Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Here's a couple extra news:

AMD has filed new Ray Tracing patents for future hardware
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/amd-has-filed-new-ray-tracing-patents-for-future-hardware/
In January 2025, NVIDIA introduced some new Ray Tracing techniques using Neural Shaders. And, to the surprise of no one, AMD has filed similar patents for Ray Tracing. So, let’s see what the red team will be bringing to gamers. 

The key features of these patents are Neural Network-based Ray Tracing, Traversal and Procedural Shader Bounds, Ray Tracing Structure Traversal Based on Work Items and Lossy Geometry Compression Using Interpolated Normals for Use in BVH Building and Rendering. 

Going into more details, the Neural Network-based Ray Tracing seems similar to what NVIDIA is doing with the Neural Shaders. So, I guess now PC gamers will be fine with this tech? After all, some criticized NVIDIA for introducing it as a new “gimmick”. 

The point is that AMD appears to be going all in with Ray Tracing for its future hardware. So, in theory, RDNA5 and the next-gen consoles (PS6 and the next Xbox) should be more capable of running ray-traced – or even path-traced – games.

Semiconductors are exempt from Trump's massive 32% tariff on Taiwan though PC gamers will still feel the heat
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/semiconductors-are-exempt-from-trumps-massive-32-percent-tariff-on-taiwan-though-pc-gamers-will-still-feel-the-heat/
The Trump administration announced sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs across the globe, ranging from a 10% baseline tariff on most countries to 30% or more on countries like Thailand (36%), Vietnam (46%), Cambodia (49%!), and Taiwan (32%). That last one might ring alarm bells for anyone wise to the global trade in semiconductors, as you'll know it's dominated by one company, TSMC, or the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which produces most of its chips in (surprise!) Taiwan.

(...)

There wasn't room on Trump's placard to get into the details, however. Those came shortly after in fact sheet published by the White House.

This fact sheet outlines the incoming tariffs, which will be paid by US companies on importing foreign-made products and materials into the country, and why the US is now choosing to roll them out. It states that President Trump "believes that tariffs are necessary to ensure fair trade, protect American workers, and reduce the trade deficit."

The fact sheet also states that there are some exceptions to the tariffs, and some of these are a pretty big deal.

Semiconductors are exempt from tariffs, as are pharmaceuticals, lumber, bullion, energy, and "certain minerals that are not available in the United States".

That may help with CPUs, we'll see, but GPUs still need to be assembled and that happens in China or one of the other South-Asian countries also affected by massive tariffs so, no luck on that front.