The Best PC Hardware Of 2024: The Nerdies | The Full Nerd ep. 328

[@voidmind]

The whole concept of the Copilot PC is one of the big things that is driving Linux adoption right now. Lots of people want to totally own their experience, and not have ads and AI shoved down their throat

[@esaedvik]

Funny enough, Copilot helps with troubleshooting Linux woes a LOT. I've had three PCs running Linux without much desktop Linux experience by using Copilot to find solutions to niche issues I've had. It's almost replaced endless forum/Reddit digging.

[@zivzulander]

I'm pouting, sighing, and rolling my eyes over every pick on behalf of Gordon 😎

[@julesvanlaar]

With the background removal filter jankiness, Brad kinda looks like an early 2000s low poly NPC (with an HD texture pack applied to it).

[@renereiche]

Alaina's AI Germany-to-California size comparison was from Google Gemini's base model, which is absolutely terrible and outdated (though comparing large numbers through token-prediction must be incredible hard without using tools, I bet it could code HTML code to compare the numbers and read you the result from the executed code). But newer models from 2024 can totally do this, even super small models like Microsofts Phi Micro or LLAMA 3.2 8b have no problems with this. Google's Gemini Advanced (paid for) model and also the preview of Gemini 2.0 Flash can do this as well and give you the correct answer.

[@AgentBirdnest]

I'm not a streamer, so I never bothered to look at the Elgato Stream Deck. But after hearing the arguments you guys made, I've added it to my wishlist. :-D I'm gonna take a close look at that Scuf Envision Pro controller, too. That looks nice.

[@esaedvik]

Absurdly overpriced. You can use a tablet or a phone just like it.

[@xnitropunkx]

@@esaedvik I would rather have a more elegant solution then something outdated with a dying battery on my desk

[@AgentBirdnest]

Buttons and knobs are making a comeback! I'd rather have that on my physical desktop than a touchscreen. Just seems more natural to me. (I use a mechanical keyboard, instead of a touchscreen or laser keyboard, after all. And a mouse instead of a trackpad.)

[@philhabib4434]

B580 would have been a great pick even if Nvidia and AMD released new products. 5090 is going to stramroll, yes, but Intel beought new GPUs back for the everyman (or gal). GPU of the decade so far.

[@davidbenson5794]

Will calling the Steam Deck OLED a minor upgrade was wiiild.

[@davejohn255]

I sorta agree. it might be age older users choose a gaming laptop so we don't have to put our reading glasses on to see the smaller screen. I stopped using my Switch (After TotK) and Deck for that reason. In any case I wasn't going to upgrade my original Deck for the OLED. Of course one should get the OLED if purchasing for the first time.

[@noenken]

My personal list of bests would look like this: CPU: AMD Ryzen 9800X3D GPU: Radeon 700M series Accessory: Rodecaster Duo / 8bitdo Pro 2 wired Xbox edition / Level1techs KM switch Positive Trend: OLED monitors hitting the masses by becoming affordable, even high refresh ones. Negative Trend: Game publishers ruining games / game studios. Sony was the worst this year (Helldivers 2 took a massive hit over the PSN controversy and Concord... let's not talk about it) But also Microsoft shutting down the Hi-Fi Rush studio and there's many other examples. Just terrible.

[@Morne_Smith]

YES!! SteamOS...it must come out for PC.... We all have dedicated Gaming PC's...time we get a dedicated Gaming OS... Window$ sucks a$$!!

[@Morne_Smith]

Like the Stream deck choice...

[@dj4aces]

The 14900KS is so rare you might as well call it a paper launch. You don't give an award to a piece of hardware that very few people have any hope of acquiring.

[@oneanother1]

Saw some last night for over 600$, where the hell is the Intel ultra 9 though. I haven't seen once at all for sale, for some reason their stock is extremely low.

[@channeldos]

WWG(ordon)D means so much more now

[@WTFShelley]

14900K The fasted gaming cpu, the fasted productivity cpu, the fasting self-murdering cpu.....

[@esaedvik]

To even suggest that 4090 is "the best" overall, is absurd. 7900XTX is half the price and almost as fast. WAY better pick for anyone. 4090 is fastest, sure. Def not best.

[@zodwraith5745]

I have the same problem with the 9800X3D that I had with the 7800X3D and 5800X3D, and that's its _price._ $500 is an insulting price for an 8 core in 2022, let alone 2025. At least an argument can be made for the 7950X3D as you're not sacrificing multi core for such a high price, especially as it's price came down to near the i9 and 7950x. When it's a 1 trick pony that shines only in gaming, only at unrealistic settings, and only with a $2000 GPU? Even if you _DO_ own a 4090, who seriously has a 4090 that magically can't afford a 1440 or 4k display? Unless you're the razor thin niche that demands the highest FPS with a $3500+ system but only use 1080p, it's just a dumb overpriced chip. Don't get me wrong, X3D is an amazing technology and it's clearly the fastest gaming chip in the world. The problem is how stupid that claim is to begin with when _every_ "fastest gaming chip" ever has only shined in unrealistic circumstances. Especially when you're approaching half a grand on the chip alone. Unless you have nothing left to waste money on, the other 99% of us that have an actual budget would be far better served with a 14700k/7900x for mixed use, or 14600k/7700x for dedicated gaming. You're giving up nothing in real world gaming, but saving enough you could literally step up the GPU that you would notice in _EVERY_ game. Not to mention the 14700k/7900x would absolutely curb stomp the X3D in multicore. You know, the only REAL time you ever see 100% CPU usage? Even if it's for "future proofing" by the time GPUs are fast enough that it would look better I guarantee faster CPUs would be available for the price difference, just like the 7700x buried the 5800X3D so quickly. If I have to struggle to find a "real world" use case for a $500 8 core, that just tells me it's a stupid chip very few people should be buying outside of epeen, which is the _only_ reason I'd want one.

[@oneanother1]

Prices on the x3d stuff were coming down along with the rest of the last gen CPUs. The issue is amd cut production on the 7800x3d and didn't have enough available of the 9800x3d, so prices went up. Obviously those with 4090 can afford those chips. But internet hype and lack of understanding of CPU performance caused all the amd fanboys to want one, even when they had a low end GPU. And also, the x3d being the only chip worth upgrading to, unlike all the other non-x3d chips (not to mention Intel CPUs). Maybe the 4090 might get more affordable by sometime next year as well.

[@zodwraith5745]

@@oneanother1 Yes and no. The X3Ds only came down in price because they _had_ to. The 5800X3D stayed at $450 forever and finally had to drop to $300 because it was getting schooled by the cheaper 12700k. The 7800X3D had to come down because it was getting slightly better gaming perf at unrealistic settings, but getting annihilated again by the 13/14700k in multicore. As badly as AMD fanboys try to compare to the i9 to exaggerate Intel's pricing they are NOT competitors because the i9 f*cking decimates it in multicore. No, the _i7_ is X3D's competition and while the X3D beats it handily in gaming at unrealistic settings with an unrealistic GPU, that i7 ALSO f*cking decimates it in multicore while costing less. It was only when Intel started having instability drama that AMD showed their true colors and jacked X3D prices back up, and that was _BEFORE_ production stopped so you can't blame supply. Now that no one wants 15th gen I guarantee AMD will keep prices high through all of Zen5's life cycle and only residual 14th gen and Zen4 will hold them back. Just look at Threadripper pricing to see how much of a "good guy" AMD is with a monopoly.

[@matthiasmartin4355]

Intel needs to hire you guys as PR reps. Nobody else would nominate an Intel 14th gen part without blushing as CPU of the year.

[@xnitropunkx]

Its just in Will's nature to stir the pot

[@zodwraith5745]

It's not as funny when you realize the 14900k has dropped to $425 and the 14700kf to $330. Both now beat the all mighty 9800X3D in gaming performance per dollar (the i7 is f*cking annihilating it), while _nothing_ in AMD's lineup has that level of multicore value without giving up gaming performance like non-X3D does. Especially when that i7 is within 20% of the 9950X in multicore but the 9950X is a brainless *_82% more expensive?!_* That would quite literally cover the cost of a motherboard and memory. Intel users _LOVE_ that AMD fanboys failed 3rd grade math, we're getting great deals while you're paying $500 for an 8 core you'll never see the performance from unless you play at 1080p with a $2000 GPU. 🤣🤑🤑🤪

[@jeffsmith6659]

​@@zodwraith5745Price dropped because they HAD to. Fixing broken stuff then cutting costs doesn't erase their little 'oops'.

[@zodwraith5745]

@@jeffsmith6659 Never said it did. Doesn't change the fact Intel users are winning while AMD users are learning who AMD _really_ is as well as AMD had far fatter margins than Intel _before_ the i9 drama. Not to mention Intel ALWAYS drops the last gen's price when launching a new one, and Alder Lake had been killing AMD in value since well before that. I already knew who AMD really was because I've been building and selling PCs for almost 3 decades and I used to be a massive AMD fanboy but learned why Gordon still swears by Intel. AMD always jacks prices to all new highs _EVERY_ time they smell a lead. They did it with Athlon when it hit 1ghz first, they did it with FX 8 cores, they did it with the 3/5/7950x, they did it with Threadripper, and they've done it with X3D. Now that fanboys can't stop sucking off the horrible value 1 trick pony that only shines in gaming at unrealistic settings with a $2000 GPU AMD's going to keep prices high, just proving why I keep telling people to stop worshipping AMD because they are NOT the "good guy." How they've handled Threadripper alone should be all the proof you need of that. It's ironic how much we all bashed Intel for costing more because they had the "gaming crown" at unrealistic settings with GPUs few people own. But magically when AMD price gouges you even more but worse makes you sacrifice _non-gaming_ performance it's the greatest thing in history? AMD fanboys are hilarious and I think they all must have failed 3rd grade math.

[@oneanother1]

@@zodwraith5745 Intel ain't selling though, because reasons. Last gen ryzen stuff are selling, kinda nuts to see they are gaining market share on Intel. Im not an amd fanboy, and I'm on raptor lake too. It just seems like last gen Intel can go lower in price, because reasons. I can only wait until the next gen comes out, nothing is worth upgrading to currently.

[@ninpauline]

Can we get a link to will Smith's podcast please

[@oneanother1]

2024 has been a let down of PC hardware when Intel wins the best GPU, because they got their GPU out before the end of the year. Lol What did Intel win on last best of the year? I missed that episode.

[@sacamentobob]

B580 as the GPU of the year? this is a joke right? This is a poor card, it looks like Intel has really befriended pretty much all of the tech press. The card is barely keeping up with tech from 3+yrs ago, and you can use the same money to buy cards from 3yrs ago that will be more stable and have longer guaranteed drivers support, whereas Intel is a sinking ship and may not exist in its current form. You people are starting to lose it.

[@JS-be8ll]

Wtf is Brad talking about. The 4800u could do 20hr battery life in mixed usage released at the start of 2020 .... sorry but lunar lake isn't offering any new revolution.

[@CHIEF_420]

@Apple 🤝 @FROREsystems