The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has a new sale and a new release:

• To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 2 and the 6th of The Witcher 3, they've put a The Witcher Sale, with all the games of the series (and Cyberpunk 2077) on sale, up to 85% off during the next 6 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/witcher_2_anniversary_sale
• Coinciding with that, the The Witcher Goodies Collection is free to grab during the next 48 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_goodies_collection
• And the new release is Siege Survival: Gloria Victis, 20% off until May 25: https://www.gog.com/game/siege_survival_gloria_victis

Steam has a new daily deal and the new weeklong deals:

• The new daily deal is Dungreed, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/753420/Dungreed/
• And here are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Tear and the Library of Labyrinths is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1378040/Tear_and_the_Library_of_Labyrinths/
  • Zenge has a 35% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/461840/Zenge/
  • Daymare: 1998, that has a demo, is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/842100/Daymare_1998/
  • Truberbrook / Trüberbrook is 65% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/757300/Truberbrook__Trberbrook/
  • Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/606710/Sphinx_and_the_Cursed_Mummy/
  • And MXGP - The Official Motocross Videogame features a 85% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/256370/MXGP__The_Official_Motocross_Videogame/

Fanatical's new Star Deal is Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Ultimate Edition, 81% off during the next 48 hours. The keys are for UPlay, of course: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/assassin-s-creed-odyssey-ultimate-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.5.2 released, optimized for Days Gone
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-21-5-2-released-optimized-for-days-gone/
AMD has released a brand new driver for its graphics cards. According to the red team, the AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.5.2 driver offers optimal performance in Days Gone. It also adds support for Microsoft DirectX 12 Agility SDK and Microsoft Shader Model 6.6.
As always, this new driver also comes with a number of bug fixes. For instance, it resolves some shadow corruption issues on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics in Cyberpunk 2077 when ray tracing is enabled. It also fixes a Radeon Software crash when Record & Stream tab is in use and a display is hot plugged.
>> Available from here.

NVIDIA GeForce 466.47 WHQL driver released, optimized for Days Gone
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-geforce-466-47-whql-driver-released-optimized-for-days-gone/
Earlier today, AMD released its optimized driver for Days Gone. And a couple of hours ago, NVIDIA released its own optimized driver for this Playstation exclusive game that is currently available on PC.
As NVIDIA noted, this new Game Ready Driver provides support for the launch of Days Gone on PC with increased levels of detail, higher foliage draw distances, native 4K rendering, a configurable field of view, ultra-wide monitor support, unlocked frame rates, and more. Additionally, this release also provides optimal support for Knockout City.
>> Available from here.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This 3GB Mod for The Witcher 3 overhauls all of its humans & humanoids
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/this-3gb-mod-for-the-witcher-3-overhauls-all-of-its-humans-humanoids/
Modder ‘dbd17’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for The Witcher 3 that overhauls the textures of all humans and humanoids. This mod is around 3GB in size, comes in three parts, and uses AI techniques in order to enhance the game’s textures.
As the modder noted, Humanoids include all non-humans, elves, dwarves & nymphs (lady of the lake), but also monsters who use human bodies like the succubus and the crones in their “beauty” forms.
The first part of the mod overhauls all male characters and modifies around 356 files. The second part is for the female characters. This part gives you the option to download a shaved version, a trimmed version, and a bushy version. In short, yes, there are naked ladies with realistic anatomy. The third and last part is for the children.
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

Mass Effect Legendary Edition May 17th Update Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/mass-effect-legendary-edition-may-17th-update-fully-detailed/
As we’ve informed you back on May 1st, Mass Effect Legendary Edition would be getting a day-1 update. While Electronic Arts and Bioware did not share its full changelog back then, they did share it yesterday. Thus, it’s time to see what changes and improvements this day-1 patch brings to the table.

More Battlefield 2021/Battlefield 6 screenshots got leaked online
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/more-battlefield-2021-battlefield-6-screenshots-got-leaked-online/
A number of new screenshots from Battlefield 2021/Battlefield 6 have been leaked online. From the looks of it, these screenshots are from the game’s announcement trailer. They are also of low quality so you’ll have a difficult time distinguishing some of their details.

Chivalry 2 cross-play open beta phase begins on May 27th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/chivalry-2-cross-play-open-beta-phase-begins-on-may-27th/
Torn Banner Studios announced the first details for the upcoming Chivalry 2 Cross-Play Open Beta program. Scheduled to begin on May 27th and ending on June 1st at 11:00am (EDT), the Chivalry 2 Cross-Play Open Beta will be available for free to all players on PC via Epic Games Store.

