In December, we revealed how Nvidia was planning to launch the RTX 3050 6GB version of its budget graphics card by replacing the RTX 3050 8GB version. Today, Nvidia has officially launched (via VideoCardz) the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB graphics card.

Compared to the RTX 3050 8GB, the RTX 3050 6GB doesn’t cut only the memory, it also cuts-down on some specifications.

For a start, the CUDA Cores in the RTX 3050 6GB have been reduced from RTX 3050 8GB. The RTX 3050 6GB has 2304 CUDA cores, compared to 2560 CUDA cores found in the RTX 3050 8GB.

Clocks too have been reduced. The Boost clock has been reduced to 1.47GHz, from 1.78GHz. The base clock has been reduced to 1.04GHz, from 1.55GHz.

The memory bus in the 6GB version too has been cut to 96-bit from the 128-bit earlier. Which is expected considering how GPUs work.

All other things seem to remain the same as far as specifications are concerned. Except the power draw. The outcome of cutting of the specs means that the RTX 3050 6GB graphics card uses just 70W of power.

Which means that the card doesn’t require any 6-pin or 8-pin power connector. Even the official recommended specs suggest just 300W PSU.

Specs Table

For the benefit of the readers, we have made a simple table.

It must be mentioned, these specs are better than what the leaks officially suggested.

Performance And Retail

ComputerBase.de (translated), via @harukaze5719, did a quick benchmark and compared both Nvidia RTX 3050 8GB and RTX 3050 6GB in 3DMark and Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty.

The RTX 3050 6GB version was 21-24% slower than the RTX 3050 8GB in 3DMark. In Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty too, the RTX 3050 6GB version was 21% slower than the RTX 3050 8GB, in both average and minimum FPS. More benchmarks are expected soon.

As far as official listings are concerned, likes of MSI and GIGABYTE have officially started listing the card. VideoCardz reveals that Palit has gone ahead and even released a fanless version in addition to others.

Conclusion

A new graphics is always nice to have. But by releasing RTX 3050 6GB, Nvidia has raised many questions than providing answers.

First, why name it RTX 3050 6GB, whereas RTX 3030 would have been more suitable for this model. We know we are skipping a version here, but RTX 3050 8GB wasn’t suitable to be called a xx50 card in the first place.

Second is, where is RTX 4050. A year ago, we reported how Nvidia was planning to release RTX 4050 with 6GB VRAM. What happened to that. The RTX 4000 graphics cards come with upgraded cores and encoders. RTX 4000 cards even support DLSS 3, something which RTX 3000 don’t, they come with DLSS 2. Cheaper graphics cards could technically benefit from frame-generation, which DLSS 3 provides.

Third is the pricing. It costs around $169. In Germany, it’s retailing around €200. Who’s going to buy a RTX 3050 6GB graphics card when AMD Radeon RX 6600 is available for as cheap as $200 and is massively faster than what Nvidia is offering here.

Forth, for whom is this graphics card aimed at exactly. It’s not OEM exclusive that they will put it OEM made PCs. Is Nvidia trying to beat AMD’s recently launched Ryzen 8000G series APUs which are CPUs with powerful built-in GPUs. There are some rumors that people might install these in mini-PCs or PCs made for entertainment.

Overall, it needs to be seen how the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB performs, especially in sales.

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Google search is considered to be among the best search engines in the world. There’s a good reason for it, too. It’s not only quick, it has many important features too. Like Google webpage cache.

One of the more important features of Google search’s webpage cache is providing links to cached versions of sites and pages.

On an individual Google search, just click three dots and you get an option to open the cached version of the site. Another option is to open any link, type cache: before it and it starts showing a cached version of the page which, Google had cached themselves.

This feature has been very important in opening pages in case they aren’t available. Sometimes either removed or sometimes even sites becoming inaccessible. The cached pages are a great alternative to get quick information from any unavailable page.

The great thing about Google cache is that it was almost always latest. Means it cached versions of pages which are quite recent, this meant no outdated information.

This continued to work as it should. Until recently.

Google removes cached links

Several days ago, the Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google has removed the links in search results which lead to cached pages of the individual results. Today, Search Engine Land reports that Google has officially announced the retirement of Google search cache.

In a tweet on X, the official Google Search Liaison account, handled by Danny Sullivan, has replied to the question about the Google search cache’s removal:

In the tweet, he officially confirms that Google has removed cache links from the search results. Not only that, he confirms that the cache: feature too will stop working in the future. All this while he himself being unhappy of its removal.

He further reveals that he hopes that Google replaces those cache links with Internet Archive. Which has archived / cached 835 billion webpages so far.

However, the Internet Archive, started way back in 1996, has its own issues. Including copyright issues. Not to forget, it doesn’t always have the latest pages available.

However, Danny Sullivan also mentions that adding it is not in his hands and it’s in the for the ones above him to decide.

Conclusion

Google webpage cache is an extremely important feature for us. It cannot be stated enough how useful it is. While adding cache to the URL link is still available, it’s going to be removed in future too.

There are alternatives available, as mentioned above. But those alternatives are really slow and not completely reliable. Unlike Google cache, which is really quick and doesn’t break sites too often.

This is not the first time Google is removing something, though. Google announced several months ago that it’s going to delete accounts which are inactive for 2 or more years.

We really wish to see that Google reconsiders the decision to remove it.

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Bethesda today revealed in a social media post that the AMD technology will be added to Starfield in a Steam beta update next week. If the beta release goes smoothly, the studio expects the frame generation feature to arrive to all PC players across Steam and Microsoft Store (including Game Pass) before the end of February.

A similar beta release tactic was used when Bethesda wanted to bring Nvidia's DLSS 3 frame generation tech to the sci-fi RPG. That release went through the beta and released in full to PC players in November of 2023, and now it's finally time for AMD's tech to shine.

Unlike Nvidia's implementation of DLSS 3, which is exclusive to latest generation GeForce RTX 40-series and newer graphics cards, FSR 3 is a platform agnostic technology. This also means graphics cards from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are able to use the feature, even if they are generations old. AMD has even said the tech can work on consoles, meaning we may see the Xbox Series X|S receive FSR 3 frame generation in the future too.

As for other changes, Bethesda added that the beta update will carry "a change to FormIDs which should improve stability for saves that have visited many locations." We should receive a full changelog of this release once the update hits Steam beta servers next week.

On the patch notes for the previous major update to Starfield, Bethesda said it plans to bring new updates to the RPG every six weeks or so. This FSR 3-focused patch should be landing sooner than that however.

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The announcement was made by Google's Danny Sullivan on his Google Search Liason X (formerly Twitter) account after people started noticing the Cached option was no longer showing up.

Sullivan expressed his own disappointment and sadness over the shutdown of the Cached option in Google Search. The feature was first put in when the Internet was not as reliable as it is today. The Cached feature was included so users could see the content of a site even if it was not currently loading. However, Sullivan added, "These days, things have greatly improved. So, it was decided to retire it."

Even though that may have been the reason to shut it down, the Cached option in Google Search was still considered to be helpful in this day and age. In particular, people, especially journalists, could check to see if any content on a site had been changed due to a mistake. It was also helpful for SEO workers to view any previous issues with a site.

Sullivan did feel that adding older website links from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine site could be used in Google Search, stating, "We have to talk to them, see how it all might go -- involves people well beyond me." However, it's yet another example of Google quietly retiring a long-time feature or service that's been very helpful for millions of people worldwide.

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In a press release, Cook said:

We are pleased to announce that our installed base of active devices has now surpassed 2.2 billion, reaching an all-time high across all products and geographic segments. And as customers begin to experience the incredible Apple Vision Pro tomorrow, we are committed as ever to the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation — in line with our values and on behalf of our customers.

The latest number is about a 10% increase since the last time Apple reported its number of active devices. In February 2023, Apple disclosed that its number of active devices had reached 2 billion worldwide. For reference, according to data from Statista, the number of active Apple devices reached 1 billion in the year 2016.

The new data has arrived at a time when Apple is about to ship a new category of device, starting with the Vision Pro headset. The mixed reality headset was first announced at the WWDC keynote last year, and it was up for pre-orders on January 19.

Apple has announced over 600 new apps and games for the Vision Pro headset, which is already compatible with over 1 million apps and games available for the iPad. However, the list of compatible Vision Pro doesn't include popular names like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube.

During the earnings call, Cook also talked about Apple's ongoing work on artificial intelligence and generative AI without giving any specific details. Previous rumors suggest iOS 18 could be a massive update in years, loaded with several AI features.

As we look ahead, we will continue to invest in these and other technologies that will shape the future. That includes artificial intelligence where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort, and we're excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year.

It was reported last year that Apple was working on its large language model (LLM) dubbed "Apple GPT." Moreover, the Cupertino giant was reportedly spending millions of dollars a day on its ChatGPT rival. But as Cook said, more information about Apple's work will arrive "later this year."

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What you need to know

• Elgato is launching two capture cards — the 4K X and 4K Pro.
• Both entries promise higher resolution and framerates when recording footage or streaming.
• The capture cards come with ALLM passthrough support, which will help trigger game mode on your TV automatically without affecting the quality of the footage. 
• You can now get the 4K X and 4K Pro at $229.99 and $279.99, respectively.

The long wait and anticipation for Elgato's new capture cards is finally over. Two new entries just shipped. The 4K X and the 4K Pro promise higher resolution and framerates when recording your gaming footage or streaming. 

The 4K X retails for $229.99 with 4K / 144fps capture, while the 4K Pro is available for $279.99 with up to 4K / 60fps HDR capture, and supports 8K / 60fps HDR passthrough. The latter is the perfect candidate for PC gaming since it's also ideal for dual PC streaming. 

It's worth noting that the 4K X capture card can handle a wide range of passthrough and capture resolutions since it ships with USB 3.2 Gen 2 support. They also leverage Elgato's 4K Capture feature, which allows users to rewind and capture clips while recording footage.

As reported by The Verge, Elgato is currently developing full support for ultrawide resolutions for the capture cards. The company is also working toward incorporating 5.1 surround sound passthrough and capture support for a better streaming experience. 

Both models feature ALLM passthrough support, which means that your TV can now trigger a game mode that automatically features ideal image settings and latency without affecting your footage.

We have a review on the way, too, so be on the lookout for a more in-depth analysis of how the capture cards perform on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PCs.

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The most famous virtual valets around today—Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant—are a lot less impressive than the latest AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT or Google Bard. When the fruits of the recent generative AI boom get properly integrated into those legacy assistant bots, they will surely get much more interesting.

To get a preview of what’s next, I took an experimental AI voice helper called vimGPT for a test run. When I asked it to “subscribe to WIRED,” it got to work with impressive skill, finding the correct web page and accessing the online form. If it had access to my credit card details I’m pretty sure it would have nailed it.

Although hardly an intelligence test for a human, buying something online on the open web is a lot more complicated and challenging than the tasks that Siri, Alexa, or the Google Assistant typically handle. (Setting reminders and getting sports results are so 2010.) It requires making sense of the request, accessing the web to find the correct site, then correctly interacting with the relevant page or forms. My helper correctly navigated to WIRED’s subscription page and even found the form there—presumably impressed by the prospect of receiving all WIRED’s entertaining and insightful journalism for only $1 a month—but fell at the final hurdle because it lacked a credit card. VimGPT makes use of Google’s open source browser Chromium that doesn’t store user information. My other experiments showed that the agent is, however, very adept at searching for funny cat videos or finding cheap flights.

VimGPT is an experimental open-source program built by Ishan Shah, a lone developer, not a product in development, but you can bet that Apple, Google, and others are doing similar experiments with a view to upgrading Siri and other assistants. VimGPT is built on GPT-4V, the multimodal version of OpenAI’s famous language model. By analyzing a request it can determine what to click on or type more reliably than text-only software can, which has to attempt to make sense of the web by untangling messy HTML. “A year from now, I would expect the experience of using a computer to look very different,” says Shah, who says he built vimGPT in only a few days. “Most apps will require less clicking and more chatting, with agents becoming an integral part of browsing the web.”

Shah is not the only person who believes that the next logical step after chatbots like ChatGPT is agents that use computers and roam the Web. Ruslan Salakhutdinov, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was Apple’s director of AI research from 2016 to 2020, believes that Siri and other assistants are in line for an almighty AI upgrade. “The next evolution is going to be agents that can get useful tasks done,” Salakhutdinov says. Hooking Siri up to AI like that powering ChatGPT would be useful, he says, “but it will be so much more impactful if I ask Siri to do stuff, and it just goes and solves my problems for me.”

Salakhutdinov and his students have developed several simulated environments designed for testing and honing the skills of AI helpers that can get things done. They include a dummy ecommerce website, a mocked-up version of a Reddit-like message board, and a website of classified ads. This virtual testing ground for putting agents through their paces is called VisualWebArena.

Tales from this testing ground suggest that AI agents will be able to do impressive things in the near future that will make digital life much easier. A model can, for instance, look at a photo of someone wearing a sweater, then hunt through ecommerce listings for similar garments below a certain price and add the cheapest to a person’s shopping cart. In another example, an agent informed that a person no longer wants to see posts from a particular user on a Reddit-like site can work out how to navigate the site’s settings to hide posts from the offending individual.

The catch is that there are also plenty of bloopers. In their experiments, the CMU team found that their AI agents could achieve a complex objective about 16 percent of the time—but that humans did so 88 percent of the time. Failures are often mundane, like failing to navigate a website and getting caught in an infinite browsing loop. But they might sometimes look like misbehavior, for example if an agent were to accidentally add dozens of items to a user’s cart or incorrectly friend an annoying user on a social site. Perhaps it’s a good thing that I can’t yet give vimGPT my payment information.

One reason the CMU environments are valuable is that AI agents can run amok inside them without causing any real damage. Gathering data on such incidents helps researchers understand how well they are able to perform a given task, and how exactly they go wrong. Salakhutdinov says setting agents loose inside environments like VisualWebArena also makes it possible to have the agents actively learn from successes and failures, in the same way that simulations can provide training for game-playing machine learning algorithms, honing them into champion-defeating superstars like Alphabet’s AlphaGo.

Salakhutdinov says he has no inside knowledge of what Apple is up to right now but expects them to be busy building agents. “All the big tech companies—Apple, Microsoft, Google—have divisions basically working in that space,” he says.

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The weird and wonderful trailer can be seen below, which has space ships coming out of a baby's mouth, a stylish weapon that seems to be made out of an otherworldly electric guitar, a stop-motion companion, and plenty of more uncanny and supernatural enemies, to name a few oddities.

While the UCA (United Cities of America) has been brought together thanks to the actions in the first game, the sequel sees Sam and some of his old friends band together to bring connect outside regions.

"In DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA. Sam—with companions by his side—sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction," says the official description from Kojima Productions. "Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again."

Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and Troy Baker are all returning for the sequel to play their roles, while Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Academy Award-winning film director George Miller are joining them as new faces.

Death Stranding 2 is currently announced only for the PlayStation 5 as an exclusive, with 2025 being targeted as the release window. While the original game eventually received a PC release, it's unclear if the sequel will follow in the same footsteps.

