Tech Gaming Hardware discussion (& Hardware Sales) thread

[jefferz]

$85 Ryzen R5-1600AF is back up at Amazon:


Cliffs if you've missed the previous posts on this CPU in here is that it's just a rebranded R5-2600 with lower factory clock settings. Even at stock it's only performing 2% below the R5-2600 across a suite of games in benchmarks comparing them. Hands down the best value in gaming CPUs while it lasts. It has sufficient power for GPU pairing all the way up to the current king RTX Titan.

3700x is back on sale at Newegg for $285 and it's $290 on Amazon

 

[Madmick]

The German strikes again:
A professional overclocker built a custom cooling bracket to lower Ryzen CPU temps
The custom bracket is designed to put more pressure on the off-centered hotspots of Ryzen 3000 series CPUs.

Back to the clever cooler. As Der8auer explains in his latest YouTube video, Ryzen 3000 series CPUs have a special arrangement of dies underneath the IHS. There is a large 14nm I/O die positioned slightly above the center, and smaller 7nm core chiplet dies just below the center portion of the CPU.

"The core chiplets on the bottom can easily with OC exceed 100-200W power consumption. Therefore, just geometrically speaking, it's clear that there will be a hotspot somewhere in the center of those two dies," Der8auer explains.

One of the functions of the IHS is to draw heat from the CPU dies (or chiplets), which then gets transferred to a CPU cooler. Der8auer's custom designed bracket takes into account the actual chiplet arrangement, and thus where the hotspots are when stressing the CPU.

He designed two of them—one for custom and closed-loop liquid coolers, and the other for all-in-one liquid coolers. I haven't tested either one, and even if they work as he claims, they are by no means critical for running a Ryzen 3000 series CPU. However, they are interesting designs that certainly look like they could do a better job at attacking hotspots than a stock mounting bracket.

Unfortunately, Der8auer did not provide any temp data, though he plans to at a future date.

"Why no test? Does it make sense if I review my own product? I thought it doesn't but after your feedback I will provide a follow-up video," Der8auer said.

In the meantime, anyone who wants to take a leap of faith can find the custom brackets at Caseking for €29.90.

This would be a game-changing product if it can get Ryzen 3000 to overclocks that meaningfully improve performance on practical home setups.

@Woldog

 

[Woldog]

The German strikes again:
A professional overclocker built a custom cooling bracket to lower Ryzen CPU temps
The custom bracket is designed to put more pressure on the off-centered hotspots of Ryzen 3000 series CPUs.

This would be a game-changing product if it can get Ryzen 3000 to overclocks that meaningfully improve performance on practical home setups.

@Woldog

Overclocking mine in a way that didn't detract from performance would be sweet. But again his cooler would have to be something extra special considering the temperatures in Australia have been fucked lately lmao.

If I can attach it to my AIO cooler I'd be willing to try it out once he gets his temp data up.

 

[Madmick]

Overclocking mine in a way that didn't detract from performance would be sweet. But again his cooler would have to be something extra special considering the temperatures in Australia have been fucked lately lmao.

If I can attach it to my AIO cooler I'd be willing to try it out once he gets his temp data up.

Oh, definitely wait for reviews. I just wanted to flag the development for you so it would be on your radar.

 

[jefferz]

Overclocking mine in a way that didn't detract from performance would be sweet. But again his cooler would have to be something extra special considering the temperatures in Australia have been fucked lately lmao.

If I can attach it to my AIO cooler I'd be willing to try it out once he gets his temp data up.

A video for anyone wondering more.

 

[Woldog]

A video for anyone wondering more.

My cooler is covered with it which is good. I've got one of those Corsair AIOs

 

[Woldog]

EK's new AIO cooler is up for preorder. $81 for 120mm, $108 for 240mm, $140 for 360mm. Non Asetek design, not expandable, and includes Vardar argb fans. I really wish more AIO's would to the side by side outlet on the blocks rather top/bottom, it can help make things look more clean.

I just saw this so I'm a little late to the party, but are EK a good brand? I don't believe I've ever heard of them but that is one sexy fucking cooler. Tempted to get one and just put my Corsair as a back up.

 

[jefferz]

EKWB Fluid Gaming 240mm custom loop setup for $96. It includes the pump, reservoir, cpu block, tubing, fittings, 2 120mm EK Vardar fans, and 240mm radiator. Everything you need for a custom loop.
There is one thing to keep in mind though with an aluminum based kit, which is mixing metals. For years most custom loop stuff has been copper based, but you can't mix aluminum parts with them or else you get gunk plugging up your loop from galvanic corrosion. So if you want to make your gpu water cooled in the future or another radiator, you have to make sure you get aluminum versions.

I just saw this so I'm a little late to the party, but are EK a good brand? I don't believe I've ever heard of them but that is one sexy fucking cooler. Tempted to get one and just put my Corsair as a back up.

EK, or sometimes called EK Water Blocks (EKWB) has been one of the go to companies for custom loop equipment like water blocks and radiators for years now.
What interests me is that the pump isn't another Asetek design. EK knows what it's doing when it comes to custom stuff so I'm going to assume this will be good, but I'd still wait for reviews.

 

[jefferz]

Ooooh, an undercut. Nice. The window is open indeed.

Damn, and the Newegg deal also includes the Xbox Game Pass 3-months perk ($30 value). That doesn't appear to be included with the Wal-Mart deal.

Ryzen 5 3600 & Asus Prime X570-P combo on Newegg for $285!

