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

[Mr. Fox]

32 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

 

Well, at least it was (or will be) corrected. Holy moly I know that first glance had to be a, "WTF?!"

 

Zotac's at MSRP $1999.99 at the Zotac store.

 

Is your return window still open @Mr. Fox?

 

There must be a crazy glut of 5090s if TUFs and SOLIDs are dropping to $1999.99 and fully back at MSRP.

 

I expect more to follow sooner than later in pricing but $1999.99 is finally in line.

 

 

 

 

The entry-level Solid is $1999.99. The Solid OC is the same price at Zotac Store that I paid NewEgg already. So probably not going to return it. https://www.zotacstore.com/us/graphics-cards/geforce-rtx-50-series/geforce-rtxtm-5090 but I have until 9/6 before the window closes. Given that the price has not gone lower within my return window I wouldn't feel returning it is the right thing to do. I do not feel I was wronged in any way and I did not get a product that has any quality issues.

 

If the price of the GPU I purchased drops more than $50 during my return window I will contact NewEgg about either a return or in-store credit for the price difference like they did the last time this happened. I don't remember if it was the Arc A770 or 4090 Suprim that they gave me in-store credit for the difference in the form of a NewEgg gift card.

 

NewEgg also has the standard Solid model for the same price as Zotac store. https://www.newegg.com/zotac-solid-zt-b50900d-10p-geforce-rtx-5090-32gb-graphics-card-triple-fans/p/N82E16814500597 

 

Yeah, it was an instant WTF reaction, LOL. After I thought about it a few minutes and fired an email off to Aquatuning my logic kicked in and it seemed obvious that someone made a huge mistake. Even if a 100% tariff applied (and it does not) it would be less than half what they say is owed, which is like 260% of the purchase price, on top of the purchase price.

 

I am contacting UPS tomorrow morning. If what I am reading online is accurate there should be no duty or tariff on a purchase from an EU country if it is an online consumer retail purchase under $800 or $2500. (I see both numbers and do not know how to interpret the difference, but either way I may owe zero.) It looks like a tariff, if one even applies, would be 15% of the sale price, at most.

 

The second person I spoke to at  UPS confirmed that Aquatuning declared the correct $179.68 retail value on the customs forms.

[Chalybion]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

I am contacting UPS tomorrow morning. If what I am reading online is accurate there should be no duty or tariff on a purchase from an EU country if it is an online consumer retail purchase under $800 or $2500. (I see both numbers and do not know how to interpret the difference, but either way I may owe zero.) It looks like a tariff, if one even applies, would be 15% of the sale price, at most.

De minimis value is $800; any item valued under that should owe no import taxes or tariffs.  Of course, de minimis is supposed to go away 8/29 by 45's executive fiat.  After 8/29, the duty coming from the EU should be 15% (of course, that all could be changed at anytime).

 

I have heard of some shipments pre-emptively being charged tariffs ahead of the 8/29 deadline

[electrosoft]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

The entry-level Solid is $1999.99. The Solid OC is the same price at Zotac Store that I paid NewEgg already. So probably not going to return it. https://www.zotacstore.com/us/graphics-cards/geforce-rtx-50-series/geforce-rtxtm-5090 but I have until 9/6 before the window closes. Given that the price has not gone lower within my return window I wouldn't feel returning it is the right thing to do. I do not feel I was wronged in any way and I did not get a product that has any quality issues.

 

If the price of the GPU I purchased drops more than $50 during my return window I will contact NewEgg about either a return or in-store credit for the price difference like they did the last time this happened. I don't remember if it was the Arc A770 or 4090 Suprim that they gave me in-store credit for the difference in the form of a NewEgg gift card.

 

NewEgg also has the standard Solid model for the same price as Zotac store. https://www.newegg.com/zotac-solid-zt-b50900d-10p-geforce-rtx-5090-32gb-graphics-card-triple-fans/p/N82E16814500597 

 

Yeah, it was an instant WTF reaction, LOL. After I thought about it a few minutes and fired an email off to Aquatuning my logic kicked in and it seemed obvious that someone made a huge mistake. Even if a 100% tariff applied (and it does not) it would be less than half what they say is owed, which is like 260% of the purchase price, on top of the purchase price.

 

I am contacting UPS tomorrow morning. If what I am reading online is accurate there should be no duty or tariff on a purchase from an EU country if it is an online consumer retail purchase under $800 or $2500. (I see both numbers and do not know how to interpret the difference, but either way I may owe zero.) It looks like a tariff, if one even applies, would be 15% of the sale price, at most.

 

The second person I spoke to at  UPS confirmed that Aquatuning declared the correct $179.68 retail value on the customs forms.

 

You learn something everyday.....

 

I did not know Newegg would do an in store credit within the window if the price drops outside of their "price protection" pre Prime Day / Black Friday price protection (which is them basically saying this item is definitely going on sale).

 

I know Amazon just throws you the birds and says to return it.

 

---------------

 

Glad you were able to sort it all out and we can get that blocked up and ready to go. Luckily it's a good sample so that adds weight to wanting to hold onto it too.

 

----------------

 

@jaybee83 before I start to potentially vBIOS hop around again on the Vanguard, what vBIOS did you settle on for your Suprim as the "one to rule them all?"

 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

2 hours ago, Chalybion said:

De minimis value is $800; any item valued under that should owe no import taxes or tariffs.  Of course, de minimis is supposed to go away 8/29 by 45's executive fiat.  After 8/29, the duty coming from the EU should be 15% (of course, that all could be changed at anytime).

 

I have heard of some shipments pre-emptively being charged tariffs ahead of the 8/29 deadline

Thank you. After I talk to UPS about correcting the mistake tomorrow I will share what I learn, whether it was a simple mistake or something else. There is no way the amount they are stating can be accurate.

  

1 hour ago, electrosoft said:

You learn something everyday.....

 

I did not know Newegg would do an in store credit within the window if the price drops outside of their "price protection" pre Prime Day / Black Friday price protection (which is them basically saying this item is definitely going on sale).

 

I know Amazon just throws you the birds and says to return it.

When I asked for a return and explained why the customer service rep spoke to their supervisor about it and they offered that instead of a return/refund and I took it. The reason I requested a return was the price drop and explained I could buy an exact replacement (from them) cheaper, not product dissatisfaction or malfunction. I do not believe it is their policy to do that. I have found the people at NewEgg are usually accommodating when I am polite, kind and respectful to them on the phone and explain what my concerns are.

[jaybee83]

On 8/20/2025 at 6:27 AM, electrosoft said:

 

Yeah, the scalpers were all over those still trying to hold onto the last gasp of scalping.....

 

I hope they get caught with a metric ton of stock but alas the holidays are right around the corner and I expect prices to soar right back up.....

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Finished collecting some OC Deus Ex Mankind Divided runs.

 

I like Deux Ex and the Dawn Engine. DX12, no RT and can cap out the 5090 to 100 right from the jump to the end with all the eye candy and setting jacked to max (aka, every setting clicked/slid to the right)

 

Astral vs Ventus vs Vanguard.

 

 

 

 

these numbers are crazy. just goes to show that its all about SL these days, custom AIB cards are only worth it from a price stability and stock cooling / design perspective. very good call on the vanguard! +6% on avg fps is insane!

 

9 hours ago, electrosoft said:

 

You learn something everyday.....

 

I did not know Newegg would do an in store credit within the window if the price drops outside of their "price protection" pre Prime Day / Black Friday price protection (which is them basically saying this item is definitely going on sale).

 

I know Amazon just throws you the birds and says to return it.

 

---------------

 

Glad you were able to sort it all out and we can get that blocked up and ready to go. Luckily it's a good sample so that adds weight to wanting to hold onto it too.

 

----------------

 

@jaybee83 before I start to potentially vBIOS hop around again on the Vanguard, what vBIOS did you settle on for your Suprim as the "one to rule them all?"

 

 

 

 

haha in the end is was a neck on neck race between the GB Master and GB Master ICE vBioses. the ICE beat the regular Master in several instances but had 1-2 larger losses to the Master, but the Master was overall more balanced without any larger losses. in your case i would test those two in the apps ure most focused on (i.e. WoW 😉 )

 

naturally, i can only talk for the specific vbios versions i tried, i have no idea if this holds true across all Master vs. all Master ICE vbios versions available on TPU. if you want i can go back and check which specific versions i tested.

 

edit: kool, i had previously attached the exact vbioses i was testing, here you go: 

 

https://notebooktalk.net/topic/109-official-benchmark-thread-post-it-here-or-it-didnt-happen-d/?do=findComment&comment=58364&_rid=465

[jaybee83]

btw guys, Asus Matrix incoming with 2 power connectors (BTF + 12V-2x6). When both are connected, the vbios allows for up to 800W TDP, aint that interesting?

 

Romans video is unfortunately only available in german, but autogen subs are your friend 🙂 

 

oooor check out other sources, i.e.  https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-geforce-rtx-5090-rog-matrix-revealed-quad-fans-and-up-to-800w-support

 

 

[win32asmguy]

Just now, electrosoft said:

Hopefully you collected some fps data from your HEDT rig to collect some on the 12900ks rig to get a set of points to compare.

 

The Xeon was a tough chip to tune. In retrospect I think I purchased the wrong motherboard to go with it. I thought the W790-SAGE would be a good choice as it was 1DPC, but the CPU orientation did not help air cooling efficiency, disabled PCIe/M.2 with the W-2400 chip, and bios bugs. I think memory is more limited by mesh clocks for latency than pure timings. With XMP enabled I could see a difference of 15ns between 2.4ghz mesh (stock) at 3.0ghz mesh (max stable). I thought about picking up a Asrock W790 WS and see if it solves the issues I had with the SAGE.

 

Just now, electrosoft said:

I'd tune up the memory as tight as possible for a before and after comparison with 12900ks. Luckily Tazevesh is the new GPU slayer zone so it's easy to find spots (at least at 4k) to max out the 5090 on the regular at Ultra 10 RT High with no other players around to taint the data.

 

I should at least run XMP + tREFI 64k. Then see if I can go back and find a deep dive tuning guide to see what to do next. I will try the weekly boss out in K'aresh and see how it does. I also have e-cores disabled in the bios for simplicity.

 

Just now, electrosoft said:

Yeah, I pulled my 2TB and those Fury sticks from the MSI and put back in the original parts and gave it a proper clean install for the new owner.

 

It clearly was better than the Alienware (275hx + 5070ti), but the Alienware is quieter (understatement), better display and plays well enough and that is before I dive into tuning it up as much as possible. I also prefer the stock keyboard more than the Steel Series on the A18....oh and as always, it was free.

 

Alienware already has a clean install now as that stock install had too much crud. TS and SN went from good to excellent just from the clean install alone.

 

Ah, the MSI is moving on to its next owner. I had the same sentiment about its noise level.

 

Its a shame that at the end of the day an Alienware is still an Alienware. I was majorly turned off from the brand after the M18R1 that leaked their stupid Element 31 LM/hybrid compound past their thin barrier from the factory. Waited a month for that to arrive DOA. It did not help that it had rainbow RGB on bootup by default along with high pitched fan noise. I still have the order for the new Pro Max 18 Plus open. It will be interesting to test out if it ever arrives.

[electrosoft]

9 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

 

these numbers are crazy. just goes to show that its all about SL these days, custom AIB cards are only worth it from a price stability and stock cooling / design perspective. very good call on the vanguard! +6% on avg fps is insane!

 

 

haha in the end is was a neck on neck race between the GB Master and GB Master ICE vBioses. the ICE beat the regular Master in several instances but had 1-2 larger losses to the Master, but the Master was overall more balanced without any larger losses. in your case i would test those two in the apps ure most focused on (i.e. WoW 😉 )

 

naturally, i can only talk for the specific vbios versions i tried, i have no idea if this holds true across all Master vs. all Master ICE vbios versions available on TPU. if you want i can go back and check which specific versions i tested.

 

edit: kool, i had previously attached the exact vbioses i was testing, here you go: 

 

https://notebooktalk.net/topic/109-official-benchmark-thread-post-it-here-or-it-didnt-happen-d/?do=findComment&comment=58364&_rid=465

 

Yeah, this one has outpaced the other two cards by far (within the tight margins of 5090land where a "bad" 5090 is still a freakin 5090). 

 

Over on the OCN forums, motivman posted the gigachad vBIOS he is using to smash into the upper echelon with his Ventus 1.11v 5090 (noticing a trend here for top tier cards. They all seem to be >=1.10 vmax cards), but it is the waterforce vbios so a no go for us mere air cooled mortals. I attached it to this post for anyone blocking their card and can flash it.

 

I'll definitely test them in WoW (dunno if you know, but it's a game I dabble in 🤣) and Fallout 76, thanks! I remember you posting and yet again Gigabyte seems to be bringing the heat.

