Mr. Fox

Don't know why anyone would want to use it. It is truly disgusting. After Windows 7 to present, the newest version of Windows is always inferior to the one before it.

Go get it... @ryan Imagine being able to actually buy something worth having for $10. You can't even buy a pound of good beef steak from the grocery store or a Whopper cheese value meal that cheap today. And, you can grab the demo if you want to play it a bit first.

This game is a blast if you are anything like me. If you are annoyed by AI dialog, gathering objects and clues, crafting, storyline distractions and prefer the chaos and adrenaline rush of non-stop run and gun action like Left4Dead, CoD Zombies, DOOM, Unreal Tournament, etc. then you're going to instantly love this one. On sale for $10 until August 28 on Steam. And, you can grab the demo if you want to play it a bit first.

Well, there is a difference. Every new Skylake CPU was better and faster than the one it replaced. Intel was stuck in a rut but still managed to raise the bar with each '+' that got added. I liked them all. Those that complained were mostly AMD fanboys grappling for a reason to cast stones at the brand that was doing better. I do not remember anyone that preferred Intel losing any sleep over it. I know I didn't.

Yes, and that is an extremely stupid and misinformed approach for those fanbois to be taking. If that were to happen, AMD would lower the bar for itself because it would no longer need to compete. It would ruin things for all consumers. Although, I do not agree that AMD has surpassed Intel. I still view their products as inferior. There will be times when one brand leapfrogs another in terms of winning benchmarks. As long as Intel is not permanently damaged by the media smear campaign they will not stand for second place. Winning means too much to them. The notion of AMD beating them at something seems to not set well with them as a company. That is one reason I prefer them. It is also one reason why Intel's lower quality silicon samples are committing hara kiri. They're pushing things harder to win. In contrast, AMD seems to be equally content participating in a race as they are with winning a race. We already see examples of them not feeling compelled to push themselves harder. Imagine if they no longer needed to compete. Prices would be higher and quality/performance would be lower. At the end of the day they are both giant companies that will do shady things to one other, to their employees, and to the people that buy their products. Profits matter more than people.

Newer is always better newer. Doing more with less and dubbing it as "more efficient" is almost always code word for sucky. The best approach is always do MOAR with more. Getting higher performance from lower power is usually a joke that isn't a funny one. 1+1=2. If you build something with the goal of using less power there will be strings attached.

I think an unfortunate sign of the times we live in. Quality isn't job #1 any more. If the RMA process isn't blazing fast (2 business days or less) and hassle-free it just adds insult to injury when consumers have to take a slow ride for something that isn't their fault. Sadly, the process is seldom fast or hassle-free. Usually the exact opposite of fast or hassle-free.

The reasons is fanbois (which does not include everyone) never speak badly about their brand cult. Their love of inanimate objects is unconditional, but they sure don't have any problem joining the posse on a mission to smear their favored brand's competitors or those that dare prefer something different than them. I never noticed anyone that preferred Intel trolling AMD forums, ridiculing the AMD brand and those that prefer it, demonstrating glee or rejoicing over AMD's failures. According to at least one highly respected system builder (Puget) the current rate of CPU failure on Intel systems, while higher than normal for Intel, is still about half that of the AMD CPUs in the systems they build. While that has been publicly announced, it is not convenient for the social media influencer muppets to report that because it undermines their agenda. Large companies seldom consider the impact on employees when they cut staff to save money. It is unfortunate and wrong, but it's not something out of the ordinary or a rare sin Intel is committing. This happens frequently, but seldom gets talked about unless there is already some kind of media buzz going on and it provides additional sauce for their juicy story. Big insurance companies are one of the more common offenders, like Progressive, Allstate and others. Employees are considered expendable to big companies that only care about profits and shareholder interests. In the service sector (like insurance) those let go first are often the smartest and most experienced because they are paid the most and it is cheaper to keep the noobs that don't know what they are doing. They go from being noobs to overworked and underpaid noobs with the company "doing more with less" to maximize profit.

I hope that person was being facetious, but would not doubt the possibility that someone would be nutty enough to want it. Stupity has become very common.

Totally absurd. What next? RGB thermal paste and pads?