No Man’s Sky Expeditions Patch 3.40 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-expeditions-patch-3-40-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Hello Games has released a brand new update for No Man’s Sky Expeditions. According to the release notes, Patch 3.40 adds the second Expedition, Beachhead, to the game. Moreover, it adds a new class of procedural upgrade module for the starship Launch Thrusters.

No Man’s Sky, Everspace 2 and more will support NVIDIA’s DLSS tech
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/no-mans-sky-everspace-2-and-more-will-support-nvidias-dlss-tech/
NVIDIA has announced that nine games are either launching with DLSS or adding it for players via updates this month. According to the green team, more than 50 games currently support its DLSS tech, and that number will increase over the next months.

Tuesday news, part two:

Terraria celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a new world seed and bug fixes
https://www.pcgamer.com/terraria-celebrates-its-10-year-anniversary-with-a-new-world-seed-and-bug-fixes/
This year marks the tenth anniversary of survival-exploration-crafting adventure Terraria, which has sold a whopping 35 million copies to date. After developer Re-Logic added full Steam Workshop support for your custom maps, music packs and resources back in March, May 16, Terraria's actual birthday, called for a proper celebration.

Final Fantasy-inspired card battler Pixel Tactics is coming to PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-inspired-card-battler-pixel-tactics-is-coming-to-pc/
Pixel Tactics Online is a digital adaptation of a videogame-inspired physical card battler from Level 99 Games, and it's releasing on Steam this summer. (So it'll be a videogame inspired by a card game that was inspired by videogames.)

This cool safecracking sim teaches you how locks really work
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-cool-safecracking-sim-teaches-you-how-locks-really-work/
There's no counting how many locks I've picked and safes I've cracked in games. Thousands, probably. But picking a lock or opening a safe is usually accomplished by a simplistic little minigame that doesn't have much to do with how locks really work.
Sophie's Safecracking Simulator, on the other hand, not only lets you break into safes but teaches you how combination locks actually function. Even if you have some idea about what goes on inside a lock, this sim will make you an expert on levers, cams, wheel gates, pins, flies, and contact points, and it'll teach you the enjoyable (if painstaking) process of figuring out a lock's combination and getting the goodies inside.

A free Chivalry 2 open beta starts next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-free-chivalry-2-open-beta-starts-next-week/
Medieval combat game Chivalry 2 will open its doors to all next week in a free open beta test that's set to begin on May 27. The test will support full crossplay between PC and consoles, with new maps, modes, customization options, and—exclusively on PC—the option to join special 1v1 "Duel Servers" where players can hone their skills or settle their beefs.

Leaks suggest Rainbow Six Siege's next operator is a new kind of healer
https://www.pcgamer.com/leaks-suggest-rainbow-six-sieges-next-operator-is-a-new-kind-of-healer/
Ubisoft has begun sharing tiny details about Rainbow Six Siege's next season, starting with a name: North Star. Information is scarce so far, but we know from February's Year 6 reveal that the next operator will hail from the Nakoda Nation, an indigenous people located in western Canada. The North Star key art shared by Ubi features a heli based on a real air and sea rescue helicopter used by the Canadian Forces (the AgustaWestland CH-149 Cormorant, for you copter-heads).

Epic Games sues AR company Nreal for trademark violation
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-sues-ar-company-nreal-for-trademark-violation/
Epic Games has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Nreal, saying (you may have already figured this out) that its use of the name Nreal Light for its upcoming mixed reality glasses comes a little too close for comfort to its multiple "Unreal" trademarks.

JRPG fans are excited for a new English fan translation of a 'Trails' game unreleased in the west
https://www.pcgamer.com/jrpg-fans-are-excited-for-a-new-english-fan-translation-of-a-trails-game-unreleased-in-the-west/
Ten years after it was released in Japan, Nihon Falcom RPG The Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki is getting an English translation from a well-respected fan translation group named Geofront. The translation, being released under the English title Trails to Azure, is years in the making, and finally releasing on Saturday, May 22.

Warner Bros Interactive will reportedly be split up following merger
https://www.pcgamer.com/warner-bros-interactive-will-reportedly-be-split-up-following-merger/
AT&T https://about.att.com/story/2021/warnermedia_discovery.html">announced earlier today that it will spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery in a $43 billion deal that will result in the creation of a new "premier, standalone global entertainment company" that will compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+. According to IGN, the deal will affect the videogame scene, too.
>> *Sigh* It would have been better for all if they have sold it a couple years ago.

