Offical Coffee Lake Thread/Upgrade Guide MSI 16L13 (Eurocom Tornado F5)

DISCLAIMER: This mod is NOT officially supported on the MSI 16L1/16L13 laptop, and YOU assume all the risk and liability by attempting this on your own laptop. This thread was created merely to show how I completed the MOD on my own laptop successfully.

Also remember: The CPU mod only works on skylake, kabylake and coffee lake CPU's as of now, future cannon lake CPU's MAY be supported with an updated BIOS mod.

The modified BIOS has been included!

Things you WILL need:
A USB stick, preferably formatted to fat32, to flash bios firmware
A SPI flasher with BIOS 8 pin clip (pomona clip) just in case BIOS cannot be flashed through firmware update due to 'fpt error message'
The BIOS of course, choose the one compatible with your model, you may have the msi 16l1 or msi 16l13, you can check on the back of the laptop or in dxdiag in windows.
A coffee lake CPU, preferably a tested one, such as an i5 8600k or i7 8700k, although all coffee lake cpu's in hindsight SHOULD work as all microcodes have been added, for pentium, i3, i5 and i7 coffee lake cpu's.

BEFORE YOU START​

Make a backup of your bios, or have a backup ready just in case anything goes wrong.
Make sure you have a SPI flash programmer handy, you may not need it but it is always useful to have if you brick the laptop bios.
Make sure you DO NOT UPDATE your Intel management engine firmware at all, this will block coffee lake CPU recognition!

THE PROCESS​

You will first need to try and flash the bios through the USB method as listed below:

1) Enter BIOS , and press Right Ctrl->Right Shift->Left Alt->F2 to unlock options.
2) Change 4 values
a) Security->Secure Boot->Attempt Secure Boot->Disabled
b) Advanced->PCH-IO Configuration->Security Configuration->BIOS Lock->Disabled
c) Advanced->PCH-FW Configuration->ME State->Disabled
d) Boot->Boot mode select->UEFI
3) Unplug all your SSD and HDD
4) Put EFI folder to your FAT32 USB Flash Disk , put bios file to EFI/Boot folder , and boot to it
5) Wait for startup.nsh executes, and then type "open", press enter.
6) Shutdown and wait 3 seconds , then boot to USB Flash Disk again.
7) Wait for startup.nsh execute, and then type "fpt -d backup.bin" , press enter to backup .
8) Type "fpt -f BIOS.bin -rewrite -y" , press enter to flash new bios .
9) Type "fpt -greset" press enter to let ME and BIOS install.

If you cannot do this (you keep receiving fpt error message), try the SPI programmer , make sure to backup before you flash.

If the above method DOES NOT work you will need to use the SPI flash programmer, I used a SkyPro specifically but any bios programmer should work, just remember to note down the details of your bios chip so they can be entered into the flashing software as shown below:
Please note: Your BIOS chip details will be different to the ones shown below!


You will need to find the location of the BIOS chip which is marked by a 'red' dot as shown in the image below, put the clip on the bios chip, the first red wire on the 8 pin clip should face the small embedded circle you can see on the chip:
Please note: The 'embedded' circle is NOT the red dot!


Now all you have to do is open the bios file from the EXTRACTED .7z folder and flash it, click on 'auto' as it does the whole process manually including erasing, writing and verifying.

And that's it for the software!

Time for the pin mod:

This is practically very simple to do and I will show a diagram of it here, you need to isolate two pins as shown below:



You can isolate these 2 contact pins using kapton tape, or any tape for that matter, just DO NOT COVER ANY OTHER PINS. I accidentally did that and got many bsods on load!

The reason we do not need to SHORT the two pins at the top is because we have already injected the bios and microcode into the motherboard, therefore the coffee lake cpu should be recognized just fine!

And that is it! You can now carefully put the processor into the socket, put the heatsink back on and watch as the computer boots with it's beastly new coffee lake cpu installed.

BENCHMARKS​

Benchmarks of my Intel i5-8600K in this beast laptop:




Benchmarks for the i7-8700K shown below, courtesy of @Talon


Aida64 benchmarks for the i7-8700K shown below, courtesy of @aaronne

Spoiler

WHICH PROCESSOR SHOULD I BUY?​

Personally I only see two processors that are viable for this coffee lake mod in the first place.
Those processors being the i5-8600K and i7-8700K.
The i5 has 6 cores and 6 threads whilst the i7 has 6 cores and 12 threads.

