In the CPU market, I don't think that's the case. AMD has been able to get away with selling a ton of CPUs because Intel didn't have an answer until 12th gen. And 12th gen had initial issues with RAM shortages and motherboard shortages. As that continues to get cleared up, we are seeing Intel CPUs starting to take the lead in sales. So if AMD has a bulldozer moment, I think Intel will decimate them in CPU sales. With GPU, it is different story.

And while it makes sense that they need money, some of their decisions feels very petty. Like their budget APUs being exclusive to OEMs or their 5600G/5700G being locked to pcie 3.0 while Intel is happy to sell you their 11400/12400/12600 for less price with full pcie gen 4 capabilities. Or with 6500XT being limited to 4 lanes of pcie.

Personally those are the types of moves that annoy me. I bought a Ryzen 1700, Ryzen 9 3900X and back in early 2021, Ryzen 9 5950x. I bought AMD CPUs because I do need the cores for virtual machines and such but I am at a point where I don't really need much more and instead, I am more so interested in the gaming performance. I think that based on AMD's behavior as of late, if AMD and Intel has very similar performance for when it's time for me to upgrade, I'll be going with Intel.

Yea this is like Thanos of Monitors coming to wipe off all the shat products in the PC space. This is the type of product that can truly be disruptive and correct all the bullshit in the PC monitor market. I just hope Samsung Display and Dell/Alienware can ramp up supply fast enough for it to be in stock by holiday season. I get the feeling Alienware will release their 38 inch version of this sometime next year so I might hold for that if I can't get my hands on this one.

It doesn't matter how competitive Intel or AMD are, they'll always find a way to screw it up. If AMD dropped the ball with its PSB (a feature that locks the CPU to a certain system, making it not usable on another machine), which was supposed to be only for servers but Lenovo managed to bring it to desktop PCs, now Intel is rumored to bring (back) the idea of locking CPU features behind a paywall, like a microtransaction to unlock extra capabilities.

They both want to make us crazy.

Absolutely. AMD Capitalized when their competitors fell over and stagnated, no doubt. That is competition at work.

Intel does have a solid product... But Intel also has another advantage. It has it's own fabs to produce CPU's with.
Once AMD starts to see sales impacted, then they will likely initiate aggressive price cuts... But that just isn't happening even with Intel's growing sales.

They are OEM due to limited fab space.
It makes sense for AMD to prioritize higher-end, more expensive parts in volume to meet those demands unless an OEM contracts for it.

The 5600G/5700G and 6500XT just had stupid cutbacks... But that was all to try and make the chips smaller so they can build more of them in volume to meet demand.

Intel is in a different situation... Because they own their own fabs, they don't have to stress about TSMC fab space being shared with others... Which oddly makes Intel's decision to use TSMC for Xe baffling.

I go with whatever provides the most value at the time of the upgrade. I flip flop between Intel and AMD, I owe neither company anything.

time to get a vpn

Looks more like a Top 4 (or Top 2 without pre-orders)

It's official now boys!

Sony 2022 TV Prices LEAKED! A95K QD-OLED Cheaper Than Expected.

QD-OLED Hype! Now those TVs cost $3000-$4000 USD. They were leaked to be more so around $8000. By boxing day/Black Friday, they should be a lot cheaper. It's very odd because the yields are quite low. So either Samsung Display are expecting the yields to massively improve or they are pricing the panels aggressively to try and break LG's OLED monopoly. Considering how much better QD-OLED is than LG's WOLED, if you have a situation where it's similarly priced, get the QD-OLED.

If Samsung manages to make enough, this should be the great equalizer, least in the PC monitor industry. This should also mean that Mini-LED prices and such will go down to affordable levels. If Samsung can get good enough yields by next year, I think we will start seeing Mini-LED tvs for less than $1000 while QD-OLED will dominate the high end market.

I think this is a situation where Display manufacturers including LG have rested on their laurels for too long. Samsung Dispalys QD-OLED is here and they are aiming for the head!

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is free to own on Steam for a limited time
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dear-esther-landmark-edition-is-free-to-own-on-steam-for-a-limited-time/
The Chinese Room and Secret Mode are currently giving away for free Dear Esther: Landmark Edition on Steam. From today and until February 16th, PC gamers can visit the game’s Steam store page and acquire their free copy.
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is a remake of the Source Engine-powered Dear Esther in Unity engine. This enhanced version features full audio remaster, and a brand-new Directors’ Commentary mode.
>> Here's the Steam page.

