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January 2023 |
Monday Morning Reviews
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Monday, 30-January-2023 00:52:37 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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That was odd. Pulled my PC apart to clean out the dust for summer, and then had to spend an hour re-installing the GPU and USB drivers etc as everything was failing to detect. Anyhoo..
Motherboard & CPU:
ASRock B650 Live Mixer AM5 Motherboard on Tweaktown.
ASRock B760M PG SONIC WiFi Motherboard on FunkyKit.
Cases:
Deepcool CH510 Mesh Digital Mid-Tower Chassis on Tweaktown.
Lian Li Lancool 205 Mesh C on Tweaktown.
Storage:
Kingston FURY Renegade 1TB (Heatsink Version) Solid State Drive on APHNetworks.
Fantom Drives Venom8 2TB on LanOC.
KIOXIA BG5 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD on NikKTech.
Memory:
TEAM T-Force Delta RGB DDR5-7200 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
G.Skill TridentZ 5 RGB 6800 MHz CL34 DDR5 on Guru3D.
Kingston FURY Beast DDR4 RGB Special Edition 2x16 3600MHz on LanOC.
Sabrent Rocket DDR5-4800 32GB Memory Kit on ThinkComputers.
Cooling:
Yeyian Typhoon LII Master Cooling Kit on FunkyKit.
EK Water Blocks Nucleus AIO CR240 Lux D-RGB Liquid Cooling System on NikKTech.
Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora Edge RGB CPU Cooler on FunkyKit.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Maingear MG-1 Review: A Mighty, Beautiful Boutique Gaming PC on HotHardware.
Acer Predator GM7 1TB SSD Review - High Speed Flash on Tweaktown.
Input Etc:
MIIIW BlackIO 83 Mechanical Keyboard on ThinkComputers.
Cooler Master CK720 Review: Compact Hot-Swap Mechanical Keyboard on HotHardware.
Power Supply:
Be Quiet! Dark Power 13 - 1000W PSU ATX3.0 / PCIe 5.0 on Guru3D.
Thanks to Tony_L and Simon this week!
     
     
     
     
You Too can U.2
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Friday, 27-January-2023 00:21:04 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Hope you enjoyed Australia Day yesterday! Anyway, at my day job in a datacentre I've seen a lot of U.2 drives but never thought about using them in my home PC. Pinchies clearly has more imagination than me and has come up with a 3D-printed cooling adapter:
click for the thread!
Tuesday Morning
(8 Comments)
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Tuesday, 24-January-2023 00:48:47 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Sim Wong Hoo, founder of Creative Labs, died earlier this month. Creative Technology—known as Creative Labs in North America—was a groundbreaking player in the early days of PC gaming thanks to its long-running series of audio cards. After initially launching as the Creative Music System in 1987, the famous Sound Blaster line debuted in 1989, and quickly took over the market: Ad Lib, which prior to the arrival of Sound Blaster cards was the effective standard for PC gaming audio, lost so much ground so quickly that it was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1992.
There's a lot of chatter about AI image generation and related topics lately - here's a cool video about having AI generate the scenes in the classic text adventure Zork. Some adventure game fans at Google wondered what would happen if you used the output from the classic text adventure game "Zork" as the input to Imagen, Google's text-to-image diffusion model. To support the results we wanted we made some additions to Zork itself, which was a fascinating journey through an arcane language and a lost (but re-engineered) toolchain.
MUTMAN noticed this UNSW solar-powered race car setting a Guinness World Record. UNSW Sydney’s Sunswift 7 solar-powered electric car has claimed a Guinness World Record by going 1000km on a single charge in under 12 hours. The car, designed and built by students, posted a verified time of 11 hours 52.08 minutes for the distance at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Wensleydale, Victoria.
This is from a few months ago but it's new to me - von Stalhein spotted this fishtank PC case. The 21st century equivalent of the souped-up hot rod, a modded PC packed to the gills with glowing LEDs and other over-the-top adornments can be a unique way to show off your wild personality, or now even your Zen-like temperament, with a new PC case featuring a tank on top you can turn into a fully-functional and relaxing aquarium full of fish. Using the fishtank water for cooling would be bad, as any metals in the water would harm the fish.
It's been a long time since I moved a thread to The Pool Room - but I moved this one yesterday. :)
Tuesday Morning Reviews
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Tuesday, 24-January-2023 00:13:38 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU on OCInside.
Intel Core i9-13900KS Review: First To 6GHz And Fastest CPU Yet on HotHardware.
EVGA Z790 CLASSIFIED on TechPowerUp.
Ryzen 7000 Series Non-X CPUs on LanOC.
Audio Visual:
Yeyian ODRAZ 32" 4K Flat Gaming Monitor on NikKTech.
Arenti GO1 & SP1 Full HD 1080P Wireless Rechargeable Camera & Solar Panel on NikKTech.
HyperX Cloud Mix Buds Gaming Earbuds on Tweaktown.
ThieAudio Wraith Planar Magnetic Headphones on TechPowerUp.
Memory:
Crucial 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-4800 Memory Kit on MadShrimps.
TEAM T-Force Vulcan a DDR5-6000 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
TeamGroup T-Force Delta 7200 CL34 DDR5 memory kit on Guru3D.
Input Etc:
MSI Clutch GM31 Lightweight Wired Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.
Royal Kludge RK84 RGB Limited Edition (75%) Keyboard on FunkyKit.
Misc:
SilverStone Shark Force 120 and 160 Series Cooling Fans on APHNetworks.
Palit GeForce RTX 4080 GamingPRO OC video cards on Guru3D.
Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P MAX Computer Case on APHNetworks.
Adi's Retro Projects
(2 Comments)
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Sunday, 22-January-2023 11:47:34 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Over in the Retro & Arcade Worklogs forum, adicakes has a long-running thread where they restore old game consoles. It began back in 2021 with a Sega Master System refurb but the latest update is no less than four Game Gears at once!
click for the thread!
Thanks to MUTMAN and Simon this week!
     
