Once again, a custom PC build beats the Steam Machine convincingly despite the rising costs. HUB Demonstrates How a $1050 DeskMeet X300-Based Custom PC Can Outperform Steam Machine for the Same Price Steam Machine itself isn't a bad product, but its high price makes it a poor value for gamers who are looking to maximize gaming performance on a budget. Since the disclosure of its official pricing, the device has been criticized and mocked, as users have come up with superior specifications for custom PC builds that can easily outperform this device. Since then, the price of components has witnessed […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/asrock-deskmeet-x300-custom-build-puts-steam-machine-to-shame/

Since our last ADATA XPG featured build, there's been a lot of new hardware launched with an uptick in case vendors turning to the Micro ATX form factor again. Adata has a new Micro ATX chassis, the Valor Air and Mesh. For this featured build, we've picked up the Valor Mesh accompanied by some other Adata XPG hardware, including 32GB XPG ARMAX DDR5, an Adata Legend 860 M.2 SSD, Levante II 240mm AIO and the Core Reactor II power supply.

Case: Adata XPG VALOR Mesh Nano – MSRP $66.31

• Compact Mesh-Front Airflow Design – The XPG VALOR Mesh Nano prioritises cooling with fully ventilated panels, allowing unrestricted airflow to high-performance components while maintaining a clean and understated aesthetic.
• Small Form Factor, Big Hardware Support – Despite its compact footprint, the VALOR Mesh Nano supports high-end hardware, offering compatibility with large graphics cards, multiple cooling configurations and modern small form factor builds without feeling restrictive.
• Builder-Friendly Interior Layout – Thoughtful cable management options and an uncluttered internal design make the VALOR Mesh Nano straightforward to build, helping first-timers and enthusiasts alike achieve a tidy, professional-looking system.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 357 x 220 x 436mm
• Available Colours: Black or White
• Chassis Material: SPCC steel construction
• Form Factor: Mid-tower design
• Motherboard Support: Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX
• Expansion Slots: 5
• Storage Support: 2x 2.5-inch drives and 1x 3.5-inch drive
• Front I/O: 1x USB 3.2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A, hybrid audio jack, power button and reset button
• Included Cooling: 1x 120mm ARGB fan pre-installed
• Fan Support: Up to 3x 120mm or 2x 140mm top fans, 1x 120mm rear fan and 2x 120mm bottom fans
• Radiator Support: Up to 360mm or 240mm at the top, plus a 120mm rear radiator
• Component Clearance: Supports GPUs up to 370mm, CPU air coolers up to 170mm tall and power supplies up to 170mm long
• Weight:15kg

RAM: 32GB XPG ARMAX DDR5-6000 – Available from OcUK Priced at £449.99 HERE.

• DDR5-6000 Sweet Spot Performance – Operating at DDR5-6000 MT/s, the ARMAX kit hits the current performance sweet spot for modern AMD gaming systems, delivering a boost over standard DDR5 specs.
• Low-Profile, Cooler-Friendly Design – At just 39.5mm tall, the XRMAX heatspreader is designed to avoid conflicts with large tower coolers, making it particularly well-suited to compact and small form factor builds.
• Simple One-Click Overclocking Support – Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO compatibility allow users to enable the overclocked memory profile directly within the BIOS, taking the hassle out of memory tuning.

Specifications

• Memory Type: DDR5
• Form Factor: U-DIMM
• Colour: Black
• Capacities Available: 16GB / 32GB
• Tested Speeds: 5600 / 6000 MT/s
• Tested CAS Latencies: CL36
• Tested Operating Voltage: 1.1V – 1.4V
• SPD Speed: 4800 MT/s
• SPD CAS Latency: 36-38-38
• SPD Voltage: 1.1V
• Operating Temperature: 0°C – 85°C
• Dimensions (L x W x H):35 x 39.49 x 8.5mm
• Weight:16g / 46.74g (depending on kit)
• Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty

Storage: 1TB ADATA Legend 860 PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD – Available From OcUK Priced at £124.99 HERE.

