Lian Li has launched its new SP Platinum Series, a line of high-performance SFX power supplies designed for premium small-form-factor builds. The new units are available in 850W and 1000W capacities, both achieving an 80 Plus Platinum certified efficiency.
The SP Platinum series is built to the latest Intel ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 specifications, making it fully ready for next-generation components. It includes Lian Li's own in-house manufactured 12V-2×6 GPU cable, which features alloy copper terminals for lower contact resistance and a dual-colour connector to help ensure it's fully seated. Internally, the PSUs are built with 100% Japanese 105°C capacitors and are equipped with a comprehensive suite of protections, including OCP, OVP, OTP, OPP, SCP, UVP, NLP, and SIP.
Cooling is handled by a 92 mm FDB fan governed by a smart curve, which enables a zero-RPM mode by switching the fan off entirely at loads of 40% or less. For builders working in cramped SFF chassis, the SP Platinum Series comes with “super-flexible” braided modular cables to improve routing and airflow.
Lian Li has also included two notable quality-of-life features. An SFX-to-ATX adapter bracket is in the box for compatibility with larger cases. More uniquely, the PSU ships with an extension power cord that features an integrated on/off switch, allowing users to cut power to the installed PSU more easily. The Lian Li SP Platinum Series is now available in both black and white versions, starting at £142.99/€164.90 for the 850W models and £159.95/€184.90 for the 1000W models.
KitGuru says: Planning on building an SFF system? Have you already locked in on a PSU, or does the new Lian Li SP series PSUs still have a chance?
Adata has introduced a 128GB DDR5 CUDIMM module, effectively doubling the maximum capacity per stick for the mainstream desktop platform. This breakthrough brings 4-rank memory, previously available only in server space, into consumer-grade hardware.
Until now, the consumer DDR5 market has been limited to single- and dual-rank modules, with a maximum capacity of 64GB per DIMM. With a 4-rank module architecture (dividing the module into four groups via chip stacking), Adata has pushed the new capacity limit to 128GB. This means that even dual-DIMM motherboards can now support 256GB of RAM.
Despite the clear advantage of using such a design, there is a technical trade-off to it. A 4-rank configuration increases the load on the memory bus, which can negatively impact maximum stable frequencies. For gaming, less dense memory modules might still be better, but for memory-intensive applications, such as AI workloads and high-end content creation, the sheer increase in capacity may outweigh the benefit of higher clock speeds.
To ensure stability, Adata has already been validating its 4-rank DDR5 5600 MT/s CUDIMM modules on MSI's upcoming Z890 motherboards. This development is particularly significant for the small form-factor (SFF) market, where dual-DIMM motherboards are the standard, removing a major capacity limitation for high-performance compact builds. Adata has not yet shared detailed specifications or a retail launch date for the new 128GB modules, but a 2026 release looks plausible.
KitGuru says: Would you make use of these 128GB memory modules, or is this overkill for your needs?
Mojang has officially announced Minecraft Blast, a new free-to-play mobile puzzle game developed in collaboration with King, the studio behind Candy Crush Saga. The announcement confirms that this is a separate project and will not interfere with or delay future updates for the core Minecraft game, such as the upcoming Mounts of Mayhem update.
The new title (via MobileGamer) is described as a “modern match puzzle” game. Based on early screenshots, players will match blocks by colour or type within a set number of moves to complete level objectives. The gameplay is supplemented with familiar Minecraft mechanics, including boosters themed as tools like pickaxes and shovels. Beyond the puzzle levels, players will also be able to unlock themed locations and construct their own Minecraft-inspired structures.
Minecraft Blast is still in its “extremely early days” according to Mojang. The first limited playtest is currently being rolled out in Malaysia only. This initial test is only available via the Apple App Store on iOS. Mojang has stated that it plans to expand testing to other regions and platforms in the future to gather feedback.
