Today Sapphire is launching its latest all-white AM5 motherboard, the Pure X870A WiFi 7. Sporting a minimalist design and the full X870 chipset, the motherboard is poised as a high-end option for custom gaming PCs with the latest Ryzen CPUs.
The Pure X870A WiFi 7 supports DDR5 memory up to 8400MHz (OC) and uses a 16+2+1 phase VRM to maintain stable power delivery under heavy workloads or overclocking. Dedicated heatsinks for the VRM, M.2 slots, and chipset help sustain performance during extended gaming sessions.
Connectivity is built around PCIe 5.0 for both graphics cards and NVMe storage, alongside WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and Realtek 5Gb Ethernet for high‑speed networking. USB4 Type‑C provides 40Gbps bandwidth, DisplayPort Alt Mode, and 15W Power Delivery, giving the board flexibility for modern peripherals and multi‑display setups.
Sapphire’s BIOS offers an updated interface for monitoring and fine‑tuning system behaviour, while the TriXX‑M software extends those controls into Windows for cooling adjustments, lighting customisation, performance monitoring, and diagnostics.
The SAPPHIRE PURE X870A WIFI 7 will be available soon for around $249. We have one in-house to feature in an upcoming build, so stay tuned for that.
KitGuru Says: What do you think of Sapphire's latest motherboard?
When it comes to showing off its upcoming releases, Nintendo has settled on two primary outlets: its Direct Showcases as well as Nintendo Treehouse streams. Announcing the latter, the Switch 2 maker has now confirmed that a Nintendo Treehouse will be going live later today – taking a look at the Switch 2 Edition of Mario Bros. Wonder as well as the much-anticipated Pokemon Pokopia.
Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the official Nintendo of America page wrote: “Join us on Feb 24 at 2pm PT [10PM UK Time] for a new Nintendo Treehouse: Live presentation featuring hands-on gameplay of #SuperMarioBrosWonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park and #PokemonPokopia.”
For the uninitiated, Nintendo’s Treehouse streams are typically reserved for deep-dives into its games, and so while we have already heard plenty regarding Meetup in Bellabel Park and Pokopia, this upcoming event should present a more in-depth and uncut look at these two upcoming releases.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Nintendo has to say regarding these two titles when the Treehouse stream goes live later tonight at 10PM.
KitGuru says: Are you planning to watch the livestream? What are your hopes for Meetup in Bellabel Park? Could Pokemon Pokopia be as popular as Animal Crossing? Let us know down below.
Vampire Survivors blew up when the reverse-bullet-hell rogue-lite released back in 2022, spawning an entirely new sub-genre of ‘bullet-heavens’. Developed by the studio Poncle, the team are now set to tackle the dungeon-crawling card-battler scene, with Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard now receiving an official demo ahead of its launch later this year.
Vampire Crawlers is a spin-off of the highly-popular Vampire Survivors. Set to release some time in early-mid 2026, this new take on the formula sees many familiar elements from Survivors being adapted to fit the upcoming first-person dungeon-crawling deckbuilder.
Seemingly featuring a similar level of buildcrafting, Vampire Crawlers looks to be a highly fun and addictive title which may very well spawn its own set of inspirations – bringing the dungeon crawling genre back into the limelight.
Regardless of whether this is the direction you were hoping to see Poncle head in, both fans and sceptics alike can try out ‘Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors’ right now thanks to a free demo.
Vampire Survivors is genuinely one of the most impactful indie games released in quite some time, and so it will be interesting to see how the industry responds to the team at Poncle’s next big project.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Vampire Crawlers? Will it scratch the same itch as Survivors? Let us know your thoughts down below.
The most exciting part of reviewing PC hardware is looking at brand new products from a fresh new company. Levelplay debuted its cooling line at Computex 2024, so its products are very new to the market. Today we get our first look at one of the company's AIO coolers, the Combat Liquid 360 HUD, equipped with a 360mm radiator, RGB fans, and an LCD screen, or you could say… a Heads-Up Display!
Features:
Integrated 2.6″ circular display: Combat Liquid 360 HUD is equipped with a built-in HUD, providing real-time system info like CPU temperature, power draw, usage rate, and clock speeds directly on the pump cap mounted LCD.
Jet impingement pump technology: Levelplay AIOs use a high-velocity coolant flow pumped directly onto the cold plate to improve thermal transfer from the CPU.
Rigid All-in-one fan design: Three 120mm ARGB fans are encased in a unified frame design, pre-installed to the cooler for less cable clutter and maximum airflow.
Engineering designed to last: Durable metal brackets support installation on AMD and Intel desktop platforms while reinforced rubber tubing with braided sleeving allows for maximum flexibility, leak protection and a clean look.
