UHQBot
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It seems like I should be desensitized to the impact of large-scale Minecraft builds after all these years but just when I think I've seen it all someone goes and starts posting screenshots of a build that looks right out of Bloodborne. Super skilled builder Potomy has spent four months on this project so far and still has bigger plans yet for turning it into a custom downloadable map, they tell me. Even if I didn't ever get to play inside this build, it's making my eyes pretty damn happy just to look at.
For this map, Potomy has designed massive Gothic structures based on some of the big Bloodborne buildings you'll remember looming over you in Yharnam: the Astral Clocktower, the Iosefka's Clinic hub, and the huge main gate of the Cathedral Ward.
Like Bloodborne itself, I'm shocked by just how gorgeous something so gray can look. Potomy's Bloodborne-inspired buildings are all enormous, using depth to add variation to its monochromatic color palette of stone, cobblestone, and iron bar blocks. Like other huge Minecraft builds, the scale that Potomy is working at allows for some really intricate detailing on each building. Paired with the custom textures that Potomy is working on and some great Minecraft shaders (they're using the BSL shaders) these screenshots just bleed spooky atmosphere.
progress_so_far_for_the_city_grant_us_gothic from r/Minecraft
heres_from_a_different_shot_practicing_with_photo from r/Minecraftbuilds
Potomy's customized texture pack is doing some lifting in a couple of these cases. The iron bars in a couple shots, for instance, are way more tall and detailed than in vanilla Minecraft. Same goes for the whorls of those lamp posts. Most of it is pure Minecraft though. The giant circular windows are built with lots of stone brick stair pieces and old fashioned ingenuity.
The timelapse videos on Potomy's YouTube channel are particularly illustrative of the process. You can spot the points where they're designing bits of architecture by hand before using the WorldEdit mod to copy and replicate different sections. Even with the help of that tool, Potomy estimated that they'd spent 76 hours on the project as of two months ago. If they've managed to keep pace since then, they're well past spending 100 hours on this feat.
There's plenty left to go, though. Potomy tells me that they're planning for this build to eventually be an adventure map with a focus on combat. They eventually want to make the project available on the Bedrock marketplace where they've published lots of other creations already. This is still Minecraft, mind, so it's not going to hold a candle to the possibility of Bloodborne on PC, but it sure could be a very cool tribute.
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Hello memocih,
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.
memocih joined on the 09/16/2022.
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Valve showed us what the world of Half-Life could look like through a VR headset with Half-Life: Alyx. Now some hard-working modders are ready to show us even more. Half-Life 2: VR Mod entered open beta today and is now playable for free on Steam, so tell Gordon Freeman to take off his glasses and strap a computer to his face.
In the mod, which is compatible with the Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift, you can play Half-Life 2 from start to finish in VR. It's a beta, so the mod isn't 100% feature-complete and you may run into bugs (and not just the antlion variety), but if you've got a headset I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't want to jump into Gordon Freeman's HEV suit and start throwing things around with the gravity gun. Plus, now you can literally pick up that can. Won't the City 17 metrocops be impressed!
You may need an iron stomach, though. While the mod does support full roomscale VR, locomotion options do not include teleportation, the blink-like movement system you'll find in most VR games (including Alyx) which often helps players who suffer from motion sickness.
"Due to HL2’s ever-present physics engine, it is incredibly hard to prevent any and all possible induced locomotion on the player, and so it is not yet clear if teleport can be implemented in a meaningful way," the modders say. "We are still looking into it, but can’t make any promises."
And you may recall that Half-Life 2 has some lengthy vehicle sequences, as Freeman first spends a couple hours driving an airboat through the canals of City 17, and then races a janky scout car along the coast to Nova Prospekt. Think about all the speeding, wobbling, veering, crashing, and bouncing in those vehicles, and then think about doing it in VR. Unless you're immune to nausea, there's a good chance you'll feel like whooping your cookies as you're careening around.
The mod's developers have worked hard to lessen the negative effects of driving in VR, though. "We have done our best to smooth the view during those rides to minimize motion sickness," they say. "Even so, the rides still require strong VR legs. For players who struggle with this, we intend to offer an option to switch the vehicle rides to a projected 2D view. While not as immersive of an experience, it should at least allow everyone to get through the rides."
(Image credit: Valve)
Despite a lack of teleportation locomotion (except for the kind provided by Dr. Kleiner's lab) the mod has both smooth and snap turning, customizable controls, full support for left-handed players, and a laser sight for weapons to make aiming easier. And to turn your flashlight on, all you have to do is tap your head, which is handy. Naturally the 2004 game isn't going to look nearly as beautiful as 2020's Half-Life: Alyx, but the idea of craning your neck to gaze up at the citadel in City 17 is pretty darn compelling.
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PC cases these days are all about showing off: tempered glass panels, RGB lighting, sleek metal designs like alien spacecraft, the works. Many builders, however, buck the trends in order to create the most ludicrous "sleeper PCs" with high end hardware cloaked in outdated or unassuming cases, like some kind of warrior monk incognito.
Enter YouTuber Tech by Matt's Ryzen, RTX gaming PC in the, uh, hottest small form factor chassis around: the OG Xbox 360 case. Those original model 360s were decimated by the Red Ring of Death, a hardware failure brought on by the console's poor ventilation frying the components with excessive temps. In an act of hubris out of a Greek tragedy, Matt gutted his childhood console that's survived since '09 and replaced the innards with bigger, stronger, hotter components that were never meant to squeeze in there.
He largely hollowed out the inside of the console and even a little bit of one of those curved, fancy-looking hard drive expansions you could get (it's just a standard 2.5" HDD buried in there at the end of the day) to make room for all the components. Demonstrating admirable attention to detail, Matt did resolder and rewire the front daughter board of the console, leaving it looking a little like the Pokémon Tangela but also allowing the power button and green LEDs to work with the new system.
The PC inside is running a Ryzen R50 5600x processor, RTX 3060 graphics card, and 32 GB of RAM. There was no question of cramming a power supply in there, so Matt opted for a similar solution to the original 360's deadly bludgeon of an external power brick, in this case a gaming laptop charger hooked up to an internal power converter in the console.
The end result is snug and hot like a cabin on a cold winter's morn. It runs games as well as you'd expect from current-gen hardware, but it also clocks GPU temps north of 80° Celsius, and CPU temps consistently in the mid to high 90s. Matt mused about potentially rigging up some higher intensity server fans—the same solution that saved YouTuber Shank Mods' Hot Wheels PC—but for now the builder's saying mission accomplished. If you're interested in other projects by Matt—like a similar build in a Gamecube chassis— you can check out his YouTube channel.
Image 1 of 3The extremely cramped internals of the X360 gaming PC (Image credit: Tech by Matt on YouTube)Image 2 of 3The jerry-rigged daughter board allowing the power button to be used. (Image credit: Tech by Matt on YouTube)Image 3 of 3The finished product in action. (Image credit: Tech by Matt on YouTube) -
Hello Russy,
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.
Russy joined on the 09/17/2022.
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Hello Russy,
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.
Russy joined on the 09/17/2022.
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HoYoverse has been putting some stunning trailers out for Genshin Impact lately, clips that have made it easy to imagine what the game might look like as a full-fledged TV show. Thankfully, it looks like the Chinese developer was way ahead of us. The Genshin Impact 3.1 presentation revealed that ufotable—the studio behind the God Eater animations and Demon Slayer—is currently working on one.
Despite the reveal trailer being over three minutes long, it doesn't say a whole lot. It's mostly just a flythrough, albeit a gorgeous one. It starts with Paimon floating through a sun-dappled forest before taking us through some recognisable locales, like the plains of Mondstadt, Dragonspine and a zoom-in on a Statue of the Seven. It ends with the two main protagonists, twins Aether and Lumine, holding hands as the trailer closes out with another beautiful whoosh through some Mondstadt ruins.
It may be more style than substance right now, but it's hard to not feel excited for what ufotable could do with the Genshin Impact universe. The studio has pumped out some stunningly fluid animations with a crisp, vivid art style that looks great. It's unknown yet whether the anime will tell a loose adaptation of Genshin's story involving both twins, or whether it'll closely follow the game in favour of highlighting only one twin—I'd place my bets on Aether if that were the case.
(Image credit: HoYoverse / ufotable)With HoYoverse saying in the reveal's YouTube description that "the long-term collaboration project between Genshin Impact and ufotable has begun," we could easily be a year or two away from the anime being released. I'm personally hoping for an episodic series that can potentially explore a story not yet told in the game, but I'd settle for 90 minutes of gorgeous movie magic, too. Whatever this adaptation turns out to be, I'm looking forward to seeing Teyvat in a new format. Hopefully we find out just what that'll be soon enough.
Just in the last few weeks, we've seen how well anime adaptations of videogames can work. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners—a Netflix spin-off from Cyberpunk 2077—has been met with rave reviews despite the lukewarm reception to its source material. In fact, it's so good that our own Wes Fenlon said it renewed his desire to go back and give Cyberpunk 2077 another chance. There's a good chance the Genshin anime could have the same effect, luring all manner of new players into Teyvat if it's good enough.
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Intel announced a new processor simply called the "Intel Processor," which is meant to replace the Pentium and Celeron line of entry-level CPUs the chipmaker plans to retire in 2023.
Intel says it will "retire the Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron branding beginning in Q1 2023," and the decision is to "sharpen on its focus of flagship brands" such as Intel Core, EVO, and vPro. The Intel Processor will debut inside its upcoming 'Essential' line of PCs, which are entry-level systems.
The Pentium chip was released in 1993 and served as Intel's flagship CPU for almost a decade before the Intel Core line of chips took its place. Since then, Pentium chips have been primarily found in entry-level workstation desktops and laptops.
The Celeron was introduced in 1998 as a CPU for budget and low-end systems. Like the Pentium chips, you can find Celeron processors mostly inside low-powered Intel notebooks. According to Intel, retiring the Pentium and Celeron branding in favor of Intel Processor is about simplifying its product lines.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest"Intel is committed to driving innovation to benefit users, and our entry-level processor families have been crucial for raising the PC standard across all price points, says Josh Newman, VP of mobile client platforms, in a blog post. "The new Intel Processor branding will simplify our offerings so users can focus on choosing the right processor for their needs.”
I can't help but feel a bit of nostalgia for the Pentium chip. If you're my age, your first PC was powered by a Pentium or Celeron chip. And for a long while, having a PC with a Pentium chip meant working with some serious horsepower.
Like the great Weird Al Yankovic once said of the doomed Pentium processor, "While your computer's crashin', mine's multitaskin'. It does all my work without me even askin'."Thanks, Pentium chip. You earned your retirement.
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It appears Uber has been hacked by an 18-year-old. As discovered Thursday, the hijacker managed to gain full admin access to the company's AWS, Duo, OneLogin, G Suite, VMware vSphere domain accounts, and more. They even bagged Uber's source code and have sent out screenshots to prove it.
Not a great time for Uber then. But what really gets me is how people are meant to have reacted when asked to stop interacting with the hacker on Slack—if you work in IT you might need to ask a friend to hold you back for this one.
According to The New York Times, the person responsible for the Uber hack claims to have gained access simply by sending a text to an Uber employee pretending to be from the company's corporate IT team. The hacker, if we can even call them that, just persuaded the employee to send them their login credentials and, boom, full access granted.
Yuga Labs engineer Sam Curry posted on Twitter about the event, having spoken to the apparent hacker, who claims to be just 18 years old. They sent some pretty legitimate-looking screenshots of internal systems to prove their quarry.
Curry spoke to some Uber employees as to their experience: "At Uber, we got an 'URGENT' email from IT security saying to stop using Slack," one employee said. "Now anytime I request a website, I am taken to a REDACTED page with a pornographic image and the message 'F*** you wankers'."
Another employee said that, "Instead of doing anything, a good portion of the staff was interacting and mocking the hacker thinking someone was playing a joke. After being told to stop going on slack, people kept going on for the jokes."
Someone hacked an Uber employees HackerOne account and is commenting on all of the tickets. They likely have access to all of the Uber HackerOne reports. pic.twitter.com/00j8V3kcoESeptember 16, 2022
See moreThe Slack channel was finally taken offline after one message read "I announce I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach." It also went on to list a bunch of systems they were claiming to have access to. What's really wild is that since there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind the attack "it seems like maybe they’re this kid who got into Uber and doesn’t know what to do with it, and is having the time of his life,” Curry jokes.
Ars Technica reports that this isn't the first time Uber has been involved in a data breach. Back in 2016 Uber allegedly failed to report a massive data breach in which 57 million customer and driver names, email and phone numbers were stolen. The company allegedly failed to report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission, instead opting to pay the hackers a $100,000 bug bounty so they would delete the data and sign an NDA, and out of embarrassment passing it all off as part of a security test.
That time, it resulted in one of Uber’s top security execs, Joe Sullivan, being fired, though his lawyers say he was made a scapegoat for the downfalls of other employees.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the restThe recent attack is currently under investigation with Uber's official Twitter account stating Thursday, "We are currently responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available."
How people haven't figured out that giving your password out is a terrible idea by now, I'll never know. They call it social engineering, but attacks like this are so excruciatingly low effort, a title like that is frankly an insult to engineers.
Bottom line? Please don't give your passwords out, even if someone claims to be from IT. That team should already have access to your account in case you forget your password.
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(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)
Magic: The Gathering has been cooking up every crossover imaginable over the last few years as it planeswalks indiscriminately between universes looking for tasty things to add, and the power-armored space rugby players who reside in the Warhammer 40,000 universe are finally on the menu. Whether you were first introduced to the Imperium of Man way back in the MS-DOS version of Space Hulk, the classic Dawn of War games, or you're waiting for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, you'll know the Emperor of Mankind is no stranger to shedding his glorious light on a multitude of platforms.
We've seen most of the big crossovers Wizards announced back in 2021 release already—including both the Street Fighter and Fortnite Secret Lair drops—along with others, like Magic's crossover with League of Legends. Now it's the turn of the grimmest and darkest setting, with spoilers for Warhammer 40,000's Magic crossover underway. This crossover is a set of four Commander decks. As a more casual format, Commander is usually played in a group of three or four players, the last person standing being the victor. Each will have massive 100-card deck including someone that acts like the general and guides its strategy.
While the Imperium of Man are certainly not the good guys—nobody is, in Warhammer 40,000—they are a pretty good representation of order. With this card, And They Shall Know No Fear, the Forces of the Imperium deck gets a powerful white combat trick to enforce that order.
As an instant you can play And They Shall Know No Fear to spoil your opponents best-laid plans. Use And They Shall Know No Fear during an attack to protect your creatures while powering them up to kill blockers, or even as a surprise when blocking your opponent. While it does limit you to protecting a single type of creature, the fact you can spread it all over a whole army if they share that creature type makes it a deceptively powerful card. With a Commander like Marneus Calgar you're sure to create enough token creatures to take advantage of the bonus.
The Warhammer 40,000 crossover will include a total of four different Commander decks, pre-built and ready to play. Each deck will have everything you need to play, including a choice of two different legendary creatures to act as your Commander.
- The Ruinous Powers deck (red/blue/black): Abaddon the Despoiler and Be'lakor, the Dark Master
- Forces of the Imperium (white/blue/black): Inquisitor Greyfax and Marneus Calgar, Ultramarines Chapter Master
- The Tyranid Swarm (green/blue/red): The Swarmlord and Magus Lucca Kane
- Necron Dynasties (black): Szarekh, the Silent King, and Imotekhk, the Stormlord
You can get hold of the 100-card commander decks when they release on October 7, and there will also be three crossover Secret Lair releases featuring yet more Magic cards from Games Workshop's settings between October 17 and November 14. You'll get to check out Warhammer 40,000 orks, and then two card drops that focus on Age of Sigmar and Blood Bowl.
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Genshin Impact codes are one of the few ways you can get Primogems for doing next to nothing, letting you purchase Fates to use when wishing on banners, and with three new characters arriving in version 3.1, you'll need all the help you can get. We've got five-star Electro character, Cyno, five-star Hydro character, Nilou, and four-star Hydro character, Candace all arriving in the next six weeks or so.
If you're a no-spend player hoping to grab one of the five-stars for free, you'll need to save up a fair few Fates. While you can get Primogems through events, and will get some guaranteed after the version 3.1 downtime, a couple of hundred more certainly won't hurt. That's where the Genshin Impact 3.1 livestream codes come in.
Here I'll add every code from the stream, so you can redeem them. It's worth remembering that these freebies will expire after a day, so even if you're not watching it, you'll want to redeem them around the same time.
Genshin Impact codes: All current livestream Primogems
- 3B6RYY7AHX9D - 100 Primogems and ten Mystic Enhancement Ore
- JT78YH7SGWRZ – 100 Primogems and five Hero’s Wit
- 2BP9HY6BYFR5 – 100 Primogems and 50,000 Mora
How to redeem Genshin Impact codes
You have to be at least Adventure Rank 10 in order to redeem Genshin codes, but there are two different ways you can do it. The first is through the official Hoyoverse site:
- Go to the miHoYo redemption website
- Log in and choose a region
- Copy in a code from this list and press redeem
- Log in to Genshin Impact
- Check your mailbox and claim your rewards
The second way is through the game itself:
- Log in to Genshin Impact
- Open the in-game menu
- Select 'Settings' then 'Account'
- Click on 'Redeem now' and enter your code
- Grab your rewards from the mailbox
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The best wireless gaming keyboard is able to deliver a slick connection and speedy mechanical keys. Yes, both. These aren't sluggish connections or laggy Bluetooth devices. No, these are rapid gaming devices with imperceptible delay in mirroring your keystrokes in-game. Not only are they quick as any other keyboard nowadays, one of the best wireless keyboards makes for one less cable on your desk and allows you to game from the sofa. Neat.
Wireless keyboards have improved significantly over the years, and where once they were sluggish and ate through their batteries in hours, these days they offer impressive stamina and are just as fast as their wired counterparts. Basically, apart from the obvious lack of a wire, you'd be hard-pressed to spot the difference between the best wireless and wired gaming keyboards.
Figuring out which switch type, size, and extra features you need are all just as important when choosing a wireless keyboard as they are a wired one. Connectivity type is important too. You have to know whether your PC has Bluetooth, or you'll need a keyboard that works via a USB dongle. USB dongles are easier to set up, but they do use up a USB port.
We've tested countless wireless gaming keyboards for speed, reliability, connectivity, build quality, and much more. Here is the list of those that stood out, to give you an idea of which will suit you best. Ideally, you'd also pair the best wireless gaming keyboard with the best wireless gaming headset and a wireless mouse, in order to break completely free of cables.
Best wireless gaming keyboards
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)1. Logitech G915
The best wireless gaming keyboard
Switch: Logitech Romer-GL (Linear, Tactile, Clicky) | Size: Full size | Macros: 5 | Backlights: Full | Passthroughs: No | Media Controls: Dedicated | Wrist rest: None
Attractive form factor and full RGB LightingAmazing Battery LifeMacros keys are easy to hit by mistakeNowhere to store the USB dongleWireless keyboards have often translated to the antithesis of what a gaming keyboard should be: slow, unresponsive, and clunky. That's no longer the case, and the most recent wireless technology from Logitech, built into the G915, has successfully done away with that notion.
The Logitech G915 feels like a logical evolution of what a wireless mechanical keyboard should be.
The G915 is slim but remarkably dense, weighing a bit more than you'd think from the looks. The aluminum-on-plastic frame is incredibly sturdy and looks like a piece of modern art (in a good way). However, the real test is in battery life—thankfully, the G915 passes with flying colors, boasting a 30+ hour lifespan with full RGB brightness on a single charge. Turning off the RGB lighting dramatically extends that life, allowing it to function for up to 100 hours without recharging, but who's going to do that?
Wireless capability is provided by Logitech's Lightspeed tech. It's a simple set-up, just plug the USB receiver into an available USB Type-A port and you're away. There's not a drop of lag or latency about it, and I found I could get away with using the keyboard far enough away from the receiver that I could no longer read the text I was typing, which is sure to cover most realistic scenarios.
Even though you'll want to stick with Lightspeed for the most part, thus ensuring the most stable connection, wireless can also be delivered via Bluetooth, and is swiftly accessible at the press of a button.
The sole drawback to the G915 is its astronomical price tag. At an MSRP of $250, it's drastically more expensive than our favorite wired mechanical keyboard, the Corsair K95 Platinum. The G915 does, however, have an identical wired cousin, the G815, which is 'only' $150.
The Logitech G915 feels like a logical evolution of what a wireless mechanical keyboard should be—featuring excellent connectivity, impressive battery life, and an uncompromising array of features... to those who can afford it.Read our full Logitech G915 TKL review (the smaller version).
Image 1 of 7(Image credit: Keychron)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)2. Keychron K2 (Version 2)
A more affordable wireless gaming keyboard
Switch: Gateron | Size: 84-key | Backlights: White LED | Passthroughs: None | Media Controls: Function shortcuts | Wrist rest: None
Well-pricedGreat overall build qualitySeamless connectivitySomewhat scratchy switchesThe Keychron K2 redefines affordability for wireless gaming keyboards. It starts out at just $69, and for that, you get a decent-sized gaming keyboard with great wireless functionality and Gateron mechanical switches.
The Keychron K2 features the ability to connect to up to three devices at a time, which I found particularly handy when utilizing it either on my PC or MacBook Pro to work and write. Speaking of MacOS and connectivity, on the K2’s left-hand side, there are a couple of different switches that allow you to choose whether you want it work via Bluetooth or the included cable or use it in Windows or Mac mode. All the changes are practically instantaneous, and as for the pairing process via Bluetooth, it couldn’t have been simpler.The Keychron K2 features the ability to connect to up to three devices at a time.
The use cases of K2 as both a Windows and Mac keyboard also lends itself to the fact you can get plenty of different MX-stem keycap sets to completely change the keyboard’s look, be it from Keychron themselves or other places online. In the box you get a taste of with swappable Mac or Windows function keys dependent upon the platform you’re using, which are simple to take off and replace with the bundled keycap puller.
The Keychron K2 uses Gateron Brown switches which are, in essence, a typist’s switch with their handy little tactile bump halfway down the travel. Still, with these pre-lubed Gateron contenders, there’s no reason why you couldn’t indulge in some gaming with them, as I did for this review. They’re pleasantly smooth to use for it, even with the bump, and with the K2 also featuring full NKRO can also be seen as a pretty handy gaming board.
If you’d like to also swap the switches out, the K2 is also available in a hotswappable form, which allows you to draft in some different MX-stem switches, be them Gaterons, TTCs or the real thing. Whilst I haven’t used the hotswappable variant, it’s cool that Keychron offer you the chance to do so.
Battery life is also something to write home about, with a 4000mAh capacity ensuring the K2 can go the distance, with or without backlighting. You’ll find 68 hours with full lighting and 240 hours with it off, meaning you can go weeks without touching the USB Type-C charging cable.
All in all, though, if you’re looking for an entry-level mechanical keyboard, this is a good choice, especially if you’re working from home and using multiple devices. That's not even considering its wireless capability, which feels like the icing on the cake of the already impressive Keychron K2.Read our full Keychron K2 review.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)3. Logitech G613
Logitech's wireless tech for less
Switch: Logitech Romer-G Tactile | Size: Full size | Macros: 6 | Backlights: No | Passthroughs: No | Media Controls: Dedicated | Wrist rest: Fixed
Best wireless system to dateGreat feature setLong battery lifeWrist rest isn't removableNo lightingThe technology behind wireless peripherals has come a long way, and Logitech's Lightspeed wireless connectivity is a prime example. The G613 never once dropped a connection despite the plethora of wireless devices on our desks. It also matches wired peripherals in terms of stability and responsiveness.
