Since the first game’s arrival in 2017, the Horizon franchise has grown massively, with recent figures putting the series at 40 million copies sold. Despite being a single player focused franchise, Guerrilla Games have revealed in the wake of NCSoft’s Horizon Steel Frontiers MMO announcement that “from the first moment we imagined Horizon, we always thought about it as a multiplayer game.”
“From the first moment we imagined Horizon, we always thought about it as a multiplayer game. LEGO Horizon Adventures was our first small step, with Steel Frontiers we’re taking a bigger one. There is much more to come, and we’re excited to show you what is coming.”
While the Horizon series works well as a single-player focused experience, the world in which the franchise takes place is also ripe for a co-op spin-off.
KitGuru says: Would the Horizon series work well as a multiplayer experience? Do you have any interest in the two upcoming multiplayer entries? Let us know down below.
Today we’re taking a look at the Lian Li Lancool 217 INF, an airflow-focused mid-tower that builds on the original Lancool 217. Leo spent some time with the standard model earlier this year, and this new version keeps the same core layout and cooling philosophy but adds a striking infinity mirror front panel that instantly changes the look of the system. We’ll be going over the design, the build experience, and the thermal performance to see how well this updated configuration holds up, and whether the visual upgrade brings anything practical along with it.
Timestamps:
00:00 Start
00:55 Pricing
01:11 Overview
02:06 Physical Dimensions
02:25 Features and specifications
03:32 Top buttons
04:00 Front I/O
05:21 Cooling/Radiator support
07:22 Motherboard and GPU Support
07:47 Cable Management / Anti Sag
08:14 Case Rear / PSU setup
09:58 Right hand compartment
11:18 Hub / Lighting / Software
12:00 Storage Support
13:27 Accessories
14:10 Testing Methodology
14:45 Thermal Performance
15:40 Smoke tests
16:10 Noise Performance
16:46 Build Experience
18:20 James' Closing Thoughts
Lian Li Lancool 217 INF Features:
Dual 170mm front fans with an infinity mirror and mesh front panel – Equipped with two large pre-installed intake fans behind a removable mesh system designed to allow strong airflow while reducing dust build-up.
Tool-less side panel design with cable management channels – Features quick-release side panels and integrated routing paths to simplify system assembly and keep internal layouts clean.
Support for multiple cooling configurations – Accommodates up to 360mm radiators in the front as well as air coolers and vertical GPU mounting options for varied cooling setups.
Modular storage drive bay system – Includes adjustable and removable drive cages supporting both 2.5″ and 3.5″ storage, allowing flexible interior layouts depending on hardware configuration.
ARGB lighting compatibility – Integrated ARGB functionality is sync-ready with major motherboard lighting control standards for coordinated illumination across components, as well as wireless control via the L-Wireless adaptor that can be purchased separately.
Specifications:
Case Type: Mid-Tower
Dimensions (LxWxH): 482 mm (L) × 238 mm (W) × 503 mm (H)
Materials: Steel frame with 4.0 mm tempered glass side panel
Storage bays: Behind motherboard tray: up to 2 × 2.5″ SSD (or 1 × 2.5″ SSD when using back-connect mATX board) Drive cages (2 total): each supports 1 × 3.5″ HDD + 1 × 2.5″ SSD, or 1 × 3.5″ HDD or 2 × 2.5″ SSD, PSU shroud cover: 1 × 2.5″ SSD
Max GPU Length: up to 380mm
Max CPU Cooler Height: up to 180mm
PSU Type: ATX up to 220 mm (standard orientation) , up to 180 mm (rotated orientation)
Pre-installed Fans: 2 x 170mm(Front) 1 x 140mm (Rear)
Fan Support: 2 x 170 mm (Front) 3 x 120 mm / 2 x 140 mm(Top) 1 x 120mm / 1 x 140mm (Rear) 3 x 120 mm (Bottom)
Radiator Support: 360 / 280 / 240 mm(Top)
Dust Filters: Bottom x 1 / Front × 1 (x 2 RU version only)
Front I/O: 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Type-C, 1 x Audio / Microphone Combo Jack, 1 x Power button, 1 x M1 Front Panel Lighting Control Button, 1 x M2 Fan Lighting Control Button
LCD Screen: N/A
Thermal Performance Testing
To simulate thermal demand we run the Cinebench R23 multi-thread benchmark and 3DMark Speed Way stress test simultaneously in a loop for 30 minutes to load the system fully. This gives the CPU and GPU enough time to reach constant steady-state temperature. With this data, we can compare how the system handles the thermal demand and measure peak noise levels.
