XPG has announced the launch of its latest memory series, the Armax DDR5. Designed with a specific aesthetic in mind, the new modules draw inspiration from the silhouette of stealth fighter jets, offering a rugged look paired with speeds of up to 6400MT/s.
Adata XPG Armax's design focus is compatibility. With a heat spreader height of just 39.5mm, the modules are positioned as an ideal solution for Small Form Factor (SFF) builds where clearance for CPU coolers and cables can be tight. The modules will be available in a variety of single and dual-module configurations.
Under the hood, the series targets the current performance sweet spot, with frequencies ranging from 6000MT/s to 6400MT/s and timings as low as CL30-40-40. For easy overclocking, both Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO profiles are supported out of the box.
Visually, the modules feature a V-shaped top light bar intended to create a dynamic flow effect. The Armax RGB DDR5 variant supports customisation via XPG Prime and most motherboard RGB software, while a non-RGB version is available for those preferring a more understated build.
The XPG Armax DDR5 series is available now through global retailers and is backed by a limited lifetime warranty. However, due to the current state of the memory market, you might be better off waiting for it to come down a bit.
KitGuru says: Do you like the looks of these new Armax DDR5 modules?
Nvidia is ending the year off strong with the announcement that 30 more titles will be joining the GeForce Now library this month. On top of that, a new Game Ready driver has rolled out for Nvidia graphics card owners.
The new Game Ready driver is available to download now and includes some new optimisations for the upcoming Battlefield 6: Winter Offensive update. This driver update is also recommended for players of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as it contains improved fidelity for DLSS Ray Reconstruction.
On top of that, Nvidia is also adding support for the top played classic, 32-bit GPU-accelerated PhysX games on GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs. GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs launched at the beginning of the year, alongside the phasing out of 32-bit support for CUDA. This meant that PhysX effects in a number of older, yet beloved games were not GPU-accelerated on GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs. With the launch of NVIDIA’s new driver today, that problem is solved for a number of top-played titles including the likes of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman Arkham City, Borderlands 2, Metro 2033 & Last Light, Mirror's Edge and more.
As for this week's GeForce Now updates, there are ten new games joining the service today, including:
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, Dec. 1)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (New release on Ubisoft, Dec. 2)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (New release on Ubisoft, Dec. 2)
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (New release on Ubisoft, Dec. 2)
XOCIETY (New release on Epic Games Store, Dec. 2)
Spyro Reignited Trilogy (New release on Ubisoft, Dec. 2)
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (New release on Xbox, available on Game Pass, Dec. 2)
OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 (New release on Steam, available Dec. 4)
ROUTINE (New release on Steam and Xbox, available on Game Pass, Dec. 4)
MIMESIS (Steam)
There will be 20 other titles joining the library over the next few weeks, although some of these are repeats, with the new support coming in the form of an additional storefront. For instance, Arc Raiders is already available on GeForce Now if you own it on Steam, but soon those who own the title on Epic Games Store will also be able to access it via Nvidia's cloud gaming service.
KitGuru Says: Are there any additional PhysX titles you would like to see Nvidia add custom support for on RTX 50 GPUs?
ENERMAX has introduced its new flagship power supply, the PlatimaxII 1200DF, a 1200W ATX 3.1 unit that emphasises high efficiency with its 80 PLUS Platinum and Cybenetics Platinum certifications.
The PlatimaxII 1200DF is fully compliant with Intel’s ATX 3.1 specification and includes a native 12V-2×6 cable capable of delivering up to 600W to the GPU. This ensures compatibility with current and future high-end graphics cards. Designed to withstand up to 235% power excursion, the unit maintains stability during sudden spikes and relies on 100% Japanese capacitors for long-term reliability and precise voltage regulation under heavy workloads.
Cooling is handled by a 135mm fan equipped with ENERMAX’s patented Dust-Free Rotation technology, which helps reduce dust buildup and extend lifespan. The fan profile is tuned for quiet operation, earning a Cybenetics LAMBDA A acoustic rating, which means it operates at less than 25dB. Thermal management is balanced to keep noise levels low while maintaining efficient cooling.
Additional features include certification for operation at altitudes up to 5,000 meters, highlighting its durability in varied environments. The PlatimaxII 1200DF is available in black and white finishes and comes backed by a 13-year warranty, underscoring its positioning as a long-term solution for enthusiasts, gamers, and professionals building high-performance systems.
The Enermax PlatimaxII 1200DF will be available in both black and white colour options, priced at $229.99 and $239.99 respectively.
KitGuru Says: What sort of efficiency rating do you typically go for when choosing a new power supply?
