Lenovo's Pro 9n is the first RTX Spark laptop that I've been able to sit down and use as I normally would at work and at home, following several brief stints with the new class of PCs at Computex and IFA.

Lenovo is aiming its 15.3-inch Pro 9n directly at creators handling demanding 3D rendering and video editing tasks. Its 2.5K OLED display with Pantone color validation, its four Dolby Atmos speakers, its pen-enabled haptic touchpad, and its newfound RTX performance all play into this direction.

Of course, thanks to NVIDIA's RTX Spark chip, it's also suited for local AI workflows, software development, and gaming.

I received the new RTX Spark-powered Lenovo Pro 9n laptop a couple of days ahead of the review embargo. I've been using it steadily since then to get some early first impressions before I start harassing it with benchmarking software. Here's what I've learned so far.

This hands-on was made possible by a review sample provided by Lenovo. The company had no input on the content of this article, nor did it see the article before it was published.

Lenovo Pro 9n: What's in the box?

The Yoga 9n laptop comes packaged — in a fully recyclable box — with a fairly compact 140W USB-C power adapter.

I haven't actually had to use it yet at the time of writing this portion, as all the downloads and puttering around I've done so far on the PC have only sapped the battery to about 35%. I talk about battery life, good and bad, in more detail below.

Lenovo also bundles the Yoga Pen (Gen 2) with each laptop. It's designed to work with the new pen-enabled haptic touchpad (which Lenovo calls a Force Pad), giving users plenty of space to sketch, draw, design, and write.

Lenovo Pro 9n early impressions — 3 things I already love

Lenovo's Pro 9n already has several features that stand out to me after a couple of days of use. I've rounded them up here to give you an idea of what we're working with.

I've also included some of the more concerning things I've noticed, which you'll definitely want to check out if you're thinking about buying this laptop.

Let's start with the good stuff.

Battery life seems solid ... most of the time

Battery life falls into both categories: What I like and what I'm worried about.

First impressions are very good. As mentioned, the laptop is sitting at about 35% after a day of downloads and tinkering around. That's with the PC adjusting its own power profile depending on the task at hand.

If you aren't hammering the hardware and are instead browsing the web, streaming video, answering email, etc., I'm confident that the laptop will deliver awesome battery life for day-to-day tasks.

I explain the flipside to the battery segment below.

Inking on the haptic touchpad

The Pro 9n's display accepts touch input, but it does not work with the Yoga Pen (Gen 2). Instead, the Pro 9n's new haptic touchpad measuring about 3.74 x 5.9 inches (95mm x 150mm) is pen-enabled.

As someone who rarely uses an active pen on any laptop that's not at least a convertible (allowing me to rotate the display around for tablet mode), I love this change.

The oversized touchpad provides plenty of space to work, and the feel and sound of the pen nib on the surface come out natural. The pen has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity thanks to AES 3.0, far more than I'm used to.

Lining up the touchpad area and the on-screen canvas takes a bit of guesswork, but I'll try it in more apps between now and my full review.

Display quality is outstanding

The Yoga 9n's 15.3-inch display uses a "PureSight Pro" OLED panel with X-Rite Pantone calibration, ensuring it's ready for specialized design work requiring accurate color reproduction.

It might be the slim bezels, or it might be the 2560x1600 resolution; in any case, it feels a lot larger than 15.3 inches.

I haven't tested it with a colorimeter yet, but Lenovo says the screen can hit 1,100 nits peak brightness with HDR enabled. I'd wager that's about right, because this thing gets very bright and I've had only minor issues with glare.

It's super smooth too, thanks to a 165Hz variable refresh rate that can automatically lower or raise depending on what you're doing. Lenovo wanted to deliver a screen for creators, and it certainly seems like it achieved its goal.

Lenovo Pro 9n early impressions — 3 things I like less

Admittedly, these three aspects I like less could turn out to be nothingburgers once I've spent more time with the PC. In any case, here they are, including more information about battery life.

A rather plain design

The Lenovo Pro 9n's design is not exactly inspiring.

This isn't just an issue I have with Lenovo's RTX Spark PC; it's largely the same across the entire product catalog, including ASUS, Dell, HP, MSI, and Surface. I imagine second-gen devices will receive a bit more flair, especially as brands branch out into more focused approaches.

In Lenovo's case, with such an emphasis on modern creators, the plain design doesn't quite sit right. Let me know in the comments section below if you disagree with me or have more to add on the subject.

I will say that the laptop is super sleek and not nearly as heavy as I was expecting. It only weighs about 3.6 pounds (1.6kg), and it's well balanced. Port selection is also quite good, with dual Thunderbolt 4, dual USB-A, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, and 3.5mm audio jack.

Will it overheat?

The first few hours with the Lenovo Pro 9n involved some noticeably hot surfaces, but that seems to have abated now that it's all set up and finished downloading/installing updates.

Playing games causes heat to rise, especially when the AC adapter is plugged in, and it will be interesting to monitor actual temperatures and whether or not the dual-fan system can keep up with sustained heavy loads.

Battery life ... again

As noted, battery life seems great when you aren't pushing the system with anything too demanding.

I need a lot more time with the laptop to get a better idea of how efficient it can be, and I am concerned about how long the battery will last when the PC is under heavy load, for AI work or for gaming.

I gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Remastered a brief play last night, and what I saw was not exactly inspiring. I was getting about 10 minutes of gaming from each 10% of battery, with NVIDIA's Multi Frame Generation turned on and off.

Final thoughts on the Lenovo Pro 9n before a full review

Lenovo's Pro 9n has a lot to unpack, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what this new class of PC can do. First impressions are generally positive, although, as noted, there are some concerns about battery life and heat.

Do you have any questions that need answering regarding the Lenovo Pro 9n or the RTX Spark platform in general? Drop them in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them in my full review.

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I can't recall the last time I took a road trip or flight without my trusty Steam Deck in tow. It's just too convenient to slip into my backpack alongside a thin and light work laptop that doesn't stand out in professional settings.

That trend ends this weekend.

I have a 10-hour round trip to contend with, and after playing around with Lenovo's Pro 9n laptop powered by NVIDIA's new RTX Spark chip this past week, I'm ready to make it earn its accolades.

Can it really be my one-stop device for AAA gaming AND for work, just like what was advertised countless times in the lead-up to launch? Here's what it needs to prove to me.

What the RTX Spark platform needs to prove on a 10-hour trip

There are several key points that I want to confirm, and a 10-hour road trip seems like the perfect testing ground as I work on a full review of the Lenovo Pro 9n.

There are some areas where I do expect the RTX Spark platform to fall short, which I've also noted below.

Is ray tracing worth turning on when I'm not near an AC adapter?

One of the RTX Spark platform's biggest selling points is its Blackwell-class RTX GPU supporting all of NVIDIA's latest upscaling and frame-gen goodies.

I already gave The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt Remastered a try with ray tracing and multi-frame generation turned on, and although it looked glorious on the 15.3-inch OLED display, it sapped battery by about 10% every 10 minutes.

That doesn't bode well for efficiency, but I'm curious to see if I can dial it in by lowering settings like resolution or refresh rate. I really want ray tracing to be a worthwhile option without AC power.

Can I replace two devices with one?

Is having everything contained within the same PC actually simpler? Long-time gaming laptop users will probably say yes. Heck, I'd lean towards an affirmative if I wasn't testing it out myself this weekend.

But there are two sides to this question.

On one hand, it's nice to have a dedicated gaming device that I can put away when it's time to focus on work. On the other hand, I'll have a lot more room in my bag without an extra charger and an encased gaming handheld. A standard controller is much easier to slip into my bag.

