One of this year's biggest new games for Microsoft and Xbox is Halo: Campaign Evolved — a full-fledged remake of the first game, 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved, that features new gameplay additions, expanded replayability, and an Unreal Engine 5-powered graphical makeover.

It's headed to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 late next month, with Xbox confirming its long-rumored release date of July 28 during the Xbox Games Showcase. Notably, you can jump in on July 23, five days early, if you purchase the Premium Edition; I imagine that's incentivized many players to preorder, leading to the game climbing the Steam sales chart.

Now that the Halo remake is just over a month away from its full launch, something PC players in particular have been wanting to know is what the game's system requirements and recommended specs are.

Thankfully, they've now been announced by Xbox and developer Halo Studios, and I've included them in the below image and table for your convenience:

All in all, for an Unreal Engine 5 title that's aiming to deliver peak visual fidelity, Halo: Campaign Evolved's CPU, GPU, and VRAM requirements aren't too bad at all. Targeting a 1440p / 4K resolution with 60 FPS and Medium or High settings can be done with hardware that's five to six years old, which is likely what many gaming rigs are equipped with.

The memory and storage requirements, though, are a bit harsher. Demanding 16GB of memory for the lower quality levels at 1080p and 1440p is fine — most players have that much — but the requirement for 32GB if you want to push higher is a little debilitating, especially during the ongoing RAM crisis.

Campaign Evolved requires a steep 100GB of SSD space, too, which is quite a lot for a campaign-only FPS game. You'll need to uninstall a game or two if your gaming hard drive doesn't have triple-digit room available.

Something worth noting is that it's unclear if these requirements were determined with or without performance-enhancing technologies like Super Resolution and Frame Generation factored in. What we do know, though, is that Campaign Evolved supports their use, alongside things like NVIDIA Reflex and other anti-latency tools. These will make taking advantage of the game's uncapped framerate easier.

Ultimately, the 100GB requirement aside? I'd say it sounds like the Halo remake has been optimized fairly well, and should run well on most PCs with optimal settings chosen. I can't say that for sure until the game is out, though.

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Microsoft and Xbox have experienced some high highs and low lows with its video game adaptations over the years, with Bethesda and Amazon's Fallout TV show and 2025's Minecraft movie proving to be huge hits while the live-action Halo TV series and Halo: Nightfall before it left most viewers extremely disappointed.

Overall, though, multimedia projects that draw from Xbox's gaming IPs have enjoyed more of a positive reception in recent years — and according to comments from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and other executives in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, there's "more appetite to work with us on titles than ever before."

"You won't see us try to become the biggest linear provider in the world or anything like that, but I think great games are culture, and culture is entertainment," Sharma explained. "If you think about it, we've got the number two show of all time on Amazon [Fallout], Minecraft was top 5 in 2025, Call of Duty is bigger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So it all measures. [There's] more appetite to work with us on titles than ever before."

The claim that the Call of Duty series is larger than Disney and Marvel's massive cinematic universe is a bold one, but from what I can tell, the math does actually check out; reported box office numbers put the MCU's lifetime revenue at about $32 billion, while all signs point to Call of Duty making over $35 billion across 500 million lifetime sales.

Now, you can certainly make the argument that the MCU is bigger in terms of cultural impact, but at least from a fiscal perspective, it does seem like Call of Duty has inched itself ahead of the film franchise that kicked off a renaissance of superheroes on the big screen.

That Sharma is confident enough to state so as fact speaks to Xbox's overall confidence in its video game IPs, and how viable they are as franchises to be adapted into other forms of media. Indeed, there is a Call of Duty movie from Paramount on the way, with the film recently getting its June 2028 release date confirmed.

In this very same interview, Xbox also confirmed that there's a live-action Sea of Thieves movie in the works, provided more details about the upcoming Gears of War Netflix series, and even seemed to express interest in taking another swing at a Halo adaptation.

We know a Wolfenstein show is coming to Amazon, that a Minecraft one is in the works with Netflix, and that a Fallout Shelter-inspired reality competition series is filming as well.

Microsoft's plans for multimedia Xbox projects beyond these are a mystery right now, but one thing is quite clear: the company is very interested in continuing to adapt its big-name gaming franchises to other entertainment mediums, and I have no doubts that we'll see additional shows and movies get announced and made in the coming years.

What are some of the Xbox properties you'd like to see Microsoft try and adapt to TV and film? Let me know in the comments below.

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Microsoft just announced new versions of its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch. But rather than a spec bump or a design refresh, the new PCs feature 8GB of RAM.

The ongoing component crisis has led several PC makers to offer laptops with only 8GB of RAM, and that group now includes Microsoft.

While the main focus around the new Surface configurations is pricing, there is a strange side effect to the systems only having 8GB of RAM: neither of them are Copilot+ PCs.

A lighter Windows 11

By having only 8GB of RAM, the new Surface PCs fall short of the Copilot+ PC minimum requirements. As a result, neither PC will ship with or support features like Recall or Click To Do.

I suspect some would view that as a blessing in disguise. Copilot+ PC features take up space on your system that's wasted unless you use the tools.

Here are the exclusive features that ship with Copilot+ PCs, as listed by Microsoft:

• Copilot on Windows
• Recall
• Live Captions with Translations
• Cocreator
• Windows Studio Effects
• Photos

Some of those features are genuinely useful. I recommend trying Windows Studio Effects if your PC supports them.

But some consider Recall and Copilot bloat and would prefer a PC free of those features.

The Copilot+ PC features don't take up that much room. In total, they'll occupy a few hundred MB.

Many Copilot+ PC features are resource intensive, which is why the PCs need more memory. By not including those features, Microsoft almost accidentally made a leaner, more efficient Surface experience.

8GB of RAM on Windows 11

Due to the ongoing memory crisis, PC makers have reintroduced laptops with 8GB of RAM. When Acer announced the Swift Air 14, many were quick to criticize its 8GB of RAM.

It's common to see people claim that a PC with 8GB of RAM is unusable or poor in 2026. Our Cale Hunt tested that claim by stripping down a PC.

Hunt's whole article is worth a read. I'll spoil it for you though: 8GB of RAM was fine.

"That's just not the case. Within reason, running Windows 11 on 8GB of RAM is not only viable but quite enjoyable. Assuming you're not attempting to run some specialized design software or a demanding game, there's quite a bit of memory runway to work with," said Hunt.

The new Surface PCs with 8GB of RAM are not going to handle heavy-duty game or workstation loads, but that's hardly a surprise. Many people could buy and use a Surface Pro or Surface Laptop with 8GB of RAM and never run into any issues.

Shifting away from Copilot+ PC branding

I probably spend more time thinking about Copilot+ PCs than most. The reality is that the brand is net neutral for many. When the ASUS Zenbook A16 earned rave reviews, none of them mentioned that the laptop is a Copilot+ PC.

Microsoft appears to be phasing out the Copilot+ PC brand. When the Surface Laptop Ultra was announced, Microsoft did not mention if it was a Copilot+ PC. The webpage for the Surface Laptop Ultra fails to mention "Copilot+ PC" at all.

The new Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8 that were announced earlier this month are Copilot+ PCs, but the branding is not featured heavily by Microsoft.

You could take things one step further and say consumers don't care about AI PCs. That's what Dell's head of product suggested earlier this year.

I think most people are neutral toward AI features on their PC, whether those features are connected to the Copilot+ PC brand or not. If tools are out of the way or easy to uninstall, most folks won't mind. Complaints will pop up any time AI is forced onto users.

That being said, it still made me chuckle to see new Surface PCs lack the Copilot+ PC branding. Maybe Microsoft should market them as Copilot - PCs.

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With how high the gaming handheld market's prices are headed lately, I figure that any major deal on any device is worth calling out for my mobile PC gamers.

Standing in stark contrast to the $1,799 MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ that's launching this week is the Lenovo Legion Go S. Regularly priced at $711.13, it's now down to $549.99 for a limited time during Amazon Prime Day.

This is the lowest price it's ever been, according to CamelCamelCamel, and it's a great opportunity to grab what is likely one of the last affordable gaming handhelds for a while.

