Intel has released their Coffee Lake generation processors. The new desktop processor family includes the new 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, which is the best desktop gaming processor ever from Intel, along with the first-ever 6-core Intel Core i5 desktop processor and 4-core Intel Core i3 desktop processor. A number of reviews are now available on the Intel Coffee Lake i7-8700K & i5-8400 CPUs. Click on the links below to read all about how these new Intel processors perform.
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.
- Step Into a New World With New MSI Z370 Motherboards and Intel 8th Gen
- EVGA Introduces Z370 Series Motherboards
- G.SKILL Releases New DDR4 Specifications for Intel Coffee Lake Platform
- Alphacool Introduces Eisstation Series Compact Reservoirs
- CyberPowerPC Lights-Up Gaming: New Crystal PCs Based on Corsair, Intel 8th Gen
- Sharkoon Announces the PureWriter Kailh Mechanical Keyboard
- BIOSTAR Announces 3rd Generation RACING Z370GT6 Brings Luxury Design to Gaming Motherboards
- ASUS Intros Hyper M.2 x16 Riser Card
- Be Quiet! Releases AMD TR4 Mounting Kit for Silent Loop Coolers
- Intel Rebrands Kaby Lake Pentiums as Pentium Gold
- Patriot Launches Blackout Edition Of Its Viper V570 RGB Laser Gaming Mouse
- WD HGST Offers 14 Terabyte Hard Drive
Source: TechPowerUp!
AMD has released the WHQL version of their latest game-ready drivers. The Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.9.3 WHQL drivers bring the same change-log, with fixes, performance improvements, and known issues, as their latest Beta release of the same driver package. However, for those who don’t want to use Beta-state software on their computers, AMD has now released a properly-signed WHQL driver.
You can download the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.9.3 WHQL drivers here.
Cradle of Civilization Expansion for Europa Universalis IV Focuses on Muslim Empires
Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio today announced Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization, a new expansion to the best-selling grand strategy game about exploration and empire in early modern history. For millennia, empires have battled over the deserts and valleys where humankind once took its first tentative steps towards to something larger. From Sennacherib to the great khans, the crossroads of trade and learning have also been the highways for armies and warlords. Now, in the shadow of the collapse of Timur’s great empire, new powers are staking their claim to be the heirs to the Cradle of Civilization.
Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization adds greater depth to the Muslim nations that occupy the lands between the Nile and the Indus. With new governmental powers and game options, the major powers of the region will each feel even more distinct from each other.
Features in Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization include:
- Mamluk Government: In a diverse empire, where the slaves are now masters, new sultans must rely on cultural power to stay viable.
- Persian Theocracy: Persian nations can use the power of the faith to bolster their regime.
- Tribal Federations: The Black and White Sheep tribes in Armenia and Mesopotamia must expand to exploit the unity of local clans.
- Army Professionalism: The Age of Mercenaries slowly transitions to the Age of Standing Armies as you recruit new generals and drill your peacetime army.
- Iqta Taxes: Muslim governments can impose new taxes every 20 years for special bonuses.
- Trade Policies: Instruct your merchants to take actions in trade nodes to increase your trade power or military advantage.
- Islamic Schools: The wide range of Sunni and Shia disciplines offer unique perks to their disciples and transforms international relations across the Middle East.
- And Much More: The Cradle of Civilization expansion will be accompanied by a free update for all EU4 players, including a new map with many new nations.
Cradle of Civilization continues the Europa Universalis IV tradition of letting players explore new histories and cultures, giving starring roles to empires often forgotten in textbooks. Cradle of Civilization will be available in late 2017 for the suggested retail price $19.99.
Watch the Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization Announcement Trailer HERE.
For more information, please visit the official Europa Universalis IV website.
By Paul Johnson @ HardOCP
If you are looking for a powerhouse of a PSU that is shoehorned into what is a tiny ATX package for the wattage, the Platimax D.F. (Dust Free) PSU may be worthy of your short list. As the name suggests, this PSU sports excellent power efficiency and is fully modular and that could make your HEDT build a lot easier.
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.
- MSI X399 SLI PLUS Motherboard for Ryzen Threadripper Pictured
- GIGABYTE Releases AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box
- GIGABYTE Unveils Flagship TR4 X399 Designare EX Motherboard
- ASUS Jumps On The Z370 Motherboard Train
- Creative Launches Aurora Reactive SDK for Sound BlasterX Products
- GIGABYTE Radeon RX Vega 64 GAMING OC Pictured
- Cougar Introduces Puri and Puri TKL Gaming Keyboards
- ECS Elitegroup Announces Z370 Lightsaber Motherboard
- Sharkoon Introduces SKILLER MECH SGK2 Keyboard
- BIOSTAR Teases Upcoming 3rd-Gen RACING Series with Z370 Chipset Motherboards
- ASRock Shakes Up Z370 Motherboard Market With Ten Board Assault
- Team Group Announces T-Force Cardea Zero M.2 SSD and T-Force Sable Mousepad
- ASRock X299 Taichi XE Arrives with Beefed-up VRMs
- Thrustmaster Launches the T.Flight Hotas One Joystick for PC & Xbox One
- SteelSeries Releases APEX 150 RGB Gaming Keyboard
- ENERMAX Intros RevoBron, Master of Bronze-rated PSU
- Phanteks Announces Universal Extension Cable Kits
- SteelSeries Introduces the TrueMove1 Sensor in The New Rival 110 Gaming Mouse
- Corsair Launches Vengeance RGB White DDR4 Memory Kits
- ASUS Intros ROG Swift PG27VQ Curved 27-inch Gaming Monitor
- MSI Launches Force GC30 and GC20 Game Controllers
Source: Bethesda.net
Return to the Wasteland today with Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition. With all the latest gameplay updates (including Survival mode), graphical enhancements, the ability to play Mods for free on PC and consoles, plus all official add-ons included, this is the ultimate way to experience the award-winning post-nuclear adventure from Bethesda Game Studios.
Winner of more than 200 “Best Of” awards – including the 2016 BAFTA and 2016 D.I.C.E. Game of the Year – Fallout 4 is the studio’s most ambitious game yet. As the sole survivor of Vault 111, you enter a world destroyed by nuclear war. Every second is a fight for survival, and every choice is yours. Only you can rebuild and determine the fate of the Wasteland.
Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition includes the fully updated original game along with all six add-ons: Nuka-World, Vault-Tec Workshop, Contraptions Workshop, Far Harbor, Wasteland Workshop and Automatron. Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Be sure to reserve your copy in the upcoming weeks from select digital and physical retailers.
The Pip-Boys Are Back!
To celebrate the Game of the Year Edition, Bethesda will release a limited quantity of Fallout 4 G.O.T.Y. Pip-Boy collector editions, exclusively available in North America at select retailers. The Pip-Boy Edition includes Fallout 4 Game of the Year Edition and will retail for $99.99 USD, and is also available now.
For more information about Fallout 4, visit the official Fallout 4 website.
Starbreeze Publishing and developer Lion Game Lion today released RAID: World War II on Windows PC via the digital distribution platform Steam. This thrilling period shooter combines the fun and exciting cooperative gameplay, stealth mechanics and superb sound design for which Starbreeze and Lion Game Lion, led by game director Ilija Petrusic (co-founder of OVERKILL Software and lead level designer of PAYDAY: The Heist and PAYDAY 2), are well known.
RAID’s unique character classes, hero special abilities, customizable weapons and uniforms, and real-world war-torn locations bring this surreal conflict to life as players fight for their freedom against the dastardly Nazi regime through sabotage, robbery and assassination. Four prisoners of war, freed by an ominous secret British intelligence officer named “Mrs. White,” must band together to take down Hitler and his Third Reich once and for all.
Players will utilize key game features to save Europe from the Nazi threat and get rich, including:
- Class-based Gameplay – Choose from four different classes – Recon, Assault, Insurgent or Demolitions – each with their own highly developed skill tree that allows for various play styles;
- War Cries – Each character class can unleash their own powerful War Cry to buff themselves or the entire team;
- Character Customization – RAID’s four heroes represent the main combatants from the European theater of WWII: Great Britain, the USA, Germany and the Soviet Union. Each character possesses a unique look and customizable uniform;
- Lethal Weapon Modifications – The Second World War was infamous for arming the world with experimental weapons that went “bang” in deadly fashion. RAID: World War II gives players access to an array of precision killing machines complete with upgrades like custom barrels, stocks, fore grips, optic sights and much more to satisfy a variety of tastes;
- Operations Mode – Play through extended versions of your favorite missions with the “Operations” gameplay mode. Operations challenges players through a chained series of highly modified raids, featuring new storylines and added content and objectives;
- Challenge Cards – By participating and completing successful raids, players will earn Challenge Cards that allow them to customize the rules of a raid in a give-and-take fashion. For example, enemy ammo drops will increase, providing players with more ammunition to hold enemies at bay; however, the damage inflicted by enemies will be greater;
- Real-world Locations – Travel through real-world locations across war-torn Europe. From the mighty flak towers dominating the heart of Berlin to the idyllic bridge over the Elbe, players will bring destruction to the Nazis in every corner of Hitler’s Reich.
Aspiring raiders have two ways they can begin the fight against the Reich on Steam:
RAID: World War II Standard Edition at $39.99, which includes the full base game.
RAID: World War II Special Edition at $64.99 which includes the full base game plus:
- A special in-game version of the Apple Red Kübelwagen car
- A RAID: World War II comic book available in-game and as a PDF
- A decorative bomb for the camp
- The RAID: World War II original soundtrack
- The special melee weapons “Marching Mace” and “The Admiral’s Dagger”
- Four exclusive special edition jackets for the characters
- RAID: World War II digital art book
- Four exclusive RAID: World War II wallpapers
- The golden Lion Game Lion logo
For more information, visit www.raidworldwar2.com.
WarfareSims and MatrixGames are proud to announce Shifting Sands, the third DLC/Standalone to be released under the Command label!
Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, … few places in the world could claim the title of being one of the most conflict-ridden regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean. Religious and geopolitical fractures are ravaging the region since the end of the British Mandate over Palestine in 1948.
Countless conflicts have erupted all over the years -in particular between the State of Israel and its Arab neighbours – constantly changing warfare’s nature.
Only fast-thinking commanders will be successful, in a world where threats are never static and last conflict’s triumphant strategy will lead you to disaster in the next!
Command: Shifting Sands traces the history of the Arab-Israeli conflicts following the proclamation of the State of Israel: from the sidelines of the Suez crisis, through the lightning Six-Day War, the guerilla-like War Of Attrition and the strategic surprise of the Yom Kippur War, all the way to the historic Osirak raid and the epic air battle over the Bekaa Valley.
- 17 campaign scenarios (14 historical and 3 hypothetical) written by Paul A. Bridge, ex-Royal Navy officer and author of the award-winning “Northern Inferno” campaign.
- Witness the dramatic changes in warfare hardware and tactics first-hand: the combat debut of the modern anti-ship missile and the countermeasures to it, the revolution in offensive counter-air operations, the emergence of the surface-to-air missile (SAM) and the development of SEAD (suppression of enemy air-defences) systems and tactics to deal with the new threat.
- Explore the great historical what-ifs of the Middle East theatre: The US responds forcefully to the attack on the Liberty, the Soviet and US fleets clash over their supported allies, and Israel resorts to nuclear weapons as the defensive fronts collapse.
Get more information about Command: Shifting Sands from its official Product Page!
Command: Shifting Sands can be played as a separate game (with the possibility to upgrade it to the base game with all the available database and scenarios at any point in time). Alternatively, it can be integrated as a new set of scenarios for owners of the original Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations Game of Year Edition!
Source: TechPowerUp!
Mozilla is announcing that the latest version of its Firefox browser, Firefox 57, is just too good for just another numbered release. The improvements under the hood are so great, they say, and the performance improvements over previous Firefox releases are so grand, that only one name would have been enough to convey this message. That’s why the latest Firefox release has been christened “Firefox Quantum“.
Mozilla are saying their new Firefox Quantum browser delivers 2x the score in Speedometer as their previous Firefox 56. The new, refined browser didn’t appear overnight, though; it’s seen numerous improvements under the hood through the application of the Goldilocks principle to browser design, straddling an approach between increased performance and acceptable memory usage. Multi-process and optimized memory footprint are part of the secret sauce, but a new, super-charged CSS engine written in Rust goes a long way. Prioritization of the open tab also helps this increased speed, while (Mozilla says) reducing memory utilization by 30% when compared to Chrome.