Thermal performance is measured with the case in various configurations, such as the default, with the tempered glass left-hand side panel removed and with the front panel removed to see how these configurations affect the CPU and GPU temperature. During testing, only stock case fans are used unless otherwise specified. All water pumps are set to maximum RPM and fans are set to a custom RPM curve by the Motherboard software/BIOS.
All temperature measurements are presented as Deltas – meaning the ambient temperature has been deducted from the CPU temperature giving us a Delta. Data shown in the charts represent the average component temperature over the length of the test as measured by HWiNFO and then the last 15 minutes of the data are calculated to get the average. The ambient temperature during thermal tests is between 19-20⁰C.
We tested the case thermals with a 360mm AIO as the exhaust at the top and in several different configurations. The default configuration shown in the charts is with the 360mm AIO at the top, 2 x 170mm front intake fans, 1 x 140mm exhaust fan and with all panels installed.
In terms of thermals, the Lancool 217 INF delivers solid results straight out of the box. In the default configuration, the CPU recorded a steady-state temperature of 53°C over ambient, while the GPU sat at 49°C over ambient under load. Removing the glass side panel or swapping the front and top mesh out didn’t significantly alter these results, showing that the case’s airflow design is already very efficient as standard.
The only notable improvement came from adding bottom-mounted fans, which reduced GPU temperatures to 46°C over ambient and lowered CPU temperatures slightly to 52°C. This indicates that the extra intake helps the graphics card breathe more easily, improving airflow across the lower section of the case. Overall, the Lancool 217 INF maintains strong thermal performance, and with just a small tweak by bottom fans, it can cool high-end components even more effectively.
You can get a better sense of how the airflow changes when adding floor fans by looking at the smoke tests in the video.
With no bottom fans installed, the GPU still draws air in through the lower side vent, so there’s already a natural intake path. However, once the two bottom intake fans are added, you can clearly see that airflow towards the GPU becomes much more direct and faster. This extra push of air helps feed the graphics card more efficiently, which ties in neatly with the small drop in GPU temperature we saw during the thermal testing.
Noise Output
Noise performance from the Lancool 217 INF stayed very consistent across all configurations, with system idle noise sitting at around 37 dBA regardless of setup. Under load, most configurations peaked at 50 dBA, showing that removing panels or swapping materials didn’t noticeably alter the acoustic profile.
The only setup that made a difference was with additional bottom fans installed. This configuration not only lowered GPU temperatures slightly but also reduced load noise to 49 dBA, suggesting that the improved airflow helped the GPU maintain lower fan speeds. It’s a small but welcome gain in both thermal and acoustic efficiency.
Closing Thoughts
The Lian LiLancool 217 INF builds on the strengths of the original model while adding a much more eye-catching front design. The infinity mirror panel paired with the two large 170mm fans gives the case a distinctive look, but the visual upgrade doesn’t come at the cost of performance. Airflow through the front mesh remains strong, and the case maintains the high level of cooling capability that the Lancool series is renowned for.
Thermal performance throughout testing was consistently good, with the default configuration handling both CPU and GPU loads without breaking a sweat. The only notable improvement came when adding bottom intake fans, which helped direct airflow more efficiently towards the graphics card. This lined up neatly with the slight reduction in GPU temperatures we recorded. It’s not essential, but adding bottom fans is a small, worthwhile tweak for high-end GPU setups.
Hardware support is another area where the 217 INF performs well. There’s plenty of room for larger components, including all motherboard types, big GPUs and top radiators, plus the interior layout makes it straightforward to build in. Cable management is tidy, the tool-free panels are easy to work with, and overall build quality feels as solid as you’d expect from Lian Li at this price point. Nothing about the redesign interferes with the usability of the chassis.
