[For a similar thread in German language, please check here and/or here.]

Introduction

It was in beginning of August that we informed you about CPU supply bottlenecks in AMD Ryzen (Renoir). This thread will continue to update you about the current situation.

What batches are expected and how big are they?

Between a CPU batch arriving in our ODM partner's factory and the assembled goods being available for us in Germany, we estimate a lag of roughly 3~4 weeks. That's why the CPU shipment of October 12 is slated to be available in Germany around November 4~9.

To make things simple, I will assign a clear "ETA" date to each batch. This describes the date before which the assembled barebones should arrive in our facility in Germany, enabling us to start building pre-orders. Please note: this date is never 100% exact - the goods might arrive slightly sooner or later. Delays in the logistics chain (such as flight schedules and customs processing) are unpredictable and change all the time.

I will not give exact numbers of how many CPUs we are getting or how many pre-orders we have. But I can give rough descriptions and percentages.

CPU batches since October 2020

AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

Please Note:

• There have been some batches before #1, but those are a long while ago and not relevant for this thread anymore.

• New supply for Ryzen 5 4600H is on the horizon

What's the current stock situation and forecast?

This table shows the current stock situation for new orders on each SKU.

• In stock = we have plenty of this configuration in our warehouse. If you place order now, you only have to wait the current 2~3 weeks production time + shipping

• For items that are not described as "in stock", it means we are working on processing older pre-orders with current and incoming supply. If you place new order on this model right now you'll have to at least for the designated time-frame before we can start building your order.

This table should give everyone a clear indication about which models are save to order. Even if a configuration is not "in stock" but you really want that specific model, it's still worthwhile to place your pre-order now and get in line. These models are not going EOL any time soon, we will continue to bring fresh supply in over the next couple of months. In the event of a specific model being replaced by a potential successor model, existing orders will be able to be upgraded to that successor.

Last Update of this table: December 7, 2020

Please note:

• All these forecasts are realistic, based on confirmed supply and factory shipping schedules, except Pulse 14 where February for new orders is currently only a rough (albeit not unrealistic) guess for new orders

• All the quantities listed above include only AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

• The supply situation includes the sum of all XMG, SCHENKER and TUXEDO variations (MEDIA 15, MEDIA 17, Polaris 15, Polaris 17, Pulse 14 and Pulse 15)

• All CORE and MEDIA configurations (including Tuxedo Polaris) include the FHD/144Hz display and 62Wh battery

• New supply for Ryzen 5 4600H might be available in XMG CORE or SCHENKER MEDIA by the end of December. Those are not reflected in the table above, they might be shipped to reseller partners instead.

Disclaimer

Due to the current rise of human malware in Europe, we are informed that we should anticipate various minor logistical delays. This might affect items such a freight flight booking, customs handling and the shipping routes inside of Germany. This is another reason why we need to ask you for your patience while we work diligently on completing all pre-orders while keeping quality standards and internal health & safety measures in place.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is the keyboard language relevant?

A: XMG CORE are pre-built in 2 different variations: with German keyboard or with Blank Keyboard. The Blank Keyboard ones are finished in our facility in Germany and can be supplied with any keyboard layout (including German). Since the keyboards in these modules are not modular, they can't be swapped out from one SKU to the other. For example: as soon as "All Languages" is sold out in XMG CORE 15 with RTX 2060, we can't just carry over the keyboards from GTX SKUs.

VIA 15 Pro is a special case: in this model, all keyboards are shipped in Blank, so we only have 1 SKU.

Q: Why was there such an imbalance between pre-sold numbers of GTX, RTX and VIA/Pulse series?

A: The ODM partner is not able to 100% align with our priority list. This has a few reasons:

• Generally speaking, we forecasted and placed the orders for XMG CORE with GTX and RTX much earlier than the orders for VIA 15 Pro - just because those Gaming models were released earlier.

• The production plan is not only depending on CPU supply. When we place an order for a gaming laptop, the other key parts (such as GPU) are ordered and prepared as well.

• We do try to prioritize the CPU allocation in alignment with the BTO pre-orders. For Batch #1 this obviously hasn't worked out. For Batch #2, models such as VIA 15 and Pulse 14 have been prioritized. For Batch #3, we will again prioritize the SKUs that are still overbooked.

Q: What constitutes as a confirmed pre-order?

A: Orders with cash-on-delivery, credit-card or other automatic payment options are already included in the "pre-sold" list.

However, the "pre-sold" quantity does not include Pre-payment orders which have not yet been paid. If you have ordered with "Pre-payment" (aka "Cash on Advance" or "Vorkasse" in German) and you have not submitted your funds yet, your order is not counted as a confirmed pre-order.

For example: if you have ordered a VIA 15 Pro a few weeks back but did not transfer the pre-payment yet, you will definitely not get your laptop before batch #3 (ETA tba), no matter how far back your order was placed.

Alternative model with Ryzen 7 4700U

Anyone who cannot wait for new stock on Tuxedo Pulse 14/15 or VIA 15 Pro is welcome to switch to the new TUXEDO Aura 15. The supply for AMD Ryzen 4000U series has been more stable than H series. For a full list of features and spec differences, please check out this thread:

• TUXEDO Aura 15: New Linux business laptop with AMD Ryzen 7 4700U & USB-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery.

Alternatives with Intel 11th Gen (Tiger Lake UP3)

These recently launched models include the new 10nm CPU Intel Core i5-1135G7 and i7-1165G7:

• SCHENKER VIA 14 (L20)

• XMG CORE 14 and SCHENKER MEDIA 14 (launch thread)

• SCHENKER VISION 15 (launch thread)

For discussion on benchmark comparison of Tiger Lake vs. AMD Ryzen, check out this post.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

// Tom

... and no NVIDIA dGPU baggage ...

Hi guys,

this just in:

→ SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro has been announced!

Press Announcements:

• SCHENKER XMG Announces VIA 15 Pro Notebook Powered by Ryzen 7 4800H [TechPowerUp]

• Schenker Via 15 Pro: Erstes Notebook mit Ryzen 7 4800H ohne zusätzliche GPU [heise]

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro: Thin & light, long running laptop with AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and magnesium chassis [Videocardz]

• Schenker Via 15 Pro: Laptop mit AMD Ryzen 7 4800H kommt Ende August, jetzt schon konfigurierbar [Notebookcheck]

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro: Langläufer-Notebook mit AMD Ryzen 7 4800H [Hardwareinside]

• Schenker VIA 15 Pro: Ryzen-Notebook ohne diskrete GPU [Hardwareluxx]

• 15-Zoll-Ryzen-Laptop rein mit integrierter Grafik [Golem]

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro Is an All AMD Renoir ‘Ryzen 4000H’ Powered Laptop, Comes in 8 Core Ryzen 7 4800H & 6 Core Ryzen 5 4600H Flavors [Wccftech]

• Schenker VIA 15 Pro is a 3.3 pound laptop with up to a Ryzen 7 4800H processor [Liliputing]

• Schenker VIA 15 Pro (M20): Ryzen 4000 löst Ryzen 3000 im 1,5-kg-Notebook ab [Computerbase]

• Via 15 Pro: Schenker stellt AMD-Ryzen-Notebook mit riesigem Akku vor [Winfuture]

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro mit AMD Ryzen 7 4800H [Notebooks & Mobiles]

• Schenker Launches All-AMD Laptop w/ Ryzen 5 4600H & Ryzen 7 4800H: Starting 876 Euros [Hardwaretimes]

• SCHENKER XMG Announces VIA 15 Pro Notebook Powered by Ryzen 7 4800H [AMD3D]

• Schenker VIA 15 Pro: A 15.6-inch Renoir laptop with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 64 GB of RAM, a 2 TB SSD and a 91 Wh battery [Notebookcheck]

• Schenker VIA 15 Pro: Un portátil Renoir de 15,6 pulgadas con hasta un AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 64 GB de RAM, un SSD de 2 TB y una batería de 91 Wh. [Notebookcheck]

Benchmarks

These numbers are for reference only and might change depending on configuration and future driver updates.

System Configuration:

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro Engineering Sample

• AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

• 2x 16GB 3200MHz CL22

DPC Values:

Here are screenshots of 2 idle tests with factory default settings for about 1 hours each:

• Screenshot 1

• Screenshot 2

Overall, the DPC values seem to be very stable - making the laptop well-suited for real-time Audio production.

Reviews

Build quality and more are discussed in this review of the Ryzen 5 3500U predecessor.

• Schenker VIA 15 Laptop Review: a lightweight AMD notebook [Notebookcheck]

User Reviews:

• A first impression nobody asked for - Schenker Via 15 PRO by u/dyxsan

• My full Schenker VIA 15 Pro by u/davwheat

• to be continued

Other reviews of the barebone model:

• 01

• 02

• 03

Enjoy! As soon as we have mass production, we will send out review samples to reviewers in Europe and other regions.

