*** XMG Apex 15 with Ryzen 3950X / Clevo NH58AF1 Owner's Lounge ***

Trust me, I had this problem even without touching any parameter about CPU and using only the standard profiles for Clevo Control Center. It also happened with PC Specialist BIOS and even standard Clevo BIOS (I usually use the "entertainment" mode even when gaming as the power is enough for the games I play and the noise is lower). Now I am running XMG and I am not willing to change that again until an official statement about this issue will come out. What I can say is that it happens when playing games using the keyboard a lot (especially the WSAD part) and yes, there is something connected to the fan control but it happened when Obsidian PC tool was not running, too. It is quite random, and atm it's about three weeks I did not experience it. But as i did not change anything I know it will happen again.

 

And I just sold my machine, going back to desktops, I need hdmi 2.1 for my lg cx oled. Great machine though very very stable.

 

How much did you get for it?

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

 

~$1300. someone got a great deal.

 

Yep...that's indicative of my main gripe with this machine: it was born gimped...connectivity...BGA graphics...no 17" option...no PCIE 4.0...no HDMI 2.1...

But for just around $1000 bare, definitely something to consider if raw horsepower is your primary concern.

 

Updated | Origin PC NS-15 AMD mobile workstations get Ryzen 5000 desktop-grade CPU options notebookcheck.net | Nov 10, 2020

Don't want to wait a few more months for the Zen 3 mobile APUs? How about some custom laptops with desktop-grade Ryzen 5000 CPUs like the NS-15 AMD workstations from Origin PC? They sure are pricier, but you are essentially replacing your desktop PC. You can choose among all four new Ryzen 5000 CPUs, including the Ryzen 9 5950X flagship.

November 10, 2020 Update: Origin PC has removed all the Ryzen 5000 options from the NS-15 AMD customization page. This particular model features a B450 motherboard, which is not expected to receive a BIOS update for the Ryzen 5000 desktop-grade CPUs this year. According to XMG, who is also planning to update the APEX 15 laptops with the Ryzen 5000 desktop-grade CPUs at some point in 2021, the BIOS for the B450 motherboards could be released at a later date. However, AMD is rumored to be working on an improved motherboard model that could be released before the B450 BIOS update. Any upcoming laptops powered by the new Ryzen 5000 CPUs are probably going to integrate this new motherboard. There is no official confirmation for any B450 successor right now, as the project is under NDA.

 

Hopefully we'll get a 17" option with PCIE 4.0 and all the other goodies that Intel rigs get...maybe even USB4/Thunderbolt 4!! I doubt we'll get upgradeable graphics, though...

 

PCI-E 4.0 is very power hungry for very little gain.

 

If MSI can put it in their Prestige and Summit laptops, then Clevo sure can...and should. If MSI can stick in 4K screens, then Clevo sure can...and should.

Clevo is supposed to be the premier high end laptop platform...so it should offer premium components and options.

 

Still... Already implemented in thin slimy Jokebooks. Thicker laptops should handle it. Not fun with more powerful notebooks if they can’t handle what you find in much weaker notebooks.

 

I just installed a new ram.
It seems to have an amazing timing.

It was reduced from 64gb RAM to 32gb.
There are no more shutdown symptoms and it is going well.

 

In a P model I suppose.

But PCI-E 4.0 on X570 with the desktop CPU is the thing. The APUs are more efficient.

 

Singapore's AfterShock last batch of NH5#A@ laptop had sold out. So now begins the wait for new batch with 5k CPUs refresh!

 

A tweaked 5600x does look very formidable.

 

So I've been trying to overclock my GPU in this laptop, the 2070, and it sometimes works yet seems to reset itself when it gets highly used. I can generally get it up to about 2150 Mhz fully stable, but when I run something that uses 80-100% of the GPU it just goes right back down to its default speeds. Any advice on how to keep it at the OC'd speeds?

 

It needs a much higher power limit, which can be achieved by physically modifying the shunt resistors on the board, as well as adequate cooling to keep the temperature low.

 

It's already got adequate cooling, so that's not an issue, but I assume I can't actually modify the shunt resistors without damaging anything?

 

I mean, somehow I doubt this laptop has good enough cooling to keep a power modded GPU core below 40C under full load, as the temperature compensation algorithm since Pascal kicks in and starts dropping the core clock every few degrees as the card heats up. Not to mention the VRMs might not be able to handle the extra stress. 2150MHz is a pipe dream...

 

2150Mhz full load will get VERY power hungry.

 

Hi there just a question.
I currently have 2666 ram my computer with 3900x. Do you think switching to 3200 cas 18 will result in a major uplift in terms of CPU performance ?

 

Yes, Ryzen's respond well due to the infinity fabric clock increase.

