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

[Papusan]

This is BS. $6000 for a blower fan style 5090. But the world is filled with stupids so maybe they will sell som cards. What was the prices for PRO 6000? $8K ? And you get 3x the vram capacity if you really need it. 

 

https://videocardz.com/newz/afox-reveals-geforce-rtx-5090-gpu-with-blower-fan

[win32asmguy]

20 hours ago, electrosoft said:

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.

 

That kit looks great for the price. I should probably see how far my current 2x16GB kit can go.

 

The other thing is giving another go with the Xeon. Micro Center has a lone W790-ACE in stock that could solve some of the issues I experienced with using a W-2400 in the SAGE. The Noctua cooler would be in the proper orientation which should improve airflow for both the CPU and RAM. I am guessing the bios would be similar to the SAGE with the same quirks but who knows. The nice thing about the cores on the Xeon is that they get the full 2MB L2 cache unlike the 12900K/KS where its 1.25MB. So it is essentially Raptor Lake silicon.

[Mr. Fox]

1 hour 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? 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

I don't understand why anyone would want one anyway. Those beige and brown Noctua fans are the ugliest fans in the world. Why would anyone want that on their GPU? I mean it is one thing for something cheap to be ugly. Something as expensive as a 5090 needs to be superior by all measurements or it is a fail. It needs to run, look, feel and smell phenomenal and be near-perfect to partially make up for the absolutely ludicrous price.

58 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

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.

At some point the product, service and customer experience degrades to a point that profit margin, no matter how great, will not be sufficient to save a company from destruction. Without sufficient gross revenue there is no opportunity for net profit. Budweiser learned that the hard way not long ago and came close to biting the big one. And, the way they found out is something we need to see leveraged more often. Consumers wielding the sword of rejection and organized boycotts are weapons that should be leveraged more often and in a more brutal manner than they normally are. I'd like to see things like that happen with regularity and frequency. The only way to reach their brains is by punching them in the wallet hard enough to draw blood.

 

Well, it looks my email to UPS stirred up a bits of a hornet's nest. It is not resolved yet, but apparently a big shot in their Supply Chain Solutions department got ahold of it and copied a bunch of team leaders and supervisors with instructions to assist me and reply to all (with me on copy) with a response. If it is not resolved today I suspect it will be tomorrow or Monday. I'm less concerned now than I have been since Tuesday when I was given the erroneous notification of the amount due. Three of the supervisors copied on the email are out of office. One of them has an out-of-office reply with key names, emails and phone numbers I am going to hang onto for future reference. They might come in handy if I need to kick the hornet's nest again. 🤣

[Papusan]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

I don't understand why anyone would want one anyway. Those beige and brown Noctua fans are the ugliest fans in the world. Why would anyone want that on their GPU? I mean it is one thing for something cheap to be ugly. Something as expensive as a 5090 needs to be superior by all measurements or it is a fail. It needs to run, look, feel and smell phenomenal and be near-perfect to partially make up for the absolutely ludicrous price.

 

I think a black version would work great. Fantastic fans for air cooled cards. But the brownish poop color they use is awful. I think Noctua struggle to make fans in nicer colors is due how they prefer the fans should work and for longevity. They even say they need above 5 years to make and design new and better models. If they dont change on this they will lose market shares in the long run. Good working fans in world class aint enough anymore. 

 

Lol. Let them pop up. We need help from AMD to see what failure Nvidia created. If AMD will compete in high end they need cards with +500w board power. They are doomed to use this junk. At least their partners best custom cards. Yup, let them burn😁

 

This mess destroyed my fun changing cards for my hobby. This thrash connector doesn't offer longevity for my hobby with my many cards. I really hate this modern power connector. Maybe one of the worst changes I have seen in the tech world in many many years.

 

https://videocardz.com/newz/first-radeon-rx-9070-xt-user-reports-melted-12v-2x6-adapter

[Mr. Fox]

Well, the saga continues. It appears that the people at UPS have only fecal matter for brains. They are saying that a punitive 200% tariff applies to steel and aluminum products where the country of smelting it not known. This is a serious flaw in their application of federal regulations, but I do not have much confidence that I will convince them of their error.

• The product is not manufactured from steel; primarily copper, acrylic and nickel plating
• The product has no aluminum components except for the backplate
• The product is manufactured in China, so "country of smelting" is not unknown
• Other than the aluminum backplate, none of the other materials are covered by the regulation 
• The extra 200% is being applied to the full retail value of the finished product, which is primarily copper and acrylic. If the country of smelting were unknown the 200% would apply only to the value of aluminum material used to make the backplate, not the enitre retail product

Here is what the imbecile that replied to my email offered as his half-assed rationale for applying the normal import duty + extra 200% tariff:

 

UPS Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Form

 

I have messaged Aquatuning by blind copy on all of my email communications with these idiots at UPS. This whole thing is absolutely ludicrous and it is entirely due to their ignorance and incompetence and nothing to do with trade regulations. Rather, their inappropriate application of regulations that are not even applicable to the shipment.

 

Here are my last two replies to them:

Quote

From: Mr. Fox 
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2025 2:21 PM
To: UPSDFWASPLEADS @ ups.com
Cc: Aquatuning Support 
Subject: RE: 1Z99F6X50--------2 - Tariff Calculation Correction Assistance FOX **DFW**

 

In the spirit of paying what I owe and avoidance of being screwed by UPS for nearly $500 due to erroneous application of regulations, how about a perfectly reasonable compromise for a 200% tariff based on fact. A tariff of 200% on the value of the single aluminum component this retail product contains based on its weight because you don’t know it is manufactured in China.

 

The only aluminum part in the package weighs maybe 4 to 6 ounces. If you would like to open the package to unscrew the black anodized aluminum backplate from the copper and acrylic block to confirm the weight of the aluminum backplate I am OK with that as long as you do not break anything.

 

Today’s value of aluminum is $0.08158 per Troy ounce. To make it easy, we can round it up to $0.10 in your favor. Let’s also round up the weight to a full pound (probably double the actual weight, if not more than double) in your favor. That would be a material value of $1.60 based on today’s value of aluminum, so doubling that for the 200% tariff, it should be $3.20 for the extra 200% tariff.

 

Since the other components are copper and acrylic plastic, we don’t need to worry about them. Section 232 only applies to the aluminum part.

 

Please adjust accordingly so I can pay the correct amount and accept delivery.

 

For reference, the link below shows today’s value of aluminum.

 

https://www.dailymetalprice.com/metalprices.php?c=al&u=oz&d=1

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I appreciate the assistance.

 

Quote

From: Mr. Fox
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2025 1:02 PM
To: Redacted List of UPS Recipients
Bcc: Aquatuning Support 
Subject: RE: Tracking # 1Z99F6----------2 - Tariff Calculation Correction Assistance FOX **DFW**

 

Please forgive the bombardment of messages. I hope you can understand my frustration and displeasure over this. 

 

As I closely read the regulatory document you provided, it appears it is not being interpreted accurately. The country of smelting (manufacture) is not unknown. It is China. And, even if that were not known the duty applies only to the value of the steel or aluminum content. You are applying it to the value of the finished retail product. The product is made from primarily  acrylic and copper. It has an aluminum back plate, which represents a small portion of the product composition. The application of the 200% tariff seems to stem from a lack of understanding and inappropriate application of regulation.

 

Does the retailer in Germany (Aquatuning) need to provide UPS with a complete breakdown on the composition of the product and the value of each component so that the tariff can be assessed on the value of the single aluminum part based on its weight? As I interpret the UPS form you provided, it is irrelevant to this shipment of a product not composed of steel, has a single component that is made from a small piece of aluminum, not of unknown country of smelting, that represents a fraction of the $179.68 retail value.

 

The product information page has a description of the product, what it is made of and photos of what it looks like.

 

https://www.aquatuning.com/en/watercooling/custom-watercooling/gpu-cooler/gpu-complete-cooler/5000-series/wak-alphacool-core-geforce-rtx-5090-solid-amp-with-backplate

 

[Papusan]

The Biden subsidiary (spend the citizens money) is more honest compared to what the new US Gov adm now come up with for the Chips Act. Easy pecy spend the citizens tax money. Talk about shot himself in the foot after what he have promised/said. Hope they don't being fooled by the Chinese business man. That would looks damn bad for them in the future. I have never seen similar turnover/change in what they promised the voters before being elected. In humble Norwegian we call this liars. But as usual sadly this will always be the outcome. 

 

Trump told members of the press during the day on Friday, ahead of the market closing. He said that the deal is a result of his time with Intel's chief executive, whom the president had initially called on to resign due to ties to Chinese chipmakers.

 

His time with the China man Lip-Bu Tan... LOL

 

Still haven't forgot his time with the unknown Nvidia boss. Who is Nvidia, LOL

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/big-tech/trump-says-u-s-govt-will-take-a-10-percent-ownership-stake-in-intel-lip-bu-tan-reportedly-agreed-to-unprecedented-arrangement-for-a-domestic-chipmaker

[Papusan]

2 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

 

I have messaged Aquatuning by blind copy on all of my email communications with these idiots at UPS. This whole thing is absolutely ludicrous and it is entirely due to their ignorance and incompetence and nothing to do with trade regulations. Rather, their inappropriate application of regulations that are not even applicable to the shipment.