As is standard for this kind of early-phase testing, the current build contains only a small portion of the final content. Mojang has also confirmed that any progress made by players during this test period will be reset and will not carry over to the final, full release of the game.
KitGuru says: Are you a fan of Minecraft? What do you think of this mix between Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga?
Back around 2018, an E3 leak claimed that Ubisoft was planning on announcing a new Splinter Cell game. That turned out to be entirely false, but the publisher was indeed working on a revival of the stealth-action franchise at one point, although it was quickly cancelled in a pivot towards ‘live service' games.
This week, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier published a new interview with AdHoc Studios co-founder, Nick Herman, covering his journey from Ubisoft to founding his new studio and releasing the new hit-game Dispatch. In this interview, Herman reveals that around 2017, when he took on a role at Ubisoft's San Francisco studio, he and a small team had worked on a new Splinter Cell game for several months:
Herman had the following to say about his time working on Splinter Cell:
“I was so excited to be a part of this and help revitalize it, because it’s been dormant for a while, and we thought we could tell a great story and do something the fans would love”.
However, it is claimed that the game was cancelled very early on, as Ubisoft had begun asking its studios to focus on ‘Games as a service', otherwise known as live-service games. The group struggled to come up with an idea that would stick and ultimately, Herman left Ubisoft to start up AdHoc Studios, which just released its first hit game, Dispatch, which prominently features Breaking Bad co-star, Aaron Paul in a lead acting role.
Eventually, Ubisoft San Francisco hired a new leader, Mark Rubin, and began working on XDefiant. While the game garnered some hype during its beta testing phase, players had issues with the title at launch and ultimately, Ubisoft shut the game down and closed the San Francisco studio.
While some have taken this interview to mean that Splinter Cell was cancelled specifically for XDefiant, that was not the case. The Splinter Cell project had a short-lived life in 2017 and was cancelled to focus on live-service multiplayer games. However, XDefiant didn't come to be until after 2019, at least two years after the short-lived Splinter Cell project.
KitGuru Says: There is a serious lack of stealth-action games on the current market. Ubisoft has the perfect IP to fill that gap. Hopefully at some point in the next couple of years, it capitalises on that opportunity.
Over the past year, Bungie has been attempting to fight a plagiarism lawsuit from a writer who claimed that the original Red War campaign for Destiny 2 copied from his own published work. Now, Bungie has been forced to settle, after content vaulting ruined its chances of effectively fighting the case.
As reported by The Game Post, Bungie has settled the lawsuit, although the specific details of the settlement agreement have not been made public. The settlement comes after Bungie failed to get the case dismissed, in large part due to its decision to delete the Red War campaign from the game.
While initially the Content Vault was pitched as something Bungie could pull content in and out from, that turned out to not be the case. All of the ‘vaulted' content can no longer be implemented back into Destiny 2. As a result, Bungie attempted to submit YouTuber playthroughs, lore videos and Wiki articles as evidence to fight the lawsuit. The judge assigned to the case would not accept this evidence, as they were third-party retellings of the events and could not be considered truly representative of the product.
If Bungie had been able to create a legacy build of Destiny 2 with the Red War campaign still in-tact, then it would have been able to properly demonstrate the differences between its own work and that of the writer on the other side of the lawsuit. Content Vaulting continues to look like a worse and worse idea by the day. Fortunately for Destiny players, Bungie has since realised what a colossal mistake this was and will no longer be vaulting content.
KitGuru Says: It isn't much of a ‘vault' if Bungie itself can't unlock it and reimplement the content. I imagine a lot of Destiny players right now would be keen for a limited-time event that allowed them to replay the original campaign missions, but it simply isn't possible according to Bungie itself. If it had been possible, they wouldn't have had to settle this lawsuit.
Escape from Tarkov has officially launched on Steam but the transition to the biggest PC gaming platform hasn't gone smoothly. Following the launch, many players had issues getting into the game and so far, the store page has been flooded with negative user reviews.
Escape from Tarkov has launched to ‘mixed' reviews on Steam, with the majority of the top-rated reviews being negative. Players had issues creating accounts at launch, while others had issues with an error stating the game files were ‘corrupted' after a fresh install. Due to the game using a third-party launcher, even when purchased on Steam, players also expressed concern about missing their 2-hour refund window before even getting to try the game for themselves.
Currently, the review split stands at 10K negative reviews to just over 4K positive reviews. The positive reviews that do exist all express admiration for Escape from Tarkov's tension, immersion, realistic shooting and difficulty. It is perhaps the most ‘hardcore' extraction shooter on the market, while games like Arc Raiders and Marathon look to serve a broader audience of players.
Battlestate Games had increased server capacity for Escape from Tarkov in the lead-up to the Steam launch. However, many players encountered issues with the game launcher and the website for creating accounts. We expect those issues to subside pretty quickly, at which point, players should have an easier time getting into the game. Still, it is clear that Tarkov is not a game for everyone.
KitGuru Says: Have you tried Escape from Tarkov since the Steam launch earlier this week? Have you had any issues?
Patriot Memory's flagship Viper Xtreme 5 DDR5 has officially broken the world record for memory frequency, becoming the first to surpass the 13,200 MT/s barrier.
The new record was set by professional overclocker Ai Max and tuning specialist Brian “Chew”. Using liquid nitrogen cooling (LN2), the team achieved a validated speed of 6605.7MHz (CL68-127-127-127-2), which translates to an effective data rate of 13,211.4MT/s. This score now sits at the top of the international rankings on HWBOT.
Funny enough, the platform used to achieve this result was built on previous-generation hardware. The record-breaking Viper Xtreme 5 memory module was installed on a Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Tachyon Ice motherboard and paired with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor underclocked to 2.1GHz on the P-cores and 1.7GHz on the E-cores. Both components were operating under LN2.
KitGuru says: Seeing how often the DDR5 frequency record is being beaten, how long do you think this one will last?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has officially launched, and early impressions are mixed. Two almost universally maligned parts of the latest COD game can be seen in blatantly AI-generated art and what looks to be one of the worst campaigns yet seen in the series. This isn't to say there aren't positive aspects of the Black Ops 7 experience—the
A new wave of state-level proposals targeting virtual private networks has stirred up an unusual amount of alarm from digital-rights groups, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation isn't pulling punches. In a detailed critique published this week, the organization called efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin "misguided," "technically incoherent,"
Metroid Prime 4 is due to release on December 4th, 2025, and some outlets were invited to a hands-on preview. When the embargo lifted, early testers posted their impressions of the first few hours of the game, mainly across the space station intro and a jungle area called Fury Green, and the results were mixed. Although there were some positive
Apple is expected to release an AirTag 2 tracker at some point, perhaps even by the end of the year. Nothing is official, though, and with Black Friday deals arriving early, the current generation AirTag can be had for a great price, especially if picking up the 4-pack. If going that route, you end up paying just $16.25 per AirTag, which is
Like so many companies, Razer and its retail partners are already dishing up Black Friday deals with enticing discounts. As such, now is your chance to score a Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop for hundreds of dollars below MSRP, as well as a variety of Razer gaming peripherals for up to 51% off. Let's dive in.
Razer Blade 14 OLED Gaming Laptop
If you are shopping for a pair of stereo speakers Creative is hoping you might consider their Pebble Nova Premium 2.0 USB-C speakers, featuring coaxial drivers. The 1.89Kg spherical speakers have a…
The Philips 34B2U6603CH is as ultrawide as it's model number, 34" of 3,440 x 1,440 VA panel with a variable refresh rate that peaks at 120Hz and a 1500R curve. That's decent…
Valve's massive Steam hardware announcements included the first in-house designed Valve Steam Machine, and while most of its reception was positive, a number of critics have expressed skepticism about how well the Steam Machine will perform in the competitive market of entry-level PCs as well as versus the PlayStation 5 and Xbox. While factors
The HYTE X50 is a very unique looking chassis, but it is also surprisingly sturdy. A testament to HYTE's drive for quality, the X50 allows you to build a system that matches your style and favorite hues with one of its six colors, while also managing to deliver the functionality and build experience you would want from a higher-end chassis.
VR multiplayer shooter VAIL gets a free-to-play Extraction mode in early access today on Steam and Quest.
Following last year's free-to-play social hub launch, sci-fi multiplayer shooter VAIL has received an Extraction mode. Now live after 10 months of development, AEXLAB aims to make this a “more approachable” extraction shooter for players unfamiliar with this type of game. You descend into the depths of Reyn to retrieve encrypted data, technology, and resources, fending off other players and the island's inhabitants alike.
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Extraction splits you between six teams of three players across a new map, one that contains weather effects like fog, rain, thunder, and more. Alongside the game's usual weaponry, this mode features an “advanced shield and ammo tier system.” Developer AEXLAB states that ammo can penetrate shields in different ways and that's dependent on the relationship between their tiers.
Teammates can be revived if downed, a choice developer AEXLAB says was made to keep players in the action without them waiting around. “Nothing feels worse than being in a squad with your friends, you die, and now you're waiting forever for your teammates to either extract or lose,” stated the studio.
For the full launch, AEXLAB is working on an expanded gameplay loop with in-game missions to help locate and defeat a randomized boss. It's also working on creating customizable homes that other players can visit as your party prepares for raids. Early access will have frequent wipes to assist testing, though there are “no plans” for forced wipes at full release.
AEXLAB also provided UploadVR with its latest roadmap that lists new features to come, such as fishing, unlockable extracts, compound upgrades, and more. Though it doesn't specify release windows, the varying line lengths suggest which of these features are coming first. You can see that in full below.
We’ve put the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X—a joint handheld PC project from ASUS and Microsoft—through our handheld benchmark gauntlet. Let’s see whether it’s capable of toppling the MSI Claw 8 and ASUS ROG Ally X, and if it can earn a spot amongst the best PC handhelds on the market.
Tracked: Shoot to Survive is a narrative survival adventure made for VR from the Green Hell VR studio, offering an exciting tale that needs further work. Read on for our full review.
Following Incuvo's work on Green Hell VR, Tracked: Shoot To Survive - or Tracked for brevity - feels like a natural step forward to create a narrative survival game that shares similar DNA with the jungle adventure. This new release expands its commitment to a linear story with more biomes and activities, at the cost of resembling PS2 graphics. While some may appreciate a more single-player focused experience, these dated visuals don't provide a fair tradeoff for what's here.
The Facts
What is it?: A narrative survival adventure set in the Canadian wilderness that's made for VR. Platforms: Quest 3/3S (reviewed on Quest 3) Release Date: Out Now Developer: Incuvo Publisher: People Can Fly Price: $19.99
Starting out in a light aircraft on the way to St. Hubert’s Caldera, a fictional island in British Columbia, protagonist Alex Hart is on his way to spread his father’s ashes with his sister Samantha. Their relationship is strained, as we quickly learn in their brief interactions, with her tattooed sleeves alluding to a troubled past. Unexpectedly shot down by gunfire just before arriving, Alex regains consciousness injured amidst the wreckage.
Doing the motion of bandaging your hands to heal shows a made-for-VR aspect that can be recognized instantly. Next to a hastily written note about drug smugglers who shot down the wrong airplane, Green Hell VR’s same backpack inventory system is now yours to keep any useful items in your path. As the saying goes, why fix what isn't broken?
The view from the father's cabin is enviable.
Narrative emphasis is evident from the start. Overhearing these drug traffickers say that Alex’s sister was kidnapped by them gives us a clear goal to work towards. Numerous written documents detailing the island and its inhabitants make for an interesting read between killing aggressive wildlife and enemies alike. The wooden voice acting ranges from explanatory when obtaining new items to emotional, though the dramatic tension gets a little over the top. Flashbacks abound as it is a narrative device to show Alex and Samantha's childhood summers with their father. Subject matters like substance abuse, family drama, and friendship betrayal verge on clichéd in their execution, though the writing itself is gritty enough.