 

4 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

btw guys, Asus Matrix incoming with 2 power connectors (BTF + 12V-2x6). When both are connected, the vbios allows for up to 800W TDP, aint that interesting?

 

Romans video is unfortunately only available in german, but autogen subs are your friend 🙂 

 

oooor check out other sources, i.e.  https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-geforce-rtx-5090-rog-matrix-revealed-quad-fans-and-up-to-800w-support

 

 

 

Supposedly actually binned and limited to 1,000 cards. You also need a BTF motherboard for 800w. Wonder what these will command? I absolutely love the throwback look though. Only way I'm getting one of those is to luck up and win a contest!

1 hour ago, win32asmguy said:

 

The Xeon was a tough chip to tune. In retrospect I think I purchased the wrong motherboard to go with it. I thought the W790-SAGE would be a good choice as it was 1DPC, but the CPU orientation did not help air cooling efficiency, disabled PCIe/M.2 with the W-2400 chip, and bios bugs. I think memory is more limited by mesh clocks for latency than pure timings. With XMP enabled I could see a difference of 15ns between 2.4ghz mesh (stock) at 3.0ghz mesh (max stable). I thought about picking up a Asrock W790 WS and see if it solves the issues I had with the SAGE.

 

 

I should at least run XMP + tREFI 64k. Then see if I can go back and find a deep dive tuning guide to see what to do next. I will try the weekly boss out in K'aresh and see how it does. I also have e-cores disabled in the bios for simplicity.

 

 

Ah, the MSI is moving on to its next owner. I had the same sentiment about its noise level.

 

Its a shame that at the end of the day an Alienware is still an Alienware. I was majorly turned off from the brand after the M18R1 that leaked their stupid Element 31 LM/hybrid compound past their thin barrier from the factory. Waited a month for that to arrive DOA. It did not help that it had rainbow RGB on bootup by default along with high pitched fan noise. I still have the order for the new Pro Max 18 Plus open. It will be interesting to test out if it ever arrives.

 

Just a general tuning top to bottom on the DDR5. Your best bet if you want to take it to that level is get a decent set of 8000+ sticks and tune them down to cl26-30 or pick up a set already in that range. For WoW, turning off e-cores is a must not only for general performance but opens up more overclocking.

 

Yeah, the A18 was an absolute beast wrecking this 275HX+5070ti and I know most don't care about the fan noise but it was the ultimate nail in the coffin. Temps were really good across the board but those fans..... especially using the Alienware 2025 18 variant. Lights out temps, fantastic noise levels and even setting both to overdrive modes for max fans, the Alienware had not only better dB levels but better pitch. The Alienware defaults to solid teal now and the overhaul on the design is nice.

 

Hopefully the Pro Max 18 Plus (say that 10x in a row) also inherits some of the new design language. Looking forward to your review.

 

 

 

GigaChad.rom

[Mr. Fox]

On 8/20/2025 at 3:44 PM, Mr. Fox said:

It appear someone grossly miscalculated the import duty owed for the Alphacool CORE 5090 block. There is no way the amount UPS says I owe is accurate. Based on my understanding of the import duty from Germany it should be something less than $50, which is totally fine and I was expecting to pay something similar, but not anything remotely close to what they are stating. I am going to have to work this out before accepting delivery on Friday when scheduled. I have reached out to Aquatuning. 

 

Edit 1: I contacted UPS and the person I spoke with confirmed that it appears the import duty was incorrectly calculated based on the purchase value reported to US Customs by Aquatuning. They advised that only Aquatuning can correct the mistake and told me to have them contact UPS international at 800-782-7892 to get it corrected. The purchase price was $179.68. They must have had the decimal point in the wrong position when they filled out the customs forms.

 

Edit 2: I received a call back from someone else at UPS. They have the declaration documents from Aquatuning and the amount reported at $179.68 USD is correct. The person told me that it appears they made a mistake in calculating the duty and he provided a number for me to call tomorrow to speak to someone about correcting the errant duty calculation. (That department was closed for the day.) In case anyone needs it that number is 866-493-7140 option 5 between 8AM-5PM EST.

 

 

 

On 8/20/2025 at 9:42 PM, Mr. Fox said:

Thank you. After I talk to UPS about correcting the mistake tomorrow I will share what I learn, whether it was a simple mistake or something else. There is no way the amount they are stating can be accurate.