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Today, we finally get to see how the player numbers are split between the Steam and Xbox ecosystems. Pocketpair announced Palworld now has over 19 million players in total. 12 million copies have so far been sold on Steam, while seven million players have come in from Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows (Microsoft Store).

Over on Xboxwire, more details on the game's success on Microsoft's platform were shared. In the ten days since the early access (Xbox Game Preview) launch, Palworld has claimed the 'biggest launch of a third-party title' crown on Game Pass. The game has also broken Xbox Cloud Gaming records, with it being the most-played cloud title via Game Pass Ultimate.

"Across console and Windows PC, Palworld has welcomed more than 7 million players, and has recently reached a peak of nearly 3 million daily active users on Xbox, making it the most-played game on our platforms at that time," says Microsoft.

"The response from fans has been tremendous and it’s incredible to see the millions of players around the world enjoying Palworld," adds Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe. "This is just the beginning for us and Palworld, and the feedback we’re gathering while in Game Preview will allow us to continue to improve the experience for Pal Tamers across all platforms."

Microsoft has confirmed that it is working with Pocketpair closely to bring features like dedicated servers, faster updates, and optimizations to Xbox platforms in the future.

The Palworld developer has already shared a roadmap regarding the game's path towards a 1.0 release as well. It includes adding PvP and raid bosses to the title, Steam and Xbox crossplay support, and more. There may be some stormclouds on the horizon though, as The Pokémon Company has said it is investigating the game.

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	Gaming testbed
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (provided by AMD)
Motherboard	ASRock X670E Taichi (provided by AMD)
RAM	32GB (2x16GB) G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo (provided by AMD), running at DDR5-6000
SSD	Western Digital Black SN850 1TB (provided by Western Digital)
Power supply	EVGA Supernova 850 P6 (provided by EVGA)
CPU cooler	280 mm Corsair iCure H115i Elite Capellix AIO
Case	Lian Li O11 Air Mini
OS	Windows 11 22H2 with Core Isolation on, Memory Integrity off
Drivers	Nvidia RTX 4080: Driver 536.99 Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti: Driver 546.52 Other Nvidia cards: Driver 551.15 AMD RX 7900 XT/7900 XTX: Adrenalin 23.8.1

 

Nvidia's performance estimates are roughly in line with what we found in our benchmarks and gaming tests, give or take a couple of small irregular drops at certain Cyberpunk 2077 settings that can probably be explained away by pre-release driver weirdness. The 4070 Ti Super is usually about 80 percent as fast for 80 percent as much money, which brings the 4080 Super's value more in line with the rest of Nvidia's lineup.

 

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The fairly minor performance difference between the 4080 and 4080 Super means that the new card's position doesn't really change relative to AMD's two highest-end cards, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT. The $750-ish 7900 XT is a shade behind the 4080 Super in games with ray tracing turned off, though it falls substantially short of Nvidia’s card once ray tracing is on. And the $950-ish 7900 XTX still manages to beat the 4080 Super by a decent margin in non-ray-traced games, while its ray-traced performance is still behind the 4080, but not quite as much.

 

The 4080 Super's power consumption in our testing was just a few watts higher than the regular 4080 in our tests, well within Nvidia's 320 W estimate (it's possible that other cards from other partners will be a bit better or a bit worse). The 4080 Super and 7900 XT used a similar amount of power in our tests, while the RX 7900 XTX needs closer to 350 W. Per usual, Nvidia has the advantage on power efficiency, though the gap isn't forbiddingly huge, and all of these cards are a solid efficiency upgrade compared to both the RTX 30-series and the Radeon RX 6000-series.

Where does it fit?

Essentially, the 4080 Super lowers the price on Nvidia’s second-fastest card to around where it ought to have been lowered once the 7900 XTX and XT came out. Being beaten by the $999 Radeon 7900 XTX just made the $1,199 RTX 4080 look like a bad value; now that the 7900 XTX is around $950 and the 4080 Super is $999, Nvidia can at least lean on its usual value-adds—DLSS, better efficiency, better ray tracing, better support for GPU computing and AI tools—to address the gap.

 

And then there's the RTX 4090. It remains the best and fastest GPU you can buy by a significant margin, but even if it was available for its MSRP of $1,599 (and it currently isn't), the value proposition is worse than it was. The 4080 Super only costs 62 percent as much as the 4090 at MSRP—and it's currently closer to 50 percent since the cheapest 4090s are retailing for closer to $2,000 right now. For that money, the 4080 Super offers around 70 or 75 percent of the 4090's performance.

 

Even for people who want a super-fast, money's-no-object graphics card, there's a strong argument in favor of stopping at $1,000, right where the 4080 Super and 7900 XTX are hanging out. Both are great 4K cards and are easily faster than anything from the previous generation (AMD's ray-tracing deficiencies aside). That doesn't make the 4080 Super a slam dunk—we didn't love the 4070 Ti Super's price-to-performance ratio, and the 4080 has the exact same ratio. But at least it's in the running now, which is more than you could really say for the $1,200 RTX 4080.

 

• $200 price cut from the 4080
• Power-efficient
• Great value compared to the 4090, even if the 4090 were available at MSRP, which it most certainly is not
• Easily better than all last-gen GPUs, even if it doesn't reach the heights of the 4090

• Not as big a performance jump as the other Super cards
• Big. Like, physically a large graphics card and hard to fit in some cases
• 7900 XT and XTX still offer better value for the money in non-ray-traced games

• Still a big price bump from the 1080/2080/3080 days

 

Listing image by Andrew Cunningham

 

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Microsoft's earnings per share was $2.93 for the quarter, up from $2.20 GAAP and $2.32 non-GAAP earnings from a year ago. CNBC says the numbers beat the estimates of financial analysts.

Microsoft Cloud revenue made up just over half of the company's revenue in the quarter at $33.7 billion, up from $27.1 billion from a year ago. The company also added that the number of its Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers went up to 78.4 million, up from $63.2 million a year ago.

The company's Productivity and Business Processes division generated $19.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, which was up 13 percent from the same period a year ago. Its intelligent Cloud division made $25.9 billion in revenue, up 20 percent from a year ago.

Microsoft's More Personal Computing division, which includes its Windows, devices, and Xbox divisions, made $16.9 billion in revenues for the quarter. The Xbox division had a huge 61 percent increase in revenue, which was mostly due to the closing of the Activision Blizzard acquisition in October 2023.

Windows revenues went up by 9 percent overall, with Windows OEM revenue up by 11 percent while Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenues went higher by 9 percent from a year ago. However, Device revenues from Microsoft actually went down by 9 percent for the quarter.

Microsoft will hold a conference call with financial analysts later today, where we may learn more about the company's predictions for earnings in the current quarter.

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According to Bloomberg, PayPal CEO Alex Chriss said in a letter to employees that the job cuts were necessary to right-size the company and "move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth."

At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth. There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate.

Chriss, who became CEO in September 2023, is facing increased competition in the digital payments industry. Rivals such as Apple Pay and Square have gained popularity and market share, putting pressure on PayPal's business.

In addition, profit margins have narrowed in recent quarters as costs have risen. PayPal shares have fallen more than 20% in the past year as the company has lowered its financial guidance. Chriss also acknowledged on an earnings call that the company's "cost base and complex structure" have slowed progress.

PayPal currently employs approximately 30,000 people worldwide. Upon completion of the latest round of layoffs, the number of employees will be reduced to roughly 27,000. The layoffs will primarily affect open positions and roles that have not yet been filled. PayPal said it will contact affected team members by the end of this week.