     
     
     
Thursday Morning Reviews
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Thursday, 19-January-2023 01:05:52 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
Intel 4th Gen Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids Performance Review on HotHardware.
MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi on NeoSeeker.
GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER on Vortez.
ASRock Z790 Taichi Motherboard on OCInside.
Intel Launches 4th-gen Xeon Scalable & Xeon Max Processors on TechGage.
Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H "Sapphire Rapids" Performance Benchmarks on Phoronix.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Review - Affordable Zen 4 for the Masses on TechPowerUp.
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Review - Affordable Zen 4 Powerhouse on TechPowerUp.
AMD 65W Zen 4 Review: Ryzen 7600, 7700, and 7900 CPUs Tested on Tweaktown.
AMD Ryzen 9 7900 processor on Guru3D.
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 processor on Guru3D.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor on Guru3D.
AMD Ryzen 5/7/9 7000 65W Tested: Low Power, High Performance on HotHardware.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7700 & Ryzen 9 7900 65W TDP CPUs on NikKTech.
ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi Motherboard on FunkyKit.
GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Xtreme Motherboard on Tweaktown.
Storage:
Micron 9400 Pro 7.68TB Enterprise SSD on Tweaktown.
Silicon Power Elite 256GB Class 10 UHS-I U1 microSDXC Card on MadShrimps.
Lexar SL660 Blaze 1TB USB SSD on NeoSeeker.
Micron 9400 Pro 30.72TB Enterprise SSD Review - Master of Efficiency on Tweaktown.
Cooling:
be quiet! Pure Rock LP CPU Air Cooler on Tweaktown.
CORSAIR AF120 ELITE Fan Review - A Tender Hurricane on FunkyKit.
Thermaltake TOUGHLIQUID Ultra 360 All-In-One Liquid Cooler on NeoSeeker.
Endorfy Navis F280 AIO on TechPowerUp.
Input Etc:
Genesis Krypton 770 Gaming Mouse on FunkyKit.
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro mouse on TechPowerUp.
Razer Naga V2 Pro MMO Wireless Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.
Dream Machines DM7 Switch Duo mouse on TechPowerUp.
Video Cards:
PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB on Tweaktown.
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 OC Edition on Tweaktown.
Memory:
Neo Forza MARS RGB 64GB DDR4 4000MHz CL19 Dual-Channel Kit on NikKTech.
Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6000 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6800 CL34 2x 16 GB on TechPowerUp.
Networking:
NETGEAR Orbi RBK863S Tri-Band WiFi 6 Mesh System on TechPowerUp.
EnGenius ECW336 Wifi 6E Access Point on LanOC.
Misc:
eufy Security Video Smart Lock on LanOC.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 Bluetooth speakers on OCInside.
Wednesday Morning Reviews
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Wednesday, 18-January-2023 01:35:53 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Audio Visual:
Sonos Roam Charging Set portable speaker on NikKTech.
Quick Look: iKKO Heimdallr ITB03 Portable DAC/Amplifier on TechPowerUp.
FiiO FH9 Hybrid IEMs With Detachable Cable on NikKTech.
AFUL Acoustics Performer 5 In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
Creative Stage Air V2 Compact USB Soundbar on MadShrimps.
FiiO E10K-TC USB-C DAC and headphone amplifier on OCInside.
Truthear HOLA IEMs + SHIO Portable DAC/Amplifier on TechPowerUp.
Antlion Audio Kimura Duo headset on LanOC.
Yeyian Proud Series 3500 Gaming Headset on FunkyKit.
MOONDROP VOID Dynamic Driver Headphones + DAWN Dongle on TechPowerUp.
Video Cards:
COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Advanced OC-V on Tweaktown.
MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming X TRIO on Guru3D.
MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO on Tweaktown.
Inno3D GeForce RTX 4070 Ti iCHILL X3 on Tweaktown.
Inno3D GeForce RTX 4090 iCHILL X3 on Tweaktown.
Cases:
Streacom DA6 XL Open Frame ITX Case on FunkyKit.
DeepCool CH510 Mesh Digital Computer Case on APHNetworks.
Input Etc:
Corsair M65 RGB Ultra Wireless mouse on TechPowerUp.
Epomaker EP75 Triple Mode Wireless Mechanical Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
MSI Clutch GM31 Lightweight? (and Wireless) mice on Guru3D.
MSI Clutch GM31 Lightweight Wireless Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Lenovo Legion 7 on HighPerformanceLaptops.
MSI Vector GP66 on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 SE on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Power Supply:
Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 1300W Power Supply on APHNetworks.
Seasonic Prime Titanium TX-1300 (1300W PSU) on Guru3D.
This week got away from me a bit, so here's retro Misc Pics from May 2010.
7th May 2010:
     
     
     
14th May 2010:
     
     
     
21st May 2010:
     
     
     
28th May 2010:
     
     
     
Actually last time we had Retro Misc Pics there wasn't room for all the sets, so here's the final one, from 30th April 2010:
     
     
     
Forum Projects
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Tuesday, 10-January-2023 18:19:19 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Time to catch up on some more cool projects and reviews from the forums. Another good way to see what's going on is to hit the New Posts link.
Sharp X68000 Guide
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Tuesday, 10-January-2023 00:11:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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If you haven't heard of the Sharp X68000 before, don't feel bad - neither had I. Turns out they were a series of pre-PC home computers released only in Japan. But I just noticed in the Retro forum that Grant has posted a huge guide to their history, emulation, and even some actual hardware:
click for the thread!
Monday Morning
(1 Comments)
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Monday, 9-January-2023 01:02:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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AMD has some new CPUs on the way. AMD hasn't unveiled just one new Zen 4-based X3D SKU; it's announcing three across the Ryzen 7000 series, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Aside from 64 MB of additional L3 cache through AMD's 3D V-Cache stacking technology, which is a 3D chiplet stacking technology in conjunction with TSMC, all three Zen 4 X3D SKUs feature a 120 W TDP. They also have higher boost core frequencies than previous X3D chips, with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D boosting up to an impressive of 5.7 GHz on the core.
Also from CES is a new laptop cooling system. So, how does Frore's solid state AirJet cooling technology work? The firm, which is an Intel and Qualcomm partner, describes its AirJet coolers as "active cooling chips." Inside the slim black rectangular slab of an AirJet, there are an array of tiny membranes that vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies, generating "high velocity pulsating jets" of air.
It's always fun to have a project that can maybe kill you, thanks Branes. Sean Hodgins really harnessed the holiday spirit to create his very own Giant Spinning Holographic Christmas Tree (of Death). It’s a three-dimensional persistence-of-vision (POV) masterpiece, but as a collection of rapidly spinning metal elements, it’s potentially quite dangerous as well. As Sean demonstrates, the system can display other images and animations well beyond the realm of mere holiday trees.
HotHardware report on a new overclocking record - it's over 9000. An Intel Core i9-13900K has been nudged past 9GHz, to achieve a CPU clock speed world record. En-route, the current flagship Intel 13th Gen Core ‘Raptor Lake’ processor grabbed CPU performance world records in benchmarks like PiFast and SuperPi. Intel boasts that this is the second time since launch, just three months ago, that the 13900K has leapfrogged a longstanding processor overclocking frequency world record.
Here's a blog about building a C64 from scratch. Because its design was so clever and powerful for an affordable 8-bit home computer, it quickly became the most-sold computer in the world (Guinness record here). Almost 40 years later, there is still a massive community of retro-computing hobbyists doing all sorts of things with C64s: writing software, building new peripherals and accessories, reverse engineering MOS’s custom chips and creating modern alternatives, selling replacement PCBs or plastic cases from the old injection molds, you name it.
I never had a C64, but I had a 386DX40, 486DX2/66 and 486DX4/100 - this article covers the 486DX/50 and surrounding history. Volume shipping of the fixed 486 began in early December 1989 and the first 33MHz systems began appearing in February '90, the month that a second bug was discovered in systems with the new EISA bus. April then saw the release of the co-pro-less 20MHz 486SX and complementary 487 co-processor upgrade (technically a DX with a different pinout - Intel never made a discrete co-pro for the 486) and the first mention of their 50MHz model, said to be capable of 40 million instructions per second (MIPS). Considering that the DX/20 was capable of 20 MIPS, it's pretty impressive that Intel were planning to deliver double the power within a couple of years.
You'll be able to see a comet with the naked eye next month. Those in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to spot the comet in the morning sky as it travels quickly toward the northwest during January. It will not be visible in the Southern Hemisphere until early February. NASA says that it will not be as spectacular as Comet NEOWISE was in 2020, but says it is an excellent opportunity to "make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system."
Thanks to Redback this week!
     
     
     
     
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Reviews
(1 Comments)
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Friday, 6-January-2023 12:31:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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NVIDIA have released the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, with the same Ada Lovelace architecture as the flagship cards, at a lower price point. There is apparently no plan for a Founders Edition, just add-in cards from the various manufacturers. So, here's a few reviews:
MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPRIM X on Tweaktown.
RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Edition on BabelTechReviews.
MSI RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X on LanOC.
ASUS TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC on HotHardware.
ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4070 Ti OC on LanOC.
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (Gigabyte) on Guru3D.
MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SuprimX on Guru3D.
Gainward GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Phoenix GS on Guru3D.
ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 Ti STRIX OC on Guru3D.
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition on Tweaktown.
Palit GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GamingPro OC on TechPowerUp.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC on TechPowerUp.
MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X on TechPowerUp.
PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC on TechPowerUp.
ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF on TechPowerUp.
Discussion continues in this thread.
Friday Lunchtime Reviews
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Friday, 6-January-2023 12:28:24 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero on FunkyKit.
MSI MEG X670E GODLIKE on Tweaktown.
ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WiFi on FunkyKit.
Input Etc:
Turtle Beach Atom Controller Mobile Gamepad on APHNetworks.
Yeyian AKIL 3500 TKL Gaming Keyboard on FunkyKit.
Keydous NJ81 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
Corsair Katar Elite Wireless Optical Mouse on APHNetworks.
ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Gaming Keyboard on Tweaktown.
Audio Visual:
HIFIMAN EF400 Desktop R2R DAC and Headphone Amplifier on TechPowerUp.
ASRock Phantom Gaming PG34WQ15R2B Monitor on Tweaktown.
Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q - Mini-LED HDR Gaming Excellence on TechPowerUp.
1MORE EVO Bluetooth Earphones on APHNetworks.
Storage:
Phison E26 B58R 1,600MT 2TB SSD Preview - PCIe Gen5 storage is here on Tweaktown.
Phison E26 SSD Preview: PCIe 5 Storage Breaks Out For 2023 on HotHardware.
Sabrent Rocket Nano V2 4TB SSD on Tweaktown.
Video Cards:
ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4090 OC on Vortez.
AORUS RTX 4080 MASTER on Vortez.
Cooling:
DeepCool AK500 air cooler on TechPowerUp.
EK-Quantum Magnitude CPU Water Block (LGA 1700) on TechPowerUp.
DeepCool AK620 WH CPU Dual-Tower Cooler on FunkyKit.
Memory:
G.SKILL Flare X5 DDR5-6000 CL32 (AMD) 2x 16 GB on TechPowerUp.
Neo Forza 2x32GB DDR4 3200MHz SODIMM Memory Kit on MadShrimps.
Misc:
Laifen Swift & Swift Special Hair Dryers on NikKTech.
Blender 3.4 Performance Deep-dive: Cycles, Eevee & Viewport on TechGage.
Hyte Y40 case on Guru3D.
Retro Gaming January 2023
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Tuesday, 3-January-2023 15:19:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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This month's "Retro Let's Play" is Wizball from 1987. Wizball is a unique shoot ’em up that came out in 1987 and was coded by Sensible Software's Jon Hare and Chris Yates and was published by Ocean. Wizball came out on the Commodore 64 first and was also available on other 8-bit home computers as well as the then new 16 Bit machines including the Amiga and Atari ST. The C64 version is by far the best of them all, though i also have fond memories of the improved graphics on the Amiga version, the gameplay however wasnt the same.
click for the thread!
Meanwhile this month's "Retro Racing" game is No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking from 1999. No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking (also known as No Fear Downhill Mountain Bike Racing) is a mountain bike video game released in 1999 for PlayStation and 2001 for Game Boy Color. The Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows versions were planned but never released. An extreme sports game, the mountain bike consists of mountain tracks from circuits around the world of varying difficulty. The game was inspired by tracks including San Francisco's Telegraph Hill and New Zealand's Matukituki Rapids. The game has eight different riders and a number of tracks for the bikes to descend.
click for the thread!
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