TONGFANG GK7CN6S / GK7CP0S / GK7CP7S

Do you think liquid metal will improve the temperatures more or is the stock paste as good as some mainstream pastes?

 

Yes it will allways improve, but the stock paste is surprisingly good. And you can also apply some undervolt.
This tests were made 100% stock and at 22º Celcius room temp.

 

Has Tongfang made any changes to the key switches or keycaps to the RTX model? Illegear says they have a lot more sharper blue switches with a better click and the browns are more of a silent switch now.

 

Unfortunate to hear about these issues. There is no reason Eluktronics could not help you work through this without sending it back. This chassis has always had difficulties installing NVIDIA drivers, though what solved it in the past was to install GeForce Experience and update through that program... which you didn't say whether or not you tried. I assume you have looked here? https://www.eluktronics.com/mech-15-g2r-mech-17-g1r-2070-drivers/

@Bruno@INPHTECH Thanks for posting, it is good to see a vendor of these laptops on the forums!

 

The 17" model comes with the "quiet mechanical keyboard", it's way quieter and better than the 15" first kb model.

 

Those max CPU temps look a bit worrying. Was that during some torture test or just BF5? Also, how is the noise level under load?

Thanks for your input, i am very interested in this model!

 

The temps are with serious torture tests, with BF5 it gets a bit hot too, but it depends on the settings you use. The noise is nothing special, only on a quiet room it's more noticeable, but it's noisier than the GTX model.

 

Yes, temps look high, but agree that it is only under very stessful loads. I am actually impressed with how cool the RTX 2070 is running here, really not much warmer than my GTX 1060... but probably spreading a bit more of its heat to the CPU. The 8750H runs hot in just about everything.

Out of curiousity, I put together a simple value comparison sheet based on the results posted by @Bruno@INPHTECH in 3DMark compared against my own on the 8750H+GTX 1060. I only did 3DMark comparison since I had that benchmark handy.

Looking at pure graphics performance, it seems that premium for the 2070 is well worth it if you can afford the extra price. This, of course, is a very limited comparison, so please do your own additional research if you are considering this model. I am only using US vendors here for simplicity.

(Note on CyberpowerPC... their Tracer III 7 Xtreme VR 300 is advertised with a 1050 ti, but it really comes with a 1060 - though something to confirm before you buy of course)

(Note on Eluktronics... if you are so inclined, I would recommend purchasing the barebones and supplying your own SSD and operating system to save a bunch of money... HyperX 2666MHz RAM is also recommended to be purchased separately)

(Note on OP... get one while you can!!)

 

Overpowered still a great value option, CS is a bit overloaded rn. I would buy a 3 year warranty just in case OP collapses within 2 years and it’s covers water damage, dead pixeles and more.

 

The performance increase is crazy, very impressed (you might invert the basis in your percentage calculation ). Is any notebook 2060 benchmark available yet for comparison? I guess the 2070 shouldn't be too much ahead, no?

 

@ezradharma Overpowered is indeed the best value, by far! If it's even still available. Similar specs from Eluktronics, for example, would cost $1,675.

But if your main concern is FPS, you are still looking at a reasonable asking price for the RTX 2070 model.

Yeah, I'm going to rework it using a better formula. [DONE]

 

The 2060 model isn't available to us yet, as soon as we receive one we will make the same tests

 

To the guy who got the RTX laptop you need to install drivers through GeForce experience. Windows changed at some point and they require GeForce experience to install drivers as you can't just straight install drivers without some workarounds it won't detect the card.

You can remove GeForce experience after if you don't like it

 

Here is a list of PWM detection on panels:
No PWM flicker:
AUO B173HAN0#.# (AUO###D) http://www.panelook.com/B173HAN04.0_AUO_17.3_LCM_overview_37192.html

Unknown:
Innolux N173HCE-G33 (CMN175C) http://www.panelook.com/N173HCE-G33_Innolux_17.3_LCM_overview_37006.html

PWM flicker detected:
ALL BOE models

Display replacement is possible and not that hard. However it may void your warranty (or part of it depending on the region you live in)

 

SB5 Alt/ Audio Enhancer mods:
All on here, https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/making-audio-enhancers-work-on-windows.244309/
You can install other enhancers over each other

It is possible that the drivers (software) aren't great as shown in the following post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/p157sm-heavily-modded-speakersystem.812687/

In the case of the 17.3' I think layering the software will help out.

 

I see talk of 230W AC adapters. My CyberpowerPC 17" came with a 180W adapter. Does the 8750H + GTX1060 really need 230W? That could explain why I get frequent power limit throttling on the GTX 1060. The GPU is not underperforming, though, and hits stock and overclock MHz just fine. Benchmarks are good.

 

230w is standard on RTX 2070.
https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/spec/getntbkspec.aspx?id=TC317RXE126
Unless you have an i9 model, a 230w upgrade isn't really needed (don't think charging faster is a great idea).

 

I did a quick check on a ton of companies selling this chassis and I think the blue switch has been killed for the RTX version completely.

 

I tried that as well and wouldn’t work I sent back my unit and re ordered one .

 

OP just arrived, I've tested, and wiped, and am just about done doing the install.

The Gaming Center works, but the other program that was linked a few pages back fails to install due to the Xtreme Tuning Utility causing problems. Not sure what the deal is.

What's the best BIOS for this? It would appear that while installing the firmware online, I've gone from 1.03 out of the box to 1.04, but when I tried to do the EC from the batch file, it changed me over to an American Megatrends N.0.8. I saw 1.0.8 on here, which was newer than the 0.0.8 it gave me.

I don't personally care about the different splash screen, as I definitely prefer the turbo button turning the fans on high, but I didn't expect that change to happen when I flashed the EC.

I'm noticing the touchpad's palm rejection is kinda crappy.

Overall, I'm happy. The Gaming Center software sucks, but I'm happy with the computer. A little backlight bleed on the edges, but I don't stare at black screens, I plan to play games and watch movies. Sound's not as good as my Matebook, but short of a MacBook, I've not found much modern competition for that.

Keyboard is nice and solid. A far cry from the MSI MS-1651 and MS-1722 that were my last gaming laptops. I'm not that accurate with it yet; it's no Thinkpad, but I'll take it over my work EliteBook.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish the tweaking and get some gaming on.

Oh, and it doesn't fit in my Ogio Epic, but I kind of expected that. The HP 8560W was its absolute limit, and this is definitely wider.

 

@NecessaryEvil You mentioned that the trackpad has poor palm rejection. Luckily, you can just tap the top left of the trackpad twice to disable it! This is such an excellent feature for gaming, wish that more laptops did this.

 

I know, just something I noticed more on this than the hundreds of other models I've had to deal with.

 

I got the eluktronics mech-17 with a 2070 two days ago and I can confirm there is no way to install the new drivers directly from nvidia. GeForce experience won't even recognize the gpu in the laptop at this point in time, however I'm sure this will be fixed shortly.

I did everything possible including a full DDU uninstall of the current driver set, reinstalling the bare bones drivers from eluktronics and trying again to install the new RTX drivers, both directly and through GeForce experience with no luck.

Eluktronics did recognize that its an existing issue for their in house systems as well and I'm sure it will get squared away. Also be aware that the driver from the eluktronics website does work for now but it is extremely limited. You get no nvidia settings/control pannel. It's severely lacking at the moment

 

Hopefully this is fixed quite soon, definitely considering this machine considering the specs for the price.

 

Mine had to go back today and have the CPU thermal solution reapplied (I paid for their liquid metal upgrade) and I was getting 100 degree temps while playing any games or running cpu benchmarks. I'm talking 93 degrees across all cores within 5 seconds of starting benchmarks. However the customer support was great and they are more than willing to make things right and sent me a return label within 5 minutes of a phone call ending .

Also, if you customize the order through Amazon it comes configured with the large battery that occupies the 2.5 Inch drive bay which I didn't realize when I placed my order. So while it's back to have the thermal issues corrected they are swapping the battery for free to allow me to have the drive bay available.

Even with a few issues so far I am happy with the experience as the overal quality of the laptop was fantastic. No flex to the keyboard and a nice rubberized black finish applied to the top deck. Brushed aluminum lid looked great as well, as did the 144hz screen. I'm hoping it gets repaired quickly so I can provide a full update on quality.


Side note * even with the super high CPU temps and what I assume are some shared heat pipes the 2070 Temps never reached higher than 77 degrees. And that's a 'full' mobility version, not the super crippled max q varient.

 

I hope your unit was just a fluke, 100C is ridiculous, and I know this chassis can do better. Also, where could you get the liquid metal upgrade? I only see a 35$ upgrade for improved thermal paste on the CPU/GPU on Eluktronics website, unless that is liquid metal. Nice to know that the Amazon config comes with the 62.5 WHr battery by default! Hope your unit gets fixed, I'm very interested in your further thoughts on this machine, as I am also very interested in the 2070 version of this chassis.

 

On both their website and the Amazon listing there should be an option for the highest level of upgraded cooling solutions. This includes "cool laboratories liquid ultra" for the cpu and arctic silver 5 on the gpu.

 

I see the options now! But there seem to be two listings for liquid metal on Eluktronics' website, one with Arctic silver 5 on the GPU, and one with CM MasterGel Maker on the GPU. What is the difference here?

 

I'm thinking it comes down to brand preference at this point. AS5 is the same stuff I've used to repast other laptops like the acer helios 300 with great success so I decided to stick with what I know. The other stuff could perform better but I already knew the arctic silver does its job well.

 

Yeah, it probably doesn't make much of a difference since both repastes are the same price. 35$ for a LM repaste is insane though!

 

My intention was to have them do it as not not void my warranty by doing it myself. Didn't quite pan out this time but oh well. And realistically I don't see the price being too unfair because you're paying for the labor as well, and if you break it down that way it's really not bad. I'd be spending a minimum of $20-25 on the products alone to do it myself.

 

Oh no, I meant 35$ was insane in a good way . I know that HID evolution charges ~95$ for a liquid metal repaste. 35$ in comparison is totally worth it! And yeah, I'd definitely feel more comfortable having the boutique retailer like Eluktronics do the repaste so I wouldn't have to do anything. Anything for better thermals! I'm sure your instance was just a fluke, or perhaps the application wasn't perfect.

 

You should be able to download the Nvidia control panel from the Microsoft store

 

Really ? I’ll try to find that right now

 

Found it .. I’ll try that when the new system shows up

 

If anyone is interested. Eluktronics said there 2060 model will be 85w. Wish it was 90, but if Im remembering correctly, the 2070 MQ is only 80w. $1400 price tag on the 2060 seems pretty good. Barebones it would be $1245.

 

How do you update to BIOS 1.04 from 1.03? On the OP 17. I downloaded the file, not sure how to install it

 

They also mentioned the 2070 is 85w but not sure how if it's not Max-Q. Can anyone with the 2070 check on that?

 

Max-Q is 80w https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-2070-max-q.c3368
Full is 115w https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-2070-mobile.c3349

Did you manage to benchmark it before you sent it back? I'm curious if the "full" 2070 it comes with is inline with other 2070 benchmarks or if it's closer to a max-q 2070.

 

The PC Specialist Recoil II RTX 17" is based on the same chassis and has a full 2070. I have one on order and asked something similar of a recent owner, they ran Timespy and scored 7,430

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?61954-Recoil-II-RTX-just-arrived!/page3

 

So from what I’m seeing out there is the 2070 is just as powerful last the 2080mq ?

 

It seems that way

 

Can the 2080 maybe over clock more ? Or run ray tracing better


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Now I’m confused on what system to get this 2070 or a Clevo 16” with 2080mq


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My understanding is that you trade away performance to be thin and light. So you either go for a full 2070 in a bigger chassis or a thin and light 2080mq, losing performance to gain portability as they go in thinner chassis so need to run cooler/slower.

Same could be said for the 2070mq which performs around the same as a full 2060.

I was in the same position, but for me I won't be carrying it around all day so I'd rather save the money and go for the bigger 2070 rather than a more expensive but thinner 2080mq at the same performance.

 

16" Clevo has a unique display, if you damage it, a replacement will take a while I think, that is a major trade off of starting a new form factor.

 

Thanks for the advices .. willnthe 2080 be more silent ?

 

Not sure, potentially not as the thin form factor might require higher fan speeds to keep it cool. Might have to wait for more reviews to be sure

 

If you wanted to know how bad the current sound programming is, set your front speakers to 0% and leave the sub at 100%. Sometimes highs are trying to play on the sub. (Edit: A lot of highs don't move the coils in the bass which could lead to some problems based on this https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=132514.0)

 

FYI @Bruno@INPHTECH benched it and @Installed64 made a small summary of the results on page 26 (maybe I can in-line the screenshot?) as the original link wasn’t in English, give a page or two before that. It looked good. I hope people aren’t mixing up the Mech-15’s 2070 Max-q vs the Mech-17 2070.