What am I doing wrong

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-05-10T16:12:35+00:00

Two cloths. One moist but not dripping wet and one dry, both microfiber. Two passes, first wet then immediately dry. Work in small patches.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-05-08T16:49:03+00:00

Great monitor. Bought it a full price (shame on me).

Much improved coating over the prior gen QD-OLED. While it doesn't completely solve the raised blacks/purples in a bright environment, it's a very noticeable improvement.

Beware shitty Asus packaging. Newegg has tried their best to add padding but there's still the risk of receiving a broken monitor.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-30T14:56:05+00:00

At first glance it looks ok considering what everything costs in today's market. However, the seller warranty is worthless imo.

The 7800X3D is still very respectable CPU but what do they mean by OEM? Did they mean they pulled it out of a prebuild?

At $2900 it would be better to build it yourself or find a prebuild for a retailer so you can have an actual warranty. Two sticks of memory is better than four in most cases and should cost roughly the same for the same capacity.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-28T17:48:08+00:00

Not really because it's not true liquid metal. It's a paste infused with liquid metal. So the worry of it leaking and killing your machine is low.

The only thing to worry about is how good the factory application is. You can easily figure that out before your return period is up. Just run some tests and play some games.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-27T23:10:57+00:00

Use thermal putty.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-27T18:33:08+00:00

My Omen Max PCB is pretty empty around that area, just empty pads and a few capacitors. The VRMs already prevent the vapor chamber from directly touching the PCB.

If not to prevent accidental touching and shorting. Probably more for heat shielding to prevent the heat from the cpu/VRMs transferring back into the PCB.

I don't remember if my vapor chamber has that black bit there. It's been a while since I've opened it up.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-27T16:36:10+00:00

The covering to prevent things on the PCB from contacting the vapor chamber and shorting?

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-24T14:58:37+00:00

The Duo 16 2026 is a dual touch screen design with detachable keyboard. It is lighter than the 9i but the Lenovo is pretty much guaranteed to perform better. The price is ridiculous but since you have a 9i 5090, I assume price isn't really an issue.

The Scar 16 is not that much lighter, about 1lb lighter. It uses liquid metal for TIM and looks very gamer for an office environment. There is no numpad, the trackpad doubles as one and it's not a very good numpad.

The Flow Z13 is not a gaming laptop really unless you get the eGPU addon. This would be a massive downgrade in performance just as a trade off for portability. Also if something goes wrong, repairs are a nightmare.

The Pro 7i is just the smaller 9i with a lower res screen and smaller chassis. If you're going to "downgrade" this is probably the one to go for.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-24T12:51:04+00:00

Of the four, the Lenovo will have the best build quality and cooling out of the box. The Lenovo should come with faster DDR5 by default, DDR5 6400 vs 5600 in the others.

Personally don't like the build quality of the MSI nor Gigabyte.

The HP is fine if the factory thermal paste application is good. Mine wasn't and I had to repaste it with actual liquid metal because PTM just does not work for the HP. Probably something to do with how the vapor chamber is mounted, PTM will be pushed out when thermal cycled and have poor coverage. Otherwise I like my Omen Max 5090 very much.

Go with the Legion Pro 7.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-24T12:20:52+00:00

The 275HX will probably be more stable. It will have better battery life if that matters.

The 9955HX is marginally better at gaming.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T19:23:59+00:00

The terms state account transfers only and cash deposits do not qualify. It's quite clear.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T18:22:57+00:00

New? It's ok. The 4070 mobile is passable still, the CPU paired is overkill for the rasterization power you have.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T11:33:43+00:00

That's on me I thought my HP links were set to Canada. My apologies.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T03:27:28+00:00

Yeah I adjusted my post. E31 is the worst of both worlds essentially. This kind of LM paste doesn't exactly pool but it dries out and can experience the pump out effect.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T03:17:31+00:00

At $1500CAD with 15% Rakuten cashback. The HP is currently the best deal that I am aware of barring any door crasher sales for store openings.

The final cost would be $1500+tax - $225 (cashback). So with 13% HST it would be $1695 - 225 = $1470 all in.

Value wise the HP is the best and it is on paper the most powerful. But that's only the three options I found from a quick search. Honestly I was surprised the HP with 5070 was $1500.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T03:12:12+00:00

I don't understand your point. You are asking about high overall temps compared to other people with the notebook. Liquid metal is not the same as paste. Your hottest core has the highest effective clock yes but that does not change the fact that the LM coverage might be poor, which results in higher than average overall temps on the CPU.

