win32asmguy

Yeah I have a soft spot for barebones options although there is some risk if trying to install high performance memory that has not been tested in house for compatibility. The layout is definitely not standard. The keys are also noisy as expected but they may offer the membrane version later this year. I do not use the keyboard often so its less of an issue, and I could easily carry an MX Keys around if needed. The bios only lets you select a performance mode (Office / Balanced / Beast) to effect the default fan curve. It may be possible to override the default curve for those profiles, I will check.

Here is my quick initial review of the Eluktronics Mech 17 GP2 with 4090. Ordering Process I used their website to purchase after their pricing promotion started and barebones options were added. This was great for me as I already had 32GB of Samsung DDR5-4800 CL40 memory on hand as well as SSD and Windows license. Checkout forwarded me to paypal, which generated a receipt with specs but for some reason this order did not get associated to my account on their site so I could not see status updates. Eventually a few days later I received an email for shipping notification. Shipping I choose their $8 option which was UPS Ground. The package was picked up in PA the same day the label was generated. I will note that hold for pickup was not available for me via UPS MyChoice. Signature was required. The box was packed well a discreet outer brown box and they also put a piece of tape over the barcode on the UPS label which was nice as it keeps water damage on the label from preventing scans. There was also a piece of paper explaining their return policy before opening the laptop package. Build Quality The Lid and Bottom panel are made of thick aluminum that is rigid and does not flex. The palm rest is made of magnesium alloy and covered with a soft touch material similar to what is found on the Dell Precision laptops. Compared to the MAX 17 I would say its a bit less quality, but still more solid than the Clevo laptops I have used in the past. Disassembly My configuration was barebones so the first thing I needed to do was remove the bottom panel. All of the screws on the bottom panel fully remove, and the two near the back center need a deeper screwdriver bit as they are recessed. There are also two screws on the back near the water inlet/outlets. Then prying from the sides near the USB ports working towards the back and front the plastic clips eventually released. The M.2 screws were already installed in the screw holes. Drive installation was easy and the user manual indicated the slot closest to the fan was primary. The included Intel AX201 Wifi card was already pre-installed. Initial Boot / BIOS After a minute the system booted and I took a look at the bios. It has an advanced menu with some options like MUX control and then a Tuning menu with Overclocking / CPU / Memory options. By default a -125mv undervolt was applied to the 13900HX P-cores. Windows Support My initial OS I am testing on it is Windows 10 22H2. After it booted into the OS most drivers were able to install other than the Realtek Audio + Nahemic drivers. Unfortunately Eluktronics told me that their Microsoft agreement only allows them to support Windows 11 on these models. They also mentioned a WIM Windows 11 image is available for customers who purchased a barebones config to simply getting their system up and running. Linux Support I have Fedora 37 installed. These are the steps I took: Boot Live USB with nouveau.modeset=0 parameter to disable the open source nvidia driver After install, go into bios and set Fedora grub EFI entry as active, also ensure Secure Boot is disabled Download updates via Software Center, reboot Switch default session from Wayland to Xorg, reboot Install akmod-nvidia from rpmfusion, reboot As far as compatibility goes everything seems to be working fine so far. The speakers are quieter than in Windows with Nahemic but are usable. Probably the HDAudio pin config is not enabling the amp yet as the mappings likely have changed since the last revision (SB Cinema -> Nahemic). In this configuration the internal display only supports 2560x1600 without scaling from xrandr. Nvidia Settings can apply a scaled resolution but this doesn't always work well in the multi-monitor configuration I use. 60hz and 240hz is supported. In theory switching the MUX to Hybrid mode should allow decent battery life at 60hz as the software configuration should allow the Nvidia card to enter runtime D3. The nvidia power daemon (dynamic boost manager) is likely buggy and will randomly cause high CPU usage. I would leave it disabled unless you are gaming or doing something where you need beyond the base 150W. I will try to run a Linux GPU benchmark soon. Booting Windows 10 via GRUB for some reason is causing performance of the 4090 GPU to be limited. So for now if I boot into Windows I must use F7 and select the "Windows Boot Manager" option instead of the Fedora entry. Performance CBR23 in Beast Mode - ~31500, 120W CBR23 in Balanced Mode - ~25800, 75W TimeSpy in Beast Mode - 21021 Overall, 21790 Graphics, 17521 CPU (Control Center installed, Nvidia 528.49, Auto Fans, 175W pull observed) Fan Noise So far it has been pretty good. No high pitched whining and the fans do not have an issue with pulsing at idle or low usage with the default curve. Overall Initial Impressions Its a nice machine. The fan noise and build quality great. I will add more as I can think about it.

Here is a screenshot taken from that utility with 1.9.1. CPU Revision corresponds to Microcode Revision in HWInfo64. Stepping has always been the same, C0.

I updated to 1.9.1 as well. No change in microcode revision according to HWInfo64. I tested Dynamic Boost and its still stuck at 102W on the 7670 without using Afterburner to push power limits up to 125W. @MyPC8MyBrain did you re-run your CBR23 tests after the update, maybe it "says" the undervolt is applied but it is not actually taking effect.

Only air for now. They are still waiting on the shipment of water coolers.

I will report on the 13900HX in an Eluktronics Mech 17 GP2 next week. It has a Premamod bios so it should be tuneable and competitive.

The bios looks like it has the same four performance modes as are available on the business model. So if he switched from balanced to ultra performance it may affect TDP limits and fan curve.

Well, Intel has the technologies already (LGA, PGA) but just refuses to use them. The only real issue with modular designs is they do not fit into the business goals for the companies in control. At one point I was told PGA was sunset because some OEM's were having issues with pins being bent by technicians when repairs were performed. I laughed because it sounded like a poor excuse for lack of training.

Yeah, that one was just for shipping from their website. dell.com also has the same config m16 on their website for quick shipment. Its a shame Dell does not have a 16 inch FHD+ 165hz panel option. You would think because they offer it on the G16 that it would be as simple as making the custom eDP cable for the m16 as well. At least they do have the FHD+ panel coming for the m18, even with wide gamut support as well.

That makes sense for CPU thermals it should only peak in the CPU test. I happen to see an "open box excellent" m16 on Best Buy's site so I have that on the way to test out. A sales rep at Dell mentioned the fully customizable m18 should be available soon.

I have not tried the new version yet. I may ask Eurocom for it in case they have a modified variant for their performance modes. Speaking of Eurocom they have listed the Clevo X370 as their Raptor X17.

I guess we will have some reviews of the Alienware QHD+ panel at some point. The specs may be worse but it should still be enjoyable for most games when used indoors. Hopefully 4080 and 4090 both get the vapor chamber. Per usual Dell style the specs are ambiguous so we probably will not know for sure until someone gets one and takes it apart. I am happy to see the m18 has Windows 10 drivers on the support page so far. It also appears that the TB4 ports are likely connected to the iGPU based on the spec page.

This Alienware m18 config is not a bad deal either, for 13900HX, 4080 and QHD+ panel: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-m18-gaming-laptop/spd/alienware-m18-r1-laptop/wnm18r1cto010 The $400 extra cost gets you better build quality, a mechanical keyboard, vapor chamber? and ability to choose an on site warranty.

I hope they have a config with the 13980HX, 4090, 1920x1200 screen, membrane keyboard and otherwise basic specs for memory and storage, for under 4000usd. It would be worth a test to check out linux compatibility and hopefully is not too noisy under office or gaming scenarios. It would be great if we could somehow convince Dell to support Windows 10 on this model. I cannot really understand the point of including those M.2 2230 SSD slots. May as well just left them out as those drives are neither performant or high capacity. At least the wifi is not soldered..

I noticed that the service manual is available, and also possibly a new EC version 1.07.06 which I have not tested yet. https://repo.palkeo.com/clevo-mirror/NH5xJNN(Q)_R(Q)_PS(Y)/ The system block diagram confirms no MUX on this model for the laptop LCD.

I wonder if these will end up being compatible with the 7670 / 7770 using the SODIMM interposer, it could be a cheaper way to get to 96GB capacity. https://wccftech.com/crucial-now-has-24-gb-48-gb-ddr5-memory-options-for-desktop-laptop-pcs/amp/

I hope for the sake of 7670 and 7770 owners it means retroactive price drops for CAMM upgrades. As it is right now, we are looking at 1250usd and 2500usd to get a 64GB or 128GB module. At one point I think Dell said CAMM was 1usd/GB more expensive to produce than SODIMM, would be nice to see that price reflected with with their upgrade costs, and for there to be one less thing for the anti-CAMM crowd to complain about.

I have seen a variance of 200mv on some 12900k chips for P-core and cache factory voltages at the same frequencies. It is tougher to measure on the BGA laptop chips but it does seem like there is just as much variance. Hopefully 13th Gen's refinements will improve it. It sounds like 13900k Asus SP ratings have generally gone up so maybe it will be the same case with 13th Gen mobile.

Maybe try re-enabling RST and check in the RST boot option ROM to see if any kind of array or JBOD entry is defined? I am unsure but it may interfere with using the same slot in AHCI mode.

@jorgeregula Please also make sure you have "Overclocking Feature" enabled as all sub menu options are not applied (undervolting or modifying core ratio limits, etc) unless that is the case. Note this is different than the "Overclocking Lock" in the PCH submenu. I can shoot a quick video on the MSI GE77 to show why if it help visualize it.

It will be interesting to see if the top end Alienware or XPS 17/18 model ends up with CAMM. It could mean 128GB options being available again or XMP CAMM modules. If these are going to be reaching these new higher single core boost speeds hopefully the cooling system is top notch and extra care is taken at the factory to ensure what they are shipping meets these tighter tolerances. I would also hope they can ship a system with few firmware bugs but given how quickly the cadence has been there can be a higher chance for problems as we are all just human.

You might try running Throttlestop or HWInfo64 to monitor power limit reasons while the CPU benchmark portion is running. If you repaste Honeywell PTM7950 is a decent option on the CPU and can be purchased now stateside from modDIY for a modest price over getting it via ebuy7.

I will run it through an ePSA diagnostic test in dedicated mode to see if it occurs. I think in dedicated mode it was always artifacting regardless of driver loaded from Dell or Nvidia. I also noticed the 7670 memory is the 14gbps type instead of 16gbps. Probably does not matter at 125W but interesting to note. I wonder if the gddr6 could be an inferior bin or it's just the same chips at a lower speed.

The artifact was a random box area would flicker periodically in games, even at default clocks and 90W TDP. On another machine with a 3080Ti I noticed checkerboard patterns which persisted to the desktop even after exiting the game, which did not go away until a reboot. On the 7670, 90W x 138% = 125W vbios cap, hence why the slider goes farther.

Before I reverted the 527.56 driver on the 7670 I checked that value and it was 90W. So it definitely represents Base TGP. GPU-Z also has the same value I have found: