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

[Reciever]

I've been riding on AM4 for what feels like forever lol, my replacement board finally got in, they were nice enough to update the bios to something somewhat recent so the 2200g I bought just to update the bios was a waste of 20 USD lol oh well

 

tried to do the pcie splitter but with it my system didnt want to post, even after testing the GPU's individually but no dice, perhaps i need more research on that end of things, for now, i'll just enjoy my games. I'll need to get another PSU if I go that route long term, got fed up tearing down the system this weekend and just went and used the EVGA 1300w. If I plan to use the 7900 XTX and 3090Ti side by side ill need more VGA hookups anyways.

I'll look forward to when ever the next release cycle comes along, either I get something new or I get something new to me :) Be sure to keep me in mind all when ever you decide to pull triggers!

Also @Mr. Fox congrats on acquiring new employment! I was never in doubt, but its a relief none the less! 

[Mr. Fox]

2 hours ago, Reciever said:

Also @Mr. Fox congrats on acquiring new employment! I was never in doubt, but its a relief none the less! 

Thank you. Yes, it is definitely a relief. 

 

As a side note, I am more excited about this new role than any I can remember before. It is a newly created position in a new department. The job description reads like it was written for me by someone that knows me well. It will allow me to lean into my strengths and skillset. This will be the first time in around 25 years that I will not be responsible for the performance of other employees, hiring, disciplinary actions and terminations. Data analytics has been a big part of what I have been responsible for in terms of people performance evaluation for 2.5 decades and that will be the bulk of my daily grind, but from the perspective of evaluating process and program performance rather than execution (or the failure to execute) by individuals.

 

Apart from the previous 6.25 years working for a small business, the previous 32+ years I have worked for huge fortune 500 corporations with many thousands of employees. I am also looking forward to going back to that again. The small business experience was wonderful until it wasn't.

 

And, another plus is that I can continue working remotely. I haven't worked from a corporate office location since 2000. I have been a remote employee ever since, before the term "remote" was even invented. Most of the jobs I applied for would have required working on-site daily or hybrid with with only 1 or 2 days a week remote. I'm so glad I don't have to waste time behind a windshield going to/from work and battling traffic every day.

[Mr. Fox]

I am using the new 9961 beta BIOS on the Apex and it seems OK so far. So, I may test 2101 on the Strix. AGESA 1.3.0.0 sucked for me on the Apex and the Strix, but 1.3.0.0a may have corrected the bugs that I had with 1.3.0.0 AGESA.

Nah, I was wrong. AGESA 1.3.0.0a is still garbage. I still have random freezes at idle and light load from excessive vdroop using this AGESA that I don't have with older versions. 

 

[jaybee83]

On 2/13/2026 at 5:22 AM, electrosoft said:

 

What is the alternative for competitive play to make sure you can watch every level of the hardware? Each time game companies up their watchdog/guardian programs, hackers and mod makers figure out a way around it. It has been escalating till the final solution is to monitor every nuance of the hardware as the final solution and now mod makers and cheaters have met their match. The only way around this, and it has been attempted, is post level compromised systems that can get in there to subvert the tpm / secure boot mechanism.

 

On the other hand, making two distinct forks could and should be the way to go with one targeting single player mode but even then that has to be worth the effort for the game makers as again the real money is made from multiplayer and long term sustainability and monetization. If there was a financially large enough compelling reason to offer a single player version of the game devoid of big brother being knee deep, they would do it but I suspect that single player only audience is very small.

 

Surfing various gaming forums and reddits, there is low to no outrage to this because it restores the integrity of the game not because they're sheeple lol.

 

As a player, I would definitely set up two individual installs of Windows which I've done in the past for other reasons with one targeting game play only and the other for personal use. I'm with you. I don't want a game company having access to every level of my hardware.

 

 

Good unboxing and nice overview....

 

Couldn't use OLED due to heat, but I don't like the USB display interface but that's just me.

 

Thing runs so cool including the memory, wicked....

 

You can sign into your MSI account RIGHT NOW!!111 and enter the raffle for the right to spend ~$5500 after taxes to get 3-10% more performance over your existing 5090 while sucking down insane power.....

 

 

 

speaking of, any indications that the lightning vbios has leaked yet? 😛 

 

23 hours ago, Rage Set said:

Nova Lake is looking like the return of Intel, but it is going to cost. A Z990 mobo is going to be expensive. Stepping down to  Z970 and you are losing a lot of PCIe lanes - BCLK OC'ing. If the rumors of the top NL chips costing over 1000 are true, we are back in the days of HEDT - but only two memory channels. Lastly, still no ECC memory support unless you go W980. 

 

I am not sure whether it is going to be AMD or Intel that offers the first mainstream platform with quad channel memory support, but it needs to happen. 

 

im guessing they dont have any reason to upgrade to quad channel anytime soon, what with DDR5 (and likely also 6) doubling the amount of internal "channels" with each new gen.

 

btw, resolved the bad paste job, turned out that the Thermal Grizzly AM5 High Performance Heatspreader was the culprit, or rather its missing z height vs the stock heatspreader. the Arctic LF3 coolplate doesnt make proper contact with it, even though im using the TG shortened offset mounting kit. ive tried twice now with crappy results. so its back to the regular AM5 retention mechanism incl the stock heatspreader, but at least now i got a nice clean delid with TG conductonaut extreme on it. done with disassembling my hardware for now, back to RAM tuning! 😄 

 

on another note: received and email from TG, seems like a new firmware update is out for the WV Pro II, including first official version of the accompanying software, nice 🙂 

[electrosoft]

10 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

 

speaking of, any indications that the lightning vbios has leaked yet? 😛 

 

 

im guessing they dont have any reason to upgrade to quad channel anytime soon, what with DDR5 (and likely also 6) doubling the amount of internal "channels" with each new gen.

 

btw, resolved the bad paste job, turned out that the Thermal Grizzly AM5 High Performance Heatspreader was the culprit, or rather its missing z height vs the stock heatspreader. the Arctic LF3 coolplate doesnt make proper contact with it, even though im using the TG shortened offset mounting kit. ive tried twice now with crappy results. so its back to the regular AM5 retention mechanism incl the stock heatspreader, but at least now i got a nice clean delid with TG conductonaut extreme on it. done with disassembling my hardware for now, back to RAM tuning! 😄 

 

on another note: received and email from TG, seems like a new firmware update is out for the WV Pro II, including first official version of the accompanying software, nice 🙂 

 

800w variant has leaked on the OCN forums but go ham with the 2500w variant:

 

https://www.overclock.net/posts/29561175/

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281792/281792

 

I am using a third party contact frame on my AM5 platform and had no problems but I am using an Arctic LF2 which I still prefer over the LF3. I picked up a LF3 for the wife's 14900KS system and it runs a tad better than her ancient EVGA 280mm did but louder with the 120mm fans vs the 140mm fans on the 280mm. I'm not super impressed with it.

 

I picked up a Lian Li GA II Elite 360 which is supposedly the new king on the block....I'll get around to testing it when able. Still mired down in setups, clean installs and boxing up stuff from the great hardware selloff purge of 2026.

 

 

 

 

[Papusan]

3 hours ago, electrosoft said:

800w variant has leaked on the OCN forums but go ham with the 2500w variant:

 

https://www.overclock.net/posts/29561175/

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281792/281792

 

I am using a third party contact frame on my AM5 platform and had no problems but I am using an Arctic LF2 which I still prefer over the LF3. I picked up a LF3 for the wife's 14900KS system and it runs a tad better than her ancient EVGA 280mm did but louder with the 120mm fans vs the 140mm fans on the 280mm. I'm not super impressed with it.

 

Not sure if the leaked 2500W vbios is the one to get. I mean I have seen there is a newer 2500W XOC that is more safe to use. The default voltage is all too high. More like 1.2v (there is several variants of the XOC vbios floating).

 

[electrosoft]

13 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

Not sure if the leaked 2500W vbios is  the one to get.I mean I have seen there is a newer 2500W XOC that is more safe to use. The default voltage is all too high. More like 1.2v (there is several variants of the XOC vbios floating).

 

 

I agree, the 2500w like the 2001w and other LN2 geared enthusiast vBIOSes are not the D2D way to go....

 

I still think when all is said and done the Matrix 800w is going to be the sweet spot for everybody outside of LN2 extremists based on some testing I've done so far, but we'll see.

 

 

[Papusan]

40 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

 

I agree, the 2500w like the 2001w and other LN2 geared enthusiast vBIOSes are not the D2D way to go....

 

I still think when all is said and done the Matrix 800w is going to be the sweet spot for everybody outside of LN2 extremists based on some testing I've done so far, but we'll see.

 

 

 

The main problem with the (wrong) 2500w XOC version is the default voltage of 1.2v. If you forget to use the curve and reduce voltage you are at risk kill the card in longer benchmarks. Not as much with the 2001W XOC that default to 1.150

 

And where to get the MSI XOC tool the chosen ones got for the Lightning? Not sure that one is leaked. 

 

+50mv is huge when already high 1.150 is at the border for custom cooling with +1000W power limits. I remember using the Galax XOC vbios I have for the 4090 HOF. Pump in +50mv with the Galax tool above default max voltage can kill the card without proper cooling (preferably chiller with sub zero temp).

 

 

[electrosoft]

1 hour ago, Papusan said:

 

The main problem with the (wrong) 2500w XOC version is the default voltage of 1.2v. If you forget to use the curve and reduce voltage you are at risk kill the card in longer benchmarks. Not as much with the 2001W XOC that default to 1.150

 

And where to get the MSI XOC tool the chosen ones got for the Lightning? Not sure that one is leaked. 

 

+50mv is huge when already high 1.150 is at the border for custom cooling with +1000W power limits. I remember using the Galax XOC vbios I have for the 4090 HOF. Pump in +50mv with the Galax tool above default max voltage can kill the card without proper cooling (preferably chiller with sub zero temp).

 

 

 

I still wouldn't run the 2001w XOC as a D2D vs the Matrix vBIOS. I guess if you don't really have a choice unless you want to whip out a soldering iron to get it working with the Matrix, you use what you can use but for normal cooling, it is the Matrix 800w for me or potentially the 1000w Lightning.

 

 

[Papusan]

 

Yep. How many reviewers/techtubers/influencers got paid from MSI ?🤔 And if they got paid... Will they tell it? And MSI's new web based software is a huge mess. 

 

 

Imagine 5090 only could beat two gen old cards (3090) with 35-39%. It would  be called a failure!

 

[jaybee83]

8 hours ago, electrosoft said:

 

I still wouldn't run the 2001w XOC as a D2D vs the Matrix vBIOS. I guess if you don't really have a choice unless you want to whip out a soldering iron to get it working with the Matrix, you use what you can use but for normal cooling, it is the Matrix 800w for me or potentially the 1000w Lightning.

 

yep my thoughts currently. id be highly interested to check out the 1kw lightning vbios, but i wager that hasnt been dropped yet? ill do my rounds over at TPU 😛 

 

ok kool both the 800 and 1000W lightning versions have been dropped:

 

800W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281640/281640

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281693/281693

 

1000W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281649/281649

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281650/281650

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281692/281692

 

2500W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281792/281792

[electrosoft]

11 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

 

yep my thoughts currently. id be highly interested to check out the 1kw lightning vbios, but i wager that hasnt been dropped yet? ill do my rounds over at TPU 😛 

 

ok kool both the 800 and 1000W lightning versions have been dropped:

 

800W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281640/281640

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281693/281693

 

1000W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281649/281649

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281650/281650

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281692/281692

 

2500W

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/281792/281792

 

Now we're talkin!

 

@Papusan Do any of the Lightning vBIOS files work on the Asus 5090 Astral AIO?

 

 

[Papusan]

7 hours ago, electrosoft said:

 

Now we're talkin!

 

@Papusan Do any of the Lightning vBIOS files work on the Asus 5090 Astral AIO?

 

 

 

I think it will work fine but the vbios screw up the fans. It seems nothing is meant to work properly with Asus cards. I mean have seen the AIO owners say only the single fan for the VRM on the GPU  works but not for the fans for the radiator. Can probably swap out the org fans with some that I can connect to a fan controller/MB. The fans for the radiator coming with the Asus AIO cards doesn't have a "normal" fan connector or connected with cables. And not sure the fan for the VRM will work correctly anyhow. Everything proprietary mounted. Exactly as good old Dell. Our old friend F. Azor would  be proud of Asus and todays modern way to make tech.