Taken as a whole, the Lancool 217 INF is a well-executed refresh of an already great chassis that retains all the positive features of the original while adding a more striking front aesthetic. If you’re after a mid-tower that delivers strong airflow, great thermals, and a clean and simple building experience, all wrapped in a unique-looking package, the Lian Li Lancool 217 INF is a very well-rounded option that’s easy to recommend, especially at this price point.
The Lian Li Lancool 217 INF is available to purchase now from Scan priced from £107.99 for the black version HERE and £112.99 HERE for the white version.
Pros:
Great airflow and cooling.
Excellent build quality and hardware support.
Brilliant cable management.
Cons:
The front infinity mirror panel shows up every fingerprint.
Lack of front radiator installation is not good for custom cooling.
KitGuru Says: The Lancool 217 INF is a strong evolution of the original, with excellent airflow, great thermals, high-end hardware support, clean build experience and impressive build quality with a striking new look at a decent price.
While Steam has been lauded for years thanks to its user-friendly approach to game refunds, GOG’s return policy is arguably even more friendly. Despite this, the team at CD Projekt have confirmed that just 0.03% of GOG users have exploited this generosity – claiming “when you trust players, they give you every reason to keep trusting them.”
Responding to a Reddit thread discussing the potential exploitation of GOG’s generous refund policy – in which one user revealed that they “literally played Cyberpunk, finished it + a ton of side content, then refunded it because I needed the money” – the official GOG Twitter page offered a surprisingly candid comment, stating:
“As this Reddit thread gains traction, we want to stress that when you trust players, they give you every reason to keep trusting them: only 0.03% of our active users in October abused our Refund Policy.”
For context, GOG’s refund policy is currently stated as follows: “You may request a refund for a product up to 30 days after purchase, even if it was downloaded, launched, and played” – with no wording on whether there is a maximum amount of play time allowed before requesting a refund.
Of course, it is worth noting that the team at ‘Good Old Games' does have every right to deny a request, but it appears as though for now they are primarily placing their trust in the players.
GOG has made a ton of strides in ensuring they are objectively the best place to purchase and play PC games. Hopefully their refund policy is maintained and doesn’t wind up being exploited further in the wake of this revelation.
KitGuru says: What do you think of GOG in general? Would you switch over to the platform permanently in the future? Let us know down below.
Earlier this year, as part of the ongoing lawsuit between Sony and Tencent, the PS5 console maker revealed that their Horizon Zero Dawn / Forbidden West franchise had sold a total of 38 million copies since the first game’s launch back in 2017. In the months since, it appears as though the series has only continued to grow, with the franchise having reportedly now exceeded 40 million copies sold.
As reported by the Korean publication ‘news.nate.com’ (and translated by ResetEra user Red Kong XIX) in the wake of the official announcement of NCSoft’s Horizon Steel Frontiers MMO, it was revealed that since the first game’s arrival in early 2017, the Horizon franchise has sold a total of 40 million copies.
As mentioned, the last ‘official’ figure put the series at 38 million copies as of July 2025, meaning either the previous data was somewhat outdated, or the series has pushed a further 2 million copies since the previous report.
As of right now, the Horizon series consists of 4 games: 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn; 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West; the PSVR2-exclusive Horizon Call of the Mountain in 2023 and most recently Lego Horizon Adventures last year.
Given that at least two more Horizon projects have been confirmed, it will be interesting to see how quickly the series will take to reach its next major milestone of 50 million copies.
KitGuru says: Are you one of the 40 million players? Which of the 4 Horizon games is your favourite? Are you more excited for NCSoft’s Horizon MMO or Guerrilla Games’s multiplayer project? Let us know down below.
After well over a decade being limited to the 7th generation of video game consoles, the much-loved Red Dead Redemption was finally ported to ‘modern’ systems in 2023. Technically only released for the PS4/Pro and the OG switch (as well as PC later on), Rockstar has now unveiled a free current-gen update, coming to the PS5; Series X|S and Switch 2 – alongside an Android/iOS port.
Making the announcement the team at Rockstar Games officially confirmed that “Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare are coming to Netflix, iOS, Android, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2.”
While we did not get any specifics regarding what this upgrade will entail, the studio confirmed that it will be a free update including “the ability to carry over game progress, and a number of enhancements.”
As mentioned, Red Dead Redemption was first remastered back in 2023, arriving primarily for the PS4/Pro at the time (though it did get a PS5-specific FPS unlock option after-the-fact).
As such, it will be interesting to see what this 9th-gen release winds up introducing on top of the previously-offered boost to resolution and FPS.
At the very least, it is encouraging to see the update being offered for free. Hopefully Red Dead Redemption 2 is next in line for a remaster.
KitGuru says: Were you hoping to see RDR get a native current-gen update? Would you have preferred to have Red Dead Redemption 2 be remastered first? Let us know your thoughts down below.
Of the many things Steam Frame is, what it isn't is a Valve Index 2. But that's a good thing.
When Valve Index launched in 2019, it was one of the most expensive VR headsets on the consumer market. Facebook had just launched the $400 Rift S and Oculus Quest headsets, and there was nothing like Apple Vision Pro or Samsung Galaxy XR.
At $1000 for the full kit, Index was a premium product for enthusiasts, meant to push the high-end, with (relatively) wide field of view lenses, off-ear speakers, and precise laser tracking. The thick, heavy tether and wall-mounted base stations were a feature, not a bug.
Based on some of the reactions to Steam Frame over the past few days, it's clear that many Index owners, and hardcore VR enthusiasts in general, were hoping that Valve would repeat its last-decade strategy, with another high-end tethered headset.
They wanted 4K micro-OLED panels (or at least, say, 3K LCD with local dimming) fed by yet another DisplayPort cable, with ultra wide field of view lenses, face tracking, and "Lighthouse" base station tracking, backwards-compatible with existing SteamVR peripherals.
But there are good reasons why Valve didn't do this, and why Steam Frame is the better strategy.
Index was relatively successful for what it was trying to be, by all accounts. More than six years later it still makes up around 15% of SteamVR usage. But what it did not do is meaningfully increase the total number of people playing VR games on Steam.
Instead, it was the $300 Quest 2 that achieved that feat. Less than six months after launch it became the most used headset on Steam, and today standalone headsets make up over 2/3rds of SteamVR use.
Standalone headsets with computer vision tracking allow anyone to connect to SteamVR on their PC with a couple of clicks, completely wirelessly, with no base stations or other complex setup required. And that they are wireless matters.
Among existing VR enthusiasts, there is a sentiment that wireless is a nice-to-have, but far from essential feature, while some are even actively opposed to it, adamant that they'll never cut the tether.
But there is a selection bias at play here. People who considered the cable a dealbreaker didn't buy the Index, or any other tethered PC VR headset. And they are the majority.
Since the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter, seven years ago, it has been obvious that wireless is the ideal for VR. You don't have to stow a cable and avoid running over it with your chair wheels. You can rotate freely in VR without worrying about getting tangled. And you can truly lose yourself in the virtual world because you don't have a tether reminding where your PC is.
In fact, in 2017 Valve CEO Gabe Newell called wireless VR a “solved problem”. “My expectation is that wireless will be an add-on in 2017, and then it will be an integrated feature in 2018”, Newell was quoted as saying during a press conference that year.
Of course, the Vive Wireless Adapter relied on a 60GHz signal, unable to penetrate solid objects at all, so the transmitter had to be wall mounted and the receiver positioned on the top of your head, plus it was expensive. It was the right goal, but with the wrong technology.
Within days of the release of Oculus Quest people started using their existing home Wi-Fi network for wireless room-scale PC VR, leveraging the same H.264 codec used for video streaming. The death of tethered PC-only VR headsets, or at least their relegation to a tiny niche, was now inevitable.
There are two problems with this approach, however.