Levelplay ships the Combat Liquid 360 HUD in a cardboard box with an image of the cooler and Combat logos on the front. On the back, some key features are listed with images. Inside the box, the contents are packed into a cardboard crate for protection during shipping. The cooler is wrapped in plastic, and the accessories are included separately in a smaller box.
The included fans are mounted in a single-frame design to reduce cable clutter and feature a PWM speed range of 800-2000 RPM. The opaque fan blades illuminate with ARGB lighting once the cooler is powered on, and a single cable connects from the centre, featuring standard 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB connections.
The Combat 360 HUD uses a standard 27mm thick aluminium radiator with 12 waterways and a dense fin pitch with fixed position tubing at the radiator tank. The radiator is coated with a slightly textured, satin black finish that appears high-quality. The tubing is fitted with premium-looking braided sleeving.
For an LCD-equipped pump, the Levelplay Combat Liquid 360 HUD is a compact unit, with dimensions of 89 x 80 x 64 mm with the screen housing installed. The screen housing is attached to the pump body magnetically and can be easily removed and rotated so that the display can always be mounted in the correct orientation.
Tubing is flexible EPDM rubber connected to the CPU block on 90-degree rotary fittings. At the base of the CPU block, the cold plate is manufactured from micro-skived copper. Wiring to the pump is standard 4-pin PWM, and the LCD connects to the PC motherboard via a 9-pin USB header connection.
In terms of included accessories, all installation hardware for current AMD and Intel platforms is shipped with the cooler. There is also a small tube of thermal compound, as there isn't any pre-applied to the cold plate and a thermal paste spreading tool. A physical copy of the installation guide is included too, which I prefer to digital versions that seem to be more common these days.
For pretty much its entire existence, Call of Duty has operated using a familiar model, with the FPS franchise seeing a brand new title released on an annual basis from one of the 3 core COD studios. While this has worked in the past, Black Ops 7 seems to have been a breaking point for some. According to known insiders, Microsoft is now considering a major shake-up, including a standalone Zombies game.
As reported by known Call of Duty leaker TheGhostofHope, an internal delay of the next-gen Xbox console from Microsoft has “hurt a lot of CODs marketing plans as they wanted Modern Warfare 4 to be a launch title and draw a lot of hype to compete with people's attention alongside GTA VI.”
According to Hope, this has led to “the idea of two Call Of Duty games launching with the next Xbox” being considered – namely “a traditional Call of Duty multiplayer and a standalone Zombies title presumably developed by Treyarch.”
Alongside this, Microsoft is reportedly wanting “Activision to be more agile and less attached to annualized releases in the future,” with one example of its failings being the lack of evolution in MW2’s DMZ extraction mode due to it being attached to an annual COD entry.
Of course, Microsoft and Xbox are in a weird spot at the moment, so these plans could be altered or changed at any point.
Still, considering just how rigidly the franchise has stuck to its annual releases up until now, it would be interesting to see what Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games could achieve if given enough time and freedom. Hopefully we find out.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this leak? Would you welcome a shift in strategy? Between a standalone DMZ and Zombies game, which would you prefer? Let us know down below.
The past year has been a big one for Ubisoft, with the publisher going through a ton of changes on an executive and strategic level. So far this has primarily led to a bunch of negative news, with countless project cancellations, lay-offs and more. Following the departure of the long-time Assassin’s Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté late last year, Ubisoft have now shared an official “Update on the Future of Assassin’s Creed.”
“We know that what comes next has been a big topic within the community lately, and today, we can finally share some updates, starting with the introduction of newcomers to the leadership team that will shape the future of the franchise.”
Leading the “franchise team, as well as the overall strategy, long‑term vision, and development of Assassin's Creed”
Jean Guesdon (Head of Content)
Will lead “the creative direction of the franchise, support ongoing projects, and help shape the franchise’s future while ensuring it remains true to its DNA”
François De Billy (Head of Production Excellence)
Tasked with “strengthening production practices and execution across the franchise”
Being one of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises, the publisher already had a solid half-a-dozen entries in development in one form or another. With some of these having reportedly since been cancelled, it will be interesting to see how this new trio navigate the future of the AC franchise. Additional details on each of these new heads can be found HERE.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this new team? Are you more or less confident in Assassin’s Creed following this announcement? Is the franchise’s best days behind it? Let us know your thoughts down below.
Intel has reportedly finalised the specifications for its long-rumoured “Bartlett Lake-S” Core 200E family of processors, a platform that's expected to use only P-cores for the ageing LGA-1700 socket.
