The computer and electronics super geek thread

[davidwhangchoi]

21 hours ago, azrael said:

I think Hardware Unboxed recently released a video on how much RAM one needs and 16GB was still about to tough it through most modern games. Unfortunately, that 8GB of VRAM for that 5070 is where it's gonna hurt. 

watching this video on 8gb vram vs. 16 made me sad:

 

[azrael]

Panther Lake-based (Core Ultra 300-series) laptops reviews are trickling out. Definite performance gains with much better battery-usage. Definitely sounds like a W for Intel. The downside are laptop pricing (Thanks AI, RAM and SSD supply) and Intel missing the AI boat (i.e. with everyone aiming at datacenter $, Intel doesn't really have a true product in that space. Their enterprise/DC products lean more toward general purpose compute. Consumer $ is pennies compared to datacenter $).

On the flip side, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D review are out. Yeah....$40 for ~4% performance uplift coupled with more heat and more power usage. Yep, AMD recreated Intel's KS SKU of CPUs.

[davidwhangchoi]

i saw some reviews of the new intel chips for laptops, pretty good upgrade, igpu and battery life. 

just saw this and thought there's RAM in the deal:

 

[TangledThorns]

The latency on that RAM is 36, yikes. I would try to look elsewhere if that is at all possible. 

The 32Gb of RAM I bought last year was 28 latency. The lower latency the better, which is typically 30 or less for gaming.  

 

Edited January 29 by TangledThorns

[azrael]

29 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

The latency on that RAM is 36, yikes. I would try to look elsewhere if that is at all possible. 

You say that like there's better price/performance choice out there...😒 That kit is nearly 1/2 the cost of that bundle on its own. 

41 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

The 32Gb of RAM I bought last year was 28 latency. The lower latency the better, which is typically 30 or less for gaming.  

*Looks at current price of CL28 32GB DDR5 kit* 😱😭

[TangledThorns]

7 minutes ago, azrael said:

You say that like there's better price/performance choice out there...😒 That kit is nearly 1/2 the cost of that bundle on its own. 

*Looks at current price of CL28 32GB DDR5 kit* 😱😭

 

I'd say look for lower latency or even pay more if performance matters. But choices suck now anyways. I would probably holding off on building a new PC till this bullshit sorts itself out, hopefully. 

 

[davidwhangchoi]

if you want the deal but don't have microcenter near you:

Combo is no longer available.

[azrael]

More good-bad news.

Exclusive: Intel, AMD notify customers in China of lengthy waits for CPUs

Quote

Summary:

• Intel warns of delivery lead times of up to six months for some CPUs, sources say
• Intel server products in China now cost '10% more generally', source says
• Delivery lead times for some AMD products now up to 10 weeks, source says

This mainly affect server/data center CPUs so the ripple effect may not affect the consumer and EU/US enterprise markets till we get farther down the road. I'm gonna say that the saving grace for the latter mentioned markets is likely that it's pointless to buy a CPU if you have no decently priced RAM nor GPUs to go with that CPU upgrade.  

[davidwhangchoi]

With Nvidia skipping the 5000 supers this year, with the 6000 series will not even launch in 2027 and Ram prices insane with other pc parts are on the rise, here's another decent deal for anyone needing PC parts and ram for a budget build:

it's for those local to a Microcenter

Micro Center Bundle Hack: 7600X3D + MSI B850 Gaming Pro + 32GB DDR5 = $469.99

Quote

This bundle recently dropped to $399.99, and now allows the 16GB single channel to be upgraded to 32GB dual channel for $70 more, making it the best value on the market right now.

This open box best buy Scar 18 with a 5090 laptop was $2,500 weeks leading to black friday and the one of the best deals for a high end lappy. since there's no new nvidia refresh laptop gpu's this year, it may be worth to grab if you're into 5090 laptop it's 2700 open box but ymmv as it's been selling out regionally and might be sold out in your region.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

“RAMmageddon” Has Collapsed Every Major Tech Market as Executives Brace for a ‘Product Winter’ That Could Last Until the End of the Decade

In a recent report, we discussed how next-gen gaming consoles will see a delayed launch, moving beyond 2029, and the situation is similar in the mobile segment as well, with Apple scrambling for DRAM capacity and Samsung being rejected by its own memory department. In the PC industry, we are witnessing aftershocks: GPU launches being pushed back, chatter around future releases declining by the day, and the passion for entering the PCMR dying down.

 

[azrael]

One wonders what's going to happen when China enters the DDR5-market or the AI boom comes crashing down. 
Speaking of more bad news from the weekend. 

Western Digital is already sold out of hard drives for all of 2026 — chief says some long-term agreements for 2027 and 2028 already in place (Tom's Hardware)

If you haven't upgraded already, and that means any component of your setup, console systems, homelab setups, NASs, IoT devices, smartphones, etc., I hope your current setup lasts till at least 2028.

[mikeszekely]

This whole situation has gotten way out of hand.  Tech companies are pushing hard for AI because they think it'll be cheaper than humans in the long run, consumers are pushing back hard against AI because it's stupid, creatively bankrupt, hallucinates, massively wastes resources, and maybe they'd like to keep their jobs, actually.  So instead of rethinking this whole AI thing, the tech companies are doubling down, creating RAM and storage shortages that are spiking prices across a variety of tech products, delaying new tech products like the RTX 6000 series, Steam Machine, and the PS6, and creating shortages of current products like the Steam Deck.  And the like two companies who are poised to do anything about it (did we need a reminder that monopolies are bad?) won't, because 1.) they're making a crapload of money exploiting the shortage, and 2.) they don't want to be left with a pile of suddenly worthless chips if/when the AI bubble does finally burst.

I know it's kind of a meme to keep saying that every year is the worst year until the next one, but I genuinely don't think I've felt this pessimistic about the immediate future since the pandemic.