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What's your latest tech purchase?

Well, THG did review the PA120 SE, and they were pretty happy with it.;)

On my part, I just wanna try out a cheaper but good air cooler after years of being in the 360mm AIO fold.

Hard not to be happy with the PA120's price :laugh:

I always have the worst timing.
I pulled the trigger too early on the SS135, overpaid, and scratched my CPU.
I pulled the trigger too early on the PA120, overpaid, got the leaning Tower of Pisa, and now Prime from TR distributor for cheaper than $USD MSRP.

I've tested both the pa120 and se vs the u12a chromax. The u12a isn't as loud at all fan ranges (dual a12s)but the pa is better at cooling (both versions),in my backup rig, by 5-7c consistently. I far prefer the u12a mounting mechanism over the pa 120/se. It's just better. The pa 120/se is fidgety af to line up compared to the securefirms dead on everytime ease. So no destruction going on.
Nevertheless, You won't be disappointed in the u12a chromax, it looks sweet and performs very well on everything I've used it with. Price to performance the pa 120/se does crush it but what hsf can compete with it at less than $40?

Picked up a white cover for it too, cause why not. Always feel comfortable with Noctua. Over the years they sent me free mounting kits, free fan clips, and did that across-the-pond triple cooler exchange for me all free of charge with 2 day UPS Saver shipping. Secufirm is a trooper, given the hundreds of times I've remounted the C14S.

I think for sure I can see the PA120 pulling ahead on Intel. Heatsink mass is similar, but west-east heatpipe orientation (PA120) works perfectly for Intel dies and north-south is horrible (U12A). On Ryzen both are about equally bad LOL
 
Snagged one.. The most hated GPU on the market :P

I have to say i'm impressed with the performance/temps/power ratio.
Stomps all over my 3080 12Gb Strix card while never reaching 60C, mostly mid 50s in game.

Power usage usually stays around 230w so far, where the 3080 strix was around 350-370w.


IMG_0276.jpg
 
You have my respect if you can do it. I doubt my ability to consistently apply it in an oddly shaped pentagonal area with a large round hole protruding from the middle. These fans cost me $38 each, not happy to bend and butcher them.

U12A should get here on Thursday.
You cut it and place it on the rubber piece first, then stick it in
It's how I replace any rubber stoppers i break reaching screw holes in devices

Totally with you on not wanting to do it, however.
 
The most hated GPU on the market

I'm looking into one of these also. All the hate makes you embarrassed to buy one unfortunately but I prefer the lower power output and cheaper price.

Waiting for the 7900XTX release and price cuts to the 4080 to make my decision.

Nice card! (oops)
 
Nice! Excellent performance in those tests. What's your experience with it?
Can't say, I am buying parts now but can only assemble the 3900X rig when I get back to my home country in early February, will snag an RX 7900 XTX when I'm back.
 
Why is that?


Oh, that's right, you've mentioned that. Sorry man.
I think he'd made that comment because it's not selling well, and because it;s overpriced. It's a strategic move by nGreedia, price its 2nd highest card high, move the remaining RTX 3000 series cards off the shelves as peeps generally avoid that card. I suspect that when the RX 7900 series are released, nGreedia would make a price adjustment on it.


And, not a problem about forgetting that I'm overseas, heck, I wish I could forget it myself.
 
Added three 15mm fans to the bottom of my chassis to improve negative pressure.

I went with Noctua NF-A12X15 PWM Chromax Black 1850 RPM fans.

IMG_2463.JPG
 
Snagged one.. The most hated GPU on the market :p

I have to say i'm impressed with the performance/temps/power ratio.
Stomps all over my 3080 12Gb Strix card while never reaching 60C, mostly mid 50s in game.

Power usage usually stays around 230w so far, where the 3080 strix was around 350-370w.

Eh, forget the price (maybe waiting a couple of weeks would be better but you can't be sure of stock in these times) and placement and 7900XTX stuff, just enjoy it and play some RT games to feel good :D
 
How do people like the Radeon RX 6750 XT? I got the Sapphire Nitro+ version of it and it regularly gets close to 230W when pushed real hard.
 
