Month: March 2017

In this new Feature video we have a look at one of the core elements of gameplay: Combat.

The enemy will be hiding in caves and attack from the shadows. Locating them will be hard, and then you will have to attack with rapidity and precision. Will you manage to defeat them?

Afghanistan ’11 isn’t your standard wargame: if you want to win it won’t just be about eliminating the enemy on the battlefield, but you will need to conquer the Hearts & Minds of the locals by ensuring safety to villages, isolating and eliminating Taliban leaders, training the Afghan army and building and protecting infrastructure.

Logistics and organization will be extremely important as the Talibans, tribal militias and drug lords will attempt to thwart your efforts with sneaky ambushes and terroristic attacks – the enemy plays hide and seek and could be everywhere and only the most skilled strategist will manage to win the war in Afghanistan and help build a modern nation.

Want to know more? Please visit the product page.

By Aris Mpitziopoulos @ Tom’s Hardware

EVGA refreshed its popular G2 PSU family with the G3 one using Super Flower’s Leadex II platform. The 850 G3 is the second strongest member in this line-up, offering high performance and a depth of just 15cm. The SuperNOVA G3 units are based on a fresh Leadex II platform, and their most obvious upgrade over the G2 series is more compact dimensions. Packing higher capacity into smaller enclosures affects what we refer to as power density. Increasingly, PSU vendors are trying to do battle based on this concept of power density. Not long ago, SilverStone was the only company that really put an effort into shrinking its power supplies. Now the list is a lot longer.

Read The Review Here

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released the GeForce 378.92 WHQL Game Ready drivers. These drivers are game-ready for “Mass Effect: Andromeda,” which includes optimization, GeForce Experience optimal settings, and an SLI profile. NVIDIA is recommending SLI configurations as the game engine can take advantage of it. In addition, the drivers are also game-ready for “Rockband VR.”

You can download the new GeForce 378.92 WHQL drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Strikingly Fast and Stunningly Beautiful – CORSAIR Launches VENGEANCE RGB DDR4
• ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
• MSI Enables A-XMP for Better Ryzen DDR4 Perf – Also Adds New Mobos
• ASUS ROG Maximus IX Extreme Motherboard is Ready for Your Z270 Dream Machine
• GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AORUS Pictured and Detailed
• ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Strix GD30 Gaming Desktop
• Samsung Offers C27H580 FullHD and FreeSync Monitor
• AMD May Have Ryzen 16-Core Version and New Chipset in the Works for June
• BIOSTAR Launches Compact High-Speed Storage Solution with M200 M.2 SSD
• SilverStone Releases TP01-M.2 Thermal Pads for M.2 SSDs
• MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Pictured
• COLORFUL GeForce GTX 1080 Ti iGame Features LCD Display
• ZOTAC Reveals a Host of Innovations at CeBIT 2017
• AOC AGON AG271UG Monitor with 4K IPS Display and NVIDIA G-SYNC
• ADATA XPG Launches the SD700X External 3D NAND SSD

Brand-new Barren Divide map introduced for Genre changing Game Mode

Developer and global publisher My.com unveil more information about the next expansion to Free-to-Play Tank MMO Armored Warfare – Tanks Reloaded.

Tanks Reloaded, the expansion formerly known as update 0.19, expands upon the game’s genre defining mode Global Operations by adding the large scale and Caucasus-themed map “Barren Divide”. Global Operations changed the theatre of war by adding the biggest maps the game has seen to date. “Barren Divide” is a fully interactive map with overhead surveillance drones, fighter bombers and static anti-tank turrets functioning as a 3rd party support for each of the competing teams. Global Operations is an exciting new game mode for the genre and fuses the PvE and PvP game modes together in a unique and explosive mix.

Other features introduced with Tanks Reloaded (Update 0.19):

• Chemical Plant PvP Map
• Raiding Party PvE Mission
• Watchdog PvE Mission
• Balance 2.0

Balance 2.0 is a catch-all for a set of changes and improvements coming to Armored Warfare in Tanks Reloaded (Update 0.19) based on community feedback which solves the problems in high tier gameplay and alleviates the power creep between tiers throughout the game. Another major part of Balance 2.0 is the re-evaluation of every core gameplay mechanic, including: damage mechanics, class abilities, retrofits, upgrades and crew skills. This update ensures these mechanics are working as intended to cohesively deliver balanced and exciting gameplay. Learn more details about Balance 2.0 on the dedicated page to the upcoming changes here.

Watch the new Armored Warfare – Barren Divide Trailer here.

