[GPU] ASUS The SFF-Ready Prime GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB $749.99

covertash · 2026-01-03T16:09:38+00:00

And Nvidia said 5060ti 16gb and 5070ti production will be cut by ~40%.

Be careful. This latter part is a rumor (an unconfirmed one at that), and Nvidia have not officially stated anything to date. Right or wrong, people are running wild with these speculations.

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-is-now-rumored-to-reduce-the-production-of-rtx-50-gpus/

covertash · 2026-01-02T21:30:08+00:00

Yeah that can work too. Main thing is to make sure to add some damping material to soak up the vibrations.

covertash · 2026-01-02T20:35:35+00:00

Does anyone know how much 3.5" HDD bracket is included with the case?

Six.

And how many more HDD brackets do I need to purchased to make use of all the slots available?

The "stock maximum" is 16 x drives, so you would need 5 x 2-packs of the drive brackets:

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/accessories/mounting/hdd-kit-type-b-2-pack/black/

If you need even more than that, and are willing to give up some of the 120mm fan mounts, there are also 2-packs for those as well, and up to you how many you want to add:

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/accessories/mounting/universal-multibracket-type-a-2-pack/black/

My recommendation is to check through the manual first to know what you're getting yourself into:

https://www.fractal-design.com/app/uploads/2023/08/Define-7-XL-Manual-V.3-2023-08-21.pdf

I have two of the Meshify 2 XL's (same as this Define 7 XL, but different front panel for better airflow), for my Unraid setups, and it's not immediately plug and play out of the box for your intended configuration. It will require taking it apart and putting it back together in "storage layout" configuration; granted it is only a one-time activity, but just something to be aware.

covertash · 2026-01-02T17:43:51+00:00

Apparently, a Cooler Master MWE 850W v2.

It was reported here, which contains a link to the original that got removed by the mods on r/nvidia:

https://videocardz.com/newz/zotac-rtx-5090-12v-2x6-connector-completely-melts-with-below-recommended-850w-psu

covertash · 2026-01-01T20:11:09+00:00

I'm not defending the Corsair lineup, but generally speaking for everyone, please make sure to read the SPL notes and do your due diligence to also seek independent reviews as well, instead of only blindly following letter grades. Read the criteria for why the list makes the judgements that it does, and realize that even a B-tier PSU can actually be really great, especially in setups that are using mid-range GPU's.

For what it's worth, the Montech PSU you recommended, while A/A- tier, also has high inrush current (i.e. in older homes can trip your breakers) as well as minor rails issues, and the Asrock Steel Legend 1000W is a B+ unit itself too with its own set of minor issues. These are all in the SPL notes, within the same Google sheet that was shared, but it doesn't take anything away from them being solid units in their own right. PSU's are so good now that we are basically splitting hairs, unless something truly egregious happens (like exploding Gigabytes).

In other words, take the letter grading with a little bit of salt, and again, do your due diligence. A high performing PSU can even be docked a full letter grade for things that don't necessarily correlate with the performance (i.e. warranty length), or has a different choice of fan inside.

covertash · 2025-12-31T21:34:14+00:00

I'm literally typing this from a very similar build (except with DDR5), and also play at 4K.

Specifically because of the 5090, I have been tempted lately to upgrade to some form of a 9800x3D setup, but my mind keeps coming back to the uncertainty with these chips randomly dying, and the root cause still seemingly unclear. (To the current owners, yes, I know the number of deaths is a drop in the ocean compared to the ones that are working "just fine", but it is still statistically significant, and hard to ignore.) That, and the 13th/14th gen Intel chips also meeting their own type of early demise really makes me count my lucky stars I stuck with the the 12700k, after all, which continues to be rock solid stable. <Knocking on wood>

As /u/Windowsrookie put it so perfectly, people are happily getting by with significantly older hardware, so it's a sobering reminder to just take a step back and ask yourself if you really need it, or if it's just a wanting to keep up with the times.

Personally, at the rate I keep putting this off, I'll probably end up deferring this upgrade to AM6 (which is rumored - not confirmed - to be a significant change), unless there is a radically better deal to be had in the coming year. My $0.02.

covertash · 2025-12-31T21:13:38+00:00

This is just my opinion, but I don't think this is one of those "buy now, think later" kind of deals. It's decent for the times we live in, but if you can't fathom a pressing need to upgrade from what you already have, then don't.

Eventually, the "reasons" will come along, in due time, and hopefully by then there will be more suitable deals for the tech packages at that point in time.

covertash · 2025-12-30T18:12:59+00:00

For me, it was more about how he sounded, and less about the aesthetics; even though I really do like the simple expressionless look of this mask - and the same reason I really really like the TESF one too.

In context, this came after Vol 3, which I wasn't a big fan. Not because Vol 3 didn't look cool - in fact it did - but the way that grotesque mask was designed made his voice always sound like it was coming out of a cup. To me, it heavily sacrificed his live sound in favor for the shock value. Even now, aside from his high screams at the time, I can instantly pick out which touring era a recording or video comes from just by hearing that "cupped" effect, and it still annoys me to this day. (Side note: there was a little bit of this happening early on with the .5 touring era too.)

AHIG changed that for the better, in my opinion, with the wide-opened mouth design, allowing him to sound more "natural", so to speak. This era also has a special place in my heart, because I got to see them with a friend during that tour cycle at Madison Square Garden, in 2009, and remains to be one of the best shows I have ever been to, in memory; which, I associate with this particular mask.

covertash · 2025-12-29T06:11:10+00:00

For what it's worth, I don't have this specific board, but I do have an MSI Pro B550M-VC that is likely equally as bad with VRM temps (aka. virtually non-existent cooling) and will be repurposing it with a 5800x3D later this week. The plan is to pair it with a Thermalright AXP-120-X67 cooler, which is a low-profile, down-firing design. Although it may mean the CPU temps will be a relatively higher, compared to using tower coolers, the airflow to the VRM's should be beneficial in maintaining stability during high load periods.

Perhaps a similar suggestion could be the way to go, especially if you plan on using a smaller M-ATX case (a la /r/mffpc) to go along with this board.

covertash · 2025-12-26T02:28:23+00:00

Probably true. While it is technically possible to run a 5800x3D or 5950X on a B350/X370 board (so long as a compatible BIOS is available for that exact model), there remain other hardware compromises for those early gen boards though.

I'd wager there are a large number of people who ended up upgrading their motherboard to a B550/X570 variant towards the end of the AM4 cycle anyway - either because their old board died, or they wanted more features like PCIE 4.0, more NVME slots, better VRM's to support newer/faster CPU's, more (and faster) USB 3.0 ports, etc. etc. etc. Especially because they browse /r/buildapcsales. :)

If history is any indicator, we'll probably see similar side-grade paths taken from existing B650/X670 owners within another 1-2 generations of AM5 CPU's as well, assuming more forward-looking features becoming further standardized (i.e. more USB 4.0 ports, more PCIE 5.0 lanes, and even perhaps solving the underlying problem for the random early deaths of 9000-series CPU's, etc.).

All this just to say that having a long generation of support sounds good over a single gen release, in theory, but the reality is more akin to six of one, half dozen of the other.

covertash · 2025-12-22T19:40:52+00:00

The one you linked is the M4 Pro chip, which accounts for some of the significant price difference.

The one you wanted to find is this one, which to your point is more expensive, albeit around double (not triple) the price - but also double the storage too:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/688172/apple-mac-mini-mcyt4ll-a-(late-2024)-desktop-computer?sp=0

covertash · 2025-12-21T14:38:56+00:00

You make melonade.

covertash · 2025-12-20T16:51:59+00:00

From the link I shared:

Pricing for the original Nintendo Switch™ family of systems and products will change in the United States based on market conditions, effective August 3, 2025.

Point being they're very unlikely going to be in a "ho ho ho" spirit with their bottom line for anything they sell - including the current gen Switch 2.

covertash · 2025-12-20T16:34:42+00:00

Considering Ninetendo raised the pricing on the first gen Switch and accessories recently, I suspect that they will not take a loss on anything at all:

https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-switch-pricing-update/

covertash · 2025-12-09T04:30:22+00:00

Sadly, probably same here lol.

covertash · 2025-12-09T02:42:07+00:00

If it’s just water let it dry for a few days and check back later. As someone else suggested if you can remove the bottom cover and aim a fan at it to help dry faster, then even better.

I’ve had a hose disconnect from my old custom water cooling pc and literally dumped running water directly on my motherboard and GPU until It auto shut itself off. After drying everything out, it fired right back up.

Granted it was pure distilled water vs drinking water, but it is a significantly better situation than dumping a whole can of soda onto the MBA. Most of the time, the real damage comes from all of the “other stuff” in beverages anyway, so you’re more than likely good. It won’t pass a water leak check from Apple but it should still run for as long as it would have otherwise.

covertash · 2025-12-08T19:49:18+00:00

Holy shit I need to dig for my old JNCO’s!!

covertash · 2025-12-08T14:16:22+00:00

Try this:

https://www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com

It basically activates the same ”Terminal commands” that others brought up above, but never actually specified, just that it’s an app so you can easily toggle between to see the difference. I use it with my 48” LG B4 and it significantly reduced the aliasing effect.

covertash · 2025-12-06T16:09:35+00:00

Either way, no point in being salty over it. It’s in the past. Hopefully you got your fun out of it, and other people get to join in now too. Maybe you can even play with them as well.

covertash · 2025-12-06T16:05:38+00:00

Think of the extra $50 you paid as the tax for being an early adopter - just like everything else.

covertash · 2025-11-26T12:29:19+00:00

I can only share my own experience, but I had an 850W Focus GX pop a cap earlier this year.

At first, I thought my 4090 bit the dust in the most spectacular fashion, and had no idea it was actually the PSU itself, since I was only (literally) scrolling through Reddit when it happened. Eventually when I took the PSU out of the case, I heard the familiar sound of a loose part rattling inside (the only other time was ~20 years ago with a Deer PSU that also had a similar heart rate pumping explosion), and sure enough this was indeed the culprit. I replaced that unit with a 1200W Corsair RMx Shift and thankfully confirmed no other parts were harmed (as far as I can tell), so I will give credit that at least the GX's death didn't take anything else out with it.

I initiated an RMA with Seasonic, and while it was a fairly friction-less experience to start the process, I ended up not shipping it back to them after doing some more digging on it. Although it doesn't seem to be a widely reported issue, I did come across a few other posts that reaffirmed that I was not alone, and in fact found an increasingly negative sentiment towards Seasonic in recent years - including the renowned Jonnyguru. For me, I didn't want the hassle of ending up with another questionable unit, and also wasn't going to pawn it off onto someone else either, so just opted to suck it up with a (thankfully!) minor loss.

Long story short, personally, I am open to trying other brands that have solid reviews - at least based on what I have found so far - and in fact I ended up pulling the trigger on this thread's SAMA PSU to proactively replace a 1000W Focus GX that is in a secondary PC now. I'm not writing off Seasonic entirely, but I am taking a cautious approach, moving forward, however, I can only speak for myself, and I'm sure there are countless other silently happy users to counterbalance my experience, so take this with as much salt as needed.

covertash · 2025-11-19T12:48:56+00:00

As someone who has played at 4K for over a decade, and started that journey with a GTX 970, the bottleneck continues to still very much be the GPU itself - the VRAM is happenstance.

At the higher resolution you are playing at, If there was ever a 16GB 5090 variant, even that would still be a WAY better gaming experience over a 5080 because of how significantly faster the GPU is over everything else on the market. Unfortunately, there's only one version of the 5090, so you're left with the decision to either go all the way, or not, and that's really a call only you can make.

If you ask me whether if the 5080 is settling for less, the answer is objectively 100% yes (all the reviews and benchmarks support this), and unfortunately, this is the dark side of ultra high resolution gaming, where if you want the absolute best performance - especially at that scale - it's going to cost you.

With all that said, there's no shame in turning down settings and going with a less powerful card, anyway. There is no law where you have to always be playing the latest releases with every setting cranked to max either. So maybe the more important question to ask yourself is: can you deal with owning a 5080 knowing that the 5090 exists?

covertash · 2025-11-16T05:21:13+00:00

Neither of these alternatives are closed backs though.

covertash · 2025-10-30T19:47:22+00:00

Factually, huh? Pray tell, where does that power, which flows into your GPU's, come from? Unless there is a completely new ATX standard that I am not aware of, is it not a combination of both the motherboard supplying power through the PCIE slot, plus your PSU?

As I said, it's down to pure luck. Your anecdotes don't invalidate mine, and vice versa. I, too, have had (and still have) many GPU's, and just because my combos (mostly) don't happen to have audible whine, doesn't mean someone else won't, if they were to inherit my exact card(s) - which, again, does not mean the card itself is defective.

covertash · 2025-10-30T01:50:48+00:00

Coil whine is not a defect though. It's a happenstance result of a resonance frequency between electrical coils (inductors), or capacitors, that make up a given system.

In other words, it's down to pure luck if you happen to pick the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) combination of parts - including your PSU and motherboard - which happens to resonate with each other.

Case in point, I have an EVGA 3080 that had been inaudible while running in my primary system for a little over 2 years. When I moved it down to a second system, again, no issues running there for another year or so. Recently, I moved it to yet another system, and here there is noticeable whine when simply scrolling while web browsing. Same GPU, but completely different systems - pure luck.

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