Thinking about replacing my workplace laptop. It's a 10-year-old Ivy Bridge one...

To be honest, it'd be still more or less fine for what I use it for since I installed an SSD years ago, weren't it for the huge bottleneck in RAM and the worn-down battery.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Will Reportedly Precompile Shaders On PC

https://wccftech.com/star-wars-jedi-survivor-will-reportedly-precompile-shaders-on-pc/

We might finally be getting through to some of these devs. Of course pre-compiling shaders doesn't automatically make it a great port as you can see with the last of us but at least it allows the top end buyers to play games while they make it playable for lower end buyers... As shitty as that sounds.

Noice. I'm looking forward to moving past half measures and gamers seeing what proper path tracing can do in the future. Hopefully the hardware for it doesn't take forever to become affordable.

See even though I'm not that hyped about RT, that does indeed look baller, but at the same time it's Cyberpunk, a game with a world that still feels practically lifeless 3yrs later (including plenty of buildings you cannot enter), which kinda makes all that RT effort half useless besides being pure eye candy, but I love my eye candy with a living breathing world.

I would argue they are already obsolete.

The Radeon RX 6700/6750 10/12GB is probably the best buy at the moment, they are being heavily discounted.. And will be "passable" for performance at 1440P for a year or two yet, hopefully by then prices tank further.

My "gaming" notebook has a 3060 6GB, it actually doesn't run to badly, that is... Until that DRAM starts to be the limiting factor which happens quickly even at 1080P.

Just pretend this generation never happened... And hopefully the market corrects itself.

The Wednesday news:

We're teaming up with SpecialEffect and EPOS for an all-year gaming giveaway!
https://www.pcgamer.com/were-teaming-up-with-specialeffect-and-epos-for-an-all-year-gaming-giveaway/
We're excited to announce that we've partnered up with EPOS for a year long giveaway promotion for SpecialEffect, the UK-based charity that's levelling the playing field for gamers with physical disabilities around the world. The promotion aims to drive awareness of the incredible work SpecialEffect does in transforming the lives of people with physical challenges through the innovative use of technology.
(...)
Running monthly from April 2023 through March 2024, this promotion gives our community the chance to snag the ultimate gaming audio bundle from EPOS, featuring products which have all received prestigious awards from Future Publishing outlets, including us.

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has 4 new Deals of the Day and a new Sale:

• These are the four Deals of the Day, that will last 46 hours:
  • The first one is Grand Tactician Bundle, featuring the game and soundtrack, 25% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/grand_tactician_bundle
  • Everhood gets a 35% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/everhood
  • Shing! Digital Deluxe Edition will be 67% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shing_digital_deluxe_edition
  • The fourth one is Jalopy, with a 70% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/jalopy
• And the new Midweek Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during 4 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230405_midweek_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• House Builder, still in Early Access, will be 25% off until April 11th. There's a demo in case you want to try it first: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1244630/House_Builder/
• Imagine Earth gets a 55% discount until next Tuesday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/280720/Imagine_Earth/

Fanatical has a new Star Deal: the Metro Redux Bundle will be 88% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/metro-redux

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA Releases GeForce Hotfix Driver 531.58
https://www.techpowerup.com/306839/nvidia-releases-geforce-hotfix-driver-531-58
NVIDIA has released its newest Hotfix Driver 531.58 which is based on the latest Game Ready Driver 531.41, but brings fixes for The Last of Us Part 1 game that may randomly crash on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. It also fixes stability issues in Assassin's Creed Origins game, and corruption issues when FXAA is enabled in Resident Evil 4 Remake.
This hotfix addresses the following issues:

• [The Last of Us Part 1] Game may randomly crash during gameplay on GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs [4031676]
• Assassin's Creed Origins may have stability issues when using 531.18. [4008770]
• [Resident Evil 4 Remake] Corruption in the game when FXAA enabled [4051903]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Resident Evil 4 Remake gets Manual Flashlight & Flamethrower Mods
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/resident-evil-4-remake-gets-manual-flashlight-flamethrower-mods/
Two really cool gameplay mods for Resident Evil 4 Remake came out last week. The first one allows players to manually use Leon’s flashlight. And as for the second. Oh boy, we can finally get our hands on a flamethrower.
Now what’s really cool about these mods is that they can completely change the way you play the game. Thus, we suggest using them only if you have already completed it.
>> There's a two minutes video of the flamethrower mod.

