Beacon Pines is a beautiful, touching and surprisingly sinister narrative-driven adventure where words really matter as you use them to alter the story of a cute little deer and his friends as a darkness enters their idyllic storybook world.
Billed as "Winnie the Pooh meets Twin Peaks", Beacon Pines is a narrative-driven adventure that takes place within the pages of a mysterious magical … Read More
Timberborn is a lumberpunk city-building game where you manage a colony of industrious beavers as they build wooden cities and bring life back to the dry wastelands of Earth that mankind left behind.
Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer last year during the closed Beta sign upTimberborntakes place in a far flung future where mankind is long gone and beavers have risen up … Read More
Ollie's Farm is a surreal PS1 styled horror game that draws inspiration from 90's edutainment games and Silent Hill as you help a farmer with some farm-work.
Currently in development by Glory Meat (creator of Alleyway) Ollie's Farm starts out with you gathering corn for a farmer in a cheerful looking and colorful farmland. However, it's not long until you stumble into a nightmare … Read More
Kaiju Fishing looks set to give a whole new meaning to the phrase "big game fishing" as you set out on a little boat to catch some ludicrously large fish monsters!
In Kaiju Fishing you'll be able to sail around the ocean world of Eer and cast out your lines in hope of catching the many big, beautiful and bizarre fish monsters that swim through … Read More
Little Red Lie is a beautifully animated 2D horror adventure that delivers a dark twist on the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood as Red tries to uncover the truth about what happened to her grandma.
Taking place after the events of the original Little Red Riding Hood story, Little Red Lie sees Red venturing through a mysterious portal to a place where a … Read More
PalmRide is a retro styled arcade racing game where you drive and shoot your way through a city as it pulses in time with the music.
Drawing inspiration from OutRun and Rad Racer, PalmRide is a Vecter-esque, driving survival game where you race through the traffic-filled roads of a vibrant city. Your aim is to drive as far as possible and to do … Read More
The open Beta is now live for Monstrum 2, an asymmetric multiplayer survival horror game that pits one monster against four human prisoners as they attempt to escape a procedurally generated offshore facility.
Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer during last AugustMonstrum 2 is an asymmetric multiplayer sequel to the popular original single-player Monstrum survival horror game. Players can take on the role … Read More
Teacup is a wholesome narrative-driven adventure about a little frog girl who loves tea and reading books.
In Teacup you follow the adventure of a young introverted frog who is throwing a tea party in a couple of days time. However, she's run out of tea and will have to set out and explore the surrounding woodland in search of some. Along the way she'll … Read More
Resident Evil Re:Verse is a Resident Evil spin-off which will see heroes and villains from the long-running franchise facing off against each other in multiplayer deathmatches.
Cybel is a dark and satisfyingly brutal Hotline Miami-esque top-down Sci-Fi shooter where an Elevator Witch goes from floor to floor in a heavily armed facility and murders everyone!
In Cybel you take on the role of Cybel, and Elevator Witch who goes from floor to floor with just one objective – KILL EVERYONE. To achieve this you have a melee attack, a badass … Read More
Dread Hunger is a multiplayer action adventure game where you attempt to survive in a frostbitten Canadian Arctic wilderness, fending off the cold, wolves, other predators and other players.
Featuring a blend of PvP and co-op multiplayer, in Dread Hunger you may be working as a team to survive in its icy wilderness, but there are two traitors in your ranks who are attempting to … Read More
Time Loader is a beautifully crafted narrative-driven physics-based puzzle platforming adventure where a little wheeled robot is sent back to the 90's to prevent a terrible accident.
Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer in May last year, Time Loader is a physics-based puzzle adventure where a robot is sent back to the 90's to prevent an accident that left its creator wheelchair-bound for life. … Read More
Resident Evil: Maiden is a visually stunning standalone Resident Evil Village demo which sees you attempting to escape from the dungeon of a mansion that's inhabited by some very wicked women.
Originally created as a tech demo to showcase what the new Resident Evil game will look like on the new generation of consoles, the devs of Resident Evil: Maiden since decided to expand it … Read More
GunDrill is a beautifully animated 2D action platforming adventure where you shoot, drill and gather ore in monster-filled mines.
In GunDrill you take on the role of a mysterious soldier who helps gather ore and bring it back to a train that's travelling through an alien world. The mines in the planet are rich with ore, but they're also filled with monsters. Thankfully though you … Read More
Big Boy Boxing is a boss rush pixel art boxing game where you dodge and punch your way through challenging fights against beautifully animated combatants.
Drawing inspiration from Punch-Out!!, Cuphead and Shovel Knight, Big Boy Boxing is a slapstick boss rush boxing game where you can't just button your way to victory. Being a 2D boxing game, it does obviously draw comparisons to … Read More
Rocket Rumble is a multiplayer racing game where animals in jet-propelled exosuits smash and bash their way to the finish line.
Currently in development by PixelNAUTS Game (Creators of LOST ORBIT: Terminal Velocity) Rocket Rumble blends racing with combat as you animals in rocket-powered exosuits race each other. It's playable with 2-4 players (locally or online) and sees players using a mixture of ramps, … Read More
HUSK is a short atmospheric first person horror game where you venture into a long abandoned home that you've inherited, only to find something big and freaky scuttling around in the darkness.
