Performer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

One of the more talked about changes in Phase 3 so far has been heavy nerf Soul Link received. The spell will no longer work in conjunction with Metamorphosis.

At GDC 2024, New Zealand-based developer A44 (known for 2018's Ashen) provided an updated look at Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, its upcoming action RPG that sits between God of War and a lite, more accessible version of the Soulslike genre.

Easter holidays may be over, but that doesn't mean discounts need to go too. It's time to make cutting-edge computing possible for yourself with the GEEKOM Mini IT13 i9-13900 32GB +2TB, now available at an irresistible Easter Sale price. This exclusive deal is your ticket to getting next-level performance and versatility in a compact package.

Grand Theft Auto fans who played San Andreas might be familiar with the random glitch of sorts that occasionally caused small airplanes to crash. While many believed this was deemed a myth by the community due to Rockstar Games never explaining why this happened, a former developer who worked on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has finally offered an explanation.

In the vast world of Grand Theft Auto 5's Story Mode, players are often on the lookout for the coolest rides to steal and cruise around Los Santos. While the game offers an array of vehicles, some stand out for their performance, style, and rarity. Here are the top five cars you can find in free roam that are sure to elevate your gaming experience.

The latest PlayStation Portal update has supposedly addressed an exploit that allowed PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to be emulated natively on the streaming handheld.

When one thinks of a gaming laptop, one imagines a big and heavy machine, and most of them are. However, there are a couple of gaming laptops that take the slim route. The HP Omen Transcend 14 is one of them. HP unveiled the laptop at CES 2024, and it's now available in India. It's a relatively slim laptop, but at the same time, it can easily run AAA titles. The laptop doesn't have RGB strips like most gaming laptops and is all about stealth. Apart from running games, the laptop can also perform all kinds of other tasks, such as video editing, running 100 tabs in Chrome, and so on.

The A18 Pro will likely serve as the successor to the A17 Pro and is expected to exclusively power the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, which are said to launch later this year. Though we have reported that the SoC will sport a 6-core GPU, which may not translate into graphical performance improvements, we never got around to the CPU cluster, as that information was not available then, and we made our own assumptions. However, one tipster claims that the core configuration will remain unchanged compared to Apple’s previous A-series chipsets, potentially meaning that we may not witness a noteworthy difference between the two silicon generations.

PS Portal owners may have noted that system update 2.0.6 is now available, requiring the usual restart rigamarole. The patch notes for the update are incredibly sparse but potentially quite profound, reading simply: «We've improved system software performance and stability.» In the hours since, players have been reporting a drastic increase in video quality.

Dragon's Dogma 2 dropped to impressively high review scores last month, earning Capcom yet another hit with critics — but now that it's been out for a little while, we want to know what you think of this open world RPG. Indeed, player opinion seems to be a bit more divided, although we're well aware that some people have been waiting 12 years for this sequel, and that fact might have counted towards heightened expectations.

Qualcomm has shared even more performance numbers of its upcoming Snapdragon X Elite PC CPUs, now showcased to be over 50% faster than Intel's fastest Core Ultra chips in Geekbench 6 benchmark tests.

Blizzard has unlocked the Diablo 4 PTR forums and released a statement regarding known issues and what to expect regarding the upcoming Season 4 PTR. These include several issues regarding Tempering and Masterworking, the two new crafting systems coming in Season 4, and other updated content. Global Diablo Community Development Director Adam Fletcher also stated that players will need to finish the prologue to gain access to the Boost NPC for now; however, the team is working on a solution for this this in the near future.

AMD's next-gen Ryzen "Zen 5" CPUs codenamed Granite Ridge have received the first support on ASUS's AM5 motherboards with the AGESA 1.1.7.0 BIOS.

Nvidia and AMD make the best graphics cards you can buy, but choosing between them isn’t easy. Unlike previous generations, AMD and Nvidia trade blows point-for-point in 2024, and picking a brand to go with isn’t as easy as counting the dollars in your wallet.

SanDisk continues to push the storage envelope with the 1.5TB Ultra, a microSD card that shares absolutely zero differences between other microSD cards sizewise but can somehow cram in tons of storage for you to use as you see fit. On top of that, the 1.5TB Ultra has impressive data transfer speeds, all the while being listed for $99.99 on Amazon. Now this is a terrific deal for those looking to expand their existing onboard memory to the next level and not have to worry about creating extra space by deleting existing files.s

Llamafile's latest update has boosted the performance of AMD's Ryzen CPUs by up to 10x utilizing their AVX-512 capabilities.

Magical first-person shooter Immortals of Aveumis set to get some pretty meaningful updates to its console versions on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in the coming weeks thanks to the addition of high dynamic range (HDR) and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR3) frame generation support.

A new PlayStation Portal firmware update is now available for download, reportedly bringing performance and image quality improvements.

Best business laptops under Rs. 80000: In search of a high-performing laptop for professional use? There are several laptops available in the market which are designed for creative and professional usage. However, finding the right laptop which matches all your requirements is not an easy task as it requires research and takes time and effort. To simplify your search for a laptop, first create a list of your requirements, including budget. This way you will be able to narrow down your options. Additionally, to make your search even easier, we have curated a list of the best business laptops under Rs.80000 from top brands such as Apple, Asus, HP, and more. Check the list and pick the one which matches your requirements.

Blizzard released a small patch yesterday to address some bugs related to Minion Resistance stat localizations and Gauntlet rewards redemptions.

A new Helldivers 2 patch has added blizzards and sandstorms among the "planetary hazards," which sounds lush.

According to developer and publisher Capcom, the recent open-world role-playing game (RPG) Dragon’s Dogma 2 has managed to surpass 2.5 million units sold worldwide since its March 22 launch.

The Snapdragon X Elite was previously benchmarked in an unnamed Lenovo laptop, and it received less than stellar scores, though those figures were still impressive compared to what Qualcomm had previously released, which was the highly disappointing Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. However, newly published results reveal up to a 49 percent bump in the latest Geekbench 6 leak, and we will discuss the potential reasons for this massive score difference.

OnePlus announced the new Nord CE4 yesterday in the mid-range segment. The new generation of the Nord CE series was introduced with several upgrades when compared to the OnePlus Nord CE 3. However, to help you make an informed decision, we have created a comprehensive comparison of the specifications which will allow you to differentiate what is new in the latest device. From features to prices, know which smartphone is value for money, OnePlus Nord CE4 or the Nord CE3.

New rumors surrounding AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 "Radeon RX 8000" GPUs and their performance positioning have been posted by @All_The_Watts.

Apple launched the M3 MacBook Air a few weeks ago with a handful of nifty upgrades that enhanced the performance of the machine compared to its predecessor. The highlight of the upgrade is the new M3 chip, which is significantly faster than the M2 chip on last year's models. This is because the M3 chip is fabricated on TSMC's 3nm architecture and delivers improved performance while consuming less power. Externally, the design of the M3 MacBook Air is identical to the M2 version, and an Apple executive has discussed the benefits of the form factor and durability in a new interview.

In recent years, boAt has emerged as a prominent player in the tech industry, offering quality audio and wearable products at affordable prices. With its range of earbuds and smartwatches, boAt has garnered attention. Here, we explore the top 5 boAt earbuds and smartwatches priced under Rs. 2000, offering value and performance comparable to higher-priced alternatives.

RTGI, not to be confused with NVIDIA's RTXGI SDK which was recently updated to version 2.0, is Pascal Gilcher's famous ReShade screen space ray tracing shader. The German graphics modder and former NVIDIA employee rose to fame when he released it in May 2019, providing PC gamers with an easy way to improve the lighting of older games at an acceptable performance cost.

Rumors are running rampant about a supposed PlayStation 5 Pro, or PS5 Pro for short. Just like we got a mid-generation upgrade with the PS4 Pro last console cycle, many are expecting PlayStation to release an incrementally more powerful machine the bridge the gap between the launch unit and an eventual PlayStation 6. Leaks have been coming out from some fairly credible sources with a lot of juicy and very specific details about what a hypothetical PS5 Pro could look like. As credible as these sources may be, we do still need to take everything we see with a grain of salt until Sony officially confirms this system even exists. Until then, here are all the rumors out there we could pull together regarding the PS5 Pro.

