Rocket Lake Redux: 0x34 Microcode Offers Small Performance Gains on Core i7-11700K

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16549/rocket-lake-redux-0x34-microcode-offers-small-performance-gains-on-core-i711700k

Still quite slower than 5800X however it will be interesting to see the performance by the time it launches. If all it will do is be on parity, unless they have really good prices at launch, it may be a flop as X570 is still a better platform overall than Z590.

Indeed, that is another approach, but still would require some investment in optimizing the chips layout.

eDRAM could have been off-chip but same package and built at a less congested 22nm node, so 14nm chip supplies wouldn't be impacted.
The eDRAM essentially functions as an L4 cache when the iGPU isn't using it.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060’s unhackable mining limiter has been hacked... By Nvidia...

"ComputerBase can confirm that only the beta driver GeForce 470.05 distributed by Nvidia to developers and via the Windows Insider Program ensures that the performance of the GeForce RTX 3060 in the Ethereum algorithm no longer drops. A BIOS update is not necessary."

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-470-05-driver-confirmed-to-remove-geforce-rtx-3060-eth-mining-limiter

Let's do the Monday news, shall we?

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG starts the week with three new sales and a new release:

• The new Weekly Sale comes with up to 85% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210315_weekly_sale
• Publisher Crunching Koalas puts its games up to 80% off during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/crunching_koalas
• There's a special Dungeons & Dragons Sale with up to 75% discounts during the next 5 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/dnd_alphacast
• And the game Aground launches on the store with a 25% discount until March 22: https://www.gog.com/game/aground

Steam has two new daily deals:

• Beasts of Bermuda, still in Early Access, is 33% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/719890/Beasts_of_Bermuda/
• And Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing is 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/410340/Liftoff_FPV_Drone_Racing/

The Humble Store has a Jackbox Games Sale, with up to 50% discounts during th next 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/jackbox-games-sale/

And Fanatical is doing a Spring Sale Encore with lots of deals on a flash sale for the next 24 hours. Check them out before it ends!

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This 6.5GB Mod for Final Fantasy XI overhauls around 240,000 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-6-5gb-mod-for-final-fantasy-xi-overhauls-around-240000-textures/
Modder ‘AshenbubsHD’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Final Fantasy XI that overhauls around 240,000 textures. AshenbubsHD comes in two versions, uses AI techniques in order to enhance the game’s vanilla textures, and you can download it right now.
Going into more details, the two versions that are currently available are the Prime and the Basic versions. The Prime version upscales all textures by four times, whereas the Basic version updates them by two times.
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

Resident Evil Retold remakes RE2 in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation’s Engine
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/resident-evil-retold-remakes-re2-in-tomb-raider-the-last-revelations-engine/
Tomb Raider modder ‘Zellphie’ has created a fan remake of Resident Evil 2 in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation’s Engine. According to the modder, Resident Evil Retold is more of a re-imagination than a remake, and there is a demo you can download for it.
Resident Evil REtold features some puzzles and enemies to shoot, as well as some of the game’s iconic locations. Furthermore, this fan game uses a third-person perspective and Claire moves like Lara Croft.
Additionally, this fan game features Valerie Harmon from Resident Evil Resistance. Moreover, it has a subplot involving Brian Irons and a red Queen-Esque camera system.
>> It's beyond weird, there's a video in the article to see how the demo is, and, if you're interested, you'll find it at Deviantart.

New gameplay footage surfaces for Alien: Hope for the future
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-footage-surfaces-for-alien-hope-for-the-future/
IIapagokc and a team of indie devs have released a new gameplay video for the upcoming Alien fan game, Alien: Hope for the future. My guess is that this gameplay video showcases the game’s latest build.
Alien: Hope for the future is an Immersive sim project with elements of survival-horror and tactics. This isn’t a commercial game, meaning that it will be distributed for free to everyone once it’s complete.
The story of the game takes place in “Hadly’s Hope” colony , before and during the xenomorph incident. Therefore, players will assume the role of one of the colonists. Players will have to survive by finding some supplies for them and other colonists. Players will also be able to avoid or fight xenomorphs.

This Stardew Valley mod lets you have a best friend instead of a wife
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-stardew-valley-mod-lets-you-have-a-best-friend-instead-of-a-wife/
If you're aromantic, relationships in games can sometimes be an unwelcome addition. Either that, or you want to experience the full offerings of each character arc without having to wine and dine them all. Or y'know, you're bitterly single. Well thankfully, Stardew Valley has a mod that lets you toggle platonic relationships with your fellow Pelican Town residents (thanks, PCGamesN).
Amaranthacyan's Platonic Partners and Friendships Mod allows you to fully change the extent of your relationships with each of the 12 default marriage candidates. You can set the candidates as marriage options, life partners, or simply best friends. The mod also tweaks a ton of the romantic dialogue where appropriate, reduces the use of the blushing portrait, and lets you designate what label you'd like to the relationship to have. There's also the option to choose your own term of endearment, and even an asexuality mode which removes suggestive comments made by platonic partners.
>> You'll find it at Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is coming to PC on March 26th, PC requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crash-bandicoot-4-its-about-time-is-coming-to-pc-on-march-26th-pc-requirements-revealed/
Activision has announced that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time will release on the PC on March 26th. In addition, the publisher has revealed the game’s official PC system requirements.

Deathloop’s Game Director shares new details
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/deathloops-game-director-shares-new-details/
(...)
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Game Director Dinga Bakaba shared some new information regarding the game. First of all, Deathloop is going to feel similar to Dishonored, but also very different. Some powers will be quite similar, while some other powers will feel completely unique.

Century: Age of Ashes get an official gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/century-age-of-ashes-get-an-official-gameplay-trailer/
Century: Age of Ashes is an upcoming Early Access free-to-play multiplayer game from Playwing LTD. The game features fast-paced gameplay in intense arena battles.

Latest Overwatch Patch adds support for NVIDIA Reflex, reducing latency by up to 50%
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/latest-overwatch-patch-adds-support-for-nvidia-reflex-reducing-latency-by-up-to-50/
Blizzard has released a new patch for Overwatch on its Public Test Server that adds support for NVIDIA’s Reflex tech. NVIDIA calls it the best integration of NVIDIA Reflex to date, as the game is experiencing up to a whopping 50% reduction in system latency.

Outriders gets an official animated trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/outriders-gets-an-official-animated-trailer/
Square Enix and People Can Fly recently released a trailer for their upcoming game Outriders. The animated trailer shows the events that took place before the beginning of the game, and how the Outriders became humankind’s last hope.

Watch Dogs Legion will support crossplay via a future update
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/watch-dogs-legion-will-support-crossplay-via-a-future-update/
Ubisoft has announced that Watch Dogs Legion will support cross-play and cross-gen play via a future update. Thanks to crossplay, gamers will be able to play with their friends that are on different platforms.

Crysis Remastered March 14th Hotfix disables Motion Blur, fixes DLSS issues
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crysis-remastered-march-14th-hotfix-disables-motion-blur-tweaks-dlss/
Crytek has just released a new hotfix patch for Crysis Remastered. According to the team, the March 14th Hotfix temporarily disables Motion Blur (as that setting is currently broken) and fixes an issue that caused DLSS to be disabled even on DLSS-capable systems.

Ronin: Samurai Redemption PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ronin-samurai-redemption-pc-requirements/
Earlier this month, we informed you about a new story-driven action/combat adventure game, Ronin: Samurai Redemption. And today, CreativeForge Games revealed the game’s official PC requirements.

Techland will share dev update for Dying Light 2 on Wednesday, but not a release date
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/techland-dev-update-dying-light-2-no-release-date/
Last week, Techland revealed that it will share some new development updates for Dying Light 2 on March 17th. However, and according to its official Discord channel, there won’t be any release date announcement.

Wild West Dynasty is a new realistic first-person Wild West game, coming to PC in 2022
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/wild-west-dynasty-is-a-new-realistic-first-person-wild-west-game-coming-to-pc-in-2022/
Toplitz Productions and Virtual Magic Games have announced a new realistic first-person Wild West game, Wild West Dynasty. Wild West Dynasty promises to feature a story mode with interesting twists and hundreds of missions, and targets a 2022 release date on PC.

Part two of the Monday news:

This upcoming slime farming game has strong Stardew Valley energy
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-upcoming-slime-farming-game-has-strong-stardew-valley-energy/
Cute-looking village life sim Alchemic Cutie has been flying under the radar for a couple years in development, but now Microsoft have snapped it up as a timed exclusive for PC and Xbox, giving it a July 27 release date. Alchemic Cutie invites you to Wimba Island, a wholesome-looking place where you'll catch, tame, and breed wild jellies, practice some alchemical magic, and meet the various villagers that live there. The energy of Slime Rancher with the setting of Stardew Valley? Might just be. The bright, saturated environments are full of cheer, and it seems charming at first glance. Plus a bit more coherent than Ooblets, with its all-out silliness.

Valheim players are industrializing the slaughter of its most hated monsters
https://www.pcgamer.com/valheim-players-are-industrializing-the-slaughter-of-its-most-hated-monsters/
Valheim players have spent 185 million hours exploring its surprisingly large world, but already some are moving onto the next stage of Viking colonialism: exploiting the land and its resources in the most disturbing ways possible. Instead of killing monsters for their resources, some players have invented nightmarish death machines that do all the hard work for them. It's as clever as it is cruel.

Girls kill aliens with chainsaws in co-op brawler Chenso Club
https://www.pcgamer.com/girls-kill-aliens-with-chainsaws-in-co-op-brawler-chenso-club/
What's better than a cute, 2D, roguelite platformer? A cute, 2D roguelite platformer that involves killing aliens with chainsaws. That's Chenso Club, a side-scrolling cooperative brawler coming this fall. The titular club is a bunch of androids, schoolgirls, and other warriors who are using the invading aliens' dangerous life force—which gives motion to inanimate objects—to fight back.

Despot's Game is a roguelike autobattler about refrigerators, pretzels, and dark gods
https://www.pcgamer.com/despots-game-is-a-roguelike-autobattler-about-refrigerators-pretzels-and-dark-gods/
Sad, naked humans wake up in an underground facility and have to fight for their lives. No, it's not what happens in my basement every weekend, it's the upcoming roguelike autobattler and tactics of Despot's Game. It's something new for the autobattler, a clever-looking procedurally generated PvE puzzle that forces your hand to try out new strategies as the enemy mix changes, rather than just building for a meta against other people.

Crusader Kings 3 is heading north for its first DLC, coming next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-is-heading-north-for-its-first-dlc-coming-next-week/
Paradox has revealed Crusader Kings 3's first bit of DLC, which will be good news for anyone wanting even more Vikings in their lives, and bad news for anyone hoping this would be the first expansion. Instead, it's a 'flavor pack', which is a bit slimmer than an expansion, but also cheaper.

Surviving Mars returns with a new developer, a free update and more DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/surviving-mars-returns-with-a-new-developer-a-free-update-and-more-dlc/
After a couple of years with no notable updates, Surviving Mars has unexpectedly sprung back to life, with the red planet under new management. Abstraction has taken the reins from Haemimont Games, and with the change comes a new update, DLC and expansion plans. Mars is getting busy again.

Thwart an evil AI, or betray your friends, in the First Class Trouble playtest
https://www.pcgamer.com/thwart-an-evil-ai-or-betray-your-friends-in-the-first-class-trouble-playtest/
Upcoming social deduction party game First Class Trouble is running a playtest via Steam right now ahead of its Early Access launch later this month. Developers Invisible Walls have also rolled out a retro-style PSA about life aboard the giant space liner where the game is set. In First Class Trouble players are either humans trying to shut down a murderous artificial intelligence or humanoid robots intent on murdering everyone else before they can do that. It's your classic social deduction setup.

