vivster said: I used my off time to fix up my PC a bit. I finally found a good price for a Samsung 960 Pro 512GB and instantly got it. Finally the days of long loading times are over. I also replaced my really old 5300RPM 2TB drive with a shiny new 7200RMP 8TB drive. And to top it off I got myself a new mouse with more than 2 DPI. I haven't tried it yet in games but I hope the stutter will stop now.

5300rpm? She must be an old Western Digital Green!

Indeed she is and I always hated her. It's like 4 years old now and showing a good amount of bad sectors. Not like it was ever fast enough for me.

BTW RLCS Season 3 is in full blast and my buddy made it into the top 8 of Europe! Let's hope he can make it to the LAN.

@vivster: Congrats on your purchases. I don't know if a mouse can help with stutter, but good luck with that.

An 8TB HDD! That's a lot of po... tentially important files that must be taken care of. At least, I hope you've gone with WD, not Seagate.

Sadly I've gone with Seagate. I mean I know first hand how shitty they are but it doesn't hurt to try. It's just HDDs after all. I'll probably won't lose a lot of sleep over it.

Well, there's only one thing I can say: good luck.

Oh, and have a back up for the really important files.

Ugh! It's Monday again... . Let's see if a bunch of news (not kidding, there's a ton of them) cheers me up a bit.

1-Emulator/Mods

• Demon’s Souls is now playable on the Playstation 3 emulator, RPCS3 (video inside) http://www.dsogaming.com/news/demons-souls-is-now-playable-on-the-playstation-3-emulator-rpcs3/
• Fallout 4 mod lets you export and share your settlements with other players http://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-4-transfer-settlements-mod/
• Morrowind fan remake Skywind teases majestic Silt Striders in new trailer (video inside) http://www.pcgamer.com/morrowind-fan-remake-skywind-teases-majestic-silt-striders-in-new-trailer/
• Nomad Galaxy mod is a 'merge between Homeworld and Command and Conquer' http://www.pcgamer.com/nomad-galaxy-mod-is-a-merge-between-homeworld-and-command-and-conquer/

2-Gaming News

SONIC MANIA – NEW GAMEPLAY VIDEO SHOWCASING GREEN HILL ZONE ACT 1 AND 2
http://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/sonic-mania-new-gameplay-video-showcasing-green-hill-zone-act-1-and-2/
SEGA has released a gameplay video showing Green Hill Zone Act 1 and 2 with commentary from SEGA’s Aaron Webber. Developed in collaboration between SEGA, Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games, Sonic Mania will feature new zones and remixed classic levels from past Sonic games, and will offer three playable characters (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles).

CITIES: SKYLINES HAS SOLD 3.5 MILLION COPIES, WILL RECEIVE A NEW FREE DLC
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/cities-skylines-has-sold-3-5-million-copies-will-receive-a-new-free-dlc/
Paradox Interactive today announced that Cities: Skylines, a game that released two years ago on March 10th 2015, has now sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. Cities: Skylines has reached this milestone as of its second anniversary, including copies sold across all retailers for all platforms.

>>Free DLC? Wow!

ROCKET LEAGUE HAS ALMOST 29 MILLION TOTAL PLAYERS, 10.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/rocket-league-has-almost-29-million-total-players-10-5-million-copies-sold-worldwide/
Psyonix’s VP Jeremy Dunham has revealed that Rocket League has sold 10.5 million copies worldwide, and that it has almost reached 29 million registered players. In addition, Dunham revealed that Psyonix is not working on a sequel to Rocket League.

>>Our pal vivster made a thread about this.

DENUVO TEMPORARILY PREVENTS BENCHMARKERS FROM TESTING TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/denuvo-temporarily-prevents-benchmarkers-from-testing-tom-clancys-ghost-recon-wildlands/
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a game that should be included in every benchmark list as Ubisoft’s open-world title takes full advantage of current-gen CPUs and GPUs. However, it appears that Denuvo is – temporarily – preventing benchmarkers from testing this latest title on multiple CPUs.

TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS – PATCH 1.1.5 IMPROVES QUAD-CORE CPUS & MULTI-GPU PERFORMANCE
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-wildlands-patch-1-1-5-improves-quad-core-cpus-multi-gpu-performance/
Ubisoft has released a new patch for the PC version of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands. According to the release notes, this patch improves support for quad-core CPUs and multiple GPUs. In addition, this patch various performance improvements for AMD’s graphics cards.

REFLEX ARENA, ARENA SHOOTER INSPIRED BY QUAKE 3, HAS BEEN FULLY RELEASED ON STEAM
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/reflex-arena-arena-shooter-inspired-by-quake-3-has-been-fully-released-on-steam/
Turbo Pixel has announced the full release of its arena shooter, Reflex Arena on Steam. Reflex Arena is a competitive Arena FPS that combines modern tech with the speed, precision and freedom of a 90s shooter. This game has been inspired by Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, and you can find its launch trailer below.

This time it's Chazore who made a thread about this.

NEX MACHINA, SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR TO PS4-EXCLUSIVE RESOGUN, WILL BE COMING TO STEAM THIS YEAR
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/nex-machina-spiritual-successor-to-ps4-exclusive-resogun-will-be-coming-to-steam-this-year/
Housemarque has revealed that its new intense arcade style twin-stick shooter, Nex Machina, will be coming to the PC. Nex Machina was previously revealed as a PS4-exclusive title, however its Steam store page has just went live, revealing that this new title will be coming to Steam in 2017.

And again, Chazore has a thread about it.

PLANET COASTER – FREE SPRING UPDATE COMING ON APRIL 11TH
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/planet-coaster-free-spring-update-coming-on-april-11th/
Frontier Developments today revealed that the new Planet Coaster Spring Update will be available to all Planet Coaster players for free on April 11th. This new update will feature three new rollercoasters, three new fully-customizable flatrides and the unique ‘Speed’ go-kart ride.

2D ACTION PLATFORMER, 88 HEROES, RELEASES ON MARCH 24TH
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/2d-action-platformer-88-heroes-releases-on-march-24th/
Rising Star Games today announced that 88 Heroes, the chaotic 2D action platform game from acclaimed development studio Bitmap Bureau, will release on March 24. In order to celebrate this announcement, Rising Star Games released some new screenshots and the game’s launch trailer that can be viewed below.

STRAFE, ACTION-PACKED RETRO FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER, DELAYED UNTIL MAY 9TH
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/strafe-action-packed-retro-first-person-shooter-delayed-until-may-9th/
Devolver has announced that Pixel Titans’ action-packed retro first-person shooter, STRAFE, has been delayed until May 9th. STRAFE was originally meant to be released this month, on March 28th. Devolver has not commented yet on why STRAFE has been delayed.

OVERLOAD, SIX-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM SHOOTER FROM THE CREATORS OF DESCENT, AVAILABLE ON STEAM EARLY ACCESS
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/overload-six-degree-of-freedom-shooter-from-the-creators-of-descent-available-on-steam-early-access/
Revival Productions has released its new six-degree-of-freedom shooter, Overload, on Steam Early Access. Developed by the creators of the groundbreaking Descent series, Overload features fast-paced combat action in a fully-3D world.

And the rest of today's news:

STEAM REVIEW SCORES WILL NO LONGER INCLUDE UNPAID GAMES OF ANY KIND
http://www.pcgamer.com/steam-review-scores-will-no-longer-include-unpaid-games-of-any-kind/
In September of last year, Valve made changes to Steam's user review system in an effort to combat "artificially inflated" review scores. The problem, as Valve saw it, was that free game keys could be used by developers to manipulate review scores, and so the solution was simple: Reviews based on games that were acquired from outside of Steam—review copies, giveaways, purchased from other retailers—would not count toward a game's final overall rating.

