Tech Gaming Hardware discussion (& Hardware Sales) thread

[jefferz]

Threadripper 1920X 12/24 core for $200!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CBJHCT/ref=as_li_ss_tl?th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=tecdea0f-20&linkId=04498d0304d2033d26ae048e9396d841&language=en_US

 

[PEB]

AMD announced the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X way back at E3 2019, a 16-core, 32-thread mainstream processor for release in September. And, we might actually have a clue as to the date this monster processor will hit the streets.

The AMD Ryzen 9 3950X showed up on German store Digitec, with a September 30 release date. Back when AMD announced the processor, it was for a September release – so a September 30 release date falls within that window, if only just barely.

• Here are the best gaming PCs you can buy today
• You'll want to pair the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X with the best graphics card
• We'll show you how to build a PC

It should be noted, however, that the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is listed on Digitec for €999 (about $1,120, £920, AU$1,650). This price is probably just a placeholder, as the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X was announced at a $749 (about £620, AU$1,100) price point.

 

[jefferz]

I found a guy on ebay selling 8Bitdo NES30 controllers for about $10. They're for the NES Classic but they're bluetooth so they can be used on your PC.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/8Bitdo-NES30-controller/383116522890

 

[Madmick]

Cooler Master is running another one of their combos assembled using /buildapc community feedback:
THE "COOL YOUR JETS, TURBO" BUNDLE
$190-$360 (depending on configuration)

You have to pick at least a Cooler or PSU to add to the case to obtain the combo.

• Case
  • Cooler Master H500P Mesh Case
• Cooler Master V series Full Modular PSU
  • None
  • 650W Gold (+$65)
  • 750W Gold (+$75)
  • 850W Platinum ($+135), includes Hyper 212 Black w/o additional charge if selected
• CPU Cooler
  • None
  • Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black CPU Cooler (+$15)
  • Cooler Master MasterLiquid LC240E (+$35)
• Thermal Paste (optional)
  • Cooler Master MasterGel Thermal Paste (+$5)
• PSU Adapter (optional)
  • 90 Degree PSU Adapter (+$10)

That Cooler Master H500P Mesh case is one of the best in existence, right now.

The Hyper 212 Black is another riff on their Hyper 212 design. The biggest difference from the Hyper 212X/LED or Hyper 212 EVO apart from aesthetics is the Silencio fan which offers higher static pressure, but less airflow. The effect of this with the Hyper 212's fin stack is that is appears to cool the CPU much better at idle, non-overclocked, or less aggressively clocked frequencies, even beating the Dark Rock Pro 4 on KitGuru, while predictably falling behind as you crank up the frequency. It should also maintain that more modest performance better at a lower RPM meaning you can run it quieter with the Silencio's 4-pin control. At +$15 it's a fantastic discount against the open market ($40) including the 212 EVO ($35), 212 LED ($30), or even the Deepcool Gammaxx 400 ($21). The liquid cooler is also an option, but there are much better alternatives if you want liquid cooling.

The V series are fully modular PSUs on par with the Corsair RM/TX/HX, Seasonic Focus, or Cooler Master's own newer MWE Gold Modular lines. The 750W is particularly attractive as a value, there.

The MasterGel is one of the finest thermal pastes on the market, right up there with Kryonaut, and is also a nice discount from the open market ($12).

That's a $270 vs. $342 tender (-21% discount):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hQpWGc

 

[Madmick]

Apparently the R5-3600 is outselling Intel's entire CPU lineup in many markets across the globe, but AMD wants to twist the knife. They're about to wipe Intel off the map:
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X 6 Core CPU Unboxed and Benchmarked – Faster Than The Core i5-9400F In CPU & Gaming Benchmarks

AMD Ryzen 5 3500X 6 Core CPU Unboxed and Benchmarked in China – Tests Reveal Faster Than The Intel Core i5-9400F
AMD is preparing two variants for the sub-$150 US market, the Ryzen 5 3500X & the Ryzen 5 3500. Both processors feature 6 cores and 6 threads which means that there won’t be multi-threading support on either chip, however, given their price point and the market they are aiming, a cut-down core configuration is expected. As such, these would be the first Ryzen 3000 parts with no multi-threading support.

AMD Ryzen 5 3500X Performance Benchmarks
The processor was tested on an MSI B450M Mortar Max motherboard along with 16 GB of DDR4 memory running at 3000 MHz and a GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB graphics card...As for gaming performance, multiple titles were tested at 1080p resolution. In PUBG, the chip was averaging around 80 FPS. In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the chip scored an average of 65 FPS with a min of 27 FPS and a max of 141 FPS. In Shadow of The Tomb Raider, the chip scored 77 FPS on avg. In World War Z, the chip scored 126 FPS on average with 171 max and 109 min FPS. Finally, in LOL (Leauge of Legends), the chip scored an average of 180 FPS and a max FPS of 222.

For budget-minded builders there are no better motherboards to pair this with than MSI's flash-enabled offerings. It wasn't long ago that Celeron began to feel like an obsolete line. At this point it's beginning to feel that way for the Pentium, i3, and anything i5 that is non-K, too.

 

[jefferz]

Apparently the R5-3600 is outselling Intel's entire CPU lineup in many markets across the globe, but AMD wants to twist the knife. They're about to wipe Intel off the map:
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X 6 Core CPU Unboxed and Benchmarked – Faster Than The Core i5-9400F In CPU & Gaming Benchmarks

For budget-minded builders there are no better motherboards to pair this with than MSI's flash-enabled offerings. It wasn't long ago that Celeron began to feel like an obsolete line. At this point it's beginning to feel that way for the Pentium, i3, and anything i5 that is non-K, too.

So the only difference between the 3500 and 3500x is the L2 and L3 cache? I figured the 3500 would be clocked a little lower. The 3500 might be lower binned though.
The 9400f had a place if you used Quicksync, admittedly I haven't dug into the topic too much, but I've heard Wendell say a couple times that x264 is just as good now. IIRC nvidia's own encoder, I don't recall the name off hand, is better than quicksync as well now. I'm sure it still depends on the program though.
Another thing I'm curious about is with cache sizes getting bigger and bigger, we're close to small programs like Cinebench being able to run in cache without having to store anything in RAM. What kind of effect is that going to have in real world performance.

MSI's customer service as absolutely atrocious and that isn't coming from Jay's video, it's from personal experience.

I wish AMD would start selling chips without the coolers. AMD has really knocked it out of the part with their included coolers, but I'd rather have $20 off a high end processor and buy my own cooler. For example, I ran the Prism on my 3700x and it did a more than adequate job at cooling but it was waaaay too loud.

 

[Madmick]

The reason's MSI's budget-minded B450 motherboard offerings are the best for shoestring builders, specifically the MSI B450-A Pro and B450 Tomahawk, isn't just that they offer the best bang-for-your-buck in terms of features, which they do, or especially the strongest VRM cooling in the B450 class for the newer Ryzen 3000 chips, but because they're the only ones that carry the flashback setting so one can install the BIOS update from a thumb drive to guarantee that you can post with one of the newer Ryzen 3000 series chips without needing an older CPU (or going through the hassle of requesting a kit from AMD). Many motherboards have been sitting in inventory, and there's no guarantee they ship with the BIOS update.

Pretty basic stuff.

 

[Madmick]

 

[jefferz]

I just checked ebay and was surprised at how much 1155 socket Xeons have dropped.
E3-1230 4/8 core 3.2/3.6ghz for $35!

 

[jefferz]

AMD's next-gen Zen 3 rumor: 4 threads per core enables 64C/256T chips

Prepare the salt shakers because this rumor is a doozy -- AMD's next-gen Zen 3 architecture reportedly features massive changes to its SMT capabilities that would enable 4 threads per core.
This means Zen 3 processors with 64 cores could have up to 256 threads, something that would be quite the leap from AMD compared to the current EPYC Rome CPUs with 64C/128T max. The 4 threads per core processors would be perfect for the data center and HPC markets, and would pave the way for gigantic performance improvements from all those threads. 4 cores per thread isn't exactly new, with IBM supporting it with its Power CPU architecture supporting a huge 8 execution threads per core. AMD would, however, be the first with 4 cores per thread on an x86 micro architecture. Software needs to catch up and support 256 threads per CPU, but in the data center and HPC markets this is already common. As for gamers, we wont' see the benefits of this until game developers really begin stretching out and using 16 threads... let alone 256 threads.

 

[ssBaldy]

That's what I want, there's like 4-8 big reputable, well known keyboard companies and instead Amazon has the following gems front and center:
YMDK, Arteck, Das, Macally, Fosmon, iClever, E-element, Azio, Nuklz, Perixx, JETech, Filco, Sungwoo, Kenesis, Goldtouch, SIIF, Adesso, Rocksoul, HUO Ji, E-SDS, DSI, Matias, iMBAPrice, HDE, Realforce, I-rocks, Fintie, iMicro, Cherry, Rii, Solidtek, Granvela,

Cherry is reputable, actually. Others are generic shite, yes.

 

[ssBaldy]

2011 Blackwidow Ultimate keyboard i used for five(?) years was fantastic. To this day it still works flawlessly. Horror stories i heard surrounded mainly their mice and drivers.

