PC Gaming

The Steam Deck is discounted again, now up to 20 percent off for Steam’s 20th anniversary. Valve is selling its handheld PC for $359.10 ($39.90 off) for the 64GB model, $449.65 ($79.35 off) for the 256GB, and $519.20 (about $130 off) for the 512GB with an anti-glare screen. Even Valve’s dock is 20 percent off.

These are the best prices on Steam Decks right now, as the refurbished models are sold out. The promo runs until September 21st.

Mega Crit, developers of Slay the Spire — a rogue deckbuilder that has a permanent spot on my Steam Deck — has weighed in on the Unity situation with a clear, concise, and seemingly justified ultimatum. The quote is one for the ages, but the whole statement is great.

Why do we still fill our PCs with ugly cables, including troublesome new GPU power? Asus has the same Q. On Sept. 15th, it should launch that new GPU we showed you which pulls power from a new HPCE motherboard header — in China, anyhow.

It’s calling the initiative “Advanced BTF”, but partnerships with Silverstone and Thermaltake aren’t enough to show this has legs. “We welcome everyone to join the BTF Alliance,” says Asus.

In an interview with Famitsu (translated by IGN) Todd Howard said that Bethesda will add official mod support for Starfield sometime in 2024. “Once mods are supported, you’ll be able to do almost anything, just like in our previous games,” he said.

Can’t wait to see all the infinite potatoes and milk cartons mods to start popping up...or maybe one that skips the almost universally disliked opening sequence.

VideoCardz:

Our sources indicate that Intel plans to launch the new series on October 17th, which is when the CPUs will become available for purchase, and reviews are expected to go live.

These may not be the Starfield chips you’re looking for: MSI’s big Intel leak suggests the gains are primarily in multithreaded workloads, and the game isn’t well-optimized for Intel there yet.

Remember when Steve Jobs suggested holding your iPhone differently to avoid “antennagate”? Here’s the Starfield version of that: “Upgrade your PC.”

Earlier this week, Tom put it extremely mildly: “Starfield [...] will demand the most out of both your CPU and GPU.” I would say the game runs comparatively poorly to many triple-A titles, with little graphically or mechanically awesome on screen to justify the low framerate.

You can now nab a 2TB Sabrent Rocket Q4 for just $200 at Amazon — it’s typically $220–$260, and originally cost $300+ until SSD prices fell off a cliff.

2TB is the biggest you can easily fit into a Steam Deck, ROG Ally or Surface, because a single-sided M.2 2230 only has room for one flash chip.

Note: If you buy something from these links, we might get affiliate revenue.

There’s never been a better time to buy an SSD for your PC or PS5 than today’s low prices, but here’s one possible reason to wait — Samsung says it’ll finally ship the 4TB model of its speediest 990 Pro in October for $345, matching the slightly less speedy WD SN850X and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus on capacity.

Note: a 990 Pro is overkill for your PS5, and PCIe 5.0 drives are already here.

Developers can now specify if their games support PS4 or PS5 controllers, and beginning in October, you’ll be able to see in the Steam store and in the Steam desktop app if a game works well with those gamepads.

The PS5’s DualSense is maybe my favorite controller ever, so I’m really happy about this.

The latest patch for Jedi Survivor adds a slew of performance upgrades — DLSS support, graphical and performance updates, and more. You can read the full (and short) list of patch notes below, but highlights include performance optimizations that disable ray-tracing to achieve a buttery smooth 60 FPS.

THQ Nordic is delaying the modernized 1992 classic survival horror game that is supposed to kick off the “re-imagining” of the initial trilogy for a new generation of players. It’s now slated for January 16th, 2024 — about three months later than the original October 25th date.

Meanwhile, Alan Wake 2 is still coming this year, although now on October 27th.