It's seriously efficient, too—a pair of AA batteries can push up to 18 months of continuous use.
Though it's designed for practicality first, it's anything but bland. A second glance reveals a row of dedicated macros, media controls, and a volume rocker. The grippy wrist rest is spacious, too, although it's worth noting that it isn't removable and lacks in height to make it really worthwhile. Understandably, backlights were cut to conserve battery.
A black and gray color scheme with the merest hint of blue, a set of comfortably shaped and clearly labeled (though not double-shot) keys, and Romer-G key switches, a co-development between Logitech and Omron, with a high actuation bump, and a satisfyingly soft feel. Like other Romer-G devices, there’s a harmonic ring to the many springs inside the G613 that sings out if you hammer it hard, but otherwise, we’re more than happy with the experience of typing on them. They’re not as tooth-loosening loud as many switches you’ll find, but that’s probably for the best.
A pair of AA batteries can push up to 18 months of continuous use.
This proprietary Romer-G switch features a travel distance of just 3mm and a subtle tactile bump. Its mild, quiet nature makes it suitable for both gaming and typing.
Judged by its merits alone, Logitech’s G613 is an excellent keyboard, and LightSpeed is a tremendous wireless technology, but we wouldn’t consider paying a full $150 for it if it were a wired model. If you absolutely must have mechanical action, and can only sit 10 feet away from your PC, at last, you have a solution—but compromise on just one of those factors, and there are cheaper and more feature-rich keyboards out there that’ll serve you just as well.
Read our full Logitech G613 keyboard review.Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Logitech)4. Logitech G915 TKL
The best compact wireless gaming keyboard
Switch: Low-profile GL switches (clicky, tactile, and linear) | Size: TKL | Macros: Secondary functions | Backlights: Full | Passthroughs: No | Media controls: Dedicated | Wrist rest: No
Lag-free wirelessGreat battery lifeLow-profile mechanical switchesNo macro keysNowhere to store the USB dongleThe G915 TKL takes the best wireless gaming keyboard quality of the larger unit but shrinks it down to TKL size. It sports the same excellent Lightspeed wireless connection and high-quality build and design as its larger sibling. That means you get separate media controls and an aluminum-on-plastic chassis which makes it seriously robust.
You also get the fancy new Logitech switches, more closely aping the Cherry MX design than the original Romer-G switches. The low-profile Logitech GL, a variant of the Kailh Choc switch, is one of the best short-stack mech switches and is as responsive as it is diddy.
The best bits of the G915 have been retained with the G915 TKL.
Some of the best bits of the G915 have been retained with the G915 TKL. The Logitech GL switch, a variant of Kailh's low-profile Choc, is superb. My review unit came equipped with the tactile variant (an analog to Cherry's Brown switch), and while I don't find it quite as responsive and as much of a joy to use as the clicky GL switch, it's probably the least clunky low-profile tactile switch I've come across. The choice is yours, anyways. The G915 TKL is available in tactile, clicky, and linear.
But you have to make some sacrifices for the tenkeyless design's compact nature, which means no macro keys. Well, no physical ones anyway. The macros are now a secondary function of the F keys, and you can jump into the Logitech G software to prioritize them.The G915 TKL excels in almost every way—if only it were a few bucks cheaper still than the full-size G915. This is an incredibly expensive keyboard. And while I've not let that put me off before, there doesn't seem to have been a great deal done on Logitech's part to slim down the price tag—$20 for a significant reduction in keys, switches, and materials doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence as to how pricey the original G915's part list was, to begin with.
Read the full Logitech G915 TKL review.
(Image credit: Corsair)5. Corsair K63 Wireless
The compact Corsair alternative
Switch: Cherry MX Red | Size: TKL | Macros: No | Backlights: Blue | Passthroughs: No | Media Controls: Dedicated | Wrist rest: Detachable
CompactHas backlightsMiserable battery life with backlights onWrist rests clips aren't very sturdyThe compact Corsair K63 Wireless comes packed with features. Cherry MX Red switches? Check. Media controls and wrist rest? Check. Blue backlights? Erm, check?
The reason for my hesitance on the last point is that the battery life of the K63 Wireless is already pretty abysmal without it. Its integrated rechargeable battery lasts a measly 15 hours with the lights set to medium and 25 hours at the lowest brightness. Corsair quotes the battery life to be 75 hours with the backlights off, at which point the inclusion of the backlight seems like a redundant decision. Corsair recommends plugging it in for uninterrupted gameplay, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of a wireless keyboard?
Battery issue aside, the K63 Wireless is a solid board. The keys are responsive, and all its handy features make getting through your day a little easier. You can also seat the K63 wireless in the Corsair Lapboard for gaming in the living room. Neat.
Best graphics cards | Best gaming mouse | Best gaming chair
Best CPU for gaming| Best wireless gaming mouse | Best gaming chair(Image credit: Razer)6. Razer Turret
High-end wireless combo that also works with console
Switch: Razer Green Tactile | Size: Full size | Macros: No | Backlights: Razer Chroma | Passthroughs: No | Media Controls: No | Wrist rest: Fixed
Modeled after the excellent BlackWidowDurable and built to lastWorks with PC and Xbox OneFingerprint magnetLimited Xbox One supportIf you want to solve several cord-related issues with a single blow, the Razer Turret has you covered. It's an excellent, sturdy mechanical keyboard (modeled after Razer's BlackWidow and packing clicky, tactile Green switches) with a built-in, retractable mouse pad paired with a top-shelf wireless mouse. The turret works seamlessly with both PCs and Microsoft's latest family of consoles, the Xbox One.
Retailing at $250, the Turret is right around the price you'd pay for a decent wireless gaming mouse and keyboard independently, and you're getting quality products for your money.
The Mamba-equivalent of the Turret performs as its separate counterpart, with a 16,000 DPI sensor and a robust IPS rating. The keyboard is indistinguishable in terms of performance from Razer's BlackWidow.
All in, it's a great way to clip two cords at once, especially if you're gaming from the sofa.
Best wireless keyboards FAQ
How do you test a wireless keyboard?
The determining factor of wireless keyboards starts at the stability of the connection. Regardless of the wireless tech used, the board must sustain a stable, responsive connection at all times. That's the paramount characteristic we pay attention to throughout testing.
We apply the same testing suite used for our best gaming keyboards to gauge the board's performance. Each board is run through several Starcraft matches, Call of Duty: Warzone, and a few combat sequences in the Witcher 3. We take keen notes on the performance of its switches. Are they responsive? Were there any essential skips or ghosting?
Due to the inherent limitations of wireless connectivity, some features aren't possible for wireless keyboards. USB pass-throughs are out of the question. On the other hand, Audio passthrough is doable, but they're often omitted due to the subpar sound reproduction since audio signals are much more susceptible to noise. Backlights are a double-edged sword: they enhance the aesthetics but are also taxing on the battery.
This brings us to the battery life. If the keyboard continually needs to be charged or eats a deck of AA batteries a week, its wireless nature becomes a liability rather than a selling point. The type of battery also matters: integrated batteries saves you money but can wear out over time. Removable batteries can be swapped out and instantly charged, but they tack onto the cost of the keyboard.
What size of keyboard do I need?
Keyboard size is absolutely a defining factor. Full-sized keyboards tend to offer the most features and a Numpad, but if you don't have space, then all of those extras you paid for will be useless. Tenkeyless boards (the ones with no number pad) and compact keyboards can be a great option, too, if you don't care about all the extra bells and whistles or you don't have any use for alt codes (how barbaric!).
What is the most important thing to look for in a mechanical gaming keyboard?
The switch type is arguably the most important choice to make when picking your new gaming keyboard. Cherry mechanical switches are the most common and most recognizable, but there are a host of alternatives on offer, as well a bunch of upmarket, specialist switches to choose from.
Are dedicated media controls a deal-breaker?