Firstly, the high compression ratio means that this kind of wireless VR doesn't look as good as a DisplayPort signal. And secondly, while some enthusiasts have ideal dedicated network setups with a high-end dedicated access point, most people rely on the cheap router their ISP supplied them a decade ago, which may not be near their VR playspace and also has to handle the traffic from the rest of the household.
With Steam Frame, Valve is using a combination of both hardware and software cleverness to refine the compressed wireless streaming experience. The headset has dual wireless radios, one of which is dedicated to the PC wireless adapter included in the box. And eye-tracked foveated streaming is used at all times, optimizing the video stream quality for where you're currently looking.
The Steam Frame box included the wireless adapter, front and center (photo by UploadVR at Valve HQ).
Essentially, Steam Frame is trying to package the high-quality wireless VR setups that only enthusiasts experience today into a relatively mainstream PC gaming product.
It's not about delivering yet another tethered PC VR headset with higher resolution – there are Bigscreen and Pimax headsets for that. Instead, Steam Frame is focused on delivering the best possible wireless PC VR experience that can be sold for less than $1000 (Valve's current plan).
And it's exactly this that PC VR needs. A product that out of the box, for every buyer, delivers an excellent wireless PC VR experience, without modifying their home network setup. Steam Frame isn't Index 2, but it's the better move for Valve. And instead of selling to the same few hundred thousand enthusiasts, I suspect it could sell millions of units through its lifetime, bringing far more customers for developers building PC VR games.
Only three of us were available this week, but the show must go on! Perhaps the energy is a bit subdued without Bront and that other guy, but you might just find…
We recently published a full review of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered OnePlus 15 smartphone. We praised the device for its premium design, 165Hz display, and excellent performance, among many other things. If you missed that review, do yourself a favor and check it out. That review was missing one key piece of data, however
Lian Li has launched its new SP Platinum Series, a line of high-performance SFX power supplies designed for premium small-form-factor builds. The new units are available in 850W and 1000W capacities, both achieving an 80 Plus Platinum certified efficiency.
The SP Platinum series is built to the latest Intel ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 specifications, making it fully ready for next-generation components. It includes Lian Li's own in-house manufactured 12V-2×6 GPU cable, which features alloy copper terminals for lower contact resistance and a dual-colour connector to help ensure it's fully seated. Internally, the PSUs are built with 100% Japanese 105°C capacitors and are equipped with a comprehensive suite of protections, including OCP, OVP, OTP, OPP, SCP, UVP, NLP, and SIP.
Cooling is handled by a 92 mm FDB fan governed by a smart curve, which enables a zero-RPM mode by switching the fan off entirely at loads of 40% or less. For builders working in cramped SFF chassis, the SP Platinum Series comes with “super-flexible” braided modular cables to improve routing and airflow.
Lian Li has also included two notable quality-of-life features. An SFX-to-ATX adapter bracket is in the box for compatibility with larger cases. More uniquely, the PSU ships with an extension power cord that features an integrated on/off switch, allowing users to cut power to the installed PSU more easily. The Lian Li SP Platinum Series is now available in both black and white versions, starting at £142.99/€164.90 for the 850W models and £159.95/€184.90 for the 1000W models.
Adata has introduced a 128GB DDR5 CUDIMM module, effectively doubling the maximum capacity per stick for the mainstream desktop platform. This breakthrough brings 4-rank memory, previously available only in server space, into consumer-grade hardware.
Until now, the consumer DDR5 market has been limited to single- and dual-rank modules, with a maximum capacity of 64GB per DIMM. With a 4-rank module architecture (dividing the module into four groups via chip stacking), Adata has pushed the new capacity limit to 128GB. This means that even dual-DIMM motherboards can now support 256GB of RAM.
Despite the clear advantage of using such a design, there is a technical trade-off to it. A 4-rank configuration increases the load on the memory bus, which can negatively impact maximum stable frequencies. For gaming, less dense memory modules might still be better, but for memory-intensive applications, such as AI workloads and high-end content creation, the sheer increase in capacity may outweigh the benefit of higher clock speeds.
