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

Anyone had their ASUS cashback yet?

Got the email saying it was approved about two weeks ago now, but it said it could take up to 90 days (!).

Wondering if anyone else had been paid yet, and how long it took from that initial email.

The rate my gear one was well quick, but the main promotion...not so much.
 
How come poeple are using MX paste? When I was looking at all options on the table during this build it was clear from forums, reddit etc that Thermal Grizzly was the only choice for high performance paste. Not the cheapest but the performance vs cost goes hand in hand.
 
mrk said:
How come poeple are using MX paste? When I was looking at all options on the table during this build it was clear from forums, reddit etc that Thermal Grizzly was the only choice for high performance paste. Not the cheapest but the performance vs cost goes hand in hand.
Click to expand...

Its cheap, easy to get and ok performance. So for most folk it does the job.

I've used thermal grizzly in the past, as it has a higher resistance to drying out at higher temps, long term. Not the easiest to spread though.

Currently I'm using Noctuas NT-H2 which seems to do a good job.
 
Honestly I used the included spreader thing and had zero problem spreading the whole IHS! In fact I thought it was too easy as was expecting a bit of faff based on some comments in one reddit thread.

You literally are spreading it in a Karate Kid wax on, wax off motion but on a much smaller scale. That's the best way I can describe it and how I had zero issue at all.
 
mrk said:
How come poeple are using MX paste? When I was looking at all options on the table during this build it was clear from forums, reddit etc that Thermal Grizzly was the only choice for high performance paste. Not the cheapest but the performance vs cost goes hand in hand.
Click to expand...

It really doesn't make a huge difference, yes it is a noticeable 2-3c if stressing the system hard, and it might last a bit longer before it goes off but in real terms most people have way bigger things to worry about than thermal paste, terrible airflow, rubbish fans and closed in cases and badly fitted AIO's are just a few things I see on a weekly basis.
 
I've always used the spatula and tried to apply a thin even layer across the surface, and then wiggle the heatsink in place to aid transfer. At the end of the day you only need just enough to bridge the imperfections between the two mating surfaces.
As cpu contact areas have got larger, I've been less inclined to trust any pea type method that allows for natural spreading from contact forces. Thats just me though :D
 
Wanted to see if the lil fella could pass 5.4ghz on a 280mm AIO lol

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mrk said:
Honestly I used the included spreader thing and had zero problem spreading the whole IHS! In fact I thought it was too easy as was expecting a bit of faff based on some comments in one reddit thread.

You literally are spreading it in a Karate Kid wax on, wax off motion but on a much smaller scale. That's the best way I can describe it and how I had zero issue at all.
Click to expand...

Sand-o-floor. Breathe in, breathe out. :D

Seriously though, it's soft.

Shin-Etsu can be tough to work with. You've to sit a tube in boiling water to soften it. Shin-Etsu is great paste though. When it cools you'd think it was soft putty with no stickiness. Once it's got a little heat in it, it's sticky.

However, this is the same forum that was almost screaming many years ago Arctic Silver is bad. It's only bad if you're a complete klutz. Even Arctic Silver was a pretty solid paste for its time. It even kept my PS3 really cool back then. Until the solder balls started giving way.
 
Impressed with the Corsair RMA for my 4000Mhz faulty RAM.
Spoke to them on the phone (America based) and they agreed on a RMA. Posted it on Monday. They received it on Tuesday. A new set was sent out to me on Wednesday and today I have just received it.
I'll get the chance to test them tomorrow. The replacement service has been great.
 
Lol, yup hopeful that they will work. Gigabyte already provided me with a BIOS that they have prepared for this faster memory. I'll see tomorrow.

Then again it seems many boards are having issues it seems with faster DDR4 sticks.
 
Got my 12700KF and Z690 Gaming A Strix all set up now and seems to all be working nicely. Getting right on the money benchmark scores

Added the extra fan to the esports 34 (to make it a duo). Seems to have dropped temps a further few degrees. Maxed out at 78 degrees on a Cinebench multi run which i'm happy with. Not a big difference (might even be cooler ambient wise), but i think the cooler looks much better and more balanced with two fans. Still very impressed with it for the money. £25 (well £34 with the extra fan), for this level of performance on this CPU is brilliant i think.

Only thing now is wondering whether to rock the boat with memory. I have 64gb of decent G Skill 3000MHZ C14 ram which has served me well. Not sure if getting anything faster is really worth it? One thing that makes me itch to do it, is that the colour scheme for my PC is now firmly white and black with blue/white LED's. The memory has bright red metallic heatsinks which ruins everything :p. I could probably get some faster/matching coloured memory for not too much outlay after selling my current kit, but could be a lot of faff for nothing. Trouble is i dont want any instability, so what generally are these CPU's comfortable with at stock?
 
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Jono8 said:
Got my 12700KF and Z690 Gaming A Strix all set up now and seems to all be working nicely. Getting right on the money benchmark scores

Added the extra fan to the esports 34 (to make it a duo). Seems to have dropped temps a further few degrees. Maxed out at 78 degrees on a Cinebench multi run which i'm happy with. Not a big difference (might even be cooler ambient wise), but i think the cooler looks much better and more balanced with two fans. Still very impressed with it for the money. £25 (well £34 with the extra fan), for this level of performance on this CPU is brilliant i think.

Only thing now is wondering whether to rock the boat with memory. I have 64gb of decent G Skill 3000MHZ C14 ram which has served me well. Not sure if getting anything faster is really worth it? One thing that makes me itch to do it, is that the colour scheme for my PC is now firmly white and black with blue/white LED's. The memory has bright red metallic heatsinks which ruins everything :p. I could probably get some faster/matching coloured memory for not too much outlay after selling my current kit, but could be a lot of faff for nothing. Trouble is i dont want any instability, so what generally are these CPU's comfortable with at stock?
Click to expand...

Obviously can only speak for myself, my 12700K/MSI 690 A-PRO DDR4 runs an xmp profile of 3600Mhz without issue.
 
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