I was waiting for these new 3D CPUs because I was curious to see if the scaling would be similar to the one we got with the 5800X3D or it would be a bit lower than that given that Zen4 has more cache than Zen3, but it seems like the improvement is about the same. AMD has done a great job with it, but we'll see if they've also done it with the 7900X3D.

As some reviews said, AMD didn't provided this CPU for review, which is quite odd. We'll have to wait and see why AMD decided to "hide" it.

And well, that Techpowerup article with the simulated 7800X3D just proves that it will be a winner in gaming while using a lot less power than the rest of CPUs. It's no wonder they're launching that last, to get some sales from the other two.

*Edit*

I forgot to add that the performance difference you can get between the old chipset drivers and the new ones, optimized for the 3D chips, can be quite big:

I suppose the 7900X3D might be just 6 3D cache cores plus 6 cacheless cores, so it won't be as great for gaming. It's a bit of an oddball CPU, like the Phenom X3s.

True, but it's also rated for slightly higher base clocks, 4.4GHz vs 4.2GHz for the 7950X3D, so it could have a slight advantage in games that still prefer higher clocks over more memory.

Overall pretty impressive. Personally AMD should get rid of chips like the 7900x/7950x in the future cause those buyers essentially got scammed. For the price you are paying for those class of chips, they should be able to do everything well. Luckily 7950x3d does and thanks to its performance in both gaming and productivity, spending the big bux on AM5 now makes sense.

The i5 13600k remains the midranged king. 7700x is still a pointless cpu. 7800x3d should be gaming king for its price. I'd skip 7900x and 7900x3d entirely. Intel will likely respond with discounts but being limited to a single gen makes their value proposition questionable overall since the performance is so close.

Personally I think it's a bit of a mixed bag, but likely down to poor scheduling, single CCD chips seem to fair much better.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/18747/the-amd-ryzen-9-7950x3d-review-amd-s-fastest-gaming-processor/8

Right now I personally find the non-3D V-Cache of the 7950X to be the better deal... And once Vcache chips are in the market I hope it pushes those prices down a little more and I will do a full system upgrade to the 7950X.

There's still room for improvement, no doubt about it, but it's a very good first entry in the market of CPUs that need special schedules to work. After all, Intel's first try with its 12th Gen also had some troubles at launch.

It's true that the thermal and voltage restrictions of this extra cache hurt the CCD equipped with it with lower clocks and performance, something that shows more in productivity results. But well, at the end of the day, you either care more about productivity, and go for a 12 or 16-core CPU, you care about gaming, and the upcoming 7800X3D (or the 13600K) should be the best choice, or you want to have the best of both worlds, and that brings you to this one, maybe the 7900X3D, or the 13900K, which is better in some tasks and worse in others, but uses a hell lot more of power.

I disagree with you regarding the 7950/7900X. Some users don't use their PCs for gaming but don't have the resources (or the need) to go the extra mile for a Threadripper system. That's where those two CPUs come into play.

By the way, have fun the next weeks!

Yes but the difference in productivity is so small and the fact that they both cost the same at msrp shows that it's really not worth the trade off. If they launched with 7950X3D/7900X3D instead of 7900X/7950X, it would make a lot more sense. Plus more and more, GPUs are taking over plenty of the heavier workloads anyway.

And thanks, I'll miss posting the news here but I'll still be posting comments and such. I should be back in April.

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has two new deals and new weeklong deals:

• Hyperstrange's 2023 Publisher Sale features up to 90% discounts until March 6: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/Hyperstrange/sale/HyperSale
• NEBULOUS: Fleet Command, still in Early Access, will be 25% off until the 13th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/887570/NEBULOUS_Fleet_Command/
• And this is a small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Right and Down is 25% off https://store.steampowered.com/app/2008050/Right_and_Down/
  • Crimzon Clover World EXplosion, that has a demo, gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1718160/Crimzon_Clover_World_EXplosion/
  • Tower Princess is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1138650/Tower_Princess/
  • Arietta of Spirits gets a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1140170/Arietta_of_Spirits/
  • 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is going to be 70% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/739080/9_Monkeys_of_Shaolin/
  • And the last one is Mars: War Logs, with an 80% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/232750/Mars_War_Logs/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• Publisher Armor Games puts its games up to 90% off during the next 6 days. The keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/armor-games-publisher-sale/
• The Racing Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG (1), EGS (4) and UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/racing-sale/

Fanatical's new Star Deal is Chernobylite Enhanced Edition, 60% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/chernobylite-enhanced-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 531.18
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-531-18
Highlights

