Mr. Fox

Since MSI Afterburner is working correctly now I am not going to disturb anything. I don't need GPU Tweak III if Afterburner is working and I don't want to have it stop working if I mess with it. AMD stuff is kind of persnickety with some things. If ain't broke don't fit it, LOL. But, I have 4 more Windows installations to test this with older versions of GPU Tweak to see if the newest version is the issue.

We were speaking in reference to AMD GPUs, but that may not have been obvious. And, now it does work for some reason. I think there was a registry issue of some sort because nothing worked with Afterburner before, even after disabling ULPS and manually editing the config file with the text for "official overclocking" asinine crap that is required for AMD. I installed ASUS GPU Tweak III, which should have voltage control, but doesn't on my system. But, even more mysteriously, installing ASUS GPU Tweak III caused MSI Afterburner to start working correctly. Now everything works in Afterburner. (Thus, I believe there was something Afterburner did not install correctly in the registry.) Also, voltage control is voltage control on AMD, it is not an offset like NVIDIA. If you set 1.150V using the slider, it is set for that. If you change it to 1.200V it is set for that. Like how it used to be before the Green Goblin started doing idiotic stuff with their control freak cancer firmware algorithms. It is really discouraging that both of these companies never seem to run short on stupidity. The stuff they do... ludicrous.

Strange. After I installed GPU Tweak III all features of MSI Afterburner are working now, including voltage, but still no voltage option in GPU Tweak III. It is totally missing in the GUI and underlying settings. This makes me think the issue might be a Windows registry thing. Before nothing (core, memory and voltage) worked with Afterburner and now everything works. Too weird. Wow, what a nice looking weak and pathetic GPU. Maybe mommy and daddy will buy it for me. I need that for Candy Crush! My Ninja Turtle action figure will look so nice perched on top of it inside my case! I actually do like how it looks. Why waste it on a 4060? 😝 Answer: Because people will buy it. It's "special" LOL.

Nothing works for me with Afterburner, even after ULPS is disabled and the config file is manually edited it is non-functional. Voltage does not work on either one. Only the sucky AMD Adrenaline bloatware allows access to voltage.

It seems kind of like they're lying to me. If they were really a binned chip and binned memory (supposedly the Strix 4090 was as well) they shouldn't suck at overclocking. 1+1=2. I guess all they think they have to do is get the people that are foolish enough to grossly overpay for one to believe that they actually are binned. And, it also seems like they're only expecting about 2,000 people to be dumb enough to believe it and be silly enough to fork over twice what one is worth just to say they own one. If they thought they were 4,000 then they would lie about binning 4,000 instead of only 2,000. 2+2=4. The limited production is just a gimmick designed to trigger impulsive overspending. That is so messed up.

Ed Bassmaster is too funny.

Yes. Exactly. I think I made a similar comment the other day using the cake and ice cream analogy. If the HOF hits the same wall, an effort to do more is pointless and the 4090 become more of a gamer GPU than a GPU for overclockers. I think the harsh truth is obvious. Many of them don't really know what they are talking about, and what they know is limited. You have to take the review as a source of raw data and avoid blindly accepting any opinions as being factual. Opinions can be valid based on a limited frame of reference, but may not be valid from another point of reference, or may not be accurate in the grand scheme of things. One example of that could be calling 7900 XTX and 4090 an "enthusiast" GPU. Well... maybe. What kind of enthusiast? They are the most powerful GPUs ever released by AMD and NVIDIA to date. Maybe truly impressive for gaming. Maybe not so impressive for overclocking if there isn't much untapped headroom to play with.

😠that really sucks... the people manufacturing PC parts are largely dishonest and stupid Hey Brothers @Clamibot @Raiderman and @electrosoft - the latest version of GPU Tweak III works directly with my 6900 XT in the same way MSI Afterburner used to work. Check it out with your AMD GPU and see if it holds true for you. Power limit, voltage, core and memory sliders all are working. Credit where credit is due. ASUS did something right here. Applied...

Yay! It's fixed! No more silly nonsense with the vCore latch reset extra click pop-up window crap. https://www.hwinfo.com/forum/threads/feature-request.9177/post-41849 @Papusan @tps3443

Laws are only of value when they are enforced and obeyed. Hence the truth of the old cliche "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Scummy people and scummy companies know they can disregard the law and get away with it, so they do. Enforcement only happens when it is convenient, politically correct or a special interest benefits from it.

I guess the part that we don't know is if the video card itself or the core is what failed. If the 4090 core can't handle a baby girl 1.300V overvolt as a daily driver (with proper cooling) then the Galaxy HOF is a frivolous waste of money. At that point the party is over and nobody gets any cake or ice cream.

One of the ways greed manifests itself is by cheating your customers and assuming all of them are too stupid to recognize that they are getting screwed. I really hope they have difficulty selling this pathetic product. If it sells well it it prove that 100% of the people that purchased it are, in fact, stupid. I mean, c'mon. It even sucks at overclocking, which is another trait it has in common with the Strix 4090. If they're really binning the GPU cores or memory, the people doing the binning need to find a new line of work because they suck at their job.

Yeah, totally. Bare copper versus nickel plating, or even solid nickel, or even gold, for the assinine price tag is just inexcusable. It really shows what a lame, half-a$$ed outfit ASUS is. Rape you (literally) on the price of an ordinary GPU with an AIO and give you a chintzy cold plate that doesn't even perform optimally with the liquid metal it ships with. And, it's a real joke that the memory isn't actively water cooled. So, it begs the question of what is the purchaser actually paying for? I really can't tell. Bling? For an extra $2000+. They're idiots and they lack integrity... plain and simple. It's a joke, but not a funny one. Exactly.

Weird firmware. I was not impressed with the Intel Taichi I owned (my first and last ASROCK mobo). It was quite poor build quality. I called it Chai Tea instead of Taichi in a YouTube video on my channel. It was pretty crappy. That was several years ago and they might be better as you suggested. And, it could be different for AMD motherboards. But, the real issue is warranty support is pretty sucky. You have to first attempt to resolve any issues with the company that sold it to you. Which could be good or bad, depending on what kind of service that company offers. And, if you are not the person they sold it to, then I guess you're just screwed. Better luck next time? https://www.asrock.com/support/index.asp?cat=RMA I cannot imagine a scenario where this drama would play out in a timely manner. Might even take longer than ASUS to jump through these hoops. See below. This makes me cringe... real bad.

Well... somebody is going to be stupid enough to pay $3200 for this goofy piece of crap. The Strix is already so overpriced and inconsistent that only a silly person that prefers to pay more and get less would buy it, and I wouldn't expect to see more than a $200 premium for the AIO add-on. But, it's ASUS and they seem to think all of their customers are as dumb as a box of rocks. There is some truth to that though, at least to the extent that they are able to sell their overpriced garbage. Um, ok. That leaves... what? Gigabyte and ASROCK? Not sure either of them actually have anything compelling to offer in terms of good quality products or acceptable warranty service. Generally will be falling short in one or both areas. Yeah, exactly. Do you want cancer, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer's, or just die a slow and painful death in a tragic accident? There has never been a worse time that I can remember to have an interest in high performance computers. The options suck and the companies offering the sucky options are scummy. The extremely limited offerings (one or zero options for each brand) that hold a degree of promise are so grossly overpriced that there is no real value left to be derived from owning them. 🤢

Not my favorite genre, but the message... just. Wow. ❤️

Yeah, I have to agree that MSI caters to gamers more than overclocking enthusiasts. Unfortunately, I am not sure that it would be less than accurate to say the same applies to ASUS, ASROCK and Gigabyte. I loved the Unify-X, but it is the only MSI motherboard I have owned and can't legitimately comment about their track record for reliability. I know Brother @johnkssshad a bumpy ride with his Unify-X. I had to RMA my first and brand new Unify-X because the BIOS update applied on day one bricked it. I had NewEgg swap it out. No issues at all after that. The sad reality is an EVGA Dark mobo is no longer a future option and almost anything else is repulsive to me. I was also puzzled why MSI did not release a Z790 Unify-X, but the bottom line is that Z790 was a pointless product. It was created to make something to sell. It is architecturally the same product as Z690 with some features removed. In some respects Z790 was a downgrade. The only reason many Z790 boards overclock memory better is the motherboard manufacturers shift all of their attention to the new product. My Z690 Dark overclocks memory as good or better than the Z790 Apex, and we know that the Z690 Apex was a failure because of ASUS's incompetence, not because it was Z690 chipset. Because Z790 was not an actual upgrade, perhaps MSI decided it was a waste of time and resources to release a Z790 Unify-X. I'd probably agree with them. I have never tried playing COD titles with a lower spec'd system. I have always found Crysis and COD titles to play extremely well, while many people complain. But, I do not buy low- and mid-range PC components and I always try to have far more CPU, GPU and memory system resources than what is necessary. Perhaps that is why I have never seen any reason to complain about them. Awesome that EVGA can send that stuff to you. Are they sending thermal putty as well? I bought some from them for the 3090 KPE once, but it was no longer in stock the next time I tried to buy a tube of it.

It is interesting how different experiences can be. My first, second and third EVGA motherboards were replacements for failed ASUS motherboards that took more than a month to get replaced under warranty. I have owned only three EVGA power supplies and none had any issues. One 850W G (gold) PSU and two 1600W SuperNova P2 (Platinum) and never any issues. I did have the Q-code led fail on the Z590 Dark, but it still functioned correctly as a product. It took 3 business days, zero downtime, and cost me nothing (cross-ship RMA). It would have taken 3 to 6 weeks to get it replaced by ASUS and I would have incurred the shipping cost to send the product to them. Chances are also good they would come up with a lame excuse to deny warranty, like bent CPU socket pins that were not bent when sent, or a speck of thermal paste on the PCB or edge of the CPU socket (not in the pins) as we have seen more than once by people we know. My experience with EVGA has been stellar, and of such high satisfaction that it would be difficult to say I am not a fanboy. Perfect? No. But, excellent because the products and service are both superior. I am very sad they are going under. My passion for high performance computers may actually be ending because of it. I am not sure it is worth the hassle having to deal with nonsense from other brands. Speaking of 4K gaming, I think I met my annual quota for gaming. In typical Mr. Fox fashion, I hardly ever play games, but when I do I binge on something I like. Most of the time it is play for an hour or less, lose interest and uninstall the title to make drive space for something I like. Yesterday I binged on Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. The price finally fell to a point I was willing to pay ($20). I installed it and played the entire campaign from start to finish in one day. It was buttery smooth on my 4K 144Hz ASUS display. (Yes, it is a good ASUS product. There are a few.) Set on max quality settings with my CPU set at 59x on P-cores, 47x on E-cores, 50x cache ratio and memory at 8200, with 4090 at stock clocks +100mV and max power limits averaging ~225 FPS, often over 300 FPS. Cold War used 13GB of system memory and 16GB of VRAM to deliver a top notch experience. This is also another example of mixed experiences. I have almost every COD release and have thoroughly enjoyed every single title in the franchise. But, many people don't like COD.

True, but one bad experience is quite different than multiple bad experiences, and the repeated lousy warranty fulfillment experiences are like soft-serve feces on top of the dung flavored cupcake. Whether it's because I am foolishly optimistic, or just a fool, ASUS has been given way too many second chances. Nobody can say I haven't given them a fair shake. The count of products I have registered in my ASUS account (only one of which I still own in terms of mobos and GPU) proves otherwise. But, as Brother @Papusansuggested "What other choice do you have?" None if you want a 2-DIMM current generation motherboard. So the option is to roll the dice, clench your butt and hope for the best. When it comes to graphics cards and other products, no they are not even open for discussion at this point. EVGA is no longer in the business, otherwise they would be my first pick for everything they sell. If and when the day comes that I decide to go with Z890, my first pick would be a Unify-X. Ultimately I will have to settle for whatever options exist in a 2-DIMM board. I won't buy a 4-DIMM model no matter what the brand is.

I need to be careful not to jinx myself by saying something, but the Z790 Apex is the only ASUS enthusiast product I have owned that hasn't been a piece of garbage or failed. It is almost as good as the Z690 Dark. Hopefully it will last. Every other flagship part I have purchased from ASUS has been trash or died. That is the reason for the hate. It was earned. The sad part is their budget and mid-range gamer stuff has been reliable (Prime and Strix mobos) but kind of mediocre in terms of features, performance and build quality. If that's not enough, if you have a warranty claim with them that will push you over the edge. Slow and painful, and they treat you like it is inconvenient to make things good on your expensive product that failed. You'll be down for a month or more unless you buy something else to replace it.

I haven't on the Apex or the Dark. I did on the Unify-X and Strix Z690 motherboards. It didn't really make much difference when I did. Enabling the ASPM and DMI power management that are disabled by default was the only thing that made a meaningful improvement. Hmmm... another half-a$$ed GPU with the Strix branding. Am I surprised? Nope. The name no longer means anything. I think ASUS only does things well by accident. It is difficult to respect them as a company anymore. Poor QC, severely overpriced and horrible warranty service. Should be a deadly 3-strike failure, but the fanboys keep the brand alive in spite of the shortcomings.

I am not able to enlarge the images enough that text becomes legible. They remain as thumbnails even if I right click and open in a new browser tab. Edit: it looks as if you uploaded them to the forum rather than an image hosting service. That is why. The forum resizes them to save space and basically ruins the images. Cap Frame X is wonderful software, but it is not a native in-game benchmark. I mention this for the benefit of anyone reading that is not familiar with it. I do prefer a native in-game benchmark when one exists. It is unfortunate that it is not mandatory that all published games include a benchmark tool that runs a very specific scene like those that do. I think the ability to do comparisons between systems is better that way. It levels the playing field much better.

They should focus on calling out the most disgusting, unacceptable garbage and stop pretending there is importance to stupid things like whether it is cute or charming. I mean, like, who gives a flying you know what about what they think. It either looks like a normal GPU or it looks like crap. There's no middle ground. Only varying degrees of ugly trash. Maybe the novelty of exalting performance above all else and calling balls and strikes on ugly trash is too hateful or Machiavellian. Changing the subject... two things. First... What is in the box under the crocs, brother? Did you show us? Second... On a positive note, Brother Martin is doing another much-needed annoyance fix for HWiNFO64. I'm glad I asked. This will make me very happy because the feature that needs to be muted sucks. https://www.hwinfo.com/forum/threads/feature-request.9177/