Nvidia seems to have quietly begun retiring its older Maxwell and Pascal architectures, a move signalled by the release of its latest Linux driver. The new 590 driver branch, currently available in beta as version 590.44.01, appears to have dropped support for the GeForce GTX 900 and GTX 10 series GPUs, confirming earlier reports that these cards are now entering legacy status.
Spotted by VideoCardz, the official release notes state that the 580.xx driver series is the final branch to offer full “Game Ready” support for Maxwell and Pascal. So, if you have such a graphics card running on a Linux-based system, there's a chance you may face issues with future game releases.
This transition places the GTX 900, GTX 10, and the few consumer discrete Volta cards into maintenance mode. Owners of these GPUs will no longer receive day-zero game optimisations or performance enhancements. Instead, support will be limited to quarterly security patches to address critical vulnerabilities. For gamers still holding onto these graphics cards, this effectively signals the end of the road for new driver features.
KitGuru says: Do you own an Nvidia GTX 900 or 10 series graphics card? Are you planning to upgrade now that driver support is coming to an end?
Micron has announced it will discontinue its consumer-facing Crucial brand, marking the end of a 29-year run for one of the most known names in PC memory and storage. The company confirmed it will cease selling Crucial-branded consumer products through global retailers and distributors by February 2026.
Micron's decision represents a strategic pivot for the US memory giant, which is reallocating its manufacturing capacity away from the low-margin consumer market to satisfy the insatiable demand for enterprise-grade memory in AI data centres. Sumit Sadana, Micron's Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, stated that the AI-driven growth in the data centre has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage, necessitating the move to improve supply for larger, strategic customers in these faster-growing segments.
For PC enthusiasts and system builders, this marks a significant loss. Crucial has long been a go-to choice for reliable, affordable DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits and SSDs. While shipments will end in early 2026, Micron has assured existing customers that it will continue to honour warranties and provide service support for Crucial products already in the wild.
The move is not a total withdrawal from the memory market, but rather a realignment. Micron will continue to sell its Micron-branded enterprise products to commercial channel clients globally. To mitigate the impact on its workforce, the company plans to offer redeployment opportunities to affected employees, moving them into other open positions within the organisation.
KitGuru says: Micron is one of the biggest memory suppliers in the world by volume, so this is a pretty major blow to the consumer market. We can only hope that the likes of Samsung and SK Hynix don't go in the same direction, as consumers would be left with very few options if that were to happen.
In recent years we’ve seen a surge in the number of successful indie rogue-likes, with titles including Hades, Balatro, Vampire Survivors and more all selling millions of copies while inspiring others to tackle the genre with their own unique twist. One such title is the brickbreaker-themed Ball x Pit, which has now sold over 1 million copies.
Releasing a trailer to YouTube, Ball x Pit publisher Devolver Digital confirmed that the game has officially sold over 1 million copies since its release on the 15th of October.
In celebration of this milestone, the team announced that Ball x Pit will be receiving 3 free major updates throughout 2026, writing: “With over 1 MILLION units sold, it totally makes sense to keep this ball rolling, right? Three major content updates are coming to BALL x PIT for free, bringing new characters, balls, passives, evolutions, and more!”
While hopefully the first round of many, Ball x Pit’s initial major update arrives in January of next year and is titled the ‘Regal Update’. This will be followed up by the ‘Shadow Update’ in April of 2026; concluding with the ‘Naturalist Update’ in July.
Despite there being so many different rogue-likes, Ball x Pit manages to put its own unique spin on the formula. Considering the fact that the title is also available on Xbox Game Pass, its swift success is notable. It will be interesting to see how future updates switch up the potential combos.
KitGuru says: Are you one of the 1 million? What do you think of the game? What’s been your favourite unique rogue-like of 2025? Let us know down below.
The new Fractal Design Epoch XL is a decent case that delivers everything most people need, however it doesn't live up to its name. An Epoch is a new beginning, while this Epoch is a clear evolution of previous Fractal Design cases. Added to that, the XL tag doesn't really apply as a 360mm cooler will squeeze in the roof with a tiny amount of clearance, which makes this case ‘mid size' in our view. But enough quibbling, the Epoch XL has a questionable name, however the case is a decent piece of hardware.
Front I/O ports: 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C 20Gbps, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, audio.
Dimensions: 509mm H x 503mm D x 240mm W.
Testing
To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD Threadripper 9970X, Palit RTX 5080 Gamerock OC 16GB and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Fractal Design Epoch XL‘s cooling capabilities.
