Mr. Fox

No, but it is probably a bugged run. I ran one right behind it that was just a few points less than your last submission. I forgot to take a screenshot with NVCP open so I am trying to get another buggy run with the screenshot showing it enabled. Edit: I think what might be happening is ECC enabled sometimes glitches and disables itself.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89115387

So, I ordered a Barrow GPU block. I was going to wait for a Alphacool Eisblock Aurora, but found a thread on Reddit where someone that had one discovered there are two VRM chips that have no cooling (totally bare). The cold plate totally missed them. They even took a picture showing it with the block installed, and that's a definite way to end up with a dead GPU. Most likely the issue is they used the MSI Trio as the basis for the block design. It has the same PCB as the Suprim, but it does not have any VRM components there, just empty solder pads where they would be on a Suprim. Then, the Bykski block for one of the 4090 models doesn't allow proper seating of the 12VHPWR cable because it presses on the tab for the latch and keeps it from latching. You'd have to carve a notch into the acrylic to create clearance for the tab in order to fix it. I am not going to spend $350 on an EKWB or Phanteks GPU block, so that leaves Corsair and Barrow. It's coming from Fontana, CA so I might have it tomorrow or Wednesday. https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/y3pizh/rtx_4090_block_compatibility_spreadsheet/ @Papusancongrats on the Galax HOF 4090. It should be a really great overclocker. Hopefully, it's performance will be more than enough to cause you to forget about the silly color choice and its hideous aesthetic qualities. Maybe at least one company will make a GPU block for it, so that might fix that issue for you. The PCB will still be white, but that would fix the other aesthetic issues.

What Brothers@johnksssand@Papusansaid. Laptops just aren't worth the money, hassles and headaches at this point. Trying to make them less trashy garbage is a waste of time and energy... totally futile. The only thing that makes a modern turdbook better than a smartphone is having a larger screen and keyboard/mouse.

I have a hunch that these are the pads that Alienware used on the stock heat sinks back in the day. They worked well and were very durable. But, you could not remove and remount the heat sink or it would destroy the original phase change pad. I suspect that would hold true here as well. If you ever needed to take it apart, you would need to remove the old pad and replace it.

Looking good, Brother John. Now we're back on topic again, too. 👍 Have you found a Windows 7 driver mod for 4090 yet? I've searched high and low, and found nothing. I spent about a half day yesterday trying to mod one myself. I finally tweaked things enough to get the driver to install normally and without error (a DCH driver) but when I reboot the GPU is code 43. There has to be a way to do it, I just haven't figured out what the Green Goblin and the Redmond Retards did to interfere with the functionality... yet.

Forum moderation is difficult. I did it for a good while at the old NBR and got to the point where I had enough. The reach of this community is global, and that makes moderation even harder. He is from Canada, I am from the Desert Southwest. We have cultural differences even within our own states and provinces, yet South American, European, UK, Asian, African, Bavarian, Slavic, etc. cultural influences add complexity to relationships. People from every region and continent are represented here. Words that can seem harmless to one can be very negative to others. For example, in the Deep South the expression "well, bless their heart" is often used. To someone that is not local it may sound like a pleasant expression of positive thought, kindness or compassion for adverse circumstances, and logically so. It would be in most places. But, those that live in the Deep South utilize it as a very condescending insult that is tantamount to saying that a person is as dumb as a box of rocks. Profanity is a universally recognized phenomenon that has no positive association in any culture and it is not necessary for communication; although the gravity of utilizing it in conversation it can vary widely from one person, or culture, to the next.

Brother @ryanis a wonderful person and I am glad he is part of our community. We are better because of his being here. I have had to adjust my communication style and refrain from speaking freely, even though sometimes it takes all the effort I can muster to say nothing. While it might not seem like it to some, there are many things I would like to say that I do not because it might spark strife or controversy. I like everyone that is part of this community in spite of where we may have differing views. I am a lot older than he is and have had more time to practice. There are also generational, cultural and familial values differences that come into play among all of us. My kids say things today as adults that would have gotten them a hard spanking or their mouth washed out with soap, but to their generation they are just sassy, smartalek words and not highly offensive and destructive words that you would only use in a contemptuous and hateful way. Sadly, that can cloud good judgment and lower social standards because it doesn't respect the power of the tongue. Fortunately, they are smart enough to recognize that they have to consider their audience and temper their language in a manner that doesn't convey a different message than what they intend. Here is a passage (Matthew 15:18) from The Message (an amplified Bible translation) that I think really nails it. It is not the actual words themselves, but the intent behind them and the condition of the heart and mind as you are speaking them, that makes them problematic. Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

I am not sure how reliable that data is. It may not be reflective of intelligence or mastery of vocabulary as much as just being a rude, crass and uncouth or unprincipled person that lacks self-discipline. A creative use of vocabulary has potential to be far more accurate and even hurtful when the tongue is wielded as a weapon without the use of vulgar words. Example: "Ricky is a dumbass." or "What I find most amazing is the fact I cannot recall having ever met a person more lacking in common sense and basic human intelligence than Ricky." The former might be nothing but a reaction to an isolated circumstance or a basis for disagreement with Ricky. The latter is a emotionless statement that describes Ricky's ineptness and defects as a human being. The latter is far more hurtful to Ricky than random use of a vulgar word. If your intent is to hurt Ricky's feelings, calling him a dumbass isn't going to do much. It just makes you look like a jerk. (Hopefully, nobody here is named Ricky. I just chose that name because I don't know anyone by that name.) Fox Sports - you can stream it on PC or smart TV. https://www.foxsports.com/nfl-2023-super-bowl-lvii

Yes, you have the correct methodology. As for the noob question, it really only matters to someone that might want to buy it later. When you are attempting to sell it, it is helpful that anyone can see in the photo what they are buying. It can also help with identifying any spare parts you have in an inventory or stash if you can tell what it is without having to label it or put it into a system to identify what it is. These are the reasons I like having the original marking legible. It is otherwise totally irrelevant, and the performance improvement is more valuable. There are some people that are truly weirdos and care about the markings more than they care about performance. They are also often the type that want to keep the original decals and tags on products they buy. I have known a lot of people that want to keep original decals on things that are old, worn-out and curling on the edges. By the time that has happened, removing the decals is actually aesthetically detrimental because the color of the surface under the decal no longer matches the adjacent surfaces that were not covered by the decal. As a general rule, a delidded used CPU should be worth more to someone that knows enough to value it as an enhancement. You are correct that the warranty is voided by the delid. If you buy a tray (OEM) CPU that is not a boxed retail product, it has no warranty from Intel. So, there is no warranty to void unless the place that sold it to you offers a warranty.

Yes. I actually got good results from a delid on both. I had truly lousy results bare die with the Supercool 12th Gen kit (which has been redesigned). What I ended up having to do on the 12900K to get good results is sand down the bottom of the IHS. Apparently there was enough of a lip to make an air gap where the solder used to be. @tps3443actually suggested that. When I started checking closer why nothing was helping, I found that the IHS would not "spin" on the die because it was dragging on the PCB. Once I sanded it down enough that the IHS was resting on the die instead of contacting the PCB, the temps instantly fell in line. I did not have to do that with the 13900K. In both cases about 10°-12°C improvement from delid. I find it offensive when people use profanity in casual conversation, and it causes me to think negative things about them as a person. I know lots of people that use the "s" and "f" words in general conversation and they always strike me as being a bit dumb and not having a good command of the English language, even though some are very intelligent. At the very least, it conveys a sense that they are lacking common courtesy and professionalism. When someone is angry, upset or physically injured, I do not find it so offensive because the fact that they do not normally use that type of language lets me know that something unfortunate has occurred and the vulgar expression is helping them cope with the physical or emotional trauma of the situation.

It does make the CPU laser etched marking obscure and generally illegible. I have heard you can use sulfuric or muriatic acid to restore them, but it is the one thing I do not like about using it. If you have delidded, just get an aftermarket IHS or buy a cheap used Celeron and steal the IHS from that. I bought a used LGA 1700 Celeron on eBay for like $35, took the IHS off of it and put it on my 13900K with liquid metal. 😄 You can also use the Rockit Copper IHS, but I had to trim it down a bit with a dremmel tool to make it fit the Thermalright CPU frame. Once I did that it worked great. I think some of it may have to do with context, timing, and the choice of words. I tend to use slang euphemisms like "effed up" in place of the more offensive term that should not normally be used by a civilized person with an IQ above 50. I know the kiddos think it makes them a big boy to use potty-mouth in normal casual conversation that involves no expression of emotion. Profanity is best reserved for situations that call for an emphasis or conveyance of extreme anger or pain. It provides a way of safely venting by using harsh words in lieu of violent actions or threats.

Watch the video from Dawid. Good parts and good instructions from NZXT. I think the NZXT BLD option would be a really good option for you, unless you really want someone else to assemble it. The key to getting liquid metal to work on top of the IHS is applying enough and applying it to both surfaces. If you don't use enough and do not apply it to both mating surfaces it is not going to work as well. The most common mistake is only applying it to one surface. A wet IHS and a dry heat sink is almost guaranteed to perform worse than thermal paste. That also applies to laptops, under the IHS on a delid, and bare die. Both halves have to come together wet to get good results. They are also too thick for good results in an application where fitment is not problematic. You want as little TIM as possible when the parts fit well. The closer to zero space you can get between the IHS and cold plate the better. Adding thickness there impairs heat transfer. It's only beneficial when the parts fit poorly and you need to have something chunky to plug the gap.

