NVIDIA continues to gingerly navigate trade restrictions that affect shipments of high-end graphics cards and AI accelerators into China. Over the past couple of years, region-specific "nerfed" GPU specifications and reduced allocations of VRAM have produced a good number of "lesser" gaming and professional components. For example, a November 2025 leak suggested the readying of an appropriately "reduced" RTX 6000D Blackwell model—seemingly based on Team Green's "unpasteurized" Western market variant. Despite recently arriving without a "PRO" designation, Chinese AI companies and well-heeled PC enthusiasts will be receiving a highly capable bit of hardware. The passively-cooled NVIDIA RTX 6000D card carries 84 GB of GDDR7 video memory; representing a slight downgrade over its non-nerfed sibling's provision of 96 GB (on a 512-bit bus). A video teardown—courtesy of the GINNSOD Bilibili channel—shows an incredibly dense module layout on the card's PCB, consisting of 28 individual 3 GB chips.

This clever clamshell layout surrounds a Team Green "GB202-891-KA-A1" GPU die. Aptly, GINNSOD's presenter refers to the TechPowerUp GPU database for key points of interest—notably, the card's 448-bit memory bus, 19968 shader unit count, and 2430 MHz boost clock. The reference board design is listed as having a 600 W TDP rating, but yesterday's presentation shows only a maximum of 419 watts being sipped by the lab's test subject. International observers have noted that the gory teardown shows a PCB design reminiscent of the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell model's internal setup, though the latter enjoys having all of its VRAM module bays filled up (with thirty-two 3 GB chips). By contrast, the RTX 6000D's board features four unoccupied spaces. As a system integrator, GINNSOD offers aftermarket liquid-cooled modifications/upgrades—the latter half of the teardown vid delves into the fitting of a custom-made solution. VideoCardz noted that the company has listed a ~$26,000 workstation system armed with twin RTX 6000D cards and an AMD Threadripper Pro CPU. Said pre-built computer can be seen at various points in GINNSOD's showcase.

Crisol: Theater of Idols will be launching on February 10th, 2026 for $17.99. The island of Tormentosa beckons you, filled with religious fanatics and terrifying monsters, all inspired by real statues found throughout Spain. Today you can read previews from dozens of global media outlets and creators who were able to play the game early. You'll notice that many found the "blood as your weapon" balancing act to put the "survival" back in "survival horror."

Crisol: Theater of Idols is a first-person horror/action game set in Hispania, a twisted version of Spain. Play as Gabriel, a soldier who uses blood as both weapon and lifeline. Explore the cursed island of Tormentosa, uncover dark secrets, and battle horrifying enemies. Will you survive? Crisol is developed by Vermila Studios and published by Blumhouse Games.

AMD officially unveiled its new 8-core Ryzen 7 9850X3D desktop gaming processor earlier in the week; in virtual and specification form. A day later, select members of the press have inspected physical examples at CES 2026. Lately, PCGamesHardware Germany and Club386 have presented photos of OEM hardware—as evidenced by a visible OPN code, reading as "100-000001973." A few e-tailers have started listing the retail version—web searches of the related "100-100001973WOF" designation bring up Team Red's boxed product. It is not clear whether AMD reps presented physical units behind closed doors, or an in-person preview session was organized by a manufacturing partner.

The PCGH.de report contains shots of a delidded example, with a gory view of the emerging Ryzen 7 9850X3D's innards on full display. As expected, a lone CCD is positioned just below the central I/O die—corresponding to the layout present within readily available Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUs. Additionally, analysis of the markings on AMD's heat spreader point to this particular Ryzen 7 9850X3D sample bearing a mid-September 2025 production window. Like other "Granite Ridge" models, it was made in Malaysia—and tagged with a "PGY" manufacturing location reference.

Logitech's popular "egg-shaped" gaming mouse has marched into the modern age. As reported last month, only a smattering of "inspired by G304/G305" alternatives offered truly up-to-date specifications—in terms of internal components and feature sets. After a (roughly) seven year-long wait, Logitech has updated their classic budget-friendly design. Late last year, members of the MouseReview subreddit picked up on pleasing developments in China. In December, the brand-new G304 X Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse model turned up on Logitech's Chinese webstore, minus pricing details. Currently, the modernized model is not available globally. According to official spec sheets and early adopter teardowns, the 57 gram G304 X Lightspeed appears to be a more low-to-mid-range prospect.

Logitech's HERO 25K sensor is not exactly cutting-edge, but its latest deployment leads to a significant upgrade over the past-gen model's HERO 12K unit. HERO 25K offers a maximum 25,600 DPI setting, up to 40G of acceleration, a max. 400 IPS tracking speed. One video dissection shows Logitech's selection of the common Nordic nRF52833 MCU, Omron D2FC-F-7N (10 million click-rated) mechanical switches, a Kailh 10 mm black encoder, and a 290 mAh internal lithium battery. The latter aspect will be welcomed by gaming mouse enthusiasts, since the predecessor relied on AA batteries (or AAA via user modification). The manufacturer claims that the G304 X Lightspeed can operate for "about 106 hours" on a single charge. It is not clear whether the up-to-date design comes with any Bluetooth connectivity, but Logitech's addition of a wired mode is a pleasing new feature. One Chinese vlogger believes that the G304 X Lightspeed model will launch with a sub-$50 price point; positioning it just above MCHOSE's G3 wallet-friendly line.

Around mid-to-late October, Zotac introduced a pleasingly ultra-compact ZBOX MAGNUS EN275060TC barebones PC system. Back then, preview material focused on relatively potent Team Blue and Green hardware being bunged into a 2.65-liter chassis. Many tech enthusiasts were impressed by the Zotac engineering team's latest feat; mainly the fitting of desktop-class GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB graphics card into an extremely cramped interior. Some cork sniffers were less enthused by the manufacturer's choice of CPU—an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX model—due to the chip's mobile application origin. A true all-desktop-grade alternative is also lined up within Zotac's ZBOX MAGNUS product stack, but packaged in a larger enclosure: EU27507TC.

HKEPC has performed teardowns of Zotac's latest and greatest ZBOX MAGNUS systems, with the EN275060TC SKU receiving the most recent treatment. A gory feature article was published yesterday, providing close-up shots of the mini PC's intriguing custom discrete graphics solution. Zotac's "Blackwell" gaming range has favored larger profiles, but the emergence of less potent NVIDIA GPUs has diversified the company's portfolio of current-gen cooling solutions. HKEPC's investigation of the EN275060TC's interior setup shows a compelling custom GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB card, that lacks an external power connector. A GPU-Z diagnostic indicates the utilization of a hybrid "PCIe x8 5.0 + x8 5.0" interface.

Intel's elaborate "Project Battlematrix" all-in-one inference platform has turned up in a noted reviewer's test lab. This multi-graphics card setup is based on Team Blue's fairly fresh Arc Pro B60 "Battlemage" model. On Monday (December 1), Storage Review's Divyansh Jain published an early hands-on impression of this potent AI-crunching array. Interestingly, one of the sample Maxsun 48 GB cards was subjected to a teardown—this exposé granted a close-up look at a dual-GPU configuration. Months ago, members of the press handled fully assembled workstation-grade examples at Computex 2025. Maxsun's dual-slot thick "Turbo Fan Edition" card design utilizes a blower-style cooling solution. Two months ago, the Chinese firm revealed a slimmer "Liquid Edition" alternative.

The evaluated "Project Battlematrix" platform runs four of Maxsun's conventional ""Turbo Fan Edition" B60 professional cards. Storage Review outlined some of the system's technical necessities: "unlike traditional dual-GPU designs that bridge chips to act as a single GPU, each B60 GPU presents as a discrete device to the system, requiring motherboard support for PCIe x8/x8 bifurcation. A single x16 slot splits electrically into two x8 connections, with each GPU receiving dedicated bandwidth." Following close analysis of the dissected Maxsun sample unit, they reported: (this) dual-card configuration measures 300 mm in length, occupies two slots with blower-style cooling, and draws 400 W total board power via a single 12V-2×6 connector rated for 600 W." Given that single GPU B60 24 GB board partner cards seem to cost roughly $599, doubled up variants could sport $1200+ price tags. It is possible that current memory supply trends could bump up cost of ownership in the near future.

Unlucky owners of certain PlayStation 5 standard and Slim have experienced problems with the seeping out of liquid metal thermal interface material (TIM). This issue has occasionally caused unwanted overheating of the popular home console's AMD chipset. In a surprise move, Sony engineers have reportedly fixed this matter—albeit within the latest revisions of hardware. Modyfikator, a Polish YouTuber and PlayStation modder, recently shared their discovery of this "silent" update. A series of past weekend social media posts provided some gory insights. The plucky modification enthusiast has kindly pulled apart brand-new products, and discovered pleasing internal changes: "(the) MOST important hardware update of the year is here! Sony has quietly updated all new PlayStation 5 Slim consoles (model CFI-2116)—both Disc and Digital Editions—with an ALL-NEW cooling system!"

Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro (MSRP: $749.99) received similar treatment earlier in the year, following complaints about factory applications of Liquid Metal TIM becoming unstable beyond original confines. Improved internals were designed around the prevention of leaks/spillages outside the vicinity of a system's APU. Fortunately, this initiative has extended to cheaper SKUs. Modyfikator foresees headache-less gaming sessions on redesigned units: "no more concerns about thermal degradation issues from older revisions. This is the most stable PS5 you can buy right now!" Elaborating on their discovery, Modyfikator provided comparative teardowns of new and old units. A follow-up post stated: "Sony implemented a solution in the Slim that was expected to be a hallmark of the Premium console, the PlayStation Pro—the new version is free from the metal leak issue that affected older PS5 FAT/ OG and Slim CFI2016 from 2023. They optimized the heatsink core for maximum heat dissipation while maintaining full reliability!" Hopefully, the latest iteration of standard PlayStation 5 (non-Slim) features improved internal surfaces and layout.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 "MBA" models have turned up for sale through Chinese black market channels; with local PC hardware enthusiasts quickly snapping up these "reference design" curios—for "scientific" analysis, and in some cases: bragging rights. Officially, Team Red has relied on its board partners to produce an all-custom first wave of RDNA 4 gaming graphics cards. Recent discoveries of authentic-looking "Made by AMD" specimens suggested a very limited distribution of first-party units to trusted partners. According to a fresh ITHome news article, Team Red's Radeon RX 9070 XT reference PCB design was fully revealed via a comprehensive teardown. Kyogre shared heavily watermarked photos with the online publication; showcasing their disassembly of a "leaked" example.

Team Red's proprietary triple-fan cooling solution and backplate were removed; leading to the exposure of gory innards. ITHome provided a quick rundown visual clues—the analyzed unit features: "dual PCIe 8-Pin power supply interfaces, and a black shell with a tough and simple shape. It is about three slots thick and is equipped with a rear open and ventilated cooling backplane with a core back frame...Looking deeper into the internal structure of the graphics card, we can find that this graphics card is equipped with five heat pipes, the corresponding position of the GPU core uses a copper base, and the surrounding memory positions are also in contact with the metal frame through thermal pads. In addition, it is equipped with four video output interfaces."

Shahram Mokhtari and Elizabeth Chamberlain—members of the iFixit Teardown Team—spent hands-on time with Framework's freshly introduced 4.5 liter Mini-ITX "Desktop" PC system. Official press material revealed cooling solution partnerships with Cooler Master and Noctua, but only a minority of "2nd Gen event" attendees were allowed to handle these pre-release modular parts. iFixit employees did not perform a full evaluation of Framework's new desktop model, since they were dealing with a prototype unit. A "repairability score" will be awarded once finalized hardware is delivered to iFixit's base of operations. In the meantime, their video team was hosted at Framework's Northern California office.

According to a follow-up report, Mokhtari and Chamberlain enjoyed their visit: "it's teardown time. Framework has been a beacon of repairability in the laptop space, and now they're bringing that ethos to desktops...Taking this thing apart was exactly as easy as we've come to expect from Framework. They brought us to their HQ to rip into it, and from the very first step, it was clear: this desktop was designed to be opened." Potential buyers—of Framework Desktop—are faced with many configurations, but a crucial choice will focus on available APU options. The highest-end builds will feature AMD's 16-core Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" processor—iFixit's teardown did not reveal any major revelations in terms of the APU's physical appearance. Even Framework's own press release contains an exposed shot—hardcore processor design enthusiasts are better catered to with a more in-depth analysis of "Strix Halo."

The lead-up to the release of Borderlands 4 has been rife with release date speculation, feature wish lists, and no shortage of complaints about visuals and character design. Today, however, at PlayStation State of Play, Take Two released a new trailer for Borderlands 4 and finally confirmed a September 23 release date for the upcoming looter shooter.

As is to be expected from any trailer dropping months ahead of the official game launch, gameplay details are slyly hinted at instead of directly advertised, but there is a lot of information hidden in the latest Borderlands 4 trailer. For starters, the trailer confirmed that Borderlands 4 appears to be getting some serious mobility enhancements, including a new double jump mechanic—which would be the first time since Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel that a Borderlands game allows players to properly redirect in the air. Alongside with double jumping, the new trailer gives us a hint at what to expect from new weapons and character abilities.

Since the end of The Callisto Protocol's main game, things have gone from bad to worse inside the penitentiary. The virus that's been wreaking havoc inside is threatening to escape the prison and it's up to you to retrieve Mahler's data and transmit it off-world. It's not going to be a walk in the park. You're going to have to fight tooth and nail to make your way through monster-infested corridors, where new abominations await.

When it comes to battling Biophage, players need reliable tools to survive. The Stun Baton is a great blunt instrument, but new threats call for new gear. According to Lead Systems Designer, Paul Guirao, the team behind The Callisto Protocol listened to fan feedback and decided to add a new melee weapon to the game. "We wanted to give players something more powerful than the Stun Baton," Guirao explained.

Get ready to face your fears with Shadowman: Darque Legacy ! In this heart-pounding single-player action horror game, take up the scythe of novice Shadowman Jack Boniface, to defend humanity against the terrors of the Deadside. Enter a vivid, horrifying world, shifting between two planes of existence, each with their own twisted challenges. Master visceral, rewarding combat with deadly supernatural weapons and brutal finishing moves, as you battle both human foes and hellish abominations. With its intriguing narrative and dark atmosphere, Shadowman offers an unforgettable experience, blending the best of the Action, Horror and Adventure genres. Don't miss out on this unique and spine-chilling game.

For centuries, the Boniface family has carried a dark legacy - the mantle of the Shadowman, walker between worlds, sworn to preserve the veil between life and death. Now, novice Shadowman Jack Boniface is thrust into the path of a growing evil that threatens everything his predecessors fought for. Building upon the decades of Shadowman tales told within Valiant Comics, this new chapter is an original story developed in partnership with Valiant Entertainment. In Shadowman: Darque Legacy, duel against a horrifying cast of enemies in challenging, visceral combat. Clash with the fanatical Brethren cultists, from hammer-wielding brutes to sorcerous necromancers, and battle truly wretched creatures that have slithered forth from the most desolate depths. Deliver brutal and bloody finishers with a range of Shadowman weapons.