Test System:
Processor: AMD Threadripper 9970X
CPU Cooler: Phanteks Glacier One 360D30
Motherboard: Gigabyte TRX50 Aero D
Memory: 64GB Kingston Fury DDR5-6000 RDIMM
Graphics card: Palit RTX 5080 Gamerock OC 16GB
Power supply: Montech Titan PLA 1000W
SSD: Crucial T705 PCIe 5.0 M.2 NVMe
OS: Windows 11
Cooling Performance
Cooling Performance Overview
We hammered the Fractal Design Epoch XL with 800W of power and while it struggled with the fans turned down low, it performed well once we cranked them up a bit. We found the compromise setting of 1,400rpm worked well and was fairly quiet, and this in extreme circumstances. When you consider our combination of AMD Threadripper and Palit RTX 5080, it seems clear a regular gaming PC will work very nicely inside the Epoch XL.
Closing Thoughts
As we started our review of the Fractal Design Epoch XL, we were struck by the thoughts that made it into the introduction of our video. This case doesn't look very Epoch-y and neither is it especially XL.
Indeed, it lacks any obvious innovation so you can forget about rotating GPUs mounts or RGB lighting for the power supply housing. Having said that, the hardware is bang up to date and supports motherboards with hidden connectors, such as BTF and Project Zero.
As we worked through the review and built a PC it became clear the Epoch XL doesn't have any fundamental problems. Sure, it is built down to a price and it lacks noise deadening tricks and tweaks, but everything is in the right place and works very nicely. This case makes sense if you are using a 360mm AIO cooler along with a large graphics card, which is fairly elite in the scheme of things but slap bang plumb in the middle of the KitGuru audience.
You can buy the Fractal Design Epoch XL for £109.99 inc VAT.
Pros:
Good value for money.
Supports 360mm coolers in the front and roof.
Supports hidden connector motherboards.
Decent cable management.
Cons:
Minimal noise-deadening features.
It’s a mainstream case without any innovation.
No support for a vertical GPU.
KitGuru says: The new Epoch XL from Fractal Design is a decent case at a fair price that has no obvious weak points.
One of Nintendo’s weakest first-party exclusives of the year is Drag x Drive. Released shortly following the launch of the Switch 2, this mouse-mode focused Basketball title failed to impress with relatively tiring controls and a strong lack of content. As they have been doing with many of their early Switch 2 releases however, Drag x Drive has now gotten a somewhat notable content update alongside a free demo.
Added the chasing game ‘Survival Tag’ to friend parks, local wireless parks, and LAN parks.
Collision changes made to account for potential latency
Made some adjustments to bots in friend parks, local wireless parks, and LAN parks.
Changed the target of the Focus Cam when near the sumo ring to the sumo ring itself
Added a feature to enable players to delete their own records
Previous Drag x Drive: Global Jam renamed to ‘demo’ and is now available whenever
Various bug fixes
While far from the most exciting update, it is somewhat encouraging at the very least to see that Nintendo haven't already abandoned the game.
Whether Drag x Drive will see any significant updates or additions to its content, we will have to wait and see, but this is still better than nothing.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this update? How have Nintendo’s post-launch updates been so far? Will Drag x Drive ever get any new substantial content? Let us know down below.
Black Friday has come and gone but there are still some good tech deals floating around for DIY PC builders. This week, MSI launched a new bundle, offering up a free 360mm AIO liquid cooler to those buying an eligible Intel Core Ultra CPU.
Over at Scan, if you buy an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K or Ultra Core 7 265K processor, you will also get a free MSI MAG CoreLiquid I360 AIO liquid cooler to go with it. That means you'll instantly have high-performance cooling to go with your new CPU upgrade.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K desktop processor is Intel's current consumer flagship model, offering up 24 cores and 24 threads, along with a 5.7GHz turbo boost speed. You'll have a much better chance of maintaining those higher clock speeds when pairing the CPU with a 360mm AIO liquid cooler. The Core Ultra 7 265K is one step down, offering 20 cores and 20 threads and a 5.5GHz max boost speed.
You can take advantage of the offer via SCAN for the Core Ultra 9 HERE and for the Core Ultra 7 HERE.
KitGuru Says: Both of these CPUs fall into the high-performance category so pairing them with a 360mm AIO makes perfect sense. Getting to do that for free is a very good bargain.
Each month, all those with a Humble Choice membership are able to get their hands on 8 or so titles as part of the company’s Choice subscription service. For the final month of 2025, Humble is offering a decent selection of games, including Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name; Streets of Rage 4 and more.
