Mr.Meerkat

Well hardware acceleration is different from the main core obviously, so it's possible it's defective in some way. But the solution to me is the truly bizarre part, I can't think of any reason as to why that'd fix it.

Erm, been wanting an Astron for many many years and when Seiko released the new SSJs last summer, I wanted one even more.
 
Got a random recommendation from Google and it was a seiko authorised retailer offering this, a SSJ019 with a 40% discount (making it cheaper than grey market even before import tax)...my impulsiveness clicked in before I could stop myself 😅

No regrets. Guess my prospex (that's gone to hell and back x10) finally has a partner! 
 
 

Erm, been wanting an Astron for many many years and when Seiko released the new SSJs last summer, I wanted one even more.
 
Got a random recommendation from Google and it was a seiko authorised retailer offering this, a SSJ019 with a 40% discount (making it cheaper than grey market even before import tax)...my impulsiveness clicked in before I could stop myself 😅

No regrets. Guess my prospex (that's gone to hell and back x10) finally has a partner! 
 
 

Erm, been wanting an Astron for many many years and when Seiko released the new SSJs last summer, I wanted one even more.
 
Got a random recommendation from Google and it was a seiko authorised retailer offering this, a SSJ019 with a 40% discount (making it cheaper than grey market even before import tax)...my impulsiveness clicked in before I could stop myself 😅

No regrets. Guess my prospex (that's gone to hell and back x10) finally has a partner! 
 
 

Erm, been wanting an Astron for many many years and when Seiko released the new SSJs last summer, I wanted one even more.
 
Got a random recommendation from Google and it was a seiko authorised retailer offering this, a SSJ019 with a 40% discount (making it cheaper than grey market even before import tax)...my impulsiveness clicked in before I could stop myself 😅

No regrets. Guess my prospex (that's gone to hell and back x10) finally has a partner! 
 
 

you could mak a "passive" antenna possibly. Like just toss your Phone into it and then let the signal boost. Though you'd need a pretty large can and one with aluminum or metal foil inside at that.

(yes, yes, ultra potato quality...not in focus, over exposed, ah well xD)
Ducky One3 SF with Cherry blacks and in daybreak! ❤️ 
My 6 year old £15 mech with Outemu blacks finally has been retired after left shift and FN key decided to stop working...did I mention how it was also a 65% so no FN keys = no function keys, no media control, no tilde, basically half the keys aren't usable? 
 
Anyway, time to get used to the new key bindings (media control position is very different) and even the actual keyswitches feel different. Definitely smoother, more dampened and less "clank" but hmmm, the backspace does feel and sound a little "hollow". 

(yes, yes, ultra potato quality...not in focus, over exposed, ah well xD)
Ducky One3 SF with Cherry blacks and in daybreak! ❤️ 
My 6 year old £15 mech with Outemu blacks finally has been retired after left shift and FN key decided to stop working...did I mention how it was also a 65% so no FN keys = no function keys, no media control, no tilde, basically half the keys aren't usable? 
 
Anyway, time to get used to the new key bindings (media control position is very different) and even the actual keyswitches feel different. Definitely smoother, more dampened and less "clank" but hmmm, the backspace does feel and sound a little "hollow". 

Not all cas 16 is created equal. Zen2 is supposed to be not that caring of nonQVL memory but that doesn’t seem to be true in this case.  I’m wondering what the other three numbers are on that cas16.  Memory makers have been scamming users lately with “cas16” stuff that is effectively cas20 or even 22.  You may have gotten some of that. 

🥺👉👈
How to enter into crippling debt 101...
Mind you, A7RIV usually sells for around £1700 meanwhile similar-grade A7RIII are £1300+ so given it begins with "£12...." already makes it...dare I say it, cheap? 

🥺👉👈
How to enter into crippling debt 101...
Mind you, A7RIV usually sells for around £1700 meanwhile similar-grade A7RIII are £1300+ so given it begins with "£12...." already makes it...dare I say it, cheap? 

🥺👉👈
How to enter into crippling debt 101...
Mind you, A7RIV usually sells for around £1700 meanwhile similar-grade A7RIII are £1300+ so given it begins with "£12...." already makes it...dare I say it, cheap? 

Ah, I missed the 750W PSU. Yeah I'd upgrade if you get a 6900XT.

Then basically what @RONOTHAN##said applies here. I wouldn't really trust a 6900xt or above with a sfx 750 watt psu, so a 6800xt would be your best bet here 

They have a bit of headroom doing that, but they don't have a ton of headroom because those cards are very voltage limited. 
 
The 6800 XT is the best option for what you're trying to do. The 6900 XT only really makes sense when you're going to be pushing the cards to their limits (they are currently the only GPU on the market that actually gets a noticeable performance increase when overclocked at ambient, assuming you don't care about power draw), but since in your system it's not really a good idea to push them just stick with the 6800 XT. . To put it in Intel terms, the 6800 XT is the 12900, the 6900 XT is the 12900K, and the 6950 XT is the 12900KS. If you aren't gonna push them, there isn't much difference between all of them for performance. If you are gonna push them, then the higher SKUs do start having an advantage. 

If it weren't for your power supply, the 6900 XT would likely be my pick. The reference cards do tend to perform worse than the non reference cards, and given how the only difference between the 6900 XT and 6950 XT is the stock power limit and the memory slider limit (the 6950 XT can run an extra 100MHz memory clock) with the fact that AMD power limits are pretty easy to bypass, the 6900 XT would be the best performing card here once overclocked.
 
That said, 6900 XTs are stupid power hungry when overclocked, I've seen power draws of over 500W on my card (granted, it was performing like a 3090 Ti at that point, but still), and I wouldn't exactly want to trust 500W of transient heavy GPU load on a 750W SFF power supply. If you aren't gonna be overclocking the card (IMO the entire reason to get a 6900 XT), save your money and get the 6800 XT, at stock the performance figures are close enough that you probably wouldn't notice, and the 6800 XT is a lot more forgiving on power supplies
Yeah, if this is your plan, don't get the 6900 XT or above. The RX 6000 series benefits (performance wise) from overvolting, not undervolting, so why spend the extra 100 pounds on a card just to nerf the performance of it?

On today's list of Cashies special...a waterproof Camera that generally has 2 out of 5 stars! 🙂 

On today's list of Cashies special...a waterproof Camera that generally has 2 out of 5 stars! 🙂 

As the owner of a Mac with a butterfly keyboard I REALLY don't see how the convenience of Type-C charging makes it worth it. I sent my 2017 13" MBP to Apple three times in the second half of 2021 alone. They completely replace the top case when they do the keyboard replacement, but even so they're unreliable. If it breaks again they're literally going to replace it entirely with a 13" M1 MBP instead of repairing it again. That's how bad the keyboards can be. Plus, there's always a chance that your MacBook wouldn't even be covered under the repair program anyways. 
 
As long as the battery isn't very worn out you shouldn't have any issues with battery life on a 2015 MBP. My 2013 13" MBP has a bad battery but still lasts several hours when being used for YouTube playback and working on a second monitor. You've also got to consider the other reliability issues the 12" MacBook has. They're known for very bad keyboard failures (worse than the later butterfly models), they're known for logic board and SSD failures, and they're known for performance issues (which shouldn't be an issue for you outside of compiling iOS apps). 

Out of those, that's the order/ranking you want:
1. 2015 MBP 13 Retina
2. 2015 MBA 13
3. every other Macbook
4. 2017 M3 Macbook 12.
 
third is obiously a small joke. But the 12" is one of the worst Macbooks you can buy, unless you need the smallest/lightest package. It has the first (or 2017 has second) Generation Butterfly Keyboard, the Generation that made alot of Problems. TO be fair: I haven't heard much complains about 3rd and 4th Generation Butterfly (2018 and newer) so far, but they still feel shit.
Also, it's passive and a 4,5w Chip, so it will throttle fast when doing stuff. But if you can wait, it will work.
 
The 2015 Macbook PRO Retina Models were the last "really good" Macbooks before the M1 Generation. Good keyboard, good IO, SSD still swappable i think?
And a great Display.
The 2015 Macbook Air has a 900p TN Panel, so shitty Display, but useable for anything that doesn't require color accuracy. Also, not that much slower.(but 4gb Ram could be an issue here).
 
The newer 12" Macbook, despite having a 2 generation leap, is not faster than those other 2. Probably even a bit slower, because of less TDP and no active cooling.
But low Performance for beeing silent is one thing.
Having a shitty Keyboard that might Fail is another. This is the reason this Model is garbage. If you get a defect there, you're probably better off throwing it away than getting a repair.
 
Ignoring the "silent" part or weight, there's not a single aspect that makes it better than the 2015 MBP. Keyboard is much worse, Performance is worse, I/O is worse.
 
TL;DR: Invest in the Macbook Pro model, you will have a much better experience. And it will be better for resale, or if you want to keep it.

Stay away from the 12" MacBook. They were unreliable machines in a variety of ways, and the keyboard replacement program Apple offers is only good for 4 years after the date of manufacture. They were also pretty weak machines in the processing department. They're nice MacBooks, but flawed in many ways. 
 
I'd also stay away from the 4GB Air. 4GB of RAM is simply not enough for modern versions of macOS. 8GB is the minimum you should get these days. That leaves you with the 2015 Retina MBP as your best option. It's a reliable machine, and while it's definitely older it still holds up really well. It's a much better choice than either of the other two models you listed. It has a Retina display too, and that's a major advantage over the pre-2018 Airs. 

Oh it's worse than that. Had I not had a 3700X in my B350 mobo, I'd still be running a BIOS versions that doesn't support 3000-series CPUs. Had MSI then proceeded to release a new BIOS version with 5000-series support and drops 1000-series support, assuming I'm still using a 1700, it may physically be impossible to update the BIOS without a 2000 or 3000-series CPU unless USB flashback was an option (which isn't in my case, and isn't for most mobos). 
 
As for AMD giving support to this issue, they have already had this very exact issue, 1 generation earlier, with 3rd gen Ryzen which resulted in them giving out "loaner CPUs" and I suspect they rather not go through that headache again, especially if dropping 1000-series and Bristol ridge (pre-Zen APUs)  is not enough where it has to drop support for raven ridge as well (2000-series APUs, what they used for the loaner CPUs). 
 
There's ofc also the issue of 300-series mobos not supporting 1st gen Ryzen, which is...not great let's be honest...would be an utter headache for second hand parts. 
 
Do note that most 300-series mobos had to drop Raven ridge support and include a much reduced BIOS to fit 3rd gen Ryzen onto them. As discussed above, it may really be a physical limitation in the sense that you just can't fit all four generations of Ryzen onto some AM4 BIOS chips. As for letting manufacturers decide support, you then have the issue of mobo owners getting unhappy with how their specific mobo doesn't support 5000-series and it could end up being a bit of a clusterfuck. 
 
It is true that people do complain about Intel when they pull something like this but this isn't quite the same as there are actual very arguable physical restrictions that is limiting it. I'd argue AMD hands are close to their hands being tied here. If anyone is going to upgrade to 5000-series Ryzen then it's probably going to be people with 1000-series, which could potentially be impossible without a second CPU and in the case it does, it just ends up being a headache for retailers, manufacturers, AMD and consumers. 

Opening:
 
At the beginning of August 2021 which was also the start of my summer school Holidays I started to look into a 2 in 1 Notebook to replace the iPad 8 which I was using up until that point since I started school last year in October. Basically I’ve been experiencing really weird bugs that are exclusive to that Device even after hard resetting it like randomly starting a Discord call with one of my friends on Discord after I just booted it up even though I didn’t even open the Voice and Video Chat Application. So because I was already pretty fed up with Apple and wanted to start leaving the Ecosystem I sold off the iPad with the Apple Pencil and type Cover for 607 CHF. Will keep the iPhone 12 mini for now, the Apple Watch SE basically killed itself so am not wearing it anymore. With Watch OS 7 the Battery started to drain itself from 100% to dead in like 4 to 5 hours so it always was a dead useless wait on my wrist at lunch break. I once hit it a bit too hard on the top left Corner and now there’s a white Mark there on the Display and both the Button and Crown are like half broken so you really have to press way too hard to activate them. Anyways I am never gonna give Apple my hard earned money again but at least now I know what it’s like to be in the Ecosystem. It was honestly fun for a while but then I started to realise more everyday what a greedy Company they are and how anti Consumer their Products are designed. They can just kill support for something over night and through planned obsolescence make it completely unusable.
 
Specs:
 
HP Envy x360 15.6" 2021 model in Nightfall black aluminum with Ryzen 5500U (8MB of L3, 6 Core 12 Thread) and integrated Radeon Graphics with 7 Cores, 2x8GB of 3200Mhz Crucial RAM, Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB M.2 SSD, 1920 x 1080 Full IPS Display with multi touch, 400 nits, Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™, 100% sRGB, 720p HD Webcam in the top, 51Wh Battery with USB-C PD 65W, Windows 10 Home.
 
What I really like:
 
The Keyboard has good stabilized Keys and is tactile. The Trackpad is so good that I’m never taking my Logitech MX Master 3 to school with it and I can multitask fenomenaly with it. I like the assortment of media Controls on the Function keys, the fact that I can mute it and actually close the Webcam with a physical shutter is awesome. Under heavy load the fans will be noticeable but won’t whine, the chassis will get warm but will never exceed a comfortable surface Temperature. USB C, just the fact that I can charge this thing with a tiny 65W Charging Brick is awesome. Port selection is great for its thickness: two USB-A which are 3.2, HDMI 2.0, USB-C with PD of 65W also 3.2, Headphone jack, Barrel Plug which I don’t use #USBCMasterrace, and SD Card Reader. The HP Tilt Pen has its place at the right corner of the machine where I can grab it easily to do quick sketches and mark important words and sentences in OneNote. The Magnet is satisfyingly strong so that it never falls off on its own. Love the extremely fast built in Windows Hello enabled fingerprint reader. I have to give them points for having decent sized perforated venting holes on the back and rear exhaust.
 
What I really hate:
 
The fact that the Power Button is just like a normal media Button above Backspace. Yes I have accidentally hit it before but luckily you have to long press to shut the system down lol. I always hate to see split arrow keys, they could’ve just shrunken down the right shift key and made space for dedicated up and down arrow keys. Most people don’t use left Shift in my experience. As someone who is used to tall Enter Keys I’m not a fan of the standard seized horizontal one on this Keyboard but I got used to it. I had to buy the HP Tilt Pen separately after painstakingly researching which Pens were now officially supported on this Machine, turns out it's only this one. The Ryzen and AMD Radeon logo Stickers aren’t completely aligned horizontally so it’s a bit off and actually sometimes irritating but it’s a really small nit pick which while using the device is not annoying me.
 
Why do I need two Notebooks ?
 
My XMG Gaming Notebook was bought with the thought in the back of my mind that I’ll also use it for school but as it turns out in my profession you need a Touch and Pen enabled device in school to be able to fill out Worksheets in OneNote and sketch up things so the iPad was first bought and now I switched to the HP Envy which was a really great choice and am happily using it now for all the school work that I have to do. So my recently built Desktop is for all the Computing Tasks and Gaming at Home, the HP Envy for school and the XMG Gaming Notebook for Gaming on the go aka just so that I have a powerful gaming device whilst on Holiday somewhere. The Steam Deck will most definitely shake things up in how I’m used to using a PC, really excited for that.
 
Pics:
 


Vanilla internals:

Upgraded internals:


Webcam Shutter open:

Webcam Shutter closed:

 
My Dream Ultrabook would be a Framework with a Ryzen APU and a Touchscreen, so until then this pretty much is the best option for me. 
 
@AluminiumTech has the 5700U Version of this Notebook and has been working on some special sauce Monitoring Software for it so I'll be adding a paragraph about that once he has released the first full Version of his Software.
 
 
Thanks for reading & Cheers
 

Speaking of new photography gear...

Panasonic GX80 with 14-140 f3.5-5.6 and 20 f1.7 🙂 
 
Is noticeably smaller than my A7R2 with 24-105... 
Funnily enough tho, basically all the savings are coming from the lens. The A7R2 body isn't actually that much bigger than the GX80 when put in a case (similar width, slightly taller, the grip size doesn't matter in cube/rectangular case) but oh well, maybe one day someone will release a small, lightweight, extra zoomy APS-C lens for E-mount 😛 

Yeah, noticed it in testing. Will be rough when my A7R2 can produce decent results at 6400 and even at 12800, you get usable images. 
 
I'll see how I get on with it anyway. I can always just sell it and get a e mount APS C super zoom (actually would work out not too much more, money and weight wise) and go from there.