Bad drivers from any manufacturer isn't a new thing.

nVidia for example was responsible for almost 30% of Windows Vista's crashes.
https://www.engadget.com/2008-03-27-nvidia-drivers-responsible-for-nearly-30-of-vista-crashes-in-20.html

But go back further and ATI had far buggier drivers than nVidia in the Geforce 3/4/5(FX) days even though they had a few extra "tricks" that nVidia didn't such as Tessellation. (And despite nVidia doing driver tweaks/cheats to increase performance, something AMD would do with the Radeon 2900 series.)

Intel is an oddball, they will release a driver as a bare-bones thing, for example with the x3100 the driver didn't release with TnL of Vertex support... BUt later was very well optimized for games like Half Life 2...  But once you ran any game that had a 2D overlay over a 3D render... Even a decade old game, the performance would tank.
But it had solid 2D and video support from the outset.

S3 fantastically imploded with it's Savage by never ever enabling TnL, Matrox always prioritized 2D acceleration even today.

But even if you go over towards the Audio side... Creative have a fantastic history of bad drivers.

AMD and nVidia just leapfrog each other with driver quality, always have, always will.
I will just keep buying whoever is cheapest as I can usually work around bad drivers to a degree.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti now available for $900, it’s $200 cheaper in just 10 days

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-now-available-for-900-its-200-cheaper-in-just-10-days

The $700 or less 3080 Ti dream might happen at this rate

DDR5 memory makes Intel Raptor Lake CPUs at least 11% faster in Geekbench

https://videocardz.com/newz/ddr5-memory-makes-intel-raptor-lake-cpus-at-least-11-faster-in-geekbench

Brazilian man orders GeForce RTX 3090 Ti from Amazon, gets SAND instead

https://videocardz.com/newz/brazilian-man-orders-geforce-rtx-3090-ti-from-amazon-gets-sand-instead

Some may say that a 3090 Ti is a waste of sand but I don't think this is what they meant

Ain't there already enough sand in Brazil? It's like carrying owls to Athens. or coals to Newcastle.

NVidia probably making space in their warehouses because they can't back out of the wafer agreement with TSMC and will be sitting on tons of GPUs due to this. So out with the old, in with the new...

If that means we will have a ton of GPUs in stock, then that's pretty great news for consumers even if it's not ideal for Nvidia themselves.

Saw it on reddit

Obviously take it with a grain of salt but $824 now where as if you bought it when Jay did his shat video, you would have paid over $1000. And this is the Strix model!

I wouldn't blame you for pulling the trigger if it hits $600. 2080 Ti for $500-$600 was insane value and it more often than not beat the 3070.

Let's go with the Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Tp`10

GOG starts the week with two Deal of the Day and two new sales:

• The first DotD is Journey to the Savage Planet, 60% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/journey_to_the_savage_planet
• The second DotD is Worms World Party Remastered, 80% off until Wednesday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/worms_world_party_remastered
• The Weekly Sale features games from Team17 with up to 85% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220725_team17_sale
• And there's the Find your Indie Sale, featuring lots of indie games with up to 90% discounts during the next 7 days. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/en/news/pick_your_next_game_to_play_with_find_your_indie_sale_on_gog

Steam has a new sale: Gang Beasts is going to be 55% off until August 1st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/285900/Gang_Beasts/.

We find three new sales at Humble:

• At Humble Bundle there's Deck Builder Bundle, featuring up to 7 games during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/deck-builder-bundle
• And at the Humble Store we find another two sales:
  • The Annapurna Interactive Publisher Sale brings up to 70% discounts during 4 days. The keys are all for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/annapurna-publisher-week/
  • And the Adventure Sale features up to 90% during the next 7 days (except the Capcom games). There are keys for Steam, GOG, EGS and Uplay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adventure-sale/

And Fanatical has two deals:

• The Star Deal, that started yesterday, is DOOM Eternal - Deluxe Edition, 70% off during another 24 hours. Be careful because it has almost run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/doom-eternal-deluxe-edition
• And PQube Limited puts its games on sale, up to 90% off during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/pqube-limited

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life 2: We Don’t Go To Ravenholm Demo available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/half-life-2-we-dont-go-to-ravenholm-demo-available-for-download/
The team behind the upcoming “We Don’t Go To Ravenholm” fan expansion for Half-Life 2 has released a demo for it. According to the team, the demo features the first chapter of this expansion, and offers around 35-40 minutes of gameplay.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gets a 19GB AI-upscaled 4K Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gets-a-19gb-ai-upscaled-4k-texture-pack/
Modder ‘no1messesthe501st’ has released a 4K Texture Pack for the original/legacy version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. As the modder noted, this pack is for those who seek high-resolution textures but want their game to retain its original art style.
no1messesthe501st has upscaled the textures from the official HD DLC and the base game. In order to do so, they used ESRGAN with the 4x-SkyrimTexV2.1 and V2_Fabric models.
Do note that this pack does not feature any normal maps or glow maps.

You can now play Stray in first-person mode thanks to this mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/you-can-now-play-stray-in-first-person-mode-thanks-to-this-mod/
Stray is a new third-person adventure game that came out recently, in which you control a cat. And now, thanks to its modding community, PC gamers can experience this title from a first-person viewpoint.
Created by Jessica Natalia, this mod allows you to play Stray in first-person mod. And while there are a couple of bugs, we highly recommend downloading it.

Stray modders are putting their own four-legged friends in the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/stray-modders-are-putting-their-own-four-legged-friends-in-the-game/
Stray is a game where you play as an adorable orange cat lad. Some of us—like deputy guides editor Lauren Aitken—are luckily enough to already have the protagonist resemble one of our four-legged friends. For others, the desire to have their own fur babies represented is mighty strong.
As spotted by Imogen Donovan, a quick glance at Nexus Mods and you'll be met with an entire litter of reskins made to resemble either the modder's own pets or to fulfil requests on behalf of other players who want their cat in-game. It's absolutely bloody adorable and has opened the game to a whole variety of fuzzy friends. There are tuxedo cats, calicoes, and even adorable sphynxes! Some, like this gorgeous grey domestic cat, have been made to honour pets who passed away. I'm not crying, you are.

Ambitious mod 'Life of Crime' brings a new singleplayer experience into Red Dead Redemption 2.
https://www.pcgamer.com/ambitious-mod-life-of-crime-brings-a-new-singleplayer-experience-into-red-dead-redemption-2/
If you enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 2's singleplayer but found Arthur Morgan’s dusty leather jacket a little too restrictive, here’s a mod for you: 'Life of Crime' is an ambitious project that aims to deliver a completely new singleplayer experience within Rockstar's meticulous envisioning of the Old West, specifically one that lets you play as a new character of your own devising.
Life of Crime isn't just a simple mission pack either. It kicks off with own bespoke introductory sequence where your character (who can be male or female) busts out of Siska Penitentiary, before meeting up with a contact who helps them get started in their new criminal career. Once out in the open world, you can access a bespoke skill tree for upgrading your character, and embark upon two new missions, a manor heist, and a train heist, as well as earning money in all the usual ways, both legal and illegal.
>> Expect a note from Take 2 soon.

GAMING NEWS

No Man’s Sky Endurance Update 3.96 released, fixes numerous bugs and crashes, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-endurance-update-3-96-released-fixes-numerous-bugs-and-crashes-full-patch-notes/
Hello Games has released a brand new update for No Man’s Sky. According to the release notes, No Man’s Sky Endurance Update 3.96 addresses numerous bugs, visual issues and crashes that affected the game.

The Last of Us – Remake vs Original Comparison Screenshots & Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/the-last-of-us-remake-vs-original-comparison-screenshots-video/
Last week, a number of screenshots leaked online for The Last of Us Part 1 Remake. And then, after a couple of days, Sony released an official gameplay trailer for this upcoming game. So, below you can find some comparisons between the original PS3 version and this upcoming PC/PS5 version.

Monday news, part two:

First MultiVersus tier lists say Taz OP, Velma trash
https://www.pcgamer.com/multiversus-tier-list/
Since the dawn of the internet, gamers have strived to be first-to-screen with their opinions.
MultiVersus isn't technically out-out yet (though you can definitely pay $40, $60, or $100 to play it's current "open beta," which isn't labeled as Early Access in Steam), but websites and streamers are already tripping over themselves to tell you who the best characters are, three days into the game's existence. The verdict so far? Taz good, Steven Universe bad.
>> More about this, later on.

