Lenovo Legion Y740 17" 15"

For those of you still interested in downgrading your bios to 1.03 for max fans, but are still having difficulty and still get errors, such as "The version of ROM file is not newer than that of BIOS."
Here are some steps:

1. Obtain bios version 1.03 for your Y740 (Mine was Y740-15IRHg) - Filename "BVCN07WW.exe"
2. Ensure that you have 7-zip installed.
3. Right-click on the bios files and select "Extract here."
4. You will get an error that the bios file could not be opened as a 7-zip archive but it should still work for our purposes.
5.Locate the configuration file platform.ini and open it using Wordpad.
6. Scroll down and search for:
[Bios_Version_Check]
Flag=2
SameVersionErrorMessage="The version of ROM file is the same as that of BIOS."
OlderVersionErrorMessage="The version of ROM file is not newer than that of BIOS."

7. Change "Flag=2" to "Flag=0" and it will skip checking your bios version.
8. Click on "H2OFFT-Wx64" to downgrade your bios.
9. The laptop should restart and flash (obvious but do not interrupt the flashing process).
10. My laptop booted and I regained Fn+Q for max fan speed.
11. Good luck Legion Fam

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you brick your laptop and it becomes unusable.
The owner of the laptop who performs the bios downgrade assumes full responsibility of damages to their product.

 

Whoever said that putting it on quiet mode maxes out fans is correct. I tested it and it seems performance mode has the lowest fan speed for some reason. I have bios 1.07

I tested out my cpu load and temps with performance mode vs quiet mode. Both use the same cpu percent but the fans run at max on quiet. Performance mode cpu temps were 92c and quiet mode was 69c. What is going on here? Lol

 

Remember that quiet mode caps the cpu to 25W.

For example quiet mode cpu max 25W and gpu (2070maxq) to 80w if i remember right

Performance mode cpu is maxed out at 60w and gpu at 90W and in combined load cpu at 45w and gpu 90w.

So the performance mode actually pulls a lot more wattage from the cpu, hence the higher temps. The fans speed thing is still a mystery tbh...
To get temps down, you need to undervolt your cpu. If it is even possible after latest windows patches and intel security problems...

Ive gotten the best results when around -0.15mV undervolt and then capping the cpu to max 38W on performance mode. Never does the cpu get too warm, and depending on the game the cpu boosts to 3,9ghz on all cores. This is for the 8th gen processor thou, could and will be different for the 9th gen.

 

I'll probably repaste my CPU and GPU when I get the chance.

Are there any decent guides around? I decided to go with the Lenovo Legion Y740 17" (RTX 2070) and afaik repasting is always good to do, and the Lenovo seem to be quite easy to open up.

 

n/m found it!

 

So is there a third party software that can control my fans? Performance mode makes the fans lower than fn quiet mode.

 

At the moment I dont think so. The only solution to having the max fans option is downgrading your bios... Are you having problems with temps going to high or fps drops etc?

I have found that in demanding games the fans actually do max out (or close to that) after a while in performance mode also. But when playing games that are not so demanding, like esports titles or older games (for some reason gta V also??) the fans in performance doesnt max out. Its a bit frustrating to see or hear that your system is getting hotter, then fans ramp up, just to slow down again in a moment and letting the heat rise up again. Its just a bad fan curve from the lenovo software...

The easiest and most efficient way is just downgrading your bios. After that you have option to have the fans at auto mode, or then maxed out with higher tdp for the GPU. If you dont mind the fans going full speed all the time during gaming. Allthou the performance gained through this questionable, as some claim having better performance with the newer biosses and the mode selection thingy even thou the temps get higher... So its a double sided thing.

I did a lot of testing when I got my unit in the summer time. And ended up using the latest bios with the mode selection as I got better scores in benchmarks with new bios. I think there were some core power updates or something like that, like actual updates on the power management for the cpu so its actually more efficient. But after a while i may have gotten a bit bored of tinkering and let myself actually enjoy gaming Although I did repaste the unit, which helped a lot with the initial over heating problem.

All said and done, I have been thinking about rolling back the bios to get the max fans option. Its much more simple that way tbh. But as I think I have found the sweet spot with the undervolt etc for my unit, might just keep it as it is with the bad fan curve...

