PC - Page 30 of 135

Intel’s 11th Gen Core i9 processor boosts Microsoft Flight Simulator by 20 percent

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I built a new gaming PC in September to play new games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I figured that picking Intel’s Core i9-10900K and Nvidia’s RTX 3090 would make this machine last for years and offer top tier performance in demanding titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator. I was wrong. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notorious beast of a game and is quickly becoming the new Crysis test for PCs.

It has struggled to run smoothly above 30fps with all settings maxed out at 1440p on my PC, and even AMD’s Intel-beating Ryzen 9 5950X only improved the situation slightly for some.

Intel’s latest 11th Gen processor arrives with a big promise of up to 19 percent IPC (instructions per cycle) improvements over the existing i9-10900K, and more specifically the lure of 14 percent more performance at 1080p in Microsoft Flight Simulator with high settings. This piqued my curiosity, so I’ve been testing the i9-11900K over the past few days to see what it can offer for Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically.

It’s less than a year after the i9-10900K release, and I’m already considering upgrading to Intel’s new i9-11900K because I’ve found it boosts Microsoft Flight Simulator by 20 percent.

Intel’s Core i9-11900K processor.

The Verge doesn’t typically review processors, so we don’t own dedicated hardware testing rigs or multiple CPUs and systems to offer all of the benchmarks and comparisons you’d typically find in CPU reviews. For those, we’re going to recommend you visit the excellent folks at Tom’s Hardware, KitGuru, or Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry.

Intel’s new Core i9-11900K ships with eight cores, 16 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz. On paper, that sounds like it would be less powerful than the 10900K with its 10 cores, 20 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz, but the reality is far more complicated thanks to how games and apps are designed. Most of Flight Simulator currently runs in a main thread that’s often limited by how well your CPU can run single-threaded applications and games.

So in recent years Intel has managed to stay on top with its single-threaded performance, despite AMD offering more cores. That was until AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X managed to beat the final Intel performance advantage late last year. Intel’s new 11th Gen chips are trying to reclaim its traditional advantage.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a good example of where Intel typically has an advantage. It’s also an increasingly rare example of a game that’s very sensitive to your entire system components and not just how good your GPU is at rendering games.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title on PC.

Intel’s Core i9-11900K does its job well enough here to boost performance by around 20 percent depending on resolution. I’ve tested a variety of flights taking off from different airports and flying over some of the world’s most beautiful locations and the most demanding cities the game has to offer. Everything feels smoother with Intel’s latest chips, but the results aren’t dramatic enough to get me beyond 60fps without stepping some settings down. A flight over Seattle with all the settings maxed out shows a 24-percent performance improvement with the new 11th Gen Core i9 at 1080p and an 18-percent increase at 1440p.

On my i9-10900K PC, I saw average frame rates of 38fps at 1440p and 33fps at 1080p. The Core i9-11900K managed to bump these to 45fps average at 1440p and 41fps average at 1080p. Averages during a particular benchmark don’t always tell the whole story, though. Over the hours I’ve been playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ve noticed the game dip and stutter less than before. It’s still not perfect, but it’s certainly smoother overall.

If I dial the game back to high settings, it immediately jumps to a 66fps average at 1440p — demonstrating just how much the ultra settings hit frame rates. I can personally barely notice the difference between high and ultra settings in Microsoft Flight Simulator, so the boost here is noticeable thanks to the smoother gameplay.

I also tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 benchmarks. Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw a tiny bump of around 3 percent at both 1080p and 1440p, while the i9-11900K managed some impressive single core performance gains in both Cinebench and Geekbench.

Intel Core i9-11900K benchmarks

Benchmark	Intel Core i9-10900K	Intel Core i9-11900K	% change
Benchmark	Intel Core i9-10900K	Intel Core i9-11900K	% change
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1080p)	33fps	41fps	up 24.2%
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1440p)	38fps	45fps	up 18.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p)	176fps	181fps	up 2.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1440p)	154fps	159fps	up 3.2%
Cinebench R23 single-thread	1281	1623	up 26.6%
Cinebench R23 multi-thread	14,968	14,826	down 0.94%
Geekbench 5 single-thread	1336	1766	up 32.1%
Geekbench 5 multi-thread	10,709	11,148	up 4%

I should note I was also hoping to do most of my testing with my existing Z490 motherboard, but that didn’t go to plan. I swapped the chip in with the latest BIOS update for 11th Gen processors and found that the system rebooted a few minutes into games without even a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I wasn’t able to troubleshoot it fully in time for review, but the Asus Maximus XIII Hero (Z590) board supplied by Intel worked just fine.