Advantages of the i5-8600K over the i7-7700K:
It can run games very well, reaching from 10 to 20 fps more than a 7700k can provide even on stock clocks.
It runs much cooler than the last kabylake generation and undervolts well.
It is actually faster than a stock i7 7700k in all aspects when overclocked to ~ 4.5GHz, your range MAY vary.
It can lead to slightly quicker render times than the i7 7700k, due to 2 extra PHYSICAL cores.
Similarly priced to the i7 and is binned well which means high overclocks are more likely.
Less power consumption than the i7.

Advantages of the i7-8700K over the i5-8600K (note the 8700k is the successor of the 7700k):
The processor has hyper threading enabled, can lead to overall better performance, especially in rendering and benchmarks (a stock 8600k gets demolished in cinebench with a stock 8700k).
Games run slightly better on the i7 1-5fps difference in most games.
Runs slightly cooler than the i5, again your range may vary but on the whole it runs cooler!
The best cpu you can use right now, if you are an enthusiast this is the option for you!

Hope this can help you decide which CPU to buy!

LINK & CREDIT GIVEN​

Coffee Lake Bios is available here, please read the README file in the attachment for further information on the bios:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W8B9QnZluwQn9lovJ9OJKTuVdV8oXGgc

Credit is due to @dsanke for providing the BIOS, donate to him via PayPal, he worked hard to make a fully functioning bios for us: [email protected]
Credit is also due to @Talon for allowing me to use the photo

 

Good news to 16L1 / 16L3 now !

MS-16L1 = Z170
MS-16L3 = Z270
Do not flash wrong BIOS to your device.

For Chinese users , all my modified coffee lake mod for CLEVO and MSI LGA115 laptops are posted here : http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5689449561

 

Holy moly!!! This means there's a good change we see the 9900K work in this laptop (provided there's appropriate BIOS available).

 

Link added, the post is being updated for benchmarks and more...

 

Awesome work done!

Did anyone tried 8th generation on P751DM2-G model?

 

I have modified bios for all clevo lga1151 laptops support coffee lake too. I will post or ask @DaMafiaGamer to help me post it soon.

 

Benchmarks posted, opinions on which processors to get will be added soon.

Side Note: Clevo p870dm-g coffee lake tutorial and bios coming real soon!

 

I'll be sure to throw in benchmarks for the Core i7 8086K, which @Talon kindly installed into my 16L13.

 

First of all: thank you very much!

Sorry for asking the obvious, but I am kind of on the fence about two questions:

Is the code for older generations (6th and 7th gen CPUs) still included?

Is there a specific ME version we need before we try to flash this bios or does the bios image include the required ME image?

Thank you

 

1.they were included.
2.follow steps and me will be flashed to proper version.

 

That sounds great!

 

Thanks, daMafiaGamer and @dsanke. +Rep

 

@Mr. Fox check this out!

 

Thanks @dsanke
Thanks @DaMafiaGamer
Thanks @Talon

 

Thread is now final!
Message me if you want your benchmarks posted.

 

@DaMafiaGamer Thank you so much for the guide and to all those involved in helping make this happen. I am debating if I want to mess with mine since it pretty much is perfect right now, but this is almost too tempting not to.

 

​

My system had the Prema ME firmware update and according to @Talon, there was no issue with the Coffee Lake upgrade.

 

I mean do not update ME after BIOS flash. The FPT Operation including ME update , it will update ME to my provided version.
ME FW newer than April 2017 will block old PCH run Coffee Lake CPU and new PCH like Z370 or H310C run old Sky Lake and Kaby Lake CPU.

 

@dsanke do you think you will work on a BIOS for this model if the 9800K's work when they come out with similar hacks?

 

I'm hoping to have time to create and post some benchmarks next week, but here's something to note. This upgrade will cause G-Sync to stop functioning on the built-in display if your laptop was otherwise so equipped.

 

The G-Sync was working until I put in your 8086K. With the 7700K G-Sync was working fine.

 

Can't SVET come to the rescue with that? Or do you guys have Prema Bios?

 

Yeah, I was just putting the info out there in case anyone else was interested. I'm sure it's something that can be fixed in another BIOS update. Doesn't matter to me as I rarely use the built-in screen on mine, and when I do, it's not for gaming. Maybe this will be an impetus to replace my 1080p/60 screen for the 120 Hz one that didn't support G-Sync in the first place LOL.

 

Guys so just before I even attempt to buy a new 8700K CPU, how can I check if my laptop is ok to go? Should I just attempt to flash the bios first hand?

What does "ME" stand for?

