TONGFANG GK5CN5Z / GK5CN6Z / GK5CQ7Z / GK5CP0Z

Yes, that's the one I flashed.

 

PCS replied to my email, they are planning to release a new BIOS soon.

They said R&D would speak to TongFang about the power adapter rating.

I think the more people contact them the better.

Sent from my Lenovo K8 Note using Tapatalk

 

I was thinking about making a new thread for firmware/driver updates for the GK5CN series. Collect the latest drivers in the comments and just edit the initial post to keep it updated.

EDIT: Flashed the new v 1.10 firmware, tuned the laptop with XTU/TS, results:


My settings are:
OTP: Low
Core -210mV
Cache -125mV
Turbo boost power max 44W
Turbo boost short power max 70W

Temps seem to be great too, during the XTU CPU stress test I had it around 61-65 celsius. Will do a proper aida bench later.

 

This is the Backup made by me of PCSpecialist Recoil II Bios 1.02 6Z GTX 1060.
So, it's not official, it's not signed. If you need for warranty you can flash it, but it can kill for your notebook forever. You have to flash with AMI Aptio V flasher (the bootable one), maybe it's required /GAN command because it's unsigned.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rwFdw8uRhfkCokHcwZACyUuvVo-zs6dI

If you need a tutorial type this on google
"[Guide] Flashing modified AMI Aptio UEFI using AFU"

 

Is thery anyone with this problem? (Go at minute 1:10)

 

Yep, mine has a subtle version of that light bleed at the bottom. Needs to be a solid, dark background to be visible, so you I dont notice it during any normal use.

 

Now that you mention it, I do, I've seen it once or twice since I own the laptop but I thought its actually the media I'm looking at that has this pattern.

 

Also mine has this problem and it's common with this panel. The only way to remove the brightness bleed is put brightness at high and then reduce it to the level you want. I already wrote to PCSpecialist and they told me to RMA the device, but i'm sure 100% they will not do anything

 

So after going through this thread and weighing everything about this laptop, I gotta say it looks pretty nice. I'm very heavily considering getting it, especially because of how absurdly cheap it is. When I first found it on Cyberpower, I thought it was too good to be true!

Are Cyberpower and Eluktronic the only places to purchase it in the US though? All the overseas resellers (which also seem to be the best) are vastly more expensive because of conversions and shipping costs.
I mostly ask because Cyberpower doesn't offer a 144hz screen and I've heard they have spotty customer service, and... well quite frankly I dont like the Eluktronic version's case color. Kinda wish it was the same black every other reseller's been using.

Edit: Oh, also, does it use Nvidia Optimus? I wasn't sure if that was a thing that had to be added on or if it was innate to most Nvidia chips unless overidden by G-Sync. I know there were earlier posts talking about the dGPU running at all times, for some reason.

 

Think the graphics choice is up to you. I don't mind my dgpu running for everything but obviously as mentioned earlier I was getting some slight stutter when it switched between both when doing multiple things. On battery when you're trying to conserve power you'll want the dGPU used minimally but these are things you can set up in your power settings.

 

You should RMA for a new screen mines from PCS and doesn't have that at all.

 

Think the gpu switching wasn't working as intended with the stock bios. With the latest Nvidia driver every time I launched Destiny 2, the game would start but I only got black screen with audio and the only way I managed to get screen too was plugging an external display in since that was connecting directly to the dGPU through the HDMI. So in a way, the switching works as the apps are utilising the dGPU but the screen itself didn't switch input source. After flashing the new BIOS the problem disappeared. Judging by my battery life I doubt it's using the dGPU unless you specify it that way.

 

With the latest bios something changed also for the dGpu. With the old bios i reached max 50fps at high settings on The Witcher 3, now it's 60fps always. I'm thinking to set something at ultra at this point

 

How is battery behaving for you without gaming?

Enviado desde mi ONE A2003 mediante Tapatalk

 

3.5-4.5 hours. It depends on what am i doing

 

Good to hear updates have squared away the issues with Optimus. Definitely makes it an even better mobile machine.

Any idea on other resellers in the US though? Or should I just get a screen added on after purchasing it, as an upgrade at a local shop?

 

Personally I didn't have Optimus issues with stock BIOS while reviewing because I didn't actually have an external hooked up when game testing.

When I did start gaming on external, I was already on the latest (at that time) BIOS and no issues there either.

So yeah, they probably fixed it if there is an issue there.

Also, yes, I'd say get a 180w adapter unless you want your battery to die faster as @Prema mentioned.

Battery boost - while it works - isn't an ideal solution by any stretch TBH, and personally I have never found my unit to have any issues running on 180w even on "high" OTP so far.

 

I contacted pcspecialists and they dont offer the option for an 180w adapter. Anyone recommends one in particular? Or maybe a different reseller for european people?

Enviado desde mi ONE A2003 mediante Tapatalk

 

I've been using the Lite-On 180w adapter (MSI/Asus/Clevo head) and Asus's own slim 180w adapters with no issues, if you're looking for "compatible" adapters. I got both from eBay.

Also, Clevo P95xx compatible Chicony 180w units should work fine too, and I see a few units on eBay from time to time, but they're usually a tad on the pricey side compared to the Lite-On and Asus units.

 

Guys, I created a google drive folder for drivers/software that is not covered by Windows Updates as of now. I will keep updating it regularly, as the drivers come. If any of you guys have any newer, let me know and I'll bang it on the drive. Here is the link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v41mGIzcrXCMYAf363oTzwemr59_4LzW?usp=sharing

AFAIK, these are all you need to install after a fresh Windows install to make the laptop fully working. (excluding nVidia drivers and the such, which you can get with nVidia Experience and the such, for intel driver updates I use intel driver assistant, quite good) NOTE: These are all drivers for Windows 10 x64.

I also got the Mechrevo 1.10 firmware up there.

 

Another question I have though is: Why is this laptop so cheap? Relative to basically any other decent 1060 laptop Ive seen, it beats them in price. It even beats 1050 ti laptops, at its most barebones. Are there cut corners that we just dont know about yet? Are components bad? Will we just have to wait and see?

Eluktronics also has one of TongFang's other laptops availible and it has a gtx 1070 option for as low as about ~1,150$. That is absurd. How are they doing it?

 

I'm guessing cheap labour and not putting a lot on top for profit as it's not under a massive brand therefore not so well known, took me ages to find mine. I get the feeling that it's kinda like how Xiaomi used to be. They made decent stuff for really cheap and they only started charging more when they became well known. On that note, you can get the Xiaomi Notebook Pro for a steal on Gearbest if you wait for q deal, which they do quite often.

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Guessing the fact new GPU's are imminent is another reason 1060 is a decent card but will soon be replaced.

 

it will replaced the next year. Nvidia CEO said that the new nvidia are far

Because this it the first time Tongfang started to produce notebook not only for china​

 

They don't have service centres and staff training or marketing costs. I think it's very expensive to set up in a new country with all the support you need to give your distributor and retailers.

 

Does the PCS model have a UK keyboard with a £ key on the top row?

 

PCS has all layouts, so if it is written UK layout, it is the standard UK layout. Mine has italian layout, just for saying

 

Yes, mine has shift+3 combination for £

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My PCS keyboard is fine

 

Has anyone tried it with linux recently? I've read a post saying that the trackpad isn't working. I would use it with linux and i'd like to know if there's a solution.

 

I've been using Kali Linux on my last laptop and I intended to install it on this one too. I'll create a usb bootable one and see how things turn out, possibly try to solve it. Will report my findings.

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Just another review;
https://topnewreview.com/scan-3xs-lg15-vengeance-pro-review/

Verdict;
Great performance and an excellent screen in a chassis that’s slim, light and sturdy.

 

Any idea if Cyberpower will offer the 144hz screen come the 25th? And have any other U.S resellers popped up yet?

 

Here's a Twitch stream from XMG showcasing their Neo 15

 

Did people just get used to the keyboard noise?

It seems there has been far less critical opinions of it lately. I have read up on many 8750H laptops and this keeps on popping up as the best option, except for the keyboard reviews.

Oh I so wish I won the lottery and could afford the Aero 15X.

 

the keyboard never bothered me personally, if anything, I like it

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From the Twitch showcase it doesn't seem to be that bothersome. It seems to sounds similar to the keyboard on the Lenovo Y510p, for example.

 

But that keyboard here is not the same than pcspecialist ships, so i guess the tongfang case have different keyboard for different OEM. For now, i see mainly pcspecialist keyboard type complains.
My choice is not done yet but i might go to dell just because i can't afford the noise at work...

 

The keyboard mechanism is the same for all the laptops, also the noisy and "click feeling". The only thing changing are the "caps cover" that XMG and Mechrevo are a bit different.

 

Talking about the keyboard, i see that pcw.fr now offers a new keyboard, said to be quieter. It's new, i checked it yesterday, wasn't there.
The name of the build is inote 50z

 

hello everyone, I bought 8750h+1050ti configuration from a turkish reseller, monster notebook. battery life seems terribble and I couldnt improve it with undervolting. what do you guys did for having 3-4 hour battery life?

 

I flashed the new firmware, undervolted the CPU and custom set some battery rules. I limited max CPU utilisation to 80% when on battery as I don't play games when I'm on the move. I can get over 5h out if the laptop depending on what I'm doing.

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It's interesting, but it looks like it isn't mechanical but a common keyboard (that's just a supposition)

 

Great! It looks like a €29 option (called the "V2"). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will cascade down to PCS eventually.

TongFang basically just realised they can make a tiny bit more profit by replacing the more expensive mechanical keyboard with a regular one.

 

I don't know if i can ever return to an old classic keyboard. The mechanical keyboard are awesome and it's an huge pleasure using it.

 

Hey,

A piece of good work, guys. I have a question for you for a long time I am thinking about buying this laptop, I can't decide which graphics version to choose 1050 Ti or 1060? it's worth paying extra 150 euros for 1060?

 

I've been researching it too before I made a decision and I deemed the difference big enough to pay extra. Another thing, you cannot upgrade like you can with storage or ram, so instead of regretting it later I decided to pay extra. I'm using it for gaming though, so depends what your intentions are.

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The conclusion I reached from reading online reviews is that, for most titles at 1080p 60 fps (so perfect for the Tongfang current 60Hz screen):

• 1050Ti at Medium quality
  
• 1060 at High quality
  
• 1070 at Ultra quality
• Max-Q tend to end up around half a grade or so below non-max-Q (so not quite a full quality grade drop).

For video editing:

• Linus already did a video showing only marginal improvement from using a more powerful dedicated GPU (but a massive improvement having a dGPU vs only iGPU) but that was before Adobe Premiere recent update.
  
• If you export H.264, 8750H CPU should support the (recently released) Adobe Premiere hardware acceleration using iGPU (assuming the Tong Fang allows iGPU and dGPU to be switched on at the same time, which I think it does based on what I read here).

For photo editing, you must be doing some pretty crazy stuff to need more than 1050 Ti.

For machine learning, the more VRAM the merrier so 1060 is usually the minimum entry-level recommendation.

 

​

If you buy this laptop for gaming purpose or for a long term use buy the highest gpu avaible (1060)For everything else the 1050ti is the best choice. Remember that the gpu in soldered on the motherboard and you can't upgrade it.

 

Thanks for your suggestions, I think I will decide to 1060. You are great!