The "New Toys" Thread

So my last proper PC build has been a while... and while I have upgraded pieces over time (cooling, some SSDs, new GPU most recently), the core of this machine has stayed untouched for incredible 10 years. It's done awesome work and has still run current game titles and allowed me to do my work, but in the last couple years the old hardware has finally begun to bottleneck overall performance. So I waited until some nice Black Friday deals showed up, and got this stuff:

IMG_0094.jpg

What's inside the boxes:
- Ryzen 7 3700X
- MSI Gaming Plus Max B450 (_just_ enough positive adjectives in the name)
- 32GB DDR4-3200 CL16 (G-Skill something).

Initially wanted to go with the Ryzen 5 3600X, but looking back at how my over-speccing of 10 years ago awesomely held up, I decided to do this properly again and not cheap out. Also didn't do the one mistake I did back then again, filling all 4 RAM slots - this time it's a 2x16 kit, allowing me to expand to 4x16 some time down the road without needing to replace any modules.

Finally got it all today, put together, fired right up. Benchmark results are looking much more like 2019 now :p

cinebench i7 860 vs 3700x.png


Will test it with my currently played games (Witcher 3, Battletech, Skylines) over the weekend. Also need to take a stab at editing some recent-ish drone footage that I've been putting off, that should get a huge boost.
 
So my last proper PC build has been a while... and while I have upgraded pieces over time (cooling, some SSDs, new GPU most recently), the core of this machine has stayed untouched for incredible 10 years. It's done awesome work and has still run current game titles and allowed me to do my work, but in the last couple years the old hardware has finally begun to bottleneck overall performance. So I waited until some nice Black Friday deals showed up, and got this stuff:

View attachment 3556649

What's inside the boxes:
- Ryzen 7 3700X
- MSI Gaming Plus Max B450 (_just_ enough positive adjectives in the name)
- 32GB DDR4-3200 CL16 (G-Skill something).

Initially wanted to go with the Ryzen 5 3600X, but looking back at how my over-speccing of 10 years ago awesomely held up, I decided to do this properly again and not cheap out. Also didn't do the one mistake I did back then again, filling all 4 RAM slots - this time it's a 2x16 kit, allowing me to expand to 4x16 some time down the road without needing to replace any modules.

Finally got it all today, put together, fired right up. Benchmark results are looking much more like 2019 now :p

View attachment 3556650

Will test it with my currently played games (Witcher 3, Battletech, Skylines) over the weekend. Also need to take a stab at editing some recent-ish drone footage that I've been putting off, that should get a huge boost.

I don’t know if it’s another Premier Elements problem or if the cpu is just that much better but when I upgraded, I went from exporting with graphics cars assistance to 0 GPU for exporting. I don’t need it per se because it exports so much faster but it seems weird. Maybe it knows and doesn’t use gpu unless it absolutely needs it.
 
That build should easily handle UHD footage from the Hero 7, my i7-8700k handles it fine in Premiere with assistance from my 1080Ti. Sample Cinebench scores are well below this as it's only a hex-core.

Really nice to see AMD getting lots of love recently, I wasn't sure if they would ever become competitive again. I'm hoping my build will last me at least another three or four years but I'll probably be going to AMD when I upgrade.
 
If I didn't already have my Sony headset I would certainly be considering the Airpod Pros, finally having silicone whatsits on them is very welcome because the normal ear/airpods just fall out of my strange ears. They also need to sell them in black, ain't no way I'm having white earphones in my ear-holes.
 
If I didn't already have my Sony headset I would certainly be considering the Airpod Pros, finally having silicone whatsits on them is very welcome because the normal ear/airpods just fall out of my strange ears. They also need to sell them in black, ain't no way I'm having white earphones in my ear-holes.
They are definitely good buds in and off themselves but it’s the integration with Apple stuff that makes them really worth it.
 
Yeah, I got that:

1557834395_1477927e342f97e609d2af3.jpg


Which will require another new toy to mount on :LOL:
 
Finally got a replacement for my old Moto 360 G2 that died. I may be a bit of a sheep but fuck it, they're good bits of kit.

238349199.jpg


Went for the stainless series 5 as I wanted the always on display and wanted the gloss black like I had with the Moto. So far it's very nice, no flaky connections like the old Android watch. I almost went for the Huawei GT2 but sent it back, despite looking great it was very limited and I would've never been happy.
 
Something of an impulse buy, walked by a laptop display at BJ's and spotted a 2 in 1 dell inspiron with ryzen 5 stickers for 500$

Not bad for a laptop that also lets me draw directly on the screen instead of having to deal with finicky tablet drivers
20200110_191823.jpg
 
After watching AvE dissect one of these on his Youtube channel, I decided I had to have one.

1578903982266.png


https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000235031529.html

How bad can a $30 18V 1/2" Chinesium impact be? :ROFLMAO:

The real thing retails for around €259 in Finland without battery and charger. I've been wanting one for a long time but can't justify the real thing just for changing tires twice a year. I already have lots of 18V Makita gear so I have the batteries and charger to use with it, and buying any other brand of power tool is out of the question for the same reason.
 
Last edited:
Let me know how you get on with it, I saw the video and was very tempted but already have a Makita impact driver and the bigger version of that impact wrench.

Still tempted by the cheap electric ratchets they sell that use 12V Bosch/Dremel batteries, don't have one of those.
 
And the youtube algorithm strikes again :p
 
Always does. Probably why I keep watching Marty's Matchbox Makeovers on a virtual daily basis.
 
And the youtube algorithm strikes again :p

My reason for seeing it was because I am/was a patron of his but that does happen.
 
After watching AvE dissect one of these on his Youtube channel, I decided I had to have one.

View attachment 3556821

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000235031529.html

How bad can a $30 18V 1/2" Chinesium impact be? :ROFLMAO:

The real thing retails for around €259 in Finland without battery and charger. I've been wanting one for a long time but can't justify the real thing just for changing tires twice a year. I already have lots of 18V Makita gear so I have the batteries and charger to use with it, and buying any other brand of power tool is out of the question for the same reason.

So how's its durability?
 
How bad can a $30 18V 1/2" Chinesium impact be? :ROFLMAO:

It came in the mail today. It knocks off and on lug nuts without a care in the world. As for longevity, I've no idea. The battery doesn't slide off and on quite as easily as a real Makita but you probably wouldn't notice anything was off unless you knew what a brand name machine should feel like. I'm guessing it'll get better with a bit of use.

Last electric impact I used was a Milwaukee and it made a terrible noise. This is a lot quieter. Hopefully that doesn't mean it's made of soft and crappy materials. :p

IMG_6256.JPG



While on the topic, I picked up another (non Chinesium) battery today as well. I also grabbed a USB battery adapter because why not. It will live in my tool box along with a multi-headed USB cable.

IMG_6257.JPG
 
Top