TONGFANG GK5CN5Z / GK5CN6Z / GK5CQ7Z / GK5CP0Z

I have to say I really like this 15+. I have not touched my XPS-15 (9550) since applying all the fixes to this laptop. I know 32gb RAM is overkill but I was able to grab an additional goldkey 16gb stick for $90 shipped. I added the Adata 512gb NVMe (XPG SX8200 Pro) to the empty slot and boot from that. So I have, basically, 1K invested in this thing. It is like a little demon. Initially I had blue screens at least once a day until I reseated the RAM and updated the BIOS to the newest version. I have not updated the EC yet. It's a bit over my head for now but will tackle that when I have more time to figure it out.
If Walmart gets these back in stock, I will buy the 17" model for the wife.
A big thank you to all the folks who have posted fixes, updates and their experiences on here.

 

Just received the new battery from aliexpress and can get it to strech past 8 hours of light browsing time by:
- turning off keyboard leds
- throttlestop set for undervolt -130 + Speedshift Epp 160
- making sure that Nvidia GPU is off. Its worth enabling nvidia GPU monitor option in nvidia options to check if any apps are using it, especially if you use an external display as disconnecting from one does not automatically switch apps back to intel GPU. To force apps back onto iGPU you'll need to disable and re-enable nvidia card after disconnecting the external display, which I've set to happen automatically via throttlestop launching a powershell script.
If I kill outlook and my other work apps I can get the battery display as 10 hours of capacity remaining.

 

Do you actually get that much time or is that what is estimated?

Also do you have a link to the battery on Ali? I searched for "gk5cn-00-13-4s1p-0" and nothing came up.

 

Are you sure that Speed Step is enabled? I think it should display a green 'SST' next to the EPP value. At least, mine does. Check and make sure it's enabled under the TPL menu.

edit: found Unclewebbs post to confirm http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ongfang-gk5cn6z.815943/page-281#post-10845132

 

Havent had it long enough, so can only go by the battery guessometer - but at the moment signs are good. 3 hours of outlook, skype and citrix have taken battery down to 48%, so I suppose 8 hours should be achievable when doing something very basic.
link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...776.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.61064c4dY8eKHR
however it looks to be sold out.

 

Ticking Speed Shift in TPL menu gives me the SST in green writing, however Speed Shift EPP definitely does something to CPU frequencies even without SST bit. If I set it to 0 or 1 CPU frequency shoots up and so does the voltage, set it to 160 and it stays very low.

 

Yeah I'm definitely no expert, just noticed and remembered Unclewebb saying something about it.

 

Does anyone know if this would fit underneath the bigger battery (or something like that) and I'm not sure, but how much heat would a plain SATA m.2 generate?
https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIA4...lZn6uLjiIF7Eg-zymkAaAmOQEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Guys whats the consensus here using liquid metal on the GPU ...... I just did my CPU but so bobs video he says there isn't much to gain on the 10 series cards what do you guys think should i go for it ????

 

Hi!

Model is GK5CN6Z. Vendor is a local one, but I've been using the OverPowered BIOS, EC and CC.

I'm on BIOS OP N.1.05 and EC 1.35 and ControlCenter 1.2.2.8.

I've had this issue with every BIOS I tried. Can this be a Windows problem?

 

That is correct.

@arcticjoe - Your screenshot above shows that Speed Shift is NOT enabled. On these laptops, Speed Shift needs to be enabled in the ThrottleStop - TPL window.

 

Thanks Nitroturtle and Unclewebb, looks like Speed Shift was disabled as you've said. I just set it to 0 and nothing changed... Which means I probably had it ticked in TPL window previously as I remember setting it to 0 and seeing frequency jump up.

 

It might (I returned my laptop due to a dead touchpad and a cut wifi cable on arrival so can't really mine to check) fit under the 2 m.2 slots and just fold the sata cable so the connector isn't lifting the battery.

 

I will say my alienware hinges are so much smoother and more stable than the Tongfang hinges. Also due to the lid design, trying to close the laptop with one hand pushing down in the wifi antenna area may cause grinding with the back strip holding the LEDs for power.

 

Does anyone know if there is a ribbon cable long enough to connect to the 2nd touchpad input connector? (Would have tried to use that connector if my laptop didn't also come with other problems.) Also is the sub input on the side active?

 

I ended up buying the accidental warranty with mine just so I wouldn't need to worry about this in the future. Hinges have always been a weakness in any laptop build, I really do hope that they don't fail on this one because I really do like this laptop.

 

Windows 10 1809. No issues after updating. You could try to reset the BIOS to the default values.

People have complained about underpowered power supply units (120W/150W instead of the 180W which is needed for full power) and there is a utility (check again the post linked above) which can flip bits in the bios.

 

Send me your donation link please. Can you also confirm how we can have a TPL value for battery and another set of TPL values for AC? Thanks for your help.

 

It won't fit there. I absolutely would not put it underneath the battery either as the touchpad is there (plus you risk puncturing the battery). I got a half size version of this (M2 2242) and it will not fit anywhere in the chassis, I already checked. There is not much dead space in there. Like I said, the only possible spot it may fit is on TOP of the 2 M2 SSDs, but only if you can remove the plate off the back cover that presses down against it. You would also need space for insulation between the SSDs (they run at 3.3V and can get HOT) and the cover so it's probably a no go.

 

What about this idea: replace the SATA cable with a longer one so it can run to the other side of the battery and again be up against the bottom of the laptop. There is space underneath the laptop for a bulge. Cut the bottom panel and patch in a piece of mesh for airflow to the drive. This would be destructive to the bottom panel, which isn't a big deal to me, but would this isolate the heat enough, and do you think there is enough space under there?

 

I just upgraded my laptop battery.
I hate tongfang screws, the metal is really too soft. I had to literally destroy the hdd bay to put the battery because the screw was stripped. There was also the problem of the hdd cable. I can't remove it because it is connected under the motherboard and I didn't want to remove all the motherboard for a cable, so I have hidden it under the Sata M2 SSD
Here is a photo of the final result


In the spoiler there are some photos of the destroyed hdd bay and how I have hidden the hdd cable

Spoiler

 

I have to ask, did you always have this in your signature "I love to "destroy" things without knowing what am i doing."

I did notice my HDD screws were super tight, that's where a quality screwdriver helps quite a bit (and applying the appropriate downward force). I like my Wera kit, I have yet to strip a screw with them in the hundreds of laptops I've opened.

Also let us know how battery life is with the new battery. I'm really interested.

 

I'm sure there are many ways to do it if you mod the back cover. You are more than welcome to try it ... I personally refuse to do anything to it as they don't sell a replacement anywhere if I mess up and I prefer to have a functioning cover in one piece.

 

I have the Walmart op 15 with 1060.. my brick is 180w.. I have an OEM file.. I guess its the right one.. I opened F.bat with text editor and power brick was already set to #2 = 180 so I ran the f.bat after I guess that's what your to do ? how can I check to see if the setting went in to effect?
this is what was in the f.bat file...….

@echo off
cd /d %~dp0
OemServiceWinApp.exe SetApCtrl /clear
OemServiceWinApp.exe SetApCtrl /MK 0 /WK 1 /BL 1 /FB 1 /RGBKB 0 /CHINA 0 /OC 0
OemServiceWinApp.exe SetApCtrl /GetStatus
OemServiceWinApp.exe adptype /set 2
OemServiceWinApp.exe oemtdr /settdr 0xa
OemServiceWinApp.exe rgblb /setmode 1
OemServiceWinApp.exe subwoofer /set 0
AMIDEWINx64.exe /OS 16 1D051053Z1100500



im not sure if this is the right one for my laptop?
how do I see if it went in effect?
also my score was 1147 that's with 2 x8gb sticks of 2400 help

 

Is there any noticable weight difference from the larger battery? Not sure which weighs more or if it's even a noticable difference.

 

Not noticeable at all, feels like maybe 100g or so in it between the two.

 

I just ordered a battery from here:
http://www.batteriess.de/getac-gk5cn00134s1p0-152v-6232wh-laptop-akku-batterien-p-28645.html

Came to $78 shipped. Seemed like it might get here in a reasonable amount of time. We will see what happens.

EDIT:
They cancelled my order saying it was out of stock! ugh.

 

Nice! (both of you).

In addition to that option, I have also been wondering more and more lately whether a different manufacturer's battery might be able to fit, by removing both speakers either side of the battery compartment.

The rational is something like this:

In a few other certain laptops. The capacity is larger. Perhaps 80-100 WH. However it occupies fully the entire width of the laptop. (which may be a little different, BTW, so there is no guarantee they would be quite 'narrow enough' without some trial and error or more exact measurements).

So those ones are also a bit thinner in the Y axis. More tube shaped. The aspect ratio makes them look more like a bit stick of gum. I can give a few examples if anyone is interested. This different shape could potentially be enough to clear and not conflict with those lower down 2 PCB daughterboards on either side (for the usb ports etc.). Which actually prevent the official Tongfang batteries from going the full width of the laptop. And despite loosing some vertical space, the total capacity of the battery ends up being somewhat larger.

Another potential stumbling block could be if the voltage is too far outside what is expected by the laptop and its charging circuit. Although I would expect some degree of wiggle room there also. As they have to be flexible enough to accomodate worn batteries and the natural variance between specific batteries.

Anyhow. It might sound crazy. But I dont believe anybody has seriously looked into this approach yet. Clearly the main goal is to increase the capacity higher than 62WH. Because that is still only aboud 70% of what the regulatations permit.

However another secondary goal is to actually leave a strip of free cavity space in the central area, next to the battery. To help accomodate another m.2 drive in place of the removed 2.5 inch bay. Which being realistic probably is not going to be anywhere big enough room for that, but at least it is space to help run the SATA flat flex cable to a different location entirely. Or to help accommodate other type of modifications. Such as if the (not standard in any way / not approved) battery needs a little adaptor cable / connector thingy. In order to actually plug into the Tongfang mainboard. As being a differently wired connector or plug.

 

Does anybody have issues with their " Intel Master Key " ?
Mine has only worked for 2 Gifts and not the others, which is strange.
I really need a key ( even if it doesn't work at all ), If possible for anyone having key ( working or not ) please send me it, i need to provide it in my ticket to intel support, Thank you.

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...e1mne&id=576818383457&ns=1&abbucket=16#detail
If anyone of you really want to do some mods and need a replacement bottom cover, this is one that I found on sale.

 

I still haven't had a response back from intel email support and its been ~ a month. The original website with the intel code that was sent to me via Walmart was the incorrect website to use, and I found the correct one, which worked and I received everything through steam and greenmangaming.

https://softwareoffer.intel.com/Redeem

I just installed the free trial of Call Of Duty Black Ops 4 Blackout mode and it plays very well on this machine (comparing to my xbox1x) . Check it out on battle.net (it's free for a week)

PUBG runs pretty good on the OP15+ but still has stutters in high rendering areas like small cities but clears up quickly (with high settings, but still better than my xbox1x)

 

Bit o update,

I did the repaste with Conductonaut, didn't expect much, however it did make a significant difference for me.
Stock Max temp was ~85, but after LM It stay near 75 max. I did do both CPU and GPU.

I problem I have however is with Throttlestop.
I can't get it to auto-launch properly. It set up in task scheduler and it seems to run, but it does not.
On boot I can see TS running in Task Manager/and if I try to launch it manually says its already running. But no way to access the application. Plus running HWinfo shows me infact its NOT running looking at voltages. If I end task with task manager and relaunch it works fine. Any thoughts.

 

Eluktronics now has the 4 cell battery upgrade option for $20 USD more for both the 15 and 17 inch.

 

When you set up Throttle Stop in task scheduler make sure you check the box "Run with highest privileges" on the General tab.

 

Do you have it set to "Run with Highest Privileges" on startup?

 

Yes. That is checked. Also not sure it matters, but when running manually, it always warns me about security risk and have to hit yes pop up from windows.

 

Is that user account control that is prompting you? I never have that turned on so I'm not sure if that is causing your issue.

 

My code worked mostly for all the gifts ( even pubg dlc jacket ) EXCEPT PUBG ! , the code has been used before on greenmangaming and i can't get it to work, and neither of the two believe me that i didn't use it >.>, has anyone got a spare key ? ( really need the game ).

 

How did IC Diamond work out for you?

My MasterGel has pumped out quite a bit and I'm getting up to 88°C max with just a CPU load.

I'm trying to find something that will work for a long time but I'm not sure what to go with.

My main 3 choices are:
1. IC Diamond
2. Nanogrease extreme
3. Kryonaut again (first one was a bad batch and / or fake.)

My screws on the heatsink are also stripped so I'm going to have to buy replacement screws.

I really regret repasting the first time since the stock paste maxed out at 84° but it most likely would have lasted years.

This laptop seems like it's gonna need some work.

 

You know if you're looking for something that will last a long time then I would go with either IC Diamond or MX4. I've heard reports of Kryonaut not lasting for the long run and my experience with Nanogrease was that it dried out fairly quickly.

 

Ahhh!

There's so much conflicting information.

Awhile ago in this thread people were talking about how MX4 is basically trash and gives worse temps that stock paste.

I used a bit of my friends IC diamond and it didnt work to well but it's also over a year old.

I guess it doesn't help that my heatsink came warped, I'm running a aida64 test right now and I have 2 cores maxing out a 87°C while another has maxed out at 71°C.

 

Yeah I have some un-even core temps but nothing like that.

I've used a TON of thermal paste over the years and I've never had a bad experience with ICD or MX4. In fact I still use MX4 on all of my non-performance builds.

 

MX-4 was a little better than the stock paste, but it took liquid metal to really see satisfying temperature drops. If you're worried about LM, know that I took an 8 hour drive with the laptop in a backpack in the usual 90 degree vertical position. No problems to report.

 

Lol I take the bus 40m each way much bumpier and temperature hasn't changed. FYI DotA 2 for 30m on gaming profile only got 70c on both CPU and GPU.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

I've banished liquid metal to only be used on the die of my desktop 8700k and no where else since I had some bad experiences with it; It dried out between the IHS and cold plate of my H115i and the two pieces were literally fused together. I had to wedge a screwdriver between the H115i block and a nearby vrm heatsink and pry the thing apart.

After getting the two apart the once "liquid" metal had completely solidified, almost like solder. I had to chip the large parts off with a screwdriver and then go to town with a scouring pad and some Rockit Cool cleaning liquid.


Anyways back to this laptop, I'm just trying to prevent pump out and I'm thinking about going with IC diamond, since the Kryonaut I got was bad / fake and I don't feel like taking my chances again.

Also do you guys think that some misaligned thermal pads could be why my heatsink won't sit evenly on my cpu? I'm getting wildly varying temperatures (like 12°C difference between some cores.), and I can visually see in the left over thermal paste where the heatsink is making good contact, and where it isn't.

 

I should probably make a TIM video. Things are not exactly as they are on desktops.

I’ve spent years testing this for fun. Long time enthusiast way before YT. 6k posts just on OCN alone.

My go-to pastes changed when I switched to laptops.

The main reason why I haven’t made that video yet is because there’s so many variables that a proper video would be quite long.

It’s exhausting replying to people who clearly didn’t watch or understand the whole video.

Kryonaut is still my fav for laptops. I have it on laptops that sold long ago as well as a machine I have on hand. I haven’t had to replace it yet but I want to hit summer before I can make a solid claim like that.

 

That's totally possible. You'll have to see if the heatsink looks level. You can also do some test mounting to see if the thermal pads are causing an issue.

 

Perfect! I have a question for you then. It fused itself which definitely sucks. But why did you take it apart? Were themals compromised?

Even if they weren’t that still doesn’t justify its usage per it “soldering” itself together. But I’m curious regardless.

 

Yea, for about 4 months liquid metal was doing fine on my cpu. Then temperatures quickly began to rise from 60°C Max to 75°Max, and I had a break so I decided to take it apart and repaste with Kryonaut and temperatures went back down to what they should be ( 60-63°C )

Only then did I find the mess that conductonaut left behind, and the reason why my temperatures were quickly rising.