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It’s only a matter of time before Nvidia reveals its GTX 1080 Ti, a souped-up version of its already fast GTX 1080 graphics card. Just how much faster the Ti will be, however, has remained a mystery… until now. Specifications allegedly belonging to the upcoming card have surfaced over on OC3Dcourtesy of one of its forum members. The poster claims the card, based on the GP102 core design, will feature 3,328 CUDA cores (for reference, a standard GTX 1080 carries 2,560 CUDA cores while the pricey Titan X packs in 3,584 cores) and run at a base clock of 1,503MHz (boost to 1,623MHz). Elsewhere, we’re told to expect 52 SM units and 12GB of GDDR5 that provides 384GB/s of bandwidth over a 384-bit bus. All things considered, the GTX 1080 Ti should be good for 10.8 TFLOPs of compute performance which is just shy of the Titan X’s 11 TFLOPs. The GTX 1080 Ti will carry a TDP of 250 watts and draw power from a single 8-pin connector plus a 6-pin connector, just like the Titan X. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is the type of memory the GTX 1080 Ti uses – GDDR5 vs GDDR5X – as evident by its reduced memory bandwidth. It does seem odd that Nvidia would opt for GDDR5 when the slower GTX 1080 also came with faster GDR5X but I suppose sacrifices have to be made somewhere in the name of saving money. As always, we remind you to take rumors just as they are – rumors, not fact.

Microsoft is making the Windows Store more useful by allowing traditional desktop apps into the mix. The Windows Store was previously restricted to apps built for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), however a recent change now allows developers to publish their standard desktop apps through the marketplace with few (if any) modifications. This update has been made possible thanks to Microsoft's Project Centennial, which is a simple tool that helps developers repackage their desktop Win32 apps for the Windows Store. The tool doesn't convert Win32 apps into UWP apps, so the sandbox restrictions don't apply, but it does package in the Windows Store's slick installation and upgrade system. Project Centennial, now known as the Desktop App Converter, also includes tools to help developers integrate some aspects of UWP apps into their desktop apps. Making use of Windows 10's notification center is one such upgrade that developers can harness, along with other things like Live Tiles and Cortana integration. By allowing traditional desktop apps into the Windows Store, Microsoft is making the Store a more useful aspect of Windows for desktop users. Many desktop users don't bother installing UWP apps from the Store in favor of downloading their favorite Win32 apps through a browser, but Win32 apps are typically more cumbersome and annoying to install and update. Having Win32 apps in the Store could give the best of both worlds. One of the first Win32 apps in the Windows Store is Evernote, which has been repackaged for the Store with support for notifications and Live Tiles. The basic app functionality is the same as their previous desktop app, but it should be easier to download and update through the Store.

Per-orders for Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus opened in the wee hours of September 9. As is often the case, the initial supply went quickly – perhaps aided by the fact that Apple and its wireless carrier partners somehow managed to get their act together this year to make the process as smooth and seamless as possible. Traditionally, those that don’t secure a pre-order from the beginning for whatever reason still have a shot at getting a new iPhone on launch day by visiting an Apple Store or retail partner as a walk-in customer. It’s a gamble of course buy many people have had success with this method in the past. Unfortunately for iPhone 7 Plus hopefuls, that option won’t be on the table this year – at least, not at Apple retail stores. Apple said the iPhone 7 Plus has completely sold out and thus, there won’t be any available – in any color or capacity – for walk-in customers at Apple retail stores on launch day (tomorrow). There will be limited quantities of the standard iPhone 7 for walk-in customers at its stores although not in the new jet black color. Those hoping to score an iPhone 7 Plus or a smaller iPhone 7 in jet black will instead need to try their luck elsewhere such as through their wireless provider or a retailer like Best Buy or Target. Even then, one has to think the odds are pretty slim. The only other option I can think of would be eBay or Craigslist although you’ll certainly pay a premium to get what you want.

Most people weren’t too surprised when Apple revealed that the iPhone 7 wouldn’t come with a headphone jack. Rumors and speculation over the decision had been circulating for months, but a lot of fans were still angry about it. Apple, however, thinks it was the right choice, and the company may eventually do the same thing with the MacBook Pro. MacRumors was the first to notice that Apple has been sending out surveys to MacBook Pro users asking about a number of features found on the laptop. But the question that sticks out the most is: “Do you ever use the headphone port on your MacBook Pro with Retina display?” Other questions ask how satisfied users are with their laptop’s battery life, how often they use specific ports, and what method they use to upload photos from a digital camera to a MacBook. Apple is expected to release its refreshed MacBook Pro series next month. Leaked imagesof the laptop's chassis suggest it will include a 3.5mm headphone jack, along with four USB Type-C ports. It also shows an absence of an SD card slot, HDMI port, USB-A port, and MagSafe connection. Assuming the images are accurate, it seems that it could be a while before Apple decides the MacBook Pro should follow in the iPhone’s footsteps and abandon the 50-year-old 3.5 mm connector. Exactly how long could depend on the responses it receives from the survey. Some other rumored changes expected to arrive on the refreshed MacBook Pro include a slimmer design, flatter keyboard, and an OLED touch panel.

One of our favorite laptops of the past few years is Dell's XPS 13. It packs a slick metal and carbon fiber chassis, a beautiful near-bezel-free display, and more than enough battery life for everyday usage. Today, Dell has updated the XPS 13 for 2016 with all the latest hardware. The biggest upgrade to the new XPS 13 is, as you might expect, Intel's Kaby Lake processors. The XPS 13 will come in three variants, packing either the Core i3-7100U, the Core i5-7200U, or the Core i7-7500U depending on the price point. All of these CPUs are 15W variants with respectable performance and efficiency gains over their Skylake counterparts. Due to Kaby Lake and a slightly larger 60 Wh battery, the 2016 XPS 13 boasts up to 22 hours of battery life if you opt for the 1080p variant. As with previous models, the QHD+ variant comes with a significant battery penalty: Dell only claims 13 hours of life for the high-resolution model. The one other notable change is the switch from Intel and Dell wireless controllers to a solution from Killer. This is possibly due to issues that Dell experienced with the wireless cards in previous models of the XPS 13, as the feature set of the Killer solution – Wi-Fi ac with 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth 4.1 – is identical to past models. Other features of the XPS 13 have remained in the updated model, including a single Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port, up to 1 TB PCIe solid state drives, and up to 16 GB of memory. The new version will be available on October 4th starting at $799, in silver, gold, and a new rose gold color.

Toshiba has unveiled a new family of solid state drives under the OCZ banner. The OCZ VX500 series, which Toshiba says targets mainstream desktop and notebook users looking to upgrade from traditional spinning hard drives, will arrive in a variety of storage configurations – all at a very affordable price. Built with MLC NAND flash, the new VX500 series is offered in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1,024GB with sequential read speeds of 550MB/sec across the board. Sequential write speeds vary from 485MB/sec on the 128GB model to 515MB/sec on the largest drive. IOPS also vary depending on capacity, ranging from 62,000 / 49,000 (read / write) on the low end to 92,000 / 65,000 (read / write) for the top-tier model. All variants consume just 0.125 watts at idle and 3.4 watts at full load. The new drives carry endurance ratings of 74TB (128GB), 148TB (256GB), 296TB (512GB) and 592TB (1,024GB) and are backed by a five-year warranty. Each drive also comes with a copy of Acronis True Image cloning software to ease the migration process although personally, I like to start fresh when moving to a new OS drive. The OCZ VX500 series solid state drives will be available to purchase in the coming weeks. MSRP is set at $64 for the 128GB drive, $93 for 256GB of storage, $153 for a 512GB unit and $337 if you seek 1TB of space.

Ubisoft’s generosity continues in September with yet another game available to download and keep free of charge. Unlike earlier games in the promotion, this month’s freebie is a relatively new title. Now through mid-October, you can score racing game The Crew courtesy of Ubisoft. To get it, you’ll first need to download and install Ubisoft’s digital distribution platform, Uplay (assuming you don’t already have it installed). The Crew, from Ubisoft Reflections and Ivory Tower, made its debut in December 2014 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (it was also ported to the Xbox 360). It’s described as an online racing game with an open and persistent world in which players can race and free-roam. Although I haven’t played it (a bit ironic since racing games are my genre of choice), it sounds similar to the concept behind Forza Horizon. If you’ve been keeping tabs, you’ll know that this freebie is part of a larger promotion that kicked off in June to celebrate Ubisoft’s 30th anniversary. Each month, Ubisoft has made a different game available to download and keep to anyone that wants it. The first game in the promotion was Prince of Persia: Sands of Time followed by Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell in July and Rayman Origins in August.

It was revealed last month that Uber would be launching a fleet of self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh before the end of August. It may have arrived a couple of weeks later than anticipated, but today marks the first time customers can ride in the autonomous vehicles. At its Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh, Uber announced that its most “loyal” customers have a chance of receiving a ride from one of 14 self-driving Ford Fusion vehicles when they order an Uber X. The company didn’t specify what qualifies a customer as loyal, though it did say it was based on how often they used the service and their location. These regular users are being notified by email that an autonomous Uber car may turn up the next time they order a ride. Journeys in the vehicles will be free, but a spokesperson did say this might eventually change. The Fusions are only being deployed on certain routes where they’ve been extensively tested by the company. Uber said these are some of the most po[CENSORED]r roads in the area, but don’t expect to be able to go anywhere. The vehicles come packed with sensors, including a 360-degree LIDAR unit and a front-facing camera array, but one engineer will be sat behind the wheel ready to take over should the need arise, while another will take notes in the front passenger seat . Customers must also agree to be videoed so Uber can study people’s responses to the self-driving journey. It will be a long time before the cars are allowed to operate without any engineers present, and even longer before they’re ready to roll out on a large scale. But Uber has said that, in time, it will be cheaper and safer to ride in these self-driving cars than in a private vehicle. Eventually, this autonomous technology could result in ‘Uber driver’ becoming another profession threatened by machines.