• The best hand-picked Amazon Prime Day deals on Windows laptops, PC components, and Xbox gaming hardware chosen by our editors
• See all Prime Day deals at Amazon.com

Our take on the Lenovo Legion Go S

The Legion Go S is available with both Windows 11 and SteamOS operating systems, and we've reviewed both. More on that in a moment.

This model that's on sale for $549.99 comes with Windows, allowing easy access to features like Xbox Game Pass and third-party launchers, something I sorely miss on my Steam Deck.

It has 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, 512GB of M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage, an 8-inch IPS display with 120Hz variable refresh rate and 1920x1200 resolution, and an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip with 4 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores. It is, by all means, a lot of hardware for the asking price.

In both of our reviews, we called out the device's comfortable and polished design, including Hall Effect thumbsticks and overall snappy controls.

We also called out how great the display looks, thanks to its speedy 120Hz refresh rate, 1200p resolution, brightness, and full color.

When we reviewed the Windows 11 version of the Legion Go S in early 2025, we found it hard to justify its relatively high price. That's largely been taken care of with this sale, which drops it to the lowest price I've ever seen.

Battery life also wasn't that spectacular, though Windows has received a lot of attention since our review in terms of improving the handheld experience for performance and efficiency.

And don't think that the OS is permanent. If you're wishing the SteamOS version of the Legion Go S we reviewed were on sale, guess what? You can pick up the more affordable Windows version and replace the OS whenever you want.

Considering just how expensive gaming handhelds have become in recent months — even the most affordable Steam Deck is now sitting at $789 — this is an outstanding deal for anyone who wants to try out mobile PC gaming.

It's not the newest nor the most powerful device on the market, but it's also going to leave a whole lot of budget on the table for buying games.

I have no idea how long the $549.99 price will last, so don't wait too long. It does require a Prime membership to cash in, but you can always sign up for a free 30-day trial and cancel before you're charged.

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If you were waiting for Amazon Prime Day to jump on some Xbox deals, well, I don't know what to tell you. It's been a bit of a damp squib so far, I think the age of actual console deals in today's climate is behind us. However, Newegg has stepped in with a genuine way to save: You can currently grab a $100 Xbox Gift Card for just $83 when you use the promo code FTTF6926 at checkout.

That’s an instant $17 saving on credit you were probably going to spend anyway on games, and it's basically free money in your (Xbox) bank.

How to redeem your Xbox gift card

The code is delivered digitally via email, so there’s no waiting around for a physical card.

To redeem it:

• Visit https://redeem.microsoft.com/
• Sign in to your Microsoft account (the same one you use on Xbox)
• Enter the code from Newegg

Your balance updates instantly and is ready to use across the Xbox and Microsoft Store.

When you check out, just select your Microsoft Account balance as the payment method to make sure you’re using that discounted credit.

What can you spend the credit on?

Don't let the name fool you; this isn't locked to digital games on your console. It adds balance to your whole Microsoft account, which you can use for games & DLC, Game Pass Ultimate, accessories and anything on the Microsoft store including Surface devices and Office 365 subscriptions.

If you don't have anything in mind right now, but know you are likely to spend money in the store soon, perhaps for a bigger purchase, you can stack multiple gift cards to lower the cost later. It’s a simple way to make any upcoming Microsoft purchase a little cheaper without locking you into a single product.

Newegg usually only runs these promotions for a very limited time, and it's likely that they're just trying to compete against Amazon Prime Day for traffic. With that in mind, this deal will be short-lived. If you have any big purchases with Xbox in mind (GTA 6 perhaps?), then jump on this deal now and secure yourself some free credit on top of your spend.

FAQ

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Anyone who's looked at storage prices recently knows that they're completely out of hand. I've been waiting to add some storage to my gaming PC for about six months now, and it's getting to the point where I'll have to bite at a deal like this one on the Samsung 9100 PRO.

This high-performance M.2 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD comes in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB configurations, with blazing fast transfer speeds and the regular durability you expect from Samsung.

"Regular" (inflated) prices have been cut by up to 49%, and you can now land a 1TB drive for as low as $206.99. Best part? You don't have to be a Prime subscriber to nab the deal.

• The best hand-picked Amazon Prime Day deals on Windows laptops, PC components, and Xbox gaming hardware chosen by our editors
• See all Prime Day deals at Amazon.com

What makes the Samsung 9100 PRO SSD so good?

The 9100 PRO was Samsung's first shot at a full-fledged PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD, and to say the company nailed the execution is an understatement.

It's theoretically capable of hitting unreal 14,800MB/s read speeds and 13,400MB/s write speeds, and although those numbers may drop a bit in real-world practice, it's still an incredibly fast drive.

Our friends at TechRadar reviewed the 9100 PRO when it launched last year, and it was awarded 4.5 stars and a Recommended Award.

The TL;DR? It's an exceptional drive for professionals who frequently deal with oversized files and who don't want any hiccups in their workflow.

You do, of course, want to pair this drive with a PC that's capable of running a PCIe 5.0 drive to get the most out of it, but it will function at lower speeds in a PCIe 4.0 system. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're putting together a new PC piece by piece as sales come and go.

If I do buy one of these drives, I'll most likely go with the 2TB version at $349.99. It's the best value at 49% off, costing less per GB than the 1TB and 4TB versions.

I should also mention that these drives come with a 5-year Samsung warranty to protect your purchase.

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Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred was a resounding success for Blizzard, even with a lack of season-specific activities for Season 13, so with that in mind, Season 14 has a lot to live up to. Will Diablo 4 be able to keep its hooks in us for its first real season after the release of the expansion? Will the drastic changes to Mythic Uniques make or break the gameplay loop?

Well Season 14, dubbed the Season of Death Awakening arrives on June 30 so we'll find out for ourselves soon. Here's what we know about Season 14 so far, including some changes that have been made from the PTR.

Mythic Uniques 3.0: The revamp that everyone is is skeptical about

The most significant change coming to the game is the overhaul of Mythic Uniques. Instead of being a strict rarity, "Mythic" is now a modifiable quality that can be applied to any Unique item.

You can convert any Unique into a Mythic Unique using the Horadric Cube or the Jeweler.

Based on player feedback from the PTR, crafting is now deterministic; for instance, if you put in a pair of Unique boots, you are guaranteed to receive a pair of Mythic Unique boots back. These items will have their Unique powers increased by 30%, and any affixes added through Enchanting, Transfiguration, or Tempering will now always roll as maximum values.

While you can only equip one crafted Mythic Unique at a time, there is no limit on those acquired through natural drops. Additionally, Blizzard has decided that all Uniques will retain two guaranteed affixes to preserve item identity.

There's been much ado about this change and how it will impact the meta, but I for one am keeping schtum until I've actually tried it out, and I'm cautiously optimistic that it will actually create some wild build diversity.

New Seasonal Content: Pandemonium & The Risen

Sanctuary is being ripped apart by Pandemonium Ruptures, which spawn across the overworld and Helltides. By killing guardians, you keep these rifts open longer to earn greater rewards. Yes, this is Realmwalker 2.0, the season that didn't go down so well when Vessel of Hatred launched, but it's been tweaked enough that I'm willing to give it another chance.

Defeating a Realmwalker grants access to a Deathtoll Chamber, a specialized mini-dungeon that serves as the best source for Superior Lair Keys, which are required to open the new seasonal Lair Boss’s hoard.

We're also getting a new monster family (aww) called The Risen; you must destroy Orbs dropped by these enemies to prevent the Exarch from executing a powerful attack.

Tower, Leaderboards, and Solo Self Found

It's happening, it's finally happening! The Tower and Leaderboards are graduating from Beta status this season, and a new Solo Self Found (SSF) mode is being introduced.

SSF is a permanent character state for the season where you cannot trade or join parties, but you gain access to exclusive SSF-only leaderboard categories to prove your skill.

Players will earn weekly rewards based on their performance in the Tower, and those who rank high will receive cosmetic Halos and prestige titles. At the start of the next season, players will be granted an Emblem based on their highest rank achieved during this season. Time to show off.

Quality of Life and rewards

Party play is being streamlined with synced War Plan boards, allowing a party to coordinate their activities more effectively. Additionally, the Obol cap has been increased to 25,000 (no more running back and forth to town), and the Gold cap is now 999,999,999,999. Gold, gold, glorious gooold!

Fans can also look forward to another Diablo 4 x Overwatch collaboration starting June 30. This time, it's Diablo players that can earn the cool skins. We can earn the Kiriko Fox Pet and other themed cosmetics by collecting currency from Elite and Champion monsters.

The new season also offers a refreshed rewards track, including up to 12 Skill Points, 42 Paragon points, and 7 Resplendent Sparks.

When you can pre-download Season 14

If you want to be ready the moment the season starts, the 3.1.0 patch will be available for pre-download on June 25 at 10:00 a.m. PDT for Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation.

For more details on class balance and specific affix changes, you can check out the full 3.1.0 patch notes. Which class are you planning to take into the Tower first, and how do you feel about the new, Mythic crafting system?

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It's come to light that Obsidian Entertainment — the storied, legendary developer known for creating Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, and Grounded, Pentiment, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2 under Xbox Game Studios — is currently facing a class action lawsuit after allegedly "violating state wage and hour laws."

The case — first opened in October last year, and followed by an amended complaint that was filed in January by plaintiff Victoria Turner, who has a name matching that of a QA lead that worked on Obsidian's 2025 RPG The Outer Worlds 2 — accuses the Xbox studio of engaging in "a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders."

Specifically, it's alleged that the developer failed "to pay all wages (including minimum wages and overtime wages)," didn't "provide lawful meal periods or compensation in lieu thereof," and didn't "authorize or permit lawful rest breaks or provide compensation in lieu thereof."

It's also been claimed that Obsidian failed to "reimburse necessary business-related costs," "provide accurate itemized wage statements," "pay wages timely during employment," and "pay all wages due upon separation of employment."

The lawsuit "seeks monetary relief" for Turner and "all others similarly situated in California" where Obsidian is headquartered, with the ultimate goal being "to recover, among other things, unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses, benefits, interest, attorneys' fees, costs and expenses, and penalties."

Notably, the case covers "all persons currently or formerly employed by any or all Defendants as nonexempt employees in the State of California at any time between October 9, 2021 and the date of class certification." The plaintiff also seeks to include "All members of the Class who separated their employment with any or all Defendants at any time between October 9, 2022 and the date of class certification."

Obsidian's first response to the lawsuit came in early March, with the studio stating that it "denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation in the FAC [First Amended Complaint]." It also denied "that Plaintiff and/or any putative class members she purports to represent have suffered any injury or been damaged in any sum whatsoever by reason of any act or omission" from the developer or its staff.

Obsidian then argued Turner's case "fails to state facts sufficient to constitute valid claims," and added that "Plaintiff and any putative class member and/or other allegedly aggrieved employees consented to and/or acquiesced in the alleged conduct by Defendant of which Plaintiff now complains."

Essentially, what the studio is saying here is that Turner hasn't provided adequate proof to support the lawsuit's claims, and that the workers it represents voluntarily gave up lunch and rest breaks. The case hasn't progressed since that response, but I and the rest of Team Windows Central will keep an eye on it and report on new developments.

All of this comes amid Obsidian's efforts to restructure itself within Xbox, with the developer enacting plans to shorten development cycles, more frequently work with partner studios, and reuse technology and solutions from previous projects as it builds new ones.

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As part of the Experimental experience for Windows 11 version 26H2, Microsoft recently released build 26300.8697. While the official announcement focused on fixes and improvements, a more interesting discovery was hiding beneath the surface. A new Search setting that can turn off Bing-powered web results in the Windows Search experience.

Search may finally get a Bing off switch

Windows Search has long mixed local files, apps, and settings with web suggestions, often surfacing Bing results even when users are simply looking for something on their computer. The appearance of a dedicated toggle to remove those web results suggests that the company is exploring a more streamlined Search experience with fewer distractions.

However, this isn't entirely new. Users in the European Economic Area (EEA) have had similar controls for some time as part of Microsoft's compliance with the Digital Markets Act. What's notable here is that the company now appears to be building the same functionality for all markets.

The story I see is much more than user choice. This appears to be Microsoft acknowledging that not every Windows Search query needs a web result attached to it. Instead of forcing online content into the experience, Windows 11 could soon let users decide what belongs in Search. For many people, that could make finding apps, files, and settings faster and more predictable.

New Search controls reduce clutter

The setting is currently tucked in under Settings > Privacy & security > Search in build 26300.8697. The option is labeled "Web Searches" in the "Show suggested search results" section.

Microsoft is also testing a separate "Microsoft Store" toggle to prevent Store apps from appearing in Search results. Together, these options would give users more control over what surfaces when searching from the Start menu and Search box in the Taskbar.

Privacy & Security settings are getting reorganized

The same preview build also includes an updated version of the "Privacy & security" page. Microsoft has reorganized the settings into clearer categories and added a new header that provides quick access to Windows Security, along with glanceable information for location, camera, and microphone permissions.

The company is also adding new entry points for features such as Passkeys and the Custom Dictionary.

Availability of the Search experience

At this stage, the feature is not officially available, and it's not an option you can turn on from the "Feature flags" page either. It was spotted by @PhantomOfEarth inside the Insider build and can only be enabled using ViveTool feature IDs, indicating that Microsoft is still actively developing and testing the experience.

If testing goes as planned, the company could refine the feature through future 26H2 preview releases before deciding on a wider rollout.

Windows Central's Take

I think Microsoft should have offered this option to everyone a long time ago. When I'm using Windows Search, I'm usually looking for a file, app, or setting, not a Bing result. While web integration has its place, it often makes Search feel more cluttered than helpful.

What's interesting is that similar controls have already existed in Europe, so this isn't really a new feature. The bigger story is that Microsoft appears to be testing the same level of control for users across all regions, including the addition of an option to suppress apps from the Microsoft Store in the experience.

I wouldn't consider this a major feature for Windows 11, but it's the type of improvement that can make the operating system feel less intrusive and more focused on what users actually want to find.

What are your thoughts about having the option to remove Bing results from Windows Search on Windows 11? Let me know in the comments.

More resources

Explore more in-depth how-to guides, troubleshooting advice, and essential tips to get the most out of Windows 11 and 10. Start browsing here:

• Windows 11 on Windows Central — All you need to know
• Windows 10 on Windows Central — All you need to know

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Valve's Steam Machine has finally made its way into the hands of testers, and the resulting reviews have been less than inspiring. Whether it's the high $1,049 starting price caused by a global RAM and storage crisis or the underwhelming performance, I know that a lot of PC gamers are now looking for a quality alternative.

These are the 5 best pre-built gaming PCs I could find during Prime Day that will leave you with some cash left over for new games. Only one is priced high enough to match the Steam Machine's introductory price, but in this case, you get 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

• Shop all Amazon Prime Day deals

The rest? Well, they cost significantly less than Valve's device. See for yourself, and happy gaming!

What's in the Steam Machine, and how does performance compare to these discounted gaming PCs?

Valve's Steam Machine runs on a custom AMD Zen 4 CPU with 6 cores, 12 threads, and a 30W TDP. Attached are integrated custom AMD RDNA 3 graphics, with 8GB of VRAM and 28 compute units.

All Steam Machine models come with 16GB of DDR5 system memory, and the introductory models start with a 512GB SSD (upgradeable to 2TB for those with deeper pockets).

Circling back to the custom graphics, testing by our friends at Tom's Hardware revealed that it fails to pull ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 discrete GPU while coming out just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600.

How does that performance compare to the GPUs in the pre-built gaming PCs I've rounded up here? Well, the RTX 5060 easily beats the AMD GPU in raw performance and ray tracing abilities.

If you're interested in a pre-built gaming PC with an Intel Arc GPU, the B570 is a closer match to the RX 7600 and the Steam Machine's custom graphics. However, it should better handle ray tracing, and it should also deliver a better experience if you're gaming at 1440p.

If it's the Arc B580 in the $999 ABS Cyclone Aqua you're looking at, know that it beats AMD's GPU in practically all metrics.

As for the CPU, it seems like the Intel Core i5-14400F is the chip of choice for the pre-builts I've selected here. Good news! Despite its relative age, it should absolutely crush the Steam Machine's custom AMD chip.

My advice? Skip the Steam Machine and go for a real gaming PC instead.

Valve's Steam Machine was knocked off course by no fault of its own, and you can point the finger at the global RAM and SSD shortage caused by AI.

At its starting $1,049.99 price, it's simply outclassed by affordable pre-built gaming PCs with true discrete graphics. It's a shame, because the Steam Machine is a great-looking device.

Unless you're absolutely beholden to the compact form factor and close ties to Steam's storefront, one of these gaming PCs I selected should be a much better value.

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In a rather lengthy interview with Entertainment Weekly, we received a lot of juicy details. From OD getting new information revealed to Netflix's Gears of War movie finally receiving some concrete updates, there's been plenty to unpack. While I've covered most of that elsewhere, it was Xbox's CEO, Asha Sharma's comments about her plans for XBOX's ecosystem that really caught my attention.

What's particularly interesting is that those plans extend far beyond the traditional console experience, so let's take a look at exactly what she had to say.

Within the interview, Sharma outlines her plans for XBOX, stating she wants:

XBOX is making moves to entice developers. Recently, the company introduced updates to help developers working with Unreal Engine 5.8 and also released documentation designed to help Godot developers bring games to XBOX on PC.

Interestingly, we then move over to Todd Green, the head of Candy Crush and King, the company Microsoft acquired alongside Activision Blizzard in 2023. Green offered some insight into the company's approach, saying:

"The thing that we've been trying to do the most here is to treat everybody, whether they describe themselves as a gamer or not, [as important]. We try to have a very mainstream product."

Candy Crush is, of course, a huge IP for XBOX, even if many people don't associate it with the brand. Personally, I think that's one of XBOX's biggest issues. Franchises like Call of Duty and Minecraft are among the biggest entertainment properties on the planet, yet neither is strongly associated with XBOX in the minds of many consumers. If you ask me, that's a huge missed opportunity.

Back to Sharma, however. Following XBOX's Games Showcase, she sat down with Entertainment Weekly and discussed the state of gaming. In particular, she argued that gaming has become increasingly unaffordable.

She does expand, touching on how difficult the business is, saying:

"It's a really hard formula. It's a really challenging business, but I think it's a really special business."

It does suck to hear the words "gaming is unaffordable," but there's certainly some truth to it. We recently got the price reveal for the new Steam Machine, and to say the reception has been positive would be a stretch. At over $1,000, it's simply too expensive to seriously consider, at least for me.

That said, I do understand the broader point Sharma is making. Between increasingly expensive hardware, competing subscription services, and the constant battle for our attention, gaming isn't as accessible as it once was. Whether mobile experiences like Candy Crush are the answer, however, is another debate entirely.

But let me know your thoughts on Sharma and Green's comments in the comments below, and be sure to take part in our poll!

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During 2026's Warhammer Skulls event, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide announced its 3rd DLC expansion, where players could play as the new tech-based Skitarii class.

I'm not too familiar with the Skitarii myself, so I was curious to see how they would stand out from the rest of the classes, especially when the developers, Fatshark, mentioned they would have more customizable freedom in their skill trees compared to the other classes.

My curiosity would be quickly satiated as Fatshark invited me to attend a sneak preview presentation of the Skitarii class, as well as provided me with a Steam code to try it out myself.

After getting hands-on with the Skitarii, it may just be my favorite class in the whole game and one that may convince me to play it more often and finally strive for its endgame content.

This preview was made possible thanks to a Steam code, Preview presentation, and B-Roll footage screenshots provided by Fatshark. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this preview before publication.

What are the Skitarii?

The Skitarii are a unique military force that fights for the tech-worshipping Adeptus Mechanicus faction. They are heavily augmented cyborg hunters that specialize in plasma and lightning-based weaponry, multi-purpose gadgets, and other technologically advanced ways to purge heretics, aliens, and mutants.

They usually act in groups, but in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, you play as an upgraded Alpha Skitarii, who can act as a solo operative.

My preview of this class began with their character customization, which is probably one of the most disturbing yet cool character creators I've ever seen in a game.

You get to customize how royally horrifying your Skitarii look underneath their robes with all their cybernetics, what kind of robotic limbs they have, and even adjust the distortion and pitch of their modulated voices.

Once I finished creating my Skitarii (which took a long while because I wanted to recreate the iconic voice of Soundwave from Transformers), I was off to the training room to learn about their abilities.

How do the Skitarii play?

What sets Skitarii apart from all the classes in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is that their skill tree, which looks like the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy 10, rather than a linear line like the others.

This means you can spend points to adjust the Skitarii's playstyle however you want, rather than being restricted to a certain playstyle like the other classes due to their more open-ended skill tree, and the Skitarii have A LOT of playstyles to experiment with.

You can create a support-focused Skitarii that focuses on using Servo-Skull drones to crowd-control enemies while reviving downed teammates or operating terminals to save players from having to do it themselves.

You can make a long-range sniper Skitarii that's all about destroying elite enemies using a special ability that augments the ammo of their weapons, like the iconic Galvanic Rifle or Arc Rifle, to auto-track targets without aiming.

Heck, you can even make a melee-focused Skitarii that uses a special forcefield that blocks incoming ranged attacks that explodes once depleted, and rushes enemies down with melee attacks using electrified maces or dual blades before ripping out their heart with a giant, gnarly robotic claw.

Plus, thanks to the Skitarii's open-ended skill tree, you can mix up the various abilities of these playstyles together and create your own custom build that sort of functions as a jack of all trades.

Now, all this sounds cool on paper, but it won't mean much if it doesn't come together during real combat scenarios. So, after deciding to adapt a melee-focused build with the anti-ranged shield, I decided to take my new Skitarii class into live combat to see how it would fare.

Now I'm not the best Darktide player in the world, as I've casually played here and there, getting my shiny metal butt kicked plenty of times. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the Skitarii class because it was so fun to play as.

There's just something so empowering about being able to strut up to an enemy screaming in terror that his bullets aren't penetrating your shield and then snuffing out his Nurgle-worshipping, heretical existence by ripping off his head with a giant claw.

Also, I enjoyed the utility of the Skitarii's Servo-Skulls for how surprisingly useful they were. Commanding it to hack terminals instead of having to deal with the annoying image-match mini-game yourself and using it to revive teams so you don't leave yourself wide open to enemy attacks is so convenient and gives your team a better, and less frustrating, chance at survival when things go south.

I can't wait to zap heretics to ash in the name of the Omnissiah

Overall, I was impressed with the Skitarii class by what I saw and played. Its tech-based weapons and abilities are fun to play with, and the personalities you can assign to your Skitarii are a joy to listen to during moments when player characters talk to each other,

Also, I LOVE the idea of having a voice modulator when designing your character's voice to give it a robotic feel, which I hope to see more often in games in general and not just Warhammer 40,000 games featuring the Adeptus Mechanicus.

If the Arbites were the class that convinced me to play Darktide, then the Skitarii may be the class that will motivate me to play at a higher level beyond the occasional casual weekend romp with friends and check out its endgame content.

Bottom line, the Skitarii are awesome, and I can't wait to play more of them alongside everyone else as the Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's Skitarii DLC expansion launches on June 23, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, which happens to be today.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's new Skitarii class? Do you think it will be your main class, or are you waiting for a different kind of servant of the Imperium to become playable, like one of the Sisters of Battle, for example?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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Prime Day has arrived with possibly the quietest fanfare I've ever known since writing for Windows Central, and that's due in no small part to the current state of the tech market. Prices are being hiked left, right, and center, and gaming handhelds have been hit particularly badly by the RAM price hikes. With this in mind, I'm surprised that ASUS is still steaming ahead with this cracking deal on the Xbox ROG Ally, which is down to £379.99 on Amazon. When you compare that to the price of the Steam Deck nowadays, it's a steal for something comparable in performance and with a lot more flexibility.

For playing lower-powered indie games or clearing out your backlog, the two handhelds stand on pretty even footing. The Xbox Ally, however, lets you switch between Steam and Xbox PC natively without requiring hours of tinkering or workarounds. Crucially, it's CHEAPER by a mile.

Why buy the Xbox Ally?

We’re living through unprecedented times for gaming costs, where component shortages and rising demand for AI hardware have driven gaming tech prices to unreachable levels for the average budget gamer. Many of ASUS's competitors have handhelds priced at the same level as a high-end gaming PC (just look at the Lenovo Legion Go 2 prices). Yet with all the price hikes, the standard ASUS ROG Ally has become the single most sensible choice for anyone who just want to play some less demanding games.

To be completely open, I own the ROG Ally X, which is the "beefed-up" premium model, and as someone who mostly plays indie titles and keeps a massive backlog of AA games, I regret spending the extra cash. The standard Ally would have handled everything I threw at it perfectly. Don't make my mistake; save your money for the actual games.

RELATED: Xbox Ally vs Steam Deck which is better?

Sure, this has an entry-level price tag, but for sub-£380, you are getting an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor,and a really nice 7-inch 1080p screen with 120Hz VRR. Not only that, but while on equal terms with the Steam Deck, the Xbox Ally isn't locked down to the Steam OS, and you can jump between your game libraries. You get a dedicated Xbox button that launches a full-screen, controller-friendly gaming environment, and you can download games natively from Xbox Game Pass, the Epic Games Store, GOG, and EA Play without jumping through hoops.

That being said, there is nothing stopping you from doing a clean install of Steam OS and turning this into a much more ergonomic (and cheaper) Steam Deck. It’s arguably the most comfortable handheld I've ever used.

The Xbox Ally is an outlier right now in the gaming handheld market, and I don't expect the price to stay this low for much longer. With price increases being announced from Lenovo, Valve, and other manufacturers, it does feel like the writing is on the wall with Xbox devices, too. If you want to play your backlog on the settee or on the go without taking out a small loan, the Xbox Ally at £379.99 is the deal to beat this Prime Day.

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The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC has been my go-to controller since I first opened its box. Prior to this, I'd been using the regular Wolverine V3 Pro, which also has Xbox compatibility, but the 8K version is something else. The best performance you can get.

But its price was always a sticking point. After all, $200 is a lot of money for a controller. But in swoops Prime Day to knock that down by $50, so you can now (and should) buy one from Amazon for just $149.99.

I've played about 600 hours of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 with this controller (feel free to tell me how much of my life I've wasted in the comments), and I wouldn't use anything else.

For one, it's laid out like an Xbox controller, which I still find the most comfortable. I've tried using the Razer Raiju V3 Pro with the PS5 layout, which is also an excellent controller, but I come back to the Wolverine V3 Pro 8K every time.

It ticks all the boxes. It has TMR thumbsticks; it has delightfully clicky mouse switch buttons and rear paddles, and crucially, it doesn't lose performance when you use it wirelessly versus wired.

8,000Hz is the fastest you can buy on any controller right now out of the box without having to use third-party tools to overclock. For competitive games such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Battlefield 6, the faster the better. It's hard to quantify, but I can feel a difference if I go back to the regular Wolverine V3 Pro at only 1,000Hz.

To get the maximum speed, you do need a beefy CPU, and you need fast enough USB ports. It's not a big drag on the CPU, but the higher the polling rate, the more work it needs to do, so you do need to ensure you have the headroom not to affect your games.

But this is still my favorite controller, and sure, it's PC only. But now it's down to $150 I can't see any good reason not to recommend you pick one up. It's that good. Prime Day only lasts the rest of this week, so take advantage of this new lowest ever price while you can.

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Geekom is one of the brands that we trust most when it comes to mini PCs, and I'm not just saying that; it's a trust built on in-house reviews and testing over the course of a few years.

While mini PCs are always a great option for anyone looking to score a desktop at an affordable price, events like Amazon's Prime Day always tend to bring some of the lowest prices of the year to the forefront.

Such is the case this year, with Geekom mini PCs starting as low as $371 after a hefty discount. I rounded up 7 top Geekom deals with PCs that suit a wide range of users.

• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Amazon US
• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Amazon UK
• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Best Buy
• See the best Amazon Prime Day deals as chosen by Windows Central's editors

Which discounted Geekom mini PC should I choose on Prime Day?

The answer to which discounted Geekom mini is right for you depends, of course, on your specific needs.

Those who simply need a capable mini PC to handle general tasks like email, web browsing, streaming, Word, Excel, and the like will be able to get away with spending the least money.

In this case, the Geekom A5 — discounted from $437 to $371 — makes a lot of sense thanks to its AMD Ryzen 5 7430U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB M.2 SSD. The Geekom A6, discounted from $649 to $524, also makes sense if you want a metal chassis, a faster CPU, improved cooling, and USB4 ports.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Geekom A9 Max, featuring a cutting-edge AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 2TB of M.2 SSD storage. It's comparatively pricey even with a 15% discount, but it's the right choice for gaming and AI workloads.

My personal pick for those shopping during Prime Day is the Geekom A8, sitting near the middle of the pack to balance performance, features, and cost.

Right now, a model with an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD costs $585 rather than the usual $689. Its memory and storage are both upgradeable after purchase, and the Ryzen chip is rather capable thanks to its 8 cores and 4.9GHz boost clock.

Windows Central's Harish Jonnalagadda reviewed both the Geekom A7 and A8 at the same time, handing them a Best Award and 4.5 stars. He noted,

"Having used the A7 and A8 extensively, the only limitation I can think of is that they have a solitary M.2 slot. There isn't much else that is missing on either model, and they both deliver standout performance in day-to-day productivity tasks as well as demanding image and video editing workflows."

These Geekom deals are expected to run from June 23 until June 26, so don't wait too long if one catches your eye. It's also worth mentioning that deal prices seem to fluctuate depending on stock availability, so early birds might get a better price.

• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Amazon US
• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Amazon UK
• See more Geekom Prime Day deals at Best Buy
• See the best Amazon Prime Day deals as chosen by Windows Central's editors

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Microsoft is now selling new configurations of the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch with 8GB RAM in an attempt to quell the ongoing component pricing crisis that has seen the cost of Surface PCs skyrocket in recent months. These new affordable models will now start at $849 for the Surface Pro and $949 for the Surface Laptop.

Outside of the new RAM configuration, nothing else is new with these devices. These are still the 1st Edition models of the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch, powered by Qualcomm's now last-gen Snapdragon X Plus, along with 256GB of storage. These devices originally launched with 16GB RAM at $799 and $899, but saw price hikes to over $1,000 earlier this year.

Now that Microsoft has introduced models with less RAM, the company has been able to bring pricing back below $1,000. The company has been working to ensure Windows 11 is better optimized to run on devices with less than 16GB RAM, including disabling things like Widgets and other under the hood optimizations.

Of course, these new configurations also don't have any Copilot+ PC AI capabilities, as one of the requirements for that is a minimum of 16GB RAM. That means Windows 11 will be lighter right out of the gate, as it doesn't have to deal with all the advanced AI features that ship as part of PCs with higher RAM configurations.

Microsoft will continue to sell models with 16GB RAM for those who want to splash out on something a little more capable, but for many who just need a computer for basic tasks and workflows, the 8GB configurations should be fine enough. The good news is if you're not sure if 8GB is enough, the Microsoft Store offers a 60 day return policy, giving you plenty of time to buy the device and try it out before committing.

The new 8GB RAM options only appear to apply to the midrange Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch. The flagship Surface Laptop 8th Generation and Surface Pro 12th Generation are not currently available with 8GB RAM configurations, meaning they still start with 16GB RAM for $1,499.

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If you told me a year ago that an Intel‑powered gaming handheld would be sitting on my desk in 2026, absolutely clowning AMD’s best silicon, I’d have told you to lay off the spice. Yet here we are. Computex 2026 teased it, Cale Hunt went hands‑on, and now the retail MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is in front of me.

Let’s be honest: MSI’s first handheld felt like a prototype that slipped out the side door. Instead of giving up, MSI regrouped, teamed up with Intel, and came back with a device that blows past every expectation.

But before we go any deeper, we need to talk about the price. Global supply chain chaos has sent high‑density RAM and NAND costs into orbit, and premium hardware is paying the bill. In a sane market, this machine would likely land around $1,299. Instead, it’s $1,799 at Best Buy—firmly in ultra‑premium territory.

Is it worth the jump? Let’s break it down.

MSI and Intel had no input, nor did they see the contents of this review prior to publication.

Specs and Configuration Options

Under the hood, MSI has radically re-architected its core layout, abandoning general-purpose laptop chips to pivot entirely to handheld-optimized architecture.

Design, Ergonomics, and Upgradeability

The physical layout of the Claw 8 EX AI+ is a massive love letter to Xbox fans. MSI completely reshaped the side chassis into a beautifully sloped, flared grip design that heavily mimics the curvature of an official Xbox controller. It contours perfectly to the natural resting shape of your hands, making extended, multi-hour gaming sessions an absolute breeze.

Even better, the actual weight distribution is the sweet spot. Coming in at 785 grams, the Claw 8 EX AI+ feels surprisingly nimble in the hands. When compared directly to the behemoth scale of something like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 at 854g/1.88lbs (it has a kickstand for a reason, folks)—which goes out of its way to adopt a massive, thick, and substantially heavy tablet aesthetic to accommodate its 8.8-inch display.

The MSI variant is vastly easier to slip into a travel bag without feeling like you packed a concrete brick. (Trust me, I've ditched Legion Go 2 for travel multiple times, but it's awesome on the couch).

On the upgrade front, MSI has finally listened to reviewers. The storage slot has graduated to a full-sized M.2 2280 slot, meaning you aren’t locked into paying premium prices for tiny, obscure storage drives. Pop out six standard Phillips head screws on the back shell cover, and you can swap out the internal SSD in less than five minutes.

RAM, however, is integrated, but 32GB should be enough.

Display

The Claw 8 EX AI+’s 8‑inch screen is one of the system’s strongest components. MSI uses a roomy 16:10 panel at a crisp FHD+ (1920x1200), giving you about 38% more usable space than comparable 7‑inch handhelds—huge for readability and UI-heavy games.

The IPS-level touchscreen hits 500 nits and covers 100% of sRGB for vivid, accurate color. Its standout feature, though, is native VRR from 48Hz to 120Hz, letting the display track fluctuating frame rates in real time to eliminate tearing and micro‑stutters for consistently smooth gameplay.

At this price tier, the lack of an OLED panel is the one obvious drawback. If you bounce between this and a Steam Deck OLED, you’ll notice the missing infinite contrast and true blacks in a dark room. But once you’re actually in a game and pushing high, stable refresh rates, the brightness and responsiveness take over. The gray floors fade from your mind, and the experience becomes all about the smooth, fast motion on screen.

Buttons, Joysticks, and Elite Audio

Controls are a premium highlight here. MSI went all-in on specialized Hall-Effect analog sticks and triggers. Because they utilize magnetic positioning instead of physical carbon contacts, the threat of stick drift is permanently eradicated. The action on the triggers feels smooth and progressively weighted, while the face buttons feature beautifully rounded edge boundaries to keep your thumbs from feeling sore after hammering out combos.

The standard directional pad also received a massive overhaul, implementing a tactile metal dome component underneath the casing. It delivers an incredibly clicky, distinct feedback loop that completely wipes away the mushy, missed-input sensations from past generations.

There's no capacitive touchpad for mouse cursor control in Windows or precision aiming. Do I care? No, I turned it off on Legion Go 2, but I get how some people want it, so I'm mentioning it here.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is the acoustic and haptic transformation. Historically, speakers and vibrating feedback have been clear weak points across MSI’s portable portfolio. Not anymore. The dual 2W speaker array outputs genuine, punchy high-res audio that maintains depth even at high volume levels.

Paired with an upgraded Voice Coil Motor (VCM) driving refined HD haptics, the physical immersion matches anything currently on the market.

With Bluetooth Core 6.0 and LE Audio onboard, pairing wireless earbuds like the Galaxy Buds4 delivers low‑latency, battery‑friendly audio with no noticeable delay. The Claw 8 EX AI+ also supports Windows 11 Super Wideband Stereo, so your sound won’t collapse into muddy mono when you’re using a mic for in‑game chat. And with Shared Audio broadcasting, you can stream to multiple compatible earbuds at once with zero hassle.

Performance: Intel Arc G3 Extreme Crowned King

As a nerdy refresher, the Intel Arc G3 Extreme is Intel's very first purpose-built SoC engineered from the ground up specifically for handheld gaming form factors. Rather than simply shoving a generic, power-hungry laptop processor into a portable shell, Intel completely re-architected this silicon to optimize the power-to-performance ratio at typical handheld wattages. It cleverly shifts the hardware balance directly toward graphics throughput by scaling up to 12 Xe-cores on its Xe3-based B390 GPU while dropping the heavy CPU core count down to just two performance cores. This intentional asymmetry leaves massive thermal and electrical headroom for its 96 integrated XMX AI Engines to work their upscaling magic.

Better yet, the chip introduces Intelligent Bias Control (IBC) v3.5. This proprietary firmware engine perfectly optimizes power sharing between the CPU and GPU, and it even utilizes a clever trick called "P-core parking" to turn off the power-hungry performance cores entirely at 14W and under, ensuring your battery juice goes where it matters most: pumping out maximum frame rates.

For the past few years, AMD has comfortably monopolized premium mobile gaming graphics, but Intel’s new XeSS architecture drops an absolute tactical nuke on that narrative.

3DMark Time Spy & Synthesis Testing

Look at our lab-tested benchmarks below:

• MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (Intel Arc G3 Extreme): 6,726
• ASUS Xbox Ally X (Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme): 4,029
• MSI Claw 8 AI+ (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V): 3,882
• Lenovo Legion Go 2 (Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme): 3,795

A score of 6,726 on a handheld profile is a jaw-dropping result, representing an aggregate jump that flies completely past AMD's flagship Z2 Extreme silicon.

3DMark Fire Strike & Torture Run Results

To push this chip further, I threw the classic Fire Strike benchmark at the Arc B390 GPU. The results speak for themselves:

• Fire Strike Overall Score: 13,340
• Graphics Score: 16,735
• Physics Score: 24,513

The monitoring loop stayed remarkably consistent, and 3DMark’s integrated engine estimates real-world game performance for titles like Battlefield V at a smooth 120+ FPS at 1080p Ultra settings.

Geekbench 6 Compute & General Performance

The AI Engine acts as the device's intelligent, set-and-forget autopilot, leveraging real-time behavioral analysis to dynamically adjust power settings and hardware configurations (defaulting to a flexible 25W ceiling during gaming) to maximize performance on the fly.

In stark contrast, Endurance mode is a highly restricted efficiency preset designed strictly to squeeze out every drop of battery life. While the AI Engine dynamically scales performance upwards to match the game's demands, shifting to Endurance mode clamps the platform down to a rigid 15W target and automatically triggers Intel’s Endurance Gaming profile, enforcing a stable 30 FPS cap on battery to extend your playtime up to 11 hours on lighter titles.

Here's what that looks like in Geekbench:

• MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (Intel G3 Extreme - AI Engine): Multi-Core: 13,210 / Single-Core: 2,574
• MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (Intel G3 Extreme - Endurance): Multi-Core: 10,129 / Single-Core: 1,983

Even under a highly restricted energy curve, the restricted multi-core target hits 10,129, keeping processing capability completely clear of bottleneck thresholds.

Turning to the SSD, storage performance is similarly blinding, with CrystalDiskMark validating peak sequential read limits hitting a clean 6,997 MB/s.

