32 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

The Matrix vBIOS with the EVC2 is a more sane approach. I do not think anyone is getting better results with the XOC firmware. I think it causes a loss of efficiency that ends in diminished results.

It could be the CPU mount or even the CPU having a weak IMC. The 9950X3D that I returned for a refund could not even train or POST using memory overclock settings that work with both of my systems with other CPUs.

im tending towards the mount, i could do 8000 stable before with this exact cpu :) i only switched out case, fans, cpu aio and updated bios. no changes to the actual hardware. so with bios out of the way that leaves the mount, lets see how it goes.

On 12/4/2025 at 5:44 AM, Papusan said:

 

I don't like this xx.85 XOC vbios. Unstable. Fans work but I can't see fan rpm in GPU-Z. Need to try more later. But still 11th on Hwbot 3DM Firestrike🙂

 

https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_fire_strike/rankings?rankingType=user&page=0&cores=1&hardwareType=gpu

did you go all out on the vcore of did u do some curve flattening. im wondering if most user reports over on overclock.net with the xoc being super inefficient is cuz they just flash and go full throttle and run into thermal limits right away. i was thinking to fully let the PL loose at 1200W but then manually flatten the V/F curve via AB and check mutliple vcore limits. im sure one can get better results that way.

@Mr. Fox any new insights from ur side with XOC vs. Matrix vbios?

On 12/4/2025 at 6:32 PM, Papusan said:

 

What with a  “plain” TX-1600 ? Doesn't this sku being cheaper than the Noctua edition?

this. even better if ure still able to snag the older TX-1600 version with 2x 8 pin connectors on the psu end for the two included 12VHPWR cables 😁 although its been going in and out of stock with prices nowhere near its original MSRP. seems to be in high demand, i wonder why.... 😋

@Mr. Fox so i updated my mobo bios to the latest version, this time once through ezflash and second time via bios flashback just to be on the safe side. still cant reach 8000 stable but looks like at 7600 i can go tighter on the timings than before.

at this point im suspecting im having a suboptimal mount of the cpu, i remembered that i had some issues installing the arctic freezer III pro onto the cpu, since it only sports two(!) screw points instead of the previous LF II with four. since ill be opening up the case anyways once the wireview pro II gets here, i might as well do another cpu mount and also delid it while at it. maybe using the TG High perf. IHS might help with the mounting, since it sports a larger area and lower overall z height.

so much tuning to do, so little time! but still tons fun 😁

and heck yeah, nvidia and amd take ur sweet time with new gpu gens, let the 5090 reign supreme for another 2-3 years, we dont mind 😄

58 minutes ago, cylix said:

Regarding 5090, still have some telegram bots reporting new drops and prices, yesterday was a founders 5090 drop from nvidia directly on their website for 2099 Euro. Got the notification and went on the site. Got one in the  shopping cart but after like 5 minutes of thinking if I need it,  I decided to close the website. Every game I play like battlefield 6 or stalker 2 works perfectly on the 4090. So it just a waste of money for me. Also went to the website like almost  40 min later and they were still available,  tried to put one again in the cart and it went through, I was against one click to order it and closed again. So it looks like the market is saturated a little.

 

Also got this baby to play with. Nice looking card😃. An oldie but still packing a punch with those 32GB HBM2 memory for larger AI models. Will try some qwen  2.5 and Llama bigger ones on it

niiice what card is that? 32GB HBM2 sounds sweeeeeet, wanna take off the cooler and show us some silicon pr0n? 😄 

23 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I am going to have to fire up the chiller tomorrow and play with the power slider to see if I can reign in some of that because pulling 1700W from the wall is not sustainable. It will trip circuit breakers (and I have this on a 20A circuit) and exhausts the capacity of my 1500W UPS. If that does not work will I will just go back to the Matrix vBIOS and use the EVC2. I'm not gonna lie though... I just LOVED seeing that 1.150V default. 

 

For now I just flipped my GPU over to using the stock Zotac 600W vBIOS. I think letting it run wild and free on the XOC vBIOS probably isn't a smart thing to do. It might be safe, but I don't want to just assume that and hope it turns out OK. Temping fate to such an extreme degree (1700W from the wall, probably 1300W from the GPU) with the petite arson PCIe power cable should put the fear of God in all of us that possess an ordinary amount of common sense.

 

Here is something interesting. I use a GPU overclocking program in Linux called LACT. It shows both core and hotspot temperature readings on the 5090. So, maybe the register is actually there and the NVIDIOTS gave Windoze software developers marching orders to not expose it. -?- I think they rank right up there with bad actors like crApple when it comes to being among the kings of command and control dictatorships.

 

I received my Thermal Grizzly GPU die gaskets for liquid metal, so I really need to make time for that. The package comes with 3 for 4090 and 3 for 5090, so I can do both GPUs. I am expecting to get an offer on the job I want most on Monday or Tuesday and I am sure that I am going to initially not have much discretionary time to do things until I get past my orientation, which usually take a bit more time in c-suite positions.

well dayum, looks like ill have two vbioses to play around with once my wireview pro II comes in 😄 so if i understand it correctly, the asus XOC vbios forces 1.15V at all times on the core? is there an option to lower it and have some control? otherwise id have to try and reign in the temps via power limiting but id prefer voltage tbh. in any case, nice to FINALLY have more options 🙂 

7 hours ago, Papusan said:

 

 

Slight above 700W and the cable feels quite warm. The Matrix without powering the BTF connector. 

 

900-1000W for daily use is the recipe for a disaster. Even at 800W you may test out your luck.

is it just me or does it somehow feel like running the 5090 at 1kW+ is more dangerous than the 4090 at 1000W? with my previous 4090 suprim i just ran the 1000W XOC vbios as a daily without issues. and that was without any monitoring tool like the wireview i will have available now.

4 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I haven't uploaded a video in a long time. Now that I finally found stable settings I wanted to save a permanent record for myself and help anyone else that feels like they are spinning their wheels. Moving from Intel to AMD overclocking is more difficult than moving from Windoze to Linux.

 

Maybe (just maybe) there is something in here that would be useful to Brothers @jaybee83 or @Raiderman

sweet, ill save it up for future reference 🙂 want to get my DDR5 issues sorted first before i start properly tuning the CPU. but now with the Matrix and XOC vBioses out ill have to go back to GPU tuning too 😄 so much to do, so little time, argh! enjoy the bit of freetime u have now between jobs, im sure ull be in over ur head once the new position starts 🙂 keeping my fingers crossed for you on that btw!

3 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

One thing that I find difficult with overclocking Ryzen versus Intel is how fussy and sensitive they are in comparison. There are lots of settings that do not play nice together and if one thing is just slightly off it is like a house of cards. Performance and stability can go from great to garbage if all of the stars are not aligned. The CPU overclocking on Ryzen is about as fickle and finicky as RAM tuning is on Intel, and RAM tuning is a tedious process on either platform. In a way it is fun, but can be the opposite of fun (a really huge pain in the butt) when finding the right lever to pull is elusive. When you factor in the wildcards of the silicon lottery (trashy CPU and memory quality samples are common) it becomes even harder to be pleased with results. The crazy memory overclocking results posted places like overclock.net are fringe examples of the small winner count in the silicon lottery and they are not representative of the norm. 

 

Over the past week or so I have moved around CPUs and memory between the Strix and Apex. The Strix CONSISTENTLY has higher Cinebench scores compared to the Apex regardless of the CPU sample (9950X SP118, 9950X SP119 and 4585PX SP120). The memory overclock limits are exactly the same on all three CPUs no matter which motherboard they are installed in.

 

Nothing I have tested in terms of settings allows the Apex to beat the Strix X870E-E on Cinebench. EVER. This was equally true comparing Cinebench scores again the X870E AORUS Master. The Apex loses 100% of the time in Cinebench. Why? I wish I knew. Is the the idiotic PCIe lane allocation on the Apex? The 2-DIMM memory topology ASUS used on the Apex? Is it the DIMM.2 somehow dragging down the CPU? Don't have a clue. Whatever it is, Cinebench doesn't like it.

