Z790 APEX Availability Overclocking and Playtime Thread : )

[iBruceypoo]

Newegg listing November 2nd and 3rd:



Newegg listing November 4th, today:



Did Newegg sell out their known incoming quantity of boards as Pre-Orders in 48hours? OR did they simply change the purchasing status?

Who knows right?

Did anyone grab a pre-order?

[Braegnok]

I just ordered Manta XPrism 48GB 8200 kit,.. it has the newest A-Die ICs. https://v-color.net/products/manta-xprismrgb-48gb-dual-8200mhz-ddr5-extremeocmemory

[JohnAb]

Sounds good. Looks good. The Apex seems like such a great board. Wish I'd built this machine a year later, I'd get an Apex if I was rebuilding right now 😃. 

[Braegnok]

Your Z690 system looks solid, will be fine for at least 5-years,.. no need to upgrade. 😉

Save your money, enjoy your system. Your hardware performance @ default settings in 3DMark should be in top 1%.

The primary reason for choosing the Z790 over the Z690 is the extra PCIe 4.0 I/O compatibility with an additional USB 3.2 G2X2 Type-C port compared to Z690. When comparing the two chipsets based on gaming or computing, users should not expect any difference if they are the Z690 or the new Z790 chipset.   

[JohnAb]

It's true. I'm still delighted with this build. It does everything I need and to be honest, I have no need for the extra speed right now. I just enjoy having the latest and greatest, but don't we all? 🤣

This machine has been running 16hrs/day for over 12 months and I've had just one blue screen - that was straight after a Windows update. I think that's about as good as it gets. 

[JohnAb]

Thanks for your comments Bruce. Trouble is, if I went for an Apex, now or in the future, then I'd also need a new CPU and RAM as well. I couldn't just have an Apex and be happy - oh no, I'd need all the best bits. Mind you, I have been working long hours and have proper income again since I un-retired myself lol. We also have some money coming back from my mum's estate and I think she might have wanted me to have an upgrade 🤣

Seriously though, I'm quite excited to wait. Oh, what to do.  

Worked out the issue with my latest fan problems. iCue updated the software to v5 and the Asus plugin was not installed so it wasn't seeing the motherboard sensors reliably. Sorted that out and I now have perfect case control with a custom fan curve set against the motherboard temp. and my PCH is a happy 55C. PCH temps are pretty high on a lot of 690 boards. Mine is one of the better ones, think I did OK in the PCH heatsink thermal pad lottery lol. I do have a pair of 8cm fans joined together to make a 2x fan 'block' blowing towards it as well. 

[iBruceypoo]

I'm not a doctor of psychology, ok maybe I am. 🤣

Yet I predict John one year from now when Arrow Lake Z890 launches you will be absolutely miserable with Z690 and Hero.

------

To avoid that awful experience and my last suggestion on this subject is to buy the Apex Updated motherboard this upcoming August September, can wait and get your A-die later on and 13th gen CPU later on. 

Over 24months John for those updates.

Then go big with Z990 in 2025. 😊 For the happiest of happy! 😊

I'm skipping Z890 altogether because It's so silly to update every gen with a home office typewriter build. 🤗

[iBruceypoo]

It's like Sir John doesn't grab any of this vibe at all. 🤔

Daily workstation OC dated 2023 - Cattywampus dated 1834. 🤣

[JohnAb]

You might not have a PhD in psychology, but you should have. Gentle nudges in the right direction are all it needs. I do the same, I persuaded a friend (just for fun) to buy an iMac Pro for £5,000. He does like it though. "Go on, you know you want it, just think how happy you will be and it even comes with an updated GPU for free. You'll have the fastest Apple in the town. And look. they do it in your colour". It wasn't hard, he is a massive Apple fan. I then tried to get him to buy the optional wheels for £300 but he didn't fall for that ploy 😂

Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIh2EueRmk0

[iBruceypoo]

This guy has a nice SP113 13900KS and running 8400 with some ddr5 skills.

His MCSP is 82 and my 13900KS MCSP is 83 - I should be able to do this! 😫

Why don't I have ddr5 skills? 😭

[Silent_Scone]

CPU SP has no bearing on IMC strength which is why the MC SP exists. This only tests the memory controller strength as the name suggests without needing to address DRAM at all. It does so by addressing the fMAX in the same way core fMAX is tested at a low idling voltage. This is done by setting a low fixed CPU System Agent voltage and running a series of tests.

That said, there are a lot of other conditions to account for and it's not an exact science so I wouldn't become too disheartened. Memory module temperatures play a large part here, too. If one really wants to push the limits as I've mentioned already, you should consider water-cooling them. Do also note that in the video link you posted no DRAM stability tests were conducted, so the overclock was most likely conditional.