Yeah, the 4070 is probably to the 3080 what the 4070 Ti is to the 3090 Ti, so a nice performance per watt uplift overall.

I suspect this is as much on the new node as it is on Ampere having been a relatively poor leap in the first place (for any application not using sparsity instructions or the added FP32 units). Nvidia was once twice as efficient as AMD following Maxwell and Pascal, and their lead had evaporated completely in just four years. This seems too much to ascribe just to RDNA.

nVidia has taken an Infinity cache-like approach to the 4000 series of GPU's, so it's not directly comparable anyway.

I.E. The 3000 series has between 2-6MB of L2 cache. - The 4000 series has 48-72MB of L2.

That allows them to use cheaper memory, but more of it to hit the same bill of materials budget... The 4070 12GB isn't a bad looking card and should not hit the vram wall in games as quickly as the (What should not exist) 10GB 3080.

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10
 
You'll find the top 100 here.

GOG has launched two new sales:

• The Weekly Sale launches with up to 80% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230404_weekly_sale
• And the Indie Spring Sale will feature up to 90% discounts until April 19th: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_indie_spring_sale

Steam has new sale and new weeklong deals:

• The Super Meat Boy franchise is on sale with up to 90% discounts until netx Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/thunderfulpublishing/sale/super-meat-boy-franchise-sale
• And here's a sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Ravenous Devils, that has a demo, will be 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1615290/Ravenous_Devils/
  • Grow: Song of the Evertree gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380420/Grow_Song_of_the_Evertree/
  • Emily Wants To Play is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/416590/Emily_Wants_To_Play/
  • Summer in Mara is going to be 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/962580/Summer_in_Mara/
  • The Painscreek Killings gets a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/624270/The_Painscreek_Killings/
  • And the last one I'll mention is Suzy Cube, 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/780500/Suzy_Cube/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The RPG Sale brings up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. There are keys for Steam and GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/rpg-sale/
• Team17 puts its games up to 90% off during 6 days. There are keys for Steam and GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/team-17-publisher-sale/

And Fanatical has:

• The new Star Deal is Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr, 85% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/warhammer-40-000-inquisitor-martyr
• Oh! And there another of those Wishlist and win store cash contests. Learn more about it here: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/wishlist-and-win

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.4.1
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-23-4-1

Highlights

• Support for:
  • Meet Your Maker™
• Game optimizations for The Last of Us™ Part 1

Fixed Issues

• Video playback in browsers using hardware acceleration may appear blurry on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XT.
• Mouse cursor may appear invisible in Citrix Workspace™.
• Performance Metrics Overlay may intermittently disappear when playing full-screen videos from STEAM™.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Elden Ring gets a cool first-person mod, available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-gets-a-cool-first-person-mod-available-for-download/
Have you ever wondered what Elden Ring would have looked like as a first-person game? Well, time to find out. Modder ‘Dasaav’ has released a new amazing mod for Elden Ring that allows you to play the entire game in first-person mode.
As the modder claims, First Person Souls adjusts core gameplay mechanics in subtle, but satisfying ways. The ultimate goal of those changes is to to make first person feel more seamless and polished.
>> There's a 3:33 video of the mod.

Half-life 2 Episode 3: The Return Mod will release on April 10th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/half-life-2-episode-3-the-return-mod-will-release-on-april-10th/
Modder ‘valina35’ has announced that Half-life 2 Episode 3: The Return will release on April 10th. Moreover, the modder shared three new screenshots that you can find below. Ah sh!t, now that I think of it, I could have done that “HL, 3 screenshots” joke. What a missed opportunity.
Half-life 2 Episode 3: The Return promises to provide a thrilling gameplay experience that lasts around 20-30 minutes. According to the modder, its Arctic environments will pack enjoyable combat sections. Furthermore, players can expect some new lighting effects too.

Fallout 76 gets a 100GB 2K/4K Texture Pack, optimizing all 70,513 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-76-gets-a-145gb-4k-texture-pack-optimizing-all-70513-textures/
A few days ago, we shared a 4K Texture Pack for Fallout 4. Created by modder ‘Painstaking Rick’, that pack aimed to optimize all of the game’s textures. And today, we are happy to present you a similar mod for Fallout 76.
Performout 76 – Fancy comes in 8 parts and is around 145GB in size. Yeap, you read that right. The total size of this mod is 145GB. However, there is also a 2K version, called Performout 76 – Equilibrium. Both of these packs optimize more than 70513 textures.
According to the modder, the new optimized textures are created from the game’s original/vanilla ones. The Fancy pack contains many textures upscaled to 4K by AI, which have been edited to have more detail. On the other hand, the Equilibrium pack has mostly 2K versions of these optimized textures.
>> There are no screenshots nor video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

ARK: Survival Ascended is a remaster of ARK in Unreal Engine 5, featuring Nanite, Lumen and RTXDI
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ark-survival-ascended-is-a-remaster-of-ark-in-unreal-engine-5-featuring-nanite-lumen-and-rtxdi/
Studio Wildcard has announced a remaster for the first ARK game in Unreal Engine 5, called ARK: Survival Ascended. ARK: Survival Ascended will take advantage of numerous UE5 features, and will release in August 2023.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Patch 1.05 adds support for NVIDIA DLSS 2 & Intel XeSS 1.1
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/like-a-dragon-ishin-patch-1-05-adds-support-for-nvidia-dlss-2-intel-xess-1-1/
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has released a new patch for the PC version of Like a Dragon: Ishin! that adds official support for NVIDIA DLSS 2 and Intel XeSS 1.1.

Cyberpunk 2077 RTX Path Tracing Overdrive Mode gets new screenshots & video
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/cyberpunk-2077-rtx-path-tracing-overdrive-mode-gets-new-screenshots-video/
NVIDIA has released a new set of screenshots and a new video, showcasing the RTX Path Tracing effects of Cyberpunk 2077’s Overdrive Mode. These screenshots will give you an idea of what you can expect from it.

The Tuesday news, part two:

Overwatch 2's new support heals with flowers and can yank you out of danger
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2s-new-support-heals-with-flowers-and-can-yank-you-out-of-danger/
Overwatch 2's new support hero is Lifeweaver, a Thai healer with unprecedented utility.
Blizzard dropped a screenshot of Lifeweaver on Twitter and says more details will come out tomorrow, but a PCGamesN article—which was posted prematurely and has now been taken down—revealed a number of details about the character.

'Free' Ark: Survival Evolved upgrade turns out not to be free, and a lot of players are mad
https://www.pcgamer.com/free-ark-survival-evolved-upgrade-turns-out-not-to-be-free-and-a-lot-of-players-are-mad/
After teasing a free Unreal Engine 5-powered upgrade to the six-year-old Ark: Survival Evolved in January, developer Studio Wildcard said on Friday that players will actually have to pay for it if they want it—and fans, as you might expect, are not happy.

It's a great week for city builders: 3 new ones are coming to Steam on Wednesday alone
https://www.pcgamer.com/its-a-great-week-for-city-builders-3-new-ones-are-coming-to-steam-on-wednesday-alone/
City builder fans have a lot of reasons to be happy these days—we're in a real boom at the moment, with lots of exciting-looking city builders planned for this year including the recently announced Cities: Skylines 2.
Just look at what's coming this week: there are three (potentially four, really) new city builders coming to Steam just on Wednesday, April 5. That's a lot of builders crammed into the same day! And they all have different styles and represent different takes on the city building genre, from survival to puzzle to strategy and tower-defense.

I knew Capcom was doing pretty well, but its stock is skyrocketing
https://www.pcgamer.com/i-knew-capcom-was-doing-pretty-well-but-its-stock-is-skyrocketing/
It's been hard to ignore the amazing run Capcom's been on for the past few years, and that repeated excellence is being reflected in the stock market. According to industry consultant Dr. Serkan Toto, Capcom's stock hit a record high ¥4,865 ($36.74) a share on April 3.
>> Ryuu96 made a thread about this feat yesterday.

Diablo 4 boss has reassuring words for buildcrafters: Respeccing won't be 'prohibitively expensive'
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-boss-has-reassuring-words-for-buildcrafters-respeccing-wont-be-prohibitively-expensive/
Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson had some reassuring words for Diablo 4 players concerned that they won't be able to respec their characters because the cost will be too high: It won't be.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor design director on starting production in Covid-19 lockdown and still finishing in record time: 'I don't know how we did it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-jedi-survivor-design-director-on-starting-production-in-covid-19-lockdown-and-still-finishing-in-record-time-i-dont-know-how-we-did-it/
At risk of stating the obvious, videogames aren't coming out as frequently as they used to. Chalk it up to rising production costs, inflated expectations for how massive games should be, or the global pandemic that we're still feeling the effects of years later—big new games are taking longer to get out the door.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor isn't one of those games. It's coming out almost exactly three years after it started production in March 2020 (yes, right at lockdown o'clock) on April 28.

Naughty Dog says Steam Deck support is at the bottom of the list while it tries to get The Last of Us working on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/naughty-dog-says-steam-deck-support-is-at-the-bottom-of-the-list-while-it-tries-to-get-the-last-of-us-working-on-pc/
The Last of Us has been officially marked as unsupported on Steam Deck on its store page, and Naughty Dog says getting it verified will have to wait until the game's patched up on PC.

The spiritual successor to one of the best and least-played management games ever is getting a sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-spiritual-successor-to-one-of-the-best-and-least-played-management-games-ever-is-getting-a-sequel/
Tribal management and strategy game Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind is getting a sequel. Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is set for release this summer, and will let you import your save from the first game so you can continue to enjoy and endure the consequences of all your terrible, terrible decisions.

Player mutiny forces 19-year-old MMO to retract new 'pay-to-raid' feature two weeks after announcing it
https://www.pcgamer.com/player-mutiny-forces-19-year-old-mmo-to-retract-new-pay-to-raid-feature-two-weeks-after-announcing-it/
Nearly two decades on from release, Everquest 2 got a new system last month. MMOBomb reports that the devs at Daybreak introduced the "Personal Treasure Unlocker," which would let players reset the loot lockout timers on the game's bosses, effectively giving anyone with money as many shots at rare drops as they could stomach. Fans were not pleased. They were so displeased, in fact, that Daybreak axed the system in the same month it announced it.

Monster Energy drinks try to bully indie dev out of using the word 'monster', but chose the wrong guy to pick on
https://www.pcgamer.com/monster-energy-drinks-try-to-bully-indie-dev-out-of-using-the-word-monster-but-chose-the-wrong-guy-to-pick-on/
Monster Energy is a ubiquitous energy drink brand, now owned by Coca Cola, that as part of its marketing targets the gaming audience. It was an in-game item in Death Stranding (though clearly didn't pony up for the Director's Cut, which removed it). As much as the brand wants to appeal to gamers, though, it also has a reputation within the industry for being heavily litigious. Previous legal tangles include a clash with Ubisoft over Immortals: Fenyx Rising (which was initially called Gods and Monsters).
Yep, it's another brand that thinks it owns the generic word it's adopted. This time, however, it picked the wrong target.
Coca Cola and Monster Energy have targeted indie developer Glowstick Entertainment for the great crime of making a game called Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals (thanks, TheGamer). Founder and CEO Vincent Livings posted about the legal threats and the settlement offered by Monster, which allows for the studio to use the name in exchange for a whole bunch of nonsensically restrictive terms, including that it never again use the word 'monster' or variations such as 'monstrous' or 'monstrosity' in a game title.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics Card OpenCL Benchmark Leaks Out, 19% Slower Than 4070 Ti

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-graphics-card-opencl-benchmark-leak-19-percent-slower-than-4070-ti/

As people already guessed, it's right where the 3080 is

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU Shows Up To 12% Faster Gaming Performance Versus Stock With Enhanced Boost & High Efficiency Mode

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-cpu-shows-up-to-12-percent-faster-gaming-performance-versus-stock-with-enhanced-boost-high-efficiency-mode/

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 3D V-Cache CPU Listed For $659.99 By Best Buy Canada

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-3d-v-cache-cpu-listed-for-659-99-by-best-buy-canada/

The games for Humble Choice April have been revealed.

• DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite
• Rollerdrome
• Life is Strange 2: Complete Season
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
• Revita
• Founders' Fortune

Thanks, Rhonin.

So, from the leaks we've had, it looks like the 4070 will perform like a 3080. Two and a half years later, we'll be able to have the same performance (plus 2GB more of VRAM!), for $100 less.
Yeah, for some reason I can't get excited by any of these new GPUs.

Yeah, the shitshow continues with the 4070. I still can't accept the fact that lower middle cards go for enthusiast prices now. I wonder how quickly the lower end 40xx cards will become obsolete at this point? Not just with VRAM limitations and throttled bandwidth, but for sheer performance. They can't hide everything behind DLSS either. I think this generation will be seen as a try-and-fail scenario in hindsight, and that some more proper designs will reveal themselves in the coming generation. I would wait one more year or 18 months, but I just can't hold off any longer, my rig is getting seriously old.

I can't say I'm as optimistic as you are. You think this gen will fail and things (or well, Nvidia) will come back to its senes and price their products accordingly, but this could also be the gen kills PC gaming as we know it, with GPUs either priced well above their usual price point and mid and lower end users having no good upgrade path as the cards being offered to them aren't good enough.

It's a shame that MSoft has decided to kill its $1 GamePass offer, because I can see this situation as a great opportunity to bring people to cloud gaming, even if I don't like it.

But well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people will start to act with common sense and give the middle finger to Nvidia and its overpriced products, something that hasn't happened yet with its 4000 GPUs (the poor sales of the 4080 doesn't count because people decided to spend more and get the 4090). And maybe AMD will bring some competition to the table, splitting the market in two: the high end for Nvidia and the mid and low end for AMD. Intel is currently out of the question if their next GPUs won't come until next year.

But I can't really say that I'm too optimistic about it.

I find it funny that you can't wait any longer for a new PC given that I'm thinking about waiting a bit more for my upgrade. The number of problems people seem to have with their motherboards and DDR5 on AMD is surprisingly high, and giving them a few extra months to squash those bugs out seems... like a sensible thing to do.

Lovelace is basically Turing all over again where the only GPU that's arguably worth the price is the 4090. The rest just feels bad to buy because the performance you get for the price is bad. I am sure that just like RTX 3000, RTX 5000 series will go back to normal assuming the crypto boom or something else doesn't start buying GPUs in droves. It's one of the main reasons I bought a 4090 since over a 3090, it's 70% gen on gen uplift in Raster and 80+% Ray Tracing while having copious amounts of vram and DLSS features. If you are targeting below a 4090, I'd just wait for the refresh or wait till next gen. Cause the GPUs are getting discounted even if it's slowly.