2022 Double 11 Recap

Preface

Catching the tail end of November to post this article~

Could also count as a follow-up to the previous post Bought new RAM to expand my desktop, didn't expect mysterious artifacting~

Follow-up on the RAM Artifacting Incident

Later I got two identical RAM sticks, set up 32G dual channel, and still ended up with freezes and artifacting

Then a friend commented on the previous article on Zhihu saying it might be a problem with the CPU's IMC (integrated memory controller), causing dual-channel issues, where two sticks only work in single channel and dual channel doesn't work… That indeed matches what I encountered. So it's pretty much confirmed that's the case~

The integrated memory controller (IMC) is a QuickPath Interconnect technology newly added by Intel in its latest Nehalem-architecture processors, and is also a product of the brand-new direct-connect architecture adopted by Nehalem-architecture processors.

Why would the CPU fail? In theory the CPU is the longest-lasting part of a computer; examples of PCs used for ten or a dozen years with the CPU still fine are everywhere. I don't know why my CPU (i5 8400) is so fragile—it broke after only about four years of use, or maybe it had already broken earlier and I just didn't notice?

Maybe this failure is related to a previous computer repair. Before, the motherboard failed and wouldn't boot, so I took the motherboard out and had it repaired at a third-party shop. After that there was a weird feeling—for example the LED display behavior changed, there was an extra light on the motherboard that stayed on all the time, the ASUS logo looping on boot, and so on.

But since it still worked I just made do and didn't bother with it.

There's no real way to wrap up this upgrade saga; I'll just have to wait and build a new PC next~

Saved 100%

I originally planned to buy some things for Double 11

For example:

• RAM
• GPU
• Router

In the end the RAM I bought couldn't be used, so I returned it

GPUs were too expensive. Throughout Double 11 I didn't see any good deals. Where's the mining crash we were promised?

I can't accept mining cards so the ones I picked were non-mining models

• 6500xt
• 6650xt
• 3050

Of these, the 6500xt and 3050 have too little performance—that performance really doesn't match the price

The 6650xt is a bit better, but the price never went below 2200, so I still hesitated and didn't pull the trigger

Pinduoduo didn't even have any 10-billion subsidy for the 6650xt this time~

And a few controversial ones:

• 2060 12G version
• 3060 GDDR6 version

These two didn't have any deals either. Who knows if they're refurbished mining cards~

Then I heard mining cards went up in price later too. What happened to the promised "you, me, 200"?

What happened to watching the aerialists we were promised

How come everyone still compromised with the unscrupulous merchants?

Conclusion

Anyway if they don't drop the price I just won't buy~~(it's not like the iGPU is unusable)~~

Another point is my computer is pretty old—the motherboard only has PCIe 3, and current GPUs are all PCIe 4, so my weak CPU and bus would actually become the performance bottleneck~

So I also casually looked at CPUs and motherboards, then found those had damn well gone up in price too… Excuse me, I'll take my leave.

OK, so as for hardware upgrades, see you at Double 12~