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

[Mr. Fox]

3 hours ago, electrosoft said:

Yeah, the 5080 really has the headroom too fully appreciate overclocking at what tops out at an extreme but "sane"ish type level vs the 5090 requiring a nuclear reactor.

 

Extrapolating, that Steel Nomad is like scoring ~ 21k+ on a 5090...

 

That Timespy score is bonkers both GPU, CPU and combined...

 

I see you right behind Jwick on the bot in the 2 slot a few times, lots of top 5/10 finishes and #1 in TSE!

 

Excellent work!

Thank you. Yeah, it does have a lot of headroom. The scores are lower but it is actually more fun due to the headroom.

 

Here are the settings applied with mvolt+ Extreme. I still need to test with the 5090. If they can make the function survive NVIDIA driver updates this eliminates the need for hardware mods like EVC2 and shunt resistors.

 

 

[electrosoft]

M5 Ultra vs a 9950X3D + 5090 kitted out PC:

 

CPU:

 

Bonkers, next level CPU performance. Absolutely trashes Intel and AMD at 150w with their 36 core model both single and multi.

 

Single core:  ~44% faster

Multi core:  ~80% faster

 

All this while consuming 25% less power in a small, compact box that makes zero noise 99% of the time and even under load is a fraction of the noise a typical PC generates.

 

You're going to need a Threadripper 9970x (32 core)  to compete, but not beat, at this point on multi. To flat out beat Apple, you will need a 9980x. On both, they absolutely get destroyed for single core performance.

 

On Single, Intel and AMD are going to have to bring some serious magic in their next gen CPUs or Apple will just continue to dominate and I don't think they're going to even get close to catch Apple in single threaded performance.

 

Looking forward to the 52 core Intel Nova "Open all salvos!" Lake beast vs the M5 Ultra. Heck, even the 28 core might get close in multi.

 

Blender Render = M5 Ultra is ~72% faster

 

GPU:

 

Time to come back to reality Apple vs Nvidia.....

 

Optimized for Nvidia, 5090 pulls ahead showing Nvidia's strength in terms of raw power, vertical integration and software stacks. 

 

LLMs: If memory isn't an issue, 5090 is a beast but obviously 32GB can't stack up against 96GB or 256GB. Toss in an RTX 6000 (or two or three) and it's game over but then again you can score a fully kitted M5 Ultra with 96GB of memory and 1TB storage and max CPU/GPU config for $6799.99 for less than half the price of an RTX 6000. You can score a 256GB model for $10799 which is 2/3 the cost of a single RTX 6000 at this point.

 

In the end, Apple's massively upgraded Neural Processors are no match for Nvidia's raw power but their unified memory architecture is where they have always shined. Expect the 512GB model (not available yet) to cost ~$17k as the 256GB model is currently $10,799.,99 and upgrading from 96GB to 256GB is a $4k up charge. So you end up with a 512GB M5 Ultra for what is quickly becoming the cost of a single RTX 6000.

 

Video editing, M5 Ultra:

 

DaVinci = tied

Abobe Pro = M5 Ultra finished in less than half the time

 

Gaming:

 

Time for a brutal reality check. Even Metal optimized, 5090 just trashes the M5 Ultra and is over twice as fast. M5 Ultra looks to be right between 5070ti-5080 in gaming performance but looking at some of the results that are actually taking advantage of the 80 core GPU, there is some optimizations to be had but....yeah, the 5090 just drops the hammer on Apple....just like Nvidia dropped the hammer on AMD with the 5090.

 

 

My final verdict? M5 CPU architecture is next level. Absolutely next level. GPU has really come along way even vs M4 and its strength lies in its unified memory bandwidth especially in these AI driven days.

 

For my personal use, target LLMs for particular use cases the 5090's 32GB is working out just fine and this is where it absolutely shines. If you need more than 32GB, performance scarily drops off as expected and you need to start looking at the 5080 based 4500 card with 48GB or even 5500 (barf) up to a 6000 to match the 96GB config from Apple.

 

256GB config for $10,799 really makes a compelling config for many small AI shops, startups or individuals because it costs less than a single 6000 by almost $5k and you get over 2.5x the memory. I suspect the 512GB will also be a very compelling buy for those on a budget but needing 512GB of memory.

 

 

 

[ssj92]

Guys, I remember someone here posting that the new 6xx drivers are not good. 

 

Can someone catch me up on why?

 

I'm on 596.xx on both desktop & laptops. 

 

I finally got SLI working on 596.xx drivers using the same old patch for 446.xx drivers. SO now I am aiming for 616.xx drivers. 

[Mr. Fox]

1 hour ago, ssj92 said:

Guys, I remember someone here posting that the new 6xx drivers are not good. 

 

Can someone catch me up on why?

 

I'm on 596.xx on both desktop & laptops. 

 

I finally got SLI working on 596.xx drivers using the same old patch for 446.xx drivers. SO now I am aiming for 616.xx drivers. 

I haven't heard anything about newer drivers other than mvolt+ not working with some driver versions.

[Papusan]

 

This is nice... Double trouble and stupidity on top. What a combo. 

 

All PNY GPUs that require a 16-pin (12VHPWR / 12V-2x6) input include a PNY-approved power cable or adapter in the box. This cable is the only configuration covered under warranty. If a third-party power cable, adapter, or PSU cable is used and damage occurs - including melting, burning, overheating, or deformation of the connector - PNY cannot accept the product under warranty. Damage caused by non-PNY cables falls under the responsibility of the manufacturer of that cable or power supply.

 

 

[electrosoft]

5090 resell prices are reaching peak insanity:

 

Current bidding on a 5090 Vanguard on eBay hit $7k

 

@tps3443 last few 5090 FEs sold went for ~$6k!!

 

Average selling price is $6k+ and climbing....

