***Gigabyte P35X owner's lounge***

If anyone is interested.

Compared to an Alienware m17x r4.

No more breaking my back

 

REPASTE LOOKS TO HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL - PICS AND RESULTS VERY SOON!!!

@RustyW1res - Congrats! Beautiful, ain't it?

 

That's good, did you do the CPU and GPU? Test it without the notebook cooler, because that's where you saw the most throttling. And probably best to test it using Heaven benchmark again, you saw both GPU & CPU throttling there. Then move on to some more CPU extreme testing to see where the limits lie with the re-paste, in terms of what the stable turbo boosts are. (e.g. Prime95 for worst case scenario for CPU).

 

Hi all!

First of all, thanks for this great thread about P35X v3. It is extremely helpful.
On the main Gigabyte page they say, that P35X v3 supports an external display up to 4K @ 60 Hz, but will it support 3 displays @ 1920x1080 or 3 displays @ 1920x1200? What about P35 W v3? Will it support display port daisy-chaining?What display port version do these laptops use? Does anyone know?

 

Am I to take from all the benchmarks that Cakefish has kindly took the time to do, that the GPU temp are fine and it's just the Cpu is anything that might throttle? Interested to see if cpu repaste fixes it what the other lucky people that have the v3-cf1 think about the results they are getting. I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on the cf1 or my wait for the cf3 which it think includes the 4710.

 

You have to do both at the same time - heatsinks only come off as a single unit. My first repaste was good on GPU but bad on CPU - didn't cover the whole CPU die. Have to try again...

 

If the repasting is that much successful it might be great great news : )

 

Yes, seems so. If you get the i7-4710, it'd output slightly less heat given is a small step down in performance and iGP. The 980m seems to have very good temperatures considering the form factor of the P35X, however I think if you were to get the P35W instead with i7-4710 and 970m, the 970m would output even less heat than the 980m (by around 20 watts I assume). This would put less strain on the heatpipes/heatsinks setup that is shared between the GPU and CPU, therefore the CPU of i7-4710 should run cooler with the 970m compared to if it was paired with a 980m.

This is just my assumption, but I'm now mostly interested in the P35W for this reason. If I go ahead and pre-order it, I'll of course instantly re-paste both the CPU and GPU with IC Diamond or Arctic Silver, and then do a mild undervolt of the CPU. This should all give excellent thermal performance (once again, considering other laptops in its form factor).

 

There is something inside that wants the 980m. I was going to get the gs60 and would have been happy with the 970m in that, but if I'm going for the gigabyte then only for the 980m so I'm hoping either repast on the 4860 does the trick or it will be the 4710 cpu for me. Still having said that I like the GS60 keyboard more and the M.2 drives. Gigabyte has the dvd drive/Hdd combo going for it so some more thinking and reviews my users to be read this weekend.

 

Trying to get a good paste job done. Takes practice!


FACTORY PASTE JOB:

Spoiler

RESULT AFTER 1ST RE-PASTE (ARCTIC MX-4):

Without cooler:

Spoiler

With cooler:

Spoiler

RESULT AFTER 2ND RE-PASTE (PROMILATECH PK-3:

Without cooler:

Spoiler

With cooler:

Spoiler

FACTORY RE-PASTE FOR REFERENCE:

Without cooler:

Spoiler

With cooler:

Spoiler

 

Sorry it might just be me but I can't make out the temps for the CPU and GPU from the pictures, can you post the results in text. Cheers.

 

My P35X-CF1 arrived yesterday Initial impressions are great, although I am a bit frustrated as well:

- Windows 8 crashed during the initial setup (after I entered my computer name).
- There is a little dot of white paint on the side of my space bar. It's tiny, but I know it's there (but it's not supposed to be there ofcourse) and it bugs me.
- It looks like the keyboard is not totally flat. There are some bumps in mine here and there, for example at the WASD area and UJIKL area. The differences are subtile tough.
- My sound suddenly stopped working. Still trying to figure out why
- I had to update Windows and all drivers it came supplied it. Took me about 2 hours before I could get started installing other software.
- Touchpad is waaaay to sensitive. It registers touches I didn't do, clicking random stuff etc.

Fans are less loud than expected and not that high pitched as I thought they would be, altough the vents do get quite hot.

What settings are you guys referring to? My nVidia Control Panel is completely empty, apart from 3D settings:

Looks like I'm in luck then:

 

Both with cooler, but results are night and day:

FireStrike Standard before re-paste:

Spoiler

FireStrike Standard after re-paste:

Spoiler

 

So it seems a repasting and a good cooler should prevent any throttling even during long gaming sessions. That's great news !
Would be the result even be better with IC Diamond 24 ?

 

FireStrike Standard after re-paste and with -80mV undervolt:

Spoiler

Heaven 4.0 after re-paste and with -80mV undervolt (with cooler):

Spoiler

 

Wow!!! Now the temps are awesome!!!

 

Looks good to me, Cakefish, do you have any results for without cooler + undervolt + repaste?

 

Without cooler, after re-paste & with -80mV undervolt:

Spoiler

 

If I'm reading that correctly, you're getting around a max of 83 degrees on the CPU without the need to lug around a notebook cooler. That is an enormous improvement where previously you were maxing out at the 91 degree ceiling imposed by Gigabyte (when testing the laptop directly out of the box)

edit: Will be keen to hear from you whether the fans kick up as frequently/strongly as before when the undervolt+repaste is in action, during non-gaming use.

 

Rusty or Freek: can you please comment on the heat around the keyboard and mouse area for normal use and under load? Not sure why this isn't being mentioned by Cake.

 

Ok, cool, that's better. So, with an 80mv undervolt and a repaste of the CPU & GPU you managed to knock off 4 degC off the GPU temperature (81 degC), and 10 degC off the CPU temperature (83 degC), and at the same time gain 26Mhz on the GPU to run at full boost of 1126Mhz, and also not get any thermal throttling of the CPU. That seems like a step in the right direction to me, you improved it!

I will say that Heaven Benchmark is not a test of the CPU at all, in fact it's less stringent on the CPU than almost any PC game, so I think you'd want to test out your CPU clock frequency & temperature behaviour over extended gaming sessions of say Crysis 3 or Metro Last Light or BF4 (all very CPU intensive). The same can be said for the GPU, but it's looking very promising for the GPU, I don't forsee any throttling with that, but I think you have some more testing to do to check the CPU for real world gaming in terms of temperatures & stable turbo boost speeds. Well done though, you've definitely improved things with the CPU & GPU re-pasting, although a lot of that effect was from the 80mv CPU undervolt, but you managed to take off a couple of degrees just by the repasting.

Next step if I was you would be to monitor stability of CPU & GPU frequencies as well as temperatures over extended gaming sessions of CPU & GPU intensive games (probably 60 - 80% CPU usage, plus near 100% GPU usage in these particular games): Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, BF4 would be really good tests for this purpose (1 hour gaming sessions say).

 

Any light and effective cooling pad anyone would recommend ?
The one recommended earlier is 1 kg, which is heavy in my opinion for someone who travels a lot.

 

I believe someone posted a thermal photo of P35X earlier, probably under load.

Regards

 

I think that one turned out to be with just integrated GPU. In later post he found out his Nvidia GPU was disabled, so I presume those low temperatures were just with iGPU.

 

What did it cost to ship to the Netherlands?

 

I don't have a temp monitor sensor thing so can't accurately measure how hot it is.

 

So, is there any other retailer in the EU that sells the P35X V3?

OCUK is selling the CF1 per last week.Costs 2370 euros without shipping
Schenker will have a fully customizeable model, starting from somewhere in december, price not known yet
Scan UK will sell the CF3 for 1750 pounds = 2230 euros

EDIT: xoticpc ships to europe, had the CF4 (=CF3 almost) listed at 2330 dorrah. Which is 1870 euros, why do we get shafted by tech prices all the time? This laptop costs almost 400 euros more in our so-called free market.

Any other retailers? Will BTO sell them for example?

 

My gf has u2 this thing is amazing, as soon as i get new laptop i will get u3!!

 

@cakefish Have you tried installing a power draw application to monitor whether the 180W PSU is capable enough or needs an upgrade so the cpu and gpu wont power throttle?

 

Scan UK also sell CF2 for 1600 Pounds, scheduled 17th November. OC UK have the same model for 14th at few pence difference.

Regards

 

Cakefish you sneaky !
What an improvement!

I will definitely do this when I get the time to disassemble my laptop!
For now it looks like my GFX is always working (yeaaay), will take a run in Heaven just so you guys can see temperature from multiple laptops.

Also I read that some1 request more thermal pictures?! The buddy I met at the convention this week, told me I could borrow it for a day or 2 next week, it it's important to you guys I can do that?!

OK, for now heres a picture of my run!

Settings:
High Performance - Profile
Max Fan Speed - "SmartManagerV3"

It's warmer on the right side, where GPU is located, but not so hot that you can't touch it. I would say around 40degress if I took a Thermal Camera.

 

Why doesn't the Xotic PC version have an i7-4860HQ?

 

Now here's a fun one! - I remember some1 asked in this thread, to disable the TurboBoost (the one Intel use, to boost their CPU). The result was actually quite good!

* Improvment over the stock?! - Better average FPS, lower temps, higher GPU clocks!

Settings:
High Performance - Profile
Max Fan Speed - "SmartManagerV3"
Disable Turbo - ThrottleStop

 

Interesting !
So Disabling turbo boost, repasting with good thermal paste, and a good cooling pad should get very good temperatures.

 

What kind of performance increase would there be between the 4710HQ version and 4860HQ version?

 

Looks like the first thing to do in my project is to keep turboboost on while keeping CPU topped out at 85C...

Challenge accepted.

 

I can definitely imagine that!
IC Diamond or Prolimatech PK-3 & the Coolermaster NOTEPAL U3, would be a AWESOME cocktail on this little badboy!

 

Overclockers.uk doesn't offer thermal repaste service?

 

OcUK doesnt offer any options. Gotta build it all from ground up. Got a nice large bottle of IPA to remove stock paste anyway.

