Latest

hardware

asus-rog-ally-review:-a-nifty-handheld-pc-with-the-best-and-worst-of-windows Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Asus ROG Ally review: a nifty handheld PC with the best and worst of Windows

May 26, 2023RockPaperShotgun

The Asus ROG Ally was, in hindsight, inevitable. After the Steam Deck proved that handheld gaming PCs could flourish outside of a microscopic niche, it was surely only a matter of time before one of the big PC hardware movers would have a crack at the concept. This time, with more powerful internals, and none of the SteamOS compatibility problems that led to Valve creating a whole new verification system. Read more

Read More
dlss-3-is-the-lord-of-the-rings:-gollum’s-biggest-and-perhaps-only-success Rock,Paper,Shotgun

DLSS 3 is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s biggest and perhaps only success

May 25, 2023RockPaperShotgun

I didn’t get as deep into The Lord of the Rings: Gollum as our reviewist Rachel, but I do share her view that it is not A Good Game. In fact, I’ve had about as much fun with it as I would on a spa day in the Barad-dûr sulfur pits. Between the soulless platforming, undercooked stealth, tedious storytelling, and framerate stuttering so bad it’s got me killed twice, Gollum is perilously short on likeable qualities. Especially if you’re not into LOTR lore, or fine hattery. In my unclad head, then, Gollum’s highlight so far has been DLSS 3. It’s…

Read More
philips-evnia-42m2n8900-review:-a-colourful-colossus-of-an-oled-gaming-monitor Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Philips Evnia 42M2N8900 review: a colourful colossus of an OLED gaming monitor

May 11, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Gaming monitor makers are slowly getting on board with OLED as a viable panel type, something I’ve been perfectly happy about – even when the monitors themselves initially look, let’s be honest, a bit much. That’s likely going to be a common reaction to the Philips Evnia 42M2N8900, the OLED-powered headliner of Philips’ all-new gaming monitor range. Read more

Read More
star-wars-jedi:-survivor-on-the-steam-deck-is-a-hot-mess Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on the Steam Deck is a hot mess

April 28, 2023RockPaperShotgun

The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor experience on PC is, at least here on release day, a generally pleasurable Far Far Away fantasy marred by some ugly performance issues. After a few hours’ worth of attempts to get it running on the Steam Deck, I can now – with a face similar to that of Ewan McGregor cry-laughing over child murder – report that Jedi: Survivor is in even worse condition on the handheld. It’s unplayable. Read more

Read More
star-wars-jedi:-survivor-system-requirements,-pc-performance,-and-best-settings-to-use Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor system requirements, PC performance, and best settings to use

April 28, 2023RockPaperShotgun

I quite enjoy the vwing-vwing lighstabering at the heart of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which is why it now pains me to have an extended moan about the PC version’s technical troubles. Despite the odd glimmer of joy, like better-than-expected performance on its lowest system requirements, much about playing Jedi: Survivor on Windows suggests it could have used a little more time in the bacta tank. Sluggishness and stuttering are problems on higher-end graphics cards, even before adding the strain of ray tracing effects, and FSR upscaling often fails to deliver a significant performance boost. Read more

Read More
careful-with-that-soc:-overclocked-amd-ryzen-7000-cpus-are-burning-out Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Careful with that SoC: overclocked AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs are burning out

April 25, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Owners of AMD Ryzen 7000 processors, you may wish to reconsider any overclocking plans. This hardware family may include some good gaming CPUs but several users have recently reported cases of fatal overheating, sometimes even with their processors burning the motherboard socket in the process. Investigations by Tom’s Hardware and YouTuber der8auer suggest the culprit is SoC (system on chip) voltages being pushed beyond safe levels during memory overclocking attempts. AMD haven’t confirmed this directly, but are supposedly working on a fix that would prevent this accidental overvolting from happening again. Read more

Read More
dead-island-2-pc-performance-and-the-best-settings-to-use Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dead Island 2 PC performance and the best settings to use

