4k 60 monitors have been cheap for a while. 4k gaming monitors are the ones that are still fairly expensive but they are starting to come down in price with some 4k 144hz costing $600 if I remember correctly.

Yea, a 3060 Ti isn't a 4k card per say even though it's performance is quite nutty for it's price but DLSS/TAA Upscaling and FSR would help it a lot if you are thinking about it. Imo, try getting one with G-sync or Freesync as there are a number of low cost 4k 60hz monitors that have those types of adaptive sync technology. If you do decide on a Freesync one, I'd check Nvidia's G-sync compatibility list to see if it's on there to make sure it works properly.

IMHO a WQHD-monitor with 100+ Hz would still be better than a 4K monitor with 60 Hz.

Here are the Monday news, all in one post:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has two new sales:

• The new Weekly Sale brings up to 90% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210802_weekly_sale
• And there's a Special Sale with Frogwares' games up to 80% off during the next 14 days, until August 16: https://www.gog.com/promo/frogwares_summer

Steam has two new deals:

• The new daily deal is Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure, 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364100/Lacuna__A_SciFi_Noir_Adventure/
• And the game Main Assembly will be 50% off until August 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1078920/Main_Assembly/

The guys at Humble have several new deals:

• There's a new Humble Bundle: the RPG Heroes Bundle, with up to 6 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/rpg-heroes-bundle
• And the Humble Store has four new sales:
  • The Two Point Hospital Sale brings up to 75% discounts on the game and DLCs during the next 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/two-point-hospital-franchise-sale/
  • The Civilization VI Sale brings up to 75% discounts during the next 4 days. The keys are for Steam and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/civilization-6-sale/
  • The 1C Entertainment Publisher Sale brings up to 90% discounts during the next 4 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/1c-entertainment-publisher-sale/
  • And lastly, there's the Adrenaline Fueled Sale, with up to 90% discounts during the next 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG, EGS and UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adrenaline-fueled-sale/

And Fanatical has new sales and contests:

• The new Star Deal is Darksiders Genesis, 67% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/darksiders-genesis
• The new Summer Sale features over 2500 games on sale. Check it out!
• For every purchase above $10 USD / £8 GBP / €10 EUR you'll be able to take part in the Spin to Win feature to win some prizes. Learn more here: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/summer-sale-spin-to-win-how-it-works-what-can-you-win
• And there's also a contest to win game keys and hardware. Learn more here, https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/win-omen-intel-gaming-prizes-fanaticals-summer-sale-giveaway

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

The Windows 10 gaming performance fix is out, here's how to get your PC up to date
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/windows-10-optional-gaming-performance-boost/
Microsoft has finally published the fix for Windows 10's gaming issues (via BleepingComputer), and you can download it right now. The company announced just over a week ago that it had fixed a problem with Game Mode, and certain power plans, that was resulting in dodgy gaming performance, and now we have it in our hands.
And if you were hoping for across-the-board performance improvements for all, you might be disappointed. But if you're one of the many folk struggling with gaming frame rate issues since March this year, then the fact that this optional update has been made available before being blended into a larger, standard patch later in August will be pleasing.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This Resident Evil Village Mod replaces Chris Redfield with Bruce Willis/John McClane
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-resident-evil-village-mod-replaces-chris-redfield-with-bruce-willis-john-mcclane/
Darknessvaltier has released a pretty cool mod for Resident Evil Village. This mod replaces Chris Redfield with Bruce Willis/John McClane.
From what we can see, the John McClane model is from the fourth Die Hard film, Live Free or Die Hard. Moreover, this 3D model has full facial animations, and there aren’t any graphical/visual bugs or glitches.
>> There's a video, if you want to see it in action and, if you like it, you can download it from Nexus Mods.

Diablo 2 Median XL V2.0, best mod for Diablo 2 Classic, releases on August 27th
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/diablo-2-median-xl-v2-0-best-mod-for-diablo-2-classic-releases-on-august-27th/
The team behind the best mod for classic Diablo 2, Diablo 2: Median XL, has announced that a new version will come out on August 27th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released a new trailer that you can find below.
Diablo 2 Median XL is the most popular Diablo II overhaul modification. It also has extensive endgame content, deep character customisation and challenging gameplay.

