Dragon Age: Veil Guard (previously DA: Dreadwolf) trailer dropped today. Hooray for the return of Scout Harding and… that’s about all I could really say for it? It didn’t feel very Dragon Age-y to me (though it’s just a hype trailer), the Overwatch-esque models made me cringe a bit and saying “Let’s go to the Fade!” is like asking me to contract malaria. But there’s supposed to be a 15min gameplay trailer in another few days so maybe I’ll get turned around from my first impressions.
I know it’s very much paint-by-numbers humor, but I’m a sucker for this style of trailer.
More disappointing to me is the reported shift to real-time action combat. I have nothing against that type of gameplay in a vacuum, but in RPGs it more often than not feels like a way to avoid the need to flesh out party combat dynamics and synergies.
Deepcool (manufacturer of fans, coolers and cases) has been sanctioned by the US government for selling products to blacklisted Russian firms tired to the Ukraine war. This likely means you won’t be able to buy their products and possibly impact warranty support.
its here! finally its here !
Mafia 4 has been revealed! As had been expected, it is a prequel – but it’s set in Sicily.
Not much to go on but I’ll choose cautious optimism. I really liked 1 & 2 and was let by by multiple facets of 3 so hopefully a return to form.
Quick hardware question regarding my next build in a year or so:
Right now I can connect my phone to the computer and even charge the phone with the USB-C front port. But it only charges at the slow speed that phones used to charge at back in the stone age.
Does anyone know how to make a computer’s front USB-C port support fast charging? Is there some keyword I can look for on listings for cases and motherboards? Or maybe the power supply?
That would be a limitation of the port itself. A quick look suggests that few motherboards support the 60W or 100W you’d use for quick charging and those would be on the back panel of the board, not via the case and USB case headers. You’d also need the motherboard to communicate with the phone to regulate the voltage and I don’t think that’s an expense most manufacturers find to be worth adding.
Basically what Jophiel said.
The actual specification is called USB Power Delivery, but I would strongly suggest not limiting yourself to a motherboard with that. The USB specs change all the freaking time and there are a lot of incompatibilities (both within the Power Delivery spec itself, between certain chargers & phones, and within the greater USB versioning scheme too). Adding that to your motherboard really just means it’ll get obsoleted sooner than it ought to be, and also increase the risk of accidentally frying something else on the motherboard. If something goes wrong, you might have to replace your motherboard (at best), or your attached power supply, graphics card, CPU, case, etc. (at worst). Why risk that?
It’s much easier & safer to just get a $20-$40 USB-C charger (look for something that’s “PD” at 20+W for fast charging, and “GAN (gallium nitride)” if you want something small too). These things evolve much, much quicker than PC motherboards do.
If you really don’t want the minor hassle of a separate cell phone charger, the next best bet would be to get a powered USB hub with one of these ports. You’re more likely to find them in “docks” (where they power USB-C laptops, not just phones); the higher-end Thunderbolt ones work very well but are usually $150-$200+. They also have more complexity and thus failure modes.
These days, there are also a lot of power strips and surge protectors that have built-in USB PD ports, so it’s easy to find one that can power both your PC and your phone (plus all the accessories of both) together. And that way, it doesn’t create a data connection to your PC (which has its own set of problems, unless you specifically want that connection).
At the end of the day, it’s hard to beat that humble $20 charger…
I do, actually. I do connect my phone to my computer for data a non-trivial amount. Once or twice a month, lately. The last time I did my phone was at like 30% so I left it plugged in while I did other things on the computer. Like an 1 - 1.5 hours later it was barely 70% charged.
I was hoping it were reasonably possible that it could fast charge in such a situation, but it sounds like no, it may in fact not be possible at all. C’est la vie.
Thanks to both for the replies.
Well, if you specifically need that, a powered USB hub/dock with high enough wattage should do the trick. Just look for something like with at least 20-30W of Power Delivery.
There are also some PCI expansion cards that have USB PD, like this MSI one. There are a bunch of cheaper no-name ones on Amazon too, around 20-30W (should be enough for a phone).
Or a cheap USB-C splitter (one male, two female) might also work… not sure. (You’d split it at the phone, connect a male to male to the computer and another to a wall charger.)
I have to say this game, Atomfall, looks interesting.
Just unboxed my new computer this week. AMD 7950X3D with RTX 5080. Need something to do with it besides Excel and Power Point.
If you’re not sure where to start, a GamePass for PC subscription offers a lot of value and has a bit of every genre. I have some trial codes as a subscriber, but they only offer 14 days now so that’s a bit tight to play a whole game. GamePass is looking pretty solid for the next few months with Atomfall, Expedition 33, and Doom: Dark Ages. Plus recent releases like the Indiana Jones game and Stalker 2 so maybe dropping 3 months on it isn’t a terrible idea.
That trial would bridge the gap until Steam’s Spring Sale in two weeks. While not a major sale, it’s pretty likely you’ll find Cyberpunk 2077 nicely discounted. I couldn’t think of a better game to show off what a system like that could do.
Find anything that supports DLSS and go to town with 4k 100+ Hz max graphics gameplay. Hook up a PC VR headset to it if you like that sort of thing. Or a gaming superultrawide if not.
Gamepass is terrific, as are the Ubi and EA subscriptions if you like their games. Free game on Epic every other week. Lots of sales all the time at isthereanydeal.com (legit Steam key resellers). Lots of free to play recent titles too (Once Human, Marvel Rivals, Overwatch 2, First Descendant, a bunch of others).
Cyberpunk is indeed great for pushing systems. Any Unreal Engine 5 game would probably look pretty good.
On top of GamePass, if you have an Amazon Prime account, you can get a bunch of games off Prime Gaming for free. Will activate via Epic Game Store or GOG. They’re not new releases but there’s a good amount of fun to be had for no money (aside from the Prime sub you’re already paying for).
Thanks! I’ve been thinking hard about trying out VR. I think I would enjoy it. I have a huge open basement that I’ve been thinking about using as a VR room. I’d utilize my retired Coffee Lake/RTX2080 for that, though. Have to keep this current beast upstairs in the office. Seems like having a big room to walk about in slashing VR zombies would be fun times.
My current monitor is a 57" Odyssey Neo G9. I used to have two 32" flat 4Ks, but I hated having the break in the middle. This is much better. I was nervous that I wouldn’t like the curve, but I like it!
Cyberpunk 2077 looks really fun. I was pretty hooked on RDR2 and RDR Online. Actually fired up RDR Online on this system and it was great in ultra wide screen. I think I would really enjoy Cyberpunk 2077. To be honest, I’m concerned I will enjoy it too much and I’m just too busy to bring a distraction like that into my life. lol
Robocop is on sale on steam at 80% discount. At least here in the UK it is.
I’m a big fan of the movie, and they really nailed the look, and apparently the story too. My only hesitation right now is that I’m very much into VR at the moment. The last couple of non-VR games I got on steam are collecting dust.
Thanks! Been waiting for that to go on sale. There’s a new standalone expansion coming out soon: Robocop: Rogue City is getting a 'standalone expansion' that sounds an awful lot like The Raid | PC Gamer
Wish they’d make a Judge Dredd game like this.