AMD is launching a new game bundle today that's a little different from the company's standard promotions. Buyers who purchase an AMD Radeon RX 480 in select markets will get an upgrade code for Battlefield 1, transforming a Standard Edition of the game to the Deluxe Edition. To be clear, AMD is not bundling game codes for Battlefield 1 with RX 480 purchases: you'll still need to buy the game separately, as this bundled code merely upgrades the cheapest edition to the Deluxe Edition. The difference in price between these editions is $20 through EA's Origin service. If you redeem the code before October 21st, your copy of Battlefield 1 will be upgraded to the Early Enlister Deluxe Edition, which gives you three days of early pre-launch access to the game. Using the code after October 21st still gives you the Deluxe Edition, although as the game is launching on that date, there's no longer any time to give pre-launch access. Aside from early access to the game, the Deluxe Edition includes the Hellfighter Pack, Red Baron Pack, and Lawrence of Arabia Pack, which all unlock various themed items in the game. There's also a further three vehicle skins and five battlepacks. Future DLC is not included in the Deluxe Edition; you'll have to purchase the Collector's Edition to get the season pass. This promotion runs from now until October 18th, so it might be time to purchase a Radeon RX 480 if you're also interested in Battlefield 1. Like previous game bundles, not every retailer participates, so make sure your favorite store is giving out codes before clicking 'buy'.

Welcome Qshar

Adblock Plus is the most po.p.u.l.a.r piece of ad-blocking software in the world. But its 100 million users may soon start seeing new ads appearing on their screens after the company launched a service that will allow more “acceptable” ads through its blocking technology. The Wall Street Journal reports that Adblock Plus parent company Eyeo has partnered with a firm called ComboTag to create an ad marketplace where websites can choose “pre-approved” ads for their pages. Adblock Plus users who then visit these sites see these ads, which are said to be smaller and less intrusive the regular versions. Google and AppNexus will also help sell ad space from the new platform. “It allows you to treat the two different ecosystems completely differently and monetize each one,” said Ben Williams, Adblock Plus’ operations and communications director. “And crucially, monetize the ad blockers on on their own terms.” The Adblock Plus Acceptable Ads initiative has been around for the last five years. Many businesses that sign up, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, are asked to pay a fee to be put on the “whitelist.” The new marketplace is an extension of that program, making it easier for publishers to be whitelisted and thereby increasing the number of acceptable ads. The Verge notes that 80 percent of the revenue from these marketplace ads will go to the publishers, with the remainder divided up among the other online agencies involved in sharing the ads. For its part, Adblock Plus will take 6 percent of the total revenue. Adblock Plus sees the Acceptable Ads program as a compromise; every single online ad isn’t blocked, and it only allows the least annoying ads to be displayed. However, as Eyeo takes a revenue share from these ads and an increasing number are making their way onto the whitelist, many publishers and users are unhappy about the initiative.

If you're wondering why you haven't yet received the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, a recent email from Microsoft, as spotted by ZDNet, has the answer. Hidden away in a footnote, Microsoft states that the Anniversary Update may take up to three months to reach all users, in what can only be described as a slow rollout. Considering the Anniversary Update began rolling out via Windows Update on August 2nd, we're now a little over a month into the three month roll out. This means that some users could be waiting another two months to get their Anniversary Update through Microsoft's official update delivery channels. Here in the TechSpot offices we have a number of devices that haven't received the Anniversary Update, and it seems as though newer PCs are being prioritized in the rollout. Microsoft is taking its time rolling out the Anniversary Update so it can see what is working and what issues users are running in to. The idea here is that Microsoft can make tweaks to the update during the rollout and before issues can affect the entirety of the Windows user base. And we've already seen a number of issues with the Anniversary Update, including compatibility problems with webcams and McAfee software. For those that desperately want the Anniversary Update on their devices, Microsoft does have an installation tool that will download and install the update for you. This could come in handy if you want to use some of the Anniversary Update's new features, such as extensions in Microsoft Edge, new inking tools, or the Bash shell.