 

Here are some benchmarks with my 8086K running at 4.4 and 4.5 GHz. I'll try higher once the heatsinks for the VRMs I ordered come in.

 

The laptop isn't delivered with 8700K. Aka this notebook model ain't verified / licensed by Nvidia for G-sync display. Not sure if you can fix it with firmware mod.

 

https://www.3dmark.com/fs/16050833

 

Easily beats my 4.9GHz 7700K FS benchmark with very low temps. I want to upgrade now but no body answered my previous questions.

 

You would need to flash the modified BIOS first. Once it takes, then you can proceed with the hardware portion of the upgrade. ME is the Intel Management Engine, the thing that gets compromised with the Spectre/Meltdown (can't remember which) vulnerabilities. You can still do the modification if your system is currently patched, but once you've updated the BIOS, do not re-patch it because it will break compatibility.

 

OK that's clear now.

Does windows update tend to update ME automatically or is it a manual process? Because my Windows updates are being downloaded automatically right now. I never noticed anything about Intel ME so I just want to be sure.

 

The update to avoid is the ME firmware. Drivers are fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Micro$h4f doesn’t push out device firmware updates. Only for own trash. And why let the Redmond morons update your pc at all? It’s your computer not theirs. Close the door and do it yourself.

 

Is there any tutorial for using Kapton tape on CPU pins? I don’t want to botch my brand new CPU..

 

You don't need a tutorial as much as simply making sure you place it on the right pins. This can be a bit of a pain, requires steady hands and some good eye sight. I cut the kapton tape pieces using small sewing scissors and then used a magnifying headset similar to this
https://www.amazon.com/Quality-Opti...6738&sr=8-26&keywords=magnifying+headset&th=1

It's not hard work but does require a bit of patience.

 

You tape over the contact points of the CPU rather than the pins of the socket I'm assuming, that would be easier. When Huniken was talking about taping CPU pins that sounds more difficult - I'm thinking he might be considering placing tape over the pins in the socket, I'm assuming that's wrong.

 

Cpu works fine in the socket without the pins covered but still cover them just in case, you don't want a burnt socket.

I used parcel tape, cut a small section of it and placed it on both pins. Then put the cpu into the socket. Be warned though the tape can move overtime due to heat from the cpu.

 

The LAST thing you want to do is accidently cover a live vss pin with the adhesive on the bottom of the tape. That is deadly for the cpu. It's what lead to my cpu blue screening on full load. Ive heard it can lead to permanent damage but I don't believe that.

 

I think Kapton tape will be fine, still I'll make sure it sticks in the correct way.

 

I think I will buy that, could use it for many things!

 

Whoops, I meant the CPU pads themselves, please don't mess with those very delicate pins lol. I bent one once and it was a PITA to bend back. Luckily it was an old LGA1156 motherboard.

 

Ha good, I thought it would be strange to put tape over the pins rather than the nice flat contact points of the CPU, and I've never done this before myself, so I wanted to make sure Huniken was not getting the wrong end of the stick - and then praps ending up with a messed up CPU socket!

 

It does make sense, putting tape over the pins, Yikes! Yeah, just the contact point, 2 well placed Kapton tape tiny patches should be good.

 

Hang on man, what are you saying!! You put the tape on the CPU, not the pins of the socket - that's what I was trying to clarify with everyone here.

 

Yeah, I know what are you saying, those pins are very delicate on the MOBO, when I was posting back then, I had a mind jam, derp...was thinking CPU had the pins LOL!!!!. So YIKES! I don’t want to bend any of them.

Sorry but work and life took a toll on me, yeah, you are correct

 

little update for MSI 16L1 bios, on this version I've unlocked all sub menu, and checked for the default language (appear to be "English");
always thanks for @dsanke for original GT63mod and cook.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=10QxLafJMsLwWqst5RAcHkgeCIDuw2FVA

 

Thank you,

@dsanke or @DaMafiaGamer I will try it when I have the chance (Maybe after one week) but if anyone tried it and its not in Chinese post installation please confirm in this thread.

Much appreciated @aaronne

 

Those pads are too small to cover....can I just plug in the processor?

I’m waiting for that special magnifying tool to arrive in the post, but until then I just want to try it....

 

Up to you I tried in my p870dmg with no covered pads and that worked flawlessly although the cpu heated up very quickly.

 

Oh it’s a temp issue..... I guess I will just try the water cooling project first then when I’m ready I will move on with the 8700K.

 

Not even. The reason the pins need to be covered are because they could fry the motherboard socket pins. No one knows what those pins do but the last thing you want is the motherboard going dead.