JEMC said: I'm surprised you haven't posted the news of Intel "reorganizing" it's hardware business: https://www.anandtech.com/show/15932/intel-reorganizes-in-wake-of-7nm-woes-chief-engineering-officer-murthy-renduchintala-to-depart In short: they've fired the guy in charge because of the 7nm delay fiasco. Also, and I've said it before, what worries me more about Intel's GPUs is not the hardware itself but the drivers. If AMD and Nvidia have troubles after years of experience, how will Intel manage?

Did they also fire the guy responsible for the 14nm delay and the 10nm delay?

Here is a fun read from 2014 btw

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/39128/intel-has-made-no-delays-for-its-10nm-process-technology/index.html

I don't think it's fair to compare DLSS with any AA method. While AA is limited and can only use incomplete information to guess how to fill pixels DLSS always has way more information to work with and a pre-prepared solution for it. It's like comparing a 4 line powershell script against a neural network with 200 petabytes of storage..

Given how we just have TAA to run with these days, DLSS feels like a blessing, because the previous methods were either power hungry or did little or too much to smear the screen.

I remember bitching for devs to adopt SMAA, but MSAA was shoved up front in most games instead, and then we've got MGS5 PC port with FXAA baked in and no other option, so if DLSSS was an option, I'd gladly take that over shitty AA like FXAA any day.

MSAA can go die in a horrible, slow burning, agonising fire for all I care. I want progressive results, not power hungry bs methods, that don't even fully deliver.

Another day, another round of news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has sold over 5 million copies on all platforms
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-has-sold-over-5-million-copies-on-all-platforms/
Activision has announced that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has sold over 5 million copies on all platforms. This basically means that the game has sold around 1.2 million copies in the past eleven months. Back in August 2019, Kadokawa Corporation revealed that the game had sold 3.8 million copies.
In addition, a new free update for Sekiro will be available on October 29th. According to the publisher, with this update, you will be able to take part in Reflections of Strength; re-matches against any previously defeated boss that can be accessed through any Sculptor’s Idol. Ironically, there is already a mod that allows Boss Fights on the PC.

A new Humble Bundle features Night Call, Mosaic, Whispers of a Machine, and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-humble-bundle-features-night-call-mosaic-whispsers-of-a-machine-and-more/
The Humble Bundles continue to come at us fast and furious: A new collection rolled out today is an assemblage of offbeat indie releases from publisher Raw Fury. For a buck, which you can probably find under any nearby cushion, you'll get Kathy Rain, which we called "one of the best classic adventures of 2016," the intense demon-slaughter twin-stick shooter Tormentor X Punisher, and Gonner Blueberry Edition, a side-scrolling shooter about a drop of water and his whale friend Sally, updated with new content.
Beat the average price and you'll also snag Whispers of a Machine, a point-and-click adventure that I enjoyed quite a lot, the minimalist management game Kingdom, and the "expanded and much improved-on version" Kingdom: New Lands. Move up a tier to get Krillbyte's visually arresting daily grind simulator Mosaic, the taxi driving noir mystery Night Call, and the Viking-themed strategy game Bad North: Jotunn Edition. And finally, at the top tier you can wrap things up with Kingdom: Two Crowns, "a side-scrolling micro strategy game" that really quite good.
>> This new bundle will last 13 days.

GOG has a new sale and sees the release of two new games with discounts:

• The new Midweek Sale: Games to play with your friends brings up to 90% discounts until Saturday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20200729_midweek_sale
• And these are the two releases:
  • Synergia launches with a 10% discount until the 4th of August: https://www.gog.com/game/synergia
  • And Fury Unleashed gets a 25% discount until August 5: https://www.gog.com/game/fury_unleashed

Steam has four new deals, three of them "Midweek Madness":

• SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising is 50% off until August 3: https://store.steampowered.com/app/528230/SYNTHETIK_Legion_Rising/
• And these are the Midweek Madness:
  • Ravenfield, still in Early Access, is 50% off until Friday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/636480/Ravenfield/
  • Vampyr is 75% off until the same Friday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/427290/Vampyr/
  • And the last one is a Swiss Games Sale with up to 90% discounts until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SwissGamesSale

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster, 62% off during the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/s-w-i-n-e-hd-remaster
• And there's a new Neverwinter Nights Bundle, with the game and 4 DLCs with a 77% discount for the next 14 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neverwinter-nights-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Geralt looks much cooler when he's wielding a Minecraft sword
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-3-minecraft-sword/
Mods are great for a lot of things, but they're especially good at niche dream fulfilment. Case in point: what if Geralt of Rivera could roam the Continent with the blue-hued diamond sword from Minecraft? Well, you can stop fantasizing because a new mod lets you do that.
it's the work of modder milckywayy, and it does exactly the above and not a single thing else. If you've ever wanted to smite necrophages with a good 'ol blocky sword, now's your time to shine.
>> You can find it from Nexus Mods.

This Stardew Valley mod gives your farmer their own smartphone
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-stardew-valley-mod-gives-your-farmer-their-own-smartphone/
Stardew Valley's Pelican Town is a bit behind the times when it comes to technology—it's part of the sleepy community's charm! But, with aedenthorn's Mobile Phone mod, you now have access to a handy smartphone bringing you closer to the 21st century.
This mod adds a smartphone interface to the corner of your screen, giving you quick access to all the mobile's installed apps. The smartphone comes with a pre-installed phonebook that lets you chat with Pelican Town's friendly residents even from the furthest corners of your farm. Not everyone's number will be in the app, however, and you'll need to have at least four friendship hearts with a character before they appear. When you've reached that milestone you can then start bombarding them with calls throughout the day.

GAMING NEWS

Red Dead Redemption 2 Patch 1.20 “The Naturalist” is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/red-dead-redemption-2-patch-1-20-the-naturalist-is-now-available-for-download/
Rockstar has released a new massive update for Red Dead Redemption 2. According to the team, Patch 1.20 – also known as The Naturalist – comes with a huge range of gameplay fixes and tweaks. It also brings new content to Red Dead Online.

Bethesda has removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Prey
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bethesda-has-removed-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech-from-prey/
Bethesda has announced that it has removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from the Steam version of Prey. As such, the Steam version is now on par with the GOG version of Prey that came out in May 2020.

First-person survival horror game, Maid of Sker, has been released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-person-survival-horror-game-maid-of-sker-has-been-released/
Wales Interactive has announced that its first-person survival horror, Maid of Sker, is now available on Steam. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released the game’s launch trailer that you can find below.

Ghost Knight: A Dark Tale, Unreal Engine 4-powered 2.5D platformer, gets an official trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/ghost-knight-a-dark-tale-unreal-engine-4-powered-2-5d-platformer-gets-an-official-trailer/
In February 2020, we informed you about an upcoming 2.5D action platformer that will be using Unreal Engine 4, Ghost Knight: A Dark Tale. This game is being developed by one person, and you can find below a brand new gameplay trailer for it.

Asterix and Obelix XXL Romastered is coming to the PC on October 22nd
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/asterix-and-obelix-xxl-romastered-pc-october-22nd/
Microids has announced that a remaster for Asterix and Obelix XXL will release on the PC on October 22nd. As the press release reads, Asterix and Obelix XXL Romastered will offer up to date graphics, and an option to switch between the original game and the remastered visuals.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Closed Beta has been launched
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/microsoft-flight-simulator-closed-beta-has-been-launched/
Microsoft had previously stated that the open beta phase for Microsoft Flight Simulator will begin on July 30th. However, it appears that the Closed Beta for this highly anticipated PC game has already begun. Alpha insiders can already download build 1.6.13 (Closed Beta) and play it.

New Resident Evil Village details leaked: Weapons, Enemies, Inventory, Boss Fight & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-resident-evil-village-details-leaked-weapons-enemies-inventory-boss-fight-more/
It appears that some new details about the next part in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil Village, have surfaced online. These details originate from a recent Resident Evil Ambassador playtest. However, and since this is a leak, we strongly suggest everything you will read with a grain of salt.

Moon Studios, creators of Ori series, are working on a new action RPG
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/moon-studios-creators-of-ori-series-are-working-on-a-new-action-rpg/
Moon Studios has announced a new partnership deal with Private Division for a brand new game. According to the team, its next game will be an action RPG, aiming to set new standards to this specific genre.

Part two of the news:

Rainbow Six Siege's latest patch is delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/rainbow-six-sieges-latest-patch-is-delayed/
Rainbow Six Siege patch Y5S2.3, which buffs Gridlock, Orxy, and Fuze, has been delayed. It was set to go live today, but about an hour after it was scheduled to roll out, Ubisoft sent out a notification saying that "unforeseen circumstances" have forced it to be pushed back.

Horizon: Zero Dawn system requirements are finally here
https://www.pcgamer.com/horizon-zero-dawn-system-requirements/
After spending a few years as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, the robotic dinosaur hunting game Horizon: Zero Dawn is finally coming to PC on August 7. That's just over a week away, which doesn't leave much time to ensure that your PC is up to the task of running it. And what kind of rig will you need to pull it off? Now we know. The official system requirements are here.

Necrobarista will get 'several' chapters of free story and gameplay DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/necrobarista-will-get-several-chapters-of-free-story-and-gameplay-dlc/
(...) With the game out and apparently doing well for itself, developer Route 59 announced today that free DLC, including gameplay and story additions, is on the way.

Say hello to Killjoy, Valorant's next agent
https://www.pcgamer.com/say-hello-to-killjoy-valorants-next-agent/
Thanks to someone at Riot tripping and pressing a big red button, we have our first official look at Valorant's next agent: the turret-toting Killjoy. An introductory page written from Killjoy's perspective was briefly live on Riot's website with full explanations of their abilities.

Grounded and its awful spiders are out now on Steam Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/grounded-and-its-awful-spiders-are-out-now-on-steam-early-access/
Thank you, Obsidian, for Grounded's arachnophobia mode. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids-style survival game launched in Early Access yesterday, shooting to the top of the Steam charts and Twitch, and thankfully it already includes a way for you avoid becoming a blubbering mess at the sight of a giant spider.

Red Dead Online's new NPC will drug you if you kill animals
https://www.pcgamer.com/red-dead-onlines-new-npc-will-drug-you-if-you-kill-animals/
Red Dead Online's Naturalist update arrived yesterday, giving cowboys a new Frontier Pursuit to embark upon. You can work for conservationist Harriet Davenport, who wants to study and protect animals, and big game hunter Gus Macmillan, who just wants to turn them into nifty outfits. So far, it looks like the Red Dead Online community is Team Gus.

Frostpunk's final expansion is coming in August
https://www.pcgamer.com/frostpunks-final-expansion-is-coming-in-august/
On the Edge is the third and final expansion for Frostpunk, the chilly survival management game. The last expansion took us back to before the big freeze, but On the Edge is set after the base game. New London has survived, so it's time to expand with a new outpost in the frozen wilderness.

Wasteland 3 developer inXile is making a team-based VR shooter
https://www.pcgamer.com/wasteland-3-developer-inxile-is-making-a-team-based-vr-shooter/
RPG developer inXile Entertainment is taking an unexpected detour with its next game, a team-based VR shooter that's coming this year. Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds doesn't seem to have much in common with Wasteland, though it does sport a post-apocalyptic setting.

Geekbench: Intel Core i7-1165G7 dominates the Ryzen R7 4700U by 30% in single thread, multi-core falls 10% below best 4700U. Take it with massive grains of salt as we don't know the cooling, wattage and other info regarding the laptops these cpus were tested in.

R7 4700U 8 core 8 threads vs i7-1165G7 4 core 8 threads

ST : 1145 vs 1486 (+29.78%)
MT : 6505 vs 5827 (-10.42%)

R7 4700U vs i7-1165G7

ST : 1145 vs 1486 (+29.78%)
MT : 6505 vs 5827 (-10.42%)https://t.co/Pgrr2AsW7R

— _rogame 🇵🇸 (@_rogame) July 28, 2020

Intel’s 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU Spotted Running A PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD – First Intel CPU Platform To Support PCIe Gen 4.0

https://wccftech.com/intel-rocket-lake-desktop-cpu-11th-gen-pcie-gen-4-nvme-ssd-spotted/

ASUS Introduces The ROG Swift PG329Q Monitor: A 32″ Monitor With a 175 Hz Refresh Rate

"This monitor features support for DisplayHDR 600, which means that this monitor features some version of backlight local dimming with a peak brightness of 600 cd/m². Alongside the HDR 600 certification, this monitor features support for the DCI-P3 color gamut, with 98% being the quoted coverage. Also, this monitor features 10-bit color support.

The ROG Swift PG329Q monitor features a 1 ms response time is fantastic when paired with the 175 Hz refresh rate and the 2K resolution. "

https://wccftech.com/asus-introduces-rog-swift-gaming-pg329q-monitor-175-hz-refresh-rate/

Another confirmation: AMD Zen 3 ‘Ryzen 4000’ Desktop CPUs & RDNA 2 ‘Radeon RX Navi 2X’ GPUs On Track For 2020 Launch – EPYC Milan Ships Later This Year, 5nm Zen 4 in 2021

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-4000-zen-3-cpus-radeon-rx-navi-2x-rdna-2-gpus-on-track-late-2020-launch/

AMD does what Intel Don't

Sony patents tech similar to Nvidia's DLSS, could include it in PS5 consoles to achieve higher FPS counts in 4K games

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Sony-patents-tech-similar-to-Nvidia-s-DLSS-could-include-it-in-PS5-consoles-to-achieve-higher-FPS-counts-in-4K-games.483457.0.html

So with this patent and the fact that we know that the Series X has support for accelerated INT4/INT8 processing. RDNA2 should have a counterpart to DLSS with what I am assuming is probably gonna be Direct ML. The kicker is that according to digital foundry, the machine learning processing power on the Series X's GPU is about 50% slower than the 2060. And "A notional DLSS port would see AI upscaling take 5ms to complete, rather than a 2060's circa 2.5ms." It will be interesting to see how second generation Tensor Cores and 3rd generation DLSS in Ampere will perform against RDNA 2 and Direct ML/Sony's answer.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-image-reconstruction-death-stranding-face-off

Intel’s New EVO Branding Leaked, CORE Branding Getting Overhauled Too

https://wccftech.com/intel-evo-branding-core-overhauled/

Konami Open up Pre-Orders for First Gaming Desktop PCs

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/konami-open-up-preorders-for-first-gaming-desktop-pcs

"The Arespear C300 is equipped with an Intel Core i5-9400F processor with air cooling, 8GB of DDR4-2666 memory, a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650.

The C300 carries a price tag of 184,800 yen (~$1,760)"

There's a few more models that are also overpriced.

I saw that on GaF, an i7 9700 with RTX2070, in a horrible looking case for $3200 rofl

Best stick to Pachinko Konami xD

hinch said: I saw that on GaF, an i7 9700 with RTX2070, in a horrible looking case for $3200 rofl Best stick to Pachinko Konami xD

Ironically even apple offers better pricing in their imacs compared to that base model konami pc and Apple will give you a 27 inch screen to go with it.

Konami trying to sell low to mid range builds like it's Alienware, is nothing short of hilarious