Hardware News

Check the news feeds from tomshardware!

• Commodore Corporation BV acquisition completed by fan-led consortium — prepare for new retro futurist products with the deal signed, sealed, and paid for ahead of schedule

  Peri Fractic has confirmed that a community-led acquisition of Commodore Corp has been signed, sealed, and paid for.

• Razer's PC-compatible BlackShark V2 X Xbox gaming headset dips to $30 on Amazon — wired 3.5mm connector cans will work with a wide range of other devices

  Right now at Amazon, you can find the Razer BlackShark V2 X Xbox gaming headset for $30 — one of the best prices we've seen for this 3.5mm wired PC-compatible headset since it was first released.

• Modular Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded controller delivers flexibility to fussy PC and console gamers — Turtle Beach lets users reconfigure layouts with swappable components

  Turtle Beach’s latest pro-grade controller includes swappable parts, tournament-ready triggers, and support for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC platforms.

• Botched GPU baking job is fixed by a maestro chef — Northwest Repairs resuscitates a dead graphics card by reballing its core and memory

  An RX 7800 XT with a previously-failed reflow attempt came in for repair and was fixed by reballing its core and memory chips. One of the VRAM chips needed to be replaced as well but at the end, the card finally booted, and this customer's Facebook Marketplace find was salvaged.

• Nintendo Switch 2 thermal limits mean you need air conditioning if you want to play in a hot climate — Big N advises against use in environments above 35 degrees Celsius (95F) due to overheating risk

  The console needs more cooling.

• DeepCool Assassin VC Elite Review: The best cooler you can’t buy in the USA

  Banned from sale in the US, DeepCool’s Assassin VC Elite features an upgraded vapor chamber coldplate. We tested it with AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Intel’s Core i7-14700K CPUs.

• Gigabyte quietly disables Gen5 PCIe 5.0 GPU support on B650 motherboards in F35 BIOS update — Stay on F34 if you value the unofficial PCIe 5.0 support

  Gigabyte has removed unofficial PCIe 5.0 support from its B650 motherboards in the latest BIOS update, citing stability concerns. While PCIe 4.0 remains sufficient for most GPUs, the move highlights AMD’s strict chipset segmentation and could signal similar changes from other vendors.

• Intel prepares for Nova Lake CPUs with new Linux support — retiring 20-year-old 'Family 6' designation in favor of 'Family 18'

  Intel has started upstream Linux patches for Nova Lake, its next-gen CPU family set to replace the 20-year-old Family 6 era. Classified under Family 18, Nova Lake will power desktops, laptops, and possibly handhelds, with early groundwork ensuring Linux readiness well ahead of its 2026 launch.

• MSI's RTX 5080 Expert features a dual-fan blower-style cooler inspired by the Nvidia RTX 40-series Founders Edition — GPU retails for $1,399 at the MSI online store

  Specs and pricing of MSI's new RTX 5080 Expert have appeared, featuring virtually identical cooling to its predecessor, the RTX 4080 Super Expert.

• Rebadged Alder Lake CPU is priced higher than the new Arrow Lake chip in retailer listing — Core 5 120 and Core 5 120F listed for $246 and $216

  Bottom Line Telecommunications, Inc. has published listings for the Core 5 120 and Core 5 120F, including pricing information.

• Cyberpunk 2077 Mac benchmarks show most Apple Silicon can run the game at over 30 FPS on medium settings — results vary from a smooth 130+ FPS to a unplayable 24 FPS

  A call for a community benchmark for Cyberpunk 2077 running on macOS revealed a wide range of results.

• AMD CPUs surpass the 40% threshold in latest Steam hardware survey — RTX 5070 emerges as the most preferred GPU within the Blackwell series

  Intel’s lead shrinks as gamers increasingly embrace AMD’s 3D V-Cache CPUs

• AMD Strix Halo-powered gaming handheld reveals desktop-like GPU performance — Ryzen AI Max+ 395 was a hairline from the RTX 4060

  Chinese creators have gotten their hands on GPD's latest handhelds and showcased their capabilities.

• Take home a Core 5, RTX 4050 gaming laptop for $892 — the Asus TUF Gaming F16 laptop is great for budget gamers

  This edition of the Asus TUF Gaming F16 laptop is available at Amazon for just $892, one of its lowest prices to date, according to data from CamelCamelCamel.

• Leading phone repair and insurance firm collapses after paying crippling ransomware demand — Cutting 100+ employees to just eight wasn’t enough

  A leading mobile device insurance and service network has initiated insolvency proceedings in the wake of a cyberattack. Selling properties and cutting staff numbers wasn't enough to save the business.

• Alienware 16 Aurora review: Long on endurance, short on performance

  The Alienware 16 Aurora is thin and long-lasting, but it's not a powerful gaming laptop.

• Battlefield 6's Javelin anti-cheat Secure Boot requirement could kill its Steam Deck support

  Battlefield 6 is taking advantage of EA's Javelin anti-cheat system, which enforced Secure Boot and is classified as a kernel-level AC, potentially killing Linux and Steam Deck support before the game launches.

• I took a look at AnduinOS, a Linux distro that feels like home for Windows users

  More Windows, less pane

• MSI will add its proprietary EOTF Boost mode to more QD-OLED gaming monitors this month

  MSI is allegedly rolling out its homemade EOTF Boost feature to more QD-OLED models this month. The new technology improves HDR performance of supported MSI monitors, offering higher average brightness compared to HDR 1000.

• SignalRGB takes a swipe at Razer, makes functioning RGB toaster PC — quad-slice toaster case incorporates a Stream Deck, Mini-ITX components

  SignalRGB is giving away a toaster PC that houses a full-blown Mini-ITX gaming PC. You could win the toaster PC, along with a Thunderbolt 4 dock.