Resident Evil 4 mod makes Ashley a bloodthirsty mouse that lives in Leon's hair
https://www.pcgamer.com/resident-evil-4-mod-makes-ashley-a-bloodthirsty-mouse-that-lives-in-leons-hair/
Not even 24 hours ago I brought you the inexplicable-yet-essential news that legions of fan artists were turning Resident Evil 4 remake's Ashley into a tiny, cheese-seeking, and incongruously adorable mouse. Well here I am again with a new dispatch, live from this outlet's Moushly desk, to tell you that the dream has become real.
Moushley Graham–Ratatouille Mod finally rectifies Resident Evil 4 remake's disregard for established canon, turning the president's only daughter into a small rodent who pilots Leon from his hair.

GAMING NEWS

The Last of Us Part I Update 1.0.1.7 released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-last-of-us-part-i-update-1-0-1-7-released-full-patch-notes/
As promised, Naughty Dog released a new hotfix patch for the PC version of The Last of Us Part I. Moreover, NVIDIA released a new driver. This new driver addresses some crashes on the GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs. So, if you’re owners of an RTX3070 or RTX3080, we suggest upgrading to it.

No Man’s Sky Interceptor Update released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-interceptor-update-released-full-patch-notes/
Hello Games has just released the Interceptor Update for No Man’s Sky, and revealed its complete changelog. According to the devs, players will now be able to step inside a Sentinel ship and see the universe from the perspective of an Interceptor.

Wednesday news, part two:

My ultimate childhood Flash game just got a Steam release
https://www.pcgamer.com/my-ultimate-childhood-flash-game-just-got-a-steam-release/
(...)
Papa's Freezeria, the ice cream-themed game in Flipline Studio's long-running series, now has a permanent home on Steam. Turns out Flipline was teasing its arrival for a few weeks, though I had no idea until this very accurate Reddit post. It's a more beefed-up version of the original, offering more ingredients, new customers and new features like customer outfits and daily specials.
>> Not my favorite Papa's game, but I can't say I didn't play it for hours back then.

Crusader Kings 3's second expansion promises enough pomp and circumstance to distract everyone while you 'murder a quarrelsome rival'
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3s-second-expansion-promises-enough-pomp-and-circumstance-to-distract-everyone-while-you-murder-a-quarrelsome-rival/
Crusader Kings 3's next expansion, Tours and Tournaments, has finally got a solid release date. You'll be able to take your medieval show on tour on May 11, when the DLC hits Steam and the Microsoft Store.

Overwatch 2's new support hero can sabotage his own team, but Blizzard hopes players will behave
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2s-new-support-hero-can-sabotage-his-own-team-but-blizzard-hopes-players-will-behave/
It's hard to appreciate Overwatch 2's newest support hero knowing that at any moment he could absolutely ruin your day.
On April 11, Overwatch 2 will introduce Lifeweaver, a charming Thai hero who has the ability to pull his teammates toward him. If an ally is in danger, Lifeweaver can cast a shield onto them and yank them to safety. He can also yank them into danger, or off the map.

Here's something to do while you wait for Diablo 4: Plot out Diablo 4 characters with this incredibly handy build planner tool
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-something-to-do-while-you-wait-for-diablo-4-plot-out-diablo-4-characters-with-this-incredibly-handy-build-planner-tool/
My secret for success in Diablo 4 is simple: Barbarian, Bash, Upheaval, rinse and repeat until there's nothing but blood and gristle as far as the eye can see. Trust me, it works. Some people prefer a more complicated approach to min-maxing their action-RPG stand-ins, though, and for them, this Diablo 4 build planner will be extremely helpful.

Activision is tormenting Call of Duty cheaters in order to study them, stealing their weapons and turning their enemies invisible
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-is-tormenting-call-of-duty-cheaters-in-order-to-study-them-stealing-their-weapons-and-turning-their-enemies-invisible/
Call of Duty's Ricochet Anti-Cheat system doesn't always ban suspected Warzone and Modern Warfare 2 cheaters on sight. Sometimes, it keeps them around, but makes their efforts to cheat futile by applying "mitigations." For example, a mitigation called Damage Shield "disables the cheater's ability to inflict critical damage on other players" so that, no matter how hard they try, they will never score a kill.

Cities: Skylines 2 developer says multiplayer would make the 'core player experience' worse
https://www.pcgamer.com/cities-skylines-2-developer-says-multiplayer-would-make-the-core-player-experience-worse/
A month ago we learned Cities: Skylines 2 is in the works over at Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive, and that it'll be released sometime later this year.
(...)
Today Colossal Order gave us a few new titbits of information about Cities: Skylines 2 via Twitter—including one that firmly shoots down that Unreal rumor. Cities: Skylines 2 will be built in Unity like the original, not in Unreal 5, Colossal Order confirmed in a tweet.

Free Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC releasing alongside Chaos Dwarfs detailed
https://www.pcgamer.com/free-total-war-warhammer-3-dlc-releasing-alongside-chaos-dwarfs-detailed/
I'm pretty stoked for the Chaos Dwarf DLC that's coming to Total War: Warhammer 3 on April 13, but that's not the only thing to look forward to if you're a hammer-head (a Warhammer nerd, that is, not a kind of shark). As Creative Assembly explains in the latest Total War blog, the Chaos Dwarfs will arrive alongside update 3.0 and a free add-on called Mirror of Madness.

Agony spin-off Succubus VR has been banned from Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/agony-spin-off-succubus-vr-has-been-banned-from-steam/
Madmind Studio, the developer behind horny, hell-based horror games like Agony, has had one of its upcoming releases removed from Steam. The page for Succubus: Hellish Orgy VR was removed, remaining visible only on SteamDB , despite the fact the 2D version of Succubus is still up for sale on Steam.

Forget the rocket launcher, you can annihilate one of Resident Evil 4 remake's toughest bosses with a couple of eggs
https://www.pcgamer.com/forget-the-rocket-launcher-you-can-annihilate-one-of-resident-evil-4-remakes-toughest-bosses-with-a-couple-of-eggs/
I love Ramón Salazar, Resident Evil 4's ridiculous little lord boy who manages to look like a child and an old man all at once, while somehow only being 20 years old, but his boss fight can be a bit of a chore in the recent remake. Luckily, there's a way around it: Pelt that tiny aristo with eggs.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Desktop CPU Review Roundup

https://videocardz.com/153244/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-desktop-cpu-review-roundup

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d/18.html

Pretty much the best X3D chip out there because of it's price to performance ratio.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 outputs as low as 16 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive Mode without DLSS

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-outputs-as-low-as-16-fps-in-cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-without-dlss

Unsurprising considering how demanding the Overdrive mode it.

AMD Ryzen Mobility CPUs Get New “Orange” Marketing Logos To Distinguish Between Zen 4 & Older Chips

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-mobility-cpus-get-new-orange-marketing-logos-to-distinguish-between-zen-4-older-chips/

Honestly, the new ones look awful compared to the old ones. Idk why they think this is a good idea lol. Looks so minimal effort.

Jedi Survivor minimum and recommended system requirements revealed

https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/jedi/jedi-survivor/pc-system-requirements?isLocalized=true

God dat 155GB SSD requirements

Well, the 7800X3D is, as expected, a beast for gaming. And look at those power consumption numbers! It's not just a gaming beast, but also one that extremely efficient at that.

Sadly, and also expected, if you also plan to use it for work, then you'll be better going for something else entirely, like the 13600K.

Also, the 7900X3D is a waste of silicon. AMD should discontinue that processor and launch a 7600X3D model.