The Newegg Shuffle is back and we’re finally giving prospective buyers a chance to hit the ground running thanks to an early tip off on today’s inventory. The highlight for today is a GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card that’s up for $640, giving you a chance to buy one of the best graphics cards at a much lower price than what scalpers offer.
Joining that offer are two graphics card/motherboard combos and one graphics card/PSU combo. First up is another RTX 3070 that’s paired with an Asus board for $970, and second is a GeForce RTX 3080 and Asus board combo for $1,270. If you’ve got big dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you can also get a GeForce RTX 3090 and an EVGA 750W PSU for $2,030.
All three of these graphics cards rank either towards or at the top of our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, and prices are at least lower than what we’ve seen in our eBay GPU pricing index. Still, the only way you’re likely to get a new Ampere or Big Navi GPU is to pay the piper. The RTX 3070 officially has a $500 base MSRP, so the EVGA card still sports a 28% markup — though it’s worth noting that EVGA also lists the 3070 XC3 Ultra Gaming at $630.
For those unfamiliar with the process, Newegg Shuffle uses a lottery format. Just select the component(s) you’d like to potentially buy. Then Newegg will hold a drawing later today, after which the ‘winners’ get notified by email with the chance to purchase the part (only one) within a several hour period. Based on our experience, you won’t get selected most of the time. But hey, it’s free to try.
Today’s options and prices consist of the following:
EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 for $640
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 with Asus Strix B550-F for $970
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 with Asus Strix B550-F for $1,270
EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 with EVGA SuperNOVA 750W PSU for $2,030
All of the graphics card prices are anywhere from 25% to 50% higher than the official launch MSRPs from AMD and Nvidia, though these are third-party custom cards that generally include some with extra features. The RTX 3080 and 3090 cards are the most powerful of the bunch, although that sole RTX 3070 represents the best value here — and if you’re only after the graphics card, the motherboard or PSU combo doesn’t do anything other than increase the price.
With component shortages plaguing the PC industry, not to mention the smartphone and automotive industries, the latest word is that prices aren’t likely to return to ‘normal’ throughout 2021. If you can keep chugging along with whatever your PC currently has, that’s the best option, as otherwise prices are painful for all of the Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA2 GPUs.
Today’s Newegg shuffle starts at 1 pm EST/10 am PST. They normally last for 2 hours, so if you’re interested in any of these cards, act fast!
In a shocking move, MSI Russia has has reduced the warranty period for 18 graphics cards, as reported by PC Gamer. MSI typically offers a 36-month warranty on graphics cards; however, the brand will only back the affected models for six months now.
MSI Russia shared the news on the company’s warranty webpage but didn’t share its exact reasoning. The list includes AMD Polaris and Navi cards, as well as Nvidia’s Turing and latest Ampere products representing some of the best graphics cards for gaming.
Graphics Card
Ethereum Hash Rate (MH/s)*
Architecture
GPU
Radeon RX 570 Miner 8G
31.31
GCN 4.0
Polaris 20
Radeon RX 580 Miner 8G
32.74
GCN 4.0
Polaris 20
Radeon RX 5500 XT Miner
25.06
RDNA
Navi 14
Radeon RX 5600 XT Miner
37.68
RDNA
Navi 10
Radeon RX 5700 Miner
50.99
RDNA
Navi 10
Radeon RX 5700 XT Miner
54.28
RDNA
Navi 10
GeForce RTX 2060 Super Gaming X RU
37.74
Turing
TU106
GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Z RU
37.74
Turing
TU106
GeForce RTX 2060 Super Ventus OC RU
37.74
Turing
TU106
GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus OC RU
37.74
Turing
TU106
GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus XS OC RU
37.74
Turing
TU106
GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS OC RU
21.44
Turing
TU116
GeForce GTX 1660 Super Ventus XS OC RU
26.64
Turing
TU116
GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X OC RU
48.00
Ampere
GA106
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OC RU
60.21
Ampere
GA104
GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X OC RU
61.79
Ampere
GA104
GeForce RTX 3080 Ventus 3X 10G OC RU
97.88
Ampere
GA102
GeForce RTX 3090 Ventus 3X OC RU
121.16
Ampere
GA102
*Data from Minerstat
MSI Russia didn’t point to cryptocurrency mining, but it still comes to mind as a potential driver for the drop in warranty, especially considering the first six models are obviously tailored towards cryptocurrency miners, such as the famed Radeon RX 580 Miner.
It’s a bit surprising to see Ampere cards on MSI’s list, since the Ampere SKUs are GeForce gaming graphics cards. But cryptocurrency miners have repurposed Ampere, such as the GeForce RTX 3060 for mining activities.
Mining cryptocurrency takes a heavy toll on graphics cards, since mining farms operate 24/7. Graphics cards used for mining are more likely to suffer a premature death, which is particularly problematic given today’s graphics card shortage. Graphics card vendors aren’t eager to replace these cards, and, in fact, many vendors explicitly state that cryptocurrency mining isn’t covered under their warranty.
