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.

• ROCCAT Announces 2 New XXL Mousepads – The Taito Control and Sense Vital Force
• New MSI MPG GUNGNIR 100 and MAG VAMPIRIC 010 Cases Offer 3D Printed Customization
• G.SKILL Announces DDR4-4266MHz CL18 64GB (8x8GB) RGB Memory Kits
• Colorful Sells Barebone GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (no cooler)
• ASRock Radeon VII Phantom Gaming Revealed
• ASUS Unveils ROG Strix XG49VQ Super Ultra-Wide HDR Gaming Monitor
• ASRock Announces Steel Legend Motherboards
• Arctic Launches the Freezer 34 Series of CPU Coolers
• Transcend Outs MTE220S M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
• Sapphire Reveals Reference-based Radeon VII With Only 1750MHz Boost
• Antec GX202 Entry-level Gaming Chassis Launched
• ENERMAX Expands LIQFUSION RGB Liquid Cooler Lineup with 360 Version
• Phanteks Announces the Eclipse P600S Hybrid Silent and High-Performance Chassis
• COLORFUL Releases iGame Series GeForce RTX 2060 Graphics Cards
• Fractal Design Introduces Meshify S2 EATX Chassis

Source: Blue’s News

A new video from GVMERS is a documentary on the “rise and fall” of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, Bohemia Interactive’s debut military first-person shooter. The video discusses the breakthrough nature of the game, conflicts between Bohemia Interactive and publisher Codemasters, and how this eventually led to Arma, the spiritual successor to OpFlashpoint that soldiers on to this day. Here’s a bit:

In 1997, a video game company named Bohemia Interactive was established in Prague. The Czech Republic had historically never been a hotbed for video game development, but Bohemia’s founders – Marek Španěl, Ondřej Španěl, and Slavomír Pavlíček – were on a mission. They were determined to create a first person shooter that would capture the reality of war more accurately than any game before it; an engrossing simulation that would depict what real battlefields were like, and feature an unprecedented sense of scale and attention to detail.

And stay tuned for in-depth videos covering each unique class of weapon in the coming weeks

Deep Silver and 4A Games today revealed the Metro Exodus Weapons Trailer. Packed with brand new footage and stunning tear-downs of the iconic hand-made guns of post-apocalyptic Russia, this trailer reveals the devastating arsenal of weapons used by Artyom and his band of Spartans as they journey across Russia.

The Metro series has always been famed for its unique firearms – for Metro Exodus, 4A Games completely overhauled the weapons system, ensuring each gun was mechanically functional, and could be customised in the field allowing for hundreds of tactical permutations. Weapons now need to be cleaned and maintained to prevent overheating and jamming, adding another dimension to Metro’s immersive gameplay.

In addition to the Weapons Trailer, Deep Silver will release additional in-depth videos of the coming weeks that take a deeper dive into the four main classes – Handguns, Shotguns, Rifles and Special Weapons. These videos will show just a fraction of the possible combinations players will be able to scavenge and customise in the Russian wastelands.

And tune in to the official Metro Exodus YouTube channel tomorrow for a closer look at the Rifles class, featuring the iconic Kalash, the deadly Bulldog and Anna’s weapon of choice, the powerful Valve.

Visit the official Metro Exodus website for more game information.

By Matthew Lambert @ Bit-Tech

With the RTX 2080 Ti having been available for about four months now, we’re starting to see the second wave of third-party cards that go above and beyond the “regular” air-cooled models. The Asus Matrix, EVGA Kingpin, and MSI Lightning Z were all shown off at CES 2019, for example, and it’s the latter we’ve managed to get our hands on for today’s review. For MSI, the Lightning series has always been about pushing the GPU in question to the limit with quality components, high-end cooling, and nods towards extreme overclocking – and a very high price tag to match. For this generation, MSI is bringing Lightning solely to RTX 2080 Ti.

Read The Review Here

By Billy Tallis @ AnandTech

The first retail consumer SSDs to be updated with new 96-layer 3D NAND flash memory are the Samsung 970 EVO Plus. The 970 EVO Plus will be replacing the 970 EVO as Samsung’s mainstream consumer NVMe SSD. Today we are reviewing two of the launch drives: the 970 EVO Plus at 250GB, and the 970 EVO Plus at 1TB. These two drives are Samsung’s attack on both the mainstream and high capacity markets, while the new NAND has a focus more on power than driving down overall costs per GB. Performance per watt is a key focus of these drives.