Available to add to your library from now until the end of the month, December’s Humble Choice line-up features the following:
Nine Sols
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Streets of Rage 4
Lost Skies
Intravenous II
Dungeon Tycoon
Beholder Conductor
Godlike Burger
Though far from the most exciting month, there is still plenty to enjoy, with the likes of The Man Who Erased His Name being an interesting spin-off of the Yakuza (Like a Dragon) series in which you once again “Jump into the shoes of Kazuma Kiryu, a former yakuza member who faked his death to escape a life of crime but has been dragged back into the game to protect his family.”
Streets of Rage 4 meanwhile is a worthy follow-up to the classic beat ‘em up series. Released over 25 years after its 3rd entry, SoR4 is just as good if not greater than the iconic trilogy which it is following up from.
As always, a portion of your subscription’s proceedings will go towards charity, with this month’s being Save the Children: Working “in more than 100 countries, including the U.S., to ensure kids have the education, protection, and support they need to thrive.”
KitGuru says: What do you think of December’s offerings? Have Humble justified their subscription price increase? Let us know down below.
For Day 4 of the KitGuru Advent Calendar we have teamed up with PowerColor to offer up THREE bundles. Each winner today will get a brand-new PowerColor Alphyn AH10 gaming headset and AM10 gaming mouse.
The PowerColor Alphyn gaming peripherals became available in the UK earlier this year. The Alphyn AH10 headset is a great option, offering DTS-tuned audio profiles, low-latency wireless and up to 30 hours of continuous battery life with quick-charge capability so you can avoid downtime. The Alphyn AM10 mouse perfectly complements the headset with wired and wireless modes, a precise PAW3395 sensor and RGB lighting.
How to Enter:
To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is head over to our competition announcement post on Facebook, HERE. In the comments, leave an answer to the following question – What was your first gaming mouse?
This competition is open Worldwide.
The winners will be picked randomly shortly after 11AM GMT December 5th, and a new competition will be announced for Day 5. The chosen winners have 48 hours to respond, if we do not hear from them, a new winner will be picked.
Terms and Conditions: This competition is open worldwide, starting at 11AM GMT on December 4th and ending at 10:59AM GMT on December 5th. Due to the busy Christmas season, prize deliveries could take longer than usual, and some prizes may not ship until January. In compliance with GDPR, we will not collect or store any personal information as part of this competition. Once the winner has been contacted and their prize received, personal details will be deleted from our email servers. Your details will not be shared, we respect your privacy.
KitGuru Says: Good luck to all who enter, we'll be back tomorrow morning to announce a winner and turn the calendar over to Day 5!
Mario Kart World has had an interesting life so far. Released alongside the Switch 2, the latest and greatest Mario kart racer saw plenty of praise but an equal amount of criticism due in part to Nintendo’s rigid approach to player options across the board. Though it should have been available from the off, Nintendo has now released a massive update for Mario Kart World, bringing with it a ton of requested features.
Music track name and source title of the track that is playing will be displayed on the Pause Menu
Added ‘Music Volume’ to Settings/Controller
Added ‘Restart’ and ‘Next Race’ in the Pause Menu for ‘VS Race’ in ‘Single Player’
Changed the course layout of multiple intermission tracks
Made it so you can join in with friends who are playing Knockout Tour from ‘Friends’ in ‘2p’ and ‘Online Play’
Made it so players who gathered in a Room of Online Play can participate in Race, Knockout Tour, and Battle.
A ton of bug fixes
While there is no denying that these fixes, changes and additions are all welcome to see, pretty much everything added arguably should have been available from day-one, with the omission of a restart option, a music volume slider and more being rather unacceptable.
Skyblivion is an ambitious game-sized mod which brings Bethesda Game Studios’ classic RPG Oblivion into Skyrim’s Creation Engine. After almost a decade of dedicated development from fans, the mod was finally confirmed to be releasing this year. As we near the end of 2025 however, the team has offered a notable update on the project – including the fact that it has now been pushed back to 2026.
Releasing a video to their YouTube channel discussing the latest updates to the project, the Skyblivion team confirmed that they are going to need a bit more time to bring the ambitious mod to fruition, writing:
“As a project by fans, for fans, we need a little more time to ensure Skyblivion lives up to the standards you all deserve. Our anticipated release window is moving into 2026.”
In an exciting bit of news however, the team have now published their interactive Skyblivion map online for all to enjoy, adding “you can now explore the full, finished world of Cyrodiil from the snowy Jerall Mountains to the sand-swept beaches of the Gold Coast.”
The map is exhaustive and includes all of the many different points of interest, from caves to cities; camps to Shrines; Oblivion Gates and everything in between.
While the surprise launch of Oblivion Remastered earlier this year could have put a damper on this long-running project, Skyblivion appears to be different enough to warrant its own unique playthrough or two when the mod hopefully launches next year.
KitGuru says: Are you excited for Skyblivion? How do you think it will compare to the recently-released remaster? Let us know down below.
Cooler Master is preparing to launch the latest addition to its Cosmos series. Dubbed the Cosmos Alpha, this full-tower chassis appears to be the production version of the “Cosmos 2025” prototype that was showcased earlier this year at Computex. While an official release date has not yet been confirmed, the sudden appearance of retail listings suggests a launch soon.
According to Vortez, the Cosmos Alpha is designed to modernise the iconic line while retaining the massive scale that defined its predecessors. Externally, the chassis features the brand's signature curved aluminium handles and frame, as well as a “metal sponge” front panel. First teased on the prototype, this material reportedly outperforms standard mesh in both airflow permeability and ease of cleaning, offering a unique aesthetic for high-end builds.
The chassis is built around the new FreeForm 2.0 design philosophy, which emphasises modularity. The layout supports highly customised configurations, including adjustable channels so you can target your cooling towards hot zones. The case is confirmed to support back-connect motherboards (such as ASUS BTF or MSI Project Zero), allowing for a cable-free visual presentation in the main chamber.
Early store listings have provided a first look at potential pricing. An Indian PC hardware retailer listed the case at ₹32,699 (about £310).
Analyst firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has released its Q3 2025 report on the AIB discrete GPU market, revealing a small but significant milestone for Intel. For the first time since its launch, the Intel Arc cards have cracked the 1% market share barrier, moving past the 0.5% mark it had previously been stuck at.
Intel's growth has been slow due to its late entry into a highly established market.However, recent growth offers a glimmer of hope for Team Blue and its supporters. According to JPR's latest report on the discrete GPU market, Intel has grown 0.4%, breaking the 1% barrier for the first time.
The remaining 99% of the market saw a slight shift in power dynamics. Nvidia continues to dominate the market, holding a massive 92% share. However, this represents a 1.2% decline from the previous quarter. AMD capitalised on this dip, increasing its share by 0.8% to reach 7%. These fluctuations are often driven by inventory availability and pricing strategies from board partners, where even minor adjustments can lead to visible swings in quarterly percentages.
Broader market health appears mixed. Shipments for the quarter reached 12 million units, valued at $8.8 billion, representing a modest 2.8% growth over the previous quarter. However, JPR warns that this figure masks underlying volatility. The firm forecasts a long-term decline, predicting a -0.7% annual drop through 2029.
KitGuru says: The GPU market is in a weird spot right now thanks to the AI boom, so it will be interesting to follow numbers like this in the year ahead.
Earlier this year, following a publicly playable alpha test, Bungie was forced to delay Marathon after an artist noticed that their work had been included in the game uncredited. Now months later and seemingly ahead of Marathon's re-reveal, the artist has confirmed that the dispute has been resolved.
In an update shared on social media, the artist, who goes by the online handle @4nt1r34l, confirmed that “the Marathon art issue has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction”. The statement doesn't reveal any more than that, but we would assume that the artist got paid.
Bungie spent several months over the summer removing the offending assets from Marathon and only just recently resumed playtesting. With this dispute now resolved and the new assets implemented in the game, Bungie should be free to finally show Marathon publicly again.
Marathon is expected to launch in early 2026, though an exact date is not yet known. Bungie could make some announcements before the end of the month, perhaps around The Game Awards on December 11th.
KitGuru Says: Bungie can now move on from this fiasco. Chances are, the agreement between the artist and Bungie included an NDA and likely included a clause to announce publicly that the dispute is resolved, so we'll never know the true details of what was discussed behind closed doors, or how the stolen assets made their way into the game.
Helldivers 2 has always had a significantly higher install size on PC compared to the console versions. At launch, players needed around 70GB of free space to install the game but after more than a year of updates, the PC version has ballooned to a 150GB file size. Now, thanks to some intricate optimisation work, the PC version has been dramatically reduced by over 130GB.
Helldivers 2 fans can rejoice and reclaim some SSD space. In a recent update, Arrowhead revealed that with some help from Sony's PC-focused studio, Nixxes, they have managed to reduce the PC install size of the game all the way down to just 23GB.
This is a massive 85 percent reduction in file size. It turns out that the PC version of the game was so big because it had a ton of duplicated assets within the game files. This duplication was originally implemented to improve load times for players using mechanical hard drives, but in practice most of the loading delays came from level generation rather than asset streaming. As a result, the duplicated data wasn’t providing meaningful benefits, yet it caused the install footprint to balloon far beyond the console versions.
