*Official Benchmark Thread* - Post it here or it didn't happen :D

[Papusan]

9 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I watched that video earlier today and baking a video card to reflow is a terrible idea. This video showed a great example of why it's a bad idea. But I'm not sure about the accuracy of whether or not that is how an EVGA refurbish repair is handled. I suspect Tony is going off of what the owner told him. The decal could be a forgery as well. 

 

What I know is that he found same pattern with his several attempts to fix Evga refurbished graphics cards. He have more videos of the problem. Maybe EVGA had other fixes for the more expensive Kingpin cards. Who knows. An awful way to reduce costs. 

 

EVGA have done a lot scummy the later years. MB that don't work with later gen processors and graphics cards. Then go stealthy and try milk extra on the mining boom... For higher profits. Of  course they went so far they would bake cards to cut costs. 

[Mr. Fox]

3 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

What I know is that he found same pattern with his several attempts to fix Evga refurbished graphics cards. He have more videos of the problem. Maybe EVGA had other fixes for the more expensive Kingpin cards. Who knows. An awful way to cut costs. 

I doubt there is anyone working at EVGA at this point that know anything about GPU or motherboard repair. Probably handled by another company now. I would not send anything to them for warranty repair at this point because of that. 

[Mr. Fox]

 

CachyOS installed without a hitch on the X870E AORUS Master. Working great. Still rocking Kubuntu on the Strix X870E-E. Week three without using Windoze except for in a VM when it is unavoidable. Not missing anything Micro$lop has to offer, which is close to nothing.

 

 

 

[electrosoft]

5 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

 

CachyOS installed without a hitch on the X870E AORUS Master. Working great. Still rocking Kubuntu on the Strix X870E-E. Week three without using Windoze except for in a VM when it is unavoidable. Not missing anything Micro$lop has to offer, which is close to nothing.

 

 

 

 

I've been dual booting for years now with originally RH and then mint and using Kali as needed for work. I prefer a pure Windows environment when needed and a pure linux environment as needed but I can see also using Linux primarily and Windoze in a VM too.

 

Point is to use Linux whenever possible IMHO and WIndows whenever necessary.  

 

 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

6 hours ago, electrosoft said:

 

I've been dual booting for years now with originally RH and then mint and using Kali as needed for work. I prefer a pure Windows environment when needed and a pure linux environment as needed but I can see also using Linux primarily and Windoze in a VM too.

 

Point is to use Linux whenever possible IMHO and WIndows whenever necessary.  

One of the reasons I have so many drives on my computers is that I loathe partitions and multipurpose drives. Both of my desktops have drives with a W10 LTSC NVMe for my work OS, a W10 LTSC NVMe for my "not work" OS, a W11 NVMe crash dummy OS to occasionally re-validate my hatred for W11 and a Linux NVMe. Beyond that I single-purpose other drives as well. A drive for storage of work-related files. A drive for personal file storage.  Drive(s) for games. A drive for Macrium Reflect images. A scratch drive for temporary "garbage" files.

 

My personal preferences rarely ever change, but my "needs" have and now I need Windows less than ever. There are only two applications my job requires that only run on Windows (Excel and PowerBI). They only function on Windows and there are no fully functional Linux equivalents. My needs for work have changed over time. For a very long time (about 35 years) almost everything I did for work necessitated the use of Windows. But today (the past 5 years) the vast majority of my work is performed in a web-based environment. I'm not benching any more. I seldom game, and I am losing interest in that. In no small part because I have a narrow preference in genres and there are very few titles released that hold any interest for me. 

