspberry Pi. Following the legacy of the award-winning BC1 Open Benchtable series, the BC1 Open Benchtable Pi combines a sleek, premium look with toolless design.
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[NextPowerUP]

In something of a surprise, Epic Games today announced that it is working with Qualcomm to integrate support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPUs into Easy Anti-Cheat, officially adding Fortnite to the list of games that are available for Windows on Arm. According to the post announcing the upcoming change to EAC, support for Windows on Arm in Fortnite will arrive before the end of 2025. Until the EAC update arrives, EAC will block Windows on Arm players from playing games like Fortnite because Windows on Arm devices use Prism emulation and translation to run x86 apps on Arm hardware. At the time of writing, the unofficial Windows on Arm app compatibility tracker lists a total of 675 apps as compatible with the Arm SoCs, 121 of which are games. This is compared to 17,955 games that are verified or playable on the Steam Deck via Valve's Proton translation layer, according to ProtonDB.

Expanding support for EAC to Windows on Arm could also allow games like Apex Legends and Fall Guys to run on Arm devices. This news comes in spite of the slow adoption of Windows on Arm devices, which Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney infamously quoted as the reason for not supporting the Steam Deck or Linux as a platform. "If we only had a few more programmers. It's the Linux problem. I love the Steam Deck hardware. Valve has done an amazing job there; I wish they would get to tens of millions of users, at which point it would actually make sense to support it." However, market share for Windows on Arm still appears to fall short of the market share Linux commands in the desktop OS space.
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[NextPowerUP]

The next evolution of Rainbow Six Siege was revealed today at the Siege X Showcase. Launching on June 10, Siege X will introduce Dual Front, a dynamic new 6v6 game mode, as well as deliver foundational upgrades to the core game (including visual enhancements, an audio overhaul, rappel upgrades, and more) alongside revamped player protection systems, and free access that will allow players to experience the unique tactical action of Rainbow Six Siege at no cost. Plus, from now through March 19, a free Dual Front closed beta is live on PC via Ubisoft Connect, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, giving players a first chance to play the exciting new mode. Read on to find out how to get into the beta and try Dual Front for yourself.

Dual Front
Taking place on an entirely new map called District, Dual Front is a new mode that pits two teams of six Operators against each other in a fight to attack enemy sectors while defending their own. Players can choose from a curated roster of 35 Operators—both Attackers and Defenders - that will rotate twice per season. During each match, two objective points are live at all times, one in each team's lane; teams must plant a sabotage kit (akin to a defuser) in the opposing team's objective room and defend it in order to capture the sector and progress towards the final objective: the Base. Sabotage the Base to claim victory, but don't forget to defend your own sector, lest your foes progress faster than you and beat you to it.
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[NextPowerUP]

A vertical mouse is an ergonomic choice for your desk setup, because it helps to keep your wrists in their natural, in-line position rather than flattened and twisted.
The Hansker Performance Gaming Vertical Mouse achieves this verticality without compromising on any of the high-performance functions you'll need to keep yourself competitive. The onboard PixArt 3395 sensor delivers top-tier precision matched by a 1000 Hz polling rate, so you know that your movements and tracking are right where they need to be.

THE GAMER'S VERTICAL MOUSE
The mouse connects through USB-C, Bluetooth, or high-performance wireless dongle for excellent flexibility—and thanks to Windows, Mac, or Linux customization, you can dial in your settings from virtually any system. There's also Low-Force Huano Switches for speed and comfort, as well as a 51-degree ergonomic angle to keep your hands positioned just right. And of course, the sleek, all-black design will look just as at home in a gamer's setup as it would in a more professional space.
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[NextPowerUP]

Razer, the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled WYVRN, a groundbreaking developer platform meticulously designed to empower game creators to redefine the development process and deliver the best and most immersive gaming experiences.

Built for game developers, it delivers futuristic directional and realistic tactile sensations, Razer's customizable cutting-edge AI capabilities, Sensa HD Haptics immersive experiences, vibrant RGB Chroma lighting effects to match in-game events, and leverage THX Spatial Audio+ to immerse gamers in a 3D soundscape. WYVRN will help create standout AI-powered games that captivate players by transforming titles and standing out in the competitive gaming industry. This is also enhanced by seamless Unreal Engine integration, enabling developers to build products and experiences that will define the future of AI gaming with a single SDK.
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[NextPowerUP]

At CES 2025, ASUS unveiled their elite-tier ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard design. Additionally, early January press material teased another top contender: "ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme is also waiting in the wings, with details to be shared on the way to its expected release in the first quarter (of 2025)." As reported by VideoCardz, the Taiwanese manufacturer seems to be readying its mysterious ultra-premium model for an imminent launch. Last week, HWiNFO v8.23-5685 Beta release notes turned up—revealing the existence of "enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme." Concurrently, a smattering of retail/e-tail listings have turned up in Europe. The lowest observed asking price (including VAT) was €1202.80, courtesy of Max ICT's (Netherlands) premature publishing of a product page.

