Hi! I’m Usman Saleem, with 8+ years of PC hardware expertise and a Google IT Support Specialization certificate, specializing in in-depth tech analysis and reviews. With a stethoscope in one hand and a gadget in the other, I’m both a doctor and a PC tech expert, dedicated to pursuing both my passions at the same time.
Position at Tech4Gamers
At Tech4Gamers, I’m the PC Hardware Specialist, primarily contributing to the “Best-Ofs” section. I provide thoughtful buying advice based on thorough testing and personal expertise. I also review hardware products and games to keep things fresh.
Tech Journey
From childhood, I’ve been immersed in gaming and PC hardware. Starting with a Pentium 2 PC, each named PC, from ZEUS to APOLLO, symbolizes a chapter in my journey. My true passion lies in the beating heart of the gaming industry – PC hardware.
The Ryzen 7 9700X is AMD's new mid-to-high ranger, only with $40 off the price tag and reduced power consumption numbers. With its 65W TDP, the CPU is also limited in clock speeds and could not perform up to the mark in most tests, including gaming. Single-core performance is incredible, though, and you get full AVX-512 support, but maximizing its performance will require you to remove its power limits through PBO.
The Ryzen 5 9600X emerges as the new mid-ranger from AMD's lineup, but not as the ideal one. It shows great single-core performance numbers and supports AVX-512 but is limited heavily by reduced power targets and clock speeds. This does mean that power and thermal efficiency are great, but gaming performance numbers have barely improved over the last gen, and AMD continues to trail Intel in multi-threaded performance.
I tested both the AMD Ryzen 9600X and the 9700X, and AMD has gone too far with the power limits - the CPUs barely outperform their own predecessors, which is very dissappointing.
The ASRock Steel Legend SL1000GW is a reliable power supply with good efficiency and enough power for high-end GPUs. It meets the latest ATX 3.1 standard and comes with a 10-year warranty, which shows ASRock’s trust in its durability. Performance-wise, it does well in efficiency, though its voltage regulation and ripple control are decent but not top-tier. Overall, if you want a solid, future-proof PSU from a well-known brand, this one is worth considering.
