Tough breakups aren't easy by definition, and the breakup between legendary programmer John Carmack and former employer ZeniMax has probably been one of the most worded of all. Now, Oculus Chief Technology Officer John Carmack has filed a lawsuit against ZeniMax for $22.5 million, money he claims ZeniMax still owes him from id Softwares' $150 million sale to ZeniMax back in 2009. Carmack says the amount he is filling for is part of the $45 million owed to him for the sale, of which he has already been able to convert 22.5 million (the non-missing half) in ZeniMax shares. However, Carmack says ZeniMax is unlawfully withholding the remaining $22.5 million because of "sour grapes".

Carmack claims ZeniMax is holding back the payment as payback for "a series of allegations regarding claimed violations of Mr. Carmack's Employment Agreement", referencing the Zenimax/Facebook lawsuit over the supposed theft of trade secrets. However, Oculus was recently found not guilty of stealing trade secrets, though the court ordered the company to pay $500 million for copyright infringement, false designation and the violation of Palmer Luckey's NDA. Oculus is appealing the case, calling the prior ruling "legally flawed and factually unwarranted."

One of the things keeping OSVR from becoming a de facto platform for VR is that its software stack, being open source, still hasn't received as much development as Facebook's Oculus or HTC's Vive platforms. However, Sensics, one of the players which has put its stock on the OSVR ecosystem from the beginning, is aiming to gradually change that. Its recent introduction of the Sensics Home Suite brings, in itself, some much-needed quality of life improvements for any VR platform.

Earlier this month, Zenimax was awarded $500m when a jury found that VR pioneer Oculus had violated a NDA and illegally used code from the game publisher. That may just be the beginning of the legal ramifications facing Oculus however, as Zenimax has just asked the court to block Oculus from using the code involved in the court case altogether, potentially blocking the sale of a good number of games utilizing the technology of the Oculus VR headset.

Oculus is appealing the case, and calls the prior ruling "legally flawed and factually unwarranted." To their credit, the court did agree that while Oculus had violated a non-disclosure agreement, it did not find that they had committed the larger crime of stealing trade secrets.

NVM Express, Inc., the organization that developed the NVM Express specification for accessing solid-state drives (SSDs) on a PCI Express (PCIe) bus, today announced the results of its recent board elections. Elected to Promoter positions were Facebook, Micron, Microsoft, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Facebook and Toshiba are new to the Promoter level, and the others are incumbents. The election winners join existing Promoters Cisco, Dell EMC, Intel, Microsemi, NetApp and Oracle, whose current terms expire at the end of 2017.

Representatives from the 13 Promoter companies form the NVM Express, Inc. Board of Directors, which governs the organization, including setting strategic direction. All Contributor and Promoter member companies are eligible to run for Promoter positions, where there are elections each year for roughly half the positions.

"We're very pleased to welcome Toshiba and Facebook to the NVM Express, Inc. Board, to help shape the future direction of NVM Express technology and the organization," said Amber Huffman, NVM Express President. "In 2016, we marked major milestones, such as publishing the NVM Express over Fabrics specification. We look forward to publishing revision 1.3 in the first half of this year - with much more to come later in 2017."

ZeniMax Media Inc. has been awarded a $500 million settlement in a virtual reality (VR) patent dispute with Facebook-owned Oculus. A jury in Texas found Oculus in violation of VR patents held by ZeniMax. Oculus in 2014 was acquired by Facebook in a $2 billion deal. ZeniMax owns id Software, a pioneering game studio led by John Carmack. ZeniMax alleges that core components of Oculus Rift VR headset were developed by John Carmack, when he was working at a ZeniMax subsidiary, making them ZeniMax' intellectual property. Carmack left ZeniMax to work for Oculus in 2013.

Game modder Marty McFly Modding accused NVIDIA of stealing their post-processing shaders for Ansel without authorization or credit. Ansel, NVIDIA's pioneering "in-game photography" tech, which lets you take artistic stills (2D and VR) of your games, gives you additional post-processing tools, to let you enhance your shot. Some of these post-processing shaders, Marty McFly Modding alleges, was copied verbatim by the people behind NVIDIA Ansel, without even a third-party credit.

Marty McFly Modding stated on their Facebook page that "Its (Ansel's) custom.fx contains almost 1:1 the colormod pass with my original descriptions. Same for the other files, where many variable names, code, comments and defines match MasterEffect code, also my 1D gausian blur solution, 1:1, just DX11 ported. There may be even more Framework code in it, I just recognized my own code, there might be SweetFX/other code in it as well. While it's an honour to be apprechiated by such a big company, they could at least drop some credits like we do."

Qualcomm, which holds a ton of ARM SoC patents, and put them to good use with its Snapdragon line of SoCs for smartphones, tablets, and convertible notebooks, is foraying into enterprise computing market. The company is ready with its first prototype of a 24-core high-performance CPU based on the 64-bit ARM machine architecture. ARM-based processors are picking up momentum in the server and micro-server markets owning to their low cost, low cooling requirements, and high energy-efficiency; and Qualcomm wants a slice of that pie. Most enterprise Linux and FreeBSD distributors have versions of their server operating systems for the 64-bit ARM architecture, as do most popular server software providers.

The prototype 24-core CPU is socketed, and ships in a large land-grid array (LGA) package, much like Intel's Xeon chips. The first production chips will have a lot more than 24 CPU cores, said Qualcomm senior vice president Anand Chandrasekhar. As a proof of concept, Qualcomm assembled three server blades using these chips, which were running Linux with a KVM hypervisor, streaming HD video to a PC using a LAMP stack (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP) built with OpenStack. Qualcomm's target consumers are big Internet companies like Google and Facebook, which purchase hundreds of thousands of CPUs each year to cope with growing user- and content-traffic.

We here in TechPowerUp want our hardware to be as quiet and cool as possible, and the two other companies that share our passion are Thermalright and Nanoxia. In partnership with the two, we're presenting the new PC Cooling giveaway. To take part, simply "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), and fill up a short form. Up for grabs are three bundles of Nanoxia DeepSilence 1 Rev. B cases and Thermalright HR-22 CPU coolers, each! The giveaway is open from today, till next Monday (28/09), and open to residents of Europe.

To participate, visit this page (Facebook not required).

MSI MGA (Masters Gaming Arena), a globally renowned eSports tournament formerly known as MSI Beat IT and hosted by the leading gaming brand, MSI, has partnered with ESL and will be ready to launch its 6th culmination as the months approach. Eric Kuo, MSI Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, talks about renaming the annual gaming tournament from Beat IT to Masters Gaming Arena, "The rename marks our determination to evolve and do even better as one of the world's leading gaming brands. Years of MSI Beat IT gaming legacy will be carried on in the name of Masters Gaming Arena. MSI's gaming spirit and unflinching devotion to eSports live on. MSI MGA will continue to bring global players together and hand in hand we'll write thrilling chapters in the gaming history!"

MSI MGA will kick off with regional qualifiers for the United States, Europe and Asia. The first qualifier will start in June for Asia, with subsequent weeks covering the rest of the regions across the globe. The 4-day Grand Finals will be held in late August in the United States, where the best gamers from all around the world will compete over more than $200,000 USD in cash prizes and travel support.

TechPowerUp and GIGABYTE bring you this month's giveaway, showcasing the season's hottest mainstream graphics card, the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming. One of the highest-clocked GTX 960 cards, the G1 Gaming pairs NVIDIA's super-efficient "Maxwell" derived GPU with a massive triple-fan cooling solution, which stays silent until a high temperature threshold is reached. Pair a 120W TDP GPU with a 300W-capable heatsink, and you've got yourself a massive "silence" headroom. One lucky winner gets this card. All you have to do is "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), fill up a short form (or have Facebook do it for you), and answer one simple question. Good Luck!

For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

In a response to a question on its Facebook page on whether AMD's next-generation Radeon 300 series comes out before GTA V PC launch (March), the company responded, stating that it's giving finishing touches to its new lineup. "We're still putting finishing touches to the 300 series, to make sure they live up to expectation," the reply from AMD's official Facebook handle stated. In its recent Q4-2014 and FY-2014 results investors' call, AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that her company will launch its next-generation GPU and CPU/APU products only in Q2-2015.

TechPowerUp and MSI are back with another interesting giveaway, this time celebrating Far Cry 4, the open-world shooter adventure in a Himalayan setting. Simply fill up a short form (or have Facebook do it for you), and five lucky winners stand to win UPlay keys to Far Cry 4; one lucky winner gets an MSI X99S Gaming 7 socket LGA2011v3 motherboard, which is armed to the teeth with every feature a serious gamer can possibly need! For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

TechPowerUp is giving away an NVIDIA Shield Tablet, the most powerful handheld game console, which can double up as a conventional Android tablet. Powered by NVIDIA's in-house Tegra silicon, the Shield Tablet has so much processing power, that NVIDIA created its very own game and app marketplace that sells games, which take advantage of that power. And that's on top of Google Play Store, which sells games that just any Android device could play. The tablet comes with an ergonomic game controller, which gives you the kind of control you expect from a conventional game console. To participate, simply "Like" our Facebook page, if you haven't already, and fill up a short form (or have Facebook do it for you). One lucky winner will be randomly picked at the end of the giveaway.To participate, visit this page.

We at TechPowerUp share one thing in common with the folks at MSI Gaming, our love for The Elder Scrolls Online. To celebrate the season's hottest MMO, we're coming together in bringing you the "Fight Fire with Fire" Giveaway. Just answer two questions about what you plan to do with an Intel X99 Haswell-E HEDT build, if you ever build one, and you could stand a chance to win a ravishing MSI X99S Gaming 7 motherboard, that makes up one of three parts you'll need to complete such a build - a high-performance motherboard that's armed to the teeth with every feature a serious PC gamer could ever need. To participate, simply "like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), fill in your details (or have Facebook do it for you), and answer two questions to which there are no right answers. The winner will be randomly picked. The contest is open between today and the 29th of October, 2014. Good Hunting!Fore information, and to participate, visit this page.

TechPowerUp and MSI announce the Z97 Gaming Facebook Giveaway. Open to contestants worldwide, the giveaway lets you win an awesome MSI Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard, which features everything a modern PC gamer ever needs, including Killer NIC, and gaming-grade audio with ground-layer isolation, and a headset amp. Also featured is support for 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX. To win it, all you have to do is "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), fill up a simple entry form (or make Facebook do it for you), and answer a few simple questions. Good Luck!For more details, and to participate, visit this page.

Presenting, the winners of the Hi-Fi Giveaway brought to you by BIOSTAR and TechPowerUp. Spanning a fortnight from late-June, the contest saw hundreds of entries from the US, vying for one of three BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97-WE socket LGA1150 motherboards, featuring one of the industry's best sounding onboard audio solutions, by answering a simple poll on our Facebook page. Without further ado, here are the winners:

• Barry, from Kansas
• Jay, from New Jersey
• Jonathon, from Massachusetts

A huge congratulations to you guys! TechPowerUp will return with more such exciting contests!

TechPowerUp and GIGABYTE are back with a brand new Facebook giveaway, for you to win some cool gaming hardware by answering a handful simple questions. The giveaway celebrates GIGABYTE's 600 Watt Out graphics cards, equipped with coolers that can handle thermal loads of up to 600W, letting you tweak your GPU as if it were under more complex liquid cooling systems. Three lucky winners in this giveaway will each win a keyboard + mouse combo of GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium with Cherry MX Brown switches; and GIGABYTE Aivia Uranium wireless gaming mouse. To enter, simply feed in a little form (or make Facebook do it for you), and answer a few simple questions.For contest rules, and to participate, visit this page.

D-Link, the networking solutions provider for small- and medium-sized businesses, today announced the company is working with Facebook to deliver D-Link's first wireless router with Facebook Wi-Fi. The D-Link 802.11ac Router with integrated Facebook Wi-Fi enables small businesses to offer customers a Wi-Fi hot spot that can be easily accessed by simply checking in via the business's Facebook Page. The solution offers small businesses better Page insights into customers to help foster increased brand loyalty.

"We worked closely with Facebook to deliver an easy-to-use Wi-Fi solution for small business owners looking to create or replace a Wi-Fi hot spot for their customers," said Daniel Kelley, vice president of marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc. "The D-Link 11AC Router with integrated Facebook Wi-Fi offers an incredibly easy way for small businesses to set up a public network, while also enabling them to engage and interact with customers in new ways."

TechPowerUp and GIGABYTE are back with our latest Facebook Giveaway, celebrating the season's hottest online multiplayer shooter, Titanfall. Up for grabs are some cool GIGABYTE gaming hardware, including a GIGABYTE Radeon R9 280X WindForce OC graphics card, a Titanfall Collector's Edition package, a GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium mechanical gaming keyboard, and a GIGABYTE Aivia Uranium gaming mouse. To participate, all you have to do is "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), fill in a really short form (or have Facebook do it for you), and answer three simple questions related to GIGABYTE's Aivia line of gaming peripherals. The contest runs from today (24th March) to 7th April.For more information, and to participate, visit this page. Good Luck!

In association with GIGABYTE, TechPowerUp announced the Gamers Wanted Sweepstakes, in partnership with Splinter Cell: Blacklist. We're running not one, but two concurrent sweepstakes, one exclusive to TechPowerUp readers. Up for grabs are GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB graphics cards, and GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium mechanical gaming keyboards.

GIGABYTE's TechPowerUp-exclusive sweepstakes are in the classic giveaway format. You fill in a form on our Facebook page, and drop your hat into the giveaway. One lucky winner gets both the graphics card and keyboard on offer. The Gaming Wallpaper Design contest, on the other hand, is run entirely by GIGABYTE. You submit your original desktop wallpaper design with the running theme being "FPS gaming." The best entry, judged by GIGABYTE, wins a graphics card and keyboard. The GIGABYTE-TechPowerUp Giveaway is open for entries from today, up to the 15th of October. The wallpaper contest takes its last entries on the 13th of October.

To begin, visit our Facebook page, and click on either of the two sweepstakes to participate in them. Good Luck!

Today is the day the headphone becomes "smart" with the launch of Muzik, an innovative company inspired to transform the way music is experienced. Muzik, founded by disruptive innovator, Jason Hardi, is pioneering a new space called Social Smartware, coined to describe the seamless connection of consumer electronic devices, content and social media platforms to make music instantly discoverable and shareable in an effortless way. Muzik is launching a full line of smart audio products synced to their mobile Muzik ecosystem that will activate a new wave of innovation in the headphone space.

Muzik's game-changing lineup includes their marquee product: the smart, on-ear wireless headphone that combines high-fidelity audio in a simple, elegant sleek design with groundbreaking capacitive touch controls. They are the first headphones in the world that allow users to natively share what they are listening to on Facebook and Twitter or instantly send a song anywhere in the world.

TechPowerUp and BIOSTAR present our latest Facebook Giveaway. Three lucky winners stand to win a BIOSTAR HiFi A85W socket FM2 motherboard, each. Open to participants from the United States, the giveaway needs you to merely like our Facebook page (if you haven't already), and fill up a short entry form. BIOSTAR is looking for a catchphrase that best describes its HiFi motherboard series, so get ready to stir your imagination. At the end of the contest, three winners will be picked at random.

For more information, and to participate, visit this page. Good Luck!Also announcing, the winners of TechPowerUp and AeroCool Facebook Giveaway!

TechPowerUp is back with another chance for you to win some groovy PC hardware, in partnership with AeroCool. Up for grabs are an AeroCool XPredator X3 Devil Red chassis for the top spot; an XPredator X1 chassis for the second; a Touch 2100 touchscreen fan-controller and front-panel replacement for the third; and Strike-X X-1000 fan-controllers for two winners. To participate, all you have to do is "Like" our Facebook page (if you haven't already), and fill in a short entry form. Good Luck!

For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

Our Facebook Giveaway in partnership with GIGABTYE for the period of February-March, has come to a close, we picked three lucky winners from 3,933 sign-ups. Up for grabs were three rad gaming PC hardware from GIGABYTE. A huge congrats to the winners!

• Rhys from Australia, wins GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3 Z77 motherboard
• Miguel from Portugal, wins GIGABYTE Aivia Krypton gaming mouse
• Craig from the United States, wins GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium keyboard

TechPowerUp will return with more interesting giveaways.

TechPowerUp and GIGABYTE bring you the latest Facebook Giveaway! Up for grabs are some cool pieces of hardware that can tag along on your Crysis 3 hunt; including a GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3 socket LGA1155 Z77 chipset-based motherboard; a GIGABYTE Aivia Krypton dual-chassis gaming mouse; and a GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium mechanical gaming keyboard. As always, to participate, all you need to do is "Like" our Facebook pages (if you haven't already), and fill up a short entry form (or make Facebook do that for you). Winners will be announced after March 12. Good Luck!For more information, and to participate, visit this page.