This episode of Ask GN is our first since returning from Taiwan, where we spent nearly two weeks covering Computex and other on-sight events. In the time since, the internet erupted in questions pertaining to PCIe lanes, specifically as they relate to Intel CPUs and chipsets. We address some of those questions in this Ask GN, explain differences in CPU and PCH HSIO lanes, and then get into some other questions.
Those other questions, for the interested, are all timestamped below. One asked about whether AIB partner cards are "worth it" for their power design vs. an FE card, about repasting CPU TIM, and about coolers for new large-size CPU sockets.
Video below:
01:01 - Im A Jedi Brah: “Am I allowed to ask a question about this image? Given the 28 lane CPU and 24 lanes on the chipset, seems to give you more lanes than x99 40 CPU. I’m curious to see if the grief Intel got was premature.”
7:02 - Jesse Schalken: “Ask GN: I'm choosing a 1080ti for water cooling. Do the better VRMs on AIB parter cards actually make a difference for overclocking or are they just for show? Some say the Founders Edition has ample power capacity others say it doesn't.”
10:09 – rarson: “In the delidding video, der8auer mentioned repasting. This is something I hadn't really given much thought to. I know stock thermal paste on OEM computers is usually pretty poor, especially after 5 or more years, but I've never really noticed any thermal issues with my own builds, although I don't really check once I have my setup configured. Is this something that an enthusiast would want to check on a regular basis, or perhaps a preventative maintenance item? Nobody really covers long-term effects with respect to thermal pastes, and I suspect that's probably because there's not much hard data out there on the subject.”
13:30 – Notwist: “quick question: if there a temperature limit for CLC's which is ill-advised to surpass? Is a Hybrid GPU that is 70 degrees under load be ok, or will the liquid at that temp give me headaches down the road. Going back to the focus on silent computing: what's the max recommended temp you would run a CLC at?”
15:55 - Chaiwat Kositkhun: “With new processors going at +140W tdp, will air coolers continue to suffice (while remaining of sane proportions)? Dissipation is roughly fin area which is pretty much the occupied volume of the fin stack - so if we take a Noctua N15 or C1 and scale by 140/95 (or 190/95 in the case of threadripper) that arrives at [f*cking huge] hanging off your motherboard, surely. No hate on aio's but my only worry about them is reliability, specially if one has a few systems to maintain. Do you think we'll be seeing a whole new generation of much larger/more efficient air coolers or will those processors be limited to liquid only?”
Host: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman