Yep, there’s a third part of the news once again:

It is once again time to boot up Vampire Survivors thanks to a space-themed free update and a Final Fantasy parody trailer teasing more to come
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/it-is-once-again-time-to-boot-up-vampire-survivors-thanks-to-a-space-themed-free-update-and-a-final-fantasy-parody-trailer-teasing-more-to-come/
It's unclear if the people's champion of 2022 will ever slow down: hot on the heels of an Among Us crossover DLC with outer space maps and enemies in December, Vampire Survivors has released yet another free content update.

All Genshin Impact codes from the 4.5 livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/genshin-impact-codes-4-5-livestream/
The Genshin Impact 4.5 livestream codes are here, and with them, the opportunity to gather a few extra Primogems that you can use to wish on characters in the upcoming version. As always, the special program details everything happening in the next update of Genshin Impact, including events, new characters, and even quality of life changes to the game.

Over 180,000 Helldivers 2 players are storming a single planet and are on track to liberate it in under 24 hours—unless Arrowhead's devious DM gets mean again (Update: He did)
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/over-180000-helldivers-2-players-are-storming-a-single-planet-and-are-on-track-to-liberate-it-in-under-24-hoursunless-arrowheads-devious-dm-gets-mean-again/
In case you've not been paying attention to your Super Earth mandated briefings, Helldivers 2 players have been entrenched in a defensive war with the Automatons for a while now—and while there've been some perceived problems from the playerbase (and yours truly), I can't deny that Arrowhead has hit a bullseye on its intended goal to make a rad as hell emergent story.
Recent updates
March 1, 2024: The liberation of Veld is going to be a smidge more complicated than expected.

Helldivers 2 boss finds Starship Troopers renaissance 'humbling,' says the game is that 'without the plot armour', and nothing captures that better than your frantic near-death videos
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-boss-says-the-studios-going-for-starship-troopers-without-the-plot-armour-and-nothing-captures-that-better-than-your-frantic-near-death-videos/
If you're anything like me, the overwhelming popularity of Helldivers 2 has made you hungry for a rewatch of Starship Troopers: Paul Verhoeven's satirical, anti-fascist Leni Riefenstahl send-up about pearly-toothed space marines and their doomed war against an army of bugs.
And look, I know a lot of you are like me in that regard, because discussions of Starship Troopers in my various social media feeds have escalated by approximately 3000% since Helldivers 2 came out, with all sorts of people getting in on a rewatch, and I'm not the only one that's noticed. Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt has also seen the uptick in gifs of Johnny Rico actor Casper Van Dien on the back of Helldivers' popularity, and he's thrilled.

Tomb Raider Remastered 1-3 devs downgrade strangely-superior Epic Games version, saying it had 'work-in-progress materials that do not represent our final quality expectations'
https://www.pcgamer.com/croft-y-sleuths-discover-tomb-raider-remastered-1-3-has-a-better-version-on-the-epic-games-store-of-all-placesexcept-for-some-busted-achievements/
The brush-up of Lara Croft's classic adventures to pilfer tombs and shoot dinosaurs has mostly gone down well with fans—we even gave it a very respectable 78% in our Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Review. Turns out it could've been even better if you bought it on the—checking my notes here—Epic Games Store. Wait, really?
Recent updates
March 1, 2024: In a twist, it turns out that the better Epic Games Store version was the impostor, rather than the Steam and GOG versions. The Epic Games Store form of the remaster has been swapped out for its inferior cousins—click here to jump to the new information.
>> Improve the other versions? Blasphemy! Let’s downgrade the better one.

Several Steam games changed names to Helldivers 2 and Palworld to scam players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/several-steam-games-changed-names-to-helldivers-2-and-palworld-to-scam-players/
Early this morning, the busy Helldivers 2 Discord sent out a warning from the team. Imposters were threatening the integrity of Super Earth. Developers of several games on Steam had changed the name of their games to Helldivers 2, completely altering their Steam pages, including the developer and publisher tags. And Helldivers 2 was not alone in being targeted by this scam. 
Palworld, Last Epoch and Escape from Tarkov were also impersonated, with the same strategy employed, and each Steam page for the fakes looking largely legit to a casual observer. At a glance, only the tiny number of reviews suggested something was not quite right. 

Helldivers 2's guns have 46 secret stats so just 'use the one you like the most'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/helldivers-2s-guns-have-46-secret-stats-so-just-use-the-one-you-like-the-most/
Helldivers 2 definitely involves strategy, but the way I play it would not be described as strategic. (...)
Now I'm a little more familiar with how the liberty-em-up works (and have discovered the wholesome joy of bug-squishing) and have begun to unlock the various loadout options, I do think a little more before blasting down to a planet's surface. These thoughts largely involve whether I bring an SMG or a shotgun. But some Helldivers are much more thorough, and you don't have to go far on the internet to find the usual tier lists, recommendations, spreadsheets, and warnings about so-called trash builds. Gamers like to min-max and, as the popular game in town, Helldiver kit is being given the full treatment. 
The trouble is that the information the game gives you about its weapons, it turns out, is somewhat incomplete. Each weapon has four visible stats (damage, capacity, recoil, and fire rate) alongside certain traits. But it turns out there's a bunch more going on under the hood.

Borderlands studio Gearbox reportedly in the 'late stages' of a sale, as Embracer Group continues to hack off parts of itself to keep the lights on
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/borderlands-studio-gearbox-reportedly-in-the-late-stages-of-a-sale-as-embracer-group-continues-to-hack-off-parts-of-itself-to-keep-the-lights-on/
Rumours circulating last year that Borderlands creator Gearbox Studios is to be sold appear to have sprouted fruit. This would mark its exit from the shadow of the proverbial colossus Embracer Group, which has been having an, ah, interesting year and a bit to say the least.

And here are the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• They launched so many deals yesterday that they’ve run out of steam (pun not intended) and have nothing new to share.

+Steam

• Dead Cells celebrates the first anniversary of its Castlevania DLC with a 50% discount until the 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/588650/Dead_Cells/
• Deceive Inc. will be free to try during the weekend and 60% off until March, 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/820520/Deceive_Inc/
• The Medium will also be 60% off until March 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1293160/The_Medium/
• Oxygen Not Included has a 66% discount until the 7th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen_Not_Included/
• WHAT THE GOLF? Will be 75% off until the 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/785790/WHAT_THE_GOLF/
• Mount & Blade: Warband features a 90% discount until, once again, the 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/48700/Mount__Blade_Warband/
• Lords of the Fallen will be 40% off until the 14th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1501750/Lords_of_the_Fallen/
• Gremlins, Inc. will be 80% off until the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/369990/Gremlins_Inc/
• Publisher Hypetrain also celebrates its Spring Sale here, with up to 85% discounts until March, 14: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/HypeTrainDigital/sale/hypetrain-springsale2024
• And Black Desert gets a 90% discount until the 21st of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/582660/Black_Desert/

Believe it or not, we’ve reached the end of this week of news. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Here are some other news:

Thermaltake Announces Top 3 Winners of 2023 Thermaltake CaseMOD Invitational Season1
https://www.techpowerup.com/319833/thermaltake-announces-top-3-winners-of-2023-thermaltake-casemod-invitational-season1
Thermaltake, a leading PC DIY brand for premium hardware solutions, is excited to reveal the winner list of 2023 Thermaltake CaseMOD Invitational Season 1. In first place is Wael Kadri from France, in second place is Maulik Patel from India, and in third places are Derek Wilson from Canada and Ponsarud Romvilast from Thailand.

HWInfo finally introduces on-screen display functionality, making one of my all time favorite apps even better
https://www.pcgamer.com/hwinfo-finally-introduces-on-screen-display-functionality-making-one-of-my-all-time-favorite-apps-even-better/
As a PC hardware geek, I consider HWInfo64 to be an absolutely essential tool. It's a comprehensive program that gives you information on just about every feature and monitoring statistic you could ever hope for.

Now it's getting a feature I have long wished for. The latest HWInfo beta version includes on-screen display support, meaning it can now function as an all in one system monitoring and information app. As a gamer, you previously needed to use apps like MSI Afterburner or FRAPS to give you OSD support. These apps are particularly useful for keeping an eye on essential things like your in-game GPU temperatures, but HWInfo can do so much more than that.

JPR: Total PC GPU Shipments Increased by 6% From Last Quarter and 20% Year-to-Year
https://www.techpowerup.com/319714/jpr-total-pc-gpu-shipments-increased-by-6-from-last-quarter-and-20-year-to-year
Jon Peddie Research reports the growth of the global PC-based graphics processor unit (GPU) market reached 76.2 million units in Q4'23 and PC CPU shipments increased an astonishing 24% year over year, the biggest year-to-year increase in two and a half decades. Overall, GPUs will have a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% during 2024-2026 and reach an installed base of almost 5 billion units at the end of the forecast period. Over the next five years, the penetration of discrete GPUs (dGPUs) in the PC will be 30%.

AMD's overall market share decreased by -1.4% from last quarter, Intel's market share increased 2.8, and Nvidia's market share decreased by -1.36%, as indicated in the following chart.

Samsung's New microSD Cards Bring High Performance and Capacity, with Speeds of up to 800 MB/s and 1 TB in Size
https://www.techpowerup.com/319702/samsungs-new-microsd-cards-bring-high-performance-and-capacity-with-speeds-of-up-to-800-mb-s-and-1-tb-in-size
Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started sampling its 256-gigabyte (GB) SD Express microSD card with sequential read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s) and has commenced mass production of its 1-terabyte (TB) UHS-1 microSD card. With the introduction of its next-generation microSD card line-up, Samsung aims to provide differentiated memory solutions required for tomorrow's mobile computing and on-device AI applications.

>>Since Samsung states that this comes from a "successful collaboration with a customer to create a custom product", some have started to speculate that this could be what Nintendo will use for the Switch 2.

Samsung Reportedly Working on Backside Power Supply Tech with 2 Nanometer Process
https://www.techpowerup.com/319745/samsung-reportedly-working-on-backside-power-supply-tech-with-2-nanometer-process
Samsung and ARM announced a collaborative project last week—the partners are aiming to deliver an "optimized next generation Arm Cortex -X CPU" developed on the latest Gate-All-Around (GAA) process technology. Semiconductor industry watchdogs believe that Samsung Foundry's 3 nm GAA process did not meet sales expectations—reports suggest that many clients decided to pursue advanced three nanometer service options chez TSMC. The South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate is setting its sights forward—with an in-progress SF2 GAAFET process in the pipeline—industry insiders reckon that Samsung leadership is hoping to score a major victory within this next-gen market segment.

Intel CEO admits 'I've bet the whole company on 18A'
https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-ceo-admits-ive-bet-the-whole-company-on-18a/
"I’ve bet the whole company on 18A." So, says Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in the most deadpan, matter-of-fact manner imaginable. He's not glib. He's not joking. Everything rides on Intel's 18A process according to Gelsinger.

Intel's CEO made the comment during a recent interview with TechTechPotato. And we can't help but notice that Gelsinger was even less equivocal this time than when he addressed precisely the same subject late last year.

Retailer confirms Intel Core i9-14900KS CPU has 6.2 GHz max clock and 150W TDP
https://videocardz.com/newz/retailer-confirms-intel-core-i9-14900ks-cpu-has-6-2-ghz-max-clock-and-150w-tdp
According to the data discovered by @momomo_us, the upcoming Core i9-14900KS would feature 24 cores, 32 threads, 6.2 GHz max boost clock and 150W TDP. None of these specs are new to our readers, as these specs were mentioned for the possible KS “Special Edition” variant for months. Intel has been releasing these SKUs ever since the LGA-1700 socket was released as the top-of-the-line desktop processors for enthusiasts and overclockers.

Intel Lunar Lake CPUs To Be Available In Limited Supply In Late 2024, Volume Not Expected Until 2025
https://wccftech.com/intel-lunar-lake-cpus-available-limited-supply-late-2024-volume-not-expected-2025/
Intel Lunar Lake CPUs are headed to thin & light laptops later this year but it looks like their availability will be limited at the start.

HDMI Forum Rejects AMD's HDMI 2.1 Open-Source Driver Proposal, No 4K@120 Hz or 5K@240 Hz on Linux
https://www.techpowerup.com/319797/hdmi-forum-rejects-amds-hdmi-2-1-open-source-driver-proposal-no-4k-120-hz-or-5k-240-hz-on-linux
AMD recently tried to add support for key HDMI 2.1 features like 4K@120 Hz and 5K@240 Hz to their open-source Linux graphics driver called AMDGPU. They invested engineering resources over several months to prototype the necessary code internally before publishing. The goal was to showcase HDMI 2.1 capabilities and get the implementation approved by the HDMI Forum. Unfortunately, the Forum ultimately rejected AMD's request, blocking Linux users of new AMD Radeon GPUs from utilizing those cutting-edge display features over HDMI. In comments, AMD stated: "The HDMI Forum has rejected our proposal unfortunately. At this time an open source HDMI 2.1 implementation is not possible without violating HDMI Forum requirements." This outcome comes as a major disappointment given the time and effort AMD expended aiming to satisfy the Forum's guidelines. The months of work now feel wasted with this outright rejection. As reasoning, the HDMI Forum cited legal and compliance rules around not enabling open-source HDMI 2.1 code.

>>In summary: 4K@120 Hz and 5K@240 Hz don't work on Linux because HDMI 2.1 has a bug. AMD solved it and wanted to launh the fix. the HDMI Forum said no becaue it could reveal some secrets of the propietary connector. AMD, obviously, complies and advises Linux users to ditch HDMI and use Displayport because that one works.

AMD confirms limited OC of Radeon RX 7900 GRE is a bug, fix incoming
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-limited-oc-of-radeon-rx-7900-gre-is-a-bug-fix-incoming
(...)
Hardware Unboxed decided to perform a retest of RX 7900 GRE but with a custom variant featuring higher board power. Models like Sapphire Pulse or NITRO+ should show up to 10% higher performance than RX 7800 XT. Some models like NITRO+ have much higher OC TGP limit of 305W and total board power of 351W.

AMD’s has told me that extremely limited overclocking of the GRE cards is a bug and it will be addressed shortly.

— Steve Walton, Hardware Unboxed

NVIDIA Reflex Comes to More Games, New Gaming Mice Get NVIDIA Reflex Analyzer Support
https://www.techpowerup.com/319779/nvidia-reflex-comes-to-more-games-new-gaming-mice-get-nvidia-reflex-analyzer-support
NVIDIA Reflex is a game-changer, reducing system latency on GeForce graphics cards and laptops so your actions occur quicker, giving you a competitive edge in multiplayer matches, and making single-player titles more responsive and enjoyable. (...)

In 2023 alone, GeForce gamers played over 10 billion hours of their favorite titles with increased responsiveness thanks to Reflex's innovative system latency reducing technology. Adoption of Reflex continues to accelerate and in 2024 you'll see many more anticipated titles launch with support. Since our last update, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Escape from Tarkov: Arena have added support for Reflex. And the latest seasons of Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Overwatch 2 are all enjoyed at their best with Reflex reducing system latency and further increasing responsiveness.

NVIDIA DLSS Comes to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake and Myth of Empires
https://www.techpowerup.com/319773/nvidia-dlss-comes-to-brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons-remake-and-myth-of-empires
Over 500 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and barely a week goes by without new blockbuster games and incredible indie releases integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects to deliver the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX gamers. Today, the critically acclaimed remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons launches with DLSS 2, giving GeForce gamers the definitive experience. And Myth of Empires is available now with DLSS 2.

Super excited for this. I remember playing this on my PSP back in 2010 and loving it. Cant wait to play it again but on PC this time.

The remastered version of Riviera: The Promised Land, which launched for Switch via Nintendo eShop today in Japan, will come to PC via Steam, iOS, and Android at a later date, developer Sting announced.

https://www.gematsu.com/2024/02/riviera-the-promised-land-remaster-coming-to-pc-ios-and-android

I upgraded my system disk from a regular 256 gig SSD (9 years old) to a regular 1TB SSDeez nuts ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Nice. Lots of room for extra games.

Hmm, I may be in the prospect of obtaining a mobo+AMD CPU and an RTX 3060 from a friend, though I am unsure if I'll be able to obtain all 3, but even if it's the mobo+CPU, that'll be good enough of an upgrade over my current i7-6700k (I really hate being limited in RAM speed via that CPU these days).

I'm not really interested that much in obtaining the GPU, since I've already compared it to what my 1080ti can do and it's honestly not all that worthwhile going for, but I can use it to pair with my current build as a spare rig (I'm really not interested in RT or frame generation, so those perks are moot to me).

Does anyone have any good case suggestions?. I'm wanting to go for a new case for improved ventilation (due to my 1080ti currently being limited to 2 fans instead of 3), since my current corsair C70 case has ventilation limitations via the front drive bay slot, and I'd really like to upgrade to a more modern case that doesn't restrict airflow as much.

Well, it looks like it's upgrade season for some of us here, because I've also (finally!) upgraded my PC!

I've upgraded everything but the GPU. I'm not too demanding and my GTX 1070 will still do the job for me for a while. Also, the only option available right now in my price range is the 6700XT, because an 8GB card to play at 1440p is not a good idea. So, this is what I've got:

• Case: Lian Li Lancool 216
• PSU: Seasonic Vertex GX-850
• CPU cooler: Deepcool AK-620 (very easy to install)
• Motherboard (the most expensive part of this build): Asus ROG Strix B650E-E (Murphy's Law. I paid more to get a card with a seven segment display because I got some troubles as of late, only to have none during this build)
• RAM: G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5 6000 32GB 2x16 CL30 AMD EXPO (worked without a single problem)
• Storage. I went with two drives:
  • OS drive: WD Black SN850X 1TB
  • Games drive: WD Black SN770 2TB
• CPU: R5 7600

I know, I know. I can almost imagine some of you writing something along the line of "I would never anyhting less than an 8 core CPU in 2024, and that would be the very minimum". And the truth is that I agree, an 8 core CPU is the way to go if you can afford it.

The thing is that this whole build has always been the foundation for the definitive build, not the final one. You see, I've taken the gamble that AMD will launch another gen of CPUs after the launch of the zen5 based 9000 ones that we'll get this year and before moving to a new socket. And the plan is to wait for that and then get the equivalent of the 5800X3D/7800X3D of the time.

Because of that, it doesn't make sense to overspend on a CPU that will get replaced in maybe three or four years, hence the 7600.

Also, since I'm coming from an i5-4670K with 4 cores/4 threads, the jump is already big:

(I used the CPU-Z bench to not stress to much my old CPU)

A 70% increase in single core and more than 200% in multicore is great.

After working with it, I can recommend th Lian Li Lancool 216. It's big enough to hold any hardware and it's also very easy to work with it.

I only have to complains about it:

1) No dust filter. I've been using it since Wednesday and I can already see dust accumulation if the front mesh panel where the two 160mm fans are.

2) The PSU can only be installed in one way, with the fan facing down to draw cool air in. It won't not a problem with most power supplies, but for the hybrid ones that have to be installed the other way around to prevent heat from accumulaing, it can be one.

Christmas in March?

It's not the end of the world to hold out for awhile longer... We are seeing some significant downward pricing tends at the moment... Mostly in part to nVidia's Super series and AMD GRE cards placing downward pressure which has seen even cards like the Radeon 7700 12GB drop down in price by $30 USD.

It also depends on what games you run at 1440P, if it's older titles then 8GB is fine...  A modern 8GB mid-range card can offer a 50% performance improvement or more over the older 1070 regardless of resolution. - But I am probably not telling you anything new here, you would have pushed a ton of games through that 1070 over the years.
Not ideal of course, but there are gains to be had... Just something to think about.

I wouldn't even go with only an 8-core CPU. Different horses for different courses. Haha
I'm still clinging to an old Ryzen 5950X, have to admit, been tempted to upgrade for faster single core performance, but I am trying my hardest to wait for the 8000 series.
I'm doing a ton of 3D design work for 3D printing, so the extra cores have come in handy when I have a few dozen designs all running at the same time without a single slowdown... Plus transcoding to devices for 4k quality media, not unusual to have CPU utilization at 70-80% across all 32 threads for a full day...

The Ryzen 7600 is a good chip and is probably the better option over having to regress to AM4 in my opinion... The slowest AM5 8-core chips tend to command a 50% AUD price premium over the 7600.

Your other potential option was the Ryzen 8500G, which would have hit the performance a bit, but would have saved $30 AUD, I assume you made that assessment and opted for the faster chip anyway.
The 7600 should still provide a better experience than the current gen consoles in gaming, so you are all set for a few years I think.

Happy gaming on the new hardware!

Hello my fellow PC gamers I was wondering if anyone had any stories of playing games back in the dark ages of the Vista era?