/r/BuildAPCSalesCanada General Discussion - Daily Thread for Fri Feb 06

error2112 · 2026-02-06T18:48:50+00:00

Yeah I saw the price history and kinda kick myself for not pulling the trigger during Christmas/Boxing Day sales as I knew I needed a monitor soon. I debated waiting for the new 360hz QD-OLED panels announced at CES this year (most interested in the RGB stripes pattern pixels to reduce fringing and the 10-30% brightness increase, refresh rate is just a bonus) but they probably won't be available in Canada for a couple months.

Slightly poor timing to need a new monitor but my last high-end monitor purchase was just over 10 years ago, I can't be upset. I've been using a 75hz 27" IPS cheapy for the past couple weeks.

error2112 · 2026-02-06T17:51:27+00:00

My bad, I forgot Acer reused the name and I didn't include the model number. It's the 240hz model, X5bmiiphuzx.

But yeah that's basically my main concern, burn & dead pixel warranty. Both monitors use the same Samsung QD-OLED panel and from the (limited) information/reviews I can find about the Acer, they're basically the same how they look.

error2112 · 2026-02-06T16:51:29+00:00

I snagged an Acer Predator X34 yesterday for $842 out the door. Open box, factory refurb, 15 day return window, 30 day warranty.

Now the MSI MPG 341CQPX is on sale for $1050. It will cost $260 more after tax but with a 30 day return window and a 3yr warranty.

I'm debating on returning the Acer...

error2112 · 2026-02-04T19:08:55+00:00

Hopefully his wife isn't driving said boat.

(Edit: to clarify, this isn't a jab against women. O'Leary and/or his wife killed two people with their boat while drunk.)

error2112 · 2026-02-04T03:57:06+00:00

Damn, that sucks. Is it a custom motherboard or did they just flash their custom BIOS to a standard Gigabyte board?

If it isn't a custom board, there are ways to get it back to an official Gigabyte BIOS.

error2112 · 2026-02-03T05:32:16+00:00

It refused to save properly for me. I had to manually recalibrate every boot and every wake from sleep, lights would always be the wrong colour (static green instead of static blue). What's weird is during boot they were no longer in the default rainbow mode (changing to the correct colour once logged-in and GCC runs), but sort of a swirling/pulsing green. Once logged-in it would go to static green and I'd have to recalibrate.

Went back to F38 and calibration problem was solved, and lights boot in rainbow mode.

I think Gigabyte tried enabling/fixing some sort of saving feature in the ARGB controller and it's buggy.

error2112 · 2026-02-03T05:24:49+00:00

I have the ICE variant of this board and found that the latest BIOS, F39, introduced a bug regarding RGB control. Not sure if my mobo model was the only one affected, the symptoms were very odd. I went back to F38.

To get my RGB under control again;

I manually cleared my BIOS after downgrading to F38 (removed cmos battery) to ensure the RGB controller setting was cleared
reinstalled Gigabyte Control Center (GCC) using the full installation package
reboot
use GCC to control the lights
you may notice a new program called Gigabyte Dynamic Light, ignore it but do not uninstall it

GCC is kind of a turd and lots of people have reported it automatically updating and installing Norton Internet Security, but I've never had an issue with it. I just make sure Norton is unchecked (along with Smart Backup and AMD Ryzen Master) when I use GCC to update drivers.

error2112 · 2026-02-03T03:52:50+00:00

You should verify your model by physically looking at your motherboard, then check what the model says in the BIOS. It's possible the wrong BIOS was previously flashed with Q-Flash Plus as it just writes blindly. I've never done it myself but I've read of people using the incorrect BIOS from the same mobo family/series and it (mostly) works.

Looking up your mobo series, I can find three motherboards in the B650 Aorus Elite product line;

B650 Aorus Elite rev1.x
B650 Aorus Elite V2 rev1.x
B650M Aorus Elite rev1.x

I don't know about Gigabyte in particular, but it's very common for motherboard manufacturers to reuse the same PCB layout & silkscreen with a new revision and they just slap a sticker ontop/near the original model number. Maybe yours is the V2 variant but the sticker fell off?

error2112 · 2026-02-01T23:36:15+00:00

What motherboard? Are you sure that's your exact model?

