Let's post some hardware news so certain pirate has less stuff to post about when he comes back:

Gigabyte removes unofficial PCIe 5.0 support from B650 motherboards in latest BIOS update
https://videocardz.com/newz/gigabyte-removes-unofficial-pcie-5-0-support-from-b650-motherboards-in-latest-bios-update
(...)
Some users have reported that their B650 non-E motherboards, despite being officially listed as supporting PCIe 4.0, were in fact capable of running at PCIe 5.0 speeds. This was confirmed by using the latest generation graphics cards that support the PCIe 5.0 interface:

It is now being reported that the latest 1203E BIOS update for these motherboards reverts the specification back to PCIe 4.0.

AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme and Intel Core Ultra 7 258V MSI Claw handhelds compared side-by-side
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-z2-extreme-and-intel-core-ultra-7-258v-msi-claw-handhelds-compared-side-by-side
Content creator and reviewer Golden Pig Upgrade shared the first side-by-side comparison of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme and Core Ultra 7 258V. Both architectures power the most high-end gaming handhelds on the market and are currently available exclusively from MSI (for now).

GPD Win 5 AMD Strix Halo handheld revealed with modular battery, large power brick and RTX 4060-level performance claim
https://videocardz.com/newz/gpd-win-5-amd-strix-halo-handheld-revealed-with-modular-battery-large-power-brick-and-rtx-4060-level-performance-claim
(...)
The company has just shared a video showcasing both the device and its external battery pack. Due to the high power and cooling requirements of a 45W+ TDP APU like Strix Halo, GPD equipped the handheld with two fans. Instead of integrating a built-in battery, the company opted for a modular design where users can attach a battery pack when using the device in portable mode.

AMD Ryzen 9000 CPU with 16 Zen5 cores, 192MB of L3 cache and 200W TDP reportedly on the way
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-9000-cpu-with-16-zen5-192mb-of-l3-cache-and-200w-reportedly-on-the-way
Hardware leaker chi11eddog, known for ties to board manufacturers, claims that AMD is preparing to launch a Ryzen CPU based on the Zen 5 architecture with a higher TDP than current models and significantly larger L3 cache.

According to the leak, two models are planned, both based on the Granite Ridge architecture (Zen 5) and featuring increased cache. The 8-core version is said to have a 120W TDP and 96MB of L3 cache. This configuration matches that of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, suggesting it could be a lower-tier variant (possibly 9700X3D), which AMD typically releases later.

More attention is on the 16-core version, reportedly featuring a 200W TDP, which is 30W higher than both the 9950X and 9950X3D. Importantly, it allegedly includes 192MB of L3 cache, indicating a dual CCD layout, each with 32MB standard cache and 64MB of 3D V-Cache.

Man, "what a time to be alive" for fans of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic - first Alkahest, then this.

I know I'll most likely be disappointed when they release, given how much of a great gameplay they "promise" in those trailers, but one can hope that they end up at least being descent.

The more games of that type that come out, the more likely that at least one will be good, right?

Here come the Tuesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

GOG has launched a new promo: the Shooter Promo, with games up to 95% off during 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250805_shooter_promo.

Steam has new deals and sales/events:

• Let’s start with a daily deal: LIVE A LIVE that has a demo and a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2014380/LIVE_A_LIVE
• There is a second daily deal: TRIANGLE STRATEGY , also from Square Enix and also 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850510/TRIANGLE_STRATEGY
• Deep Rock Galactic gets a 70% discount until the 9th og August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/548430/Deep_Rock_Galactic
• X4: Foundations is going to be 75% off until the 18th of August (note that, despite not having a sale, the other X games are also on sale right now): https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations
• These are the sales/deals:
  • The ILLUSTAR PLAY 8 Showcase has lots of upcoming games to check, some with demos until the 9th or 10th of August (depends on your region). There is also 1 game on sale, 15% off until the 11th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45586500/sale/illustarplay8
  • The Short Games Showcase features games on sale with up to 90% discounts. The length of the deals vary between, at least, the 7th and the 14th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43212066/sale/ShortGamesShowcase2025
  • The East Asia Indie Games Celebration has demos and many games on sale, up to 55% off. The length of the deals vary, from what I’ve seen, between the 11th to the 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45543967/sale/EastAsiaIndieGames
  • Publisher/Developer Nightdive Studios puts its games on sale with up to 85% discounts until the 11th og August: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/NightdivePublisherSale2025
  • FROM POLAND WITH LOVE 2025 has lots of games developed by Polish studios up to 90% off. The page will last until August 11, but many deals will last until the 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/FromPolandWithLove2025
• And there are, of course, new weeklong deals