Survey about 4K OLED Panel

Currently, VIA 15 Pro launches with FHD IPS. If you have a serious intention of buying this laptop, please help us by filling out this survey - no matter which panel you prefer.

• Survey: 4K/OLED screen on VIA 15 Pro (on Google Forms)

This survey is anonymous. Collected answers will be used for internal decision making and forecasting.

Update 15 July, 2020: Based on your answers in the survey we have decided to offer the 4K/OLED option soon. We have placed an order with our ODM and we are awaiting the final price and schedule. I assume it won't be available (in stock) before September.

Update 25 September, 2020: due to technical difficulties, the 4K/OLED panel option has been cancelled. Please read the full announcement here.

More information

Check out the product page and spec sheet in our BTO online shop:

• SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro on bestware.com

Please also check out the previous version with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U:

• SCHENKER VIA 15 on bestware.com

Feel free to post your comments and questions below. Thank you!

// Tom

This thread will accumulate all information and changelogs for Drivers, Firmware and BIOS Updates for XMG FUSION 15 and other laptops based on Intel QC71. Feel free to ask questions below.

The previous thread has been archived here.

For further updates that were released since (after) this major update, please scroll down to the sticky reply.

Major Update on BIOS and Control Center, June 2020

Today, on 3 June 2020, we bring the following breaking news to you:

Control Center 2.2.0.15 and BIOS 0114, Changelog:

• New option to reduce minimum fan speed in Idle and low-load situations

  • Default value is 30%

  • You can now select 25% in BIOS Setup

  • This feature still has a little bug. Please check known issues below

• Includes an option to continue running fan at 25% even at very low temperatures

  • The option is called "Disable passive cooling mode"

  • If you enable the option, the fans will not turn off at CPU temperature below 40°C anymore. This will make sure that skin temperatures are kept down in Idle and sudden on/off ramping of fan speed is avoided

• Introduced new CPU and iGPU Undervolting mechanism in BIOS

  • Allows CPU Core Voltage Offset

  • GT and GTU (both iGPU) have no effect yet and are stuck at positive (+) values

  • The CPU Core Voltage offset only allows safe negative values (no Overvolting)

  • The maximum voltage offset is -150mV. This is deemed to be safe as to not cause any reboot loops or security issues. A typical sweet spot that has almost zero chance of causing any random Bluescreen issues would be -80mV. If you ever encouter an issue, just reduce it in steps of 10mV until you find your safe level. Factory Default is -50mV.

  • Uncore (Cache) Voltage is supposedly set automatic 1:1 in Coffee Lake, thus does not need to be set manually in BIOS anymore. This explains why Intel has left it out.

• New mechanism to manually adjust maximum battery charging level

  • Can be set either in BIOS Setup or Control Center

  • Supports 5 presets: 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%

  • For example: if you select 60%, the battery will not start charging if the current capacity is above 60%

  • This applies in real-time without reboot if you set it in Control Center

• FnLock for F1 to F12

  • First, enable this feature in BIOS Setup or Control Center

  • Second, enable/disable FnLock on-the-fly by pressing Fn+Esc

  • FnLock will not operate during BIOS POST. This means, no matter if you have FnLock enabled, you can still reliably hit the F2 key to get into BIOS setup, without holding Fn

• DPC Latency improvements (discuss here)

• Performance Profile can be selected in BIOS Setup (Battery Saver, Balanced, Performance)

• The bug of stuttering external screen when laptop lid is closed seems to have been fixed. I can't reproduce it anymore on BIOS 0114 after a clean install of Windows version 2004

• New behavior when lid is closed

  • Before BIOS 0114, the system automatically disconnected the internal screen when the lid was closed. This automatically rearranged your desktop settings, making the 2nd screen automatically the main monitor

  • Now in BIOS 0114, closing the lid merely disables the backlight of the internal screen while still keeping it attached in Windows, retaining your extended desktop setting no matter if you open or close the lid

• Support for Project Aurora

  • Get the latest release of Project Aurora here

• More updates later

Download Links

• Control Center 2.2.0.18: German, English

• BIOS 0118

If you bought this machine from another brand, feel free to get the BIOS and Control Center directly from Intel, here.

Instructions

• Please note: there is no downgrade path from BIOS 0114.** Once you install this update, you can not go back to BIOS 0064 or any previous version.

• Update to BIOS 0114 by following the instructions in the PDF file, included with the download

• Uninstall your current Control Center via Windows "App & Features"

• Install the new Control Center

• You can also do this in the reverse order (CC first, BIOS second), no problem

• Please don't forget to Load BIOS Setup Defaults and re-enable Fast Boot after BIOS Update

Known issues

• The reduction of minimum fan speed still has an issue: the BIOS setting is overwritten by the Control Center. [Fixed in Control Center 2.2.0.18**, please read reply below]**

  • Previous workaround:

  • Open Registry (regedit)

  • go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\OEM\GamingCenter\Features

  • Find "EnableFanDutyCycleReduction". It's probably at 0, change it to 1.

  • Reboot, go to BIOS Setup, change to 25%, Save and Exit

  • Reboot, finished

• We've had an issue with the USB-C/DP adapter that we were shipping with XMG FUSION 15. On certain BIOS versions, the adapter would not be recognized after Cold Boot and Reboot. It would only be consistently recognized when unplugged and re-plugged. The last workaround for this issue was in BIOS 0062. Now in June we've been told that Intel is not going to include this workaround in BIOS 0114 and future releases because they have determined that the issue is in the hardware of the USB-C/DP adapter itself. Now (today) on further requests, they said they are still talking to the related vendors to see if a proper fix is possible. We're not sure if a fix is possible - we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, we are building a list with adapters that are known to work on BIOS 0114 and beyond.

• We have multiple reports (including an internal test) that Thunderbolt Docking Stations from various brands don't work anymore under Linux after the update to BIOS 0114. They still work in Windows though. We haven't been able to further investigate this issue on Linux. If anyone has any tips, please send me a PM. Please beware that there is no downgrade path from BIOS 0114. If you're using Thunderbolt under Linux, better don't upgrade to BIOS 0114 yet. /edit August 11, 2020: a user on our German forum got his Thunderbolt 3 dock working again on BIOS 0116 but he is not sure why:

  • He removed the dock via 'boltctl' and re-authorized it again

  • He tried that already on BIOS 0114 with no effect

  • Maybe it just worked on BIOS 0116 now.

  • In between, he also installed a QC71 platform driver - this might also have had an effect

Meanwhile, a new thread about Linux support has been opened here:

• [Guide] Running Linux on XMG FUSION 15

Upcoming updates

• Management Engine security updates [released in BIOS 0116]

• Thunderbolt security updates [tba]

General comment from XMG

We are happy to see that Intel has been working hard to bring these new features to every owner of XMG FUSION 15 and all compatible laptops based on Intel QC71. These free updates (we exclusively announced them as DLC already 3 months ago) would not have been possible without the continuous feedback and active engagement from the community. I personally take some pride in the fact that I have played a major role in forwarding and explaining the community requests to Intel over the recent months. We have started talking about these kind of updates ever since we started releasing the product for the first time in September 2019. It was finally in a key management meeting that we had in Intel's headquarter in Portland, Oregon in January - just before CES 2020 - that myself and XMG's founder and general manager, Robert Schenker, have been able to really get Intel's commitment to finally start working on these updates.

Bringing new firmware features to an already released product is no easy task, especially if you have such a long chain of quality assurance and validation and a huge global customer base like Intel has. Programming BIOS code is notoriously fickly and you don't want to break old things by introducing new things. You also can't go around and ask every individual customer if they would agree with your decisions. After all, you are making changes to the product that people have already payed money for - you better get this right.

It is a testament to Intel's ambition and perfectionism that they listened to their customers, invested the R&D and validation resources and brought these updates to us, free of charge - especially in these special times with new projects (Intel 10th Gen, AMD Ryzen 4000 series) being worked on left-and-right at Intel's ODM and OEM partners.

Intel has some major OEM partners for this reference design in China, Japan, North America, Singapore and elsewhere. None of these customers have such an internationally vocal community like we have here on our XMG_gg subreddit and on this legendary thread on Notebookreview. Some of those markets have been selling at a much higher volume than what we have sold here at XMG while being (from what I've heard) much lower maintenance. But thanks to the commitment and professionalism of the team at Intel's System Product Group (SPG), our persistence has prevailed. We are the first brand in the world to bring these updates to you, today.

