CES is a yearly event held by the Consumer Technology Association. Investors and industry insiders get an opportunity to see what the different tech companies are working on and how it will affect consumers. In 2022, the event ran from January 5 to January 7. It was a difficult task to run the show during a global pandemic and, as a result, several presenters chose to participate remotely. Nevertheless, there were plenty of interesting presentations and exciting upcoming products revealed at CES 2022.
There were a lot of noteworthy announcements regarding the gaming industry's aspect of the show. A presentation from Sony revealed the specs for the upcoming PlayStation VR 2 headset, as well as a AAA VR game titled Horizon: Call of the Mountain. The biggest winners, however, were PC gamers who got a wide range of upcoming products revealed by Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.
Nvidia Has a Busy Year Ahead
Nvidia had plenty to reveal. Jeff Fisher, who is Nvidia's senior vice president, gave a presentation that predicted that cloud gaming will continue to grow. For this reason, Nvidia will continue focusing on Geforce Now, the company's cloud gaming surface. To support the platform, Fisher announced that Battlefield 4 and 5 are available on Geforce Now, and certain 2022 Samsung smart TVs will soon be able to stream games on Geforce Now.
Nvidia will continue to support raytracing on more upcoming games. This includes The Day Before, an upcoming survival MMO being developed by Fntastic. DLSS, which allows gamers to enjoy games at a greater resolution without sacrificing framerate, will also continue to be supported by Nvidia. Upcoming games that will support DLSS include Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction. Nvidia Reflex, which is a software solution that provides lower latency will be implemented in more games, including God of War (2018), Rainbow Six Extraction, iRacing, Midnight Ghost Hunt, Grit, Ready or Not, and Super People.
Nvidia also showed off plenty of hardware. A new esports 1440p, 27 inch, G-Sync monitor was revealed. The displays are designed for esports gamers who are looking for the best performance at high frames, which is a must for competitive gaming. Fisher also announced that Nvidia will be releasing over 160 more RTX laptops with prices starting at $799. This includes the RTX 3080 Ti laptops and RTX 3070 Ti laptops that are scheduled to release in February.
For most gamers, Nvidia is known for its high performance graphics cards. Nvidia had a few new cards to reveal, including the RTX 3050, which is capable of playing modern games at higher than 60FPS with raytracing turned on. It will be available from January 27. At $279, it appeals to gamers on a budget. Nvidia also revealed the RTX 3090 Ti, which Fisher described as a "monster," while teasing the early specs of the card.
Intel Had a Lot To Show Off
Intel announced that it will be releasing new processors in 2022 that are sure to enhance gaming and creative ventures. The 12th Gen Intel Core KS-Series desktop processor will be released in the second half of 2022. To show off its new processor, Intel showed Hitman 3 running on the hardware. For laptops, Intel revealed the 12th Gen Intel Core H-Series mobile processors and 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series mobile processors. According to Gregory Bryant, executive vice president of Intel, the H-Series mobile processor will yield up to 40% greater performance compared to the previous generation of processors.
Bryant revealed over twenty new laptop designs that feature the H-Series mobile processors. Companies that have partnered with Intel include Acer, HP, Dell, and Lenovo. Bryant also stated that Intel plans on releasing over a hundred new designs in 2022. One of the laptops that got a spotlight shone on it is the Acer Predator 500 SE which has a sleek design that will allow gamers to take their gaming anywhere.
The upcoming PC port of Death Stranding Director's Cut will be making good use of Intel's technology, including Intel's XeSS which serves the same purpose as Nvidia's DLSS. XeSS will be seen in many more games, including Hitman 3 and Grit.
AMD Put On a Good Show
AMD had plenty to talk about. The company revealed the AMD Ryzen 6000 Series mobile processors that will be used in notebooks. These processors offer up to 100% greater gaming performance compared to the 5000 Series. This will help make laptop gaming a more viable option. For desktop gamers, AMD announced a new powerful GPU called the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT. When tested on recently released games, AMD's offering yields 59% better performance in Resident Evil: Village, 44% in Fortnite, 33% in Apex Legends, and 32% in Counter Strike Global Offensive. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT will be released on January 19 with a selling price of $199.
AMD also spent some time talking about Fidelity FX Super Resolution which will allow gamers to hit higher framerates without sacrificing image quality. AMD claims that significant framerate gains can be achieved on modern games such as Deathloop, Far Cry 6, and Call of Duty: Vanguard.
AMD announced the Ryzen 7 5800X3D which will be the first processor to feature 3D V-Cache. According to AMD, this will allow for an average of 15% more frames per second. When tested on existing games, Watch Dogs Legion gets a 36% increase, Shadow of the Tomb Raider gets a 9% increase, and Far Cry 6 gets a 24% increase. The processor will be released in 2022.
This year's CES event drew in all the big names in gaming who had plenty they wanted to share with gamers. AMD, Intel, and Nvidia all have an exciting host of new products which will be released in 2022.