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

[win32asmguy]

On 7/30/2026 at 10:52 AM, electrosoft said:

Yeah that initial VSOC out the door to get it stable baseline was the initial red flag to me but even locking it  down at 6000 makes it viable for D2D use but is a kick in the pills. I would be curious to see why it was an open box return and wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. We can't be the only tech enthusiasts who immediately enable the enhanced BIOS and go to town on it. 🙂

 

Funny thing is I never even considered them but I've used them in the past to get various hard to find CPUs and motherboards.

 

Did the upgrade to LM from PTM yield meaningful results or was the cooling system a limitation? I could see LM at least helping with idle ramp ups and low load fan noise though.

 

I am like you and prefer my laptops at QHD so hopefully a display swap is a possibility. That is really odd with the quality level tamped down to a 1 it still has an odd bit of lag even frame locked to ~119fps in GFE/NVCPL?

 

Actually nothing I have tried so far has made it stable under a stress test at 6000 or higher. VSOC up to 1.2v, VDDIO/VDD/VDDQ up to 1.3v, UCLK+FCLK at 1500, multiple memory kits (both 2x16GB Hynix A-die). FCLK is stable at 2000 with VSOC at 1.1v. If I drop to 5800 stress tests are stable. Too bad its BGA or I would be hunting down a replacement chip. Unless I am missing an important voltage that is not being configured correctly automatically by the bios. Its really odd that I can boot at 7600 but 6000 is not stable.

 

I do not think LM helps performance unless it had a bad PTM paste job, because the CPU is limited to 145W solo or up to 85W in combined loads. Fan noise could be improved though for sure.

 

Regarding the screen swap I found a complete used display assembly from a Vector A18 with the 240hz QHD 1600p IPS panel which is perfect. Even better it has no lid logo RGB so that is one thing that will no longer be reset to a rainbow effect depending on how Steelseries software is feeling that day. The whole unit used was only $185 including tax so not a bad deal at all and very easy to swap the UHD assembly back if the laptop needs to go in for a warranty repair.

[electrosoft]

On 7/30/2026 at 11:37 PM, Mr. Fox said:

Brand new clear tubing looks fantastic. The problem is it doesn't stay looking brand new. EPDM is definitely the way to go. I think brand new clear tubing looks nicer but EPDM looks good and looks exactly the same whether it is new or old and I think it is considerably more durable. Plasticizers and degradation are a non-issue.

 

I can tell you right now the silicon sample on the core side of things is better than my 4585PX and 9950X. The cores need less voltage for a manual overclock at any given core ratio. The memory controller is weaker than both of them. It requires looser timings to run 8000. Cinebench scores are lower and some things actually feel like they are slower at equivalent clock speeds. There is a small latency penalty with 3D v-cached CPUs and I think these flaws are all inherent to 3D v-cached Ryzen CPUs. I haven't done any gaming with it yet but I think I'm going to find that I gained nothing and probably lost a little ground in terms of overclocking capabilities. As far 9950X3D2 samples are concerned, I think this one is probably better than average.

 

I may find my opinion will change after I spend more time with it and find out what it likes and what it doesn't. I may not be doing what it likes yet. I absolutely do not like the 200 MHz lower PBO boost clock but if I can get the thing to do a substantially better manual overclock I might forgive that because I don't really like PBO anyway.

 

I have already decided that the Core Ultra 270K Plus is better than anything AMD has for sale. It performs better than anything AMD sells right now and costs substantially less than AMD's closest equivalent product.

 

I had to loosen tCL, tRCDWR/RD, tRP, tRAS and tRC to get it stable at 8000. It might do better with GDM enabled, but I don't really want to do that if I can help it.

 

 

Definitely, the more I research, the more I am settled on EPDM. I need to locate that pump res combo you recommended I picked up for a good deal from PPC and res and fittings. I finally locked down on a new shelf to hold a large swath of my parts and boxes as the other room is full. Wife is giving me funny looks now..... 🤣

 

I like that you've tested each variant now with no X3D, 1xCCD X3D, 2xCCD X3D to see the progression (or regression) in regards to overclocking capability with X3D and peak stock clocks coming into play.

 

I came to the same conclusion, outside of X3D beneficial games, that the 270k is actually one of my favorite CPUs on every level. Unfortunately for me, as always, Fallout 76 disproportionately loves X3D cache....scarily so even at 4k. I've tested and retested extensively the last 3 years and that massive chasm remains across the 14900k and 270k. 

 

Do you think the IMC on the 9950X3D2 you have is weaker than your other chips?

 

17 hours ago, tps3443 said:

Yeah my Astral wasn’t even that great of a deal either lol. At the time they were brand new for $4,329.99 + tax and they had a single open box for like $3,779 or $3,889 + tax in the Best Buy store, I’m forgetting exactly how much it was. 
 

