Mr. Fox

But... I didn't care until it affected me and others like me that do not like it. Hopefully Intel doesn't turn out like Micro$lop; meaning every new product release is crappier (less performant, less reliable, less autonomy, more restrictive, more bloated, more illogical and uglier to look at) than the product that came before it.

Yeah, the Infinity Fabric crap has never been great and it was one of the things that I found objectionable about Ryzen architecture. I still do, but now with Intel going stupid and moving to chiplets with Core Ultra they have a similar interface. I hate it for both brands. Big die monolithic processors will always be superior to the glued-together gamerboy chiplet rubbish. I think I am going to be done with my Ryzen memory tuning for a while. It's a bit more tedious than Intel memory tuning (which is tedious enough in its own rights, LOL). Anyone that wants to give these settings a go with their AM5 DDR5 setup, feel free... This was good enough that I wrote the settings to my memory module user profile space. The screenshots show BIOS pages where anything was changed from default. The water cooling is certainly working well. After lots of stress testing the RAM temps have maxed out like 38°C.

Yes both of my large desktops use external 360x360 radiators. My SFF work PC uses the EK direct die AIO. When it comes to RAM overclocking, 9950X is not as bad as I expected it to be. Not as capable as Z790, but solid progress for AMD.

I am having fun. As you know, I have owned many AMD products and never liked any of them. This is the first and I like it a lot. I'm impressed, and happy to be able to say that since I never have been in the past (talking CPUs and GPUs). No regrets... great CPU. I don't know if the MSI firmware is bugged or what, but I cannot set each CCD for a different core ratio. When I try that they stay locked at 43x for some reason. I haven't tried using Ryzen Master, but I don't really want that cancer corrupting my OS. So, at this time I am using all-core overclocking. Another update: I removed the worthless stock G.SKILL heatsinks heating blankets and have the memory on water now in the Carbon. Huge improvement (like 20-25°C) in memory temps under load. It's really too bad this is a 4-DIMM motherboard. I could have used the IceMan RAM blocks and the memory overclocking would also be better. This was hitting 55-60°C in TM5 before, usually erroring out due to overheating. No more. Now I can remove that crappy little Noctua fan. It has always been the case that I find my overclocked RAM works so much better when water-cooled. This time was no exception. (lots of new bubbles in the loop now, LOL... will clear up in a day or so)

Best personal all-time best score for Cinebench R23. And, I still have thermal headroom if the silicon quality is able to handle more. https://hwbot.org/submission/5702114_

Well, I ordered the parts from Thermal Grizzly and got the 9950X decapitated and on bare die. Success! https://imgur.com/a/HAftuqu Before Decapitation ^^^ IHS Removed ^^^ - I had to move the IHS back and forth with the Delid Die Mate about 75 times before it came loose. Liquid Metal Application ^^^ Micro Direct Die Block ^^^ CPU in socket (Kapton tape to prevent CPU from lifting out of socket with MDD block) ^^^ Installed... ^^^ Finished Product ^^^ Before Delid ^^^ After Delid ^^^ Before Delid ^^^ After Delid ^^^ AIDA64 5-Minute Stress Test (ambient 79°F / 26°C) - normalized at 72°C I also noticed that with the latest BIOS that Benchmate is bugged and not reading the core voltage correctly. The core voltage is fixed at 1.250V and other monitoring software confirms the same.

Finally got around to installing Linux on the Ryzen build.

I still have two Intel systems, both of which are beasts. I had four and too much of the same thing (one Z690 and three Z790 with 13th and 14th Gen i9 processors). So, I sold the two least-used of the four and used the money for the AMD build. This will give me something new and challenging to play with and allow me to rack up some HWBOT points. I was basically tapped out and no longer able to gain any points on HWBOT because my results were maxed out. I would have needed to do LN2 to make any further progress. The new Core Ultra CPUs are a downgrade due to the reduced thread count and stunted overclocking headroom, so it did not make any sense to waste money on a Z890 build. We'll see if Intel brings something better in their next product offering. They are in guinea pig mode right now and homey don't play dat.

https://www.overclock.net/threads/msi-x870e-x870-meg-mpg-mag-overclocking-discussion-thread.1812293/page-3?post_id=29391228#post-29391228

My Apex beast has a new younger brother to fight with. I just built an AMD system and in the process of figuring out how to tune Ryzen 9 for maximum overclocked benching performance. Very different than what I am used to. I know seeing this is going to cause brain damage to a few people, LOL. Once I get my bearings I will be ordering the Thermal Grizzly Mycro and Delid Die Mate from Brother @der8auer for added thermal headroom on my water chiller. RAM cooling parts are on the way, along with an EXPO 8000 kit. At the moment I am using an XMP 8000 kit, manually tuned. I am liking it so far. Hoping to learn a few things specific to AMD from our resident AMD HWBOT pros. https://hwbot.org/submission/5686810_ https://hwbot.org/submission/5686765_

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K Sold Out In a Flash In Japan & Out of Stock In US Too, Retailers Confirm Supply Is Low WCCFTECH.COM Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has seen good initial sales in the US & Japan's DIY market but the total shipped volume to retailers isn't high. Intel Core Ultra 285K already sold out, retailers expecting re-stock this weekend - NotebookCheck.net News WWW.NOTEBOOKCHECK.NET Intel's Core Ultra 285K processor, which is the flagship model from the newly released Arrow Lake-S series, has been sold out in Japan as well as the US. As per reports, retailers in Japan said that the processor is...

This nice thing is I have enough to keep me going for a long, long time if they don't do something I care about. I will just keep doing what I am doing and using what I already have and say no to chintzy new tech that I do not approve of.

Yes, I find it puzzling as well. It seems illogical that they did away with hyperthreading, and even more illogical that they didn't add more cores to make up for the loss. To some degree the Core Ultra launch may have some social experimentation aspects associated with it. They may have deliberately released a CPU that would predictably get rejected by enthusiasts to test the waters and see what the appetite of the general public is for performance downgrades on a platform with otherwise very desirable features. If there is an element of that involved and they are looking for public response as a measurment, then the more hate and discontent they experience the better off we will all be. Linux is so much better than Windows, and it is has gained tremendous ground on gaming. Most of the Windows-only titles I have experimented with on Steam function well, if not flawlessly, using Proton Experimental. No Steam Deck is needed. Works just as well on ordinary PC hardware. All you have to do is apply the setting in Steam client and download the games to your Linux machine. It comes as no surprise, but those that are least likely to work are game titles published my Micro$oft Studios. Some of those also don't work if you don't have a current version of the cancer OS with updates applied. The only reasons I still use Windows are because several products I am required to use every day for work only function on Windows; and, because I enjoy benching. Nothing on HWBOT supports Linux benching. (Sad that they do support smartphone benching, which is ludicrous.) All of my systems are multi-boot and my preference is using Linux. Otherwise, I would have no reason to waste drive space on a bloated and gimmick-driven data-mining Windows 10/11 spyware OS installation.