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The Watch_Dogs Franchise has the games on sale with up to 85% discounts during 5 days. All the keys are for UbiConnect: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/watch-dogs-franchise-sale
• The Tales Of franchise is on sale, up to 90% off during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tales-of-franchise-sale

Fanatical has three new 24h Flash Deals:

• Monster Hunter Wilds has a 35% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/monster-hunter-wilds
• Frostpunk 2 - Deluxe Edition is 48% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/frostpunk-2-deluxe-edition
• And Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered also gets a 48% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/legacy-of-kain-soul-reaver-1-and-2-remastered

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 25.8.1 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-25-8-1

NEW PRODUCT SUPPORT

• AMD Radeon™ RX 9060

HIGHLIGHTS
New Game Support

• Mafia: The Old Country
• Mecha BREAK
• WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers
• Valorant (Unreal Engine 5 release)
• Battlefield 6 Open Beta
• The Alters
• F1 25

New Game Support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4)

• Cyberpunk 2077
• WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers
• Mafia: The Old Country
• Arena Breakout: Infinite
• Game of Thrones: Kingsroad
• Wreckfest 2
• Lies of P

Expanded Vulkan Extension Support

• VK_KHR_shader_bfloat16
• VK_EXT_device_generated_commands
• VK_KHR_robustness2
• VK_KHR_depth_clamp_zero_one

AMD ROCm on WSL for AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

• The following has been added to WSL 2:
  • Forward Attention 2 (FA2) decode kernel enablement
  • New models
    • Deepseek R1 Distilled (7B, 32B, 70B)
    • Qwen 2.5 7B

FIXED ISSUES

• Stutter and lower than expected performance may be observed while playing 4K resolution YouTube videos in Chrome.
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Monster Hunter Wilds with Radeon Anti-Lag and Instant Replay enabled.
• Intermittent application crash may be observed while playing Battlefield 2042.
• Intermittent application crash may be observed while playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard on Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products.
• Stutter improved while playing Call of Duty: Warzone Season 03 'Verdansk' map on some AMD Graphics Products
• NOTE: Stutter has been reduced with 25.8.1, and AMD is working with the developer toward a full solution.
• Texture issues may be observed while using Oculus Rift S on RX 5000 and 6000 series graphics products.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod adds a challenging survival layer to Oblivion Remastered, with features like hunger, thirst, and fatigue
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/this-mod-adds-a-challenging-survival-layer-to-oblivion-remastered-with-features-like-hunger-thirst-and-fatigue
Modder ‘fuzzylogic217’ has made a cool new mod for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. This mod adds survival features like hunger, thirst, and tiredness. It makes the game more challenging and fun. If you want a more realistic experience, this is a great mod to try. Let’s check out what it does.
The Bees Needs – W.A.S.P. Edition makes the game more realistic and challenging. It adds a tough survival system where your character gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. If you don’t take care of these needs, your stats like strength and speed will slowly get worse. The longer you ignore them, the harder the game gets. To stay strong and focused, you’ll need to eat, drink, and sleep regularly. Survival will be now a big part of the game.
Hunger lowers your Strength, so you won’t hit as hard and can’t carry as much. You might have to choose between eating some Rat Meat or picking up that awesome loot when your bag is full. Thirst lowers your Agility, which means you’ll move slower and do less damage with ranged weapons like bows. Being tired lowers your Intelligence, making your magic weaker. If you skip meals, drinks, or sleep, the effects add up and stick around until you fix them. Eating a little or taking a short nap can help a bit, but it won’t fully fix the problem if you’ve been ignoring your needs for too long.
Penalties will get worse slowly. Even if the game runs 1000 times faster, it still takes a few real minutes of ignoring your needs to reach the lowest level. Long fast travels or jail time can speed up how quickly your needs get worse. The mod only allows 4 penalty cycles per need based on game time and never lowers your attributes below zero, even after long time skips.
Eating, drinking, and sleeping will slowly help you recover. But if you ignore your needs for too long, it will take more time and effort to feel better – just like in real life. So, only use this mod if you want Oblivion to feel more realistic. If you don’t like survival games, it’s best not to install it.
>> The article has no media.

