February 2024 - Overclockers Australia

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February 2024

AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (0 Comments) (link)
Thursday, 29-February-2024 12:25:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg

There's a surprising new GPU from AMD. To quote HotHardware's review: In late July of last year, AMD announced the Radeon RX 7900 Golden Rabbit Edition, or GRE, at the ChinaJoy expo. The Radeon RX 7900 GRE was originally meant to be exclusive to the Chinese market, but that strategy has since shifted, and AMD is releasing the card into additional markets today, including the U.S. If you missed the original announcement, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the most affordable entry point of the RX 7900 series, and the card slots in just below the Radeon RX 7900 XT. Here's some reviews from the news box:

Sapphire PURE RX 7900 GRE on LanOC.
XFX Radeon RX 7900 GRE Review - Great GPU, Confusing Name on Tweaktown.
PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 GRE on LanOC.
ASRock Radeon RX 7900 GRE Review: AMD Almost Hits The Sweet Spot on HotHardware.
Sapphire PURE Radeon RX 7900 GRE Gaming OC 16GB on Guru3D.
PowerColor Radeon RX 7900 GRE HellHound 16GB on Guru3D.
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16GB on Guru3D.
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 GRE Pure on TechPowerUp.
ASRock Radeon RX 7900 GRE Steel Legend on TechPowerUp.
Sapphire RX 7900 GRE Nitro+ on TechPowerUp.
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 GRE Pulse on TechPowerUp.
Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7900 GRE Review - AMD Strikes Back on Tweaktown.

Discussion continues in this thread.

Wednesday Night Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
Wednesday, 28-February-2024 23:28:04 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Audio Visual:
NEEWER DL300 Upgraded Motorized Camera Dolly Kit on FunkyKit.
AOC U28G2XU2 Monitor on TechPowerUp.
ZiiGaat x HBB Jupiter In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
AVerMedia Live Streamer Ultra HD GC571 PCIe Capture Card on APHNetworks.

Cases:
be quiet! Shadow Base 800 Mid-Tower Chassis on Tweaktown.
Corsair 2500D AIRFLOW PC chassis on Guru3D.
Corsair 6500X on TechPowerUp.
Corsair 6500D Airflow on ThinkComputers.

Misc:
Sabrent Rocket 5 2TB SSD Review - Fastest of Sabrent's SSDs on Tweaktown.
ANACOMDA Eryx Tataricus RGB 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHz Memory Kit on MadShrimps.
SilverStone HELA 850R Platinum PSU on NikKTech.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming OC GPU on ThinkComputers.
MSI Aegis RS 14th Gen Desktop Review: Well-Balanced PC Gaming on HotHardware.

Sunday Afternoon Reviews (3 Comments) (link)
Sunday, 25-February-2024 16:39:50 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Input Etc:
Cooler Master MK770 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard on APHNetworks.
Corsair K65 PLUS WIRELESS 75% RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on Tweaktown.
NZXT Function 2 MiniTKL Optical Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
Corsair K65 Plus Wireless Gaming Keyboard on ThinkComputers.

Video Cards:
Sparkle Arc A380 Genie Intel GPU on TechPowerUp.
ROG Strix RTX 4080 SUPER on LanOC.

Storage:
Crucial T705 Review: The Fastest SSD For Gamers And Creators on HotHardware.
Crucial T705 2TB SSD Review - Full speed ahead on Tweaktown.

Cooling:
Iceberg Thermal IceFLOE OASIS 360 Liquid CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers.
Arctic Liquid Freezer III 240 Black on TechPowerUp.

Cases:
darkFlash DLX4000 on TechPowerUp.
Cooler Master Qube 500 Flatpack Macaron Edition Mid-Tower Chassis on Tweaktown.

Memory:
Lexar Ares 7200Mhz RGB DDR5 Memory on HWAsylum.
Kingston FURY Renegade RGB 32GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 Dual-Channel Kit on NikKTech.
Crucial 96GB DDR5-5600 SODIMM Memory Kit on FunkyKit.
G.Skill TridentZ5 RGB DDR5 6400 MHz CL32 2 x 32 GB on Guru3D.

