Mr. Fox

Thanks for the compliment, brother.

Thanks, brother. It's a shame they are not going to release it in the US. I don't understand that.

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Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. Yes, it is a good drive for a good price.

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Great review and a thorough analysis of this air cooler's capabilities. For an air cooler it does an impressive job. The fact that it beat the universally respected Noctua NH-D15 in a measurable way commands some respect. I think your observations are excellent and the recommendation against using an air cooler for an overclocked CPU capable of pushing over 250W is spot-on. This cooler looks like a very good low-cost thermal solution for someone running a system with basic use routine in mind and modest performance expectations that remain below its TDP-handling limitations.

I read this review and got side-tracked and forgot to post. Excellent job on the review. That's quite the speedy NVMe drive. It's crazy how fast these Gen5 can move data.

Very good review! Thorough and professional.

A new masterpiece from Brother Tom... sweet. Not a rap fan, but I do love the message and the good men behind the message. And a couple of good recent releases... especially like the first one.

Just crested beyond the official half-way mark today. Some say that's over the hill, but by my calculations it is still a long way to the top.

Thank you. I agree.

Yes, I agree on both things. I have two direct die CPU blocks, a dual D5 pump housing and now the direct-touch memory block from IceMan Cooling and all of their stuff seems to be top quality. It is a real pain dealing with Supercool, and they are so slow. Quality is generally acceptable, but their direct die block is a pain in the butt to deal with how it mounts. Requires extra effort to avoid spilling water, which is silly. And, it took me multiple emails and posts in comments on their YouTube videos to get the missing parts sent to me for their RAM block. And, they still never sent the missing screws. Luckily, I had some that worked, but do not match the design. I think Supercool is run like a hobby more than a business.

I actually showed it in a previous screenshot, but I just ran it on both systems at 8600. Here are the screenshots, with all of the timings and voltage values. Apex Encore Apex

I am one place behind Gunslinger now with stock vBIOS and I haven't found the max OC yet for this Xtreme Waterforce GPU. Going to have to shunt mod this bad boy and use the 2000W Kingpin vBIOS on it. This blew away my prior 2080 Ti FTW3 shunt modded score. I also haven't reduced the core count in the BIOS for the Physics and combine scores yet. The way things are set up now it is super easy for me to switch the chiller from one system to the other with quick disconnect fittings. This might get interesting. Windows 7 will never be matched by another Micro$lop OS. https://hwbot.org/submission/5460849_ | https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/16162166 Edit: OK, now I leapfrogged Gunslinger, LOL. https://hwbot.org/submission/5460910_ | https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/16162200

What? No 3DMark 11 Benchmark Thread. That's sacriligious, but we're fixing that right now. I guess I need to start one for 3DMark Vantage next.

Finally received the IceMan Cooling Direct Touch Memory Cooler. Got a nice gain in RAM cooling on the Apex Encore. The IceMan direct touch RAM block seems to give about the same delta as the Supercool does. These suckers are super heavy. Heavier than the Supercool because the backplate is thicker. The black bezel on top that covers the screws is magnetized and also made of metal. If there is anything that I wish would be different is the use of Philips head screws to attach the block to the jackets. They are a bit soft. Stainless steel Allen or Torx would have been better. Comparing it to the Byski memory water cooling kit... And, temps are still nice with my 8600 profile even with the elevated voltage. IceMan Cooling did really great with the memory cooling kit. The water in the cooling system for the Apex is about 5°C colder than the water in the Apex Encore loop. (The Apex has a 5-gallon reservoir and the radiator is near an open window, and the radiator for the Encore is in a corner of the office.) And, the difference in temperature reflects that precisely. That being the case, I call it a draw... "Even Steven" comparing it to the Supercool memory cooling kit.

That was a good movie, and the music has a way of growing on you.

If it plays like Crysis then I definitely need to get it when it falls into my game purchase range. The Crysis franchise is my favorite and the GOAT. I do not care for open world gameplay though. I lose interest swiftly. Linear FPS titles are the only ones I find captivating and play to the end, sometimes more than once.

That actually looks like pretty good game. I will have to grab it when the price drop to around $20-$25. It looks like one I would enjoy (FPS fanboy here).

Thank you. I feel blessed to have it. The silicon lottery is a pretty brutal thing at times and Lord knows there are more losers than winners in any lottery.

Well, I am pleased to find my 24/7 8600 MT/s memory overclock settings on the Apex are going to work fine on the Apex Encore as well. So, it looks like both systems will be running the same daily driver overclock settings. 60x on P-cores, 47x on E-cores, 50x on Cache and 8600 on memory. I will probably have to dial them back to 59x on P-cores when the hot summer weather returns. With the winter weather and my office window left open to let the cool air (and tons of dust) in I am able to keep my office between 65-70°C F compared to the normal 78-82° F hotbox it turns into the rest of the year.

The 24GB A-die modules require looser timings and lower voltage on both the Z690 Dark and Z790 Apex. If you have been successful with 8000+ memory overclocking using 16GB A-die modules, you will likely find your system will not boot using the same settings with the 24GB modules. CPU VDD2, VDDQ and VDIMM had to be lowered and SA voltage increased and tRFC increased on both of my systems. Oddly enough, tCKE had to be lower to 6 (from a default value of 30) to get the 24GB modules stable on the Dark. The Apex uses 33 for tCKE.