Mr. Fox

Rob presents a very level-headed technical explanation of why doing what the idiots at Micro$lop want us to do is a very bad idea that places consumers at risk and benefits no one but Micro$lop.

Hey brother. Hope all is well with you and your family. That is a brilliant idea. I may have to look into that. I would love to be able to go back to Windows 7 and cannot due to lack of driver support.

If I could get the drivers I need for the newer hardware I would still be using it. The slobs at Micro$lop have already taken steps to limit Windows 10 driver support. They claim things like WiFi 7 is "not compatible" but that is only true by decree. They can play god all they want to and forbid partners from releasing drivers for Windows 7 and 10, but they'll never have my respect or admiration because I am not a devil worshipper. I wish only bad things for them as a company. They'd win some points if they treated their native customers (US Citizens) with the same courtesy they extend to the EU. Even though they only do it because of EU regulations, they should have the decency to do the right thing when the law doesn't require them to. But, they're not a decent company, so I digress.

I probably would not even try to refrain. Sleep is optional when there are new parts to be installed. 🤣 UPS tried to deliver and he was not home so he will be picking it up from a UPS location probably later today.

So, I am continuing to have odd behavior with the Apex that is unexplainable. Can run stable for many hours and then suddenly will not boot Windows any more without a BSOD or stops booting before the BIOS screen and stays stuck on random LED Q-codes. It ran perfectly all day long yesterday and I turned it off to go to bed. When I tried to turn it on this morning it was stopping during POST with a black screen. Resetting CMOS and then applying the saved BIOS profile, it began working normally again. So, there is something wrong with it. Changing CPU, RAM and all attached storage does not seem to matter. I reopened the RMA for a refund and purchased a new replacement. It will be delivered Friday and I will return the original and wait for the refund. And Brother @Hiew is the new owner of the amazing AORUS Master. It is being delivered to him today.

So dumb. It seems like so many things that are new are garbage. And, the minds of the idiots driving the new ideas are broken. Stupid people producing garbage products for stupid people. The new normal. Maybe we will see prices go down for the "old" PSUs that were made the right way. My Thermaltake GF3 1650W PSU has two 12VHPWR connections (and cables) and like six 8-pin PCIe connections (and cables), plus the two EPS connections (and cables). It is hard to find them now because silly people don't like it because it has a powerful fan that they can hear running under heavy stress and it runs for a few seconds after you turn off the computer in order to cool off the internals. They would prefer that the PSU cook itself in silence.

I do not want to jinx any of us by saying too much. Is it because we do not use janky cables? Is it because we are extra careful about making sure cables are fully seated? Is it because the number that burn are a very tiny percentage that the media blows grossly out of proportion because they live or die based on click bait? Or, is it because we are lucky? Let me see what the Magic 8 Ball says...

They just need to man up and say "sorry everyone, we effed up so bad, and going forward the old standard 8-pin is the only standard forever" but they are not men. They are arrogant dweebs and greed-driven gangster losers. They have no concept of integrity and they live the opposite.

And, all of this nonsense simply because the Green Goblin refuses to acknowledge their horrible and misguided decision to force this crappy and inherently defective standard on the industry. Their mental handicap therefore becomes a problem for the entire world.

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

For those that insist on running the trash OS, here is this new Micro$lop account bypass... curl -L christitus.com/bypass -0 skip.cmd -then- skip.cmd

Having a Gen 5 NVMe, an X4 PCIe card with four NVMe and an X1 card with two NVMe may have just exhausted its resources. BUT, it does not have that effect on the AORUS Master or Strix. I had 10 NVMe SSDs in the Master (two quad NVMe X4 cards and two in the mobo) without any issue. I have 7 in the Strix (quad NVMe and three in the mobo). With a Gen 4 NVMe in the top M.2 (Gen 5) slot and nothing in the X1 slot it seems like everything is functioning correctly, but I want to put it through all the paces. I had to reinstall Windows several times on the Gen 5 NVMe SSD. It would get corrupted within a couple of hours to the point of BSOD and unrepairable. I am running that same NVMe in the Strix and it is working flawlessly. I have 7 NVMe installed (quad NVMe x4 card, Gen 4 in Gen 5 slot and two Gen 4 in the DIMM.2 and no more memory errors or OS corruption (so far). LOL. I am OK with other people liking rainbow puke. Just not on my stuff. Give me white light all day. I don't even like having a solid static color that much. Just white. But, that's me. To each their own. Rainbow puke on the RAM and mobo lighting sucks, but doesn't suck as bad as the software needed to control it. I'd rather have the rainbow puke than the cancer software bloat running in the background. Edit: Oh, another thing seems "fixed" now. Not sure if it was the Gen 5 SSD or the X1 slot being used, but the OS on the Apex no longer temporarily freezes when launch ZenTimings. Before it would lock up for about 5 seconds when I opened ZenTimings.

From the beta thread in their Discord. https://discord.com/channels/750797327874129930/752301932558942302 Alternatively https://www.overclock.net/posts/29518003/

So, I ordered another X870E Apex and thought I would give it a second chance. BAD idea. Horrible product and worse than the first one. I submitted my RMA this morning. Fought it for 3 days. It's a piece of garbage just like the first one that I returned. The AORUS Master and Strix both overclock better than the Apex. It cannot even run 8000 C34 stable and for some reason using a Gen 5 NVMe in the top slot causes constant corruption of Windows that cannot be repaired (even using JEDEC/SPD defaults). I tried two of them and both have issues in the Apex, but not in the Master or Strix. Super disappointing that two of what is allegedly the best overclocking AM5 motherboards are rubbish and inferior to less expensive options. I spend about 36 hours moving parts back and forth between motherboards and all work flawllessly except when installed in the Apex, then everything turns to crap. I considered the idea of exchanging it, but it's not worth it. Lost two days of my life on this piece of dung and considering it is the second turd Apex... how 'bout no. Two known good CPUs, two known good memory kits and two known good Gen 5 NVMe malfunction when installed in the Apex. I'm a two-time Apex silicon lottery winner. Ain't nobody got time fo dat.

Awesome. Looks great. Thank you.