After coming to this conclusion, Arrowhead and Nixxes worked together to create a ‘slim' build of the game. The end result was SSD users experiencing no difference in load times, while HDD users should only experience a few extra seconds of delay. This change not only makes the game more manageable to install and update, but also ensures parity with console versions, which were much smaller all along.
Arrowhead is still testing the slim version of the game, but PC players can opt in via Steam and get immediate access to the smaller version of the game, all without giving up access to the usual matchmaking queues and game content. If you do encounter an issue, you can quickly revert to the ‘legacy' build by going into the Steam menu and changing your beta participation status to ‘none'.
KitGuru Says: I would like to see more game developers focusing their efforts on reducing file sizes. Many titles nowadays have large 100GB+ install requirements, despite the game content not necessarily justifying the install size.
Today we look at a new flagship power supply from Antec – a unit so important Antec call it their ‘Signature'. This 2,200 watt behemoth is going to hit the UK market in a few weeks priced at £449.99, offering Cybenetics Titanium certification and support for the ATX 3.1/PCIe5.1 spec. It also ships with a full 12-year warranty.
Antec literature on the product is keen to highlight the adoption of 105C-rated Japanese capacitors inside. While 2200 watts is a little much for gamers today, Antec say it is designed for workstations, ‘professional workloads' and ‘AI and EDGE computing'. Everyone seems to focus on AI today of course, so that's always going to be a key selling point. Perhaps if you are running multiple RTX 5090 graphics cards, it is also a solid option for consideration.
The OEM for this power supply is Seasonic, based on their Prime PX-2200 ATX 3 unit released earlier this year.
Obsidian has been patching up Avowed with major updates every few months. Unfortunately, the Winter update, which contains new features like NewGame+ has been delayed at the last minute.
The Avowed Winter update was supposed to drop before the end of 2025, but the release date has now shifted to February 18th 2026 to coincide with the game's 1-year anniversary. It's not all bad news though, with the Winter update now transforming into an Anniversary update, Obsidian has also expanded the scope.
“If you've been following our Update Roadmap, you'll know we planned to release an update this fall. To break the bad news first: Avowed will not be receiving a fall update. The good news is that we're shifting our efforts toward a larger update coming next February, timed with the anniversary of the game's release.”
The new update will still include all of the features originally planned, like NG+ and Photo Mode, but with some added bonuses including more character customisation options, the ability to change appearance in the game world, a new weapon type and more.
We will learn more about the new additions to Avowed closer to the February 18th anniversary.
KitGuru Says: Out of the two games Obsidian released this year, Avowed edges out The Outer Worlds 2 for me, in large part thanks to the excellent combat. When it comes to dual-wielding and first-person spell casting, Avowed is in a class of its own.
Today we’re taking a look at a prebuilt from Wired2Fire: the R7X3D 5080 Beast – MSI Edition. With a name like that it has to be good, right?! The components certainly back that name up on paper, with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming Trio OC, 64GB of Klevv Cras V DDR5 RAM and a 4TB Lexar NM790 SSD. Today we’re aiming to find out if the ‘Beast’ has any bite to go with its bark!
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:55 Pricing / Warranty
01:56 Hardware Specifications / Setup
07:27 Front I/O
08:00 Mat's thoughts so far
08:43 Fan configuration – some issues
09:15 Test setup
10:05 Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p and 4k)
11:19 Battlefield 6 (1440p and 4k)
12:17 F1 2025 (1440p and 4k)
13:07 Hogwarts Legacy (1440p and 4k)
14:07 Marvel Rivals (1440p and 4k)
15:06 Overall Gaming Experience
15:52 CPU and GPU Technical performance
16:55 Noise testing and Thermal Camera
17:25 Closing Thoughts
Specifications:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
SSD: Lexar 4TB NM790 M.2 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe SSD
GPU: MSI RTX 5080 16G GAMING TRIO OC
RAM: KLEVV CRAS V RGB 64GB DDR5 6000MHz
Case: MSI MAG PANO 110R PZ White
Motherboard: MSI AM5 X870E GAMING PLUS WIFI
Cooling: MAG CORELIQUID I360 White
PSU: MPG A1000GS 1000W
The core specs are confirmed in the following CPU-Z and GPU-Z screenshots:
I tested the R7X3D across 5 titles at both 1440p and 4K. Starting with rasterised performance before looking at the benefits to be gained when using DLSS on its performance preset and then also adding in frame generation. The below screenshots show some results, for a more in-depth look and more detailed breakdown, watch our video review on YouTube.
