UHQBot
-
Posts
39,331 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
25
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Downloads
Posts posted by UHQBot
-
-
The Epic Store saw the launch of its first NFT game today, Blankos Block Party, a sort of Roblox-like creation game powered by everyone's favorite tech snake oil, Web3 and the blockchain.
First, an acknowledgement—we featured Blankos Block Party at The PC Gaming Show in 2020, a time when the idea of blockchain-based gaming was still in its unassuming infancy, as opposed to its current scammy, speculative, recovering-from-the-recent-crypto-crash adolescence.
Our writeup at the time contains dark portents of what was to come. "With some Blankos being seasonal or limited edition, there's a certain rarity to certain characters. It follows the same logic of collecting physical designer toys in that sense," PC Gamer wrote that year. If only we had known.
There are definitely some appealing fundamentals to Blankos. After all, Roblox is a megahit with some neat ideas: What if someone made something like it that didn't look, you know, like that. The "Social Multiplayer Party Game" has a robust-looking level editor, one that reminds me of Fortnite Creative or Little Big Planet and could, under the right circumstances, foster a similar environment of user creativity.
Blankos has the look of a pleasant and charming multiplayer playground, but I find it hard to see it as anything other than another example of a highly negative gaming trend, one the formerly quite bullish Ubisoft recently distanced itself from. A quick search of the game's name on YouTube fails to yield examples of cool community projects, but rather a litany of guides on how to earn money while playing it.
Steam took a hardline stance against blockchain games, while the Epic Store has left the door open to NFTs. Time will tell if Epic will reap the rewards with some Web3 megahits. According to WorthPlaying, Blankos developer Mythical Games claimed it reached one million player accounts in December 2021, but its footprint on YouTube and Twitch seems fairly light, with just 41 concurrent viewers on the latter platform at the time of writing.
But maybe my skepticism is unfounded, especially when Blankos has such killer apps as the Minny B winged donkey-looking skin made in collaboration with Burberry. It's only $900 too, an absolute bargain.
-
When Darkest Dungeon 2 launched into early access on the Epic Games Store in October 2021, it shared a pretty substantial piece of the campaign: it was populated with enemies and equipment, and you could reach an endpoint at The Mountain, defeating the boss that lies at the end of the game's first act.
What it didn't have, though, was much of a progression system. But that's all about to change thanks to a major update that has brought the Altar of Hope, a permanent base similar to the Hamlet in Darkest Dungeon where players can unlock classes, items, and other upgrades.
The new progression system will grant players Candles of Hope for completing objectives, progressing through areas, and defeating evil, which can then be used to acquire various upgrades which will (hopefully) make your future journeys more survival and profitable. Naturally, daring deeds will earn the greatest rewards, but if you push your luck too far, you'll be punished for it: You can end your current expedition at any inn and keep whatever candles you've earned up to that point, but if you press on and wipe, there will be a penalty. "It’s always better to make it to the next Inn," developer Red Hook Studios said.
The only exception to that rule is for players who make it to the mountain, the home of Darkest Dungeon 2's current final boss: Even if you ultimately fail in your quest, you'll keep all candles earned.
Candles of Hope are a currency, then, that can be spent at the Altar of Hope, which players will visit at the start of each journey, to improve attributes in one of four categories:
General Upgrades
(Image credit: Red Hook Studios)
Heroes
(Image credit: Red Hook Studios)Items
(Image credit: Red Hook Studios)Memories
(Image credit: Red Hook Studios)The last category is different from the first three because it's not permanent: Memories are powerful but only last for the life of that specific hero. Those lives aren't always especially long, but heroes who can stick around through the showdown with the final boss will keep their memories, making them even more powerful.
"While their Mastery level will be reset, surviving heroes will also keep their Hero Path, quirks, and name," Red Hook explained. "Plus, heroes who survive a final boss battle can now have an additional Memory invested. These characteristics will persist until the hero's death."
The Altar of Hope confers one other benefit to players in their battle against creeping evil: As candles are invested into it, the view of the Kingdom will gradually be restored to what it once was. Not very practical, perhaps, but a nice touch.
The Altar of Hope update is live today on the Darkest Dungeon 2 experimental branch on the Epic Games Store, so you'll need to be opted in to that if you want to give it a look. Red Hook Studio warned that the update "is a wholesale rework of the fundamental underpinnings of Darkest Dungeon 2’s metagame & progression," and that all current hope scores will be reset, meaning that unlocked items and heroes, and any in-progress expeditions, will be wiped.
You've got a little bit of time to wrap things up if you're not ready to get into all that just yet, as Red Hook expects the update will be ready to go live on the main branch of Darkest Dungeon 2 in a week or two.
The update also introduces the new Bounty Hunter, a return character from the first game, and also makes numerous changes to other heroes, monsters, and gameplay. The full details are up at darkestdungeon.com.
-
HBO Max has revealed its first full teaser for the upcoming The Last of Us TV show. The nearly two minute trailer shows a montage of scenes from the show, prominently featuring Pedro Pascal's Joel and Bella Ramsey (who you may remember as Lyana Mormont in Game of Thrones) as Ellie.
The trailer begins with shots of Pascal wandering through a settlement of survivors, set to a thankfully not too cinematic-trailery-chopped-and-screwed version of "Alone and Forsaken" by Hank Williams. Just some extra stomp and clap "bwaam bwaam" added when the action gets heavy, no full cover with mournful, distorted vocals like every other serious streaming show trailer. Points from me for that.
Pascal and Bella look great in their respective roles, and everything from the costuming to the sets manage to communicate that weirdly cozy, autumnal desolation of The Last of Us without dipping into straight up imitation.
The trailer offers a few oblique glances of the infected without showing off too much, including the tasteful un-reveal of a super close-up on a Clicker's face.
There he is. (Image credit: HBO Max)Other highlights included the briefest of glimpses of Nick Offerman holding a shotgun, a fun overhead shot of Joel and Ellie crossing a snow-covered bridge (I think I just liked it because it reminded me of this bit from Fargo), and a few peeks of Joel and Ellie horseback riding like that memorable sequence from the games.
I'm not the biggest Last of Us guy, but everything here looks pretty solid, and it has a certain splash of color I always thought was missing from The Walking Dead. Plus, it's always just nice to see Pedro Pascal in something—that guy almost made Wonder Woman 1984 watchable.
-
It pays to know each of the Wrath of the Lich King Classic zone level requirements when you're ready to start your adventure into Northrend. With 11 new zones to explore, you'll be doing a lot of travelling so it's worth knowing ahead of time which zones cater to the various character levels so you can plan your levelling journey accordingly.
Below you'll find a breakdown of each of the new Wrath Classic zones, along with their suggested level range. Further down, you'll find some general advice if this is your first time in Northrend so you won't be left out in the cold.
WoW: Wrath Classic zone levels
Zone Level range Scarlet Enclave 55-58 Borean Tundra 68-72 Howling Fjord 68-72 Dragonblight 71-75 Grizzly Hills 73-75 Zul'Drak 74-76 Sholazar Basin 76-78 Crystalsong Forest 77-80 Icecrown 77-80 Storm Peaks 77-80 Wintergrasp (PvP zone) 77-80 The first zone on the list is the Scarlet Enclave, the starting zone for Death Knights, so unless you roll the new hero class for yourself, you won't get to see this particular area. Once you're ready to move to Northrend, you're given the choice of two starting zones—Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord, and from there, quests will lead you to the next appropriate zone. Of course, you can mix things up if you want but you should make sure you stay within the level range of each zone for optimal XP gain.
It's also worth noting that all of these zones are contested, so if you're on a PvP realm, you should take care when out and about.
Wintergrasp is slightly different as it is a dedicated world PvP zone, even on PvE servers where you'll be flagged for PvP if you fly into the area. The capital city of Dalaran—not included in the list above as it doesn't have a level restriction—is a sanctuary for both Horde and Alliance players, similar to Shattrath City in Outland.
-
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has sparked controversy by saying that "you need a little friction" to make videogames, a remark that's caused backlash because of the company's well-known problems with toxicity and abusiveness in the workplace.
"Creating a videogame is not easy," Guillemot said in a recent interview with La Presse (Google translated) in reply to a question about why workplace misconduct seems so widespread in the game industry. "There is a 'challenge,' from time to time a lot of tension. Techniques must be put in place to ensure that everyone succeeds in finding their place. To create, you need a little friction, because everyone has to succeed in getting their idea across. It's a job that brings a lot of rewards when you succeed, but it's difficult."
It's a fairly innocuous statement about the nature of collaborative work, and not quite a direct quote because the interview is in French. Still, the "friction" comment immediately raised eyebrows because of Ubisoft's long and ugly history with workplace abuses. Those issues first came to widespread attention in mid-2020, and while some high-level managers were ousted in the immediate aftermath of those revelations, many employees have been critical of what they feel is an overly slow pace of meaningful change. In July, for instance, the employee group A Better Ubisoft shared an open letter saying that "we have seen nothing more than a year of kind words, empty promises, and an inability or unwillingness to remove known offenders."
Guillemot pushed back on those claims in a GamesIndustry interview earlier this month, saying that "we have done a lot" to tackle abuses and "acted quickly in cutting some people's jobs" when allegations of wrongdoing came to light. He echoed those sentiments in response to criticism of his comment in this interview, saying that "there is absolutely no place for toxicity at Ubisoft or in our industry."
"When I spoke of there sometimes being friction, I was thinking of the creative tension that is common and vital in innovative companies like ours, where people have the freedom to challenge ideas and have heated but healthy debates," Guillemot said in a statement sent to PC Gamer. "To prevent this tension from becoming negative or to address it if it does, that's where strong policies, values and corresponding procedures are essential.
"Over the past two and half years, we have made a lot of progress on that front in order to deliver safe and great experiences to all of our teams. Healthy, respectful working environments are our top priority and we're pleased to say that according to our latest surveys, our team members are reassured that we are on the right track."
Guillemot and Ubisoft have previously pointed to employee surveys indicating that the company is moving in the right direction, including in the recent GamesIndustry interview. But those too have fallen under criticism from some employees for lacking context and specificity.
-
All over the corners of the internet, dedicated fans are keeping their favourite online games afloat. If I ever get a nostalgic pang to return to Toontown—an MMO that has been dead since 2013—there are a myriad of faithful and evolved servers I can jump right into. It's part and parcel of our hobby. Unfortunately, it seems Atlus doesn't love these fan revivals quite as much as I do.
As spotted by MarshSMT on Twitter, the developer is suing two fans (operating under Rekuiemu Games and COMP_Hack) for copyright infringement over its MMO Shin Megami Tensei Imagine Online. The game's official servers shut down in May 2016, with the revived fan server cropping up sometime in late 2020. A website that Atlus says is a "blatant copy" of the original Imagine website was also allegedly operated by Rekuiemu. The website seems to be a major pushing point for Atlus, with the suit claiming Reukuiemu "falsely added its own copyright information" alongside the ones for Atlus, Sega and co-developer Cave Interactive.
The suit was originally filed back in December 2021, but has now reached the point where both Rekuiemu and COMP_Hack are being summoned to appear in court. The suit claims the fan server has "caused and will continue to cause irreparable damage to Atlus unless restrained by this Court," despite the servers being dead for over six years. The developer is seeking "statutory damages of up to $25,000 per violation of the DMCA," plus "monetary relief including damages sustained by Atlus in an amount not yet determined."
It could be a pretty big deal if Atlus wins, potentially opening the floodgates to more publishers pursuing fans who diligently preserve games that would otherwise never see the light of day again. It's a worrying time for game preservation, and the suit alone already seems to have successfully spooked some people. ReImagine, another fan server dedicated to the MMO, released a statement on its Discord server announcing it too would be closing its doors. "While ReImagine hasn't been served any sort of notice (that we know of), Atlus's decision to outright sue instead of issue a C&D has made us worry about the safety of the users who helped keep the game alive.
"So with a heavy heart, we regret to inform everyone that the decision has been made to close down the ReImagine server permanently."
-
Trails from Zero begins near the end, plunging players straight into a thrilling in media res segment without any warning or explanation. The main cast's all here: the only problem is nobody playing will know who these people are, where they are, or what they're supposed to be doing. Between all the mentions of places not yet visited and references back to events as yet unseen, anyone picking up Trails from Zero will, at best, be able to tell that the four party members are firm friends willing to dive into dangerous and unknown places for each other's sake. It seems like whatever lies ahead is sure to be as awe-inspiring as it is deadly.
And then leading man Lloyd wakes up on the train to Crossbell City, with absolutely no idea what that weird dream he just had was about.
This opening is beloved JRPG developer Falcom at the height of its power, completely comfortable with its setting, storytelling style, and the tools it used to create this tale…well over a decade ago. There's no point denying it—the English side of the internet is now several Trails of Cold Steels too late to experience Zero in its intended slot in the increasingly complex Trails series. While those more recent RPGs were released in English between 2017 and 2021, it's taken a full 12 years for Trails from Zero to finally be localised.
Luckily this lateness doesn't matter.
Not understanding exactly what's going on in Trails from Zero means the player is in exactly the same boat as its lead character. This jarring intro's a sign—a gift, even—from Falcom themselves: Zero may not be a completely clean break away from the famously dense Trails in the Sky games that came before it (or the Cold Steel games that came after it), but the focus of this game is Lloyd Bannings, his friends and family, and the small city-state of Crossbell. In a series that's often sprawling, this one truly is focused. There are references to past events, and plot threads started here may stretch out into the future, but Zero has been written first and foremost as Zero. It's a compelling tale in its own right.
The tight-knit cast of four are quickly thrown together and from that point on every interaction adds layers of depth to their personal relationships. The series' uniquely unhurried pace provides plenty of time for lengthy conversations filled with Trails' unique terminology, and quiet chats that in the moment seem to exist purely to show off just how well-developed Zero's cast are. These are characters more than strong enough to stand on their own merits—none of them feel like they exist to fill a trope.
They're not just imitations of previous Trails heroes, either. Your party aren't Bracers, the Sky trilogy's ever-present band of odd-job do-gooders for hire. They're Special Support Section police officers—and more importantly they don't want to be Bracers, which was the dream of the Trails' series first protagonist. Zero still includes old organisations and some of the people who work for them, but it never blindly wallows in navel-gazing nostalgia for its previous heroes, and it never portrays Crossbell or the people living within it as anything less than the most important part of their own story.
This commitment to feeling fresh extends to the city itself. It's a place of gleaming department stores and dim alleys, of obscene wealth and abject poverty, a place where mobile phones and magic can peacefully coexist. Crossbell City is a character in its own right, an endlessly fascinating location with its own rich web of intrigue where multiple less-than-savoury parties work for their own interests and conspire to bring down their enemies, all at the expense of the peaceful lives of ordinary citizens.
It's almost impossible to not become as fond of the city as the people living within it when playing Zero—this is a place capable of making me think fondly of its bus stops, for goodness' sake. When a few chapters send the party further afield, coming back to Crossbell really does feel like coming home.
In spite of this onslaught of newness, much of Zero's core gameplay will still feel very familiar to anyone who's played a Falcom RPG. Falcom's ability to create a soundtrack guaranteed to make anyone's heart pound with excitement is still present and correct. The battle system builds upon the already wonderful turn-based grid that came before it without rushing to "fix" anything that wasn't broken. The materia-like Orbment system makes another welcome return, giving your team's spellcasting some flexibility without turning everyone's skill lists into carbon copies of each other's. But having previous experience with any of these features or being aware of how they've been subtly tweaked for the better isn't required.
Zero never assumes its players have just wrapped up a Trails in the Sky trilogy marathon. Total newcomers are always part of the conversation, supported by accessible tutorials and reams of explanatory text that walk players through key features as they are introduced.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Nihon Falcom)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Nihon Falcom)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Nihon Falcom)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Nihon Falcom)There's no getting away from the fact that the Trails series is an intimidating tangle of interconnected mini arcs with the odd confusing one-off thrown in just for good measure (such as the upcoming The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails).Every game seems to take longer than the last to clear—even the world's most dedicated Falcom fan would still have to put in about 15 40-hour weeks to play them all, from Trails in the Sky through to the end of the currently untranslated Kuro no Kiseki 2. With that length comes the understandable fear of missing out on some important plot point, of some detail going unappreciated if you didn't start at the very beginning and then patiently work your way through everything in a strict order.
But I'm here to tell you you really, truly don't have to. And so is Trails from Zero.
The message Falcom is sending with Zero is this: Don't worry about how many games there are, or where Calvard is in relation to Erebonia, or which mysterious individual is planning what in the shadows. This painstakingly crafted world is big enough for more than one story, for more than one thing to matter. Old faces may meet new ones, and the dramatic events of one region may eventually have an impact on another, but there is more than enough text in this series for everyone to have a story of their own. It's okay to leap in at the beginning of any arc and enjoy the story told there in isolation from the rest.
This is the Trails series' frequently unsung strength: to be willing to move on from the past in a meaningful way, to give new faces and even whole new countries the chance to develop into places with more depth than most RPGs ever dare to imagine, never mind realise. This is as true for Zero as it is for any other game in the series: the past and the future are both very important, but they never matter as much as the present.
-
We declared earlier this year that E3 should never be in-person again, but E3 apparently wasn't listening. In June, the Entertainment Software Association announced a partnership with PAX organizer ReedPop to make E3 return in 2023 and today they announced the show dates as well as a change in scheduling that will see the event split into industry and public days.
The big event will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center begining on June 13, 2023 with E3 Business Days, which will be restricted to "registered industry personnel" for hands-on time with upcoming games and probably lots of meetings and stuff. Business! E3 Business Days will run until June 15.
June 15 will also see the start of the open-to-all (as long as you have a ticket) E3 Gamer Days, "inviting consumers to go hands-on with the future of gaming and connect with developers, content creators, media personalities, and more." E3 Gamer Days will be held in a separate hall at LACC, presumably to avoid potential rumbling with the business types, and will run through June 16, giving attendees the opportunity to "go hands-on with the future of gaming and connect with developers, content creators, media personalities, and more.".
Leading up to all of this will be a series of "partnered digital events" that will begin on June 11 and run for the duration of the show.
"E3 is one of the global gaming industry’s few opportunities to come together, unite as one loud voice, and show the world what it is creating," ReedPop VP of Gaming Kyle Marsden-Kish said. "Our vision is to reunite the industry by re-establishing the traditional E3 week, bring back that spark, and restore E3's role as a truly magical global showcase event for game creators and consumers."
A noble goal to be sure, but it remains to be seen whether anyone actually wants that week back. There was a time when E3 was far and away the biggest event of the year, but that's long past, and its declining relevance was thrown into sharp relief by its Covid 19-driven absence over the past three years, which seemed to roll along perfectly fine without it.
Some people, by which I mean PC Gamer's Rich Stanton, miss the excitement and spontaneity of a live E3, and if he's correct in his assessment of its primary underlying problem—"The ESA is a 'frack' show"—then putting it in the hands of ReedPop, which has considerable experience in managing public events, might at least get the show back on to some form of relevance. Much of its potential success lies with who ultimately signs up to take part. But with open-to-the-public PAX events already in plentiful supply, major publisher pressers succeeding as digital-only showcases, and of course Geoff Keighley's big Summer Game Fest show also set to run in June (specific dates for that one haven't been announced yet), the big question remains: E3 is back, but will anyone care?
Details on what's in store for E3 2023, including exhibitors, schedules, and hotel and travel guides, will be released in the coming months.
-
There are a lot of USB microphones out there for streaming and podcasting. Naturally, big names like Shure and Rode, who generally resided in the pro-sumer side of audio, have expanded into the content creator market by offering top-quality recording gear at somewhat more affordable prices. 512 Audio is one such company that's taking its pro audio know-how and cramming it into the more wallet-friendly Tempest microphone.
I guess the thinking is if you can make a mic good enough for Green Day, it should be good enough for your true crime podcast.
There's something about the look of the Tempest that I'm vibing with. It's a simple yet sleek design. The cylindrical, all-black, grilled metal casing covers the 34mm large-diaphragm gold-plated capsule and has an old-school studio microphone aesthetic. When connected, a neat blue LED ring appears on the capsule, giving it just enough personality without looking tacky.
As you can hear from the test recording, the Tempest does a really good job at cutting out the background noise in my office, where the hum of my RTX 3090-powered gaming PC, or AC unit, tends to make its way into my work and Discord calls.
I guess the thinking is if you can make a mic good enough for Green Day, it should be good enough for your true crime podcast.
My voice was crisp and clear in the recording. In fact, it was so clear you could hear that I'd been fighting off a bit of a cold. Illnesses aside have a listen to how the Tempest sounds compared to some of our favorite mics, particularly the premium mics like the Shute MV7 podcast, a mic nearly double in price but has the same sample rate.
Plosives are handled pretty well without a pop filter. If you're looking for versatility, though, you might be disappointed since the microphone only has one polar pattern (cardioid); we've seen similarly priced mics like the HyperX Quadcast mic, which has four polar patterns. More polar patterns give you more recording options if you stream with multiple people in the same room.
Included in the package comes a standard desktop stand and low-profile shock mount, which gives the mic some versatility. The shock mount is handy if you're an excitable type and tend to bang into your desk during a stream. I usually use a boom arm since my desk space is limited, and the setup was pretty painless.
The desktop stand is probably the thing I like the least about the Tempest. Once set up, the Tempest never felt stable. The only way I kept it from tipping over involved angling it in a funky way. This means it's almost impossible to use the desktop stand and shock mount together in any meaningful way since the shock mount would make the microphone too heavy for the desktop stand to support. Invest in a good boom arm to make the most of the microphone.
512 Audio Tempest specs(Image credit: Future - Jorge Jimenez)Condensers: 1
Directional Patterns: Cardioid Polar Pattern
Controls: Volume dial, mute button, headphone jack
Recording Sample Rate: 48kHz
Bit Depth: 24-bit
Price: $160For the same price, you could get the Elgato Wave 3, which offers a great digital mixer that's super handy for streamers, and it has a pretty solid desktop stand. Again, this isn't necessarily a deal breaker for someone who just wants a good-sounding mic and doesn't care about anything. Though for streamers and other content creators, constantly worrying about if your mic will fall over at any moment can't be good.
512 Audio's Tempest is one of the more impressive sounding USB microphones I've gotten to use in a while. It captures clean, warm audio, which makes it perfect for podcasters or musicians looking for a solid microphone for $160, though don't expect too much from the stand. It doesn't offer the same flexibility and features as other microphones at that price point.
-
Wrath of the Lich King Classic introduces a large northern continent just waiting to be explored—or revisited in many cases. If you can't quite remember how to get to Northrend the old-fashioned way, this guide is here to help you out. Whether you play Alliance or Horde, I'll explain where you need to go to get started on your journey to Northrend.
Before you head out though, you'll need to decide where you want to start. You can choose between Borean Tundra to the southwest or Howling Fjord over on the southeastern corner of the new continent. As each destination has a different departure point, I'll go over those too. Here's how to get to Northrend in Wrath Classic.
How to get to Borean Tundra in Northend
Borean Tundra is the easiest destination to get to for both Horde and Alliance players and is likely to be the zone you end up in if you don't realise there's an alternative.
For Horde players, head to Orgrimmar's main gate—the southern one that leads to Durotar—and look for the zeppelin tower found outside and to the right. There are two zeppelin towers outside Orgrimmar's gates and the one you're looking for can also send you to Thunder Bluff. Board the zeppelin and it will take you to Borean Tundra.
Alliance players must head to the Stormwind City harbor and find the northernmost dock. Here you'll find a boat that takes you to Borean Tundra, though you may need to wait a few minutes for it to return.
Image 1 of 4The zeppelin tower that takes Horde players to Borean Tundra. (Image credit: Blizzard)Image 2 of 4The boat that takes Alliance players to Borean Tundra. (Image credit: Blizzard)Image 3 of 4The zeppelin tower in Tirisfal Glades that goes to Howling Fjord. (Image credit: Blizzard)Image 4 of 4The boat in Menethil Harbor that travels to Howling Fjord. (Image credit: Blizzard)How to get to Howling Fjord
Howling Fjord is much more vibrant than the bleak environment of Borean Tundra. If you decide you want to start questing in this area, you'll need to travel to reach the departure point.
Horde players will first have to make their way to Tirisfal Glades in the Eastern Kingdoms. If you don't have a friendly mage on standby to open a portal to Undercity, you'll need to head to the zeppelin tower to the left of the Orgrimmar gates—not the one that takes you to Borean Tundra. From here, you can get a zeppelin to Tirisfal Glades.
Once in Tirisfal, head down the steps of the zeppelin tower and climb up the one next to it. From here, you can take another zeppelin to Howling Fjord.
Alliance players should head to Menethil Harbor, found in the Wetlands in Eastern Kingdoms. If you've got the flight point for that location, great. Otherwise, you'll need to run there from the closest one you have—this shouldn't be too much of a bother because of your level. Once you arrive, head to the dock on the far right and a boat will arrive to take you to Howling Fjord.
