Aria

@Aria@lemmygrad.ml

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  base model PS5 does not have built in FSR of any sort

  Well nobody has built-in FSR. It’s a software that runs on the GPU. (With the relevant exception of PSSR). The reason FSR4 only officially supports RDNA4 and up is because RDNA4 has much faster 8-bit floating point operations. Floating point operations is the primary thing GPUs are used for. So it’s a very general improvement/design change/new feature that allows FSR4 to run fast, not a specialised extra chip in RDNA4 series GPUs. 8 bit is very imprecise and therefore less used in graphics, but good for AI. Nvidia already had this.

  studios can write their own implementation of FSR and there’s apparently a few games that did just that, but the majority of PS5 games don’t

  So FSR is a specific program using a specific algorithm. (With FSR1, 2, 3, etc being different from each other). So nobody is writing new FSR implementations. Might not even be legal. It’s a case of including the program (and of course writing the surrounding code to use it, which is probably what you meant). But I mention to highlight that the reason most PS5 games don’t use FSR is because FSR usually wasn’t the best use of that performance.

  (FSR1, and to some extent FSR2/3 worked on very sparse data, they’re essentially post-process effects. If you’re writing a game engine then you have a lot of insight into the frame and can instead use similar tricks to upscale along the way, or with using data from previous frames, data from non-final passes, etc, to upscale your game either cheaper or better. For example Epic’s TSR is able to get better results for cheaper because it’s more integrated into the steps along the way to the final image. There’s also XeSS which looks better and supports RDNA2 at least on PC).

  You didn’t see much FSR1 use because it wasn’t very good. I’d think 2 and 3 are more popular. And on the previous topic of hardware requirements: Steam Machine is RDNA3 so it’s FSR3 they’re talking about for the Steam Machine - Same one the base PS5’s RDNA2 GPU can use. So I can’t see it being any sort of silver bullet - But it is true that RDNA3 has some new features over RDNA2. If a game is built around intense matrix maths it can’t run on PS5 but can on RDNA3. There will be some shaders and AI-adjacent things that run faster on Steam Machine. But not FSR.

  custom co-developed implementation
  PSSR, a custom implementation of AMD’s FSR that they co-developed with AMD

  It isn’t, it’s it’s own thing. Or rather, it’s FSR4, not FSR1-3. FSR4 and PSSR are AI, that means they need training data. And that’s why PSSR is made by/with Sony, because Sony is allowed to use PlayStation licensed games to get the training data and AMD isn’t. Unless Valve has done something clever with the license they aren’t allowed to train on Steam games. (Of course the way Nvidia got around this was to just train on commercial games and not worry about it, so maybe PlayStations’ catalogue isn’t actually that valuable =P). So it’s unlikely that the Steam Machine will have a proprietary FSR4 model that’s better than the AMD provided one.

  I think the reason Valve’s messaging has been so heavy on FSR isn’t because they have a way to make FSR better cooking in their lab, but because they want to be able to simultaneously say “4K” to console players and “Not 4K” to PC players. Hence “4K with FSR”.

  I hope this is clear and not too wordy and not condescending. It sounded like you were misunderstanding FSR slightly.

  they were primarily making noise about Frame Generation

  Some people don’t like frame generation because it adds latency and works poorly with V-Sync. But there are also a lot of people who just hate AI because of how it’s made. You see it every day on Lemmy.

  I’m of the opinion that the Steam Machine will easily match the base PS5, and likely land somewhere between it and the PS5 Pro

  I just don’t see how that’s possible without a faster GPU.

  the work Valve has put into Steam OS itself and how it may compare to running the same games under Windows

  It’s true that sometimes the same Windows game can run faster. But in this case we’re talking about GPU-limited games, and there the fact that Linux is faster doesn’t help. Both on Linux and Windows the OS overhead is negligible and the GPU driver is in complete control. If a game is ever faster on GPU side on Linux it’ll be because the emulation was bad and skipped some steps.

  I’m not some hardcore Valve fanboy and am open to new information/perspective changing my opinion. I appreciate the discussion :)

  I didn’t get any sort of bad impression. I don’t think anything you said is unfair, I just disagree.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Sure, it’s not a complete apples to apples comparison. But I don’t think a newer FSR version will that drastically improve the perception. It’s not like upscaling and reconstruction isn’t available at all on PS5. (Plus aren’t a lot of people anti-AI and boycotting those features?)

