• The FBI has remotely reset thousands of routers
• The Russian GRU had compromised end-of-life devices
• Routers that have been reset should be replaced, and network setting checked

The FBI have remotely reset thousands of home and small office routers after releasing a joint press release detailing how Russia has been compromising devices.

Some brands of routers are known for lasting upwards of a decade, and while that's great for the consumer, the developers will often stop releasing updates to keep the router secure.

This leaves them open to compromise by attackers, specifically Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU), tracked as APT28 or Fancy Bear, which has been snooping on unsecured routers since at least 2024, the FBI said.

Time to replace your router

If your device is included in the list of compromised devices (listed below), and you have found that it has been reset, the FBI and NSA recommend that you replace your router as soon as possible.

The GRU could be snooping on unsecured routers to intercept sensitive internet traffic, including credentials and authentication tokens that can be used to compromise personal and work accounts. In particular, GRU has been targeting routers belonging to workers in the military, government, and critical infrastructure industries.

“The FBI, NSA, and co-sealing agencies encourage SOHO router users to change default usernames and passwords, disable remote management interfaces from the Internet, update to latest firmware versions, and upgrade end-of-support devices. Users should also carefully consider certificate warnings in web browsers and email clients,” the NSA said.

Additionally, the FBI and NSA recommended that employees use a VPN when accessing sensitive information. Those that suspect they may have been compromised by the GRU should contact their local FBI field office and file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

A press release published by the US Justice Department detailed that the FBI had created a series of commands that, with court-authorization, it could send to compromised routers.

The commands were “designed to collect evidence regarding the GRU actors’ activity, reset DNS settings (i.e., remove GRU DNS resolvers and force routers to obtain legitimate DNS resolvers from their Internet Service Providers (ISP)), and to otherwise prevent the GRU actors from exploiting the original means of unauthorized access.”

The Justice Department added that the operation did not interfere with the normal functions of the router, nor did it collect any legitimate user data.

The full list of targeted routers includes:

• TP-Link TL-WR841N
• TP-Link LTE Wireless N Router MR6400
• TP-Link Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router Archer C5
• TP-Link Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router Archer C7
• TP-Link Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WDR3600
• TP-Link Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WDR4300
• TP-Link Wireless Dual Band Router WDR3500
• TP-Link Wireless Lite N Router WR740N
• TP-Link Wireless Lite N Router WR740N/WR741ND
• TP-Link Wireless Lite N Router WR749N
• TP-Link Wireless N 3G/4G Router MR3420
• TP-Link Wireless N Access Point WA801ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Access Point WA901ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router WR1043ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router WR1045ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR840N
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR841HP
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR841N
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR841N/WR841ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR842N
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR842ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR845N
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR941ND
• TP-Link Wireless N Router WR945N

The Justice Department included a list of remediations for all routers:

1. Replace End-of-Life and End-of-Support routers;
2. Upgrade to the latest available firmware;
3. Verify the authenticity of DNS resolvers listed in router settings; and
4. Review and implement firewall rules to prevent the unwanted exposure of remote management services.

“Operation Masquerade – led by FBI Boston – is the latest example of how we’re defending our homeland from Russia’s GRU which weaponized routers owned by unsuspecting Americans in more than 23 states to steal sensitive government, military, and critical infrastructure information,” said Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.

“The FBI utilized cutting edge technology and leveraged our private sector and international partners to unmask this malicious activity and remediate routers. Now we’re asking everyone who has a router to secure it, update its firmware, and replace it if needed. By working together, we can guard against nefarious nation state actors trying to compromise our national security.”

• The FCC is considering a ban on "cellular modules" manufactured in China
• These modules send and receive communications on mobile networks
• The ban could effect devices of all kinds across IoT, industrial controls, and cars

The Trump administration is considering adding Chinese “cellular modules” to its list of electronics that could be banned over national security concerns.

Previously, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had imposed a ban on Chinese labs testing products bound for the US.

Now, the FCC has included drones and routers in expansions to the ban, with the agency mulling over whether to include “cellular modules” in the ban, the Financial Times reports.

Ban could cause major supply chain disruptions

President Donald Trump is today meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, in a seismic meeting where the pair are expected to discuss everything from trade and sanctions to the relationship between the two superpowers.

Cellular modules are electronic components that allow a device to send and/or receive cellular signals, such as those transmitted on 4G and 5G networks. These devices are included in a wide range of electronics, from Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as those included in smart home tech, medical systems, cars, and industrial control systems.

The potential ban of Chinese cellular modules is likely strategically timed, aimed at putting pressure on China and Xi to contribute productively during the meeting with President Trump.

The Trump administration has seen devices and software manufactured in China as a potential national security risk, gradually stepping up bans and restrictions on products manufactured in China from being used by government contractors and federal agencies. Now, that ban could extend to the domestic market.

Speaking to FT, Charles Parton, a retired UK diplomat and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), who is an expert on modules, said that up to 70% of the global market for cellular modules is controlled by a few Chinese groups, including Quectel, Fibocom, China Mobile, Sunsea and MeiG.

Like any other electronic device with an internet connection, these devices must be periodically updated in order for them to function and remain secured against threats. However, the FCC fears that these subsequent updates could result in covert surveillance software or harmful malware being installed on devices.

Should the ban go ahead, the fallout for the cellular module supply chain would be enormous as manufacturers seek alternative sources. These sources would likely be unable to cope with the sudden increase in demand, leading to prices for cellular modules to skyrocket, subsequently increasing the costs of goods themselves for consumers.

• Nintendo announced the Switch 2's price will increase in the US, Canada, Europe, and Japan
• It will now cost $499.99, effective from September 1, 2026
• All Switch hardware prices will increase in Japan, including Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions

Nintendo has held strong amid the memory crisis, successfully avoiding price hikes for its Switch 2 hardware — but all good things come to an end.

Nintendo announced it will increase the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 handheld; in the US, the price will rise from $449.99 to $499.99, effective September 1, 2026, as a 'response to various market conditions'.

A $50 price increase will also be replicated in Canada, seeing it cost $679.99, while Europe will see a 30 euros increase, also effective on the same date. Unlike other regions, Japan's price increase will apply to all Switch hardware, taking effect on May 25, 2026, with the Switch 2 costing 59,980 yen instead of the previous 49,980 yen.

Japan is easily the most impacted, as the Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions will also face price hikes, notably for its 12-month family plan, rising from 4,500 yen to 5,800 yen.

There is no confirmation on price increases in other European regions, notably the UK, but according to Nintendo Life, Nintendo states they will be shared at a later date.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, as the RAM crisis is causing havoc across PC and console hardware, due to shortages and increased demand from AI data centers. Sony and Microsoft have recently increased prices for PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, respectively.

It was only a matter of time for Nintendo to follow suit, especially considering the general economic struggles. Fortunately, though, Nintendo has given most consumers (except for those in Japan) plenty of time to beat the price hike, which won't come into effect for another four months.

The warning signs have been around via several rumors and suggestions that Nintendo wouldn't be able to avoid adjusting the MSRP, and there's a decent chance that this won't be the last price hike we see for the Switch 2.