The latest leaks suggest that AMD's upcoming Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 CPUs could offer a staggering 40% performance improvement over the current Ryzen 7000 processors. This revelation comes amid intense anticipation for the next generation of desktop processors slated for release in late 2024.

AI tool DrugGPT helps doctors prescribe medicines safely in England; Shikha Goel urges tech pros to develop AI solutions for cybercrime; Intel's Core Ultra Chips: Powering next-gen laptops for content creators and gamers; BJP to utilise AI translation tool for PM Modi's speeches in South India. All this, and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake & Raptor Lake-H Refresh mobility CPUs are going to be branded under the Core Ultra 200 & Core 200H branding.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is currently the game everyone online seems to be playing. Clips of open world insanity proliferate on social media platforms as players get to grips with Capcom's latest genre-defining romp, which was partly to be expected. What took players by surprise, however, was the swathe of seemingly sinister microtransactions that were made available as soon as the single-player, $70 RPG went live, as well as rough technical performance on both PS5 and PC.

There have been two big stories on the ground at GDC this year: Xbox’s flatlining brand and the purpose of the PS5 Pro. Speaking as part of a podcast, GamesIndustry.biz’s well-connected reporter Christopher Dring noted that he didn’t meet a “single person” at the show that understood the point of Sony’s mid-gen upgrade, which is rumoured to release later this year.

The first big update for Dragon's Dogma 2 has landed, with Capcom having promised a slew of improvements earlier in the week. Patch 1.050 is available to download now on PS5, weighing in at 515MB.

Just one weekend removed from the release of Dragon's Dogma 2, Capcom has confirmed that it's working on a slew of improvements, which will be coming to the game via free updates. A lot of this stuff seems to be in direct response to player feedback, and includes overall adjustments, additional options, and performance enhancements.

We really liked Dragon’s Dogma 2 in our review, describing it as the “apex of RPG adventuring”. But it appears the enthusiasm has not quite infected everyone yet, as the title’s community is surprisingly divided right now. Obviously, performance issues and those launch day microtransactions aren’t exactly aiding the discourse, but for some eager fans, the issues run deeper.

Helldivers 2 players have reported encountering unsanctioned Super Earth weaponry and equipment in the wild since the game first launched. Almost immediately, players were running into mechs, vehicles, and even an incredibly cool-looking armoured personnel carrier (APC), all thought to be part of Game Master Joel's plan, or at least the testing process. But a new report suggests we might be dealing with a Joel imposter, some unknown individual or individuals masquerading as an Arrowhead developer, with the skills required to get around the game's defences.

Almost 15 years ago, this author received a press kit from Sony Online Entertainment for superhero MMO DC Universe Online on the PS3. Fast-forward to the present day, and the developer – renamed Daybreak Game Company, of course – is still supporting the game, with the free-to-play affair now available to download and play natively on the PS5. That’s three PlayStation console generations of support.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is an amazing open world RPG — we've said as much numerous times in our Dragon's Dogma 2 PS5 review. But there's also no getting around just how unoptimized the title is on a technical level. As stressed in our aforementioned review, the game's frame rate can be a problem. Most of the time, it's found hovering between 30 and 45 frames-per-second, which is fine, but it's certainly not the consistent 60fps that you want from a game that's so heavy on action.

There are few things more frustrating than trying to work, game, or stream a movie and experiencing stuttering, pausing, and other unstable behavior due to a dodgy internet connection. Even if your Wi-Fi signal is strong or you’re using a wired connection, you can still experience hiccups due to the irritating phenomenon of packet loss.

Fortnite continues to be one of the most popular games in the world, with a strong competitive scene, and like any competitive game, players want every possible advantage they can get. One of the best ways to improve your chances of winning is to tweak the game’s settings so it runs at higher frame rates, lowering your input lag and helping you to react faster.

Apple Silicon has come a long way, and the company has introduced various versions of its M-series of chips to power Macs and iPads. Last year, the company introduced its latest M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips in the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that feature advanced computational and graphical performance over the M2 series of chips. According to the latest, it appears that the M3 Max is a standalone chip made of a single die instead of two dies combined, which could have a bigger impact on the performance of the upcoming M3 Ultra chip.

AMD's Zen 5 CPU core architecture might be shaping up to be a huge upgrade over the existing Zen 4 core as per a new rumor.

All the party members in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can ride chocobos, and that includes Red XIII despite his leonine appearance. The pose he adopts on chocoback is pretty ridiculous, and nobody was more surprised than the game's animators that creative director Tetsuya Nomura gave it the stamp of approval.

Actors from Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3 have said their games "easily" have better writing than some television shows and films they've worked on. 

Stellar Blade is Sony’s big release for next month, but if you don’t want to wait, you can get a taste of the game today as a demo has just dropped (after being accidentally released for a minute earlier this month). The demo lets you experience the first chapter of the game or around one to two hours of gameplay. Check out a teaser trailer and a bit more detail, below.

Dragon's Dogma 2's first post-launch patch is here, letting console players cap the game's performance to 30fps. This comes after many complained that the unrestricted framerate was harming the performance, causing the game to noticeably slow down in busy areas.

Capcom has released the first title update for Dragon’s Dogma 2, adding some crucial features to the game.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI said on Thursday it will launch an enhanced version of its chatbot Grok.

Intel's next-gen Arc Battlemage "Xe2-HPG" GPUs for gaming graphics cards have been confirmed within the latest shipment manifesto leaking spree by Momomo_US.

More than two years after its release on PS5, Horizon Forbidden West is now available on PC. The original game, Horizon Zero Dawn, has become a mainstay for performance testing on PC, and it’s one of the pillars of our GPU reviews. The sequel ups the ante in a big way with more graphics options and a more demanding world overall.

Plenty of big, AAA releases have problems at launch. Overwatch 2, Payday 3, and Redfall all launched to criticism from both reviewers and fans. It's far rarer to see a AAA game's community genuinely divided over whether or not a game is fantastic and groundbreaking, or an utter disaster at launch. But weirdly, that's what's happening with Dragon's Dogma 2.

With a US reboot of Anaconda still dragging its feet, China has decided to beat them to the punch with a brand new Anaconda remake trailer.

Two new weapons have been added to Helldivers 2, with players now able to grab themselves a new Heavy Machine Gun and powerful new Quasar Cannon as support weapon stratagems.

Samsung has discreetly unveiled its latest Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024), as listed on the Romania website of the company. While specific details regarding its price, availability, and global launch remain undisclosed, the device presents an array of features that could pique consumer interest.

Dragon's Dogma 2, like its predecessor, has no lock on. You have to manually crank the camera to land your hits, which for some, is a dealbreaker. Luckily, modders have been fast at work and made a downloadable add-on for PC players.

Some observant Star Wars fans may have picked up on some hidden depth in Obi-Wan Kenobi's earliest appearance from the franchise. But is it simply excellent acting that stands the test of time? Or was it truly a sign that creator George Lucas had certain plans from the start?

Onyx is still trying to perfect the combination of a device that’s equal parts tablet, eReader, and laptop. While the Boox Tab Ultra C Pro is admirable and even interesting in those ambitions, it's not quite there yet. And this year's professional moniker doesn’t get it over the hump from the previous model.

Infinix Smart 8 Plus review: Infinix has recently introduced another phone in its Smart Series lineup - the Infinix Smart 8 Plus. The point to note at the outset is that this smartphone packs features typically found in higher-end handsets. This this budget device boasts a 50MP dual AI camera, a unique magic ring with a dynamic expandable notch feature, a vibrant 6.6-inch LCD screen sporting a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a long-lasting 6,000 mAh battery. But amidst its promising specifications, does the Infinix Smart 8 Plus truly stand out as the top choice for budget-conscious consumers in the Rs. 10000 price bracket? Let's find out in our comprehensive review of the Infinix Smart 8 Plus.

Poco's newest offering for budget users, the Poco C61 goes on sale in India today. This smartphone is designed to redefine the budget segment by offering exceptional performance, stylish design, and an unbeatable price point, enhancing the overall smartphone experience for users.

Intel Battlemage GPUs were recently leaked, revealing new details about two GPU models that could be officially unveiled by the company in the near future. The company has yet to reveal retail models of the new Battlemage GPUs, but Intel hopes to release the GPUs before the end of the year.

Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, as both of them performed an iconic "jersey-swap" and probably had a talk about a thing or two on AI.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 GPU is now retailing for as low as $279 US as it approaches its sweet spot positioning from its retail MSRP of $299.

During the Diablo 4 developers' latest Campfire Chat, Blizzard discussed potentially huge changes coming to a particular set of skills in Season 4. Fixed damage Legendary Aspect Skills will be getting a massive overhaul that may change the landscape of play for many players by either creating new builds or by bringing existing builds to even greater heights. Diablo 4 PTR Campfire Chat

Intel has disclosed the compute performance that you would need to run Microsoft's Copilot locally on Windows-based AI PCs.

Final Fantasy 16's producer Naoki Yoshida has offered some insight into the game's PC performance benchmark.

Maruti Suzuki has dominated the hatchback segment in India for decades. Time and again, Maruti has launched new hatchbacks that strike the right chord with buyers. The Swift is one such hatchback that enjoys immense popularity among buyers even today.

The Indian automobile market has seen some fierce competition emerging in the micro-SUV segment over the past couple of years. With urban buyers increasingly demanding compact yet feature-rich utility vehicles that are easy to manoeuvre in stop-go city traffic, automakers have been lining up new offerings in this hotly contested space. 

The subcompact SUV segment in India has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years, thanks to the variety of options available that appeal to a wide set of new-age buyers. These compact SUVs offer a good balance of performance, premium features, and affordability - making them a sweet spot for many.

It finally happened – Jennifer English, Shadowheart's actor in Baldur's Gate 3, has reached the iconic fight scene between her high half-elf and the Githyanki warrior Lae'zel, which she and her real-life partner have hailed as "the most sapphic scene" in the game. 

Intel has just released its latest MLPerf v4.0 performance figures covering the Gaudi 2 Accelerators & 5th Gen Xeon "Emerald Rapids" CPUs, with the former showcasing strong performance per dollar values against NVIDIA's H100 GPU.

NVIDIA continues to push the AI envelope with its strong TensorRT-LLM suite, boosting the H200 GPUs to new heights in the latest MLPerf v4.0 results.

The GEEKOM Mini IT12 PC 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450 is not just a computer - it's a testament to the advancements of miniaturization in PC technology. Decades of effort have culminated into a brilliant product that may be compact but brings all of the latest tech at your fingertips. This compact powerhouse, designed for tech enthusiasts and professionals alike, redefines what a mini PC can do. But before we dive deeper into its specs, here is why we are so excited about this mini PC right now!

New Diablo IV comparison videos were shared online, highlighting the differences ray tracing brings to the latest entry in the series.

A new Dragon's Dogma 2 mod released online this week improves the game's ray tracing quality, fixing some visual issues as well.

DC Universe Online is still going, 13 years after it launched on PC and PlayStation 3. Now it finally has a native PlayStation 5 version, and its developer has outlined plans for a number of future updates.

As anticipation builds for the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025, fans eagerly speculate about how the game will perform on next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. With the recent leak of the rumored PS5 Pro's specs, excitement has peaked, raising questions about whether the upgraded console will offer an enhanced gaming experience for GTA 6 enthusiasts.

Some Dragon's Dogma 2 players with an RTX 40-series graphics card have been experiencing performance issues on PC, but this new mod might offer some improvements.

The Hyundai Verna and Exter are two of Hyundai's most popular mid-size sedan and SUV offerings in the Indian market. Both vehicles have received a number of upgrades for the 2024 model year, including improvements to their design, features, and, most importantly, their powertrain options. In this blog post, we will take a deep dive into the different engine and transmission combinations available in the 2024 Hyundai Verna and Exter.