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index.feed.received.today — 14 mars 20251.3 🖥️ Tech. English

Disco Elysium is getting a pseudo-reimagining for Android

14 mars 2025 à 12:30

Disco Elysium was revered upon its release back in 2019 with the choice-based RPG being praised for its writing, atmosphere and freedom. In an interesting move, the game is now being adapted for Android – with quite a different take on the original game’s formula.

Making the announcement, the team at ZA/UM officially detailed this remake/reimagining of the Disco Elysium story but in a different medium, with them explaining:

“The world of Disco Elysium comes to you with new incredible handpainted art. The city of Revachol is yours to inspect one beautiful scene at a time. Seek out the details among the brushstrokes that will illuminate the truth.”

They continue: “Move your phone around in new 360-degree scenes that put you right in the middle of the investigation. New captivating audio helps you sink further into the world by appealing to your senses while full voiceover brings every character to life in your ears.”

Disco Elysium is set to come to Android sometime during the Summer of this year. Upon launch, players will be able to play the first two chapters for free, at which point you can then pay a single fee to unlock the remainder of the game.

While this adaptation for mobile does seem like an interesting concept, the legal and ethical controversies surrounding ZA/UM does put a bit of a damper on the announcement. Regardless, hopefully they managed to translate the experience to mobile well.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the trailer? Are you surprised by the approach they’re taking? Let us know down below.

The post Disco Elysium is getting a pseudo-reimagining for Android first appeared on KitGuru.

Powerwash Simulator 2 gets surprise announcement; coming later this year

14 mars 2025 à 11:45

Ever since its 1.0 launch back in Summer 2022, PowerWash Simulator has been able to keep fans captivated not only through its satisfying gameplay loop, but also thanks to a number of free and paid DLCs. With the team seemingly having achieved everything they could, FuturLab have now announced a sequel coming later this year.

Releasing a brief trailer onto YouTube, the developers of Powerwash Simulator (FuturLab) officially announced and unveiled Powerwash Simulator 2. While a brief teaser, the game’s Steam page is live, offering a bunch of additional details.

Alongside expected improvements to the power washing system itself, the sequel is set to take players outside of Muckingham as part of a larger expansion of the world.

In addition, players will now be able to “Kick back and relax in your home-base after a hard-days-cleaning. Put down your roots and make the place yours by collecting furniture and trinkets to spruce it up along the way, then invite your power wash pals over to check out your pad.”

Last but certainly not least, Powerwash Simulator 2 will include a bunch of enhancements to co-op, including full campaign progression and more surprisingly full local split-screen support.

Unlike the first game, Powerwash Simulator 2 is being self-published by FuturLab. As such, it will be interesting to see whether the team does anything differently this time round.

That said, with the first game selling millions of copies, perhaps keeping things exactly the same wouldn’t be too bad. We’ll have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: Were you surprised by the announcement? Is a sequel necessary or could they have just expanded the original game? Which of the new additions are you most looking forward to? Let us know down below.

The post Powerwash Simulator 2 gets surprise announcement; coming later this year first appeared on KitGuru.

Hazelight Studios’ Split Fiction has sold 2 million copies in its first week

14 mars 2025 à 11:00

Earlier this week, the team at Hazelight Studios celebrated the launch of their latest title Split Fiction – revealing that the game had sold over 1 million copies in its first 48 hours. In the days following, momentum for the title has continued, having now surpassed 2 million copies.

Making the announcement on BlueSky, the team at Hazelight Studios wrote: “SPLIT FICTION has sold 2 MILLION copies in 1 WEEK!! Holy crap, we’re blown away! Simply amazing…Thank you to all of our new and old fans – we love how excited you are for our game!”

Split Fiction has received nothing but praise across the board since release, currently sitting as the highest rated game of 2025 so far.

Split Fiction Hazelight

For the uninitiated, Hazelight Studios is known for their work on co-op focused narrative experiences, with their two prior titles – A Way Out and It Takes Two – selling 11 and 23 million copies respectively.

As with the team’s prior titles, Split Fiction requires just one copy of the game to play, letting you buddy up with any of your friends no matter their system of choice, making the milestone even more impressive.

Both A Way Out and It Takes Two had long legs, selling millions of copies years after release. If Split Fiction winds up going down the same road, then Hazelight will have another monumental hit on their hands.

KitGuru says: Are you one of the 2 (4) million who’ve played Split Fiction? Is it Hazelight’s best work yet? How long will it take to hit 5 million copies sold? Let us know down below.

The post Hazelight Studios’ Split Fiction has sold 2 million copies in its first week first appeared on KitGuru.

Mortal Shell is free on the Epic Games Store

14 mars 2025 à 10:15

Every week, the Epic Games Store gives away a title or two for free to all those with an EGS account. Available to claim right now, Epic is offering the action Souls-like Mortal Shell alongside bonus content for World of Warships.

Available to add to your library from now until the 20th of March at 3PM UK time, Mortal Shell is a Souls-like action title from developer Cold Symmetry in which you “Explore a deep action-RPG that tests your sanity and resilience in a shattered world. Your adversaries spare no mercy, with survival demanding superior awareness, precision, and instincts.”

Released back in 2020, the game received decent reviews from critics – though slightly less so from players. That said, the team did update the game quite substantially following its launch, including both paid and free content.

Mortal Shell Epic

Though not included with the free package, players can get their hands on the Virtuous Cycle DLC for just £3.99 which offers “an entirely new roguelike mode that brings random and repeatable savagery to Fallgrim” as well as the Rotten Autumn update – adding unique Shell shades; a new mini-quest; a new photo mode; and an alternative boss fight soundtrack.

Mortal Shell is available to add to your library for free from now until the 20th of March at which point it will be replaced by the management sim ‘Jurassic World Evolution 2’.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this week’s offerings? Have you given Mortal Shell a fair shake? What’s your favourite management sim series? Let us know down below.

The post Mortal Shell is free on the Epic Games Store first appeared on KitGuru.

How to turn on Siri on macOS without sending your Contacts to Apple

To use Siri on macOS, there's a requirement to send Apple your contacts. Here's how to avoid handing that data over to Apple.

You can still use Siri without sending your Contacts to Apple.
How to enable Siri without sending your Contacts to Apple.

If you have enabled Siri in System Settings in macOS, you may have noticed an alert that warns you turning Siri on will result in macOS sending your contacts, location, and voice data to Apple.

This is a ridiculous requirement by Apple, and in fact it flies in the face of Apple's claims of respecting user privacy. For obvious reasons, you might not want all your contacts sent to Apple.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Jabees Peace Speaker review: an inexpensive way to listen to audio while you sleep

March 9 kicked off sleep awareness week, and Jabees has an interesting tool for soothing you to sleep — an under-pillow speaker.

Gray and white electronic device with the text
Jabees Peace Speaker review

I have never, ever been what one would call "a good sleeper." Even as an infant, I had difficulty catching the required amount of sleep.

I've tried everything. Different beds, different pillows, yoga, breathing techniques, supplements — you name it, I've probably tried it. I can't take sleep medications like zolpidem as I'm one of the "lucky few" who tend to experience a wide swath of adverse reactions to drugs.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
index.feed.received.yesterday — 13 mars 20251.3 🖥️ Tech. English

OpenAI wants the US government to legalize theft to reach the AI promised land

OpenAI may have already crawled the internet for all the world's data to train ChatGPT, but it seems that isn't enough as it wants protection from copyright holders to allow it to continue stealing everything that both is and isn't nailed down.

Colorful, cartoon-style map of North America with exaggerated mountain illustrations and distorted country names. Generated by ChatGPT
OpenAI proposes freedom of intelligence in United States. Image source: ChatGPT

The latest manufactured goalpost OpenAI has set dubbed "AGI" can't be reached unless the company is free to do whatever it takes to steal everything good and turn it into AI slop. At least, that's what the latest OpenAI submission to the United States Government suggests.

An OpenAI proposal submitted regarding President Trump's executive order on sustaining America's global dominance explains how the administration's boogeyman might overtake the US in the AI race. It seems that the alleged theft of copyright material by Chinese-based LLMs put them at an advantage because OpenAI has to follow the law.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Your existing AirPods could gain a new live translation feature in iOS 19

Apple's iconic AirPods are rumored to receive an entirely new feature that translates in-person conversations from one language to another.

Two wireless white earbuds with silicone tips resting on a textured black surface.
Apple is reportedly working on a new live translation feature for AirPods.

The rumored live translation capability will make it significantly easier for speakers of two different languages to communicate. The feature is expected to roll out in 2025 alongside the iOS 19 and macOS 16 updates. Beyond that, both operating systems are said to feature major design changes.

If an English speaker with AirPods is listening to a person speaking in another language, such as Spanish, the iPhone will detect the audio of the Spanish speaker and translate it into English. The English translation will then be played via the AirPods.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

ViewSonic's new 5K monitor rivals Apple's Studio Display for half the price

ViewSonic's new 27-inch high-resolution monitor offers pro-level color accuracy for creatives without the premium Apple Studio Display price.

ViewSonic VP2788-5K 27-inch monitor displaying vibrant, abstract red and purple swirls, featuring 5K UltraHD, 99% DCI-P3 color, and Thunderbolt compatibility.
The VP2788-5K

The VP2788-5K marks an important step in ViewSonic's expansion into the premium creative display space. While the company has long been a player in the professional monitor segment, this is its first 5K-resolution display.

ViewSonic is positioning it as a direct competitor to Apple Studio Display and LG's UltraFine 5K.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

US lawmakers denounce UK's secretive attack against Apple encryption

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are coming to Apple's defense over the UK government's attempts to get backdoor access to users' iCloud data, demanding that the UK remove the cloak of secrecy surrounding the order.

A close-up of a large clock tower with intricate gold details against a cloudy sky, partially obstructed by two cylindrical structures.
Big Ben's clocktower - Image Credit: Amar Saleem/Pexels

Apple is in a battle with the government of the United Kingdom over iCloud privacy, with a secret hearing by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on Friday set to consider an appeal. However, the closed-door hearing at the High Court isn't being made public at all, something U.S. lawmakers are unhappy about.

A bipartisan letter from the U.S. Congress to the President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal published on Thursday demands that the IPT "remove the cloak of secrecy related to notices given to American technology companies by the United Kingdom.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Underwhelming performance of Apple Intelligence will hit iPhone sales, Kuo claims

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo called the performance of Apple Intelligence "underwhelming," adding that it won't entice people to replace their older iPhones.

Smartphone with triple-lens camera, silver body, against a vibrant neon pattern background in yellow, orange, blue, and purple.
The delays Apple Intelligence has faced might impact iPhone sales negatively.

In a social media post on Thursday, Kuo reiterated his previous claims that Apple Intelligence would "contribute less than expected to shipment volumes." In October 2024, the analyst said more or less the same thing — that Apple's AI features would not facilitate a short-term boost in iPhone sales.

According to Kuo, the market has recently adopted a more cautious view of Apple Intelligence, presumably because of the debacle Apple faced with its planned Siri upgrades. We can already see signs of this, as Morgan Stanley decreased their expectations for Apple's stock prices, citing concerns regarding the current status of Siri and its postponed Apple Intelligence overhaul.


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Highway toll text scams are on the rise, and Apple can't completely stop them

Highway text scams are a big problem that's continuing to grow with the use of at least 60,000 domain names. There's little Apple can do about it, but you can protect yourself. Here's what's going on.

Toll booth with multiple lanes, overhead signs displaying slow or closed, a yellow car approaching, traffic cones, cloudy sky, speed limit signs indicating 25 miles per hour.
Cars at an automated toll - Image Credit: David McElwee/Pexels

Owners of iPhones and other smartphones across the United States are routinely plagued by text message scams. For scam messages about alleged automated toll road fees, the problem is getting worse.

According to Trend Micro, there has been a 900% increase in searches for "toll road scams," a sign that more people are being affected by the criminal activity.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's C1 modem is a quiet game-changer that's mostly flying under the radar

With the launch of iPhone 16e, we also saw the launch of something far more important — Apple's custom C1 modem. Here's what means and why you should care about it.

Close-up of a smartphone's internal circuit board with a prominent chip labeled 'Apple C1'.
The C1 modem debuted in iPhone 16e

To cover the basics, the modem a chip in your phone that connects you to your cell provider. The C1 modem chip is the fruit of Apple Silicon research. It is Apple's first modem that it has created entirely in-house, versus buying off-the-shelf components from Qualcomm.

There's discussion online that Apple's efforts to create their own modem are just a way to stop paying Qualcomm. That may be partially true, but it's got more to do with supply chain control and Apple's future plans.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Thermaltake adds four new colour options to CT EX ARGB Sync fan lineup

13 mars 2025 à 18:15

Thermaltake has expanded its CT EX ARGB Sync PC cooling fan series with new colour options, allowing PC enthusiasts to inject a personal touch into their builds. Dark green, pastel brown, yellow, and pink join the existing colour palette, offering new options to complement any system aesthetic.

Thermaltake's commitment to blending design and technology is evident in this expansion, providing customers with bold and unique colour options. The CT EX ARGB Sync fan series now boasts eight distinct colours: black, white, pastel green, pastel blue, dark green, pastel brown, yellow, and pink. Furthermore, the series offers 120mm and 140mm sizes in standard and reverse blade configurations, providing PC builders with all the flexibility they need to create personalised systems.

The CT EX ARGB Sync fans feature Thermaltake's newly enhanced MagForce 2.0, a magnetic connection system designed for effortless installation. This innovative design minimises cable clutter, resulting in improved cable management and a cleaner interior. Performance remains a key focus, with the CT120 EX delivering up to 68 CFM airflow and a 2.95 mm-H₂O maximum static pressure, while the CT140 EX offers up to 90.3 CFM airflow and a 3.07 mm-H₂O maximum static pressure.

Designed for chassis and radiator applications, the CT EX fans feature anti-vibration rubber pads to minimise noise. Nine addressable LEDs provide 16.8 million colours, all of which can be controlled via most motherboard lighting software. The Thermaltake CT EX ARGB Sync fans can be acquired as a single unit or in a 3-fan pack.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Of all the colour options available for the CT EX ARGB Sync fans, which one do you prefer?

The post Thermaltake adds four new colour options to CT EX ARGB Sync fan lineup first appeared on KitGuru.

Microsoft has reportedly teamed up with Asus for first ‘Xbox handheld’

13 mars 2025 à 17:55

Earlier this week, we learned more about Microsoft's plans for an Xbox handheld. Rather than building a bespoke device itself, Microsoft is partnering up with an OEM to produce an Xbox-licensed handheld. While initially we didn't know which OEM Microsoft has teamed up with, that has now changed.

According to The Verge, Microsoft has opted to team up with ASUS for its Xbox-themed handheld. With that in mind, the device is expected to be similar to the currently available (and expensive) Asus ROG Ally. Microsoft previously revealed that it had been working with handheld makers like Lenovo and Asus to put together a version of Windows 11 more fit for gaming.

While we will see Xbox-licensed products like the upcoming Xbox handheld from Asus, Microsoft is still expected to be working on its own custom handheld in-house. Whether or not that product sees the light of day remains to be seen. Microsoft has cancelled multiple Xbox hardware projects in recent years, including the Xbox Keystone, a streaming device intended to turn any TV into an Xbox, with full access to Game Pass via Cloud Gaming.

Aside from upcoming handhelds, Microsoft is also currently working on its next-gen home console. The next Xbox is expected to arrive in 2027 and will be more ‘PC-like' and could end up featuring a SteamOS style setup with a gaming UI set as the default boot screen, with access to an advanced desktop view hidden away in the options somewhere.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If the Asus Xbox handheld is indeed real, then I don't expect it to compete with the Steam Deck on price and at that point, I'm not sure there's much of a market left.

The post Microsoft has reportedly teamed up with Asus for first ‘Xbox handheld’ first appeared on KitGuru.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will now support Steam Deck at launch

13 mars 2025 à 17:30

Prior to its delays, Assassin's Creed Shadows wasn't going to be available on Steam at launch and the game was not going to be verified for the Steam Deck. Fortunately, the developers have put the last few months to good use. The game is now coming to Steam on day-one and today, we also learned that the game has been submitted for Steam Deck verification. 

Previously, Ubisoft had ruled out Steam Deck verification for Assassin's Creed Shadows, as the game's minimum PC requirements were higher than what the Steam Deck offers. However, after diving into the files and tinkering around, Ubisoft has now announced that the game will support Steam Deck at launch.

Assassin's Creed Shadows

As is the case with many modern AAA titles with realistic graphics, we don't expect Assassin's Creed Shadows to look particularly, and it will no doubt require FSR upscaling to achieve a playable 30FPS even with the lowest settings. FSR doesn't add much in the way of visuals when trying to upscale to 720p from sub-HD resolutions.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is launching worldwide on the 20th of March.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up Assassin's Creed Shadows later this month? 

The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows will now support Steam Deck at launch first appeared on KitGuru.

Steelseries unveils new Qck Performance mousepads

13 mars 2025 à 17:00

SteelSeries has unveiled its new QcK Performance mousepad series, a line of premium mousepads designed to cater to the nuanced preferences of individual gamers. Recognising that every player's style is unique, SteelSeries has focused on providing three different surfaces, allowing users to choose the one that best matches their needs.

The QcK Performance Series departs from “one-surface-fits-all” mousepads, allowing players to choose between three distinct textures: speed, balance, and control. This granular approach allows gamers to select the ideal surface to complement their gameplay, whether prioritising rapid mouse movements, precise control, or a blend of both.

The series is built with a focus on consistency and durability. It features high-quality neoprene foam that provides a stable and reliable base for high-speed mouse movements, minimising sensor skipping. This ensures a smooth and consistent experience, which is crucial for competitive gaming.

Developed in collaboration with esports athletes, the QcK Performance Series aims to elevate gameplay by providing surfaces tailored to specific playstyles. Available in L (490×420 mm) and XL (900×400 mm) formats, all variants of the QcK Performance series have a 3.5 mm thick base for extra consistency and comfort and stitched edges to improve durability. The L models cost €44.99 while the XL costs €54.99.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Which format and variant of the QcK Performance mousepad series would you go for?

The post Steelseries unveils new Qck Performance mousepads first appeared on KitGuru.

The Oblivion Remake is reportedly releasing as soon as next month

13 mars 2025 à 16:29

Over the last couple of years, a recurring rumour has claimed that a remake of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is on the way. More has come to light on this remake in recent months, with sources claiming that the game has been completely rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5. Now, it seems that a surprise release is just around the corner. 

According to two outlets, Nate the Hate and Video Games Chronicle, the Oblivion remake will be announced within weeks and will release well before the Summer. In fact, it is claimed that the game could release as early as April, so we could be looking at a very short wait between the reveal and eventual release date.

The Oblivion remake is reportedly being developed by Virtuos, a company that has primarily taken on support studio duties for the AAA games industry. Some notable franchises Virtuos has worked on include Call of Duty, Dark Souls, Bioshock, Uncharted, Tomb Raider and more. Virtuos is also working on the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.

With this being a remake of Oblivion in an entirely different engine, some areas of the game have seen extensive changes. According to MP1st, stamina, HUD elements and combat have all seen notable reworks, so expect something closer to Souls-like melee combat.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If gameplay has changed too much then my excitement for an Oblivion remake drastically reduces. Still, nothing has been announced yet so don't put too much stock into any early details. 

The post The Oblivion Remake is reportedly releasing as soon as next month first appeared on KitGuru.

Intel names Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO

13 mars 2025 à 15:30

Intel has appointed Lip-Bu Tan, former Cadence CEO and Intel board member, to lead the company as it navigates increasing losses within its foundry division.

This appointment follows Pat Gelsinger's recent departure as CEO, leaving a temporary leadership void filled by co-CEOs Michelle Johnston Holthaus and David Zinsner. Tan is expected to assume his new role on March 18th.

A prominent figure in the semiconductor industry, Tan brings a wealth of experience to Intel. He founded venture capital firm Walden Capital and has served on the boards of numerous technology companies, including SMIC, Flextronics, Mindtree, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ambarella, Schneider Electric, Inphi, Nuvia, and Softbank.

Tan's relationship with Intel is multifaceted. He served on the company's board of directors from 2022 until his resignation in 2024, shortly after Intel announced significant workforce reductions and cost-cutting measures. However, his resignation was officially attributed to personal reasons.

Tan is known for his successful leadership at Cadence Systems, where he oversaw a remarkable 3,200 percent increase in the company's share price during his decade-long tenure as CEO. Wall Street appears optimistic that he can replicate this success at Intel, as evidenced by a surge in the company's share price following the announcement. This positive reaction came after Intel's stock lost more than half its value the preceding year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Intel spent a lot of money setting up its Foundry Services business. Recent reports indicate that Intel 18A, the first Intel node to be offered to outside customers, is just around the corner. 

The post Intel names Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO first appeared on KitGuru.

SiFive HiFive Premier P550 Review: A True RISC-V Dev Kit Platform Emerges

13 mars 2025 à 17:21
SiFive HiFive Premier P550 Review: A True RISC-V Dev Kit Platform Emerges SiFive HiFive Premier P550 SiFive's latest development kit makes it easy to develop optimized software for the RISC-V platform, on real RISC-V hardware, while sporting lots of IO. Fastest RISC-V cores available for the edge Plenty of external and internal IO Standard form factor Multiple OS options Mesa driver available for graphics cards...

Apple Music Classical comes to the web before the Mac

It's still not rolled out to all Apple devices, but now subscribers to Apple Music Classical can listen online.

Red square with rounded corners, featuring a white treble clef symbol in the center, on a dark background.
Apple Music Classical

If it seemed a very long time between Apple buying Primephonic and finally releasing it as Apple Music Classical for the iPhone, it's now been about as long again. And still, the service is limited to just a few devices — but now its full catalog is available through a web browser.

Apple Music Classical is available online at classical.music.apple.com, and subscribers can log in to listen. New users are prompted to try a one-month free trial.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple is lying about Apple Intelligence, John Gruber says -- and he's right

Long-time Apple pundit John Gruber has launched an uncharacteristically strident attack against what he says are Apple's lies over the Apple Intelligence roll-out. And, he's spot-on with his arguments and conclusions.

Three men sitting on stage chairs, smiling and talking, with a blue curtain backdrop and event bottles on a table.
John Gruber (far right) with Greg Joswiak (left) and Craig Federighi (center) after WWDC 2024 — image credit: John Gruber

For years, John Gruber has hosted "The Talk Show," an extended post-WWDC conversation with Apple executives such as Craig Federighi. He's also written about Apple extensively, and in recent months has been increasingly critical of Siri — as have others, including AppleInsider, but now he's gone further about what he calls the AI fiasco.

"The fiasco here is not that Apple is late on AI," he writes. "The fiasco is that Apple pitched a story that wasn't true, one that some people within the company surely understood wasn't true, and they set a course based on that."


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An iPhone 17 Pro Max metal frame image leak is more about cases

A leaker is hyping up the upcoming release of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but the image being used shows something that is more likely to be part of case production, rather than a component of the smartphone itself.

Two smartphones, one black and one white, each with three large camera lenses, shown from the back against a gray background.
A render of what the iPhone 17 Pro could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsider

Since the start of the year, rumor sharers have repeatedly insisted that there will be a major change to the way Apple designs the camera bumps in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. However, while there have been renders of complete devices and early components, there's not been a believable one of a real-world component yet.

In an image shared by serial leaker Majin Bu on X, a selection of metal plates are displayed in a pile. The plates, at first glance, have holes and spaces that hint at being used somehow in connection to the rumored iPhones, complete with a space for MagSafe components and the camera layout.


Rumor Score: 🙄 Unlikely


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Don't worry if Apple claims you still need to send a trade-in device

An unknown number of users have had Apple Store emails erroneously saying they haven't sent in an iPhone they actually traded-in months ago.

Two sleek smartphones in dark gray with multiple camera lenses, Apple logo visible on the back, positioned against a neutral background.
Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max could be bought for hundreds of dollars off after a trade-in

Apple heavily promotes trading in your old device to get money off a new one — and seriously profits when you do — but usually the process is straightforward. On March 13, 2025, however, an update to the Apple Store systems resulted in some users being emailed about allegedly failed trade-ins.

"Just letting you know that your device has not been received," says the email from the Apple Store. "In seven days your trade-in will be cancelled, so please ship your device soon."


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Amazon slashes Apple's MacBook Air to $699.99

Bonus coupons have slashed closeout MacBook Air models down to $699.99 at Amazon as the company makes room for new M4 inventory.

Two MacBook Air laptops displaying charts and a colorful magazine cover, with the word 'DEALS' in bold gradient letters above against a dark background.
Grab blowout prices on MacBook Air laptops - Image credit: Apple

The MacBook Air price drops offer savings of up to $300 off as the Apple Authorized Reseller clears out closeout models.

Save on MacBook Airs


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Gigabyte X870E Aorus Pro Review

13 mars 2025 à 14:55
The Gigabyte X870E Aorus Pro is a great option if you need the extra bandwidth perks of X870E as well as an impressive set of features, without breaking the bank. At $360, the board is considerably less expensive than some competing offers.

NVIDIA is Selling Lies | RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review & Benchmarks

13 mars 2025 à 14:29
NVIDIA is Selling Lies | RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review & Benchmarksjimmy_thang March 13, 2025

We analyze the RTX 5070’s specs, pricing, gaming performance, ray tracing, and power efficiency

The Highlights

  • The RTX 5070 has 6144 CUDA cores, a 192-bit bus, and 12GB of GDDR7 memory along with an advertised 2.51 GHz boost frequency
  • NVIDIA’s claim that the 5070 is on par with a 4090 with MFG is simply not true
  • NVIDIA’s marketing here is intentionally manipulative and a misrepresentation of reality
  • Original MSRP: $550
  • Release Date: March 5, 2025

Table of Contents

  • AutoTOC
Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)

Intro

NVIDIA is selling lies and reviewers shouldn’t be afraid to mince words. That is precisely what the RTX 5070 is. It was marketed on the back of lies considering NVIDIA stated that the card, which has 12GB of VRAM, would offer 4090, which has 24GB of VRAM, performance for $549 with the help of AI. 
Here’s an NVIDIA-compliant comparison of the RTX 5070 with MFG against the RTX 4090 without any frame generation at all.

Editor's note: This was originally published on March 4, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.


Credits


Test Lead, Host, Writing

Steve Burke

Testing

Mike Gaglione

Video Editing

Vitalii Makhnovets

Camera

Tim Phetdara

Writing, Web Editing

Jimmy Thang


These are really abusive settings, stressing both cards heavily. But NVIDIA said the 5070 would be equal to the 4090 (watch our review), and we’re not even close. The 5070’s spiky behavior is exceeding 200 ms in this like-for-like comparison except that it has MFG. The 4090 isn’t perfect, but WITHOUT any frame generation at all, it’s hitting at worst about 50-60 ms, with an average closer to 26. 

Here’s what that actually looks like. Using NVIDIA’s own FrameView tool, we also get a glimpse into another problem: Latency. The PC Latency on the 4090 was around 51 ms during a like-for-like comparison. 51 is a lot better than what we saw in the 5070 with MFG 4X after 5 minutes of being in the game. That was 500-720 ms. Now, to be fair, if you only played Cyberpunk with these settings for about 15-20 seconds at a time, things look a lot better… 

The 5070 is getting absolutely clobbered for VRAM, which is just 12GB to the 4090’s 24GB. To call these the same is an absolute, flat-out lie. These cards are not the same. In situations where the card runs out of VRAM in particular, it can never dream to be a 4090. It is simply impossible. 

Here’s a quick chart showing passes 1 through 3 of the 5070 as it gets progressively worse with each benchmark pass as the framebuffer fills. The 4090, meanwhile, maintains its performance the entire time.

NVIDIA has got to stop lying. This isn’t just marketing, this is an actual, verifiable lie. But let’s just pretend MFG 4X is somehow a fair comparison against the 4090 in a scenario that’s maybe not VRAM constrained. It’s an OK technology, but it is not a like-for-like comparison because the images themselves are not the same. When you turn it on, it’s like Clive here has 6 feet. 

NVIDIA could have launched its RTX 5070 to mediocre or lukewarm reviews. Instead, it decided to openly lie on stage and manipulate its performance numbers to mislead consumers into thinking an otherwise lukewarm card is equal to the flagship of last generation. NVIDIA, this was avoidable. You are making all of the unforced errors right now. This was a completely unnecessary fumble. We could have just listed all the numbers and called it a day, but now have to start by writing about NVIDIA’s lies and marketing.

RTX 5070 Overview

The RTX 5070 is supposed to have an MSRP of $550. It’s hard to say what it’ll actually be for street pricing. But basing only off of MSRP, that makes this card $50 higher than the MSRP of the RTX 3070 at its launch in 2020 and $50 cheaper than the RTX 4070’s launch MSRP of $600

This looks like the patterned NVIDIA stutter-stepping of price slowly upwards, where they overshoot, then bring it back down. We saw this from 10 to 20 to 30 series.

The RTX 5070 GPU has an advertised 6144 CUDA cores, a 192-bit bus, and 12GB of GDDR7 memory. It might even have all of its ROPs. The 5070 Ti has an MSRP at $750 and carries 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, so there’s more bandwidth, a little more capacity, and an increase to 8960 CUDA cores, and it may even have all of the ROPs that you’re paying for.

Clocks on the 5070 are advertised at 2.51 GHz boost.

RTX 5070 Pricing

A quick glance at pricing breaks it down like this: 

There are 5 MSRP models of the 5070 Ti (read our review) on Newegg, which is just enough to technically claim the MSRP exists. The rest of them are higher, often $900 and over. Board partners have now directly repriced their cards, with VideoCardz noticing that MSI had eliminated all of its $750 RTX 5070 Ti cards just before the 5070 launch. 

As we write this review, following the VideoCardz news post, MSI has now reintroduced two $750 models, dropping from $820 and $840 to $750. NVIDIA has historically applied pressure to partners to make MSRP units available, so it wouldn’t surprise us if the VideoCardz story triggered a reaction to keep two models available. They can also achieve this with rebates.

As for things available right now, we found the RX 7800 XT Pulse for $530 and... that’s it. When we sorted Newegg to $450 to $650 for “in stock” and “sold by Newegg,” meaning no third-party sellers and no unavailable models, all we got were a bunch of refurbished units and the 7800 XT Pulse.

It really is crazy right now.

We’re going to get into the benchmarks next. This review contains most of the games that we benchmark since we’re preparing for the 9070 and 9070 XT launch. We currently have around 50-60 GPUs tested in our lineup, so to fit the charts, we need to remove a few from the chart.

Here’s what we’ve added and removed:

Cards Removed & Added

  • We’ve added the RX 7900 GRE (read our review). We won’t be spending time talking about it today since it’ll be replaced tomorrow and will likely be a key comparison for the 9070 series, but it’s on the charts.
  • We’re removing either the RTX 4080 (watch our review) or Super (read our review) in every chart, but keeping the other. We’ll favor the Super where we have data for it. These GPUs are within 1-3% of each other and are not worth the chart space. We have more interesting stuff to show.
  • We’re removing the 2080 Ti (watch our review), 2080 Super (watch our review), and 2080 (watch our review). Most of these results are available in our previous charts for the 5070 Ti review and are directly comparable.
  • We’re removing the 5080 with missing ROPs. You can find that data in a standalone article
  • And, of course, we’re removing the 9070 and XT -- we can’t show that until tomorrow at the time of this writing.

RTX 5070 Benchmarks

FFXIV 4K

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail is up first for a traditional raster title at 4K, without any bulls*** to artificially inflate numbers.

This game is actually playable on most modern hardware at this resolution. The RTX 5070 ran at 78 FPS AVG, landing it right between the 4070 Ti (watch our review) and the 4070 Ti Super. Maybe we should call it the 4070 Ti V3 instead. The 5070 Ti outperforms the 5070 by 25% here, the 4070 Ti Super is ahead by 11%, and the 7900 XT by 6%.

Going by name only, the generational lead over the 4070 (watch our review) is 30%, or 48% over the 3070 (watch our review) and 118% over the 2070 (watch our review), followed by 244% over the 1070. 

Unfortunately, the 5070 is not better than the 4090 -- but if we were to be artificially intelligent and actually intellectually dishonest, it might be!

FFXIV 1440p

At 1440p, the RTX 5070 Ti’s lead over the RTX 5070 is reduced to 22% from 25% at 4K. The 5070 is also reduced in its advantage over the 4070 Ti, now just 1% from around 6% at 4K. From 150 FPS to 172 FPS, we now have 3 GPUs from NVIDIA. If you want to make NVIDIA look as ridiculous as possible, you could maximize the size of the clown car by drawing a box from the 4080 Super at 202 FPS to the 4070 FE at 117 FPS. The result is 7 modern NVIDIA GPUs spanning an 85 FPS range. Divided evenly, that would be one GPU for every 12 FPS. In this situation though, 4 of them land within a 36 FPS range: The 5070 Ti, 4070 Ti Super (read our review), 5070, and 4070 Ti mean you can dial it into the individual decimals if you were so picky about your performance.

The 7900 XT (read our revisit) lands in the middle of all of these and has a 12% lead over the RTX 5070, assuming all ROPs are present on the 5070.

The 5070 is, again, not better than the 4090. 

FFXIV 1080p

Remarkably, we still have OK scaling at 1080p for most of these GPUs. The fact that the 9800X3D allows the 5090 (read our review) and 4090 to still have a slight gap at 1080p really speaks to how exciting AMD’s 9800X3D is.

Anyway, the 5070 ran this workload at 225 FPS AVG and fell below the 4070 Ti. No wonder NVIDIA wants everyone using MFG. The 4090, predictably, outperforms the 5070 massively. It’s a 67% gap here.

The 7900 XT now has a reduced lead of 9%.

Black Myth: Wukong - 4K

Black Myth: Wukong at 4K and rasterized had the 5070 at 40 FPS AVG, giving the 5070 Ti a 27% lead. The 5070 really struggled in this one and ended up tied with the 4070 Ti and, to its benefit, the 7900 XT. We’ll be curious to see how the 9070 does in this one… Surely we don’t already know as we’re writing this and definitely haven’t looked at the results and in no way would we ever encourage you to just wait and see what the results are…

If we were to randomly multiply the frames, it’d be better than the 4090 -- until you randomly multiplied the 4090 with lossless scaling. Jensen’s claim is like a schoolyard argument: The 5070 is infinity times better.

Black Myth: Wukong - 1440p

At 1440p, we re-introduce other 70-class cards of the past. The 5070 FE ran at 72 FPS AVG, with frametime pacing unremarkable. The 5070 is tied with the 4070 Ti and 7900 XT. Generationally by name only, the 5070 improves on the 4070 by 22%, the 3070 by 58%, and the 2070 non-Super by 137%.

The 5070 Ti leads the 5070 by 21% here.

Black Myth: Wukong - 1080p

1080p has the RTX 5070 down at 98 FPS AVG, allowing the 4070 Ti to gain a slight 2% lead. The 5070 Ti is ahead by 17.6% here, assuming all ROPs are present. 

Against the prior cards containing 70 naming, the 5070 is ahead of the 4070 by 18%, the 3070’s 63 FPS AVG by 56%, and the 2070’s 43 FPS by 126%.

Starfield - 4K

Starfield at 4K is up now. The RTX 5070 ran at 54 FPS AVG here, giving the 4070 Ti’s 59 FPS a 9% lead. It’d be interesting if AMD’s 9070 performed similarly to the 7900 XT here since the Hellhound is 20% ahead of the 5070. We’ll find out tomorrow.

The 5070 Ti has a larger lead over the 5070 in this test than the last 1080p benchmark, running a 68 FPS AVG for a 27% advantage over the 5070 FE. Performance of the 5070 over the 2070’s 22 FPS is about 145% ahead.

Starfield - 1440p

1440p significantly reduces the 5070 Ti’s uplift over the 5070, bringing it down to 22% from the prior 27%. The 7900 XT, which is an important comparison in this test for... reasons, runs at 98 FPS AVG with comparable lows to its neighbors. That has it 18% ahead of the RTX 5070’s 83 FPS AVG. 

As for the RTX 4070, the 5070 leads by a paltry 10.6%, then 48% over the 3070’s 56 FPS.

Starfield - 1080p

At 1080p, the 5070’s 104 FPS AVG planted it between the 4070 and 4070 Ti again, with an unimpressive 9% improvement on the 4070. The gap shrinks as the resolution decreases in this game. The 5070 Ti is now ahead by only 19%, down from 27% at 4K. As for AMD, its RX 7900 XT is 15% ahead here, down slightly from the 1440p advantage.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 - 4K

Dragon’s Dogma 2 at 4K is next. This game is relatively heavy on the GPU in our test area, but is unique for its ability to also produce a heavy CPU load in cities.

The RTX 5070 ran at 56 FPS AVG here and had good frametime pacing represented in the lows, but then again, so did everything around it. It’s proportional.

The 5070 very slightly leads the 4070 Ti. 

As for the 4090: We’re still somehow not matching the RTX 4090, which is up at 98 FPS. We must have mistyped the =5070*4 formula that Jensen prescribed reviewers. 

The 5070 Ti leads the 5070 by a much larger 31% in this benchmark, producing one of the most notable jumps yet. The 3090 Ti ran at 64 FPS for a 14% lead over the 5070, which might seem totally non-sequitur and unrelated, but it isn’t.

Anyway, the 7900 XT held a 61 FPS AVG in this one, with the XTX just past the 5070 Ti. 

Dragon’s Dogma 2 - 1440p

At 1440p, the RTX 5070 basically ties the RTX 4070 Ti again. The 7900 XT’s 104 FPS AVG is just a 9% lead here, with the 4070 Ti Super a slight step above that. The 5070 Ti has a 25% lead over the 5070 here, posting one of its better 1440p comparative results.

Somehow, and we don’t know how this happened, the RTX 4090 just seems to be better than the RTX 5070. That’s just so weird. Maybe we should run NVIDIA Multi-Fraction Generation to divide the 4090 down to a 5070.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 - 1080p

At 1080p, the 5070’s 126 FPS AVG has it just behind the 4070 Ti. The 7900 XT leads by only 7% here, with the 5070 Ti knocked down to a 21% lead from 25% at 1440p. The 5070 Ti’s 151 FPS AVG is also about the same as the 7900 XTX, which has its own slight advantage.

As for the 4090, well, ours really must be broken since it’s not making the 5070 look good enough.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - 4K

Cyberpunk is up now. We have a more limited data set with this since we updated the game to v2.21 and have been working on re-running everything.

At 4K, the 5070 ran at 41 FPS AVG. That put it 6% ahead of the 4070 Ti and 144% ahead of the 2070, or 68% ahead of the 24 FPS result of the 3070. As for the 5070 Ti, its 50 FPS AVG gives it a 22% lead here, with the 7900 XTX (watch our review) ahead of that at 57 FPS AVG. The 7900 XT has a noteworthy 13% lead against the 5070 here.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070 ran at 89 FPS AVG and had lows at 75 FPS 1% and 71 FPS 0.1%. The 5070 Ti at 108 FPS is about 21% ahead, not changing much from 4K. The 7900 XT is ahead of the 5070 in AVG, 1%, and 0.1%, holding a 12% lead in average framerate.

Once again, the 4070 Ti basically ties the 5070, with the latter slightly ahead this time.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - 1080p

1080p reintroduces other 70-class cards: The 5070 Ti ran at 167 FPS AVG, with the 5070 at 138. That’s still 21%. The 4070 hasn’t been rerun here yet, but the 3070 is present at 85 FPS, yielding a 62% lead to the 5070, followed by the 2070 at 60 FPS for 130%, then the GTX 1070 at 35 FPS AVG. That’s about a 293% improvement to the 5070.

AMD’s RX 7900 XT seems like it’ll be particularly relevant soon. This one ran at 150 FPS AVG, with lows expected at 116 and 104. That’s an 8.8% improvement over the 5070.

Dying Light 2 - 4K

Dying Light 2 is up now. This is another of the heavier games, especially with RT later.

At 4K, the 5070 ran at 56 FPS AVG and struggled in this title, allowing the 5070 Ti an advantage of 25%. The 7900 XT doesn’t look great by comparison here, at 55 FPS AVG itself.

As for the 4070 Ti, it’s again roughly equal. 

Dying Light 2 - 1440p

1440p has the 5070 at 106 FPS AVG, now trading places with the 7900 XT. The 5070 Ti’s lead is reduced to 22%, with the 4070 Ti now falling slightly behind the 5070.

By generational naming, the 4070 ran at 78 FPS AVG (so the 5070 is 36% better) and the 3070 was at 67 FPS AVG (or 60% better on the 5070).

Resident Evil 4 - 4K

Resident Evil 4 is up last for raster testing. We’re almost through these.

At 4K, the 5070’s 78 FPS AVG has it just behind the 4070 Ti that we’ve been tracking. It’s also about 6 FPS ahead of the 7800 XT, so measurably different but functionally equal. The 5070 Ti’s 107 FPS AVG positions it 36% ahead in this one, which is a huge gain and among the largest we’ve seen. The 7900 XT seems like a good AMD comparison, landing at 100 FPS AVG and leading the 5070 by 28%.

Resident Evil 4 - 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070 held a 152 FPS AVG and trailed the 4070 Ti by 8 FPS. The 5070 Ti is 30% higher framerate here, down from 36% at 4K. As we’ve seen, the gap tends to close at lower resolutions, although it’s still a huge gap in this game.

The 7900 XT is now up at 186 FPS AVG, with a reduction in the percentage advantage to 22% from 28% at 4K.

Generationally, the 5070 runs 23% faster than the 124 FPS on the 4070, 54% faster than the 91 FPS on the 3070, and 157% ahead of the 59 FPS for the 2070.

Resident Evil 4 - 1080p

Finally for raster, we’re now at 1080p for Resident Evil 4. This one is interesting for the further closing of the gap between the 5070 and 5070 Ti, which now ranges from 282 FPS to 224 FPS for a 26% improvement on the Ti. The 7900 XT is about 18% higher framerate here.

RTX 5070 Ray Tracing Benchmarks

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We’re moving on to ray tracing now. NVIDIA has historically held significant advantages in some games for ray tracing.

AMD says it has significantly improved its ray tracing performance. We explained why the company is claiming this in our news piece covering the 9070 announcements, so this will become highly relevant in tomorrow’s reviews.

