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'Fortnite' will soon support ray-tracing and NVIDIA's DLSS tech
The battle royale's about to look much nicer.
NVIDIA RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti review: To 4K 60 FPS, and beyond
NVIDIA's new RTX graphics cards are for the gamer that wants it all. I'm talking about 4K gaming beyond 60 frames per second, with the graphics settings dialed to the max. Both the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti are a significant leap beyond NVIDIA's last GPU generation, but they're more than just the gold standard of 4K gaming. They also bring the possibility of real time ray tracing -- a light rendering technology that used to be reserved for big budget CG movies -- to consumers for the first time. And that has the potential to change the gaming landscape forever.
AMD's mid-range Radeon 500-series video cards are here
With last year's Radeon RX 480, AMD wowed us with a $200 video card that could tackle VR and 1,440p gaming. But with its 500-series cards, it's aiming to make an even bigger leap. How does 1,440p gaming beyond 60 frames per second sound? That's what AMD is promising with the RX 580, the most powerful option in this new mid-range lineup. At the same time, the company is also unveiling cheaper cards, the RX 570, 560 and 550, which cater to gamers who might want to save a few more bucks, or want something that could fit into a tiny case.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 gives you gaming power on a budget
After debuting the fastest high-end and mid-range video cards ever seen, the GTX 1080 and 1070, we expected a lot from NVIDIA's new lower-tier entry, the $249 GeForce GTX 1060. And the stakes were raised even higher after AMD launched the Radeon RX 480, a $200 GPU that's fast enough to power VR headsets (and manage some decent 1440p gaming). NVIDIA claims the GTX 1060 is even faster than the GTX 980, its premium video card from 2014. That says quite a bit about how far we've come in the GPU world: You no longer have to break the bank for a decent amount of gaming muscle.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 delivers GTX 980 speeds for $249
If you haven't noticed by now, 2016 is shaping up to be a killer year for PC gaming hardware. We've already seen two major new video cards from NVIDIA, the powerhouse GeForce GTX 1080 and the mid-range 1070, as well as a supremely capable budget GPU in AMD's $200 Radeon RX480. Now, NVIDIA has a cheap new option of its own: the GTX 1060, a $249 card that it claims is just as fast as 2014's flagship GTX 980 (which initially sold for $549). It's launching on July 19 from partners like ASUS, EVGA and Gigabyte. And, just like with its past two cards, NVIDIA is offering a "Founders Edition" for a slight premium of $299.
AMD's Radeon RX 480 is the new king of budget video cards
Instead of trying to build the biggest and most powerful video card on the market, AMD aimed at the low end with the Radeon RX 480. But that doesn't make it any less exciting than NVIDIA's recent powerhouse GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 GPUs. AMD's pitch for the RX 480 is simple: It's a $200 card that's VR ready. That's huge, especially since the current batch of GPUs that meet minimum VR specs cost around $350. I'll admit I was skeptical when AMD announced the RX 480 at Computex last month. But after putting one through its paces over the past few days, I feel like Han Solo in The Force Awakens. It's true. All of it.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 video review: Behold, the GPU king
As far as video card upgrades go, there's a lot to love with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080. We called it "the upgrade you've been waiting for" in our full review. The GTX 1080 blows away last year's high-end cards, and even though it's $599 ($699 for the Founders Edition we tested), it's well worth the cost for serious gamers. In our video review above, check out some gameplay footage from the new Doom remake, as well as Quantum Break.
AMD's R9 Fury X is a beast, but 4K gaming is still a waste
Since the rise of 3D graphics cards, the inexorable trend in PC gaming has been around getting bigger, better and faster. That led to a culture of PC gamers obsessing over frame rates and doing whatever it took to push their hardware as much as possible. But now that even relatively affordable graphics cards can hit a silky smooth 60 fps at 1080p, there's only one big mountain left to climb: 4K gaming. And that's exactly what a powerhouse card like AMD's new Radeon R9 Fury X ($650) is poised to tackle. The only problem? 4K gaming still isn't worth your time and money.
AMD's latest video cards include a liquid-cooled beast, the R9 Fury X
Only a few weeks after NVIDIA debuted its latest high-end card, the GTX 980 Ti, AMD is now showing off its latest wares. And if you're looking for a powerful video card, your decision just got a lot more complicated. Leading the pack is AMD's new R9 Fury X, a liquid-cooled powerhouse with the company's new "Fiji" GPU design and highest-bandwidth memory technology. At $649, it's going head-to-head with NVIDIA's 980 Ti. But if you don't need all that power, there's also the Radeon R9 390X ($429), R9 390 ($329), and R9 380 ($199), all of which offer Direct X 12 support (making them ideal for Windows 10) and enough power to let you game in 4K (though we'd imagine that'd be a stretch with the cheaper entry). And if you're just looking something affordable, there's also the R7 370 ($149) and R7 360 ($109), which are more focused on delivering solid 1080p gaming.
NVIDIA working on Linux support for Optimus automatic graphics switching
Linux godfather Linus Torvalds may have a frosty relationship with NVIDIA, but that hasn't stopped the company from improving its hardware's support for the open-source operating system. In fact, the chipset-maker is working on the OS' compatibility with its Optimus graphics switching tech, which would enable laptops to conserve power by swapping between discrete and integrated graphics on the fly. In an email sent to a developer listserv, NVIDIA software engineer Aaron Plattner revealed that he's created a working proof of concept with a driver. There's no word on when the Tux-loving masses may see Optimus support, but we imagine that day can't come soon enough for those who want better battery life while gaming on their mobile machines.
CyberPower jumps on the GeForce GTX 690 bandwagon, promises to melt your eyes for $1,700
Dying for NVIDIA's latest, but not so much that you'd bother to learn to build your own PC? No worries, CyberPower's got your back, answering its competitor's GPU offerings with a resounding echo: Get your GeForce GTX 690 here. The customizable PC builder is now letting customers drop NVIDIA's dual GPU Kepler card into its Fang III, Zeus, Gamer Xtreme and Ultra series PCs. CyberPower says they can build a tricked out rig for just under $1,700. Looking for more oomph? More powerful configurations can breach $4,000, if your pockets are deep enough. Read on for the official press release.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 review roundup: (usually) worth the one grand
Now that NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 is shipping through some vendors, gamers have been wondering if it's worth the wallet-busting $999 to get those higher frame rates. Surprisingly, the answer is "yes." As AnandTech notes, the GTX 690 is often almost as fast or faster than a pair of GTX 680s working together in SLI mode, only using less power and running at cooler and quieter power levels through those two 28-nanometer Kepler chips. Across multiple reviewers, though, the GTX 690 was sometimes slower than two Radeon HD 7970 boards using CrossFire. HotHardware and others found that it's definitely the graphics card of choice for Batman: Arkham City enthusiasts: problems with AMD's CrossFire mode leave a dual Radeon HD 7970 setup running at just half the frame rate of its NVIDIA-made challenger. Caveats? There are still some worries beyond the price tag, as the twin Radeon cards are as much as three times faster at general-purpose computing tasks than the latest and greatest GeForce. PC Perspective likewise warns that fans of joining three displays together for some 3D Vision Surround action will still take a big frame rate hit when they put the 3D glasses on. Still, the GTX 690 looks to be tops if you're looking to get the fastest single-card gaming on Earth, and as Legit Reviews adds, that trivalent chromium-plated aluminum makes it one of the "better looking" cards, to boot. Read - AnandTech Read - HotHardware Read - Legit Reviews Read - PC Perspective
Ask TUAW: Taming unruly windows, updating OS X, booting from an SD card, and more.
We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW. This time around we've answering questions about how to resize windows too big for the screen, "compulsive" updating, booting from an SD card, Open GL in Snow Leopard, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.Steph asks:I recently switched from an iMac to a MacBook Pro and now many of my windows are sized to big for the screen of my laptop. I can't reach the corner to resize them and clicking the "Plus" sign in the corner doesn't help. What can I do?Fortunately, this is very easy to fix. Instead of clicking on the "Plus" sign (the green button) in the top left corner of the window you are trying to resize, Option-click it and the window will fill your new screen size instead.John asks:I realize there's a method for updating Mac OSX all the time and sometimes I get the window popping up saying I have updates. Should I always update immedietly when it tells me I have some?
HD decoding CPU usage shootout: ATI vs nVidia
While around here you're more likely to see a flame war erupt about Blu-ray versus HD DVD, on many computer gaming websites the war is over ATI and nVidia, with the two major video card manufacturers constantly leapfrogging each other in an attempt to benchmark the highest scores on games like Unreal Tournament and Doom. Ars Technica has a head-to-head comparison on how well the their latest offerings perform decoding high-definition content, using an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive and some prerecorded 1080p and 1080i content. While both camps did similarly well, ATI was better at playing back VC-1-encoded HD DVD content, and nVidia held a slight edge on 1080i recordings. The benefits to both allow even older video hardware to take a load off the CPU, meaning home theater PC builders can pair a cheaper CPU and video card for playing back HD on the cheap.
Graphics drivers updates for everyone
Just a quick technical note (thanks to WorldofWar for the heads up): both of the major graphics card makers have released brand new drivers for their video cards recently. Even if you're not technically inclined, all you need to know is that the newer the version of video card drivers you have running, the better your 3D videogames (of which WoW is one) will look.If you're running Nvidia cards, you can get the latest version right here. And those with ATI cards can find their new drivers over on their site. Just download the right file for your operating system, run it (you'll probably have to restart your system, so save your work), and then marvel at... OK, it probably won't look too different, but trust me when I tell you you want to be running the newest drivers possible. In fact, if anything will fix those graphical problems people have been seeing in the last patch, this probably will.But Mike, you say, what if I don't know what kind of card I have? For Windows XP, just right click on My Computer and go to Properties. Choose the Hardware tab, then Device Manager, and then look for the "Display Adapters" menu in the list-- that should tell you the build and brand of your video card. For Mac OS X, you don't have to worry-- Apple updates your drivers for you with Software Update. And for Linux-- well, if you're running WoW on Linux, I'll assume you already know what you're doing, because I sure don't (though you can probably find help here if you need it). And yes, you technically inclined and sharp-eyed ladies and gents, I do call my custom-built, lightning fast XP box "Refridgerator." Why? Because it's freakin' cool, man.
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and 8500 launch deets outed
Still haven't scraped together enough change to get yourself a fancy new 8800? Well just wait 10 more days and you can get (a little bit of) that hip-cool technology for peanuts. The GeForce 8600 GTS, 8600 GT and 8500 GT are all due on April 17th, hitting at the $199-$229, $149-$159 and $89-$129 price points, respectively. Specs scale nicely, with 256MB of GDDR3, a 675MHz core clock and a 1000MHz memory clock at the top end, on down to the 128 to 256MB DDR2 or GDDR3, 450MHz core clock and 700MHz memory clock at the bottom. Before too long, the even more basic 8400 GS and 8300 GS will round out the set, but hopefully you won't have to stoop that low to get your DirectX 10 on.