At 1440p, every title we tested ran exceptionally well with headroom to spare for high-refresh displays. 4K performance is strong too, though the most demanding games will dip under 60fps at native max settings. Enabling DLSS or Frame Generation quickly pushes those numbers back into very smooth territory, making this a system that can comfortably handle both competitive 1440p and visually rich 4K gaming without major compromises.
Hogwarts Legacy (3840×2160 – Max Settings)
Hogwarts Legacy (3840×2160 – Max Settings, DLSS Performance, 4X Multi Frame Generation)
Battlefield 6 (2560×1600 – Max Settings)
Battlefield 6 (2560×1600 – Max Settings, DLSS Performance, 4X Multi Frame Generation)
Closing Thoughts
There’s a lot to like about the R7X3D 5080 Beast. The pairing of Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 5080 makes for a seriously capable gaming machine, delivering excellent high-refresh performance at 1440p and strong results at 4K when DLSS or Frame Generation are brought into the mix. Build quality is solid, cable management is tidy, and the all-MSI hardware gives it a cohesive look. The white theme with that frosted pump design makes for a smart-looking system. A sizeable 4TB SSD and a generous 5-year labour and 2-year parts warranty also help make this feel like a well-rounded package.
It’s not perfect, though. The case is clearly one of the areas where costs have been kept in check, and native 4K in the most demanding games still dips under 60fps with everything maxed. If you’re a purist who refuses to enable DLSS, you’ll end up tweaking some settings.
Pricing is very competitive when compared to building a system yourself to the same specification, but there's no getting away from the fact that this is still an expensive system whichever angle you look at it from.
Pros:
The pairing of Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU and RTX 5080 GPU offers great gaming performance at both 1440p and 4K.
Very competitive pricing compared to building the same system yourself.
4TB Lexar NM790 SSD is fast and spacious.
64GB of RAM will handle more than just gaming.
Great setup and cable management.
Cons:
The case is not as premium as I’d hoped from a build of this specification.
The AIO fans were not connected to the internal fan hub for easy control with the case's physical ‘LED’ button.
KitGuru says: A powerful and well-balanced high-end gaming PC with great 1440p performance and strong 4K results, though the case choice reminds you it’s not without compromise.
Samsung has officially announced its first foray into the tri-fold smartphone market with the Galaxy Z TriFold, a device that expands the company’s foldable portfolio to a new form factor. The handset features a dual-hinge design that allows it to unfurl into a massive 10-inch tablet-style display, positioning it as the largest screen available on a Galaxy phone to date.
The Z Trifold's design revolves around dual titanium hinges, which allow the main screen to fold inwards, protecting the panel when closed. Moreover, Samsung has placed the 6.5-inch cover screen on the back of the folded stack. This cover panel uses a 21:9 aspect ratio with a resolution of 2520 x 1080 and offers a 120 Hz variable refresh rate, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2.
When fully opened, the main 10-inch display offers a resolution of 2160 x 1584 and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Like the cover screen, it supports a variable 1-120 Hz refresh rate. Samsung has kept the chassis relatively slender, measuring 12.9 mm when folded and slimming down to just 3.9 mm at its thinnest point when open. The device weighs in at 309 g and retains an IP48 rating for dust and water resistance.
The Z TriFold is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, paired with 16 GB of RAM. Storage options include 512 GB and 1 TB. Power is provided by a 5,600 mAh battery split across three cells, supporting 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Camera duties are handled by a 200 MP main sensor (ISOCELL HP2), joined by a 12 MP ultrawide and a 10 MP 3x telephoto lens. Both the cover and main displays feature 10 MP punch-hole selfie cameras.
On the software front, the device runs OneUI 8 based on Android 16. The larger canvas supports running three full-sized apps side-by-side in portrait mode. Most notably, this is the first Samsung phone to feature a standalone Samsung DeX mode that operates directly on the device without an external monitor, allowing for a desktop-like experience when paired with peripherals.
Samsung will release the Galaxy Z TriFold on December 12th in Korea and expand availability gradually. Official pricing is still unknown, but Korean listings suggest a price of 3,594,000 KRW (about £1,800).
Update: This competition is now CLOSED. Our winners today are Bobby Hing, Alex Royle, Maria Asfalidou, Arnas Klimavicius & Charlie Parton! If you missed out this time then keep an eye out as we have a new giveaway lined up each day through December. Today's giveaway can be found HERE.
For Day 3 of the KitGuru Advent Calendar, we have teamed up with Sudokoo to give FIVE lucky winners a cooling upgrade. The winners for this one will each get a Proteus 360 AIO liquid cooler and some extra Mach120 fans to go with it.
