August 2025 General Game Discussion

[neogunhero]

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August 2025 - General Game Discussion Thread

Upcoming Games Articles:

New games 2025: All the upcoming PC games you won't want to miss, from big hits to hidden gems

The new games of 2025 stack more massive RPGs and open-world adventures against each other.

www.pcgamer.com

August 2025 is the month of remakes and remasters

We're going back in time.

www.pcgamer.com

Most Wishlisted Games Releasing In August (via SteamDB):

• Mafia: The Old Country (August 8th)

Pre-purchase Mafia: The Old Country on Steam

Uncover the origins of organized crime in Mafia: The Old Country, a gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily. Fight to survive as Enzo Favara and prove your worth to the Family in this immersive third-person action-adventure.

store.steampowered.com

• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater (August 28th)

Pre-purchase METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER on Steam

A remake of the 2004 game METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER, with the same gripping story and engrossing world, now with all new graphics and 3D audio that enhance the jungle atmosphere. Get ready for the ultimate survival stealth action experience.

store.steampowered.com

• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition (August 14th)

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition on Steam

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition is the ultimate Dawn of War experience, featuring the original Dawn of War and all its expansions, along with enhanced visuals, an improved camera, and 64-bit platform support.

store.steampowered.com

• Tiny Bookshop (August 7th)

Tiny Bookshop on Steam

Leave everything behind and open a tiny bookshop by the sea in this cozy narrative management game. Stock your tiny bookshop with different books and items, set up shop in scenic locations, and run your cozy second-hand bookshop while getting to know the locals.

store.steampowered.com

• Gears of War: Reloaded (August 26th)

Pre-purchase Gears of War: Reloaded on Steam

Experience the origins of one of gaming’s most acclaimed franchises like never before, faithfully remastered and optimized for PC.

store.steampowered.com

• Dungeon Stalkers (August 12th)

Dungeon Stalkers on Steam

Dungeon Stalkers is a PvEvP dungeon crawler game where you can experience the joy of exploration and survival in a classic RPG. Join forces with your companions to defeat other adventurers and monsters, and acquire equipment and treasures. Then, escape safely from the witch's curse!

store.steampowered.com

• Lost Soul Aside (August 29th)

Pre-purchase Lost Soul Aside™ on Steam

Embark on an epic odyssey to save your younger sister – and the whole of humanity – from mysterious dimensional invaders from beyond the starlit skies in Lost Soul Aside™.

store.steampowered.com

• Is This Seat Taken? (August 2025)

Is This Seat Taken? on Steam

Is This Seat Taken? is a logic puzzle game where you play matchmaker for groups of hilariously particular people. Each character has pet peeves that make seating them a delightful challenge. Find the perfect spot for each person to unlock new levels in this cozy, silly, and relatable experience.

store.steampowered.com

 

[neogunhero]

Current and Upcoming Steam Events:
Steam Racing Fest: Now Until August 4th @ 10am PT

4X Fest: August 11th - 18th @ 10am PT

Third Person Shooter Fest: August 25th - September 1st @ 10am PT

Humble Choice August 2025 should be live sometime next week.

 

[neogunhero]

Someone posted a thread to the forums earlier looking for friends to play with. All our replies were basically "we don't play much games together here, but we love to discuss them". It got me thinking as to why not. As much as I like you guys here, I am bad at talking on the mic to new people. I do it enough for work as it is, so when I get home the only talking I want to do is to my wife my dog.

I've always had weird in and out phases with playing with friends. I used to have an online friend group of people I've never met IRL before and we used to play together nearly every day on various games, but after a few years, it started to become a bit too toxic for me. I'm no stranger to trash talking to making really rude jokes, but something crossed a line at some point. A major reason was that about half of the friend group were slowly becoming alcoholics, and that definitely affected their demeanor and behaviors.

With my IRL friends, not much of them share the same interests in the genres I like. My best friend is a huge JRPG fan, I can't stand the genre. I love FPS games, he has played maybe a handful of them his entire life. We struggle to find games to play together, but not only that, it's also hard to find time to do it. When you don't have a game that everyone can unilaterally agree to play, then you waste a lot of time trying to find something everyone can get behind.

To make matter worse, my personal set up is in the middle of the living room. Not a big deal to me, but it makes it hard to be able to be on my mic at home. My wife and I still live with her best friend as a roommate, so I would much rather not bother her late at night with my incessant screaming. I can be quiet, but her bedroom door isn't' more than 15 feet from my desk, and we don't have the most soundproof walls. Not worth it most of the time.

On top of everything else, I really have lost a lot of interest in co-op games. A lot of it has to do with not gaming as much as I used to. High school going into early years of adult life, I could game for 5+ hours each day. These days I'm lucky to get 2 hours of gaming in a two-day period most of the time. Weekends give me more time, but also more time to go do other stuff besides game. When I do have time to game, I'd rather not have to wait on my friend to hop on, fumble with Discord settings, pick a game to play, no I just want to hop on and start immediately, by myself or not. I think that's why I like co-op games with open public lobbies because you get a small portion of the satisfaction of playing together with others but pretty much on your own time. I can hop in and out a L4D2 lobby without ever needing to come up with an excuse as to why I have to get off.

We all like each other here, but we don't game with each other, and that's perfectly fine. Still love each and every last one of ya <3

 

[Johnway]

Still playing blasphemous. I'm 5hrs in and i've completed nearly 60%. Got to say, its been jolly entertaining and having actual fun exploring and cutting my way to victory. Atm what i'm screaming for is a Dbljump ability there are too many things that i just can't reach to grab items.

 

[Pifanjr]

These days I'm lucky to get 2 hours of gaming in a two-day period most of the time. Weekends give me more time, but also more time to go do other stuff besides game. When I do have time to game, I'd rather not have to wait on my friend to hop on, fumble with Discord settings, pick a game to play, no I just want to hop on and start immediately, by myself or not.

This is the main reason for me too. I've played with my real life friends a couple of times over the months and almost every time it takes about an hour to get started, if it doesn't get canceled altogether. And with how little time I have available for gaming it means I cannot commit to anything that takes multiple sessions. Something that takes multiple hours is already hard enough to fit in.

 

[neogunhero]

Still playing blasphemous. I'm 5hrs in and i've completed nearly 60%. Got to say, its been jolly entertaining and having actual fun exploring and cutting my way to victory. Atm what i'm screaming for is a Dbljump ability there are too many things that i just can't reach to grab items.

I've been wanting to get to that game, it's been sitting in my library for years. The art design is absolutely gorgeous.

This is the main reason for me too. I've played with my real life friends a couple of times over the months and almost every time it takes about an hour to get started, if it doesn't get canceled altogether. And with how little time I have available for gaming it means I cannot commit to anything that takes multiple sessions. Something that takes multiple hours is already hard enough to fit in.

The set up is the worst part about playing with a group of friends. One guy has to go take a leak and inexplicably becomes MIA for 30 minutes, one guy constantly has to pause to take care of a child, another guy is already playing a different game waiting for everyone else to get ready, another is so far ahead in the game everyone wants to play together that it kind of makes it unfair... It seems to be more logisitcs than gaming.

 

[dxchase]

Forgot its a new month, my bday is on monday woooo, ill be at work.

Titan Quest 2 went into early access today. Didnt think id be spending money on a game this week tbh. THQ hasnt said anything yet on Gothic 1 Remake, but somethings coming....

Currently in a KF3 match writing this while im dead. The game takes a steep increase in difficulty in its higher tiers.

 

[BeardyHat]

Yeah, it's nothing against anyone here, I just don't like to play games with people anymore. I barely play with my friends and even on my scheduled nights I typically want to avoid it, though I usually end up playing.

For me I think it's just that I've come to the realization that it's not how I enjoy playing games. My general mental mode is that of Helper/Support, so I end up playing something I'm not interested in or moving to a support role and not playing how I want to play, which is usually as an Open Ended Explorer.

Being that I spend my days taking care of my family, it's the last thing that I want to do during my game time; I don't find it relaxing.

I used to play lots of competitive multiplayer stuff with my friends and that was fun, but I'm just not terribly interested in that type of game anymore, so that's another thing that keeps me from playing games with people.

Ultimately, it's my own personality flaw. I want to play games how I want to play them, when I want to play them and what I want to play. When I'm with other people my brain switch's to support mode to make sure everyone is having a good time and that's no longer gaming and relaxing for me.

 

[Zloth]

City of Heroes is great for people with different play schedules. A person that gets behind can use the sidekick system to temporarily (mostly) catch up, a person that gets ahead can reverse-sidekick back down. It works pretty well!

One guy has to go take a leak and inexplicably becomes MIA for 30 minutes, one guy constantly has to pause to take care of a child...

Oh. But not for that short-term sort of thing. If you leave the team, the game adjusts fairly quickly, but not right away. If you're there and gone and there and gone and.... that's going to be a problem.

Time zones can be rough. Getting `Merricans and Aussies on at the same time shrinks the window down pretty small.

Microphones: pththth, I know for a fact that WE can all type pretty well.

But the big thing is: what game? Yeah, CoH works well, but I already played it to death, and also went back for a little nostalgia last year. I wanna play what I'm playing!

Currently in a KF3 match writing this while im dead.

Zombie posting!!

 

[neogunhero]

Forgot its a new month, my bday is on monday woooo, ill be at work.

Chug a beer before work, its your birthday

Currently in a KF3 match writing this while im dead. The game takes a steep increase in difficulty in its higher tiers.

How is KF3? I was a huge fan of the first two, but haven’t played either in a few years. From what I’ve seen, the only things I’m not a fan of from the new one is the hero/class system and I think the maps look a bit too clean. I miss the more horror-centric art style of the first game.

 

[Colif]

Save 20% on Titan Quest II on Steam

Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution, is out of control. She is corrupting the Threads of Fate and punishing all those who oppose her. Take up your weapon, fight alongside gods, and change fate itself in Titan Quest II, an action RPG inspired by Greek mythology.

store.steampowered.com

in early access finally, and 20% off price for a week
I already bought it and installed it, given it was the only known game I was buying this year...

I was meant to have done homework before this weekend to play games, but the rash on my leg distracted me for 3 days and maybe games wait another week.

 

[dxchase]

Yeah, it's nothing against anyone here, I just don't like to play games with people anymore. I barely play with my friends and even on my scheduled nights I typically want to avoid it, though I usually end up playing.

For me I think it's just that I've come to the realization that it's not how I enjoy playing games. My general mental mode is that of Helper/Support, so I end up playing something I'm not interested in or moving to a support role and not playing how I want to play, which is usually as an Open Ended Explorer.

Being that I spend my days taking care of my family, it's the last thing that I want to do during my game time; I don't find it relaxing.

I used to play lots of competitive multiplayer stuff with my friends and that was fun, but I'm just not terribly interested in that type of game anymore, so that's another thing that keeps me from playing games with people.

Ultimately, it's my own personality flaw. I want to play games how I want to play them, when I want to play them and what I want to play. When I'm with other people my brain switch's to support mode to make sure everyone is having a good time and that's no longer gaming and relaxing for me.

I'm the same way brother! Played competitively when i was younger, even not too long ago but my attitude through all of it has always been that id rather just play solo so i can play my way and it becomes easier and more accepting to do so when you get older. Even before my competitive phases as a teen a lot of what i played as a child was solo anyways. I think its also apart of why i cant keep a twitch presence outside of not getting viewers lol.

Also and not to sound corny or anything its not a flaw, its a feature. At least thats what i tell myself

Chug a beer before work, its your birthday

Haha, now, would that be different than any other night i go to work?

How is KF3? I was a huge fan of the first two, but haven’t played either in a few years. From what I’ve seen, the only things I’m not a fan of from the new one is the hero/class system and I think the maps look a bit too clean. I miss the more horror-centric art style of the first game.

You might be disappointed with it. Im not, and im a KF1 and KF2 veteran as well and ive had a lot of fun with whats there. The maps have been re-worked and look bloody, the game itself is also pretty bloody.

The hero/class sytem is being reworked and changed and, according to tripwire, will be in a patch in the upcoming couple months. So yes, its still limited right now, but its not bad enough for me to not play the game at all.

But, it looks and feels like a different direction from the first 2, it still has that core gameplay loop (kill zeds, spend dosh, buy cosmetics, upgrade perks, rinse repeat), but, for the most part, everything else feels and looks different from the guns to the zeds to the menus etc..

I would say give it a shot, at least the basic edition. Also id say remember that KF1 and KF2 were both very bare-bones when they first came out before the years and years of updates and patches.

I think a lot of the review bombing comes from this mistake, along with misinformation and basic toxicity. It DOES have problems but its not as if there arent many games that launch without them and its not even close to being too broken to play.



Speaking of launches, i have been playing Titan Quest 2 and its pretty damn good for an early access shadow-dropped ARPG (in a market that is saturated with them). There is a lot here and i do like the Greek mythology and theme to everything. Im still playing Diablo 4 but im really glad to play this and to see it grow in the meantime. 25 (usd) for it is a pretty great asking price too.

 

[BeardyHat]

I'm the same way brother! Played competitively when i was younger, even not too long ago but my attitude through all of it has always been that id rather just play solo so i can play my way and it becomes easier and more accepting to do so when you get older. Even before my competitive phases as a teen a lot of what i played as a child was solo anyways. I think its also apart of why i cant keep a twitch presence outside of not getting viewers lol.

Also and not to sound corny or anything its not a flaw, its a feature. At least thats what i tell myself

Yeah, I always played by myself as a kid as well. My sister and I used to play together, but eventually she stopped playing as she got older, so it was just me and then around age 10, I started PC gaming and that's always been way more solitary than consoles.

That said, around the time of Half-Life my friend got into PC gaming as well and we ended-up playing Counter-Strike in Alpha together every day after school; tying up one phone line with the modem and the other with our phone call. In 1999 we switched to Everquest and even there while we still talked on the phone constantly, we were usually doing our own thing separately.

Last night I was absolutely torn. I really wanted to watch All Quiet on the Western Front, as I haven't seen it, my wife is out of town and I know she wouldn't watch it with me. But, it was also technically my game night with my friends, which I ultimately decided is what I should do, given my wife will be out of town until Wednesday, so I'll have other nights to watch the movie.

So, they ended-up buying me Solasta : Crown of the Magister to play Co-Op with them and I must say, it was a lot of fun. I was reluctant to play it, but figured it was something to do with them and I absolutely had a great time. They said they might play again tonight, so I may pick it back up with them after dinner tonight and then take a break to put the kids to bed.

We all decided on crass, stupid names for our characters and I must say, I'm pretty proud of my crass name for my Dwarf Cleric: Badtouch Goochgroper

Other than that, I've been trying to decide what platform to play more Civ 6 on. My run on my tablet seems to be going nowhere, as I've forgotten how to play, so I was thinking I'd start a new game, but I can't decide if I'll play on my Tablet, Laptop or Steam Deck (Between the two, it looks like 2k Cloud Saves aren't working, though I'm sure I could manually transfer the saves). The tablet version is lovely to play, huge screen, easy controls and very portable. Only problem is, between the low resolution and graphics settings, I find it can be difficult to figure out what is what on my screen. I'm also concerned, since it's a low-end tablet, if I play a standard sized game, it'll be very laggy. Though I guess there's only one way to find out.

Laptop is nice because it's a "huge" screen at 16", plus 4k, plus the highest graphics settings, but it can be cumbersome and it gets hot in my lap, which is annoying.

Steam Deck is nice, but the smallest screen. That said, the controls are well setup and require less overall movement of my hands and fingers than either of the other two options, as everything is hotkeyed onto the gamepad. It's also a little less comfortable than the tablet and possibly even the laptop, because I have to hold it, versus setting it on the side of the couch or even resting it in my lap.

Anyway, that is all.

 

[Pifanjr]

My kid returned today after staying at my parents' for an entire week and I got almost no gaming done while she was away. The only thing I did was the occasional day of Stardew Valley on my phone, for some reason I didn't feel like picking up any of the games I have going on my PC.

Only yesterday evening did my wife and I finally play Baldur's Gate 3 again. We decided to start over since it had been so long since we last played, but I don't think we'd gotten very far since the game kept crashing and we had no idea on how to play. It seems a lot more stable now, probably due to a combination of patches and playing on a much better PC.

This time we just made it to the glade before we stopped, though I managed to steal some nice equipment with a little bit of save scumming after my wife already stopped playing, which will come in handy when we continue.

