Chinese Shopkeeper Shows AMD Ryzen 9000 “Zen 5” Desktop CPU Prices, Lower Than Ryzen 7000 Series

https://wccftech.com/chinese-shopkeeper-amd-ryzen-9000-zen-5-desktop-cpu-prices-lower-ryzen-7000-series/

AMD Fire Range “Zen 5 Enthusiast Laptop CPUs To Retain FL1 Package, Compatible With RTX 50 GPUs

https://wccftech.com/amd-fire-range-zen-5-enthusiast-laptop-cpus-fl1-package-compatible-with-rtx-50-gpus/

NVIDIA Readies GeForce RTX 3050 A Laptop GPU, Features AD106 “Ada” Chip

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-a-laptop-gpu-ad106-ada-chip/

Think Intel’s Upcoming 14th & 13th Gen Microcode Will Resolve Instability Issues? Well Think Again, Leaked Report Suggests Intel Yet To Identify Root Cause

https://wccftech.com/intel-14th-13th-gen-instability-issue-elevated-voltages-not-root-cause-micrcode-fix/

JEDEC sets LPDDR6 CAMM speed goal to 14.4 GT/s

https://videocardz.com/newz/jedec-sets-lpddr6-camm-speed-goal-to-14-4-gt-s

Probably gonna be something like a 3050 DLSS as without that the 3050 is simply wayyy too slow.

Was to be expected, really.

Sounds like Groundhog day for Intel and their chips lately.

I really hope the CAMM modules become more widespread. Would be a much better choice than integrating the memory or gluing the memory to the chassis to gain some height advantage compared to classic SO-DIMMS, and they can have a wider bus, which allows for more bandwidth for APUs/iGPUs.

Intel's hole with the 13 & 14th gen chips keeps getting bigger and deeper.

Regarding AMD's Zen5 price, I've seen rumors/leaks saying both options, that they're both cheaper and expensive. I think I'll way until AMD themselves reveals it.

Also, in the article about the delay of Zen 5, Guru3D (article here), says something that I haven't seen in other places:

"What occurred? The details are somewhat vague. AMD's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Jack Huynh, explained the problem on social media, referring to it as a "packaging issue." According to AMD, the initial batch of processors did not reach the expected quality levels. As a result, these units are being recalled, and AMD is distributing new units that have been thoroughly checked and are free from this problem."

It doesn't tell us much.

I'm fairly sure that the 9900X and 9950X will be cheaper at launch than the 7900X and 7950X did at their launch, and the 7950X was already cheaper then than the 5950X when that one launched. That being said, I'm not sure about the pricing of the 9700X and 9600X, could be that those will be the same price or even slightly more expensive than their Zen 4 counterparts, bringing the prices of the chips closer together.

They could certainly do that, although I hope they don't. AMD has been slowly forgetting about the lower end market that kept them alive for so many years, and they need to have something other than their -G APUs.

I know they've added in the third party account req, but the fact they chose to enforce EGO was possibly the worst decision they could make (besides it still looking like a PS2 game that costs nearly £50 for a game that's nowhere near the bigger AAA games out there). 

Timmy trying to sneak into cool kids club but getting cucked

I'm still hoping that AMD will produce a smaller chip with just 6 Zen5c cores (and either a simplified, smaller IO die to go along with this or without a chiplet design so it could also be used in entry-level mobile chips) for lower-end Ryzen 5, Ryzen 3 and Athlon CPUs. So basically what they did with the 7x20 but with Zen 5c instead of Zen 2 (and possibly a somewhat bigger GPU).

I've talked about this with some folks on a disco server, and it amazes me how this big "c'mon bro don't be this retarded" trojan horsing approach, is going unnoticed by the FTC.

Like I get it, Valve's a big boy, but it's also a company with the least total staff, and it actually has features to provide and a backend, and so far, Epic has been doing nothing but trying to subvert those features for years now. They've already usurped and tilted Valve's own network, because no one is using it anymore for crossplay or online play, which is why we're seeing devs magically coming out with EOS services, which becomes super convenient for Epic, because the process registers said user to Epic in one way that they'll end up boasting about, come the fiscal year (even if they don't earn money from said user, they still count the users using their client/services as one entity, which is fucking dumb and arrogant, imo).

It's bad enough that we get games that come to Steam, but also Epic, that would get mod support, but the studio is like "won't somebody please think of the Epic users", and delegates their modding platform to some shitty third party site and not Steam Workshop (which I find convenient  for Epic, because it's subverting one of Valve's features).

I want the FTC to stop fucking around with MS, because that battle is going nowhere, but Epic these past 5 years has been trying to whittle away hard at trying to dismantle Steam from the outside, and now they're trying for an internal push and I find that malicious in nature (no one asked for EOS, only Epic pushed it because they didn't like Steam's backend). 

Let’s go with the Friday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

We find three deals at Humble:

• Humble Bundle presents the Gold Medal Games Summer 2024, with up to 7 sport games plus one coupon to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/gold-medal-games-summer-2024 https://www.humblebundle.com/games/gold-medal-games-summer-2024
• The Humble Store has two new sales:
  • Publisher Jackbox puts its games up to 60% off during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/jackbox-publisher-sale/
  • The Thunderdome Throwdown Sale features up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/thunderdome-throwdown-sale/

Fanatical hasn’t launched a new Star Deal, but it has a charity bundle: the Into Games Bundle 2024, with 14 games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/into-games-bundle-2024.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Steam is changing demos to be easier to find, easier to see, and easier to handle in your library
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steam-is-changing-demos-to-be-easier-to-find-easier-to-see-and-easier-to-handle-in-your-library/
Five years after Valve kicked off the first Steam Game Festival—now known as Steam Next Fest—the company is making changes to how it handles demos. In short, it's making them less of a chore to sniff out and deal with in your library.
In a blog post released yesterday, Valve announced that it was making changes to how it handles its appetisers based on "trends in feedback from both developers and players about the process and functionality."
First up, adding a demo to your Steam library no longer means having to immediately install it (or, in my case at least, having to close the tab that pops up asking you to install Steam after you hit the play button to get the demo). Like any of Steam's legion of free-to-play games, demos now have a handy "Add to Library" button to tuck them away in your games list without an immediate prompt to install. You can also now install demos for games you already own, if you just want the narcotic rush of a game's most audience-enticing parts.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Max Payne 3 just got a 20GB HD Texture Pack that overhauls all textures on all levels
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/max-payne-3-just-got-a-20gb-hd-texture-pack-that-overhauls-all-textures-on-all-levels/
Modder ‘MDSXXX1’ has released the latest version of his HD Texture Pack for Max Payne 3. This pack is almost 20GB in size, and it updates all of the game’s textures on all levels. So, let’s take a look at it.
Now contrary to most of the latest HD Texture Packs we’ve shared, this one does not use AI tools in order to upscale the original/vanilla textures. Instead, MDSXXX1 has decided to use new/custom textures. As such, these new textures may alter/change the game’s art style.
To be honest, I really don’t mind this. As said, we’ve been bombarded with AI-powered HD Texture Packs these past few months. So, it’s quite refreshing to see a new pack, based on the “old modding methods”.
Although MDSXXX1 has not shared a video to showcase the new textures, he did provide some before/after comparison screenshots. Below you can find some of them. These screenshots will give you an idea of what you can expect from this new pack. So, be sure to check them out. The vanilla screenshots are on the left whereas the modded screenshots are on the right.

Two hours of leaked gameplay footage from Marvel’s Wolverine
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/two-hours-of-leaked-gameplay-footage-from-marvels-wolverine/
The Brazil Team, the modding team behind the unofficial PC ports of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, is currently working on a PC port for Marvel’s Wolverine. So, below you can find over two hours of gameplay footage from its latest unofficial PC build.
This unofficial PC version of Marvel’s Wolverine is based on its leaked PC dev build. Thus, it lacks a lot of features. Nevertheless, we are certain that some X-Men and Wolverine fans will be interested in it.
Now you should always keep in mind that this gameplay is from an alpha build. It does not represent the quality of the final product. The combat is rough, animations could have been better, there are placeholders all over the place, etc.
In case you’re wondering, yet. This unofficial PC port is already available on Torrent sites. Naturally, though, we won’t allow links to them. If you’ve been sailing the high seas, you’ll be able to find it. Just be careful with what you’ll be downloading as there are numerous fake torrents.

Baldur's Gate 3 modder creates its most hellish spell yell: On-demand testicular torsion
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3-modder-creates-its-most-hellish-spell-yell-on-demand-testicular-torsion/
In what is surely the apex of both Baldur's Gate 3 modding and my news writing career, a creator named Estgamers has developed the foulest fanmade BG3 spell yet: the foul hex of Testicular Torsion (warning: that link may not be work-safe depending on how cool your work is with both the concept of testicular torsion and medical diagrams of it in action).
Created by a modder named Estgamers, the Testicular Torsion Spell Mod is, well, a testicular torsion spell mod. It adds a new level 1 transmutation spell to the game that gets your enemies all twisted up in a way that's both comical and intensely painful, dealing 1d4 of force damage. So long as they have testicles, anyway.
>> There’s no media in the article.

GAMING NEWS

EA SPORTS FC 25 gets an official gameplay deep dive video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/ea-sports-fc-25-gets-an-official-gameplay-deep-dive-video/
Electronic Arts has released the official gameplay deep dive video for EA SPORTS FC 25. EA SPORTS FC 25 will have three major gameplay features. These are FC IQ, Player Roles and Smart Tactics. So, let’s take a look at them.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will NOT require the EA App on Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragon-age-the-veilguard-will-not-require-the-ea-app-on-steam/
Electronic Arts has confirmed that the PC version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard will not require the EA App on Steam. This will please a lot of Dragon Age PC fans. A lot of EA games required Origin and the EA App when they came out on Steam. However, the new Dragon Age game will be a Steam native game.
>> And it’s already Steam Deck verified.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver I & II Remastered appear at SDCC 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/legacy-of-kain-soul-reaver-i-ii-remastered-appear-at-sdcc-2024/
Legacy of Kain fans, get ready for a treat. It appears that Crystal Dynamics may be working on remasters of the first two Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver games.