Mr. Fox

We spent the day just hanging out together and enjoying one another's company. We went out to eat at a nice restaurant, which is something we seldom do because of the high cost and less than ideal caloric implications. Awesome honeymoon getaway in Mexico. Congratulations on making your commitment official! Have a wonderful time. I hope you enjoy a lifetime of love and friendship through the good times and hard times. It is as much, perhaps more, decision and covenant than it is a feeling. Feelings can fade, but real love and real commitments do not... otherwise, they are not real love and commitments... only feelings that were mistaken for the latter. The concept of having the display for system monitoring is wonderful. Using it as a USB device is ideal, because then it does not interfere with your configuration of graphics display output on a monitor that serves a limited purpose. Having an eDP port on the motherboard like a laptop is a gimmick that adds a proprietary element to the ability to use the feature when any other solution is totally non-proprietary. One of the many reasons laptops suck is proprietary garbage... why go down that retarded rabbit hole with a desktop if you don't have to? I shudder to think about what kind of configuration nightmare that getup is going to look like on the A$$Rock abortion, and how that display will be driven at a hardware level. Totally unnecessary complication and added point of potential failure. This looks most interesting to me because the TEC is cooled as part of a normal custom water loop. That has potential to work a lot more effectively and efficiently than a normal TEC that is not part of a custom water loop. With the water cooling added, probably will get and stay colder and be less prone to condensation because the temperature delta between components is smaller... in theory anyway. I have not seen a more clear example of this than the G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 memory in my Strix Z690 D4. I ran it at 4500 stable on multiple Z490 and Z590 motherboards with 10900K/KF processors. But, it could not boot above 4000 reliably with 12900K. I assumed the Z690 D4 board was the problem. Wrong... way wrong. Runs like a top at 4600 with the 12900KS and 13900K. Everything works together. If one element doesn't play nice with another, it is going to present an impediment.

Interesting...

I ran into that a couple of times on the Unify-X and the solution was to press downward slightly on the end of the M.2 with the retainer while attempting to rotate it to unlock the clip. Something about the design of the retention mechanism seems to get misaligned and not allow the plastic retainer to rotate freely in the notch on the end of the M.2 PCB. It is kind of a chintzy design. I don't see any way that simply using a screw and doing it the old fashioned way isn't a superior approach. The "new and improved" latching mechanism is a perfect example of why adhering to the KISS principle is the best approach. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It seems that there is never a shortage of stupid gimmicks.

Thank you. We had a good day. I took the day off from work to enjoy her company. Congratulations on the new CPU. Looks like a decent bin. A great wife is certainly priceless. Congrats on that, too. Condolences on the brutal and abusive taxation.

Funny you mention that. I discovered this today. I noticed while playing with the Luumi, Kingpin and CENS profiles they always set it lower or left it on "auto" and that worked better for me, too.

It's really difficult to view the performance of M-die as anything short of excellent. It doesn't take you quite as far as the A-die that costs a lot more, but where it does take you is pretty stinking sweet. @Recieverhow is the memory working now with the modules installed in the correct slots? All better?

@tps3443 look at this post and check the photo of the IHS. This is EXACTLY how my delid turned out on the 12900K. I mentioned that I had to lap it to fix the damage the delid caused to it. The 12900KS sustained similar damage to the "wing" that sticks out on the side. I was able to repair that by sanding the underside (CPU-facing surface) flat. I have not delidded the 13900K yet. It looks like his got a little bit of damage in both places (highlighted yellow). I warmed the CPU the first time. Waste of time doing that. According to Roman (der8auer) it is actually detrimental because the soft solder smears instead of shears. He recommends doing it to a cold CPU to cause the solder to shear more easily. I have done it cold since and it was easier. No need to push it back the opposite direction because it was already loose. It wasn't loose the first time because the solder smeared or stretched. (The heating may have also softened the IHS... not sure on that.) The lapped IHS works better, but it's ruined in terms of identification markings.

Thank you both. God blessed me with a great wife. More than I deserved. @Talon you're a quarter of the way there. 😄 It's surreal and it doesn't feel like it though.

Here is another amazing value on M-die modules. I really prefer buying non-RGB without heating blankets. They run much cooler totally naked due to the utterly worthless crap the OEMs use to smother them, and it makes adding actually functional aftermarket heatsinks or water cooling jackets so much less complicated. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09P3SF82F I want some A-die, but I think it is severly overpriced and overrated like everything else is, especially when it is new. I am not willing to pay double, or triple, for it though. It provides too little benefit for the added premium. I suspect the price will come down to reason, just as it did with M-die, once the new wears off.

Well, 36 years ago today I tied the knot with Mrs. Fox. Doesn't seem possible it was that long ago. A lot has changed. A lot has not changed. I have made a lot of stupid mistakes in those 36 years. Marrying her was the smartest thing I think I have ever done. I'd be lost without her.

It could be z690 won't take you as far as z790, but it can also be the CPU. You can have a great silicon sample that doesn't have a great memory controller, or vice versa. The difference between M-die and A-die is silicon revision, and there is variance among samples in both revisions. Anything stable above 7000 is something special. It is easy to misidentify exceptions and anomalies as normal when you want luck to grant you the privilege to own a silicon sample that is exceptional. But, look at where we were a few months ago. Even normal and below average is a big upgrade.

Tell him to send $2500 direct deposit to your checking account using Zelle and you will ship it next business day air for free.

I like to boil things down to the simplest terms and not muddy the waters with philosophical drama. Bottom line is, he is asking you to do him a favor that he is willing to pay for. You did not seek him out offering to sell a golden chip. He's either serious about it or not. If he is not willing to pay an idiotic price for it, then he is not serious. And, unless you can fetch an idiotic price for it, why sell it? There is no incentive for you to want to sell it unless there is something major to be gained from the sale. You certainly don't owe him (a total stranger) any favors. And, just because he is famous within his elite overclocking clique doesn't mean you need to give his request any special thought. If the tables were turned he wouldn't likely be offering any favors to a total stranger, especially a stranger that lives on the opposite side of the planet and is not part of his special interest PC overclocking group of influence.

I don't know. Haven't checked yet. Thanks.

I will obey, but it's not politics IMHO. It is repudiation of evil foreign governments that do not allow politics. Nothing political about that. It's actually anti-political in their world of rule by dictatorship.

Yes, that China. The COVID-developing one that Uyghurs and the people of Ukraine love so much. The one in partnership with Russia that wants to eliminate freedom, democracy, free-will, free-speech, capitalism and religious expression in the rest of the world. Isn't it interesting how things work in countries where the government is a fiat that is not a true reflection of the people it seeks to serve rule?

It only applies to submissions that use Benchmate, and it still supports Windows 7. I don't understand what they mean by update the benching OSes, other than only use the latest version of Benchmate. Updating a benching OS is a great way to lose since updated OSes generally perform poorly compared to those that are not updated. Using benchmate is not required for all benchmarks. There are plenty that do not (and cannot) use it. I really don't like it. It is convenient in some ways, but it's just an extra piece of bloatware gumming up the works.

Since you are into low power consumption and gaming more than competitive benching it would be silly not to take it. You can live with whatever you get as a replacement if that is how you use your systems. K or KF... whatever... as long as it is not a defective sample that sucks. Of course you can respond with "I am not sure if that is enough. Let me sleep on it and get back to you, because I am amazed at how good it is." He may bid against himself, or he may patiently wait.

GPU standing at attention now, LOL...

@electrosoftnow I am running the G.SKILL DDR4 in the Strix at 4600 CL17-18-18-32 1T using the 12900KS. I had to add a powerful fan to keep it cool enough to pass TM5 testing. It starts to error out around 45°C (as expected).

You could try to guess, but it would be pure luck if you guess right. It could be the memory, the motherboard, or the CPU. Only way to know for sure is start replacing parts and see which one it is. Two previous 12900K could not run the DDR4 I had used for a couple of years across multiple ASUS and EVGA mobos before at 4500. I assumed it was the Strix mobo. Well, I was surprised that the 13900K and 12900KS are both able to run it totally stable at 4400 (because 4500 is apparently not valid on Z690-???). So, now I am running 4400 CL16-18-18-36-1T. The two 12900K CPUs I ran with it before had good SP ratings and overclocked DDR5 just fine, but they both totally sucked with DDR4 and couldn't handle more than 4000 stable. No idea why.

I don't know I've never tried that. I don't think my m-die is capable of it. I posted this once before. Luumi might have some useful info in his video.

yes

The same memory that I always ran at 4000+ or other modules? The XMP profile doesn't work as a starting point?

My independent experience is reliable enough for me. 100% of my expensive enthusiast ASUS motherboards have experienced catastrophic failures under warranty, including a fire and one that killed the best binned 10900KF I have ever seen when it failed. In every case it took those losers more than a month to replace it. The CPU "wasn't their problem" so that was an even more expensive motherboard when that loss is counted. Coincidentally, I have replaced every ASUS motherboard that failed with an EVGA motherboard that never failed. The closest thing I could identify as an EVGA motherboard failure is the Q-code LED burning out on the Z590 Dark, which was a common issue. EVGA replaced it under warranty swiftly, with no hassles, questions or insinuations that I did something that caused it (like ASUS). I dialed their phone number, spoke to a person (a Californian with English as his native language) and explained the situation, and had an RMA number and pre-paid shipping label the same day. I sold it because it was worthless for Windows 7 (ACPI incompatibilities). Good luck getting anything that remotely resembles acceptable customer service from another brand. I will say that my inexpensive ASUS gamerboy motherboards (Prime and Strix) have been reliable. Only their enthusiast-grade products have been unreliable, which seems totally counter-intuitive. Other than functional limitations for severe overclocking, which they are not intended for, I have had a great experience with those less expensive mid-range products. My Z690 Dark was $399. I didn't buy it when it was new to market. Early adopters always pay more than things are worth. That applies to products at each price point. EVGA has great sales. My 3060 Ti FTW3 was $200 less from them than I could buy it anywhere else. I do hope the rumors that they are going out of business are false because they are the only brand I have confidence in. I was sad they stopped building GPUs for selfish reasons. I have purchased their GPUs almost exclusively, and now I will have to settle for something inferior with another brand. I do not believe anything Jensen has to say on the subject is accurate because he lies about everything. I am glad they stopped building GPUs for the reasons EVGA stated they have, and I would believe them before I believed anything Jensen would say. He is going to say whatever he thinks make him and NVIDIA look better, and that's his job. He probably wouldn't keep his job if he were completely honest.