 

In a few Facebook PC hardware groups discussions, those selling their 5090s are literally putting them up for ~$6k and selling immediately paid in cash or zelle. We all know where they are going, but still......

 

To say the temptation to sell my 5090 Vanguard isn't strong would be a lie 🤣 At this rate, I would basically be swapping my 5090 for a Mac Studio Ultra....

 

But the question is, can I be happy with the massive drop in performance vs my $988 5080 or $720 9070xt? If you sell your 5090, you're basically resigning yourself to the 5080 or 9070xt moving forward for the next ~2 years and depending on how the 6000 series pans out, it could be longer....

 

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WoW Forever is a hot mess on Macs atm so devs have a lot of work ahead of them considering retail runs decent on the M4 Max. I picked up the Forever Edition since I have oodles of in game gold sitting there and just converted a chunk of it to real $$$. I've done this for the last I think 4 Xpacs?

 

Mac Mini M4 (10 GPU cores):

 

 

Macbook Pro M5 Max (40 GPU cores):

 

 

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On 9/18/2026 at 2:31 PM, win32asmguy said:

 

Its showing around 120W max in HWinfo after running around doing various things. Of that I think being in a group running vault farming has been the most taxing so far this season. Of course its probably hitting 55W TDP on the CPU, so in full performance mode GPU utilization should go higher. Sometimes on these 90F+ ambient temp days I also ran it at 5/10 with framerate capped at 60 just simply to keep the palm rest from warming up too much. We dont have AC in the lounge room at work.

 

Smaller and lighter is nice for travel. The Clevo PE60 I still own is a great example of that and probably the reason I have not bothered selling it yet. In most cases it was actually a better WoW machine than the Arrow Lake Hydroc G2 as well, just simply because it gets significantly better memory latency with the 14900HX on die memory controller. I have considered just selling the others and just using the PE60 because it works pretty close to the same level for WoW as I use the Raider A18.

 

Yeah, I am still accumulating parts / waiting for a few back ordered parts for my AM5/5080 SFF buildout, but right now the G16 is really checking all the boxes. I could see downsizing to just the Clevo PE60 at this point. I saw a few more 9950HX3D/5090 raiders pop up on eBay but at the moment I've lost my zest for them with the Asus atm.

 

Are you going to play WoW Forever? I am, but the wife isn't feeling it as retail is her comfort zone. Even with the QoL improvements, it is still vanilla / classic so it might be a little too hardcore for her so we will see.

 

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Always a chance you take when you purchased open box / used items, but even laptops being stripped of their memory and SSDs:

 

https://wccftech.com/msi-vector-a18-hx-amazon-listing-32gb-ram-ssd-missing/

 

 

 

 

[electrosoft]

19 minutes ago, Papusan said:

 

This is nice... Double trouble and stupidity on top. What a combo. 

 

All PNY GPUs that require a 16-pin (12VHPWR / 12V-2x6) input include a PNY-approved power cable or adapter in the box. This cable is the only configuration covered under warranty. If a third-party power cable, adapter, or PSU cable is used and damage occurs - including melting, burning, overheating, or deformation of the connector - PNY cannot accept the product under warranty. Damage caused by non-PNY cables falls under the responsibility of the manufacturer of that cable or power supply.

 

 

 

They do have a point, though.....

 

It is one reason I purposely used the MSI included 4 headed dongle of death originally with my Vanguard and my Suprim 4090 because if anything were to go wrong, it is on MSI. Worst case, the connector melts. Best case, just one of the tentacles (or more) melts down which is an easy replacement. Either way, the entire chain is on MSI.

 

Now I use an actual MSI PSU AND a WV2Pro with two layers of warranty claim protection if my 5090 goes POOF!

 

In this case, what caused it? The connector? The Asrock Cable/PSU? Both? Looking at the pictures, it appears to be an Asrock issue as it is burned on BOTH ends. Not that it doesn't suck, but I'm going to agree with PNY on this one and the owner now needs to go after Asrock and loop them in on the claim and see where things settle.

 

 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

1 hour ago, Papusan said:

 

This is nice... Double trouble and stupidity on top. What a combo. 

 

All PNY GPUs that require a 16-pin (12VHPWR / 12V-2x6) input include a PNY-approved power cable or adapter in the box. This cable is the only configuration covered under warranty. If a third-party power cable, adapter, or PSU cable is used and damage occurs - including melting, burning, overheating, or deformation of the connector - PNY cannot accept the product under warranty. Damage caused by non-PNY cables falls under the responsibility of the manufacturer of that cable or power supply.

 

 

 

36 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

 

They do have a point, though.....

 

It is one reason I purposely used the MSI included 4 headed dongle of death originally with my Vanguard and my Suprim 4090 because if anything were to go wrong, it is on MSI. Worst case, the connector melts. Best case, just one of the tentacles (or more) melts down which is an easy replacement. Either way, the entire chain is on MSI.

 

Now I use an actual MSI PSU AND a WV2Pro with two layers of warranty claim protection if my 5090 goes POOF!

 

In this case, what caused it? The connector? The Asrock Cable/PSU? Both? Looking at the pictures, it appears to be an Asrock issue as it is burned on BOTH ends. Not that it doesn't suck, but I'm going to agree with PNY on this one and the owner now needs to go after Asrock and loop them in on the claim and see where things settle.

 

 

 

 

If it were up to me, NVIDIA would be legally bound and on the hook for all of the costs and footing the entire bill across the board for all GPU and PSU connector meltdowns, with no room for exceptions or fine print exclusions, because they are the idiots that ushered in the crappified connector and gave the OEMs an ultimatum requiring them to use an engineering abortion. If that were true, I suspect it would no longer be used and everyone would be back to using legacy 8-pin PCIe power connectors.