 

As far as memory overclocking in concerned, either the Apex is hardly any better or both of my memory samples have reached their functionality threshold. Same threshold with four different CPUs. The Apex maxes out at 8200 stable with my G.SKILL 6000 C26 1.450V 32GB kit and the Strix maxes out at 8000 stable with that kit. The Apex maxes out at 8400 with sloppy timings that gives performance the same as 8000 with tight timings using the Kingbank 8400 C40 1.450V 48GB kit (which has both XMP and EXPO 8400 profiles). With that kit the Strix maxes out a 8000 with the same tight timings that work on the Apex. The Strix cannot boot 8400 stable but the end result is the same memory performance on both systems. The latency and speeds follow the CPU and RAM kit to achieve identical results in each motherboard. This essentially makes the Strix the winner overall. The fact that it is roughly $300 cheaper, depending on where and when you buy it, makes it an absolute no brainer. The Apex is a great motherboard, but it doesn't deliver based on price or the fact that Cinebench scores are CONSISTENTLY 500-1000 points lower for any given CPU installed in the Apex.

 

I captured this comparison of the small latency penalty of 3D V-Cache. I did not bother capturing screenshots of different motherboard, RAM and CPU combos because it always ends the same. The screenshots would not show anything different overall. The latency results follow the X3D and non-X3D CPU and memory combo regardless of what motherboard they are installed in.

The G.SKILL 8000 C40 kit that I picked up with the Supercool Direct Touch RAM block is an XMP kit. It is virtually impossible to tune it stable at 8000 with all manual tuning in either of the AM5 motherboards. If I use timings that are stable with either of my other two memory kits mentioned above it refuses to boot and I have to clear CMOS. I cannot figure out why that is the case and it does not make any sense. Maybe the kit is rubbish, but I don't have an Intel motheboard to test it in to find out. However, I have experienced the exact same problem trying to use XMP memory that I had that were stable on Z790 motherboards that were also unusable on X670E and X870E motherboards, so I think it is something peculiar with the XMP memory, even though it makes no sense that manual tuning doesn't work.

 

I have been trying to get the memory latency on the 4585PX below 60ns and it is tough to do. This CPU is nothing more than a better binned 9950X3D and I think this one might be slightly better than average. While the memory and L1, L2 and L3 read/write/copy and latency values are a direct result of clock speed, I wondered if the 3D V-Cache was making the latency higher. It seems it is, but not by enough to be statistically relevant. I asked Google Gemini about it, and this is what the AI regurgitated for me. The "chef" analogy (below) is pretty good. I thought @Raiderman and @jaybee83 might find this particularly interesting.

 

---

Per Google Gemini - for whatever that is worth...

Question: Do AMD X3D CPUs have higher memory and L3 cache latency than the non-X3D processors?

---

Yes, technically they do.

 

It is a paradox of the architecture: AMD X3D CPUs generally demonstrate higher latency for both L3 cache (in cycles) and system memory (in nanoseconds) compared to their non-X3D counterparts.

 

However, they are faster in gaming because their massive cache capacity prevents the CPU from needing to access system memory in the first place.

 

Here is the technical breakdown of why this happens and why it doesn’t hurt gaming performance.

1. L3 Cache Latency: The "Stacking Tax"

The primary difference between an X3D chip (like the 7800X3D) and a non-X3D chip (like the 7700X) is the 3D V-Cache technology. AMD physically stacks a slice of SRAM on top of the processor die. This introduces a slight delay.

• The Penalty: Accessing the 3D-stacked cache typically adds a ~4-cycle penalty.
• The Clock Speed Factor: Latency is a product of cycles and clock speed ($Time = Cycles / Frequency$). Since X3D chips run at lower clock frequencies to manage heat, the absolute latency in nanoseconds is slightly higher than non-X3D chips that boost 400-500MHz higher.

Feature	Non-X3D (e.g., 7700X)	X3D (e.g., 7800X3D)
L3 Cache Cycles	Lower (Faster)	Higher (~4 cycle penalty)
Core Frequency	Higher (~5.4+ GHz)	Lower (~5.0 GHz)
Result	Lowest raw L3 latency	Slightly higher L3 latency

 

2. Memory Latency: The Benchmark Illusion

If you run a synthetic benchmark like AIDA64, an X3D CPU will almost always show higher memory latency (worse performance) than a non-X3D chip.

• Reason 1: Clock Speed: Memory latency is sensitive to core frequency. Because X3D chips have lower peak clocks, the time it takes to request data from RAM and process the return is technically longer.
• Reason 2: Testing Methodology: Synthetic benchmarks deliberately force the CPU to fetch data from System RAM (DDR5) to test the worst-case scenario. They bypass the cache to measure the "wire delay" to the memory sticks.

In this specific "worst-case" scenario, the non-X3D chip wins because it has faster clock speeds and no cache-stacking overhead.

3. The "Effective Latency" Paradox

If the latency is higher, why are X3D chips faster for gaming?

The answer lies in Hit Rate.

• Non-X3D: Fast access to L3, but the cache is small (32MB). The CPU frequently "misses" (can't find data) and must go to System RAM.
• Penalty: Trip to RAM takes ~60–70ns (eternity in CPU time).
• X3D: Slightly slower access to L3, but the cache is huge (96MB).7 The CPU almost never misses.
• Benefit: It stays within the L3 cache, which takes ~10–12ns.

The Math of "Effective" Latency:

Even if the X3D cache is 10% slower to access, avoiding one trip to system RAM (which is 600% slower) saves massive amounts of time.

 

Analogy: Imagine you are a chef.

• Non-X3D: You have a small fridge under your counter. You can grab ingredients instantly, but you frequently have to run to the grocery store (RAM) for missing items.
• X3D: You have a giant walk-in pantry. It takes you 2 seconds longer to walk into the pantry than the small fridge, but you almost never have to leave the building to go to the grocery store. You cook faster overall.

Summary

• Raw Latency: Higher on X3D. (Due to lower clocks + stacking penalty).
• Effective Latency: Lower on X3D. (Because you rarely hit the slow System RAM).

 

If your workload fits entirely inside the cache (like most games), X3D wins. If your workload is random and too large for even the X3D cache (like some scientific rendering), the non-X3D chip might win due to higher clock speeds.

 

The video below is relevant because it directly compares the older 7800X3D and 7700X, illustrating how the theoretical latency differences translate into actual gaming performance.

 

Ryzen 7 7700X vs Ryzen 7 7800X3D - Any Difference Or Not?

 

---

TL;DR - See below:

Lesson #1: If you want to go with AM5 and care about Cinebench scores buy an X870E-E Strix or X870E AORUS Master and save yourself $200-$300. If you a lottery winner have an extremely rare Ryzen golden silicon CPU sample and an extraordinarily superior memory kit and only care about synthetic memory benchmarks and nothing else matters, cough up the money for an Apex then have fun watching paint dry overnight with Karhu speed tests that have no measurable bearing on normal, real-world performance results in anything other that Karhu.

Lesson #2: Unless you want to waste a lot of time and drive yourself insane, don't try to get an Intel XMP memory kit to work on AM5. Unless you get lucky somehow, you are doing to hate yourself for not just buying an EXPO memory kit.

the timing of your post is hilarious, ive been going nuts these past weeks since i cant get my kit stable at 8000 anymore, had to back down to 7600 ugh. the same exact setup hardware wise, only two differences being the new case / cpu cooling / fans and ofc i updated to the newest bios. imagine that i currently cannot even get 6000 stable anymore in synchronous mode, like wtf.... and even at 7600 with tightened timings the bandwidth and latency results are absolute garbage. theres definitely something funky going on here, and as of yet i have no idea what it is....

10 hours ago, Talon said:

Very curious if you can flash it and see if it works on your suprim air card! Apparently it doesn’t work on the Suprim LC card which is wild. 
 

Must be a fan controller issue? 

9 hours ago, electrosoft said:

Definitely a fan controller / lack of headers issue same as the Aorus Waterforce. The Vanguard and Suprim are basically the same PCB. I would be highly surprised (and disappointed) if it didn't work on the Suprim.

 

This is my plan as my order is in too and I plan on opening up a can of 800w whup arse at that time. I'll also probably migrate to a modern PSU too but we'll see.

 

I suspect some at Asus have steam coming out of their ears over this.....

 

Nice! So far it seems that if you have a proper 3 fan designed 5090 PCB AND it isn't named Asus, you can run the Matrix 800w vBIOS.....

 

Yup, many disgruntled Astral owners over the XoC debacle, sky high pricing and now this? So glad I returned my Astral 5090 for many reasons and now just add this one on top of that list. You bought an Asus 5090 LC this time around. Will you be purchasing Asus next gen @Papusan?

 

I don't think Asus would patch the BIOS to their own customer's detriment, but then again they did proactively stop their motherboards from retaining RGB settings so you needed to run their software with a BIOS update soooo........yeah.

from what ive seen so far im expecting it to work on the Suprim, albeit likely not with all 3 fans functional (ive tried the Astral vBios before and it was only able to address two of the three fans), so id have to check and see if cooling would still be up to snuff for the increased wattage.

@electrosoftwhats that "XoC debacle" ure mentioning? just the fact that it still aint available or was there smth else?

11 hours ago, electrosoft said:

Asus Matrix 5090 30th edition have been up for pre-order all morning and still aren't sold out..... 6hrs later.....

 

https://shop.asus.com/us/90yv0nf2-m0aa00-rog-matrix-rtx5090-p32g-30th.html?bdl=0

 

I'm sure they'll eventually sell out, but the fact they've lasted this long and there are only 1000 of them lets you know $4k has rattled many buyers....plus the whole BTF thing too.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

Asus Matrix 5090 vBIOS dropped TPU and for many cards it is allowing 800w verified on just about every card except the Waterforce 5090 and in an ironic twist of fate it doesn't work on other Asus 5090 cards.....

 

Verified to work on the MSI 5090 Vanguard so you know that means Suprim too @jaybee83.

 

If your card has a higher voltage limit it can now be further utilized. My Vanguard and its 1.125v max voltage will slurp this up later.

 

TPU Asus Matrix 5090 800w vBIOS here: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/280329/280329

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

 

With the vBIOS available and working on all cards not named Asus or the Waterforce 5090, no need to pony up that $$$ for it.

 

As for other cards, I was just saying a few days ago NOW is the time to get a GPU the next few weeks at most. Prices are going to get bonkers real quick after the holidays.

 

I finally caved and picked up a $699.99 Nitro+ 9070xt for my secondary/SFF build w/ 6% back on top of that.

 

Holiday return windows are in effect so I am also open to picking up another 9070xt to try. It will be nice to compare the Nitro+ head to head vs my Gigabyte Gaming 9070xt.

 

 

 

daaaamn nice! thx for the headsup and tag bud, much appreciated 🙂 now i know what ill do once i get my hands on the wireview pro II 😄 

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

Nice new feature in ASUS BIOS for F3 Save as CMOS file to save all BIOS files to USB as a single file instead of a separate CMO file for current profile only.

 

Explanation from safedisk: https://www.overclock.net/posts/29527571/

@jaybee83 @Raiderman https://www.overclock.net/posts/29527497/

 

Explains why CMOS is much larger than CMO.

nifty, but my main gripe is still that in many instances i need to manually come up with new profiles whenever i update the bios version. cmon now, how hard can it be to make bios profiles compatible with all new bios versions?!

4 hours ago, electrosoft said:

Exactly. With the WV2P, I will move away from the MSI tentacle. For my own edification, I do plan on running it for at least a week so I can monitor what's going on.

 

How are 5090 stock levels there? They are drying up so quickly over here and back up to high pricing in rapid fashion.

so far no too shabby tbh with regards to 5090 availability and pricing. total of 41 models on offer, out of which 33 are in stock and ready for shipping. another 3 skus need a bit of a wait time and only 5 are currently out of stock.

currently cheapest model, the Inno3D X3 goes for 2399€, thus far only a "medium" increase over its all time low price point at 2076€.

the Suprim SOC had its lowest price back in Sep until mid-Oct at 2640€, has since slightly increased to 2840€. The Astrai had a low at 2740€ back in Aug and has now increased to 2880€, so its been more stable than other models, price curve still pretty flat but at a much higher price level than other models.

the upcreep is slight thus far but one can discern a slow upward trend. still time to snatch a model at a comparably decent price tho.

from what i can discern, the cheapest ever available 5090 model was the Ventus back in June at 1999€.

On 11/3/2025 at 7:40 PM, electrosoft said:

Just placed my order for the WireView Pro II. Only FedEx is available for S&H no DHL so this should be fun when it eventually ships.....

