Montech will give you a unique look at your next LAN party with the new Heritage Pro and it's vegan leather highlights.  To add to it's uniqueness it also offers support for…

Sandfall Interactive has unveiled the official PC system requirements for its upcoming turn-based RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This title, powered by Unreal Engine 5, promises a captivating blend of strategic combat and real-time exploration, bringing a spin to the traditional turn-based combat of RPGs.

Before you embark on your journey into the mysterious world of Clair Obscur, make sure your PC is up to the task. To experience the game at 1080p resolution with low settings at 30 FPS, you'll need at least an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X processor, 8 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, an AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, or an Intel Arc A580 graphics card. It also requires 55 GB of free disk space for installation.

For those seeking a more visually stunning and fluid experience at 1080p with high settings and 60 FPS, the developers recommend an Intel Core i7-11700K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a more powerful GPU like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. Here are the detailed system requirements for Clair Obscur:

MINIMUM

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB / Intel Arc A580 8GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 55 GB available space
• Additional Notes: For 1080p 30FPS low settings gameplay.

RECOMMENDED

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 55 GB available space
• Additional Notes: For 1080p 60FPS high settings gameplay.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be released on April 24 on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. It will also be available at launch via Game Pass on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Cloud.

KitGuru says: Are you interested in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Is your PC ready for it?

Following years of laying dormant, the Prince of Persia franchise returned in a big way with the releases of both Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and The Rogue Prince of Persia. Just over one year on from the former’s initial release, the much-loved metroidvania (which unfortunately will not be getting a sequel) has been reported to have sold 1.3 million copies.

As noted by Twitter user Timur222, the Associate Marketing Director at Ubisoft ‘Alexandre Guenounou’ recently updated their LinkedIn profile (though has since been removed) with claims that 2024’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown sold over 1.3 million units within its first year.

For the uninitiated, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launched on the 18th of January to high praise from both critics and fans alike, becoming the second-highest rated entry in the series history.

Unfortunately, despite plenty of free post-launch updates and continued critical success, Ubisoft confirmed that the studio behind the game (Ubisoft Montpellier) was shifted over to work on different projects – seemingly ending future work on The Lost Crown.

Ubisoft is in a weird place right now, and so regardless of whether the game sold 1 million or 1000 copies, things likely wouldn’t have changed too much. Hopefully The Lost Crown sub-series isn’t gone forever.

KitGuru says: What did you think of The Lost Crown? Did it deserve more sales? Would you have liked to see a sequel? Let us know down below.

Following the conclusion of last year’s Summer Game Fest, event creator Geoff Keighley confirmed that the annual show would return in 2025. True to his word, this year’s SGF has now been officially dated and detailed – set to go live on the 6th of June.

Making the announcement on Twitter, Game Awards and SGF creator Geoff Keighley wrote “Mark your calendar for Friday, June 6 — @SummerGameFest returns to @youtubetheater in LA to showcase what’s next from the entire video game industry.  Streaming live everywhere. Followed by SGF Play Days from @iam8bit for media + Influencers in downtown LA.”

As mentioned, a 2025 edition of Summer Game Fest was already announced in the immediacy following the conclusion of last year’s event. Still, having a concrete date means that studios and publishers can begin to properly formulate their plans for the event, including trailers, vertical gameplay slices and more.

Since 2021, each successive Summer Game Fest has taken place one day earlier than the year prior. Given this, it will be interesting to see whether the event eventually falls back into being a May showcase – as the very first SGF was.

Regardless, while there will never be anything quite like E3 again, Summer Game Fest is a suitable replacement, and so it is nice to have a consistent (somewhat singular) annual video games expo once again.

KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to this year’s Summer Game Fest? Has it fully replaced E3 in your mind? What one game do you hope will be present at the event? Let us know down below.

In celebration of the PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, Sony released a bunch of cool throwback themes for the PS5, designed around the PlayStation’s four previous console generations. While intended to be a limited-time feature, the overwhelmingly positive response to the themes has led Sony to announce that they are making it a permanent fixture.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the official PlayStation page wrote: “Thank you for the fantastic response to the classic PlayStation, PS2, PS3, and PS4 limited-time console themes, which will be leaving tomorrow. Due to the positive response on these 4 themes, we’re doing some work behind the scenes to bring these special designs back in the months ahead.”

It is worth noting that these will be the only themes coming to PS5, with the company making sure to clarify that “while there aren’t plans to create additional themes in the future, we're excited to keep celebrating legacy PlayStation hardware with you all.”

