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We just got our first glimpse of AMD's RX 9060 XT, but many questions remain

We just got our first glimpse of AMD's RX 9060 XT, but many questions remain

Digital Trends06-05-2025
The start of the year was littered with some of the best graphics cards (although, admittedly, they weren't really up for grabs due to the state of the market). Now, it's time for the mainstream GPUs to make an appearance. AMD's RX 9060 XT is one such GPU that many gamers are waiting for, and we just spotted it in a retail listing, indicating the launch might not be too far off.
Spotted by VideoCardz, the GPU broke cover at a Brazilian retailer, Terabyteshop. The Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 9060 Gaming OC was the only model listed, but it came with an official-looking AMD blurb and a spec sheet, although the most important detail was missing: The price. First, let's dig into what we do know, and then we can discuss what we still need to learn.
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The RX 9060 XT comes with 16GB of GDDR6 memory, and although the spec sheet failed to mention that, most leakers expect a narrow 128-bit bus. The maximum resolution is listed as 7,680 x 4,320, with support for up to four displays. The card supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, comes with two DisplayPort 2.1a and two HDMI 2.1a connectors, and uses only a single 8-pin power connector. Despite that fact, the spec sheet still calls for a power requirement of 850 watts, which sounds way overkill for a graphics card of this caliber, so we could be dealing with a mistake in the specifications.
Of course, until the card is officially released, we can't take these specs at face value — but this source seems pretty legitimate, so a lot of it might be true. With that said, we're still dealing with a bunch of question marks. For starters, what's the memory interface like? What's the maximum clock speed? Most of all, how much will this GPU cost?
AMD's RX 9070 XT struck a goldmine by offering great value for the money. Unfortunately, once the initial stock of MSRP-priced GPUs was all sold out, the card drastically increased in price. If AMD can offer a steady supply of the RX 9060 XT at around $300 or below, it could be a hit, but the 'steady supply' part of it all is what I'm worried about.
AMD has yet to officially launch the card. Rumor has it that the RX 9060 XT will be officially announced on May 21 during Computex 2025.
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Ready, Set, Game: Fix Your Lag With These Tips
Ready, Set, Game: Fix Your Lag With These Tips

CNET

timean hour ago

  • CNET

Ready, Set, Game: Fix Your Lag With These Tips

According to a report from Liquid Web, over 95% of users who were surveyed in a pool of 1,000 complained about experiencing latency issues while gaming. That same report showed that these gamers were known to play games on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. Anyone who's spent time gaming online knows the frustration -- you pull the trigger or dive for a tackle, but thanks to lag, your action lands way too late. That's high ping in action, and it's a serious problem. It doesn't just slow you down, it gives everyone else an edge while you're stuck playing catch-up. A strong, stable connection with low ping isn't a luxury for online gaming -- it's a necessity. With the tech available today, there's no reason to settle for a laggy experience. There are ways to optimize your internet connection. If you're dealing with high ping, the first move is figuring out how bad it is. Once you've measured it, you can take steps. Whether that's tweaking your setup or upgrading your equipment to lower your ping and keep your games fast and responsive. First off, what is ping? Put simply, ping is a test of latency, or how long it takes your computer or console to send data back and forth from a specific server somewhere on the internet. Think of it as a courier. Whenever you use the internet for anything, you're sending a courier out to fetch whatever data you need to stream a show, use an app or play a game online. In this sense, your internet speed represents how much data can be carried at once, typically in megabits per second, or Mbps. Meanwhile, the ping tells you how long -- the latency -- the trip takes in milliseconds. Locating local internet providers You'll want to shoot for a ping of around 50 milliseconds or lower for online gaming. Over 50ms isn't terrible, but you definitely want to land under 100ms. After that, lag can become an issue. A good speed test will indicate where your ping is. There are plenty of free speed tests that can provide a detailed assessment of your home network's performance. Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET Take a quick internet speed test Better yet, do a series of them -- and at different times of day, if you can. Your goal is simply to get a baseline sense of what your average speeds and ping look like before you start making changes. Oftentimes, the right set of tests can point you in the right direction as you start trying to speed things up. For instance, running speed tests on a computer that's wired to your modem and then comparing those results with what you see when you're wired to the router can help you figure out if it might be time to get a new one. Enlarge Image Looking to measure the ping to a specific site or server? Windows users can open the Command Prompt and typing "ping" followed by a space and then a URL or IP address. Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET There are lots of free speed testing tools on the web these days. Claiming over 55 billion speed tests since 2006, the most popular is probably the Ookla Speedtest -- it's fast, simple and easy to use, and I like that it gives you control over which nearby server you're using. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) The speed test is another good option that includes a latency measurement, and if you'd like, SpeedSmart's speed test lets you measure the ping to servers all over the globe. For example, I was able to measure a latency of 30ms to a server about 750 miles away from me in New York, then 290ms to a server located in Sydney, roughly 10,000 miles away. The distance makes a huge difference. Whichever speed test you're using, start fresh by rebooting all of your hardware first -- then grab an Ethernet cable and connect your laptop or console directly to your router. From there, a speed test will tell you what your ping looks like before your router starts transmitting the signal throughout your home. 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It might take some experimentation, but you might be able to find a much steadier connection with just a few quick tweaks. Once you've done everything you can to optimize your router's performance, you'll want to run some final speed tests to see how much of a difference your efforts made. If you aren't able to get your ping below 50ms or so for a routine speed check to a server that's within a few hundred miles of you, then it's probably time to upgrade your equipment or internet provider. Is might be time for an equipment upgrade Upgrading to a good gaming router can definitely help, too. Along with fast speeds and powerful processors, most high-end options can prioritize gaming traffic above everything else to help keep your roommate's Netflix binge from slowing you down. Others promise to route your signal on the fastest possible path to whatever server your game is hosted on. 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Own AMD stock? This Is the 1 Thing to Watch Now.
Own AMD stock? This Is the 1 Thing to Watch Now.

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Own AMD stock? This Is the 1 Thing to Watch Now.

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Wall Street is betting on AMD to show strong earnings growth over the next year as it continues to expand its data center offering. Despite Nvidia's commanding lead, both stocks are currently trading at the same forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of about 39 in the last week of July. To justify more highs for AMD shares, investors are going to want to closely monitor its data center growth, as this is the key catalyst for AMD to expand its margins, grow earnings, and deliver more gains for shareholders. Let's look at AMD's strategy to tackle this multibillion-dollar opportunity, and how it could benefit the stock over the next few years. AMD's data center growth AMD estimates the data center market for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators to exceed $500 billion by 2028. This represents annualized growth of more than 60%, driven by the shift in AI workloads from training to inference, where computer models are smart enough to make predictions from new data in real time. 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Nvidia's data center business has expanded more rapidly than AMD, and this is creating a widening gap between the two companies' data center segments. In 2023, Nvidia's data center revenue was more than 7 times larger than AMD's, and today, Nvidia is nearly 10 times bigger. However, AMD is the only alternative to Nvidia in the GPU market. AMD's business with Amazon and other data center operators put it in a solid position for more growth, and the best part is that AMD is currently generating much lower margins than other semiconductor companies. It stands to significantly expand margins as it ramps up new chips for the data center market. Analysts expect AMD's total revenue to reach $44 billion by 2027, with earnings per share growing 30% annually to reach $7.12, compared to 29% annualized earnings growth for Nvidia. That's enough earnings growth for the share price to double within the next three years. 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7 Tips to Follow When Starting Wuchang Fallen Feathers
7 Tips to Follow When Starting Wuchang Fallen Feathers

CNET

time4 hours ago

  • CNET

7 Tips to Follow When Starting Wuchang Fallen Feathers

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers isn't a revolutionary Soulslike title that aims to change the subgenre, but it's catching the attention of many players right now, in part because it's available on day 1 on Xbox Game Pass. Wuchang, however, does have some issues with underexplaining certain mechanics, which is giving players a little trouble. Wuchang makes some changes to the Soulslike formula established by FromSoftware, the developers of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Those changes aren't laid out so clearly, and unfortunately that adds a layer of difficulty to the game that doesn't need to be there. If you're struggling with Wuchang, here are some tips to help you beat the game. 505 Games Get the Sword Counter An easy tip to start with is a better explanation of the Sword Counter. It's available in the Impetus Repository (the leveling-up grid), at a shrine, and it doesn't take many levels to unlock. The Sword Counter is the game's equivalent of the parry found in other FromSoftware games. It looks like a standard block, but if you time it right, you'll parry the attack and receive no damage. But that's not all. Next to the Sword Counter node on the grid are two variants that are also worth getting. By unlocking all three, when enemies attack you, you can deflect their attacks and knock them to the ground to sneak in extra hits. Something to keep in mind is that the Sword Counter can only deflect weapon attacks, so enemy punches or kicks can't be parried. Also, with bosses, your deflects may only give you a window to get a free hit or two, but they have greater value in raising the bosses' Obliterate meter, which is a circle that increases after successive attacks. Fill this up, and the boss will be staggered, which will allow for a critical attack to deal big damage. 505 Games Unlocking the upgrades for your weapons Along with the improved attacks, new weapon abilities, and stat increases, the Impetus Repository (the game's name for its skill tree) has nodes to improve a weapon class. You need to unlock the node first and then acquire feathers to upgrade the weapon. The upgrade for a weapon class affects all weapons, so improving longswords by +3 means every longsword in the game will also be +3. You'll need specific items for these upgrades, which are usually found on tougher enemies with red eyes and can sometimes be purchased from the merchants. There are Faint, Brilliant and Radiant Red Feathers needed for upgrades, with Radiant ones being the best of the three. Respec all the time One useful mechanic in Wuchang is the option to respec, or reallocate your upgrades, at any time. If you feel like you're a little weak or there's something you haven't tried yet, make sure to respec -- don't worry, it's free and can be repeated indefinitely. On the Impetus Repository, there's the option to undo an upgrade to just one node, or you can do it for an entire path. If a weapon like the axe has been doing well against bosses but there's one boss who's just too fast to land any attacks, then it's time to respec and try another weapon. There's no shame in doing so. And who knows? The new weapon might end up being your favorite. Wear the right equipment Like in any Souslike, there are different status effects that build up over time, such as Burn or Blight, this game's name for poison. Enemies in certain areas will focus on different status effects with their attacks, like how enemies in colder climates can cause Frostbite buildup. There are consumable items you can use to remove the effect or stop the buildup, but in the case of status effects like Despair and Corruption, if your armor resistance isn't high enough, you can get killed almost immediately from the effect. If you find that happening (and you can tell it happens due to the status effect icon in the middle of the screen), then consider changing your equipment to better resist the status effects you're running into. Armor in Wuchang is very situation-based. Some will offer a lot of slash and stab protection, which is great for bosses with swords or spears, but it may offer no protection against Blight, which means you can be poisoned very quickly. In general, armor that's the best to protect against physical attacks is horrible for status effects, hence you can die almost instantly in certain areas. If you notice that happening, make sure to switch up your armor for the right occasion. 505 Games Explore, explore, explore Like any good Soulslike with quality level design, like Wuchang, there are different paths available and some are easy to overlook. So many side paths in Wuchang seemingly lead to dead ends, but you'd be surprised how many will lead to entirely new areas. Not only can you find powerful items and weapons, but there are entire sections of a map with their own bosses you might have skipped. I missed out on multiple locations as I rushed through the game on my first runs through levels. If you're having trouble with a boss, spend some time to backtrack a bit and explore every nook and cranny in an area. Another point to keep an eye out for is the teleport option at the Shrine. If there's an NPC you should talk to, there will be a small face next to the location listing. These NPCs can give you items or help out with a boss fight, but some won't be right next to the shrine. In general, places you come across with no enemies and something like a fire tend to be locations where an NPC will eventually appear. Just die if you're mad Probably the most interesting mechanic in Wuchang is the Madness effect, which increases global damage that you deal and get dealt in return. Madness can increase or decrease, depending on what enemies you kill, but it increases significantly after dying. Once Wuchang's madness reaches above 90%, the next time she dies, an orb that lies where the death happened will manifest into an Inner Demon, and if it kills you or is defeated, the Madness meter goes back to zero. This is very interesting for longtime Souls players because it acts as a punishment for players that can easily be overcome, and in a way, helps get the frustration out for dying. There is, however, a problem. If you die at the hands of a boss over and over again, the orb will be inside the boss arena and the Inner Demon won't spawn. The result is that Madness, which if above 90% will increase the damage of your attacks while also increasing the damage you take, won't go down. You can try to defeat some enemies to lower it, or make a donation to the statue at the Shu Sanctum, but the Madness meter will still shoot up if you die. If this happens to you, then you need to bite the bullet and just die somewhere else, ideally right near the shrine. When you respawn, you can head to the orb, take down the Inner Demon, and you'll be back to zero Madness. 505 Games Don't forget to emote Across the game, there will be certain shiny spots that aren't signs. It could be a statue, an urn, or a grave marker. Inspect these locations and a message will pop up with a few words in blue. Those words can be "Pay your respect" or "Tai chi." When you come across these spots, pull up the pose, or emotes, menu. You'll see multiple poses, such as worship, examine and a very obvious one, Tai Chi. Assuming the pose at the specific location will unlock a clue about Wuchang's past, or give up an item. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles for $50. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play the game as part of their subscription.

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