Mr. Fox

https://unikoshardware.com/2025/03/intel-new-microcode-0x12c.html Yeah, no thanks. Stupidity has become the new normal. The incessant chasing of firmware and driver updates is a fool's errand. We don't have to worry about degrading chips because we tune our systems to behave properly and do not allow wild swings in voltage or opportunistic core boosting. We do not need security mitigations nearly as much as people need to stop behaving in a stupid and haphazard manner that places them in harm's way. When things operate on the assumption that everyone is stupid it ruins things for those that are not. It is the tail wagging the dog and being ruled based on the defects and incompetencies of society's lowest common denominators.

So, I think my next project will be to sell the Z790 Apex build before I change my mind and decide against it. I wish I could just sell the entire package preassembled with the MO-RA 360 and chiller. I'd probably keep the 4090 though. I'll probably end up having to sell it in pieces though, because there are no people that I know of locally that can appreciate the sheer wickedness such an insane beast can offer. I wish Brother @Rage Set did not live so far away. This morning I fired it up for the first time in a long time. I think 60 days or so since I turned on the three electrical outlets that power all of it. I ran an AIDA64 memory benchmark and 8600 with tight timings this monster still stomps the life out of everything else I own. I am going to have to turn everything back off before I start questioning why I built two Ryzen machines and have been ignoring this one. If I start using this again I will like the AMD builds less. Just web browsing and launching applications, everything feels so much snappier and lively than I remembered. It makes the Ryzen builds seem laggy and sluggish in comparison. The CPU is running crazy hot, so I am guessing the liquid metal has dried up or run off the die from it sitting idle and turned off for such a long time. (One of the unfortunate down-sides of having the motherboard vertical rather than horizontal is that gravity eventually wins. Horizontal orientation allows the die to perpetually bathe itself in a puddle of liquid metal.) What's funny is it never seemed loud when it was my main rig. Now having 27 fans and 5 D5 pumps purring away seems noisy even though it's not obnoxious and it is running at a very low decibel level. It just seems loud compared to the other more pedestrian Ryzen builds that have fewer moving parts. I also forgot how much cooler the 14900KS runs at an idle. Both of my 9950X CPUs idle about 12°C hotter and run hotter under load even though the 14900KS pulls a whole lot more watts than the 9950X CPUs do. Congrats to your mom on the new laptop. That's quite an upgrade for her. The leap in performance has to be nothing short of astronomical coming from such a tired and relatively slow 10-year old machine. I agree with you on OLED. I'm kind of a weirdo sometimes when it comes to paying high prices for things that don't make a computer run faster, but OLED just doesn't impress me. Too expensive with too little to offer in return, and I'm not into having to pamper a monitor to keep it from getting screen burn. Utter nonsense IMHO. Paying a lot of money for something comparatively fragile and destined to destroy itself is illogical to me. Even if that wasn't an issue, it's not worth the extra cost. Big bucks with little bang seems to be the new world we live in now. Brother @jaybee83 - this one is the one I would recommend. Both of mine are solid AMD kits. https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-ddr5-8000/p/N82E16820374624?Item=N82E16820374624

It seems like most all AM5 owners (including me) that have them are having the best success with G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO F5-8000J3848H16G kits. The G.Skill Trident 8000 and TeamGroup Extreme 8200 48GB XMP kits that I have are super stable on Intel but they are not totally stable on the Gene or the AORUS boards. The 16GB G.Skill 8000 Neo kits are very stable in comparison. So far I haven't seen anyone on AM5 that is getting great results with the 24GB sticks. I am hoping the Apex changes that because I have a TeamGroup Xtreem 8200 48GB kit I would love to be able to use in it.

I agree. I do not like that. There are actually a lot of video cards in 30- and 40-series with that kind of backplate. I do not like it because it is ugly and because there is no reason for that part of the GPU to be exposed. It creates a point of weakness and vulnerability. I do not understand why any were ever designed that way. I am glad that my 9070 XT has a solid backplate. The only part that is not solid is the place for the third fan to blow through.

Well, that is the driver I have installed already. But, your point is no less valid regardless. I seldom ever use current drivers because most of the time there is an older one that is better. This is how the PC tech landscape looks now. And, we're supposed to somehow be happy about it. They're full of what you see in this photo. It's what they sell and it's what they're doing to us all.

The 9070 XT beat the 4090 in this benchmark.

Very strong possibility the issue is your sticks are crappy rather than the CPU. Out of more than a dozen returned memory kits I usually find one kit worth keeping. Also, be careful with 24GB sticks. The Apex might change things in this respect, but so far none of my Ryzen systems have played nice with 24GB modules and stability for more than RAM benchmark was never achieved. Intel eats the 24GB sticks like candy, but Ryzen chokes on them.

We live in troubled times, with the sheeple guided by troubled people that are unfit as guides. I just thought of a brand new smartass comment today. I may start using it when the opportunity arises. "The maggots are hatching." 🤣 (aka - the idiots are coming out of the woodwork, and there are lots of them) ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E APEX Overclocking & Discussion Thread

I think what we are seeing is a normalization of extreme corruption and severe stupidity. That has been the status quo for years with government, but it is becoming normal in the private sector now.

It is harder that ever to expect good things from A$$zeus or their competitors. What makes the A$$zeus clown posse particularly corrupt is how they charge significantly more (often 50 to 75% more) for their uniquely-stupid broken trash. That makes it harder than ever to have any respect for them. I'm happy that you got what you wanted, albeit at an astronomical price. I'm sad that the quality and performance are not aligned with the 70% penalty assessed for being a loyal A$$zeus customer. Have you identified any legitimate reason or benefit for paying the loyalty tariff?

Gigabutt released a new BIOS and fixed the contextual help/hint text being the wrong language. It seems to run exactly the same. They didn't provide a menu option for disabling the WiFi7/BT module like I asked them to. So stupid that there is no way to disable the module.

Looks like I am the lone ranger on 9070 XT 3DMark 11 benching at the moment. The fact that the 9070 XT can handle these ray traced benchmarks without it turning into a slide show is a huge step forward for AMD. These scores are beating 3090 and 6900 XT scores soundly, and those were on chilled water. This is just maxed out fans and with the low-budget B850 mobo. https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark11_-_performance/submissions/5813158 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_sky_diver/submissions/5813198 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_fire_strike/submissions/5813197 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_time_spy/submissions/5813195 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_port_royal/submissions/5813193 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_solar_bay/submissions/5813191 https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/3dmark_-_steel_nomad_dx12/submissions/5813190 Hmm. I am going to have to re-run some of these on Winduhz 11 because some of the guys beating me are using that crappy OS. @Papusan are you ready to embrace Winduhz OS X for higher benchmark scores now? (I didn't think so. Me neither. Probably some deception and manipulation going on with that as the dangling carrot for the gamer children of the world.)

Here you go, brother. Hope this is helpful. Ooops, @jaybee83 and @electrosoft I forgot this one. I hope the firmware clown posse at A$$zeus puts this where it belongs in the primary memory timings section and not leave it buried in the AMD overclocking for idiots menus. You have to convert to hex for that menu. For now, this is the only way to set tRCDWR.