graybandit

Short of a total keyboard replacement, you can often cannibalize the keys from a replacement keyboard if the switches are still ok. They are different than mechanical keycaps, but pretty simple to remove & replace (usually, don't have direct experience with an Omen, just other HP laptops). Best bet is often finding a replacement keyboard on eBay, looks like there might be options around $30? https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Omen-15-CE011DX-15-CE015DX-15-CE018DX-15-CE019DX-Keyboard-with-Backlit-TO-US/303008645563?hash=item468cb901bb:g:3JcAAOSw-95bcPBx:rk:9:pf:0

SSD is cheap and should be first upgrade, easy to do. Matching up your RAM for 2x4GB sticks would be the second thing. Should be fine for Rocket League, probably for FIFA?

I've had this on some newer UEFI laptops, sometimes can be fixed with a NVRAM clear. Remove battery & power cable, the hold down the power button for ~30s, then reconnect and try to start. If you still get nothing, try comparing the LED blink codes to the list at Dell's support site.

Not in my experience, no.

No rush at all. I've been doing the semi-annual repastes for the AS5 laptops (and some initial repastes from factory BS), just wondering if there was a better "magic" solution these days after all the hubbub about LM. I'll keep an eye out for the Carbonaut stuff.

See, I'm not super worried about the application per se. I've worked on dozens and dozens of laptops, and have read up on protecting the surrounding parts from the LM. Just seen a lot of articles detailing how it reacts with copper over time, to say nothing of the ones that have aluminum spreaders and can't be LM'd anyway ?

Good to know. This is why I ask, lots of experience with normal solutions, not with MX4.

I mean, I've been tempted, but the over-time reaction with heatsinks and pipes is worrisome. I've got multiple laptops, and replacing the entire heatsink assembly can be an expensive pain in the ass.

I've always been an Arctic Silver 5 guy for my laptops through the years, but after seeing some of the results with liquid metal and whatnot, I've been looking at alternatives. Liquid metal seems to be a bit too finicky for laptop use as yet (at least imho) but the MX-4 compound looks promising. Anybody have experience with it, or recommendations otherwise?

Saw this on ArsTechnica the other day, and I have so many questions about why they think anybody wants/needs a heatsink on their NVMe, but I'd be fascinated to see if it does anything...good excuse to break out the FLIR too >.> https://www.wd.com/products/internal-ssd/wd-black-sn750-nvme-ssd.html#WDS500G3XHC

All things equal, all I can attest to is that I've bought and RMA'd through Xotic before, and they were super cool to me. I'm not very familiar with either brand (haven't owned MSI or Eluktronics) so based purely off seller and specs, I'd probably lean Xotic from experience.

Probably overthinking it, tbh. I still use a Razer Blade 2013 quite a bit, and it's suffered no ill effects from ~6 years of service with the screen venting setup, same as many Apple computers with the same setup. You may need to replace the battery (see above reply about drawbacks with that specific model) but otherwise it should do fine.