You should be able to easily use 11th Gen processors with Z490 motherboards, as most manufacturers have already issued BIOS updates to support Intel’s latest processors. Some will even support M.2 NVMe storage using PCIe 4.0 with these latest chips, while others like Asus only support PCIe 4.0 on the Primary PCIe x16 slot with 11th Gen processors.

Intel’s 11th Gen processors finally deliver PCIe 4.0 support, and that’s good news for storage. Manufacturers have started to fully support PCIe 4.0 drives in recent months, with Western Digital, Samsung, GigaByte, and MSI all launching high-speed drives. If you have a compatible PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will certainly be worth it. I’ve managed read speeds of 6729MB/s and write speeds of 5206MB/s using Western Digital’s new SN850 1TB drive. Corsair’s MP600 also manages 4987MB/s read and 4259MB/s write speeds. Using Intel’s older 10th Gen chip, the Corsair drive managed 3484MB/s reads and 3235MB/s writes, so an 11th Gen upgrade improved speeds by more than 40 percent. If you work with a lot of files every day, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will be worth it for PCIe 4.0 alone.

Western Digital’s SN850 has super fast PCIe 4.0 speeds with Intel’s 11th Gen processors.

I don’t think the Core i9-11900K does enough for me personally to upgrade from a 10900K, but the PCIe 4.0 support would tempt me more if I needed the speeds there. At $550 (if you can find it at this retail price), the Core i9-11900K sits in between AMD’s offerings, being less expensive than the top 5950X and 5900X Ryzen 9 chips and $90 more than the 5800X.

There’s some solid single-thread performance here, and the 11900K and AMD’s 5900X and 5950X all trade blows depending on the games. Intel’s performance improvement will come at a cost of energy efficiency, though. Tom’s Hardware found that the 11900K “sets the new high power mark” in several of its power tests, drawing over 200 watts in the same test that AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X drew 116 watts. If you even need a new CPU, it’s worth considering just how much Intel’s latest chips will influence your energy bills and the games you play.

Whether you decide to upgrade to Intel’s 11th Gen or one of AMD’s chips will probably depend on the games you play and stock availability. A lot of games do a bad job of utilizing multiple cores on CPUs, mostly because console gaming hardware hasn’t offered solid CPU performance and spreading multiple rendering and physics threads across different cores can complicate game design. Intel’s new chips do a better job of handling these single threads to improve performance, but it’s very game-dependent.

For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the general consensus is that the game desperately needs to be moved to DirectX 12 for improvements to multi-core CPU performance. But Intel’s IPC improvements have managed to help until the Direct X 12 update arrives with the Xbox Series X release this summer.

Where Intel might have an advantage over AMD here is availability of chips. It has been increasingly difficult to find AMD’s latest Ryzen processors in recent months, thanks to a global chip shortage. Intel partners have already been accidentally selling some 11th Gen desktop CPUs, which may indicate it will have a steadier supply in the coming weeks.

The winner between Intel and AMD will be the company that can get these chips into the hands of PC gamers eager to upgrade. Much like the GPU market right now, benchmarks don’t matter when the best chip is often the only one you can actually buy.

Bang & Olufsen’s luxurious gaming headset costs as much as an Xbox Series X

Bang & Olufsen has announced Beoplay Portal, its first wireless gaming headset. The product maintains the company’s signature sophisticated look, and it has more features than your average headset.

These were created with the Xbox ecosystem in mind, and with a push of its pairing button, they can connect to the Series X, Series S, Xbox One, or to a PC that has the Xbox Wireless adapter plugged into it. Additionally, they support a concurrent connection via Bluetooth 5.1 for other devices (including other consoles if you supply the Bluetooth adapter). This way, you can take calls without totally detaching from game audio.

Similar to the Bose QC35 gaming headset that released last year, the Beoplay Portal look like high-end wireless headphones (and in many ways, act like them, too), and come with a high-end price. These cost $499 and are available now in the black colorway at Best Buy, the Microsoft Store, and through Bang & Olufsen’s site. Two other colors, gray and navy, will be available starting April 29th.

Made for the contemplative gamer.

Image: Bang & Olufsen

This model has adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC) and a gaming audio mode that automatically activates when connected wirelessly to a console or when wired via USB-C to a PC (the port through which the headset also gets its charge). These also have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Bang & Olufsen app for iOS and Android has some new features that the Beoplay Portal benefits from, like microphone optimization and a game / chat audio balance. The company reports that its “Own Voice” feature allows for voice monitoring while keeping out extraneous noises thanks to its adaptive ANC. These have 40mm drivers with Dolby Atmos support for virtualized surround sound.

A peek at the Bang & Olufsen app’s controls for the Beoplay Portal.

Image: Bang & Olufsen

Build quality is another area where Bang & Olufsen is trying to distinguish itself from other gaming headsets. The memory foam ear pads are wrapped in lambskin leather, and it uses bamboo fiber textile to cover the headband padding. Elsewhere, there are a few anodized aluminum details on the Portal, like the touch-sensitive discs on the outside of each ear cup that are used to control them. Impressively, the company says the headphones weigh 282 grams, which is lighter than the mostly plastic Xbox Wireless Headset that, until now, I considered to be lightweight at 312g.

This gaming headset can last up to 12 hours per charge when you’re connected through both Bluetooth and Xbox Wireless protocol, and using the active noise cancellation feature. If you’re just using Bluetooth and noise cancellation, Bang & Olufsen says you can expect up to 24 hours of use.

Given the high asking price, I’m skeptical that these will be worth the cost for most people — especially those who intend to use them exclusively for gaming. It seems like a better value if you want to use them as your everyday headphones, too.

The gray colorway shown here won’t release until late April.

Image: Bang & Olufsen

I’m also skeptical about the “virtual boom arm” the Beoplay Portal employs instead of a traditional articulating boom mic. It says its beamforming microphones allow for “crystal clear” conversations, and help to amplify your voice while filtering out sounds in the background. This is something I’ll need to test to see if it’s as good as Bang & Olufsen claims.

Do you need a $500 gaming headset? Probably not. While there are plenty of differences in terms of features and build quality, most people should be suited well by Microsoft’s $100 Xbox Wireless headset. But I’ll be reviewing these to see for myself what five times that amount can get you in a gaming peripheral.

TrendForce Predicts 13-18% DRAM Price Increase as Demand Holds Steady

(Image credit: KenSoftTH / Shutterstock.com)

TrendForce predicted that DRAM prices would rise 13-18% in the second quarter of 2021, DigiTimes reports, as suppliers maintain bit output despite steady demand.

The research firm claimed that PC DRAM buyers have enough inventory to last them four to five weeks, per the report, and that manufacturers are buying as much DRAM as they can now so they won’t have to purchase it at a higher price later in the year.

DRAM suppliers have reportedly maintained production levels in the face of this increasing (or at least consistent) demand from their customers. By now everyone can do the math: increased demand plus limited supply equals higher prices.

TrendForce reportedly said DRAM suppliers also have increased demand from the server market, where it predicted a 20% price increase in 2Q21. There’s increased demand from the smartphone market, too, but the server market gets priority.

DigiTimes reported that all of these factors could lead to price increases for 8GB DDR4 modules of 15% or more in the second quarter, per its industry sources.

TrendForce’s report is the latest indication that manufacturers will have to worry more about DRAM pricing as well as the broader chip shortage limiting the supply of CPUs, GPUs, and all the devices that rely upon them. (To say nothing of NAND woes.)

These estimates also seem to assume something akin to “business as usual,” but that has been increasingly hard to come by in the last year. COVID-19, earthquakes, droughts, and winter storms have all had serious effects on the industry recently.

Activision shrinks Call of Duty file sizes so you can download other games

Activision is finally doing something about the tremendous file sizes of recent Call of Duty games. The company is announcing that both Modern Warfare and the free-to-play Warzone will be much easier on hard drives after the next update. The space savings vary depending on what platform the game is installed (and which content packs you have installed), but they’ll be at least 30GB if you have both full games installed — meaning you’ll actually have enough room to install another AAA game if you like.

The update is set to be released on March 30th, but while it may be easier on your hard drive, downloading it won’t be easy on your internet connection. Activision says the one-time Season Two Reloaded update will be larger than usual (up to 57GB for those who just play Warzone). The good news is that future updates shouldn’t be as big, but you will want to mind your data caps.

According to the blog post, the space savings come from file optimizations and “streamlining content packs.” It’s also worth noting that individual content packs can be removed, getting rid of game modes you don’t play. For example, you can uninstall single player and Special Ops if you only fire up Call of Duty to play with friends. The blog post mentions that some users will have to reinstall content packs to get the optimized versions, but Activision wasn’t immediately available to comment on the circumstances that would cause that.

