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 Announces the Z170A Krait Gaming 3X Motherboard
• Acer Predator XB321HK G-Sync Gaming Monitor Now Available in the United States
• BIOSTAR Takes to the Tracks to Launch New Motherboard Series
• TESORO Launches Advanced Ascalon H7L Infrared Optical Sensor Gaming Mouse
• EK Waterblocks Releases Brand New P Series Liquid Cooling Kits
• Samsung Introduces World’s Largest Capacity (15.36TB) SSD for Enterprise Storage Systems
• Lian Li Hosts Facebook Giveaway for its First Ever Brushed Aluminum Keyboards
• Samsung Portable SSD T3 Now Available for Purchase
• New DisplayPort 1.4 Standard Can Drive 8K Monitors Over A USB Type-C cable
• AVEXIR E100 SSDs Launches

Battlestate Games, the creators of hardcore online shooter Escape from Tarkov, today revealed the second in its ongoing series of developer diaries, this one dedicated to the creation of 3D in-game assets and how they are bringing “hardcore realism” to life. The developers describe the process of creating a rich and devastating world – from architectural elements to weapons and characters.

Watch the second Escape from Tarkov developer diary here. (Unless you are an expert Russian speaker, be sure to turn “on closed captioning” and choose “English” in the settings for English subtitles.)

JOIN JACOB AND EVIE FRYE IN A NEW 10 MISSION STORY ARC

Today, Ubisoft announced that The Last Maharaja add-on content for Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is now available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC.

Twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye join Duleep Singh as he fights to reclaim his birthright as the last Maharaja in this entirely new story for Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. In his quest to reclaim his heritage, Duleep, with the help of the Frye twins, will take on the Templars while testing his friendship with the queen.

The Last Maharaja is available as part of the Season Pass, which includes: Jack the Ripper, A Long Night Season Pass exclusive mission, the Streets of London gameplay pack, two top-tier sets of gear and weapons, and an exclusive XP boost.The Last Maharaja is also included in the Gold Edition of the game and is available for purchase separately. Watch the official launch trailer here.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and The Last Maharaja downloadable content, please visit the games official website.

Source: Blue’s News

A new patch is now available for Rainbow Six: Siege, updating the tactical shooter to version 2.2. Included are some measures intended to combat cheating, including a ranked kill cam, and the new version also includes spawn kill countermeasures, matchmaking improvements, and bug fixes. All the details are in the Ubi Forums, and here’s word on the anti-cheating stuff from the UbiBlog:

Rainbow Six: Siege is about to become a harsher environment for cheaters because Patch 2.2 is bringing a new wave of fixes designed to deter cheats and exploits, with a special eye toward keeping players from being killed as they spawn. The biggest addition is a “Report” button players can use to flag behaviors they think are suspicious. To help eliminate any confusion about whether an opponent cheated, kill cams are being introduced to ranked matches, letting players see for themselves whether any foul play was involved in their deaths.

Also, tweaks are being made to multiple spawn points across eight maps, in some cases altering scenery to protect Attackers from being immediately killed by Defenders. For example, the Oregon map’s Construction Site now features added fencing and a higher, now-bulletproof wall to keep Defenders from firing on Attackers at the start of the match.

Source: NVIDIA

In a week’s time Tom Clancy’s The Division will hit the streets, giving the keys to the game’s dilapidated New York City to the many people itching to play the massively multiplayer shooter after the record-breaking open beta.

On PC, The Division will be rendered at glorious detail at resolutions up to and including 4K, with extra effects, higher-quality assets, and PC-exclusive NVIDIA GameWorks technology that further improves fidelity and immersion. Get a great look in the Tom Clancy’s The Division GeForce GTX Technology Trailer here.

PC players will also receive the usual and expected benefits, such as faster framerates, ShadowPlay support, SLI support, G-SYNC support, DSR support, and multi-monitor support. There’s also the option to completely configure the in-game HUD, color blindness display modes, support for certain LED keyboards and keyboard effects, and support for Tobii EyeX eye-tracking, which is built into select GeForce GTX notebooks and can be purchased separately as a standalone device.

And of course, GeForce Experience Optimal Playable Settings will be available from launch, helping you configure the 90 detail levels found in The Division’s 20-plus settings with a single click.

Mare Nostrum Arrives in Port Soon

If you control the sea lanes, you control the trade. If you control the trade, you control the world. It all sounds so easy. But first you need guns and ships and men to man them. It’s one thing to protect your coasts, but another to project power beyond them. Are you ready to make the ocean yours?

Mare Nostrum is the new expansion DLC for Paradox Development Studio’s best-selling historical grand strategy game Europa Universalis IV. For those of you not up on your Latin, “mare nostrum” was the old Roman term for the Mediterranean – it means “our sea”, reflecting the Roman goal to dominate the sea to protect the food and riches that were rowed into its ports.

Mare Nostrum, therefore, takes its name from the major changes made to the naval game in Europa Universalis. For example, your coastal provinces produce sailors who will be needed to man and repair the warships and transports you have come to rely on. A new mission system for naval orders simplifies naval management, and the Barbary Coast nations of North Africa can now raid their neighbors for gold and sailor conscripts.

Other features of Mare Nostrum will include:

• Condottieri: Rent out your soldiers as mercenaries to give an underdog a fighting chance while filling your treasury
• Trade Leagues: For merchant republics, the power of the purse is amplified by creating economic and military alliances
• Share Maps: Instead of waiting for the world to come to you, ask your friends if they have discoveries they are willing to share.
• PLUS changes to diplomacy, subject nation management and much more, including the usual major patch that will be a FREE upgrade to all EU4 owners.

Mare Nostrum will be available soon from major digital retailers and the Paradox store.

View the Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum announcement trailer here.

Author: Daniel Dobrowolski @ HardOCP

GIGABYTE’s GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE is touted as the ultimate Z170 “Super OverClock” solution from GIGABYTE. It also offers an impressive array of features for the enthusiast and gamer alike. 22 phases of digital power, cool new OC Touch buttons, metal shielded PCIe slots, pretty lights, and an impressive set of three PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 Connectors!

Read The Review Here

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA released the latest version of its GeForce software. Version 362.00 WHQL comes game-ready for the hardware-intensive “Far Cry Primal,” and “Gears of War Ultimate Edition.” This includes performance optimizations, SLI profiles (if supported), and GeForce Experience optimal settings for the two games. The drivers are also optimized for the latest update of “Dying Light.”

You can download the new GeForce 362.00 WHQL drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

Source: Legit Reviews

The Radeon Technologies Group (RTG) has released Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.2 video card drivers (version 15.301.1901). The new drivers have been optimized for Ashes of the Singularity Beta 2 and Benchmark 2.0 as well as the SteamVR Performance test. AMD has also resolved about 16 issues with many being in Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, so if you are playing those game titles you’ll want to update for sure. Crimson 16.2 drivers also includes Crossfire Profiles for The Division and XCOM 2. You can download the latest driver here.

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.

• AMD Announces the A10-7890K and Athlon X4 880K Processors
• AOC Reveals Q2775PQU 27-Inch Monitor
• Samsung Electronics Unveils Three New 1,800R Curvature Displays
• AMD Radeon Fury X2 Reference Air Cooled?
• MSI Launches B150M Gaming Pro Motherboard
• Alphacool Announces ‘Eiszapfen’ Quick Connect Couplings