My razer Lycosa keyboard was a piece of shit. Sensor media keys glitched all the time (starting media player outta nowhere, changing loudness, switching tracks, etc) and some keys first got noisy then got broken.
Razer Imperator mouse developed double click in about 2,5 years. Repaired it, lasted about 8 months more. Soft touch cover got effed up after 2 years as well.
Never bying Razer again.

 

[PEB]

 

[PEB]

 

[Madmick]

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) Guts CPU Pricing In First Major Response To AMD (NASDAQ: AMD)

Intel cuts pricing in half with first major retaliation in the x86 price war
...Then came Ryzen...Fast forward two years and we have a turbulent market with mainstream cores at 8 and HEDT hitting 18. It also looks like Intel has finally made its move.

• Zen’s primary value proposition was offering similar performance to Intel parts, most of the time at a significantly lower cost.
• In the case of the HEDT market, AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation Threadripper parts cost you $55 per core.
• As of yesterday, Intel’s Skylake-X HEDT offering priced in at $103 per core. This is a huge price difference compared to AMD parts – one only a fraction of the customers would be able to justify.
• With Intel’s upcoming 10th generation HEDT lineup, Intel is dropping the price down to just $57 per core.

It is still slightly more expensive than AMD parts but an “Intel premium” of $2 is certainly a lot more palatable than $48!

Intel Announces Cascade Lake-X With up to 50% Price Cut, More PCIe (Updated)

There's little doubt that AMD's Threadripper lineup has wreaked havoc on Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT) lineup, and with today's Intel Cascade Lake-X announcement we see the impact in sharp relief: Intel has cut pricing of its chips by up to 50% in preparation for AMD's next-gen Threadripper chips. The price cut is also needed to deal with AMD's delayed 16-core 32-thread Ryzen 9 3950X that will land for a mere $750 on mainstream platforms.

The new Cascade Lake-X processors feature higher clock speeds and a new Turbo Boost 3.0 implementation, support more RAM capacity at faster speeds, and bring more PCIe lanes. The chips will be available in November 2019 and also come with some notable technology additions at both the chip and the platform level. Intel has also infused more of its hardware-based security mitigations into the silicon.

AMD bringing it like Commander Cody:

Hopefully this translates to Intel's next generation of gaming CPUs.

 

[Madmick]

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X Hits 4.3 GHz On All 16 Cores With Water Cooling

AMD's 16-core 32-thread Ryzen 9 3950X may have hit a small snag on its way to market, but the enthusiast world is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new record-setting core count for the mainstream desktop. And according to Gigabyte, overclockers may have even more reason to be excited than "just" a generous helping of cores and threads.

Gigabyte has released a Ryzen 9 3950X overclocking guide where the motherboard manufacturer was able to push its sample to an impressive 4.3 GHz on all 16 cores while using a beefy liquid cooling solution, and at a mere ~1.4V.

*Ryzen 9 3950X benchmarks from Gigabyte, other results from Tom's Hardware labs

Gigabyte paired its Ryzen 9 3950X with the brand's own X570 Aorus Master motherboard, Aorus 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200 memory kit and EKWB's EK-KIT P360 liquid cooling kit. The motherboard manufacturer used Cinebench R15 to evaluate the 16-core chip's stock and overclocked performance, which allows us to compare those results to ours.

At stock, the Ryzen 9 3950X scored 3,932 points in Cinebench R15, which is 92.4% faster than a stock Core i9-9900K and 81% faster than the Core i9-9900K overclocked to 5 GHz on all cores (which would be similar to a stock Core i9-9900KS)...

At stock settings, AMD's upcoming flagship also delivers up to 25.5% more performance than the existing Ryzen 9 3900X. As you can see above, the results are even more impressive once Gigabyte pushed the chip to 4.3 GHz.

The fact that the Ryzen 9 3950X could hit 4.3 GHz on all its cores is a great achievement, especially when Ryzen 3000-series processors are famous for not having much manual overclocking headroom. For comparison, our Ryzen 9 3900X sample, which has four fewer cores, maxes out at 4.1 GHz. That implies that AMD is setting aside the absolute best 7nm dies for its 16-core, 32-thread chip...

This doesn't necessarily mean it will higher single core turbos as promised, but given the superior binning, this is a strong indicator it will.

It will be very interesting to see how this chip performs in games.

 

[IloveTHIS]

Figured I would post my next build here. Didn't see another thread specifically for this.