Application Optimizer? Is that the recent gaming enhancement from Intel for 13th and 14th Gen CPUs? The X79 Rampage IV Gene is 4th Gen. But, I don't think I use it even on the platforms that support it. If that is what you are referring to, I am pretty confident it doesn't work on Gen 4. I have never even investigated this on my current tech systems because gaming isn't ranked very high on my list of priorities. I do enjoy FPS gaming and occassionally binge play, but I don't give a lot of time or effort to the pursuit of it. I put the 2080 Ti into this system just so it would not be a slideshow with decent settings (High versus Low or Medium) and resolutions above 1080p. Most modern titles (CoD MW, Battlefield 2042, Crysis 3 Remastered, etc) were a bit too much for the GTX Titan to manage gracefully. The first generation Titan is only 6GB of vRAM and the core and memory clocks are very slow by current standards. It did manage to play older games (released during its time) very smoothly. The X79 platform does not have the necessary firmware support for Resizable Bar (decoding above 4G I believe is what is missing) and neither does 2080 Ti firmware from what I can remember. I know that was released like 6 to 12 month after 3090 was released because Vince (Kingpin) sent me an updated XOC vBIOS when that happened. I actually did look into this and I was able to add the module into the firmware along with NVMe support, but there is no BIOS menu option to enable decoding above 4G or Resizable Bar. I believe older GPUs like 20-series RTX cards would support it but you would need to have an updated vBIOS as well as motherboard support.

So, I pulled one of the two dual NVMe cards from the Encore for the X79 Gene. It already had eight, LOL. One less won't hurt anything. I sacrificed the Windows 11 drive since I almost never use that sucky POS cancer operating system anyway. Set that one on the desk for later, kept the one with Linux and put it on the single NVMe card in the Encore.

Hearing about you building a home network for your kids brings back a lot of fond memories. I built each of my five kids their own desktop. Correct on the Titan being too slow. It can still work on low to medium setting, but no ray tracing sucks. It's basically the same as 780 Ti. Nearly identical performance and in the same generation. 2080 Ti totally obliterates it. I had the 2080 Ti already. I bought it like about a year ago for Windows 7 benching. Just converted it to air cooling so I could use it in this system (no custom loop SFF). I actually really like this antique. It performs surprisingly great. After the BIOS mod for NVMe support (which did not exist when X79 was released) it because a pretty compelling machine. And, the best thing about it is... No driver mods required. That YouTube channel is pretty worthless. Besides just being dead wrong about a lot of stuff, the guy is about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Not really any better than Gamer Meld. Lots of nonsense from some of these bobble-heads. Ignorance isn't a sin, but it is contagious. Simple fix for it is knowledge, but know-it-all folk are hard to cure.

I decided to go ahead and install this in Methuselah and put the Titan on the shelf. I don't have the fan cable yet, so this is running without fans. Just doing mundane tasks like web surfing and email until I get the cable. But, doing that the GPU core has never gone above 35°C core and hotspot 48°C. The fans mounted in the chassis floor seem to be providing enough air flow for low intensity normal use. I think it looks great. I lost access to one PCIe slot due to the extra slot being taken by the girth of the air cooler, so I will have to install a dual NVMe card in the bottom slot rather than using two single NVMe cards. I bought some faster RAM for it as well. 2666 vs current 2400. Got it cheap on eBay.

All of the other stuff in your post is sad, but Buildzoid probably has no idea that 0x129 fixed the SA bug. So, for that reason only I would say it is not worthless, but extremely valuable.

I am still waiting for the adapter cable for the fans to complete the Xtreme Waterforce conversion to Xtreme Air. I went ahead and installed the assembly. To install the cable I only have to remove 4 screws from the shroud. This looks really nice. I am glad that I ordered the kit that includes the backplate because it is different than the Waterforce. It has additional screw holes. I am eager to see how hot/cold it runs with this thermal unit.

Yeah, those prices are ridiculous. Given that they seem to have no meaningful difference in performance, then I would definitely go with the more affordable option. It would be silly to spend more for one or the other. The Kryonaut Extreme obviously works great and for me to purchase it again would be fiscally foolish unless it becomes less expensive than KPx. Simple logic. Since I use liquid metal on my bare die setups I do not use very much thermal paste (or liquid metal since it does not wear out). I wish I had a good way to delid this Xeon. I believe it is soldered. I know it is not as popular with everyone as it used to be, but I really do not like anything that is not delidded and bare die. I will always do that when it is an option.

Don't believe it. People like to state preferences as though they are facts. Here is proof. Just did the comparison today. Kryonaut Extreme is the same as KPx in terms of how it works. It costs A WHOLE LOT more. Good stuff, but not worth it. I will use it since I bought it, but I won't ever buy it again. No benefit unless the goal is to spend $10.00 per gram more for the pink color instead of blue. Literally no difference. Newer is always better newer, right @Papusan?

I think one reason it works well for laptops is they don't really have high TDP on anything. There is probably nothing more durable. You can't re-use it like you can Kryonaut or KPx, but if you do not disturb it the stuff will last for a super long time. Also a reason why it works great for laptops. If you had a low TDP desktop CPU and ran it stock it would probably do fine. The thermal conductivity is pretty low and I think that is why it worked poorly for me with my overclocked CPU pulling over 300W. This is basically the same stuff that comes pre-applied on many heat sinks and AIO water blocks. If it has the clear film you peel off and bolt it down, it is this Honeywell pad.

