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| PC World - 31 Jan (PC World)Microsoft has launched business versions of its Surface Laptop (7th Edition) as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) with Intel’s Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) processors inside, offering business customers a choice between x86 and Windows on Arm.
Microsoft also said it will release a version of the Intel-powered Surface Laptop with 5G capabilities later this year. Finally, Microsoft announced a new Surface USB4 Hub, which was designed around the Surface aesthetic but can be used with any laptop with a USB4 port.
Essentially, the new Laptop and Pro are third versions of the latest Surface Pro and Laptop, with similar specs and dimensions. In May 2024, Microsoft originally announced the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition), both in a consumer as well as a “for Business” version. Both of those offerings included Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips.
Now, Microsoft is adding a second version of the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) for Business as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business, but with a Snapdragon rival: the Intel Core Ultra 200 / “Lunar Lake” chip. Both Surfaces will be available on the same day, February 18, for the same starting price: $1,499. As before, the Pro will be offered as a 13-inch tablet, while the Surface Laptop ships in both 13.8-inch and 15-inch versions.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop (7th Edition) for Business as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business.Microsoft
(Microsoft’s naming scheme isn’t totally coherent, as its documentation refers to the latest Surface Pro as both the Surface Pro for Business with Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) as well as the Surface Pro 11th Edition for Business. Microsoft refers to its Snapdragon version as the Surface Pro for Business, 11th Edition.)
Copilot+ PCs, but from Intel
The important thing to know about these two new devices is that they’ve both received the Copilot+ designation. Both the new Pro and Laptop use the Core Ultra 5 236V and Core Ultra 5 238V processors, with an NPU capable of 40 TOPS; and the Core Ultra 7 266V and 268V, which offer 48 TOPS. Microsoft defines 40 TOPS as the minimum requirement for a Copilot+ designation, which allows users to use Microsoft’s AI-specific Windows functions.
Nancie Gaskill, the general manager of the Surface business at Microsoft, said the new Pro and Laptop would be “variations” on the existing Surface for Business devices. “For business, we want to make sure that we’re bringing customers choice, and that’s why you see us bringing both the Arm architecture and the x86 platform to those customers,” she told reporters in a conference call.
Microsoft first rolled out its Copilot+ program for Snapdragon PCs, then later supported AMD and Intel.
Though laptops using Copilot+-qualified chips like Intel’s Core Ultra 200 and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 have already shipped, the three platforms aren’t equal; PCs with Snapdragon chips inside can use or at least test all of Microsoft’s announced AI features, including the controversial Recall feature as well as generative AI-enhanced composition and editing features for Windows apps like Paint and Photos. Recall was made available to Snapdragon PCs on November 22. Copilot+ PCs with AMD and Intel chips inside have been forced to wait for an update, and gained Recall and Click-To-Do capabilities in early December. The other features are still not available.
Instead, Microsoft is leaning more on Microsoft 365, rather than Windows itself, to take advantage of the local NPU. For example, with Microsoft 365 Copilot, users can dictate and/or ink on the Surface Pro, and Copilot will analyze and transcribe the notes, executives said.
Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop for Business is essentially the same as the older Surface Laptop, which has a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip inside. Microsoft
The differing timetables between the two processor platforms is something that Microsoft’s Gaskill said would be addressed. “The first-party experiences we showcase today are coming to all silicon platforms,” she said. “That said there will initially be some differences in the timing availability of these features as we work to optimize the experience for each silicon. We’re working closely with our silicon partners to accelerate this development with the goal of bringing parity of these features to devices going forward.”
What’s in the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for Business?
The new Surface Laptop delivers 26 percent faster performance for multitasking, twice the graphics performance, and up to 22 hours of battery life, Gaskill said, compared to the Surface Laptop 5, a 2022 device. That laptop was based upon the 12th-gen Core series of processors.
According to Microsoft’s specifications, the new Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business includes the same specifications as the existing Surface Pro. You can buy two models, either one with an LCD display and the other with an OLED display. The OLED option ships with an additional HDR display mode that is not available in the LCD model.
The Surface Pro ships with a 2880×1920 13-inch display that outputs 600 nits (900 peak nits in HDR mode) with Gorilla Glass 6 protecting it. Memory options include 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 256GB/512GB/1TB of removable PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The 1.92-pound tablet measures 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches and includes an undisclosed battery that supplies up to 14 hours of video playback. The tablet has a 1440p front-facing camera, a 10Mpixel rear camera, and a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports that complement its Bluetooth 5.4/Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. Remember Microsoft killed the headphone jack in the Surface Pro 9.
Microsoft is also promoting its integrated Pluton security coprocessor, which complements the Trusted Platform Module. Pluton isn’t new; the security logic has secured the most recent Xbox Series X and S. What’s new, however, is that it’s Pluton rather than Intel’s own vPro technology which is being used.
Microsoft
Both the 13.8-inch and 15-inch version of the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) do include the 3.5mm jack, however, as well as two Thunderbolt 4 ports plus a 10Gbps USB-A port. There’s a more generic 1080p webcam. Wireless connectivity is supplied by Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
The larger 15-inch Surface Laptop weighs 3.66 pounds and measures 12.96 x 9.41 x 0.72 inches; the smaller 13.8-inch version weighs 2.97 pounds and measures 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches. Physically, there are a few differences between the two: The 13.8-inch screen’s resolution is 2304×1536, while the larger 15-inch display is 2496×1664. Otherwise, the displays share the same characteristics: 1300:1 contrast ratio, Gorilla Glass 5, and Dolby Vision IQ support.
There’s one other small difference between them: The larger Surface Laptop contains a microSDXC Express card reader and an optional integrated smart-card reader.
Microsoft didn’t address a question regarding the future of its Surface Connector, the small magnetic connector that can pass power alongside data. Microsoft has chosen to use the connector for power only, transferring data across the Thunderbolt 4 port.
Thunderbolt 4 is simply the Intel-certified name for the otherwise identical USB4 port, which is why Microsoft named its new USB4 Dock just that. The dock connects to any laptop with a USB4-compliant port (which excludes the Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Studio 2+, Microsoft says) supplying 65W of power. It supports two 4K60 displays, with either one of two USB4/Thunderbolt 4 ports built in, as well as an HDMI 2.1 port. The 4.7×2.4 inch dock also includes a gigabit Ethernet port and a 10Gbps USB-A port.
Microsoft’s USB4 Dock will be priced at $199.99 and ship on February 18. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 30 Jan (ITBrief) DeepSeek is making waves in the AI sector with its new DeepSeek-R1 model, reshaping innovation by making advanced technology more accessible and efficient. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 30 Jan (ITBrief) Dynatrace has unveiled enhanced AI observability capabilities, designed to optimise performance and compliance for businesses as AI technology spending surges. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 30 Jan (ITBrief) The peptide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient market is poised for significant growth, driven by demand for targeted therapies and advances in synthesis technology. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | PC World - 30 Jan (PC World)Large language model AI companies have been aggressively scraping content off the web for years, and many of them are known for ignoring things like copyright or the robots.txt files used by sites to stop search engines. One designer decided to send these web crawlers on a wild goose chase — by trapping them in a never-ending spiral of nonsense that burns up their resources and produces useless results.
Ars Technica spoke to the anonymous designer of Nepenthes, a piece of software that he fully admits is aggressive and malicious. The tool, named after a carnivorous pitcher plant, sends AI scrapers hunting after links that lead to other links back within a website. The circular pattern of useless links repeats itself, sending the bot chasing after the same worthless data again and again, requiring human intervention to halt.
According to the designer, it’s possible for this pattern to repeat for “months” if it isn’t caught, wasting vast amounts of resources for an AI company. And, to be fair, it also wastes the resources of whatever service is hosting the website being crawled. The designer says that pretty much every AI crawler has fallen for his intentional “tar pit” trap, with one notable exception: OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
The anonymous designer isn’t shy about his intent to harm both AI companies and models with this tool (which is probably why Ars didn’t publish his real name), and that the Nepenthes tool doesn’t provide any real benefit to whoever implements it. But in addition to forcing AI scrapers into an infinite loop, it can be used to feed them useless data to “poison” their AI models and make their results materially worse.