In HUSK you take on the role of a woman who has inherited an estate from a distant relative who disappeared a century ago. It has been empty for decades, but you've been … Read More
Tunnel of Doom features a fusion of roguelite dungeon crawling and tower defense as you fight your way through a tunnel system filled with ghoulish creatures.
Taking place in a small mining town during 1903, Tunnel of Doom sees you taking on the role of the wife of a miner who has become trapped in the tunnels he was working on. The mayor has shut … Read More
RetroShooti is a wonderfully weird retro side-scrolling shoot 'em up that's packed full of crazy surprises as you blast your way through its bizarre and chaotic levels.
In RetroShooti you take control of a spaceship shaped hero as they make their way home through a wacky rainbow universe. It is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up, but the sheer variety and ridiculousness of everything it throws … Read More
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground is a new turn based tactical warfare game set in Warmhammer's dark fantasy Age of Sigmar universe.
Earning the title of being the first strategy game set in the Age of Sigmar universe, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground will see you commanding your highly customizable squad in a land of legends, heroes and hellish creatures. The game will … Read More
GigaSword is a beautifully animated retro styled puzzle action platforming metroidvania where your sword is so huge that it weighs you down and you need to relinquish it a times to aid your progress.
In GigaSword your sword is a great asset, but also a hindrance – it packs one hell of a hit and it can be used to activate machinery, but it's so … Read More
Grand Casino Tycoon is a new business simulation game that allows you to build and run your own casino empire, where you lure in guests and take all their money.
In Grand Casino Tycoon you'll be able to build your own Las Vegas casino empire from the ground up and manage it to keep your gamblers happy while relieving them of their hard earned money. … Read More
LOCUST, USA is a Breakout/Pinball inspired horror game where four kids attempt to uncover the dark secrets hidden in the small American town of Locust.
Drawing inspiration from Stranger Things, TRON and World of Horror, LOCUST, USA features a fantastic fusion of Breakout style block breaking and Pinball. As you smash your way through a series of single screen levels you'll follow … Read More
Oddinary Highway is a roguelite retrofuturistic side-scrolling shoot 'em up where the game mechanics constantly change as you go on on a hyperspace roadtrip to take down the robo-mafia.
Previously featured on Alpha Beta Gamer back in 2017, Oddinary Highway is a beautifully animated pixel art shoot 'em up with roguelite elements and a very cool retrofuturistic aesthetic. In the game you take on the … Read More
Project Feline is a freeform parkour platforming game where you control a highly agile feline-human hybrid as she races through complex multi-route environments.
In Project Feline you take control of Gabi, a cat-human hybrid who can gracefully run, jump, wall-run and grind through the world. It has a focus on speedrunning, with roughly prescribed routes through the levels that still offer a nice amount of … Read More
The Deep Deep is a single-player tactical dungeon crawler where you command a party of dwarves as they solve puzzles, battle enemies and find treasure.
In The Deep Deep you'll be able to build a party from a selection of six different dwarven classes, each with their own unique equipment and abilities, then control them as they make their way through a treacherous underground mine … Read More
I Am Future looks set to deliver a more upbeat and fun take on the post-apocalyptic survival game genre, as you try to make the perfect home for yourself atop a skyscraper, many years after an apocalypse.
Blending elements of survival and tower defence, in I Am Future you'll venture out into the abandoned and overgrown ruins of a city to gather resources. With the … Read More
Untangled: Payback is a brutal and beautifully animated cinematic 2D action platformer adventure that draws inspiration from 80's action movies as you fight your way through a heavily fortified gang headquarters after a good deal goes bad.
Playing a little like 90's classics Another World and Flashback, Untangled: Payback is a cinematic action platformer which follows the story of Clyde – a grizzled hero … Read More
Heavy Duty Challenge is a realistic extreme off-road racing simulation game where you compete in trials using a variety of heavy duty vehicles to traverse some seriously challenging courses.
Featuring officially licenced content of the Eorpa Truck Trial and 12 real-life trucks to take for a spin, Heavy Duty Challenge is an extreme off-road racing simulation game where you'll be lucky to make it to … Read More
Gunborg is a slick and stylish 2D action platforming adventure where you steal guns and deflect bullets as you fight your way through a giant battleship filled with robots and aliens.
In Gunborg you take on the role of a mysterious lone warrior as she boards, then slices and shoots her way through a huge alien spaceship. Your default weapon is a plasma sword but … Read More
Probably one of the first handheld PC gaming device that uses 7nm of AMD Ryzen 5 4500 U, AYA Neo is so powerful that it can run any PC games at 30+ FPS. Recent games like Cyberpunk 2077 at 30 to 35fps and Death Stranding at 30 to 45fps.
This device was first launched on China and next month the Founder edition will be available globally at $699 via a crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo. However, the price is only exclusive for Super Early Bird backers and other backers may get this at $799 or higher. The specs includes Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU (6 compute unites and up to 1.1 TFLOPs), 7-inch display (1,280 x 800), 16GB of LPDDR4x-4266 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD and a 47 WH battery.
