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Computer Hardware

i7-9700K on sale

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i7-9700K on sale for $249.99 at Amazon, and Best Buy. It is $305 at Newegg. Deal gone!
8 actual cores, no hyperthreading. I run the 9700KF (no graphics) on my second rig with all cores locked at 5GHz.

OK, all that expired or whatever.
For those who are lucky enough to be near a MicroCenter the current LGA 1151 CPU sale prices are:
i7-9700K = $219.99
i9-9900K = $319.99 (This is the CPU in my main rig.)
In addition, “Save $20 when bundled with a compatible eligible motherboard“.
These prices are “In Store Only”. Locations: https://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx
Unfortunately for me, MicroCenter is 2+ hours away.
Some folks say Best Buy will price match these.
Again, my default running configuration for these is all cores locked at 5GHz.

Samsung 870 EVO 250GB OS Drive?

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Long ago I lamented about someone coming up with a superfast drive just for the operating system. That has been a reality since the late 2000s when SSDs became mainstream and affordable.
A couple of weeks ago, Samsung released the 870 EVO line of SSDs. The smallest and cheapest of these is 250GB version. Because I view the smaller drives as ideal for Operating System only drives, this is the drive I will be focusing on.
The 870 EVO line has been touted by Samsung and hardware review sites as the last shot at maximizing the performance of SATA drives.

SAMSUNG 870 EVO at Amazon: 250GB=$39.99 | 500GB=$69.99 | 1TB=$129.99 | 2TB&4TB $250-$489 unavailable
[Read more…] about Samsung 870 EVO 250GB OS Drive?

Thursday Random Stuff…

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AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.1.1 Optional (WHQL)
Support for Hitman 3, Quake II RTX and a dozen other fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Intel Graphics – Windows 10 DCH Drivers
Version: 27.20.100.9168 (Latest) Date: 1/20/2021
HIGHLIGHTS- Support for Intel Iris Xe Max Graphics (DG1)
GAMING HIGHLIGHTS – Fixes corruptions observed in Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, Nioh 2.
Download & Info

Wise Disk Cleaner v10.4.2
Some small improvements.
Download (I use Portable version) | Release Info

While looking at some articles about the new Z590 chipset, I ran across this:
ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial
Anandtec says it’s $1843. Yes. $1,843. For a motherboard…
It got me thinking, what does a “dream system” cost?
(prices rounded)
Motherboard – ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial $1843
CPU – Intel Core i9-10900KF $500
CPU Cooler – Corsair H115i RGB Platinum (not sure about this as it has a water block) $170
Memory – Assume for premium RAM 64GB (probably more than this) $1000
Video Card – ASUS EKWB GeForce RTX 3090 24GB GDDR6X $2055
Storage – Highly debatable. x2 – 1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO 1TB M.2 $460
Power Supply – Corsair AX1000 1000 Watt, 80+ Titanium Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply $ 450
Case – Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL $245
Total – $6723 + sales tax of $336 (5%) {U.S. low of 0% in four states, high of 7.25% in California (surprise)}
Final Cost – $7, 059

New Drivers

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AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.11.1 Optional
Support for Red Dead: Redemption II and some Vulkan improvements.
Download | Release Notes

Intel Windows 10 Graphics DHC Drivers Version: 26.20.100.7372
Launch driver for: Football Manager 2020
Download | Release Notes

Intel Wi-Fi Drivers
Version 21.50.1.1
Windows 10 | For IT Admins

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 441.12
Support for Red Dead: Redemption II. This new driver also includes the latest optimizations for Need for Speed Heat and Borderlands 3.
Download | Release Notes