-
One of the most anticipated releases of the year has finally arrived with World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic. We’ve already taken out a Lady, handed a set-back to a Prince, set time straight, and proven we were prepared by banishing the Legion. Now it’s time to show a King that they don’t rule forever.
Consider this leveling guide your cheat sheet to reach level 80 quickly in the new Wrath Classic expansion. It doesn’t just apply to Northrend—a lot of these tips can also be used when leveling a fresh character from level one. You'll also find it useful if you created a Death Knight, the new hero class introduced in Wrath Classic, and are looking to level them up from 55 to 80.
If you're ready to start exploring Northrend, or want some general tips for lower-level characters, this Wrath Classic leveling guide will set you on the right path.
Wrath Classic leveling guide: Preparation is key
It’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement of the new quests, dungeons and other activities that Wrath Classic has in store for you, but take a moment to think about what you need to do in Outland to get yourself ready. Filling up on buff-activating food, potions, elixirs, bandages and scrolls can make your journey through Northrend much easier.
Preparation doesn’t just extend to your character though, so make sure you’re prepared for the inevitable queues that some of the larger servers will have by logging on early during the day if you can.
(Image credit: Blizzard)Choices, choices
Unlike Burning Crusade Classic, Wrath Classic gives you two locations where you can begin your journey into Northrend. Both Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra are open to Horde and Alliance with breadcrumb quests available to both, so it's down to personal preference which you choose. Everyone in the community has their own favourite—fellow Howling Fjord enjoyer here—but if one zone isn’t quite your thing, then you can switch to the other area without too much hassle.
It's worth noting that if you’re looking for a faster leveling experience then Borean Tundra should be your starting choice. If you want a more cinematic and story-driven opener to Wrath Classic, then Howling Fjord is perfect for you.
Quests fit for champions
As with both the original WoW Classic and Burning Crusade Classic, questing is your best option when it comes to leveling in Wrath Classic. With all new questing areas, rewards, and faction reputations available, going through the quests in each zone will net you substantial XP gain while also increasing your character's power ready for endgame content once you hit max level.
If your main focus is speed, however, don't forget to keep an eye on zone levels. If you out-level a particular area, you won't get gain as much XP from questing or killing mobs there. Just be aware you won't get the additional rewards for finishing the main quests in a zone if you skip out early.
…but champions also run dungeons
Questing isn’t the only option for people looking to reach level 80 quickly. If you’re focusing on pure speed and have a group of friends at the ready, then constantly running nothing but dungeons can be a faster alternative, providing you can keep up a good pace. It’s a very effective form of leveling but it only really works if you have four other friends all prepared to put the time and effort into leveling via dungeon runs.
(Image credit: Blizzard)Don't ignore group quests
If you have no interest in grouping up with folks to grind through dungeons until you reach level 80, it's still worth being on the lookout for groups doing elite quests or dungeon quests. The rewards from completing these are generally much better than the ones from regular questing, netting you more XP and better gear. More importantly. though, it also means you can make friends on your way to level 80 and even help folks that might be struggling out in the frosty lands of Northrend.
Always be active
One of the easiest ways to fall behind when you’re leveling is the downtime between quests. Whether it be waiting for respawns of a specific mob or searching for items in an area, if you find yourself idle, don’t stand around or wander aimlessly as this will cost you time that could be used to earn more XP.
If you’re waiting for that specific mob to respawn or trying to figure out where an item is, kill any other mobs in the area whilst you wait. It might not give you the most XP but it will keep you ticking over and will quickly add up over multiple quests. You also might get very lucky with a piece of rare gear dropping for you.
If you’re in a new area, remember to set your Hearthstone at an inn so you can get back there quickly. This can save you a large amount of time if you have a number of quests to hand in at a hub. Also, if you need to log out, pay attention to where you are. Be sure you’re at an inn so you gain rested XP—even if it’s for only 15 minutes—and have quests nearby so you can get back into the leveling action when you log back in.
(Image credit: Blizzard)Take to the skies
One of the big changes in Wrath Classic is how quickly you can use your flying mount in Northrend. To access the majority of the final two zones—Storm Peaks and Icecrown—you need to be able to take to the skies—to achieve this, you need to buy Cold Weather Flying once you hit level 77. Make sure you've already learned Expert Riding then head to one of the three following trainers:
- Hira Snowdawn (Krasus Landing, Dalaran)
- Roxi Ramrocket (K3, Storm Peaks)
- Pilot Vic (Rivers Heart, Sholazar Basin)
Cold Weather Flying will cost you 1000 gold, so be sure to save as you make your way to the later levels of your Northrend journey. One added benefit is that once you have bought this once on a character, it unlocks the Cold Weather Flying tome that can be sent to alts as low as level 68, enabling them to fly in Northrend immediately.
(Image credit: Blizzard)While it is incredibly exciting that Wrath Classic has finally arrived, it’s going to be here for a relatively long time. The first raid of Wrath Classic, Naxxramas, won't be available until October 6, so there’s plenty of time to get your character ready to take on Kel’Thuzad in the Dread Fortress. In short, make sure you’re taking time to keep your body moving and take some time away from the screen.
-
Nvidia's DLSS 3 looks like weaving some serious magic for frame rates when Nvidia releases the GeForce RTX 4090 on October 12. I've already covered the performance boosts we can expect to see when it hits the updated Overdrive rendering path for Cyberpunk 2077 when that gets released. And with Nvidia promising support for DLSS 3 in an impressive 35 games already, things are looking good for the tech. It looks pretty much essential for RTX Racer, pictured above.
The only thing is, DLSS 3 is exclusive to the RTX 40-series. This inevitably leads to the question: what does that mean for owners of existing cards? It's great that Nvidia is pushing the frame rate boosting AI-powered tech forward, but surely there are far too many RTX 30-series and RTX 20-series cards out there to suddenly ignore. Surely?
The good news is that these DLSS 3 games will still benefit. As Nvidia confirmed to us: "So DLSS 2 (or DLSS Super Resolution, if you prefer) and NVIDIA Reflex will, of course, remain supported on prior generation hardware, so current GeForce gamers will still benefit from games integrating DLSS 3."
One way of looking at all of this is to consider DLSS 3 as a superset of DLSS 2. This means that DLSS 2, or DLSS Super Resolution as it is also known, won't be going anywhere. That's a good thing, as DLSS is one of the best ways of boosting your frame rate without degrading your visual fidelity.
So, why is DLSS 3 an RTX 40-series exclusive technology? When considered in this light, DLSS 3 essentially combines DLSS Super Resolution and Nvidia Reflex with DLSS Frame Generation—with this last bit being the differentiating factor. The AI-powered frame generation relies on Ada Lovelace's new Optical Flow Accelerator (OFA) as well as the new 3rd generation Tensor cores.
(Image credit: Nvidia)The RTX 30-series also has OFA cores, although only 126 of them as opposed to the 300 you'll find in the new RTX 4090. When you factor in the huge bump in Tensor cores as well—from 320 in Ampere up to 1,400 in Ada Lovelace—it's all a bit clearer as to why you won't be getting the bump in performance that comes from the new frame generation capabilities.
The RTX 40-series card, the GeForce RTX 4090 will be released on October 12.
-
As we eagerly await the launch of a new generation of Nvidia GPUs next month, there's been growing concern among potential Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 customers that their non-ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 PSUs may not be compatible with the powerful new graphics card. Thankfully, Corsair's provided some clarity on that front.
In an email from Corsair, the company said it "can confirm that all of Corsair’s current power supply lineup is compatible with these cards, and the included PCIe 8-pin power to 12VHPWR adapter that NVIDIA is shipping with them." Corsair also offers an official 12VHPWR 600W cable with sense-wires configured to 600W.
A report over at Hardware Busters also confirms that the new massive GPU should be compatible with existing PSUs, too. It clears up a lot of concerns folks had with the new GPU line-up, fearing that only ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 ready PSUs would be the only ones capable of powering these cards.
The monstrous GPU comes equipped with 16,384 CUDA cores, and 24GB of GDDR6X, with includes adapter cables for its single 12+4 pin PCIe connector that will work with existing PSUs.
The RTX 4090 only needs 450W (much like the RTX 3090 Ti) but can draw up to 600W for overclocking, which is good news for anyone who wants to hold on to their power supply a bit longer. It's too early to see the performance and efficiency differences on current PSUs vs. the newer ones, mind. We'll know more once the graphic cards make it into our testing rigs.
Corsair is the first to come out to officially confirm that its current PSUs will work with RTX 4000 cards; we expect other component manufacturers to follow suit. Expect to see the GeForce RTX 4090 for sale on October 12 for $1,599.
-
Wondering which WoW Classic race to choose? Whether you played the original World of Warcraft back in the day or you're keen to jump into Azeroth's past now that Wrath of the Lich King Classic is here, there is a choice to be made when you hit that character creation screen in the WoW Classic era.
The previous release of Burning Crusade Classic introduced two new races to the world of Azeroth, making your choice just that bit more difficult. Of course, your chosen faction should help narrow things down a bit. But if you're stuck trying to decide between the different races, this guide has you covered. Read on to find out more about the WoW Classic races you can choose.
WoW Classic races: What you should know
More on Wrath Classic(Image credit: Blizzard)WoW Classic class guide: choose wisely
WoW Classic server: which to go for
WoW Classic addons: tidy up your UIIn the early days, World of Warcraft was very different to what we play now. Crucially, the decision of whether to go Alliance or Horde is a massive one. Once you take a side, that's it for that server. We'd suggest you stick with what your friends plan on doing. With no cross-realm chat and no cross-faction chat, you don't want to be cut off from your buddies.
Thousands of words have been written about what race is best in World of Warcraft. Honestly? Much of it comes down to what you end up preferring. Experimentation is key.
Consider this an overview of what to expect, giving you an idea of the pros and cons of each race, but don't expect any one race to be the best of the bunch.
Alliance
Draenei
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)After first fleeing their homeworld of Argus, these Eredar named themselves 'Draenei', meaning 'exiled ones' and, led by their leader Velen, settled on the world of Draenor. Following more persecution however, the Draenei found themselves in Azeroth and made their home on the Azuremyst Isles off of Kalimdor. Their ship the Exodar—also located on these islands where it crash-landed—is now their capital city.
Draenei have the following racial perks:
- Gemcutting: Jewelcrafting skill increased by 5.
- Gift of the Naaru: Heals a target over time. Lasts 15 seconds.
- Heroic Presence (Hunters, Paladins, and Warriors only): Increases chance to hit by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
- Inspiring Presence (Mage, Priest, and Shaman only): Increases chance to hit with spells by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
- Shadow Resistance: Shadow Resistance increased by 10.
Available classes for Draenei:
- Hunter
- Mage
- Paladin
- Priest
- Shaman
- Warrior
- Death Knight
The Draenei are the only Alliance race that can play a Shaman so this is a solid pick for the new race.
The Gemcutting perk is useful if you're planning on giving the new TBC Classic profession a try. The Inspiring and Heroic Presence perks are useful for min-maxing group content, and it's always handy to have a healing spell when you're out and about questing or leveling. The extra Shadow Resistance could also be helpful in certain situations.
Dwarf
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)A hardy race of small yet tough folk from the Khaz Modan continent in the Eastern Kingdoms, Dwarves are ideal for players keen to embrace that Lord of the Rings feel that fantasy MMOs can easily encapsulate.
Their main base city is Ironforge which has easy links to Stormwind—the biggest city within the Alliance. Either Ironforge or Stormwind are ideal places for newcomers to the game to learn more and feel part of a bustling world of players.
Dwarves have four varied racial perks:
- Find Treasure: This allows you to sense nearby treasure, making it appear on the minimap.
- Frost Resistance: This increases one's Frost Resistance by 10.
- Gun Specialization: The Dwarf's natural guns skill is increased by 5.
- Stoneform: An active skill, this grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. Also, armour is increased by 10%. It only lasts 8 seconds, however.
Available classes for Dwarves are:
- Hunter
- Paladin
- Priest
- Rogue
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Thanks to Stoneform and Frost Resistance, the Dwarf is a solid choice for anyone keen to get involved in PvP regardless of which class they favour. Stoneform is a hefty advantage if you're trying to fend off an enemy Rogue or Warrior, for instance. Dwarves are fairly tough so they work well as Warriors or Rogues.
They also work reasonably well as Priests. While their intelligence isn't as naturally high as other Alliance races, they have two class-specific racial perks that are great for PvP. Fear Ward allows you to defend against Fear for 10 minutes, while Desperate Prayer instantly heals the caster saving you in a bind. I'm also partial to a Dwarf Hunter thanks to Gun Specialization providing a small advantage early on.
