More than a decade ago, in a lifetime before The Verge, Monster Hunter on the PSP was my commuting game of choice. I’d spend a couple of hours a day tackling solo quests as my train wound through the Japanese countryside, then compare loot with friends late at night as we teamed up to take on the monsters we couldn’t beat alone.
2018’s Monster Hunter World couldn’t hope to replicate that experience. World sought to reimagine the series as a primarily online adventure that took advantage of powerful hardware — and it was a huge success, bringing Monster Hunter to a far bigger Western audience than it ever managed before. World was a great game, and Capcom clearly moved Monster Hunter in the right direction. But for me, something was missing.
That’s where Monster Hunter Rise comes in. It’s a Nintendo Switch-exclusive game that builds upon World’s advances — but now you can take it on the go.
Monster Hunter Rise isn’t altogether a new idea. The last time a major new Monster Hunter game first came to a home console — 2009’s Monster Hunter 3 for the Wii — it was coming off the huge success of an earlier PSP release. Monster Hunter 3 brought a lot of advances to the series, but a straight port to the less powerful PSP wouldn’t have been practical for technical reasons, so Capcom adapted much of its elements and contents into a new PSP game called Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. It ended up being the bestselling game in the series, at least until World came along, and it was the version that ate up the most time for me on those train rides.
That’s basically what Capcom has done with Monster Hunter Rise. It’s not a Switch port of World — it’s better. Almost all of what made World a huge leap forward for the series is here, and Rise evolves the formula further while operating within a scope that makes more sense for the Switch. The result is an all-new game that feels at home on its portable hardware instead of having been compromised to fit.
Monster Hunter Rise might be the most technically impressive Switch game I’ve seen to date; it’s certainly the most impressive one that isn’t made by Nintendo. Running on Capcom’s RE Engine, the character models and monsters look very close to those of World — especially on the small Switch screen. Capcom has done an excellent job of preserving World’s essence and style on less powerful hardware.
The biggest concessions are the environments. The stages feel more like old-school Monster Hunter games than they did in World, with less elaborate designs and fewer graphical flourishes like dense foliage. Unlike the older games, though, the subsections aren’t broken up by loading screens, which helps Rise play similarly to World’s more free-flowing style.
In fact, Rise goes even further in that regard. Traversing around the environments is faster than ever thanks to two new elements: a pet dog called a Palamute that joins you in battle and lets you ride on its back, and a tool called the Wirebug that can be used to zip up walls and hop onto monsters, occasionally even controlling them in large-scale confrontations with other beasts. What Rise’s stages lack in complexity they add in verticality, and while your targets are marked on the map from the start this time around, you’ll often find yourself figuring out how to meet them on their level.
Rise feels even better suited for portable play than the earlier games, since you’ll never find yourself wandering around aimlessly in search of a monster. Other alterations save seconds that will add up over hundreds of hours — you now exhaust the supply of resources from a mining outcrop or a bonepile with a single button tap, for example.
Otherwise, Rise is a typical Monster Hunter game. It’s a fairly complex action RPG where you’re choosing one of several weapon classes with which to hunt increasingly dangerous beasts, harvesting them for materials that you can use to craft new weapons and armor to take on even more dangerous beasts. The game is certainly an acquired taste, and I’m not sure the constant barrage of tutorial pop-ups explaining obscure mechanics will be as helpful for newcomers as Capcom seems to think they will.
What will help, though, is that Monster Hunter Rise just isn’t very difficult compared to other games in the series, even World. I found the “village” quests that progress the story and get you to the endgame unusually easy — it’s like they’re the actual tutorial. I’m experienced with the series, but by no means an incredible player, yet I dispatched most new monsters much faster than usual on my first try. The village quests are never the true meat of any Monster Hunter game, so I think it’s fine for them to serve as a fun campaign that anyone can blast through.
There’s also a series of more challenging “hub” quests available from the start, and those should dispel the notion that Rise isn’t focusing on existing fans. But it’s hard to review any Monster Hunter game ahead of its launch because I’ve had very little time to test it online, let alone see how the player base takes to its most challenging content. Rise’s longevity will largely be down to its endgame design and how Capcom handles future updates, neither of which can be known at this point.
At least for now, Rise looks like a more solid package in terms of content than World was at launch before its major Iceborne expansion. It’s certainly not lacking in monsters, and the variety is broader than what World offered, with several old favorites and some imaginative new designs.
Monster Hunter Rise is the most accessible game in the series to date, and it might well prove to be the best. I’m not willing to call that just yet, because a lot will depend on how its post-launch support turns out. But Capcom absolutely has the bones of a classic here already. Almost everything that was great about World is also true of Rise, unless you want to run it at 4K / 60fps. If you do (and I do, too), there’s a PC version coming next year.
It feels like Monster Hunter is coming full circle with Rise. The series started on the PS2, sure, but it only really became a cult phenomenon when it moved to portables, and that’s where it’s now returned after World brought it to an even bigger global audience. You don’t need to have a lengthy commute to appreciate how Monster Hunter benefits from a portable format.
One of the joys of the Switch is that it allows you to slot in game time when you otherwise wouldn’t be able to, even if it’s as basic a situation as your living room being occupied. Monster Hunter has always had that just-one-more-quest impulse for series fans, and with its breezy new design and portable form factor, Rise should see a lot more converted to the cause.
Monster Hunter Rise is available for the Nintendo Switch today.
NZXT’s first AMD motherboard is the N7 B550. Like the Intel versions that preceded it, the N7 B550 has a slick design with the option of either a black or white shroud that covers the bulk of the board itself. No doubt NZXT hopes the motherboard’s clean appearance will make it an appealing option for anyone with a windowed PC case like NZXT’s own H series cases.
Beyond its looks, the N7 B550 appears to offer very capable performance if a review from Tom’s Hardware is anything to go by. Designed in collaboration with established motherboard manufacturer ASRock, the motherboard uses the B550 chipset which works with both AMD Ryzen 3000- and 5000-series CPUs and offers PCIe 4.0 support. Integrated fan and RGB controllers mean the components can be managed through NZXT’s Cam software.
The N7 B550 offers a good array of USB ports.Image: NZXT
In terms of connectivity, there’s an impressive 10 USB ports available on the rear of the motherboard, including a USB Type-C port, and two M.2 slots for NVMe storage. Wireless connectivity includes support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Check out the review from Tom’s Hardwarefor a full spec and performance rundown.
It’s a solid debut for a company that’s typically better known for its PC cases and CPU coolers, although its reputation was dented earlier this year when it had to recall one PC case over fire safety concerns. The N7 B550 is available now for $229.99.
The Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 is a memory kit that gels great any processor. If you can find it in your region, it’s worth your attention.
For
Decent performance
Overclocking upside
Low-profile, RGB-less design
Against
Currently unavailable at U.S. retailers
Not every piece of computer memory needs to have fancy heatsinks or flashy illumination. There are still those among us that appreciate the simpler things and prefer the insides of their systems to not look like a dance hall. If you belong to that crowd, Klevv’s Bolt XR series of memory fits the description nicely. Today we’ll put the company’s Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 memory kit, which comes with a density of 32GB spread across two 16GB memory modules, to the test to see how well it performs against other flashier kits.
The Bolt XR memory modules are as minimalistic as they come. Featuring a light, bronze color, the memory checks in with a simple, embossed design that’s devoid of RGB illumination. The aluminum heat spreader helps passively cool the memory module, and the low-profile body puts the Bolt XR on the compatibility list for compact systems. The memory measures 36.7mm tall, offering great harmony with modern motherboards and big CPU air coolers.
Klevv equipped the Bolt XR modules with an eight-layer PCB and a dual-rank design. Each memory module is 16GB and employs Hynix H5AN8G8NDJR-VKC (D-die) integrated circuits (ICs).
The default frequency and primary timings for the Bolt XR memory modules are DDR4-2666 and 19-19-19-43, respectively. If you opt for the easy setup, the Bolt XR comes with one XMP profile that jacks the frequency up to DDR4-3600 and automatically configures the timings and DRAM voltage to 18-22-22-42 and 1.35V, respectively. For more on timings and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature, as well as our How to Shop for RAM story.
Comparison Hardware
Memory Kit
Part Number
Capacity
Data Rate
Primary Timings
Voltage
Warranty
G.Skill Trident Z Royal
F4-4000C17D-32GTRGB
2 x 16GB
DDR4-4000 (XMP)
17-18-18-38 (2T)
1.40 Volts
Lifetime
Crucial Ballistix Max RGB
BLM2K16G40C18U4BL
2 x 16GB
DDR4-4000 (XMP)
18-19-19-39 (2T)
1.35 Volts
Lifetime
G.Skill Trident Z Neo
F4-3600C16D-32GTZN
2 x 16GB
DDR4-3600 (XMP)
16-16-16-36 (2T)
1.35 Volts
Lifetime
Klevv Bolt XR
KD4AGU880-36A180C
2 x 16GB
DDR4-3600 (XMP)
18-22-22-42 (2T)
1.35 Volts
Lifetime
Patriot Viper Steel RGB
PVSR432G360C0K
2 x 16GB
DDR4-3600 (XMP)
20-26-26-46 (2T)
1.35 Volts
Lifetime
Our Intel test system consists of an Intel Core i9-10900K and Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex on the 0901 firmware. On the opposite side, the AMD testbed leverages an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and ASRock B550 Taichi with the 1.30 firmware. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming Trio handles the graphical duties on both platforms.
Intel Performance
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Overall, the Bolt XR memory kit ranked third in our application RAM benchmarks and fourth in gaming. The memory really didn’t stand out with exceptional performance in any of our benchmarks, though it is a solid middle-of-the-stack kit.
AMD Performance
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However, Klevv’s offering put on a better show on the AMD platform. The memory kit catapulted its way to the second spot on both application and gaming performance charts. The Microsoft Office, Premiere 2020, and LuxMark workloads particularly favored the Bolt XR.
Overclocking the Bolt XR was as simple as it can get. Bumping the DRAM voltage to 1.45V enabled us to run the memory at DDR4-4133. We didn’t even have to relax the timings as the memory was happy with the XMP timings (18-22-22-42).
Lowest Stable Timings
Memory Kit
DDR4-3600 (1.45V)
DDR4-3800 (1.45V)
DDR4-4000 (1.45V)
DDR4-4133 (1.45)
DDR4-4200 (1.45)
G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 C16
13-14-14-35 (2T)
N/A
N/A
N/A
19-19-19-39 (2T)
Crucial Ballistix Max RGB DDR4-4000 C18
N/A
N/A
16-19-19-39 (2T)
N/A
20-20-20-40 (2T)
G.Skill Trident Z Royal DDR4-4000 C17
N/A
N/A
15-16-16-36 (2T)
18-19-19-39 (2T)
N/A
Klevv Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18
16-19-19-39 (2T)
N/A
N/A
18-22-22-42 (2T)
N/A
Patriot Viper Steel RGB DDR4-3600 C20
16-20-20-40 (2T)
17-26-26-46 (2T)
N/A
N/A
N/A
Hynix D-die ICs aren’t famous for tight timings, so we kept our expectations in line. Once again, we increased the DRAM voltage to 1.45V to make some headroom to optimize the memory’s timings. The end result was okay — we got the timings down to 16-19-19-39.
Bottom Line
The Klevv Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 is one of those memory kits that don’t stink or stand out either. As usual, aesthetics is a personal matter, but performance-wise, the memory kit is right in the alley with other similar DDR4-3600 memory kits. There is definitely room for improving its performance if you like tinkering with memory. Hynix ICs are usually generous when it comes to hitting high data rates.
For unknown reasons, Klevv has struggled to penetrate the U.S. memory market, so the Bolt XR will be hard to find. However, the Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 retails for around $157.26 overseas, giving us some insight into its price tag. In fact, the pricing is very competitive for a DDR4-3600 C18 32GB (2x16GB) memory kit. It’s too bad that Klevv’s products are only available in certain countries.
Here’s the situation: you’re typing a report for work, and you suddenly have to write the phrase “Jones née Berkowitz.” Or you are adding a phrase in Spanish and need to use the word “años.” How do you add the special characters to the letters?
Special characters (also known as diacritical marks) may be more common in certain languages, but there are plenty of circumstances in which English speakers may need to use them. But because they are so rare in English, native English speakers may not have learned how to add those marks to documents, emails, or other writings. It’s not difficult to add them to your Windows document, although it’s not quite as smooth an operation as on a Mac, where all you have to do is hold the appropriate key down. (In fact, once upon a time, you would have had to look up the symbol character codes…)
Use the touch keyboard
The easiest way to add diacritical marks to a document is to enable the Windows touch keyboard. (Thanks to Ed Bott from ZDNet for first leading me to this method.) The touch keyboard automatically appears if you’re using a Windows tablet or if you’re using a PC in tablet mode. If you don’t have a touchscreen, you can use the keyboard icon that appears in the taskbar, on the right side near the date. Don’t see it? This is how you get it:
Right click on the taskbar.
Click on “Show touch keyboard button.”
Click on “Show touch keyboard button”
Now, when you want to use a special character:
Click on the touch keyboard icon.
The touch keyboard will appear. Long press (with your mouse button or, if you have a touchscreen, your finger) on the letter you want to use.
You’ll now see several extra keys showing the ways you can type that letter with different symbols. Select the one you want, and it will appear on your document.
If you want to enter an emoji, click on the emoji key (on the left of the “space bar”).
Select the special character you want, and it will appear on your document.
Use the character map
If you’d like to try a more old-fashioned method of adding special characters to Windows, you can use the character map, which is a less polished and more complicated version of the touch keyboard but offers a similar service.
To access it on your Windows 10 system:
Type “character” in your search field and then select the Character Map app.
You’ll get a pop-up map showing a bunch of special characters for a specific font. You can change the font by clicking on the drop-down font menu at the top.
The character map lets you access a wide variety of special characters.
Click on the letter(s) or special characters that you want to use in your document and then click on the “Select” button. They’ll appear in the “Characters to copy” field.
Once you’ve selected all the characters you want, click on the “Copy” button and then paste the character(s) into your document.
