Razer's Tartarus is one of the weirdest 'keyboards' I've ever seen, yet I can't help being drawn to its strangely alluring ergonomic design. I remember seeing the Nostromo and Orbweaver come and go over the years, acting as similarly odd keypads with a niche appeal I assumed only benefited MMORPG nuts. I don't play World of Warcraft. At best, I dip my toes into RuneScape.

So, why did I want to try the Tartarus V2 Pro after its surprise announcement earlier this September? There's just something about its wrist rest, combined with the curved shape, that appeals to my wrists, which spend most of the day attached to a low-profile productivity keyboard. If I'm playing half of my games on a keyboard, I might as well be as comfortable as possible.

Razer provided a sample but did not see, nor did it have any input on, the contents of my article before publishing.

How much does the Tartarus V2 Pro cost?

Razer sells the Tartarus V2 Pro for $199.99 MSRP at its official storefront, with a functionally identical variant available for £199.00 at Razer UK. Regional keyboard layouts don't apply to this unique keypad without traditional lettering glyphs, so US imports should work if you can't find one in your country.

As usual, Razer also lists the Tartarus V2 Pro for $199.99 on Amazon, and again, a model for Brits appears for some extra pennies at £199.99 on Amazon UK. At launch, availability seems better if you order directly from Razer itself or head to a physical RazerStore, should you have one nearby.

For comparison, the original Razer Tartarus launched in 2013 for $79.99, followed by the Chroma in 2015 for the same $79.99, then the V2 in 2017 for $99.99, and the Pro in 2019 for $129.99. Years later, we now have the V2 Pro in 2026 for $199.99, or you can still pick up the first Pro for $129.99 on Amazon.

What I like about the Tartarus V2 Pro

The Tartarus V2 Pro feels like Razer's high-end gaming keyboards, with each linear keypress matching the response of the analog optical switches I've seen in similarly premium examples like the Razer Huntsman V3 TKL 8KHz. That big cluster of 27 keys exhibits smooth travel and defaults to a traditional 'WASD' layout that mostly fits my muscle memory.

Two buttons on the wrist rest let me adjust its distance and angle, though I immediately felt quite comfortable with it at its default, shortest setup. It's significantly more comfortable than any other keyboard-and-wrist-rest arrangement I've used to date, and my fingers fall quite naturally on the textured, double-shot PBT keycaps (they'll never fade).

Similarly, decades of PC gaming mean my thumb naturally rests between the big, shiny 'HyperShift' button — which can trigger a second layer of commands, like a regular keyboard shift key — and the new, drift-proof TMR thumbstick. I can rebind that HyperShift button to any other command I like, and I'm already considering using it as a spacebar replacement. So far, so good.

On the right, a strip of LEDs lights up in sequence to show how far I've pressed a key, including its initial actuation point and maximum depth. That adjustable actuation is part of Razer's whole pitch for the Tartarus V2 Pro, meaning I can dictate exactly how sensitive the keys are. Beyond that, 'Snap Flex' lets me bind other inputs to trigger when I release specific keys.

Indeed, while it's obvious at first glance that this thing offers a lot of keys, it's not quite accurate. In reality, you get a sh—load of keys. Maybe more theoretical keys than I could ever use. Nevertheless, the first hours were quite exciting as I pondered potential keymap layouts for specific games, with space for 24 configurable keymaps across 3 profiles inside Razer's Synapse app.

The more I learned about analog optical switches, the more I like them, particularly because I can bind a controller trigger to a key for a gradual response. Yes, I know the Tartarus was made for MMORPGs first, but there's more fun to be had. For example, building a profile for Euro Truck Simulator 2 means I can bind the W key to an analog accelerator pedal and press it lightly to creep through low-speed areas. Clever.

Does the Tartarus V2 Pro have any issues?

The meat of my grievances relates more to Razer's Synapse software than to the Tartarus V2 Pro's design, but there are a couple of physical oddities worth noting as a first-time user who only saw photographs of its predecessors with a single key under their thumbstick. For most of my testing, it felt like there was nothing for my thumb to do.

Of course, Razer intends to match its high-end keyboard switches by offering the TMR thumbstick, but that doesn't gel with decades of spacebar-mashing habits that my thumb muscles expect. So, even though I mapped the big, round HyperSpeed button to the spacebar for that very reason, it still doesn't feel quite right during gameplay.

It's the clicky response of that HyperSpeed button — which feels more like the shoulder bumpers of your average Xbox controller — that clashes with the ultra-smooth linear action of the keypad. There's a tactile mismatch, and on top of that, I can't stop the Tartarus V2 Pro from switching off the RGB key lights when I press the HyperSpeed button, no matter what it's bound to.

The rest of my concerns with the V2 Pro are solvable through firmware updates and tweaks in Razer Synapse. Easier fixes would include a patch for a bugged 'switch off lighting' timeout function that leaves the keypad illuminated as long as I'm using my PC, because it still detects my primary keyboard in use. Unruly backlighting should be an easy thing to fix.

Most egregious of all, and one I hope Razer fixes as quickly as possible, is that I can't realign the inputs for the TMR thumbstick. Right now, if I stretch my thumb toward my monitor to mean 'forward,' the Tartarus V2 Pro thinks I'm moving right, so I have to move it literally, vertically upward to gesture 'forward.' It's bizarre, and something Valve's Steam Input can already solve.

Similarly, the thumbstick is strangely mapped to a controller's right stick by default. Since the Tartarus is built so purposefully around the left hand, traditionally reserved for in-game movement, it feels like a similarly odd decision. I found little use for the thumbstick unless a game offered a 'southpaw' option to switch the left and right sticks. Razer is working on it.

Is the Tartarus V2 Pro good for accessible gaming?

It wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that this alien-looking keypad, polling at 8KHz with custom-designed switches, was built first for hardcore PC gamers. However, the benefits of Razer's esports-centric tech, like Rapid Trigger and Snap Flex, coincidentally appeal to those with accessibility needs, including my wife and her overextendable joints.

She's a newfound World of Warcraft fan who mostly relied on the Xbox Adaptive Joystick for over a year, until Blizzard started improving controller support for WoW. That hasn't stopped her from eyeing up the Tartarus over the years, and after testing how adjustable the smooth analog optical switches are on the V2 Pro, I'm certain she'll find it comfortable.

On top of that, Rapid Trigger means she doesn't have to lift her finger entirely off a key in order to activate it again, and can reset an input with the slightest upward movement. Pair that with Snap Flex to bind commands at the point of a key release, and she'll barely have to move her hand at all. Snap Tap is useful, too, but mostly for me and my love/hate relationship with Counter-Strike 2.

Should you buy the Tartarus V2 Pro?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You play MMORPGs/MOBAs like World of Warcraft/League of Legends

✅ You want a combination joypad/keyboard gaming solution

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You already own a previous model of the Tartarus

My interpretation of the Tartarus V2 Pro is that it's almost immaculate, dulled only slightly by software-centric gripes that can be fixed with app patches, along with relatively small design changes that make me compare it so closely to its predecessors. If you're into games with a huge number of abilities and the rotation orders around them, you'll likely love it.

At launch, I'm puzzled by Razer's choice to make the TMR thumbstick default to acting as a right-side thumbstick for looking around in games, and its insistence on pointing the stick up to the sky to move forward is equally strange. Again, both should be solved with Synapse software updates, and by then I'd be more tempted to incorporate the otherwise excellent thumbstick into my own flow.

Ultimately, the analog optical switches powering the 27 keys are legitimately brilliant, and probably the first time I've genuinely cared about adjustable actuation in a keyboard. Basing it around a command center for your left hand makes the whole prospect far more appealing, though you might miss the lone key that used to sit below your thumb. Still, plenty of other keys remain.

Heroes of the Storm fans, rejoice: Blizzard has not forgotten you. Yes, shocking many, I’m sure. Blizzard has just released a new blog post announcing that Xal’atath is joining Heroes of the Storm alongside a major new update.

That’s right: for the first time in almost six years, the game is receiving a brand-new hero, making her the 91st to join the Nexus.

To celebrate the launch, fans can earn exclusive Twitch drops starting today, September 28, at 9:00 am PT, through October 5 at 11:59 pm PT. Rewards scale with watch time, ranging from 1,000 gold for an hour to Epic and Legendary loot chests, and even an Epic Deadly Chaos Wolf at the eight-hour mark.

Now, my personal knowledge of Heroes of the Storm is limited, but the blog post does detail the new hero. Xal’atath is a ranged assassin, and her ability kit is as follows:

• Trait - Void Volley. Basic attacks build Soul Essence; at full Essence, unleash a barrage of void orbs at a target area while moving freely.
• Q - Shadow Mark. Cast a large Void Orb that marks enemy Heroes hit by its inner radius; the Dark Heart moves to the impact point and detonates on marked enemy Heroes.
• W - Dark Heart Ritual. Summon the Dark Heart talisman to pulse void energy at nearby enemies, then follow and detonate on any Shadow Marked Hero.
• E - Void Step. Blink between three points in a triangular pattern, gaining attack damage at each stop; can be cancelled early to reposition or escape.
• Heroic - Void Eruption. Channel a growing void orb, launch it to blind enemies and dominate space, then detonate in a large area - cast on the Dark Heart for an instant, fully empowered eruption.
• Heroic - Void Convergence. Summon a portal that spawns relentless void minions to overwhelm nearby enemies, replacing fallen minions until the portal ends or is destroyed.

Xal’atath is a paid hero, available for $7.99 right now. For those who prefer to use gold, Blizzard aims to make her available for gold later this year, tentatively set for the end of November.

Outside of this new hero, Blizzard details a bunch of other stuff in the blog post, which you should check out, including a teaser that more might be to come... Fans of Heroes of the Storm seemingly have a lot to be excited about, and I for one hope the game can stick it to other MOBAs.

Do let me know your thoughts in the comments, whether you’re excited, not excited, or somewhere in between. And with that, do be sure to take part in our poll below:

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Winhanced is a launcher that essentially replaces Xbox Mode on your Windows handheld. Instead of simply fullscreening the Xbox app, Winhanced gives you a fully featured user interface that connects to your Xbox, Steam, GOG, and Epic libraries, alongside support for emulators, other apps, and much more.

I've talked quite extensively about Winhanced here on Windows Central, using the launcher for quite some time on my own handhelds, and seen it in both its current, near-complete state and its not-so-complete state a few months back.

The launcher is nearing version 1.0, which I’m sure I’ll cover when it releases, as the sneak peek I’ve seen — and will discuss closer to release — is extremely exciting. However, version 0.9.9.9 is available today and boasts new features and improvements. These are just a few that caught my attention:

• Friend cards, letting you message your friends, see what they’re doing, view their profiles, and more. (Public)
• Better integration with Discord, Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation. (Public)
• PC streaming through the new Winhanced Streaming Companion. (Public)
• Install Windows updates without leaving Winhanced. (Public)
• Improved driver detection for updating your handheld’s drivers through Winhanced. (Public)
• Game theme music, including the option to choose your own tracks. (Public)
• Improved Epic and GOG downloads, including resumable downloads. (Public)
• Create your own collections for easier access to different groups of games. (Early Access)
• A Discord server browser that can be navigated with a controller. (Early Access)

Those are just a handful of the additions, and 0.9.9.9 also includes substantial behind-the-scenes work to improve how Winhanced works in general, making it a pretty seamless experience. If you're interested, I urge you to join the Winhanced Discord and check out the full release notes because there’s simply far too much for me to reasonably cram into one overextended post without getting into the weeds.

I’ve moaned since the day I got my Xbox Ally X about just how unpolished and, frankly, disappointing the user experience was. Winhanced has genuinely changed that for me, though, and made me much more willing to pick up my Xbox Ally X and actually play games on it, which isn’t something I can say for the other launchers I’ve tried.

If you’ve tried Winhanced before and found it too buggy, I’d suggest giving it another shot now. A big part of 0.9.9.9 focused on squashing hardware-related bugs and improving consistency across supported handhelds, with the developer describing this release's device consistency as finally at a "1.0 level."

If Winhanced isn’t your thing, though, that’s okay too. Xbox Mode is improving, but I'll still use this instead. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or just drop a vote on the poll!

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I know, I know. It’s a bold statement, and before you rush to the comments, let me explain myself. You’ve likely all heard the news by now. Halo Studios may be whittled down to as few as 20 employees, with the franchise hoisted under the Activision umbrella and a new team created to take over the mantle of responsibility. It is genuinely devastating that well over 200 people were impacted by this move and are now out of work.

Despite how painful it has been to be a Halo fan over the past 15 years, we should still show compassion and kindness to those impacted by these decisions because, at the end of the day, we’re all human. "Genuinely devastating" is also how I’d describe Halo itself, at least in its current state.

It’s no secret that 343 Industries, and later Halo Studios, struggled to capture what made Halo truly fantastic, with each game suffering from glaring launch issues or missing features. Despite this, I find it a little unfair for 343i/Halo Studios to shoulder all the blame. I imagine Microsoft itself played a heavy role in how poorly the franchise was handled and mismanaged, even going as far back as the Bungie days.

Can it really get any worse?

This begs the question of whether Activision is actually the right choice here. If we look at Call of Duty, it’s fair to be concerned that Halo won’t be treated much better there either. However, I believe the franchise is at such an unbelievable low point that Activision is a better bet for Halo’s future than another game developed under Halo Studios, and I will explain why.

We know Halo Studios relied heavily on contract work to finish Halo: Campaign Evolved, if you could even call it finished. Due to this outsourcing, I'd argue that Halo: Campaign Evolved is among the worst ways to experience the first Halo game, second only to Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Like Campaign Evolved, the Anniversary edition takes creative liberties that I believe ruin the experience for returning fans and do the original a disservice for first-time Halo players.

Don’t get me wrong, though, Campaign Evolved isn’t awful. It still tells the same story as the original, so it isn’t all bad, and I enjoyed the updated visuals and even some of the changes to levels, but that’s mostly where my positives end.

Campaign Evolved suffers from worse cutscenes, awkward pacing, poorly directed voice-overs, and an experience that feels like it was worked on by 2,000 people who barely communicated with one another. That said, I’d still give the campaign itself a solid 7/10 because, despite my problems with it, I had fun.

Ironically, it feels as though the Helldivers 2 x Halo ODST crossover did more for Halo than a remake of the original game. If you’re at a point where crossovers in other games based on titles that predate your studio are better received than your actual games, then something clearly needs to change.

The prequel missions killed any hope I had

Halo Studios developed three new missions that take place before the events of Halo: Campaign Evolved. However, in almost every way possible, they fail to deliver anything meaningful to Halo’s lore. Instead, they wasted what should have been an opportunity for Halo Studios to show that it understood Halo and could carry the franchise forward.

What we got instead turned into an experience I can only describe as possibly the worst story told within a Halo game, right up there next to Halo 5. Allow me to paint a better picture of what we could have had.

Instead of Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson meandering around a Covenant ship, imagine three missions spliced throughout the campaign following Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter, as he desperately tries and ultimately fails to stop Master Chief from destroying Halo.

Not only would that have given us a far more interesting perspective on the events of the first game, but it could have perfectly led into Halo 2. Instead, we got a barely memorable experience that feels like a huge missed opportunity.

That brings me back around to why I believe Activision is a better option than what we were currently looking at for Halo’s future. The franchise is at a point where, despite enjoying Halo since 2001, I would now rather see the publisher responsible for Call of Duty make a Halo game.

I genuinely don’t see how things could get much worse than they already are.

Yes, I am aware Call of Duty’s battle passes are awful, and skill-based matchmaking is also awful. But I will also remind people that Halo Infinite required you to pay $10 to color your Spartan white and already has skill-based matchmaking as strict as Call of Duty, except with a player base not even a fraction of the size.

Why Activision might actually make sense

Seeing the word Activision rightfully invokes a sense of doom. However, the company has also consistently managed to ship enormous Call of Duty games on an annual basis, with the franchise regularly sitting among the best-selling games each year.

Despite yearly Call of Duty releases becoming stale, it’s fair to say that Activision operates a well-oiled machine with seemingly no signs of letting up. Unlike 343i/Halo Studios, which often struggled to get games out of the door, Activision has repeatedly demonstrated that it can coordinate enormous titles across multiple studios and actually ship them.

We’re talking about an operation capable of juggling huge campaigns, multiplayer, progression systems, live-service content, PC support, console support, backend infrastructure, and multiple studios all working alongside one another.

Somehow, it still gets a Call of Duty game out of the door every single year. Whether every single one of those games is good is another question entirely. Again, there’s no denying that Activision knows how to organize and ship enormous FPS projects.

That’s the biggest thing that gives me hope here, especially when Halo has repeatedly struggled to simply have everything ready at launch. Halo Infinite launched without campaign co-op or Forge; Halo 5 also shipped without Forge, and even Halo: The Master Chief Collection famously launched in an absolutely terrible state.

So, having a company that has consistently managed projects of this scale does at least sound appealing on paper. It’s also important not to get caught up in the fact that it’s Activision.

They are reportedly creating a completely new team to head up a Halo project, and I’m hoping we see some old, familiar faces join on board, with the likes of Joe Staten and, of course, Marcus Lehto, who has recently spoken about how he’d love to return to Halo, even posting numerous polls asking fans what they’d like to see from the franchise moving forward.

That new team is probably what gives me the most hope, as it clearly won’t just be Treyarch or Sledgehammer being told to make Halo, or Infinity Ward being pulled away from Call of Duty. Microsoft is effectively building a new Halo team under Activision, which creates an opportunity to bring in people specifically because they want to work on Halo.

A completely new team also means completely new leadership and, hopefully, a clearer creative direction from the very beginning. Activision’s existing technology, production pipelines, QA teams, and general infrastructure could still sit behind that new team without necessarily dictating what Halo itself has to become.

That’s really the important distinction here because I don’t want Call of Duty wearing a Halo skin. What I want is Halo being given access to the kind of development structure that has allowed Call of Duty to consistently ship enormous games year after year, while still retaining what actually makes Halo, well, Halo.

Halo doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel or itself

This really brings me to what I think Halo actually needs moving forward. At this point, I don’t think the franchise needs yet another grand reinvention, although I wouldn’t necessarily be against them rebooting things and picking the story back up after Halo 3.

Halo 4 tried to take the story in a completely different direction, Halo 5 then shifted things again, and Halo Infinite was supposed to become a platform for Halo for years to come. Then, 343 Industries became Halo Studios with the promise that things would change (Spoiler: they didn't). At some point, you really do just need somebody to make a complete Halo game.

Give me a campaign with scoring and timing, split-screen, campaign co-op, Forge, Firefight, Big Team Battle, social modes, custom games, theater, a proper progression system, and a multiplayer suite that actually feels complete when I boot the game up on day one. These shouldn’t feel like ambitious requests either because, for a franchise like Halo, a lot of these things were once simply expected as far back as 2010.

More than anything, I’d also like to see some consistency with the story again. Halo has spent far too long introducing new ideas, setting up villains, establishing plot threads, and then seemingly deciding by the next game that it would rather move on to something else entirely. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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The Division 2's latest expansion, Echoes of Central Park, has finally been fully revealed, and I've been fortunate enough to have an early play test. I dip in and out of The Division 2 these days, but since launch I'm about 1,000 hours deep, and it's been one of my favorite games to play across the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S era.

I've written previously in covering the game that it's a testament to its community and the reaction to said community by the developers that The Division 2 is still getting new content to this day. The original plans would have seen it sunset into maintenance mode long ago.

But a reversal brought new modes and experiences, the Battle for Brooklyn DLC, and now, Echoes of Central Park. With this latest expansion, Massive is taking The Division 2 down a path that we've never walked before. Yes, there's a new map and new locations to explore, but there's also a much darker tone.

If you can get darker than a pandemic that brought civilization to its knees, that is.

Echoes of Central Park is introducing horror elements to The Division 2, and while I have played it, I still don't fully understand where that's leading. But it feels different, and I'm here for it.

This article was produced based on an early playtest of The Division 2: Echoes of Central Park on PC provided by Ubisoft. It was a limited selection of the finished content and has been published specifically without content that could be deemed a spoiler. Nobody at Ubisoft had any input nor saw the content of this article prior to publication.

Central Park is a dark and terrifying location

The premise behind Echoes of Central Park is that once again Division Agents are responding to a distress call. We've been deployed across much of New York City since the start of the first game, but Central Park has always been out of bounds.

I always assumed it would have been used as a mass grave for all the casualties of the Green Poison, and on that front, I seem to have been correct. But there's something else going on in there. Something mysterious and terrifying.

You get a little teaser of it during the introduction mission (and don't worry, this entire article will be spoiler free).

It also adds a narrator for the first time, rather than just other members of The Division or from the settlements in your ear. It feels like it's going to play out like some kind of horror story, and it's built very much in that way.

You don't know what you'll be facing at the end, but again, there are teasers to get the brain matter working during your introduction.

But it seems pretty clear that whatever we're building up to fight against is unlike any other foe we've faced yet in any of The Division series.

Lots of familiarity, but some new mechanics to get to grips with

I've played two of the main missions in the Echoes of Central Park DLC and while I'm not allowed to talk about much of the specifics, I can generalize.

On one hand, everything still feels familiar. The same enemy factions are present, and they're still as irritating as ever (looking at you, Black Tusk and your stupid drones) but the core gameplay loop doesn't seem to be changing too much. There is still a new endgame experience that I haven't seen, too.

What I have enjoyed is that during these missions, there are some new challenges. Considering I was playing on Story difficulty, some of the bosses were far more difficult than I expected. Though it should also be said I was playing with a character provided by Ubisoft, not my own, with maximum stats and a stash of gear built to shred. When I play through again, it might be less stressful.

But there are some mechanics to the boss fights beyond just "this is a seriously tanky enemy" that you need to get your head around. They feel like proper boss fights, which is good. While melting high-level enemies is fun, I want something that's going to test my credentials as a good Division Agent.

You also now, for the first time, have the opportunity to use AI teammates. Your companions have their own respective skillsets that you can also improve upon, but they're also there to deploy alongside you in combat.

Matchmaking has always been pretty good in The Division, and there's rarely been a time when I haven't been able to find a squad to take on more difficult content. But having a little NPC backup certainly doesn't hurt. And I think in Echoes of Central Park we're going to need it.

Echoes of Central Park really does feel like The Division at its very best

I can't pass a full judgment yet, because, like everyone else, I haven't seen the whole thing, and I haven't taken this new darker path to its conclusion.

But what I have played has left me in no doubt that this looks like being the best expansion to The Division 2 to date. It feels familiar enough not to try and reinvent the wheel, but it's going down a different path to the narrative up to this point.

I love that you feel like a superhero saving what's left of humanity as an Agent of The Division. But I love even more that Echoes of Central Park makes you feel vulnerable. Something is going on that we haven't experienced before. It's going to be tough, and it's going to be terrifying.

That hooks you from the first moment, and since I played, I've been racking my brains trying to come up with an idea of what's actually going on. I've got nowhere. But I cannot wait until it releases and I can see where this new, darker story is taking us.

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GameSir controllers have been getting quite a bit of attention of late, including the Tarantula 8K. Much of it is unfounded claims of "cheating" when, in truth, a GameSir controller can be customized in much the same way as many competing pro-grade controllers.

But that's not the topic of discussion for today. The focus is firmly on the GameSir Tarantula 8K, a controller that packs the same sort of spec sheet as more established brands with a far more attractive price.

That's not an exaggeration, either. At $70 right now, the GameSir Tarantula 8K is priced in the same ballpark as Microsoft's limited-edition Xbox 25 controller and runs rings around it. There are caveats; for one, this isn't for console, it's a PC controller, and it's wired. But honestly, I opened the box not knowing what to expect, and it didn't take long to be impressed. The GameSir Tarantula 8K is one of the best controllers I've ever used.

GameSir Tarantula 8K specs

A PlayStation-esque design packed with the latest tech

Gamers who outright don't like the side-by-side analog stick design will for sure be disappointed to see it here. But try to look beyond that, because it's not the defining feature. The overall form factor is very reminiscent of a Sony DualShock, but I think it works well. Especially for smaller hands such as my own.

For the basics, it ticks all the right boxes. The rear buttons are exactly in the right spot, everything is reachable without ever feeling like you're stretching, and all the main controls feel glorious. I also love that those rear buttons can be locked, so if you physically don't want them to press, they won't. You have support for multiple profiles on the controller, but if you quickly want to disable the rear buttons, you can.

The face buttons have mouse switches beneath them so you get a positive response and a satisfying click. The triggers, too, when the stops are engaged, are also mouse switches. This type of tech isn't new to me; I've been using Razer's controllers that take a similar approach. But, again, this is an affordable controller.

There are also a frankly absurd number of customizable buttons on the Tarantula 8K. Besides the two on the back, there are four on the face of the controller and an additional two extra bumper controls, as well as the black part that says "GameSir".

These are in addition to the dedicated start, menu, and capture buttons and the GameSir logo button, which will launch the Xbox Game Bar quick switcher to jump in and out of games and launchers quickly.

Then we get to the sticks (there's no time to catch your breath). As you'd hope on a pro-grade controller, the sticks are TMR, so stick drift is no concern, and they're good. They're smooth, and the stock thumbcaps are nice. I typically go for a concave design, which these are not, but they feel like a hybrid. The edges are textured and raised above a convex surface, and I think it's my new favorite design.

As the name implies, too, the Tarantula 8K supports 8,000 Hz polling, with options to restrict it to 250 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 4,000 Hz. An 8,000 Hz polling rate is still overkill (at least I think), but it's there. Generally I'm running at 4,000 Hz in Call of Duty (which still seems to be all I play), and overall I've not noticed any difference. But importantly, it feels every bit as fast and responsive as my Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K, which is about the best controller I've ever used. High praise for the Tarantula 8K.

Testing that 8,000 Hz claim also bears fruit using the Gamepadla Polling tool to test. It has no problem hitting or getting very close to that magic number connected to a USB 3.2 port on my motherboard.

As when I tested the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K, it's advisable if you have a desktop PC to connect it directly to the motherboard if you're chasing the highest performance. The USB ports on the front of my PC case may say they're USB 3.2, but once again, the controller doesn't report quite the same polling rates connected to these.

A word on the weight, too. It's very light at just 180 g, and that's largely down to an absence of any haptics or rumble motors. If you want vibrations, you have no option at all, but the benefit is that it's an extremely lightweight controller.

As it's targeted at competitive players that typically won't have vibration turned on anyway, I don't see this as a drawback, but if you also dabble in, say, racing games, be aware you won't have any feedback.

Plenty of customization through an easy-to-use app

The software is where the recent talk of "built-in cheats" started coming from, and I've addressed that already in a post. There was a feature originally that interfered with rotational aim assist in Apex Legends, and that has since been removed. And yes, you can get really in the weeds, customize your curves, and extract every last drop of performance from this controller.

But for us average players, it's just nice to have these features, to have customizable profiles, and things we can tweak in an app that doesn't take a degree in computing to understand.

The app is where you set up your customized keybindings; you can tweak how you want the triggers to respond, the lighting, all that jazz. Additionally, if, somehow, there aren't enough buttons on the Tarantula 8K for you, you can use the Shift Layer to add even more.

Importantly, you don't need the app. Once you've set everything up, you can save it to the controller and then use the M button on the rear in conjunction with a direction on the right stick to cycle between your profiles. If you don't want to change anything, you don't ever have to open it once; it'll work right out of the box.

But without using the app, you'll be locked to a 250 Hz polling rate, and you won't be able to update the firmware. So it's worth getting, but it doesn't sit there running in the background or anything. Open it up, make your changes, close it, and go play your games. That simple.

Is there anything not to like about the GameSir Tarantula 8K

The Tarantula 8K is worthy of high praise, but there are still a couple of bits that I'm not so keen on. The first is the grip, because it's not very grippy. It's ever so slightly textured plastic, and it's just enough to get grubby the more you use it, but it doesn't actually feel like it really helps me grip the controller better.

The same applies to the triggers and bumpers. There's the slightest texture, and I don't dislike it, but it also seems like it just gets grubby over providing any real benefit in use.

The extra bumper buttons are also very close to the traditional bumpers. As in close enough to just avoid touching. If you don't want to use these, then you won't see a problem, but for the purposes of testing, I remapped the X button (reload in Call of Duty).

It's a button I typically map to the rear, but since there are only two buttons to use here, I tried the extra right-hand bumper instead. And when I tell you that I've accidentally thrown a grenade instead of reloading my weapon on several occasions, you'll understand why I think they're a little close together.

It's just too easy to press one over the other in the heat of gameplay. Likewise, when I want to throw a grenade, I have on occasion reloaded my weapon instead.

I'd also like an option that isn't orange to choose from for the color. But that's just personal preference.

The GameSir Tarantula 8K puts the industry on notice

When you look at the package GameSir has put together here for $70 it's pretty mindblowing and should put the industry on notice. I'm particularly looking at Xbox here, too, because the standard Xbox controller still sells for a price that is now no longer acceptable for the hardware inside it.

It's inexcusable in 2026 not to at least have Hall Effect sticks in a time when a company like GameSir is pushing out a fully capable professional-grade controller with 8,000 Hz, TMR sticks, mouse switches, and all this goodness, and Xbox is still phoning it in with ancient tech.

I've used GameSir controllers over the years, and the G7 SE was my most recent, and I very much enjoyed it. Once again it was a budget price controller with not-budget specs. The Tarantula 8K is the same story. Right now, there's really nothing more I could expect inside a high-end controller, yet this one is priced like a budget model.

If you're on Xbox, there is a dedicated version of the Tarantula, albeit not exactly the same, and it tops out at 1,000 Hz on PC. Additionally, if you prefer the Xbox-style layout but still want an 8K-capable controller, GameSir has the G7 Pro for you.

GameSir deserves a seat at the table with the likes of Razer and Scuf. The Tarantula 8K is that good, and you should absolutely buy one if you're looking for a competitive controller for PC.

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I've been an advocate for Microsoft Flight Simulator for a while now, encouraging more newcomers to take to the skies. However, the game's casual collection of fighter jets doesn't dabble in all-out dogfights, so there's a separate desire for more military-centric flight sticks and HOTAS sim bundles.

Whenever I'd dip my toes into aerial combat hardware, one name would consistently appear: Thrustmaster's Warthog, and now it's upgrading itself with a previously announced Mk. II model of the A-10C's flight stick and throttle, still carrying that genuine U.S. Air Force licensing and a 16+ lbs heft. I had to try it.

Thrustmaster provided a sample but did not see, nor did it have any input on, the contents of my article before publishing.

How much does the WARTHOG MKII cost?

Thrustmaster launched the HOTAS Warthog Mk. II on its official storefront for $599.99; it's also available in the United Kingdom for £449.99 and in broader regions of Europe for €549.99. Alternatively, you can pick it up for $599.99 on Amazon US since it was released on September 16, 2026, or for £449.99 on Amazon UK to take advantage of Prime membership delivery perks.

Is the WARTHOG MKII a good flight stick?

It's immediately obvious the Warthog Mk II is legit, given its sheer heft when I unboxed the all-metal behemoth. The throttle unit alone is 9.4 lbs (4.3 kg), which makes up much of its overall ~16.5 lbs (~7.5 kg) weight that sits on my nervous desk. Now I understand firsthand why hardcore flight sim fans opt for separate mounts, though it still feels incredibly sturdy with the metal plate.

First up, Thrustmaster has switched from a 5-pin flight stick connector to an upgraded 6-pin replacement on the Warthog Mk II, giving it backward compatibility with branded grips, like the F/A-18C Hornet for more dogfights, SOL-R 3 for spacefaring, or Airbus for some overengineered passenger flights. It's up to you, though I imagine many would stick with the (included) Viper.

Assembly is fine, though aligning the base with the metal plate is a little awkward; a simple cushion lifted the grip up safely and got the job done. Again, the Warthog Mk II isn't fragile, but at almost $600, I'm still careful with it. Thrustmaster included a single hex key in the box, but it was no good for the Phillips screws on the underside, so consider having a screwdriver ready.

Stickers on the base and grip feature bold yellow arrows that make it as clear as possible how to safely attach them without risking damage to the pins inside, and the grip still uses a metallic screw thread to hold everything in place. It's as easy as it can be, at least for a lifelike flight stick, and the throttle unit needs no physical setup beyond putting the switches in place.

I had heard complaints about the slew stick in older versions of the HOTAS Warthog's throttle unit, but it only needed around a 25% dead zone to keep the axes moving where they were supposed to. Without that, it is a little erratic around the center point, but it certainly doesn't feel stiff or problematic after a small amount of tweaking in the setup phase.

Otherwise, a metallic mechanism locks the two engine levers together, with a strong switch on the rear side that feels impossible to dislodge by accident. I can also use the included hex key to access an afterburner stopper, reversing its direction so it stops the throttles before physically lifting past the max point; the opposite works for moving down past idle and switching the engines off.

It's mind-boggling to move from the realism-centric hardware I'm used to, like Thrustmaster's TCA X Airbus Edition, to going hands-on with an intimidating HOTAS unit like the Warthog Mk II. However, it followed the same themes as other sticks; I spent time experimenting, practicing, and figuring it all out. The end result is always the same: the Warthog Mk II is fun as hell.

Does the WARTHOG MKII have any issues?

Any downsides I found with the Warthog Mk II were generally offset by the same argument: it's a faithful, realistic recreation of the Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II's controls; most notably, the grip lacks a Z-axis twist, just like the real thing. If I absolutely needed analog rudder controls, I'd have to buy a different grip or some pedals, like Thrustmaster's $129.99 T.Flight set.

Alternatively, I can re-bind one of the digital buttons or switches on the grip or throttle to act as a rudder, or set up a yaw-into-roll function within a particular game. Beyond that, I could script a solution within Thrustmaster's T.A.R.G.E.T. Command Center app if my particular favorite game doesn't offer it by default, but T.A.R.G.E.T. comes with its own steep learning curve.

In that, any point of contention will be argued among the most seasoned, die-hard flight simulator fans with the strongest opinions, shaped by literal decades of gameplay. The Mk II is still functionally compatible with ready-made profiles, but I know many enthusiasts will opt to create their own anyway, with bindings they trust only themselves to build (or ones they built years ago).

Unless I wanted to play a much older game that didn't recognize separate input devices and had to combine them in the T.A.R.G.E.T. app, I would use it as little as possible (after I'd chosen my preferred throttle backlight brightness level). Instead, I'd find the strange enjoyment of spending my first evening testing a game's settings and matching each switch, button, and axis individually.

Should you buy the WARTHOG MKII?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You're a serious combat sim enthusiast craving an ultra-authentic experience

✅ You have the patience to bind, check, and test each input

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You already own the original (or AVA Edition) HOTAS Warthog

I don't think there's any danger of a novice accidentally buying the Warthog Mk II and becoming overwhelmed by its wealth of metal switches and realistic design, especially since Thrustmaster markets the package to experts. For the same reason, it'll be scrutinized at every inch because of its price point, fighting against long-term rivals for a place among the best flight sticks.

Still, it feels as sturdy and smooth as Thrustmaster claims, with a lifelike feel (presumably, I'm not a fighter pilot) in its flight stick and heavy-duty throttle unit. You'll spend hours fine-tuning its axes and assigning switches in your games, unless you opt for community-made profiles for specific titles; but frankly, that's all part of the fun for some of us.

At BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled World of Warcraft: Forever, offering a glimpse into the future of the world's most iconic MMORPG.

The future ironically lies in the past, as WoW players finally get their wish: a version of the game inspired by the Classic era, albeit with new dungeons and raids, refreshed visuals, new storylines, and new class balancing.

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World of Warcraft: Forever launches in November, but I got an opportunity to speak with World of Warcraft Game Director Ion Hazzikostas to learn all about what the future holds for the franchise in general, and answer some burning philosophical questions about the game's direction.

On the popularity of WoW "Classic+", and its future

I remarked to Ion Hazzikostas that I was a tad surprised Blizzard ended on World of Warcraft: Forever rather than StarCraft, which I would've expected to have broader appeal. Hazzikostas remarked upon Blizzard's commitment to the BlizzCon audience and the company's core, who have been very patiently waiting for their answer to "Classic+."

"It's going to be a huge part of the future, and will shape World of Warcraft going forward," Hazzikostas told me, "A big part of it is, that this isn't 'Classic,' right? Classic remains, with Vanilla, Burning Crusade ... that ecosystem will continue. Forever is designed to be a third pillar alongside Retail and Classic."

He explained that WoW: Forever will maintain roots in Classic, drawing on philosophical design ideas pioneered by the old-school version of the game. That means a more grounded storyline, more "crunchy" systems, and a bigger emphasis on community building over auto-matchmaking systems. Although he did acknowledge that WoW Forever will streamline many things beyond Classic. Talent trees and specs will be rebalanced, trying to make every class viable (which was not the case in Vanilla), and things like tedious World Buff farming for raiding will also be removed from WoW Forever.

"There's a large pre-existing audience that has been asking for something like this, who are closely connected to Classic. We are trying to position this as a truly new experience, right? This is a new game. There are new adventures here. Everyone can start at the beginning, and will be updated for years to come. That's not something that comes along very often in World of Warcraft. We've got expansions people have come to expect and re-releases of prior expansions ... but this is something truly new and open-ended. That's quite exciting."

Talking WoW Forever vs. WoW Retail, and community fragmentation

On the topic of something new, as a World of Warcraft retail enjoyer, I couldn't help but wonder if Blizzard is going to end up stretching themselves too thin here. There are already things in WoW Forever that retail players are hoping to see emerge in the modern era of the game.

I asked Ion Hazzikostas pretty broadly, will WoW Forever lead to further degradation of WoW Retail's "social" fabric as players seeking social experiences drain out even more from Retail? I made the point that chat channels on my server on WoW Retail are already dead, and WoW Forever will likely make it even worse.

"Anytime we think about any new WoW experience, even if it's something simple or as like a Plunderstorm or a Remix, we think about fragmentation, the risk of splintering communities — because of how important that is to World of Warcraft. So we do it very carefully."

"In no way, shape, or form, do we see any perceived withdrawal from social systems in WoW retail as desirable, or as a good thing. I think there's a lot more we can and should do there. There are still strong communities in retail, but a lot of that organization now happens outside of the game in Discord. It's inevitable that when you offer more solo convenience and reduce friction, many take the path of least resistance, and you end up with a more solitary experience.

"The presence of friction, the lack of automatic matchmaking ... that lends itself to establishing social connections. It's part of the thing that makes Classic inherently more social. On the other hand, it can be alienating for a number of players. It's inconvenient. It means if you log in and want to run a dungeon on your lunch break, you likely can't. There are inherent trade offs here. There remains very large differences between Classic and Modern, in terms of pace, difficulty, right? People who enjoy gameplay at a cutting edge level, Heroic or Mythic raiding, pushing keys ... that is not what Forever is going to be about."

Hazzikostas emphasized that Blizzard wants to make WoW Retail a place where you can make new friends too, even in an era where it's designed for maximum convenience. I really wanted to drill down into this point of divergence, though, as the Classic and Modern games develop away from each other.

Does this mean that we should no longer expect the Modern WoW games to get things that are objectively more interesting in Classic, like a more consistent world for leveling alts? A more polished and immersive new-player experience? A more engaging open world?

"No," says Ion Hazzikostas. "We do not think along those lines. Those are problems that I acknowledge are real problems in Modern, and things we want to fix. We've done experiments like the Heroic World Tier in Remix ... I think they're promising. I think we would like to offer something like that in The Last Titan, for people who want a more challenging, rewarding outdoor experience ... as well as more friction, and more purpose. A world where the outer world is devoid of threats or excitement is missing something. We would never say 'Go play Classic if you want that.' All versions of WoW should have that."

Hazzikostas also commented on the difficulty of performing another "revamp" on WoW's modern leveling system for new players, Cataclysm style, noting that it's a "challenging pitch" to ask players to stick through dozens of hours of leveling to catch up to friends. However, he emphasized that Blizzard knows it has "a lot more" work to do to make the new player experience up to par in WoW's modern version, to help players get immersed in their class fantasy, and learn the story.

On the Horde vs. Alliance, and the future of faction identity

On the topic of class fantasy, I wanted to ask how Ion and the WoW team are thinking about reactions to World of Warcraft's modern story direction, with Horde and Alliance de-emphasized in favor of a single neutral storyline every player experiences. I asked if the choices therein represent budget constraints ... or something more philosophical.

"It's a bit of both, right? Resources are finite, and while the WoW dev team is bigger than ever, we still have to choose where we place our time and efforts. Building two versions of the levelling storyline inherently means giving players half as much of an experience, times two. But it's also a function of the story, and feedback we do get from our players. If a majority of players were saying they wanted faction conflict, then we'd lean into faction conflict. That isn't what we're hearing ... they want more cross-faction gameplay ... it's also story credibility to some extent. The Horde and Alliance being at each other's throats in the face of world-ending threats ..."

I noted here that I wasn't necessarily talking about Horde vs. Alliance conflict open war, but more about faction identity and world-building consistency.

"Horde and Alliance identity is something we definitely want to preserve," says Hazzikostas. "We want to make it clear that there's a deep history of enmity and conflict here that shouldn't be forgotten or brushed over ... but there is a need to co-operate in the face of ... just as was the case back in Warcraft 3 at Mount Hyjal. Nothing else mattered except saving Azeroth. Given the current storyline, faction enmity gets pushed aside a bit, but they're still there. I think it's something we intend to return to in a more central way further down the line ..."

I'm still not getting my playable ogres ... though ...

World of Warcraft remains near and dear to my heart despite having played it for decades. I'm not always a fan of the game's direction (where are my playable ogres, Blizzard?!), but it remains a valuable source of rest and relaxation for me. I have an awesome guild, made lifelong friends therein, and still find myself as intrigued by its potential today as I was over 20 years ago, which is not something you can say about most games.

RELATED: Blizzard explains why World of Warcraft is getting more elves

BlizzCon offered a glimpse at World of Warcraft's near future, and the franchise's potential more broadly. We're still left wondering what's on the horizon for World of Warcraft: The Last Titan, and what might lie beyond the Worldsoul saga in general.

I'm concerned that Blizzard might split itself too thinly attempting to develop three separate pillars of the game in tandem ... I'm also concerned that community fragmentation may become an issue as players drain out of regular Classic and Retail looking for the "newness" of Forever. But it's also exciting too. I've always hoped Blizzard would look to Classic for inspiration when shaping Retail, because I do think Retail could use a little more danger and immersion. Whether or not we ever get it remains to be seen.

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Today, Razer announced the Tartarus V2 Pro, an ergonomic gaming "keypad" with 31 total programmable inputs, priced at $199.99 (and £199.99 in the United Kingdom) at its online store, physical stores, and partner retailers. It follows the first Tartarus Pro, itself a successor to the original — and its own V2 variant — all built for personalization with a particular audience in mind.

Fans of MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft (and its many variants, like the anticipated WoW Forever) may recognize the Tartarus and possibly its origins in the Nostromo and Orbweaver. Now, the Tartarus V2 Pro features Razer's analog optical key switches with support for accurate, rapid input and adjustable actuation (multiple inputs on a single key), plus a drift-proof TMR thumbstick.

Offering the same Snap Tap and Rapid Trigger tech we saw in its excellent Huntsman V3 Pro keyboard, the Tartarus V2 Pro also appeals as an ergonomic option for competitive FPS players with its 8,000Hz 'HyperPolling' rate and adjustable wrist rest. Either way, gamers can store up to 24 configurable keymaps in the Razer Synapse companion app to match most genres.

Bizarre, niche, and totally fascinating

I've glanced at the Tartarus a few times over the years, intrigued by its weirdness. Then again, most ergonomic hardware looks a little strange at first, but you'll probably only understand what it's trying to do once you use it. Sure enough, Razer offered a sample, and I couldn't resist, so keep your eyes peeled for my Tartarus V2 Pro review coming soon.

Frankly, I also have an ulterior motive for wanting to go hands-on with this unusual keypad. My wife is an avid World of Warcraft enjoyer, but she also suffers from chronic joint pain that led her to use the Xbox Adaptive Joystick for over a year. It certainly impressed, and I share the same praise for that joystick today as I did in my initial Adaptive Joystick review.

However, you'll notice the glaring difference between Microsoft's and Razer's offerings in button count alone. The Tartarus V2 Pro is borderline hilarious in that regard, wrapping 27 keys around your fingertips in a comfortable fashion, with a TMR joystick to boot. In theory, this could be the next step in accessible gaming for her, since she'll barely need to move her hand.

I want it for Counter-Strike 2, but she wants it for WoW. No prizes for guessing which one of us will get more use out of it. Ultimately, I'm craving something more gaming-centric after switching to a low-profile office keyboard and realizing how much that nerfed my experience. The Tartarus V2 Pro might be overkill, or it might be absolutely perfect. I'm excited to find out which.

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Already synonymous with flight simulation hardware, Thrustmaster is expanding its sim gaming range again with the HOTAS Warthog Mk. II, an "enhanced" variant of its popular, military-themed stick and throttle bundle for PC. Previously announced at Flight Sim Expo, it's releasing today, September 16, 2026, at an MSRP of $599.99, it's available from the official eStore and Amazon.

Indeed, the Warthog Mk. II features the same official U.S. Air Force licensing as its predecessor, with a design that seems almost indistinguishable from the Mk. I at a glance. In reality, Thrustmaster has focused mostly on the internals, redesigning its "H.E.A.R.T." Hall-Effect sensor mechanism "to offer enhanced smoothness and durability".

On the outside, it's still a 1:1-scale recreation of a Viper stick grip and the Warthog A-10C throttle with separate controls for both simulated engines (plus a locking system). Despite a few visual tweaks, the Mk. II supports full compatibility "with all Thrustmaster grips", which is great news for any sim enthusiasts who already adopted the brand's ecosystem on Windows PCs.

I've tested a huge number of flight sticks for games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, but I haven't strayed too far into military sims, or even further out to space-faring dogfights in titles like Elite Dangerous. However, I've always seen the Thrustmaster Warthog Mk. I appearing among some of the top-rated HOTAS sets in my adventures, so I definitely knew about it.

This release came with a chance to test the Warthog Mk. II for myself, so of course I said yes to a sample. Imagine my surprise when Thrustmaster's shipping confirmation included the 6.56 kg heft of this dense, 100% metal monster listed in its specs, with some extra weight on top for packaging. My word, what am I getting myself into?

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've never, ever tried a flight stick in a combat game, but a HOTAS set of this intensity needs to be paired with something that fits better than a Cessna in Microsoft Flight Simulator. I'm looking forward to seeing how the first Warthog version built such a reputation, and whether its accolades carry over to the "sturdier" Mk. II.

That, and I need to figure out bindings for the stick's 19 buttons and the 8-way hat switch, even if the latter is usually quite obvious, before moving on to the Warthog control panel and its wealth of chunky levers, switches, and dials. That's up to 128 total buttons — should be fun! Stay tuned for my HOTAS Warthog Mk. II review going live before the end of the month.

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Valve's popular Steam Deck handheld pushed handheld gaming PCs into the mainstream with its affordable, Linux-based console, and its potential successor seemingly aims to make the same impact. Speaking to IGN's Jacqueline Thomas, Valve software developer Pierre-Loup Griffais touched on the fabled 'Steam Deck 2' and whether the ongoing RAM crisis could affect its development.

When asked whether ongoing hardware shortages — which have already affected pricing for its Steam Machine PC and Steam Frame VR headset — have changed how Valve thinks about a Steam Deck successor, Griffais answered, "Not really." For now, it sounds like any potential 'Steam Deck 2' will target the same balance of performance and affordability as before, but is that realistic?

Steam Deck performance was crushed years ago

For clarity, I use my Steam Deck almost every day, and it still powers through my library of built-for-Windows PC games with relative success. However, there's no denying its age, and the custom-made Zen 2/RDNA 2 APU doesn't stand a chance in many of the AAA games released in the past few years. For those demanding titles, plenty of Windows-based handhelds are far better suited.

Of course, higher-end options like ASUS ROG's "next-gen" Xbox Ally X and the all-out powerhouse MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ don't offer higher performance without asking for more cash. On the contrary, the Ally X starts at $999.99, while the Claw 8 EX AI+ moves closer to $1,800, which is a far cry from the $399 to $649 window that the Steam Deck originally targeted.

In that, I'm trying to stay grounded when I hear that Valve's plans haven't changed for the Steam Deck 2 (or whatever it might be called), because that never necessarily meant it would target the same price point as its first handheld. After all, the company just launched its new Steam Frame VR headset for $1,059, which is higher than it originally planned (via PC Gamer).

So, Valve is stuck between a rock and a hard place: sourcing a follow-up (presumably also custom-made) processor and the corresponding components for a mass-produced handheld without pricing it so high that it loses mainstream appeal. It won't be easy, and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear anything concrete about the Steam Deck 2 for a few years.

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Ah, social media, the place where misinformation can fly around at breakneck speed, all supported by "experts". The latest case? GameSir controllers.

This one has gathered so much steam that the company has chosen to respond or has used the opportunity to turn it into a brilliant marketing campaign. You be the judge.

Why all the hullabaloo? On a recent stream, Call of Duty pro players were heard discussing GameSir controllers and the idea of "GA-ing them" from the Modern Warfare 4 season of the Call of Duty League. Because of features that amount to "built-in cheats".

It seemed like a fairly obvious troll to me and to many others. These were guys on a stream just shooting the breeze, and it smells like a troll a mile off. Call of Duty pro-players are notorious for using a GA to avoid using most of the weapons in any Call of Duty during pro play in order to provide as level a playing field as possible.

But the idea of GA-ing a controller is ludicrous, but then the internet did its thing. You can see GameSir's statement posted to X below.

Anyone who has ever used a GameSir controller can tell you that it's farcical someone could suggest it comes with built-in cheats. There's no magic button that suddenly gives you no recoil in an FPS game. You still have to do that yourself. Believe me, I know. I'm still just as terrible.

That's not to say GameSir hasn't had some trouble in recent times. It removed a feature, the RC filter, because it was (unintentionally) always allowing rotational aim assist in Apex Legends and was banned from official competitions. But the company responded and took the feature away. It wasn't designed to 'cheat' but it was an unfortunate side effect.

GameSir has been responding on social media to some of these posts in a more casual manner, but it's the internet; people will keep talking. So there's an official response, and with it, I think, a genius marketing move.

I actually think that if some of the pro players put down their current controllers, in many cases a Scuf or a Razer — sometimes linked to sponsorship — and they tried a GameSir, they'd be surprised.

I'm currently trying out the Tarantula 8K, and I can confirm that it doesn't give you cheats. It gives you a lot of features to customize, but so do competing brands. The difference here is this controller is $80, and right now, I'm picking it up every time over my much more expensive Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K. A controller I reviewed and called an "unfair advantage".

A full review on that will be coming soon. But this is another example of not believing everything you see on the internet, especially if the source is "pRoGaMeR619" or "trust me bro." But if you get one of GameSir's latest controllers, you're getting an incredible package at the sort of price that should put the industry on notice.

Everyone's always looking for an edge. In gaming, you want the best hardware your budget allows for. Be it a higher frame rate, a fast mouse, keyboard, controller, the best display. It's not cheating. Is it cheating when a race car driver wants to be using the best equipment? Let's not be silly now.

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Ubisoft is starting to test a change to how its PC games work on Steam, removing its own game launcher from games bought in Valve's storefront app, according to a patch note shared on Reddit. Previously, launching a Ubisoft-made game would require gamers to first install the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to support cross-progression and other stat tracking.

The change will first apply to 2024's 2D platformer Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and, presuming this test proves to be successful, will "progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future". Crucially, there's no definite confirmation that this will retroactively apply to even older Ubisoft games on Steam, but it's a reasonable assumption.

The impossible is less of a barrier

This is fantastic news for PC gamers, if it works as expected. Connecting my Steam and Ubisoft accounts should, in theory, be as much effort as I need to play these games from my library, skipping the frustrating process of navigating (and quickly closing) Ubisoft's launcher. I'm crossing all my fingers that this soon applies to my entire catalog, so I can stop neglecting Watch_Dogs 2.

Sentiments are fairly unanimous across the r/Steam thread on Reddit, with most agreeing that the Ubisoft Connect launcher has never been a positive feature in games they've bought on Steam. Ditto for other companies, as launching Grand Theft Auto IV or Red Dead Redemption 2 on my Steam Deck still tediously forces me through Rockstar Games' own launcher variant.

Curiously, this announcement is currently restricted to the Steam-hosted patch note, which can't be viewed outside a library that already owns the relevant game, so Ubisoft is seemingly keeping this test on the downlow for now. Maybe they're trying to save face after pushing Ubisoft Connect for so long, but frankly, this is a step in the right direction to celebrate — if it passes testing.

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BlizzCon 2026 kicks off in full next weekend, and for the Blizzard faithful, hype is reaching fever pitch already.

Last month, Blizzard President Johanna Faries declared internally that the Warcraft division is now the "top-performing" within Xbox, beating out Bethesda, Call of Duty, and other franchises. It follows a massive year for Blizzard, where Diablo IV's Lord of Hatred expansion landed incredibly well, and a resurgent Overwatch reconnected with its audience and found new players in the process.

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There still exists enormous untapped potential within Blizzard franchises, in my view. World of Warcraft has yet to reclaim the heights of the Wrath of the Lich King days, although I would argue the potential still exists therein. Dormant franchises like StarCraft are waiting in the wings for a big-budget revival, and even classic games like Heroes of the Storm would likely have a new audience with the right business model and investment.

We haven't seen BlizzCon since 2023, as the firm now typically waits for a wider variety of announcements to coalesce before spinning up the event. As such, I'm expecting this year's BlizzCon to be perhaps its biggest and most important yet — in an age where competition for Blizzard's staples is also more aggressive than ever.

RELATED: How to watch BlizzCon 2026

Here are some spoiler-free hopes, dreams, speculations, and information about what to expect from Blizzard Entertainment's big show.

The big one: StarCraft at Blizzcon 2026

StarCraft is coming back this year, after a long period in cryostasis.

StarCraft is Blizzard's flagship sci-fi franchise, although it has been dormant since the conclusion of StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void back in 2015. If we're talking about major tentpole releases, the wait has been even longer.

StarCraft is set in a bleak future where humanity is besieged by futuristic Protoss and Alien-like infesting Zerg. StarCraft and Battle.net were both instrumental in legitimizing esports in general, particularly in Korea, where the game's demanding real-time strategic gameplay won over millions.

In the Activision era, former CEO Bobby Kotick preferred franchises that could reach mass mainstream audiences, and eschewed "niche" genres even if their fans were incredibly engaged. Now under Xbox, which arguably specializes in "niche," there's every chance we could see StarCraft see a bombastic revival.

The big reveal is most likely going to be the StarCraft shooter, first reported on by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

Blizzard has been hiring for an "open world shooter" for many years, seeking disciplinary expertise for vehicular gameplay and first- and third-person combat. I've personally seen some early test footage of the project Schreier first reported on, featuring playable Terran marines battling Zerg threats in what appears to be an open-world setting, complete with high-end visuals and cinematic campaign treatment.

It's unclear exactly what the finished product will be like, but I'm expecting and hoping for a full-blown co-op campaign with multiplayer PvE content, akin to Gears of War's new Siege mode, for example, or perhaps something broader like Helldivers 2. Schreier recently said on his podcast not to expect it to be an MMO-lite akin to Destiny, but StarCraft would surely be a ripe option for multiplayer PvE content on the side, or maybe even PvP content, pitting Protoss, human, and Zerg players against each other somehow.

Led by Far Cry alumni Dan Hay, I'm fully expecting StarCraft to lead the biggest announcements at the show, particularly since the StarCraft website mysteriously began "glitching out" recently.

I'm also curious if Blizzard plans to revive some of the StarCraft RTS games as well. Nexon has reportedly pitched to Blizzard to build a game within the StarCraft IP. I've heard rumors that Blackbird Interactive, which was a co-dev on Warcraft Remastered, might also be once again involved in Blizzard's classic RTS efforts — although perhaps that is for Warcraft itself again. Speaking of ...

Warcraft at BlizzCon 2026

Warcraft remains Blizzard's most visible franchise, more than likely, as the industry-leading subscription-based MMORPG enters its third decade.

I'm fully expecting that Blizzard will reveal not only the next major content patch for the current expansion, Midnight, but also give us the full rundown of The Last Titan.

World of Warcraft is in a bit of an odd place in my view, with something of an identity crisis. Warcraft's writing team seems intent on making it more "cozy" and appealing to broader audiences, at the cost of the franchise's historical bite and edge. Horde and Alliance faction war has been edited out of the story, and the game's writing in general has been a lot more "gentle" in recent times.

I've long thought World of Warcraft still has a ton of untapped potential to reach its old-school audience; whether that comes in the form of gameplay or story direction (or a combination of both) remains to be seen, but I'm expecting Blizzard to over-deliver for World of Warcraft in the near future. Why? Blizzard potentially has some serious competition looming on the horizon in the form of the League of Legends MMO, long in development at Riot Games. Final Fantasy 14 has also proven itself to be a viable alternative. Blizzard tends to do best when it has competitors biting at its heels.

Beyond World of Warcraft retail, there are strong rumors of a so-called "Classic+" reveal on the horizon.

Blizzard has been trying to deliver two separate experiences of WoW for some time, with the more RPG-leaning classic rendition of the game re-emerging as a separate experience. Fans of that gameplay style want something more, leading many to think that codename "Camelot" might represent a World of Warcraft Classic "prequel" of sorts, taking place in Azeroth's ancient history.

On top of that, there are also rumors that Blizzard might be exploring Warcraft's RTS roots again. A title, "Warcraft Chronicles," emerged alongside the Camelot codename, and given rumors I've heard about RTS aficionados Blackbird Interactive being on board with Blizzard again, perhaps we could see new expansions for Warcraft 3, or remakes of Warcraft 1 or 2 even.

It does seem like a general industry trend right now to bring new content to older games. Witcher 3 is getting a new expansion, for example, and Microsoft un-canceled expansions for Age of Empires II and III both, as the franchise finds a small but very passionate audience. I think new content for Blizzard's classic RTS games is something I personally highly expect, given what we've heard.

Overwatch, Diablo, and ... Heroes of the Storm?!

Finally, we have Overwatch and Diablo. Overwatch is arguably Blizzard's biggest franchise now, enjoyed by millions across the world. Blizzard's strategy of over-delivering a huge tranche of heroes all at once really helped Overwatch regain popularity, and remains one of the few big service games capable of tapping both Gen-Z and Millennial audiences in equal measure.

I'm expecting Overwatch to continue its upward trajectory with new hero announcements, and perhaps, finally, we'll see some form of transmedia announcement for the franchise. Overwatch's lore and characterization have received a ton of investment in recent months. What better way to top that off than a big-budget Netflix Anime or perhaps even an animated movie?

Speaking of, I'm also expecting Diablo to get the same transmedia treatment. I've been hearing for months that Diablo has a TV show in development. It's unclear whether it's at Netflix or Amazon or whoever else. Perhaps we'll see that revealed in full here at BlizzCon 2026, if it's indeed true.

I expect we'll also hear what's next for Diablo. One thing I've heard is that Blizzard wants the waiting time between tentpole Diablo launches to be shorter, although it's probably still too early for a reveal of Diablo 5 if I had to guess. It's more likely we'll see a big season reveal for Diablo 4, and if we're lucky, maybe more classic content for Diablo 2 like the recent Warlock DLC. This is one area where Blizzard could surprise me, though.

I'm not expecting a new Diablo 4 expansion right now, instead with resources flowing towards Diablo 5. But I could be wrong; I'm excited to find out what they're cooking here.

Beyond that, we'll likely get new content for Hearthstone (perhaps the long-awaited Monk class inclusion?), and I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard also announces other new mobile game spin-offs from third parties, such as Overwatch Rush.

But what about ... Heroes of the Storm? Blizzard's long-dormant MOBA has been getting an uptick in love recently, with updates filtering through, and it even has some esports tournaments at BlizzCon this year as well. A little birdie has been teasing me that this upcoming weekend could be exciting for Heroes of the Storm fans ... what would it look like if Heroes of the Storm got a similar Overwatch-style multi-hero announcement?! Let me have my hopium ...

What do YOU want to see from BlizzCon 2026?

Blizzard is one of the game industry's most legendary outlets, on par with the likes of Nintendo. Few studios have managed to deliver so consistently for so long, creating so many millions of fans across such a wide variety of genres.

I have my issues with Blizzard's direction at times, particularly with World of Warcraft's writing, and the lack of love for games like StarCraft and Heroes of the Storm. BlizzCon is always an opportunity to see Blizzard addressing feedback, however. And we know that they can do it: Overwatch is proof that awesome games can be revived with the right amount of love and investment. Diablo 4 is proof that Blizzard can still deliver top-shelf story writing, too.

I'd love to see Heroes of the Storm get a console port to Xbox, PlayStation, and even Nintendo Switch. MOBAs absolutely can work on console, and with an eclectic cast of known characters, I think Heroes of the Storm could find a huge new audience, especially if they opened it up to third-party characters. Microsoft-owned characters like The Doom Slayer, Master Chief, and even weirder stuff like Banjo would be a perfect fit for the game in my view, even if some Heroes fans might consider it sacrilegious ... it hardly makes a ton of sense for Tracer to be fighting Deathwing in the first place, no?

Adding new content to Warcraft 3 or remaking classic RTS titles like StarCraft 1 or Warcraft 1 and 2 would also help the genre's resurgence. I'd love to see something surprising and new for Overwatch too, beyond new heroes, and I'm intrigued to see where Blizzard takes Diablo from here.

Either way, there's still so so much potential within Blizzard in my view, despite how big it already is. BlizzCon is becoming an industry event in its own right, now featuring content from third parties like CD Projekt RED for the first time. Could we eventually see it evolve to include even more games and franchises? It's exciting to think about.

Let me know what you want to see from BlizzCon 2026 in the comments. I'll be out there, so say hi if you see me!

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Physical media is present in the news cycle quite a bit of late, what with the latest news from Xbox about its disc-to-digital program. Then there's PlayStation's double whammy of removing digital content from libraries and then announcing it will be stopping new game discs from 2028.

The move to all-digital has been on the cards for some time, and PC gamers have already long embraced that future. But in a bizarre twist of fate, it seems some are reversing this process and actually starting to make their own physical copies of digital PC games.

I stumbled across a YouTube video by Archades Games (which is embedded below) that's been up for many months, but nevertheless, its subject matter made me click. On PC there's quite often a way where there's a will, and with GOG especially, it's actually pretty easy to create your own physical installer for your game library.

Of course, it requires having the necessary hardware to do it, and Blu-ray drives (like everything else) have been getting more expensive in recent years. But if you have a drive and some discs, there's little else to stop you.

There's a wider discussion that is ongoing regarding game preservation and generally good data backup habits. But in this specific instance, GOG will offer DRM-free offline installers, and the right Blu-ray discs can last at least your own lifetime, and potentially many more besides.

The process itself seems pretty straightforward, though the video and a follow-up, which goes into more depth, including multi-disc scenarios, walk you through every step. Multi-disc is certainly something you'd need for Cyberpunk 2077.

Essentially you need a Blu-ray or DVD drive capable of writing to discs, the right discs, a copy of MakeMKV (which, as the site is currently offline, you'll have to grab from an archived version of the page), and ImgBurn to both create an ISO file and burn it to the disc.

Archades Games goes one step further and even creates a nice-looking label for the discs, just to add a finishing touch. Though that's entirely optional.

You can also write your own autorun file to add to the disc so that when you insert it into a PC, it will immediately open up the installer. Just like in the old days when you'd buy a big box PC game.

I haven't tried this yet, and I'm not necessarily sure I will. But recent events have certainly made me start to think about "ownership." I don't own anything in my Steam library; I don't own any of the digital movies I've bought over the years from Apple, Google, and Amazon. Long-term rentals are only fine as long as the rights holders say so.

I've been buying up physical copies of movies I only have digitally on Blu-ray and creating a digital copy of those Blu-rays to store on my NAS. I'm not suggesting it's practical to create a full library of PC games on disc, and in many cases, you can't get new releases on GOG or anywhere else with an offline installer.

But preservation is something we should all care about. I've thought more and more about it as my children are growing up and I'm able to enjoy content with them. My son is absolutely loving being able to play games on Xbox from before he was born, and much of that is thanks to backwards compatibility.

But we also have an Xbox 360 running every day right now, with physical copies of games that we can use for as long as the disc lasts.

The idea of "cold storing" important data on Blu-ray discs is something I've been toying with, too. With the right discs, such as M-Discs designed for archiving, that data can be preserved for centuries. So long as you have a way in the future of actually reading them, of course.

It might be a fun project for game installers, but for treasured memories, photo libraries, and things that are irreplaceable, having a copy that could stand the test of time is looking more important. Good backup processes are something we should all be doing.

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Grand Theft Auto VI has been hogging the limelight lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Hackers have been leaking bits of gameplay and other info online, and gamers are gobbling it up ahead of the expected November 19, 2026, release date.

I'm trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible by not viewing the leaks, and besides, I have something better to keep me busy until GTA VI's official launch.

I'm talking about the Grand Theft Auto IV RTX Remix mod that adds Path Tracing to the 18-year-old game.

It's the work of a modder known as xoxor4d, who last week released version 1.4.2 of the mod on GitHub. The mod is compatible with GTA IV: The Complete Edition version 1.2.0.59, and it truly makes the 2008 car-jacking hit feel like it was released in 2026.

What does the RTX Remix mod do to Grand Theft Auto IV?

I know that the GTA IV Remix mod has been out for a while now, but I hadn't been following it that closely. Oh boy, it has come a long way since launch, and it's great to see the project's creator is keeping up with maintenance and new features.

I was reintroduced to the project via the maxrenderedgaming YouTube channel, where the mod was shown off using an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU.

There are certainly some other mods at play here, which I dig into a bit deeper below, but one thing is for sure: this is an incredible mod that changes the whole grimy, gray feel of the original game.

GTA IV arrived all those years ago with graphics that seemed mind-blowingly good, as is usually the case with Rockstar titles. Looking at the game's stock graphics now, well, you can tell that they're from a bygone era.

The RTX Remix mod drastically changes the appearance. The game's default static lighting has been replaced entirely with full path tracing, making rays jump and bounce off of surfaces quite realistically. Dynamic shadows look better than ever. It really is the best I've ever seen Liberty City look.

My plan is to first get the RTX Remix compatibility mod set up from the project's GitHub page. Next, I'm going to download the 4K Textures Warcaco Graphics Mod to really see what my PC's RTX 5070 Ti can handle.

Here are some screenshots from the texture mod that I know will make you want to play GTA IV again, too.

To say that this combination makes GTA IV look like a completely different game is an understatement. However, you're going to need a beast of a PC if you want to run this combination with any sort of playable success.

The demo video I provided above has the modded game dropping as low as about 60 FPS in some areas, and the GitHub project page notes that your CPU will likely be a bottleneck due to "the amount of detailed meshes the game is rendering."

Be that as it may, I definitely think any fans of GTA should give this one a shot just to see how it performs on their hardware.