Rick and Morty, LeBron James will join MultiVersus soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/rick-and-morty-lebron-james-join-multiversus-next-week/
One week into its existence, MultiVersus is already getting head-spinningly meta.
LeBron James, the basketball star who starred in a movie last year about being put inside a videogame, is being put inside a videogame. (...)
LeBron will be joined shortly after by Rick & Morty, who like Tom & Jerry will apparently play as a unified duo. (...)

There are still forgotten '90s shooters being added to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/there-are-still-forgotten-90s-shooters-being-added-to-steam/
Retro FPS games have had a great run the last few years: on top of throwback games like Dusk and Amid Evil and Ion Fury, Nightdive has revitalized gems like Powerslave and Quake, making them play better than ever on modern PCs. It feels like the well of '90s shooters should be running dry at this point, but every few months another obscure FPS seemingly lost to time just pops up on Steam unannounced. Today's is Chasm: The Rift, a 1997 FPS that I'm pretty sure no one has thought about since 1998.

After Minecraft says no to NFTs, NFT Worlds vows to make its own game
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-minecraft-says-no-to-nfts-nft-worlds-vows-to-make-its-own-game/
Mojang made waves yesterday when it said, in no uncertain terms, that NFTs are not welcome in Minecraft. Good news for gamers, perhaps, but not so much for anyone who has already committed to incorporating blockchain technology in the game—like, for instance, NFT Worlds.
(...)
In response to Mojang's new policy, NFT Worlds has issued a statement decrying Mojang and Minecraft as having "no regard for creators, builders, and players," and vowing to make its own game to replace it.
>> Good. Keep your damned BS out of us and keep it all in one place where it doesn't bother us.

This $6 online street racing game has quickly built a small fanbase on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/kanjozoku-game-racing-steam/
I feel like I plucked Kanjozoku Game レーサー out of a 2000s videogame store bargain bin. It's an old-school arcade racing game that came out on Steam earlier this month for $6 (on sale for $4.49 right now), and it kind of rules, so long as your expectations remain in line with the tubs of banged-up cardboard boxes I'm recalling. It's a cool time-killer that really ought to be purchased with crumpled up pocket bills, but a Steam Wallet will do.

Refund Me If You Can challenges you to beat it in under 2 hours
https://www.pcgamer.com/refund-me-if-you-can-challenges-you-to-beat-it-in-under-2-hours/
One clever indie dev has made quite the piece of statement art about Steam's refund policies: Refund Me If You Can. It's a horror game where you've got to find your way through a maze-like sewer while pursued by a monster. The trick here is that it's hard enough that it might take you more than two hours to figure out your escape: Which means that beating the game would take you past Steam's refund window. (If you don't already know, here's how Steam Refunds work.)

Batman's 'really dead' and the Joker won't be in Gotham Knights, says creative director
https://www.pcgamer.com/batmans-really-dead-and-the-joker-wont-be-in-gotham-knights-says-creative-director/
As part of a fan Q&A at San Diego Comic-Con, WB Games Montréal creative director Patrick Redding said that Batman is "really dead" in Gotham Knights, according to IGN. Really and truly and for real this time, no take-backsies in the final cutscene or anything. Also, the Joker won't be in it, though Redding followed that statement by saying, "I will not confirm or deny whether Harley is". Given that Harley Quinn is practically the face of the DC Universe these days, her appearance wouldn't be too surprising.

Here's 30 minutes of American Truck Simulator: Montana to soothe your frazzled nerves
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-30-minutes-of-american-truck-simulator-montana-to-soothe-your-frazzled-nerves/
Just when you thought that you couldn't take it anymore, here come the delightful people of SCS Software with a 30 minute gameplay preview of upcoming American Truck Simulator expansion, Montana. You can find the video on YouTube.

MultiVersus players are extremely salty about Taz, the Tasmanian Devil
https://www.pcgamer.com/multiversus-players-are-extremely-salty-about-taz-the-tasmanian-devil/
Taz, the Tasmanian Devil, is pretty high on early Multiversus tier lists. Taz is also the source of much community frustration, dislike, hate, and, dare I say it, straight-up salt.
I have no dog in this fight, but suffice to say that y'all are real mad about Taz. Perhaps too mad about character balance in a just-released fighting game.