• The RAM crisis has reportedly resulted in a motherboard manufacturer crisis, according to Digitimes
• Digitimes' report suggests motherboard shipments have plummeted for four major Taiwanese manufacturers
• Consumers no longer have the incentive to buy motherboards for new PC builds due to unaffordable RAM kits

The AI boom and ongoing economic struggles continue to leave the PC hardware market in disarray, and a recent development suggests matters are only getting worse.

As reported by PC Gamer, a new Digitimes report indicates a 'collapse' for motherboard manufacturers and their shipment targets for 2026, due to the memory crisis.

Unsurprisingly, RAM shortages and price hikes have effectively discouraged consumers from building new PCs, which has a knock-on effect of leaving motherboards on the shelves.

Notably, the report states that Asus is among the four major Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers that lowered shipment targets at the end of 2025, and has still experienced a collapse in shipments. It also claims that Asus has only managed to ship 5 million motherboards in the first half of 2026, despite aiming for 10 million overall.

Frankly, those numbers are regarded as one of the worst for Asus, as it's said to mark the 'lowest point in Asus's motherboard shipments since the company split in 2008', and also worse than the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A similar case applies to MSI, which was reportedly estimating 11 million motherboard shipments but has fallen to 8.4 million for 2026.

Yes, these cases don't directly impact consumers, especially given the lack of consumer incentive to buy motherboards (which is part of the issue, but not to blame), but in theory, low motherboard sales could lead to a drop in production for the major manufacturers.

If the RAM crisis does dissolve, there will likely be a sudden demand for motherboards where production has been severed, ultimately leading to skyrocketing prices and shortages. It's quite evident that the AI boom has done immense damage to the PC hardware market, but we can only hope that it isn't irreparable.

• AMD has announced its Q1 results, with booming revenue driven by AI
• There's bad news for the gaming division, though, due to 'higher memory and component costs, ' AMD's CEO Lisa Su observed
• AMD's CFO has forecast 'gaming revenue to decline by more than 20%' in the second half of 2026 compared to the first half of the year

AMD just revealed its latest financial results, with good news for investors in the form of a major surge in revenue, but bad news for consumers, with more RAM-related worries looming on the horizon.

Tom's Hardware reports that AMD's Q1 2026 fiscal results witnessed a new record for data center revenue, as the AI boom drove further growth, but CEO Lisa Su warned of PC component price spikes going forward.

Su predicted that demand is going to wane with its client and gaming businesses – essentially the consumer side of AMD's hardware – in the second half of 2026 due to "higher memory and component costs".

So, yes, that means AMD's chief executive believes that after next month, as we head into Q3, RAM and other components are only going to get pricier.

With gaming, the damage done by price hikes could be quite considerable, as AMD's Chief Financial Officer, Jean Hu, observed: "We expect second half [of 2026] demand in gaming to be impacted by higher component and memory cost. We now expect second half gaming revenue to decline by more than 20% compared to the first half."

Analysis: Radeon price hikes – or indeed pricier consoles?

In other words, compared to the first half of the year (of which less than two months now remain – with time flying by, as ever), the second half of 2026 is going to be considerably more sluggish for AMD's gaming revenue. The expectation isn't just a 20% drop, but a more than 20% fall, so that could be a quarter less money raked in, or maybe more, up towards 30%, even.

This would seem to indicate that AMD's Radeon graphics cards are going to be in shorter supply in Q3 and Q4, and that there may be further price hikes on RX 9000 models. Clearly, AMD is expecting things to slow down with these graphics cards as 2026 rolls on, but its gaming revenue isn't just about Radeon, of course – Team Red also makes the semi-custom GPUs for the PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Sales of those consoles are softening naturally, mind you, given that they're in the later stages of their expected lifespan now, so we're reaching saturation levels for would-be buyers. What could also be factored in here is the price hikes for console hardware, causing further unwillingness to buy – or possibly, AMD is anticipating further PS5 or Xbox price rises later this year, compounding the misery.

That's just guesswork, but clearly the outlook isn't great for the second half of 2026, and this is the latest in a quickfire round of pessimistic RAM crisis predictions, two of which have come from memory chipmakers themselves. Micron has warned of growing AI demand and more pressure on RAM supply, while Samsung has observed that 'significant shortages' of memory will continue to plague us through 2027 as a best-case scenario.

There isn't much faith out there in Reddit-land that RAM pricing will recover anytime soon, or indeed that prices will ever reach the levels we saw last year, before the memory hikes started coming thick and fast.

As one Redditor put it in reaction to this news from AMD: "My prediction is that over 2027 prices will drop from an insane 400% [price increase] to a nice and summerly 200%. But they'll never fall lower than that ever again. The RAM economy will permanently change and data centers will be a nuisance for the rest of recorded time."

• Micron's CEO has been talking about the gravity of the RAM supply situation
• Sanjay Mehrotra said that 'AI is in very early innings' and that AI will need a lot more memory to 'scale up' going forward
• This follows similar warnings from the other two big memory chip makers

We've had another warning from a major memory chipmaker that the RAM crisis will only worsen, and rumors continue to circulate that Nvidia could bring back an old GPU – from two generations ago – to help deal with video RAM woes.

Wccftech reports that Micron just posted record Q2 revenue, fuelled by AI demand, and the company's CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, observed that this demand isn't going away – and in fact will only get stronger.

In an interview, Mehrotra told CNBC that: "AI is in very early innings; you just saw at GTC how much advances are being made in AI. And memory is a strategic asset; you need more memory, you need faster performance memory in order for AI to be able to deliver its full capabilities."

"This is inference inflection. As inference broadens, it will scale up the need for tokens, and those tokens need to be fast, and guess what, you need more memory, you need faster memory in order to deliver the full potential of memory."

"And memory today is very tight supply, and supply cannot be brought up that easily, and you are seeing that in our results."

Meanwhile, as VideoCardz recently pointed out, there are continued rumors that the RTX 3060 is going to be resurrected in its 12GB incarnation. This is according to the Board Channels, a source of supply chain rumors over in China, and we're told production of the RTX 3060 could be fired up in June.

Add some seasoning with this one for sure, but assuming it's genuine, why might this happen? It is, in theory, a move to provide some relief and additional choice, with more wallet-friendly Nvidia GPUs.

It's very much a reflection of the situation with video RAM, and while 12GB is a considerable loadout for a budget graphics card, it's GDDR6 memory rather than the current generation, which uses GDDR7. Therefore, it won't interfere with the inventory of the latter.

Even though the RTX 3060 is an old GPU, the 12GB configuration will be tempting for some gamers looking for a cheaper card with more video memory.

Analysis: a trio of ominous warnings

The key comment from the Micron CEO is that AI is in its "very early innings", and that we can expect AI to gobble up more memory, with the suggestion being that it might be a lot more.

What's also worrying is that Micron isn't saying this in isolation. In fact, both the other major players in terms of RAM manufacturers, Samsung and SK Hynix, have issued similar (or more dire) warnings of their own.

Samsung recently said that it expects "significant shortages" across its memory products to last through to 2028 (at least), and SK Hynix previously warned that we could be dealing with the fallout from the RAM crisis until as late as 2030.

With all three memory-making giants issuing these kinds of ominous statements, and the likes of Nvidia rumored to be resurrecting old GPUs to get around video RAM supply constraints, the prospect of the RAM crisis easing off any time soon doesn't seem likely.

• Apple's CEO has warned of "significantly higher memory costs"
• From June, we're told the cost of RAM will "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's Macs
• Samsung has also warned on the memory crisis, and that "significant shortages" will continue through 2027 at the very least

Apple is warning on the impact of increasingly expensive RAM with its products, and a major memory chip maker has also contributed to the gloomy news when it comes to RAM supply and pricing.

MacRumors reports that Apple just had its quarterly earnings call and CEO Tim Cook observed that memory costs rose during the March quarter (Q2 of its fiscal year). Moreover, Cook said that in the next (June) quarter, Apple is anticipating "significantly higher memory costs" and that from June 2026, the cost of RAM will "drive an increasing impact" on Apple's products.

Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Part of the problem is that Apple's substantial stock of RAM that it had built up — paid for in the past when prices were still at more normal levels — is starting to run dry, so naturally, something will have to give regarding pricing.

Quite what, we don't know, and all the CEO would be drawn to say is that Apple is exploring a "range of options" for dealing with potential prices hikes due to having to pay more (much more, no doubt) for RAM.

9 to 5 Mac further chipped in to observe that Cook also commented on the stock issues with two of Apple's Macs that have been seen of late. The CEO said: "On the Mac mini and the Mac Studio, both of these are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools, and the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted, and so we saw higher than expected demand."

This is down to the popularity of running local AIs on a device which has lots of memory such as the beefier configurations of those Macs (driven by the success of AI agent OpenClaw).

Cook also noted that demand for the new MacBook Neo has been "off the charts", and that for all these Macs, it may take Apple a few months to address the shortfall in supply.

Elsewhere away from Apple, Tom's Hardware noticed that Samsung, one of the big memory chip makers, just released its own earnings report, with executive VP Kim Jaejune warning that "significant shortages" across its memory products are expected to persist through at least 2027 (meaning until 2028). We're told demand fulfillment rates are now at record lows, meaning Samsung is struggling to fulfill the level of demand like never before.

Analysis: treacherous waters ahead

Samsung isn't alone in ringing the memory alarm bells, because one of the other three big chip makers in this arena, SK Hynix, warned in March that the RAM crisis is going to be a long haul – possibly making its effects being felt as far into the future as 2030. Whichever way you look at it, there are cautions that the RAM crisis will continue until 2028 or maybe longer. Only the third major player in terms of memory manufacturers, Micron, hasn't issued a warning yet.

Apple's plight obviously reinforces this messaging, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of 'options' Tim Cook is mulling over in terms of combating the lack of RAM supply and avoiding having to jack up prices on its Macs. Clearly Apple does have a lot of weight to throw around in terms of getting the best prices out of the supply chain, but at this point I'd imagine there's little room to maneuver with contract negotiations even for the tech giants of the world.

Then again, having set out the stall of the MacBook Neo as a truly affordable laptop, Apple can't exactly backtrack and hike prices on that particular offering, so it seems like these could be tricky waters to navigate for Captain Cook — or more to the point, Captain Ternus, as it'll soon be. It's an interesting time to be taking control of Apple, that's for sure.

Some denizens of Reddit are certainly bracing for the worst, namely Mac price hikes. As the most upvoted comment on this thread in the Apple subreddit stated: "Oh come now, we all know how Apple plans to 'deal with the problem'. No one needs the CEO to spell out the price increases that Apple will be doing in the not too distant future."

• Google is rolling out an update for the Nest Wifi router ahead of the US router ban
• The ban hasn't come into effect, but could reduce router options significantly
• The Nest Wifi router is a solid choice, but we think Asus and Netgear are better options

Google has decided to go ahead with its next firmware update for the Nest Wifi router and Nest Wifi point despite the latest ban on Wifi routers manufactured outside of the US.

The update was spotted by 9to5Google, who shared that the company updated the changelog entry on April 24 with ‘stability and security vulnerability fixes’. According to the outlet, the Nest Wifi router is now running on software version 14150.883.231, and the Nest Wifi point is on version 1.56.3.497142 — the latter doubling as a Google Home speaker.

This is the first software update for the Google Nest Wifi point since May 2025, while the Next Wifi router’s most recent update was released all the way back in October 2024, meaning its April 2026 update marks exactly a year and a half since the last one.

Back in March, Google rolled out a new update to the Nest Wifi Pro to improve stability, security, and mesh performance, but this arrived before the FCC announced the ban on "consumer-grade routers" that are "produced in foreign countries", as per its ruling.

While the ban hasn’t come into effect yet, it could present quite a big problem for consumers, as a large majority of Wifi routers are made outside of the US, even ones by American tech giants like Google. Eventually, this will make purchasing US-manufactured Wifi routers even more difficult for two reasons: the first being that not a lot of routers on the market are made in the US anyway, and the second being the increasing user demand, which would ultimately put more pressure on companies to churn out new models to keep up.

However, as it stands, the Google Nest Wifi router is still safe to purchase and use now, while the ban is still up in the air. As far as the best Wifi routers are concerned, the Nest Wifi router doesn’t rank among them, but having said that, every single one of our favorites is made outside of the US.

Taking the top spot is the TP-Link Deco BE63, a solid performer with free content filters for parents, while the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 is still our best premium option due to its high-speed wired connections, making it perfect for gaming enthusiasts. Even the Netgear Orbi 373 is a reliable budget-friendly option that’s easy to set up, but though Netgear is an American company, its products are produced overseas.

• Ubiquiti has added a 'memory surcharge' to its products at checkout
• This varies, and can be up to 5.8% of the cost of any product
• Some folks aren't happy with the price hikes, but others appreciate the company trying to be transparent

Ubiquiti has added a 'memory surcharge' to the products it sells. It's an additional tax that's being levied because of the high pricing of RAM and storage, and which is shown at checkout — and the move has been causing quite a stir one way or another.

Ubiquiti is a supplier of networking and Wi-Fi gear, as well as other tech, such as security cameras and video doorbells — mainly to enterprises, but also to consumers — and Tom's Hardware noticed the appearance of the memory surcharge.

The amount added is up to 5.8% of the cost of any product, and the exact charge varies based on the item being purchased.

Ubiquiti provides an explainer in the shopping cart which notes: "Due to ongoing volatility in global memory and storage markets, we are applying a surcharge to the price of selected products, effective April 24, 2026. We continue to absorb a portion of these costs to minimize impact and ensure consistent availability."

Analysis: a sneaky trick — or a move towards transparency?

For some low-cost products, this amounts to just an extra couple of dollars (or the regional equivalent), and no one's going to bat an eyelid at that kind of rise. However, for more expensive hardware, even a hike of a few percent can come out at a substantial premium.

Some buyers discovering the surcharge for the first time aren't at all happy. One Redditor complains: "Just added some parts to my cart and saw a surprise €65 'Memory Surcharge.' They claim it's due to 'market volatility' in memory and storage. Is this becoming a new trend? It feels like a sneaky way to hike prices right at checkout."

