In his instance... I would look at buying a second hand 7700K/7740X. It would add a few years of life to the system.
You can have upwards of 30% more performance.
https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2655?vs=2618

Unfortunately, although Coffee Lake has the same socket, it's pin arrangement is different so it's not a viable upgrade, otherwise the 6-core 8700K would have been ideal.

Yea that's a good suggestion but I think he's been wanting to upgrade for a while. He wanted to do a full system upgrade at once but as luck would have it, his GPU died right before Lovelace/RDNA 3.

The 4090 looked like a discount until one checked all the features and saw that some professional ones from the Titans were missing and the prices of the Titans before the way overpriced RTX and V models

Also worth noting maybe is that before the 3090, all xx90 models were dual GPUs, as in dual xx80 models. The 3090 falls a bit short in that regard imo.

Yea but at that point, you shouldn't be comparing the Titan against the 3090 anyway. Either you are going to compare the Titans against the 3090 and include Titan RTX or don't compare them at all... You can't have it both ways... The reality is that the 3000 series were priced much better than many people thought it would.

The dual GPUs were never all that great imo. With SLI/Crossfire being dead, it wasn't much of a surprise they went this route. And considering the last dual GPU from Nvidia was the Titan Z that had an MSRP of $3000... Yea I don't mind the 3090 costing $1500 in comparison...

Back in my day a high-end GPU like the Geforce 4 Ti 4600 launched at $399 USD... Which when accounting for inflation is $590 USD today.
We roll over and take it hard by comparison these days in regards to pricing... Mostly because people will pay it.

I think SLI/Crossfire will make a comeback, but not like how we know it with what 3dfx pioneered with Voodoo SLI.

It will be multi-chip, but chiplet based, thus negating the need for any software interference...

And honestly, I think that was always the end goal as some efforts were made to achieve this over the years with efforts like the Lucid Hydra chip which would allow you to pair up any nVidia/AMD or both GPU's without any need for software interference.

But go back to the 90's and multi-chip GPU's were actually common, some GPU's like the 3dfx Voodoo 1 had your pixel pipelines in one chip... And the texture units on another chip.
Some GPU's later on had separate 2D and 3D accelerators on the one board... And some would have the GPU and a seperate TnL co-processor.

Was no messy software tricks to make them work together either.

But yeah, SLI and Crossfire for all intents and purposes are (happily) dead, mostly because single GPU's became competent and expensive enough to handle everything.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Get free Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 goodies on GOG
https://www.pcgamer.com/get-free-witcher-and-cyberpunk-2077-goodies-on-gog/
CD Projekt Red turns 20 this year, and to celebrate its anniversary GOG is giving away two bundles of goodies related to The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, which include art, comics, soundtracks, videos, and more. You might already have some of these goodies, either thanks to claiming them in previous giveaways or by owning the games in question on GOG, but odds are you don't have all of them. There's a lot.
The Witcher pack includes footage of a concert performance of The Witcher 3's excellent score from a Kraków music festival, high-resolution copies of art and art books, "emoji" interpretations of characters like Geralt, Ciri, and Regis, and comics like Fox Children, which is tucked away in the Thronebreaker goodies pack. Based on a story from Sapkowski's book Season of Storms, it's one of the better Witcher comics.
Meanwhile, the Cyberpunk 2077 goodies pack contains wallpapers, concept art, art from the SteelBook edition's cases, and posters of in-game advertisements, fashions, and gang graffiti. It's not quite as much stuff, but then it's based on one game rather than three RPGs and some card game spin-offs.

The Steam Bash Bash is a violence-oriented Steam sale coming in September
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-steam-bash-bash-is-a-violence-oriented-steam-sale-coming-in-september/
The next Steam sale, according to our list of Steam sale dates, is the Steam Survival Fest, running August 1-8; after that comes the Steam Next Fest, set for October 3-10. But there will be another event between those two: The intriguingly-named Steam Bash Bash, a one-week sale event that's set to kick off on September 19.
The Steam Bash Bash is a themed sale that will focus, appropriately, on games about bashing people in the head with large, heavy objects—or, as Steam put it in the announcement, "games that emphasize combat with melee weapons as the primary game mechanic."

GOG has decided to mess with me by putting 6 Deal of the Day deals (all will last 46 hours, until Friday), as well as two new sales:

• The Deals of the Day are: Eastward(15% off), Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix - Gold Edition(35% off), Banished(70% off), The Technomancer(75% off), Kane and Lynch: Dead Men(80% off), and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - Complete Edition(80% off)
• Square Enix puts its games up to 89% off during the next 4 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/2022_square_enix_indie
• And the Team 17 Publisher Sale brings up to 85% discounts during 5 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220725_team17_sale

Steam has a new deal: Aliens: Fireteam Elite has a 60% discount until August 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1549970/Aliens_Fireteam_Elite/.