“WARNING,” says the Nepenthes download site in all caps. “THIS IS DELIBERATELY MALICIOUS SOFTWARE INTENDED TO CAUSE HARMFUL ACTIVITY. DO NOT DEPLOY IF YOU AREN’T FULLY COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT YOU ARE DOING.”
At least one other similar tool, called Iocaine, has emerged based on the same principles after Nepenthes first gained traction on social media. There’s a growing list of such tools, like Quixotic (which deliberately serves up fake content) and Poison the WeLLMs (a reverse proxy system that returns nonsense when it detects known AI bots scraping a site).
The full story on Ars Technica is worth a read for the technical breakdown, but I’m more interested in the motive. The designer says he made the tool out of frustration over what the web is becoming, filled up with more and more AI-generated content… which is, itself, often recycled from other AI-generated content. “I’m just fed up, and you know what? Let’s fight back, even if it’s not successful. Be indigestible. Grow spikes,” he says.
The creator of Nepenthes is hardly alone in this regard. Facebook users are complaining that the entire platform is overflowing with auto-generated “AI slop” while Facebook itself seems to be leaning into AI content. Google Search has gotten so full of AI and targeted advertising that its newly introduced and stripped-down “Web view” became a hit overnight. The inclusion of AI, often forced into products with no indication that anyone actually asked for it, is part of a broader trend being called “Enshittification,” in which a service becomes worse and less useful while charging more.
Web users can perhaps be forgiven a little schadenfreude at the news that OpenAI accused DeepSeek — a Chinese AI model allegedly trained on a tiny fraction of ChatGPT’s cost — of stealing its proprietary technology. Hey ChatGPT, play me a sad song on a tiny, AI-generated violin. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 30 Jan (PC World)Will the Kansas City Chiefs become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls? Or can the Philadelphia Eagles soar back from their 2023 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs and secure another title? We’re about to find out.
Super Bowl LIX promises drama, high stakes, and unforgettable moments. And watching the game on Sunday, Feb. 9 will be easy to do without paying for an expensive cable bundle.
The game kicks off at 6:30 PM Eastern Time at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, with pre-game coverage starting at 2:00 PM ET. Fox has the rights to broadcast the game this year, and you can watch it in upscaled 4K UHD on multiple platforms.
The game will be available in 4K on Fox’s cable and satellite channels through participating TV providers, as well as via the Fox Sports app. Additionally, Fox’s free streaming service, Tubi, will offer the game in 4K for the first time.
Whether you prefer traditional TV or streaming, we’ll show you how to watch all the action—plus those iconic commercials and the halftime show, starring Kendrick Lamar—even if you don’t have a cable- or satellite-TV subscription.
Option 1: Stream Super Bown LIX for free on Tubi
Tubi
Fox-owned Tubi is a free, ad-supported streaming service. No subscription or credit card is required—simply create a free Tubi account, then get ready for some Super Bowl action.
Even better, Tubi will be presenting Super Bowl LIX in 4K, provided you’re streaming on an Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, or Roku streaming player.
While Tubi doesn’t require a paid plan, its broadcast will include commercials during the game, just like live TV.
Option 2: Stream the Super Bowl with a TV-streaming service
Signing up for a streaming service is another way to tune into the big game, although it’s not the cheapest–unless you sign up for a free trial and cancel your subscription sometime after the game.
These are our top picks in streaming TV services
DirecTV Stream
Pros
Powerful grid guide
DVR has no ad-skipping restrictions
Cons
Limited channel selection for the price
DVR limits both recording space and storage time
No personalized viewing recommendations
Software suffers from bugs and sluggish performance
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DirecTV Stream
$101.98
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$101.98 at DirecTV Stream
DirectTV Stream isn’t one of our favorite streaming services, but it does offer Fox in its Entertainment package for $86.99 a month.