We reviewed the Sudokoo Proteus 360 AIO liquid cooler earlier this year and came away impressed by the cooler's thermal performance and the digital LCD display on the CPU block. With an extra Mach120 triple pack, you'll be able to pack your case with extra fans for more airflow.
How to Enter:
To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is head over to our competition announcement post on Facebook, HERE. In the comments, leave an answer to the following question – What CPU cooler are you currently running?
This competition is open Worldwide.
The winners will be picked randomly shortly after 11AM GMT December 4th, and a new competition will be announced for Day 4. The chosen winners have 48 hours to respond, if we do not hear from them, a new winner will be picked.
Terms and Conditions: This competition is open worldwide, starting at 11AM GMT on December 3rd and ending at 10:59AM GMT on December 4th. Due to the busy Christmas season, prize deliveries could take longer than usual, and some prizes may not ship until January. In compliance with GDPR, we will not collect or store any personal information as part of this competition. Once the winner has been contacted and their prize received, personal details will be deleted from our email servers. Your details will not be shared, we respect your privacy.
KitGuru Says: Good luck to all who enter, we'll be back tomorrow morning to announce a winner and turn the calendar over to Day 4!
The Game Awards 2025 has officially opened the polls for its Players' Voice category, the only accolade in the upcoming ceremony determined entirely by the gaming community. Unlike the primary categories, where a global jury of media outlets heavily weights the outcome, the Players' Voice award hinges 100% on fan engagement. This year's contest is particularly interesting as it sees the return of the roguelike survival hit Megabonk, which had previously been withdrawn from the Best Debut Indie category by its developer but is now eligible for this community-driven prize.
The voting process for the Players' Voice award is structured as a three-round tournament designed to whittle down the initial pool of 30 nominees. The first round is currently underway and will conclude on December 3rd at 2:00 AM BST. In this initial phase, users can log into the official Game Awards website via their social accounts or email to select their top ten favourites from the longlist. The nominees include heavy hitters such as Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Death Stranding 2, alongside older live-service titles like Genshin Impact and Warframe.
Once the first deadline passes, the field will be narrowed down to the top ten titles for Round 2, which is scheduled to kick off on December 4th at 5:00 PM BST. At that stage, voters will be limited to selecting just five titles. The competition intensifies for the third and final round, starting December 8th, where the remaining five nominees will face off for the single winning spot. The full list of nominees for the first round of The Game Awards 2025 Players’ Voice Award voting can be found below:
Arc Raiders
Battlefield 6
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
Delta Force
Dispatch
Donkey Kong Bananza
Doom: The Dark Ages
Elden Ring Nightreign
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Genshin Impact
Ghost of Yōtei
Hades II
Helldivers 2
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Mario Kart World
Marvel Rivals
Megabonk
Ninja Gaiden 4
No Man's Sky
Peak
R.E.P.O.
Silent Hill f
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
Split Fiction
Warframe
Wuthering Waves
Historical precedence suggests this award often favours titles with passionate, active communities. Black Myth: Wukong took home the accolade in 2024, following in the footsteps of Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023, Halo Infinite in 2021, and Ghost of Tsushima in 2020. The winner of this year's contest will be revealed live during the main ceremony at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on December 11th.
DICE is reactivating its Battlefield Labs initiative, a community testing program designed to gather feedback. Initially, the tool was created before Battlefield VI and Redsec was released, but now it will be adapted to test updates before they go live. While participation is strictly by invitation, players can register their interest directly through the Electronic Arts website.
Following a brief hiatus, Dice confirmed that Labs sessions will resume starting today. The testing window is notably short, running from 10 PM to 12 PM BST for PC players on Steam and the EA App. As with previous tests, participants will be bound by an NDA to prevent the sharing of footage or details.
The focus of this specific session is to trial changes arriving in the December 9th patch. DICE is targeting core gameplay pillars that the community has been asking to be improved, including visual clarity, audio, and networking. In this session, these tweaks will be tested across the Eastwood and Operation Firestorm maps in the All-Out Warfare playlist.
Specific technical improvements being trialled include a revision of the footstep audio engine. The goal is to provide more accurate distance cues and clearer surface identification to help players locate enemies more easily. Hit registration has also been tuned to offer a smoother experience during close-quarters combat.
Looking beyond this update, DICE plans to utilise Battlefield Labs more frequently. The studio intends to use the platform to try out map redesigns, new mechanics and modes, environmental changes, and experimental rulesets such as reduced squad sizes.
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