It is the right place to ask questions, but I can't guarantee you'll get a good answer.

From your description, it sounds like you encountered one of those pesky Gremlins you find in electronic devices from time to time.

I hope it's just a one-off thing and doesn't happen again.

I'm almost sure that it's a mistake and the 14600 will come with 6 performance cores. It would make little sense to make this big change in a mere refresh.

This kinda sounds like what my general use PC is doing.

Sometimes when I boot it up, it does exactly what you say it does - though its rare.

It usually does it when I render videos - so I cant really browse or anything.

That and when I watch youtube videos on it sometimes, it does it as well.

I think its something to do with the GPU or Power Supply.

Its been 3 years since I bought this desktop and I only use it for video rendering/general stuff - I'll replace it with my current gaming desktop in the future after I get my next one (probably be in 2 years or so).

The Coalition has done a really excellent job of optimising Gears 5 for the PC. I can play it in 8K / Ultra / 88fps (without DLSS).

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Team Fortress 2 smashes all-time player record while fans hail plump seal as 'the best thing they've ever added to the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/team-fortress-2-smashes-all-time-player-record-while-fans-hail-plump-seal-as-the-best-thing-theyve-ever-added-to-the-game/
Don't call it a comeback: Team Fortress 2 has smashed through its all-time record for concurrent players, and at the time of writing has hit a peak of 253,997 and rising. This enormous uptick has been prompted by the release of a huge summer update, which was assembled by Valve but consists almost entirely of community content, and in particular love at first sight between the TF2 community and a rather plump seal.

The Epic Store gives away Train Valley 2: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/train-valley-2
Next week, they'll give away Murder by Numbers and The Elder Scrolls® Online.

Humble Bundle has launched the Cyberpunk Playground Bundle, with up to 8 games to get during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/cyberpunk-playground.

Fanatical hasn't launched a new Star Deal yet, but it has a new bundle: the Very Positive Bundle 2023, featuring 7 games with a 93% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/very-positive-bundle-2023.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life Alpha is coming to the Doom/GZDoom Engine
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/half-life-alpha-is-coming-to-doom-gzdoom-engine/
Modder ‘QuakerCraft’ has announced his plans to bring Half-Life Alpha to the Doom/GZDoom Engine. This mod aims to bring the alpha version of Valve’s classic shooter to the Doom Engine, so basically think of it as a demake.
For those unaware, Half-Life Alpha was a GoldSource Engine project that aimed to bring back the maps and enemies from Half-Life’s alpha builds. Its GoldSource version was released in 2017, and you can download it from here.
>> The article has a couple of videos.

Elden Ring Mod forces all light sources to cast dynamic shadows
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-mod-forces-all-light-sources-to-cast-dynamic-shadows/
Modder ‘chainfailure’ has released a must-have mod for Elden Ring. This Elden Ring mod forces all light sources to cast dynamic shadows, and can transform some indoor environments, like caves and dungeons.
Although the modder has not shared any video, he did provide a comparison screenshot that you can find below. The vanilla screenshot is on the left, whereas the modded screenshot is on the right.

GAMING NEWS

Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown gets new screenshots & gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/test-drive-unlimited-solar-crown-gets-new-screenshots-gameplay-video/
NACON and KT Racing have released a new set of screenshots and a gameplay video for Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. These screenshots will give you an idea of the visuals that this new Test Drive game targets. Moreover, its gameplay video will give you a taste of what you can expect from it.
(...)
NACON has just sent us a press release, stating that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown now targets a 2024 release date. Additionally, the publisher stated that it will launch the first closed beta phase on July 24th, 2023.
>> The gameplay video is over 35 minutes long.

Team Fortress 2 July 12th Update released, adds new maps, brings security improvements, full changelog
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/team-fortress-2-july-12th-update-released-adds-new-maps-brings-security-improvements-full-changelog/
Valve has released the July 12th Update for Team Fortress 2 that adds new content to the game, and shared its full patch notes/changelog.

Jurassic Park SNES and Gex Trilogy are coming to Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/jurassic-park-snes-and-gex-trilogy-are-coming-to-steam/
Limited Run Games has announced that the two Jurassic Park games that came out on SNES, as well as Gex Trilogy, will release on Steam. And, since I’m a huge fan of the Jurassic Park SNES game, this makes me really, really happy.
>> Erm... better late than never, I guess? You'll find the reveal trailers in the article.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC Requirements revealed for 1080p/1440p/4K and Ray Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-pc-requirements-revealed-for-1080p-1440p-4k-and-ray-tracing/
Nixxes Software has just revealed the official PC system requirements for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. These PC specs cover all common resolutions (1080p, 1440p and 4K), as well as the framerate they target and their graphical settings.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will support DirectStorage with GPU Decompression and Ray Tracing Ambient Occlusion on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-will-support-directstorage-with-gpu-decompression-and-ray-tracing-ambient-occlusion-on-pc/
In a post on Steam, that has been removed, Nixxes Software revealed some new interesting tech details about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC. According to the team, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will support DirectStorage with GPU Decompression on PC, as well as Ray Tracing Ambient Occlusion.

Thursday news, part two:

Hellboy Web of Wyrd gameplay trailer confirms that Lance Reddick remains as the voice of Hellboy
https://www.pcgamer.com/hellboy-web-of-wyrd-gameplay-trailer-confirms-that-lance-reddick-remains-as-the-voice-of-hellboy/
Hellboy Web of Wyrd is a roguelite action game announced in December 2022 that we thought looked pretty badass, although that was presumably at least in part because it stood in contrast to the horrid Hellboy game from 2000 that we called, among other things, a "sucking abyss." But now we've got a look at some actual gameplay and I have to admit that, yeah, it does indeed look pretty badass—and importantly, it also confirms that Lance Reddick, who died suddenly in March, remains in the game as the voice of the lead character.

In this cozy life sim you can only farm at night because you're a shapeshifting witch vampire
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-this-cozy-life-sim-you-can-only-farm-at-night-because-youre-a-shapeshifting-witch-vampire/
Listen up, witches. We've got another magical farm sim in the forecast. You'll truly be a mage of all trades in Moonlight Peaks because you're not only a farmer but also a witch and also a vampire. And that's not even the full suite of supernaturals living in town. You're putting down roots so you can prove to your disapproving dad Dracula "that a life of compassion is possible."

Call of Duty: Warzone 2 is adding literal superpowers for a limited time
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-warzone-2-is-adding-literal-superpowers-for-a-limited-time/
The Boys are coming to Call of Duty: Warzone—although it's not actually The Boys, if you want to get technical about it (and I do). It's Homelander, Black Noir, and Starlight, three members of the notorious supe group The Seven, who join the game today as new operators.

25 years later, one of the PS1's best and weirdest platformers finally hits PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/25-years-later-one-of-the-ps1s-best-and-weirdest-platformers-finally-hits-pc/
Friends, it is my privilege and delight to inform you that, yes, there is still justice in the world. How do I know? Because Tomba, one of my favourite platformers of the PS1 era, is finally coming to PC a mere quarter-century after it hit (European and American) consoles in 1998. It's being brought to modern systems by Limited Run Games—in collaboration with series creator Tokuro Fujiwara—and will run on LRG's Carbon Engine.
>> Why is Limited Run Games launching so many old games all of a sudden?

The internet shitposted too close to the sun, and now we're getting a spiritual successor to the most cursed Zelda games of all time
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-internet-shitposted-too-close-to-the-sun-and-now-were-getting-a-spiritual-successor-to-the-most-cursed-zelda-games-of-all-time/
I feel like I've fallen into an alternate dimension, staring at the janky pixelated 2D cutscenes of Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. They remind me of an internet age I thought was on its last legs, and a game I have not seen in a long time. See I grew up with Zelda CD-i not as a player, but as a witness to a terrible—and I use that word affectionately—cultural phenomenon known as Youtube Poop.
(...)
Which makes a spiritual successor even more delightfully baffling. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore was announced at Limited Run's summer showcase yesterday, and it's sure as hell got the spirit right. There's deep charm to the jarringly-animated cutscenes, which jank disastrously with fully-painted backgrounds and 64-bit sprites.
>> And I ask again, WTF is going on at Limited Run Games?

This wild battle royale mode set in a stadium looks like the best thing to happen to wrestling games since WWF No Mercy
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-wild-battle-royale-mode-set-in-a-stadium-looks-like-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-wrestling-games-since-wwf-no-mercy/
THQ Nordic and veterans of the wrestling genre Yukes recently made a long-awaited return to the ring, with AEW: Fight Forever the first serious competition to 2K's official WWE games in years. Initial reactions from fans have been broadly positive, with many enjoying a return to the more old school Yukes style, but obviously AEW as a brand doesn't quite have the heft of WWE: what this game needs is a standout feature. And it looks like it may well get one.

The base-building system in this fantasy co-op survival RPG looks pretty incredible
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-base-building-system-in-this-fantasy-co-op-survival-rpg-looks-pretty-incredible/
If you'd asked me last week if I wanted to live in a house built on a boulder sculpted to look like a giant's skull I'd have said "No, not really," and then spent several hours wondering what was wrong with you. Why would you ask me that? That's a deeply weird way to start a conversation.
But after seeing the voxel-based building tools in Enshrouded, the upcoming co-op survival RPG developer Keen Games describes as Valheim meets Zelda, I have to admit… yes, I kind of do want to live in a house built on a boulder sculpted to look like a giant's skull. And I apologize for criticizing your question so harshly. That wasn't cool of me.

NVIDIA Video Super Resolution Upscaling Technology Now Supported In Mozilla Firefox

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-video-super-resolution-upscaling-technology-now-supported-in-mozilla-firefox/

It's about damn time

AMD Says It Won’t Follow Intel’s P-Core & E-Core Hybrid Approach, Talks Zen 5, x86S & More

https://wccftech.com/amd-says-it-wont-follow-intel-p-core-e-core-hybrid-approach-talks-zen-5-x86s-more/

100x Faster Than Wi-Fi: Li-Fi, Light-Based Networking Standard Released

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/li-fi-standard-released

Interesting future ahead of us

It's about damn time we are getting GPU based decompression. This should be very interesting as to how it performs.

Also just in case people don't want to click to see the requirements:

Since I got both the 7735HS and the 7600S in my system, I might even get the premium edition according to the second chart.

Might not be exactly my type of games, but I'll gladly take it. Thanks for the heads up @Jizz_Beard_thePirate !

Speaking of my new laptop, the biggest upgrade was the switch from HDD to SSD, specifically from the god-awful WD Blue single-platter 1TB drive. When it reached 7MB read it was fast, sometimes I felt like it was the hard drive of my old Pentium MMX. Case in point: Hearts of Iron IV Mod The New Order: Last Days Of Europe (which changes almost every aspect of HOI) took over 14 minutes to load on the old HDD, now it's loading in just 42 seconds.

So you game on a 8K TV? Also, in order to do that you'll need a beast of a PC. Do you have a 4090 like some others in the forum?

It looks like AMD will use their ZenXc cores for laptops, the regular ones for desktop and both for servers. Well, it's their call but that gives Intel an advantage over them.

Also, it doesn't look like they're too keen on raising the number of cores per processor. That sucks and, if the jump from 6 to 8 P cores on Intel's xx600 CPUs are true, will give AMD a really hard time unless Zen5 brings massive performance increases.

Well, the Steam Summer Sale is over.

Now we'll have to wait until... *ckecks*... July 24th for the next one, the Stealth Sale.