Read our full
DirecTV Stream review
Fubo
Pros
Unique lineup of sports channels that are much pricier in other bundles
Well-designed TV apps make sporting events easy to find
Live streams have much lower latency than other bundles
Cons
Included DVR storage is skimpier than other bundles
Inconsistent 60 fps support on sports channels
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Fubo
$79.99
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$79.99 at Fubo
Fubo is the most sports-centric streaming service in our roundup. You’ll need the Essentails package at $84.99 a month to access it. Fubo is currently offering $25 off the first month after a 7-day free trial.
Read our full
Fubo review
Hulu + Live TV
Pros
Excellent value for Disney bundle subscribers
Expansive on-demand catalog
Recommendations and staff picks make the app fun to explore
Cons
Live TV can be inefficient to navigate
Hard to figure out which Hulu programs allow ad skipping
Can’t watch on TV devices while traveling
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Hulu.com
$82.99
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$82.99 at Hulu.com
Hulu’s live TV streaming service also gets you Fox. As with other streaming services, geographical restrictions apply, but you can check availability in your area here.
Now that Disney has complete control over Hulu, a subscription includes Hulu + Live TV, Disney+, and ESPN+ (all with ads) for $82.99 per month. Hulu also offers an $95.99-per-month subscription that nixes the ads from its Hulu channel (but not live TV) and Disney+; ESPN+ still has ads at this level.
Read our full
Hulu + Live TV review
YouTube TV
Pros
Solid mix of channels for the money
Includes DVR with no storage limits
Easy-to-understand app design
Cons
Not available in some markets
Ad-riddled on-demand videos can override DVR
Some channels don’t support 60-frames-per-second video yet
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YouTube TV
$82.99
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$82.99 at YouTube TV
YouTubeTV includes Fox among more than 100 channels in its $82.99-per-month base package ($72.99 per month for the first six months). To watch the game in 4K, you’ll need the 4K Plus add-on, which costs an additional $9.99 a month. You can try the service for free for two weeks.
Read our full
YouTube TV review
Option 3: Tune into the Super Bowl with an over-the-air antenna
If you’re old enough, the thought of using an antenna probably conjures memories of temperamental “rabbit ears” and staticky images. Thanks to modern broadcast technology and over-the-air antennas, you can get a high-quality image that can, in many cases, be better than what you’d get with a subscription.
If you live close enough to a broadcast tower, you might be able to use a paper-thin indoor model, such as our top pick, the Channel Master Flatenna 35. The 35 indicates the manufacturer’s promise of 35-mile range. A Flatenna 50 model promising—you guessed it—50 miles of range is also available for $49. We’re also fans of the Televes Bexia amplified indoor antenna ($99.95 street).
If you’re more distant than that, you might be better off with an antenna that mounts to your roof or on a freestanding mast. The Televes Dat Boss Mix LR (model 149884) is our favorite in that category. Another alternative is to mount an antenna like the Winegard Elite 7550 in your attic. Whichever way you go, all you need to do is plug the antenna into the tuner that’s a fixture of most modern TVs.
Before you purchase an antenna, though, go to a site like Rabbit Ears and see which networks are available from your local broadcasters. Just enter your address to get a report of all the broadcast signals in your area, ranked from strongest to weakest. Once you determine which broadcaster is furthest from your home, you’ll know what range antenna to buy. A website such as Antennaweb will show you the Fox channels closest to your zip code.
Enter your zip code at Antennaweb’s website and you’ll get a channel guide to the over-the-air programming available in your area. You can also enter “Super Bowl” in the search box to see a schedule of all the TV programming related to the game.
