Dear diary, with each passing day without innovation from NVIDIA's board
partners, I cry a little. No, I cry a
lot. [snorts] Remember the good times we had together when they were the first
company to add asymmetrical cooling to the MX440 or [snorts] put heat pipes on
the GeForce 4 Ti 4600E? Remember when they let you update your
BIOS without a CPU installed? I just miss them so much. Why? Why did you have
to leave us? I don't care if some of your innovations never took off, like
the red colored GPU that was $50 more
because it was red. I [snorts] just want you back.
Ah, box of graphics cards. Oh, EVGA, how
did you know I would build this computer with all the super cool stuff you don't
make anymore? And how did you know I would tell the people about our sponsor,
UG, Green? Their new 13-in-1 Revo Do Max
213 has more ports than seconds in this ad. And with an upgraded cooling system,
it'll stay as cool as you with all your stuff plugged in. Check it out at the
link below. Using parts from this box and some other ones that we tracked down
with some help from EVGA, we are going to be building the most EVGA PC ever.
I'm talking GPU, sure, of course, but
also motherboard, power supply, RAM. EPG
made RAM. Yes. Yes, they did. And as we
put together our system, we'll also be taking a little trip down memory lane,
looking through our care packages at some of the ideas that EVGA brought to
life over the years, the good and [music]
also the bad. Let's start with what's in this box. And look at that. I've got a
special guest, the only other person who works here who's old enough to remember all this stuff. Maybe too old.
[laughter] Now, before we get started, tell me this. As a certified ASUS shill, are you
allowed to wear EVGA shirts? Absolutely. All right, let's do it.
I've been released of my ASUS contract. There, that's better. Now, look,
they didn't have everything in the archives to send us. I would have loved
to get my hands on the 275 co-op, for
example. The very first GPU Fizzx
Accelerator combo card. Yes. And the very last one also
very last one that was not a very successful concept but we do still have
some really neat stuff. Now not everything that EVGA you know innovated
was their own innovation. This for example is a 7950 GX2. This [music] is
two GPUs each on their own independent cards with an SLI bridge in between
them. But the innovation was that they were crazy enough to partner with NVIDIA
to do it. I believe it was them and ASUS. [music]
Oh, that's right. But not even As ASUS was crazy enough [music] to build one of
these. No, their own dual GPU. This is the 460
to win. [music] To win. Get it? Two. Twin.
Oh, twin. No, it's two win. Okay. The cool thing about this is back
then two mid-range cards in SLI could be
quite performance competitive with a single higherend one and at a price that
you know was like a 480. Yeah. Or, you know, sometimes even less
if you could get them on a deal. The issue is that as soon as you put the
engineering into building a combo card
Yeah. [laughter] out the window. Yeah. It all went out the window. This thing was about $700.
It's kind of no wonder NVIDIA doesn't let the partners build stuff like that
anymore. But still, it was a lot of fun. Yeah. You talk to anyone from the board
partners, and that's all they'll talk about is how much more fun it was to
build cards back in the day. Uh, how about this one right here? [music]
This would have been something that would have been pretty tough to compete with,
right? 980 Ti Kingpin. Do you remember what was
special about this guy? I just know Vince put a lot of work into
it. Honestly, that's a great summary. Vince Lucido or Kingpin worked with EVGA on
this card to dramatically increase the available power to it from 250 watt
stock to 450 W. That involved adding
additional power connectors to it, a full back plate, and of course this all
copper drop dead sexy cooling design. Do
you want to pick the next card? Ah, I actually bought one of these.
Of course you did. This 9800 GX2. They had three different
versions. overclocked. Super overclocked.
The SSC. I tease it. I tease EVGA. Yeah. Wait,
that is just super super overclocked. Yeah, I know. And then they had the the
KO. There was a 25 MHz difference on the
core clock and the memory clock as you went up the range. But the main reason I
chose EVGA, it was the uh design cuz I
actually wanted the PNY XLR8.
Yeah. Yeah. ASUS had the uh top card had
the highest memory overclock and it equaled on or or was right below on on
the core clock on that probably had like a cringy anime character did and it looked like the
anime character was in the middle of an autopsy.
That was really fun. But I think we all know that builds don't start with GPUs.
