For generations we've put up with sub-10% YOY performance improvements on ultraportables, but with the threat of AMD's competition in the near future, Intel's low-power mobile chips are finally transitioning to quad-cores. Achieved while keeping within the same 15-watt TDP, let me tell you, the boost is huge.

For $180 the Core i3-8350K is nearly a rebadged Core i5-7600K: both are 14nm quad-cores operating at ~4GHz, but the 8350K is 25% cheaper. Meanwhile, the Core i3-8100 goes for a more appealing $120. And although it's locked at 3.6GHz, it's roughly 40% more affordable than a comparable i5 from the last generation.

Let's keep this simple: Total War: Warhammer was a very good strategy game. Total War: Warhammer 2 is better. The game continues Creative Assembly's tradition of building on the release of a new Total War with a sort of semi-sequel. Only this time TWW2 almost does feel like an all-new game.

Intel is hitting back with its eighth-generation Core series, which counters Ryzen with cores, lots of cores. On hand today we have the Core i7-8700K, based on Intel's new "Coffee Lake" architecture, it is designed to operate no slower than 3.7 GHz, with turbo boost taking it as high as 4.7 GHz.

The Super Nintendo Classic is a miniature blast of nostalgia, a sleekly packaged piece of hardware that will transport you back to the days of Dunkaroos and denim jackets. For $80, you get a tiny replica of the Super Nintendo, two controllers, a short HDMI cable, and a power plug.

Finally the Skylake-X series is complete. We now have Intel's new 16- and 18-core processors on-hand an while we don't doubt Intel had planned to release Skylake-X all along, did they really plan to offer something higher than a 12-core part before catching wind of AMD's Threadripper?

Let's cut right to the chase. The Asus ROG Strix XG27VQ is a $350 gaming monitor, 27 inches in size, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a refresh rate of 144 Hz. We're looking at a VA LCD panel here with FreeSync support, sporting an 1800R curvature.

HP's more modest gaming desktop is the simply named Omen Desktop, which is now available with AMD Ryzen processors inside. It's a more traditional tower-style chassis that's highly configurable, with prices ranging from just under $1,000 to over $3,200.

Recently we put together a "Top 5 Worst CPUs" feature as a fun side article and readers loved it. The requests came in for a similar article looking at graphics chips and so we're going to have a go at that today.

By using the Core i7-7700K and Ryzen 5 1600, each with the Vega 64 and GTX 1080 at 1080p and 1440p we have some very interesting results to go over. Further, we suspect these are typical hardware combinations many are considering for building a new high-end rig when gaming is a big factor.

It's time for another GPU battle, though this one is a bit different with GPUs under $100: from AMD we have the Radeon RX 550 and on Nvidia's side is the GeForce GT 1030. Our focus will be primarily on eSports titles including CS:GO, Overwatch and Dota 2 running on a Ryzen 3 test bench.

While we wait for Zen-based APUs, AMD released Bristol Ridge through OEMs late last year, it recently became available on the retail market and this caught the attention of many. The A12-9800 costs $110 and along with promising pretty decent integrated graphics performance, you can take advantage of it on a new AM4 motherboard.

The most striking aspect to the Moto Z2 Play is its slim body. At under 6.0mm thick yet still packing a 3,000 mAh battery, the Z2 Play is one of the slimmest phones on the market right now, however at $500 it faces very tough competition.

The Razer Blade Stealth has received a refresh featuring the same great design, portable form factor, and solid selection of internal hardware, but now addressing previous downsides with a larger screen with smaller bezels, a better trackpad, among others, that make this a superb ultraportable contender.

Today we're going to do something a little different just for fun and look at the top 5 worst CPUs released in the last few years. This is not intended to be taken as seriously as one of our buying guides, and if you happen to have one of these CPUs please don't be offended. In fact, under certain conditions they might even be a justified purchase. Without further ado, let's see why we think these are bad picks for most users...

Opened just days ago to those who preordered the game, today we have a beta copy of Destiny 2 on hand for a heap of GPU benchmarking. Although the PC retail release won't be until late October, this seemed like a great opportunity to see what kind of hardware the game is likely to require.

While HTC worked with Google to create the excellent Pixel phones, their own branded devices haven't been doing as well. Now the company is putting their best effort towards the HTC U11, with 'squeezable' sides and flagship specs, a 5.5-inch 1440p display, and a 12MP camera supposedly rated the best on the market.

This might be the biggest GPU benchmarking session in TechSpot's history, it's so large that we almost gave up after accepting the challenge. After about a week's worth of testing, we have an incredible amount of data to pour over for a total of 32 titles benchmarked in this article.

At this point we know that Ryzen 3 makes a strong case for budget gaming. What we've yet to learn however, is whether that scenario changes with overclocking and if folks with older high-end chips such as the Core i5-2500K and FX-8370 have anything to see here.

Sonic Mania is a celebration, a digitized block party of blistering speeds and bright worlds. Sega's decision to hand their famous mascot over to fan creators and artists has paid massive dividends, creating a game that is not just a welcome return to form but a raucous, delightful experience.

From first glance it's clear that the Origin Neuron means business, and when I say business I mean serious gaming business. Flashy RGB lighting, top of the line components, and a clean aesthetic make it one of the best looking builds I've ever laid my eyes on.

Gigabyte's enthusiast gamer brand, Aorus, never skimps on hardware and the brand new Aorus X5 v7 is no exception: we're looking at an overclockable quad-core i7-7820HK CPU, GTX 1070 graphics,a high-resolution G-Sync display, 32GB RAM and for storage comprises an M.2 SSD and a hard drive.

The Radeon RX Vega 56 will come in at $400, priced to match the value monster that's been the GTX 1070. For that same reason, Vega 56 looks to be the best value proposition of AMD's new offerings. Let's see what's on offer.

It's finally time to see if Threadripper can bring competition to the high-end desktop segment while delivering the value and efficiency we've come to expect from other Ryzen processors.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus is the flagship model for Nvidia's Max-Q initiative. It packs a fully-fledged GTX 1080 with 8GB of GDDR5, a Core i7-7700HQ and 16GB of RAM, inside a chassis that's 17.8mm thick and 2.3 kg heavy. This makes the Zephyrus the slimmest GTX 1080 laptop on the market, and by a significant margin, too.

As a follow up to our day one review of Ryzen 3, this ultimate gaming benchmark guide has it against Ryzen 5 and Intel's competing processors using the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 in nine different PC games.

Buying an 8-core processor was a wallet ripping affair prior to the arrival of Ryzen. And while it's clear that the R7 1700 is considerably cheaper than the Core i7-7820X, we've been wondering just how much faster Intel's solution is considering both chips have 8 cores and 16 threads.

The Asus Designo MX34VQ is the most affordable 3440 x 1440 ultrawide display you can get with a 100Hz refresh rate. And it doesn't skimp on features to hit this price point: the monitor comes with a Qi wireless charging base, decent Harmon Kardon speakers and support for FreeSync.

If you don't care about 3D anymore-and even Nintendo's interest in it seems to be fading-then the New Nintendo 2DS XL is the absolute best model in Nintendo's line of portable gaming hardware. The New 2DS XL is a successor to, among other things, the 3DS XL, the New 3DS and the 2DS.

Although Ryzen 3 is just getting released, it feels like we already know everything about AMD's new R3 1200 and 1300X CPUs after running simulated benchmarks last week. Today we get to see how accurate those results were and how Ryzen 3 does at the $110 price point.