m15/m17 BIOS 1.6.2

Anyone flashed this yet? If so what has it been like? Any noticeable changes from 1.5.2 e.g. in terms of stability, performance or fan control? Has the Turbo Boost sleep bug been fixed?

 

::crickets

 

I did it, but it was during the updates and windows setup the first time i configured the machine. Can't tell the difference from previous bios version and no issue so far that i can tell

 

Are the fans still not spinning down completely when idle?

 

So, I decided to give this one a try given that some security patches are included No apparent change to fan behaviour, however, I'm getting 5% lower scores in TimeSpy while max GPU (2070) power seems to have been increased to 95W. Bizarre.

On the other hand CB20 scores went up by a few %.. Strange.

To be fair, I also picked up some Windows updates since previous GPU (but not CPU) testing although I guess these are unlikely to impact GPU Benchmarks (same driver).

The aforementioned slight GPU performance hit is mostly alleviated by using max performance system and GPU power plans (whereas I think they had much less impact before).

Some m15 i7-8750H/2070 Max-Q benchmark results after a bit of tinkering:

TimeSpy - 7550
FireStrike - 17150

This is on default Nvidia driver quality settings and without any process priority boosting. Looks like the GPU power is allowed to go up to 100W in this BIOS.

 

Not sure about the 100W TDP limit, at least on my 2080 max-q seems to be still 90W. Here are my figures it TS

 

I've seen max 99W. Is the GPU OCed? Great GPU max temp BTW (my 2070 goes to 65-67C on Kryonaut). What's the thermal compound?

 

I've set the gpu at +125mhz and gddr at +500mhz (afterburner) Rock Solid stable. On the GPU I went with IC diamond 24. On CPU I went with LM. On the heatsink I've removed the yellow thermal pads on the VRM of both GPU & CPU and replaced it wit K5 Pro. Works nicely. On that run I've use performance profile and with throttlestop, set the TDP at 75 Watts. Ambient temp is 25 degrees Celsius and I'm using as a pad the Steklo X (that I do strongly recommend to anyone looking for an extremely portable and convenient laptop stand, unless you really need additional fans)

Hell, I'm actually really happy with this machine. I travel a lot for work and really far from home for months. For the first time in years I have all the gaming power I need in a small, thin and light weight machine.

 

Thanks for sharing. Love the portable pad - perfect on the go, although prefer to use one with fans on the desk (they do bring temps a few C further down vs just raising the rear).

Here is my Performance mode score with -160mV CPU UV and the 2070 running at around +125mV OC/UV with +750MHz DDR6. Super stable.



My max CPU temps (25C ambient) are higher (as expected)...



However, I'm surprised to see higher max GPU temp with Kryonaut vs IC Diamond. I guess the heatsink fit isn't best. OTOH maybe the 2080 has a larger die and thus runs cooler (given the same power). It doesn't really matter since these temps are in super-cool territory either way.

I can no longer see the 99W phenomenon BTW.



Likewise I'm overall very happy, although there is a feeling that a bit more can be done in the CPU cooling department. Not keen on taking the spillage risk with LM (I use the laptop on the go a lot), but perhaps Phobya Nanogrease Extreme or Prolimatech PK-3 would do a better job with that heatsink.

 

If you haven't done it yet, with throttlestop undervolt also your CPU Cache and iGPU.
CPU Cache can be undervolted as per CPU core value
iGPU you should be safe at -50mv

I have mine :
CPU core: -170mv
CPU Cache - 170mv
iGPU: -50mv

Now, it is interesting your Physics score i have to check if i can improve something on my side for that. On a side note, when i went home for vacation and got my hands on the machine, i didn't had the time to do a clean windows installation, so i'm running it as it has arrived and now i cannot do anything about that, until i get back home around the third week of July.
Also, nice Gddr overclock you got there, i haven't tryied any higher on mine, but will definetly rise mine as well and see if i can squeeze something more out of it.

As far as liquid metal goes, if you do it right, it is totally safe. As a foam barrier what i'm using is the foamy bag that comes when you purchase an X-Box one controller. Has the perfect thickness to do the job.

 

As mentioned earlier I did UV the CPU to - 160mV (CPU and cache). Intel GPU kindly undervolted to -130mV for me.

Thanks for the LM tips. Another thing that bothers me is that apparently it leaves a mess and can't be fully removed, so Dell might take a dim view should I ever need to replace the mobo again.
TBH my CPU temps are fine in normal use, but will consider first trying another non-LM paste then perhaps LM if I ever need to run the CPU loaded 100% for extended periods of time.

 

FYI I've been playing around with this DDR6 OC, and basically this has practically no impact on HD benchmarks like TimeSpy, and minor impact on FPS in SotTR at 4K, so I just dialled it back to 300MHz which seems like a sweet spot and should be safer.

 

Yes, i'm still tuning my card and went up to 650Mhz on them. Basically each 100 Mhz on the gddr result in around 25 more points on Time Spy. Unfortunately work is taking most of my available time at the moment, so i'm unable to tinker with it as much as i would like, but hey, that's life
Oh! and thanks a bunch for sharing your igpu undervolt, i've been doing it way too conservative, went yesterday straight to -125mV and temp on the CPU are actually improving even more.

regarding the LM, it will leave a mark on the copper over the heatsink, but actually, on the second repaste with it, the fact that it has been "absorbed/embedded" on the heatsink, will improve the performance even further, but i totally understand your concern.

On a side note i'm not a bencher/number chaser (not with the laptop at least) i just use them to check temeratures, stability and to fine tune the machine. Once i'm done and satisfied, i'll just ditch them. I'm 110% a Gamer

Also, could you be so kind to share for me some screenshot of your settings in Throttlestop?

One thing that is bothering me is that Dell could have very well designed the macro keys with the option to map the with fan profiles...oh! that would have been so convenient

 

Cool, I don't think there is that much of an improvement. You would have to run the benchmark several times in a row in each configuration, then take the mean and standard deviation to confirm this. From my experience the standard deviation is easily in the 25 points ballpark. The first run is always the fastest.

I did however notice actual degradation of SotTR benchmark performance with the memory pushed to +750, and actually the best score ever was at +300 so just left it at that, bearing in mind the fragility of RTX and Micron memory. HTH

Same here, not a bencher but it is a bit a addictive lol

 

Can't do now, but the only other thing I've changed is Speedshift - set it to 16, will improve your CPU score.

Good point about changing fan profiles via a macro - will look into that. Should be doable if there is a CLI command that changes fan profile.

 

If you ever have a chance to post screenshot of you TS settings, that would be great. I'm trying to figure the whole Speedshift thing my self without much success, because of work i'm not having enough time to research it...

Oh and by the way new Bios 2.0.4 is out, downloaded it but haven't flashed it yet.

 

Sorry, have been very busy. Like I said earlier the only settings I've touched in TS is the CPU/cache/GPU UV and then I set Speedshift 16 in performance and 196 in battery mode. Changing TDP via TS doesn't work for me so having to use XTU just for that when needed. HTH

I'm holding off on the new BIOS for now.

 

Speedshift setting is on the main TS windows, "Speed shift EPP xxx (where xxx is the value) SST" and to enable it is on TPL windows, right?

Same here for the new bios version, holding until i get some feedback around

 

Enablement checkbox is also on the main window. Nothing in the TPL section works for me.

 

@etern4l

Yesterday night i finally had the time to play Metro Exodus for a couple of hours. Indeed max Wattage recorded by HWinfo has been 103W!
Tonight i'll continue playing the game and will try to record a trend with Hwinfo to see if those are only spikes that gets throttled down (my guess, by looking at the behavior during synt. benchmarks) or if it is actually pushing the GPU past the 90W supposed TDP limit.

A final consideration, i'm able to play Metro Exodus in ultra + RTX on in High, despite everything, this is a nice little gaming machine

 

Hey, glad to see I'm not the only one seeing the power spike above 100W. For me it occurs in games, in the last case it was XCOM2. The GPU frequency was 1950MHz. I posted a screenshot in a friendly exchange with a Razer fan in the m15 lounge. I only see such high GPU frequency in some cases such as during loading screens. My theory is that this is something akin to short Turbo Boost which pushes the GPU clock and power temporarily during partial utilisation such as when loading textures etc.

Agree, a great machine after tune-up, and there is something to be said about the lighter form factor when using it on the go compared with the AW 15