The Pro 9n will have to handle any work I throw its way and be ready to switch to gaming on the fly, all while balancing heat and battery life.

Can the battery survive a real travel day?

The Steam Deck, and any gaming handheld for that matter, can be extremely efficient or inefficient depending on the game you're playing. The same ultimately goes for RTX Spark laptops.

Considering I plan to split time evenly between work — involving writing, hotspot web browsing, photo editing, etc. — and gaming, I'm hoping that one or the other doesn't leave me out to dry.

I do have the ability to plug in if required, and that will be another test of how much heat is created in a cramped cabin as the battery recharges.

Where I expect my RTX Spark laptop to fall short

Gaming handhelds are ergonomic, comfortable, and don't produce a lot of heat. A lot of that goes out the window when using a 15.3-inch laptop.

Sure, I'll have an ergonomic gamepad in hand part of the time, but I'll need to keep the laptop on my lap while gaming. Will it get too hot to handle? Will I feel too cramped in my seat? In those cases, I'll no doubt be wishing for my Steam Deck.

What I need from you

My testing results from this weekend will inevitably end up in my full Lenovo Pro 9n review that I'm already working on, and act as the most compelling evidence as to why I did (or didn't) give up my Steam Deck for an RTX laptop.

I'm more than open to other suggestions on how to test the gaming/work balance on the RTX Spark platform. I urge you to drop your most pressing questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to address them.

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It's been a busy week in the world of mods and ports. While most gamers, including me, have been focusing on the PS5's jailbreak and the ability to emulate PS5 games on Xbox hardware, there's another project capturing the attention of die-hard Microsoft fans.

As reported by Hackaday, a savvy modder has figured out how to get Super Mario 64 running on a Microsoft Zune HD. Yes, the ill-fated music player that once put up a valiant fight against Apple's iPod has been repurposed as a micro-portable gaming handheld.

This project comes from GitHub user rsheldiii, who effectively ported the sm64ex version (containing a full decompilation of Super Mario 64 running on Linux and Windows) to the portable media player that launched in 2009.

Creator rsheldiii explains that the mod "plays (mostly) at full speed with sound, touch controls and saves." You're asked to provide the ROM for the game yourself in order to circumvent any legal issues, but otherwise, it appears that all you'll need to test it out yourself is a Zune HD in working order and an x86-64 Linux PC with Docker and Git.

It's explained that the first run of the game takes "five to ten minutes" to complete as it builds a container image and downloads compilers. The game is controlled entirely with touch, and the Nintendo 64's native buttons are clearly displayed on the screen.

The video provided by the creator on the GitHub page (I'm not sure if the YouTube version I used here is hosted by the same person) shows just how easy it is to start playing Super Mario 64 once everything is installed.

Within seconds, the game is launched, and Mario is running towards the castle to choose a mission. Once in a mission, the game appears to run smoothly, with the player not having any evident issues with controls.

I, unfortunately, do not have any spare Zune HDs lying around my office, or I'd be all over this little hack. Is it something you'd consider trying out? Let me know in the comments section below!

A brief history of Microsoft's failed iPod competitor

Microsoft launched the original Zune media player on November 4, 2006, roughly five years after Apple's first iPod hit markets. Yes, the Zune was created to compete in the shifting world of MP3 players, eventually arriving at the Zune HD model in 2009.

It was a significant upgrade thanks to a 3.3-inch OLED touch display, an NVIDIA Tegra processor (which undoubtedly helps this little Mario 64 hack get legs), an accelerometer, and up to 64GB of flash storage.

Zune hardware was discontinued in 2011, not because the iPod killed it, but because it failed to kill the iPod. It was ultimately late to the party, kept quiet once it arrived, and slipped out before it all ended. At that same party was the newfound smartphone, and it seemed to be getting most of the attention anyway.

Microsoft completely retired the Zune branding in 2017.

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I've said many times that AI influence in gaming, whether it be wielded for upscaling or development purposes, isn't going anywhere. As SEGA just discovered, although my assumption might be true, the gaming world isn't quite ready for the level of AI sloppiness found in the new Total War: SHOGUN 2 "Enhanced" version.

The original game launched in 2011, and after some 15 years of availability, it sits at a Very Positive rating on Steam with more than 22,000 user reviews. The game's new "Complete Edition," which launched on October 13, 2026, has already received more than 1,850 user reviews.

The problem? The enhanced version has fallen to an Overwhelmingly Negative rating on Steam, which is often a death blow from which a game never recovers.

Digging into the sea of red reviews, it appears that plenty of gamers were already disappointed in the remake's quality before anyone looked closely enough at player cards to notice some undisclosed use of AI.

Plenty of reviewers have called out the game-breaking bugs, the poor performance, and the "countless graphical issues," including dreadful lighting and HDR. I could go on.

What's really causing waves, though, is the alleged undisclosed use of AI. Steam requires each game's studio/publisher to admit whether or not AI was used during development, and there's no such disclaimer on the Total War: SHOGUN 2 remake page.

You be the judge — does the Complete Edition screenshot look like it was upscaled using AI? Why does it suddenly look like the front of a Mercedes rather than a mustachioed soldier? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Gamers are used to slop ... just not AI slop

What's really sticking with me is how gamers have approached the relaunch of SHOGUN 2. At this point, I think many of us have been around long enough to not be surprised when a remake gets botched.

I was there for Warcraft 3: Reforged tragedy. I remember when the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy remake launched to backlash. AI had nothing to do with these games.

This time, though, the Total War and Shogun 2 subreddits are flooded with posts focusing on the poor quality of AI upscaling. It extends well beyond the one Mercedes-face soldier, with gamers posting images of six-fingered characters, wonky hands, odd faces, and more.

I don't think saying there's more focus on the AI aspect than the actual bugs and glitches is too far out there. And I'm definitely not saying that fans of the series have their gripes in the wrong place; I'd be upset too if one of my favorite games was given this treatment. It's just interesting to see how the outcry falls into place.

Remasters don't have to be low-quality cash grabs

Our own Jennifer Young recently reviewed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, where she awarded it a perfect five stars. The game sits at a 92% rating on Metacritic.

What makes it so great? Well, it's completely free for anyone who already owns The Witcher 3. It doesn't overwrite the original game (great news for people like me who still game on a Steam Deck). And it comes with a host of quality-of-life fixes, upgraded graphics, and more.

It's about as good a remake as you'll find, and a far cry from the $40 Total War: SHOGUN 2 entry from this week.

For those who have played the game, is it really as bad as the reviews are making it out to be? Would it not have such an aggressively bad rating if not for the alleged undisclosed AI upscaling? Let me know in the comments section below!

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I had no idea that Ben Affleck is such an avid PC gamer. The mega-star from countless Hollywood hits recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz, where he revealed that he spent years doing nothing but playing PC games shortly after becoming famous.

Affleck says, "There was a game called StarCraft that probably took the most life out of me. [...] I had just gotten famous, and all I did was stay home for three years and play StarCraft." Yeah, I'd say we have a gamer on our hands here.

Good Will Hunting, the movie that Affleck co-wrote and starred in alongside Matt Damon, won two Oscars at the 1998 Academy Awards, propelling him into stardom. Just a couple of months later, the real-time strategy gem StarCraft launched in March 1998.

Other long-time PC gamers no doubt recall StarCraft's intense launch, which saw about 1.5 million copies ship in the first nine months. It was the best-selling game of the year, and I can recall that it was practically the only game my friends and I could talk about for months after its release.

We have a PC gamer here, and his name is Ben Affleck

Affleck's video game history didn't quite start with StarCraft, although it might have been the most affecting in the young actor's life.

He states that he was playing DOOM "endlessly, for hours," before and while he was working on Good Will Hunting. Maybe that's where some of the jokes about Damon and Affleck's shared (but skewed) workload on writing the movie originated.

Going back even further, Affleck says he played Donkey Kong, Tetris, and Ms. Pac-Man for "tens of millions of hours" in arcades and at home. He still has a Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet at home.

Affleck admits that he still enjoys PC games today, albeit from a slightly different angle than all those years ago. He enjoys 2K and Madden titles for a sports fix, which he plays with his son. He calls Valorant "a great game" that has one major problem: "I just get f***in' rocked."

As an adult who has attempted these types of competitive shooters, I can relate to him accusing young gamers with incredible reflexes of being cheaters. Hearing Affleck's imitation of getting cussed out by online squeakers is hilarious. The video game question comes up at about the 54-minute mark of the podcast.

Affleck also comments on how real-time strategy PC games have regressed in popularity over the years.

"I like those real-time strategy and civilization-building styles, which have sort of gone out of style."

As someone who loves Age of Empires, I have no notes other than to maybe suggest Affleck give Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition a shot. Its competitive scene has never looked better, and there's an almost unending stream of content available.

All this talk about StarCraft has me thinking it's time to install it once again. I've yet to give the remastered version a try, and the game's voice lines are bouncing around in my head. Anyone up for a quick match?

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IDC and Omdia, two major analyst firms, recently released independent reports showing massive year-over-year drops in global PC shipments in Q3 2026. IDC shows a slightly rosier 20.1% decline compared to Q3 2025, whereas Omdia reports a 21.2% decline.

Breaking that down, Omdia notes that desktop shipments dropped 23.5% and laptops 20.6% to arrive at the average.

This decline is not normal. As IDC notes, Q3 almost always beats Q2, but this year, it's dropped by 9.1% sequentially.

Is there a need to panic? Probably not, at least not more than the new normal, as RAM and storage shortages have pushed prices beyond what many users are willing to pay. Let me explain.

Why did global PC shipments fall off a cliff in Q3 2026?

Both analysts agree that the sharp drop in global PC shipments is due to vendors and supply channels buying up stock earlier in the year. IDC's Jitesh Ubrani says it's the result of "strong first half pull-in" which has "thrown off the usual seasonality".

Despite the RAM and storage crisis already digging its claws into the market in Q1 2026, global PC shipments actually rose by 3.2% on the back of panic buyers, Windows 10 upgraders, and advance vendor stockpiling.

It wasn't until Q2 2026 that global shipments finally dropped year-over-year, this time by 4%. Again, much of the PC market was kept afloat by vendors and supply channels padding out their inventories before prices went any higher.

That momentum has finally tailed off in a major way. Ubrani remarks:

Omdia's Research Director Ishan Dutt agrees, noting that "pull-forward activity buoyed the PC market in the first half of the year" and that the sharp drop in Q3 2026 "comes as no surprise."

Which PC brand got hit the hardest in Q3 2026?

Omdia and IDC both provide detailed numbers as to how many shipments each major PC brand was able to send out in Q3 2026.

According to IDC, HP saw the biggest year-over-year decline at 30.9%, with Lenovo coming in second at a 22.6% decline. Omdia's numbers put HP at -31% and Lenovo at -22.9%, so not much difference.

Moving down IDC's list, Dell was hit by a 25% decline, ASUS by 8.6%, and other brands together by 14%. Despite Apple growing strongly in Q2 2026 thanks to the launch of its MacBook Neo, it also dropped off by 11.3% in Q3.

What does the drop in global PC shipments mean for regular buyers?

Basically, this sharp drop in shipments doesn't mean that you should suddenly see a return to more regular prices.

Vendors and suppliers had to buy their PCs in the first half of 2026 at a much higher price than usual, and they're not likely keen on losing money as they get rid of stock in Q4.

RAM and storage costs have not improved, and IDC's Ubrani notes that "with macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better."

Offering buying advice here sort of feels futile. On one hand, yes, some vendors might realize they need to offload stock and will offer some tasty discounts that bring prices back into the realm of reality. Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that will happen any time in the near future.

On the other hand, laptops might be at their most affordable right now, and waiting for a great deal will only end up making you pay more later this year or next year. It's a frustrating predicament, to be sure.

It will be interesting to see what Q4 2026 has in store for the global PC market.

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AMD's Senior VP and GM of Computing and Graphics, Jack Huynh, recently revealed to Korean tech outlet TheElec that the company intends to launch FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (aka FSR 4) on more than just its Radeon RX 9000 and RX 7000 discrete graphics cards before 2027.

Huynh notes that the FSR 4 saturation will not only cover new APU hardware, but also existing APUs, gaming handhelds, and gaming laptops.

For us here at Windows Central, this is big news. Many of our favorite gaming handhelds, including the ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go, use an AMD Ryzen APU, which, to this point (and until AMD flips the switch), has only had official access to FSR 3.

I say official, because savvy enthusiasts have actually been able to get a leaked version of FSR 4 running on hardware suitable only for FSR 3 and 3.5, like the APUs used in gaming handhelds.

This hack delivered the change from FSR 3's manually tuned upscaling to FSR 4's machine learning approach, but it didn't come without some performance drawbacks.

According to Huynh, the secret to bringing FSR 4 to such a wide range of AMD GPUs is a new custom model.

AMD teased this advancement earlier this year when it unveiled FSR 4.1 for its Radeon RX 7000 GPUs, saying it needed more time to develop the lightweight alternative. About four months later, we now have confirmation that it's arriving before 2026 is through.

Is this what AMD needs to compete with Intel?

When I attended Computex this year, I had a chance to test out new gaming handhelds featuring Intel G3 and G3 Extreme chipsets.

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, the Acer Predator Atlas 8, and the OneXPlayer 3 were all available, and I was blown away by their performance and efficiency.

👉 "The upgrade I've been waiting for": Intel's new Arc G-Series gaming handheld chips are taking the fight straight to AMD Ryzen

My first thought, as I was enjoying some smooth gameplay on MSI's handheld, was that AMD had better cook something up quickly to compete with Intel.

Intel's package is all about superb performance with XeSS 3 multi-frame generation and low latency, with Team Blue claiming roughly 42% better performance than AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme at 35W.

If you've also had a chance to try out this latest wave of Intel handhelds, you know exactly what I'm getting at.

Part of the problem with AMD's existing handhelds is that they don't have access to machine learning upscaling, and the gap between FSR 3's hand-tuned abilities and FSR 4's AI-based approach is noticeable.

That will change whenever AMD actually drops FSR 4 down to its existing APUs. The real upshot here is that countless handheld gamers are going to suddenly get a boost without paying anything extra.

With Intel's G3/G3 Extreme handhelds generally costing significantly more than AMD alternatives, this should also help keep Ryzen-powered devices in the mix.

The bottom line here is that it's great to see AMD catching up to its competition, no matter how late it arrives. And I'll be keeping my eye on whatever next-gen APUs AMD is working on next.

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Microsoft finally gave us more information about the Surface Laptop Ultra, including price, release date, and features, at a special event on October 7.

It's confirmed that the RTX Spark-powered PC will begin shipping on October 16, and preorders are live now, starting at $2,599.

The reactions to this announcement have been interesting. It seems like a fair number of people were expecting a higher baseline price, while others are just happy that Surface now has a true MacBook Pro competitor for the age of AI.

Here's what people are saying about the new Surface Laptop Ultra and its RTX Spark platform.

The Windows community reacts to the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing

Starting at $2,599, the Surface Laptop Ultra is actually the most affordable RTX Spark laptop you can buy right now. You can have a look for yourself in my roundup of Spark devices available for preorder today.

Many of us here at Windows Central expected the price to kick off at $2,999, and that seems to be a common thread in the community as well.

Responding to Zac's post, X user @janekknaf said, "Quite cheap tbh I expected it to start at $2999."

Over on Reddit, the sentiment seems to be largely the same.

Responding to a Windows Central subreddit thread regarding other RTX Spark laptops and their pricing, user Icybubba noted, "And somehow the Surface seems to be the cheapest out of all those."

Another redditor, Valterri_Its_James, remarked, "Lowkey the pricing isn't absolutely horrendous. 32GB costs $3300 which is about the same as the ROG Zephyrus G14."

Not everyone is loving the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing

Others aren't so sure that the Surface Laptop Ultra is a reasonable price, especially once they dig into the configuration options and see what's available for each chip.

For reference, the Laptop Ultra has two RTX Spark options available: a more affordable option with an 18-core CPU and 5120-core GPU, or a more expensive option with a 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU.

The price difference between these two models is roughly $1,100, though the more powerful Spark defaults to at least 32GB of RAM (compared to 24GB) and a 1TB SSD (compared to 512GB).

Do you think the price hike for 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD is too extreme? Let me know in the comments below.

How's everyone feeling about the breakaway USB-C Port?

The announced feature that seems to be getting a lot of attention alongside pricing is the Surface Laptop Ultra's breakaway USB-C port.

It's sort of a mashup between Apple MagSafe and Surface Connect, designed to pull out of the laptop rather than ripping it off a desk should you trip on the cable. It's designed to work with any USB-C cable, and the port offers full functionality.

Reddit user Oliver-Pearce called it a "Welcome feature!" and X user Psalter said, "Anyone who's ever tripped over a charging cable will appreciate this."

There are, of course, plenty of detractors noting that it took Microsoft this long to finally copy Apple MagSafe. That's not exactly true; Surface Connect was always magnetic and would break away if jarred. The move to the more ubiquitous USB-C form factor erased that failsafe, and Microsoft has now reintroduced it.

It's also worth pointing out that MagSafe does not handle any data and is for power only. The Surface Laptop Ultra's USB-C port handles both.

I want to know what you think!

We're a community here at Windows Central, and I'm always interested in your opinions. I want to know what you think about the Surface Laptop Ultra's pricing, configuration options, and features in more detail, so please be sure to leave a comment below!

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Microsoft finally revealed exactly how much its new Surface Laptop Ultra costs (starting at $2,599!), and preorders are now live for anyone who wants to get in on the first wave of PCs expected to ship on October 16.

While Microsoft was busy revealing new information about its most powerful Surface yet at the event, other laptop makers were busy setting their own prices and opening up preorders.

We now have a wide selection of RTX Spark laptops from the likes of ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI, and I'm expecting there to be more arriving in the near future. Until then, here's what you can preorder today.

RTX Spark laptops with confirmed pricing and release date (so far)

To make it easier for anyone hoping to land a new RTX Spark-powered PC, I've put together this list of laptops that you can now preorder.

Did I miss any RTX Spark laptops?

Did you spot a live preorder I missed? Let me know about it in the comments section below. I'd also love to hear your opinions regarding pricing on these models. Do you think it's too high? Too low? Just right? Tell me about it!

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The Surface Laptop Ultra with NVIDIA RTX Spark is now available to preorder following the October 7 Surface event in San Francisco. It arrives as a suped-up Surface Laptop 8 with a 15-inch mini-LED display, tons of ports, a sleek design, and, of course, NVIDIA's N1x chip with support for up to 128GB of unified memory.

It's a laptop that's marketed as the ultimate PC for creators, AI specialists, engineers, scientists, and developers who don't want to be tied down to a bulky workstation on a desk.

That's all fine and good, but having had the opportunity alongside my colleague Zac Bowden to use the Surface Laptop Ultra a couple of times, I can say that NVIDIA was not shy about showing off the PC's gaming prowess in closed demos.

I can also say that the gaming experience was super smooth, even in games with ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS support. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle ran flawlessly when I tried it, and every other title seemed to be an easy task for the Laptop Ultra.

What's more impressive is that many of these demo games were run through Microsoft's Prism emulation layer due to the RTX Spark's ARM architecture (the same used by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and X2 chips).

That begs the question: Is the Surface Laptop Ultra the ultimate laptop for PC gaming?

At the risk of breaking some pixelated hearts, I'll say that dedicated PC gamers should look elsewhere. Here's why.

The Surface Laptop Ultra's specs look ideal for gaming ... what gives?

It's well established that NVIDIA's RTX platform is the preferred way to play on PC for most gamers, mainly due to the excellent performance and additional support for features like ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS.

Considering the Surface Laptop Ultra's RTX Blackwell GPU supports all of the latest features, wouldn't that make it a capable PC for gaming?

Well, yes. But there's more to the story.

The Surface Laptop Ultra was not designed to be a gaming PC. It was made to handle intricate AI workloads locally and to be the centerpiece of a professional's arsenal, and the fact that it can run plenty of games smoothly is simply a convenient effect of using NVIDIA's technology. Its starting price of $2,599 reflects that reality.

Sure, that cost is inflated due to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, but in any case, you can buy a quality laptop made specifically for gaming purposes (suffering from the same RAM and memory squeeze) for considerably less money.

For my PC gaming money, I'd much rather buy a PC running standard Windows 11 rather than Windows on ARM (despite serious advancements in emulation and support). That way, you're guaranteed not to experience any compatibility issues with the games or their anti-cheat methods.

Gaming laptops also come tuned for gaming right out of the box, and their hardware is designed to support that initiative. Sure, you could tune the Surface Laptop Ultra to focus more on gaming, but that's really not what it was meant for.

The bottom line regarding the Surface Laptop Ultra and PC gaming

The Surface Laptop Ultra should be treated as a pro-grade laptop that happens to have some more-than-decent gaming chops.

I know there are plenty of pros out there who love the idea of tackling AI workloads during the day and gaming at night, all from the same machine, and the Surface Laptop Ultra should be a hot ticket for those users.

For gamers at heart, however, I recommend taking a look at the host of quality dedicated gaming laptops before ever considering the Surface Laptop Ultra.

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Microsoft's Surface event today, October 7, revealed a lot more about the Surface Laptop Ultra with an NVIDIA RTX Spark chip inside.

For those who can't fathom missing out on the first wave of new laptops, I have good news. The Surface Laptop Ultra is now available to preorder starting at $2,599, with shipments expected to begin going out on October 16.

Surface Laptop Ultra — What configurations are available, and which one is best for me?

The Surface Laptop Ultra is set up so that configurations really only affect the performance hardware inside. Each model comes with a 15-inch mini-LED display, the same port selection, and the same killer design.

The baseline $2,599 model includes the RTX Spark platform with NVIDIA's 18-core N1X CPU and 5120-core RTX Blackwell GPU, 24GB of unified RAM, and 512GB of storage.

This is a decent option for those who need to balance price and performance, or for those who simply want to get their hands on this new hardware without overspending.

There's also a model with a 20-core CPU and 6144-core GPU for those who need utmost power. Configuring with 32GB of unified RAM (the lowest option) and a 1TB SSD (also the lowest option), you're looking at $3,699.99. This model is where I'd recommend most advanced users start.

Moving up from there, you can essentially trick out your PC with as much RAM and storage as you want. This is where things begin to get very expensive for pro users. The top-of-the-line model with the more powerful Spark, 128GB of unified RAM, and a 1TB SSD runs up to $5,899.99, reserving it for a select few.

Both models are available in Nightfall or Platinum colors.

Is the Surface Laptop Ultra's price too high?

I wasn't expecting the laptop Microsoft calls "Not Standard Issue" to be reasonably priced for most users.

It's a flagship PC with monster internals, and Microsoft clearly states that it's intended for creators, AI builders, scientists, engineers, and other power users who need an ultimate device to handle everything.

Those users are generally used to paying more for high-end hardware, but that doesn't make the price sting any less.

Take this high-end approach and tack on the macroeconomics of the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, and you get set prices much higher than I'm sure Microsoft ever intended.

Starting at $2,599 for a "baseline" model, you'll want to be sure this is the PC for you before you buy it.

As for the gaming angle, I've covered it in more detail in a separate post. Bottom line? You shouldn't buy the Surface Laptop Ultra as a dedicated gaming machine, but its NVIDIA Blackwell GPU will indeed power many games with ray tracing, path tracing, and DLSS in tow.

Are you preordering the new Surface Laptop Ultra today? If so, which configuration did you get? If not, what made you skip it? Let me know in the comments section below!

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The last thing I want to hear again is how high RAM prices have become due to AI's unrelenting pressure on component markets. Nevertheless, there's something curious happening, as evidenced by Steam's September 2026 hardware survey update.

In the System RAM section, which covers the spread of how many gigabytes are in use in a single PC, the three segments directly above 16GB grew. While 24GB and 48GB only climbed by 0.34% and 0.26% respectively, systems with 32GB of RAM jumped significantly, up 4.77% in September to hit a total of 42.22% of all polled Steam users.

The rise of 32GB systems had a direct impact on the 16GB section, which actually fell by 3.38% to land at 37.82% overall. This swing has placed the 32GB segment well in the lead.

Why are there now fewer PCs with 16GB of RAM than 32GB of RAM?

What's going on here? Shouldn't the segment of gaming PCs with less RAM be growing? You'd think so, but that's not the case at all. Systems with 8GB of RAM fell by 0.99% (despite the host of new Windows laptops shipping with that exact amount), while 12GB PCs also fell by 0.29%.

Looking at other sections of the Steam hardware survey, there were some other significant jumps in September. NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti adoption rose by 1.46% to hit 3.87% overall, with the RTX 5060 pulling in another 1.22% to hit 4.20% overall. The RTX 5070 saw the biggest climb at 2.30% to hit 5.86% overall.

Elsewhere, total hard drive space above 1TB rose by 3.79%, and 1440p displays also climbed by 5.18%.

These are larger swings across segments than I'm traditionally used to seeing, which generally means that something is going on behind the scenes. Checking out the Language section of Steam's survey, the share of Simplified Chinese users indeed grew by 7.42% in the same month.

If I were a betting man, that's where I'd put my money. An influx of new Chinese players with rather high-end systems could have skewed Steam's numbers. I'm not saying this accounts for all of the changes, but it certainly aligns with the major swings.

It wouldn't be the first time the Steam survey has had some noisy elements that stand out.

In March 2026, for example, PCs with 32GB of RAM fell by a whopping 20.31%, only to be picked back up the next month with more realistic numbers.

That's exactly what I'm expecting to happen with next month's Steam hardware survey, at least unless users are actually gobbling up expensive 32GB RAM kits and RTX 5070s at a far healthier pace than I imagined.

I've been keeping an eye on memory prices this week as it collides with Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, and there's honestly not much to talk about. RAM is still stupid expensive, even with "discounts," and I don't expect anything much to change despite the promos happening at major retailers.

Do you agree that the major swings in Steam's September hardware survey are likely caused by an influx of Chinese players? Or do you think there's something else going on in the world of PC building? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days event has officially kicked off, and as usual for these types of events, I've been scouring the web for the best deals on PC components.

I'm not talking about fake deals where the original price is inflated just to make it seem like a discount is larger than reality. I've been using CamelCamelCamel to verify pricing history and axing any deals that are only designed to steal your dough.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Big Deal Days discounts

With all that in mind, I've collected 9 great PC component deals ranging from processors and graphics cards to SSD storage, motherboards, and power supplies. If you're building or upgrading a PC in the near future, you don't want to miss these discounts.

Best Prime Day PC Component Deals

FAQ

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A lot is happening this week in the world of Windows and Surface. Today is the fifth anniversary of Windows 11, a milestone that snuck up on me and plenty of other users. Perhaps it's because I dragged my feet while making the move permanently from Windows 10.

On October 7, Microsoft is hosting a Surface event where it's expected that NVIDIA's RTX Spark chip and the Surface Laptop Ultra lineup will be further discussed (and hopefully better explained).

This collision of Microsoft-related software and hardware news got me thinking about a quote from the original architect of Microsoft's Surface lineup, Panos Panay:

The quote comes from an interview with TechCentral circa 2020, well before Panay departed Microsoft in 2023 to join Amazon's Devices and Services segment. The quote does a great job capturing the original reason why Surface exists at all.

Microsoft originally wanted hardware that showcased the best of Windows software, and it believed its goal could only be achieved with in-house development. Surface became the bridge between software and hardware that Panay alludes to with his quote, and it's had a (mostly) great run.

Where is Surface headed in 2026?

What has me most confused about the upcoming Surface event is that Microsoft already revealed its new Surface Pro 12-inch (Gen 2) and Surface Laptop 13-inch (Gen 2) devices.

They showed up on September 23 as part of Qualcomm's annual Snapdragon Summit, a full two weeks before the Surface event. Sure, it makes some sense due to the new Surface PCs using Snapdragon X2 chips inside, but why not save the juice for the main event?

My colleague Sean Endicott attempted to answer this question at the time of the Surface/Qualcomm reveal last month. As he stated, "we can now cross two more items off the list of potential things we will see at the Windows and Surface event," noting that the October 7 Surface event also "falls after many improvements have shipped to Windows 11 or entered testing with Windows Insiders."

So what is Microsoft planning to reveal at its Surface event? The Surface Laptop Ultra was already revealed at Computex 2026, but we should get more information. We might also get a glimpse of the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, especially considering NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang is part of the show.

Barring the surprise reveal of more new Surface hardware — the Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 with Snapdragon X2 chips launched this summer, so I'm not expecting anything new there — the October 7 Surface event is shaping up to be a tad lopsided.

Is Surface drifting without Panay's anchoring presence?

It's been six years since Panay dropped his famous Surface quote. It's been three years since he left Microsoft for Amazon. And since then, Surface really hasn't felt the same.

Rather than pushing OEMs to improve their own devices by providing a quality benchmark, Surface seems to be fairly stagnant, fragmented, and largely riding on its reputation.

For me, someone who agrees with Panay's sentiment, a successful Surface event should include software that really only makes sense on the Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark. If it's just another laptop with the chip inside, well, I won't be very excited.

On that note, it'd be great to see some tuning choices that directly benefit Surface with RTX Spark. The hardware-software relationship often shows its cracks in this area, so some assurance will go a long way.

Ultimately, the upcoming Surface event should be a defining moment. Will Panay's original vision carry forward as partnerships become more complicated? Will the quote remain relevant?

Or will Surface become just another laptop brand alongside OEMs like Dell, HP, and Lenovo? Either way, you can tune in to the livestream on October 7 at 1 PM ET to check it out with the rest of us.

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Believe it or not, there was a time when people lined up outside of actual stores to buy the latest version of Windows. Such was the case on August 24, 1995, when Microsoft officially launched Windows 95.

Yes, I find it hard to believe, but it's been 31 years since Microsoft made what is arguably the biggest change ever to its operating system. I didn't line up outside of Best Buy to secure my copy, but I do remember some of the hype ahead of the launch.

Stars of the hit TV show Friends, Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry, were tapped to create an hour-long Windows 95 video guide in which they answered questions and highlighted new features. It's ... quite a watch.

At the launch event, Jay Leno helped CEO/Chairman Bill Gates and company demo the software onstage as camera flashes erupted throughout the room.

And who can forget the classic Windows 95 launch sizzler featuring Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones?

Compared to the hesitant Windows launches of today — countless millions of people are still using Windows 10 today despite Windows 11 being on the market since 2021 — the launch of Windows 95 was a huge deal.

It wasn't just hype for no reason, either. The jump from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 was massive, and a lot of its appeal rested in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Windows introduces the Start button, and PCs are never the same

For many modern Windows users, the Start button has always been a staple of the OS. But before Windows 95, everything looked a lot different. You can probably see why Start Me Up was used as a promo song.

Windows 3.1 used a full-screen Program Manager tool to keep apps sorted. It involved nested windows containing icons, and you can see some of the inspiration for the eventual Start menu here.

However, Program Manager left users without any sort of unified system control dashboard or taskbar. Those comfortable with Windows 3.1 put up with it (what else was there?), but it wasn't exactly easy for an average person to sit down and start computing.

Windows 95 modernized the UI, making it a lot easier to use in the process.

The Start menu was suddenly the aptly named first place to click when you booted your Windows 95 PC. It contained quick shortcuts to installed software and stored files, a trove of settings, and a Shut Down option.

Attached to the Start button and sitting across the bottom of the screen was a taskbar, which could keep track of which apps you'd opened and made it easy to swap between them. Windows 95 received the first instance of the Recycle Bin tool, making file deletion reversible.

The addition of right-click context menus was massive, as users no longer had to hunt through menus. They could just right-click to pull up options.

Windows Explorer as we (mostly) know it today was also introduced in Windows 95. It replaced Windows 3.1's File Manager tool and organized files into much more comprehensive categories.

Microsoft didn't exactly invent any of these ideas, but it did group them all together into one package. The new interface proved to be a hit, and you can still see the DNA of Windows 95 every time you boot up Windows 11.

The lasting legacy of Windows 95 ... 31 years later

Windows 95 was the first OS I really remember using in earnest, and 31 years later, Windows 11 still feels like home. There's still a Start button, there's still a taskbar, there are still right-click menus, and there's still a Recycle Bin.

Sure, the appearance of these tools might have changed many times over the years, but they've survived three decades as the hardware around them has morphed from chunky beige towers to sleek laptops and RGB-infused desktops.

I'm sitting here trying to think of other user interfaces that have proven as resilient as the changes made in Windows 95. Plenty have come and gone in the meantime, while those from Windows 95 have become a foundation.

Can you think of any good examples of UI elements that have survived for 31 years? Were you around for the launch of Windows 95? How did it go? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Docking stations are an interesting section of the laptop market. There are a lot of options out there, many of them offering the latest Thunderbolt 5 connectivity with an assortment of older and varied ports.

As the market fills up, laptop docks have to set themselves apart with different sub-features. I'm talking about Thunderbolt Share. A built-in M.2 SSD slot. A standout design (as much as that's possible with a small chunk of metal).

In the case of Hyper's HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock that I've been using for a few weeks, it's the extra features that I'm most excited about. Let me explain so you know if it's right for your desk.

This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by HyperDrive. It had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.

Where can I buy the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock?

The HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock is available at major online retailers, including Amazon and B&H. Although it launched with a $399.99 price tag, it seems like it's now permanently available at $319.99.

For comparison's sake, the CalDigit TS5 Plus — currently my favorite Thunderbolt 5 dock on the market — costs about $500.

Wavlink's Thunderbolt 5 dock, which I favorably reviewed, costs about $299.99 before frequent discounts (often falling to less than $200), while Kensington's excellent SD7100T5 EQ Pro costs about $339.

I'd say that Hyper's HyperDrive Next dock is priced within reason compared to other Thunderbolt 5 hardware, although Wavlink continues to be the best value option out there that I've tested.

What sort of ports does the HyperLink Drive have?

Dock design doesn't usually vary too much, and the HyperDrive Next plays it fairly safe with a chunky aluminum shell and plastic faceplates. I've mentioned plenty of times in other reviews that I prefer an all-metal design for added durability and less chance of scratching.

I like the ribbed corners on the aluminum shell. They add a bit of texture to an otherwise sleek exterior, and they help dissipate heat.

The dock works horizontally only, with rubber pads on the bottom to prevent it from slipping. Measuring 7.64 inches (19.4cm) wide and 3.07 inches (7.8cm) deep, it's thankfully rather compact.

There appear to be some holes drilled for mounting with a bracket, though a permanent setup like that might not be ideal due to the M.2 SSD slot's location (more on that in a moment).

The front of the dock includes dual USB-A ports at 10Gbps each, a 3.5mm audio combo jack, and a single downstream Thunderbolt 5 port.

What you might think at first glance are SD card readers are merely vents cut out to help the built-in cooling fan. The slots sit below the power button and LED status light.

The back of the dock is where you'll find two more downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, an upstream Thunderbolt 5 port for connecting your host laptop, two USB-A (10Gbps) ports, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet jack, dual lock slots, and a 20V power hookup.

The upstream host connection supports device charging at up to 140W, which is enough to keep most laptops without a discrete GPU topped up and ready to go.

At this point, you might be asking where the video outputs are located. Well, you're looking at them. The HyperDrive Next relies entirely on Thunderbolt 5 for external monitor support.

If you're using older monitors without USB-C connectivity, you'll need some adapters that switch the USB-C form factor used by Thunderbolt 5 to HDMI or DisplayPort.

The good news is that Thunderbolt 5 is quite capable of handling video, and the dock allows for up to three 4K external displays, each running at a 60Hz refresh rate. If you're targeting a high resolution, it'll go as high as 8K at 144Hz.

It's worth noting that some other Thunderbolt 5 docks support up to three 4K displays each at 144Hz, so there's definitely a bit being left behind due to the other features on board.

I had no problems running one 4K screen and one ultrawide QHD+ screen off the dock, with bandwidth to add more. As mentioned, I've been using this dock on my desk, and I never noticed it get overly hot despite multiple monitors, frequent data transfers, and connected accessories.

HyperDrive Next's additional Thunderbolt 5 features

Aside from the incredible transfer speeds you get from Thunderbolt 5, the extra bandwidth opens up some extra features that I particularly love.

Like the Razer Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma I tested last year, the HyperDrive Next dock comes with a built-in M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD slot, with a hatch located on the bottom of the dock.

You need a screwdriver to get in, but it's well worth it, with support for full-size 2280 M.2 sticks all the way down to smaller 2230 drives. You should be able to use up to a 16TB drive in here (who can afford that these days?), doubling the capacity of the other docks I've tested.

The other big feature is Intel Thunderbolt Share. It's a tool that allows Thunderbolt 4 and 5 laptops to communicate directly with each other, easing common transfers and making life with multiple laptops that much easier.

The catch is that at least one of the laptops in use needs to have official Intel Thunderbolt Share certification, unless you have a dock connected in between with the official badge. That's where the HyperDrive Next comes in.

You can connect two separate laptops to the dock and control both from one set of peripherals. File transfers are super easy, requiring just a drag and a drop.

What I don't like about the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock

Depending on how you use your dock, the lack of native video outputs might be a con. However, for others, full Thunderbolt and USB connectivity, paired with an M.2 slot and Thunderbolt Share, might be exactly what's needed.

The only major issue I experienced has to do with how the dock handles heavy workloads. While testing, I noticed drops in SSD and Ethernet speeds when used simultaneously.

I figured this had something to do with power allotment. A 180W adapter isn't that big for a dock that can charge a laptop at 140W. Indeed, this does make some of the charging abilities on ports other than the host connection fairly wimpy.

The other Thunderbolt 5 ports only charge at 15W, and one USB-A port hits 7.5W. The rest sit at a rather low 4.5W.

However, after doing a bit of research, it seems that the Ethernet/SSD limitation is caused by the actual Intel Barlow Ridge chipset that's used by modern Thunderbolt 5 docks.

So, yes, the dock is super convenient thanks to its built-in features. But you probably won't get as good of performance as if you had a drive and an Ethernet cable connected separately via Thunderbolt 5 ports. It's not exactly Hyper's fault, but it's well worth noting.

Should you buy the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock?

✅ You should buy this if ...

• You want a Thunderbolt 5 dock with a built-in M.2 SSD slot and Thunderbolt Share.
• You have a Thunderbolt 5 laptop that can take advantage of all features (or you plan on buying one soon and can make do with Thunderbolt 4 speeds for the time being).

❌ You should not buy this if ...

• You want maximum SSD and Ethernet speeds without requiring any adapters.
• You have three external 4K displays and want to run them all at 144Hz.

Hyper's HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 dock is a high-end option that actually competes quite well with the competition in terms of pricing and performance.

For example, the Kensington SD7100T5 EQ Pro comes with a built-in M.2 SSD slot, tons of ports (including SD card readers), and 2.5Gb Ethernet. It does not have Thunderbolt Share. It costs about $340.

If you don't need Thunderbolt Share or a built-in SSD slot, the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Thunderlight is probably a better bet, especially at only about $220.

Sitting in between is the HyperDrive Next at about $320, and I'd recommend it to those who want the convenience of external M.2 SSD storage and the ability to quickly share content between two PCs.

Otherwise, I recommend checking out my guide to the best laptop docking stations on the market today for more great options.

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Grand Theft Auto VI has been hogging the limelight lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Hackers have been leaking bits of gameplay and other info online, and gamers are gobbling it up ahead of the expected November 19, 2026, release date.

I'm trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible by not viewing the leaks, and besides, I have something better to keep me busy until GTA VI's official launch.

I'm talking about the Grand Theft Auto IV RTX Remix mod that adds Path Tracing to the 18-year-old game.

It's the work of a modder known as xoxor4d, who last week released version 1.4.2 of the mod on GitHub. The mod is compatible with GTA IV: The Complete Edition version 1.2.0.59, and it truly makes the 2008 car-jacking hit feel like it was released in 2026.

What does the RTX Remix mod do to Grand Theft Auto IV?

I know that the GTA IV Remix mod has been out for a while now, but I hadn't been following it that closely. Oh boy, it has come a long way since launch, and it's great to see the project's creator is keeping up with maintenance and new features.

I was reintroduced to the project via the maxrenderedgaming YouTube channel, where the mod was shown off using an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU.

There are certainly some other mods at play here, which I dig into a bit deeper below, but one thing is for sure: this is an incredible mod that changes the whole grimy, gray feel of the original game.

GTA IV arrived all those years ago with graphics that seemed mind-blowingly good, as is usually the case with Rockstar titles. Looking at the game's stock graphics now, well, you can tell that they're from a bygone era.

The RTX Remix mod drastically changes the appearance. The game's default static lighting has been replaced entirely with full path tracing, making rays jump and bounce off of surfaces quite realistically. Dynamic shadows look better than ever. It really is the best I've ever seen Liberty City look.

My plan is to first get the RTX Remix compatibility mod set up from the project's GitHub page. Next, I'm going to download the 4K Textures Warcaco Graphics Mod to really see what my PC's RTX 5070 Ti can handle.

Here are some screenshots from the texture mod that I know will make you want to play GTA IV again, too.

To say that this combination makes GTA IV look like a completely different game is an understatement. However, you're going to need a beast of a PC if you want to run this combination with any sort of playable success.

The demo video I provided above has the modded game dropping as low as about 60 FPS in some areas, and the GitHub project page notes that your CPU will likely be a bottleneck due to "the amount of detailed meshes the game is rendering."

Be that as it may, I definitely think any fans of GTA should give this one a shot just to see how it performs on their hardware.

NVIDIA's RTX Remix is a big deal, and not just because of one mod

I know, I know, more AI from NVIDIA's RTX division. Some of you might not want to hear of it, but I'm convinced that Remix is the real deal.

Remix arrived in January 2024 as an open-source and free tool, and it's been under development since. It's a clever way to inject path tracing, upscaling, and other materials into old favorites without needing any source code access.

Anyone with the right ambition can give Remix a shot, and there are some other projects I recommend checking out. Portal with RTX and Half-Life 2 RTX are probably the best examples, but they were spearheaded by NVIDIA. It's great to see lone developers jumping into the tool to create their own works.

Considering GTA VI isn't expected to launch with path tracing, and the fact that GTA V only supports ray tracing, this might be the best way to play Grand Theft Auto until the next installment arrives.

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I've been gaming again lately on my desktop PC thanks to cooler weather, but thankfully I haven't experienced this new Windows 11 bug that cropped up after the August 11 (KB5121003) update.

It's apparently affecting 25H2 and 24H2 installs of Windows 11, as this update rolled out to OS builds 26200.9168 and 26100.9168.

According to Microsoft, the Windows 11 update is forcing some games to go unresponsive, crash, or reboot your PC entirely. You might also see the EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION error pop up, forcing you to close your game.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like the issue is too widespread. At least, not yet. Microsoft says it has received reports mainly focused on ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals.

As of August 19, when the support page was last updated, Microsoft says it is investigating the issues to figure out if it's a problem on its side. Microsoft is asking any PC gamers experiencing a similar issue to file a report in the proper Feedback Hub app.

Embark Studios, the team behind ARC Raiders and The Finals, took to Discord to address the problem (via Windows Latest).

In another post, the Embark team points at the crashes being caused by an inpoutx64.sys file change in the recent Windows 11 update. It seems like the kernel-level driver is having a hard time communicating properly.

Embark says it's working on its own "long-term fix," but in the meantime, affected gamers might be able to solve the issue on their own.

A temporary fix for the new Windows 11 gaming issues

Embark has laid out the steps required to temporarily fix the crashing and freezing issues on KB5121003.

Launch Command Prompt as Administrator, type "sc stop inpoutx64", and press Enter.

In the same Command Prompt instance, type "sc delete inpoutx64" and press Enter.

Next, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers in your PC's File Explorer. Find the file called inpoutx64.sys and delete it.

That should let your games run smoothly again, but hopefully we'll soon have a fix that doesn't require the manual workaround.

You can, of course, also roll back your Windows 11 PC to an older update version until the problem is officially fixed by Microsoft.

This seems like a fairly minor Windows 11 issue compared to some others we've already experienced this year, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating for those affected.

Most recently, on July 15, Microsoft had to block the Windows 11 KB5101650 Patch Tuesday update on Dell PCs after issues involving unexpected shutdowns, overheating, and generally poor performance were reported by users.

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The next evolution of Apple's AirPods is out in the wild after a leaked video was posted online. Known as AirPods Ultra, the new wireless earbuds look basically the same as regular AirPods, albeit with a thicker stem.

