PC hardware feels so boring now. I’m scared it’s not temporary

">his findings from his testing. In his own words, “This literally does just slot right [into the Radeon 9000 stack]. Everything from the pricing to the performance, it’s like, okay, cool.”

“Okay, cool.” I found myself saying the same thing about the next expected version of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 too, when it resurfaced in the news again. This “A” variant will shift from an Ampere chip to one from Team Green’s newer Ada Lovelace architecture, making this rehash of an older budget GPU a little more modern.

Am I glad to see the Radeon 9000 series lineup fill out? Is it good that the RTX 3050 isn’t completely stuck in 2022? Yes, of course.

But also this week, I blurted out a very different phrase about the latest flagship Ryzen Threadripper Pro chip, the 9995WX. It’s such a beast that an overclocker finessed it to run at 5GHz on all 96 cores, at a ludicrous power draw of 948 watts. I can’t repeat what I initially said for politeness’s sake, but dang is a workable alternative.

Very likely I’m experiencing summer doldrums, given how slow news is at this time of year. Other tech journalists and hardware enthusiasts might be, too. Adam’s tone when discussing the 9070 GRE sounded subdued to me—even Brad’s as well, and he’s the best (realistic and grounded) hype man I know. The Tom’s Hardware headline for the RTX 3050 news used the phrase “RTX 3050 refuses to die.” And our YouTube comments have sounded more reserved (and even pessimistic) than usual, across all topics.

Still, I worry a bit we’re not in a temporary slump—that we’re instead experiencing a shift in what to expect from hardware launches. In talks I’ve had with various folks in tech or adjacent to tech, the idea that performance far exceeds need has come up more than once.

That’s great for us as consumers, but a potential bummer for those of us who avidly follow technology’s twists and turns. As long-time TFN fans know, I’m a big champion of the budget and mid-range. I crave incredible performance at every price. I love revolutionary yet affordable products I can point to as highlights of the year—and not just during our annual wrap-up show in December, but in future episodes of our Hardware Hall of Fame.

I want to feel excitement again. Not only from arguing with my coworkers about the merits of individual parts, or even what deserves the status of all-time notable hardware, but when I mention their existence to people who need them.

In this episode of The Full Nerd…

In ">this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith talk about the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE’s place among graphics cards, and the changes we’d like to see to ATX. (Brad tackles this second topic head-on with a list of four concrete updates he wants.)

The funny part: The guys all think I was ranting about ATX and its decrepit nature in last week’s newsletter. You and I both know I dove deep into broody feelings. I still got what I wanted though, which was hearing people’s thoughts on what should come next! 

Less funny: Brad’s horrifying personal story about cockroaches during the pre-show.

As for other noteworthy news, we had a couple of big announcements! First: Adam and Will are starting a limited-run podcast about Linux—they’ll be chronicling the experience of making the switch from Windows.

Also: We’ve got a Hardware Hall of Fame episode coming up! Check back in two weeks for our return to fighting over what we think deserves GOAT status. And as with past years, we want to hear your nominees for the Hardware Hall of Fame, too. Share them with us on our Discord server, give me a shout on Bluesky, or send them to us at thefullnerd@pcworld.com!

Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! 

And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds.

This week’s fresh nerd news

One news blurb caught my eye and made me think of Gordon immediately—and so I’m honoring him this week by using a benchmark he came up with. Did I do it as well as him? No. But you know what, you can never properly replicate an original. Also making me happy are some really cool “books” available for sale.

• You probably shouldn’t juice the heck out of your RTX laptop GPU: I agree with my colleague Michael Crider that most people should not use shunt mods for their laptop GPUs. You all, though? I know you understand the risks. Mod responsibly, folks.

• Would you willingly let Microsoft monitor you? We all hate sluggish performance, especially in Windows. But I’m not sure I’m willing to let Microsoft gather telemetry data on my usage to help them squash performance issues, even if it’s in developer and beta builds.

• Why use your MacBook Pro trackpad as a scale? Why not? Another to be filed under “YOLO.” (No shade to this person; they chose something far more productive to do than me, the reviewer who benchmarks games on integrated graphics—though in my defense, how can you criticize where the floor is if you don’t know its location?)

• This business is selling stolen personal data for $50: Its founder presents this reselling of details as legitimate, even going as far as to claim that “doing good is in our DNA.” But putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t change what animal it is.

• I want these PCB reference books made from actual PCBs: I write for a living, but I’m a big visual and tactile learner. So a physical “book” that teaches the basics of DC circuits, LEDs, transistors, and oscillators with PC boards that light up? Heck yeah. $37 isn’t even that expensive. (I’ve paid more for plain ol’ regular novels for English literature classes. College textbooks are such a racket.)

• Humans triumph over AI in coding championship—for now: Some times, it’s more important that you prove a thing is possible. (Even with the eventuality that a thing man created will be the reason for man’s downfall.) What lets me sleep at night is knowing humans will integrate data better than AI for a while yet.

• $11,700 for a 96-core, 192-thread CPU? Not too bad: You know that Threadripper Pro 9995WX I talked about above? I’ve been side-eyeing the headlines that poke at its price. The MSRP did rise compared to the 7995WX, yes. And it is almost $12K, yes. But if we map out these prices in a chart (aka the benchmark pioneered by one Gordon Mah Ung), HEDT fans are still coming out ahead. ‘Entry-level’ Threadripper buyers even win this generation—the 9955WX has a lower price tag than its predecessor.

• Not sure if a Steam game is on Xbox Game Pass? This add-on will tell you: Unless you truly love a game (or its developers), you don’t need to buy it if you already have it available as a rental. This Chrome extension makes cross-checking easier. And while you’re at it, if you want to know if a Steam game is truly discounted, check out Is There Any Deal too.

• U.S. and state warring over internet prices is a loss for all: I’m bummed about this one. Not everyone can afford standard internet prices, much less deal with the cost-raising shenanigans of major internet service providers. The fact that anyone in government is against affordable internet is a real shame.

• What’s the cost of American-made? AMD says 5-20% for its Ryzen chips: AMD CEO Lisa Su also went on to comment to Bloomberg that the additional cost for fabrication at TSMC’s Arizona location is “worth it,” due to the diversification of chip supply. This latter info isn’t wholly new, as it was one of the driving motivators when the CHIPS act passed under the Biden administration—but now we have a clearer picture for what to expect from these efforts.