Hopping across the Atlantic, industry watchdogs noted that Newegg was demanding a cool $749 for ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Apex pre-orders. Potential European customers will likely be greeted by a ~€827 (inc. VAT) price point. Since January, the Republic of Gamers marketing team has kept quiet on the X870E Extreme front. Their fancily-appointed board is still an unknown quantity in many regards; recent retail leaks lack technical information and visual representation. As noted by VideoCardz, time is running out for a Q1 2025 launch. As we head into April, Q2 looms in the near distance.

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[NextPowerUP]

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, announced a new optimized storage server for high-performance software-defined storage workloads. This first-of-its-class storage server from a major Tier 1 provider utilizes Supermicro's system design expertise to create a high-density storage server for software-defined workloads found in AI and ML training and inferencing, analytics and enterprise storage workloads. Supermicro worked closely with NVIDIA and WEKA to enable customers to create power-efficient high-performance storage systems for their AI factories.

"The Supermicro Petascale server with the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip highlights Supermicro's focus on innovation and customer choice," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "We have developed the Petascale storage server using the NVIDIA Grace CPU with 144 Arm Neoverse V2 cores enabling high-performance I/O for software-defined storage workloads. We have demonstrated that the system can fully unleash the system's PCIe Gen 5 performance SSD bandwidth with linear scalability. Supermicro continues to bring to market the most advanced and optimized storage solutions available."
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[NextPowerUP]

Remastered, remade, remixed, this is the definitive version of Yooka-Laylee! With shiny, new 4K graphics and visual effects, a brand-new control scheme, entirely new moves and the ability to swiftly chain moves together, it's a quicker, slicker platforming experience. Yooka-Replaylee builds on our nearing 10 years of growth and experience since making Yooka-Laylee, as well as taking on board a whole bunch of community feedback over the years. It's jam-packed with brand new content that we think platforming fans new and old will love! Each world in Yooka-Replaylee has been expanded by default, no longer requiring players to do that themselves, giving us the opportunity to fill each world with new challenges, new collectibles, and new THINGS added to every corner!

Quills!
Quills have new purpose in Yooka-Replaylee! Now, each world has its own Quill colour, and with all of Yooka & Laylee's abilities now unlocked from the start, Trowzer has had to up his game and provide some new goodies! Quills can be traded to Trowzer for things like level exclusive cosmetic items and health/energy upgrades!
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[NextPowerUP]

Graphics card price watchers have highlighted refreshing downward motion in Europe, apparently affecting three out of the four GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. VideoCardz received a couple of email tip-offs from its pan-European audience, prompting the publication of a short investigative piece. NVIDIA's slight adjustment of official pricing for GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 models is the result of a strengthened Euro. The US dollar's value has dropped by roughly 3.9 %; according to recent detective work, focusing on German trends. Team Green's "generous" reductions have arrived roughly two weeks after a stabilization of the USD-EUR exchange rate.

Curiously, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is an outlier here—NVIDIA did not reduce its German guide price (€879 + VAT) for this upper-mid-range offer. A Founders Edition does not exist at this GPU level, so Team Green has tasked its board partners with the creation of so-called "MSRP conformant" alternatives. One of VideoCardz's tipsters has observed various GeForce RTX 50 series models simply "rotting on shelves," due to potential buyers balking at unreasonable retailer-implemented price hikes. NVIDIA's minor changes (4.3 to 4.6 %) are unlikely to make a noticeable impact across the Euro zone.

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[NextPowerUP]

AMD's next-generation Zen 6-based "Medusa Point" mobile APUs will not feature RDNA 4 graphics as previously speculated, according to recent code discoveries in AMD GPUOpen Drivers on GitHub. The Device ID "GfxIp12" associated with RDNA 4 architecture has been reserved for only discrete GPUs, confirming that the current Radeon RX 9000 series will exclusively implement AMD's latest graphics architecture. Current technical documentation indicates AMD will instead extend RDNA 3.5 implementation beyond the Zen 5 portfolio while potentially positioning UDNA as the successor technology for integrated graphics.

The chiplet-based Medusa Point design will reportedly pair a single 12-core Zen 6 CCD manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm-class node with a mobile client I/O die likely built on N4P. This arrangement is significantly different from current monolithic mobile solutions. Earlier speculation indicates the Medusa Point platform may support 3D V-Cache variants, leveraging the same vertical stacking methodology employed in current Zen 5 implementations. The mobile processor's memory controllers and neural processing unit are expected to receive substantial updates. However, compatibility limitations with AMD's latest graphics features, like FSR 4 technology, remain a concern due to the absence of RDNA 4 silicon. The Zen 6-powered Medusa Point processor family is scheduled for release in 2026, targeting premium mobile computing applications with a performance profile that builds upon AMD's current Strix Halo positioning.

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[NextPowerUP]

Samsung has officially released its next-generation 9100 PRO series solid-state drives to the masses, with availability starting today. The drives leverage PCIe 5.0 technology to deliver sequential read/write speeds of up to 14,800/13,400 MB/s—twice as fast as previous generation offerings—while random read/write performance reaches 2,200K/2,600K IOPS. The series, available in standard and heatsink variants, marks Samsung's first consumer NVMe offerings to reach 8 TB capacity. The 9100 PRO line integrates Samsung's 5 nm controller architecture, yielding up to 49% improved power efficiency compared to prior models. This efficiency gain comes without compromising the form factor, with the drives maintaining a slim 0.35-inch profile. The heatsink variant provides additional thermal regulation capabilities for sustained performance under demanding workloads, making it particularly suitable for AI content generation, 8K video editing, and high-performance gaming applications.

Currently available configurations include 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities, with pricing starting at $199.99 for the standard 1 TB model and $219.99 for the heatsink-equipped equivalent. The 2 TB models are priced at $299.99 and $319.99, respectively, while 4 TB variants command $549.99 and $569.99. Samsung has announced that 8 TB models will enter the market in H2 2025. Compatible with desktop PCs, laptops, and PlayStation 5 consoles featuring appropriate PCIe 5.0 slots, the drives incorporate Samsung's V-NAND TLC (V8) technology and LPDDR4X cache memory—ranging from 1 GB in the 1 TB model to 8 GB in the 8 TB version. Samsung's Magician Software suite provides management capabilities, including performance optimization and firmware update notifications.

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[NextPowerUP]

We're stepping up our multiplatform gaming offering with exciting news dropping at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC). We're bringing users more games, more ways to play your games across devices, and improved gameplay. You can read all about the updates for users from The Keyword. At GDC, we'll be diving into all of the latest games coming to Play, plus new developer tools that'll help improve gameplay across the Android ecosystem.

We're sharing a closer look at what's new from Android. We're making Vulkan the official graphics API on Android, enabling you to build immersive visuals, and we're enhancing the Android Dynamic Performance Framework (ADPF) to help you deliver longer, more stable gameplays. Check out our video, or keep reading below.
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[NextPowerUP]

G.Skill International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is announcing a new high-capacity, low-latency DDR5 specification of DDR5-6000 CL26 with a total of 96 GB (48 GB x2) kit capacity, intended for the AMD AM5 platform. Designed for PC enthusiasts, gamers, professionals, and AI applications who are looking for high performance, this new memory kit enables low-latency performance at high kit capacities on the latest AMD computing platforms.

High-Capacity & Low-Latency Performance DDR5 Memory for AMD AM5
G.Skill continues to push the limits of DDR5 memory with the new DDR5-6000 CL26 at a high kit capacity of 96 GB (48 GB x2). Featuring a very low latency timing of CL26-36-36-96, this memory kit is engineered to provide efficiency and responsiveness for high-performance computing tasks, such as content creation, 3D modeling, or AI applications, on the latest AMD AM5 platforms. See below for a Memtest validation screenshots on the ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO motherboard with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D desktop processor, as well as on the MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI motherboard with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X desktop processor.
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[NextPowerUP]

HP announced a new addition to its OMEN 16 lineup—the OMEN 16 Slim. HP claims that the thinnest part of the 2025 Omen 16 Slim is only 19.9 mm, which is 16% thinner than the standard Omen 16. Display options include a 16-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, available in either 1920 x 1200 resolution (with 144 Hz or 165 Hz refresh rate options) or 2560 x 1600 resolution (featuring 250 Hz refresh rate). The processor lineup starts with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H, with options to upgrade to the Core Ultra 7 255H or even Ultra 9. Memory configurations include 16 GB, 24 GB, or 32 GB of DDR5-5600 RAM, paired with 512 GB or 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage.

For graphics, the NVIDIA RTX 5070 is currently the only discrete GPU listed, though HP's "up to" note suggests additional options may arrive later. HP also mentioned that when using "Unleashed Mode," the system can reach up to 105 W TPP while the "advanced cooling technology" can run the laptop at 46 decibels. On the connectivity side, it features one USB-C port, three USB Type-A ports (one 10 Gbps, two 5 Gbps), Ethernet, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and HDMI 2.1. Wireless options include either Intel's Wi-Fi 6E or Realtek's Wi-Fi 6 cards (no Wi-Fi 7 support). HP hasn't yet announced any pricing information, however, they say the Omen 16 Slim should be available this spring.

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