Here is an example gameplay from a YouTuber (Taki Udon):
Though those specs are not that powerful compare to a laptop and still using the previous generation of AMD, considering it is a handled device, it is actually not bad. The technology they put all together in this small device are just pretty interesting. Here are the complete specs of AYA NEO Founder:
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 4500 U (AMD Zen 2) 6 cores/6 threads @ 4.0 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 6 @ 1.5 GHz
RAM Memory: 16GB DDR4 LPDDR4X-4266
Storage: 512GB /1 TB NVMe SSD
Display: 7 inch, 1280 x 800 IPS
Connectivity: Wifi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Battery: 47 Whr
Weight: 650 g
Dimensions: 25.5 x 10.6 x 2.0 cm
USB Connection: 3 x USB-C, 3.5mm
Other Features: Gyro, Touchscreen, Rumble
OS: Windows 10
Here are the frame rates of tested PC games:
Assassin's Creed Hall of Valor – 25 to 40 fps
Watchdogs – 25 to 40 fps
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – 40 to 50 fps.
Devil May Cry 5 – 60 to 70 fps
World of Warcraft Retro & Official – 35 to 50 fps
Death Stranding – 30 to 45 fps
What do you think of this new handled PC gaming device? Is it worth it? or you'll wait until they can run PC games at full 60fps? Let us know in the comment section.
If you're planning to have a future-proof PC Build for gaming, Western Digital releases their high-performance SSD with PCIe® Gen 4 Technology in the market, this is the WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD. The new flagship comes with two variants with a heatsink and a non-heatsink, it also comes in three capacities 500GB, 1TB and 2TB. The pricing for the Philippine retail store starts at PHP 7,900. However, the heatsink variant will be available in the 1st quarter of this year, 2021.
We are so honored to receive a copy of WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD non-heatsink (500GB) from Western Digital for us to review their mighty SSD.
WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD takes advantage of the PCIe® Gen 4 technology, where it provides much greater bandwidth speed in terms of storage performance. This is compatible with all models with PCIe® Gen4 support. With PCIe Gen 4 going full steam ahead this year that can be found on the next-gen console and PC gaming, the new technology is a preparation for the next-gen AAA titles.
Though regular SSD have no problem running current games today in PC, we have seen this leap in gaming way back in May 2019, where Sony held a demo for their exclusive game title Spiderman and tested out the performance of PS5 SSD (PCIe® Gen 4) against the PS4 Pro. The result shows significant improvements, less loading times and an instantaneous data streaming even moving around in an open-world rich environment, which means a true real-time loading of in-game assets. In the demo, it shows the building and texture assets loads in real-time with no noticeable loading delay while Spidey swing and move across the vast streets of New York. You can also watch the demo here of Epic Games showing their next-gen game engine which takes advantage of the leap performance of storage for gaming.
So, let's jump into the review. As advertised, the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD has a sequential read speed of up to 7,000 MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 4,100 MB/s for 500GB, 5,300 MB/s for 1TB and 5,100 MB/s for 2TB. The form factor is M.2 2280 and the dimensions are 2.38mm X 22.15 X 80.15 (HxWxL) for non-heatsink variant.
Packaging
Who doesn't want to see or even preserve the packaging of the product they bought (except for Matteo Guidicelli)? Since we think this is an important little detail for some of our readers, as usual we will showcase how they packed their SSD in a small snackbox-like package. Covered with black-themed and dotted pattern at the front, WD wanted to show the speed advantage of WD Black SN850, its sequential read speed of SSD 7,000 MB/s and some important details are highlighted as well like the recommended interface for the device.
At the back where the sealed stickers are located, it shows more specification and specs of the SSD along with it is the IOPS (Input/Output operations per seconds) of up to 1 million. There is also a small rectangular hole at the back where the SSD is visible. In case you are planning to use it on a NAS or a server, it states at the back that it is not intended for that use.
Unboxing the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD shows the SSD in its clear plastic casing which we think is a shock proof in case you drop the unopened package accidentally. The manual was also placed at the back.
Since this is an M.2 SSD and has a form factor of 2280, it is very small, smaller than a one-peso coin. The WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD we got is the non-heatsink variant, instead of the military looking heatsink, the front is covered with a sticker.
At the back, there are no any components or any thermal sticker. It is covered with black paint and has a pattern appearance of the circuit board tracing.
WD Black Dashboard
To get more juice out of your WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD, you need to get its management software WD_BLACK Dashboard (Windows® only) where you'll be able to keep the firmware up to date and to enable game mode where it overrides the default power saving mode of the SSD. However, even not turning on the game modes we still manage to get the peak speed, but we see improvements on average usage while using the WD Black Dashboard.
What's more is WD_BLACK Dashboard allows you to customize and control your gaming experience even further!
Testing Methodology
So, let's check if we can achieve those peak speeds in our benchmark. For the OS, we are using a fresh copy of Windows 10 with the latest graphics driver, OS updates and firmware installed. The power option was also set to High Performance to get its peak performance.
For the hardware system, we are using the following:
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
64GB of DDR4 2,400 MHz RAM
GTX 1080 Ti
TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS Wifi.
For benchmark software, we are using the following:
CrystalMark v 7.0.0 and 8.0.0
AS SSD 2.0
Anvil's Storage Utilities 1.1.0
PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark 1.0
Cyberpunk 2077
Windows 10 OS Build 19042.685
Crystal Disk Mark Benchmark
For our first benchmark, we are using Crystal Disk Mark 7.0.0 (CDM) Benchmark in which the advertised speed was performed. Let's see if we can get the same result on our system.
