electrosoft

I do think the 5080 is "better" value compared to last gen. Faster, new tech, less than the 4080 at launch (matching the 4080 Super price). With Nvidia having a lock on the market past the 5070ti, I'm surprised they didn't price it at $1199.99 You never used it on your P750 class Clevo laptop back in the day with the 8086k/8700k CPU? But yeah, Throttlestop has been a staple for me in various capacities since the Alienware M15x when pushing my 920xm/940xm chips back in 2010.... I think Kevin (Uncle Webb) still mains it and works on it even to this day. Such a blessing of a piece of software to have. I've lost count how many times it pulled locked down laptops out of the dregs of performance. When I was in MC the last time, I checked their 285hx/5090 Raider they had on display and the BIOS is still available. That really is their main selling point. Asus locks theirs down to a degree and only gives you UV. Dell has some OC controls but nothing like MSI and definitely not like Prema. Yep, laptops can be subject to degrading too with 13th/14th gen chips. Hopefully Acer released an updated BIOS to counter that if needed but the nature of Intel's HX chips from many makers limit top end voltage anyhow by design because they are really packing a desktop part in there now since the 12900HX just neutered down power wise. I'm not sure how well tREFI boosting would work out in a small, hot, confined box like a laptop especially without even decent heatsinks on the modules especially with some laptops clocking in at 6400+ now. Still would make a fun modding project. That connector is platform agnostic in the worse way. Sapphire Nitro+ 9070xt is probably the nicest looking card out of all the 9070xt's on the market and the hidden 12v2x6 rear design is slick but the very nature of the connector will require some cable twists and turns regardless of orientation. You also have the cables passing over the blow through portion of the heatsink fin stack basically blowing hot air on the cables/connector itself. I'm not sure if the active air flow helps or hurts in this scenario. Warm air or no air? Kobayashi Maru The higher end (340w+ rated) 9070xt's can also be subject to 500w+ transients. I do notice, especially in the MSI 5090 one, a serious bend on the cables in picture one meaning a lot of bend and downward pull/pressure. Not that it gives a pass to the piss poor excuse of a connector, but you can't just throw caution to the wind with this thing..... And yet again, advocating for light colored connectors to see scorch marks early on...... Always...ALWAYS give open box / returns a try. You have a full return window in place AND you can score some fantastic deals. I've literally saved tens of thousands picking up open box items for the last 30 years for personal and professional use. Yeah, you get some stinkers but you just return those for a full refund. Remember, I scored my 1.125v Vanguard 5090 for $1971 open box from Microcenter in August saving $600-800 off the original MSRP and now try finding one in the states for a not insane price. Open box 265k for $205 w/ BF6 code included Open box Z890-A Strix for $176 basically brand new That's over $1k in savings right there and that's just the tip of the iceberg of items I picked up open box / return /refurb. 5080 MSRP is ok value vs last gen in the face of same pricing, performance bump (however mild) and new technologies in the face of inflation. You are getting better for the same price. It is not good value compared to the 5070ti which at MSRP is the new "sweet spot" for Nvidia this cycle and only because the 9070xt keeps them honest. Cache is the blessing and the curse.....again. Overall, the 9800X3D is the winner (no shocker there), but if he ran this at 4k (or even 1440p), you would see that cache take a bigger hit and the results would start to flatten out a bit and I suspect in the lows especially the 14900k and 285k would take over. I would have preferred some 4k results and on a 5090 vs 1080p and 4090, but you take what you can get. 🙂 All bets are off as we head into the pricing unknown of 2026 but for the last few months, we've clearly been told about supply/demand and we have: TSMC raising prices TSMC booked up till 2027 and potentially beyond DRAM makers controlling output AI markets gobbling up memory DRAM makers booked up for at least this year Crucial flat out abandoning the consumer sector (I will never buy from them again even if they come back) Nvidia cutting back output on consumer grade GPUs to favor AI allocation I can't see prices going to $5k MSRP for a 5090, but I can definitely see supply on the fall and prices on the rise overall including the 5090. $2499.99 MSRP for an FE is not out of reach..... You simply tell work, "Look buds, I got to hook up this WV2 for my peeps in the Overclocking thread in NBT, so you'll be aight!" I am sure they will think about it for a few seconds and nod their heads in agreement and tell you it's ok and get those results to us ASAP! 😁