After speaking with multiple people at UPS I ended up with a person in their billing department who had a very heavy Indian acccent that assisted me. He confirmed the calculation was entirely inaccurate and told me to email the UPS customs department the tracking number for correction at AKNENYRVW @ UPS dot COM. Because of his accent I confirmed the address three times using phoentic verification for each character (A as in apple, B as in boy, etc.). He confiirmed the error was internal and told me the tariff should be 20% of the $179.68 purchase price according to their table, which makes the grand total about $10 less than if I had purchased it from a US reseller like Titan Rig or ModMyMods. I am totally fine with paying that, just need it resolved so I can accept delivery. It looks like the decimal point was placed in the wrong position and is one digit too far to the right. I am waiting for a response to the email he told me to send.

 

Edit 8/22: No response from the past email. Spoke to another person again this morning. Now I am given a similar email with a "T" added. AKNENTYRVW at UPS dot com.

[win32asmguy]

Just now, electrosoft said:

Just a general tuning top to bottom on the DDR5. Your best bet if you want to take it to that level is get a decent set of 8000+ sticks and tune them down to cl26-30 or pick up a set already in that range. For WoW, turning off e-cores is a must not only for general performance but opens up more overclocking.

 

Well I at least finally found the MSI bios setting for iGPU control, "Multi Monitor Support". I also found out that DDR5 on the consumer chips do not support gear1 (strangely the Xeon does support ddr5 gear1). Also set tREFI to 65k which dropped latency down to 57ns. IIRC you guys had your ddr5 tuned to sub-40ns on 14th gen so it has a way to go.. These sticks are actually Hynix M-die (4.D) according to HWInfo64. Kind of wish I had a Unify-X or other 1DPC board to work with here. I am guessing 8000 CL26-30 simply is not happening with a 12900KS either.

 

I like the fact that in the hardware busters video he did not just run around the starting zone in circles at 500fps and declared that WoW can run on any system maxed out.

[Papusan]

5 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

btw guys, Asus Matrix incoming with 2 power connectors (BTF + 12V-2x6). When both are connected, the vbios allows for up to 800W TDP, aint that interesting?

 

Romans video is unfortunately only available in german, but autogen subs are your friend 🙂 

 

oooor check out other sources, i.e.  https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-geforce-rtx-5090-rog-matrix-revealed-quad-fans-and-up-to-800w-support

 

 

 

At least 2 flaws here. If not 3 or 4. The proprietary second power connector and not nickelplated cold plate for Liquid metal. And what with the prices? $4000 or higher? Asus just can't sell this card below $4500... Or can they?

 

And what with an 2000w XOC vbios for everyone? Too much to ask for?

[jaybee83]

2 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

At least 2 flaws here. If not 3 or 4. The proprietary second power connector and not nickelplated cold plate for Liquid metal. And what with the prices? $4000 or higher? Asus just can't sell this card below $4500... Or can they?

 

And what with an 2000w XOC vbios for everyone? Too much to ask for?

 

the bare copper cold plate was mentioned by Roman, but he wasnt sure if this was also the way they did it in the production version, might have just been for demonstration purposes only / prototype stuff.

 

the rest for sure, amen to that 😄

 

and yes, too much to ask for, cuz then the "select few" dont have a big advantage anymore and everyone will bitch n moan about increased RMAs eating into their 2000+% profit margins 😄 

[Mr. Fox]

3 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

At least 2 flaws here. If not 3 or 4. The proprietary second power connector and not nickelplated cold plate for Liquid metal. And what with the prices? $4000 or higher? Asus just can't sell this card below $4500... Or can they?

 

And what with an XOC vbios for everyone? 

Yeah that proprietary connector ruins it as an option all by itself.  So does the requirement for a BTF motherboard and having a case that supports BTF motherboards. The idea of paying an absurd price for something with those kinds of strings attached is a non-starter for me. It would also be harder to sell when you no longer want or need it.

[electrosoft]

23 minutes ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Well I at least finally found the MSI bios setting for iGPU control, "Multi Monitor Support". I also found out that DDR5 on the consumer chips do not support gear1 (strangely the Xeon does support ddr5 gear1). Also set tREFI to 65k which dropped latency down to 57ns. IIRC you guys had your ddr5 tuned to sub-40ns on 14th gen so it has a way to go.. These sticks are actually Hynix M-die (4.D) according to HWInfo64. Kind of wish I had a Unify-X or other 1DPC board to work with here. I am guessing 8000 CL26-30 simply is not happening with a 12900KS either.