We managed to get a peak read sequential speed of 7,000.15 Mb/s and write sequential speed of 4,079.43 MB/s on Crystal Disk Mark Benchmark. However, we only get these results when the temperature of our SSD is below 65 degrees. To get the peak speed all of the time, we have to make sure our system has good airflow. Lesser temperature to the SSD means more consistent peak speed.
If your system is not well ventilated, the sequential read speed drops to 6,500 MB/s while the write speed remains the same at 4,077 MB/s(This happen when we didn't attached the glass side cover of our CPU). We are curious if the other variant with a heatsink that cooldowns the temperature will have the consistent sequential read speed.
AS SSD 2.0 Benchmark
On the second benchmark, we are using the AS SSD 2.0, a popular benchmarking tool dedicated for SSD storage devices. However, we are expecting a lower result on this benchmark because AS SSD uses a different algorithm compared to the Crystal Disk Mark.
The result of AS SSD Benchmark shows the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD 500GB ssd obtained sequential read speed of 5,736 MB/s and sequential write speed of 3,815 MB/s with an overall total score of 7,255.
Anvil's Storage Utilities Benchmark
On the third storage benchmark we are using is the Anvil's Storage Utilities, a tool that is currently in beta. Though it is more flexible because you can customize your test according to your preferences.
As expected, WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD 500GB SSD scored at 20,203 in the standard test, breaking the 20k score mark. Read speed is at 4,853.08 MB/s and Write speed is at 3,849.62 MB/s.
PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark
For the last storage benchmark, we are using the PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark (https://benchmarks.ul.com/). It will test our SSD into relevant real-world operations from different type of applications and common tasks used repeatedly performed to get the benchmark score.
For the Full System Drive Benchmark, where WD_BLACK SN850 will be tested to wide-range sets of applications such as Adobe's software, Microsoft office, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Battlefield V, and other operations.
We obtained a score of 3,033. Overall bandwidth of 482.62 MB/s and Overall access time of 55 µs (microseconds).
For the Quick System Drive Benchmark, where it will be tested in a shorter test with lighter workloads like using Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator and some operations.
We got a score of 3,743, the overall bandwidth at 454.32 MB/s and Overall access time of 34 µs.
For the Data Drive Benchmark, where it will be tested for storing files rather than applications, mostly operations like copying 339 JPEG files (2.37 GB) and other read/write test.
We obtained a score of 5,210, Overall band with of 776.70 MB/s and overall access time of 30 µs.
Installing Windows 10 Benchmark
We are also doing a reformat benchmark where we install Windows 10 from scratch to the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD. Let's see how many minutes it should take to complete the installation.
In the first test, this part is where the installation files of Windows were copied from the bootable USB then installed into the main drive (WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD).
The result is quite fast, it only takes 70 seconds to complete the first phase of Windows 10 installation.
The next test is the "This might take several minutes" test where the final installation setup is made. Prior to this, it takes us approximately 1-minute to complete the manual Basic, Network, Account and Services setup.
In the last test, it takes about 72 seconds to complete the final phase of Windows 10 installation. In total we have completed Windows 10 reformat in just 4 minutes and 36 seconds including reboot time.
Cyberpunk 2077 Loading Benchmark
For this benchmark, we can only do loading times for PC games as this game basically works fine on any type of SSD storage. What we can do is to measure the difference between the loading times. For this test, we use the Load Game function and load the portion where V can roam around the city right after he arrived in the apartment.
From the main menu to the game, it takes about 9.5 seconds for you to play the game immediately. While on a regular SATA SSD it takes about 14.8 seconds and on other M.2 NVMe SSD it takes 10.8 seconds.
The speed difference between SATA SSD and WD_BLACK SN850 is noticeable, but for other M.2 – the difference is almost the same.
Backward Compatibility
The WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD is also backward compatible with the following PCIe interface: (Not in the list are not compatible like the PCIe Gen3 x4)
PCIe Gen3 x2
PCIe Gen3 x1
PCIe Gen2 x4
PCIe Gen2 x2
PCIe Gen2 x1
Having a backward compatible for several PCIe Gen3 and Gen 2 interfaces is an advantage for SN850. But keep in mind that when you connect these SSD into a PCIe 3.0 or 2.0, the speed will be a bottleneck, theoretically at 3,500 MB/s for sequential read speed depending on your system.
Warranty
The WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD has a rated endurance of 300 TBW (TeraBytes Written) for every 500GB of capacity, which means 300TBW for 500GB, 600TBW for 1TB and 1,200TBW for 2TB. It also comes with a 5-year limited warranty.
Conclusion
If you're into building a future proof PC Build for gaming, getting the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD is one of the components that you should consider. With a peak sequential read speed of 7,000MB/s, this SSD is just fast enough that exceeds the maximum speed of the next-gen console that is currently running at 5,500MB/s. Making this SSD a future proof for PC gaming for the next 5 to 6 years.
Considering its price point, this SSD is worth a purchase if you're planning to have a new setup for a long run.
WD Black SN850 Specification
Here are the full specifications with the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD without heatsink 500GB:
RetroArch emulator has a new design, but these new design consist of big notification and sometimes its blocking the game screen when you're doing quick save and load. However, removing this notification is quite not an easy task, turning off the notifications are lucrative to find and sometimes you ended up turning off the wrong settings.
