The 9950X3D2 is out! It’s a dual 3d Vcache-chip.. if you have to ask do you need dual 3d v cache? the answer is almost certainly that you DO NOT.
However. This is Level1Techs. This is where all the weirdo-specialty-usecase-randos come to gather, it seems. And the 9950X3D2 is the very best AM5 CPU attainable currently.
So who better than Falcon Northwest to provide us with what the very best looks like in a pre-built high end computer as part of our 9950X3D2 testing?
The Fragbox!
… But that’s not all. We’re upgrading our a long-running experiment with FIVE 9950X3D2 CPUs for longevity, motherboard weirdness and other quirks using ASRock and ASUS motherboards (we’ve already uncovered one weird quirk! ECC DDR memory is locked to 5200?!?! what the heck?!?!?! hoping that’s a bug that gets fixed…………)
SO we’re giving away The Falcon Northwest review machine once we’re done with it (eta for shipping 2nd week of June, probably) – and we’re giving it away to a community member who has had an account here on the forum before 2026-04-24.
that falcon system looks so beautiful and portable I’m still a few parts away from having this two year old project finally gaming. Still not going to be nearly as portable as that fabulous piece of art
The L1 detailing looks really good, as for what I would use the PC for, I recently got into FOSS development of Linux applications to fill gaps in the eco-system like a proper, ultra light weight macro software for peripherals such as Logitech Mice, Steel Series keyboards, etc., having more cores would might help with those Rust compile times, plus I am on Nvidia currently, and I am fighting those deamons quite a lot when it comes to gaming.
entry level gaming pc in the background, framework 13 in the foreground. Also playing through Pokemon White again because why not. Monitor is being used for workies at the moment so I kept them out of frame
When I built this I was planning on doing a small form factor build, but the combo deal at Microcenter for the 7800x3d Motherboard and ram was too good to pass up.
Got a cheap hand me down RTX 4060 from a buddy.
Love it! I am really thinking about moving from windows to Linux but not quite ready for the change yet.
Decade old i7 8700k with 2080 behind the 2nd monitorwmonitor. Love level 1, swapped to Fedora Kde last weekend. Keep talking, keep knowledge sharing, keep it real.
very cool! I’ve moved away from gaming and more into homelabing and learning since building this beast and while the 9600x is a great budget chip, I would do lots of fun experiments on the 9950x3d2 dual edition (lol). good luck all!
I was planning an upgrade, my machine is an i5 12500 + GTX1650, I was saving up to to buy a new better one, then I’ll turn this one into my homelab machine. But alas, the AI price has wrecked me plus with all of other non tech price also going mad, can’t really afford it anymore. So I was thinking on waiting a couple of years until I actually start doing some home lab stuff.
If I do actually got that beast of a machine, I’ll probably play expedition 33 on it, as my current one just can’t really handle it. With everyone praising that game, I’m kinda sad that I can’t run it properly. And maybe learn doing composing music, as some software just run dog slow on my current machine, makes me put it off too. Well, good luck guys.
Planning to go to my “first” LAN this side of the 00’s this autumn - I’m not sure I want the workout right now with this behemoth.. (13th gen intel in a partially “healthty state” paired with 6900XT running CachyOS ) - save my back level1techs, you’re my only hope!
The backup-rig would be this - still a workout ..
(Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz (Finally upgraded after over 20 years my 2.8Ghz!) 1gb RAM, SSD (it has SATA!) Nvidia FX5700LE 256mb, running Alpine Linux (because, you know, 32bit and instructions…)
My SFF is a little tinier than the Falcon North one, but I have yet to figure out how to deal with the dust with the side panels so close. With 3 cats, theres is bound to be stuff clinging to the sides. But the small case is to tiny to sleep on, so at least I do not have problems with overheating.
The Fragbox would fit in as my gaming PC so I could install Linux on the other one to be my daily usage PC with the fragbox being exclusively for gaming. Part of me would want to toss my 10gig SFP+ NIC in it but honestly my internet isn’t even a gig so there really isn’t any reason to do so. I would need to find a way to get some cash together for a KVM though
I’ve been looking at Falcon for a long time. I do remember fondly Computer Shopper magazine. Costs are very prohibitive here in Ecuador, you pay around 50% above the already astronomical prices due to the AI craze. Running for a number of years a 5900x AMD 12 core