The box was kind of ripped a little, coil whine is not as quiet as my 5090 FE was (That one had a tiny bit, but you had to like put your ear against it to hear it, 1.2KW per limit certainly amplified it just a little bit) But the quietest GPU I ever owned was probably the 5080 Astral OC, it did not make any sound under load, even with your ear right against it lol. The 5090 Astral isn’t bad at all though but it makes a deep buzz if you lean in and try to listen to it. You won’t hear it in a closed case or anything though. Not a squeal or anything annoying at all which Is perfectly fine for me. I think most high end GPU’s will make a buzz under heavy load if you lean in close and listen to them. 
 

Too many check boxes these days to be super picky on GPU’s. Max Voltage, core overclocking ability, are 1% lows impacted with +3,000 memory OC, coil whine?, are the core and memory chips actually soldered on the board? lol, does it even work? lol. 😂 
 

Unless something is making a high pitch squeal noise, I don’t care! Two prior products come to mind where I did care!!!. My Z590 Dark Kingpin motherboard, and EVGA power supplies lol. But yeah the Astral overclocks really well, and that’s what made me love it and decide to keep it. Excellent GPU. I’d probably long return my 9950X3D2 and Dark Hero X870 before that 5090 Astral goes anywhere!! 
 

Speaking of which that return period is coming up FAST on the AMD chip!! I may swap it out. 

 

Congratz on selling the HEDT rig over on OCN!

 

Still a $1k+ difference now and I wouldn't rule out another price hike before we escape 2026.

 

I've been testing my Windforce 5080 SFF back and forth against my 5090 in my main rig the last few days. I'm not unplugging the 5090 12vhpwr connector. I'm using the Corsair 1000w SFF instead externally to power the 5080 so swapping is quick and easy. 5090 is just a monster. WoW and even Fallout 76 keep the 5080 pegged at 99% outside of player heavy areas. Then again, there are many areas in WoW that keep the 5090 at 99% too even with a 175fps cap in place.

 

As long as a GPU doesn't make that, deep seesaw screeching whine I can usually work with it. No GPU is truly silent under load and if I need to put my ear right next to it to hear it, to me that is effectively silent. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can touch that 3090FE whine I had. That was next level nauseating. 

 

Definitely keep the Astral. Still the most beautiful 5090 IMHO with that industrial slab look. I love the heatsink on that thang and prices are climbing and climbing.

 

If I were you, I'd return the 9950X3D2 at a minimum to fish for a better sample or pick up a 9950X3D from Newegg which is on sale for $569.99 AND includes a free AIO or maybe see if @Mr. Fox wants to part with one of his samples OR return both the CPU and MB and see if @Talon wants to part with one of his 270k samples and go Intel. Of course going Intel you're going to want 8600+ capable G2 ram, cpu and MB at a minimum.

 

If you want to stick with BB for their credit line, 270k is, oh, $600 cheaper than the 9950X3D2..... good deals on MBs and that helps compensate for memory costs.

 

15 hours ago, win32asmguy said:

 

Actually nothing I have tried so far has made it stable under a stress test at 6000 or higher. VSOC up to 1.2v, VDDIO/VDD/VDDQ up to 1.3v, UCLK+FCLK at 1500, multiple memory kits (both 2x16GB Hynix A-die). FCLK is stable at 2000 with VSOC at 1.1v. If I drop to 5800 stress tests are stable. Too bad its BGA or I would be hunting down a replacement chip. Unless I am missing an important voltage that is not being configured correctly automatically by the bios. Its really odd that I can boot at 7600 but 6000 is not stable.

 

I do not think LM helps performance unless it had a bad PTM paste job, because the CPU is limited to 145W solo or up to 85W in combined loads. Fan noise could be improved though for sure.

 

Regarding the screen swap I found a complete used display assembly from a Vector A18 with the 240hz QHD 1600p IPS panel which is perfect. Even better it has no lid logo RGB so that is one thing that will no longer be reset to a rainbow effect depending on how Steelseries software is feeling that day. The whole unit used was only $185 including tax so not a bad deal at all and very easy to swap the UHD assembly back if the laptop needs to go in for a warranty repair.

 

Damn, that's not good news if it can't even do 6000. MSI only guarantees 5600 on that model so you can't even send it in for a swap. Might have to just tune around 5800 or run a dirty OC that's "good enough" for gaming but still a major bummer. Silicon lottery strikes again....

 

Still a damn good deal though on the price and I'm not sure 5800 vs 6000 will even make any meaningful difference in gaming and you can maybe tighten up the timings even more. Do a dirty mem OC test 5800 vs 6000->6400 in games and go "meh....."

 

Nice snag on the entire hood assembly so a small silver lining....

 

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