Micro Center Scam, RTX 50 Series Woes, and New GPU Benchmarks

Micro Center Scam Uncovered

• ⚠️ A significant scam involving Micro Center and Zotac graphics cards has come to light, affecting at least 32 customers.
• 📦 Instead of RTX 5090 GPUs, customers received boxes filled with three crossbody bags.
• 🕵️ Investigations traced the issue to a supplier, with Micro Center reportedly making good on the affected purchases and pursuing the supplier.
• 💡 The incident highlights the importance of recording unboxing videos for high-value purchases as proof of contents.

RTX 50 Series Production Cuts & AI Focus

• 📉 Nvidia is reportedly planning to reduce RTX 50 series production by 20-30%.
• 🧠 This move is driven by a strategic shift to prioritize the production of AI-focused GPUs, which command higher prices.
• 💰 The current pricing for RTX 50 series cards, like the RTX 5090, is already significantly elevated, with some retailers listing them at $3,000.

9060 XT Benchmarks and Pricing

• 📊 Early reviews of the 9060 XT suggest it offers performance comparable to the 5060 Ti at a lower price point.
• 📈 At 1080p, it shows a slight improvement in 1% lows over the 5060 Ti, while average FPS is slightly lower.
• 💰 The 8GB version is expected to retail around $320, and the 16GB version around $370, making it a potentially strong value proposition.

Other Tech News and Developments

• ☁️ Nvidia is launching a native GeForce Now app for the Steam Deck, enabling cloud gaming on the handheld device.
• 💻 AMD's 9000G APUs are showing signs of an upcoming release, with motherboard manufacturers like Gigabyte adding support.
• 🛠️ A modder successfully upgraded a GTX 980 to 8GB of VRAM by combining components from a 970, demonstrating significant performance gains.
• 🎮 Microsoft has shelved plans for a dedicated Xbox handheld, opting instead to improve Windows 11's handheld capabilities.