Intel Whiskey Lake release date, news and rumors

Intel Whiskey Lake has been officially launched, and it’s the latest line of 8th-Generation mobile processors behind the next generation of laptops. This next-gen mobile architecture was announced back at Computex 2018 alongside the Amber Lake Y-series fanless chips.

Now, why there are two different microarchitectures for laptops is beyond us, but they’re both products of the third refinement of Skylake. Both Whiskey Lake and Amber Lake will take Kaby Lake Refresh’s spot as the best processors for laptops and Ultrabooks. But, wait, weren’t there some Coffee Lake U-series processors announced back in April?

Yes there were! However, we actually haven’t seen these Coffee Lake U-series chips in many laptops – most of the best laptops are still using either Kaby Lake Refresh U-series or Coffee Lake H-series chips.

So, when Intel figures out its supply problems, Whiskey Lake will power some of the best Ultrabooks throughout 2019. So, with that in mind, we have enough information to dive into everything Whiskey Lake has to offer. Keep this page bookmarked, as we’ll update it with all the latest info.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Intel’s latest mobile microarchitecture 
• When is it out? Fall 2018  
• What will it cost? Depends on the laptop 

Release date

Manufacturers are already starting to list Whiskey Lake processors, so we can expect to see them in the wild later this year. Whiskey Lake has been officially announced by Intel, but there really wasn’t much fanfare surrounding the announcement. 

Going forward, we’re probably going to see plenty of new laptops with the new processors launching this fall – likely refreshes of some of the best Ultrabooks, like the HP Spectre x360, Dell XPS 13 and maybe even the Surface Laptop 2. 

However, thanks to some supply issues, we might have to wait a bit longer to see new laptops using Whiskey Lake chips. Devices like the MacBook 2018 may have to be pushed back to October or November to facilitate Intel’s product supply. 

Price

Because Whiskey Lake is a mobile microarchitecture, it’s unlikely that the price of the actual chip will affect most consumers. For instance, the Intel Core i5-8250U is listed at $297 (about £225, AU$400) and the Intel Core i7 8550U at $409 (about £310, AU$551). However, these aren’t really public facing prices, and is rather what laptop manufacturers pay to include these chips in their laptops.

So, we’re getting 3 15W TDP U-series processors and 3 5W Amber Lake Y-series chips. With a Core i3 (or m3), i5 and i7 in either category, we can expect a pretty wide range of laptops starting at around $500 (around £389, AU$680)  for the m3 and i3 laptops, whereas Core i7-backed notebooks will be more expensive, likely around $1,000 (£760, AU$1,350). 

Either way, Whiskey Lake was just launched, so we’re sure we’ll see pricing for the laptops sporting these new processors in the very near future.

Specs

Intel introduced three Whiskey Lake processors, a Core i3, a Core i5 and a Core i7. The Core i5 and i7 are both four-core, eight-thread chips, much like their Kaby Lake R brethren, whereas the Core i3 still rocks two cores and four threads. Where they really set themselves apart is in their clock speeds. 

The stock clocks on the Core i5 and i7 are virtually the same as the Core i5-8250U and Core i7-8550U at 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz respectively. But Intel, has boosted the boost clocks for the Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565U drastically – up to 4.6GHz and 3.9GHz, respectively.

We haven’t seen what this performance hike translates into RE: real world performance, but average users likely won’t notice a difference. However, this much of an increase in Turbo Boost speeds can back up Intel’s claim that Whiskey Lake can have up to a double-digit increase in performance over 7th-generation Kaby Lake processors.

As far as the integrated GPU goes, though, it looks like Intel is sticking with the Intel UHD Graphics 620 chip found in the Kaby Lake-R chips, so don’t expect vastly improved GPU performance with this new microarchitecture – even if Intel says gamers will be able to play games using just the integrated graphics.

What’s probably more noteworthy than clock speeds and GPU improvements, though is the fact that Intel has found a way to integrate 802.11 AC Wi-Fi into the PCH on Whiskey Lake processors. This functionality isn’t included in the Amber Lake Y-series chips, but Intel is offering discrete solutions for those fanless models – on top of eSIM support for laptop makers that want to build LTE modems into new laptops.

We’re sure we’ll get more information about how these new processors perform once we get our hands on laptops running them. So, until then, be sure to check back often, as we’ll add any information that comes our way.

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Intel Coffee Lake-X release date, news and rumors

Before we get into all the Coffee Lake-X information, let’s just get one thing out of the way: it’s not confirmed to exist in any way, shape or form. Everything from here on out is speculation and rumor.

Intel has had a rough couple of years. Ever since the onset of AMD Ryzen and Threadripper, Intel has been on the defensive – haphazardly throwing out CPU refreshes to keep ahead of AMD. 

Back when AMD launched Threadripper, Intel responded with Skylake X, which outpowered Threadripper, but only barely. Fast forward to 2018, and AMD has released the Threadripper 2990 WX, a 32-core, 64-thread behemoth. And, now Intel has responded with the Basin Falls Refresh.

But, what about Coffee Lake-X?. 

Well, according to speculation, Coffee Lake-X did indeed exist at one point, only to be scrapped by Intel, according to speculation from the Motley Fool. We don’t know if Coffee Lake-X will ever actually come out, but it could be the next HEDT platform from Team Blue – that’s all speculation though.

We basically don’t know anything yet – we don’t even know if Coffee Lake-X will ever actually release. That’s not going to stop us from speculating, though. So, keep this page bookmarked, and we’ll update it if we hear anything.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Intel’s potential next HEDT platform
• When is it out? TBD
• What will it cost? TBD

Release date

This is where things get a little hard to predict. If our earlier speculation is true, and Intel uses Coffee Lake-X to compete with Threadripper 2nd Generation, we might see an announcement soon – the first chips of this series are slated to release in Q3 2018.

However, while it’s hard to even find vague speculation about Coffee Lake-X, we have seen a leaked roadmap that points to a ‘Basin Falls Refresh’ launching in the HEDT space later this year. Whether that’s Coffee Lake-X or not, we’re not sure, but we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Intel supposedly confirmed a forthcoming X399 chipset, which would likely be the chipset that would support Coffee Lake-X, but we have no idea when that’s coming out, either.

We’ll just have to wait until Intel to make some kind of announcement about the release date of its next HEDT platform.

Specs

This is where things get interesting. Now, we have no idea what the Coffee Lake-X chips are going to look like, but they have to be basically better than Skylake-X, which is already absolutely bananas. If you need a refresher, the specs for the 7th-generation HEDT processors are as as follows:

• Core i9-7900X: 10-cores, 20-threads at 3.3GHz 
• Core i9-7920X: 12-cores, 24-threads at 2.9GHz 
• Core i9-7940X: 14-cores, 28-threads at 3.1GHz 
• Core i9-7960X: 16-cores, 32-threads at 4.2GHz 
• Core i9-7980XE: 18-cores, 36-threads at 2.6GHz 

That last one, the Core i9-7980XE was the most powerful consumer processor of the last year, and still is at the time of this writing. However, that processor costs nearly $2,000. Remember that rumor we mentioned earlier about the 32-core, 64-thread AMD Threadripper 2990X that’s supposedly launching for less than that?

That’s exactly what Intel is going to need top with Coffee Lake-X. Earlier, at Computex 2018, Intel showed off a 28-core 56-thread CPU clocked at 5GHz. And, while that processor later turned out to be a Cascade Lake-X processor with a completely different LGA-3647 socket, that might actually be what Intel needs to release – and for much less than the rumored $10,000 that processor might end up costing. 

At the end of the day, we won’t know what Intel’s next line of HEDT processors is going to look like until it’s actually announced, but we do know that if Intel is going to stay competitive after Threadripper 2 comes out, it will need to come out with some beefy CPUs at a competitive price. And, you can rest assured that the moment Intel does that, we’ll update this page with any relevant information.

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The best gaming monitor 2018: the 10 best gaming screens of the year

These days, the best PC games can take you to places and let you do things that you never thought possible, which is why you should think about picking up one of the best gaming monitors to bring your experience to the next level.

But, what separates the best gaming monitors from the rest of the pack? Well, it mostly boils down to function and preferences. There’s a wide range of different technologies and features that the best gaming monitors offer, and what you need varies greatly on what games you like to play.

