One of the details that got gamers excited around the time Valve announced the Steam Machine was the inclusion of an e-ink panel that was shown off in the console's announcement video, which we later discovered would not be commercially available. Following the e-ink panel hype and the official launch of the Steam Machine, NaKyle Write, a Valve contractor, has officially published a GitLab page detailing a DIY Inkterface panel, which gives gamers the ability to build the e-ink panel as long as they have access to parts and a soldering iron, and the ability to combine the two. The GitLab post lists all the necessary parts, but it requires some knowledge of the Linux AppImage packaging format and building and flashing firmware for the e-ink panel.

Valve says that it has In total, the BOM cost comes out to around $88.15 using the sources Valve lists in the GitLab instructions, although it's likely that the parts or 1:1 alternatives could be acquired more affordably on sites like AliExpress. The most expensive component is the 5.83-inch e-ink display, at $49.95. The Steam Machine Inkterface panel is technically an independent peripheral in that it does not need the Steam Machine to display an image. As such, it connects to the Steam Machine with a BLE connection, and it is controlled by the Steam Machine using an app, which currently needs to be compiled as an AppImage but will later be shipped on Steam. The Inkterface panel can display a number of system stats or custom layouts and images created in Lunacy, an open-source Figma alternative.

Following similar restrictions on Helldivers 2—and the ensuing backlash—reports have emerged that Sony will be restricting the sale of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, banning at least 132 countries from buying the game, according to package details in SteamDB. The long list of banned countries suggests that a PSN account will once again be mandatory for Fighting Souls, although the list of countries has shrunk to 132 countries from the 177 countries where Helldivers 2 was unavailable. The same restrictions are present for all versions of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls.

It was already previously confirmed that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls would require a PSN account, thanks to the notice on the game's Steam page. Sony famously walked back the PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2 after community backlash, and it seems as though the community is reacting strongly to the news of regional restrictions for Fighting Souls, so it's still possible that Sony could reverse course ahead of the game's August 6 release date. This news is the latest in PlayStation's growing list of bad news, which recently included the announcement that Sony would no longer be producing physical games media as of January 2027—a move that's been widely criticized, as well as by the Video Game History Foundation—and the recent news that Sony will effectively no longer be porting its single-player games to PC.

The list of Intel Nova Lake-S Xe3 desktop GPUs supported by Linux has grown in a recent Linux kernel driver patch that will make it to Linux 7.3. The driver update adds device IDs labelled 0xD74A and 0xD748 and drops 0xD744, bringing the list of total Nova Lake-S desktop GPUs supported by Linux to seven. This doesn't necessarily confirm the number of SKUs that will be available in the upcoming Xe3 series, however, it is an indication that Intel may be working on as many as seven SKUs that may or not make it to market. Intel also improved its media engine, with the Protected Xe Path no longer requiring HuC firmware to be loaded in kernel—it will be moved to user space instead.

Previous rumors indicated that Nova Lake-S would be using Xe3 graphics for the Core Ultra 400-series desktop CPUs, which is the same graphics tech used in the current Panther Lake Arc B300-series iGPUs and the Arc G3 Extreme SoC that has made its way into a number of gaming handhelds. It's unclear if Intel will include its most powerful Arc B390 iGPU in the desktop line-up, but Nova Lake-S is expected to have a focus on AI-accelerated workloads, which would benefit from additional GPU cores, aside from the built-in NPU. Recently, news also broke that Intel was preparing two gaming-specific SKUs with massive bLLC cache for the Nova Lake-S line-up. For more information about the latest driver update, check the full notes in the pull request.

In something of a bizarre twist, the recent reports of a Steam Machine "red line of death" that seemed to indicate a GPU issue were apparently merely a BIOS issue. According to an original post on r/steammachine on Reddit, a user who goes by u/me_hill suffered what appeared to be a GPU failure on their Valve Steam Machine as little as 20 minutes after setting it up. However, after contacting Steam Support and working through some troubleshooting steps provided by commenters on the Reddit thread, the original poster updated the thread explaining that they "left [the Steam Machine] unplugged overnight and plugged it back in today to try some of the BIOS stuff that other people suggested... and it booted up immediately without issue."

A comment by u/SteamHWFeedback, an official Valve support account on Reddit, explained, in response to another user with the same issue, that the curious behavior reported in both cases was indicative of a BIOS or memory training issue, and that unplugging and power cycling the Steam Machine, then plugging it back in and performing a BIOS reset should be enough to trigger memory training on the next power cycle. Many redditors are urging the user to contact Valve about the issue anyway, since it occurred at random, but as the Valve representative indicated, it seems as though the Steam Machine rebooted in the middle of an incomplete BIOS update.

If your PC needs a new operating system license, this is one of the lowest prices you'll find on Windows 11 Pro. Through July 19, a lifetime license is available for $9.97 (MSRP $199). This version is intended for PCs that require a new Windows license and already meet Microsoft's Windows 11 hardware requirements. Before purchasing, it's worth checking compatibility with Microsoft's PC Health Check tool. If your Windows 10 PC isn't eligible for Microsoft's free Windows Update upgrade, this license won't bypass those hardware requirements.

Windows 11 Pro includes everything found in the standard Windows 11 experience, along with additional features aimed at professionals, developers, and business users. That includes BitLocker for full-disk encryption, Hyper-V for running virtual machines, Windows Sandbox for safely testing software, and Azure AD support for workplace identity management.

Get Windows 11 Pro for just $9.97 (MSRP $199) through July 19.

Following the announcement that Xbox would be laying off a total of 3,200 employees across the 2027 financial year, Microsoft's EVP and Chief People Officer, Amy Coleman, announced on July 6 that the tech giant would be laying off a total of 4,800 workers, or around 2.1% of its global workforce. With the majority of the layoffs coming from the aforementioned Xbox layoffs, that leaves 1,600 workers being laid off, the bulk of which are from its Commercial Business division. According to the announcement on the Microsoft Blog, Microsoft is conducting layoffs because its "business is changing because the world around it is changing," and "customers' needs are shifting, the business models that serve them are shifting."

Coleman says that Microsoft has needed to respond to the changes in the industry by adjusting resources and roles in order to have the "greatest impact for our customers." She also adds that the employees being laid off will not be replaced by AI, although she acknowledges that "AI is changing how work gets done," and she goes on to explain that many of the daily tasks performed at Microsoft can be automated, which will mean Microsoft will need to "keep learning, keep building new skills, and keep adapting as the works evolves." Coleman says that, in the year leading up to the layoffs, Microsoft has redeployed more than 4,000 employees into new roles within Microsoft, and that over 30% of those eligible for the program opted for its voluntary retirement program.

Micron has broken ground on a ¥1.5 trillion ($9.3 billion) factory expansion in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, with equipment installation scheduled for the second half of 2028 confirming the previous reports of a new HBM plant in Japan. The Japanese government is contributing up to ¥500 billion ($3 billion), bringing its total support for Micron to around ¥775 billion ($4.7 billion) to date. For the moment, Micron remains the only overseas DRAM manufacturer left on Japanese soil making it a point of strategic importance for Tokyo. The Hiroshima facility has a history with Micron. This is where the company produced its very first HBM wafer, while the site was acquired when it bought the bankrupt Japanese DRAM maker Elpida Memory back in 2013. The fab expansion will focus on advanced memory including HBM with around 80% of the required materials already sourced locally in Japan. The company is also building two leading-edge fabs in Boise, US, and broke ground earlier this year on a $100 billion production site near Syracuse, New York.

Separately, Micron and Ford announced today a long-term supply agreement covering memory and storage solutions for Ford's next-generation vehicle production. Micron is expanding automotive memory output and pointing to its Manassas, Virginia fab as part of the localized supply chain backing the deal.

Minisforum has officially released the NAB9S mini PC, which has gone on sale for $399 for a barebones model and $759 for a pre-built version with 32 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Aside from opting for the older DDR4 standard instead of DDR5, Minisforum has also included a full 2.5-inch SATA bay for additional SSD or HDD storage, making it more viable for cost-sensitive buyers who need a compact workstation. The NAB9S features an aluminium chassis with toolless access for easy installation of additional memory or storage. As for CPU horsepower, the NAB9S is powered by the Intel Core-i9 13900HX, which is a laptop CPU with 24 cores (eight P-Cores and 16 E-Cores) and 32 threads and up to 5.4 GHz boost frequency. Unfortunately, this limits the mini PC's applications as an SFF gaming or content creation machine.

The NAB9S also offers a surprisingly decent selection of ports, including dual USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, and a 3.5 mm audio combo jack on the front. The rear I/O consists of dual 2.5 G LAN ports, dual HDMI ports, two USB 3.2 Type-C ports (only one with DisplayPort Alt mode) and dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports. The mini PC ships with an internal SATA cable to adapt the M.2 SATA port to a traditional 2.5-inch SATA port, and it also includes a VESA mount and requisite hardware for mounting the mini PC to the back of a monitor or a similar situation. Minisforum has also beefed up the cooling on the NAB9S, with active SSD cooling and flow-through cooling for to keep the i9 CPU in check.

Large file transfers are still more complicated than they probably should be. Many services limit upload sizes, require subscriptions, or offer little visibility into whether a file was actually received. Transfr Pro takes a different approach by combining unlimited file transfers, delivery tracking, and security features into a browser-based platform with a one-time lifetime license.

Through July 19, lifetime access to Transfr Pro Fast & Secure File Transfer is available for a one-time $79.97 (MSRP $499).

Transfr Pro is designed for freelancers, creative professionals, agencies, and teams that regularly send large media files, documents, or client deliverables. There are no transfer size limits, and shared files can be stored for up to 60 days. Instead of simply sending a download link, users can create professional transfer pages with custom branding for a more polished presentation.

Razer, the leading global gaming lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the launch of the Razer | Espeon & Umbreon Collection, developed in partnership with The Pokémon Company International. The collection is now available on Razer.com, at RazerStores worldwide, and through select retail partners across the United States, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

As Pokémon celebrates 30 years, the lineup pays tribute to some of the most iconic Eevee Evolutions, capturing the contrast between Espeon's radiant energy and Umbreon's calm, nocturnal presence by blending expressive detail with the performance and reliability gamers expect from Razer.

Following recent rumors of the same, Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma announced on July 6 that Microsoft's gaming division would be cutting its workforce by as much as 20% in the 2027 financial year as part of a year-long restructuring at Xbox. The layoffs started with 1,200 employees on the day of the announcement, and Sharma blames the layoffs on declining Xbox revenue, stating that "our business is not healthy," and that Xbox is "operating at margins that are 3-10× lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses." She goes on to acknowledge that Xbox sales for the Series X|S console generation has been low, and that Xbox used Game Pass, multi-platform launches, and an expanded content portfolio as an attempt to compensate for the low install-base and in order to grow the brand's presence.

As part of the plan to "reset" Xbox, Sharma confirmed that Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will become independent studios, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will be bought out and have started the acquisition process to be bought out by new ownership, where Senua and State of Decay 3 will continue development. Xbox is also looking to cut Arkane Lyon loose, although it doesn't seem as though a definitive plan has been put in place yet. Unspecified changes are also coming for Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and Xbox Game Studios, but Sharma has promised that these changes will not impact publicly announced first-party games. The restructuring will also result in a simplification of management at Xbox, with management layers reduced to a maximum of five and three where possible. Sharma claims that the "flatter organization" will help build success at Xbox, and she plans a "50% reduced vendor spend," across the company.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB is back on retail shelves, with MSI's Ventus 2X OC variant showing up on Newegg at $329.99, the same price the card was launched back in 2021. The relaunch isn't a surprise. Reports of NVIDIA reviving the RTX 3060 12 GB "Ampere" GPU had been circulating for a while with AIC partners like ASUS, Colorful, GALAX and MSI involved in this resurrection. The reason is obvious, and it is driven by mainstream GPU demand and the ongoing squeeze on consumer-grade components as AI chip production continues to take priority. Just last Tuesday we reported that according to MEGAsizeGPU, the GeForce RTX 5050 9 GB edition has been canceled because NVIDIA is currently relaunching its GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB edition GPU. The 12 GB frame buffer is the RTX 3060's main talking point against current-generation alternatives, but it comes with significant trade-offs mainly due to the older architecture.

The RTX 5060 8 GB sits at $349-$359 right now, $20-$30 more, but it's a Blackwell card with DLSS 4.5, faster tensor cores, an updated display engine, and better encode/decode. In most games it outperforms the RTX 3060. The memory advantage only really matters at 4K, which isn't a realistic target for either card anyway. At $329 the RTX 3060 is hard to recommend when the RTX 5060 is this close in price. The gap between the two could also widen further, the memory costs aren't expected to ease anytime soon. However, alongside MSI's Ventus 2X OC availability on Newegg in the US, European buyers can also find the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3060 V2 OC hitting store shelves at €333.

BenQ, the global leader in display and color-tuning innovation, today announced the evolution of the BenQ[SK1] Creative Pro monitor portfolio, a lineup of displays for creative professionals who require trusted colors for every deliverable. The portfolio is led by the new PD2732U, a 27-inch 4K monitor with 99% Adobe RGB, 99% DCI-P3 coverage, engineered for graphic design, photography, video editing, content creation, and print and packaging workflows. Designed for every creative workflow, the PD2732U gives professionals confidence in their color decisions, combining wider color gamut coverage, calibrated uniformity, Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, Mac color match with M-book mode and workflow integration to ensure outputs match intent.

"BenQ Creative Pro represents our commitment to serving as a trusted color authority, ensuring every color decision on-screen translates accurately into the final deliverable," said Jeffrey Hsieh, Director of the Consumer Line of Business at BenQ. "PD2732U embodies this vision by combining AQCOLOR technology with advanced display uniformity calibration, enabling creators to work with confidence knowing their colors remain consistent and reliable from screen to output."

Noctua is working on an all-black variant of its recently launched NL-LC1 all-in-one liquid CPU cooler. The variant will feature the company's chromax.black branding that it uses for fans and coolers featuring a monotone black body trim replacing the company's signature tones of brown. The variant will offer identical cooling performance, and the only design change is the inclusion of chromax.black variants of the NF-A12x25 G2 fans that feature black impellers and frames. The news surfaced on Noctua's social media accounts, where it confirmed product launches "around the end of the year."

After a couple of slower weeks, we're now back to a more normal week of new game releases and this week's big release comes courtesy of Bandai Namco for all of the JRPG fans here. As for the rest of this week's releases, we start with a sports management game of sorts, followed by a peculiar mix of vampires and farming, a "Choose your own adventure" game, a remake of a 2013 pirate game and we round the week off with a new take on old school action RTS games.

Echoes of Aincrad / This week's major release / Friday 10 July
Step into the floating castle of Aincrad, a world of breathtaking beauty and danger where every battle could be your last. Enter a mysterious, vibrant world and shape your fate. Create your hero, choose your gear, and master combat through your special skills and reflexes. Build synergy with the partner of your choice, level up, and unlock powerful abilities as your horizon expands with every victory. Will you rise and claim your destiny or fall to foes stronger than you imagined? Steam link

Most gamers and PC enthusiasts are exposed to just two editions of client Windows 11—Windows 11 Pro, and Windows 11 Home, and assume that power users are served the former by Microsoft. It turns out that Microsoft built an edition of Windows 11 that sits halfway between Windows 11 Pro and Windows Server, called Windows 11 Pro for Workstations. This is effectively "Windows 11 Pro Max," and dates as far back as 2021, and as a successor to the 2017 Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

Windows 11 Pro for Workstations comes with reduced "consumer bloat," don't expect the Start menu to feature sponsored shortcuts to Candy Crush Saga or Netflix. It also comes with several features not found on Windows 11 Pro. To begin with, it supports ReFS (Resilient File System), a successor to NTFS that offers super resilience for fault-tolerant storage spaces. It also has hardware support not found on Windows 11 Pro.

According to a new review of the ThinkBook 14 G9 from Notebookcheck, Lenovo has started shipping its global laptop configurations with SSDs made by YMTC for the first time. This is significant news, considering that SSD prices have been skyrocketing in recent months due to a massive shortage of NAND Flash storage modules. These modules have traditionally depended on a few manufacturers like Samsung, SK hynix, Micron, Kioxia, and others. However, Chinese company YMTC has entered the market and begun volume production of its Xtacking 4.0 technology, offering 1 TB TLC or 2 TB QLC storage modules, which is disrupting the balance in the global NAND Flash supply chain.

Previously, Lenovo used DRAM from another Chinese supplier, CXMT, only for Chinese laptop models. This marks the first time YMTC-made NAND Flash has been included in a laptop sold outside mainland China. YMTC has achieved performance that is decent enough for NAND Flash, with sufficient capacity for major laptop OEMs like Lenovo to start shipping this NAND Flash without waiting for capacity from other storage module makers. In Notebookcheck's testing, the ThinkBook 14 G9 SKU uses a 512 GB NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 2242 SSD, with sequential read speeds of 3,950 MB/s and write speeds of 2,514 MB/s. While this is considered below average for an office laptop, it is adequate for getting the job done and helps ease the global supply chain shortage slightly.

GoDeal24 today unveiled the 2026 Midsummer Sale. Get the latest genuine, globally-valid software you need, at deep-discount prices. Our key offer is a combo of Windows 11 Pro + Office 2024 Professional Plus at just $31.91. The same bundle, but with Windows 11 Home, can be had at $31.80. Get the latest and most feature-packed productivity suite on its own, at just $19.54, and save big when you buy multi-PC combos. Windows 11 Pro is the most powerful and feature-packed operating system for PC, and it can be had for just $14.09. Start saving!

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Most people use Office every day without ever touching half of what it can do. Through StackSocial's Deal Days, the company's version of Prime Day, this bundle pairs Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business with an 8-course training program built to close that gap, all for $115.97, down from $409.99.

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Samsung is giving finishing touches to the SSD 990, a new upcoming M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD taking up the value end of the company's client SSD lineup. The 990 is not to be confused with the 990 EVO Plus, which was the company's DRAMless performance-segment SSD for PCIe Gen 4 generation. What segments the new 990 from the 990 EVO Plus is probably the NAND flash type (QLC vs. TLC), and an updated controller on the 990. While the 990 EVO Plus came with a Gen 4 x4 or Gen 5 x2 interface, the 990 is squarely Gen 4 x4. References to the Samsung 990 briefly surfaced on Samsung's Canadian website, before being removed, but VideoCardz grabbed some screenshots.

The Samsung 990 is, predictably, a DRAMless drive, which uses an in-house controller from Samsung. The drive is noted as offering lower write endurance than the 990 EVO Plus, which uses TLC NAND flash, so it's possible that the drive uses QLC NAND flash. The 1 TB model is shown offering 400 TBW write endurance, while the 2 TB variant offers 800 TBW. In terms of performance, both variants offer sequential transfer speeds in the upper band of PCIe Gen 4 era, with up to 7250 MB/s sequential reads for the 2 TB variant, up to 7150 MB/s for the 1 TB variant; and both variants offering up to 6450 MB/s sequential writes.

After teasing the HE65 V2 in early June, Epomaker has finally released the compact 65% TMR gaming keyboard, making it available in black or white for $99.99 on the Epomaker online shop or at Amazon. The HE65 V2 TMR, as the name suggests, is a 65% TMR keyboard with an 8 kHz polling rate, wireless connectivity, an ABS plastic case. The keyboard features a gasket mount and an FR4 plate, and it has four layers of sound damping (latex switch foam, an IXPE switch pad, EPDM case foam, and a silicone case pad). The HE65 V2 TMR uses TMR sensors to make it compatible with N-pole magnetic switches—it ships with Epomaker's Creamy Jade Hall Effect switches by default—but it is also compatible with three- and five-pin MX-style mechanical switches, allowing buyers to choose between the classic mechanical sound and feel or the performance and adjustability benefits of analogue input. The keycaps on both versions of the HE6 V2 TMR are matte translucent polycarbonate Cherry profile keycaps with silk-screened lettering. Despite the compact design, there is a three-key navigation column and a modular, customizable knob on the right edge of the keyboard. Wireless connectivity on the HE65 V2 TMR is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery, but Epomaker makes no claims of battery life.

The Epomaker NEX Pro is the peripheral maker's latest lightweight wireless gaming mouse, and it packs the flagship-tier PixArt PAW3950 sensor and the ever-popular Nordic 54L15 MCU, which enables 8 kHz polling, up to 42,000 DPI, 750 IPS tracking, and up to 50 G acceleration. The NEX Pro has a right-handed, mild ergonomic design with two extra programmable side buttons and an extra button on the top behind the scroll wheel. Epomaker says that the NEX Pro is designed for medium-to-large hands, with dimensions of 122 × 65 × 42 mm (L × W × H) and a claimed weight of 65 g, which isn't particularly heavy but is also by no means "ultra-lightweight," as Epomaker claims. The brand has not revealed what microswitches the NEX Pro uses, but it does specify that the switches have a lifetime of 100 million clicks. The Epomaker NEX Pro features both 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, and it has a 500 mAh battery that should deliver a claimed 50 hours of use at 8 kHz. The NEX Pro also comes with a color-matched magnetic charging dock with customizable RGB underglow. The NEX Pro launched at $79.99, and it's available on Epomaker's online shop or on AliExpress.