NVIDIA's RTX Remix is a big deal, and not just because of one mod

I know, I know, more AI from NVIDIA's RTX division. Some of you might not want to hear of it, but I'm convinced that Remix is the real deal.

Remix arrived in January 2024 as an open-source and free tool, and it's been under development since. It's a clever way to inject path tracing, upscaling, and other materials into old favorites without needing any source code access.

Anyone with the right ambition can give Remix a shot, and there are some other projects I recommend checking out. Portal with RTX and Half-Life 2 RTX are probably the best examples, but they were spearheaded by NVIDIA. It's great to see lone developers jumping into the tool to create their own works.

Considering GTA VI isn't expected to launch with path tracing, and the fact that GTA V only supports ray tracing, this might be the best way to play Grand Theft Auto until the next installment arrives.

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I've been gaming again lately on my desktop PC thanks to cooler weather, but thankfully I haven't experienced this new Windows 11 bug that cropped up after the August 11 (KB5121003) update.

It's apparently affecting 25H2 and 24H2 installs of Windows 11, as this update rolled out to OS builds 26200.9168 and 26100.9168.

According to Microsoft, the Windows 11 update is forcing some games to go unresponsive, crash, or reboot your PC entirely. You might also see the EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION error pop up, forcing you to close your game.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like the issue is too widespread. At least, not yet. Microsoft says it has received reports mainly focused on ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals.

As of August 19, when the support page was last updated, Microsoft says it is investigating the issues to figure out if it's a problem on its side. Microsoft is asking any PC gamers experiencing a similar issue to file a report in the proper Feedback Hub app.

Embark Studios, the team behind ARC Raiders and The Finals, took to Discord to address the problem (via Windows Latest).

In another post, the Embark team points at the crashes being caused by an inpoutx64.sys file change in the recent Windows 11 update. It seems like the kernel-level driver is having a hard time communicating properly.

Embark says it's working on its own "long-term fix," but in the meantime, affected gamers might be able to solve the issue on their own.

A temporary fix for the new Windows 11 gaming issues

Embark has laid out the steps required to temporarily fix the crashing and freezing issues on KB5121003.

Launch Command Prompt as Administrator, type "sc stop inpoutx64", and press Enter.

In the same Command Prompt instance, type "sc delete inpoutx64" and press Enter.

Next, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers in your PC's File Explorer. Find the file called inpoutx64.sys and delete it.

That should let your games run smoothly again, but hopefully we'll soon have a fix that doesn't require the manual workaround.

You can, of course, also roll back your Windows 11 PC to an older update version until the problem is officially fixed by Microsoft.

This seems like a fairly minor Windows 11 issue compared to some others we've already experienced this year, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating for those affected.

Most recently, on July 15, Microsoft had to block the Windows 11 KB5101650 Patch Tuesday update on Dell PCs after issues involving unexpected shutdowns, overheating, and generally poor performance were reported by users.

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The next evolution of Apple's AirPods is out in the wild after a leaked video was posted online. Known as AirPods Ultra, the new wireless earbuds look basically the same as regular AirPods, albeit with a thicker stem.

Hiding inside the new AirPods Ultra are discrete cameras that enable something called "Visual Intelligence." According to Tom's Guide, these cameras aren't intended to record live video or snap photos, setting AirPods Ultra apart from the likes of Meta's AI Glasses, which are raising some very serious privacy concerns.

What I wasn't expecting next was an announcement from Razer's Min-Liang Tan explaining that the company's Project Motoko, unveiled as a concept at CES 2026, is actually a real product that's "coming soon."

Razer's tackling of this idea involves a full wireless gaming headset with cameras built into the earcups. They're certainly not as hidden as the cameras on Apple's leaked implementation, but I don't think they're aimed at the same end goal.

In the leaked Apple video, a person picks up a book and looks at the cover. Siri (or some other assistant) then says that "your world becomes savable" — all you have to do is whisper into your own ear that you'd like to save what you're looking at.

The new AirPods Ultra are expected to show up at Apple's next special event in September, but already there is a lot of backlash regarding privacy. Glasses (or really any tech) that record everything around you are already being banned due to privacy concerns, and I hope that Apple indeed uses some method that captures info without saving actual photos.

Razer's Project Motoko is not like the rest

Razer is taking a different approach to a video-infused audio device. Rather than hiding the cameras in tiny earbuds, it's slapping them onto what appears to be a rather high-end wireless gaming headset.

Each earcup has an FPV camera designed to sit at eye level, allowing it to better quantify what you're actually looking at. Razer says its cameras offer a wider field of view than is humanly possible, and that they can pick up "symbols, text, and details."

Motoko can use a bunch of different AI models (Grok, OpenAI, and Gemini are mentioned), and Razer says it can be a "powerful data collection tool" to train language models. The headset runs on a Snapdragon chip.

A demo video on the Razer website explains that Motoko "hears, interprets, and answers in the moment." The accompanying video certainly seems to show that the headset's cameras are recording the entire time, much like AI glasses.

Razer pegs it as a "personal full-time AI assistant" that "stays keyed into your schedule, preferences, and habits, while adapting effortlessly to anything else you might ask." I'm reminded immediately of Lenovo's Qira AI assistant.

Privacy concerns aside, who's going to wear a gaming headset all day?

Razer makes a lot of concept devices, and not all of them make it into the hands of consumers. The fact that Razer is going ahead with Motoko hot on the heels of the AirPods Ultra leak means the company must truly believe there's something there worth pursuing.

But my first thought was, "Who wants to wear a gaming headset all day?" Never mind the privacy concerns; gaming headsets are great for a few hours at a time, and usually best if you're not active.

Razer's vision for Motoko seems to go against that. A small FAQ section on the official website explains the potential everyday uses for Motoko:

Is everyone suddenly going to be wearing a bulky gaming headset everywhere they go? Not likely, especially during any tasks that require a bit of sweat. When Motoko actually launches, it had better be the most comfortable headset ever made if Razer wants it to be successful.

Windows Central's take on Razer Motoko

Razer's Motoko headset probably has the best chance of succeeding amongst PC gamers. It is, after all, a gaming headset. But, speaking from a bit of experience, I can say that a lot of PC gamers couldn't care less about letting AI help with video games. Whether or not Motoko's appeal actually goes mainstream remains to be seen.

I want to know if you'd buy something like Razer's Motoko when it launches. Would you use it for gaming? For something else? Are you concerned about eroding privacy due to the prevalence of these video capture devices? Let me know in the comments section below!

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I've generally leaned towards all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooling for my own custom PC builds for the past decade or so, but air cooling is practically forcing its way back into my habits because it keeps proving its worth via reviews like these. The Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP caught my eye mostly because of its "V8 engine" throwback gimmick, but there's a clever secret hiding inside its fins — something that Hyper 212 3DHP cooler owners will recognize.

Cooler Master provided a sample but did not see, nor did it have any input on, the contents of my article before publishing.

How much does the V8 ACE 3DHP cost?

At the time of writing, the best place to buy the Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP designed for AMD (AM4/AM5) processors is Newegg at $119.99, or Amazon for the same price via Newegg Business. I also found it sold above MSRP by third parties at Best Buy, which could be a last resort.

Otherwise, the Intel (LGA 1851/1700/1200/115X) variant isn't listed on the official Cooler Master US store, Newegg, or other third-party stores. For now, availability is skewed towards the AMD side, and though you do get an Intel bracket inside the box, it isn't perfectly optimized for those chips.

Is the V8 ACE 3DHP a good CPU cooler?

Before I ever installed this cooler onto a motherboard, I loved the way it looked. It isn't quite as extreme as Cooler Master's V8 GTS from 2013 — which almost resembled an alien motorbike engine — opting for a single-tower setup this time with incredibly dense fins on the heatsink. It's still a chunky air cooler, just like its ancestor, but now it actually looks more like a V8 car engine.

Aesthetics aside, the hype centers on the setup of 4x traditional heatpipes plus 2x "3D heatpipes" (3DHP) that run vertically from the base plate through the heatsink. It's all about pulling as much heat away from your chosen CPU as possible, which is why the V8 ACE 3DHP offers separate fine-tuned versions for AMD and Intel, though you still get mounting brackets for both.

Installation was a breeze. The V8 ACE 3DHP attaches to the standard AM5 backplate with four thumbscrews, two plates, and four more screws to hold it in place. The fans slide off the heatsink, so I can attach the two threads and tighten everything up. Finally, the fans are reattached and daisy-chained together, connecting to the CPU_FAN header.

Clearance is slim, but it fits cleanly over my RAM and the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master X3D ICE SSD heatsink, with a slight amount of breathing space over G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB modules. Running an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D on my open-air test bench at around 5.2GHz for 15 minutes kept an average temperature of 81.5°C, peaking at 83.5°C.

Unsurprisingly, it maintains a lower temperature on this powerful chip than my ~$35 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE — and our sister site goes deeper into V8 ACE 3DHP benchmarks over at Tom's Hardware if you're craving more specific test results — while its fans thankfully showed no signs of rattles or other unwanted motor noise.

Does the V8 ACE 3DHP have any issues?

Being such a chunky cooler with a performance focus, the V8 ACE 3DHP is heavy — around 2.57 lbs (1.17 kg) — and it'll need plenty of cool, strong intake airflow to feed its thick, 30mm PWM fans, which generate at least 55 dBA of noise under load. PC builders tempted by this cooler will surely take its dimensions and clearance considerations into account, but it's still surprisingly big.

Because those fans slide into place on rails, you'll also want to be careful when handling this cooler. Although I'd mostly held it by the center section, I had once shifted my grip to one of its fans, which slipped down before I quickly caught it. I think my heart fell further than the cooler physically did, but it was a lesson learned. Nice feature, but be safe handling those detachable fans.

Should you buy the V8 ACE 3DHP?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want to cool a powerful, high-performance CPU

✅ You're building in a PC case with plenty of airflow

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You're planning a compact gaming PC

The V8 Ace 3DHP is an impressive feat, but it demands a constant source of cool air moving through its thick heatsink. As long as you're planning ahead with a PC case that supports healthy airflow with a proper setup of intake and exhaust fans, then this'll be a great pairing for a higher-end, high-TDP processor.

Push it close to a demanding GPU, and there's a chance you'll see less-than-optimal CPU performance if the ambient temperature inside grows unchecked. However, if you're certain you know what you're doing, it wouldn't be impossible to keep this cooler happy in a miniature case with the right airflow setup.

I made the switch to a full-time OLED monitor a few months ago, and it's been a welcome upgrade on my desk for gaming and for work.

Apparently, I'm far from the only one who decided to make this upgrade.

The latest market research from TrendForce shows that the OLED monitor market picked up momentum as it moved through the second quarter of 2026.

In fact, TrendForce saw global OLED monitor shipments rise by a healthy 26.1% in Q2 2026 compared to Q2 2025. Year over year, shipments are up a whopping 98%. No, I don't think the OLED display market is in any jeopardy.

TrendForce posits that the OLED market's growth in Q2 2026 was largely driven by the launch of new models, especially those that measure 27 inches (the industry's most popular size).

This market segment includes the awesome Alienware AW2726DM I reviewed in May, which delivers some high-end features and a beautiful picture at a very affordable price.

Another market growth factor TrendForce includes is China's 618 shopping day. It's akin to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday events on this side of the Pacific, when countless people make tech upgrades.

ASUS remains at the top of the OLED industry with a healthy 23.1% market share. It notably launched the 34-inch ultrawide ROG Strix XG34WCDMS recently, which is currently being tested here in my office.

Samsung remains in second place with 13.1% market share, with MSI and AOC coming in at number three and four with 12.8% and 8.6% market share, respectively.

LG remains in last place out of the big brands with 8.4% market share, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that number drop next quarter as the company deals with fallout from its monitors installing unwanted adware on Windows 11 PCs.

The hidden driver behind the rise in OLED monitor sales

The TrendForce report suggests that improved OLED panel supply chains have helped smaller brands compete with the big names I mentioned above, but I suspect there's another reason driving monitor sales that TrendForce doesn't mention.

The ongoing RAM and storage crisis doesn't seem to have any end in sight. The rosiest of estimates puts a market correction towards the end of 2027, but more realistic estimates are pushing into the 2030s, barring some sort of AI bubble collapse.

The shortage of DRAM and NAND chips is affecting other hardware prices as well, including GPUs. When your next PC upgrade is looking, at best, like a motherboard and CPU swap, many enthusiasts are looking elsewhere for a meaningful (and not overpriced) upgrade path.

That's where OLED monitors come into play in a big way. The difference between OLED and more traditional panels like IPS or VA is incredible. Dark colors are actually dark, with no grey, washed-out haze. Colors seem real, displayed as they should be.

The recent drop in OLED prices, highlighted by the $350 Alienware AW2726DM monitor I reviewed, is making it a perfect time to swap monitors. And when other PC upgrades are off the table, OLED really starts to make sense.

Do you agree that sky-high PC component prices are forcing people to look at other upgrade avenues? Do you think OLED sales will level out in the next quarter as the market becomes more saturated? Let me know in the comments section below!

(via PCGamer)

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If you're a Warhammer 40,000 fan like me who's been looking forward to playing Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV after seeing its exciting gameplay deep dive and Necron showcase trailer, you'll have to wait a little longer.

On August 12, 2026, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV's game director, Jan Theysen, announced that the game's original release date of September 16, 2026, has been delayed to December 3, 2026.

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The reason the developers at KING Art did this is so they'll have more time to polish the game ready for launch, make changes based on player feedback, and squash as many bugs as possible so they don't ruin your experience playing it.

In the meantime, the developers will be sharing more gameplay trailers and deep dives into the game's mechanics and playable factions.

Windows Central's take

I'm personally okay with the developers delaying the game so they can polish it in time for release.

We've seen way too many high-profile games released in horribly unoptimized and buggy states at launch that we had to wait months (or in some extreme cases, years) for their developers to finally fix.

I'd hate to see Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV get review-bombed as Monster Hunter Wilds did at launch for having a bad launch state, especially when fans have been waiting for a new entry in the Dawn of War series for nearly a decade.

Hopefully, extra development time will help the developers give Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV the best possible launch state so players will stick around to enjoy it and play its Year-1 post-launch content, which includes new game modes, extra campaign expansions and maps, and a new playable faction.

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Mourning the concept of affordability in the custom PC-building scene isn't a new trend; on the contrary, the eulogy for "Moore's law" was read years ago, around when hardware like NVIDIA's high-end GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards came with astronomical prices, and possibly even earlier than that.

If you've never heard of the term — named after Intel co-founder Gary Moore — it's a prediction (not really a law) of how computing power increases every few years by doubling transistor counts without a severe cost impact. Anyone who follows graphics card, RAM, or storage prices knows that dream is over.

On a more widely known subject, the demands of generative AI quickly became obvious as more models were widely adopted, and building them on local hardware is how that all gets started. Since then, our sister site, Tom's Hardware, has watched GeForce RTX 50-series GPU prices spike by up to 39%. Sure, MSRP always felt like a suggestion rather than a rule with GPUs, but it's getting worse.

Today's GPU for the price of yesterday's PC

As it stands, encouraging novices to build their first custom Windows rig is particularly difficult because it usually means settling for the absolute bare-bones, entry-level GPU to stand a chance of keeping your build under $1,500. No matter how many advancements NVIDIA puts into DLSS — which I maintain is still the best graphics upscaler on the scene — it can't solve everything.

Plus, all these GPU headaches come before you start the painful process of finding a storage drive and suitable RAM modules to pair with it. Once you start approaching $2,000, I generally nudge people toward high-end gaming handhelds like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ for something more entertaining. Then again, nothing beats the satisfaction of building your own rig from scratch.

Of course, the reality is that Moore's Law has its scientific limits. We can only go so far into microscopic process nodes before manufacturing hits the borders of what's currently possible. That doesn't excuse inflated prices, and a commercial obsession with artificial intelligence still pulls the brunt of that blame, but why isn't there any AI-free hardware for the rest of us?

Would any brand go against the grain?

Realistically, practically any functional computer can run a local AI model on its CPU, GPU, NPU, or a combination of the three on a single SoC processor. Much like the crypto-mining fad that saw graphics cards scalped for their usefulness in Bitcoin earnings, modern components are at the mercy of AI, and it's a bubble that shows no signs of bursting (whether I like it or not).

Since the advent of Intel's Arc graphics hardware, particularly the first-generation "Alchemist" A750, which powered my wife's gaming PC for years with gradually improving performance, I've become an advocate for what the brand is trying to do. It's a similar story on AMD's Radeon graphics side, as both have an opportunity to steal the entry-level market away from NVIDIA.

After all, if NVIDIA isn't under enough threat from its competition, why would there be any incentive to lower prices? Intel has made impressive advancements in its own XeSS upscaling tech, which is part of what makes Intel Arc G3-powered handhelds so appealing. If it could commit to more affordable discrete GPUs with its long-awaited "Celestial" range, it could shake up the game.

Then again, Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, seems more interested in a return to the memory business (via Tom's Hardware), which would push Intel's desktop graphics even further down the list of priorities. It's much the same story as NVIDIA's minuscule — if utterly dominant — consumer GPU business compared to its monstrous data center and artificial intelligence side.

Could gigantic desktop graphics cards even seem ridiculous a decade from now, when NVIDIA's RTX Spark chips become its main priority? Doubtful, but who knows? Either way, Moore's Law is seemingly dead, and regular consumers are eating the costs passed on from major manufacturers as the march towards AI psychosis continues. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any signs of that changing.

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GOG (formerly known as Good Old Games) is one of the most popular spots to buy, download, and curate PC game collections. It competes directly against the behemoth Steam, the oft-maligned Epic Games, and plenty of other PC game storefronts, and over the years it has garnered quite a positive reputation among gamers.

Why? It's all about GOG's focus on consumer rights and actual game ownership, which in 2026 is becoming increasingly rare.

GOG's games don't come with DRM. Older titles are often fixed, patched, and updated to run on new hardware. There's a rather generous 30-day return policy, and there are frequent sales with massive discounts.

Yeah, it all looks great, and I'm a huge fan of GOG.

So where is this going? I recently came across a user-maintained catalog of "Games that treat GOG customers as 2nd Class." It was just updated on August 11, 2026, and I'm shocked at how many titles are listed as having some sort of disparity compared to other digital storefronts.

GOG's game version disparity is a lot worse than I ever expected

I was aware that some GOG games weren't the same as the versions found in other stores, but I never knew the problem was this widespread.

This effort to track issues with GOG versions of games actually got started in 2018 in a GOG forum thread that's still alive today, now reaching 400+ pages with thousands of replies.

The spreadsheet catalog contains a list of 1,140 games with at least one issue. There are 1,531 issues in total. Those numbers are not typos. Sure, some of the issues are less severe than others, but that doesn't mean GOG customers should receive an inferior product.

The catalog tracks the following issues:

• Missing updates (308 total issues)
• Missing languages (100 total issues)
• Missing free DLC (51 total issues)
• Missing paid DLC (200 total issues)
• Missing features (111 total issues)
• Missing soundtrack (439 total issues)
• Missing builds (278 total issues)
• Region locking (12 total issues)

Sources are provided for many of the games listed as having issues, and others are sourced directly from first-hand experiences.

Out of all the 1,140 games on the list, there are 17 special mentions. The game The Messenger from Devolver Digital, one of my favorite publishers, is flagged as special. Why? The GOG version is missing a Unity security update, and the soundtrack files are of a "lower quality than on Steam."

Another special mention is given to the game Nuclear Throne for its five issues, including a missing 10-year anniversary update, missing languages, missing challenges, missing soundtrack, and missing Linux version.

I could go on with plenty more examples, but I'm sure you get the idea. Missing soundtracks seem to be the most frequent offender with 439 total issues, while missing updates place second with 308 total issues.

Why do some developers seem to give GOG less attention?

GOG's disparity with other storefronts isn't really GOG's fault. It's ultimately up to the developers and publishers what to include in their games when they're sent to GOG, and what to update thereafter.

Devolver Digital and THQ Nordic GmbH are both at the top of the list with 29 issues each in total across their published games.

Correct me in the comments section below if I'm wrong, but Steam's far larger user base and its savvy workshop integration make it the go-to spot for most game companies. Much more attention is paid to Steam, and GOG seems often to be treated as "we'll get to it when we can."

And because GOG requires games to be DRM-free, there's definitely extra work to be done in many scenarios. For older games that may or may not have a dedicated development team, this is especially painful.

GOG is a great place to shop if you care about game preservation and proper functioning of classic titles, but you're still paying for the games. There's a certain irony here in buying a game to preserve it properly, only to find out that it's missing one or several features that you could have received if you'd purchased it, say, on Steam.

My advice for the next time you're buying a game on GOG

Like I said, I support GOG and its mission to deliver DRM-free games. However, I was not aware of how many titles have issues.

From now on, I'll be checking the spreadsheet carefully any time I head over to GOG and pick up a new game. I suggest you do the same, lest you end up with a DRM-free version that's missing the content you bought it for in the first place.

Were you aware of how many games on GOG have missing content and issues compared to other storefronts? Has it tainted your opinion of GOG? Is there any hope to solve the major issues that some of these games have? Let me know in the comments section below!

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ASUS Armoury Crate is but one piece of specialized management software that many of us have installed on our PC, perhaps without even knowing it. It comes preinstalled on ASUS gaming handhelds, including the Xbox Ally X, as well as ASUS gaming laptops.

If that sounds like hardware you use, it's time to check up on Armoury Crate. According to an August 10 update on the official ASUS advisory board, "a component used by Armoury Crate" is vulnerable and could be leaving you open to attacks.

Alongside that unmentioned component of Armoury Crate, ASUS has also released security updates for its GPU Tweak III, GPU Tweak II, and AI Suite 3 software.

This vulnerability, listed as CVE-2026-8917, comes with an 8.4 rating. That's out of a maximum of 10, meaning this isn't an issue you should ignore for long.

What does this ASUS vulnerability entail?

According to the CVE record, an "IOCTL vulnerability allows a local attacker to write a specific value to an arbitrary memory address, potentially leading to privilege escalation."

Although the CVE record doesn't mention Armoury Crate by name, it's clear that ASUS is concerned with that "certain component" alongside its other standalone software.

How do I update the vulnerable ASUS software?

Updated versions of GPU Tweak III, GPU Tweak II, and AI Suite 3 software can be directly downloaded from the ASUS support website.

You want to be sure that you're grabbing the most recent version. For GPU Tweak III, I'm seeing version 2.1.7.2. This appears to be a newer version than what's listed as affected on the CVE website.

For GPU Tweak II, I'm seeing version 2.4.0.0 on the ASUS support page; unfortunately, this version is listed on the CVE page as vulnerable, so I can only guess that ASUS hasn't yet made the necessary updates to its download packages.

It's unclear why ASUS hasn't yet made the secure version of GPU Tweak II available for download. If you're concerned, my best advice is to simply remove the software entirely until it's updated.

For AI Suite 3, I'm seeing version 3.01.10, which is thankfully newer than the affected version 2.1.2.0 listed on the CVE page.

And for the actual Armoury Crate software, you can choose to update from within the app itself.

Is there any alternative to ASUS Armoury Crate?

I often use Armoury Crate on my desktop gaming PC to control certain ROG and TUF components, but most of the time it sits idly in the background. It's not the best software, vulnerabilities aside, but it seems to get the job done.

I've read tales of some specific ASUS desktop hardware absolutely requiring Armoury Crate to function properly, but for other ASUS gaming devices, it can be replaced entirely.

Let me introduce you to G-Helper. It's designed to work with ASUS laptops and gaming handhelds, doing what Armoury Crate does in a streamlined, unbloated app that only eats up about 5MB of space.

You can download G-Helper for free from its official website.

— via PC Gamer

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Razer, one of my favorite manufacturers that has produced some of the best PC gaming accessories I've ever used, has released a new mouse built to conquer any game you throw at it — the Razer Naga V3 Pro.

This gadget is the long-awaited evolution of the Razer Naga V2 Pro, which takes everything we loved about its predecessor (which we gave a near-perfect review score) and refines it to create the ultimate PC gamer mouse.

Here's what you need to know about the Razer Naga V3 Pro and where you can buy it.

The Razer Naga V3 Pro mouse is equipped with cutting-edge tech to improve input detection speeds and swappable button plate configurations so that it can handle a wide variety of game genres.

Its biggest selling points include:

• 23 programmable buttons and three interchangeable side button plates (a 12-button MMORPG plate, a 6-button MOBA plate, and a 2-button FPS plate).
• A Razer HyperScroll Tilt Wheel Gen-2 with new dual tactile, free-spin, and smart-reel modes to adjust its scrolling speeds to a user's preference.
• A Razer Optical Mouse Switches Gen-4 to give its buttons an upgraded lifecycle up to 100-million clicks, cleaner and faster input detection, tactile feedback, and a zero-bounce optical design to prevent accidental misclicks.
• A Razr Focus Pro 50K Optical Sensor Gen-3 with precise mouse-movement detection and adjustable sensitivity that can go as high as 50,000 DPI.
• Polling rates from 1000Hz to 8000Hz to help improve the mouse's input accuracy and detection speed.
• A lightweight build of 117g (with the 12-button MMORPG plate attached) so it's not so heavy to move for the wrist while allowing it to be moved more quickly when making sharp turns in first-person action games.
• A battery life of 155 hours on HyperSpeed connectivity (2.4GHz).

This mouse is Razer's next amazing premium outing for MMORPGs, MOBAs, FPS titles, and more

Our resident PC gaming accessory expert, Jez Corden, reviewed the Razer Naga V3 Pro and found it to be one of the best PC mice he's used so far this year. Jez praised it for possessing dozens of programmable buttons, the best-in-class software solution, and a premium feel that emphasizes tactility.

So, if you generally play input-heavy PC games and you want to get your hands on the Razer Naga V3 Pro, it will cost $179.99/£179.99/€199.99 at select digital retailers including Best Buy, directly from Razer.com, and at physical RazerStores.

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If you ordered any of Valve's products within Europe, such as its Steam Machine gaming PC or the modern Steam Controller, there's a chance your private information may have been compromised. This morning, an email detailed "a note about a security incident at our shipping partner in Europe" involving a cyberattack on Valve's EU shipping partner, CEVA Logistics, on August 7.

I bought the Steam Controller in May, though I skipped the Steam Machine pre-order queue, and still received the notice as a customer in the United Kingdom. Crucially, Valve clarifies that this attack on CEVA and its subsequent data breach does not affect "your payment information, passwords, Steam Guard codes or other information."

Your Steam account should remain safe, and right now, there's no reason to change your password or change any account settings. However, Valve warns that customers could "expect fake messages" from bad actors asking for money or other information. Personal details that "may have been compromised" include:

• Your name
• Your street address, postal code and city
• Your country
• Your phone number
• Your email address — the same one your Steam account uses
• The type and price of the ordered product

How did the CEVA Logistics breach happen?

Valve says that it is "pressing CEVA for the full scope of what was taken and how, and we are in the process of notifying the data protection authorities in the countries affected", and clarifies that the affected system has been taken offline and isolated from further leaks, but there is currently no confirmation on which customers have been affected or exactly how this happened.

For now, Valve invites anyone with concerns or questions to reach out to its support team at help.steampowered.com or to write to its contact point at Artana Digital GmbH, Alstertwiete 3, 20099 Hamburg, Germany.

Fake messages from convincing impersonators are unfortunately common, and bad actors will go through extreme lengths to make their text messages, emails, and phone calls appear genuine. If you're new to Steam, remain vigilant but remember that Valve only handles account issues via its dedicated support site, and "never by email, Steam Chat, or Discord — Anyone who contacts you elsewhere claiming to be Steam Support is not."

I'd also caution anyone who might be at risk that, while Valve implies that your credit card information is safe, bad actors can use other personal information to attempt various identity fraud and access accounts elsewhere. It's important to stay vigilant as data breaches like this happen, and scrutinize every message you receive from delivery companies asking for money: "Treat all of them as fake", Valve says.

Customers based in the United States and, in turn, anywhere outside CEVA Logistics' operating area in Europe shouldn't be affected by this breach. Nevertheless, it should come as an important lesson in customer privacy and data security. Keep using strong passwords that are unique to each platform, and protect yourself as much as possible.

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Desktop gaming PCs have a reputation for being huge, and, to be honest, a lot of them are. However, if you're confident enough to dive into the twisted world of cable management, then a compact build could be a fantastic challenge that pays off as a space-saving monster rig. When the Cooler Master Qube 340 case appeared at Computex earlier this year, I was immediately intrigued, even if I can't afford the full gamut of parts to build inside of it just yet.

Cooler Master provided a sample but did not see the contents of my article before publishing. I'm also refraining from assigning a traditional review score to this case until I can complete a build with a full set of components.

How much does the Qube 340 cost?

For now, the best place to buy the Cooler Master Qube 340 is Newegg at $54.99. It's currently listed by Newegg itself, rather than any third-party sellers, and is in stock at the time of writing. A listing for the Qube 340 in black on Amazon US lists "Newegg Business" as a reseller at $59.49, which isn't worth the extra money. At the time of writing, the white variant of this case is "currently unavailable" on Amazon and is outright missing from Newegg.

What I like about the Qube 340

Ever since the RAM crisis ruined any prospect of affording Valve's Steam Machine gaming PC, I've thought about how I could repurpose some of the spare components I have in storage — and even then, it isn't a huge pile. Still, I knew I'd never manage anything quite as purposefully tiny, but I could come close with a mini ITX build, and the Qube 340 looked perfect on paper.

It came in a huge box, but it feels as compact in person as I'd hoped. The removable handles are also ideal for what I've planned: A desktop that I can set up and take away at a moment's notice, rather than leaving something permanently underneath our TV. Sure, I'll need to buy some more niche parts, like a compatible motherboard, but Cooler Master impressed me out of the box.

My most important consideration was whether the ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card I have would fit, depending on my front-fan decisions. I could also use an AIO radiator, but the cheesegrater-esque design of the Qube 340 feels better suited to a traditional air cooler — even if only in aesthetics — plus there's a 140mm 'DF1402512RFLN' fan pre-installed at the rear.

At a glance, there's nothing to worry about, as the 290mm GPU fits with around 78mm to spare. My immediate idea is to have a single 140mm intake fan mounted at the top, pulling cool air into the case and pushing it through a CPU air cooler before exhausting it out the back. Still, I have options, including adding an even longer card, as long as everything is measured correctly.

Next up are cable management and routing options. Like most hobbyists, I prefer to take my time with my own builds and get everything as clean as possible, which is more of a mandatory requirement in a compact case than a preference. While there aren't any dedicated trunking channels, there are a few mounting points for zip ties, so I just need to plan everything carefully.

The front-mounted I/O plate is also removable, so I can move it to the top of the case for easier access and re-route the attached cables from the start. It all depends on my motherboard of choice and how it determines the shortest route for each component, but it's fantastic to have the option. I'll always prefer my power button and front ports to be at the top of the case.

What I don't like about the Qube 340

The build quality is generally great on the outside, with those sturdy carry handles and rubberized feet keeping it steady in a vertical position and similarly when laid flat for construction and upgrades. However, the metal on the inside — particularly around the motherboard tray — is quite thin with some flex, but I doubt I'd ever accidentally bend it in any permanent way.

I found the removable 2.5/3.5-inch drive tray similarly skinny and flexible, but it hardly has to do anything beyond holding my storage in place, and it at least removes with a single thumbscrew. It would likely take a heavy dent from an accidental drop to twist this case out of shape, and though it's well padded in its box, it's still worth checking everything over as soon as you buy one.

Concerns about missing rubber grommets are tempered by the fact that this is a $55 PC case. Not to excuse any internal mishaps that might happen, but again, it feels unlikely given how solid the outer shell is overall. Otherwise, being mostly toolless also raises some concern about the glass side panel, which holds well but is secured only by a single protruding tab.

Should you buy the Qube 340?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want to build a portable mini ITX gaming PC

✅ You're prioritizing airflow with dust protection

You should not buy this if ...

❌ This is your first-ever rig; compact builds are tricky

You can go smaller, but for my first planned adventure into a mini-ITX build, the Qube 340 is exactly what I wanted it to be. If, like me, you're toying with the idea of a compact gaming PC that's easier to move around than a full-sized desktop, I think you'll be quite happy with this incredibly affordable case. Some of my opinions might change once I have enough parts to build inside it, but that won't affect the overall praise I have for Cooler Master on this occasion.

The ROG Strix OLED XG32UQWMS gaming monitor is planned for release in September 2026. ASUS provided a sample, but the company had no input on the article nor saw its contents before publishing.

OLED gaming monitors have been around for a while, but concerns about text clarity and burn-in left me less excited to buy something like the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG32UQWMS. Given the chance to test an upcoming model from its range shown at Computex earlier this year, I couldn't resist, and my review could be the moment that helps me overcome my apprehension. Here's what I learned.

How much does the 32-inch Strix OLED cost?

The ROG Strix XG32UQWMS is targeting a September launch for $899, with specific US retailers to be confirmed. In the United Kingdom, that converts to £819, with planned third-party resellers including Amazon UK, Currys, and Very. In the meantime, you can sign up for availability notifications on the monitor's official ASUS listing for your region.

Is the 32-inch Strix OLED easy to set up?

I'm a big fan of toolless setups wherever they appear, and ASUS ROG wins points for delivering a straightforward process here. Everything hinged on a push-button release mechanism that either gripped the stand or the VESA mount; I used the former and attached the footplate with a simple thumbscrew.

The display alone weighs 9.92 lbs (4.5 kg), and adding the VESA mount brings the total to 10.64 lbs (4.83 kg) in a mounted setup. Otherwise, the foot plate and strut together weigh 4.54 lbs (2.06 kg), controlling height with a sturdy but not overly stiff response. On my desk, the monitor is 14.46 lbs (6.56 kg) overall.