 

hey, I am coming from the Asus ROG Strix gl702zc which had a desktop processor as well. I was really interested to find out that there's a laptop which is able to operate the Ryzen 3950x, and I am planning to buy one but I have a couple of questions and I hope i find answers in this forum.
Is the cooling system enough in this situation? my old Asus had real problems with the ryzen 1700.
does the Clevo have a good quality to rely on? Any known issues?
Is it possible to get a used one or a used borebone somewhere? The one I am planning to get is the RTX 2060 version, a barebone is a good choice as well because I can get the same components used for at least 500 $ less

 

Try RJTech or Eluktronics if you're in the US.

But be warned: it appears that neither this machine nor any offered by other resellers will support the Ryzen 5000 series (it probably could, but as you and I both know from owning a GL702ZC, the manufacturers will never issue a BIOS update to let it happen).

 

1.) Cooling is good enough with an undervolt (3.5 - 3.6 GHz at 0.975-1V or so), but will probably require either Zenstates or Ryzen master due to a locked bios. left hand area (next to touchpad) gets a little warmer than desirable but temps don't exceed 80C with the undervolt even on a full load.

2.) the locked bios is my biggest gripe. there is an infrequent (EC related?) problem where the keyboard freezes, which we (as far as i know) only observe when both the GPU and CPU are under load, usually in keyboard intensive games.

3.) No idea on barebones

 

I would suggest not getting a barebone config. If there are any issues then they will require a 65W CPU to be installed as that is what Clevo officially supports in this model. It is very picky with RAM and aftermarket options may be unstable or not work at all.

The 3950X is not worth the extra cost over the 3900. Both Sager and Eluktronics have good deals on the 3900 + 2070 config right now. I would repaste it and consider a cooling pad so it is more comfortable to use for extended sessions.

 

Does anyone have the Prema BIOS for this laptop? I forgot to back mine up when upgrading, and I think I'd like to downgrade to it.

 

Hello everyone!

I just receive the laptop yesterday, and these are my specs:

CPU: Ryzen 3950X
Ram: DDR4 3200 CL22 Samsung
SSD (NVME): X2 Samsung 970 EVO 2TB.
SSD (2.5): Micron 5210 7TB

As Alienware owner I have 3 330W Delta Power Adapters, so I bought the clevo adapter:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5PCS-7-4-x-5-0-x-0-6MM-DC-Power-Plug-5-5mm-2-5mm-to-7-4mm-5-0mm-for-Dell-HP-ASUS/333725329224?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

The problem that I'm facing is that when running at full speed, the adaptor shutdown, I mean, despite being a 330W is only delivering a maximum of 220W-240W.

I read this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-psu-330w-mod-for-clevo-sager.821370/

I have wired the PSU ID to the ground but, I'm having the same result.

Any ideas to mod it for full 330W Delivery?

Thanks!

 

It could be a board power limit rather than psu limit. The Clevo 330w adaptors have no such ground requirements.

 

I am able to somewhat reliably reproduce the issue. The issue is intermittent but I configured a macro on my Razor mouse to spam a series of keyboard commands over and over. My macro was configured to hold the 'w' and 'shift' keys then press and release 'f' and then 'f' again then repeating the whole sequence again. I'm sure this will work with any key sequence but this is one that I use in game a lot. Sometimes it will take just a few minutes and sometimes it will take longer but it will trigger for me.

I haven't been able to trigger the issue when an external keyboard is connected.

 

Has anyone tried using an eGPU on this machine, or does anyone know of any problems that might stop one from functioning? I'm interested in getting better performance than with the 2070, and I know an M.2 eGPU is a possibility on some laptops.

 

What do you think of the results below???

I do not know what to expect being a 3950X and 2070 Refresh...

Please your comments and adivises.

 

Interesting. Did you share these findings with Clevo or their representantives? Also, being this caused by a random key sequence not directly entered with the keyboard will exclude any hardware issue on the keyboard itself...

 

I think they look good, definitely in the ball park.

Here's mine:
Firestrike
Time Spy

 

I would also like to know if anyone has tested a eGPU with this machine

 

With the performance loss it's going to be hard to justify an external GPU with such a high performance internal card.

 

Still holding out hope for 5000 series. I just saw this article about 65w CPUs: https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/ryzen-9-5900-ryzen-7-5800-inbound-for-oem-and-pc-builders.html

 

Hopefully as it would be a nice boost.