Samsung is working on a software update for stubborn Galaxy Note 7 owners that haven’t yet turned in their potentially defective handsets. The update is scheduled to roll out to South Korean users beginning September 20. The Associated Press, citing a front-page advertisement in South Korean newspaper Seoul Shinmun, reports that the update will prevent users from charging the phone’s battery past the 60 percent mark which should hopefully keep them from overheating and exploding. If nothing else, maybe the charging limitation will serve as a nagging reminder for owners to take action and begin the recall process. Seriously, it's not worth risking it folks. The advertisement stated that the update is a measure to put consumer safety first, adding that they apologize for the inconvenience it may cause. It’s unclear whether or not Samsung will distribute the update outside of its home country although Yonhap News Agency claims the manufacturer is in talks with wireless providers regarding the update. We first learned that Samsung was experiencing issues with its Galaxy Note 7 late last month when the company paused shipments to investigate a possible battery-related issue. On September 1, Samsung confirmed that there indeed was a battery cell problem and halted sales worldwide. DJ Koh, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business, said this past weekend that Note 7 owners should power down and exchange their devices as soon as possible. The executive added that they are expediting replacement devices so users can complete the exchange process as quickly and conveniently as possible. For some, however, the recall didn’t come soon enough. As of September 1, Samsung said there had been 35 battery-related incidents – a number that has no doubt swelled since then. Specific incidents reported in the media include a Note 7 that exploded while charging in a hotel room causing nearly $1,400 worth of damage and another involving a six-year-old boy that suffered burns when the Note 7 he was watching a video on burst into flames. A family in St. Petersburg, Florida, watched as their Jeep Grand Cherokee when up in flames on Labor Day. The culprit? A Galaxy Note 7 charging inside the vehicle. The Federal Aviation Administration has also chimed in on the matter, strongly advising airline passengers not to turn on or charge Note 7 smartphones while onboard and not to stow them in any checked baggage. Note that this is simply a word of warning, not an outright ban (not yet, at least). Specific information about the recall has been hard to come by. According to The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is recalling phones in different markets through different exchange programs rather than conducting a single, universal program. Another piece of the puzzle is that Samsung may simply not have enough inventory of new phones with safe components to replace the millions of devices that have already shipped. Prolonging the process is in the best interest of nobody and couldn’t come at a worse time as Apple, Samsung's largest rival, prepares to launch its next wave of iPhones in just a few days.

Earlier today, Apple released a major iOS update to all modern iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. iOS 10 brings a range of changes and new features, including an overhaul of the lock screen, however the update process didn't go quite as smoothly as Apple would have liked. In the first few hours that the update was available, many users upgraded their device only to discover that the updater had temporarily bricked it. An error message appeared on the screen asking users to plug their device into a computer with iTunes to start the restoration process, provided a backup was available to restore. Apple quickly addressed the problem, and released a statement saying that they "experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability." The company apologized for the inconvenience and says the problem is now resolved. If you haven't yet updated your devices to iOS 10, it's a good idea to make a full backup before you proceed with the installation process. When you do successfully install iOS 10, you'll be greeted with a decent collection of new features and upgrades. The lock screen has been improved with widgets and notifications, allowing users to respond to messages without having to fully launch the corresponding app. Other notifications have also been improved with 3D Touch functionality, while almost every stock iOS app has been overhauled and updated. iOS 10 is now available for the following devices or newer: iPhone 5, 4th-generation iPad, iPad Mini 2, and 6th-generation iPod Touch.

A promotional image for Huawei’s upcoming Mate 9 smartphone seemingly confirms a couple of previously leaked hardware components. The image in question notes that the Mate 9 will feature HiSilicon’s Kirin 960 SoC and a dual 20-megapixel rear camera system. If true, Huawei’s Mate 9 could be among the first handsets to utilize HiSilicon’s Kirin 960 SoC. That wouldn’t be unprecedented as HiSilicon chips have debuted in Huawei-branded phones in the past. As Android Authority notes, not much is known about the Kirin 960 although most believe it’ll consist of four Cortex-A73 cores and four low-power Cortex-A53 cores in a big. LITTLE configuration built on TSMC’s 16-nanometer manufacturing process. The dual 20-megapixel rear camera system, meanwhile, is expected to be certified by Leica (much like the Huawei P9) although it’s unclear exactly how Huawei will use the two cameras. We can also see that there appears to be a fingerprint sensor on the rear of the device just under the camera and flash assembly. GSM Arena further believes that the Mate 9 will feature 6GB of RAM and ship running Android 7.0 Nougat with an Emotion UI 5.0 overlay. Keep in mind that the authenticity of the promo image can’t be verified but its advertised specifications do line up with earlier rumors. Huawei is expected to announce the Mate 9 by the end of the year, likely in time for the holiday buying season.

Apple last week unveiled a pair of new smartphones in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The latest handsets both feature multiple camera-related enhancements although in keeping with tradition, it’s the larger of the two that sees the most significant update. This year, the advantage comes in the form of a dual camera system. If you recall, both new iPhones feature a 28mm, 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and f/1.8 aperture, six-element lens mated to a new image signaling processor. The larger iPhone 7 Plus adds a second camera, a 56mm telephoto lens with f/2.8 aperture that affords true 2x optical zoom. That all sounds impressive if you’re a photography enthusiast but in reality, people are going to judge the cameras based solely on image quality (as they should). Fortunately, we now have some early samples ready for evaluation. On Sunday, Sports Illustrated photographer David E. Klutho tested out the iPhone 7 Plus during the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings football game. Apple also gave one of its new handsets to ESPN photographer Landon Nordeman to cover the US Open. Results from both shoots have been embedded in this article and of course, you can check out both sites for additional images. So, what do the samples this tell us about the image quality of the iPhone 7 Plus? Not a whole lot, unfortunately. At first glance (and with the right display), they look great. The problem is that the images have all been resized so we don’t get to see what they look like in their native resolution. It’s also not known if the photos were captured using the basic Apple camera app or in a third-party app that affords much more control over things like aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Furthermore, were they retouched at all or are we seeing exactly what they look like straight out of the camera? With iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus reviews scheduled to hit the web in the next day or so, we should get a much better idea of exactly what the new cameras are - and aren’t - capable of.