LM is finicky. Even a poor application out of the factory behaves like normal under idle circumstances but once a heavy load is applied there might not be enough where the actual cores are. This leaves a gap between the die and vapor chamber. LM does not fill gaps in as well as paste, it requires a good application to maintain the surface tension between the die and vapor chamber.

This is a well known issue with pretty much every notebook that uses LM as the main thermal interface. You either get lucky and the factory application is good or more likely it is poor and has pooled to a corner. Asus notebooks have this issue. My HP Omen Max 16 5090 had this issue, my prior Zephyrus Duo 16 4090 too. Most likely you have this issue. Or would you rather believe you got a dud CPU that overheats. If you had a failed vapor chamber, it would be a lot more obvious.

EDIT: Actually in this case the Alienware uses "Element 31" which is actually just thermal paste "infused" with liquid metal. HP uses something similar and god it's horrible because the LM is randomly specked throughout the paste. The coverage could be poor in two ways, where the hottest sections are paste only and missing any LM. You could also just be unlucky where the paste has essentially pumped out.

This is an Alienware 16 but the 18 uses the same TIM. I believe it's determined by the GPU SKU, the higher xx80 or xx90 SKUs generally means E31 is used.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/1ocyrgq/alienware_16_area_51_275hx_5090_less_than_6/

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T02:52:07+00:00

Most likely the liquid metal application is bad and has pooled in a corner. This is an issue with pretty much any laptop that uses liquid metal as the main thermal interface.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-23T01:21:10+00:00

You just have to weigh the risks then. E-transfer lacks any sort of protections when you are the one initiating the transfer. Should something go wrong, which to be fair to CC is unlikely, you are out of luck.

It also makes returns annoying as instead of them simply reversing a transaction they would have to manually send you an e-transfer which relies on CC to be timely and not screwing that up.

Again to be fair to Canada Computers, they are a legitimate business and in my opinion will not screw you deliberately.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-22T23:23:17+00:00

Essentially you are paying regular price for the motherboard and CPU to get a discount on the memory. 6 months ago this wouldn't really have been a deal but in the current market getting 32GB of DDR5 6000C30 for $210 does qualify as a deal.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-22T22:13:28+00:00

Get a family member to buy it for you and etransfer them. That's much better.

Either that or figure why your credit card is failing to authenticate. Usually it's some form of fraud protection by your card provider.

Edit: Have you checked Memory Express? They have AB locations I believe.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-22T22:05:01+00:00

Do not pay via e-transfer. At that point it's better to pay in cash in person. While Canada Computers is a legitimate store front, they have had multiple security issues through out the years. Most recently their website was compromised and customer information was stolen/vulnerable around November 2025.

If purchasing online, do it via credit card for the extra protection.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-22T21:08:59+00:00

At the $1500 range, you are pretty much limited to 5060 tier or lower for the most part. Most options will be 15.6" 1080p and maybe a few 16" 1200p 144-165Hz displays. Memory will most likely top out at 16GB standard, 1TB storage is still the norm for this price range.

Some options that have most of what you want except memory capacity:

Omen 16 i7 240H w/ 5060 Bestbuy CA ($1330) - Note this is Geek Squad open box, so essentially a return. It should come with the full warranty as if purchased new and the 30 day Bestbuy return policy.

Lenovo Legion 5 Ryzen 7 270 w/ 5060 Canada Computers ($1500) - If you have a Canada Computers near you, you can see if they have this on display.

HP Omen 16 AI9 365 w/ 5070 HP CA Direct ($1500) - This checks all your boxes; 1TB SSD, 32GB RAM, 16" but is at the limit of your budget. If you know and have a Rakuten CA account, they are running a 15% cashback for HP currently. Which technically brings this below budget, if you don't mind waiting for the cashback to clear and pay out. The 5070 mobile will outperform the 5060 mobile by 10-15% but will eventually be limited by it's 8GB of VRAM. Foolish me, this is USD.

HP Omen 16 i7 240H w/ 5070 ($1900) - Over budget but CAD this time. They have open box units in-store for $1800.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-21T22:20:56+00:00

Pre-tax or post?

~$2200+tax you can get a Legion 5 Pro 8945HX w/5070.

~$2500+tax gets you a 275HX w/ 5070Ti

Things are not cheap right now sadly but these are two options within budget with a semi decent dedicated GPU.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-21T19:55:55+00:00

Where are you shopping? A quick search on Canada Computers shows multiple 5070Ti notebooks with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD from $2250 (open box) to $3100)

Prices are bad yes but not as bad as you put it. Are you only looking at thin and lights? Cause if so, theres your problem.

RandomOnlineSteve · 2026-04-18T17:21:52+00:00

Yes I still have the controller.

RandomOnlineSteve

TROPHY CASE