Without AppleCare+, It Will Cost You $699 to Repair the 12.9-inch 2021 iPad Pro

https://wccftech.com/12-9-inch-2021-ipad-pro-repair-price-without-applecare/




ASUS teases ROG Zephryus S17 with Intel Tiger Lake-H CPU

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-teases-rog-zephryus-s17-with-intel-tiger-lake-h-cpu

Some RDNA 3 twitter leaks/rumour. Take it with a grain of salt.

It certainly sounds quite powerful indeed! Navi 31 is rumored to be 160 CUs (2 80 CU chiplets + IO die) similar to how Zen works. If AMD doesn't experience any delays and if the leaks are true, AMD should have the gaming crown for quite a number of months once RDNA 3 releases as Nvidia's Lovelace is rumoured to be delayed. Personally as I have a 3080, I am going to wait and see what Nvidia has to offer before upgrading but still quite exciting for AMD fans. I think if you are thinking about buying a GPU right now and you have a choice to wait, I would either go with Nvidia or wait for RDNA 3. Cause RDNA 2 will age similarly to RDNA 1 imo where it just doesn't quite have the next gen technologies that Nvidia has so waiting for RDNA 3 would be the best choice if you don't like Nvidia.

Navi 33 (RX 7600XT) = Navi 21 (RX 6800XT). 80 CU on 1 monolithic die like a bit of a stretch for a lower end SKU, performing like a high end last gen card sounds a little too good to be true. But if it is I sense another big price bump again lol.

But yeah I think I'll wait for next year. I doubt I'll be able to get an RTX card anytime soon anyway.

Yea that's true and it does sound like a bit of a wet dream than anything but AMD does also want to beat Nvidia and this could be one of the ways to do it.

It could also be a situation where Navi 31 will be an enterprise/data center GPU since we know that data center is where the real money is and AMD certainly wants a big chunk of that pie where Nvidia has been dominating for quite a long time.

But we will see though. Next year is gonna be one hell of a year!

It does seem a bit too far, yeah. The 6700XT is around 30% slower than the 6800XT, so the 6600XT should be more than 40% slower to make any sense. To have that big of a leap again would be a feat.

That said, AMD did surprise us with RDNA2 and they've stated that they want to achieve another 50% perf/watt jump again.

I'm not going to bet for it, but neither will do it against it, at least for now.

Navi 31 can't be an enterprise GPU. AMD split their GPUs in two divisions and the enterprise one is catered by the CDNA cards, more oriented towards computing.

With that said, and risking being an idiot, can someoe tell me what does "Next Gen IP Core" mean? It can't be architecture because well, they would say architecture, and if it's about ray tracing it would be simpler to say "Next Gen RT Core" so, what does that IP stand for?

Could it be some kind of core to deal with their DLSS/DirectML solution?

Yeah still skeptical since those are the sort jumps >2.2x is a bit much. That would even top Pascal from Maxwell jump. Though, they did deliver on raster performance with RDNA 2 so there's that. Plus these are just codenames, its too early to tell with rumors. Saying that RDNA3 will be a massive upgrade, especially when it comes to RT performance.

Onto CPU's, with Warhol not being Zen 3+.. Zen 4 might come later then expected. Rumored to release at the end of 2022
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-zen4-raphael-ryzen-cpus-for-desktops-rumored-to-launch-in-q4-2022
Not surprising considering the shortages of hardware in the current climate.

Another Monday, another round of news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Overwatch gained 10 million players last year despite no new heroes or modes
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-gained-10-million-players-last-year-despite-no-new-heroes-or-modes/
Despite being one of the biggest multiplayer games around, you don't hear that much about Overwatch nowadays. There's a good reason for that: Blizzard has been winding down development on the game for years as it's been working on Overwatch 2. A year ago, the studio announced that Echo would be the last new hero released in the game before the sequel comes out (a day that remains a far-off mystery). Since then, it has remained at a near-standstill: Seasonal events repeat as they have in years past and the only new stuff to speak of are hero skins and the occasional map.
Surprisingly, the stagnant year didn't stop Overwatch's player base from growing. Speaking to Gamespot about his new role, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller revealed that the team-based shooter reached 60 million players as of 2021, 10 million more players than it had in late 2019.

GOG starts the week with two sales:

• The new Weekly Sale is a Polish Games Festival, with up to 90% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/polish_games_festival
• Coinciding with the Polish Festival, CDP has teamed up with Razer and you'll get a 15% discount on Razer products if you purchase any game on the sale. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/news/polish_games_festival_is_here_with_outstanding_titles_up_to_90_off
• The Star Wars Sale with its up to 75% discounts will last another 3 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/may_the_4th_sw

Steam has a new daily deal: SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell is 88% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/457210/SEUM_Speedrunners_from_Hell/

The Humble Store has two sales going on:

• The Star Wars Sale with up to 75% discounts will last another 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/star-wars-may-the-4th-sale/
• And the Spring Sale is not live! Check it out to find deals from publishers like CD Projekt Red, Codemasters, 2K, Rockstar, Deep Silver, Square Enix, Private Division or Activision.

And Fanatical has four new deals:

• The Star Deal, that started yesterday, is Creed: Rise to Glory, 85% off during the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/creed-rise-to-glory
• Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse will be 25% off during the next 8 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/stubbs-the-zombie-in-rebel-without-a-pulse-aspyr
• The game NASCAR Heat 5 gets a 55% discount during the next 11 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/nascar-heat-5
• And the new BYO Hidden Gems Bundle comes with 20 games to build your 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-hidden-gems-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Super Luigi 64 is a must-have mod for Super Mario 64, available now
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/super-luigi-64-must-have-mod-super-mario-64/
Luigi fans, here is what you’ve been waiting for all these years. Modders ‘PimpUigi’, ‘Marshivolt’, and ‘Kaze Emanuar’ have released a mod/hack that allows you to play as Luigi in Super Mario 64.
(...)
Furthermore, this romhack adds a rideable Yoshi. After players speak to Yoshi, he’ll join them on their adventure. Yoshi Eggs will appear in most stages right where Luigi spawns.
It’s also worth noting that Super Luigi 64 comes with some QoL for the N64 emulators. For instance, it packs extra coding for GlideN64 that fixes the widescreen object clipping. It also fixes the widescreen skybox, object clipping and black circles around HUD icons for the Jaco 1.6 plugin.
>> You'll find it here.

Wolfenstein – Blade of Agony Final Version is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/wolfenstein-blade-of-agony-version-3-0-is-now-available-for-download/
The Blade of Agony team has released the final version of its massive Wolfenstein mod for Doom/GZDoom. In case you weren’t aware of, Blade of Agony is a story-driven FPS. This mod is inspired by WWII shooters from the 90’s and early 2000’s, like Wolfenstein 3D, Medal of Honor, and Call of Duty.
>> Available from ModDB.

Game of Thrones mod for Mount & Blade 2 available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/game-of-thrones-mod-for-mount-blade-2-available-for-download/
Carolina Warlord has released the first early version of the Game of Thrones mod for Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord. This total conversion mod changes Calradia into Westeros and Essos from the HBO series.
According to the modder, this mod aims to feature hundreds of characters. It also aims to have over twenty kingdoms from the Free Folk, north of the wall, to the Dothraki of the Great Grass Sea.
As said, this first release is a very early access version, and is nowhere close to complete. Thus, you should temper your expectations. For instance, the Custom Main Map is an early temporary version with many abnormalities due to leaving native vista texture in place. However, the modder plans to create a new map when the modding tools are fixed and completely implemented.
>> Head to Nexus Mods to get it.

Perfect your Cities: Skylines roads with the Node Controller mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/perfect-your-cities-skylines-roads-with-the-node-controller-mod/
You want, no, you demand perfection from your roads in Cities: Skylines. You want to customize them, to maximize them, to achieve perfect and smooth flow of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. You want not just a beautiful green traffic map but a beautiful road network to go with it.
Well, one of the greatest mods for Cities: Skylines just got a huge upgrade. Node Controller Renewal 3.0 is out now, giving you a ton of control over precisely how your roads turn, intersect, and split. The renewal part? It now has a much, much better interface to go with that power. See for yourself in the video below.
>> You'll find it at the Workshop.

Skyrim Grandma Shirley Curry has her own mod now
https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrim-grandma-shirley-curry-has-her-own-mod-now/
Shirley Curry, the Skyrim Grandma, became a famous YouTuber at the age of 80 thanks to a channel full of wholesome videos about Bethesda's popular RPG. She explores, does quests, hangs out with modded followers, and even reads in-game books. Thanks to a fan petition, she'll be appearing as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. In the meantime a group of modders have put Shirley Curry in Skyrim as a follower, with dialogue she recorded espcially for the role.
With the Shirley mod installed you'll be able to recruit her after performing a short quest. Shirley's a barbarian who specializes in two-handed weapons and archery, and if the trailer above is anything to go by is apparently a fearsome combatant. Her dialogue includes a "fully fleshed-out, lore-friendly backstory", stories she'll tell about other characters "inspired by some of the many series Shirley has released on YouTube", and "opinions, comments and observations about certain locations around Skyrim", which is a feature that will be expanded on in a future updates.
>> You can find it at Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

No Man’s Sky Expeditions Update 3.38 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-expeditions-update-3-38-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
Hello Games has released a brand new update for No Man’s Sky. According to the team, Patch 3.38 fixes a number of bugs and issues that its fans have reported. It also improves stability and fixes some memory leaks.

Outriders April 30th Patch fixes crashes, improves framerate, tweaks FOV and more
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/outriders-april-30th-patch-fixes-crashes-improves-framerate-tweaks-fov-and-more/
People Can Fly has released a major patch for Outriders. According to the team, the April 30th Update fixes numerous crashes and bugs. Moreover, it improves framerate/performance, tweaks the FOV, adds support for the Steam Controller and fixes some FPS bugs.

Mass Effect Definitive Edition Day-1 Update Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/mass-effect-definitive-edition-day-1-update-detailed/
Mass Effect Legendary Edition releases on May 14th and like most games, it will receive a day-1 update. According to its changelog (which is currently available on the Playstation servers), this day-1 patch will be 11GB in size.

More trailer details and screenshots for Battlefield 6/Battlefield 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/more-trailer-details-and-screenshots-for-battlefield-6-battlefield-2021/
Last month, Tom Henderson, a well-known Battlefield and Call of Duty leaker, shared some details about Battlefield 6/Battlefield 2021. And earlier today, two leaked screenshots for this new Battlefield game surfaced online. Not only that, but Henderson revealed some additional details about the game’s upcoming announcement trailer.

Here is how you can reset the timer in Resident Evil Village PC Demo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-is-how-you-can-reset-the-timer-in-resident-evil-village-pc-demo/
Capcom has just released the PC demo of Resident Evil Village and as we’ve already reported, it comes with a timer. This demo lets PC gamers play it for 60 minutes. Thankfully, though, there is a way via which you can reset the timer.
>> And here are some new screnshots at 4K and max settings.

Elden Ring further delayed, will release after March 2022, new short in-engine footage
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/elden-ring-further-delayed-will-release-after-march-2022-new-short-in-engine-footage/
Kadokawa Corp, the parent company of FromSoftware, revealed that its upcoming new games have been delayed due to COVID-19. This, obviously, also includes Elden Ring, a title that a lot of gamers have been looking forward to.

Born of Bread is a Paper Mario-inspired PC game, demo available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/born-of-bread-is-a-paper-mario-inspired-pc-game-demo-available-for-download/
WildArts Studio has released a demo for its upcoming Paper Mario-inspired PC game, Born of Bread. Born of Bread is a 2.5 adventure game in which players can team-up with a colorful cast of characters, and looks really cool.
>> You'll find the demo here.

Monday news, part two:

Minesweeper returns as an explosive first-person spelunker
https://www.pcgamer.com/minesweeper-returns-as-an-explosive-first-person-spelunker/
It's been a long time since Minesweeper came bundled with Windows. While the original will always be a classic, perhaps someone felt the grid-clicker was feeling a little dated. Perhaps it's long past time someone updated Minesweeper as a first-person shooter.
>> And it's free to play.

Paradox Interactive says player toxicity is driving developers away from its forums
https://www.pcgamer.com/paradox-interactive-says-player-toxicity-is-driving-developers-away-from-its-forums/
Grand strategy studio Paradox Interactive has spoken out against the rise of toxic behavior in its fanbase, saying in the latest Hearts of Iron 4 developer diary that its developers "have gotten a little sparse in these forums in the last few months" because they're tired of dealing with the crappy behavior.

Riot will start recording Valorant voice chat to root out toxic players
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-will-start-recording-valorant-voice-chat-to-root-out-toxic-players/
Riot will start recording voice chat in Valorant for the purpose of moderation, the company announced today. There won't be a way to opt-out other than not using voice chat.

The Americans and their airships come to Iron Harvest in the Operation Eagle DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-americans-and-their-airships-come-to-iron-harvest-in-the-operation-eagle-dlc/
Dieselpunk mech action in Iron Harvest will get a bit more truth, justice, and the American Way later this month as the Operation Eagle expansion releases on May 27th. The new DLC brings an all new faction, The American Union of Usonia, and their emphasis on air power to the battlefield. Of course this isn't just normal air power with planes or something, this is giant flying airships. The new American hero, Admiral Mason, apparently has a flying "colossal battleship" and I won't lie to you I am excited about that.

Dragon Age 4 concept art shows Grey Warden, cape
https://www.pcgamer.com/dragon-age-4-concept-art-shows-grey-warden-cape/
BioWare is still busy promoting this month's release of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, but that doesn't mean Dragon Age-likers don't also get a look-in, with another bit of concept art reminding everyone Dragon Age 4 is a real thing that's really being worked on. While previous concepts have shown us an arcane archer and an urban wizard, the latest depicts a Grey Warden in full armor—and cape.

Saints Row: The Third Remastered comes to Steam this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/saints-row-the-third-remastered-comes-to-steam-this-month/
Saints Row: The Third Remastered was released exclusively on the Epic store on May 22 last year. As is frequently the way of these things that means it'll be coming to Steam on May 22 this year, a fact confirmed by the Saints Row Twitter account.

Resident Evil Village villains become cute puppets in latest trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/resident-evil-village-villains-become-cute-puppets-in-latest-trailer/
As the May 7 release of Resident Evil Village draws closer, Capcom is pulling out all the stops in its promotional campaign. The latest chapter of which is a prequel video introducing four of its villains, in puppet form.

Paradox ceases work on Imperator: Rome temporarily, won't release anything for it this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/paradox-ceases-work-on-imperator-rome-temporarily-wont-release-anything-for-it-this-year/
Ahead of the digital PDXCON planned for later this month, Paradox's segment and portfolio manager for strategy games Bevan Davies posted an update on the official forum to explain organizational changes at the studio. Davies said that, with over 150 developers at Paradox Development Studios now, a restructuring has seen them split into three teams—each working on separate projects. Unfortunately, none of those projects is Imperator: Rome.

Build a sprawling sci-fi base with your buddies in CryoFall
https://www.pcgamer.com/build-a-sprawling-sci-fi-base-with-your-buddies-in-cryofall/
Looking something like multiplayer Rimworld, sci-fi colony simulation and survival game Cryofall released this week to pretty positive reviews and a pretty strong user count that puts it in the top 300 Steam games. Cryofall is all about team-based cooperation, with players pitted against a hostile world in trying to establish a new colony. To do it, players have to master basic technologies just to survive before building up to new and more complex techs, ending with futuristic cybernetics and mass-industrialization.

Scavengers 'exhausted' its supply of Steam keys on first day of Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/scavengers-exhausted-its-supply-of-steam-keys-on-first-day-of-early-access/
Scavengers, the hybrid battle royale from Midwinter Entertainment, arrived in Early Access on Wednesday. Well, sort of.
Claiming a key to the free-to-play team-based shooter required players to watch 30 minutes of the game streaming on Twitch, then claim a key in a Twitch drop. But the process didn't go entirely smoothly.
>> Probably that's why...

Scavengers ditching Twitch key drops, will be available to everyone May 1
https://www.pcgamer.com/scavengers-ditching-twitch-key-drops-will-be-available-to-everyone-may-1/
Free-to-play battle royale hybrid Scavengers had a bit of a rocky start in Early Access this week, due to issues with servers and Steam keys. (...)
So a bit of a messy soft launch, but sounds like the server issues have been resolved, and even better, players won't have to watch Twitch streams or keep checking their inboxes for a key. Scavengers enters Early Access properly tomorrow, May 1, and it'll be available to everyone with no key needed to unlock it.

Scavengers free-to-play release has players divided on quality
https://www.pcgamer.com/scavengers-free-to-play-release-has-players-divided-on-quality/
Sitting at a mere 55% positive review rate on Steam as of publishing time on May 2nd, just-released Early Access battle royale Scavengers seems to have a community deeply divided over gameplay, cheaters, bugs—nearly everything about the game seems to be the target of either praise or criticism.

Thief Simulator 2 will let you rob banks, restaurants and fancy cars
https://www.pcgamer.com/thief-simulator-2-will-let-you-rob-banks-restaurants-and-fancy-cars/
The first Thief Simulator essentially let you become one of the Wet Bandits: roaming around neighbourhoods in your car, scoping out the houses you were going to rob, and then contending with their security measures as you snuck in and pilfered everything of value. But just as Harry and Marv expanded their operation in Home Alone 2, Thief Simulator 2 will include new types of location to rinse, including restaurants and banks. In your downtime, you'll also be able to go around pinching cars.

Dusk getting classic HUD, weapon wheel and more this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/dusk-getting-classic-hud-weapon-wheel-and-more-this-year/
New Blood Interactive has detailed the updates that will be coming to Dusk this year, as well as a few that have just gone live for the chunky retro FPS. It's a hefty bunch of changes, including an optional 'classic' HUD, a revamped world map, and a weapon wheel, which should it make it easier if you're playing on a controller.

Facebook has acquired Onward developer Downpour Interactive
https://www.pcgamer.com/facebook-has-acquired-onward-developer-downpour-interactive/
Facebook has acquired Downpour Interactive, developer of VR military sim Onward. Mike Verdu, VP, AR/VR Content at Facebook, issued a statement on the Oculus site, saying that "as part of the Oculus Studios team, Downpour Interactive will expand upon its ethos of creating stand-out games that evoke the human spirit and give players a 'downpour' of emotion. We’re so happy to welcome them to the family."

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Custom Models From Gigabyte & MSI Listed Online By Retailers, Prices Range From $1300 To $2200 US

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-custom-models-from-gigabyte-msi-listed-online/

I suspect the MSRP is gonna be more around $1000 US but who knows what the real MSRP is gonna be.

AMD Zen4 “Raphael” Ryzen CPUs for desktops rumored to launch in Q4 2022

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-zen4-raphael-ryzen-cpus-for-desktops-rumored-to-launch-in-q4-2022

If true, Intel will have the lead for some time if Alder Lake is good.

Dell Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card from Alienware system has been pictured

https://videocardz.com/newz/dell-radeon-rx-6800-xt-graphics-card-from-alienware-system-has-been-pictured

Green pcb? In 2021? Really goes to show the quality that Dell offers...

Resident Evil Village Demo RT benchmarks. The interesting thing about this game is that it's AMD sponsored game that does more than just RT shadows. With that being said, you really need a magnifying glass to see the differences between Raster and RT. But the benefit of that is that even with RT on at Max, it is more than playable even on AMD gpus and Turing GPUs. As usual with RT games that do more than just shadows, 6900XT is more competitive against the much cheaper 3070 than any other GPUs in it's price class. But do remember that this is pre-release demo and it's from a Russian website so take it with a grain of salt. Also no DLSS since AMD sponsored.

https://gamegpu.com/action-/-fps-/-tps/resident-evil-village-gameplay-demo-test-gpu-cpu

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fgamegpu.com%2Faction-%2F-fps-%2F-tps%2Fresident-evil-village-gameplay-demo-test-gpu-cpu

I forget that AMD is supposed to be the underdog ppl root for, but then I'm also reminded that every time we get an AMD or Nvidia sponsored game, that one always ends up fucking the other one over.

In this case, this is because AMD has no DLSS, which is holding us the fuck back for a AAA game. Nvidia is ahead with some tech and it's not even being used for this, because AMD just tossed them money.

I really don't get why ppl are like "yay AMD", when I see shit like this.

Either AMD goes lightspeed and gets the same tech Nvidia has, or they stop sponsoring all of Capcom/anyone's games, because the last thing I want to see is "no DLSS, because AMD". Hell, what are the chances years later, of devs going all the way back to these AMD sponsored games to fully implement AMD's DLSS tech? (it really feels like that's not going to happen, because it hardly has for Nvidia).