Mr. Fox

We'll talk about the people that told you that it fits right... How smart are they? Yeah you lost a little bit of money but I think it probably sucks more to be them. Did the delid tool bugger up your stock IHS like it did all of mine? It almost seems like Intel improved their soldering process because delidding helped my 12th Gen processors as much as it did all the prior generations.. Just put the stock IHS back on and be done with it.

Tiny, but measurable. https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/32438399/spy/32438674

The people that like SFF computers might appreciate this.

What makes it especially sad pathetic is that the CPU is only clocked at 4.7GHz.

My Strix Z690-E is supposed to be delivered today and I will use my spare 32GB of generic green M-die on that system with the 12900KS. I am debating whether to keep the 2080 Ti FTW3 or sell it. I don't need a third GPU. I shipped it for repair with the hybrid kit installed. Last night I decided to clean up the Vector block while waiting for the GPU to come back and when I got ready to take it apart I noticed a lot of hairline cracks in the plexi around the screws. It wasn't leaking and I doubt it would leak, but it looks like crap. I can't really sell it that way, and it doesn't make sense to buy another block for it. I'm thinking the smart thing would be to sell it and just keep the 3060 Ti. I've already done all the benching I would ever do with the 2080 Ti at this point, and the only reason to keep it would be sentimental, which is kind of silly. Maybe somebody would want to buy it as a complete package with the 12900K, RAM and D4 mobo.

mmmm... ok. If you say so. 😉 I suspect the people that designed it think so, too. If not, then they're pretty sadistic. Any consideration for aesthetic preferences aside, their products are exceedingly horrible in terms of build quality and proprietary limitations at a component level. Limited options, built to fail, and availability at their discretion. In every way a fake enthusiast product designed for fake enthusiasts. I think it looks absolutely hideous, but that much is subjective. The Alienware R13 is easily the worst pre-built gaming PC we've ever reviewed. Dell manages to downclock an i9 to equal an i7 performance instead, yet charges $5000 for the PC. - GamersNexus

Should be fine. As you may recall from his videos, he always tests every repair by maxing stress with Furmark, then runs Heaven, Valley and Superposition before he calls it good. But, I will post if there is any issue. Well, this is cool. Getting things in order for selling the Strix Z690-A D4 and 12900K and RAM kit, and I found a couple of settings to get the ram stable at DDR4-4400 16-18-18-36 1T. I had to give the IMC and the DIMMs about 0.025mV more juice. I could only get it to boot at 4000 with the 12900K before. Runs great now. @electrosoft

I did not look outside of Amazon for that liquid metal. Thanks for the link.

It will either take photos or video when I investigate it further so you can take yours apart and do it right. With it not fitting right, you might be bending the CPU the same as the stock ILM, or worse. Hopefully, it will work correctly with a tiny bit of sanding on the wing tips. I may have to do some measuring with my digital calipers because the Rockitcool IHS and stock IHS look exactly the same eyeballing them.

That is a different liquid metal though. Specs are different. On the Rockitcool IHS, one more thing... What I need to investigate further is whether the side wings are thicker z-height than stock. If they are, then it is not going to work under any circumstances with the CPU frame. At least I am not willing to risk damage finding out.

I just saw if for the first time about an hour ago. I tried to find just the liquid metal and could not find it by itself.

LOL... I was LITERALLY logging in here to warn you. The Rockitcool IHS does NOT fit the contact frame. The wings on the side are different dimensionally than the stock IHS. I took the bare die frame and bare Rockitcool IHS and put them together and it rocks back and forth on opposite corners. Looking at the underside, it appears that if you sanded down the tips of the wings about 0.25-0.05mm each it would fit the same as stock and be fine. I will probably check that out tomorrow after work or this weekend. I ordered another Thermalright frame on Amazon that should be here tomorrow as well. The good news is the top of the IHS does fit inside of the opening the same as stock. I initially thought something was wrong with the IHS. I checked it on glass to confirm it was perfectly flat on the CPU PCB side, then after that is when I dug deeper and saw the wings were overlapping the edges where the frame is cut out for them to rest. If my theory is correct it will be super easy to correct with a bit of light sanding and a few minutes of elbow grease. Just to be certain, I plan to relid the CPU and test the fit a final time after sanding the wings down, because it could damage the CPU or the socket if you cinched it down without things fitting correctly. If it doesn't fit right I will use the stock ILM or go back to the stock IHS. Edit: What I need to investigate further is whether the side wings are thicker z-height than stock. If they are, then it is not going to work under any circumstances with the CPU frame. At least I am not willing to risk damage finding out.

Well, the 2080 Ti is repaired and will be on its way back to me tomorrow. The gentleman from Northwest Repair (Tony) is a standup dude. The one Samsung chip that MATS testing identified as bad was the only thing wrong with it. He had a new one in stock to replace it. Price was very reasonable, and I gave him a little extra because it is worth it to me to reward him for his talent. He recorded the repair. I hope he uploads a video of it.

Doesn't hardinfo (system profiler and benchmark) provide the info?

The same people have surprised looks on their faces when the turdbook they bought, that is as cute as a bug on a rug, overheats, thermal throttles, has lackluster performance, is difficult to service, dies prematurely and costs a fortune to repair because they have to buy a mobo, CPU and GPU even though only one of them is dead.

You can get a refund on a shipping label purchased that is not used.

Yes, you are exactly right. Goofball wusses and panty-waisted crybabies whining and moaning about things being "too thick" and "too heavy" ruined everything for everyone in the normal and enthusiast camps. And, they've gotten progressively worse, not better. I am so glad that I do not need to rely on a laptop any more. I would be extremely dissatisfied and unhappy with what is available, even if I hadn't already washed my hands and moved back to desktops.

"the political machinery in Arizona is determined to make the state business friendly." This is one of the big reasons I find it puzzling that Micro Center (or any other business) would avoid Arizona. Everything about the state is geared toward making things easy for business to thrive. Texas is very similar. Thriving business is good for companies, employees and consumers. Property values keep going up, taxes stay lower than normal, so the return on the investment is also better and comes easier than most (not all, but close,) of the states where they operate. In most cases, the exact opposite of all the above is true. I could speculate why the owners of the company deliberately choose to operate in places that are hostile toward business vibrance, free enterprise and capitalism, but we won't go there.

As long as sheeple keep buying whatever garbage they put out there, the scurvy notebook OEM/ODM losers will never do things well or proper. And, why should they if the majority of the ignorant suckers buying it accept that like good little lambs? The industry is built around the idea of doing as little as possible, to whatever extent consumers will put up with it. There is no pride in product, just misleading marketing rhetoric. They haven't found the bottom yet and, unfortunately, the same scummy-bastard brain cancer is starting to corrupt the desktop space. They build for a pauper, price for a prince, and the peasants keep coming back for more.

Nope, never as far as I can tell. I have my Precision 17 for when my only option is to stoop to using a laptop. Otherwise, I am done with laptops forever. In my book they are all garbage now and there is no going back. I don't think anyone could produce one that I would be interested in owning.

Word! I used to help them and lecture them, and use it as a basis to say, "See, I told you so." But, I don't usually help them anymore unless they come to me with, "I wish I would have listened to you. Please help me fix it so I can get rid of it." More often than not, I just tell them that I hope they learned a lesson and what they are asking me to fix is an example of why I told them to buy something else. I tell them they will need to pay someone a stupid amount of money to fix their mess because don't have time or the desire to fix it for them.

I am an advocate and supporter of companies that make products (generally software) that block or defeat the ability to receive financial support from advertisements and data collection. I honestly don't care if they (Google, Facepoot, Twatter, Micro$lop, crApple, etc.) go broke and shutter their operations. Good riddance. Life would be better without their trashy misinformation, trashy products, trashy agenda and trashy people. Please God, let that happen... dust in the wind. It's all gonna burn, but hopefully sooner than later. I often help friends and relatives with problems that are a direct result of their idiocy or failure to follow instructions. In part out of love for them, in other part out of pity. The exception is when they expect it. There are usually strings attached to the assistance, meaning they need to pull their head out. Help is limited to those who are victims of their own ignorance. None is offered when the underlying behavior was deliberate. Too bad. So sad. Not your dad.

As long as I can deprive them of the ability to extract the funds they crave, while simultaneously eliminating the opportunity for me to be burdened or inconvenienced by their filth and exempting myself from being part of their process, I am fine with the lowest common denominators being tolerant of the stupidity. As they say, "Birds of a feather..." But, it is very true that we should not underestimate the power of stupid people that ban together to advance a stupid cause. It is scary how much power they have over people who are not stupid, but seriously outnumbered.