Gaming platform Rec Room is now a unicorn, valued at $1.25 billion during a recent funding round of $100 million. It appears to be one of the first, if not the first, virtual reality-focused startup to achieve unicorn status, a notable feat since Facebook’s landmark acquisition of Oculus VR for $2.4 billion in 2014 helped established the modern VR business.
Founded in 2016, Rec Room is a free app that lets players build custom virtual spaces and games that can be played across various platforms. The Seattle-based company launched on Steam as a VR-focused platform, and in 2018, expanded to non-VR platforms. It’s now available on Xbox, PlayStation, iOS, and PC. CEO Nick Fajt said in an interview with The Verge that VR usage on the platform climbed over the holiday season due in part to sales of the Oculus Quest 2 headset.
In 2020, Rec Room saw a 566 percent increase in revenue — most of that comes from in-game purchases — and it now has more than 15 million lifetime users. Fajt says the company now has 1 million monthly active VR users, a number that tripled during the pandemic, TheWall Street Journal reported.
The platform’s primary users are teenagers between ages 13 and 16, Fajt said, so Rec Room benefited from students being online longer during the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020. But it was also growing in popularity before people were confined to their homes.
“The pandemic accelerated trends we’d been seeing for several years,” Fajt said. “A lot of people are looking for a digital third place that’s distinct from home and school or work where they can meet up with friends, hang out, explore, and be creative. I think that’s been true whether teenagers were going to school physically or on Zoom. People need a space like this.”
He added that while it’s possible the platform may see a decrease in users once teenagers can gather in person, he sees Rec Room as more than just a replacement for real-life socializing. “It’s helping a lot of people maintain connections with friends that are hundreds or thousands of miles away,” Fajt said. “These are friends separated by physical distance not just social distance. So if Rec Room has become part of your routine, I suspect it will stay that way even beyond the pandemic.”
Rec Room is preparing for an IPO in the coming years. In the meantime, other gaming platforms are continuing to grow thanks to a boost from pandemic audiences. Roblox, an online gaming platform for slightly younger users than Rec Room’s, also has seen a sharp uptick in use during the pandemic. Roblox went public via direct listing earlier this month and said in its prospectus that it has 31.1 million daily users, who spent an average of 2.6 hours daily on the platform in the past year.
Roblox told The Verge last summer that over half of US kids and teenagers under the age of 16 play the game. During the pandemic there has been much hand-wringing about kids’ increased screentime, but games like Roblox and Epic Games’ Fortnite provide socialization, just not the in-person kind we may be used to.
Before the pandemic, some of the appetite to develop new AR and VR hardware had started to wane — Sony PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan suggested in October that an update to Sony’s PlayStation VR headset was still a few years away. (Sony has since teased more details about its next iteration of PlayStation VR with a formal product announcement, followed by images of its new controllers.)
But other companies have for years been ramping up their efforts in AR and VR hardware. The Information reported earlier this month that Facebook has some 10,000 employees — roughly a fifth of its workforce — focused on new devices in both fields, and the company has already shown off prototypes of experimental research products and plans to release a pair of Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses later this year. Apple has long been rumored to be working on AR and VR hardware, too, and recent reports suggest the iPhone maker will debut a VR device sometime in 2022.
“The market has shown an increased appetite for gaming companies,” Fajt said. “I think that will only grow as more data becomes available about the strength and durability of these businesses.”
(Pocket-lint) – The Oculus Quest 2 is an updated version of Oculus’ wireless virtual reality headset, but what makes it different to the original?
Buy the Oculus Quest 2
Well, there are a number of both aesthetic and technical changes that make the Quest 2 worth considering. It might well be a brilliant purchase for those looking to get into VR or a potential upgrade option for current Quest owners. Read on to find on what’s different.
The best VR headsets to buy: Top virtual reality gear
Best Oculus Quest and Quest 2 games: Top experiences worth owning for these wireless VR headsets
Oculus Quest 2 – new white finish, cloth/material straps with updated tightening system, flip-up visor, three IPD levels
The original Oculus Quest was one of our favourite VR headsets, with an excellent lightweight design and surprisingly capable hardware making it a viable alternative to much more expensive PC VR headsets. Without the need for an accompanying gaming PC or laptop, it made a lot of sense to buy and now has been improved upon in the Quest 2.
Quest 2 stands out from the original thanks to a bold white design versus the original black and grey theme. It features much more than a colour change though.
The Quest 2 has a new head strap design which makes it easier to adjust and offers a more comfortable fit. It’s also designed to be more accessible and easier to use too.
Where the original Quest had a manual IPD slider, the Quest 2 now has a system which lets you move the lenses into three different preset positions – 58mm (setting 1), 63mm (setting 2) and 68mm (setting 3). Oculus says this design is intended to be simplified and that most users will find one of the three settings is perfect for them, removing the hassle of measuring your IPD and adjusting the levels in a granular manner.
Pocket-lint
Quest 2 has changed in other ways too. It’s 10 per cent lighter than the Quest (just 503g) and features a new and improved faceplate design that appears to let less light in while you’re gaming, resulting in a much more immersive experience. The visor also now has the ability to be flipped up slightly out of the way if you need to look at the world around you without taking the headset off.
Both the Quest and Quest 2 sport some impressive integrated, rear-firing speakers built into the strap and deliver the sound right into your ears without the fuss of extra wires from the headphones. The Quest 2 offers nifty positional audio and both headsets also have microphones to capture your voice for multiplayer experiences.
These speakers do lead to a little bit of sound bleed though, so if you need a more private experience then you’ll be pleased to hear there’s the option to use a 3.5mm headset or headphones instead.
Alongside the various aesthetic and comfort changes, the Oculus Quest 2 has been given a boost in power and specs versus the original VR headset.
Quest 2 uses the latest and greatest Qualcomm system, with 50 per cent more RAM designed to help power the improved visuals and give game developers more power to play with.
The entry-level version of each headset has 64GB of internal storage for your games, but now Oculus has added significantly more storage with the Quest 2 also available with a 256GB option. The price has come down too, with that more storage-rich version costing the same as the smallest version of the original Quest.
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The extra power in the Quest 2 will hopefully give developers more freedom when developing games, while also enabling users to get even more enjoyment out of Oculus Link as well.
Both Oculus Quest and Quest 2 offer hand-tracking capabilities. This has been an experimental option with the Quest for some time, but is shipping as standard in the Quest 2.
Oculus Link has also come out of beta and is more readily available with Quest 2. Meaning it’s much much easier to connect it to your PC and play PC VR games from the Oculus store or via Steam if you so wish.
What is Oculus Link and how do you use it to play even more VR games?
The Quest 2 also supports a 90Hz refresh rate (and 120Hz in some cases), as well as other clever things like calorie tracking too.
Pocket-lint
Visuals
Oculus Quest – OLED display with 72Hz refresh rate and 1600 x 1440 pixels per eye
Oculus Quest 2 – Fast-switch LCD panel with 1832 x 1920 per eye 72Hz at launch; 90Hz support to come
Alongside the extra power under the hood, the Oculus Quest 2 has also been improved in the display department. The headset now offers 50 per cent more pixels than Quest. That’s close to 2K resolution per eye and it also comes with the promise of a faster refresh rate, which leads to a smoother and more enjoyable experience.
