New 2020 LG Gram 17

Thanks @skaertus for finding the 14 in another thread that led me to see this.

Looks like LG has the new 2020 model Gram 17 on their Korean site (let it load fully and auto-translate): https://www.lge.co.kr/lgekor/product/pc/notebook/productDetail.do?cateId=2170&prdId=EPRD.346399



Just a few highlights for the updated model:

• 10th Gen Ice Lake with Iris Plus Graphics
• Slightly larger 80Wh battery
• DDR4 3200 memory
• NVMe drives standard (finally..)
• Redesigned the layout of the numpad
• Redesigned the hinge
• Looks like we can swap out ALL the RAM now (dual slot) instead of 8GB onboard.. EDIT: nope, according to a teardown it's still 8GB onboard. :sadface:
• Still 2 x m.2 NVMe slots, maybe they are both 4x this time.
• Same 16:10 1600p display (YAY!)
• Same MIL spec rating
• Same 2.97lb (maybe a bad thing)

Hopefully they upgraded the heat management to still be quiet, but larger, but I'm not holding my breath until I see a teardown. The fact that the weight is identical doesn't give me much confidence that it was changed at all, but I'll wait until we get definitive proof. Even so, looks like a really good iterative improvement!

This looks like a pretty exciting update for the Gram 17, seems like they paid attention to community feedback and fixed a few of the things people were hoping would be improved (Use Iris Plus iGPU, change layout of the numpad, let us upgrade all the RAM)

 

Yes quite exciting! It'll be hard for me not to purchase the new one.. To bad they stick to the old-fashionned barrel charger plug. Having two usb-c with charging option would be so much better!

The link goes to the i5 model 17Z90N-VA50K with the i5-1035G7 CPU, but there is also an i7 model 17Z90N-VA70K using the i7-1065G7 CPU.

Did you find any information about a release date?

 

No, but I assume that maybe it's already out in Korea? I'd definitely get the i7 version. IMO it's not quite enough of an upgrade for me to go for it, mainly because it's still 4 core / 8 thread. I don't think I'd really see a benefit. If they managed to put better cooling in there and use 25W config, I'd have a hard time with that. I am not holding out hope though.

 

Engadget has news about the 2020 Grams. They will be shown at CES which most likely means there will be North American models.

I like what they changed on the keyboard a lot. And 10th gen intel is quite nice. However I wouldn't want to go through all my modding again.

 

OK, so what's the REAL reason behind the hinge change? 3mm clearly isn't it.

Main advantage of the new CPU appears to be the graphics.

Edit: Good summary of performance differences:

 

Jesus....
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/pcworld/20191001/282205127610913

 

Hello, just posted in previous model topic.

Cooling is almost same, at least size. This cpu + more powerful gpu will cause same or even more heating and thermal throttling.
Disabling TurboBoost won't help because base clocks now are 1.1 - 1.3GHz .

 

It's too bad about the cooling, I guess this little blurb by Anandtech isn't true

 

It IS different.

There's a better mounting arm config of 4 corners instead of three arm mounting bracket, and as well the heatsink fins are now angled instead of straight. Definitely looks like a little more surface area than before, though it still looks a little meager. It definitely could stand to be bigger, but it's better than last year.

It's not good enough to make me want to sell my current one and get this one though.

Here's the new 2020 heatpipe and heatsink:


Here's the old one:

 

Is that a screen shot from a teardown video? Link?

 

I quoted the post with the video

 

Still looks anemic. Hopefully someone makes a 3rd party heat sink.

For speakers I think I'll just attach a mini speaker bar to my laptop stand. I have a portable one, too, but that's heavy due to a battery. Maybe a USB speaker bar like the Dell Pro Stereo Soundbar AE515M

 

Looks like the 2020 version is officially on LG's site.

https://www.lg.com/us/laptops/lg-17z90n-r.aas9u1-ultra-slim-laptop

 

Thanks for the mention. The new 17-inch LG Gram looks a good update. It is faster and has a larger battery, which will probably deliver better battery life. The screen is good with its large size and a 1440p resolution, and it is still a lightweight. Looks like a very compelling laptop.

Kudos for LG for releasing this unique line of 17-inch laptops.

Nearly all manufacturers seem to be simple Apple followers these days, just copying whichever trend Apple throws at them, instead of thinking with their own heads.

Apple axed the 17-inch MacBook Pro and has kept a high-end, powerful, heavy and expensive 15/16-inch model in the last few years. For regular users, the 13-inch Pro/Air models (and the discontinued 11/12-inch lines) are more suitable, as they are lighter and more affordable.

Everyone seems to have followed Apple, delivering laptops which are either small and light or big, heavy and powerful.

17-inch laptops became a rarity. 15-inch laptops became either (i) low-end machines; (ii) laptops for photo and video professionals, which are powerful, heavy, expensive and come with features which are not necessary for regular users; and (ii) gaming laptops, which are heavy and have a dismal battery life.

LG is finally seeing the obvious. Many people would like a laptop with a large and comfortable screen which is not overly heavy or expensive. Some of them only buy a 13-inch laptop because they are left out of options of mainstream light quality laptops.

A large laptop doesn't have to equal a very powerful one. By not including a dedicated video card, LG managed to produce a large, light and comparatively cheap laptop which still looks and feels premium.

Enviado de meu ASUS_I001DC usando o Tapatalk

 

I just purchased the 2020 LG Gram 17 (IceLake/10th Gen Intel). My first impressions are positive, but I'm having a problem getting a 32GB DDR4 stick (Samsung 2666MHz) working in the version I have[1]. When I swap-in the 32GB module, the computer does not boot - there's no display signal at all. I tried swapping-in a 4GB stick and the same thing happens. Finally, not having any additional memory (empty sodimm slot) also does not boot. In the BIOS, after hitting the CTRL+ALT+F7 key combo, I enabled all of the diagnostic bootup information. None of these diagnostics shows on bootup with the non-default configurations listed above.

LG's website does not show any available BIOS updates, so I'm kinda stuck with what I can do. I'm posting here in the hopes that other people who purchased this can share their experience. I'm really hoping that there isn't some sort of IceLake chipset issue preventing a 40GB memory install like the 2019 version is able to support. The ability to have 40GB of memory was a big selling point for me.

[1] model # 17Z90N-R.AAC8U1, which is the Costco SKU; this is different than the models available at Amazon, B&H, and LG's own site which is model number 17Z90N-R.AAC9U1. The main difference that I see is the addition of a second 512GB SSD drive in the 2nd M.2 slot on the latter model.

 

How long did you wait for the post to complete? Some of these newer machine can take quite a bit of time to complete the initial post after changing ram. Also I am curious if you could use a program like hwinfo64 and see if the onboard ram has jedec timings for 1333mhz. If it does not then you may have no choice but to use ddr4-3200+ sodimms in the expansion slot.

 

Was thinking that as well, the onboard RAM is 3200 on the 2020 model.

 

@win32asmguy

Thank you - it boots! My impatience got the better of me here haha! Windows 10 recognizes all 40GB of memory. I am currently running an extended Windows 10 memory test (I'll give it 12 hours or so) and will report back if I see anything odd. Below is an image link to the hwinfo64 report for anyone who's interested. The 32GB Samsung memory chip I'm using is model # M471A4G43MB1.

Post edit for people wanting to upgrade their memory: the initial bootup after installing the memory was about 2 minutes, during which there was no display output. The power LED and keyboard backlight were lit. This is with the BIOS diagnostics enabled and Quick Boot disabled. Subsequent bootups are as quick as before the memory upgrade.

hwinfo64 screenshot: https://ibb.co/RYdvHW3

Next up is adding a second M.2 drive. I have a Samsung 970 EVO on the way. I will keep everyone posted on the install of that.

 

2 minutes is insane! hah... they could at least display some feedback like a blinking cursor with a message that it could take a few minutes to post.

 

Are the 2020 models already readily available outside Korea?
So far I have only found one model on the Costco site available. Everywhere else seems old models or pre-order for the 2020 models.

 

I think it's still on pre order for the US? The 17" is pretty sweet. I use the 15" for my daily driver and it has been phenomenal.

 

Saw this one in Costco in Seattle-area. It's going for $1499 and it's a beauty. My wife will definitely say NO -.-
16:10 is where it's AT! (coding/productivity work)
It's unbelievably light.
Other info: 16gb and I believe 512gb.

This would be a really good mid horse power machine and remoting one into your powerful ones.

 

Yeah, definitely caused me some anxiety! I'm happy to report back that my 2020 Gram has been working very well for me with the 40GB of memory. I added the Samsung 970 EVO as a second drive and it's very snappy. Coming from SATA SSDs, full speed NVMe drives kick butt! I'm using Bitlocker on the second drive and it is very usable. The only thing I haven't tried out yet is the Thunderbolt and HDMI ports - I'll report back if I have any issues with those.

 

This is the model I have, purchased from Costco. The model on Amazon is $1846, but comes with a second 512GB SSD drive for 1TB total disk space. I got my 1TB Samsung 970 EVO for around $160, so the Amazon model definitely has a price premium on it vs my 1.5TB total disk space.

My use case for the laptop is coding (IntelliJ Idea) and testing software in a virtual machine. This has been solid for me so far.

 

Hello fellow coder!
I'm surprised that processor can run virtual machines! That's pretty awesome, this looks like it can pack quite some punch!
That 16:10 screen . I catch myself daydreaming about it at times xP

Enjoy it extra for me!

 

Coders unite!! This pretty much is the ultimate coding laptop, probably next to a MacBook Pro 16 (now that they've fixed that garbage keyboard) if you like macos.

 

I was hoping too it have two USB-C and one for charging.

Can I ask you a few questions about your dual fan mod for the LG Gram 17 2019 model you did? I would like to do this mod if I'm going to get the Gram 17 2020. I wanted to see I can do it myself before purchasing the 2020 model.

Reading from your description, I will need to the following items to replace the stock system.

Two Fans:

I will need to buy two fans that fit in the avaliable space.

Q1: What features do I look for to be compatiable with the motherboard? Like voltage, amps and watts, etc.

Q2: Do I have to use the ATTiny85v chip in order to wire the two fans together and connect to the motherboard? If yes, can you provide a more detail how to do this? Where to buy it?

Q3: Adding an extra fan, does it still function normally as stock single fan like able to control the fan speed, sense temperature by the BIOS and Windows, etc.?

Q4: How do you secure the two fans on the motherboard without using the stock screw holes? What tapes did you use to seal fan with heat fins?

Heatpipe:

Buy the correct dimension that fits in the laptop case and matches the length for two fans.

Q1: I assume you only use Chip Quik solder to solder the heat pipe on top of the heat fins. Do I need to buy a specific type of Chip Quik solder?

Q2: How did you secure this on the motherboard?

Others

Q1: How do you enable the CPU to use the higher speed with a limit of 25W.

Q2: Can you provide the link where you purcahse the parts? This might make it easier for me to buy compatiable parts since Gram 2109 and 2020 model have similar heat management.

Thanks for all your help in advance.

 

ThrottleStop shows "FIVR Control - Locked" and doesn't accept undervolting offsets for this laptop.
This could be due to Intel's plundervolt security vulnerability patch.
However, you can undervolt in the BIOS.

*Do this at your own risk. I take no responsibility for any damage that may occur*

Hit F2 during bootup (LG splashscreen) to enter BIOS
Ctrl Alt F7 to unlock advanced features
Advanced > Intel Advanced Menu > Overclocking Performance Menu
Enable Overclocking Feature
Set a negative offset to Processor/GT/Ring/Uncore to change the ThrottleStop equivalent of CPU Core/Intel GPU/CPU Cache/System Agent.
I set Processor/GT/Ring to -75/-65/-75 mV and it helps reduce thermal throttling although doesn't eliminate it.

For the more adventurous, there are options to increase TDP, overclocking and thermal limits. The processor has a configurable TDP of 15-25W although I'm not sure if the BIOS can override the default 15. Given the chassis already struggles with 15W, I doubt it can handle 25W.

 

A word of caution. For CPU heavy workloads, the new Gram 17 2020 is SLOWER. It took the first generation Gram 17 2019 3.5 hours (three and a half hours) to build our software. The process is very CPU intense. With the same RAM, HDD, etc. moved to the new Gram 17 2020, the process SLOWED DOWN to 4 hours (four hours).

That's hardly an upgrade!

The base CPU clock is slower. The turbo CPU clock when under stress is just about the speed of the former generation. I'll let you folks decide why these results happened, but don't buy this if you're into CPU heavy loads.

 

I'm wondering if the fan control is aggressive on this model vs the other.
If you have time. I'm curious to see average temps and battery draw when building.

 

I'm not the least surprised, but then I'm never been under Intel's reality distortion field. Same core CPU design, same process, same performance per watt. But hey, you get graphics comparable to a 10 watt GeForce MX150...so they claim.

 

I got the 2019 LG Gram 17 at a sale during December. Excellent machine!
I don't really need the performance, I got a desktop for that. Has anyone tried to re-paste the laptop? With what results?

 

There's a really long history of that in the other thread, search that one. A lot of pictures etc..

tl;dr I tried both kryonaut and coollaboratory metal pad kit. Under load they were identical as the heat management is so meager that it gets saturated easily as long as the paste is decent quality and applied correctly. The metal pad kit (essentially two liquid metal sheets with a copper shim) did a little better at idle.

 

Any chance you could run a quick diagnostic utility (e.g., HWInfo64) to confirm whether the second drive slot in the 2020 LG Gram 17 is NVMe×4, with a full four PCIe lanes? In the 2019 model, only the first slot was NVMe×4; the second slot was NVMe×2, with only two PCIe lanes. Sorry to be asking, but I've spent a fair amount of time searching and I haven't been able to nail down the spec!