Tag Archives: Hardware

Breaking, Games, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, Xbox

Increased External Storage Support for Xbox coming soon

In a significant update for Xbox users, Microsoft has announced that Xbox consoles will soon support external USB drives larger than 16TB. This new feature is currently being tested with Xbox Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring and is expected to roll out to all users in the coming weeks.

Key Details of the Update:

  • Expanded Storage Capacity: Newly formatted drives larger than 16TB will be divided into multiple partitions, each appearing as a separate device on your console. This allows users to utilize all available space for games and apps1.
  • Reformatting Required: Drives larger than 16TB that have already been formatted will need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support.
  • No Upper Limit Specified: Microsoft has not yet specified an upper limit for storage devices, suggesting that the new partition method may allow for significantly larger storage capacities.
  • Xbox Series X|S Compatibility: While games optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles still need to be installed on the console’s internal SSD or a matching Seagate or WD_Black Expansion Drive, external drives can be used to store game data and then moved onto the console’s SSD or an NVMe SSD expansion card.

Expand Your Xbox Storage with Support for Larger Drives

We are enabling support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, so you can be sure your favorite games are always ready to play! Newly formatted drives that are larger than 16TB will be formatted with multiple partitions to utilize all available space for games and apps. These will appear as multiple devices in the storage devices list.

Why This Matters:

With game install sizes steadily increasing over the years, this update is a welcome relief for gamers who have extensive libraries and need more storage space. It ensures that your favorite games are always ready to play without worrying about running out of space.

The feature is expected to be gradually released to wider testing groups before becoming available to all Xbox users, probably over the next couple of weeks. This means that soon, you’ll be able to connect even larger external hard drives to your Xbox console, providing virtually unlimited storage power.

Breaking, Featured, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, Nintendo

Nintendo unveils the Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo has officially unveiled its highly-anticipated successor to the Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch 2, set to launch in 2025. The announcement came with a first-look trailer that showcased the new console’s design and features.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Nintendo Switch 2.

As per the first-look presentation, the Nintendo Switch 2 features a larger display compared to the original Switch, providing an enhanced gaming experience. The Joy-Con controllers have been redesigned to attach magnetically to the console, making them more secure and easier to use. Additionally, the Joy-Con now includes an optical sensor, adding new possibilities for gameplay.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Nintendo Switch 2 is its backward compatibility as Nintendo already confirmed late last year 2024. The console will support both Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and existing Nintendo Switch games.

However, it’s important to note that some older games may not be fully compatible with the new system.

Nintendo has scheduled a Nintendo Direct showcase for April 2, 2025, where more details about the console and its release date will be shared. To give fans a hands-on experience, Nintendo will host experience events in various cities around the world, starting in April 2025. These events will be held in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo, and more.

What We Don’t Know Yet

While the announcement provided a lot of exciting information, there are still some details that remain unknown. Nintendo has not yet revealed the price of the Switch 2 or the full software launch lineup. Fans will have to wait for the Nintendo Direct and experience events for more information.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is shaping up to be an exciting upgrade to the beloved Switch console. With its larger screen, redesigned Joy-Con controllers, and backward compatibility, it’s sure to be a hit among gamers. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the release date!

CES 2025, Events, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, PC, Technology

Summary of all things Razer announced at CES 2025

Known to be one of the original gaming peripherals and PC gaming accessories even before PC gaming became a big thing it is today, Razer hasn’t been shy to use events like CES 2025 to not only announced official products and their follow-ups, but also concepts that might or not end being official products and this year wasn’t the exception.

The announcement about an official product is the Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop, which is thinner than ever at just 0.59 inches.

This model features AMD Ryzen AI processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs, along with a 240Hz display and needless to say that the Razer he Blade 16 is designed for gamers who demand high performance in a sleek, portable form factor.

Other announcement for an official product is the new Razer Aether Standing Light Bars feature Chroma RGB lighting and can be used to light up both the player and the surroundings. These lights are smart-home compatible and offer reversible front-and-back dual lighting.

And if you are considering the Aether, I guess it won’t hurt you consider the Razer Monitor Stand Chroma and have Aether to complement it, as it provides additional desk space and includes RGB lighting and multiple USB ports. It is designed to help gamers create a more ergonomic and organized workspace.

Finally, the Handheld Dock Chroma is a “6-in-1” docking station that transforms phones, tablets, or handheld gaming devices “into powerful gaming consoles” with 100W power passthrough support for charging.

The Handheld Dock Chroma uses a USB-C cable to connect supported devices, including Android phones and tablets, iPads and iPhones with USB-C ports, Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and Razer’s own Edge Android gaming handheld.

The 2025 Razer Blade 16 is due out in the first quarter of this year, while the Razer Aether Standing Light Bars is scheduled to be launch on Q1 2025 at a $99 MSRP, the Monitor Stand Chrome will be priced at $199 but no release date was chares and finally, the Handheld Dock Chroma will be the earliest product to be launch with a January 30th release date, targeting the S79.99 price.

And now… the concepts that are labeled as “Projects”

Project Arielle

Razer introduced Project Arielle, the world’s first mesh gaming chair with integrated heating and cooling using bladeless fan technology and Razer used its other chair, the Fujin Pro, as a base for the designing of Arielle.

One of the features of the chair is that it can reduce the perceived temperature by 2°C to 5°C and provide up to 30°C of warm air. This innovative chair aims to enhance comfort for gamers in various climates.

Project Ava

And finally, Razer showcased Project Ava, an AI-powered tech that serves as an esports coach. Ava provides real-time feedback and coaching to help players improve their skills and optimize their gaming setups for better performance.

This AI coach can also ensure that players are always up-to-date with hardware, software, and firmware updates.

While again, conceptual products showcased on CES 2025 by Razer might or not being launched as official products, this wasn’t the exception that Razer didn’t make promises and it is around from Spring to Summer that concepts evolving to future products are announced, so if you are interested, stay tuned!

Breaking, CES 2025, Events, Featured, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, PC, Technology

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 Family announced

The rumors are now over at Nvidia side and we are in the new generation of GeForce RTX with GeForce RTX 50 family and debuting are the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, GeForce RTX 5080, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the GeForce RTX 5070 which were presented at Nvidia’s turn at the main stage of CES 2025.

Lets start with the GeForce RTX 5090 and this of course and for yet another generation without Blackwell architecture being a difference, the flagship.

The GeForce RTX 5090 includes 32GB of GDDR7, a memory bandwidth of 1,792GB/sec, and a massive 21,760 CUDA cores and the bad news is that the GPU card will consume up to 575 watts and Nvidia recommends using PSU with 1000 watts as minimum.

That’s 125 watts more than the RTX 4090, but Nvidia justifies it as precisely, the 5090 doubles its predecessor’s performance.

The GeForce RTX 5090 will have a Founder Edition or the reference that Nvidia sells directly to customer.

Next, the GeForce RTX 5080 which will be aimed directly to consumer 4K gaming resolution, include 16GB of GDDR7 memory, a memory bandwidth of 960GB/sec, and 10,752 CUDA cores. The RTX 5080 will have a total graphics power of 360 watts and Nvidia is recommending a 850-watt power supply.

As the situation for the 5090, Nvidia claims that it doubles the performance of GeForce RTX 4080 of 2022.

In my opinion, the surprise of the keynote was the announcement of both the GeForce RTX 5070 and the RTX 5070 Ti, normally a model serving as a refresher of the base model.

Nevertheless, the RTX 5070 has 12GB of GDDR7, a memory bandwidth of 672 GB/sec, and 6,144 CUDA cores and meanwhile, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti includes 16GB of GDDR7 memory, a memory bandwidth of 896GB/s, and 8,960 CUDA cores.

Being already a repetitive claim, Nvidia says that both RTX 5070 and the Ti will be 2x faster than their respective predecessors and yes, lest talk about power consumption with the RTX 5070 Ti will have a total graphics power of 300 watts and require a 750-watt PSU, while the RTX 5070 has a total graphics power of 250 watts and only needs a 650-watt PSU.

All mentioned GPU cards will have a Founders Edition and expect Nvidia’s partner to have their own designs.

MSRP prices for the Founder editions goes as follow:

  • RTX GeForce 5090 – $1999
  • RTX GeForce 5080 – $999
  • RTX GeForce 5070 Ti – $759
  • RTX GeForce 5070 – $549

Nvidia confirmed a January 30th release for each individual Founders Edition, meanwhile partner’s variants availability were not immediately shared.

About the novelties of Blackwell architecture

The Blackwell architecture enabled Nvidia to have the hardware foundation for the next generation of it solution for AI based graphical upscaler, the DLSS 4, improving massively on ray tracing processing and Multi Frame Generation, which generates up to three additional frames per traditional frame and can multiply frame rates.

DLSS 4 also includes a real-time application of transformers to improve image quality, reduce ghosting, and add higher detail in motion a big differential with today’s AMD announcement on FSR 4, Nvidia opted to have DLSS 4 available for 2022’s Lovelace architecture.

Also, Nvidia demoed what they call RTX Neural Shaders, RTX Neural Faces, text to animation and starting with the first one, the job of the RTX Neural Shaders is to compress textures in games, while RTX Neural Faces aim to improve face quality using generative AI.

RTX 50 for gaming Laptops

Nvidia also confirmed that the mobile version of the RTX GeForce 50 family are coming this year for gaming laptop and includes the the RTX 5090 laptop GPU debuting with 24GB of GDDR7 memory. The RTX 5080 laptop GPU will ship with 16GB of GDDR7 memory, the RTX 5070 Ti with 12GB of GDDR7 memory, and the RTX 5070 with just 8GB of GDDR7 memory. 

We should be hearing announcement soon and releases as early as March 2025.

CES 2025, Events, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News

Acer just grew the Nitro Blaze family

Indeed that this year 2025 will be another big year for portable PC Gaming and while some people are expecting big brands to announce the next generation of their respective devices, Acer took the step on adding more alternative with refreshed specifications for all gaming tastes.

Acer announced at CES 2025, the newest member of the now-a-family Nitro Blaze, the Acer Nitro Blaze 8 and 11, slated as two powerhouse handheld gaming PCs that are set to revolutionize your gaming experience.

The Nitro Blaze 8 and 11 are equipped with the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, delivering up to 39 TOPS of performance. Paired with the AMD Radeon 780M graphics, these devices are built to handle even the most demanding games with ease. With 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD storage, you’ll experience lightning-fast load times and seamless multitasking.

The Nitro Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch WQXGA IPS touchscreen with a 144Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness. The Nitro Blaze 11 takes it up a notch with a 10.95-inch WQXGA IPS touchscreen, offering a 120Hz refresh rate and the same brilliant 500 nits brightness.

Both displays provide stunning visuals and smooth gameplay, making every gaming session a visual treat.

Also, Both models come with an array of ports, including USB4 Type-C, USB 3.2 Type-C, USB 3.2 Type-A, a Micro SD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. With Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, you can enjoy lag-free online gaming and seamless connectivity to peripherals.

The Nitro Blaze 11 features detachable controllers and a built-in kickstand, offering more flexible gaming options. Whether you’re playing on the go or setting up a portable gaming station at home, the Nitro Blaze series adapts to your needs.

Both the Nitro Blaze 8 and 11 run on Windows 11 Home, providing access to a vast library of PC games. With support for Xbox PC Game Pass, you’ll have instant access to a diverse selection of games, from the latest AAA titles to indie gems.

Price and Availability

The Acer Nitro Blaze 8 is priced at $899.99, while the Nitro Blaze 11 comes in at $1,099.99. These handheld gaming PCs are set to hit the market soon, and they’re sure to be a hot commodity among gamers.

Breaking, CES 2025, Events, Featured, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, PC, Technology

AMD announces Radeon 9070 family along with FSR 4

One of the main thing that gamers were expecting of the AMD turn at the stage of CES 2025 was the future of Radeon and yes, RDNA 4 is official, yes, there is a new family with two members of Radeon in the name of Radeon 9070, YES FSR 4 also official but….NO…. AMD will hold specs and details.

More precisely, what it is included and the improvements that the RDNA 4 architecture is bringing for both Radeon 9790 and Radeon 9070 XT which probably are targeting 1440P resolution, will not be disclosed at this time, despite the GPUs are slated for a Q1 2025 release.

A reminder: AMD said that it was no longer interested in high-end GPU part of the market which means that proer 4K solutions aren’t on schedule this time.

So consider yourself a honorary gamer if you happens to be at Las Vegas this week, as AMD will have some PC with prototypes.

It was only confirmed that Asus, Acer, Sapphire, XFX, AsRock, Gigabyte, PowerColor and two Asian brands will have their respective GPU on sale soon and pretty much giving the tip that AMD will probably forego a Foundation or Reference GPU for public.

What it was said about RDNA 4 is that improves ray-tracing engine and performance, an upgraded media encoding quality.

Physically, all Radeon 9070/9070 XT GPU cards will be manufactured with 4nm process, which tells you the good balance of processing and energy consumption and the hardware will include its second-generation AI accelerators, third-generation ray-tracing accelerators, and second-generation radiance display engine.

Before you ask, no it is not for “bad luck or anything that you might have heard before, but AMD said that jumping from 7000 straight to 9000 for Radeon series labeling was needed because future mobile Radeon announcements will have the 8000 labelling, including RDNA 3.5.

Here comes a new challenger for AI-based upscaling -FidelityFX Super Resolution 4

AMD confirmed the new geneeration of FidelityFX Super Resolution at its fourth version or simply FSR 4, which a machine learning-powered update to AMD’s upscaling and frame-generation technology that’s been developed specifically for RDNA 4 and its dedicated AI accelerator hardware.

Of course, this could be a proper consideration for new PC builds or if you are in plans of upgrading as FSR 4 will be available only with a Radeon RX 9070 family GPU graphics as most of its functionality, depends on components on the hardware side.

Microsoft confirmed that a future update of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 will have direct support to FSR 4 and also, Matt Booty of Xbox, shared that Microsoft remains committed on being a partner with AMD for their needs for Xbox (I will take it as a hint for the future of Xbox hardware).

Finally, AMD announced improvements to its Adrenalin, the Radeon software administrator and these improvements includes include the ability to generate images with AI models, summarize local documents, and ask an AMD chatbot questions about graphics settings and more. 

CES 2025, Gaming, Hardware/Console, Technology

AMD announces the Ryzen Z2 CPU family

Despite being initially leaked before their proper CES 2025 keynote, AMD has finally announced the second generation if its processor for portable gaming and computing device, the Ryzen Z2 and as expected, the improvement shall give space for speculation that next-gen portable device are coming this year.

AMD announced three new Ryzen Z2 APUs designed specifically for gaming handhelds and these include the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, Ryzen Z2, and Ryzen Z2 Go.

Each APU targets different power levels and starting with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme features 8 cores (3 Zen 5 + 5 Zen 5c) and 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units, meanwhile the Ryzen Z2 has 8 Zen 4 cores and 12 RDNA 3 Compute Units.

Finally, the newest member of the family and debuting the Ryzen Z2 Go is designed for budget-conscious gamers with 4 Zen 3+ cores and 12 RDNA 2 Compute Units.

Needless to say that the Ryzen Z2 Extreme will be the flagship of the Ryzen Z2 family and each individual will power target devices, AMD acknowledged directly that the Ryzen Z2 Go was specifically designed for the Legion Go S, the entry-level variant of the Lenovo Go device.

While there is no official words on device carrying this new CPU family from AMD, it confirmed that the Ryzen Z2 will be used in systems from ASUS, Lenovo, and Valve, which pretty much will have many gamers eyes anticipating if 2025 will mean the year of a proper Steam Deck follow-up.

AMD expect to have the Ryzen Z2 available for PC and electronic manufactures within Q1 2025.

CES 2025, Events, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, Technology, Xbox

Hyperkin wants you to play Xbox with a DualSense feel

Imagine holding your PS5 DualSense and you are turning your console on to began playing, but instead of a Playstation 5 and seeing the PS logo on your screen, you are powering on your Xbox console and yet, you can play your favorite Xbox game.

Well, this is the concept that Hyperkin has previewed at CES 2025 with a new Competitor Xbox controller that has the physics of the Playstation 5’s DualSense.

Evidently, Hyperkin took some liberties at the design to match most of the aesthetic of Sony’s PS5 DualSense, which makes me wonder if Sony actually will just leave it as it is (with an eyebrow raise) or we might be seeing legal movements during the year.

Competitor appears to feature offset control sticks, a hybrid D-pad, and face buttons, along with the analog sticks located next to each other on the bottom part of the controller, while the D-pad has moved to the upper-left side of the controller, and each direction is an individual button.

Keep in mind if it is now under your radar, that the controller is expected to be a wired-only gamepad and will be available sometime in the second quarter of 2025 with no mentioning of price.

Hyperkin is an American video game peripheral manufacturer and distributor founded in 2006. The company is based in Los Angeles, California, and distributes accessories for major gaming consoles, in addition to creating clone consoles that play retro games with modern resolutions and on modern devices.

Hyperkin’s most notable products include the RetroN series of clone consoles, which allow users to play games from classic consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis. The company has also released a number of other retro-themed products, such as the Supaboy series of handheld consoles and the Retron 5, an Android-based console that can play games from a variety of platforms.

In recent years, Hyperkin has also begun to produce its own original gaming peripherals, such as the Hyperkin Duke, a modern take on the classic Nintendo 64 controller. The company has also released a number of licensed controllers for popular games, such as the Hyperkin Cthulhu Controller for the Nintendo Switch.

Featured, Gaming, Hardware/Console, News, PC

Intel hasn’t called Game Over with Arc GPU business and Arc Battlemage Series enters the fray

Intel has officially announced its latest Arc Battlemage graphics cards, the B580 and B570, aimed at bringing high performance to budget-conscious gamers. These GPUs are designed to compete with mid-range offerings from Nvidia and AMD, offering impressive specs at competitive prices.

The Arc B580 will be available starting December 13, 2024, priced at $249. It features 12GB of VRAM, a clock speed of 2.67 GHz, and a power draw of 190W. The B580 is designed to deliver best-in-class performance-per-dollar, targeting 1440p gaming with support for Intel’s XeSS 2 upscaling technology.

Following closely, the Arc B570 will launch on January 16, 2025, with a price tag of $219. It comes with 10GB of VRAM, a clock speed of 2.5 GHz, and a power draw of 150W. Like its higher-end counterpart, the B570 also supports XeSS 2, promising enhanced performance and visual quality.

Intel’s new GPUs are built on the Xe2 architecture, which brings significant improvements in performance and efficiency. The B580 and B570 are expected to outperform their predecessors, the A750 and A770, by around 24% on average across a range of games.

With features like ray tracing and frame generation, these GPUs are set to offer a compelling option for gamers looking to upgrade their systems without breaking the bank.

The gaming community has been eagerly awaiting Intel’s entry into the GPU market, and the Battlemage series seems to be a promising step forward. With competitive pricing and strong performance, the Arc B580 and B570 could shake up the mid-range GPU market and provide more options for gamers.

Gaming, News, PC, Technology

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Resigns: What It Means for the Tech and Gaming Industry

In a surprising turn of events, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has announced his resignation after a tumultuous three-year tenure. The news has sent shockwaves through the tech and gaming communities, raising questions about the future direction of the company and its impact on the industry.

Gelsinger, who took over as CEO in February 2021, embarked on an ambitious plan to restore Intel’s dominance in the semiconductor market. His efforts included significant investments in manufacturing capacity and a push to expand Intel’s foundry business. However, despite these efforts, Intel’s stock has plunged 61% during his tenure, and the company has faced numerous challenges, including layoffs and financial setbacks.

From a gaming perspective, Gelsinger’s resignation is particularly concerning. Intel’s chips are a crucial component in gaming hardware, and any instability at the company could have ripple effects on the gaming industry. Gamers are already wary of the increasing costs of hardware and the potential for supply chain issues, and Gelsinger’s departure adds another layer of uncertainty.

The gaming community has also been critical of Intel’s recent decisions, such as calling their newest business GPU, Intel Arc brand, as a “failed experiment” when they were actually welcomed in their initial phase and after a few updates with more games’ support This move has further strained the relationship between Intel and its gaming audience along with the Core gen 13 & 14 technical failures that affected many PCs during 2024.

As Intel searches for a new leader, the company has appointed interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus. The gaming community will be watching closely to see how the new leadership navigates these challenges and whether they can restore confidence in Intel’s commitment to both the tech and gaming industries.