If you want to sit back and vibe with the best open world games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey or Red Dead Redemption 2, you may be interested in a 4K Ultra-HD gaming monitor with HDR. However, if you want to go head-to-head with strangers on the internet in competitive games like CS:GO or Overwatch, where speed is the name of the game, you’ll want to take a look at the best gaming monitors with a high refresh rate and low latency.

This is a lot to take in, but we have you covered. We've gathered up all the best gaming monitors we’ve used over the last year. So, no matter what kind of games you’re into, we’ll help you find the best monitor for gaming.

HDR has been a major selling point for the best TVs for a little while now, but it has been suspiciously absent form the best gaming monitors. Until now. The BenQ EX3501R takes HDR and runs with it, crafting a curved ultra-wide that is not only what we would deem ‘attainable’, but beautiful as well. BenQ bills this monitor as a ‘video enjoyment monitor’, but from the moment you launch your favorite HDR-enabled games, you’ll see straight away why it tops our list of the best gaming monitors.

Read the full review: BenQ EX3501R 

The Alienware AW3418DW is one of the few ultra-wide monitors that could offer the level of immersion that only a 21:9 display can provide while still featuring a high refresh rate that’s competitive with the best gaming monitors.. With a beautiful and colorful 3,440 x 1,440 display, lightning fast 4ms response times and a stunning 120Hz refresh rate, the AW3418DW is the best of both worlds. However, all these features come with a high price, so it may not be the best choice if you’re looking for a bargain. Still, it’s not hard to see why it’s one of the best gaming monitors available right now.

Read the full review: Alienware AW3418DW

The AOC Agon AG352UCG was already one of the best gaming monitors, so when we heard that AOC was putting out a revision on it, with a higher refresh rate and better contrast, we were overjoyed. The AOC Agon AG352UCG6 Black Edition takes everything the original did and turns it up to 11, making it one of the best ways to experience ultra-wide gaming. It’s expensive, sure, but if you have the hardware to power a 3,440 x 1,440 monitor at 120Hz, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not buying it.

Read the full review: AOC Agon AG352UCG6 Black Edition 

The Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ may just be the most advanced and best gaming monitor out there – as long as you have the cash. Not only does it feature a gorgeous 4K Ultra-HD resolution and HDR, but it also features G-Sync and a 144Hz refresh rate. These specs make for one of the most impressive gaming monitors that’s ever existed – and when you see it in action, your mind will be blown. The only thing that holds this thing back from true greatness is the insane price tag. But, then again, if you have this kind of cash lying around, you should be able to afford a PC powerful enough to drive it.  

Read the full review: Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ 

While it may be primarily aimed at CAD professionals, the BenQ PD3200U still has a lot to offer as a gaming monitor. Thanks to its focus on graphic design and business, it’s able to offer fantastic viewing angles – meaning your friends can watch you game in comfort. Plus, unlike a lot of 4K monitors on the market, you don’t need to mess around with the settings in order to get the best picture – every unit is individually calibrated by BenQ before it’s shipped. It’s easy to see why the BenQ PD3200U is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy today – even if it’s not marketed as a gaming monitor.  

Read the full review: BenQ PD3200U

If you’re looking for the best gaming monitor under $300 or £300, and don’t mind making a few compromises (it features a 1080p resolution and a TN panel), then you’ll be happy with the Asus MG248Q. It makes up for any shortcoming with lightning fast response times and Adaptive Sync, making this a fantastic budget choice. Even Nvidia fans can rejoice with its 144Hz refresh rate. But, without the right GPU equipped, you may want to save up a bit more for the G-Sync equivalent Asus ROG Swift PG248Q. 

Read the full review: Asus MG248Q

• This product is only available in the US and Australia at the time of this writing. UK readers: check out a fine alternative in the Samsung CHG70 QLED 

You might not believe it at first glance, but the BenQ Zowie XL2540 is every bit the gaming monitor that the other monitors on this list are. And though it may not seem it from the outside looking in, it does its job remarkably well too, sacrificing dazzling lighting effects for a zippy 240Hz refresh rate and nigh-instantaneous 1ms response time. There’s no G-Sync or FreeSync, as this monitor assumes you already have a rig that’s plenty capable of eliminating screen tears on its own. Instead, this monitor keeps it simple by supplying you with lots of visual presets, an “S Switch” control pod for managing those presets and even a pair of adjustable light screens. If you're a professional gamer, then this is the best gaming monitor for you.

Read the full review: BenQ Zowie XL2540

With this display, Samsung not only brings QLED to gaming monitors in a big way, but they also offer the widest ultra-wide monitor on the market today. Coming in at 49.5 inches, this behemoth will take up a lot of space, likely peeping over the sides of your desk, but with its impressive 3,840 x 1080 resolution and HDR, you’ll at least be blown away by the image. Even if you decide not to play in this resolution (it will require a beefy rig), you can still use all of the extra screen real estate to have a browser or a movie playing on the same screen. The only real drawback is the monstrous price tag. But for a display this premium, it may very well be worth it.

Read the full review: Samsung CHG90 QLED

If you have a powerful graphics card that you want to take full advantage of, and you don’t mind missing out on 4K Ultra HD, Samsung’s got something just for you. The Samsung CHG70 is a curved 1440p monitor with a blazing fast 1ms response time and 144hz refresh rate, which makes this one of the best gaming monitors you can buy in 2018. And, considering it’s regularly going on sale, this screen is a bargain as well. Check it out.

Read the full review: Samsung CHG70 QLED 

When you’re playing competitive shooters like Overwatch or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, you’re going to need speed more than anything to stay on top of the leaderboards. That’s where monitors like the MSI Optix MAG271CR come in. With a 1080p resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate and 1ms of latency, you’re going to have fast, smooth gameplay as long as you have the hardware to drive it. After all, 60 Hz panels are so 2014 – the best gaming monitors embrace high refresh rates.

Read the full review: MSI Optix MAG271CR

 How to buy the best gaming monitor in 2018

When you are shopping for the best gaming monitor 2018 has to offer, there are a few things that you should consider before you decide on what display should grace your desk.

By studying the following terms and specifications, you can make sure you pick the best gaming monitor for your needs – which also means you're not paying extra for additional features that you don’t need.

Screen size: When shopping for the best gaming monitor, one of the most crucial things to think about is screen size. Larger display sizes can contribute to more immersive gaming experiences, as the game fills more of your field of vision, but you'll need to make sure you have the room to feature a large monitor. It also goes without saying that larger monitors will usually mean a higher price.

Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio of a gaming monitor determines the width and height of the screen. Most widescreen monitors have an aspect ratio of 16:9, while older monitors had a more square 4:3, which will likely look pretty outdated in 2018. Ultra-wide monitors with aspect ratios of 21:9 are quickly gaining prevalence – they offer a wide view of your games, and many ultra wides have made our list of the best gaming monitor 2018.

Resolution: Another important factor when looking for the best gaming monitor for your needs is resolution. Here, the higher the numbers, the sharper the picture.. You will, however, need a more powerful graphics card for anything over full HD (1,920 x 1,080), even if many gaming monitors feature resolutions as high as 2,560 x 1,400 (WQHD) and 3,840 x 2,160 (4K).

Refresh rate: When you’re looking to primarily play Counter-Strike, or shooters like it, refresh rate is especially important. The higher the refresh rate, the more frames per second (fps) it can support, which lends to a smoother experience on high-refresh-rate displays. A 60Hz refresh rate is most common, with refresh rates rising to 144Hz and even 200Hz.

Response time: The best gaming monitors have low response times, which means the action remains fast and fluid, with little to no input lag. The lowest response time for TN monitors (we explain this in the next section) is 1 millisecond, whereas the newer IPS monitors usually have more delayed, 4ms response times. When you’re playing games competitively, it’s crucial to keep this number as low as possible in order to combat lag.

Panel type: This is where things get a little technical. The type of panel the gaming monitor uses will largely contribute to its response time and image clarity. TN panels (twisted nematic) have the lowest response times, and they are usually cheaper as well, but they generally don’t have great viewing angles. IPS panels (in-plane switching) have fantastic viewing angles and color reproduction, but usually  higher response times. Meanwhile VA panels (vertical alignment) sit between the two, though the slow response times makes these panels rare amid the best gaming monitors.

Viewing Angle: Most people play games while positioned in front of their gaming monitor, but this may not always be the case, particularly when you’re among spectators. A monitor’s viewing angles tell you what angle you can look at the monitor from and still clearly make out the image. The closer these numbers are are to 180, the better your viewing experience will be when standing further to either side of the monitor or looking at it from above or below.

G-Sync and FreeSync: You'll likely notice that many of the best gaming monitors in 2018 come with either G-Sync or FreeSync technology – sometimes both. This helps keep frames per second (fps) smooth, combats screen tearing and diminishes input lag. G-Sync is developed by Nvidia, so you'll need an Nvidia GPU, and the tech is built into the monitor, which can bump up their price tag. Meanwhile FreeSync was developed by AMD but, as it is free to use by manufacturers, the monitors usually cost less.

Check out our HDR Explained video below.

Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article

• Looking for a more general monitor? Check out our list of the best monitors

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Intel Coffee Lake Refresh release date, news and features

Nvidia Turing release date, news and features

The wait for Nvidia’s next-generation Turing graphics cards was  excruciating, but finally, the latest and greatest GPU architecture is here. It was a long wait, but the sheer power of Nvidia Turing was definitely worth it.

Now that we finally have Turing-powered Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 and RTX 2070 cards in our hands, we know they’re the best graphics cards for the games we’ll be playing for the next few years – as long as you’re willing to pay. (And if you don’t get a faulty RTX 2080 Ti.)

Real time ray tracing is the premiere technology with Nvidia Turing, bringing this holy grail of graphics tech to a mainstream GPU for the first time. This could bring about a revolution in the way the best PC games are rendered.

It’s a true paradigm shift as, the new GeForce RTX gaming cards may completely change look of the best PC games. 

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Nvidia’s latest graphics card architecture
• When is it out? September 20
• What will it cost? $599 (£569, AU$899) - $10,000 (£7,830, AU$13,751)

Nvidia Turing release date

All of the currently-announced Nvidia Turing GPUs are now out in the wild – the RTX 2080 Ti, 2080 and 2070. Though, the RTX 2080 Ti will likely have limited availability for a while – likely into the new year. 

As for the mobile versions, there’s been some speculation that a mobile version of the RTX 2080 is on the way, and while we’ve heard ‘by the end of 2018’ thrown around a few times, we’re guessing it’ll launch in early 2019. Either way, if they’re nearly as powerful as the desktop versions, the best gaming laptops are going to be out of this world.

We’ve also seen some leaked benchmarks, compliments of Tom’s Hardware, that suggests that the RTX 2060 may be announced sometime soon.

Nvidia Turing price

For starters, The Nvidia Quadro RTX GPUs are much more expensive, which should come as no surprise for high-end chips such as these. 

• Nvidia Quadro RTX 8000: $10,000 (£7,830, AU$13,751)
• Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000: $6,300 (£4,935, AU$8,660)
• Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000: $2,300 (£1,800, AU$3,160)

Of course, these are graphics cards meant for commercial work in the visual effects industry

For more consumer-focused cards, the prices seem to have risen, as well. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti seems to be taking the place of Nvidia’s past Titan cards, whereas the other cards seem to fall in line with the 10-series cards.

The prices for the announced cards is as follows:

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: $1,199 (£1,099, AU$1,899) 
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080: $799 (£749, AU$1,199) 
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070: $599 (£569, AU$899) 

It should be noted that the prices on the store are a bit higher than what Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang revealed at the Nvidia Geforce Celebration at Gamescom 2018 – at the time of writing. For instance, the 2080 Ti was initially revealed at $999, but that price isn’t currently reflected in the online store.  

These prices might make you want to spring for the Pascal-based GTX 1080 Ti, and we wouldn’t blame you. However, you might not want to wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – manufacturers are quickly running out of stock, according to a report from GamersNexus.

Nvidia Turing specs

The headline feature of Nvidia Turing is the inclusion of ray-tracing tech that can render more realistic visuals and lighting in real time without having to fall back on programming tricks. These specialized RTX cores essentially calculate how light and sound travel in a 3D environment at a rate of up to 10 GigaRays on the RTX 2080 Ti.  These specialized cores will also supposedly allow Nvidia Turing-based graphics cards to process ray tracing up to 25 times faster than Pascal.

When these RTX Cores aren’t in use for processing ray tracing, they’ll essentially switch off, ceasing to draw any power. 

In addition to these RTX cores, the Turing Architecture will also feature Tensor Cores, like the ones found in Volta. These specialized cores enable artificial intelligence and neural networking so that Turing cards get better at rendering over time – something previously exclusive to supercomputers.  

With the ability to deliver 500 trillion Tensor operations a second, this technology accelerates deep learning training and inferencing. This will allow Nvidia to offer Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), which could be a version of super sampling that won’t bring your computer to its knees. 

Even for games that don’t support this new DLSS tech, these AI-fueled cores should deliver traditional anti-aliasing much more efficiently – up to eight times.

As with Volta, Nvidia Turing is adopting GDDR6 memory – up to 11GB in the RTX 2080 Ti, which can clock in at up to 14Gbps, quite the leap over the Pascal-powered Nvidia Titan Xp that clocked in at 11.4Gbps.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is an absolute behemoth of a GPU. With 4,352 CUDA cores, 11GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 352-bit memory bus and 18 billion transistors, it’s going to be capable of 4K Ultra gaming at high refresh rates for years to come. It’s no wonder it comes with such a high price tag. 

The more mainstream RTX 2080 and RTX 2070 are both still quite impressive, though, and will absolutely destroy the previous generation. The former will feature 2,944 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR6 memory and will clocked at 1.5GHz at its base frequency. The 2070, though will be a bit weaker, coming with 2,304 CUDA cores 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM and clocked at 1,410Mhz base.

Nvidia Turing Performance 

Now that we’ve been able to test the RTX 2070, 2080 and 2080 Ti, we have a better picture of how they perform, and the two high-end cards are beasts.

As long as you have the high-end specs to back them up, these new Turing cards are able to perform much faster than their Pascal equivalents, and will be able to push it even further once DLSS or deep learning super sampling is more widespread. And, thanks to the AA improvements in the Tensor cores, we’re seeing about a 20-40% increase in games that don't support DLSS.

In our benchmarks, the GeForce RTX 2080 is outperforming the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti by about 11% and the Nvidia GTX 1080 by a more impressive 32% in Middle Earth: Shadow of War in 4K. This performance difference is even more massive when you look at the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti which not only is 20% faster than the RTX 2080 in the same title, but beats out the last-generation 1080 Ti by a massive 30%, destroying the GTX 1080 with a 45% performance delta. 

Unfortunately, the Nvidia RTX 2070 is less impressive. While it does absolutely wipe the floor with the GTX 1070, it is essentially neck in neck with the GTX 1080 – barely hitting a 10% performance increase at 4K in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. At its price point we were hoping for more, especially after seeing the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti’s impressive performances.

Earlier, we mentioned some leaked benchmarks for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060. In those benchmarks, the mid-range Turing card outclassed the GTX 1060 by far, but fell short of both the GTX 1070 and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. Take this with a grain of salt, because there’s no way to verify this, but it’s not looking good for the RTX 2060.

Still, in traditional games, there’s no question that Nvidia Turing marks a total upgrade from Pascal. And, over time as drivers mature and users get ready to start overclocking their Turing cards, the difference is only going to grow. That’s not to mention the inclusion of incoming DLSS and ray tracing in games, which should only increase the Nvidia Turing performance gap.

When it comes to ray tracing, we have a better idea of how Nvidia Turing is going to handle performance. Rather than rendering using pure ray tracing techniques, the new graphics cards are going to use a hybrid method – combining both traditional rasterization and ray tracing in order to produce playable frame rates. 

Nvidia utilizes “Bounding Volume Hierarchy,” or BVH to track large portions of the scene being rendered for whether or not a ray is being bounced. The RTX cores will then dig deeper into these large rendering zones until it finds the polygon that’s getting hit by the light ray. 

This method should impact performance far less than tracking each ray live – but will still be quite demanding. In short, Nvidia Turing makes ray tracing easier because it simplifies the math.

• Meanwhile, this the latest in AMD Vega

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Project Stream: Everything we know about Google's game streaming service

If you can't beat 'em: Apple Music will soon stream on Amazon Alexa devices

After years of feuding, it looks as though Apple and Amazon are ready to make up and play nice. The first sign of a budding friendship? Apple is bringing its widely used Apple Music streaming service to Amazon Echo devices starting on December 17.

It’s certainly a strange move for the two companies who have, at several points in the last few years, removed streaming services from one another’s platforms and refused to sell each other’s hardware in their respective stores – and that’s not even mentioning the fact that Apple has its own smart speaker, the Apple HomePod, that could use a little more attention – but it could be the start of something good. 

Whatever Apple’s motivation is, starting mid-December, you’ll be able to use the full breadth of Apple Music on Amazon Echo devices, according to a post on Amazon's Day One blog. That includes Beats Radio stations, Apple-curated playlists and access to the service’s massive song catalog. 

To use Apple Music on your Amazon Echo Show, Amazon Echo Dot or any other Amazon Echo device, you’ll need to enable the Apple Music skill from the Alexa Skill Store. Once enabled, you can use commands like "Alexa, play Bebe Rexha on Apple Music". Specifying Apple Music is important, remember, because the Echo also supports other big name streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio and TuneIn. 

Don't expect Apple to stop gloating over how it made the best smart speaker now that Apple Music lives on Amazon Echo devices, but it might be the first signs of a thawing friendship between two of tech's biggest powerhouses.

• These are the best smart speakers in 2018

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Huawei rolls out global blockchain

Chinese tech giant Huawei has made its Blockchain Service (BCS) available globally after first launching it for commercial use in its home country on October 10th of this year.

The service, which is available on the international Huawei Cloud website, helps global businesses and developers create, deploy and manage blockchain applications quickly and at a minimal cost.

Huawei's new service solves many of the problems businesses have when deploying a blockchain which can be a costly and time-consuming endeavour. 

In 2016, the Chinese hardware manufacturer joined the most influential open source project in the blockchain field, Hyperledger. Huawei has been recognised as a key Hyperledger maintainer (as well as the only one from Asia) for its continuous technical and code contributions to the Fabric and STL sub-projects.

Advantages of BCS

BCS capitalises on Huawei Cloud's container, security and other technologies to deliver a service that is easy to use, efficient and universally applicable. Developers and businesses can use the company's blockchain service in data applications, the Internet of Things (IoT), identity authentication, proof of information, remote healthcare and IoT device management.

Huawei Cloud is also working on developing its blockchain platform further to offer technical support for businesses developing blockchain applications and solutions.

BCS is open and easy to use with built-in compliance with Hyperledger Fabric 1.1 and Kubernetes. 

Using BCS, it is possible for a company to establish a blockchain system suited to its own business in just five to ten minutes according to Huawei.

Interested users can sign up and begin using Huawei's blockchain service today.

• We've also highlighted the best cloud computing services

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Tesla tried getting Mario Kart into its cars, but Nintendo refused, Musk says

Tesla owners, you might have gotten excruciatingly close to getting to play Mario Kart inside your electric cars, according to Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk.

When asked by a fan on Twitter about whether Tesla could integrate a version of Mario Kart into its dashboard tablets for drivers to play while charging their vehicles, Musk simply replied, “We tried. Nintendo won’t license it to us.”

It’s impossible to know how early in discussions Nintendo spiked (get it?) the idea, but either way, we got as close to getting Mario Kart in Tesla cars as it took for the company to refuse, according to Musk.

While Nintendo has been previously rather chummy with car manufacturers - far enough to include literal Mercedes-Benz-inspired karts in the latest Mario Kart game - the company has protected the use of the Mario Kart brand otherwise, often with litigation.

Earlier this year, Nintendo put the kibosh on a real-life Mario Kart attraction – using real go-karts on Tokyo city streets – in Japan. Meanwhile, the company has licensed its Mario Kart brand to Mattel for a line of Hot Wheels toys adorned with the characters.

Only Nintendo, and possibly Tesla, knows why the licensing attempt never got anywhere.

Unless Nintendo comes around, Tesla owners, you’re stuck with either bringing your Nintendo Switch along for the ride or holding out until the Mario Kart Tour mobile game in development debuts next year.

• These are the best Nintendo Switch games to date

Via CNET

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