One of the best budget CPU upgrades is now cheaper than $200
Deals Amazon has acquired a special 34% discount for the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, making one of the most affordable and power-efficient CPUs for PCs with RTX 4080 graphics cheaper than ever.
Features
It's a great time to get caught up on the world of competitive Age of Empires 2
Gaming The Red Bull Wololo: Londinium tournament's $200,000 finale will be played at the Royal Albert Hall, but the qualifiers have already delivered some top-shelf Age 2 action.
Hands‑on with the stylish G7 Pro ZZZ Edition
Xbox The G7 Pro ZZZ Edition is more than an anime reskin. It’s a wireless Xbox powerhouse with TMR sticks and clicky optical switches that may justify the price.
SteamOS is slowly winning over gamers for these four reasons
Windows Linux and SteamOS are gaining users, especially in gaming circles. Windows isn't going anywhere, but Microsoft is paying attention.
Hytale shows that Minecraft should start trying something new
Gaming Mojang should take the release and subsequent success of Hytale as a major kick in the butt.
Windows & Software
Chrome could soon open the moment you open your Windows 11 PC
Browsing A new toggle in Chrom allows the browser to launch immediately at startup. The feature is in testing now in the Canary Channel.
A modern, less-bloated, GitHub‑supplied Notepad is here
Software Not happy with the direction that Windows 11's Notepad app is taking? Don't want to use Notepad++? This free, open-source alternative is available on GitHub.
10 Windows 11 features coming in February (if they don't break your PC)
Windows 11 After breaking PCs in January, Microsoft is rolling out 10 new Windows 11 changes for February, including the expansion of Cross-Device Resume.
PC Hardware
Intel’s XeSS 3 update finally adds multi‑frame generation to Arc GPUs
Hardware XeSS 3 MFG delivers up to three additional frames for every "real" frame rendered by the GPU, significantly improving framerates.
AMD could extend RDNA 3.5 until 2029, living alongside RDNA 5
Hardware AMD’s long RDNA 3.5 stretch could leave future handhelds behind as Intel’s Xe roadmap rapidly advances.
AMD's Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a higher-binned 9800X3D with a price premium, and that's fine
Review I tested AMD's new Ryzen 7 9850X3D desktop CPU to see if it's worth the money over its 9800X3D predecessor. Should you spend an extra $30 for 400MHz?
AMD reveals Ryzen 7 9850X3D — launch date + price
Hardware Did AMD just make the 9800X3D obsolete with the new 9850X3D? We'll know more once reviewers get their hands on the chip next week.
Deals
One of our favorite AMD CPUs for PC gaming is now 14% cheaper
Deals Amazon is hosting a special 14% discount for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, a mighty mid-range CPU that will castly your PC gaming experience with 8 cores, 16 threads, a max clock boost of 5GHz, and more.
This enjoyable 2-in-1 laptop with a 2K touchscreen is now 33% more affordable
Deals The HP Omnibook X Flip 14 laptop gets a massive 33% price cut so people can take advantage of its advanced features for AI tasks and digital artwork for less
One of the few laptops we have a perfect 5/5 score to, is now 35% off
Deals The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9) laptop is one of the best laptops we've ever covered for its ultra-thin design, excellent performance, long battery life, and more convenient features that are now on a 35% sale
RAM shortage crises won't stop this top-grade laptop from being under $750
Deals With a battery that refuses to die, remarkable performance, a compact design, and a 25% discount, the ASUS Zenbook A14 laptop is an easy recommendation for casual users and office workers
Handheld Gaming PCs
Xbox Ally owners hit by new Windows AI issue
News Windows Smart App Control in Windows 11 is blocking Armory Crate on Xbox Ally and ROG Ally devices, preventing users from accessing essential settings and updates.
Gaming
80% of game devs plan for Windows — with PS5 / Xbox plans slipping
Gaming Steam and Windows stays winning, as console support no longer seems to be a priority for game devs.
It's a great time to get caught up on the world of competitive Age of Empires 2
Gaming The Red Bull Wololo: Londinium tournament's $200,000 finale will be played at the Royal Albert Hall, but the qualifiers have already delivered some top-shelf Age 2 action.
Helldivers 2 was a huge success on Xbox and PlayStation
Gaming New Alinea Analytics estimates show Helldivers 2 thriving on both platforms, with Xbox momentum colliding with PlayStation’s longer, slower sales curve.
Artificial Intelligence
Satya Nadella insists Copilot is widely used, despite investor concerns
AI Satya Nadella says Microsoft’s Copilot AI is seeing strong adoption, even as investors question the growth of Azure and Microsoft 365.
Microsoft’s $7.6B AI win comes with a heavy Azure backlog from OpenAI
AI The software giant says OpenAI accounts for a chunk of its backlog in its Azure cloud computing business.
ChatGPT erased two years of work with one click
AI ChatGPT irrevocably deleted two years of a professor's work after he disabled the data consent option. Despite contacting OpenAI's support team, the professor wasn't able to restore his work.
Clawdbot goes viral, but Windows users aren’t convinced
AI Clawdbot was everywhere I looked online this past weekend. Here's what it is, why you don't need a Mac Mini to run it, and why you might not want to hand it the keys to your life.
Microsoft
Is OpenAI about to get a $60 billion lifeline?
AI Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Amazon are reportedly in discussions to invest $60 billion in OpenAI. Could this push OpenAI into the black?
Microsoft might have unlawfully tracked an Austrian child via cookies
Microsoft The Austrian data protection authority has ruled that Microsoft illegally used tracking cookies on a minor's device without consent, using its Microsoft 365 Education platform.
Microsoft secures more AI memory as demand explodes
Microsoft Microsoft's platforms may avoid DRAM supply issues, if this report is to be believed.
Excel Agent Mode is here to fix your broken formulas with AI
Apps Agent Mode brings a massive productivity boost to Excel for Windows and Mac, offering direct workbook edits and a choice between OpenAI and Anthropic models.
Peripherals & Accessories
A controller with a heart rate monitor was not my 2026 bingo card
Gaming Recently, Anbernic unveiled a new upcoming controller for PC, mobile, and Nintendo Switch with 1000Hz polling rates and a heart monitor of all things. Here are the details on its specs.
