When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. I'm starting to think I got the last good GPU deal My $500 RTX 5070 Ti is now a $1,300 problem. In November, around the U.S. Black Friday deal rush, I bought a new graphics card. That was nine months ago, and I think it might be the last time -- at least for the foreseeable future -- that I'll get a decent price on any computer hardware. In this week's issue of Boost Mode, I'll brag a little about my find, and explain why something that good is unlikely to come again any time soon.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The GMKtec EVO-T2S packs Intel's new Panther Lake CPU, complete with an Arc B390 graphics unit, into a compact mini-PC case. We tested the computer with 64GB of RAM. The GMKtec EVO-T2S demonstrates what Intel's new Panther Lake platform is capable of. The CPU, graphics unit, and memory work well together, and even games run smoothly at reduced settings.

PCWorld explains how summer heat threatens PC performance through thermal throttling, where CPUs reduce speed at 100 C (Intel) or 95 C (AMD Ryzen) to prevent damage. Essential solutions include cleaning dust buildup, monitoring temperatures with HWiNFO software, adjusting Windows power settings to disable Turbo Boost, and adding case fans for better airflow. Laptop users benefit from cooling pads that reduce temperatures up to 20 degrees, while replacing thermal paste every 3-5 years maintains optimal heat transfer. When heatwaves strike in summer, any chance to cool down is welcome -- whether at the lake, in an ice-cream parlor, or at home in front of a fan. What's a relief for us is also something your computer desperately needs as soon as the thermometer hits the 30-degrees Celsius mark.

PCWorld reports that Nvidia launched "GeForce Trading Cards: Series 1," a free collectible card series celebrating the company's PC gaming history. The 14-card collection features iconic graphics cards like NV1 and GeForce 256, plus classic games such as Unreal Tournament 2004. Cards are distributed free through social media and gaming events like Gamescom 2026, offering an affordable way to own Nvidia memorabilia. Nvidia just unveiled its "GeForce Trading Cards: Series 1," a free series of collectable cards celebrating the company's history in PC gaming. The series includes 14 different cards featuring artwork and designs from historical graphics cards, classic tech demos, and iconic games that have shaped the GeForce brand over the decades. The cards include the NV1 from 1995, the GeForce 256 from 1999, the GeForce 3 from 2001, GeForce 7800 GTX from 2005, and GeForce GTX 1080 from 2016. The series also features cards inspired by tech demos such as,, and, and games such as and . These collector cards are being given away free of charge as part of Nvidia's "Summer of RTX" campaign via the company's social media channels and at gaming conventions and events like Gamescom 2026.

PCWorld reports a significant decline in PC hardware sales, with major motherboard vendors like Asus and ASRock experiencing drops up to 37% in sales projections. Despite current market challenges, future innovations like PCIe 8.0 specification and AMD's FSR 4 support for older graphics cards suggest continued technological advancement. The analysis questions whether declining sales indicate long-term reduced interest in PC building or temporary market conditions affecting the industry.

Nvidia's new AI upscaling gaming technology struck gamers as uncanny and off-putting. Developers don't seem to like it, either, but it could be "the default" in a few years. Nvidia announced a new version of its DLSS AI upscaling technology for its graphics cards earlier this week at its GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which it calls the Super Bowl of AI . But unlike previous versions of DLSS that used AI to improve frame rates in video games, DLSS 5 has a much more ambitious calling: using generative AI to make character faces in games look more realistic and detailed. The demonstration received sharp blowback on social media, with many finding the effect off-putting, reacting with outright disgust, and calling it yet another example of AI slop .

It's been seven months since Nvidia launched its flagship RTX 5090 card to a hungry audience of PC gamers… and people building AI data centers… and a bunch of scalpers trying to bilk them all. In that time, I've yet to see one actually available to purchase at the alleged base price of two thousand dollarydoos. As of just before 11 AM Eastern US time, Newegg has one for the base price. Specifically this one, the Zotac Gaming Solid model, a basic triple-fan design which apparently has the reference PCB with no overclock. As the good Lord intended.

The long wait is over. After kinda-sorta-teasing the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT at CES 2025, AMD is finally pulling back the curtain on its next-generation graphics cards today, ahead of a March 6 launch date. AMD shuffled Radeon's branding this generation to mirror Nvidia's; the Radeon 599 RX 9070 XT will thus compete with the 749 RTX 5070 Ti, while the Radeon 549 RX 9070 takes aim at the 549 RTX 5070. Let's start with an overview of the improvements found in AMD's new RDNA 4 graphics architecture, before moving onto details about the Radeon RX 9070 series specifically, and what's coming with FSR 4 and Hypr-RX. One thing revealed in AMD's CES teaser: The Radeon 9000-series is built from the ground up for an AI future.

This year at CES, Nvidia presented the next generation of its DLSS upscaling technology, which is trained with the help of artificial intelligence, alongside the new GeForce RTX 5090, 5080, and 5070 (Ti) graphics cards. The company touted its major advantages -- and now that RTX 5090 reviews are live, we can confirm that DLSS 4 indeed feels like black magic, supercharging frame rates and making games feel just as snappy as the beloved Doom 2016. That's because DLSS 4 now supports Multi Frame Generation (MFG), an AI-based multiple intermediate frame calculation that can artificially generate up to three images and insert them between two "real" frames, thus quadrupling the frame rate. Of course, this feature only works on new Blackwell-based RTX 50-series GPUs. But are the AI frames generated in this way a step forward or is it all hogwash?

CES 2025 was packed with all kinds of techie announcements, but for me the highlight was all the new graphics cards. Nvidia and AMD both played their hands with next-generation products, with some caveats. Nvidia certainly stole the show, with the GeForce RTX 50 Series announcement serving as the key opening message in CEO Jensen Huang's keynote speech. AMD was much softer in its talk, with sparse details on its new RDNA 4 graphics cards, resulting in similarly sparse enthusiasm. Let's go over what we learned from both companies about their GPUs and where your attention should be in 2025.