We agree on most of this. I probably dislike it the most just because I am an old school overclocker that doesn't give a hoot about "efficiency" or reducing power consumption, and while I enjoy gaming now and then it's not a primary concern for me. Had the new Core Ultra line not had issues with gaming performance being less than 13th and 14th Gen i9 CPUs there would likely be no controversy or complaining. It seems to mostly revolve around gaming performance being less than other factors. And, it's not BAD performance per se; it's just not better by much, or slightly less performant, depending on the game title. Lots of media-fueled drama and melodrama going on as it relates to gaming. So, to me that is just as silly or niche as my unhappiness about how this tiled crap screws up overclocking. I'm just part of a smaller niche than gamers. It looks like Core Ultra processors actually bring more to the table for productivity than anything else does and I really like a lot of the feature-rich aspects with Z890. What irks me the most about it is the elimination of hyperthreading, reduction in thread count and hybrid cocktail of P- and E-cores. They need to do one or the other. Either give me more P-cores that are hyperthreaded and ditch the E-cores, or ditch the P-cores and give me a ton of E-cores to make up the loss in thread count. I don't care what kind of core it is as long as it performs well and overclocks nicely. It would be better to do one or the other. Most of the issues with the gaming performance are Windows issues, not actual hardware issues. As Wendell noted, on Linux there are fewer issues with Core Ultra performance, even with gaming because Linux doesn't have the thread scheduler issues as much as Windows 11 does. Linux just grabs cores and uses them, as many as it can, rather than trying to "manage" them or maintain lower power consumption. And, I'd be lying if I said I was happy with the stupid NPU and AI-centric nonsense. I think most of us have already had a gut full of that stupidity. But, Micro$lop, Google and NVIDIA are hell-bent on pushing it and making it a thing whether the rest of the world agrees with it or not. I'd love to see the efforts on that front stall and ultimately fail. Everything is getting messy because of it. I can't even use my Google Suite products at work without AI nonsense being a constant source of inconvenience, unnecessary change and general disruption to workflow. This is probably accurate with respect to the Core Ultra line as a whole, but I don't see any market having 285K availability. If the extremely limited and nearly non-existent supply of 285K processors are only listed for purchase at inflated scalper prices (the only ones I see are few and far between for asinine prices) it makes perfect sense that nobody is buying them. They shouldn't buy them and would be silly to do so. I could see there being no interest in the lesser CPUs. If someone owns a mid- or low-range CPU from 13th or 14th Gen there is no reason I can think of that they should want to spend money on something newer. It would yield little benefit to anyone if the pursuit is gaming. Only the 285K really matters and it's not available for the most part. Most people in most places can't buy it even if they wanted it because nobody has any stock. A month ago the media mantra was the same, except nobody wanted Zen 5. This is becoming a pattern with the media.

Probably more in line with not having any to sell, especially the 285K flagship CPU. Seems like a trend of late whenever next gen parts hit store shelves. Was an issue with many recent Intel, AMD and NVIDIA product launches. It is usually the flagship or halo SKU that is most affected. I think demand is never as massive as the media plays it to be, but low supply gives the impression of high demand and creates a feeling of success that may be exaggerated and more perception than reality. It also foster scalping and price gouging. It does seem like supply is often an issue when TSMC is involved as well. Supply of low- and mid-range components (where poor silicon quality is less of a factor) is always better because they know the sheeple like cheap and they produce more of the cheap stuff for the zombie horde.

I think the lackluster Core Ultra launch is a reflection of the glued together mess. It made AMD suck and took a long time to make it palatable and Intel should expect the same. It's an inferior design concept overall. I think in this case Intel might have (should have) anticipated the decreased stock turbo clock speeds, poor overclocking and lower core/thread count and removal of hyperthreading would be poorly received by overclocking and performance PC enthusiasts, and the poor availability could be a calculated and deliberate move to avoid having excessive stock sitting on store shelves. Since they have farmed out the chiplet/tiled abortion to TSMC they need to be even more careful that production doesn't outstrip demand and force them to lower prices or sell product at a loss. If there was a monolithic 14th Gen CPU with 16 hyperthreaded P cores (32 thread) or a 15th Gen Z890 option that was equivalent P-cores (32 thread) and no tiled feces I would jump on either one in a heartbeat. Heck, I would even consider a monolithic 15th Gen with 32 E-cores and not even one P-core since the new E-cores overclock better than the crappy new Arrow Lake P-cores do. It is the hybrid/tiled/chiplet/fabric nonsense that sucks the most. Rubbish.

If Fan Control does not work (it does not function for all of my systems) you can also try Argus Monitor for fan control. I have found it to sometimes work in scenarios that Fan Control has not. I disable all the other features it has, because I don't want or need them, and leave only the fan controls enabled. Best Fan Control Software for Windows WWW.ARGUSMONITOR.COM Take a look a the best Fan Control Software for Windows. Control your fans based on all temperatures, like CPU, GPU, Mainboard, AIO liquid and external temperature sources.

Blessings and best wishes as you embark on the next stage in your life journey. May you find happiness, peace and personal satisfaction every step of the way, Brother E.

Excellent review, Brother @RageSet. Looks like a nice case. And, the pricing is certainly attractive as well. Well done! Have a nice weekend.

Nice job on the review, Brother @pio. Well done, easy to read and informative.

A powerful CPU is not necessary for gaming. The GPU is more important. As long as the CPU is not so weak that it becomes a bottleneck, it really doesn't matter that much. And, if gaming at 4K isn't something that is important, you don't even need a beast GPU. You can have a decent gaming experience at 1080p or 1440p with an inexpensive midrange GPU. Heck, I have been playing games the past couple of days on a Xeon E5-1680 V2 (8C/16T) X79 CPU overclocked to 4.7GHz with DDR3-2400 paired with a first generation Titan Black 6GB GPU and it does fine as long as I run medium to high settings (not Very High or Ultra) and keep the resolution at 1440p or less. No issues at if the game doesn't insist upon having the latest cancer OS and the newest video drivers. Very respectable experience.

I have no issues of any kind with my 13th and 14th Gen CPUs. Excluding the use of Atom cores (which breaks AVX functionality) they are the best processors I have ever owned, hands down. I wouldn't want to own anything else as an alternative, Intel or AMD. All three of my LGA-1700 desktops are overclocked 24/7. I think the issues people are having are due to using eTVB (or PBO if you are an AMD fan) and allowing the two preferred cores to boost to the moon with crazy voltage and using adaptive voltage that allows wild swings and spikes. I overclock the way I always have. Sync all cores and set static (manual) voltage at the value needed for stability. My VID and Vcore are close to the same and I run very high LLC so that idle and load have minimal change. The gamerboy approach to overclocking with massive undervolting and manipulating LLC has never been a good approach in my opinion. If I were going to complain about anything with my LGA-1700 CPUs it would be the use of Atom cores instead of just adding more normal performance cores. These CPUs perform wonderfully, but they would be even more awesome with more performance cores with hyperthreading and AVX in lieu of the "efficient" (i.e. weaker) Atom cores that lack hyperthreading and AVX functionality. I do not care for this person. His potty mouth and self-aggrandizing behavior is over the top. But, that said, more often than not I agree with him. If you haven't seen it, watch this video. It applies to Intel and AMD. In my opinion it is the only "right" way to overclock. And, it can make a degraded CPU stable again. The degraded CPU is really no different than a brand new silicon lottery loser that requires more than desirable voltage. No need to worry if you do it this way. This is one of his better "how-to" videos. If you do it from day one (sync all cores and set static voltage) you will likely never see degradation unless you go crazy with high voltage and cook the CPU with insane thermals. Doing that will kill any Intel or AMD CPU, or GPU.

Very well done review, Brother @RageSet. Your testing was thorough and the presentation was excellent. I am surprised there was a distinctly measurable difference between these two good fans. The price is pretty steep though, as mentioned in the review.

I have two 4090s and I have not had any issues. To be clear, the bend itself isn't the problem. The issues surface when the connector doesn't remain properly seated in the socket. As long as it remains fully seated and there are no weak connections inside of the socket due to poor construction and lousy contact at the pins you should be fine. The 12VHPWR cable is a fragile and ill-conceived engineering abortion that never should have seen the light of day. I would love to see multi-nation governmental involvement result in forcing NVIDIA to recall all video cards that use it and refund original purchase prices including taxes and shipping. They deserve to be severely harmed financially for having released this trash.

That was a great review. Amazing how much the SSD temperature throttled. It provided an excellent visual example of why proper cooling is so important.