Paul's Hardware (1.5M subscribers)

January 24, 2025

Video length: 15m 45s

0:00 Intro - Nvidia’s Misleading RTX 5090 Marketing Claims

1:09 RTX 5090 6-Review Roundup

2:25 RTX 5090 - The Good - Performance and Cooling

5:22 RTX 5090 - The Bad - Relative Perf, Perf Per Watt, Cost Per Frame

7:36 RTX 5090 - The Bad 2 - Reliance on DLSS 4 / Multi Frame Generation

10:21 What Went Wrong With My Testing (driver bug rabbit hole)

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The company has three ray tracing sections in its PC specifications: Selective, Standard, and Extended. Each one bumps up the graphics card requirement by quite a margin. Thankfully for budget gamers, at least the minimum requirement for the title begins at a GTX 1070\RX 5700\ARC A580, but it's only for 1080p 30FPS play.

Check out the system requirements in image and text forms below:

SELECTIVE RAY TRACING

MINIMUM

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1080P at 30 FPS
• Visual Settings: Low
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 8700k/ AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce GTX™ 1070 8GB/ AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 8GB/ Intel® Arc™ A580 8GB (REBAR ON)

RECOMMENDED

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1080P at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: High
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 11600k/ AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600x
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 3060Ti 8GB/ AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT 12GB/ Intel® Arc™ B580 12GB (REBAR ON)

ENTHUSIAST

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1440P at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: High
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 11600k/ AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600x
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 2070 8GB/ AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT 12GB/ Intel® Arc™ B580 12GB (REBAR ON)
• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 4K at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: High
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 12700k/ AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800x3D
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti Super 16GB/ AMD Radeon™ RX 7900 XT 20GB

STANDARD RAY TRACING

MINIMUM

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1080P at 30 FPS
• Visual Settings: High
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 8700k/ AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 2070 8GB/ Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 2070 8GB/ Intel® Arc™ B580 12GB (REBAR ON)

RECOMMENDED

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1440P at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: High
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 11600k/ AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600x
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 4070 Super 12GB/ AMD Radeon ™ RX 7800 XT 16GB

EXTENDED RAY TRACING

ENTHUSIAST

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 1440p at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: Ultra
• CPU: Intel® Core™ Intel i7 13700k/ AMD Ryzen™ 7 7800x3D
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 4080 16GB

EXTREME

• Resolution/FPS Using Dynamic Resolution and Upscaling: 4K at 60 FPS
• Visual Settings: Ultra
• CPU: Intel® Core™ Intel i7 13700k/ AMD Ryzen™ 7 7800x3D
• GPU: Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 4090 24GB

Ubisoft is touting a range of PC-exclusive features for Assassin's Creed Shadows at launch as well. This includes raytraced global illumination and reflections, a benchmarking tool, ultra-wide monitor support, DLSS 3.7, FSR 3.1, and XeSS 2 upscaling support.

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches March 20 across PC (Steam, Ubisoft Connect, Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Apple silicon Macs, and Amazon Luna. Catch the newly released story trailer above.

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Doom: The Dark Ages' newly revealed specifications ask for a lot more horsepower than the last entry, Doom Eternal, which began things asking for a GTX 1050Ti/RadeonR9 280 at the least. This time around, id is asking for gamers with at least an RTX 2060 Super/RX 6600 to play the game.

Here are the system requirements in image and text form:

MINIMUM (1080p/60 FPS/Low Video Settings)

• OS: Win10 64Bit / Win 11 64Bit
• CPU: AMD Zen 2 or Intel 10th Generation @3.2Ghz with 8 cores / 16 threads or better (examples: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or better, Intel Core i7 10700K or better)
• GPU: NVIDIA or AMD hardware ray tracing-capable GPU with 8GB dedicated VRAM or better (examples: NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super or better, AMD RX 6600 or better)
• System RAM: 16GB
• Storage Capacity: 512GB or higher NVME SSD (100GB Available)

RECOMMENDED (1440p/60 FPS/High Video Settings)

• OS: Win10 64Bit / Win 11 64Bit
• CPU: AMD Zen 3 or Intel 12th Generation @3.2Ghz with 8 cores / 16 threads or better (examples: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or better, Intel Core i7 12700K or better)
• GPU: NVIDIA or AMD hardware ray tracing-capable GPU with 10GB dedicated VRAM or better (examples: NVIDIA RTX 3080 or better, AMD RX 6800 or better)
• System RAM: 32GB
• Storage Capacity: 512GB or higher NVME SSD (100GB Available)

ULTRA 4K (2160p/60 FPS/Ultra Video Settings)

• OS: Win10 64Bit / Win 11 64Bit
• CPU: AMD Zen 3 or Intel 12th Generation @3.2Ghz with 8 cores / 16 threads or better (examples: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or better, Intel Core i7 12700K or better)
• GPU: NVIDIA or AMD hardware ray tracing-capable GPU with 16GB dedicated VRAM or better (examples: NVIDIA RTX 4080 or better, AMD RX 7900XT or better)
• System RAM: 32GB
• Storage Capacity: 512GB or higher NVME SSD (100GB Available)

The reason behind the much higher requirements is said to be the "all-new dynamic interactive ray-traced lighting and shadows" that are a part of the studio's updated idTech8 engine.

Xbox fans may remember that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle followed the same path for PC specifications, which uses idTech7. The MachineGames-developed new experience asked for a dedicated ray tracing-supported graphics card at a minimum to play the adventure game with a playable frame rate.

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Microsoft showed off quite a bit of Doom: The Dark Ages at its Xbox Developer_Direct showcase today, putting the medieval Doom Slayer front and center as he rips through hordes of demons. Check out a sizzle real of the gameplay above.

The studio described this version of the Doom Slayer as a tank, while saying it dropped the fast-paced "fighter jet" that was the Doom Eternal's Slayer behind. A more grounded experience is awaiting players in this prequel experience, which will lead the story upto the Doom reboot that began in 2016.

Combat will focus on three things: the guns, the shield, and the melee weapons. The studio is touting the most powerful weapons ever in this entry, letting players parry, block, crush, blow up, slice up incoming demon hordes, among so many other options. However, the pace will be much slower, with players even being able to sidestep projectiles much like in the classic entries.

The gameplay will be taking place in massive battlefields where the player can decide what challenges to face and what underground dungeons to crawl through. This is a major departure from the series' usual linear campaigns.

"It’s all about engagement; creating a loop or “dance” that’s intuitive, innovative and loaded with depth – fun on the outside smart on the inside,” says game director Hugo Martin. “An appealing power fantasy that’s new but familiar – who hasn’t wanted to feel like an iron tank in the middle of a medieval war against hell?”

The mech and the cybernetic dragon flying scenes that id Software teased last year were mentioned again too. Instead of being one-and-done options, these were said to be fully fleshed out gameplay mechanics, letting players experience being a giant mech fighting giant demons and fly around on top of a dragon, taking out enemy emplacements for "fantasy-style airborne combat" across multiple areas of the map.

The classic Doom Slayer, the Atlas mech, and the Cybernetic Dragon all come with upgrade trees to build a fully customizable experience.

Doom: The Dark Ages has now been confirmed to launch on May 15, 2025. It is coming to PC, Xbox series X|S, and PlayStation 5, while also being a day-one Xbox Game Pass drop. Both standard and collector's edition versions are incoming as well.

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Before you proceed with detailed spec-by-spec comparisons for each graphics card, here are the main platform changes and upgrades that will be available across all models:

• A brand-new architecture (Blackwell) with a big emphasis on AI processing
• Fourth-generation Ray Tracing cores with faster performance
• PCIe Gen 5 interface and DisplayPort 2.1b support for up to 8K 165Hz displays
• GDDR7 memory
• DLSS 4 with 3-4x frame generation and Reflex 2 support (DLSS 4 will only be partially available on previous-gen models)
• Next-generation NVENC encoder and NVDEC decoder with 4:2:2 color format

Here are quick links for your convenience:

• RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090
• RTX 5080 vs RTX 4080 vs RTX 3080
• RTX 5070 Ti vs RTX 4070 Ti vs RTX 3070 Ti
• RTX 5070 vs RTX 4070 vs RTX 3070

RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 vs RTX 3090

Launches January 30, 2025

Here is a quick list of key changes:

• More CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores
• More video memory
• GDDR7 memory with a wider bus
• Higher power consumption
• Bigger PSU requirement
• Significantly more expensive

RTX 5080 vs RTX 4080 vs RTX 3080

Launches January 30, 2025

Here is a quick list of key changes:

• More CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores
• GDDR7 memory with the same size and bus
• Higher power consumption
• Slightly bigger PSU requirement
• Cheaper than the previous generation (surprise)
• Improved display output and newer video encoders/decoders

RTX 5070 Ti vs RTX 4070 Ti vs RTX 3070 Ti

Launches in February 2025

Here is a quick list of key changes:

• More CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores
• GDDR7 memory with a wider bus
• More VRAM
• Slightly higher power consumption
• Slightly bigger PSU requirement
• Cheaper than the previous generation (surprise)
• Improved display output and newer video encoders/decoders

The RTX 5070 Ti will launch in February 2025. The exact launch date remains unannounced.

