T3 India

Gaming

Antec Performance P120 Crystal Mid-Tower case is a combination of aesthetics and performance

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The Antec P120 Crystal follows the minimalism design of the Performance Series and takes it to the next level through front and side tempered glass panels, which provides a panoramic view of the PC setup and the custom water-cooling loop as well.

Users can bid goodbye to thumbscrews, and the P120 Crystal comes with an industry-leading slide button design on the tempered glass side panel. Through quick sliding, users can easily swing the side panel and get their hands on the inner components.

The top-mounted PSU chamber frees the space at the bottom of P120 Crystal, allowing users to have more options to plan their custom water-cooling loop and radiators. P120 Crystal also comes with 7 horizontal and 3 vertical expansion slots, offering huge space for you to explore more potential PC configuration.

The inbuilt aluminium VGA holder is flexible, providing plenty of possible positions. The P120 Crystal supports the following:

A. Motherboard Support: Up to E-ATX (Up to 12″ x 11″)
B. 2.5″ SSD: 3
C. 3.5″ HDD/2.5″ SSD (convertible): 2/1
D. Graphics Card Support: Up to 450 mm
E. CPU Cooler Support: Up to 185 mm
F. PSU Support: Up to 294 mm

The Crystal supports up to 7x120mm or 6x140mm fans, and is also crafted to mount 2x360mm radiators simultaneously.

The Crystal also facilitates power heat dissipation through abundant air intake in the bottom to allow the GPU to cool faster. The 3xPCI-E slots provide more space for the GPU and improve the thermal performance too.

Attractive visual effects, combined with faster cool down of the CPU can be achieved when installing a radiator at the side. The case fan is at the rear and is for heat emission, thus completing the air circulation.

The P120 is easy to access and clean. The magnetic dust filter on the right-side panel can be lifted and removed easily. You also have to pull out the dust filter below without moving the case.

For more information on the Antec Crystal P120, please visit this page.

Zotac launches RTX 3050 Series GPUs, ZBOX Magnus Mini PC

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At CES 2022 Zotac unveiled the all-new ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Series and the latest ZBOX MAGNUS Mini PC equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Series

The newest additions to the GeForce RTX 30 Series family powered by the advanced NVIDIA Ampere architecture include the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC and 3050 Twin Edge models featuring ZOTAC GAMING’s powerful ICESTORM 2.0 cooling system.

The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Series features a compact size with just 8.8 inches (224.1mm) in length in a dual-slot configuration. The refined cooling solution consists of a wide aluminium heat sink, paired with copper heat pipes and dual 90mm 11-blade fans to deliver more efficient heat dissipation. The designs also feature a metal backplate for more durability, while advanced features like FREEZE Fan Stop and Active Fan Control enable quieter and smarter cooling.

The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Series delivers the lowest power draw among the 30 series line-up, while utilising the latest technologies from NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3050 Series will be available starting January 27th, 2022.

ZOTAC ZBOX MAGNUS EN173080C

Featuring an Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU and premium connectivity, MAGNUS EN173080C tackles demanding creative workloads with unmatched speed, enhances productivity and delivers an immersive gaming experience with support for technologies including ray tracing and DLSS.

With the newly introduced NVIDIA Omniverse, the MAGNUS EN Series empowers 3D content creators and digital artists to work across popular creative apps to compose and visualise scenes in real time and collaborate with others in a shared scene and accelerate creative workflows.

The view can be enhanced with a multi-display setup by taking advantage of HDMI and DisplayPort. The Thunderbolt 4 port also enables fast transfers. MAGNUS EN173080C allows convenient customization or upgrades to memory and
storage with tool-less access to SO-DIMM memory slots, Intel Optane Memory, M.2 SSD, and a 2.5 inch HDD/SSD bay for simple expansion.

This Mini PC is available in Barebones or Windows configuration with 16GB DDR4, 512GB M.2 SSD, 1TB 2.5 inch HDD storage and Windows 11 Home pre-installed. For more information, please visit this page.

MSI unveils an exciting lineup of gaming and creator laptops at CES 2022

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Equipped with the latest 12th Gen Intel H series processors., MSI demonstrated their determination and vision for the coming era of the metaverse through launching new laptops boasting the Meta-ready logo and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or above.

Following the global launch, the new range of laptops will be available in the Indian market soon. 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX laptops are based on the new Ampere architecture, with 2nd generation RT Cores for ray tracing and 3rd generation Tensor Cores for DLSS and AI. The new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU brings the flagship 80 Ti class of GPUs to laptops for the first time. Featuring 16GB of the GDDR6 memory, the RTX 3080 Ti delivers higher performance than the desktop TITAN RTX. The new GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is up to 70% faster than RTX 2070 SUPER and can deliver 100 frames per second at a resolution 1440p.

MSI unveiled the following laptops:

Sleek & Sophisticated – GS77/66 Stealth

The award-winning Stealth GS series are the lightweight, powerful laptops for gaming and professional use. The GS77 comes with a new “core black” color and a more durable zinc alloy hinge. At less than 21mm for Z height, MSI managed to enlarge the touchpad and keycap size for a precise and comfortable typing experience. It is also equipped with six speakers to enhance the treble and bass. Gamers will benefit from the webcam lock switch and support for up to100W PD charging for better security and mobility.

Raider GE76/66

MSI Raider GE series retains the panoramic aurora lighting which creates an alluring sci-fi ambience. With the innovative thermal design by MSI, the Raider GE series performance can reach up to a total of 220W with GeForce RTX 3080 Ti via MSI OverBoost. The Phase Change Liquid Metal Pad boosts performance by extra 10%, and with displays up to 4K with the support of Discrete Graphic Mode, it is designed to enable gamers to have a fast and smooth experience.

Vector GP76/66

The Vector GP Series was born with a new concept; the name “Vector” represents MSI’s expectation for the GP series to have all the power needed to move forward with a satisfying experience in gaming, engineering, or scientific computing. With Cooler Boost 5 Technology, the Vector’s performance can reach up to 210W via MSI OverBoost.

Rainbow Six Extraction Edition – Crosshair 15

The Crosshair GL series is a collaboration between MSI and Ubisoft.  The series features a futuristic design with exclusive sci-fi elements inspired by the feeling and mood of gameplay, and comes equipped with Intel Core i9 processors and Cooler Boost 5 Technology.  The graphic performance is at a maximized level – setting the Crosshair series apart. The Crosshair GL Series comes in three variants: Crosshair 15, Crosshair 17, and also the limited edition Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition that comes with an exclusive bundle pack.

Pulse GL76/66

The MSI Pulse GL76/66 keeps the design features by Maarten Verhoeven along with the titanium power-armor inspired by Pulse energy for the Dragon Army to enhance agility and flexibility. Cooler Boost 5 increases airflow by 15%, even with a 33% reduction of wall thickness.

MSI Sword 17/15, Katana GF76/66

The MSI Sword series boasts a new knight image with magical immortal force – “Dragon Power” – wielding an enchanted sword of victory. This knight character was created by Justin Goby Fields, a famous concept artist from the United States. Both Sword and Katana series are set to help gamers have a smooth experience with a comfortable key travel at 1.7mm and Cooler Boost 5.

Creator Z17, Creator Z16P and Creator Z16

The Creator Z17 is the world’s first 17-inch laptop to support pen touch, and features the 16:10 screen ratio with a thin bezel design and True Color Technology to be the perfect companion for creators to achieve more. The Creator Z16P has an extra 20% performance boost with Vapor Chamber Cooler, which generates 76% extra more cooling area, 65% more airflow, and decreases surface temperature by 2°C. With a CNC-milled aluminum chassis, the Creator Z Series laptops are NVIDIA Studio laptops – purpose-built for creators, professionals, or consumers who enjoy high-quality, premium products.

The Creator M16 is a more portable and stylish choice for students or creators with the need for a powerful performance.  It features a QHD+ True Pixel display that lays flat at 180° and an ultra-light, slim aluminum chassis.

Commenting on the announcement,Mr. Green Lin, Regional Marketing Manager, MSI, said, “We are delighted to announce our new line-up of products for 2022 which is an amalgamation of both creator and gaming laptops. We are entering a new era wherein  human beings will interact with us through a  combination of VR, AR, cloud system, AI and internet technology. We believe that MSI Gameverse laptops are the key to this evolution. We are not only providing the best performance products for gamers to exceed their capabilities, but also providing the best efficiency for digital content creators to explore the infinite possibilities that lie ahead.”

Western Digital hosts second edition of the WD_BLACK Cup Esports Tournament for gamers across South Asia

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Earlier this year, Western Digital (WD) hosted the first edition of the WD_Black Cup in India, and now, WD is ack with Season 2 of the esports tournament, in association with AMD Ryzen. This 19-day long gaming marathon – WD_Black Cup Season 2.

This season, the tournament will have a prize pool of $20,000, a longer duration, and there is one more game added to the tournament. The WD_Black Cup S2 will feature some of the most seasoned gaming influencers and esports players as they battle for top honours across 3 tracks:

  • WD_Black Cup Open Qualifiers featuring Valorant and League of Legends, and
  • The Invitational track featuring Battlegrounds Mobile India

This tournament will be held across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives, with an expected viewership of over 8 million. The tournament began on November 20th with the first track, WD_Black Cup S2 Valorant Qualifiers, open to 200 teams. This track was spread across 9 days and will be broadcasted live with single elimination open qualifiers filtered down to top 8 teams, with the total prize pool being $10,000.

The second track, WD_Black Cup S2 League of Legends open commenced from 6th December with qualifiers, and the play-offs started from 10th December with the final being held tomorrow, December 15th, which will also be streamed live on the Skyesports WD Black Cup S2 streaming channel. This track featured 32 teams.

The third track, BGMI Invitational track, was a 4-day long marathon that ran from 6-9th December, and it hosted 18 teams, featuring a few top influencers from India, including Soul Esports and Godlike, with the prize pool being of $7,000.

“The inclusion of esports in the medals category at the Asian games is attracting a lot of young talent to gaming in India. Western Digital is enabling gamers to be battle-ready with or by using our innovative WD_BLACK range of gaming SSDs. The WD_BLACK Cup is our flagship gaming tournament designed to motivate, recognize and reward these budding gamers in India and South Asia, and we are thrilled to have AMD as our partner in this exciting initiative”, said Mr. Jaganathan Chelliah, Senior Director, India, ME &Africa, Western Digital.

For more information, please visit this page.

How AI Has Transformed the Gaming Industry

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Ever since the emergence of AI in the gaming industry, game developers have been programming software in a manner so that it acts as if it’s human and helps in making the digital world from the scratch through non-playable characters. However, at present, even the most out-of-the-box game design doesn’t spin around modern AI. Rather, it revolves around making a bunch of mind-boggling frameworks that result in emergent gameplay, which refers to complex situations in video games that emerge from the interaction of relatively simple game mechanics. The majority of the developers are making efforts in the direction of creating a sense of realism instead of game-breaking outcomes. The objective, in the end, is not to attain human-like intelligence, rather, it is to generate an experience that draws in and stimulates in a manner that imitates reality. Several giant game developing studios are gradually trying to push the envelope with regards to building frameworks that achieve the complexity of reality.

Although it may seem like Artificial Intelligence is a recent innovation in video games, it has been a developing resource for decades. It was incepted in the 1950s, and ever since those early years, AI has been an integral part of the gaming industry that has inclined to an incredible level of growth and development. Let’s explore further how AI transformed the gaming sector.

Smarter non-player characters (NPCs)

AI game developers make the best use of the technology by controlling the conduct of NPCs today. Earlier when the games didn’t have the opportunity to leverage AI, they used to become exhausting after playing for some time as it kept getting easier to defeat because of their anticipated behaviour. The real excitement and thrill of playing video games come from rivalling NPCs that respond erratically and surprise the players. Envision an FPS game in which enemies are equipped for breaking down their surroundings so that they can track down what’s significant for their endurance or make moves that seize your intelligent moves to increase their odds of winning. Moreover, imagine a scenario where they can learn from their behaviour and can seek shelter, perceive sounds and patterns, speak with one another and move in a manner you never saw or expected. Having new encounters despite playing such games numerous times keeps gamers energized and captivated to continue to return. A pioneer in game development can assist you with building such games that gamers enjoy playing for extended periods. The advent of AI has provided opponents with the capacity to securely explore in a dynamic environment without colliding with different entities.  

Real-time customisation

AI has redesigned the general gaming experience by continuous customisation of situations. Besides, AI makes a game more interactive by enhancing the experience of playing. For example, in case your team is losing, it will urge the fans to support your team to lift the morale and cause your players to perform better. Such a tendency of AI has now taken the general gaming experience to an all-new level.  

The shift in difficulty levels

Another excellence of AI-planned video games is player-experience modelling, which implies giving tailor-made insight to players in real-time according to their level of mastery. For instance, if the gamer is inexperienced, the AI possesses the potential to change its level and turn on the easy mode so that s/he doesn’t get baffled or exasperated for not being sufficiently equipped to make further progress in the game. Conversely, if s/he is an expert-level player, the AI will make the game difficult so that the player doesn’t get exhausted or bored. It can also determine the intent of a player through gesture recognition which empowers players to convey and cooperate with video games normally with no mechanical gadgets. 

Generation of procedural content

The technology has allowed the developers to consequently produce creative content, similar to scenes, things, levels, rules and quests. The gamers can now create weapons and armour based on the character level if they utilise procedural content generation in quest-driven games.

Summing Up 

The inception of Artificial Intelligence has made video gaming a lot more exciting as it has the power to provide unprecedented situations by altering the flow and force of the games. It would be more than appropriate to say that there’s nothing preferable for a player over getting fantastic as well as challenging experience simultaneously. As the future unfurls, we are going to witness an ever-increasing number of games with AI regulators which will improve the experience of the end-users like never before. Furthermore, AI will prove to be a testing ground for the developers to work on their code and configuration for creating an avant-garde game. Certainly, AI solutions have transformed the Indian gaming industry for the better. 

About the Author

Stewart Neal is the Studio Director of Sumo India Studios, an award-winning network of game development studios. With over 22 years of experience in the gaming industry, Stewart leads Sumo India’s Pune and Bangalore studios.