While the anniversary themes were a welcome surprise, they were clearly intended to be time-limited – if nothing else due to the somewhat janky nature of a couple of them.

That said, they were incredibly cool to have, and so hopefully when they do return on a more permanent basis, a few extra surprises are included.

KitGuru says: What did you think of the anniversary themes? Which was your favourite? How would you like to see them enhanced when they are brought back permanently? Let us know down below.

Today I get my first ever look at an ASRock branded power supply branded as the ‘Phantom Gaming'. This power supply is fully modular, is 80 Plus Gold certified and ships with a comprehensive 10 year warranty. The ASRock OEM of choice for this unit is FSP, and we will take a closer look to see if the performance can match up to the high aspirations, later in the review.

ASRock do not seem to be messing around with the PG-1000G, their website has a lot of data on display such as the adoption of 100% Japanese capacitors, a high grade fluid dynamic bearing fan, a semi passive fan control mode, along with a 5V ‘Boost Mode'. For the interests of my sanity I will be referring to this power supply throughout this review as simply ‘PG-1000G'.

Product highlights:

• 80 Plus Gold Certified
• Cybenetics GOLD and LAMBDA A Certified
• ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.1 Ready
• Fully modular cable design
• Native 12V-2×6 Connector Dual Colour Design with Tempguard
• 100% Highly reliable Japanese capacitors
• 135mm Intelligent Fan Control Mode
• 5V ‘boost Mode'
• 10 year warranty.

Philips is entering the gaming projector scene with a bang! The GamePix 900, the company's first dedicated gaming projector, is now available for pre-order at an enticing introductory price.

This projector combines high-end specs with good value (at least during its initial campaign), offering a compelling alternative to traditional gaming displays. The GamePix 900 boasts 4K resolution at 60Hz, 1440p at 120Hz, and a 240 Hz refresh rate at 1080p. With a claimed input lag of just 6 ms at 240 Hz, it should offer a decently responsive gaming experience.

The GamePix 900 delivers up to a 120-inch display with HDR10 support and 95% Rec. 709 colour space coverage, bringing games to life with vibrant colours and deep contrast. Its 1000 ANSI lumens LED light source ensures bright and vivid images, even in well-lit environments. Philips has tailored the GamePix 900 to the needs of gamers with three dedicated gaming modes for different genres: Action, Adventure, and Sports. Its compact 2 kg design makes it easy to transport and set up for gaming on the go. The GamePix 900's LED light source is rated for an impressive 30,000 hours of operation, providing years of reliable performance.

For a limited time, the first 1,000 pre-orders of the GamePix 900 will be available at a special introductory price of £495/$599/€699 (excluding VAT, US taxes, and shipping). This represents a significant discount from the regular MSRP of £819/$999/€1199. Pre-orders are now available on the official Philips Projection website. Regular retail availability is expected in April 2025.

KitGuru says: Have you ever played games on a projector? Would you replace a projector for your TV or monitor?

Asus has addressed the recent concerns surrounding its PCIe Q-Release Slim, a GPU release mechanism built into some motherboards to simplify graphics card removal. While acknowledging the potential for cosmetic wear and tear on the PCIe connector, Asus maintains that the mechanism does not cause functional damage to the graphics card or the motherboard.

The Asus Q-Release Slim graphics card release mechanism, featured on premium AMD and Intel 800-series motherboards, allows users to eject their graphics cards by tilting the card and tugging it upward (or sideways) while the PCIe push-latch automatically releases it. While this sounds simple, various reports claim that small bits of the PCIe connector can be damaged in certain circumstances. Based on the photos supplied, this does not affect actual PCIe connection pins, meaning functionality and performance should be unaffected. However, PCB abrasion is never a good thing.

In response to these reports, Asus said that “In [its] internal testing and evaluation of the extremely small number of cases reported, [it] found no damage to the motherboard or graphics card that would affect functionality and/or performance. However, it is important to emphasise that any type of PCIe add-in card will exhibit signs of usage and wear marking after 60 continuous insertions and removals”.

Asus also stressed that following the proper removal procedure minimises the risk of damage. Still, reports of wear after only 60 insertions and removals raise questions about the long-term durability of the Q-Release Slim mechanism. PCIe slots and card-edge connectors are typically rated for a limited number of mating cycles. While the exact number varies depending on the manufacturer and design, the industry standard is around 50 cycles for regular slots.

It's possible that specific slot configurations or usage patterns might increase the risk of wear with the Q-Release Slim mechanism. However, Asus maintains that the wear observed in the reported cases is within the expected range for normal usage and does not pose a functional risk to the graphics card or the motherboard.

KitGuru says: Do you own a motherboard with this GPU release system? Have you ever noticed if it has caused damage or wear to your graphics card?

The first two entries in the modern Ninja Gaiden series are still considered decades after their original release as two of the best action games ever released and for very good reasons. With the depth of their combat mechanics, their high-speed action, and solid level design, the two games have aged rather well and still play great to this day. With the departure of Team Ninja's founder and series creator Tomonobu Itagaki, however, the franchise kind of lost itself, with a third entry in the series that required a revamped version to steer the course and provide an experience that, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/ninja-gaiden-2-black-the-edge-of-the-dragon-sword/

The last 18 months have seen a lot of talk in the market about AI, especially at trade shows. However, outside the data centre, there have been few products that offer any kind of practical solution to users wanting a local solution on their desktop. The reason is simple: Every one has been waiting for the ‘killer app'. The thing that can run on a PC you can build yourself – and which has the potential to deliver significant benefits for little investment. On 20th January , a software package was made available free online and on Thursday 24th January – history was made.

On 20th January 2025, Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek released a powerful AI package that could be downloaded and run locally, offering high-performance capabilities without reliance on cloud-based infrastructure.

This breakthrough rAIsed concerns that demand for Nvidia's high-end AI chips could decline, triggering a significant sell-off in tech stocks. By the time the markets closed on 24th January, Nvidia's market capitalisation value had plummeted by around $589 billion (more than the annual GDP of Sweden) – representing the largest single-day loss in history. The rapid adoption of DeepSeek’s technology, amplified by social media, fuelled fears of a shift in AI dominance away from the data centre/the USA.

While the long-term implications won't be known for a long time, a new market appears to have been created overnight: Powerful, affordable, local AI that will run on desktop PCs and workstations.

At Computex 2024, we saw a lot of companies pushing a very strong AI message, but with no clear target in terms of application. One of those was Silverstone. They told us that they were in the process of a revolution inside the company, with a shift in focus from the DIY/PC market toward AI driven tasks. For Silverstone, that meant using the skills and knowledge acquired over the last 21 years in the enthusiast sector, to create products for both the data centre and the desktop.

One such product is the ALTA D1, a mega-tower workstation chassis designed for system builds that are focused on 3D rendering and AI/machine learning. At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that it looks a lot like a regular (albeit large) system chassis, but the ALTA D1 is all about modularity – supporting SSI-EEB motherboards (Service System Infrastructure – Compact Electronics Bay specification). That means pro-motherboards that are 12″ by 13″ or even 15.12″ by 13.2″ will fit. One look at the back and you can see differences start to appear, with space for 11 PCI expansion slots. Clearance for graphic cards is 407mm – way longer than the 304mmm you see with the RTX 5090 Founders Edition and 348mm in the ASUS TUF Gaming variant. As a case designed for important tasks, it has a pair of PSU bays – either to safeguard stability or help boost available wattage. It comes with two 180mm intake fans and a 140mm rear exhaust. The final configuration is down to the specialist building the AI system.

A dual-CPU, multi-GPU system can easily be built into such a chassis, but the flexibility doesn't stop with processing hardware. There are also modular cages for storage drives, radiators and PSU brackets etc – which allows users the freedom to redefine system component locations – depending on where you need your workload to be focused/supported.

What might the chassis criteria be for a powerful/local AI system?

With GPUs now pulling close to 600 watts each, you need to think about high airflow, robust power delivery and ample space for E-ATX/SSI-EEB motherboards. With a ‘9000' refresh of AMD's Threadripper expected in 2025, you'll want ample space for cooling as well – with easy mounting for multiple radiators.

These are the kind of challenges that companies producing chassis etc for serious gamers, have been looking at for years. Now it seems that all of that learning/knowledge will be needed in the local AI system space. So will DeepSeek be the ‘killer app' that's needed to drive the high-end, professional hardware market forward in 2025/26?

One thing is for sure: Nvidia's loss looks likely to be a blip in the grand scheme of things. As KitGuru's recent testing of the latest RTX 50 series shows, even on the desktop level, Nvidia continues to have a huge lead in AI processing tasks. How big a lead? Well it was scoring almost 4x higher than the fastest Radeon card in our latest Image Generation benchmarks.

KitGuru says: It will be interesting to see if this interest in DeepSeek creates new markets – and how much growth there will be in the high-end chassis/PSU sectors as a result. One thing the last two Bitcoin surges taught us, if that if money can be made from GPUs, then gamers end up queuing for a long time if they want the latest cards.