Vue normale
Highguard studio begins layoffs just two weeks after launch
Highguard has been out for just two weeks and despite an initially strong launch and a year-long content roadmap ahead, player numbers have quickly dropped. Now, the studio behind it is laying off a large portion of the development team.
In an announcement last night, Wildlight Entertainment confirmed that it has made the “incredibly difficult decision to part ways” with a chunk of Highguard's development team. Moving forward, Wildlight will retain “a core group of developers to continue innovating and supporting the game”.
Layoffs are pretty typical in the videogame industry. Studios regularly shed staff shortly after shipping a project, but for live service games, the situation is a little different, as companies need to retain a certain team size to achieve their content roadmap goals.
It is unclear at this time if this firing spree will have any significant impact on the game's planned content roadmap, which involves new maps, weapons, game modes and more in the coming months.
KitGuru Says: Riot also just let go of a large number of developers just two weeks after launching its new fighting game 2XKO. It would seem that expectations for the first two weeks of new projects like this are climbing astronomically high.
The post Highguard studio begins layoffs just two weeks after launch first appeared on KitGuru.Razer expands BlackShark V3 line-up with White Edition headset for Xbox and more
Last year, Razer launched its new line of BlackShark gaming headsets with the new V3 line-up. This week, Razer is adding a new addition to the range – the Blackshark V3 for Xbox White Edition.
At the core of the Razer BlackShark V3 is their new HyperSpeed Gen-2 Wireless technology, which promises a responsive connection with a latency as low as 10ms. Communication is handled by a new detachable 9.9mm microphone. While this is marketed as a ‘for Xbox' headset, it does have cross-platform compatibility via 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, USB or 3.5mm jack connections.
Here is the full list of key features:
- Razer HyperSpeed Wireless Gen-2
- Detachable Razer HyperClear Super Wideband 9.9mm Mic
- Razer TriForce Titanium 50mm Drivers
- Cross‑Platform Compatibility
The new Razer BlackShark V3 for Xbox White Edition headset is available starting today, directly through the Razer website, priced at £149.99.
KitGuru says: Are you a fan of Razer headsets?
The post Razer expands BlackShark V3 line-up with White Edition headset for Xbox and more first appeared on KitGuru.-
KitGuru
- AMD continues to see growth across Ryzen desktops and datacentres in latest processor shipment report
AMD continues to see growth across Ryzen desktops and datacentres in latest processor shipment report
AMD has just shared its latest commissioned Q4 2025 processor shipment report, carried out by the analytics experts at Mercury. The new report shows that AMD closed out the year with a record 41.3% server revenue share based on increased adoption of its EPYC series processors.
AMD's desktop revenue share also saw gains, moving up to 42.6%, indicating that AMD is seeing strong sales across both desktop PCs and server / data-centre class systems.
You can see the full breakdown in the table below:
| AMD Share Summary | 2025 Q4 Unit Share |
2025 Q4 Revenue Share* |
2025 Q3 Unit Share |
2025 Q3 Revenue Share |
2024 Q4 Unit Share |
2024 Q4 Revenue Share |
Q/Q Change (Unit) |
Y/Y Change (Unit) |
Q/Q Change (Revenue) |
Y/Y Change (Revenue) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server | 28.8% | 41.3% | 27.8% | 39.5% | 25.7% | 36.4% | +1.0 | +3.1 | +1.8 | +4.9 |
| Desktop | 36.4% | 42.6% | 33.6% | 41.0% | 26.9% | 28.0% | +2.8 | +9.5 | +1.6 | +14.6 |
| Mobile | 26.0% | 24.9% | 21.9% | 21.6% | 23.8% | 21.6% | +4.1 | +2.2 | +3.3 | +3.3 |
| Total Client | 29.2% | 31.2% | 25.4% | 28.2% | 24.6% | 23.8% | +3.8 | +4.6 | +3.0 | +7.4 |
| Total CPU | 29.2% | 35.4% | 25.6% | 32.5% | 24.7% | 28.6% | +3.6 | +4.5 | +2.9 | +6.8 |
AMD has also made gains in notebook revenue, as more OEMs begin to offer Ryzen-based laptops. Overall for the year of 2025, AMD saw a 6.6 percent growth in revenue.
KitGuru Says: AMD continues to grow. It will be interesting to see what 2026 brings with the increased focus on serving the data-centre market for large-scale AI projects.
The post AMD continues to see growth across Ryzen desktops and datacentres in latest processor shipment report first appeared on KitGuru.Arctic debuts new Freezer 4U-OneX for server-grade cooling with a low price tag
Arctic has just launched its latest CPU air cooler, the Freezer 4U-OneX, with enough horsepower to tame even hot-running server-grade processors. It comes in at a surprisingly cheap price too.
The Freezer 4U Series delivers cooling performance for modern data centers with diverse processor architectures and high-performance server CPUs. With the new Freezer 4U-OneX, the series is now also fully compatible with AmpereOne processors on the LGA5964 socket.
The Freezer 4U-OneX not only includes MX-7 thermal paste, but also thermal pads that are placed on the IHS to ensure full thermal coverage.
Thanks to its push-pull fan configuration and large surface, the Freezer 4U-OneX should deliver highly efficient heat dissipation. While it is a powerful cooler, it is still relatively compact, coming in at 151mm tall, and in a single-tower configuration, allowing it to seamlessly fit into 4U server cases and larger.
The Arctic Freezer 4U-OneX is available now, priced at £51.49.
KitGuru Says: This cooler ticks a lot of the right boxes, especially at that price.
The post Arctic debuts new Freezer 4U-OneX for server-grade cooling with a low price tag first appeared on KitGuru.Biostar launches new 16GB UDIMM DDR5 memory modules
Biostar has new UDIMM memory modules hitting the market. The new 16GB DDR5 kits are now shipping out, available with either 4800MHz or 5600MHz speeds, designed with a focus on stability and efficiency.
Designed to support a wide range of PCs, the Biostar DDR5 16GB UDIMM memory aims to offer a balanced solution for everything from home entertainment to office productivity, NAS systems and HTPCs. As usual with DDR5 memory, these units have a power management IC embedded directly onto the memory module to enable more precise voltage regulation, enhancing efficiency and stability during long-term operation.
These new memory kits also feature a 288-pin non-ECC unbuffered DIMM design and a 32-bank architecture with enhanced bank-group organisation to improve data handling efficiency and parallel processing capability.
We don't have UK pricing information for the 4800MHz or 5600MHz models yet, but we do know that they offer CL40 and CL46 timings respectively. The memory should be widely available in the coming weeks.
KitGuru Says: The memory market is going through a bit of a transformation at the moment due to massive data-centre AI projects, so seeing more options hitting the market is welcome.
The post Biostar launches new 16GB UDIMM DDR5 memory modules first appeared on KitGuru.TPM 2.0 requirements are causing major issues for Call of Duty PC players
Just last week, Activision rolled out the Ranked multiplayer update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. While a week has passed since then, the developers have yet to address a growing issue amongst players – the game is locking people out despite having features like TPM enabled.
While in the past, most games did not require users to enable advanced security features like TPM or SecureBoot, nowadays with more intrusive anti-cheat measures, many games now call for these features to be enabled. Normally, this is as simple as enabling a couple of settings in the BIOS, but for this year's Call of Duty, that isn't working for everyone.
Following the ranked multiplayer update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, there have been a growing number of players reporting issues, receiving error messages stating that TPM is not enabled, despite the BIOS saying otherwise, or that their TPM module is outdated. This is happening to users with motherboards of various brands, including the likes of MSI, Gigabyte, Asus and others. If the TPM module is indeed outdated, then gamers will have to wait on motherboard vendors to issue BIOS updates to address the issue.