Another Ubiquiti customer on Reddit observes: "I have been building this network for my home and keep going back and forth on a few items. This [memory surcharge] just went into effect today… $56 in total added."

Granted, that's added to a total bill of approximately $700, but it's still quite a sting in the tail, and one that's left this particular person wishing they'd acted sooner.

However, in that second Reddit thread, some voices are raised in favor of Ubiquiti. Of course, no one is pleased to see prices going up, but some acknowledge that at least the company is being transparent here.

In other words, Ubiquiti could have just jacked up the asking prices on its online store by identical amounts and left it at that — and the odds are that in the case of many purchases, no one would even have noticed.

At least this way Ubiquiti is making it clear there's been a hike, and letting the buyer know why. Also, the hope is that once RAM prices settle down more, the surcharge can be removed. The danger with stealthy, hidden price hikes is that they never return to the previous level.

As this Redditor puts it: "I think this is Ubiquiti's attempt at saying they would rather not raise the price but due to circumstances out of their control (tariffs and AI memory demand) they have to. Since they are making it a surcharge, I am VERY mildly hopeful that if memory prices fall, or the US actually follows through on reimbursing tariffs, the surcharges will be dropped. For now, it's dreadful, but I get it."

Someone else adds: "Yea, I honestly prefer this over raising pricing and never coming down again."

These are fair points, the only trouble being that in the case of the current RAM crisis, the end is nowhere in sight. Indeed, depending on who you listen to, an easing of memory pricing isn't going to happen until 2028, or maybe not until the decade is out.

Still, the point about transparency and openness stands, but equally there are some disgruntled customers who may be emptying their checkout cart and looking elsewhere. Although naturally, other retailers and manufacturers are all facing the same pricing pressures due to the situation with the RAM crisis, anyway.

With Ubiquiti having taken this course, it'll be interesting to see if any other hardware vendors follow suit. But RAM-related price hikes are already being applied to many pieces of tech, rest assured, whether you can see them or not. Meanwhile, CPUs are the latest PC components that are rumored to be set for substantial price rises, as the gloomy news keeps on coming.

• Fakes are now reaching a very high standard
• An Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 proved to be indistinguishable from a genuine Nvidia GPU on first inspection by a repair expert
• There's a worrying level of sophistication here, and we've also seen this in recent times with fake SSDs

A fake Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 is an example of just how authentic scam hardware can seem, and it's a worrying reminder given that this kind of fraud is very much on the rise of late.

VideoCardz reports that Northwest Repair (a Kentucky-based repair shop in the US) highlighted the incident with a YouTube video (which you can see below).

As Northwest Repair (NR) points out, the color of the board didn't look at all faked, and overall, it appeared to be a factory-made, genuine Nvidia graphics card. Typical clues like missing thermal compound around the corners of the GPU chip — which would indicate the chip had been removed (and then switched out) — were not present.

On first inspection, the only discernible clue was the thermal compound being somewhat darker than normal (or more "baked"), which NR picked up on, but noted that this could be due to the RTX 4090 being used for some serious overclocking, perhaps — it's not necessarily a telltale sign of a fake.

Even the laser-engraving of the model number on the chip looked authentic, and the same was true for the video memory.

In short, this was a carefully crafted fake GPU which, as NR makes clear, is made to a standard that the repair expert hasn't witnessed before. "This is the best scam I've ever seen," he observed, noting, "We've reached a point where the scam has gotten so good that even the trained eye cannot detect it."

Only examining the board under a microscope, in fine detail, revealed the small clues (related to soldering mostly) that gave away that this was a fake.

Analysis: a reminder that we need to be ever more vigilant

The advice NR gives is clear: don't buy an expensive flagship GPU second-hand, as these days, there's too much of a risk that someone could be trying to con you out of a lot of money. The only exception is if you're buying the graphics card from a friend you can trust.

Fakes also cast doubt on the practice of buying 'open box' returns, because the buyer who returned that hardware could have switched it out for a fake — one that stands up to inspection (but not to testing, though the retailer won't necessarily check that).

The sad reality of inflated prices for all PC components is that we're seeing a rise in hardware scams targeting this market. That includes graphics card scams, and incidents where a third-party marketplace seller doesn't even bother to include a fake GPU, but just a weighty 'dummy' item instead (a packet of laundry detergent, for example, or more commonly a rock or lump of metal).

What you should be careful of most right now, though, is scams relating to RAM and SSDs, where prices have spiked to ridiculous levels, tempting fraudsters to try their hand more with these components. As well as this highly sophisticated fake of an RTX 4090, we've seen some very convincing counterfeit SSDs of late — here's what you need to know in terms of watching out for them.

The level of scamming that's been seen this year has even prompted action from RAM manufacturers — Corsair has introduced new packaging in an attempt to make life more difficult for criminals who are trying to rip off consumers.

• Intel just had an impressive Q1 fiscal, beating expectations for revenue by some way
• This is reportedly in part due to 'turning what may have been scrap or low-expectation output into revenue', according to an analyst firm
• This essentially means repurposing silicon that hasn't made the grade for its intended usage, but isn't a reflection on CPU quality, it should be noted

Intel has reportedly been able to boost its revenue by selling CPU chips that would in the past have effectively ended up on the scrapheap.

Tom's Hardware spotted a post on X from the CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies, Ben Bajarin, who claims to have got feedback from Intel's investor relations as to where some of Team Blue's additional profits have come from (in its Q1 earnings, which were just reported).

Add your own sprinkling of salt, but Bajarin says: "Intel got an unexpected margin lift from better yield salvage. Chips that would normally have been lower-value edge-die on the wafer were binned down and still sold into usable SKUs, turning what may have been scrap or low-expectation output into incremental revenue."

Multiple chips are cut from a single wafer, but not every chip is up to par for its intended usage, and so some — particularly those cut from near the edge of the wafer, as noted — are either downgraded for use as a lower-tier CPU (where faulty cores are simply disabled), or they're just thrown away (well, recycled to other ends).

That's a boiled-down, basic view of what happens, but you get the point, and seemingly part of Intel's big jump in revenue for this quarter was down to being able to sell chips that'd normally have been 'scrap' to its customers.

As Bajarin further observed: "Customers didn't care, just said I'll take it all. That's the demand environment we are in for CPUs."

It's interesting to note that Bajarin is bullish on Intel's CPU manufacturing capabilities, to the point where in another post, he envisions that before long, AMD might be having some of its processors made at Intel Foundry (to make up for what it can't get produced at TSMC, which is struggling to cope with demand).

Analysis: bad omens?

There are some important points to note here. First, we don't know for sure that this is happening; we only have one analyst's word for it. Although it does throw some light on how Intel pulled a good deal more money into its coffers for Q1 than those in the financial know had forecast (revenue beat expectations by 10%, in fact).

The other thing to make crystal clear is that these 'subpar' chips are not somehow dodgy, meaning that you're not running a risk buying such an Intel CPU. It's a common industry practice to use chips that don't make the grade for their intended product, as noted, in a lesser product.

A chip that's failed to make the cut for a Core Ultra 9, say, can be repurposed as a Core Ultra 7, with the defective cores simply disabled (as they aren't needed for the core count of the latter). This doesn't make such a chip any different from another Core Ultra 7, or those which were made to be Core Ultra 7 models — they all have the exact same number of functional cores, with no greater chance of anything being awry. Failed Core Ultra 7 models might then become Core Ultra 5, and so on.

All of which is to say you don't need to worry about anything relating to chip quality here. All that's happening is that Intel's making more money from chips that wouldn't normally be sold, as hardware makers are buying these CPUs because there's such a demand for silicon right now, that supply is looking dicier.

Sound familiar? Yes, this may remind you of the scarce supply of memory chips — affecting RAM and storage — and as predicted, the same woes are now being visited on processors. With more and more data centers getting built to service AI demand, the servers in those behemoth buildings don't just need RAM and SSDs, they're also powered by processors, of course.

Now, here's the gloomy bit. Remember early in the RAM crisis, when prices started to spike? And further recall that they then shot up at an unfathomably fast rate. Well, we could see an acceleration of processor prices, too. Indeed, a recent report already observed some major price rises in AMD CPUs in Japan, which comes on top of other rumors of both server and consumer-targeted processors getting pricier.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this will have the same upwards trajectory as with memory pricing, but nonetheless, this rumor is a further sign that yet another PC component, and a key one, could get a good deal more expensive as 2026 progresses.

• Reuters has leaked details of SpaceX's plans ahead of its IPO
• They include "manufacturing our own GPUs"
• Whether that means chips in the current line of Tesla AI processors, or a new category of GPU or AI accelerator is unclear

SpaceX is apparently set to make its own GPUs, based on insights gleaned from its S-1 form ahead of the company's IPO, although these won't be products you'll be installing in your PC.

Tom's Hardware picked up the report by Reuters, with the news site claiming to have seen the S-1 form, which is filed by companies going public. SpaceX is expected to be worth in excess of $1 trillion – and probably closer to $2 trillion – when its shares are available on the stock market (next month, in theory).

Part of the form explains major spending plans to develop AI, which includes a mention of "manufacturing our own GPUs" in the listed 'substantial' capital expenditures.

As noted, these wouldn't be a rival for the likes of Nvidia's GeForce GPUs, but rather graphics boards built for AI tasks, commonly known as AI accelerators.

Nvidia makes those solutions, as well, of course – as does AMD – but SpaceX would seemingly rather have its own homegrown AI accelerators, because as noted in the S-1 filing, it does not have "long-term contracts ​with many of our direct chip ​suppliers". And clearly, that's going to be problematic given the current RAM crisis and its knock-on effects.

What isn't clear is whether SpaceX's mention of 'GPUs' in the filing could more broadly refer to Tesla's AI processors, which are currently on the AI4 generation, with the next-gen AI5 set to provide a big leap in performance (of a factor of 40x, it's claimed). It's possible that the company may be referring to this series of AI chips, rather than an entirely separate line of GPUs for AI tasks.

When it comes to making these chips, presumably the 'Terafab' project – a huge chip manufacturing center in Texas which involves SpaceX, xAI and Tesla – is going to be involved, even though GPUs haven't been mentioned directly in connection with this facility.

Analysis: AI5 or something else entirely, it won't be in your PC

At least to me, this does read more like a play for a new product, as opposed to a mention of existing AI chips and calling them 'GPUs' informally. That said, looking at the bigger picture, as Tom's points out, Elon Musk has referred to Tesla's AI5 chips as GPUs, and even noted that it "basically is a GPU" – and so you can see where the confusion comes in. All this could simply boil down to a liberal use of the term GPU, and mean precisely nothing.

At any rate, for the average consumer, the point to bear in mind is that whatever SpaceX is up to on the GPU front, if anything, it won't be relevant to the everyday computer user. This is all about silicon designed to drive AI performance specifically, and whether it's technically an AI chip in the existing line, or something different in terms of a new GPU accelerator designed for AI tasks, is all semantics – it won't be a graphics card as such (as in one designed to process 3D graphics).

Any confusion aside, the overall aim for Musk is clear enough, and that's to ensure AI chip supply by producing them himself, given the mentioned lack of 'long-term contracts' with chip makers.

How comforting this leak will be to would-be investors in SpaceX remains to be seen, but Musk appears to have some grand plans here, and not for the first time.

• Samsung and Kingston are increasing SSD prices according to a report from China
• We're told there will be a 'price increase of at least 10% for solid-state drives'
• On top of that, AMD Ryzen CPUs have seemingly leapt in price in Japan

SSD prices are reportedly set for another increase, and we're hearing news about CPUs getting hiked, too.

Wccftech spotted a report from Chinese tech site IT Home claiming that Samsung and Kingston have "both notified their distribution channels of a price increase of at least 10% for solid-state drives".

This comes from a source in the supply chain, we're told, and seemingly Samsung has notified three major domestic distributors of this price increase which comes into effect now.

As Wccftech makes clear, we've already seen price hikes on high-end SSDs from Samsung and Western Digital earlier this month, applied as stealth increases that amount to a doubling in cost for some models (the really big drives).

Wccftech also flagged up major price rises for AMD Ryzen processors in the Japanese market, as claimed in a report from PC Watch.

The current-gen Zen 5 lineup has been hit with around 40%-50% price hikes in some cases, with the biggest increases hitting the Ryzen 7 9700X (which is up 57%) and Ryzen 9 9900X (up 37%).

A bunch of Ryzen 9000 models have had around 20% increases applied in Japan, including the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is a popular choice for PC gamers (and is up 22%).

These price rises extend to older AMD processors as well, with some Ryzen 7000 models going up in a major way, led by the 7800X3D — the predecessor of the 9800X3D — being subject to a 41% hike.

Analysis: a broader sign of things to come

Those are really nasty CPU price increases, make no mistake, but it's not surprising that processors are getting more expensive. This has been happening for a little while now, although the increases have been relatively timid compared to RAM and storage.

However, this is the first time truly worrying rises have been seen with CPUs, and although it's limited to the Japanese market, there's a chance we'll see a similar trajectory with pricing elsewhere. Put it this way: I wouldn't bet against this being a broader sign of bad things to come, although it could still prove to be a more localized problem for Japanese retailers.

As for SSDs, assuming the source from the supply chain is correct — and we should appropriately season all these reports, of course — it's likely that SSDs will continue to get more expensive across the globe, not just in Asia. This is backed up by a recent forecast from analyst firm TrendForce, which believes that NAND flash storage could see a price surge of around 75% quarter-on-quarter.

The outlook for SSD pricing is suitably bleak, there's no getting around that, and the same goes for RAM, with TrendForce predicting around 60% rises there.

• ASRock has revealed a new trick to beat high RAM prices
• HUDIMM DDR5 RAM modules are considerably more affordable
• They cut back on performance, however, so it's a trade-off here

There's a new type of DDR5 RAM in town, and it's cheaper, but before you start rejoicing that all your memory-related prayers have been answered, bear in mind that there are weighty caveats attached here.

Tom's Hardware noticed the announcement from ASRock about its new HUDIMM DDR5 RAM module for motherboards with Intel chipsets. In a nutshell, these are designed to be a good deal more affordable, but to achieve that, performance is dropped considerably.

A standard stick of DDR5 (UDIMM) uses a two-subchannel architecture (2 x 32-bit), but with HUDIMM (the 'HU' stands for Half Unbuffered), you get a single 32-bit subchannel instead.

That sounds very technical, but what's happening is simple enough — the bandwidth and density of the RAM stick is effectively halved. And sticks that need fewer memory modules can, of course, be made a good deal more cheaply, because you're only buying half the chips to produce them.

As the company observed on X: "ASRock's HUDIMM architecture reduces chip count and cost, enabling more affordable and flexible system builds for users and system integrators worldwide."

Intel's Robert Hallock, VP and GM for its Enthusiast Channel Segment group, commented: "Innovations like ASRock's One sub-channel DRAM technology are crucial to ensuring desktop computing remains accessible despite the rising demand and costs for DDR5 memory.

"Intel's grateful for ASRock's support in bringing this to market for our 600/700/800-series chipsets, ensuring Intel users have more access to the benefits of DDR5 memory in the years ahead."

So, as noted, these new RAM offerings are compatible with ASRock's Intel 600, 700, and 800-series motherboards.

ASRock has hooked up with TeamGroup to produce these HUDIMM sticks, and needless to say, they'll be entry-level offerings. This RAM will also be manufactured for laptops, too, in the form of HSODIMMs.

Asus is reportedly looking into this type of memory, too, as per leaks on X, so we could see a broader shift towards HUDIMMs as the year progresses.

Analysis: sign of the RAM times

The catch is that the cutbacks made to this RAM mean that performance is going to be a lot slower. Is that a compromise you want to make? Perhaps it is, given the cost of DDR5 RAM right now, which has reached extortionate levels, frankly.

The twist is that ASRock's new way of working here can run alongside standard DDR5 RAM, which remains compatible in these motherboards. HUDIMM offers asymmetrical dual-channel support at the BIOS level, so you should be okay to put a HUDIMM next to a standard UDIMM, and they'll work fine in dual-channel mode (with 3 x 32-bit subchannels active — one from the HUDIMM, and a pair from the UDIMM).

If you had an 8GB HUDIMM stick alongside a 16GB UDIMM, this would, in theory, be a faster implementation than a single 24GB UDIMM stick. So you could, say, start with just an 8GB HUDIMM (or 16GB), and then expand with a UDIMM later (when pricing drops back down to a more reasonable level).

As Tom's points out, though, ASRock's marketing indicates a not inconsiderable 90ns latency with this RAM standard, and the proof will be in the pudding of how these sorts of theorized combos work out.

Meanwhile, HUDIMMs certainly represent one shortcut to lower DDR5 RAM pricing, but the compromise in terms of performance (away from mix-and-match scenarios) is going to be a heavy price in itself. Still, this may be an option some people wish to exercise, and I can't say I blame them, looking at what retailers are asking for run-of-the-mill DDR5 these days.

What this also serves as is a reminder of just how bad the RAM crisis has got, and the fact that hardware makers are looking at longer-term solutions such as this scheme isn't much comfort as to the prospective duration of this whole affair.

• More fake Samsung SSDs have been uncovered, and the drive maker has said it's 'taking consistent action against such counterfeits'
• At the same time, CPU sales are seemingly in a major slump, the worst seen in a decade, we're told
• With the PC component crisis just getting more intense, there is hope for some relief later this year – but the way it'll be realized isn't very comforting

As the PC component crisis intensifies, with CPU sales now apparently in a serious slump, we've had another warning about fake Samsung SSDs as scammers try to capitalize on expensive higher-end drives.

First off, let's look at the SSD nastiness, with German tech site ComputerBase reporting (via VideoCardz) that an Austrian buyer had the misfortune to receive two Samsung 990 Pro SSDs from a retailer that have both been confirmed to be fakes.

While the packaging of the 1TB drives looked authentic enough, and didn't ring any alarm bells, inspection of the SSDs did, as they had a blue circuit board (rather than the black color Samsung uses). They also used the wrong SSD controller (a Realtek model rather than a Pascal controller).

The real sign that something was very wrong, though, was the fact that these solid-state drives didn't work at all. (Unlike better fakes, which work, and can even appear to be the correct model when installed in a PC if you don't engage in anything other than a cursory inspection).

When Samsung was told about this incident by ComputerBase, the company provided a statement that read: "Samsung takes such reports about counterfeit memory products very seriously. We are taking consistent action against the distribution of such counterfeits.

"We recommend purchasing Samsung storage media exclusively through the Samsung Online Shop or authorized retailers. Consumers can also use the Samsung Magician software to verify that their product is genuine."

With the price of CPUs creeping up, maybe we'll also need to be wary of an uptick in processor fakes (such as the counterfeit Ryzen 9800X3D chips we've seen palmed off on unsuspecting consumers in the past).

More broadly, is it the case that pricier processors, and the squeeze from the memory crisis in general, are killing sales of desktop silicon? Apparently, this is indeed happening, as mentioned at the outset.

PC Gamer reports that TechEpiphany, who regularly posts figures from major German retailer Mindfactory, shared some recent data on X showing that processor sales have fallen sharply in the last three weeks (after being in something of a slump across the whole of March). It's mainly AMD Ryzen sales that have dropped actually – though that's partly a function of Intel sales numbers already being a great deal less at the start of 2026 – and it's an eye-opening slump.

Based on that data, and other sales figures drawn from the likes of Amazon, TechEpiphany posted on X that: "In 10 years of tracking retail CPU (and related) sales, I have never seen such a steep decline."

Analysis: an 11.5-level crisis

Saying that this is the single biggest slump which TechEpiphany has witnessed in the last decade is quite a statement regarding CPU sales. When asked 'on a scale of 1-10, how done are we?' in a follow-up post on X, TechEpiphany replied that we're at '11.5' currently.

Are processor prices really rising that steeply? Well, following rumors of major price increases late last year, they are going up, certainly, as there's a CPU shortage which is getting more serious.

However, this isn't just about processors in a bubble, but the entire custom PC market. With the prices of all components going up, and particularly RAM along with storage, building a computer from scratch – or looking at a substantial upgrade to a new motherboard platform for an existing system – has become a ridiculously pricey affair.

So, people just aren't doing that, and this is going to depress CPU sales, and indeed all components – not just the memory side of the equation, where the price hikes have been truly astronomical.

Counterfeit products being increasingly wheeled out as scammers try to profiteer from these high prices isn't going to help the situation, either. It's not great news that fake Samsung SSDs have now reached Europe, after an increase in Japan was already observed – though at least this latest bout of fakery wasn't as sophisticated as previously seen.

There's one hope here, namely that these stupidly high prices – and the PC market in general getting out of hand – is indeed resulting in a refusal to buy from consumers (as apparently seen with CPUs, but also RAM recently, too). That in itself could rebalance the supply and demand seesaw to some extent, and lead to prices falling. And as PC Gamer also spotted, MediaTek is tentatively predicting a more optimistic pricing trajectory for RAM in the second half of 2026 based on this kind of theorizing.

MediaTek's SVP and head of global sales, Eric Fischer, recently told analyst firm Counterpoint: "We're super cautious, maybe cautiously optimistic about the second half [of 2026], about where it goes because, at some point the prices are going to have an impact on the consumer's ability to spend – whether it's notebooks or [other] consumer products."

This is a sentiment we've heard elsewhere, but it isn't really all that comforting that the best hope for the RAM crisis to slacken its grip on our wallets is that pricing simply gets so high that people point-blank refuse to spend. But, here we are, and this is seemingly what it's come to...

• Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer 12V-2x6 power cable
• The cable aims to solve melting issues with high-powered GPUs like the RTX 5090
• It's compatible with all PCIe 5.0 power supplies from other manufacturers

It's no secret that high-powered GPUs, notably Nvidia's RTX 5090, are still suffering from reports of connector melting issues, even with upgraded cables that have improved power connectors — but fortunately, Asus has seemingly introduced a solution.

As reported by TweakTown, Asus has announced the ROG Equalizer, a 12V-2x6 power cable for GPUs utilizing up to 600W, one that's designed to further help protect them from melting issues.

Of course, as a rule, RTX 5090s using 12VHPWR and 12V-2x6 cables aren't experiencing melting issues, but there have been enough cases to cause concern for consumers. Both cables are effectively the same, and the only major difference for the revamped 12V-2x6 design is that it has shorter sensing pins and longer power pins, which help to ensure the cable is properly seated. It's a poor connection which theoretically causes the melting problem.

That's why Asus has opted for a 12V-2x6 power connector, but with a tweaked design that has been specifically refined for a bigger load capacity within each wire, now at 17 amps (it's usually 9.2 amps with regular 12V-2x6 cables). These are also 'premium etched cables' that are flexible to help with cable management.

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Combined with the GPU Tweak III software and its Power Detector+ feature, the ROG Equalizer should effectively keep hardware safe from melting, or that's the theory. In an extreme test case from Asus, the company observed that even if the connector wasn't seated in the GPU correctly, the ROG Equalizer would still maintain a temperature of 73.4C.

Meanwhile, a standard 12V-2x6 cable would reach 146C in the same scenario, which is a very high temperature that would likely result in the connector melting.

It's a big claim from Asus, and if this can be reproduced in other independent tests once the ROG Equalizer is available, it may just be the perfect tool to eliminate any melting issues with RTX 5090 GPUs.

The ROG Equalizer is compatible with power supplies from "all leading manufacturers", which is a massive bonus for all PC owners who have ATX 3.1 (PCIe 5.0) power supplies. It will also come bundled with ROG Thor III and ROG Strix Platinum series power supplies, but there's currently no release date for those.

Despite the marketing pitch here, Asus has not done enough to convince some gamers, and there are those who suggest that graphics cards linked to connector problems are simply best avoided.

These connector melting issues have been problematic for years, ever since the RTX 4090's launch in 2022. If the ROG Equalizer can finally put an end to all this, it should make high-powered GPUs like the RTX 5090 more approachable — well, aside from the obvious stumbling block of the pricing, anyway.

• The spot price of a 16GB DDR4 chip has dropped by 5%
• It's the first time this price has fallen in over a year
• While that's obviously a good thing, there's a lot of storm remaining to weather with the RAM crisis yet

We've witnessed another hint that the RAM crisis is deescalating — at least a touch — along with an interesting move by the Korean government to try to protect consumers from the worst excesses of PC component price hikes.

Tom's Hardware flagged up a DigiTimes report that claims the spot price of a 16GB DDR4 chip has fallen by around 5% over the course of the last month.

That may not sound like a whole lot, but it's notable because it's the first monthly drop that's happened with DDR4 pricing in just over a year. (Although recently, some of the rises have been tiny, with pricing effectively staying flat — but we haven't seen a dip until now).

Still, don't get carried away with optimism here, because this has happened against a backdrop of a 2,200% increase in the cost of a 16GB DDR4 module over the past year.

Tom's Hardware also noticed another development in Asia, with what could be an important move for Korean consumers — with perhaps some hope that other countries might adopt similar policies.

Based on a report by The Korea Herald, the government is going to repurpose more of the PCs it took out of service last year, increasing the number of these computers which are reused and donated to various organizations. It'll also provide more PCs to vulnerable groups, we're told, and expand the scope of a subsidy scheme that provides money for low-income households buying computers for students.

All of that is designed to take some of the sting out of PCs getting a lot pricier, and there's something else which is more eye-opening, too. A further report from No Cut News talks about the Korean government's plans to "monitor the distribution and supply and demand conditions of the PC and laptop markets to prevent unfair practices."

That seemingly involves a few government bodies – including the Ministry of Trade – keeping a close watch on the PC market, as well as RAM sales, looking into what could be deemed as illegal activity. "Strict measures" are promised if those selling components or PCs are judged to be engaged in any opportunistic profiteering.

This should help to keep prices down somewhat, or that's the theory anyway, although bear in mind these aren't official announcements, but just reports in the Korean media at this stage.

Analysis: hopeful signs — but let's temper any optimism

We've recently seen reports of DDR5 pricing falling across the globe, and markedly in China, where the price of 16GB modules of the cutting-edge RAM has dropped by up to 30% (in terms of sales on e-commerce platforms in the country). Seeing DDR4 also take a tumble is welcome, of course, even if it's not nearly to the same degree.

We can be hopeful for some prices drops for DDR4 at retail, then, although that wouldn't be a surprise, really, given the wallet-wrenching peaks in pricing that this RAM and DDR5 have reached. As I observed in my previous article about DDR5 prices receding, there's a point where prices get so high that a growing number of consumers simply refuse to pay them — and when that filters through as a drop in demand, a price correction inevitable ensues.

There are other possible reasons for these falls, too, including theories that OpenAI has hugely scaled back its RAM-eating ambitions, leaving AI demand not quite as intense as it previously seemed. Furthermore, in that same vein we have Google's TurboQuant. This tech aims to reduce the memory use of AI in a big way — at least in certain respects — although I think it's a bit of a red herring, and I've got a feature ready for publishing explaining why. (Look out for that imminently).

Any relief we're seeing now is definitely welcome, but don't make the mistake of believing that we're near some sort of full-on turning point with RAM pricing. Many analyst firms are betting heavily against that, and with good reasons, plus hardware makers are singing similar tunes. Don't underestimate the challenges the tech world is facing here.

Given the gravity of these pricing problems, might we expect governments elsewhere around the world to step in like Korea seemingly has? I very much doubt we'll see grand plans to monitor the fairness of the pricing of PCs or components, which is a seriously thorny area to even consider. However, schemes to provide low-income students or families with help buying a laptop – or repurposing old PCs of the Windows 10 variety – certainly seem like avenues to explore, or expand on, which have plenty of potential.

• Someone bought an MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z, which is a $5,000 GPU
• They then practiced their soldering skills on the board, and broke the graphics card
• Why? It's surely because they wanted to implement a hardware mod that allows for an extreme BIOS to be run on the GPU

MSI's RTX 5090 Lightning Z is a rare limited-edition graphics card that costs $5,000 (or thereabouts) in the US, so what better way to practice your soldering than to test out your skills with the iron on said board?