System76 is preparing a new version of its Adder Pro performance laptop series. The Denver, Colorado company that leans mostly towards Linux users is offering this new 15.3-inch model with Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 7 356H, 16-core (4P+8E+4LPE), 4.7 GHz CPU. The laptop measures 34.37 x 26.19 x 1.98 cm, weighs just 1.52 kg, and features a 2560 x 1600 QHD+ @ 165 Hz OLED glossy display with 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Buyers will be able to choose from either an RTX 5060 or RTX 5070, both with 8 GB GDDR7 memory paired with up to 96 GB of dual-channel DDR5-5600. For storage, Adder Pro has one M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 slot up to 4 TB, with a second M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 4 x4 slot available for expansion.

From the connectivity side, it features two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports with DisplayPort 1.4 (one with power delivery), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6. There's a 5 MP webcam with a privacy shutter, a 2-in-1 headphone/mic jack and a Kensington lock slot. The 60 Wh battery charges via a 230 W adapter. System76 has not announced the Adder Pro pricing, just that it will arrive in mid-July.

Switching between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and a handful of other AI tools just to land on one solid answer means you're paying for overlapping capabilities several times over, easily $60 to $80 a month, or hundreds a year. ChatPlayground AI doesn't just bundle the big three. It puts more than 20 models, including GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, Gemini, DeepSeek, Llama, and Perplexity, side by side on a single dashboard. Run a single prompt and compare every response at once, no tab-hopping, no separate logins, no extra monthly charges.

Currently, a lifetime subscription to ChatPlayground AI is $79, down from $619, a one-time payment that replaces your subscriptions.

Get ChatPlayground AI's lifetime subscription for $79 (reg. $619) before the Deal Days sale ends June 28. No coupon needed.

According to well-known Intel leaker Jaykihn, Intel is preparing two "Nova Lake-S" CPU models with a 22-core configuration, enhanced by the big Last Level Cache (bLLC). These processors are part of the Core Ultra 5 400S family, and Intel is developing two mid-range configurations, each with 22 cores. Both models will feature 6 "Coyote Cove" P-Cores, 12 "Arctic Wolf" E-Cores, and 4 LPE-Cores. This design includes a single compute die aimed at mid-range gaming rigs. Alongside the 22 cores, Intel plans to add an extra 108 MB of bLLC cache to boost gaming performance, similar to AMD's approach with its Ryzen X3D gaming CPUs, which currently lead in gaming performance. Intel aims to match raw CPU compute power with newer CPU cores and use bLLC to improve latency-sensitive tasks like gaming. The only difference between the two new models is that one is an unlocked 125 W TDP version, part of the "K" overclockable family, while the other is a 65 W base TDP model.

Recently, it has been observed that Intel's upcoming Z9x0 platform for "Nova Lake-S" will support up to 52 cores in a single LGA-1954 socket. Some early rumors suggest a PL2 power draw of 474 W, which is a significant increase over previous designs. This is understandable, considering that the design brings workstation-like core counts into the consumer sector for the first time. Regarding the socket, Intel's LGA-1954 has been pictured with a 2-lever independent loading mechanism (ILM), similar to what Intel's HEDT sector uses. This is typically reserved for larger CPU packages, and with the pin count now nearing 2,000 socket pins, it is a necessary choice for Intel. Importantly, the first "Nova Lake-S" CPU SKUs are scheduled for release in just a few months, likely leading to more rumors as we approach the final launch.

The beloved Yunzii B75 PRO is welcoming a collection of beautiful new colorways, bringing even more personality to one of our most popular mechanical keyboards. Whether your setup is clean and minimal or colorful and expressive, there's now a fresh style ready to match your desk. While the appearance has evolved, everything users love about the B75 PRO remains unchanged. It continues to offer exceptional features at a budget friendly price, making premium typing and gaming experiences more accessible than ever.

