Mr. Fox

I was going to share that and checked first. I just watched it and thought it was pretty interesting (and sad). Happy New Year everyone!

Even Intel motherboards are grossly overpriced. Just a mid-range Strix board will set you back $400-$500 depending on which one you settle for. The only ones priced decently are the chintzy crap models for gamer-kidz that don't care about overclocking. If you want a real enthusiast motherboard, they're generally between $600 and $1100. Asus is the worst at overcharging, which is ironic since theirs are the least reliable and have horribly poor warranty service.

No. Half-breed is a 16GB Quadro. Wheezer was 2060.

I haven't really even tuned them yet. Just took an educated guess at some of the settings and there it is. This is on the new EVGA 2.06 beta BIOS. I don't know if they will work this well on 2.03 or 2.05. Thank you. C'mon over. Will make some fajitas and guacamole and wash it down with Chelada. Yeah, I am not liking that idea about retiring later. I wish I could do it now, but can't afford to. And, Brandon has already destroyed a massive chunk (2-3 years worth of retirement income) of my nest egg with his retarded economic agenda. I have lost almost as much as I made on my 401K while Mr. T was in office.

I got the generic green A-die sticks from AliExpress today.

Oh, I really want one, but I don't want to spend the money. I don't think they are worth the price they are fetching, and won't believe they are even if temptation overtakes me. I turn 60 in a few weeks, and Sleepy Joe is making things to where retirement may need to be extended an extra 5 or 10 years beyond my planned retirement age of 70. Unless something changes in two years and things get back on track I will have nothing left to retire with and may end up working until I die or can't anymore, so blowing $2K+ on an overpriced GPU every two years probably isn't wise for me. But, yeah... I want one.

I think we are on the same page for the most part and you read more into my comments than I intended them to convey. I can understand the sensitivity due to your heritage. If you militarize the border and make illegal crossing nearly impossible and block it through any means necessary, including lethal force, people will stop crossing illegally because they do not want to be shot. They value their life and are not willing to risk losing it if chances are slim their illegal entry would be successful. In other words, the imminent threat and probability of it become the deterrent unless they are criminals with a death wish. I think legal entry with approved work visas after a through background check and consent to monitoring/tracking while temporarily here for work, and those pursuing legal citizenship should be an easier process than it is. If the people are willing to work, support themselves, become literate in English, and have something to offer all who are already citizen, yes... 100%. But, not illegally. To me it is just common sense. Gun control freaks want to outlaw firearms, and the states that are the most torn up by guns are those that have banned or restricted them. I live in an open carry state. It does not end all violence, but when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have them. If someone enters a home without permission, tries to rob a store, or anything else, it is good and just when an armed law-abiding citizen can take the life of the transgressor to preserve their own. They are heroes and should be treated as such. In many liberal states, if you defend yourself or your property using anything (sticks, rocks, knives, bats, guns, martial arts skills, etc.) and cause injury or death, you are subject to prosecution the same as if you are the instigator or perpetrator. In states that do not have such unconstitutional restrictions of personal freedom, you can legally defend yourself and stand your ground. This is a deterrent and it shows in the crime statistics. Criminals that are not stupid sometimes stop to think what might happen to them. Some are not willing to risk having their brains blown out. The stupid ones that have nothing to live for don't stop and think about anything.

@Talon Beta BIOS Updates for Z690 DARK K|NGP|N (2.06) / CLASSIFIED (2.06)

I suspect it will likely not be a straight across SP rating between K and KS. And, you are right. SP rating is not the definitive indicator of a strong CPU that overclocks well. It is a very useful tool, but it is possible to have a CPU with a lower SP rating that performs better and overclocks further than one with a higher SP rating, albeit using more voltage. It is not very likely that I will purchase one. I might if the price is close to the same as 13900K, but I probably would not be willing to spend much more than maybe $100 extra for it. Time will tell.

Or it could be (but, hopefully not) better than average. Hopefully, it is a poor sample. A minor improvement should not result in more than a minor price increase... but, I expect we will see more than a minor premium for the "S" variant. This is probably going to suck for people that paid a premium for used 13900K CPUs with a superior bin quality.

If the results from Igor's binning are an accurate example of the norm this is an improvement. Not massive, but still better than average. That said, it would have to be or they would not be able to justify the new SKU. We also do not know if that person has a poor, average or superior 13900KS sample. If it is a poor sample, a good or great sample might be truly amazing in comparison. I guess the price, along with all-P+E core, ring and memory overclocking capacity, will tell us whether or not it represents a good value. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out once they are widely available for purchase. Probably "scalper" if it ends up being priced as I expect it to.

It took me a few days to adjust, so I understand. I did not like it at first but now I love it and wish my Predator monitor was curved. I do have them mounted on a tri-screen pedestal and raised 9 inches from my desktop surface so it is close to normal eye level. I would really hate using a monitor at a lower height and doing so would cause neck strain and fatigue. I have my 27 inch 1440p Predator monitor raised 9 inches as well. It used to be that the OC version was actually a different GPU, but looking at the specs for most of them today it seems more like a scam, with the power limits and voltage in the firmware and hardware build seeming to be exactly the same from what I can tell. It looks like you are just paying extra for a vBIOS with maybe a 50MHz higher boost clock. There might be some OC versions with different hardware, but I have not noticed any. It's unfortunate that the OC versions do not have a 200-500MHz higher default boost clock.

This is not "fake news" no matter how you slice it. It is a live recording of direct conversation. If you don't watch the whole thing, at least listen to the first 2:48 and pay attention to what Rand is describing. It really outlines the degree to which government has become overreaching and abusive of power as it relates to the mistreatment its own citizens.

4K is nice with a big screen and 100% scaling. Only sucks on smaller screens and with scaling ovee 100%. But, I really like 1440p and that is a very good monitor you have. I think the G-Sync is a gimmick if your framerate is as fast or faster than the refreshrate above 120Hz. I doubt you would be able to tell a difference. I can't and have never been able to. I would say it boils down to deciding what you want to do and just do it because you want to. I suspect you will be happy either way. You will adjust (eyes and brain) to the new resolution and it will become the new normal in a few days. Although they are 1080p, I really like my curved monitors in a triple-wide array. It look me a short time to adjust to the curve, but going forward I only plan to purchase curved monitors. Especially nice with two or three because they will fit in a smaller space width-wise and once you adjust it is easier on your eyes and more ergonomically pleasing. If they were flat, I would not be able to fit the triple-screen setup on my desk. It would overhang the sides too much and interfere with placement of other things, including my mid-tower case on the right side and tall cabinet on the left side. Edge-to-edge is 54 inches. If they were flat the same array would be 63 inches wide. Huge difference in the amount of space flat panels would require and they would be harder to use for 10-12 hours per day. I noticed the delayed ship time, but also "free shipping today" and wasn't sure which was accurate. But, I'd be fine with waiting if it meant spending $300-$500 less and the shipping was free. It would give me time to sell other things to help stop the hemorrhaging of my wallet before I got billed for the frivolous self-indulgence.

If you really want one, I saw the PNY 4090 at TigerDirect Business for $1600 a day or two ago. It was tempting, but I managed to avoid it.

100%. If I were going to buy a 4090 it would be the Zotac Amp Extreme AIRO. I probably would not even bother looking at other options. Short of that option, it would be an MSI GPU. I would end up wanting to block it for sure, but I think Zotac also has the best aesthetic of all of the air cooled options. The ASUS trash is overpriced and the warranty service too shoddy and shady to even consider it, and the Gigabutt options are pretty lackluster and I think theirs are uglier than any other GPUs except for the gaudiness of the Galax HOF (hard to match tacky looking tech on that order of magnitude). I think I would just save $400-$600+ and settle for a PNY 4090 XLR8 before I would give my money/scalp to the goons at ASUS or Gigabutt.

I suspect they probably have been to some degree. They needed feckless leadership to be put back in charge because they were terrified by what was happening under leadership with gonads. What is interesting is how all of that got twisted and deflected though. The party accused of being in cahoots with the Russians was the one that wouldn't be, and the one that the Russians (and Chinese) feared the most. It is so obvious, especially considering the Russian and Chinese business deals that the media have tried to cover up and suppress. It is diabolical that so much information was suppressed, skewed and concealed to manipulate public opinion and influence election outcomes. The outcome has been damaging to this nation by every measurement. Not one identifiable good thing has come from it.

That is a good way of putting it. Another way of putting it is blinding people to the truth with a relentless barrage of lies and disinformation, similar to a DoS attack. Everyone is passionate about what they believe, even when it is irrational and they have no solid basis for it, and that creates division and vitriol. It is a form of brainwashing and the resulting outcome behaves like a virus. The people that recognize the lies and call them out are dismissed and accused of being deplorable extremists wearing tin foil hats, whose voices need to be silenced. They are often falsely accused of violence when, in fact, they are often victims of violence from their accusers. Those that believe the lies anoint themselves with a fake mantle of enlightenment and self-validate their woke foolishness with virtue-signaling nonsense. And, nothing good gets done. "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

Still overpriced, and unlikely to sell at that price, but I guess that is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Interesting info on the top 5 4090 cards. Very damning for ASUS and their sucky warranty service and poor reliability (I know... my surprised look is not on my face about that) is found starting at 6:13.

Well. Hmm. That sucks. Nice response from AMD, too. How reassuring, LOL. Should be interesting to see what kind of software fix is going to take care of what der8auer already proved was a mechanical problem.

