Cyberpunk 2077 is now a very good game but thanks to modding community it is a fantastic game. Mods with better textures, better gameplay, better things (from an F40 to better ragdolls)...

I've heard of a software push for an OS, but a hardware one?, how are we to have a choice in upgrades down the line if AMD is enforcing this, and then what happens when intel follows suit?.

I really don't ever want to touch Win 11, because I know it'll be a 1984 nightmare. This makes me wonder how Linux is going to even continue being a thing if AI chips are the only ones to be produced down the line. 

The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The guys at GOG want to raise the temperature, because some of the new Deals of the Day, that will last 46 hours, are NSFW:

• The first NSFW title is Winter Memories, 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/winter_memories
• Another NSFW, Lust Theory - Season 2 gets a 33% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/lust_theory_season_2
• Returning To Mia is also NSFW and also 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/returning_to_mia
• Noita features a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/noita
• REPLIKATOR is going to be 70% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/replikator
• And the last one, and also NSFW, is Summer Memories Deluxe Edition, with a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/summer_memories_deluxe_edition

Steam has three new deals (the other one is not a game):

• GOD EATER 3 will be 90% off until June 18: https://store.steampowered.com/app/899440/GOD_EATER_3/
• Thief Simulator gets a 90% discount until June, the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/704850/Thief_Simulator/
• Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is going to be 30% off until the 25th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1915380/Garden_Life_A_Cozy_Simulator/

Fanatical has the new BYO Enigma Bundle, with 19 games to choose from for your 1+, 5+ or 10+ bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-enigma-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-Also nothing-

GAMING NEWS

Dragon Age: The Veilguard gets a 20-minute gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/dragon-age-the-veilguard-15-minute-gameplay-video/
Electronic Arts and BioWare have released an official 20-minute gameplay video for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This trailer shows off some of the game’s environments and characters, its dialogue tree, a boss fight, and its combat mechanics.

First in-game screenshots for Jurassic Park: Survival
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/first-in-game-screenshots-for-jurassic-park-survival/
Universal and Saber Interactive have released the first in-game screenshots for their upcoming JP game, Jurassic Park: Survival. So, let’s take a look at them, shall we?

Epic Games Store has leaked a lot of unannounced games, including The Last of Us Part 2, Final Fantasy 9 Remake and a new Turok game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/epic-games-store-has-leaked-a-lot-of-unannounced-games-including-the-last-of-us-part-2-final-fantasy-9-remake-and-a-new-turok-game/
It appears that Epic Games Store has leaked a lot of unannounced games that will be coming to PC. Among them are The Last of Us Part 2, Final Fantasy 9 Remake and a new Turok game.
The following information comes straight from EGS’s database. Basically, this is similar to the leaks that occurred via Steam’s database. As it comes straight from Epic Games Store’s database, it’s 100% legit.
>> The games don’t show with their real titles, it’s just codenames.

Path of Exile 2 gets a brand new gameplay video, focusing on the Witch class
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/path-of-exile-2-gets-brand-new-gameplay-video-focusing-on-the-witch-class/
Grinding Gear Games has released a brand new gameplay video for its upcoming action RPG, Path of Exile 2. This video shows off ten minutes of gameplay footage from it. So, if you are a fan of this game, you should definitely check it out.

Starfield Title Update 1.12.30 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/starfield-title-update-1-12-30-released-fully-detailed/
A few days ago, Bethesda released a brand new patch for Starfield. According to the release notes, Title Update 1.12.30 introduces Creations to the game. Moreover, it adds a new Trackers Alliance mission, the bounty scanner system, new melee weapon tiers, and the ability to modify melee weapons.
Going into more details, Creations will allow you to access and play new content in Starfield. Creations may include new missions, gear, skins, weapons, and more. It’s also worth noting that Creations will allow for paid mods/missions. In fact, Bethesda has already put a mission behind a paywall, which is kind of hilarious.

Gears of War: E-Day will have Ray Tracing for Lighting, Reflections & Shadows
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gears-of-war-e-day-will-have-ray-tracing-for-lighting-reflections-shadows/
A couple of days ago, Microsoft revealed a prequel to the first Gears of War game, called Gears of War: E-Day. Gears of War: E-Day will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, and today we can share some additional tech details about it.
According to MS, Gears of War: E-Day will be using Ray Tracing to enhance its Lighting, Reflections and Shadows. Moreover, the game will have over 100x more environment and character details than Gears 5. The Coalition also promises to implement next generation destruction and gore. Not only that the game will have cutting-edge animation tech. In other words, this promises to be one of the best-looking games in UE5.