Attaching the stand gave me a clear view of the ports and navigation via the multi-function button (MFB) located behind the bottom-mounted ASUS ROG logo and its accompanying "Neo" proximity sensor. It's a pretty standard affair that matches rival brands, and its controls should feel familiar to most people.

While there are two HDMI 2.1 ports, a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 with a hub port, and a headphone jack, there's only a single DisplayPort cable in the box for its matching DP 1.4 port, along with the AC cord. Bundling a free USB-B cable shouldn't be too expensive, and I'm disappointed to see it missing here.

Does the 32-inch Strix OLED look good?

Moving from a 27-inch IPS Alienware monitor to an OLED panel made its benefits immediately obvious, with an experience similar to the one I get from my LG C2 TV in the living room. High contrast, deep blacks, and crisp visuals come with its 4K resolution and that smooth 240Hz refresh rate. Windows 11 adjusted my settings accordingly, and the monitor looks great out of the box.

In motion, the UHD @ 240Hz mode looks fantastic, and I'm left wondering who would ever want to switch to 1080p for the sake of 480Hz on a 32-inch display. I know it has its place in ultra-competitive shooters like Counter-Strike 2 and its many rivals, but 240Hz still feels like plenty to me. If you're the target audience, I think you'll be happy, because FHD gameplay still looks quite good.

Up close, the clarity of on-screen text looks fine; nothing particularly groundbreaking, but nothing looks noticeably fringed when I sit at a comfortable distance in UHD mode. Adjusting ClearType in Windows 11 might give results that better suit you, but I didn't feel like anything looked out of place during my usual daily work and gaming.

The OSD is at least easy to navigate, and I could install the DisplayWidget Center if I really wanted to use a mouse to tweak several settings at once. Otherwise, the "TrueBlack Glossy" panel looks significantly darker at a glance than the other screens in my office, which certainly helps with the deep blacks OLED is famous for, and I found the visible room reflections were tolerable.

Testing the display

Out of the box, the XG32UQWMS defaults to "Racing mode", hitting 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut as advertised, and sRGB accuracy earns a perfect score, while Adobe RGB maxes out at 93%. Without changing settings, a 100% brightness level reached around 306 to 311 nits, so getting it to 330 nits will require a bit of tweaking. On the whole, I'm satisfied with its stock settings.

Should you buy the 32-inch Strix OLED?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want an OLED monitor built for preventing burn-in

✅ You're a competitive gamer who thrives on high refresh rates

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You want an out-of-the-box USB hub monitor

A built-in presence sensor probably sets off alarm bells for some gamers, but the proximity detection is literally there to help protect this OLED panel by switching off when you walk away. That, along with adjustments to uniform brightness and pixel-cleaning settings, helps prevent burn-in, which was my biggest concern with monitors like these. ASUS definitely could have thrown in a free upstream USB cable for its hub, but the display itself is solid, so it still wins praise.

As price rises hit everything thanks to the RAMpocalypse, with SSDs, memory, graphics cards, PCs, handhelds, consoles, and literally everything getting more expensive, let's celebrate when someone beats the system.

Sure, it's only one person, but at this point, I'm so utterly depressed with the state of things that I'm ready to buy this person a beer and shake their hand.

You see the doom and gloom everywhere, so when I was browsing Reddit this morning and came across a post where someone had secured an NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics card for just FIVE DOLLARS, I have to shout it out.

Is it the greatest deal of all time? Honestly, even before the price rises, I'd have grabbed this, thrown down a $5 bill, and run out of the store before anyone realized what they'd done putting that price tag on it.

Is the RTX 3050 a particularly good graphics card? I mean, it depends what you want to do with it. It'd be pretty good as a budget video encoding card for streaming; it'll play games at 1080p fairly well, too. Hell, I'd have absolutely put it into a machine and given it to my son.

For five bucks I would have found something to use it for. Maybe slap it inside the home server I've been wanting to build again for years to handle video transcoding. I don't care; I'd have found something to do with it.

That's assuming it works properly, of course. The post does show a Windows boot screen, so it would appear it at least gives video output, so that's a start. With a used, mystery GPU like this, you'd have to test it properly, and most definitely you'd want to strip it down, clean it up, and give it some new thermal paste.

But for $5, who cares? Worth a go, right? It's just nice to see someone have a win right now. If you were to buy a brand new RTX 3050 right now, you're looking at paying at least $250 if you went to somewhere like Best Buy. Nobody should pay $250 for a two-generation-old budget graphics card.

It also gets me thinking: What's the absolute craziest deal you've ever found on a piece of hardware? I think I've only ever been so lucky once, managing to get a Surface Go 2 LTE with a price mistake once and securing it for essentially free with an inexpensive data SIM contract.

It should have been a couple of hundred British pounds, and I got it for £8. And even though it was a mistake, it was still honored, and I got my Surface Go 2.

So jump into the comments below and let me know your personal craziest deal. Meanwhile, I'm definitely raising a glass to this person. Hopefully it all works well, and if so, you've definitely beaten the system right now.

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Lenovo Legion Go gaming handhelds are reportedly being bricked by a BIOS update. According to reports, installing the N3CN42WW update results in a black screen and systems not booting correctly.

It's not clear how widespread this issue is, but I suggest holding off on installing a BIOS update on your Legion Go until Lenovo has clarified the situation.

The problem affects the original Legion Go (often called the Legion Go 1 by fans), including both the Z1 and Z1 Extreme models.

In some cases, the Legion Go failed to boot immediately after the BIOS update was installed. In other cases, the failure occurred later.

Some users have said the performance of their Legion Go has gotten worse over time, such as the controllers not working.

Several Legion Go owners have reported issues on Reddit. The mods at the LegionGo subreddit shared the following:

"It has come to our attention that some of the Z1E and Z1 versions are being bricked when updating to the latest BIOS that was released on June 17th, 2026.

Please do not update your devices unless you are willing to assume all risks. We the mod team are trying our best to understand and get help on this."

They also asked people to share if they've run into the same issue.

Reddit user mherold11 said they reached out to Lenovo support to have their Legion Go repaired. They were told that fixing the gaming handheld would be a chargeable repair since the device was out of warranty. The quote for repair was €237.16 (roughly $273.81).

Other people in that same Reddit thread said their Legion Go gaming handhelds were repaired at no cost when still in warranty.

One Reddit user had luck performing their own repair, but that fix was complicated and is not recommended for general users.

This is a developing story and we do not know the extent of the issue. If you have a Legion Go and have been affected by the issue (or have upgraded and not run into the problem), please share with us through the comments below and reach out to Lenovo and the mods of the LegionGo subreddit.

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Mark Russinovich is the CTO of Microsoft Azure, and as it seems, a big fan of id Software's classic 1993 FPS, DOOM. I've seen the game running on practically every imaginable piece of hardware with a screen and any semblance of buttons, but I hadn't expected it to be playable inside Paint — until I installed it on my own PC earlier this morning.

"Playable" is being generous, because as Russinovich explains in his documentation for DoomPaint on GitHub: "Every frame is placed on the Windows clipboard and pasted into Paint's canvas as a genuine document edit", so Microsoft Paint is acting like more of a monitor than anything else, but it's still a sight to behold.

Performance ranges from quite smooth to snail's pace, but "the spreadsheet-tier framerate is part of the charm", and this is hardly the kind of medium I'd expect anyone to beat the entire game in. Nevertheless, it's real, and stands as the latest example of DOOM running in weird places. You'll need to install Python to run it, but that's all — alternatively, you could just watch my video.

It's a particularly bizarre crossover featuring two of my special interests, retro boomer shooters and classic Windows apps, with the icing on the cake being its creator. Sure, looking at the contributors section of DoomPaint shows generous commits from Anthropic's Claude and Microsoft's GitHub Copilot, so we're definitely dealing with a vibe-coded project here, but this is still a fascinating look into the downtime of a Microsoft executive.

Plus, there's working sound and music in this oddity, which is a step beyond what I expected from using Paint as a DOOM renderer. Again, though, this is more of a visual trick than an engine conversion, as Russinovich reiterates, "Paint renders the game but does not compute it. Paint computes nothing. Paint has never computed anything. That's the joke."

I've spent plenty of hours replaying the classics with source ports like UZDoom, and pulling a legitimate copy of its internal ".WAD" file will make variants like this playable with the complete selection of levels and weapons. If, somehow, you still haven't played DOOM in 2026, this could be one of the strangest ways to get started — but it's probably better to appreciate it from a distance.

— via Tom's Hardware

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Something I said on our Xbox Two Podcast this weekend was taken a little bit out of context by some news aggregates, and it led to rumors that Microsoft was exploring quitting Steam. They are absolutely not exploring that (right now), but there is good reason to think Microsoft is evaluating how it engages with Windows gaming all up.

Someone superchatted in during the live show and asked if there was a scenario where Xbox would ever quit Steam. Microsoft has been re-engaging with exclusive content as of late, with Gears of War: E-Day being the tip of that spear. It'll be exclusively on Xbox Series X|S on console, removing PlayStation from the equation. It is, however, still launching on Steam on PC, in addition to Xbox PC.

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PC gaming seems to be core to Xbox's future. Xbox Helix is going to be a gaming PC in essence, and component prices are making the Xbox Series X|S a non-starter for many. At least for the duration of the memory crisis, Microsoft likely isn't expecting to sell a ton of its own hardware. So, targeting users where they already are, without completely exiting the hardware landscape, is likely the play for now.

So, given that Microsoft literally owns Windows, how are they hoping to corner a bigger piece of the lucrative PC gaming market, even if it doesn't mean undermining Steam directly?

Xbox will continue to support Steam, but it's planning to expand its PC business too

Xbox Game Pass remains core to how Microsoft plans to show up on PC. Game Pass is designed to capture a separate audience from Steam, targeting users who are perhaps more inclined to otherwise stick to free-to-play titles or seek savings in as many ways as possible.

Xbox is still investing a ton in improving the Xbox PC app, which now sports Xbox Mode on Xbox handhelds and Windows 11 PCs, turning your desktop environment into a more optimized, controller-focused interface. The Windows 11 team wrote just last week about how it intends to further boost the OS for gaming and optimization in general. We live in a world where Linux and SteamOS seem to offer significant gaming performance gains by simple virtue of not being Windows — Microsoft absolutely wants to solve that gap.

But furthermore, I've received information from multiple trusted sources that Microsoft and Blizzard have been planning to open Battle.net up to third-party developers. It's unclear if that's still the plan under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, but so far, I'm not yet seeing evidence that the plans here were canceled.

Battle.net boasts enormous monthly active users in its own right, and technically has its own "exclusives" in the form of World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and some other Blizzard classics.

Microsoft already tested launching some Xbox games through Battle.net, including Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and DOOM: The Dark Ages. It seems Battle.net is being redesigned to offer more third-party content beyond the Microsoft ecosystem in the future, while still acting as the primary delivery platform for Blizzard games like Diablo IV and Overwatch.

Battle.net and the Xbox PC app already form a "bridge" of sorts via Xbox PC's plugins section. Microsoft is also working with publishers like Ubisoft and EA to integrate their own PC stores to give publishers the opportunity to deliver their content directly while integrating Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud, and Xbox PC ecosystems and features. Ubisoft announced last week that owners of some Xbox Series X|S console games will receive their Xbox PC versions for free, for example, and it's likely the program there will expand over time.

There's a lot of unknowns here, of course. There are some gaps and pitfalls when it comes to third-party titles on the Xbox PC store. Diablo IV, for example, doesn't support Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning users have to buy DLC multiple times for multiple platforms. Ubisoft games on PC don't support Xbox achievements either, even though you can sync your progress on some games to Xbox Series X|S devices.

Just how seamless the synchronicity between platforms will be remains to be seen, but the core of it is pretty simple: it's about giving developers more options for selling games, and putting more games in front of users where they already are on PC. The PC market is pretty fragmented given its open nature, with different launchers, stores, and platforms competing for attention. Xbox is trying to make it more seamless for PC players who want the integrations using its plug-in systems, while also leveraging the platforms it already has to create more opportunities for developers in general.

Blizzard games are generally seasonal in delivery, so it's a potential win for Xbox if, during typical patch cycles, Blizzard gamers pick up another game inside the ecosystem rather than leave for something external on the Riot Client, Epic Games Store, HoYoverse launcher, or wherever else.

Positron and Xbox emulation on PC

Microsoft is also known to be creating a bridge between console and PC with its Positron platform.

Xbox "Positron" is a system designed to help gamers convert disc-based games into digital licenses. If those games support Xbox Play Anywhere (and up to 50% of new releases currently do these days), then you will also get the PC version of any Xbox Series X|S disc-based game you connect to your Microsoft Account.

Sources suggest to me that Positron is expected to be revealed some time in August as Microsoft works out some of the finer details. It won't support every single game on Xbox 360, Series X|S, and Xbox One, but it will support a significant amount of titles pending licensing hurdles and agreements with publishers.

Another tool Microsoft is using to grow its presence on PC is the unassuming backwards compatibility emulator we saw ship a few weeks ago.

Xbox has arguably been a leader in the digital preservation space, ensuring games from decades ago still function on modern systems. In some cases, the only way to play certain old school games has been on Xbox consoles via backward compatibility. But Microsoft is planning to expand that even further to include PC gamers in the mix as well.

For now, the Xbox backward compatibility emulator on PC includes four OG Xbox games, including Conker, Blinx, and Crimson Skies. Future plans also include Xbox 360 games, which could light up some major classics that have, in some cases, up to now, been completely locked to consoles.

It would help Microsoft close some big gaps in its PC ecosystem, which came in pretty late and is sadly still missing out on mountains of classic games. It would also help Xbox gain access to a wealth of new content that would potentially perform better on lower-end handheld devices, such as the Xbox Ally S, in a universe where hardware prices have become truly insane.

Lots of potential, but polish is paramount

Xbox's history with PC gaming has been checkered, to say the least. PC gamers of a certain age still call back to the dark days of Games for Windows Live. Even those who might've dabbled more recently lament Xbox PC's feature and app gaps when compared to Steam.

On lower-end devices especially, the Xbox PC store is still not as performant as it probably should be, especially on that initial load. The Xbox PC store search functionality isn't particularly great either, and curation is a mixed bag. It's hard to find new games at times, and many games to this day still skip the platform, even though Xbox PC offers a far more generous cut than Steam does.

The Xbox PC store has improved by a huge amount, and now probably represents roughly 50% of my play time. I'm currently bouncing between Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally X while playing Hell is Us, for example, and many upcoming major AAA titles like Blood of the Dawnwalker and Onimusha from Capcom do support Xbox Play Anywhere.

Indie developers still aren't huge fans of the Xbox PC platform either, sadly, with long certification times and difficult policies making shipping on Xbox PC needlessly complex. Without some form of Game Pass deal, it seems many indie developers simply don't think it's worth the effort.

It'll be interesting to see what Xbox does to continue improving adoption on their end, and particularly how Battle.net handles some of this stuff in the future (if plans don't change under new CEO Asha Sharma). None of it means Xbox will walk away from Steam; there's simply too much money to be left on the table. PC has long been a place of platform plurality, and Xbox is seemingly embracing that aspect of Windows gaming in a big way.

RELATED: Xbox Helix and Steam — does it still make sense?

If it works, could Microsoft look to a future where it focuses on its own platforms rather than Steam or Epic Games? It's perhaps a window at best, but not likely in the medium or even long term. But given how Microsoft is pressuring Xbox to deliver bigger margins at all costs, I suspect today's incarnation of Xbox would be less philosophically inclined towards supporting Steam if it felt it didn't have to. But that's just my (potentially cynical) opinion.

As far as I know, Xbox has no plans whatsoever to quit Steam, even as it doubles up on Xbox PC and potentially Battle.net as store destinations for its developer ecosystem.

All of this is before we learn more about Xbox Helix, and how Microsoft plans to bridge the console and PC ecosystems with its own hardware ... More competition should be good for consumers, at least in theory. Ideally, whether you're on Steam or not, Microsoft's boosted attention towards Windows should improve PC gaming in general.

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HP announced its new Omen Max 45L desktop gaming PC in 2025, and it arrived with several upgrades over previous models.

I'm talking about an upgraded cooling system built on the back of HP's unique "Cryo Chamber." About a new modular power supply with an auto-cleaning fan. About new in-depth overclocking abilities.

The Omen Max 45L recently landed in my office, and I've been using it for a couple of weeks to see what it's all about. Does it make a strong case for itself compared to a DIY build? Does it have enough premium features to warrant a premium price? Here's what you need to know.

HP sent Windows Central a review unit on loan for testing. It had no input, nor saw the contents of this review, prior to publication.

How much does the HP Omen Max 45L cost?

HP's Omen Max 45L does not come cheap as a direct result of inflated component costs and the general high-end nature of the system.

