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Vivo Y21T has been launched as an affordable offering in the Chinese company's Y series. The new Vivo phone comes with a waterdrop-style display notch and triple rear cameras. Vivo Y21T also carries a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC and is equipped with 18W fast charging support. The smartphone comes in two distinct colours to choose from. Additionally, it is available in a single storage configuration. Vivo Y21T is also rumoured to debut in India next week, with some distinction. Vivo Y21T price, availability The Vivo Y21T price has been set at IDR 3,099,000 (roughly Rs. 16,200) for the sole 6GB + 128GB storage variant. The phone is initially available for pre-orders in Indonesia in Midnight Blue and Pearl White colours. Details about the India launch are yet to be confirmed, though Vivo Y21T is rumoured to be available in the country at Rs. 16,490 for a 4GB + 128GB storage configuration. Vivo Y21T specifications The dual-SIM (Nano) Vivo Y21T runs on Android 11 with Funtouch OS 12 top. It features a 6.51-inch HD+ (720x1,600 pixels) display. Under the hood, the phone has the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC, along with 6GB of RAM. There is also support for virtually expanding the RAM to up to 2GB using the built-in storage. For photos and videos, Vivo Y21T has a triple rear camera setup which houses a 50-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens, along with a 2-megapixel secondary sensor with an f/2.4 macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with an f/2.4 lens. Vivo Y21T also comes with an 8-megapixel selfie camera with an f/1.8 lens. The smartphone has 128GB of onboard storage which supports expansion of up to 1TB via a dedicated slot. Connectivity options on Vivo Y21T include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5, GPS/ A-GPS, FM radio, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, and proximity sensor. There is also a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.Vivo Y21T packs a 5,000mAh battery which supports 18W fast charging. The smartphone measures 164.26x76.08x8mm and weighs 182 grams.
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During our testing of the Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPUs, we discovered that AVX-512 support was left untouched and could be enabled with ease though this instruction set is all set to be disabled through an upcoming BIOS. Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPUs To Lose Their AVX-512 Instructions With The Next Major BIOS From Motherboard Makers While Intel's Alder Lake CPUs are not officially stated to support AVX-512 instructions, they can be enabled by disabling the efficiency 'Gracemont' cores and leaving the performance 'Golden Cove' cores running. This delivers slightly better performance and higher efficiency than the standard AVX2 instructions. While the E-cores have their own advantages in a number of workloads, it looks like the AVX-512 instructions net higher efficiency too. But that's all about to be changed as Igor's Lab reports that Intel has been directing motherboard makers to remove support for AVX-512 on Alder Lake CPUs through an upcoming BIOS update. It's no surprise that this move comes just a few days before Intel plans to launch its non-K Alder Lake lineup which will feature a majority of P-core-only models (Core i5 and Core i3 to be non-hybrid). These chips have the potential to be a hot item for entry-level servers and workstations where their AVX-512 goodness can be put to use. Intel doesn't want that to happen and as such, they are trying their best to remove support of the instruction set from the equation. However, there's more, Igors Lab explains that the standard AVX2 instructions have a very strict thermal throttling feature across all hybrid chips which is recognized within HWiNFO as 'IA: Max Turbo Limit – Yes'. The thermal lock results in limited clock speeds and a reason stated is to avoid electron migration degradation inside the new chips. Now there are a few systems that can hit the 5.2 GHz max clocks of the chip due to these throttles as many PCs won't have adequate cooling to hit those high clocks.Fortunately, there are already workarounds for both of these AVX hurdles, the throttling of AVX2 and the removal of AVX-512. For example, Asus has implemented a patch in their BIOS versions for “Maximus” series motherboards that disables AVX2 throttling. The only important thing here is that the clock must already be set in the BIOS at boot time. A subsequent change via in-OS software will otherwise get caught in Intel’s catch net again. Fortunately, there are already workarounds for both of these AVX hurdles, the throttling of AVX2 and the removal of AVX-512. For example, Asus has implemented a patch in their BIOS versions for “Maximus” series motherboards that disables AVX2 throttling. The only important thing here is that the clock must already be set in the BIOS at boot time. A subsequent change via in-OS software will otherwise get caught in Intel’s catch net again. Now you can hold on to your existing BIOS and retain AVX-512 instructions but the latest stock of motherboards are expected to carry these BIOS out of stock. Also, you'd definitely need a better BIOS from the one available at launch to have good stability and DDR5 compatibility of your Alder Lake CPUs but upgrading would mean saying goodbye to the instruction set. So it's a really weird move by Intel and if they are being so furious about this one feature on consumer CPUs, then they shouldn't have had it in the first place.
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If you're like me, your time in a car or on a bike has been dramatically cut due to the ongoing pandemic, lockdowns, closures, and generally just getting used to not travelling as much. Most of my travelling is going to gigs, which were non-existent until the latter half of the year. As such, most of my time behind the wheel was behind a digital one. I prefer to go to the gym when it comes to sports, though that was put to a sharp halt for a few months when a 46kg dumbbell decided to roll off of a bench and break my foot in four places. Anyway, Sports and Racing games, let's talk. As in previous years' lists of the best sports and racing games (2018, 2019, 2020) and other lists I write, I only include new games (not re-releases/remasters) and fully released games (no early access titles). As always, only games that we've played can feature, though it doesn't mean every game featured has a review on the site. On that note, let's get to looking at the best sports and racing games of 2021, and remember to cast your vote in the community poll placed at the end. Football Manager 2022 (9.5/10) Genre: Sports. Platforms: PC (core game). Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Mobile (other versions). I've wondered when Sports Interactive will fall into the annualised series trap for years now. If you're wondering what I mean by that, I mean I'm wondering when Football Manager will have an entry that feels half-baked, where it feels as though it's "just another one". Football Manager 2022 was not one of those entries, and with the already-announced long-term plans to incorporate Women's Football, the promises for the future are equally high. Regarding Football Manager 2022, improvements throughout the game have set this even further ahead than the rest in the series. While some aspects are still in need of improvement, such as the repetitive press conferences, this is still the closest a video game has ever come to recreating Football. He's my summary from the review: Football Manager 2022 is yet another improvement on the long-running series, one that brings the beautiful game to life more than ever before and recreates both the small and large moments that make the sport so engaging. The options are near limitless, and the game puts even more at your fingertips, from the Data Hub to improved staff meetings, all adding onto a revamped match engine. This is the closest Sports Interactive has come to perfection, with only small elements feeling aged and needing polishing. Forza Horizon 5 (9.5/10) Genre: Racing. Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X. Forza Horizon 4 featured at the top of my 2018 list of best sports and racing games three years ago. Honestly, before Forza Horizon 5 even hit shelves, I imagined we'd be in for something special, something that just offered more of the undeniable and incredible fun that the Horizon Festival has come to be known for, and Playground Games didn't disappoint. While a bit buggy on launch and now in dire need of a filter as the map now has more spots than the sailors' favourite harlot on the first day of shore leave, it's impossible not to admire the game, the variety it offers in events, cars, scenery and more. Hell, every one of the spots mentioned above is something to do, and the game is packed full, and it's almost all fun and nearly never dull. My summary of Forza Horizon, at the end of the review, was as follows: Forza Horizon 5 is yet another step up for the series and arguably the best racing game ever made. Offering a host of content across a fantastic representation of Mexico, its varied terrain and scenery, there's so much to explore and race. A massive roster of cars will perform all of these, each feeling different from the others, with a variety of upgrade and tuning options almost matching those of simulation titles. While there are a few minor niggles here and there, they are nearly so small as to be hardly worth mentioning. All in all, it's impossible not to recommend this for anybody, regardless of them being a fan of racing games or not, as this is that good. F1 2021 (9/10) Genre: Racing. Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X. A year rarely goes by without a Codemasters game hitting this list, and that's with good reason. The reality is that no studio on the planet is as good as Codemasters at making high-quality racing games with their variety. This year, as with most, F1 hits the list from the Birmingham studio. Only this time, they've brought a story with them. Braking Point is the standout feature of F1 2021 and manages something Codemasters have tried and failed to deliver on before. Aidan Jackson and the return of Devon Butler, inspired by Drive to Survive on Netflix (as seems to be the case with every Codemasters title at the moment), features a strong story, characters and more that help you feel something for the facing, beyond the thrill of winning. That's still there, with the on-track action polished to a diamond-like shine. F1 2021 has undeniably struggled with COVID and the limitations it has put on both the sport and the game. However, either despite or because of these limitations, this manages a step forward that the series failed to take two years ago, it brings a genuine story to the game. Braking Point is an undeniable success and, one would hope, marks a starting point in which Codemasters can advance as the series moves forward. Beyond this new mode, almost every aspect has been polished to a diamond-like shine, with the only aspects needing improvement are the MyTeam mode, which already looks lacking as a story of progression when compared to Braking Point, and the poor AI in team management. Despite this minor issue, there's no doubt in my mind that this is the best of the franchise so far and a great launching point to the next generation. FIFA 22 (8/10) Genre: Sports. Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch. I'll be honest; this is a reluctant entry onto the list. Why? That's because it's begrudging that I give any praise to games quite literally designed to prey on children or people with addictive tendencies. That's what FIFA 22, and EA, is: a predator. Not even the cool, crabby, Schwarzenegger-figthing kind. Whatever my issues with the in-game predatory gambling, there's no doubt that FIFA 22 is an excellent football game and genuinely next-gen. The new "HyperMotion technology" truly adds to the feel of controlling real and specific players. While still having a few issues here and there, the on-pitch quality is undeniable, as are the fun inclusions like Volta and the arcade games that come with it. FIFA 22 is an undeniably fantastic football game, once you get on the pitch. HyperMotion Technology, and a push for enhanced visuals, physics, and more, make this an incredibly tactical experience and closer to the real thing than ever before. The inevitable problem is when you look at the insidious inclusions off the pitch, such as FUT, which - while somewhat more generous with the in-game currency - is still incredibly predatory and push on the in-game gambling mechanics. Riders Republic (8.5/10) Genre: Sports & Racing. Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch. If I were to make a simple proclamation, I would say that Riders Republic is essentially a sequel to Steep. It's likely not the grandest statement to make, but there's no doubt that this is a considerable expansion on Steep in terms of quantity, though it has swerved into the arcade. Honestly, that works for Riders Republic, with various activities and locations at your disposal. There's an undeniable level of fun to find in Riders Republic, and more than that, it's a genuinely great looking game to experience as you're travelling around, competing against other people. Here's what Nate had to say in his review of the game: Riders Republic’s posturing is more than a little phony and the game may be a bit mechanically simple for some, but its playground is an impressive one. With travel still difficult, Ubisoft’s sometimes-breathtaking recreation of America’s greatest national parks feels like something to be grateful for, and this game’s wide range of activities and challenges means almost everyone will be able to find some way to amuse themselves amongst its peaks and valleys. Riders Republic is a surprising breath of virtual fresh air. Sports and Racing Games of 2021 - A Year in Review Much like the other genres, and the rest of the industry, Sports and Racing games have had a slow year. Fortunately, the genre has several annualised titles, most of them rarely have poor entries. Football Manager, F1 and FIFA all make an appearance in this list, with a few other annualised entries in the honourable mentions below, topped up by yet another outstanding title from Playground Games and a surprise entry from Ubisoft. link : https://wccftech.com/wccftechs-best-sports-and-racing-games-of-2021/
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Samsung Galaxy A33 5G and Samsung Galaxy A13 5G are tipped to launch in India by February, bringing two new smartphones to the company's A-Series portfolio. They could be announced after the launch of the Galaxy S22 series which is scheduled to launch in February. The company could also be working on a 4G variant of the Galaxy A13, according to a tipster. Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy A33 is tipped to feature a similar price tag as its predecessor. Both Samsung Galaxy A33 5G and Samsung Galaxy A13 5G are tipped to launch in India by February, according to a report by 91Mobiles citing tipster Mukul Sharma. Meanwhile, the tipster also states that Samsung Galaxy A33 5G price in India will not be “significantly higher” than the price of its predecessor, Samsung Galaxy A32. Readers might recall Samsung Galaxy A32 was launched in March, priced at Rs. 21,999 for the lone 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The tipster has not provided any details about Samsung Galaxy A13 5G pricing but suggests that the company might be working on a 4G variant of the handset, according to the report. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G specifications (expected) Samsung Galaxy A33 5G is expected to launch with a 6.4-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED with a hole-punch for the selfie camera. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G is tipped to launch with 5,000mAh battery and is expected to launch with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. Previous Galaxy A33 5G renders suggest the smartphone will come with a quad-camera setup featuring a 48-megapixel camera, along with a 13-megapixel selfie camera. The smartphone is also tipped to feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung Galaxy A13 5G specifications (expected) Launched in the US in early December, Samsung Galaxy A13 5G comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC under the hood paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The smartphone is equipped with a 6.5-inch Infinity-V (720x1,600 pixels) HD+ display with a 90Hz adaptive refresh rate. Powered by a 5,000mAh battery, the smartphone supports charging at 15W, and runs on Android 11. Samsung Galaxy A13 5G comes with a triple camera setup that features a 50-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro camera with an f/2.4 aperture, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture, while the handset sports a 5-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture located in a waterdrop notch on the display.
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HWiNFO will soon be getting support for AMD's next-generation AM5 Ryzen CPU platforms and also a new technology known as RAMP. AMD Ryzen AM5 CPU Platform & RAMP Support To Be Added To Upcoming Version of HWiNFO While the latest version of HWiNFO adds preliminary support for Intel's next-gen Granite Rapids Xeon lineup, the upcoming version will be focusing more on AMD platforms. Not only will it get support for AMD's AM5 Ryzen platforms but preliminary support for AMD RAMP has also been mentioned. While we have a handful of information regarding AMD's AM5 CPU platform and the accompanying Ryzen CPUs, this is the first time we are hearing about RAMP. We don't know if it's related to the AM5 platform but based on the name, it could be a new boosting algorithm though we cannot confirm this yet. Following are the list of changes coming to HWiNFO soon: HWiNFO64 ported to UNICODE. Enhanced Intel XMP 3.0 Revision 1.2 support. Enhanced sensor monitoring on some ASRock B660 and H610 series. Added preliminary support of AMD RAMP. Enhanced support of future AMD AM5 platforms. Here's Everything We Know About AMD's Raphael Ryzen 'Zen 4' Desktop CPUs The next-generation Zen 4 based Ryzen Desktop CPUs will be codenamed Raphael and will replace the Zen 3 based Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs that are codenamed, Vermeer. From the information we currently have, Raphael CPUs will be based on the 5nm Zen 4 core architecture & will feature 6nm I/O dies in a chiplet design. AMD has hinted at upping the core counts of its next-gen mainstream desktop CPUs so we can expect a slight bump from the current max of 16 cores and 32 threads. The brand new Zen 4 architecture is rumored to deliver up to 25% IPC gain over Zen 3 and hit clock speeds of around 5 GHz. AMD's upcoming Ryzen 3D V-Cache chips based on the Zen 3 architecture will be featuring stacked chiplets so that design is expected to be carried over to AMD's Zen 4 line of chips too. AMD Ryzen 'Zen 4' Desktop CPU Expected Features: Brand New Zen 4 CPU Cores (IPC / Architectural Improvements) Brand New TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD Support on AM5 Platform With LGA1718 Socket Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support 28 PCIe Lanes (CPU Exclusive) 105-120W TDPs (Upper Bound Range ~170W) As for the platform itself, the AM5 motherboards will feature the LGA1718 socket which is going to last quite some time. The platform will feature DDR5-5200 memory, 28 PCIe lanes, more NVMe 4.0 & USB 3.2 I/O, and may also ship with native USB 4.0 support. There will be at least two 600-series chipsets for AM5 initially, the X670 flagship and B650 mainstream. The X670 chipset motherboards are expected to feature both PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 memory support but due to an increase in size, it is reported that ITX boards will only feature B650 chipsets.The Raphael Ryzen Desktop CPUs are also expected to feature RDNA 2 onboard graphics which means that just like Intel's mainstream desktop lineup, AMD's mainstream lineup will also feature iGPU graphics support. In regards to how many GPU cores there will be on the new chips, rumors say anywhere from 2-4 (128-256 cores). This will be lesser than the RDNA 2 CU count featured on the soon-to-be-released Ryzen 6000 APUs 'Rembrandt' but enough to keep Intel's Iris Xe iGPUs at bay. The Zen 4 based Raphael Ryzen CPUs aren't expected till late 2022 so there's still a lot of time left in the launch. The lineup will compete against Intel's Raptor Lake 13th Gen Desktop CPU lineup. AMD Mainstream Desktop CPU Generations Comparison: AMD CPU Family Codename Processor Process Processors Cores/Threads (Max) TDPs Platform Platform Chipset Memory Support PCIe Support Launch Ryzen 1000 Summit Ridge 14nm (Zen 1) 8/16 95W AM4 300-Series DDR4-2677 Gen 3.0 2017 Ryzen 2000 Pinnacle Ridge 12nm (Zen +) 8/16 105W AM4 400-Series DDR4-2933 Gen 3.0 2018 Ryzen 3000 Matisse 7nm (Zen 2) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2019 Ryzen 5000 Vermeer 7nm (Zen 3) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2020 Ryzen 6000 Warhol? 7nm (Zen 3D) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2022 Ryzen 7000 Raphael 5nm (Zen 4) 16/32? 105-170W AM5 600-Series DDR5-4800 Gen 5.0 2022 Ryzen 8000 Granite Ridge 3nm (Zen 5)? TBA TBA AM5 700-Series? DDR5-5000? Gen 5.0 2023
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Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki talked a lot about the upcoming open world action RPG, one of 2022's most anticipated games, in an interview published on EDGE #367.To begin with, we learned of the main influences that played some part in the creation of Elden Ring. Whereas anyone could easily draw a comparison with Tolkien's magnum opus even from the titles alone, Miyazaki-san's mention of Moorcock's The Eternal Champion series of novels (which will get its own game adaptation focused on Elric of Melniboné) is far less obvious. It’s difficult to give any one single inspiration that had a major impact on Elden Ring. There have been a lot of different works that influenced the creative process in various ways – The Lord Of The Rings, The Eternal Champion series of novels by Michael Moorcock, aspects of tabletop RPGs such as RuneQuest, etc. There are a lot of motifs and themes that I was able to pick from these various works that had an effect on the development of Elden Ring. Miyazaki then spent a big part of the interview discussing the creative process with A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R. R. Martin. He called the mythos created by GRRM a 'constant source of inspiration and impetus', and 'the biggest departure' from the Dark Souls series that allowed him to build something fresh.The Elden Ring director said he and other FromSoftware developers traveled to GRRM's hometown to meet with the famed author. Despite the age difference, Miyazaki eventually came to think of Martin as an old friend of sorts and was thrilled to work with someone just as passionate for fantasy worlds. Miyazaki also revealed why George R. R. Martin only worked on Elden Ring's mythology. FromSoftware apparently felt that working directly on the story and the in-game text would have actually limited the writer's creative potential. The resulting themes were mainly about connections between characters, such as parent and child relationships.The magazine's cover was dedicated to a specific Elden Ring character, Godfrey, whom you can see in this article's featured image. Miyazaki unveiled many details about him, explaining that this character has a major presence in the story and represents a lot of the game world itself. When we were talking with George Martin, we had these themes and ideas for creating pieces of artwork for the bosses, for these core characters of the story. And when he wrote the mythos, we asked him to create these dramatic heroes of this ancient mythos that takes place before the events of the game. These dramatic and heroic characters weren’t really present in our previous titles, so this is something that was really appealing to me – how he would depict the mystique and heroic qualities of those characters. And Godfrey is sort of an embodiment of that. He’s one of the major players in the game. One of the motivations of the player character in Elden Ring is to become Elden Lord – they’re to journey to The Lands Between and become the next Elden Lord.In the sort of heyday of the Golden Order of The Lands Between there were two Elden Lords, and Godfrey was the first of these. He was the very first Elden Lord and was married to Eternal Queen Marika, who’s been detailed in some of the lore we’ve released publicly so far. And he was representative of this period of grandeur and affluence. He represents everything great about the Elden Ring and about The Lands Between at that time. Eventually, he was exiled from The Lands Between. He himself became tarnished and he shares this deep connection with the Tarnished – the player character. Godfrey is an embodiment of their long history and struggle. He represents a lot of what the player character stands for and he symbolises a deep connection with the player – something that used to shine brilliantly and has now become tarnished and fallen from grace. Elden Ring launches on February 25th, 2022, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X. Miyazaki briefly touched upon the short one-month delay, too, stating that the level of freedom available in the final version of Elden Ring exceeded what they had initially planned for, thus requiring more time in debugging and quality assurance.
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Realme GT 2 series is being teased to have a new ‘Diamond Ice Core Cooling Plus' technology along with a supersized vapour chamber (VC) liquid cooling area to deliver an enhanced thermal management. The new smartphones will also come with a preloaded feature called GT mode 3.0 that is expected to boost performance. The Realme GT 2 series will debut with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC next week. Previous teasers confirmed 120Hz displays and triple rear cameras on the upcoming phones. As per a teaser posted on Weibo, the Realme GT 2 series will have a heat dissipation area of 36,761 square millimetres, along with the dedicated VC liquid cooling area of 4,129 square millimetres. This setup will be a part of the proprietary ‘Diamond Ice Core Cooling Plus' technology that is claimed to help provide improved thermal management.Earlier this year, Realme introduced the GT Neo 2 with the ‘Diamond Ice Core Cooling' technology. The Realme GT 2 series is expected to have an improved version of that same technology to provide even better results. Realme has also shared another teaser that reveals the presence of the GT mode 3.0. This will be an upgrade over the GT mode 2.0 available on the GT Neo 2 and is claimed to help bring a more immersive experience by offering maximum GPU performance.The Realme GT 2 series launch is set for January 4 in China. The series is expected to have three distinct models — the regular Realme GT 2, Realme GT 2 Pro, and the Realme GT 2 Master Edition. A recent pre-sale listing on JD.com revealed that the Realme GT 2 Pro will particularly have at least two different variants, with 256GB of storage as standard and 8GB as well as 12GB RAM options. Realme also recently confirmed to offer a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display with 120Hz refresh rate on the GT 2 Pro. Further, the phone is teased to have a triple rear camera setup, with two 50-megapixel sensors.
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ASUS has confirmed the root cause of its ROG Maximus Z690 HERO motherboards which encountered several 53 code issues with some even ending up in flames. The Taiwanese manufacturer has announced that the issue occurred due to the incorrect placement of one capacitor for memory and they will be offering a free replacement to all users that have been affected. ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO Motherboard 'Code 53' & Burning Issues Caused Due To 'Reversed' Memory Capacitor, Board Maker To Offer Replacement To All Affected Users Following our report, Bullzoid at Actually Hardcore Overclocking did his own investigation and found out that one of the memory capacitors on the ROG Maximus Z690 HERO motherboard was reversed on all the models that were affected by the 'Error 53' issue. ASUS has now followed up with a statement, confirming that it was true and they will be offering a replacement to all users affected by this issue. It looks like the issue potentially affects all ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO motherboards with the part number 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and serial number starting with MA, MB, or MC. All of these units were manufactured in 2021 and the labels are provided on the box. So just in case you have one of the affected models, you can follow the following steps that ASUS has listed to get a replacement. To our valued ASUS Customers, ASUS is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. We have recently received incident reports regarding the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard. In our ongoing investigation, we have preliminarily identified a potential reversed memory capacitor issue in the production process from one of the production lines that may cause debug error code 53, no post, or motherboard components damage. The issue potentially affects units manufactured in 2021 with the part number 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and serial number starting with MA, MB, or MC. You can identify your part number by referring to the product packaging: Please reference the attached image As of December 28, 2021, there have been a few incidents reported in North America. Going forward, we are continuing our thorough inspection with our suppliers and customers to identify all possible affected ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards in the market and will be working with relevant government agencies on a replacement program. Thank you so much to everyone for your patience and support while we are working through the replacement program. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact ASUS customer service. While the burns are caused on the two MOSFETs, the root cause is the memory capacitor labeled '150'. You can see in the picture above that the affected motherboards have the memory capacitor positioned reverse and not the correct away. Well, it's a good thing that ASUS was able to spot the issue on time, and kudos to Bullzoid for his quick investigation that helped several users who were going to get the Z690 HERO for the new setups.
