electrosoft

Whoa, 9070xt prices just jumped massively at Microcenter almost across the board. Probably a product of the expected price increases due to memory and 5070ti being sold out everywhere increasing demand for the 9070xt. The Red Devil I just picked up for $719 (MCC price was 683) is now $849. $780 on da Egg. Challenger which was $569 late last year is now $649.99 and the cheapest model available on PCPP is now $699 for the Hellhound. ------------------------------------------------------- RAM market is an odd beast atm. Lots of overpriced memory in stock. Plenty of overpriced (but not AS overpriced) new/used memory on eBay that is either not moving or taking quite awhile to move. End user demand is low because supply is grossly overpriced. SSD prices have jumped stupidly high but nowhere on the level of RAM but still..... I really feel like the AI boom is either going to crash or greatly recede sooner than later but we will see. Microsoft CEO openly questioned its profit viability.....May just be wishful thinking.... --------------------------------------------------------- WV2Pro arrived yesterday along with my brackets for DDR5 140mm cooling and Lian Li AIO. Piles of new parts everywhere for several projects/builds. First up is repairing my daughter's laptop though.... Just got an email from MSI they received my faulty Ai1300P PSU... --------------------------------------------------------- Yeah this is definitely the price/performance bundle that is going into my "I ran AM5 9800X3D for a year now let's give Intel's Ultra a fair shake till Panther" run unless it proves to be absolute trash (I'm looking at you FO76). $176 Strix Z890-A is hitting every criteria I need and the second $205 265k with some tuning now passes TM5 at 9066 G2 no problem which is the MB's limits and wouldn't be my D2D tuned settings anyhow so I'm good. I'll be keeping an eye on the Ultra refresh to maybe bin a few of them for shiggles.... WOW, didn't even know the 12 core Bartlett was up for order! I hope it is available and you can test one to compare to your AM5 and Ultra rigs. Did you hold onto your AM5 or jettison it? 🤣 -------------------------------------------------------------- @win32asmguy Midnight pre-launch 12.0 patch is definitely working with some secret sauce. When Tazevesh launched, performance was poor especially on the 9070xt but subsequent patches improved performance greatly along with Nvidia, but the 12.0 overhaul has now taken my fps in the exact same testing spot with the same drivers and rig as is from ~132 to frame locked 175 with the exact same settings. One thing I notice, though, is VRAM usage and CPU usage has increased drastically at 4k in the same spot from ~6.5GB to ~10.5GB. Not that players should be running WoW at 4k Ultra RT Max with 8GB or less cards, but they may be in for a reality check with the engine updates/overhaul. CPU utilization went up by 50% on basic reporting as did power draw so definitely some tinkering under the hood. RAM allocation is also up from ~13.5GB to ~20.6GB. Much more efficient, pulling less power and getting more fps than before. I've seen them do this in past xx.0 xpac pre-launch updates. GPU usage didn't even cap out with the 12.0 patch at frame locked 175fps. I'll need to go in there and remove that to see where it actually goes. One thing Blizzard does do is improve their graphics engine before, during and after launches. Before and after testing (note, both tests were at 8000 not 6400. Need to update AB descriptions). Of course Dornogal is an absolute sludge fest now on both my rigs and player data. Classic pre-launch patch Blizzard. Doesn't matter 14900ks + 9070xt or 9800X3D + 5090. It is absolute trash right now and chunky. Blizzard seriously needs to overhaul their CPU multithreaded utilization ASAP.

Addendum to 4k response as I don't think I gave you enough data for reference (sorry): Oh and zero thermal throttling anywhere and CPU utilization on any of the cores at any given time is never more than 50-60% using this approach which is designed to allow you to stress the GPU to 100% load really taking the CPU out of the equation. If Blizzard could figure out a way to load balance player physics across a true multicore design versus still really stuck in a single threaded model it would work wonders. One of the reasons I threw FO76 in the mix was to see if it was the same, but you can clearly see the uplift from JEDEC to 6400 Tuned and 8800 Tuned which might negate some of the X3D potential blame in WoW. -------------------------- Here's a screen shot I took of my exact chosen place to benchmark in Tazevesh so I know exactly how to position my toon and distances for future benchmarking on the 265k and you can see all the relevant data. Neither the 5090 or 9800X3D are overclocked for these tests on purpose to control all variables at stock. I plan on going back in and testing this exact same spot after the Midnight patch on Tuesday to see if anything has changed. If you want to benchmark here, make sure to get your toon and camera angles the exact same. You know you have it right when you have the small cat pat in and out in the lower, right corner. GPU at 100% CPU usage 16% (of course based on 8 cores, but you get the idea it is low) Temps are low on both even with the GPU fully maxed and 500w+ but the Vanguard Heatsink is ridiculously good along with the Suprims. Fans are at their lowest speed (33%) on auto. Voltage at only 1.085 (max of 1.125v).

I'll retest at 1440p Ultra just to see if memory (and CPU) comes more into play removing player physics as a constraint as we both know tanks GPU utilization quickly and when pushed to 100% GPU utilization even on a 5090 does memory settings on AM5/X3D make any difference because at 4k it means nothing even at JEDEC which was surprising. It could be with zero player physics at play, WoW can sit in the cache comfortably but with raids, PVP, city the cache exhausts pretty quickly. I could swap in this 9600x I have here in my ITX setup and test that theory. I haven't tested the 265k yet. I am just wrapping up dialing in memory tuning at G2 8600 on the test bench and then will OC dial in once this new AIO comes in on Thursday. This is my ghetto current memory tuning setup..... I have some custom brackets coming in to set up an adjustable 140mm fan over the DDR5 memory (this will carry forward regardless of what CPU/MB is installed) along with ordering a singular Silent Wings 140mm Pro fan for it for two tiered speed adjust-ability. Apparently the new king of AIOs is the Lian Li Galahad II Lite which in several reviews is the top dog and for ~$100 so I ordered one. It even beats down their former Trinity Performance model at a much cheaper cost, easier hook up and better designed pump. I ordered one of these to slap on the test bench with the 265k and if I like what I see, I'll move it into my case too replacing the AC LF II 420 that's in there now along with the 265k after my DDR5 fan parts and WV2 arrive but want everything tuned up and ready to go before the transplant.

TG just let me know my WV2 shipped, woot! -------------------------- As soon as China saw the "procedures" being enacted by the US government for AI hardware to ship to them , they balked and are slowly, but surely, turning to in house advancements on both the CPU and GPU front for the future. If they ever decide to invade and annex Taiwan they will become the front runner in technology pretty fast. There is a reason the US and other countries are all in diversifying production and fabs away from China and China adjacent. Those "procedures?" Well, Nvidia chips have to be shipped from Taiwan to the US, go through a series of validation steps over here and be assembled in the US before being shipped to China and 25% of the sales go right into the US government's pockets.....yeah I don't blame China for basically saying forget that and continue to use back channel ways of piping in same or similar hardware into their country. If China produces an ASIC specific computing device (as rumored) for AI that is more efficient and less expensive than using GPUs, the GPU market will crash harder than the Cryptobooooooom and I'm 100% here for it. Personally, removing China from their sales is a win for us and will start to bring Nvidia back down to reality and demand will plummet enough to offer more products to consumers but that really doesn't address the ram crisis as GPU, CPU or ASIC based AI will still require godsmackingly large amounts of ram for those ever growing LLMs.... Producing 1 card a year is still technically "in production" 🤣 But seriously..... Nvidia is still providing the entire GPU / Memory package for now, so unless they decouple it they will most certainly be raising prices right along with AMD...... Corsair's stock has tanked. They are trying to redirect to that sweet, sweet AI money and downsizing their consumer division which they were most likely going to do anyhow. I don't think the market conditions (AI AI AI AI!!!!!!) is the problem for them. Their issues are elsewhere. I do think they view the AI market as their hail mary atm.

HU's response to everything.....Nvidia clearly reached out to Asus and said, "change your statement" 🤣 Like I said, effectively discontinued can be the same as "highly constrained" HU did their due diligence. Maybe the Asus PR thought it was off the record? I can also see Asus not getting anywhere near enough 5070ti dies and/or packages (depending on if Nvidia still plans on decoupling the memory) and basically EOL'ing their own cards but other, smaller makers continue to offer them when they can too. This is not new for a company to walk back bad PR...... --------------------------------- AMD "working hard" to keep prices the same for their GPUs in 2026.... One of my pet peeves is always comparing prices of enhanced AIB models to MSRP. It is nails on the chalkboard to me. This applies to Nvidia and AMD. There will always be entry level models at MSRP, but models that are better built and with added features will always cost more....

Doing some quick and dirty DDR5 testing in my preferred spots in game for WoW and FO76 JEDEC 5600 vs 6400 vs 8000 on the 9800X3D with the newest BIOS and drivers... Take away? On X3D, WoW doesn't give a crap what speed you run your memory or settings at 4k Ultra.... Fallout on the other hand prefers 8000...... Tazevesh will even work over a 5090 no problem. FO is CPU bound horrifically just about everywhere on my Vanguard 5090 Small blip in the .01 on WoW 6400 tuned because of a player who ran through my capture but it is in line with FO76 placing. I will be sticking with 8000 from now on with AM5.... BBT took a swing at scaling DDR5 on Socket 1700 and 1851 (previously posted) for games and there are definite gains but nothing that's going to light the world on fire methinks. You will net the bulk of the gains by 8000 and then top it off 8000->9000. Looking at the results from my Q&D tests, that is about what I'm expecting even on the 265k....

HU talks to Asus and other makers who are actually on the front lines and reports production slowdowns or shutdowns Nvidia steps in for damage control Rinse repeat. 🤣 Nvidia isn't "letting" them have it. They would be prioritizing their most lucrative markets. Nvidia's potential product stack covers low, low mid and low high 5050 (barf), 5060 8GB, 5060ti 8GB, 5070, 5080. Seriously though, Nvidia will not lower prices on the 5080. That isn't logical. Nvidia goes where the money takes them. If VRAM is plentiful, more for everybody but with the real world constraints in place for VRAM, Nvidia will adjust accordingly and make sure their most profitable products get the VRAM and that is NOT the 5060ti 16GB or 5070ti but the 5080 and like I said, depending on future supply issues, even the 5080 will suffer from, ahem, a slow down in production or prices will go up (or both). "Discontinue" is maybe a bit harsh from HU, but drastically cut production to the point of discontinuation or sporadic allocations is feasible. 1% production is still technically still in production but...... 🤣 In other words, Nvidia is going to prioritize their most lucrative AI market and whatever happens to be left over will make its way to us consumers.... We knew GPU shortages were rumored in December contiuing on into the new year months ago and we're seeing it slowly happen Same with RAM prices. It was rumored back in early September and we saw it happen and continue to happen Even SSDs, SD cards and more are subject to the AI reality and market forces You literally have a memory company can their entire consumer division (which was profitable) to focus on the AI market As for the 5090, all reports from overseas is supply is dwindling and prices are going up. US just beat them to the final punch first being one of the largest consumer markets on the planet. Like I (and you) have noted, plenty of 9070xt's available but if supply dries up of Nvidia cards in those ranges, AMD may face a shortage too eventually just like with the CryptoPandemic years and Ampere where you couldn't keep either brand in stock..... 2026 is going to be a heck of a ride!!!

Welp, 9066 is it for the Asus Z890 Strix-A but that was what it was rated, so I can't complain on the Strix-A. 9200 it has all the classic signs of board fault just like the Apex at 8667+ being the culprit but this $176 Strix-A open box is a keeper. I am also impressed with the Vengeance 9200 sticks as they performed as advertised. Only thing is Asus boards (all three of them) do not like high tWR as spec'd in the Vengeance XMP profile. None of them would boot with the default 138. I am sure these didn't make the QVL..... Testing and passed 8800 G2 and 8933 G2 for now so I'm good. I'll end up falling back for the heck of it to push for G2 9066 but for now time to dial in and tune 8600 G2 and OC this SP83 265k to get it exactly where I want it before swapping it in to the main rig to run it as my daily in a real world scenario. Plan is to do that when my WV2 arrives and I upend up complete build with it along with install a dedicated case mounted 140mm fan over the DDR5. Still waiting on my first batch of MX-7 thermal paste to start rebuilding my thermal/LM collection.... still riding on a 150w air cooler with a single fan and ID-cooling thermal paste included with it atm.... --------------------------------------------------- 5090's sold out everywhere in the US now. I can't find a single MSRP model anywhere only overpriced scalpers hawking them on Amazon. One year removed from launch and here we go again.... Cheapest 5080 in stock is the $1280 Ventus on Amazon Cheapest 5070ti is $829 but $749 models do occasionally come into stock. If you want one, now is the time to grab one as it is the best bang:buck this generation if at or close to MSRP but it is on its way out. 5070's readily available and on sale in a few locations. MC has them for $499. Amazon has the Prime 5070 on sale for $539.99....expect these to dry up and prices to creep up or at least MSRP models go bye bye. Prices crept up a little, but 9070xt's are readily available. 5070ti , 5060ti 16GB EOL: 5070 12gb reduced supply but not EOL (for now)... Nvidia is basically abandoning the gamer market. Discontinuing all 16GB models except the 5080 and even it is in the crosshairs has they have scaled back production. 5090s are also on the chopping block to redirect all resources to AI. What 16GB they will offer will be in the 5080 to try to maximize profits and if it doesn't offer enough profitability, they will just either raise the price more or EOL it to redirect that memory to AI. Gamers are left with: 3060 12GB (rumored) 5060 8GB 5060ti 8GB 5070 12GB (which is in trouble) Scaled back 5080 and 5090 with both priced at $1300+ and 3500+ and climbing as Nvidia continues to re-direct supply to AI both dies and memory. ----------------------------------------------------------- This is AMD's moment quite honestly to gain market share. Hopefully they don't muck it up. Keep the 9070xt plentiful at a minimum as they will basically OWN the mid class of cards even if prices go up as the 9070xt competes with the 5070ti and approaches the 5080 in some benchmarks. They will most likely kill off the 9060xt 16GB but if they kept that model, they would dominate the low end too. You also have Steam coming in hot already with handhelds and now the Steammachine all based around AMD hardware. If there was ever a year for AMD to flip the script if even a little, this is the time!

I think the problem is you know one of the main stumbling blocks for pushing hardware is temps and having been to the mountaintop with a chiller, it is kind of hard to come back down to the inconsistencies of cooling that is much inferior but more important subject to ambient temps.... -------------------------------------------------------- @Talon No AL refresh till March/April.... https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-ultra-200k-plus-and-200hx-plus-arrow-lake-refresh-expected-in-march-april --------------------------------------------------------- Second 265k + Strix-A + Vengeance 9200 DDR5 9066 G4 @ 1.51v pass One reason more voltage than the rated 1.45v is XMP won't work with the profile tWR set to 138 which was outlandish and every single Asus board (AYW, Strix-A, Apex) refused to boot with that setting so I went ham with it down to 48. I will eventually work that back up and expect (in theory) for voltages to be a little more forgiving. Once I see where G4 tops out, I'll go back and start working up from 8800 (8667 already passed) in G2 on this second 265k

That first 265k was an SP77 (which isn't bad) but the IMC was atrocious. I just popped the second open box in with the much better IMC into the Strix-A and it is an SP83 It is also running cooler and pulling less than the SP77 even during TM5 runs.... Crazy how a 140mm fan with direct airflow down can make such a difference. Look at those temps. Without the fan, they pushed to 70+ where they eventually error out... Confirmed this Strix-A has no problems with 8800 while the Apex was bombing out with fans keeping the temps sane at even 8667..... Strix passed 8933 G4 w/ 1.49v on memory with the Vengeance sticks getting that full throttle 140mm fan love: Like I said, Apex was crashing out on even 8667. Welp, I gave the open box a try and worse case scenario is I have to return it for being defective so back it goes within the next week.... tl;dr first 265k and apex open boxes are dog water for my criteria... ----------------------------------------------------- MSI 5090 Lightning on LN2....

