What's your latest tech purchase?

[sam_86314]

Nice. the 5700xt really benefits form water cooling imo

I still have an irrational fear of water cooling.

As I said before, I'd love to get another Arctic Accelero for this card, but they appear to be discontinued.

how did you know to do the washers? or was just experimenting to get some extra pressure?

I've heard lots of things about mounting pressure and also watched the Gamers Nexus video on it.

Also @Mussels mentioned it.

And I'll also mention that the Accelero I got for my 1070 came with similar washers, and once I got everything dialed in, it made a huge difference to temps on that card.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Reminds me of a project I did as a result of bricking a Radeon RX 5600 XT, which the MSI Gaming X, has 2-8-pin connectors! The SCLK (core) could hit 2.0 GHz with the proper custom BIOS flash at 1137 mV.
I was able to play GTA V without a crash! I shouldn't have flashed back to the stock one!

As a result, my RX 5600 XT, became a "parts card"! I scavenged the thermal pads to correct an eVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 3 GB from 2016. There were thermal pads missing!

 

[phill]

Finally managed to catch up with my best mates parents who'd had a parcel for me at the weekend....



Had my eldest with me so not even tried any of this yet but hopefully soon

Also have a few more things to come but just waiting on the goodies Should keep me busy for a little while. Hopefully those Xeon's will go in the server in a few days and they'll be out the way! The GPU is an Asus Strix 3090 and that active rear back plate/cooler, man is that card heavy!! Since I need to swap out the hardware in the case, I figure it was best to get this one through before I needed to swap things out twice or something... Just got to figure out the tubing run for the card and where the pump/res combo is going to go and we should be fine!! The block needs a little clean so I might do that but I would like to think that with the liquid going in, it might self clean but I could be dreaming lol

Got a few other goodies over the weekend but sadly not really tech related

 

[SN2716057]

Got a free AC adapter for my Index headset from Valve today.

I asked Valve if they sold it separately or recommend me one, cause I want to use my headset for both room scale (living room) as well as fixed position (game room).
Steam support said they'll make an exception and send one for free. So YAY!

 

[GamerGuy]

Not a tech, but in a roundabout tech related way, I'd gotten an artisan keycap to go with the white PBT pudding keycaps on my Ducky Shine 4 69 Fire Edition. The pudding keycaps really allow a lot of light to pass thru, and that STEAM keycap is mostly metal, with shine thru STEAM logo...

 

[SN2716057]

Not a tech, but in a roundabout tech related way, I'd gotten an artisan keycap to go with the white PBT pudding keycaps on my Ducky Shine 4 69 Fire Edition. The pudding keycaps really allow a lot of light to pass thru, and that STEAM keycap is mostly metal, with shine thru STEAM logo...

Nice, where did you buy it?

 

[GamerGuy]

Nice, where did you buy it?

AliExpress, I have another one on the way, similar build quality as the STEAM one, it's The Witcher.

 

[AusWolf]

AliExpress, I have another one on the way, similar build quality as the STEAM one, it's The Witcher.

Please post pictures of that one too!

 

[GamerGuy]

Please post pictures of that one too!

Will do! Now looking thru my collection of keyboards for one that has red LED, would look awesome with the The Witcher keycap.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Might have to have a look for some puddings for my Anne pro II

 

[lexluthermiester]

Not a tech, but in a roundabout tech related way

Oh, this is definitely tech! You feel free to post about them.

 

[SN2716057]

AliExpress, I have another one on the way, similar build quality as the STEAM one, it's The Witcher.

Will you PM me the link, please and thank you.

 

[GamerGuy]

Might have to have a look for some puddings for my Anne pro II

The PBT shine through pudding keycaps come in black and white, forgot to mention that I have two sets of XDA PBT keycaps on the way as well.

Will you PM me the link, please and thank you.

Done!

 

[tabascosauz]

Here's a slightly less common combination for DCS, Orion throttle and Gladiator NXT stick - $380usd all together seems decent for the quality here. Glad to finally have a decent throttle (TWCS is a joke at $130usd, X56 is hot garbage, and using the NXT's throttle slider sucks) that can take some of the button binds off my stick. Maybe I'll pick up the F/A-18C or F-16C while they're on sale.

 

[R-T-B]

Here's a slightly less common combination for DCS, Orion throttle and Gladiator NXT stick - $380usd all together seems decent for the quality here. Glad to finally have a decent throttle (TWCS is a joke at $130usd, X56 is hot garbage, and using the NXT's throttle slider sucks) that can take some of the button binds off my stick. Maybe I'll pick up the F/A-18C or F-16C while they're on sale.

View attachment 233755

Since Saitek went MadCatz and basically became shit, I've been on the lookout for replacements. Thanks for showing me this, looks better than even early Saitek stuff by far.

 

[tabascosauz]

Since Saitek went MadCatz and basically became shit, I've been on the lookout for replacements. Thanks for showing me this, looks better than even early Saitek stuff by far.

People complain about how the pandemic+shortage marked up all HOTAS, but you'll be just fine if you go for real gear and not "brand-name" trash. Meaning don't get a cliche, hideously overpriced and underbult Thrustmaster Warthog or Logitech X56 setups.

VKB basically took over the entire low-end to mid-range market with the Gladiator NXT. It's not perfect but it's damn close. Below the ultra high-end (Virpil and VKB Gunfighter), it's really simple I think these days: T16000M ~$80, or Gladiator NXT $120/$150. Pair either with the TWCS throttle and it's the go-to affordable solution. Still waiting on the VKB TECS throttle so midrange is kinda empty right now, but Winwing does exist.

I tried a Logitech (formerly Saitek) X56 for a day, intending only to keep the throttle. It's a revised matte-black design now, but still just as garbage as the Saitek used to be. Ghosting inputs every few seconds, tried every USB port available to me, no bueno. Build quality was terrible - switches were fine but the throttle moved like inconsistent molasses.

 

[R-T-B]

People complain about how the pandemic+shortage marked up all HOTAS, but you'll be just fine if you go for real gear and not "brand-name" trash. Meaning don't get a cliche, hideously overpriced and underbult Thrustmaster Warthog or Logitech X56 setups.

VKB basically took over the entire low-end to mid-range market with the Gladiator NXT. It's not perfect but it's damn close. Below the ultra high-end, it's really simple I think these days: T16000M ~$80, or Gladiator NXT $120/$150. Pair either with the TWCS throttle and it's the go-to affordable solution. Still waiting on the VKB TECS throttle so midrange is kinda empty right now, but Winwing does exist.

I tried a Logitech (formerly Saitek) X56 for a day, intending only to keep the throttle. It's a revised matte-black design now, but still just as garbage as the Saitek used to be. Ghosting inputs every few seconds, tried every USB port available to me, no bueno. Build quality was terrible - switches were fine but the throttle moved like inconsistent molasses.

I had better luck with an early Saitek sample, but I sold it and never could get a good one again. Similar experiences. Maybe they were always inconsistent and I just got lucky? Either way appreciate the advice.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Here's a slightly less common combination for DCS, Orion throttle and Gladiator NXT stick - $380usd all together seems decent for the quality here. Glad to finally have a decent throttle (TWCS is a joke at $130usd, X56 is hot garbage, and using the NXT's throttle slider sucks) that can take some of the button binds off my stick. Maybe I'll pick up the F/A-18C or F-16C while they're on sale.

View attachment 233755

Love the throttle block, looks very well made.

 

[phill]

It might not be the latest and greatest, but definitely a purchase I've been waiting to find a decent price on... Hopefully it'll overclock ok



I hope it'll work in one of my X79 boards, hopefully will get chance to play with the CPU at some point....

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Short version: I got a new motherboard!

Spoiler: Long version

The saga is concluded. Hopefully. My impulse purchase of a 10th-gen platform has gone less than swimmingly, let's say. Mostly because my luck on refurb products ran out. Newegg had an MSI Z490-A PRO for USD130 with free shipping and a $30 rebate. "Can't beat that with a stick," I thought to myself. Being fairly pleased with my Z170-A and Z370-A PRO boards (the latter of which is also a refurb), why not roll those dice?

The impetus for all this was Micro Center's pseudo-annual fire sale of pre-gen Intel processors, listing the 10700K for $220. They also had 11600K's at $199. So my damaged brain thinks, let's get both, run both on WCG for awhile to see if the improvements on 11th gen make up for two fewer cores, and sell the loser for hypothetically no loss. Well. Funny thing. i5 runs in the Z490-A. i7 doesn't. Faults out with RAM errors on three out of four POST attempts. Also won't boot from USB on successful POST. But the i5 works like a champ. Bad proc? That'd be weird. I spend a week or so shaking trees to find someone local who'll let me drop the i7 in their board for testing, but come up empty. Fine, let's RMA the processor. This is all happening during the run-up to Xmas vacation, and Intel wants me to get a replacement chip from MC. Which I would, but they're 250 miles away, and I'm not going to get there in the return window. Intel agrees to my RMA.

Twist time: A friend is shopping for a new platform to replace her ancient A10-5800. She favors AMD, but they don't have anything competitive below $300. I convince her to go Intel and buy my extra CPU, which I sell to her half price in lieu of a Christmas gift. She also generously sends her board here first so I can test that i7 before it goes back. It works, of course. But the RMA is approved, and I'd rather pay shipping on a chip than a MB. So back that goes, and we play the waiting game. New proc arrives, aaaaand..... doesn't work in the Z490-A. Shizzballz. Now we RMA the bloody board. Which NE doesn't replace, since it was refurb and they don't have stock to replace it with. Ok, refund is fine, too. So I may as well just order the new board, right? But now deals on LGA 1200 are mostly gone. Refurb Z490-A PROs are still around, but from sellers I don't trust. Other Z490/590 boards down toward $100 don't seem that great and/or don't have any respectable review data. Stuff that does is $160 and up. What I do find is the below open-box for $165. I don't pay that much for boards. Like, ever. But fsck it, anything worth having is almost that much NIB anyway. So now I have way more board than I can possibly need or use.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

New proc arrives, aaaaand..... doesn't work in the Z490-A. Shizzballz. Now we RMA the bloody board. Which NE doesn't replace, since it was refurb and they don't have stock to replace it with. Ok, refund is fine, too. So I may as well just order the new board, right? But now deals on LGA 1200 are mostly gone. Refurb Z490-A PROs are still around, but from sellers I don't trust. Other Z490/590 boards down toward $100 don't seem that great and/or don't have any respectable review data. Stuff that does is $160 and up.

Sounds like my situation back in 2013, when I was having difficulty getting socket 775 motherboards! And that was when I only had the low-100s for dollars, back then even $130 was way too much for me!
But, where I got the used motherboard from, which looked good other than the socket, accepted the return and I got a working motherboard of the same model I was looking for, yess!

That was with the P43-to-P45 chipset upgrade of 2013. I already had a Wolfdale before I even tried to get the chipset upgrade. As I got a Wolfdale E8400 C0, an early-revision, which mine was known for the reported core temp to rarely, if ever go below 45 C or the like, LOL. But the chip was stable. This lead to a fun session in August of that year, where I got the FSB to 450 Mhz, IIRC!

It's strange! Why does your Z490 motherboard seem to work fine with a Rocket Lake, but not with a Comet Lake?!

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Sounds like my situation back in 2013, when I was having difficulty getting socket 775 motherboards! And that was when I only had the low-100s for dollars, back then even $130 was way too much for me!
But, where I got the used motherboard from, which looked good other than the socket, accepted the return and I got a working motherboard of the same model I was looking for, yess!

That was with the P43-to-P45 chipset upgrade of 2013. I already had a Wolfdale before I even tried to get the chipset upgrade. As I got a Wolfdale E8400 C0, an early-revision, which mine was known for the reported core temp to rarely, if ever go below 45 C or the like, LOL. But the chip was stable. This lead to a fun session in August of that year, where I got the FSB to 450 Mhz, IIRC!

Wolfdale was awesome.

It's strange! Why does your Z490 motherboard seem to work fine with a Rocket Lake, but not with a Comet Lake?!

Right!? The RAM error caused me to think that there may be some tiny difference between the IMCs that a flaw in the board didn't play nicely with; or since there was a core count difference, that a signal pin or two were bent just enough to not make contact, but not enough to be visible. Or rather than being bent, a signal trace to one or more of those pins is faulty.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

It's related to a tech purchase but I had to share what happened today anyway.

Lesson to everyone look at details when you buy, I wanted to run my ts100 soldering iron off usb-c PD and rather than get a DIY board I managed to find them in an enclosure with a DC barrel attached.

It was too cheap to get free delivery from China so I looked what else the seller had saw a pair of electronics side cutters and one of those shotgun tubes of epoxy (1plunger 2 tubes), perfect I thought and ordered it.


Week or so went by and today it got delivered

I'm not a giant I just seem to have gotten what I paid for no wonder they were cheap. "Honey I shrank the hand tools"

 

[Chomiq]

It's related to a tech purchase but I had to share what happened today anyway.

Lesson to everyone look at details when you buy, I wanted to run my ts100 soldering iron off usb-c PD and rather than get a DIY board I managed to find them in an enclosure with a DC barrel attached.

It was too cheap to get free delivery from China so I looked what else the seller had saw a pair of electronics side cutters and one of those shotgun tubes of epoxy (1plunger 2 tubes), perfect I thought and ordered it.


Week or so went by and today it got deliveredView attachment 233884
I'm not a giant I just seem to have gotten what I paid for no wonder they were cheap. "Honey I shrank the hand tools"

Keep phone close enough and they'll look massive.

 

[toilet pepper]

First time ordering from EK and bought things that are hard to buy locally. I bought 4 low profile 90 degree adapters and a few meters of ZMT. ZMT works with Bykski fittings.

I was able to order the low profile chrome fittings in their website and it says it was in stock but they sent an e-mail a few days after saying it ran out of stock. I had to pay the difference as this satin finish is more expensive than the regular one. You need an allen key to rotate the head once it's installed. I know not everyone has allen keys lying around but I prefer them because it limits the chances of stripping.

Here's a pic with a graphics card port and a 10mm/16mm Bykski fitting which should work with their ZMT.

Here's what it looks inside. There might be some flow resistance.