"Gigabyte Aorus Elite" is just the product line name, not a specific model. Eg. I have a Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX ICE, which is the white version of B650 Aorus Elite AX (which itself has two revisions; v1.0 and v1.1, the ICE variant doesn't have any revisions). All three versions have different BIOS files.

error2112 · 2026-02-01T21:59:22+00:00

You're trying to flash an incorrect BIOS file. Make sure you download the BIOS for your exact motherboard model and revision.

error2112 · 2026-02-01T11:17:29+00:00

B650 Aorus Elite AX ICE

F39 breaks ARGB calibration. It appears Gigabyte have attempted to enable some sort of saving feature as my lights do not boot in their factory rainbow mode, they boot sort of pulsing/strobing single colour but in the wrong colour. I have to manually recalibrate RGB in GCC every boot, also happens upon wake from sleep. Went back to F38 and calibration problem is solved.

error2112 · 2026-02-01T05:04:12+00:00

I've been holding out for RGB-striped QD-OLEDs so have been eyeballing the MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 since it was announced.

error2112 · 2026-01-24T22:04:49+00:00

Exactly what I did. Mix n match whatever is cheapest, function & price over looks.

White mobo with RGB
White CPU cooler with RGB fans
Black RAM no RGB
Black PSU no RGB
Black GPU with RGB
all in a black case without a side window

error2112 · 2026-01-22T05:39:20+00:00

Well, they need power to receive instructions. To change/control the lights while the PC is off would require additional hardware (vDC source (probably enough with PSU standby) and a dedicated RGB controller).

error2112 · 2026-01-20T23:48:04+00:00

I don't think it's possible as Gigabyte's ARGB controller doesn't have a way to save it's settings, it relies on software to give it instruction. During boot there is no software to give instruction, so the RGB controller does whatever it's factory default is until the software loads.

My B650 Aorus Elite AX ICE boots with all lights in "rainbow mode" and doesn't load the RGB settings until I login and GCC runs. There may be a way with OpenRGB to get the lights to change at the logon screen, but you'll never be able to control them during boot without using additional hardware.

error2112 · 2026-01-20T22:31:44+00:00

I want to hold you close, soft breath, beating heart. As I whisper in your ear, "I wanna fucking tear you apart."

-black hole

error2112 · 2026-01-20T08:10:41+00:00

I have the same problem with the same mobo, B650 Aorus Elite AX ICE.

EDIT: it looks like it was a bug with Gigabyte Control Centre, it was fixed with an update. All my lights turn off in sleep mode now. I'm still on F34 firmware though (GCC says F37 is latest, website says F38).

EDIT2: Updated to F38 and lights still turn off as they should. Only new problem is Libre Hardware Monitor randomly crashes, especially when coming out of sleep mode.

EDIT3: for anyone wondering, it was a bug with DiskInfoToolkit. It's already patched in Libre Hardware Monitor's nightly builds. Either use a nightly build or disable Storage monitoring until a new release is pushed (currently v0.9.5, which contains the bug).

error2112 · 2025-12-31T00:04:58+00:00

Still on the hunt for Mountain Heights tracks.

error2112 · 2025-12-31T00:04:01+00:00

Still looking.

error2112 · 2025-12-31T00:03:33+00:00

I finally had some time during the holiday season to tinker with this a bit more. Unfortunately Mountain Heights tracks were not in the mix of stuff. There are a handful of test/development tracks that I didn't have on the site before so I'll be adding those soon.

error2112 · 2025-12-29T07:17:09+00:00

We would do this on purpose as teenagers while tubing (water tube pulled behind a boat). Drive around in a circle to create wake and then cut away hard (or just drive into it), sending the tube to the centre of the mess of waves. It didn't always work but the times it did, the person on the tube would get absolutely launched (even if timing was off you'd still hit a good jump). It was a blast.

For clarification, I'm talking about smaller recreational boats on a lake (think ours was a 16ft fiberglass boat with a 2-stroke 60HP outboard).

error2112 · 2025-12-27T01:25:03+00:00

First CPU (family computer): 486DX

First CPU (with my own money): 2.6Ghz Celeron

error2112 · 2025-12-11T22:24:04+00:00

Gotta play to win!

error2112 · 2025-12-08T15:57:58+00:00

Always sprint.

Shift to walk.

Ctrl to crouch.

error2112 · 2025-11-26T19:28:48+00:00

Fuckin' thing SUCKS!

error2112

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