So as some of you may know, I have not been having a good time with my RGB fans. The Lian Li SL120s.

Ever since I got them, they have been giving me a lot of issues and I was not able to figure out why. They kept ramping up and down which didn't make any sense because they are all plugged into a controller that controls them through their own software. And I have the software set the Lian Li fans at their lowest setting with manual mode so there really shouldn't be any reason for them to ramp up. Yet they do and it's very random. Personally, I don't mind the noise when I am gaming but when I am working? I want a quiet PC. So I was going to say F it and replace them with 6 Noctua NF-A12x25 sometime this week.

But last week, Asus had a sale on their Strix Flare RGB keyboard for $100. It's the lowest price the keyboard has gotten and my Razer keyboard's volume control is broken and I wanted to see how blue switches felt since I have been on Browns for a long time. So I was like, why not.

So I got the keyboard, uninstalled the Razer software and have been using it... Since then... My Lian Li fans have been behaving the way they should... Like... What in the actual fuck Razer... There shouldn't be any reason why Razer software should be interacting with Lian Li but I guess somehow they have been?

I suppose my first mistake was getting a Razer keyboard in the first place...

Your mistake wasn't in getting the Razer keyboard, but in installing the software with it. The Razer software made some headlines a while ago because it could be used as an exploit to grant access to your PC. With that in mind, it doesn't surprise me to hear that it messed the fan profile software in some ways. Well, at least now you have some rest.

How are the blue switches going?

So far it's good. I do like the clicky sounds they make but I do have to press a lot harder for it to register the key strokes. I'll probably have to use it for a few weeks to give it my final thoughts though. The wrist rest the keyboard came with is pretty lame as it's plastic. So I am still using the Razer wrist rest as that's cushiony.

So, more noisy and harder to use. I'll stay with my brown ones.

For the curious ones, Linus has managed to visit a chip manufacturing building. Not that it shows much of the actual process, obviously, but it's kind of cool nonetheless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ehSCWoaOqQ

I would rather opt for the 5700X/12700 non-k to make sure I don't run into a core bottleneck if I plan to use the CPU for several years.

I don't see why not. AM3 and AM2 also lasted very long. In fact, the number denotes the used DDR standard used on the boards. So unless DDR6 comes out soon, AM5 will last quite a while. I could see some AM5+ somewhere along the way, but AM5 should last long.

Now, being able to use new CPUs on old boards and vice versa is a different question...

My reasoning is that AMD seems to have made some odd decisions when designing the AM5 platform, like putting the capacitators on top of the CPU, forcing the heatspreader to have cuts in it, or that the socket is of similar size as the AM4 one, reason why most AM4 coolers will be compatible from the get go.

I fear that these decisions could limit the number of CCDs or CCXs, forcing AMD to launch a new platform when they launch processors with higher core counts. After all, we've heard rumors of AMD also adopting a big.little solution with their CPUs in the near future, and that will demand bigger dies.

On another note, I agree with you that an 8-core CPU would be a better investment for a PC that will be used for many years.

If you have enough of a budget sure. A 5700X/12700 will age better but I don't think it will be by a whole lot and a 5600/12400 buyer is also on a pretty strict budget. The $100 increase can get them a 3060 Ti instead of a 3060 or a 3070 instead of a 3060 Ti which will net them a much greater difference. The likely hood of games requiring more than 6 cores 12 threads is very low imo if all you plan on doing is gaming until the PS6 which at that point, you will need to upgrade anyway.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy a CPU with less cores and threads than a PS5 / Xbox Series console.

That could backfire in new multiplatform games after the (console) crossgen phase.

That would be like saying you shouldn't buy an i5 2500k because the ps4 had 8 core cpu...