Well, that's what I get for waiting a few days before ordering. I ordered my WV2 on 11/3. Looks like we both got pushed back, but myself ~3 weeks after yours. Well, that's a lot of data I'll get to soak in from you and @jaybee83 before mine arrives. 🙂 ---- Agreed on the GPU front. I think @Papusan noted several months ago (while I had my 5080FE before jettisoning it due to locked out vBIOS) the juice wasn't worth the squeeze vs the 5070ti in terms of cost MSRP vs MSRP and then obviously AIB models that completely went off the tracks especially for 5080s ($1800 for an Astral 5080?) and obviously 5090s (~$3800 for an Astral 5090 LC?). Then again, the way the market is going, next gen AMD is now rumored for mid 2027 (or later) and I suspect Nvidia will follow suit. I would not be surprised if we don't see 10k and 6k series cards from AMD and Nvidia till Fall of 2027 at this rate with the RAM market hopefully coming to its senses by fall 2026 enough for Nvidia to offer Super cards by Jan 2027. And we still have price hikes incoming. Along with scaled back production due to memory reallocation from Nvidia to more lucrative markets In other words, hug your 9070xt's and 5090's and hunker down..... Not the greatest 9070xt, but Microcenter has Asrock Challenger 9070xt in stock for $579.99 They also have several 5070ti models at $749.99 and one at $729.99 Bang for buck, that 9070xt can't be beat.... Even in RT only testing, the 9070xt trades blows with the 5070ti: 5080s are running off the rails with the lowest cost being $1300 at Microcenter.... Cheapest on the part picker is $1129.99.... For myself, I'd either scoop up a fantastically priced Challenger 9070xt for $550.99 after MC discount or pony up a bit more for the Zotac 5070ti for $693.49....

Yep sad a bit but that gives a little window for @jaybee83 to give his full assessment of it and if it gets his stamp of approval. @Mr. Fox were you batch 1 or batch 2? Any updates on your ship date? --- Do you plan on keeping both or picking one or the other? Both are good GPUs and basically in the same class of performance depending on game/program you're running. For that brief window in August to early September, 5090s were available in pockets on some models for $1999.99 and others had come down for a brief spell too, but that party is over. Asus never really dropped the prices on their Astrals except the LC at MC for $3399.99 for a bit for members. Suprims did come down to near MSRP (but never quite got there) and Vanguards haven't available for months now in the US and I'm not sure why. Fallout76 Clan member wanted one to match his Godlike Z790 MSI build for the aestheticsbut they're nowhere to be found in the US for months on end. He "settled" for a Suprim. ------ I have a stack of parts I'm holding onto because pricing is just going to get worse in the market and waiting a month or so will net you more on the reseller end as FB dries up as parts hunter (present company included) continue to hunt and bleed it dry. With Nvidia cutting back on consumer level production and GPU prices expected to rise, that 4070 TI will definitely go up in value. You could put together a decent gaming PC with that 4070 Ti and get some good scratch for it.

So plenty of stock but prices have gone back up....Not sure if that's a win but at least you have stock. We just have the higher prices for the stock we actually have. 🙂 ------ <Insert Sad Face HERE> I'll be waiting for a bit it seems.....*sigh*

Nah, Liquid Metal all the way. Keeps those contact points nice and sparky! 🤣 But seriously.... Definitely nail polish or equivalent over kapton. I usually use conformal coating. ----------------------------- Best Buy is completely sold out of 5090s. Only models they have are third party market place models. Microcenter has ~3 models in stock cheapest is $2800 Zotac AIO Newegg cheapest model is the $2800 Zotac AIO and 5 models total in stock. PNY is back at $3460 / $3499+ shipped and sold by Amazon/Newegg....yay Stock in the EU/UK still plentiful for 5090's @Papusan @jaybee83? Cheapest 5080 available now is $1129.00 Shadow here in the US.

