All articles tagged with #gaming performance
The iPhone 18 Pro Max significantly outperforms its predecessor in sustained gaming tasks due to an improved vapor chamber cooling system. Tests show it maintains higher frame rates for longer, reducing performance loss by up to 69% in demanding titles compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Valve’s SteamOS 0.3.0 for the Steam Frame is the headset’s first update since launch, delivering substantially faster charging when off or sleeping (before ~8–27 W, after update ~19–21 W start and up to 42 W under load) with a recommended 45 W+ USB-C charger. The release also improves controller tracking with active haptics, boosts stability under heavy load, fixes garbled microphone audio, and makes per‑app motion smoothing functional (and tweaks Half‑Life: Alyx). For developers, Vulkan/Mesa fixes and looser playable criteria (any resolution, not 1440p) are included. The update is available now, though US/European purchase emails began going out Sept. 18.
Digital Foundry’s early testing suggests the Switch 2 in docked mode delivers VRR performance on par with Xbox Series X|S and better than PS5, enabling 40 FPS modes or unlocked framerates for many games. However, VRR support currently requires patches to be fully utilized, and the feature is force-enabled in menus, which users may need to disable for certain titles. The update sets up future Switch 2 titles, like Metroid Ravenous, to benefit from smoother performance.
A roundup of eight budget gaming phones under $550 that weigh performance, thermals, and software. RedMagic 11 Air stands out for a true gaming-focused experience with a built-in cooling fan and strong battery, while other picks—Poco M8 Pro, Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23, Google Pixel 10a, Motorola Edge 60 Pro, Xiaomi 15T, and Poco X8 Pro Max—balance price, power, and camera quality, highlighting trade-offs between raw speed, heat management, display tech, and update support.
MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI+ uses Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme to deliver top-tier handheld PC performance, clocking in strong frame rates (often 50–75% ahead of rivals) with long battery life, a bright 8-inch 120Hz display, and premium inputs. However, at $1,800 it sits among the most expensive portables, and users will contend with a mixed software experience, some missing features at launch (like frame generation in Endurance mode), and design quirks that may deter casual buyers.
An enthusiast attempts to double the RTX 3070’s VRAM by salvaging GDDR6 modules from an RX6900XT, reballing, and tuning power and memory mappings. While synthetic tests show little improvement because most workloads are compute-bound, a few titles benefit from reduced system memory pressure. Overall, the significant hardware risk and effort yield only modest gains, making the upgrade impractical for most users.
AMD brings back the Ryzen 7 5800X3D for AM4 to mark the 10th anniversary of the platform, offering 8 cores/16 threads with 3D V-Cache that delivers 96 MB L3 cache, 3.4 GHz base and 4.5 GHz boost at 105W, with no overclocking; the '10th Anniversary' edition includes a Carbice Ice Pad cooling solution and is priced at $349, launching June 25 and compatible with 400- and 500-series motherboards, providing a cheaper AM4 upgrade path as newer AM5 CPUs arrive.
Microsoft is rolling out Xbox Mode to Windows 11 in phased updates, introducing the Xbox app in full-screen with reduced background tasks and a controller-friendly interface. It offers an aggregated library across installed stores, Xbox, and Game Pass, and lets users switch between Xbox Mode and the Windows desktop to boost gaming performance. The rollout began around late April 2026 and may not appear on all systems immediately; users should check Settings > Windows Update to receive the latest version as the phased rollout continues.
TechSpot benchmarks nine Ryzen 5/7 X3D CPUs (5800X3D through 9800X3D) across 14 games at 1080p to compare Zen 3 and Zen 4 X3D variants on AM4/AM5. Results show large, game‑dependent gaps driven by IPC, clock speed, and memory bandwidth, with DDR5 offering limited gains for cache-heavy X3D parts. On average the 7500X3D is about 8–9% faster than the 5800X3D, the 7800X3D about 20–24% faster, and the 9800X3D roughly 30–37% faster than the 5800X3D, while the 7600X3D is now discontinued. The study highlights that the 7800X3D is the most significant gaming upgrade since the 5800X3D, and not all X3D upgrades are created equal.
ETA Prime shows that a copper-plating upgrade over the Neo’s CPU plus an external thermoelectric cooler can dramatically boost gaming on the $599 MacBook Neo: temps fall from about 105°C to the mid‑80s, No Man’s Sky rises from ~30fps to ~60fps, and idle temps drop into the 20s with load in the 70s; the modifications fit inside the original chassis, can yield roughly a 15% Geekbench uplift, and some titles may reach near‑100fps with the framerate unlocked, though others remain challenging.
AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition stacks 64MB of 3D V-Cache on each of its two CPU dies, for a total of 208MB, delivering up to ~10% higher gaming and cache-sensitive performance than the 9950X3D. The chip clocks up to 5.6 GHz, has a 200W TDP, and is expected to carry a higher price than the vanilla 9950X3D, with an April 22 launch and full overclocking support including AMD’s tuning tools.
Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus bring more cores, higher clocks, and improved efficiency with DDR5 memory support and Binary Optimization Technology. They deliver strong multi‑threaded and content‑creation performance, compete well on efficiency, and offer solid value in gaming where titles vary. The LGA‑1851 platform remains, with no new motherboard necessary beyond a BIOS update; the 270K Plus targets demanding workloads (starting around $299) and the 250K Plus sits in the upper mainstream (starting around $199).
Apple's MacBook Air 13 with the base M5 SoC remains exceptionally energy-efficient in gaming, drawing about 7–8 watts and delivering playable frame rates (around 19–20 fps at 1080p ultra in Cyberpunk 2077) thanks to its passive cooling. The Air 13 under sustained workloads throttles to roughly 8W, while the overall system consumption stays around 19W—making it one of the most efficient laptops in Notebookcheck's database, though the M5 in higher-end MacBook Pro 14 configurations offers more performance at higher power use.
AMD has announced the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, an 8-core/16-thread CPU that uses 3D V-cache to pack 104MB of L2/L3 cache, a 120W TDP, and a boost up to 5.6GHz. It will be available January 29 for $499 and, AMD claims, delivers about 27% faster gaming performance than Intel's Core Ultra 9 285k, making it a more affordable alternative to higher-end X3D models (like the $700 9950X3D).
AMD frames its Ryzen AI MAX as the premier halo platform that it says will outperform Intel’s Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 in high-end tasks, while Ryzen AI 400/300 are pitched as leaders in mainstream and entry-level laptops thanks to stronger iGPUs and more threads. The company also disputes some CES-era Intel claims on graphics, power efficiency, and scaling, noting that only reviews in the coming days will reveal the true competitive standings across content creation, gaming, and AI workloads.