To ensure stability, Adata has already been validating its 4-rank DDR5 5600 MT/s CUDIMM modules on MSI's upcoming Z890 motherboards. This development is particularly significant for the small form-factor (SFF) market, where dual-DIMM motherboards are the standard, removing a major capacity limitation for high-performance compact builds. Adata has not yet shared detailed specifications or a retail launch date for the new 128GB modules, but a 2026 release looks plausible.
Mojang has officially announced Minecraft Blast, a new free-to-play mobile puzzle game developed in collaboration with King, the studio behind Candy Crush Saga. The announcement confirms that this is a separate project and will not interfere with or delay future updates for the core Minecraft game, such as the upcoming Mounts of Mayhem update.
The new title (via MobileGamer) is described as a “modern match puzzle” game. Based on early screenshots, players will match blocks by colour or type within a set number of moves to complete level objectives. The gameplay is supplemented with familiar Minecraft mechanics, including boosters themed as tools like pickaxes and shovels. Beyond the puzzle levels, players will also be able to unlock themed locations and construct their own Minecraft-inspired structures.
Minecraft Blast is still in its “extremely early days” according to Mojang. The first limited playtest is currently being rolled out in Malaysia only. This initial test is only available via the Apple App Store on iOS. Mojang has stated that it plans to expand testing to other regions and platforms in the future to gather feedback.
As is standard for this kind of early-phase testing, the current build contains only a small portion of the final content. Mojang has also confirmed that any progress made by players during this test period will be reset and will not carry over to the final, full release of the game.
Back around 2018, an E3 leak claimed that Ubisoft was planning on announcing a new Splinter Cell game. That turned out to be entirely false, but the publisher was indeed working on a revival of the stealth-action franchise at one point, although it was quickly cancelled in a pivot towards ‘live service' games.
This week, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier published a new interview with AdHoc Studios co-founder, Nick Herman, covering his journey from Ubisoft to founding his new studio and releasing the new hit-game Dispatch. In this interview, Herman reveals that around 2017, when he took on a role at Ubisoft's San Francisco studio, he and a small team had worked on a new Splinter Cell game for several months:
Herman had the following to say about his time working on Splinter Cell:
“I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it, because it’s been dormant for a while, and we thought we could tell a great story and do something the fans would love”.
However, it is claimed that the game was cancelled very early on, as Ubisoft had begun asking its studios to focus on ‘Games as a service', otherwise known as live-service games. The group struggled to come up with an idea that would stick and ultimately, Herman left Ubisoft to start up AdHoc Studios, which just released its first hit game, Dispatch, which prominently features Breaking Bad co-star, Aaron Paul in a lead acting role.
Eventually, Ubisoft San Francisco hired a new leader, Mark Rubin, and began working on XDefiant. While the game garnered some hype during its beta testing phase, players had issues with the title at launch and ultimately, Ubisoft shut the game down and closed the San Francisco studio.
While some have taken this interview to mean that Splinter Cell was cancelled specifically for XDefiant, that was not the case. The Splinter Cell project had a short-lived life in 2017 and was cancelled to focus on live-service multiplayer games. However, XDefiant didn't come to be until after 2019, at least two years after the short-lived Splinter Cell project.
KitGuru Says: There is a serious lack of stealth-action games on the current market. Ubisoft has the perfect IP to fill that gap. Hopefully at some point in the next couple of years, it capitalises on that opportunity.
Over the past year, Bungie has been attempting to fight a plagiarism lawsuit from a writer who claimed that the original Red War campaign for Destiny 2 copied from his own published work. Now, Bungie has been forced to settle, after content vaulting ruined its chances of effectively fighting the case.
As reported by The Game Post, Bungie has settled the lawsuit, although the specific details of the settlement agreement have not been made public. The settlement comes after Bungie failed to get the case dismissed, in large part due to its decision to delete the Red War campaign from the game.
While initially the Content Vault was pitched as something Bungie could pull content in and out from, that turned out to not be the case. All of the ‘vaulted' content can no longer be implemented back into Destiny 2. As a result, Bungie attempted to submit YouTuber playthroughs, lore videos and Wiki articles as evidence to fight the lawsuit. The judge assigned to the case would not accept this evidence, as they were third-party retellings of the events and could not be considered truly representative of the product.
If Bungie had been able to create a legacy build of Destiny 2 with the Red War campaign still in-tact, then it would have been able to properly demonstrate the differences between its own work and that of the writer on the other side of the lawsuit. Content Vaulting continues to look like a worse and worse idea by the day. Fortunately for Destiny players, Bungie has since realised what a colossal mistake this was and will no longer be vaulting content.
KitGuru Says: It isn't much of a ‘vault' if Bungie itself can't unlock it and reimplement the content. I imagine a lot of Destiny players right now would be keen for a limited-time event that allowed them to replay the original campaign missions, but it simply isn't possible according to Bungie itself. If it had been possible, they wouldn't have had to settle this lawsuit.
Patriot Memory's flagship Viper Xtreme 5 DDR5 has officially broken the world record for memory frequency, becoming the first to surpass the 13,200 MT/s barrier.
The new record was set by professional overclocker Ai Max and tuning specialist Brian “Chew”. Using liquid nitrogen cooling (LN2), the team achieved a validated speed of 6605.7MHz (CL68-127-127-127-2), which translates to an effective data rate of 13,211.4MT/s. This score now sits at the top of the international rankings on HWBOT.
Funny enough, the platform used to achieve this result was built on previous-generation hardware. The record-breaking Viper Xtreme 5 memory module was installed on a Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Tachyon Ice motherboard and paired with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor underclocked to 2.1GHz on the P-cores and 1.7GHz on the E-cores. Both components were operating under LN2.
Escape from Tarkov has officially launched on Steam but the transition to the biggest PC gaming platform hasn't gone smoothly. Following the launch, many players had issues getting into the game and so far, the store page has been flooded with negative user reviews.
Escape from Tarkov has launched to ‘mixed' reviews on Steam, with the majority of the top-rated reviews being negative. Players had issues creating accounts at launch, while others had issues with an error stating the game files were ‘corrupted' after a fresh install. Due to the game using a third-party launcher, even when purchased on Steam, players also expressed concern about missing their 2-hour refund window before even getting to try the game for themselves.
Currently, the review split stands at 10K negative reviews to just over 4K positive reviews. The positive reviews that do exist all express admiration for Escape from Tarkov's tension, immersion, realistic shooting and difficulty. It is perhaps the most ‘hardcore' extraction shooter on the market, while games like Arc Raiders and Marathon look to serve a broader audience of players.
Battlestate Games had increased server capacity for Escape from Tarkov in the lead-up to the Steam launch. However, many players encountered issues with the game launcher and the website for creating accounts. We expect those issues to subside pretty quickly, at which point, players should have an easier time getting into the game. Still, it is clear that Tarkov is not a game for everyone.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has officially launched, and early impressions are mixed. Two almost universally maligned parts of the latest COD game can be seen in blatantly AI-generated art and what looks to be one of the worst campaigns yet seen in the series. This isn't to say there aren't positive aspects of the Black Ops 7 experience—the
A new wave of state-level proposals targeting virtual private networks has stirred up an unusual amount of alarm from digital-rights groups, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation isn't pulling punches. In a detailed critique published this week, the organization called efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin "misguided," "technically incoherent,"
Metroid Prime 4 is due to release on December 4th, 2025, and some outlets were invited to a hands-on preview. When the embargo lifted, early testers posted their impressions of the first few hours of the game, mainly across the space station intro and a jungle area called Fury Green, and the results were mixed. Although there were some positive
Apple is expected to release an AirTag 2 tracker at some point, perhaps even by the end of the year. Nothing is official, though, and with Black Friday deals arriving early, the current generation AirTag can be had for a great price, especially if picking up the 4-pack. If going that route, you end up paying just $16.25 per AirTag, which is
Like so many companies, Razer and its retail partners are already dishing up Black Friday deals with enticing discounts. As such, now is your chance to score a Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop for hundreds of dollars below MSRP, as well as a variety of Razer gaming peripherals for up to 51% off. Let's dive in.
Razer Blade 14 OLED Gaming Laptop
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Connexion