Despite the gaming community calling for a P-core-only desktop chip, Intel might be skipping this market with Bartlett Lake-S.
The technical specifications leaked by Jaykhin (via VideoCardz) showcase a 12-core, 24-thread flagship dubbed the Core 9 273 PQE. This high-performance SKU features a base frequency of 3.4GHz and can reach a single-core boost of 5.9GHz, with an all-core boost of 5.3GHz. The processor is equipped with 36MB of L3 cache and a 32-EU integrated Xe-LP graphics engine, all while operating within a 125W TDP. The lineup is segmented into three distinct power tiers: the higher-end PQE (125W), the balanced PE (65W), and the efficiency-focused PTE (45W).
Across the stack, Intel reportedly offers configurations with 8, 10, and 12 P-cores, all of which feature Hyper-Threading. All high-power PQE models support Intel vPro and ECC memory, though these features are selectively omitted from certain lower-power PE and PTE variants to better align with specific price points. The detailed table shared by Jaykhin can be found below:
BTL-S P
Base Power (W)
Core Count
ST Boost (GHz)
MT Boost (GHz)
Base Clock (GHz)
EU Count
L3 Cache (MB)
vPro
ECC
273PQE
125
12
5.9
5.3
3.4
32
36
Yes
Yes
253PQE
125
10
5.7
5.3
3.5
32
33
Yes
Yes
223PQE
125
8
5.5
5.3
4.0
32
24
Yes
Yes
273PE
65
12
5.7
5.2
2.3
32
36
Yes
Yes
253PE
65
10
5.5
5.2
2.5
32
33
Yes
Yes
223PE
65
8
5.4
4.8
2.9
32
24
Yes
Yes
213PE
65
8
5.2
4.6
2.7
24
24
No
Yes
273PTE
45
12
5.5
4.6
1.4
32
36
Yes
Yes
253PTE
45
10
5.4
4.6
1.8
32
33
Yes
Yes
223PTE
45
8
5.4
4.8
2.3
32
24
Yes
Yes
213PTE
45
8
5.2
4.6
2.1
24
24
No
Yes
KitGuru says: Gamers have asked for a modern Intel CPU without E-cores, and the Bartlett Lake-S series offers just that. Unfortunately, we do not know if Intel will be serving the gaming market with this release.
MSI has started teasing a limited-edition graphics card collaboration with the popular fantasy anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, signalling another high-profile crossover.
The announcement first appeared on MSI's official Chinese Bilibili accounts (via Ruby_Rapids), featuring imagery that confirms a partnership with the series' copyright holders. While the specific product has not been officially confirmed, MSI's history suggests the collaboration will likely centre on a graphics card.
If it's indeed a graphics card, it will likely be based on one of MSI's existing high-end cooling platforms, such as the Gaming series, though customised with unique artwork.
This follows a growing trend of anime-inspired hardware, such as the Asus x Hatsune Miku series, or before that, the Evangelion collaboration. US custom PC company, Starforge Systems, also built a Frieren-themed PC. While this specific MSI teaser was primarily aimed at the Chinese market, there is a chance that we'll see it in the West as well.
KitGuru says: If this collaboration does exist it will also be interesting to see if it ends up being region specific.
During a Dragon Ball anniversary event last night, a new, untitled game was teased. Now just weeks later, it appears a YouTube playlist update has revealed this game to be Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3.
The Dragon Ball ‘Age 1000' game announcement teaser was accidentally put into a public playlist on YouTube by the Bandai Namco YouTube channel. The playlist revealed the teaser as an initial announcement for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3. Considering the game's codename and the Xenoverse' series' reliance on time travel, more than a few fans likely anticipated this anyway.
The Dragon Ball Xenoverse games have largely taken the spotlight on from previous 3D fighting games like the Budokai Tenkaichi series. In the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games, fans get to relive a mix of classic story fights, brand-new content and what-if scenarios. It has a massive character roster that has only grown through years of DLC support. However, with Xenoverse 2 having been around for almost 10 years now, this year would be a good time for a fresh new game in the series.
We will no doubt be getting more news on Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 in the coming months considering Bandai Namco is already preparing its back end for new trailers.
KitGuru Says: Did you play much of Xenoverse 2 since its launch? What would you like to see in a third game?
For around a year now, there have been rumours of a major Starfield 2.0 update, one that would fix much of the criticism levied at the game at launch, while also bringing the game over to PS5 consoles. Unfortunately, one of those rumours has been shut down over the past week.
While it still seems likely that Starfield will make its way over to PS5, Todd Howard did want to address one of the recent rumours surrounding the game. In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, the long-time Bethesda game director said that ‘Starfield 2.0' is not a thing, although there are some big updates coming to the game this year.