Initial test with Asus Z890 AYW and "new" open box 265k: Installed newest BIOS (one on board was from May 2025) Booted to G4 9200 no problem Has no problems doing 8667 G4 Testing the new open box 265k and unlike the old one, it booted right up at stock settings at 8667 G2 unlike the first open box 265k that wouldn't boot past 8200 auto and even pushing voltages up to ~1.45v couldn't do more than 8400. For 8400 to pass, the old 265k required 1.41/1.40. It flat out wouldn't post at 8600 no matter what you threw at it. New Open Box 265k passed G2 8667 on auto settings no problem: So far just testing on the Z890 AYW, new 265k will boot up to 8800 G2 on auto but no post at 8933 so I will give it some juice later but I'm moving the new 265k over to the Strix next as the Z890 AYW for $95 has more than met my expectations so far. For 99% of users, that first 265k will be absolutely fine and run their 6000-8200 memory just fine. But for my criteria it is a dud.

Funny but sad story.... I haven't done any CPU swaps all week so last night with the open box Asus Z890 AYW and new open box 265k, I first tore down the Apex and put it away (I am OCD and completely tear down and clean up and box up a current MB before using another) and after moving over the SSD, RAM and CPU cooler mounting I looked around for my big jar of thermal pastes. We're talking giant sized KPx, Gelid Extreme, new tube of Cryofuse still sealed, Duronaut, Conductonaut and more. Can't find it anywhere. Tear the place apart from front to back looking EVERYWHERE and all I keep thinking is, "I know I left it around the work table." I even went outside and dug around in the trash that went out thinking maybe I or the wife threw it out accidentally. Resigned myself to using a brand new syringe of Frozen 2 from EVGA from 5-6 years ago I found on the shelf except it is hard as a rock and unusable so out it goes. Ended up having to use the ID-Cooling syringe from the included air cooler. Asked my wife about it a bit ago. She had no idea. Finally, I reach up in the cabinet and pull down an identical jar (it was a walnut jar) and text it to her saying this is what it looked like and after about 30 min she texted to let me know I had left it on the front bench/nook where I sometimes work and she thought it was trash and tossed it out last week....🤣 Doing research, it seems the new MX-7 is a real contender so I ordered a couple of syringes of that to start rebuilding my collection. I never even got a chance to test the cryofuze as it was still brand new and sealed for future use in the jar. --------------------------- True. I remember us hoping blocking your Elite would tame the HS temps, but if you look at numerous reviews, the HS temps and variance within so many models is all over the place but always trends high. Still wish Nvidia did not remove HS monitoring with the 5000 series.... The market for hand helds and iGPU only laptops for size, weight and battery life is becoming the dominant factor in mobile computing. Which is fine.... But on desktop? I don't give a crap about any of that.

Another trip to Microcenter and another haul..... Returned the Nitro+ 9070xt still sealed to Amazon and opted to pick up a Red Devil 9070xt from MC. The three most powerful 9070xt's are the Taichi, Nitro+ and Red Devil and only one of them uses 3x 8-pin PCIe. Red devil has the beefiest phase design. Taichi has the most powerful amps. Rolled back the wife's drivers to 25.9.1 on her Gaming 9070xt and all her AMD Timeout errors have disappeared....fix (or at least stop breaking) your drivers AMD. While I was there, I scooped up yet another open box 265k for $205 after MC discount and couldn't turn down trying an Asus Z890 AYW motherboard for $95 open box after MC discount. 265k still is eligible for the free Intel game give away so now I have two codes. @Talon this Apex Z890 is a first gen release model and it is very unstable at 8667 let alone 8800 even with a fan running on the memory whereas the Strix is rock solid at 8667. I do plan on retesting the Strix with a fan on the memory and I suspect the Strix is going to be equal or greater than this particular Apex even at 8800. Could be an early release dud with poor traces for higher memory stability. I will most likely be returning it next week unless something changes. Irony would be if the $95 Asus Z890 AYW was better than both..... 🤣

In for a penny, in for a pound eh @Reciever? 🤜 Very nice! You really embraced water cooling nicely....I wouldn't be surprised to see a chiller on premises in the near future at this rate.... 😁

Lol, nothing worse than multiple teardowns trying to fix cooling issues, but it all ended up great and it makes you wonder what thermal pads Asus is using..... What thermal compound are you using on the GPU Core? Nova Lake looks so good. Hopefully they stick to their "late 2026" launch and don't drag it into 2027.