Sack

Your issue is hardware related, nothing more you can do, other than start the RMA process.

If possible, try installing to a different drive. This sounds suspiciously like a drive that is just barely functioning before it dies.

Your temps are within the safe operating temperature, so there's no issue really.

I'm pretty sure rolling back the update is possible, but it's gonna take some research and effort on your part, if you feel like it's worth putting in the work you're able to do it. Since it's a Samsung note it should be able to install lineage OS which should improve your phone experience immensely imo.

If you can get to a place where you can experience the different mechanical switches, I recommend that you go try them out, I myself thought I would like brown switches but in reality they mimicked something that I thought felt like worn out rubber dome switches and what i really wanted was red switches, even for typing I love them.

Holy macaroni, I was away for a while, are they not eligible for litigation by Apple anymore?

yeah asking about hackintiosh isn't allowed here... Edit: rules were updated, apparently.

Game freezes, that' not very specific, is it? What game are you playing?

Here's your answer.

The only benefit I can think of is that it's less likely to sag, I have a 1070 and the sag is noticeable, the beefier the cooler the greater the risk of sag is.

The reason why the new ones are cheaper is because of improved production methods, and smaller die sizes, giving them more yield per silicon wafer.

Liquid metal conducts electricity, I would strongly advise against this, although it would work, and corrosion might be a thing as well.

I had a short forray into networking, but we used to configure switches and routers (and I assume wireless APs would be similar) via a console cable, although I know remote amnagement is possible and more standard these days.

Intel or AMD isn't that important IMO, so I would advise you to get a motherboard that has all the connections and features that you're looking for, and then go with the brand that fits in the board (remember to match the sockets). All Intel CPUs have a built in graphics chip if I'm not mistaken so you won't need a GPU unless they need one for acceleration of work tasks. I recommend you go pick some parts out on pcpartpicker and post a list for people to chime in on.

Might be a grounding issue, disconnect everything except your PSU and see if it boots.