• This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology including Atomic Heart and the closed Beta of THE FINALS.
• GeForce Experience
  • Atomic Heart
  • Company of Heroes 3
  • Hogwarts Legacy
  • PERISH
  • Sons Of The Forest
  • The Settlers: New Allies
  • Warlander
• Introduces support for RTX Video Super Resolution

Fixed Issues

• [Steam version] Forza Horizon 4 may freeze after 15-30 minutes of gameplay [3866530]
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 occasional stability issues [3934963]
• Enable Dead Space Resizable Bar profile [3954048]
• Adobe After Effects / Media Encoder – issues with ProRes RAW files [3957455] [3957469]
• Adobe Premiere Pro application instability [3940086]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Elden Ring gets God of War Kratos and Atomic Heart Ballerina Mods
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-gets-god-of-war-kratos-and-atomic-heart-ballerina-mods/
Modders ‘shintheweapon’ and ‘User619’ have released two cool character swap mods for Elden Ring. As the title suggests, these mods will allow you to play as Kratos from God of War and the Ballerina Twin Sister from Atomic Heart.
As said, these are simple character swap mods and nothing more. Thus, the GOW Mod does not bring Kratos’ weapons or moves from the game. In other words, they are not as advanced as the ones we shared yesterday. Still, I’m certain that some Elden Ring fans will find them cool.
>> There are some screenshots of the mods.

Metal Gear Solid 2 HD Remaster is already available on PC via emulation
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metal-gear-solid-2-hd-remaster-is-already-available-on-pc-via-emulation/
A lot of rumors have surfaced these past few months, suggesting that Konami may be working on a Metal Gear Solid Collection. However, PC gamers can already experience an HD Remaster of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance thanks to the Playstation 2 emulator, PCSX2.
A few days ago, ‘NoBigDeal La’ shared the following video, showcasing Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance running on PC via PCSX2 1.7.4. For this video, the YouTuber used an HD Texture Pack that you can download from here. And, as you will see, the game looks absolutely stunning with it.
What’s also important to note here is that PCSX2 supports K&M. As such, you can play MGS2 with the Mouse and Keyboard. Truth be told, the game still displays the original PS2 buttons. However, this is a game-changer for everyone that wanted to replay these classic PS2 games with K&M.
>> There's an almost 20 minutes long video of the game in action, a fair bit less if you skip the cinematics parts.

You can clone Kelvin and other NPCs in Sons of the Forest with this simple command
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-clone-kelvin-and-other-npcs-in-sons-of-the-forest-with-this-simple-command/
Sons of the Forest's default NPC companion, Kelvin, is nothing short of a survival game revelation. As a dedicated helper, Kelvin can be commanded to complete menial tasks like gathering sticks, chopping down trees, or snatching fish out of the river with his bare hands. Once he puts his mind to something, he will not stop until asked otherwise. One Kelvin is an unstoppable force. So imagine, then, what one could accomplish with a small army of Kelvins?
You can thank modder CallMeSlinky for making it possible with a mod that enables the debug console in Sons of the Forest (you'll also need this Unity framework mod first). Reddit user jrm850 then quickly discovered that, with some quick javascript editing, you can spawn in as many Kelvins as you want. Once the debug console is in place, you can use the "addcharacter Robby 1" command to conjure a Kelvin (we're thinking Robby is an old name for Kelvin used by the devs). Though, jrm850 notes not to get carried away in the cloning process.
>> There's a video of the Kelvins in action.

GAMING NEWS

Atomic Heart received two patches this weekend, and here are all their tweaks, changes & improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/atomic-heart-received-two-patches-this-weekend-and-here-are-all-their-tweaks-changes-improvements/
Mundfish released two patches for Atomic Heart this weekend. Each of these updates was around 200-300MB in size, and below you can find their complete changelogs.

Resident Evil 5 February 28th Update completely removes GFWL, adds support for local co-op
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/resident-evil-5-february-28th-update-completely-removes-gfwl-adds-support-for-local-co-op/
Now here is something unexpected. After almost eight years, Capcom released a new patch for Resident Evil 5 that removes its Games for Windows Live support. Furthermore, this latest update adds support for local split-screen co-op.

Unreal Engine 5-powered Titanic: Horror & Glory gets new demo on March 3rd
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-titanic-horror-glory-new-demo-march-3rd/
The team behind the amazing Titanic: Horror & Glory project has announced that a new demo for it will become available on March 3rd. This new demo will feature numerous new areas, and will showcase some impressive visuals in Unreal Engine 5.

Square Enix has, finally, officially confirmed Final Fantasy XVI for PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/square-enix-has-finally-officially-confirmed-final-fantasy-xvi-for-the-pc/
In 2020, Square Enix released a PC trailer for Final Fantasy XVI, hinting at the game coming to our platform. Since then, Square Enix has not officially mentioned this PC version. Until today. Square Enix’s Naoki Yoshida has officially confirmed that Final Fantasy XVI will be coming to PC. However, it may take some time.

Tuesday news, part two:

Existing owners won't get The Outer Worlds' new fancypants edition for free, but there's a hefty discount
https://www.pcgamer.com/existing-owners-wont-get-the-outer-worlds-new-fancypants-edition-for-free-but-theres-a-hefty-discount/
The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's satirical super-corporate first-person RPG, is getting a new, polished-up version. The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition will bring you the base game and both DLCs alongside a suite of graphical and gameplay tweaks to make it shine on the current generation of consoles. Not to worry, though, the PC version gets to benefit, too.

PSA: Sons of the Forest companions can be revived with Notepad
https://www.pcgamer.com/psa-sons-of-the-forest-companions-can-be-revived-with-notepad/
Sons of the Forest players have found the line of code that dictates whether their favorite survival companions live or die.
Kelvin and Virginia, your two NPC allies in the game, can permanently die if you let them. And, trust me, you don't want to. (...)
In the event that one of them dies, or you are a heartless person that refused to help Kelvin after the opening helicopter crash, you can resurrect them with a fairly simple tweak.

Survival MMO Dune: Awakening takes place in an 'alternate' timeline
https://www.pcgamer.com/survival-mmo-dune-awakening-takes-place-in-an-alternate-timeline/
Last year we got our first look at Dune: Awakening, the open world survival MMO from Funcom set on a "vast and seamless Arrakis" that will be shared by "thousands of players." But while the cinematic trailer showed us some familiar sights like the desert planet of Arrakis and a sandworm consuming a spice harvester, we still had plenty of questions.
Last week I got a few of those questions answered when I spoke with Dune: Awakening's creative director, Joel Bylos, about how the MMO fits into the Dune universe and the timeline of the fiction.

'Too early access for early access'—players react to Kerbal Space Program 2 launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/too-early-access-for-early-accessplayers-react-to-kerbal-space-program-2-launch/
After a nearly three year delay, Kerbal Space Program 2 is finally here. Well, some of it. As with the original space flight sim, the sequel has launched into Steam early access, with ambitious plans to build on its base sandbox. Colonies, interstellar travel, and multiplayer are all coming eventually, adding features that don't exist in Kerbal Space Program. But with none of those features in at launch, fans of the original game are questioning whether it makes sense to start playing Kerbal Space Program 2 just yet.

One of Korea's best indie studios released a free-to-play game about a bus ride to hell
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-koreas-best-indie-studios-released-a-free-to-play-game-about-a-bus-ride-to-hell/
Korean indie developers ProjectMoon, the studio behind off-the-wall hits like Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina, has released a new, equally esoteric and inscrutable game called Limbus Company. It's a mobile-style game that uses a twist on their delightful chaining combat mechanics from Library of Ruina, given depth with a match-3-esque interface and a variety of RPG interactions to optimize. It's also set in the same strange, surreal-to-absurd, purgatorial anime city that the first two games are set in—immediately after the fall of the Lobotomy Corporation, in fact.
>> The article has an almost 5 minutes video of the game.

Staff at Ubisoft's Beyond Good and Evil 2 studio are reportedly at breaking point
https://www.pcgamer.com/staff-at-ubisofts-beyond-good-and-evil-2-studio-are-reportedly-at-breaking-point/
Since its first trailer in 2008, Beyond Good and Evil 2 hasn't been able to catch a break. That doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon: Reports suggest that Ubisoft Montpellier, the studio behind the game, is under investigation by its local government for an "unprecedented" amount of burnout and sick leave among staff, and it's lost its managing director, too.
>> Sooner or later, someone will write a book or make a doc about the development of this game.

Elden Ring's first expansion announced
https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-ring-announces-first-expansion/
Bandai Namco and Fromoftware have announced Elden Ring's first expansion is in development. Named Shadow of the Erdtree, the announcement comes with a piece of concept art which I'm going to rampantly speculate on, and not much else.

Elden Ring's creator says he's been checking out Escape from Tarkov for a little multiplayer inspiration
https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-rings-creator-says-hes-been-checking-out-escape-from-tarkov-for-a-little-multiplayer-inspiration/
Elden Ring creator Hidetaka Miyazaki sat down for a chat with IGN recently, in the build-up to today's much-anticipated announcement of an expansion to our 2022 game of the year. In the short conversation, Miyazaki spoke about working on Elden Ring, whether the game's success would influence FromSoft's future projects, and the kind of games he looks to for inspiration. And guess what? Turns out Miyazaki's been paying special attention to Escape from Tarkov recently.

Flight Keeps getting delayed due to bad weather. I forgot how great air travel was /s

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850