^ That was positive me. However, there's also the realistic me that reads this:

Intel has announced a load of new bugs afflicting its chips and this time it's not just CPUs but also GPUs that are involved, hooray!
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/intel-has-announced-a-load-of-new-bugs-afflicting-its-chips-and-this-time-its-not-just-cpus-but-also-gpus-that-are-involved-hooray/
Intel is notching up an impressive collection of bugs and flaws of late, what with crashing 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, the latest Arrow Lake chips needing a fair bit of post-launch work to get them running (not all that) optimally, all that good stuff. Now the company has announced some exciting new bugs that afflict not just its CPUs, but also Arc GPUs.

Thnakfully, there are already fixes for two of the four problems listed in the article, including the one for the GPU, but it's still not good for Intel.

Was able to snag a 5090 for only a little more than MSRP. Just got it today.

Loving the performance/VRAM for deep learning workloads.

Haven't tested any games yet, but it probably is overkill given that I am satisfied with RTX 3080ti level performance in games and probably would have stuck with that GPU for the whole generation if I didn't use my GPUs for non-gaming workloads.

Higher TDP?

• HD 7970: 250W
• R9 380X: 190W
• RX 470: 120W
• RX 570: 150W
• RX 5600: 150W
• RX 6600XT: 160W
• RX 7600: 170W
• RX 7600XT: 190W

Until the RX 470 the TDP actually went down a lot for the same number of CU with a small clock speed increase.

Since then however, the clock speeds got ramped up significantly, and with it, the TDP also went up - but not that much that it would be the reason for the higher performance, though it certainly helped.

So it's confirmed that the Switch 2 has a higher CPU clock on mobile than docked, I wonder why that is...

Was to be expected for the laptop GPU, most performance gains of Blackwell seem to stem from higher TDP, which you can't do on mobile...

I wish I still had the old PC with the Core 2 duo E4300 and Radeon X1650 Pro (was my stepfather's PC, and despite the low-power hardware inside got hot as hell) and pair that thing with a 5090...

Congratulations for getting one for cheap not as expensive.

You reminded me that early 28 nm and early GCN were both a big oof in terms of power consumption.

The 7970 was exceptionally bad in that regard, a typical AMD GPU flagship clocked way above its optimal power-frequency curve.

Crossfire systems with up to 1000 Watts:

"A 1,000 watt power supply should be the minimum to ensure stable operation. In the case of the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, however, even this is not enough - especially when overclocking. We ourselves opted for a 1,600 watt power supply after the system could not be operated stably in extreme situations with a 1,000 watt power supply."

Context. :P
I was talking about the RX 470 vs RX 570 as they are essentially the same part.

How -is- that 1070 fairing these days?

I still have my Core 2 Quad Q9650 PC paired up with a SFF GDDR5 Geforce 1030.

I also have an old Intel Atom 330 Dual Core, 2GB of Ram and a PCI-Radeon 4650 (NOT PCI-E) graphics card mini-ITX PC.
The 4650 was interesting as it used a PCI-E to PCI bridge chip and was an extremely rare and unique part which I assume was for industrial/signage as it was passively cooled. - It was actually my test bench for testing out more modern shaders for Oblivion that I was developing back in the day... And seeing how far I could push the very first Intel Atom Dual-Core in gaming. (Hint: Not very far.)

And of course I have an Athlon XP 2600+ 512MB Ram with a pair of 3dfx Voodoo 2's and a Radeon 9550 for Truform in Morrowind (Early Tessellation) all on Win98.

I ran 4x Radeon HD 6950's in Crossfire back in the day, managed that on an 950w Corsair PSU at the time.

The interesting tidbit is that the jump from 3 > 4 GPU's actually resulted in a negligible power consumption increase, but also a negligible performance increase, AMD's drivers at the time weren't capable of utilizing them effectively.

...But I was also gaming at 5760x1080 resolution back then, almost double the pixels of 1440P which was stupidly demanding.

AMD reveals Radeon RX 9060 XT render, confirms no reference design planned for sale

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-reveals-radeon-rx-9060-xt-render-confirms-no-reference-design-planned-for-sale

NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU is 10% faster than RTX 5090 in first tests

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-rtx-pro-6000-blackwell-gpu-is-10-faster-than-rtx-5090-in-first-tests

Retailers already have Radeon RX 9060 XT with 8GB and 16GB memory in stock

https://videocardz.com/newz/retailers-already-have-radeon-rx-9060-xt-with-8gb-and-16gb-memory-in-stock

ASUS unveils TUF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti BTF White with removable GC-HPWR adapter for cable-free install

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-unveils-tuf-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-btf-white-with-removable-gc-hpwr-adapter-for-cable-free-install

Intel Says Upcoming 18A & 14A Chips Have “Limited Customer Commitments”; Foundry Division To Achieve Breakeven By 2027

https://wccftech.com/intel-says-upcoming-chips-have-limited-customer-commitments/

The Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away:

• Dead Island 2: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/dead-island-2
• Happy Game: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/happy-game-35a105

The free games for next week are, once again, a mystery. But there may be three of them.

GOG has four new promo/sales:

• The Aspyr Publisher Sale has games up to 80% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250515_aspyr_publisher_sale
• The Only on GOG Promo features up to 86% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250515_only_on_gog_promo
• There are new Weekly Deals, with games up to 90% off during the same 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250515_weekly_deals_3_may
• And CDPR celebrates the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3 with a sale featuring up to 90% discounts in all its games during 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250515_witcher3_anniversary

Steam has three new deals and three new sales/events:

• Captain of Industry, still in Early Access, will be 30% off until the 28th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1594320/Captain_of_Industry/
• Artifact Seeker: Resurrection, that has a demo, will have a 50% discount until May 28: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3054610/Artifact_Seeker_Resurrection/
• Patron is going to be 80% off until the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538570/Patron/
• These are the sales/events:
  • Publisher Digital Happiness celebrates its anniversary putting its games up to 80% off until the 24th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33371531/sale/DHXP2025
  • The Project Warlock franchise is on sale with up to 90% discounts until the 28th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40645616/sale/ProjectWarlockBestDealEver
  • And World of Warchips has launched a new events with Azur Lane. There are new DLCs, but no discount that I’ve seen: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32977250/sale/WOWS_Azur_Lane_Wave_7

Humble Bundle presents the Team 17: Chains of Command Bundle, with up to 8 games to get during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/team-17-chains-command.

And Fanatical has the new BYO Trinity Bundle (Spring 2025), with 22 games to choose from for your 3+, 6+ or 9+ bundles during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-trinity-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

False alarm: Valve confirms that nobody hacked into over 89M Steam accounts and that your passwords are safe
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/false-alarm-valve-confirms-that-nobody-hacked-into-over-89m-steam-accounts-and-that-your-passwords-are-safe/
The dark web doesn't have your Steam account on it, Valve has confirmed in a news post after a report on LinkedIn claimed there was a massive data breach of more than 89 million users.
"You may have seen reports of leaks of older text messages that had previously been sent to Steam customers," Valve wrote. "We have examined the leak sample and have determined this was NOT a breach of Steam systems."
The original report happened a few days ago by LinkedIn user Underdark.ai and was picked up by X user Mellow_Online1 today. Underdark.ai's post said a dark web forum user claimed to have a dataset of over 89 million Steam accounts that they were selling for $5,000. They said the user had "sample data" for proof and a Telegram number to call if anyone was interested in buying them.
According to Valve, what they actually had was logs of text messages that come with a 2FA code to enter when you log into Steam. Those codes are only active for 15 minutes and aren't tied to your Steam account, password, payment information, or any other personal data. The only thing they do include is a phone number.
"Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages," Valve wrote. "You do not need to change your passwords or phone numbers as a result of this event."