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A new Final Fantasy VII Remake modded save file that has been shared online allows players to take on the game's ultimate challenge. The Initial Hard Mode Challenge modded save file allows players to play the game at Hard Mode right from the start with Level 1 characters wearing no armor and accessories. A basic selection of Materia is available from the start, however, so players won't be starting this very challenging run with nothing at all. Final Fantasy VII Remake launched on PC earlier this month, and all sorts of mods have been released in the past few days that address some of the technical issues found in the port, unlock framerates, and more. Even with the technical issues, however, the game is still one of the most enjoyable role-playing games released by Square Enix in recent years, as I highlighted in my review of the PlayStation 5 release. While it is the same game at heart, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade brings the first part of the remake to new heights with a 60 FPS gameplay option, some quality of life enhancements, much improved visuals, and a very fun new story episode starring Yuffie. The new tweaks and additions do not alter how the game feels and play, but there is no denying that they do make Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade the best way to enjoy one of the best role-playing games put out by Square Enix in the past few years. Final Fantasy VII Remake is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 worldwide. By exploiting mako, the life-blood of the planet, through their mako reactors, the Shinra Electric Power Company has all but seized control of the entire world. A ragtag group of idealists, known as Avalanche, are one of the last bastions of resistance. Cloud, an elite SOLDIER operative-turned-mercenary takes part in an Avalanche operation to destroy Mako Reactor 1 in the city of Midgar. The bombing plunges the city into fiery chaos, and Cloud is tormented by visions of a bitter enemy long thought dead. Once more begins a story that will shape the destiny of an entire world.
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Moto Edge X30 may be launched in India either in January end or early February, as per a report. The smartphone made its debut in China earlier this month and its USP is that it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. It was previously reported that the Lenovo-owned company will launch two smartphones in India in the first quarter of 2022, and one of them could be Moto Edge X30. The handset comes with a 144Hz OLED display, and 68W fast charging support. A report by 91Mobiles claims that the Moto Edge X30 will be launched in January or February. It will be one of the handful of smartphones that will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. Realme GT 2 Pro and Xiaomi 12 series phones are two other phones that have been confirmed to come equipped with Qualcomm's latest flagship mobile platform. Since Moto Edge X30 was launched in China earlier this month, we know about its specifications. Moto Edge X30 specifications The Moto Edge X30 runs on Android 12 out-of-the-box, with MYUI 3.0 on top. It sports a 6.8-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,400 pixels) POLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio, 144Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. The phone gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, along with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of onboard UFS 3.1 storage. For photography, the Moto Edge X30 offers a triple rear camera setup highlighted by a 50-megapixel OmniVision's OV50A40 primary sensor. There is also a 50-megapixel wide-angle shooter and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies and video calls, the Motorola phone has a 60-megapixel camera at the front. Moto Edge X30 connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.2, and a USB Type-C port. The phone comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. There's a 5,000mAh battery that supports 68W TurboPower fast charging.
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Each passing generation, NVMe M.2 SSDs are getting hotter & more power-hungry as their overall performance goes up. The current generation of Gen 4 SSDs has seen a large increase in the heat output and the upcoming PCIe Gen 5 devices will push that even further. As such, Josbo, a Chinese manufacturer, might just have the perfect solution for you. Chinese Manufacturer, Josbo, Unveils An Active M.2 SSD Cooling Solution, Would Be A Perfect Fit On High-End PCIe Gen 4/5 SSDs The cooling solution showcased by Josbo is said to offer better cooling performance than a passive cooling design. In terms of design itself, the active cooler for PCIe NVMe M.2 SSDs has a size of 76 x 24.5 x 70.5 (mm) and sits on top of the M.2 SSD. It features a thermal pad underneath the contact base that will connect the M.2 SSD to the cooler and features a built-in aluminum heatsink that will pull the heat. The active cooling comes from a blower-style Turbo fan which features a fan speed of 3000 RPM and can push a maximum air volume of 4.81 CFM while producing a maximum noise of 27.3 dBA. The whole solution is packed within a black chassis and almost looks like a small graphics card of sorts. In the render, it is shown that the cooler will push hot air out of the front rather than the back of the chassis. Now, why would you need such a beefy cooling solution for a measly device such as an M.2 SSD? Your answer is below: As for thermals and power consumption, Phison has already stated that they advise Gen 4 SSD makers to have a heatsink but for Gen 5, it is a must. There's also a likelihood that we might even see active fan-based cooling solutions for next-gen SSDs and that's due to the higher power requirements that result in more heat output. The Gen 5 SSDs are going to average in at around 14W TDP while Gen 6 SSDs are going to average in around 28W TDPs. Furthermore, it is reported that managing heat is a major challenge moving forward. Currently, 30% of the heat is dissipated via the M.2 connector and 70% via the M.2 screw. This is also where the new interfaces and interface slots will play a huge role. Existing PCIe Gen 4 SSD DRAM and controllers are good for up to 125C temperatures but the NAND needs really good cooling and hitting 80C will activate thermal shutdown. So the baseline is to keep the SSDs at around 50C for normal operation while higher temperatures will result in major thermal throttling. While motherboard & SSD makers are doing their best to offer better and high-end passive cooling solutions on current-gen Z690 boards, it looks like they might not be enough and more cooling would be required to cool the next-gen PCIe Gen 5 NVMe PCIe SSDs. Manufacturers are expected to unveil their first PCIe Gen 5 M.2 SSDs at CES 2022 so stay tuned for more info next week!
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New Cyberpunk 2077 mods that have been released online in the past few days bring some welcome improvements for the level of detail of distant objects and reduce texture pop-in. The LOD Improvements mod includes a selection of different LOD settings that improve details for distant objects and reduce texture pop-in. Some of the settings can be a little extreme, such as the 10x draw distance increase, so the impact on performance will be noticeable on certain systems. The mod can be downloaded from Nexus Mods. Parameters Affected: Background Distance Regular Distance Cinematic Vehicle Cinematic Vehicle Background and Regular distance seem to work well for your average environmental stuff. Cinematic is what you want when characters have vanishing bodies/clothes at distance (such as with my alternate clothes mods) Cinematic 5x = Reduces invisible textures. Will still see pop-in/fadeout at VERY far distance. Cinematic 10x = Reduces invisible textures. Clothes and body pop-in/fadeout negligible. Vehicle vs Cinematic Vehicle, from my understanding, governs the cars at distance (2D models) vs up-close (3D models) All 5X = raises the draw distance of ALL these parameters by 5 times the normal game settings. All 10X = raises the draw distance of ALL these parameters by 10 times the normal game settings. Other versions mix and match some of the parameters, but most users will want "All 5x" or "All 10X" The Cyberpunk 2077 Improved Vegetation LODS mod, while less comprehensive than the LOD Improvements, also includes some improved vegetation textures that make quite a difference, as showcased in the comparison screenshots below. You can download this mod from Nexus Mods. Cyberpunk 2077 is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. The game will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S next year.