“It is not Starfield 2.0 – I’ve seen some of that, and for expectation setting, I think it’s the kind've thing where if you like Starfield, we think you’re going to love this”, Howard added that the team is focused on “using outer space in ways that we haven't”. That last part is interesting, as one of the biggest fan requests for this game has been open travel between planets and space.
While not announced yet, it is also expected that Starfield will be getting a second story expansion at some point.
KitGuru Says: I really enjoyed my time with Starfield but I have yet to go back and play the DLC, in part because rumours of ‘major updates' have been floating around for so long.
Our review of this HP Zbook Ultra G1a features the AMD Strix Halo APU which was announced at CES 2025. Despite its age this is the most powerful APU that money can buy, and both the CPU and graphics are truly impressive. To make things interesting we put the HP laptop head-to-head with Intel’s brand new Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 388H so we could see the best integrated graphics in action.
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:52 AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Series
03:36 Intel Core Ultra Series 3 thoughts
04:19 A quick test or 2
06:32 Physical Size / Battery
07:37 Connectors / Keyboard / Looks
08:33 Hardware
09:17 Comparisons and Performance Hardware
11:13 GeekBench 6 Multi Core
13:20 Geekbench 6 Single Core
13:53 Cinebench 2026 Multi Core / Points Per watt
14:44 Cinebench 2026 Single Core
15:24 Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
15:54 Cinebench 2024 Single Core
16:15 Cinebench R23 Multi Core
16:34 Cinebench R23 Single Core
16:44 7-Zip V25 Benchmark
16:56 Aida64 Memory Bandwidth
17:09 3DMark Fire Strike
17:52 Assassins Creed Mirage
19:57 FarCry 6
21:48 Cyberpunk 2077
24:21 PCMark 10 Battery Test
25:05 Closing Thoughts
Main Features
PRO Processor: Take charge of your work with the latest AMD Ryzen AI MAX processors, delivering cutting-edge CPU capabilities.
Integrated graphics: Experience ultra-powered performance, power through AI demanding workflows with AMD Radeon graphics and dedicated AI accelerators.
LPDDR5X-8533 MT/s Memory: Up to 128GB of memory. The unified memory architecture allows you to allocate up to 96GB of memory exclusively to the GPU.
Impressive expandability: Blitz through multiple tasks and ditch external drives with slots for up to 4TB local storage.
Up to 50 TOPS: Ensure smooth and responsive operation, tackle more and more demanding tasks, with the power to run AI locally.
All day battery life: Maximise your productivity with a long-lasting battery life, with HP Fast Charge reaching up to 50% in only 30 mins.
HP Smart Sense: Optimise your comfort and performance with an AI tool that adapts to your use. Adjust fan noise, conserve energy, and regulate CPU temperature for an optimal PC experience.
HP AI Companion: Enhance your productivity with a range of AI tools and solutions designed to simplify your daily tasks and keep you efficient throughout the day.
Specification
Processor: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 (up to 5.1 GHz max boost clock, 64 MB L3 cache, 16 cores, 32 threads)
Audio: Poly Studio; 4 integrated stereo speakers (1W / 8 ohm per speaker) with discrete amplifiers; 2 integrated dual-array digital microphones
Dimensions: 31.2 cm (W) x 21.5 cm (D) x 1.8 cm (H)
Weight: 1.58 kg (plus 0.53 kg charger)
Power adapter: 140W USB Type-C
Battery: HP XL-Long Life 4-cell, 74.5Wh polymer
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro
Testing and Performance
Geekbench 6 Multi Core
In Geekbench 6 Multi Core we see the HP Zbook in an effective tie with the Asus Zenbook Duo and Intel Panther Lake. This indicates that Core Ultra X9 388H has something extra that makes up for the lack of pure CPU grunt.
Cinebench 2026 Multi Core
This is the result we expected in Cinebench 2026 Multi Core with the AMD Strix Halo powering the HP Zbook to a clear victory by a massive margin.
AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth
The HP Zbook is loaded with a massive 128GB of LPDDR5x-8533 and the Strix Halo has a quad channnel memory controller which combine in AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth to deliver a decisive victory.
Far Cry 6 at 1,280×800 on Ultra Preset
We show a number of gaming tests in our video. This particular test shows a low resolution with the clever image enhancements disabled, and the result is the HP Zbook runs at over 100fps on average which is impressive.
Cyberpunk 2077 at 2,880×1,800 with Frame Generation Enabled
Cyberpunk 2077 is a stiff test for any laptop and 2,880×1,800 is a huge resolution so it comes as quite a surprise to see the HP Zbook using Frame Generation to play at nearly 100fps.
Battery Life
The HP Zbook does well in our battery test and shows that you can work all day on a single battery charge. Having said that, you will want to take the charger with you to guarantee you get maximum performance.
Closing Thoughts
If KitGuru were to invent an award for Most Stealthy and Under Stated Product Ever, the HP Zbook Ultra G1a would make the list and would likely win the award. It looks like a dull, grey 14-inch laptop that is thin and light yet it packs the most amazing punch and delivers epic performance from the AMD Strix Halo APU without any need for add-in graphics.
You may have noticed in our video that we barely discuss operating temperatures and don't mention noise levels at all, and that is for good reason. The innards typically run at 60 degrees C on battery and 70 degrees C on charger, and the cooling system wasn't the least bit intrusive. It is a remarkable laptop that is mainly held back by its hefty £3k+ price tag and slightly affected by the annoying amount of HP software.
You can buy the HP Zbook Ultra G1a for £3,204 HERE.
Pros:
Epic CPU and GPU performance from AMD AI Max+ PRO 395.
Impressive battery life for a mobile workstation.
Compact form factor that is highly portable.
Huge memory bandwidth from quad channel DDR5.
Cons:
Very expensive.
3rd party monitoring utilities continue to be confused by AMD APUs.
HP includes a number of pieces of software instead of a single utility.
KitGuru says: The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is deeply impressive and shows we can live without Nvidia graphics.
Lenovo has reportedly notified its channel partners that significant price increases are expected to hit its PC and server line-ups starting in March 2026. In a letter, North America channel chief Wade McFarland and regional president Ryan McCurdy confirmed that the company’s Intelligent Devices Group (IDG) and Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) are adjusting pricing to offset the soaring costs of memory and storage components.
Also in the letter obtained by CRN (via TechPowerUp), to mitigate the impact on long-term projects, Lenovo has advised partners to finalise and submit orders before the end of February to lock in current rates before the March transition takes effect.
The new strategy is particularly pronounced within Lenovo’s ISG unit, which manages server and storage solutions. Price quotes for internal bidding platforms are now being restricted to a 14-day window, while external quotes are capped at 30 days. This way, the company avoids being caught in long-term contracts that no longer reflect the rapid rise in component costs. Furthermore, Lenovo has moved to simplify its enterprise offerings by consolidating product lineups and reducing configuration complexity.
This situation reflects a broader trend affecting the entire hardware sector. The surge in demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI data centers has syphoned off production capacity that would normally be allocated to the DDR5 and LPDDR5X modules used in consumer systems. As manufacturing lead times for these components continue to increase, other major PC providers are expected to raise prices as well.
KitGuru says: Lenovo might be the first, but it won't be the only company raising prices this year.
Almost a decade ago now, Square Enix released NieR: Automata – a beautiful, evocative and highly fun game which introduced millions to the unique and bleak world of NieR. Despite the game’s critical and commercial success, we still have yet to receive a proper follow-up entry. Finally however, alongside the announcement that Automata has sold over 10 million copies, Square Enix confirmed that NieR will ”be continued…”
As part of the game’s 9th anniversary stream, publisher Square Enix officially confirmed that NieR: Automata has sold over 10 million copies – a massive achievement for what was a relatively unknown IP upon its release.
While passing such a milestone is nothing to sniff at, by far the biggest announcement at the event was the subtle confirmation that a new game is in the works, with the celebration video concluding with the words “NieR: Automata to be continued…”
While the wording itself is a little odd, it is in reference to one of the more iconic lines from the game. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that they specifically stated NieR: Automata, suggesting that the next game could be a direct sequel.
For the uninitiated, NieR: Automata is a sequel to 2010’s NieR: Replicant / Gestalt, set thousands of years after the first game. Furthermore, the original NieR was itself a spin-off of sorts to the Drakengard series of games. All this is to say that it appears as though the popularity of Automata and its characters are not going to waste, with a direct sequel likely in the works.
Though it's coming almost a decade later than expected, it is exciting to learn that we might finally get a new NieR game at some point.
KitGuru says: Are you glad to see Square Enix returning to NieR? Would you prefer a direct sequel or more of a NieR: Automata type of scenario? Let us know down below.
Roblox has existed for decades now, and while the online platform has always been popular, it’s seen a notable surge in players over the past couple years – with its total player counts matching that of entire consoles. Now, not only has Roblox surpassed the likes of Steam and PlayStation, but it's beaten out both platforms (and then some) combined.
According to Ball, throughout 2025 Roblox saw an average of 10.25 billion hours spent in-game each month across over 150 million daily active users.
Putting this into context, the amount of monthly time spent in Roblox exceeded that of Steam (roughly 5 billion hours); PlayStation (around 4.3 billion hours) and Fortnite (a little under 1 billion) combined.
It is worth noting that the PlayStation numbers only account for those actually playing games, and does not include the console’s usage with regards to Netflix, YouTube and the like.
While there is no arguing that Roblox has become far more than just a game creation engine, its continued success and ever-increasing growth is still impressive to witness. It will be interesting to see whether Roblox will ever hit its ceiling.
One of Nintendo’s primary strategies with the Switch 2 so far has been to offer upgrades for their last-gen titles – some of which have been free while others cost up to $20 for an upgrade. Sentiment surrounding these Switch 2 editions have been varied, but it appears as though backlash towards their most recent release (Xenoblade Chronicles X) has led Nintendo to begin offering refunds to displeased fans.
Unfortunately, despite the promise that the title would run at up to 4K60fps on Switch 2 when docked and 1080p 60fps in handheld, many users have expressed their disappointment with the upgrade, comparing it unfavourably to visual clarity achieved when playing the game on a Wii U emulator.
Nintendo typically does not offer refunds in this way, and so the fact that users were able to is interesting. Whether the console maker will opt to patch Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch 2 in the future with additional enhancements however, we will have to wait and see – but don’t expect anything substantial if it does happen.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Nintendo’s Switch 2 Edition upgrades? Which ones have been worth it and which ones feel a bit money-grabby? Let us know your thoughts down below.
“We would have gotten it made a few years back, but then other movies got in the way, with one being The Long Walk and the other being The Hunger Games prequel, which comes out this December. We're just waiting for [director Francis Lawrence] to finish post-production, because he's going to be working on it through at least September, and then jump back into it.”
Lee continued, “I know that Netflix and Take-Two are very anxious to see the movie come out because they want to have the release coincide with some of the potential new incarnations of the game.”
Lee’s last point is of particular note, as just like with the adaptation, 2K’s long-awaited Bioshock 4 game has also run into its own setbacks. Assuming things go to plan however, we could finally be getting both Bioshock 4 and the Netflix film within a similar time period.
That said, information on both projects remains light, and so it may still be a few more years of waiting.
KitGuru says: Are you excited for the Bioshock film? Do you have any hope in the project? What will be released first, the film or Bioshock 4? Let us know your thoughts down below.
If you've ever wanted to review tech, then this is a perfect opportunity as we are now hiring for a new reviewer to join our team! Prior experience is not strictly necessary, but we would like to see some example works from applicants.
We are looking for someone who will be able to produce reviews of a range of tech gear in video format and in the KitGuru style. Any experience in this sector is beneficial; however, we are open to all applicants provided you can give us a sample of your written or video work so we can assess your abilities.
KitGuru is a great company to work with, we are all tech enthusiasts who enjoy gaming, so we all have very similar interests. Behind the scenes it is very close-knit environment and many of our team have been with us for several years.
To be considered for this position you need:
Skillset to present well on camera – and in English.
The ability to meet tight deadlines.
Strong communication skills.
Some knowledge of video editing would be useful, but we have that capability in-house if we find the right candidate.
Strong writing ability.
This is a freelance position.
The successful applicant must be based in the United Kingdom, and we pay very well for this kind of work. If you are interested and feel you can meet the criteria above and want to work in this fast-moving sector then please send your CV along with any samples of your work to our Editor in Chief, Allan Campbell – allan(at)kitguru.net.
KitGuru says: We look forward to receiving your application!
The Western Digital G-Drive brand has officially returned as the unified identity for the company's content creator and professional storage portfolio, replacing the SanDisk Professional branding across all current and future models. This strategic consolidation brings desktop drives, portable solutions, and multi-bay RAID systems back under the iconic “G” logo, aiming to simplify the selection process for professional creators who require enterprise-grade reliability for demanding post-production workflows.
The transition follows Western Digital's official separation into a standalone HDD company in late February 2025, allowing the brand to refocus its identity specifically on high-capacity mechanical and RAID storage.
The initial G-Drive lineup features a range of products designed for various stages of the creative lifecycle, starting with the G-Drive ArmorATD, a rugged, portable drive offering up to 6 TB of capacity and IP54 dust- and water-resistant protection for fieldwork. For workstation setups, the standard G-Drive and G-Drive Project desktop solutions now use enterprise-class Ultrastar HDDs with capacities up to 26 TB, with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity for sustained high-speed data transfers during video editing. Professional studios requiring even higher density can look to the G-Drive Project 2, a compact two-bay RAID system supporting up to 52 TB, or the massive G-RAID Shuttle 4 and 8 transportable arrays, which can reach a maximum capacity of 208 TB in a default RAID 5 configuration.
Western Digital has confirmed that existing SanDisk Professional HDD-based products will continue to receive full warranty and technical support during this transition. However, all new shipments will carry the updated G-Drive branding by the end of this month. While G-Drive handles the creative professional segment, Western Digital will maintain its established colour-coded portfolio for other markets, including WD Gold for enterprise, WD Red for NAS, and WD_Black for gaming.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the NieR franchise, NZXT has unveiled a special edition of its H5 Flow mid-tower chassis. Revealed during a livestream honouring the ninth anniversary of NieR: Automata, this enclosure is a dedicated tribute to the series' most iconic characters.
The primary highlight of this case (via Guru3D) is the expansive dual-sided artwork that covers both side panels. One side of the chassis showcases 2B from NieR: Automata, while the opposite panel features Kainé from NieR Replicant. This design choice ensures that the franchise's aesthetic is visible regardless of how the PC is oriented on a desk. Beyond the high-quality character wraps and exclusive anniversary branding, the case retains the sleek, minimalist profile characteristic of the NZXT lineup.
Inside, the chassis is identical to the H5 Flow (2024) refresh. It uses a high-airflow vertical layout with a perforated mesh front panel and a dedicated GPU intake at the bottom. Internal compatibility remains robust, supporting ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards, as well as modern graphics cards up to 410 mm in length. For cooling, builders can install up to a 360 mm radiator in the front and a 240 mm radiator at the top, while maintaining the baseline model's performance standards.
The internal cable management features include the familiar wide channels, hooks, and straps that simplify the building process and manage cables. Because the internal frame and mounting options have not been altered, current H5 Flow accessories and fan configurations will fit this edition without issue. Priced at 31,680 yen (about £150), it seems the anniversary edition will carry a premium over the standard model, reflecting its status as an officially licensed collectible for dedicated fans of the Square Enix property. The case is scheduled to be released on March 2nd.
A major leadership transition is about to happen at Microsoft Gaming, as Phil Spencer officially announced his retirement. Spencer's departure marks the end of an influential era during which he transformed Xbox from a struggling console brand into what it is now. Joining him in departure is Xbox President Sarah Bond, who has resigned from Microsoft entirely to pursue new opportunities, a move that surprised many who viewed her as Spencer's logical successor.
To lead the division into its next chapter, Microsoft has appointed Asha Sharma as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming. Sharma, with a background in scaling platforms at Meta and Instacart, most recently served as the head of Microsoft's CoreAI product division. In her first message to employees, she emphasised a commitment to “great games” and “the return of Xbox”, while pointing out that the company will not flood its ecosystem with “soulless AI slop”, affirming that games must remain art crafted by humans.
As part of this organisational reset, long-time executive Matt Booty has been elevated to Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, reporting directly to Sharma. Booty's expanded role gives him oversight of nearly 40 internal development teams across the Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King portfolios, putting him in charge of iconic franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo, and The Elder Scrolls.
This shakeup arrives as Xbox celebrates its 25th anniversary and manages a global active user base of over 500 million gamers. While Spencer will remain in an advisory role through the summer of 2026 to ensure a smooth handoff, the new leadership team of Sharma and Booty faces the immediate challenge of navigating slowing hardware sales and the continued integration of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
KitGuru says: The appointment of a platform-scaling expert like Asha Sharma over a gaming-native veteran like Sarah Bond suggests that Satya Nadella views the future of Xbox as a distribution and services challenge rather than just hardware. While Sharma's “no AI slop” pledge is welcome, the departure of both Spencer and Bond, the primary “human faces” of the brand, will likely leave a void in the community.
AMD's newest mid-range graphics card, the Radeon RX 9060 XT, recently set a global GPU frequency record at AMD's Markham office. In a collaboration between AMD's internal overclocking team and the world-renowned overclocker Allen “Splave” Golibersuch, the card reached a staggering core frequency of 4.769 GHz.
This achievement represents a massive leap over previous world records, including a 4.02 GHz mark on a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and a 4.25 GHz frequency on the iGPU of an Intel Arrow Lake processor. By pushing the RX 9060 XT to nearly 4.8 GHz, the team has increased the card's factory boost clock from 3.13 GHz by more than 52%, bringing the industry closer than ever to breaking the 5.0 GHz barrier on a GPU.
To facilitate this record-breaking run, the team used liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooling to maintain sub-zero temperatures, preventing the silicon from failing under extreme voltages. While the Radeon RX 9060 XT typically runs at 3.3 to 3.5 GHz with standard air or liquid cooling, the move to cryogenic cooling allowed the RDNA 4 architecture to showcase its hidden performance potential. During the attempt, Splave was observed using a custom internal AMD tool to fine-tune the GPU's power delivery and frequency offsets, bypassing the limitations imposed by retail drivers.
Although AMD shared the historic milestone in a brief video on its “AMD Gaming” YouTube channel, the company has remained relatively quiet about the technical breakdown, including the exact voltages and benchmarks used to validate the peak.
AMD's next-generation Ryzen desktop processors, reportedly codenamed “Olympic Ridge”, may bring a significant architectural shift by leveraging the Zen 6 core design to push desktop core counts to new heights. By moving to TSMC's N2 2nm process, AMD has reportedly achieved the transistor density required to pack up to 12 cores per CCD, a notable increase from the 8-core limit seen in the previous Zen 4 and Zen 5 generations.
This shift, according to HXL's latest report on the upcoming AMD Ryzen CPUs (via VideoCardz), will enable a more diverse SKU lineup. For single-CCD configurations, AMD is now expected to have CPUs with 6, 8, 10, and 12 cores, scaling up to 16, 20, and 24 cores for dual-CCD CPUs.
The move to the 2nm node doesn't just benefit core density but also frees up space for more on-die resources. Each Zen 6 core is expected to feature 4 MB of L3 cache, resulting in 48 MB per CCD and a total of 96 MB for the dual-CCD models. This baseline cache improvement is set to launch on the existing AM5 socket, fulfilling AMD's promise of long-term platform longevity through at least 2027.
With 3D V-Cache variants likely to follow a few months after the release of the Zen 6 desktop lineup, we can expect AMD CPUs with up to 288 MB of L3 cache (assuming AMD is limited to 96 MB of 3D V-Cache per CCD) in the next year or so.
The technical picture for AMD's next-generation Medusa Point APUs is becoming clearer through recent Linux compiler activity. The emergence of the GFX1170 target, explicitly labelled as “RDNA 4m”, suggests AMD will finally bring FSR4 support to its APUs.
As noted by Phoronix (via TechPowerUp), while technically part of the GFX11 (RDNA 3) family, GFX1170 is receiving specific instruction-set updates that move it closer to GFX12 (RDNA 4) behaviour, effectively creating a “Pro” version of the current RDNA 3.5 architecture. Some of the changes include adding the WMMA (Wave Matrix Multiply-Accumulate) and SWMMAC instructions, along with support for FP8 and BF8 data formats. These matrix-oriented instructions are the cornerstone of modern AI and machine learning workloads.
By implementing WMMA128b variants specifically for GFX1170, AMD is providing the foundation necessary for neural-link upscaling and frame interpolation. This architectural “hybridisation” is precisely what will allow mainstream Zen 6 APUs to support FSR 4, even without a full transition to the GFX12 graphics.
The introduction of the “m” suffix (presumably standing for “Mobile”) suggests that AMD views GFX1170 as a bridge to keep its high-volume APUs from falling behind the competition. By allowing the hardware to handle 8-bit floating-point operations natively, AMD is expanding the “Redstone” ecosystem, ensuring that even a thin-and-light laptop in 2026 can run the latest AI-enhanced titles with acceptable frame rates.
A few days ago, we learned that physical copies of Resident Evil Requiem had leaked, close to two weeks before the game's planned release. As a result, footage of the game's ending, amongst other spoilers, have begun landing on social media and forums. The footage won't last long though, as Capcom is keeping a watchful eye out.
In a statement this afternoon, Capcom confirmed that it is aware of the gameplay footage leaks for Resident Evil Requiem, which includes on leak showing off one of the game's major endings. Capcom confirms that it is in the process of taking down uploads of gameplay footage in the lead-up to launch day.
“Currently, we have found a large number of gameplay videos of Resident Evil Requiem that appear to have been obtained through illegal means. For the sake of our customers who are eagerly awaiting this game, we ask that you refrain from publishing or posting gameplay videos on video streaming services or social media before the game's release date”.
Capcom goes on to say that “posting gameplay videos prior to the release of this game is not only copyright infringement but also an act that offends other customers”. The publisher will “take firm action” against channels uploading early gameplay spoilers, including DMCA takedowns.
KitGuru Says: If you're planning on picking up Resident Evil Requiem next week, be careful when looking at gaming forums and sites like Twitter, as leaks are bound to appear and be shared before Capcom is able to get them taken down.
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