TONGFANG GK7CN6S / GK7CP0S / GK7CP7S

I only play with headsets so fan noise isn't an issue.

Just out of curiosity where do you play and have the freedom to use laptop audio without disturbing anyone or not being disturbed by environment noise?

 

My girlfriend and myself have both their own house (after both being divorced) and I can game at here place without headset.

At my place I game at my desk (25” screen) where I also work. I had a desktop (ryzen 1600x with GTx1080Ti) but I sold to have a laptop to have some portability.

Not the cheapest way to live, but my house is brand new (2016) and I don’t want to sell it.

 

Well, I pulled the trigger. Seriously, I have nothing but respect for this company. Every time I call a very knowledgeable person picks up the phone and answers my question in less than a minute.

Eluktronics let me return my original order of an 8750&2070 from a couple weeks ago by just refusing to sign for it when it arrived, and now they're preparing to ship me a 9750&2070 with EluktroBoost. It was $200 to upgrade the processor, +12GB to the SSD, and a mouse w/ pad. Given the reworked motherboard, I think it'll be worth it.

I'll be a benchmark guinea pig when it arrives (hopefully next week) so that we can see the difference the 9750+125w2070 make in both FPS and temps.

 

I’m trying to exchange my clevo for a Tomgfang with 9750h and RTX2070. In that case we can check extra performance.

 

Ok I myself finally pulled the trigger! $1250 from the awesome newegg deal, and $25 for the Thermal Upgade on Eluktronics website.

Also we may have a lot more people joining the Mech 17 ranks shortly. Decided to share the Deal on SlickDeals, and oh boy is it popping. Literally reached FrontPage in just over an Hour with over 6k views and 50 Thumbs up- https://slickdeals.net/f/13053229-e...ming-laptop-1249-99?p=127204900#post127204900

 

Compared wit europe this us ridiculous cheap. It is 1150€, is there sales tax included?

For a 9750H combined with RTX2070, 512Gb sata ssd and 16Gb ram you have to pay 1750€. Quite a difference.

 

Well the $1250 deal is for the 9750h and 1660ti and the 512NVME+16GB Ram+Windows 10+ Mouse+Mouse Pad. To upgrade to Rtx 2070 is an additional $400 (or $200 for Rtx2060, which now may be worthwhile at 115 Watts with EluktroBoost). But regardless yes the prices are way better here. From what I've seen you should expect to pay a bit more in Pounds/Euro, eventhough they are currently worth more than the Dollar. Also no sales tax for me, if ordering from Eluktronics there is only sales tax if you are in Delaware.

 

It would be an instant buy. The 1660ti should be a huge improvement over the gtx1060. I don’t think the RTX is worth the ectra money.
That said, the RTX2070mq I have now (but would like to return) is quite fast.

That config with normal ssd and win 10 pro is 1370€. Which is a wuite good deal I think. For Europe at least.

 

So did you wind up ordering from Newegg (for the deal) or directly from Eluktronics (to avoid sales tax)?

 

It's possible to get the GTX 1660ti for around 1000 USD w/o OS SSD, etc. and with (refer to my later post)
I think the RTX 2070 being labeled as a MQ for the 17 is a mistake, it's only a MQ for the RTX 2080.
The GTX models are perfect for most free to play games.

 

I don't know if eluktronics actually has this combo but their website allows an i7 8750h paired with a gtx 1660ti which doesn't seem right but if it exists, it's 100 USD cheaper than getting the i7 9750h.

 

For AAA titles as well.

 

CyberpowerPC's current deal for the GTX 1660 ti is not bad rn vs Newegg's pricing of the Eluktronics Mech-17 at $1,249.99

 

Since the body of the laptop hasn't change, I think it might be possible for someone to just buy the motherboard and heat sinks to "upgrade" their laptop. Would be nice if a company just did that, you would have a laptop that would not depreciate so much since you can upgrade it and doesn't smoke up like the AW Area 51m (reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/b2r1rn/my_area51m_started_smoking_i_took_it_apart_and/).

 

Hahaha, I was actually considering that, but might be too much hassle.

Super grateful for the democratization of awesome laptops!

 

Some of us have headphones

 

I have NO sales tax with Newegg, and thats where i ordered it. But i also ordered the thermal upgrade from Eluktronics, and also didn't have sales tax there.

Sure you can get it for $100 less from Eluktronics with just the 8750h. However you lose the "upgraded" motherboard that allows for the extra watts for all 3 Gpu's (most important for 2060, since going from its 90 watts to 115 watts is a drastic change that will translate into literally 10%+ performance boost, putting it comfortably ahead of a 2070max-q and even threatening 2080Max-q that are at 80 watts.

 

About EluktroBoost...
There is technically a vBIOS/TDP increase mod that also does that what Eluktronics is going for but that clearly void the warranty if caught. Based on the wording I'm pretty sure Eluktronic hasn't order special copies of the motherboard and getting or not getting the upgrade is just changes to firmware and software since the "upgrade" is free. Meaning this feature could be replicated on any reseller version of the laptop. If the boost was pushing it even more like +30w, they could be binning GPU chips which would be sick for a laptop company to do that but most likely more expensive.

 

Yeah, I doubt anything is proprietary to Eluktronics. It's similar to what Clevo does with all its resellers. It's a one size fits all die and combo and they just overlay canned BIOS (some leverage PREMA bios) the rest pretty much tweak bootloader images and simply macros and fan curves nothing groundbreaking or proprietary. I can appreciate the customer service and options provided along with the killer deals and price point of eluktronics but i'm not sure how much of it is marketing. The "eluktroboost" comes built in with new Intel chips, it's not like Eluktronics are the only ones to have it. Other resellers probably have it under another name. With that said... do share this "mod" lol

 

Thanks SlickDragon for your order and reflecting this info. One detail our customer support forgot to mention is the TurboBoost feature will run the EluktroBoost feature, but it will no longer automatically run the fans at maximum while in the TurboBoost mode. You have the option to choose max fans in the new Gaming Center, but it's not required. I am also happy to report the speakers have been improved. We always appreciate constructive feedback so we can try our best to offer the highest quality PC for the money. I am happy to answer questions anyone might have!

William Kiryluk aka Will
Eluktronics Inc, CEO

 

As my comment highlighted the response from the Sales Rep, the Ceo of Eluktronics was tinkering with things and decided that the cooling was good enough to up the wattage. He then spoke to Tonfang, and they seemingly made a minor motherboard change that helped allow this. If it was solely software based, they would have retroactively done the tdp increase for 8th gen. Sure maybe this is some crazy imaginary story that never happened (Eventhough it makes perfect sense) and it's solely to get one to buy 9th gen, but 9th gen will be the standard and norm in the coming months anyways once it completely replaces the 8750h at the same price point mind you, so there is hardly any incentive to invent this story. Nothing changes the fact that EluktroBoost is now a thing, and it only applies to 9750h based models.

Oh sweet, didn't know you had an account here (i recommended to the sale's rep just a bit earlier in an email that you guys should make one, but i see your account is from 2015 so that was no issue)! Good to see you Will! Glad i could help generate some customers your way on SlickDeals with its FrontPage status and over 10k views since this afternoon when i created it.

That is amazing news regarding TurboBoost, and makes it a MUCH better option to get the maximum performance from the GPU's in terms of wattage, without being forced to blast the over 50db max fans.

That would be amazing news as well if the speakers really have been improved, since the main thing (Besides lack of G-sync) that had me on the fence was the unimpressive reviews regarding the speakers, both on youtube and here in the forums. Not to mention the driver problems.

Looking forward to seeing you guys more in the forums!

 

Hi @Eluktronics, when you mean the speakers were improved, did the OEM make changes to the drivers within the laptop themselves or did they make software changes? I've found my TF unit (many other notice it regardless of the reseller on Realtek's latest drivers) has a cross frequency issue where the subwoofer is playing out of the range it's supposed to be limited to which may or may not cause damage to the sub, even though the SB5 software has a setting for it, it does not seem to respond at all. Also if a user were to maybe either damaged their speakers or just want a new set, are the new speakers backwards compatible?

 

So this is why Eluktronics was running the sale on the 8th gen then....

 

where is that deal posted? it is not on their website.

 

I think they just took it off their site. RIP.

 

I didn't even get to see that deal before it dissapeared lol (good thing the attachment is still there). But yeh the price is seemingly 1400 now for the exact model u somehow found for a second at 1000 (400 off)- https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Tracer-III-17S-Slim-VR-200

At that price it would have been pretty insane, no doubt about it. Still Eluktronics has a better reputation than Cyberpowerpc from what i have seen, not to mention offering better customization and THERMAL PASTE upgrades which cyber doesn't do (crucial for me since i dont wanna have to repaste myself). And ofcourse now that the "deal" (likely a typo or an accidental discount) is gone, Eluktronics have the better price, especially with the newegg deal i posted

 

If you are looking for something with a little more oomph:

Dell via their Rakuten store is giving a nice discount on the 17r5 - 1499.99:

Description:
17.3 inch QHD (2560 x 1440) 120Hz TN+WVA Anti-Glare 400-nits with Tobii Eye-tracking
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i9-8950HK (6-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 4.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 OC with 8GB GDDR5
256GB M.2 PCIe SSD + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD
16GB, 2x8GB, DDR4, 2666MHz
Engineered to wreak havoc. 17-inch gaming laptop is the ultimate powerhouse machine, designed for VR with upgraded cooling technology and a new-generation overclocked CPU. With Microsoft Windows 10 – Break down boundaries and immerse yourself in the game with graphics more realistic than ever before thanks to the multi-thread scaling capabilities of the new Alienware 17.

https://www.rakuten.com/shop/dell/product/wncas7chr404bmp/

 

So could someone with the same chassis but from another reseller download your drivers and bios and get the ElukBoost feature?

 

The speakers were improved through a whole new BIOS table on the 9th gen release. We are testing an updated BIOS to hopefully offer to current Eluktronics customers and will post if possible.

 

Any other company would have needed to order this new hardware at the time of the build. Sorry to say we are going to lock our BIOS to be exclusive for use in our systems and the other SI's we distribute to in the USA. Many seem to be trying ours on others and either bricking or causing issues. We've also spent a lot of time and money working with engineers and R&D to be able to bring these changes to market.

 

Tis be sad times. Guess it's the 17" model I'll get...

 

Speaking from experience, i'd steer clear of the 17r4 and r5. Those things were veritable hot plates. it could barely cool my 7820hk with a 1080, that 8950hk is going to be throttling all over the place lol.

 

I've been gaming a lot on the laptop and my temps are good when under load (about 70C max when playing for hours). But my problem is that I noticed that my fans never run at max speed. The only time I ever hear the fans at max speed is when I open Gaming Center and I manually turn on the Turbo Mode fans under the Power Settings. My question is, should I turn on the Turbo Mode fans everytime I start up a game? Will doing this decrease the lifespan of my fans?

 

It doesn't run on max because it is not needed. 70 degrees is not a problem for CPU or GPU, leave it on auto.

 

AWs have been complete lemons for me, their QC is the worst, they admitted to flaws recently and still aren't owning up to them completely, there is a reason why the original owners of the Alienware brand left after Dell bought the brand.

That really depends on the QC of the manufacture that makes these fans, I think it would be at least 5 years till fans start failing at max speed unless you did some physical damage to them. I think the mechanical keyboard switches might go out first if your on the first version of the switches.

Any of you know which WiFi 6 Card could better? (btw Intel makes both of them this year, really down to the software and drivers)
Killer AX1650 https://www.killernetworking.com/products/killer-ax1650/#1538447778233-e1eecaf7-ad85
Intel AX200 https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/189347/intel-wi-fi-6-ax200.html

 

I had killer in the past and that thing decided to work whenever it felt like it. uninstalling and reinstalling the killer drivers were a very common thing.

 

Hi Will,
I bought the Mech 15 G2 with RTX 2070 Max-Q that were on sale about a week ago, works like a dream, very happy first 24h. A minor issue I'm having is that the front LED bar doesn't light up at all. I tried reinstalling GameCenter, even without any GameCenter installed, the keyboard lights go to blue, but the front panel doesn't do anything, which makes me think it's unlikely to be related to GamingCenter software things. My hope is that it's just a hardware wire that became loose in transit and am thinking of opening it up to see if I spot a loose wire. I feel like i've read in the paperwork/online that opening up the back panel voids the warranty, and obvs don't want to do that 1d into having the laptop. To be honest, I was thinking of having the LED light off anyway because it doubles as a workstation for me so I really only care about the front LED to the extent that it might reflect other hardware issues.

If it's at all relevant, the only things I've added are a logitech wireless receiver, activated/updated Windows, downloaded nVidia drivers (love that there is no bloatware, thank you)

TL;DR:
1) Any ideas for troubleshooting the LED?
2) Does opening up the back actually void the warranty?
3) (Not mentioned above): Is it possible to buy additional warranty/dead pixel insurance? There did not seem to be an option for that when buying the models that were on sale, but you could for the custom-ordered ones.

Thanks again!

 

My Intel 9560 is behaving a lot like a Killer Card, random drops, had to disable and re-enable wifi constantly. Don't know if it's the antenna, the drivers, or both. Could try a dual wifi card solution like my last laptop.

 

Good morning, the LED light bar should be powered off by default when you are on battery unless you toggle it on in the Gaming Center. Is it powering on when you have it connected to the AC adapter? Try toggling off the "Colorful" option and let me know if that enables for you. It's extremely doubtful there is anything internally not connected. For the Gaming Center software, can you verify the version you downloaded and installed was from the MECH-15 G2R & MECH-17 G1R (RTX) drivers page and not the standard MECH-15 G2?

Opening the bottom panel doesn't void the warranty. After removal of all screws the bottom cover comes right off and you have access to your memory bay as well as the extra PCIe slot. Just keep in mind, there is one screw at the bottom center of your Mech-15 that is a different size than all of the others. If you only want to remove the bottom panel because of the LED light bar, hang off and let's troubleshoot the above.

You can buy an extended warranty here:

https://www.eluktronics.com/services/warranties/

We can not offer the dead pixel protection unless a system was purchased ahead of time with the option.

 

Wow, Will, much faster response than expected, thank you!

1) The light does not power on, either attached to the charger or on battery
2) I toggled colorful in the Gamingcenter app, no change, tried restarting as well just in case, no luck
3) Game Center installed version 2.0.1.3 from: https://www.eluktronics.com/mech-15-g2r-mech-17-g1r-2070-drivers/
At some point in my trying to tease this out, I had come across a version of the Gaming Center sans animations, and that was the version I had installed when I initially asked the question here, went back to the original one with animations currently installed, toggling off "colorful," no dice
4) I'm glad your suspicion is low that it is not an internal connection issue, I wasn't particularly excited to go poking around.

 

I can send the clevo back and will look into another option.
I’m thinking tongfang and Lenovo Y740.
I don’t think the latter is better, but the industrial design is quite nice. The price on the other hand...

 

Has the light bar worked at all since you received the system? If not, maybe it actually would be best to check the cable because it should definitely be on with your AC adapter plugged in. No poking around necessary. Here is the exact cable to check (right above the battery)

 

You're the best! The top black "hat" thingy was flipped up, I pushed it down, voila.

Thank you!

Jean

 

This is why I keep recommending Eluktronics, folks!! Not only is their customer service absolutely top-notch, but the options you get such as warrantied LM application are excellent. (And their logo is better)

If I had to do it over again I would not have purchased from CyberPowerPC. My laptop is nice, but it took a month for me to receive even though it included "2 day free delivery". Plus, the price on the SSD I ordered dropped a few days afterward, and no price adjustment was given.

 

Yup, i've run into 2 very minor issues and both times they've talked through the issue with me or have offered to send me a pre-paid shipping label for them to resolve it. Luckily for me I was able to take care of both based on their recommendation. After having dealt with Dell/Alienware, HP, and Sager it's nice to have a number you can call where a knowledgeable person picks up and tries to actually help rather than bounce you around.

That and the fact that the laptop runs like a frickin' champ so far.

 

Yeh customer support has been great so far. Also my laptop that i bought from the Newegg SlickDeals i posted has ALREADY shipped within 24 hours of ordering it, and that was WITH a thermal upgrade from their site applied to it (got the Master Gel, which was the only add-on option anyways i believe if not ordering from the site directly, but its cheaper, no risk of LM, and it wasn't conductonaut LM anyways so isn't the absolute top tier. With an undervolt, don't anticipate having any issues with the CPU temp, even if i use demanding things like Emulators).

 

Happy to hear that was it! Appreciate the comments as well guys. I took a screenshot of what you all wrote, sent it to the support staff to tell them to keep up the good work and remind them that customer service does make a difference.

 

Woah! That's super fast! I ordered mine Monday morning, but it hasn't shipped yet. However, I did order the Liquid Metal cooling upgrade, so I'm sure that's what is taking the extra time to test and make sure it is applied correctly.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts once it arrives. I'm curious to see how the higher wattage 1660Ti compares to a 2070 Max-Q in non-ray-traced games. I'm betting that the Eluktroboosted 1660Ti wins.

 

Oh yeh it was incredibly fast. I assume the reason for that was twofold- 1) with Newegg they have to ship it out quickly to meet deadlines. 2) I chose Master Gel Thermal upgrade from their site (don't think there is an LM option for marketplace deals, besides if you customize with amazon). That is a much quicker and easier thermal upgrade.

Still i'd imagine there is a good chance yours will be shipped shortly and will arrive next week. Mine is scheduled for Monday delivery. Don't benchmark much, but should force myself to do some benchmarks, if only to compare it in 6 months or a year from now and see if temps have remained relatively stable as well as performance. But yeh will definitely give my impressions. Pretty high chance that the 1660Ti in TurboBoost mode with it's 90 watts will be nearly on par with the 80watt 2070 Max-Q, give or take a couple %.

 

Where can I get eluktronics stickers to slap on my overpowered one then order the eluktronics laptop. Switcharoo and voila!!!