Ray Tracing - Black Myth: Wukong 4K

Black Myth: Wukong is up first. This is one of the two titles in this RT test suite that heavily favors NVIDIA. We’re testing with upscaling here.

At 4K, the RTX 5070 ran at 40 FPS AVG. That has the 5070 Ti at 30% ahead, with the 4070 Ti about tied with the 5070. AMD doesn’t appear until the 7900 XTX, down at 20 FPS AVG. That’s a massive lead of 99% over the 7900 XTX. The 5070 doubles the 7900 XTX’s performance.

That’s not good for AMD’s last generation. We’ll see if that lead can be halved with the new generation. The 5070 leads the RTX 3080 by 44%. Based on math from AMD’s claims in its presentation, that’s about where it should land here. Too bad no one knows if that’s a good reference point yet.

Ray Tracing - Black Myth: Wukong 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070 Ti ran at 88 FPS AVG, the 5070 at 73 FPS AVG (between the 4070 Ti and 4070 Ti Super), and the original RTX 70-class card ran at 24 FPS AVG. AMD’s best here, as of today and not tomorrow, is the 7900 XTX at 37 FPS AVG.

Ray Tracing - Black Myth: Wukong 1080p

Now for 1080p. The 5070 held a 97 FPS AVG here, encroaching on the 4090 but still not beating it. The 5070 Ti leads the 5070 by just 15% in this situation, with the 5070 now ahead of the 4070 Ti and Ti Super cards after slow gains in the other resolutions. The 7900 XTX ran at 49 FPS AVG, closer to a 4060 and behind the 3070. AMD named the 3080 in its slideshow announcing the card. If it lands near that mark, it’d be around or ahead of the 66 FPS AVG result for the FTW3.

Speaking of: EVGA really knew what was coming when it left the GPU market.

Ray Tracing - Dragon’s Dogma 2 4K

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is back with RT now. This one is more balanced between the vendors.

At 4K, the 5070 ran at 49 FPS AVG, establishing a 9% lead for the 7900 XT. That’s a similar gap to what we saw without RT. The 5070 Ti leads by 30% again here, with the 7900 XTX leading that. 

Ray Tracing - Dragon’s Dogma 2 1440p

At 1440p with RT, Dragon’s Dogma 2 puts the 5070 at 83 FPS AVG, reducing the 5070 Ti’s lead to 24%. The 7900 XT sits between both, with the 7900 XTX ahead of the 5070 Ti.

Based on the charts AMD has released, the math would position the 9070 and 9070 XT as flanking the 5070 Ti, but we’ll find out soon enough.

Generationally, the 5070 leads the 4070 by 23%, the 3070’s 51 FPS by 62%, and the 2070 non-Super by 145%.

Ray Tracing - Dragon’s Dogma 2 1080p

Down to 1080p, the 5070 Ti’s lead over the 5070 is now 22%, with the 7900 XTX still leading the Ti and 7900 XT still leading the 5070. The 4070 is relatively close to the 5070 here, now with an 18% advantage to the 5070. 

But maybe the 4090 can breathe some excitement into it. The 4090 ran at 169.2 FPS AVG. If we multiply the 5070 by a billion, that’d put it at 107.4 billion FPS AVG, which is an uplift of 6,347,516.73%. This is clearly the card to get. And as we all know, it’s not possible to multiply the 4090 by arbitrary numbers with lossless scaling because then that would hurt 50-series marketing.

Ray Tracing - Dying Light 2 4K

Dying Light 2 with RT is next. This first one is 4K upscaled. The RTX 5070 ran at 44 FPS AVG here, just below the 4070 Ti. The 7900 XTX held 46 FPS AVG in this one, again showing AMD’s prior deficit in RT performance. It’s not as bad as in Black Myth, but considering the original pricing of the 4070 Ti and 7900 XTX, AMD was in a position that was hard to fight from. We’ll see how the 9070 series compares tomorrow.

Ray Tracing - Dying Light 2 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070 beats the 7900 XT by 13%, falls behind the 4070 Ti, and allows the 5070 Ti, which is basically an RTX 4080 v3 or v4, a lead of 27%.

Ray Tracing - Dying Light 2 1080p

At 1080p upscaled, the 5070 produced 116 FPS AVG and again sat just below the 4070 Ti, with the 7900 XTX and 7900 XT flanking the 5070. The 5070 Ti ran at 141 FPS AVG, which will be the number for AMD’s 9070 XT to target.

Generationally, the 5070 leads the 4070 by 25% and 3070 by 58%.

Ray Tracing - Resident Evil 4 4K

Resident Evil at 4K upscaled is next. This one has the 5070 at 91 FPS AVG, roughly tying the 4070 Ti once again. The 7900 XT leads the 5070 by 18%, with the 5070 Ti leading by 29%. The 7900 XTX sits ahead of that at 134 FPS AVG.

Ray Tracing - Resident Evil 4 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070’s 149 FPS AVG put it 23% ahead of the 4070 and 70% ahead of the 3070. The 7900 XT leads the 4070 Ti and 5070.

Ray Tracing - Cyberpunk 4K RT Ultra

Finally for RT, our new Cyberpunk results with the updated game version.

First, with 4K and RT Ultra, the 5070 ran at 17 FPS AVG. This is without upscaling and is intentionally the heaviest workload we run.

That positions it right between the 7900 XT and 7900 XTX. That’d be unfortunate positioning if AMD weren’t launching something with better RT in a day, but we’ll have to check in tomorrow for the rank.

The 5070 Ti continues its trend of being NVIDIA’s third or fourth iteration of a 4080 card and leads the 5070 by a huge 56% here. The workload is just too heavy for the 5070 to handle and it has neither the bandwidth or compute capability.

Ray Tracing - Cyberpunk 1080p RT Ultra

Here’s RT Ultra at 1080p. The 5070 held 64 FPS AVG with these settings, putting the 5070 Ti about 32% ahead. The 7900 XTX trails the 5070 here, unfortunately for AMD’s former flagship.

Ray Tracing - Cyberpunk 4K RT Medium

We also run RT Medium for Cyberpunk. We’ve found that RT Ultra and RT Medium can significantly affect the hierarchical ranking of NVIDIA and AMD, so we run both. NVIDIA runs away at Ultra.

With these settings and at 4K still, the 5070 now runs at 22.5 FPS AVG. This reduces the 5070 Ti’s lead to a more normal 35%. The 5070 just didn’t have the ability to keep up at 4K/RT Ultra.

RTX 5070 Thermals

We’ll keep thermals short and simple. Using our usual benchmark of Port Royal at 4K and looping, we measured the 5070 FE at steady state at around 74 degrees Celsius for GPU core temperature. The memory temperature was about 76 degrees. Both of these numbers are acceptable; memory is well within spec and is completely fine. Core has some room for a hotter computer case. The core temperature isn’t impressive, but is acceptable, and there’s a little bit of buffer there.

The 5070 FE’s fans ran at about 2500 RPM to maintain this temperature. We skipped acoustic testing this time since we have the two 9070 reviews we have to get through. 

RTX 5070 Power Efficiency

For efficiency as usual, we use a power interposer in between the GPU and the power supply. That means we’re intercepting slot power and the PCIe power through the cables and we do that so we can isolate the GPU entirely, measure its power consumption during a workload. Then we take the frame rate numbers to do some simple math and produce an efficiency number. 

In these charts, you’ll get a few things. You’ll get the total power consumption for that workload in watts and you also get its efficiency in FPS per watt not workload-normalized so we allow it to run at the frame rate that it can naturally run at. 

Efficiency: FFXIV 4K

For efficiency with Final Fantasy 14 at 4K, we ended up with this data. This chart isn’t as dense as our 1440p chart that’s up next.

The 5070 FE ran at 0.33 FPS/W here, pulling 233W during the workload. The 5070 Ti pulled 264W, allowing it an improvement in efficiency to 0.37 FPS/W. AMD’s prior RX 7900 XT wasn’t particularly efficient, giving NVIDIA a large advantage in efficiency for the 5070. The FPS was close enough to be mostly observably equal to a player, but the 7900 XT ran at just 0.25 FPS/W from its 324W power draw during the test.

We’ll have to see what the 9070 series does to improve this, as this has been one of AMD’s GPU weaknesses over the years.

Efficiency: FFXIV 1440p

At 1440p, the 5070 ran at 0.65 FPS/W. That puts the 5070 Ti as about 12% more efficient than the 5070 when producing a variable workload. The AMD 7900 XT pulled 325W in this test, landing at 0.53 FPS/W. Its framerate is higher, but the power is also disproportionately higher, which hurts its efficiency despite a higher framerate.

Efficiency: FFXIV 1080p

At 1080p, the 5070 hits nearly 1 FPS/W. The 4060 Ti has passed it for efficiency, with the 5070 Ti improved by 0.11 FPS/W on top of the 5070’s 1.0 result. The 7900 XT is down at 0.75 FPS/W and is still pulling about the same power as previously.

Efficiency: F1 24 4K

F1 24 at 4K and with ray tracing is up next. In this one, the 5070 produced 0.17 FPS/W, pulling close to TDP at 246W in order to produce its hardly playable framerate. The 5070 Ti ran at 0.20 FPS/W, with the 4080 ranking at the top for its balance of power and framerate. Note that bar size changes from numbers that look the same are valid -- it’s just from the hidden decimal places.

The 7900 XT ran at 0.12 FPS/W, a significant fall from the 5070’s result. The 9070 series has a lot of work to do here.

Efficiency: F1 24 1080p

At 1080p and still with RT, the 5070 ran at 0.55 FPS/W, again giving the 5070 Ti a 13% efficiency advantage. We’re curious to see where the 9070 and 9070 XT land. The 7900 XT isn’t competitive in efficiency, with a lot of this particular result being because of its relatively low RT performance last generation. That’s what AMD is trying to tackle.

Efficiency: Black Myth 1080p

In Black Myth without RT and at 1080p, the 5070 Ti held a 0.53 FPS/W rank, putting it in the second slot. The 5070 is at 0.48, with the 4060 Ti still trading back-and-forth depending on the test. The 7800 XT was at 0.31 FPS/W, with the 7900 XT just below that. The 5070 is not NVIDIA’s most power efficient card due to the performance trade-offs, but is relatively efficient overall.

Efficiency: Dragon’s Dogma 2 RT 1440p

In Dragon’s Dogma 2 at 1440p and with RT, the RTX 5070 ranked at 0.36 FPS/W, sandwiching it between the 4090 that it’s not better than and the 5090. The 7900 XT is down at 0.28 FPS/W, yielding an efficiency benefit in a non-normalized framerate workload of 29%. That’ll be the mark for the 9070 series to hit.

Efficiency: Starfield 1440p

Finally, in Starfield rasterized at 1440p, the 5070 ran at 0.43 FPS/W and landed just below the 4090, which it remains not better than, again. The 7800 XT (read our review) from AMD ran at 0.32 FPS/W, so AMD has a lot of ground to gain here tomorrow. This will be an area we’ll focus to test for improvements, as theoretically, it should be better than it was.

RTX 5070 Conclusion

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One thing’s for certain: NVIDIA’s marketing about the 5070 being a 4090 was wrapped entirely in bull**** and built on a foundation of manure, which is only fitting for a company whose CEO is never found without a leather jacket.

The GPU market is insane right now. The fact that we sorted Newegg for $450 to $650 GPUs and got basically one is insane. The current buying experience matches that of the COVID-era boom around late 2020 and the 2017 crypto mining boom. That makes it hard to evaluate value, and broadly speaking, we’d say to just wait for things to cool off if your current machine can last you a bit longer. You’ll likely save money as pricing settles. If that doesn’t matter to you, maybe time will -- and unless you get lucky and snipe an early stock of the cards, you may at least save some time.

As for its value, we’re going to kick the can to tomorrow’s reviews of the 9070 XT and 9070. We don’t think you should buy this card until you learn about AMD’s competition, as the on-paper price is in similar territory. We’ll see how the in-reality price is for both of them.
Check back for the 9070 XT and 9070 reviews.


AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review – AMD’s Brilliant All-Rounder

13 mars 2025 à 14:37

AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D uses their 2nd Gen V-Cache technology to give the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X an overhaul that transforms its behaviour. Against all the odds it is excellent at gaming and also at productivity tasks. Our benchmark charts in this review will likely bring despair to Intel.

Time stamps

00:00 Start
01:04 Technical data
01:58 3D V-Cache / Chipset Drivers
02:32 Hardware
03:20 BIOS / Latency heatmap
03:47 Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
03:59 Cinebench 2024 Single Core
04:14 Geekbench 6 Multi Core
04:25 Geekbench 6 Single Core
04:31 Cinebench Multi Core Per £ of cost
05:15 CPU Power Consumption
05:28 Cinebench 2024 Multi Core Per Watt
05:59 7Zip v24 Benchmark
06:05 AIDA 64 Memory Bandwidth
06:27 3DMark Time Spy
06:45 Far Cry 6 (1080p)
07:02 Far Cry 6 (1440p)
07:10 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (1080p)
07:29 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (1440p)
07:48 Assassins Creed Mirage (1080p)
07:59 Assassins Creed Mirage (1440p)
08:16 Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p)
08:33 Cyberpunk 20277 (1440p)
08:45 Total War Pharaoh (1080p)
09:02 Total War Pharaoh (1440p)
09:16 Closing Thoughts

Alongside this Ryzen 9 9950X3D, AMD is also releasing the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D that we have reviewed HERE.

If you check out that review you will have the background information you require to understand why moving from two 6-core CCDs in the 9900X3D to 8-core CCDs in this 9950X3D is a much bigger deal than it sounds..

The post AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review – AMD’s Brilliant All-Rounder first appeared on KitGuru.

Indie studio revives long-dead MMO ‘Defiance’

13 mars 2025 à 14:30

There weren't a lot of MMOs trying to compete with WoW throughout the 2010s and the ones that did try ultimately ended up shutting down. One MMO that falls into this category is Defiance, an ambitious project that was supposed to share cross-promotional elements with a TV series by the same name. Ultimately, the show was cancelled and the MMO servers went offline, but a comeback appears to be just around the corner. 

Defiance first launched back in 2013 and featured some of the same characters that appeared in the show. However, outside of a few familiar faces, there was very little tying the two projects together. As a result, when the Defiance TV series was cancelled in 2015, the game was not put in jeopardy. Instead, it rebranded as Defiance 2050 and continued operating through to 2021, when the servers were finally taken offline.

Now, the independent studio and publisher, Fawkes, has acquired the rights to both Defiance (2013) and Defiance 2050, with plans to bring the MMO back online, starting in April this year.

Fawkes identified a passionate community around Defiance as its core reasoning for bringing the game back. Many fans still discuss this game in forum threads and YouTube videos about the game are still popular now, even years after the game going offline.

As Fawkes looks to revive Defiance, it has set up a Discord channel for gathering feedback on future game updates. If you are a Defiance fan, be sure to join the Discord to find groups to play with once the game returns, and to share ideas on what changes could be made to bring the game up to 2025 standards.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Did you play Defiance at all back when it first came out? Would you be interested in seeing the MMO return for good? 

The post Indie studio revives long-dead MMO ‘Defiance’ first appeared on KitGuru.

Half-Life 2 RTX demo comes to Steam next week

13 mars 2025 à 14:00

Hot on the heels of the successful launch of Portal RTX, Nvidia announced plans for an RTX reimagining of Half-Life 2. The mod, known as Half-Life 2 RTX, has been in development for years but we'll finally have the opportunity to play it for ourselves later this month. 

On the 18th of March, the Half-Life 2 RTX demo will be made freely available on Steam. The demo includes the first two levels of the game, complete with reworked textures and materials to fully take advantage of ray-traced lighting effects. Like Quake RTX and Portal RTX, Half-Life 2 RTX will give players access to a full suite of Path Tracing tools, so you can adjust away to really see what is possible with RT once pushed to the limits.

The demo will be available starting on the 18th of March and the full final game will be made available for free to all Half-Life 2 owners. Unfortunately, we don't have a final date for the full game, but it is also worth having patience, as the game is essentially being developed as a volunteer project by the folks at Orbifold Studios, exclusively using the RTX Remix tool set.

Alongside the release of the HL2 RTX demo, Nvidia is also releasing RTX Remix in full this month. The latest version of the software includes support for RTX Neural Rendering and DLSS 4, so we expect to see many more classic games ‘remade' with RTX Remix in the years ahead.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Will you be downloading the Half-Life 2 RTX demo when it drops next week?

The post Half-Life 2 RTX demo comes to Steam next week first appeared on KitGuru.

Nvidia claims it has shipped twice as many RTX 50 GPUs at launch compared to RTX 40

13 mars 2025 à 14:00

GDC is kicking off and as is the case every year, Nvidia has more than a few announcements ready to go. The big news this year? RTX Remix is officially launching, complete with support for DLSS 4 and RTX Neural Shaders, enabling developers to bring ray-traced effects to classic DX8 and DX9 based games. 

At this point, Nvidia's research shows that 90% of RTX GPU users utilise features like DLSS, ray-traced graphics and Nvidia Reflex. At this point, over 100 games and apps support the latest version of DLSS, DLSS 4, which brings Multi Frame Generation to the table, while hundreds of other titles support DLSS 3 or older versions. Support for frame generation and super resolution technologies has seen an uptick across the games industry, with some modern titles even factoring in ‘Frame Generation' capabilities when putting together minimum and recommended hardware requirements for new PC games.

We are unlikely to see support for DLSS drop off amongst game developers anytime soon, as Nvidia also claims it has shipped more RTX 50 series GPUs in the last few months than it did when RTX 40 series GPUs first launched back in 2022.

Here are some of the rapid-fire announcements from Nvidia at GDC:

  • RTX Kit now available for Unreal Engine 5, bringing RTX Mega Geometry and RTX Hair to UE5 titles.
  • RTX Remix is now officially available to all aspiring modders looking to freshen up old titles. The first major showcase of this tookit is Half-Life 2 RTX, with a free demo launching on Steam next week.
  • Nvidia ACE AI-powered NPCs are now being used in the real world. The feature debuts in InZOI and Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile PC version this month, with more titles set to use Nvidia's ‘Smart NPCs' in the future.
  • Nvidia ACE plugins now updated for Maya and Unreal Engine to further enhance game development with AI tools.

Interestingly, while the demo for Half-Life 2 RTX is being made available this month, complete with the first two levels of the game, a date for the full release has not yet been shared.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Nvidia's AI game development tools are gaining traction. It will be interesting to see if ACE-powered NPCs in a game like Naraka: Bladepoint can be easily differentiated from a typical NPC. For me though, Half-Life 2 RTX is the big announcement here and after years of teasing, I'm looking forward to finally diving in. 

The post Nvidia claims it has shipped twice as many RTX 50 GPUs at launch compared to RTX 40 first appeared on KitGuru.

HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 trailer passes 150 million views in 72 hours

13 mars 2025 à 13:00

HBO’s The Last of Us was a huge hit when it released back in early 2023, amassing 10s of millions of viewers and winning a ton of awards. With the show’s second season set to premiere in almost exactly a month, HBO/MAX have released the first official full-length trailer – with it raking in over 150 million views in just 72 hours.

As reported by TheWrap, the recently-released ‘official trailer’ for HBO’s The Last of Us season 2 has garnered a ton of interest across the board.

According to the publication, in the first 3 days since its release the trailer has managed to surpass 158 million views across all the various social media platforms.

Not only does this make it the most-viewed trailer for any HBO/MAX show, but also represents a 160%  growth over Season 1’s trailers.

Given the fact that Season 1 ended up seeing an average of 32 million viewers per episode in the US alone, it’s safe to say that Season 2 is set to be huge for both Sony and HBO.

KitGuru says: Did you watch the trailer? Are you ready for The Last of Us Season 2? Will episode 1 break viewership records? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 trailer passes 150 million views in 72 hours first appeared on KitGuru.

SKATE adds microtransactions despite still being in closed alpha

13 mars 2025 à 12:15

Back in 2022, EA officially announced that they were reviving the long-dormant Skate franchise. With the game planned to launch some time this year, the team have been hosting a bunch of closed alpha tests. In a not-so-surprising move, despite being in an alpha state, EA has now added microtransactions into Skate.

As reported by Insider-Gaming, EA recently sent a message to all the early alpha testers in which they announced the introduction of microtransactions into Skate – with it reading as follows:

Skate Alpha

“To ensure we achieve these goals at Early Access we have enabled the option to purchase and use virtual currency (San Van Bucks) in our ongoing Closed Alpha playtest. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated in providing a great experience at Early Access launch.”

To be somewhat fair to EA, Skate is planned to be a free-to-play title upon its full release, and so it would expectantly include microtransactions.

That said, even if this is being used to test the stability of the service, it is somewhat of a bad look to feature such monetisation during Skate’s pre-released state.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this latest move by EA? Is it anything to be worried about? Could a free-to-play format work well? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post SKATE adds microtransactions despite still being in closed alpha first appeared on KitGuru.

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update XIX is now live

13 mars 2025 à 11:30

Since its release back in 2020, Microsoft’s Flight Simulator has seen a great number of updates on a consistent basis. Marking the 19th major world update, Microsoft Flight Simulator (and its 2024 sequel) are revamping a number of regions including Brazil, Guyana and more.

Making the announcement on their blog, the team at Asobo Studios officially unveiled World Update XIX, writing, “This long awaited and oft-requested Microsoft Flight Simulator: World Update XIX is filled with excitement and beauty that enhances over half the land mass of South America with its coverage of Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.”

As always, these refreshed regions are accompanied by a bunch of further additional content, with Update XIX bringing:

  • 75 points of interest
  • 4 TIN Cities
  • 7 Airports
  • 3 Discovery flights
  • 3 landing challenges
  • 3 bush trips (MSFS)

Alongside the above (which is available right now), 2024’s Microsoft Flight Simulator in particular is set to get a couple unique additions on the 17th of March, namely:

  • New helicopter landing challenge
  • New Rally Race
  • New low-altitude challenge

Given the scope of Microsoft Flight Simulator it is understandably frustrating to have to wait potentially years to see your country properly represented in the game. That said, it is nice to see the team continue to build upon MSFS – making it as accurate a representation of the full world as we are likely to have for many years.

KitGuru says: Will you be hopping back into Flight Simulator? What regions are you still waiting to get updated? Let us know down below.

The post Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update XIX is now live first appeared on KitGuru.

Armored Core, Prince of Persia and more coming to PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium

13 mars 2025 à 10:45

Each month, Sony updates its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium libraries with a line-up of current and classic titles. For March, Sony is adding a solid dozen titles including the OG Armored Core trilogy.

Set to join PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium on the 18th of March, this month’s line-up is as follows:

  • UFC 5 | PS5
  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | PS4, PS5
  • Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions | PS4
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy | PS4, PS5
  • Arcade Paradise | PS4, PS5
  • Bang-On Balls: Chronicles | PS4, PS5
  • You Suck at Parking | PS4, PS5
  • Syberia – The World Before | PS4, PS5

Armored Core PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus Premium:

  • Arcade Paradise VR | PS VR2
  • Armored Core | PS4, PS5
  • Armored Core: Project Phantasma | PS4, PS5
  • Armored Core: Master of Arena | PS4, PS5

While the Extra tier sees a bunch of welcome additions including the underrated Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the nostalgia-filled Arcade Paradise, the Armored Core trilogy is easily this month’s biggest draw.

Announced back in February, these additions mark the first time in a long time that FromSoftware’s original mecha games have been made available.

While PlayStation’s PS1/2 emulation leaves quite a bit to be desired, these inclusions are more than welcome nonetheless.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this month’s additions? Which games will you be hopping into? Did you check Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown out back when it first released? Let us know down below.

The post Armored Core, Prince of Persia and more coming to PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium first appeared on KitGuru.

Avowed director confirms Microsoft ‘happy’ with game’s player numbers

13 mars 2025 à 10:00

Avowed marks the biggest first-party Xbox game for 2025 so far, with the Obsidian Entertainment-developed RPG arriving on Microsoft’s console (and PC) just under a month ago. Being Microsoft, the company rarely shares sales figures for its games. That being said, according to the game’s director, the higher-ups at Xbox are “happy” with Avowed’s player numbers.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Avowed’s Creative Director Carrie Patel spoke on a wide range of topics from the game itself to the studio’s culture and more.

When asked about the performance of the game in the weeks following Avowed’s launch, Patel unsurprisingly offered no concrete data.

Avowed Microsoft

That said, according to the director, “I've certainly been very happy, and all the folks I've talked to, both at the studio level and at the Xbox and Microsoft level, have been very happy with the reception to our game – to the number of people playing it, the amount of time they're spending in it.”

While this in and of itself is welcome to hear, Microsoft’s history of celebrating a game’s success only to then close down the studio does put a damper on any metrics they choose to share.

For the sake of Obsidian Entertainment, hopefully the suits at Microsoft are indeed pleased with the results so far.

KitGuru says: Have you been playing Avowed? What do you think of it? Let us know down below.

The post Avowed director confirms Microsoft ‘happy’ with game’s player numbers first appeared on KitGuru.

How to view installer logs in macOS

The macOS installer is quick and easy to use, but you can find out more info on what happens during installations by checking its built-in logs. Here's how to look at them.

macOS installer can display custom logs if you know where to look.
Use the macOS installer logs to see what happened during installation.

macOS installer files are called Packages and usually have a file extension of .pkg. When you open a .pkg to install software on your Mac, Apple's installer app performs a complex series of steps to verify and install the software.

Most .pkg files are built to contain a series of standard steps in which the package is first verified, then payloads are decompressed and copied to the target drive.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
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