Tech Gaming Hardware discussion (& Hardware Sales) thread

[DougieJones]

So Intel and Nvidia are combining?

Or something?


EDIT:
Intel and Nvidia have released a joint statement revealing plans to work together to build new computing products based on Intel's x86 CPUs and Nvidia's GPUs. Oh, and Nvidia is investing $5 billion in Intel. Hold that thought.

The announcement says the partnership will span both enterprise-class AI products and consumer PCs. It's the latter we're most interested in, of course, so here's what the statement has to say about that specifically:

"For personal computing, Intel will build and offer to the market x86 system-on-chips (SOCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets. These new x86 RTX SOCs will power a wide range of PCs that demand integration of world-class CPUs and GPUs."

 

[avenue94]

So Intel and Nvidia are combining?

Or something?


EDIT:
Intel and Nvidia have released a joint statement revealing plans to work together to build new computing products based on Intel's x86 CPUs and Nvidia's GPUs. Oh, and Nvidia is investing $5 billion in Intel. Hold that thought.

The announcement says the partnership will span both enterprise-class AI products and consumer PCs. It's the latter we're most interested in, of course, so here's what the statement has to say about that specifically:

"For personal computing, Intel will build and offer to the market x86 system-on-chips (SOCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets. These new x86 RTX SOCs will power a wide range of PCs that demand integration of world-class CPUs and GPUs."

Latter, it's a lifeline for Intel and insurance for Nvidia. Buying their fabs is too expensive and buying their x86 IP is legally impossible.

Arc is almost certainly dead too after celestial, maybe druid.

 

[DougieJones]

Latter, it's a lifeline for Intel and insurance for Nvidia. Buying their fabs is too expensive and buying their x86 IP is legally impossible.

Arc is almost certainly dead too after celestial, maybe druid.

Were Arc cards any good?

 

[avenue94]

Were Arc cards any good?

For consumers who were willing to put up with growing pains yes, in an absolute sense no, financially no, for where Intel was at in development they weren't bad.

Celestial will still go to market for Panther Lake end of year, but as a dGPU it's tough to say now.

 

[KidBaize]

I'm partial to linear switches myself. I used Cherry SIlent Reds for a long time until I tried Gateron Silent Reds (5 pin), found the cherry silent reds to be too harsh/sratchy sounding in comparison. I do have the MX Speeds (3 pin) switches and actually use them for the WASD, space bar, backspace, enter and shift and the Gateron Silent Reds for everything else. So my keyboard is a Frankenstein mix of those two. I also have the Gateron Pro V3 Reds but found them to bee a bit too loud. They were very smooth though.

I also have the Akko CS Wine Red Switches and Akko CS Crystal and they were fine but I didn't like the sound.

I use cherry browns. How do linear reds feel by comparison? Can you rest on the keyboard without pressing any keys? How much resistance do keys have?

 

[Slobodan]

I use cherry browns. How do linear reds feel by comparison? Can you rest on the keyboard without pressing any keys? How much resistance do keys have?

Cherry browns are tactile. Linears are "smoother" because they don't have that "bump" when you press down. I remember one comparison being that linears are like a smooth road and tactiles are like a road with a speed hump. Tactiles feel better for typing though, linears are better for gaming.

Yeah you can rest on the keyboard without pressing them, resistance is a little less than Browns.

Keychron has a good chart:



"Clicky' would be Cherry MX Blues (I fucking hate those and if you work in an office you coworkers will hate you for using it lol)

There are slight variations with different switches from different brands, whether they come prelubed will also be a factor in noise and feel.






There are more brands but these are the main three. Cherry is the most famous of course because they were the originals but after their patent ran out, all the other companies like Gateron and Kailh started making switches which gave a lot more choice. Seriously, the keyboard segment is one of the most surprising niches within the PC space. When you start going down the rabbit hole, you'll see how much people get into this stuff and what lengths they go to in order to get the best sounding keyboard. I just have surface level knowledge lol.

Cherry came out with V2 or MKII versions of their switches not long ago but I haven't tested them out yet.

 

[KidBaize]

Cherry browns are tactile. Linears are "smoother" because they don't have that "bump" when you press down. I remember one comparison being that linears are like a smooth road and tactiles are like a road with a speed hump. Tactiles feel better for typing though, linears are better for gaming.

Yeah you can rest on the keyboard without pressing them, resistance is a little less than Browns.

Keychron has a good chart:

View attachment 1112922

"Clicky' would be Cherry MX Blues (I fucking hate those and if you work in an office you coworkers will hate you for using it lol)

There are slight variations with different switches from different brands, whether they come prelubed will also be a factor in noise and feel.

View attachment 1112923
View attachment 1112924
View attachment 1112925
View attachment 1112926

There are more brands but these are the main three. Cherry is the most famous of course because they were the originals but after their patent ran out, all the other companies like Gateron and Kailh started making switches which gave a lot more choice. Seriously, the keyboard segment is one of the most surprising niches within the PC space. When you start going down the rabbit hole, you'll see how much people get into this stuff and what lengths they go to in order to get the best sounding keyboard. I just have surface level knowledge lol.

Cherry came out with V2 or MKII versions of their switches not long ago but I haven't tested them out yet.

Thanks for all this. I've been using my keyboard for about a decade now so I'm curious about reds and even blues, although I can see myself hating the clacketing blues so I might skip those and pick up another keyboard with some reds.

 

[Slobodan]

Thanks for all this. I've been using my keyboard for about a decade now so I'm curious about reds and even blues, although I can see myself hating the clacketing blues so I might skip those and pick up another keyboard with some reds.

There are regular reds and then silent reds. Cherry has both and so do Gateron. But Gateron also have more variation for silent linears.



My opinion is that Gateron Silent Reds are better than Cherry Silent Reds (first edition), they are smoother. But Cherry did come out with the new editions of their switches so they may or may not sound better. Since you'd be used to brown switches, I'd try regular non-silent reds first.

I think Cherry Speed (silver) switches have a pleasant sound and feel pretty good as well, they do sound a bit "clicky" in comparison to other linears but nothing like the blue switches.

Get a keyboard with removable switches so that way you can swap it out if you decide to get new ones or if a switch stops working, it's very easy to put a new one in there. You can buy switch testers to see what you might like before buying a full set.

 

[Madmick]

So Intel and Nvidia are combining?

Or something?


EDIT:
Intel and Nvidia have released a joint statement revealing plans to work together to build new computing products based on Intel's x86 CPUs and Nvidia's GPUs. Oh, and Nvidia is investing $5 billion in Intel. Hold that thought.

The announcement says the partnership will span both enterprise-class AI products and consumer PCs. It's the latter we're most interested in, of course, so here's what the statement has to say about that specifically:

"For personal computing, Intel will build and offer to the market x86 system-on-chips (SOCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets. These new x86 RTX SOCs will power a wide range of PCs that demand integration of world-class CPUs and GPUs."

NVIDIA recently struck a similar partnership with Mediatek. They're rumored to be working on a smartphone chip, too:

MediaTek & NVIDIA | GB10 Superchip | AI Supercomputer

MediaTek Collaborates with NVIDIA on the New NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip Powering the NVIDIA Project DIGITS Personal AI Supercomputer

www.mediatek.com

Qualcomm is also developing chips specifically to pair with their stuff:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/19/qualcomm-to-launch-data-center-processors-that-link-to-nvidia-chips.html

NVIDIA is moving aggressively to lock down the data center business. That's where the big money is. FFS, Google is signing mega-deals to secure cheap nuclear power in places like Tennessee that have the good sense to use nuclear power while idiot states like California fall behind, and lose all that revenue. That's how many servers these tech giants plan to run in the coming years. Just keeping the damn lights on is their top cost concern.

 

[DougieJones]

NVIDIA recently struck a similar partnership with Mediatek. They're rumored to be working on a smartphone chip, too:

MediaTek & NVIDIA | GB10 Superchip | AI Supercomputer

MediaTek Collaborates with NVIDIA on the New NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip Powering the NVIDIA Project DIGITS Personal AI Supercomputer

www.mediatek.com

Qualcomm is also developing chips specifically to pair with their stuff:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/19/qualcomm-to-launch-data-center-processors-that-link-to-nvidia-chips.html

NVIDIA is moving aggressively to lock down the data center business. That's where the big money is. FFS, Google is signing mega-deals to secure cheap nuclear power in places like Tennessee that have the good sense to use nuclear power while idiot states like California fall behind, and lose all that revenue. That's how many servers these tech giants plan to run in the coming years. Just keeping the damn lights on is their top cost concern.

Do you think this need for power for AI and data centers is going to push a ton of money into the research/development of new/cheaper power sources or plants?

 

[Madmick]

Do you think this need for power for AI and data centers is going to push a ton of money into the research/development of new/cheaper power sources or plants?

God, I hope so. I'm a nuclear power advocate. If we want to keep up with China, it won't be on coal & oil.

 

[DougieJones]

God, I hope so. I'm a nuclear power advocate. If we want to keep up with China, it won't be on coal & oil.

100% agree

 

[avenue94]

NVIDIA recently struck a similar partnership with Mediatek. They're rumored to be working on a smartphone chip, too:

MediaTek & NVIDIA | GB10 Superchip | AI Supercomputer

MediaTek Collaborates with NVIDIA on the New NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip Powering the NVIDIA Project DIGITS Personal AI Supercomputer

www.mediatek.com

Qualcomm is also developing chips specifically to pair with their stuff:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/19/qualcomm-to-launch-data-center-processors-that-link-to-nvidia-chips.html

NVIDIA is moving aggressively to lock down the data center business. That's where the big money is. FFS, Google is signing mega-deals to secure cheap nuclear power in places like Tennessee that have the good sense to use nuclear power while idiot states like California fall behind, and lose all that revenue. That's how many servers these tech giants plan to run in the coming years. Just keeping the damn lights on is their top cost concern.