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The Star Deal is Warhammer: Chaosbane - Slayer Edition, 85.5% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/warhammer-chaosbane-slayer-edition
• And the Build Your On Triple Pack features 8 titles to choose for your 3 pack bundle during the next 14 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-triple-pack

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD (Radeon) Software Adrenalin 22.7.1
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-22-7-1
Highlights

• Swordsman™ Remake.
• Radeon™ Boost using Variable Rate Shading with Elden Ring™, Resident Evil Village™ and VALORANT™.
• Microsoft® Windows® 11 version 22H2.
• Microsoft® Agility SDK Release 1.602 including new minor features.
• Microsoft® Agility SDK Release 1.606 including Microsoft® Shader Model 6.7.
• Additional Vulkan® extensions. Click here for more information.
• AMD Noise Suppression
  • Our newest feature: AMD Noise Suppression reduces background audio noise from your surrounding environment using a real-time deep learning algorithm, providing greater clarity and improved concentration whether you are focused on an important meeting or staying locked-in on a competitive game. To learn more, check out our blog post HERE!.
• OpenGL® Optimizations
  • Up to 79% increase in performance in Minecraft™ @ 4k Fabulous settings, using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 22.7.1 on the Radeon™️ RX 6950XT, versus the previous software driver version 22.6.1 ^RS-491
  • Up to 75% increase in performance in Minecraft™ @ 4k Fabulous settings, using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 22.7.1 on the Radeon™️ RX 6400, versus the previous software driver version 22.6.1 ^RS-495
• Radeon™ Super Resolution
  • Expanded support for discrete Radeon™ RX 5000 and 6000 series GPUs on AMD Ryzen™ processor notebooks with hybrid graphics.
  • RSR has been improved to provide a more seamless experience in borderless fullscreen mode with a performance/quality slider to personalize your gaming experience.

Fixed Issues

• Lower than expected Folding@home™ compute performance with OpenCL™ API on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6800.
• Auto Undervolt may disable Zero RPM fan feature.
• Hitman 3™ may freeze when rapidly switching between windows in Fullscreen Exclusive mode.
• Video upscaling in browsers appears blurry with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon® RX 6900 XT Graphics.
• Enhanced Sync may cause games to lock to 15FPS with video playback on extended monitors.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Lord of the Rings: Total War Remastered available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-lord-of-the-rings-total-war-remastered-available-for-download/
Dagovax Games has released a new The Lord of the Rings Mod for Total War: Rome Remastered, called The Lord of the Rings: Total War Remastered. The Lord of the Rings – Total War Remastered is a Total Conversion mod based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy that focuses on recreating the epic battles seen in the movies.
The mod has a complete Middle Earth map, fully customised cities like Minas Tirith and Helm’s Deep on Battle and Campaign map, a set of Historical Battles where you can play all the major and minor battles that take place in the trilogy, and a quest line for the Free-People’s campaign where, if the player succeeds, will take the Ring-Bearer from Hobbiton to the wasteland of Mordor in an attempt to save the world from its doom.

Fan-made sequel to Opposing Force features credited Half-Life voice actors
https://www.pcgamer.com/fan-made-sequel-to-opposing-force-features-credited-half-life-voice-actors/
Is there any other game series where fan-made content feels as legitimate a part of the fiction as Half-Life? Perhaps the runaway success of Black Mesa has skewed my thoughts on this, but I've found myself paying a lot more attention to how the community is playing with the Half-Life story of late. On that note, I'm particularly intrigued by Through The City, which pitches itself as a direct sequel to Half-Life: Opposing Force, set during the events of Half-Life 2.
A six-chapter campaign spearheaded by modder Kajlo, Through the City sees Opposing Force's errant Marine Adrian Shepard retrieved from sci-fi limbo by the G-Man, and dispatched to City 17 on a mission to support the uprising triggered by Gordon Freeman. The mod will allow you to explore new areas of City 17 and beyond, and will see some returning weapons and enemies from Opposing Force. For example, Shephard will be reunited with his trusty Wrench, which replaced Freeman's crowbar in OpFor. Meanwhile, Through the City will also feature some form of appearance by Race X, one of the alien species exclusive to Gearbox's expansion.
Perhaps most interestingly, Through the City's modding team has also managed to recruit genuine Half-Life acting talent. Two voice actors will be making a return to the Half-Life universe for the mod. Lani Minella, who voiced Colette Green in Half-Life: Decay, will be reprising her role for the mod, and Harry S. Robins, who has voiced Isaac Kleiner in every canonical Half-Life game to date, will also be making an appearance.

