Episode 33: Ahead of Computex, we discuss Sony believing that PC gamers will want to switch to using a PlayStation for future games, potential tariffs impacting the PC component market, and of course a preview for what's to come in the next week of announcements. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 07:59 - Sony Wants PC Gamers Playing on PlayStation 26:02 - Impending Tariffs on Motherboards and Graphics Cards? 37:39 - What's Coming at Computex 2024 55:12 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCA...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 32: We discuss the Gamers Nexus Asus warranty situation, giving our perspective as Australians with different consumer laws, plus give updates on the Intel power spec situation, and annoyances with Google Drive CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 05:42 - Tim Gets Frustrated By Google Drive 13:32 - Asus Screws Up with Warranties Again 43:10 - Current Intel Power Spec Situation 1:06:52 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast V...
May 24, 2024•2 hr 30 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 31: After testing the new Intel Baseline Power Profile on Asus and Gigabyte motherboards, we've come to the conclusion that once again, Intel has a power spec problem. Also, some hot takes on the EKWB situation following Gamers Nexus second video. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 02:14 - Further Thoughts on EKWB Situation 20:02 - Intel's Power Spec Problem 27:38 - Partners Can't Just Do Whatever They Want 34:05 - Differences to AMD 7800X3D CPUs Blowing Up 46:35 - What Actually Is the Intel CPU Pow...
May 02, 2024•2 hr 50 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 30: We spend most of this episode discussing a really bad article that claims Intel CPUs are clearly better than AMD CPUs for gaming PCs, including plenty of UserBenchmark-level reasoning. It's a bit of a roast to be honest. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:27 - EKWB Update and a Few Rumors 09:58 - Breaking Down A Terrible Article on Intel CPUs 13:16 - AMD Has "Worse Stability" Than Intel 25:56 - AMD's Power Efficiency "Doesn't Matter" 34:51 - Intel Provides "More Bang for Buck" 41:27 - AMD's P...
Apr 26, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 29: There's recently been some discussion about reviews, stemming from Marques Brownlee's review of the Humane AI pin. We have decades of experience doing product reviews, so it's time to give our thoughts on what reviews really are all about, and how we approach them CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:41 - Marques Brownlee Makes a Fair Review, Who Are Reviews For? 30:00 - YouTubers Are Unfairly Grouped and Called Paid Shills 1:15:13 - Updates from Our Boring Lives SOURCES Marques Brownlee's Huma...
Apr 19, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 28: We discuss Intel 13th and 14th gen CPUs maybe being pushed a bit too far and crashing games, Steve has tested some really bad AMD B650 boards recently, Intel has started discontinuing 13th gen processors already and there's also XeSS 1.3 now. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 01:58 - Intel CPUs Crashing Games and Being Pushed to the Limits 24:20 - New Entry-Level B650 Motherboards are Trash 36:13 - Intel Discontinues 13th-gen K-series CPUs 53:39 - AMD Launches Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F 58...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 27: Two discussion topics in this podcast episode, firstly on CPU/GPU scaling and when it makes sense to upgrade a CPU vs a GPU, and then we re-rank all the current GPUs from worst to best. Lots of interesting chat in this one! CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - CPU and GPU Scaling Discussion 28:25 - Re-Ranking All Current GPUs 1:05:10 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 26: Steve and Tim have been "playing" (for work) Horizon Forbidden West and Dragon's Dogma 2 and share their thoughts on what the games are bringing to PC. Then we answer some listener mails on voting with your wallet and how the channel has been going in a relatively slow period. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - Testing Horizon Forbidden West and Dragon's Dogma 2 30:04 - Should Buyers Vote With Their Wallet? 47:37 - Health of Hardware Unboxed Channel 1:15:43 - Updates From Our Boring Live...
Mar 28, 2024•2 hr 32 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 25: Steve is back from his holiday, so that means a discussion on Intel's pretty dumb Core i9-14900KS that no one should buy, thoughts on AMD FSR 3.1 upscaling improvements, Steam gets better with new family share options and we're destroying OLEDs on purpose. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:26 - Not Testing the Core i9-14900KS 17:56 - AMD FSR 3.1 Surprise Announcement 25:31 - Steam Family Sharing Seems Awesome 41:06 - OLED Burn In Testing 50:42 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE...
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 24: It's news time! Nvidia has apparently discontinued their last good $200 GPU series, the GTX 16 series. AMD AI-enhanced FSR and DirectSR discussion and talk of what GDDR7 will bring to next-gen GPUs. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - Nvidia Apparently Discontinues GTX 16 Series 19:58 - AI-Based FSR and Microsoft DirectSR 28:12 - GDDR7 Is Coming Soon 37:56 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast Video: https://ww...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 23: A recap of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and all the issues with stock vs AIB testing, followed by our general thoughts on reviewing this generation of graphics cards. It's been boring, and Steve is feeling it! In more interesting news we also have a generator update and chat about the current state of gaming. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:27 - Issues Testing the Radeon RX 7900 GRE 17:29 - Will Overclocking Fix the RX 7900 GRE? 26:25 - The GPU Market is Boring and Sucks 45:03 - Would You Buy a ...
Mar 01, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 22: After Steve discusses his four day power outage, we chat about the new Nvidia App replacing the slow Control Panel and annoying GeForce Experience. Also some chat about moving from Threadripper over to AM5 for Tim's workstation PC. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Steve Had No Power for Four Days 13:57 - Nvidia App Beta 29:58 - Tim Ditches Threadripper for AM5 1:00:00 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unboxed-podcast Vi...
Feb 23, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 21: After a brief discussion of the Ryzen 7 5700, we dive into the survey results to look at what GPUs you own, how often you upgrade, your thoughts on switching brands, and the graphics features you find important. Some very interesting results! CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 01:12 - AMD Ryzen 7 5700 Recap 13:57 - Survey Results 14:53 - GPU Market Share 19:07 - How Much Did Your GPU Cost? 21:48 - How Often Do You Upgrade? 28:23 - Rasterization vs Ray Tracing Importance 33:57 - How Much is Too Mu...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 20: We recap the lack of excitement around the GeForce RTX 4080 Super, discuss our recent ray tracing poll, and chat about why the Ryzen 8000G APUs don't make any sense for someone to actually buy. Plus Steve has a rant about customer service. SURVEY: https://forms.gle/u43Pa7wEt63nZwSH7 CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 10:30 - Ray Tracing Poll Results 25:55 - GeForce RTX 4080 Super Recap 37:08 - Ryzen 8000G APU Recap and Why APUs Are Pointless 1:05:49 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO TH...
Feb 01, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 19: After three new graphics card launches in the space of two weeks, we fully recap and give extended thoughts on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 Ti Super, as well as the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 04:11 - Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super Recap 18:33 - Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Recap 41:47 - New Approach to Ray Tracing Testing 1:02:32 - AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT Recap 1:21:03 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.ac...
Jan 25, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 18: We get excited about 2024 hardware releases by working through what products we expect to launch, and what we think they will and should deliver CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:24 - Expectations: Intel 14th-gen Non-K CPUs 06:33 - Other RDNA 3 GPUs 10:07 - AMD Zen 4 APUs 24:23 - AMD Zen 5 CPUs 35:05 - Intel Arc Battlemage GPUs 48:50 - Intel Arrow Lake CPUs 1:03:00 - Next-Gen AMD and Nvidia GPUs 1:08:52 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/th...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 17: A mixture of things in this episode, including discussion on the Igor's Lab testing of an Alphacool fan, rumors of a rather pointless RTX 3050 6GB, Intel frame extrapolation technology, our favorite hardware releases of 2023 and of course, updates from Steve's holiday. NEWS STORIES Igor's Lab Website: https://www.igorslab.de/en/ Der8auer Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHNXFgSonWI&t=1s RTX 3050 6GB Rumors: https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-6gb-reportedly-...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 16: Simon from TFT Central joins to chat about everything monitor related. The best displays of 2023, the battle between OLED and LCD in 2024, the current state of bad monitor marketing, deal breakers, 500Hz brilliance and more CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:45 - Favorite Monitor of 2023 05:34 - OLED vs LCD in 2024 20:17 - Are 4K 240Hz OLEDs Really Coming in January? 26:54 - WOLED vs QD-OLED vs LCD Panel Coating 38:50 - Most Important Aspects to Monitor Performance 46:26 - Monitor Deal Breaker...
Dec 14, 2023•2 hr 37 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 15: We chat about Nvidia's rumored RTX 4090 D for China, get the latest updates on Steve's Threadripper system, then break down the main areas AMD, Intel and Nvidia need to improve on in 2024. Also, Steve's got a windshield story and Tim gives his thoughts on Alan Wake II. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 00:36 - Nvidia Gives the D to RTX 4090s in China 12:12 - Steve's Threadripper System Updates 17:20 - Improvements for AMD in 2024 35:53 - Improvements for Nvidia in 2024 42:36 - Improvements for I...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 14: Steve details even more issues with his Threadripper systems, including some oddities with new Zen 4 models, plus we discuss rumors surrounding Nvidia RTX 40 Super graphics cards. What should Nvidia do to fix the Ada Lovelace generation? What will they do? CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:35 - Steve Rants About Threadripper 7000 Issues 21:50 - General Zen 4 Threadripper Thoughts 29:53 - We Discuss Nvidia RTX 40 Super GPU Rumors 44:48 - Will Nvidia AI Boom Make Nvidia Super Series Worse? 52:5...
Nov 24, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 13: This week we chat about new Ryzen 5000 X3D CPU rumors, give our "solutions" to game optimization challenges, give more thoughts on Intel APO and discuss playing Cyberpunk 2077 with path tracing and all the DLSS features enabled. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 01:59 - Rumor: New AMD Zen 3 X3D CPUs? 12:15 - What Are the Solutions to Poor Game Optimization? 35:24 - Is Intel APO a Marketing Stunt? 45:01 - Playing Cyberpunk 2077 with PT and DLSS 1:09:33 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 12: This week we discuss why the Epic Games Store keeps losing tons of money (and why Steam is king), we give our thoughts on AMD ending driver support for Vega GPUs, and share what we think about YouTube taking much more serious steps towards blocking adblockers CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 00:52 - The Epic Games Store Sucks and Loses Money 30:05 - AMD Ends Driver Support for Vega GPUs 38:36 - Our Thoughts on YouTube Blocking Adblock 59:54 - Updates From Our Boring Lives SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCA...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 11: After looking at Alan Wake 2 recently, we're doing a deep dive episode on whether 30 FPS gaming is "unplayable" or whether it's more just "unenjoyable" or even at times "playable" CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:29 - Is 30 FPS Gaming Unplayable? 06:32 - All FPS Rates are Playable, Unplayable is Subjective 16:03 - Type of Input Device Matters 22:10 - Being Sold a 30 FPS Experience is Bad 26:21 - 30 FPS Reduces Visual Quality 38:34 - 30 FPS Might Be Okay When There's No Choice 49:39 - Alan Wa...
Nov 03, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 10: A quick chat about Cities Skylines 2 is followed with us reacting, laughing and just having fun with some of the worst comments we've received on our videos recently. Also, hear more about mowers from Steve, and Starfield from Tim CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:31 - RTX 4090 Pricing and Cities Skylines 2 11:40 - Reacting to Really Bad Comments 55:41 - Updates From Our Boring Lives 1:00:00 - Tim's Thoughts on Starfield SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Audio: https://shows.acast.com/the-hardware-unb...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 9: Intel released some pointless refreshed CPUs, AMD made yet another Radeon blunder with Anti-Lag+ banning gamers, new GRE GPUs from AMD plus discussion of Threadripper 7000. It's a news episode full of our thoughts on the hottest topics across the past week. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 00:47 - Intel Has "New" 14th-gen Desktop CPUs 18:36 - Intel Has A Power Consumption Problem 28:22 - Intel's Lack of Platform Support 36:09 - AMD Hurts Reputation Again with Anti-Lag+ Debacle 45:51 - New Radeon...
Oct 20, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 8: With Intel rapidly improving their GPU division, and the new launch of the Arc A580, how close are Intel GPUs to getting our recommendation? We discuss that, as well as AMD's not very good Fluid Motion Frames technology CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 04:55 - Intel Arc A580 Recap 11:13 - Arc is Still A Bit Inconsistent Across Games 19:45 - Intel Arc GPUs are Well Priced 23:11 - Arc Isn't Far Away from Being Recommended 28:28 - This is Intel's First Attempt 32:58 - Good Intel GPUs Are Great For ...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 7: We discuss AMD's FSR 3 Frame Generation technology, the strange launch of it, and how with this generation of GPUs both Nvidia and AMD have lost sight of what makes a graphics card good CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 00:29 - We're Going to Talk About Frame Generation 06:52 - AMD FSR 3 Recap 10:45 - The FSR 3 Launch was Very Strange 23:29 - FSR 3 is Not Beta Technology 33:43 - Frame Generation is Marketed Incorrectly 38:18 - Frame Generation Can Be Worse Than Not Using It 40:17 - GPU Companies ...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 6: Steve responds to widespread hatred over his decision not to use DLSS for testing Cyberpunk 2077. Plus we rank every current generation AMD and Nvidia graphics card from worst to best, or more accurately, worst to least bad. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 02:21 - Why No DLSS and FSR Testing for Cyberpunk? 24:54 - Ranking All GPUs from Worst to Least Bad 50:57 - Newegg GPU Trade In Program 57:57 - Our Boring Lives NEWS LINKS https://www.tomshardware.com/news/newegg-launches-gpu-trade-in-program...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 5: It's a news episode! With the recent next-gen Xbox console leaks, we discuss future AMD CPU and GPU tech, how an Nvidia console would impact the market, and whether upscaling is being relied on too heavily for next-gen game experiences. We also chat about Ray Reconstruction, Asus' new $3200 GPU, Dough being dodgy and more. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 1:38 - Xbox 2028 CPU Design Leaks 9:43 - Xbox 2028 GPU Design Leaks 12:54 - Xbox Wants Next-Gen Features, Can AMD Deliver? 17:52 - What About ...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 4: It's a battle! Steve and Tim each spec out a $1000 gaming PC build that the other one hasn't seen and discuss whose is better. Also, a few brief news topics including the latest Nvidia driver for Starfield and RX 7600 XT rumors. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 2:13 - RX 7800 XT Pricing in the US vs Other Regions 4:27 - Nvidia's New Starfield Driver with ReBAR Enabled 11:35 - Is the RX 7600 XT a Real Product? 17:21 - Our $1000 Gaming PC Builds for 2023 52:05 - Other Stuff in Our Lives NEWS LINKS...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast 