 

I like the fact that in the hardware busters video he did not just run around the starting zone in circles at 500fps and declared that WoW can run on any system maxed out.

 

I didn't know Xeon's allowed G1 DDR5. That is a nice feature to have.

 

Yeah, even the best 12th gens tapped out around low to mid 7000's. Every 12900k/ks I tested, the best I ever hit was ~7200.

 

If you pick up a pair of 8000+ sticks, they not only usually tune nicely in the 6000's but they also do not limit you in finding what is giving up the ghost, the MB or CPU.

 

@Mr. Fox recommended these 8400 sticks and I picked up a pair and they are really nice and cheap. They cost about $10 more than when I picked them up but still priced nicely.

 

These would make a great set of "dual role" sticks.

 

And that is my #1 pet peeve with some reviewers when they run around starting or old content zones and go, "wow! look! WOW runs on a tin can!" I always tell them at a minimum go take a quick flight through Ardenweald and watch those fps go away real quick. Now we just have to tell them to give Tazevesh a whirl and watch their performance tank on any meaningful settings.

 

 

[Papusan]

17 minutes ago, jaybee83 said:

 

the bare copper cold plate was mentioned by Roman, but he wasnt sure if this was also the way they did it in the production version, might have just been for demonstration purposes only / prototype stuff.

 

the rest for sure, amen to that 😄

 

and yes, too much to ask for, cuz then the "select few" dont have a big advantage anymore and everyone will bitch n moan about increased RMAs eating into their 2000+% profit margins 😄 

 

I don't trust Asus. 4090 Matrix also had bare copper cold plate.

 

16 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

Yeah that proprietary connector ruins it as an option all by itself.  So does the requirement for a BTF motherboard and having a case that supports BTF motherboards. The idea of paying an absurd price for something with those kinds of strings attached is a non-starter for me. It would also be harder to sell when you no longer want or need it.

 

Stupids. Only to upsell a new MB. Greedy bastards.

 

The card should have at least 1200w vbios. This due double connectors. If they dont trust the cooling capacity they could have it 800w as now but with an functional power slider up to 1200W.

 

The whole package is half baked.

[Mr. Fox]

25 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

I don't trust Asus. 4090 Matrix also had bare copper cold plate.

 

 

Stupids. Only to upsell a new MB. Greedy bastards.

 

The card should have at least 1200w vbios. This due double connectors. If they dont trust the cooling capacity they could have it 800w as now but with an functional power slider up to 1200W.

 

The whole package is half baked.

A$$zeus is the retarded god of customer-screwing scams and schemes.

[electrosoft]

Returned the Ventus today to MC and as others have reported, as soon  as I walked up to the return counter the sales associated said, "oh! that's a 5090, those have to be returned and checked at the service and repair counter."

 

Walked over to the S&R counter and after a small wait, service dude (real cool dude) asked why I was returning it. I explained the Vanguard situation and he was like, "I would have done the same. I did the same thing except with a 7900XT. 7900XTX open box popped up for $50 more and I returned the 7900XT for the 7900XTX" and then he said, "ok, just have to pop it in real quick to validate it's in working condition"

 

They have a few rigs set up just to test certain high cost returns to verify their status (Begs the question, what happens if I return it for not working / black screen?)

 

I also saw a few people bringing in their non working PCs to have them checked/repaired. One dude brought in a B450 + 2600x PC.....dude.....just get a new one.....

 

After that,  easy peasy.

 

Then the wife took the car and went to the ginormous TJ Maxx in the same complex and off to really look at everything commenced.

 

Much smaller and tightly packed than the Microcenter other Microcenter in MD.

 

Crazy small case selection. This was the biggest disappointment after seeing videos of the Tustin MC. I'm thinking of moving my components into a slightly smaller or better designed case that supports 3-4x 140mm fans top, bottom and front. I think they had maybe 3 ITX cases on display.

 

Tons of open box motherboards along with "MC refurbished" models.

 

Open box / clearance items everywhere.

 

They clearly have a wonderful relationship with der8auer and TG because I've never seen such a high concentration of his stuff anywhere like this in my life.

 

Awesome DIY robotics/raspberry area.

 

I had a chance to try out the Raider A18 285HX + 5090 laptop. I don't know if it is a combination of AMD chips boosting too much and/or a change in the fans on the newer version, but it was whisper quiet and when I ran a few benchmarks the fans didn't kick up anywhere near the older AMD Raider. 

 

While the Raider is now listed at $3699.99 online, it is $2999.99 in store and $2849.99 after Microcenter Credit Card discount.

 

Saw an open box EVGA 3080ti waterblocked edition in the case in generic wrapping still marked down to $469.99.

 

I've made the 70 min trip now three times in the last 8 days. I'm good for awhile. I scored the Vanguard for a good price and scoured the entire store to my hearts content and found nothing I wanted/needed with my current collection of hardware on my shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaybee83]

2 hours ago, electrosoft said:

I've made the 70 min trip now three times in the last 8 days. I'm good for awhile. I scored the Vanguard for a good price and scoured the entire store to my hearts content and found nothing I wanted/needed with my current collection of hardware on my shelves.

its a weird feeling, isnt it? being content with the hardware u currently own. almost feels numbing after the constant "itch" 😄 

 

soooo wife just caused a new itch cuz shes having wifi dropout issues with both her phone and work laptop at home. currently looking at upgrading our home network from wifi 5 to wifi 7, new router and m.2 adapters 🙂 

[Mr. Fox]

20 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

 

After speaking with multiple people at UPS I ended up with a person in their billing department who had a very heavy Indian acccent that assisted me. He confirmed the calculation was entirely inaccurate and told me to email the UPS customs department the tracking number for correction at AKNENYRVW @ UPS dot COM. Because of his accent I confirmed the address three times using phoentic verification for each character (A as in apple, B as in boy, etc.). He confiirmed the error was internal and told me the tariff should be 20% of the $179.68 purchase price according to their table, which makes the grand total about $10 less than if I had purchased it from a US reseller like Titan Rig or ModMyMods. I am totally fine with paying that, just need it resolved so I can accept delivery. It looks like the decimal point was placed in the wrong position and is one digit too far to the right. I am waiting for a response to the email he told me to send.

So, the block is loaded on the truck for delivery but the amount due has not been corrected. No response from the past email. Spoke to another person again this morning. Now I am given a similar email with a "T" added. AKNENTYRVW at UPS dot com. Everyone I can speak to identifies the error. Nobody I can speak to has the ability to correct their mistake. I forwarded the previous email to the new/different address given to me today. The billing department number for this issue is 866-493-7140 x5. You cannot escalate to a supervisor. Apparently nobody has a supervisor (yeah, right). I was told that if the driver arrives today and the amount has not been corrected to let the driver know that I am not rejecting the delivery but UPS cannot complete the delivery until they correct their mistake and ask the driver to bring it back when he has the correct amount due to collect on delivery.

---

The new owner of the 9070 XT is happy.

Quote

Fast, responsive and very friendly.
Product in really good condition and works amazingly, also packaged very well and shipped fast!

Gigabyte AORUS Radeon™ RX 9070 XT ELITE 16G [SOLD]

 Ringtext

 

[electrosoft]

10 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

its a weird feeling, isnt it? being content with the hardware u currently own. almost feels numbing after the constant "itch" 😄 

 

soooo wife just caused a new itch cuz shes having wifi dropout issues with both her phone and work laptop at home. currently looking at upgrading our home network from wifi 5 to wifi 7, new router and m.2 adapters 🙂 

 

Yeah it was odd. I scoured the entire store. Played with the Raider, soaked in tons of hardware and still  couldn't find anything of note. I have a pile of hardware here now to fully build out another AM5 PC. I might just build it out and sell it locally on TheBookOfFaces.

 

I just upgraded our wifi situation earlier last year so we're good to go for awhile but it is fun when a legit problem presents itself allowing you to go shop and install new tech. 🤣

 

2 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

So, the block is loaded on the truck for delivery but the amount due has not been corrected. No response from the past email. Spoke to another person again this morning. Now I am given a similar email with a "T" added. AKNENTYRVW at UPS dot com. Everyone I can speak to identifies the error. Nobody I can speak to has the ability to correct their mistake. I forwarded the previous email to the new/different address given to me today. The billing department number for this issue is 866-493-7140 x5. You cannot escalate to a supervisor. Apparently nobody has a supervisor (yeah, right). I was told that if the driver arrives today and the amount has not been corrected to let the driver know that I am not rejecting the delivery but UPS cannot complete the delivery until they correct their mistake and ask the driver to bring it back when he has the correct amount due to collect on delivery.

