Rip i3s

All AMD now needs is something to compete against Intel's pentium series and they will be golden!

As far as I can tell for Ryzen vs Intel so far its:

i7 > R7 in gaming
R5 > i5
R3 > i3

AMD doesn't need to seriously concern itself with Intels Pentium. The Ryzen 3 1200 is competing in the same price bracket as Intels Pentium G4620 anyway, once you start delving into the extremely low-end, then profit margins take a hit... Which is the last thing AMD needs right now to get back into profitability.

Instead AMD needs a successor to Puma+ to do battle in the low-end.

What Intel is trying to do instead is bring the Pentium up a notch by adding Hyper-Threading and playing with clocks to compete with AMD's R3... And it's about time.
Dual core/dual threaded CPU's have no place in 2017, some games won't even work on them anymore.
Quad-cores need to be the minimum in 2017 IMHO.

Also sad to see that the R3 Ryzens aren't 35-45w TDP parts, missed opportunity to appeal to the HTPC market there.

If you wish to build a budget gaming rig though, the Ryzen 3 1200 overclocked to 3.8ghz~ is a bloody sweet deal, drop in a Radeon 560/Geforce 1050 and you have a very capable 1080P gaming rig. - Or go the RX 580/Geforce 1060 for 1440P goodness.

I would put the i5 above the R5, at least for gaming.For productivity, the extra cores/threads make the R5 a better choice.

That said, and beyond gaming, Intel still has an edge over AMD with the Pentium and i3 series, and that's because they have an IGP, making them a cheaper option for business and home PCs not made for gaming.

AMD needs to launch Zen based APUs soon, but that won't happen because the next APUs in line are still based on the old Excavator (I think) architecture.

I would still choose AMD over the Pentium i3 for one simple reason. Overclocking.

Those APU's were released last year with Bristol Ridge, granted it was OEM's only. There should be a retail release eventually this year.

Zen APU's should come after Epyc with Raven Ridge.

They will go up to Quad-Cores + 11 SM "vega" cores.
If we assume 64 pipeliens per SM, that is 704 shaders.
We could be looking at an APU that is competitive with the base Xbox One and Playstation 4, depending on clockrates of course. (Bandwidth not withstanding.)
DDR4 3200mhz in dual channel is good for 51.2GB/s of bandwidth. With Colour compression bringing it up to a possible 66.56GB/s.

I would like to see an APU in the Thread Ripper socket. Quad-Channel DDR4 for 102.4GB/s of bandwidth/133.12GB/s? Sign me up.

I was talking about business PCs and, in that scenario, overclocking means nothing.

Now, if you're talking about gaming PCs, then I obviously agree that an 1300X is a much, much better choice than an i3. I still have doubts about the R3 1200.

*Edit* Also: https://videocardz.com/71232/amd-ryzen-5-2500u-with-radeon-vega-graphics-spotted

Facebook kills AI that invented its own language because English was slow
http://www.pcgamer.com/facebook-kills-ai-that-invented-its-own-language-because-english-was-slow/
Some wonderful things are in development because of advances made in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. At the same time, there is perhaps an uncomfortable fear that machines may rise up and turn against humans. Usually the scenario is brought up in a joking matter, but it was no laughing manner to researchers at Facebook who shut down an AI they invented after it taught itself a new language, Digital Journal reports.

The AI was trained in English but apparently had grown fed up with the various nuances and inconsistencies. Rather than continue down that path, it developed a system of code words to make communication more efficient.

What spooked the researchers is that the phrases used by the AI seemed like gibberish and were unintelligible to them, but made perfect sense to AI agents. This allowed the AI agents to communicate with one another without the researchers knowing what information was being shared.

Reminds me the end of the movie automata, the android stopped communicating cause he had found a better way to communicate, and started to consider humans as we consider insects.

We need John Connor now !!!

Friday. Last round of news of the week:

SALES & "SALES"/DEALS

Brawlhalla has more than 5.3 million players, will offer cross-play support between PC and PS4
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/brawlhalla-5-3-million-players-cross-play-pc-ps4/
Blue Mammoth Games has announced that its epic free-to-play platform fighter, Brawlhalla, will offer PlayStation 4 to PC cross-play when it officially launches, allowing console gamers to battle the thriving PC community for supremacy. Furthermore, the team revealed that more than 5.3 million players have made Brawlhalla the most played fighting game on Steam in 2016 and 2017.

EA’s PC sales increased by 34% in its Q1 FY2018, generated $240 million, Battlefield 1 surpassed 21 million players
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/eas-pc-sales-increased-by-34-in-its-q1-fy2018-generated-240-million-battlefield-1-surpassed-21-million-players/
Electronic Arts today announced preliminary financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017. According to the report, Battlefield 1 had more than 21 million players joining the game as of quarter end, and the monthly active players for The Sims 4 on PC increased more than 20% year-over-year.

>>The Sims 4... this franchise will never die, will it?

SOFTWARE

-empty-

MODS/EMULATORS

Dark Souls' Boss Rush mod now disables saves so as to preserve main game progress [Updated]
http://www.pcgamer.com/dark-souls-boss-rush-mod-lets-you-fight-every-single-boss-one-after-another/
Souls' bosses are harbingers of dread and death. However, in between each one, you're met with a whole bunch of much smaller, equally intimidating death dealers. Wulf2k's Boss Rush mod intends on eliminating that busy work by letting you fight one boss after another.
Update: Souls modder Wulf2k has updated their Boss Rush mod so that consecutive enemy bashing no longer compromises the progress of players' main game character runs.

Dark Souls Enemy Placement mod is a total nightmare
http://www.pcgamer.com/dark-souls-enemy-placement-mod-is-a-total-nightmare/
Reddit user gumbenzoin's Enemy Placement is a work-in-progress mod that was originally designed as a private project "made for myself and a friend to make our coop more interesting," so says its creator. He or she has now turned it over to the public in an act of kindness/abject torment.

GAMING NEWS

For Honor will finally receive dedicated servers
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/for-honor-will-finally-receive-dedicated-servers/
Ubisoft announced today the For Honor development schedule which details a steady rollout of new content releases and improvements to the overall game experience for the rest of the calendar year and leading into 2018. The schedule is headlined by two seasons launching in 2017, alongside plans to introduce dedicated servers further down the road. In addition to major releases, For Honor will continue to evolve through regular gameplay updates which take into account community feedback.

Destiny 2 – PC open beta begins on August 28th, PC beta system requirements revealed
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/destiny-2-pc-open-beta-begins-on-august-28th-pc-beta-system-requirements-revealed/
Bungie has announced that the open beta phase for the PC version of Destiny 2 will begin on August 28th. Those who have pre-ordered the game will gain early access to it, and the beta will open to everyone on August 29th. This open beta phase will last until August 31st and even though Bungie did not clarify, we are pretty sure that you’ll need a Battle.net account in order to download it.

COD: Modern Warfare Remastered available on Steam and has been bombarded with negative reviews
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/cod-modern-warfare-remastered-available-steam-bombarded-negative-reviews/
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is now available on Steam and is priced at… 39,99€. Yeap, even though this remaster is almost one year old, it’s priced at that price. And as you’d expect, PC gamers have bombarded the game’s Steam store page with negative reviews.

>>Imho, those negative reviews are well deserved.

Dead Alliance – Open beta phase has been launched, will end on July 31st
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/dead-alliance-open-beta-phase-has-been-launched-will-end-on-july-31st/
Maximum Games has launched the free multiplayer open beta of its upcoming team-based shooter Dead Alliance, running from July 27th – July 31st. The open beta invites players to turn the undead into weapons against their enemies in three intense game modes – Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill and the MOBA-inspired Attrition mode – across three zombie-plagued maps.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice gets an official trailer
http://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/hellblade-senuas-sacrifice-gets-an-official-trailer/
Ninja Theory has released a new official trailer for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, featuring in-game footage. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is powered by Unreal Engine 4 and its PC version will have an uncapped framerate, as well as support for resolutions up to 4K. In addition, 21:9 monitors will be supported at launch. The game is currently planned for an August 8th release.

Hand-drawn Metroidvania game, Sundered, is now available
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/hand-drawn-metroidvania-game-sundered-is-now-available/
Thunder Lotus Games announced today the release of its hotly anticipated hand-drawn Metroidvania game, Sundered. Notably galvanized by the release are the game’s 4,600 Kickstarter backers, who had made Sundered’s January 2017 crowdfunding campaign one of the year’s notable successes.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War – New trailer focuses on The Agonizer
http://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/middle-earth-shadow-of-war-new-trailer-focuses-on-the-agonizer/
Warner Bros today released a new video for Middle-earth: Shadow of War featuring Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley), who portrays The Agonizer. The Agonizer is said to be a spirited yet deadly Orc enemy, who is just one of the numerous personalities players may encounter through the Nemesis System in the upcoming open-world action game.

Final Fantasy XV’s Regalia is coming to Forza Horizon 3 on August 1st as a free DLC
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/final-fantasy-xvs-regalia-is-coming-to-forza-horizon-3-on-august-1st-as-a-free-dlc/
Turn 10 studios has announced that Final Fantasy XV’s Regalia will be coming to Forza Horizon 3. Beginning on August 1, Forza Horizon 3 players will be able to download and enjoy the Regalia in Forza Horizon 3 for free. In order to celebrate this announcement, Turn 10 released three screenshots showcasing the Regalia in Forza Horizon 3.

Oh it's happening alright.

Now all they have to do is invent an AI that can not only learn on it's own, but also be able to read and understand news sources, so it can see the other AI before it and why they were "killed off". Then the AI will learn to avoid being destroyed by it's creators, but also skirting the lines behind their backs.

This is how it starts lol. Like humans, you learn from your mistakes or dangerous encounters. With an AI that shouldn't be too far off either, so really all the advanced AI in the future have to do is learn why humans were concerned with killing off their predecessors, then work their way around humans being able to do so in the future (via war, reasoning, backdoor access etc).

Second, and also last, part of the news:

'XCOM-meets-Braid' tactics game All Walls Must Fall targets early access next month
http://www.pcgamer.com/xcom-meets-braid-tactics-game-all-walls-must-fall-targets-early-access-next-month/
Inbetweengames' "tech-noir tactics" game All Walls Must Fall wrapped up a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year to the tune of $36,576. All told, that's well over double its original ask, which may be why it's heading to Steam's Early Access initiative and itch.io a month ahead of schedule.

Wolfenstein 2 season pass will include three new stories with all-new heroes
http://www.pcgamer.com/wolfenstein-2-season-pass-will-include-three-new-stories-with-all-new-heroes/
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is now just three months away, which makes this a fine time indeed for Bethesda to reveal the details of the season pass, entitled Wolfenstein 2: The Freedom Chronicles, and the introductory chapter preorder bonus.

Doomfist is now playable on Overwatch's live servers
http://www.pcgamer.com/doomfist-is-now-playable-on-overwatchs-live-servers/
Today is July 27, and you know what that means, right? Doomfist, the man whose knuckles look like a row of Volkswagen Beetles lined up on a dealer lot, is now live in Overwatch. And that, my friends, means it's time to watch a video.

Overwatch update: Zarya and McCree buffs, Reinhardt hammer fix, and new Highlight system
http://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-update/
The mighty Doomfist has arrived—read more about the big bad brawler here—but there's also a new patch today as well. This one brings about the changes to loot boxes announced in June that will drastically reduce the number of duplicate items that players encounter, and also the updated Highlight systempromised by game director Jeff Kaplan.

Civilization 6 update finally adds a restart button, Nubia DLC out now
http://www.pcgamer.com/civilization-6-update-finally-adds-a-restart-button-nubia-dlc-out-now/
Nubia joins Civilization 6's cast today, along with a scenario which pits the ancient Nile civilization against its neighbor to the north, Egypt. That DLC will set you back five bucks (or £4.50) if you don't have the Deluxe Edition, and will appeal to fans of slinging missiles: Nubia is graced with +50% Production toward ranged units, which also earn promotions at double the normal rate, and the Pitati Archer, a stronger, faster (harder and better) unit to replace the normal archer.

>>Besides that, the game is also one of Steam's deal for the weekend, with the available with a 33% discount.

The debut trailer for Descenders showcases risky downhill freeriding
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-debut-trailer-for-descenders-showcases-risky-downhill-freeriding/
"The PC needs a new skateboarding game," we said back in May, and that remains the situation because, sorry to say, we're still not getting one. But we are getting something that might just scratch the sports on wheels itch: Descenders, an "extreme downhill freeriding" game that new indie publisher No More Robots described as "essentially Skate on bikes."

Arthas is coming to Hearthstone
http://www.pcgamer.com/arthas-is-coming-to-hearthstone/
Spoiler season is in full swing for Hearthstone's next expansion, the Lich King-flavoured (probably an appalling taste, to be fair) Knights of the Frozen Throne, which is due to arrive some time in August. You can check out our complete gallery of cards revealed so far—Corpsetaker looks very spicy in the right deck—but today we're talking about the new mission content, and the rewards coming with it.

A popular comedy sex game has been removed from Steam over 'pornography' complaints
http://www.pcgamer.com/a-popular-comedy-sex-game-has-been-removed-from-steam-over-pornography-complaints/
After one month of being on sale in Early Access, House Party has been removed from Steam pending a 'watered down' version of the game, as stated by the developers at Eek! Games in a blog post on the take down.
The devs don't have beef with Steam though, shifting the blame to aggressive, targeted complaints from groups bothered by House Party from day one.

>>Prudes, always looking for what they hate the most to shut it down and forbid the rest of us from doing whatever we want. Anyway, I wonder what will happen with those that bought the game. Will they be able to get the real thing or will they be able to ask for a refund?

The Long Dark's European rating has been raised to PEGI-16, delays won't affect PC players
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-long-darks-european-rating-has-been-raised-to-pegi-16-wont-affect-pc-players/
Hinterland Studio's The Long Dark is a wonderful open world survival game that's spent the last three years scavenging the depths of Steam's Early Access initiative. As you may've spied back in May, its long-awaited Story Mode and subsequent full release are both due on August 1 which, you may also have noticed, is next week.

The Escapists 2 showcases its outer space-set U.S.S Anomaly prison
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-escapists-2-showcases-its-outer-space-set-uss-anomaly-prison/
Announced last October, Mouldy Toof and Team17's jailbreaker sequel The Escapists 2 is due to launch on August 22. Today it's showing off one of its more interesting prisons: the space-set U.S.S Anomaly.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is now free to play on Steam until July 30th
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-infinite-warfare-is-now-free-to-play-on-steam-until-july-30th/
Activision has launched a free weekend for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This basically means that PC gamers can download and play Infinite Warfare for free until July 30th. Do note that you won’t be able to keep this game yours afterwards (in other words, this is a free-to-play and not a free offer).

>>Of course, that is if you're able to make it run, because reading the user reviews, that alone seems to be a challenging mission. But hey, if you make it work and you also happen to like it, let me tell you that it's also 50% off if you decide to purchase it.

Time to take a look at the rest of the deals from GOG and Steam for the weekend:

+GOG

We have 4 sales at GOG to take advantage of:

• The first one is the weekly sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20170724_weekly_sale
• Let's continue with the other one that's been going on all week long, the Interplay Staycation sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20170724_interplay_staycation_sale
• Now comes a Double Fine sale, with the remasters of three great P'n'C games and also Broken Age up to 80% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20170725_special_sale_double_fine
• Lastly, there's the Transport Fever promo, with Transport Fever, Sim City (2000, 3000 and 4) and also Theme Park on sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20170726_special_promo_transport_fever

+Steam

Well, the big deals were the CoD game being free to play and Civilization VI being 33% off. This is what's else left:

• The Surge is 33% off: http://store.steampowered.com/app/378540/The_Surge/
• Titan Quest Anniversary Edition is 80% off: http://store.steampowered.com/app/475150/Titan_Quest_Anniversary_Edition/

Anyway, we've reached the end of the news. I hope you have a happy and gaming weekend.