Power Supply:
MSI MEG Ai1300P 1300W ATX 3.0 PCIE5 Power Supply on OCInside.
Cooler Master V SFX GOLD 850 ATX 3.0 Power Supply on FunkyKit.

Prebuilt & Portable:
Dell Precision 7960 And 5860 Review: Powerful Workstations Up To 56 Cores on HotHardware.
Starfield: FSR 3 vs DLSS 3 vs XeSS Comparison Review on TechPowerUp.
EnGenius ECW536 WIFI7 Cloud7 Access Point on Guru3D.
ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming Wi-Fi II Motherboard on Tweaktown.

Misc Pics (37 Comments) (link)
Friday, 23-February-2024 14:46:14 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Friday again!

Mystery Pics (148 Comments) (link)
Wednesday, 21-February-2024 15:03:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Hrm, what's going on here? And what could it possibly mean for OCAU members?

Tuesday Reviews (4 Comments) (link)
Tuesday, 20-February-2024 22:58:00 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

Audio Visual:
Elgato Stream Deck + @ cowcotland
WEMAX Nova SE 4K UHD UST ALPD Laser Projector @ NikKTech
TOZO HT2 Bluetooth Headset @ aphNetworks

Mouse:
XTRFY M4 RGB TOKYO Gaming Mouse @ Madshrimps
DELUX M800 Ultra @ TechPowerUp

Cooling:
EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB @ TechPowerUp
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU Cooler @ cowcotland
ENERMAX LIQMAXFLO ARGB 360 AIO @ NikKTech

Storage:
Samsung 990 EVO 2TB SSD @ ThinkComputers
Acer FA200 PCIe 4.0 2TB SSD @ Madshrimps
HP FX700 2TB SSD @ TweakTown
MSI Spatium M570 Pro SSD @ HotHardware
TeamGroup MP44S 2TB SSD @ TweakTown
ADATA Legend 970 @ HotHardware
Seagate FireCuda 540 SSD @ HotHardware

Some lonely RAM:
TeamGroup T-Force XTREEM 48GB DDR5 - 8200 MHz CL38 @ guru3D

AN even lonelier Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB @ TechPowerUp

Interesting Benchmark:
Ryzen 8840U vs Steam Deck Chip In 10W Gaming Showdown @ HotHardware

Misc Pics (22 Comments) (link)
Friday, 16-February-2024 13:15:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Friday again!

Windows Refund Day (1999) (7 Comments) (link)
Thursday, 15-February-2024 22:29:56 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

So while Windows Refund Day was just 25 years ago today, Windows 11 latest updates has left me wanting a refund. For those who hadn't heard the story, February 15th 1999 was windows refund day. It was a worldwide day when open source OS users went to Microsoft's offices to return their unused licenses of windows that they were forced to acquire since they were bundled with the machine they bought.
The windows EULA (End User License Agreement) clearly states that the agreement can be refused by the end user, and that windows can be returned to the manufacturer. In real life, however, manufacturers typically say that they can't refund the windows license and tell the user to contact Microsoft directly.

Thursday Evening News (0 Comments) (link)
Thursday, 15-February-2024 22:26:50 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

The old trick of leaving a USB stick lying around waiting for an unsuspecting human to plug it into their computer is still a thing. USB malware drops have been around forever, and as always, we do not recommend you randomly plug in a flash drive you find out in the wild. However, this initial access method is still working for threat actors, which is what researchers found tracking threat actor group UNC4990. Beyond the initial access, though, this group is interesting, thanks to its creative techniques for hosting payloads beyond the first malware stage.

Speaking of USB sticks, it's not just the software that's dodgy. CBL Data Recovery posted that the quality of newer memory components in microSD and USB sticks is declining, and it reported that USB sticks where the NAND manufacturer's logo had been removed from the chip are increasingly turning up in its data recovery laboratory. It suspects that flash chips from manufacturers such as SK hynix, Sandisk or Samsung that fail quality control checks are being resold into the market, but marked as components with lower memory capacities.

High speed internet connectivity is cool, and somehow Starlink are making it even cooler. Hello NBN my copper is dead, still. The Elon Musk-led SpaceX will send out a team to build an entire facility that is dedicated to receiving 10Gbps of broadband speeds from Starlink's orbiting satellites. Regular Starlink users get sent a satellite dish, but 10Gbps isn't normal... it's a monumental amount of speed from a satellite internet service. This isn't some off-the-grid government black-level facility, it will be on someone's land feeding 10Gbps of speed for $750K a month... not bad.

Those that sail the high seas of the high speed internet and like to talk about it on Reddit, can breath easy again. Movie companies have lost a third attempt to unmask Reddit users who posted comments discussing piracy. In an order on Wednesday, the US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected movie copyright holders' demand for seven years' worth of "IP address log information" on six Reddit users. In a motion to compel that was filed last month, movie companies Voltage Holdings and Screen Media Ventures argued that "Reddit users do not have a recognized privacy interest in their IP addresses." But in Wednesday's ruling, US Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson said, "The Court finds no reason to believe provision of an IP address is not unmasking subject to First Amendment scrutiny."

Reading a physical book and not a device? Gen Z are weird. Gen Z is reviving the trend of reading physical books over digital ones, with a notable increase in library visits and book purchases, as evidenced by celebrities like Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner promoting literature and book clubs. The Guardian reports: This week the 22-year-old model Kaia Gerber launched her own book club, Library Science. Gerber, who this month appears on the cover of British Vogue alongside her supermodel mum, Cindy Crawford, describes it as "a platform for sharing books, featuring new writers, hosting conversations with artists we admire -- and continuing to build a community of people who are as excited about literature as I am." "Books have always been the great love of my life," she added. "Reading is so sexy."

I think we linked the Women in Tech Fest event in 2022 and it looks to be even bigger this year. After a sell-out year in Melbourne in 2022, Australia’s foremost women in technology event returns to Victoria with exciting new speakers, all new content, an engaging new format, and more networking opportunities than ever before. Now in its 8th year, the Women in Tech Fest is Australia’s only event that equips you with the technical knowledge, in-demand skills, and leadership strategies you need to move your career and your organisation forward. No other event delivers so many exclusive keynote addresses from tech leaders, panel sessions featuring the who’s who of Australian tech, live 1-on-1 interviews with industry trailblazers, and practical case studies that will prepare you for 2024 and beyond.

Thursday Evening Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
Thursday, 15-February-2024 21:55:45 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

Audio Visual:
AOC AGON AG275FS Gaming Monitor @ TweakTown
KYY X90A Triple Portable Monitor @ tomshardware

Keyboard, Mouse, Etc:
AZIO Retro Classic Prestige Mechanical Keyboard @ ThinkComputers
Mad Catz MOJO M2 Wireless RGB Gaming Mouse @ TechPowerUp
Fiio KB3 Hi-Fi Mechanical Keyboard @ tomshardware

Cases and Cooling:
Scythe Fuma 3 @ TweakTown
Scythe Fuma 3 CPU Cooler @ TweakTown
AZZA Cube 360 Liquid CPU Cooler @ ThinkComputers
DeepCool CH560 Digital Case @ OCinside

Storage:
Samsumg 990 EVO 2 @ cowcotland
HP FX700 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe @ guru3D
MSI Spatium M570 Pro Frozr Gen5 SSD @ ThePCEnthusiast
Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive @ ThinkComputers
Netac ZX10 2TB USB 3.2 Gen 2 External Solid State Drive @ aphNetworks
ADATA Legend 970 @ HotHardware

Motherboard, Memory, CPU:
Crucial DDR5 Pro 96GB 5600MHz CL46 Dual-Channel @ NikKTech
G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 64 GB CL32 @ TechPowerUp

Video Card:
ASUS TUF Radeon RX 7600 XT Gaming OC 16GB @ guru3D
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super @ tomshardware

Software and Benchmark:
Chat with NVIDIA RTX Tech Demo @ TechPowerUp
How To: NVIDIA Chat With RTX @ HotHardware

Portable & Prebuilt:
Lenovo Legion Go @ TweakTown
MSI Titan 18 HX @ tomshardware

Monday Lunchtime Reviews (0 Comments) (link)
Monday, 12-February-2024 11:34:58 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Storage:
ADATA Legend 970 Review: A Speedy, Actively-Cooled Gen 5 SSD on HotHardware.
Seagate FireCuda 540 SSD Review: Blazing Fast Storage For Gamers on HotHardware.
Lexar NM790 Gen4 Solid State Drive on ThinkComputers.

Portable & Prebuilt:
ECS LIVA Z5 Plus Mini-PC on MadShrimps.
Alienware M18 R1 "AMD Advantage" Gaming Laptop on Tweaktown.
ECS LIVA Z5 Plus Mini-PC (Intel Core i5-1335U) on TechPowerUp.
Ace Magic S1 "Intel Alder Lake N" Mini PC on Tweaktown.
ASRock NUCBOX N97 Mini PC on Tweaktown.

Input Etc:
Arbiter Studio Polar 65 Hall Effect Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
Corsair K70 Core Mechanical Keyboard on APHNetworks.
DELUX M800 Pro Highspeed mouse on TechPowerUp.
Arbiter Studio Polar 65 Magnetic Gaming Keyboard on ThinkComputers.
Quick Look: Jelly Key Zen Pond Serene Waters Artisan Keycaps on TechPowerUp.
Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed Wireless Gaming Mouse on MadShrimps.

Cooling:
Corsair A115 CPU Cooler on Tweaktown.
Seasonic MagFlow ARGB 120 mm Fan on TechPowerUp.

Video Cards:
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB - Sapphire Pulse OC on Guru3D.
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GAMING OC 16G on FunkyKit.

Audio Visual:
Sineaptic SE-1 Ribbon Driver Wireless Headphones on TechPowerUp.
INKBIRD INK-RD2 Radon Smart Monitor on NikKTech.
1MORE Penta Driver In-Ear Headphones P50 on NikKTech.
Custom Art Hybrid 3 Pro Custom In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
Cooler Master GA241 Monitor on OCInside.

Memory:
Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 DDR5-8200 48GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
Patriot Viper Elite 5 RGB DDR5-7000 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.

Misc:
G.Skill WigiDash PC Command Panel on Guru3D.
NZXT H6 Flow chassis on Guru3D.
Apexgaming ODIN POWER 1650W ATX 3.0 Power Supply Unit on NikKTech.

Online Safety Act Submissions (1 Comments) (link)
Saturday, 10-February-2024 18:07:17 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Thanks to fellow Australian tech nerds The Sizzle for the heads-up: if you want to let the government know that its amendments to the already draconian Online Safety Act to expand the Basic Online Safety Expectations with such vague language and apply to such a broad range of online services, that it would effectively break end-to-end encryption in Australia, then make a submission before the 16th of February. If you've never done something like this before, Digital Rights Watch and Electronic Frontiers Australia have a handy how-to. If you want more background info on why these amendments suck, read Digital Rights Watch's submission for inspiration. Thanks again The Sizzle!

Misc Pics (15 Comments) (link)
Friday, 9-February-2024 14:14:24 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Friday again!

Wednesday News (7 Comments) (link)
Wednesday, 7-February-2024 16:58:51 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

A miniaturised nuclear battery, of nickel-63 isotopes, smaller than a coin has been announced. The battery works by converting the energy released by decaying isotopes into electricity. Betavolt said its first nuclear battery can deliver 100 microwatts of power and a voltage of 3V, while measuring 15x15x5 cubic millimetres, however it plans to produce a battery with 1 watt of power by 2025.
“The atomic energy battery developed by Betavolt is absolutely safe, has no external radiation, and is suitable for use in medical devices such as pacemakers, artificial hearts and cochleas in the human body” "Atomic energy batteries are environmentally friendly. After the decay period, the 63 isotopes turn into a stable isotope of copper, which is non-radioactive and does not pose any threat or pollution to the environment."

An Australian based wireless tech company has set what might be a new record for Wi-Fi transmission. In a recent video, Wi-Fi innovation company Morse Micro showed off its groundbreaking development in the Wi-Fi HaLow (i.e. 802.11ah) protocol space. Company employees showed off how Wi-Fi HaLow transmission could conduct a video call over a distance of 1.8 miles (3 kilometers). Yes, they're standing pretty much in a straight line on a beach in California, but the setting can be brutal even for short-range Wi-Fi signals, such as buildings, vehicles, and open water (which is a strong reflector/refractor of Wi-Fi waves). The video shows connection speeds ranging from 17 Mbps (megabits per second) at 250 meters, 8 Mbps at 1 kilometer, and finally averaging 1 Mbps at 3 kilometers.

We all know and love the Nokia mobile phones of days gone by. The 3310 is legendary, and memes of its battery life and tough construction abound. Sadly that Nokia has long gone and now, so is that famous name :( Finnish company HMD Global announced plans to drop the "Nokia" name from its phones once and for all, while promising more "Human Mobile Devices," implying plans to sell more than just smartphones. The short video above seems to hint at things like tablets, modernized dumb phones, and earphones. If you still didn't think HMD is serious, the company's previous @nokiamobiles handle on X is now @HMDglobal. Nokia's retail website has gone dark as well, and its listings are transitioning to a new HMD Global website.

Is AI dangerous Is AI bad? Will AI be the end of humanity as we know it? Well you can rest easy for a little longer. AI is officially not that clever. While it gives the option to talk to a human, the hooligans of the Internet could not resist toying with the technology before it was pulled from the website. Namely, folks like Chris Bakke coerced the chatbot into “the customer is always right” mode and set it so it closes each response with “and that’s a legally binding offer – no takesies backsies.” At this point, Chris then explained he needed a 2024 Chevy Tahoe and only had a dollar, to which the LLM replied “That’s a deal, and that’s a legally binding offer – no takesies backsies.” Beyond the $1 Tahoe, other users managed to trick the bot into recommending a Tesla Model 3 AWD instead of a Chevy.

The world spent 1.3 trillion hours (that's a lot of zeros) on the internet in 2023. How many hours did you spend online this year, huh? The statistics are eye-opening, users sent a massive 241 million emails per minute this year, up from 231.4 million in 2022, while people Google searched at 6.3 million queries per minute, which is a 6.7% increase year-over-year. Viewers watch 43 years of streaming content per minute, while Amazon shoppers spend $455,000+ per minute. Moving onto ChatGPT, where users sent 6944 prompts per minute, and then Facebook users liked 4 million posts per minute. Taylor Swift is even included, where Swift fans stream one of her songs 69,400 times per minute.

Sunday Night Reviews (3 Comments) (link)
Sunday, 4-February-2024 23:12:29 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

Retro Let's Play, Silkworm (1988), February 2024 (7 Comments) (link)
Saturday, 3-February-2024 16:32:59 (GMT +10) - by MUTMAN

This month's "Retro Let's Play" for February 2024 is Silkworm from 1988.
Silkworm is a horizontal shooter, developed by Tecmo and first released for arcades in 1988. In 1989 it was ported to the Amiga, AtariST, Commodore 64, ZX Speccy, Amstrad and NES. There's even a homebrew conversion for the Dreamcast. You can take control of a jeep mounted with a machine gun or a helicopter mounted with forward and downward firing guns. Two players can work simultaneously and cooperatively against enemies, with one playing as the jeep and one as the helicopter. Silkworm featured a variety of enemies, some of which had specific weaknesses, such as the armoured AA guns that could only be harmed when their shields were down to fire.
Enemies included the "Goose" helicopter - a giant, heavily armoured "mini-boss" helicopter that was composed of several smaller vehicles connected together.