J7SC_Orion

...several places, including this...

An update on the recent X3 PHEV addition....just over 3K km on the odometer now since getting it new mid-May. Properly warming the engine up and using mostly the gas option for one way of a roundtrip while going back the other way completely on electric power works very well, also re. milage (> 43 mpg / US). I also switch to electric when in stop-and-go traffic on certain stretches but mostly divide their workload into the aforementioned trip segments...much calmer and less wear on the engine, starter and such, IMO. Most of the driver aids are turned off, and I do like to have the touchscreen for various things but augmented by real 'analog' volume buttons for the sound system (the same for climate controls) It is a bit strange but welcome when on 'electric only' to feel the gear changes as the electric motor is integrated into the transmission. Switching it to xtraboost (gas and electric power combining) is a fun thing to do on a curve mountain road Even without the electric boost, the turbo-4 is very torquey

...cutting free fruit ? That's going too far

I see more and more folks trying to sell their 14900K systems now with sizable discounts, sometimes with Z790 mobo, RAM - the whole lot. Intel also announced suspension of dividends and the potential for job cuts after 'not meeting sales expectations' this quarter. I still have more Intel CPUs than AMD, but my last four purchases were all AMD 16c/32t of different gens (got the first one in November 2018). I hope Intel finds its way through this and AMD stays 'humble' since we as consumers benefit from real competition. Below is Intel's ytd stock price - ouch. This comes at a time when Intel is trying to grow in the discreet GPU market (say hi to NVidia at the top and AMD in the middle), defend their server / enterprise share and expand building new fabs....those fabs take many billions of $s capital cost upfront and three++ years before any return on investment - and a hidden flaw can ruin the best-laid plans. In my humble opinion (I may be wrong), Intel's root problems started with their last CEO, a time when Intel was not led by someone with a decent/any engineering background.

...new monitor above led to a major home office shuffle of seven systems and their screens; 'of course' the HDMI 2.1 cables I had in reserve were too short for the new layouts, so I picked up 2x long (3meter each) Club3D HDMI 2.1 cables today

20 gb ? ...new AMD MI300 Instinct series

My 40 inch Philips workstation panel started dying last night . It served me well for close to a decade, first as a primary, then as a secondary workstation. My LG C1 48 OLED is still going strong, so I wanted something more pedestrian which could also have the setup for television etc. I ended up getting a HiSense 43 inch A68N (2024 model) today for ~US $ 250...It cannot quite compete with the OLED but heck, these tv/monitors (3 x HDMI) have come a long way in terms of picture and sound quality; this thing has HDR / Dolby Vision etc and it looks really good !

... you really should try this; it is such a joy ! A 3080 Ti / 3090 / 6800 / 6900 gets you into some decent fps for 1440 (slower for 4K) but 4090 is gangbusters at 4K120 OLED and with the extra features the 4090 gets. That plus 7950X3D is all that I need for now, besides, that combo also works great on CP2077 Ultra.

Real weather-flying in Reykjavik, then real weather / stormfront in the S.Pacific, finally ice-fog diving in Antarctica

These days: Good ol' days

I paid ~$US 40; it was the last one they had before stocking the Flare II

I still have some of the original 'IBM clickclack' in storage downstairs, but it has no RGB, so there is that ...a few months ago, I picked up the Asus Flair for 70% off (last one in the store) - it is actually a great keyboard to work and play on, and feels and sounds 'very mechanical'

With the exception of an old Cyrix, I only ever bought Intel CPUs for work & play until late 2018...now I have AMD TR 2950X, 3950X, 5950X and 7950X3D...I will take a close look at Intel's Arrow Lake and the Ryzen 9K / X3D but am in no hurry at this stage. I know die-hard Intel fans who are switching from Intel to AMD even for the current 7950X, that includes hosting and 'server-for-rent' commercial operators who have been taking a bath on downtime and replacements for 13900K/KS but especially 14900K/KS

...close call for AMD Ryzen 9k ?

A new 'broader acceptance /app supported' graphics resolution such as 8K240 might require a RTX 6090ti ...and my 4K 120 OLED (which I adore) is really the 'limiting factor' now. Good thing though that AMD's brand new AGESA primarily released for Ryzen 9K has some new goodies for Ryzen 7K as well (ie. my 7950X3D) such as 'Curve Shaper', so not done yet...btw, the max CPU Package Power for the 7950X3D I've seen is in the mid 160 Ws range. What I still hope for is support for > DDR5 8000 for the Ryzens; I am running a GSkill 8400 kit but 8200 (w/bclk) is the current sane limit per bclk though w/more crazy bclk, I had it at 8600 already. 100 x84, 100 x86 and may be 100 x88 would be perfect if enabled. In any case, this fall should be interesting, what with Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake and AMD's 9950X3D - and possibly the NVidia RTX 5090, though rumours still diverge on that one re. Q4 / '24 or Q1 / '25 intro.

More detail on Zen5 architecture and chipsets in the vid below. I will take a close look at 9950X3D when it is released in the fall but unless I transfer the 7950X3D to another productivity setup, I am in no hurry to upgrade from it. If I do, very likely keep the current Aorus X670E Master mobo and the 48 GB of 8400 DDR5.

