2017 Hardware Thread

essenbe said:

True. I'm not a laptop person, but I don't recall ever seeing a laptop with a HEDT CPU in them. As far as I know, most laptops have a TDP of 35-45W. They reduce core count, frequency and everything else they can to get it down to that 35-45W TDP. Once you have done that, you can call it an i7 or i5 all you want, but it isn't. You have changed it into a completely different animal. It's a marketing gimmick as far as I'm concerned. A Laptop i7 and a desktop i7 are 2 completely different CPUs. Even for mainstream we all consider an i7 as 4 cores and 4 threads. In a laptop an i7 is 2 cores and 2 threads, with weaker cores and slower speed. They don't even approximate the same thing. But, that's just my opinion. They aren't called HEDT (High End Desktop) CPU's for no reason.

AMD does te same thing because he problem is the same. How much cooling can you get into a laptop.

Well, obviously they have to be "toned" down to keep the heat down. And yes, they're not the "desktop" version of an i7, but they're still an i7. The difference is it's an i7 for a "laptop".

Not sure what the "marketing hype" is all about here. I could easily make the same marketing hype argument about desktop components. In the end it's all marketing hype, regardless what the tech is, or where it is used.

There also seems to be some misunderstandings about laptops - not everyone buys high performance laptops for "gaming". I myself have NEVER used my 2013 Asus Zenbook Prime i7 notebook for gaming. I've never even loaded games on it, and I a huge gamer. This is what my desktop is for. I do however edit photos and do all sorts of other work on it where a performance machine is a must.

Just going thru MB manual again (slow day) and trying to sort out all gobbledygook of stupid and unimaginative names for settings, IOMMU, PSS, SVM, CPB, etc. which manual only shows as Auto, Manual, enabled , disabled but nothing about what they do.
Great explanations like "If you disable IOMMU than it will not work".

Cliff S said:

This post is for @worf105
Andrew, I found Nessie's pedigree

Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti AMP Extreme Review - Tom's Hardware

Thanks Cliff

Still a positive review but never knew about the VRM cooling problems

CountMike said:

Just going thru MB manual again (slow day) and trying to sort out all gobbledygook of stupid and unimaginative names for settings, IOMMU, PSS, SVM, CPB, etc. which manual only shows as Auto, Manual, enabled , disabled but nothing about what they do.
Great explanations like "If you disable IOMMU than it will not work".

I wish that who ever writes these manuals would put an explanation in on what they do.

I got you.

Anyway I'm not sure what to think regarding to end of unlocked processors. On one hand, Intel never supported (officially) overclocking processors, but I suspect, used the fact that they could as selling point. On the other hand having to carry two SKU's - locked and unlocked, really make makes no sense, and would probably be wise to just do away with it. In the end though I suspect the new architecture will still be overclockable, but how and by how much is yet to be determined.

Anyway unless Intel themselves says it publically it's all speculation until it happens.

I hope you UK hardware geeks are waiting before you order something now.
I just saw this on CNN, and checked in Bing:


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sygnus21 said:

I got you.

Anyway I'm not sure what to think regarding to end of unlocked processors. On one hand, Intel never supported (officially) overclocking processors, but I suspect, used the fact that they could as selling point. On the other hand having to carry two SKU's - locked and unlocked, really make makes no sense, and would probably be wise to just do away with it. In the end though I suspect the new architecture will still be overclockable, but how and by how much is yet to be determined.

Anyway unless Intel themselves says it publically it's all speculation until it happens.

Yes, they never supported overclocking. Yet they sold unlocked CPUs for a premium when there is only one purpose for an unlocked CPU and also sold insurance where they would replace them if you did overclock and fry it, but they never supported it. I think that is somewhat like the motherboard manufacturers who don't support overclocking but all provide the auto overclocking software with their boards. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like they think we're stupid.

essenbe said:

Yes, they never supported overclocking. Yet they sold unlocked CPUs for a premium when there is only one purpose for an unlocked CPU and also sold insurance where they would replace them if you did overclock and fry it, but they never supported it. I think that is somewhat like the motherboard manufacturers who don't support overclocking but all provide the auto overclocking software with their boards. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like they think we're stupid.

They know bloody well what's going on but are officially covering their behinds, all of them including GPU manufacturers. They could easily make non customize-able BIOS or all locked CPUs but... they can sell more like this without taking any responsibility. An unlocked Intel CPU is just an ordinary CPU that was more successful in manufacturing process. Instead of throwing them in the garbage they sell them cheaper as locked ones.