---

The new owner of the 9070 XT is happy.

 

 

That is crazy they can't fix the simple error they can all readily identify.....

 

And that 9070xt elite is a banger of a card especially with the upgraded cooling.

 

Now if only UPS could get their act together so we can get that 5090 shunted and blocked.....

 

 

[electrosoft]

KPx still bringing the high heat overall.... (at least in this large batch of thermal pastes)

 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

23 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

That is crazy they can't fix the simple error they can all readily identify.....

I suspect part of the issue is everyone I speak to has a heavy accent suggesting they are offshored contractors in India or the Philippines. Good chance they are merely call center grunts.

 

Maybe as more pressing matters get resolved the Trump Administration can implement something to discourage or make it unaffordable for American companies to use foreign entities to service American consumers. I would love never having to speak to a foreigner that doesn't work for a company that I need help from. A high percentage of the time they are utterly worthless and cause more frustration than satisfaction. Because they are not employees of the companies they represent they often have no skin in the game and don't genuinely care about the customers looking for help.

[Papusan]

 

Hmmm. Not enough dies doesn't look good for pricing the next months. Do they really sell that much of this custom card? All depends on how China will accept the 5090Dv2. Or if Nvidia can sell a lot of 6000 Pro.

 

Noctua says Nvidia doesn't have enough dies to make big, brown, RTX 5090 — RTX 5090 Noctua Edition may never see the light of day

[electrosoft]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

I suspect part of the issue is everyone I speak to has a heavy accent suggesting they are offshored contractors in India or the Philippines. Good chance they are merely call center grunts.

 

Maybe as more pressing matters get resolved the Trump Administration can implement something to discourage or make it unaffordable for American companies to use foreign entities to service American consumers. I would love never having to speak to a foreigner that doesn't work for a company that I need help from. A high percentage of the time they are utterly worthless and cause more frustration than satisfaction. Because they are not employees of the companies they represent they often have no skin in the game and don't genuinely care about the customers looking for help.

 

It comes down to offshoring everything in pursuit of the all mighty dollar. At a certain point, unchecked capitalism is a problem from proper corporate and top percent earners taxation on down to outsourcing anything and everything to maximize profitability.

 

3 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

Hmmm. Not enough dies doesn't look good for pricing the next months. Do they really sell that much of this custom card?

 

Noctua says Nvidia doesn't have enough dies to make big, brown, RTX 5090 — RTX 5090 Noctua Edition may never see the light of day

 

Something isn't adding up here.....

 

Glut of cards, Nvidia ordered AIBs to lower prices to move product yet not enough to make a Noctua edition?

 

Most logical answer is Asus has numerous 5090 models in the fryer atm and the natural flow of GB202 dies is nowhere near on the level of 5080 dies.

 

*IF* Nvidia slowed production of GB202 dies for 5090s, that would be the only other reason. I do think that certain resellers have been keeping prices inflated and holding back on stock to maximize sales but it has now reached a point of overstock so they need to pare that down sooner vs later.

 

You can only give the illusion of scarcity so long before your warehouses are full to the brim and you have to move that product.

 

Even 5080s are not moving like they were and prices are coming down quick closer to MSRP.

 

What I have seen is that as soon as 5090s get close to $1999.99 they sell out fairly quick so that is the next tier of customer (like myself) that will only pay at or near MSRP pricing.  You also have that tier that once prices slid under $2500, that made it viable too.

 

But I will reiterate if you're going to buy a 5090, September will most likely be your last target window. I do expect prices to creep back up for the holidays and as production slows for the Super variants early next year too. I wouldn't be surprised if Nvidia ceases normal chip production in the next month or so to switch over for ramping up for the Supers and over the holiday season into January stock will dry up of the normal cards.

 

 

 

 

[jaybee83]

1 hour ago, electrosoft said:

KPx still bringing the high heat overall.... (at least in this large batch of thermal pastes)

 

 

 

 

hmmm lots of more current pastes missing here, i.e. NT-H2, Kryonaut Extreme, Duronaut, etc...

 

20 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

Hmmm. Not enough dies doesn't look good for pricing the next months. Do they really sell that much of this custom card?

 

Noctua says Nvidia doesn't have enough dies to make big, brown, RTX 5090 — RTX 5090 Noctua Edition may never see the light of day

 

i call BS LOL 😄