Some users also prefers not to totally turn off the notification, because they still want to see notification for saving and loading. But in this case, they want it to be smaller and didn't distract the game screen. While for users who wants to totally turn off the notifications, it is easy peasy.
Adjust Notification Settings
Those fancy and decorated notifications you find in RetroArch seems to very big and excessive when playing your favorite games (especially the splash screen). Adjusting this notification to disable it without totally turning off the whole notification will make your gameplay clean from distraction.
First we need to go to Settings > On-Screen Display > On-Screen Notifications.
From here, Make sure that On-Screen Notifications stays turn on. Then find the Graphics Widgets then turn it OFF. (This will disable the decorated animations, notifications, indicators and controls)
Then adjust the font family and sizes. Lastly, then the horizontal and vertical positions. You can also set the RGB color of the notification, by default it is set to color yellow.
Here is our preferred settings:
Font: Default
Size: 9
Position (Horizontal): 0.010
Position (Vertical): 0.010
Lastly, to make your changes takes effect, you have to restart the RetroArch. Once you've open a game, the splash screen will never appear as well as the warning notifications.
Totally turn off Notification
To totally turn off the notifications, you just need to turn of the On-Screen Notifications.
You can do this by going to Settings > On-Screen Display > On-Screen Notifications, then turn off the On-Screen Notifications.
Then don't forget to restart your RetroArch after changing those settings.
If you've been using RetroArch to emulate some of your retro games for your PC for quite some time now and didn't encounter any problem. But, suddenly one day, sounds on every game you've played becomes muted. Well, in our case it takes scratching our head to get a solution to fix the issue. The problem mainly, Windows 10 are having hard time recognizing the driver of your RetroArch program if its recently updated, moved or opened into a new formatted OS.
When you recently do those changes on your computer, most likely you'll get a mute sound problem on RetroArch.
To fix this issue, there are several ways to troubleshoot this problem. Below are some of it.
First of all, you might unknowingly muted the RetroArch while pressing random keys on your computer. You need to check your RetroArch program if its muted or the volume was set to 0.
To check if RetroArch is muted, go to Settings > Audio. Then make sure the Mute is turned OFF.
In game, for toggling mute, press F9. Then for increasing the volume up, press +. (If you change this key configuration, you can check the key binding by going to Settings > Inputs > Hotkeys).
If this doesn't solve your sound problem, you can move on the next solution.
Sound Audio driver was not properly set
The next troubleshoot solution might be your Drivers was not set properly. The default audio driver and settings for RetroArch was Wasapi.
To set it back to its default sound driver, go to Settings > Audio > Output.
For Audio driver, you need to use Wasapi.
Then turn off the following:
WASAPI Exclusive Mode
WASAPI Float Format
Make sure to restart after you change these settings, then run RetroArch again and play some games to try out.
RetroArch is muted on Volume mixer of Windows 10
If the configuration of your RetroArch has no problem, the volume might be turned off on Window's volume mixer. In Windows 10, users are allowed to manually set the volume of each programs in Windows 10 by adjusting it on the volume mixer.
To check if volume mixer is the culprit, right click the volume icon on the bottom right corner of your Windows 10 taskbar. Then click Open volume mixer.
From here, all programs that uses sounds will be listed. Check if RetroArch was set to low volume or it was muted.
If RetroArch is not listed on Volume Mixer, there might be an issue where Windows 10 cannot recognized any of the sound driver in the program. You need to do the next step to fix this.
New copy of RetroArch and place in a new directory
If RetroArch is not listed on the volume mixer, you need to grab a new copy of RetroArch from their website. You just need the zipped package, the installer is optional.
You can get the zipped package on their download page website. Scroll down for Windows 10 / 8 / 7, then you'll find Download (64bit) or Download (32bit). Just pick what OS system you have.
After downloading the zipped file, extract it into a new directory. For example, at C:/your_directory/retroarch_x.
Open up RetroArch then try checking game if there are sounds, it should also appear on the volume mixer after doing this.
To load your old configurations, you just need to copy the retroarch.cfg from your old directory to your new one.
That's it! If you still encounter the problem after doing all of the troubleshoot above or if you have a better solution. Please leave a comment down below so we can look into it.
The Winter sale just launched in the Humble Store and the sale will be live starting today until January 28, 2021. Together with that, they will also be giving away Bomber Crew for FREE for limited time only, 48 hours to be exact.
Bomber Crew is a strategic simulation game where you can form your own crew to take to an aerial adventure, you'll be dropping bombs to different mission and you should protect your crews and your arsenal in good shapes to complete your mission.
If you haven't yet tried the game before, this is your chance to play this unique experience game.
Battle Royale Games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty Warzone and PUBG requires enormous amount of specs to win and to run smoothly on your computer. If your computer is a stove (low specs), you will probably not get good fps on gaming. The modern games will be tested on an AMD Radeon R7 Graphics, with a Vram of 512 mb.
Here are the 5 modern games tested on a 512 mb vram graphics card.
5. Gta V
Grand Theft Auto 5 is a really good game, the game was released back 2013, but it has received many updates making it one of the demanding games today. It has titles that until today is appreciated. Grand Theft Auto V is more like a graphics kind of game, it focuses on the graphics and the realism the game can get, but in doing missions or online your gonna need a lot of fps to be able to complete and compete. Some Influencers even made videos about it online, giving gamers the thought of GTA V being better than the Cyberpunk 2077.
The video card requirements of the game is a NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB/ AMD HD 4870 1 GB, we should be able to run the game without burning the pc, but we need to make some adjustments.
Picture
If you badly want play GTA V on a low end pc, your gonna need to make some configuration to the game files or using some graphics mods.
While running the game at the lowest graphics possible (without configuring the settings), we did not get fps drop but we got textures loading for 3 minutes. When driving faster, it gets worst until the game freezes, but it gets back after few seconds.
4. Minecraft (Resource Packs and Shaders)
The never aging game; Minecraft, Minecraft is one of the few popular games today that is playable on a low end pc. The game is developed by Mojang, a game where there are no limits to your imagination, the game doesn't have specific goals to make, except for the survival mode where you have to beat the ender dragon and continue Free Roam. Minecraft is still very popular to Influencers as well, Youtubers like MrBeast Gaming, Dream, Pewdiepie, Technoblade and more are still streaming the game.
Minecraft can look way cooler when shaders are applied, shaders are the one that brings realism to the game that makes your pc into a stove. A youtuber named Austin Evans cooked an egg using his gaming pc, this became one of the unheard trends online. Shaders can cause your pc to be 4x slower when running at a 512 mb VRAM. You might even be able to cook an egg at your pc.
Picture
After few minutes, I decided to remove the shaders since it costed a lot of fps, the minimum fps was 2. I used the Shaders SEUS Lite.
3. Call of Duty: Mobile (Gameloop)
Call of Duty: Mobile is one of the best android game with good graphics, the game is also very addictive because of the ranks and the season events. Call of Duty has finally reached to mobile and we will be running it at a low end pc, so expect some of FPS drops.
Thanks to Gameloop, we can run Call of Duty: Mobile, without enabling VT or Virtualization on our PC, You can also play CODM on other emulator like Nox and LD Player.
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On the lobby the FPS is still good, but when reaching the start of the battle royale the game starts to drop at medium graphics. The game runs smoothly on low graphics, so if you are looking for a call of duty warzone on your 512 mb VRAM, this is it.
Today, GIGABYTE launches their newest motherboard lineup dedicated for content creators, the Z590 Vision. Powering the 11th Gen Intel Core processor, the exclusive design of VisionLink and VisionLink TB enables the simple connection to pen displays with only one USB Type-C cable, releasing creators from the mess of transmission cables and switches for their neat setup.
The VisionLink technology allows data and video transmission based on the USB Type-C Interface and provides power delivery of up to 60W. Not only solving the cable clutter, but also benefit of data, video, and power charging at the same time. With one USB Type-C cable connected, it will turn the workspace into neat and tidy. While the advanced version VisionLink TB is based on Thunderbolt 4 that delivers 40GB/s high-bandwidth speeds, data transferring, video signal and up to 60W power charging, and daisy chain function to support up to 10 devices connection.
The Z590 VISION series motherboards keep the VISION white styling with exclusive hardware design to provide creators with an improved working efficiency. The Z590 VISION series motherboards inherit GIGABYTE's leadership in motherboard power design and VRM thermal design, using up to 12-phase direct power design paired with highly durable DrMOS to provide the best power delivery. Solid power pin connectors on the Z590 VISION series motherboards ensure that the power delivery is stable while reducing excess heat during high workload to prevent throttling, and make the processor more stable to avoid downtime due to an unstable power supply. With the new design of the fins-array, direct-touch heat-pipe, large heat sinks and Smart Fan 6, it not only strengthens the thermal effect, but also takes into account the appearance design, allowing the GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards to be both stylish and thermally efficient.
The memory circuits of GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards are embedded within the PCB ground layers while the metal outer layer of the PCB reduces electromagnetic interference so those using dual channel configuration can enjoy high-speed, stable overclocked RAM performance boost above XMP 4800MHz. GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards use PCIe 4.0 grade of PCBs, PCIe slots, M.2 slots, and controllers for the highest bandwidth quality. The select Z590 VISION motherboards equip with three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots which the trace layout comes directly from CPU for the NVMe M.2 SSD, and offers and extreme sequential read speed of more than 20000 MB/s in Windows RAID 0 mode.
Besides taking the lead to implement Thunderbolt 4 onboard, GIGABYTE Z590 VISION motherboards also adopt robust expansion for content creators , which includes SuperSpeed USB3.2 Gen2x2, Intel® 2.5G Ethernet, and High Fidelity audio output expansion interface. The Intel® 2.5Gbps Ethernet controller brings ultra-fast connectivity that is 2.5X faster than Gigabit Ethernet. Also, the lineup implements an Intel® WiFi 6 802.11ax network adapter to provide Gigabit level wireless network, and paired with high-gain Wi-Fi smart antenna to deliver up to 2.4Gbps transmission speed which offers smoother streaming videos, fewer dropped connections, and more stability. To feature with dual Ethernet LAN and WiFi for creators to have a flexible configuration with high bandwidth and low latency access connectivity. The newest GIGABYTE VISION DRIVE perfectly matches the 20 Gbps high speed transfer of USB 3.2 Gen2x2 to meet the needs of ultra-fast storage from creators.
GIGABYTE Z590 VISION series motherboards are equipped with the high SNR audio engine ALC4080 and the WIMA FKP2 studio-grade audio capacitors to deliver studio-grade audio. GIGABYTE's exclusive design with DTS：X® Ultra technology delivers high fidelity audio for the most immersive sound experience whether it's for work or entertainment. From video editing to listening to music, the audio quality is indispensable.
Z590 VISION G features three PCIe x16 slots with one Gen4 x16 and two Gen3 x4 supported. There are four M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0/3.0 interface, and six SATA 6Gb/s ports. With the VisionLINK for connection of pen displays and the DP_In interface, the 3D performance of VGA cards can be shared to pen displays, which is suitable for enabling 2D design and entry-level 3D modeling.
Z590 VISION D holds two PCIe 4.0 slots of x16 and x8 interface, two PCIe 3.0 expansion slots of x4 and x1, three M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0/3.0 interface, and six SATA 6Gb/s ports. With the VisionLINK TB for connection of pen display and the DP_In interface, the performance of VGA cards can be shared to pen displays, which is more suitable for VFX, 3D compilation, 3D CAD, AI development, and edge deployment.
Z590I VISION D is the first ITX size motherboard of VISION series which is the top choice for mini PC to handle 2D and light-duty 3D computer-aided workloads in fields such as architecture and engineering. In addition to one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, two PCIe 4.0/3.0 M.2 slots, and four SATA 6Gb/s ports onboard, Z590I VISION D also equips two Thunderbolt 4 ports which can deliver 40Gb/s high-bandwidth speeds, data transferring, video signal, 60W power charging, USB4 specification compliance, and daisy chain function to support up to 10 devices connection. Heat dissipation is very critical to the mini PC. Z590I VIOSION D thermal's solution provides a perfect balance between style and performance.
Z590 VISION series also implement the highly recognized durability and stability of GIGABYTE motherboards. The exclusive Q-Flash Plus feature allows users to flash a BIOS file without installing a CPU, RAM, GPU, and other peripherals. Creators now can concentrate on their creation under a stable system.
Good news! For those who are seeking a dream hero for your knightley journey "Guardian Tales" a mobile adventure RPG game, welcome the new year with a special event that allows players to summon heroes or equipments for free! You didn't read it wrong! Yes! It's free with so many content to explore!
Guardian Tales celebrate New Year 2021 with Free summon event up to 50 times, whether it's heroes or equipments. The event allows players to summon 10 times per day in 5 days straight and only today until 25 of Jan! Besides that, Guardian Tales also has updated with new various features and events! Such as, the New Year Road Map event and the Guardian Pass, which players can collect points and exchange for more exclusive rewards. So that, make sure to download, login, and summon! Who knows what treasure you'll get! So don't miss this out!
Game developer team has continuously developed and updated the game content, which has a unique adventurous storyline up to world 10! There are also the Training room and the Guardian base camp that helps strengthen your favorite heroes and so on!
Please be sure entering these exclusive events and do not miss any other special update or news in Guardian Tales. Keep your eyes on their official Facebook page, meet others guardians, and share your experiences with them in their official Discord and official Facebook Group.
Today, GIGABYTE announced their newest motherboard lineup to support the upcoming 11th Gen Intel Processors. The new motherboards features up to 20-phase digital power Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) and an improved Fin-Array II heatsink design. It is geared with best power design and thermal management for overclocking on the upcoming Intel Processor (It also uses Daisy Chain memory routing with an anti-interference design for improve memory overclocking).
With the newest support of Intel's PCIe 4.0, the GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS motherboard uses PCIe 4.0 grade PCBs, PCIEe slots, M.2 slots and a controller for the highest bandwidth possible, which can provides up to 7,000 MB/s. The motherboard can support up to three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots with direct connection to the CPU. RAID configuration are also possible and can provide access rate of more than 20,000 MB/s. For SSD thermal, they have built-in Thermal Guard II which is a double sided heat dissipation solution that provides optimal cooling for PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD to avoid thermal throttling.
For power, the motherboard can deliver up to 2,100 Amps and provide the best power balance, with up to 20+1 phases which each of them can hold up to 100 amps with its DrMOS power stages design. It also uses a Tantalum Polymer capacitors which improves the transient response of the VRM between high and low loads, increases durability of the processor.
Each single slot DDR4 memory in GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS can support up to 32GB, that's 128GB memory for 4 DIMM slots.
For other peripheral connections, it uses USB4, 3.2 Gen 2×2, 3.2 Gen 2 slots, 2.5G and 10G Ethernet, audio jack, Intel WiFi 6E 802.11ax network adapter (6GHz) and a Thunderbolt 4 expansion interface (for selected motherboard).
GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS motherboard also support previous technology like the LED lighting, Q-Flash Plus. Plus a new revamped BIOS with new graphical interface.
Ragnarok M Eternal Love finally reveals the new event for this new year and month of January, the Big Cat Celebration Event. The event is not so different on the previous event and the double rewards on Oracle Dungeon and Endless tower are back.
In this guide, we will help you with the detail and dates so you don't miss each event in the Ragnarok Mobile. Happy New year everyone!
Starting January 1 to 6, 2021, there will be an NPC named The New Year Messenger at the Prontera South Gate. Players will be able to collect the First Gift Box of 2021 from the NPC.
Opening this gift box will unlock the Event achievement "2021" and an exclusive title "2021".
Event 2: Dream Plan Celebration
Starting January 14 to 28, 2021, an NPC named Unskillful Hunter will be at the Prontera West Gate and players can activate a 5-day quest titled Votive Coin's Repayment quest.
Between January 21 to 28, 2021, finish each quest on three different days to claim a 1 x Celebration Lucky Bag. While finishing the whole quest will allow the players to receive a Royal Celebration Honor Chest and 2021.02 Feast Memento.
Those players who do not accept the quest will receive a 2021.02 Headwear Gift.
The last day to acquire this quest will be on January 21, 2021.
Event 3: The Big Box Battle
Starting January 15 to 31, 2021 there will be a three separate scheduled event every night at 10:00 pm to 12:00pm (Manila, Philippine Time) where you'll be able to fight a large number of Celebration Koi monster that will spawn at the Prontera South Gate. Defeating these monsters will allow players to receive a 1 x Royal Celebration Honor Chest.
The following are the schedules for The Big Box Battle.
Schedule
Time
Location
January 15 to 17, 2021
10:00 pm to 12:00 pm (Manila, Philippine Time)
Prontera South Gate
January 22 to 24, 2021
10:00 pm to 12:00 pm (Manila, Philippine Time)
Prontera South Gate
January 29 to 31, 2021
10:00 pm to 12:00 pm (Manila, Philippine Time)
Prontera South Gate
Opening the Royal Celebration Honor Chest grants a chance to get a Fantasy Generator Feast Appreciation.
Event 4: Double Rewards Oracle Dungeon and Endless Tower
Starting January 18 to February 1, 2021, players who participate on Oracle Dungeon and Endless Tower will receive a double rewards.
Event 5: Gem Donation
Starting January 7 to 14, 2021, there will be an NPC named Unskillful Hunter that will appear in Prontera Square. Players need to find this NPC and donate different type of gem to receive a reward. Only two types of gem can be donated each day.
The following gem are required for this event:
Aquamarine Crystal
Topaz Crystal
Amethyst Crystal
Event 6: Fantasy Ruin BCC Shop
Starting January 7 to 14, 2021, there will be a new item available in the Big Cat Coin Store (ReCharge). The Fantasy Star Rune I Gift Bag for 30 BCC limited to 60 purchase only and Fantasy Star Rune II Gift Bag for 60 BCC limited of 60 purchase only.
The Fantasy Star Rune I Gift Bag contains the following:
2 x Old Rune Box
1 x Glittering Rune Stone – Star
2 x Random Boss Material
20% chance to get S Level Star Rune of your class
0.2% chance of getting 1 x Royal Celebration Unlock Album
While the Fantasy Star Rune II Gift Bag, it doubles the item and chances. It contains the following:
4 x Old Rune Box
2 x Glittering Rune Stone – Star
4 x Random Boss Material
50% chance of getting S Level Star Rune of your class
0.5% chance of getting 1 x Royal Celebration Unlock Album
Event 7: Mysterious Merchant
Starting January 21 to 28, 2021, a new event called "Gift" will be available at the New Event on the top of the game screen. Clicking this will allow the players to participate on the Mysterious Merchant's Gift event.
If a criteria is meet, players may unlock an item for purchase at 80% discount regardless of an item or consumable. All items sold by the Mysterious Merchant are limited to one purchase per account only.
Tier
Requirement
Item
1
No requirement
Mora Lucky Bag (20 x Mora Coin) 400,000 Zeny
5 Purchase Limit
2
Purchase 5 x Tier 1 to unlock this tier
Bear Mora Goody Bag (200 x Mora Coin) 20 BCC
30 Purchase Limit
3
Purchase 5 x Tier 2 to unlock this tier
Ready-to-Burst Mora Goody Bag (200 x Mora Coin) 2,000,000 Zeny
1 Purchase Limit
Oracle Gift Box (5 x Oracle Dust, 5 x Oracle Crystal) 400,000 Zeny
5 Purchase Limit
4
Purchase 5 x Tier 3 (Oracle Gift Box) to unlock this tier
Big Kitty Oracle Gift Box (30 x Oracle Dust, 30 x Oracle Crystal) 30 BCC
30 Purchase Limit
5
Purchase 5 x Tier 4to unlock this tier
Oracle Gift Box Unable to Shut (50 x Oracle Dust, 5 x Oracle Crystal) 2,000,000 Zeny
1 Purchase Limit
Event 8: Celebration Treasure BCC Shop
Starting January 21 to 28, 2021, there will be new item at the Big Cat Coin Store (ReCharge) the Celebration Treasure I for 30 BCC with 60 purchase limit and Celebration Treasure II for 30 BCC with 60 purchase limit.
The Celebration Treasure I contains the following items:
1 x Poker Album
Chance to obtain the following item:
1 x 20% Skyride Shard – Sharp
1 x 20% Freyr Coin
1 x 0.2% Gold Deviruchi Wing
The Celebration Treasure II contains the following items:
1 x Poker Album
Chance to obtain the following item:
1 x 20% Skyride Shard – Sharp
1 x 20% Freyr Coin
1 x 0.2% Majestic Goat
That's it guys! Hope this guide helps your adventure in Ragnarok M Eternal Love.
SN850 NVMe
