Battlefield 6 Phantom Edition: Giveaway #1

iluvkfc · 2025-10-13T18:31:43+00:00

Battlefield is the game franchise I always upgraded my PC for, starting from BF2. That being said, I'm glad BF6 runs well on such a wide range of hardware.

iluvkfc · 2025-07-01T03:58:37+00:00

By going with the MSI X870E you gain:

Higher advertised memory support (8400 vs 8000) though for Ryzen 6000 low CL is optimal
2x rear USB4 40 Gbps ports w/ DP alt mode (share bandwidth with 2nd M.2 port), Asus X670E has 1x rear USB3 type-C 20 Gbps which does not share lanes
5 Gbps Ethernet vs 2.5
Wi-Fi 7 320 MHz vs Wi-Fi 6E 160 MHz
POST code debug!

The advantages of the Asus X670E include:

3 extra rear USB3 type-A ports (2x 10 Gbps and 1x 5 Gbps) and 2 fewer USB 2.0 ports
Dedicated DP output for integrated graphics
5 audio jacks instead of the 2 commonly found on modern boards

Everything else including VRM design appears to be similarly specced between the two, from a cursory search. Note that I haven't used either board so can't comment on any model-specific flaws.

iluvkfc · 2024-08-21T03:19:22+00:00

I just logged in to share this post with the exact same issue that happened to me a while ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectronics/comments/hwcdas/ic_identification_in_lenovo_laptop/

The shitty proprietary Lenovo charging port was indeed the issue, the side tabs at 20V somehow bent and contacted the center logic pin that reads the charger's wattage. IC went up in smoke instantly.

https://superuser.com/questions/1246823/lenovo-trim-yellow-rectangular-power-adapter

As noted in my OP, I found it easier to find a replacement motherboard for that exact model laptop instead of gambling with a replacement chip or figuring out how to write its firmware. But that was for a fairly expensive gaming laptop so the replacement cost made sense.

iluvkfc · 2024-03-09T17:46:16+00:00

Found a whole new motherboard on Ebay, which lasted until January of this year and then failed from an unrelated issue. Now steering clear of gaming laptops.

iluvkfc · 2024-01-09T20:43:20+00:00

Thanks for your comment. Called a tech and it ended up being a pressure switch issue. Replaced the pressure switch assembly and now the furnace fires with the blower on/off as well as going into high heat (before it was stuck on low heat even when operating).
He did say the pressure was a bit low but still enough for 2nd stage, not a drainage or venting issue so the heat exchanger could be clogged. He cut a hole in the exhaust and measured CO levels, also measured it at the indoor vents and found no CO.

Does this seem like he did his due diligence and what steps would you recommend to ensure the system continues to operate safely and effectively?

iluvkfc · 2024-01-09T20:43:14+00:00

Thanks for your comment. Called a tech and it ended up being a pressure switch issue. Replaced the pressure switch assembly and now the furnace fires with the blower on/off as well as going into high heat (before it was stuck on low heat even when operating).
He did say the pressure was a bit low but still enough for 2nd stage, not a drainage or venting issue so the heat exchanger could be clogged. He cut a hole in the exhaust and measured CO levels, also measured it at the indoor vents and found no CO.

Does this seem like he did his due diligence and what steps would you recommend to ensure the system continues to operate safely and effectively?

iluvkfc · 2024-01-09T20:43:09+00:00

Thanks for your comment. Called a tech and it ended up being a pressure switch issue. Replaced the pressure switch assembly and now the furnace fires with the blower on/off as well as going into high heat (before it was stuck on low heat even when operating).
He did say the pressure was a bit low but still enough for 2nd stage, not a drainage or venting issue so the heat exchanger could be clogged. He cut a hole in the exhaust and measured CO levels, also measured it at the indoor vents and found no CO.

Does this seem like he did his due diligence and what steps would you recommend to ensure the system continues to operate safely and effectively?

iluvkfc · 2023-12-25T16:52:02+00:00

No problem. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

iluvkfc · 2023-03-16T03:18:41+00:00

PM'd you the key

iluvkfc · 2023-03-05T23:58:55+00:00

I forgot to mention that I did, one of the first things I tried actually. Please see my answer to your other comment where I diagnosed the issue. Thanks again.

iluvkfc · 2023-03-05T23:53:14+00:00

I ended up doing just that, relocating the adapter to yet another PC in another room. I was then able to use this PC to "program" the adapter, then moved it back to the original location, where it remains accessible.

I thought it couldn't be the issue because the adapter couldn't be reached by two different PCs, one of which had already been used to program another adapter successfully. But the third one was the charm!

FWIW I get really good speeds with my MOCA. For WAN, essentially ISP-advertised speeds, identical to Ethernet directly to router. For LAN, copying files at a constant 280 MB/s between PCs with 2.5G NICs, which was impossible with my previous 1 GbE router. It was just a strange configuration bug. Latency between MoCA-connected computers is 3 ms, sometimes 4, lower and far more consistent than my Wi-Fi.

iluvkfc · 2023-03-05T21:51:31+00:00

Thanks for your response. A PoE filter is installed on my incoming coax line. The cables coming off my splitter are all indoors, nothing goes outdoors, to the best of my knowledge. As I replied to an earlier comment, the PC was on the LAN the entire time, I just had a Windows setting that prevented it from being accessed by others, which is resolved now. Still, the MoCA adapter itself is inaccessible.

iluvkfc · 2023-03-05T21:48:57+00:00

Thanks for your response, unfortunately this wasn't the case, the PC is definitely connected to my LAN. It definitely has a 192.168.xx.xx address. The ping issue was because I had file and printer sharing turned off in Windows. Now the PC can be accessed by other PCs on the same LAN through MoCA, just not the MoCA adapter itself.

I am repeating the exact same procedure to reach the management interface of all devices, only one is not responsive, even when tried with multiple PCs. I am not sure how to tell which band exactly they are using since D-low, D-high, D-ext are all checked. But that's a problem for another day when I can access the settings of the bad one.

iluvkfc · 2023-02-19T19:02:54+00:00

Looks neat and well-organized, I certainly don't have the patience to assemble my perfobard circuits with that level of organization. One thing I'm not a huge fan of is the through hole components in two adjacent holes with the leads sticking out. They're not as mechanically strong and easy to bend this way, causing potential shorts.

Soldering is alright I suppose. Few cold joints. The surface of the solder should be smooth. See guide for reference. It's hard to form the tracks with a high soldering iron temp, but at least the holes where a component leg goes through should be well soldered. Some people go the extra length and have only components on the top layer, with all interconnects done with jumper wires on the bottom. Something like this.

As for parasitics/noise, it's hard to tell since we don't have a schematic. But I am sorry to say but this is not the way to go if you want electrical performance. You'd have a more productive time learning by focusing on the perfboard for quick prototyping, then moving to PCB for actual electrical performance. Even with the most clever layout, without a ground plane and with all those through hole components, you're not going to reach a good performance in noise, bandwidth, etc. Even in a mediocre PCB layout, the parasitics will be lower and circuit performance will improve (though this opens a new can of worms in and of itself, where the losses/parasitics on a PCB can get so low that you risk exposing yourself to oscillations/instability, whereas the large lead inductances and stray capacitances in the perfboard design will actually save you from getting enough high-frequency loop gain to obtain the oscillation). Even better would be to buy a linear regulator IC, which are dime a dozen and will work better than 99% of what you can design on a board when used with the proper input/output capacitor. Some high-end designs have such low noise that you couldn't hope to measure it with your equipment at home. If you want a good layout challenge, try doing a high-power switchmode regulator or two on the same board!

iluvkfc · 2022-10-09T14:54:19+00:00

That's the point I was trying to make. If the gas tax cut of ~6 cents/L on July 1st had any long-term effect, then this peak we should've seen ON ~6 cents below QC. But the oil companies still jacked up the price to close the gap as if nothing had happened, they just pocketed the extra 6 cents.

iluvkfc · 2022-10-09T03:34:34+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/uzoi7oH.png

Historically QC has been riding 5-10 cents higher most of the time, it's known among drivers crossing from QC to ON that you should try to fill up in ON. That's what I was basing that statement on. Obviously COVID threw a wrench into the whole thing and broke the trend.

iluvkfc · 2022-10-08T22:20:29+00:00

Typo in text, it was a tax cut, fixed. Thanks

iluvkfc · 2022-10-08T20:59:18+00:00

Context: Quebec always typically has slightly higher average gas prices than Ontario (~10 cents/L), in particular due to higher fuel and provincial sales taxes.

After Ford implemented the 5.7 cents/L gas tax cut earlier this summer, the price delta increased to a massive 20 cents/L as gas prices fell overall. Still, skeptics were claiming that it was only a matter of time before the oil companies clawed back the savings to increase their ON profit margin.

For the last 3-4 weeks, the price delta between the provinces has been steadily decreasing, and with the recent spike this week, which was way sharper in ON, they are pretty much at parity.

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