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Apple is planning a lot of major changes for its flagship iPhone models next year. It was previously stated as a sketchy rumor last week that Apple might do away with the SIM card slot on the iPhone 15 models. However, a new rumor suggests that we might see the change in action as soon as next year with the launch of the iPhone 14. Removing the SIM card slot on the iPhone will potentially make room for eSIM adoption in the industry and one less port for the device. Scroll down to read more details on the subject. iPhone 14 to Come Without Physical SIM Card Slot, Claims Tipster A tipster has informed MacRumors that Apple has advised major US carriers to prepare for eSIM-only smartphones by September of 2022. While the document shares a mao of the timeline, it does not mention the name of the company or the smartphone. Nonetheless, it is being reported that some carriers in the US will begin offering some iPhone 13 models without a nano-SIM card in the box. The transition will begin starting in September of 2022. At this point, iPhone 13 models sold at Apple,com, or Apple Stores do not include a nano-SIM card. Users can simply activate their eSIM cards through on-screen instructions. Henceforth, if the news has any heft to it. Apple could potentially remove the physical SIM card slot on next year's iPhone 14 models. However, the change will not be implemented entirely as some models could still come with a SIM card slot. At this point, iPhone 13 models sold at Apple,com, or Apple Stores do not include a nano-SIM card. Users can simply activate their eSIM cards through on-screen instructions. Henceforth, if the news has any heft to it. Apple could potentially remove the physical SIM card slot on next year's iPhone 14 models. However, the change will not be implemented entirely as some models could still come with a SIM card slot.
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BIOSTAR has announced that its only A320 motherboard, the A320MH, can now support AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs, thanks to a new BIOS. AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU Support Added To BIOSTAR's A320MH Motherboard, Entry-Level Board With Up To 16 Core Support The latest motherboard BIOS for the BIOSTAR A320MH adds AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs. The BIOS version 'A32ESB17' is based on the AGESA 1.2.0.3C BETA firmware and supports both Renoir (Ryzen 4000G) and Vermeer (Ryzen 5000X) CPUs. You can also expect other updates that come in the AGESA firmware to be added to the motherboard once you upgrade its BIOS. Press Release: Highly considered by the masses as the best budget-friendly performer, BIOSTAR's A320MH motherboard finally gets a BIOS update to support AMD's 5000 series processors. BIOSTAR A320MH users now have the opportunity to upgrade their systems to the latest AMD's 5000 series processors and get a significant boost in performance and productivity out of their systems. With BIOSTAR's official BIOS patch version A32ESB17, users can upgrade to a range of new processors like the Ryzen 7 5800X. Users can find the official BIOS update on the motherboard’s support page. We can see many motherboard manufacturers follow BIOSTAR's approach providing a new version of BIOS for their A320 motherboards to support AMD Zen 3 processors. This move is undoubtedly a great boon for users of the A320MH motherboard extending the product use cycle even further. It is important to note that the updated AMD Ryzen 5000 series is only supported but does not include the 5000G series APU. This is because of limitations of BIOS ROM capacity; the updated Bristol Ridge processor will no longer be supported.
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The launch date of God of War Ragnarok might just have been leaked via the PlayStation Store database, according to information shared by PlayStation Game Size via Twitter. This account is dedicated to updates coming straight from the PlayStation Store database, such as game size, release date, preload date, and more. Earlier today, we covered another potential leak they found about Sonic Frontiers.For God of War Ragnarok, the date is September 30th, 2022. It could be a placeholder launch date, of course, as noted in the tweet itself. It's also the very end of the third quarter, which could hint that Sony is actually targeting that timeframe for the game's release. God of War Ragnarok is the sequel to 2018's acclaimed soft reboot of the saga featuring Spartan warrior and demigod Kratos. God of War is considered to be one of the best, if not the very best, of PlayStation 4's entire library and it will soon grace PC gamers with its presence. Our Kai rated the game with a rare perfect score, followed up by this summary: God of War is one of those rare titles that define the console generation. Kratos’ fighting has been refined to its very best and the lands of Midgard are filled with wonders of all manner to explore and defeat. It’s been nearly the entire lifespan of the PlayStation 4 console since Kratos has seen new adventure but the wait has been absolutely worth it. Santa Monica Studio’s journey is still far from over, but they’ve once again shown why Kratos is one of gaming’s greatest anti-heroes. God of War Ragnarok is set to take place approximately three years after the previous installment's events. A grown-up Atreus will have to face the meaning of his true identity, unveiled by the ending of 2018's God of War. He and his father Kratos will venture through all of the Nine Realms while fending off enraged powerful Norse deities like Thor and Freya, on the backdrop of the prophesied end of days. God of War Ragnarok will be released for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Check out the first gameplay trailer below.
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While a lot of people are still waiting for Android 12 and Android 12L to hit their devices, Google has started working on Android 13. Only yesterday we talked about how the upcoming iteration of Android could bring a new feature that would allow per-app language setting and today, we have a whole bunch of new features that might be coming to the next Android version and aside from that, we are also getting some early screenshots.The leak is coming from the folks over XDA who have shared a list of features that are making their way to Android 13. It is worth noting that Google might change or remove the features altogether in the final version. Below are some of the features expected in Android 13. App languages. Runtime permission of notifications. TARE: The Android Resource Economy. Lockscreen clock layout. Android 13 Could Bring App Languages Along with a Host of New Settings for Better User Experience Where Android 12 seems to have capitalized on making the user privacy and security better, Android 13 seems to be focusing on bringing a better user experience to everyone. The App Language setting is indeed there and should make it easier for all bilingual users to have a better experience at using the apps and the OS itself. The screenshot above proves that the feature is being worked on by Google. Runtime Permission of Notifications Currently, every app that you install on Android has the ability to push notifications to your device. As you install more apps on your phone, the number of notifications increases as well, which results in notification spam. With Android 13, it adds runtime permission called "POST_NOTIFICATIONS" For notifications. This means that notification could become a feature that you could opt-in and out of. Users might get the chance to choose whether they want the app to send a notification to their device in the same manner that you get to allow other runtime permissions such as Location, Camera, or MIcrophone. There is a chance that the new notifications runtime permission will be default to all apps targeting Android 12 or older but for apps that are targeting Android 13, they will have to follow the new rules. TARE: The Android Resource Economy With Android 13, Google is going ahead and laying the foundations of a feature known as "TARE," which is short for "The Android Resource Academy." The feature focuses on energy-use management on your device with the feature working through AlarmManager and JobScheduler policies. As per the source, TARE will introduce "Android Resource Credits," it sounds like a form of currency that is linked to the battery level of your phone. Google will be "awarding" credits to apps based on how the battery depletes and the apps can then use the credits as "payments" for the opportunity to perform tasks.Basically, Google will be setting limits to how many tasks an app can schedule through JobScheduler and AlarmManager based on the battery level and the requirements of the app. It does sound complex and we are going to have to wait for the final documentation before we can further comment on it. New Lock Screen Clock Layouts With Android 13, Google is also adding a new setting that will let you toggle the layout of the clock on the lock screen. On Android 12, the lock screen clock is displayed in a double line layout that but with Android 13, this is going to change and you will be able to have a different experience as well. All these features aside, it is important to know that Android 13 is still in the early stages of development and we are likely to see a lot more features coming soon and there is also a chance that the features that have been discovered might change in the future iterations. We will keep you posted about more changes heading to the future versions.
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AMD might have delayed its Zen 3 Ryzen Threadripper CPU lineup for quite a while now but it looks like they have something grand planned for its pro workstation segment. Dual-Socket Support Coming To AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro Workstation CPU Platform? Could Offer Up To 128 Cores & 4 TB Memory Capacities A few days ago, Igor's Lab leaked out the final specifications of AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Pro CPU line-up which will consist of five SKUs. The lineup features up to 64 cores, 256 MB cache, 280W TDP, and is based on the Zen 3 core architecture. There isn't any special 3D V-Cache or a 6nm node optimization headed for these chips but there is one crucial aspect that is important for the work-station segment that might be coming to the family.In the leaked specs, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Pro lineup is stated to support a '2P' socket configuration. Similar to Intel's 2S, the 2P configuration means dual-socket support which points to the red team offering specialized workstation motherboards with the help of its OEM partners. This would allow AMD to get two Ryzen Threadripper CPUs on the platform instead of one we currently get. This could be a major blow to Intel's workstation efforts as they will once again be left behind in the dust with AMD conquering the core count segment with an astonishing 128 cores on their high-end sWRX8 platform. Further confirming this is a PassMark entry, discovered by TomsHardware, which points to dual Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX 64 core CPUs running on a single motherboard. The dual CPUs were compared to a single Threadripper Pro 3995WX 64 core chip & the new config ends up with a 44% performance uplift. The performance results are represented in the table below (Via - Tomshardware): Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX Dual Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3995WX Overall Score: 85,365 123,631 Integer Math 495,791 MOps/Sec 989,959 MOps/Sec Floating Point Math 278,871 MOps/Sec 562,656 MOps/Sec Find Prime Numbers 579 Million Primes/Sec 1,363 Million Primes/Sec Random String Sorting 196 Thousand Strings/Sec 425 Thousand Strings/Sec Data Encryption 124,642 MBytes/Sec 261,164 MBytes/Sec Data Compression 1,792 MBytes/Sec 3,661 MBytes/Sec Physics 5,567 Frames/Sec 14,653 Frames/Sec Extended Instructions 106,929 Million Matrices/Sec 232,254 Million Matrices/Sec Single Thread 2,628 MOps/Sec 2,652 MOps/Sec The performance gain isn't massive but we have to remember that there are only a few synthetic benchmarks that are able to utilize the 64 cores on AMD's Ryzen Threadripper Pro chips, let alone 128 cores on a dual-socket configuration. This opens up a whole new performance category for the workstation segment with over 100 cores, insane 4 TB system memory capacities (16 memory channels / 8 per chip), and an insane amount of PCIe lanes. Surely, this is a very attractive solution for workstation users. There are currently no commercially available motherboards that support dual Ryzen Threadripper Pro CPUs but as mentioned above, AMD will be working with its partners to get them made if they are indeed going the 2P socket route. AMD's EPYC server platform does have a lot of dual-socketed motherboards so OEMs such as Gigabyte, Supermicro, ASRock Rack, can definitely be the first ones to offer such a high-end workstation motherboard. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 CPUs are rumored for a March 2022 launch so we might get to hear about those from AMD at CES 2022. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 5000 vs Intel Sapphire Rapids-X HEDT CPUs: CPU Family Intel Sapphire Rapids-X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Process Node 10nm ESF 7nm Core Architecture Golden Cove Zen 3 Platform W790 TRX40/TRX80 Socket LGA 4677? LGA 4096 Max Cores / Threads 56/112? 64/128 Max Cache (L3) 168 MB? 224 MB + V-Cache? Memory Support DDR5-4800 DDR4-3200 Max PCIe Lanes 64 PCIe Gen 5.0 128 PCIe Gen 4.0 TDP Up To 225W Up To 280W
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On Christmas day, Epic is gifting Pathfinder: Kingmaker Enhanced Plus Edition on its Epic Games Store. You have until 5 PM to grab the game, normally priced at $19.99, and permanently add it to your library. For those unfamiliar with it, Pathfinder: Kingmaker Enhanced Plus Edition is a cRPG developed by Russian studio Owlcat Games. Originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter, the game is inspired by classics like the Baldur's Gate series and adapted from the po[CENSORED]r fantasy tabletop roleplaying game made by Paizo. When Pathfinder: Kingmaker first launched in October 2018, our Rosh enjoyed it but pointed out some quirks and limitations that would have likely prevented it from reaching most mainstream gamers. Fans of Baldur's Gate who love to explore the deep systems and thick spell books may truly love this game. Fans of unforgiving real-time combat will really enjoy this game. Fans of dense, high fantasy worlds filled with interesting locations and long quests might like this game, too, if they can get their head around the more complicated parts. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a good game and a really fun experience but players need to know beforehand that it is not a very accessible game. Before playing you should be fully aware of how much of a mental and time sink Pathfinder: Kingmaker instantly becomes, and if that doesn’t put you off, I think you’ll really dig it. However, Pathfinder: Kingmaker Enhanced Plus Edition packs many improvements compared to the original release, such as: • Numerous gameplay-enriching content additions and dozens of quality-of-life features, including a turn-based mode and controller support • New abilities and ways to build your character, including a brand-new class • New items and weaponry • Improved balance, especially in the beginning and last two chapters of the game • Enhanced kingdom management system, both in terms of balance as well as usability and player comfort • Increased variety of random encounters on the global map • Thousands of fixes and improvements made since the game's initial release Earlier this year, Owlcat Games also released the sequel, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, which turned out to be an even better game according to Francesco's review.
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Oppo Reno 7 5G has received a special version that the Chinese tech giant has dubbed as Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition. The special edition model brings a new colour to the smartphone and has a special logo etched at the back panel. Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition has been launched in China and, as of now, there is no information regarding its launch in other markets. Oppo Reno 7 series launched in China in November and it is yet to launch globally. Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition price, availability Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition price is the same as vanilla Oppo Reno 7 5G. The 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 31,800), the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant costs CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 35,400), and the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is available for CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 38,900). Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition comes in a special colour - Velvet Red - and has a tiger logo etched next to the rear camera module. Through a post on Weibo, Oppo mentioned that it etched the Tiger logo at the back panel as 2022 is considered the Year of the Tiger in China. Oppo Reno 7 5G specifications Since Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition is only a redesign, it has the same specifications as the vanilla Oppo Reno 7 5G that launched in China in November. The phone sports a 6.43-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,400 pixels) AMOLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.1 storage. For optics, Oppo Reno 7 5G New Year Edition gets a triple rear camera setup with a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. In the front, it gets a 32-megapixel Sony IMX709 sensor. Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.2, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. The phone packs a 4,500mAh battery with 60W Flash Charge fast charging support.
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The soft RDNA 2 refresh that we have been waiting for could be heading to the entry-level segment first in the form of RDNA 2 which will power the Radeon RX 6500 XT & RX 6400 graphics cards while being based on a brand new process node. AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT & Radeon RX 6400 First To Utilize 6nm Navi 24 'RDNA 2' GPUs In Q1 2022, Intel, NVIDIA & AMD are expected to compete in the entry-level segment with brand new options for consumers. While NVIDIA focuses on its Samsung 8nm powered Ampere lineup within this segment, Intel and AMD will be offering new chips based on TSMC's 6nm process. The latest report comes from Videocardz whose sources suggest that AMD might actually end up being the first GPU maker to offer a 6nm GPU. It is reported that the AMD Navi 24 GPU powered by the RDNA 2 graphics architecture would utilize the 6nm process node, far ahead of Intel's ARC Alchemist GPUs. The new process node was coming to the RDNA 2 refresh GPUs but it looks like AMD has done so with the Navi 24. For Navi 24, this is going to mean faster clocks and better efficiency than what TSMC's 7nm node could have offered. It looks like the source also offered additional specs on both cards which can be seen below. AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Graphics Card With Navi 24 XT GPU The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT will be utilizing the full Navi 24 XT GPU die. Internally known as 'Beige Goby', the AMD Navi 24 GPU is the smallest of the RDNA 2 lineup and will feature a single SDMA engine. The chip will feature 2 shader arrays for a total of 8 WGPs and a maximum of 16 Compute Units. AMD has 64 stream processors per compute unit so that brings the total core count on the Navi 24 GPU at 1024 which is half that of the Navi 23 GPU which will offer 2048 stream processors in 32 compute units. In addition to the number of cores, each shader array would feature 128 KB of L1 cache, 1 MB of L2 cache and there would also be 16 MB of Infinity Cache (LLC). The AMD Navi 24 RDNA 2 GPUs will also be featured across a 64-bit bus interface & will be featured on low-end Radeon RX 6500 or RX 6400 series parts. The card will feature a bandwidth of 128 GB/s but AMD is coming up with a new marketing name for total bandwidth (including Infinity Cache) which is rated at 232 GB/s. AMD Navi 24 is expected to get some really high clock speeds, even surpassing the 2.8 GHz barrier. As for the specifications, the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT graphics card will feature 1024 cores and 4 GB of GDDR6 memory. The card would not be able to operate in any mining algorithm, especially ETH. The top model will feature a TDP of 107W and as such, will require external power connectors to boot. The card is expected to launch on 19th January so expect an announcement at CES 2022. AMD Radeon RX 6400 Graphics Card With Navi 24 XL GPU The second card in the Navi 24 RDNA 2 lineup is the AMD Radeon RX 6400 which will be based on a slightly cut-down 'XL' chip with 768 cores. The card will retain its 4 GB GDDR6 memory and feature slightly lower clocks but still around the 2.5 GHz+ frequency range. It is reported that the RX 6400 is not going to require any power connectors to boot thanks to its 53W TDP. It will also feature 112 GB/s standard and 232 GB/s IFC bandwidth. While the Radeon RX 6400 is expected to launch a bit later than the 6500 XT, it will likely be kept as an OEM-only model and won't get custom variants. In the official renders, it can be seen that the card is designed for the entry-level and low-profile GPU market with a single-slot and half-height form factor which features a single fan and an HDMI + DP output. Both GPUs will be aimed at the entry-level segment with MSRPs of sub $200-$250 US. Since the Radeon RX 6600 series is already positioned in the premium 1080p gaming segment, expect the Navi 24 GPUs to be aimed at the entry-level 1080p gaming market. But given that AMD has raised the prices of RDNA 2 GPUs and alerted its AIB partners to do the same too, the entry-level market may end up in another mess for budget builders trying to get on something after years of wait. AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series "RDNA 2" Graphics Card Lineup: Graphics Card AMD Radeon RX 6400 AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT AMD Radeon RX 6600 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT AMD Radeon RX 6800 AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Liquid Cooled AMD Radeon RX 6900 XTX GPU Navi 24 (XL)? Navi 24 (XT)? Navi 23 (XL) Navi 23 (XT) Navi 22 (XT?) Navi 21 XL Navi 21 XT Navi 21 XTX Navi 21 XTXH Navi 21 XTXH Process Node 6nm 6nm 7nm 7nm 7nm 7nm 7nm 7nm 7nm 7nm Die Size TBD TBD 237mm2 237mm2 336mm2 520mm2 520mm2 520mm2 520mm2 520mm2 Transistors TBD TBD 11.06 Billion 11.06 Billion 17.2 Billion 26.8 Billion 26.8 Billion 26.8 Billion 26.8 Billion 26.8 Billion Compute Units 12 16 28 32 40 60 72 80 80 80 Stream Processors 768 1024 1792 2048 2560 3840 4608 5120 5120 5120 TMUs/ROPs TBD TBD 112/64 128/64 160/64 240 / 96 288 / 128 320 / 128 320 / 128 320 / 128 Game Clock TBD TBD 2044 MHz 2359 MHz 2424 MHz 1815 MHz 2015 MHz 2015 MHz 2250 MHz TBA Boost Clock TBD TBD 2491 MHz 2589 MHz 2581 MHz 2105 MHz 2250 MHz 2250 MHz 2345 MHz 2435 MHz FP32 TFLOPs TBD TBD 9.0 TFLOPs 10.6 TFLOPs 13.21 TFLOPs 16.17 TFLOPs 20.74 TFLOPs 23.04 TFLOPs 24.01 TFLOPs 24.93 TFLOPs Memory Size 4 GB GDDR6 + 16 MB Infinity Cache 4 GB GDDR6 + 16 MB Infinity Cache 8 GB GDDR6 + 32 MB Infinity Cache 8 GB GDDR6 + 32 MB Infinity Cache 12 GB GDDR6 + 96 MB Infinity Cache 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache Memory Bus 64-bit 64-bit 128-bit 128-bit 192-bit 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit Memory Clock 14 Gbps 16 Gbps 14 Gbps 16 Gbps 16 Gbps 16 Gbps 16 Gbps 16 Gbps 18 Gbps 18 Gbps Bandwidth 112 GB/s 128 GB/s 224 GB/s 256 GB/s 384 GB/s 512 GB/s 512 GB/s 512 GB/s 576 GB/s 576 GB/s TDP 53W 107W 132W 160W 230W 250W 300W 300W 330W 330W Price ~$200 US ~250 US? $329 US $379 US $479 US $579 US $649 US $999 US ~$1199 US ~$1199 US
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The tactical first-person shooter game Ready or Not finally debuted on Steam Early Access this past week, four and a half years after the game's announcement.The launch is going very well for New Zealand-based developer VOID Interactive by all metrics. Ready or Not is listed as Steam's current top-selling game even amidst the store's Winter Sale, which is extraordinary. On SteamDB, Ready or Not presently tops three categories: Trending Games, Po[CENSORED]r Releases, and Hot Releases. The latter is based on user review scores, where the game arguably shines even brighter given that 95% out of 8,943 user reviews are positive.Despite all this positive news, VOID Interactive has had to deal with a bit of a controversy, too. Firstly, the studio has parted ways with Team17, which was supposed to publish Ready or Not. Then, speculation began on the reasons behind this decision. Some suggested it may have to do with a planned school shooting level that one of the developers confirmed on Reddit a few days ago (before deleting the post). It is unclear whether that was really the case. Regardless of that, a few hours ago, VOID Interactive did share a statement on the school shooting level itself and how they plan to portray such a tragic event in Ready or Not. We are dedicated to promoting a level of authenticity and realism in our video game, ready or not, that carries with it difficult subject mater. We understand that this requires a certain responsibility -- to our fans and community, yes, but also to those who have been impacted by the traumatic events law enforcement all too often responds to. Rest assured, our aim is to handle all of ready or not's content with the level of weight and respect that it warrants. We have recently had to remind certain team members of the required care in discussing this material now and on an on-going basis. 'School' is not just a part of the fabric of Ready or Not's story, it is part of the fabric of thousands of people's stories worldwide. It is the story of those who have died too soon at the hands of a deranged gunman, the story of family and friends waiting for a phone call that might never come, the story of the first responders who do everything they can only for it to not be enough. It is a look at an uncomfortable reality that has become all too common, and we hope that we can play some small part in honoring those who have been impacted by these real world tragedies with a portrayal that does not trivialize their experiences. We will continue to follow our vision, we will continue to listen, and we will continue to work every day on Ready or Not. Needless to say, whenever VOID Interactive does end up adding a school shooting level to the game, players will be tasked with rescuing the situation in the shoes of a SWAT police unit.
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OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T series smartphones are receiving an OxygenOS update which fixes an issue where users were unable to send and receive media on WhatsApp. Bundled with the update is the December 2021 Android security patch. Only the update for OnePlus 7T is rolling out in India. OnePlus 7 series was launched in May 2019 while OnePlus 7T series was launched in September 2019. The OnePlus 7 series was launched with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box, while OnePlus 7T series was launched with Android 10 out-of-the-box. Through a couple of posts on its Community Forum, OnePlus mentioned that OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7T, and OnePlus 7T Pro are receiving OxygenOS 11.0.5.1 update. The update is rolling out in Europe and the global markets for all four smartphones. However, only the OnePlus 7T series is receiving its update in India. As mentioned, the OxygenOS update brings a fix for the issue where users were unable to send and receive media on WhatsApp. Along with this, OnePlus has also improved the system stability on all four flagship smartphones from 2019. Bundled with the update is the December 2021 Android security patch. The update is scheduled to have a gradual rollout with select users receiving the update initially. Rest of the users are said to receive the update in the coming days once no critical bugs are found. The size of the update was not mentioned but users are advised to update the smartphone under a strong Wi-Fi connection and while it is put on charging. The update should reach all users automatically over-the-air. However, keen users can manually check for the update by heading to Settings > System > System updates. OnePlus 7 series was launched in May 2019 and came with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box. In September 2019, the flagship smartphones received Android 10 and received Android 11 in March 2021. OnePlus 7T was launched in September 2019 and OnePlus 7T Pro was launched in October 2019. Both phones were launched with Android 10 out-of-the-box and received their Android 11 update along with the OnePlus 7 series.
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There are new rumors regarding AMD's next-generation Ryzen 7000 CPUs codenamed Raphael and based on the 5nm Zen 4 core architecture. AMD Ryzen 7000 'Raphael' CPU Rumors: 5nm Zen 4 Lineup To Be Announced at Computex, X670 Flagship Chipset For AM5 Platform, RDNA 2 iGPUs The next-generation Zen 4 based Ryzen Desktop CPUs will be codenamed Raphael and will replace the Zen 3 based Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs that are codenamed, Vermeer. From the information we currently have, Raphael CPUs will be based on the 5nm Zen 4 core architecture & will feature 6nm I/O dies in a chiplet design. AMD has hinted at upping the core counts of its next-gen mainstream desktop CPUs so we can expect a slight bump from the current max of 16 cores & 32 threads. The brand new Zen 4 architecture is rumored to deliver up to 25% IPC gain over Zen 3 and hit clock speeds of around 5 GHz. AMD's upcoming Ryzen 3D V-Cache chips based on the Zen 3 architecture will be featuring stacked chiplets so that design is expected to be carried over to AMD's Zen 4 line of chips too. The latest rumors claim that AMD will be announcing the Zen 4 chips at Computex 2022 which means Q2 2022 however the launch wouldn't take place until the end of Q3 or early Q4 2022. AMD Ryzen 'Zen 3D' Desktop CPU Expected Features: Minor optimization on TSMC's 7nm process node Up to 64 MB of Stacked cache per CCD (96 MB L3 per CCD) Up To 15% Average performance improvement in gaming Compatible With AM4 Platforms and existing motherboards Same TDP as existing consumer Ryzen CPUs AMD Ryzen 'Zen 4' Desktop CPU Expected Features: Brand New Zen 4 CPU Cores (IPC / Architectural Improvements) Brand New TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD Support on AM5 Platform With LGA1718 Socket Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support 28 PCIe Gen 4.0 Lanes (CPU Exclusive) 105-120W TDPs (Upper Bound Range ~170W) As for TDP requirements, the AMD AM5 CPU platform will feature six different segments starting with the flagship 170W CPU class which is recommended for Liquid coolers (280mm or higher). It looks like this will be an aggressively clocked chip with higher voltages and with CPU overclocking support. This segment is followed by 120W TDP CPUs which are recommended to utilize a high-performance air-cooler. Interestingly, the 45-105W variants are listed as SR1/SR2a/SR4 thermal segments which means they would require standard heatsink solutions when running in a stock configuration so not much else is required to keep them cool. Kopite7kimi also adds to the AMD AM5 details that the platform might have two different IO dies. Now it is not known if these are the platform-specific IO dies (PCH) or the Ryzen specific IO dies (IOD). In the case of the latter, we know that Raphael is going to feature a chiplet design while the Rembrandt APU is most likely going to end up with a monolithic design. The leaker speculates that Zen3D which will be featured in the next-gen Ryzen mainstream lineup will feature a different IOD than the one featured on Raphael which makes sense but that would also suggest that Zen3D will be launching on the AM5 platform which isn't confirmed as previous rumors have alleged AM4 for Zen3D CPUs. AMD Mainstream Desktop CPU Generations Comparison: AMD CPU Family Codename Processor Process Processors Cores/Threads (Max) TDPs Platform Platform Chipset Memory Support PCIe Support Launch Ryzen 1000 Summit Ridge 14nm (Zen 1) 8/16 95W AM4 300-Series DDR4-2677 Gen 3.0 2017 Ryzen 2000 Pinnacle Ridge 12nm (Zen +) 8/16 105W AM4 400-Series DDR4-2933 Gen 3.0 2018 Ryzen 3000 Matisse 7nm (Zen 2) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2019 Ryzen 5000 Vermeer 7nm (Zen 3) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2020 Ryzen 6000 Warhol? 7nm (Zen 3D) 16/32 105W AM4 500-Series DDR4-3200 Gen 4.0 2022 Ryzen 7000 Raphael 5nm (Zen 4) 16/32? 105-170W AM5 600-Series DDR5-4800 Gen 5.0 2022 Ryzen 8000 Granite Ridge 3nm (Zen 5)? TBA TBA AM5 700-Series? DDR5-5000? Gen 5.0 2023 The Raphael Ryzen Desktop CPUs are also expected to feature RDNA 2 onboard graphics which means that just like Intel's mainstream desktop lineup, AMD's mainstream lineup will also feature iGPU graphics support. In regards to how many GPU cores there will be on the new chips, Bilibili's Enthusiast Citizen states that it will come with either 1 or 2 compute units which means we will get up to 128 cores but Greymon55 states that we can get up to 4 compute units which means we can also expect up to 256 cores. This will be lesser than the RDNA 2 CU count featured on the soon-to-be-released Ryzen 6000 APUs 'Rembrandt' but enough to keep Intel's Iris Xe iGPUs at bay. What are you most excited to see in AMD's next-generation Zen 4 Ryzen Desktop CPUs? Increased Core / Thread Count Increased IPC (Single-Core Performance) Increased Core Clocks (More Tuning Options / Headroom) Increased Cache (Plus Vertical Stacks) Better Integrated Graphics (RDNA 2) More Performance Per Watt More Overclocking Capabilities Better Platform Support (Good BIOS at launch) Cheaper Prices Than Ryzen 5000 More Enthusiast Options More Entry-Level Options New Features / Tech (PBO3/IFC2/etc)
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The currently short list of confirmed Unreal Engine 5 games just got slightly bigger with the announcement that Ashes of Creation, the MMORPG in development at Intrepid Studios, has now finished upgrading from Unreal Engine 4. After debating the move, the team came to a unanimous decision and began merging its custom base with Unreal Engine 5. Studio founder and Creative Director Steven Sharif delivered the news alongside a video demonstration of the game's latest build. He focused particularly on the global illumination improvements enabled by Unreal Engine 5's Lumen technology, as well as new but unrelated locomotion features. While this video was meant as a preliminary showcase of how Ashes of Creation looks after the upgrade, Sharif also promised that future updates will shed some light on how UE5 can speed up development itself. This is likely a reference to the World Partition system, which removes the need to manually split the game world into sublevels and also makes collaborative editing on a large world much easier. Unreal Engine 5 is expected to graduate from its current 'early access' phase at some point next Spring. Epic's own Fortnite was already upgraded to the new version with Chapter 3, by the way. Other titles confirmed to be using Unreal Engine 5 include STALKER 2, Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, Quantum Error, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, ArcheAge II, the next Layers of Fear, Echoes of the End, and Black Myth: Wukong. As for Ashes of Creation, the game got funded on Kickstarter back in 2017, promising to put the massive back into MMORPGs. Its development is slowly moving forward, with Intrepid Studios planning an Alpha 2 test stage next at some point in 2022. Meanwhile, the team is still hiring for a number of positions. An Open World Ashes of Creation is a unique take on the MMORPG experience. Our world structure is dynamic, and built to react to your actions. Cities will rise and fall as you shape the world of Verra. Quests and secrets will unlock as po[CENSORED]tions gather and their needs grow. As the world’s NPC structure is established in real-time, you will have the ability to destroy what’s been created, paving the way for new developments, po[CENSORED]tions, and change. Political strife and intrigue will play a very real role in the structure of your experience. Gone are the days of static worlds; change is here to stay! Risk Vs Reward All across Verra, you have the opportunity to experience massive warfare, participate in epic trade caravans, and gather valuable components to craft exquisite items. Not only will your fellow players be your adversaries; the creatures of the land and the very environment itself will pose a constant and fresh challenge. Will you siege castles to become royalty, defeat other guilds to showcase your prowess, shape the marketplace by being a successful trader, or earn renown by developing your artisan crafting skills? This is your story, you tell us!
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