Only you can make that call, but we would suggest that at least having the option to toggle the top row between function and media controls would be our choice. Having a discrete volume wheel can be super useful, however.
Jargon buster - keyboard terminology
Actuation Point
The height to which a key needs to be pressed before it actuates and sends an input signal to a device.
Clicky
A switch that delivers an audible click every time it's pressed, generally right around the point of actuation.
Debounce
A technique to ensure that only one input registers every time a key is pressed.
Housing
The shell that surrounds the internal components of a switch.
Hysteresis
The result of the actuation point and reset point in a switch being misaligned. This generally means a key needs to be lifted off further than normal before it can be actuated again.
Linear
A switch that moves directly up and down, generally delivering smooth keystrokes without noise or tactile feedback.
Mechanical Keyboard
A keyboard built around individual switches for each key rather than a membrane sheath mounted on a PCB.
Membrane Keyboard
A keyboard on which all the keycaps are mounted on a membrane sheath; when a key is pressed, a rubber dome depresses and pushes against the sheath and PCB beneath, actuating the key.
Stem
The component of a switch on which the keycaps are mounted on a mechanical keyboard.
Switch
The physical component of a mechanical keyboard beneath the keycaps on a mechanical keyboard. The switch determines how a key is actuated, whether or not it provides audible or tactile feedback with each press, and more.
Optical switch
This is a type of mechanical switch which instead of a physical metal contact switch uses light to measure when actuation takes place. These can be more configurable too, allowing for not just off and on states, but more analog designs, and even dual actions for a single key depending on how far the switch is pressed down.
Tactile
A switch that provides a 'bump' of feedback every time it's pushed.
Tenkeyless (TKL)
A keyboard that lacks the right-hand number pad.
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Up until recently, it was impossible to unlock Vampire Survivors MissingNo secret playable character in-game. Instead you had to edit the game's code directly. Of course, this wasn't intended by the developers, who had removed the character in one of the early updates, but now you can unlock MissingNo by playing.
MissingNo is very similar to the Red Death character that replaced them, except that they start every level with random stats. So if you're ready to jump in and cause chaos—whether that's for the first time, or just the legitimate way—here's how to unlock MissingNo in Vampire Survivors.
Vampire Survivors MissingNo: How to unlock this playable character
To access MissingNo as a playable character, you'll first need to unlock the Yellow Sign. This is a hidden relic that you can get from the secret stage, Holy Forbidden. To access this stage, you need to survive for 14 minutes in Moongolow with a standard character and defeat the boss there.
Just be aware that when you enter Holy Forbidden, you'll lose all your armor and power-ups and will only be left with your starting weapon. It's useful to have a fast character here so you can get through the stage quickly and pick up the secret relic.
Once you've unlocked the Yellow Sign, you should make sure you have access to the Green Acres challenge stage. This is done by unlocking Hyper Mode for two stages. Once you have access to this, enter Green Acres with both Hurry Mode and Hyper Mode enabled.
Now you need to head southwest and you should soon see things start to change around you, like the game is glitching out. Large winged enemies will begin to appear and you need to kill at least 128 of them. Once you've made short work of them, head to the character selection screen and you should be able to buy MissingNo from there. Good job!
Interestingly, MissingNo seems to be a reference to a famous old glitch found in Pokemon Red and Blue, where the player could battle and catch a mysterious, deleted Pokemon by the same name. It would also cause weird abnormalities like increasing the number of items in a player's inventory by 128. The prerequisites for unlocking MissingNo suddenly seem far less random, huh?
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Amazon must feel like its TV lineup has a sci-fi gap, because Variety reports the company has now officially ordered Blade Runner 2099, a live-action series presumably set 50 years after Blade Runner 2049.
Work on Amazon's Blade Runner show has been underway for a while, with reports that the company began fast-tracking development last February. That work must have paid off to someone's satisfaction, because Amazon is now pot-committed to producing a whole sequel series.
Apart from the inference you can make from the series' name—that it takes place 50 years after 2049—Amazon is keeping very quiet about the plot details of the show. We do know that Silka Luisa—who wrote and produced on Paramount's Halo TV series—has been drafted to serve as showrunner. Ridley Scott will executive produce alongside Blade Runner 2049 co-writer Michael Green and various other people from a host of production companies.
And that's… pretty much all we know, besides a statement from Amazon Studios' head of global television Vernon Sanders, who promises the show will "uphold the intellect, themes, and spirit of its film predecessors". I'll believe it when I see it, though there would at least be some delicious irony in the company behind the Amazon warehouse delivering a lengthy meditation on alienation and the commodification of labour.
There's no date on this one yet, nor even a probable year of release, so we're probably going to be waiting a while to find out how well Amazon does at translating the film's universe to TV. While you wait, you might check out Westwood's classic Blade Runner game, which actually does a spectacular job of translating the film's ideas to a new medium. Best avoid the remaster though, it's still in rough shape.
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You'd be forgiven for thinking now would be a great time to treat yourself to a new graphics card. Ethereum mining has finally gone the way of the dodo, meaning that the second-hand market should be buoyant, and prices for new cards are approaching reasonable levels too. So all good news for once? Hold that thought.
The end of GPU mining should in theory mean that eBay and the like will be flooded with cards. There's little sign of that really happening though, and you'll need to be a bit of a gambler to drop serious money on them anyway. You simply don't know what you're going to be getting—it isn't like you can check out a few pictures of the card you're buying and know that it's going to be just fine.
Is it really so bad that these cards have been mining constantly? Does it actually mean they will fail the moment you try gaming on them? Not necessarily, and there's something to be said about the fact that constant use could potentially be better than the on-and-off nature that gaming puts these cards through.
The big mining farms will have used the best VRAM and GPU frequencies and voltages to get the absolute best bang for their buck from the cards. This generally means getting the most from the memory, which is often the bottleneck for achieving a high hash rate, and easing back on the GPU itself—running it at lower frequency and undervolting to reduce power usage.
The problem is, that doesn't really help when the card fails to boot due to thrashed RAM, even though the GPU is fine. And sure you could replace the individual VRAM chips, but that's certainly not something that plenty of us are going to be comfortable doing. Get it wrong and you really have wasted your money.
(Image credit: NiseriN, Getty Images)There hasn't been an obviously massive influx of cards thus far either.
This is of course assuming that such cards have been treated perfectly, something that isn't going to be so obvious when picking up a used card. Smaller scale miners probably won't have been running optimally either, so could have pushed the main GPU clocks harder, or tried overclocking the RAM to hit a higher hash rate.
You simply don't know what the card has done. How hard it has been run. Whether it was overclocked, whether VRAM has been replaced already, or will need to be. And without any kind of warranty, this all seems a bit too scary. Particularly given that we're not seeing massive savings on used graphics cards at the moment anyway. At least not enough to make them a risk worth taking.
There hasn't been an obviously massive influx of cards thus far either. Possibly due to miners holding on to their hardware as they try to find alternative coins to mine—although the general feeling is that such coins simply don't exist right now. So that influx may be more of a dribble than a flood as the smaller players let go of their hardware.
Then there's the fact that we're about to get treated to next-generation cards from both Nvidia and AMD. The prevailing rumour is that we'll only see the high-end RTX 4090 card initially and the comparable offering from AMD as well, so these aren't going to be the affordable options for a while. Still, there should be a knock-on effect on the current card pricing.
(Image credit: Future)Owners of RTX 3080s and above could be tempted to shift their current cards with a mind to pick up the new performance kings on release, although as we saw with the release of the RTX 30-series cards, that could be a risky move. There's simply no guarantee that the new cards will be available in reasonable quantities or anything like their MSRPs, especially as we haven't really seen anything that's going to dissuade unscrupulous resellers from trying to make a quick buck, or more realistically an easy $500.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the restThere have also been rumours that Nvidia is set to launch new RTX 30-series GPUs at the end of October. There's apparently an 8GB GDDR6 version of the RTX 3060 on the way, potentially at $300, along with an updated RTX 3060 Ti that uses GDDR6X instead of the GDDR6 VRAM. Given the existing RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti are still much sought after and sell well above their original MSRPs this could be great news. It is just a rumour at this point though.
So in summary, despite the death of GPU mining, it still isn't a great time to buy a graphics card right now. Buying from the second-hand market is never straightforward and right now there are potentially too many ex-miner cards out there to make it a worthwhile thing to do. Add in the imminent release of new GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, and things look a bit too bleak.
What do you do if you need a graphics card right now? Say if yours has just failed or you're building a new machine? Set your focus on the more affordable offerings for now, or grab that old card out of the loft until the dust of the GPU mining crash settles. Pretty soon the graphics card market is going to look a whole lot different, and it's going to be worth waiting to see what it looks like if at all possible.
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Hello calebjoe,
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.
calebjoe joined on the 09/16/2022.
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You can always rely on PCG to bring you the news of the hottest game releases as soon as they're announced. Whether it's shadow drops at Gamescom, bombshell announcements at TGS, or the latest news on hotly-anticipated titles like, uh, Wolfenstein 3D.
Okay, 1992's premier FPS isn't news to you, but people in Germany haven't been able to buy the game since it was effectively banned from sale in 1994 for its inclusion of Nazi symbols. That ban—and a later one on the game's 1997 expansion Spear Of Destiny—was at last lifted in 2019, but German players still couldn't really get their hands on the games because they hadn't been given an age rating by Germany's Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (Entertainment Software Self-Regulation, or USK).
That's now changed. German games site GameStar reports that the USK appears to have finally gotten around to checking out this newfangled 'Wolfenstein 3D' thing and given it a rating, along with Spear Of Destiny. The game can be enjoyed by 16 year olds, apparently, but Spear Of Destiny is a hard 18+. As spotted by Twitter user Kinsie, Wolfenstein 3D and its expansion are no longer restricted in Germany on Steam, and are now available for purchase for a cool €4.99. It's also available on GOG and the Microsoft Store.
It's worth noting that there is a little bit of confusion surrounding Wolfenstein's availability in the past. Both German news sites and several German Reddit and forums users are rejoicing at 'finally' being able to easily buy Wolfenstein 3D, but a few confused onlookers swear they picked up a copy of the game in Germany on sites like GOG. Then again, there are old GOG threads from Germans looking to get a copy of the game gifted to them to circumvent German purchasing restrictions. Regardless, even if it was possible—in some under the radar way—to buy the games previously in Germany, it shouldn't have been under German law.
But that's all changed now. Thanks to the USK rating and the changes to the game's availability on Steam, residents of Germany can now join us, legally, in defeating Mecha-Hitler and saving the world from the scourge of fascism. And only 30 years late, too.
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Conquer Viking purgatory with these Valheim guides(Image credit: Iron Gate Studios)
Valheim boss: Summon and defeat them all
Valheim workbench: How to build and upgrade it
Valheim seeds: How to plant them
Valheim commands: Handy cheat codes
Valheim mods: The best player-made additionsValheim crossplay isn't something you might've considered needing up until now. But Iron Gate has recently announced that its Viking survival game is heading to the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass on PC on September 29, so you might want to hop into Valheim's co-op to show your non-Steam friends around the Viking afterlife.
Valheim entered early access last year and player numbers quickly exploded, with its popularity taking the then five-person development team completely by surprise. The big Mistlands update, which includes a whole new biome, is expected later this year.
While there are a couple of weeks to wait before crossplay is needed, you can test it out on Steam right now. So if you're ready to learn more, here's how to enable Valheim crossplay, as well as how to test it before it goes live.
Valheim crossplay: How it works
Crossplay isn't enabled in the live game quite yet but you can test it on the Public Test Branch. Here's how:
- Right-click Valheim in your Steam library.
- Select Properties>Betas.
- Enter "yesimadebackups" and click Check Code.
- The Public Test Branch should now be available in the drop-down.
- Select this and the game will download a small update.
Just be sure to back up your worlds and characters before you do this. You can revert back to the live game by following the steps above but selecting "None" from the dropdown.
When you create a world in Valheim, you're given a few options, such as changing the seed, starting it up as a server, and adding a password if you want to restrict who can join. The crossplay option is also on this screen, and like the server option, you can toggle this on and off as you choose. Just make sure everyone that wants to join is running the same game version.
If you're running a dedicated server, you can use the parameter "-crossplay" to allow players on other platforms to join.
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Acer's decision to pair an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 with a beefy, 12th Gen Intel chip may seem a little unhinged. And with a price tag in the range of £1,686, it certainly gave us a shock—we don't tend to recommend laptops with RTX 3060s in them for much more than £1,000 today.
Much to my delight, the Predator Helios 300 (PH317-56-79UB) I'd been sent comes with an impressive 140W GPU tucked under the hood, and it's one that does a much better job of complementing the 14-core, 20-thread Intel CPU Acer selected from Intel's 12th Gen lineup. While the Predator Helios 300's deadly hardware tag-team didn't quite convince me of the assigned price, the addition of a speedy, high capacity SSD, 16GB of dual channel DDR5 memory, and a smooth 1440p screen makes the config a darn sight more tempting for the price.
A few settings tweaks are gonna be necessary to make the most of that 165Hz refresh rate panel, especially at 1440p. Even out of the box it's clear this laptop has the potential to push those frame rates high enough in a bunch of games at 1080p.
In testing, I picked the similarly priced Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop and Asus TUF Gaming A15 to compare the Helios to. Both come touting an AMD Ryzen 9 5800H CPU and Nvidia RTX 3070 combo, with TUF's GPU sitting at just 95W. The Razer Blade 14 makes an appearance because, although it's a little more expensive than the rest, the Ryzen 9 5900HX and 100W RTX 3060 with a 1440p panel is somewhat closer to the Helios' config.
Acer Predator Helios 300 SpecProcessor: Intel Core i7 12700H, 2.3GHz
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 140W
Memory: 16GB DDR5-4800
Display: 17.3-inch IPS 165Hz
Resolution: 2560 x 1440
Storage: Samsung PM9A1 1TB NVMe SSD
Battery: 90Wh
Connectivity: 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1x DisplayPort via Thunderbolt 4, 1x 3.5mm Combo Jack, built in mic
Dimensions: 28 x 399 x 295mm
Weight: 3kg (6.6lbs)
Price: £1,686, (closest US $1,800)The bottom line? Despite sitting neatly between the TUF and the Blade in terms of price, the Helios manages to slay all three in both synthetic and real-world GPU benchmarks, except for Metro Exodus where it sits almost on par with the TUF.
When it comes to slightly older games like F1 2020, it manages to break the 165 fps barrier even at ultra settings—only by a little, but that's when faced with a rainy-'donkey' Vietnam circuit. With a few tweaks it's easy to achieve frame rates in excess of 165 fps to make the most of the panel in a good deal of today's games, as long as you don't mind sacrificing some of that sweet fidelity.
When it comes to ray tracing, the Helios blows all three out of the water in the 3DMark Port Royal synthetic performance benchmark, nearly doubling the Razer Blade's score, though it falls behind the Legion in ray tracing tests.
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)That's not to say switching on ray tracing makes games unplayable—61 fps is more than acceptable for Metro Exodus—but even with Nvidia's DLSS turned on its clear the 140W RTX 3060 still has trouble matching the RTX 3070 in terms of real-world ray tracing performance, particularly when faced with an intensive game like Metro.
As for the Intel Core i7 12700H's contribution to gaming performance, Hitman 3's CPU-focused Dartmoor benchmark reveals a blistering 30 frames more per second than the Legion 5 Pro delivered. A 3DMark Timespy CPU score of 13,452 beats out the list of comparative laptops by a handsome amount, and the CPU shows off in rendering, too. The Core i7 12700H's multi-core performance is spectacular, and it does a great job of video encoding, with a 55 fps average over the 41–44 fps the others delivered.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future)Sadly, the Core i7 12700H isn't the most efficient mobile CPU of Intel's 12th Gen lineup, and coupled with the 140W RTX 3060 it's left the battery life in a pretty terrible position—74 minutes is hardly enough time to get a round of gaming in unplugged, but that's the tradeoff we've grown to expect for a machine that ticks both the gaming and productivity boxes.
What is impressive, however, is that power doesn't translate into topping out on thermals. We're looking at a maximum CPU temperature of 85°C and max GPU temps of less than 80°C. That's not at all bad, compared to the other laptops in that price range, and you can always slap the turbo button on the top left of the keyboard if you feel it getting a bit too hot. It'll suddenly whir up to somewhere between 68–75 decibels, but lay your hand on the bottom for half a minute and you'll physically feel the chassis cool off. It's great for that panic moment when you realise you've been covering the exhausts and need to rectify the heat that's accumulated.
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)Loading Cities Skylines with my 10,000 mods didn't leave me long enough to go make a cup of tea.
And it's not just the CPU/GPU combo that slaps, either. Acer's decision to add a 1TB Gen4 Samsung NVMe SSD is much appreciated, since we need more laptops with high capacity SSDs on the market. Speed-wise, we're looking at just over 10 seconds real-world load times, which is still a darn sight better than the laptops I'm comparing it to. Loading Cities Skylines with my 10,000 mods didn't leave me long enough to go make a cup of tea, in fact, which I suppose is technically a good thing.
In terms of RAM, Acer comes in with 16GB dual-channel DDR5 memory, with the SiSoft Sandra tests uncovering a whopping 41.52GB/s bandwidth to play with. That provides a lot of slack when it comes to multitasking and is practically supersonic compared to the comparison lappies.
Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)It's a relatively chunky machine, but not to the point of taking over your desk. It's easy enough for me to lift one-handed but fitting it into a backpack was a bit of a stretch, that's due to the 17.3-inch screen. The thickness can make it a little awkward, and it's not as svelte as say the Razer Blade, but that little extra thickness helps afford this machine great thermals. With a little backpack upgrade, I would happily carry it to and from work.
The only issue with using it at work is an issue the Razer blade suffers with too: the fact it has a dumb gamery logo (sorry Acer) slapped onto the back of an otherwise gorgeous chassis. The metallic blue is nice and subtle, although the edges are a little sharp for sitting on my actual lap, it's still a nifty and still very portable machine.
As for the peripherals and ports, the addition of Thunderbolt 4 is great, along with the couple of USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports you get, though a few more wouldn't have gone amiss. I'm really happy with both the high positioning of the included 2.1MP camera, and the fact it runs at 60Hz. A quality webcam on a gaming laptop that isn't pointing up my nose, for once.
I'm not a massive fan of the keyboard's feel, but at least it's full size. Having spent a lot of time checking out press samples of US keyboards and laptops, it's also nice for me to use a lappy with a UK keyboard layout. Although that does bring me to one of the major downsides: US availability.
The closest config I could find in the US only comes with a 144Hz 1080p screen and half the SSD storage, and generally it's selling for around $1,800, which I can't wrap my head around. Basically, I won't be recommending it for you US folks, sorry, but if you're in the market for a decent gaming laptop in the UK, this machine is killer. What really makes for a worthwhile spend here is the 1440p panel topping a beefy config, with the rest just serving as the icing on the cake.
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It's barely been more than a week since I told Suikoden fans not to get their hopes up about an appearance at Tokyo Game Show, and Konami's gone and shown me up. It's not quite a new game in the series, but the company just announced that Suikoden 1 and 2 are being remastered and will release on Steam some time in 2023.
The remasters will come with a bevy of improvements over the original versions, both of which were released all the way back in the '90s. The sprites, art and effects have all been revamped, and Junko Kawano—Suikoden's original character artist—came back on board to redraw the first game's character portraits. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has pointed out that it looks like some work has been done on the muddled English localisation of the original games, too.
Beyond the big changes, the devs have also touched up the games' sound and added a bunch of environmental audio (think running water, wind, and footsteps) that wasn't present in the original releases. Most importantly for me, the remasters are getting some quality of life features like auto-battling and double-speed battles to smooth down the rough edges of the original experience.
It's welcome news for a series, and a fanbase, that have gone untended for a whole decade. Suikoden's a big deal: a classic that I've been listening to people yammer on about ever since I made the fatal mistake of signing up for my first internet forum. While some fans might have been hoping for an entirely new game, I have to confess that I'm more excited about the prospect of having an easy way to get my hands on the classics.
Besides, you have to imagine that these remasters are partially spurred by the spectacular success of the Eiyuden Chronicle Kickstarter campaign: a Suikoden spiritual successor from the original creators that raised $4.5 million. If the remasters of 1 and 2 approach anywhere near that level of success, I suspect it won't be long until we hear about more Suikoden projects, new games included.
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As developer Beard Envy gears up to show me Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop, I realise I actually have no idea what this game is about. I'd been pulled in by the incredibly vague trailer, touting a surreal kaleidoscopic vibe straight out of Cartoon Network's renaissance era.
As a complete sucker for that stuff, I was curious yet worried that would be where my interest ended. Turns out I had nothing to be worried about. As if the name wasn't a dead giveaway, Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop is all about spaceships in some far-flung southern American future, fixing them up and paying rent in the hopes Uncle Chop won't straight-up murder Wilbur, the humble repairman you play as. He's a strange little dude, a sort-of human sporting a multi-eyed fox head who can fart his way up ships to reach every nook and cranny. Each day gives eight minutes to repair as many ships as possible. Select a job, wait for the ship to come down and get to work.
Handily, the game provides manuals to help figure out what the hell you're supposed to be doing, with a slew of different manufacturers and brands to wrap your head around. They vary from your bog-standard mechanical parts to slugs that have to be fed and even a sentient AI that must be played around with until it's in the correct mood.
Shipshape
Repairs are done through a series of small minigames, like perfectly timing a gas canister fill. Let go too early and you're short-changing the client. Let go too late and the canister bursts, forcing you to replace it out of your own pocket. The minigames gradually get more finicky, like having to unscrew and keep track of the various bits and pieces of each module, but you'll be rewarded for your extra effort.
(Image credit: Beard Envy)You can consult the manuals for the most basic, run-of-the-mill fixes, but Beard Envy says there's a lot of room for experimentation. What if instead of oil, you filled the guy's spaceship with coffee? Sometimes the results of your tomfoolery will be immediate, while with others it could be days until you have a very pissed-off, caffeine-soaked alien on your doorstep.
Repairing ships will go towards paying off each week's rent and avoiding death, but extra coins can be put towards some nice workshop upgrades. It should eventually allow for bigger, better ship repairs and hiring helpers to make life a wee bit easier. Beard Envy also tells me there are some mystery contraptions that can be discovered as you venture deeper in, and I get the impression that the three-man team has tried to think about everything.
When your fox head isn't buried inside some bizarre module, there are a plethora of characters knocking about this weird slice of space-bound Americana. Clients have different personalities, like one alien who seems very keen to pet you. You can run around and chat with people who work or live nearby before your shift starts, offering an overarching narrative and allowing you to align yourself with certain groups that inhabit the area. I didn't get to see much of the story element, but there was a lovely twang of British humour running through the Americana.
(Image credit: Beard Envy)Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop looks quirky, fun, and I get the impression there's a surprising amount of depth hidden within its roguelite elements. While I initially came for its looks—and it does look stunning, scratching an aesthetic itch deep in my brain—I've been roped-in by how it plays, too. It's weird and wonderful in all the ways I want my games to be, like an interactive, deadlier episode of Regular Show.
You can wishlist Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop on Steam now, with a release date of soon(ish).
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The ethereum merge has finally happened! After years of planning, development, and delays, ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism has seeming gone off without a hitch. Ethereum miners have been made redundant, and hopefully, this is the official end of large-scale GPU mining—the bane of PC gamers worldwide—forever.
In the lead up to the switch, miners mostly stopped buying new GPUs, while others dumped their cards on the second-hand market. Both of these are significant factors behind the graphics card price drops that have been happening this year. In fact, many cards have halved in price since the beginning of 2022.
But not all miners are shutting up shop. The ethereum hash rate didn’t drop as much as expected in the days and hours before the merge, meaning many miners were holding out for the last few blocks and rewards up until the last minute. Other miners switched to other coins, hoping to use all of that GPU hash power to snag some easy rewards. However, they’re quickly finding that nothing comes close to the rewards of ethereum.
"GPU mining is dead less than 24 hours after the Merge," said Ben Gagnon of bitcoin miner Bitfarms in a recent tweet. "The only coins showing profit have no market cap or liquidity. The profit is not real."
Ethereum was by far the most profitable proof of work coin. Ethereum classic is the currently best post merge alternative for GPU miners. ETC is a hard fork of ethereum that occurred in 2016 following a factional split and it's seeing an influx of ex-Eth miners over the last 24 hours. But miners hoping to maintain profit levels anywhere near that of pre-merge Eth are quickly being disappointed.
The market cap of ethereum currently sits at around $177 billion, while ethereum classic sits at just over $4.6 billion, so straight away, block rewards are going to be dramatically lower. But that's not the only reason that contributes to lower profitability.
Proof of work algorithms dynamically adjust according to the amount of network hash power. In general, the more hash power there is, the harder it is to generate block rewards. This means that ex-Eth miners looking for easy rewards are going to find it more and more difficult, as more of them switch over.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Minerstat)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Minerstat)According to data from Coindesk, a block reward for ETC mining was 0.0186, or around 70c, but in the hours after the merge, the reward was more like 0.0003, or 11c. One of the few PoW alternatives—ravencoin—saw its rewards fall even further, from $1.77 per block to just 5c. These drops are a result of the networks adjusting their difficulty in response to massive jumps in GPU hash power.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the restThough ETC and RVN mining differ for reasons other than just price, both coins are simply not profitable to mine once electricity costs are considered. If you've got massive solar generation, perhaps it might be worth continuing, but miners are going to get more of a return from dumping their mining cards.
We've seen loads of cards on second hand marketplaces, but now the last pre-merge block rewards have been earned, will a real selling flood now begin? As miners discover that their rigs have little to earn, it's probable we'll see some major sales in the coming weeks. Livestreamed auctions anyone?
We're all awaiting the launch of next gen RTX 40-series and RDNA 3 GPUs, but if you could get a genuinely cheap ex mining GPU, would you take the plunge?
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I can offer you anything from some general help with today's Wordle to the answer to the September 16 (454) challenge in bolded capital letters. Just keep on scrolling and you'll find all the tips, tricks, and comprehensive Wordle guides you could ever need.
Realising one yellow is the best thing to come out of two guesses isn't the most uplifting start to the day, but I've got no choice but to make the best of it. A more daring—or more honestly, desperate—third guess helps to bring it all into a fuzzy kind of focus, and I eventually squeak by with a win.
Wordle hint
Today's Wordle: A hint for Friday, September 16
Something of a specialist word today, as the only time most people will encounter this is to describe a specific type of small kitchen knife. This is the one you'd go for if you were working with fruit or vegetables, particularly if you were trying to remove the skin. One of today's consonants is used twice.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success:
- A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants.
- A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
- The solution may contain repeat letters.
There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by midnight. So there's no reason to not treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you're coming up blank.
Wordle answer
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)What is the Wordle 454 answer?
Let's finish the working week with a win. The answer to the September 16 (454) Wordle is PARER.
Previous answers
Wordle archive: Which words have been used
The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today's Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that's already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh.
Here are some recent Wordle solutions:
- September 15: DOUBT
- September 14: THYME
- September 13: ALPHA
- September 12: BOOZE
- September 11: TIBIA
- September 10: LOFTY
- September 9: THEME
- September 8: CLASS
- September 7: LEERY
- September 6: TAUNT
Learn more about Wordle
Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it's up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them.
You'll want to start with a strong word like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns
️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. 
means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 
means you've got the right letter in the right spot.You'll want your second go to compliment the first, using another "good" word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer.
After that it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used you'll find those below.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
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Spartan Points are the currency in Halo: The Master Chief Collection used to unlock cosmetics. You have to actually play the game to earn them, but back in June, 343 Industries announced it was considering making them purchasable. The justification was cloaked in benevolence: it was to be an "optional, additive alternative for players who might find the vast scope of content to be an intimidating amount of playtime and want to get ahead on (or skip) the grind, or maybe want to grab the specific items they want."
It's true that MCC has a load of cosmetic items, including armour effects, voices, weapon skins and more. But if you consider playing Halo so toilsome that you'd prefer to pay to earn these in-game spoils, here's bad news, I guess: Halo: MCC is definitely not getting purchasable Spartan Points, 343 announced today. That's probably comforting news for existing Halo players who are proud to have earned their in-game garb the hard way.
Earning Spartan Points will become a bit easier too. It was announced in August that Spartan Points will soon be earned with every new level reached, and that players will retroactively receive these points if they're already at a higher—or max—level. Currently, challenges must be completed to earn the currency.
But that's not happening until November, with today's update just reaffirming those plans. "We are also looking to enact changes to the earn rates of Spartan Points and remove barriers that players have been facing. The 100-point cap is being removed, retroactive points will be granted, and we will be making further adjustments to Challenges to make them more rewarding, along with bringing back Double XP Weekends," 343 Industries writes.
All this follows a substantial content update for Halo: MCC, which released last month. It added a bunch of collectibles, new Forge options, and mod tools for Halo Reach among a lot of other stuff.
EVGA is reportedly so sick of working with Nvidia that it's going to stop making graphics cards altogether
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One of the most important makers of Nvidia-based graphics cards won't be making them anymore: EVGA has decided not to produce video cards with Nvidia's next generation of GPUs, the RTX 40-series, reports analyst Jon Peddie. The news is even bigger than that, though: Speaking to Gamers Nexus, EVGA CEO Andrew Han said that the California-based company isn't just dropping Nvidia chips, but will "completely stop" making graphics cards going forward.
EVGA has been making graphics cards since it was founded in 1999, going all the way back to Nvidia's RIVA TNT2 chips, but Han "wouldn't even entertain the idea of working with Intel or AMD" to continue producing cards, says Gamers Nexus.
EVGA's decision is the result of frustration over its treatment by Nvidia, according to both sources; it's "about respect," Gamers Nexus said. Graphics cards are reportedly 80% of EVGA's current business, but that doesn't mean it plans to close up shop—it doesn't even have layoffs planned. Once EVGA finishes selling off its stock of RTX 30-series cards, it will focus on its other products, which include motherboards, power supplies, and other PC components and peripherals.
The majority of EVGA's revenue comes from sales of its Nvidia graphics cards right now, but Han told Gamers Nexus that the margin is incredibly thin, and that it makes 300% more profit on power supplies. Even so, it isn't entirely clear how EVGA will ditch the largest part of its business without laying off any employees, including staff members currently dedicated to graphics card engineering and support. "Attrition" is expected, says Gamers Nexus.
EVGA's decision isn't the sort of dispassionate business move we've come to expect from companies of its size: Han reportedly feels that Nvidia has been treating EVGA unfairly. According to Gamers Nexus, the CEO said that the decision to stop working with Nvidia was "easy."
According to Jon Peddie Research, "the relationship between EVGA and Nvidia changed from what EVGA considered a true partnership to [a] customer-seller arrangement whereby EVGA was no longer consulted on new product announcements and briefings, not featured at events, and not informed of price changes." Peddie and Gamers Nexus also say that EVGA was frustrated by Nvidia undercutting its cards with its own Founders Editions.
EVGA's direct communication on the topic reveals much less. In a statement posted by EVGA in its forums today, the company said that it will continue to support its existing graphics cards, but "will not carry the next generation graphics cards."
"EVGA is committed to our customers and will continue to offer sales and support on the current lineup," the company said. "Also, EVGA would like to say thank you to our great community for the many years of support and enthusiasm for EVGA graphics cards."
PC Gamer has contacted both EVGA and Nvidia for comment.
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