Intel's hotly awaited Arrow Lake desktop and laptop processors are now official, and they will be available to consumers later this month. This generation, it's time for a reset to chase efficiency instead of performance gains, with both Arrow Lake and AMD's Zen 5 reducing power consumption while providing modest gains over the previous chips. Intel claims up to 30% power reduction compared to 14th-gen processors, and that will be very interesting to test once the chips are in our hands shortly. Intel is often the choice of many PC builders, especially enthusiasts who want the absolute best-performing parts. Until we have some testing results to share, let's see how the Core Ultra 7 265K stacks up against the Core i7-14700K that it's replacing in the lineup.

Illustration: The Verge Google is planning to ban advertisers from running ads related to the US presidential election after polls close on November 5th. Axios reports that this is the second time Google has decided to ban election ads once polls close, after first implementing the policy during the 2020 election.Google says it’s reenacting the policy again this year “out of an abundance of caution and to limit the potential for confusion, given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day.”During the last presidential election in 2020, it took days for President Biden’s win to be confirmed after an influx of postal voting during the pandemic. Google’s policy applies to any US election ads or ads that refer to the US elections that... Continue reading…

When was the last time you built a device that you use daily? Some people won't remember the last time they took a screwdriver to something, while others are tinkering inside of their PCs every day. Regardless of how much you meddle with electronics, this cool DIY trackpad will give you an excuse to make something cool and useful in your everyday life.

You'll need external storage when storing more data than your device will allow. This comes in the form of USB drives, external drives, network drives, direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), and the cloud. Which is best for you depends on what you plan on storing, who will require access, and if you need to run anything else as well as storing data. We'll be looking at network drives and NAS, how they compare against one another, and how using a NAS opens up endless possibilities. Unlike simple network drives, NAS enclosures were storage devices but have become powerful servers for running software and services.

Controversial as it may be, artificial intelligence (AI) tools can offer tremendous gains in productivity. Your AI assistant and other tools can help expedite those everyday tasks that consume so much of your time, like juggling your calendar, email, and to-do list.

Image: Qualcomm Qualcomm has canceled its Snapdragon Dev Kit, the miniature Windows on Arm PC that was originally supposed to ship in June. In an email to customers, Qualcomm said the mini PC “has not met our usual standards of excellence” and orders will now be refunded.Qualcomm has been struggling to ship the mini PC for months now, after originally planning to release it in June alongside the chips that powered the first wave of Copilot Plus PCs. Beyond the mention of not meeting standards, Qualcomm doesn’t explain why it took months to reach the conclusion of canceling the hardware before it shipped to most people.Some developers, like Jeff Geerling, already received their Snapdragon Dev Kit before Qualcomm’s cancelation. Greeling even performed a... Continue reading…

PC cases are one of the most crucial components of a build. And while they may not look all that different, there are a lot of variables that come into play if you're looking to get the best performance from your rig. Of course, finding one for a good price is always a challenge, but we think this Corsair 4000D Airflow is going to offer the best bang for your buck at the moment.

Home Assistant is one of the best things you can install if you have a home lab, NAS device, or an SBC like the Raspberry Pi and a burning desire to control all of your smart devices from one dashboard. This handy platform supports thousands of APIs from IoT manufacturers and beyond and can tie your smart home together with deep automation support and connectivity to programs you'd never think of adding to it. With that many options, it's hard to decide where to start, so we've put together a short list of cool projects you can use Home Assistant for, and reclaim your smart home from the manufacturers.

Microsoft really, really wants Copilot to be a selling point for Windows 11. If it didn't, why would it make an entire line of products called "Copilot+"? In the eyes of the Redmond giant, Copilot is a great advertising point. It's an AI assistant that helps people get their jobs done quicker, finds files for them, and can even write up emails when they're not sure what to put.

Image: The Verge Google is updating Chrome on Android next month to greatly improve how password mangers operate inside the mobile browser. Chrome on Android will allow third-party password managers to natively autofill forms on websites, improving the experience of apps like 1Password, Dashlane, and others.Google offers its own password manager in Chrome, alongside passkeys and autofill support for information like your address and payment card data. While you can set a preferred autofill service on Android, it uses a compatibility mode inside Chrome that makes it feel super glitchy for third-party password managers. I regularly swap between iOS and Android devices, and using 1Password on iOS feels like a far better experience in Chrome even though it... Continue reading…

Legend has it that no one builds an SFF PC the first time around. Okay, some people might attempt this feat, but most PC builders ponder an SFF build only after they've built a few mid-tower or full-tower PCs. There can be multiple motivations behind getting an SFF build together, including aesthetic desires, space limitations, or pure curiosity.

If your system has multiple GPUs, you may find that Windows sometimes uses one of them to drive your apps and games when it should actually prioritize the other. Obviously, you want a powerful GPU to handle the graphical requirements of your high-end games or software. Luckily, you can tell the operating system which GPU should be preferred for a specific app with a simple change in settings. Here we will show you how.