 

I'll switch my wiring up then to bottom run cable versus the top/over style I use now since the Vanguard uses the normal clip (non reverse) WV2

im in the same position here, will likely need to replace my 90° Seasonic cable, probably going back to the straight Seasonic one that came stock with my 1600W PSU, thus switching back from current top routing to bottom. should be fine 🙂 

pre-ordered one for some additional peace of mind. expected shipping in mid-Dec 🙂 

6 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I see that after looking closer to the link you posted. I would only purchase the 12V-2x6 connectors on both ends. But, I don't see them available for sale anywhere in the US.

yep thats the shortcoming on those cables, they are incredibly hard to find LOL

what i did was to take the serial number of the cable i wanted and just do a google wide search for it. maybe u can find some US or Europe based shops that offer them this way 🙂 

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

If they make one with the same 12V-2x6 connector on both ends the pin-out will be the same regardless of PSU brand. If they only use 8-pin on the PSU side then pin-out could be off between brands (or even models within the same brand) and end in disaster.

they offer both. they got different kinds of 12V-2x6 ccables, i got the 2x8-pin to 12V-2x6 connector sku.

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

It is really unfortunate that nobody produces a high quality 90 degree 12VHPWR (aka 12V-2x6) cable. It is really inexcusable. How hard can it be?

 

CableMod produces a new type (Steathsense) that is supposedly the best available but I do not want to be a guinea pig. The straight connections really suck and are not even good for many of the largest cases on the market.

you could try and give the Seasonic cable a shot that ive been using. Not sure if the pinout would be compatible, but Seasonic is definitely up there with Noctua and others in terms of reliability and product quality. Havent heard of any cases of these cables melting (yet, at least 😛 )

https://seasonic.com/12v-2x6-cable-90-degrees/

58 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

I use the type that mounts to the motherboard. Much cleaner and easier to use. Lian Li makes one, and Lian Li O11 cases come with an even better quality version. The GB 001 is what I would recommend for you. It does not get in the way of anything. I will never go back to the other types of GPU support brackets. These are so much better.

 

https://www.amazon.com/GB-001-Graphic-cardnhalterung-Black/dp/B07YKGKZWP?crid=3O1TJOQCWC08R

 

 

This one is made similarly (much less expensive) but I'm not sure I like the long reach. The GB 001 supports the GPU at the back instead of the front. That long arm might be "springy" but I think it is stilll a better design overall than the long arms that attach to the rear I/O screws or the kickstand type. The type you are looking (I have two of them) still try to sag because they have slack at the rear I/O and you have to overtighten the screws to stop it. I actually stripped the threads out of a case trying to use that type and get the screws tight enough that the GPU did not sag.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Kesoto-Computer-Graphics-Adjustable-Vertical/dp/B09PYMKK68

 

awesome i will look into this some more before ordering 🙂 thanks for the input!

18 hours ago, electrosoft said:

As soon as I saw this, I thought, "Oh, he's purposely trying to trigger @Papusan and @Mr. Fox!" 🤣

 

Looks good! I, too, loop my connector(s) over the top of my GPUs when able so you can see the whole card and it takes a bit of the downward pull off the connector. I've done this since Ampere as an additional reason on top of aesthetics.

ahaha actually i have a bit of a conundrum, i can never leave any color combination or solid single color for too long before i get bored of it. so i default to rainbow, basically the compromise i can live with the longest 😄 

the routing of the GPU power cable was a necessity, since the angles Seasosnic cables can only be installed in this orientation. I think I actually might have preferred to route it downwards, so as not to go over the fan cooling the RAM: but its ok, I can live with it if it means im using high quality cables that down melt on me 😛 

so as mentioned, started again with RAM tuning and boy can i see that im right on the very edge of stability at DDR5-8000. My previously tuned timings arent stable anymore, so gotta find the new tight spots. Basically, every CPU and RAM install slightly changes the minimum timings i can reach 😄 im able to boot up 8100/8200/8300 and get into windows but they dont pass TM5 testing, no matter how much i loosen the timings.

anyways, back to tuning 8000, about time i finish it up together with minimizing related voltages before i turn my gaze to CPU tuning 😛 

just one thing left before the new setup is complete: i need a new GPU sag bracket! cant use the previous one, since im now sporting bottom fans, so im eyeing this one by UpHere:

cant be bothered with the ARGB version, dont want a frigging CABLE hanging off my sag bracket 😄 so black n white version it is for me. length should be fine at 276mm, with the Suprim SOC at 359mm. 

On 10/2/2025 at 2:30 PM, Mr. Fox said:

Yes, that is Red Fox. He is a smart boy, but has a sassy mouth.

---

@electrosoft, @Raiderman and @jaybee83 there is a new version of ZenTimings available that shows all of the sensors for voltage now. I will test to confirm that is true on the Strix as well, but it shows all sensors on the Master. It also shows tPHYRDL is matched whereas the last beta showed them mismatched (even though it was not). Also shows the Nitro settings in the lower right corner.

btw where did u find this version? on the official download page 1.35 is still the newest. thanks for providiing a link! gonna continue my RAM tuning and install this while im at it 🙂 

Just now, Papusan said:

 

Dang. One set of dark sunglasses ain't enough looking on all that RGB😁 

i KNEW you would love it 😄 

aight boiiiiz, new setup is done, pretty happy with how it turned out 🙂 

54 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

 

holy crap one of the most iconic songs of all time, blasting it through my headphones right now yessssss 😄 

ladies are asleep, finally some alone time for daddy to continue tinkering 😄 

5 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Yes, that is Red Fox. He is a smart boy, but has a sassy mouth.

---

@electrosoft, @Raiderman and @jaybee83 there is a new version of ZenTimings available that shows all of the sensors for voltage now. I will test to confirm that is true on the Strix as well, but it shows all sensors on the Master. It also shows tPHYRDL is matched whereas the last beta showed them mismatched (even though it was not). Also shows the Nitro settings in the lower right corner.

5 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Yup, also shows all for the Strix. But, tPHYRDL still shows a mismatch. I think it is accurate on the Strix. I'm not sure that tPHYRDL mismatch is actually an issue though. Seems like a lot of noise around that topic to me. I don't think it actually matters, but getting them to match is difficult on the Strix. Maybe it is the "special" A$$zeus NitroPath gimmick that slightly diminishes the memory overclocking on the ROG crap.

 

Edit: Nope, almost. VDDIO is still not being read on the Strix. Oh well. At least the Master has all of the readings now.

 

 

3 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Check this out. This could do a lot to help avoid melted connectors. Active load management per pin on the 12VHPWR socket.

 

https://www.igorslab.de/en/aqua-computer-ampinel-exclusive-test-the-smart-plaster-for-nvidias-open-12v2x6-wound-and-the-ultimate-lifesaver-for-any-affected-graphics-card/

about friggin time on all counts! thx for the headsup, currently enjoying a vacay on Malta with my two ladies 🙂 escaping the dreadful weather in germany, instead at 25-30C 🙂 

On 9/21/2025 at 9:23 PM, Papusan said:

When you feel scammed by AMD and our old good friend F. Azor

 

XT = Xtreme tax🤐

Flashing XT BIOS on AMD Radeon RX 9070 Yields up to 25% Performance Boost

If you have a Radeon RX 9070 you can make it up to 20% faster: VBIOS flashing is back

If you own or were planning to purchase a non-XT AMD Radeon RX 9070, you're in luck thanks to flashing its BIOS. For context, BIOS flashing was common about 15 years ago

well the scam part goes without saying, thats just the new normal nowadays. but the fact that crossflashing to different SKUs is BACK is absolutely awesome 😄 

btw, first boot in the new case + new fans + new CPU cooler last night, w00t w00t!

all fans are spinning and the wifi 7 module works beautifully after driver install, 5.8 Gbps wifi speed for the win! 😁only got two minor gripes ill need to iron out in the coming days: three of the fans arent illuminated, so need to check the cabling. and ill also need an additional y-adapter with 4-pin PWM connectors to clean up some of the cabling up front / move it to the back. installing and managing a total of 15(!) 140mm fans takes its toll 😄 

will be sure to post some pics once everything is fully functional and tidy 🙂 

havent properly set up my fan curves yet but i did some quick testing with my 9950X3D in CB24 at stock, it maxed out in the mid 60s with 200W peak LOL. absolutely ridiculous 🙂 

in any CASE (pun intended!), the Phanteks NV9 is BIG and its finally got enough space to cleanly manage ALL the cables on the backside, me likes.

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

I've thought every release in the Borderlands game franchise sucked due to crappy-looking watercolored cartoon graphics. It feels like an animated comic book to me. I greatly prefer games that strive to achieve photorealism and the less realistic the graphics are the less I like it and much greater the likelihood I willl never play it more than 1 or 2 hours tops. 

Too bad we live so far apart or we could have swapped WiFi cards from either of my motherboards. This is an area where cheap motherboards sometimes have a design edge over the more expensive models. The cheap models often have the WiFi/BT modules mounted in the same area that the M.2 SSDs are installed. It sucks having them under the rear I/O cover. Both of mine would be in the motherboard box if they were not installed in such an inconvenient spot.

 

The one and only thing I dislike about the AORUS Master is that Gigabutt provides no option in the BIOS to disable the onboard WiFi/BT module. It is the only brand I am aware of that omits that option in the BIOS. I contacted them almost immediately when I first installed it and discovered that firmware defect. I alert them to their engineering mistake and asked them to provide me with a custom BIOS that wasn't missing that feature and encouraged them to include it in all BIOS releases going forward. They replied quickly but refused and said I was the only "customer" that has ever complained and requested that option, and they won't consider changing anything unless numerous customers begin to complain about not having it.

 

I contrast that sort of disregard for customer experience with EVGA, who made several BIOS changes at my request and made them standard options in firmware releases going forward.

i imagine us hanging out to be quite fun and interesting irl 😄 

got the new case in, old case almost empty of hardware now. disassembled the motherboard last night for a nice thorough cleaning and also replaced all thermal pads on the SSDs, as well as the VRMs and chipsets while i was at it 🙂 of course, i also swapped out the intel Wifi6E card with the new Qualcomm Wifi7 model. jeez what a crazy amount of steps and screws and heatsinks it takes to actually GET to the wifi card! whereas in laptops i just remove the back cover and bam, there it is....they could learn a thing or two from that on desktops 😄 

next step: get the PSU and all the cabling out of the old case and prep the Noctua fans for the new AIO. that and the new fans have also arrived, so now just waiting on the extra bling light strips for the case, but that aint time sensitive for the transplant 🙂 

its fun to be tinkering again, but cant afford more than 2h every night before i basically drop dead from total exhaustion 😅

waddhup boiiiiiiz

Soooo as mentioned before, Ive now pimped our home network up from a crappy ISP Wifi5 router to a Wifi 7 Mesh router by Cudy (WR11000 / BE11000), hadnt heard of that brand before but they seem to be on the up and up recently:

While at it, I figured why not use the opportunity and also swap out my Wifi card from the Intel 210ax with Wifi6E to a Qualcomm QCNCM865 Wifi7 M.2 Adapter:

until I realized that i need to FRIGGIN TAKE OUT THE WHOLE MOTHERBOARD in order to remove the VRM heatsinks via screws on the back to get to the Wifi module omg...

so THEN i figured: F it, if im gonna disassemble my whole build, might as well upgrade the case, fans and the AIO while im at it, clean all the components that will stay the same and start out FRESH 😄 

soooo, case first, im sticking to Phanteks and switching over to the NV9 MKII, absolute unit of a case, even larger than my current Enthoo Pro II (going from approx. 77L to 99L total volume LOL):

reasons why I chose this case:

- welp, SIZE obviously 😄 also looking forward to having more space for cable management on the back vs. my current Enthoo Pro II

- motherboard located quite low in the case, so lots of space up top to move my current front AIO to the top

- more glass to see inside

- moving to all 140mm fans, currently still have 3x120mm at the bottom

while im at it, also gonna get the light strips upgrade kit for the case, bling it out some more:

next up, CPU AIO, sticking with Arctic but moving from my current 420 LFII to the 420 LFIII Pro. Apparently, the "pro" moniker in this context means that the fans have been upgraded, thus higher static pressure and higher air flow:

ill be keeping my Noctua NF-A14 Industrial-PPC 3000rpm for push/pull on the AIO and use the included AIO fans as case fans instead.

Also gonna get another 6 Arctic P14 Pro fans to deck out the NV9 MKII:

theyre actually pretty impressive specwise, with 187m³/h air flow and 5.2 mm H2O static pressure. This with 6 years warranty and at 30€ for a 3-pack. so basically 10 bucks per fan, nice 🙂 

Lets see how long this transplant will take, I wager itll likely take me a full week of late nights after my lil princess has gone to bed to make this happen. it will sure be fun though!

Will update you guys with pics once done 🙂