GAMING NEWS

The same government agency that's suing Activision Blizzard has an ongoing lawsuit with Riot Games
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/it-turns-out-riot-games-is-also-being-sued-by-the-same-agency-as-activision-blizzard/
Riot Games is being sued by the state of California over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation against female employees. On February 3, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement posted a litigation notice regarding Riot Games. The notice states that Riot Games violated the law in "multiple ways": gender discrimination in hiring, pay and promotion decisions; sexual harassment; and retaliation.
Note: We've updated the headline of this story to make more clear that the lawsuit Riot is subject to, though ongoing, dates back to 2018. The previous headline read: "It turns out Riot Games is also being sued by the same agency as Activision Blizzard."

Survival game Icarus delayed until November
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/survival-game-icarus-delayed-until-november/
Icarus, the co-op sci-fi survival game from Dean Hall and RocketWerkz, has been delayed from its August 11 launch date. Icarus will now release in November.
"We’ve been keeping a close eye on the state of our development builds and have decided that we want to give Icarus more love by delaying the game," reads the announcement on the game's Steam page.

Capcom wants to know if players want more Ace Attorney
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/capcom-wants-to-know-if-players-want-more-ace-attorney/
Have you played The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles? Have you not played The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles? Capcom wants to hear from you, in the extensive survey they posted on their website (thanks, IGN).

The Ascent is lacking DLSS and ray tracing on Game Pass but not on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-ascent-dlss-ray-tracing-missing-game-pass/
The Ascent is a cyberpunk action RPG with ray tracing and DLSS. Sometimes. Sometimes it's a cyberpunk action RPG with ray tracing and no DLSS. Sometimes that ray tracing implementation may not work at all. And whether you get those Nvidia settings all depends on where you access the PC version from.
>> The devs have already promised to fix it. At least this time the problem isn't with the PC version.

Valheim's Hearth and Home update will let you hoard stacks of gold coins
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/valheims-hearth-and-home-update-will-let-you-hoard-stacks-of-gold-coins/
Co-op Viking survival game Valheim has been a bit quiet lately. The last small update to tweak monster AI arrived on July 1, and there hasn't been a peep from the developers since. But Iron Gate Studios is back from summer break with some new information to share about the upcoming Valheim Hearth and Home update, as well as some news about the studio itself.

In one of the weirdest game crossovers ever, Sonic the Hedgehog is now in Two Point Hospital
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/in-one-of-the-weirdest-game-crossovers-ever-sonic-the-hedgehog-is-now-in-two-point-hospital/
(...)
The new Sonic 30th Anniversary Item Pack, added in an update released today, boasts four outfits—Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy—and seven items, including decorative rugs, a big statue of Sonic, and—of course—a giant gold ring. Why you would want to assess patients in the trauma ward dressed up as Sonic the Hedgehog or perform surgery with a Knuckles mask, I do not know, but I do know that the pack is free, and free is good.
>> Disclaimer: This article was posted late Friday.

Hexes never looked as beautiful as they do in the Hexoplanet trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/hexes-never-looked-as-beautiful-as-they-do-in-the-hexoplanet-trailer/
(...)
In Hexoplanet, which is being developed by artist and engineer Max Gittel, "You take control over a robot civilization that recently achieved self-consciousness and needs to prepare a new planet for their masters, the humans." As in games like Factorio and Satisfactory, you gather resources, build factories, produce products, manage logistics, research tech, and transport materials around the map to where they're needed most using trucks, trains, and boats.

Uh oh, Halo Infinite campaign details are leaking from the tech test
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/uh-oh-halo-infinite-campaign-details-are-leaking-from-the-tech-test/
Get ready to dodge spoilers for the next four months, because Halo Infinite story details have already started to leak. Players checking out the first technical test flight for Halo Infinite on PC and Xbox have datamined a slew of story details from the multiplayer-exclusive preview build, and they're already starting to appear online.

I'm pleased to report that Halo Infinite's needler whips ass
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/im-pleased-to-report-that-halo-infinites-needler-whips-ass/
The needler never gets the respect it deserves. Halo fans have always raved about the Halo 1 pistol and the battle rifle, or the plasma sword or the Halo Reach grenade launcher or even the Covenant carbine, but dammit: I love the needler. And it looks like the combat designers for Halo Infinite do, too, because after a couple hours of hands-on with the multiplayer technical test, I think this might be the strongest the needler's ever been.

Final Fantasy 14 icon changed after complaints from players with trypophobia
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-14-icon-changed-after-complaints-from-players-with-trypophobia/
Sage is one of the new jobs coming to Final Fantasy 14 as part of the Endwalker expansion, a healer class that fights with four floating blades called nouliths. Its icon represents those four weapons, and the MMO's designers probably weren't expecting it to receive as strong a reaction as it did.

Bungie and Ubisoft are taking cheat-makers to court
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/bungie-and-ubisoft-are-taking-cheat-makers-to-court/
(...)
On July 23, Bungie and Ubisoft filed a lawsuit against Ring-1 in the California state district, naming several individuals believed to be behind Ring-1 with usernames like Krypto, Overpowered, and Berserker. According to the suit, the products Ring-1 sells, "impair and destroy not only the game experience, but also Plaintiffs' overall businesses and their reputation among their respective player communities."

Assassin's Creed game director is directing the Dead Space remake
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/assassins-creed-game-director-is-directing-the-dead-space-remake/
Rumors that Eric Baptizat—a 16-year Ubisoft veteran who left the company to join EA Motive earlier this year—was working on the Dead Space remake have been confirmed. It's right there on Baptizat's LinkedIn profile: "game director on Dead Space".

Age of Empires 4 shows off naval battles, camel riders
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/age-of-empires-4-shows-off-naval-battles-camel-riders/
Two new trailers for Age of Empires 4 have arrived, one a brief glimpse of the Abbasid Dynasty civilization (based on the Abbasid Caliphate and the Mamluk Sultanate, rulers of the Islamic world for 750 years), their camel riders and House of Wisdom, and the other showing naval warfare. Neither has much to say about how the game will play, except that it sure looks like a game you'll be able to run on a laptop.

Final Fantasy pixel remasters review-bombed on Metacritic
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-pixel-remasters-review-bombed-on-metacritic/
The first three Final Fantasy pixel remasters are out now on Steam, with the next three presumably soon to follow. Though their crappy font spacing has been criticised (there's already a fix for the font), that's not the reason all three have been hit with low user ratings on Metacritic. Nor is it the screen-tearing, the problems players using controllers are having, or the absence of material from other rereleases. Nope, it's because they're not on consoles.

Marvel's Avengers shows signs of life as War for Wakanda dated for mid-August
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/marvels-avengers-shows-signs-of-life-as-war-for-wakanda-dated-for-mid-august/
Last weekend Marvel's Avengers ran a free weekend, and used that opportunity to announce a release date for its latest expansion Black Panther: War for Wakanda. The expansion will release on August 17, while the war table for the expansion will launch a day earlier, on August 16.

Life is Strange: True Colors lets you join LARP sessions and play arcade games
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/life-is-strange-true-colors-lets-you-join-larp-sessions-and-play-arcade-games/
Anyone who's ever played the first Life is Strange will be intimately familiar with Arcadia Bay, a small town in the Midwestern United States that's as much of a character in the story as any of the people you meet. Life is Strange: True Colors seems intent on creating a similar experience with Haven Springs, a, er, small town in Midwestern America. A new promotional video now wants to prove that small doesn't have to mean sleepy. Steph Gringrich, who is one of True Colors' protagonists, takes you on a tour through the "small town with a big heart".

SkateBIRD delayed to September
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/skatebird-delayed-to-september/
Skateboarding skim SkateBIRD has been slightly delayed from its original August 12 release date and will now be with us on September 16 instead.
According to a tweet by Glass Bottom Games founder Megan Fox, the reasons for this are quite simple—SkateBIRD is the studio's first "giant" game that ships on multiple platforms simultaneously.

AMD + Valve Working On New Linux CPU Performance Scaling Design

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AMD-Valve-New-CPU-Freq

"AMD and Valve have been working to improve the performance/power efficiency for modern AMD platforms running on Steam Play (Proton / Wine) and have spearheaded "[The ACPI CPUFreq driver] was not very performance/power efficiency for modern AMD platforms...a new CPU performance scaling design for AMD platform which has better performance per watt scaling on such as 3D game like Horizon Zero Dawn with VKD3D-Proton on Steam."

"AMD will be presenting more about this effort next month at XDC."

I am continuously more and more interested in the Steam Deck!

Dell XPS 9510 suffers from poor GPU performance, RTX 3050 Ti slower than GTX 1650 Ti

https://videocardz.com/newz/dell-xps-9510-suffers-from-poor-gpu-performance-rtx-3050-ti-slower-than-gtx-1650-ti

"Dell XPS 9510 already offers one of the slowest implementations of RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU with an official TGP of 45W, however, this value appears to be lowered almost instantly to 35W in gaming, resulting in nearly 20% loss in performance."

"The performance of RTX 3050 Ti in Dell XPS 9510 is so bad, that the laptop is actually out-classed by Dell’s own XPS 9500 equipped with GTX 1650 Ti GPU in games such as Witcher 3."

Now while this isn't a gaming notebook, it is still quite bad. Especially if Dell is advertising a 45 watt TGP but in actuality, is shipping a 35 watt TGP. And of course, a 3050 Ti wasn't very good to begin with.

Vita3k [Vita Emulator]: 3 Years of Progress Report

https://vita3k.org/2021/07/31/3-years-Progress-Report.html

Still a long ways to go! But least some games are starting to be playable.

Thunderbolt 5 may offer 80 Gbps bandwidth thanks to PAM-3 modulation

https://videocardz.com/newz/thunderbolt-5-may-offer-80-gbps-bandwidth-thanks-to-pam-3-modulation

This does eventually make it's way into USB like Thunderbolt 3/4 has so future be exciting.

Halo Infinite Multiplayer Bots Are Surprisingly Toxic

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/halo-infinite-multiplayer-bots-toxic-teabagging/

Bots can Teabag people...

Unless you wanted to watch movies in 4K on the monitor or need the high amount of pixels for other stuff than for gaming (like photo editing), I think a 1440p would be much better suited for you.

Just for curiosity, is it an IPS or a TN monitor? I remember there were quite a few 4K TN monitors a few years ago, some even with good (8-bit) panels, and they weren't as expensive as their IPS counterparts, but they seem to have disappeared as of late.

I wonder if the lessons learned from that Linux study could also be applied for Windows. I'd bet that it's something AMD would be very interested in.

And WTF is going on with Dell as of late? AMD getting the short stick with their GPU configurations, GPUs with capped shaders, now GPUs with limited power,... have they fired all the tech guys for the marketing team or are they trying to sabotage the company from inside?

Well, I paid €100 for 20 GB (Xbox 360 Premium instead of Xbox 360 Core), €100 for 40 GB (PS3 60 GB instead of PS3 20 GB) and years later €100 for a 120 GB 360-HDD.
Also €100 for 16 GB (Wii U Premium instead of the other Wii U model).

So for most console owners it won't be the first time.

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Battlefield 5 is now available for free on Amazon Prime Gaming
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/battlefield-5-is-now-available-for-free-on-amazon-prime-gaming/
Amazon Prime Gaming is currently offering Battlefield 5 for free. From today and until October 1st, Prime members can grab its Standard Edition. Once you grab the game, you’ll keep it yours forever, and can play it whenever you want.

GOG gets a new release: Riddle of the Sphinx™ The Awakening (Enhanced Edition) arrives with a 25% discount until the 10th of August: https://www.gog.com/game/riddle_of_the_sphinx_the_awakening

Steam has several new deals and a new range of weeklong deals:

• The new daily deal is NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER, 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/633230/NARUTO_TO_BORUTO_SHINOBI_STRIKER/
• ELEX is 80% off during the next 50 hours: https://store.steampowered.com/app/411300/ELEX/
• We have an early Midweek Madness deal: Ghostrunner, that has a demo and it's free to try during the next 2 days, is 50% off until August 5: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1139900/Ghostrunner/
• And here are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Stigmatized Property | 事故物件 is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1162680/Stigmatized_Property/
  • Love Esquire is 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/849740/Love_Esquire__RPGDating_SimVisual_Novel/
  • Chronicle of Innsmouth gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/420180/Chronicle_of_Innsmouth/
  • DashBored gets a 50% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/490860/DashBored/
  • Comedy Night gets a 65% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/665360/Comedy_Night/
  • Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/34870/Sniper_Ghost_Warrior_2/
  • And Submerged is 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/301860/Submerged/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The TinyBuild Publisher July Sale (no, I don't know why it's called July when we're already in August, unless it started a while ago and I've forgotten about it) brings up to 75% discounts during the next 6 days. Most keys are for Steam, but there are 3 for GOG and one for EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tinybuild-publisher-july-sale/
• The WB Games Sale comes with up to 85% discounts during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/wb-games-publisher-sale/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Star Wars Redemption Fan Demo is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-redemption-fan-demo-is-now-available-for-download/
Back in 2017, we informed you about a Star Wars fan project, Star Wars Redemption. And today, we are happy to report that Etienne Beschet has released a playable demo for it.
Star Wars Redemption is using Unreal Engine 4 and is inspired mostly by the clone wars TV series. From the looks of it, this is a third-person game. (...)
As its creator claimed, this demo can be resource-heavy. Although it does not use any Ray Tracing effects, Beschet recommends using at least a GTX 1070.
You can download it from here. Do note that you’ll need an ArtStation account in order to download it.

Stardew Valley's biggest mod now lets you become friends with Shane's chicken
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/stardew-valleys-biggest-mod-now-lets-you-become-friends-with-shanes-chicken/
Stardew Valley is a very good game that its creator is working tirelessly on, but so are the game's modders. The biggest fan-made mod, Stardew Valley Expanded, keeps growing, too. Patch 1.13.9 brings a lot of changes, but there's one I reckon anyone would be excited about. Charlie, Shane's prized chicken friend, is now an NPC, meaning that it will follow Marnie, Jas, and Shane around once you've cleared Shane's eight heart event. Another character has also been turned into a non-social NPC, but creator FlashShifter has kept that one a surprise. Who wouldn't want to see more of Stardew's knobbly animals on a day out in town?
>> You'll find it at Reddit.

GAMING NEWS

Take-Two’s CEO comments on the recent Grand Theft Auto Mod takedowns
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/take-twos-ceo-comments-on-the-recent-grand-theft-auto-mod-takedowns/
Last month, Take-Two took down numerous GTA mods, including GTA Underground and Kadakash’s AI-upscaled HD Mod for GTA: San Andreas. And during its recent investor call, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick commented on those takedowns.
Zelnick claimed that while Take-Two is flexible, it will take down any mods that threaten its economy or when there is bad behavior.
>> I fail to see how mods for San Andreas can hurt their economy, unless they plan to launch remasters/remakes to fill the gap until GTA 6 launches.

Konami’s eFootball Autumn launch is basically a demo release
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/konamis-efootball-autumn-launch-is-basically-a-demo-release/
Last month, Konami announced that its Pro Evolution Series will be called eFootball and will be a free-to-play game. And while the company aims to release the game in early Autumn, this release will basically be a demo launch and nothing more.
>> Everything we know about this game makes it better and better. /sarcasm.