The R7 360 consumed considerably more power than the GTX 750 Ti – 36% more when testing with Metro: Last Light. Despite that, the R7 370 actually consumed 12% less power than the GTX 950 in an interesting twist. The R9 380 might have been on average 5% faster than the GTX 960 and up to 13% faster in Dragon Age: Inquisition, but it also consumed 15% more power. Likewise, the R9 390 was on average just 3% faster than the GTX 970 but it used 8% more power....

Don’t be surprised to see the system shut off completely if you stress the PSU too much or if something starts to overheat. To give you an idea of what to expect, our project build pulls down a little over 1,200 watts under full load and runs in the low- to mid-80C range, which is a bit toasty but still a fair amount lower than the 95C that AMD claims its R9 290x cards can operate at – obviously the cooler the better....

Editor’s note (from the future): Almost a decade later, we’ve revisited AMD’s history to do a follow up of this feature, read the latest version called: The Rise, Fall and Revival of AMD AMD’s Rise Founded in May 1969 by seven Fairchild Semiconductor employees headed by Jerry Sanders, Fairchild’s director of marketing, you could say AMD established itself as an underdog from the get-go by focusing its early efforts on redesigning parts from Fairchild and National Semiconductor instead of creating new products as Intel did with the iconic 4004....

Let me start with one of those stories, about a man named Fred Bob. Fred woke up early one morning this week. He got out of bed without disturbing Autumn, and started to make her a special breakfast. Everything was peaceful, except for the toilet, which was gushing water all over the bathroom floor. Fred didn’t notice at first, lost as he was in trying to make his wife the best damn pancakes that a few weeks of cooking and a spare chapter in a culinary manual could help him conjure....

Valve’s annual Winter Steam sale runs until January 5 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET, which means those who receive Steam gift cards/money as Christmas presents will have a couple of weeks to take advantage of the reduced prices. In addition to the sale, Steam users can also vote in the Steam Awards up until January 3 at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET. The full list of categories and nominations can be found at the bottom of the page....

As a quick reminder, the GTX 680 and R9 280X were comparable to the GTX 1050 Ti in terms of performance but at today’s prices they can be found for around the cost of a GTX 1050 or RX 560. Meanwhile, the GTX 760 is going for about as much as a GT 1030 but offers way more performance. Of course, there have always been bargains when shopping for used graphics cards so it wasn’t terribly surprising to see that some older models can still hold their own when it comes to performance and pricing....

To install an Asus Crosshair IV Formula, we removed the motherboard tray and attached the board which aligned with the standard ATX mounting holes. Once the motherboard and I/O shield were in place we inserted the DDR3 memory and attached the cooler, and that’s where we ran into a small issue with the motherboard tray’s CPU hole. The board we used for testing didn’t suit the case very well and we had trouble accessing the backplate to install an aftermarket heatsink....

Virtual reality accessory startup Shiftfall unveiled a unique microphone that users can wear. Dubbed “Mutalk,” the mic looks similar to a VR headset but for your mouth. Playing VR games already looks silly enough to those watching. Adding this crazy device takes it to another level of weirdness entirely. As ridiculous as the Mutalk looks, it does have a sound, practical purpose. In designing the device, Shiftfall was looking for a way to simultaneously tackle suppressing ambient noise around the wearer while muting their voice to those nearby, hence the portmanteau Mutalk — mute+talk....

Hardware enthusiasts have no shortage of choices when it comes to thermal interface material. Options exist across a plethora of price and performance categories with solutions varying in terms of ease of application, electrical conductivity and material composition. Generally speaking, I suspect most probably reach for a mid-grade paste and don’t think twice about it after installation. For others, unlocking every performance advantage is part of the fun. TikTok user mryeester falls squarely into the latter category....

This isn’t a traditional phone review; instead, it primarily looks at the advantages and disadvantages of buying the Fold 4 in terms of the device itself and using a foldable for the first time, and asks whether you really should hand over almost $2,000 of your hard-earned money… Background: A Note Fan I’ve owned the same smartphone brand for the last decade: the Galaxy Note. From the Note 2 right up to my most recent handset, the Note 10 Plus, the phablets’ large screens, included stylus, and productivity focus long made the Note the only type of phone I’ve ever wanted....

When it comes to 8-inch Windows tablets, the release of Windows 8.1 has seen many companies try their hands at crafting the perfect tablet. Acer was first with the mediocre Iconia W3 and shortly afterwards a ton of other devices came to the market from the likes of Dell, Asus, Lenovo and also Toshiba, whose ‘Encore’ tablet is the focus of today’s review. Like a lot of small Windows tablets in the same price bracket as the Encore, specifications aren’t stellar especially in the display department: we’re looking at a 1280 x 800 panel, a resolution which Windows device manufacturers seem to love....

In 60 days, Google will be banned from importing into the United States any products falling under the International Trade Commission’s ruling that it infringed on Sonos’ patents. The judgment is under presidential review during those 60 days. According to The New York Times, this will affect Google Home speakers, Pixel phones, Chromecasts, and some computers. Sonos was in the business of connected smart speakers before Google, but in 2013 the two companies entered a partnership to make Sonos speakers compatible with Google Play Music....

The New York Times reports that the hacker used a common social engineering technique to access Uber’s systems. He sent a text message to one of the ride-hailing giant’s employees claiming to be a corporate IT person. The worker was persuaded to hand over their password, granting the perpetrator access to Uber’s network. The hacker provided screenshots of Uber’s internal systems to the NYT as proof of his successful attack....

Ubisoft notes that in-game news and player statistics for the listed games have also been disabled. Moreover, any that used Ubisoft Connect services will find that Units and Challenges are now disabled, meaning players will no longer be able to earn Units by completing Challenges. It’s bad news for anyone who bought “ULC” (Unlockable Content), such as maps and skins for games. Ubisoft said that in addition to these being disabled—meaning they can’t be unlocked—ULC on the PC would no longer be available even if it was purchased previously....

Last month, Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel were treated to a preview build of Windows 11 with a new “feature” that shows a watermark on any rig not meeting Microsoft’s official system requirements. To be clear, that even includes virtual machines. At the time, this looked like just another A/B test for something that may or may not make it into a final, stable version. However, the most recent builds pushed to the Beta and Release Preview channels suggest that the Redmond company is moving ahead with its plans to make it more obvious to Windows 11 users that they shouldn’t install it on an unsupported system....

In March 2019, the European Union defined the energy efficiency index (EEI) for electronic displays based on screen area and power consumption. Per regulation, 8K displays and microLED-equipped devices sold from March 1, 2023 must have the same EEI as 4K displays. 8K displays have four times as many pixels as same sized 4K counterparts. What’s more, these models require more powerful video processing as nearly all video sources today need to be upscaled to 8K from their native resolution....

This article will be primarily about providing information to prospective GPU sellers and used GPU buyers. How much can you expect to get for your current GPU? How much value has it lost since launch? Is your card selling at a good price right now, or is it more favorable to buyers? Are there any good deals on the used market? We’re looking at mid-range and high-end cards, so anything with a launch MSRP above $250 from the last two generations of Nvidia and AMD GPUs....

The new function is designed to alleviate users from being interrupted by unintended audio or unavoidable background noise during group calls. It differs from the options provided in other popular tools such as Zoom and Teams, both which only allow you to mute all participants. The feature was recently promoted by the head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, and will provide a more granular level of control for call participants… In addition to the mute function, WhatsApp is also rolling out the ability to join in-progress calls....

This week, WABetaInfo obtained a screenshot of a warning WhatsApp sent to iOS users. Starting October 24, the app will only support iOS versions 12 and later. The WhatsApp help center and iTunes pages list iOS 12 as the oldest compatible version. Since last March, WhatsApp has supported iOS version 10 and newer. Dropping iOS 10 and 11 means users who still have an iPhone 5 or iPhone 5c will have to back up their data and upgrade their phones to continue using WhatsApp after October....

Windows Latest has found that in new preview builds, Microsoft has added a warning message in the Settings app to let users know their system doesn’t meet the minimum specifications. The publication notes that the current implementation isn’t nearly as intrusive as a Windows activation error, but it’s always possible that Microsoft could build up to that level over time. The current alert directs users to a page warning of the risks of running Windows 11 on unsupported devices, noting that issues that crop up as a result of incompatibility won’t be covered by a manufacturer warranty....