I think you should ask for a refund for that faulty hat.

They're not making secret deals to keep their status quo. They didn't do it in the past and they won't do it now because there's little to gain and a lot to lose.

Also, we don't know if or to what extend will crypto f*ck with the demand of the new GPUs, like it did with the current ones, and that means that neither AMD nor Nvidia will know how well will their cards sell until they're up for preorder, and at that point it's too late to make any changes. Besides, both would love to brag about having the best card.

Also, we shouldn't really give rumors so much importance. Can the 4080 be powered by the AD103? Maybe, or maybe not. Maybe it's like you said and the chip is too expensive to launch it in a card for less than, say $1,000, and Nvidia has been forced to scrap that in favor of the lower model.

Just like maybe AMD has lowered the specs of its chips, or maybe the first ones were never really the target, but the configuration of the theoretical max. cores they could have that AMD never intented to achieve, because they took into account defects and other factors... like leaving room later in the gen when yields would be better to launch more powerful cards with more cores enabled.

As I said yesterday, we shouldn't really give these rumors that much credibility until we're close to their reveal.

Yea I am not giving them too much credibility but we have seen duopolies plenty of times in various industries. I do agree that it's a massive stretch.

Maybe AMD has a similar problem as they had with the early GCN versions, where they needed high resolutions to fill up all the CU. Considering that the original plan was to triple the number of CU, I find it plausible that the result was that not all got to work and thus just wasted power.

anyone having issues with the infinite update fucking up windows?

Not with Windows 10.

But I had that constantly under XP with SP3. Really hated that OS at the end because of this, besides making some DOS games unplayable that worked fine under SP2.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has two new deals:

• The new flash deal is UnderRail, 50% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/underrail
• The Midweek Sale features short games with up to 90% discounts during 4 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220504_midweek_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children will be 40% off during 6 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/470310/TROUBLESHOOTER_Abandoned_Children/
• And Ultimate Fishing Simulator will get a 75% discount until May 10: https://store.steampowered.com/app/468920/Ultimate_Fishing_Simulator/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Star Wars Jedi Knight Remastered 2.0 Mod available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/star-wars-jedi-knight-remastered-2-0-mod-available-for-download/
GeneralTantor has released a brand new version of a must-have mod for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars Jedi Knight Remastered.
Star Wars Jedi Knight Remastered 2.0 features JkGfxMod, the Jedi Knight Neural Upscale Texture Pack and the Enhancement mod, all together in a nice installer. Additionally, it packs a FOV Mod, and patches the game with the unofficial patch.
The biggest feature of Version 2.0 is by far JkGfxMod. JKGFXMOD improves performance in certain scenarios and brings a number of quality of life improvements. For instance, it offers proper HUD scaling and a hardware-accelerated windowed mode. Furthermore, it improves graphics by offering 32-bit color, Bloom, Ambient Occlusion and Parallax Mapping.
Moreover, this mod has the Enhancement Mod for JkGfxMod. This Enhanced Mod features higher detail models from JKE and the JK community. It also readjusts lightsabers, muzzle flashes, and explosions.

Elden Ring Darth Vader mod is impressive... most impressive
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-darth-vader-mod-is-impressive-most-impressive/
Why not, eh? Modder Xelerate decided that what Elden Ring was really missing is the galaxy's most famous Sith Lord, and thus the Darth Vader Elden Ring mod was born (thanks, GR+). The mod replaces the in-game Confessor Set with Darth Vader's outfit, though sadly doesn't come with its own lightsaber: you'll need another Xelerate mod for that.
>> A fitting mod for today.

GAMING NEWS

New Sniper Elite 5 trailer details its main features & game modes
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-sniper-elite-5-trailer-details-its-main-features-game-modes/
Rebellion has released a new trailer for Sniper Elite 5 which showcases the game’s features and game modes, including the first glimpse of multiplayer and Invasion Mode.

New F1 22 in-engine trailer shows off Miami International Autodrome
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-f1-22-in-engine-trailer-shows-off-miami-international-autodrome/
Electronic Arts and Codemasters have released a brand new in-engine trailer for F1 22, showcasing the Miami International Autodrome. According to the devs, this circuit will feature 19 corners and three DRS zones which will offer plenty of opportunities for overtakes.

Attack On Titan VR is a free game using Unreal Engine 4 that you must experience
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/attack-on-titan-vr-is-a-free-game-using-unreal-engine-4-that-you-must-experience/
Indie developer Slavkaskola has been working on an amazing Attack on Titan VR free game using Unreal Engine 4. This free game has been in development for a while, and a brand new version of it came out recently.

Wednesday news, part two:

Monkey Island creator is seriously pissed off at people telling him how to make a new Monkey Island
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/monkey-island-creator-is-seriously-pissed-off-at-people-telling-him-how-to-make-a-new-monkey-island/
The legendary Lucasarts adventure series Monkey Island returns later this year with the appropriately-named Return to Monkey Island. The announcement was a huge surprise—not least because Gilbert himself had publicly given up on ever making another—and was welcomed by many fans after a long and not-great legacy of mediocre Monkey Islands.
The game is being developed by Gilbert's Terrible Toybox studio in collaboration with Devolver Digital and Lucasfilm Games, and since the announcement trailer Gilbert has been dealing with the reaction. And he's pissed about it.

The Sims 4 drops a teaser for even more damn kits and a game pack
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-sims-4-drops-a-teaser-for-even-more-damn-kits-and-a-game-pack/
Yesterday, The Sims 4 Twitter page dropped a mighty vague teaser video. It was simply the regular logo zipping away, returning in a glowing, wireframe version instead. The whole thing got simmers speculating. Was it a new Sims expansion pack, a new Sims Sessions-like event, maybe even a teaser for The Sims 5?