• PCIe Gen4 x4 Performance with up to 6,000MB/s Speeds – The LEGEND 860 features a PCIe 4.0 interface for sequential read speeds of up to 6,000MB/s and write speeds of up to 5,000MB/s, a noticeable uplift over older Gen3 and SAT SSDs for all workloads.
• High-Capacity, Platform-Ready Storage Solution – Available in capacities up to 2TB, designed for gaming and creative systems, with high compatibility across the latest Intel and AMD platforms plus support for PS5 storage expansion.
• Built for Reliability with Advanced Data Technologies – Equipped with SLC caching, Host Memory Buffer (HMB), and LDPC error correction to improve data integrity, responsiveness, and sustained performance under demanding workloads, backed by a 5-year warranty.

Specifications

• Capacity: 500GB / 1TB / 2TB
• Form Factor:2 2280
• NAND Flash: 3D NAND
• Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4
• Sequential Read Speed (Max): Up to 6,000MB/s (PC/Laptop)
• Sequential Write Speed (Max): Up to 5,000MB/s
• Dimensions: 80 x 22 x 3.13mm (with heatsink) or 80 x 22 x 2.15mm (without heatsink)
• Weight:5g (with heatsink) or 6.5g (without heatsink)
• Operating Temperature: 0°C – 70°C
• Storage Temperature: -40°C – 85°C
• Shock Resistance: 1,500G / 0.5ms
• MTBF: 2,000,000 hours
• Endurance (Max Capacity): 640TBW
• Warranty: 5-year limited warranty

AIO CPU Cooler: XPG Levante II 240 ARGB – MSRP $123.56

• Efficient 240mm AIO Cooling with Asetek Engineering – Built around a 240mm aluminium radiator paired with a copper cold plate and Asetek 7th Gen pump design, delivering strong thermal performance with efficient heat transfer and reliable CPU cooling.
• High-Airflow Dual 120mm ARGB Fans – Equipped with dual-ring 120mm PWM ARGB fans operating up to 2000 RPM, 61.5 CFM of airflow and strong static pressure for effective heat dissipation.
• Infinity Mirror ARGB Pump Design And Wide Platform Support – The pump features an infinity mirror aesthetic with addressable RGB lighting, while broad compatibility across modern Intel and AMD sockets ensures compatibility with a wide range of gaming systems.

Specifications

• Water Block Dimensions:5 x 72.5 x 50mm
• Water Block Material: Copper
• Control Mode: PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
• Thermal Paste: Pre-applied
• Tube Length: 400mm sleeved rubber tubing
• Radiator Size: 240mm class (272 x 121 x 27mm)
• Radiator Material: Aluminium
• Fan Size: 120 x 120 x 25mm
• Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
• Fan Speed: 600 – 2000 RPM
• Airflow: 61.5 CFM ±10%
• Static Pressure: 1.42 mm H₂O ±10%
• Noise Level: 18.17 dBA (average)
• CPU Socket Support: AMD: AM5 / AM4, Intel: LGA 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 115x
• Protection Features: Auto-restart function
• Weight: 1.79kg
• Warranty: 5 years

Power Supply: XPG Core Reactor II 850W 80+ Gold – MSRP $127.99

• ATX 3.1 & PCIe 5.0 Ready Platform – Built to ATX 3.1 standards with native support for modern GPU power delivery, including 12VHPWR / 12V-2×6 connectivity, ensuring stable operation with next-gen graphics cards and transient load spikes.
• 80 PLUS Gold Efficiency with High-End Electrical Design – Delivers 80 PLUS Gold efficiency alongside strong power regulation, high power factor (>0.99), and full DC-to-DC conversion architecture for consistent and efficient output across rails.
• Fully-Featured Protection Suite & Long-Term Reliability – Features comprehensive protections including OCP, OVP, OPP, UVP, SCP, OTP, NLO and SIP, plus a high-quality FDB cooling fan and 100,000-hour MTBF for long-term system stability.

Specifications

• ATX Standard: ATX 3.1
• Efficiency Rating: 80 PLUS Gold
• Cybenetics Rating: Platinum
• Dimensions: 140 x 150 x 86mm
• Input Voltage: 100–240V
• Frequency: 47–63Hz
• Power Factor (PFC): >0.99
• Input Current: 850W: 12A
• DC Output Rails: +12V / +5V / +3.3V / -12V / +5Vsb
• +12V Rail Output:8A
• Power Excursion: Up to 235% rated power (100μs peak handling)
• Cooling: 120mm FDB fan
• Connectors: 24-pin ATX: 1, EPS 8-pin: 2, PCIe 6+2-pin: 3, 12V-2×6, Molex: up to 4
• Protections: OCP / OVP / OPP / OTP / UVP / SCP / NLO / SIP
• Operating Temperature: up to 50°C
• MTBF: 100,000 hours (full load)
• Certifications: CE / CB / FCC / TUV / cTUVus / UKCA / EAC / CCC / RCM and more
• Warranty: 10 years
• Weight: 3.1kg (package total)

Build Specification

• CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Motherboard – Sapphire Nitro+ B850M
• Graphics Card – ASRock Taichi Radeon RX 9070XT
• Memory – 32GB XPG ARMAX DDR5-6000
• Storage – 1TB ADATA Legend 860 PCIe Gen4 x4 NVME M.2 SSD
• CPU Cooler – XPG Levante 240 ARGB
• Power Supply – XPG Core Reactor II 850W 80+ Gold
• Chassis – XPG VALOR Mesh Nano
• Operating System – Windows 11

KitGuru says: XPG has a packed arsenal of gaming parts through the XPG line. Check them out for your next build!

The post Adata XPG Featured Micro ATX Build first appeared on KitGuru.

Samsung seems to be finalising the SSD 990, a new upcoming value-oriented M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD that recently surfaced briefly on the company’s Canadian website. Screenshots reveal details of the new drive, which slots underneath the existing 990 Evo Plus in Samsung's storage lineup.

The new entry-level drive spotted by VideoCardz uses a PCIe Gen 4 x4 interface, distinguishing it from the 990 Evo Plus, which features a hybrid Gen 4 x4 or Gen 5 x2 interface. According to the leaked specifications, the SSD 990 is a DRAMless design that relies on an updated in-house Samsung controller. The leak also indicates lower write endurance than the TLC-based 990 Evo Plus, suggesting the plain 990 uses QLC NAND flash.

Image credit: VideoCardz

Performance data from the product listings shows sequential transfer speeds reaching the upper limits of the PCIe Gen 4 era. The 2TB variant delivers sequential read speeds up to 7250MB/s, while the 1TB model scales back slightly to 7150MB/s. Both capacities are rated for sequential write speeds up to 6450MB/s. Endurance metrics are listed at 400TBW for the 1TB model and 800TBW for the 2TB model.

Unfortunately, availability is still unknown, but Canadian listings suggest the 1TB version would be around £180 (excluding VAT) and the 2TB model would be close to £350 (also excluding VAT).

KitGuru says: SSD prices are a mess at the moment, so we will have to wait and see how competitive this drive really ends up being. 

The post Samsung SSD 990 leaks via official website first appeared on KitGuru.

Crimson Desert fans will love the limited edition PC that boasts game-inspired aesthetics and a powerful configuration. MAINGEAR Debuts Crimson Desert PC, Featuring Game-Inspired Design and Powerful Hardware to Run the Game Smoothly Popular Triple-A title, Crimson Desert, developed and published by Pearl Abyss, just launched on Steam, and while you might be busy with our complete walkthrough guide, hardware manufacturers have started preparing limited edition hardware inspired by the game. Popular system integrator MAINGEAR has announced its new Crimson Desert Limited Edition desktop PC for game fans who crave for power to run the game smoothly on the highest […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/maingear-launches-crimson-desert-limited-edition-pc/