Personal computing discussed

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by Chrispy_
Thu Jul 04, 2019 12:15 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Need Advice On An Overdue System Upgrade.
Replies: 73
Views: 16643

Re: Need Advice On An Overdue System Upgrade.

If you can wait a couple of weeks the AMD Ryzen 3000-series reviews should appear. At a guess, the Ryzen 5 3600 and a B450 motherboard are going to be the sweet spot for most people, and that's a $200 CPU in a $100 motherboard. Leaked reviews and sales listings have meant that very little informatio...
by Chrispy_
Fri Jun 28, 2019 6:41 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Retro Build
Replies: 31
Views: 9045

Re: Retro Build

Still using a ThermalRight TRUE Black 120 to cool an i9-9900K, rather nicely, I might add. I will probably compare it to a Noctua NH-D15S shortly, but I really don't know which will win; the Ultra Extreme is amazing considering it's 11 years old. It was way ahead of its time. I heap praise on Noctu...
by Chrispy_
Thu Jun 27, 2019 6:50 am
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Retro Build
Replies: 31
Views: 9045

Re: Retro Build

Thermaltake is junk.
There, I said it.

Citation: 50+ various products over the years. The ones that work are usually of poor quality.
by Chrispy_
Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:44 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Need new tires
Replies: 13
Views: 2319

Re: Need new tires

I'm not saying there's no difference between braking differences and brands because clearly there is, but those differences are negligible compared to the hardness of the rubber compound, which itself is negligible to having having the right tread pattern for the season/terrain and the correct press...
by Chrispy_
Tue Jun 18, 2019 7:09 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Algae in our drinking water filter
Replies: 15
Views: 3083

Re: Algae in our drinking water filter

IMO scrub the filters as best you can and then add some pond treatment (chemical algaecide) instead of bleach; They're not quite as effective as bleach but it'll probably linger in the filter for a while and it's going to be less dangerous to you than drinking bleach if the filter is difficult to ef...
by Chrispy_
Thu Jun 13, 2019 8:07 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: How much VRAM for a casual gamer?
Replies: 12
Views: 4853

Re: How much VRAM for a casual gamer?

With the 480 and 580 line, the 4GB versions also run lower-clocked, cheaper Hynix 7GB/s memory chips whilst the 8GB versions use 8GB/s Samsung chips. so you're not just getting more VRAM with the 8GB versions, you're getting a performance advantage too. Beyond that, my experience with both leads me ...
by Chrispy_
Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:55 am
Forum: Gaming
Topic: Vampire, The Masquerade: Bloodlines II available for pre-order
Replies: 24
Views: 11811

Re: Vampire, The Masquerade: Bloodlines II available for pre-order

Why do people pre-order? There's rarely any incentive at all, and if there *is* an incentive it's usually freemium/mtx rubbish that only serves to make the whole thing worse overall anyway.

They're not going to run out of stock! There is no need to reserve your copy!
by Chrispy_
Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:01 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)
Replies: 40
Views: 10298

Re: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)

Don't preorder games. Ever. You don't get a discount, at best it's the same price but typically the game is on discount by the time the first major bugfix patch is out. CDPR are an excellent studio but they're not perfect; Don't let your first playthrough be ruined by bugs. Witcher 3 was great but e...
by Chrispy_
Fri May 31, 2019 10:16 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Cool and quiet: Undervolting a 1060 or 580?
Replies: 11
Views: 7317

Re: Cool and quiet: Undervolting a 1060 or 580?

Undervolting an AMD card is easier than undervolting an Nvidia card, from a software perspective. IMO, an undervolted RX580 will not be any cooler and quieter than an undervolted 1060. The 580 will end up at around 110W once you drop voltages to 975mv and clocks to 1250MHz. The 1060 is harder to pre...
by Chrispy_
Fri May 31, 2019 5:35 am
Forum: Processors
Topic: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)
Replies: 40
Views: 10298

Re: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)

They Ryzen 5 2600 is likely going to be fine. I would wait to see what the CD Projekt Red official recommended graphics card is and then buy that. They likely won't release those specs until the beta - probably a couple of months before official launch. In the meantime, you could buy yourself an SSD...
by Chrispy_
Thu May 30, 2019 1:07 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)
Replies: 40
Views: 10298

Re: Brand new CPU build for Cyberpunk 2077 (Budget Important!)

Wait until Cyberpunk 2077 is almost out. Whatever your budget is, you'll get more performance if you spend it in the future than you will today. AMD, Intel, and Nvidia continually compete to provide a faster product than their rivals at the same price, so whatever you can afford now will cost less i...
by Chrispy_
Wed May 29, 2019 5:53 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: AMD Navi / RDNA Topic
Replies: 121
Views: 33669

Re: AMD Navi / RDNA Topic

The Computex RDNA announcement debunks a few rumours but the main one is that Navi is a major architectural change, when linux drivers popped up indicating that Navi would be GCN5. AMD are citing a 25% IPC improvement which removes the 7nm clock improvements from the equation. The 25% has to be arch...
by Chrispy_
Mon May 27, 2019 2:57 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: 16 COARZ.... Not announced by AMD
Replies: 104
Views: 18257

Re: 16 COARZ.... Not announced by AMD

I'm surprised there's no 16 core announcement for the consumer 3000-series. I guess there are two potential reasons AMD might be holding back on that model: ⋅ At $499 the Ryzen 9 beats every Coffee Lake model Intel makes, using just 12 cores by the looks of it? ⋅ Why waste the mo...
by Chrispy_
Sun May 26, 2019 5:22 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: What is wrong with Seagate's HDDs?
Replies: 15
Views: 6170

Re: What is wrong with Seagate's HDDs?