Its compact 75% layout saves valuable desk space without sacrificing essential keys. The convenient multifunction knob, versatile tri mode connectivity, full key hot swappable design, pre lubed switches, and long-lasting 4000mAh battery all come together to create a keyboard that feels as good as it looks.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the Razer | Wuthering Waves Collection, created in collaboration with Kuro Games. Inspired by the game's newest Resonator, Denia, the collection marks the first official lineup of Wuthering Waves gaming peripherals.

In a world forever altered by the Lament, only the unwavering carve their legacy. Drawing from Denia's strength and steadfast resolve, the collection reimagines Razer's iconic gear with Denia's distinct identity, blending resonant design with high-performance engineering to deliver a setup that feels controlled, responsive, and powerful.

Thermaltake today introduced the Dr. Power III Pro (model: AC-083-OO1NAN-A1), a handy tool to test modern ATX 3.1 power supplies. This was first showcased by Thermaltake at the 2026 CES. The tester lets you check voltages and stability of the various connectors of an ATX 3.1 PSU, including a 600 W-capable 12V-2x6 connector, a 24-pin ATX, a 6+2 pin PCIe power, a 4+4 pin EPS, SATA power, and 4-pin Molex. The tester lets you check if the various voltage domains are within safe ranges, so you know if your PSU is broken. An LED segment display puts out measurements for the various domains, while a buzzer sounds alarm if something is off-range. Available from July 9th, the Thermaltake Dr. Power III Pro tester is priced at $49.99.

Gaming peripheral brand ATTACK SHARK has announced the launch of its R98 HE, a new flagship competitive magnetic switch keyboard designed to raise the standard for high-end hall-effect magnetic switch keyboards. Targeting professional gaming, office productivity, and enthusiast customization in one integrated device, it is one of the few magnetic switch keyboards on the market to combine a distinctive 98% layout with a front-facing RGB lightbox.

The R98 HE introduces a dual carbon fiber composite configuration, pairing a forged-texture carbon fiber composite top cover with carbon fiber composite keycaps. The material choice delivers high rigidity, pressure resistance, and long-term structural stability, helping prevent deformation while supporting the precise actuation demands of rapid-trigger magnetic switch play.

GMKtec has officially launched the EVO-X3 AI Workstation, a compact desktop system powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, targeting developers, AI professionals, creators, and users requiring workstation-class performance for local AI workloads. The EVO-X3 is designed to address the growing demand for on-device AI computing, enabling users to run large language models (LLMs), develop AI applications, create digital content, and process data locally without relying on cloud infrastructure.

Following its reservation campaign in June, the system is now available globally through the GMKtec Official Store. Customers who participated in the reservation program can redeem their exclusive launch coupons beginning July 6.

Intel has reportedly resolved all yield issues it experienced with its 18A node over the past few months. According to the sell-side equity research firm BlueFin Research Partners, Intel has fixed these yield issues, making the high-volume production of its latest node sustainable from both a manufacturing yield and economic standpoint. Readers may recall that late last year, Intel confirmed that 18A yields were improving by about 7% per month over several months. This trend continued into the launch of the first 18A product, codenamed "Panther Lake," up until today, when the yield issues have reportedly been resolved. For a mature node, this usually means defect rates of D0=0.1 or D0=0.2, and it is likely that Intel has now achieved the lower end of that spectrum with the node advancements and months of 18A high-volume production.

Regarding manufacturing capacity, the report notes that Intel's 18A is produced at two sites: Fab 52 in Phoenix, Arizona, and another in Hillsboro, Oregon. These fabs currently produce about 30,000 wafers per month with the 18A printing. This capacity is currently sufficient for Intel's internal production, such as the "Panther Lake" processors, but additional capacity will be needed for other internal products.

TrendForce's latest memory pricing survey reveals that the DRAM market will remain extremely tight in the third quarter of 2026. However, weaker demand from consumer applications and the impact of a higher comparison base are expected to moderate contract price increases to 13-18% QoQ.

Demand for NAND Flash will continue to be driven primarily by AI inference and large-scale data center deployments. Yet, with contract prices already at record highs and consumer demand slowing, price tolerance among consumer customers has reached its limit. As a result, NAND Flash contract prices are projected to increase by 10-15% QoQ—a noticeably slower pace than in previous quarters.