Last year, PayPal announced that it would gradually lay off 2,000 employees. Former CEO Dan Schulman assured those affected that they would be offered generous packages and the support they needed to transition.

With these layoffs, PayPal joins other tech companies such as Microsoft's Xbox, Riot Games, Salesforce, and Embracer. Yesterday, it was reported that 97 team members at developer Eidos Montreal have been laid off. In a shocking move, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from Activision-Blizzard, ZeniMax and Xbox.

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Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development.

Source: Eidos Montreal

The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves.

Eidos, the Montreal, Canada-based studio behind the game, will instead focus on an original franchise. The canceled Deus Ex project, which had not yet been announced, was slated to enter production later this year, said the people, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to talk to the press.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Eidos Montreal said on Monday that it has let go of 97 people due to “the global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer.”

The sci-fi Deus Ex series has been critically acclaimed and sold more than 14 million units worldwide. It was acquired by Embracer in 2022.

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It is also the first desktop APU to feature integrated RDNA graphics and the performance shows very notable improvements when compared to previous generation Vega-based APUs (Ryzen 5000/4000/3000 and 2000G series).

However, although they are mighty impressive, these 8000G APUs are currently only able to perform to their fullest for only a limited time before they begin to thermally-induced power throttle. This is because the current firmware implementation is bugged as it applies a STAPM limit to the power after a short burst of full power output.

In case you may not know, AMD STAPM or Skin Temperature Aware Power Management is a feature that is designed for power and thermal management on mobile AMD Ryzen and Athlon devices like laptops and notebooks. The STAPM tries to measure thermal headroom in such devices and it is also responsible for throttling in case the STAPM is not favorable in such an instance.

For example, the STAPM was responsible for throttling my Ryzen 2500U Lenovo IdeaPad laptop that I have as a spare. It quickly went from 25 Watts down to 15 Watts in 10 minutes.

However, it seems AMD has inadvertently put in STAPM limitations on its new desktop APUs too. As a result, the chips are throttling after a while as discovered by YouTuber Gamers Nexus. As such, the power draw drops from around 80 watts to as low as nearly 50 watts, and both the 8700G and the 8600G took this hit.

AMD has confirmed in a statement to Gamers Nexus that the issue will be fixed with a future firmware update and such STAPM limits will be removed. The company stated:

We found out that STAPM is being incorrectly applied to the desktop parts. It shouldn't be applied to the desktop parts. A future BIOS update should correct this behavior. If nothing else, you caught something that is going to help a lot of [customers], so better to catch it sooner than later.

As such, customers who have bought the 8000 G-series APUs or are willing to make the purchase should expect to see a major firmware update soon and that should allow the chips to perform to their fullest for a sustained period rather than for a few short bursts.

Source and images: Gamers Nexus ( YouTube)

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In its blog post, Bethesda says the release notes for this 1.9.51.0 update are almost the same as the earlier Steam beta version. There is one additional fix in this version to deal with a PC crash issue, but that's all. Here is the (very slightly different) changelog for the update:

ANIMATION

 

• Fixed player character’s eyes remaining closed instead of blinking in third person view.
• Addressed rare cases where small animation pops could be seen in third person.

 

CREATURES AND ENEMIES

 

• Fixed incorrectly invisible creatures on some planets.
• Fixed an issue that could occur on some enemies causing them to stand instead of falling to the ground.

 

CREW AND COMPANIONS

 

• Fixed crew members and companions positioning near the cockpit after fast traveling to the ship.
• Companions: Fixed a possible control-lock when talking to a companion without entering a dialogue while simultaneously trying to exit the ship.

 

GENERAL

 

• [ADDED TO 1.9.51] Addressed a crash that could occur when changing from Fullscreen to Windowed mode. (PC)
• Fixed an issue that prevented Windows users saving if their username featured certain characters (PC).
• Fixed rare save game corruptions on PC (MSS and Steam).
• Fixed an issue that could lead to a control lock or a crash after loading a quicksave while in the targeting mode.
• Fixed player marker following the camera on the surface map.
• Fixed a rare issue that could prevent access to the main menu on when prompted to “Press any button to Start” (Xbox).
• Body type should no longer reset to default when loading a Starborn save from the main menu.
• Fixed flickering on Neon’s Trade Tower elevator panel.
• Improved the appearance of the Ryujin Kiosk material during nighttime.
• Fixed rare issue with how Cydonia’s panel could display the hours without incident.
• Added Optimizations to cloud syncing of save games (MSS/Xbox).
• Improved how crowds behave when desired target is reserved.
• Fixed an issue that could cause airlock doors to sometimes appear floating in sky when arriving at locations.
• Fixed unintended text appearing on the shipbuilder’s UI.
• Fixed game session not properly resuming from shutdown in Energy Save mode (Xbox).
• Various stability improvements.

 

GRAPHICS

 

• Improved widescreen support (32:9, 21:9 and 16:10).
• Added support for stars displaying sun disk geometry.
• Shadows can now be seen on planet rings from planet surface.
• Improved eyes and skin on crowd characters.
• Improved reflection on water.
• Improved contact shadows on character skin (Xbox and PC Medium/High/Ultra).
• Improved contact shadows on character cloth (PC High/Ultra).
• Improved contact shadows on first person (PC Ultra).
• Improved lighting in character generation menu.
• Reduced the appearance of some minor artifacts during cutscene camera transitions.
• Fixed flickering on a number of VFX (Sandstorm, corrosive liquid pools, waterfall).
• Fixed a rare issue where the camera would lock while in handscanner mode whenever watching flying fauna (Xbox).
• Fixed potential control lock when opening a game menu a moment before triggering a dialogue with another character.
• Addressed various shadow popping, flickering and artifact issues.
• Improved the visibility of the sun’s lens flare during sunrise and sunset.
• Fixed a rare issue where foam or grime would not show up.
• Fixed rare flickering VFX that could occur in space (Xbox Series S).
• Fixed rare hair flickering (Xbox Series X/S).
• Fixed occasional flicker on digiframes and TV screens.
• Adjusted the appearance of bloom when activating the handscanner.
• Improved the appearance of clouds during weather transitions.
• Fixed rare cases where alignment of grass and wind could appear disconnected.
• Reduced bloom intensity effect while motion blur is active (PC).
• Addressed issues with concealment effect not always applying when using the handscanner.
• Fixed visible edge of the ocean in the distance when seen from a very high point of view.
• Fixed rare white flickering dots around characters' hair during cut scenes.
• Fixed a readability issue in the Starmap when using large menu font mode.
• Fixed inventory menu occasionally failing to generate previews when using a mouse (PC).
• Fixed a brief Depth of Field issue that sometimes occurred when aiming, alt-tabbing or leaving a dialogue screen.
• Fixed occasional lighting transition issues after loading or exiting a location.
• Fixed an issue that could cause intermittent bands to appear in distance fog.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause fog colour to appear inconsistent.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause rocks to disappear near the player on the surface of a planet.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when switching to DLSS with dynamic resolution active (PC).
• Fixed flickering and delayed shadows sometimes occurring after unpausing the game.
• Fixed various FSR2 and DLSS artifacts (noise, black dots, ghosting).
• Fixed flickering when using the handscanner with DLSS enabled.
• Fixed initial lighting conditions when landing on a planet.
• Improved lighting at 73 locations.
• Fixed various geometry, texture, and ghosting issues.

 

OUTPOSTS

 

• Fixed a rare missing terrain issue that could occur after fast traveling to an outpost near New Atlantis.
• Fixed an issue that could cause bulldozed objects to reappear when returning to an outpost.
• Fixed an issue that caused hazard damage to remain even when the hazard was removed by bulldozing in outposts.
• Fixed an issue where outpost’s cargo links would be removed from the terminal list if connected, disconnected, then reconnected to another cargo link during the cargo ship landing sequence.
• Fixed an issue where weapon cases built by the player in an Outpost would populate with weapons and ammo after reloading the game.

 

POWERS

 

• Fixed a rare issue that could cause the Phased Time power to remain enabled.
• Fixed the extreme speed that could occur in zero G when using the Phased Time power.
• Solar Flare Power now accounts for critical hits.

 

QUESTS AND RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

 

• Absolute Power: Fixed missing slate in the safe preventing from completing the optional objective “Locate Evidence to Extort Ayumi Komiko”.
• Background Checks: Fixed possible control-lock that could occur if caught by security.
• Derelict Ship: Fixed an issue preventing the player from reaching the pilot seat if they did not have access to advanced locks.
• Drinks on the House: Fixed rare occurrence where the door to Sub 12 could remain locked.
• Echoes of the Past: Fixed Delgado getting stuck at bottom of stairs during "Continue Exploring the Lock" that could occur if The Lock was left during Delgado's history dialogue.
• Echoes of the Past: Resolved an issue that could cause Mathis' and Delgado’s guns to be invisible.
• Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue that could cause data transfer to not start after placing the Data Core.
• Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where the docking prompt would be missing on the Legacy ship if the player undocked with the Legacy and then reloaded a save before having started the mission.
• Executive Level: Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on a chair in the Ryujin Industries HQ conference room.
• Failure to Communicate: Fixed an issue that prevented the player from finishing the quest if they downed all the members of the defense pact (Alban Lopez, Jacquelyn Lemaire, and Chanda Banda).
• Further Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare crash that could occur when trying to dock with The Eye.
• Groundpounder: Fixed an issue where the door to Lezama could sometimes be locked if the player left the location during the quest and came back later.
• Hostile Intelligence: Fixed blocked doors in the Steam Tunnels room where the Terrormorph transformation occurs.
• Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare issue that could prevent the quest from starting after completing The Old Neighborhood.
• Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare issue where a Temple location might not populate when receiving the “Go to” objective.
• Legacy’s End: Fixed an issue that could prevent interacting with Delgado when he was behind the glass inside in the command center of The Key.
• Legacy’s End: Fixed a debris pile where to player could become stuck while trying to reach the Mess Hall.
• Missed Beyond Measure: Fixed a dialogue between Sarah and Walter not playing at The Lodge.
• No Sudden Moves: Fixed companions not following player during personal quests.
• On The Run: Fixed various issues related to Mei Devine becoming inaccessible the objective updated to “Listen to Mei Devine’s Introduction”.
• On The Run: Fixed a possible control lock when sitting at the table to talk to Jade MacMillan.
• One Small Step: Fixed a rare issue that could prevent Lin / Heller from exiting the airlock.
• Operation Starseed: Fixed a bad view that could occur if the Beagle was boarded after a long idle.
• Power From Beyond: Fixed an issue that caused missing Starborn temples and scanner disturbances that could prevent obtaining all Starborn powers from that universe.
• Rough Landings: Resolved an issue that could occur during the “Meet up with Milena Axelrod” objective that could prevent ships from appearing at the desired location.
• Shadows in Neon: Fixed an issue that could occur when repeatedly using the door to Jaylen Pryce's office before he progressed to Neon Core.
• Supra et Ultra: Fixed a control lock that could occur when entering the Flight Simulator while a guard is attempting arrest.
• Tapping the Grid: Fixed inaccessible junction boxes that could occur after the Hunter attacks the Lodge.
• The Best There Is: Fixed an issue that could prevent objective from advancing when talking to Naeva and Jasmine in the engineering room.
• The Empty Nest: Fixed and issue that could cause Sam Coe’s gun to be invisible when inside Jacob’s house.
• The Heart of Mars: Fixed another location that could potentially prevent recovering The Heart of Mars.
• The Pale Lady: Fixed rare case of inaccessible ship crew log data slate making it impossible to complete the encounter.
• Top of the L.I.S.T.: Phil Hill should now accept survey data for Sumati.
• War Relics: Resolved an issue that could prevent Kaiser from moving to the mission site.
• Where Hope is Built: Fixed a crash that could occur with a specific set of player behaviors.

 

SHIPS AND SHIP CUSTOMIZATION

 

• Fixed another case that could cause an asteroid to follow a ship in space.
• Fixed ship hatch being marked inaccessible after swapping to a new home ship.
• Fixed an issue where the ship could end up in an unintended state by simultaneously attempting fast travel during a grav jump.
• Fixed a view issue that could occur when fast traveling during ship targeting mode.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when entering Ship Targeting mode immediately after selecting a Grav Jump.
• Fixed an issue that caused non-functional ladders to appear when the player modified their ship with a Taiyo All-In-One Berth Top A and a Deimos 1x1.
• Fixed an issue where the Legendary ship could take too long to resume firing after the weapons were repaired.
• Space combat should now match ground combat difficulty increase with successive trips through the Unity.
• Fixed an issue where loading an exit save made while docked to a space station could cause names of ships to change.
• Fixed marker not pointing to the current home ship after performing a save/load between different ships.
• Fixed in issue that could cause the Frontier to incorrectly appear if a non-home ship was removed from a landing pad.

 

SKILLS

 

• REJUVENATION: Rejuvenation skill VFX no longer replay whenever the handscanner is opened in third person.
• SURVEYING: Fixed surveying challenge progress issue with mineral resource.
• TARGETING CONTROL SYSTEMS: Fixed inconsistencies with level 3 and 4.

 

WEAPONS AND ITEMS

 

• Fixed incorrect reload amounts that could occur when consuming a Trauma Pack.
• Fixed FOV and zoom issues with weapon scopes.
• Fixed weapon sound effects occasionally continuing to play after killing an enemy.
• Fixed turret state not being restored properly after and save and load.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the helmet light to not reappear in third person after a save and load.

Bethesda adds that new updates to Starfield will continue to be released every six weeks or so, which means we can expect the next update sometime in mid-March 2024.

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In a blog post, Microsoft says that it has added a lot of new graphical upgrades to island in that part of the world including:

• Antigua
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Dominican Republic
• Grenada
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Puerto Rico
• Saint Kitts & Nevis
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Turks & Caicos
• United States Virgin Islands

The update includes over 100 points of interest in the Caribbean, along with seven new detailed airports. There are also a number of new activities to check out:

• Three Discovery Flights: Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, and San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Three Landing Challenges: The Dominican Republic’s Gregorio Luperón International Airport (MDPP), a Famous Landing Challenge; North Eleuthera Airport (MYEH) of The Bahamas, an Epic Landing Challenge; and Haiti’s Antoine-Simon Airport (MTCA)
• An Epic Landing Challenge
• Three Bush Trips showcasing the beauty of the region

In addition to the free Caribbean update, Microsoft Flight Simulator pilots can also check out the classic four-seat 47J Ranger helicopter. First launched in 1956, it later became the first helicopter to transport a sitting US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1957. Microsoft says:

The Bell 47J measures 32 feet, 5 inches in length, stands 9 feet, 3 inches tall, and has a 2-blade main rotor system with a diameter of 37 feet, 2 inches. It is powered by a 6-cylinder Lycoming VO-540-B1B piston engine that delivers up to 260 horsepower to the rotor systems. It has a range of 260 miles, climbs at 870 feet per minute, and has a service ceiling of 11,000 feet above sea level. It cruises at 91 miles per hour and has a top speed of 105 mph.

The version in Microsoft Flight Simulator comes with seven liveries and can be used with either conventional landing skids or floats for water landings. It's available now in the game's Marketplace for $14.99.

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We now have official pricing and specs for the MSI Claw. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

What you need to know

• MSI confirmed pricing and specs for the upcoming MSI Claw gaming handheld.
• The MSI Claw will start at $699.99 and range up to $799.99 depending on which processor you choose and how much storage you need.
• We still don't have a confirmed release date for the MSI Claw, but the device is expected to ship in February or March 2024.

The MSI Claw is the first gaming handheld to feature an Intel Core Ultra processor and Intel Arc graphics. That choice of processors differentiates the MSI Claw from competing gaming handhelds, such as the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go, since those run on AMD chips. The MSI Claw is expected to launch in either February or March 2024 but we don't have an official release date yet. We do, however, have more details regarding its price and full spec sheet.

MSI's decision to use Intel internals rather than AMD chips could be the difference between the MSI Claw being the best gaming handheld or just another device in an increasingly crowded space. Choice is always good for consumers, of course, but MSI will want to stand out with its entry to the form factor.

The most affordable version of the MSI Claw, which will cost $699.99, runs on an Intel Core Ultra 5-135H processor. The two other models feature an Intel Core Ultra 7-155H processor. The difference between the two Intel Core Ultra 7-155H models is storage, with the more affordable ($749.99) having 512GB and the more expensive ($799.99) having 1TB.

Other key specs of the MSI Claw are the same across different price points, including display size and resolution, RAM, and connectivity.

MSI's website lists the pricing of all the MSI Claw models and you can use that site's compare tool to see how all of the specs stack up.

MSI Claw vs ROG Ally vs Steam Deck

The MSI Claw is the first gaming handheld to run on an Intel Core Ultra processor. (

Image credit: Rebecca Spear | Windows Central)

The MSI Claw is the first gaming handheld to run on the new Intel Core Ultra processors. The use of Intel hardware goes alongside support for Intel XeSS supersampling. But Intel tech is far from the only difference between it and the popular ROG Ally and Steam Deck. 

Display differences and ergonomic choices differ between the MSI Claw and its competitors, but the biggest variance is the new gaming handheld's operating system, at least when compared to the Steam Deck. The MSI Claw runs Windows 11, making the device a portable gaming PC with a gaming handheld form factor. That's a good thing when it comes to compatibility with the best PC games, but it's bad news when it comes to user interface. Windows 11 is nowhere near as optimized for gaming handhelds as SteamOS.

The ROG Ally also runs Windows 11, whereas the Steam Deck runs SteamOS. Operating system is a major factor when choosing a gaming handheld in 2024.

We have comprehensive breakdowns of MSI Claw vs Steam Deck and MSI Claw vs ROG Ally that go into all of the differences between the devices. 

Pricing is a big difference when it comes to MSI's new gaming handheld as well. The MSI Claw starts at $699.99. That price reflects the higher specs and newer design of the MSI Claw, but the Steam Deck and ROG Ally have more affordable options.

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(Image credit: Keen Games)

What you need to know

• Enshrouded is the most recent release from former Portal Knights developers, Keen Games.
• Released into Early Access, Enshrouded blends souls-like high fantasy with survival action RPG gameplay.
• Keen Games has shared that Enshrouded has reached the 1 million players milestone just 4 days after its release to Early Access.

There's no denying that Palworld has had the gaming world in a vice grip as of late, but it is not the only survival action game dominating wish lists. Keen Games recently released their latest survival title, Enshrouded, into Early Access on Steam. Since that launch, over 1 million players have become Flameborn warriors in Enshrouded's fantastical world of Embervale. Developers from Keen Games released a statement thanking players for the milestone and committing to future support of Enshrouded.

Enshrouded has captured a segment of the survival gaming fanbase that appreciates the base-building side of things. The game offers players the freedom to completely change the landscape via terraforming, allowing for everything from tiny hobbit homes to massive, sprawling cities to be built by the players. An earlier demo of Enshrouded during Steam Next Fest led to the game being the most wish-listed title from the event and the demo with the highest number of concurrent players. 

This has since translated to player engagement and sales of Enshrouded, which is currently discounted to 10% to celebrate the game's launch into Early Access. Despite Palworld's absolute domination of the news cycle, Enshrouded has certainly not struggled to find its footing in the survival genre. The game is currently the #1 trending title and is the eighth most played game on SteamDB at the time of writing this, just below Grand Theft Auto V and just ahead of Apex Legends. It has also reached 160,405 players at its peak and enjoys a Very Positive rating on Steam with over 13,000 reviews.

Enshrouded is currently only available on Steam via Early Access, though Keen Games has said there are plans for PlayStation and Xbox ports at a later date. 

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Years ago, AMD released the Ryzen 5000G series of CPUs, or APUs if we can call them. These CPUs with relatively more powerful built-in GPUs have been in high demand in emerging markets. This is because they allow one to play games in a budget PC.

When AMD announced the Ryzen 7000 series, it announced that all the processors in the series would come with built-in GPU. However, it was later revealed that these GPUs will have only 2 Compute Units (CU), which makes them suitable only for basic computing tasks, not gaming.

Some days ago, AMD finally announced an upgrade to the Ryzen 5000G series. Rather than naming them as Ryzen 7000G, it named them Ryzen 8000G instead. This also means that next-gen Ryzen CPUs will be named Ryzen 9000 series.

Either way. AMD Ryzen 8000G series has four different processors, though only three are available to the public. These include:

• AMD Ryzen 7 8700G – with 8 cores, 16 threads, 780M GPU with 12CUs. Priced $329.
• AMD Ryzen 5 8600G – with 6 cores, 12 threads, 760M GPU with 8CUs. Priced $229.
• AMD Ryzen 5 8500G – with 6 cores, 12 threads, 740M GPU with 4CUs. Priced $179.
• AMD Ryzen 3 8300G – with 4 cores, 8 threads, 740M GPU with 4CUs. OEM only.

These CPUs are based on Zen 4 architecture – the same which powers the AMD Ryzen 7000 series. The built-in GPU is based on the RDNA 3 architecture – the same one which is found in the AMD Radeon RX 7000 series.

However, it must be mentioned that Ryzen 8500G comes with just two Zen 4 cores, the other four ones are Zen 4c cores, which are smaller cores with lesser performs. The Ryzen 8300G comes with just one Zen 4 cores and three Zen 4c cores.

The biggest attraction for the Ryzen 8000G series is the 780M GPU. This built-in GPU or iGPU can be considered to be the fastest in the world of APUs. Initially released only for mobile CPUs (including notebooks and mobile gaming consoles), it could be excellent for those who want to game on the desktop on a budget.

Today, the reviews for the Ryzen 8000G series is out. Mostly we are talking about just Ryzen 8700G and 8600G.

TechSpot

TechSpot got their hands on the AMD Ryzen 8700G processor. As always, TechSpot reviews are authored by Steven Walton of Hardware Unbox fame. So anyone who wants to watch the review instead of reading it, can watch it on YouTube too.

In raw CPU performance in Cinebench, AMD Ryzen 8700G performed similarly (though slightly slower) to the $329 costing Ryzen 7700, which is impressive. However, the main point of contention is how is the 780M iGPU.

In gaming, the Ryzen 8700G is almost double the performance of Ryzen 5700G, which is a massive leap. Take Counter Strike 2’s medium graphics performance for example, while Ryzen 5700G averages around 60FPS, Ryzen 8700G does almost 120FPS. Such a performance with a built-in GPU is unseen. This increase and more is seen across different titles.