Hiding inside the new AirPods Ultra are discrete cameras that enable something called "Visual Intelligence." According to Tom's Guide, these cameras aren't intended to record live video or snap photos, setting AirPods Ultra apart from the likes of Meta's AI Glasses, which are raising some very serious privacy concerns.

What I wasn't expecting next was an announcement from Razer's Min-Liang Tan explaining that the company's Project Motoko, unveiled as a concept at CES 2026, is actually a real product that's "coming soon."

Razer's tackling of this idea involves a full wireless gaming headset with cameras built into the earcups. They're certainly not as hidden as the cameras on Apple's leaked implementation, but I don't think they're aimed at the same end goal.

In the leaked Apple video, a person picks up a book and looks at the cover. Siri (or some other assistant) then says that "your world becomes savable" — all you have to do is whisper into your own ear that you'd like to save what you're looking at.

The new AirPods Ultra are expected to show up at Apple's next special event in September, but already there is a lot of backlash regarding privacy. Glasses (or really any tech) that record everything around you are already being banned due to privacy concerns, and I hope that Apple indeed uses some method that captures info without saving actual photos.

Razer's Project Motoko is not like the rest

Razer is taking a different approach to a video-infused audio device. Rather than hiding the cameras in tiny earbuds, it's slapping them onto what appears to be a rather high-end wireless gaming headset.

Each earcup has an FPV camera designed to sit at eye level, allowing it to better quantify what you're actually looking at. Razer says its cameras offer a wider field of view than is humanly possible, and that they can pick up "symbols, text, and details."

Motoko can use a bunch of different AI models (Grok, OpenAI, and Gemini are mentioned), and Razer says it can be a "powerful data collection tool" to train language models. The headset runs on a Snapdragon chip.

A demo video on the Razer website explains that Motoko "hears, interprets, and answers in the moment." The accompanying video certainly seems to show that the headset's cameras are recording the entire time, much like AI glasses.

Razer pegs it as a "personal full-time AI assistant" that "stays keyed into your schedule, preferences, and habits, while adapting effortlessly to anything else you might ask." I'm reminded immediately of Lenovo's Qira AI assistant.

Privacy concerns aside, who's going to wear a gaming headset all day?

Razer makes a lot of concept devices, and not all of them make it into the hands of consumers. The fact that Razer is going ahead with Motoko hot on the heels of the AirPods Ultra leak means the company must truly believe there's something there worth pursuing.

But my first thought was, "Who wants to wear a gaming headset all day?" Never mind the privacy concerns; gaming headsets are great for a few hours at a time, and usually best if you're not active.

Razer's vision for Motoko seems to go against that. A small FAQ section on the official website explains the potential everyday uses for Motoko:

Is everyone suddenly going to be wearing a bulky gaming headset everywhere they go? Not likely, especially during any tasks that require a bit of sweat. When Motoko actually launches, it had better be the most comfortable headset ever made if Razer wants it to be successful.

Windows Central's take on Razer Motoko

Razer's Motoko headset probably has the best chance of succeeding amongst PC gamers. It is, after all, a gaming headset. But, speaking from a bit of experience, I can say that a lot of PC gamers couldn't care less about letting AI help with video games. Whether or not Motoko's appeal actually goes mainstream remains to be seen.

I want to know if you'd buy something like Razer's Motoko when it launches. Would you use it for gaming? For something else? Are you concerned about eroding privacy due to the prevalence of these video capture devices? Let me know in the comments section below!

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I was absolutely blown away earlier this year by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 platform after spending a month with Lenovo's Slim 7x (Gen 11). The System-on-Chip (SoC) was fast and efficient on or off the charger, and it came in a sleek 14-inch package.

A new commissioned study from the independent testing group Signal65 has basically confirmed my arguments, this time after testing the flagship X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) variant in retail systems you or I can buy.

Here's the main blurb from the whitepaper's key findings:

This sentence alone might not be telling you anything new, especially if you've experienced the X2 Elite Extreme firsthand. But let me break down the findings to explain a bit better what Signal65 dug up.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme goes up against Intel and AMD

Signal65 tested the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme against the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 laptop CPUs. These are two of the latest chips from each company, found today in thin and light Windows laptops.

Testing the chips in Geekbench 7, Signal65 found the X2 Elite Extreme to be "up to 53% faster" than Intel's chip and "up to 83% faster" than AMD's chip.

In Cinebench 2026, which is used to test multi-thread rendering performance, the X2 Elite Extreme was "up to 87% faster" than the Intel and AMD chips.

What's even more impressive is that Signal65 separately tested the X2 Elite Extreme on battery power with the Balanced Windows power profile. With the Intel and AMD systems plugged in and set to Best Performance, the X2 Elite Extreme still outperformed the competing chips in all AI and CPU benchmarks.

Besides raw CPU power, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme also outperformed its rivals in the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) arena. Qualcomm's specialized chip that runs AI locally almost hit 2x the AI performance compared to Intel, climbing to about 2.4x the performance of AMD's NPU in the Procyon AI Computer Vision test.

It's well worth noting that the X2 Elite Extreme's Hexagon NPU hits 80 TOPS, compared to 50 TOPS in the Intel and AMD chips. This might explain some performance discrepancy, but not to this extent.

Rumors of the X2 Elite Extreme's power were not exaggerated

In February 2026, I covered early testing from Hardware Canucks that showed how the non-Extreme X2 Elite chip beat Apple's M5 in three major tests. These tests were performed using a sample/reference unit from Qualcomm itself.

In March 2026, we got an early look at what Qualcomm had cooked up with its X2 Elite Extreme. Leaked Geekbench 6 performance results showed that the Snapdragon chip could trounce the Core Ultra X9 388H, boding well for its competition against Intel's Panther Lake generation.

To say I had high hopes for Snapdragon X2 is fair, and I'm glad to see that performance in actual laptops you or I can buy hasn't dropped off compared to early reference systems.

A few things to consider when poring over Signal65's data

This report from Signal65 was commissioned by Qualcomm, but there's no reason for me to think that any of the numbers were fudged. Signal65 is independent and generally credible.

There's also the fact that these chips were tested in three different laptops from three different manufacturers.

For the test, Signal65 used an ASUS Zenbook A16 (X2 Elite Extreme), an MSI Prestige 16 (Intel Core Ultra), and an HP OmniBook X 16 (AMD Ryzen. Three 16-inch laptops ranging between $1,649 and $2,299.

Because of OEM-level decisions for cooling and power, the different laptops could affect the results. However, I don't think it would affect them enough to sway the paper's overall thesis.

It's also worth pointing out that Intel still leads the way with its integrated Arc B390 graphics, at least in Signal65's tests. It also bested Snapdragon in one Office battery rundown test.

As for value, the $1,699 Zenbook A16 with X2 Elite Extreme is only bested by the $1,649 OmniBook X 16 with AMD Ryzen. Intel might beat Qualcomm in graphics and in one battery rundown test, but the MSI Prestige 16 in which it was tested costs $2,299.

Qualcomm is not only delivering superior performance and battery life, but it's also delivering laptops at a better price than its competition.

Windows Central's take

Qualcomm's first-gen Snapdragon X chips are really what changed the Windows on ARM conversation after so many years. They weren't good enough to get everyone to drop Intel and AMD, but they were a solid foundation.

And now, with Snapdragon X2, Qualcomm has evidently stepped things up in a major way. If you've used a laptop with an X2 chip, you probably already know exactly what I'm talking about.

Have you had a different experience with your Snapdragon X2 PC? What's your main gripe? On the other hand, what do you love most about your X2 PC? Let me know in the comments section below!

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