GAMING NEWS

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake has been reportedly delayed indefinitely
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic-remake-has-been-reportedly-delayed-indefinitely/
In September 2021, Sony and Aspyr announced a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, it appears that this remake is currently in development hell as Aspyr has decided to delay it indefinitely.

The Wednesday news, the long sequel:

Riot bans two Valorant players over heated teabagging dispute
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-bans-two-valorant-players-over-heated-teabagging-dispute/
Two Valorant players have been temporarily suspended from participating in Riot-sanctioned events following a heated incident last month over teabagging people in games.

Former Dragon Age: Dreadwolf boss is making a new game for the publisher of D&D and Magic: The Gathering
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-dragon-age-dreadwolf-boss-is-making-a-new-game-for-the-publisher-of-dandd-and-magic-the-gathering/
Former Dragon Age 4 executive producer Christian Dailey, who left BioWare in February, has joined D&D and Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast to head up a new game studio called Skeleton Key.

For $3 this fantasy autobattler will consume your entire week
https://www.pcgamer.com/for-dollar3-this-fantasy-autobattler-will-consume-your-entire-week/
It's rare you can fork over a few bucks and have the next several dozen hours of your life be utterly consumed, but that's what early access roguelike autobattler Just King is offering. For $3 (it's on sale for a buck off the $4 price until July 28) you get cute chunky art, simple controls that take the briefest moment to learn, a brilliant chiptune-inspired soundtrack, and an overwhelming "just one more game" vibe as you guide adorable yet valiant heroes into battle against monstrous mobs.

MultiVersus was down, but is now coming back online
https://www.pcgamer.com/is-multiversus-down/
Warner Bros. crossover fighting game MultiVersus launched into its F2P open beta today, July 26—but currently no one can play it. As of Tuesday morning in the US, MultiVersus's servers were down for maintenance, but as of 11:49 am PST they're starting to come back.

Taz just got nerfed into the ground in MultiVersus
https://www.pcgamer.com/taz-just-got-nerfed-into-the-ground-in-multiversus/
MultiVersus, Warner Bros.’ surprisingly great take on Super Smash Bros that released in open beta today, is already dropping the nerf hammer on its most hated character. After a week of domination, Taz the Tasmanian Devil is receiving a significant downgrade aimed at making him less frustrating to play against.

Returnal PC port may support Steam Deck
https://www.pcgamer.com/returnal-pc-port-may-support-steam-deck/
Sony still hasn't confirmed that Returnal is coming to PC, but it feels like a certainty at this point. An entry for a game codenamed Oregon appeared on SteamDB in May, bearing a lot of hints as to its real identity (read: Returnal). Then, in June, some convincing leaked screenshots showed images of Returnal with PC graphics options and control scheme customization.
That SteamDB listing has received a tonne of updates these past few days, and for the average person, the changelog is mostly gobbledygook. One entry in the changelist stands out however, because it points to Steam Deck support. That change was made yesterday, July 25, but a lot of changes have been made since too, perhaps indicating that a release is upon us.

New study finds gaming is 'unlikely' to affect well-being
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-study-finds-gaming-is-unlikely-to-affect-well-being/
A new study by researchers at Oxford University has found that gaming does not have an overall effect on mental health.
The research, conducted by a team at the Oxford Internet Institute, contradicts findings from a previous study by the same team in 2020, which concluded that people who played games for long periods of time reported feeling happier than those who did not.

Oof, the iconic Roblox death noise has been replaced with a way uglier sound
https://www.pcgamer.com/oof-the-iconic-roblox-death-noise-has-been-replaced-with-a-way-uglier-sound/
The Roblox oof. A loud, muffled cry of pain whenever your blocky little chap dies. It's an iconic sound, one that is so ingrained in my memory I'm not sure I'll ever forget it. Sadly, Roblox Corporation will have to forget it after it was forced to remove the sound from its platform.
That's because the "oof" noise wasn't actually created by anyone at Roblox. The sound originally came from an obscure 2000 action game called Messiah, created by Intellivision founder Tommy Tallarico. Its usage came to his attention in 2019, where he tweeted that he would "need to be fairly compensated" before cheekily adding: "I've never been cheap."
>> Obscure? Messiah? The writer must be quite young.

Zombies return to Call of Duty: Warzone in a new limited-time mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/zombies-return-to-call-of-duty-warzone-in-a-new-limited-time-mode/
(...) Warzone is getting an undead makeover later today, as Season 4 Reloaded's limited time mode "Rebirth of the Dead" prepares to sink its teeth into your skull-sponge. Rebirth of the Dead is a bespoke game mode where teams of four drop into the map to do battle with other players. Unlike vanilla Warzone, however, players aren't carted off to the Gulag when they die, as killed players come back as walking human jerky.