The specific space savings for each platform are listed below, but to add some context, let’s imagine you’ve got Warzone and Modern Warfare installed on your PlayStation 4. After the update, you’ll have freed up enough space to install The Witness (4.2GB) and Ratchet & Clank (26.3GB) — which are now both free on the PlayStation Store.

Call of Duty Full Game Space Savings

Platform	Warzone Only	Warzone + Modern Warfare
Platform	Warzone Only	Warzone + Modern Warfare
PlayStation 4/5	10.9GB	30.6GB
Xbox Series/One	14.2GB	33.6GB
PC	11.8GB	30.6GB

Cyberpunk 2077’s latest patch fixes hundreds of bugs

CD Projekt Red released an update for Cyberpunk 2077 with hundreds of bug fixes. Patch 1.2, a 34GB or more download depending on platform, is live on PC and consoles, with a Stadia update coming later this week.

Fixes range from quality-of-life improvements to game-crashing bugs, including improvements to vehicles, police forces, NPC behavior, quests, and much more. The full list is available on the game’s website. CD Projekt Red released its first major patch in January, an update it said “lays the groundwork” for future fixes. The latest patch was delayed after hackers accessed the developer’s internal network, forcing the developer to push the release back to late March.

CD Projekt Red’s work is far from done. The game’s launch late last year has been nothing short of disastrous. Cyberpunk’s release included widespread bugs across several platforms. Sony pulled the game from its online stores in December of last year and began issuing full refunds.

Forget GPUs! Mine Bitcoin With Game Boy + Raspberry Pi Pico

Game Boy mining Bitcoin
(Image credit: stacksmashing/YouTube)

Nothing is safe from cryptocurrency mining — not even 32-year old tech. YouTuber stacksmashing (via TweakTown) has successfully repurposed his old Game Boy to mine Bitcoin. The mod won’t turn you into a millionaire overnight, but it does prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

First of all, the modder used a standard USB flash card to load the his compiled ROMs onto the Game Boy. If you’re interested in the software aspect of the project, the YouTuber explains it pretty thoroughly in his video.

An internet connection is one of the most basic requirements for mining cryptocurrencies. Since the Game Boy lacks wireless connectivity, the handheld gaming console is unable to communicate with the Bitcoin network without the help of a middle man. That’s where the $4 Raspberry Pi Pico comes in to the rescue.

The YouTuber modified a Nintendo Game Link Cable to serve as the highway for communication. The problem is that the voltage requirements for the Raspberry Pi Pico and the Nintendo Game Link Cable are completely different. The Raspberry Pi Pico operates at 3.3V, while the Nintendo Game Link Cable utilizes 5V logic levels. As a result, the modder implemented a simple four-channel, bi-directional logic shifter to do the voltage translation.

The bi-directional functionality isn’t necessary, but it’s what the stacksmashing had at hand. The final setup finds the Game Boy connected to the Raspberry Pi Pico through the logic shifter with the Pico attached to a PC, which is where the Internet connection comes from.

The Game Boy is equipped with an 8-bit Sharp LR35902 processor clocked at 4.18 MHz. The chip puts up a performance of approximately 0.8 hashes per second. For comparison, modern ASIC miners typically offer up to 100 terahashes per second. Therefore, the Game Boy is only 125 trillion times slower.

The calculations reveal that it would only take a couple quadrillion years to eventually mine a single Bitcoin. On the bright side, ASIC miners are power-hungry monsters, while the Game Boy runs on four triple-A batteries.

Cozy Grove is like Animal Crossing, if it was haunted

One of the things that makes Animal Crossing so special is it’s soothing. There aren’t a lot of other games like it; it’s laid-back and comforting in a way that most games aren’t. Sometimes it can feel less like a game and more like a relaxing space to hang out in. But now that New Horizons has been out for more than a year, you may be looking for something just a little different. Cozy Grove might be just the thing: it has much of what makes Animal Crossing so great but in a tighter package. Also, there are lots of ghosts.

Much like New Horizons, Cozy Grove drops you on a seemingly uninhabited island with the goal of turning it into a bustling town. The difference is that in Cozy Grove, the island used to be inhabited. And it still kind of is. When you first arrive, it’s mostly devoid of color and life. But eventually, you’ll meet a few ghosts, and as you help them out, life will slowly return. You’re helped out by a sentient campfire — reminiscent of Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle — who constantly wants to eat something called spirit wood.