Larian says it's going to expand the Baldur's Gate 3 mod toolkit 'to give you even more freedom,' so there goes another 100 hours I've lost to modding
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/larian-says-its-going-to-expand-the-baldurs-gate-3-mod-toolkit-to-give-you-even-more-freedom-so-there-goes-another-100-hours-ive-lost-to-modding/
Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 marked the last of Larian's major updates, but that doesn't mean we can't get a hotfix or modding surprise as a treat. As part of the RPG's second anniversary community update, the studio shared a few bite-sized fixes and a quick breakdown of more BG3 player stats. But most notably, the developer revealed that it isn't done working on the official modding toolkit.
Specifically, Larian says it's "working on expanding the official toolkit to give you even more freedom," with more details on what that entails coming soon.
The community update notes its extra effort is inspired by the RPG's relentlessly creative modding scene that "raised the bar with every mod," so shout out to all of those ridiculously detailed custom hairstyles, the millions of costume recolors in my mod folder, and, uh, Withers' big naturals.
There's also a scene for modding the mod tools. It only took two days after the official kit debuted for someone to unlock its developer mode and reveal a hidden level editor. We've seen extra additions from Larian since then, but nothing quite as robust as what some third-party tweaks accomplished.
BG3's Patch 8 update added partial level editing, so you can drop in DIY NPCs and objects to the world, but it's got limitations. The unlocked toolkit isn't something you'll find help with through Larian's official channels either, but we've seen some wild creations borne from community projects as modders set their sights on custom campaigns and restoring cut content.
>> Over 265 million mods have been downloaded from Larioan’s mod.io page. Who knows how many more will happen with these new tools.

GAMING NEWS

Stellar Blade Title Update 1.3.0 Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stellar-blade-title-update-1-3-0-released-full-patch-notes
Shift Up has just released Title Update 1.3.0 for Stellar Blade and shares its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

Battlefield 6 will NOT run unless Secure Boot is enabled in your BIOS
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/battlefield-6-will-not-run-unless-secure-boot-is-enabled-in-your-bios
The pre-load for the first Open Beta of Battlefield 6 has started. Since I have access, I downloaded it early to be ready. Even though the beta isn’t live yet, I tried to start the game, but I got an error message about Secure Boot. Basically, if you don’t have Secure Boot turned on in your BIOS, the game won’t run at all.
>> EA confirmed as much (from a Techpowerup article). In any case, PCGamer has an article detailing how to access the Beta.

Tuesday gaming news, part two:

After 3 years of bargaining with Microsoft, the Raven QA workers have secured their first union contract: 'Ratifying this contract is a win for game workers everywhere'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/after-3-years-of-bargaining-with-microsoft-the-raven-qa-workers-have-secured-their-first-union-contract-ratifying-this-contract-is-a-win-for-game-workers-everywhere/
In 2022, quality assurance testers at Call of Duty studio Raven Software became the first union to organize at a major American games company as the Game Workers Alliance-CWA. Today, after three years of negotiation, GWA-CWA members voted to ratify their first contract between the union and Microsoft.

System Shock 2's alien 'sphincter doors' were made with photos from a dev's colonoscopy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/system-shock-2s-alien-sphincter-doors-were-made-with-photos-from-a-devs-colonoscopy/
In the latest episode of Nightdive Studios' Deep Dive podcast, System Shock 2 artist and industry veteran Nate Wells shared stories of his time working on the PC gaming classic⁠—including how he sourced an unlikely art asset for the structures built by nasty worm aliens, The Many.
>> For the sake of many, I’ll leave it there. Read the rest of the article, or watch the podcast, if you want to know more.

Battlefield 6 producer says Bad Company 2 was a 'huge inspiration' for the new game, and you can't argue with his logic: 'When you look for excellence in our legacy, that's where you find it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-producer-says-bad-company-2-was-a-huge-inspiration-for-the-new-game-and-you-cant-argue-with-his-logic-when-you-look-for-excellence-in-our-legacy-thats-where-you-find-it/
Since we first started hearing about the game that would become Battlefield 6, EA has talked up its mission to recapture the "golden years" of Battlefields 3 and 4. While it's definitely on track to do that after my four hours of playtime last week, what revved me up was how much BF6 reminds me of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
(...)
It's those infallible qualities, and particularly Bad Company 2's satisfying destruction, that served as a "huge inspiration" for Battlefield 6. That's according to DICE lead multiplayer producer Jeremy Chubb in an interview with PC Gamer at last week's BF6 event in Los Angeles.
>> By the way, people have started to worry about the weapon recoil in the game, for the wrong reasons

Larian celebrated a 'probably this time really maybe' defeat of Baldur's Gate 3's Zoom grandpa portrait glitch too soon, with the beloved bug already rising from the dead like a slasher villain
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/larian-celebrated-a-probably-this-time-really-maybe-defeat-of-baldurs-gate-3s-zoom-grandpa-portrait-glitch-too-soon-with-the-beloved-bug-already-rising-from-the-dead-like-a-slasher-villain/
First reported by GamesRadar, one of Baldur's Gate 3's most persistent bugs has once again resisted Larian's attempts to squash it, with players on the BG3 subreddit sharing screens of their companions staring flatly into the camera in their portraits.
>> Larian has released new stats of the game, in case you want to take a look.

Peak dev would rather you pirate Peak than play a 'microtransaction Roblox slop ripoff'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/peak-dev-would-rather-you-pirate-peak-than-play-a-microtransaction-roblox-slop-ripoff/
Peak was a surprise viral hit when it released for PC in June, and it's still consistently in the top 15 most-played Steam games. Like other contemporary indie breakthroughs such as R.E.P.O., Phasmophobia and Abiotic Factor, it kinda came out of nowhere. And also like those previous hits, its success has led to some flagrant clones on Roblox, which is seemingly the go-to place if you want to play a shittier version of almost any commercial game you could name in 2025.

Battlefield 6 devs have been 'closely tracking player behaviour' to perfect maps and change objective layouts ahead of launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-devs-have-been-closely-tracking-player-behaviour-to-perfect-maps-and-change-objective-layouts-ahead-of-launch/
It seems like everyone and their mum is getting ready for Battlefield 6's open beta, which is taking place later this week, and needless to say, there's been a shedload of preparation that's gone into it, including some scientific map reworks.

Silent Hill f's director is breaking tradition by adding 'more entertaining and thrilling action' to appeal to younger audiences
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/silent-hill-fs-director-is-breaking-tradition-by-adding-more-entertaining-and-thrilling-action-to-appeal-to-younger-audiences/
Apparently, the kids love to fight—at least according to Silent Hill f director Al Yang and producer Motoi Okamoto. So to appeal to these new audiences, the next Silent Hill game will have fewer moody walks in the mist and more fights with a lead pipe.
>> Reaching for newer audiences isn’t easy. I hope they don’t scare the current one during their endeavor

Marvel Rivals 3.5 sneaks in one very minor change to appease those who hate the new end-of-match overview, and it works
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-3-5-sneaks-in-one-very-minor-change-to-appease-those-who-hate-the-new-end-of-match-overview-and-it-works/
After calls that Marvel Rivals' end-of-match screens were barebones, and that's if we're being generous, NetEase finally upgraded the UI with the launch of Season 3.0. In fact, it was one of my favourite additions, finally letting me track my level, battle pass, challenge, and accessory point progress, as well as all the events that are always going on, without needing to head back to the menu.