April 21, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Can you imagine if Dead Island 2 didn’t arrive with actually-quite-good PC performance? All those years, all those developers, and it turned out rubbish? Perish the thought. But nah, Dambuster Studios have ensured it finally hits shelves in a solid technical state; a welcome return to standards for the big-name gamesmaking biz, which has largely spent 2023 chucking out sub-par PC ports. Read more

Read More
nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-review:-heir-to-the-3080,-and-a-more-reasonable-new-gen-entry-point VG247

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 review: heir to the 3080, and a more reasonable new-gen entry point

April 12, 2023VG247

Nvidia’s latest 40 series GPU is also its cheapest yet. More affordability doesn’t mean this isn’t powerful, though – it is. But does it justify the cost? The range of Nvidia 40 series GPUs expands this week with the addition of the GeForce RTX 4070 – the most affordable card in the range that nevertheless brings with it some major bonuses as an upgrade on previous generations. But how well does it stack up, and how good a value is it? We’re here to find out. Out in the real world we’re in the middle of a wild inflationary bonanza,…

Read More
behold,-the-cyberpunk-2077-path-tracing-mode-your-gpu-probably-can’t-run Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Behold, the Cyberpunk 2077 path tracing mode your GPU probably can’t run

April 5, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Nvidia have previewed the upcoming Overdrive Mode for Cyberpunk 2077, showcasing how it replaces the game’s already extensive ray tracing effects with full path tracing. Why Nvidia and not the developers, CD Projekt Red? Well, that might have something to do with Overdrive Mode being such a graphics card shatterer that it will supposedly take a GeForce RTX 40 series GPU – with DLSS 3 in effect – to run. Read more

Read More
amazon-spring-sale-2023:-all-the-best-pc-gaming-deals Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Amazon Spring Sale 2023: all the best PC gaming deals

March 27, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Since some people apparently can’t go a few months without some sort of mega money-off event, here’s a guide to all the best Amazon Spring Sale deals on PC gaming hardware. This doesn’t look to be as much of a wide-ranging sale as Prime Day or Amazon’s Black Friday dealings, but there are still some decent savings to be had on plenty of RPS-approved gear, from gaming mice and keyboards to SSDs and gaming monitors. Read more

Read More
resident-evil-4-remake:-steam-deck-performance-and-best-settings Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Resident Evil 4 remake: Steam Deck performance and best settings

March 24, 2023RockPaperShotgun

The Resident Evil 4 remake is a mostly cool runner on desktops, and good news if you’re recently picked up a certain handheld PC in the sales: its Steam Deck performance is alright too. Maybe not to the battery-sipping, framerate-abundant extent of the very best Steam Deck games, but with the right settings, nu-Resi 4 can keep its burlap sacked head well above 30fps even in its most visually demanding scenes. Read more

Read More
elden-ring’s-ray-tracing-update-is-out-–-here’s-how-it-looks-and-runs-on-pc Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Elden Ring’s ray tracing update is out – here’s how it looks and runs on PC

March 23, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Surprise! The long-promised patch that brings ray tracing to Elden Ring is here, over a year after release. There’s much more in the version 1.09 update besides – the patch notes list plenty of balance changes and bug fixes – but given the sheer amount of time the new ray tracing features have been in the works, not to mention the fact that Elden Ring has never exactly been an exemplar of technical reliability, I wanted to focus in on ’em and see what performance is like on PC. Read more

Read More
halo-infinite’s-season-3-ray-tracing-update-is-here,-and-looks-kinda-underwhelming Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Halo Infinite’s season 3 ray tracing update is here, and looks kinda underwhelming

March 8, 2023RockPaperShotgun

As promised last year, Halo Infinite’s season 3 update has arrived with a new ray tracing option for us PC folks. Although it was announced as part of a promo event for AMD’s Radeon RX 7000 GPUs, Infinite’s ray tracing works on any graphics card that can usually handle RT effects; all you need to do is download the update and flick it on in the display settings. Granted, it’s not the most visually sumptuous form of ray tracing I’ve clapped a visor on. Reflections and global illumination are unchanged, as it’s only sun shadows – shadows cast using a…

Read More