 

So can you actually game with these laptops? I recently picked up an Eluktronics Thicc-15. 3950X, 2070,32GB ram. The CPU under load runs at 88Watts. If I run just furmark alone the laptop hits around 210-215 Watts. If I run Furmark and like Cinebench20 it runs 255watts-270Watts. PLaying Cyberpunk 2077 I am around 237-244watts. How is the 230 Watt power supply supposed to be enough for this laptop? Eventually it kicks off the charger and goes battery only and like 14FPS. What gives?? Is there a fix for this? Why is a 65watt cpu drawing 88-91watts? No difference between entertainment mode or performance. If I try ryzen master and lock it at 1volt 3.1GHZ it still hits 88Watts on the CPU alone. I think this laptop should have shipped with max-Q 2070. I think the 2070 in here is competing for too much power.
NH50Ax
KBC\EC 1.07.04TR1
BIOS 1.07.07RTR1

 

Hmm, it seems like your processor or GPU isn't being controlled properly. I've played a lot of CPU and GPU intensive things, and none of them have caused this. I would recommend first updating to the latest BIOS from XMG here: https://download.schenker-tech.de/package/xmg-apex-15-xap15e20/ (if you're okay with possibly breaking your warranty) and seeing if that helps. It's one update newer than yours, and might help. Otherwise, if that doesn't work or you're not comfortable with it, I would recommend using MSI Afterburner to undervolt your GPU. Use the frequency curve tuner to edit the curve so that it stops at 1605MHz and 725Mv. Also uninstall and reinstall Control Center from the actual Clevo website (Here's the quick link: https://www.clevo.com.tw/en/e-services/download/ftpout_download.asp?sno=11906&no=1 and if you don't trust that, here's the link that you have to navigate through the menus to find it: https://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_down.asp?lang=en), as it seems like your Control Center isn't able to properly control the processor. Lastly, check to see if a program called "FnKey" is running in the background. It is what actually lets Control Center control the processor, and without it running Control Center is useless. Regardless, I recommend you update your Control Center, just to be sure.

 

3.1 ghz 0.9V (or 3.6 ghz 1.0V) is pretty stable for me - and draws about 65-70W on a full 16 core load. I uninstalled all the Clevo stuff and use Ryzen master/zenstates.

I usually run with an Afterburner undervolt / modest graphics settings to keep temperatures comfortable, so I have never been close to straining the power adaptor when gaming. Main reason to go for the 3950X is if you are getting value from the 16 cores (I do a lot of compiling and other multithreaded tasks), for pure gaming the 3900X or even 3700X might be a more sane choice. Running the 2070 + 3950X means you will have to compromise a little to stay within the power budget - I would probably undervolt the CPU to 3.1Ghz/0.9V and then tinker with the graphics settings/afterburner until I find the maximum performance achievable while playing Cyberpunk

 

Not necessarily, since you can disable cores from Ryzen Master to make it behave like a 3700x or 3900x (or anything less than 16 cores, really).


Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

 

Oh good point - you cannot complete disable a CCX, but you can disable cores or switch to 'legacy mode' which disables one CCD, which may reduce power draw. I think you'll still be consuming more power than a 3700x, but worth a try.

 

The gating is pretty good, if the cores are disabled it should drop a lot of the power consumption.

 

I'll have to watch a video on that. This is my first AMD product in the past 20 years. I still don't know why they would ship a power supply incapable of handling a fully loaded out laptop. If they can't power it to be reliable, why sell it to the public.

 

Well I tried uninstalled the control center than no backlit keyboard which I kind of like the red at least for night time. Can I keep control center and ryzen master at the same time? I am using the latest version of msi afterburner ( which I have to watch a video on undervolting), control center and ryzen master. I think it is the 2070 that is blowing this thing over power spec. If I run prime95 on 32 threads, the CPU pulls 63W @ 150F temps on Entertainment setting. If I then load up furmark gpu test the system draws 253watts from the outlet. 23watts over spec on the psu. 90Watt draw is now happening on performance mode. For some reason control center actually started doing something. So out of the box this thing can't game on performance mode with out tripping the power adapter off. That is disappointing. Anyone want to buy this thing from me for a discounted $1800?

 

Is there anyway to downgrade back to an OEM eluktronics bios that capped the cpu to 65watts. I think it's ludicrous that the xmg BIOS uncaps the CPU to 90watts in performance mode.

 

Well, first of all Entertainment Mode does cap it at 65 watts, but of course it also limits the GPU performance. I'm also pretty sure that all copies of the BIOS allowed the CPU to run at 90 watts, since that's what this laptop is built for, CPU power. Still, if you're sure that a previous version of the BIOS would be better, I would recommend just contacting Eluktronics support.

 

I cap the GPU (2700) with these settings in Afterburner to 1500MHz (you can open the curve editor with ctrl+F). With the CPU (3900) underclocked and undervolted to 3,3GHz/0,975V I get decent temps, and a lot of games don't need so much CPU power anyways - don't know about Cyberpunk, as I haven't picked it up yet.


You can find a free app to set the keyboard color here https://code.obsidian-pc.com/clevo-software/ called KeyboardLed, if you want to ditch the control center.

 

I use the obsidian software and for keyboard and fan control, separate core parking control software, and zen states software to set 3.5-3.6 all core at about 0.94v for my 3950x.

I’m still using an older bios, but have had only problems using built in performance modes and software. Using the approach listed above I have reasonable fans and excellent performance in everything except battery life (more of a built-in UPS on this setup).

 

Your reseller should always be able to provide the latest bios update for you @94sportsedan