TWITCH DESKTOP APP ANNOUNCED, OPEN BETA TESTING BEGINS LATER THIS MONTH
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-twitch-desktop-app-begins-open-beta-testing-later-this-month/
Curse bills itself as "the next generation in gaming communication," with features including enhanced text and voice chat, an in-game overlay, multiplatform friends sync, and more. It was acquired last summer by Twitch in a deal that VentureBeat said could indicate interest in establishing a greater presence in the field of gamer-specific services. And that does appear to be the case: Less than two weeks after revealing its plan to start selling games, Twitch has announced that Curse will be enhanced, rebranded, and relaunched as the Twitch Desktop App.

HEARTHSTONE CARD PACK PRICES ARE GOING UP IN THE UK AND EU
http://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-card-pack-prices-are-going-up-in-the-uk-and-eu/
Blizzard has announced that the price of Hearthstone card packs, adventure wings, and arena tickets will be "adjusted" in non-US markets as of March 22, which of course means that they'll be going up. And as you might expect, an awful lot of people in the Hearthstone subreddit are not happy about it.

ELITE: DANGEROUS PAX TRAILER HINTS AT TROUBLE AHEAD FOR THE HUMAN RACE
http://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-pax-trailer-hints-at-trouble-ahead-for-the-human-race/
The search for the mysterious alien race known as the Thargoid in Elite: Dangerous seemed to finally bear fruit back in January, when a pilot encountered a bizarre, flower-like alien ship. The incident ended peacefully, although nobody seemed to believe that would last: As the first contact pilot put it, "If they are Thargoids, we're up shit creek without a paddle." Going by the "Unknown" trailer released today at PAX, he was 100 percent right—and it's time to start splashing.

QUAKE CHAMPIONS WILL BE FREE-TO-PLAY, WITH AN OPTION TO BUY IT OUTRIGHT
http://www.pcgamer.com/quake-champions-will-be-free-to-play-with-an-option-to-buy-it-outright/
Id Software creative director Tim Willits told Polygon today that the upcoming arena shooter Quake Champions, which id and Bethesda have recently been showing off, will offer players both free-to-play and paid options. Willits said that "at its core, it's a free-to-play game," but added that there are plenty of people who know what Quake brings to the table and would rather just pay up-front and jump in.

HERE ARE TWO OF THE MONSTERS YOU'LL BE ROUGHING UP IN ACTION RPG DAUNTLESS
http://www.pcgamer.com/here-are-two-of-the-monsters-youll-be-roughing-up-in-action-rpg-dauntless/
There's not a hint of daunt on display in the latest trailer for co-op action RPG Dauntless, and yes, 'co-op action RPG' is a fancy way of saying 'Monster Hunter-style game'. The major difference between this and yer actual Monster Hunter is that, hooray, it'll be on PC (and no, the Monster Hunter MMO didn't count). Another, smaller difference is that you'll be hunting 'behemoths' instead of 'monsters'—and those are totally different things, before a lawyer pokes their head out from a nearby bush. Brace yourself for a couple of minutes of cinematically shot, presumably in-game footage, featuring a group of hunters whacking a couple of beasties square in the chops.

NEW FRIDAY THE 13TH TRAILER IS LIKE AN '80S-STYLE MONTAGE OF BRUTAL MURDER
http://www.pcgamer.com/new-friday-the-13th-trailer-is-like-an-80s-style-montage-of-brutal-murder/
Friday the 13th developer Gun Media has released a new trailer for its multiplayer murder simulator, and surprise! It's brutal as hell.
Jason doesn't hide the fact that he's a big bully, giving those sinful camp kids swirlies and killing them in gruesome fashion. Seriously, it's actually kind of rude. It's all set to a hair metal song that sounds like it's straight from the '80s. The whole thing looks like it could be a montage for a movie like The Karate Kid or Rocky, where Jason is practicing his murderin' for his competition at the big tournament. Check it out in the embed at the top of this article.

MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA'S 'RECOMMENDED' SYSTEM PREDICTED TO RUN 30 FPS AT 1080P (UPDATED)
http://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-andromedas-recommended-system-predicted-to-run-30-fps-at-1080p/
The Mass Effect: Andromeda system requirements were made public a couple of weeks ago, and they were a little on the high side but not really any more than you'd expect from a big-budget action-adventure released in 2017. More recently, though, EA has posted performance predictions based on the minimum and recommended system specs, and those you might find a little surprising.
Update: We've received a little clarification on the question of exactly how well Mass Effect: Andromeda will perform on a 3GB GTX 1060. At PAX East today, we asked producer Michael Gamble if the card would really deliver 30 fps at best on high.

NEW MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA GAMEPLAY TAKES US THROUGH LIAM KOSTA'S LOYALTY MISSION
http://www.pcgamer.com/new-mass-effect-andromeda-gameplay-takes-us-through-liam-kostas-loyalty-mission/
Mass Effect: Andromeda is nearly a week away, and with it comes the return of Loyalty missions. We won't be able to play them for a little bit, but BioWare did show off part of one during its PAX East panel. You can watch the full panel in the embed above (via TheModernCamEraGuy).

>>There was also a Mass Effect livestream from PAX, with an article here.

TALE OF RONIN IS A GORGEOUS ROLE-PLAYER ABOUT THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE SAMURAI
http://www.pcgamer.com/tale-of-ronin-is-a-gorgeous-role-player-about-the-human-side-of-the-samurai/
Texan developer Dead Mage launched Shadow Blade: Reload in August 2015—an underrated action platformer with a striking art style. Its latest project, Tale of Ronin, further explores the studio's self-proclaimed "extreme interest" in Samurai culture, however does so in a very different direction.

PHANTOM HALLS LANDS ON EARLY ACCESS WITH EVIL DEAD 2 CROSSOVER
http://www.pcgamer.com/phantom-halls-lands-on-early-access-with-evil-dead-2-crossover/
As we reported last month, Phatom Halls is a neat-looking, papercraft-fashioned survival horror game said to be inspired by both Worms and Spelunky. Boasting 12 different enemy types, ten playable characters and six different procedurally-generated haunted house environments, it's out now on Early Access and celebrates with the following launch trailer.

Don't worry. I have a backup made up of 4 Seagate HDDs. I think I'm safe.

AMD CPU fans, I have a bunch of news and a rumor (a very bad one) about Ryzen. Let's start with the negative rumor:

First Ryzen Quad Cores Will not Pass 3.2 GHz?
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/first-ryzen-quad-cores-will-not-pass-3-2-ghz.html
The French Canard PC in a tweet stated that the first Ryzen Quad Cores processors would not exceed 3.2 GHz and will get a lower clock-frequency then expected. You should take this information with a grain of salt alright, but Canard PC in the past has proved to be a fairly reliable source of information.

>>I really hope this is not true, because if it is, those processors will be almost useless. At least for gaming.

AMD: Windows Thread Scheduler is operating properly for Ryzen
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/amd-windows-thread-scheduler-is-operating-properly-for-ryzen.html
AMD has investigated the reports of thread scheduling issues and found that "the Windows 10 thread scheduler is operating properly for "Zen," and we do not presently believe there is an issue with the scheduler adversely utilizing the logical and physical configurations of the architecture." They also talk SMT and power plans.

>>Well, bye, bye to that hypothetical extra performance.

AMD Ryzen 7 have a Temperature 20 Degree C Reporting Offset
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/amd-ryzen-7-have-a-temperature-20-degree-c-reporting-offset.html
Alright, in the same blog post as mentioned in the previous item AMD also talks about a Temperature Reporting Offset. This one was new to us, but basically what they claim is the following. To keep a "consistent fan policy," AMD is forcing 20C offset on the Ryzen 1700X and 1800X processors. This makes them report temperature a good 20C above what the sensor reads.
In the short term, users of the AMD Ryzen™ 1700X and 1800X can simply subtract 20°C to determine the true junction temperature of their processor. No arithmetic is required for the Ryzen 7 1700.

>>WTF? So not only do their 8-core chips use less power than Intels, but they're also a whole lot cooler? Very impressive.