 

We are all creatures of habit with preferences that are often shaped by bias and opinion. To some degree, some more than others, we equate preference with need. Distinguishing the two is often challenging for us. My extreme contempt for what Windows has become is a major driving factor behind my pursuit of a Windoze-free life. This has brought about significant shifts in my personal preferences that never would have occurred otherwise. Being a rebel that thrives on resistance and rejects anything resembling command and control, that derives a high degree of personal satisfaction in defiance of status quo and deliberate in demonstrating malice and extreme prejudice toward ideas and concepts I do not approve of, I am finding Linux is a better fit. It nurtures that rebel beast inside of me, whereas Winduhz is evolving into a source of antagonism, wrath and rage against the machine. By nature, I actually like that.

[Papusan]

On 7/15/2025 at 6:02 PM, Papusan said:

Won't happen as you can see. Not even with Trump. The US government with their administration have no intention to stop Nvidia floding China with expensive AI chips. You said all nations should cut off China... And here you see the Us go in front. But not the way you hope for. Greed and corruption will always win the in the end.

 

The fun facts... Now as Nvidia can continue do almost whatever they want, the US citizens will pay the price. RememberTariffs is pure tax on own citizens. This on top of even higher prices (inflation) due nvidia can flood China with US made tech. And US made AI technology will also help the country to reduce their costs even further, making them even more competitive than they are today. So double tripple bad for the land of the free. 

 

On 7/10/2025 at 3:27 AM, Papusan said:

And China make fool of the US Chip ban. As long the US government with their administration don't stop Jensen nothing will stop China from getting all the needed chips from nvidia...... Worthless without fining Nvidia so hard that they go back 5 years in revenue. 10% of nvidia's revenue in fine would be a good start. 

 

On 3/9/2025 at 5:50 AM, Papusan said:

Mr Jensen know how to go around the US sanctions... Just let some other smuggle in needed server chips. None care. And no one will ever know who'm smuggled in the servers for nvidia. Even Jensen laugh at the helpless and worthless US chip ban.

 

Why should Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang bother with who'm help them increase profits? Jensen continue circumvent the US chips ban. 

 

NVIDIA’s GB200 “AI Servers” Are Reportedly Being Smuggled Into China, Even After Jensen Claimed They Weigh “Two Tons” and Can’t End Up There

 

The Trump administration has been concerned about US AI chips ending up in China through "shady means", and they are working towards regulating the flow, but even after the recent export controls, NVIDIA's AI equipment is consistently available in Chinese black markets. Based on a report by Financial Times, it is claimed that AI products worth at least $1 billion have ended up in China's AI markets ever since the US administration imposed the export controls, and even as large systems as GB200 AI servers are available in China.

 

 

And Nvidia have hurry feeding China with consumer cards. China is everything for Nvidia. If they could they would prefer ship all their cards into this region.  

 

GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 With 24 GB Memory to be Unveiled a Week Before the Official Launch

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

9995WX scored a whopping 173K in Cinebench R23, LOL. 🤣 Around 26% faster than its predecessor. 5.0GHz on 96 cores.

[Papusan]

 

Intel will continue cutting their workforce. And it will sure help on the bottom line when revenue continue sink as a stone and the investors start being impatient. Intel have right now also lost the battle in the server market. Yup, AMD have now reached 50% of the very lucrative Cpu server market and will continue increase sales. So nothing work for team blue. They can't even make own products anymore in their chip foundries. They need TSMC for that. 

 

The consumer market for processors down the drain (both for Jokebooks and desktops), and they have lost the HEDT battle. Nothing left now to save. Only try to survive with sinking market shares for every day, week and months. 

 

The sad truth...

 

Intel's Recent Steps Are Towards Achieving Financial Efficiency In Order to Boost Shareholder Value. 

Of course they don't need so many employees such as factory workers and engineers anymore when sales and production going down the toilet. Just send alll out the door and close.

 

Intel Plans to Lay Off Up to a Whopping 30% of Its Workforce, Cutting Over 15,000 Jobs as CEO Lip-Bu Tan Declares That There Won’t Be Anymore “Blank Checks”.