Find out more about Armored Warfare and to download the game for free, visit the games official website.

Major New Update Adds Nearly Twenty New Vehicles and Three New Maps, New Co-Op ‘Assault’ Game Mode To Follow

Gaijin Entertainment today announced the release of their latest major update 1.67 ‘Assault!’ for its military MMOG War Thunder. The update introduces almost twenty new vehicles including Japanese tanks and three new battle locations bringing the total number of maps to more than 80 available in the game. A brand new cooperative game mode (Assault) will be added soon after the Update 1.67 launch.

New Co-Op game mode ‘Assault’: Coming soon, available in two iterations, the new game mode challenges players to defend a strategic location against waves of enemy ground vehicles or aircraft. For tankers, combat is fought tank to tank on the ground, with the ability to temporarily support teammates in attack aircraft or bombers. Pilots are tasked with maintaining air superiority over a zone by fending off enemy bombers approaching from all directions. As each successive wave is stronger than the previous one, players have to work together to hold out until the end, upon which they will receive well-deserved rewards.

19 New Vehicles Expand War Thunder’s Arsenal: Some interesting new machines arrive with War Thunder’s Update 1.67, including the new British self-propelled gun FV4005 with its deadly 183mm anti-tank cannon – now the largest cannon in the game by far – replacing the KV-2’s 152mm howitzer as the new heavy hitting champion. The recently introduced Japanese Ground Forces tree receives three new vehicles, including the ATGM carrier Type 60 APC and multi-turreted Type 95 Ro-Go. The other War Thunder nations also receive a stockpile of new tanks and aircraft. More information can be found in the Developer Diaries here.

Three New Map Locations – More Than 80 Maps in Total! The ‘Assault’ update includes three new battle locations including one map for air and two maps for combined arms battles. On ‘Guiana Highlands’ fighting begins at an altitude 6000 meters above sea level, with the whole area being divided into several ‘floors’ that each feature their own battle and victory conditions.

The two combined arms battles, ‘Ardennes’ and ‘Phang Nga’, are set during the early stages of the Battle of the Bulge and the Pacific War, respectively. The former puts players into the outskirts of the Belgian town of Bastogne as they fight for control over the town and the frost covered hilltops surrounding it. The latter, which will be made available in one of the upcoming Naval Pre-Beta weekends, sees players contest the coast of Thailand in a battle waged from air and sea.

To download War Thunder, please visit the official War Thunder website.

By Peter Donnell @ eTeknix

Have you been enjoying the Ryzen launch so far? We know we have! Of course, what is the launch of a new CPU range and a new batch of chipsets without the motherboards to house them all! Today we kick things off with a look at the latest high-end gaming motherboard from MSI, the all-new MSI X350 XPOWER Gaming Titanium, which features all the flagship hardware you would expect, including all those lovely overclocking features that are supported on every Ryzen chip (although not every Ryzen motherboard).

Read The Review Here

By Jacob Terkelsen @ Tom’s Hardware

With the plethora of connectivity options enabled by X370, ASRock has taken the bull by the horns and given us a board that will become the centerpiece to any PC builder’s work of art. Reminiscent of our MSI 990FXA Gaming review back in 2016, the Taichi is a beauty. The matte black PCB, black and white color scheme, and steampunk-esque gear motif are jaw dropping. Everywhere I look on this motherboard I see polish, finesse, and thoughtful design.

Read The Review Here

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD today released the 17.3.2 Beta version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. This release features official support for the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda space opera, and a 12% performance boost in the game for RX 480 graphics cards compared to results obtained under the previous driver release.

This driver release also sees some fixed issues with texture corruption on some surfaces of The Division under DX12. In addition, this driver release features a fix for what could only have been a rare issue with texture flickering while task-switching on For Honor, considering it only affected 4x Multi-GPU system configurations. This release also features long lists of Known Issues.

You can download the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Drivers version 17.3.2 here.

Source: GURU3D

Basically, overclock and tweak a bit to gain on performance. The AMD Blog hints like this, get the newest available motherboard BIOS, clean OS installs help, buy memory that works at a top speed and latency (supported by your motherboard) and change the Windows 10 power plan.

AMD also shares a performance plot indicating a the changes and how they can influence 1080p game performance. As we have been stating in our articles, large gains come from software and memory tweaks. But surely overclocking helps:

The AMD Ryzen™ processor is a completely new and different platform from what gamers may be accustomed to, and established practices for configuring a system may prove incorrect or unreliable. We’ve assembled the following configuration steps to ensure users are extracting the best possible performance and reliability from their new PC.

Read more…