For the dedicated and long-suffering community of Escape From Tarkov, the end is finally in sight. After years of perpetual beta testing and development, developer Battlestate Games has officially announced that the game's full 1.0 release will be arriving this year.

The date was revealed in a new live-action trailer and confirmed by game director Nikita Buyanov on X. The 1.0 update is set to be a massive one, focused on delivering the narrative experience that has been promised for years. This will include a story campaign with cutscenes, a new and final task line, and the introduction of “Terminal”, the game's last map, which is expected to be a single-player experience where players will finally attempt to complete their escape from the Tarkov region.

The question is whether the game is prepared to be released in its entirety. The community seems divided on this, with some naturally thrilled that the early access period is coming to an end. In contrast, others are more wary given the game's current state, with a variety of optimisation issues and bugs unaddressed for some time.

On the other hand, the November 15th date places the launch just before the game's winter wipe, giving players a window to experience the new content. With the release date now set in stone, we expect Battlestate Games to start revealing more concrete details soon.

KitGuru says: Are you playing Escape from Tarkov? How do you feel about the 1.0 launch?

Team Group has launched a new high-performance desktop memory kit under its creator-focused T-Create brand. The new Expert CKD DDR5 features Client Clock Driver (CKD) technology, which is designed to improve stability at high frequencies, especially under heavy, sustained workloads.

Starting by briefly explaining what CKD is, this technology promises to help address the signal integrity challenges that can arise with high-speed, high-capacity DDR5. By enhancing signal stability, CKD allows the memory to run more reliably at high frequencies, which is quite helpful for professional applications like AI training, 3D modelling, and high-resolution video rendering.

The first product to launch in this new series is a 2x 24 GB (48 GB) T-Create Expert CKD kit rated for 7200 MHz with reasonable 36-46-46-84 timings, with support for XMP 3.0 for easy one-click overclocking. Team Group also notes that the technology will allow for modules with capacities up to 64 GB in the future, paving the way for massive 256 GB kits for high-end workstations.

To ensure reliability, the modules are built on a 10-layer PCB and are topped with a multi-vent aluminium heat sink. The company also highlights the use of a specially designed high-temperature-resistant capacitor and its own proprietary IC screening process to ensure only high-quality memory chips are used in the construction of these modules. The kits are backed by a lifetime warranty.

KitGuru says: The T-Create Expert CKD DDR5 series looks to be a promising new option for professional creators and AI PC builders who demand high speed and stability, but without the typical gaming aesthetic that you'll see in most memory kits promptly available.

The Battlefield 6 open beta was a huge success across both of its weekends. DICE has had a week now to collect all of the stats and as predicted, this beta set new records for the franchise. 

The Battlefield 6 open beta set a record high player count across all platforms, and beyond that, the open beta also set viewership records, with over 30 million hours streamed.

Over the two beta weekends, over 420 million matches were played, making up over 92 million hours' worth of gameplay. The change to traditional classes has also gone down well, with a very close to even split amongst all four. According to DICE, 32% of players went with Assault, 26% went with Support, 23% went with Engineer and 19% went with Recon.

Ahead of the launch on October 10th, DICE will now be making targeted adjustments to movement, weapons and maps to address player feedback.

KitGuru Says: Did you play the Battlefield 6 beta? What did you think of the game? Will you be buying it at launch? 

Earlier this month during Sony's most recent earnings meeting, executives made comments alluding to Bungie losing its independence and becoming more integrated with PlayStation Studios. Now just weeks later, Bungie's long-time CEO, Pete Parsons, has announced that he is leaving the company. 

Pete Parsons first became CEO of Bungie in 2016 and was one of the few to remain at Bungie long after the glory days of Halo. Parsons came under fire over the past year after Bungie suffered from multiple rounds of layoffs.

In a blog post announcing the change, Bungie confirmed that Justin Truman will now be acting as CEO of Bungie. Truman is slightly newer at Bungie, having joined the company in 2010, working on Halo Reach, before moving on to Bungie's current flagship IP, Destiny.

As CEO, Truman will now oversee Bungie's upcoming Marathon launch, and future development on the Destiny IP.

KitGuru Says: It became quite clear over the past year that Bungie needed some changes at the top. Sony in particular needs this acquisition to work out to strengthen its position in the modern landscape of multiplayer gaming. 

Corsair has launched the latest version of its small form factor Corsair One PC, the a600. The new system continues the series' tradition of packing immense power into a compact vertical chassis, this time pairing a next-generation AMD Ryzen 9000X3D series CPU with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card.

The One a600 is a gaming and productivity beast. The inclusion of a new Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000X3D series processor with AMD's 3D V-Cache paired with a B850 motherboard. The system is complemented by an RTX 5080 GPU, a massive 64 GB of DDR5 memory for heavy multitasking, and 4 TB (2x 2 TB) of NVMe storage, creating a mighty combination for whatever you throw at it.

Keeping these components cool in such a small space is the signature Corsair One dual-loop liquid cooling system. The CPU and GPU are cooled by their own dedicated 240 mm liquid coolers, which, according to Corsair, ensure optimal thermal performance without excessive noise. For the a600, Corsair has also made key improvements based on user feedback, including adding heatsinks to both M.2 SSD slots and refining the fan curves for an even quieter experience under load.

The system is housed in the compact, aluminium tower, which will be available in a sleek “Metal Dark” and “Wood Dark” finish, the latter featuring real, FSC-certified wood. User-friendly features like the touch-activated rear I/O spotlight make a return, and users can control thermal profiles and lighting via the Corsair Dashboard Software. The system is available now directly from Corsair for £3,899.99/$4,399.99/€4,899.99 when equipped with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and £3,999.99/$4,499.99/€4,999.99 with the Ryzen 9 9900X3D.

KitGuru says: We know that a similarly-specced PC in the DIY market can be considerably cheaper than what Corsair is asking for the a600. However, the most disappointing part is that a system as expensive as this one doesn't come with at least an X870 motherboard.

Earlier this year, Microsoft laid off a huge chunk of the Turn 10 studio, the one responsible for Forza Motorsport. With that in mind, we're expecting Forza Horizon to be the flagship racer for Xbox going forward, and the next game in the series may end up being the biggest yet, taking fans to a highly requested location. 

The leak comes from an unlikely place. An Australian car import company, Cult & Classic, posted on social media about a visit they had from a group working on Forza Horizon. They were there to scan Kei cars, tiny cars that are popular in Japan. Once the post gained traction amongst gamers on Reddit, the original post was deleted. This has led fans to speculate that the next Forza Horizon game will be set in Japan.

It is unlikely that Forza Horizon developers would be collecting Kei car scans for a game set outside of Asia, so at the very least, the next game is likely heading to the Far East.

Forza Horizon 6 has not yet been announced. The most recent game, Forza Horizon 5, is set in Mexico, while the previous titles, Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Horizon 3, were set in Britain and Australia respectively.

KitGuru Says: Would you like to race across the streets of Tokyo in the next Forza Horizon? 

NZXT has launched its latest motherboard for the AMD platform, the N7 B850. Designed for the new Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, the new board brings NZXT's signature minimalist aesthetic to the AM5 socket, providing a clean and stylish foundation for your next Zen 5 build.

As is tradition for the N7 series, the new B850 features a full-coverage metal PCB cover. Available in both black and white, this shroud hides the circuitry of the motherboard, providing a seamless and uncluttered look that integrates perfectly with other NZXT components and minimalist case designs.

The N7 B850 is built on an 8-layer PCB and features a robust 16+2+1 power phase design with 80A DrMOS, which should be more than enough to handle the top-end Ryzen 9000 CPUs. For memory, the four DIMM slots support DDR5 kits running up to 8000+ MT/s. The board is also equipped with all the modern I/O you'd expect from a premium B-series motherboard, including a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, which comes with its own dedicated heatsink and quick-release latches. Networking is handled by Wi-Fi 6E and a Realtek 2.5 Gb Ethernet port.

For builders who like the NZXT CAM ecosystem, the N7 B850 offers deep integration with it, allowing you to control its onboard RGB and fan headers via software. The NZXT N7 B850 is available to purchase now, priced at £279.99/$299.99.

KitGuru says: Although a bit expensive compared to the majority of B850, one has to praise the N7 B850's looks. If you expose your system through a transparent panel or use an open bench, a cool-looking motherboard is a must, and that's something NZXT has shown to be capable of doing.

After cooking for 7 years in the oven, Hollow Knight Silksong is officially set to launch in under two weeks’ time. Given how long fans have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, it makes sense that the popularity of the original Hollow Knight would balloon over the years. With Silksong now mere days away from release, Team Cherry has revealed that 2017’s Hollow Knight has officially sold over 15 million copies.

In a piece by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier titled “Why ‘Silksong’ Took Seven Years to Make” Team Cherry spoke to Schreier on the lengthy journey which the team have taken to get to this point.

The full interview can be found HERE, and includes revelations such as the fact that Silksong did not struggle through development, but “It’s just the case that we’re a small team, and games take a lot of time. There wasn’t any big controversial moment behind it.”

While the popularity and cultural awareness of Hollow Knight certainly grew rapidly over the past half a decade or so, the last sales update we received for the game was back in February of 2019 (2 years after release) when it was confirmed to have sold 2.8 million copies.

Since then, sales have ballooned, with Schreier / Team Cherry confirming that the original Hollow Knight has now sold over 15 million copies – a massive achievement for any game, let alone an indie title which originated via Kickstarter.

Even in its early days, Hollow Knight was a sales success. That said, with over 15 million players having now experienced what is regarded as one of the best metroidvanias of all time, it will be highly interesting to see how many units Silksong sells in the weeks following its 4th of September launch.

KitGuru says: When did you first play Hollow Knight? Is it your favourite Metroidvania? How many copies do you think Silksong will sell in its first month? Let us know down below.

Following years of leaks, rumours, hype and hopium, Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong is officially mere days away from release. As part of the game’s Special Announcement presentation, Silksong has been confirmed to be launching in just two weeks time – arriving on the 4th of September.

Making the official announcement via a 2-minute long ‘Release Trailer’, studio Team Cherry wrote: “On September 4, ascend to the peak of a haunted kingdom in Hollow Knight: Silksong!”

Being a metroidvania, you will of course have to discover many of the game’s secrets for yourself. That said, the team confirmed that Hollow Knight: Silksong will include over 200 different enemy types and more than 40 bosses.

The original Hollow Knight was already a meaty experience, especially once all of its DLC was accounted for. While Silksong looks in many ways to be more of the same, this is nothing but a good thing for the upcoming sequel – and with it having been in development for 7 years, look forward to a long journey to the “peak of a haunted kingdom.”

Hollow Knight Silksong comes to Steam; Nintendo Switch; Switch 2; Xbox; PlayStation 4; PS5; GOG and Humble’s store on the 4th of September 2025. Further details can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you hyped for Silksong? Is it a day-one purchase for you? What do you think of the new air-based mechanics? Let us know down below.

Yesterday we published our review of the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition, a collaborative effort between the two companies that features a quad-slot cooler, three Noctua NF-A12-x25 G2 fans and a custom heatsink sporting no less than eleven heatpipes. We called it ‘a highly impressive feat of engineering', but were left wondering why ASUS and Noctua put so much effort in for an RTX 5080, rather than go all out on an RTX 5090 model. Noctua has since confirmed to us they would ‘love' to make an RTX 5090 version, but it doesn't sound like it will be happening any time soon.

Considering all the technical wizardry, research and development, along with raw material cost that goes into a product like the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition, it's understandable that something like that comes with a price premium. However, in this instance, the card retails for £1500 here in the UK, making it a whopping 65% more expensive than the RTX 5080's new MSRP of £909.

Given that ASUS and Noctua have gone to such effort and expense for an RTX 5080, we couldn't help but wonder why the two companies didn't team up for an RTX 5090 model. After all, it's the current Nvidia consumer flagship and is considerably faster than the RTX 5080, surely making it a perfect fit for a collaboration like this.

As it turns out, Noctua told us they would be very keen to make an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition, but there's one key issue standing in their way. As communicated by Jakob Dellinger, Noctua PR and Product Management, the company would ‘love to do a 5090' and ‘completely agree that this would be a perfect fit.' But as it turns out, chip supply for the 5090 is simply too scarce to make it happen ‘at the moment.'

While that certainly doesn't rule out the prospect of an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition hitting the market in the future, it also doesn't sound like it's going to happen any time soon. With allocation being the key issue, Nvidia would simply have to produce more GB202 dies for the consumer space, and we all know most of those are ending up in AI and datacenter products like the RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell, at significantly higher prices.

Dellinger did offer some information on what an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition could look like though, stressing that the following is completely speculative but that Noctua would focus on changes to the heatsink compared to the RTX 5080 model. Dellinger added that Noctua could use a similar vapour chamber design to the ASUS RTX 5090 Astral, given the top of the vapour chamber has been milled to allow the heatpipes to be attached without flattening them out. As we'd expect, this would have cost implications but could offer extra thermal performance required for cooling the higher-power die, while the switch to all 8mm heatpipes (instead of 4x 6mm and 7x 8mm pipes on the 5080 Noctua Edition) was also mooted.

