Nicely, we have made it. One other yr has passed by and it has been as busy as ever, with fixed modifications on this planet of PC {hardware} and software program. A lot has occurred that it would not make sense to try to cowl all of it in a single article, however we need not. That is as a result of it is our readers who actually decide what story is of essentially the most curiosity and on that foundation, I current you with an summary of 2023, from the angle of which {hardware} tales you learn essentially the most typically.
Information from January to March
The highest tales:
January is the time when many people replicate on whether or not the brand new yr will mark a change for us or if our resolutions will truly come true. Maybe that is why the story of an IT employee incomes $90k to do virtually no work, and get away with it, caught your consideration a lot. We could not confirm how real the story was however it sounded superior: Writing a script that automates the method of transferring paperwork and photographs into cloud storage, then sitting again and letting that run all day lengthy.
Maybe somewhat too good to be true however it was nonetheless a coronary heart warming story to kick the yr off! You have been additionally very eager about studying a few D&D Lego set that labored as a completely playable gaming map, a wi-fi microphone that covers your whole mouth, and the nefarious world of sponsored hyperlinks on Google.
The hope and optimism {that a} new yr brings typically fade in February, as folks realise that it is a case of ‘identical factor, only a completely different quantity’ and our high {hardware} tales of that month are proof of this. Nicely, maybe not however I might say there was undoubtedly a way of settlement in discussions on how ultra-enthusiast {hardware} is strangling PC gaming and the alarming way forward for GPU costs.
However all of us love oddball story or two, and a report on somebody making an attempt to chill their CPU utilizing nothing greater than an 8 pound chunk of copper was actually fashionable. Possibly that is what all of us needed initially of the yr. Extra tales of individuals making an attempt out one thing completely different or bizarre, even when it wasn’t a hit or simply did not make any sense.
Nicely, March supplied the very reply to that conundrum since you all cherished studying about a pc comprising 80,000 mouse mind cells and Steady Diffusion AI getting used to transform mind waves into photographs. Or possibly it is only a case that people are tremendous eager on something that factors to a Cyberpunk future?
That stated, you additionally discovered information that younger employees do not know how one can use peripherals and PCs of the previous and the truth that Diablo 4 would run on ten years outdated {hardware} to be simply as fascinating. Seems like we’re not so targeted on the long run, in spite of everything.
Information from April to June
The highest tales:
Ah, spring: A time of rebirth, progress, and sunny skies. Nicely for these within the Northern hemisphere, not less than, however it’s nonetheless the time when issues normally begin to choose up on this planet of PC {hardware}. Besides this yr it was somewhat quieter than typical (regardless that we reviewed a lot of merchandise). By far the standout story of April was information of a bitcoin agency claiming that its cryptominers had zero carbon emissions, by waving a carbon dioxide sensor a few PC as technique of proof.
It wasn’t an April Idiot’s joke, both. You have been all simply as amused and perplexed as we have been! And also you shared our identical views on chromatic aberration in video games and cherished the look of the unique Half Life modded to make use of ray tracing.
Shared viewpoints and opinions was very a lot the theme for Might and also you joined within the tons of of hundreds to examine how one can construct a gaming PC correctly, what to do when switching to an ultrawide monitor, and why M.2 SSDs aren’t truly superb. That is the enjoyment of being a PC gamer: There are tens of millions of us on the market and it is a huge expertise pool to dip into and share data with.
June was a unusual month for information and options. Your absolute favorite was the report on a quantum processor, allegedly designed and constructed by Iran’s army. I say quantum processor however it was truly a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip. Hmm, only a slight exaggeration, then. You have been additionally enamoured by the information of AMD’s unique partnership with Bethesda for Starfield and the way you ought to be utilizing a CRT monitor in your gaming setup.
Everyone knows how Starfield ultimately turned out, after all, and its efficiency wasn’t nice, even with a high-end AMD setup. PC video games this yr had a little bit of a difficulty with operating effectively, specifically the large AAA ones launched on a number of platforms. I believe that we’ll be seeing extra of the identical in 2024 however all of us at PC Gamer might be more than pleased if the other truly occurs.
Information from July to September
The highest tales:
The second half of 2023 kicked off in an analogous theme as to how the primary half ended: A broad combination of matters captured your consideration, with Intel’s light-based processor being the most important story of July. We’re all curious to know what the way forward for PC expertise goes to be like, as we have been used to seeing large jumps in efficiency over the a long time. Lately the rise with every era is rather a lot smaller so any information of an opportunity to select issues again up once more is all the time going to be of curiosity.
We realized extra on AMD’s compact Zen 4c structure in the identical month, together with what Wi-Fi truly stands for, and that for practically $700, you’ll be able to connect an exterior GPU to a Steam Deck for an honest enhance in rendering efficiency. I am undecided in case you all thought the final one was excellent news or not, however I believe a lot of you had the identical response as us: How a lot?
PC tech was large information in August, with ‘large’ being the important thing phrase right here. Like reminiscence that may retailer knowledge for 1,000 years and $1,250 for a single slot GPU. One step ahead, one step backward I assume. Fortuitously, progress is wholesome elsewhere, with stories on AMD’s Zen 5 CPU design and beautiful 4K OLED displays all pointing to a PC gaming future full of quick body charges and wonderful colors.
Not conventional feel-good tales, I grant you, however us PC players do love a pleasant tech story or two.
The way forward for PC gaming was additionally on the coronary heart of the most important tales in September. Our {hardware} overlord Dave gave us the thin on Nvidia’s ray reconstruction in Cyberpunk 2077 and it is clearly going to be one thing we’ll be seeing much more subsequent yr. However that excellent news was tempered by a take a look at Apple’s new iPhone chip and what it means for future GPUs.
Maybe essentially the most compelling story of what is perhaps large in 2024 was information of a $5 mod for Starfield that enabled DLSS Body Technology. Nicely, the precise story was on how its DRM had been bypassed, however to me it exhibits that PC players not have to attend for builders to kind out lacking options. The group will do it for them.
Arguably, that is not a feel-good story because it raised debate over whether or not mods ought to be free or not, and that the shopper should not be anticipated to repair one thing that they’ve purchased. I do assume that that is one thing we’ll be studying much more about subsequent yr, although, and that alone is newsworthy in its personal proper.
Information from October to December
The highest tales:
2023 closed with two monumental tales, the primary of which being a report in October on the builders of Tiny11 making a model of Home windows 11 that wants simply 3.3GB of drive area. That element definitely caught your consideration however I’m wondering if it was extra as a result of the software program group truly really helpful that it was finest in case you did not use it. Possibly PC players simply don’t love being advised what they cannot do!
You additionally loved studying about Jacob’s woes with Home windows and detachable drives, the present costs of SSDs, and my obvious hypocrisy for criticising present GPUs, regardless of shopping for one of many extra egregiously overpriced ones.
November was a pleasant combination of tales, with a report on the potential of SteamOS being on different handhelds, a $3000 gaming monitor, and a completely working 16-foot keyboard and mouse being the most important hits. Actually, within the case of the latter. Heaven solely is aware of what the enter latency was like on them however I wager it was numerous enjoyable to make use of them.
The yr ended with our greatest {hardware} story, one which pulled in an infinite variety of readers. And it was a narrative that is more likely to run into 2024 and nonetheless high the headlines. The US authorities was mainly very sad with Nvidia modifying its chips, so it may nonetheless promote them in China. That restriction had come about as a result of the identical workplace had applied an export ban on something that might be used to do high-end compute or AI work.
It is arguably somewhat odd to count on a multi-billion greenback firm to not try to promote its merchandise in a single the biggest markets on this planet, however Nvidia is one enterprise that is not precisely flavour of the month (effectively, yr) with PC players. So I believe there was a good diploma of schadenfreude happening with that report!
The announcement trailer for GTA 6 was large information in December, after all, however for us it was the frustration that, as soon as once more, Rockstar disregarded any particulars concerning the PC model. There isn’t any technical motive for this, it was merely a advertising and marketing/monetary determination.
Kinda just like the report on somebody checking Apple’s claims that 8GB on MacOS was simply pretty much as good as 16GB in Home windows. All of us knew it wasn’t and that it is simply advertising and marketing nonsense however it was nonetheless good to see it doesn’t matter what claims a vendor will make, there’ll all the time be anyone to examine them out!