Reckless? Well, that doesn't even begin to cover it really, but VideoCardz spotted this improbable-sounding tale of GPU foolishness, which was posted on YouTube by NorthridgeFix, a California-based hardware repair shop.

The broken card was sent into the repair outlet with an issue description which revealed the owner wanted to "learn how to solder tiny 0402 resistors" and that they were "practicing" on their pricey GPU.

"He tried to 'learn soldering' on an extremely rare MSI 5090 Lightning Z GPU of which only 1,300 units were ever made worldwide," NorthridgeFix observes in its YouTube blurb, adding: "I'm speechless."

Me too.

Predictably enough, the soldering lesson went badly wrong and ended up ripping one of the resistor pads, rendering the RTX 5090 non-functional, and requiring a delicate repair.

The repair isn't actually fully completed in the video clip, as it still needed further testing, but it seems like NorthridgeFix was successful in rescuing the expensive graphics card.

Analysis: solder to cry on

Why was the RTX 5090 owner even thinking about playing around with soldering resistors in this way with such a pricey piece of hardware? It's presumably because they were trying to get the MSI XOC ('extreme performance') BIOS to work so they could engage in some extreme overclocking.

That BIOS was seemingly limited in distribution and only given to pro overclockers, and MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z graphics cards bought at retail can't be flashed with it. However, the BIOS was leaked, and what's happened is that some folks have found a way around this restriction, with adding an extra resistor seemingly allowing the XOC BIOS to be used. And apparently this is what the owner of the GPU was trying to do.

There is a reason, of course, why MSI hasn't freely released the XOC BIOS: namely, because if it did, there'd likely be a fair few destroyed RTX 5090 GPUs (and warranty claims). Remember, this extreme take on the BIOS is designed to allow for 2500W of power, a truly ridiculous amount (intended for the likes of liquid nitrogen-driven world record overclocking attempts).

At any rate, extreme BIOS aside, and to state the obvious: if you're a newcomer to soldering, don't start your journey on any functional graphics card, let alone a cutting-edge flagship model – and a limited-edition effort at that. The mind boggles with this case, frankly.

• Crimson Desert is now playable on Intel Arc GPUs, seemingly after Intel's latest driver update
• The game previously wouldn't launch on any Intel GPU, due to Pearl Abyss omitting compatibility
• Visual glitches are evident, but an official future update from Pearl Abyss or Intel should fix them

Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert has provided a joyful experience to a variety of gamers on PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, including those with gaming PCs powered by an Nvidia or AMD GPU. The same couldn't be said for Intel GPU users at launch, but the tide has suddenly turned.

As reported by Wccftech, Crimson Desert is now playable on Intel Arc GPUs, thanks to the latest GPU driver, noted by several users on Reddit. They're now able to boot into the game, which hasn't been possible since launch, with an error message previously stating 'the graphics device is currently not supported'.

This all comes after Pearl Abyss urged Intel Arc GPU users to request a refund for the game via its FAQ page, leaving both users and Intel itself bewildered by the decision to omit compatibility.

Well, thanks to backlash from Arc GPU users and Intel stating its "huge disappointment" at the lack of support, despite reaching out over the game's seven-year development period, Pearl Abyss recently promised future updates to provide compatibility; however, the latter is not exactly what we're seeing at this stage.

Crimson Desert screenshots after latest driver from r/IntelArc

Comment from r/IntelArc

While Crimson Desert is playable on Intel Arc GPUs, it's still far from being fully supported, as numerous screenshots (available above) show multiple visual glitches. Some of them look like they've been pulled from a book of nightmares, with the main character, Kliff, and other NPCs missing parts of their faces or bodies.

However, this should be expected, as this isn't an update from Pearl Abyss on the game's end, and Intel's driver patch notes don't reference Crimson Desert. Once updates arrive from both Pearl Abyss and Intel, performance and visual glitches should no longer be a concern.

Fortunately, the game being in a playable state is a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't intentional on Intel's end, and hopefully, we'll be able to move past the matter of full compatibility for Arc GPUs sooner rather than later.

• Asus RX 9070 XT GPUs have been hit with a sudden price hike in the US
• Framework has warned that while memory costs have stabilized in some areas, this is likely just a temporary reprieve
• The laptop maker predicts that "We'll continue to see volatility and cost increases through the rest of 2026."

There's been a fresh round of price rises for PC components, and that includes price hikes for certain Radeon GPUs, as well as more RAM and storage-related unpleasantness.

We'll start with the graphics cards. VideoCardz noticed that Asus RX 9070 XT models have become more expensive at the firm's US store.

For example, the Asus Prime 9070 XT OC was previously $799.99 and has now been jacked up to $939.99, which represents a hefty increase of 17.5%. The newer white model of this graphics card has gone up by 7% and will now set you back $959.99.

The Asus TUF overclocked take on the 9070 XT is up by 16.5%, meaning the GPU now tips the scales at $989.99, very nearly a grand.

There's been no official announcement from Asus regarding any rising prices, and these hikes have been applied overnight, worryingly.

On top of that, modular laptop and PC manufacturer Framework has announced more RAM and SSD price increases (hat tip to Tom's Hardware), albeit these are not as painful as we've previously witnessed.

The Framework Laptop has seen a price increase for the prebuilt model with 64GB of DDR5 RAM, although there is some more positive news with lower CPU pricing (this is down to its original level for some configurations).

With the Framework Desktop PC, the company notes that it has absorbed RAM cost increases save for the 128GB model, which has had a price hike.

On the storage front, it says new SSDs the company is buying have "substantially higher costs" and to begin with, this means the 4TB version of the WD SN850X is more expensive – and other drives are likely to be soon.

Framework adds: "Our advice here is still that if you need high capacity storage, you should configure a system with it now while we still have inventory at the older, lower cost basis."

Analysis: a temporary reprieve?

Despite the fact that some cost increases have been absorbed, and the latest round of hikes is relatively limited, Framework cautions against getting comfortable with any notion that things might be calming down with regard to the memory crisis. The manufacturer warns: "We have seen costs stabilize in some areas, but all indications are that this is a temporary reprieve and that we'll continue to see volatility and cost increases through the rest of 2026."

There have been glimmers of hope regarding a RAM reprieve elsewhere of late, too — albeit mainly based on the cost of memory getting so high that consumer demand is seriously flagging — but those hints have been weighed down with similar caveats.

The Asus GPU price hikes are more alarming here, though, as they represent some swiftly applied increases, pushing the Radeon 9070 XT graphics card up over the $900 mark for a basic model. That said, this isn't representative of the overall market for AMD's 9070 XT in the US, as you can still get this GPU (at the entry level) for not much more than $700 (at least for some models).

However, is this an early signal that we might see other board makers also increase their 9070 XT asking prices? Possibly — that is very much the worry here, and we shouldn't forget that a few months ago, back at the start of the year in the US, you could still get these AMD GPUs for around the $600 mark, which certainly isn't the case now.