Gnome
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Lore wise, Gnomes are obsessed with gadgets and technology and that's reflected in their racial perks as well as the classes you're able to choose from.
They start out in a region nearby the starting area for the Dwarves, so they can easily reach the city of Ironforge and later Stormwind.
Gnomes have four varied racial perks:
- Arcane Resistance: This increases one's Arcane Resistance by 10.
- Expansive Mind: The Gnome's innate intelligence is increased by 5% thereby boosting their mana reserves.
- Engineering Specialization: The Engineering profession is increased by 15.
- Escape Artist: This allows you to escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect spells, which is useful in a fight.
Available classes for Gnomes are:
- Mage
- Rogue
- Warlock
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Gnomes work best as Mages and Warlocks. That's because of the Expansive Mind perk which boosts their intelligence as well as their mana reserves. The chance to critically hit with spells is further increased with higher intelligence. They're pretty weak as Rogues and Warriors, and there aren't really any discernible racial perks to make you consider this combo other than for the novelty factor.
If you're keen to try Engineering as a profession, the Gnome is also a great choice. Escape Artist is pretty handy for getting you out of a jam in PvP too.
Human
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Starting out in the Elwynn Forest, near the city of Stormwind, Humans are the safe bet for the Alliance player. Their starting area is easy to explore, and you can create a character to reflect your own look if you want. They also offer more perks and class choices than many others.
Humans have five varied racial perks:
- Diplomacy: Reputation gains are increased by 10% with reputation affecting how NPCs react to you as well as the prices of shop goods.
- Mace Specialization: Mace and Two-Handed Mace skills are increased by 5.
- Perception: Activate this skill and your ability to spot stealthed creatures is dramatically increased for 20 seconds.
- Sword Specialization: One's skill with Swords and Two-Handed Swords is increased by 5.
- The Human Spirit: Humans benefit from a 5% increase in spirit which affects mana regeneration.
Available classes for Humans are:
- Mage
- Paladin
- Priest
- Rogue
- Warlock
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Alongside Dwarves, Humans are the only other Alliance race that can play as Paladins. Humans are a pretty good all-round choice. The Human Spirit perk makes them good as Priests given their steady mana regeneration, with the class-specific perk Desperate Prayer allowing for a quick heal at the last second. Priests also have Feedback, a perk specific to Priests which causes the loss of any attacker's mana at a steady rate.
Weaponry specialisations also mean the Human is a great Rogue and Warrior.
When it comes to PvP, the Perception perk is a good one for spotting sneaky Rogues or Druids.
Night Elf
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Formed from a matriarchal society, Night Elves are a solid combination of both mystical and tough qualities. Their lore is complex and fascinating, making them a fun choice for players keen to role play.
They start out in Teldrassil before moving to the Night Elf capital of Darnassus, so if you want to see the main hubs of the Alliance like Stormwind, you're going to have to travel quite far.
Night Elves have four different racial perks:
- Nature Resistance: Nature Resistance is increased by 10.
- Wisp Spirit: Upon death, you transform into a wisp, thereby increasing your movement speed by 50%
- Quickness: The chances of dodging are increased by 1%
- Shadowmeld: Activate this skill, and you can slip into the shadows, reducing the chance of enemies spotting you. It lasts until you cancel it or upon moving.
Available classes for Night Elves are:
- Druid
- Hunter
- Priest
- Rogue
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Night Elves are the only Alliance race that can be Druids. The Druid is a mixture of many other classes, encompassing the ability to fight as a tank, DPS, magic caster, and healer. It's very versatile and immediately makes the Night Elf an attractive proposition.
The Night Elf also makes a good Rogue given its racial perks like Quickness and Shadowmeld which ties into the sneaky nature of a well played Rogue. Either Druid or Rogue is a great choice for the Night Elf.
Thinking about becoming a Night Elf Priest? Class-specific perks include Starshards which causes significant damage over 6 seconds against your foe, and Elune's Grace which reduces ranged damage taken, while also increasing your chance to dodge by 10 percent.
Horde
Blood Elf
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Descended from the High Elves that almost brought destruction to Azeroth thanks to Queen Azshara's plotting, the Blood elves named themselves such to honour their dead. Their capital city Silvermoon is in the far north of the Eastern Kingdoms, at the location of a Sunwell.
Blood Elves have four racial perks:
- Arcane Affinity: Enchanting skill increased by 5.
- Arcane Torrent: Silences all nearby opponents for 2 seconds. Also restores Mana and Energy (15).
- Magic Resistance: All Resistances increased by 5.
- Mana Tap: Reduces target's Mana by 50 and charges you with Arcane energy for 10min. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Available classes for Blood Elves:
- Hunter
- Mage
- Paladin
- Priest
- Rogue
- Warlock
- Death Knight
As the only Horde race that can play as a Paladin, that might seem to be the obvious class choice. But the Arcane Torrent racial makes Blood Elves especially useful to have around. While any class benefits from this perk, it's especially useful for Protection Paladins when dealing with trash packs in dungeons.
Magic Resistance is always welcome to aid with general survival and being able to reduce an enemy's mana can also have value in different situations.
Orc
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Favouring physical combat over all things magic, the Orc's journey begins in Durotar before soon moving to the capital city of Orgrimmar. It's a fine starting place for anyone new to the Horde and keen to see what's what.
Orcs have four racial perks:
- Axe Specialization: Skill with Axes and Two-Handed Axes is increased by 5
- Blood Fury: An active skill, this increases your base melee attack power by 25% for 15 seconds, while reducing your healing effects by 50% for 25 seconds
- Command: Any damage dealt by Hunter or Warlock pets is increased by 5%
- Hardiness: The chance of resisting a Stun effect is increased by 25%
Available classes for Orcs are:
- Hunters
- Rogue
- Shaman
- Warlock
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Orcs are solid all-rounders for the Horde, much like how Humans are for the Alliance. Axe Specialization and Blood Fury makes them an appealing option for melee fighters such as Warriors and Rogues, but Command is a great perk for Warlocks and Hunters. Hardiness is a useful bonus for those looking to join a PvP server too as it can help substantially when duelling.
Tauren
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Kind of like oversized cows, Taurens are smarter than they look, thanks to their Shamanistic background. Players start out in Mulgore before moving onto Thunder Bluff, a richer and more diverse city. Ultimately though, Taurens are meant to be reasonably nomadic so this is a race that requires a little more travel than others.
Taurens have four racial perks:
- Cultivation: Herbalism profession skill is increased by 15.
- Endurance: Total health is increased by 5 percent.
- Nature Resistance: Nature Resistance is increased by 10.
- War Stomp: An ability that stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds.
Available classes for Taurens are:
- Druid
- Hunter
- Shaman
- Warrior
- Death Knight
If you're keen to develop your Herbalism skills then the Tauren is a perfect choice to make. Cultivation is a great perk for putting you in good stead here. Elsewhere, War Stomp is a good choice if PvP is your plan or if you want to tank frequently as a warrior during dungeons. Both stats wise and lore wise, it makes sense to go Tauren if you want to be a Shaman too.
Troll
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Many different tribes of Troll exist in Azeroth, but only the Darkspear Tribe have become part of the Horde. They dwell in Durotar near the Orcs, and share Orgrimmar as their capital city. That makes travelling a fairly easy thing to do.
Trolls have five racial perks:
- Beast Slaying: Damage dealt versus Beasts is increased by 5%
- Berserking: This skill increases your casting and attack speed by 10% to 30% with the amount increasing by how low your health is. It lasts for 10 seconds.
- Bow Specialization: Skill with a bow is increased by 5.
- Regeneration: Health regeneration rate is increased by 10%
- Throwing Specialization: Skills with Throwing Weapons is increased by 5.
Available classes for Trolls are:
- Hunter
- Mage
- Priest
- Rogue
- Shaman
- Warrior
- Death Knight
If you're keen to solo then a Troll Hunter is a perfect combination of abilities. Beast Slaying, Bow Specialization, and Regeneration is a great mix of perks alongside tackling many PvE scenarios solo. It can make a huge difference.
Troll Priests benefit from class-specific perks including Hex of Weakness which weakens the enemy, reducing damage caused by 20 for 2 minutes, as well as Shadowguard which causes damage to the enemy every time they attack you. If you're keen to participate in PvP, a Troll Priest is a surprisingly difficult class/race combo to take down.
Undead
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)Looking part zombie, part skeleton, the Undead is unsurprisingly not very physically close to other Horde races. Located in Tirisfal Glades, it's going to take a while to get to other non-Undead players, but there are plenty of reasons why the Undead is a good choice to take.
Undead have four racial perks:
- Cannibalize: Requiring you to be within 5 yards of Humanoid or Undead corpses, you can regenerate 7% of your total health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.
- Shadow Resistance: Shadow Resistance is increased by 10.
- Underwater Breathing: Players can stay underwater for 300% longer than normal.
- Will of the Forsaken: Immunity to Charm, Fear, and Sleep when activated. It lasts 5 seconds.
Available classes for Undead are:
- Mage
- Priest
- Rogue
- Warlock
- Warrior
- Death Knight
Cannibalize is a fantastic ability for solo players focused on levelling up. With Warlocks being probably the strongest solo choice here, an Undead Warlock is a good option, as well as great for roleplaying purposes.
Will of the Forsaken is a great ability when engaged in PvP with all the Undead classes being pretty reliable here.
A shout out has to go to Priest Class-specific perks, Touch of Weakness and Devouring Plague. The former means the next melee attack on the caster will cause extensive Shadow damage on the enemy, while the latter afflicts the target with a potent disease that causes substantial damage over time. Both means that an Undead Priest is pretty handy in a fight.
-
Cleaning crime scenes ain't pretty. First time you do it, you think it's just going to be mopping up big puddles of blood, but that's never the way. There's the broken glass everywhere, bullet casings, and the smears and footprints created by the people at the scene who didn't stop to consider when slipping around in their own blood that someone would have to deal with all the mess afterwards.
Oh, and you may need a chainsaw, because all that stuff you see in the Hitman games where he just carries bodies around like they're hollow mannequins? Yeah, it's not that easy. Bodies are heavy, and they're way lighter in pieces.
Luckily, you don't need to write a checklist of all the stuff you'll need for 505 Games' upcoming stealth-and-crime-cleaning game Serial Cleaners. That's because you'll have four professionals at your disposal, each with their own talents and equipment that should help you go in, get rid of the evidence, and get out of there while evading the cops and other miscreants who loiter around on the scene.
(Image credit: 505 Games)First up, there's Bob—trusty old Bob with his no-nonsense vacuum cleaner and impressive ability to slide along blood stains like a figure skater at the Winter Olympics. The all-rounder of the crew, and OG of the clean-up crew, Bob approaches crime clean-up like a janitor approaches a high-school canteen after-hours. A safe pair of hands for hoovering up every last drop of blood on the scene.
(Image credit: 505 Games)For someone with a little more flair, Lati's your gal. Her parkour skills allow her to avoid cops and security guards with ease, and she's a pretty talented street artist too. Tag ''frell' the Police' on the floors, then while the police fume over your fine work, sneak past them and get on with the job you were hired to do.
(Image credit: 505 Games)Vip3r is the quintessential 90s hacker. Get her onto any device with electrical wiring (and preferably a circuit board), and she'll turn the whole damn building upside down. Use electronics to create diversions and open mechanical doors and gates to ease your escape, but just remember that that the cops aren’t stupid – once they get the lights back on again, you need to skedaddle!
(Image credit: 505 Games)Then there's Hal. Ahhh, sweet 'Psycho' Hal and his—let's just say—unique way of doing things. The guy needed some straightening out before he became capable of not turning crime scenes into even bigger crime scenes, but these days he's one of the best in the business. He's also the only one on the team with the stomach to chop up bodies with a chainsaw, which is handy given there’s a few woodchippers lying around too. Convenient.
Before you chop bodies up though, give them a little kick first to make sure they're really dead. Don't want to start slicing up a screamer now, do we?
Whatever your preference of corpse disposal, Serial Cleaners arrives on the scene September 22. The game will be available on Steam, Epic, GOG, and all major consoles. You can also follow the game on the official site, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
-
Grounded 1.0 has been a long time coming, but it's finally leaving early access after two years of updates, and it's looking pretty good. The miniaturised co-op survival game has received a lot of new content since 2020, including Hot & Hazy, Shroom & Doom, and The Koi Pond updates, each of which has added its own deadly flora and fauna, as well as new armor sets and weapons.
The backyard is now crammed full of regions to explore and secrets to uncover, all while trying to avoid getting eaten by terrifying insects. With the full release of Grounded, you'll be able to play the main story campaign in full, and there are a few extra additions to sweeten the deal. Here's when Grounded 1.0 releases in your timezone.
When does Grounded 1.0 come out?
(Image credit: Obsidian)After two years in early access, Grounded 1.0 releases in full on September 27 for most regions. Here's the exact breakdown of release times:
- UK: 6 pm BST
- Europe: 7 pm CEST
- US East Coast: 1 pm ET
- US West Coast: 10 am PT
If you didn't find yours here, you can check the image above, or the official Grounded 1.0 release post. For some regions such as Japan and Australia, Grounded will be released early in the morning of September 28. Grounded will be available for purchase on Steam, but it's also on PC Games Pass, so you can play it for free if you already have a subscription. You can also find its system requirements at the bottom of the Steam page.
Besides the main story campaign, Grounded 1.0 features a whole new region of the world to explore. The Upper Yard includes new recipes for armor and weapons, some hidden secrets, and a Praying Mantis that appears as a new boss.
-
Berry leather is an important resource in Grounded. Obsidian's survival game puts a unique spin on things by shrinking your character to the size of an ant. So while the environment may not seem particularly dangerous at face value, everything suddenly becomes much more daunting when it's much bigger than you.
Like any typical survival game, you'll need to collect resources and craft items if you hope to last as a tiny inhabitant of this world. One of those resources is berry leather, and you'll need this for several important recipes. So if you're ready to get crafting, here's how to get berry leather in Grounded, and what you can make with it.
Grounded berry leather: How to get this resource
Berry leather is a resource that you'll need to craft various tools and gear. As a crafted item itself, you'll first need to collect berry chunks, which—unsurprisingly—are harvested from berries which are found in the Hedge biome.
Like other resources in Grounded, berries are much easier to find once you've already encountered them as—once activated—the resource surveyor will show you exactly where they are on the map. Once you've collected enough, you need a crafting station to turn them into berry leather.
You have two crafting station options:
- Workbench: requires 3x berry chunks
- Jerky Rack: requires 1x berry chunk
What you can craft with berry leather
You can craft weapons, tools, and various types of armor and equipment once you've gathered enough berry chunks and converted them into this useful material. There are also a couple of building-related items you can make too.
Here's what you can craft with berry leather:
- Black Ant Sword: Melee weapon
- Insect Hammer: Tool for breaking nodes
- Black Ant Shield: Shield to fend off attacks
- Firefly Head Lamp: Portable light source, equipped on the head
- Marksman's Cap: Head armor which increases bow damage
- Bee armor set: Tier 2 armor
- Ladybug armor set: Tier 2 armor
- Spider armor set: Tier 2 armor
- Buoyant Foundation: Allows you to build on water
- Berry Chair: Furniture
-
Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the UK's Labour party and two-time candidate for Prime Minister, has been pictured enjoying a game of Thatcher's Techbase in Liverpool (thanks, Indy100). Thatcher's Techbase is a Doom II mod where the late Margaret Thatcher returns to the tenth circle of hell, i.e. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the player sets out to make sure that this time 'CyberThatcher' stays dead.
Doubtless the current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will be delighted to discover that Corbyn's been digitally blasting away at a dead Tory Prime Minister. There isn't even any ambiguity about it, one picture shows him staring at the screen with hands on the controls, and in the second it looks like he's… dabbing?
He liked the game
pic.twitter.com/fD9VuNVvYZSeptember 25, 2022See moreThe Thatcher's Techbase cabinet made its debut at The World Transformed festival, and was built by Thatcher's Techbase creator Jim Purvis to support the tenants' rights organisation Living Rent. Alongside the pictures of Corbyn, Purvis noted that "he liked the game" with a smile emoji.
UK politics has been something of a clown show for the last decade and yet even so this is one of the wildest things to happen in some time. Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader from 2015-2020, during which time the party was in opposition, and was loved by elements of the left for exactly the same reason that the right hated him.
Corbyn's a dyed-in-the-wool socialist leftie, the type of politician who attends picket lines (and radical festivals like this), and he has a knack for saying things that make more centrist voters baulk. A British Bernie Sanders with an allotment. Ultimately the Labour party under his leadership was an electoral failure, and this can be attributed partly to Corbyn's disastrous relationship with the media: he seems a nice enough guy but they monstered him, and he certainly gave them the material to do it with.
Jeremy Corbyn now sits as an independent MP, amidst an ongoing disagreement with the parliamentary Labour party, and so there's an element of this which is just him saying 'screw it, why not shoot Thatcher in a game'—it's not like he's worried about the next general election. It should also be said that this is, fundamentally, pretty funny: we're talking about an old socialist playing a Doom II mod starring CyberThatcher.
Nevertheless, if you're outside the UK, here's why this could well turn into a shitstorm. Margaret Thatcher is a figure reviled by elements of the UK, for reasons way too numerous to go into here, and conversely idolised by her own side as the Iron Lady of British politics. Jeremy Corbyn is meanwhile something of a boogeyman for right-leaning Brits, and a Captain Planet-esque idol for the socialist left.
There's a good portion of British society that already has a distaste for Jeremy Corbyn, which is why Labour now positions itself at a discreet distance from someone who was until very recently the party's leader. No doubt some in Labour HQ are now thanking their lucky stars, because this is a far-left hero digitally blasting a dead rightwing Prime Minister in a videogame called Doom, and you don't need me to tell you how some media will spin that. It'll be something to watch anyway: meanwhile, why not have a go on Thatcher's Techbase yourself.
-
The Epic Games Store turns four years old in December and has had its fair share of teething problems. Functionality has been particularly slow in arriving, with the store lacking things as essential as an 'add to cart' feature until last December. Epic's been slowly grinding away nevertheless, and is now finally adding another much-needed feature as our list of free games grows ever-longer: library collections.
Yep, you can finally create up to 11 folders to store your games in, as well as the option to now add games to a favourites list. The process is simple—either hover over a game and hit the heart icon in the top-right corner, or click the three dots underneath the game's thumbnail and select 'add to collection,' choosing an existing collection or making a new one.
Folders seem like a feature that shouldn't have taken such an awfully long time to arrive—hell, even the Nintendo Switch got folders before Epic did—but good (or basic) things come to those who wait. It's easy enough to compare the launcher to Steam and lament its lack of features, but considering Steam has an extra 15 years on Epic it does sometimes feel like an unfair comparison.
You have to wonder how much time and energy Epic dedicates to making its launcher better, though. As we discovered last year, the publisher doesn't expect to start making a profit until 2027 and only one of its many exclusives actually turned a profit. Despite all that, it's still committed itself to giving away free games every single week. We've seen the likes of Borderlands 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and ARK: Survival Evolved grace our libraries this year and it looks as though there's no sign of it slowing down.
-
Hello Filpeus,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Filpeus joined on the 09/26/2022.
-
Need to know
What is it? A survival game inspired by Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
Expect to pay: £25/$30
Release date: September 27, 2022
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher Xbox Game Studios
Reviewed on RTX 3080 Ti, Intel i7-8086K, 16GB RAM
Multiplayer? 4-player co-op
Link Official siteI haven't taken a survey, but I feel pretty confident that nobody at PC Gamer is more afraid of spiders than I am. They petrify me—unless they manage to get on me, at which point I flail around like I'm on fire. And I'd rather be set on fire than feel a spider crawling over my skin. Given this, it's ridiculous that I'd put myself in a situation where I had to review a game that was full of them. But for a survival game as good as Grounded, I'm willing to live through one of my worst nightmares.
Grounded is a time travel device, dragging me back to the garden where I used to spend long, sunny afternoons pretending I was in Eternia or Third Earth, collecting grass stains and scrapes. It's a game fuelled by vibrant '90s cartoons and movies like Honey I Shrunk the Kids, with a quartet of kidnapped, shrunken teens exploring the alien world that's right under our noses.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)It's a whimsical survival sandbox that feels considerably more playful and welcoming than most, which is why its occasional pivots to arachnid horror are so effective. Back when it launched in early access, Grounded's threats were few. The massive, terrifying spiders that littered the garden never wandered far and were easy to outmanoeuvre, lulling me into a false sense of security. But with every update, they became deadlier, transforming into relentless hunters searching for prey in areas I once considered sanctuaries.
So even though I'd played a lot of Grounded before diving into 1.0, I still had to study my eight-legged nemeses, figuring out their behaviours and weaknesses—a process that typically involved sacrificing myself. It's possible to target creatures by cupping your hands together, making a fleshy telescope, which reveals their resistances and vulnerabilities, but for more information you really need to follow them around and watch how they interact with their ecosystem.
All of the garden's inhabitants have their own patterns and peculiarities. Red ants, for instance, are peaceful but inquisitive when first encountered. They'll fight other bugs, but if you leave them alone they'll not get in your way. If you invade their nest, however, the soldier ants will try to drive you out. And if you start doing some aggressive garden maintenance by squashing lots of friendly ants, they might even declare war and try to chase you out of the garden. And that's why my very first base had to be abandoned.
Ground war
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)The world is just so tantalisingly reactive, and it's a reactivity you're encouraged to exploit. I killed my first stinkbug—a poison-spewing devil-beast—by creating a three-way brawl between it, a ladybug and a group of ants. The bugs have all the physical advantages, but you've got that clever human brain.
Sometimes the best path to victory is cheating a little bit.
Sometimes the best path to victory is cheating a little bit. Maybe you'll climb up somewhere you can't be reached, peppering your enemies with arrows. Or maybe you'll be even more cunning, drawing them towards a place where you know they'll get stuck. So while the critter AI seems troublingly effective at times, it's also easily baffled or broken. Rather than an issue that needs to be fixed, however, the ability to win fights through cheesy tactics just feels like another legitimate survival strategy, and even in a state of befuddlement the garden's biggest predators are still intimidating menaces.
There are few sandboxes that feel this alive. The garden is never at rest, and every step you take is accompanied by a cacophony of bug noises—at first seemingly discordant, but eventually reassuring and familiar. Visibility is low when you're surrounded by tree-sized grass, but after living in the garden for so long, now I can paint a picture of it using my ears. I feel like a tiny wilderness expert, all thanks to the incredible sound design. At least until I get distracted and something nasty sneaks up on me.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)This happens a lot more in co-op. Just the other night I was chatting away with a friend after they narrowly escaped a spider. We were hanging out in our base next to a building-sized juice box (which I've since turned into a watchtower) discussing how safe we felt, and how we were hidden from any spiders that may have followed him back. Too late, during a break in the conversation, I heard an alien noise: something akin to footsteps, but with more implied menace. And then a leg appeared, coming around the corner.
My friend was murdered first. He didn't stand a chance. I was ready to leap into the water, where I knew the wolf spider couldn't follow, but I wanted vengeance. I rushed towards the demon with my pitiful club and a half-hearted battle cry. It reared up, red eyes glowing, evil fangs at the ready, and let out an unearthly shriek. I didn't even get to hit it once.
The horror is so effective, especially once night falls, that I've caught myself whispering several times, even though these spiders aren't yet able to hear conversations over Discord. And whenever I've felt safe, that's when the spiders have attacked. I woke up one morning to find one of them just hanging out on my roof—a harrowing encounter that's got nothing on the time one of them smashed through my wall.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)Escape is the premise that drives Grounded forward. You need to unravel the mystery of your kidnapping and find a way to get big again, exploring labs that were built by the scientist who made the monumental breakthrough that led to your unfortunate situation. These lab excursions can be pretty tricky, and even the easiest one sends you into a spider-infested hedge. Even if escape isn't on your mind, the labs are a great source of Raw Science, which makes life in the garden a lot easier—if you want to survive, you need to get smarter.
Brain power
Raw Science is effectively experience, filling a meter until you level up and unlock new crafting recipes. It can be found out in the wild in finite quantities, but you can earn more by completing simple quests for BURG.L, a friendly, bumbling robot. Analysing resources and bug parts at field stations also unlocks related crafting recipes and gives you yet more Raw Science. It's handy to have multiple ways to unlock these recipes, but the level system can sometimes feel superfluous as a result.
More than a few times I've earned nothing at all upon levelling up because I've already unlocked the recipes by using the analyser, taking the wind out of my sails just a little bit. And that's all you get when you gain a new level; things like health and stamina upgrades are connected to an entirely different system. Traits, too, are handled separately, by a mutation system that gives you significant advantages for completing challenges. Kill a lot of bugs with your spear, for instance, and your spear attacks will start to lower your foe's defences. You can only select two at a time, however, though that number can eventually be increased to five. The pace of progression is great, making you quickly feel like you're getting a handle on this survival malarkey, but I'd prefer fewer systems with less overlap.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)While levelling up might not always feel very meaningful, collecting Raw Science is still imperative because it can also be spent at a lab computer on special recipes that can't be unlocked anywhere else. These range from longer-lasting torches that will let you delve deeper into anthills and spider lairs, to sturdy fortifications that will turn your base into a fortress, and the list of recipes expands every time you discover one of BURG.L's lost chips, hidden throughout the garden.
