TONGFANG GK7CN6S / GK7CP0S / GK7CP7S

So, I purchased a OP17+ also to test, and then I will return the one I like least. But if I stick with the OP17+, it sadly only has a 5400RPM drive. So i will likely need to upgrade storage right away. I saw people discussing the M.2 Slots, and I have some questions.

• When it comes to using the Second M.2 Slot w/ a PCIE m.2 SSD, will the fact it will only support 2 lane be limiting?
• If the second slot will in fact be limiting to the point of it affecting performance, how difficult will it be to migrate the OS to a new bigger m.2 PCIE/SATA SSD, and what ones are recommended. I am looking for roughly a terabyte.
• If the battery packs come back in stock, would the same battery modification be usable?

 

Just got my 17" unit. I'm happy to report its keyboard is *much* better than the 15. Those hexagonal shape on the key surfaces provide noticeably more contour for my fingers than the completely flat keys on the 15. It's not as much contour as I would like (coming from a Thinkpad keyboard) but it'll definitely do the trick.

As expected, the 32GB is 2x16GB, with the timings detected as 19-15-15-31 by memtest86+

Also, I don't see any PWM on display at its default brightness (measured with my mirrorless camera), at least on the memtest86+ display that's running now (I test the memory of all my new notebooks, to prevent any future issues/data corruption). Will need to check at various brightness levels once it finishes memtest86+

Edit: Under Windows I see PWM at all brightness levels except for the 100% brightness setting.

 

At 50% brightness I measured the 17's PWM at 1Khz.

 

What did you take the measurements with?

 

I measure PWM with a mirrorless camera. I take an exposure using it's electronic shutter, count the number of exposure bands in the photo, then multiply that by the full-sensor readout time of the camera's sensor.

 

If mobility is king, it seems 15.6" is the better option. I would recommend it for school. The downside of the 15" however is the keycap style... If you're willing to get a larger bag then the 17" is relatively streamlined.

1. The screen on the 17" is pretty awesome. It's LG, but I haven't looked at the model number.
2. I believe you won't see much better thermal temps 17" chassis compared to the 15", but it certainly won't be worse.
3. AFAIK, everything is identical on the inside, so at least drivers are interchangeable. Someone would have to confirm on the BIOS/EC (check with Own or Disown on Youtube).

THIS IS ABSOLUTE GOLD.

Great to hear the comparison between the two keyboards! Also thanks for confirming what we suspected regardintg the dual channel RAM. You would probably do well to sell both sticks now and buy 8x2GB, you'd come out ahead.

 

@silverwolf0 By the way, what was CyberpowerPC thinking when they applied those badges... so off-kilter! Mine are the same way and they're probably going to come off.

 

I don't even know what they say. I'm so use to stickered up laptops it all blends in together now

 

Do resellers use different screens? Just wondering since silverwolf0 says his is an AUO panel while Installed64 says it's an LG panel. Walmart says it's 17" panel has a 5ms response time and so I assumed it was the same AUO panel as that on the 17" Scar II and TUF models.

Also are the keycaps the only difference between the 15" and 17" keyboards? They look about the same size and layout.

 

The 17" version uses an AUO panel while the 15" uses an LG panel.

 

Sorry I haven’t looked at it myself. I assumed the 17” was LG because it’s advertised as IPS.

 

I think so. I just checked them both side-by-side and the size + layouts are identical. The 17" keys feel a tiny bit more firm but that may just be sample variation.

 

@deprest Since you have them both in hand, I would be interested to hear your general observations on the screens and how they compare, if there be any noticeable difference. Also, running the same benchmark simultaneously on each side-by-side would be interesting.

 

Sure, here are some initial observation and performance comparisons...

Configuration

• DDR: 15 is single-channel (1x16GB), 17 is dual-channel (2x16GB)...both stock ram
• BIOS version (SMBIOS/Embedded Controller): 15 is 3.1/1.33, 17 is 3.2/1.07
• OP Control Center (V1.2.2.1): Fan: Gaming Mode and Performance Mode: Equilibrium Mode
• Strangely, the OP Control Center third page reads "Fan Settings" on the 15 but "Power Settings" on the 17. The 17's page has a "Power Settings" sub-tab (set to "Standard" vs "ECO") - the 15 doesn't have that option
• XTU shows the 15's default Turbo Boot Short Power Max @ 78W vs the 17's default of 90W. I changed the 15 to 90W to match the 17