Read The Review Here

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD late Monday released WHQL-signed Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.1.1 drivers. These drivers are identical in features and changes to January 11 release of Adrenalin 19.1.1 as a Beta. Among the key changes over the previous 18.12.3 drivers include performance optimization for “Fortnite,” bug fixes for Virtual Super Resolution (VSR), graphics card fan zero-fan mode not correctly engaging when toggled on/off in Radeon Settings, incorrect software update notifications in Radeon Settings Advisor, and multi-monitor systems experiencing a mouse pointer lag when one of the displays is enabled but powered off.

The new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.1.1 WHQL drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.

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.

• Samsung Electronics Sets New Performance Levels for Consumer NVMe SSDs with 970 EVO Plus
• Be Quiet! Unveils Shadow Wings 2 & Pure Wings 2 High-Speed Fans
• ASUS Intros GeForce RTX 2070 Turbo EVO Graphics Card
• Antec’s DA601 ‘Dark Avenger’ Case is Now Available
• GIGABYTE to Introduce RTX 2070 eGPU Gaming Box
• Corsair Adds The Finishing Touch to their Premium Accessories Lineup
• DIYPC Releases DIY-SD1-RGB Mid Tower PC Case
• RAIDMAX Rolls Out the Magnus White and Brushed Aluminium Finish Chassis
• MSI Officially Launches the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z
• Western Digital WD Black SN750 is a High-end NVMe SSD with a Chunky Heatsink
• EK Water Blocks Introduces its EK Classic Product Line
• ASRock Announces its Intel B365 Motherboard Series
• Phanteks Announces the Release of New Glacier Series Products and Accessories

Jujubee’s Kursk Has Been Updated to Version 2.1.3 Improving the Game’s Performance!

Polish developer Jujubee S.A. has just updated their documentary-adventure game Kursk to version 2.1.3, adding automatic detection of graphics settings and significantly improving the game’s performance. Players can now expect better framerates on low and medium settings.

The new update improves the performance on systems that meet the minimum requirements of the game. The players’ request has been heard as the developers added automatic detection of graphics settings so that the system decides what settings are the best for optimal performance and for the player to fully enjoy the experience. The community can expect a couple of more updates incoming in the very near future.

Jujubee also wishes to inform that Kursk will soon appear on the Mac, enabling users of this system to get acquainted with the catastrophe that shook the world at that time. Worth noting is the fact that Kursk is currently discounted on Steam, creating a great opportunity for players who have not yet been tempted to experience the latest game from the studio.

More information about Kursk can be found on the games official website.

The crisis that has enveloped Venezuela since 2013 has reached a quasi-apocalyptic dimension.

The Government of Caracas has accused in several occasions that the reason for this humanitarian catastrophe is the constant interference of the USA and its puppets in the region, willing to stop the glorious Bolivarian Revolution started with Hugo Chavez.

These suspects have been reinforced by the enclosing relationship between Colombia and NATO, culminating in 2015 in a joint military operation against maritime piracy.

Recently the situation has further escalated as for days two Colombian bordering towns, Cucuta and Arauca, have been theatre of fights between soldiers wearing the uniform of The Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela and local Colombian border troops.

Claiming the episode is a machination of Washington to destroy the revolution, Venezuela has asked for support to Russia, granting it the Caribbean Island of Orchila as an outpost. Moscow, eager to expand its influence in the area, agreed immediately and it is confirmed news that an aero-naval expeditionary force is already being sent in aid of its new ally.

The United States has declared they’ll support Bogota from aggression with any means and have put their forces in Panama and Porto Rico on the highest alert.

Stay tuned for further information. Command LIVE news report will keep you informed on any update on this escalation.

Find out more about Command Live: The King of the Border on its official webpage.

Activision and Treyarch have announced that fans will be able to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s popular Battle Royale mode for free in the Blackout Free Trial, which begins Thursday for one week on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

The Blackout Free Trial will feature all the intense action from the game mode that brings together characters, locations, weapons and gear from across the series with Black Ops signature gameplay fans know and love.

Additionally, Treyarch released a new update to the game today on consoles (later this week on PC) that features the following:

• Debut of Gauntlets and new Elixirs in Zombies on PS4
• A new week of Featured Playlists and the addition of Elevation and Madagascar to map rotation for Black Ops Pass owners in Multiplayer
• New-and-improved console looting interface in Blackout
• plus much more

Watch the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 — Blackout Free Trial Announcement Trailer HERE.

For more information, fans can visit www.callofduty.com.