Dying Light 2 has reportedly sold one million copies on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dying-light-2-has-reportedly-sold-one-million-copies-on-pc/
Techland released Dying Light 2 on PC last week and according to SteamSpy, the game has already sold one million copies on Steam. The game also currently has Very Positive reviews on Steam, so we can expect it to hit the 2 million goal in the next couple of weeks.

Lost Ark breaks a million players, becomes today's top Steam game by concurrents
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/lost-ark-breaks-a-million-players-becomes-steams-top-game-by-concurrent-player-count/
After the usual online game launch issues, in this case Lost Ark going down for maintenance before its f2p launch and then delaying server deployment for almost six hours, Smilegate's hit Korean MMO finally had its full western release.
In the days prior, so many players had been preloading that Steam strained under the weight. Once the floodgates opened, Lost Ark hit a peak of 984,111 concurrent players, a total it's gone on to beat the day after launch, when it peaked at 1,325,305 players. That made it number one on Steam's top 100 for the day, beating Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (959,550 players) and Dota 2 (722,671 players). It also beat both games' records for highest player peak: 1,308,963 for CS:GO and 1,295,114 for Dota 2.

GOG starts the week with two new flash deals and a new sale:

• The first flash deal is Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Bundle, 85% off during the next 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/heroes_of_might_and_magic_5_bundle
• The second one is Shadow Warrior 2, 90% off until wednesday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shadow_warrior_2
• And they've launched the We Love Games Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts on more than 3000 titles until February 21. You can check all the deals from here or check them grouped by topic from here.

Steam has two new daily deals:

• The first daily deal is Gang Beasts, 55% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/285900/Gang_Beasts/
• The second daily deal is Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition, with a 66% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/596970/Sunless_Skies_Sovereign_Edition/

The Humble Store has three new sales:

• Publisher Astragon puts its games up to 80% off during the next 4 days. The keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/astragon-publisher-sale/
• The Lovers & Fighters Sale brings up to 85% discounts during the next 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG and the Rockstar thing: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/lovers-fighters-sale/
• And Plug In Digital puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts during the next 11 days. There are keys for Steam and GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/plug-in-digital-indie-sale/

And Fanatical has five new sales:

• The Star Deal is Spintires, 85% off. The deal started yesterday and will last another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/spintires
• Team17 puts its games on sale with up to 86% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/team17-digital-ltd
• Focus Home Interactive puts its games up to 91% off during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/focus-home-interactive
• There's also a Valentine's Deals Sale
• And the new BYO Very Positive Bundle 2 comes with 20 games to choose for your 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-very-positive-bundle-2

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Dark Souls 3 Ashen Blood is a single-player Bloodborne-based overhaul mod, demo released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/dark-souls-3-ashen-blood-is-a-single-player-bloodborne-based-overhaul-mod-demo-released/
Modder ‘Jennisaurus715’ has released a demo for Ashen Blood; a single-player focused, Bloodborne-adjacent overhaul mod for Dark Souls 3.
As the modder noted, this mod alters gameplay, weapons, enemies, map design, visual effects, and soon to be more. This demo is meant to be an early test before the release of Elden Ring, so the player will be limited to Firelink, Undead Settlement, and Ariandel.

Take a look at the V-Reloaded Graphics Overhaul Mod for Grand Theft Auto 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-the-v-reloaded-graphics-overhaul-mod-for-grand-theft-auto-5/
ZED_Modding has shared a video, showcasing a brand new graphics mod for Grand Theft Auto 5, called V-Reloaded. V-Reloaded promises to improve the game’s graphics, something that a lot of PC gamers will appreciate. After all, and at least for now, Rockstar does not plan to bring the new next-gen features of GTA5 to the PC.
According to the modder, V-Reloaded features improved timecycles, 16K Water and 16K NASA Moon. Moreover, it will have 4K Water Sea Foam and 4K Bullet Shot Glass.
Additionally, PC gamers can expect realistic color saturation, adaptive exposure and realistic shadows. The modder has also improved the exhaust backfire flash, the engine damage smoke, and reworked the swimming pools.