Unless you want a real Might & Magic game, that is. Still waiting since Might & Magic VIII for a worthy successor. No, IX: Writ of Fate and X: Legacy don't count...

The games for Humble Choice August 2025 have been revealed.

• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
• Let's School
• Lil Gator Game
• My Time at Sandrock
• Persona 5 Royal
• Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip
• Warpips
• Wildmender

Four wishlisted games, pretty good month for me.

Hopefully Jizz comes back tomorrow with the news. Meanwhile, here's a couple more:

AMD announces Radeon RX 9060 non-XT with 28 CUs and 8GB memory
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-announces-radeon-rx-9060-non-xt-with-28-cus-and-8gb-memory
(...)
AMD announced the new model alongside its latest graphics driver update. The card was mentioned in the driver changelog and is now listed on AMD’s official website. The company has confirmed that this model will not be available for the DIY market, meaning it may not be listed by all retailers (although some units will likely appear on the open market).

AMD’s next-gen AM6 socket to feature over 2100 pins, may support AM5 coolers
https://videocardz.com/newz/amds-next-gen-am6-socket-to-feature-over-2100-pins-may-support-am5-coolers
Bits and Chips shared some interesting information from their sources. Apparently, despite increasing the pin count for AMD’s next-next-gen desktop CPUs, the socket size may remain similar enough to support existing coolers. According to the site, the total pin count will exceed 2100 pins (22% more than AM5). The socket is said to be similar in size and layout to the existing AM5 socket, which also suggests AMD is not moving away from its current LGA design.

The site claims the pin density will be even higher than AM5, and the socket will support the Zen 7 architecture. Many believe that the launch of AM6 will be tied to the availability of DDR6 memory, which this platform is expected to support. Additionally, AM6 would be AMD’s first platform with PCIe 6.0 support.

>> That more or less confirms that Zen6 will launch on AM5 and that it will be the last new architecture for the platform.

Yeah...honestly, for me even VIII was already quite a bit weaker than VI and VII.

And off course, obligatory "fuck Ubisoft" for buying M&M IP and sitting on it without doing anything worthwhile. Which is maybe blessing in disguise - imagine the garbage that their "design by committee" devs would churn out, instead of proper M&M. Maybe they will sell it off in this rumored restructuring to someone who cares...

I wish Jon Van Canegem could buy back the rights, but considering his mobile game just died earlier this year, I have my doubts he could finance that...

VIII was weaker (and easier and too short), but at least it had an interesting set of races to play, but balancing was, yet again, totally off. Balancing issues were a problem in all 3 3D Might & Magic titles, and just got worse over time:

• VI had that if you could learn the skill, you could master it, too, which made Knight and either Sorcerer or Cleric (one of both is needed for Light/Dark magic, which Druids don't learn) redundant.
• VII made the Cleric essential and the Thief OP (higher Armsmaster skill than a freaking Paladin, hello?) and on a good side run arguably also essential too as only an evil Monk can learn master disarm traps, everybody else just gets expert at best, and if you want to mix potions, then also the Druid can get essential for the stat-raising potions. Meanwhile the Ranger is absolute rubbish and while he has a lot of skills, he's only basic or expert in the vast majority of them.
• VIII has pretty novel races, but their balancing is even worse than in VII. Dark Elves and Dragons are so OP that you barely need anything else - while to others (Minotaurs and Vampires) are borderline useless while Trolls and Knights are just two flavors of the same stuff. Druids got dummied out (there's still the Druid circlet in the game hinting at their existence earlier in development) and while it has so many different races, I'm still sad no Lizardmen race got into the game (Grandmaster Spear, Master Archery and Regeneration just make so much sense for them as a playable race), despite the game starting on their island and fighting the Regnan Pirates. You get a representative from every other race in the game but not them...