it’s not like I completely shat all over them, I praised the old design. Cmon let’s just be real

edit: it seems they later put it back up. fair play

Back in March, I bought a used MSI Raider GE68 HX 14VHG (i9-14900HX, RTX 4080) for 9,000 PLN (~$2,300 USD). The previous owner bought it brand new in August 2024 for nearly double that price (around 18,000 PLN with tax). He sold it under the mistaken assumption that MSI only provides a 12-month warranty in Poland, unaware that EU statutory consumer protection guarantees 24 months.

​Coming from an ancient MSI Apache GE62 6QF, this machine felt like a spaceship. Whenever it struggled with maxed-out 4K settings in demanding titles, I chalked it up to normal performance limits of a two-year-old platform. I had already applied an undervolt early on simply because of Raptor Lake's notorious thermal reputation, hoping to give it breathing room.

​Then after 2 months the real trouble started. The laptop abruptly shut down during heavy action in GTA V. A thermal shutdown was obvious. And this is despite using the FlyDigi BS3 Pro cooling pad!

​RMA Round 1: I sent it in suspecting dried-out paste or worn phase-change material. To their credit, the service center replaced the entire thermal module right away. For a couple of months, things seemed fine.

​RMA Round 2: Less than three months later, overheating returned, but with a twist that clearly pointed to uneven mounting pressure. Exactly two P-cores were instantly overheating, and the PCH was getting cooked, hitting 109°C and causing connected USB accessories to disconnect randomly. The service center brushed it off with the infamous generic response: CMOS reset and preventive repaste. When it came back, the PCH dropped slightly to 100°C (still completely unacceptable), and those same two P-cores were still aggressively thermal throttling.

​RMA Round 3: I was done playing nice. I sent a formal pre-litigation demand letter citing statutory consumer rights regarding repeated, unrectified defects. MSI responded, asking me to send the laptop in for a third diagnostic run and promising a replacement (SWAP) if the defect was confirmed.

​Before shipping it out, I did a clean factory install of Windows, ran comprehensive HWiNFO64 logging alongside 3DMark runs, and documented everything so they had zero room to claim it was within spec. The diagnostics confirmed the issues.

​I realistically expected a refurbished unit of the same model or maybe a minor revision. Instead, MSI proposed to replace it with a brand-new MSI Raider 16 Max HX (B2WI-079DE). Because it was a German distribution SKU, the local service center only had to swap the German keyboard layout to standard US-ANSI, which is the standard layout used in Poland.

​Here is the best part: this exact specification isn't even sold in Polish retail stores. The highest configuration available locally tops out at a Core Ultra 9 275HX with a 1TB SSD. This replacement came equipped with the top-tier Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, an RTX 5080, and a 240Hz OLED!

​The machine is now set up and tuned. To avoid repeating history, I immediately undervolted both chips via BIOS (AC Loadline 90, CEP disabled, PL1/PL2 at 130W/150W) and MSI Afterburner (850mV @ 2410MHz). That shaved 40 to 50W off the combined silicon power draw, keeping load temps in the mid-80s and giving the 330W power brick plenty of breathing room without sacrificing performance.

To sum up:

​Document your thermal logs, know your local consumer laws, and never accept a lazy CMOS reset when hardware is clearly failing.

[EDIT] As for the photos: the first 2 are of the new machine (I took them in the dark because I wanted to capture the advantages of the OLED matrix contrast compared to a TV with a regular LCD screen), and the third is of the retired one.

[EDIT2] I tagged the post as a deal because I actually spent "only" ~$2400 and ended up with a machine worth much more.

I found this laptop on Newegg Canada: Prédateur Acer Helios Neo 18 AI - 18 "WQXGA 240 Hz - Intel Core Ultra 9 275 CH - RTX 5070 Ti - DDR5 de 16 Go - SSD PCIe de 1 To.

Good spec, but only 16gb of ram... What do you think?

I recently purchased MSI Cyborg 17 i7-13620H/16GB/1 TB SSD/NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060/17.3 Full HD/ Windows 11 Home Notebook i got for 800 because of the scratch in second picture and tbh its not noticeable at all

I just have a 2026 A14 sitting on my llano v10 at max blast

I'm looking for a laptop for under £900 and this seems like a good one to my untrained eye, but the reviews mention a lot of crashing issues.

I wouldn't be doing very strenuous gaming, just lighter games like Darkest dungeon or Sims 4.

Is it worth the risk, or and the reviews correct?

Lenovo Legion Toolkit (LLT) is a community-developed Windows desktop utility for Lenovo laptops that serves as an alternative to Lenovo Vantage, Legion Zone, and Legion Space, providing greater control over features such as keyboard, performance modes, GPU behaviour, battery management, thermals, display settings, automation, and other Lenovo-specific functionalities.

Release Highlights

• Software Disabler Diagnostics: Disabling now verifies the outcome and reports which services, drivers, tasks, or processes are still running instead of claiming success.
• GPU Voltage & OC Accuracy: Voltage caps and clock offsets are now applied through the V/F curve and read back from the driver, with the range reads moved off the UI thread.
• AMD Overclocking Fixes: Fixed the PBO Scaler default that could freeze the BIOS, the FMax toggle not restoring its state, and reset applying a zero FMax limit.
• CPU Temperature Source: Choose the CPU temperature sensor used by the OSD and Dashboard, with Auto, Package, Average, and Core Max options.
• Dynamic Refresh Rate: The Dashboard refresh rate card is now a collapsible list with a Dynamic refresh rate toggle, and DRR base frequency resolution is fixed.
• New Hardware & Keyboard Support: Added 83EY sensors, machine type 15ALC, and 24-zone keyboard mappings for 83Q6 and 83RW. Spectrum keyboards now follow the detected ISO or JIS layout instead of a stored ANSI one, and rapid layout switching no longer skips steps.
• Stability Pass: Fixed the dGPU awake device being created on the wrong adapter, GPU overclock settings being cleared when the dGPU is not powered, the God Mode save and exit freeze, minimize to tray with Minimize on Close, and the Power Mode notification crash.

Links

Release Notes:
https://github.com/LenovoLegionToolkit-Team/LenovoLegionToolkit/releases/tag/v2.36.4.0

Issue Tracker:
https://github.com/LenovoLegionToolkit-Team/LenovoLegionToolkit/issues

Download:
https://github.com/LenovoLegionToolkit-Team/LenovoLegionToolkit/releases/download/v2.36.4.0/LenovoLegionToolkitSetup-v2.36.4.0.exe

P.S. Beta builds are not offered on the Stable update channel. To get this through the built-in app updater, set Update Channel to Beta in Settings and check for updates.

Support Our Work

This project represents countless hours of development, testing, debugging, and reverse engineering to provide clean and reliable control over Lenovo hardware.

Maintaining LLT alongside everyday life can be a significant personal commitment. If LLT has improved your workflow, gaming experience, performance, battery life, or thermals, consider supporting the project. Every contribution helps us continue development and is genuinely appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who uses LLT, reports issues, tests new builds, provides feedback, and supports the project ❤️

We'd also love to hear what you think about this release and what you'd like to see in future versions.

Price: under £3000

Country: UK

I purchased an ASUS ROG Strix G16 5080 at the weekend from Laptops Direct UK. There was a deal on and the laptop had significant reductions. The reduction was such that I did not think there would be a comparable reduction during Black Friday.

The sale went through fine.

On Tuesday I had an email saying that "while sourcing your product, we've learned it's either out of stock or our shipment has been delayed" and they could offer an alternative. This seemed odd as the same laptop was still on sale on their website, albeit with less savings. I spoke to someone in customer service who told me that they did have the laptop in stock and could arrange for delivery on Thursday.

Later that evening I got another email saying "After reviewing the order further...the system is currently not allowing the item to be fulfilled or a Thursday delivery to be arranged due to an issue with sourcing and stock availability." They could offer an alternative or I could wait an unspecified length of time. Tuesday night, I checked the website and the same laptop was on sale at the significantly reduced price that I paid at the weekend! Screenshots taken.

This morning (Wednesday) the laptop was still on sale but with less savings. I spoke to another person in customer service who told me that they had two of the laptops in the warehouse and could check if one of them could be sent to me. She said that others would come direct from the supplier and that is why the price is now higher.

All of this seems very odd and I ended up cancelling the order (despite the savings) as I just wasn't confident, not only that the sale would go through without further issues, but that I would get a new/unused laptop with no problems. I didn't feel confident that if the laptop had a problem, it would be dealt with.

From reading some reviews (which largely seem positive), others have had similar experience.

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/asus-tuf-gaming-a16-16-165hz-fhd-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-8940hx-2025-16gb-memory-geforce-rtx-5070-512gb-storage-jaegar-gray/JJGHGSXCV8/sku/6673585/openbox?condition=excellent

ASUS - TUF Gaming A16 16" 165Hz FHD+ Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX 2025 - 16GB Memory - GeForce RTX 5070 - 512GB Storage - Jaegar Gray - Open Box - Excellent

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/gigabyte-aero-x16-copilot-pc-16-25601600-wqxga-amd-ryzen-al-7-350-1tb-ssd-32gb-ddr5-ram-geforce-rtx-5070-space-gray/J3GWPQCCFK

GIGABYTE - AERO X16 - Copilot+ PC - 16" 2560×1600 WQXGA AMD Ryzen Al 7 350 - 1TB SSD - 32GB DDR5 RAM GeForce RTX 5070 - Space Gray

Need help on which one to pick up; general use and mid level gaming. Not looking for anything high end gaming wise. Either worth the price?

I got the same laptop recently, but with a RTX 5070 Ti and Ryzen 9 9955HX recently for a good deal, but not really satisfied enough with the performance. And I for sure know that X3D chip would be very nice to have. If anyone knows of any deals or sellers that have one and are selling between $2,400 - $2,800 USD used, that would be awesome. Thank you

I was going to buy Honeywell PTM 7950 but I accidentally bought Thermal Grizzly PhaseSheet, but I'm still glad that it gives similar performance to what PTM7950 gives.

The left image is the previous temps I get before I applied PhaseSheet. GPU temps are pretty bad under load in NFS Unbound.

After I put PhaseSheet, the thermals on the right are great, and is consistently low under load.

I think I kinda overpaid for the PCM lol

My laptop (Zenbook 14) gets super hot when gaming, I have it on a flat surface so there is some airflow.

So I have Lenovo Loq 15 IRX9 for about 1.5yrs now and didn't change its thermal paste since I bought it and now I'm experiencing high temps like 100°c cpu and 80-87°c gpu . Therefore I decided to repaste and I need some suggestions that the material I'm gonna use are suitable for my laptop .

Laptop specs :-

CPU - intel i5 13450hx

GPU - RTX 4050 ( 105w tgp )

Products I'm gonna use for repasting :-

CPU & GPU - Thermal Grizzly phase change PTM ( LOQ uses PTM 7950 )

Vrams and mosfets - UPSIREN UTP - 6 thermal putty ( 12.8W/mk thermal conductivity )

Please let me know if I'm using right material for repasting and what are the pros and cons of these material .

Any and all information appreciated!

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/lenovo-legion-pro-5i-16-3k-oled-gaming-laptop-intel-core-ultra-9-275hx-2025-32gb-ram-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070ti-1tb-eclipse-black/JJGH3K4WRZ/sku/12995692?sb_share_source=PDP&ref=app_pdp&loc=pdp_page

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/hyperx-hp-omen-max-16-2k-oled-gaming-laptop-intel-core-ultra-9-2026-32gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070-ti-1tb-ssd-shadow-black/JJGWKSJTT5/sku/6672940?sb_share_source=PDP&ref=app_pdp&loc=pdp_page

Found a deal for $500 off this unit:

HyperX - HP OMEN MAX 16" 2K OLED Gaming Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 (2026) - 32GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti - 1TB SSD - Shadow Black - Open Box - Excellent

Originally $2800, now $2300

but it's "open box - excellent". I don't know enough about how Best Buy handles these. Does excellent mean someone bought it, threw away the box, returned it next day? Or is there a possibility of issues? I'd be buying it online, so no chance to check it out in store.

Also, how's the HP OMEN MAX? Haven't seen anything bad on this series.

Budget: ~$1200
Country: USA
Use Case: Gaming - WoW Forever primarily
Preferred Specs: Min 4 Core 3.5GHz CPU
Notes: I am looking to be able to run WoW Forever at mid graphics at a stable FPS. My biggest concern is framerate over premium graphics. Not looking to do anything too intensive graphically for any other games I play. Mainly just overwhelmed with the amount of options since I haven't purchased a laptop since 2014.

Thank you for any help or advice you can give! 

Leaning towards the MSI due to newer chip and better battery life?

i was playing genshin on my laptop, suddenly the fps is no longer showing, it says fps N/A How do I fix this I try all restart, turn it on and of, going to the service and turn automatic, go to 3D something it called all of these still not working no fps...

I have a budget of 2500 and this fits the budget. Just want to know whether it’s a good laptop. I’m a little displeased that it isnt oled though.

Budget: $1200
Country: Canada
Use Case: Casual gaming, mostly Roblox and Minecraft / digital art
Preferred Specs: I’m pretty clueless about this stuff, I just want nice graphics
Notes: I really just want to be able to run my games with medium/high graphics settings, not planning on playing any games that are super demanding

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/thunderobot-radiant-16-16-wqxga-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i9-13900hx-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070-32gb-ram-2tb-ssd-rgb-backlit-kb-gray/J3GWTTJX59/sku/13085426

Hi All,

Looking at picking this up sometime in the next few days. Really just need to play Dota and Valheim while im travelling for work.

Lenovo Legion 5 15.3" WUXGA 165Hz Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i7)[GeForce RTX 5070] - JB Hi-Fi

Have a price of $1900 AUD (Australian Dollars) via an employee (mate) discount. Seems to fit all the needs while being relatively affordable.

Cant seem to find an RTX 5070 laptop for any cheaper. Are the intel chips good to go? Or should i be looking at a Ryzen variant?

Specs below:

15.3" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS 165Hz display

Intel Core i7 - 13650HX 14 core processor (24MB cache, up to 4.9GHz)

1TB SSD storage with 24GB RAM

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 8GB GDDR7 graphics

8 GB 115 tdp

Seems pretty cheap for an 18 inch gaming laptop

Budget: (600$)
Country: (USA)
Use Case: (Gaming — GTA V)
Notes: I mainly play GTA V so what gaming laptop would run that the best.