 

Thermal throttling on the GPU, and probably thermal throttling on the CPU too given the 92 degC temperature on it. Looks like the CPU cooling on these laptops is very challenged, and the GPU too, but to a lesser extent.

Yeah, but disabling Turbo Boost on the CPU isn't exactly a selling point! But, for these ultra thin laptops it does seem to make sense to limit CPU speed to keep thermals of both GPU & CPU under control.

Practically zero considering the thermal throttling, may as well get the lowest spec CPU for it. (sorry for multiple posts - should have done a multi quote!)

 

You know have to try that sir ; )
I would tend to buy the U2 Plus instead of the U3, 2 fans should be enough (one for the CPU and one for the CPU), and it is lighter (which is one of the main point of the p35x, though it is supposed to be 2,1 kg, but I don't know how Gigabyte and the REP on the Ocuk forum could get that weight).

 

Sadly no, else I would have done that in a heartbeat. :/

Yes they do like they have a challange, but what to expect in a such small chassis, it a beast packed very small. :0)

You are completely right about that, but looking at Cakefish's benchmarking results, it isn't "sooo" much gained performance wise. So the average user can just disable this, if they don't want a cooling pad + changing the thermal paste.
This will ofcourse need the user to know, how to do disable the TurboBoost.

I understand your desision, however I don't think an extra fan would hurt. If you looking for a lighter version, you could take a look at the x-slim.
Cooler Master: NOTEPAL X-SLIM

 

That was me, thanks for doing it and reporting back.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

It's not exactly all doom and gloom. While yes, they run much hotter than the thicker notebooks out there (that's just physics), I have proven over the last couple of days cooling can be vastly improved by these three procedures:

- buying a laptop stand/cooler to prop it above the surface
- undervolting the CPU as far as it can go
- performing a repaste with high-quality thermal paste

And I still have to test out the U3 notepal cooler, which could help further by ensuring fans are aligned to the vents on the bottom of the laptop (which is currently not the case with my current Targus cooler).

I'm determined to squeeze every last degree out of the cooling system

I'll play a lengthy session of Crysis 3 later today and see what happens in regards to temps/throttling. That'll prove to be the real test of cooling endurance.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

Cakefish,

When you get the CM Notepal U3, make sure to let us know if you're using stock or modded fans.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

@Cakefish if you don't mind me asking, instead of buying a 2.5" SSD for over £400, why don't you buy 2x mSATA SSD for less? Amazon currently sell 500GB Crucial M550 mSATA SSD for less than £200 (Samsung's at similar price), and you can have a nice 1TB (RAID 0) partition to take the advantage of.

Regards

 

It would be nice too to have the weight of the laptop without the ODD, and without the non SSD hard drive (SSDs are lighter).

Cakefish, maybe you can try disabling the CPU boost now that you have undervolted, repasted, along with your cooling pad (The U3 may help dropping the temperatures by 2/3°C, but I wouldn't expect more).

EDIT : the fans of the P35x are not ideally placed for standard cooling pads, so to be able to place the fans in the corners may help more than usual, let's hope so!

 

That's right, it's not all doom & gloom, you know there are compromises to be made when buying such a laptop with high performance parts in a thin & small laptop, and you have certainly made improvements to it by repasting & undervolting the CPU, it's an impressive amount of performance in such a small laptop. And as you say, and as I've said, you probably need to do more testing in terms of long gaming sessions that stress both CPU & GPU while monitoring CPU & GPU clock speeds to determine the true real world boost speeds that can be achieved on the CPU & GPU. (The CPU wasn't really being stressed by Unigine Heaven benchmark, hence my recommendation to run long sessions of Crysis 3 / Metro Last Light / or BF4 to see what happens to the clock speeds when both CPU & GPU are fully stressed for long periods.).

 

You are welcome my friend!

You are correct, but maybe for the normal/average person, disabling TurboBoost would be more comportable because they haven't done a repasting before.
But still sad, that they have to do it anyway!

Btw, was thinking - could you take a picture of what you UC'ed in XTU?
Just the whole program.
Thanks,

Best regards

 

Can you guys try Cinebench R15 as well? http://http.maxon.net/pub/benchmarks/CINEBENCH_R15.zip

Interested to know how it handles the CPU test without undervolting.

Also, if you have Photoshop, can you try the diglloyd speed1 and diglloyd Huge benchmarks? MPG - Optimizing Photoshop CS6 / Creative Cloud Performance - Photoshop CS6 / Creative Cloud diglloyd Benchmarks

Spoiler

You can just download the zip file, unpack and drag the diglloydPhotoshopBenchmarks.atn actions file into your Photoshop window.

Diglloyd Speed1
1. Select "prepare Speed1" in actions window and click "play" button
2. save test file.
3. Start timer or stopwatch
4. Select "diglloyd Speed1" and click play


Diglloyd Huge Test (note this is for performance with really big files, it makes 56GB scratch disk)
1. Select "create diglloyd test file" in actions window and click "play" button
2. save test file.
3. Start timer or stopwatch
4. Select "diglloydHuge" and click play

If you have adobe premiere, here is link to a good benchmark for CS6 and CC: Benchmark Instructions