I'll probably leave out the top fans and only do push config. I don't need 6 fans let alone 6 fans worth of wires lol. EK's price from what I can tell is competitive enough with other Push config AIOs so it's fine.

In that case, it would be a good idea to find a review of that cooler with only one set of fans, to see the impact it has on its performance.

Yea that's a good idea.

I did watch GN's review where they tested both. The 3 fan is a few degrees worse than the 6 fan which I think is fine.

I don't like they are still using 3950x instead of the 5950x though. But I suppose it's the closest results I can get.

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has a new daily deal: Penko Park is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/852090/Penko_Park/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Team17 Greatest Hits Bundle features up to 28 games to grab during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/team-17-greatest-hits-bundle.

And Fanatical has three new deals:

• The Star Deal is Record of Agarest War Mariage - Deluxe Bundle, 85% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/record-of-agarest-war-marriage-deluxe-bundle
• Kalypso puts its games up to 80% off during the next 8 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/kalypso-media-digital
• And the Mystery Vault Bundle 3 comes with 8 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-vault-bundle-3

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Latest build of the Playstation 4 emulator, Spine, is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/latest-build-of-the-playstation-4-emulator-spine-is-available-for-download/
In April 2020, we informed you about a Playstation 4 emulator that could actually launch commercial games. And yesterday, Playstation scener Nagatoro shared its latest September 2021 build (with permission from spinedev). In case you aren’t aware of, Spine is a Playstation 4 emulator for Linux. This emulator can launch numerous commercial PS4 games, and according to its compatibility list, it can run approximately 35% of the 1000 tested games.

GAMING NEWS

Life is Strange: True Colors will have Ray Tracing Shadows, PC Requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/life-is-strange-true-colors-will-have-ray-tracing-shadows-pc-requirements-revealed/
Square Enix has announced that Life is Strange: True Colors will feature Ray Tracing Shadows. In addition, the publisher revealed the game’s official PC system requirements.

Far Cry 6 Overview Trailer packs some never-before-seen gameplay footage
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/far-cry-6-overview-trailer-packs-some-never-before-seen-gameplay-footage/
Ubisoft has released a new trailer for Far Cry 6 that gives us an overview of its story and gameplay mechanics. Moreover, this trailer packs some never-before-seen gameplay footage, so be sure to watch it.

Fallout 76: Fallout Worlds Update is 15GB, now available, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/fallout-76-fallout-worlds-update-is-15gb-now-available-full-patch-notes/
Bethesda has announced that the Fallout Worlds Update for Fallout 76 is now available for download. This Update is 15GB in size on Bethesda’s launcher, 16GB on Steam, and 23GB on Microsoft Store. Moreover, the publisher shared its full patch notes, as well as a trailer for it.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl gets a gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-gets-a-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Ludosity and GameMill Entertainment have released a gameplay overview trailer for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. In this trailer, Taddeus Crews, Character Designer & Programmer at Ludosity, uses SpongeBob and Patrick to break down the fighting/brawl gameplay of this upcoming brawler.

The Riftbreaker releases on October 14th, gets new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-riftbreaker-releases-on-october-14th-gets-new-gameplay-trailer/
Exor Studios announced that The Riftbreaker will release on October 14th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released a new gameplay trailer that you can find below.

Sonic Colors Ultimate uses Denuvo & suffers from stuttering issues on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/sonic-colors-ultimate-uses-denuvo-suffers-from-stuttering-issues-on-pc/
SEGA has just released Sonic Colors Ultimate on PC. Since the company sent us a review code, we’ve decided to test it and see how it performs on the PC platform. And, we have some good and some bad news.

First Alan Wake Remastered screenshots leaked, showcase its new graphics
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/first-alan-wake-remastered-leaked-screenshots-showcase-its-new-graphics/
Two days ago, Remedy announced Alan Wake Remastered. And today, Amazon leaked the first screenshots for this upcoming remaster, showcasing its enhanced and improved graphics.

Metal Gear Solid-inspired 2D stealth game, UnMetal, releases on September 28th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metal-gear-solid-inspired-2d-stealth-game-unmetal-releases-on-september-28th/
Versus Evil has announced that its Metal Gear Solid-inspired retro-style, 2D stealth/action game, UnMetal, will release on September 28th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the publisher also released a new trailer that you can find below.
>> Oh! That's a lot sooner than I thought.

Football Manager 2022 officially announced, releases on November 9th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/football-manager-2022-officially-announced-releases-on-november-9th/
SEGA and Sports Interactive have announced the latest part in their soccer manager video-game series, Football Manager 2022. Football Manager 2022 will release on November 9th, and below you can find its first details.

Thursday news, part two:

Runescape developer reverses decision to kill HD mod project after fan backlash
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/Runelite-HD-Jagex-reverses-decision/
Only a day after Runescape developer Jagex was widely criticized for shutting down the Runelite HD mod project the day before its release, the developer has reversed its decision. Jagex now says it will work with Runelite HD creator 117scape and original Runelite creator Adam1210 to make Runelite HD available until the company releases its own official Runescape HD version.

Star Citizen adds disclaimer to spaceship preorders after regulator says they're misleading
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/star-citizen-adds-disclaimer-to-spaceship-preorders-after-regulator-says-theyre-misleading/
Star Citizen received a shot across the bow recently after a dissatisfied backer complained to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority about a lack of transparency in marketing emails from developer Cloud Imperium Games. Redditor Mazty, who says they are "fed up" with CIG, reported the company when it failed to mention that a Gatac Railen ship on sale "does not exist and might never exist" in the actual game. The promo email also didn't mention the ship's price.

Aliens: Fireteam has a new shield-bearing class
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/aliens-fireteam-has-a-new-shield-bearing-class/
Aliens: Fireteam is a decent time if you want to shoot hundreds of aliens that behave like enraged cats. Our review was approving, calling it a "fun and flexible swarm shooter that’s a little too reliant on being played alongside friends." The game's first season launched today, and it's named after the Phalanx, a brand new playable class which comes bearing a combat-shield.

Rainbow Six Siege finally stops punishing players for winning against cheaters
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/rainbow-six-siege-finally-stops-punishing-players-for-winning-against-cheaters/
Two years after introducing MMR rollback features intended to thwart cheaters, Ubisoft will finally stop penalizing players who manage to defeat cheaters in Ranked matches.

Forza Horizon 5 has 426 cars and counting
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/forza-horizon-5-has-426-cars-and-counting/
Playground Games has released a list of the cars confirmed for Forza Horizon 5, and it's very long indeed: 426 cars long. That's not even all, because according to a new developer update more cars will be added to that list ahead of the racer's November 9 release date, not including however many post-launch cars end up in the game.

Ex-Tripwire CEO asks fans to continue supporting their games after exit following comments on abortion ban
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/tripwire-ceo-steps-down-following-comments-on-texas-abortion-ban/
(...)
Gibson has now released a statement on his exit, in which he urges fans to continue to support Tripwire's games in his absence. Here's the full text:
"By now you have heard of my exit as CEO of Tripwire Interactive. To the many fans, friends and peers across the belief spectrum that have reached out to offer care and support, thank you. It means more than you can imagine. For those upset about my exit, I encourage you to continue your support of Tripwire and their many amazing partners. Please know that the owners and and executive team of Tripwire have acted with class, professionalism, and have treated me well with great care and dignity, and I will be forever grateful for this.

Respawn says Titanfall 2 exploit that led to panicked uninstalls probably isn't that serious
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/respawn-says-titanfall-2-exploit-that-led-to-panicked-uninstalls-probably-isnt-serious/
Earlier today, players in Discord communities and on Steam forums began warning that Titanfall 2 had been compromised by a bug allowing "local code execution from the server", and advising everyone to uninstall it. The @Titanfall4Ever Twitter fan account urged players to not to launch the game and even to delete it to be safe.
Respawn has since begun investigating the claim, and says it doesn't think there's anything serious to worry about, although someone may be able to use the exploit to crash your game until a fix has been deployed.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker's Act 2 update finally gives you a home in the stars
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/hardspace-shipbreakers-act-2-update-finally-gives-you-a-home-in-the-stars/
Act 2 of Hardspace: Shipbreaker's campaign arrived this week, and finally gives your space salvagers a place to put their feet up after a long shift at the orbital junkyard.

Players use Microsoft Flight Simulator to fly through Hurricane Ida in real time
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/players-use-microsoft-flight-simulator-to-fly-through-hurricane-ida-in-real-time/
(...)
A feature of Microsoft Flight Simulator is live weather modelling: the in-game world can reflect what's going on in the real world. When a player enables Real-World Weather the game gathers weather data from the meteorological service Meteoblue and, using Microsoft's Azure AI platform, simulates what is going on in the world. Needless to say, Hurricane Ida is a weather event on an enormous scale. And so Microsoft Flight Simulator pilots decided to fly through it.

Dark Souls NPCs with AI faces are, like, weirdly hunky
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dark-souls-npcs-with-ai-faces-are-like-weirdly-hunky/
I love Dark Souls as much as the next red-blooded chosen undead, and of course the character of Solaire, but I have to say I've never really fancied him. Until that is the Souls YouTuber Illusory Wall decided to try that face-transmogrifying AI software that's been doing the rounds on its cast of NPCs.

Bugsnax developer permanently shifts to four day weeks
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/bugsnax-developer-permanently-shifts-to-four-day-weeks/
Bugsnax and Octodad developer Young Horses has permanently shifted to a four-day workweek, following a unanimous decision to give the shorter week a trial run back in July.

NVIDIA To Launch GeForce RTX 30 SUPER ‘Ampere Refresh’ In January 2022, GeForce RTX 40 ‘Ada Lovelace’ GPUs in October 2022

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-30-super-ampere-refresh-q1-2022-geforce-rtx-40-ada-love-lace-q4-2022-launch-rumor/

Windows 11 will be faster thanks to CPU, memory and storage optimizations

https://videocardz.com/newz/windows-11-will-be-faster-thanks-to-cpu-memory-and-storage-optimizations

"Steve Dispensa, who is a vice president of Enterprise Management of Microsoft, explains changes that were implemented under the system’s hood will make Windows 11 save on average 32% of memory and 37% of CPU usage."

Usually these things won't be noticeable for most people assuming they are real changes to begin with as most modern hardware are very powerful to brute force a lot of OS level tasks. Still, I'll be interested to see comparisons and we did see Linus find some interesting scheduler differences between 10 and 11.

AMD Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs Are Receiving Price Cuts Across The Board Ahead Of The Intel Alder Lake-S Launch

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-5000-series-cpus-are-receiving-price-cuts-across-the-board-ahead-of-the-intel-alder-lake-s-launch/

So in the CPU Market:

AMD comes out with competitive CPUs... Intel discounts their price. Then Intel is coming out with competitive CPUs... AMD discounts their price.

Meanwhile in the GPU market:

I normally don't do EGS posts but this is a pretty good game...

Nioh: The Complete Edition Free on EGS

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/nioh-the-complete-edition

Looks like we'll get a busy Q1 2022, with Intel, AMD and Nvidia revealing anr/or releasing new hardware, from new GPUs to new CPUs. We'll see how many of them end being worth our money, if we can actually buy them.

Thanks for the Nioh shout out! They had kept it in secret.
Before getting it, a lot of reviews and comments label it as a Soulslike like but, for those that have played it, is it really that hard or it's more the setting that makes them alike?

Some more news!

Intel Z690 chipset for Alder Lake CPUs detailed, supports DDR4/DDR5 memory and Gear4 mode

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-z690-chipset-for-alder-lake-cpus-detailed-supports-ddr4-ddr5-memory-and-gear4-mode

"The 12th Gen Core CPU will either support DDR5 or DDR4 memory in the dual-channel configuration. This diagram actually reaffirms the slide from Intel Architecture Day which mentioned DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200 support. The site claims that the DDR5 memory will support Gear 2 (by default) or Gear 4 settings, which means that the controller will be working at 1/2 or 1/4 of the data rate to ensure compatibility and memory overclocking support."

Essh. More and more, it sounds like DDR5 is gonna be a shit show with Alder Lake S at launch. Maybe Rocket Lake/Zen 4 is when it will truly start to make sense. The PCI-E config is also going to be interesting as some motherboards can choose to have full PCI-E Gen 5 x16 for GPU and x4 Gen 4 SSD or they can split it into x8 for GPU and x8 for SSD and x4 Gen 4 SSD.

Tales of Arise early PC benchmarks.

https://gamegpu.com/rpg/%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B5/tales-of-arise-test-gpu-cpu

Now it's a Russian site so take it with a grain of salt but if the data is correct, it should perform pretty well with modern GPUs. It also shows crazy leads for Ryzen 5000 CPUs. The game doesn't actually have DLSS or FSR but doesn't seem to need it anyway.

1440p:

4k:

CPU:

Note to self don't mess around with bios's when you already have a working PC - and tired AF. Just updated the mobo with the latest ASUS 4021 bios and spent hours figuring out why my PC wouldn't post, with black screen (FU!). Tried resetting CMOS, and different DP ports, HDMI, reseating GPU's into different slots, using single slot ram to no avail.

Finally managed to get it working again (by a lot a trial and error) by doing all the above and changing output to HDMI.. lol. Totally not worth it the hassle. Thought I bricked the thing and the worst thing is no flashback or USB flash or dual bios to land back on! Never again. Definitely a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it xD