Nvidia’s answer to crytocurrency mining was to introduce the Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) product line. However, CMP options aren’t very appealing to casual miners, considering their price tag and warranty. Although Nvidia never acknowledged it, many CMP devices are using rewarmed Turing silicon. For example, the CMP 30HX performs similarly to the GeForce GTX 1660 Super in mining Ethereum. We’ve seen the CMP 30HX on the market with a price tag as high as $723 with warranty periods up to three months. It’s easy to see why miners would avoid the CMP lineup since the GeForce counterparts are often cheaper and feature longer warranties.
If the rumor about Nvidia giving its Ampere silicon an overhaul is accurate, graphics card vendors won’t have to resort to shortening warranty periods to protect their GeForce products from mining. The chipmaker is reportedly reinforcing its anti-mining algorithm on the new Ampere dies, so that mining performance is gimped straight out of the box.
This shouldn’t affect shoppers outside of Russia, but we’ve reached out to MSI to see if the company can shed any more light and if we could see similar action in other countries.
Asus’ ROG Maximus XIII Hero is a full-featured Z590 motherboard that includes robust power delivery, premium audio with a DAC, four M.2 sockets, dual 2.5 GbE ports and integrated Wi-Fi 6E. Overall, the $499 Hero is a well-rounded premium board for Intel’s Z590 platform.
For
+ High-quality 14-phase 90A VRM
+ 10 USB ports, incl. 2x Thunderbolt 4
+ Dual 2.5 GbE plus Wi-Fi 6E
+ Four M.2 sockets
+ Premium audio
Features and Specifications
Asus’ ROG Maximus XIII Hero hits the motherboard scene offering users an extended features list, premium styling, and a price tag of $499.99. While that’s certainly expensive, it’s no longer flagship motherboard territory in terms of pricing. The latest Hero includes loads of USB ports (including ultra-fast Thunderbolt Type-C), high-quality VRMs and four M.2 sockets. All that, plus a high-end appearance and overall good performance help make this board worth the cost of admission.
Asus’ current Z590 product stack consists of 13 models. Starting from the top, the ROG Maximus XIII Extreme and its water-cooled counterpart, the Extreme Glacial, carve out the flagship SKUs, followed by the ROG Hero and the overclocking focused ROG Apex. There are four other ROG Gaming boards, Z590-E/-F/-A/-I(ITX), along with two TUF Gaming boards and three Prime boards on the budget end. Asus presents a well-rounded product stack with boards and price points for just about everyone from top to bottom.
Overall, performance on our Hero was the best out of the boards we’ve tested so far. Granted, the difference isn’t much between most of the higher-performing boards ( which bypass the Intel specification), but the Hero and its out-of-the-box settings lead the group. Overclocking went without a hitch, easily handling our 5.1 GHz clock speed along with the memory set to DDR4 4000. Of the several boards we’ve looked at, this and the MSI MEG Ace were some of the easier boards to overclock and get the memory to speed with little or no tweaking.
Generation after generation, the Asus ROG Maximus line has delivered (what this reviewer considers to be) devilishly good looks and a long list of features for the high-end segment. The Maximus XIII Hero continues this trend, tweaking the appearance a bit from the last generation and making other changes including adding PCIe 4.0 support for M.2 sockets and PCIe slots, Wi-Fi 6E, dual Thunderbolt USB Type-C ports and more. We’ll take a look at those and other features in detail. Below is the full specifications list from Asus.
Specifications – Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero
Socket
LGA 1200
Chipset
Z590
Form Factor
ATX
Voltage Regulator
16 Phase (14+2, 90A MOSFETs)
Video Ports
(1) HDMI
USB Ports
(2) Thunderbolt 4, Type-C (40 Gbps)
(6) USB 3.2 Gen 2, Type-A (10 Gbps)
(2) USB 2.0 (480 Mbps)
Network Jacks
(2) 2.5 GbE
Audio Jacks
(5) Analog + SPDIF
Legacy Ports/Jacks
✗
Other Ports/Jack
✗
PCIe x16
(2) v4.0 x16, (x16/x0, x8/x8, x8/x4)
(1) v3.0 x4
PCIe x8
✗
PCIe x4
✗
PCIe x1
(1) v3.0 x4
CrossFire/SLI
Nvidia 2-Way SLI
DIMM slots
(4) DDR4 5333(OC), 128GB Capacity
M.2 slots
(1) PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 110mm)
(1) PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm)
(1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm)
(1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe + SATA (up to 110mm)
U.2 Ports
✗
SATA Ports
(6) SATA3 6 Gbps (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10)
USB Headers
(1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2 (Front Panel Type-C)
(2) USB v3.2 Gen 1
(2) USB v2.0
Fan/Pump Headers
(8) 4-Pin
RGB Headers
(3) aRGB Gen 2 (3-pin)
(1) Aura RGB (4-pin)
Legacy Interfaces
✗
Other Interfaces
FP-Audio, TPM
Diagnostics Panel
Yes, 2-character debug LED, and 4-LED ‘Status LED’ display
Along with the motherboard, the box includes several accessories ranging from cables to graphic card holders and a support DVD. For the price, this isn’t the most inclusive accessory stack we’ve come across, but it will get you started (hopefully) without a trip to the store. Below is a complete list of all included accessories.
Support DVD
User’s Manual
Q-connector
ROG stickers / keychain / thank you card
Graphics card holder
Wi-Fi Moving Antenna
(4) SATA cables
(1) Screw package for M.2 sockets
(1) ARGB extension cable
(1) RGB extension cable
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Handarbeit
Focusing on the top half of the board, we get a better look at the massive heatsinks/shrouds that cover a significant portion of the board. Wedged between the heatpipe-connected VRM heatsink are two reinforced 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) to send power to the CPU. To the right of the socket area and its gunmetal-colored capacitors are four DRAM slots capable of supporting up to 128GB of RAM. Asus lists supported speeds up to DDR4 5333(OC). But as always, your mileage may vary.
Just above the DRAM slots are the first three 4-pin fan/pump headers (of eight total). Six headers (CPU, Chassis, and AIO_Pump, support up to 1A/12W while the W_Pump and H_Amp headers support up to 3A/36W. The AIO and W_Pump headers run at full speed while the rest are Q-Fan controlled.
Continuing right is the 2-character Q-Code debug LED, and just below it are the four Q-LEDs (CPU, DRAM, VGA and Boot) that light up during the boot process. If there is an issue during POST, that specific LED remains lit and tells you, generally, where the problem is. You can use the Q-Code display for more details.
Moving down the right edge, we see the first two (of four) RGB headers. In this area are two 3-pin (ARGB) headers. You’ll find the other two headers, a 4-pin RGB and a third 3-pin ARGB, across the bottom edge. Just below this is a large Start button to power the PC on and a smaller multi-function FlexKey button. By default, this reboots the system, but you can configure this as a quick access feature to activate Safe Boot or turn Aura lighting on/off. Further down the right edge is the 24-pin ATX power connector and below that, a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C front-panel header.
Asus went with a 14-phase ‘teamed’ VRM configuration for the XIII Hero. Power is sent to a Renesas ISL69269 controller (7+2+1), where each channel feeds two phases (no doubler inline). After that, it’s on to the 14 Texas Instrument NexFET 90A Smart Power stages. This allows the CPU to use up to 1260A, one of the higher values we’ve seen. While the Hero isn’t the most robust solution at this price point, it will have no issues with ambient and even extreme overclocking. You’ll be limited by CPU thermals long before this VRM gets in the way.
Taking a closer look at the bottom half of the board, we’ll start with the audio section on the left side. Underneath the plastic shroud, Asus chose the premium Realtek ALC4082 codec along with Chemicon brand Japanese audio capacitors. The Hero also includes an ESS Sabre9018Q2C DAC/Amp for driving your headphones properly. The onboard audio solution provides more than sufficient quality for an overwhelming majority of users.
In the middle of the board we find the PCIe slots and M.2 sockets. On the PCIe front, the Hero has three full-length PCIe slots and one x1 size slot. The top two PCIe slots are wired to the CPU and support PCIe 4.0 when using an 11th generation Intel processor. These top two slots run at x16/x0, x8/x8 or x8/x4 (lane bifurcation) and support Nvidia 2-Way SLI (AMD Crossfire is not mentioned in the specifications). The bottom full-length slot is fed from the chipset and runs at PCIe 3.0 x4. Out of the box, the bottom slot runs at PCIe 3.0 x2 mode and disables SATA ports 3/4. If you need to run the bottom slot at the full x4 mode, SATA ports 1/2/3/4 get disabled.
The Maximus XIII Hero has four M.2 sockets mixed in with the PCIe slots. The top two sockets are both wired PCIe 4.0 x4. Asus accomplishes this by sharing bandwidth with the CPU-fed PCIe slots. When M.2_2 is enabled, the top PCIe slot runs at x8 and the second slot drops to x4. These sockets support PCIe modules only, with the top slot able to handle 110mm modules and the second slot up to 80mm. The third M.2 socket, connected to the chipset, runs at PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, supporting up to 80mm modules. The bottom socket supports up to 110mm PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA-based M.2 devices. If M.2_4 (bottom right) is populated, SATA ports 5/6 are disabled. There’s a fair amount of lane sharing between the SATA ports, M.2 sockets and PCIe slots. So be sure to check out the manual for details on your specific configuration.
To the right of the PCIe area is the chipset heatsink, with the ROG symbol illuminated with RGB LEDs from underneath. On the right edge is another fan header, six SATA ports and two USB 3.2 Gen1 front panel headers that bookend the SATA ports.
Across the board’s bottom are several headers and buttons, including more USB ports, fan headers and more. If you’re into monitoring your custom water loop, there are headers for temperature and water flow as well. You can keep an eye on your entire cooling system, be it air or water. Below is the full list, from left to right:
Front-panel audio
RGB and ARGB headers
Retry button
Chassis fan and High Amp fan headers
(2) USB 2.0 headers
(2) Chassis fan headers
Temperature sensor, water flow headers
Speaker
Front panel header
The Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero comes with a pre-installed rear IO panel sporting a black background with white writing for all of the ports and buttons. There are a total of 10 USB ports: two USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A and two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports for ultra-fast USB storage. Located above the Type-C ports are the two 2.5 GbE ports, while next to those are the two Wi-Fi 6E antenna sockets. A single HDMI port handles video output when using integrated graphics. The audio stack is the full 5-plug analog, plus SPDIF output. Finally, also here are the BIOS flashback button to flash without a CPU and a Clear CMOS button.
Nowadays there are loads of small form-factor (SFF) systems featuring fairly high performance, there are also fanless PCss that can offer performance of regular desktops. Unfortunately, SFF and fanless worlds rarely intersect and passively cooled compact desktops are extremely rare. Yet, they exist. Recently Atlast! Solutions introduced its Sigao Model B, which packs Intel’s 10-core Comet Lake CPU into a fairly small fanless chassis.
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The Atlast! Sigao Model B is based around Intel’s 10-core Core i9-10900T processor as well as an Asus H470-I Mini-ITX motherboard. The CPU features a 35W TDP and has a base clock of 1.9 GHz as well as a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4.6 GHz, though we would not expect the processor to hit very high clocks in a fanless system powered by a 200W PSU. The motherboard comes with all the essentials, including Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth module, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, three display outputs (DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C), one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A connector, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and 5.1-channel audio.
The Sigao measures 12.6 x 12.6 x 3.4 inches (320 × 322 × 87.5 mm) without feet, so while it is definitely not as compact as Intel’s NUC or Apple’s Mac Mini, it can still be considered a small form-factor PC.
Atlast! builds its fanless systems to order, so it can equip its Sigao Model B with up to 64GB of DDR4-2666 memory, one Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2 SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and up to 2TB capacity, and two 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs.
The motherboard has a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and the system can accommodate a single slot wide add-in card using a riser, though finding a decent mini-ITX 75W single slot graphics card with passive (or even active) cooling is close to impossible, so it is unlikely that the system can be equipped with a standalone AIB. Unfortunately, the motherboard also lacks a Thunderbolt 4 port for an external graphics solution, so it looks like the Sigao Model B has to rely on Intel’s built-in UHD Graphics 630 based on the previous-generation architecture. Meanwhile, if the Asus H470-I motherboard gains Rocket Lake-S support, it should be possible to install a more up-to-date CPU with Xe Graphics featuring leading-edge media playback capabilities.
The Atlast! Sigao Model B is not cheap at all. Even the basic model featuring a Core i9-10900T, 16GB of RAM, and a 250GB SSD costs €1,922 ($2304) with taxes and €1,602 without ($1,920), which is quite expensive even by SFF standards. But a desktop PC that brings together compact dimensions and passive cooling is hard to come by, so its price seems to be justified for those who want both features.
Chinese processor developer Loongson Technology this week announced that it had developed its own CPU instruction set architecture (ISA), Loongson Architecture (LoongArch) that has nothing to do with architectures designed outside of China. Surprisingly, the first processors based on the new architecture have already been taped out and will be released commercially this year.
For many years Loongson’s processors relied on different versions of the company’s LoongISA architecture, which were subsets of the MIPS64 architecture. This approach allowed the company to maintain compatibility with software developed for MIPS64 (which includes software for supercomputers) and also introduce its own extensions to boost performance in modern applications.
By contrast, LoongArch is said to feature almost 2,000 of proprietary instructions. Meanwhile, the company said that it had removed outdated instructions not suitable for modern hardware designs to ensure low power consumption and simpler designs. In addition to the base instruction set, LoongArch features binary conversion extension instructions (LBT), vector processing extension instructions (LSX), advanced vector processing extension instructions (LASX), and virtualization extension instructions (LVZ), reports PC Watch.
Apparently, the first CPUs to use the LoongArch are Loongson’s quad-core 3A5000 for client PCs and 16-core 3C5000 for multiprocessor servers. Previously Loongson called these processors ‘MIPS64-compatible’, so they can execute programs originally developed for previous-generation Loongson processors that relied on a superset of the MIPS64 architecture. The Loongson 3A5000 is set to ship in the first half of 2021, whereas the 3C5000 is projected to be available towards the end of the year, according to a previous report.
Loongson Technology has released its LoongArch infrastructure instruction system manual to some interested parties for evaluation, but is yet to publish it for a broader audience of software developers. Also, the LoongArch is currently evaluated by the Chinese IP agency.
China has been striving for semiconductor self-sufficiency for years now and even created its Made in China 2025 program that set the time-frame by which this self-sufficiency is set to be achieved. Analysts are skeptical that China will be self-sufficient by 2025 as far as semiconductors are concerned, but the country is moving towards its goal.
