-
This thread totally rings a bell here, since I came to essentialy the same conclusions back in late 2021, when I was looking to replace an aging (anche cheap) membrane keyboard with something better. There is a wide range of mechanical gaming keyboards that are actually perfectly suited for non-gaming activities and the most difficult thing for me was to actually find one without RGB lights (which I don’t like) and looks that be acceptable in an office.
In the end I picked a Logitech G413 in the black variant with red back lighting. Its looks are, shall we say, “mundane” compared to your average gaming keyboard, but that means it will not look odd or out of place in an office environment. Frankly, I would have preferred no back lighting at all, but I have been using this keyboard for more than a year now and admittedly its red backlighting is unobtrusive once you get used to it. Besides, it is possible to reduce or switch off the light entirely and that without installing any additional piece of software (albeit without software the keyboard does not save this setting once the computer is turned off).
Honestly I thought all the talk about mechanical keyboards allowing for faster typing was purely for the sake of advertisement, but I was surprised to realize I’m actually typing faster with this keyboard. It did not occur me immediately, at least not until I was back working from the office a few days every week, where we are issued with regular membrane keyboards. A quick typing test with the office keyboard and the G413 at home showed the mechanical keyboard really allow me to type faster.
As far as my specific Logitech keyboard is concerned (G413), the only – not necessarily minor – drawback is that after around 1 year of use some keycaps are “peeling” and the keycap for the “A” key in particular now looks mostly transparent. Logitech keyboards use their own type of switches (so-called “Romer-G” switches), so finding good replacement keycaps is not the simplest of things: there seems to be few providers of keycaps compatible with the Romer-G switches, as opposed to e.g. the more widely used Cherry switches mounted on mechanical keyboards from many other manufacturers, and those making quality keycaps rather than cheap stuff that will peel off faster than the originals seem to be even fewer.
Still, I don’t think that I will go back to a membrane keyboard if I need to replace my G413. On the other hand, I will likely pay more attention to the material the keycaps are made of for my next keyboard and pick something more durable.
2 users thanked author for this post.
-
You are welcome, glad this was useful for you too.
Regarding the CPU/motherboard:
- I’m more inclined to pick the 13600KF CPU, since based on my needs/intended use it has a better performance/price ratio than the 13700KF;
- An alternative to the Asus Prime Z790-P that I’m considering is the MSI PRO Z790-P. Both boards are in the same price range and have similar features. The main difference in terms of hardware is that the MSI board has an Intel LAN chip, while the Asus board has one from Realtek. My current build is based on a MSI motherboard and I have nothing to complain about it, so I’d be happy to pick the MSI board if the one from Asus turns out to be unavailable.
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Hey TechTango,
I did have a not-so-good experience with an AIO liquid cooler several years back when the tubing began to show signs of deterioration and I replaced the whole thing (with an air cooler) in order to prevent leakage and the obvious consequences in case the tubes deteriorated further. It left me with a bad taste because of course that happened shortly after expiry of the warranty.
Guess we could say the above is the main reason why I would like to stick with an air cooler, i.e. they seem to be more durable than AIO liquid coolers. Still, my above experience could simply be a case of bad luck or maybe quality back then was not the best and new AIO liquid coolers are instead more durable and better manufactured nowadays.
Since the CPU I plan to install in my next desktop generates quite some heat, this might be my chance to try one of the newer AIO liquid coolers (assuming I can find one which is not overflowing with RGB/leds). Otherwise, it seems that the alternative would be to pick one of those extremely bulky air coolers from e.g. Noctua or be quiet!, but that means budgeting a case large enough to fit those coolers.
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Ok, posting some additional info I managed to find/obtained while researching on this topic in case anyone else might find it useful.
Apparently, one can use the LGA1200 holes on the Asus Prime Z790-P board to install a LGA1700-compatible cooler, but it is not really recommended because the pressure on the CPU’s integrated heat spreader (IHS) has ideal ranges and changing the screw hole location (i.e. using LGA1200 holes instead of the LGA1700 holes) will change the pressure application with possible negative effects on cooling performance.
Also, I found out that the ColerMaster Master Air MA612 Stealth is rated for a TDP of 150W, but the 13600KF CPU has a maximum TDP of 181W and the 13700KF of 253W, meaning that the MA612 would not be enough to properly cool either of the above CPUs. In other words, a bigger air cooler (or a liquid cooler) are needed to keep these CPUs “fresh and sound”.
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
-
Used MiniTool Partition Wizard the one time I needed to mess around with the partitions on my disk and it worked perfectly for me. Also used it for migrating the OS from a mechanical disk to an SSD and that went without an issue as well.
I have mixed feelings about MS providing their own drive partition tool. It would certainly be handy to have such a tool added as an integral feature of Windows. However, third party tools like MiniTool seem to work just fine and I would not be too surprised if what MS could come up with turns out to be limited in the type of actions it can perform or, even worse, buggy (considering the quality of updates, I have some reservations about new features as well…).
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
-
-
-
I never set the Windows 10 deferral days exactly because it
(1) prevents WUMgr, wushowhide or other tools to “see” what updates are available and hide them
and
(2) as soon as the deferral period expires (or you hit “resume updates”) Windows 10 promptly downloads and installs all available updates.Setting up my connection as metered no longer seems to be as efficient as it used to be in the past, at least on Windows 10 Home: some updates (notably KB4023057 and also monthly CUs) are downloaded even when setting connection as metered and then I get a constant reminder to install them.
I actually found WUMgr to be my preferred method to take control of the updating process: I have disabled automatic updates through WUMgr while leaving my connection as unmetered and I set no deferral days. With this setup I don’t receive any automatic updates for Windows 10 nor driver updates and I can check for and install patches at my leisure through WUMgr. At the same time, Defender updates still install automatically (which is prevented on a metered connection).
2 users thanked author for this post.
-
Author
