Ahoy, ye scallywags and tech enthusiasts! Welcome aboard The Byte-Sized Buccaneer! I’m Cap’n Code, and ridin’ shotgun on the quarterdeck is me trusty First Mate, Pixel Pete!
Ahoy! Shiver me microchips, Cap’n—it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, and we’ve got a massive haul of tech treasure to plunder today!
Aye! The high seas of gaming are churnin’ with fresh news, mates. First up on the map: Valve has officially set sail with the Steam Frame! We’re divin’ headfirst into their new standalone VR hardware to see if it’s worth tradin’ yer double-doubloons for.
Then, we’re weighin’ anchor on Vice City! The battle lines are drawn between the PS5 Pro, base PS5, and Xbox Series X to figure out which deck runs Grand Theft Auto VI at the smoothest frame rates. Is 60 FPS a pipe dream for ye base console sailors? We’ll break down the performance leaks!
And stick around, ye landlubbers, because we’ve got a round-up of the week’s spiciest tech news—from AI upgrades to fresh hardware drops.
So hoist the Jolly Roger, grab yer favorite grog, and adjust yer headsets!
All hands on deck—let’s set sail into the digital sea!
Windows
- This open-source Windows launcher does what Microsoft’s new Start menu should have done
- I changed one Windows 11 setting in Storage Sense and freed 30GB without breaking anything
- Microsoft admits the latest Windows 11 update breaks audio — but it’s working on a fix
- 5 new PowerToys features that are useful even if you’re not a Windows power user
- Windows 11 is flipping a hidden setting next month that costs gamers real performance — here’s how much
- Your Windows 11 PC is wasting RAM on 5 apps you probably don’t even use
- I can’t replace these 4 free Windows tools, and they are better than any paid alternative
- Bug bypasses Microsoft account sign in for fresh installations of Windows 11
Xbox
- ‘GTA 6’ on PS5 vs Xbox: Key differences to consider
- Forget GTA 6, I have brought GTA 5 closer to being the true greatest game of all time
- Bethesda issues official statement on Fallout 5
- Will GTA 6’s ultimate edition be worth the extra cost? Here’s what it’ll come with
- Rockstar issues new official statement on GTA 6’s world
- Xbox Game Pass for even less? Price drop suggests even bigger Xbox bargains
Graphics cards
- Gamers take a backseat as Nvidia overhauls the RTX 5090 for maximum AI margins
- How to activate DLSS 5 on any Nvidia GPU
- Nvidia’s RTX 5090 vanishes from online retail in the US
- Apparently RTX Founders Edition serial numbers are prone to fading
- Old GPUs work perfectly in headless home servers once you stop treating them like gaming cards
- Integrated graphics are no longer a compromise — modern iGPUs match last-gen discrete cards and cost nothing extra
- SLI is back? Running DLSS 5 on second GPU may be the best solution for now
Nintendo
Sony
- PlayStation drops free 265-hour open-world RPG, no PS Plus needed
- I ran DLSS 5 on my PS2 games, and they finally looked like I remembered them
- PlayStation just handed Xbox a win at a very awkward time
- Sony will pay out PlayStation users in $7.85M settlement — find out if you’re eligible
- PlayStation officially comments on PS6 release date
- A 2004 PlayStation 2 classic is officially free now with PS Plus
Valve
Other tech news
- A $15 card pulled out of a decommissioned server is still the cheapest way to get 10GbE at home
- Mark Zuckerberg has a warning for anyone screenshotting disappearing Messenger chats
- Your PC knows your age. Your TV knows what you watch. Privacy is disappearing
- Your USB-C dock has more access to your PC’s memory than any app you’ll ever install
- I almost spent $200 on an NVMe SSD, but this one motherboard port let me upgrade my storage for half the price
- Windows 11 quietly encrypted your entire PC, and one firmware update can lock you out of everything
- Vintage Emulator Studio recreates 44 legendary synths down to the chip level
- I printed custom fan ducts for my PC case and dropped my GPU temps by a few degrees
- You don’t need a powerful PC for these 8 surprisingly useful Linux projects
- Please stop using these 5 storage drives in 2026
- Your SSD is dying faster than it should, and these 4 habits are contributing to excessive write cycles
- The death of physical media made me fall back in love with my disc drive in 2026
