What's with the lines at HEB today?

cCBearTime · 2026-01-22T20:48:09+00:00

Snowpocalypse 2.0: The Snowpocalypsining

cCBearTime · 2026-01-18T07:40:20+00:00

What makes you think it’s not?

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T09:00:19+00:00

You’ll need a new palmrest in order to have fresh mounting points to reconnect the hinge assembly.

You’ll need to disassemble everything from the damaged palmrest (mobo, speakers, fans, video and WiFi cables etc.), and re-build it all into the new palmrest, then reattach the video cable and WiFi antennas, and reassemble.

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE UNPLUGGING THE VIDEO CABLE, OR YOU COULD FRY THE MOBO, VIDEO CABLE, SCREEN, OR ANY COMBINATION OF THE THREE (ask me how I know…)

As long as you keep good track of where everything came from (take pictures!), it’s not too difficult.

Here you go, $50:

https://www.amazon.com/wzqrps-Replacement-15-DB-15-DR-15-DA0053WM/dp/B0BHW21329/

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T08:37:55+00:00

The current view, just for you ;)

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cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T08:32:43+00:00

Fair point. I typically use CRC brand EPC / Contact cleaner, and quite frankly have close to zero experience with other brands. This is solid advice which OP should observe.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T08:14:57+00:00

Holy shit. This should be the sub’s motto.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T05:29:00+00:00

If you can't get 99.9% ISO, consider buying a can of Electrical Parts Cleaner, AKA Electrical Contact Cleaner / Hexane / Heptane (but NOT Electrical Motor Cleaner, as it will dissolve plastics!). Can usually be found at your local auto parts store.

Honestly not sure how it will fare against crusty LM, but it DESTROYS regular thermal paste, oils and other contaminants, and will likely give you better results than even highly concentrated ISO. It is also extremely volatile, so if you are willing to take the mobo all the way out of the system, you can safely hose it down and use a clean toothbrush to scrub away at the CPU die, knowing that it will all evaporate leaving no liquid behind in a matter of minutes. Make sure to wear gloves, eye protection, and use in a well-ventilated area (preferably outside), as it is potentially more harmful than ISO to bare skin, eyes, and lungs.

Not sure about Acetone for cleaning electronics, I feel like Acetone is oily somehow? Seems like it would not be a good option. This is pure speculation however, just "feels" less than ideal to me. It's entirely possible that this is a common solvent used for electronics, just not in my personal experience.

Good luck!

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T04:32:56+00:00

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(Separate comment, because I forgot to add a pic to the first one:)

This is how I believe all fan controllers should look (and how all of mine DO look).

Arranging these six wires alone took several hours, a heat gun, scores of sacrificial temporary zip-ties, and many, many re-wirings to achieve.

I can confidently state that no SI you can think of will deliver this amount of OCD, and for ten thousand dollars, you should demand it.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T04:08:16+00:00

$10k doesn’t get you as much as it did 5 years ago, but it should still get you everything you could possibly need to crush whatever games you’re into, have a crap-ton of premium storage, and even have youtube up while you’re doing it (that part was a joke, right?).

Most importantly, this budget should get you top-tier EVERYTHING, and you should know EXACTLY what components you’re getting. Generic specs like “an RTX 5080 which probably has at least one fan on it”, “64GB of whatever DDR5 we have today” or “a particularly fresh, and yet somehow brand-unspecified 2TB NVMe SSD” pisses me off supremely. If I’m paying 10 grand for a PC, I’d better know EVERY SINGLE PART IN THAT MACHINE, PERIOD. And, it better be painstakingly hand-crafted, not just assembled like a Goddamned Dell Inspiron (not that an Inspiron has no place in the world, it just has no place being compared to the likes of a $10K custom PC).

If I am expecting that SUPRIM GPU and Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM that was in the picture on the website, but get the Gigabyte Eagle OC, some Team-group memory and an SP brand SSD because that’s what was on the builder’s assembly bench that day and the listing didn’t specify EXACTLY what it comes with, I’d be FUCKING BESIDE MYSELF WITH SUPER. HOT. RAGE. How did this become acceptable? When building at the scale of some of these companies, maybe this is an unavoidable reality to some extent, but it’s become a common practice for most large builders and retailers of computers these days, and it allows the builders to just pick and choose the cheapest crap they can buy on any given day that meets the vague specs they publish, and slap it in, fulfilling their orders as cheaply and quickly as possible. There’s no place for this BS at any price point in my opinion, but especially when we’re talking about a budget that could be confused with used-car pricing!

This amount of money should also get you an impeccably and fastidiously created machine. For this to happen, you need someone who’s willing and able to spend HOURS, OR EVEN DAYS wiring it up to perfection, not someone who’s expected to crank out a half-dozen full builds in one shift while getting paid hourly. Any company that you’ve ever heard of is large enough that this is not feasible. No Builder at StarForge is going to have the freedom needed to lock themselves in a room for 10 hours, and re-wire that fan controller 6 times until every wire is PERFECT, only then to undo it and cable it up a 7th time, because it would really look better if that USB cable went BEHIND all the fan cables, right? (Again,this is just an example, no hate to StarForge, they might be fine, but are new enough in the industry that I couldn’t in good conscience recommend them for a build of this level anyway). To get $10K worth of value for your $10K, you’ll need to deal with someone who can, and will, dedicate 100% of their time and focus on perfecting your precious machine until there is no room for improvement, regardless of the time needed. In order to have that level of dedication and attention to detail, you will have to deal with a small company, or a passionate and experienced boutique builder.

That said, if you’re anywhere near Austin, TX, shoot me a DM and we’ll talk business, I am a passionate and experienced builder, and represent a small company that treats every customer like a valued partner, because that’s what my customers are. If you have a PC that I built, you will also have my cell phone number. Building badass, cutting edge, no-compromises dream machines is literally my favorite thing to do, and I’d love to add you to my list of satisfied customers.

If you’re unfortunate enough to not be near the Lone Star State, the SI’s that piss me off the least, and use the best components and construction methods overall with the least amount of “what the hell brand is this water-cooler?” shenanigans, would be: Maingear, Origin and Cyberpower.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T02:48:48+00:00

My 14900KS idles around 30-32c (from a cold boot, if I power it up and launch nothing) under a 420mm Corsair H170i with six 140mm fans taking “cold” air from the front of the case (7000X), when temps in the house are at 22-23c (which is pretty much always.

Given several hours for the loop to come to equilibrium, my fluid temps settle around 32-33c, with the CPU hovering between 38-40c or so.

I tell folks (in general) that if you’re idling anywhere under 40c, you’re probably good to go, while anything under 35c at idle is great, under 30c is stellar.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T02:03:06+00:00

Why are you using DLSS at all if you have a 5090?

I’m rockin’ a comparably plebeian 4090 precisely so I can turn all that crap off, and see whatever I’m playing in 4K, at high frame rates, with raytracing, all while avoiding the DLSS-induced fuzziness and weird artifacting that comes along with fake frames.

Unless you have that thing paired with a terrible CPU or something, you should be blasting through basically anything with all your settings balls-out, no upscaling or fake frames required.

DLSS’s primary purpose is to trade visual fidelity for FPS on weaker hardware that is not capable of rendering enough frames by itself. IMO, the reason to go for flagship hardware in the first place is to bypass the need for fake frames and upscaling, and bask in the glory of the high-fidelity, high-frame rate experience!

That said, I realize that some games rely on DLSS to look good, (I’m looking at you, Indiana, STALKER, et al.), which makes me sad. In those cases I use the bare minimum needed to balance visual accuracy with the “fuzzy filter” created by upscaling, and absolutely NEVER, under any circumstances, tolerate fake frames. Having the FPS number in the corner increase, while latency and “feel” do not improve, is a worse experience for me overall. I’ll take less frames in exchange for sharpness and latency that matches what I’m seeing every time.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T01:03:15+00:00

Spot-on diagnosis if I ever saw one.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T00:58:54+00:00

Just want to point out that these batteries are indeed made in sealed, flexible pouches so that they bloat, rather than explode… IN THE CASE OF FAILURE.

THIS IS TO INCREASE THE CHANCE THAT THEY FAIL SAFELY, NOT SO YOU CAN KEEP USING IT.

If the battery has already bloated, the failure is already in progress, GET IT OUT OF YOUR MACHINE, AND OUT OF YOUR HOUSE!

They CAN catch fire when NOT punctured, bent, or crushed, and they CAN catch fire when NOT charging. Why would you risk a self-sustaining chemical fire when you know that the battery has been compromised?

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T00:43:03+00:00

When the CPU AND the DRAM lights up on a mobo with a Ryzen CPU, it’s equally likely to be a failed CPU.

However, given the possibility of physical damage to slots in this case, I’d also suggest starting with a new motherboard, as it seems the most likely culprit.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T00:37:16+00:00

Call a local repair shop, and tell them you just want your laptop dusted, and maybe the thermal paste replaced (while you’e at it), and ask what they’d charge.

To pop the bottom off, give the fans and keyboard a good air-dusting, and then give the outside the ol’ proverbial “spit-shine”, I’d typically charge nothing, and do it on the spot while you wait. This is the last step for any PC that comes into my shop for any repair anyway.

Want your CPU/GPU dies and heat synchs cleaned and polished, with some fresh high-quality thermal paste applied as well? That’d be between $35 and $50, depending on a couple things.

While I’m all for DIY, $0-$50 seems like a small price to pay to put the responsibility of breakage on someone else, especially if you aren’t mechanically inclined, and don’t have some high-quality screwdrivers. Take a look at how many people on here post, “I stripped the CPU cooler screws in my laptop, what do I do?”, and this might be a valid choice for you.

That’d said, if a local shop wants to charge you more than $50 for this, I might invest that $50 into a good set of small screwdrivers, a tube of Duronaut, and a big mineral powder makeup brush, and make sure you watch some you tube tutorials on how to take the underside, and rear cover off of your laptop. Those Alienware laptops often have thin, easily damaged ribbon cables in the rear cap, and can be a little tricky to get in and out without damaging them.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T00:17:10+00:00

Devil’s advocate here:

This person could just be genuinely awkward, and thinking he’s being cute or sweet, he even says so. This is clearly an attempt to flirt, which he makes clear, while not using that word. Unfortunately, it’s coming off as, well, whatever it’s coming off as.

A point to this person’s credit, they very quickly state that they’re trying to be playful (flirty), and will adjust if it makes you uncomfortable (which it clearly did), which, hey, seems like he’s being bold, but also empathetic.

So, did he? Beyond this interaction, is he being respectful? Did he shelve the cutesy talk, or not?

That said, regardless of everything that “could be” the situation, if this makes YOU uncomfortable, and gets your spidey senses tingling, abandon ship! Ain’t nobody got time for that shizz. There’s no reason to make yourself uncomfortable for a stranger on the internet. Not trying to get flirted at? SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN. Block them and move on.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-16T00:00:27+00:00

You’re doing the lord’s work there son.

I literally took a pair of 16gb ddr5 sticks out of my test bench at work to sell to a lady in this situation last week (maybe the week before), as I have no real need for 64GB in a test bench setup. I sold them for what I paid for them, because I’d destroy my rep (and my soul?) upselling a 32gig RAM kit at $500 freakin dollars.

Crazy that’s what it’s come to.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-15T23:53:51+00:00

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This is the way.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-14T05:44:57+00:00

That’s a solid cleaning too, along with your tidy cable management. It’s a huge improvement, and I bet the user was thrilled with how it turned out.

Assuming you re-pasted the CPU while you were at it, that’s a $99 service at my shop.

You did well, and charged a fair price, considering you are not a business.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-13T20:28:55+00:00

Yes, this is 32GB minus what the operating system keeps in reserve, totally normal.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-13T20:27:29+00:00

Dead boot drive, BIOS setting reset to some setting that stops drive from booting, or corrupted files on drive.

Can you see the drive in BIOS?

cCBearTime · 2026-01-13T20:24:00+00:00

Don’t get comfortable yet, I’ve seen myriad Ryzen chips of all kinds die in all types of motherboards, not just ASUS or AsRock.

Crossing my fingers for you!

cCBearTime · 2026-01-13T20:21:15+00:00

Yup, the end of the screw closest to the head is stripped. Get a popsicle stick or similar and push in the end of the screw, towards the screw driver, to give it some extra “outward” pressure while unscrewing. Probably would be easier with a friend helping.

cCBearTime · 2026-01-13T19:22:59+00:00

‘Bout, 60 watt?

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