Talon

PSU arrived this weekend. I just opened it and took a look at it, looks brand new. Unfortunately it is missing a single cable, the mini USB to USB A cable? I have no idea what I would use that for because it has the mini USB to 9pin USB for the data stuff. Either way I reached out to Amazon support and they provided me with a 10% discount on the item. So got out the door with it for $150. And I just registered it to MSI website so I can submit my Amazon review link for the free $20 steam gift card. In the end this PSU might end up costing me $130 for something they're charging $325 retail on Amazon right now lol. Sometimes I love Amazon Warehouse deals. 😎

I had the top score for the 4070 Super, until someone came along and submitted a very obviously bugged score (+12% at similar clocks/power limit/temps ya riiiggghhtt). Luckily it seems they're doing their job over there, someone noticed and removed that bugged result. Luckily we now have a very easy tool to see the bugged results and can submit them for review as well. I heavily considering buying an AM5 rig with this new gen and then an Arrow Lake setup when they drop this fall. I sort of want to compare the 2 rigs and get some real first hand experience and hands on tuning with them. Unfortunately I have a feeling I'll be super disappointed but I'd love to make some comparison content with them.

I've actually been in the market for a new PSU myself and EVGA is unfortunately out this time. I didn't quite get the deal you got, but I snagged one of them from Amazon warehouse at $166. Not a bad deal at all for a new PCIE 5.0 Platinum 1300w relatively compact unit. The new retail price is insane and I'm not paying that. Mine is supposed to arrive Monday, if it's faulty or beat up I'll just return it.

I sold an SP99 13900K I had in the closet this morning. I put it in my system last night to ensure it was the SP99 chip, and did a quick test on it. It scored 43K in CB23? I ran this test multiple times and same results, highest real-time was 43.6K. I was like wtf. I've never scored that high at these power limits with a 420mm AIO and just 5.5Ghz P core stock. Is there some sort of Windows OS cancer that is getting applied to these Intel CPUs that didn't apply to mine? I then tested TimeSpy and score over 27K CPU, again abnormally high for a stock 13900K. I rebooted and checked power limits and mess with undervolt a tad, and upon reboot the score dropped to 40.6K. I was never able to get the score back, even with undervolt, overclock or power limit changes. I am now fully convinced Windows is applying some sort of cancer patch to these CPUs and harming performance. Have any of you seen this phenomena? All I did was swap my 14900KS to the 13900K. I sloppily attached the cooler and barely torqued it down as I figured I was just going to verify the SP and pull it.

Steel Nomad 3DMark is out. Time to benchmark boys and girls.

Exactly why I haven't even bothered with PCIE 5.0 drives. They run hot, it's not a noticeable improvement in daily use, and they're expensive. I doubt PCIE 6.0 drives will be any better. PCIE 4.0 isn't even saturated yet, not even close, but newer is always better!!

Pretty much just as I had said before. 253/253 and 320/320 with max 400a for defaults and gaming/daily's. This is not rocket science. But idiot outlets ran around recommending downclocking, using unsafe Intel Fail Safe SVID, and a host of other wild ideas. If you can't use the recommended settings, RMA. Simple really.

I've got the $599 4070 Super FE and it's an incredible card. The price to perf is unreal.

Got a free GTX 980 Ti Strix OC edition with Samsung GDDR5 modules. Was told it had a corrupt vBIOS and would not load/flash. Well the vBIOS is fine and it's still on defaults. Also was never touched/opened. So I think it just finally gave up. It works and then it doesn't work. Randomly will just crash games/quit benchmarks. Sometimes corrupt, sometimes not. I game on it for a bit last night after I cleaned it up, and repasted it. It passes TimeSpy Stress Test, but then won't randomly won't. Seemed better when I maxed out voltage slider. I wonder if I use a higher voltage setting it might limp a long awhile longer. Could just be a bit degraded at stock voltage given it's age. When I opened it up I saw an inductor that looked broken. I think those are actually allowed to have some scratches/chips from the factory from what I read so maybe not that. Should I bother attempting to get this fixed or just shelve it as a nice decoration lol? I sort of want to fix it for some reason. Although I doubt it would be worth the price someone like Northwest Repair would charge at this point. http://www.3dmark.com/spy/47818888 Managed a Legendary during some testing.

Baseline with Intel Failsafe Voltage is a joke. Just set 253/253 and 320/320w and auto and if that doesn't work then RMA. Crank it up for those with real cooling.

I'm confused, why did they use 125 or 188w? Did they just pull some random number out of their rears? Intel's spec sheet shows 253w for K and 320 for KS. Isn't 125w for non K or HX. What is 188w from? LOL wtf.