Apex Legends accident might have leaked Season 14's new character Vantage
https://www.pcgamer.com/apex-legends-accident-might-have-leaked-season-14s-new-character-vantage/
A mistaken, early post of a link to the Apex Legends client yesterday seems to have leaked the image of the new character for Season 14. Supposedly, this would be Vantage, who was revealed in an earlier leak.

Hytale's not coming in 2023, so renew your patience
https://www.pcgamer.com/hytales-not-coming-in-2023-so-renew-your-patience/
About a year ago, we reported that sandbox building RPG Hytale wasn't coming until 2023 at the soonest. That was true then, but it's not true now. In their Summer 2023 development log, Hypixel studios says that it has decided to redevelop the game engine in C++, a move that means "the game will not be ready to launch in 2023, which was the earliest possible launch window we outlined last year."

A newsfeed update is responsible for new bugs in old Borderlands games
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-newsfeed-update-is-responsible-for-new-bugs-in-old-borderlands-games/
A recent update for three of the older games in the Borderlands series (Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel) has been responsible for several new bugs, both big and small. "We are currently investigating issues that have appeared since the updates went out," reads a tweet from the official Borderlands account, "including how some text is displaying and console players being stuck loading the game."

Halo Infinite co-op won't have online matchmaking, for some reason
https://www.pcgamer.com/halo-infinite-co-op-wont-have-online-matchmaking-for-some-reason/
Halo Infinite's long-awaited co-op play launched into beta earlier this month, and aside from some technical hiccups befitting a beta, it functions pretty much how you would expect: It lets you play the Halo Infinite campaign alongside other human players. But actually finding other human players won't be as easy as it could, because it inexplicably lacks online matchmaking.

2K has quietly delisted almost all of the WWE games on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/2k-has-quietly-delisted-almost-all-of-the-wwe-games-on-steam/
Without warning, 2K has removed the majority of WWE games available on Steam from sale, along with all their DLC. Prior owners can still access the games, but anyone wanting to buy the games on Steam will have to hunt down a key from a third party seller while they're still available.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has a Steam page and a potential release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-jedi-survivor-has-a-steam-page-and-a-potential-release-date/
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor finally has a Steam page, reaffirming that the sequel to 2019's Soulsy Metroidvania will come "soon" in 2023. Players that can't wait to get their hands on Cal Kestis' next collection of ponchos can wishlist the game now.

Sapphire First To Launch 8 GB AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Graphics Card

https://wccftech.com/sapphire-first-to-launch-8-gb-amd-radeon-rx-6500-xt-graphics-card/

What it should have been to begin with. I get the feeling that it's thanks to Intel's increased competition in the segment that AMD allowed Sapphire to go this route. This is why we need Intel to succeed cause the budget segment has been a joke from both Nvidia and AMD.

Seagate 30 TB+ HAMR HDDs To Ship By Mid-2023

https://wccftech.com/seagate-30-tb-hamr-hdds-to-ship-by-mid-2023/

Kind of annoying that HDD capacity continues to increase but SSD capacity feels like it's remaining the same, just the speed is increasing. Least for consumer grade that is.

AYANEO 2 console with AMD Ryzen 7 6800U APU officially launches in September

https://videocardz.com/newz/ayaneo-2-console-with-amd-ryzen-7-6800u-apu-officially-launches-in-september

AMD EPYC 9664 could be the flagship 96-core Genoa CPU with 400W TDP

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-epyc-9664-could-be-the-flagship-96-core-genoa-cpu-with-400w-tdp

Intel’s Arc Graphics Cards Run Perfectly Fine on AMD Ryzen PCs With Resizable-BAR Enabled Despite No Official Support

https://wccftech.com/intel-arc-graphics-cards-run-perfectly-fine-amd-ryzen-pc-resizable-bar-enabled/

Intel Foundry Services Lands MediaTek, a Leading TSMC Customer

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intels-foundry-services-lands-mediatek-as-a-16nm-customer

So they've been promoting The Last of Us remake as a PS5/PC title since the beginning... only to do the same as before and launch the PC port later? Pfff.