Whatever it would look like, we would certainly love to get hands-on with an RTX 5090 Noctua Edition, so fingers crossed it becomes a reality in the future.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Would you be keen to see Noctua's take on an RTX 5090?

Overwatch 2 is no stranger to video game crossovers. Likewise, the game has not shied away from anime-themed collabs, with the free-to-play Hero Shooter having worked with the likes of One Punch Man; My Hero Academia; Cowboy Bebop and more. As such, it comes as little surprise that ATLUS’ highly successful JRPG sub-series Persona 5 is coming to Overwatch 2.

Season 18 of Overwatch 2 is officially set to go live on the 26th of August, bringing with it new changes and additions to its recent Stadium mode; a new Support Hero ‘Wuyang’; new maps, modes and of course cosmetics.

As with many of Overwatch 2’s collabs, Blizzard has so far merely teased that Persona 5 is set to crossover into the game, with no further details on what to expect.

That said, based on what was shown (and considering past collabs), expect to be able to purchase Persona 5 themed skins – likely surrounding Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves for a not-so-insignificant sum of money.

All that said, it’s clear that Blizzard has a penchant for collabing with various anime franchises. It will be interesting to see the extent of this upcoming crossover – and what other IPs are next in line.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Overwatch 2 in 2025? Are you still playing it? Have the crossovers been worthwhile in your mind? Let us know down below.

The European Hardware Association (EHA) has announced the results of the 2025 EHA Reader Awards. These awards are driven entirely by the opinions of hardware enthusiasts from across Europe. Tens of thousands of votes were cast through the EHA’s nine member publications, giving a clear view of which products have earned the strongest support from hardware enthusiasts this year.

The awards were presented at the start of the Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany, with over 100 representatives from across the technology sector in attendance. While the ceremony provides an opportunity for the industry to hear first-hand how readers are voting, the real value of these awards lies in the collective voice of the audience.

Now in their tenth year, the Reader Awards remain a straightforward reflection of user preference across Europe. The breadth of the EHA’s membership – including Hardware Upgrade (Italy), Lab501 (Romania), PurePC (Poland), IO-Tech (Finland), Geeknetic (Spain), HardwareLuxx (Germany), Cowcotland (France), Technology Insider (Netherlands) and, of course, KitGuru for the UK – ensures that the results reflect a broad and diverse readership.

We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to cast a vote. Without your input, these awards would not exist!

So here are the winners of the EHA Reader Awards 2025 – as voted for by you:-

At Gamescom 2025, KitGuru met with Ole Grosstuek, Chief Marketing Officer for be quiet!, who introduced the company’s latest chassis line – the Light Base 500. Following on from the success of the larger Light Base 600 and 900 LX, this new model aims to provide a smaller footprint without sacrificing the core design elements that made the LX popular.

Gamescom remains the world’s largest event for video games, drawing more than 350,000 visitors from over 120 countries this year, with around half of those attending from overseas. The event featured more than 1,400 exhibitors from over 60 nations. For hardware companies like be quiet!, Gamescom provides a valuable opportunity to showcase new designs, gather direct feedback, and highlight technology that will appeal to the enthusiast audience.

The Light Base 600/LX was noted for its angled front air intake and the ability to rotate the GPU holder for vertical graphics card installation. The new Light Base 500 retains these features while delivering a more compact enclosure. According to Grosstuek, the original models received strong uptake, but a segment of customers requested a more compact alternative. The Light Base 500 addresses this demand, while continuing be quiet!’s focus on airflow, noise control and visual presentation.

Other features include two possible locations for the PSU, so you can choose the best position, depending on whether you have a standard or ‘Project Zero/BTF' style motherboard. The fan control unit can be moved up or down as well.

The Light Base 500 also helps to make mounting your graphics card vertically a lot easier, with a rotational panel on the back of the case.

The series comes in two main versions: the standard Light Base 500 and the Light Base 500 LX. Both are available in black, while the LX also comes in a white edition. Grosstuek noted that pricing for the white chassis is higher because of the greater difficulty in colour-matching across different materials such as plastic, metal and rubber components.