GAMING NEWS

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & Warzone 2 confirmed, will be using new engine
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-warzone-2-confirmed-will-be-using-new-engine/
Activision has just lifted the embargo for both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty Warzone 2. According to the publisher, both of these games will be using a new engine and will release later this year.

Here are some brand new screenshots for Elden Ring
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/here-are-some-brand-new-screenshots-for-elden-ring/
Earlier this week, Bandai Namco lifted the preview embargo for Elden Ring, and a number of new screenshots surfaced online. As such, we’ve decided to share these screenshots to all our Elden Ring fans.

Monday news, part two:

Lost Ark is limiting new character creation to address long queue times
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/lost-ark-is-limiting-new-character-creation-to-address-long-queue-times/
The Smilegate-developed, Amazon-operated MMO Lost Ark has got off to a very strong start, peaking at more than 500,000 concurrent players on Steam. Unfortunately, that's resulted in long queue times on some servers, and in response the developers have placed a limit on character creation by new players on those servers.

Lost Ark servers are now online after last minute delays
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/lost-arks-big-release-day-is-delayed-thanks-to-deployment-issues/
While Lost Ark has been out for paying customers since February 8, today marks the big release for both free and paid players to dive into the hugely popular Korean MMO. Well, it was supposed to be. The game's meant to be available right now, but it's currently delayed thanks to deployment issues.
Update: Lost Ark updated players at 2:15pm PT to say "All deployment issues have been resolved," and that the game would be available for all players at the same time.

The Chinese roguelite no-one's talking about but everyone is playing
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-chinese-roguelite-no-ones-talking-about-but-everyone-is-playing/
Much though we'd love to cover every plucky roguelite that comes to PC, some slip past us with the grace of an ethereal sword-wielding warrior dash-dodging their way through the cold, dead night. Which is appropriate, because that precisely fits the description of the hero at the heart of Warm Snow, a Chinese game from developer BadMudStudio that's quietly grown into one of the more popular games on Steam.

Dying Light 2 update aims to free players from infinite deathloops
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dying-light-2-update-aims-to-free-players-from-infinite-deathloops/
Another Dying Light 2 update appeared today as Techland continues to address bugs and other issues in its open world zombie-stomping sequel. As befitting a game filled with the undead, several of the major bugs being reported have to do with dying. Some players keep getting stuck in a deathloop (not the fun kind of Deathloop) where they die and respawn only to immediately die again.

Dying Light 2 has a hidden Star Wars blueprint that lets you Force Choke fools
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dying-light-2-force-choke-star-wars-secret-blueprint/
Techland didn't just fill the open world of Dying Light 2 with zombies, bandits, and parkour puzzles. There's also a ton of hidden blueprints, secret areas, and easter eggs crammed into the world, and players have been busy unearthing them since the game launched a week ago.

Elden Ring reveals the Bandit and the Astrologer classes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-reveals-the-bandit-and-the-astrologer-classes/
FromSoftware has revealed two more of Elden Ring's playable classes: The blade-wielding Bandit, and the book-wielding astrologer.
The Bandit "strikes for weak points," the all-too-brief Twitter description says. "Excels as ranged combat with bows."
The Astrologer takes a more intellectual approach to making things happen: "A scholar who reads fate in the stars. Heir to the school of glintstone sorcery."

Rust is (probably) getting pets
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/rust-is-probably-getting-pets/
As always when it comes to keeping up with survival game Rust, you can wait for announcements from the Facepunch development team or you can go to Shadowfrax on YouTube, the charming and shockingly well-informed Rust guru who can tell you what's what a good month in advance of the official newswire.
In a new video today (you can watch it below) Shadowfrax reveals that Rust is—most likely—getting pets at some point in the future. Pets!

Ubisoft's latest effort to convince employees that NFTs are good falls flat
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ubisofts-latest-effort-to-convince-employees-that-nfts-are-good-falls-flat/
NFTs and blockchain technology seem to be losing favor with game makers. After an initial burst of enthusiasm, indie studios and major publishers alike are making a point of slowing their approach, or staying away from NFTs entirely. The one exception is Ubisoft, which seems determined to push ahead with the technology despite negative reactions from gamers and employees alike.

Final Fantasy 14 has more Deep Dungeons on the way
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-14-has-more-deep-dungeons-on-the-way/
Final Fantasy 14's roguelite Deep Dungeons are on their way back, says game director Naoki Yoshida. In an interview at the Korean Final Fantasy Festival, Yoshida has confirmed that more Deep Dungeons are on the way to the MMO.

Valve bans Cities: Skylines modder accused of hiding malicious code in mods
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/valve-bans-cities-skylines-modder-accused-of-hiding-malicious-code-in-mods/
If you used Cities: Skylines mods from a user known as Chaos or Holy Water, it's probably worth unsubscribing from them, as a post on the Cities: Skylines subreddit explains.
Chaos uploaded a redesigned version of Harmony (a patching library originally created for RimWorld that is now a framework relied on by the modding communities of several games), following that with redesigned versions of other mods like Network Extensions and Traffic Manager that required Harmony (Redesigned) also be installed. And that's apparently where the trouble began.

Here's a look at the Harkonnens in Dune: Spice Wars
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/heres-a-look-at-the-harkonnens-in-dune-spice-wars/
With Dune: Spice Wars bringing back a setting that basically defined the RTS for 20 years, there's a few things we know for sure. One of them is that there will be Atreides, our most noble protagonists, and the other? The other is that there will be Harkonnens. Developer Shiro Games has detailed a bit about the second faction for Spice Wars, the upcoming 4X/RTS hybrid, and their tactics look to be about as nasty and brutish as you'd think.

A Babylon's Fall demo will hit Steam after launch in March
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/babylons-fall-trial-version-will-hit-steam-in-march/
Upcoming hack-and-slash cooperative RPG Babylon's Fall will get one of those demos that's actually a free trial that lets you carry progress forward into the proper game. It'll come to Steam in late March, says Platinum on Japanese games site GamesTalk. The demo for the PS4/PS5 version, however, will pop up in late February.

Dying Light 2's first free DLC is Peacekeeper-themed
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dying-light-2s-first-free-dlc-is-peacekeeper-themed/
Techland has committed to at least five years of post-launch support for Dying Light 2, and we're about to see the first portion of that support in the form of a free DLC. The Authority Pack consists of an armor set and weapon themed around the game's law and order-loving Peacekeeper faction.

There's a free visual novel based on Magic: The Gathering's new cyberpunk setting
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/theres-a-free-visual-novel-based-on-magic-the-gatherings-new-cyberpunk-setting/
There's a free visual novel set in the world of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, the magical-cyberpunk setting created as the new world for Magic: The Gathering's latest set. Kamigawa: A Visual novel casts the player as a magically spirit-infused Imperial Samurai with an important job to do.

Napoleonic shooter Holdfast gets a free total conversion to WWI
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/napoleonic-shooter-holdfast-gets-a-free-total-conversion-to-world-war-1/
At times overwhelmingly absurd, at others dead roleplaying serious, Holdfast: Nations at War is a guilty pleasure for plenty of its players. The Napoleonic-era third person shooter has people manning the guns, riding the horses, and marching in line with muskets against the enemy.
Now the team at Anvil Game Studios is releasing an entirely free, total conversion DLC for Holdfast, called Frontlines, that transports the same gameplay to another era of total warfare: World War 1. Over five new maps, players will trade those muskets for bolt-action rifles, pistols, melee weapons, grenades, machine guns, and the explosive mortars and field artillery of the era.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 cards are nearly as cheap as January 2021, GeForce RTX 30 reaches July 2021 pricing

https://videocardz.com/newz/average-amd-radeon-rx-6000-gpu-prices-reach-record-low-in-13-months

Intel Core i9-12900KS shows up with 780 USD price and 150W base power

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-i9-12900ks-shows-up-with-780-usd-price-and-150w-base-power

NVIDIA offically has nothing new to say about GeForce RTX 3090 Ti right now

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-offically-has-nothing-new-to-say-about-geforce-rtx-3090-ti-right-now

AMD formally completes acquisition of Xilinx

https://videocardz.com/press-release/amd-formally-completes-acquisition-of-xilinx

It's good to see GPU prices falling, but we have to remember that they'r estill roughly 50% more expensive than they should be. There's still a lomg way to go.

And what will CDPR show during that stream? More fixes or the first DLC?