GPUs & CPUs & Enthusiast hardware: Questions, Discussion and fanboy slap-fights - Nvidia & AMD & Intel - Separe but Equal. Intel rides in the back of the bus.

[Brain Problems]

What is the supposed relation?

I misquoted, I meant to reference @The Mass Shooter Ron Soye but totally fucked it up. Many aporogies.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

What tools do you guys use for deep cleaning a pc? So far, I have this list:

- Vacuum (XPOWER A-2Pro vacuum)
- 99% isopropyl alcohol (for GPU)
- Honeywell PTM7950 (for GPU)
- Thermal Grizzly Graphene Pads (for CPU)
- velcro (for wire management)

So far I'm thinking, what else is needed for a deep clean? And for the GPU memory thermal pads, which ones would you guys suggest?

The sink works well for a lot of things, then I let it dry out in the sun.

For those that feel nervous when twisting off a CPU/GPU heatsink stuck to cold/old thermal paste, just hit it with the hairdryer for a little bit and it will come right off.

 

[/AMP/]

Well, it probbably won't hurt to try one more time. Will install the RAM again and just play the waiting game

Before you send those memory sticks back, last thing you can probably try is updating the BIOS (unless you are uncomfortable with that). MSI's website claims a BIOS update (from back in 2022) has "Fine-tuned memory compatibility". 24GB and 48GB modules seem to be a new non standard capacity, so that's my best bet on the issue.

 

[Aborted Drink Combo]

I ordered some Honeywell PTM7950, I'll run some before and after tests and post results here when the time comes. If anyone has some benches they would care to see, let me know. I'm currently using Arctic MX-6 on an AMD 7945HX3D.

 

[Susanna]

I ordered some Honeywell PTM7950, I'll run some before and after tests and post results here when the time comes. If anyone has some benches they would care to see, let me know. I'm currently using Arctic MX-6 on an AMD 7945HX3D.

Bear in mind you need to heat-cycle PTM7950 several times before it will perform to spec.

 

[Balr0g]

Before you send those memory sticks back, last thing you can probably try is updating the BIOS (unless you are uncomfortable with that). MSI's website claims a BIOS update (from back in 2022) has "Fine-tuned memory compatibility". 24GB and 48GB modules seem to be a new non standard capacity, so that's my best bet on the issue.

I mgiht try that as a last resort. My BIOS was never updated (drivers are from 2022 according to MSINFO). Would I just need the latest one from 2025?

 

[Aborted Drink Combo]

I mgiht try that as a last resort. My BIOS was never updated (drivers are from 2022 according to MSINFO). Would I just need the latest one from 2025?

Just download the newest stable release. I can back up what the guy you quoted was saying, 12/24/48 GB modules were not widely supported on release and sometimes needed a BIOS update. Hopefully that's all you need and the RAM works flawlessly after that.

 

[Atlas Sneezed]

So in the end it turned out to be the nephew of the famous GPU repair guy.

tl;dr his sister married an army alcoholic, they have kids and drives her to catatonic state, then hangs himself. Kid from that marriage is okay until he grows up to try weed, falls in with the wrong crowd, becomes a satanic hippie, kills mom

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HSTWmQMkZEw
YTDown.com_YouTube_AMD-chiplet-GPU-7900-XTX-starting-to-fai_Media_HSTWmQMkZEw_004_360p.mp4

Crossposting from A&N

 

[Post Reply]

Here an interesting deal from Dell Refurb, a funky ultraslim form factor that fits in a type of Dell monitor stand.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/item/dell-optiplex-7090-uff-000008/dell-optiplex-7090-uff/1.html

CPU - 1x Intel Core i5-1145G7 (4-Core, 2.60 GHz)
Memory - 32 GB (1x 32GB)
HDD - 256 GB (1x 256 GB SSD)
$230

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Here an interesting deal from Dell Refurb, a funky ultraslim form factor that fits in a type of Dell monitor stand.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/item/dell-optiplex-7090-uff-000008/dell-optiplex-7090-uff/1.html

CPU - 1x Intel Core i5-1145G7 (4-Core, 2.60 GHz)
Memory - 32 GB (1x 32GB)
HDD - 256 GB (1x 256 GB SSD)
$230

Might be good mainly because of the memory (is it single-channel? lol). There are cheaper UFFs and other boxes with the same quad-core Tiger Lake on ebay for less, but usually 8-16 GB RAM. I've seen this form factor before, but never used it, and don't know how well it's going to work without the monitor it was made for. Can you do display out over the USB-C port (that is also for power) or do you need to dock it to the Dell monitor stand? So anyone interested in it better research the thing some more before buying it.

I'm checking out 6c/6t minimum (i5-8400) OEM machines that can fit a full-height GPU.

 

[werbwub]

If you’re already going to the extreme length of delidding for direct die cooling, why wouldn’t you do liquid metal? Unless it actually performs better, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any data for that.

Admittedly I'm speaking out my ass on this but I believe the meta is to use lm when using the original heat spreader, an upgraded heat spreader, or a direct die block. When it comes to an aio, fan cooler, or standard gpu shroud; ptm or duronaout is recommended. I mean, you can use lm on those coolers/parts of the cooler but the risk of lm spilling out or causing damage to the cooler is greater.

 

[Curry Teafag]

A PTM or good thermal paste will be more than sufficient for direct-die cooling. You may see up to 30°C difference vs an IHS.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

I've seen this form factor before

Looks a bit like a laptop after you've removed all the unnecessary parts. If that Dell only needed USB-C(maybe the power adapter as well) to function it would be pretty neat.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Looks a bit like a laptop after you've removed all the unnecessary parts. If that Dell only needed USB-C(maybe the power adapter as well) to function it would be pretty neat.

It looks like a digital signage PC, but with less ports, which isn't a good thing even if single cable operation could be neat.

But it turns out Dell Refurbished chose not to show all the ports. You should be getting these on OptiPlex 7090 UFF:



There is a Dell Offset VESA Mount kit that can be used to adapt it to standard VESA mounts, but it probably doesn't come included with a refurb unit.

 

[StacticShock]

Vex just went and modded his 3070 to 16GB with the help of his friend that has solder knowledge.
i was wondering what chips he used since it wasn't listed on the video comments like the other stuff he used like soldering iron and stencils, etc... still, watching the video you can find that he used shamsung ones.

seriously, don't try this shit if you have zero solder knowledge from actual practice, also you can watch videos of your friendly (unless you are a greedy corpofag) NYC repairman Louis Rossmann in order to get a few tips too.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

A Gartner saar predicts that sub-$500 PCs will disappear by 2028:

Wccftech: “Entry-Level PC Segment Will Disappear by 2028,” Says Gartner, as Soaring Memory Costs Start to Cripple Manufacturers (archive)

The sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028.

- Ranjit Atwal, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner

Even if you are strict with the definition and exclude things like clearance pricing (I've found some nice stuff at Walmart) and all used/refurbs, I find it a little hard to believe.

If you are defining entry-level simply by price, retailers are currently peddling some shiny junk well under $500. This is a dual-core Celeron N4500 Windows S laptop with 4 GB of RAM for under $200 that I have laid eyes on. It's technically a PC running Windows 11, "new" as in sitting on a shelf unused for 4-5 years, had a $250 list price, and RAM/storage prices aren't going to affect specs of that level so much. I'm pretty sure in production Alder Lake-N laptops also get listed below $500. Maybe that will change with more expensive Wildcat Lake and LPDDR5X taking over the segment.

I think it was already common to see reasonably fast entry-level desktops get listed at around $600, before going on sale later. Think an HP Pavilion/OmniDesk with 5600G/5700G, i5-14400, Ultra 5 225, etc. Usually with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD. Then you find progressively worse non-sale options below $500. For example, OmniDesk w/ quad-core i3-14100 and 8 GB/512 GB for $479, and below that, a dual-core Intel Processor 300 (UHD 710 iGPU!) and 8 GB/256 GB for $380. That may be cursed, but it's still one of the fastest dual-cores ever (refresh of the Alder Lake-based Pentium G7400).

In 2024, Microsoft set a minimum 16 GB RAM requirement for Copilot+. Copilot is being increasingly acknowledged as a failure, but there are still lingering predictions (December 2025 article w/ November chart) of "AI PCs" taking over the market in the coming years:



If they are forced to include 16 GB RAM and that is making up 30-50% of the BOM cost, then maybe the sub-$500 PC is "dead". But manufacturers could certainly buck the trend and include 8 GB DDR5 in their entry-level offerings. Nobody is going to notice the missing "Copilot+" sticker. And if you want a dumb terminal to use remote AI services, 8 GB will work.

 

[harbringer883]

then maybe the sub-$500 PC is "dead"

I hate to break it to you but that was dead everywhere except America. Unless you where planning on buying a facebook marketplace special, there was no way in hell you could build anything half decent for under 500.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

I hate to break it to you but that was dead everywhere except America. Unless you where planning on buying a facebook marketplace special, there was no way in hell you could build anything half decent for under 500.

The Gartner press release doesn't specify a country, or how decent the computer is, just declares sub-$500 entry-level dead by 2028:

PC memory costs are expected to peak at 23% of the total bill-of-materials (BOM) up from 16% in 2025. “This sharp increase removes vendors’ ability to absorb costs, making low-margin entry-level laptops nonviable. Ultimately, we expect the sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028,” said Atwal. “In addition, rising AI PC prices will delay the projected 50% market penetration of AI PCs until 2028.”

After actually reading it, I see they address the "AI PC" penetration.

There are tens of millions of new office/entry-level PCs being sold with only integrated graphics. You're not getting a gaming powerhouse at the "entry-level", but iGPUs are getting better. Maybe the best "new" thing under $500 right now (in One Nation Under God American Dollars) are the remaining Intel Lunar Lake laptops being cleared out, such as the Core Ultra 5 226V (16 GB).

You'll be finding worse iGPUs in cheap desktops, with a discrete GPU upgrade possible even if the PSU is only good for a ≤75W card, but questionable options if you are limited to low profile, which many of them are.

 

[The Ugly One]

The "AI-PC" where you press up a button to bring up a frontend to cloud-hosted chatbots. What was that NPU for again?

 

[Max Weber]

What was that NPU for again?

For nerds to put in their 3d-printed racks and jerk off to 5 px/s locally generated images.