 

[GhostZ06]

EKWB Fluid Gaming 240mm custom loop setup for $96. It includes the pump, reservoir, cpu block, tubing, fittings, 2 120mm EK Vardar fans, and 240mm radiator. Everything you need for a custom loop.
There is one thing to keep in mind though with an aluminum based kit, which is mixing metals. For years most custom loop stuff has been copper based, but you can't mix aluminum parts with them or else you get gunk plugging up your loop from galvanic corrosion. So if you want to make your gpu water cooled in the future or another radiator, you have to make sure you get aluminum versions.

EK, or sometimes called EK Water Blocks (EKWB) has been one of the go to companies for custom loop equipment like water blocks and radiators for years now.
What interests me is that the pump isn't another Asetek design. EK knows what it's doing when it comes to custom stuff so I'm going to assume this will be good, but I'd still wait for reviews.

are these any good?

 

[jefferz]

are these any good?

That kit wouldn't perform any better than a 240mm AIO, where it makes sense to purchase is if you want the custom loop look or want to add one of the gpu blocks.
Looks like it's sold out now.

 

[Madmick]

RTX owners should be looking to take a driver update. Apparently it's finally not a gimmick this time. They swearsies.

Nvidia RTX cards get a 'super easy' speed boost from DLSS 2.0

Nvidia has updated its Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) tech, which improves image quality and clarity, while also improving frame rates. The tech is only available for owners of RTX GeForce graphics cards, as it calls on those all important Tensor cores to do the hard work, but it genuinely looks like this is an option worth turning on at last.

There are a couple of technologies behind the scenes that are powering DLSS 2.0, including improvements to the AI network, which is now twice as fast, an increase in the target resolution along with the addition of temporal feedback, and the shift to using one model for all games. This last point is important, as it should mean that a lot more developers use it. DLSS 2.0 does still need access to the buffers though, and so does need per game integration as opposed to just magically working with everything, but it's still definitely a step in the right direction.

The first game to get the new treatment is MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, which offers up the double whammy of DLSS 2.0 improving image quality and performance. This game was used to show that some finer detail is better rendered using DLSS 2.0 than is visible using native rendering—check out the fencing on top of the installation in the image below. A new driver specifically for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will be available from Nvidia by the time you read this, and you'll need this in order to access the DLSS 2.0 goodies.

 

[mixmastermo]

Oh man look at those fences!! I feel like I am actually there!!

Kidding aside, I'm glad there is a performance boost.

 

[jefferz]

Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0053 4TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive for $70 on Newegg.
$15 a terabyte and it's enterprise grade.

 

[ssBaldy]

Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0053 4TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Internal Hard Drive for $70 on Newegg.
$15 a terabyte and it's enterprise grade.

Thats an awesome deal.
BTW I assembled my new PC last week. Photos are shit, sorry.

Fractal Design Meshify S2 + Fractal Design 860 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
Corsair h150i pro 360mm water cooler
Ryzen 3900x
Gigabyte Aorus Master
32 GB GSkill Trident Z low latency 3600 RAM
Corsair SSD Force MP600 PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe
XFX Radeon 5700XT THICC 3 Ultra

 

[Madmick]

Thats an awesome deal.
BTW I assembled my new PC last week. Photos are shit, sorry.

Fractal Design Meshify S2 + Fractal Design 860 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
Corsair h150i pro 360mm water cooler
Ryzen 3900x
Gigabyte Aorus Master
32 GB GSkill Trident Z low latency 3600 RAM
Corsair SSD Force MP600 PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe
XFX Radeon 5700XT THICC 3 Ultra

Spoiler

I swear to God if anyone talks shit about the THICC card...

Spoiler

 

[ssBaldy]

Spoiler

I swear to God if anyone talks shit about the THICC card...

Spoiler

THICC card looks great.
But gotta admit, 5700xt is a hot chip, even though the cooling of the card is pretty good. Gotta find a comfortable way to downclock it for less demanding apps. I don't really need an average of 390 fps in rainbow 6 with video core temperature of 90°.

 

[Madmick]

THICC card looks great.
But gotta admit, 5700xt is a hot chip, even though the cooling of the card is pretty good. Gotta find a comfortable way to downclock it for less demanding apps. I don't really need an average of 390 fps in rainbow 6 with video core temperature of 90°.

Fuck yeah! How ironic. I didn't realize the third revision actually sorted out the thermal issues with the first two. Just checked out the Guru3D review. My preemptive defense wasn't even required.

Rainbow 6, eh? So what you're saying is....

 

[ssBaldy]

Fuck yeah! How ironic. I didn't realize the third revision actually sorted out the thermal issues with the first two. Just checked out the Guru3D review. My preemptive defense wasn't even required.

Rainbow 6, eh? So what you're saying is....

Will be playing Doom Eternal and Escape from Tarkov soon.
For R6 a fast SSD was a much bigger improvement, my old gtx780 was handling it well.

 

[jefferz]

Thats an awesome deal.
BTW I assembled my new PC last week. Photos are shit, sorry.

Fractal Design Meshify S2 + Fractal Design 860 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
Corsair h150i pro 360mm water cooler
Ryzen 3900x
Gigabyte Aorus Master
32 GB GSkill Trident Z low latency 3600 RAM
Corsair SSD Force MP600 PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe
XFX Radeon 5700XT THICC 3 Ultra

Looks great! How are you liking the cpu cooler? I'm thinking of upgrading and that one is on my short list.