At this point, Activision has not yet acknowledged the complaints. One user managed to work around this by fully reinstalling Windows with a USB stick, but that is far from an ideal solution for most users, as they may risk losing data and may also have to sit through a long queue of downloads to get their games and apps reinstalled. One other person also managed to work around the issue by buying a separate TPM add-in module.
We have seen at least one motherboard vendor's customer support email regarding this problem, but it was not very helpful, directing users to reset their BIOS settings to default and clear the CMOS.
KitGuru Says: Have you had any issues with Black Ops 7 recently after last week's patch? Have you had a TPM error despite the feature being enabled in the BIOS? This all does seem like quite a lot of faff just to play a video game.
The post TPM 2.0 requirements are causing major issues for Call of Duty PC players first appeared on KitGuru.Kingdom Come Deliverance, REANIMAL and more join GeForce Now
The next round of games for GeForce Now has been announced. There are eight new titles joining the cloud gaming library this week, including the Game Pass version of Kingdom Come Deliverance, allowing even more people to experience Warhorse Studio's fantastic and immersive medieval RPG.
There are two titles on the list this week launching day-one on GeForce Now, complete with support for the GeForce Now Ultimate RTX 5080 servers, including Disciples: Domination and REANIMAL, a new horror co-op game from the creators of Little Nightmares.
Here is the full list of new games joining GeForce Now today:
- Disciples: Domination (New release on Steam, Feb. 12, GeForce RTX 5080-ready)
- REANIMAL (New release on Steam, Feb. 13, GeForce RTX 5080-ready)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Xbox, available on Game Pass, Feb. 13)
- Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle (Steam)
- Capcom Fighting Collection (Steam)
- Mega Man 11 (Steam)
- Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (Steam)
- Torment: Tides of Numenera (Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass)
KitGuru Says: Will you be playing any of this week's new GeForce Now titles?
The post Kingdom Come Deliverance, REANIMAL and more join GeForce Now first appeared on KitGuru.Blizzard is bringing the Warlock class to three Diablo games
Last week, dataminers discovered new strings of code pointing towards the impending announcement of a brand-new class for the Diablo franchise – Warlocks. Last night during the Diablo spotlight showcase, Blizzard confirmed exactly that, but Warlocks are coming to more than just Diablo 4.
Blizzard is bringing its new Warlock class to a trio of Diablo titles, including Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo Immortal and of course, Diablo 4 as well. Fans can already get their hands on the Warlock in Diablo 2: Resurrected via the new Reign of the Warlock DLC. Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4 players will have to wait a little longer though.
The Warlock class will be the second new class added to Diablo 4 as part of the upcoming Lord of Hatred expansion, which releases in April. The Warlock is positioned as the counterpart to the Paladin, trading in Holy magic for demonic powers.
The Spotlight showcase also revealed a number of new upcoming changes for Diablo 4, including a fishing mechanic, a skill-tree overhaul, a new endgame activity called ‘War Plans', a new Echoing Hatred event, item crafting via the Horadric Cube, the addition of loot filters and more.
KitGuru Says: I really enjoyed playing the Paladin when it dropped into Diablo 4 in December. I am equally looking forward to the addition of the Warlock. I may need to jump back into Diablo 2 to get the preview.
The post Blizzard is bringing the Warlock class to three Diablo games first appeared on KitGuru.Arc Raiders surpasses 14 million copies sold and 6 million active weekly players
Embark Studios quickly had a hit on its hands when it dropped Arc Raiders last year. Since then, the extraction shooter has only grown in popularity, with the game hitting a peak of one million concurrent players on PC alone.
According to information from the latest Nexon investor presentation, Arc Raiders has already sold 14 million copies so far across all supported platforms. On a weekly basis, the game sees huge amounts of traffic, with as much as six million active players over each 7-day timespan.