Looking good! I prefer liquid metal over kapton for the absolute 100% seal and it is easy to remove anyhow. Asus being Asus for the sake of being Asus..... When I haven't worked with a particular MB maker in a bit and I start digging into the BIOS, I always hit little irritants of localized naming nomenclature and routinely think, "Why can't they all just use the actual terms?" You would think by the time someone is digging into timings they most likely kind of know what they're doing.... Sadly, prices are already on the rise for AMD cards, 5090 stock is drying up even more now along with 5080 cards on the lower pricing end....yay. A solution looking for a problem........................ The logical solution is still to use the included cable if only for warranty purposes or at least use a PSU from the same GPU maker if you want a straight 12v2x6 run for the same reason. AIBs will look for any excuse to deny a warranty claim whether legit or not as we saw with the Cablemod fiasco. Outside of that, some of the twists, turns and pressure I've seen put on these cables is concerning too. When we see reports of burning/melting cables, all we really get most of the time is a, "trust me bro" guarantee there were no other mitigating circumstances contributing to the meltdown. You have AIBs who have literally tested these connectors under strict conditions and they are fine. Then you have end users who run into scenarios where they melt down but yet again in the OC forums you just really don't see too many cable melt downs across many brands and connectors and users on the regular shoving way more watts into their cards. 5080's with 32GB I can definitely see affecting supply.....AI needs to burst sooner than later.....

I've had to do a few RMAs with MSI over the years, including my old x670e Carbon, and it always went well. Either repaired properly or usually they just sent me a new one. They really won me over back during the 1722 17.3" laptop days with parts and repair accessibility. Untill they, PERSONALLY ( IE bombarding me with anecdotal examples means nothing since my anecdotal evidence says otherwise), give me a reason to not deal with them, they will always be on my top 3 list for consideration. They still have the best mass commercial market laptop BIOS on the market and to a certain point, they treat their laptop BIOS like their desktop BIOS and I like that.

I posted on this back on the 19th but only briefly.... The fact he picked a 4 dimmer (Asus Maximus) over a 2 dimmer (MSI Unify) because of scratches/aesthetics just left me shaking my head but he is only running G.Skill TridentZ CUDIMMS 8400 sticks and the Maximus should do 8800 no problem.... Jay: "The aesthetics I don't really care about" (Holding the Maximus) Also Jay: "I'm bothered by it because it has scratches" (Holding the Unify) At worst, it's something new and fun to learn the ins and outs of platform wise. That's my take along with seeing how it does in my favorite games. Once we moved away from monolithic designs, things took a turn for the worse in regards to what WE want in CPUs at least. ----------------------------------------------- Some more testing with the 265k and Strix Z890 and best I can do is stabilize on this 265k at 8400 is now but anything past that is near error out in G2 and at 8600 it artifacts green and locks up as soon as it tries to load Windows. That is pushing SA/VDD2 up and down even to SA@1.35 and VDD2@1.45. Not sure how far I want to go past that in the hopes of breaking past 8400. Just not a great IMC on this chip. Of course in G4 the MB can run up to 8667 before giving up the ghost. On the other hand, the combo was less than $400 for both so.......yeah. I could just tighten everything up at 8400 and still extract the bulk of the performance I would get a 8600/8800 (maybe more with the tighter timings) and then focus on OC potential next which was the plan anyhow. SA/NGU voltages did nothing to change the situation. I'll really need another 265k or 285k to bounce off of to get a clearer picture. Still tempted to re-order a Unify at the least....

Understatement of the year....memory is stupidly expensive and continuing to climb. Anyone caught up knowing of the ramapocalypse and didn't suck it up and spend a bit more the last month or so is really going to feel it in 2026 and prices now might look like a bargin next year till this sorts itself out. Same may happen for SSDs too as next year progresses.