 

This laptop runs too cool! Seriously though, I'm getting about 76 degrees on the GPU with it overclocked and still with stock TIM. The limiting factor for performance is that damn 90W limit. I'd love to bump that limit to 100W and allow the GPU to stretch its legs and take advantage of the thermals. I'm willing to bet it would considerably beat the RTX 2070. But, then who would pay the $325 upgrade to the 2070? From a business perspective, I get it. But from an enthusiast perspective... Grrr....

 

Be careful what you wish for... ;-)

Alienware Area 51M had 200W limit for their RTX 2080 at launch and quite a bit of ppl had problems with components frying, and the dual powers bricks are a PITA.

90W is obviously WAY lower, but while I get the craving for MAX POWER, Max-Q fills a perfectly nice spot; high end gaming without the frying and crap power bricks.

 

Just got my Y740 in the mail from the Rakuten deal.

Shipped with 1.05 bios. Wondering if I should update to the latest bios? After reading, it looks like there's flaws with the fan speeds on the latest?

 

Found a nice spike in performance from 1.07 they uploaded in December. They just put out 1.08 January 3 and I have to say, do not get this one; not only are temperatures and fans unchanged, the increased performance is now gone. Previously in the same scenarios on userbenchmark, was getting much higher 89.4 on graphics with the same Curve on MSI Afterburner (the usual that I play games with is overclocking a curve and flatlining at 1775 MHz). 1.06 I had 85.9 on graphics and now with 1.08 I am back to 86.7. These are multiple tests being run with slight variations but overall the same results.
Key take away, I wish I could downgrade my bios to 1.07 but I don't really know how and I don't want to screw this up. Very disappointed that not only is max fans STILL not there, they crippled a perfectly viable BIOS that saw smoother gameplay in CoD Modern Warfare when I had 1.07. Why they did this? Don't know. Lenovo software engineers seem to be terrible at what they do.
For reference, I have the i7-9750H + 2070MQ.

 

Hey guys. Owner of an Y540 here with RTX 2060 85W. Does anybody here have vBios of Y740 with RTX 2060? I was curious as if the bios is 85W or 90W version. If it is the 90W then I will try to flash with it. Thanks
The reason is I tried other vBios from other brand. Works fine but I cannot use it with dedicated graphic mode. The screen would be pitch black. Maybe vBios of Y740 can works fully.

 

Curious if anyone with the RTX 2060 is scoring higher than this and if so, what their settings are. I realize I'm being bottlenecked by my 8GB RAM (Hard faults everytime in games) but I'm looking to upgrade to 16 soon

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/21411280

 

edit - double post

 

Do you have a copy of the 1.07 BIOS file?

 

Yes I do.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Can you link me / host it somewhere? I would love to switch to it and test it out.

Thank you!

 

Here are mine if you are curious. The first one is through Afterburner OC Scan so the core clocks are all over the place. The second one is after I undervolt it since I noticed there is a power limit when running at 99% gpu in games anyway and ithe core clock is +260MHz. Both have +1100MHz memory clock.
Auto OC: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/42803992?
Undervolt: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/42804584?

Edit: Almost forgot, yeah runnig 16GB of RAM in dual channel

P/S: Still curious about Y740 RTX 2060 vBios. Can anyone link me please?

 

No problem, here's the file on my google drive:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ttLKR3l3tC9gwvWALmBkp_NJtSVHHPFB
I wish I could just go back to this one because Modern Warfare seemed a bit smoother.

 

Thank you!

What about going into bios and enabling the "roll back" option? And then flashing it?

 

Why can't you?