  Which angle are you arguing?
  FSR4+ will/can make the same game look better on this PC than PS5? Or FSR4+ has value and should be considered in the cost-benefit?

  If the first, then we’d have to look at evidence. Are there any games where the PS5 version is obviously (visible to new customers) worse looking than the low-medium settings, 8GB-spec PC version? Maybe a few but I wouldn’t expect it to hold true for most big sellers. There aren’t even that many FSR4 games period. Maybe that’s a point in favour? This’ll be more future-proof than PS5. Though PS6 is probably not that far away either.

  On the flip side games like Alan Wake 2 and Indiana Jones run great on base PS5 but won’t on PC with 8GB. I found this video on the topic with many comparisons. youtu.be/cFlaymC-vZI
  The video shows that it’s not as dramatic a difference as I implied and assumed, but it still demonstrates that it does often make an immediately appreciable difference. Particularly when it comes to stutters. It’s also testing a card with only 12GB, but the PS5 can comfortably be used for even heavier scenarios.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  everyone seems to be forgetting the “semi custom” bit

  They’ve already explained the customisation, which is that it’s missing 4 compute units compared to the consumer version. So taking it into account would mean that we’d compare it to a lower tier GPU than the current assumption.

  but it’s shared and the Steam Machine has more total memory

  I’d be willing to wager that it’ll beat the base PS5

  The system having more total memory than the PS5 isn’t going to help. Games are designed with the PS5’s configuration in mind and make assumptions about the available memory. Video memory is also just a lot more useful than system memory. It’s a lot (~10x) faster, and all the things that take up space are things related to video. Even if it received native ports, it wouldn’t be able to run PS5 games as well as the PS5. The CPU does sound faster. It can probably run Cities Skylines faster than a base PS5.

  I also think it’ll be under €500, but I don’t really except it to be better priced than a console. If I wanted to play Fifa, and I can get Fifa bundled with a PS5 for €450, then it would have to be €380 to match the value. And then I’d need to think about like, do I trust PlayStation? Of course, it’s the 5th PlayStation I’d be buying. Vs do I trust these people? Which version looks better? It’ll be the PlayStation version. Which version is more likely to just work with the fewest updates and faff? It’ll be the PlayStation version also.

  ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works asking for it to be $250 isn’t that far off what it would have to cost to sell the 300+ million lifetime units Julian Benson is alluding to.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  digitalfoundry.net/…/hands-on-with-steam-machine-… 8GB RX 7600, PS5 is in the same ballpark but with more RAM.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Valve creates an "entry point" for living room PCs, the console-beating Steam Machines will follow, argues Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This isn’t as powerful as a PS5 or as portable as a Switch (and doesn’t have the benefits of a console). So it should be cheaper. Looking at the prices right now, PS5 with Fifa is 450 from MediaMarkt and Series S is 380. But the PS5 is already heavily criticised for being too expensive. I believe Series S can be 300 if you look around and wait for a sale.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨600 GB of Alleged Great Firewall of China Data Published in Largest Leak Yet⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  confiscating Palestinian flags displayed publicly and preventing mobilizations in support of Gaza

  I don’t really think the evidence is strong enough to attribute any sort of anti-Palestinian policy. The video is short, only 13 seconds, with no audio and no context. It doesn’t depict a large mobilisation of support, only one person, though it does look like he had his flag confiscated by school-security. In the clip, another person also has their Chinese flag confiscated. It’s possible given the evidence that large flags were confiscated regardless of which flag it is. We can also see a smaller Palestine flag allowed by the school-security.

  The twitter account you attributed only posts unsourced and impossibly to verify anti-China news, so it’s possible this video is widely taken out of context given who’s reporting it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨600 GB of Alleged Great Firewall of China Data Published in Largest Leak Yet⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s such a tenuous connection. Why are you highlighting this? Those are off the shelf cameras, everyone uses them, because they are cheap. China isn’t unique in not sanctioning Israel. They absolutely should. But you may just as well focus on the use of Microsoft Windows or who their Ethernet cable supplier is.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Solar-powered Logitech keyboard appears on Amazon Mexico — MX Keys S look-alike promises up to 10 years of power⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Pretty neat. Perfect for a HTPC in a sunny main lounge. It charges during the day while you’re at work, and you just never worry about it. I have to swap the AAA batteries on mine every few weeks. It’s barely a bother but still better if I didn’t have to.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Valve now require UK Steam users to verify their ages with a credit card, thanks to the Online Safety Act⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What are Steam cards? It says in the article that debit cards are valid.

  Top paragraph:

  According to reports, debit cards are acceptable too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Valve now require UK Steam users to verify their ages with a credit card, thanks to the Online Safety Act⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It says in the article(/the linked Steam page) as long as you have ever made a purchase, you’re assumed to be over 18, since being over 18 is a requirement to having a card. The third party verification is for sites that only ask for ID or vibes-check photo of your face.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Valve now require UK Steam users to verify their ages with a credit card, thanks to the Online Safety Act⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Could you buy premium games from Steam in the UK without a debit card or credit card before this change?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ecosia has offered to take ‘stewardship’ of Chrome. And it's not a bad idea.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The two you wouldn’t advocate for have their own crawlers and index. The remainders which you are advocating for, don’t have the ability to not pass on the result manipulation from Google, Bing or Yandex.

  At best they serve as anonymisers, but Ecosia’s (non-profit) business model is telling Google what you search for, and DDG is beholden to USA laws, which means for all practical consideration they are a front for the NSA.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ukraine rescues soldier via drone delivery of complete e-bike⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s very cool

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Valve is redesigning the Steam Store Menu and Search, wants user feedback⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Apple allows you to offer better deals on other platforms. Customers are allowed to buy on other platforms, but sellers aren’t allowed to give you any reason to. Even in cases where those other platforms take a smaller cut, the developer has to artificially raise the price until Steam is the cheapest platform if they want to remain on Steam.

  reuters.com/…/video-game-giant-valve-hit-with-con…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨RedNote may wall off “TikTok refugees” to prevent US influence on Chinese users⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  There are Americans in this very thread who think “the CCP” is real.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Assassin's Creed Shadows to Feature Denuvo & Mandatory Ubisoft Account Linking⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What’s well intentioned about not letting me use Cheat Engine on my own game. I’m not interacting with anyone else, I can’t ruin the game’s economy, or make people’s PvP experience worse. The worst thing I could do is make my own experience worse. They’re even including macro’s in that – A wide-spread accessibility feature.

  I already bought the game, what incentive is there to make sure I can’t enjoy it?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Assassin's Creed Shadows to Feature Denuvo & Mandatory Ubisoft Account Linking⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Probably thinking of Empress. The most recent Denuvo game to be cracked was Dead Island 2, which is a year and a half ago. And if we don’t count Empress or MKDEV*, (because it’s reasonable to assume they aren’t going to want to crack this), then it’s eFootball in 2020: 4 years ago.

  *MKDEV used to only crack Football Manager, as to allow modding. Football Manager now allows a method for MKDEV’s mod to run without removing Denuvo.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Huawei phone has a pop-out camera lens, just like a point-and-shoot camera⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Responding to the comment on the sensor quality.

  By posting this image, the takeaway that I think most people will have is that the phone camera will be somewhere around 4.4 by 3.3mm, and that’s 1.5% of what you want. But this one, the one in the article’s sensor is 9.8 by 7.4mm, somewhere in the middle of this chart.

  It’s also not a direct apples to apples comparison, because phones are smaller and thus have smaller lenses and so smaller sensors make more sense. If bigger is always better, then big cinema cameras would be even bigger, but they’re usually full frame. A smaller sensor doesn’t have to be worse, it just has to be more compact, meaning it’s more expensive, and that would often translate to worse, but in phones, compactness is a valued feature.*

  *There are physical limitations to how much light will hit a surface.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YouTube is testing a new design that you'll probably hate instantly⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Those recommended thumbnails are real big! Does anyone want them that big? Description and comments on the side is good though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bethesda update Fallout 4 for your "next-generation PC"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I enjoyed the VR version of this a lot more and for longer than the flat version. Unlikely but it would be cool if when they updated the game they’d update the VR version too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Linux market share passes 4% for first time; macOS dominance declines⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m surprised macOS is in decline given that their product is pretty good and improving, and it’s integrated with popular devices. Still a pretty healthy 16%.

  The market share for Linux nearly doubling in a year in the USA is brilliant. Let’s hope the trend continues worldwide.