Intel XeSS Feature Test & In-Game Frame Rates

The true magic happens when you leverage Intel's hardware-level AI upscaling. Running the native 3DMark Intel XeSS Feature Test (using XeSS 1.3.1 Balanced at a 2.0x scaling factor) shows exactly what the architecture is capable of:

• XeSS Off: 26.82 FPS
• XeSS On: 51.80 FPS
• Performance Explosion: +93.2%

Real-world gaming translates perfectly to these synthetic gains. Launching the graphically punishing 007 First Light with the console dialed directly into its integrated AI Engine mode, I ran natively at full 1920x1200 resolution at High settings and consistently locked down a blisteringly fast 130+ FPS when plugged in.

Even more absurd was the experience playing LEGO Batman: Legacy of The Dark Knight. The game regularly hit 150 FPS with fluid frame pacing.

How is 150 FPS beneficial on a physical 120Hz panel profile? It comes down to Intel's XeSS 3 Multi-Frame Generation (XeSS-MFG) engine. The chip utilizes internal AI matrices to interpolate synthetic smoothing frames directly between every traditionally rendered frame. Because the platform features a hardware-level Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) window extending up to 120Hz, pushing frames above the panel refresh ceiling completely eliminates frame delivery micro-stuttering, ensuring ultra-responsive inputs and perfect pacing.

Of course, results for XeSS will vary based on the game (if it's supported), whether you're plugged in, and what modes (including custom) you have set. I did have some mixed results with DOOM: The Dark Ages, which was running above 60 FPS one night, but fell below 30 on the next level despite XeSS being enabled.

To understand how big a leap Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme really is, look at this custom Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark. On AMD handhelds like the ROG Ally X or Legion Go 2, turning on ray tracing usually drops you into a sub‑30 FPS slideshow even at a soft 720p. Here, the Claw 8 EX AI+ is running at its full 1920×1200 resolution on the Ray Tracing: Low preset with XeSS Super Resolution 2.0 set to Auto, and it still averages 46.6 FPS with a minimum of 38.1 FPS.

See a clip from Cyberpunk 2077 with the above settings on the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ below:

This is where the Arc B390 GPU and its 12 dedicated Ray Tracing Units show their advantage. Instead of choking on ray‑traced shadows and lighting, the G3 Extreme architecture handles the workload with an efficiency AMD’s current mobile silicon cannot match.

Holding a stable, genuinely playable 40+ FPS at 1200p with ray tracing enabled is unheard of for any other handheld today, and it proves Intel did not just build a faster chip. They built a smarter one.

When you stack the Claw up against Valve’s Steam Machine, the hardware contrast becomes even more fascinating. Looking at the benchmark breakdown above, both devices run neck-and-neck in single-core metrics (a 2,574 for the Claw versus a 2,579 for the Steam Machine's Custom APU), but the Intel Arc G3 Extreme leaves Valve in the absolute dust on multi-threaded workloads, flexing an eye-watering multi-core score of 13,210 over the Steam Machine’s 8,680. This doesn't even account for the GPU difference, which will also favor Intel.

Unfortunately, much like the Claw, the Steam Machine (starting at $1,049) is a premium engineering marvel suffering from historically terrible macroeconomic timing—both launched directly into a brutal global supply crunch that bloated retail pricing, making a direct cost comparison a bit of an exercise in wallet masochism. It's a cosmic shame that, through no fault of their own, bad timing and bloated component markets might prevent casual players from seeing just how hard this new Intel portable silicon kicks.

Manual Mode: For the Tinkers (But You Really Don't Need It)

For the hardware purists who insist on micromanaging their silicon, MSI Center M includes a robust Manual mode that unlocks granular sliders for the chip's PL1 and PL2 power levels.

For the uninitiated, PL1 (Power Limit 1) dictates the maximum sustained wattage the processor can draw during long-term gameplay, while PL2 (Power Limit 2) establishes the absolute ceiling for short-term burst power. In Manual mode, you can crank PL1 up to 35W and push PL2 to a blistering 45W to squeeze every single drop of performance out of a heavy title—just make sure PL2 stays at least 2W higher than PL1 so Intel’s power management algorithms don't choke. Alternatively, you can drop them into the single digits to slam the brakes on power consumption for lighter indie titles.

However, a quick note for the average reader: I rarely ever touched Manual mode. I use a gaming handheld to actually play games, not to spend 30 minutes acting like an IT admin configuring power registries before launching a level. Thankfully, you don't have to. The default AI Engine setting is brilliantly "set it and forget it," handling the heavy lifting and power shifting so smoothly on the fly that it renders manual tweaking strictly optional for anyone who values their free time.

But hey, cool on Intel and MSI for making it easy to go all out and tweak the chip!

Thermals and Fan Noise

High performance doesn't mean a melted chassis. Thanks to MSI's custom Cooler Boost HyperFlow architecture (love these names, btw)—which seals internal pathways to draw cold air directly over hotspots while isolating grip boundaries—this device stays remarkably chilly.

Our FLIR thermal array capture maps external chassis heat dissipation flawlessly under extended benchmarking loops:

• Front grip surface area: 96.3°F or 35.7°C (Perfect comfort territory)
• Rear grip chassis boundary: 92°F or 33.3°C (Literally cooler than your own body temperature)
• Display base intersection hotspot: 106.5°F or 41.4°C (Warm to the touch, but completely out of micro-stuttering finger range)
• Recessed exhaust vent interior: 130°F or 54.4°C (Where the actual dragon spirit lives, safely away from your hands)

The physical thermal reading confirms your hands remain entirely cool, completely isolated from internal hotspots. While the localized zone at the very base of the display glass reads at 106.5°F, it remains warm rather than hot, safely out of reach during normal use.

Even measuring directly inside the deep-set cooling channels yields 130°F, yet the felt air volume dissipates cleanly away from you. The internal acoustic profile is equally stellar: the dual fans emit a gentle, low-frequency airflow "whoosh" instead of a whiny, high-pitched jet engine shriek.

Software, Connectivity, and the Mini-PC Hybrid Trick

MSI Center M has matured beautifully, but can still be a bit awkward, and I hope to see some improvements (I may end up adding Winhanced at some point). The software utility integrates seamlessly across massive digital clients including Steam, Xbox, Epic, and Battle.net. It's simple and basic, but the whole Windows 11/launcher/various gaming libraries thing/switching is still a bit underbaked, but making improvements.

Triggering the native full-screen Xbox mode layout overlay brings up a clean, translucent quick-access console dashboard that only handles half the panel layout, avoiding disruptive gameplay pauses. They did a great job here.

From this single overlay window, a user can instantly adjust hardware properties:

• Swap operational profiles on the fly between AI Engine, Endurance, or full user-defined Manual tuning controls.
• Purge non-essential active memory via Free Up Memory sweeps.
• Fire up high-bitrate screen recording capture or toggle ambient Mystic Light RGB analog stick arrays.

The long‑standing Windows Modern Standby curse is finally gone. As far as I can tell, putting the Claw 8 EX AI+ to sleep with the fingerprint/power button triggers a proper hibernate state, or rather, the buttons/triggers/joystick don't wake it. But when I hit that button, it stays off and standby battery drain was minimal, which is a nice change.

The fingerprint reader can be a little picky about angle, but once you get the feel for it, it’s fast and consistent.

Intel's Wi-Fi 7 R2 on here is a beast. I have a Wi-Fi 7 router (TP-Link Tri-Band BE19000), and this thing just sucked down so much data when downloading big games like Cyberpunk 2077 that it even affected my TV streaming. Good stuff.

My only gripe is that, for some reason, my Xbox games are not showing up in MSI Center M, though I can, of course, access them via the Xbox app. I chalk this up to some early bugs, and hopefully some updates will iron those out.

The Ultimate Dual-Use Mini-PC Killer

Because this is an Intel architecture design instead of AMD, you get dual full-bandwidth Thunderbolt 4 ports. This unlocks a highly lucrative dual-use scenario. Dropping the Claw 8 EX AI+ onto a single-cable desk setup completely transforms the handheld experience into a premium desktop workstation environment.

When stacked up against custom high-end discrete desktop boxes like the Geekom A9 Max AI Mini PC (which utilizes mobile AMD Ryzen AI architecture), the Claw 8 EX AI+ matches or exceeds its functional productivity output while preserving complete, uncompromised on-the-go portability. It's a phenomenally versatile desktop replacement machine.

While the A9 Max AI outpaces the Arc G3 Extreme in CPU (see above), I'm confident the reverse will be true for GPU performance and the Intel B390 (we'll try to get some actual comparisons in an update to this).

Battery Life

The massive 80Whr ultra-capacity battery module integrated inside the shell handles power delivery exceptionally well.

Testing the console under heavy loads while running on the custom Endurance Mode setting—which dynamically caps rendering properties and shifts core priority to energy-efficient architecture—and maintaining screen brightness at a very vivid 45% setting (roughly 225 nits of total display output), the platform delivered a solid 3.5 hours of continuous triple-A gameplay. Switching over to casual indie titles or retro emulation easily pushes the operational lifespan past the 5-hour mark.

Final Verdict: Should You Buy It?

Look, if your bank account can handle the entry point and you are looking for absolute top-tier, uncompromised technical performance in a highly ergonomic package, yes, absolutely buy it. Intel and MSI have created a generational performance jump that sets a brand-new benchmark for portable PC gaming. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is friggin' awesome.

If you're a normal working Joe, then of course not; that'd be financially irresponsible.

And that's my only real regret with the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+: a vast majority of gamers won't be able to experience it. This device is THE watershed milestone our portable community has spent years waiting for—a true, uncompromised hardware revelation where you can load a visually dense, modern triple-A blockbuster and play it at 100+ FPS in the palm of your hand without a single structural sacrifice.

MSI and Intel have finally delivered the holy grail payload we've been begging for from day one. It is an absolute masterpiece of engineering brilliance, hitting the market at a time when raw component pricing is absolutely screwing it up. If you have the enthusiast means to jump on it, don't hesitate. This is the future, right now.

AI and gaming are becoming an inseparable match. Whether it's AI used in modern graphics rendering or AI used in actual game development, I've stated several times that I don't think they'll be separated anytime soon.

The rise of AI has been causing hiccups for global PC game markets like Steam from the very start. In January 2024, Steam owner Valve announced that its storefront would now contain AI disclosures from developers. If AI were used in development, you'd be able to clearly see it on the game's page.

Since then, you've probably noticed a whole lot of Steam pages sporting that little AI blurb describing how exactly AI was used during development. The phenomenon, of course, begs the question: Is the use of AI in game development hurting sales?

According to research performed by Ross Burton, PhD, Head of Product and Data at Game Oracle (via PCGamer), the use of AI does harm sales and, beyond cold hard cash, it also hurts a game's reputation.

Burton discovered that approximately 21% of games released on Steam in 2025 (pre-November) contained a disclosure for some sort of AI use. I can't help but assume that number has only gone up since then.

Steam's recent Next Fest event, showcasing countless new games set to arrive in the near future, was rife with games clearly created using AI, some less innocuous than others.

Deciphering Steam's numbers tell an important story

Steam doesn't disclose how many copies specific games sell; that's up to the developer to know, and to share only if they like. However, Steam sales can be approximated by the number of reviews a title receives, and as Game Oracle points out, it's a proxy method that's used across the industry.

Game Oracle's initial research, even at a surface level, is eye-opening. It studied almost 10,000 Steam releases between January and October 2025, discovering that games disclosing AI use averaged just 4 reviews in the first post-launch month compared to 7 reviews for games without AI.

Almost 20% of games with AI disclosure received no reviews, compared to 15% for non-AI games. Scores were also biased in titles with at least 100 reviews, with AI games hitting an average score of 84.6% compared to 88.3% for non-AI games.

AI games don't receive as much attention as non-AI games

Game Oracle built a causal statistical model to control for elements like a specific developer's prior experience, publisher backing (if any), genre, and release date. Games that fell into similar groupings were then compared to each other to prevent outside factors from interfering.

In this scenario, games that disclosed the use of AI received about 53% fewer reviews than non-AI games. So, if two games were released around the same time, from developers with similar levels of experience, with similar backing, and of a similar genre, non-AI games would theoretically receive 100 reviews while an AI game would receive 47.

That's a huge gap, and one that isn't easy to discredit.

Established studios are being punished harder for using AI in game development

There is, of course, some nuance to the study's findings. Game Oracle performed a sensitivity analysis to account for unmeasured factors like marketing costs, raw talent, and pure luck.

It was discovered that inexperienced developers with no marketing budget, who likely turned to AI simply because of a lack of other resources, saw hardly any negative impact on sales despite the AI disclosure. These games were almost certainly going to struggle even without the use of AI.

It's a different story for the more established studios with an existing following and previous titles. Game Oracle found that the use of AI by these studios resulted in a significant 40% to 60% drop in sales.

👉 Crimson Desert developers apologize for the use of generative AI

That's a huge difference. AI stigma seems to hit competent developers with a lot to lose the hardest, and I'm not sure that game studios are ready to accept it.

What the AI stigma means for gamers

I don't think that gamers are actively boycotting AI games. If I had to guess, I'd say that the majority of Steam users don't ever check for AI disclosures and instead direct their disposable income towards positive reviews.

Games like The Finals and Suck Up! are mentioned in the study as examples of successes that used AI. Those successes are counterbalanced by Black Ops 7 and Jurassic World Evolution 3 as examples of brands that were harmed by the use of AI.

The research comes to a point with Burton stating that he doesn't know exactly what is causing the negative impact on AI games.

One interesting line that stands out to me is that AI is often "correlated with other decisions that lead to a poorly crafted game." Burton suggests that the penalty for using AI might be as much about how it's used as how much it's used.

Burton wraps up the research with a reminder that AI isn't something to be avoided: "Approach AI with caution. Use it gracefully. It is not a replacement for hard work, it's just there to lighten the load."

Do you agree? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Amazon Prime Day hit the ground running with a great deal on the Surface Pro 11. A 13% discount on the 2-in-1 slashes $134.55 off the PC.

For $869.99, you get a Surface Pro 11 with a Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an OLED display.

Why buy the Surface Pro 11?

The Surface Pro 11 is an incredible 2-in-1 PC that defines the category. It features the traditional design with a kickstand and detachable keyboard that Microsoft pioneered and perfected.

This model runs on a Snapdragon X Elite, which provides all-day battery life and great performance when plugged in or running on battery power.

Usually, you'd have to pay for premium specs across the board to get an OLED display, but this Amazon Exclusive version of the Surface Pro 11 gets you a better screen at a discount.

"Overall, it’s an incredible 13-inch display," said our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino. He added, "OLED delivers those super dark blacks with excellent contrast, and HDR600 makes movies and video games much better."

This Surface Pro 11 runs on a Snapdragon X Elite processor. While Qualcomm has released newer Snapdragon X2 chips, the Snapdragon X Elite is still great in 2026.

Is this a good time to buy the Surface Pro 11?

It's been a tough year for PC shoppers. The base prices of Surface PCs went up significantly back in April, and prices back then were already higher than at launch.

It's not all Microsoft's fault. The ongoing RAM crisis and component shortage has caused price hikes by several PC makers. But the widespread nature of high pricing doesn't make it any easier to afford a PC.

The Prime Day discount stands out for two reasons. First, this is an Amazon Exclusive model due to its combination of 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Second, Amazon slashed the price of the Surface Pro 11 by over $140.

This particular configuration hits the key specs you need without making you overpay. While you can get by with 8GB of RAM on a Windows 11 PC, 16GB will provide a better experience. 256GB of storage is a bit small, but with OneDrive and other cloud storage options, it's okay.

I'd rather have 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage than 8GB of RAM and more storage.

The price of this Surface Pro 11 stands out even more when you look at other "offers." Browsing around online retailers and even checking other configurations at Amazon shows how high PC prices have crept over the years.

FAQ

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