One half of me wants to say "welcome to Tech Report" The other half of me is cynically wondering why your first post is about SEAGATE BAD, WD GOOD - especially when the best evidence of reliablilty this decade proves the exact opposite, with huge sample size. I want to give you the benefit...
by Chrispy_
Sun May 26, 2019 5:03 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Amazon Ordering Processing
Replies: 33
Views: 6720

Re: Amazon Ordering Processing

I'm rapidly finding what I want on other online stores now. I don't know what's happened to Amazon but they've turned into the worst parts of ebay, alibaba, and Steam, combined. They have far too many listings for the identical thing from the same factory line with different prices/reviews/descripti...
by Chrispy_
Sat May 25, 2019 2:55 am
Forum: Echo Vale
Topic: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set
Replies: 25
Views: 14395

Re: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set

I am fine with 2.0 audio for gaming but Krogoth said he has grown attached to 5.1 output for gaming.

What's the cheapest, non-garbage, HDMI receiver with 5.1 decode these days?
by Chrispy_
Fri May 24, 2019 6:42 am
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Mobo/Processor switch?
Replies: 26
Views: 7691

Re: Mobo/Processor switch?

OP's A4 is a dual-core (single-module) Richland architecture parts. Whilst it's true that Piledriver is an improvement on Bulldozer, it took until Excavator for AMD to reach IPC parity with K10 and Steamroller was really the point at which they finally surpassed the old Stars cores. This is why over...
by Chrispy_
Thu May 23, 2019 12:32 pm
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Mobo/Processor switch?
Replies: 26
Views: 7691

Re: Mobo/Processor switch?

The very fact that you are happily using a Phenom II means that you do not require CPU performance, so swapping the CPU and board is just effort you don't need to exert. That A4 is Piledriver, also known as "the rubbish, slow, inefficient one". Almost everything about the entire Bulldozer ...
by Chrispy_
Wed May 22, 2019 12:10 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

I would expect, based on rumours and leaks so far, that the range of Navi cards available at launch in Q3 will be designed around a 40 compute-unit die. Based on the size reduction of the 7nm Vega 20 die compared to the GloFo 14nm Vega 10 die, the engineering-sample PCB board only has BGA pads big ...
by Chrispy_
Wed May 22, 2019 11:40 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

It shouldn't have to be at $699!
by Chrispy_
Wed May 22, 2019 11:38 am
Forum: Windows
Topic: Windows 10 Build 1903
Replies: 20
Views: 7184

Re: Windows 10 Build 1903

My biggest gripe with DPI scaling on Windows is that Microsoft usually guesses the scaling value wrong, and then sets that wrong value as the default for every single user that ever logs on. The display reports its physical size and resolution, and that would be enough to ensure that printed 10pt fo...
by Chrispy_
Wed May 22, 2019 10:59 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

JustAnEngineer wrote:
New benchmark results from TechPowerUp:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Tec ... 019/2.html


Fine wine strikes again; It's gone from 10% slower at 4K to 9% slower at 4K
Victory for AMD!
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 7:07 pm
Forum: Echo Vale
Topic: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set
Replies: 25
Views: 14395

Re: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set

two pairs of bookshelf speakers with at least 4" drivers (ideally 5" or more) at $150 each You can find decent speakers for less. With some patience, half that much. And I'm not convinced PC speaker are that great anyway, any reviews comparing them to standalone speakers? I suspect even n...
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 6:23 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

While I'm sure we're past the patience of the other threadgoers; this isn't what I see. Yes, it's just a die shrink (with fewer compute units), but at similar clocks it seems to be significantly faster on average at high resolutions. That memory bandwidth is clearly helping there. It helps a bit; B...
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 1:05 pm
Forum: Visual Haven
Topic: TV show dvd bitrates falling badly...
Replies: 24
Views: 8042

Re: TV show dvd bitrates falling badly...

....and this is why people pirate everything, in 1080p.

Screw those guys. They don't deserve your money for low-bitrate box sets.
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 12:24 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

I've yet to see a Vega56 within 10% of the VII. Any sources for that? If you want a huge sample size, 3D Mark's online results database. It may be a synthetic test with no relevance to real-world game results, but in terms of A/B testing two identical architectures that differ only in bandwidth and...
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 8:22 am
Forum: Echo Vale
Topic: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set
Replies: 25
Views: 14395

Re: Looking for replacement for aging Z-5500 set

If you're happy with the sound quality of an old Z-5500, I second the recommendation to repair them. Proper home-theatre setup is probably not worth doing unless you're prepared to spend north of $650. A decent, yet budget HDMI receiver from Yamaha or Onkyo is going to set you back $200. Then you wa...
by Chrispy_
Tue May 21, 2019 7:49 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

I only game at 4K and it's definitely in the "competitive" bracket versus the 2080 there. It certainly gets a pretty great boost from water-cooling as well as using less power under water You say "competitive" with an RTX 2080 at 4K yet all the testing shows that a stock VII is ...
by Chrispy_
Mon May 20, 2019 9:33 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

Navi engineering samples are on a 256-bit GDDR6 bus, and AMD are certainly testing with board power up to 300W since they are using high-end VRM configurations and 2x8-pin connectors. I would expect, based on rumours and leaks so far, that the range of Navi cards available at launch in Q3 will be de...
by Chrispy_
Mon May 20, 2019 7:22 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?
Replies: 58
Views: 9308

Re: Radeon VII or wait for Navi?

The result is an overpriced, underperforming POS that sucks down so much power it's an embarrassment to both AMD and TSMC. 7nm delivers more speed at the same power draw, or uses less power at the same clockspeed. AMD seem to have taken that and delivered a zero-new-features Vega64 with 1/16th of t...
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