RTX 5070 vs RTX 4070 vs RTX 3070

Launches in February 2025

Here is a quick list of key changes:

• More CUDA, Tensor, and RT cores
• GDDR7 memory with the same bus and amount of VRAM
• Slightly higher power consumption (no changes for the PSU requirement)
• Cheaper than the previous generation by $50 (MSRP)
• Improved display output and newer video encoders/decoders

Do you plan to buy any of the RTX 5000 Series graphics cards? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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NVIDIA's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs are launching on January 30, but rumored stock shortages could leave a lot of enthusiasts hoping to upgrade with no avenue to do so. A bunch of new information has come out in the last couple of days regarding NVIDIA's perceived launch challenges.

These are rumors barring any official NVIDIA acknowledgment, but the information comes from industry insiders. As reported by Videocardz, PowerGPU — a system integrator looking to get NVIDIA's new Blackwell cards into its custom PCs — posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating that "the launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability."

Ubisoft used to seem like an unstoppable juggernaut in video games, barreling seemingly unchallenged from one wild success to the next. Innovations in open-world game design and the pursuit of relentless fun have stagnated into formulaic reiterations driven by shareholder decisions and faceless committees, though; that once unshakeable momentum has been withered by constant disappointments and persistent fatigue.

I myself have lost hope in Ubisoft over the years, and I'm not alone. An aversion to risk taking, haphazard attempts to inject "live service" elements where they don't belong, a growing reputation for broken launches and buggy games, and a tendency to abandon the few actually amazing projects (like Immortals Fenyx Rising and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown) have toppled Ubisoft from its throne. For many, the ailing French games publisher has one more chance at redemption: Assassin's Creed Shadows.

I had a limited preview for Assassin's Creed Shadows last year that gave me hope, but I've nonetheless avoided hyping this game up too much — I'd like to avoid setting myself up for disappointment once again. Now, though, I've actually played AC Shadows, enjoying a four-hour remote preview that has broken through my lingering reservations. I can't help it, I'm extremely excited for this game... And it may just be the redemption that Ubisoft sorely needs.

What is Assassin's Creed Shadows?

Assassin's Creed Shadows is the latest in one of the longest-running video game franchises, continuing to evolve the RPG gameplay mechanics introduced with Assassin's Creed Origins in 2017. This time, Ubisoft is taking players to a location that has been heavily requested since basically the beginning of the series — Japan. More specifically, 16th Century feudal Japan, during the war-torn Sengoku period.

Following Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the last major AC entry released in 2020, Ubisoft has made a lot of changes to win back classic Assassin's Creed fans. Now, players will be able to instantly switch between two protagonists at any point, with each main character boasting an entirely different playstyle. There's the agile shinobi, Naoe, and her repertoire of ninja tools, and then there's the imposing samurai, Yasuke, a powerful warrior based off the real-world historical figure.

AC Shadows could represent the start of a brand-new era for the franchise, if it truly delivers (and I have a feeling it actually might). Assassin's Creed Shadows was recently delayed until Mar. 20, 2025, but it won't be too long before you'll be able to explore feudal Japan on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. You can read our Assassin's Creed Shadows FAQ for more information on this game.

AC Shadows hands-on: Bringing feudal Japan to life

Microsoft is gearing up to ship two new versions of the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro that have smaller displays, designed to be lighter and more portable for people looking for a more travel-friendly PC. Both devices will be premium products, and feature display sizes roughly around 11- or 12-inches, my sources say.

I first reported on Microsoft’s smaller Surface Pro way back in December 2023, and last month I was able to confirm that the company was also working on a smaller Surface Laptop as well. I hear both devices are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

I understand that Microsoft intends to begin shipping these smaller Surface PCs in the April/May timeframe. The company is already expected to unveil new Surface for Business hardware on January 30, but I'm unsure if that's when the smaller devices will be announced, or if they'll be saved for a more consumer-facing event.

These smaller Surface devices are said to feature similar premium designs to their larger siblings. My sources say the smaller Surface Pro has been built as a direct competitor to the 11-inch iPad Pro, meaning it should have a high refresh rate display, support for pen input, and its own detachable keyboard accessory.

I believe the smaller Surface Laptop is likely to replace the Surface Laptop Go, and will include a backlit keyboard, higher resolution touchscreen, and an all-metal chassis like its larger Surface Laptop sibling. I’m unsure if the smaller Surface Pro is supposed to replace the cheaper Surface Go.

The game now officially supports DLSS 4, the latest version of the upscaling and frame generation tech from Nvidia. Announced alongside the RTX 50 series graphics cards, the latest version of DLSS touts Multi Frame Generation as its newest AI technology marvel.

Instead of using "brute-force rendering," Nvidia says the feature will generate up to three frames using data gathered from a standard frame. It is a feature exclusive to RTX 50 series graphics cards though, which are launching later this month.

"Additionally, you can now choose between the CNN model or the new Transformer model for DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA on all GeForce RTX graphics cards today," says CD Projekt RED in the changelog. "The new Transformer model enhances stability, lighting, and detail in motion."

The update also carries a large number of bug fixes for the features that were introduced with the last content update, including the Photo Mode, Vehicle Color Customization, Character Creation, and more.

Here's the complete changelog for Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.21:

Photo Mode

 

• Nibbles and Adam Smasher can now be spawned while V is in the air or in water.
• Fixed the Facial Expression option for Adam Smasher.
• Fixed an issue where Adam Smasher's glowing chest cyberware was missing.
• Fixed an issue where, if Johnny's Alternate Appearance was enabled, both options to spawn him (default and alternate) resulted in the alternate look.
• Characters spawned while V is in the air or in water will no longer snap to the ground.
• Characters will now be properly saved in presets.
• Spawned characters will now be visible after adding a background.
• V's rotation and position will now be properly saved in presets.
• Fixed an issue where adjusting the Up/Down slider for V wouldn't change their position between certain values.
• NPCs that turn invisible after disabling the Surrounding NPCs option will no longer have collision.
• Fixed an issue where loading a preset could cause additional light sources to appear even when disabled, or spawn them in incorrect positions.
• Fixed an issue where the camera could get stuck on walls after setting Full Collision to ON.
• Fixed an issue where camera settings would only apply after loading a saved preset twice.
• Enabling a background will no longer change camera position.
• Rotating the camera will now work properly with a background enabled.
• Fixed an issue where the prompts for Move Camera and Rotate Camera would appear when the camera cannot be moved (e.g. when using the First-Person Perspective camera).
• Fixed an issue where it wasn't possible to move the camera after spawning a character while highlighting the Edit Character option.
• Disabling Chromatic Aberration in the Graphics settings will no longer affect the ability to adjust it.
• Fixed an issue where some items in scenes disappeared after setting the Surrounding NPCs option to OFF.
• Fixed an issue where enabling PhysX Cloth would unfreeze NCPD vehicles.
• The rule of thirds grid will now properly adapt to the selected aspect ratio.
• Fixed an issue where the image in a SmartFrame wouldn't be visible if accessed while V was not facing it.
• Fixed an issue where opening Photo Mode simultaneously with Wardrobe or Stash caused the game to become unresponsive.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to access Photo Mode before a save file fully loaded, causing it to open without UI and block any further action.
• Fixed other minor Photo Mode issues related to spawned characters, camera movement, controls, and more.
• Fixed various UI issues in Photo Mode, SmartFrames and Gallery menus, including slider inconsistencies, localization errors, missing sound effects, incorrect behavior when interacting with certain features, and more.

 

Vehicle Color Customization

 

• Fixed several texture and color inconsistencies for vehicles that have CrystalCoat applied.
• Fixed an issue where the explanation of the spray paint icon was missing in the Autofixer tutorial pop-up after a vehicle contract was completed.
• Fixed several minor UI issues in the CrystalCoat and TwinTone menus.

 

Character Creation

 

• Randomizer settings in Character Creation will now be preserved after advancing to the Customize Attributes step.
• Fixed an issue where the Piercing Color option would not be available in Character Creation after enabling piercings if V initially had none.
• Fixed other minor issues in Character Creation, including appearance options not applying correctly, visual clipping, inconsistent UI behavior, functionality issues after using the randomizer, and more.

 

Miscellaneous

 

• Run This Town - Fixed an issue where, under certain circumstances, it wasn't possible to deactivate the Aguilar imprint after meeting with Bennett.
• Fixed several instances where Johnny could appear duplicated in the passenger seat during some quests when he was already present in the scene.
• Fixed an issue where Johnny did not appear as a passenger often enough.
• Introduced several fixes to NPC and vehicle behavior for various small events throughout Night City.
• Fixed an issue where some vendors were not interactable as intended.
• Fixed an issue where voiceovers on TV news channels could be missing or too quiet.
• Fixed an issue where the Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech used a description of Quadra Turbo-R 740 instead of its own unique one.
• Fixed the missing 2.2 "check what's new" pop-up in the main menu.

 

Console-specific

 

• Fixed an issue where screenshots appeared as blank in the Gallery on Xbox if they were taken with HDR10 enabled.
• Added a pop-up in the Gallery to notify players when access to screenshots is blocked by the console's privacy settings on Xbox.
• Screenshots deleted on Xbox outside the Gallery UI will now be correctly marked in the Gallery and will disappear from occupied slots after reopening the Gallery.
• Fixed an issue where the Graphics Mode on Xbox Series S could be set to Quality instead of Performance by default.

 

PC-specific

 

• Fixed artifacts and smudging on in-game screens when using DLSS Ray Reconstruction.
• The Frame Generation field in Graphics settings will now properly reset after switching Resolution Scaling to OFF.

Patch 2.21 for Cyberpunk 2077 is now rolling out for players across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

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Further investigations confirmed that the issue was related to improper seating or insertion of the power cable into the GPU's power slots and this led companies to innovate to create ways to prevent this type of happening.

For example, MSI developed a bright-yellow connector plug such that it becomes easy for a user to understand whether the cable is fully and properly inserted or not. Meanwhile, Seasonic made an L-shaped design to solve a similar issue. Finally, Asus revealed its BTF "hidden connector" design to do away with 12VHPWR.

Regardless of the improvements, concerns around the power connector fiasco are still in peoples' minds given that the upcoming RTX 5090 is rated at 175 watts or ~27.78% more than the RTX 4090.

At a media event dubbed GeForce Update Editor's Day 2025, during the Q&A session, Nvidia said that it does not "expect" to see a similar situation with the RTX 5090 or 5080 video cards with the introduction of the newer "12V-2×6 PCIe 12VHPWR connector".

Here's what Nvidia stated (Korean, translated to English using DeepL):

When you launched the RTX 40 series, you changed the auxiliary power to a new 12+4-pin specification. With this new specification, especially on the RTX 4090, there was an issue with the connector melting due to overheating. Has this been addressed on the RTX 5090?

 

We don't expect that to happen with the RTX 50 series. We made some changes to the connector to address the issue at the time, and now, two years later, we don't know of any such issues.

12V-2×6 PCIe 12VHPWR connector has shown promise in its testing phase as the connector has shown that it does not malfunction even if it is not plugged in fully or properly. We covered the topic in a bit more detail here.

Despite the assurance though, users should continue to exercise caution and make sure the cable is properly and fully seated or is not bent too steeply.

Source: QuasarZone Cover image via: Shiftyeyes67k (Reddit)

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The RTX 5090 is apparently showing a very healthy performance boost vs the RTX 4090 in 3DMark benchmarks. While a bunch of numbers have been shared across both older and newer 3DMark tests, we will mainly focus on the tests which are more modern and are more GPU intense since this is more likely to represent a more accurate representation of the performance.

In Time Spy Extreme which is a 4K DirectX 12 test, the RTX 5090 does 25,485 vs 19,486 of the RTX 4090. Thus, in this test, the upcoming GeForce flagship is ~30.8% faster.

Up next, in Steel Nomad which is also a 4K DirectX12 test like Time Spy Extreme, but with "modern implementations of graphics technologies", the RTX 5090 puts up 14,133 points vs 9,216 of the 4090. Hence, the 5090 shows an enormous ~53.35% gain.

Finally, on Speed Way, which is a 1440p DirectX 12 Ultimate test as it features ray tracing, the 5090 scores 14,383 against the 4090's 10,065, making the former ~43% faster.

Overall, from these benchmarks, it looks like the RTX 5090 could be a massive upgrade for 4090/4080 or 7900 XTX/XT owners, especially considering both the newer tests show excellent performance. However, the report notes that testers are not seeing anywhere close to these big gains in actual games with the overall performance hovering much more around ~20%. VideoCardz writes:

One important note is that, while the data is accurate and confirmed by multiple sources, synthetic benchmarks tend to show greater performance gains than gaming scenarios for RTX 5090. On average, gamers can expect about a 20% performance improvement over the RTX 4090, according to reviewers we spoke with. However, this will vary significantly depending on the game, resolution, and settings.

This is somewhat in line with what an Nvidia official said recently when he admitted that the RTX 5070 is nowhere near 4090 performance without DLSS.

As for why the purported RTX 5090 is not showing gaming performance closer to what the synthetics are getting, one reason could be driver optimization and overhead issues. Another reason could be CPU bottlenecking in the case of games which is far less pronounced in synthetic tests.

Source: VideoCardz

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The report lands from ResetEra user Alexzan, who noticed the French publication Gamekult seems to have accidentally posted an article about DOOM: The Dark Ages ahead of an embargo. While the post had been pulled quickly, the site's RSS feed had saved the title and excerpt.

The translated title has revealed a May 15, 2025, launch date for DOOM: The Dark Ages. Of course, Microsoft, Bethesda, and id Software are yet to announce anything firm regarding the release, with only a 2025 window attached to the game so far.

For those unfamiliar with the latest entry, here's how the prequel experience is described by id:

Developed by id Software, DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells the epic cinematic origin story of the Doom Slayer’s rage. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the Doom Slayer in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.

The studio is set to give a much broader look at the FPS tomorrow, January 23, during the 2024 Developer_Direct from Xbox. If the May launch date is accurate, this is probably where we will find out. Xbox will have much more to reveal about its upcoming games during the event too.

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Microsoft notes that drives larger than 16 TB should be reformatted to work with Xbox consoles. Upon formatting, the operating system will split the drive into multiple partitions, and thus, users will see several drives in the list of connected devices.

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.

 

Note Drives greater than 16TB that have already been formatted will be unaffected by this change and would need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support for larger drives.

Here are other changes in the update:

Spot Great Deals from the Comfort of Home

 

Today's update makes finding discounts easier than ever. A random subset of users will see a new badge we're adding to games on sale that you don't already have access to, showing the percentage off directly on your Home screen.

 

Accessibility

 

• Fixes to improve Narrator readout in Settings, particularly in power options and when enabling remote play.

 

Entertainment Apps

 

• Fixed an issue where some media apps could become laggy or sluggish after extended playback.

 

System

 

• Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.
  • Note: Users participating in Preview may see “odd” text across the console. To learn more, go to: What’s This? Learn More About Pseudo-Loc in Preview

Known issues in the update include the following:

System

 

• We are investigating reports of the console shutting down or restarting unexpectedly when testing the network connection.

Microsoft does not say when support for larger-capacity drives will arrive to all users, but you can expect the feature to remain in the Xbox Insider program for several weeks before it lands in the Stable Channel. You can read more about the update here.

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On January 21, 2025, Owlcat Games announced on social media that Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has managed to sell over one million copies. This announcement comes just under a year after the game had sold 500,00 copies worldwide while releasing a massive patch in February 2024.

Warhorse Studios is almost ready to ship Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the next entry in the role-playing series offering players a period-authentic medieval experience. While the campaign is supposed to last dozens of hours, offering fans plenty of locations to explore, quests to delve into, and storylines to progress, the studio has no plans of slowing down the momentum following the launch.

Today, Warhorse Studios and publisher Plaion announced the post-launch roadmap for the RPG—at least what's incoming in the launch year. If everything goes to plan, 2025 is slated to be filled with both paid and free content, with the first drop landing in spring.

The spring content bundle will be a free one, offering players new ways to customize the returning protagonist Henry with the addition of a barber. At the same time, those who want a tougher challenge than the launch difficulty settings will receive a Hardcore Mode. Lastly, the update will introduce a Horse Racing activity to the base game.

Warhorse plans to deliver three paid expansion packs for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 in 2025's summer, autumn, and winter. Here are the details:

• Summer: Brushes with Death – Embark on a thrilling quest as Henry aids an enigmatic artist with a shadowy past. Journey across the lands of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, facing perilous encounters and unravelling a web of dangerous schemes.
• Autumn: Legacy of the Forge – Dive into Henry’s roots by exploring the legacy of Martin, his adoptive father. Work to restore a once-renowned forge and prove your skills in the art of blacksmithing as you uncover forgotten tales of the past.
• Winter: Mysteria Ecclesia – Enter the Sedlec Monastery, where intrigue runs deep. Tasked with a covert mission, Henry must navigate the complex dynamics of the region, discovering hidden truths and navigating a maze of conflicting interests.

The expansions will be available for purchase separately as well as part of the game's season pass. The game's Gold Edition package buyers will also receive the expansions for no extra cost.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is releasing on February 4, 2025, on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

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Gamers Nexus (2.4M subscribers)

January 22, 225

Video length: 31m 59s

In HW News this week, we announce huge changes for the channel, talk about Alienware's new plans for its pre-built computers that might be a good change, Atari returning, and lots of gaming handhelds. The Nintendo Switch 2 was also announced, as was a BTF standard update.

00:00 - Recap for the Week

01:12 - GN Update: Content Split, Future Plans

05:52 - Nintendo Switch 2 Announcement

07:25 - New BTF 3.0 Standard Aims to Gut PSU Cables

09:55 - Intel Arc Isn't Dead Yet

11:15 - Alienware's Monumental Overhaul & Change

16:36 - Louis Rossmann's New Wiki

21:41 - AMD Blames Intel for 9800X3D Shortages

23:59 - AMD Announces New R5 9600 Non-X CPU

24:46 - New Acer Blaze Handheld is Huge

26:25 - Lenovo Legion Go S Gaming Handhelds

28:30 - NVIDIA and Mediatek CPU Solution

29:39 - Atari Returns Again

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However, upgrading to Windows 11 may not be an option for everyone as some Windows 10 PCs may not meet the system requirements. As the Windows 10 end-of-support date approaches, an option for users who can't upgrade will be switching to Linux, as ESET itself recommended recently to stay in support.

If you use your PC mainly for gaming and are wondering what kind of performance you may see from a jump to the other side, there is some goodish news for you in case you have an AMD Radeon GPU. That is because the AMD cards tended to perform fairly similarly on both Windows 10 and Linux. This was not the case with Nvidia as there was a significant performance loss.

The testing was conducted by a YouTube channel Tech YES City and Bazzite was the choice of Linux distro for this comparison. This was a re-test since in the previous round, certain errors were made like not enabling the Steam compatibility layer which led to sub-optimal performance.

Bazzite is based on Fedora Atomic and the distro tries to make it easy for Linux newcomers. On its official website, Bazzite writes:

Bazzite is designed for Linux newcomers and enthusiasts alike with Steam pre-installed, HDR & VRR support, improved CPU schedulers for responsive gameplay, and numerous community-develod tools and tweaks to streamline your gaming and streaming experience.

Coming back to the point of performance, first, we have Cyberpunk 2077, which shows lowered output on Bazzite on the RTX 4090. It happens on both 1440p and 2160p (4K).

Next up, we have Rift Breaker which was the exception:

Black Myth Wukong also exhibits performance loss on the Nvidia side on Bazzite (Linux):

Hence, it looks like Nvidia GPU users will have to settle for lower performance compared to their corresponding AMD counterparts if they were to switch from Windows to Linux as the Radeon card showcased a more consistent performance profile across the two OSs.

Speaking of GPUs, Bazzite requires GPUs to support Vulkan version 1.3 or newer, and on the CPU side, a 64-bit processor (AMD64/x86_64). An easy way to know whether your GPU is Vulkan 1.3 compatible is to download and install GPU-Z, heading to the Advanced tab and clicking on the drop-down menu to check the Vulkan version. For example, on my RX 6800 XT, it is Version 1.3.280.

Source and images: Tech YES City (YouTube)

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It's been such a year, and it's only January.

A couple of weeks into 2025 and nominally refreshed from my time away over the holidays, I want to take a look at gaming trends and possible stories that I'm expecting to see dominate 2025. I recently wrote about the most important gaming trends and stories in 2024, so you can think of this as something of a sequel to that piece.

From the impending arrival of one of the biggest games of all time, to new gaming hardware finally popping up, there's a lot to be curious, cautious, and excited about all at once. We'll see about revisiting this at the end of the year and seeing how I did, but for now, let's dive in.

5. The black hole games continue, but GTA 6 provides possible opportunities

CD Projekt's GOG store is now also another PC games store that will receive the medieval RPG from Warhorse Studios. The store is known for its sale of games without any attached digital rights management (DRM) software.

However, the game will not arrive to GOG on the same day it's releasing on other platforms like Steam and Epic Games Store. The game will be available on the DRM-free platform sometime in spring 2025.

"We couldn't be happier to announce that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and its Gold Edition are coming DRM-free to GOG this Spring," says the announcement from the GOG store."It's time to start preparing for Henry's next adventures in this potentially GOTY-worthy RPG from our friends at Warhorse Studios. Ready to crown your library with this beautiful creation and keep it forever? Because we sure are!"

With a broad release window like spring 2025, what's unclear is just how long GOG fans will have to wait before they can jump into the medieval experience. The original Kingdom Come: Deliverance from 2018 also had a delay attached to the GOG version, but it was only a slight one, with it releasing only a few weeks after the Steam landing.

Moreover, keep in mind that Warhorse has already announced that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 won't have any sort of DRM on PC platforms, not even Denuvo. Check out the system requirements over here.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is releasing on February 4, 2025 across PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

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Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card is arriving later this month, and we’ve managed to unbox one and compare its design to the RTX 4090. Just like our first look at the RTX 5090, this isn’t a review. Performance figures, benchmarks, and impressions beyond the hardware are coming later.

 

The first thing that’s notable about the RTX 5090 is the packaging design has totally changed since the Founders Edition RTX 40-series. Nvidia has switched to housing the RTX 5090 inside a smaller bone-shaped gray cardboard shell that sits inside a much larger brown cardboard box.

 

A dog and his RTX 5090 bone.

