My fastest PC build yet - Threadripper 7980X

[@simant5361]

The Noctua fans match the wood front so well

[@ghomerhust]

when the first North came out, noctua is what i thought of right off. i run noctua in my twin-atx tower, with brown cablemod cables and it looks awesome. i plan to later add wood trim to finish it all out.

[@bajanyeti]

I hoped he had gotten the 180 mm fans for the top but looking at the back I think it would introduce negative pressure.

[@Rkiver]

"Does anyone need this?" No. But boy do I want it!

[@emlyndewar]

Thank you for highlighting the joke of pcie lanes. I wish more people would.

[@joshhardin666]

5:24 one of the most irritating things about consumer platforms is certainly the lack of pcie expandability. I have ranted about this SOOOO many times and will continue to beat the drum on this one until somebody listens. the "high end" consumer platforms give you just enough pcie to do either 16x/0x/4x (with the 4x shared by one of the m.2 slots) OR 8x/8x/4x (again with the 4x being shared by one of the 3 m.2 slots - and the m.2 connectivity only one of the m.2 slots goes directly to the cpu, one of them is shared with the 4x slot as previously stated, and one of them is shared with the chipset sharing bandwidth with all the usb4 and onboard networking and sound and all that other stuff that's easy to cause bottlenecks if you use lots of networking at the same time (particularly with 10g networking)... it's difficult to find 10g onboard networking (there are only a few boards that have it), it's hard to drop 10g or higher networking in a system because you either halve the lanes to your gpu or you share your high speed networking (and only 4 lanes of it) with your high speed storage potentially causing bottlenecks there too. there needs to be some kind of middle ground, an enthusiast level chipset design that gives us something like 40-50ish pcie lanes but uses the latest performant cores (i.e. gets released with the rest of the ryzen line when it comes out instead of a year later like threadripper), but uses a limited number of cores (maxing at 16 or 24 would be great for a mid-way platform. perhaps also giving us 4 memory channels so we can stop doing the 2 dimms per channel thing that seems to be plaguing modern imc's everywhere.) threadripper non-pro COULD have been this, but they made it wildly expensive, and uses what will be previous genreation cores in just a couple of months that are generally slower than their ryzen9 counterparts. threadripper pro is right where it should be as a top end workstation build with loads of cores, 8 memory channels, etc. and it's ok that it runs a year behind, but threadripper should be that intermediate mark (it's got the 64 pcie lanes which is gresat, it's got the 4 memory channels which is great, but the cores are too slow for lightly threaded workloads like multimedia production and game development, and most of us don't need more than 24 full fat zen5 cores at the time to be an enthusiast fast "low end" workstation / top end consumer product.

[@elikirkwood4580]

Something exactly like what you're describing would be my ideal system for both my main pc and home server. Both use several pcie cards for different purposes and I would love to be able to have a vm or two with a seperate gpu in my main pc. really something like x79 but with modern ryzen cores would be fantastic

[@fhpchris]

There isn't a huge hit going from x16 GPU to x8 GPU lanes (puget systems says ~1%). The largest problem is that most people who want tons of PCIE slots are trying to use devices that can't keep up with the networking anyway. Here we have SN770s that drop to ~500 mbps after 150 seconds or so. That is the speed of one sata ssd. Once you start talking SFP28 and QSFP28 network cards you need expensive big boy storage (and RAM/CPU) to push it on both ends. A single Samsung PM1735 Gen4 U.2 drive can write about ~3800MBps and even that is not easy to do over a network to windows running smb. The problem is that you need 20+ cheap dram-less consumer M.2 drives to do what only a few expensive Enterprise U.2 drives can do. In my opinion the big benefit of a platform like this is both memory size and memory bandwidth. Many AM5 boards have 2x 5.0 storage 4x off the CPU. I can hook two enterprise U.2 drives and a PCIE 8X 4.0 nic easily. The problem is it has to make a ton of sacrifices to run more than 96GB of ram and it has a ton less memory bandwidth vs this threadripper.