 

I didn't know that was an option! I am going to try that now and let you know how that goes. Thanks for letting me know

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

It's in the bios under configuration

 

Thanks, found it and flashed back to it with no problem. Firestrike score went up from 15.8k to 16k under the same conditions. Not a huge increase but it is noticeable in Modern Warfare and Anthem.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Is that regular score or graphics score? I'm getting 15117/16804 with the 2060. Can't seem to get any higher. That's +220/+1100.
How are you guys undervolting? If you're using OC scanner I'd love to see a screenshot (for the 2060 guys)

Mind you, I'm still on a 8gb single

 

For me, I'm with a 2070 Max-Q but with a curve to 1775 MHz and capped there (to prevent unnecessary power draw beyond that as it would not see any benefit and not seek to pull more, just creating higher temperatures. This also leaves more TDP headroom for the CPU) and that was with +0 mem. With the Curve and +450 Mem I get 16,306 total and 18,704 on graphics. This is back on Bios v1.07.

 

I can't break 18000 graphics score and it's really bumming me out
Other user was able to do that with the 2060, maybe I'll give OC scanner another shot but it seems useless to me. The best I can get out of OC scanner without hitting power limit is 1200mhz which also gives me a much lower score in benchmarks. Leaving it in auto and just setting to +220/+1100 is fluctuating clock speed between 1600-1900mhz giving much better performance in game and benchmarks. I hate seeing the fluctuating clock speed but I suppose that's just how these are designed. If I want a stable clock (Ie no power limit throttling) then I have to step down significantly to 1200

 

1200MHz and hitting power limit after OC? Could you check if you are running Quiet, Balance, or Performance mode in your Vantage app? In anything but Performance mode your TDP will be reduced.
1600MHz sounds ok to me. Try flatting around that and see if the clock fluctuates a lot or not.

 

Is there a way to remap the "game recorder" button to anothe one? (button between prtSc and left control, I disable it.

 

Also had a Error Code Ten (Device Cannot Start) on my Killer Wireless 1550i after bios Downgrade. (1.09 to 1.06) Any ideas how to fix it?

 

Did a repaste today. Gotta say, I'm really impressed with the stock paste Lenovo used and the way it's been applied. I used Coolaboratory Ultra. All results include a 140mV undervold and +200/+1100 on the GPU.
AIDA 64 Results (AIDA64 is super unrealistic as it is a full CPU/GPU workload which is impossible to recreate in real world usage)
Before: CPU 94 with throttling, GPU 78
After: CPU 80 with NO throttling, GPU 71

Intel XTU: Stresses CPU alone
Before: 80
After: 70

Furmark: Stresses GPU alone
Before: 72
After: 68

3DMark Firestrike: Stresses both
Before: CPU 88, GPU 71
After: CPU 82, GPU 67

To conclude, seems like the liquid metal improved performance nicely. For about 20 mins of work, I'd highly recommend it. Application is easy to do, just requires some patience. Also my RAM sticks and new SSD just arrived, so I'll be putting those in shortly and re-benchmarking.

Here are some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/dLWyRZx

 

Wow, so just finished benchmarking. Took quite a while with tinkering but here's the final result! OC settings at +220 on the core and +1200 on the memory clock. CPU running at stock clocks with -140mV undervolt. Now upgraded to 16GB kit running in dual channel.

Firestrike: 15632 Score, 17311 Graphics Score ( http://www.3dmark.com/fs/21519489)
Timespy: 6832 Score, 6789 Graphics Score ( http://www.3dmark.com/spy/10155722)

It's nice to see since these scores beat the 2070 Max Q, a laptop GTX 1070 and a desktop GTX 980! All in a thin and light laptop with 5 hours of battery life (with the smaller battery, will upgrade to the larger one which I'm expecting 6-7 hours) All for ~$1200USD total, I am very, very happy!

 

Nice jump! What do you think helps the most? I personally think it's the RAM.

 

Yes, I think it's a combination of the RAM but also the repaste. It runs slightly cooler which allows it to run slightly higher clock speeds under its wattage limitation. They really should release a 100w vBIOS. Grrr.....

 

Your results have answered my question on whether to repaste or not...
Currently have 16GB of ram but am keen to upgrade that to 32GB so will repaste as the same time. Going to use Artic MX-4 unless someone sells me on spending the extra cash, already have the paste from building my desktop so will use the rest of that.

My CPU is getting up to 97°C often which is scaring me!

 

Tell me about it. Currently looking high and low for such vBios. Hey, I think the Alienware Area 51M with 2060 has such kind of vBios. Any ideas?

 

I wonder if Prema could put something together. I had a prema mod vBIOS for my old 970m laptop and the difference was unreal

 

Who is Prema? Sorry, I am new here. Anyway, don't know if it helps but I also use NVIDIA driver slimming utility to... slim down my current driver for some slight performance I think.

 

Prema makes custom vBIOS's for (mostly) clevo laptops. I think he was also contracted by them at one point, but I could be wrong on that. Guy really knows his way around this stuff. He holds majority of records on Firestrike for laptop GPU's with incredible scores. If theres a guy to maximize the GPU capabilities of a laptop, he is your guy

 

After seeing some of his post where a 2060 scoring more than 20k, I gotta ask myself what kinda magic is that as I am struggling to get 18k even with OC. That guy really knows his stuff, numbers don't lie. Gotta ask him how.

 

Looking for 1.07 Bios for Y740-15ICHg models.
Also has anyone tested the 1.11 bios release?

 

ok, when are we getting our hands on this vBIOS? 115W RTX 2060

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/35159-eluktronics-max-15-17/

 

If it is similar to the MECH G2R then I think it will be a hardware bypass to increase the tdp. So, never, I guess?

 

Hey can someone recommend me some overclock and undervolt advice? Programs and settings you use. I feel like my games should be performing better than they are

 

For CPU, I use Throttlestop undervolting to reduce temp drastically. Go to FIVR, Unlock Adjustable Voltage, then adjust the Offset Voltage to negative. The result varies between machine so I can't give you a fixed number. Try -100mV or -125mV first to see if the PC crashes or BSOD in games or benchmarks. If it does not, decrease further by -5mV or -10mV until it does. Roll back to the previous stable point and you are set.
For GPU, I use MSI Afterburner, again, varies between systems so you will have to find out yourself. But, if you don't want to fiddle too much, use the OC Scanner function in MSI Afterburner to find your OC Core Clock. It is in the upper left corner of the GUI, press OC then Scan and wait until it is finished. You can press Test afterwards to test the OC values. This will retrun a "confidence level", I heard that anything over 60% is fine. Then for the Memory Clock, you have to find out yourself. Increase it step by step of 50MHz or 100MHz and test it in games or benchmarks. I use MSI Afterburner, Firestrike benchmark, and games for GPU stability test. Remember to press the Save icon and choose a profile afterwards so you don't have to run the OC Scanner again.
If the PC crashes, BSOD and restarts while playing games or even when idle, try tuning down your OC and undervolt a bit. Hope it helps.

 

Hi all, im a new member here
My Y740 spec is 9750h and RTX2070 maxq

I want to ask, any members here who play Rage 2? Why i keep getting crashed with notification "rage.exe has stopped working"

 

I don't play that but... I don't know, that error is too broad for me. Did it crash when opening? Have you try installing different graphic driver? Did you overclock or undervolt?... Can't narrow the cause down yet.

 

No, its crash when in the middle of playing..
I've already update the nvidia driver to the latest version. No OC on GPU side and yes I undervolt the CPU...
But I think its a developer problem on microsoft store, microsoft never release a patch since first release. My friend use from steam, and get a patch/fix and he can play the game without crash.

And for the other questions :
1. Can any member here confirm what is the latest BIOS version for (lenovo's) nvidia RTX 2070 max-Q version?
2. Does activating XMP profile on RAM affecting CPU voltage in term of stability? In my experience, when using JEDEC/default config, my system is stable with - 150mv on core and cache. But when activating XMP profile, even with - 125mv my system oftenly BSOD.
I already test the RAM using HCI memtest at 12 threads and 2400MB each thread (90% of 32GB) for 400% with no errors. So I suspect that the CPU is not stable enough because it lacks voltage when using XMP profile.

 

Have you tried reverting the UV and play? If it still crashes then it is probably the game. I thought mine UV was stable too, until I played a certain games or left the pc on idle. Hard to say if the UV is trully stable for me.

 

Yes, already try to default all my UV and OC setting... And still crashed...

Correct, stress test doesn't mean it will stable enough for gaming or low task...

Still waiting other members to share their GPU BIOS for RTX 2070 Max-Q, just curious what version is the latest