The temp reductions moving the wife to the Antec Flux Pro from the DG-77 are substantial especially on the GPU front. We're talking 10-15c+ across the board for GPU (Hotspot and memory) and DDR4 memory. I'll be able to run the OC profile again after re-tuning. CPU temps increased ~5c since it isn't front intake anymore but top mounted so it gets all that nice warm air, but still under 80c for WoW (74c vs 79c) and still in the 60's for CB23 so still running nice and cool. I am running the AIO just off the CPU fan header. It has an option to split the voltage and have it run the pump independently with a 3 in one option (fans, pump, vrm fan). I could go back and install the 3-1 cable vs 1-1 and probably bring them down to previous levels if not more but I'm content atm. I can see why the Flux Pro was one of the top rated cases for airflow for 2025. -------------------------------------- New stepping for the Ultra refresh with a mature node for the same price. 270k basically turns into a 285k..this feels like 11900k/11700k territory all over again Improved IMC and support from 6400 to 7200 officially across the entire plus refresh https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-ultra-200k-plus-series-reportedly-aiming-at-more-for-the-same-price-approach

Merry Xmas and happy holidays to all! It bit funny and ironic we just talked about your adventures with Best Buy.....good luck! Two observations on the yellow tip again: If it were black, you wouldn't be able to see even the mild scorch marks. Companies should start including these in white or yellow for clear visibility of scorching. I still suspect there are plenty of black connectors out there already with scorch marks. You just can't see them. The bottom row strikes again with the weaker, [ ] design which I posit is susceptible to physical stress and speeds up the cycle as they are heated up and in conjunction with the physical stress are pulled ever so slightly open making them even more susceptible. --- These connectors really should not be physically stressed at all and the weaker the design (like MSI's bottom row array) the more the stress can cause meltdowns in conjunction with migrating imbalance of amps over time for various reasons.

Great card! Congrats on the snag! I also like the all dark aesthetics. I am almost certain you will pick the 5070ti over the 9070xt. When push comes to shove, it is the superior card. The 9070xt shines MSRP vs MSRP but if the prices are anywhere near close, 5070ti would be my pick everytime. Amazon Resale is so hit or miss and the descriptions rarely match. "Used - Acceptable?" Well hello, it's basically brand new. "Used - Like new?" Hey, looks someone ran over it 10x before shipping it out but made sure to remove all the accessories before doing so.... --- I still have a sealed Nitro+ 9070xt that was planned for my daughter's rig but I am almost certainly going to send back unopened to Amazon. WoW was running great the last 3 months but with the new patch/update, it has gotten super chunky on the wife's system and suddenly my old friend AMD timeout errors have returned on her Gigabyte 9070xt. Googling wow crashing and 9070xt for the last month and yep, it's back. Nvidia? Smooth sailing as always. With the Xpac around the corner, I can't really take any chances of incurring her wrath. I woke up Saturday with her literally standing over me going, "WoW has crashed 2x already....FIX IT!" 🤣 If things don't change quick, I'll be picking up a 5070/5070ti myself for her rig and the 9070xt becomes a backup/play around/sell off candidate.

Epyx looking good! Which sticks are those and how are they cooled?

My update was in two parts (ASUS 4242 and PD-GX) and each firmware update was run independently and worked automatically unattended. The first,4242, gave a clear and present progression status in dos text showing each step. The PD-GX showed me absolutely nothing on the screen so I checked events / task manager to confirm it had run its course. Then I rebooted After a reboot, all ports were front and center and my second (of 4) USB-A front port now works normally where before it basically did not work at all after the bios update. This was after a BIOS flash from 1512 -> 1805 as previously mentioned.

The bulk of my work is with external media both personally and professionally. Main reason I jettisoned AM4. To suddenly see USB port issues pop back up caused immediate concern. Installed the firmware update a bit ago..... And just like that my second front USB-A port now connects every time......like before the last BIOS update. I was ~3 BIOS updates behind though. I updated mainly for more 8000 stability on the Hero.