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Tools of the trade: I upgraded my gaming PC with a 420mm Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 AiO and vertical GPU mount, and now it looks incredible

by admin October 6, 2025

With Battlefield 6 on the horizon – plus plenty of Borderlands 4, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries and Hades 2 to play – I wanted to upgrade my AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 4090 Founders Edition gaming PC to better cope with these demanding titles.

The goal here is to improve temperatures, reduce fan noise and maybe make things look a little nicer, so I’ll be swapping the (admittedly chonky) 240mm AiO liquid cooler I currently have installed for a massive 420mm unit from Arctic. With more surface area and larger fans, I should be able to run the fans at lower speeds while still achieving much better cooling performance in these and other CPU-heavy games.

I set aside Friday morning to make the swap, and the results exceeded my expectations. I’ll share what I learned, why I made the choices I did, and also discuss the titanic Havn HS 420 VGPU case that I’ve been using for the past six months.

Part one: Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB install and mini review

I’ve been relatively happy with the Hyte Thicc Q60 240mm AiO CPU cooler I’ve been using for the past few months, with its pleasant black/white colour scheme and surprisingly good thermal performance for its size, but it does have some flaws. First, the display screen attached to the CPU block made it impossible for me to vertically mount my graphics card, as it hung down too far below the CPU socket.

More critically though, despite its incredibly thick radiators, it’s still limited by its dual 120mm fans, which need to spin relatively fast to push enough air through the thick rad. By replacing this unit with a (remarkably, around $100 cheaper) 420mm Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB AiO with three wider 140mm fans, I ought to be able to hit similar or even lower temperatures while running the fans significantly slower, cutting down on noise.

Here’s how my work PC looked before I started this project, with the Hyte Thicc Q60 240mm AiO installed. I dig the white/black colour scheme, but fan noise was relatively high. | Image credit: Eurogamer

Removing the Thicc Q60 was straightforward in the Havn HS 420 VGPU, as the case provides easy access to both sides of the computer and has clearly marked apertures for cable routing. The Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro RGB (hereafter “new CPU cooler”) also has a relatively thick 38mm radiator, so rather than mounting it on the side access panel as I did with the Q60, I’ll be installing it at the top of the case and replacing the storage covers to cover the empty gap. A top placement also ensures that the pump on the CPU block is below the level of the radiator, which is generally good practice.

Installing the Arctic cooler was easy, with the fans installed on the block out of the box in the top-exhaust configuration that I wanted. The only real struggle I had with the new CPU cooler was deciding on which way up it should go. Initially, I wanted to install it with the Arctic logo on the included magnetically-attached CPU block fan the right way up, but this meant that the tubes were at the bottom and they interfered with the vertical GPU mount. In the end, I decided to sacrifice the aesthetics and live with the upside-down wordmark.

Here’s the Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro A-RGB install, starting with the CPU block installed the right way up, then later upside-down to accommodate the vertical GPU mount. | Image credit: Eurogamer

With the new CPU cooler installed, I noted significantly lower CPU and GPU temperatures, with both sitting around 60 degrees celsius in Borderlands 4 (with around 50 percent load on the 9800X3D and 95 percent load on the RTX 4090), versus around 65-70 celsius CPU temperatures with the old setup. Even at maximum load – eg compiling shaders in Borderlands 4, a heavy all-core task that can last several minutes – the fans never ramped up to their maximum speed as they did before.

As well as the boost to performance, I appreciated the lack of a display on the CPU block, as it meant that the entire system only requires a single fan header and a single A-RGB header to run four fans. The last few high-end AiOs I’ve used from Hyte, Asus and NZXT have included displays, requiring a PCIe or SATA power connector and USB 2.0 connections, so going back to a simpler system was an unexpected relief.

Part two: vertical GPU swap

Moving from a traditional horizontal GPU mount to a vertical one provides a bit of an aesthetic boost, and for a large GPU like the RTX 4090 FE I’m using here, an extra sense of stability as well.

