Changelog Delezatro Setup 2016-2023

2023:

Update 31.12.2023:
- I bought a Lamzu Atlantis Mini Pro and am now maining it for competitive shooters. I think the Vaxee NP-01S is more comfortable and better as an allrounder, but for competitive shooters, I still prefer the Atlantis Mini shape so getting the best iteration of it seemed logical to me.

Update 02.12.2023:
- I am now using a Vaxee Zygen NP-01S Wireless (white) as main mouse. The buttons are great (very suitable for mobas as well, on par or even better than the GPX early batches), coating is great, shape is insane, wireless performance and battery life are top notch. The only drawbacks are the somewhat "high" weight at 69g (compared to 49g on the Atlantis Mini I've mained before) and the fact that I am going to have to use 1600 DPI instead of 1300/1350.
Idk yet if I am going to main it for everything but for general use I really like it because of the incredible shape and coating and for games where clicking fast matters (like moba games), it is easily a top contender. I really liked it in some Overwatch DMs as well but I haven't tried any "serious" gaming yet. The weight is a drawback for me but I think overall the switch is actually worth it because the mouse feels more "stable" than the Atlantis Mini and the battery life, shape and RMB is better.

Update 19.11.2023:
- Minor updates
- I've had more time with the Arctic LF 2 360 in combination with the Noctua fans by now and this is a massive upgrade in every way. Highly recommended! I did not like the Noctua NF-A15 fan but the NF-A12x25 fan is easily one of the best fans of all time. And regarding the liquid cooler, the CPU temperatures (at low fan speeds like 500-700 RPM) are 10-20°C lower than before (some of this is due to the new case though) and the noise is actually lower as well. There is no pump noise at all from a regular sitting distance, I actually wasn't sure at first if it was running at all and I am very sensitive to such noise. This also allowed me to raise the power limit from 150w to 180w and the processor still runs cooler and more quiet than before while performing better.

Update 06.11.2023:
- Replaced the Be Quiet Dark Base 900 Pro Rev. 2 case with a Be Quiet Silent Base 802. Surprisingly, it is a much better case in almost every way. The dampening material is much thicker and even when using the case with the mesh front and top like I am doing now, it is very silent but allows for much better temperatures in comparison to the DB900 Pro.
- Replaced the Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU cooler with an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm with three black Noctua NF-A12x25 fans. I have not had much time to experiment yet but so far it seems like a much better solution in terms of temperature and noise. The AIO is used as top exhaust, the case fans are 3x Silent Wings 4 as intake and 1x Silent Wings 4 as exhaust.
- Replaced all three 4TB HDDs with SSDs now that prices went down so much. The speed difference is of course extremely obvious but the PC is also noticeably quieter now without any HDD noise. Very much worth it.

Update 27.10.2023:
- I am now using the GameSir G7 SE controller with hall effect sticks. I really like this one, it combines the benefits of the PS controller and the XBox controller and the price is phenomenal.

Update 16.10.2023:
- Modded the Wooting 60HE:
  - Put it into a new case (Tofu 60 Redux Blue) and kept the default foam
  - Lubed stem, bottom case and spring of every individual switch
  - Added tape to the back of the PCB (2 layers)
  - Lubed the stabilizers

Update 12.10.2023:
- I am using a Wooting 60HE from now on. It has a much better sound profile than the Steelseries Apex Pro (even after modding the latter...) and it is more quiet, somewhat similar to the Keychron Q1 Pro but still a bit louder.
- I also tried the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 and while I appreciate the (on paper at least) better sensor, the main buttons are a no-go. It's one thing that they feel heavier than the GPX1 and the Lamzu Atlantis Mini but they feel scratchy depending on where and how you press them, at least LMB. I tried two units and both had this so these switches just do not work for me. Back to the Atlantis Mini.

Update 25.09.2023:
- Added "Other Hardware" category

Update 24.08.2023:
- Switched to a Keychron Q1 Pro keyboard with the Keychron K Pro Red switches
- Added a new 4TB HDD to replace the 3TB HDD that has previously been in the system
- Today I ordered the FX version of the Artisan Raiden Mid XL to replace the Classic version I've been using for a few days now. I love the glide/friction characteristics but the non-stitched edges of the classic version really annoyed me so now I took the chance to order the FX version instead

Update 14.08.2023:
- Bought an Artisan Raiden Mid XL mousepad. Probably my new favorite pad because its like an Artisan Zero with an even smoother surface an speed that is similar to the Hien. Very good stuff.

Update 16.07.2023:
- Replaced my case fans with 5x Be Quiet Silent Wings 4 (140mm, PWM). I love the sound profile of these fans and they move more air than the Silent Wings 3, they work great as silent case fans.

Update 05.06.2023:
- I am now using a Steelseries Apex Pro TKL (2023). The OmniPoint 2.0 switches are very responsive and smooth, much better than Cherry MX Red in how they feel. The only drawback is that the keyboard is definitely louder which is a bit annoying but something I can live with for the nicer switches
- I've been using a Sony DualSense controller for the past few weeks and I think I prefer this over the XBox Series X controller in most games (Forza Horizon 5 is the exception)

Update 16.04.2023:
- Slightly improved formatting of this document

Update 04.04.2023:
- Upgraded to a Sennheiser HD 800 S. This thing is insane overall, basically an HD 600 with a much bigger soundstage and imaging that's in another league. It is a very open sounding and highly detailed headphone that offers a ton of immersion and makes it very easy to tell where exactly sounds are coming from. With the low clamping force, giant earpads and relatively low weight, it is extremely comfortable as well. It combines the positive aspects of the HD 600 and the HD 560 S so I am very happy with it. The HD 600 did not perform well for competitive games because of the vague imaging while the HD 560 S did not sound as detailed and clean and the comfort was lacking a bit for my particular head shape. The only downside of the HD 800 S imo is the high price but assuming that this thing lasts for a decade or longer, I don't think it is overpriced.

Update 28.01.2022:
- Added two 2TB SSDs and changed thermal paste

Update 22.01.2022:
- Moved changelog from 2022 to the different pastebin file
- Updated mouse to a Lamzu Atlantis Mini. This is easily the best mouse I've tried within the past years. I'd go as far and say that it is highly likely that I am going to main this from now on. 50g weight, perfect size, great shape, very good buttons, no rough coating, high build quality, ... There are no real flaws for me and the size and shape are so much better than on the GPX I've mained until now. The only (very) minor complaints I have are that the clicks are a relatively loud and the mouse wheel takes a bit more force to press in than what I prefer.

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2022:

Update 01.11.2022:
- Did some RAM OC experiments. Without active cooling on the sticks and with hot air inside the case, "only" 7000 MT/s is possible without raising the voltage on the sticks above 1,4v (tested BIOS 0502 and 0705, this might change with future updates). This is fine for me though because the performance is already increedibly good at this frequency, especially with optimized subtimings. So I am now running 7000 34-42-42-30 with optimized subtimings on the RAM. In case I switch up my cooling solution, I might go for 7600+ in the future but that amount of performance is not really needed yet and this way I can run safe voltages on air. Future BIOS updates might also make it easier to run higher frequencies without needing higher voltages to stabilize the RAM at higher temperatures.
- Undervolted CPU and GPU and set power limits (150W CPU, 310W GPU)

Update 27.10.2022:
- Upgraded to the i9-13900k and went with new DDR5 RAM (Hynix A-die) and an Asus Strix Z790-E mainboard. The RAM runs at 6600C34 with the XMP profile but I can probably get 7400 or 7600 MT/s (likely not more because of temperature sensitivity but we will see) working. I will do that later this week or next week probably when I have enough time for testing.
The CPU has an SP of 103 so it's a bit above average (P-cores 111, E-cores 88 points). I lowered the clock speeds by 200mhz on the core and cache which allowed me to undervolt the chip by about 80mv more than before which dropped my temperatures by ~7-10 degrees and actually increased my cinebench and y-cruncher score because it does not thermal throttle anymore. For games there is a minor performance drop but I get lower temperatures there as well and with the 4090 producing a ton of heat this seems like a small price to pay, especially considering 5,3GHz is still plenty fast and 600MHz more than on my i7-12700k.
I am also going to power limit the CPU to about 170W and shouldn't lose much performance. This won't be reached during gaming anyway and for applications the CPU is definitely fast enough even at 150w or even lower.
The mainboard was more expensive than I would have liked but if you care about stability and RAM overclocking you basically need to go MSI or ASUS and MSI did not have ANY DDR5 boards available on launch day (and even the week after...). So I had to go with ASUS again this time and I chose the Z790-E over the Z790-F because the -E has an 8-layer PCB and a post code which are both useful features for RAM OCing.
- Replaced the Noctua NH-D15 with a Dark Rock Pro 4. I HIGHLY prefer the DRP4's Silent Wings fans over the Noctua ones. They don't sound nearly as annoying (to my ears) and the cooling performance is fairly similar (bit worse but not really worth talking about). Not really comparable with the more power hungry CPU and the contact frame I am also using now but there are results available online.

Update 15.10.2022:
- Replaced my RTX 3080 with an RTX 4090. I was initially going for the 4080 16GB but the 4090 performance jump was very impressive and power consumption in games is similar at 2560x1440. I managed to order the card at MSRP on release day and it was definitely worth it considering how hard 1440p 240Hz is to run. Not to mention the AV1 encoder is very useful for my videos. I might undervolt it as well to decrease power consumption further to prevent my case from heating up as much (which lowers CPU and RAM temps) but if I do so, it will be less aggressive than on the 3080 where I went down to 875mV.
- Minor updates
- Removed obsolete parts of this document

Update 16.07.2022:
- Replaced my trustworthy LG 22MP58VQ (1080p, 60Hz, IPS, 22") with an LG 27UP600 (4K, 60Hz, IPS, 27"). Quite a big upgrade in general although the scaling issues are a bit annoying (Teamspeak, foobar2000 and IrfanView don't scale perfectly when using anything other than 100% scaling in Windows). The stand is relatively small which is why I chose this over the UP650 even though they cost the same and the 650 has a better stand (which would have been an issue for me because my desk is relatively small and I needed one with a small stand because of that...). If you own this monitor as well, make sure you set it to 10 bit and check for banding. My unit has insane banding on gamma mode 2 (default mode) in 10 bit and 8 bit, both before and after calibration, while it has none on mode 4 before and after calibration. Don't know if this only affects my unit or if it is a common problem but this is the solution.
- I bought an Artisan Hayate Otsu in both Mid and Soft (both red and XL size) and am currently maining the Hayate Otsu Soft. Very nice pad, I hope it's durable. Otherwise I might go back to the Hien Soft. It doesn't feel as good to touch as the Zero but better than the Hien and it sits closer to the Hien im terms of speed which I like. A Hien that feels like a Zero would be perfect but unfortunately doesn't exist.
- I have also been testing some mice for the past weeks (like the Xenics Titan GX Air for example) and will update this document at a later point in time with some info on that.

