An infamous example of PCIe 4.0 mattering is the 6500 XT, since it only has 4 lanes:
yeah I remember that one.. more of AMD being cheap arses with the 6500XT using 4x lanes like an nvme drive, than something that lionises PCIe 4.0/5.0.. Had they used 8x lanes, which is already cut down cheap videocard shit; then this never would have been nearly such an issue even on ancient PCIe 3.0.
If it makes you feel any better - even the 4090 only sees like a 10% performance degradation if you run it on PCIe 3 instead of PCIe 4. And we don't even have PCIe 5 graphics cards yet.
The 4090 isn't a great example. Graphics cards use the PCIe slot primarily for two things; receiving instructions and loading textures/AI models. The 4090 has sufficient VRAM that you can essentially just load all the data once and then let the card keep them in its own memory, so other than right at the start of a task, it won't use the PCIe slot heavily, because instructions are tiny. A better example would be a card with much less VRAM, which needs to swap data back and forth between video memory and system memory, such as the RTX4060 8GB. Dropping down a PCIe generation will halve the available bandwidth, which means swapping data will take significantly longer, which can manifest as stuttering, which is exacerbated by the card only being x8 wide to begin with, meaning you're actually only getting the equivalent of PCIe4x4 rather than the PCIe4x8 a 4090 would have. An even better example is a card with only an x4 wide connector, such as the RX6500XT. Dropping that to PCIe3 means you're actually only getting the bandwidth of PCIe4x2, which is a huge performance impact and a massive problem for a budget card more likely to be installed in an outdated motherboard than a higher-end card would be.
Yea you really should upgrade from that, mainly because the RX 580 is no longer getting driver updates, but also does not support mesh shaders.
Yea. ARGB has a connector that looks like this.
Thanks. New case choices unlocked!
A significant factor is that the fan people are looking for things to add to the product as an upsell
Oh sure, it all makes sense from the company's point of view. They're trying to convince me that I want something. It's just such an obnoxious thing why would I?
With ARGB you can easily colour-match with your other decor. Rather than having to specifically buy a red motherboard, a red cooler, red fans etc, you can just set the ARGB to red and get the same effect. If you decide to switch your desk decor to blue, colour matching your computer is as easy as opening OpenRGB, finding a nice blue hue, and hitting save. If you care about how your computer looks, it's very flexible. You can even make it "useful", such as having it turn on a gently pulsing light if you've got unread email or whatever.
Why do I get the feeling that you have a blood red colour scheme for your system and type all your posts from a room with Mordor-like lighting?
This is both a clever idea and horrifying as yet another way to remind me of the number of things I have to respond to at all times!
Okay, well I guess I'll get the case then. I'm not paying extra for the lighting - it's cheaper than the next best case without it. I suppose I can set it to some obnoxious rapid cycle when I want to encourage a guest to leave.
I don't believe in RGB, but if you must have your computer cave lit at all, it should be by red lights, to enhance health and wellness. Personally I just use a clipon red LED light plugged into my TV, and adjustable color LED smart bulbs in desk lamps.Why do I get the feeling that you have a blood red colour scheme for your system and type all your posts from a room with Mordor-like lighting?
Sadly no, I've got the boring standard oak sit-stand desk, leather desk mat, black computer, IBM keyboard, 48" OLED TV combo. I do have the ARGB configured to annoyingly flash bright red if the coolant temperature hits 70 degrees, to alert me if there's a cooling failure.Why do I get the feeling that you have a blood red colour scheme for your system and type all your posts from a room with Mordor-like lighting?
Why not have it shift from blue to yellow to red depending on the time of day?
You mean you don't have a Hello Kitty themed home office? My vision of you is shattered!
