Intel Cuts MSRP of "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 200S Processors by $100

Intel has revised the recommended retail prices for two of its Core Ultra 7 200S series desktop processors, making the most significant adjustment to its "Arrow Lake‑S" lineup since it launched six months ago. As of right now, the Core Ultra 7 265K carries an MSRP of $299 instead of $399, and the unlocked 265KF model is now $284, down from $384. Intel notes these are suggested prices only—actual costs will vary by retailer, region, taxes, and other factors. These price changes come alongside Intel's Spring Bundle promotion, where buyers receive blockbuster game keys and professional software licenses with qualifying purchases of Core Ultra Series 2 and 14th Gen processors. Intel emphasizes that the new MSRPs are separate from these bundles, so combining both savings opportunities is still possible. Interestingly, Intel has left the pricing for its top‑end Core Ultra 9 285/285K ($549/$589) and its mainstream Core Ultra 5 245/245K/245KF ($270/$309/$294) unchanged.

This suggests the company is focusing on mid‑range SKUs to win back market share rather than adjusting the entire Arrow Lake‑S family. This move also reflects market pressure—early stability issues with the 14th Gen chips and strong performance from AMD's Ryzen 9000X3D series have made Intel's task tougher. A glance at retailer listings shows not everyone has updated prices yet; in some cases, the Core Ultra 7 265K can already be found for under $299. Whether these cuts will drive more gamers, creators, and professionals to Arrow Lake‑S remains to be seen, but Intel is clearly betting on a winning combination of price, recently boosted performance, and bundled extras.


https://www.techpowerup.com/336463/intel...by-usd-100

ASUS Readies GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral Dhahab Core Graphics Card

ASUS earlier this year introduced the limited edition ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab graphics card. The card sports a gilded appearance, with sapphire blue metallic accents, and ASUS ROG branding resembling calligraphy. The card was debuted in the UAE and was expected to be available in limited quantities in the region. It looks like the company wants to extend this niche brand to even the GeForce RTX 5080, and is working on the ROG Astral RTX 5080 Dhahab Core. This card is based on the air-cooled ROG Astral RTX 5080 OC, but with the same aesthetic treatment as the RTX 5090 Dhahab.

The aluminium fins in the cooler have golden appearance (not actually gold-plated); as do the alloy cooler shroud, the fan impeller hubcaps, and the copper heat pipes. In place of chrome accents, it has contrasting sapphire blue metallic tones. There are other cultural icons, such as gold calligraphy set against black. At this point we're not sure what ASUS is referring to with the "Core" branding. Perhaps Core could denote the entry level into the Dhahab brand itself, with the RTX 5080 serving as a nice entry point.


https://www.techpowerup.com/336359/asus-...phics-card

Huawei Builds Complete Domestic AI Semiconductor Supply Chain

According to the Financial Times, gathering data from satellite images and industry intelligence, Huawei has endeavored to develop a domestic AI supply chain to bypass foreign tech restriction influence. In Guanlan, China, Huawei started developing a complete facility for manufacturing semiconductors on 7 nm technology for its custom processors. Out of frustration with SMIC's low output capacity, Huawei has secured the entire silicon production, from sourcing materials, chemicals, and wafer fab equipment to chip-making equipment to actual chip design. According to Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis, "Huawei has embarked on an unprecedented effort to develop every part of the AI supply chain domestically from wafer fabrication equipment to model building," adding, "We have never seen one company attempt to do everything before."

It is also reported that Huawei's rivals in silicon manufacturing, SMIC and SMEE, have deployed engineers to help Huawei develop its own manufacturing flow. A few companies, all backed by Huawei with funding and research, are the backbone of this operation. SiCarrier, which we reported on back in March, supplies optical and X-ray inspection tools, atomic force microscopes, and alignment systems for metrology; gas-based and atomic layer deposition tools for film coating; plasma etchers for patterning; rapid thermal processors for material tuning; and electrical testing platforms for reliability screening. SwaySure and Fujian Jinhua supply memory chips, Si'En and Pehgjin supply power chips, and PWX and PST deal with logic. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/336358/huawe...pply-chain

This Week in Gaming (Week 19)

Welcome to the first full week of the month of May, a week that brings with it a large amount of new releases, even though none of them really stands out. This week's major release puts you in charge of a kingdom as its ruler, for better or worse. If a kingdom is too much, maybe a dutchy is more your cup of tea? No? Then how about some trench warfare? All too antiquated for you? How about building your own moving village? Or maybe you'd rather go for a walk at midnight or descend into darkness? If none of these suits your taste, maybe this week's other releases will fill that new game void?

Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall / This week's major release / Thursday 8 May
Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall is a cinematic kingdom management game. Take on the role of a King, manage resources, support your loved ones, and make difficult decisions to see your kingdom prosper or fail. Dive into a Slavic-folklore inspired world and deal with a queue of petitioners who will bring trouble, help, or laughter into your throne room. Decide whether to help them with their problems, or conserve resources for more important matters. Steam link Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/336351/this-...ng-week-19

(PR) Apple Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2025 second quarter ended March 29, 2025. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $95.4 billion, up 5 percent year over year, and quarterly diluted earnings per share of $1.65, up 8 percent year over year. "Today Apple is reporting strong quarterly results, including double-digit growth in Services," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We were happy to welcome iPhone 16e to our lineup, and to introduce powerful new Macs and iPads that take advantage of the extraordinary capabilities of Apple silicon. And we were proud to announce that we've cut our carbon emissions by 60 percent over the past decade."

"Our March quarter business performance drove EPS growth of 8 percent and $24 billion in operating cash flow, allowing us to return $29 billion to shareholders," said Kevan Parekh, Apple's CFO. "And thanks to our high levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction, our installed base of active devices once again reached a new all-time high across all product categories and geographic segments." Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/336233/apple...25-results

New Titanfall Game Axed by EA, Layoff Cuts Hundreds of Jobs

In the latest blow to the gaming industry, Respawn Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA, has officially announced the cancellation of two new games it had in the early stages of development. The official announcement does not specify what the cancelled games were, but previous reports from early this month indicated that Respawn had quietly canned a game in the Titanfall IP. It seems somewhat like this announcement from Respawn is simply confirmation of the cancellation that was previously already leaked. Along with the cancellation of the game, and likely more importantly, Bloomberg claims that the "targeted team adjustments" Respawn mentioned in the release would mean that as many as 100 employees on the Respawn team will be laid off.

As for the rest of the restructuring, Respawn says that it will be focusing its efforts on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi. Previous rumors claimed that Respawn was developing a mainline Titanfall 3 game, which will supposedly launch at the 2025 The Game Awards show, which is scheduled for December 11, 2025. It seems as though the Titanfall IP game that was cancelled as of this announcement was something of a spin-off extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe. This news comes at a time when gaming industry lay-offs seem to be at a peek and shortly after the creation of the United Videogame Workers Union—a union aimed at protecting North American video game workers from exactly these sorts of unexpected layoffs that are seemingly aimed at reducing the workforce in the name of short-term profits.


https://www.techpowerup.com/336120/new-t...ds-of-jobs

Digital Extremes Opens Soulframe Playtest With Guaranteed Invites

It seems as though Digital Extremes, the developer behind Warframe, and now Soulframe, is ready for a larger audience to try out the new sci-fi fantasy game. Soulframe is being pitched as a co-op action hybrid-MMORPG with challenging Soulslike combat mechanics and some elements borrowed from Warframe. After running closed alpha testing for what seems like an eternity—since late 2023, in reality—Digital Extremes recently announced that interested gamers would have a short time to claim Envoy access for early game testing by linking their Twitch account to their Soulframe account.

Digital Extremes has kept the scope of its early tests quite narrow until now, and opening the invitations to a wider audience is an indication that the game is starting to take a more cohesive shape, even if the move wasn't the original plan. According to the announcement on Discord and the Soulframe forum, anyone who links their Soulframe account to their Twitch account before April 29 at 3 PM ET will receive a Soulframe Preludes invitation via email. This announcement comes after technical issues plagued the Twitch Drop campaign that was active during Devstream 5 on Friday, 25 April. Players who already have a preludes access key be able to transfer their key to a friend or another person. Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/336050/digit...ed-invites

This Week in Gaming (Week 18)

Welcome to the end of April and the start of May, which ends up being something of a gap week when it comes to big releases. This week's major release is an open world RPG with very obvious Asian influences. This is followed by some castle building, some fast paced FPS action, a Sci-Fi FPS shooter, a spirit world RPG and finally some MOBA battleship action.

Wuthering Waves / This week's major release / Monday 28 April
Wuthering Waves is a story-rich open-world action RPG with a high degree of freedom. You wake from your slumber as Rover, joined by a vibrant cast of Resonators on a journey to reclaim your lost memories and change the world. Steam link Read full story


https://www.techpowerup.com/335993/this-...ng-week-18

Microsoft Launches Recall and Integrates AI into Search, Plus Other Updates

Microsoft has deployed three AI features to Copilot+ PCs through the Windows 11 April 2025 non-security preview update. Users can finally access the long-promised Recall, Click to Do, and enhanced Windows Search by enabling "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available" in Settings > Windows Update. Recall operates as a background capture system that takes periodic screenshots, encrypts them via the device's TPM chip, and stores them locally. The system creates a searchable index organized by keywords, dates, and applications. Privacy controls include Windows Hello authentication for settings changes, app-specific exclusions, customizable retention periods, and snapshot deletion options. Windows E3 enterprise deployments can implement Group Policy controls for centralized management.

Click to Do functions at the window manager level, activated by Win + Click or touchscreen right swipe. The context-aware tool provides different capabilities based on content type, offering summarization and translation for text, and background removal and editing for images. Image processing works across all Copilot+ hardware, while text functionality currently supports only Snapdragon processors, with AMD Ryzen AI 300-series and Intel Core Ultra 200V compatibility scheduled for later release. The updated Windows Search implements a compact language model running directly on the device's NPU. This enables natural-language queries throughout Windows interfaces, allowing users to find content without exact filenames. The system operates on NPUs rated at over 40 TOPS and delivers 70 percent faster retrieval than Windows 10.


https://www.techpowerup.com/335982/micro...er-updates

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