I think it was Dawid that featured one of those in a YouTube video. I thought it was good, and he always makes it entertaining. Edit: Found it... was his wife, but still a good option and an entertaining video. @ryan

Pick anything that is NOT an Alienware. If you look at GamersNexus YouTube channel, they have highlighted the failures of numerous system-builders (which are many, unfortunately) and Alienware is, hands-down and undisputed the master of failure, flawed design and engineering abortion. Also avoid all of the big names like HP, Lenovo, Dell XPS, MSI and ASUS for pre-builts. They all suck, just not as bad as Alienware sucks. Go with companies like Origin, Digital Storm, NZXT, Maingear, Build Redux, etc. Corsair is so-so, but I would avoid anything SFF or proprietary from anyone. You'll end up with compromises almost as bad as wasting money on an effed-up Alienware. They're really only good for chintzy turdbooks that have sloppy-fitting parts that don't work well with thermal paste due to half-assed engineering and lousy manufacturing QC. If you have a desktop you are going to be better-served by a good thermal paste or liquid metal.

We can only hope... The article misses the mark on what is to blame... The problem, at least in great part, is due to their idiotic pricing. I do not believe it is due to lack of demand or economic downturn. People that don't have money and shouldn't spend what they do not have are being more stupid than ever about using credit cards. (That is going to bite them--and maybe the rest of us--in the butt in the long run, but it is what it is.) I think the real issue is there are enough people that are not stupid, so they are not giving into stupid prices. Even the mediocre gamer mobos are priced like the high-end enthusiast/overclocker boards now. The high-end options are beyond ridiculous pricing, but they are still selling because people like us place importance on having what we want over being intelligent about how we spend money. The mid-range Strix mobos are a good example. I bought mine on eBay as refurbished/open-box option for what should have been new retail pricing, but new retail price is/was more than what I paid for a Dark mobo on sale direct from EVGA. It's OK, but the Strix is definitely not an enthusiast board. It is a gamer mobo priced like it is an overclocker mobo.

It is very difficult for me to tolerate small screens and keyboards. Minimum acceptable (just barely) is 17.3" screen and I absolutely loathe TKL keyboards. Every time I have owned a laptop with either a 15-inch screen or a keyboard without the numeric keypad I have hated it and regretted buying it.

He changed his response at some point. He initially called me out for repeating the same thing and that made no sense because I was not repeating anything I had ever said before, LOL. Nor was I repeating anything someone else had said. Here was my notification email. I got a kick out of your response to him. 🙂 Vapor chamber is definitely better, whether you have one or two GPUs installed.

You're welcome. Let's be honest about gaming. You do not (or at least I do not) need a 4090 to have a good experience. I thoroughly enjoy these and other games with my 3060 Ti FTW3. There is no tangible change in the experience running 100-150 FPS faster with a 4090 versus the 3060 Ti FTW3. I wouldn't know the difference except for the on-screen overlay telling me. 3090, 3090 Ti, 4090 are good for number-chasing. I would not have wasted my money on a 3090 or 4090 for gaming. Here is Crysis (1) Remastered since that is what you technically asked for. I tried to use the built-in benchmarks for these, but I could not get them to work. The batch files could not "find" the file specified. SMAA 2TX (max anti-aliasing) ~170 FPS DLSS: Quality ~220 FPS

I wasn't sure if you wanted to know about FPS with maxed AA versus DLSS set to Quality (since DLSS being enabled disables anti-alias settings and you cannot enable both simultaneously) so I did it both ways for you. Maxed AA is well above 200 FPS, while DLSS Quality is right above 300 FPS. This is at 2560*1440 resolution. DLSS: Quality SMAA 2TX (max anti-aliasing) Edit: I did Crysis3 Remastered. Did you need/want to know about Crysis(1) Remastered?

Yes, I sent him a PM on the HWBOT forum on January 30th to ask a simple question about something I could not figure out relating to my HWBOT profile settings. I had a friend that said he could not "follow me" because the option is greyed out, but not greyed out for others. I thought maybe there was a setting I needed to toggle to enable it. I could not find such a setting and could not find anything in the FAQ/self-help, so I asked him. Well, for two weeks now he has ignored my PM on that topic, yet he can find time to post smartass replies to people in the forum trying to have civil dialogue about something a thread was created to have dialogue about.

At first it was kind of exciting to think they were going back to socket mounting, and then when he showed it was still going to be BGA in the end (only a test platform) that just totally ruined it. What is this guy's problem? @johnksssand @Papusanis it just me, or is he just a smartass with an attitude? I feel like trying to interact with some of these dullards is like casting pearls before swine. https://community.hwbot.org/topic/221655-mandatory-systeminfo-555-update-and-new-benchmark-rules-for-rtx40-series/?do=findComment&comment=636361

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89017727 | https://hwbot.org/submission/5199765_ https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89018309 | https://hwbot.org/submission/5199779_ https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89018915 | https://hwbot.org/submission/5199791_

Remastered. That's also with the CPU at 6.0GHz on P-cores, 4.8GHz on E-cores, 50x cache and DDR5-8000. It would probably run as well with all of that stock. I doubt it adds a ton of frames, and generally doesn't with most games.

1440p @ 165Hz with maxed out graphics settings. No DLSS since DLSS does not work on Linux. So, pure hardware muscle... no fake frames.