Worse. I've already tested it. Three times, in fact. It will be worse than the Corsair paste you got from Walmart. It works good for turdbooks with crappy-fitting heat sinks because it doesn't pump out and it fills gaps, but it can say for certain it is the worst TIM that I have ever used on a desktop. Not anything crazy like 10-15°C hotter, but not nearly as effective as MX-4, MX-6 or KPx or TF7, etc. At least 5°C higher temps all three times. If you want to try something new. maybe test the TF9 paste. I have never tried it before. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=TF9+thermal+paste&crid=NA6AQT8BS3U9 The new BIOS works identical for me on the Apex and the Apex Encore. All BIOS settings set exactly the same on old and new firmware. Cinebench and AIDA64 scores exactly the same. No loss of performance or stability that I can identify.

Yes, I absolutely would have preferred that it be the motherboard over the CPU. All three of my desktops have extra-good CPUs that would be terribly difficult to replace, and cost as much as the motherboard. I still have two spare CPUs but their bin quality is inferior to the three I am using.

OK, I flashed 2503 to the Apex (white) and had a bit of a scare. After flashing I got Q-code "00" (almost always dead CPU). I cut power and waited, then turned it back on. No lights turned on. I pressed the power button and it came back with "00" immediately displayed again (first and only code, no other codes). I thought, crap... ASUS killed another one. So, I held the clear CMOS button down on the rear I/O, said a quick prayer "Please Lord Jesus, don't let it be dead" and then it booted normally. *WHEW* Running like a top... My IVR TX is set on Auto and that is usually around 1.330V. I will mess with setting it a little lower manually to see what happens. I use similar settings as far as the other ones go. Voltage Monitor [Die Sense] VRM Initialization Check [Disabled] CPU Input Voltage Load-line Calibration [Level 3] CPU Load-line Calibration [Level 7] Synch ACDC Loadline with VRM Loadline [Disabled] CPU Current Capability [Auto] CPU Current Reporting [Auto] Core Voltage Suspension [Auto] CPU VRM Switching Frequency [Auto] VRM Spread Spectrum [Auto] CPU Power Duty Control [Extreme] CPU Power Phase Control [Extreme] CPU Power Thermal Control [125] CPU Core/Cache Boot Voltage [1.05000] CPU Input Boot Voltage [Auto] PLL Termination Boot Voltage [1.15000] CPU Standby Boot Voltage [1.15000] IA VR Voltage Limit [1500] BCLK Amplitude [900mV] BCLK Slew Rate [Fast] BCLK Spread Spectrum [Disabled] PCIE/DMI Amplitude [900mV] PCIE/DMI Slew Rate [Fast] PCIE/DMI Spread Spectrum [Disabled] SA PLL Frequency Override [3200 MHz] FLL OC mode [Ratio OC] UnderVolt Protection [Disabled] Core PLL Voltage [1.05000] PLL Termination Voltage [1.15000] CPU Standby Voltage [1.15000]

Well, I forced myself into moving the excellent bin 14900KF with the SA bug into the Encore for testing. I am happy to report it is fixed for me as well. I set 1.300V on VCCSA in the BIOS and it runs perfectly fine now. I am going to leave it in the Apex Encore because it is just a little bit better than the 13900KS SP117 monster. That is running beautifully in the Z790i Edge now. Leaving it alone. Here are the SP ratings and VF curve on the CPU that used to have the SA bug. And, the same for the 13900KS SP117 monster now in the SFF system (for comparison). Very similar VF curve and MC SP. The 13900KS runs as flawlessly in the Z790i Edge as it did in the Encore. Yeah, I also find him extremely annoying. His arrogance and know-it-all potty mouth is over the top. Truly a legend in his own mind. It also annoys me that about 95% of the time I agree with him. He is right more often than not, but that gets lost in his caustic personality.

Funny you should ask. I wondered the same. I have been wanting to test it for a long time, but haven't really made it a priority because I haven't identified a legitimate need to. Coincidentally, I have some arriving tomorrow to find out. I will share before/after temps on the Xeon in the Rampage IV Gene. It already runs cool with KPx. I have a huge tube of it. It will take forever to use it all. It had better be as good or better because only 4 grams of the Kryonaut Extreme is priced about the same as my 30 gram tube of KPx. Even if it is better, I think it is grossly overpriced. Maybe because it has Extreme in the name that makes it OK to carry that over to the price. The main reason I ordered it was to try it out on the 2080 Ti Xtreme when I install the air cooler.