The review also shows how iGPUs are memory sensitive. It shows that sometimes there’s as big as 22% difference in some games when using 5200MHz DDR5 RAM vs 7200MHz DDR5 RAM. So faster RAM is a must.

However, TechSpot argues against the cost of Ryzen 8700G. It mentions how one can instead buy a cheap $100 Intel i3 processor, combine it with a $200 AMD Radeon RX 6600 and get faster gaming performance at the same price.

In terms of power consumption, the whole computer maxed out at 148W when gaming, which is excellent.

ComputerBase

German site ComputerBase tested (translated) both Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G. In 11 different games that they tested, both AMD Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G were massively faster than their previous-gens.

The Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G averaged in the early 60s and 50s respectively in terms of FPS. Compare that to mid-30s FPS that Ryzen 5700G and Ryzen 5600G get.

Which means here too Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G almost doubles the performance when compared to previous-gen.

If one uses faster RAM, there’s a 7% difference between 5200MHz and 7200MHz performance.

However, here too, a combo of a cheap CPU combined with a cheap discrete graphics card is suggested over Ryzen 8700G. However, Ryzen 8600G does make a lot of sense.

ComputerBase also mentions something more interesting. These new Ryzen 8000G APUs can do AMD AFMF, which can double the frames on the driver level. Though, the reviews talking about quality of AFMF aren’t that great.

In terms of raw CPU only performance, it ranks the Ryzen 8700G around 7800X3D and Ryzen 8600G around Ryzen 7500F, which are, again, impressive numbers.

As far as total PC power usage is concerned, AMD Ryzen 8700G used max 146W and Ryzen 8600G used max 140W. Which again are great numbers. Again, we repeat, these are total PC power consumption numbers, not CPU only numbers.

QuasarZone

One of the best reviews for the AMD Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G comes from the Korean site QuasarZone (translated).

In average 10 games which they tested at medium / low settings, both AMD Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G were a massively faster than the Ryzen 5700G and Ryzen 5600G APUs. At an average, the performance increase was 175% compared to the previous-gen.

However, that wasn’t alone, they performed faster or on par with Ryzen 7500F combined with discrete GTX 1050 Ti 4GB graphics card.

What they found is that Ryzen 8000G perform exceedingly better in DX 12 titles, compared to DX 11 ones.

Between both Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G, the more expensive APU was just 10% faster while costing a $100 more.

As far as the memory bandwidth is concerned, here too they find that a PC with 7000MHz DDR5 RAM performs 18% faster than a PC with 5200MHz DDR5 RAM in Ryzen 8700G while gaming. Again showing how memory sensitive these APUs are and that faster RAM is a must for using them.

In total power consumption during gaming, here too, AMD Ryzen 8700G and AMD Ryzen 8600G used 142W and 132W respectively. Making them excellent to pair with a lower watt (but remember good quality) power supply.

Conclusion

Anyone who wants to look at more reviews, both VideoCardz and 3DCenter offer a list of other sites which have reviewed these processors.

What all this means is that both AMD Ryzen 8700G and AMD Ryzen 8600G are a massive upgrade over the AMD Ryzen 5000G series processors.

It must be mentioned, @9550pro on Twitter (now X) shares how Ryzen 8700G used in combination with 8400MHz RAM makes it perform as fast as GTX 1650 Ti discrete graphics card.

However, there’s one big problem: the pricing of Ryzen 8700G. Anyone who is looking at buying an APU would be budget buyers. There’s no way anyone would want to spend $329 on an APU.

This is where AMD Ryzen 8600G with 6 cores and 760M GPU comes. It costs just $229 – a whole $100 less and is only 10% slower than the Ryzen 8700G in gaming. What we would have however preferred is that AMD would have given 8600G the same 780M GPU with 12 CU. That would have been outstanding. Instead, we get 760M GPU with 8CU.

Another thing which needs to be mentioned is that PCIe lanes. Both Ryzen 8700G and Ryzen 8600G come with x16 PCIe lanes available, which is not the best but acceptable. However, Ryzen 8500G, which we don’t yet know how it performs, has only 10x PCIe lanes available.

Which means, if one wants to combine Ryzen 8500G with a graphics card which uses x8 lanes, only x2 lanes which would be available for NVMe SSD, which usually run at x4. Meaning, using a graphics card with Ryzen 8500G is out of question.

So yes. Looking the reviews, we are happy that AMD released Ryzen 8000G. But we are less happy with the Ryzen 8700G pricing. Making the Ryzen 8600G better choice in our view.

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Table of contents:

1. Windows 11 and Windows 10 news
2. Updates are available
3. Gaming news
4. A blast from Microsoft's past
5. Random fact about Microsoft

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

This week, Microsoft released optional non-security updates for supported Windows 11 and 10 versions:

Interestingly, despite Microsoft implementing EU-compliant changes, the company's browser and search engine may avoid EU regulation due to their insignificant market shares.

As a reminder, January 2024 is the final month when Microsoft released optional updates for Windows 11 version 22H2. From now on, only version 23H2 is entitled to non-security updates, which are also known as C-updates. If you do not need bug fixes mentioned in the release notes, feel free to skip these updates. Otherwise, head to Windows Update and install the needed update manually.

In addition to releasing the latest roundup of optional updates, Microsoft confirmed a bug in Windows 10. According to the company, IT Admins may face a 0x80073cf2 error when using the Sysprep.exe tool in the Audit mode. Fortunately, there is a temporary workaround. Also, this bug does not affect "regular users," so there is no need to panic.

Microsoft also published a new support article detailing further WMIC deprecation. The company will turn off WMIC by default in Windows 11 starting January 29, 2024. Future Windows releases will remove WMIC for good.

Following the recent speculation about Microsoft making 16GB of RAM a baseline for Windows "12," a new report emerged, citing unnamed sources within Microsoft claiming that the so-called Windows "12" is delaying. The update that we expect later this year will arrive as version 24H2, an AI-centric release for next-gen AI PCs.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for testing in the Windows Insider Program this week:

The latest Canary build contains plenty of interesting novelties. One of the most notable ones is a redesigned setup experience, the first big change for that area since the days of Windows Vista. You can check it out in our Closer Look article.

Another neat new feature in build 26040 is a new compression wizard with new options, such as compression format, algorithm, ratio, and more.

Finally, one of Surface-exclusive AI features, Voice Clarity, is now available to all Windows 11 users with x64 processors. Voice Clarity improves your voice in real-time during calls by depressing background noise, canceling echo, and reducing reverberations. Before build 26040, Voice Clarity was only available on ARM devices with dedicated Neural Processing Units.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

If you frequently use the Snipping Tool app to take screenshots or record videos, you are up for a treat. Microsoft will soon update Windows 11's default screenshot tool with the ability to add basic shapes, such as lines, arrows, circles, and squares. The feature was spotted recently in the latest Windows Insider preview version, and a public announcement should not take too long to arrive.

Do you remember Copilot Pro, Microsoft's new paid AI assistant? According to multiple reports, Microsoft launched Copilot Pro to a rocky start, with numerous users complaining about poor performance, the lack of Copilot Pro in mobile apps, and other inconveniences.

Despite some hurdles with Copilot, Microsoft's ventures in the AI market are already paying off big time. This week, the company joined Apple in its exclusive "3 trillion market cap" club. And no, Microsoft is not going to release the throttle. A new report revealed that Microsoft is working on smaller and cheaper AI models to optimize costs.

Microsoft announced an upcoming update for Sticky Notes, a long-forgotten app for taking quick notes directly on the desktop. The app's official X account made a sudden comeback earlier this week, promising users "the biggest announcement." Details are scarce, but at least it is not a web-based revamp.