A proprietary CPU ISA is certainly a step towards self-sufficiency as Loongson no longer has to rely on Arm, MIPS, x86, RISC-V or other Western processor architectures. However, only time will tell whether the company can actually develop a competitive ecosystem for its LoongArch.
It is noteworthy that Loongson Technology has once announced plans to transit to open-source RISC-V, so if LoongArch fails, the company will have a plan B.
I was recently working remotely next to my dad, and realized just how many time-saving little Google Sheets shortcuts I take for granted. These aren’t advanced formulas or pivot tables; just simple tricks to save you time if you work with basic organizational spreadsheets. Some of these are old Excel tricks; but some even my Verge colleagues only discovered recently.
Easily rearrange rows and columns by dragging from the row number
If you want to reorder a row, you can do it in one step by first clicking on the row number to highlight the row, then clicking and dragging from the row number to easily slot it wherever you want it.
Before learning this trick from my partner, who (full disclosure) was a one-time Google Docs product manager, I am embarrassed to admit that I wasted a lot of time reordering things by first inserting a blank row, then dragging the content to that new space, and finally deleting its old row. Don’t do this.
Start a new Google Sheet by typing “sheets.new” into your browser
Google owns the top-level domain “.new,” so this also works for docs.new, slides.new, cal.new, etc. They started letting other websites use the domain in 2019; so Spotify has playlist.new, Medium has story.new, etc.
Quickly resize columns to fit the content by double clicking between the column headers
This is as easy as it sounds — if you want your column width to automatically resize to the shortest or longest entry, just double click in between the column headers. This also works in Excel.
Paste something with clear formatting with Command + Shift + v on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + v on PC
I pull data about The Verge from a lot of different sources, which all have their own fonts and styling, so this trick comes in handy. By using Command + Shift + v instead of Command + v on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + v instead of Ctrl + v on PC, you can strip the old font and font sizes as you paste and insert clear text.
You can also paste plain values by double clicking into a cell before you paste, but that’s a little more cumbersome. To clear formatting from multiple cells at once, first highlight them and then use Command + on Macor Ctrl + on PC. There are a ton more keyboard shortcuts like this, which Google catalogs here.
Add multiple hyperlinks to one cell
This one’s more of a PSA — for a long time, you could only hyperlink entire cells. My colleague Jay Peters recently discovered that this is no longer the case; you can now add as many links as your heart desires. Just click into the cell and highlight the word or phrase you want to hyperlink before adding your links.
If you have other favorite Google Sheet tricks you want to share, leave a comment! And because I used my parents and sibling’s cats for my sample data set, here is my cat Olivia striking one of her signature poses.
Update: Today’s Newegg Shuffle is now over. Here’s hoping you were able to snag something!
Original Story:
The Newegg Shuffle soldiers on, with today bringing us another chance to potentially buy one of the best graphics cards. Today’s Shuffle has several options for GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards, one GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card and one Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card. Three of these cards also have mobo bundle options with boards from Gigabyte and Asus. These graphics cards rank towards the top of our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, and prices are at least a bit lower than what we’ve seen in our eBay GPU pricing index.
For those unfamiliar with the process, Newegg Shuffle uses a lottery format. You select the component(s) you’d like to potentially buy. Then there’s a drawing later today, and the ‘winners’ get notified by email with the chance to purchase the part (only one) within a several hour period. Based on our experience, you won’t get selected most of the time. But hey, it’s free to try.
Today’s options and prices consist of the following:
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 for $509
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 for $519
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti for $619
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6700 XT with Gigabyte xX570 Aorus Elite for $894
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6700 XT with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro for $894
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 with Asus ROG Strix B550-E for $754
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 with Asus ROG Strix B550-F for $719
All of the graphics card prices are roughly 50-60% higher than the official launch MSRPs from AMD and Nvidia, though these are third-party custom cards that may come with extra features. The RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti cards are perhaps the best of the bunch, with performance rivaling the previous generation RTX 2060 Super and 2070 Super for a lower price. And if you prefer AMD, the RX 6700 XT card certainly has you covered.
With component shortages plaguing the PC industry, not to mention the smartphone and automotive industries, the latest word is that prices aren’t likely to return to ‘normal’ throughout 2021. If you can keep chugging along with whatever your PC currently has, that’s the best option, as otherwise prices are painful for all of the Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA2 GPUs.
During today’s Resident Evil Showcase, Capcom announced that a second demo for its upcoming survival horror game, Resident Evil Village, will release on May 1st. That’s six days before the game’s official release date.
Unlike the previous “Maiden” demo, this demo will be playable on all platforms the game will releases on, including PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Windows PC (via Steam), and Stadia. The demo will allow you to play for 60 minutes and explore both the village and castle areas, regardless of the platform.
PS4 and PS5 users will have the option to preload the demo beginning today via the PlayStation Store. Additionally, players on these two platforms will receive early access to the demo on two separate weekends — April 17th at 5PM ET through April 18th at 4AM ET, and April 24th at 5PM ET through April 25th at 4AM ET. Each demo weekend will provide up to 30 minutes of gameplay.
Capcom also released the fourth trailer for the game, which includes new footage and another look at Lady Dimitrescu. Resident Evil Village will launch May 7th on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, and Stadia.
You’ve probably been caught off guard by videos that play automatically on Facebook, Twitter, or just across the internet in general. They begin playing as soon as you load a page or (if they’re more deviously implemented) when you start scrolling through a page.
Automatic video play is a feature that, while nice to have when it’s surfacing content that’s related to your interests, can be pretty annoying. Autoplay videos can be harmful, too, exposing you to violent, offensive, or otherwise unwanted content that you shouldn’t have to see by default.
Whether you just want to put an end to autoplay videos on social media platforms or are looking for a more comprehensive fix, we’ve got some tips. Keep in mind that you’ll need to adjust these settings for every device that you use, since your preferences on, say, your phone do not automatically push to your PC.
Facebook
If you’re using Facebook on your browser, you can turn off autoplay videos this way:
Go to the drop-down menu at the top right of the page.
Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings.”
Look for the “Videos” listing on the left-hand menu. Inside of that option is a toggle where you can turn off autoplaying videos.
Facebook has similar options available for its iOS and Android apps:
Using the iOS app
Click the menu button on the bottom of your screen.
Once you’re there, tap “Settings & Privacy,” then “Settings.”
Scroll down until you find “Media and Contacts,” then tap “Videos and Photos.”
Finally, once you find “Autoplay,” you can turn off the feature.
Using the Android app
Click the menu button at the top right of your screen.
Once you’re there, scroll down and tap “Settings & Privacy,” then “Settings.”
Scroll down until you find “Media and Contacts” and tap on it.
Tap on “Autoplay” and set it to “Never Autoplay Videos.”
Twitter
Click on “More” in the left-hand menu, and then on “Settings and privacy.”
Select “Accessibility, display, and languages” > “Data usage”
Click on the “Autoplay” setting. You can then switch off the autoplaying of videos on your feed.
Using the iOS and Android apps
Click the profile picture at the top of your phone screen.
Select “Settings and privacy” in the menu.
Navigate to “Data usage,” tap on “Video autoplay” and set it to “Never.”
Instagram
Instagram doesn’t allow for autoplay videos to be turned off, so you’ll have to tread carefully here. Videos won’t autoplay with sound if you use Instagram on your browser. Stopping autoplay on mobile devices is possible, but a little roundabout.
Using a mobile app
Go to your profile page and tap on the three lines in the upper right corner
Go to “Settings” > “Account” > “Cellular Data Use”
For Android: toggle the “Data Saver” on and tap on “High Resolution Media.” If you then select “Never,” then media such as videos won’t load in advance.
For iOS: toggle on “Use Less Data”
Reddit
Reddit, like most sites that host video, autoplays videos by default. However, it’s pretty easy to turn it off.
Using the newest design
Click your username in the upper-right corner and select “User settings” in the menu.
Select the “Feed settings” tab at the top of the page, and toggle off the “Autoplay media” switch.
Using the legacy version
Click “Preferences” next to your username in the top right of the window.
Under “Media,” look for and uncheck “Autoplay Reddit videos on the desktop comments page.”
You’ll need to hit “save options” at the bottom of the screen to put the changes through.
Using the mobile app
Tap the icon next to the search bar, then hit “Settings.”
You’ll see “Autoplay” near the top of the page, and you can easily choose to turn it off.
Desktop browsers
There are a variety of desktop browsers out there — some of which let you turn off video autoplay and some of which don’t.
Using Google Chrome
If you use Google Chrome and want to turn off video autoplay — you can’t. There used to be an experimental command-line flag that allowed you to turn them off (you can find the flags by typing chrome://flags/ into Chrome’s address field), but it’s disappeared.
You can turn the sound off (which might help a bit):
Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner
Select “Settings” > “Site settings” > “Sound”
Toggle sound off. You can add exceptions for specific sites here.
Using Microsoft Edge
Interestingly, Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is also based on the Chromium open-source design, does let you turn off — well, at least, limit — video autoplay:
Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select “Settings.”
In the left-hand column, click on “Site Permissions,” and then scroll down to and select “Media autoplay.”
You can either allow audio and video to play automatically or limit it. According to the instructions, whether autoplay will work or not will depend on “how you’ve visited the page and whether you interacted with media in the past.”
Using Firefox
Firefox has a similar feature that lets you turn off autoplay, for the most part.
Click on the three lines in the upper right corner of the browser and select “Preferences.”
In the left-hand column, click on “Privacy & Security.”
Scroll down to the section headed “Permissions” and look for “Autoplay.” Click on the button marked “Settings.”
A drop-down menu will let you allow audio and video, block audio, or block audio and video. You can also specify sites that you want to differ from your defaults — for example, if you block audio and video as a default, but you want to allow it for, say, The Verge.
Using Safari
Safari makes it simple to disable autoplay. In fact, it assumes that you want the feature disabled to begin with. However, if it hasn’t been disabled — or if you want to make some exceptions to the rule — here’s what you do:
While in the app, go to Safari > Preferences in the top menu.
Click on “Websites” in the top menu.
Look for and select “Auto-Play” in the side menu.
Look for the drop-down menu at the bottom right of the window and select “Never Auto-Play.”
As with Firefox, you can whitelist any sites that you want to be an exception to the rule.
Update September 4th, 2020 5:11PM ET: This article was originally published on March 15th, 2019. Most of the entries have been updated.
Update April 15, 2021 5:30PM ET: Additional entries have been updated.
Thermalright might not be the most predominant name in PC cooling, but the company has been making cooling solutions since 2001. Today, the company revealed the Peerless Assassin 120 Black, which is a new dual-tower CPU cooler that’s just 157 mm tall.
Of course, that’s not super-compact, but using only 120mm fans, it’s a lot smaller than something like Noctua’s NH-D15, a cooler that pretty much sets the benchmark in the category but is rather sizeable in pulling off that achievement.
So while you won’t get the same cooling performance, you’ll still get pretty close with two cooling towers and 120mm fans. The assembly measures 125 mm wide, 135 mm long and is 157 mm tall, featuring six, 6 mm heatpipes to bring heat to the 53-fins on each fin stack. The base is made from nickel-plated copper, and the cooler weighs a total of 750 grams.
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Thermalright installed two TL-C12B fans on the unit, which can spin at a speed of up to 1550 RPM, when they produce 25.6 dBA of noise, 66 CFM of airflow, and generate 1.53mm of static pressure. They feature an S-FDB bearing and can make use of PWM signals so you’ll be able to run them quietly when needed.
The Peerless Assassin 120 will work on all modern CPU sockets including LGA 1200 and AMD’s AM4 sockets, though there is no word on pricing or availability just yet.
Spotify has begun rolling out an updated version of its desktop app and web player, according to The Verge. The green streaming giant hopes it will offer users a more cohesive and intuitive experience, equivalent to its mobile apps.
In addition to a refreshed design, Premium subscribers will now be able to directly download music and podcasts for offline listening by hitting the download button instead of convolutedly adding tracks to a playlist first. The update will make it much easier to manage and curate their library.
The new and improved version also includes tweaks to improve playlist management. All desktop users will have the ability to write descriptions, upload images and drag and drop tracks into existing playlists. Listeners can also edit their Queue and view Recently Played songs while searching within playlists has been simplified courtesy of an integrated search function.
The new redesign for the Spotify app on desktop and web is starting to become available to all Mac, PC and browser users worldwide.
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Spotify HiFi is missing something – but will it matter?
Microsoft’s and Xbox are giving away a gaming PC to celebrate the Microsoft Flight Simulator’s France and Benelux update, and it sure fits the game’s aesthetic. The build looks like a jet engine, or at least part of one.
Putting out of mind the idea of just two-thirds of a jet engine working, you can find more details about the giveaway on the @XboxFR Twitter account (first spotted by our friends at PC Gamer).
Envie de voyager ? ✈️On te fait gagner un PC unique Microsoft Flight Simulator conçu pour le vol à l’occasion de la nouvelle mise à jour France/Benelux ! 🛫Pour participer :➡️ RT + Follow @XboxFR ➡️ Commente avec #MicrosoftFlightSimulator pic.twitter.com/aeDk4nnOWHApril 13, 2021
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The PC includes an Intel Core i7-11700K, Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (no mention of which specific model, though) and a Z590 Aorus Elite AX motherboard. That sounds like a fairly powerful rig, though it may not actually max out the game. Our testing has shown the game stressing top-end parts, especially at higher settings and resolutions.
One other thing to note is that from the images, the build appears to be massive. That motherboard is full-ATX, but it appears that the build is the size of a standard mid-tower, with most of the jet engine look simply being decorative. It would be cool if that front jet engine fan provided some serious airflow, but that would be a bit much–and probably dangerous.
It is unclear if the contest is limited to users in France. To take part, you need to retweet the tweet, follow the @Xbox FR account and comment with the hashtag #MicrosoftFlightSimulator. Microsoft also hasn’t said how long the giveaway will last.
While this desktop may not play the game at its highest settings, it will likely look at home in diehard fans’ setups, which often include a realistic flight stick/HOTAS setup, pedals and multiple monitors to recreate flying as realistically as possible.
This follows a series of other fun designs Microsoft has promoted in contests recently, including a refrigerator that looks like an Xbox Series X (and the mini fridges it will soon make).
The Microsoft Flight Simulator France and Benelux update is available now.
Update: The Shuffle has ended. Did you get selected? If so, let us know in the comments, you lucky dog!Original Story: The Newegg Shuffle continues, with another chance to potentially buy one of the best graphics cards — or one of the best CPUs. Today’s Shuffle has several options for GeForce RTX 3070 and GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards, one Radeon RX 6700 XT and mobo bundle, along with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel’s Core i7-10700. and bundles on tap. The graphics cards rank in the upper segment of our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, and prices are at least a bit lower than what we’ve seen in our eBay GPU pricing index.
For those unfamiliar with the process, Newegg Shuffle uses a lottery format. You select the component(s) you’d like to potentially buy. Then there’s a drawing later today, and the ‘winners’ get notified by email with the chance to purchase the part (only one) within a several hour period. Based on our experience, you won’t get selected most of the time. But hey, it’s free to try.
Today’s options and prices consist of the following:
Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3070 White for $840
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 for $770
Asus GeForce RTX 3060 Ultimate KO for $520
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 for $510
Gigabyte Aorus RX 6700 XT Elite with X570 Aorus Elite WiFi for $1,010
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Eagle with B550 Aorus Elite for $615
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X for $429
Intel Core i7-10700 for $255
All of the graphics card prices are roughly 50-60% higher than the official launch MSRPs from AMD and Nvidia, though these are third-party custom cards that may come with extra features. The RTX 3070 cards are perhaps the best of the bunch, with performance rivaling the previous generation RTX 2080 Ti for a lower price. And if you like RGB and bling, the ROG Strix card certainly has you covered.
The two CPUs are perhaps a bit less exciting, except they’re both selling for less than MSRP. AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X isn’t quite as difficult to find in stock as the more sought after Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X, but it’s still a good choice, particularly with a price that’s $20 below AMD’s official MSRP. Intel’s previous generation Core i7-10700 on the other hand is merely a decent CPU but without any overclocking support — basically the Comet Lake equivalent of the Core i9-9900 — but it’s also a viable pick at just $255.
With component shortages plaguing the PC industry, not to mention the smartphone and automotive industries, the latest word is that prices aren’t likely to return to ‘normal’ throughout 2021. If you can keep chugging along with whatever your PC currently has, that’s the best option, as otherwise prices are painful for all of the Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA2 GPUs.
The current Newegg shuffle ends in just over an hour. Good luck!
Windows 10 is officially losing its once-ambitious Timeline feature, Microsoft announced today. Timeline, first launched in 2017, was designed to make it easier for users to swap between multiple devices — transitioning seamlessly from a Windows 10 PC to an Android or iOS phone and back again.
It’s no surprise that Timeline is getting deprecated: it was a feature that heavily relied on Microsoft’s Cortana assistant, which would prompt users to resume tasks from device to device. Cortana was a particularly important part of building out the Timeline experience on iOS and Android devices, where Microsoft (obviously) had less control.
Given that Cortana’s prevalence in Windows has been heavily diminished and the mobile apps completely discontinued, it makes sense that Microsoft would sunset Timeline as well.
The news was announced as part of the changelog for the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21359:
If you have your activity history synced across your devices through your Microsoft account (MSA), you’ll no longer have the option to upload new activity in Timeline. AAD-connected accounts won’t be impacted. To view web history, Edge and other browsers have the option to look back at recent web activities. You can also view recently used files using OneDrive and Office.
Insider build users should already see the changes once they’ve installed the new update, while users on the standard update track should see the removal of Timeline in the coming weeks.
If I were the Microsoft marketing executive pitching a once-in-a-lifetime giveaway of an incredible custom-built Flight Simulator PC, I would do two things:
1) I would probably make it look like a full jet engine, not half an exposed jet engine, to avoid reminding people how airplanes can rarely (but terrifyingly) fail:
2) I would make sure it has the very best parts on the market, both for wow factor and so my one-of-a-kind Flight Simulator PC can hopefully play the notoriously demanding game at max settings someday.
Weirdly, this PC will come with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (not a 3080 or 3090!), as well as a Core i7-11700K rather than Intel’s new flagship Core i9-11900K. We recently tested that Core i9 with an RTX 3090, and it still wasn’t enough to hit 60fps in Flight Simulator at max settings, though I imagine the Core i7 won’t be far off our results with its very similar specs.
Does this PC still have great specs? Absolutely. Should you question them if you’re the lucky winner of this Microsoft France / Gigabyte Aorus collab? Definitely not. That RTX 3070 is worth upward of $1,200 all by its lonesome. I’m just telling you what I would do.
Oh, and 3) I would absolutely make that giant fan go all the way around and spin, so it can serve as an epic, brag-worthy case fan for the entire PC.
Speaking of epic Microsoft giveaway items, do you remember the Xbox Series X fridge? Not only is Microsoft actually now putting a real Xbox Series X mini-fridge into production, the company’s apparently going to be designing them from scratch. That’s according to Xbox marketing head Aaron Greenberg, who dropped the tidbit in a Clubhouse room yesterday evening where my colleague Taylor Lyles was listening.
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