 

Main problem. The trade War. A example. US make 1/5 of what they need in etc Alu and still want full tariff tax on goods they need. US business have to pay for this before they can make something/anything to sell to their US consumers. And with all changes (TACO), none will know how this will affect consumers/business. Computer parts is just a small mini needle in all this

 

Many US citizens still think they will NOT have to pay for the trade War. The reality. Inflation and increased prices for everything they need in life.

 

Ups and etc post Nord and many other shipping companies are now closing shipping of goods to US. The US war with China will hurt the global business between former good friends. None know exactly what idiotic rules for tariffs will come next week or next months. Be prepared for caos/mess.

[Mr. Fox]

Be careful to not believe anything you hear or read from mainstream media sources. They are dishonest and most of what they publish is a deliberate creation of distortions, fabrications and inappropriate extrapolations. Crafted for the sole purpose of deception and division, perpetrated by a dying cluster of woke America-hating lunatics and criminals trying to resuscitate a nefarious agenda that is being dismantled brick-by-brick. Light destroys darkness.

 

The part nobody that suffers from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) wants to talk about is that the current administration has already delivered in spades on their promises and the nation is already raking in a fortune in tariffs and rebalanced trade arrangements. Things are going exactly as they should be and how patriotic smart people want them to be going, with unprecedented federal revenue flowing in from foreign sources (reciprocal tariffs) and on pace to eclipse what has ever been collected through domestic taxation of American citizens. Combined with the successful seek and destroy mission on internal government-backed fraud and misuse of tax dollars for unworthy and inappropriate purposes, wrongs are being righted in more ways than what can be counted. In a few short months this has been successful to such an extent that income taxes on social security benefits (which could be viewed as double taxation), tips and overtime are no longer necessary, federal income tax obligations for most private citizens and small businesses has been dramatically reduced, with potential to be abolished if they do not get too much insurrection activity from the leftist lunatic fringe. In spite of the insane shrieking and whining about it by a tiny group of traitors and plain old weirdos, our borders are secure for the first time ever. Illegal immigration is moving rapidly in the direction of zero and has already decreased 93% since February 2024. South American drug, weapons and human trafficing cartels are being systematically exterminated (literally) by our amazing armed forces. The city with our nation's highest murder rate (our Capital, Washington DC) and out of control crime sanctuary is being reigned in. In a matter of days, the murder rate has been cut from unprecedented levels to single digits in DC, carjackings have decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime is down 22%. More good and right things have been achieved in 6 months than the past 60 years, and there is more to come. Thank God.

---

UPDATE! Good news!
The effort paid off. A person at UPS cared and listened and looked into it. Based on things mentioned in my emails she realized it was erroneously calculated by UPS. The duty was reduced from around $461 to $81. I thanked her and let her know that I sincerely appreciate her caring enough to re-evaluate it. Hopefully the UPS delivery driver will return with the package tomorrow or Monday and collect the $81. I also emailed Aquatuning to let them know. See attached redacted info.

Revised Invoice | UPS

[Papusan]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

In spades on their promises and the nation is already raking in a fortune in tariffs and rebalanced trade

 

Maybe but the low/mid class US citizens won't get much out from this. Also the Norwegian pay for the Government greed. Even worlds biggest oilfund aint enough. Hence we are one of the most expensive countries to live in. Don't think twice that ordinary tax payers will get much from this. Tariffs and taxes kill peoples living. But the rich people will get their pennies back.

 

This is what I have learned from tax hell.

[Mr. Fox]

2 hours ago, Papusan said:

 

Maybe but the low/mid class US citizens won't get much out from this. Also the Norwegian pay for the Government greed. Even worlds biggest oilfund aint enough. Hence we are one of the most expensive countries to live in. Don't think twice that ordinary tax payers will get much from this. Tariffs and taxes kill peoples living. But the rich people will get their pennies back.

 

This is what I have learned from tax hell.

I am sorry about what Norwegian citizens and those of many other nations have had to endure at the hands of corrupt governments. Ours was on the fast track to destruction like the others due to extremely corrupt government. There is still more that needs to be done, but the needle if finally moving away from E toward F (fuel gauge analogy). I am middle-class and I am already benefitting greatly in terms of personal finances. My retirement nest egg has recovered from the damaged done by the prior regime and grown more than ever. I will owe significantly less in taxes this year, and even less in 2026 and beyond. The cost of groceries and gasoline is quickly recovering from the inflationary damage they caused. The only ones that stand to lose are those that can work and have taken advantage of the ability to choose not to. Those that cannot work due to physical and mental challenges have seen and will see even more of an increase in their SSI (welfare) benefits. Many that were being unjustly supported by taxpayers are suffering, as they should be. The media calls it "unfair" but everyone else sees it for what it is: a crackdown on fraud and a discontinuation of the illegal receipt of benefits not deserved.