Mr. Fox

Their business decisions have caused me to step back and evaluate things with a more critical eye, as it is causing a harmful ripple effect on the entire overclocking genre of PC enthusiasts. The best is no more with EVGA out of the game and now there is less competition, with nothing to deter the new best and second-best from doing things more half-assed than ever before. And, they'll get away with that because of having no point of reckoning in the absence of competition. My expectation is that there will never be a company good enough to step up and fill their empty shoes and we will be left with what we are left with, which leaves a lot to be desired and doesn't fit my definition of being excellent or great... "good" at best, with sucky support and a raunchy experience if you end up getting a defective lemon.

I have not played it because it is new (expensive) and I generally refuse to spend more than $20-$25 on games, and I am not a fan of open world titles as a general rule. I heard it is like a reskinned version of Fallout and I am also not a fan of Fallout. Generally too slow/boring and cumbersome, kind of like Skyrim and the Witcher titles, which I also personally find very boring. I was merely making note of the observation that everyone seemed goo-goo-gah-gah in love with it initially and now not so much.

It seems like a lot of people were crazy about Starfield and making a big fuss about how great and amazing it is, but now suddenly I am noticing lots of haters. What changed? Or, did the shine just wear off of a new game?

Even wrecking a laptop is difficult, but a desktop is harder to hurt. Heat is the biggest source of harm, and it is usually either caused by an inadequate cooling system or using more voltage than the part can handle. Even so, most CPUs and GPUs will throttle to protect themselves. It's memory that tends to misbehave the most because it crashes rather than throttling, or it won't boot with wrong settings and you have to clear the CMOS. It's doesn't harm anything, it is merely an inconvenience. AMD and NVIDIA (especially NVIDIA) have minimal voltage controls available, so that makes it harder to harm the parts, and an Arc GPU has LOTS of voltage control, but if you give it too much it just runs slower, which is also a safety mechanism. Take your time. Learn to use the right tools. Make one or two changes at a time (so you can easily identify what you changed that caused instability) and you'll figure things out pretty quickly. It is extremely unlikely you will break anything by overclocking. You're more likely to screw up Windows than you are the hardware. Watch this video @ryan (not suggesting you do this, merely showing that the hardware is not that fragile)

I am starting this about half way through the video with the link below, but it is a pretty good demonstration of how the Arc A770 beats competitors in the same price range and competes directly with the more expensive RTX 3070 overall for content creation, especially video editing.

Make sure you get everything you need for your build, brother. Seeing you build a nice desktop will be a happy thing for all of us. Friends are happiest when their friends are happy.

Games have become ludicrous space pigs. A 2TB drive won't hold that many games. It used to be music and movie files that gobbled up drive space, but they use very little space compared to modern games. So, not only is 8GB of VRAM very swiftly becoming unacceptably small and 16GB the new "basic" configuration, but you need gobs of storage if gaming is your gig. That is, unless you are a weirdo that enjoys downloading, deleting, downloading, deleting, downloading, deleting, which is a waste of time and also has potential to degrade NAND storage if you do that excessively.

I have had very good results from TeamGroup NVMe and SATA SSDs. They run fast, have a decent warranty and they are nicely priced. I have at least 6 of them ranging from 1TB, 2TB and 4TB. I may have one or two 512GB as well, but I do not remember now since I have moved away from using anything smaller than 1TB capacity. I think they should stop manufacturing SSD drives smaller than 1TB because it is pointless e-waste. In a couple of years I will most likely think the same of 1TB or even 2TB SSDs. 512GB is now only flash drive territory and 1TB is entry level size for system volume capacity.

https://www.3dmark.com/pcm10/104641736

I think you will enjoy building it and appreciate it more after you are done. SFF builds can be a real pain in the butt from what I hear because there is not much wiggle room or space to spare. Don't go too small on the case and it will be easy. You should not need to buy screws separately. The case will have what you need. Generally a PSU will include screws and coolers come with all of the hardware needed for installation. You'll likely have leftover screws when the build is done. Montech is a very good option for an affordable case. The Air 903 is what I would suggest. Great case without costing too much. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=montech+air+903 The only extra thing you might want to buy is a package of nylon zip ties. They come in handy and I usually end up cutting some off and starting over during a build. I do what seems obvious on cable management and then usually change my mind because a better idea hits me later. I joined the party later and missed some drama with earlier drivers and bugs, but I have not experienced any hiccups with Arc A770. It's not my fastest GPU, and I do not expect it to be. But it is the only one I have purchased that I believe to have offered respectable value. I have yet to find anything about it that disappoints me. I suspect that sooner or later something will because nothing is perfect. The 3090 and 4090 are monster GPUs and nothing can touch them in their respective generations, but their price alone disappointed me before I ever opened the box. In both cases I felt ill when checking out online and immediately began second-guessing my intelligence while waiting for them to arrive. They are so expensive that just using them for the first few months of ownership has made me paranoid, LOL. The paranoia eventually wears off, but they are ungodly overpriced. To all of you, my friends... and your families...

This video is 5 months old and things are even better now than they were then. But, this guy makes a lot of very good and accurate points. I took a leap of faith buying mine and I am so glad I did. It feels like one of my smartest decisions in a couple of years.

Intel ARC A770 Benchmarks - air cooled GPU with nothing special other than overclocked with max fans. The first image for each benchmark showing my history of runs is specifically for Brother @ryan so he can get an accurate perspective of how the A770 stacks up in December 2023 with current drivers against other GPUs since he has some buying decisions to make soon. Beware of YouTube videos, especially older ones since Intel GPU drivers improve monthly, sometimes dramatically. NVIDIA and AMD drivers seldom bring major changes in performance. Fires Strike Extreme | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435580_ | https://www.3dmark.com/fs/31126827 Fire Strike | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435585_ | https://www.3dmark.com/fs/31126805 Wild Life Extreme | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435586_ | https://www.3dmark.com/wl/354380 Wild Life | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435587_ | https://www.3dmark.com/wl/354381 Night Raid | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435590_ | https://www.3dmark.com/nr/1022207 Sky Diver | https://hwbot.org/submission/5435591_ | https://www.3dmark.com/sd/6444891

I don't know if that is accurate. I owned a 3060 Ti and was happy with it, yet the A770 performs better in most things. Again, that video is 5 months old and just about every month Intel releases great drivers that improve performance in the random titles that have room for opportunity. If money is a problem, the A770 is a very doable option, but if you want a good experience in 4K with high settings you're not going to achieve that with an inexpensive GPU. You'll have to dig deep and 4080 is entry-level 4K gaming. AMD doesn't have a good 4K GPU and the only one great at 4K is 4090. If you are going to compromise on price the results will be compromised, and so with the graphics quality settings that allow reduced functionalty. It is indisputable that NVIDIA GPUs produce the best results in each of the respective price/performance ranges, but they also have a steep premium associated with them. Depending on what you intend to do, the added premium might not add any value. Or, conversely, I may be unavoidable and something you just can't live without even if the price is repulsive. If a person is finding a laptop 3060 GPU delivers a gaming experience that is acceptable, then the A770 should be equally or more acceptable because it is a stronger GPU than the 3060.

I am running a bunch of benchmarks today with the A770 and you will see that is not accurate. You'll see about 135-140 FPS in Battlefield V at 1440p with Ultra settings. Brother @cylixis spot on. Every driver release the A770 and lesser Arc GPUs get faster. I will post results later today and you will see the A770 is beating Futuremark results for 2023 gaming laptops with a 4070 so you won't be losing FPS Brother @ryan. You'll be a little better with a low cost entry point and easy upgrades if you decide to spend more later on more expensive parts. It is also more fun to overclock than an NVIDIA or AMD GPU because it has more voltage, power limit and core clock headroom. The gains are larger than you'll see with a red or green card. Like 350MHz increase. Edit: @ryanhere is a spoiler for you... A770 versus 4070 desktop... https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/104547987

You, too brother. Enjoy mama and baby's first Christmas. May The Reason we celebrate this holiday bring you peace and joy in the New Year. Same to the rest of you guys.

This lady does an excellent Cortana voice impression.

Yup, bigger and they could have even put a thumb screw on each side like an old VGA or serial port connector. Or, even better had they done nothing whatsoever. Total waste of time, energy and resources designed 100% for the sole purpose to make money for manufacturers and take money from consumers. A solution where no problem existed. Fithy, dirty, rotten bastards. All of them. I have no issues with Corsair PSUs and both of my RM1200x SHIFT are excellent. I especially like the cables, including the 12VHPWR they provide. My only objection to 12VHPWR is the fact that it exists at all.

And, all of this because NVIDIA needed a stupid new connector just to be different. Another example of newer is not always better and if it ain't broke don't fix it being common sense. Had they stuck with the tried and true 8-pin connector, none of this would have happened. They should share in the loss and be held equally liable and accountable. It was an unnecessary change. They created the need for right-angle adapters due to bulk and space constraints and provided chintzy pigtail adapters that look like crap and do not resolve the issue of space constraints with cases lacking clearance for a straight connection protruding from the GPU to an excessive degree. The entire conception of it is an engineering abortion and it is their fault for creating a legitimate need for third-party remediation.

They may have product liability insurance, but even if they do it may not have adequate limits and I do not know if recalls are covered if an actual loss has not occurred. There may be coverage for cost of loss prevention. Without having policy language to examine it is impossible to know. They could end up going out of business over this.

NZXT has their own PSUs (good quality) and their own mobos.

If you get a good motherboard in a pre-built you can buy it with a more affordable CPU and pick up a good second hand i9 K/KS CPU later. You do not need more than an 13th Gen i5 for gaming excellence. People will be selling their 13900KS processors once 15th Gen drops and you can probably pick up a nicely binned CPU, maybe already delidded even, for a lot less that buying it new in a pre-built or even a self-built machine.

If you get a nice 360mm AIO installing it is no different that repasting the heat sink on an air cooled desktop or installing chassis fans. Even if you have never done it before, the process is simple and they usually include very clear directions. Yeah, A770 is insanely good for $300 USD and Battlemage may put us into the 4080 performance range for $500 USD versus $1200. I think you will find all of it easy enough. If you have replaced thermal paste or installed RAM in a laptop, it's easier than that. Basic tools and an average mechanical aptitude will be all you need. The only thing to bear in mind is if you have to use force it is an indication something doesn't fit and you need to stop and have a closer look. The "get a bigger hammer" approach does not work.