I'd certainly switch out the SSD for a higher end SSD if your friend is going to be using it for OS. The SSD for the OS is constantly under use and cheaping out on the OS SSD can result in underwhelming performance or premature SSD failure. It would be better imo if he buys SN850X 1TB or something of that calibre for the long run since those are also pretty cheap. Especially as more and more games are requiring SSDs.

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-1tb-black-sn850x-nvme/p/N82E16820250243

More ram is always better for sure and Asrock mobos should be fine for that CPU but there are certainly better motherboards within spitting distance.

A friend just spent $4K USD on one item/character on Honkai Star Rail. Here i think multiple times when i bought a $400-500 gpu last year.

That's all folks.

Wow. Some people have more money than common sense.

And you got a good deal on your GPU, green_sky (a 6700XT if my memory serves me right). It still matches or outclasses new cards that retail for the price you payed for it.

Nice build. As Jizz said maybe swap out the SSD for something a bit more well known and perhaps reliable. And yeah I'd double up on memory. 2TB are quite cheap nowadays and have longer endurance of terabytes write (TBW). Just make sure he/she gets TLC based ones and not QLC NAND as SSDs go - they last longer. And 32GB RAM I'd go for, as there isn't much in it for cost and requirements have gone up for gaming this past year or so.

As for Asrock boards. Not sure I had one ages ago but they seem reliable enough and get frequent updates, at least they did on the AM3/AM4 platforms. As value goes they make some of the best ones for the price as build quality and features goes.

Oh and I'd change rec for the cooler. There's the Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE out now - I have it in my system as well. It replaces the Peerless Assassin, being a bit quiter and cooler. Cost about the same too.

Waifus/Gacha are one hell of a drug

Thanks for the recs. Decided to peruse Steam's Visual Novel Fest, btw. I had no idea there were THAT many visual novels on Steam. I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing how relatively easy they are to make, but good lord...Some are good for a laugh, though.

90% of them are hentai

He ain't lyin.

Also there's tons of NSFW "puzzle" games too lol (I totally didn't use my Steam points to buy any of the animated wallpapers or anything). 

Let's go with the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away two games:

• Europa Universalis IV: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/europa-universalis-iv
• Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/orwell-keeping-an-eye-on-you

Next week, they'll give away Dodo Peak and Black Book.

Steam has two new deals:

• The House of Da Vinci Complete Bundle will be 55% off until the 16th (the individual games are also on sale, between 30 and 70% off during the same period): https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/15056/The_House_of_Da_Vinci_Complete_Bundle/
• Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions gets an 85% discount until August, 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1163550/Captain_Tsubasa_Rise_of_New_Champions/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Resident Evil Decades of Horror Village Edition Bundle, with up to 12 items (11 games and 1 coupon) during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/resident-evil-decades-horror-village-edition.

Fanatical hasn't posted the new Flash Deals yet (again), but at least they've launched a new bundle: the BYO Play on the GO Bundle Summer Edition comes with 15 titles to choose for your 3, 5 or 8 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-play-on-the-go-bundle
*Edit* Here are the three Flash Deals, that will last a bit more than 21 hours:

• The Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak - Deluxe Edition, a DLC, is 37% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/dlc/monster-hunter-rise-sunbreak-deluxe-edition
• Distant Worlds 2 gets a 50% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/distant-worlds-2
• The third, and last Flash Deal is Yakuza: Like a Dragon Legendary Hero Edition, 82% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/yakuza-like-a-dragon-legendary-hero-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Red Dead Redemption 2 gets new 2K textures for its NPCs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-2-gets-a-new-2k-textures-for-its-npcs/
NexusMods’ member ‘mysticalpresence’ has released a new mod for Red Dead Redemption 2 that adds 2K textures to all of its NPCs. Since this texture pack will improve the game’s graphics, we highly recommend downloading it.
Going into more details, this pack features improved textures for the hair, face, eyes, hands and torso of all NPCs. Generic NPCs were upscaled from 512×512 to 2048×2048. On the other hand, all the major cutscene NPCs were upscaled from 1024×1024 to 2048×2048.
Although the modder has not mentioned it, I’m pretty sure that he used AI tools in order to upscale the original textures. As such, these new enhanced textures retain the game’s original art style.
>> The article has some screenshots.

Doom 3 Mod adds support for OpenGL Direct State Access, reducing overall CPU overhead
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/doom-3-mod-adds-support-for-opengl-direct-state-access-reducing-overall-cpu-overhead/
Modder ‘MoDFaNGuy’ has released a new version of the BFA Edition Mod for Doom 3 that adds support for OpenGL Direct State Access. According to the modder, this will reduce overall CPU overhead, meaning that Doom 3 can run faster on older CPUs.
As MoDFaNGuy noted:
“Version 1.3.0 comes with the first implementation of OpenGL Direct State Access, the sort version of it is that with Direct State Access OpenGL reduces its CPU overhead when executing various tasks (aka Vulkan before Vulkan).”
At this point, Doom 3 can run on a wide range of PC configurations. So, in a way, most of you won’t even need this mod. Perhaps owners of the SteamDeck may find it useful? The modder claimed that DOOM BFA has been thoroughly tested and fixed in order to work well on SteamDeck. So there you have it. Also, since we’re talking about a free performance boost, we’ll gladly take it.
Moreover, this latest version of the BFA Edition Mod adds a Photo Mode, adds support for Monitor DPI awareness V2, adds High DPI support for SDL2, and brings minor improvements to the game’s shadows and screen space ambient occlusion.
>> The article doesn't have screenshots nor videos.

GAMING NEWS

Latest Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Patch enables Ray Tracing on AMD GPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/latest-ratchet-clank-rift-apart-patch-enables-ray-tracing-for-amd-gpus/
Nixxes has just released a new patch for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart that finally enables Ray Tracing on AMD GPUs. Alongside this update, AMD owners will need the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.10.23.03 in order to enable the game’s RT effects.
Patch 1.808.0.0 also brings various visual improvements to some ray-traced reflections and ray-traced shadows. Additionally, it resolves a crash that occurred when playing the game on legacy CPUs. Nixxes also claims that this update packs various bug fixes, stability improvements and optimizations.

Square Enix has removed Denuvo from Octopath Traveler 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/square-enix-has-removed-denuvo-from-octopath-traveler-2/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. Yesterday, Square Enix removed the controversial Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Octopath Traveler 2. Octopath Traveller 2 came out in February 2023, meaning that it took Square Enix around six months to remove it.
>> Good news.

Latest Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Patch has a performance fix for Intel CPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/latest-wo-long-fallen-dynasty-patch-packs-performance-fix-for-intel-cpus/
Team Ninja has released a new patch for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty that has a performance fix for Intel CPUs. According to the devs, the game could lag on PCs equipped with 12th or 13th Generation Intel CPUs. Thankfully, this update resolves this performance issue, allowing Intel owners to enjoy the game without any performance degradation issues.
Moreover, Patch resolves a bug that would sometimes cause the frame rate to drop considerably during the battle with Demonized Dian Wei when running the game at 120fps. It also fixes a crash that could occur when using FSR 2.0.

*Edit* It bothered me not being able to post Fanatical's Flash Deals because they were late, so I've edited the post with the three deals.