Nvidia didn't invest in Mediatek, Intel is more insurance for TSMC and if mediatek and ARM don't deliver.

Pretty different motivations, particularly since Nvidia and Mediatek are about a year behind schedule and Mediatek has nowhere near the channel access that Intel has in terms of shoppers Nvidia wants. Also doesn't make much sense for Nvidia to break into smartphones.

 

[Madmick]

Nvidia didn't invest in Mediatek, Intel is more insurance for TSMC and if mediatek and ARM don't deliver.

Pretty different motivations, particularly since Nvidia and Mediatek are about a year behind schedule and Mediatek has nowhere near the channel access that Intel has in terms of shoppers Nvidia wants. Also doesn't make much sense for Nvidia to break into smartphones.

I'm sure NVIDIA would buy Mediatek stock if Mediatek desired the liquidity. Intel bought at least $90 billion in its own stock in the last 10 years, so they have plenty to sell to float after a bad 2024.

Both partnerships are fundamentally alike in the most critical aspect: NVIDIA seeks to cement a monopoly for NVLink in (AI) datacenters.

 

[avenue94]

I'm sure NVIDIA would buy Mediatek stock if Mediatek desired the liquidity. Intel bought at least $90 billion in its own stock in the last 10 years, so they have plenty to sell to float after a bad 2024.

Less likely, Nvidia doesn't invest in its SI's, that's bad for business in the Taiwanese world and channel partner world. Not to mention for all the public joking and PR, Jensen and Rick Tsai have tension going back decades which was even obvious in the kind of ribbing Jensen did during Rick's Computex keynote.

Both partnerships are fundamentally alike in the most critical aspect: NVIDIA seeks to cement a monopoly for NVLink in (AI) datacenters.

The big goal is sort of accurate but the play is very different. Nvidia doesn't buy sever CPUs currently, let alone much of anything from Mediatek, but it will from Intel. This is much more about AMD and ARM, and the fact that Nvidia doesn't want to stretch itself too thin (which it already has) trying to compete with everyone in the market as datacenter shifts toward custom solutions and supply remains a massive bottleneck.

 

[KidBaize]

There are regular reds and then silent reds. Cherry has both and so do Gateron. But Gateron also have more variation for silent linears.

View attachment 1112934

My opinion is that Gateron Silent Reds are better than Cherry Silent Reds (first edition), they are smoother. But Cherry did come out with the new editions of their switches so they may or may not sound better. Since you'd be used to brown switches, I'd try regular non-silent reds first.

I think Cherry Speed (silver) switches have a pleasant sound and feel pretty good as well, they do sound a bit "clicky" in comparison to other linears but nothing like the blue switches.

Get a keyboard with removable switches so that way you can swap it out if you decide to get new ones or if a switch stops working, it's very easy to put a new one in there. You can buy switch testers to see what you might like before buying a full set.

View attachment 1112935

So I ended up getting this keyboard below. It's mostly for typing and office work so I thought for sure the reds would feel dead compared to my old cherry browns but I'm digging the thocky feedback more than expected. I've also always hated RGB lighting but it has some solid patterns that I'm quickly getting used to.

And since it came with a keycap puller I decided to deep clean my old board and give the keys a good soaking. I had always cleaned it with qtips and rubbing alcohol so it was pretty gross under the keycaps.

But the biggest surprise turned out to be that my old keyboard actually has Cherry MX Blues! Haha so all this time I thought I was using browns but they were actually the loudest mfers on the market.

Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 104 Keys Hot-Swap Mechanical Keyboard w/Aluminum Base, Upgraded Socket and Noise Absorbing Foams, Quiet Linear Red Switch

 

[KidBaize]

Reattaching some of these keys is a real pia. Shift, space, enter and backspace all have a little wire that you have to attach to both ends of the keycap before you can mount it on the switch. Super annoying.

 

[Slobodan]

Reattaching some of these keys is a real pia. Shift, space, enter and backspace all have a little wire that you have to attach to both ends of the keycap before you can mount it on the switch. Super annoying.

Yeah those are the stabilisers. You can actually lube those to get a smoother/better sound space, backspace, enter etc if you want (not necessary, it's just another option for customisation if you want it)

 

[Madmick]

You guys are fucking nerds.

 

[KidBaize]

Yeah those are the stabilisers. You can actually lube those to get a smoother/better sound space, backspace, enter etc if you want (not necessary, it's just another option for customisation if you want it)

Can I lube my stabilizers if they look like this?

The switches are non-swappable and there's no housing for the stabilizers (like in the videos I've watched)... they are fastened directly to the plate and then the stabilizers hook into little plastic clips on the underside of the keycap. I can lube the switch itself but I don't see how that will help the stabilizers.