Golden Light's new 'Meat Royale' is basically Silent Hill deathmatch in David Lynch's toilet
https://www.pcgamer.com/golden-lights-new-meat-royale-is-basically-silent-hill-deathmatch-in-david-lynchs-toilet/
Golden Light was already one of my favorite new games of 2020, a horror roguelike where shape-shifting meat monsters harass you in a grimy, surreal universe. Learn more about the base game in my impressions from last year, but skim the Steam page too. It's received a ton of updates since then, with new biomes, NPCs, balance changes, and even a co-op mode. Neato.

The Sims 4 roadmap shows off new packs, base game updates and events
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-4-roadmap-shows-off-new-packs-base-game-updates-and-events/
The Sims team has announced a roadmap for The Sims 4 over the next few months, including a new game pack, expansion pack, and base game updates.
Dubbed the Summer of Sims, the roadmap outlines some pretty vague additions coming to the game in May, June, and July. It mentions a new kit pack, which comes out later today in the form of the Courtyard Oasis Kit. There's also a "creative new game pack" in the pipeline, featuring a new career. A future expansion pack is in the works too, and the only hint we have is that its content is related to nature.

Genshin Impact finally adds two-factor authentication
https://www.pcgamer.com/genshin-impact-finally-adds-two-factor-authentication/
Getting your game account hacked always sucks, but in a game like Genshin Impact, getting hacked means losing characters and items you spent not only time, but potentially also your hard-earned money on. Soon after the game took off, players started asking for two-factor authentication (2FA) to be added, a standard measure to protect accounts by sending a verification code to your email address upon login.

Oculus top brass, Hugo Barra, departs Facebook
https://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-top-brass-hugo-barra-departs-facebook/
Hugo Barra, VP of Facebook Reality Labs and partnerships for Oculus and Facebook, has left the company. At the company since 2017, Barra oversaw the development of the Oculus Go, Quest, and Quest 2, the company's most successful headset to date.
>> How many people have left Oculus?

Overwatch's 5th anniversary is here and fans are loving the new skins
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatchs-5th-anniversary-is-here-and-fans-are-loving-the-new-skins/
Overwatch is celebrating its fifth anniversary later this month, and with it, the annual anniversary event is returning. As always there are new skins, and players are already loving the three legendaries that Blizzard has revealed.
>> Only 5? I thought it was older than that.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, which lets you leave your ship and walk on planets, now has a release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-odyssey-which-lets-you-leave-your-ship-and-walk-on-planets-now-has-a-release-date/
The Odyssey expansion for space sim Elite Dangerous has been in alpha for five weeks, and we've had mixed feelings. I questioned whether adding humans to the game was a good idea, and Nat had a rough time. But that's what an alpha is for—to see what works and what doesn't. And when the expansion is finally released to everyone on May 19 this year, you can expect (well, hopefully) a much more polished and refined experience.

FIFA 21 adds murdered teenage footballer 15 years later
https://www.pcgamer.com/fifa-21-adds-murdered-teenage-footballer-15-years-later/
In a touching tribute, EA has added Queens Park Rangers hopeful Kiyan Prince to the FIFA 21 roster, 15 years on the day after he was stabbed to death trying to break up a fight at school. Kiyan had signed up as a QPR youth player in 2004, and the club had planned to sign him as a professional.

Total War: Warhammer 3 shows off the ice-wielding, bear-crazy Kislev
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-3-shows-off-the-ice-wielding-bear-crazy-kislev/
The latest Total War: Warhammer 3 trailer dropped today, showing off the bear-wielding, tough-as-nails Kislev race.
We've already seen glimpses of Kislev from the initial reveal trailer and a sweet cinematic trailer from last week. There's more to decipher here though, as well as a better look at the accompanying bear army and Kislev's Ice Queen, Katarin. The Russia-adjacent race can be seen riding bears into battle, with their furry companions also getting quite chompy with the enemy. Katarin is also here, with a frighteningly gigantic elemental bear and making use of the new Lore of Ice magic.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950XT & Ryzen 5 5600XT ‘Zen 3’ Refresh Desktop CPUs Possibly Sighted, Up To 5.0 GHz Clocks

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-9-5950xt-ryzen-5-5600xt-zen-3-refresh-desktop-cpus-possibly-sighted-up-to-5-0-ghz-clocks/

So 100 Mhz boost similar to last year if true. Probably means that the non XT versions will get discounted as well in preparation for Alder Lake. Hopefully 5900X and 5800X will get discounted as well.

NVIDIA announces GeForce RTX 30 Lite Hash Rate (LHR) series with cryptomining limiter

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-announces-geforce-rtx-30-lite-hash-rate-lhr-series-with-cryptomining-limiter

We will see how round 2 goes but hopefully with the recent mining crash and now this, the cryto boom will die down... Until the next gpu launch T_T

DLSS is the gift that keeps on giving. Especially now that VR titles are starting to implement it as well. Turing continues to age like fine wine during this horrid shortage as well:

I also like how Nvidia continues to use AMD cpus for their charts. Truly the perfect pairing.

5600XT is pretty meh (assuming its real). The 5950XT looks like an okay update and has 72MB cache :o

Though looking at the clock speed/s seems more like a re release rather than refresh.

*Realistically* speaking, which is the best GPU I can acquire in the US for ~$500-600 assuming I'm willing to wait no more than three months?

If you want 30 minutes of entertainment, GN and Dell has you covered

Quite a number of yikes moments. Now personally, I do buy Dell products such as their XPS 17 laptop which has been fap worthy and occasionally look into Alienware laptops as well. The main reason is that Dell often has sales which you can stack 10% off  coupons on top of as well as stack an additional 8-15% cash back on top of. With that being said though, there's a good reason why I never looked into their prebuilts and this show cases why people should stay away. Also double check what they charge you for billing.

Hot Chips 33 (2021) Schedule Announced: Alder Lake, IBM Z, Sapphire Rapids, Ponte Vecchio

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16688/hot-chips-33-2021-schedule-announced-alder-lake-ibm-z-sapphire-rapids-ponte-vecchio

The main one to look forward to will be this one:

Given the current shitshow that crypto mining has caused, I'm affraid that you'll have a hard time finding something good. Maybe, and only maybe, some cards from a couple gens ago or from the 16xx family.

But well, maybe the worst of the craze is over and, with the help of the HR limited cards, you'll find better deals "soon".

*Edit*

Forget that, Yuri is clearly better at finding good deals around.

Depends on your priorities but a 3070 Ti will be released soon for most likely $600 and when new GPUs do get released, they do intend to stay around MSRP for the initial release before going up in price. So if you are fast enough, you may be able to but it's quite hard. If you are willing to wait, thanks to the recent mining crash which was a big one and the new mining limiters coming into place as well as both Nvidia and AMD continuing to ramp up their GPUs, it *could* start going back to normal MSRP.

But assuming everything stays the same and we go by newegg.com, your best GPU would probably be a 3060 Ti. It's 2-5% behind the 6700XT and 8-10% behind the 3070. It performs faster than 2080 Super and it has great Ray Tracing performance + DLSS as well as other goodies that comes with Nvidia GPUs. But it has 8GB of Vram if you think that's important.

On newegg, a 3060 Ti is priced as low as $400 but that version is probably not gonna be in stock. Majority are priced round $500-$650 at the new 2021 MSRP.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=3060Ti

If you don't like Nvidia, your next bet would probably be the 6700XT. It can sometimes go toe to toe or even beat the 3070 in some AMD sponsored games but more often than not, between a 3060 Ti and a 3070 in Raster (sometimes closer to a 3060 Ti). It has 12GB of Vram and it is Ray Tracing capable. You will probably get Super Resolution when that comes out but I'd rather not buy GPUs based on future promises. However AMD AIB prices, least on newegg, are royally goofed. So you are better waiting for their upcoming 6600XT or 6700 and see how those fair. I think a 3060 Ti will beat a 6700 in non AMD sponsored titles but we will see.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=6700

Also Bestbuy follows a similar trend to newegg where when in stock, the 3060 Ti cards are 2021 versions of affordably priced around $400-$600

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?st=3060+Ti&_dyncharset=UTF-8&_dynSessConf=&id=pcat17071&type=page&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=&sp=&qp=&list=n&af=true&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&keys=keys

Where as the 6700XT is horribly priced

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?st=6700&_dyncharset=UTF-8&_dynSessConf=&id=pcat17071&type=page&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=&sp=&qp=&list=n&af=true&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&keys=keys