Where the Oculus Quest managed 72Hz refresh rate, the Oculus Quest 2 is apparently capable of 120Hz.
The 90Hz refresh rate option was rolled out a while back and needs developers to unlock it for their games in order to work, but it does mean the promise of better experiences alongside improved visuals thanks to the extra pixel count.
The Quest 2 continues to offer the Passthrough+ view which allows you to see the world around you using the inside-out tracking cameras and the intelligent guardian boundary play space system. This was available on the first Quest and is just as good on the newer device, making it easy to re-orient yourself or see the real-world without having to take the headset off.
This is nicely designed so you can simply double-tap on the side of the headset to activate it. This means you can quickly and fairly clearly see the world around you in an instant without needing to take the headset off.
As you’d expect, when it comes to games, the Quest 2 supports the same games as the original Quest, meaning you now have access to well over 200 games. Thanks to Oculus Link you can also play many more PC virtual reality games too if you have the right equipment.
Pocket-lint
Controllers and battery life
Improved battery life
The controllers for Quest 2 have had some slight design changes. The new design is inspired by a mix of the original controllers and those on the Oculus Rift S. You’ll note a familiar shape and style, but the Quest 2 controllers have a slightly larger space at the top with more room for your thumb to move about and access the buttons and thumbstick.
Both controllers use a single AA battery, but the Quest 2 controllers have been redesigned with less internal tracking LEDs to improve battery life. Oculus claims this means the Quest 2 controllers work four times longer than the original Quest controllers, without compromise of tracking capabilities.
The Quest 2 also has numerous intelligent battery management systems in place to maximise battery life both in the headset and the controllers. This includes settings to send the Quest 2 to sleep when it’s not in use and a nifty system which automatically turns controllers on when you put the headset on and pick them up.
Still, like the Quest, the Quest 2 can only manage between two and three hours of use before it needs charging. Both headsets are charged via a USB-C cable and the Quest 2 can reach full charge in around 2.5 hours.
Conclusion
We thought a lot of the Oculus Quest when we first reviewed it and we have a lot of good things to say about the Oculus Quest 2 for similar reasons. Both headsets are surprisingly capable considering they don’t need a PC to run, with impressive tracking, excellent visuals and a great line-up of games to play too.
Quest 2 features some nice enhancements in terms of visuals, power under the hood and a stylish design too. If you already own a Quest, you might find the changes aren’t quite enough to warrant the upgrade.
If you’re new to VR then the Quest 2 is a no-brainer though. It’s more affordable than the Quest was when it launched and offers a fantastic experience complete with hand tracking, wire-free VR gaming, superb visuals and much more besides. With recent software updates it’s just got better and better.
As reported by PCMag, GameStop has undertaken a new business venture. The renowned video game retailer has started selling computer hardware on its online store, including Nvidia’s elusive GeForce RTX 3000 (Ampere) offerings that are among the best graphics cards that money can buy — or rather cannot buy.
When a company has spent a lifetime doing the same thing, it’s difficult for it to leave its comfort zone. In fact, many companies end up going out of business if they don’t get with the times. It’s commendable that GameStop is taking a crack at being a computer hardware retailer, especially in these difficult times. With this new endeavor, GameStop will be joining the ranks of seasoned veterans, such as Newegg, Micro Center, Best Buy and Amazon – just to name some.
GameStop won’t just stop at selling computer hardware either. In its Q4 2020 earnings call, CEO George Sherman reaffirmed the company’s commitment to expand its catalog of products to cover a wide variety of other gaming-oriented products, including laptops, routers and monitors.
“We are continuing the work to expand our addressable market by growing GameStop’s product catalog. This includes growing our product offerings across PC gaming, computers, monitors, game tables, mobile gaming and gaming TVs, to name only a few. These categories represent natural extensions that our customers would expect to buy from us, expanding our addressable market size by over five times, and over time, will reduce our reliance on the cyclicality of the console-based gaming market.”
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 Graphics Cards
Graphics Card
Pricing
Newegg Pricing
Availability
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X 24G
$2,339.99
$2,269.99
?
Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090
$2,299.99
$2,239.99
?
EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Gaming
$1,979.99
$1,919.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio
$1,969.99
$2,169.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Suprim X 10G
$1,059.99
$1,139.99
?
Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080
$1,049.99
$1,119.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
$979.99
$1,109.99
?
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080
$979.99
$874.99
?
EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming
$929.99
$899.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Suprim X 8G
$879.99
$829.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio
$819.99
$779.99
04/16/2021
EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 Ultra Gaming
$719.99
$699.99
?
MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X Trio
$689.99
$649.99
04/16/2021
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming
$529.99
N/A
?
EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti XC Gaming
$409.99
N/A
?
When it comes to Ampere, GameStop will be selling almost every SKU from the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti to the flagship GeForce RTX 3090. The retailer’s current collection is made up of big-name brands, like Asus, EVGA and MSI. The majority of the graphics cards are unavailable for purchase as GameStop probably doesn’t have stock yet. It’s likely that the retailer is still preparing the product pages so more models may appear down the line. However, some of the graphics cards are labelled with an expectance date for April 16.
The product pages show that GameStop will allow online purchases as the retailer offers the option to send the product to your home or customers can go pick it up at one of GameStop’s brick-and-mortar stores. It remains to be seen whether GameStop’s business model will include physically selling the products at their stores. For example, Micro Center typically sells processors for below their MSRP, but the retailer limits the orders to in-store purchases only. GameStop will certainly earn brownie points with enthusiasts if the store offers a similar option as it would help crackdown on the scalpers.
Taking into account the current situation that we’re living in, it’d be foolish to think that you can find a custom Ampere graphics cards at the manufacturer’s MSRP. With all things considered, GameStop’s pricing looks competitive though. There’s a price variation up to 13% between GameStop and Newegg. Some models are cheaper at the first, while others are more affordable at the latter. Unfortunately, we’ve reached the point where the winning retailer isn’t the one who sells the same graphics card for cheaper, but the one who actually has it in stock.
Building a PC is often compared to assembling a Lego kit. Modular devices extend the comparison by offering hot-swappable components that can be arranged to suit a variety of use cases, and the latest attempt to deliver on this promise is Project PocKit, a work-in-progress Liliputing highlighted after seeing its latest demo video.
The basic concept of PocKit sounds much like other modular computing projects and looks a lot like Google’s defunct Project Ara modular smartphone. The project website says it features a “Core” equipped with a STM32 + ESP32 Dual-Processor that can be complemented by various “Blocks.” A demo video uploaded on March 18 revealed that it can also work with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module.
According to the demo, PocKit would use its Core for most processing tasks, with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module being used “as an accelerator for desktop-class applications, or when you simply want to use Linux” in conjunction with compatible Blocks. This setup is said to allow PocKit to handle both desktop and handheld use.
The exact Raspberry Pi Compute Module wasn’t listed, but the accompanying update on PocKit’s site said the compute module in question uses the BCM2837 system-on-a-chip. That SoC was last used in the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3; more recent versions of the compute module use the BCM2837B0 (the 3+) or BCM2711 (the 4).
It seems like PocKit is quite capable even when a Raspberry Pi Compute Module isn’t connected thanks to its existing Core and Blocks. So far, the project’s creator (who goes by “Soldier_Man” on Reddit) has revealed a trio of cameras, an Ethernet connector, and several other Blocks that can be used to extend PocKit’s capabilities.
(Image credit: PocKit)
Soldier_Man has also shared videos in which the PocKit is used as a wireless indoor gardening tool and an automatic soap dispenser. (Both of which probably became a lot more appealing in 2020.) Those projects, along with the demo posted last week, highlight the potential of modular devices that encourage people to experiment.
PocKit doesn’t rely on Raspberry Pi, but the decision to use the compute module to enable a full Linux experience could very well make it one of the best Raspberry Pi accessories regardless. Soldier_Man said on Reddit that work on PocKit is “not fully done yet!” and that development progress would be posted to the project’s website.
With clear audio, a great microphone and an understated but attractive design, the Fnatic React+ is aimed at eSports gamers, but it’s a great all-around headset for media and working from home too. The bundled USB sound card adds great-sounding 7.1 virtual surround sound to PC gaming, and a 3.5mm jack means you can use it with other gaming devices too.
For
Very good virtual 7.1 surround
Simple, attractive design
Superb microphone clarity
Swappable ear cushions
USB-A and 3.5mm
Against
Vestigial inline volume/mic switch is redundant when using USB
No software
Earcups don’t swivel
The Fnatic React+ adds virtual surround sound to the feature set that made the original React popular with gamers: large, clear drivers with very good gaming audio quality and excellent stereo separation, a design that remains comfortable throughout long gaming sessions, and a microphone with top-of-its class clarity. All that is wrapped in an understated design that looks cool enough for eSports gaming but subtle enough for teleconferencing.
The React+ pairs the original React headphones with Fnatic’s XP USB sound card (no relation to Windows XP), which adds 7.1 simulated surround sound at the touch of a button, and an extra set of earpads. Yet, the cans are still cheaper than many of the best gaming headsets, at just $99.99 as of writing. The resulting package, while not without its quirks, offers superb performance for a headset in its price class.
Fnatic React+ Specs
Driver Type
53mm
Impedance
23 Ohms
Frequency Response
20 – 40,0000 Hz
Microphone Type
Cardioid boom, detachable
Connectivity
3.5mm or USB Type-A
Cables
3.9 feet (1.2m) 3.5mm cable
3.3 feet (1m) USB cable
6.5 feet (2m) extender/mic splitter
Weight
0.8 pounds (348g)
Lighting
None
Software
None
Extra
1x extra set ear cushions
Design and Comfort
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
For a design marketed directly at the eSports crowd, the Fnatic React+ headset has a tasteful, understated aesthetic that lacks any elements you’d likely describe as bling. There’s no RGB lighting here, just a tasteful matte-black plastic finish with white accents. There’s a Fnatic logo on each earcup, and the company name is subtly embossed on the side of and on top of the headband.
The one hint of color is the soft, bright orange mesh fabric inside the earcups, helpfully stamped “R” and “L” to assist in putting them on correctly when the microphone is unplugged. The React+ ships with comfortable, memory foam-filled, faux leather-covered earpads installed. But you can also swap these for the included velour earpads. Those will feel more airy, particularly helpful for gamers who get warm while playing.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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The oval, enclosed earcups are mounted on adjustable metal hangers, which feel very solid and should hold up well to regular use. The earcups completely enclose your ears, providing very good passive noise isolation. They can swivel vertically for comfort when being worn, but there’s no horizontal swivel axis to fold them out and flatten them for easier transport or storage.
With either set of pads in place, the React+ headset was comfortable even on my rather large head. At 0.8 pounds, it’s not as lightweights as some wired headsets. The similarly specced MSI Immerse GH61, for example, is 0.6 pounds. Thankfully, the React+ didn’t feel overly heavy in use. The clamping force is solid enough to provide good noise isolation without becoming uncomfortable over time, which is not always the case with my big noggin. Meanwhile, a strip of memory foam padding across the inside of the headband aids in comfort.
When using the microphone, it snaps solidly into the left earcup, but if you’re playing a solo game, listening to music or watching a movie, you can easily pop it out.
The React+ also includes Fnatic’s XP USB sound card, which the company also sells separately for $23. The sound card is enclosed in a small, oval controller with a 3.5mm jack on one end and a 3.3-foot-long USB-A cable on the other. Its matte black design matches the headphones, with rocker switches for headphone volume and microphone level, a button to toggle 7.1-channel surround sound and a microphone mute switch on the side. The controller adds little weight to the headphone setup, and the rockers are well-positioned for quick adjustment when gaming.
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Overall, it’s well-designed, but an additional analog volume dial and microphone switch near the top of the headphone cable (left over from the original design that didn’t include the sound card) can cause frustration if you accidentally brush the analog volume dial and wonder why the volume dial on the soundcard suddenly won’t go high enough. That said, if Fanatic had omitted the analog controls from the React+ bundle, they’d be unavailable when using the headphones sans soundcard with other devices.
The headset also comes with a 6.6-foot extension cable that splits the microphone and audio jacks for devices that don’t support both on a single connector.
The one design element I’d change, if given the chance, is that the 3.5mm cable is permanently attached to the headset. Without a removable cable, the headphones will be rendered useless if the primary cable is damaged by your cat, kids, or other sinister elements.
Audio Performance
The 53mm drivers Fnatic uses in the React+ are calibrated for gaming, with a separate chamber for bass frequencies to help separate them from mids and lows. This helps keep bass from explosions and gunshots from overwhelming other game sounds. Though the sound is relatively pure, mids and highs are slightly boosted, and the result is much better audio clarity from complex game soundscapes than you’d expect in headphones in this price range. Playing Metro 2033, Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legends, environmental sound and voices remained clear even in heavy combat situations.
This clarity isn’t lost when engaging the React+ virtual surround sound by pressing the surround button in the center of the USB sound card controller. The effect is convincing and adds a more enveloping quality to the audio without changing it to the point where clarity is lost.
Playing Watch Dogs: Legion, the surround sound significantly enhanced immersion as I walked and drove around the city. Even in the sedate environment of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the directional audio as I panned around my plane in external views was noticeably more enveloping than the default stereo audio heard with surround disabled.
The in-game soundscape of the React+ is excellent because the bass separation, large drivers and clarity across frequencies means you won’t miss important dialogue or environmental sounds in the heat of play. It’s a significant improvement over using headphones geared for music playback while gaming, where heavy bass emphasis can muddy the audio.
These cans also sound great when watching movies on the PC, as those same characteristics also keep audio clear during film and TV action sequences.
Conversely, the one area where the cans are more pedestrian is music. Albums like Logic’s The Incredible True Story and Kenrick Lamar’s DAMN. benefit from the boosted bass on more music-oriented headsets, and Pink Floyd’s classic Dark Side of the Moon sounded off with emphasized mids and highs of the React+ when compared to my (admittedly more expensive) Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 wired headphones.
With the leatherette ear cushions, the passive noise isolation from the large earcups is excellent; in my home office I only heard the loudest outside sounds when playing games. They also do a good job of keeping the noise from leaking out and disturbing others nearby. It is passive isolation, though, so if you use these to listen to music on your next flight, they can only block out so much. The velour cups are slightly less isolating than the leatherette.
Microphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The detachable cardioid microphone includes a pop filter and has a flexible but stiff arm that stayed in position well and never came loose during gaming. There’s no noise cancellation, but it targets the mouth well enough that it didn’t pick up environmental sounds when I was gaming.
Fellow players reported that my vocals were very clear. And when I listened to audio from the microphone recorded on my PC, it sounded very pure, although perhaps a tiny bit higher in pitch than natural. As you’d expect from a headset marketed squarely at the eSports market, Fnatic does a great job with the microphone here.
In addition to a microphone mute switch, the XP sound card controller includes a mic level adjust rocker as well. This is great when you’re in-game, and your teammates complain about your mic’s volume. It’s much easier to quickly adjust mic sensitivity with the rocker instead of having to tweak it using audio settings on your computer.
Features and Software
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The headset uses a 3.5mm TRSS plug to connect to the USB sound card. You can omit the sound card and use the plug to connect to other devices. Fnatic says the headset is compatible with Macs, as well as Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and (if you still have a headphone jack or adapter) mobile phones. The USB adapter is only fully supported under Windows, but we found the headset worked well plugged directly into an Xbox Series X controller and a Switch, though we missed the surround sound and the ability to adjust microphone levels.
There’s no bundled software, so you won’t be able to adjust equalization in-game. That said, the ability to toggle surround sound and adjust microphone and volume levels using physical buttons is more convenient when in-game than having to switch to an app.
Bottom Line
For a penny under $100, the Fnatic React+ performs like a more expensive headset. Audio is clear and sharp, both in your ears and coming from your microphone. The addition of effective, clear virtual 7.1-channel surround sound addresses the chief complaint about the original React (if you bought that, Fnatic offers a $29.99 bundle that includes the XP USB sound card and velour earpads to bring it up to React+ level), and the additional volume controls on the USB soundcard are a godsend if you need to quickly make adjustments during a frantic battle.
I’d love for the primary headset cable to be removable though. Not only would that make it less susceptible to being taken out by cable damage, but then we could omit the analog volume dial and microphone mute switch, which are redundant when using the USB sound card.
Overall, the Fnatic React+ offers superb audio for gaming and movies, decent–if unexceptional–music playback, and the headphones look cool without turning your head into a light show. So you’re not going to get strange looks if you’re wearing them during a Zoom call. The React+ also offers stiff competition to some of the best gaming headsets too, such as the HyperX Cloud Alpha. The React+ comes in at around the same price but adds 7.1 surround sound to the mix.
You can certainly find headsets with more features, but not in the React+’s price range. For gamers on a budget, this is a top choice.
Right after the review of the Epomaker GK96LS was done, the Epomaker company representative mentioned that it supports a lot of different switch options, including some that are not familiar to most people. This is a big selling point of the keyboard, with the hot-swappable switches presented as user-customizable switch choices on a per-key basis. The hot-swap socket has become popular with many brands recently, several of which we have reviewed on TechPowerUp over the course of the last few months. However, there remained the issue that the feature was still a post-purchase modification as most such implementations did not allow for the purchase of a keyboard case and the PCB itself. So when Epomaker asked whether I’d be interested in checking out some of these newer, uncommon switch offerings, I decided to do a keyboard build to explore the process. Thanks again to the company for helping with the parts used in this article!
The original idea was to do a quick-look article of the switches themselves. However, I felt there was more I could do here. After all, they had even offered to send a blank keyboard case to use and test the switches. The entire world of custom keyboards has never been more accessible than it is now with companies putting out kits that are easier to put together than a PC. Indeed, the hot-swap switch socket is a revelation because it doesn’t take any solder work to where I hope this article will be part of a series that explores different options beyond boxed products. Sure, there are still plenty of custom mods even here for those wanting to take the extra steps, be it in modded stabilizers, lubing switches with lube stations, and even a Frankenstein’s Monster keyboard that mixes and matches components from various switches. For now, however, let’s go with one of the simplest and approachable ways—using a few different switches paired with an Epomaker case and Akko keycap set, and let me know if this is something that interests you further.
We’re still waiting on a release date for the Playdate, a tiny handheld with a crank made by Untitled Goose Game publisher Panic, but Panic just showed off a new feature for the device on the official Playdate Twitter account: you’ll be able to plug the Playdate in to your computer and mirror its screen.
As Playdate says in its tweet, there are a lot of potential use-cases for this, including better accessibility and making it easier to stream your Playdate gameplay. And pressing the virtual buttons in the Playdate app will pass them back to your Playdate device, giving you another way to play your games. (It doesn’t look like there’s a virtual crank, but maybe that’s something Panic hasn’t shown off yet.)
Here’s a short video of the computer connection in action:
Here’s a fun little new thing we made. Plug in your Playdate, launch this app, and it will mirror your Playdate screen to your PC/Mac/Linux in real-time. Perfect for streamers, YouTubers, and better accessibility. Input from the PC can pass through to the Playdate also! pic.twitter.com/OE8q1X0txC
— Playdate (@playdate) March 24, 2021
While the Playdate computer app may look a little small in this video, you’ll be able to make it bigger, Panic said in a reply on Twitter. And if you listen closely to the video, you can also hear some extremely charming Playdate menu sound effects, which Panic says are new.
The Playdate was first revealed in 2019, with games in development from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, Good SudokudeveloperZach Gage, and more. At the time, Panic expected to ship the Playdate in early 2020, but said in October that it expects to kick off orders in “early 2021.”
Panic has also set up a Twitter account, @playdateAlerts, that will only tweet when there is “important” news about the Playdate. If you want to know exactly when you can order the device, @playdateAlerts seems like it a good account to follow.
If you have been looking to play Rocket League on the go but don’t own a Nintendo Switch, Psyonix’s massively popular vehicular soccer game is finally coming to mobile devices. The developer announced a new free-to-play version called Sideswipe that will arrive on iOS and Android later this year.
Rocket League Sideswipe looks to be largely the same as the main version of Rocket League, but it will bring a new perspective that accommodates mobile devices. According to the press release, players will compete in two-minute 1v1 or 2v2 matches. Another big change to Sideswipe is a switch to touch controls.
Sideswipe will be free to play, just like the main version, which switched to this model last year. Before the game releases, Psyonix announced that a limited alpha test will be available on Android via Google Play to players in Australia and New Zealand today. More betas will be available in the coming months, according to Psyonix.
Rocket League coming to mobile devices is no surprise, as it joins other popular PC and console games that have been ported to iOS and Android in recent years to largely great success. Most notably, Call of Dutyand PUBG’s mobile versions have grown substantially by releasing mobile versions, with PUBG Mobile hitting 1 billion downloads worldwide earlier this week. Next week will see League of Legends expand to mobile as well, with the open beta of a spinoff called Wild Rift.