Your father’s old cabin serves as a base of operations; pushing through to save Alex’s sister is not a straightforward task. Every so often, Tracked forces you to create items at your crafting table to proceed, such as the climbing axe to ride a zipline or warm clothes to withstand colder atmospheres. To manually craft every item makes the immersion a highlight, too. Pulverizing coal and sulfur for gunpowder, stitching together a larger backpack to carry more weight from animal pelts, and cooking animal meat with blueberries for a nutritious broth are but a few necessary actions to face Mother Nature fully equipped.
Poor beaver did not stand a chance.
Surviving in the wilds is not a walk in the park. A wristwatch reminds us of Alex's hunger and thirst levels, causing his early demise if these needs are ignored. Ensuring a safe water source from creeks to industrial plastic barrels, which are thankfully abundant, is a must. Granola bars are suspiciously copious as well, to satiate Alex’s famine. Difficulty options can turn these survival mechanics either completely off or more punishing, depending on your mileage and narrative interest. Welcome options for those after a less punishing, more story-focused experience.
Fighting tooth and nail against the military-trained drug smugglers, Tracked has plenty of combat in its 10 or so hour main quest. Hiding in tall grass, at least in the beginning, you must sneak your way before finding a knife to counterattack. All combat encounters are usually against two unsuspecting enemies. The AI isn't that smart; strafing to get closer with the knife, or eventually the litany of firearms available, will make short work of them. The fact that enemies can also perceive you through doors is quite discouraging.
The best gunslinger this side of Canada strikes again.
A bow, shotgun, rifle, and revolver each offer multiple ways to tackle each clash. Reloading has a distinct movement for every one of them. Opening the chamber of the revolver and loading the bullets manually may sound cumbersome for some, but after getting used to it, you can relive your western dreams with it. Finding upgrades during the story to store more ammo and reload faster helps. However, the bow isn't particularly accurate and the shotgun never really allowed me to load it. Opening the chamber to try to load the shells was hopeless because reaching for the ammo resulted in it closing off again. That said, the rifle equipped with a scope delivers accurate shots to eliminate beavers and deadbeats alike.
There is a fair balance between fighting the wilderness and humans. Each of the open areas that you explore, ranging from warehouses and cabins to caves and forests, is so different; every hostile environment provides unique enemy encounters. It's quite imposing to struggle against a wild bear over a swift wolf, with the latter appearing more often at night. Scavenging for animal supplies is disgustingly gruesome as you separate the poor carcass in two, causing a splatter in the process. The buzzing sounds of flies next to a haunting howl sell the idea of being stranded in an unforgiving wildland well.
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Before using any new weapon it must be repaired.
The day and night cycle is important to consider, as it's nigh impossible to explore once it gets dark without crafting the headlamp to aid your vision. Tracked’s level design is well considered enough to let you backtrack to previous areas, with smartly placed ladders and doors that unlock as you progress. This isn't as mind-blowingly interconnected as a Metroidvania, but with some side quests asking to forage for specific items, these shortcuts are convenient.
Comfort
Extensive accessibility features show Tracked: Shoot to Survive was built from the ground up for VR. Calibration for the notebook that you hold in your chest is adjustable, depending on if you are standing or sitting. So are the weapons and tools next to your hip.
Expected camera options for smooth or snap turning movement and speed are there, including the vignette for those prone to suffering from motion sickness. Climbing and ziplining sequences can be simply skipped if desired, too. Your watch with the survival bars can be moved to the left or right hand, as can the knife and backpack slots to accommodate your dominant hand.
A notebook hovering in Alex’s chest at all times helps to give a welcome sense of direction. From the many tabs on display, a map of every level explored makes getting lost virtually a nonissue. Diary-style entries explain the fledging protagonist’s train of thought well as he slowly becomes a seasoned survivor to save his sister. Tracking unlocked achievements is quick, with the game celebrating goals like crafting 100 bullets or drawing first blood, though you don't earn any rewards for this. All documents obtained are easily accessible, with the standout “Finding Bigfoot” side quest panning out in a silly way.
One of, if not the most, famous cryptids in the modern era unexpectedly shows up here.
Addressing the elephant in the room, the graphics leave a lot to be desired by Quest 3 standards. Reminiscent of PlayStation 2 visuals, the low-poly character models, exaggerated enemy grunts, and janky AI don't do Tracked any favors. Its linear levels, while clever at times, don't allow for much intuitive exploration. Tracked’s narrative focus delivers, but it's hampered by dated looks.
Finally, the third act, which currently suffers from frequent stutters and crashes, leaves a bad taste in an otherwise serviceable adventure. Incuvo confirmed that it's aware of these issues and is actively working to patch them.
Tracked: Shoot to Survive - Final Verdict
You can see Tracked's promise of cutting your teeth in an unthinkable situation to prevail against all odds. However, its presentation ends up feeling like a product of yesteryear, which isn't helped by poor AI and performance issues.
For the insatiable VR player constantly searching for the next story-driven campaign, it's easier to recommend, albeit with the warning to hold off until the framerate issues are resolved. Tracked won me over with its heartfelt narrative, unserious Rambo-esque combat antics, and VR-centric crafting mechanics that kept me engaged throughout. I just wish there weren't so many strings attached.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
Quest 3S is on sale for $250 at Best Buy, and comes with a $50 Best Buy gift card, 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners VR game.
That's a $50 discount from the headset's regular $300 price, and the three perks together are worth $110. You can find the deal for the 128GB base model of Quest 3 here.
A similar offer is available for the 256GB storage model, with a $330 price ($70 off) and the same $110 of perks. In both cases, you still get 3 months of the Meta Horizon+ subscription, as with all purchases of new Meta Quest headsets.
You could use the $50 Best Buy gift card to get the Elite Strap to make the headset more comfortable for just $20, for example, while during the 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (normally $30) you can play flatscreen games like Call of Duty and Fortnite on a giant virtual screen.
As for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, it's also normally $30, and it's widely considered to be one of the best VR games of all time due to its physics-based combat system, earning an 'Essential' score in our review.
While Quest 3S can run all the same content as Quest 3, and has the same fundamental capabilities (including the same XR2 Gen 2 chipset and 8GB RAM), if you have the funds we always recommend Quest 3 over Quest 3S. The proper Quest 3 features Meta's advanced pancake lenses which are clearer and sharper over a wider area, have a wider field of view, and are fully horizontally adjustable, suitable for essentially everyone's eyes. These pancake lenses also enable Quest 3 to be thinner, which makes the headset feel slightly less heavy.
Still, at $250 and with $110 worth of perks Quest 3S could be hard to say no to, and it could be an impulse gift for the holiday season to bring a friend or loved one into VR and mixed reality.
Fans were undoubtedly disappointed when Rockstar Games announced a second delay to the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI. However, the wait may sting a little less now that the studio has announced that it’s seminal Western, Red Dead Redemption, is coming to mobile devices for the first time and will be available to Netflix subscribers.
Following reports earlier this year that Nintendo had made some odd low-level changes to the Nintendo Switch 2's USB-C support for third-party accessories, a recent firmware update seems to be bricking functionality of third-party docking stations entirely. Fortunately, some vendors have already shipped firmware updates for their devices that
DDR5 memory runs objectively high transfer rates; JEDEC specs go as high as 6.4 Gbps, and overclockers have taken DDR5 beyond the fastest LPDDR5X: all the way to over 13 Gbps. At these speeds, signal integrity becomes a first-order concern, and most systems can maintain peak performance only when running one module per channel. That generally
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