While Arc Raiders was developed and created by Embark Studios, a team built up from former Battlefield veterans, Nexon was the publisher and as a result, is tracking the game's performance very closely.
At this point, Arc Raiders has cemented itself as one of the biggest multiplayer shooters on the market, performing well even against tough competition like Escape from Tarkov. Bungie will be throwing its hat into the ring soon with Marathon, which drops in March.
KitGuru Says: Have you played Arc Raiders much since launch? Are you still enjoying the game?
The post Arc Raiders surpasses 14 million copies sold and 6 million active weekly players first appeared on KitGuru.BenQ expands MA series with new MA270S and MA320UG 5K monitors
BenQ has expanded its Mac-centric MA Series with the premiere of two new models: the MA270S and the MA320UG. Building on the success of the original MA lineup, these 2026 models are designed to integrate even more seamlessly into the Apple ecosystem. While traditional monitors often suffer from colour mismatch or clunky OSD controls when connected to a Mac, the MA series is tuned to mirror MacBook-native visual behaviour, from brightness curves to colour gamut, ensuring a unified experience across screens.
The MA270S is the smaller of the pair, featuring a 27-inch 5K (5120 x 2880) resolution with a 70 Hz refresh rate and pixel density of 218 PPI. For video editors and motion designers, the MA320UG offers a larger 32-inch 4K display but with a 120 Hz refresh rate for smoother visuals.
![]()
These monitors use a Nano Gloss panel and have a 2000:1 contrast ratio, 10-bit colour depth, and 450 nits of peak brightness, earning them the DisplayHDR 400 certification. Moreover, they are equipped with Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, supporting daisy-chaining and providing up to 96W of Power Delivery to keep a MacBook Pro charged via a single cable. Additionally, there are two HDMI 2.1 ports, a USB-C port with 35W power delivery and DP Alt Mode, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with 15W power delivery, and 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports.
Lastly, the two monitors support the Display Pilot 2 software, which allows users to adjust monitor volume and brightness using their Mac's keyboard keys. Moreover, while connected to a Mac system, it also allows users to automatically match the monitor's colour profile (if it's a laptop), adjust low blue light and sound modes when “Focus” is activated, and allow designers to preview how their work will look on iPhone or iPad screens before exporting.
KitGuru says: BenQ is offering a compelling alternative to Apple's first-party displays. While the Studio Display is iconic, it lacks the 120Hz smoothness found in the new MA320UG. By offering Thunderbolt 4 daisy-chaining and native macOS keyboard control at a more competitive price point, BenQ is positioning the MA series as the “smart” choice for those who want to avoid the Apple Tax.
The post BenQ expands MA series with new MA270S and MA320UG 5K monitors first appeared on KitGuru.ID-Cooling Space SL V2 arrives with up to 350W TDP and Intel LGA 1954 support
ID-Cooling is refreshing its liquid cooling lineup with the Space SL V2 series, an updated version of its relatively new LCD-equipped AIO family. While the core “Space” identity remains centred on the customisable 2.1-inch circular display, the V2 introduces a new lighting aesthetic. Moving away from the subtle ring-light fans of the original, the new series adopts AM-120-ARGB fans with full-blade illumination.
According to Cowcotland, the AIO uses a 2.1-inch LCD screen with a 480 x 480 resolution at 60Hz. Moreover, the display has a rated brightness of 300 nits and supports real-time hardware monitoring, custom GIFs, and MP4 videos via the brand's proprietary Space software. The V2 models will be available in 240mm and 360mm radiator sizes and in both black and white versions.
The Space SL V2 is built for high-TDP workloads, with the 360mm flagship rated for up to 350W TDP, while the 240mm variant handles up to 300W. The included AM-120-ARGB fans are particularly aggressive, featuring a 0 RPM mode for silent idling but capable of ramping up to 2500 RPM. At full power, these fans are claimed to deliver 79.7 CFM of airflow and 3.65 mmH₂O of static pressure, though users should expect a significant increase in acoustic levels when pushing the fans.
