There is the pattern that LTT is sloppy, cheap and careless when it comes to reviewing products from small producers. I doubt that they would have done the same with a sponsored big name cooler. Consequently most of their mistakes are in favor of big sponsored products, example the 4090 being 300% faster or the 4060 having twice some memory. No one at LTT is checking overly positive results if they favor Nvidia, AMD or Intel so these mistakes get published. Vice versa, negative dunks like the "sticky" gaming mouse with plastic attached or the Billet cooler situation aren't checked as well because there is no recourse for slamming a poor company. 

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has four new Deals of the Day, that will last 46 hours, until Friday:

• The first one is Doors: Paradox, 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/doors_paradox
• The second is Universe Sandbox, still in development, also with a 33% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/universe_sandbox
• Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator comes next, with a 34% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/potion_craft_alchemist_simulator
• And the last one is Thief™ 2: The Metal Age, 86% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/thief_2_the_metal_age

Steam has two new deals:

• City of Gangsters will be 76% off until August, 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1386780/City_of_Gangsters/
• Shenmue III gets an 85% discount until next Tuesday; https://store.steampowered.com/app/878670/Shenmue_III/

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• There's a new Flash Deal (finally on time! Tho having only one is suspicious): Dead Island 2 gets a 33% discount for the next 24 hours. The keys are for the EGS: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dead-island-2
• And there's a Mystery Star Bundle, with up to 20 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-star-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4644
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4644
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:

• Madden NFL 24
• Wayfinder

Please note that this driver also includes a firmware update: This latest version brings stability improvements, better fan behavior, bug fixes, and better compatibility with HDMI connections.

Fixed Issues

• Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products:
  • UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may experience an application crash while launching game.
  • System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery.
  • Blender 3.6 may experience an application crash during render operations when Hardware Ray Tracing is enabled.
• INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL FIXED ISSUES:
  • Virtual Camera may intermittently fail to engage on the Camera page.
  • Release Notes in Intel® Arc Control driver page may show unformatted HTML data.
  • “Sort by” dropdown in the Games Page may be missing after using “Reset application to default.”
  • Toggling the Virtual Camera enablement may show as disabled during onscreen capture in the Capture page.
  • On-screen Capture and Highlights capture may turn off while using multiple displays when moving Intel® Arc Control window across displays.
  • Clean Installation option may not be available in Arc Driver page while updating to WHQL driver.
  • Preview toggle may incorrectly enable when the camera is used by the Windows camera application.
  • With Intel® Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate.
  • Background Blur effects with Virtual Camera may not change when setting blur strength from 50% to 100%.
  • On-screen camera may not come up when capturing games in full screen mode
  • Last captured image may persist in On-screen camera preview after disconnecting camera.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Tekken 8 looks glorious on PC without its awful post-process effects
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/tekken-8-looks-glorious-on-pc-without-its-awful-post-process-effects/
During the Closed Network Testing of Tekken 8, FrancisLouis released an incredible mod that disabled most of its post-process effects. As a result of that, Tekken 8 became really crisp and sharp on PC. And, to be honest, that’s how most PC gamers should be able to play it.
Unfortunately, NexusMods messed things up and just approved this mod. And, as you all know, the CNT of Tekken 8 is already over. Now I know that there is a cracked version out there, however, there is really no point downloading it. We don’t condone piracy so yeah, we are against downloading leaked alpha/beta builds, unless they differ significantly from the end product. For instance, the E3 beta demo of Duke Nukem Forever is something that a lot of us wanted to at least try.
Anyway, this Tekken 8 Mod disables Bloom, Chromatic Aberration, Film grain, Lens-flares, Motion Blur and Vignette. Moreover, it adds sharpening and Anisotropic Filtering, and it provides options to upscale the game.
>> While useless right now, it may come in handy when the game releases. The article has some comparison screenshots.

GTA San Andreas gets a new DYOM mission
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/gta-san-andreas-gets-a-new-dyom-mission/
Modder ‘Berony’ has released a cool and brand new DYOM mission for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that you can download. This mod will expand your gameplay experience, so we highly recommend it if you’re still playing this classic GTA game.
For those unaware, DYOM stands for “Design Your Own Mission”. This modification allows you to design and share your own missions without learning a line of SCM script.
The San Fierro Police Dept. Mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas allows you to play as police officer Jeffrey in the city of San Fierro. The mission is an indirect sequel of the Las Venturas Police Dept.
>> There is a short video of this mod.

This Skyrim Special Edition Mod overhauls numerous shields, armors and weapons
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-skyrim-special-edition-mod-overhauls-numerous-shields-armors-and-weapons/
Modder ‘Xavbio’ has released new mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition that overhauls numerous armors, shields and weapons.
Going into more details, this pack re-textures all Guard armors, Guard shields, Stormcloak Officer Armor and CC Civil war Champions’ Stormbear armor, shield and weapons. Additionally, it comes with optional retextures for Helgen Reborn, Falskaar, Midwood Isle and Open Face Guard Helmets. Not only that, but this pack has optional mesh replacers to add sleeves and pants to the guards and Stormcloak Officer sets.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos about this mod.

Baldur's Gate 3 modders have added WASD controls, letting you jog around the Sword Coast like it's an MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-modders-have-added-wasd-controls-letting-you-jog-around-the-sword-coast-like-its-an-mmo/
Look, I like isometric games as much as the next RPG nerd. It's fun to sweep over the battlefield and shuffle my adventurers with pinpoint precision. Especially in a game like Baldur's Gate 3, which sees you grappling with terrain, line of sight, friendly fire, ground effects, Astarion's luscious hair—the bird's eye view is basically required.
I can't help but feel a twinge of envy, however, for the steam deck adopters and controller players. I would never dream of using the game's radial menus for combat, since I have so many skills to on my bar to contend with (this is totally the game's fault, and not mine for making a bunch of fiddly multiclass builds).
For the purposes of running around and chatting to people, though? The near-seamless analog movement and immersive camera angle's enough to make me go green as a Gith with envy. It's also left me slightly confused as to why this perspective on the Sword Coast is barred from PC players without a controller.
Thankfully, modders are here to save the day. A mod by Nexus user Ch4nKyy has added WASD movement to the game—and, combined with Ershin's "Native Camera Tweaks", the Forgotten Realms can now be explored on foot from the comfort of your four favourite letters. You can see a video example, provided courtesy of the Youtube channel dimetequiero, below.
>> The video is 1:31 minutes long.

This Baldur's Gate 3 cheat mod delivers every weapon and armor in the game right to your camp
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-baldurs-gate-3-cheat-mod-delivers-every-weapon-and-armor-in-the-game-right-to-your-camp/
We still haven't seen traditional Baldur's Gate 3 cheat codes and console commands appear, but that doesn't mean you can't take a few shortcuts in the RPG. There are already mods that increase your carry weight, let you earn XP twice as fast, and even increase your party size from four to eight.
But the All Items mod is the closest thing we've seen to a Baldur's Gate 3 cheat code so far. It sticks a barrel in your camp and fills that barrel with every weapon, armor, ring, and amulet in the game. Now that's some good cheating!
>> The article has a link to imgur to see a video/gif.

A mod has fixed Baldur's Gate 3's most annoying quirk—NPCs running away in fear from your pets
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-mod-has-fixed-baldurs-gate-3s-most-annoying-quirknpcs-running-away-in-fear-from-your-pets/
Dungeons & Dragons is rife with horrors—shapeshifting doppelgangers, mind flayers, Shadowheart's sub-optimised starting ability scores, the list goes on. You'd think, at this point, that any denizen of the Sword Coast would be used to them. As it stands, however, NPCs in Baldur's Gate 3 can be startled by something as pedestrian as a ranger's bear.
For those pet-free adventurers who are unaware, having any kind of summon out—a ranger pet, a conjured elemental, a zombie, even a druid wildshape—can cause NPCs to lose all sense of composure and self-preservation. In a recent Reddit thread, user Dadecum even had a key quest NPC bolt into an unsafe area of Act 2 and die.
I'm currently in Act 3 myself, and I can't even fathom the mayhem that'd ensue on the streets of Baldur's Gate were I playing a necromancer or conjuration wizard. Luckily, modders are already on the case—a mod created by Nexus user pwybman removes this unintentional game of lemmings from an otherwise stellar RPG.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos about this mod.

GAMING NEWS

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Patch 1.815.0.0 fixes some crashes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-patch-1-815-0-0-fixes-some-crashes/
Nixxes has just released Patch 1.815.0.0 for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and revealed its complete changelog/update notes. According to the team, this update is mostly a Quality-Of-Life hotfix that addresses some crashes.

Crimson Desert, Black Myth: Wukong and STALKER 2 will be present at Gamescom 2023
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crimson-desert-black-myth-wukong-and-stalker-2-will-be-present-at-gamescom-2023/
Crimson Desert, Black Myth: Wukong and STALKER 2 are three of our most anticipated games. And today, we are happy to report that all three of them will be present at Gamescom 2023.

Wednesday news, part two:

Indie action RPG Hammerwatch 2 is more like A Link to the Past than Diablo 4, its developer says
https://www.pcgamer.com/indie-action-rpg-hammerwatch-2-is-more-like-a-link-to-the-past-than-diablo-4-its-developer-says/
The dungeon crawling Hammerwatch series is lowkey one of my favorite co-op RPG romps, and today the series gets a much bigger sequel that has me psyched to go back. Hammerwatch 2 takes the series' fast-paced dungeon battles I enjoyed with friends and beefs them up with an open world, bigger skills list, gear, and quest system. It sounds like the indie upstart action RPG that we need right in the wake of Diablo 4. It's not heavily inspired by the modern giants of ARPGs though, its developer Crackshell tells me, and is instead chasing the greatness of much older gaming touchstones.
(...)
Hammerwatch 2 is even more ambitious yet, as Crackshell's creative director Jochum Skoglund explained in a gameplay showcase this summer. There are quests now, for one, instead of the straightforward gauntlet of hallways and monsters. There's an entire loot and gear system now too, and a crafting system for consumables. Oh, and it's got an overlay map, thank goodness.

Diablo 3's final season adds a solo play mode that fans have wanted for years
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-3s-final-season-adds-a-solo-play-mode-fans-have-wanted-for-years/
Before Diablo 3 is officially sunset and begins repeating its past seasonal themes, season 29 will arrive with a solo-only mode and a rework of its endgame Paragon system—two common requests from fans over the years.

Bungie goes into damage control mode as game director admits the State of the Game update 'wasn't up to our standards for what you all expect'
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-goes-into-damage-control-mode-as-game-director-admits-the-state-of-the-game-update-wasnt-up-to-our-standards-for-what-you-all-expect/
You know things aren't going great for a game when one of the senior developers is wheeled out to make a vlog explaining (and apologising for) recent decisions. So it goes in Destiny 2 today, where game director Joe Blackburn earlier used the platform formerly known as Twitter to share his thoughts on how things are going. Answer: could be better..

What's next for Baldur's Gate 3: over 1,000 'fixes and tweaks,' official mod tools, requested features
https://www.pcgamer.com/whats-next-for-baldurs-gate-3-over-1000-fixes-and-tweaks-official-mod-tools-requested-features/
Following Baldur's Gate 3's wildly successful PC launch and a few bug-squashing hotfixes, Larian CEO Swen Vincke says that the D&D RPG will get one more hotfix (there have been three so far) before its first big patch, which will include "+1,000 fixes and tweaks." That patch will then be followed by—and you might've been able to guess this—another patch, one which'll start to respond to player suggestions.
>> By the way, here's how you can change the look of your dice and here you'll find how to clean your face without resting.

Microsoft's new online rules give cheaters and trolls 7 second chances before banning them for a year
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsofts-new-online-rules-give-cheaters-and-trolls-7-second-chances-before-banning-them-for-a-year/
It's like the old saying goes: Fool me once, shame on me, fool me a subsequent six times, also shame on me, but if you fool me an eighth and final time then, frankly, you're bang out of order and it's really time we did something about it. This, I assume, was the guiding mantra behind the Xbox enforcement strike system, a just-announced policy from Microsoft that aims to make the company's punishment mechanism a little clearer for players on the receiving end of it.
(...)
It might be called the Xbox enforcement system, but it applies to PC players too. Your strikes all count against your Microsoft account—the one you probably use to sign into your Windows PC—and impact your ability to use features tied to games that make use of Microsoft and Xbox services.

Intel’s Next-Gen Battlemage GPU Test Tools Spotted, Slightly Bigger Package Than Alchemist

https://wccftech.com/intel-next-gen-battlemage-gpu-test-tools-slightly-bigger-package-than-alchemist/

So still likely targeting entry level to mid-range as we expected. It feels like Nvidia will be uncontested against anything above 70 class.

Intel releases XeSS 1.2 SDK, the key binary still not open-source

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-releases-xess-1-2-sdk-the-key-binary-still-not-open-source

Nvidia to Sell 550,000 H100 GPUs for AI in 2023: Report

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-to-sell-550000-h100-compute-gpus-in-2023-report

Good video but the proof will be in the pudding. This is what people really wanted to happen from the GamersNexus video because LTT was going off the rails with inaccuracies as well as many other things. It is still very stupid though that they will be locking the video which shows "how they do their testing from start to finish" behind floatplane. Like excuse me? You are going to lock the video that people might actually be interested in seeing behind a paywall? Like they will be releasing other stuff about how they do their testing like documents and such but not the video?

We will see though. 7800XT/7700XT should be coming out in September so we shall see if anything actually changes.

Thank you GamersNexus for making this happen.

I'm sorry but... WHAT!?

I said since the beginning that I hadn't watched the video. That's why I asked for a summary and, bassed on that, I said that some points felt a bit like nitpicking, which you asked me to expand on. I picked three points, plus one comment on the quantity of the videos produced, and somehow that's "shooting down all the points"? Yeah, sure. Did I said something about the lack of accuracy of their reviews (I mentioned mistakes, not wrong results) or the whole waterblock mess? Nope, because that's of concern.

But, apparently, if I don't agree with all the GN points, I'm suddently taking Linus' point of view. Ok. Well, you may only see the world in black and white, but I know that there are a lot more colours out there, and I won't appologize for having my own opinion and deviate from your own.

Next point: so Linus isn't perfect? What a surprise! What's next, water is wet? Of course neither he nor his company are perfect! No one is. And that also includes GN, for the matter. You're old enough to know that already.

Now, the video. No, I still haven't watched it and I won't. I don't give even half the needed f*cks about neither GN nor LMG to willingly spend over 40 minues on a video where a techtuber criticizes another techtuber. I have better less bad ways to spend/waste my time. And, for the record, I also haven't watched the AMD Labs video because, while I'm curious about it, I'm not going to spend an hour with it. They should have kept it as two or three parts to make it easier.

I have watched the news recap that Jizz posted with the second part of the whole sh*tstorm, if that, somehow, makes you feel better, and I won't watch the LTT video that TallSilhouette has posted, because words are meaningless. Actions will speak for themselves.

Lastly, I don't know what do you mean by coming back and a supposed shift that you and others have noticed. And since I don't know what you're talking about, I won't say anything about it.

And this is going to be my third, and last, post about all this.

I will say the whole Madison stuff that has come out that people have been sharing and retweeting. I'll likely ignore that for now since idk how much of it is a disgruntled employee making up stuff and how much of it is actually legit.

Beat BG3 at last. Solid 9 out 10 that falls short of perfection due to over-usage of D20 rolls (personal preference) and an undercooked final act. You can imagine my surprise to see the character who had died in the ending appear in the epilogue and spouting dialogue of another questline conclusion ._.

I might replay the definitive edition one day or or I might not. IDK, 75 hours of gameplay is a lot to get through again.

At last? For 75 hours, that was really fast, considering the game was released just less than two weeks ago.