Finally, Microsoft released Edge 121 in the Stable Channel. The release notes include AVIF and AV1 support, the ability to plant an e-tree in Wallet, new website typo protection policies, and more.

Moving to third-party browsers and updates, here is the latest Firefox release in the Stable channel. Version 122 is now available with improved search suggestions, a better built-in translator, passkeys support on macOS, and more. If you use Firefox as your main browser, you are most likely already running version 122. To check it, head to Menu > Help > About Firefox.

There is something new for Chrome users as well. Google unveiled three new AI-powered features to improve your browsing experience. Those include a theme generator, a tool to help you write, and a tab manager to fix your poor tab skills. All those changes will be available as a part of Chrome 121 for users in the United States.

In addition, Google released the first native Chrome version for Windows on ARM. It is now available for public testing in the Canary Channel.

Other notable updates released or announced this week include the following:

• Microsoft Teams will soon receive multiple changes for the meeting gallery, giving users more flexibility and convenience during online meetings with their webcams turned on or off. In addition, there are new tools in preview to help you control audio and video during meetings.
• Microsoft Mesh 3D avatars and spaces are now available for Teams users on PC in VR.
• OneNote on Windows now features Loop components, allowing Microsoft 365 Insiders to add extra editable pieces of content, such as lists, tables, and tasks. Those components then sync across all platforms in different Microsoft apps.
• Microsoft Forms can now automatically sync data to Excel on the web.
• Ventoy 1.0.97 is out with FreeBSD 14.0 support, boot fixes, and more. For those unfamiliar, Ventoy is a popular third-party app for making bootable USB media.

Here are the new drivers released this week:

• AMD Radeon Software 24.1.1 with AMD Fluid Motion Frames for all DirectX 11 and 12 games and the initial support for the recently announced Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card.
• Intel 31.0.101.5186 and 5234 WHQL with support for Palworld, TEKKEN 8, and other games. In addition, the new drivers from the "blue team" offer massive performance improvements in multiple DirectX 11 and 12 titles.
• Nvidia 551.23 WHQL with the initial support for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, several fixes, and DLSS 3 support for a bunch of games.

Finally, here are the latest additions to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, a page where you can track the upcoming features for Office apps, Teams, Outlook, and more. This week, Microsoft added folder improvements for Outlook, channel enhancements for Teams, and more.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

This week's gaming section starts on a minor note: Microsoft announced a new round of layoffs, eliminating around 1,900 employees from its gaming division. Activision-Blizzard, which Microsoft purchased in October 2023 for almost $69 billion, will be hit the most. In addition, Microsoft will let go of some of the people working at ZeniMax and Xbox.

The irony of this story is that the company has just crossed a $3 trillion market cap, and now it is firing almost two thousand people to "ensure [Microsoft is] all aligned on the best opportunities for growth."

Besides cutting down from 22,000 employees in the Microsoft Gaming division, the announcement resulted in Blizzard its unnamed survival game. Shortly after the announcement, a new report revealed the alleged extent of the latest round of layoffs at Microsoft, with multiple studios losing from 10% to 30$ of their staff.

Despite the layoffs, Microsoft-owned studios continue their game-making job. Turn10 Studios announced an upcoming update for Forza Motorsport. It will bring back the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife location in Germany and several gameplay improvements, such as the ability to skip practice in the career mode.

Halo Infinite will get its next free content update on January 30. It will introduce a new multiplayer map, fresh content for the map editor (Forge), and a new mode for mod-makers.

Microsoft announced a new program for indie games on Xbox this week. Called Indie Selects, it aims to showcase great indie titles on Microsoft's consoles using a dedicated section in the Xbox Store. Indie Selects will be a permanent hub for projects from small companies and indie developers, with refreshes coming every Wednesday.

Speaking of Xbox stores, iPhone users in Europe might soon get one. This week, Apple announced significant changes in its App Store policies, which will soon allow app sideloading, third-party payments, and third-party stores. Epic Games is already working on one to bring back Fortnite to iPhone, and Microsoft might soon join the party.

In addition, Apple is now allowing game streaming apps like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce NOW.

As promised, Nvidia opened public access to its RTX Remix toolset that allows modders to remake old Windows games with modern graphics, effects, and technologies. Look out for future releases of Half-Life 2 RTX, Deus Ex RTX, Unreal Tournament 2004 RTX, and many more.

Do you remember the Vapor Special Edition controller with its swirly finish? As it turned out, Microsoft is busy preparing another one. According to a recent leak, Microsoft will announce a new special edition Xbox gamepad on January 31, 2024. Specific details, sadly, remain a mystery. In case you have forgotten what the Xbox Vapor Special Edition Controller looks like, here is a picture of one:

Those playing PC games using Nvidia's GeForce NOW streaming service can now (pun intended) access ten more games and a few upgrades on Android. The latest additions include Enshrounded, Firefighting Simulator - The Squad, Stargate: Timekeepers, and more. In addition, GeForce NOW Ultimate subscribers can benefit from higher resolution on Android, now available at up to 1440p 120FPS.

Deals and freebies

Infinifactory is the latest free game from the Epic Games Store. In this puzzle game, you play as a human whom aliens have abducted to assist them with some whacky production on complicated production lines. Your goal is to control conveyor belts, welders, pushers, and sensors to build the products your extraterrestrial overlords need. You can download Infinifactory for free until the next Thursday.

If you need more deals, check out our weekly Weekend PC Game Deals series.

A blast from Microsoft's past

John Callaham's weekly "Look back" series provides throwbacks into the past, detailing the company's products, partnerships, mishaps, and successes from years ago.

This week's blast from Microsoft's past is about the software giant trying to sue a maker of a Linux distro with Windows app support. In December 2001, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Lindows, claiming the company was trying to confuse users with a product whose name resembled Windows. More than two decades later, that distro and the company responsible for it are still in business.

Random fact about Microsoft

And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things.

Did you know that Microsoft had a sort of "Insider Program" for Windows back in 1995? And did you know that users had to pay for the privilege of beta-testing Windows 95? A key for the beta would set you back $19.95 (because 1995, get it?), and it would expire in November 1995. After that, you would have to buy a proper Windows 95 license key.

Today, however, you do not need to pay for access to Windows beta versions. The Windows Insider program is open to all users, but you still must activate the operating system with a valid Windows 10 or 11 key (old Windows 7 keys sadly no longer work).

Source

Made by Victor Frye and launched earlier this week, Microsoft Graveyard offers an open-source collection of dead Microsoft-made software and hardware things. According to the developer, the website is "a passion project built because we have lovingly used many of these products before their untimely death." You know, things like Windows Phone, Zune, Bob (everyone hated it), Surface Duo, Cortana, and more.

Microsoft Graveyard visitors can click items to get more information from Wikipedia or another website. In addition, each product has a description alongside their sometimes brief, sometimes long lifespans. Here is the one written on Windows Phone's tombstone:

Killed by Microsoft 4 years ago, Windows Phone was a family of mobile operating systems that succeeded Windows Mobile and Zune before being discontinued. It was 9 years old.

In addition to already-dead products, the graveyard lists some of the soon-to-be-dead things like Windows 10 (even though it gets new features once again), the Xbox 360 Store, Visual Studio for Mac, and more.

Microsoft Graveyard is open-source, and you can contribute to it on GitHub. Everyone is welcome to add missing items, fix typos, suggest improvements, and more. The project also has a Threads account, where you can track updates and follow along with the developer ranting about Microsoft and its products.

If you want to pay respects to your favorite Microsoft product, which is no longer with us, head to microsoftgraveyard.com.

Source