The original studio behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is now in charge of its remake
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-original-studio-behind-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-is-now-in-charge-of-its-remake/
In another entry for the storied genre of games industry apologies/delays delivered via text-heavy jpegs, Ubisoft has announced that development on the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has shifted from Ubisofts Pune and Mumbai to Ubisoft Montreal, the studio behind the original game. The message says the Ubisoft studios "will now take the time to regroup on the scope of the game" to deliver "the best experience for this remake of an all-time classic."

Activision urges shareholders to vote against proposed misconduct report
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/activision-urges-shareholders-to-vote-against-proposed-misconduct-report/
Activision Blizard is urging shareholders to vote against two proposals on the table at its upcoming annual shareholder meeting: One that would see an "employee representative" added to its board of directors, and another that calls for the creation of an annual public report on the company's efforts to combat abuse, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace.

Activision says Call of Duty: Vanguard did not meet expectations 'due to our own execution'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/activision-says-call-of-duty-vanguard-did-not-meet-expectations-due-to-our-own-execution/
To use official industry parlance, Call of Duty: Vanguard was pretty okay. "The singleplayer has a couple of great missions, and the multiplayer has a couple of decent modes," we said in our 60% review. "But on the whole, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a war we've seen before."
Apparently, Activision Blizzard feels more or less the same way. In its recently-released 2021 annual report, the company said that Vanguard didn't meet expectations, "primarily due to our own execution."

Loot River, the 'Diablo and Tetris had a baby' game, is out today
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/loot-river-the-diablo-and-tetris-had-a-baby-game-is-out-today/
Loot River was revealed in 2021 as the pixel-art dungeon crawler offspring we would get "if Diablo and Tetris had a baby." There was no launch date set at the time, and developer straka.studio has only said that it's coming soon. Until today, that is—because now it's out.

Hitman 3 game director will lead Crysis 4 development
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/hitman-3-game-director-will-lead-crysis-4-development/
Crysis 4 was announced in January with a tiny teaser trailer, but aside from the fact that it exists, and that "Crysis 4" is just a working title, nothing else was divulged. Since then we've heard nothing about the forthcoming first-person shooter—the series' first since 2012's Crysis 3—but rest assured it's alive. Today, the official Crysis Twitter account announced the project's game director.
>> It's a bit weird that the game gets a director now, four months after its announcement.

Wrecking Ball benched in Overwatch 2 beta for literally wrecking servers
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/wrecking-ball-benched-in-overwatch-2-beta-for-literally-wrecking-servers/
The Overwatch hero known as Wrecking Ball is finally living up to his name. A recently discovered bug in the Overwatch 2 beta was allowing the tank hero (a hamster named Hammond who rides around in a robotic hamster ball) to overload servers and crash the client of every player except his own.

Blizzard knows it's not much fun to be a support main in Overwatch 2 right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/blizzard-knows-its-not-much-fun-to-be-a-support-main-in-overwatch-2-right-now/
Blizzard knows that support players are having a rough go of things in the Overwatch 2 beta, acknowledging the class needs to become "more attractive to players."

Microsoft's neglected baby boy Clippy is in Halo Infinite
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/microsofts-neglected-baby-boy-clippy-is-in-halo-infinite/
Halo Infinite Season 2 is live. Our resident Halo expert Nat Clayton thought the first season of the game was an "awkward mess" so we're hoping the second does a better job at appealing to its fans. And a great way to please your audience is by bringing back everyone's favourite Microsoft mascot Clippy.

AMD Confirms Zen 4 Powered Ryzen 7000 Raphael CPUs For Desktops In 2022, Dragon Range & Phoenix APUs For Laptops In 2023

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7000-zen-4-raphael-dragon-range-phoenix-cpus-apus-desktop-laptop-confirmed/

I am mainly interested in regards to it's efficiency vs the Apple's M1 as AMD's mobile CPUs are very efficient compared to Intel but M1 has a node advantage against Ryzen which certainly helps with it's efficiency.

AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, RX 6650 XT 3DMark Synthetic Benchmarks Leak Out – 6950 XT Faster Than NVIDIA RTX 3090 Ti In Time Spy & Fire Strike

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-6950-xt-rx-6750-xt-rx-6650-xt-3dmark-synthetic-benchmarks-leak-out-6950-xt-faster-than-nvidia-rtx-3090-ti-in-time-spy-fire-strike/

I wouldn't read too much into it until the reviews come out

AMD Navi 31 RDNA 3 GPUs For High-End Radeon RX 7000 Allegedly Feature PCIe Gen 5.0 x16 Support, Up To 128 GB/s Transfer Rates

https://wccftech.com/amd-navi-31-rdna-3-gpus-for-high-end-radeon-rx-7000-allegedly-feature-pcie-gen-5-0-x16-support-up-to-128-gb-s-transfer-rates/

Hopefully AMD doesn't pull the ultimate facepalm move this gen and use PCI-E 5.0 + 2 lanes for their low end GPUs.

Chernobylite Ray Tracing Analysis: Gorgeous on PC, but what about PS5?

When a PS5 gets beaten by a 2060 Super when you turn on Ray Tracing:

PC still gets the shat shader compilation stutter on the initial run though

Well, there were some rumors for a while stating that Zen4 was PCIe 4.0 only but, between that roadmap and the rumor of RDNA3 cards supporting PCIe 5.0, they can be put to rest.

I wouldn't bet on Phoenix being more efficient than Apple's chip, but we've seen that they are better all around performers and I doubt that will change soon.
Oh, and since AMD says that Dragon Range will have a higher core and thread count than any other "mobile gaming CPU", that means that there will be a 16 Zen4 mobile processor to beat Intel's 12900HK with 8+6 cores/24 threads.