diff --git a/tinygrad/codegen/devectorizer.py b/tinygrad/codegen/devectorizer.py
index 57d59aba5f..588310d2ea 100644
--- a/tinygrad/codegen/devectorizer.py
+++ b/tinygrad/codegen/devectorizer.py
@@ -284,9 +284,10 @@ def reduce_to_acc(ctx:ReduceContext, red:UOp):
   assert all(x.dtype == red.dtype for x in lst), f"horizontal reduction mismatch {lst[0].dtype} != {red.dtype}"
   # if we have a range
   if len(reduce_range) != 0:
-    acc = UOp(Ops.DEFINE_REG, red.dtype.ptr(size=1, addrspace=AddrSpace.REG),
-              (red.const_like(identity_element(red.arg, red.dtype.scalar())),) + tuple(reduce_range), (ctx.acc_num,)).index(UOp.const(dtypes.int, 0))
-    lst = [acc.load()] + lst  # put acc as the first element
+    input_ranges = tuple([x for x in inp.toposort(gate=lambda x: x.op is not Ops.STORE) if x.op is Ops.RANGE and x not in reduce_range])
+    identity = red.const_like(identity_element(red.arg, red.dtype.scalar()))
+    acc = UOp(Ops.DEFINE_REG, red.dtype.ptr(size=1, addrspace=AddrSpace.REG), (identity,), (ctx.acc_num,)).index(UOp.const(dtypes.int, 0))
+    lst = [acc.store(identity, UOp(Ops.NOOP, src=input_ranges)).load(*reduce_range)] + lst  # put acc as the first element
     ctx.acc_num += 1
   ret = functools.reduce(lambda x,y: x.alu(red.arg, y), lst)
   return acc.store(ret, *reduce_range).load() if len(reduce_range) != 0 else ret
diff --git a/tinygrad/renderer/cstyle.py b/tinygrad/renderer/cstyle.py
index 5027faeac5..7c6c860cb8 100644
--- a/tinygrad/renderer/cstyle.py
+++ b/tinygrad/renderer/cstyle.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ base_rewrite = PatternMatcher([
   (UPat(Ops.BITCAST, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: f"(*(({ctx.buffer_prefix}{ctx.render_dtype(x.dtype)}*)&{ctx[x.src[0]]}))"),
   (UPat(Ops.DEFINE_LOCAL, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: f"{ctx.smem_align}{ctx.smem_prefix}{ctx.render_dtype(x.dtype.base)} {ctx[x]}[{x.dtype.size}];"),
   (UPat(Ops.BARRIER), lambda ctx: ctx.barrier),
-  (UPat(Ops.NOOP, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: ctx[x.src[0]]),
+  (UPat(Ops.PRECAST, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: ctx[x.src[0]]),
   (UPat(Ops.SPECIAL, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: f"{ctx.code_for_workitem[x.arg[0][0]](x.arg[0][-1])}; /* {x.arg[1]} */"),
   # const
   (UPat(Ops.CONST, arg=math.inf, name="x"), lambda ctx, x: f"({ctx.render_cast(x.dtype, ctx.infinity)})"),
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ base_rewrite = PatternMatcher([
 ])
 
 extra_pm = PatternMatcher([
-  # insert a NOOP before BITCAST to force it to be rendered. not needed on all backends?
-  (UPat(Ops.BITCAST, name="x"),
-   lambda x: UOp(Ops.BITCAST, x.dtype, (UOp(Ops.NOOP, x.src[0].dtype, x.src),)) if x.src[0].op not in {Ops.NOOP, Ops.LOAD, Ops.CUSTOM} else None),
+  # insert a PRECAST before BITCAST to force it to be rendered. not needed on all backends?
+  (UPat(Ops.BITCAST, name="x"), lambda x: UOp(Ops.BITCAST, x.dtype, (UOp(Ops.PRECAST, x.src[0].dtype, x.src),))
+   if x.src[0].op not in {Ops.PRECAST, Ops.LOAD, Ops.CUSTOM} else None),
   # rewrite MAX to CMPLT + WHERE (max function is annoying on many cstyle backends)
   (UPat(Ops.MAX, name="m"), lambda m: (m.src[0] < m.src[1]).where(m.src[1], m.src[0])),
   # devectorize any bools
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ class CStyleLanguage(Renderer):
     c: defaultdict[str, int] = defaultdict(int)
     name = "test"
     for u in uops:
+      if u.op is Ops.NOOP: continue
       if u.op is Ops.SINK:
         if u.arg is not None: name = u.arg.function_name
         continue
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ class CStyleLanguage(Renderer):
       elif u.op is Ops.RANGE: r[u] = f"ridx{u.arg}"
       else:
         prefix = {Ops.WMMA: "wmma", Ops.DEFINE_LOCAL: "temp", Ops.CONST: "const",
-                  Ops.CAST: "cast", Ops.BITCAST: "cast", Ops.GEP: "gep", Ops.VECTORIZE: "cast", Ops.NOOP: "precast",
+                  Ops.CAST: "cast", Ops.BITCAST: "cast", Ops.GEP: "gep", Ops.VECTORIZE: "cast", Ops.PRECAST: "precast",
                   Ops.INDEX: "bidx", Ops.DEFINE_REG: "acc", Ops.LOAD: "val"}.get(u.op, "alu")
         r[u] = f"{prefix}{c[prefix]}"
 
diff --git a/tinygrad/renderer/llvmir.py b/tinygrad/renderer/llvmir.py
index 8e293052f9..5d98531e4a 100644
--- a/tinygrad/renderer/llvmir.py
+++ b/tinygrad/renderer/llvmir.py
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ class LLVMRenderer(Renderer):
 
     name = "test"
     for u in uops:
+      if u.op is Ops.NOOP: continue
       if u.op is Ops.SINK:
         if u.arg is not None: name = u.arg.function_name
         continue
diff --git a/tinygrad/renderer/ptx.py b/tinygrad/renderer/ptx.py
index 913035796c..b7873ea70e 100644
--- a/tinygrad/renderer/ptx.py
+++ b/tinygrad/renderer/ptx.py
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ class PTXRenderer(Renderer):
 
     name = "test"
     for u in uops:
+      if u.op is Ops.NOOP: continue
       if u.op is Ops.SINK:
         if u.arg is not None: name = u.arg.function_name
         continue
diff --git a/tinygrad/runtime/ops_python.py b/tinygrad/runtime/ops_python.py
index 6d9bab2c54..95bdff1375 100644
--- a/tinygrad/runtime/ops_python.py
+++ b/tinygrad/runtime/ops_python.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class PythonProgram:
       loop_ends: dict[int, int] = {}
       while i < len(self.uops):
         uop, dtype, idp, arg = self.uops[i]
-        void_ops = {Ops.ENDRANGE, Ops.BARRIER, Ops.IF, Ops.ENDIF, Ops.SINK}
+        void_ops = {Ops.ENDRANGE, Ops.BARRIER, Ops.IF, Ops.ENDIF, Ops.SINK, Ops.NOOP}
         if uop is Ops.DEFINE_REG: idp = [idp[0]]
         inp = [ul[v] for v in idp if self.uops[v][0] not in void_ops]
         dtp = [dl[v] for v in idp if self.uops[v][0] not in void_ops]
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class PythonProgram:
           loop_ends[idp[0]] = i
           i = idp[0]
           continue
-        if uop in (Ops.BARRIER, Ops.IF, Ops.ENDIF, Ops.SINK):
+        if uop in (Ops.BARRIER, Ops.IF, Ops.ENDIF, Ops.SINK, Ops.NOOP):
           # in the python emulator, the warp is always in sync
           i += 1
           continue
diff --git a/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py b/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
index 6cbae7cec0..786b525753 100644
--- a/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
+++ b/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ class FastEnum(IntEnum):
 # the order of these Ops controls the order of the toposort
 class Ops(FastEnum):
   # uops that aren't rendered
-  NOOP = auto(); SINK = auto(); UNIQUE = auto(); DEVICE = auto(); KERNEL = auto()  # noqa: E702
+  NOOP = auto(); SINK = auto(); UNIQUE = auto(); DEVICE = auto(); KERNEL = auto(); PRECAST = auto()  # noqa: E702
 
   # buffer ops
   COPY = auto(); BUFFER = auto(); BUFFER_VIEW = auto(); MSELECT = auto(); MSTACK = auto() # noqa: E702
diff --git a/tinygrad/uop/spec.py b/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
index 56d5d549c0..6207e2567e 100644
--- a/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
+++ b/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ spec = PatternMatcher([
   (UPat(Ops.INDEX, src=(UPat((Ops.DEFINE_GLOBAL, Ops.DEFINE_LOCAL, Ops.DEFINE_REG)), UPat(), UPat(dtype=dtypes.bool))), lambda: True),
 
   # LOAD on STORE
-  (UPat(Ops.LOAD, src=(UPat(Ops.STORE),)), lambda: True),
+  (UPat(Ops.LOAD, src=(UPat(Ops.STORE),), allow_any_len=True), lambda: True),
 
   # LOAD takes a <bufidx, alt?, barrier?>
   (UPat(Ops.LOAD, src=(index_pat, UPat(Ops.IF, name="cond")), allow_any_len=True), lambda idx,cond: validate_index(idx,cond.src[0])),
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ spec = PatternMatcher([
   # NOTE: for testing, we let sinks be anything
   #(UPat(Ops.SINK, src=UPat(Ops.STORE)), lambda: True),
   (UPat(Ops.SINK, dtypes.void), lambda: True),
-  (UPat((Ops.NOOP, Ops.CUSTOMI, Ops.CUSTOM)), lambda: True),
+  (UPat((Ops.NOOP, Ops.CUSTOMI, Ops.CUSTOM, Ops.PRECAST)), lambda: True),
 
   # PTX LOAD/STORE
   (UPat((Ops.LOAD, Ops.STORE), src=(UPat(dtype=dtypes.int64),), allow_any_len=True), lambda: True),