Another lie that the media-driven left have convinced their constituents and the rest of the world that do not know any better, or have any way of knowing different, due to hardcore censoring of information. It is absolutely overblown hype and driven by an irrational hatred of Trump. You'll probably continue to believe it only because it is what you have been conditioned to believe and have no other information to work with. And, that's by design. They only show the little snippets here and there that they want the public to see and hear. They don't show the abuse of the people present that were causing no trouble. The entire thing was a setup orchestrated by the left. What happened at the nation's capital was like an elementary school puppet show compared to the heinously violent riots and protests that frequently occurred across the nation that were entirely composed of extreme left woke lunatics gone wild. There were no murdered politicians, no blown up cars, no molotov cocktails, no buildings set on fire, during the so-called "insurrection" in Washington DC. The lunatic rioters were temporarily detained and set free to cause more mayhem, yet many that were merely present and breaking no laws at the capitol remain incarcerated with no legal basis for it, no explanation of charges against them, and no trial date for their cases to be heard. Why? Probably because if they get released and their story is heard publicly, there could be a real insurrection and a good reason for a real insurrection. The so-called "extreme right" are about 90% composed of ordinary people that are patriotic Americans that represent a traditional family, and adhere to Judeo-Christian values that this nation was built on. A large chunk of those on the left represent the exact opposite and they have the support of big tech and big media behind them. They seek to "fundamentally transform the nation" that doesn't want or need transformation. The people on the right have been unjustly stereotyped as militant hateful extremists in the same way that all Muslims were sterotyped as terrorists. Both are myths that are totally untrue, but believed by many because of the liars with "journalist" in their job title. Some in the middle are moving hard left or hard right, depending on what is more natural to their inclination. The middle is shrinking. Most of what gets reported as "news" is opinion and disinformation, or misrepresented information, not facts or real news. That gets pushed out to other nations as "US News" so the lies become global misinformation. What is exceptionally bad about this is the fact that people that live in other countries only know what their media present to them. While, here in the US, there is growing distrust and rejection of the lies pushed by the media. So, what the outside world assumes to be accurate and trustworthy is not accurate, and not believed or trusted by a very high percentage (and growing percentage) of the people that live here. The good part about all of this is Americans citizens have placed too much confidence in the government for way too long. I can see a possibiity of that confidence further disintegrating (and I hope it does) because the government in its current state has become more powerful and controlling than it was ever intended to be. When you cannot trust Homeland Security, NSA, CIA, FBI, even our own military, to do what is right and they become agencies used as weapons against our own people, it's a good sign that it is time to dismantle that government and replace it with something that better resembles what it was intended to be, and used to be until about 25-30 years ago. It has been in decline for a while and have progressively moved toward a "Deep State" monarchy with a token President. Love him or hate him, Trump was a serious threat to the liberal establishment (composed of both Republicans and Democrats) and that freaked out the lefty libs real bad. He treatened to unravel the corrupt web it had taken them more than a couple of decades to weave. 100%. But, some (many) choose to stay and put up with it. It's amazing to me how many do. Yet, they complain about the mess instead of either provoking change and voting idiots out of office, or by voting with their shoes (i.e. leaving the stupidity behind and moving to a better place).

The US is polarized. It's about an even split, extreme left Marxist nutjobs or extreme right zealots with a small group in the middle that doesn't stand for anything. The extreme left is very militant, intolerant, hateful and deceptive about everything and want to silence or outlaw everything that doesn't fit their agenda. They accuse those on the right of being everything their leftist views exemplify. So, your option #1 depends on which idealogy more closely resembles your point of view. You're going to find a diverse majority that is almost a 50/50 split on most things, or a 33/33/33 split on other things. The only thing you can find a 2/3+ majority view about is the current President and his cabinet being horrible and ineffective. A lot of the people that helped elect him hate him now and wish they had not, and the other 50% of the country voted for his competitor because they knew he was a loser before he joined the presidential race. Here is a common sense conversation that somewhat illustrates the level of stupidity that is normal in some venues.

Yep, yessir, more filth, piled on top of filth.

The problem with fact-checking is identifying a reliable source of "facts" that is unbiased and agenda-free. Almost everything, with extremely rare exceptions, is a sliver of fact, taken out of context, misrepresented and spun in a way that supports the agenda of the self-anointed providers of "proof" who are actually spin-doctors and liars. You can rely on them, and your friendly local, state and federal governments, to feed you an endless line of crap. Nobody that claims to have a line on truth or facts actually does. They merely have a source that they agree with. The only real "proof" comes in the form of unedited data, unredacted documents, video and audio recordings that captures every detail of information and and presents every spoken word to the audience for digestion without being cut-down or combined with or repackaged with biased editorial about "what they really meant" or speculation about what was implied.