Mr. Fox

Here is Steve's investigative movie... I haven't finished watching the entire thing, but the smuggling is different than some may have thought. They actually have some criminals buying them legally in the US through ordinary channels, both new and used, then they secretly ship them into China. Much more difficult to control that scenario and also harder to identify the bad actors.

Did I miss something? What's up with the yellow dongle scare? Is it something other than the color that is inherently wrong or defective about the connectors that are yellow? Or is it MSI producing garbage and their yellow dongles are just coincidental to poor product quality based on brand incompetence?

Funny stuff. The face blurred at 00:21 (woman driving a car) in the first American Eagle Jeans video is the ultra-woke witch, Rachel Zegler. She complained about an AI-generated likeness of her being used in the video so the authored blurred her face. If you freeze the video just before the blur you can see it. Then compare that frame to the Sound of Music remake parody at 1:44. 🤣 Also hilarious that they made the lunatic Greta Thunberg cross-eyed.

Another symptom of what I said here. It's harder than ever to find anything nice to say. Almost everything sucks.

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water... introducing Windung 12. Get ready for the next round of digital diarrhea from the Redmond Reprobates. It is always a blessing in disguise whenever extra-bad people kill themselves.

I think for your intended use the $40 premium would be $40 flushed down the toilet. The only logic one might apply is the ease of second-hand resale of the $40 "better" GPU might be worth the extra $40 but even that would be a big stretch. It is probably a mistake to even think along those lines in the current culture. As I just saw from the sale of my 9070 XT Elite, the average gamer isn't going to care about which one is better. The only thing most of them care about is getting it cheap. Even if the quality and performance is better, it doesn't matter. They might pay more only on the basis that it is tacky and garish looking with lots of rainbow puke and anime crap plastered on it. (Like the Yeston Sakura 9070 XT for sale in the thread next to the one where I sold the Elite. The one with the scented module to make your gaming session more fragrant, LOL.) So, I would say if the GPU that costs $40 less is doing everything well and making you happy just save the $40 and don't try to overthink it. But, if you want it, then spend the $40. That's not even enough to pay for a nice dinner for you and the wife. Don't expect anything more from it. The Astral is a huge waste and a joke that isn't worthy of mention for any normal intent or purpose. The only benefit most Astral owners will ever realize is looking like a fool with money and the misguided belief they are special because they paid a ludicrous amount more for an overbuilt GPU that will yield them nothing tangible in their world of gaming. It might make sense for someone that plans to strip it down and run LN2 with a 1.6kW vBIOS and voltage mods. Beyond that it is an ego-soothing nothing burger. With just one woefully inadequate 12VHPWR socket. Or, if you prefer, one woefully inadequate "12V-2x6" placebo socket.

Sold

They will always be A$$zeus, the god of a$$ 😆 and the wearers of golden a$$hat$ I am to the point of not liking any of the options in the tech space... everything blows now... Intel walked away from a position of untouchable dominance and has lost their way AMD still sucks but is now the lesser of two evils and the shinier object on account of the above NVIDIA is the king of tech slime that will miss no opportunity to screw those that made them famous Overclocking is a dying sport because the crap they are all producing is grossly overpriced, misrepresented, crippled and poorly engineered trash with inconsistent/non-existent QC Micro$lop hasn't done anything right since Windows 7 and modern Windoze OSes are merely digital bait... they don't care about piracy and they promote the theft of their OS because it helps them steal our infinitely more valuable personal data to use as they see fit... as prophesied in their unread EULA docs crApple has always been trash... frequently loved by elitist sheeple with low tech IQ and no awareness that their own poop smells bad... their OSes steal data as well, but they expect their users to pay for the data theft conduit rather than facilitating the taking of it for free like Micro$lop Google is the king of surveillance and the world's foremost resource for the proliferation of disinformation and agenda-driven propaganda, battling Meta for the same crown All of them manage personal information and data they steal in a haphazard manner placing us all at risk All of them are control freaks with no concept of what stewardship, honesty, truth or goodness looks like They all seek to be wealthy, worshiped and revered as gods of AI perched upon haughty thrones of filth It's kind of sad that we should all be hoping and praying for the collapse and destruction of an industry that has been an object of intense enthusiasm and passion for decades for some of us. Still undecided whether the 5090 is worth keeping from a value and intelligence perspective, but the clock is ticking. The comparatively mediocre 9070 XT makes way more sense despite its unmistakable inferiority. Looks like there is a good chance I may have a buyer on OC.net for the 9070 XT. If that is the case, then the 5090 has made its home in my system whether I like it or not, LOL. (I do like it, just don't like what it cost. Fantastic overpriced piece of kit.) Edit: Sold...

Hilarious movie trailer parody...

A Canadian that knows the truth and is not afraid to speak/sing it. Awesome.

An idiot from Facepoot messaged me a few days ago about my 9070 XT ad with "$650" and said nothing else. I replied back "today only, come get it while you can" and he never replied. He messaged me around midnight tonight. Further proof he is a dumbass. "$600" this time, so I replied "$675" and said nothing more. If he replies with $625 then I will reply $725. (Listing is $700.)

Happy birthday to her. But the birthday present is for you?

Unless single-player campaign functions with Secure Poot and TPM disabled I will never know because I won't enable them or spend my money on any game or software that requires it. Even if Windoze 11 was a good operating system (which it is not) I would refuse to use it if bypassing those requirements was made impossible. These are decisions that should be left to the personal discretion of the end user. Now that I have been using Linux as my primary operating systems for about 6 weeks or so and it is starting to "feel like home" to me, I am finding myself to feel that even Windows 10 LTSC is an annoying product that I would prefer to avoid. One of the reasons is the increased degree of power and autonomy to make my own decisions. I tried Bazzite and CachyOS and, while I liked them and thought they provided an aesthetically pleasing GUI, I found them both to be too restrictive and eliminated both of them. When it comes to owning my computers, I insist on actually owning them and acting as a god that will be obeyed unconditionally. My commands will be followed immediately and without question. Even if that means self-destruction. 🤣

😆🤣 Her jeans and her genes are both great. The face blurred at 00:21 (woman driving a car) is the ultra-woke witch, Rachel Zegler. She complained about an AI-generated likeness of her being used in the video so the authored blurred her face. If you freeze the video just before the blur you can see it. Then compare that frame to the video below (Sound of Music remake parody) at 1:44.

I have tried to like RPG and RTS games and I just can't do it. Something about them is extremely annoying to me. In particular I hate the "camera angle" or vantage point to such a degree that even trying to enjoy playing them makes me angry. There's zero chance I'm going to enable Secure Poot and TPM filth. It makes no difference how wonderful and awesome the game might be, that's just not going to happen. A snowballs chance in hell to be precise. I hope the game developer loses millions of dollars and becomes an object of hatred and scorn for making such horrible decisions. If there was some way I could delete those options and remove them from my BIOS completely so that they could not be utilized I would do that.

I am all for exterminating people like this, but only after due process has run its course. Wrongful executions can't be undone. He is no longer flying under the radar. If the evidence shows there is merit to the concerns and it turns out that any of them are true, he should be terminated. That should never happen arbitrarily, be done in a vacuum or based on suspicion. If you're paying attention and listening to truthful sources of information, (which is seldom ever true of the mainstream sources,) for the first time in my lifetime, wrongs are finally being righted. Fixing this is very important. It's not the most important thing. Assuming no undue interference occurs from the leftists, the lower priorities will be addressed in due course.

While I am not interested in this game or anything else the RTS genre has to offer, the theme is very timely with the current frenetic and irrational rush to glorify all things AI as a post-modern holy grail.

I actually could have saved another $200 on a PNY and decided it was worth $200 to have the dual BIOS option for a cross-flash safety net. The PNY does not have dual BIOS. Otherwise I would have gone with the PNY. That said, I think there is a slightly higher build quality (objective) and aesthetic advantage (subjective) to the Zotac Solid OC. I do like the more muted appearance of the Solid, ASUS Prime and TUF video cards more than the flashy trash rainbow puke. Probably so. I think so much of what we see in "news" articles and YouTube videos about faulty computer hardware and security risks are based on isolated and very limited scenarios that will never affect 999 out of 1,000 users. It sucks to be that one unlucky guy, but it's pole vaulting over mouse turds to make a federal case out of the one rare example.

I would guess human error on the part of the employee that marked it down that much. But, it makes me want to return this one for a refund, LOL.

Hold on brother, not necessarily. 🤣 It could mean that. I'm still not convinced that it's worth it. I have 30 days from the date of purchase to decide. If the 9070 XT sells then I will be keeping it because my only other GPU is a 3080. I like it but I haven't decided if I want to keep it or if it's worth what I paid for it. I have very mixed feelings about it because it is such a poor value. If I can't sell the 9070 XT for an acceptable price then I might decide that I'd rather have my money back. Whether I keep it or I don't, I can't help but feel like I'm getting screwed. Is it a nice GPU? Yes, very nice. Is it more powerful than my 4090? Yup, a little bit. Is it more powerful than the 9070 XT? Yeah, quite a bit. Is it priced right? Hell no, the price sucks.

If you are considering this don't think too long. I just listed in on eBay for $125 + shipping more than what I am asking here and that is still below the median price for this superior 9070 XT model. https://www.ebay.com/itm/277320796960

Gigabyte AORUS Radeon™ RX 9070 XT ELITE 16G I purchased this GPU new in March and have been using it in my work PC running a -75mV undervolt. It is in immaculate condition. I replaced the stock thermal paste with PTM7950 phase change pad. The AORUS Elite is one of the most sought-after 9070 XT due to its superior build quality, vapor chamber, triple 8-pin power, dual BIOS and higher than average boost clock. Most of the warranty is left and it includes all of the original packaging and accessories. If you can even find this model for sale it will not be anywhere close to MSRP. Scalpers are selling it on Amazon and eBay for ridiculous prices. Price: $700 USD **SOLD** Reason for sale: I purchased a 5090 for my overclocking rig last week and moved my 4090 from the overclocking rig into the work PC. As such, it is a spare GPU. I have enjoyed it and now it is time for someone else to enjoy it. Payment: Zelle cash transfer, PayPal Friends & Family (if your country does not offer F&F add for PayPal fees) Condition: excellent Shipping: include for US residents in the lower 48, actual cost for those in AK, HI, PR International Shipping: Only if buyer is established and trusted in this forum. Actual cost plus any taxes, duties, VAT, etc. I am unable to estimate these costs. Handling time: Same Day or Next Business Day (depending on time of purchase) Feedback: eBay Profile; OC.net MarketPlace Feel free to send a PM with any questions. @Reciever@Clamibot@Raiderman

Will single-play campaign work with TPM and Secure Boot disabled, or did they screw the pooch for everyone including those that do not care about online multi-player?