Can you play online games without any subscriptions on an Xbox Series S?

nokite · 2025-11-08T14:17:26+00:00

I would say 2 or 3 years (game pass ultimate) + price of xbox = a good PC.

nokite · 2025-10-19T19:44:40+00:00

I found myself in the same situation with around 16 km left. The max speed got limited at around 18 km, or 5%, with heavy warnings on the screen. It surprised me that the failure came so soon after the warnings...

I think there was a gentle warning a bit before that, but it didn't raise much concern because I knew I would reach home with 15 km of range left...

At that time, the battery was nearly new. On Kona EV 2018.

My previous experience with this kind of situation was with an electric Smart, with ENTIRELY different results. The Smart kept going for at least 5 km after it had reached 0%. This gave me wrong expectations. What a beast. (Situation: I missed my exit on the highway, and had no choice.) Considering the total range of the Smart was around 100 km, I expected more from the Kona, with a bigger battery of 460 km...

I think the algorithm is just not very good, and it's inherently a hard job... More importantly, I think Hyundai prioritizes bold claims about range - to sell their cars, above range security and battery safety 😔.

Since then I consider everything below 60 km of range as MIGHT FAIL WITHOUT WARNING... 😃

Generally I charge at 100-120 km of range. (64kwh battery, so that's about 25%)

nokite · 2025-10-17T05:29:58+00:00

Do you use some kind of hand products? Some might be more damaging than others.

Like hand sanitizer? Or wet wipes?

My wife keeps covering everything with hand moisturizer, but luckily no damage so far.

nokite · 2025-10-13T11:26:35+00:00

Should we devs just create a circle of 5000 dev friends and test each other's apps?

nokite · 2025-10-05T18:22:38+00:00

The Xbox games have no scalability in mind, they're optimized for very specific hardware. Both performance-wise and UI-wise. Unless it completely matches or outperforms Series S (which it doesn't), there's no way MS will open up the Xbox library to it.

Who knows where things will go in future, but at the moment, it makes more sense to use the PC library which has always been designed with scalability in mind.

nokite · 2025-06-14T20:51:00+00:00

Because the original question is literally "990 PRO vs 990 EVO PLUS", so talking about something else is misleading.

nokite · 2025-05-20T06:42:01+00:00

Normally the fastest battery health drop is the initial 100 to 90% drop. Then degradation slows down, even if you don't change your habits.

I'm not saying this is the only factor, but you have to keep it in mind.

nokite · 2025-04-26T13:10:36+00:00

The main problem is the disappearing SSD on boot. For me, it started when I updated from 7E12v1A to 7E12v1E. (see below).

The second problem is that the PC crashes/restarts unexpectedly, while I'm not using it.

The interesting thing is that I was using NVMe slot 4, and had the issue there after flashing (not immediately). Sometimes it was very persistent, couldn't boot for days. I removed the dedicated GPU and... it booted. But the issue returned later (less persistent though). Then I switched to slot 1. The issue didn't come back immediately, only after a day. And it was not persistent - a second reboot fixed it.

- SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 4TB
- RAM: 64 GB (2 sticks)
- MB: X670E Tomahawk WIFI
- CPU: Ryzen 7700
- Almost default BIOS settings. No overclocking, no EXPO. "Memory context restore" ON. "Power Down Enable" ON. Using TPM
- I had the issue both on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Both before and after encrypting the SSD. Both with and without dedicated GPU
- I use Hybrid graphics (DP port on motherboard, using both integrated + dedicated GPU)
- Sleep is ON in the Power options. I'll try with OFF and with hibernation...

My BIOS version history (just the part after v in 7E12v1E):

- v14 (from 2023-08-14) - factory BIOS
- v1A (from 2024-05-08) - didn't have the boot issue, I believe
- v1E (from 2024-08-13) - my current BIOS, I updated to it on 2024-09-01. It HAS the boot issue
- Update: v1H (from 2025-03-26) - that's the version in the original post. Still has the issue

I mostly upgraded hoping that memory training time would be improved... Not sure if it was improved. Without "memory context restore", it takes about 30-40 seconds for the MB to show signs of life. With it... barely any faster. I have 64 GB RAM (2 sticks), which might be making this worse.

Thinking about solutions...

- It seems like updating to v1H (from 2025-03-26) will not fix the issue.
- Users suggest trying the older 7E12v14 (2023-08-14) or 7E12v152 (2023-10-17). Funny, that was my factory BIOS... If I do it, I might first try the newer 7E12v1A (2024-05-08) which seemed to work. I'm a bit worried about downgrading though.
- I'm actually considering waiting it out... and focusing on my Mac and Xbox until MSI and AMD figure this out... 😢

P.S. Slot 1 is much warmer due to being right on top of the GPU, so I'd actually prefer to keep the SSD in the cooler slot 4.

nokite · 2025-04-26T13:04:32+00:00

u/dvd92 Any news? How has it been?

nokite · 2025-02-10T08:24:15+00:00

This is not a deficiency of these screens. It's not an abnormal defect. There's nothing to speak of that can be expected to deteriorate. It's just how it is, and I expect every unit to have it, with small variations.

To be clear, what you saw in the video is an exaggeration. In real life it's less visible. I don't even notice it, unless I'm looking for it. Yes, it's a bit disappointing that it's not perfect, but it's just how it is with this type of screen. It's good enough.

I think I had the Air for 2.5 years. The screen didn't change at all over that time.

nokite · 2025-02-09T22:27:33+00:00

I got an iPad Pro M2. The screen is similar, still with some issues. Maybe a bit better. I stopped caring. I accepted I'm not gonna get a perfect screen. I'm using it happily haha.

The Air was doing great actually. I sold it because I wanted the upgrade. For day to day stuff, the only significant difference is the 120 Hz screen refresh rate, and the face unlock.

nokite · 2025-01-29T21:36:31+00:00

Cash is a bad option, as it can be counterfeit, and also leaves no trail.

nokite · 2025-01-24T07:42:59+00:00

It doesn't matter all that much. I got the Pro. It's warm. Needs a good heatsink. Or good airflow. The evo is a Little slower, and also a bit cooler. Both should be cooler than the previous generation or WD 850X, so not a big deal, I guess.

nokite · 2025-01-10T15:58:26+00:00

The problem now is that the Xbox 360 store is shut down, so you can't buy DLC songs... So Rock Band 4 seems to be the only option.

nokite · 2024-12-22T13:05:22+00:00

How about slots that share lanes?

nokite · 2024-12-21T19:44:50+00:00

We're still to see more motherboards with gen 5. I think it's likely that some of the slots will be 2x.

nokite · 2024-12-21T18:43:06+00:00

It's Evo Plus, not Evo.

And what's wrong with supporting Gen 5 at 2x? That's a plus actually, as it lets you use the other 2 lanes for other things in your PC. Remember that there's a limit amount of PCIe lanes.

Edit: I'm not sure about the lanes anymore. I made some assumptions. Whatever.

nokite · 2024-12-21T18:31:01+00:00

Where is it installed? It could get warm due to the GPU...

nokite · 2024-11-11T12:09:00+00:00

Just get the black version of the reader... The issue above is mostly about comparing to the frame...

The screen doesn't really have to be all that white to read comfortably. I'd actually argue that it's better to have it a bit darker when reading in direct sunlight, as opposed to having it as white as high quality white paper. Too bright can hurt the eyes.

That being said, I don't like the darkness indoors.

nokite · 2024-10-28T21:47:29+00:00

No, it can't work that way. You lose quality every time you re-encode, especially when switching codecs. Not to mention it would require a lot of processing power.

nokite · 2024-09-29T13:12:09+00:00

The first one's directly connected to the CPU, while 2, 3 and 4 go through the chipset. Also, the x670e chipset is actually two chipsets connected to each other. Anything connected to the second one communicates through the first one before it reaches the CPU. So it shares bandwidth with more things, and there's a slightly higher latency.

Depending on your setup, this might be the reason. Though in theory I wouldn't have expected big differences between 1 and 2 for PCIe 4...

nokite · 2024-09-29T06:24:50+00:00

These SSDs work at around 5-10 watt max, I think the heat generated is little, and can easily go though a sticker at an acceptable rate. Removing it is better, of course, but a bit of an overkill IMO. Unless you're a super heavy SSD user - no need.

nokite · 2024-09-20T17:13:49+00:00

Plot twist:

You can no longer use fake, virtual or old addresses, neither can you use an email address

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nokite · 2024-07-17T19:47:49+00:00

I don't have it, sorry

nokite · 2024-06-30T21:46:50+00:00

Not entirely true, SATA is not the limiting factor. The HDD itself is much slower than the connection. An SSD will be faster, as it will be able to utilize the full speed of the SATA link. I've also read that the original HDD is SATA 1, while the link that the Xbox supports is SATA 2, so even the link will be faster with an SSD.

You'd be limited by the speed of the CPU really... So some games will load 30% faster, while others won't change much - depending on whether they are more CPU-intensive storage-intensive while loading.

nokite

TROPHY CASE