They start with a motherboard which conveniently EVGA also has. They've
actually been in the motherboard business for a long time starting in
2005. And I guess if you think about it, it was a pretty natural progression for
them because a lot of the same principles uh designing a board with a
good circuit layout and excellent power and cooling management go into both GPUs
and motherboards. Now, in the early days, EVGA did less of the engineering
on their own. One of their most famous boards was simply an NVIDIA reference
design for the 680i chipset that EVGA put their label on. But over time, EVGA
got pretty darn innovative, even launching Intel chipset motherboards in
2008 once NVIDIA left the market. There were a couple of noteworthy milestones
that EVGA hit first. In fact, they were the first to make an XLATX motherboard
that allowed four-way SLI with four dual
slot cards. And this boy right here, the
EVGA classified SR2 or Super Record 2,
was I don't know how to put this other than utterly unique. It allowed
overclocking on dual Intel Xeon processors and you guessed it, the
ability to install up to four graphics
cards in SLI simultaneously. It is both
taller and wider than any motherboard
standard that existed for consumers at the time. Now, because of that, we are
not going to be using it. There are no cases these days that will fit this
thing, but we do intend to do a video with this Retro Monster in the future.
So, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it. By the way, speaking of retro, our new retro colorway
screwdriver is a mustave for the discerning retro enthusiast. LTOre.com.
Instead, we've gone with something a little more modern. We've got a Z790
Dark Kingpin. This is an $800 board for
12th to 14th gen Intel processors with a 14 layer PCB, 21 phase VRM, support for
up to 64 gigs of DDR5 at 8,000 mega
transfers per second. And this is really cool. They've managed to build in
support for PCI Express Gen 5 by6 to
either of their 16x slots. That means
you can get full performance out of a PCIe Gen 5 GPU that's installed way down
here. That could be important if, say, for example, you're going for an
overclocking record and you need more room for the sub-zero cooling apparatus
you have up here. Can I just say how amazing it is, how well these guys know
their customers. How cool is this? It's a bare PCB with kind of a stripped down
block diagram. This is the neatest swag I think I've ever seen included with a
product. Almost as neat as the board itself.
[laughter] Oh, that reminds me. Here's an EVGA
motherboard innovation. They were the first to include right angle connectors
on their P67 FTW. Not everything they did was particularly innovative. About a
decade ago, they came out with a number of superclocked and super superc clocked
DDR3 and DDR4 memory kits. As far as I
can tell with these, the product development process went something like
this. But hey, they were speedy at the time and competitively priced.
Unfortunately, these are too outdated for us to use in this system. So, for
RAM and actually storage, now that I come to think about it, we've [music]
just gone with third party options. Thankfully, that won't be necessary for
our case. These are really hard to get
your hands on these days because as far as we can tell, anyone who owns them is
holding on to them for dear [music] life. EVGA's DG85 is part of the DG8
series that came out in 2016. It was very wellreceived, but check this out.
There's a lower compartment where you put your power supply. That's pretty [music] normal. But what's this? IO down
here, including HDMI for your VR
headset. That's super cool. And that's just the beginning. You've seen interior
cable management. What about exterior cable management? Why would they need
that, you ask? So the entire back of the case can have this clean look, all
hidden away by this awesome door.
Man, we got all kinds of stuff going on here. Easily removable dust filter,
triple [snorts] fans in the front. Hey, Plof. We said that SR2 board wouldn't
fit in this case, but I think it [music] would. Will it fit HPTX?
It kind of looks like it. We should build it in there then. Uh, yeah, later. Later. For now, we're
building a real computer anyone would actually want to use today.
Hello. Ooh. Hey. Hey. You know, it was a little on the pricey side at almost
$200, but for everything it's got going on, that feels like a deal. What are you
thinking for the closed loop cooler top mount? Yes. But why did I call it a closed loop
cooler instead of an all-in-one or AIO? Because that's what EVGA does. Meet the
CLC X. They've actually done a couple of
different closed loop coolers, but this is their most recent. It's available in
configurations with up to three 120 mm fans and compatible with all the latest
sockets. There's not a whole lot more for me to say about it. So, [music]
while we install it, why don't we do some EVGA history? Did you know that
EVGA originally stood for e-commerce video graphics array? They were founded
in 1999 by Andrew Han and Keith Roford
and they were [music] the first company to make driver installation seamless for
gamers with ADM or automatic [music] driver management. Does this thing have
three BIOS chips on it with a selector switch? That is wild. Next up is our
power supply. And this segment is as much about EVGA's past as it is about
their future. Did you know that the Supernova 850 and 750G2 units were the
first to offer an eco mode switch, which is [music] neat, but we're not using
those? Instead, we've got a big beefy
boy, the EVGA Supernova 1600T.
It is fully modular, 80 plus titanium
efficient, and cost about $500.
EVGA's entry into the power supply market was marked by consistent quality,
aggressive pricing, and their trademark strong post sales support. [music] From
talking to them today, power supplies are very much a part of their future
going forward, and we wish them the best of luck with that.
Naturally, we have gone with the king of EVGA GPUs, the RTX 3090 Ti for the Win
3. Did you guys know that aside from helping us get graphics cards into the
hands of gamers at MSRP during the great crypto winter, EVGA also had their own Q
system to try to deter scalpers, they also ran their step up program for
years, allowing anyone to simply trade in their card and pay the difference if
a newer model came out within 90 days of purchase just to give their customers a
little peace of mind. And back in the day, they used to offer lifetime
warranties on their GPUs, giving their customers the assurance that they would
never have a problem with an EVGA graphics card. Now, I want to solve the
mystery of the giant piece of acrylic with an EVGA logo on it. I don't get
this, man. There's no obvious place that it goes.
I'm sure EVGA is going to watch this and go, "Oh, my Wait, I found it. It's in
between what we both thought. It is inside the window but not at the back
just to kind of clean the place up a little.
Okay, that looks really sharp. Last piece here is the front panel, but we
are far from the end of our adventure because EVGA also makes peripherals.
We've got the whole works today. We got the Torx
Torque X10 deskpad. I've got the X20 mouse. And
Plof here is unboxing their Z20 keyboard. We also have their XR1 Pro
capture card. The mouse is a fun one. I guess we got this from EVGA and it
didn't quite make the cut for shipping to customers. At any rate, we've got
another first here. This is the world's first triple sensor mouse. So, it's got
a Pixart 3335 optical sensor, which is pretty normal, but it has dual liftoff
distance detection sensors, which is not normal, but I guess in theory allows you
to really fine-tune your liftoff distance. Yeah. You know, when you go and you put
it back down. Heck yeah. Now, I noticed something weird about this keyboard cuz I know
that years ago it did come with this button, but what happened to it?
Uh, I am not sure. Yeah, well, they don't have E3 anymore,
so Ah,
this is looking good. Now it's time for the Piesta Resistance EVGA's sound card.
I'm kidding. We actually would have, but we couldn't get our hands on one of those. I'm talking instead about the
Interview 1700 dual monitor system. My friends,
you could fit so many global patents in this bad boy. For real though, 14.
[music] Unfortunately, this product kind of sunk
their monitor line. It was innovative, sure, but they say that the downturn in
the market in 2008 and 2009 was just terrible timing for it to launch. I
think it had other problems like say for example that this is clearly a
businessforward product from a company that up until then had been almost
entirely focused on gamers. But to me,
it was more about the unnecessariness of it. I mean, why buy two 17inch TN
monitors when you can buy one one [music] dual 17inch TN monitor? There
was cool stuff, though. Had an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam which
could swivel, a built-in microphone, three USBA ports. I mean, if they had
launched this thing right in the start of the COVID pandemic, boom, they would
have nailed it. They got the wrong global crisis. [laughter]
Yet another problem is that it used a connector that you've probably never
heard of. DMS59 [music] or dual monitor solution 59
pins. I love engineer names. Count them. Count those pins. [laughter]
No. The monitors ran at 1440 by 900 each
or WXGA plus, which is not to be confused with WXGA, the other WXGA,
WSXG, or WSXGA plus. Don't you miss when
we named monitor resolutions like that? It was great. It makes full HD, UHD, QHD seem
downright sensible. Anyway, none of that
was the big feature. The big feature was
this. WA. WANT to show the client what you're
working on? It's pretty cool.
Compared to today, these monitors, [music] aside from being ti, are not
great with a 500 to1 contrast ratio.
Yes, that is hundreds. 220 nit peak brightness and 8 millisecond pixel
response times. But this thing would have been pretty sick for office use
back in the day except that affordable
larger panels were like kind of common place and 17 in was kind of bad.
Yeah, it's an all-in-one solution though so that I can what? Take it with me.
Yeah, look at that. It's great. Walk away. We got this. All we need is two display
port to DVI adapters. Oh wow, that is
[gasps] it powered on. We've spent so much time talking about
EVGA's awesome design. This interview logo, not their finest work. I don't
think this mouse works. Oh my god, this does not illuminate.
Okay, hold on. Let's get a mouse stock. More like dead stock.
Dead stock. Have you guys got the interview already? Yeah.
Okay, that's great cuz I brought a vampire.
Oh my god. Interview with the vampire.
Wow. That looks like garbage. [laughter] That's TN panel from 20 what? 2009.
One of the strats back in the day, you guys, was to put a glossy surface on the
screen to kind of try and uh boost the perceived contrast and clarity. It
didn't work. Okay. What games are we playing? Uh whatever you want. Halo Counter
Strike. Nice. It's You know what? It's not 60 Hz. Linus. It's better than 60 Hz.
Wow. That motion blur ghosting trail.
[laughter] It looks like I have mouse pointer trails on. It's pretty bad day. Check the check
display settings though. 66.350.
Hey, [screaming] this is it, guys.
Match is ready. This for better or for worse. This rig
is as EVGA as any rig can be. It's dead
quiet. Hey. Yeah. Should we get it closed up? It looks amazing.
Let's close it. Let's close it. It is a beautiful case. Okay. You going to peel one side? I was
gonna wait for the SR2 build. Yeah, we kind of have to do my side.
Let's wait for the SR2 build. Do do the inside. Do the inside, P. All right,
there. It's at least a little bit more clear. We're going to see it in all of
its glory next time. There we go. An EVGA gamer. Okay, here
we go. Oh my goodness. This is the worst thing ever. It's playable.
This monitor is I don't remember badness
like this. Technically, I'm terrorist.
Look, I can't tell on this monitor. Flaming [music] the peripherals.
Well, I mean, a little bit. Yeah, that's what a real gamer does.
Look, that's my blood on the wall. No, I'm going to win. You get a kill.
I I couldn't even see my crosshair, dude. [laughter] I couldn't even see it.
Wow. It's pretty bad. Oh. Oh. OH. COME
ON. I didn't hit him at all. No. No. I got this. I'm going to get a kill. [music]
All right. One kill. Oh, no. I had the bomb. Okay. Well,
yeah. Well, follow your team. Follow your team. Yeah. No, just toss it to your teammates. Just rush B. Rush B.
Rush B. Well, what? They're not rushing you. You said follow the damn team. What
is this? HOW DID THAT NOT [screaming] KILL HIM? YOU WERE AIMING ON HIS LEFT SHOULDER.
His right. Camera left. Camera left. I can see it from here. That was his head.
I mean, if it was his head, he'd be dead. [laughter]
Right. I brought up Floatplane cuz we were talking about how you could stream on here. Float playing. Great streaming
quality. Great for show. It's got a webcam right there.
Okay. You wouldn't use that. In fairness to me, this is pretty bad, huh?
It's pretty bad. Like remember when 40 milliseconds of input lag was a thing?
I know. This feels really rough. So floaty. It's pretty. Yeah, right.
I can tell you have no control right now.
Oh, it's so bad. You ran me at his shoulder. I was I was I can admit when I was
aiming at the wrong spot. This sucks. [laughter] It's so hard.
Okay, here. Colton, you want to turn? Whoa. What are we doing? You got to try to get one kill.
What do you mean I got to try to get one kill? Easy. What are you talking about? The challenge is over when you get one
kill. Oh, what is [laughter] happening? Hold on. No, you're dead. You're dead.
Okay. Yeah. He doesn't even know he's spectating.
The monitor's called the interview. Do you get the joke now? Why he's wearing a
cape? Yeah. The joke is that you should probably do some
I didn't even realize what I was gaming on. What? What is [laughter] this?
Why? Yeah, but what if I wanted to watch the game? Does it even flip? Oh, it does.
It did. That was really good. Okay, that's pretty cool. That was really good.
If you manage to put a bullet on target, you'll be ahead of me in blue.
No, [laughter] he did. That seems like a really high refresh
rate. Uh good uh gaming uh device.
66 hertz. 60 66.
I got one. Head shot. Whoa. No way. Yeah.
Boom. Head shot. Well, that's a tall order. It was
a nice shot, though. You could barely see his head. That was pretty good. Now that some time has passed, we've asked
EVGA, "Hey, why did you guys end your partnership with NVIDIA and stopped
making graphics cards in general? And after some PR talk, it basically boiled
down to the market being tilted toward the chip manufacturers and away from the
add-in board partners, meaning that their margins were razor thin and
[music] it just wasn't worth it anymore. It also seemed like they weren't happy
with chip manufacturer restrictions that limited their ability to innovate, which
as you guys saw earlier was a big part of what EVGA was about. Nor were they
happy with how expensive graphics cards, a [music] product meant for fun
primarily, were getting. They said that NVIDIA has strong technology and they
wish them all the best in their future endeavors, which apparently is all AI
all the time now. So, take that as you will for now. We sincerely wish EVGA the
best. [music] They didn't sponsor this video or anything. And if I'm being honest, I
don't know if they're going to be around to honor their legendary 10-year [music]
warranties. Their product lineup has shrunk and shrunk and shrunk down to it
seems like they're going to be quite focused on power supplies going forward. [music] But hey, we've still got a lot
of fond memories, and this was a lot of fun to do. You'll [music] find links to
some of their products in the video description below. Um, and you'll also
find the link to today's sponsor. Check out that Quad FX video that I did I
mention it earlier? I don't know if I ended up mentioning it. Whatever. It's a crazy video. Go watch it.