Nvidia debuts the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3090 Ti at CES 2022

Today at CES 2022, Nvidia unveiled the GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, expanding its line of Ampere architecture-based GPUs.

This entry-level GeForce RTX GPU is designed for 1080p gamers and comes with 8GB of GDDR6X memory and 2560 CUDA cores. The GPU also boasts 9 Shader cores, 18 RT cores and 73 Tensor cores.

This new GPU offers gamers the chance to play the latest AAA games such as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Doom Eternal at 60fps, something that older GPUs such as the GTX 1650 and the GTX 1050 Ti would struggle to do.

Pricing starts at $249, though with the recent GPU shortages there’s a chance that it could retail for a little more than that. The GeForce RTX 3050 GPU will hit shelves in just a few weeks’ time, on 27 January 2022, a little over a week after AMD’s competing RX 6500 XT.

To get your hands on the GPU, head on over to the Nvidia Partner website to find one local to you.

Alongside this, Nvidia also unveiled the highly-rumoured RTX 3090 Ti BF GPU. This will come with 40 Shader cores, 78 RT cores, 320 Tensor cores and 24GB of 21GB/s G6X memory, the fastest ever seen from Nvidia.

The company will host another live stream next month dedicated entirely to the TX 3090 Ti BF GPU.

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Samsung Exynos ARM CPU: Everything you need to know

Until relatively recently, Intel was the undisputed top dog when it comes to laptop processors. It was synonymous with devices from the top PC manufacturers in the world, as well as being the only CPU manufacturer used on Apple’s MacBooks.

However, that’s begun to change in recent years. Since the release of its first Ryzen processors in 2017, AMD has emerged as a major rival to Intel in the laptop space. The same year, the first ARM-based devices were released, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset. The company has gone on to partner with Microsoft on two generations of Surface Pro X, although it looks like Microsoft has ARM plans of its own.

AMD is also expected to expand into ARM-based chips, which aim to boost responsiveness and battery life without compromising on performance. That’s what we’ve seen with Apple Silicon, which has seen the company successfully ditch Intel for its own laptop CPUs.

The ARM revolution looks set to continue, with Samsung set to announce its first ever laptop CPU imminently. Here’s everything you need to know.

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iPad mini 7: What to expect from the next-gen tablet

The iPad mini had a new lease of life with the release of the sixth-gen tablet, offering a substantial upgrade over what came before it. As well as a boosted 8.3in display in the same form factor as its older sibling, the iPad mini 6 sports a refined design similar to that of the iPad Air and iPad Pro, along with A15 Bionic performance and support for the second-gen Apple Pencil.

It’s a great tablet, but the next-gen iPad mini 7 is likely in the early stages of development behind closed doors at Apple Park – and early whispers suggest a moderate, but still interesting, upgrade could be in the works.

Here’s what to expect from the iPad mini 7, from release date and pricing predictions to the latest rumours and our predictions for the next-gen tablet.

When will the iPad mini 7 be released?
The big question is, when will we see the reveal of the iPad mini 7? While it’s far too early for Apple to officially confirm the existence of the next-gen tablet, we can look at previous releases to get a good idea of what to expect.

That’s the good news. The bad news? The iPad mini doesn’t get regular updates like the entry-level iPad and iPad Pro, which tend to get updated once a year. Like the iPad Air, the iPad mini’s history is a little more complicated, with varying lengths of time between each generation.

Here’s how that shapes up over the past few generations:

iPad mini 6: 24 September 2021
iPad mini 5: 18 March 2019
iPad mini 4: 9 September 2015
As you can see, the release schedule is sporadic. It’s arguably got a new lease of life with the redesign and price increase, so Apple could update it more regularly going forward, but we’d still expect a longer gap between updates than others in the company’s tablet collection.

With all that in mind, we’d say the chances of seeing a new iPad mini in 2022 are slim – but not impossible.

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AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT: Everything you need to know

AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series of graphics cards offer a tempting next-generation gaming experience – the problem for many gamers has been stock, and as a knock-on effect, price.

While the flagship RX 6800 XT and 6900 XT are still hard to come by at RRP, AMD has just revealed a new graphics card that could circumvent most of the stock issues plaguing the market right now.

It’s called the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, and the entry-level 1080p gaming-focused graphics card is due for release today following a CES 2022 announcement. Here’s all there is to know right now.

When will the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT be released?
The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is set to be released today, 19 January 2022, following a CES 2022 reveal. Timings are yet to be confirmed, but based on previous releases, we expect the graphics card to go on sale at around 1pm GMT/9am ET.

How much will the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT cost?
The price of the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT will likely excite entry-level 1080p gamers that have been neglected of late, with a price tag of just $199 (UK pricing TBC).

While it’s easy to be sceptical and speculate that the Radon RX 6500 XT will skyrocket in price as supply dwindles, there is hope for the GPU. While AMD didn’t confirm VRAM on stage, sources suggest it’s limited to just 4GB of VRAM, and that isn’t very efficient for mining cryptocurrency, so it should only be gamers buying the GPU.

Coupled with the entry-level specs, it might be easier to manufacture at scale, translating to more stock at regular prices. It won’t be an 8K gaming monster, with specs focused on 1080p gaming, but it should suffice for entry-level gamers on a budget.

It’ll likely be available from popular retailers like Overclockers in the UK and Newegg in the US, and we cover where to buy the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT in the UK and US in more detail separately for those interested.

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A key Windows 11 security feature is causing AMD performance issues

Windows 11 is suffering from more performance issues, with AMD devices once again affected. Commonly reported problems include frequent stuttering and audio glitches, with affected users expressing their frustration.

The issues appear to be caused by the TPM 2.0 module, one of Windows 11’s key hardware requirements. Both Intel and AMD CPUs enable TPM via system firmware that’s independent from the rest of the OS. Intel’s implementation appears to be bug-free, but AMD users aren’t so lucky.

As Windows Latest reports, the issue seems to be caused by compatibility issues between AMD’s TPM (known as fTPM) and Windows, as opposed to a bug within the OS itself.

Judging by a Reddit post, the issue has been around for five months, since Windows 11 was officially released. But a recent deluge of comments suggests it’s a widespread problem right now. Forums on the Lenovo and Linus Tech Tips websites only serve to emphasise that.

What’s more, it’s the second AMD-specific performance problem to affect Windows 11 in just three months. Back in October, two separate issues caused performance to drop by as much as 15%, with an official fix not available for two weeks.

Until Microsoft or AMD releases a patch, there’s is an unofficial solution that works for many people, but it’s not without compromise.

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