With a custom block it will work just fine but that will be another $500-700 with needed parts. And +2 months lead time. Nothing to find for needed parts here home.

 

Jufus want you to pay for the repair, LOL

 

He blame the game for this, LOL

 

Double power connectors can save your day -  MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z “solder joint gate”

 

 

 

[Reciever]

On 2/15/2026 at 11:46 PM, Mr. Fox said:

Thank you. Yes, it is definitely a relief. 

 

As a side note, I am more excited about this new role than any I can remember before. It is a newly created position in a new department. The job description reads like it was written for me by someone that knows me well. It will allow me to lean into my strengths and skillset. This will be the first time in around 25 years that I will not be responsible for the performance of other employees, hiring, disciplinary actions and terminations. Data analytics has been a big part of what I have been responsible for in terms of people performance evaluation for 2.5 decades and that will be the bulk of my daily grind, but from the perspective of evaluating process and program performance rather than execution (or the failure to execute) by individuals.

 

Apart from the previous 6.25 years working for a small business, the previous 32+ years I have worked for huge fortune 500 corporations with many thousands of employees. I am also looking forward to going back to that again. The small business experience was wonderful until it wasn't.

 

And, another plus is that I can continue working remotely. I haven't worked from a corporate office location since 2000. I have been a remote employee ever since, before the term "remote" was even invented. Most of the jobs I applied for would have required working on-site daily or hybrid with with only 1 or 2 days a week remote. I'm so glad I don't have to waste time behind a windshield going to/from work and battling traffic every day.

Sadly the nature ofy work requires I sit behind the windshield but at the very least for now I do second shift so my commute is close to 20 minutes. 

 

Would be nice if I could get 7pm departure though so I could socialize but for now income is good and it appears they want to steer me towards engineer route which I do like the sound of :) 

[jaybee83]

12 hours ago, electrosoft said:

 

Now we're talkin!

 

@Papusan Do any of the Lightning vBIOS files work on the Asus 5090 Astral AIO?

 

 

now were talking indeed! DDR5-7600 CL32 stable baby! usually id get CL38+, finally a good mount 😄 maybe the delid helped here too 😛 timing tuning ongoing...

[electrosoft]

Finally got around to the ole switcheroo for some FO76 and WoW testing....

 

 

Welp, my 265k adventures have come to an end for potential on my main rig methinks.

9800X3D is just too beastly in Fallout 76

9070xt is just too weak on top of that but that was to be expected against a card that costs 3-6x more and is really a 5070ti/5080 contender depending on games played.

 

Good news is for WoW at 4k? 265k tuned is a legit contender. It also was holding its own in Hogwarts too. For raids, I found it had almost that same smoothness and control of the lows like the SP109 14900KS in the wife's system. If all I played was WoW, I'd recommend a nice, tuned, cheap 265k on the cheapest board you could find. Problem of course is securing 8000+ DDR5 in the current market.

 

Unfortunately I play equal parts Fallout76 and WoW both at 4k these days as my two main games and have for the last 3+ years and the X3D just massacres All of Intel's offerings in that game as it always has since I started testing with the 7800X3D several years ago vs the 12900k, 13900KS and eventually the 14900KS.

 

I did manage to eeek out a little bit more performance on the Strix and 8600 tuned vs 8000 tuned with the better 265k being able to tune up quite nicely but it still couldn't hang but that's about right considering it couldn't hang even with the 14900k still churning along at 59/45/50 atm.

 

Red Devil 9070xt was clocking over 3300 at stock in Fallout76. Much better than my Gigabyte 9070xt in the wife's system.

 

265k vs 9800X3D with MSI Vanguard 5090:

 

 

9070xt vs 5090 on 9800X3D:

 

 

9070xt vs 5090 on 265k:

 

 

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

 

Up next is a break down and cleaning of my main rig and install the MSI AI1600T PSU along with the WV2Pro and DDR5 cooling mod.

 

I plan on holding onto my Vengeance 9200 sticks in anticipation for Nova.....