Update 20.05.2022:
- Bought a Gigabyte M27Q X after watching the HardwareUnboxed review of it. It actually has a regular RGB subpixel layout (instead of the BGR the FI27Q-X uses) and a light coating (comparable to the AOC in my opinion, maybe slightly more matte but not by much) which makes text look clean. It also has a sharpness slider which I really appreciate, at 6 sharpness it looks perfect to me although 5 is usable as well.
I think this is the monitor that's going to replace my trustworthy AOC AG271QG. 240Hz is just too good.

With the software "novideo_srgb" I clamped the colors to slightly more than the sRGB gamut (I changed the source code of the program and recompiled it with the values I prefer, similar to what the AOC shows by default) and it doesn't have any drawbacks besides the fact that it lacks a G-Sync module and FreeSync is kinda meeeeh (You have to change Overdrive on this monitor unfortunately and can't use one setting for everything like on the AOC where I use the strong OD for everything). However, G-Sync is not as necessary on 240Hz anymore so I think I can live with just using fixed 240Hz refresh rate.

My unit is pretty high quality overall but there are two spots of dust in the panel. Fortunately, those spots are so far away from the center of the screen that they are not noticeable in actual use so I don't mind. No faulty pixels, VERY low IPS glow, no BLB anywhere and good (not perfect) color and brightness homogenity. Overall I am very pleased and I am hard to satisfy when it comes to monitors. It is by no means perfect but probably the best I can get as long as there are no 4K 360Hz OLED models out there.

Update 01.05.2022:
- Bought an Artisan Zero Soft XL and Zero Mid XL in February and have been trying both for a bit but I find the Soft to be too slow, the mid has similar speed to the HyperX Fury S Pro L but with bigger size and the material feels better. Not sure if I prefer the Hien Soft or Zero Mid so I just use both for now and switch depending on my mood.
- I also bought an Alienware AW2721D to see if I can finally replace my main monitor. Unfortunately the wide color gamut was a big issue for me, I can tune it down with the tool "novideo_srgb" but it gets disabled often after alt-tabbing or closing fullscreen games so that didn't help (UPDATE 20.05.: This is a now known issue on their GitHub page with G-Sync monitors). Sharpness was good (not great) because of the very good semi-glossy coating but the subpixels have a slightly different shape compared to most other screens so the overall sharpness was a bit worse than the AOC. Also the monitor has a fan which is quiet but I'd rather not have one in my monitor. So I'm back on my AG271QG for now... Would love to upgrade to 240hz or higher but it seems like that's not possible yet because 1440p 240Hz models have sharpness issues because of shitty coatings or other dealbreakers.

Update 01.01.2022:
- Moved changelog from 2020 to the different pastebin file


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2021:

Update 31.12.2021:
- Tried the Acer XB273UNX monitor (not to be confused with the XB273UGX) which is a 1440p monitor with 275Hz. In my opinion this is the best 1440p 240Hz+ monitor out there at the moment but the coating is just not as good as on the AOC AG271QG that I've been using for 2,5 years now which means the sharpness is lacking. It was better than the Gigabyte FI27Q-X and the Asus PG279QM in that aspect (and overall as well) but still a bit too stressful for my eyes when reading text for long periods of time.

Besides, my unit had severe backlight uniformity issues, in the center I measured 120cdm while on the left side it was only 90cdm and on the right side it was 105cdm.. This caused a visible kind of vignette that really annoyed me. Other than that it was basically perfect, the gaming experience was flawless for both competitive high FPS games as well as singleplayer games with lower FPS and GSync enabled. Color uniformity was great, no dead or faulty pixels, no noticeable BLB and okayish IPS glow.

The coating was almost good enough to get used to but just a touch too annoying. I might have gotten used to it with more time but the backlight uniformity issue was the final nail in the coffin. I will be waiting for a semi-glossy model or until 4K models with >= 240Hz come out, no point in wasting more time and effort with these matte monitors. Semi-glossy is just so much better. If you have never seen a 1440p monitor with a semi-glossy coating, the monitor will probably be perfectly fine for you but for me it was a downgrade in image quality and nowadays I spend more time on the desktop than ingame so this is more important unfortunately.

If you want to buy a 1440p monitor with 240Hz or more, this one is the best that's available at the moment. It is not a bad monitor by any means besides the questionable quality control and the slightly too annoying coating which is something you likely do not notice if you have no comparison.

Update 19.12.2021:
- Did more testing with the RAM OC and tried to make 3866 MT/s work. I managed to boot and stabilize 3866 CL15 with the same subtimings as I use for 3800 CL15 but I had issues getting it temperature stable. It was only stable up to ~57°c which is not good enough, I need stability up to at least 62-65°C or better (my 3800 CL15 setup is stable up to 68-70°C for comparison), otherwise I could run into issues in long Forza/Cyberpunk sessions where my case heats up quite a bit to slightly over 60°C for example.
I could increase tRFC or decrease tREFI to make it less temperature sensitive but then I'd lose the small advantage I gained over using 3800 MT/s so it's just not worth it so I stick to 3800 CL15. I could not get 4000 CL16 to work at all unfortunately, I guess there need to be some BIOS updates to make this work.

If you have the same board and have trouble reaching > 3600 MT/s, make sure you set the termination values manually because auto settings don't seem to work above 3600. Also the VCCSA voltage rolls off VERY hard for me. When testing 3866 MT/s I errored at 7% with 1.15V VCSSA, was stable at 1.23V and 1.25V was already unstable again with 1.2V being more stable than 1.25 and 1.15 but errored at 300% Karhu. Raising VDDQ did absolutely nothing for me, there was no difference between 1.2V and 1.5V so I sticked to 1.2V.

I slighlty improved my 3800 CL15 setup a little more at least by decreasing tRTP from 8 to 6 and by lowering tWRRD_dr from 7 to 6. Gonna keep using this until MSI releases a BIOS update to make 4000 MT/s work properly. If that doesn't happen, I wouldn't really be too sad because my 3800 CL15 settings work great and the performance difference isn't that big outside of memory bandwidth focused benchmarks. These settings work with 1.2V VCCSA, 1.2V VDDQ TX, 1.2V CPU (with LLC7, load voltage goes down to something between 1.1V and 1.2V depending on the work load), 1.47V DRAM voltage.

Update 04.12.2021:
- Improved the RAM OC a little bit more (lowered tRFC by another 20, lowered tWR to 12 and lowered tWRRD_dg to 7). Still not going higher frequency or tighter primary timings because I want to ensure full stability even when the case heats up during long gaming sessions in demanding games like Forza Horizon 5. If you overdo it with B-die, it becomes very temperature sensitive and because my build is VERY silent (= slow fans), the temperatues inside the case are fairly high so this would quickly become an issue. The kit, board and CPU are easily capable of more.
- Increased the BCLK to 100.20 MHz because 100.00 results in 99.75 being used. Now it is at 99.95 MHz at least which is closer to the desired 100. This is one of the few minor issues this board has but it's easy to get around by just increasing the value a bit. I changed this a few hours after doing all the stress tests but the difference is so minor that this does not cause any stability issues because I had a big buffer before already.
- Also I realized the G303 Wireless is not for me, simply because it's too big. The old size was perfect, now I can't use it properly anymore. GJ Logitech, you had one job. I will keep it and not sell it though, maybe I give it another shot in a year or so..

Update 20.11.2021:
- The CPU is now undervolted to 1.1V under full load (1.2V idle, anything between on partial load like games), before doing so it was running at ~ 1.23V under full load so now it runs a lot cooler and more quiet which I appreciate. Tested for stability for almost 4 hours using various tests (1344K Prime95, 8 to 4192K Prime95, OCCT and x264 Stability Test) and ran GSAT again, no errors, freezes, bluescreens or whatever whatsoever so this should be fine.
During long sessions of FH5, Apex, Cyberpunk or whatever I never get peaks above 80 to 85°c on the 12700K, with my old 9900KF I sometimes reached 92°c peaks and the general temperature was about 10°C higher so I am very happy with the upgrade overall (although I have to admit that's because the 9900KF was overclocked while this time I decided to undervolt). Temperatures when using all 12 cores + HT enabled are a few degrees lower as well compared to my old CPU.

Update 19.11.2021:
- Optimized the RAM timings a bit more. I know there is still some room for improvement but especially with the tRFC and tREFI I don't want to go too crazy because those are very temperature sensitive and my sticks easily heat up to 55 or 60 °C when playing demanding games like Forza Horizon 5 for long periods of times and I prefer full stability over a 1-3% better performance. This is good enough. Also I can possibly use a lower RAM voltage but I don't see a reason to considering 1,47v is safe for 24/7 on B-die and more voltage helps with higher temperature stability as well.
Lower RTLs would be nice and I can set them on this board but I haven't been able to find better working values yet, also there are apparently no IOL timings anymore either which makes the whole thing a bit weird.
- I also ran GSAT for a bit over an hour to see if my VCCSA is good and 1.2v is enough to run this memory OC stable.
- Now that my RAM is configured and completely stable, I'm going to finally undervolt the CPU tomorrow to decrease temps.

Update 14.11.2021:
- Using a G303 Wireless now that it finally exists :-) Gonna be announced next week probably but I got it early from Amazon. Unfortunately they made it bigger but besides that, it's just as good as the old version.

Update 13.11.2021:
- The new mainboard arrived yesterday, today I overclocked and optimized the new RAM which is now running at 3800 CL15-15-15-32 in Gear 1. I will do more optimizations around christmas possibly but for now this is good. CL14 would very likely work, as well as higher frequency, but that would require more VCCSA and DRAM voltage which I am not willing to use for now, especially because the benefit is so small compared to this optimized 3800 CL15 setup.

Update 10.11.2021:
- Replaced CPU, RAM, Mainboard and CPU cooler (went from an i9-9900K to an i7-12700K)
- The CPU was an easy choice after I saw the temperatures of the i9-12900K in leaked tests. The i7 runs considerably cooler and there is almost no difference in games so I went for it instead.
- Regarding the mainboard I went for a Gigabyte Aorus Elite DDR4 board with my old 4x8 B-die kit but I had to send it back because of how terrible it was. The BIOS was EXTREMELY buggy (mouse lags, settings didn't save/apply correctly, I couldn't even run my RAM stable higher than 3500 MT/s when it worked with optimized 4266 CL17 before, after a BIOS update I couldn't get into Windows anymore and it corrupted some parts there...). I have never been this disappointed in a mainboard so I ordered an MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI DDR4 instead and also went for 2x16 GB B-die instead because these Z690 boards use a daisy chain layout so this should work better...
- RAM speeds and clocks are unknown so far because I'm still waiting for the new mainboard but I went with DDR4 instead of DDR5 because right now optimized B-Die in Gear 1 performs better than the kinda slow 4800 CL40 to 5200 CL18 DDR5 RAM, also DDR5 is barely available whatsoever and I am not paying more money on entry level DDR5 compared to high end B-Die sticks. I will be aiming for something like DDR4-3800 CL15 in Gear 1 with optimizedsubtimings.
- I changed the cooler because I preordered the components and Noctua was smart enough to offer mainboard compatibility lists early while BeQuiet only had them on 4.11. which was too late for me and I didn't want to risk anything so I bought an NH-D15 with the LGA 1700 compatibility kit.
- Added a Samsung SSD 980 Pro to the system and made it my Windows SSD now that PCIe 4.0 is supported
- Made some small updates within this document

Update 02.09.2021:
- Replaced my Spyder 5 colorimeter with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro

Update 06.08.2021:
- Added two new HDDs (WD Red Plus 4TB, 2021 version (EFZX)) to my PC to replace my old slowly failing Seagate Barracuda Compute (4TB) and my still functioning 2TB drive to get a bit more space.
- Added an external HDD (Toshiba Canvio Basics 2TB), mostly for movies and stuff I want to watch on my TV (LG OLED 55BX) from time to time.
- I've been using the Sennheiser HD 560S for over a month now but forgot to add it to this file before. It's overall almost as good as the HD 600 but it's clearly superior for competitive gaming which is why I mostly use this now. I won't sell my HD 600 because it's still better for vocal focused music while the HD 560S has much better spatial abilities which is what you want for competitive shooters/BR games and certain music as well. The HD 560S is insane in terms of value for money, definitely a huge recommendation for both gaming and music.

Update 29.05.2021:
- Got the Artisan Hien Soft XL (FX-HI-SF-XL-R) as new mousepad. Was more expensive than my keyboard but it's a really impressive mousepad. It's faster than the Fury S Pro L which is what I wanted, also the slightly bigger size (49x42cm vs 45x40xm) is noticeable and I love the color (wine red). The pad is supposedly very durable and easy to clean as well so should be worth the investment.

Update 15.04.2021:
- Switched mouse from G305 to GPW X (possibly for a while but we will see).
- Minor adjustments and fixes regarding this document.

Update 25.02.2021:
- Upgraded my sound processing. Now using a Topping E30 + Topping L30 combination to get the most out of my new HD600. I also tested the HiFiMAN Sundara for a few days and liked its sound more because of its bigger soundstage (both EQed to Harman Target) but there are way too many reports of failing drivers and pads breaking after 6 months already. Replacement pads seem to be somewhat hard to get and cost 60€ which makes me stay away from the Sundara unfortunately. The HD600 is much more likely to stay alive for way longer, I'm going to keep using it until an actual upgrade in the price range up to 500€ comes out. Something that sounds like the Sundara but higher quality and maybe a bit more comfortable and lighter, maybe with an even better soundstage...

Update 17.02.2021:
- Upgraded my headphones to the Sennheiser HD 600 (2019 Edition). They sound very, very different to both of my DT-990s but I think there is great potential for them to become my new favorite headphones. It's gonna take some time to get used to for sure though.

Update 02.02.2021:
- Now that the first 1440p 240Hz IPS monitors are slowly coming out, I decided to try my luck with the Gigabyte FI27Q-X since it's the only one currently available in Germany. And I am very disappointed to say the least, it's straight up worse in all aspects compared to my AOC AG271QG with the exception of the slim bezels and the higher refresh rate.

The list of issues is actually pretty long and I decided to return it after a few minutes of using already. What's most problematic: The sharpness. The monitor has a sharpness slider but you can't get it to look right, even with sharpness up to 10. It looks oversharpened and blurry at the same time then, I didn't even know that was possible.

Add some noticeable BLB, IPS glow and a very annoying yellow shift on the right side of the screen when it's supposed to display white to the list as well as slightly annoying inverse ghosting at the highest overdrive with the medium overdrive being too blurry and you get an idea why I sent it back.

Oh well, maybe next time in a few months when more models are out... The coating really is the biggest issue though, I seriously hope other manufacturers go for a coating that is more similar to what my AG271QG uses because it really makes sharpness so much better. The FI27Q-X seriously made my eyes hurt and I had to focus to read text which is a terrible characteristic of a 1440p monitor.


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2020:

Update 05.11.2020:
- Replaced my RTX 2080 Super with an RTX 3080. I also had to replace the power supply because it died after I had used the 3080 for a few minutes even though it was not underpowered so it must have been kinda broken to begin with and the high power draw of the 3080 gave it the rest. I went for another 100W extra and got the platinum version of the same power supply because it's one of the best ones out there, assuming it's not defective at least ;D

I wanted the Strix but its availability is absolutely stupid and I won't pay 1000€+ for a 3080. The TUF is very, very good as well and has a really good cooler despite being smaller than my previous cards.

My plan earlier this year was to avoid Asus because of their absolutely T E R R I B L E customer support but I bought it in a shop where I am guaranteed to get a replacement card if it breaks within warranty time so it should be fine. Besides, my will to get the best (or second best) possible version of this card is higher than my dislike of Asus' support which I hopefully won't have to deal with, anyway.

Update 12.09.2020:
- Replaced my 550W Be Quiet Straight Power 11 with the 750W version for the upcoming RTX 3080 (mostly for the 3x 8-pin cables).

Update 01.09.2020:
- Got a new Samsung 970 Evo SSD with a capacity of 1TB because I am once again running out of space and games get bigger and bigger. Also I replaced my trustworthy (and still fully functioning) Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro after almost 8 years of heavy use with a new pair of Beyerdynamic DT-990 Edition (600 Ohm).

Update 21.08.2020:
- Replaced my old Ducky One PBT with a Ducky One 2 RGB PBT. Still Cherry MX-Red switches because they are the nicest (available) quiet switches out there. If there was a version of MX-Blues that was silent, I would definitely prefer that though.

Update 13.08.2020:
- Replaced my Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master with an Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero Wifi. The main reason is that the Hero allows me to get a better RAM OC (Gigabyte locks RTL and IOL values and my board topped out at 4133 MT/s while the Hero can do 4266 with less trouble cold/warm booting and RTL/IOL values are adjustable) and I don't have to deal with the stupid Gigabyte dual bios "technology" anymore.

I also modded the BIOS to use a better performing microcode to speed up my CPU.

These CPU/RAM/MB settings are final until 2021/2022 probably.

Update 26.07.2020:
- Upgraded case fans (- 2x Noctua NF-A14 & 1x Fractal R2; + 3x Fractal Venturi HF-14).

Update 03.07.2020:
- Upgraded RAM, mainboard and case and adapted case fans accordingly. The new mainboard has much better features and is on another level in terms of OC capability (I am still only running 4,8GHz with 4,5GHz cache but this board can at least do much more if i ever get a better cooling solution and 4x8GB would have been bad on my old board while this one can do very well). The new RAM clocks higher with better timings and the new case is something I wanted for a while because my old one was not in a good shape anymore after years of use, changing parts regularly and so on.

Update 10.01.2020:
- Had to buy a new GPU because my "old" one got lost/destroyed by ASUS after I sent it in to get a repair on the fans because there was an issue with some weird noise. I got a full refund for the card though so that's fine, what's not fine is that this took 1 1/2 months almost where I didn't have a GPU. I'm going to avoid Asus from now on for GPUs at least because their RMA is slow, you get no updates on the progress and apparently they are incompetent as well.

My new GPU is an MSI Geforce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio so it's slightly faster than the regular 2080 I've had before and I got it basically for free so that's good. This card's cooling solution is just as good and this card seems to have more OC potential.

- Got a new HDD a few days ago to replace two of my old ones, just a small QoL thing.


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2019:

Update 07.12.2019:
- I have now reinstalled Windows on my new SSD (so I can finally throw away the old 128GB one) and am now done with the overclocking of the new CPU. Also I had to redo my RAM OC because the old one was not stable with the new CPU. Could be related to the BIOS update I had to do before as well but no way to tell.
I could get 5GHz with 4,7GHz cache and temperatures would be fine for gaming but under full utilization of all cores it would run too hot (~90-95°C) and I would have to increase the fans' speeds on the CPU cooler to levels where the noise would annoy me (I am very picky in this regard). Because of this I decided not to do that and instead use something that doesn't require as much voltage and the most suitable result for my preferences was 4,8GHz core clock and 4,5GHz cache, just like on my old i5-8600k. However, my new i9 needs ~1,21v for it to be stable (stable means 1344k test with Prime95 works for an hour without errors) while on my i5 I had to use ~1,34v... This way I stay below 85°C under full load (tried Handbrake and Vegas with CPU rendering and it only touched 80-82°c there even), can barely hear the fans and still get enough performance. For the RAM OC I only had to lower my previous one by 100Mhz to make it stable so not that much of an issue.
If I was only playing games with my PC I would've probably sticked to the 5GHz overclock but I need and want it to be stable, quiet and cool enough for everything I do, not just for gaming. Another thing I tried was using the 5GHz OC combined with a power limit of 170W as well but I need a bit more than 0,1v more for a stable 5GHz with 4,7 cache compared to the final OC but then it would clock down too much during rendering and other cpu-heavy applications which I don't like (because it produces way more power the higher the voltage is).

TL;DR: Windows has been reinstalled on my new SSD, old 128GB SSD is gone, i9-9900KF is overclocked now and runs very quiet, relatively cool and performs well. 5GHz is possible but 4,8GHz runs more quiet and cooler.

(Short Update 09.12.2019: I managed to increase my RAM OC a bit and went from 16-21-21-38 to 15-19-19-36.)
(Short Update 15.12.2019: I tweaked the subtimings on my RAM which resulted in a very noticeable performance improvement, I gained almost 7 seconds in SuperPi and have better scores in the AIDA64 memory benchmark as well, very much worth it. Improves FPS in cpu bound scenarios in games as well.)

Update 03.12.2019:
- Upgraded my i5-8600K to an i9-9900KF and bought a new cooler for it (Thermalright Macho -> Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4). I got the 9900KF for a good price on black friday (actually good) and it's a good investment for me because I already have a compatible mainboard and needed more cores for what I am doing. I'm going to do some optimizations/OC within the next days when my new SSD arrives, stay tuned for exact values.
- Added case fans & cpu cooler to the list.

Update 02.11.2019:
- Replaced my Asus Xonar DGX with an XtremPro X1 external USB DAC (Review of the same thing under a different name: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-speaka-usb-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.2423/ ). I don't really notice much of a difference but it's better supposedly and can be used on other devies (phone, laptop, ...) easily as well while the Xonar barely fits in my PC nowadays and is very stationary.

Update 04.10.2019:
- Replaced my old Maxnomic Pro-Chief TBE with a Noblechairs Icon. The old chair's imitation leather started to become brittle and it basically peeled itself off the chair which was extremely annoying and made me have to vaccum every single day because it was all laying around on the floor. Everything else was still absolutely fine but after ~5 years it was worth it to buy a new one.

- The Noblechairs Icon is definitely an upgrade over the Maxnomic Pro-Chief TBE anyway though, the back rest has a more ergonomic shape with better support for the lower back and it's more comfortable while having no build quality issues whatsoever. The old one had scratchy rolls and the left armrest was a bit lower than the right one; those things were an issue right from the beginning but the Icon has nothing like that. Definitely a recommendation. Bought it in black with gold-colored seams, looks much better as well. If you want to buy one as well, make sure you order the -3cm hydraulic feather as well if you're < 1,80m (I'm 1,76) as that's a better fit in that case.

Update 01.10.2019:
- Tested a Glorious Model O- for about a week. The low weight is addicting and makes a huge difference! However I decided to send it back because my ring finger couldn't get a comfortable grip on the mouse because of the side wall construction (picture that shows the problem and why the G305 fits me better: https://imgur.com/a/ev1Sbef ). The shape itself was good, although didn't really support my (relaxed claw) grip style. I liked the curves on the sides a lot though. The cable was very very good as well, much better than on the Zowie S2 for example, it almost didn't bother me. Clicks were crisp and I liked them just as much as on the G305 except for some slight wobble but that only happened when i forced it to happen and it never happened ingame.

- So after I sent back the O- I instead got myself a new G305, this time in white. I like the white version more than the black one and hope it doesn't look as used as the black one so quickly. This time with hyperglides, I previously had Corepad Skatez on my black model.

- Hyperglides are initially very smooth and become even smoother after a few days of usage. The Corepad Skatez needed a few days before not being scratchy anymore (was the same on my G303 so this seems to be normal for Corepad feet). The Hyperglides are thicker and more rounded, also they look a bit more greyish than the other ones, overall I prefer them although they are more rare and more expensive.

Update 17.08.2019:
- Upgraded my RAM from 16GB with 2800MHz (15-17-17-36 2T, Dual Rank) to 32GB with 3200MHz (16-18-18-36 2T, Dual Rank, model number: BLS16G4D32AESE ) and overclocked it easily to 3800MHz with 16-20-20-37 1T stable. This RAM is insanely powerful and can be overclocked really well, especially considering this is dual ranked RAM while only costing 150€ for 32GB. I am very impressed.

My old RAM was 2666MHz stock and didn't go any higher than 2800Mhz (which was still better than most single ranked sticks at over 3000Mhz), this one easily goes from 3200 to 3800MHz and could probably even reach 4000 if I wanted. Micron E-Dies are currently the way to go since they are the fastest dual rank RAM sticks out there while being very affordable. Wow.

Update 02.08.2019:
- Tried a Zowie S2 (black, matte) to see if I'd like it. The mouse is honestly extremely good, I like the shape, size, mouse feet and coating a lot. The mousewheel sucks though and the main buttons are a bit too stiff for me personally. Also the cable is decent but if I had kept it I would have paracorded it anyway.

If Zowie made a wireless version with Omron mouse switches and kept the weight or lowered it further, this would be my main but they don't so this is not my mouse unfortunately. Once you go wireless it's extremely hard/impossible to go back to wired. I really hope Logitech makes another small mouse soon with a better shape than the G305 because they seem to be the only ones who care about making mice wireless which is much more important than the weight reduction trend in my opinion.

- Short update on the mousepad switch: I definitely like the Fury S Pro more than the QCK Heavy, the mouse just glides better while still having enough stopping power to not make it fly around. Good change.

- I ordered some new mouse feet for my G305 (Corepad Skatez because Hyperglides are sold out) because I was really impressed by the Zowie feet so I figured this is still suboptimal on my G305 and should change :)

Update 25.07.2019:
- Decided to try a different mousepad after using a QCK Heavy for a few years. Got a HyperX Fury S Pro which feels smoother which I think I like. I have to give it more time but it feels good, I like that it's a bit more on the speed side than the QCK Heavy without being too extreme. Also I replaced the double A lithium battery in my mouse with a triple A lithium + half a converter to lower the weight a bit (89g with Lithium AA, 82g with Lithium AAA + 1/2 converter. Weight with the default battery is 99g for reference!) and improve the balance to be more centered. Feels very good overall, definitely worth it.

Update 13.06.2019:
- Upgraded GPU and power supply. I am now using an RTX 2080. I sold my 2070 for a very good price (right before the "NVIDIA Super" card rumors started spreading) and this is indeed a noticeable upgrade because I wasn't able to hit 144+ FPS at 1440p resolution with the 2070 in certain games at full render scale. Now it feels better although still not perfect. I am going to keep this one until the next generation of NVIDIA cards arrives (I really need/want GSync (for single player games) and Shadowplay, which is why I don't really consider AMD cards). The ASUS Strix version of the 2080 is insanely quiet (with the quiet bios, I didn't test the other one), probably the quietest card I have ever used without needing to swap coolers or change the fan curve at all. It's even more quiet than the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z I used before and that was hard to beat (altough I could have made it more quiet by using a custom curve).

Update 20.05.2019:
- Tried a Logitech G Pro Wireless over the past few days. It felt relatively comfortable and the build quality is much higher compared to the G305. Also the mouse wheel, buttons (side buttons especially) and weight were much better. However, I decided to send it back because it's too big for my likings and the shape wasn't that much better than on the G305 if at all. The GPW has better sides but the hump is too far in the middle, I prefer it to be more towards the back like on the G303 and the mouse was too high and wide. So overall it would have been pretty good if it fit my hand (18cm x 9cm) as well as the G305 and G303.

It was worth trying though, I can definitely recommend the GPW as it's one of the best mice out there if it fits your hand size (I'd say >= 19cm x 10cm). I would have loved to use it because everything was really high quality and it has no objective flaws but all that doesn't matter if it doesn't feel right in my hand because it's a bit too big :( It's a medium sized mouse but it leans more towards big than small which is the main issue for me. Feels much harder to control than my G305 and hurt my hand/wrist a bit after a while.

Update 23.03.2019:
- Went back to my G303 and paracorded it because I prefer the shape, buttons, weight distribution and material. With the paracord cable it feels alomst like wireless, with the stock cable I wouldn't have bothered going back. New mouse feet are on the way as well. Let's see if I can go back after using wireless for so long. <--- Update on that: Nope, I can't seem to go back. Using the G305 again...

Update 06.03.2019:
- Finally added a second SSD to my setup =) Besides, I improved the formatting of this file and outsourced the section about the replaced parts as well as the older sections of the changelog to keep this document shorter.

Update 02.03.2019:
- Replaced the Acer XF270HUA with an AOC Agon AG271QG. Sharper image (text especially!), better response times and 165Hz (+ G-Sync for single player games), higher contrast. Worth it. I got lucky in terms of IPS glow which is almost nonexistant from a normal viewing angle and there is only some BLB in the lower right corner (which is expected with these panels unfortunately and can only be seen on extremely dark content). Also no stuck/dead pixels :)

Update 08.01.2019:
- Got a Ducky One PBT keyboard with red switches now and bought an Xbox One controller.


---------------------------------------------------

2018:

Update 20.12.2018:
- Added an external headphone amp to my setup (and replaced the ear pads of my headphones).

Update 03.12.2018:
- Removed the mouse sensitivity list because I can't bother with keeping the list up to date since I change my DPI so much (not necessarily the sensitivity, just the DPI and I adjust the ingame sens). I also added a big mouse chapter in the "replaced" category explaining my history with gaming mice and why I like and dislike some of them. I also shortened parts of the changelog a bit to keep the document more slim.

Update 25.10.2018:
- I upgraded to an RTX 2070. I don't care about RTX but I am curious about DLSS and wanted (+ needed) the higher performance compared to before. Also this card is the quietest card I have ever owned (besides my old GTX 670 where I had put an accelero cooler on).

Update 09.08.2018:
- Got a Logitech G305 as main mouse for now, the wireless dream is finally reality :o
I would have prefered a G303 shaped wireless version with the same buttons but it doesn't exist so I'll take this for now assuming I can get used to the shape again after using the G303 for over 6 months.
- Added consoles and streaming devices.

Update 12.04.2018:
- Bought the XF270HUA monitor (only around 400€ atm, very impressive value for money!) because I prefer 1440p & IPS over the 240Hz 1080p TN panel I've had before, even though 240Hz was nice. 144Hz is "enough" and the much, much better picture quality makes it worth it (for me at least). I can't take the terrible (!!!) picture quality of TN panels, no matter how high their refresh rate is, anymore. IPS is just too superior at almost no cost in terms of performance. You could even go pro with a 144Hz IPS panel if you're good enough and put the effort in, 240Hz is smoother and does feel nicer but it looks worse than dogshit because you are forced to use a TN panel.

Update 23.01.2018:
- Got a Logitech G303 as main mouse now, the G Pro is going to be my replacement in case the G303 breaks. I also added a no-name mouse bungee from Amazon to my equipment to help with the stiff Logitech cables. Definitely worth the 8€.

Update 11.01.2018:
- Got a HyperX Alloy FPS with Cherry MX-Brown switches now (blues were too loud/distracting when locating footsteps and slightly annoying in immersive games, I might replace this KB later this year with a Ducky Shine 7 or something if I like the brown switches).

Update 04.01.2018:
- Overclocked CPU from 4,5GHz to 4,8GHz
- Added the Logitech G Pro to my equpiment (still experimenting whether I prefer the G Pro or the G403)
- Got an ASUS XG258Q (240Hz) monitor for now to see if 240Hz is worth it


---------------------------------------------------

2017:

Update 07.12.2017:
- Replaced CPU, RAM & Mainboard

Update 09.11.2017:
- Overclocked DDR3 RAM to 2133MHz with low latencies

Update 06.09.2017:
- Replaced Razer DA Chroma with Logitech G403

Update 03.08.2017:
- Added another HDD

Update 28.07.2017:
- Updated monitor section

Update 05.06.2017:
- Updated mousepad

Update 17.03.2017:
- Updated monitor section
- Updated replaced stuff, added additional information about my previous monitors

Update 11.03.2017:
- Added old/replaced parts to the list


---------------------------------------------------

2016:

Update 08.07.2016:
- Added GPU/VRAM clock speed
- Improved formatting

Update 24.06.2016:
- Updated GPU to a GTX 1070

Update 06.06.2016:
- Updated information on monitors