Category: Technology

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 series is for serious gamers who want maximum performance for a reasonable price.

We are testing the 15″ model G513RM-HF285W. base specs

• AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (option AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX and Intel 12^th Gen Core i9-1200H)
• 15.6” 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 300Hz refresh (no QHD 165Hz option in Australia)
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (option RTX 3070 Ti or RTX 3080 Ti)
• 1TB PCIe 4.0 M2 SSD (option 512GB and 2TB)
• 16GB DDR5-4800 SODIMM x 2 (also in 8GB and can be upgraded to 32GB)
• Windows 11 Home

Also available is the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 range featuring a 17.3″, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 360Hz refresh screen with the Intel i9-12900H or i9-12900HX.

Don’t confuse these with the 2021 models, which had AMD Ryzen 4XXX/5XXX OR Intel 10^th gen CPUs and 165Hz screens.

Australian review: ASUS ROG Strix G15 model G513RM-HF285W

website	2022 Strix range and Product Page
Price	As tested, $2699 but seen for as low as $2399.
desde	CE/IT retailers
Warranty	1-year ACL
country of origin	China
About	ASUSTeK Computer is a Taiwanese company that produces motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, PDAs, computer monitors, notebook computers, servers, networking products, mobile phones, computer cases, computer components, and computer cooling systems.
More	CyberShack ASUS news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.

You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – A respectable laptop albeit with pretty flashing lights – Pass+

As it turns out, the test unit is the base-speced model, and the variations are memory and SSD capacity. There are versions with the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX/GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and Intel i9-12900H/GeForce RTX 3080 Ti at higher costs.

It is big at 354 x 259 x 226 ~ 272mm x 2.3kg, plus a hefty power brick. It is solid too.

The flashing keyboard (ASUS Aura Sync) is a 4-zone RGB, and there is a flashing band under the front keyboard deck. The body has more body art (think Tattoos), but it is not over the top.

Interestingly the main ports – power, HDMI 2.0b, LAN and USB-C (AMD does not support Thunderbolt) are on the rear, and there are two USB-A and a 3.5mm port on the left side (probably for wired game controllers and headset).

Depending on the configuration, it may have an Electro Punk, Volt Green or Eclipse Gray (UDH model) finish.

Screen – 15.6” 1920 x 1080, 300Hz, 142ppi, IPS – Pass+

It is a Tianma TL156VDXP0101 used in the ASUS TUF 15″ range. It is an 8-bit, 16.07m color panel. The refresh rate is either 60/300Hz (50/250Hz in Australia). It has very narrow top and side bezels and, as such, no webcam.

Base specs as tested are

• DCI-P3 67%
• sRGB 97% (claim 100)
• Adobe RGB 68% (Claim 73.5)
• GTG 6ms (claim 3ms but depends on measurement)
• BTW 13ms
• Max nits 350 but drops to as low as 315 (bottom left) and 330 (top left)
• Contrast 1020:1
• Delta E 2 – capable of better calibration
• Non-PWM

It will downscale Dolby Vision/Atmos and HDR content to SDR.

It is a good screen for gamers, but the lower specs for DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB limit its use to those working in the sRGB gamut.

AMD Ryzen 7 6800H Mobile Processor – Pass+

It is a 6nm, 8-core/16-thread, 3.2/4.7GHz max boost, with a TPD of 45W. It runs up to 115W and gets quite hot to 95° requiring good cooling (which it has).

Geekbench 5 single/multicore scores are 1465/7976. Full performance specs here.

Our only concern is that it does not support Thunderbolt 3 or 4, and expansion opportunities are limited.

GPU 1 AMD Radeon 680M 2200MHz GPU – Pass

The integrated AMD GPU supports an internal display of 1920 x 1080 x 200/240Hz (not 250/300Hz as per the panel). It will support four displays – one HDMI 4K@50/60Hz and the other 4K@50/60Hz via a USB-C alt DP port. The third external monitor is via Miracast.

This GPU can decode MPEG2, VC1, VP9, ​​H.264, H.265 and JPEG to a maximum of 200/240fps.

OpenCL/Vulkan scores are 23,936/73,803. Full performance specs are here.

It is not very powerful and more useful for battery life. GPU 2 does more work, especially when selecting 300Hz panel refresh. You can switch this GPU off (Optimus MUX).

GPU 2 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU

This is a mid-range RTX 30-series with 3840 CUDA cores and 60-115W TDP. Although ASUS has ROG Boost on mains power at 1752MHz at 140W (1702MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 115W+25W Dynamic Boost)

OpenCL/Vulkan/CUDA scores are 100,768/20,893/110,754. Full performance specs here.

1TB SSD – very fast – Exceed

The review unit has a Micron_2450 1TB M2.2230 SSD.

CPDT rates the internal SSD sequential read/write at 2.8/1.18GBps. Crystal Disk Mark (which uses different tests) rates it at 3342/3212MBps. Both tests show reasonable large file transfers.

USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps (1250MBps) maxes out at 849/670MBps on a WD Black P50 SSD – seriously fast (Western Digital review). We were hoping for USB-C 4.0 ports, but alas, no.

Keyboard-Pass+

It has a lovely 1.9mm throw and a 45g actuation, and it almost feels optomechanical. it has four-zone RGB adjustable lighting.

Key spacing is generous, and there are dedicated gaming and media keys. The trackpad is oversized and can traverse the screen in less than one swipe.

MIA is a webcam, although there is a mic array under the screen.

ASUS ARMORY CRATE – you can’t handle the truth

The Armory Crate is a dashboard that allows you to set parameters, change color calibrations, set up a games library (with individual game settings), activate XG Mobile and update the firmware. Gamers will love it.

Battery – not bad considering – Pass(able)

It is a 90WHr battery and uses 240VAC Adapter, 20VDC/12A/240W output. But you need to know that all specs are reduced to around 30W on battery – that’s 15% of the full power gamut.

PC Mark 3.0 Modern Office Battery test gave 11 hours and 14 minutes. Interestingly a VLC video loop was 11 hours and 49 minutes.

Both tests were on Best Power Efficiency and AMD graphics, so expect far worse results if you select 300Hz and the RTX graphics. Charge time is a very respectable 1 hour and 4 minutes.

How does it sound? Pass(able)

It has left and right stereo speakers under the keyboard deck. There are bottom vents under presumably to help bass. The maximum volume is 83dB – quite good. The sound stage is about screen width, and Dolby Atmos pre-sets do not add a wider or higher stage.

Using the Dolby Atmos Dynamic default settings over the 2.0 stereo up-firing speakers.

Sound-wise it has no low-or-mid-bass and very slow-building high bass from 100-250Hz. It then flattens through to 6kHz but is choppy with moderate clipping (when a speaker cannot handle the frequency and cuts the top off). It then slowly declines to 20kHz.

This is a mid-sound (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) signature. Clear voice (1-4kHz) is strong and not much else. We tried with other Dolby Access pre-sets, but the impact on the speakers was negligible.

If you listen to music, the lack of mid-bass means muddy notes and the declining mid-to-high treble means instruments lack that sparkle.

Bluetooth Headphones using BT 5.2 was clear, but the SBC codec means that the Dolby Atmos pre-sets had little effect. We did notice good 3D spatial height and some directionality.

You can read more about sound signatures How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide).

Dolby Access – enabled – Exceed

Dolby Access is usually at extra cost from the Windows Store. Here it is enabled and allows you to select Bright, Dark and Vivid Dolby Vision profiles.

The Dolby Atmos settings allow for a range of sound pre-sets, including Dynamic (default), Game, Movie, Music, Voice and three custom settings. You can customize it for the stereo speakers, headphones, or home theater (over HDMI via a dock).

The Atmos pre-sets made little difference, but the Vision pre-sets did. Note: these only enable you to play Dolby Vision and Atmos at SDR and in stereo 2.0.

Comms-Exceed

It has Wi-Fi 6e, 2×2 MIMO using the MediaTek MT922 160Hz wireless LAN card.

We don’t have a 6e router yet, but it achieved 2400Mbps full duplex at 2m from a Netgear AX11000 router. We expect that to almost double with 6e.

BT 5.2 has the SBC codec. It was good to 15 meters and supports multi-point connection with one other BT 5.X device.

Ports–Pass

You should be aware that AMD does not support Thunderbolt 4, so expansion is limited to USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps. This is not a good device to expand.

• HDMI 2.0b 4K@50/60Hz
• USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps data only
• USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 alt DP/G-SYNC/5V/3A/15W downstream*
• 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps 5V/1A/5W
• LAN port (no speed given but should support 2.5Gb)
• 3.5mm 3-pole headset jack

* The specs mention that the USB-C has power delivery, but that it is downstream. You cannot charge this via USB-C.

CyberShack’s view – ASUS ROG Strix G15 series is a serious gaming rig

With the caveat that I don’t play games, this appears to have the horsepower and staying power that gamers want. It is very reasonably priced, has expandable RAM and SSD, and I particularly like what seems to be optical keys on the keyboard.

From a creators’ view, the 60/300Hz screen (probably 50/250Hz in Australia given our 50Hz power) is no real benefit, and the lower Adobe and DCI-P3 specs may not suit your work – although sRGB is nearly 100%.

But the lack of Thunderbolt expandability would be the deal breaker here as most creators want dual screens and more attached gadgets. No, this is a gamers’ device.

BTW – the majority of international reviews are for a different model with a 2K screen and AMD Ryzen 7 6800HX CPU. The only external identifier is a gray speckled end cap (not pink) at the left screen hinge.

ASUS ROG Strix G15, ASUS ROG Strix G15, ASUS ROG Strix G15

At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you’ll like it too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

If you spend a lot of time playing racing sims and you feel a need for speed that your controller just can’t handle, then it might be time to grab yourself a steering wheel. Also known as racing wheels, these controllers are designed to replicate the feel of driving an actual car, by replicating the force feedback and resistance of the steering wheel and pedals.

A racing wheel isn’t something that everyone needs, but if your gaming diet is predominantly consumed by titles like Grand Touring 7, then it could be a worthwhile investment – ​​especially when you can nab one at a nice price.

Logitech’s G29 Driving Force Wheel with Shifter combo is currently on sale for $439 here. This set includes a steering wheel, pedals and gear shifter, and usually retails for $549.95, so you’ll be saving a meaty $110 off its price tag.

Considering that the base G29 set – which includes just the steering wheel and pedals – retails for $499.95, that’s a pretty solid bargain. You’re paying less for the steering wheel and pedals, with a bonus shifter thrown in (coincidentally that G29 base set is also on sale for $375 here).

What can the Logitech G29 wheel do?

As far as racing wheels go, Logitech is one of the go-to brands when it comes to quality and durability. The Logitech G29 is a sturdy steering wheel and pedal set, which uses a dual-motor system and helical gears to provide precise force feedback while driving. Much like an actual car, the wheel also has a 900-degree lock-to-lock rotation.

The added 6-speed shifter is also another step in replicating the real-life experience, by allowing you to change gears as you would with an actual car.

Is the Logitech G29 compatible with the PS5?

It sure is! According to Logitech’s listing for the G29, the steering wheel is compatible with the PS3, the PS4 and the PS5. So if you’re looking for something to use with your PS4 with the intention of upgrading to a PS5 down the line, you’ll have a future-proof steering wheel. It’s also compatible with PC if that’s your preferred platform when playing racing sims.

In terms of games, the Logitech G29 steering wheel is compatible with recent and popular titles like WRC10, NASCAR 21 Ignition, F1 2021, Grand Touring Sport and Grand Touring 7. You can find a full list of PS4, PS5 and PC games that the Logitech G29 steering wheel is compatible with at the end of this page.

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You can drive away with the Logitech G29 Driving Force Wheel (with Shifter) on sale here, while the standard Logitech G29 Driving Force Wheel is on sale here.

Spotify is set to roll out separate play and shuffle buttons for it’s premium subscribers, replacing the current 2-in-1 button that the app currently features on playlists and artist pages.

Announced in a post on their ‘For The Record’ blog, Spotify announced the change would appear on iOS and Android “worldwide over the coming weeks.”

“This new change will allow you to choose the mode you prefer at the top of playlists and albums and listen the way you want to. Whether you love the joy of the unexpected with Shuffle mode, or prefer listening to tunes in order by simply pressing Play, Spotify has you covered.”

Being the most popular music streaming platform in the world, with over 350 million users and 150 million paid subscribers, this seems like a simple change that should have come long ago.

“We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason,” said Adele in a tweet she posted last year when the Shuffle Button was removed as the default last year.

This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry! We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening 🍷♥️ https://t.co/XWlykhqxAy

— Adele (@Adele) November 21, 2021

Now, both the Shuffle and Play Buttons will be displayed for premium users. Free users will still have shuffle as the default, something the company has enforced on free users since its launch.

Pinterest may be best known for shopping inspiration and design ideas, but the company’s newest product wants to inspire its users to tap into their own creativity. The company has quietly launched a new iOS app called Shuffles for putting together collages using photos, image cutouts and other animated effects. The app is currently in an invite-only status with the ability to join a waitlist from its home screen.

According to Shuffles’ description on the App Store, users can build their own collages using Pinterest’s photo library or snap photos of objects they want to include using the camera. They can also cut out individual objects from within an image using a tap — a feature that recalls iOS 16’s own clever image cutout ability. Images in Shuffles can then be rotated, layered and resized on the screen to create the collage, and animations and effects can optionally be added. The final project can be shared with friends for collaboration or posted to public groups where others can “remix” the original creation in their own way.

The app’s description suggests it could be used for visualizing a room makeover, fashion ideas, mood boards and more.

While the company hadn’t formally announced its plans around Shuffles, a Pinterest spokesperson confirmed the app hails from its new in-house incubator, TwoTwenty.

“Shuffles is a standalone app created by TwoTwenty, Pinterest’s innovative incubator team. Shuffles is an engaging way to create, publish, and share visual content,” the spokesperson said. “With more people coming to our platform for creative inspiration, we’re continuously experimenting with new ways to help Pinners and Creators bring their ideas to life.”

“As this app is in its initial test phase, we don’t have any additional details to share on the record at this time,” they added, declining to share more about its future plans or monetization potential.

Image Credits: pinterest

Launched last November and named after Pinterest’s first office, TwoTwenty’s goal has been to foster more internal experimentation at the social network and increase its pace of innovation. Other tech giants, including Meta, Microsoft and Google, have similar efforts with their own incubators — NPE, Microsoft Garage and Area 120, respectively.

story continues

In Pinterest’s case, the company has been working to make the transition from its past as an image pinboard and bookmarking site that helps drive e-commerce transactions to adapt to today’s creator-driven era where consumers are prompted to make purchases through video content. To address consumer demand for video, Pinterest released its TikTok-like Idea Pins and a live shopping feature, Pinterest TV. The latter was also launched by TwoTwenty’s team, in fact.

But TwoTwenty isn’t just meant to experiment with video. The organization consisting of engineers, designers and other product experts aims to research, prototype and test a variety of new ideas to see if any gain traction. Those that do will be handed off to other teams inside the company to scale.

The early-stage project Shuffles is just one of those ideas.

What’s funny is that Pinterest’s new app is similar to a mobile collage maker Meta ran a couple of years ago through its own in-house incubator, NPE Team. Known as E.gg, the zine maker of sorts developed a small following who enjoyed creating mixed media collages that combined images, text and GIFs. But like nearly all of Meta’s NPE projects, E.gg was shut down. Pinterest’s Shuffles could be looking to tap into that same consumer demand for image-led creativity and inspiration, which Meta had abandoned.

The app also arrives at a time when there’s an undercurrent of resistance to the idea that video has to be the only form of social expression and creativity in social media, as all tech giants are trying to morph themselves into TikTok. This past month, user backlash against Instagram’s deprioritization of friends’ content and photos reached a head after even the Kardashians begged the app to stop trying to be TikTok. Instagram rolled back some of its recent changes as a result but it’s still set on a video-first future.

Pinterest, to some extent, likely understands that its own pivot to video may not be able to retain users’ attention indefinitely in the face of the TikTok threat. Finding another area of ​​growth through an experimentation could give it new avenues to explore.

Financially, the company’s most recent quarter’s earnings provided solid from a numbers standpoint, but it had missed on user growth. Monthly active users were down 9% year over year to 433 million.

The company is due to report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes today. Of note, these will be the first earnings since new CEO Bill Ready took over the job from co-founder Ben Silbermann, who transitioned to executive chairman on June 29, 2022.

What you need to know

• Spotify wants to give users more control over how they listen to music on the platform.
• The service is adding separate play and shuffle buttons for Premium users.
• The new change will be available in the app’s Android and iOS versions in the coming weeks.

Spotify is finally adopting one of YouTube Music’s most useful features for years: the ability to play or shuffle soundtracks with separate buttons. The new change is coming to both its Android and iOS apps.

The service has announced that the separate play and shuffle buttons will be available only to Premium subscribers in the coming weeks. The goal is to give them more control over how they listen to music.

The rumored specifications of Nvidia’s upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti just leaked, and it looks like it’ll be one beast of a graphics card.

If the specs turn out to be true, the RTX 4070 Ti might be powerful enough to match the current-gen flagship RTX 3090 Ti, but it’s also expected to cost a lot less than the $1,999 GPU.

As I have mentioned before, there is an AD104 SKU with a 400W limit.
PG141-SKU331
a full-fat AD104 with 7680FP32
21Gbps 12G GDDR6X
It can easily match RTX 3090 Ti.

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) August 1, 2022

This tantalizing bit of news comes from a fairly trustworthy source — Kopite7kimi, a well-known leaker in the GPU space. However, it’s best not to take it for granted and assume that everything is subject to change, especially if you consider that Nvidia might only release a single GPU this year, and if that happens, it won’t be the rumored RTX 4070 Ti.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk about the exciting stuff — the specs of the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, the successor to the RTX 3070 Ti. The latter had proven itself to be one of the best graphics cards this generation, and it seems that its successor might follow that same path and prove to be even better than previously expected.

Kopite7kimi talks about an AD104 GPU based on the PG141-SKU331 PCB. The card utilizes the full AD104 GPU core, which implies that it’s the RTX 4070 Ti and not the base RTX 4070 that is expected to feature a cut-down version of AD104. This would unlock a much higher power limit of 400 watts, and with that, a lot of potential performance.

The card is expected to come with 7,680 cores or 60 streaming multiprocessors (SMs). The leaker predicts a whole lot of memory for this GPU, with 12GB of GDDR6X memory clocked at 21Gbps across a 192-bit bus. Although Kopite didn’t mention that in their tweet, Wccftech notes that other rumors about the RTX 4070 Ti imply that it will also have a massive 48MB of L2 cache and 160 render output units (ROPs).

These specifications mark a huge increase from the RTX 3070 Ti, with a 25% boost in core count and a cache that’s 12 times larger. Unfortunately, Kopite7kimi didn’t talk about the clock speeds for this GPU, but something in the 2GHz-2.8GHz range seems like a safe prediction.

Now, let’s compare these specs to the current-gen flagship, the RTX 3090 Ti. The $1,999 flagship has a higher core count of 10,752, with 24GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus. However, it has a drastically smaller L2 cache (6MB) and fewer ROPs (112). If the RTX 4070 Ti can match, or come close to, the RTX 3090 Ti in performance, it will be enough for the next-gen card to be a winner here.

We still don’t know how Nvidia will price the new graphics cards. With the current situation in the world, plus an oversupply of RTX 30-series GPUs lying around, there have been whispers of the list prices being quite high. However, if we assume that the RTX 4070 Ti will be priced in the $600-$700 range, which seems reasonable, it will still be a much better value than the RTX 3090 Ti.

Editors’ Recommendations

Words by Mixdown Staff

Eight isolated outputs with audiophile-quality power

Voodoo Lab has expanded their Pedal Power range with the X8 which boasts eight galvanically isolated 9V DC outputs with a hybrid DC design providing audiophile-quality power.

What you need to know:

• Voodoo Lab has expanded their Pedal Power range with the X8.
• It boasts eight galvanically isolated 9V DC outputs.
• Each output delivers up to 500mA of current to supply power-hungry modern DSP effects.

Read all the latest product news here.

Each output delivers up to 500mA of current to supply power-hungry modern DSP effects, while the low-profile, super-light Pedal Power X8 is a perfect fit for small to medium-sized travel boards.

No voltage converters are required with the Pedal Power X8 being operable at any input voltage from 100-240AC, making power supply a hassle-free cause wherever you find yourself.

You can also power 18V pedals by combining outputs with an optional voltage doubler cable or adapter.

In addition to serving as a stand-alone power supply, X8 can also power from X-LINK expansion ports, adding eight isolated outputs to a Pedal Power 3 Series power supply.

“From vintage battery-operated stompboxes to modern high current DSP effects, Pedal Power X8 delivers the best power in the business to ensure pedals always sound and perform their best,” Voodoo Lab said.

Head to Voodoo Lab for more information. For local inquiries, reach out to EGM Distribution.

NVIDIA will be offering some serious gaming firepower with its upcoming RTX 40 series graphics cards. Codenamed Ada Lovelace, these GPUs will be the first to crack the 100 TFLOPs barrier, thanks to a brand new microarchitecture and process node. The top end AD102 die is set to feature a core count of 18,432 alongside 96MB of L2 cache and a 384-bit bus. The memory buffer will vary from 24GB to 48GB depending on the SKU. The TGP may exceed 600W+ when fully enabled (RTX 4090/4090 Ti).

GPU	GA102	AD102	RTX 4090	AD103	RTX4080	AD104	RTX4070
Arch	Ampere	Ada Lovelace		Ada Lovelace		Ada Lovelace
Process	Sam 8nm LPP	TSMC 5nm		TSMC 5nm		TSMC 5nm
CPG	7	12	eleven	7	7	5	5
TPC	42	72	64	42	40	30	28
SMS	84	144	128	84	80	60	56
shaders	10,752	18,432	16,384	10,752	10,240	7,680	7,168
PT	37.6	~100 TFLOPs?	90 TFLOPs?	~50 TFLOPs	47 TFLOPs?	~35 TFLOPs	33 TFLOPs?
Memory	24GB GDDR6X		24GB GDDR6X		16GB GDDR6X		10GB GDDR6
L2 Cache	6MB	96MB	72MB	64MB		48MB
Bus Width	384-bit	384-bit		256-bit		160-bit
TGP	350W	600W	450W	450W	420W	300W	300W
Launch	Sep 2020		September 22?		September 22?		September 22?

Moving down the stack, we have the AD103 and AD104 which will power the RTX 4080 and 4070/4070 Ti, respectively. The former will feature 10,240 shaders alongside 16GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus and ~60MB of L2 cache. It will have a TGP of 400W+. It should have a single-precision performance rating of 50-60 TFLOPs, roughly half as much as the RTX 4090.

As I have mentioned before, there is an AD104 SKU with a 400W limit.
PG141-SKU331
a full-fat AD104 with 7680FP32
21Gbps 12G GDDR6X
It can easily match RTX 3090 Ti.

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) August 1, 2022

Finally, we have the AD104 core which will form the backbone of the more mainstream RTX 4070 and 4070 Ti. The former will leverage a partially disabled die with 7,169 cores and a 160-bit bus paired with 10GB of GDDR6 memory and 40-44MB of L2 cache. The Ti will feature the fully enabled implementation of the AD103 die with 7,680 shaders, 48MB of L2 cache, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.

According to Kopite7kimi, the RTX 4070 Ti will be as fast as the RTX 3090 Ti, the fastest GPU on the planet right now. It’ll have a TGP of 400W and enable top-notch 4K gaming, maybe even with ray-tracing enabled. It’s worth remembering that the RTX 4090/4090 Ti will be twice as fast as (if not more) the RTX 3090/3090 Ti with several-fold higher ray-tracing performance. The RTX 4080 should be ahead of the RTX 3080 by at least 60-70%.

the RTX 4090 is set to launch next month with the RTX 4080/4070 landing either during the holiday season or in the first quarter of 2023.

Spotify is updating its app to address a long-standing user complaint with music playback — but it’s asking customers to pay for the fix. The company announced today it will introduce, at last, a separate Play Button and a Shuffle Button at the top of albums playlists to make it easier to play the music the way you like. This will replace the combined button available before, which had been inconsistent across platforms and frustrating to use. However, streamers may be disappointed to find out that what should be an app update in favor of better usability is oddly being sold to them as a reason to upgrade to Spotify’s paid tier — the company says the new button is only being offered to Spotify Premium subscribers.

This seems a bizarre choice given that customer complaints had correctly identified an issue with the overall design of the Spotify app’s interface and its user experience. As one review posted last year to Spotify’s Community forums had noted, the button offered was even different across Spotify’s apps. On mobile, playlists had the combined Shuffle/Play button, but on the desktop, the button was just a regular Play Button. This was confusing for users who switched between platforms, the post pointed out. The user suggested Spotify simply offer two separate buttons so people could choose how they wanted to stream music, instead of having to tap into Now Playing screen to enable or disable Shuffle mode.

The post received 647 upvotes and pages of comments from others who agreed. It was not the only complaint of this nature on the forum site. Others posted similar requests for separate Play and Shuffle buttons or even different solutions to the same problem. For example, one person asked Spotify to allow users to configure which button appeared in the app to make it a user’s choice.

Spotify has been working on this problem for awhile. It first introduced the Shuffle/Play icon in 2020 to reduce streaming to just a click, it said, and last year made Play Button the default button on all albums for Spotify Premium users (at Adele’s request, as you may recall). With this upgrade, the Play Button will remain the default, and Shuffle will be a separate option across the mobile Spotify experience.

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While arguably a minor change to the app — it’s literally just a button — it’s clearly a feature that was in need of a fix in users’ minds not a premium offering. Other major music streaming apps, like Apple Music and Amazon Music, already include separate Play and Shuffle buttons, for instance.

It’s uncommon for app makers to charge for something like a different button, especially when the reason for the change is because users were unhappy with the app’s functionality and design. One somewhat related example could be Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, which allows users to customize the bottom bar of the app with buttons of their choosing. But in that case, the option is more about personal preference and quick access to favorite features — not usability. Even without paying, Twitter’s features are still easy to get to in the main navigation on the left side of the app.

Spotify tells us the idea to charge for the button has to do with how it perceives the benefits associated with a Premium Subscription. At its core, Premium users are paying for the option to listen to any song they want, on-demand. The button is somewhat of an extension of that, as it’s allowing users to choose to listen on-demand in any way they want.