Hardware Gifts for Xmas?

[AusWolf]

I bought a pair of earbuds for my girlfriend. I'm not sure if that counts as hardware, though.

Besides that, I bought some stuff for myself too, like I do every year. This time, a case and a PSU for the HTPC, so I could upgrade it into a mini casual gaming station (specs in my signature). Oh, and a second SSD for my main rig.

It would be nice to tick multiple options in the poll.

 

[Mindweaver]

I got a Glorious GMMK full size barebone edition modular keyboard and some "Box-white" Kailh Switches 120x, Glorious switch opener, G-Lube, and lube brush for Christmas. The keyboard frame looks and feels great. I wish I could swap out the usb cable other than that I love it. The new GMMK 2 full size is 96%.

 

[GreiverBlade]

It would be nice to tick multiple options in the poll.

so do i ... because i am mostly buying for myself most of the year, and sure i got something for myself hardware related for Xmas

but i also intend to gift some refurbished hardware to friends who need them (not many i confess) family in my area (even less i con... well whatever ... ) and to colleague (at least one ... but that's better than 0 ...)

I got a Glorious GMMK full size barebone edition modular keyboard and some "Box-white" Kailh Switches 120x, Glorious switch opener, G-Lube, and lube brush for Christmas. The keyboard frame looks and feels great. I wish I could swap out the usb cable other than that I love it. The new GMMK 2 full size is 96%.

i have a GMMK TKL (1st serie) 120 Gateron Red and white keycaps back in their box (well, i do prefer my Deltaco DK440R 65% once you go compact triple connection, wired/BT5.0/RF, with front engraved legends, there is little motivation to go back to anything else, at least to me ) it was a great keyboard, too bad the current switches prices in Switzerland kinda killed it ... (out of the 120 Gateron, not enough remain to swap those who unfortunately "died" after a beer spill )

 

[Luke357]

Bought myself a 2TB Team SSD

Bought my dad (not for Christmas but it was a couple of weeks ago so I'd count it) an Arctic Freezer 34 Esports for his at the time not started rig and a 970 Evo Plus 500GB (his machine has a 10700KF no need for gen 4) and a 2.5" external drive case so he could clone his laptop HDD to his new SSD so he wouldn't have an excuse not to work on it.

 

[Rakhmaninov3]

I went ahead and said I got hardware, which is a G923 Logitech steering wheel along with the shifter and a nice seat/stand cockpit combo for my XSX (which I got for Xmas 2 years ago w/controller at $200 scalper premium together). Didn't get/give any PC component parts this year, though.

 

[kapone32]

I went ahead and said I got hardware, which is a G923 Logitech steering wheel along with the shifter and a nice seat/stand cockpit combo for my XSX (which I got for Xmas 2 years ago w/controller at $200 scalper premium together). Didn't get/give any PC component parts this year, though.

Sim Racing is best enjoyed on PC so I would say that counts.

 

[john_]

No hardware. There are so many other things much more appropriate for these holidays. Not to mentioned that a sweater for example, is much cheaper than an RTX 4090.

 

[Hofnaerrchen]

Not being a devout person I do not gift nor accept gifts - technical or not - on religious occasions. Gifting people out of other reasons is a different story and does not need a special occasion to do so.

 

[AusWolf]

Not being a devout person I do not gift nor accept gifts - technical or not - on religious occasions. Gifting people out of other reasons is a different story and does not need a special occasion to do so.

Interesting. I'm the exact opposite. I don't treat Christmas as a religious celebration. For me, it's a celebration of family and kinship. Gifting my close ones something that comes from my heart is a must. If I get gifted on other days, though, my brain usually goes "what do you want from me?"

 

[redeye]

received hardware, 14T USB drive…. or more importantly a PS5…

Interesting. I'm the exact opposite. I don't treat Christmas as a religious celebration. For me, it's a celebration of family and kinship. Gifting my close ones something that comes from my heart is a must. If I get gifted on other days, though, my brain usually goes "what do you want from me?"

exactly. I think of it that way.
No one (well i don’t ) expects you to be/say/pretend “in the religion” for receiving gifts.

 

[Hofnaerrchen]

Interesting. I'm the exact opposite. I don't treat Christmas as a religious celebration. For me, it's a celebration of family and kinship. Gifting my close ones something that comes from my heart is a must. If I get gifted on other days, though, my brain usually goes "what do you want from me?"

Hmmm!?! I have a gift for you - completely out of order and without any hidden agenda:

Have a nice day!

 

[AleXXX666]

I appreciate low noise, silent if can be, much more than the most (so I learned over the years). He who is not sensitive to noise will probably not understand.

I tune for below 20dB at idle for the whole system and the FE has a nasty screechy blower.
So I cap the fan at 50%, core and mem at -150MHz and cap power at 70% to keep it under control.
I tune firstly for noise, then to preformance and in the end to temp (that is no tuning.
The case has good ventilation so heat is a non issue.

Zero fan on that GPU, or max 10% up until 45 degree is a bless.

I'm too noise-consessed, but if performance is on the floor then IDC lol. Also, very funny to have some top-tier (even considerably old now) GPU and like downtweak it in sake of lower noise. It's like all these major guys buying S-Class MB cars and just only cruising in the city lol

 

[Dirt Chip]

I'm too noise-consessed, but if performance is on the floor then IDC lol. Also, very funny to have some top-tier (even considerably old now) GPU and like downtweak it in sake of lower noise. It's like all these major guys buying S-Class MB cars and just only cruising in the city lol

Yeah I see you on that, but considering I was doing OK with 970gtx, even 70% of 1080ti is a big uplift and anyway, I mostly need the much larger 11GB so I don't care gimping it.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

Picked up an R5 5600 as a pre xmas gift to myself and then boxing day i purchased a 240mm AIO to pair with ir

 

[AleXXX666]

Yeah I see you on that, but considering I was doing OK with 970gtx, even 70% of 1080ti is a big uplift and anyway, I mostly need the much larger 11GB so I don't care gimping it.

3060 is budget VRAM monster whopping 12 GB!!

Picked up an R5 5600 as a pre xmas gift to myself and then boxing day i purchased a 240mm AIO to pair with ir

don't forget to OC the 5600 so it matches X version at least lol

 

[Ruru]

Got myself a 6700 XT and a 32" 4K monitor, yet gave a GTX 970 for my brothers as I've built a budget gaming PC for them. A good upgrade from their old RX 460.

 

[Chrispy_]

Gifted a 4790/RX570 rig rebuilt into a new case with horrific RGBLED and tempered glass because that's what 8 year old cousins appreciate.
Received a Keychron K3 Ultra for the HTPC so that I can argue on the internet from the sofa with mechanical keyswitches.

 

[Vader]

I cannot stand zero fan on GPUs. When it first launched you could not even disable it either. That was one of the mitigating factors that got me into Water cooling. It made the GPU hotter at all times that it needed to be. Unless you are applying a super high fan profile you will struggle to keep the temps that you were used to before Zero fan. I like to see my Air cooled card idle in the 30s not the mid to high 40s as that also means that when the card is running the fans already have at least 10 more degrees to cool from the start. For me that meant GPU temps in the 70s and Hot spot in the Mid 80s vs with a 35-45 degree fan curve getting 60s on the GPU and high 70s on the hot spot. The principle I have always lived by is the higher the temp the faster the chip will diminish. I know that GPU fans ca.n be loud and some fans are absolute garbage but look at the size of the 3090/4090 shroud vs the PCB. The 4090 required a brand new design for water cooling too. That makes zero fan a dead technology (on the high end) for me as cards are not going to get slower. It looks like even the 7900XTX Waterblock are also a new design to compensate for increased heat. As you could compare the power draw of the Vega 64 to the 7900XTX but the new card how many more times density vs Vega in terms of transistors, resistors and capacitors. That is focused heat and kind of explains my next post, which will be in Your latest Tech Purchase.

Sorry, but having 10 degrees advantage from the start won't reduce load temps at all, unless you only benchmark for 5-10 minutes. Load temp will be determined by ambient temp, wattage, and fan speed/heatsink design. Both configs will settle at the same temp eventually

 

[big_glasses]

kinda, pre-xmas gift for myself was a new monitor (and the old one given as gift to a mate), and a post-xmas gift being a tablet
Not sure if that counts under HW though

 

[mashie]

I got a KVM switch, unfortunately it turns out it can't be used for gaming as it will automatically change input if it thinks the mouse pointer has tried to exit the screen sideways for a second or so. It will be RMA'd and replaced with a dumber version.

 

[Eva01Master]

I'm too noise-consessed, but if performance is on the floor then IDC lol. Also, very funny to have some top-tier (even considerably old now) GPU and like downtweak it in sake of lower noise. It's like all these major guys buying S-Class MB cars and just only cruising in the city lol

Most of the people buying S-Class Mercedes Benz don't even drive them, they've got chauffeurs to do it for them, and indeed cruise in the city for most of the time, being the exception taking a trip to the country manor, but I guess at that point they get ferried on the Range Rover or the Cullinan. XD

On topic, hardware has been extorsionately expensive this holiday season here in the UK, helped my brother get a new entry-level gaming computer for my niece, but nothing for me or from me in that department...

 

[kapone32]

Sorry, but having 10 degrees advantage from the start won't reduce load temps at all, unless you only benchmark for 5-10 minutes. Load temp will be determined by ambient temp, wattage, and fan speed/heatsink design. Both configs will settle at the same temp eventually

I am not going to argue my position but I promise you a GPU runs cooler with zero fan disabled. Yes after a 4 hour Gaming session it would normalized but that still does not take away from a more enjoyable session with less fan noise.