Even though you're often making familiar items like swords, chests and walls, every single object reinforces the fact that you're pocket-sized.
Crafting and construction benefit greatly from the creative setting. Even though you're often making familiar items like swords, chests and walls, every single object reinforces the fact that you're pocket-sized. So instead of making a sword with steel, you'll need to hunt down a deadly mosquito and harvest its proboscis. Tangoing with a flying monster who could potentially kill you with a couple of jabs is just a bit more thrilling than mining and smelting ore. Since Grounded runs on cartoon logic, that mosquito sword will also heal you by stealing the blood of your enemies. Isn't nature marvellous?
That logic applies to base building, as well, which is flexible and gravity-defying enough to allow you to erect a massive structure that snakes up the side of an oak tree using only twigs and grass. Everything can be recycled, refunding a portion of the cost, while furniture and crafting stations can easily be relocated. It's simple and forgiving enough so that you can really start putting together elaborate builds not long after you arrive in the garden. You'll unlock all the basic parts quickly, and the resources they require can be found nearly everywhere.
Adventure time
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)It can be tempting to focus on perfecting your safe, comfy base, but there's always something nudging you out the door, whether it's the need for food and water, or a new recipe demanding rare resources. What you need might be in an unknown area, and Grounded seems to delight in giving you shopping lists full of things you're probably not equipped to find—usually in the form of a limb from a bug that will squash you in seconds. I found that to be a great motivator, though, and there's usually more than one way to get what you need.
Go exploring and you'll come across hidden weapons, spider sacks containing new bug parts and resources (and horrible spider babies), and plenty of Raw Science—all of it waiting to be snatched up by a bold idiot.
That's what I was hoping to find when I wandered, unprepared, into an anthill for the first time. Instead I just found lots of eggs. Not wanting to go home empty handed, I started grabbing them, at which point every ant lost their 'frack'. And then my torch went out. I flailed around, ran into walls, yelled quite a bit, but I still managed to escape with a sliver of health and my prize: four eggs. The sun had set while I was having my misadventure, so I hoofed it back to my base to get some well-earned rest. Figuring out what to do with the eggs could wait until tomorrow, I thought. When tomorrow arrived, however, the eggs were gone, replaced by four fully-grown ants. In my house. Messing my 'frack' up. And that's how I accidentally became an ant farmer.
The default settings are well-tuned, delivering a cavalcade of tense but surmountable adventures where death is a pest rather than the end. You can get your inventory back by finding your grave, though your gear will be slightly damaged. But Grounded is flexible enough to generate all sorts of survival experiences. If you'd rather build and explore without any risks, you can turn all the threats off, letting you bound around without being worried about starving or becoming spider food. Coupled with its myriad accessibility options, including an arachnophobia mode that turns spiders into amorphous blobs, this makes it a game with very few barriers and an abundance of tools.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)I thought I'd grown tired of survival systems and arduous corpse runs, but in Grounded I haven't been tempted to turn off any of the dangers even once. I'd miss trying to dodge bombardier beetle artillery strikes while I'm searching for food, or hunkering down under a tree root praying that the prowling spider doesn't notice me. I'm happy to put up with all sorts of obstacles if they're thrilling enough.
Knowing that death could come from any direction, I've been forced to figure out safe routes through the garden, jumping across the natural platforms created by grass and clover to stay above all the threats. Where there are no paths, I've made them myself, constructing bridges, stairs and zip-lines everywhere, allowing me to reach my far-flung outposts. Slowly but surely, I've been taming this wilderness and turning it into my own personal playground.
When I was small, I made my plain suburban garden the most exciting place on Earth, and Obsidian has done the same. I've been chased by whale-sized carp, ridden ladybugs like an insect-hunting knight and massacred bees on top of forgotten action figures. Every new section of the garden is another alien world waiting to be explored, understood and then conquered. It's the most fun I've had in any survival game, even if my fear of spiders has only grown more acute.
-
On the face of it the Ryzen 7 7700X is maybe the least exciting of all the new Zen 4 processors AMD has just released. The Ryzen 9 7950X has the benefit of being cheaper and faster than its predecessor, and comes rocking the highest thread count of any chip out there. And the Ryzen 5 7600X is the highest clocked mainstream CPU around and is just $299.
But an $399 eight-core, 16-thread CPU in 2022 seems kinda passé.
Which is why AMD made a big deal out of jamming a freakish amount of extra L3 cache into its Ryzen 7 5800X3D earlier this year. The addition of 3D V-cache made that Zen 3 CPU the fastest AMD gaming CPU ever, even if it was just sporting the same essential cores and core count as the standard Ryzen 7 5800X. And yet just five months later here we are with the Ryzen 7 7700X outperforming it almost across the board, even in most games.
In some gaming cases it will actually match the top-end $700 Ryzen 7000-series CPU, sometimes even beating it, which is certainly not something you can ignore when you're looking for a new chip. That makes what might have seemed a rather pedestrian CPU rather more interesting.
Essentially what we have here is a direct replacement for the Ryzen 7 5800X of the previous generation. But it's called a 7700X because the 7800X designation is likely being reserved for a Zen 4 3D V-cache gaming chip. At least once AMD can get it put together in the fab and shunted out the door to face up to Intel's Raptor Lake launch.
Ryzen 7 7700X spec(Image credit: Future)Cores: 8
Threads: 16
Socket: AMD AM5
CCD lithography: TSMC 5nm
CCD die size: 70mm²
CCD transistor count: 6.5 billion
IOD lithography: TSMC 6nm
IOD die size: 122mm²
IOD transistor count: 3.4 billion
Max boost clock: 5.4GHz
Base clock: 4.5GHz
L2 cache: 8MB
L3 cache: 32MB
Memory support: DDR5-5200 (non-OC)
TDP: 105W
Price: $399That means we've got eight Zen 4 cores, with simultaneous multithreading delivering 16 threads of compute power. We've run a deeper look at the new Zen 4 architecture in our Ryzen 9 7950X review, but suffice to say it's a derivative of the Zen 3 tech, but with some extra L2 cache and a redesigned front end created to better feed data into the wider execution engines brought into the previous generation.
Oh, and higher clock speeds. Way higher clock speeds. Okay, the Ryzen 7 7700X isn't up to the 5.9GHz heights of its 16-core brethren, but with an all-core frequency of 5.15GHz out of the box it's still seriously impressive. Under single-core loads, such as those of most game engines, I've measured it running at 5.55GHz.
These would have been heavily overclocked frequencies just a few months back, and we're getting them in stock-clocked AMD chips. Though there are noises Intel's on the same track with 6GHz numbers coming out of Jacob's recent trip to Intel's Haifa labs.
The Ryzen 7 7700X sports the same 105W TDP as the Ryzen 7 5800X and 5800X3D, but its 5nm compute and 6nm I/O dies deliver efficiency improvements and the Eco Mode feature delivers outstanding performance per watt figures. I'm a big fan of Eco Mode in the Zen 4 generation of chips and probably more so with this more middle-order processor, too.
Image 1 of 6Image 2 of 6Image 3 of 6Image 4 of 6Image 5 of 6Image 6 of 6Eco Mode gives you the option to run your mighty Zen 4 silicon using less power, hence the 'eco' bit. That's something we're all a little more conscious of at the moment, given the economic situation and the spiking energy prices across the globe. From the 105W TDP you can drop it down to a 65W TDP instead, and barely make a dent in performance. That's because performance and input power operate on a curve, so you have to keep putting in much more power to keep the performance going upwards.
So sometimes a big drop in power usage will only result in a surprisingly small dip in actual real-world performance. Such is the case with the Ryzen 7 7700X, where gaming especially just doesn't suffer. At worst you get 95% of the performance for a chunk less power, lower thermals, and therefore quieter gaming.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)Unlike the 170W TDP Ryzen 9 7950X, where the drop in power to 65W results in much lower multithreaded performance—down to 77% of its full capabilities—that doesn't happen with the Ryzen 7 7700X. Cinebench performance at 65W is 95% of what the chip manages at 105W, and sometimes gaming frame rates actually improve.
The temps and gaming wattage don't really drop that much in 65W mode, but then under gaming loads its cores aren't maxing out anyways. It is still almost reaching 5GHz under all-core loads at 65W, and I think that is seriously impressive.
Which might have you questioning why AMD didn't just make this a 65W chip in the first place, and certainly why the Ryzen 5 7600X has been shifted from a 65W TDP in Zen 3 to a 105W TDP in Zen 4. Honestly, I believe it's about competition.
As much as it is good to talk about efficiencies, lower power demands, and performance per watt for new architectures, that doesn't sell chips. What sells is straight performance, and AMD knew that it could push more power through its 5nm core complex and get these high clock speeds and attention-grabbing numbers.
Gaming Performance
Image 1 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 6 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 7 of 8(Image credit: Future)Image 8 of 8(Image credit: Future)Compute and system performance
Image 1 of 7Image 2 of 7Image 3 of 7Image 4 of 7Image 5 of 7Image 6 of 7Image 7 of 7PC Gamer test rigAMD
Motherboard: ASRock X670E Taichi
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 CL30 2x 16GB
Intel
Motherboard: Asus ROG Z690 Hero
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-5600 CL36 2x 16GB
Graphics card: Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB
Storage: 1TB WD Black SN850
Cooler: Corsair H100i RGB
PSU: NZXT 850W
Chassis: DimasTech Mini V2
Either way, the Ryzen 7 7700X, is arguably one of the best gaming chips. It keeps pace with the Ryzen 9 7950X, and massively outperforms the old Ryzen 9 5950X when it comes to gaming frame rates. That 5.55GHz single-core clockspeed is really doing the work there.
It's also exemplary of just how efficient the 5nm CCD of the Zen 4 generation is over its Zen 3 forebears. The performance per watt delta is pretty staggering; the Ryzen 7 7700X offers over twice what the Ryzen 9 5950X delivers.
It is also keeping close to the top Alder Lake chip, too. Though I've got a feeling this close touching distance to Intel's processors will be short-lived when the upcoming 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs arrive.
Still, the efficient gaming power of this AMD chip has impressed me. I think I'd happily run my Zen 4 chip in Eco Mode 24/7, then maybe consider letting the shackles off if I really wanted to push the computational performance of my machine.
Which, honestly, is a rare occurrence. I don't run my games at 1080p, and at 1440p and 4K, you're more likely to be GPU bound than limited by your processor. And if I'm rendering content, or demanding weird pics from some AI painter, then my graphics card is going to be the core component I reach for.
Therein lies the rub. The role of the CPU is ever diminishing in a world where the computational potential of graphics silicon is being used across an ever wider swathe of disciplines. No longer is it all about the games—where arguably the CPU has been 'good enough' for a while now—but in all parts of the creative world the processor has been relegated to the facilitator for the graphics card; the component which allows the GPU to do its processing unfettered.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future)So, the idea of the best gaming CPU does have a certain anachronistic flavour these days. Which makes the idea of spending $699 on a Ryzen 9 7950X a bit much if your PC is primarily a gaming machine. But then, maybe spending $399 on an eight-core CPU is, too, when a humble $200 chip will arguably do just as well in GPU-bound titles at higher resolutions than 1080p.
These existential questions for CPUs aside, there is something else that the Ryzen chips as a whole need to consider: Raptor Lake. Intel's imminent update to Alder Lake is promising higher clock speeds just as Zen 4 has done, more multithreading chops, and already comes with a built-in gaming advantage thanks to whatever its engineers did with the Golden Cove, now Raptor Cove design.
When both Raptor Lake and the Zen 4 3D V-cache Ryzen come out it's going to have to lose any pretensions towards being a high-end gaming CPU.
But the Ryzen 7 7700X is still an excellent example of the generational improvements of the Zen 4 architecture, especially on the efficiency side. This third-tier chip is pretty regularly beating the cache-heavy special edition CPU of the last generation, and that was the best gaming processor AMD had ever made just five months ago. It's efficient, hella fast, and can deliver on the gaming front.
Not quite such an unexciting chip, then.
-
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is the vanguard for a whole new generation of CPUs and GPUs launching in these next few months. But, despite its many advances, a whole new AM5 motherboard platform, and shiny new heatspreader design, this isn't the best gaming CPU we were hoping for.
I mean, it's good. And certainly smashes the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X from the Zen 3 generation, but this Zen 4 chip has a resurgent Intel CPU architecture to deal with in Alder Lake. And that's getting its own Raptor Lake update in the coming weeks, too.
But we've come a long way (baby), and it's been a steady road from the heady times of 2017, when AMD launched its very first AMD Ryzen processor. Closing the gap on Intel's performance lead was only part of the puzzle for its burgeoning line of Zen architectured CPUs; consistency was always the watchword. AMD knew then the long-term success of its new processor line, whether in our gaming PCs, laptops, or in datacentres the world over, was down to delivering on its promises generation after generation.
And it's hard to argue that AMD hasn't done exactly that in the years since its inception. Each successive CPU generation has built on those initial Zen foundations, confidently pushing the architecture to greater performance levels, and with more expansive specs lists. And it's done so on a regular cadence, pretty much exactly when and how it said it would.
Delivering on its promises is what's put AMD in the position it's in now—threatening Intel on all fronts. And, at a time when Intel has been struggling to deliver what it promised, that's cemented AMD's position.
The new Ryzen 9 7950X is an evolution of the Zen 3 design, and is at once a brute of a processor, running at the ragged edge of its thermal constraints, and yet with an impressively elegant design. Even on the outside.
Yeah, I'll say it, I love that new heatspreader look.
But it's still not the processor I'd pick up today and there's a chance it might get savaged out there for being more of a derivative than a revolutionary CPU. There's no spectacular new tech on display, no vertically bonded cache chips, no extra cores, just a healthy clock speed bump, some finessed microarchitecture, and a new socket.
Zen 4 architecture and spec
(Image credit: Future)Ryzen 9 7950X spec(Image credit: Future)Cores: 16
Threads: 32
Socket: AMD AM5
CCD lithography: TSMC 5nm
CCD die size: 70mm²
CCD transistor count: 6.5 billion
IOD lithography: TSMC 6nm
IOD die size: 122mm²
IOD transistor count: 3.4 billion
Max boost clock: 5.7GHz
Base clock: 4.5GHz
L2 cache: 16MB
L3 cache: 64MB
Memory support: DDR5-5200 (non-OC)
TDP: 170W
Price: $699At its most basic level, the Ryzen 9 7950X is a straight 16-core, 32-thread CPU, packing a pair of eight-core compute chiplets together with an I/O die to get all the data into and out of the processor package.
But though Zen 4 is a derivative architecture built from Zen 3, there are some fundamental differences. Firstly, it's built on a new process node from its long-time TSMC foundry partner. The eight-core chiplet (CCD) is built on the 5nm lithography while the I/O die (IOD) has shifted to a 6nm node.
The move from 7nm to 5nm may not be huge—though it is certainly delivering a more efficient chip on the whole—but going from the 12nm IOD of Zen 3 to a new 6nm version is. And arguably the biggest changes have actually been made in there at the platform level, rather than in the new Zen 4 CCD.
AMD has made the move to a DDR5 memory controller, and it's also popped PCIe 5.0 support in there too. That gives you the same fast memory as Intel's Alder Lake platform, but with a new generation interconnect that will offer huge bandwidth opportunities for future graphics cards and next-gen SSDs. Which won't be here until November, but hey, the new AM5 platform is ready at least.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: AMD)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: AMD)But, for the first time outside of its APU range, AMD is also packing integrated graphics into its chips, into the IOD. This is current-gen GPU technology dropping into all of its Ryzen 7000-series CPUs. Before you get too excited, however, AMD has been at pains to point out this is mostly just to keep the lights on for your monitor without a separate GPU. It's also there to help sell into the corporate Dell box world Intel has dominated because most companies don't want discrete graphics cards in their office systems.
It's too distracting for the workforce. Or something.
Whatever, there are a pair of RDNA 2 compute units in there, which don't even get to feature in the chip's reviewer's guide. It doesn't even appear on the essential specs list of any of the Ryzen 7000-series processors; it's that irrelevant outside the corpo world.
Unless your GPU dies, of course, and you need to get your PC up and running whether it can game or not, until you remortgage the kids so you can afford a new RTX 4090. But it does have one other potentially useful feature: Hybrid Graphics.
It's basically like a gaming laptop, where most of the time the display is actually connected to the CPU's integrated graphics, and the beefy discrete GPU only kicks in when a game is played or something else in need of graphics hardware. Yes, you can now plug directly into the motherboard and still game on your powerful graphics card.
As a PC gamer, you probably shouldn't do that, though, because it does have an impact on the gaming performance of your system. To an impressively negligible extent, I have to admit given what it's doing. At its very worst I saw a 10% drop at 1080p frame rates, but generally, it was around 3–5% down. That's not bad, but still not really worth it if you're chasing the highest frame rate you can squeeze out of your gaming rig.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: AMD)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: AMD)Over in that 5nm CCD, there have been some other changes made. It's essentially the same core layout as Zen 3, with the same 32MB L3 cache catering to an eight-core complex. To get to its 16-core makeup the Ryzen 9 7950X comes with a pair of those compute dies, each holding eight cores and a total of 64MB of L3 cache. But there's a doubling of the L2 cache to help reduce overall latency with each core getting its own 1MB L2 "to provide critical data faster," says AMD's Mark Papermaster during our introduction to the architecture.
Though this extra cache bump is not in the same league as the recent Ryzen 7 5800X3D, but we'll come back to the future of 3D V-cache later on. As will AMD itself; there's a reason there's no Ryzen 9 7800X in the launch lineup.
"With Zen 3 we increased the execution width," Papermaster tells us. "And so with Zen 4 it became important for us to work on how we feed the instructions even faster into the machine. And that's why you see most of the improvements coming from the front end and branch prediction. Really that makes up almost 60% of that IPC gain."
That's echoed by AMD architect Mike Clark, the father of Zen, during our deep dive.
"With Zen 4 as slightly a derivative architecture, we knew that with Zen 3 we really increased the execution side, added a couple more execution units. But we knew with Zen 4 we need to be able to feed those things as fast as possible to really get the benefit of the new wider engine that we have."
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: AMD)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: AMD)So, it's the front end of the Zen 4 architecture where AMD has put the most thought in from a core design perspective. And that starts with the branch prediction block, because that's where a lot of the efficiency and performance of a chip design can be won or lost.
"One of the most inefficient things," says Clark, "is obviously executing the wrong instructions, and then having to throw that away. So we want to make sure we're on the right path, as well as getting that right path in the machine as fast as possible"
In microarchitecture terms, it's basically all about widening the funnel at the top, while also jamming more data down into the integer and floating point execution machine. That's my dumb way of saying AMD is looking to widen any of the bottlenecks of the Zen 3 design.
The trade-off with increasing the cache, however, is an increase in latency, but that's something AMD has internalised as part of its design process with Zen 4. The latency has still gone up, but the fact that it can get more instructions running through the processor at any one time, and with the overall performance improvements the architecture then offers, that will offset what it's calling "a small increase in latency."
How does the Ryzen 9 7950X perform?
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)I mean, it is certainly fast. I did a bit of a double take checking out the numbers when I saw the Cinebench R23 single thread run tipping the odd core up to 5.9GHz. Even stable at 5.8GHz was pretty shocking. It's not quite that high under all-core load, but 5.4GHz across all 16 cores still makes it one blazing chip.
It's blazing in another way, too, because damn, does this thing get hot?! Actually, no. It's okay. AMD says that "At 95 degrees it is not running hot, rather it will intentionally go to this temperature as much as possible under load because the power management system knows that this is the ideal way to squeeze the most performance out of the chip without damaging it."
Apparently, the Ryzen 7000-series processors are designed to run at this level "24/7 without risk of damage or deterioration."
But does fast and hot make it the ultimate gaming processor? Not really, not at all in fact. On that score, it will often get outperformed by the eight-core Ryzen 7 7700X which launches alongside it. It is comfortably faster than the previous generation's Ryzen 9 5950X, which is important, especially as that was priced some $100 higher on release.
It also regularly outpaces the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which was AMD's most recent play for the fastest gaming CPU crown. But against Intel… well, the Core i9 12900K is still looking like an outstanding gaming processor.
Gaming performance
Image 1 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 6 of 7(Image credit: Future)Image 7 of 7(Image credit: Future)In gaming terms, with the exact same GPU, the same drivers, and the same OS, Intel's Core i9 12900K keeps itself ahead of this, AMD's latest chip. The chip it's been calling "the best for gamers and creators."
There isn't a game in our test suite which has the new Zen 4 chip ahead of Intel's Alder Lake CPU. Which doesn't make for great reading when you consider that it will soon be replaced by an even speedier Raptor Lake range of processors that could push gaming performance even further ahead of AMD's chips.
Creator performance
Image 1 of 5Image 2 of 5Image 3 of 5Image 4 of 5Image 5 of 5On the multi-threaded side, however, AMD's high-speed advantage comes to the fore. Seriously, I'll take that 95°C temperature if I can have all 16 cores operating at 5.4GHz for the duration. That makes all the difference when it comes to things like rendering and encoding, and AMD's dominance is clear to see.
In the Blender render test, the Ryzen 9 7950X is over 50% faster than the Core i9 12900K, and over 40% faster than the Zen 3-based Ryzen 9 5950X. That highlights just what a multi-threaded monster the new Zen 4 platform can create, and is really where all those front-end improvements really come to the fore.
It's the marriage of brute-forcing the clock speed and the elegance of those microarchitecture tweaks that deliver a processor that can be the basis of a powerful home workstation.
I mean, there's a reason the high-end desktop (HEDT) CPU market is dead; those old Intel Core X chips, and even AMD's own Threadripper. They don't appear on the PC roadmap outside of the professional space these days. And that's because AMD gambled on higher core counts and then again on an innovative chiplet design that has been one of the biggest success stories in modern processor creation.
But you don't need a Threadripper chip when the new Ryzen 9 7950X rocks up with 16 cores of Zen 4 grunt and will comfortably push each one of them to 5.4GHz for a fraction of its price. There are few bedroom videographers or renderers who wouldn't be enthusiastic about the performance of this chip and would argue paying another $1,700 for a 24-core Threadripper Pro makes any kind of sense.
The new AM5 platform's penchant for the number five is demonstrated by the increase in memory bandwidth owing to the support for DDR5 memory. With the new EXPO memory profiles tailored for both DDR5 and AMD's new platform, we could instantly hit the top frequency with our G.Skill DDR5-6000 kit. That delivers an easy 68% increase in memory bandwidth over the previous Zen 3 generation.
The benefits of the PCIe 5 interface, however, won't manifest until we get hold of some solid state storage drives maxing out the increased bandwidth when they arrive in November.
It's interesting to note, though, that while our AMD system is running with 32GB of DDR5-6000, our Intel Alder Lake machine is slumming it with another G.Skill set, but a 32GB kit running at DDR5-5600. And it still offers higher memory bandwidth.
System performance
Image 1 of 3Image 2 of 3Image 3 of 3But what of efficiency? That was the watchword around the switch to Zen 4 and a 5nm CCD, but the Ryzen 9 7950X has a TDP of 170W and a max socket power of 230W. Even the Ryzen 5 7600X has a high TDP of 105W as opposed to the previous gen at 65W.
But the performance per watt of Zen 4 is impressive, especially when it comes to gaming. Measured in Far Cry 6 we're getting 1.61fps per watt of power, compared with less than 1fps per watt with the old Ryzen 9 5950X. It's also a lot cooler when you're talking about consistent gaming workloads.
Sure, under a 100% all-core load the Zen 4 cores are solid at over 95°C, but in games, we measured it at just 65°C.
What's interesting, however, is that for all the talk of Intel's desperate power demands making its chips power hungry and inefficient, the Core i9 12900K is both better in terms of performance per watt and thermals.
You can take the shackles off Intel's chips, and allow them to use all the power in your motherboard's BIOS, but if you stick to Intel's own specifications they won't stretch to the same levels. Okay, it will still top the 200W point when thrashing through Cinebench R23, but in games, you're looking at 81W and 50°C—lower than this 5nm Ryzen chip.
Eco Mode performance
Image 1 of 6Image 2 of 6Image 3 of 6Image 4 of 6Image 5 of 6Image 6 of 6PC Gamer test rigAMD
Motherboard: ASRock X670E Taichi
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 CL30 2x 16GB
Intel
Motherboard: Asus ROG Z690 Hero
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-5600 CL36 2x 16GB
Graphics card: Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB
Storage: 1TB WD Black SN850
Cooler: Corsair H100i RGB
PSU: NZXT 850W
Chassis: DimasTech Mini V2
Even in Eco Mode, the Ryzen 9 7950X can't bring its performance per watt up to the levels of the Alder Lake chip. But Eco Mode is still one of the biggest wins for the new Zen 4 cores. The performance boost going from 7nm to 5nm is at its greatest at the 65W level, and that is highlighted by just how much faster the Zen 4 chip is, even locked to 65W, compared with the Ryzen 9 5950X.
In Eco Mode, it will also still beat the Core i9 12900K in creative applications, too.
Honestly, if I'm running a Zen 4 chip in my rig, I'm going to be setting it to Eco Mode all the time. You don't need the extra multi-threading performance for most of the time you use your PC, and when you do, just swap it out of Eco Mode and let those cores fly. You barely lose any performance while gaming—especially not at the 1440p or 4K resolutions—and the lower temps will make for a quieter rig, too.
Admittedly at the moment that's not so easy. In the pre-release BIOSes you have to dig around in the AMD Overclocking settings to manually set PPT limits, etc. but AMD is promising to make it a more accessible feature on your Windows desktop after launch.
I hope it does, because Eco Mode is one of the things which sets the Zen chips apart, and it's better than ever.
How does the Ryzen 9 7950X stack up?
(Image credit: Future)Where does the new Zen 4 flagship chip stand in the CPU market? Today, it's the best chip for creators, and maybe even the best chip for creators who also game. But it's certainly not the best gaming CPU.
This $700 16-core processor, despite its heady 5.8GHz clock speed, still falls behind Intel's slightly cheaper Core i9 12900K when it comes to raw frame rates. And you can still get the GPU-less KF version of that Alder Lake CPU for much less than that. Though given that Raptor Lake is on its way very soon I'd not recommend that purchase right now, either.
But the multicore performance is pretty staggering. If you want to throw a ton of complex computational tasks at a client platform, say for video rendering or encoding, then there is nothing out there in this price bracket that can come close to the processing prowess of AMD's new Zen 4 top chip.
Its last-gen flagship suddenly looks very old indeed.
That's true even if you limit the Ryzen 9 7950X to just 65W. I think Eco Mode is the thing that has impressed me most about the new architecture, showing just how efficient it can be. Unfortunately, to be competitive with Intel's Alder Lake, AMD has had to go all out on the power and thermals by default to give its Zen 4 cores enough headroom to perform at their best.
And the raw clock speed numbers are spectacular, too. I mean, hitting 5.8GHz stock, out of the box is something I don't think many of us were really expecting.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)I've been testing the eight-core Ryzen 7 7700X alongside this 16-core chip, and that is a performance gaming chip that will sometimes even beat the Ryzen 9 7950X. But it, too, is shy of the Alder Lake competition in raw frame rates, though can at least match it in terms of performance per watt.
Though if we're talking about AMD gaming CPUs, there is a big, flappy-eared grey mammal in the room. There's no Ryzen 7 7800X in the launch lineup, and that feels like a gap tailor-made for a cached-out X3D chip, along the lines of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, to pop into. With a vast chunk of extra L3 cache to play with, the 3D V-cache design is made for gaming, and that should be AMD's real play for the best gaming CPU. Though when that launches, we still don't know.
AMD has been very cagey about its plans, initially suggesting it would be released this year and now we're not so sure. Joe Macri told us that "we're not trying to dribble things out to you, the cycle time of running stuff through the fab just takes longer when you want to take two pieces of silicon and literally fuse them together at the molecular level."
Until it's got those big cache chips bonded onto the CPU we're going to have to wait and see what extra gaming impact the expanded L3 cache can have alongside a Zen 4 core.
Ryzen 9 7950X verdict
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)I feel quite positive about AMD's top Zen 4 processor, which is maybe a little strange given that it's more evolution than revolution and doesn't quite have the standout performance leaps that characterised the previous generations of Zen chips.
But I think we've probably been spoiled by AMD in recent times.
The Ryzen 9 7950X is still a big generational jump over the Ryzen 9 5950X, but it hasn't managed a convincing showing against its main Intel rival. That's especially true in gaming, and while the multi-threaded performance is pretty spectacular, we're in a position where we know Intel's bumping that up with its incoming Raptor Lake chips and that could entirely negate the improvements AMD has managed to muster for Zen 4.
Inevitably then you will likely see a lot made about it being a disappointing release. But, to me, it feels like a confident, consistent release. You could argue it's maybe not super ambitious, but AMD has got where it is today by always delivering on its Zen promises, and yet again Dr. Su's gang has absolutely done that.
The Ryzen 9 7950X is the fastest, hottest, most power-hungry Zen chip yet, but though it's not the gaming champ it is still the best all-round AMD CPU.
-
The best RGB lighting kit will bathe your setup in a glorious rainbow of color. It will sync with your peripherals in an immense, effervescent light show and stop your PC looking stale. It's not as simple as slapping any old RGB lighting strip onto your PC though, you need one that lines up with your existing color scheme and current colour obsession.
Seriously, don't let the gamers sporting bland BeQuiet cases and beige Noctua fans dishearten your quest for luminosity. Shine bright like a freaking tesla arc, mate. You do you. And with one of the best RGB LED kits inside your machine, form and function can go hand in hand.
If you're just dabbling in RGB, a synced keyboard and mouse light show might be your limit, but it’s another thing altogether to completely engulf your PC case, gaming monitor, and desk in splendid unified brilliance. It really is a thing of beauty when you get it right, and it absolutely has the power to (literally) brighten a long, boring work day.
I've personally saturated my setup with a bunch of RGB lighting kits over the years, and have now pulled together a list of my favorites so you can decide which suits you. Usually, the options involve RGB LED strips and come with a base station that you can install to add some color to your gaming PC, and while you can buy strips of RGB LEDs pretty much anywhere, the best RGB lighting will let you set lighting patterns, and sync them up to your components, usually via software or a remote.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: NZXT)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: NZXT)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: NZXT)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: NZXT)1. NZXT HUE 2
The best RGB lighting kit for gaming PCs
RGB Type: Addressable | Control Method: CAM Software | Included LEDs: 40 | Expandable: Yes | Mounting: Magnets and screws
40 addressable RGB LEDs out of the boxExpandable with additional accessoriesEasy to use software controlsNot so wallet-friendlyWhen it comes to lighting, NZXT has never been one to shy away from offering it wherever possible. The company's earliest cases offered accent lighting well before it was fashionable, so it comes as no surprise that the company is leading the charge into case lighting with its various HUE products. The HUE+ was our former top choice for this guide, but it has been appropriately dethroned by the newly released HUE 2.
The HUE 2 ecosystem is comprised of the central RGB lighting unit, Ambient, Underglow, LED strips, Cable Comb, and several other products. Like its predecessor, the HUE 2 RGB lighting unit featured here is more than enough to start your RGB case party.
The HUE 2 kit comes with 10 individually addressable LEDs on each of its four strips. With a total of 40 LEDs and multiple extension cords included, the kit is capable of lighting up a wide range of build sizes out of the box. If you have a more significant case or want even more RGB lighting, the main lighting unit allows you to expand things even further.
An upgrade from its predecessor, the HUE 2, now has four individual channels (up from two) that support up to 40 LEDs or six HUE 2 accessories each. This allows you to create virtually endless combinations of lighting configurations and settings across dozens of HUE 2 RGB products. And it's all easily controlled via the company's CAM software.
Considering the $60 price tag of the HUE+ and the low cost of entire reels of addressable LED strips, the $75 price tag on the HUE 2 may sound a bit steep. But the natural expansion of the ecosystem and simplicity of CAM makes it more than worthwhile. Pair the HUE 2 kit with the HUE 2 Ambient, Cable Comb, or Underglow accessories, and you'll have yourself one unforgettable smorgasbord of RGB.
Read the full NZXT HUE 2 review.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Alitove)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Alitove)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Alitove)2. Alitove WS2812B
The best DIY RGB lighting system
RGB Type: Addressable | Control Method: Digital Remote | Included LEDs: 300 | Expandable: Yes | Mounting: Double-sided tape
Offers much higher LED densityAdvanced programming optionsCheapest addressable LED solutionController and power supply come seperatelyThere are countless variations of addressable RGB LED strips on the market today, but we found the Alitove WS2812B strips to be the most cost-effective and versatile when it comes to lighting up a PC. Each 16.4ft spool comes with a whopping 300 LEDs that can be cut down to fit any sized PC. However, in addition to the LED strip, you'll have to purchase a separate controller and power supply.
Cutting the LED strip to wrap around the interior of the S340, we used less than half of the spool but still ended up with more than double the included LEDs in the HUE 2. With 85 total LEDs, our DIY solution was far brighter with smoother color effects than any of the other kits we've tested.
Several pre-programmed controllers are available that work just like some of the other kits we've tested here but with literally hundreds of patterns and lighting combinations. More advanced users can use Arduino boards or a Raspberry Pi to program their lighting effects. For our DIY setup, we decided to go with the simple route and used a remote-controlled mini controller.
After we attached the LEDs to the case, we connected the mini controller using the included JST connector at the end of the strip. While a 5V Molex adapter may work for some situations, you might need to power the controller and strip with an external power supply with a current of 3A or higher.
With well over 100 unique lighting modes and the ability to adjust speed and brightness, we found the pre-programmed solution to be more than sufficient. You'll have to do without the smart lighting modes found in the HUE 2, but advanced users can replicate those modes and more with custom controllers and programming. The DIY route isn't for everyone, but if you're willing to put in a bit of effort, it can be gratifying and cost-effective.
Best CPU for gaming | Best graphics card | Best gaming motherboards
Best SSD for gaming | Best DDR4 RAM | Best PC casesImage 1 of 4(Image credit: Deepcool)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Deepcool)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Deepcool)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Deepcool)3. Deepcool RGB350
The best basic RGB lighting system
RGB Type: Non-addressable | Control Method: Wireless remote | Included LEDs: 36 | Expandable: Yes | Mounting: Magnets
36 total bright LEDsRemote controlled RGB lightingVery affordableNot as versatile as someWhether you’re looking for a single-color LED strip or an RGB solution to light up your build, we highly recommend the DeepCool RGB350 LED Kit. Priced at around $20, it’s only a few dollars higher than most single-color LED kits but offers so much more.
With two included LED strips, each measuring twelve inches, the RGB350 is capable of lighting up most small to medium-sized builds. We used the mid-sized NZXT S340 for our testing, and the build was easily lit up with just one strip on the top and one strip on the bottom. Installation was foolproof thanks to magnets built into the LED strips and an included extension cord.
The kit uses a wireless RGB controller that allows you to control the LED strips using an included remote control. All we had to do was connect the Molex adapter to our power supply, chain the LED strips together and plug them into the RGB controller, and we were up and running in minutes.
The only things you’ll be able to control with the DeepCool RGB350 are the brightness, color, and various flashing patterns. If you want a single color, you’ll be able to choose from 15 total colors on the remote. If you want multiple colors, you can cycle through the three primary red, green, and blue colors or a seven-color rainbow with 'breathing' or 'skipping' effects in between each color change.
The DeepCool RGB350 might not be advanced as the RGB mechanical keyboards on the market these days, but it inevitably gets the job done if you’re looking to light up your build on a budget.
A new Silent Hill game just appeared on a Korean rating site
in Gaming News
Posted
After months of speculation, leaks, and all-around confusion, the future of the Silent Hill series has grown even more bewildering thanks to something called Silent Hill: The Short Message, which was recently rated by South Korea's Game Rating and Administration Committee.
The rating has since been removed but was noted by Gematsu, which said that the publisher on the project was listed as Uniana, the publisher of multiple other Konami games in Korea. The rating did not include any mention of platforms, however.
What makes the rating noteworthy is that it's the latest in a long and frankly baffling string of Silent Hilll rumors and leaks that still haven't added up to anything. A rumor of two new Silent Hill games first surfaced in January 2020, but a few months later Konami shot it down; fans then convinced themselves that the Silent Hill-like horror game Abandoned was in fact a new Silent Hill, despite developer Blue Box Studios repeatedly insisting that it is not.
More recently, it was rumored that Layers of Fear studio Bloober Team had joined up with Konami to remake Silent Hill 2. Amidst all of that, Guillermo Del Toro managed to slip in a good zing at the 2021 Game Awards.
Despite the lack of anything concrete, the sheer persistence of the rumor makes it believable that something's brewing, and the obvious demand for a new Silent Hill makes it seem inevitable. The is also the first time the name "The Short Message" has appeared online prior to this rating. For now, there's no sign of Silent Hill: The Short Message on other ratings websites, including the ESRB, PEGI, and the Australian Classification Board, so we'll wait to see what happens next—in the hopes of speeding things along, I've reached out to Konami for comment and will update if I receive a reply.
View the full article