[@fhpchris]

@@elikirkwood4580 the problem is that most of the time that you start using all these PCIe devices you actually need more memory bandwidth too. If you want to run multiple GPUs and VMs it really sounds like you need a real dual CPU server and not a 7950x. You can build Epyc Genoa or W2400 Xeon but it won't be as cheap as building AM5 or LGA1700 because of the RAM costs alone.

[@joshhardin666]

@@fhpchrisit *strongly* depends on what card we're talking about. on a 3060, there isn't a big difference, that's fine with 8x pcie4. with a 4090, there's a pretty big difference.

[@philmarsh7723]

I avoid consumer machines except where I can't avoid it like a thin client for the desktop to drive monitors and my laptop for trips. My compute nodes and data storage are always older high-end servers with ECC RAM. Consumer grade processors generally have inferior memory performance due to fewer RAM channels. Consumer machines do outperform servers (for the same age machines) for one or few CPU cores being utilized.

[@popejohnny5]

That CPU heatsink alignment..... I get you can only get them oriented certain ways, but that along with the massive radiator options would have me swapping to a top mount water setup. Luckily all my Noctua narrow ILM 2011-3 heatsinks have always aligned front to back for my tower builds. Thanks for getting the sockets oriented right SuperMicro.

[@ascario]

Was thinking the same although it could blow air through to the top with the way nVidia designed the fans on their FE cards.

[@OldPoi77]

That's a good looking case.

[@DBTechYT]

Looks great!! Would love to have a workstation of that caliber!!

[@b127_1]

4:34 not entirely true. You could run both your GPU and nic at 4.0 x8, which should be sufficient for both pcie cards, assuming you don't need more than one 100g link.

[@nadtz]

Won't need anywhere near as many cores but I plan on building a TR just for the PCIE lanes probably next year. Was thinking about this exact case as soon as I saw it mentioned since it seems to fix the 'not big enough' issues of the original, but then again I already have a Torrent... End result looks awesome, can't wait for the follow up videos.

[@poru208]

I would definitely need a hard drink after purchasing that Threadripper. Lol. Can't wait to see what you're using it for!

[@ascario]

Isn't the change to the fan "hub" related to the fact that it's a simple hub that plugs directly into a fan header instead of requiring a sata power plug? Limiting it to 4 fans on 1 connector does seem to be a safe bet to not overload the fan connector. And also, no motherboard with less than 4 fan headers should be used with a case like this anyway.

[@jttech44]

Depends on the fans. Usually you can get 1A @ 12v from a single connector. Fine for most fans, not fine for server grade delta/sanace fans. The bigger thing is the lack of control you have while using fan hubs. I can see running your front fans on a hub, they should be at the same speed anyway, but, being able to ensure positive pressure is important for dust prevention, and if all your fans are on a hub, the best you can do is to size your fans such that you have more intake than exhaust.

[@s0litaire2k]

in your "PCIe lanes" rant (totally agree btw!) what do you think about Motherboards Manufacturers converting PCIe gen 4/5 lanes down to PCIe gen3 for the slower cards that don't really need gen4/5 speeds? (i.e. 2x gen5 lanes = 8x gen3 or 4x gen4 = 8x gen3)

[@isghj5]

Wouldn't you need silicon equivalent of a chipset to maintain the bandwidth? Each lane is direct pins/traces to the CPU, you can't just double it without A) a logic chip that can break the route the signal and B) a way to re-signal into two directions (and gen3 had different signal behavior right? you can drive it further through a riser?) except a chipset is only 4 lanes of upstream, so four chipsets? (or does something like this already exist as a product?)

[@Knirin]

@@isghj5You can mostly thank Broadcom and a few other financial vultures for buying out the PLX vendors and raising prices on those chips.