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

 

The outer box — which reads “Inspired by gamers. Enhanced by AI. Built by Nvidia.” — holds a new power adapter cable for the RTX 5090 that includes an updated version of the regular 12VHPWR connector. You’ll need to use four regular PCIe eight-pin power connectors with this adapter, or a new 12V-2x6 cable. The 12V-2x6 is almost identical to the existing 12VHPWR, as the new connector has shorter sensing pins and slightly longer conductor terminals. The slight variation means that existing 12VHPWR cables will work with the RTX 5090 just fine.

 

The RTX 5090 itself is the same width and length as an RTX 4090, but it’s a lot slimmer now because it’s just a two-slot card. Compared to the three-slot RTX 4090, it’s impressive to see that Nvidia has managed to shrink its latest flagship GPU into this smaller form factor.

 

The RTX 4090 is a lot thicker than the RTX 5090.

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

 

These exterior design changes also mean Nvidia has overhauled its cooling for the RTX 5090. It has moved to double flow-through fans that suck cooler air from below and exhaust it above the RTX 5090 into the rest of the case. There’s no rear exhaust on the RTX 5090 like there is on the RTX 40-series Founders Edition cards, but there are two little slots on either side to create an airflow boundary of sorts so that the warm air that’s exhausting out the top doesn’t recirculate below.

 

The PCB of the RTX 5090 is now located in the middle of the GPU, surrounded by big heat pipes that get cool air from the dual flow-through fans. This allows Nvidia to make the RTX 5090 Founders Edition small form factor certified, so it can fit into a variety of small cases. Nvidia has also relocated the power connector to be angled at the side, so it should be easier to fit into cases where the side panel comes close to touching the power cable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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According to the latest numbers published by Counterpoint Research, over 25%, or one in every four laptops shipped in 2024, was GenAI capable. Over 253 million PCs across various brands were shipped in 2024, recording an increase of 2.6% from 2023.

The PC market recorded a 3.7% shipment growth in Q4 2024 year-over-year, led by the holiday season and subsidy policy from the Chinese government. "We believe the PC market has recovered to normal seasonality and entered a new phase after the launch of AI PCs in 2024," the firm said in its report.

However, other significant factors have contributed to the rise. Windows 10's upcoming end-of-life kept a steady flow of PC orders from enterprises looking for system upgrades before October 2025.

Canalys reported in November last year that AI-enabled PC made up 20% of the shipments in Q3 2024. Gartner also predicted that AI PCs will dominate the business market by 2026.

Speaking by the numbers, Lenovo came first in the global PC shipment race with a 4.6% growth year-over-year and shipped 61.8 million units. It was followed by an almost flat growth from HP (0.2%) and a U-turn by Dell with a negative growth of -1.3%.

Apple, which launched its Apple Intelligence suite of AI features, had a rough spell in the first half of 2024. It was saved by modest growth after the new MacBook Pro arrived at the end of the year. Processor brands such as AMD's Strix Point, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite series, and Intel's Lunar Lake have powered AI PC solutions in 2024.

The Copilot+ PC branding introduced at Microsoft Build in May 2024 is a class of Windows 11 devices packing a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to handle AI-extensive workloads such as real-time translations and image generation. Moreover, the AI PCs powered by NVIDIA's RTX 3000/4000 series GPUs can also handle GenAI applications efficiently, contributing to shipment growth in 2024.

"AI laptops continued to gather steam in 2024 with AMD, Qualcomm and Intel driving Copilot+ laptop PCs and NVIDIA driving GenAI-capable high-performance laptop PCs," Counterpoint said.

The firm expects AI PCs to capture about 60% of the laptop market in 2025. On-device processing offered by premium GenAI PCs is expected to trickle down to the mid-tier PC segment in terms of hardware and software, fueling shipment growth.

Source and image: Counterpoint

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Earlier this week, TikTok denied reports of plans to sell its US assets to Elon Musk and, today, updated its shutdown message to reference Donald Trump.

Still on the topic of TikTok and Trump, TikTok has released a statement reassuring users that service restoration is underway. Here's the statement from @TikTokPolicy on X:

STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK:

 

In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.

 

It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.

Let’s not forget that it was the Trump administration that started the whole "let’s ban TikTok because of national security" tirade back in 2020.

Now, it looks like Trump’s opinion on the matter has softened. In a statement he posted on Truth Social (Trump’s own social media app, which he set up after getting banned from Twitter), he claimed that without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok.

He also mentioned he’d be signing an executive order on Monday to "extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect" so that a deal can be made to ensure national security.

Trump is proposing a joint venture between TikTok’s current owners and new owners, with the US getting 50% ownership.

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