What you actually do in the game is very similar to Animal Crossing. You can catch fish, gather fruit, collect seashells, and craft new tools and items to decorate your campsite. There are no time limits or penalties for failure. But Cozy Grove is a bit more structured. The ghosts, which are all adorable animals, will ask for very specific things, like finding some lost earmuffs or catching fish for dinner. You can do a handful of these tasks each day, which will earn you some spirit wood; feed enough to your fire, and the island will grow.

It’s a good system for those who need that extra bit of structure, and Cozy Grove also does something unexpected: it encourages you to log off. There are only a handful of quests each day, and they’ll probably take you less than 30 minutes to complete. After that you’re free to do what you want — fish, decorate, craft — but the game makes it clear that you can’t progress any further until the next day. It’s always nice when a game is respectful of your time. Just like Animal Crossing, Cozy Grove has turned into a habit for me, a nice space to dip into for a brief period each day. It helps that its hand-drawn world is incredibly charming. There’s even some hilarious writing and lore to dig into if you really want.

Cozy Grove is available now through Apple Arcade, and I’ve found it to be a perfect fit for mobile. Once I get a notification that new quests are available, I hop into the game for 20 minutes, and then I’m done. It might be the most peaceful part of my day. For those who don’t subscribe to Apple’s gaming service, Cozy Grove is also coming to the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on April 8th.

Building Project A.R.E.S: My Award-Winning Sci-Fi Case Mod

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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Project A.R.E.S. (Astral Robot Enclosure Systems)

Project A.R.E.S. (Astral Robot Enclosure Systems) tells a story:

Starship Copper Nebula, named so for its peculiar color, is tapped for space program A.R.E.S. The starship comes in contact with some sort of organic alien technology, which starts to merge with it, covering the external structure and contaminating the propellant.

This story continues through colors and lines, from the blue and copper shades and curved lines representing alien technology, to the aluminum and silver shades and straight lines embodying human technology. Three astronauts at the back, impersonated by the hex-shaped reservoirs, look into the void while trying to communicate with the alien being. Up front is a mirror, which reflects Copper Nebula’s destination

Eventually, the humans and aliens succeed in communicating and join each other in a common cause: survival.

When I built Project A.R.E.S. for the latest Cooler Master Case Mod World Series. My goal was to take the Cooler Master Cosmos C700M, (which we list in our Best PC Cases list) and re-think it from the ground up, following this sci-fi design language. My biggest inspiration — mainly for the mod’s color scheme and the starry face at the front of the case — came from Robot in Netflix’s Lost in Space show.

The finished product took about six months and ultimately won Best Tower of the Year in Cooler Master’s contest, is usually what matters most. But I take a lot of pride in how I actually accomplish this kind of work and in inspiring people to start pushing boundaries. By detailing the making of Project A.R.E.S., I hope to do just that. Let’s get started!

Case and Components

Here are the PC components I recruited for Project A.R.E.S.:

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos C700M
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Graphics Card: Inno3D iChill Frostbite RTX 2070 Super
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Steel Legend
RAM: Adata XPG Spectrix D60G (32GB)
SSD: Adata XPG Spectrix S40G (512GB)
Cooling: Bitspower custom watercooling components, 2x Cooler Master SF360R
Power Supply: Cooler Master V850
Other: CableMod custom small form factor cables

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

As mentioned, the base of this project is the Cooler Master’s Cosmos C700M. You’re seeing two of those because I actually replaced the bottom panel of one with a second top panel (taken from the second case), for symmetry purposes.

The first step in making such an intricate mod is tearing the case apart, particularly the internals, which will be completely reworked. After that, I flipped the case 90 degrees in order to have the handle bars at both the front and back instead of at the top and bottom, where they were originally.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The C700M case has an amazing feature that helped a lot with these extreme modifications: threaded holes on all sides of the frame. This allows you to easily mount any kind of custom panel or bracket.

Next, I took some aluminum L-profiles and cut them to length to fit all around the case’s frame. This made it easier to add internal panels to close up all sides.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Custom Back Panel

Since the internals were still in the design phase at this point, I proceeded to cut the first custom panel for A.R.E.S., the back panel. I used 5mm acrylic, cut and engraved on my CNC router. The peculiar shape created a challenge, as I had a lot of curved corners and, simply, weird angles to replicate. To tackle this, I first cut an MDF (medium density fiberboard) prototype to trace down the measurements and ensure their accuracy.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

After that, I went to cut the real thing.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Due to the unique shape of the C700M, I had to bend the back panel’s top and bottom using a heat gun. For accuracy, I used the original panels from the C700M as a template.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

You might be wondering about the three circles in the panel. Those are there to show off the Bitspower Water Tank Hexagon reservoirs and to provide a sort of space helmet look. Ultimately, I used ornaments to complete the look.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Going back to the internals, I cut the two top and bottom grills out of 5mm acrylic to allow airflow to the pair of 360mm radiators and fans. I tried to keep Project A.R.E.S.’ insides as clean as possible to let enough air through. The final design is basically open-air though, and there are other entry points for air as well, so it wasn’t a big issue to begin with.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Rotating Hardware Panel

One of the most eye-popping features of Project A.R.E.S. is undoubtedly the rotating system for its main components. Below is an early 3D concept:

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The central design was so difficult to work out, and I went through tens of attempts before landing on one that actually worked. I eventually made the rotating hardware panel’s side wall and rotating bracket out of 5mm aluminum.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

To fix the central acrylic panel, I made four brackets out of 8mm aluminum and screwed them onto the two rotating discs.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Next, I added a small pocket to the side walls, so I could insert two small ball bearings.

This is how it looks without the central piece:

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The Floating Effect

On to more aluminum milling. I started making the base and pedestal so that I could start having a clearer look on the final shape of the whole thing.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

First was the 8mm aluminum panel, which attached to the bottom of the case, thanks to two other strips that I cut, drilled and threaded.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In order for the pedestal to give Project A.R.E.S. the illusion that it’s floating I called in three 40 x 40mm acrylic blocks. But to avoid having to drill holes in them and ruin the magic, I made six acrylic discs that I glued to the blocks and had them serve as mounting holes.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The main part of the pedestal is made out of 15mm acrylic. The trickiest part about constructing this piece was definitely creating the huge chamfered edges. I was able to create the look by using a tridimensional toolpath on the CNC router.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Since my machine isn’t very sturdy, it tends to chutter and leave undesirable finishes on the surface. So I took my orbital sander and got to work with some elbow grease to finish up that big chamfer.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

I left a frosted finish so that the edges could catch some light coming from the central LED strip.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Since I didn’t really trust the acrylic to hold all the weight, I added a 5mm aluminum plate under it and a small channel to route the cable from the RGB strip to the back of the pedestal.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

At this stage, here’s what Project A.R.E.S. looked like:

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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Project A.R.E.S. (Astral Robot Enclosure Systems)

Next Page Installing the Components

How to Use CircuitPython With GPIO Pins on a PC

Thanks to the Raspberry Pi and Arduino, we are familiar with the GPIO (general purpose input/output) that enable these boards to interface with real-world electronic devices. PCs are devoid of a GPIO but boards such as Adafruit’s FT232H are available that provide that functionality via a USB port.

CircuitPython Installation

We’ll be using Python to work with these boards. Although this may already be installed on your system, there are supporting elements you’ll need to install. These come in the form of CircuitPython, a version of MicroPython for microcontrollers such as the Raspberry Pi Pico. To setup the FT232H follow Adafruit’s installation instructions for your operating system.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Before you do anything more with your FT232H, you’ll need to solder on the headers provided. We have a great guide on how to solder header pins to your board.

To write the code for this project you will need an editor. For example you can use Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, PyCharm or whatever you are comfortable with.

Controlling the GPIO

There’s a seemingly endless list of projects you can create when you add GPIO pins to a PC, but below we’ll show you how to code and wire a really simple one where a button causes an LED to illuminate.

1. Create a file and save it as FT232H-example.py

2. Import two modules of pre-written code. The first “board” enables the code to talk to the FT232H, the second “digitalio” is how we control the configuration of GPIO pins.

import board 
import digitalio

3. Create an object “led” which will be used to reference the LED connected to GPIO C0.

led = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.C0)

4. Set the LED object as an output, so that current flows to the LED from the GPIO pin

led.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT

5. Create another object, “button.” This is used to reference the push button connected to GPIO pin C1.

button = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.C1)

6. Set the button as an input.

button.direction = digitalio.Direction.INPUT

7. Inside of a loop, set the value of the LED to match that of the button. When the button is pressed, the LED will light, when released, the LED will turn off.

while True:
   led.value = button.value

Complete Code Listing

import board 
import digitalio  
led = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.C0) 
led.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT  
button = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.C1) 
button.direction = digitalio.Direction.INPUT  
while True:
   led.value = button.value

Creating the Circuit

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The circuit for this project is simple. We have an LED connected to C0, and to GND via a 100 Ohm resistor. The push button is connected to 3.3V and C1. The resting state of C1 is OFF, and this state is the value used to turn off the LED.

To ensure that the push button resting state is OFF, a 10K Ohm resistor is used to pull C1 down to GND, effectively 0V. When the push button is pressed it connects 3.3V to C1, turning that pin ON and the value setting the LED to turn on. Please follow the diagram to correctly wire up your board.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Test Your Code

Open a terminal and start the code python3 FT232H-example.py press the push button to turn on the LED, release to turn off.

This story originally appeared in an issue of Linux Format Magazine.

Wait, GameStop sells GPUs now?

GameStop has sold PC gaming hardware for a while now, including entire gaming laptops, monitors, headphones, mice and speakers, but in the post-stonks era it apparently wants a piece of Best Buy and Newegg’s desktop components business as well. Most prominently, the company has started selling Nvidia RTX 3000 series graphics cards — where by “selling,” I mean engaging in the same sort of barely-there, blink-and-they’re-gone listings as every other purveyor of GPUs.

As PC Gamer reports, GameStop made its entire weekly circular ad revolve around PC gaming this week, including several GPUs, motherboards, a power supply, and a case:

GameStop’s weekly circular for March 21st-27th.

Back in reality, though, GameStop sold out of these GPUs days ago, roughly the instant they first went on sale. Judging by the replies to GameStop’s tweets, this was the typical reaction:

And as best as I can tell, the entirety of GameStop’s PC component selection consists of two motherboards right now.

The selection of GameStop PC hardware that is “available now.”

It’s hard to blame GameStop for selling out of components, though, hilarious Javascript or no — the street prices of Nvidia and AMD GPUs are utterly out of control, selling for 2x-3x their worth. I just don’t understand why GameStop would even bother to try during the shortage. Maybe it could refurbish old graphics cards at its refurbishment plant? Even older cards are in high demand right now.

Best games to buy in the Steam sales: Our favourite PC gaming bargains

(Pocket-lint) – The Steam sales are a great way to blow your hard-earned cash on awesome games you’ve been mulling over purchasing for a while but have been putting off.

Steam is currently running a sale specific for the Remote Play Together launch. From now until 29 March you can grab discounts on a multitude of games that are better played with friends.

With so many games on sale though, it’s hard to know what to buy. Not to worry, we’re here to help! We’ve trawled through the list with a selection of games that are on special offer that we love and know you’re bound to as well.

Best PC games to buy: Fantastic games to add to your collection
Upcoming PC games: The best games to look forward to

A Way Out (70 per cent off)

See it on Steam

It makes a lot of sense to see A Way out on the list of games on sale during this special period as it’s a game that’s designed to be played with friends. Though you can play online co-op anyway, you now have the option to play with Remote Play Together as well.

Untitled Goose Game (Save 40 per cent)

See it on Steam

Untitled Goose Game recently got a co-op mode. As if the game wasn’t already appealing enough, now it’s even better with co-op, Remote Play Together functionality and a hefty discount too. What more could you want? HOOOOOONK.

Human Fall Flat (60 per cent off)

See it on Steam

Human: Fall Flat is a really fun game if you’re looking for something mellow, with a chilled out vibe, but hilarious physics, cheerful visuals and an interesting premise.

One of our favourite PC games is now nicely discounted during the Steam sales. Which is great as it’s also more entertaining when playing with friends and at this price, they can hardly turn it down.

Golf With Your Friends (save 35 per cent)

See it on Steam

The clue is in the name with this one. Play golf with your friends from the comfort of your own home. All the fun of mini golf but in pixel form and for up to 12 players as well. Nice.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (save 50 per cent)

See it on Steam

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is designed to play with friends with a really neat premise that requires you to work together (even remotely via Remote Play Together):

“Find yourself trapped alone in a room with a ticking time bomb. Your friends have the manual to defuse it, but they can’t see the bomb, so you’re going to have to talk it out – fast!”

Red Dead Redemption II (33 per cent off)

See it on Steam

Red Dead Redemption II has been knocking around for a while now, but like all good Rockstar games, it’s still going strong and is incredibly popular. We thoroughly enjoyed the campaign and when you’ve finished with the main story, there’s plenty to keep you busy online too.

Dirt 5 (save 60 per cent)

See it on Steam

Tear up the tracks in a variety of cars in all sorts of racing fan and frollics across gravel, ice, snow and sand. Dirt 5 is more the same glorious arcade racing experience you’d expect from Code Masters and with a nice discount it’s well worth buying.

Superhot VR (save 40 per cent)

See it on Steam

Superhot VR has just recently had a free update and now it’s got a discount in time for Christmas as well. This is another cracking VR game with brilliant mechanics and glorious gameplay too.

Hell Let Loose (save 25 per cent)

See it on Steam here

Hell Let Loose is an intense World War II shooter that’s designed to be played with a well-oiled team, working hard to capture objectives and beat back the enemy. Realistic gameplay and serious military sim vibes with this one but it’s certainly a glorious game for fans of WWII games.

Death Stranding (save 40 per cent)

See it on Steam here

Death Stranding really shines on PC, with glorious graphics, staggering landscapes and an intriguing story from the creators of Metal Gear Solid. It’s a weird and wonderful walking simulator and worth looking at at this price for sure.

Doom Eternal (50 per cent off)

See it on Steam here

We loved Doom Eternal when we reviewed it and at half price, it’s an absolute bargain. A fast-paced, visceral masterpiece of demon-slaying goodness. All you know and love from Doom, with a decent discount during the sale period.

Borderlands 3 (67 per cent off)

See it on Steam here

With Borderlands 3, Gearbox took what people loved from the previous games and built upon it. All the madness and mayhem of the franchise only bigger, badder and more brilliant. That includes the addition of one billion guns – yup, a billion. Mad eh?

You’d also be mad not to buy it at this price, especially if you’ve been holding out for a discount.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (87 per cent off)

See it on Steam here

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was the final chapter in Lara Croft’s origin story. A modern reboot that’s rife with wonderful puzzles, brilliantly beautiful tombs and a wild open world to explore.

We loved the game when we reviewed it back in 2018 and it still stands up now, even more so with all the extras included in the definitive edition.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition (80 per cent off)

See it on Steam here

If you’ve not played The Witcher 3 yet, what have you even been doing with yourself? Seriously?! One of the finest role-playing games ever made, the Witcher 3 is, in our mind, an utter classic.

The game of the year edition also includes all the expansions and other goodness too. Giving you well over 100 hours of gaming goodness for less than the cost of a large pizza. Get stuck in.

No Man’s Sky (50 per cent off)

See it on Steam here

No Man’s Sky sure has come a long way over the last few years. Regular updates have made it ever more interesting. Explore the vastness of space with your friends, in all manner of space ships, visiting distant worlds and exploring until your heart is content.

We lost hours and hours in this game and have many fond memories. It’s also been updated to work with VR headsets lately, which is just insane. This means if you have the right equipment, you can basically get as close to travelling through space as you’re ever likely to get.

Writing by Adrian Willings.

For the Bees: Emtek Launches Miracle GeForce RTX 3060 With Honeycombs

(Image credit: VideoCardz)

There are few ways to attract attention to a graphics card these days. One is to equip it with a surplus voltage regulator module (VRM) and increase frequencies of its GPU and memory to their limits, pleasing performance enthusiasts willing to pay a premium. Alternatively, you could just install a fancy cooling system to make it look appealing to those who value style. South Korea-based graphics cards maker Emtek is taking the latter approach with its introduction of the its Miracle GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card.

As reported by VideoCardz, the Miracle GeForce RTX 3060 comes with a rather extraordinary cooler shroud with honeycombs pattern. The dual-fan cooling system itself features a black-and-yellow theme that resembles bees; (although, bees come in a variety of colors, including Nvidia Green and Intel Blue).

It is unclear whether the honeycomb over one of the fans has any practical advantage, but it should protect the fan from cables that are not attached to anything and certainly looks unorthodox. Taking things a smidge further, the card has its own LED display too.

Other than the cooling system, Emtek’s Miracle GeForce RTX 3060 is a pretty regular GA106-based graphics card with 3,584 CUDA cores clocked at 1,320/1,770 MHz, as well as 12GB of GDDR6 memory featuring a 192-bit interface and a 15,000 GTps data transfer rate. Essentially, the Miracle GeForce RTX 3060’s frequencies match those of the RTX 3060 Founder’s Edition.

Meanwhile, the board seems to be pretty compact, so it can probably fit into a spacious Mini-ITX chassis.

Just like other Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series cards, the Miracle RTX 3060 board has four display outputs: three DisplayPort 1.4a, as well as an HDMI 2.1 connector with variable refresh rate (VRR) support. The card is rated for a 170W TDP and requires one eight-pin auxiliary PCIe power connector.

We don’t yet know if Emtek’s honeycomb-style Miracle GeForce RTX 3060 will make it outside of South Korea, but for those who want to the best graphics card for a bee-themed gaming PC it might be worth buzzing around for it online.