 

Intel Will Drop Out of the Cutting-Edge Chip Race If It Doesn’t See External Customer Interest, Possibly Marking the Fall of a Key Custodian of Moore’s Law

 

 

Hmmm. Can't have it all. If the rumors is correct then you need to buy the lower core count Cpu for gaming. I wonder why Intel don't offer bLLc for their bigger boy with 16-32-4 cores. Even AMD offer 3D v-cashe for their 16 core/32 threads flagship chips. Is Intel going stupid again to reduce costs and maximize profits? Maybe because the power scheduler going bananas with all the extra baby cores and the tile mess?🤔 Yup, most likely the reason + reduced costs.

 

Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs could finally answer AMD's V-Cache — Nova Lake could boast massive 144MB L3

 

The only core configuration stated by both leakers to come with the bLLC features eight P-cores, 16 E-cores, and four LPE-cores. Although one leaker (Haze) believes a slightly lower-end eight P-core, 12 E-core, four LPE-core configuration will also be available. Regardless, Nova Lake is rumored to have a 16 P-core, 32 E-Core, four LPE-Core flagship model that won't have bLLC.

 

On 7/24/2025 at 5:09 PM, Papusan said:

Why should Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang bother with who'm help them increase profits? Jensen continue circumvent the US chips ban. 

 

NVIDIA’s GB200 “AI Servers” Are Reportedly Being Smuggled Into China, Even After Jensen Claimed They Weigh “Two Tons” and Can’t End Up There

 

The Trump administration has been concerned about US AI chips ending up in China through "shady means", and they are working towards regulating the flow, but even after the recent export controls, NVIDIA's AI equipment is consistently available in Chinese black markets. Based on a report by Financial Times, it is claimed that AI products worth at least $1 billion have ended up in China's AI markets ever since the US administration imposed the export controls, and even as large systems as GB200 AI servers are available in China.

 

 

And Nvidia have hurry feeding China with consumer cards. China is everything for Nvidia. If they could they would prefer ship all their cards into this region.  

 

GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 With 24 GB Memory to be Unveiled a Week Before the Official Launch

 

 

 

Yup, China laugh of the US Administration and Government. And Jensen Huang know very well where their chips going... But should Jensen bother when he know how stupid and useless the US leaders are? Stupid has to be this weekends word.  

 

RTX 5090s get ready to blow with AI-focused makeovers in China — industrial production lines transplant GPU and memory from gaming cards onto server-ready PCBs with blower-style coolers

 

 

 

See the whole video bro @Mr. Fox. Everything with help from Nvidia. A well known US based tech company. China is miles ahead of US. And nothing can stop them. Zero or nada.

 

LOL

The best 5090(D) dies go into server chips in China. Gamers don't need the best. They only need a working GPUs for games, HaHa

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Px8wzuEQ4?t=24.9

 

Of course stupid US leaders let China's own engineers (in China mainland) code the software for the whole US defence. Just the normal when you are almost born stupid. 

 

Quote

The US chip ban have infact created new well paid tech jobs in china while etc Intel layoff/fire 10's of thousands of jobs in US.... Amazing.

 

Reuters reports that there is a booming underground industry focused on servicing high-end Nvidia AI GPUs that are officially restricted from export to the country.

 

One firm charges between $1,400 and $2,800 per GPU, depending on the repair complexity. Another service provider, which previously focused on GPU rentals, now repairs about 200 Nvidia products monthly, pricing work at approximately 10% of their retail value.

 

Underground China repair shops thrive servicing illicit Nvidia GPUs banned by export restrictions — companies resurrecting banned AI accelerators at a rate of up to '500 per month'

[electrosoft]

Looking around this Alienware's BIOS and it looks like it has some overclocking functionality. I flipped the switch to see if it was enabled and it is so that's the next fun time seeing how stupidly cool this CPU runs even in overdrive mode. Dial in the CPU and AB and see where this modest 5070ti (aka 4080) can go.

 

No option to disable BIOS updates (just option to disable downgrades), so for now I'll have to put a stop to that through update settings.

 

[Papusan]

 

Is this the way it will go forwards in the future for gamers? 

 

 

[win32asmguy]

20 hours ago, electrosoft said:

Looking around this Alienware's BIOS and it looks like it has some overclocking functionality. I flipped the switch to see if it was enabled and it is so that's the next fun time seeing how stupidly cool this CPU runs even in overdrive mode. Dial in the CPU and AB and see where this modest 5070ti (aka 4080) can go.

 

No option to disable BIOS updates (just option to disable downgrades), so for now I'll have to put a stop to that through update settings.

 

Do any of the OC options modify D2D / NGU / SA Fabric? You might also try the Kingston Fury kit in the Alienware too, as it may let you turn on XMP which should do much better than any of the JEDEC CSODIMM kits.

 

Its a shame these new Area-51 laptops have all of the video outputs always wired to the dGPU, else I would be testing out one as well. Alienware should also add a "go dark" option in the BIOS too, so there would be a way to disable all of the RGB before AWCC loads or if one was dual booting into Linux. I would personally also probably take it all apart and remove the Element 31 hybrid paste, replacing it either with LM or PTM7950.

 

I am going to test out the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus as it (finally) has a vapor chamber, a third full sized fan and higher wattages this year.

[cylix]

First try, its a beast. 😆Cooling it with  Alphacool Eisblock XPX Pro 1U in a 2U rack chassis, its loud as hell but it will be part of my homelab rack in the basement. Probably will move it in a 4U chassis like the Alphacool ES 4U ServerRack where i can use bigger fans and will be quieter :). Doing around 130 W on win idle, need to check in Zorin OS linux aswell. But didn exceed 65 celsius in cinebench.  Paired with only 64gb 5600mhz  DDR ECC Ram.. will buy some more but ECC ram is expensive as hell right now.

 

 

 

Need more cores? 🙂

 

[Papusan]

I really hope Intel will fire all the smart assss engineers that wanted to get rid of SMT. They shold never ever be allowed to continue destroy the Intel brand anymore. As well fire all the overlords and bean counters at Intel corp that let this happens. 

 

Future Intel CPUs to Feature SMT Again: Hyper‑Threading Returns

 

In data center, we are focused on regaining share as we ramp Granite Rapids while also improving our capabilities for hyperscale workloads. To support this, we are reintroducing simultaneous multi-threading (SMT). Moving away from SMT put us at a competitive disadvantage. Bringing it back will help us close performance gaps. We are also making good progress in our search for a permanent leader of our data center business, and I plan to share more on that this quarter. Across client and data center, I've directed our teams to define next-generation product families with clean and simple architectures, better cost structures and simplified SKU stacks. In addition, I have instituted a policy where every major chip design is reviewed and approved by me before tape-out. This discipline will improve our execution and reduce development costs.

 

In client, Panther Lake is our top priority as it will reinforce our strength in notebooks across consumer and enterprise. We also must drive continued progress on Nova Lake to close gaps in the high-end desktop space.

 

 

What will be left after the massacre?

Intel Considering Spinning Off its Network and Edge Group

According to a report over at CRN, Intel is looking at spinning off its Network and Edge Group—also known as NEX—and is now looking for investors to take over the business unit. This is according to an internal memo that CRN has been privy to, and it was sent out by the Network and Edge Group lead, Sachin Katti, who has recently been promoted to Chief Technology and AI Officer at Intel. For those not familiar with the Network and Edge Group at Intel, this is the division that makes Intel's Ethernet chips and communications products, as technically it's no longer doing edge computing, since that business was merged with its Client Computing Group in September 2024.

 

On 7/25/2025 at 1:40 AM, Papusan said:

Yup, China laugh of the US Administration and Government. And Jensen Huang know very well where their chips going... But should Jensen bother when he know how stupid and useless the US leaders are? Stupid has to be this weekends word.