Antennaweb
These are our top picks in TV antennas
Winegard FlatWave Amped — Best flexible amplified indoor TV antenna
Pros
Strong reception, clear picture quality
Amplifier contributes to good range
Amplifier can be powered by a wall wart or your TV’s USB port
Cons
Not the best-looking thing to have on your wall or window
Excess cable can get messy quick
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$59.99
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$59.99 at Amazon
The FlatWave Amped impressed us with its ability to pull in more broadcast channels than the competition. Further, those it did receive were a little stronger than from our runner-up, which should make for happier TV viewing.
Read our full
Winegard FlatWave Amplified (model FL-5500A) review
Televes Dat Boss Mix LR (model 149884) — Best roof-mount TV antenna
Pros
Strong, sensitive reception
Built-in 5G filter
Built-in amplifier and indoor distribution amp
Cons
Large physical size
Assembly can be confusing
Not designed to tune in low-VHF signals
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$179.95
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$179.95 at Amazon
The Televes Dat Boss Mix LR (model 149884) is the best outdoor TV antenna we’ve tested. It delivered an excellent performance, pulling in strong signals from local and distant TV towers. It’s a great choice in areas with medium to low reception levels, and it comes with a built-in amplifier and in-home distribution amplifier, plus a 5G filter to eliminate interference from cellphone signals.
Read our full
Televes Dat Boss Mix LR (model 149884) review
Winegard Elite 7550 — Best attic-mount TV antenna
Pros
Good reception of strong to medium level signals on UHF and VHF-High
Inline amplifier helps boost signals
Suitable for attic or outdoor mounting
Cons
Plastic mounting bracket feels a little cheap
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$142.36
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$142.36 at Amazon
The Winegard Elite 7550 immediately impressed with its ability to pick up more broadcast channels than the competition at higher signal levels. It has a built-in amplifier and performed well on both VHF-High and UHF broadcast bands. Because of its size you’ll want this one in the attic or outside of your house.
Read our full
Winegard Elite 7550 review
Get your gridiron on
Whichever options you choose, you’re guaranteed to have a front-row seat when the NFL’s best team hoists the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 30 Jan (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
DLSS Multi Frame Generation is a game-changer in compatible titles, driving snappy new levels of smoothness by increasing frame rates fourfold, tightly paced.
Great 4K and 1440p performance
Tightly engineered Founders Edition model somehow squeezes into a fairly quiet two-slot design
Cons
Very small performance upgrade over existing RTX 4080 Super outside of DLSS 4 games with Multi Frame Generation
Much slower than RTX 4090, much less the RTX 5090
Higher power draw requires a more capable power supply
16GB memory capacity underwhelms in a $1,000 GPU
Our Verdict
The GeForce RTX 5080 offers negligible improvement over the 4080 Super’s performance, which is a massive bummer — but also offers a truly game-changing feature in DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, which supercharges frame rates and visual smoothness. It’s sure to be controversial.
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“Oh, so that’s why the GeForce RTX 5080 costs less than everyone expected.”
That thought struck my mind the instant I saw where Nvidia’s new $999 graphics card fell in our gaming benchmarks. The extravagant $1,999 GeForce RTX 5090 managed to use a tantalizing mix of brute force and DLSS 4 innovation to bully its way to the top of the performance charts. The still expensive, yet more attainable RTX 5080 takes a more reserved approach, and delivers disappointing performance gains as a result. It’s barely beats the 4080 Super it’s replacing, much less the still-ferocious RTX 4090.
That makes DLSS 4, the new generation of Nvidia tech that can insert up to three AI-generated frames between every traditionally rendered frame, even more crucial to the RTX 5080. It’s a truly magical feature to play around with, sending frame rates and visual smoothness soaring, but is it enough to make up for a GPU that, frankly, delivers a poor generational performance uplift?
Yes, believe it or not — DLSS 4’s new capabilities supercharge how your games feel, imbuing even janky performers with shocking speed and snappiness.