Still subject to change, but as it stands:
(Warning, its flashy)

will design my own tempered case and still deciding on what I want to do for a watercooling setup. Probably just get a basic AIO. Not completely sure about the 9400f, might fork up the money to go bigger.

i5 9400f
Asus z390 mobo
Gigabyte RTX 2060 Super
32gb G.Skill trident Royal 3200
Corsair 850

 

[jefferz]

Figured I would post my next build here. Didn't see another thread specifically for this.

Still subject to change, but as it stands:
(Warning, its flashy)

will design my own tempered case and still deciding on what I want to do for a watercooling setup. Probably just get a basic AIO. Not completely sure about the 9400f, might fork up the money to go bigger.

i5 9400f
Asus z390 mobo
Gigabyte RTX 2060 Super
32gb G.Skill trident Royal 3200
Corsair 850

Howzit!
If you go with the 9400f, there's no reason to buy a Z390 board. Only reason to buy a Z Intel board is for overclocking and the 9400f can't be overclocked.
That power supply is way overkill. a 650w power supply will be plenty, arguably overkill. Even though modern stuff is more powerful, they use less electricity than the previous generations.

Consider this:
Ryzen 5 3600 Asus TUF X470. The Ryzen 3600 is about 800 more Rand ($50ish USD) than the Intel 9400f, but you'll need to but a different cpu cooler with the Intel cpu unless you want to listen to a loud cooler all the time. The AMD 3600 comes with a more than adequate cooler.
The 3600 will last longer than the Intel cpu before you need an upgrade. The 9400f is 6 cores and no hyperthreading, the 3600 has 6 cores and 6 hyperthreaded cores. The AMD comes with the new Gears of War if that game interests you.
Ryzen 5 3600 vs I5-9400f benchmarks.

UFD Tech is selling off his stuff to help pay for his sons medical bills. Depending on where you're at, you might be able to pick up some deals.

 

[IloveTHIS]

Howzit!
If you go with the 9400f, there's no reason to buy a Z390 board. Only reason to buy a Z Intel board is for overclocking and the 9400f can't be overclocked.
That power supply is way overkill. a 650w power supply will be plenty, arguably overkill. Even though modern stuff is more powerful, they use less electricity than the previous generations.

Consider this:
Ryzen 5 3600 Asus TUF X470. The Ryzen 3600 is about 800 more Rand ($50ish USD) than the Intel 9400f, but you'll need to but a different cpu cooler with the Intel cpu unless you want to listen to a loud cooler all the time. The AMD 3600 comes with a more than adequate cooler.
The 3600 will last longer than the Intel cpu before you need an upgrade. The 9400f is 6 cores and no hyperthreading, the 3600 has 6 cores and 6 hyperthreaded cores. The AMD comes with the new Gears of War if that game interests you.
Ryzen 5 3600 vs I5-9400f benchmarks.

UFD Tech is selling off his stuff to help pay for his sons medical bills. Depending on where you're at, you might be able to pick up some deals.

thanks for the input! yea thats the main reason I wasn't sure about the 9400f. I like to be able to overclock. But it seemed like a good budget choice for now to potentially up grade in the future.

I've never went AMD with any of my builds but I'm definitely considering it...

how capable are the 3600/3600x with overclocking? I'm still using an OG it 2500k...what I love about that chip as outdated as it is, I was able to OC it from 2.5ghz to 5ghz for years and it was rock solid. Is it common for AMD chips to have that much extra potential over base?

 

[jefferz]

thanks for the input! yea thats the main reason I wasn't sure about the 9400f. I like to be able to overclock. But it seemed like a good budget choice for now to potentially up grade in the future.

I've never went AMD with any of my builds but I'm definitely considering it...

how capable are the 3600/3600x with overclocking? I'm still using an OG it 2500k...what I love about that chip as outdated as it is, I was able to OC it from 2.5ghz to 5ghz for years and it was rock solid. Is it common for AMD chips to have that much extra potential over base?

The F at the end of the 9400f just means it doesn't come with onboard graphics. A letter "k", like your 2500k, means it can be overclocked. All AMD chips can be overclocked and they don't require a high end motherboard to do it.
AMD cpu's either match or beat Intel's performance these days. AMD in this past generation has closed the gap.
AMD's cpu's already boosts the CPU close to it's max. you'll pick up a couple hundred mhz by self overclocking. AMD cpu's also run cooler than the Intel cpu's these days.
Comparing ghz can be misleading. If you put your 2500k at 4.4ghz vs the AMD 3600 at the same frequency, the 3600 will win hands down. The 3600/3600x runs faster DDR4 memory, has instructions sets that the 2500k is missing, and you can use faster NVME SSD drives. Even every day tasks like opening programs will be faster.
The 2500k is starting to hit the point where you will see a very noticeable performance boost if you upgrade. Some people are arguing that the 3600/3600x is the new 2500k.