Added three 15mm fans to the bottom of my chassis to improve negative pressure.

I went with Noctua NF-A12X15 PWM Chromax Black 1850 RPM fans.
Dunno man, Bit-tech fan-investigation (albeit old) showed diminishing returns past 3-4 fans in a case. You've got 7, so I guess if they are quiet enough ain't a problem. I was running all negative pressure for a while, no intake and for my system was perfectly fine.
 
I'm looking into one of these also. All the hate makes you embarrassed to buy one unfortunately but I prefer the lower power output and cheaper price.

Waiting for the 7900XTX release and price cuts to the 4080 to make my decision.

Nice card! (oops)

My thoughts exactly, the low power consumption is nice for a change.
I was complaining about the fact they used the 4090 cooler on it, but it never even gets warm.

Why is that?

Oh, Just the bad press mostly from the price they have been getting.
 
Dunno man, Bit-tech fan-investigation (albeit old) showed diminishing returns past 3-4 fans in a case. You've got 7, so I guess if they are quiet enough ain't a problem. I was running all negative pressure for a while, no intake and for my system was perfectly fine.
I can't hear you over my 9 fans! Did you say add more?!
 
1670345035959.png

Already calibrated my monitor. Have to say, I was surprised at how simple brightness change might drastically affect the color accuracy.

But no points to datacolor for delivering hardware with literally no manual, no link to actual documentation, nada. Just the hardware, link to support page and serial number.

Calibrated with DisplayCal instead of using the SpyderX software.
 
Already calibrated my monitor. Have to say, I was surprised at how simple brightness change might drastically affect the color accuracy.

But no points to datacolor for delivering hardware with literally no manual, no link to actual documentation, nada. Just the hardware, link to support page and serial number.

Calibrated with DisplayCal instead of using the SpyderX software.
Would love to own something like that. Enjoy it!
 
Some boujee packaging for a testbench

openbenchtable box.jpg

openbenchtable.jpg
 
I've had two EVGA mouse wheels fail and thankfully the third mouse has lasted until Amazon had a sale:

View attachment 273280

yaay love the G502 Hero bad boy!!

I've gone through a number of ~£60 mice and this one (for me) is simply the best!! Maybe the glove fits the hand beautifully or the thumb resting piece adds a little butter smooth immersiveness... i dunno, after getting used to it i can't see myself switching to anything else. The weight tuning at stock was perfect hence none added/removed. Love the infinite scroll feature too which is super useful with long-winded page scrolling (work/browsing). Plenty of macro keys and overall a well-built clickity click hand hog... what else can you ask for :)

It wouldn't be just to talk about her without sharing a pic:

20221206_222643 1.jpg
 
yaay love the G502 Hero bad boy!!

I've gone through a number of ~£60 mice and this one (for me) is simply the best!! Maybe the glove fits the hand beautifully or the thumb resting piece adds a little butter smooth immersiveness... i dunno, after getting used to it i can't see myself switching to anything else. The weight tuning at stock was perfect hence none added/removed. Love the infinite scroll feature too which is super useful with long-winded page scrolling (work/browsing). Plenty of macro keys and overall a well-built clickity click hand hog... what else can you ask for :)

It wouldn't be just to talk about her without sharing a pic:

View attachment 273300

Oh that's great to hear! I bought this somewhat blind based on experience with a G710+ keyboard that I've had forever. It was a great deal at $40 to the door.
 
Couple degrees improvement so far, but it is the end of the day so ambient temp is high. Probably will test the T30 fan swap sometime later this week. Frankly not sure if the PA120 is still worth my time.

It's a nice testbench, very sturdy. This is one of those times I'm glad I have the Impact. Whereas other ITX boards bend like a banana, the Impact is virtually flat under a U12A and 4lb GPU.

openbenchtable u12a.jpg
 
Oh that's great to hear! I bought this somewhat blind based on experience with a G710+ keyboard that I've had forever. It was a great deal at $40 to the door.
If your a g502 fan keep an eye on bestbuy. They will have them on sale for $30-$40 through out the year. Have to act fast tho.
$35 right now for black, $40 for white. They had the white se for $24.98 last year.
 
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