Woof. This one’s going to be complicated. Watch Adam and Will’s video below for a benchmark-by-benchmark analysis of all the tests we’ve run. Here, we’ll focus on the key details that would-be RTX 5080 buyers need to know before dropping a cool grand on Nvidia’s latest — and sure to be controversial — enthusiast graphics card.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5080 isn’t much faster than the 4080 Super
When we analyzed the RTX 50-series’ tech specs after their reveal, I pointed out that the RTX 5080 only has about 10 percent more CUDA cores than the 4080. Architecture improvements, a higher power draw, and the move to cutting-edge GDDR7 memory could also help increase performance, but the RTX 5080 wasn’t likely to be a humongous leap forward.
Unfortunately, it only provided an awkward foot-shuffle forward in our gaming benchmarks.
Across our suite — which uses a mix of different game engines, genres, and ray tracing levels — the GeForce RTX 5080 ends up just 15 percent faster at 4K resolution than the $999 RTX 4080 Super. (The vanilla 4080 launched at $1,200 before flopping and being replaced by the cheaper Super.) That’s deeply disappointing. You hope to see a 25 to 30 percent performance improvement in a new graphics card generation.
Some games perform better or worse. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla the uplift was only 10 percent. In Cyberpunk 2077, a game developed with deep Nvidia collaboration, the RTX 5080 ran 32 percent faster than the 4080 Super. But in general, expect to see about a 15 percent uplift in most games.
The GeForce RTX 5080’s raw performance is even more disappointing if you’re looking to pair it with a high refresh-rate 1440p monitor. At that resolution, the 5080 is just 11.5 percent faster than the 4080 Super on average.
From a raw rendering perspective, the GeForce RTX 5080 is one of the worst generational upgrades in recent memory. This graphics card is barely faster than its predecessor, and the RTX 5080 falls well behind last generation’s RTX 4090. That aging behemoth runs 15 percent faster than the 5080 at 4K.
Sigh. And because of that…
DLSS 4 will make or break the RTX 5080
Watch the Full Nerd gang discuss their DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Gen experience in the time-stamped video above.
The GeForce RTX 5080 has an ace up its sleeve, though: Nvidia’s flat-out awesome new DLSS 4 technology.
More specifically, the new Multi Frame Gen feature exclusive to GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. It builds atop the Frame Generation feature introduced in the 40-series. While the older Frame Generation inserts a single AI-generated frame between two “traditionally” rendered frames to increase frame rate, Multi Frame Gen inserts up to three AI generated images between frames to send frame rates soaring even higher. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s mandatory-for-Frame-Gen Reflex technology helps to drive down the latency introduced by the AI frames.
It feels wonderful. Enabling MFG makes supported games (like Cyberpunk and Alan Wake 2) look and feel so much smoother. Consider this testimonial from our 5090 review:
“PCWorld contributor Will Smith, who is working on a deeper dive into DLSS 4, delivers even stronger praise: He reports that turning on DLSS 4 makes Star Wars Outlaws, a fun third-person game prone to performance concerns, feel just as good as the legendary Doom 2016, which many gamers consider the paragon of fast-action shooters. “It’s like a whole new game,” he said.”
I’ve spent time tooling around the streets of Night City with MFG active in Cyberpunk 2077. It’s astonishing how much more smooth and fast everything feels, especially in a game that runs damned smooth and fast to begin with. It’s revolutionary.
From a raw rendering perspective, the GeForce RTX 5080 is one of the worst generational upgrades in recent memory.
Multi Frame Gen isn’t free, however, as the excellent analysis by Hardware Unboxed above drives home. Your inputs don’t affect the AI frames, only the traditionally rendered ones. Nvidia Reflex does an admirable job of keeping latency — responsiveness — around native levels even when churning out maximum AI frames. The full 4x MFG mode only adds a handful of milliseconds of latency compared to native rendering, in exchange for DLSS 4’s delightful visual smoothness. But the way the game feels still relies on those traditionally rendered frames.
That insight unlocks several others. But the key one is this: You need a high base frame rate — 60fps or more, ideally 80fps or more — before turning on MFG to keep your games feeling “right.” If you go too much below that, the input lag becomes much more noticeable.
Fortunately, while the RTX 5080 offers only a mediocre upgrade over the 4080 Super in raw performance, the performance on offer is still more than enough to drive that 60- to 80fps “base rate” that’s so important for reasonable latency with Multi Frame Gen. Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 running at 60fps but augmented to run at 240fps with MFG/Reflex still feels like it’s running around 60fps, but constant frame pacing that comes with running a game so fast just looks and feels gooooood, man.
Frame Generation isn’t for everyone. That said, I am sensitive to latency. I am a monitor collector who has a 360Hz 1080p panel solely to play competitive shooters. I am a freak who can tell that a game running at 240fps with MFG doesn’t feel like a game running at native 240fps, and because of that I’d never use Frame Generation in multiplayer games. But the tight frame pacing and smoother visuals MFG provides makes gorgeous single-player games look and feel so much better that I unabashedly recommend using it when available, even if it feels minimally “off” at first. It’s that good.
Better yet, DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Gen will be available in 75 games and apps when the RTX 50-series launches on January 30. Some of them will be actual game updates, while you’ll need to force DLSS 4 via the Nvidia app in others. But you’ll have plenty of games to play around in.
That’s great, because DLSS 4 is the defining feature of the RTX 5080. If you’re not interested in AI frames whatsoever, the old 4080 Super would probably be a better purchase for you, weirdly enough.
The RTX 5080 and 5090 are remarkably thin graphics card considering their performance levels.Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry
The RTX 5080 is no RTX 4090 rival
…well, unless you’re running a DLSS 4 game with Multi Frame Generation active.
But other than that, the RTX 4090 still demolishes the RTX 5080. It winds up being 15 percent faster than the RTX 5080 on average at 4K resolution. Usually, the xx80 card of a generation clearly beats the xx80 Ti or xx90 tier from the previous generation, but that’s very much not the case here.
The newer card’s 16GB of GDDR7 memory doesn’t hold a candle to the RTX 4090’s massive 24GB memory buffer either. The 4090’s mondo capacity makes it beloved by content creators and AI pros alike. If you can get by with 16GB, the RTX 5080’s next-gen Blackwell GPU architecture managed to come close to the RTX 4090 in our Procyon AI text generation and Adobe Premiere Pro tests, for significantly less money. But 16GB just isn’t enough for many pros working on the most strenuous tasks these days — and while our gaming testing didn’t stress the capacity, 16GB seems awfully skimpy for a $1,000 graphics card in 2025.
Damn, Nvidia’s RTX 5080 Founders Edition is nice
If you’re lucky enough to snag an RTX 5080 Founders Edition, you won’t be disappointed. Like the RTX 5090 Founders Edition, the RTX 5080 FE wields delightfully advanced engineering tricks to squeeze the GPU’s might into a svelte true two-slot package. That means you can cram it into tiny small form-factor builds. Drooooool.
Watch GeForce’s product manager explain its intricacies in our video from CES 2025 below.
You’ll no doubt find a slew of monstrous, triple-slot custom RTX 5080s from Nvidia’s usual board partners. Their expansive heft and cooling setups will surely keep the 5080 frostier and quieter than Nvidia’s space-constrained Founders Edition, but expect to pay considerably more in return.
Given its small performance upgrade, I’m not sure that paying a steep premium for a custom RTX 5080 makes much sense unless you’re a fanatic about sound and temperatures. The Founders Edition isn’t especially hot or cranky sounding, anyways.
More power, Captain!
The RTX 5080 has a higher TGP rating than the 4080, which means it draws more power. That extra power can be used to help juice clock speeds, but some of the increase comes from the debut of cutting-edge GDDR7 VRAM fast enough to melt faces.
It’s a nothingburger in reality. The RTX 5080 consumed about 8 percent more energy than the 4080 Super in our test that logs power throughout a benchmark run. But that slightly higher power draw does pack a tangible difference: Nvidia says an 850-watt power supply is required to run the RTX 5080, a 100W increase over the 4080.
Should you buy the GeForce RTX 5080?
Only consider the RTX 5080 if you buy into Nvidia’s AI-fueled vision of the future.
Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry
DLSS 4’s Multi Frame Generation feature must be seen (and felt) to be believed. On PCWorld’s Full Nerd podcast, we compared the leap from Single Frame to Multi Frame Generation to the leap from DLSS 1 to DLSS 2. When both technologies first came out, they showed promise but had plenty of rough edges. With DLSS 2, gamers agreed that Nvidia nailed it. And while it’s not quite perfect, Multi Frame Generation nails it. Once more gamers get their Dorito-stained paws on RTX 50-series cards, and are able to tool around with MFG in 75+ games and apps, I wouldn’t be surprised if all the furor over “fake frames” online dies down quite a bit. It’s a literal game changer.
But Nvidia is in trouble this generation if the masses don’t embrace Multi Frame Generation. Because when it comes to traditional gaming performance, the RTX 5080 is no game changer.
It’s a pretty damned terrible generational upgrade, actually. Eking out a mere 11 to 15 more render performance than the RTX 4080 Super, at the same price, at a higher power draw, isn’t compelling whatsoever. It can’t come anywhere close to last gen’s 4090. If you don’t like AI-generated frames — maybe you’re sensitive to latency, or you focus on competitive games, or you loathe the idea of AI frames potentially introducing visual glitches — I’d even go so far as to suggest picking up a 4080 Super to get roughly comparable performance for less cash.
Remember: The RTX 3080 beat the RTX 2080 by 60 to 80 percent when it launched earlier this decade, and it did so for just $700. Then Nvidia jacked the price of the vanilla RTX 4080 by $500 dollars for a 30 percent performance increase, leading to poor sales rectified only by the launch of the 4080 Super at $999. With the RTX 5080 barely outpacing that, the RTX 5080 would have been immensely more compelling at a couple hundred dollars cheaper. Two generations after the RTX 3080, Nvidia has truly devastated the xx80 tier’s value in recent memory. Upgrading from the 3080 to a 5080 will only get you about 40 to 45 percent more performance, for a price tag that’s 42 percent higher. That’s not progress.
If Nvidia didn’t have MFG in tow, this would’ve been a scathing review for the RTX 5080 itself. But boyyyyy does DLSS 4’s new tricks feel great. Multi Frame Generation makes Star Wars Outlaws, a notoriously janky game, feel just as good as Doom 2016. Cyberpunk’s neon Night City feels so much more alive when you’re racing around at a buttery-smooth 240Hz+, or over 150fps even with the game’s nuclear RT Overdrive Mode active.
And that’s the promise Nvidia needs gamers to buy into for the GeForce RTX 5080 — heck, perhaps this entire RTX 50-series generation. Are you willing to embrace “fake frames” and dip your toes into experiences that aren’t currently possible with traditional rendering alone? If so, this GPU provides enough grunt to fuel those adventures in 4K and 1440p alike.
If not, the RTX 5080 is one of the most disappointing GPU releases in a long time. It’s probably best to save your cash.
Me? I’m into the vision. But I wish Nvidia imbued the RTX 5080 with more raw rendering firepower, so it could be a decent upgrade even for “fake frame” haters. Nvidia didn’t, alas — so now the RTX 5080’s future hangs in the balance of those 75 DLSS 4 games working correctly at launch.
If DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation perform like a champ when that wider availability hits, it could usher in a new era of smooth, AI-supercharged performance. But if DLSS 4 winds up plagued by visual artifacts or other issues once the floodgates open, it could instead set off an explosion of “fake frames” memes and sign a death warrant for the otherwise ho-hum RTX 5080 — perhaps even the rest of Nvidia’s 50-series lineup.
The GeForce RTX 5090 can stand alone on its own merits, but the RTX 5080 is all-in on DLSS 4. All that’s left us to see is where the chips fall. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
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|  | | ITBrief - 29 Jan (ITBrief) Emerald Technology Ventures has led a GBP £8.4 million funding round for Belfast`s StormHarvester, aiming to enhance its smart water management solutions. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
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