This starship sim looks like FTL meets Rimworld, and it's been in the making for over a decade
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-starship-sim-looks-like-ftl-meets-rimworld-and-its-been-in-the-making-for-over-a-decade/
If you're anything like me, your favourite part of any game is when things are spiralling out of control. The best stories happen when half the world wants you dead and the infidels are at the gates in Crusader Kings, when the lower levels flood with lava in Dwarf Fortress, or when your crew are split evenly between suffocating, possessed, or on fire in FTL.
So naturally my interest is piqued by the scale and variety of catastrophes that seem possible in Cosmoteer, which leaves early access this autumn. It's been in development for 11 years by indie studio Walternate Realities, and bills itself as a "starship design, simulation, and battle game" that will let you create any size and shape of starship you want before getting everyone aboard it horrifically killed in the game's "physics-driven" combat.

Decline of Square Enix's Western studios was a 'train-wreck in slow motion,' according to Eidos Montreal founder
https://www.pcgamer.com/decline-of-square-enixs-western-studios-was-a-train-wreck-in-slow-motion-according-to-eidos-montreal-founder/
Eidos Montreal's founder has described the decline of Square Enix's Western studios as a "train-wreck in slow motion".
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Stephane D'Astous criticised Square Enix's dismissive approach toward Eidos Montreal, as well as other Western studios like Crystal Dynamics, and speculated that its recent sale to Embracer Group was due to a purported acquisition of Square Enix by Sony.

AMD’s new driver features Noise Suppression technology and up to 92% better OpenGL performance in Minecraft

https://videocardz.com/newz/amds-new-driver-features-noise-suppression-technology-and-up-to-92-better-opengl-performance-in-minecraft

Always good to see performance improvements in drivers. One thing to note is that AMD's OpenGL driver has been pretty terrible so this is more so them fixing some titles similar to their DX11 fix where majority of the titles did not see any notable changes. I'll be curious to see how their Noise Suppression does against RTX voice.

PRO Hi-Tech: Chinese GPU supplier to receive NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 cards in less than a month

https://videocardz.com/newz/pro-hi-tech-chinese-gpu-supplier-to-receive-nvidia-geforce-rtx-40-cards-in-less-than-a-month

Take it with huge amounts of salt

Backblaze Analyzes HDD Life Expectancy Over A Period of 10 Years, Western Digital Favored Among Consumers

https://wccftech.com/backblaze-analyzes-hdd-life-expectancy-over-a-period-of-10-years-western-digital-favored-among-consumers/

The dangers of Microsoft Pluton

https://gabrielsieben.tech/2022/07/25/the-power-of-microsoft-pluton-2/

Feels like we are going to get cucked in the future with all these "protections" that will be implemented in future CPUs

EVGA's Cable Suspension PC Chassis Launches Starting at $1,599

https://www.pcmag.com/news/evgas-cable-suspension-pc-gaming-rig-launches-starting-at-1599

I'd like to know what Evga has been smoking to have the audacity to charge $1599 for the case and a vertical GPU kit. Hell even Lian Li rarely charges that much for their exotic cases and their cases are genuinely interesting.

True and the jump 4000 series will be huge jump this upcoming generation. Same with RDNA 3. With RT performance allegedly be much improved alongside Raster.

Jay trying to scaremonger people into buying two year old tech, in fear of people not getting them is ill advised when everything's pointing to mass availability of 3000 series cards, even among the launch of next generation of cards. In fact, we're going to see more GPUs on the market from people upgrading and miners flogging off their stuff on marketplaces. He didn't really even mention that high end cards like the 3080Ti, 3090 and RX 6900XT have gone down significantly since his last video prior.

Yeah, a big reason why the 3000 series is so impressive, was due to the fairly lackluster Turing performance. And people didn't care much for the latter. Ampere is more in line with the usual performance jump. And like you said, it was also held back by Samsung's crappy node. Moving back TSMC on 5nm will be huge jump never mind IPC increases, higher clocks, TDP and significantly more cache.

While the 4070 series may be delayed to next year and other cards push back (mumors by Y'tubers) by a month top clear some more invertory.. double downing on it, isn't a good look. With inflation, higher cost of living in a lot of places around the world and with restrictions largely gone in most countries there's going to be less people interested in buying expensive GPU's. It isn't going to be anywhere near as bad as getting an Ampere at launch. There's always last gen stuff that will get discounted during that time.

Stray benchmarks are starting to come out

https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Stray-Spiel-73421/Specials/Stray-Review-Benchmark-Test-Intel-AMD-Nvidia-1399686/2/

It seems that AMD still has a lot of work to do with their DX11 driver as a liquid cooled 6900XT gets smoked by a 3080. 1440p:

But what's interesting is how well the 5800X3D does: