*** The Official Alder Lake owners thread ***

[Kelt]

Ha, good luck, super easy these days for DIY.

Your first in 30 years, while I'm trying to do less than 30 this month coming, to have some holiday time, which I deserve!

My first pre-built PC in thirty years, only my second to be precise!

In between I've assembled quite a few in thirty years!

 

[Kelt]

Good vid below to help you along.

Classic vid!

 

[Journey]

My first pre-built PC in thirty years, only my second to be precise!

In between I've assembled quite a few in thirty years!

Apologies, misread that then.

I don't trust anyone to build a system, unless I know then personally.

 

[Kelt]

Apologies, misread that then.

I don't trust anyone to build a system, unless I know then personally.

Buying a pre-built PC is something I never thought I would be doing again, unfortunately the current shortage of parts has led me down this path.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

 

[Journey]

Buying a pre-built PC is something I never thought I would be doing again, unfortunately the current shortage of parts has led me down this path.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

Indeed, it has been a major headache not just for consumers but the industry and space I work in has had significant problems. I actually had to tell a client to buy from a big box shifter to get what they needed in a reasonable time frame, which felt horrible.

 

[Jono8]

Is this true?

Have people had cash back offer knocked back for buying OEM CPU?

I don't know, but for the sake of a tenner i wasn't going to risk it.

It seems possible that OEM things may be excluded (as they arent a retail product as such)

 

[BananaDunka]

The Asus promo page simply states 12th gen CPU, makes no mention of it having to be a retail CPU so I can't imagine this being an issue at all. You can buy OEM CPUs as a retail consumer so it is for all intents and purposes no different to buying a retail.

 

[zia]

Got my cpu,check... motherboard..check,waterblock...check....Ram......rarer than unobtainium

Zia

 

[Jono8]

Hm, hadnt realised how dodgy the cpu cooler compatibility with the Strix Z690-A Gaming was

Debating whether to return it and go for something else.

 

[Troop]

CPU order turned up last night, relief, all here now bar the Arctic backplate.
Ordered the backplate on Monday, no idea on how long it takes to be delivered.

 

[BananaDunka]

^Arctic mounting kit took 3 days for mine to arrive. Comes from Germany.


Quick question for those on Windows 11. What power plan are you on? I used to have it set to Max Performance ever since Win10 but changed to Balanced today and noticed the CPU now downclocks when idle to 500MHz as expected for efficiency. This kind of compliments my previous BIOS setting change to C1E which when enabled, causes coil whine so turning it off as resulted in BIOS level CPU voltage and freq throttling when idle whereas with the Balanced power plan the OS scheduler will do the same job without the sideffect of coil whine.

I ran CPU-Z bench and Cinebench in Balanced and the scores are the same as Max performance so there seems to be no change in system response.

I like this, in Balanced now the CPU normal use temp has dropped to 26 degrees too.

 

[scubes]

I've sent them a email about the wee plastic cover waiting on response from artic ..

 

[RavenXXX2]

^Arctic mounting kit took 3 days for mine to arrive. Comes from Germany.


Quick question for those on Windows 11. What power plan are you on?

Balanced, slightly less power use at idle.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Hm, hadnt realised how dodgy the cpu cooler compatibility with the Strix Z690-A Gaming was

Debating whether to return it and go for something else.

All water coolers are compatible with correct mounting kit, freezer 2 is on offer at the moment. As mentioned before be quiet dark rock slim and Noctua NH-D15s are as well. Can't go real cheap on the cooler with a 12700K. The mobo is excellent value with the cashback.

 

[Jono8]

All water coolers are compatible with correct mounting kit, freezer 2 is on offer at the moment. As mentioned before be quiet dark rock slim and Noctua NH-D15s are as well. Can't go real cheap on the cooler with a 12700K. The mobo is excellent value with the cashback.

Do you reckon the dark rock slim will do the job?

Im concerned it may not quite be up to the task.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Do you reckon the dark rock slim will do the job?

Im concerned it may not quite be up to the task.

It's like 5c off the noctua NH-D15 in reviews so should be OK, just don't overclock, it's not necessary anyway. I was going to get one before I found out the noctua was compatible. You will need to get a 1700 mounting kit off be quiet though.

 

[JediFragger]

Hm, hadnt realised how dodgy the cpu cooler compatibility with the Strix Z690-A Gaming was

My Arctic was a bitch to get on, I'm never taking the ****** off!!!

 

[Dave2150]

My Arctic was a bitch to get on, I'm never taking the ****** off!!!

Try fiting a Noctua D15/D15S to such a busy socket area motherboard

 

[Journey]

Useful video for those of you with the cheapo DDR5 RAM.

 

[=XDC=FluphyBunny]

Hm, hadnt realised how dodgy the cpu cooler compatibility with the Strix Z690-A Gaming was

Debating whether to return it and go for something else.

Came close to buying that with the current cash back, then remembered my D14 was a no go unless I wanted it mounted blowing air out the top of the case while pulling said air from the top of the GPU!