Looking at HP.com at the time of writing, prices start at $3,489.99 for a model with an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of Kingston Fury DDR5-6000 RAM, and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

Prices climb all the way to $6,499.99 for a model with an AMD Ryzen 9 990X3D CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, 4TB of storage, and 64GB of DDR5 RAM.

The specific unit I'm reviewing costs closer to $5,959.99 before any discounts. At the time of writing, it's $800 off the regular price, bringing it down to $5,159.99. Here's a closer look at the specs that make up the PC I'm testing.

I put together a mock build on PCPartPicker to compare pricing. With the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, PSU, X870 motherboard, Windows 11, and Lian Li O11 case, you're looking at roughly $4,616. Add some extra ARGB case fans in there, and you might hit $4,800 to $5,000.

Without a discount, HP is charging a lot more for the Omen Max 45L compared to building your own. If you are interested in this PC, I definitely recommend waiting for a deep discount.

Is the HP Omen Max 45L assembled properly with good cable management?

I've been on a run of good luck lately regarding pre-built PCs I tested and reviewed, and I had high hopes for the Omen Max 45L's build quality and cable management.

In the former case, it's a bit of a mixed bag. The PC has a sturdy separate top compartment that can be used to lug around the 50-pound system, quick-release side and front panels, and a pull-off top panel hiding the AiO radiator.

It's easy to get inside the PC without any tools, and I appreciate that there's a removable dust screen for the three front intake fans. I live with two cats and ... you get the idea. I've been using the PC for a couple of weeks, and there was minimal dust to blow out when it came time for photos.

The massive RTX 5080 GPU is held in place with an additional bracket — also removing the need for any bothersome foam packing en route — and I had to make no adjustments out of the box. The PC turned on and booted up as soon as I hit the power button.

There are a couple of areas where the build quality could be better. I noticed immediately that the CPU pump header isn't mounted squarely on the chip. The front panel of the case seems to stick on one side. And the rear side panel doesn't quite match up flush with the rest of the tower unless I really take my time lining it up.

Cable management leaves a lot to be desired

Cable management in the HP Omen Max 45L isn't great. It feels like it was a rushed job, leaving stray cables and extra length on the visible side. Not only does this make for a messy appearance, but it can also interfere with internal air cooling.

Around the back, behind the all-metal panel, things aren't much better. Compared to, say, Maingear's MG-1 MK.II or Acer's Nitro 65, the Omen Max 45L's (normally) hidden cabling is spaghetti.

There's a snarl of cables pinched between the panel and motherboard backing, and another snarl sitting in front of the modular PSU. One thing I can appreciate is that the correct SATA cables are sitting idle in front of the dual (empty) HDD bay for easier connectivity.

How is port selection on the HP Omen Max 45L?

The front of the case hosts four ports and an LED power button. There are two USB-A at 5Gbps each, one USB-C at 10Gbps, and one 3.5mm audio combo jack. Not too bad in terms of convenience for ports often used.

Around back, on the custom HP micro-ATX motherboard, you'll find four USB-A 2.0 ports (with speeds measured in Mbps) as well as two more USB-A at 5Gbps. Two additional USB-C at 10Gbps round out USB connectivity.

HP has a 2.5Gb Ethernet port for wired connectivity, as well as dedicated jacks for line in, line out, and microphone. This is a fairly austere port setup, leaving a lot of space on the board's I/O blank. At least there's an easy CMOS reset button available.

As for the GPU, ports depend on the card you get. The RTX 5080 here has one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b.

How does the HP Omen Max 45L's cooling set itself apart from other PCs?

The Omen Max 45L's most prominent feature is its dedicated Cryo Chamber that hosts the AiO CPU cooler's radiator separately from the rest of the PC. The air-gapped setup means that only ambient air is cooling the fins, and the hot air forced out the other side by the fans doesn't enter back into the PC.

It's an admittedly ingenious setup that makes a difference, especially when you're working with flagship GPUs that produce quite a bit of heat that's spilled directly into the main portion of the case. It does, however, add quite a bit of bulk to the case. If you're short on space already, this probably isn't the PC for you.

The Omen Max 45L uses mostly standard parts

A big issue a lot of people have with big-brand pre-built PCs is their insistence on using proprietary hardware inside. I'm talking about parts that can't be easily replaced because they're some weird size or shape.

That's not the case here. Well, not exactly. The motherboard is a custom micro-ATX HP 8E55 using AMD's X870 chipset. It's a standard size that makes for easy replacement, and the case also fits up to a full-size ATX board.

I'm not sure why HP didn't just go for the full-size board in the first place. The massive GPU blocks off a lot of the board, and you'll absolutely be pulling the card out of the case if you have to do anything that involves the secondary SSD or the M.2 Wi-Fi card.

The RTX 5080 is also a custom HP job with a snazzy Omen-styled casing. It performs just as well as any other 5080 out there made by a known brand.

I tested it using 3DMark's Speed Way and Steel Nomad tests and came back with these scores of 8,996 and 8,628, respectively.

There were no surprises from the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, either; it performed as expected in baseline benchmark tests. If you're buying this PC strictly for gaming, I'd recommend sticking with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It costs $330 less and will deliver incredible gaming performance.

The Samsung SSD isn't the fastest we've tested, but it gets the job done with 6,626 MB/s read and 4,993 MB/s write speeds. Check out these graphs for a comparison to other hardware we've recently tested.

The PSU is actually one of the PC's strong points, which goes against a lot of other pre-built systems. It's a 1200W Platinum-grade option with a Cybenetics Platinum rating. It's fully modular for easy tweaking, it's quiet, and it has a custom reverse fan cleaning tool to spin the dust out of the hardware.

Even the separated AiO cooler can be replaced should the stock HP option that ships with the PC not be up to snuff for your needs.

Does the HP Omen Max 45L have good airflow?

To check airflow and temperatures, I ran a lengthy 3DMark Speed Way stress test. With all panels in place, including the front glass panel, the CPU hit 46 degrees Celsius, and the GPU hit 75 degrees.

With the front glass panel removed, GPU temperatures fell to about 74 degrees Celsius. The CPU, with separated cooling, saw no change. That's a minor difference, and you should have no problems keeping the PC cool as intended.

It's worth noting that the PC runs very quietly. The most noise I could get out of it was during the stress tests, and it peaked at just 47 decibels. That's quieter than most other pre-built PCs I've tested, and you'll hardly notice it's running even under load.

Does the Omen Max 45L come with useful custom software?

The main software to control this PC is HP's Omen Gaming Hub. It serves ads while open (annoying), but it does a decent job of controlling the PC.

The ARGB in the PC seems to have some issues, and I suspect it has to do with HP's firmware. It'll turn off randomly and not turn back on until the PC restarts, or it will reset on its own while using the PC.

HP includes a lot of software I deem unnecessary, including McAfee antivirus, Adobe offers, and Booking.com. It's classic bloatware. That's without mentioning the seven different HP apps that come preinstalled.

It can all be removed, but it's still an annoyance on a PC this expensive, especially when competitors are shipping clean installs of Windows 11.

Should you buy the HP Omen Max 45L?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want a unique and powerful desktop PC for gaming or creative work.

✅ You'd rather not save some money with a DIY build.

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You're looking for the best value possible in a pre-built gaming PC.

❌ You want the absolute best cable management and build quality.

There's no question that the HP Omen Max 45L delivers on top-tier performance and cooling. Unfortunately, its assembly and cable management don't feel like they match the high price.

Worse, the PC comes with quite a bit of bloatware, and there are what I suspect are firmware issues that plague the built-in RGB lighting.

The pre-built gaming PC market has come a long way in recent years, and the Omen Max 45L ultimately feels like it's stuck in the past. It won't disappoint those who need a ton of power, but there are plenty of alternatives out there that will deliver a superior product at a similar price.

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Earlier this week, my colleague, Alex Cope, wrote a piece detailing how a surprise game had turned around his growing ill feelings towards gaming. It resonated with me because it mirrors a lot of the same feelings I've been having myself.

There's a huge selection of great games out there, don't get me wrong, but the whole state of the industry weighs heavy. Not to mention I'm really burned out on live service gaming and the constant grift.

Thanks to another of my colleagues, Ben Wilson, I finally opened up a couple of games I've had sitting in my Steam backlog for actual years: American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2.

I. Am. Hooked.

I've always known how popular these games are, but I finally get it. You're given an enormous sandbox to play in, and you can make of it what you wish. Play the game, make your own game, change it with add-ons, or play with others on community servers.

These are old games but still get new content regularly and, at some point, will finally arrive on console, too. If you look at them and think it might be a tedious gameplay loop, you couldn't be more wrong.

For me, it's all about the drive

You can pretty much make of Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator what you want. There's no campaign to speak of, and from the off you're able to drive anywhere on any of the maps you own.

For me, it's the driving that's completely sucked me in. I could easily be making money faster, buying more trucks, hiring more drivers, and building my own virtual empire, but I'm not really driven that way.

It's all about the road trips. Leveling up to open up bigger, more valuable cargo earns more monetary reward, but it also opens up longer drives. It's one of the most relaxing video games I've ever played.

Sure, AI traffic at times acts dumb and produces a bit of the old virtual road rage, but mostly it's me, my trailer, and the open road. Stick on some music from the selection of in-game but still real-world radio stations, settle in, and admire the surroundings.

It can be challenging, too. Navigating tight roads gets the brain matter working, and I'm still not very good at reversing a trailer, but it also never feels frustrating. There's a real sense of satisfaction when you do it right and don't crash into everything around you.

Hours just fly past. Thinking, "Oh, I'll just jump on and do a few short deliveries," suddenly becomes driving across the entire map. I don't even have all the DLCs for either of the games, but without consciously thinking about it, I'm accepting a 1,000-mile+ drive from New Mexico up to Oregon.

I've spent more time in American Truck Simulator than I have in Euro Truck Simulator 2 purely because I think the drives are better. I've seen plenty of real-life Europe in my years on the planet, and it's nice, but it's not quite the same as some of the spectacular scenery in the U.S.

It feels more like a real road adventure to me.

Both games have limitless potential for customization

Besides the quantity of official DLCs, both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 have quite ridiculous mod support. Both from the Steam Workshop and external sources.

I've barely scratched the surface of this yet, but it's mindboggling how far you can go. You can add real-life companies to replace the standard, fake ones. You can download new vehicles, including those not officially in the game. There are graphics mods, physics mods, weather mods, mods to customize your trucks, and mods to change the traffic.

If you can think of it, there's probably already a mod for it.

There are also ways to play with others. Inside the game, there are convoys that you can join in with, but there are also external options, with the most well-known being TruckersMP.

This is a mod that allows you to drive on dedicated servers alongside other real people rather than AI traffic, and there's a whole community built around it. I haven't yet dipped a toe in the multiplayer waters, so I can't speak with any authority, but the option is there.

Ultimately, you can make the experience your own. If you want to go down the hyper-realism route, you can. If you're happy just trucking by yourself using the official content, you can do that too. Or any step in between.

Both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator play great on handhelds

Most of my time trucking so far has actually been spent on my Steam Deck, feet up on the sofa. One day I'm going to get more serious with a wheel and probably a button box, but it's perfectly enjoyable with a controller and a handheld.

Both games actually have a native Linux version you can enjoy on the Steam Deck, and both are still being kept up to date with the Windows equivalent. I've been playing it through Proton instead, and I do think it's a little better overall. But you don't have to. They're as pick-up-and-play as it can be on SteamOS.

There are limitations, and frame rate will drop in some of the newer DLCs and the bigger cities, but overall, it's superb. I'm not even playing on the lowest settings, either. Some are set to low, but most are on medium, and it's working just fine. It looks good enough to still feel impressive on those long drives through the countryside.

Both are perfect games to play on a handheld, and for me at least, I get added relaxation from moving away from my gaming PC. The one I spend all day in front of while I'm working. These two truck sims plus the Steam Deck are a perfect antidote.

Mostly, I'm wondering why I waited so long. I said the same about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, too.

I've always loved games where you can explore, and what's better than a huge open map to drive across as you please?

If you've ever been even curious, I definitely recommend checking out at least one of them. The base games are cheap, and while there's a lot of DLC map add-ons, there's enough road in each of the base maps to help you get a feel for it.

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In recent years, due to climate change, gaming has become increasingly difficult to enjoy during the summer because of rising heat waves. Why, according to the BBC, June 2026 has seen a record-breaking heat dome across the United Kingdom and Europe, with temperatures reaching between 36°C and 41°C (95°F to 105.8°F).

And that goes without mentioning that most homes in the UK and Europe were built to retain heat in winter, making them even more unbearable to sit through in summer (most of them aren't built with air conditioning).

I know this because I live in a brick-built house in the UK, which gets so hot during summer heat waves that it feels like my bedroom turns into an oven, especially when I have to turn on my PC for work.

My colleagues and I, living across the world, turn to playing games on handhelds like the Xbox Ally or anything that supports Xbox Cloud Gaming during heat waves to play without making the temperature in our homes even worse via the combined excess heat from our consoles or PCs.

However, Reddit user "scvready0808" got sick and tired of these heat waves turning his office into a sauna whenever he wanted to play PC games, so he decided to craft a homemade "PC chimney".

Using a combination of Etsy-sourced duct adapters, insulated flexible piping, connector kits, and a window fan, they're venting excess heat from their PC and making the room's temperature more tolerable for gaming.

It's a primitive-looking but effective method that worked in scvready0808's favor, and it's one I'd love to try myself, since my room is incompatible with traditional air conditioners — though I'd need to learn how to craft the thing without breaking my windows in the process.

Either way, I hate summer, and I can't wait for winter to come again so I can game in peace without worrying about overheating my precious RTX GPU or my ever-expensive Xbox Series X.

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In just a month from now, Gamescom 2026 will commence, offering the public early hands-on previews of highly anticipated Xbox games, along with reveals of brand-new gameplay footage or even entirely new games.

This year's Gamescom is already stacked with some heavy hitters, with the likes of Gears of War: E-Day's first playable demo and the premiere of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's 'Songs of the Past' DLC expansion already confirmed to show up.

I've already curated my own list of upcoming Xbox games that I'm most looking forward to seeing at Gamescom, along with other Xbox games that haven't been confirmed for Gamescom — but I still hope they'll show up with surprise trailers.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance

Capcom has confirmed it will be at Gamescom this year (via its European X account), bringing playable demos for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Mega Man: Dual Override, and Street Fighter 6.

While we won't be getting a playable showroom demo this year, I'm still hoping for more gameplay trailers or info on Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance.

This DLC expansion to the latest mainline entry in the Monster Hunter series, just from its initial reveal trailer, has me stoked with its new beautiful floating island locale, new and classic monsters, and new Boost Bracer mechanic that aims to add completely new moves and ways to play every weapon type in the game.

I'm hoping for at least a new gameplay trailer and, at most, a gameplay deep dive describing not only its new content but how it will change or improve the base game content of Monster Hunter Wilds.

Granted, the base game is in a much better state than it was at launch, but I feel there's still plenty that could be done to fix the fundamental gameplay issues I have with it, which I hope the DLC expansion will address.

Gears of War: E-Day

One game that shot up my wishlist recently was Gears of War: E-Day, which is confirmed to have a playable demo at Gamescom, so we'll definitely be getting more info on it for sure.

Seeing the initial reveal trailer and its E-Day Direct filled me with waves of nostalgia for the original Gears of War trilogy with Marcus and Dom, not to mention how hyped it made me for the new modernized mechanics that make its classic cover-based gunplay more fast-paced than ever.

So I can't wait to see more footage of its gameplay (hopefully co-op) in action at Gamescom. Though thankfully we have its multiplayer gameplay showcase to look forward to first to whet our appetites.

Gears of War: E-Day is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Windows and Steam on October 6, 2026.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past DLC

In what is possibly one of the biggest pleasant surprises of 2026, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is getting another DLC expansion over a decade later after the release of its Blood & Wine expansion.

Little is known about this 'Songs of the Past' expansion other than CD Projekt Red confirming its content will be on the same level of scale as the Blood & Wine expansion, which was so gigantic and well-done that it won the award for "Best RPG" at the 2016 Game Awards, so I can't imagine how 'Songs of the Past' plans to top it or how it lead into Witcher 4.

Many years ago, I went through a marathon of The Witcher series, and I concur with Jez Corden's review that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was the best of the bunch. Just the base game alone was packed to the brim with dozens of hours of epic branching stories, engrossing character writing, varied character builds, and enticing combat.

So I can't wait to see what CD Projekt Red's swansong to this legendary game will look like when it debuts at Gamescom 2026.

Spyro: A Realm Beyond

My inner child leaped with joy upon seeing that Spyro the Dragon will be coming back with a new game called Spyro: A Realm Beyond, made in the same gameplay style as the original PlayStation 1 trilogy.

Not to mention that it will be made by Toys for Bob, which has proven it can make solid platformers with its fantastic Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4.

We've only gotten a brief look at its gameplay within its reveal trailer, and it's already got me intrigued with the addition of being able to fly whenever we want now, because in previous Spyro games, flight was only limited to certain boss fights and the Speedway levels.