[@endolf]

I built a 7970x in Jan, with the same motherboard, went all black too :). Also with a 100g card, I tried to get a 4080 super FE, but they went out of stock instantly on release day. Tempted to go water loop too, so will be interesting to see what you do :)

[@balajibharatwaj6609]

I love at the end every single time there is something interesting about your drinks. Cheers!

[@66racer]

With the size of video cards today, this is such a comfortable size. I love front mounting my radiators but do like that this one will clear the mobo if I did top mount it. I like the idea of air cooled too because of the amount of fans. Plus, the case just looks classy.

[@hotrodhunk7389]

NGL that's sick AF

[@lemagreengreen]

Ooft, you're really getting the best toys sent to you now :)

[@Dragonheng]

Is still a metal box with wooden decoration. The system in it is more than that more interesting for me. And even if there is no point in expressing my wishes here, as a normal consumer I would like to have more PCIe lanes for the small consumer CPUs of the 900 class (I9 gen x 900 or AMD R9 x 900/ 950) from Intel and AMD. An X8 or a full X16 slot would be a dream.

[@garyrichards6079]

Am sure if you wanted more storage you could add a "ASUS HYPER M.2 X16 CARD" for a extra x4 MVME drives !!!

[@dionelr]

I love my Factal North case, although I never had any issues fitting parts in, I was helping my buddy put his PC together and he got the Meshify 2 XL. The size difference is drastic and I see why someone would want a "North but bigger". :D

[@greenprotag]

Aesthetically incredibly pleasing, nice commentary on the case... Defiantly looking forward to the full review of the hardware. I would have liked to see at least one benchmark. Like a quick R23 multi thread or a sneak preview of the hardware review. But that's ok there is still a little meat in this appetizer.

[@3d1e00]

I have a Z9PA-D8 with 2 2687w in a North. Runs fine with both on 120cm Noctua towers.

[@augold1681]

Well a 2678W v4 has a TDP of ~165 W (I don't remember exactly how much) and a Threadripper 7980X has a TDP 350w.

[@rexthewild]

I have a variant of this case, the fractal design mash black. It is beginner friendly. Just love it

[@isghj5]

I agree with your PCIE position but I have to wonder: Why can I not find any diy motherboards with hardcoded 8/8+4 or 8/4/4 bifurcation? I've heard Bifurcation is expensive in boards today because the PCIE switch chips for gen5 are expensive, but what if it wasn't switched? Why can I not find a single mATX/ATX+ board on the market that splits out the 16 lanes? Sure, gamers want 16 lanes, but there are loads of cards on the market that done even come with 16 lanes now, there has to be a market for this. Are Intel and AMD requiring the 16 lane slot in the purchase contract?

[@BinaryBlueBull]

Very interesting video. And I fully agree, man how I wish there was more PCI expandability for consumer platforms. I just put together a (virtualized) "storage server" out of consumer hardware, using IT-mode SAS HBA and SAS expander, GPU passthrough, quad 2.5Gb NIC and NVMe and while I got it to work, it was a huge pain to find a working, stable config within the limits of the PCI lanes, chipset and motherboard Oh, just FYI if anyone is looking at that case, the Fractal Design Define 7 XL has 16 x 3.5" slots if you buy the trays for it, not 14 and it can fit even more than that. 16 with just default mounting spots and one or more additional with converter trays for the 120mm fan mounts. It also has 2 x 5.25" bays you could convert to 2 x 3.5" or 3 x 3.5" bays with something like an Icy Box 2 x 5.25" to 2 x 3.5" or 3 x 3.5" conversion enclosure. Giving you a theoretical absolute maximum of 20 x 3.5" or 21 x 3.5" spots if you stack it to the brim or 16 x 3.5" to 19 x 3.5" spots without converting any 120mm fan mounts. I know because I chose that case specifically for that reason and have 16 slots occupied with 3.5" HDD's

[@A77ick]

that is one sexy build...Thank you for that build montage. Very classy.

[@billmiller4800]

Beware the Define 7XL is still not "roomy" for beyond E-ATX motherboards from Tyan or Supermicro (for those of us that need server hardware but in a tower shape). For some silly reason the power supply at the bottom, the cables won't be long enough without an extension or custom cables. Why not have the PSU at the top? Almost all MBs have the power connections at the top.

[@NateFromIT]

That CPU and Mobo combo in a HL15 would be a killer do all NAS build.

[@ghomerhust]

a 10,000 dollar cpu in a NAS?

[@varno]

For a nas, I am looking at the epyc sierra 8224P CPUs and an astock rack motherboard. It is cheaper than this, with the same price, expandability, and lower costs. Yes, the cores are less performant, but I think the trade-off makes more sense. Especially with the large amount of cabled pie 5.0 these have for u.2 storage.

[@adamswire9152]

That system cost more than my car! But super envious!!

[@CraftComputing]

LOL, mine too.

[@jttech44]

Mine too.

[@ky5666]

That's how you know you have your priorities in the right order.

[@devinbaines]

Leo at KitGuru found the XL North to be a bit on the small side when trying to do a simple water cooling loop.

[@shephusted2714]

128gb ram seems kind of low for this - it should have 1tb - that wouldn't even be overkill since with so many cores you could easily be running 20 vms - they all need memory - as it is now you are going to be constrained but eventually you will have an upgrade path - you are right about prices - really inflated now - eventually they will normalize when there is more competition. lack of drive soace make this a no go for most ws users - who doesn't have 4-8 or 14 hd? i would be inclined to lay it on its side to avoid gpu and cpu socket strain. the obsession for alcohol was more present in this video than any obsession over 10k ws unfortunately but for a 10k mchine that still has some compromises i would probably be drinking too - that is where we are with pc mkt

[@LordChariot]

I would really like to see the fitment for a SSE EEB (12x13 in.) like the WRX90E Sage or even the older WRX80E Sage.

[@chriscalderon1337]

If you need a lot of PCIe and you don't want to spend so much, you can always go with threadripper pro 5000 series or 3000 series.

[@Fractal_32]

Or used EPYC chips, make sure you get the same motherboard manufacturer as the previous owner since EPYC chips have Efuses that blow for vendor lock-in/security.

[@spazda_mx5]

it'd be nice if that was rack mountable, I think the average rack would visually benefit no end from some wood accents.

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Drink wine and place the rack by the shelves😆

[@rdsii64]

Silverstone has a 5U rackmount chassis that should fit this build.

[@harryniedecken5321]

Thanks for the build and video. At first I thought that you might put an amd pro workstation video card in it since it is for professional use. Do you plan to try any blender rendering related tests?

[@BCKammen]

Looks great, my only complaint is the CPU tower..... it's not black matte as well..... it just irks my matching want across the board a little.

[@mistakek]

Even though I don't need it, geez I'd love to have that system. So much power and it looks great too. Echo your thoughts on consumer cpu's with limited PCIE lanes. Bring back the old days of crap tonnes of ISA & PCI slots. Us homelab enthusiasts require more than just a GPU in the system.

[@disabledresellerparttime]

@CraftComputing My dream pc as a computer technician. But at this price i can't afford it as the max i have in budget for next pc including 49" monitor is only $5000.00. Thanks for the vid!

[@Fractal_32]

$5000 is a lot, maybe not for the über highend but for the consumer highend you would have plenty of money.

[@stopspyingonme9210]

The front of the case looks like an old school radiator. I like it alot

[@sourcilavise3788]

Wait, doesn't the Z690/Z790 have something like 40 PCIE lanes combined CPU + chipset ?

[@danhoard1285]

I just looked up the prices... and coughed in poor. XD For real, it's a beautiful system and it came together very well.

[@IstyManame]

I always wondered why tf would anyone need a threadripper... then i spent 10 days compiling 10,000 square kilometers of landscape from Gaea. On 7980x it would be like 20 hours according to calculations, still a lot to desire lol

[@vanveenmatt]

I'm seriously contemplating buying the black version of this. I really like this case. But it's a lot of time to switch cases. And it's a little on the expensive side. What to do...

[@Kelekona_808]

When making grenadine, do you juice your own pomegranate seeds or just use pre-made pomegranate juice?

[@CraftComputing]

Usually I'll buy 100% pomegranate juice. 2-1 sugar to juice over low heat.

[@chrisamon5762]

Beautiful system!! So jealous!!!!

[@indubitable49]

By 16 slots I am guessing you mean lanes?

[@SycsFinest]

The 4 fan hub is passive. I bet it's a bit cheaper than the 7 fan hub. Just FD pinching pennies.

[@titaniummechanism3214]

That CPU cooler orientation would drive me nuts, even though the Noctua cooler looks more premium, I would've picked the Artic Freezer 4U(m) for this system.

[@CraftComputing]

Heh, I didn't bench testing with the 4Um Arctic.

[@paulbrooks4395]

And, if you want even more PCI-E and 8 memory channels, you gotta go Threadripper Pro. The TR (non-pro) would at least benefit from the extra memory channels at 64 cores, but I expect that AMD knows that would lead to product stack overlaps. As for the mainstream PCI-E lanes vs TR...yeah. I can also see the profit analysis -- three product tiers (aside from servers), each with double the memory channels, PCI-E lanes. Not sure how I feel about that. If we are getting proportional savings by these being salvaged higher-end parts that couldn't pass testing and AMD is doing us a favor by making them cheaper, cool beans...but I'm just not sure. The mainstream desktop market seems to be held back just a little more than is reasonable.

[@EdwinFairchild]

i wonder how fast it can build a linux distro

[@jttech44]

Maybe it only officially supports 4 drives, but man, *slaps roof of north XL* you can zip tie so many ssd's into this bad boi. I like my north, only real problem is the top panel lacking retention. I'm using a bit of gaffer tape inside of mine. Ghetto, but workable. The fan hub is a bit of an afterthought. I removed mine completely, wasn't necessary, or all that useful. It'd be cool to see your approach to workstation virtualization, especially linux RDP. Not much content out there about it, I recently got xrdp spun up and working, I know gnome now has it built in, and there's a bunch of "teamviewery" options as well. Also, why mount the cooler vertically as you did? Seems like it'd get better airflow if it were rotated 90 degrees... but perhaps it doesn't matter in such a big case? ps. You can sub rose's grenadine with pomegranate coffee syrup and a barspoon of luxardo cherry syrup. Really adds quite a bit of mojo, as the luxardo really has alot of that stonefruit depth to it.

[@jkoking1]

Any chance you remember where you bought that shirt?

[@ascario]

I believe it's techno tim merch.

[@dalle5]

Why air coolers, I see you use them allot. Is it because the noise is lower? I am asking because I am planning a new build, and is interested in going for an air cooler, but not sure?

[@SuperStareGry]

Fyi as long as u can afford itt you can fit 64 cores in the same sockeet as less cores

[@Desertjoe789]

Pcie lanes are exactly why I just built a dual v4 Xeon server for my rack. It’s cheap and has just enough pcie lanes for what I use it for.

[@vamwolf]

Jeff.when no camera was on.... Unlimited power!!!!!!

[@hightechsystem_]

It is so annoying so few cases support x3 wide cards on last pcie slot. Such a mismatch with x3 wide pice cards.

[@2012Accounts]

Hey Jeff. Are you planning any update video on the state of cloud gaming in 2024? Gpu virtualization, passthroughs, etc. Especially the GPU virtualization since the passthroughs were already sort of covered in the proxmox 8.0 video.

[@CraftComputing]

I've got some fun stuff planned ;-)

[@2012Accounts]

@@CraftComputing nice!

[@sarathdmarar974]

Any Thoughts on 2 system in one case.....................

[@Fractal_32]

My issue with current motherboards isn’t the lack of PCIE lanes but rather how they are distributed. I wish my 5.0 x16 slot was two 4.0 x16 slots instead so I could do dual GPUs for GPU passthrough.

[@V1N_574]

I'm dying to see some custom water loops on this case!!!!

[@postnick]

I have 12 cores (well 6x2 12th gen intel) and 64 gigs of ram in two computers - i have no idea what to do with all of this power. Currently I run Fedora Workstation so it's efficient as crap!

[@danthompsett2894]

the fan hub issue, one could argue if theres 7 fan headers on the motherboard why would you need a fan hub, if you see what i mean, with a fan hub you cant individually adjust the fan speeds, but you can with motherboard headers. maybe the only provided 4 cause most decent motherboards have a minimum of 3 fan headers on the motherboard.

[@EyesOfByes]

So you're blowing hot GPU air in to the Noctua cooler? Ok then.

[@treelibrarian7618]

While you were talking about your choice of 4080 or 3090 I was thinking "Why not both?", but then I saw how big the 4080 is... You'd still be able to put the 3090 in that end slot though, and PCIe risers are a thing, that could make the 4.0x4 and 5.0x8 slots useable... It would make sense given your intent for virtualization experimentation. I don't know if something's changed in the last year but I was under the impression that nvidia keep their GPU virtualization tech for the headless server GPU's, so if you hack the firmware to use the server driver you loose the video outputs... and you have to use an older hacked driver in the VM as well. Multiple GPU's isn't hard, I've successfully had 3 GPU's on a basic 11th-gen intel mATX motherboard (2xAMD dGPU + intel iGPU) for 2 VM's + host using PCI passthrough.

[@mtk3668]

Great video as always. Tho next time, cut the music at the part where you remove the plastic peel for maximum... err, effect..

[@WillFuI]

I have heard of issues with nvidia cards on thread ripped interested in seeing if u have those issues

[@augold1681]

"My fastest PC build yet" with no benchmarks.

[@haxwithaxe]

It went so smoothly that he finished quickly :P

[@luigilamonica7380]

Wtf i thought he was going to show results and he started to make a cocktail 😢

[@maranathaafrica]

Yes i need one from Nairobi Kenya

[@francoisdubois80]

Just doing the things - go algorithm, go

[@rmcdudmk212]

That's a beast of a machines put in a damn sexy case. 👍

[@mhos5730]

Yay for noctua air cooled!

[@joshhardin666]

I really like fractal design (I personally have a NAS in a meshify2 xl and a workstation in a standard meshify2 and both are fantastic), and the build of the north xl seems similarly high quality, very well thought out, and i'd bet there's not a sharp edge on the whole lot, excellent documentation and support, etc. but I really don't like the wood look. I guess the north just isn't for me (and that's totally fine, it seems lots of other people really like it, I don't, and that's ok.).

[@kubolor1234]

Do you get to keep it?

[@novellahub]

As big as the Define 7 XL?

[@ironhead2008]

If I were you I'd look at the 64 core Threadripper the way I'm looking at an eventual upgrade to the R9-5950 in my B450 based system: Do I need it? No, the 3900XT I currently have is fine Is it the best upgrade? Nah, a 5800X3D is probably better. Do I still want it? HELL YES. Purely for the decadence factor of having roughly a Gen 1 Threadripper's worth of power in an AM4 socket.

[@Handler9]

No benchmarks? 🤔

[@tomekdargiewicz6397]

AMD Threadripper 7960x 5,841ghz BIOS OC ASUS trx50 HEATKILLER IV ax1600i vs cpuz r15 r20 r23

[@ChairmanMeow1]

I have this same case, but in black. The only other difference is uh... everything inside lol.