 

Anyone trust Nvidia's CEO Jensen who frequently visit China and talk with their partners...

 

TL;DR: A Financial Times investigation reveals over $1 billion worth of banned NVIDIA AI GPUs were smuggled into China during early US export restrictions, with Chinese distributors marketing high-priced, plug-and-play GPU racks. NVIDIA denies involvement, while recent US approvals may reduce black market GPU sales.
 

LOL. Nvidia knows very wll where most of their expensive server chips will lands. Of course they will deny it. It would be stupid not to do. So stupid isn't Jensen Huang. Not as stupid as some of the leading politicians at US government adm.

 

$1 billion NVIDIA AI GPU black market smuggling ring unveiled by investigation

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

1 hour ago, Papusan said:

I really hope Intel will fire all the smart assss engineers that wanted to get rid of SMT. They shold never ever be allowed to continue destroy the Intel brand anymore. As well fire all the overlords and bean counters at Intel corp that let this happens. 

 

Future Intel CPUs to Feature SMT Again: Hyper‑Threading Returns

 

In data center, we are focused on regaining share as we ramp Granite Rapids while also improving our capabilities for hyperscale workloads. To support this, we are reintroducing simultaneous multi-threading (SMT). Moving away from SMT put us at a competitive disadvantage. Bringing it back will help us close performance gaps. We are also making good progress in our search for a permanent leader of our data center business, and I plan to share more on that this quarter. Across client and data center, I've directed our teams to define next-generation product families with clean and simple architectures, better cost structures and simplified SKU stacks. In addition, I have instituted a policy where every major chip design is reviewed and approved by me before tape-out. This discipline will improve our execution and reduce development costs.

 

In client, Panther Lake is our top priority as it will reinforce our strength in notebooks across consumer and enterprise. We also must drive continued progress on Nova Lake to close gaps in the high-end desktop space.

 

 

Anyone trust Nvidia's CEO Jensen who frequently visit China and talk with their partners...

 

TL;DR: A Financial Times investigation reveals over $1 billion worth of banned NVIDIA AI GPUs were smuggled into China during early US export restrictions, with Chinese distributors marketing high-priced, plug-and-play GPU racks. NVIDIA denies involvement, while recent US approvals may reduce black market GPU sales.
 

LOL. Nvidia knows very wll where most of their expensive server chips will lands. Of course they will deny it. It would be stupid not to do. So stupid isn't Jensen Huang. Not as stupid as some of the leading politicians at US government adm.

 

$1 billion NVIDIA AI GPU black market smuggling ring unveiled by investigation

 

 

Good news on the Intel front. I agree the idiots responsible for removing hyper-threading should be fired.

 

NVIDIA should pay a fine of $100,000 USD for every GPU that was smuggled into China and the smugglers should be tracked down and terminated. Jensen needs to decide between being a US citizen or a Chinese citizen and his travel outside of the US should be banned if he chooses being a US citizen. He cannot be trusted.

[Papusan]

43 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

Good news on the Intel front. I agree the idiots responsible for removing hyper-threading should be fired.

 

Intel talk about the changes will come into 2028-2029. I mean that's all too late. AMD have already reached 50% market shares for server chips and for desktop consumer chips (clients/DIY) Intel  even struggle more. Intel have no more time to lose. We'lll see.   

 

43 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

NVIDIA should pay a fine of $100,000 USD for every GPU that was smuggled into China and the smugglers should be tracked down and terminated. Jensen needs to decide between being a US citizen or a Chinese citizen and his travel outside of the US should be banned if he chooses being a US citizen. He cannot be trusted.

 

Yep. But this won't happens before we get rid of corrupt/gready/stupid politicians. Jensen will never be an real US citizen. He know his roots. And he knows that Asia is where the profits are. 1/3 of the chips market is there. Very rare you can change greed and your roots.

 

I see it clerarly here at home. Once you see the opportunity to move, you do it (our newer residents have no love for the country). But milk a bit before you move on. That's more the normal than not. It takes three or four generations to change something like that.

[electrosoft]

7 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Do any of the OC options modify D2D / NGU / SA Fabric? You might also try the Kingston Fury kit in the Alienware too, as it may let you turn on XMP which should do much better than any of the JEDEC CSODIMM kits.

 

Its a shame these new Area-51 laptops have all of the video outputs always wired to the dGPU, else I would be testing out one as well. Alienware should also add a "go dark" option in the BIOS too, so there would be a way to disable all of the RGB before AWCC loads or if one was dual booting into Linux. I would personally also probably take it all apart and remove the Element 31 hybrid paste, replacing it either with LM or PTM7950.

 

I am going to test out the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus as it (finally) has a vapor chamber, a third full sized fan and higher wattages this year.

 

I'll take a look later when I get a chance to really play with it hopefully sooner than later.

 

Not really sure it needs any type of repaste atm but we will see. For example, just recently had the chance to meaningfully put the Raider through the ringer from top to bottom with the new July BIOS and newest MSI Center to get the fans under better control but it may need a repaste/PTM because the CPU runs pretty toasty.

 

On the other hand, this Alienware is running ice cold in comparison. Even in full overdrive mode pulling as much as it wants, it caps out at ~170w, temps cap out at 68 and it scores 38368. Compare that to the Raider w/ a 285k out of the box needing some love. Overheating like crazy, pulling 200w+ and only scoring ~35k in R23. Could be cooling, TIM and a bit of silicon lottery at play on my end.

 

Timespy balanced with fans not even really reving up CPU topped out at 80 pulling ~102w and GPU topped out at 62c pulling 175w. Real test is when I settle in for an extended session of WoW and FO76 where I expect the Raider to beat it clearly in WoW and flat out trounce it in FO76 because of X3D and FO76 ideal combo is X3D + Nvidia.

 

I would need overheating/high temps to even want to repaste with the temps I'm getting. Running in balanced and gaming, I am just gobsmacked at how quiet it is even with the 5070ti pulling 175w. 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Good news on the Intel front. I agree the idiots responsible for removing hyper-threading should be fired.

 

NVIDIA should pay a fine of $100,000 USD for every GPU that was smuggled into China and the smugglers should be tracked down and terminated. Jensen needs to decide between being a US citizen or a Chinese citizen and his travel outside of the US should be banned if he chooses being a US citizen. He cannot be trusted.

 

1 hour ago, Papusan said:

 

Yep. But this won't happens before we get rid of corrupt/gready/stupid politicians. Jensen will never be an real US citizen. He know his roots. And he knows that Asia is where the profits are. 1/3 of the chips market is there. Very rare you can change greed and your roots.

 

I see it clerarly here at home. Once you see the opportunity to move, you do it (our newer residents have no love for the country). But milk a bit before you move on. That's more the normal than not. It takes three or four generations to change something like that.

 

Just seems odd that before recently meeting with trump, trump wanted to break up Nvidia, enforce pre-existing restrictions from the previous admin (which was an addition to his term one restrtictions) and add more down the line. But after the meeting? Singing his praises, lifted pre-existing H20 AI restrictions and is buddy buddy with him including at a recent AI summit....why is that?

 

So which is it right now in this scenario? Is Jensen the problem? trump the problem? both? Maybe a bit too much anti-china sentiment? It isn't logical or objective thinking to think you can just shut down a country economically with a blunt instrument like China which is massive.

 

Looking at Jensen's background, he barely spent any meaningful time in Taiwan before moving out of the country with his family as a child. I wouldn't attack him on his upbringing or origins, but corporate greed? That's fair game.

[Meaker]

On 7/22/2025 at 1:12 AM, Papusan said:

EVGA made good products but their repair fixes fail hard.... Many ways to cut cost after you bough the cards.

 

 

EVGA is no longer EVGA really, all the people and money that made it so are gone.