Here are 27 minutes of even more gameplay from Star Wars: Outlaws
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-27-minutes-of-even-more-gameplay-from-star-wars-outlaws/
A couple of days ago, Ubisoft released an official video for Star Wars: Outlaws with 10 minutes of gameplay. And yesterday, YouTuber ‘Rubhen925’ shared another video with 27 minutes of even more gameplay footage. So, if you are looking forward to this Star Wars game, I highly recommend watching it.

The news, the sequel:

Tiny Glade's castle-doodling demo is packed with delightful little reactive surprises
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/tiny-glades-castle-doodling-demo-is-packed-with-delightful-little-reactive-surprises/
There has been a lot of anticipation for Tiny Glade in the cozy gaming circles I follow. Its an adorable little building toy inspired by the success of Townscaper but has you build idyllic little castles instead of seaside cities. After getting to spend some time with its upcoming demo, I am hurting to play with the rest of it.
Recent updates
his story was originally written in May, but Tiny Glade's demo is now publicly available in the Steam Next Fest and seems to be attracting tons of players.
>> Here’s the link to the demo.

With Helldivers 2's largest ever patch just days away, Arrowhead opens up about its slower update schedule going forward: 'We're definitely not resting on our laurels or being complacent'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/with-helldivers-2s-largest-ever-patch-just-days-away-arrowhead-opens-up-about-its-slower-update-schedule-going-forward-were-definitely-not-resting-on-our-laurels-or-being-complacent/
The great Helldivers 2 rush of 2024 is behind us. (...)
In response to a run of unpopular patches and what Arrowhead considered an unsustainable schedule going forward, warbonds and updates are slowing down. The next warbond will be the last one for a while, and this Thursday's patch is coming after the longest wait for balance updates since launch. It's shaping up to be Helldivers 2's most significant patch yet, judging by Arrowhead's preview .
>> And there’s a new major order that will test the morals of the players.

Here's a 'friendly PSA' for Shadow of the Erdtree: Only 39% of Elden Ring players have beaten the optional boss necessary to reach the DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/heres-a-friendly-psa-for-shadow-of-the-erdtree-only-39-of-elden-ring-players-have-beaten-the-optional-boss-necessary-to-reach-the-dlc/
Bandai Namco has a friendly FYI for all the Elden Ring players out there: The big Shadow of the Erdtree expansion arrives on June 20, which is less than two weeks away, and an awful lot of you have work to do before you're ready to take it on.
>> Oh, and they know most of you use guides with their games.

One day after trumpeting its big Summer Game Fest reveals, Sumo Group is laying off 15% of its workers and closing Timbre Games
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/one-day-after-trumpeting-its-big-summer-game-fest-reveals-sumo-group-is-laying-off-15-of-its-workers-and-closing-timbre-games/
Just days after showing off multiple games at various Summer Game Fest showcases, Sumo Group has announced that it is laying off up to 15% of its total workforce "to ensure the security of the business going forward."

Dragon Age: The Veilguard's romanceable companions won't just wait around for you to woo them—also, they're all canonically pansexual
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragon-age-the-veilguard-s-romanceable-companions-won-t-just-wait-around-for-you-to-woo-them-also-they-re-all-canonically-pansexual/
In RPGs, there are a couple of ways that developers have handled romances—and, specifically, sexuality within those romances. The first route is to have specific orientations for each character. For example, Zevran in Dragon: Age Origins is bisexual, whereas Alistair is straight.
The second route is to make companion characters "playersexual" ala Baldur's Gate 3—they have canon sexualities sometimes (Astarion and Karlach are canonically attracted to, at least, men and women) but they're never specifically set in stone, and will adjust to the player's interest regardless of their gender.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has apparently seen these two routes and decided to go with a third option, which is to make the entire cast and crew pansexual, according to a recent interview with game director Corinne Busche via IGN.

Fallout 76 is giving us an outpost that you can customise like 'your house in Skyrim' but you'll have to run the gauntlet first
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/fallout-76-is-giving-us-an-outpost-that-you-can-customise-like-your-house-in-skyrim-but-youll-have-to-run-the-gauntlet-first/
Fallout 76's latest update, Skyline Valley, may add a whole new section of the map for players to explore with new quests and points of interest to experience. But later this year, the Milepost Zero update will introduce escort missions with the chance to build a new customisable outpost and raise brahmin. 

I played Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector and talked to its creator about quests that 'don't give you the dragon money', Mass Effect 2 as an 'anti-reference', and making RPGs that aren't based on D&D
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/i-played-citizen-sleeper-2-starward-vector-and-talked-to-its-creator-about-quests-that-don-t-give-you-the-dragon-money-mass-effect-2-as-an-anti-reference-and-making-rpgs-that-aren-t-based-on-d-d/
Citizen Sleeper—the original one—might be one of my favourite games ever, and it's for a lot of sentimental reasons. (...)
It's a game about carving out a home for yourself in the unfamiliar and hostile, and I love it dearly. Which is why I'm both delighted and baffled to say that my favourite thing about Citizen Sleeper 2 so far is how it's going to feel almost completely different.
I was able to play a short demo and talk to the game's creator, Gareth Damian Martin from Jump over the Age. In it, I assembled a crew, took my rig out to a defunct drone, and spent the next half an hour with my heart in my mouth juggling stress and trying to disarm it.

AMD confirms Ryzen 7000X3D will remain top gaming performer ahead of 9000 series launch

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-ryzen-7000x3d-will-remain-top-gaming-performer-ahead-of-9000-series-launch

May as well not even bother with 9000 until zen 5x3d

NVIDIA Once Again Proves Why It’s The AI Boss: Sweeps All MLPerf Training Benchmarks, Achieves Near-Perfect Scaling In GPT-175B, Hopper Now 30% Faster

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-perfect-scaling-efficiency-mlperf-v4-0-benchmarks-umatched-ai-training-performance-hopper-gpt-3-175b/

Intel Presents Gaudi 2 Accelerator As A Lower Cost Alternative For AI Compute & GenAI, Publishes Fine-Tuned MLPerf Training v4.0 Benchmarks

https://wccftech.com/intel-presents-gaudi-2-accelerator-lower-cost-alternative-ai-compute-genai-publishes-fine-tuned-mlperf-v4-0-benchmarks/

We'll see how much difference there is between the 7800X3D and the new "plain" 9000 series. The 5800X3D was also technically faster than the 7000 chips, but the difference was small in most cases, and sometimes it was even slower by a small margin.

But yeah, if you're mostly interested in gaming, waiting for the X3D parts makes more sense.

Cancelled my 27" order.. and got the 32" G80SD instead. Got it for £759 with 24% discount, with a free 1TB external SSD. Couldn't resist that offer lol.

Was about to be shipped but just managed to get it cancelled via CS. Have to give it to Samsung support, no bs and really fast to respond.

The biggest differientitor for gaming performance was moving from DDR4 to DDR5 - AM4 to 5. And probably why the 7000 non X3D was on par or faster in some cases than 5800X3D. That and the clock speed+IPC increases.  On Zen 5 the same clock speeds and marginal IPC, won't make up for the massive cache in the 7800X3D.

But yeah, I'd expect another 15-20% increase over current X3D for the 9800X3D , on average.

Zen 5 has doubled the size of the L1 & L2 caches so, while not as muchas the monstruous L3 increase that the X3D chips bring, it will help. And a ∼15% IPC improvement isn't something I'd call marginal.

Also, while the faster transfer rates of DDR5 help, it also brings increased latency compared to DDR4, and Zen is almost as sensitive to latency as it is to speed.

And, regarding the upcoming 9000X3D chips, AMD said it's been "'working actively on really cool differentiators' to make the next generation of 3D V-cache 'even better'" (source: PCGamer), whatever that may be (besides a reason to make them more expensive than usual given their popularity).

On another note, you haven't had your first OLED monitor yet and you're already upgrading? Man, take it easy!
Just kidding, I hope you enjoy it.

Yeah maybe I was understating the upgrade to Zen 4 X3D to 5, as to Zen 3 X3D to 4 ;p I think most X3D's owners are good with what they have right now and the next one should bring the goods come release. We shall see, as there are rumors that AMD might even launch X3D's, later this year. Performance might be even greater with the launch of X870 and Blackwell, as scaling goes.

And yeah, upgrade bug haha. Have to wait another month on preorder but hopefully will be worth the wait. Thanks!