Yeah I'd say diminishing returns, but it's pretty much the rule once you get past a certain point in anything anyway lol.

As for temps, I've actually never seen my CPU go past 95c even at full stress test temps and with Turbo engaged, for some unknown reason even without the cooler.

Maybe it's just the types of games I play, not sure though, who knows.

Yeah I'd say diminishing returns, but it's pretty much the rule once you get past a certain point in anything anyway lol.

As for temps, I've actually never seen my CPU go past 95c even at full stress test temps and with Turbo engaged, for some unknown reason even without the cooler.

Maybe it's just the types of games I play, not sure though.

Prince J That cap switch offer sounds pretty nice TBH. But I'll probably reserve judgement until the brown switch demo unit is out and available for testing.

Finally lol.

Should put the two Mineral Brothers together to compare size TBH.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Oct 22 2018, 08:04 PM

True that. And hey in actual use the fans noise is not even that bad unless you're pushing the unit hard.

The massively audible KBB click of the blue switches however, is something worth thinking about (vs the more silent browns).

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Oct 24 2018, 12:52 PM

Does the sound lessen with Cap 2 vs Cap 1?

Also as jrlogger has mentioned before, does switching to Cap 2 lessen the "ghost typing" (registered inputs with a light touch) that sometimes happens with the original combo - or do I need the brown switches also for that?

TBH, the next quantifiable jump up is a 1070 (non-MaxQ), which don't often come in such thin form factor laptops (except maybe the bigger brother 17incher Onyx which name escapes me right now).

So yeah, the age old question, portability vs power.

And yes, I've had a MaxQ 1070 before. The jump up really isn't all worth the extra dough TBH. We're talking about 10-15FPS increase, at most. If you really are keen about futureproofing, it's really either the 1070 or the new RTXs.

Otherwise, the 1060 should do fine for High settings on most games well into 2019 methinks. Ultra no ler.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 2 2018, 05:07 PM

So that's just it. Either light or powerful. Or overly expensive but middlingly in the middle (MaxQ). Your call.

Actually, if you're willing to wait until say March-April next year the laptop class RTXs will supposedly come out around then. Getting a 2060 (or whatever it is Nvidia is gonna call their next laptop midranger) in an Onyx (or an Onyx-class laptop) will pretty much solve that conundrum for you TBH - as it should at least be 1070 class.

Of course the 2070 is gonna be more powerful by then but eyyy, they're STILL not gonna fit in thin 15-inchers for sure either.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 2 2018, 06:56 PM

I think this is "IPS Glow" (with a bit of bleed). The "glow" we can't do much about (it's an avoidable part of the IPS tech) but the bleed severity depends on your particular panel (and - to a lesser extent - how it's installed).

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 11 2018, 09:08 PM

The white "bar of light" coming from the center bottom frame (and a few smaller ones on the top edge) looks like bleed, while the larger orange-ish patches seems to look like IPS Glow to me.

And yeah, don't worry about glow. Depending on the angle you're shooting the photo you can actually make it even worse or go away completely, but it's not gonna mess up your screen in actual use.

Bad bleed however, can show up in actual use and can be pretty distracting in a dark setting. Fortunately, yours look pretty tame from my experience, I've seen far worse bleed for sure.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 12 2018, 12:58 AM

TBH, even if you go back for repairs, there's will always be a slight chance that whatever "fixes" they do is just gonna make the bleed worse (unfortunately), unless the bleed is bad enough to necessitate a full LCD panel replacement - and even THEN there is NO guarantee that the new panel is gonna be any better.

Plus, even harder to "repair" to begin with due to the thin bazels on the Onyx.

So if you can live with it, don't go back. If you can't, then you'll have to gamble a bit.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 12 2018, 09:37 AM

Finally found some time to go bug the Illegear folks again and test the new cap and switches. In the end, the allure of the new stealthy Brown switches and smexy Cap 2 was to much for me and I ended up doing the full shebang switch myself.

And yeah, now I can concur with jrlogger that the "over-sensitive keys" issue (aka the "I barely rested a finger on the keys and they registered" problem) have been mostly fixed with the new switches, with a better modulated initial resistance though the initial "click" is also gone and the travel stroke is a bit less springy. At least I don't have to rely on chatterfix anymore lol.

It doesn't at all feel like a membrane keyboard to me though, not even a semi-membrane one. Compared with the older Raven semi-mech keyboard, the Browns are still a whole lot less mushy. However, if you liked the overt, typewriter-like clickiness and springy response of the old Blue switches, you might like the Browns a bit less then I did.

Finally, the differently textured surfaces of the WASD and arrow keys on Cap 2 are just genius, allowing you to identify them by feel really really easily vs the old ones. Not to mention the very nice spacing between the keys (further enhanced by the convex shape of the Caps themselves) which make the new Cap 2 a whole lot better suited for touch typing then the older ones IMHO. And yes, they do feel a lot less "loose".

Here's a shot of my old keyboard on the freshly installed new one.



So TL;DR, was the "sidegrade" worth it? Cap 2 feels like it's worth every cent to me, but the Brown Switches will depend on how you like your key actuation/feedback to feel like.

Also, a quick (very rough) video if anybody's still curious about the sound differences for both units:



This post has been edited by Eiraku: Nov 20 2018, 12:32 AM

Well to be more specific, the entire keyboard part is interchangeable. Sos? I did the change and now have both boards (and caps).

Here's my shitty comparo video for both switches if you're curious:

Yep left is Brown. And yeah, I do prefer the Brown (both switch and cap) to the basic Blue.

That said, TBH my HP Envy 13 keyboard shits all over them both when it comes to heavy duty touch typing for some reason (I'm thinking key separation), but of course the Envy's KBB is not RGB (and keypresses simply feel a lot less satisfying because its not a mech).

For gaming though the Onyx KBB does just fine IMHO.

I actually have (I've got a whole bunch of old-school IBM TPs from my previous work), but there's no Carbon class unit with an MX150 so I had to skip them this time around (T480 too thick and I didn't want to mess around with eGPUs - I have my Onyx for that).

KBBs on the current TPs I DID test did have better actuation feel then the Envy KBB though (especially the X1C), that I won't deny. But like I said before, it's probably just the chiclet key separation on the Envy (which the Onyx doesn't have) that makes it "feel" better TBH.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Mar 29 2019, 04:40 AM

Talking about caps, I finally got around to mix-matching my Onyx caps. Now my CAPS, NUM and NUMPAD keys all use the older square Cap 1 and the rest are on the standard Brown-switch Cap 2... just for the fun of it lol.

Might just get a Cap 3 set once those hit also. Being able to physically alter the feel of your keys on-the-fly like this pretty funky TBH.

Also, yeah, cooling pads are still a thing. The best I've tested has got to be the Coolermaster A200 if you wanna go the "conventional" cooler route (good air volume from the twin fans and matches the vents on the Onyx), but I also use an X-Lite II which is not bad. Don't expect a HUGE drop in thermals, but the extra volume of air does help.

As for Vaccum coolers (the "extractor" types), I don't think those work well with the twin vent design on the Onyx... unless you buy two of those.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Apr 16 2019, 02:10 PM

To be fair, not all of us are blessed with non-bangku / rock steady hands. I know I'm not lol.

Personally, I DO cut and apply my own decal to my devices (both my Onyx and my Envy has stickers to "protect" the lid and palmrests), but yeah they don't look "pro" by any stretch of the imagination thanks to my completely zero artistic motor skills.

But yeah, you either have to just take it really slow and do it carefully with a squeegee of some sort (and a hairdryer on low for the corners) - or you can go the whole auto-vinyl / incredible shield way of using a sprayer with soapy water (though I have reservations regarding exposing any lappies to moisture of any sort so I never went that route).

Either way, as long as you take your sweet sweet time and don't rush, it should turn out fine as long as you're not too OCD about it. Otherwise, you can always go to MojoWraps or something and ask them if they do customs.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: May 2 2019, 05:26 AM

Keyboard "issues" used to happen more with the Blue switches and older keycaps, and it's more of the former (registering accidentally with light touches). However, I have NEVER experienced the other "don't even register after a full touch" thing you're describing, with either keyboard configs.

With the newer Brown switches and V2 caps, there's not so much of even the "light touch mis-register" thing anymore anyway, so that's that.

That said, the overly compact layout (thanks to the numpad) does lead to a bit more typing errors to those used to a bit more space between their keys.

Advise you drop by the Illegear showroom to test if possible, because keyboards can be rather subjective really.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: May 9 2019, 10:52 PM

https://rentry.org/tongfang

(Almost) Complete TF chassis infobin.

As for me, my OG (CFL/1060) Onyx is actually still around but it's on backup duties now. Currently main-ing a QC7/MAG15/"New" Onyx (CFL-R/2070MQ) so yeaaaa.

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Feb 23 2021, 10:33 AM