J7SC_Orion

...currently watching the original series...

"DirectStorage is compatible with Windows 10 devices, but..." DirectStorage API Now Available on PC - DirectX Developer Blog DEVBLOGS.MICROSOFT.COM Starting today, Windows games can ship with DirectStorage. This public SDK release begins a new era of fast load times and detailed worlds in PC games by allowing developers to more fully utilize the speed of the...

...hopefully, cache-related loading times for MS FlightSim 2020 will improve

Very noice ! 900 SC next ? Also, by the time you forgot...

As much as I look forward to the new build around the Z690 Unify-X, I think the 'real' Intel kicker will be Meteor Lake as Intel rushed A L to try to make up lost ground due to prior bad management decisions, IMO. Since I already have plenty of modern systems, I can wait at least for the 12900KS at this late stage, or Raptor Lake (for LG1700). I also want to see some additional 'speed & timing' steps the DDR5 offerings which are sure to follow. Leaving out the issues around the yet-to-be-released-and-fully-tested 5800X3, I have been nothing but thrilled by my AMD systems (well beyond Cinebench ), whether it is the 2950X, 3950X or 5950X. These were/are my first AMD CPUs (I still run more Intel CPUs overall, mostly HEDT) and I have zero complaints, especially at the prices I paid. I've had no issues re. bios, speed or anything else really, and the 5950X is very fast, even on low core / single core, compared to most CPU - never mind 16C/32T. Apart from that, ALL work-play system in my home office, including both systems below, run 4K anyhow (up to 120Hz / oled), so marginal CPU differences are much less pronounced. So you might say that I have graduated to disliking Intel and AMD more or less equally now...

I keep some cans of Rustoleum Flat Black around - perfect for such 'operations'...

...Just a few 'general' observations on this. BCLK oc'ing was s.th. I did automatically with prior Intel systems (desktop, HEDT)...and with strap 100, BCLK of 103.5 was usually my starting point. As BCLK clocking also affects PCIe peripherals and RAM, it was mostly trial and error to find that magic max stable point. Generally, up to 105 was considered 'mostly safe' back then. ...my two X570 boards (3950X, 5950X) are much trickier re. BCLK...dropped drives and other 'niceties' can happen, or just a massive loss in overall performance. Keep in mind that the more recent Ryzen CPUs are already 'hyped' right out of the box (more on that below). Also, PCIe 4.0 is much more sensitive to deviations of BCLK than PCIe 3.0, and depending on the Ryzen chip in question, the same holds for the internal Infinity Fabric. ...there are some boards that let you adjust the PCIe clock separately from BCLK, but given the 'hyped from the factory' nature of these chips, your best bet is to throw good RAM at it and then use Ryzen Dram calculator to max your specific set...that is after you set the best possible PBO/2 for the processor. The recent Ryzens love fast & tight RAM and really wake up with the right combo. Almost more important is 'extensive if not overkill' cooling, given the internal boost algorithms that have temps as a major input that determines burst and sustained speed.

Free advice (worth as much as you pay for it ) would be to stick to either 3501 or 3801 until they come up with a bios set that can clearly distinguish the 5800V3cache procs...with all that extra cache 'heater' sitting between the heat spreader and the CPU on the V3, the temporary solution for AMD is simply to curtail voltage and speed for all Vermeers. They do have V3 cache models in the Epyc X line-up from 8 to 64 cores which work fine, but they clock much lower to begin with, plus they use a much bigger (TR style) IHS. FYI, I never had any USB / Sata issues on 3501...and performance is great. As to Windows, in spite of Microsoft's continued 'efforts' on my desktops, I stick with Win 10 pro for now - but it is to some extent a personal choice. Until I have a chance to examine the external TPM modules, I won't even think of upgrading from Win 10 Pro to Win 11 pro.

...it depends on the update. I have rolled back some security patches while others were 'sticky'; 'feature and optional' updates are usually easier to roll back. BTW, if you have a fresh install and a spare drive, you might as well make a copy of your new install and set it aside 'for future reference', unpolluted and all that. 13304 R23 sounds good, btw.

I look forward to the progression pics of your build - it's been a long time coming ! As to naming your build, you actually don't have to call it anything, inanimate object and all that. I do like naming them though as I have multiple systems for work and play, some of which are identically configured (for failover and back-up purposes etc.), so names help, and I love animals... Orca came about because I was building up the Threadripper with a black, white and silver theme, we happened to be on a ferry near here and saw an Orca pod w/ those colours; they're very big, just like the Threadripper (eATX) system wearing their colours. 'Ravens Nest' naming came about because where I drive to for my morning workout, there are plenty of Ravens...I usually grab a Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich on the way, and made the error once and shared a bit of the sandwich with a single Raven. These days, there are a horde of them waiting for me (they recognize my SUV), and they're getting pretty aggressive - one of the regulars sits on glass roof looking down at my sandwich, while another sits by the A-pillar on the rear of the hood, giving me 'the eye'... a bit like Hitchcock's 'the birds', but friendlier (for now)...

I updated to the most recent AMD chipset drivers and there is a minor performance hit around L3 cache, but that is likely due to select security mitigation from what I have read. I never had any SATA or USB issues to begin with, and the latest drivers work well also in that regard on my Win 10 systems. Mobo vendors also tend to list 'their' chipset drivers on their support pages...sometimes, they can have their own 'versions', so may be check your mobo's support pages. There has also been a flurry of Windows patches lately (including btw for Win 7), perhaps related to geopolitical events, and they do seem to cost a bit of performance as well. Better safe than sorry ?!

I use both w-cooled 3090 and 6900XT on work-play systems...for older titles, 6900XT is great, for ray traced and 4K, I prefer the 3090. Either one is plenty, though...

Tx Bastiaan - yeah, I've read a lot about 12900kx cooling issues, bending IHS and/or boards, extra washers and the like...as they shrink the bigger monolithic dies down re. nm, that will become even more of an issue. I haven't delidded since Z77 for direct-die, but I might have to sharpen those razer blades (or buy s.th. from DerBauer)

You got a nice 6900XT at a very good price...if it would have been the MSI Gaming Trio 'Z' at Microcenter, it would have been a slightly different ballgame... In any case, depending on your overall cooling (!), do check out 'MPT' via Igor's lab

Nice one !, Bastiaan I'm looking forward to some Z690 fun myself, but so far my mobo is 'totally air-cooled,' as in nothing on it....waiting for KS and the DDR5 I want to release. BTW, which water-block are you using for the LG1700 ? I'm thinking I'll stick with the usual suspects...

There are lots of different variants (XTX, XTXH) and custom versions of the 6900XT - which one did you get vs which one did Microcenter advertise?

...I have got to do the ' x -1' thing as I have too many fav CPUs. But the least favourite / most hated was a 5960X Haswell-E I lovingly called 'nemesis'...the X99 boards with the unauthorized (by Intel) 'OC pins' were a mess to begin with, especially with the early bios. But nemesis was a particularly crazy sample... ...no matter how stable nemesis appeared to be after days /weeks of various successful stress tests, every three weeks or so, it would blue-screen with Q-codes all over the place and no rhyme or reason, usually with only light loads. I finally made peace with it, assembled it into an underclocked system with Corsair Dominator Platinum and a EVGA Classified and gave it away to some friends' kids. I even drove 40km to deliver it - it felt good after I left their driveway.

...I feel you re. Microsoft Redmond stuff...I don't know how many times I successfully 'killed' or disabled' Cortana and Microsoft Edge for example, only to have them pop up again after the next 'security patch update'. Never mind their incessant need re. their attempted cloud interweaving into my home office systems (in a different country / jurisdiction), even if I manage a software firm re. IP protection...in spite of all the warnings and court judgements against Microsoft, to them, it is just the cost of doing business. With that in mind, most of our commercial stuff is now on some form of xBSD and Linux. I would still dearly love to switch over everything else, but there's 'DirectX'....if that could be substituted for on a larger scale (ie. beyond Vulkan) I would be 'outta here'. Kudos re. your Cinebench R23! Re. below, I realize that 16 full-test cores / 32 threads are a different ballgame than Alder Lake, even at ambient temps...I'm just now getting ready for Z690 (only have the mobo so far), but what you posted is extremely impressive ! FYI, between the 3950X and 5950X results for CineBR23 below, I can't tell the difference at all in daily ops...

In my experience, MX5 is just a degree or two better than MX4, but otherwise the same - MX5 is now my 'go-to-paste', just as MX4 was since 2013 or so ! Can't go wrong for longer-term applications (I still got MX4 systems running from 8 years ago...) I do also use Gelid GC Extreme for select applications, but only because it is and stays 'thicker' for apps when I'm not sure that either the IHS and/or cold plate are perfectly straight (my 6900XT comes to mind). FYI, I'm also a great fan of TG 50 - 10 thermal putty for specific use such as for VRAM etc

...once you have all your super-clean ingredients, a couple of other things and tips for your loop assembly... 1.) if you're building a loop with multiple components (such as several rads, pumps, blocks), I pre-fill each component separately, including the tubing, with liquids before closing the adjacent parts of the loop. This makes even more sense when you have 1200++ 60 ++ loop components re. subsequent air-bubble chasing and bleeding. 2.) especially with 1.) but even w/o it, I am very mindful of touching certain parts such as fittings with my hands, or even breathing on it. No sense having all the clean / distilled / deionized products for a loop, then messing things up by breathing on an open loop, or checking fittings with your bare hands after you visited the fridge for an extra slice of cheddar and Calabrese pizza speaking from experience

For cleaning / flushing, both are ok. I use the purest deionized water to add to my 'specialty pc cooling liquids'...typically, over 90% is distilled and/or deionized water-based anyway.

So far so good up here on Canada's Pacific Coast - never mind the current atmospheric rivers hitting us. Both distilled and deionized water (the latter is my preference for 'puters though both will work) available also at auto-parts stores. Just one chain store here, as of today,

banned coz that made me re-watch Hooningan for some reason

"dang, I could have been an oldist" ban

Yeah, 30mm height can be an issue (the aforementioned Sunon 5K rpm are 30 mm), even if one has the space as they need special screws.