Latest from Tom’s Hardware All the latest content from the Tom’s Hardware team
- New Micron lawsuit reignites fight over New York fab — complaint alleges ‘forever chemicals’ will flow into Oneida River
on August 3, 2026 at 6:04 pmMicron’s New York manufacturing facility is back in the crosshairs of another environmental lawsuit, claiming its wastewater and air permits should be nullified.
- In a troubling sign, Nvidia RTX 50 series prices jump up to 30% in South Korea — TSMC wafer hikes and $20 GDDR7 modules push RTX 5090 past $5,100
by editors@tomshardware.com (Kunal Khullar) on August 3, 2026 at 4:39 pmThe latest round of price increases affects the entire RTX 50 lineup, with premium models bearing the brunt of rising production costs.
- AI companies are now racing to the bottom — crashing token prices and competitive models push companies to cut costs
on August 3, 2026 at 4:26 pmAll major AI developers are cutting prices to compete with impressive new releases from China. But as they shave margins to remain competitive, the profits they’ll need to fulfil investment confidence may end up further out of reach.
- Drone flyover reveals rapid progress at Elon Musk’s new ATCF chip fab — Texas site prepares for all-in-one logic, memory, and packaging facility
on August 3, 2026 at 3:50 pmJuly drone flyovers of Elon Musk’s Advanced Technology Chip Fab in Texas appear to confirm progress has ‘hit another gear.’
- Lexar lists 32GB DDR5 memory with homegrown Chinese chips — 3,999 Yuan ($592) price undercuts hopes for cheaper CXMT-powered RAM
by editors@tomshardware.com (Kunal Khullar) on August 3, 2026 at 2:51 pmLexar’s latest Thor RGB kit likely uses CXMT-made DRAM, but its pricing remains comparable to premium DDR5 memory from established brands.
- Microsoft raises European Xbox prices by up to £200 — RAMpocalypse and component shortages force major console markups
on August 3, 2026 at 2:49 pmXbox price increases across the UK and Europe have been revealed, with prices upped by as much as £170 or €200.
- Asus ProArt PA32UCDMR 32-inch 4K professional OLED monitor review: Precision, speed, and flexibility
on August 3, 2026 at 1:00 pmAsus delivers professional precision and premium gaming performance with the ProArt PA32UCDMR. It also comes with a slick calibrator and controller combination, and sports an all-metal chassis with elegant style.
- Gaming on the 4GB Radeon RX 6500 XT and GTX 1650 Super in 2026 — upscaling makes low-end GPUs viable for esports and internet cafes
on August 3, 2026 at 12:30 pmPractically every graphics card introduced since 2022 has had at least 6GB or 8GB of VRAM, but AMD is bucking that trend in 2026 with the new RX 9050 4GB. We dusted off two older 4GB cards to see if that little VRAM means an instant performance cliff.
- AI enthusiast unlocks and mods BIOS with Claude Code — AI defeats RSA-2048 signature checks and unlocks 55 hidden settings
on August 3, 2026 at 11:55 amA Redditor recently unlocked their HP laptop BIOS using Claude Code.
- Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) foundry roadmaps — breaking down TSMC, Intel, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries’ approach to next-generation scale-up connectivity
by ashilov@gmail.com (Anton Shilov) on August 3, 2026 at 11:45 amAs AI systems outgrow copper interconnects, TSMC, Intel, Samsung Foundry, and GlobalFoundries are pursuing four distinctly different co-packaged optics strategies to bring optical connectivity closer to compute.
- GPU prices keep surging in 2026 — Lack of sale discounts and rising VRAM costs keep current-gen prices sky-high
on August 3, 2026 at 11:30 amAI, tariffs, and greed have put pressure on PC builders wanting a new GPU. Can you still get a cheap GPU?
- Arm yourself with a Hall Effect controller for just $9 — GameSir’s Tegenaria Lite PC controller is 50% off for a limited time
on August 3, 2026 at 11:00 amPick up a gaming controller complete with drift-free hall-effect thumbsticks for half the price.
- World’s smallest GPU silicon passes real-world testing — 240,000-transistor TinyGPU v2.0 renders 3D graphics at up to 15 FPS while v3.0 prepares for 2026 release
on August 3, 2026 at 11:00 amThe TinyGPU v2.0 ‘standalone GPU’ silicon works, and was demonstrated in a video after it came back from its Tiny Tapeout production run.
- Hideo Kojima unveils a Death Stranding 2-themed wireless CD player — Limited edition device costs ~$160, comes with Bluetooth 5.3 & exclusive artwork
by editors@tomshardware.com (Hassam Nasir) on August 3, 2026 at 10:30 amKojima is partnering up with km5 to release a limited-edition version of the CP1 wireless CD player designed to resemble a BB Pod from Death Stranding 2. The nuclear orange aesthetic resembles classic retro tech of bygone eras, but the player itself is rather feature-rich, too.
- Grab 32GB of Corsair DDR5 for an effective $230 right now in this 9950X3D combo deal —Newegg RAM bundle ships with 16-core AMD X3D chip alongside an MSI X870E board and a free 240mm cooler for $1,308
on August 3, 2026 at 10:17 amThis Newegg RAM bundles ships with the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, an MSI MPG X870E keyboard, and 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM for $1,308.99, making the effective RAM cost just $230.
- Ten years later, the iconic GTX 1080 Ti still holds up in 1080p gaming, but not without showing its age — Redux testing highlights the wonders of 11GB VRAM & the woes of time
by editors@tomshardware.com (Hassam Nasir) on August 3, 2026 at 10:00 amPC Games Hardware has retested the GTX 1080 Ti, along with its GP102 brethren, in a range of new games across multiple resolutions. The results reveal the obvious: the 1080 Ti is still a capable GPU at 1080p, mostly thanks to its 11GB VRAM buffer, but it’s highly inefficient by today’s standards.
- Grab this 240 Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor at just $300 — Gigabyte’s 27-inch GO27Q24A is now $150 off at Newegg
by editors@tomshardware.com (Kunal Khullar) on August 2, 2026 at 4:16 pmGigabyte’s GO27Q24A delivers a 240Hz QD-OLED panel, HDMI 2.1, and esports-focused features for just $299.99
- Errant SpaceX rocket stage set to smash into the moon at 5,400 mph, seven times the speed of sound — NASA and South Korean orbiters prepare to track 3-ton TNT impact
by editors@tomshardware.com (Jowi Morales) on August 2, 2026 at 3:44 pmA used SpaceX rocket segment used to deliver to lunar probes in 2025 is set to crash on the surface of the moon in the near future. This event will be monitored by two satellites as scientists and researchers study the effects of an impact on the surface of the moon in preparation for future developments.
- Microsoft Paint used as a ‘monitor’ to run Doom at up to 35 fps, project released by firm’s Azure CTO — runs actual Doom engine and loads real shareware DOOM1.WAD
on August 2, 2026 at 2:14 pmDoomPaint stands out from the Doom crowd as it has been developed by Microsoft’s Azure CTO and because it runs using MS Paint as the viewport for in-game action.
- Iran suspected of conducting cyberattacks on US water suppliers in 45 municipalities — small towns mostly targeted, with utilities switching to manual control
by editors@tomshardware.com (Jowi Morales) on August 2, 2026 at 1:10 pmSeveral US towns said that their water utilities have suffered from cyberattacks, which are suspected to have originated from Iran. While systems remain running, several have resorted to manual control to protect the water supply.
- Commemorative golden Doom floppy disks go up for pre-order — pair of limited edition dummy ‘imitation gold plating’ disks and a box are $30 at GameStop
on August 2, 2026 at 12:45 pmGameStop has listed a purely ornamental Doom Floppy Disk Limited Edition Imitation Gold Plated Replica at $29.99.
- AMD’s upcoming Zen 6 processors could fix microstutters and improve 1% lows in games — Next-gen CPUs tipped to feature per-core optimizations for thermal and power budgets
by editors@tomshardware.com (Hassam Nasir) on August 2, 2026 at 12:30 pmA new report suggests AMD is cooking up a range of per-core optimizations for Zen 6 that might not seem huge on their own, but they could add up to make a world of difference in gaming performance.
- First open-source firmware for AM5 officially launches — Dasharo v0.9.0 brings Coreboot and openSIL to Zen 4 APUs on MSI B850by editors@tomshardware.com (Aaron Klotz) on August 2, 2026 at 12:10 pm
3mdeb has introduced a new open-source firmware for the MSI B850-P WiFi, marking the first time open-source firmware has been introduced to the AM5 platform.
- SpaceXAI says it will remove all 69 of its unpermitted turbine power generators, but expects process to take a year — trailer-mounted generators to be replaced by 1.2GW power plant
by editors@tomshardware.com (Jowi Morales) on August 2, 2026 at 11:50 amThese turbines have been the center of a lawsuit involving permits and pollution. While this is good news for the community, it will still take quite some time before they’re fully removed from the premises.
- RTX 5060 Ti survives car crash after being bent in half — short PCB saves the day, single memory chip resolder restore full performance
by editors@tomshardware.com (Hassam Nasir) on August 2, 2026 at 11:30 amWhat happens when a graphics card gets in a car crash? If you’re lucky, the damage is limited to just cosmetic scars that can go away over time with no serious damage under-the-hood.