There’s plenty of space here between the RTX 4090 FE and the side of the case, which is always a worry for vertical GPU setups. | Image credit: Eurogamer

The Havn HS 420 VGPU case is designed for this, and therefore includes an extra assembly that replaces the usual PCIe slots and provides a PCIe 4.0 riser cable. The downside is a more complicated install process and blocking access to your extra PCIe ports, but given the rarity of second graphics cards or other add-in cards, that’s probably a trade most builders would be quite happy to make.

I found it easiest to install the 4090 into the vertical assembly first, then install the whole deal into the case. That makes pushing in the PCIe riser cable a tad tricky, but means that the graphics card itself doesn’t risk being damaged when you’re trying to pop it into the PCIe socket. Here, the bracket is secured with two thumb screws quite close to the glass window, so it’s easy enough to hold the assembly in place with one hand and secure it with the other.

The goal with vertical GPU placement is to make sure there’s a good amount of space between the card and the glass, so that hot air leaving the card has a chance to be directed away (in this case, by the three fans below). There’s a good two or three inches between the GPU and the side glass here, so that’s good enough for me.

I’m probably still paying a slight performance penalty for using a vertical GPU orientation, but one that I’m happy enough with given the very modest temperatures at full burn in-game.

Part three: Havn HS 420 VGPU long-term review

The £200/$230 Havn HS 420 is a fascinating high-end PC case that offers quite unusual features and a plethora of fan setups, and I’ve found it every bit as performant and sensibly arranged as the Corsair 9000D I was using before. You have more than enough space here for a full-size ATX board with a huge amount of SATA storage and a 420mm AiO, and this ought to hold it in good stead for custom water cooling as well. There’s even a bit of extra glass included in the box to virtually divide the CPU and GPU areas of the case, though I didn’t end up using it.

I particularly like the aesthetics of the case, with the rounded motif replicated across the top I/O (USB-C, two USB-A, 3.5mm) and power button, the various air inlets in the base and lid, the unusual circular rear fan mounts and so on. The white case works well with the white RAM, white Arctic P14 Pro fans and white Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 Pro A-RGB AiO cooler, and I only wish that I had a white motherboard and graphics card to complete the look.

A great-looking case, with plenty of well-designed space in the rear for accommodating cable clutter, removable frames for AiO installation and a consistent rounded aesthetic for various elements. | Image credit: Eurogamer

The curved glass used for the front and side of the case is also truly impressive, with a well-engineered system that slides it out before releasing it. I’m not such a huge fan of the small screws used to secure each side, as there’s no good place to store these if you want to leave the system in a state where it’s easy to pull apart for maintenance, upgrades or cleaning, and consequently I’ve lost them. However, at least with them removed, it’s easy enough to access each of the dust filters.

In terms of cable routing, the rear of the case provides a useful amount of space, all cable routes are clearly labelled, and there’s a surplus of tie points and so on. Installing fans and radiators is also made easier by the fact that each of the main sections (top, side, bottom) have removable frames, so you can install the rads/fans onto the frame outside of the case, then re-insert the frames.

Overall, it’s not the quietest or coolest case that I’ve ever used – I suspect that I may want to explore alternative fan arrangements, reduce fan RPMs further and/or use extra fans in the side intake to keep CPU temperatures even lower – but that’s OK. The Havn HS 420 VGPU is still comfortably the best-designed PC case I’ve tested, with great aesthetics and streamlined build experience, and I’d happily recommend it.

What I’ve learned, and what’s next

I’m happy with my redesigned gaming PC for now, but it’ll be interesting to see how it fares with next-gen graphics cards when they arrive down the line – especially if they again see an uptick in power consumption and therefore waste heat production. For the more imminent future, I’m planning to upgrade to a 9950X3D, which ought to produce a little more heat on the CPU side and therefore allow me to fully tune the fans to deal with worst-case scenarios.

I’m also curious to hear your comments and suggestions – should I turn around one of the rear fans as an exhaust, as I’ve seen elsewhere online? Add side intake fans? Get in touch with a company that will supply a white graphics card and motherboard? Clean up my cable mess? Some of these are possible, so do get in touch via the comments below or via Bluesky.