We all decided on crass, stupid names for our characters and I must say, I'm pretty proud of my crass name for my Dwarf Cleric: Badtouch Goochgroper

We weren't quite as crass, but we did pick stupid names. My wife made a Tiefling Bard named Tika Watitty and I made a Gnome Rogue named Richard Gnixon.

 

[Zloth]

I'm back into Distant Worlds 2 somehow. I really need to either finish BG3 or give up on it. Elden Ring has been waiting to be played for far too long now.

We weren't quite as crass, but we did pick stupid names. My wife made a Tiefling Bard named Tika Watitty and I made a Gnome Rogue named Richard Gnixon.

Otherwise known as Tricky Gdick??

 

[Johnway]

Still playing blasphemous and haven't made much progress map wise, i got stuck fighting Exposito, scion of abjuration, a snack thing with a scorpion tail. I spend time back tracking and doing a few things before i had another stab at the boss. My main problem was trying to hit the bloody thing. Turned out that if you couldn't hit the head, you hit the discoloured body part and i assume something happened.

but thats a mute point, i completed some side content and got myself a sweet spell/prayer (Debla of the lights) that just fried it. At this point i had a massive health and energy bar so it was easy.

now i'm a little miffed where to go next, the one location i can go isn't my first choice as the monsters seem to be damage sponges and do a lot of damage, suggesting i shouldn't go there yet. i might back track again and see what else i can do.

 

[BeardyHat]

Still playing blasphemous and haven't made much progress map wise, i got stuck fighting Exposito, scion of abjuration, a snack thing with a scorpion tail. I spend time back tracking and doing a few things before i had another stab at the boss. My main problem was trying to hit the bloody thing. Turned out that if you couldn't hit the head, you hit the discoloured body part and i assume something happened.

but thats a mute point, i completed some side content and got myself a sweet spell/prayer (Debla of the lights) that just fried it. At this point i had a massive health and energy bar so it was easy.

now i'm a little miffed where to go next, the one location i can go isn't my first choice as the monsters seem to be damage sponges and do a lot of damage, suggesting i shouldn't go there yet. i might back track again and see what else i can do.

I need to get back to that one. I played about an hour or so of it on my Deck a month or so ago and that was about it, but it's still on my mind as something I really want to get back to.

There's something broken in my brain, I swear. I've been playing a lot of Civ 6 on my tablet, but been switching between it and my Deck/Laptop because I'm disatisfied with the performance and resolution, as mentioned. So what do I do? Well, I bought another tablet. A 5-year old flagship with a significantly better processor for $170 out the door on eBay. Yeah, it no longer receives updates, but that's not a huge deal and it's also got custom ROMs I can install on it.

Why am I like this?

To be fair to myself for a minute: My Wife saw my tablet I bought myself a few weeks ago and immediately wanted it, so I'll probably just give it to her. On top of that, while I like this tablet and think the screen is good, I could have made a better choice had I been aware I was going to game on it. I probably would have looked at an older flagship in the first place, rather than a budget one to begin with.

Anyway, back to Civ 6.

 

[Pifanjr]

Otherwise known as Tricky Gdick??

Actually, Richard Gnixon is just the fancy version of his actual name, Dick Gnick. Which isn't the name his parents gave him of course, but as an orphaned urchin growing up in Baldur's Gate it's the name he was known by; a name given to him by his peers as a reference to his signature technique (one does not have the luxury to fight with honour growing up on the streets, especially not when you're less than 3 feet tall).

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Was looking at the trailers for Hell Is Us and it looks pretty good. Not quite a Soulslike but not character action fast either. Noticed at the same time that the dev is Nacon who made Mordheim: City of the Damned and its on sale for 1.99 so I picked it up.

I gave up on First Berserker: Khazan. 30 hours in and the level and enemy variety gets kind of boring and samey. The bosses were fun but getting to them was becoming a boring grind. Probably would have liked it more if it was shorter. I'll be watching for whatever Neople do next, because that combat system is fun.

 

[neogunhero]

I spent this past weekend gaming so much, more than I have in a very long time. It's all because I got access to the Skate. closed playtest. It is closed, and we are under NDA, so I guess I can't talk about it too much, but it should be out in early access for everyone pretty soon within a couple months. However, this is one of the best games I've played in a very long time. Perhaps I'm overexaggerating it because to me it's a perfect return to form for the franchise, but there are definitely some issues that aren't just pre-alpha bugs, so it's not completely flawless. I played maybe a good 10 hours since Friday night which is insane for me.

First all, you have to sign up for the playtest via EA's website. If you do this, I also recommend signing up for the BF6 playtest if you're interested. It took a good month for me to get my invite email, but I immediately downloaded it the minute I saw it. I'm a very long time Skate fan, loved all three games on Xbox, so this was a big deal to me. It's been 15 years since Skate 3 came out.

Without going into too much detail (hopefully no EA employees browse this forum, most of which I'm saying is already public knowledge), it feels perfect like Skate 3. The Skate franchise has always walked a very thin line between being too realistic and being too arcadey, and with this new one it hits that perfectly once again.

The MMO aspects are absolutely amazing, seeing tons of other players skating around the world and being able to interact with them is awesome. Skate 3 feels lifeless compared to this new one. You can battle them 1 on 1, create a party, or just skate with some strangers you see. The most fun is when you and another person start placing objects and make an impromptu skate spot, and you keep iterating upon it. That was one of the best gaming experiences I've had in so long.

I'm basically addicted to this game now. It does suffer from a lot of "modernization" (cosmetics shop, cringe writing, Fortnite-adjacent art style), but the core gameplay is extremely solid and that's what matters the most with this game.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yesterday I played two rounds of Noita. The first round was going very well, I got some good spells, a good amount of money and I made it to the second Holy Mountain with quite a lot of life left. At the second Holy Mountain I picked up a perk that gave me four spidery legs that allowed me to climb and stick to walls and ceilings, which was pretty useful.
At least, it seemed useful until I realized I had lost the ability to fly. Not being used to having my mobility restricted like that I died pretty quickly after into the third area.

In the second round I decided to just go deep as fast as possible. I got the telekinesis perk, which is awesome as flying debris does a ton of damage to enemies, one-shotting basically all of them. At least, if you hit them and they don't destroy the projectile while you're holding it. Except the one that was seemingly immune to kinetic damage and ended up killing me because I had no good wands to fall back on.

---

Today I told my kid she was allowed a bit more screen time if she played something educational. She decided to play Treasure MathStorm!, a game from my childhood that I had shown to her. She had played it in a browser emulator before but when she started it up all her progress was lost (even though I had tested it before to make sure it could save).
So I decided to get a local copy and get the Dutch version while I was at it. I thought it would just be a matter of getting a copy and running it in Dosbox, as that was what the website emulator did, but it turned out that the Dutch version was only ever released for Windows. Cue me spending several hours getting Windows 3.1 installed in Dosbox (with a switch to Dosbox Staging as apparently the regular Dosbox is obsolete), installing drivers, getting the game installed and then making a custom shortcut that loads directly into the game.

But it works! Now to get some more DOS and old Windows games to show my kid what I had to work with when I was her age.

 

[Zloth]

But it works! Now to get some more DOS and old Windows games to show my kid what I had to work with when I was her age.

So, she'll be playing Where in Pangaea is Carmen Sandiego?

 

[Pifanjr]

So, she'll be playing Where in Pangaea is Carmen Sandiego?

I never played Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, but my wife did and she really loved it. Her first recommendation however was Lenny's Music Toons, which I hadn't even heard of before meeting her.

 

[Colif]

I think even if you did know this game this would be confusing

22 minutes for the full game. Saves on viewing time.

 

[neogunhero]

But it works! Now to get some more DOS and old Windows games to show my kid what I had to work with when I was her age.

I highly recommend Humongous Entertainment games. They have so many good games to choose from, it's hard to pick a bad one. As a kid I was especially fond of Freddie Fish and Pajama Sam. They have since put a lot of them on Steam if you want to go that route as well.

---

---

More Skate last night. My GPU and CPU were running INSANELY hot when playing that game. Both would reach 76c and hover around there. I turned off PBO in Ryzen Master and my CPU immediately went down to around 50, while GPU stayed the same. For a pre-alpha game this is to be expected, but still it was very shocking at first to see my CPU get that hot. It has never gotten close to 70c ever before.