Mr. Fox

3DMark graphics scores are lower with LTSC 2019 and 2021. That is the only reason I moved to the Oprekin 21H2 LitePlus mod. It kept the CPU performance largely intact while not hindering the GPU. That is why I multi boot. Sometimes there is a difference and when benching I am targeting higher scores more than an OS that I like using.

The one that I linked a day or two ago is the best. Brother @Talonalso tested it and validated it's excellence. The W11 21H2 build Lite Plus from oprekin.com is what I use. Any W10 or W11 build in version 22H2 is going to be harmful to CPU performance and be packed with more filth. https://notebooktalk.net/topic/109-official-benchmark-thread-post-it-here-or-it-didnt-happen-d/?do=findComment&comment=33361&_rid=87

That's not good... sounds like somebody turned on drive encryption. If you don't have the key then you might be in a pickle. Secure Boot is bad enough, but that plus Bitlocker... Try this... 1. Launce cmd.exe as admin, then type diskpart and press Enter. 2. Then input these commands below in turn: list disk select disk n (here n stands for the disk you want to format) list partition select partition n (here n stands for the encrypted partition you want to format) delete partition override 3. Type exit to close window. This will wipe all the data on the encrypted hard drive. Then you could create new partition on that drive again. If that doesn't work you will need third-party software . Try nuking the drive with this... https://www.diskpart.com/articles/format-encrypted-hard-drive-5740i.html

That's looking really good. Looking at the second photo with the radiator installed, does the panel that will install over that opening have the ability to mount a fan to blow across the RAM? If so, that would be perfect because it would be blowing air the length of the modules. The fans from the AIO will also be very helpful as you mentioned before, but the addition fan sucking in cold air from outside the case might give it a few degrees of a leg up over the warmed air from the radiator. If you can do both that would also be great. I'll either edit and upload the memory overclocking video or post some screenshots for you as promised. Gigabutt's cheapness is showing its ugly colors again. Sometimes cheaper isn't the smart way to go. Even sadder to see Gigabutt actling like ASUS when it comes to shirking their responsibility for selling defective, poorly engineered garbage. Nice to see Intel getting proper credit for ARC advancements.

Congrats on the new monitor. I wondered if you bought one of the refurbished models. The retail model is severely overpriced at just under $900. The screen itself should be great. The part that I would have a challenge with is that it has feet at each end, like a TV, instead of a pedestal mount in the center, with no VESA mounting and apparently no way to adjust the height without putting it on some kind of platform. If you frequently share your desktop in conference calls or video meetings the resolution might present some difficulty for other participants. You may have to choose the option to share a specific portion of the screen or only an application window that is resized. Depending on what your company uses for video conferencing, sharing an application window could be problematic because drop down menus and pop-ups do not appear for viewers. If you're onboarding a new employee or providing technical guidance to an existing employee that could be an impediment. I know only because I have run into that problem myself and the only solution with the video conferencing software that we use is to share the entire desktop so that they can see everything. That's where the route comes in on 4K screen. Even 1440p becomes a challenge for viewers in a video conference when you are sharing your desktop. An option would be to change the resolution temporarily to 1080p for the video conferencing and change it back to native resolution when it is finished. Of course, this only applies if you are the one doing the presenting. More often than not, that is the case for me. I'm seriously considering replacing my triple 1080p set up with a dual 4K 120Hz+ for work using smaller screens, like dual 27-inch, but I haven't found two screens with the right specs that are reasonably priced. The also need VESA so I can mount them to a single pedestal. I think I can probably still use my triple monitor pedestal and simply not use the center mounting location. The other thing, besides price, that is holding me back is the idea of going back to dual displays instead of triple makes me feel uncomfortable. I remember not liking a seam in the middle. Having my main display in the center for the application I am actively working on, with ancillary applications like Outlook on the left and other applications and instant messaging on the right, has been a huge boost to the productivity and convenience. The only thing that isn't fantastic about it it's the limited screen space with 1080p. I'm partially color blind and not a snob on color or image accuracy as long as the image quality is very crisp and the refresh rate is 120Hz or higher, but I am a snob about screen real estate. I don't like scrolling left or right, up or down, if I can avoid it. And I like being able to have three Excel sheets open side by side, each full screen so I can see most of the columns that I'm using without the need for scrolling.

Yes, bigger is best for cases in my book. Small is cute and may be convenient for certain use scenarios, but there are always concessions and compromises. Whether or not it is worth the sacrifice is a personal decision on a per-user basis, just as it is to tolerate BGA turdbook filth for the sake of mobility. But, compromise is certainly not my cup of tea. All or nothing... FTW. Yup, I agree. Either the stock 12VHPWR cable on an ATX 3.0 or use the icky ugly NVIDIA pigtail with 8-pin connectors is the safest approach. The part that bothers me is how inconsistent the outcomes are. As I mentioned before, even though I am no longer using the Cablemod parts, I had no issues with them. It seems apparent that many, maybe even the vast majority, are not having problems. Why it happens on some and not others is something I haven't seen a reliable answer for. Seems like they (Cablemod) are still selling lots of products. I stopped using my right-angle adapter just to be safe, but even after all of the hard benching I did, nothing has ever shown any evidence of heat, melting, discoloration or anything else with the adapter or Cablemod cable itself, and nothing ever got hot to the touch. It's weird that this seems so random. If we had a definitive understanding of the cause, it might not be so mysterious. Everyone is just making assumptions and guessing, and Cablemod is the target because they have sold so many. We do not know the percentage of failure or the number of parts sold, we only know about the scary outcomes that get lots of media attention. That makes it scarier and more uncomfortable, not to mention hard on Cablemod. Maybe it should be hard on them, or maybe it shouldn't. We don't know what we don't know, and I hate that. I love crotch rockets. No interest in big road cruisers like Harleys or Gold Wings. If you're not going to go 200 MPH then what's the point? Just stay home.

My data has been stolen probably a dozen times or more, and there are frequent efforts from within the US, Russia, China, Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and other places to access my Google and Micro$lop accounts and bank accounts, etc. I have 2FA on everything and "passwordless" login for all my Micro$lop accounts. Fortunately, I have not been breached at a local level, but the efforts are frequent. Boot from the WIndows USB installer. On the screen where you select the drive to install, press Shift+F10 to open a command window. Run diskpart, then list disk. Identify the disk number and run the command to select the OS drive (e.g. select disk 1) then run a clean command following by a convert gpt command. Then refresh the list of drives, click the unallocated space and proceed with the clean install. Dad-gum, this looks amazing. Commander Keen and Doom are what I cut my teeth on back in the late 80s early 90s when PC gaming first became a big thing. I am going to have to check this out. Looks like it is a huge graphical upgrade.

Awesome. Glad you liked it. I do like the Oprekin builds that are pre-22H2 cancer. It is pretty amazing how a botched up version of Windoze can impair CPU performance to such a great degree. Loading it up with bloat and trashy services that add no value also doesn't help. Even my Cancer Edition versions of Windows 10/11 are heavily tuned and tweaked, Defender destroyed/removed, some Services deleted, many more Services disabled. I usually shave about 1GB off of default OS memory utilization and eliminate 100-125 utterly worthless background processes compared to a stock build. But, the Oprekin mod with the same tweaks is remarkably better. I think that maybe the 4090 random black screens are a tree-hugger PCIe power management thing. It doesn't happen to me in Windows. It will sometimes just flash in Windows after a period of inactivity. Say I am away from my desk for 5-10 minutes and nothing is happening. When I touch the mouse or keyboard it will momentarily flash black and then behave totally normal. I have Windows configured to never allow the screen to turn off and no screensaver. So, it stays on as long as the computer is on, but always does that stupid momentary flash to black thing after inactivity. Where I have issues with the screen going black and staying black is when there is no activity in the BIOS or my Windows Boot Manager menu (which stops and waits for my input on which OS I want to load). If I go into the BIOS and do nothing or leave it on the Window Boot Manager screen for a couple of minutes (sometimes faster than that) and there is no activity, the screen will go to black and stay black. I have to reset. It is like the GPU goes to sleep. As long as I am doing something like navigating menus that does not happen. Oddly enough, this never happens on the Linux Grub2 boot menu. I can leave it there all day and it doesn't go black. Apparently, it creates just enough "load" on the GPU or draws enough power from the PCIe slot to keep it awake. I look forward to seeing the screenshots. No, they don't get the hints. They don't care if people don't like what they do. In a way I kind of get that. "Don't like what we do, do whatever you want" is fine. I have no problem with that, and in some ways I kind of like and respect that attitude. It is similar to my own attitude about things. They're not my babysitter and I don't want them to be. And, I don't care if people like what I say or do. If they don't like it, that's their problem and to be blunt about it , I just don't give a rat's butt and don't need people to like or approve anything I say or do. BUT, what I DO have a huge problem with is them interfering with me doing what I want to do. That is unforgivable and intolerable, and it justifies doing things they do not approve of, even if it violates the EULA.

True. There are a few bright stars left, like EVGA. But, it is hard to spot them under cloudy skies. When you expect to be disappointed, disappointment is never unexpected. When you're not, pleasant surprise is much sweeter because it is no longer taken for granted. You'd think more of them would recognize the long-term benefit of having customers that are happy. Until the cashflow stops, or the social media crucifixion begins, it is not viewed as mission-critical to the big boys that think their poop doesn't stink.

With the Windows 7 Start Menu, Task Bar, Classic Paint, Calculator, Notepad, Snipping Tool, System Properties, square corners, etc. the compelling urge to vomit is greatly reduced. It still sucks under the hood, but at least it doesn't look like dog feces. A stock Winduhz 11 UI is an utterly disgusting eyesore. It is not as ugly as Windoze 8.X was, but any number multiplied by zero has a product of zero. Ethics? In the tech world? Umm, probably not gonna happen. Making money honestly is a lost art. Deception is the only way they fly now. Profits come easy when the sheeple believe what they want to hear. All you have to do it tell them.

Sure, I've got a video sitting on my storage drive that I have been meaning to upload for a couple of months. I have some screenshots, too. It usually takes about 6 to 10 days for me to receive orders from AliExpress.

I am not sure. I have not checked. That is perfect with the radiator fans.

Thank you. I had that once and lost it. I also hate the round corners. They are so ugly, especially with the lack of Aeroglass transparency. I will be using it right away. An older version of Ghost Spectre based on 21H2 might be better.

OK, here is something interesting. I was pretty certain that the Ghost Spectre Windows 11 mod was hindering my CPU performance. It seemed like it. So, I decided to do a deliberate comparison. The Oprekin Lite Plus mod I am using is overall the best. Stock Windows 11 21H2 is close and Windows 10 LTSC 21H2 is essentially the same as stock Windows 11. Ghost Spectre (22H2) is garbage for CPU performance. It is a really nice mod with some cool features. But, it's not the best for benching. Maybe in part because it is based on 22H2, and we know that newer usually is NOT better when it comes to Windoze, and most other software. Newer is almost always crap. All of my Windows installations have Defender removed. Not disabled, but removed. And, all but the Stock Windows 11 Cancer Edition have updates (including "security" updates) disabled. SO, here it is... Overall, the Oprekin Windows 11 Pro Build 21H2.2003 Lite (or Lite Plus) mod is the winner, followed closely by Windows 10 LTSC 2021 and Windows 11 21H2. Ghost Spectre comes in last overall. Ghost Spectre is the only one of the bunch that is built on 22H2. All tests were on the same system with untouched BIOS settings and all optimized the same in terms of disabled services using ESO (Easy Services Optimizer). Ghost Spectre fails miserably in 3DMark Physics and Combined tests. I tested this in Fire Strike initially and it was the worst. That is what prompted further investigation. It was more than a little bit worse. I also did a clean reinstall of Ghost Spectre before testing further. It made no difference. @tps3443

I am using aftermarket Byksi heatsinks with a water block on top. BUT, I will say that the naked sticks run at least 10°C cooler than retail modules with the worthless heating blankets on them as long as air is moving across them. It's really silly how hot they get with the so-called factory heatsinks smothering them. If your SFF case has a fan close enough to keep air flowing over them they would likely do as well or better. The inexpensive aftermarket Byksi RAM jackets also do much better than the stock heat sinks. They are MUCH heavier metal and the mass gives the heat more of a place to go than the thin aluminum heating blankets that are there to mostly look fancy. The "thermal pads" they use to stick them on are glorified two-sided Scotch tape. I am not sure how they expect them to transfer any heat. The ones I am using on my DDR5 were made for DDR4 and I bought them before DDR5 was invented. I think the new ones made for DDR5 have a shallow notch ground out in the center to provide added clearance for the on-module voltage controller SMDs.

Yup, that's what I am running at 8200 for my daily driver memory overclock. So far I haven't found a retail kit with or without the rainbow puke that can function as well. I'll probably stop trying. NewEgg and Amazon are probably wishing I would go away. Both have sold and received back about a dozen retail kits of defective trash from me.

It is a really nice looking SFF case. Happy to hear you found it easy to work with, too. I look forward to you sharing some photos with us once UPS finds your memory. If they don't find it and you want some good overclocking A-die, this is hard to beat for less than $60 per module. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805178528556.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.4c7d38da46HS7t&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

Check it out. I'll probably do something better later on, but I had to test this out just for fun.

Just another scam/scheme to sell parts nobody needs. It worked with the chintzy 12VHPWR cable and ATX 3.0 PSU scam, so why not go down the same scummy path with motherboards, too? You're spot on in your assessment. Scummy ideas from scummy people. If you are consistently that close try this... Open 3DMark first. Then open Task Manager. Kill explorer.exe and any other trash running in the background that is not essential. Run the benchmark. When it completes, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, start Task Manager the run explorer.exe to restore your desktop. Save the screenshot and upload the result.

Biggest issue is slow and painful warranty fulfillment. They charge a very high premium for their top shelf products, yet the QC is poor and the response when they drop the ball is less than impressive. For the high premium, they need to actually deliver something in return. They do not. You either get lucky or you don't. If you don't, you can expect 3 to 8 weeks to get a replacement motherboard, with outbound shipping on your own dime and potential excuses for denying your warranty. Real life examples of excuses are bent CPU socket pins that were not bent when it was sent to them, (and photos of someone else's motherboard used by ASUS when challenged,) thermal paste smudged on the motherboard PCB--yes, I have seen that lame excuse--cosmetic blemishes on components like a scratched finish on VRM heat sinks and I/O shields that have no effect on product fuctionality. They look for opportunities to shirk their contractual obligations under warranty, even when the basis for it has zero merit. The recent nonsense around flashing a BIOS they provide voids the warranty fits the behavior pattern to a tee. They should be providing a cross-ship advanced RMA process for the people they have charged exhorbitant prices just as they do their server motherboards. A secondary issue, but equally raises questions about their integrity, or lack thereof, is the misleading marketing fluff. Some of it borders on deception and misrepresentation that rivals the similar unethical behavior Alienware has become famous for. At least Alienware provides fast and friendly warranty service. (Not enough to make me stoop to buying their goofed up trash, but credit where credit is due.)

Asus quality control is hit or miss. I don't like the brand or the company because every enthusiast motherboard I have owned that they made either failed or had something wrong with it. When they do good they offer some truly amazing motherboards. When they don't, they're very bad and their warranty service is atrocious. They look for reasons too shirk their responsibility under warranty. Oddly enough, their mid-range and budget Strix and Prime motherboards have been reliable for me. It's only their most expensive high-end stuff that is unreliable and it has been unpleasant to deal with on the warranty side. With things like Armory Crate and Aura their support is also pathetic. Now that they have moved to UWP filth and no longer produce legacy win32 applications, their software is unreliable, often unusable, and extraordinarily bloated. More than half the time Armory Crate will not even install and when it does it usually does not function properly. The ROG Strix 4090 that I purchased was grossly overpriced and performed poorly compared to the MSI Suprim. It was $400 more, absolutely sucked at overclocking and I returned it for a refund. It had some pretty tacky looking default lighting features on it that were only controllable using their broken UWP garbage. I know that Brother @electrosofthad to RMA a Suprim that was a lousy silicon sample, but it did not come with a $400 premium attached for an imaginary state of excellence like the Strix turd does. I have a Z690 Apex. Its memory overclocking abilities are pathetic and below average. They marketed it as superior and charged accordingly, in spite of its inferiority and their shameful misrepresentation of its abilities. I have its lighting features disabled because there is no reliable way to control the rainbow puke thanks to their trashy software. I'm very happy to see them coming under fire and I hope all of the negative tech media attention causes them extreme financial harm or results in an immediate change of approach that is customer centric. If not, then they deserve whatever misfortune comes to them and I'll be happy to see it come as retribution for their crimes and underhanded approach to business.

Yeah, I am not impressed or pleased with the notion of creating anything proprietary or establishing new form factors that are not a universal, industry-wide standard, or incompatible with current form factors. I view anything like that as being stupid, selfish, greedy and short-sighted. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I think we should be careful to stop calling them "the best overclockers" because that's not what they are. At least that's not what many of them are. They are merely the endowed and the funded overclockers who have been chosen for that special treatment program. They do not possess special knowledge or skills. They possess special products and supporting equipment that someone else is paying for and nobody else has access to. Maybe the extra $400+ premium paid by Strix buyers and the extra $150+ premium paid by TUF buyers that basically got nothing in return for it except a bloody wallet, is where they got all the extra money to make that ugly Matrix abortion what the Strix should have been. And, of course, still charge more for the Matrix than what it is worth as well, and accomplish that through equally obnoxious and misleading marketing. Might even sell a few silicon duds and excuse it with a "better luck next time sucker" approach. They only need to produce enough good ones to go around to their chosen group of shills. The general public doesn't deserve to receive anything special, they should only be expected to pay for something special.

I feel bad for all of the trusting people that wasted their money, and didn't think fast enough to RMA to get it back. Maybe they're not lying in the truest sense of what that means, but the marketing and the representation of something that the buyer has been led to believe is something better and isn't, and charging a huge extra premium consistent with such a misrepresented expectation, might actually be worse than simply lying. It's a carefully crafted campaign intended to defraud and deceive. If that were not their intent their not-so-special, special overpriced trash would be sold at the normally inflated price of their not-special competitor products. They can only get away with the buyer beware approach for so long. Eventually they'll need to pay for their crimes.

He's not wrong. He is saying what we have said and thought, and complained about. Hard to know whether that's just lefty tree-huggers trying to make an environmental mountain out of a mole hill, like they always do, or just fresh clickbait to feed the sheeple zombie horde. Arizona has historically been governed by level-headed conservatives, but things have gotten extraordinarily goofy under the brain-dead "leadership" of the new illegitimate governor, who is also an open-border sanctuary, alphabet-friendly witch with an agenda. We've had record setting rain and the water table is looking good. But, I think we do need to stop selling our water to California. Their need is not our problem. Maybe if they stopped talking about idiotic things like reparations for stuff that happened a century+ before the proposed recipients and their great grandparents were born, and wasting billions on idiotic socialist programs, they would have time and money to spend money on the sea water desalinization plants they've been talking about for decades and have some water to sell on top of meeting their own needs. Can't fix stupid, but you can certainly kill it. Maybe someday the dumb dumbs will figure out that a vote is a terrible thing to waste. (Probably not, because they're dumb LOL.)