TONGFANG GK5CN5Z / GK5CN6Z / GK5CQ7Z / GK5CP0Z

Ah, hi there! Thanks for the help, but I still can't seem to get it past 2.400. Does that mean I can better get it refunded and order a better 2400? Or can I overclock it in some sort of way to still take advantage of the extra juice?

 

i would change it against this kit:

https://www.mindfactory.de/product_...-DDR4-2666-SO-DIMM-CL15-Dual-Kit_1138015.html

i have this and its work fine.

 

@OliverL87 If you run CPU-Z, which manufacturer shows up for you? I noticed that everyone that has Mechrevo as their manufacturer is able to plug in the 2.666mhz. I, however, have Tong Fang as manufacturer and only can go up to 2.400. I guess it has something to do with the BIOS, mine doesn't provide any XMP options either. Have been looking for an official driver but I find the one from the Chinese site a bit sketchy, would like to hear more from others about their findings with it as well as I noticed some saw decrease in their performance

 

Which BIOS version do you have?

 

I have the American Megatrends N.1.02 BIOS that came with it by default:

 

I had PC Specialist and now Mechrevo. It works with both.

EDIT: i had not PCS, i had Tong Fang. Maybe the same Version.

 

Hello guys,(and girls),

Get some help, My conf: i7 + 1060, Stock Bios (1.02)
This machine came from PC Specialist on last monday. I change ram to 2x8 Samsung DDR4 2400Mhz (1x4 2400Mhz Corsair) and add one hdd (1TB Samsung).

Problem 1:
On the battery: 2x press the power button to turn on the machine.
Problem 2:
Kernel Power 41 (63). (at random high load) (No BSOD)

I think condenser or power supply or battery "faulty".

Flashing Machrevo Bios or "Go to RMA"?
If I ask for stupidity, I have a laptop after 10 years.

 

I thought that mine had this issue, turns out I need to press the button for about half a second and it boots after that one long press. Weird thing after years with a PC which booted after a short click of the power button.

 

Thanks, soothing, only the bad habit of long-pc era .

 

Hi , when i bought my recoil II , i had a problem that when i was playing a decent game (like xcom2 or pillard of eternity 2 ), at a moment the computer just shutoff , i send it back to PCS and they said they solved it , they said they updated the bios , and also said they gave me a more powerful battery , i think the bios wasn't updated , so i tried the one i saw in this thread.
i thought it was no more , but right know i played rocket league , and it did it again.
I saw that i should take a 180w power supply , is that the solution or not .
I'm asking here , because it's looks i can have better response here.

Also since the bios update , my computer seems less hotter on the game center , but i'm not sure if it is true

P.S sry for my english

 

Yes (and thanks), 2-3 or more hour active gaming (decent game NFS: Payback, Horizon 3), shut down, no bsod, no error, error only one event log: Kernel - Power 41. (GPU max: 72, CPU max: 85 so not thermal). RMA = No solution. ("PCSpecialist IKEA of laptop/pcusers" ~ as i read here.). It seems to me that I will "raise up" the Machrevo bios.

 

Yeah i think having a better power supply will help (maybe ... ) , because sometimes when i play , the computer switch to battery even if it is plug-in , i guess there is a lack power and then it switch to the battery (happend on xcom , when there a lot of explosion for one sec , then it come back to normal).
Maybe that's why they gave me a more powerful battery , maybe it crash because it failed that process.

 

It's not the battery, it's the adapter that's the problem.

I only really use my 150w original for mobility + medium level loads now, and my trio of 180w adapters for everything else - which has thankfully been enough so far.

 

Yes, update my bios, and set "medium" OTP, and no problem (8h test tonight). Thank you guys for information, finally everything works normally.

 

thanks , well mine is on the way.

well i tried on kunbuntu , antergos , debian , i had nothing
idk if it is a kernel problem or not , people had issue like this for other laptop , some says that u muse change the touchpad option to default reather than advanced (in BIOS)
but there is nothing like that in mine.

Or maybe try with the lastest kernel version , like 4.17
i tried recompile mine , with some fix , but it didn't work
https://techtablets.com/forum/topic/touchpad-not-working-in-linux/

 

I just ordered a 230W slim adapter, hope it will solve the power limit throttling. 150W is just not enough for this combination of hardware.

 

Hey fam, I have tried to read almost everything but maybe skipped it, my question is ... how good is the performance of this one while on battery? Does it descrease so much? Only interested on cpu perfomance as I'm not a player. I was aiming to buy the one from XMG (XMG NEO 15)

 

Hi, I'll do you a cinebench later today.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

Thanks buddy, really appreciated

 

It is LG Philips LGD05C0, the same you can find in the new Aero 15 and Clevo P950

 

Wow! That screen looks superb!

 

did anyone tried usb type-c docks?

 

On my computer performance it's a sharp ~22% drop. On battery I get a cinebench score of 947 compared to the 1200ish I get normally.

ALSO ATTENTION PCS CUSTOMERS!

PCS provided me with a new BIOS, haven't flashed it yet, not sure I'm even going to but it might be interesting for people who didn't want to flash the Mechrevo BIOS.

 

I would like to try the PCS bios. What is the version number of bios and ec?

 

Cool! Thanks for the try, these look like really good numbers

 

They didn't tell me a whole lot in the email, just described how to flash it. Therefore, I messaged them to confirm a couple of things like if it's the BIOS is for the GTX 1060 version, what version is the BIOS and I asked for a changelog compared to the standard v1.02 the laptop get's shipped with, or at least, the one mine was shipped with.

 

Hyperbook.pl just released a new version of gaming center for the Z15 Pulzar which is the same as ours; GamingCenter 1.1.15.12. This version has no memory leak like the .6 version.
http://sklep.hyperbook.pl/pub/support/Z15 Pulsar/

 

Mine came from PCS with 1.02 bios, I do not remember which EC version is was though.

 

how did you get a score of 1200 , i only get 1050 or something like that

 

Have you undervolted the CPU?

Any of you guys live in the UK? I want to buy a new PSU but I'm not sure what brand I should go for, there are some massive price differences.

 

i don't know , and i don't think so

 

Can you upload the bios or send me in PM?. I will check the version and everything else.

 

Hello, I've been following this thread and really impressed by this laptop. I am considering this laptop (which is called Apex 15 in Singapore, where I live) vs the MSI GP63.

MSI GP63 is on Newegg right now, with total cost of 2100 SGD (which is about 1500USD, including shipping from Newegg USA to Sinagpore), config as below
- i7 8750H / GTX 1070 / 16G Ram / 128G SSD + 1TB HDD / 15.6" 120Hz TN
- I'll probably go and repaste this afterwards, which should pump up the cost a little bit.
- link to the GP63 https://www.newegg.com/global/sg/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154900&ignorebbr=1

For the Apex 15, it would cost 2300 SGD for config below
- i7 8750H / GTX 1060 / 16G Ram / 500G Samsung 860 Evo SSD / 15.6" 60hz / Free Kryonaunt repaste / 2-year pick up and return warranty / 180W PSU

So, should I take the Apex 15, with superior customer support, or the MSI with better graphic power at 200 SGD less?
Also, other considerations are:
- Is the TN panel in the MSI good enough for basic photo / video editing
- I don't play AAA titles (currently enjoying GTA V and Civilization 6), so the 1060 should be enough for now, but 1070 is great for future proof
- I heard MSI owners reported about the bad hinge design in GE/GP series (broken hinge after about a year since it's too sitff, made from plastic and faulty design), can anyone comfirm this?
- How good is the GP63 build quality? I've checked out the Apex 15 and quite like it, but not sure how the MSI will fare.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ER9cwcAjO1HKx_n58411ViRO9klaydtp/view?usp=drivesdk

Knock yourself out anyone else wanna give it a crack, feel free to but as always, at your own risk. I will personally wait and see what my man here can find out about it. Much appreciated KinderB

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

I don't know too much about that TN panel but I heard that TN panels are miles better than what they used to be. It's worth researching it. Otherwise the MSI seems like a lot better computer, especially for less money. The downside of our machine is the battery life, other than that I think it's a great little laptop. Don't know about the MSI battery but the 1070 is a huge advantage over our machine. On paper the MSI looks superior in any case. I'd go on YouTube and watch some reviews of it and if people are satisfied I'd go with that one. The 1070 is around 30% faster than the 1060.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

I would go for the Apex 15. The GP is the "old style" gaming laptop series, big and fat notebook, old design. The tongfang one looks much more "modern". Just for saying, my university's friend has a GP2 and we call it the "brick".
MSI GP dimension: 383 x 260 x 29 mm
Apex dimension: 359 x 236 x 22 mm

Second thing. The TN panel is totally incompatible with photo & video editing. The best TN display is worse than the cheapest IPS one. TN is good only for gamer, but, personally, i would never buy one. (i have a good TN monitor near my desktop and my tongfang's display looks much better).

The 1070 is faster than the 1060,but if you aren't an hardcore gamer you will not take all the benefits from the 1070.

I read also really bad opinion about MSI warranty support.

 

I've done researching about the MSI before, most review considers this as one of the best TN panel out there, the color reproduction is great (better than cheap IPS), bright (notebookcheck measurement gives 340nits average), horizontal viewing angle is great, horizontal is still meh. Sadly there isn't seem to be any side-be-side comparison between this and another IPS panel. Also, MSI battery should also be just as bad with only 51Whr capacity.

I do agree that the Apex would look much better with the modern design and thin bezel display. However, the weight isnt that big of a difference (2.2kg vs 2kg) and 200 saving is significant given the MSI design is not that bad (and GTX1070 too). I plan to use this laptop for a good 4 years so getting 1070 for future games maybe worth consideration. Yes, the screen is one of my toughest decision. I probably have to go out and check the MSI screen by myself when I have time before making the final call.

Thank you again for both your advice.

P/s: The MSI keyboard might also be a better one since most people are satisfied with it while the TongFang's is just weird (and noisy).

 

Which one did you buy? I haven't seen an adapter that has 230W and a 5.5mm plug.

 

My choice is now between the TongFang and the Gigabyte Sabre 15-W8. I decided against the MSI GP63 8RE because it seems almost impossible to open the case without damaging it and the Windows key is on the wrong side of the spacebar. The Saber has a bigger battery, 62Wh, than the TongFang and comes with a 180W adapter in the box.

 

The Sabre 15 is a clevo n857xx rebrand.
If you choose the tongfang you are searching for a slim, thin gaming notebook. The clevo one is a standard laptop and it's bigger than this, for this reason there is a larger battery.

 

I wouldn't worry about the screen all that much to be honest. I know it's extra money, but if you decide that it's not as great as an good IPS panel could be, you can just swap it out for an IPS panel. That's what I've done with my old laptop, came with an absolutely horrendous TN panel, you had to sit dead straight in front of the laptop to see stuff properly, so I ordered an IPS panel off ebay and had it replaced. New panel worked absolutely fine. There are some limitations as not every IPS panel will fit it (gotta look at the panel plug), but there are certainly some options out there. I only suggest this because that TN panel isn't as horrible as mine used to be, if that was the case I'd just say go with an IPS straight away.

The clicky keyboard isn't too bad, I'm a weirdo so I actually like it, gives you a nice feedback, though keyboard, for me at least, isn't something I'd base my decision when I get a new laptop (unless the keyboard of the other one is absolutely rubbish). Battery life should be a bit better with that 51Whr but you won't see a massive difference there. Hope we helped you make your decision and you'll get a good little machine.

@lKinder_Bueno PCS just sent me another email saying that the BIOS version is 1.03, which you probably already found out and set me an even newer BIOS actually, which is 1.04. They didn't give me a changelog though, so I have no clue how any of these are different from stock. Link to 1.04:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pBqu1Le3tE5H-__yToV9izoDlQIhBgJw

 

Interesting.

Do PCS sell that Clevo model?

 

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusIX-15/#features it's this one by the looks of it

 

if this is correct ( https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthread.php/73599-PC-specialist-Recoil-II-TouchPad-not-found ) it seems that this trackpad uses a protocol called i2c over hid.

Maybe this could be a possible solution

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1033033/elantech-touchpad-does-not-work-i2c-hid

but i can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet :|

 

well that post on kubuntu was mine , and the solution you're talking about , maybe it's the solution , and other people solved it by managing the touchpad option in bios, but we do not have anything like that in ours .

 

What a small world.

I think i'll buy it anyway and will use an external mouse until i find a solution, there are a lot of things to try googling the problem.

 

Hi everyone,

I am a member of PC Specialist's support team and I've been keeping up to date on our plans for the 15.6" Recoil II.

As noted by some forum members previously, a new BIOS is available that addresses the power off issue. This is available for PCS customers via our usual support channels. We are looking into a changelog for ver. 1.04 with our R&D team and Tongfang.

In terms of a 180W adapter, we are actively looking into this and attempting to find a volume supplier of a compatible model. We don't have an ETA for the adapter just yet.

 

Thanks Jacob, you're a top man! Nice to see PCS paying attention to our thread. Keep us updated!

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Hi @Jacob Hawkes, we're glad to have you here!

Just FYI: I might be mistaking, but it appears that you have a regular user account, while it might be necessary for company reps to have the Company Representative type of the account (I don't know the procedure for creating that type of the account, maybe a more experienced user, another company rep or a moderator could help you with that if it's necessary).

 

Thanks for the input, I am currently querying this with the Forum Staff as I was not presented an option to do this whilst creating my account. I reckon they need to do it on the admin side.