Light Base 500:

• Angled slide-out fan frame routes air directly to the GPU
• Optional fan installation in a lowered bay to align with the case floor
• Supplied with four preinstalled Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM fans (daisy-chained)
• Supports ATX motherboards, radiators up to 360mm, two HDDs and multiple SSDs
• Two PSU positions available, including support for backside connector motherboards
• Zero RGB for a subdued appearance
• Three-year manufacturer’s warranty
• Available in black

Light Base 500 LX:

• Angled slide-out fan frame for direct GPU airflow
• Lowered fan bay option for improved floor alignment
• Four preinstalled Light Wings LX 120mm PWM ARGB fans (daisy-chained)
• ARGB controller button and fan hub included
• Radiator support up to 360mm, ATX motherboards, and spacious interior
• Two PSU mounting options with backside connector support
• Dust filters on side and bottom panels
• Available in black and white

Pricing and availability:

• Light Base 500 (Black): €119.90
• Light Base 500 LX (Black): €144.90
• Light Base 500 LX (White): €154.90
• Official launch: 21st October 2025

KitGuru says: be quiet! will bring the Light Base 500 range to market from October 2025, making it one of the company’s key launches for the end of the year.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to arrive on PlayStation 5 this November, exactly one year following its Xbox and PC debut. In this time, the game has benefited from a bunch of post-launch patches, updates and major improvements. Alongside all of this, PS5 owners will also be able to enjoy a few exclusive console features – with PS5 Pro getting even more bonus additions.

Releasing their PS5 ‘Feature Trailer’ the team at GSC Game World officially detailed all of the unique additions coming to the PS5 and PlayStation 5 Pro release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

Thanks to the power of the DualSense, the PS5 version of the game will include a number of neat immersive features, namely:

• Adaptive Trigger support
• Motion Sensor aiming (gyro) support
• DualSense speaker support
• Tempest 3D Audio
• Advanced haptic feedback
• Touchpad guitar-playing

Beyond these universal additions, PlayStation 5 Pro owners will receive a notable number of unique visual enhancements compared to the base model, including:

• Improved shadow quality and resolution
• Higher-quality reflections
• Improved volumetric fog
• Enhanced volumetric cloud rendering
• “Refined quality for select VFX”

Given the STALKER series’ focus on immersion, it is highly welcome to see GSC Game World supporting pretty much all of the unique features of the PlayStation 5 and its DualSense – and doubly so for the PS5 Pro.

Hopefully all of the DualSense features are implemented well. We won’t have to wait too long to find out. STALKER 2 officially launches on PS5 | Pro on the 20th of November.

KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to the PS5 version’s launch? Which DualSense feature is most important to you? Did STALKER 2 originally launch prematurely? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Solid Snake is one of the most iconic heroes of the stealth genre, perhaps even more than Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell fame. But this isn’t a game centered around Solid Snake himself. Rather, Snake Eater focuses on his predecessor, Big Boss, and how he came to inherit that title. Originally the third title in the Metal Gear Solid series and one of the most critically acclaimed stealth games of all time, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remakes that iconic spy thriller for a whole new generation. In a lot of ways, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater reminds […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/metal-gear-solid-delta-snake-eater-ps5-review-based-on-a-hideo-kojima-game/

Yesterday we saw reports of a variety of drives including Corsair Force MP600, Maxio SSD, SanDisk Extreme Pro, Kioxia Exceria Plus G4, and the Kioxia M.2, among others.  These drives have either…

MSI has a massive presence at Gamescom 2025 this year, showcasing a vast range of new products for PC enthusiasts. The launch is headlined by the company's new X870E Max Series motherboards and a very special, limited-edition model to celebrate a major milestone for the brand.

To mark the 10th anniversary of its flagship motherboard line, MSI is releasing the MEG X870E Godlike X Edition. This board is a collector's item, limited to just 1,000 units worldwide, each with a gilded nameplate and other commemorative goodies. It's packed with the latest overclocking features, as well as a new M.2 Xpander-Z Slider Gen5 card and an updated Dynamic Dashboard III. The wider X870E Max series also brings upgrades like 5G LAN, Wi-Fi 7, and a host of new ‘EZ' tool-free installation features for GPUs and M.2 drives.

MSI is also showing off two new PC cases for different segments of the market. For the panoramic-view fans, there's the MAG PANO 130R PZ, which features a wrap-around tempered glass design and native support for back-connect motherboards. For the high-end enthusiast, there's the new flagship MEG Maestro 900 Series, which has a unique four-directional motherboard tray for extra build flexibility and custom liquid cooling support.

