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-rascal-

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  1. Like
    -rascal- reacted to MarkPol88 in EGVA power supply pin layout change - featuring fried hard drives. Beware when warrantying a PSU.   
    Looks like Rossmann noticed his reddit post:
     
  2. Informative
    -rascal- reacted to sgircys in EGVA power supply pin layout change - featuring fried hard drives. Beware when warrantying a PSU.   
    After an extremely frustrating day of troubleshooting, I figured I'd share my story on here as a word of caution to anyone else out there who might be in the same, rare situation that I found myself in yesterday.
     
    For a bit of backstory - I built a new PC about a year ago which included a new EVGA GQ 1000w Gold power supply. Unfortunately, as soon as I booted up the PC for the first time, I knew there was something wrong with the power supply. The coil whine was horrible; worse than anything I had ever heard from any other PC in the past. I sent it (at my own expense) to EVGA under warranty as it was brand new. As per their instructions, I sent only the power supply unit itself and no cables. They were very clear in their instructions - "Keep all accessories as you will only be receiving a power supply in return." No problem. I set the aside for when I would get the power supply back from them. In the meantime, I re-used my older Corsair power supply as it got the job done. A few weeks later, I received the RMA'd power supply from EVGA, but life got in the way so it sat in the box until yesterday, when my Corsair unit started getting noisy enough to really bug me.
     
    I pulled the Corsair out, along with all of its cables as I am very aware you cannot mix power supply cables. Then I opened up the EVGA box and grabbed the cables that go along with it, which I had set aside and labelled previously. I plugged everything in and tried to boot up the PC with no luck. Only a click, which I figured might be an overload protection circuit. I immediately had to double check to see if I mixed any cables somehow, but everything was correct and only the EVGA GQ cables (that came with the power supply) were used. As the first step of troubleshooting, I disconnected the SATA power from my SATA hard drives. And just like that, it booted up completely fine. Once I had isolated that the SATA power was the issue, I decided to check the voltages with a multimeter. To my surprise, they were all completely wrong. 12V where 3V was supposed to be, nothing where 5V was supposed to be, and so on. I tried a different SATA power cable from the same, matching set and it was the exact same.
     
    At this point, I called EVGA. To their credit, I was able to speak with someone in a matter of minutes, which can't be said for most manufacturers. After explaining the situation, and the tech pulling up my RMA file, he knew what the problem was. He notified me that "At some point, the pin layout of these power supplies was changed". I was never told this when I received my power supply back from warranty, and clearly my cables were incompatible with the power supply now - with no way of knowing other than by checking with a multimeter. The tech told me that he believed it was only the SATA power that was changed, which would make sense as my PC was able to boot just fine with the SATA power disconnected from the drives. He said he was sending me a new set of cables and that would fix the issue. While that should be the case, what a horrible decision to change a power supply pin layout within the same product (with the only way to know being manufacturing date?) with absolutely no notice. And by following EVGA's protocol of not sending in power supply cables during a warranty claim, you're essentially screwed. I thanked the technician for his help and acknowledged that it wasn't his fault, personally, that this happened and that I'll wait for the new cables to arrive - once again using my old Corsair in the meantime.
     
    After removing the EVGA and putting the Corsair back in, once again, the problem really showed itself. All of my SATA drives were gone. They were fried. 22TB of storage gone. I double and triple checked, using a different PC as the test PC with the drives even, but they were dead. Thankfully, I do have cloud backups, but my wife and I did both lose our entire day's work as the most recent backup was from the morning. I did contact EVGA again and spoke to another technician who said he will be speaking to his manager about this tomorrow to see what they can do about this situation. As other people have said, EVGA's customer service is quite good and I do appreciate that. Hopefully they're able to help me by fixing my situation, but this could still be a serious problem for other people.
     
    TLDR : EVGA decided to change their SATA power cable pin layout on the GQ power supply and you'd have no way of knowing without checking the pins with a multimeter. And they can, and do fry hard drives.
  3. Funny
    -rascal- reacted to Poinkachu in ESD-safe motherboard vacuum cleaner?   
  4. Like
    -rascal- reacted to Deathcorner in OCed my RX6600 and have some gpu behavioural questions.   
    @-rascal-after some tinkering i found it best to keep 2600MHz min and 2700MHz gpu clock. 
     
    Was able to push 2710MHz average in Horizon Zero Dawn benchmark but that was't stable in Baldur's Gate 3. Also it got the same fps with that OC as the previous. So i rolled it back.
     
    Thanks for the help. It was fun to tinker with. 
  5. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from Wizzardoz in Motherboard replacement dilemma   
    You can go just straight to 5001.
     
    If you are NOT using the USB BIOS Flashback method (e.g. plugging the USB stick in and updating through BIOS), you do not need to rename it.
    You have to rename it if using USB BIOS Flashback because the motherboard is in bare-to-the-bone-minimum "headless" mode.
    The XXXX.CAP IS the BIOS image.
     
    You don't have to use the BIOSRenamer tool...
    It is LITERALLY the same as YOU right-click -> Rename -> type in "SX570EG"
  6. Like
    -rascal- got a reaction from Wizzardoz in Motherboard replacement dilemma   
    Update the BIOS first.
    You are using a REALLY old BIOS version.
     
    The best method, to minimize the chance of corrupting the motherboard, is by using the tried-and-trued method -> putting the BIOS file onto a USB flash drive.
    Updating it through internet or within Windows adds complexity, and more chances for things to go wrong.
     
    Some reminder tips:
    Download the latest BIOS file onto your PC / another PC / laptop. Unzip / extract the downloaded folder. Format a USB stick to FAT 32. Copy JUST the BIOS file (XXXX.CAP) onto the USB flash drive. As someone already mentioned, your higher-end motherboard has the USB BIOS Flashback feature.
    Even if you DO corrupt the BIOS, you can recover it.
     

  7. Informative
    -rascal- got a reaction from podkall in Why would anybody need a threadripper?   
    For people NOT using their PC for gaming?
     
    Like...compiling and building FPGA code.
    At my workplace, we ditched our old @$$ dual-Xeon (2x 20-core CPUs) FPGA Build server for a 7900X build last year... HUGE difference.
    It will use ALL of the RAM, and ALL the Cores / Threads.
     
    We went from a total of 40-Cores to 12-Cores...but 12-cores from 2022+...and it still cut down our times by over HALF.
    A smaller FPGA build took ~17 minutes on the old Xeon set-up, new took ~8 minutes.
    If we go for a higher core count ThreadRipper, it would probably reduce us into the 1 ~ 2 minute (or even less!!) range...
  8. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from da na in Why would anybody need a threadripper?   
    For people NOT using their PC for gaming?
     
    Like...compiling and building FPGA code.
    At my workplace, we ditched our old @$$ dual-Xeon (2x 20-core CPUs) FPGA Build server for a 7900X build last year... HUGE difference.
    It will use ALL of the RAM, and ALL the Cores / Threads.
     
    We went from a total of 40-Cores to 12-Cores...but 12-cores from 2022+...and it still cut down our times by over HALF.
    A smaller FPGA build took ~17 minutes on the old Xeon set-up, new took ~8 minutes.
    If we go for a higher core count ThreadRipper, it would probably reduce us into the 1 ~ 2 minute (or even less!!) range...
  9. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from Tetras in Motherboard replacement dilemma   
    Update the BIOS first.
    You are using a REALLY old BIOS version.
     
    The best method, to minimize the chance of corrupting the motherboard, is by using the tried-and-trued method -> putting the BIOS file onto a USB flash drive.
    Updating it through internet or within Windows adds complexity, and more chances for things to go wrong.
     
    Some reminder tips:
    Download the latest BIOS file onto your PC / another PC / laptop. Unzip / extract the downloaded folder. Format a USB stick to FAT 32. Copy JUST the BIOS file (XXXX.CAP) onto the USB flash drive. As someone already mentioned, your higher-end motherboard has the USB BIOS Flashback feature.
    Even if you DO corrupt the BIOS, you can recover it.
     

  10. Funny
    -rascal- reacted to Skipple in Why would anybody need a threadripper?   
    Yo, I'm about to squat and roll coal on my Threadripper Power Stroke.
  11. Like
    -rascal- got a reaction from podkall in OCed my RX6600 and have some gpu behavioural questions.   
    What are the minimum and maximum ranges you set to?
    If you set it to 2700 MHz for the maximum range, and you are getting ~2640 MHz, that's pretty good.
    Those two values are essentially telling the GPU to boost in between those ranges -- it doesn't command the GPU to run at max value.
     
    You probably need to dial the GPU Voltage up for ~2770 MHz.
    Considering stock Boot is up to ~2491 MHz, ~200 MHz bump is pretty good.
     
    Present day GPUs, both nVidia and AMD, will Auto-Boost itself as high as possible (within the range you set) if conditions allow.
    The boost frequency will vary from application/game to another, just because how the GPU is utilized is different.
  12. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from RevGAM in do i need cooling for my nmve?   
    Are running an air cooler or an AIO?
    An air / tower cooler will help circulate around around the CPU and NVM SSD area...
     
    Some motherboard's have a plastic film over the thermal pad on NVMe SSD heatsink.
    Did your TUF B650 have any of that, and if so, did you remove it?
     
    The review here shows the NM710 should run pretty cool for the most part. It's a pretty efficiency SSD.
    https://www.techpowerup.com/review/lexar-nm710-1-tb/8.html
     
    Otherwise, you may consider getting an aftermarket NVMe heatsink.
    Make sure you get a good / decent one, though. Some of the crap on Amazon / Ali-Express are junk.
  13. Like
    -rascal- got a reaction from tanjackson in How important is CPU base clock speed in the long run +5 years?   
    NONE of AMD or Intel's current CPUs runs at base speed, unless idling on Desktop with JUST Spotify running or something.
    Otherwise, they will run at the "up to" Boost whenever it can.
     
    i5-14600KF will basically hover around 4.7 GHz ~ 5.1 GHz for it's entire life.
    Same with the Ryzen 7600X.
  14. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from RONOTHAN## in How important is CPU base clock speed in the long run +5 years?   
    NONE of AMD or Intel's current CPUs runs at base speed, unless idling on Desktop with JUST Spotify running or something.
    Otherwise, they will run at the "up to" Boost whenever it can.
     
    i5-14600KF will basically hover around 4.7 GHz ~ 5.1 GHz for it's entire life.
    Same with the Ryzen 7600X.
  15. Like
    -rascal- reacted to thrasher_565 in Would it be difficult to fit a custom loop in my case, and what exactly would I need for it?   
    imo if you want to go water cooling and want expandability i would get a water cooling case.
     
    you could water cool in the case you have now but most likely you have the rad out side the case...
     
    a basic loop needs a pump, res, rad, and blocks gpu/cpu and 6 fittings and some tubeing.
     
    probly recommend at least 2 rads.  but water cooling newer stuff is werid you can thow all the cooling at it and it still run hot... 🤷‍♂️
  16. Informative
    -rascal- got a reaction from Zakku76 in RGB Controller Question for My Motherboard   
    Motherboard does not have a ARGB header, so you cannot control the ARGB LEDs through the motherboard.
    However, you can just use the built-in controller + button on the case itself.
     

     

     
    https://www.techpowerup.com/review/montech-air-100-argb/

     
  17. Agree
    -rascal- reacted to da na in Are wireless devices as good as wired ones now?   
    Wireless has been totally fine for a while now, especially if not gaming. Bluetooth can have noticeable latency, especially if using a cheap USB adapter, but keyboards/mice with 2.4ghz receivers are completely fine.
  18. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from JeanPMikhael in Please help guys very quick & urgent, my samsung note 10 5g plus displays a water drop icon and will not charge!   
    I doubt it is hacked / junky public work WiFi related.
     
    The water drop icon is when moisture is detected in / around the charge port -- this has been a Samsung feature since...waaay back (my brother's S6 had it).
    Put your phone on the bathroom counter, take a shower, and try to charge it. It will have the same warning.
    My Pixel 7 has something identical as well.
     
    Clean out the port, let it dry out, and try again.
  19. Agree
    -rascal- reacted to PDifolco in Impossible to sync up Corsair ICUe software and ASUS Armory Crate   
    Sure they can't really work well together, now if you remove Armoury Crap and ICue and just use SignalRGB (seems better than OpenRGB) it could maybe work ?
  20. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from Somerandomtechyboi in 7800X3D and 3090TI   
    Those people are wrong.
    All the professional reviews shows the 7800X3D is more than capable of handling GPUs like the RTX 3090 Ti.
    It is one of the top-5 CPUs right now.
  21. Agree
    -rascal- reacted to QuantumSingularity in I need some help with my GPU and Motherboard.   
    It's really been a while since i last saw a PSU w/o a single PCIe connector. This truly is some garbage tier PSU.
  22. Like
    -rascal- reacted to ImTehCookie in Post (I Think) But No Video   
    Nah, unfortunately it's pitch black from the second I press the power button, ordered a new gpu, that gets here tomorrow, going to swap it in and test it out. 
     
    The windows install I used ms USB creation tool thingy for win 11,so it'd be a fresh install of everything. 
     
    I'll give an update tomorrow once the gpu arrives. 
  23. Agree
    -rascal- got a reaction from podkall in Roast my first PC build spec, going for a modest £750 1440p gaming/development PC (need mobo recommendations?)   
    They will all support it, but the lower end ones, to hit the target price bracket, will usually cut down on things like:
    Motherboard cooling (e.g. heatsinks) Fewer fan headers / RGB headers / USB headers / M.2 SSD slots Less features / less tuning options for overclocking Cheaper design on the VRM / power regulation The last point is the big one for more power hungry CPUs like the 5900X / 5950X.
    Under load, the motherboard may thermal throttle, because of the weaker VRM, and so the CPU will throttle its frequency.
  24. Like
    -rascal- reacted to filpo in Roast my first PC build spec, going for a modest £750 1440p gaming/development PC (need mobo recommendations?)   
    I'm only sitting about 2m away, might be cause I'm using wifi at the same time and there are normally about 5 devices connected to our router in that one room (including phones, PCs, TVs and laptops) so I've just got a Ugreen 3m cable and turned the TV mode to game mode and average latency with V sync on is about 20ms and without is around 15ms. Pretty good
     
    It might just be for me but it wasn't a great experience. I'd get a cable nonetheless since latency over a cable will definitely be better than wireless
     
    Btw I'm pretty sure xbox controllers connect on a different band than bluetooth, so that might also be a reason why
    for a new am4 build, b550 will be enough for mid range CPUs and optimally get one with vrms on the top too and heatsinks for the X3D and 5900X/5950X CPUs
  25. Like
    -rascal- got a reaction from addycodes in Roast my first PC build spec, going for a modest £750 1440p gaming/development PC (need mobo recommendations?)   
    They will all support it, but the lower end ones, to hit the target price bracket, will usually cut down on things like:
    Motherboard cooling (e.g. heatsinks) Fewer fan headers / RGB headers / USB headers / M.2 SSD slots Less features / less tuning options for overclocking Cheaper design on the VRM / power regulation The last point is the big one for more power hungry CPUs like the 5900X / 5950X.
    Under load, the motherboard may thermal throttle, because of the weaker VRM, and so the CPU will throttle its frequency.
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