LCD

• Max Brightness: Identical to within 1/3EV (as measured by my camera's exposure meter)
• Color: 15 is calibrated noticeably warmer than the 17
• Backlight bleed: Identical on both and minimal. Only a hint of hit at the bottom edge of the display
• PWM: 15 has barely any, 17 has 1Khz PWM (measured @ 50% brightness)

CPU Base Observations

• At idle the 15 runs 9C warmer than 17. This is either a difference in base cooling or perhaps variation in factory thermal paste application

Cinebench R15 multi-core performance - 5 back-to-back runs (15"/17"):

• 1205/1209
• 1079/1207
• 1042/1182
• 1072/1148
• 1078/1152

Geekbench 4 (Single-Core/Multi-Core)

• 15": 4919/19076
  
• 17": 5005/22610

Geekbench 4 (Compute Benchmark, on GTX 1060)

• 15": 123471
  
• 17": 125636

Geekbench 4 (Compute Benchmark, on Intel UHD 630)

• 15": 32713
  
• 17": 39168

CPU-Z (SIngle Thread/Multi Thread)

• 15": 469.6/3496.0
  
• 17": 465.3/3449.2

Intel XTU

• 15": 992 Marks, Max Processor Freq 3.94hz, Highest CPU Temperature: 83C
  
• 17": 1617 Marks, Max Processor Freq 3.93Ghz, Highest CPU Temperature: 79C

The big discrepancy of the XTU scores is likely due to the single vs dual channel - XTU is heavily impacted by memory throughput. To give you an idea of the single vs dual throughput differences, on the Geekbench 4 Memory Bandwidth test the 15" scores 3118 (16.7 GB/sec) whereas the 17" scores 5922 (31.6 GB/sec).

 

@deprest Incredible! Thanks for sharing.

I have a hard time believing thermals performance is that different, all things being equal, since the internals are identical but with different housing. This looks indeed like an inconsistent pasting on the CPU in particular. All the power settings were identical I presume? The only other thing I can think of is that the metal vent cover on the underside of the 15" restricts more airflow than the plastic underside of the 17".

The XTU scores are way out of whack, but that must be due to the differences in RAM (16GB single channel vs. 32GB dual channel).

 

Yep, I actually added a footnote to my post just as you posted.

 

Very helpful. Concerning the screens, I had never considered PWM as an issue before. Presumably, turning brightness up to 100% eliminates this effect? I suppose for me, any loss induced by PWM would be better than squinting at the smaller screen all the time. When you almost exclusively use a laptop, the 15.6" gets old.

 

Yep, the PWM occurs on the 17" at all brightness levels except maximum brightness.

 

The newest bios and EC is available on their support page now

 

Thanks Bob. Is it through the Chinese site link? Or is there an English version of the site?

 

This here https://www.opowered.com/support.html

 

I just got mine (17) and omg thank GOD! It's a beaut. Can't believe it's $999 0.0
The mechanical keyboard is a tad better than the helios 500 and I love the helios' keyboard.
It has my favorite lighting effects (reactive when you type, I feel like im typing thunder )
Trying to get some cinebench r15 scores but tdp stays at 45w? Any ideas what I'm missing (playing with the control center, but nada). Haven't undervolted yet.

I'm all for good deals like this. With growing popularity of laptops, maybe prices will come down

Shots comparison with msi gp73 (it's way smaller due to the thin bezels). Also much lighter.



Also album of internals pics.

Cinebench r15 is getting 1235 (multicore). TDP going up well over 75w so it's definitely unlocked on that end (thank God!)

 

awesome comparison, i have the 15+ and i am still debating if i want to switch to the 17+

btw, if you don't mind opening them up, would it be possible for you to test the termal and the bench marks of your 15+ using 2x16Gb gold key rams just for a more accurate comparison?

I have a feeling running the 15+ with two gold key RAMs may help thermal, and will definitely improve the benchmarks

TIA!

 

do you get more fatique from staring at a full brightness avg 280+ nit screen or from lesser brightness but has PWM?

 

I have been using full brightness most of the time, unless the room is dark. I think now any possible difference in comfort I would notice could be placebo, but I will keep you updated if I have more to share. Honestly I think the screen looks great at any brightness.

 

They don't have the same cooling setup .The heat pipes are less shared on the 17" model. Also different sunon fan models , although I don't really know the difference between them.

 

Cooling is sick on the 17+
Cinebench r15 is getting 1235 (multicore). TDP going up well over 75w so it's definitely unlocked on that end (thank God!)

I haven't dialed in all the numbers yet, so will report back.

Progress with medium fans (70 degrees) and 70 TDP + 165mV undervolting


I settled at -210mV the processor was running at 1.1V so i think bios already pushes higher voltage or I won silicon lottery (i go with former)

Wow super impressed, it has the best of both Asus (well rounded and small bezels) and MSI's raw performance and unlocked.

Tongfang/Overpowered nnaaaaaaaaaaaaillled it! At $999 (Thank God!)

 

Looks like the 17 has a subwoofer. How's the sound compare versus the 15?

Look at all that extra battery room on the 17, wow!

 

@deprest thanks for the side-by-side comparisons
and everyone else sharing their experience with the chassis

How does the 17" OP feel compared to the 15"? It seems Walmart uses an all-plastic build unlike other resellers with metal lids and/or decks.
Anyone have the exact model number for the 17" OP's panel? Would like to check whether it's been used in any other laptops since there aren't many slim-bezel 144hz models. Again, leaning on the Scar II GL704 rather than the G703 Chimera like @silverwolf0 stated in a previous post.

 

@Jack_D098 I believe all the 17” variants are plastic except for the lid. My Cyberpower has a brushed metal finish on the lid, which looks identical to the pictures of the OP to me.

I have been using mine as an audio editing workstation on the side. Several times I have taken the monitoring headphones off to get another perspective on the sound, and audio output was more than adequate for my needs.

@Nitroturtle The extra room is there because no 2.5” caddy is currently installed. The caddy can be removed on the 15” too.

@undervolter0x0309 -210mV?! Crazy.

 

So, I am very happy with the 17+ so far, except for one thing, my fan button is swapping office/game mode instead of activating turbo, is there a fix, and is anyone else having this problem?

 

Is yours OP branded? My Cyberpower came that way also. After uninstalling and reinstalling stuff, now the button doesn't work at all! Oh well.

 

Yah mine is overpowered branded, so do you just manually enable it in your control center?

 

Yes, if I need max fan settings I enable it in the program. My system has been running quite cool with stock thermal paste and automatic fans however. I only turn on max fans during benchmarks.

I figured out why my fan switch button didn't work at all. I have the OP Gaming Center/OEM Control Center disabled at startup. That program enables the switching feature.

Instead I am using this other program "MyAPP" because I like its keyboard lighting controls better. Oddly though, it has no control over the front lightbar, which I set to white in OP Gaming Center/OEM Control Center and always sticks.I am not sure exactly where I got this particular software, but it likely came with my CyberpowerPC stock.

 

Myapp is for the first generation of the Tong Fang chassis. I use this on the Mech 15. Those didn’t have a front led light bar.

You can get a true white out of it which is nice.

 

Now that makes total sense. The main question is whether I'm experiencing a performance loss by opting out of the Control Center, and I don't suspect that I am. I am using XTU and MSI Afterburner for my tuning and am leaving it in MyBalanced power plan.

Now I am tempted to try out MyAPP v.1.4.11.0 available on Eluktronics driver page for the original MECH-15. https://www.eluktronics.com/MECH-15-drivers/ It's odd that this was the included software on my device. Currently running v.1.6.1.0

 

Hey everyone, I made an account so I could ask for some guidance on this Overpowered 17+ that I have.

I'm having some pretty significant heat issues with the machine so far. I am by no means an expert in regards to all of this, but have done my best to research solutions in this thread and in the 15 inch thread.

Running the Cinebench multicore results in about a score of 1200 give or take, but my temperatures can go up to as high as 93 C according to ThrottleStop. I've done the undervolting steps that Bob provided in one of his videos, but pushing my voltage any amount below -125 mV results in a blue screen (-132 mV won't crash immediately but it won't be long before it does).

I have the current BIOS and EC from Overpowered and have done all the driver updates I can. OP Gaming Center is set to Gaming Mode under Fan Settings and Equilibrium Mode under System Monitor. I also tried to do a fresh install of Windows 10 and update everything again but the results are the same.

Here is my CPU-Z Validation: https://valid.x86.fr/wqw07l

Earlier when I ran it the temperature showed up at around 95 C. I play World of Warcraft mostly, I turned in the Legion Y7000 for this one and the Legion was only getting up to around 65C or so in stressful areas while this one will push about 80C.

I see people getting good scores in Cinebench with temperatures hovering around 70 C and can't help but wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

Did I get a bad paste job? Is this chip faulty? I apologize if these seem like silly questions, but I'm definitely curious if I need to return it for another at this point.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate any assistance I can get.

 

Those temperatures seem like quite the outlier. Since it's Wal-Mart, an exchange should be hassle-free. Or try some fresh paste. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011F7W3LU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I wasn’t too impressed with the paste job on the second laptop I opened. It was extremely heavy and others have reported the same.

I’m not telling YOU to repaste but I most certainly would.

If you’re uncapped and running Auto fan then temps will get that high.

 

If you're not stressed on time, I would return it. @B0B is a professional that opens laptops like I open my chocolate bars (don't tell that to my wife). Walmart has exchange policy and since you're still under warranty I wouldn't risk it in case something goes wrong.

Again, if you're not seasoned return else try repasting it's good learning (make sure you watch videos like @B0B's that are really good. Unplug your battery so there's not static etc.)

 

I just bought the overpowered 17+ and read that there is a possibility of flashing a custom rom from other OEM laptops of the same brand? Is there a link to this procedure? Also wondering how well other OS's will work on this brand like Ubuntu Linux and other custom OS's other than windows 10?

 

Rom as in different bios? The overpowered drivers/bios archive seems to have all the versions for this chassis with notes on changes. The latest I applied to mine unlocks the watts. As in when I set TPL to 70watts, the processor hits that wattage during benchmark runs.

Please be cautious when puting any watt over 60 watts. I lower my voltage to offset the extra max tdp I set (fyi).

 

Thank you @Installed64, @B0B and @undervolter0x0309 for your responses.

I am going to go ahead and exchange the laptop, as a couple of you said it's pretty easy to do with the product being from Walmart. I also went ahead and ordered the paste and will definitely repaste it when it arrives.

Hopefully next time thermals won't be an issue. I'd like to be in that sweet spot where @undervolter0x0309 is at with the performance and thermals.

Thanks, again.

 

I'm not going to post #s but they are with-in spitting distance of #s upstream of this post.
I don't think I've seen above 82C on any of the tests. And then only for a brief moment.
I did the .125 undervolt, seems to work just fine.
I'm surprised how much I like the keyboard. It does look goofy, but works really well.
Keyboards do come in all sizes, so you have to train you muscle memory for the new spacing.
For me, this is a toy. For real 8 hours of day, I program from home remote desktoping into my work PC.
For that I use an ergonomic wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse.
But, this is real good.

Knock on wood, but based on just screwing around with it, if it remains like this for the long haul, it is a screaming deal.

The only question might be this:
CPU-Z is showing 1060 Ram of 6GB. WALMARTS ad also says 6 GB.

Intles XTU say 4 GB Anyone have an idea why the discrepancy?

 

Rom as in Bios yes. Any customs rom's available? Bob on youtube mentions that there are custom Bios's for this model, since it fits the general model of other devices. There are a lot of links on the other thread for the 15 inch version I'll look there.

Someone also mentioned the possibility of this device having G-Sync does anyone know if this is true or is there a way to disable the Intel HD 630 graphics and only have Nvidia enabled, some Bios setting or a custom Bios to enable/disable these features?

 

----
Something called Speccy says the same thing. 2047 Physical + 2048 Virtual.
Gpu-z shows 6GB

 

Does anyone know the response time for the display on the OP 17+? To me it seems like there's a lot of ghosting, but I'm used to a 3ms display. Wondering what the actual numbers are for this panel. HWINFO shows it as NV173FHM-N44 / BOE07B6 but the search results I'm coming up with don't make much sense. For example, some sites are showing it as a 60hz monitor. Anyone have real info?

 

Passmark says it's a 144.

Panelook.com for the 60? Because you are correct.

The next 2 are hilarious
https://www.testufo.com/ this comes up with 72 FPS + 72 hz in chrome, 144 + 144 in edge
https://www.vsynctester.com/detect.html 71.9XXXX in chrome , 144 in edge

windows itself shows 143 hz

I'm going with panelook being wrong

 

It's a 144hz monitor. The question was about response time, not refresh rate. The reason I mentioned the incorrect information about 60hz wasn't because the question was about refresh rate, but to illustrate the point that the information about the monitor coming up on searches was wrong and therefore the response time information listed was also in question.

 

,
sorry, I misunderstood.