While the sample is too small to take any conclusions from it, it gives some insight on what's going on.

I wonder what will be worse, the performance increase or the availability?

Here are three news articles that didn't fit into the gaming news, the public service one, the lol one and the BS one:

Some Sapphire RX 9070/9070 XT graphics cards have hard-to-spot foam inside that must be removed or it 'may result in a decrease in cooling capacity or product failure'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/some-sapphire-rx-9070-9070-xt-graphics-cards-have-hard-to-spot-foam-inside-that-must-be-removed-or-it-may-result-in-a-decrease-in-cooling-capacity-or-product-failure/
If you've been lucky enough to get your hands on a new AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT or non-XT, you might want to give it a quick check to make sure there's no foam tucked between the shroud and heatsink fins. At least, you should do so if you have a Sapphire Pure Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC, Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming, or Pure Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC.

Sapphire Japan has posted on X linking out to an Ask Corporation support information post about the issue (Ask Corp is a hardware distributor). Sapphire says: "We apologize for the inconvenience, but we would like to inform you about the cushioning material for the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT."

The information post (machine translated) explains: "We would like to inform you that the protective cushioning material (sponge) that is attached to the product at the time of shipment must be removed before using the product.

"Using the product without removing the cushioning material may result in a decrease in cooling capacity or product failure, so please be sure to remove the cushioning material before installing it in your PC."

Of course, having to remove some cushioning is no biggie, and this cushioning presumably has a purpose—to help prevent any of the thin metal from warping or getting damaged during transit, for instance—but the problem is that some might miss it. It's packed under the shroud, and judging by the Ask Corp picture, it's a plain gray colour… just like the heatsink and shroud surrounding it.

Haunted printers turning on by themselves and printing nonsense has to be one of my favorite Windows 11 bugs ever
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/operating-systems/haunted-printers-turning-on-by-themselves-and-printing-nonsense-has-to-be-one-of-my-favorite-windows-11-bugs-ever/
Word to the wise, you might want to avoid Windows 11 23H2 update KB5050092 (Microsoft sure knows how to name 'em!) for now. Turns out, it can cause USB printers to start spouting pages with random gibberish, sorry "unusual characters". Obviously, if you're into the idea of a printergeist animating itself at 3am and graunching away on its ink supply, then maybe you might want to actively seek out the update

This is, it seems, the isolated observation of a loan Redditor or whatever, but the official stance of Microsoft itself as posted on its "Learn" website for logging known issues with Windows.

In an update titled, "USB printers might print random text with the January 2025 preview update," Microsoft says, "you might observe issues with USB connected dual-mode printers that support both USB Print and IPP Over USB protocols," after installing the KB5050092 update for Windows 11 23H2 builds.

Microsoft goes on to explain, "you might observe that the printer unexpectedly prints random text and data, including network commands and unusual characters."

So, wait, now TSMC is supposedly pitching a joint venture with Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom to run Intel's ailing chip fabs?
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/so-wait-now-tsmc-is-supposedly-pitching-a-joint-venture-with-nvidia-amd-and-broadcom-to-run-intels-ailing-chip-fabs/
In the on-again, off-again saga of TSMC's supposed designs on Intel's chip factories, there's a new twist. Reuters reports that TSMC has pitched Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom with the idea of a joint venture to take control of Intel's struggling fabs.

Immediately, we should point out that the story just a few weeks ago was that Intel's fabs would be spun off into a joint venture between Intel and TSMC but run by the latter. Then a few days later, that rumour was dismissed by some industry observers, while others backed it up and added Broadcom into the mix.

(...)

Anywho, back to this latest yarn. According to Reuters, TSMC is proposing to Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom that it would run the fabs but that they would be owned by the joint venture with TSMC's stake limited to no more than 50%.

I tried out The Witcher 1 enhanced through Steam on my 2019 gaming PC (RX 580).

Getting about 130-145 FPS at 4K with all settings at max which is funny to see.

I didnt know The Witcher was a typical isometric CRPG - thought it was an action RPG.

I'm playing games with the least amount of mods so I can play it close to how it was originally released as (minus FPS and resolutions)

My main complaint is the text size is so damn tiny in 4K on my 85'' TV - thankfully there was a mod that made it bigger so I'll be starting The Witcher series in the future.

Windows and USB... Not sure if I've mentioned it here (I probably have), but my PC has at least once woken from sleep mode on its own. The cause was a USB device - probably not any 'real' USB device (e.g. mouse), mind you, but something Windows considers a USB device because reasons. It's probably happened more often too, with Windows returning to sleep mode later, but I randomly caught it in the act. My old PC also had a similar issue, which I fixed by disabling the USB device, but I haven't bothered to identify the USB device with this PC because Windows really doesn't want to make it too easy. Anyway, like I said, Windows and USB - apparently not a great combination.

I can't wait for Microsoft to perhaps push me over to Linux with Windows 12. I've said it before and I'll say it again: gaming is the only thing keeping me using Windows. (That said, I use Ubuntu at work, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone.)

Today, I added a Ryzen 9 9950X3D to my cart on newegg, feeling victorious. I clicked "checkout," only to watch it disappear like a limited-time offer on happiness. Sold out. Guess my PC upgrade will have to wait.

Edit: Those SOB's over at Newegg is putting them on combo deals.

I am pretty tempted to get the 9950X3D myself since I miss the 16 cores of my old 5950x but I'll wait a few months cause I have noticed them getting pretty nicely discounted a few months after launch.

And we don't call newegg Cuckegg for nothing lul

Tech workers will totally freak out:

I recall reading about PCs booting from USB drives here, but I don't know if it was you.

I haven't had that problems *touches wood*, but I always shut it off and have fast startup turned off.

That sucks!

I hate when stores do that. There's one over here that doesn't even lists the 5070Ti on sale, but they have it on their prebuild PCs.

Thankfully the demand for the 9950X3D should stabilize soon, as not many people need that monster and will opt for the 9800X3D, so, with a bit of luck, you'll be able to get one at MSRP sooner than later.

My PC in my old house would wake up on its own if you turned on or off the lights in my bedroom or adjacent rooms. I guess it was PSU related.