The computer and electronics super geek thread

[David Hingtgen]

Possibly, but with how apparently random it is, and how many BIOS tweaks/quirks this PC has had over the years, I'm loathe to try to alter anything, when I can simply "not buy the one that might have issues".   

[davidwhangchoi]

go go go!

edit: sold out.

5080 was up for a good minute before going OOS

Edited January 30 by davidwhangchoi

[azrael]

2 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

edit: sold out.

5080 was up for a good minute before going OOS

So either scalpers or paper launch. 🙄🤦‍♂️

[davidwhangchoi]

2 hours ago, azrael said:

So either scalpers or paper launch. 🙄🤦‍♂️

definitely the FE's were paper launch.  5090 any model no chance to get at all.

the 5080's had a bit more and took about 1 min to sell out. 

I had the 5080 gigbyte windforce the goes for 999 in my cart at newegg  3 separate times during the multiple restocks and was able get through to final payment checkout stage. (i didn't buy it though, just wanted to see if i could check out) There were a few  5080's priced at 1150 - 1200  on newegg that sat for 20 mins while people were fighting over the 999 cards but are gone now once they realized the 999 cards sold out.

i don't think the 5080 is a great card and given if there any kind of decent supply restock it'll be around like the 4080 super launch.

 5090 though.... instagone.

 

Edited January 31 by davidwhangchoi

[mikeszekely]

Decisions, decisions.  The 2024 Zephyrus G14 is on sale right now.  The 2025 model will use the same 120hz 3K OLED display, (mostly) the same chassis, same 1TB SSD.  Both models have 32GB of RAM, though it's slightly faster on the 2025 model.  The main differences are the CPU and GPU.  While I'm not expecting an RTX 5070 to be a big upgrade over the RTX 4070 (especially given that the 4070 was already thermally constrained by the G14's chassis and cooling), the 5070ti is probably a more noticeable difference.  On paper the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is looking like a good upgrade over the Ryzen 9 8945HS, too.  But will the theoretical and on-paper upgrades be worth the extra money?  With the sale price on the 2024 we're looking at a bit over $500 in savings over the unreleased 2025 model.🤔

[davidwhangchoi]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Decisions, decisions.  The 2024 Zephyrus G14 is on sale right now.  The 2025 model will use the same 120hz 3K OLED display, (mostly) the same chassis, same 1TB SSD.  Both models have 32GB of RAM, though it's slightly faster on the 2025 model.  The main differences are the CPU and GPU.  While I'm not expecting an RTX 5070 to be a big upgrade over the RTX 4070 (especially given that the 4070 was already thermally constrained by the G14's chassis and cooling), the 5070ti is probably a more noticeable difference.  On paper the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is looking like a good upgrade over the Ryzen 9 8945HS, too.  But will the theoretical and on-paper upgrades be worth the extra money?  With the sale price on the 2024 we're looking at a bit over $500 in savings over the unreleased 2025 model.🤔

That's actually the max specs for 2024 model (RTX 4070 mobile OLED on a G14), Unless, you're in the hurry,  I'd honestly wait for the reviews of the 2025 G14 with the 5070 Ti, as i don't think the 2024 model will sell out and will still be available and perhaps even lower than the current price.  However if goes down close to 1k, i'd grab it. 

Factoring in potential delays, potential tariffs you may see the laptop March/April possibly early May.  

there was a g16 with a 4080 for 1399 or less but didn't have OLED so i didn't ping you. 

 

here's a g16 4070 OLED for 1479 bestbuy (intel)

Open-Boxes [bestbuy.com] also available:

• Excellent - $1283.99
• Good - $1238.99
• Fair - $1198.99

and G14 OLED  4070 open box for excellent $1470 - fair $1371 (AMD AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS) 

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-oled-3k-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-8945hs-32gb-lpddr5x-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-1tb-ssd-platinum-white/6570271/openbox?condition=fair

Edited February 1 by davidwhangchoi

[azrael]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Decisions, decisions.  The 2024 Zephyrus G14 is on sale right now.  The 2025 model will use the same 120hz 3K OLED display, (mostly) the same chassis, same 1TB SSD.  Both models have 32GB of RAM, though it's slightly faster on the 2025 model.  The main differences are the CPU and GPU.  While I'm not expecting an RTX 5070 to be a big upgrade over the RTX 4070 (especially given that the 4070 was already thermally constrained by the G14's chassis and cooling), the 5070ti is probably a more noticeable difference.  On paper the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is looking like a good upgrade over the Ryzen 9 8945HS, too.  But will the theoretical and on-paper upgrades be worth the extra money?  With the sale price on the 2024 we're looking at a bit over $500 in savings over the unreleased 2025 model.🤔

We're assuming we'll see stock for the March release (AMD-based laptops have traditionally had lower stock available at launch vs Intel-based). We also see sales kick in around September/October for Back-to-school and the G14 will likely be one of those models that get a Back-to-School discount. The performance uplift of the laptop 5070/5070Ti will likely be marginal vs the 4070, if the desktop RTX 50-series is any indication of this generation. Maybe better battery-life but the increase power usage of the RTX 50-series is looking to nullify any battery improvements (4070 base power is 35W vs 5070 base power of 50W, 5070Ti - 60W base power). I'd probably pay attention to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 vs the 8945HS more since that may be where the best performance/watt comparison is.

Depending on what you plan on using the laptop for will likely determine going with the 2024-model vs waiting for the 2025. If you really need a new laptop now, I'd probably go for the 2024 G14. Otherwise, I'd wait for the reviews.

[davidwhangchoi]

Steve call nvidia a dik lol... damn

 

for less than a 5080 card, get a whole desktop (in stock at the time of posting)

put in a cheap stick of ram and it's good. 

 

[JB0]

12 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

Steve call nvidia a dik lol... damn

I mean, he's not wrong. They've been acting like an obvious phallus for years now.

[davidwhangchoi]

@mikeszekely 

ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G14 14" OLED 3K 120Hz Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS - 16GB LPDDR5X - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 - 1TB SSD - Platinum White

$1,074.99

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-oled-3k-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-8945hs-16gb-lpddr5x-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-1tb-ssd-platinum-white/6570270.p?skuId=6570270

[mikeszekely]

29 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

@mikeszekely 

ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G14 14" OLED 3K 120Hz Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS - 16GB LPDDR5X - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 - 1TB SSD - Platinum White

$1,074.99

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-oled-3k-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-8945hs-16gb-lpddr5x-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-1tb-ssd-platinum-white/6570270.p?skuId=6570270

Appreciate you thinking of me, but 16GB of RAM is a deal-breaker. I'll either wait for another sale on the 32GB version with the 4070, or I'll get the 2025 model with 32GB and a 5070ti.

[mikeszekely]

Reviews coming in for the RTX 5070ti. Sounds like a moderate upgrade over the base 4070ti, but unless you're really into AI (or use Frame Gen) it's basically on par with the 4070ti Super and worse than a 4080. Which, you know, isn't great, but if you can find one at close to retail (🤣) it's a better value than the 5080.

In native rendering it lands somewhere in the middle of AMD's 7900 series, but the minute you turn on ray tracing it leaves them in the dust.  Frankly, while I don't really use Frame Gen, I'm cool with DLSS, which also outperforms FSR.

I guess I'll wait and see if AMD's 9700 series makes improvements on ray tracing and FSR, but unless the 9700 series is like a 30% boost over the 7900-series or they come in  cheaper than the rumors and leaks are suggesting, it still looks like the RTX 5070ti is the sweet spot for me. Team Green still has a strong edge in ray tracing and upscaling, and I'm coming from a non-ti, non-super base 4070, so I should see a decent boost in performance... at least, once I upgrade the rest of the PC. I've actually been noticing more CPU bottlenecks with my aging Core i7-9700k than anything else.

[TangledThorns]

I'm looking at 5070 Ti as well but the prices I've seen so far are terrible. I'm hoping to see some deals in the coming months. 

[azrael]

I haven't watched any of the reviews yet but I did see Jayz2C's earlier vid about the "leaked" Microcenter and Best Buy MSRP launch prices. Yeah...🤦‍♂️

5 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

I'm hoping to see some deals in the coming months. 

Don't be hold your breath 'sweetie...

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

it's a better value than the 5080.

For price to performance...not really. Seeing as there is only 1 card that is even close to MSRP with the highest being near the 5080 FE pricing, is it really a better value?

[davidwhangchoi]

58 minutes ago, azrael said:

I haven't watched any of the reviews yet but I did see Jayz2C's earlier vid about the "leaked" Microcenter and Best Buy MSRP launch prices. Yeah...🤦‍♂️

Don't be hold your breath 'sweetie...

For price to performance...not really. Seeing as there is only 1 card that is even close to MSRP with the highest being near the 5080 FE pricing, is it really a better value?

 

 Microsoft's first quantum computing chip

[kajnrig]

2 hours ago, azrael said:

I haven't watched any of the reviews yet but I did see Jayz2C's earlier vid about the "leaked" Microcenter and Best Buy MSRP launch prices. Yeah...🤦‍♂️

And the pricing rumors for AMD's 9070/XT aren't much better, ie $650 and $750. At the very least, they should maintain those prices for a bit longer if only because stores have already been building up stock for the past two months, but I have no doubt they'll jump up as well. Get ready for another generation of psychotic price:performance ratios.

By the by, Strix Halo, aka AMD's "mega APU" has been reviewed pretty positively overall... but it's currently only available in an Asus tablet PC that starts at $2100, so... again, another generation of psychotic price:performance ratios.

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, azrael said:

For price to performance...not really. Seeing as there is only 1 card that is even close to MSRP with the highest being near the 5080 FE pricing, is it really a better value?

It is... Assuming that you could get it close to Nvidia's announced pricing. I guess my folly is believing that would be possible.

[davidwhangchoi]

Steve's videos are always entertaining. 

 

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

It is... Assuming that you could get it close to Nvidia's announced pricing. I guess my folly is believing that would be possible.

I'd definitely recommend keep shopping for the laptop though and see if something you end up purchasing can double as a desktop replacement for the time being to save some money.  

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, davidwhangchoi said:

Steve's videos are always entertaining.

To each their own, I've never been a fan.

 

1 hour ago, davidwhangchoi said:

I'd definitely recommend keep shopping for the laptop though and see if something you end up purchasing can double as a desktop replacement for the time being to save some money.

Yeah, maybe.  I think the problem is that even a mobile 5070ti, thermally constrained by a G14's chassis, probably won't be an upgrade from a desktop 4070, but the CPU will eat my desktop's CPU for lunch.

I don't seem to be very good at saving right now, either.  I'm trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a Porsche this weekend.

[azrael]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

It is... Assuming that you could get it close to Nvidia's announced pricing. I guess my folly is believing that would be possible.

And that's the problem. The Asus Prime (and even this might be in question) and the Gigabyte Windforce SFF are the only ones listed at MSRP. After that, you're paying WAY above the 5070ti's price/performance belt.

5 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I think the problem is that even a mobile 5070ti, thermally constrained by a G14's chassis, probably won't be an upgrade from a desktop 4070, but the CPU will eat my desktop's CPU for lunch

Unless the laptop 5070ti is undervolted, a G14's chassis would probably just barely be able to keep it cool. (I think the rule of thumb is the current gen laptop Nvidia GPU is equivalent to the previous gen's desktop, performance-wise). I hear the new Ryzen AI laptop chips are actually good 👍...if you can find them... 😔🙄

[mikeszekely]

8 minutes ago, azrael said:

Unless the laptop 5070ti is undervolted, a G14's chassis would probably just barely be able to keep it cool. (I think the rule of thumb is the current gen laptop Nvidia GPU is equivalent to the previous gen's desktop, performance-wise). I hear the new Ryzen AI laptop chips are actually good 👍...if you can find them... 😔🙄

I think they will be, pretty sure they did with the 4070s last year.  Benchmarks put the G14 a bit behind bigger laptops with 4070s, but most reviewers seemed to think it was an acceptable trade off for the portable form factor (it's a big selling point for me, too).

Pretty much any modern Ryzen will be better than my desktop, though.  I think the one in my 2020 G14 beats it.  The AI 9 in the 2025 G14 should absolutely murder it.

[davidwhangchoi]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't seem to be very good at saving right now, either.  I'm trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a Porsche this weekend.

That is a better upgrade than a 5070 ti

Hope you are allowed to get it. 

[mikeszekely]

26 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

That is a better upgrade than a 5070 ti

Hope you are allowed to get it. 

Fingers crossed.  It's a 2022 Taycan with 13k miles, previous owner leased it and turned it back in when he/she was done.  $61k, basically half what a new one goes for in my area.  The catch is that the interest rates on used cars right now are terrible, so if I buy it I have to wait until some CDs we have mature in a month or two and borrow as little as possible.  Possibly not borrow at all, after I sell my Maxima.

Then instead of playing Forza Horizon 5 on max settings, I'll just drive around in it and try to remember that setting a high score on a speed trap isn't appropriate for real life.

[jenius]

I was shopping for Taycans for a bit also, love them, then got a company car so no need to buy anything on my own. 

I'm going to hold off until black Friday to build my next computer, really hoping GPU stock is in better shape then. I have a 4090 in my gaming build and might just replace it with a 5080 and use the 4090 in my photo/movie rig.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, jenius said:

I was shopping for Taycans for a bit also, love them, then got a company car so no need to buy anything on my own.

It's been a dream of mine to own a Porsche ever since I was a kid and got a Hot Wheels of a mid-'80s Carrera.  Can't really do a 911... I still need a mostly-practical daily driver and my kid's too little to ride shotgun yet, but the Taycan still seems like a great choice.  A common refrain I keep hearing about it is, "genuinely good, not just good for an EV, it's a genuine Porsche experience."

1 hour ago, jenius said:

I'm going to hold off until black Friday to build my next computer, really hoping GPU stock is in better shape then. I have a 4090 in my gaming build and might just replace it with a 5080 and use the 4090 in my photo/movie rig.

I'm also wondering if it might not be easier to get the GPU I want in a pre-built (I know, heresy).  I think my plan will be to upgrade my laptop in late spring/early summer, then I'm GTG if we go somewhere on vacation this summer, then do the desktop around Black Friday like you were thinking.

[davidwhangchoi]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Fingers crossed.  It's a 2022 Taycan with 13k miles, previous owner leased it and turned it back in when he/she was done.  $61k, basically half what a new one goes for in my area.  The catch is that the interest rates on used cars right now are terrible, so if I buy it I have to wait until some CDs we have mature in a month or two and borrow as little as possible.  Possibly not borrow at all, after I sell my Maxima.

Then instead of playing Forza Horizon 5 on max settings, I'll just drive around in it and try to remember that setting a high score on a speed trap isn't appropriate for real life.

nice, my friend's husband got a 2024 model in Gentian Blue Metallic with the crazy Panoramic Roof with Variable Light Control option and everything stacked on it.

He wanted some beige/sand color but his wife (my friend) said pick a less old fashioned color and he randomly picked blue.  Beautiful car. 

Make sure to put an autobot emblem on it and kill the resale price 

Edited Thursday at 08:05 AM by davidwhangchoi

[JB0]

5 hours ago, jenius said:

I'm going to hold off until black Friday to build my next computer, really hoping GPU stock is in better shape then.

Well, at least we know it won't be in worse shape. If things do manage to actually somehow get WORSE than they are right now price-wise, I think it will just signify that computers are over.

[TangledThorns]

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I don't seem to be very good at saving right now, either.  I'm trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a Porsche this weekend.

I was able to convince my wife to let me buy a new Jaguar F-Type last year when she didn't want me to buy a Hummer EV or other big ass electric truck that would not fit in our garage and would take up our whole driveway. It was kind of like unintentional reverse psychology 🤣

So now we have three cars; dadmobile (Nissan Juke), mommobile (Subaru Outback), and Batmobile (F-Type). I take the F-Type into my office a couple of times a month and my wife and I enjoy it for date nights too. 

Back on subject.

I'm glad I'm not desperate for a new GPU because I'm waiting on MSI to release their new B850M mobos still, ugh. No idea what their delay is.

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 01:08 PM by TangledThorns

[davidwhangchoi]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigabyte-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-gaming-oc-16g-gddr7-pci-express-5-0-graphics-card-black/6618884.p?skuId=6618884

5070 ti in stock as of this post. will sell out quick 

edit: sold out 7:09am PST

 

edit 2:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigabyte-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-aorus-master-16g-gddr7-pci-express-5-0-graphics-card-black/6618885.p?skuId=6618885

GIGABYTE - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti AORUS MASTER 16G  

in stock as of this moment  gone now.

 

some 5070 Ti's still inbound and haven't released:

link:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-8&browsedCategory=abcat0507002&id=pcat17071&iht=n&ks=960&list=y&qp=gpusv_facet%3DGraphics+Processing+Unit+(GPU)~NVIDIA+GeForce+RTX+5070+Ti^gpusv_facet%3DGraphics+Processing+Unit+(GPU)~Nvidia+GeForce+RTX+5080&sc=Global&st=categoryid%24abcat0507002&type=page&usc=All+Categories&nrtv_cid=aybujct5sxlx8

Edited Thursday at 03:13 PM by davidwhangchoi

[azrael]

Mod note:
We have an automotive thread for car talk. This thread is for computers and electronics.
Also, there's no point in posting launch day stock. They'll all be sold out then scalped. I literally see 5070ti's on ebay with pictures of the cards taken from people's cars.

[davidwhangchoi]

3 hours ago, azrael said:

Also, there's no point in posting launch day stock. They'll all be sold out then scalped. I literally see 5070ti's on ebay with pictures of the cards taken from people's cars.

this is like macross pre-order night when members posts when it goes up.

 F5 and you can get one. I had a few in my cart myself.  

 

edit: also screw ebay, can't stand those gpu in car pics.

Edited Thursday at 07:33 PM by davidwhangchoi

[mikeszekely]

Priced a build from Maingear.  Came out to around $2500 for one with a Ryzen 7 9700X, 32 GB of RAM, a 1TB NVME SSD, and an RTX 5070ti.  The GPU is definitely getting marked up by them, though.  Swapping it out for an RTX 4060 lowers the price by $780.