The Hardware Unboxed Podcast

Episode 55: Intel's Tom Petersen joins the podcast to chat about Arc Battlemage! We discuss fixing and improving game compatibility, the importance of enough VRAM, hardware design decisions including the die size, the future of the Arc division, XeSS 2 frame generation and plenty more.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro02:12 - The Journey from Alchemist to Battlemage09:21 - Hardware Changes and Improving Game Compatibility15:13 - The Importance of VRAM20:11 - GPU Design Choices and Improvements34:18 - The Price38:12 - The Future of Arc: On the Chopping Block?48:28 - XeSS 2 Frame Generation and XeLL1:19:45 - Ray Tracing on Arc Battlemage1:25:32 - OutroSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Episode 54: YouTube turned us Spanish! Also, we do a full recap on the state of ray tracing for PC gaming right now, looking back to the original RTX 20 series GPUs to how things are going now. Has Nvidia simply used ray tracing to upsell you on a more expensive graphics card?CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:40 - YouTube Turned us Spanish13:50 - Ray Tracing, Where Does it Stand Right Now?34:20 - Ray Tracing vs High Refresh Rate42:27 - Ray Tracing is About the Upsell53:41 - We Expected Ray Tracing to be Better By Now58:09 - The Chicken and the Egg1:03:44 - The Future of Ray Tracing1:24:23 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxedBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.social

Episode 53: We've been testing games this week, including S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and Flight Simulator 2024, so we discuss how these games run on PC. Loading issues, punishing CPU requirements, VRAM issues and more.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro04:07 - Testing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 214:51 - VRAM is An Issue Again34:18 - Floaty Controls and Frame Generation39:04 - Testing Flight Simulator 202446:51 - Updates From Our Boring LivesBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hardwareunboxed.bsky.socialSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 52: More discussion on Arrow Lake and Intel's promised updates, a preliminary look at the 9800X3D that has blown up on someone's AM5 motherboard, a chat about how social media is crap now and yes... more discussion of 4K CPU gaming benchmarks.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:31 - Intel Promises Arrow Lake Improvements21:51 - Social Media Sucks Now47:28 - Possible Installation Error Blows Up 9800X3D58:56 - More Discussion of CPU Benchmarking at 4K1:21:36 - Updates From Our Boring LivesBurned 9800X3D: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1gqaryi/new_9800x3d_msi_tomahawk_x870_burned_up_i_guess/SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 51: After the impressive launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, we go into more detail on our thoughts on the CPU, its performance, and Intel's troubles in the CPU market as a result. We also chat about CPU reviews, misconceptions and how people should think about buying a CPU.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:49 - A Little Bit on the 9800X3D and Motherboards16:01 - Extended Thoughts on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D39:54 - Intel Are In Trouble55:18 - CPU Testing Misconceptions1:05:45 - How to Buy a Gaming CPU1:23:02 - Steve Has An Idea1:30:10 - 1440p and 4K CPU Testing Isn't Inaccurate, But...SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 50: Following on from the reviews of Intel Arrow Lake, we go into much more detail on the new CPUs, the review process and comparisons to Zen 5 reviewsCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:25 - Arrow Lake Deep Dive32:07 - The Difference Between Arrow Lake and Zen 5 Reviews1:09:45 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 49: We discuss X870 testing and motherboard quality, along with the 5800X3D being discontinued, and a bit of weirdness between MSI and AMD after MSI leaked 9800X3D performance numbersCHAPTERS00:00 - Intro00:43 - Updates from X870 Motherboard Testing20:11 - The Ryzen 7 5800X3D Has Been Retired31:00 - MSI Leaks 9800X3D Performance34:52 - MSI's Weird Relationship with AMD53:36 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 48: Intel has officially announced Arrow Lake, so Tim and Steve discuss their initial thoughts on what Intel has shown so far.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro01:19 - Initial Thoughts on Intel Arrow Lake16:54 - Arrow Lake is More Efficient28:06 - The Price is Disappointing42:25 - Arrow Lake vs Zen 5 Expectations47:40 - LGA1851 Platform54:44 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed

Episode 47: Along with the launch of X870 motherboards, AMD have claimed that several updates have improved Zen 5. We discuss that, as well as GPU pricing updates and how Nvidia's GPU configurations have gotten worse over the years.CHAPTERS00:00 - Intro04:17 - AMD Claims Zen 5 is Improved Thanks to "Updates"31:20 - Intel Arrow Lake Launch Plans Confirmed35:36 - AMD RDNA3 GPUs are Getting Cheaper44:43 - Nvidia's GPU Configurations Are Getting Worse Over Time1:14:12 - Updates From Our Boring LivesSUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCASTAudio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcastVideo: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqT8Vb3jweH6_tj2SarErfwSUPPORT US DIRECTLYPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedFloatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedLINKSYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Hardwareunboxed/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardwareUnboxed