Clevo N960Kx (N960KR) Thread - BIOS Unlock, cooling mods, etc.

[kaz26]

Here's another run I just did. I had turbo boost disabled on the 6400 run. Even on this run the max temp is only 75C, but I don't really want to push it too hard until I get a backup laptop.

 

[razor0601]

6400 points is with stock GPU settings?

[kaz26]

Ya, stock GPU and disabled CPU turbo. 6744 was with +200 base clock and +550 mem.  It doesn't show in GPU-z because I wasn't thinking and closed NVIDIA Inspector before opening GPU-z.

[pypy102]

@kaz26you comeback to latest BIOS version? Can it be unlocked?

[kaz26]

@pypy102 I was running 1.07.14 for those benchmarks, but have since backed down to 1.07.13 because of some instability issues. I'm not sure it's due to the BIOS, but the system seems to run better in version 1.07.13. I am far better with hardware than I am with software, though I am always trying to learn and improve. That's why I'm here. After my BIOS went down, I have been hesitant to mess with it, atleast for now. I plan to get a backup laptop and once I do, I will start to work on improving this one some more. 

 

I saw one person on the web talking about the existence of BIOS ver. 1.07.16 and EC 1.07.07, but I haven't found it yet.

[pypy102]

@kaz26 What instability issues have you encountered with BIOS version 1.07.14, i updated this version and currently testing, maybe i will comeback to 1.07.13 too. I found the EC 1.07.07 but dont know how to upgrade this yet, the EC version running in my laptop is still 1.07.03. Btw how about your rtx 3070 power draw sustained? Mine was dropping to 85W from 150W in 2 minutes because of 87C thermal limit 😞

[kaz26]

The CPU would sometimes run optimally, but sometimes it wouldn't, despite all the settings being the same. I would check it using the CPU-z benchmark, but confirmed it with HWMonitor and Geekbench 5 as well. 

Recently, however, it has started doing this in BIOS ver. 1.07.13, so I no longer attribute this issue with the BIOS. If anyone has suggestions for why this might be happening, I would really like to hear it. Also, sometimes the CPU suddenly behaves like it thinks it's on battery power. There might be circuit problems on this motherboard that were actually to blame for the BIOS corruption. I don't really have the time right now to check all the components and such. 

In the meantime, if anyone knows where to find the BIOS version 1.07.16 with EC 1.07.07, I would appreciate a link to it. 

[Faldi]

Hi, i just got blackscreen my Clevo N960K. So i try to modified the BIOS by showing the Advance Chipset Control. It success, laptop boot normally but realize that Undervolt is still not available. So i modified the BIOS again to show the Overclocking Performance Setup. Its success, the laptop boot to BIOS. I press F9 to show the Menu. But after that, i press F10 to Save Chages and Exit. After that, my laptop wont boot. Just black screen, keyboard lights on, i hear fan spinning. But i think its not do the POST

 

Already try remove BIOS Battery but not help. Any suggestion? 
I just press F9 and then F10. Its stuck. So sad 

[Faldi]

Hi my laptop is ON again. I bring my laptop to near Computer Store near my home and lucky me, its only cos $5 di reflash the BIOS with original one. I just wondering, do you Unlock the Overclocking Performance Menu or no? since the UV Settings is in there. Or just the Advanced Chipset Control?

[kaz26]

@Faldi What settings did you change when the screen blanked out? 

Undervolting the CPU was one of the reasons I unlocked my BIOS, but I have not messed with the overlocking since I recovered my BIOS. It was running fine until I started messing with the RAM timings. I am not sure what is causing the BIOS to act this way and I would really like to know. In a few weeks I will have more time to mess around with the system again and I might try to figure out what's happening. If anyone else can figure it out in the meantime, it would be great. 

[Faldi]

2 hours ago, kaz26 said:

@Faldi What settings did you change when the screen blanked out? 

Undervolting the CPU was one of the reasons I unlocked my BIOS, but I have not messed with the overlocking since I recovered my BIOS. It was running fine until I started messing with the RAM timings. I am not sure what is causing the BIOS to act this way and I would really like to know. In a few weeks I will have more time to mess around with the system again and I might try to figure out what's happening. If anyone else can figure it out in the meantime, it would be great. 

 

At first, i just unlock Advanced Chipset Control menu. Then i flash again but now with Advanced Chipset Control + Overclocking Performance Menu. On tutorial you shared in 1st post, it just said only unlock Advanced Chipset Control right? How can you undervolt? Because on my BIOS, Undervolt menu is on Overclocking Performance Menu. Not on Advanced Chipset Control menu

[DNXK]

i see the option to turn off igpu in bios.

i wander if turn off igpu, can it still display or need a monitor ?

[Snoopk88]

2 hours ago, DNXK said:

i see the option to turn off igpu in bios.

i wander if turn off igpu, can it still display or need a monitor ?

I already tried that the laptop screen stays black and only the keyborad lights up

had to clear the bios settings by removing the CMOS battery to fix it.

according to what i read about this laptop you can't disable IGPU

 

[Snoopk88]

So i am having some problems with the temps on this laptop,

 

i already repasted with arctic MX-4 but the temps are always high as shown by the attached screenshot,

idles around 44 to 50 both CPU and GPU.

not sure why.

 

can someone tell me what is the thickness of the thermal pads on the Vram, i think someone might have changed them before and that they might be too thick and affecting the contact with the heat sink.

[DNXK]

2 hours ago, Snoopk88 said:

So i am having some problems with the temps on this laptop,

 

i already repasted with arctic MX-4 but the temps are always high as shown by the attached screenshot,

idles around 44 to 50 both CPU and GPU.

not sure why.

 

can someone tell me what is the thickness of the thermal pads on the Vram, i think someone might have changed them before and that they might be too thick and affecting the contact with the heat sink.

try undervolt cpu and gpu, it should help.

with me , it keep under 80 when gaming,

around 38 to 44 idle

[pypy102]

3 minutes ago, DNXK said:

try undervolt cpu and gpu, it should help.

with me , it keep under 80 when gaming,

around 38 to 44 idle

How do you undervolt your CPU and GPU? Through the BIOS or app in Windows?
My 3070 got 87C thermal limit after 5 mins playin game and the power draw was 80-85W 😞

[pypy102]

5 hours ago, DNXK said:

i see the option to turn off igpu in bios.

i wander if turn off igpu, can it still display or need a monitor ?

I've already tried that, change the muxswitch from MSHybrid to Discrete but nothing happened. This laptop doesnt have mux switch i guess, but the HDMI port and the 2 mini-DP are connected directly to the 3070, can bypass Optimus by doing that.

[DNXK]

4 hours ago, pypy102 said:

How do you undervolt your CPU and GPU? Through the BIOS or app in Windows?
My 3070 got 87C thermal limit after 5 mins playin game and the power draw was 80-85W 😞

using throttelestop for cpu, and msi afterburner for gpu.

 

[MiRaGe]

…or Intel XTU or Clevo ControlCenter. 

[Snoopk88]

On 3/20/2023 at 11:42 PM, DNXK said:

using throttelestop for cpu, and msi afterburner for gpu.

 

Ok so i am not really sure i am able to do that 

i have an i5 11500 CPU ( i think it is locked and i can't change anything on it )

also in Bios if i go to the overclocking option it shows disabled

i am not even able to change anything in MSI afterburner for the GPU

 

[kaz26]

For those who want the igpu disabled, there are three options, two methods are with software, and one method is hardware:

 

* * *
NOTE: I have not tried disabling the igpu in Device manager, it might be a good idea to select the NVIDIA GPU in NVIDIA control panel first. 
* * * 

1.)  Using NVIDIA Control Panel: Type NVIDIA Control Panel into the windows search in the task bar and select it. Select "Manage 3D Settings" and then select the preferred GPU to use for programs. You can also select which GPU to use for certain programs. See image 1 for example.

2.)  Using Device Manager: Right-click the windows icon in the task bar, select device manager, then select the drop-down menu for Display adapters, right-click on the UHD graphics and disable it.  See image 2 for example.

 

- - - - - Hardware method - - - - - 

3.) To ensure that the iGPU will not ever be used, this third method requires buying a CPU that simply does not have one. These are the F series Intel CPUs, such as 10700F, 11700F, or even 11900KF which is unlocked, but without the iGPU. 

 

 

[kaz26]

@Snoopk88 To undervolt the GPU with MSI Afterburner you need to use the curve editor. 

There is a good article on it found here:
DigitalTrends.com How to Undervolt GPU with MSI Afterburner

[Snoopk88]

8 hours ago, kaz26 said:

@Snoopk88 To undervolt the GPU with MSI Afterburner you need to use the curve editor. 

There is a good article on it found here:
DigitalTrends.com How to Undervolt GPU with MSI Afterburner

Thanks will scroll through this and give it a try.

By the way if you try disabling the IGPU my understanding is that the Nvidia control panel is basically useless as windows overrides all it's settings and manages which GPU to use to save power ( you can choose which one to use depending on the programs you run in the windows display settings ) and from experience when you disable it in device manager it doesn't default to the dedicated Gpu instead you get a very blurry display on the screen ( some sort of software generated dispaly if i am not mistaken)

 

 

 

 

[Snoopk88]

@kaz26

 

I found this Russian form discussing this laptop 

Might be useful in deciding which mods to try next

https://4pda.to/forum/index.php?showtopic=1037452&st=40

 

[kaz26]

That's interesting. I personally don't mess with the settings other than lettings windows decide and I haven't had any issues for the work I do. I'm not really a gamer anymore, though I've been thinking about making a car racing simulator and getting into that. I will probably get a desktop pc for that though. 

This seems to be a popular platform in asia and Russia. 

Please post new info here if you find something good @Snoopk88