Robot Lord Rising is co-op tactics in 30 second bursts
https://www.pcgamer.com/robot-lord-rising-is-a-co-op-tactical-game-in-30-second-bursts/
We don't get enough good cooperative tactics games. We also don't get enough real-time tactics games. Well, Swedish indie developers Limit Break are solving my problems with Robot Lord Rising, an upcoming arena battle game where you use a deck of action cards to program your heroes in fast-paced battles against monstrous robot bosses.

Stellaris: Nemesis will be out in April if you want to watch the galaxy burn
https://www.pcgamer.com/stellaris-nemesis-release-date/
If you enjoy seeing fleets of spaceships translating in and out of hyperspace with a big old whoosh I heartily recommend the new trailer for the Nemesis expansion for Stellaris. First announced in February with another flashy trailer, Nemesis will be the add-on for you if you want your sci-fi strategy to come with an endgame challenge—in this case, a choice between becoming a Custodian who unites the galaxy against a single threat, or a Menace who embodies that threat.

Europa Universalis 4: Leviathan will add options for diplomacy, and 'playing tall'
https://www.pcgamer.com/europa-universalis-4-leviathan-will-add-options-for-diplomacy-and-playing-tall/
During today's Paradox Insider event, Johan Andersson—the studio manager of Paradox Tinto, which opened last year—caught us up on what's coming with this month's Leviathan expansion for Europa Universalis 4.

There are so many news today that I've had to split them into three posts:

Total War: Warhammer 2's next free DLC is a dark elf lord with a 'Whip of Agony'
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-2s-next-free-dlc-is-a-dark-elf-lord-with-a-whip-of-agony/
In advance of the final add-on we're expecting for Total: War Warhammer 2, Creative Assembly has announced the next of its regular free DLC updates will be a new legendary lord for the dark elf faction.

Be a cloud and ruin everyone's day in Rain on Your Parade
https://www.pcgamer.com/be-a-cloud-and-ruin-everyones-day-in-rain-on-your-parade/
Here's a standout comedy bit among the upcoming slate of indie games: Rain on Your Parade. You're a cute, weird little cardboard cloud whose job is to ruin everyone's day. It's a "schadenfreude simulator" driven by making the lives of cute little digital people miserable. As the cloud, you rain, snow, acid rain, tornado, meteor shower, and more on the people of the town across a bunch of varied environments.

In this bullet hell your time limit is also your health bar
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-this-bullet-hell-your-time-limit-is-also-your-health-bar/
In a special twist on the punishing nature of the bullet hell, Godstrike is a twin-stick shooter where your time limit on each boss is also your health bar and the currency you spent to active your powers. Get hit? Now you've got less time to win. Want to use your sweet alternate weapon? It better be worth the time that power costs you.

Forget farming games, Apico is about the art of beekeeping
https://www.pcgamer.com/forget-farming-games-apico-is-about-the-art-of-beekeeping/
Okay so we've all done farming and factories and the like to death, but you know what we haven't been doing enough of? Hardcore beekeeping. I mean hardcore too. Like what's the details on beautiful, emerald green orchid bees, or even just regular garden variety honeybees? Why are they all so pretty? How can I get more of them and have them live in little cozy hives?

EA confirms 'one or more EA accounts' is behind the FIFA 21 trading scandal
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-confirms-one-or-more-ea-accounts-is-behind-the-fifa-21-trading-scandal/
Several days ago the hashtag #EAGate began trending on Twitter as multiple people shared evidence suggesting an employee of EA had been profiting from FIFA Ultimate Team by selling icons—in-game star players—for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. EA announced that an investigation was underway, and now has provided an update on its progress, confirming, "It appears that one or more EA accounts, which were either compromised or being used inappropriately by someone within EA, directly entitled items to these individual accounts."