When Noctua came out with the NF-A12x25 fan almost three years ago, it quickly went on its way to becoming arguably the world’s best PC fan. It performed great as an airflow fan, CPU cooler fan, and radiator fan. But bathed in the company’s iconic brown and beige, the one place it lost out to the competition was looks.
At least, that’s what the general consensus seems to be. And while I personally absolutely dig the Noctua’s colors as a classy option (especially with a few plants in the room), the vast majority of PC builders would rather see a more neutral color scheme. But what if you want the best PC fan along and great looks?
In comes the Thermaltake ToughFan 12. Dressed in a suit of black and grey, It’s the best alternative lookalike option to the brown and beige NF-A12x25, at least until Noctua finally comes out with the black variant, which is supposed to happen near the end of Q2 2021.
The Thermaltake ToughFan 12 came out near the end of last year, and at first sight, it appears to be a blatant copy of Noctua’s award-winning fan design. Both have nine forward-swept fan blades, a partially-exposed hub, similar noise performance ratings, an identical RPM range with PWM control, and included low-noise cables for reducing the fan’s maximum speed. But whereas the Noctua spinner is priced at $30 each, the ToughFan 12 comes in at $25 per fan or $40 for a two-pack, which is where things start to get interesting. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Inspection of Physical Differences
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
At first sight, these two fans look very similar–aside form the color scheme–with nearly identical designs. However, there are more differences than initially meet the eye, so lets go through them.
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Starting off with the blades, you’ll spot that both appear to be made of a similar material. Noctua’s blades are made from Sterrox, a liquid-crystal polymer material that ensures it stays as rigid as possible. Apparently, fan blades can expand over time, and because Noctua wants the blades as close as possible to the frame, the material needs to be strong enough to withstand this expansion.
Thermaltake’s blades appear to be manufactured from a similar type of material, but I was unable to find a clear answer whether it’s the same.
The blades on Noctua’s NF-A12x25’s also have flow acceleration channels that help speed up airflow and reduce side flow, which increases performance and reduces noise. The blades on the Thermaltake Toughfan 12’s are smooth.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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Having a look at the blade gap, you’ll spot that the blades from both fans are really close to the frame. Noctua has a slight advantage here, and the frame seems to be more consistently round, ensuring an equal blade-to-frame gap across the fan.
Also notice that Noctua’s frame has a ribbed guide for air inlet, whereas Thermaltake’s frame offers a simpler design.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In fact, there’s more to Noctua’s frame than might be clear at first sight. If you look very closely at the inside of the frame, there are small dimples. These are Noctua’s “inner surface microstructures,” which help air ‘roll’ along the edge, reducing blade passing noise.
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Looking at the fan hub of both spinners, they again seem to have similar designs at first. However, where Noctua’s blades transition into a large cover for the hub, Thermaltake uses a sticker to cover up the majority of the fan hub.
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Turning to the back of the fans, there are clearer design differences in the frame. Noctua’s frame uses four legs to hold the fan motor, and the frame expands outward. There is also a rubber seal around the entirety of the frame.
The fan doesn’t come with this rubber seal installed from the factory, but instead with four rubber feet at the corners. However, the seal does come in the box.
When it comes to the cables, Noctua’s fan only has a short cable of just 20 cm long. Thermaltake’s fan has a very long cable: 90 cm. For anything other than very large builds, that’s inconveniently long.
Thermaltake’s fan uses six smaller legs to hold the fan motor and does not come with a radiator seal.
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Drop both fans onto a radiator, and you can see why this radiator seal is a thing. Noctua’s spinner makes a clear seal around the radiator, which will ensure, together with the tight fan blade tolerance within the frame, that very little air leaks and a high static pressure can be generated to push more air through the radiator.
If you look at Thermaltake’s assembly, you can see the radiator’s fins with the fan sat in place. Air can leak through here, which theoretically reduces performance and can increase noise levels. When the fan is at work, you can also feel a light breeze escape through this gap.
Overall, it’s clear that a lot more R&D has gone into the design of Noctua’s NF-A12x25, especially when it comes to the frame. Both fans might have nine forward-swept fan blades with similar shapes, along with partly-exposed motors, but that’s about where the similarities end.
Spec Sheet Differences
To compare the fans, I have also made a spec sheet with both fans on it as follows, with the information provided by each of the manufacturers:
Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM
TT Toughfan 12
Size
120 x 120 x 25 mm
120 x 120 x 25 mm
Power & Control
4-pin PWM
4-pin PWM
Bearing Type
SSO2 Bearing
Hydraulic Bearing Gen2
Maximum RPM
2000 RPM
2000 RPM
Maximum RPM with LNA
1700 RPM
1500 RPM
Minimum RPM
450 RPM
500 RPM
Maximum Airflow
60.09 CFM
58.35 CFM
Static Pressure
2.34 mm H₂O
2.41 mm H₂O
Noise Level
22.6 dBA
22.3 dBa
Noise Level with LNA
18.8 dBA
19.2 dBa
Power Consumption
1.68 W
1.44 W
Expected Lifetime
> 150,000 hrs
40,000 hrs at 25 °C
Warranty
6 Years
2 Years
Looking at the specs, the two fans battle closely. There’s not much depth here though, and considering both sheets weren’t made under identical testing conditions, these specs are suitable for casual comparison at best. The biggest thing that stands out is the difference in expected lifetime and the warranty. Whereas the Toughfan is only rated to last 40,000 hours, Noctua’s spinner is rated to almost a four-fold of that, and it comes with an impressive six-year warranty. It’s clearly a fan that’s intended to last a few builds.
And with that, it’s time to get into our own testing of the two fans.
Do All These Details Matter?
To start off, we’ll be testing the fans for their noise levels across the RPM range. We installed three of each fan to an AIO radiator in an open bench equipped with an Intel Core i9-9900K, placed the dB meter at 30 cm distance, and started testing.
No GPU was included in this test, as the Founder’s Edition RTX 2070 Super I have on-site produces so much noise at idle due to the lack of a Zero-RPM mode that it threw off the results. I also set the AIO’s pump to the absolute minimum speed it was still happy to keep the CPU cooled at to ensure pump noise doesn’t pollute the results either. (Don’t worry, I’ve raised it for the thermal tests later).
Of course, we’re aware that testing in an open bench isn’t a real-life scenario, but with these two fans performing as closely together as they do, this open bench is the most brutal test that will best bring out any difference in acoustic performance. Data was recorded at the minimum speed, 500 RPM, 750 RPM, 1000 RPM, 1250 RPM, 1500 RPM, 1750 RPM, 1930 RPM (Thermaltake’s maximum speed), and at 2090 RPM, the NF-A12x25’s maximum speed. Both the Noctua NF-A12x25 and Thermaltake ToughFan are able to spin much slower than the spec sheet indicates, with minimum speeds of 250 RPM and 270 RPM, respectively, giving the Noctua fan a greater usable range.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
There are a couple things that stand out about the result, but of course the most notable is that the Noctua fan is (drumroll please) a little bit quieter at identical RPMs. At the bottom end of the RPM range, the difference is minimal at just 0.2 dB, though at the top end Noctua gets the advantage with up to a 0.7 dB lower noise level. Subjectively though, I do feel like the difference is big enough to observe, and the Noctua’s sound profile is ever so slightly smoother, especially at higher speeds.