...a lot of serious stories around quick-degrading Intel i9s ...AMD 9950 looks promising (same socket until 2027 or so). I am more likely to wait for 9950X3D though would also like to get info first on Intel's first real new desktop architecture. My current setup has a lot of legs left anyhow...

Thanks Here are some higher-res collage pics, some of it has not been shown before

...some interesting new 'dominos' available at the end of the month ! I might try to hold out until the 9950X3D as I am running my 7950X3D at DDR5 8200 already...time will tell, though Zen5 / AM5 looks like a definite winner for AMD ! Who knows, perhaps even @bonami2 will chuck Intel for a while ?

Some low-light shots...'RGB can be any colour as long as it is blue...' ...and back to the beginning...

Some detail pics...the new frame lined up perfectly and sits in front of the TT Core P8. Behind it in TT Core P8 is room for the Z77-based firewall. The beauty is that I could add another system which is much easier to access for service and upgrades (those dominos again) WITHOUT any additional footprint taking away from my home office work area After leak-testing and mounting a partial section of tempered glass, the 7950X3D and 5950X are enjoying some blue-tint harmony. This whole project was made easier by the Koolance QD4s I use. The 1440 mm x 64 mm triple-core rads stayed the same (with push/pull Arctic P12s of course) as did the 3x D5 pumps. A thorough flush was in order though, along with simplified loop routing. After that, 4.25 liters of new deionized water along with some XSPC EC6 biocide.

Below are new /additional parts and things for the 7950X3D / RTX 4090 rebuild project (and also future builds as I like to have a 'reserve' of certain items). I wanted a new PCIe 5.0 / ATX 3.0 PSU. While not quite as good as the Seasonic PX Prime Platinum 1300 I used before in this build, this will do (the price was very good, as is the warranty) and it has a strong review re. 12V ripples. The Seasonic will experience its own domino travels soon... Below is the cleaned-up Bykski block, with one layer of Kapton tape. The 12VHPWR connector (handling > 600 W since October 2022) looks pristine, probably because I am a bit paranoid about the 12VHPWR cable and connectors. This time, I used only half as much TG PP 10 thermal putty as in the last re-mount. I still have some new TG pp 10 vacuum-sealed in the fridge for future builds... The final step was to remount the extra heatsink on the back of the RTX 4090 backplate. In addition, there is TG PP 10 between the back of the 12VHPWR connector and the GPU's backplate as that VRM area gets quite toasty...furthermore, there is a 140 mmm fan blowing down along the 12VHPWR cable and also reaching the backplate's heatsink. In addition, there are 3x Arctic P12s blowing from the left...

As to the 'dominos' in the title, here is the first iteration of the customized TT Core P8 / two mobos, then the second: ...meanwhile, the Asus Strix 3090 OC had moved over to my previous 'top system' (in 2018/19), an AMD Threadripper 2950X / MSI X399 Creation with dual RTX 20280 Ti. With the RTX 3090 on board as well, that 3x RTX GPU system is great for productivity such as rendering and even machine learning. Then another 'domino' trigger - in wandered an Aorus 670E / 7950X3D / DDR5 (48 and 96 GB GSkill kits, one for DDR5 8400 at 1.4V. The 3950X that was there before moved on as a separate development server after getting upgraded with 128 GB of DDR4 (DR) 3600...

Here is the hot spot delta problem...top right is the original water-block mount for the 4090 which held steady great and steady temps over a year, but VRAM tended to be too cold... Bottom left shows the deteriorating hot spot delta after multiple remounts with different layers of Kapton tape... Bottom right shows the recent rebuild of the GPU (including PTM 7950) with steady for close to a month.

For many years, new 'leading-edge' hardware eventually moves on from 2/3rds fun to 2/3rds productivity in my use cases. Recently however, I had to make an 'unscheduled change' to deal with GPU hotspot problem that developed after trying out some different approaches to not-so-cool the VRAM on the 4090 as GDDR6X usually likes between 50 C and 60 C for best overclocks. I tried various layers of Kapton tape and arrived a decent solution - but it did not last as a hotspot delta problem became worse and worse, probably because I had not been careful enough when rushing the earlier remounts (three in one week). Since I knew that I had to rebuild that system anyway and as the original loop was part of a 2021 project with the liquids getting older, a bit more than just a rebuild was the result: 1. - converted the heavily modded TT Core P8 to handle three instead of two systems (the third, a Z77-based BSD firewall, sits behind the 'new addition' shown below) 2. - re-routed and simplified the loop for the 7950X3D / 4090 setup, along with a thorough flush and 4.25 liters of new liquids (rads, QD4s and pumps stayed the same) 3. - incorporate a second-hand mining frame I picked up cheap that came with 5 new Arctic P12 PST (btw, now have ~ 70 of those in service), along with a Deepcool fan hub. 4. - add a new CPU block (Alphacool Core 1 Aurora) and PTM 7950 phase-change thermal pads for both the CPU and GPU. Also, just one layer of Kapton tape and 50% less thermal putty (TG PP10) Starting at the end, here is the outcome: