Intel-TongFang QC7 (Element/Fusion 15/MAG-15/Vapor 15 Pro)

There seems to be quite a few problems with nvidia drivers, control center, etc. I recently got my computer and installed sound blaster connect. What else should I update to get the best experience with the least amount of tinkering?

 

Does anyone know what MyFanCCI is? I noticed in the command center patch notes Version 2.1.0.0_Intel_V0.4 added support for this and I also noticed intel removed a flag to enable manual fan control. The UI seems like it used to have a slider of some sort and right now I'm trying to go through registry edits of the different keys. There's one for enabling manual fan but enabling it doesn't make an interface appear since they took it out of command center, we'd have to find out how it works and make our own. Also I found the registry values for the keyboard RGB profiles, I can create my keyboard profiles and change the colors but applying it is the difficult part.... I can only apply it by restarting command center.... one step closer to getting that aurora integration working....

 

Laptop: Aftershock Vapor 15
Graphics Card: 1660 Ti
BIOS version: .0056
Control Center version: 2.1.0.12
NVIDIA Driver: 441.20

Just a few questions from a non-techie:

1. How do I downgrade to an older NVIDIA driver version, and what's the highest version that I can download where I won't come across any issues? I'm getting that freezing when running Task Manager, Control Center, etc. after an NVIDIA driver update.
2. How can I tell if my laptop is using Sound Blaster Connect? Sound currently seems really muffled.
3. How do I make sure games are using the 1600 Ti? I wasn't aware that there's more than 1 graphics card inside a Windows laptop.
4. How come my YouTube videos look muddy even at 1080p YouTube resolution? Is that normal? (please see attached file)

Thanks for the help guys.

 

1. Use DDU and install older driver (from Nvidia or use Win update)
2. Search the program, if you find it and are able to open it then it's working fine (though I suggest updating latest drivers)
3. In game monitoring. Or override in Nvidia Control Panel (don't override global settings)
4. Set to 1080p instead of auto?

 

That's interesting. Perhaps we could see manual fan control again.

 

You do not need a voltage converter - the power adapter that comes with the machine is a "switching" one that can accept the voltage from 110 to 240V. That will work in Europe. You basically only need either an adapter that you plug into the wall and then plug your adapter into, OR you can just get an European IEC power cable and plug that into your adapter (that's pretty much why they make the power adapter that way - they can have a single production line and then just kit out with "local" IEC power cables based on market).

You can also buy an XMG power unit to work with your machine too (I like having a spare power adapter and just put it in my laptop bag, while leaving one at home so I have one less thing to unplug when I need to head out).

 

UPDATE: Aftershock sent me their Control Center version 2.1.0.15, and I don't seem to have the freezing anymore. BUT, I did NOT have to downgrade my NVIDIA driver version. I'm still using NVIDIA 441.20 and BIOS .0056.

 

I'm so upset, been trying to reverse engineer the per key RGB on this laptop and I am close but I'm missing the easiest part....Applying the changes. Currently Control Center writes all the RGB values in some registry entries which I can edit but I can't get my changes to apply unless I restart the control center process.... Been looking through the DLLs trying to find something that will apply my registry entries but no dice. I feel like i'm so close to getting this working.... I miss my league of legends lights.... u_u

 

Guys like you was another reason to buy this laptop. Great work dude

 

Can't celebrate yet, I want my damn league of legends lights! XD

 

Without Control Center installed the CPU and dGPU did not want to boost to max speed, which resulted in a 70% decrease in FPS in GTA 5. So I installed CC version 15 again.
The previous issue came back - plugging in and then unplugging a USB-C external monitor caused the dGPU to stay on. I managed to figure out that if I plug the monitor in and out several times the dGPU at one point switches back to iGPU. The same happens when I just jump between the windows projection modes: pc screen - duplicate - extend - second screen etc., at one point the dGPU switches to iGPU.
Again, if I don't do this repetitive switching , the dGPU just keeps running some background apps while no external display is connected, causing overheating, battery drain etc.

I don't know what causes this, but I hope there will be a fix for this in the near future.

 

@XMG could you guys perhaps sell d-brand skins with your logos? D-brand states because of eluktronics specifications they won't sell with logo cutout, so I rather have one with xmg logo than nothing.

 

do you know if aftershock has Vapor 15 drivers up on their website anywhere? I can't find anything


Anyways - is anyone else having this problem that I am encountering - after a certain number of sleep/wake cycles, I get a "something is wrong" error when I am presented with the login page and cannot unlock with my face, and have to use my PIN - when I check Device Manager, my "Windows Hello Face Software Device" has an alert on it ("Windows has stopped this device because it reported problems"). A reboot fixes this (until after "n" number of sleep/wake cycles, which I have not fully explored yet).

 

The registry entries are what it has saved so that when you start the program thats what it loads, this is not what actively sets it, I am still waiting for one of the OEM's to send me the source so that I can finish integrating it into Aurora.

 

I thought as much, I was trying to invoke a methods through reflection on the DLLs but the functions in question aren't available :/ so it will for sure need the source code to accomplish, any ETA on when they are gonna give you that source if at all? Funny thing is I'd have more luck messing around with the intel XTU functions built into command center than I do getting the RGB lights to propagate my changes....

 

I got busy and forgot to email the XMG rep but I just sent out an email. I have source for a really old version but it doesn't support these keyboards.

 

Thank you for all the work. Would it be possible to direct me to a GitHub link with that old version? Maybe I can use it as a reference for what I'm seeing in their install files... I wish they used an MSI file.... Maybe I would have been able to edit the installer with orca....

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The version I have has no RGB control at all its for old single color keyboards.

 

They've informed me a while back that they're still in the process of adding the Vapor 15 into their list of laptops on their driver website. The best thing to do for now, which is unfortunate, is to message their support team from time to time and ask for driver updates.

 

I can get drivers straight from their staff, if that helps

 

I seem to be having a lot of issues with Nvidia 441.20 anyone else experience crashing and freezing? Sometimes when the computer is put to sleep it will take long to turn back on and from the event viewer it seems to be "shutting down from bug check" and when I research it seems to be the video card.

 

I get an occasional studder in the system on every window every minute or so. Still don't know what's causing it. Have the latest command center installed with old Nvidia drivers. Fired up latencymon and all I saw was Nvidia driver causing huge latency spikes. I removed Nvidia driver, restarted and re-ran latencymon and I didn't see the huge lag spike BUT I still had a visual studder spike. I tried uninstalling command center and the issue persisted... Thinking of restoring windows to factory and seeing if that helps. Still can't use nvidia's latest driver as it causes even worse studder. I tried re installing Intel gpu driver as well with DDU but the occasional studder is still there. Might take a video and upload to show what I'm talking about.

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I’m able to use Nvidia 441.20 with Bios .0056 and Control Center 2.1.0.15 with no issues whatsoever. I do not use any 3rd party system monitoring program if that helps.

 

I turned off all my monitoring programs and even installed and the studdering still happens

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Are there difference between OEM Control Centers? The fix that worked for me was when I updated to Aftershock’s 2.1.0.15 Control Center.

 

Can you pm me the file somehow? I want to try it, maybe there is a difference. Not sure if electroboost will with with aftershocks control center though

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Did you previously had 2.1.0.17 installed?

 

I had the default one that came with my mag 15 (which I dont remember), uninstalled it and then installed the latest that's on the eluktronics site

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Hmm, well the 2.1.0.17 is removed from the website of eluktronics. So you probably installed the 2.1.0.15. You can however still download 2.1.0.17 from their website if you just change the url from 15 to 17. https://www.eluktronics.com/content/Drivers/MAG-15/ControlCenterI_2.1.0.17_Signed.zip

 

I'll try that first before I try the vapor control center thanks

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Any idea why it was removed? I have 2.1.0.17 installed right now and wondering if it could be causing on of the issues I face.

 

Ok, so I already have 2.1.0.17 already installed on my system so that might not be the fix I need.

 

Hello everyone,
Can you please upload aftershock control center .15 because I cant find a way to get good battery life and control center works without issue. I tried xmg and eluktronics control center, with latest nvdia driver and 436.48. I want to try aftershock control center

 

Sent it to you already. Did you not receive it?

 

Hi,

can you send to me too?

Thanks.

 

I haven't received. Now I downloaded 436.30 and eluktronics control center in website, idle power consumption is -16w in battery mode also battery saver is on in win 10.

To be honest I am quite disappointed with result with mag-15. Not stable, high power consumption. Large battery doesn't mean anything if computer drain more than it is needed to be. It is almost 2 weeks since this problems occured and nothing is solved. I spent my time to fix my battery life on my own and I tried every possible combination (driver, control center version) .

I am not sure what to do more. I understand they have good sale volume, sales without software and technical support, means lose customer in long run.

 

Okay, I've found an issue. I still do not have the freezing/stuttering, but my battery life doesn't seem to be displaying correctly. The "time remaining" goes up and down erratically. First, it was at 6+ hours, then 7+ hours, then down to 1+ hours, then up 2+ hours. Not entirely sure what's going on with this

 

Have you tried changing power mode to maximum battery life in Intel Graphics Command Center? Use Quiet mode in Control Center also

 

I don't think eluktroboost is anything special other than a high performance mode on these systems. They all have the same hardware, same bios and same software they just name High Performance mode differently.

 

In electroboost mode the GPU goes beyond the max q spec and I've seen it clock up to 1700mhz on the core. Not sure about wattage though.

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They all boost this high, the spec for 2070 Maxq lists minimum boost. If the temperatures, wattage etc are below threshold it will continue to boost until specified thresholds are met. Eluktroboost is marketed as a special hardware mod when its nothing of the sort on these systems. It is quite misleading and mildly frustrating to see marketed that way. My Maingear Element for example will boost above 1700 quite often as long as the temperature, wattage, voltage limits are not run into. I just ran another test to double check and my GPU "2070 maxq" was boosting between 1695 and 1900MHz.

EDIT: Also to note, this requires High perf mode or whatever your vendor calls it as this sets the GPU to its highest power state.

 

I only follow what I have seen from


@B0B @Eluktronics can you confirm if electroboost is a hardware or software modification?

I have seen several places claiming it's a hardware modification but I want to get the story straight here.

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On the QC7 Eluktroboost is no mod at all, it is just a text change to say Eluktroboost in place of whatever the default high performance mode is labeled.

 

It boosts GPU TDP to about 115W. This allows higher GPU clock speed. With custom GPU voltage frequency curve it can beat any laptop with the same GPU. This is a feature unique to Tongfang only. Yes the names are different with different resellers but the function is still the same

 

EDIT: I may have misunderstood you. Do you mean that all of the QC7's have the same 115W limit in high performance mode or whatever its labeled by the different vendors? If so where did you get this information?

 

Update 1:
No lag, microstudders or issues that I can notice.
Steps:
1. Went into windows 10 recovery menu (in settings)
2. Reset windows 10 to factory defaults and KEPT my data
3. After reboot, windows 10 installed default drivers, soundblaster and some intel drivers automatically. (currently on windows 1903 Build 18362.418)
4. I downloaded and installed Brave browser, HWinfo64, riva statistics tuner, MSI afterburner (Stable), League of Legends, LatencyMon.
5. Currently have a windows update waiting for a reboot [2019-11 Cumulative Update for windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems (KB4524570)]
6. Playing league of legends had very small spikes in frame rate (capped at 120 fps with vsync off) and there was no noticeable studdering. I even increased the FPS cap to 144 and noticed I was getting consistent frames around 133-137 fps which is better than I had before. GPU boosted to 1200 Mhz now (before it only boosted to 900 mhz on electroboost and 600 mhz on GPU level 2 which I edited into the balanced mode of control center). I had RTSS, HWinfo64 running and I think windows disabled my tamper protection off. I also will say that I had the computer in electroboost mode before I reset my PC so it still has the high performance profile active.
7. I have not installed any drivers for intel GPU or nvidia GPU but I seem to have an nvidia gpu driver present and I remember it being the latest version but for some reason now I can't find or open nvidia control panel.

I will now reboot, do this windows update, play league again and see if I notice any studder to eliminate windows 10 update as the culprit of the studdering.

 

Did the Control Center version I sent you fix your issues?

 

I'm resetting my PC first and fully testing eluktronics command center first to see if it's what is causing the studdering, then I'll try downgrading/updating versions. If all else fails THEN I'll use the control center you sent me so I can test to make sure it's not something related to windows updates that might be causing the issue

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So after the reboot and doing the windows update. I played league and got 1350 Mhz average on the core and 1380 Mhz max on the core with good consistent FPS in the 138 and 144 (makes me happy) and still no large studder. GPU sits at around 65C with CPU reaching 82C max. I notice the CPU has a PL1 of 35 w and PL2 of 60 W with stock -0.50 undervolt. Max CPU package power was around 25 W, max 37 w. Now I will attempt to install latest nvidia driver and re-run league of legends and see if my fps drops. Using NVCleanInstall I can see that my current nvidia driver installed is 441.20 DCH and I don't seem to have nvidia control panel installed nor geforce experience. Will install all things nvidia and see what happens to my gpu clocks.

EDIT: I was able to launch windows store and install nvidia control panel so I will NOT install the international driver as I seem to have the performance I want atm and want to test other components first before proceeding. Going to install command center....

UPDATE: After installing command center, I set electroboost mode to use CPU level 2 instead of default level 1 which increased the CPU power limit from 35w and 60 to 45w and 65w respectively. I saw a decrease in performance now in league of legends. Average GPU clock speed dropped to 1100 Mhz vs the 1400Mhz I was getting before. Still no huge studdering which is again good. Will now try to change power limits by editing registry and changing electroboost mode to use CPU level 3 which is 35w and 60w respectively and see how league of legends performs.

UPDATE #2: After uninstalling command center I noticed that if I set the energy plan to High Performance and use the hardware button to change the CPU power limits to 60 & 100 or 45 & 65 the performance in league in back to the 1200 Mhz that I have been seeing when I installed command center BUT if I set the Power limits to 35 & 60 using the hardware button, the GPU boosts to 1400 - 1450 MHz in league of legends and I see more consistent 144 fps frames. So far in my testing I have not gotten any massive studdering from playing league of legends which makes me believe it might be tied to a windows update (I haven't updated windows to the latest updates yet). Going to install steam and test Spyro real quick since that game normally throttles to 1000 MHz on the GPU core after playing 15 minutes or so.

UPDATE #3: Spyro does not perform well with battery saver power limits (35w & 60w) and the GPU clocks drop to around 800 MHz. Changing to Electroboost mode (65w & 100w) it performs at it's best with 135 fps averages but eventually throttles due to heat soak. Will need to do a little more research and try Spyro with CC installed. Above results were obtained WITHOUT CC installed.

 

What is your discharge rate in HWinfo at completely IDLE? We need to pin this down, why some laptops have higher discharge rates.