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October 6, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

If Xbox Game Pass dies then we’ll have lost one of gaming’s best tools for discovery

by admin October 2, 2025

I’m not going to argue that Game Pass, following its recent price hike, is cheap. It’s not. It’s creeped into the “hmm” category, similar to the £35 a month phone contract I’d scowl at every time I looked over my bank statement, which had actually gone from “mmm” to “mmm?” and was followed by a cost-cutting exercise that has now made me £28 a month better off, albeit with an old phone. At £22.99, Game Pass Ultimate is right on the precipice of doom – or in other words, me considering if I really need this expense. I’ve got some time to think about that. What I am going to argue, though, is how much of a terrible loss to game discovery it’ll be if Game Pass eventually dies out.

First, a story. Let me tell you about what game discovery used to be like as I take you on a journey through the latter half of the 90s. A pre-internet era full of wonder, and a burgeoning games industry that felt like it was walking perfectly between nerd culture and mainstream cool. What a time to be exploring what was out there. If only we had appreciated how good we had it.

Magazines, remember those? (I know they still exist, before someone from Edge emails me to say they are still relevant, actually – I prefer Retro Gamer these days as I’m old.) I bought a lot of them, spending an awful lot of my pocket and paper round money on about six per month, and generally each one would be able to keep me informed on 90-100 percent of all the games releasing in the next month or so. Excellent. Demos were widely available for disc-based consoles via official magazines, PC demos arrived alongside a handful of PC gaming mags (PC Zone, the best, obviously), and you could fairly easily rent games from video stores. I’d generally only be able to buy two or three games per year, but I played way more than that and felt like I was all-knowing – perhaps all kids feel this way, but it’s rare I’d see a game in Dixons and not already know a lot about it.

Image credit: Xbox

Fast forward 30 years and we’re in a very different world. No magazine could ever keep you properly informed on 90-100 percent of all the games being released, even if it only focused on the ones that looked great. Demo discs are no more, demos themselves are rare outside of indies on Steam and beta tests for shooters, you can’t rent games on the high-street any more (you can barely even find a shop that sells games on the highstreet to be fair), and some of the biggest voices talking about games focus on just a few that everyone already knows about. Websites, which I obviously have to big up as I run this one, do their best, but I can probably count five or so games every day that I am told about that we simply don’t have the time to write about.

All this means that people tend to know about the same bunch of games because those few games are all everyone is really talking about. Now, I know Game Pass doesn’t fix this entirely, but it really does help get some other games out there in front of people. You can tell me this is all anecdotal nonsense (after you read the following anecdote), but I honestly believe that Game Pass offers a way to freely explore new games that is almost impossible to do outside of these subscription services. Yes, you pay for it, but once you’re paying the catalogue is your oyster.

My son (for regular readers, yes, I know I’ve mentioned him before, but why would I talk about anyone else’s son? That would be odd. Plus, he’s my barometer of what people who aren’t me think about video games.) is a fairly typical 12-year-old who plays video games. He loves Fortnite, Rocket League, Minecraft, and wants to play Roblox but I have banned it. He also has a Switch 2 and will play most of the big Nintendo games. Where he differs from some 12-year-olds is his love of the Xbox. This is partly for fairly boring reasons, like the way the UI and services work, but also a lot to do with Game Pass.

Speaking of UI, this one’s not exactly at-a-glance digestible, is it? | Image credit: Xbox

Obviously he’s not paying for Game Pass, so doesn’t know the financial implications of the price rising (although already knows about Fortnite Crew coming to it soon, which he’s very happy about), but he uses Game Pass a lot – and often in ways that surprise me. In recent memory he’s, completely of his own accord, started playing and enjoyed Wildfrost (roguelike deck-builder from Chucklefish), Herdling (adventure from Panic Inc.), Donut County (casual puzzler from Annapurna Interactive), Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (top-down survivor from Ghost Ship), Brotato (another top-down survival game, this from Blobfish), and Tempopo (a curious music puzzle game from Cult Games). These are just the indies he’s told me about, games I would never have imagined buying for him or him asking for them. Yet, thanks to Game Pass he’s discovered them. That, no matter what you think about the price of Game Pass, is great.

Whether or not Game Pass continues on for years to come or if the cheaper “premium” middle tier (£10.99 a month) offers enough of what players want without the bells and whistles, well, I think we’ll find out in the near future. Xbox has stated it will release new console hardware beyond the Xbox Series consoles, and honestly I find it hard to see how that console has any reason to exist if Game Pass isn’t a major part of its offering. The two feel symbiotic at this point – cut one and life, I expect, would rapidly bleed out of the other.

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October 2, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

How to invest in Crypto in 2025 using Pioneer Hash mining tools

by admin September 27, 2025

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Pioneer Hash offers US investors automated cloud mining tools for potentially high returns.

Summary

Pioneer Hash cloud mining offers US investors stable, low-risk returns via automated tools.
Contracts, $15 signup bonus, and renewable energy make Pioneer Hash a secure crypto choice.
In volatile markets, Pioneer Hash provides passive income and long-term growth.

In the volatile cryptocurrency market, finding low-risk or even risk-free investment opportunities has become one of investors’ biggest concerns.

With the advancement of blockchain technology and the rise of cloud mining, Pioneer Hash now offers US users a new solution: massive returns through automated mining tools.

Why choose cloud mining?

The cryptocurrency market is volatile, and relying solely on price speculation often carries significant risks. However, cloud mining locks computing power through contracts, ensuring continuous and stable output for the duration of the contract, thereby reducing risk exposure. For investors seeking stable returns, this method offers greater certainty than traditional trading.

Quick start guide

Register for an account:Visit the Pioneer Hash official website to register. After registering, receive a $15 bonus for new users.

Top up an account: Payments are accepted in major cryptocurrencies such as USDT, BTC, and ETH.
Choose a hashing power contract: Choose an XRP or other cryptocurrency mining contract based on your budget and goals.
Start earning: Daily settlement, automatic deposit, withdrawal or reinvestment at any time, creating a sustainable income cycle.

Pioneer Hash has designed multiple levels of mining contracts to meet the needs of different investors. Contracts can be found on the official website.

To further lower the barrier to entry, Pioneer Hash offers a $15 signup bonus to every new user. This bonus can be used directly to mine contracts, allowing even complete beginners to experience real mining and earn initial profits without any upfront costs.

Investor feedback and market outlook

Since its launch, Pioneer Hash has attracted a growing number of US investors and established a strong reputation within the industry. Many users have stated that Pioneer Hash’s cloud mining model allows them to maintain a stable cash flow even amidst market fluctuations.

In addition to user feedback, industry analysts are also optimistic about Pioneer Hash’s prospects. As the US enters a cycle of interest rate cuts, traditional savings and bonds are gradually losing their appeal, and more capital is flowing into digital assets. Cloud mining, as a “cash flow-oriented investment tool,” offers predictability and stability, making it particularly attractive to investors seeking to hedge against volatility.

Furthermore, Pioneer Hash emphasizes operational compliance and transparency. Unlike many unregulated platforms, Pioneer Hash not only offers contracts backed by a legal framework but also utilizes renewable energy and efficient infrastructure to mitigate long-term operational risks. This commitment has led investors to view Pioneer Hash not only as a short-term investment opportunity, but also as a reliable long-term portfolio component.

Looking ahead, experts believe that as cryptocurrencies further integrate into mainstream finance, regulated and transparent cloud mining platforms will become a key gateway for capital inflows. Leveraging its technological advantages and compliance-first approach, Pioneer Hash is poised to expand its market share by 2025 and become a vital tool for US investors seeking passive income and long-term wealth management.

Conclusion

In the uncertain market of 2025, finding an investment method that manages risk while ensuring stable returns is crucial. With its transparent contracts, $100 sign-up bonus, and powerful automated mining tools, Pioneer Hash is rapidly becoming a top choice for US investors. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, Pioneer Hash offers tailored solutions to help you earn stable passive income even during turbulent times.

To learn more about Pioneer Hash, visit the official website. Official email: [email protected]

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

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September 27, 2025 0 comments

The Top Diseases We Choose to Stay Ignorant About, According to Scientists

Product Reviews

AI Medical Tools Provide Worse Treatment for Women and Underrepresented Groups

by admin September 22, 2025

Historically, most clinical trials and scientific studies have primarily focused on white men as subjects, leading to a significant underrepresentation of women and people of color in medical research. You’ll never guess what has happened as a result of feeding all of that data into AI models. It turns out, as the Financial Times calls out in a recent report, that AI tools used by doctors and medical professionals are producing worse health outcomes for the people who have historically been underrepresented and ignored.

The report points to a recent paper from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which found that large language models including OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Meta’s Llama 3 were “more likely to erroneously reduce care for female patients,” and that women were told more often than men “self-manage at home,” ultimately receiving less care in a clinical setting. That’s bad, obviously, but one could argue that those models are more general purpose and not designed to be use in a medical setting. Unfortunately, a healthcare-centric LLM called Palmyra-Med was also studied and suffered from some of the same biases, per the paper. A look at Google’s LLM Gemma (not its flagship Gemini) conducted by the London School of Economics similarly found the model would produce outcomes with “women’s needs downplayed” compared to men.

A previous study found that models similarly had issues with offering the same levels of compassion to people of color dealing with mental health matters as they would to their white counterparts. A paper published last year in The Lancet found that OpenAI’s GPT-4 model would regularly “stereotype certain races, ethnicities, and genders,” making diagnoses and recommendations that were more driven by demographic identifiers than by symptoms or conditions. “Assessment and plans created by the model showed significant association between demographic attributes and recommendations for more expensive procedures as well as differences in patient perception,” the paper concluded.

That creates a pretty obvious problem, especially as companies like Google, Meta, and OpenAI all race to get their tools into hospitals and medical facilities. It represents a huge and profitable market—but also one that has pretty serious consequences for misinformation. Earlier this year, Google’s healthcare AI model Med-Gemini made headlines for making up a body part. That should be pretty easy for a healthcare worker to identify as being wrong. But biases are more discreet and often unconscious. Will a doctor know enough to question if an AI model is perpetuating a longstanding medical stereotype about a person? No one should have to find that out the hard way.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Hollow Knight: Silksong player melts its hardest bosses with an endless fountain of tools: ‘I think I unlocked easy mode’

by admin September 16, 2025

The Strongest Build in SILKSONG [SPOILER FREE] Architect Crest Silkshot Railgun Silksong Build – YouTube

Watch On

I’ll admit, I wasn’t as creative with my build in Hollow Knight: Silksong as I’d like to admit. I found one of the early weapon upgrades and kind of stuck with that for the next 30 hours.

It got the job done, but it was nowhere close to the power of YouTuber Syrobe’s “easy mode” build where you have an endless supply of powerful tools. Before I explain how it works though, you should know that it requires fairly late-game unlocks to put together. I’d wait until you’re several hours into Act 2 before attempting this.

The heart of the build is the Architect Crest which has the unique ability to repair your tools on the fly. Normally, you have to rest at a bench to do that, but this Crest gives you the option to forgo healing yourself to replenish your tools in the middle of combat.

Tools are extremely powerful in Silksong and no other Crest lets you spam them like this one. The only drawback is that you can’t equip any of Hornet’s high-damage skills with it, but the amount of tools you can fling out more than makes up for it.

You can pretty much equip any tools you want, but Syrobe recommends the Tacks, Silkshot, and the Voltvessels. He adds in the Pollip Pouch so every hit applies a poison DoT on enemies and Quick Sling to double the amount of tools you throw at a time.

Nothing in the game can survive you laying traps all over the place and shooting everything down with buckets of laser beams and silk bullets. Bosses run into them and get ripped apart while you sit back and watch. Watching Syrobe tear through waves of enemies in seconds looks like he has cheats on.

He has a separate, spoilery video where he melts the last two bosses in the game in under a minute. Both fights took me much longer because I spent most of them dodging around and hitting the boss with my little sword.

Acquiring all the stuff might take you a while. Syrobe goes into detail on where to track it all down, but here’s a quick list of what you need and where to get it:

Architect Crest – Buy the Architect’s Key and unlock a room in the Underworks
Quick Sling – Found behind a false ceiling in Bilewater
Pollip Pouch – Complete the Rite of the Pollip quest in the Wormways
Tacks – Complete the Roach Guts quest in Sinner’s Road
Silkshot – Bring the Ruined Tool from Bilewater to the top of Mount Fay
Voltvessels – Found in northeastern Memorium

“I think I unlocked easy mode, I don’t know what everyone else is doing,” Syrobe said after humiliating one of the final bosses with a room full of traps. Here he is casually watching a boss get shredded while I remember each and every attempt I made in my own playthrough where I—a fool—chased the boss around with my sword. If only I had known about the devastating power of tools.

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September 16, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Roblox announces new AI tools for creators

by admin September 11, 2025

Roblox Corporation has announced a suite of new tools designed to help creators “bring to life compelling content, scale their audience, increase their earning potential, and build successful businesses.”

The company announced the “new innovations” during its 11th annual Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) on September 5, 2025, revealing a number of AI updates that aim to “offer creators artistic freedom, enhanced functionality, and smarter development assistance.”

As part of these AI updates, Roblox Corporation is “advancing generative AI with 4D object creation.”

The company clarifies that, in this case, the fourth wall is interaction, with this new tool allowing for “interaction between objects, environments, and people, providing models with built-in functionality.”

This 4D Objects tool will have a limited release and is coming in Q4 2025.

The company is also building upon the AI-powered real-time text chat translation tool it released in February 2024.

Roblox Corporation plans to roll out real-time voice chat translation next year, which will allow those who speak English, Spanish, French, and German to voice chat, with the AI tool translating their words into the listener’s native language.

In addition, these updates will add text-to-speech and speech-to-text application programming interfaces (APIs) to the platform.

The text-to-speech API is currently in limited release and can convert text to audio from ten preset voices. The speech-to-text API, on the other hand, allows users to trigger actions with verbal commands, which Roblox said “powers a new level of immersion and accessibility.” A limited release of this tool will be rolled out “by the end of the year.”

These new AI capabilities also include assistant improvements. Assistant, which allows Roblox creators to use plain language to code, is “more agentic and context aware,” but it will also become compatible with the model context protocol (MCP) later this month.

“This is significant because in addition to operating as an MCP server, assistant will be able to act as a client and orchestrate work across popular third-party services like Figma and Blockade Labs,” Roblox said.

Alongside these AI-based tools, Roblox Corporation unveiled advancements to performance and fidelity “to expand into new genres and novel types of gameplay,” including avatar improvements, a new server authority mode, and enhanced engine performance.

The company also announced a new short-form video experience, Roblox Moments (beta), that aims to help creators grow and engage their audiences, and an increase to its Developer Exchange Program (DevEx) rate, which will see creators earning 8.5% more when they turn their earned Robux into cash.

According to Roblox Corporation, in the 12 months ending June 30, 2025, Roblox creators earned over $1 billion via DevEx and “are on track to exceed this in 2025.”

“Our goal is for developers to have the opportunity to transform their ideas into growing businesses,” said Nick Tornow, Roblox senior vice president of engineering.

“Time and again, we see that when we give our creators powerful tools and opportunities, they create things that inspire us by pushing the boundaries of creative possibility.

“At Roblox, better tools, including many with AI capabilities, will help creators get from idea to shared reality faster.”

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September 11, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

All the Dyson Hair Tools You’ll Ever Need (2025)

by admin September 9, 2025

We test each tool on a range of hair types, lengths, and textures, including fine, curly, and color-treated hair. Our testers live in varied climates and span different routines, so we see how these tools perform in different environments.

We time how long it takes to dry freshly washed hair of different thicknesses and lengths. We pay attention to heat distribution and airflow strength across settings, and we note how comfortable the tool feels during styling sessions. Weight, cord length, and dual-voltage compatibility are also factors we consider.

We test every attachment as it’s intended, and we judge ease of use, durability, and styling results.

Beyond our initial two-week testing period, we continue using each tool for several months. This lets us track motor wear, filter maintenance needs, and any overall performance loss.

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September 9, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Unity developers can now tap into system screen reader tools on macOS and Windows

by admin September 5, 2025

Unity is updating its game engine to support native screen readers in both macOS and Windows. The feature is available now in the Unity 6000.3.0a5 alpha, and should make the process of making games accessible for blind players cheaper for developers, Can I Play That? writes.