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Superstar modders have decompiled Mario Party 4, meaning native PC ports for GameCube games may one day be a reality
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/superstar-modders-have-decompiled-mario-party-4-meaning-native-pc-ports-for-gamecube-games-may-one-day-be-a-reality/
As the world looks ahead to the fast approaching June 5 release date for the Switch 2, I can't help but look back. Beyond my Animal Crossing Switch (and, uh, my Animal Crossing 3DS XL), I perhaps spend too much time still considering Nintendo's fetching purple lunch box. Yes, it's true—I'm one of those wearying GameCube fans wistfully sighing through every Direct hoping against hope for another Skies of Arcadia re-release. Well, modders may well do what Ninten-don't.
Alright, done groaning? Here's the scoop: modders have almost fully decompiled Mario Party 4, making it the first GameCube title to get a damn-near-complete decompilation (via Techspot). The unofficial, definitely NOT Nintendo-sanctioned effort took about 18 months, making a fan-made, native PC port a real possibility down the line.
To be clear, this isn't emulation, which is a process that essentially 'tricks' software into running on incompatible hardware. Decompilation in this context is a much more involved reverse-engineering of the game's source code and only the first step towards something playable on PC.
Still, decompilation offers easier access to a game's code which in turn allows for much more flexibility in how you'd like a retro console game to run on modern PC hardware. For instance, some ambitious modder may take it upon themselves to handcraft a native online mode for the more than twenty-year-old game. We've already seen similar decompilations for Nintendo 64 games, such as Banjo-Kazooie and Paper Mario, but this Mario Party 4 project has proven a unique beast for more reasons than just its purple home platform.
As YouTuber MattKC Bytes tells it, modder Rainchus had originally begun decompiling the first Mario Party, which debuted on Nintendo 64 back in 1998, but this project soon hit a road block that would take a great deal of time and effort to clear. Turning their attention to the 2002 GameCube followup proved to be a much straighter shot—especially as it turns out the code for Mario Party 4 was originally compiled without optimisations, exposing much more of its source code to a sufficiently motivated modder.

GTA 5 Enhanced Edition – NaturalVision Enhanced Mod Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/gta-5-enhanced-edition-naturalvision-enhanced-mod-released/
And the time has finally come. Razed has just released the first version of the NaturalVision Enhanced Mod for GTA 5 Enhanced Edition. This mod aims to significantly improve the graphics of the next-gen remaster of GTA 5. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
The NaturalVision Enhanced Mod is a complete visual upgrade mod that takes full advantage of the new ray tracing features. According to the modder, it reworks the game’s weather, lighting, ambient colors, world textures, models, and vegetation.
What’s cool here is that Natural Vision Enhanced allows all light sources to cast shadows. This is something that the vanilla game did not feature. As such, it will further enhance the game’s ray-traced shadows. In other words, all objects will now cast RT shadows.
>> The article has screenshots and two videos.

GAMING NEWS

Half-Life Remake Black Mesa Gets Resonance Decade Update
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/half-life-remake-black-mesa-gets-resonance-decade-update/
Crowbar Collective has released the Resonance Decade Update for its amazing Half-Life Remake, Black Mesa. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

STALKER 2 Patch 1.4 Released With 700 Fixes & Improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stalker-2-patch-1-4-released-with-700-fixes-improvements/
GSC GameWorld has just released Title Update 1.4 for STALKER 2, which packs over 700 fixes and improvements. The team has also shared its complete changelog. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

Star Wars: Outlaws Title Update 1.6 Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/star-wars-outlaws-title-update-1-6-released-full-patch-notes/
Ubisoft has just released Title Update 1.6 for Star Wars: Outlaws, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

Thursday gaming news, part two:

This looks fungi: a first-person roguelike 'double deckbuilder' where you use a separate deck for exploring, smash locked doors open with your head, and feast on the corpses of mushroom monsters
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/this-looks-fungi-a-first-person-roguelike-double-deckbuilder-where-you-use-a-separate-deck-for-exploring-smash-locked-doors-open-with-your-head-and-feast-on-the-corpses-of-mushroom-monsters/
With so many roguelike deckbuilders out there, I appreciate when one stands out immediately—and there's a lot that stands out in Shroom and Gloom, announced today by Devolver Digital.
It's in first-person perspective, for one, so you don't see the typical view of your hero on the left side of the screen and bad guys lined up on the right. You hold your cards in front of you, when you look at your map you see it being held in your hand, and between encounters you actually walk through tunnels and passageways to get where you're going by pressing W. That alone is already a refreshing change.

Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix quietly removes artifacts of a cut storyline never meant to be heard
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3s-latest-hotfix-quietly-removes-artifacts-of-a-cut-storyline-never-meant-to-be-heard/
Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 was stuffed full of wonderful things, like 12 new subclasses and a photo mode, but once it was out some players stumbled into new dialogue they had never heard before. A chat with a certain corpse revealed a snippet of a storyline that didn't actually exist anywhere else in the game. After some speculation over the last few weeks, Larian dropped a hotfix today that solves the mystery for good.
Tucked away in the patch notes for hotfix 31 is a fix that removes "some defunct dialogue that mistakenly made it into Minthara's Speak with Dead dialogue in Patch 8." Clips of the scene before it was removed have a lifeless Minthara revealing that she was going to be a mother—a story beat that apparently was never supposed to make it into the final game.

A new Marvel Rivals item lets you skip losses in ranked and players worry the climb has become meaningless
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/a-new-marvel-rivals-item-lets-you-skip-losses-in-ranked-and-players-worry-the-climb-has-become-meaningless/
A new item in Marvel Rivals' latest event has broken the idea many players had about its ranked mode—namely that it's an accurate way to measure your skill at the game. One loss is no longer necessarily weighed the same as another: The Galacta's Gift event lets you earn up to eight free Chrono Shield Cards which can be used to avoid the penalty of losing a match.
Update, May 14: Netease has confirmed that the Chrono Shield Cards will only be usable by players in gold rank or below. "The purpose is to allow lower-ranked players to enter ranked mode with even less pressure through this mechanism," it wrote.

The Assassin's Creed Shadows delay worked out so well for Ubisoft its CEO decided, hey, let's do a couple more for the road—and save 100 million more euros while we're at it
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/the-assassins-creed-shadows-delay-worked-out-so-well-for-ubisoft-its-ceo-decided-hey-lets-do-a-couple-more-for-the-road-and-save-100-million-more-euros-while-were-at-it/
Assassin's Creed Shadows was delayed until 2025. At the time, this was considered to be a bit of a blow to a floundering Ubisoft. Fortunately for the developer, it seems like that gambit paid off in the end. The game sold well enough, making it the second-highest Assassin's Creed seller (on day one) in Ubisoft's history.
Being pleased as punch about this, CEO Yves Guillemot announced in an investor call (thanks, Eurogamer) that the company'd be delaying a couple more of its mainline titles. As a treat.
The delay that came for Assassin's Creed Shadows, which Guillemot calls a "good decision to deliver a really strong quality" is to be mirrored in some of its other top brands. "After a review of our pipeline, we have decided to provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success."
>> Giving studios more time to work. Isn’t this a lesson they already learned, in part, after Syndicate, leading to Origins?

Bad news for General Grievous fans: Fortnite's big mid-season patch has been delayed, leaving us another 24 hours without the bonus Star Wars battle pass track
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/bad-news-for-general-grievous-fans-fortnites-big-mid-season-patch-has-been-delayed-leaving-us-another-24-hours-without-the-bonus-star-wars-battle-pass-track/
Fortnite has pushed back its big Star Wars-themed mid-season update and, well, it probably has something to do with Apple.
It was originally meant to come out today, May 15, but has been pushed back a diabolical 24 hours to now release on May 16 instead. The most important thing here is that the update unlocks the General Grievous bonus track of the battle pass—something that'll mean a lot more to Star Wars fans than it does to me, a woman who has only half-watched some of the movies.

For the first time since launch you'll finally be able to craft saddles in Minecraft
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/for-the-first-time-since-launch-youll-finally-be-able-to-craft-saddles-in-minecraft/
At long last, the ability to craft saddles for your horses and pigs is finally being added to Minecraft. Gone are the days of traipsing through caves, mineshafts, and villages on the hunt for one specific item. Since its launch in 2010, the only way we've been able to get saddles is by hoping and praying you come across one in a chest somewhere. But finally, we'll be able to make our own, and it's upsettingly easy. I'm genuinely annoyed this hasn't been a feature until now.
Before you get too excited, this update is currently only available in testing. It will be part of the second game drop for the year, which yes, also includes the happy ghast. But with no release date yet there's no saying when it will officially launch, so we could be stuck in testing for a little while yet.