The RX 480 may not be as drool inducing as a Pascal Titan X or even the GeForce GTX 1070, but it doesn't cost nearly as much either, which means this is what most people will end up buying. Whereas the GTX 1070 will set you back some $400+, the 4GB RX 480 should eventually sell for just $200. As history has shown us, once supply improves you can expect the RX480 4GB models to hit and possibly even dip below that official $200 MSRP. This got us thinking, what has $200 bought you previously from the red team? We're talking release day MSRPs here, so discounts applied over the lifetime of the product weren't considered, such as the Radeon R9 280 which launched at $250 but eventually sold for as little as $200. So keeping that in mind, last generation's $200 option was the Radeon R9 380, a card we crowned as the best mainstream option for 2015. Before that was the R9 270X which also landed at exactly $200. In 2012, the HD 7000 series didn't feature a $200 option, instead you had the HD 7790 at $150 or the HD 7850 at $250. Therefore, we have selected the more expensive Radeon HD 7850 for this comparison. A similar situation is found when looking at the HD 6000 series, which offered the HD 6850 for $180 or the 6870 for $240, so again we went with the more expensive option. The pricing strategy wasn't much different for the HD 5000 cards, though it was the HD 5830 that went for $240. Before we jump to the benchmarks, the table above will give you a good overall perspective of GPU specs, launch price, and the release date itself. The HD 5000 series was first to deliver DirectX 11 support, which is why we didn't go back further than this generation. This series and its successor were built using the aging TeraScale microarchitecture. TeraScale was a VLIW SIMD architecture, while Nvidia use a RISC SIMD architecture, similar to TeraScale's successor Graphics Core Next (GCN). Both 2012 and 2013's mid-range HD 7850 and R9 270X featured first-generation GCN, then mid-2015 brought the third-gen GCN R9 380 and then this year we received the fourth-gen GCN RX 480. With the exception of the HD 7850, we have seen a steady increase in core count from AMD's mid-range GPUs over the years. Memory bandwidth has also increased steadily and the biggest jump can be seen most recently from the R9 380 to the RX 480. Test System Specs Intel Core i7-6700K @ 4.50 GHz (Skylake) Asrock Z170 Z170 Extreme7+ 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-3000 Samsung SSD 850 Pro 2TB Silverstone Strider Series ST1000-G Evolution AMD Crimson Edition 16.8.2 Hotfix Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Benchmarks: Tom Clancy's The Division, Overwatch First up, let's take a look at the performance of these mid-range GPUs using Tom Clancy's The Division with the medium quality preset in play. The Radeon HD 5830 was good for just 19fps while the 6970 was 26% faster, which was still only 24fps. From the 6870 to the 7850 we see a rather large 38% boost in performance to 33fps. Beyond that we start to see very playable performance as the R9 270X achieved 54fps. That is a massive 64% boost over the 7850 and frankly we didn't expect that. We believe the massive difference is down to the fact that the 7850 only has a 1GB memory buffer while the 270X has twice that. The R9 380 was 33% faster than the 270X which is another nice gain and this pushed the average frame rate to 72fps. Despite that one of the biggest gains we see is the move from the 380 to the RX 480 as AMD's latest mid-range offering was an impressive 47% faster. You have to hand it to Blizzard for making highly enjoyable games that run on just about anything. Overwatch might not have the visuals of Rise of the Tomb Raider or Battlefield 1, but it still looks remarkable in my opinion and it only makes it all the more impressive to see the HD 5830 hitting an average of 49fps at 1080p. Even with the 5830 able to deliver playable results, the 6870 went on to deliver a 45% boost for an average of 71fps. The 7850 was 35% faster still with an average of 96fps and didn't appear to be hindered by its 1GB frame buffer in this title. With the 7850 performing as it should, the R9 270X was just 17% faster this time. The R9 380 provided a further 35% performance jump, reaching an average of 151fps. Nevertheless, the RX 480 was good for almost 40% more performance again at 210fps -- impressive stuff from AMD's latest mid-range offering. Benchmarks: The Witcher 3, Star Wars Battlefront The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been tested using the medium quality settings while HairWorks has been disabled. These mild quality settings proved far too much for the HD 5830 as it averaged just 15fps. Pushing that result forward by 40%, the 6870 still only delivered 21fps on average. The 7850 was 38% faster again, though it too failed to deliver playable performance. Finally, with another 38% performance boost using the Radeon R9 270X we achieve playable performance with an average of 40fps. The R9 380 was able to provide a further 35% performance boost hitting a 54fps average. However, it was AMD's latest mid-range GPU that provided the biggest step forward, boosting the frame rate by 48% with an 80fps average. tar Wars Battlefront not only looks great but is also relatively hardware-friendly. The old HD 5830 might have come up short, but we were still surprised to find a 26fps average using the high quality preset at 1080p. The 6870 was 27% faster at 33fps, but it was the huge 42% boost seen when moving to the 7850 that landed us playable performance. Things got better from there. The R9 270X averaged 63fps, or 34% faster than the 7850. The R9 380 was just 22% faster than the R9 270X this time and we saw a massive 42% performance increase for the RX 480 over the R9 380 as AMD's latest-generation GPU breaks the 100fps barrier. Benchmarks: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Doom Rise of the Tomb Raider was tested using the high quality preset with anti-aliasing disabled which allowed the HD 5830 to average 23fps though it did dip as low as 6fps. The 6870 was 35% faster with an average of 31fps, the 7850 brought that figure forward another 39% to 43fps, and the jump from the 7850 to the 270X brought a big 49% boost. Given how demanding this game is on VRAM we suspect the 7850 has been crippled due to its 1GB frame buffer. Another 32% gain is seen when moving from the R9 270X to the R9 380, as the average frame rate climbs to 85fps. From there we hit 126fps with the RX 480, which is a mighty impressive 48% increase. Note that Doom was tested using the Vulkan API for GPUs that support it. The HD 5830 and 6870 don't support Vulkan and thus were tested with OpenGL. As a result, both bombed out, delivering well below the acceptable minimum frame rate for playable performance. The HD 7850 on the other hand sailed along nicely with a 63fps average. This, however, didn't stop the R9 380 from producing 40% more performance with a 121fps average. If you thought that was good, then the RX 480 will impress once again, being 48% faster than the R9 380 with a mighty 179fps. Power Consumption & Conclusion For testing power consumption we decided to use Overwatch where all GPUs performed reasonably well. Interestingly, the Radeon HD 5830, 6870, 7850 and R9 270X all pushed the total system power consumption to a similar figure with no more than 13 watts separating them. It's also interesting to note that we see a rather large jump in power consumption for the R9 380 andRX 480. Total system consumption increases by around 30% with these graphics cards. But of course, given how much faster they are, this is an excellent improvement in efficiency. As you will see in the graph below, the increased power consumption of these newer cards is offset by the increased performance. Taking the test system with the HD 5830 as an example, the total system consumption here is only 182 watts, however each frame came at a cost of ~7.9 watts when looking at the average performance on the games we tested. The new RX 480 on the other hand pushed total system power consumption higher to 243 watts, but because it averaged 135fps in the gaming sessions, each frame came at a cost of just 1.8 watts. This is a much larger improvement that we saw from the R9 380 (third-gen GCN) over the R9 270X (first-gen GCN). Looking exclusively at the performance gains, we find that the Radeon RX 480 provides one of the most significant steps forward in the $200 price range in recent times. Based on the games tested, the RX 480 was 45% faster (!) than the R9 380 at 1080p. The last time we saw a gain this large in the AMD camp was back in 2012 when the mid-range HD 7850 became the best value for mainstream buyers. Comparing the RX 480 and R9 380 here has been somewhat skewed by Doom's results. Excluding that game, there's a smaller but still impressive 38% jump between the two. So while it seems as though GPU pricing has been getting out of hand in recent years, we find that the mid-range offering still provides a serious bang for your buck, and as AMD works hard to recover market share, you can rest assured that mainstream pricing is only going to become more competitive. Notice By: TechSpot

Today’s top VR platforms, namely the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, require users be tethered to a powerful computer to drive the experience. In the absence of a wireless configuration, companies like MSI are seeking to solve the dilemma not by cutting the cord but by bringing the PC closer to gamers. MSI unveiled a backpack-style computer this past May designed specifically for virtual reality gaming. The company was short on details at the time but with the Tokyo Game Show 2016 just a few days away, we’re got some new details on the curious backpack PC which MSI is now calling the VR One. Tipping the scales at just under right pounds (with batteries), the VR One is said to be powered by an Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series graphics card and an overclocked CPU. MSI says it’s equipped with an HDMI port, a miniDisplayPort, a Thunderbolt 3 port (USB Type-C) and four standard USB 3.0 ports. A pair of 90mm fans and nine heatpipes keep the backpack system cool with a maximum noise output of 41db. The PC comes with dual hot-swappable batteries that are good for a little over an hour and a half of full-on gameplay. All things considered, the VR One is reportedly capable of delivering more than 90 FPS on any high-level device. I’ve reached out to MSI for more detailed information about the system’s hardware, pricing and release date and will update this story when I hear back. At this time, all we know is that it is already in mass production and should be available sometime next month.

When Sony announced its faster PlayStation 4 Pro and slimmer original console last week, the company revealed it would also be bringing HDR capabilities to all consoles courtesy of an upcoming firmware update. We now know that the update in question will arrive tomorrow. John Koller, Vice President, PlayStation Brand Marketing, SIEA, said in a post on the officialPlayStation blog earlier today that the update – codenamed Shingen – brings a refreshed user interface, folder organization, library improvements, the aforementioned HDR capabilities and more. Sony has also made improvements to the Quick Menu, making it easier to access without having to leave a game and adding customization options. They’ve also added several new items to the menu like an enhanced music section that lets gamers play, discover and control Spotify without having to open the app – functionality that wasn’t featured in the beta program. Update 4.0 will also include some prep for the PlayStation 4 Pro. Specifically, it adds a number of features that support the system’s ability to output high-resolution content. Of course, those won’t come into play until November 10 when the PS4 Pro launches but it’s good to know they’re in place ahead of time. Those interested in learning more can check out today’s blog post as well as this one published last month that goes into a bit more detail on what to expect.

Tesla Motors on Sunday outlined a number of enhancements that’ll arrive in version eight of its Autopilot software including a more prominent role for the radar system that was added to all vehicles in October 2014. Up to this point, the radar system has been used solely as a supplementary sensor to the primary camera and image processing system. After careful consideration, however, Tesla believes radar can be used as a primary control sensor alongside the camera rather than simply supplementing it. Because of how strange the world looks in radar, the challenge in using it as a primary detection system is to avoid false alarms. A discarded soda can on the road with its concave bottom facing the vehicle, for example, can appear to radar as a much larger (and potentially dangerous) object. That’s because metallic objects look like a mirror to radar and those with a dish shape can amplify the signal to many times its actual size. Having the car hit the brakes every time it sees a non-threatening object such as this would be annoying at best and at worst, could cause injury. Omg it's DAFT PUNK To solve the issue, Tesla said version 8.0 of its software unlocks access to six times as many radar objects with a lot more information per object. The system will also assemble radar snapshots – captured every tenth of a second – into a 3D “picture” of the world. This will help the system determine if an object is moving and help determine the probability of a collision. Tesla described another situation that’s difficult for radar to handle and how they plan to tackle it. A vehicle approaching an overhead highway road sign that is positioned on the rise in the road or a bridge where the road dips underneath can appear to the system as a potential obstruction. Navigation and GPS data isn’t enough to determine whether or not the car will pass under the sign / bridge and by the time the pitch in the road changes, it’s too late. In such situations, fleet learning (in which vehicles report to a Tesla database the position of road signs, bridges and other stationary objects) comes in handy. With other vehicles having already mapped out the area, fleet data can be used to help other vehicles navigating the same stretch of road determine what is safe and thus, cut back on excessive, unnecessary braking. Other quick-hit changes in the coming update include the ability for a vehicle in Autopilot mode to offset its position in a lane when overtaking a vehicle driving close to the lane edge and the use of amplified braking in an emergency. Tesla also said that after further data gathering, a car will activate Autosteer to help avoid a collision when the probability of impact is ~100 percent. What’s more, a Tesla vehicle will not be able to reengage Autopilot until it has been put into park if a user has ignored repeated alertness warnings. Tesla owners can expect the new software to arrive in the coming weeks.

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Nvidia recently gifted laptop gamers with fully functional GeForce 10 series GPUs. Our coverage of the launch and details on Nvidia's new mobile lineup can be found here, but for those who missed the announcement the big news is that Pascal brings GPUs with near exact specifications to laptops as their desktop counterparts. This is in stark contrast to essentially every other mobile GPU ever released. In other words, on a GeForce GTX 1080-powered laptop you can expect 1080-like desktop performance, or thereabouts. To put those claims to the test we received a prototype of Asus' ROG GX800. Those of you familiar with the previous-gen ROG GX700 will know it's an over the top liquid cooled laptop. Well, brace yourself because the GX800 is even more extreme. The G-Sync panel on the new model is larger, the Core i7 processor is clocked higher, there are now three SSDs of the NVMe variety, the keyboard is mechanical and not just the GPU is liquid cooled but also the CPU. We totally expect to see more svelte laptops powered by the GTX 1060 and possibly 1070s, however the GX800 is not about balances, it's about performance and it's the first laptop we've held that carries two GTX 1080 GPUs which will let us test mobile Pascal on both single and dual GPU scenarios. The clunky old GTX 980 has been dropped for GTX 1080 SLI. In combination with all the other enhancements it sees the laptop's thickness increase by almost 30% and weight by 46% to a back breaking 5.7kgs. This all sounds crazy and wildly impractical, but Asus doesn’t care. That is kind of the point. Asus is well aware this laptop isn’t for everyone and it doesn’t make sense for most, but the challenge here is to push the bounds of current PC gaming technology, in creating something out of curiosity, out of pride. For that we commend them. As keen as we are to show you the GX800 in detail, the unit we received is still a prototype, so our official review will come at a later time. For now, we'll be content to see just how well the GTX 1080 performs in a laptop and how comparable the performance is to the desktop. While we are at it, it won’t hurt to look into the SLI performance as well. So with that we'll get into benchmarks. In total we have tested eight AAA titles at 4K, so that should give us a clear idea of how Pascal performs when condensed down to notebook form. Can Laptop Gaming Be Just as Good? All results we gathered were using the Asus ROG GX800 docked to the liquid cooling unit which also supplies the laptop with more power. This is required to power both GPUs. There is the option to undock and the laptop will still run normally but then the two GPUs are throttled down, throwing less than desired performance. In such scenario, you can use the ROG Gaming Center to disable one of the GPUs and still get pretty good performance. Asus' ROG software can also be used to enable XMP mode which enables a 100MHz higher CPU boost clock and operates the DDR4 memory at 2800MHz. Asus recommends users run with this mode as it boosts memory performance by almost 20% and the combined CPU and memory performance ensure higher minimum frame rates when gaming. With XMP mode enabled but SLI disabled it is possible to use the GX800 on air and get about the same performance you would when docked and only one GPU enabled. So the single GTX 1080 figures you are about to see are achievable using just air cooling, while the SLI results require the dock, not so much for its cooling abilities but for that extra 330 watts of power. First up we compare our Core i7-6700K desktop test system to the Asus ROG GX800. Using a single GTX 1080 we find the same 49fps on both platforms. Enabling SLI boosted the GX800 frame rate performance by 90% to a seriously smooth 93fps at 4K. This is again comparable to a fully-fledged ATX desktop system running a pair of GTX 1080 Founders Edition graphics cards. This time we find exactly the same SLI performance on both platforms while the GX800 laptop managed to come out slightly ahead in the single card comparison. The fact that the card is being liquid cooled is likely helping it maintain higher clock speeds. No doubt someone was going to say “but can it play Crysis”, well the answer is yes, at 4K. Granted we aren’t exceeding 60fps but the game is being played with 4xTXAA enabled, so the 50fps average with SLI enabled is still very impressive. Tom Clancy’s The Division was very smooth at around 60fps on the GX800 with SLI enabled and with frame dips no lower than 47fps the 4K performance was exceptional. Review By: TechSpot

Intel last year said in a job posting that it was looking for a CPU architect / researcher to spearhead the company’s research and development of processor cores and graphics processors to be built on its 7nm manufacturing process. The post, first spotted by Ashraf Eassa from fool.com, said the products in question would arrive in the “2020 and beyond” timeframe. Eassa recently noticed, however, that Intel has published a revised version of the job listing that suggests Intel may be looking to milk its upcoming 10nm process longer than most initially expected. In the updated listing, Intel says it is looking for someone to spearhead the research and advanced development of microprocessor cores in the 2022 and beyond timeframe. The microarchitecture and design of these advanced CPUs, the company says, will be aggressively co-optimized with Intel's sub-10nm technology nodes deep into the next decade. On the surface, it indeed sounds like Intel may be pushing its 7nm chips out by a couple of years, from 2020 to 2022. As Eassa notes, it’s possible that Intel could instead be talking about 5nm technology in the new listing versus the 7nm it explicitly referenced in the original posting. If that were the case, it seems unlikely that Intel would use the phrase “sub-10nm technology nodes” rather than something more fitting like “sub-7nm technology nodes.” Notice By: TechSpot