Hi ZM Fong, currently I am looking for gaming laptop, and now considering on Acer Helios 300 (2019).

As I check the spec and price on (MSRP & retailer), both models (54KG & 76CQ) is RM800 apart, the only difference is the CPU (i5 9300H vs i7 9750H).
If I want buy it for normal usage and gaming* only, is i5 version is good enough or is it worth to spend another RM800 for i7 version?
Also is RTX2060 a good GPU, in terms of thermal and performance? I am hoping for 1660Ti version, but Acer not offer it for Malaysia market.
Gaming: More on strategy/management game like DOW3, EU4, HOI4, Total war TK, FM series, possible some FPS/ARPG/Stealth game.
Other than Acer, Lenovo Legion series & custom gaming model also under consideration, just:
Lenovo Y540: Very little review on it. Just know that Jarrod'sTech has just buy it, now waiting him to get his laptop to review.
Lenovo Y545: From BOAT review, repaste and undervolt don't seems to help much on thermal.
Lenovo Y740: The price is high.
Custom gaming: after sales service difficulties, coz I live on the Northern region.

Sifu ZM Fong, any idea how's the thermal performance of the recently released Illegear Raven SE-R? I did a lot of digging but can't seem to find any info about the thermal performance of the Raven SE-R. Also did you do some real life thermal testing on the Helios 300 2019 variant? How's the temp compares to the 2018 verson? I've seen some figures online but its better to get some proper query from here. Thermal wise Lenovo Legion Y540 RTX2060 or Acer Helios RTX2060, which one will cool better?

Bro, just curious on the below:

Was checking the status of the shipping and noticed the following.

Is this a normal message to get when the products are being shipped in?



Or everyone else has the same status whenever tech products reaches Customs...

Hi guys,

This seems to be the perfect place for me to seek for knowledge and recommendation. To better get you sifus valuation especially ZM Fong (I'm a fan), I'll put up some context.

My daily driver now is DELL XPS 15 9570 (bought Aug 2018). I needed that much portability as I work with this laptop in which also serve my gaming needs. Why buy XPS then, you may ask...that's because I thought I'd only play my games on a console, but all my friends jump ship to PC lol.

I'll split into 2 sections for my usage:

1) Work
- I carry to/from work everyday hence being lightweight is paramount.
- My work usage is pretty standard and considered very light (Google Apps, MS Office, light Adobe PS/AI), beyond these I believe any native app shouldn't be a problem.
- Battery life, if for as long as it's able to go on for at least 4 hours doing full-blown (non-design) work stuff (low nits/WiFi on all the time).
- This may be an understatement but a SFF AC Adapter helps the weight accumulation too. (I consider my XPS adapter to be just nice but big AC adapter isn't a deal breaker la)
- I also use software emulation work too sometimes, therefore a good CPU for VT is nice.
- I appreciate good keyboard to type long ass documents.
- Ports, especially HDMI (though every laptops these days should have a full-sized HDMI already right) RJ45 is a bonus but not necessary.
- Putting this as the last point, if possible no spaceship chassis lol, I do a lot of external meetings and presentation, don't need that attention (yeah, you Alienware and Predator)

2) The hanky panky
- I also game after work hour at the office (1-2 hours) to give ways to shitty traffic. At home, intermittent gaming of about 2-3 hours max.
- GTX 1050Ti is pretty bad for the game I'm currently playing.
- If you ask what games would I use this laptop for, I can safely say, strictly Monster Hunter World (MHW). I tried playing other games, but with my freedom level right now, I can only choose to play 1 game at a time.
- I don't really see a lot of gameplay review for MHW on laptop as a benchmark (this game may be not as famous) so I'm torn in making the right choice.
- I also believe this game is poorly optimized (ported from Playstation), so I don't quite know how to make similar comparison with other AAA game titles.
- Even better when I'm told that if I can be satisfied playing MHW, the other games are fine too if I wish to play other titles in the future.
- Netflix.
- Audio quality is welcomed but I have good headphones so not a deal breaker.

What I wish to have next (based on what I've learned using XPS):
- Very good thermal/cooling, this is super important because my current machine now keep throttling my soul die a little I'm supposed to be dead by now.
- Better WiFi connectivity. (I know I can change the WiFi card to Intel or something but meh)
- I don't mind hot keyboard surface because I game with a game pad controller. (appreciate really good Bluetooth card)
- Hope to have a nice typing keyboard.
- RGB is not a necessity, don't know why people like em' either lol. If it comes with it, it's fine if it's toggle-able.
- Able to plug in to a bigger monitor/TV with ease without getting performance impact.
- Great after-sales service.

After I re-read the above, it's almost like I should just get a gaming console lol. But it's stationary and my gaming community is on PC platform so what to do

Having said that, I've seen posts about "are you open to options?", I've grown to start to believe in local brands like Level51 and Illegear (don't know what else). These 2 have accessible service center/response team (Damansara & Sunway Subang) so that's a plus. But I've never studied these 2 brands extensively. I'm open for value and quality. Without posting this, perhaps I'd just go with Acer Predator Triton 500 liao. If there are avenues to ditch the big brands for the niche ones, why not. Also, only just now found out that Vapor Pro series is the same chassis with Mag15 (or I may be wrong).

My budget would be around RM6k+, if I'm presented with a lower price point, even better!

Farthest I've gone was to have a look at Level51 Vapor Pro. 1660Ti vs 2070 Max-Q. It doesn't seem to be of a good value to go for 2070 Max-Q due to it being a Max-Q (seeing benchmarks) but is 1660Ti enough to last me for at least 2-3 years and whether it could give me great gameplay on MHW at the sweet spot 60fps+ 1080p at high/ultra settings.

Sorry for the long text, I can't wait to hear from you guys!

Is Onyx Pro built on Mag15 chassis?

Hi sifus,

Am looking to get a gaming laptop post MCO, am looking to get a 15inch with at least 2070SMQ. Preferable portable as I travel often and game on the go.

Right now aiming for Auros 15G,  any comments on this ? Or should I wait out for better alternatives ?

Currently I have an Illegear d9x , hence I want to view other options in the market aside from Illegear . Ps I don’t dislike them, they are good in fact, just itchy to try other brands now 😃.

One of the selling point. However Tongfang aldy have mech kb long time ago.

looking for a laptop for gaming.

budget around 7k
min rtx2060 gpu
if have onsite service would be best

I have checked out dell's g7 which is within my price range. is it good? it comes with rtx 2070 with max-q design, but have no idea what is this max-q about... LOL... is it something good or lower level?

Hi all, just want to ask, does anyone had brought the illegear Ares V? I just want to know how good is it in term of the thermal aspect.

I see.

May I know what brands/laptop models in particular are releasing soon or rumoured to be releasing within the next 1-2 months? So I know I should look out for those.

@ZM Fong

Ok , need your sound advise. Looking for a Gaming laptop. I have a dell inspiron 5520 3rd gen intel  i7 which i bought @$800 SGD.

i am still using for work and game.  But currently looking for a new one

intel 10th gen > 9th gen ? worth getting the latest processor ? Performance wise vs $$

Ryzen 4000 series coming soon in laptops.

Graphics Card dilemma ,

no place can find a GTX 1070 > RTX 2060

RTX 2060 > GTX 1060

RTX 2080 > 2080 Super

RTX 2070 > 2070 Super

Also got max Q version . . .

GTX 1660 Ti

Previous experience in using laptops . . .

HP ..... bad , lasted less than 1 year
Toshiba .... really bad , died less than 6 months
Lenovo thinkpad , business laptop .... ok  > 2 - 3 years.
Acer .... sucks .... 1 and half years....
Asus ... better , had it for 6 years before this dell

Current laptop , Dell Inspiron 5520 (7years)

so now time to change again . . .

Preference . . .
1.  Ryzen 4000 vs 10th gen intel ( which one stands out )
2. RTX 2060 / GTX 1660 Ti / GTX 1080 / GTX 1070 / GTX 1060
3. Brands ? Asus , Msi , Lenovo , Illegear ?
4. prefer ram 8gb - 16gb
5. ssd if have good one , 500 gb - 1tb
6. prefer have wifi 6
7. good speakers and sound card
8. prefer 17" screen with more than 144hz if have.
Initially was looking @ Lenovo Legion series , Asus Scar III , Strix G , TUF A17 , Illegear Raven / Rogue

buggest 5 - 7k

Regards
Seb

Nevermind after much reading, it seems like 2070 maxq is worse than the standard 2060, will go for either Onyx Ryzen or Rogue Ryzen then.

I am thinking of getting either one of the laptop below,
Onyx is lighter but lenovo has bigger battery capacity.

illegear Onyx v ryzen - rm3325 (after 5% cash discount)
lenovo legion 5 (default) - rm3002 (after using LENXCIMB)

Will there be any large discount for illegear in 11.11 or 12.12 every year?

Hi all the sifus out there, currently I am having a hard time thinking which laptop at rm3500-4000 to choose. I will be using this laptop for both my study overseas and as well as light gaming, so i dont want bulky laptop(max around 2.5 kg) and i want it to be as future proof and durable as possible at this price point. Also, i hope thati can get laptop with quite good audio system. I have considered a few models and i will list out the problems i have with them. In desirable situation, i hope i can get r5 4600h + 1660ti at around this budget. All the sifus out there please help me figure out what model should i buy   I can strech my budget a little if it worth the price, many thanks.

Asus A15: Shoppee cheapest at RM 3625 ( r5 4600h + 1650ti)
Heard to be worth the price, design looks nice and the audio is good as well but i heard it has heating issues and the screen is not bright and color accuracy is not good.

Acer nitro 5 2020: Shoppee cheapest at RM 3609 (i3 10300h + 1650ti)
Performance in par with the price, nice design as well and good heating. Not sure about audio because havent tested it. However, i heard that intel 10th gen is not as good as ryzen 4000, so this is the only downside for me in the sense of future proofing.

Illegear rogue ryzen: Customised at Rm 3705 (r5 4600h + 1650ti)
Went to illegear today and saw this laptop(intel version, they say the exterior will be exactly the same for ryzen model). I loved the large screen so much   (i heard it shares the same screen as selenite) but i dont like the design so much because it has pointy edges, the keyboard does not suits my liking and most importantly, the screen wobbles like got earthquake,lol , the screen keeps wobbling even though after i stopped it, and immediately starts to wobble again after i release the screen. Also i cannot open it with one hand and the battery life is short, so hmmm. Despite that, i would still accept it if the laptop is durable enough to last me at least 4 years(i heard the cooling is quite good, got 5 vents they said). Sifus pls tell me if this laptop is worth to buy anot because it is fully plastic, i need some opinion with this model  

Illegear onyx V ryzen: customised at rm 3609 (r5 4600h + 1650ti)
Also saw it today(intel version as well), nice screen as well but rogue one is better. Quite light and aluminium body(except for bottom case). Better design  in my opinion and feels overall more solid than rogue ryzen in my opinion. onyx v's audio sounds a bit better than rogue in my opinion but the promoter says both using the same audio system(maybe due to aluminium body?) Both the model have quite small battery but can add on to 67wh(but quite expensive though + RM 349). Heating system is quite good as well so nothing to pick. The sales person suggested me to take this model for durability. Sifus pls let me know your opinion regarding these 2 models

Glock 5 ace Gen 2 : customised theoretically at rm4274 (i5 10400 + 1660 ti)
Havent seen the real thing yet but design looks nice in picture. Checked on google, this i5 10400 runs better than r5 4600h so i dont know whether i should choose this or not. Price is abit at the higher side, not sure about the other details. Many unknowns to this laptop because havent touch it yet. hope all the sifus can give me some insights.

Level 51 forge 15s: customised at Rm 4015 ( i7 10750h + 1650ti)
Also havent seen the real thing yet, so no idea of the details. On spec sheet, it is light and design is ok also. Saw on youtube, it says the performance is good but audio sounds like tin kosong   Any sifus can clarify on this laptop?

Lenovo legion/5 : price very customisable ( if any sifu can tell me which is the best combination to get 1660ti, i will be glad)
I heard the build quality is top notch and the branding is not bad also. Not sure about other details as i am very unfamiliar with these models. I hope all the sifus out there can give me insight regarding these models. Do tell me the pros and cons of this laptop, i will consider buying it if it is worth it

Is there any distributer/seller on this laptop model Eluktronics RP-15?

https://www.eluktronics.com/RP-15/

the only equivalent with other laptop model that i found (in term of performance and thermal cooling, weight i dont care )are  ASUS Zephyrus G14+G15 and Omen 15 (heard new one is coming out)