ID-Cooling has the Space SL V2 as Intel LGA 1954-ready, supporting the upcoming Nova Lake platform natively alongside existing LGA 1851, 1700, and 1200 sockets. On the AMD side, the cooler is fully compatible with AMD's AM5 and AM4 platforms, ensuring that builders are covered for several generations of CPU upgrades.
KitGuru says: ID-Cooling has always found success by offering good features and performance at a relatively low price, and the Space SL V2 will likely follow suit.
The post ID-Cooling Space SL V2 arrives with up to 350W TDP and Intel LGA 1954 support first appeared on KitGuru.New MSI Afterburner update introduces GPU protection features
MSI has officially released MSI Afterburner 4.6.7 Beta 2, a major update that shifts the utility from a pure GPU tuning tool to a broader system health monitor. The update introduces native support for the upcoming flagship GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning series and debuts a monitoring tool to prevent hardware damage caused by faulty 16-pin power connections.
According to Guru3D, by utilising a new PSU.dll plugin, Afterburner can now pull real-time telemetry from high-end MSI PSUs, such as the MEG Ai1x00 and MPG Ai1x00TS series. This allows enthusiasts to monitor PSU-level data, such as voltage, current, power, efficiency, and fan speeds, directly in the software UI. Users with supported MPG units can even view per-pin current data for 12VHPWR and 12V-2×6 connectors.
Image credit: Guru3D
In the new Beta 2 update, Afterburner can take automated action if a power fault is detected. If the PSU reports overcurrent or a significant imbalance in current across the 16-pin connector pins (a common precursor to connector melting), the software can trigger an alarm, displaying an on-screen warning and triggering audible buzzers. Moreover, it can automatically reduce power by loading a predefined “Emergency Profile”, instantly slashing the GPU power limit to lower thermal stress and giving the user time to shut down and inspect the cable safely.
Those interested in the full patch notes of MSI Afterburner 4.6.7 Beta 2 can find them below:
- Added MSI RTX 5090 Lightning cards support
- Improved Voltage/Frequency curve editor:
- Default size of V/F nodes is now adjustable via configuration file, so you can make nodes bigger if default node size is too small and uncomfortable for your eyes.
- Now you may zoom work area of V/F curve editor window with mouse wheel in 100%-500% range. Size of V/F nodes is also zoomed in this mode.
- Now you may pan work area of V/F curve editor window by pressing right mouse button and dragging work area with mouse cursor.
- Now you may restore default view mode and reset zoom and pan position of V/F curve editor with <V> keyboard shortcut.
- Improved functionality of linear voltage curve interpolation mode with fixed anchor point (<Ctrl> + node dragging). Now this mode can be applied to selection, the farthest node inside selected range is used as anchor point in this mode.
- Added arbitrary linear interpolation mode. Now you may select a source node and press <I> key to activate arbitrary interpolation mode, source node will start flashing to indicate started interpolation process. After selecting the source node simple click destination node to finalize the process, it will result in generating linearly interpolated frequency offsets between source and destination nodes.
- Improved functionality of V/F curve movement with preserved per-point offsets (<Alt> + node dragging). Now this mode can be applied to selection.
- Added command line switch for loading predefined emergency profile with lowered GPU power consumption (75% power limit on NVIDIA GPUs, -25% on AMD GPUs). New command line switch can be selected inside the predefined applications list when you manually configure a command line based action for alarm in hardware monitoring module.
- Added command line switch for displaying custom text message when applying a profile.
- Improved monitoring plugins:
- Now the plugins can specify string names for enum values for a data source, e.g. “No,Yes” or “Safe,Alarm” for binary 0/1 values. Such string names are being used to interpret enum values displayed in On-Screen Display.
- Now the plugins can customise the appearance of critical threshold related options for some specific hardware monitoring data sources and replace “Alarm when value is out of range” options inside “Monitoring” tab with a single custom checkbox. Plugins can use such functionality to provide simplified one click way to enable pre-configured critical thresholds and alarm settings for some specific data sources.
- Added new PSU.dll plugin:
- New plugin provides native hardware monitoring support for MSI MEG Ai1x00 and new MSI MPG Ai1x00TS power supplies.
- New plugin provides traditional PSU 12V/5V/3.3V voltages, currents, output power, efficiency, temperature and fan speed monitoring functionality on MSI MEG Ai1x00 series power supplies and additional per-pin current monitoring for 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 connectors on new MSI MPG Ai1x00TS power supplies.
- On new MSI MPG Ai1x00TS power supplies with per-pin 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 current monitoring support the plugin also provides two additional alarm sensors, which are reporting 0 when each connector pin’s current is in safe range and 1 when at least one pin’s current reach critical threshold or difference between any two pins is higher than critical delta. With such additional alarm sensors, you do not need to monitor each 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 pin’s current independently and can easily detect overcurrent or current imbalance state by monitoring just a single alarm sensor. The plugin provides both PSU firmware-based and software-based alarm sensor implementations. For software-based alarm sensor implementation power users may redefine the maximum current threshold and the maximum current difference values via editing the plugin’s configuration file.
- 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 alarm sensors can be used in conjunction with MSI Afterburner’s programmable critical thresholds supported by hardware monitoring module. When you set critical threshold for such sensor, you may see alarms from 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 overcurrent or current imbalance in monitoring window, in On-Screen Display, enable sound alarm, load some specific emergency MSI Afterburner profile (e.g. a profile with drastically lowered power limit), perform emergency system shutdown and so on.
- 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 alarm sensors use new functionality of monitoring plugins to simplify the process of configuring critical thresholds and alarm settings associated with alarm sensors. New “Enable GPU Safeguard+” option is displayed for the alarm sensors instead of “Alarm when value is out of range”, so beginners can easily enable pre-configured protective features with a single click. The following features are being automatically enabled when you tick GPU Safeguard+ checkbox:
- “Play sound on alarm” option is being enabled.
- “Launch application on alarm” is being enabled and MSI Afterburner is configured to launch itself to load emergency profile with reduced GPU power limit and display notification message to inform user about potential 12VHPWR/12V-2×6 connection fault.
- Experienced users can configure the alarm manually and customise it further, e.g. disable alarm sound, apply a different custom-made emergency profile with even lower GPU power limit and additional GPU downclocking and so on.
If you're interested in downloading the Beta 2, you can do so HERE.
KitGuru says: The infamously fragile nature of the 16-pin connector has been a dark cloud over high-end PC gaming for some time. With the new version of MSI Afterburner, users can at least act on the first sign that something is wrong and protect their investment.
The post New MSI Afterburner update introduces GPU protection features first appeared on KitGuru.nDreams' Wreckin' Raccoon Chaotic Sandbox Out Now On Quest
Unhinged chaos sim Wreckin' Raccoon, nDreams' answer to games like I Am Cat and Gorilla Tag, has left Early Access for full release on Quest.
Developed by nDreams' newest studio, Compass, Wreckin' Raccoon is a sandbox game in which you play as the titular trash panda, spreading chaos and destruction everywhere your paws touch. Taking place at a roadside diner, you'll dig through food, smash bottles, make a mess, and generally torment the diner's staff and customers in ways that only a horrible little critter can.
You can drink from a toilet, deep fry your own excrement, and squirt ketchup into the face of the grumpy exterminator. If you couldn't tell from that description, or the trailer embedded above, nDreams' latest release is clearly targeting a younger audience.
Wreckin' Raccoon is banking on replicating the success of games like I Am Cat and the ever-popular Gorilla Tag, which throw users into heavily physical experiences in which the primary goal is to move around and cause chaos.
Wreckin’ Raccoon is available on Quest via the Meta Horizon Store now.

Narrative Puzzle Game Tin Hearts: Act 1 Marches Onto Quest
Charming clockwork puzzler Tin Hearts: Act 1 arrives on Quest today, bringing its heartfelt story and inventive Lemmings-like gameplay to standalone headsets.
Celebrated for its emotional story and richly detailed Dickensian environments, Tin Hearts combines a lovely narrative with classic Lemmings-inspired puzzle mechanics. In Tin Hearts, players manipulate time and interact with objects in the environment to direct and redirect an ever-marching column of tiny toy soldiers. Along the way you'll solve puzzles and uncover a deeply personal tale about family, love, and compromise.
Tin Hearts originally released in VR on PS VR2 and Steam last year. The game's publisher, Wired Productions, has said that today's Act 1 port to Meta Quest will be followed by Acts 2, 3, and 4 "in the coming weeks," though no specific release dates have been confirmed.
We previewed Tin Hearts VR years ago, where we felt it offered "well-considered mechanics," plus "enjoyable puzzles and an intriguing whimsical setting."
The complete Tin Hearts series is out now on flatscreen platforms, PS VR2, and PC VR, while Tin Hearts: Act 1 arrives today on the Meta Quest platform.

GeForce NOW Cloud Game Streaming Heats Up With Fire TV Stick Support
Hubble Captures A Dying Star’s Final Breath In Spectacular New Image
Thomas Edison's Lost EV Battery Idea Returns As New Prototype Recharges In Seconds
HP Omnibook 3 AI Laptop Deal Brings Ryzen Zen 5 Firepower For A Low $449
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold Sold Out In Minutes, Here's When It May Be Back In Stock
Samsung's 5-Layer Penta Tandem QD-OLED Tech Doubles Lifespan And Boosts Brightness
-
Igor
- MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z review – Lightning-fast and thirsty unicorn in battle against NVIDIA’s clock speed barriers
MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z review – Lightning-fast and thirsty unicorn in battle against NVIDIA’s clock speed barriers
MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z: Costs 5K, Pulls Over 1000W
Today we are checking out what is undoubtedly the most insane graphics card to pass through the KitGuru labs – MSI’s RTX 5090 Lightning Z. Not only is it cooled with a 360mm AIO, but MSI says it's the world's first graphics card with an 8in LCD screen, while it also offers an Extreme BIOS that is rated for up to 1000W. That’s only scratching the surface of what this card has up its sleeve, though, so let’s dive in and take a closer look at this beast of a GPU.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Pricing and key info
01:34 Unboxing and first impressions
02:20 Design features
03:32 PCB and cooler details
04:38 Screen close-up
05:39 Test setup
06:13 Clock speed and game benchmarks
07:01 Thermals + acoustics
08:27 Power draw – we hit 1076W!
10:27 Current readings + thermal imaging
11:04 Manual overclocking
11:40 Closing thoughts
First things first, we are not calling this article a ‘review', simply because it is impossible to offer buying advice for a graphics card like this. Not only is it Limited Edition, with only 1300 units manufactured worldwide, but we were also told only 30 of those are coming to the UK retail channel. And what’s more, the MSRP is an eye-watering £4999, so basically five grand. That alone is absolutely absurd, especially when considering the fact you could build a whole system with an air-cooled 5090 for less money…
Nonetheless, it’s an extremely interesting GPU to analyse from a technical perspective, even if basically no one will be able to buy one, so let's see what it can do…
| RTX 5090 | RTX 5080 | RTX 4090 | RTX 4080 Super | RTX 4080 | |
| Process | TSMC N4 | TSMC N4 | TSMC N4 | TSMC N4 | TSMC N4 |
| SMs | 170 | 84 | 128 | 80 | 76 |
| CUDA Cores | 21760 | 10752 | 16384 | 10240 | 9728 |
| Tensor Cores | 680 | 336 | 512 | 320 | 304 |
| RT Cores | 170 | 84 | 128 | 80 | 76 |
| Texture Units | 680 | 336 | 512 | 320 | 304 |
| ROPs | 176 | 112 | 176 | 112 | 112 |
| GPU Boost Clock | 2407 MHz | 2617 MHz | 2520 MHz | 2550 MHz | 2505 MHz |
| Memory Data Rate | 28 Gbps | 30 Gbps | 21 Gbps | 23 Gbps | 22.4 Gbps |
| L2 Cache | 98304 KB | 65536 KB | 73729 KB | 65536 KB | 65536 KB |
| Total Video Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR7 | 24GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 512-bit | 256-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 1792 GB/Sec | 960 GB/Sec | 1008 GB/Sec | 736 GB/Sec | 716.8 GB/Sec |
| TGP | 575W | 360W | 450W | 320W | 320W |
OC BIOS, left, Extreme BIOS, right
First, a quick spec recap. The RTX 5090 is built on the new GB202 die, measuring 750mm2, though it's not quite a full implementation of the silicon. Instead we find a total of 11 Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs), each holding up to eight Texture Processing Clusters (TPCs), for a total of 85. Each TPC is home to two Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), giving us 170, and each SM still holds 128 CUDA Cores, meaning the RTX 5090 has an eye-watering total of 21760 shaders. We also find 170 RT cores, 680 Tensor cores, 680 Texture Units, and 176 ROPs.
This time around, however, there's no node-shrink, and GB202 remains fabricated on TSMC's N4 node, as per the RTX 40-series. As such, rated clock speed is not increased this generation and is actually touted slightly below that of the RTX 4090, with the RTX 5090 delivering a rated 2407MHz boost clock, compared to its predecessor's 2520MHz boost.
The memory configuration has seen significant upgrades, though. The RTX 5090 now comes equipped with a super-wide 512-bit memory interface, paired with 32GB GDDR7 memory running at 28Gbps, and that puts total memory bandwidth at a staggering 1792 GB/s. L2 cache is also increased to 98MB, up from the 74MB of the RTX 4090.
Considering the large increases to die size and core count, but with no node shrink, it's perhaps unsurprising to see power draw has increased, this time boasting a 575W TGP. This is something we focus on closely in this article, using our enhanced GPU power testing methodology, so read on for our most detailed power and efficiency testing yet.
The post MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z: Costs 5K, Pulls Over 1000W first appeared on KitGuru.Subnautica to get free Switch 2 upgrade next week
During the most recent Nintendo Switch 2 partner showcase, the console maker showed off a bunch of different 3rd party titles set to arrive on Nintendo’s latest and greatest over the coming months. Though not announced during the direct itself, studio Unknown Worlds have now revealed that Subnautica and Below Zero are receiving free Switch 2 upgrades next week.
Making the announcement via a press release, the team at Unknown Worlds confirmed that Subnautica and its spin-off Below Zero will be getting free Switch 2 enhancements next week on the 17th of February.
Said to be “delivering major visual and performance upgrades designed to take full advantage of the new hardware” the Switch 2 versions of both titles will now operate at 1440p when docked and 1080p in handheld – both running at 60fps.
For comparison the OG switch ran at 30fps with various performance spikes noted by players. So far, it remains unknown as to whether the graphics themselves (such as foliage density and texture resolution) have been improved, and so we will have to wait and see.
Outside of visuals, this upgrade features “optimized controls for Joy-Con 2, enabling more precise movement, smoother exploration, and refined interaction” – though no specifics were provided, and so unfortunately do not expect mouse mode support.
Regardless, this update should be welcome news for anyone with a Switch 2, especially as the upgrade will be free to all those who own the original version of the games.
KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the Subnautica series? What other 3rd parties would you like to see enhanced for Switch 2? Let us know down below.
The post Subnautica to get free Switch 2 upgrade next week first appeared on KitGuru.