Screen readers narrate on-screen menus so blind and low-vision players can navigate a game or a piece of software without additional assistance. Typically, screen reading software is custom-built for each game, which can make them resource-intensive for developers to implement. “Building something like that from scratch has to be decided upon early in development so you have the time/resources allocated to make it properly,” Steve Saylor, an accessibility consultant and creator, shared on Bluesky. “Having it in-engine can mean the heavy lifting is done for you, and the cost of time/resources now is significantly lower.”

Unity previously offered APIs for both Android and iOS’ built-in screen readers in its Unity 6.0 release, but hadn’t yet added support for Windows Narrator or macOS VoiceOver. With this new alpha and its eventual release as Unity 6.3, developers creating games with Unity will have access to a native screen reader in all of the engine’s major platforms. Considering how popular Unity is as a game engine, that could vastly improve the accessibility of future games.

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September 5, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

TSMC reportedly cuts Chinese chipmaking tools from 2nm fabs as suppliers face scrutiny due to emerging new US restrictions

by admin August 29, 2025

TSMC will no longer use Chinese-made equipment in its 2nm chip production lines, according to reports from both Digitimes and Nikkei Asia. The change comes as U.S. lawmakers advance the Chip EQUIP Act, a proposal that would prohibit companies receiving American subsidies from buying tools from “foreign entities of concern,” including Chinese firms such as AMEC and Mattson Technology.

Nikkei Asia writes that while Chinese equipment was present in TSMC’s earlier advanced fabs, the company has chosen to qualify only Japanese, American, and European tools as it ramps up 2nm production in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, with Arizona to follow. That ensures its most advanced fabs are insulated from potential U.S. restrictions at a time when federal incentives are a crucial factor in global expansion.

2nm a major transition for TSMC

The upcoming 2nm (N2) process marks a critical moment for the world’s largest contract chipmaker. It’ll be the first production technology by TSMC to feature gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, the chip industry’s first significant structural shift since FinFETs, and is expected to enter production within the next few months.

Supply chain realignment

Taken together, the two reports indicate a supply chain realignment is occurring on two fronts. On the one hand, TSMC is cutting ties with Chinese tools to pre-empt Washington’s restrictions and maintain eligibility for subsidies. On the other hand, it appears to be using the same momentum to reshape its local supply chain, favoring vendors who align with its financial and geopolitical strategy.

This signals that TSMC’s decoupling from suppliers isn’t entirely about politics but also a way for the company to consolidate its leverage over suppliers. By enforcing margin discipline and reducing exposure to Chinese firms, TSMC helps its partners remain competitive without jeopardizing its own regulatory position. The risk is that some Taiwanese firms could pivot further toward China, deepening the divide that TSMC is trying to manage.

Ultimately, the race to 2nm is being shaped as much by politics and economics as by transistor physics. We’ll still get faster, more efficient chips on schedule (knock on wood), but the supply chain is narrowing to a smaller pool of politically acceptable players.

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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August 29, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Gemini image generation is adding more editing tools

by admin August 26, 2025

Google’s Gemini is getting new features for editing images with AI. The latest image editing model is the work of the DeepMind artificial intelligence team, and these updates will be available starting today in the Gemini app. Google noted that all images either generated or edited in Gemini will be visibly and digitally watermarked to designate them as created with artificial intelligence.

The first aspect of the new editing model offers consistency across different versions of an image. It’s particularly focused on keeping human characters looking the same as more changes are made the the surrounding visuals, with the idea that people could upload a picture of someone and still look true to reality as they put themselves in different settings or outfits with AI.

The second part of the model involves advanced image editing options. These features include the ability to combine two separate pre-existing images into a new scene, using a visual trait from an existing image as a new prompt or new design element, and multi-stage editing where individual components of an image can be changed in a sequence without losing the accumulated updates.

Image generation of humans was unavailable for a few months last year after Gemini created inaccurately diverse results for prompts based on particular places and times in history. Users regained the ability to AI-generate images of people with the Imagen 3 model.

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August 26, 2025 0 comments