[@montecorbit8280]

At 15:10 You shirt.... I recognize the Defiant on the right, (your left) and the Voyager third from the left, (you're right). What order are they in, in what does it signify?? Okay, now I will go watch more of the video....

[@DevonYoung1]

I just want a link to that tshirt lol

[@MimKidsStudio]

Hello! I want to check the temperature when this Noctua cooler is running at full capacity. I have a computer with a similar specification to you However, the cooler is using NZXT ELITE 360. This water cooler is not satisfactory because the temperature goes up to 95 degrees. Let me check the temperature of your 7980X.

[@pkt1213]

I've been pondering a 7960x build and the motherboard cost is the biggest thing holding me back.

[@ShandidyTechTips]

I like your taste in machines AMD all the waay I have a similar setup uploaded a youtube video with 7960x build

[@Technocrat.]

Great video

[@chuba1]

if you'd showed me couple of photos of that pc and didn't tell me. i'd thought that would be just a regular atx build

[@Unmixable404]

You need to run some language models on that thing. Would becool to see how well it runs CPU only. Llamacpp

[@DarrylAdams]

Why don't manufacturers make baby shit brown components to match Noctua fans? They could totally change the market!

[@mycosys]

64 Cores ought to be enough for anybody!

[@karlogrimaldi6787]

640 kB of RAM should be enough for anybody 😂

[@Teluric2]

Not for CFD FEA.

[@mycosys]

@@Teluric2 I doubt Bill Gates had conceived computational fluid dynamic finite element analysis would be possible on a PC in 1986

[@MyBaffe]

2 x 180mm fan in the top.

[@W1nTry]

Nice build, but oh boy did the focus or lack thereof on the peel hurt my eyes....

[@VeritronX]

Doesn't really seem any better than my original define s with the full tg sidepanel upgrade, that has room for 4 filtered 140mm intakes and 4 140mm exhausts.. prettier but less sturdy I guess

[@ryannnn_nelson]

what a fucking monster.

[@minerzcollective6755]

The EnthooPro 2 Server Edition is substantially larger and is actually cheaper

[@brachisaurous]

why would you complain about PCIE expansion if your "4 SLOT" gpu blocks all the slots anyways????

[@OffitInfinity]

So many lines, what do you call it Modern Art? Bleh! On a serious note, the video sold me on it more than the thumbnail: The XL is an up-sized North. Though I do think Fractal missed an opportunity by not adding vertical GPU support. Also, good to see those Terra's from the last ad being put to good use.

[@Bart230]

Laughs in X99 🥳🥳

[@falsevacuum1988]

Dat 12VHR bend...

[@fanshaw]

PCIE lanes... This seems malicious. We have PCIE gen 5 being pushed to consumers for no apparent reason, while limiting the slots to a single x16. Going to two x8 slots is useless to anyone who wants to put in gen 3/4 x16 cards. It would be much better to have 2 x16 gen 4 slots than one gen5. I'd be better disposed towards the motherboard makers if they stopped labelling slots by their x16 physcial shape and burying the connected lanes in the small print. So many boards are weird. What consumer wants 8 sata3 ports and a single x16 slot? Give me 3 or 4 PCIE x16 slots. Rip most things off the motherboard. I need a couple of USB 2 ports for mouse/keyboard, USB3.x for a hub and bluetooth audio, a 2.5G NIC to cover low to mid-range use-cases. Give me some audio ports. Everything else can go on expansion slots, where it belongs. It seems there is a fear that consumer boards will cannibalise the workstation/server market. STH noted that its difficult to drive signals a long way down the motherboard, in which case... put slots on the other side of the board? Also, is there anyone out there who would like a really cheap, ugly but high-airflow case with lots of storage bays? Maybe add an option for flexible ducting for venting the entire back/top of the case out of a cupboard?

[@ewanb1632]

love the hat, lol, pc is baller