So I have a Mini LED IPS LG 27" 4K 160Hz with 1560 dimming zones that I purchased before deciding I would give OLED a go with the new 4K 240hz panels. There is no disputing it, MiniLED still looks incredible and the brightness cannot be understated IMO. The LG MiniLED is NanoIPS/Quantom Dot so the colors are incredible, they also used an ATW (advanced true wide) Polarizer so it's the best IPS panel I have ever laid my eyes on. The ATW Polarizer means no IPS glow, near perfect panel uniformity, and it doesn't have that Mini LED off axis hazing. Easily the best IPS panel I've ever used. Unfortunately with all the OLED hype and early firmware issues, this panel never got the attention it deserves IMO. I'm not keeping both of the OLEDs, I got lucky with a Microcenter pick early one morning, and I had already ordered the LG WOLED. Just as I went to cancel the LG, it had already shipped earlier than projected by LG. After a couple weeks with the MSI and about a week with the LG WOLED, I decided to keep the LG as it just fits me better. I prefer the inky blacks in all lighting, the whites aren't as warm/red, and I need speakers. The 1080p 480Hz mode is just icing on the cake for me. It feels like CRT gaming when playing esport titles at 480fps, incredible clarity and mouse connectedness. I'll give up a bit of color saturation to have all of that. I also prefer the closer to normal sub pixel arrangement for text clarity, because for it's easier on the eyes. A lot of that is subjective, and the MSI QD OLED is also phenomenal and I would be happy with it. Like I said, I tried to cancel the LG order once I had the MSI and made sure I was pleased with it. In fact for most the MSI $949 price tag makes it the one to get. But OLED comes with some babysitting that annoys a bit. I have to remember to shut off my screen when I'll be gone for extended periods, or I just shut down the PC now. I change the background regularly, I hide the taskbar with auto hide, and I try to watch things in full screen and avoid constant windows or content. So why do this? The gaming is phenomenal. The motion clarity and responsiveness is worth it if you enjoy FPS gaming. I'm never going to go pro, but I would be lying if I said I don't feel as though I now have a leg up that I didn't have before. HDR is a wash or even a downgrade compared to the MiniLED due to brightness. It's good, but the MiniLED was eye searing great. Sorry kinda ranty.

Niccceee!! I'm sitting here with both the LG 32" 4K 240Hz WOLED and the MSI MPG 321URX 4K 240hz QD OLED.

Hiking in the @Mr. Fox backyard. 😎

It's actually a very real issue, I've personally seen it myself. Unfortunately this issue happens when running completely unrestricted on a system with less than adequate cooling. The problem lies with the motherboard vendors allowing 4095w on PL1/PL2 and over 500A at "default". After a fresh driver install, many games have to recompile shaders and this hits the CPU hard, like unrestricted hard. This is why some are attributing games crashing to new drivers. It has nothing to do with Nvidia. It's the 100c temps some are seeing at unlimited power and their games are crashing, or even BSOD. The simple and easy fix is to simply run the CPU at Intel's recommended spec of 253w or 320w extreme modes on KS. This should be on by default. We have too many Xbox kiddos coming over to PC, they have no idea what they're doing, and then crying when their 240mm AIO crashes when loading up Fortnite after they spent the evening hammering the CPU with 400w loads in Cinebench. Force motherboard makers to run defaults and let those that want to, go in there and tweak. Seeing "default" Intel CPUs drawing 380w in headlines is just stupid and is not helping Intel's PR. The truth is, at 253w, the 14900K is very close to AMD's 7950x in multicore and power draw. It's the lower end where AMD tends to shine. Yet the unlimited power draw paints a completely different story. Intel needs better people in charge over there. They need to get their heads out of their asses. I would say it is completely possible Intel has poorly binned and the higher temps/current/power are causing edge case CPUs to crash, but we will have to wait and see. For now, running them at SPEC and as designed should fix all issues. For those that may be wondering, here is Intel's difficult to locate spec sheet. As you can see, there is a 253w PL1/PL2 "Extreme Config" for K/KF chips. and a 320w PL1/PL2 config for KS chips. https://edc.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/products/platforms/details/raptor-lake-s/13th-generation-core-processors-datasheet-volume-1-of-2/processor-line-thermal-and-power-specifications/

I dunno, those guys clearly have no idea what they're doing. Running Intel Fail Safe makes absolutely no sense. It shouldn't even exist in the menu. As it reads, that setting follows an absolute fail safe voltage guidance that is likely when using an Intel Reference Motherboard for testing/design. The VRM and electrical layout of that board is not going to be anywhere near as robust or capable as the Apex board they were using. They are shoving a ton of voltage and current through the chip, something the reference board is very likely not capable of supplying in the same capacity due to the VRM design. All they have to do is set Auto, XMP I, set 253w for long/short power, and limit the board to around 400a and the chip would have been running far cooler and stable. If this config is not stable, then it's time for an RMA as the chip is not able to run at SPEC. Simple as that. Unfortunately, they are spreading FUD, they are giving out terrible advice, and perpetuating and furthering ignorance in the community. Simple as that. I blame the motherboard vendors. They should be setting Intel spec limits by default and forcing you to bypass them on your own afterwards. Asus does in fact as this question upon any CPU swap on FIRST boot. It will ask you if you want Intel limits or Asus optimized. Almost everyone selects Asus limits which remove all limits. Intel should force the vendors to enable stock limits, and then let those that want, bypass them.

Honestly I had great luck with my Asrock X99 and my current Asrock Z790 Nova is actually a budget banger. The Nova is a crappy 4 dimmer, but it can achieve around 7800 with some tinkering, something the $600 Asus Hero can't do. For the $279 I paid vs a $650 Apex, it's no slouch. An Asrock BIOS guy has been pretty active in the OC forums and they've been putting out regular updates for it. I mean it will never be an Apex, but I haven't had any issues I can speak of. I've never had to use their warranty though, so maybe that would sour me. But for now, I've been pretty happy with their product.

I need to test lower, but got busy with work. I'm will try and shave down more tonight or tomorrow. 1.225v IMC is where it's bee rock solid stable. Ran TestMem5, Karhu and BF2042 as my testing lol. But TestMem5 with Absolute or Extreme for over an hour was no issues at all. For 8200 CL38 XMP that is crazy good voltage. The Asus Auto was shoving 1.4v into it which is obviously not necessary. I also leave the other voltages on autos and let it configure those.

I picked up some Thermalright 140mm AIO fans a couple weeks ago because Noctua has yet to release a 140mm version of there excellent Noctua NF-A12x25s. Honestly no complaints. While they're definitely not as good as Noctuas, they feel premium, made with thick plastics and are relatively quiet even at 100%. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTCP7CVL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I should have grabbed that cooler before it went out of stock. That price is incredible for a 360mm AIO. I could have used it for another build or replacement eventually.

My MC SP shows 89. I ran TestMem5 for an hour and 10 minutes yesterday as well as a lot of BF2042 at 8200 C38 with just 1.225c IMC. Autos everything else. Pretty incredible especially given the auto Asus setting was 1.4v. Completely overkill voltage to the IMC. I'm going to keep dropping it to see how low it can go. I need to test out that other SP105 chips MC a bit now. I didn't really test that chip enough. Nice OLED! I had the PG32UCDM Packaging at Newegg before I decided to cancel. I have the LG 32" 4K 240/1080p 480Hz OLED on preorder and decided it's best to just wait for what I truly want. Supposed to ship around April 15th. Very excited to get it. The dual mode, OLED at 480Hz is going to be wild for FPS games.

Don't pay any attention to that MC score. It's total and complete nonsense. If you have a good 2 dimmer board, I have yet to find a single 14900KS that can't do 8200+. That score is with your memory at autos. Set XMP and check SP again, I bet it's over 90. I've discovered the IMC score changes a lot, it's not reliable. https://imgur.com/kh6qRjw Here is my 14900KS SP109 with running XMP II 8200 CL38 with just 1.225v IMC !! Asus auto settings were 1.4v to the IMC. I've been shaving it down the last couple days. BF2042 and memory tests and I still have yet to crash the system. I'm going to keep shaving down. These IMCs seem rock solid on 14900KS, at least some of them.

If you get one of the new cheap Z790 boards I would expect around 6600-7200 depending on IMC.

Just gets weirder and weirder for that package that arrived. Apparently looking back at my emails I ordered it in August last year and they actually shipped it on August 31 according to the box label. It was an overnight shipment service. Shipment label was sharpied over and had "No Scan" written on it on black sharpie. Box is beat to hell and it arrived almost 6 months late lol. Overnight uh huh. I got the full castaway service.

Today must be my lucky day or something. I came home from the gym tonight and had a box at my garage that I was not expecting. Pretty large heavy box, I look at the label and it was for me and from a company I ordered an Item from back in early September 2023 lol. I actually had cancelled the order after an extended backorder after it was listed as "in stock" and ready to ship when I ordered. I had waited a few weeks of back and forth with the company, and eventually just asked to cancel and refund. They did and that was that, I got my money and moved on. Well turns out, they overnighted the item to me? Almost 6 months late and we cancelled the order? Either way I now have an AIO water block for an RTX 4080 Strix/TUF that I have no use for lol. Looking at it, it does look like the quick disconnects can be used for something else? Maybe look into a waterblock from alphacool? My initial plan was for the 4080 TUF that was pretty decently golden and had that unlocked vBIOS for the high voltage limits. I might just send it back to them, I'm not sure what I'd use it for TBH. As long as they give me a shipping label and what not. https://modmymods.com/alphacool-eiswolf-2-aio-360mm-rtx-4080-strix-with-backplate-13531.html

Hope it goes smoothly man! I got lucky on both my 14900KS it seems. Honestly, I've had a pretty decently average to crap streak before these 2 CPUs. My 13900KS was total and complete garbage. SP101 and thankfully I had the MC warranty. After 6 months of use that chip actually degraded and then fully died shortly after. I got a full refund in store. It was wild. Never had a chip die like that, but it was a truly terrible sample. My 14900K were all just average or slightly above IMO. So getting this 14900KS feels like a relief of finally getting a good chip again.