However, what’s clear from the chart is that both these fans are best operated at speeds of up to about 1000 RPM, after which diminishing returns quickly take hold of the results. The trick, therefore, will be to ensure adequate radiator surface so that you don’t need to run them above 1000 RPM. Do that, and your system will be practically inaudible, especially if it isn’t in an open chassis like ours.
But what about airflow performance? Because we don’t have airflow testing equipment on-site, the best alternative I can provide are tests of CPU thermals at different RPM ranges.
Because we have the luxury of a 360 mm radiator for this test, I set the Core i9-9900K to run at a steady 4.7 GHz at 1.25 V on all cores, which pegged power consumption at a constant 260 watts (give or take 5W). I then gave the loop some time to reach thermal equilibrium and recorded the results, constantly monitoring the ambient temperature to ensure the data is consistent. Data was recorded at 1000 RPM, 1250 RPM, 1500 RPM, 1750 RPM, and 1930 RPM.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
What’s interesting to note here is that both fans seem to witness performance benefits, but only up to a certain point. With my IR heatgun, I measured the inlets and outlets of the AIO when this happened, and it was clear that past a certain RPM, the AIO’s fluid was so close to ambient, pushing more air through the AIO wasn’t going to net us any more performance, just deliver much more noise.
For more data, I also ran both setups through a 10-minute Prime95 run at as close as I could get to thermally-identical levels. For the Noctua, this meant running 1000 RPM, whereas the Thermaltake fan had to run at 1200 RPM for about the same thermal performance – I’ll let you be the judge of how close I got from the graph below. As you can imagine, it took a few runs before I narrowed in on 1200 RPM being the closest matching result.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Of course, the catch with raising the fan speeds like this is that you enter that territory of diminishing returns, where you get a significant increase in noise levels for thermals that marginally improve. In the second graph above, you’ll see that Thermaltake’s fan has give or take a 400 RPM range where you get a 5 °C improvement in CPU temperatures. And personally, I don’t think the noise levels are worth it. You’re better off keeping the fan speed lower and accepting that the temperature is a little higher than you would have gotten, had you purchased the Noctua instead.
What Does Noctua Have to Say?
Of course, we couldn’t write up this head-to-head test without consulting Noctua and Thermaltake to ask what they had to say about these similar fans.
Noctua told us the following about the similarities between its spinners and Thermatake’s: “We’re investigating legal options, but generally, we prefer to spend funds in further R&D rather than wasting them in international legal battles that often end fruitless. Thankfully, our tests show that the fan measurably lags behind in performance and this has also been confirmed in third party tests. There’s more to building excellent fans than doing 3D scans!”
We have also reached out to Thermaltake, but the company has yet to respond. Will update this section if and when we hear back.
So Which Should You Buy?
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Round
Noctua NF-A12x25
Thermaltake Toughfan 12
Technical Design
✗
Color Scheme
✗
Acoustic Performance
✗
Thermal Performance
✗
RPM Range
✗
Cable Length
✗
Included Accessories
✗
Warranty & Lifespan
✗
Price
✗
Total
6
3
When it comes to performance, Noctua is the clear winner between the two fans. As the original fan with this design, it includes a handful of design details that help it maintain the upper hand, ranging from acceleration channels on the fan blades to a much more advanced frame design that helps reduce noise and air leakage. From a technical perspective, it’s clear that the Noctua fan has more detail in its engineering and execution.
That’s not the case for Thermaltake’s fan. To be fair, Thermaltake likely did that on purpose – copying every detail of the fan would both cost more and make it easier to lose a battle in court were Noctua to pursue them, but it does put the fan at a disadvantage.
Nevertheless, the Thermaltake Toughfan 12 also turned in an admirable showing in our performance tests that’s not too far off from Noctua’s NF-A12x25. And at its intended price point, I can see why the ToughFan 12 is a compelling option: it offers most of the performance, isn’t brown, and costs about a third less if you’re buying in two-packs. But these two-packs aren’t in stock anywhere at the time of writing, and at the single-fan price of $25 for the ToughFan 12, it becomes a very tough sell against the NF-A12x25 at $30, as that added $5 is more than worth it if you don’t mind the NF-A12x25’s color scheme.
The catch with coming as close in performance, though, is that you shouldn’t want to target the same thermals. If you want the same thermals from Thermaltake’s fan, you’ll have to run it at higher RPMs than Noctua NF-A12x25, at which point you enter the diminishing returns territory where you get greater noise levels for not a lot more cooling. You’re better off sacrificing a few degrees and enjoying the blissful silence.
If you’re the kind of buyer who wants the very best, money is no object and you don’t mind the (brown) looks, and value rewarding the original creator, Noctua’s NF-A12x25 is a brilliant fan that should last through multiple builds. But at the same time, Thermaltake’s fan comes so close in performance that it’s still excellent in most respects. Chances are your AIO’s pump or coil whine will bother you sooner than the noise profile from either of these fans, provided you keep them under about 1250 RPM.
It’s a big cultural moment in Japan when a new Monster Hunter game releases, especially when it’s made for portable consoles. Monster Hunter: Rise is one of those, releasing this Friday, March 26th for the Nintendo Switch, then coming later to PC in 2022. One VR / AR game developer in particular, called Mark-on, noticed that so many of its employees had scheduled a vacation day for the game’s release that its CEO is just giving everyone the day off.
He’s commemorating this Friday as “Monster Hunter Holiday,” according to an interview with HuffPost Japan, though he clarified that the holiday is only for “non-executive” employees.
The series has built a much larger global audience since the release of Monster Hunter World, but it’s been popular in Japan for far longer on portable consoles, namely the PSP. My colleague Sam Byford, who’s based in Japan, wrote in 2015 that “it was near-impossible to walk onto a train carriage in Japan between 2008 and 2012 without seeing men, women, and children transfixed by Sony’s little plastic handheld. Many went so far as to contort their fingers into a ‘claw’ to manipulate the awkward camera controls.”
Valve is launching a dedicated Steam Link app for macOS this week. The app allows Steam users to stream games from a PC to devices with the Steam Link app installed. While the Steam macOS app has offered streaming already, MacRumors points out that this lightweight Steam Link app is just 30MB in size from the Mac App Store compared to the full Steam app, which requires 1GB of storage space.
Steam Link will be useful on Macs, particularly as it’s rare to see big AAA games debut on macOS. Mac users typically have to dual boot Windows, use virtualization apps, or Steam games from a PC to get access to most of the latest titles.
Steam Link launching on macOS follows a Linux version of the app earlier this month, and it now means Steam Link is available on macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi. All you need to do is download the Steam Link app, pair your device with a compatible controller, and connect to a PC over your local network to stream PC games.
Valve also rolled out a big update to its Remote Play Together feature earlier this month, allowing Steam users to stream local multiplayer games with friends over the internet.
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