Considering Radeons trend of "price new GPUs high so they can get dunked on during the reviews and make Nvidias counterparts seem more reasonable and then discount them after," I think the pricing will be:

7700XT $450
7800XT $550

Fast forward a month

7700XT $400
7800XT $500

Costs less than a Switch OLED if you get certified refurb. Upgrade the 64GB to 512GB ssd yourself and it's very capable.

I wish I was as optimistic as you.

Would be funny if Microsoft releases an 60-fps-boost for RDR1 around the time the PlayStation and Switch port are released.

4K 60 fps on Series X, 1080p 60 fps on Series S, no need to buy RDR1 for 50 bucks again... just pop in your 360 disc or buy it on a digital sale for less than 10 bucks.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has two new Deals of the Day and two new sales:

• These are the two DotD, that will last until Friday:
  • Myst gets a 35% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/myst
  • Jagged Alliance 2 is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/jagged_alliance_2
• Tate Multimedia puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_tate_multimedia
• And Paradox Interactive puts its games up to 80% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_paradox_interactive_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• Publisher Skybound Games puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until Monday, the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/skyboundgames/sale/skybound2023
• And Gungrave G.O.R.E will be 80% off until Tuesday, 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1630110/Gungrave_GORE/

Fanatical has forgot to add a new Flash Deal, for now, but there's a new bundle: the Action Mystery Bundle with 5 unknown games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/action-mystery-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 536.99
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-536-99
Highlights
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 2 technology including Baldur’s Gate 3, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Gord.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed Gaming Bugs
  • [Control][DX12] Cut scenes and videos show tearing and partial jitter [4084000]
  • [Battlefield 2042] Game stability can decrease when applying GeForce Experience Freestyle filters. [4170804]
  • [GeForce Experience] Game stability can decrease when applying a GeForce Experience Freestyle filter in certain games while using DLSS 3 Frame Generation [4171660]
  • [Dead Space] Game stability issues [4140545]
• Fixed General Bugs
  • [Elgato Wave Link] Potential audio issues with NVIDIA Broadcast effects [3752618]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Here’s Gears of War: Judgment running on PC via the Xbox 360 emulator, Xenia
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-gears-of-war-judgment-running-on-pc-via-the-xbox-360-emulator-xenia/
YouTube’s ‘reznoire’ has shared a video, showcasing Gears of War: Judgment running on PC via the Xbox 360 emulator, Xenia. The YouTuber used Xenia’ latest Canary version which came out last month, so this will give you an idea of how the game currently runs with this emulator.
In order to capture the following gameplay footage, reznoire used an Intel Core i9-12900k with an ASUS ROG Strix 3080 White Edition and 32GB of DDR5 5200Mhz RAM.
Now as we can see, Xenia is still unable to emulate Gears of War: Judgment with constant 60fps on PC. From the looks of it, both the CPU and the GPU are underused. As such, there is a bottleneck somewhere else (most likely a code issue) that prevents the emulator from offering a smooth gaming experience.
>> The video is a bit over 4 minutes long.

This Fallout 4 Mod fixes the game’s long loading times
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-fallout-4-mod-fixes-the-games-long-loading-times/
Modder ‘Antonix35’ has released a must-have mod for Fallout 4, that fixes the game’s annoying long loading times. According to the modders, this was achieved by speeding up slow locations in the game code that were slowing down other loading threads.
This F4SE plugin also reduces time when moving between locations using an elevator. It also reduces the loading time when revisiting recently visited locations. Additionally, it speeds up the transition animation to the loading screen and out, allows players to select loading screens, and fixes the in-game vertical sync for high frame rate monitors.
>> There's a less than 2 minutes video that shows the new loading times.

Consider getting this Baldur's Gate 3 mod that makes Wizarding less annoying early on
https://www.pcgamer.com/consider-getting-this-baldurs-gate-3-mod-that-makes-wizarding-less-annoying-early-on/
I gotta respect Baldur's Gate 3 for so faithfully translating D&D 5e rules into videogame form, but honestly, some of those rules kinda suck.
Take low-level magic for instance: at the beginning of Baldur's Gate 3, most spellcasters can cast only two level 1 spells before they get tuckered out and need a long rest. I get why that's the case—spellcasters get way more powerful after reaching level 4 and beyond—but in those crucial beginning hours, when you're still getting a feel for combat and you have fewer health points than fingers, running out of gas after every combat can be more annoying than tactically interesting. Not to mention the waste of burning 40 camp supplies on long rests when most of your party is still healthy.
If you're running a party of mostly spellcasters and tedious long resting is bringing you down, consider giving this mod a test drive: "Short rest refreshes spells and some more" by Nexus Mods user kaijuu12345 makes it possible to completely restore your spell slots after a short rest.
It's essentially a supercharged version of the Wizard skill Arcane Recovery—which restores some spell slots on short rest once per day—except it also restores Rage slots for Barbarians and Bardic Inspiration, two other skill charges usually dependent on long rests.
>> No screenshots nor videos.

GAMING NEWS

Tekken 8 will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech [UPDATE: Or perhaps not]
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/tekken-8-will-be-using-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech/
Bandai Namco has updated the Tekken 8 EULA on Steam, revealing that the game will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. This of course does not surprise us as its predecessor, Tekken 7, also used Denuvo when it launched.
UPDATE: According to Katsuhiro Harada, the EULA is most likely a copy/paste of the Tekken 7 EULA. Additionally, Harada said that he has no plans to introduce Denuvo to the game!
>> So, who do we believe, the director of the game or the company that put that EULA? We only have to see if Namco removes that part from the Steam page or not.

Wednesday news, part two:

Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya sticks up for the term JRPG after controversy: 'These are RPG games that, in a sense, only Japanese creators can make'
https://www.pcgamer.com/bayonetta-creator-hideki-kamiya-sticks-up-for-the-term-jrpg-after-controversy-these-are-rpg-games-that-in-a-sense-only-japanese-creators-can-make/
Hideki Kamiya, who you'll probably know as the creator of Bayonetta and Okami and as that guy who blocked you on Twitter, thinks "JRPG" is A-OK. The vice president of Platinum Games was asked for his take on the term—which has been the subject of a debate in the last few months—in a chat with VGC, and came out strongly in favour of it. In fact, he thinks Japan should wear it as a badge of honour: A symbol of everything unique and essential about the country's games.

Pro wrestling RPG WrestleQuest delayed thanks to heel interference in the final minutes
https://www.pcgamer.com/pro-wrestling-rpg-wrestlequest-delayed-thanks-to-heel-interference-in-the-final-minutes/
Remember when WWE boss Vince McMahon was in the hospital, and just as his examination was concluding and all seemed well, Stone Cold Steve Austin leapt in out of nowhere and clocked him with a bedpan? This is kind of like that: The pro rasslin' RPG WrestleQuest (Mr. McMahon) has been delayed (Stone Cold) by a last-minute bug (the bedpan).

Hitman's first elusive target in two years lets you drop the beat on an IRL DJ
https://www.pcgamer.com/hitmans-first-elusive-target-in-two-years-lets-you-drop-the-beat-on-an-irl-dj/
IO Interactive's final flourish with its Hitman trilogy was to bring it all under one roof, with Hitman 3 morphing into Hitman: World of Assassination and adding a roguelike mode alongside everything from the first two games. Or it felt like the final flourish anyway, with the game being maintained and patched since but no new additions (and even IO itself saying Hitman "is a little bit on hiatus").
The studio has now announced a new elusive target is coming to the game this fall, free for all players, as part of IO's 25th anniversary celebrations. The target will be superstar DJ Dimitri Vegas, who's lending his likeness and voiceover to a character called The Drop loosely based on himself: the Hitman Vegas will be a DJ-turned-druglord who's "bent on controlling the scene one way or another".

Overwatch 2's new healer has a giant railgun powered by the sun
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2s-new-healer-has-a-giant-railgun-powered-by-the-sun/
Overwatch 2's has a second railgun character now, but instead of a DPS like Sojourn, she's a support who harnesses the power of the sun.
Illari is Overwatch 2's new hero coming this Thursday with the launch of season 6, and she seems to be built for strong damage output, similar to supports like Zenyatta and Kiriko. Instead of purely healing like Mercy, Illari slots into the hero shooter's widening definition of support—which often demands a balance of DPS and healing.

Not even Baldur's Gate 3 is safe from Final Fantasy 14 as fans spot a reference to one of its most heartbreaking moments
https://www.pcgamer.com/not-even-baldurs-gate-3-is-safe-from-final-fantasy-14-as-fans-spot-a-reference-to-one-of-its-most-heartbreaking-moments/
I am mainlining two games right now: Baldur's Gate 3 and Final Fantasy 14. I rather foolishly resubbed to the latter right as the former was released, and now I'm stuck in a perpetual cycle of catgirls and dice rolls. Turns out the two may be more closely linked than I realised, as a small but heartbreaking reference has surfaced that shows someone at Larian has definitely been spending their free time playing the critically-acclaimed MMORPG. Spoilers for both games below, of course.

Baldur's Gate 3 patch fixes githyanki penises, gnome underwear, and some funky dialogue issues
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-patch-fixes-githyanki-penises-gnome-underwear-and-some-funky-dialogue-issues/
Larian Studios has released another hotfix for Baldur's Gate 3, and you'll be pleased to know (or maybe not, I suppose) that githyanki characters will no longer be accidentally exposing their private bits to the world.

Valve releases Dota 2 patch notes written entirely in emojis
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-releases-dota-2-patch-notes-written-entirely-in-emojis/
New Dota 2 patch notes dropped today, and they're a little different than most, because they've been rendered entirely in emojis. That makes them very difficult to read, but it hasn't deterred the Dota 2 community, which has whipped up a 55-page document that translates the whole thing.

Total War Warhammer 3's Changeling campaign sounds like a game-changer
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-3s-changeling-campaign-sounds-like-a-game-changer/
If you're bored of doing mundane things like "conquering settlements" in Total War: Warhammer 3, it sounds like the legendary lord being added to the Tzeentch roster in the upcoming Shadows of Change add-on might be for you. The Changeling is a shapeshifting daemon who, based on the latest Creative Assembly blog post, plays a totally different Total War.

Take-Two CEO says the $50 price tag on the multiplayer-free PS4 and Switch port of Red Dead Redemption 1 is 'commercially accurate' actually
https://www.pcgamer.com/take-two-ceo-says-the-dollar50-price-tag-on-the-multiplayer-free-ps4-and-switch-port-of-red-dead-redemption-1-is-commercially-accurate-actually/
Red Dead Redemption 1 is exchanging its dead-console shackles for a set of dying-console handcuffs on August 17, and people are understandably less than thrilled about it. In particular, they're unhappy about that $50 price tag, which might seem a little steep for a "conversion" of an old game that's coming to outdated consoles (and not PC) without features—like multiplayer—that have been present on the Xbox back-compat version for ages.
But not to worry, because Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is emphatic that the price of the RDR port is "commercially accurate," a phrase so redolent of the boardroom that it causes physical damage to people without MBAs. In plain English, Zelnick means that the $50 price tag reflects the value of RDR 1 plus its Undead Nightmare DLC. In even plainer English than that, it means Take-Two thinks it's a price they can get people to pay.
>> Well, of course he's going to defend it!

Remnant 2 dev tells players moaning about Apocalypse difficulty that the mode's not called 'I get 3 orange slices and a medal for participation'
https://www.pcgamer.com/remnant-2-dev-tells-players-moaning-about-apocalypse-difficulty-that-the-modes-not-called-i-get-3-orange-slices-and-a-medal-for-participation/
There are other games hogging the spotlight at the moment, but Remnant 2 looks like something of a dark horse that, among its devotees at least, is one of 2023's unique and most polished experiences. The game is a (deep breath) third person roguelike Soulslike shooter with a heavy focus on procedural generation, which can be played solo or co-op, and is one of those designed for multiple playthroughs, all of which in theory are wildly different. It is also a brutally difficult game and, on the highest difficulty (Apocalypse), has some players whining a little too much as they lick their wounds.

Bit of an interesting video as we get closer to the brick wall where monolith is no longer viable. The largest die size that is possible with GPUs is around 800 mm2. This has been possible for Nvidia in the datacenter as node shrinks progressed steadily. However as node shrinks slow down drastically, both AMD and Intel going to chiplet designs for their datacenter GPUs, it's only a matter of time when Nvidia will be forced to go to chiplets themselves. In gaming, they can certainly still stick to monolith design for least a few more generations as they can always increase their die size to 800 mm2 from 600mm2 but that would also increase the cost of the gaming GPUs. They have been doing a lot of research into chiplet design shown by their own documents so it will be interesting to see when they start going into it themselves.

AMD’s Latest Radeon Vulkan Driver Adds Support For Phoenix APUs, Better Gaming Performance

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-vulkan-driver-adds-phoenix-apu-support-better-gaming-performance/

Intel Core i5-14600KF is 5.5% faster than i5-13600K in first Geekbench single-core test

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-i5-14600kf-is-5-5-faster-than-i5-13600k-in-first-geekbench-single-core-test

Makes sense as it's a refresh

ZOTAC Extends Warranty Period To Five Years For NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs In Taiwan

https://wccftech.com/zotac-extends-warranty-period-five-years-for-nvidia-geforce-rtx-gpus-in-taiwan/

Steam Deck modded to support 32GB of LPDDR5 memory

https://videocardz.com/newz/steam-deck-modded-to-support-32gb-of-lpddr5-memory

I wonder when Valve will refresh the Deck. Hopefully they learned a lot from their first take.

Friend's putting together a new pc. How would y'all tweak this build?

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/WpkcCJ/great-intel-gaming-build

Probably gonna recommend doubling the ram and storage. Haven't heard good things about ASRock mobos. How about the rest?

Looks like a well balanced system. Double the RAM will come in handy for some games, as well as the extra storage given how large games are becoming.

AsRosk had a deserved bad reputation, but I think they've been working to improve and they're now an ok option. Not great or the best, but their stuff should work fine.