Reza Pahlevi

We learned quite a bit about Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon 865 last week, except for one thing: how fast it is. Now we know—it’s potentially the fastest around. Well, around Android, anyway.

While our CPU and PC coverage leans heavily on benchmarking, we tend to focus more on the holistic experience of using phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10+, rather than just the performance. But benchmarks still matter, of course, so we jumped at the chance to test Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 last week, in a demonstration suite at the company’s Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii.

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If you’re a Windows 7 user, your deadline is nearing: Windows 7 officially exits support on Jan. 14, 2020, so it’s getting very close to the time you need to upgrade to Windows 10.

“End of support” means that your Windows 7 or Office 2010 software will no longer receive updates, including security updates, according to Microsoft. 

If you’re a consumer, there’s really no option but to upgrade to Windows 10. If your PC is part of a Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise volume license, joined to a domain, your company may be willing to pay Microsoft a per-device fee to maintain support for 2020. But that’s an option only for business PCs, not everyday users.

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The Game Awards sucked up most of the news this week. If you want to watch a dozen “World Premier” trailers, we’ve got ‘em. Or wait, maybe you want to see the next-gen Xbox Series X? We covered that too.

But there were some surprises outside Geoff Keighley’s trailer bonanza. 2K confirmed it’s working on a new BioShock for instance, plus Capcom officially unveiled a Resident Evil 3 remake, Henry Cavill read us a Witcher bedtime story, Forza Horizon 4 added a battle royale mode, GOG Galaxy 2.0 went into open beta, and more.

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“What graphics card within my budget gives me the best bang for my buck?”

That simple question cuts to the core of what people hunting for a new graphics card look for: the most oomph they can afford. Sure, the technological leaps behind each new GPU can be interesting on their own, but most everyone just wants to crank up the detail settings on Battlefield and get right to playing.

Updated December 13, 2019 to include the Radeon RX 5500 XT as a budget gaming option.

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Last night was the sixth annual Game Awards, and per usual that means a raft of trailers. Microsoft dropped a bomb on proceedings, announcing the name for its next-gen console—the Xbox Series X—and showing off the new look. Spoiler: It’s basically a PC.

But there were also over a dozen “World Premiers,” freshly announced games to look forward to in 2020. Hellblade II, a new PlayerUnknown project, a new Dark Alliance game from Wizards of the Coast, and more. You’ll find all the PC-relevant announcements below. (Though really, check out the new Ghosts of Tsushima footage if you get a chance. It’s looking very Sekiro-esque in its latest trailer.)

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