Also on display is the new MPG CoreLiquid P13 Series AIO, which features a clean, minimalist design with a 2.1-inch LCD screen and a clever hidden tube layout. To complement the new cases, MSI is launching the MAG View Xpander 12, a 12.3-inch in-case dual-mode display, and a new all-white version of its MAG A1000GL PCIe 5.0 PSU, perfect for themed builds.

For those who can't be at Gamescom in person and see the new PC components MSI is showcasing, MSI hosted an “Into the Future – Virtual Premiere” showcase (above) with all the latest hardware. The company is also running an online sweepstakes with prizes up to $10,000 to celebrate the launch.

KitGuru says: Of all the new stuff MSI presented, is there any component you're particularly interested in?

Corsair has today launched the AI Workstation 300, a compact PC that packs an incredible amount of power into a tiny 4.4-litre chassis. This new system is one of the first from a major manufacturer to be built around AMD's Ryzen AI Max 300 Series processor, bringing a mighty CPU/GPU combo in a single chip.

The top configuration of the AI Workstation 300 features the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, which combines Zen 5 CPU cores with an RDNA 3.5 integrated GPU boasting 40 CUs, and an XDNA 2 NPU capable of delivering up to 50 TOPS for AI acceleration. Alternatively, you may go for the cheaper Ryzen AI 385 model, which still packs quite a punch.

The real game-changer for AI developers, however, is the memory subsystem. The system utilises up to 128 GB of unified LPDDR5X memory, and thanks to the Strix Halo architecture, a massive 96 GB of that can be dynamically allocated as VRAM. This dwarfs the memory capacity of almost all consumer and even many professional desktop GPUs, opening the door for new possibilities in local AI.

Users may now install OpenAI's open-weight models, gpt‑oss‑120B and gpt‑oss‑20B, using the most recent version of LM Studio installed locally. Released under the Apache 2.0 license, these high-performance models allow for local deployment that is not possible with the majority of gaming-class GPUs. The Corsair AI Workstation 300 is now launching in Europe, starting at £1,599.99/$1,599.99, featuring a Ryzen AI Max 385 with a Radeon 8050S iGPU, a 1 TB M.2 SSD, and 64 GB of LPDDR5x.

KitGuru says: By packing this much power into a 4.4-litre chassis, Corsair is offering a unique solution for AI developers and professionals who need flexible, on-premise AI performance without a massive server rack.

Samsung has today expanded its audio lineup with the introduction of the Galaxy Buds3 FE. As the “Fan Edition” moniker suggests, these new wireless earbuds are designed to bring the key features of the flagship Buds3 series, including the new “Blade” design and Galaxy AI integration, to a more accessible, mainstream price point.

Available in black and grey, the Buds3 FE adopt the new signature “Blade” design of the latest Galaxy Buds, featuring a matte dual-tone finish with semi-transparent highlights. This design also incorporates swipe controls for managing volume and playback. On the audio front, Samsung says the earbuds feature larger speakers for richer sound with deeper bass, along with enhanced Active Noise Cancelling (ANC). Call quality has also been a focus, with new “Crystal Clear Call” technology that uses a machine learning model to isolate your voice from background noise.

A major selling point is the integration with the Galaxy ecosystem and its AI features. One example is the “Auto Switch” feature, which actively detects audio activity and transfers the connection seamlessly for continuous listening across all of your Galaxy devices. When paired with a compatible phone, they can also tap into Galaxy AI, allowing for voice commands via Google Assistant to check your schedule or have emails read aloud, as well as enabling live translation for conversations using the Galaxy AI Interpreter app.

With a 53 mAh battery, the earbuds can last for up to 6 hours with ANC or 8.5 hours without ANC. However, using the 515 mAh case, these numbers increase up to 24 and 30 hours, respectively. While the “FE” branding promises a more affordable package, Samsung has not yet announced the official price for the Galaxy Buds3 FE. This will be the most crucial detail in determining their value and how they stack up against the competition in the crowded wireless earbud market.

KitGuru says: Which colour variant of the new Galaxy Buds 3 FE do you prefer?

It has been some time since we last reviewed a graphics card from ASUS, let alone one of the Noctua Edition models, but that is exactly what we are checking out today. First shown at Computex 2025 but officially launched this month, the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition is the biggest card we have ever reviewed here at KitGuru, packing in a quad-slot cooler, alongside three 120mm NF-A12x25 G2 fans and a heatsink that sports no less than eleven heatpipes. ASUS and Noctua are clearly aiming for near-silent operation, so let's see how it performs…

As you may have guessed, all of that engineering work does not come cheap, and this is far and away the most expensive RTX 5080 I have ever seen, listed at £1500 over on Scan. During the process of this review, we actually saw Nvidia drop the price of its RTX 5080 Founders Edition to £909, meaning the ASUS RTX 5080 Noctua Edition commands a whopping 65% premium over the MSRP. Can any graphics card justify that sort of price increase? Let's find out.

First, a quick spec recap. Unlike the RTX 5090, which is built on the GB202 die, RTX 5080 uses smaller silicon as it is a full implementation of the GB203 die, measuring 378mm². Comprised of 7 Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs), each holds up to eight Texture Processing Clusters (TPCs), with a total of 42. Each TPC is home to two Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), giving us 84, and each SM still holds 128 CUDA Cores, meaning the RTX 5080 has a total of 10752 shaders. We also find 84 RT cores, 336 Tensor cores, 336 Texture Units, and 112 ROPs.

This time around, however, there's no node-shrink, and GB203 remains fabricated on TSMC's N4 node, as per the RTX 40-series. As such, rated clock speed is barely changed this generation, with the RTX 5080 rated at 2617MHz, compared to the RTX 4080 Super's 2550MHz boost.

The memory configuration is also fairly similar, but sports one key upgrade – GDDR7 memory. The RTX 5080 comes equipped with 16GB, running at 30Gbps, and that puts total memory bandwidth at 960 GB/s, a 30% increase over the RTX 4080 Super. L2 cache remains at 65MB.

Power draw has also increased, with the RTX 5080 sporting a 360W TGP. This is something we focus on closely in this review, using our enhanced GPU power testing methodology, so read on for our most detailed power and efficiency testing yet.

Launched at the same time as the 30TB IronWolf Pro, the 30TB Exos M is designed for use in cutting-edge cloud and enterprise environments and has a feature set that reflects this type of usage. We put it through its paces to find out what it can offer at the £600 asking price.

Seagate's Exos M is built on the company's Mozaic3+ technology, which makes use of HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) to enable the 10 high areal density (3TB) discs the drive uses. It has a spindle speed of 7,200rpm and uses 512MB of cache. Seagate quote an official maximum transfer rate of 275MB/s while the average latency is quoted at 4.16ms.

Seagate quote an average 6.9W idle power rating for the 30TB Exos M with a max operating Random Read (4K QD16) figure of 9.5W.

The official workload rating of the drive is 550TB/year with an MTBF of 2.5M hours, and Seagate backs the drive with a 5-year warranty.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 30TB.
• Spindle Speed: 7,200rpm.
• No. Of Heads: 20.
• No. Of Platters: 10.
• Cache: 512MB.
• Recording Method: Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) / HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording).
• Interface: Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s (SATA III).
• Form Factor: 3.5in
• Dimensions: 26.1 x 101.85 x 147mm.
• Drive Weight: 695g.

Firmware Version: SE02.

Nvidia started off the week with some major announcements for GeForce Now. We've already covered the new RTX 5080 upgrade, as well as new features like ‘Instant Play' and the ability to install your own games. Now, it is time to take a look at something coming in the more immediate future – new games for the library.

This week sees 13 games joining the GeForce Now library. The majority of these games are classics from the popular Total War series of grand strategy games. Fan favourites like Total War: Rome, and newer standalone games like Troy and Attila are all joining the library, along with many others.

Here is the full list of titles joining GeForce Now this week:

• Stick It to the Stickman (New release on Steam, Aug. 18)
• Blacksmith Master (New release on Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, Aug. 19)
• VOID/BREAKER (New release on Steam and Xbox available on PC Game Pass, Aug. 19)
• The Rogue Prince of Persia (New release on Ubisoft, Aug. 20)
• Funko Fusion (Steam)
• Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition (Steam)
• Total War: ATTILA (Steam)
• A Total War Saga: Troy (Steam)
• Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition (Steam)
• Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition (Steam)
• Total War: PHARAOH DYNASTIES (Steam)
• Total War: ROME REMASTERED (Steam)
• Total War: SHOGUN 2 (Steam)

If you want to catch up on all of the major GeForce Now-related announcements from Gamesom, you can find our extensive coverage HERE.

KitGuru Says: What did you think of all of this week's GeForce Now news?