Futuremark has just released a major update to its 3DMark benchmarking suite, adding Vulkan support while simultaneously axing its cousin, Mantle. This means that the API Overhead test now uses a Vulkan path instead of its previous Mantle one, which is sure to lead several enthusiasts into a frenzy of benchmarking under the Khronos's API (which has just recently been announced will offer support for multi-GPU in Windows 10, 8.x, 7, and Linux operating systems.)

Check some of the new features, improvements and fixes on the new version right after the break. You can download this piece of software right here on TPU - just follow the link below.Download: Futuremark 3DMark + TimeSpy v2.3.3663

AMD today released the 17.3.2 Beta version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. This release features official support for the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda space opera, and a 12% performance boost in the game for RX 480 graphics cards compared to results obtained under the previous driver release.

This driver release also sees some fixed issues with texture corruption on some surfaces of The Division under DX12. In addition, this driver release features a fix for what could only have been a rare issue with texture flickering while task-switching on For Honor, considering it only affected 4x Multi-GPU system configurations. This release also features long lists of Known Issues, which you can take a look at after the break.

As always, you can grab the drivers right here at TPU, through our revamped downloads section. Just follow the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.3.2 Beta

Slight heads-up: NVIDIA has announced that it is committed to providing gamers the best possible experience in the recently released - and TPU reviewed - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. The company reiterated its complete support for the game with its Game Ready drivers (version 378.66). However, NVIDIA is counting on launching a new Game Ready driver later this week, which will "introduce Ansel support for Ghost Recon Wildlands as well as some other surprises for gamers."

TPUCapture is our gift to the PC enthusiast community. This nifty little screenshot utility lets you directly upload screenshots to our Free Image Hosting service, and gives out direct sharing links, along with Forums BBCode. We have given it its first major update in years. The new TPUCapture v2.0 is packed to the brim with new features, including support for HiDPI (high pixel-density) displays, in which the OS is upscaling your desktop for clearer fonts. You can now save in three JPEG quality presets, GIF, and lossless PNG formats. You can also tell us if you want us to delete your uploaded image after a specified amount of time. As always, TPUCapture lets you capture select areas of the screen, active windows, or the entire screen. It also lets you highlight portions of your screenshot. Grab TPUCapture from the link below.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp TPUCapture v2.0

AMD today released the 17.2.1 Beta version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. This release features Multi GPU profiles and support for For Honor (with an up to 4% performance improvement on Radeon RX 480) and Sniper Elite 4 (with a 5% performance improvement being registered here). Look after the break for a list of known, fixed issues.

As always, you can grab the drivers right here at TPU, through our revamped downloads section. Just follow the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.2.1 Beta

AMD today released the 17.1.2 WHQL version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. The release packs the exact same game support, fixes and known bugs as the previous 17.1.2 Beta, with the only difference being that this version is now WHQL-signed.

As always, you can grab the drivers right here at TPU, through our revamped downloads section. Just follow the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.1.2 WHQL

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, diagnostic, and monitoring utility that no enthusiast can leave home without. With the latest version 1.9.0, GPU-Z is out of "beta." We chose 1.9.0 over the more sequential 1.0.0 as it presents better continuity and averts the confusion of 1.0.0 (read 1.0) somehow sounding older.

Version 1.9.0 adds support for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, GTX 940MX, and GT 740 (GK107). On machines with GeForce "Pascal" GPUs, it can also tell if you have an SLI HB bridge installed in your machine or a classic SLI bridge. This way you know if your pre-built OEM has cut-costs. GPU-Z can now reliably extract video BIOS from AMD "Polaris" GPUs such as the Radeon RX 480. Improvements were made to the way it reads engine clock on AMD "Polaris" GPUs. All communication between GPU-Z and TechPowerUp servers (such as voluntary BIOS uploads, validations, etc.) now happens over secure HTTPS.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 1.9.0 | GPU-Z 1.9.0 ASUS ROG ThemedThe change-log follows.

As many of you will know, back in June last year we lost our good friend and Senior Moderator Dean Kortenhoven, better known to us as Kreij to Cancer. For those of you that knew Kreij you will know that not only was he a leading light within this community but he was one damn fine human being. TPU, his family and anyone who knew him well are the poorer without him.

Kreij is remembered throughout our community in many ways, none more prominent than our Memorial build giveaways that not only support current members with the opportunity to win good quality hardware/systems (giveaway builds are geared to be able to game/crunch/fold well) but just as importantly to add more machines to the constant war against this ugly and hateful disease, for that we have our crunching/folding friends to thank as well as our outstanding TPU forum community, we thought it would be a good idea to compliment the existing memorials with something a little different in the form of a Christmas competition but with a little twist. The competition will involve a little writing but in return the winner will receive a graphics card kindly donated by our friends from XFX to whom we are very grateful.

More details and the competition opener will be published shortly, the final twist is that the competition will be hidden within an existing Kreij thread, so practice those forum searching skills to find and participate!Written by Tatty_One

There won't be a Radeon R9 Nano review on TechPowerUp. AMD says that it has too few review samples for the press. When AMD first held up the Radeon R9 Nano at its "Fiji" GPU unveil, to us it came across as the most promising product based on the chip, even more than the R9 Fury series, its dual-GPU variant, and the food-processor-shaped SFF gaming desktop thing. The prospect of "faster than R9 290X at 175W" is what excited us the most, as that would disrupt NVIDIA's GM204 based products. Unfortunately, the most exciting product by AMD also has the least amount of excitement by AMD itself.

The first signs of that are, AMD making it prohibitively expensive at $650, and not putting it in the hands of the press, for a launch-day review. We're not getting one, and nor do some of our friends on either sides of the Atlantic. AMD is making some of its tallest claims with this product, and it's important (for AMD) that some of those claims are put to the test. A validated product could maybe even convince some to reach for their wallets, to pull out $650.

Well folks, it is this time of the year again! Everyone at TechPowerUp (and NextPowerUp) would like to wish you a Merry Christmas with your loved ones! We hope the festivities are grand and the presents of high performance. May all your wishes have come true and you are able to celebrate in a tranquil atmosphere.

And, we also want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for making 2014 another awesome year. We had lots and lots of interesting things to tell you about, but rest assured, that 2015 will be even greater! We hope you will enter the new year with a great big bang and wish you all the best for the new year.

From all of us, here at TPU/NPU: Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten, Joyeux Noël, Καλά Χριστούγεννα, Buon Natale, Feliz Natal, Feliz Navidad,...

ASUS today announced X99-Deluxe, X99-Pro and X99-A, three new ATX motherboards based on the Intel X99 chipset and packed with exclusive technologies, including OC Socket and 5-Way Optimization, to ensure ultimate performance from the latest LGA 2011-v3 Intel Core i7 processors.

X99-Deluxe is the flagship model, with a bundled ASUS Hyper M.2 x4 expansion card for ultra-fast 32 Gbit/s transfer speeds; onboard 3x3 (3T3R) 802.11ac for ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1,300 Mbit/s; and an ASUS Fan Extension Card for flexible additional cooling. With a cool, streamlined outlook that includes a broad, striking-white shield, X99-Deluxe and X99-Pro also deliver the futuristic style and strong performance demanded by PC enthusiasts.

TechPowerUp is Live from Computex 2013, the biggest expo covering PC and related consumer technology! Armed with instant image upload devices, three of us are spread across the vast and never-ending show floor, bringing you the newest in the world of PC technology, fastest. Catch up with our newest finds in TPULive. Chat with us directly, and others in the chatbox. Keep up with the latest on TechPowerUp News! See you around.

You may have read our report from earlier today, covering the main points that AMD was trying to make in its recent teleconference with the European press (which includes us). While in the call, we were a little jolted by the choices of words some of AMD's executives used to describe their company's consumer graphics outlook for 2013, how they believe they can hold out for almost the entire year with little or no major updates to their product stack, and more interestingly, a few above-the-belt jabs at NVIDIA and its upcoming GeForce GTX Titan product.

The crux of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was to bust some misconceptions spread in the press over the last couple of weeks, to tell them a Graham's Number of times that they still hold the fastest single GPU on the planet, which powers the fastest graphics card there is (ASUS ARES II). The most ironic part of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was the one in which they called GeForce Titan NVIDIA's emergency/knee-jerk reaction to AMD's getting cozy with game developers, and netting some of the biggest PC game launches of the season for its Never Settle Reloaded bundle.

TechPowerUp's World Community Grid (WCG) team is on a roll. It currently generates the fourth highest production of BIONC points in the world, and is growing. To help accelerate its growth further, our WCG community is announcing the February Challenge. The contest requires you to net at least 25,000 WCG points for TPU's WCG team in the contest period (08/Feb/2013 to 08/Mar/2013).

At the end of the contest, winners will be picked completely at random, who will stand to win one each of thirty (30+) prizes, ranging from Radeon HD 7770 graphics cards to Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" processors, LGA2011 motherboards, PSUs, memory kits, other enthusiast PC hardware, games (Steam/Origin/U-Play keys), gift cards, and consumables (such as TIM tubes), all of which are community sourced.

For more information, and to get crunching, visit this thread.

What better way of beginning a new year than riding the avalanche of new hardware and gadgets? We at TechPowerUp and NextPowerUp, are the 2013 International CES, and the ice looks lovely! As has been our tradition for the past few years, before "smart" cameras even made it to drawing boards, our cameras are jerry-rigged to instantly upload pictures from the CES as they're clicked, making us a really fast source of news, unveils, and opinions, from the show-floor.Take a peek at the pictures, and chat with us directly by visiting: TPU Live CES 2013

To provide the best user experience on the AMD platform, ASUS has refreshed a variety of motherboards, including mainstream channel models, dedicated products from ROG and the TUF Series, plus FM1 socket-compatible and power-efficient APU-based models. Each product offers a variety of new ASUS exclusive technologies such as digital power control, Remote GO!, and Network iControl, alongside innovative Fast Boot, ASUS Boot Setting, and DirectKey, all specifically leveraging upcoming Windows 8 capabilities. Both new and existing features have been tailored and tested to comply with the Windows 8 architecture for total stability and maximized utility, while all motherboards have gone through a full series of compatibility assurance tests in getting ready for the move to Windows 8.

Now, iPhone users can take their TPU (TechPowerUp) places, too! Four months after launching TechPowerUp for Android, we finally managed to clear Apple's App Store bureaucracy and launch our app for the iPhone and iPod Touch (requires iOS 3.0 or later). The TechPowerUp app delivers our site to you in a form that's optimized for your phone, without a browser overhead. News and updates, new reviews and articles are sent as alerts, the content is delivered in just the right way. Not only can you read our stuff, but can also comment, and get access to our 70,000-strong community. Now your iOS device is never too far away from TPU.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp App (free, for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, requires iOS 3.0 or later)

Can't stay a moment off TechPowerUp? Have school/college already figured out, and find the class boring? Find your daily commute over public transport worth something more than social networking and repetitive gaming? Do zombies run the IT at your work, that blacklist sites you love? We know how you feel, so do we. So we figured out we could put TPU on your Android smartphone, with more features, and to run without a bloated mobile web-browser. Presenting the very first TechPowerUp Android application! We started this project a few weeks ago, after gauging your interest in a recent front-page poll.

The TechPowerUp application is now on the Android Market. It is heavily optimized for small-screens, including screen scaling, and performance. It gives you access to our News, Reviews, and Forums; complete with all our content. Don't just read our stuff, comment on them. Now you're never too far away from your TPU.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp Application for Android smartphones (free)

Chinese online marketplace site Taobao has listings of two yet-to-launch motherboards based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, the Wibtek Z77 Hacker (we earlier covered news of that listing in early January) and now, the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe. This will be among ASUS' premium LGA1155 motherboards based on the new chipset. It is priced at 2,499 RMB (US $396), which seems overpriced. The seller is probably looking to make a quick Mao with pre-launch orders. The seller was kind enough to paste ASUS' marketing poster for the P8Z77-V Deluxe, which can typically also be found on the back side of product packaging.

The P8Z77-V Deluxe supports DDR3-2800 MHz with overclocking. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8/x8 when both are populated), wired to the CPU, supporting NVIDIA SLI, AMD CrossFire and Lucid VirtuMVP; one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the PCH); and four PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots. Good riddance to legacy PCI. Display connectivity lacks archaic connectors such as DVI and D-Sub, includes HDMI and DisplayPort, instead. Storage connectivity consists of four SATA 6 Gb/s (two from the PCH, two from a third-party controller), four SATA 3 Gb/s, and two eSATA 6 Gb/s.

Welcome to the TechPowerUp 2011 PC technology Christmas special. We hope that you will enjoy reading it while tucking into your turkey, Christmas presents and a little too much wine... In this article, we go through the technology of 2011 that has had the most significance, the most impact and was generally the most talked about. It's not necessarily the best tech of 2011 which is the most significant though, since lemons can be just as significant as the ground-breakers in how they fail to deliver - and the backlash that goes with it.

January: Intel Sandy Bridge i5 & i7

Released on January 9th, the new Intel Core i5 & i7 processors were based on Intel's second generation Core architecture built on a 32 nm production process (HEXUS review). They included an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) physically on the same piece of silicon along with HyperThreading. These new dual and quad core processors soundly beat all previous generations of Intel processors in terms of processing performance, heat, power use, features and left AMD in the dust. Therefore, Intel badly needed some competition from AMD and unless you have been living under a rock, you will know how that turned out in October with the launch of Bulldozer. Sandy Bridge was a sound win and is generally considered to be the only architecture worth considering at this point. The i5-2500K is currently at the sweet spot of price/performance. It comes at a stock speed of 3.3 GHz, but typically overclocks to an amazing 4.5 - 5 GHz with a decent air cooler and without too much difficulty in getting there. Models in the budget i3 range were released at various times later. See this Wikipedia article for details.

It is the time of the year once more and we at TechPowerUp! would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Hopefully everyone is able to enjoy this precious time with their friends & loved ones, that the season manages to inspire and bring some peace and tranquility during these turbulent times!