The theme for the new Ninja Turtles game is sung by Mike Patton from Faith No More
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-theme-for-the-new-ninja-turtles-game-is-sung-by-mike-patton-from-faith-no-more/
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a sidescrolling brawler currently in the works from Tribute Games, a studio founded by ex-Ubisoft staff who worked on games like of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and TMNT for the Game Boy Advance. It debuted with a trailer that features a version of the theme song from the late-1980s Ninja Turtles cartoon, and yes, it's being sung by Mike Patton, the prolific singer from Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and like 20 other bands.

House Flipper is getting pets, because why not
https://www.pcgamer.com/house-flipper-is-getting-pets-because-why-not/
(...)
Anyway, House Flipper is getting a big pets expansion. That means once you've made your old ruin sparkling clean you can populate it with dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, parrots and hamsters. The dogs and cats even have up to ten different breeds. House Flipper has gone animal flippin' mad.

Devotion is finally available to buy after two years in limbo
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-2-years-in-limbo-taiwanese-horror-devotion-is-available-to-buy-digitally/
Released in February 2019 to universal praise, Taiwanese horror Devotion only spent a matter of days on Steam before it was removed due to a controversial depiction of Chinese president Xi Jinping. Since then it's had a super limited physical release unavailable outside Taiwan, and GOG almost released it last year but then didn't, due to receiving "many messages from gamers."
The good news is that the game is now available digitally, direct from studio Red Candle Games. Devotion is available for $17 for both Windows and Mac, or you can add the soundtrack for a total of $20.68. The studio's previous horror Detention is also available on the site, and it's all DRM-free.

Apex Legends accidentally nerfed its gassiest heroes
https://www.pcgamer.com/apex-legends-accidentally-nerfed-its-gassiest-heroes/
Apex Legends' new collection event seems to have unintentionally screwed over the game's smokiest legends, prompting Respawn to investigate exactly what happened to the game's effects.

Fall Guys' futuristic Season 4 trailer hints at Among Us collaboration
https://www.pcgamer.com/fall-guys-futuristic-season-4-trailer-hints-at-among-us-collaboration/
Fall Guys is falling face-first into the far future later this month, as Season 4 brings the bean stumblers tumbling into a world of neon-tinted new challenges.
A sci-fi twist on Mediatonic's fumble royale was teased late last week. Now, we've got a fuller look at the synth-tracked cyberscape that'll greet us on March 22nd—anti-gravity fields, guy-sized pinball walls, and retractable bridges being just some of the obstacles featured in the season's seven new stages.

Since I turn off motion blur in most games, I "accidently" already fixed that problem without the hotfix.

Well, with that and the 6700XT being worse at mining that the 5700XT, AMD could actually manage to get some cards in the hands of consumers.

So I decided to join the Dark Side and gave mining a try mainly cause I am the only one that is able to stay at home for work and I'd rather not use the space heater if I can get away with it. Dw, I won't start hoarding GPUs and building mining rigs loll.

So I am using nicehash and it's been quite easy. You install the software, attach your mining wallet, get a pay out to your wallet every 3 hours and then you can with draw to your own btc wallet once you get more than 0.001 btc. The GPUs don't require much frequency in core clocks but it seems that the higher the bandwidth in VRAM, the better. With the optimized settings from nicehash software my Core Clocks are about 1ghz on my Strix 3080 and the memory clock is about 2500mhz.

Now as you can imagine, the GPU temps are quite low always sitting around 55C but the VRAM temps are quite high usually 88 sometimes to 98 then goes back down to 88. You can customize the tuning to your liking but the odds are that the Vram temps are gonna stay high if you want a good MH/s rate.

Hash Rate is about 96 MH/s for my Strix 3080. Because overclocking won't actually do anything, it's probably about the same for most 3080s.

As for my laptops. The 2070 laptop gets about 36MH/s and 2060 MaxQ gets about 26 MH/s