Yea a powerful 6 core will always be better than a weak 8 core. I do think that if you can afford it, it's better to get a strong 8 core than a 6 core but most people won't need it. If it's a case where you have to choose between a 6 core + powerful GPU or 8 core + weaker GPU, it's always better to get the 6 core + powerful GPU.

What concerns me most is what's on the outlook after Alder Lake.

Alder Lake uses 8+8, it's successor uses 8+16 and then 2 gens later we're supposed to be at 8+32.

What kind of normal consumer would need 32 Atom cores with it's 8 high-power cores???

And will games by then still get by with 8 cores/16 threads or will they be able to utilize more than 8 cores by 2024/2025? Because if they do, then only having 8 big cores could become quite some bottleneck to the gaming performance.

I wont be able to post the news at its usual time so here comes the Monday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The fact that GOG is in the middle of its Games Festival (have you checked it yet, even if it's only to claim Quake II RTX for free as I mentioned last week?), doesn't stop the arrival of new titles: Blood Bowl - Chaos Edition arrives with an 80% discount until September 2: https://www.gog.com/game/blood_bowl_chaos_edition

Steam has two new deals:

• The new daily deal is rFactor 2, 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/365960/rFactor_2/
• And Chronicon will be 30% off until the 28th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/375480/Chronicon/

The Humble Store is running its Summer Sale.

And Fanatical may get updated later with new deals but, so far there's the Star Deal, that started yesterday: Metro Exodus - Gold Edition is 65% off during another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/metro-exodus-gold-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Assassin’s Creed Unity & Black Flag get a must-have LOD Fix Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/assassins-creed-unity-black-flag-get-a-must-have-lod-fix-mod/
Assassin’s Creed fans, here is something really special for you today. Guillaume “Skall” Peronnin has just released a must-have mod for both Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag that addresses their LOD issues.
In case you weren’t aware of, the vanilla versions of Unity and Black Flag had some awful blurry textures due to their default LOD values. Thus, Guillaume “Skall” Peronnin has decided to use Cheat Engine in order to fix them.
Not only that, but this mod also allows you to disable the annoying Chromatic Aberration effects. Since the game does not offer such an in-game option, this is another reason why we highly recommend this mod.
>> You'll have to check the article for the links and the instructions to install it.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay Rebalance Megamod is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-gameplay-rebalance-megamod-is-available-for-download/
Modder ‘Scissors123454321’ has released a full gameplay rebalance megamod for Cyberpunk 2077. This mod attempts to overhaul numerous aspects of the game, such as the AI, armors, perks, melee, player stats, weapons and more. Additionally, it brings numerous gameplay tweaks and enhancements.
Going into more details, Scissors123454321 has tried to rework as little as possible and focus mostly on bug fixing and numbers balancing. Therefore, the modded version should be “close to the feeling of the vanilla version.”
>> The mod, compatible with the 1.3 Patch launched last week, can be found at Nexus Mods.

Red Dead Redemption 2 gets an unofficial Map Editor
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-2-gets-an-unofficial-map-editor/
Red Dead Redemption 2 came out in 2019 on PC and since then we haven’t seen any major mods for it. However, that may soon change as Lambda has released an unofficial map editor for it.
According to Lambda, this is the most advanced map editor for Rockstar’s title. This editor will allow you to “create new maps, game modes or anything you like. ” And, since Rockstar has not released any modding tools for this game, this may very well be the editor that most modders will start using from now on.
By using this map editor, modders can export to ymaps & import ymaps straight in the editor. Moreover, they can use runtime scripts in their maps to control virtually anything without the annoying compiling and code building. Additionally, they can place pedestrians, vehicles, pickups, objects and more wherever they want.
>> Available from Nexus Mods. Check the article for the links to several maps.

Minecraft gets an Insane Realism HD Texture Pack, overhauling 72 blocks
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/minecraft-gets-an-insane-realism-hd-texture-pack-overhauling-72-blocks/
Modder ‘nerdgirl_art’ has released an amazing new 1K HD Texture Pack for Minecraft, called Insane Realism. Insane Realism is the spiritual successor to RealismExtreme and promises to transform Minecraft’s blocky visuals.
In total, the modder has overhauled 72 blocks. Moreover, nerdgirl_art has included Normal, Specular, and Height maps for each and every new block.
In order to showcase these new HD textures, the modder released the following screenshots and video.
Now unfortunately this Texture Pack may not be compatible with Minecraft RTX. Instead, nerdgirl_art suggests using Kappa; a shaderpack that aims towards a realistic, but also authentic look.
>> If you're interested, you'll find it at Nexus Mods (and there's a link to the Kappa shader in the article).

This Skyrim Mod overhauls the appearance of every NPC in the game
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-skyrim-mod-overhauls-the-appearance-of-every-npc-in-the-game/
Modder ‘Zhalroth’ has released a pretty cool mod for Skyrim Special Edition that improves the visual appearance of every NPC in the base game.
According to Zhalroth, the mod overhauls over 3000 NPCs, both male and female (except for children). This includes all expansion packs, bandits, etc. Thanks to this mod, the NPCs now have high poly heads with KS Hair.
Modpocalypse NPCs should be compatible with all body and texture replacers. If, however, you are also using another NPC overhaul mod, you should load them after this mod.
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

Genshin Impact Patch 2.1 releases on September 1st, gets new trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/genshin-impact-patch-2-1-releases-on-september-1st-gets-new-trailer/
miHoYo has announced that Patch 2.1 for Genshin Impact will release on September 1st. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released a new trailer that highlights all of the key features of this update.

Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update 6 delayed until September 7th, will further improve graphics
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/microsoft-flight-simulator-world-update-6-delayed-until-september-7th-will-further-improve-graphics/
Microsoft and Asobo have announced that World Update 6 for Microsoft Flight Simulator has been delayed until September 7th. Moreover, the teams have revealed some of its key features and from the looks of it, this update will further improve the game’s graphics.

First in-engine trailer for WWE 2K22, releases in March 2022
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-in-engine-trailer-for-wwe-2k22-releases-in-march-2022/
2K Games has released the first in-engine trailer for WWE 2K22. This trailer will give you a glimpse at the graphics and the new engine that will powering this new WWE game.

Project Buramato is a new Zelda/Genshin Impact-style action adventure platformer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-buramato-is-a-new-zelda-genshin-impact-style-action-adventure-platformer/
Ozysoft has announced a new action-adventure platformer that has a similar visual style with Genshin Impact and the latest Zelda game, Project Buramato. In addition, the team revealed that a prototype demo will come out on PC (via Steam) in Q4 2021.

Rainbow Six Extraction gets an official gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/rainbow-six-extraction-gets-an-official-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Ubisoft has just released the official gameplay overview trailer for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction. In this trailer, we get a complete look at the fully-featured co-op gameplay experience of the game.

Call of Duty Vanguard Multiplayer Alpha Gameplay Trailer Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/call-of-duty-vanguard-multiplayer-alpha-gameplay-trailer-released/
Activision has released the first multiplayer gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Vanguard. This multiplayer trailer features gameplay footage from its upcoming Alpha Testing that will be available only on Sony’s consoles.

Five minutes of brand new gameplay footage from Battlefield 2042’s Closed Alpha
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/five-minutes-of-brand-new-gameplay-footage-from-battlefield-2042s-closed-alpha/
A couple of weeks ago, we shared some videos from the closed alpha testing phase of Battlefield 2042. And a couple of days ago, YouTube’s ‘COD 2042’ (ironic, I know) shared a new video, showing five minutes of gameplay footage from it.

Monday news, part two:

Scaramouche is returning to Genshin Impact, this is not a drill
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/scaramouche-is-returning-to-genshin-impact-this-is-not-a-drill/
A favourite Genshin Impact character is returning to the world of Teyvat, and fans are freaking out.
Scaramouche appeared all the way back in Genshin Impact 1.1, one of the Fatui's terrifying eleven harbingers. He landed alongside a limited-time event, shrouded in mystery. The whole thing culminated in the vague yet shocking revelation that the world's stars and sky is "fake."

Sony continues to walk the line between pissing off PlayStation owners and putting its games on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/sony-continues-to-walk-the-line-between-pissing-off-playstation-owners-and-putting-its-games-on-pc/
(...)
More recently, though, Sony Studios boss Hermen Hulst threw cold water on hopes that we'd see same-day PC releases of hot new PlayStation 5 games. And in case there were any lingering doubts, he effectively wiped them off the table in a new interview with Game Informer in which he made it very clear that PlayStation consoles are still the priority.

Almost a decade after shutting down, Curt Schilling's 38 Studios is finally sending employees money it owes them
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/38-studios-paychecks/
Nine years after Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developer 38 Studios was unceremoniously shut down, some of its 400 laid off employees are finally receiving some portion of their final paychecks... sort of.

Delayed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will show up at Gamescom this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/delayed-lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-will-show-up-at-gamescom-this-week/
Announced in 2019, the definitively very large Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is actually making an appearance at this year's Gamescom Opening Night Live about a year later. Originally announced to release this past spring, The Skywalker Saga was delayed at just about the last possible minute. The game is the latest in the long-running Lego Star Wars series and spans the entire canon of released, main-line Star Wars movies.

Indie adventure Fallow channels a mournful, mysterious American gothic
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/indie-adventure-fallow-channels-a-mournful-mysterious-american-gothic/
Indie adventure Fallow is coming to Steam on August 25th, a game about a decaying world where even the world itself is forgetting. Fallow is a story told in sepia tones with a rich, gothic-infused story where nothing is quite as good as it was at some point in the past. It plays out in puzzles and exploration across wonderfully Game Boy-like pixel art backgrounds.

The Quake remaster brings back a cut section of E2M6
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-quake-remaster-brings-back-a-cut-section-of-e2m6/
When Quake was being developed, the developers at id set a self-imposed limit of 1.4MB for each .bsp file, meaning no map could go over the file size of a single floppy disk. To get E2M6, the Dismal Oubliette, down to that size its designer, John Romero, had to remove an area that was originally its entrance (though he later shared it online).
As Quake expert starshipwaters noticed, the recently released Quake remaster restores this lost entrance to its rightful place. Now, when you arrive in the Dismal Oubliette you're at the bottom of a wet and winding cave and have to work your way up, past hellknights and other classic jerks of Quake, to get to what was previously the beginning of the level.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition comes with everything in the Creation Club
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/skyrim-anniversary-edition-comes-with-everything-in-the-creation-club/
During Quakecon, Bethesda announced that it would release Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Skyrim's 10th birthday, November 11, providing an opportunity for memelords to dust off gags about its endless cycle of ports and rereleases once again. Said Anniversary Edition will feature "over 500 unique pieces of content from Creation Club", and if you've already got Skyrim Special Edition you'll be able to buy it as an upgrade. Even if you don't buy the upgrade, Skyrim Special Edition is getting a fishing update, adding new mechanics that will let you "grab a fishing pole, do some fishing quests".

American McGee's Alice 3 exists, but only as an outline
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/american-mcgees-alice-3-finally-exists-but-only-as-an-outline-to-read/
The most beloved game series of every Goth I've ever known is back, in a way, as American McGee has released a comprehensive pitch package for Alice: Asylum. The first two Alice games are cult classics, aesthetically driven action platformers that riff on the Alice in Wonderland stories in very dark, very end-of-the-90s ways.

Solve the puzzle of adorable spaceship engineering in Sunshine Heavy Industries
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/solve-the-puzzle-of-adorable-spaceship-engineering-in-sunshine-heavy-industries/
Ever want to make a spaceship for a frog? In Sunshine Heavy Industries, you're a spaceship design engineer fulfilling client requests by putting together spaceships that do just precisely what was requested, keeping the cost as low as possible to maximize profit. The indie puzzle and design game released on Steam this month from creator Daisyowl Games.

Struggling to boot Resident Evil Village? This incoming patch might help
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/resident-evil-village-second-performance-patch/
Capcom has been gradually improving Resident Evil Village's PC performance since the game was released. An initial patch reduced stuttering with the game's anti-piracy measures and offered support for AMD's FSR upscaling technology, yet if you're still having trouble then perhaps the incoming performance patch is for you.

Yeah, so many small cores makes you wonder WTF is Intel thinking, specially now that they make GPUs and will want a CPU that can take advantage of all its power.

But well, maybe they know something we don't.

By the way, the Gigabyte leak confirms that Zen4 will have integrated graphics:

AMD Zen4 Ryzen CPUs confirmed to offer integrated graphics
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-zen4-ryzen-cpus-confirmed-to-offer-integrated-graphics
Upcoming Ryzen CPU series based on Zen4 architecture will all offer integrated GPU by design. While this does not mean that literally all CPUs will have iGPUs enabled, it does confirm that the mainstream Zen4 silicon will be paired with graphics for the first time. Thus, the GPU will no longer be exclusive to the Ryzen G-Series APUs.

The confirmation arrives from the leaked documents that were obtained through the Gigabyte hack. A compatibility chart for socket AM5 processors was published by Chips and Cheese. It lists three types of AM5 processors, all based on Family 19h (Zen4) microarchitecture, with on-chip graphics.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 non-XT performance simulation puts its very close to GeForce RTX 3060

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6600-non-xt-performance-simulation-puts-its-very-close-to-geforce-rtx-3060

Of course as with the 6600XT, I am sure it will be awful value and will have unnecessary gimps like pci-e x8 and such that it makes it extra hard to recommend even if you can find one at MSRP. Especially as it won't have Ray Tracing performance or Tensor cores like Nvidia does.

Intel Foundry Services Drafted By US Department of Defense For Next-Gen Fab Needs

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16910/intel-foundry-services-drafted-by-us-department-of-defense-for-nextgen-fab-services

AMD 3D V-Cache uses 9 micron pitch bonds, the future of 3D stacking is circuit slicing

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-3d-v-cache-uses-9-micron-pitch-bonds-the-future-of-3d-stacking-is-circuit-slicing

It is also hotchips/gamescom week so there may be more hardware news throughout the day.

Since the gimps are the same as with the XT version, they should have a bit less of an effect on this card. The card should need less bandwidth and the PCIE x8 bandwidth should also be less of a bottleneck due to to the lower overall performance. Still bad, just not as bad as for the 6600XT.

On a side note, something that surprised me when comparing this GPU to the 3060 was the TDP of the NVidia card.

170W is an awful lot for a GPU in it's performance range, even compared to previous gens of NVidia GPU. I mean, the 2060 Super, which I could only compare with the 3060Ti on the market placement (and which has a TDP of 200W btw), only consumed 5W more, while the base 2060 consumed 10W less and the 1660 even a whole 50W less. NVidia seriously needs to rein in the power consumption of their cards, as right now they're on the fast road to Thermi II and could get serious problems especially in the mobile market if AMD keeps increasing their performance per watt by 50% as announced. 

^Given the rumors we've heard about the next gen GPUs, reducing power consumption doesn't seem to be on the list of neither AMD nor Nvidia.

Sort of. The lower you go with these GPU ranges, the older the systems are for the target buyers. A 6600XT isn't exactly a powerful card yet switching to gen 4 has a 25% difference in performance in games like Doom Eternal. And then there's direct storage and such coming in that will really tax the pci-e lanes. It may not be as big of a deal as the 6600XT but it's still not a good thing. And thanks to the low Infinity Cache + Memory Bandwidth, the higher the resolution, the worse the performance.

TDP for both Nvidia and AMD are rumoured to go up next gen but much more so with Nvidia probably due to it being Monolithic vs MCM for RDNA 3. Personally for desktop, it doesn't really matter imo. People used to harp on Vega and GCN for taking up a lot of power but it was due to those not delivering on the performance. If Lovelace continues to deliver on the performance while having significant advantages in Ray Tracing, I don't think most people will care. But if RDNA 3 can beat Lovelace in raster and especially in Ray Tracing, then people will start harping on Nvidia for it's power consumption on top of everything else.

The biggest area the power consumption will affect things however are in laptops and handhelds. Last generation, a 2080 MaxP laptop was 10-15% slower than the desktop GPU. This generation, a 3080 laptop is 40+% slower than the desktop version because of it's TDP. I was hoping that this is where RDNA 2 would really showcase it's advantage but we have seen that wasn't the case. Hopefully next gen, RDNA 3 will really bring it to Lovelace. Intel will also be interesting in the laptop space as well but we will see.

Edited for better clarification.

I think the reason why RDNA2 doesn't benefit as much in mobile is because RDNA2 was designed to use high clock speeds, and as a result doesn't consume that much less at lower clock speeds. As a result instead of downclocking they need to downsize the chips.

I think that's also the reason why the 6600 comes with only 8 PCIE lanes: because they are supposed to be partnered with their laptops, which only have 8 lanes anyway. But we'll have to see laptops with that GPU inside to see how this shakes out.