Tech Gaming Hardware discussion (& Hardware Sales) thread

[avenue94]

~6% performance increase over the 9800X3D.

Gotta do a few compatibility and retail pricing checks to see if its financially justified to move on from my 14900K.

If someone wasn't moved by the 9800, I don't know why one would be moved by this. But whatever brings folks joy.

 

[KaNesDeath]

If someone wasn't moved by the 9800, I don't know why one would be moved by this. But whatever brings folks joy.

Personally, enough time has passed on since AM5's release that the quirks have been ironed out. Another AM5 series launch is expected resulting in a potential future upgrade path if necessary. In a live service game i play where my 14900K is starting to bottleneck my 5080.

For quite awhile now my CPU's(and to a similar extent GPU's) are typically replaced before their three year use cycle.

 

[Madmick]

Apparently these laptop cooling pads have gotten legit. From the same Chinese brand that has been making big waves in the dual-analog controller space:


But fuck me, $90, it's like buying a Noctua, but for your laptop.

Amazon.com: Flydigi BS2 Laptop Cooling Pad, Wind-Pressure Closed-Loop Turbo-Fan for 15.6-21 Inch, Adjustable Speed, Dual Noise Reduction, Intelligent Temperature Control, 4-Angle Adjustable : Electronics

Amazon.com: Flydigi BS2 Laptop Cooling Pad, Wind-Pressure Closed-Loop Turbo-Fan for 15.6-21 Inch, Adjustable Speed, Dual Noise Reduction, Intelligent Temperature Control, 4-Angle Adjustable : Electronics

www.amazon.com

 

[jefferz]

Logitech was showing off their new haptic mouse, Pro X2 Superstrike, at IEM Krakow this weekend.

Apparently these laptop cooling pads have gotten legit. From the same Chinese brand that has been making big waves in the dual-analog controller space:


But fuck me, $90, it's like buying a Noctua, but for your laptop.

Amazon.com: Flydigi BS2 Laptop Cooling Pad, Wind-Pressure Closed-Loop Turbo-Fan for 15.6-21 Inch, Adjustable Speed, Dual Noise Reduction, Intelligent Temperature Control, 4-Angle Adjustable : Electronics

Amazon.com: Flydigi BS2 Laptop Cooling Pad, Wind-Pressure Closed-Loop Turbo-Fan for 15.6-21 Inch, Adjustable Speed, Dual Noise Reduction, Intelligent Temperature Control, 4-Angle Adjustable : Electronics

www.amazon.com

I wonder how this would perform against some of the more budget options. Amazon has similar style coolers with the gasket mount at $44, $64, etc. I'm assuming the noise level would be higher, but does it matter? Gaming laptop fans are already loud.
At $100, I would expect it to be a dock as well, or at least have a USB hub. Odds are, you're not taking this thing with you on the go, it's going to sit on your desk like a dock.
Or how it would compare to a DIY option with one of those $20 coolers with foam added to it.

 

[Madmick]

I wonder how this would perform against some of the more budget options. Amazon has similar style coolers with the gasket mount at $44, $64, etc. I'm assuming the noise level would be higher, but does it matter? Gaming laptop fans are already loud.
At $100, I would expect it to be a dock as well, or at least have a USB hub. Odds are, you're not taking this thing with you on the go, it's going to sit on your desk like a dock.
Or how it would compare to a DIY option with one of those $20 coolers with foam added to it.

The mounting is a nice touch, but I don't think that's what really makes a difference towards the cooling performance. The key appears to be the construction of their fans similar to what separates CPU cooler fans from case fans with a higher static pressure.

Right now we're in the dark. This is gonna take a deep dive from a channel like Gamer's Nexus to resolve and quantify a specification that can be most directly associated with the thermals so that maybe in the future these cooling pad manufacturers list some key specs that better inform consumers. Although maybe it will still be so complicated where the rubber meets the road that it will be like CPU coolers themselves, and nobody will really know exactly how good they are until they get reviewed. You'll just have a rough idea based on specs.

Worse, unlike CPUs, which are pretty much uniform, laptops have different hot spots. Notebookcheck maps that stuff. So where the airflow is directed might influence how well a cooler chills any given laptop.

 

[jefferz]

The mounting is a nice touch, but I don't think that's what really makes a difference towards the cooling performance. The key appears to be the construction of their fans similar to what separates CPU cooler fans from case fans with a higher static pressure.

Right now we're in the dark. This is gonna take a deep dive from a channel like Gamer's Nexus to resolve and quantify a specification that can be most directly associated with the thermals so that maybe in the future these cooling pad manufacturers list some key specs that better inform consumers. Although maybe it will still be so complicated where the rubber meets the road that it will be like CPU coolers themselves, and nobody will really know exactly how good they are until they get reviewed. You'll just have a rough idea based on specs.

Worse, unlike CPUs, which are pretty much uniform, laptops have different hot spots. Notebookcheck maps that stuff. So where the airflow is directed might influence how well a cooler chills any given laptop.

The mounting "gasket" absolutely has an effect on cooling.
You're forcing all that air through the vents of your laptop, instead of allowing it to spill out the side. Think of it like running your computer without a side panel.

 

[Madmick]

The mounting "gasket" absolutely has an effect on cooling.
You're forcing all that air through the vents of your laptop, instead of allowing it to spill out the side. Think of it like running your computer without a side panel.

Maybe, I don't know. I grasp the principle: a seal. But there could be a lot of factors, here, such as a how porous the laptop's chassis is. If the fan doesn't have a high enough static pressure to push the air through, then maybe a gasket trapping air like that just results in the fan choking itself with a pressurized layer it can't overcome. Certainly air will follow the path of least resistance, from higher pressure to lower pressure, but that isn't necessarily all that efficient.

I tend to think it's probably more like a CPU cooler. Sure, the rectangular framing around a CPU fan on a heatsink probably helps contribute to directing the airflow a tiny bit, but I suspect it wouldn't matter much a great deal if it wasn't there. I was under the impression it was mainly the RPM of the fan synergizing with the number, placement, curvature, and rigidity of the fan blades that contributed to the directional static pressure. I'm not an aeronautical engineer, and I've never seen any reviews about this, so I'm in the dark.

It would be fascinating if GN got in there and taught us more.