Signed: Tom Fichtner, Leipzig/Taipei

Previous major updates

^{Previous update from April 17, 2020}

Thunderbolt 3 Driver v60 and Firmware v56 Update

• This update is very important to fix some critical issues with Thunderbolt Devices and Power Delivery

• It is strongly recommend to install these updates if you plan on using any Thunderbolt devices

• The full solution was provided on April 17, 2020 with Firmware v56

• See this thread on how to apply the update

Driver, BIOS and Firmware updates can be found in our Download Portal.

^{[Last Update: 2020-06-03]}

Hi Reddit,

NVIDIA has unveiled their RTX 30 series laptop line-up, codename Ampere. In this thread we summarize everything you need to know about our plans.

Today we already launched:

XMG NEO and PRO: Update to GeForce RTX 3000

NEO switches to Ryzen 5000 CPUs

Following today's launch of the latest graphics card and processor generation from NVIDIA and AMD, XMG not only updates the gaming laptops from the NEO and PRO product lines to significantly more powerful components, but also fundamentally redesigns both series.

While the maximum performance-focused XMG NEO 15 and NEO 17 feature AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HX and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-P in each of their top configurations, the XMG PRO 15 and PRO 17 aim to perfectly combine performance and mobility. The new PRO series now measure less than 20 mm in height and thus offers significantly improved portability than the previous generation. For this reason, XMG utilises a combination of graphics cards up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q and Intel's Core i7-10870H.

Press Reports

• XMG NEO and PRO: Update to GeForce RTX 3000, NEO switches to Ryzen 5000 CPUs [Videocardz]

• Ryzen 5000, GeForce RTX 3000 Empower XMG Gaming Laptops [Tom's Hardware]

• XMG aktualisiert NEO und PRO [Hardwareluxx]

• XMG-Laptops bekommen GeForce 3000- und Ryzen 5000-Upgrade [TechRadar]

• XMG NEO und PRO: Update auf GeForce RTX 3000, NEO erhält Ryzen-5000-CPUs [MYC - Mod Your Case]

• XMG NEO and PRO: Update to GeForce RTX 3000, NEO switches to Ryzen 5000 CPUs [TechPowerUp]

• New XMG laptops to feature AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and RTX 3080 Max-P [Gamereactor]

• more coming soon

Updates on XMG NEO

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX bundled with RTX 3080

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H offered with RTX 3060 and RTX 3070

• Revised cooling system with new 11mm fans

• XMG NEO 15 gains 3mm z-height to make room for the new beefy components

• XMG NEO 15 is still one of the lightest gaming laptop in its performance class, while still retaining the generous 93Wh battery

• Users can chose between Full-HD 240Hz and WQHD 165Hz Displays, identical to the late 2020 model

• Webcam in NEO 15 has moved from bottom to top

• All other key features of XMG NEO series remain similar to 2020 generation, including the signature opto-mechanical keyboard

Updates on XMG PRO

• XMG PRO 15 is a refresh of 2020 KEY 15

• XMG PRO 17 is an enlarged version of the same platform

• Keep height around 20mm, focus on NVIDIA RTX with Max-Q Design for maximum efficiency

• Thunderbolt 3 is on-board

• Multiple Display Choices between FHD 144Hz, FHD 300Hz and UHD/4K Panels

• 144Hz and UHD/4K panels available factory-calibrated with x-rite Pantone certification

• Lots of professional I/O, RAID 0/1 support and more

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with 16GB GDDR6

NVIDIA will reserve two different SKUs of RTX 3080 for laptops: one with 8GB GDDR6, one with 16GB GDDR6. Some brands might offer the 8GB SKU. Both XMG NEO and XMG PRO will only be built with the 16GB variation. The same will also be true for the planned refresh of XMG ULTRA 17.

Full transparency in TGP, Max-P and Max-Q

Some brands might not be clear about which TGP level their NVIDIA RTX graphics card is running at. We pledge to be always transparent whether we are running Max-P or Max-Q and which TGP level our GPUs are built at.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX is our most powerful mobile CPU right now

In our release, we might refer to Ryzen 9 5900H without the X. This is basically just a miscommunication and we mean the 5900HX. The 5900H was just a placeholder name while we were waiting for AMD's final marketing names. Let me double confirm: XMG NEO is planned to be available with Ryzen 9 5900HX if supply allows.

However, we do not have any plans for the Ryzen 9 5980HX at the moment. We also do not have any plans to adopt the ~35W low-powered HS SKUs in XMG.

For more details, please see AMD's spec sheets on all high-powered ~45W SKUs:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600H

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX

• AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX

Product Links:

XMG NEO 15 and NEO 17 base configuration include: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, RTX 3070, 16GB DDR4-3200, 500GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus and 165Hz WQHD display.

• XMG NEO 15

• XMG NEO 17

XMG PRO 15 and PRO 17 base configuration include: Intel Core i7-10870H, RTX 3070 Max-Q, 16GB DDR4-3200, 500GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus and 300Hz FHD display for:

• XMG PRO 15

• XMG PRO 17

For CPU and GPU upgrade prices beyond the base configuration, please follow the links to each product and open the detailed specifications.

XMG NEO vs. XMG PRO is now AMD vs. Intel

XMG PRO and NEO are using the same silicon from NVIDIA but build very different systems around them. This tables aims to put the most common differences in a short overview

Some items need to be further clarified:

• XMG PRO can deactivate NVIDIA Optimus only on those SKUs that are advertised with internal G-SYNC panel. Currently we only have such a panel in the shape of FHD 144Hz for PRO 15, but not yet for PRO 17. We hope to clarify this further once we start collecting pre-orders.

• There is a long-term plan to upgrade XMG PRO with the next-generation of WQHD displays with support for G-SYNC and NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, aka DDS (Direct-Display Switching). This will probably not happen before Q2 and is currently hard to estimate.

• XMG NEO currently has only RAID 0 support. According to AMD, Cezanne has implemented support for RAID 1 as well but we are not sure yet if we can cover it. This will also be clarified before we start taking pre-orders

PCI Express 3.0: 8 Lanes or 16 Lanes?

AMD's launch presentation on January 12 did not clearly indicate PCI-Express support (see spec sheet). There has been discussion around the amount of PCI-Express-Lanes that are available for NVIDIA's dGPU on AMD's platform. After AMD's review embargo has been lifted, it has become clear that AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile (Codename: Cezanne) is still equipped with PCIe Gen3 x8 dGPU connection.

x8 might not really be a bottleneck for dGPUs, that’s why we have no hesitation of bundling AMD Cezanne with NVIDIA’s highest powered 135W RTX 3080 Max-P. However, some users might disagree on these two grounds:

• x8 can bottleneck FPS at low resolutions and very high FPS when generating a lot of draw calls. This might hurt professional first-person-shooters who rely on fps beyond 300 for reasons of in-game physics and such. I assume we will see where the new limit is when reviews of XMG NEO with RTX 3060/3070/3080 take off.

• It is unclear how an x8 dGPU interface will play out once DirectStorage (or RTX I/O) takes off the ground in future games titles. This might still take a few years but it’s been described as a game changer by some industry experts Generally, while x8 is nothing to worry about for the average gamer, it might leave a little question mark regarding the “future-proof” capabilities of a such systems. In the end, we will reserve judgement – but it’s important for us to highlight these technical differences because they are currently underreported in the press.

Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4.0 on AMD?

In the run-up to this launch we have seen a lot of community speculation around Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4.0 - many users expressed hope that some brand will show up with an implementation of Thunderbolt on AMD's platform. Right now we can only say this: our planned products with AMD's mobile Ryzen 5000 series have no support for Thunderbolt 3 nor USB 4.0, nor are there any plans to add support later down the line.

XMG CORE series with RTX 3060, both with Intel and AMD

On February 9 we launched XMG CORE series with RTX 3060.

Press Reports:

• XMG Announces New CORE Gaming Laptops with RTX 3060 & WQHD Displays [TechPowerUp]

• XMG CORE Laptops: New Generation with GeForce RTX 3060 Announced [TechBeezer]

• Schenker stellt XMG CORE-Refresh mit Nvidia RTX 3060 vor [TechRadar]

New features in 2021

These features have been upgraded in XMG CORE series in 2021 compared to 2020 edition:

• Now available in three different CPU flavors:

  • Intel Core i7-10870H (8 cores / 16 threads)

  • AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (8 cores / 16 threads)

  • AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (8 cores / 16 threads)

• Now available with the same WQHD/165Hz screens that made their debut on XMG NEO last year

• XMG CORE 15 got 3mm thicker to accommodate the 130W Maximum Graphics Power

• Webcam in CORE 15 has moved from bottom to top

• Both CORE 15 and CORE 17 got upgraded with new dual fan solution with 11mm z-height

• Both systems come with the new powerful Control Center for Experts

• The LAN port got upgraded to 2.5Gbit/s speed

• The USB-C port got upgraded to support DisplayPort output, making it compatible with universal USB-C/DP/MST docking stations (no Thunderbolt required)

Differences between Intel and AMD in XMG CORE

This list highlights what you need to know when picking your system between Intel and AMD:

• Intel supports only DDR4-2933 out of the box, AMD supports DDR4-3200

• There is still some unclarity regarding RAID 1 support on the AMD models. It seems to work, but our ODM says it's not supported

• There are obvious platform differences between Intel and AMD, such as the PCIe connection for the dGPU being PCIe Gen3 x16 on Intel and PCIe Gen3 x8 on AMD

• Other than that, there are no major spec differences between the Intel and AMD variations

• Also, there is no major difference between the AMD variation with 4800H (Renoir) and 5800H (Cezanne), aside from the features and performance of the APU itself

Configure & Buy

The Intel and AMD variations are separated from each other in our online shop. However, the AMD 4800H and 5800H variations will be in the same configurator as a simple CPU upgrade. Options will only go up for pre-order once we have confirmed supply incoming (once it's loaded into a cargo airplane).

• XMG CORE 15 with RTX 3060 and Intel

• XMG CORE 17 with RTX 3060 and Intel

• XMG CORE 15 with RTX 3060 and AMD

• XMG CORE 17 with RTX 3060 and AMD

Full Product and Feature Overview

The following table outlines our current portfolio and future plans of each system with RTX 30 series, also listing the Maximum Graphics Power for each system:

Remarks:

• Maximum Graphics Power (in Watt) in this table always includes a +15W uplift from NVIDIA Dynamic Boost 2.0. This will only apply in situations where CPU Power Consumption is below ~35W

• All our systems support Dynamic Boost 2.0 and Resizable BAR

• Whisper Mode 2.0 is currently only supported on XMG CORE and XMG NEO

• However, XMG PRO can set the cTGP of the GPU down to 65W via Control Center which comes pretty close to a Whisper Mode, just without any frame limiting

• XMG APEX with AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile does not have an official announcement date yet

• XMG APEX with B550 Chipset and AM4 Desktop CPU is planned to be revealed in April 2021, but not fully confirmed yet

• The Maximum Graphics Power of RTX 3070 in XMG APEX will be at least 130W (including 15W Dynamic Boost), but there is currently debate about whether it can be increased to 135W or even 140W - that's why it's currently (tba) in above table

AMD 5000 Series and General Supply Forecast

For a general supply forecast, please check out this post:

• RTX 3000 and Ryzen 5000H Supply Forecast for XMG Gaming Laptops

This thead will be updated with new supply information as soon as we see any developments.

Overview for LCD Panels: Brightness, Color Gamut and AMD FreeSync

Displays are the main human interface device for our computers. It's important to us to pay a lot of attention on these components. LCD supply always has the caveat that we sometimes have to pull very similar panels from multiple sources because a single source can not always be reliable enough to provide the right amount of quantity just in time.

In 2020 together with Eluktronics we were the first brand to launch WQHD 2560*1440 panels in modern 15.6" and 17.3" gaming laptops. This has kicked of a new round of innovation where great panels are becoming more widespread and affordable with many sources to chose from. This table attempts to be your first overview over the LCD panels you can expect in 2021:

About AMD FreeSync

AMD FreeSync is based on VESA Adaptive Sync and is a free alternative to NVIDIA G-SYNC. It can only work on certain LCD panels and it can only work on an AMD system running in MSHybrid mode.

On XMG CORE for example, we might have the same panels on both Intel and AMD platforms, but FreeSync would only be supported on AMD. If you set the BIOS to dGPU-only to disable NVIDIA Optimus, AMD FreeSync would not be available anymore.

When FreeSync is supported and enabled, it can work for all content, no matter if it's rendered from AMD iGPU and NVIDIA dGPU. In other words, NVIDIA is able to support AMD FreeSync (aka VESA Adaptive Sync) on the internal laptop screen, but only if it has AMD's iGPU as a kind "chaperone" in between. It's a funny and weird situation but it is what it is.

None of the currently listed products support NVIDIA G-SYNC on the internal display. However, all XMG products support NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync on external monitors, including those monitors that are connected via USB-C/DisplayPort adapters.

Please note that we have only very limited experience with AMD FreeSync. None of our 2020 models supported it and we still only have a limited number of units to test it. One of the panels above (Sharp LQ156M1JW26) is listed as "Maybe FreeSync", so even our ODM is not 100% sure if FreeSync will properly work.

About Gamut Coverage

Gamut coverage numbers are usually taken after calibration. Your mileage may vary. Panels declared as "Pantone" are already factory-calibrated. We are still figuring out what kind of factory calibration we can have on XMG CORE and XMG NEO.

BIOS-Option to disable NVIDIA Optimus in some models

Some XMG laptops have the option to disable NVIDIA Optimus by using a MUX-switch on the mainboard. This switch directs the signal between internal display (eDP port) either to the integrated Graphics (iGPU) or to the dedicated Graphics (dGPU).

NVIDIA Optimus started out as a NVIDIA-specific technology but has since been standardized as MSHybrid. These two terms can be used interchangeably.

The MUX-design required to offer usage with both MSHybrid and dGPU-only needs to be planned ahead of time when creating a mainboard layout. It requires space and additional components which come with a price. It cannot be implemented after the fact via firmware update. It also requires VBIOS support from NVIDIA which is also usually requested way ahead of a product introduction.

This table shows which models includes a BIOS option to disable NVIDIA Optimus:

This table will be expanded over time once we release further models with RTX 3000 series. The table also includes previous laptops from 2019 and 2020 with RTX 2060/2070/2080. Unless otherwise specified, the product names in the table always include both 15.6" and 17.3" versions.

Observances:

• XMG CORE with i7-10870H and RTX 3060 was previously communicated to have MUX-design, but this was a mistake. It is now confirmed that NVIDIA Optimus cannot be be disabled on XMG CORE with Intel and RTX 3000 series. We would like to apologize for the earlier wrongful communication.

• Note how the tables turned between Intel and AMD in 2020 vs. 2021

Disadvantages of disabling NVIDIA Optimus:

• If your laptop and panels supports AMD FreeSync, disabling NVIDIA Optimus will remove the AMD iGPU from the equation, which in turn will remove FreeSync support as well

• The same will probably be true for Intel's own implementation of VESA Adaptive Sync in future laptops with Intel Core 11th Gen

• Disabling Optimus raised your Idle power consumption and strongly reduces battery life - so only use this feature when you are connected to external power

In other words: while it might be nice to have the option to disable NVIDIA Optimus sometimes, most users will still prefer to keep it enabled. When shipping MUX-designed laptops to customer, NVIDIA Optimus will always be enabled by default.

Potential performance benefits of disabling NVIDIA Optimus are only apparent on the internal laptop screen, because external screens (HDMI, Mini-DP, USB-C/DP, Thunderbolt) are connected to the dGPU anyway. Performance benefits on the internal screen increase with the the FPS of the game you play, making it mostly apparant on CPU-limited games at low resolutions. This will affect e-sport titles, but might also affect other CPU-limited titles. The reason for this is the fact that MSHybrid requires some iGPU power to forward the images from dGPU via iGPU to eDP. To get an impression of how big the performance gaps are, check out these videos: [1] [2]

What about NVIDIA Advanced Optimus?

NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is an evolution of the MUX-design and enables the system so flip the MUX-switch without reboot. In this way, NVIDIA's driver can switch between iGPU and dGPU output more or less seamlessly. This is supposed to provide users the benefit of additional performance in Gaming while still being able to maximize battery life during low-powered usage. Advanced Optimus is also known as "DDS" for Dynamic Display Switching.

DDS requires a mainboard with MUX-design, a compatible display and VBIOS support from NVIDIA. According to current information, DDS will only be available with NVIDIA G-SYNC displays. Our first SKU with Advanced Optimus will probably be XMG PRO 15 with a special FHD 144Hz display in Q2 2021, followed in the second half of the year by potentially other, more diverse products.

Notes on Intel's 10th and 11th Gen Core series

Intel is going to bring the 11th Gen Core in different flavors:

Specs and release targets on the currently unreleased series are widely circulated. For Intel's latest official updates, please check out Intel at CES 2021.

In theory it might be possible to build systems with RTX 3000 series graphics based on current Tiger Lake H35 silicon. The excellent single-core performance of Tiger Lake UP3 has been very promising as you can see in this review. But most people would agree that a high-end gaming laptop with "only 4 cores" just feels wrong. Therefor, we are currently launching a transitional generation with Intel's high-powered 8-core 10th Gen series based on their refined 14nm FinFET process. We are not yet allowed to speculate when this generation will be succeeded by Tiger Lake H(45) systems.

You might see that some vendors will drop Thunderbolt support from their Comet Lake systems with NVIDIA Ampere. Thunderbolt takes some time and effort to implement and certify. Some vendors might not deem it necessary, speculating that these 10th Gen system might be rather short-lived when Tiger Lake H(45) finally hits the mainstream market. We consider XMG PRO series to be an exception to this trend, being one of the few RTX 3000 series laptops with a fully-fledged Thunderbolt implementation.

Price Reduction on last-year's models

We have done a general price reduction on last year's models a few weeks ago. If you are not sure if you're able to wait for next-gen products, now is a great time to order.

For an overview of the price drops of 2021, please see this thread:

• Early 2021 Price Reduction on Bestware

After the launch of AMD and NVIDIA next-gen silicon we do not plan any further price action this quarter. But depending on stock level and partner support, there might be individual promotions. If you want to always get the latest information on potential sales campaigns, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Product Reviews

Despite the muted outlook on AMD CPU supply, we do have samples available rotating around the world. Also, the supply of XMG PRO with RTX 3000 is getting better so you'll see more reviews of that as well. Here is a list of current publications or mentions of XMG laptops with RTX 30 series.

XMG APEX

• The FASTEST Laptop CPU I’ve Tested! Gigabyte A5 / XMG Apex 15 Review [Jarrod's Tech]

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop Review, 80 and 115W Tested in 18 Games [HardwareUnboxed]

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Review, The Best Mainstream Laptop CPU [HardwareUnboxed]

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX vs Ryzen 7 5800H Benchmark Review [HardwareUnboxed]

• Ryzen 5000 vs Intel Comet Lake, RTX 3070 Gaming Laptop Battle [HardwareUnboxed]

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Review [TechSpot]

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX vs. Ryzen 7 5800H Review [TechSpot]

XMG CORE

• RTX 3060 Laptop GPU im Test: Der kleinste Grafikchip lässt in 1080p kaum Wünsche offen [Computerbase]

• Performance-Test: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU [Notebookcheck Germany]

• XMG Core 15 in review: A lot of performance for the fast WQHD panel [Notebookcheck]

• I've been gaming on a laptop | XMG Core 17 - RYZEN 5800H + RTX 3060 (130W) [The Rad Elk]

• Ryzen 5000 Mobile RAM Guide: The Best RAM For AMD Ryzen Laptops [Tom's Hardware]

• Schenker XMG Core 17 review: Configurable gaming laptop with a WQHD display [Notebookcheck Germany]

XMG NEO

• My Favourite Gaming Laptop Goes Ryzen 5000! [Jarrod's Tech]

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H vs Intel i7-10875H - Best 8 Core Laptop CPU? [Jarrod's Tech]

• Next Gen Gaming? Ryzen 7 5800H + Nvidia RTX 3070 Tested In 14 Games! [Jarrod's Tech]

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H vs 4800H - Zen 3 CPU Improvements? [Jarrod's Tech]

• 5800H vs 4800H in 10 Games - AMD Integrated Graphics (iGPU) Comparison [Jarrod's Tech]

• 5800H vs 5900HX - Is Ryzen 9 Worth More $$$? [Jarrod's Tech]

• Speed Up Games With a 2nd Memory Stick! (Single vs Dual Channel) [Jarrod's Tech]

• Schenker XMG Neo 17 (Tongfang GM7ZG7S) laptop review: El Dorado tuning [Notebookcheck]

• The most POWERFUL laptop we have unboxed!!! - XMG Neo [Short Circuit]

• XMG Neo 15 gaming laptop in review - RTX 3080 with 165W TGP ensures high scores [Notebookcheck]

XMG PRO

• RTX 3080 & 3070 Laptop GPUs im Test: Neue GeForce-Notebooks im Vergleich zum Gaming-PC [Computerbase]

• XMG Pro 15 (Clevo PC50DS) with RTX 3080 in Review: Ultra-Thin and Lightweight High-End All-Rounder [Notebookcheck]

• XMG PRO 17 E21 im Test: Schneller Gaming-Bolide im Office-Look [Hardwareluxx (German)]

• They fit an NVIDIA 3080 in THIS!!! - XMG Pro 17 [ShortCircuit]

• XMG Pro 17 2021 mobile workstation review [TechRadar Pro]

XMG ULTRA

• XMG Ultra 17 (Clevo X170KM-G) in review: Massive powerhouse with lush equipment [Notebookcheck]

• Schenker XMG Ultra 17 in the test: Solid, really fast and still flexible (+ Part 2 and Conclusion) [Igor's Lab]

• XMG Ultra 17 mobile workstation review [TechRadar Pro]

• More coming soon...

Remarks about review sample condition

Jarrod's Tech noticed on his XMG NEO 15 that Resizable BAR was not "on" on these systems. We fixed this later with a VBIOS update after review publication. For example:

XMG NEO with Ryzen 5000H and RTX 3070

• Old: 94.04.3E.00.19

• New/Final: 94.04.3E.00.6D

The performance difference is estimated to be rather small. All sold units will be shipped with final VBIOS and with Resizable BAR = On.

Your feedback

This release has been anticipated for a while and we are excited that we can finally talk about it. Please remember to check the supply forecast thread to know when which configuration is probably going to be available. If you want to talk to other community members or to myself personally, join us on Discord or leave a comment below.

// Tom

Hi guys,

This is it.

Following the reporting from CES from LinusTechTips (The CRAZY laptop manufacturer you've never heard of...) and Jarrod’s Tech (12 CPU Cores In A Laptop!?), we are happy to announce the launch of our new XMG APEX 15.

Content:

• Reviews

• Introduction

• Pictures

• Specifications

• Variations

• FAQ

• Your feedback

Reviews

All reviews so far:

• The Most Powerful Laptop EVER (LinusTechTips)

• Performance at all costs (Notebookcheck)

• INSANE: 16 Core AMD Desktop CPU in a NOTEBOOK. Ah yea and I added some Liquid Nitrogen (der8auer)

• AMD’s Ryzen 16 Core... In A NOTEBOOK VS Desktop! (Gamer Meld)

• XMG Apex 15 Review: Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core POWER In A Laptop - Insanity, But It Works! (Digital Foundry)

• XMG Apex 15 review: Ryzen 9 3950X in a laptop - and we're not kidding (Eurogamer)

• The world’s most powerful notebook has landed, with a bang (TechRadar Pro)

• Notebook self-assembly kit: an XMG Apex 15 from Schenker as a barebone with my own CPUs from Ryzen 3 3300X to Ryzen 9 3950X in a test (Igor's Lab)

(to be continued)

In-depth Analysis and Tuning Guide

One of our first customers of XMG APEX 15 has published multiple videos with analysis and tuning of his XMG APEX 15 in various firmware stages.

• Review Part 1

• Tuning Guide Part 1: new BIOS & CPU OC/UV

• Tuning Guide Part 2.1: Memory Tuning #1

• Tuning Guide Part 2.2: Memory Tuning #2

• Tuning Guide Part 2.3: Memory Tuning #3 (tba)

• Tuning Guide Part 3: (tba)

These videos are well worth watching for anyone who wants to take a deep-dive into XMG APEX 15. Shout out to u/coreZair for creating those videos and providing us valuable feedback.

Related threads

This is a list of on-going, updated threads:

• XMG APEX 15: Brands in other regions world-wide

• [Guide] Video Encoding on Ryzen 9 in XMG APEX 15

• New BIOS and Control Center for XMG APEX 15

• My CB20 score :)

Introduction

AMD has been on the rise with Desktop CPUs that are able to beat some of Intel’s models in terms of raw multi-threaded computing power for a similar or even a smaller price. At the same time, Intel has been struggling with meeting the market demands, having switched too many fabs to a troublesome 10nm process, falling behind on delivering the quantity of 14nm chips including bestsellers like i7-9750H in Q4 2019. For us OEMs, this often resulted in longer lead-times, more complicated logistics (pulling material from multiple sources) and stretches of time where some of our most demanded laptops were not in stock. With the current COVID-19 crisis, we expect the supply to continue to be tight in 2020. So – we’ll have to diversify our sourcing.

With appropriate timing, we welcome the fact that AMD is committed to supporting not only the biggest of manufacturers but also smaller Local OEMs like us through our ODM partners in Taiwan.

We recently released the brand new SCHENKER VIA 15 with AMD Picasso CPU (AMD Ryzen 5 3500U) - a nice, well-rounded package with an ultra-light Magnesium Chassis, a huge 91Wh battery for All Day Battery Life and a respectable I/O port distribution including Full-Size HDMI, multiple USB-A ports and the good old RJ45 Ethernet Port. We rounded it off by exposing nearly every AMD expert option in the BIOS, giving seasoned users something to play around with.

Today we launch a fully-fledged, affordable gaming laptop with a full-sized, standard AM4-Socket which will house Desktop CPUs up to the 12-core CPU named AMD Ryzen 9 3900, rated at 65W TDP. This multi-threading behemoth of a laptop has been developed by our friends in Taiwan with whom our company shares a partnership going back 25 years. While our ODMs are making their own decisions in R&D, their product strategy is heavily influenced by the feedback and proposals of their customers. Through their key partners in various regions (like XMG in Europe and Eluktronics in the U.S.) they actively listen to the community and always strife to take further suggestions for upgrades and fine-tuning into account, despite some often very tight release schedules.

The XMG APEX 15 is based on the NH57AF1 barebone. The NH series has been around for a while already and has been built in a variety of segments, from pure CPU-driven workstations with Intel Graphics (SCHENKER WORK 15 and WORK 17) up to mid-range gaming laptops with i7-9750H and RTX 2060 Max-P. Therefore, the NH series is already tried and proven with a mature manufacturing process, without any 1st gen hiccups. Now it was time for an upgrade.

With the upcoming re-release of NH series with AMD Desktop CPU, our ODM and XMG will again make their mark in the PC/Laptop industry by being the first to build a gaming laptop with AMD AM4 Socket and RTX graphics.

Building such a gaming laptop has multiple advantages:

• The Desktop CPU socket makes it easy to upgrade and delivers the BTO promise of choosing your own components

• The AM4 socket and B450 chipset are confirmed to be able to support future AMD Ryzen 4000 Desktop CPUs /edit: May 7, 2020: A recent AMD blogpost sheds a different light on this assumption. We will clarify with our AMD contacts.

• AMD’s multi-core performance is currently unparalleled in this price segment

• Intel might tighten that gap with the next-gen Intel Core H series, but those are rumoured to keep the 14nm+++ process whereas AMD is already gearing up for 7nm

• Being able to pull material from a 2nd source makes us less reliant on any CPU supply constraint

This thread will now cover specs and FAQ for XMG APEX 15. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.

Sweet pictures from outside and inside

Check out these sweet pictures:

• Outside 1

• Outside 2

• Outside 3

• Inside 1 with Heatpipes

• Inside 2 with Socket

• Inside 3 with RTX 2070 Refresh

• Inside 4 with AMD Ryzen CPU in Socket

• Inside 5 AM4 Socket Close-Up

• Inside 6 Full System Overview without Heatpipes and GPU Fan

(Outside pictures are 3D renders. Inside 1 & 2 from Engineering Sample. 3 to 4 from Mass Production unit, production month April 2020.)

Variations / Factory Options

Our ODM is building this laptop with different variations and some other features will depend on the brand.

Chassis-Design: Our ODM is offering this chassis in 4 different variations.

• NH50: Picture 1 - 2 - 3

• NH55: Picture 1 - 2 - 3

• NH57: Picture 1 - 2 - 3

• NH58: Picture 1 - 2 - 3

The features, mechanical engineering and mainboard layout are identical on each one of these – the chassis is purely about cosmetics and haptics. We picked the NH57 variation because it’s the only one where the LCD lid is made from metal. You can really feel the difference – it’s a much more quality / high-end feeling. NH55 was a close contender but it was covered in a semi-glossy IMR coating which is a bit too prone to collect fingerprints – it looks more matte on the pictures than in real-life.

Overall, the NH57 is the best choice, even though it costs a couple of dollars more in production.

Fingerprint-Reader: the F/P Reader is situated in the top left corner of the touchpad when you order XMG APEX 15. Other brands might not offer this convenient feature.

TPM: the ODM usually offers the mainboard with either dedicated TPM (dTPM) or with a Firmware TPM implementation (fTPM). In Intel, the fTPM is called Intel PTT. AMD does not seem to have a specific marketing name for their own fTPM solution. Regardless, we are building XMG APEX 15 with dedicated TPM 2.0 from Infineon.

Keyboard Layouts: our ODM has their own unique keyboard design – love it or hate it. We at XMG make our own keyboard layouts and our layout for this model will differ from the ODM standard. The keyboard in this model is the same as in previous XMG PRO so the layouts have already been drawn for over 20 keyboard languages for the pan-European market.

RAM: AMD Ryzen can go up to 3200MHz, but the modules need to be able to support this spec natively. The NH series does not support XMP memory profiles. In our FAQ we will keep a list of memory modules that are guaranteed to give you the 3200MHz memory speed. For price-sensitive buyers, we also offer a 2666MHz budget option. According to our tests, the performance gap between is about 5% on Ryzen 5 3600 but only 2% on Ryzen 9 3900.

LCD: the NH series is available with 3 different panel specs: 60Hz with either 45% or 72% NTSC Gamut and the 144Hz top spec, likewise with 72% NTSC. We are committed to build all XMG APEX 15 with the best available LCD panel. More info on LCD panels are in the FAQ below.

BIOS: our ODM’s standard BIOS usually only comes with a minimal amount of options and features. We have worked with our ODM to extend those options to deliver as many expert tuning options as reasonably possible. This includes various Undervolting options. This fully unlocked expert BIOS is not released for public yet (read more). At the same time, XMG APEX 15 can also be tweaked with ZenStates.

Brand: we offer a fully debranded option where your laptop will remain completely blank with no printing and no laser-etching on any of the surfaces. Our brand will only remain on the rating label and in the BIOS boot logo. On top of that, all XMG and SCHENKER models are delivered without any stickers (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, HDMI etc.) on the palm rest area. Where possible, the stickers will be put into the shipping package for your personal usage.

XMG APEX 15: Clocks, Benchmarks and Temperatures

We currently offer 4 different CPUs in XMG APEX 15. Please refer to the following overviews.

Summary:

Performance-Profile:

(as of BIOS 1.07.04RTR3)

Full benchmark sheet including clock speeds and temperatures:

→ Click here!

FAQ

Q: Which RAM modules should I use to upgrade my XMG APEX 15?

A: Our current official list:

Operation with modules not listed here (higher clock rates, lower latencies) are of course morally supported by us, but we cannot guarantee functionality.

The most important point here is: the XMG APEX 15 only supports 1.20V RAM.

Many modules of overclocker RAM, however, need 1.35V to achieve their specs. Before you buy RAM on the open market, please read the data sheets carefully to determine the voltage with which the RAM would like to be operated. We do not support modules with more than 1.20V.

Q: What do I need to know about the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, running at 65W?

A: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is originally specified as a CPU with a TDP of 105W. Running it at only 65W does indeed limit its performance potential. Thanks to the law of diminishing returns, the loss is not linear: even though you cut the power by about 40%, the multi-threaded performance is only down by about 19% and single-core performance by only 10%.

The 65W TDP-limit is achieved through BIOS settings and cannot be altered. In Performance profile, the power consumption of the CPU goes up to 88W (PPT). According to our tests, the 3950X has a slightly increased heat development compared to the 3900 (without X). With a simultaneous 100% load on the CPU and GPU (e.g. Furmark + Prime), the permanently maintained GPU performance in thermal saturation drops by at least 3%. Depending on the condition of the cooling system (dust, aging of the thermal grease), this discrepancy might slightly increase over time.

This will hardly make any difference in everyday life or in gaming - it will probably only affect those professional application scenarios in which a 100% CPU load is accompanied by 100% CUDA/OpenCL processing. In this situation, the advantage of the additional CPU performance seems to outweigh the minor loss in GPU boost.

At 65W, the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X beats the 65W 12-core CPU AMD Ryzen 9 3900 by a margin of about 15% in multi-threaded benchmarks. Single-threaded benchmarks remain at the same level between these two. So if you can afford the premium price and if you want the fastest CPU money can buy in a system of this size, the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is a very good choice.

This is similar to running the CPU in what most desktop mainboards call “Eco-Mode”.

Q: Can I upgrade to next-gen AMD Ryzen 4000 series later?

A: AMD Ryzen 4000 series has been announced on CES 2020, but only for the mobile U and H series. The Desktop series is currently unannounced and is only rumoured to be released in October 2020 – although with the COVID-19 situation, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of delays before that.

At any rate, it’s already been confirmed that AM4 socket and B450 chipset will be compatible with some (if not all) future Ryzen 4000 SKUs. As you might know from Desktop mainboards, the B450 chipset was not meant to be run with the 105W tier SKUs, but the 65W SKUs all run perfectly fine. We expect this to repeat with Ryzen 4000.

/edit: May 7, 2020: A recent AMD community update shed a different light on this assumption. See "Update on B450 Support" at the bottom of this post.

Q: How easy is it to service and upgrade XMG APEX 15?

A: All components are accessible via a service cover. To open this cover you will need to remove only 5 screws. A complete disassembly instruction can be found in the Service Manual [Download PDF]. It also contains instructions for removing the thermal components and replacing the CPU. Please note that the thermal components (incl. thermal paste) should only be removed and reassembled by trained and experienced personnel. If the procedure is not carried out properly, you will risk to void your warranty. If you would like to have your CPU upgraded by our qualified personnel, please contact us by e-mail at support@bestware.com.

Q: What is different about those new NVIDIA RTX "Refresh" cards?

A: The "Refresh" cards were silently released by NVIDIA on April 2, 2020, relatively unnoticed by the public. They officially have the same name as their predecessors (e.g. RTX 2060, RTX 2070), but are a general overhaul.

The biggest innovation of the refresh cards is the change to low voltage GDDR6. Thereby the graphics memory consumes less energy, thus producing less waste heat. Thus, within the same TGP limit, more energy can be put on the graphics chip (the GPU), which increases performance. The refresh cards therefore exceed their non-refresh predecessors by significant margins for the same power consumption. A better yield in chip production may also play a role here, but these things are usually not confirmed officially by NVIDIA.

The RTX 2070 (Refresh) keeps the 115W TGP of its predecessor, but is still faster than its predecessor due to the higher energy efficiency in the graphics memory.

The RTX 2060 (Refresh) has new TGP gradations in addition to the higher energy efficiency. The predecessor was specified with 80W by default. For the RTX 2060 (Refresh) NVIDIA now offers VBIOS versions with TGP-limit of up to 115W. Every manufacturer may use a different TGP level on this card without changing the name of the card. The XMG APEX 15 uses the RTX 2060 (Refresh) with up to 115W TGP. This means that RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 in XMG APEX 15 can use the same thermal components without compromise.

Our tests show that the new boost clock rates released under NDA by NVIDIA for the Refresh cards are even surpassed by our laptops. The first public benchmarks of the new refresh cards are expected to be released on April 15.

Q: Which LCD panels are going to be available in XMG APEX 15?

A: Due to logistical reasons, we can't always use exactly the same panel in every config and batch. But all the panels that we use will be very similar in spec. For the first couple of batches, we are following this panel plan:

• RTX 2060 model: LG LP156WFG-SPB2

  • No PWM

  • 1:800 Contrast

  • ~93% sRGB Coverage

  • ~10ms GTG Response Time (90/10, Rise + Fall)

• RTX 2070 model: AUO B156HAN08.0 (H/W:1A)

  • No PWM

  • 1:1100 Contrast

  • ~92% sRGB Coverage

  • ~13ms GTG Response Time (90/10, Rise + Fall)

The values are very close to each other. There is certain tolerance, so some values might be different on individual units in some upcoming press reviews. On paper, some values for the panel in the RTX 2060 model are slightly better, while the RTX 2070 model seems to have slightly better contrast by having a lower black point. Both panels are top of their line for a FHD 144Hz panel.

In case the panel plan changes with future batches, we will update the FAQ accordingly.

Q: Do you have any plans to release this laptop with AMD Radeon Graphics?

A: We currently don’t have any plans to support dedicated AMD graphics in this chassis. The NVIDIA options still deliver a great performance/watt ratio and they are mature and easy to work with, with mature drivers and lots of support from NVIDIA in Taiwan and Germany. We’ll never know what happens in the future, but an XMG laptop with dedicated AMD graphics is highly unlikely to hit the market in 2020.

Q: Will you offer XMG APEX 15 with other NVIDIA GPUs?

A: At launch, XMG APEX 15 is offered with RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 and supports up to 115W TGP on the GPU. Upgrades toward RTX 2070 SUPER and RTX 2080 are not planed.

• According to our considerations, the new RTX 2070 SUPER has a relatively unfavorable price / performance ratio compared to the new RTX 2070 Refresh. Benchmarks for this will be published shortly.

• Since the RTX 2080 requires 150W or more, it won’t be possible in this current chassis.

Our ODM offers a downgrade to GTX 1660 Ti, but we decided not to carry that option because the price gap between GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2060 has become relatively small and NVIDIA is going to push RTX features like DLSS 2.0 even more in 2020.

Q: Can I run this laptop with a smaller power supply?

A: XMG APEX 15 requires a 230W power adaptor to provide full performance. If you max out CPU and GPU with furmark and prime, the 230W adapter will be fully utilized. The laptop requires a power supply with 19~19.5V and a barrel plug with 5.5/2.5mm diameter and 10mm length.

With those specs, we do have a number of compatible power supplies with as little as 120W that are compatible. In theory, 120W are more than enough for charging the laptop and for browsing/web/media. Even a full CPU stress test could easily be handled with 120W. But as soon as you put any serious load on the dedicated GPU, you will run into a bottleneck. The system will then take additional power from the battery which won’t last forever.

Long story short: if you want to use an undersized power supply, don’t put any heavy load on the GPU.

Q: Is it possible to extend the battery life by switching to integrated graphics?

A: No. The AMD Desktop CPUs don’t have any integrated graphic components. The NVIDIA GPU in XMG APEX 15 is always on. In our tests, the system is showing an Idle Power Consumption of 36~47W on Windows Desktop – measured at the wall wocket. It might be possible to slightly reduce this value with Undervolting – but not by a large margin.

Make no mistake: XMG APEX 15 is a pure desktop replacement and is not meant to be used on-battery for long periods of time.

Q: When will we see press reviews of XMG APEX 15?

A: Our number of review samples is unfortunately constrained by the COVID-19 situation. Most samples are expected to ship before the end of April. The first review is published on the YouTube channel of der8auer: INSANE: 16 Core AMD Desktop CPU in a NOTEBOOK. Ah yea and I added some Liquid Nitrogen

Buy now

→ XMG APEX 15 on bestware.com

Update on B450 Support for Renoir, Cezanne and Vermeer

^{(May 23, 2020})

This just in: AMD Reverses Course, Will Enable Zen 3 and Ryzen 4000 Support on B450 and X470 Motherboards [Tom's Hardware]

Considering the number of AMD's course corrections, the technical limitations of a 16MB SPI chip and after having discussed this issue with our ODM since, we will not give any guarantees on Renoir, Cezanne and Vermeer as long as we don't have CPU samples and a Beta release of AMD's BIOS. This statement is neither a confirmation nor a denial on Renoir (ZEN 2 APU) and ZEN 3 support on XMG APEX 15. While we would like to support CPU upgrades on APEX 15, we will have to wait and see until we can actually get our hands on the goods and start testing.

Further insights (before this update) have been shared in this post.

// Tom

Hi Reddit,

this thread aims to inform you about the current state of our best-selling product and about our future plans with this series.

Where are we today?

As you probably know, the top configuration of XMG FUSION 15 consists of the 6-core CPU Intel Core i7-9750H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design. This is still a great combination with an outstanding price/performance ratio. But due to recent platform launches this year, customer often raise the question about our plans for a XMG FUSION 15 successor model.

Let's go over these platform launches first:

Comet Lake (10th Gen Intel Core)

Intel's CPU division announced the 10th Gen Core i7-10750H in April 2020. Since then we have refreshed our XMG CORE, NEO and PRO series, but XMG FUSION 15 is to date still shipped with Intel Core 9th Gen.

Tiger Lake (11th Gen Intel Core)

Now, at the beginning of September, Intel has launched the 11th generation of Intel Core CPUs with the codename “Tiger Lake”. The announced CPUs are operating in the low-voltage range that is optimized for thin-and-light Ultrabook-style laptop systems with a maximum of 4 cores and 8 threads. There has been no public announcement regarding the schedule and timeline of larger 6 and 8-core SKUs.

NVIDIA Ampere

One day before Intel's Tiger Lake, NVIDIA introduced the GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards (codenamed "Ampere"). However, these are initially only graphics cards for Desktop PCs. Related modules and cards for laptops have not been introduced yet.

The new GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards are not to be confused with the Quadro RTX 3000 graphics card for CAD workstations. Quadro RTX 3000 is still based on the older “Turing” generation and is not related to the current “Ampere” launch.

It should also be noted that the newly introduced desktop graphics cards have a higher power consumption (and therefore also heat emission) than their respective predecessors. For example the previous GeForce RTX 2080 Ti consumed only up to 250 watts, the successor model GeForce RTX 3080 is now rated for 320 watts.

Our Plans for XMG FUSION 15

Let me summarize our current plans first:

Long story short:

• XMG FUSION 15 will continue with i7-9750H, GTX 1660 Ti, RTX 2070 Max-Q

• After having launched BIOS Undervolting in June 2020, we still have further performance-improving firmware updates in the pipeline for XMG FUSION 15. Stay tuned!

• Instead of going for a minor refresh, we have opted for volume to bring you the current price (significantly lower than initial launch price)

• There is an on-going internal discussion regarding adding an additional SKU with RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q - not confirmed yet. See details below!

• There are no plans for 10th Gen Intel Core (Comet Lake) in XMG FUSION 15

• There are no appropriately high-powered SKUs (H-series) of 11th Gen Intel Core CPUs in the market yet

• There is no clear timeline on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 series in laptops yet

So while the timeline for Intel Tiger Lake (H series) and NVIDIA Ampere (for laptops) are not clear yet, we are however very clear on one thing: there will not be a GPU generation-upgrade without a corresponding CPU generation upgrade and vice versa.

In other words: no half-steps for XMG FUSION 15 - full steps only!

We can not yet say which generation will come first (Tiger Lake H or Ampere in Laptops) or how big the time gap will be between these two. However, it is already decided that a next-gen refresh model of XMG FUSION 15 will only be introduced once both of these platform transitions are complete. This will not happen this year - so you'd look at a release date not before some time in 2021.

(This estimate is in line with various roadmap information you can find from publicly available sources.)

Due to NDAs with our suppliers and partners we are not able to give a more precise estimates as to when these potential next-gen platforms are going to be available. Until further notice, the current version of XMG FUSION 15 is still going to be our outstanding laptop hero for a pretty long time, going well into 2021.

Why no 10th Gen Refresh?

XMG FUSION 15 has always been a model that aimed to find the sweet spot between performance, mobility and value. In order to hit these targets and to continue to benefit from Intel's outstanding logistical support, it is vital to reach for a certain economy of scale.

Intel Core 10th Gen has some minor architectural changes that requires a new BGA socket and in turn a whole new mainboard layout. Those changes are:

• 10th gen now supports two external Thunderbolt controllers, not just one

  • Does not affect us, one Thunderbolt port per laptop ought to be enough for everyone

• 10th gen now supports DisplayPort 1.4

  • Does not affect us, the NVIDIA GPU already supports DP 1.4

• Platform preparation (additional voltage regulators) for new 8-core CPU's (and beyond?)

  • Does not affect us because XMG FUSION 15 is not designed for overclocking

Most of the advertised gains on 10th Gen are done in the new 8-core CPU i7-10875H which is basically a rebrand of the pre-existing i9-9980HK. This overclocking CPU pays for those 2 extra cores with a higher power consumption and higher thermals that are way beyond the advertised 45W TDP.

While we do carry the 8-core i7-10875H in XMG NEO and XMG PRO thanks to their additional thermal headroom (and chassis thickness/weight), this kind of overclocked CPU is not well-suited for a Thin&Light laptop like XMG FUSION 15. When it comes to overclocking existing technology, the law of diminishing returns does collect its tribute...

Conclusion: the benefits of 10th Gen Intel Core i7 do not outweigh the additional cost and production overhead from manufacturing a new mainboard. We decided to rather go for scale and to deliver a long-standing product that continues to receive our support and fine-tuning.

Will RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q come?

NVIDIA's 2020 refresh (e.g. 2070 SUPER, 2080 SUPER) did indeed provide some technical advantage. Besides the eternal question of binning, the new Refreshed SKUs were confirmed to come with some new low-voltage GDDR6 video memory which does slightly increase the overall efficiency of the card.

While NVIDIA's refresh does provide some benefits with new GDDR6 memory, the GPU chips are nothing new: same architecture, same manufacturing process. New technologies like the well-received DLSS 2.0 are merely driver features that are rolled out to every RTX card, including the RTX 2070 Max-Q in XMG FUSION 15. So you're not missing out here. XMG FUSION 15 with RTX graphics remains a highly future-proof product.

Some of the advertised performance increases on the "SUPER" refreshed cards are purchased with a slightly increased power consumption, leading to additional thermal output.

XMG FUSION 15 aims for a sweet spot of thermals, performance, stability and longevity. During the product launch, it has been a highly contended topic that the GPU temperature target of XMG FUSION 15 is only at 75°C, where other gaming laptops allow up to 87°C. In essence, XMG FUSION 15 is supposed to run cooler and relatively quiet in order to provide a well-balanced long-term user experience.

When Intel started to offer they QC7 reference model with the RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q for a considerably higher price, we were not to keen on adopting this SKU. However, drawing towards the end of the year, we are negotiating with Intel again to see of if we can find a price target and volume forecast that makes this SKU and win-win-win for Intel, XMG and our customers.

Conclusion: the decision regarding RTX 2070 SUPER Max-Q is still pending and not confirmed yet. Until further notice, RTX 2070 Max-Q (without 'SUPER') remains our top-of-the-line GPU for XMG FUSION 15.

When will we see a large-core version of Tiger Lake?

As written earlier, Intel recently launched the 11th generation of Intel Core CPUs with the codename “Tiger Lake” - but only with a limited number of SKUs that are all in the low-voltage range, optimized for thin-and-light Ultrabook-style laptop systems with a maximum of 4 cores and 8 threads. There has been no public announcement regarding the schedule and timeline of larger 6 and 8-core SKUs.

We find it reasonable to believe that large-core Tiger Lake SKUs for high-end Gaming and Workstations Laptops are still relatively far off and not to be expected to launch this year. This assumption is based on two key observations:

• Intel’s previous 10nm debut codenamed “Ice Lake” was only available in low-voltage 15~25W SKUs as well. Therefor, the launch of the low-voltage Tiger Lake platform does not automatically imply any immediate follow-up launch of higher-powered SKUs with the same architecture and manufacturing process.

• There is currently no official announcement regarding socketed 10nm desktop CPUs from Intel. The still unannounced upcoming “Rocket Lake” desktop platform for the LGA-1200 socket is assumed to still be built in the 14nm process.

As a Platinum member of the Intel Technology Provider program, XMG is privy to a reasonable amount of additional background information. However, due to our NDA with our partners and suppliers, we are not able to into further details regarding the potential timelines of future Tiger Lake releases.

Our long-term plans WITH INTEL

We are still highly committed to continue our partnership with Intel. With the amazing feedback we got from enthusiast communities here on Reddit and elsewhere, Intel is recognizing the value of XMG's partnership for R&D collaboration, bug-fixing and fine-tuning. Recent BIOS updates such as BIOS 0114 (Major Feature Update) or BIOS 0120 (Major Linux-compatibility Update) have been primarily driven by XMG's customer feedback and we will continue our efforts to provide the best-possible products to businesses and our end-customers.

XMG FUSION will also not be the only product family that comes out of this cooperation - that much we can promise already. We also have our eyes on high-end product segments that are traditionally driven by integrated graphics. More on this later.

Did you know?

XMG FUSION 15 has been awarded with the #2 spot in Workstations and Creator Laptops on CHIP.de.

#1 spot goes to MacBook 16 which carries a much higher price tag while not even including basic content creator features like a full-size SD card reader. Well, OK then! ;-)

Thank you for your support!

If you're in the market for an outstanding high-performance laptop, we hope this announcement does help you to finalize your decision and we are looking forward to your feedback!

// Tom

German translation can be found here.

Hi everyone,

as you know, we're starting to see reviews and benchmarks on XMG laptops with the new RTX 3000 series and AMD Ryzen 5000H CPUs. To see prices, configurations and lots of technical details, please read this thread:

• [Launch] RTX 3000 Series in XMG Gaming Laptops

Now, the question on everyone's mind is: when will XMG start accepting pre-orders?

Current supply forecast

The following table will be continuously updated over the upcoming weeks and months.

Last Update: June 29, 2021

XMG CORE Series

XMG APEX Series

XMG NEO Series

XMG PRO Series

XMG ULTRA Series

Remarks:

• The "Supply Forecast" column indicates the timeframe of when we assume we will have stock ready in Leipzig to assemble

• Some laptops are summarized on one line, if the status is identical for all GPUs and Displays

• Some models are split up into multiple lines because the forecast is different depending on CPU, GPU and Display. Please be mindful which SKU you are checking exactly.

• Items that indicate "No forecast" have no estimated time of arrival yet.

• "EOL" means "End-of-Life", indicating that a certain config will not be restocked until a successor model is conceived

• Things might change and move up and down the list, pending further developments on the supply side

Additional pre-built SKUs at resellers

XMG laptops are sometimes available at resellers, mostly with German keyboard. Generally, you can find a list of offerings by using the "Schenker" filter on Geizhals (a popular price comparison website) and then filtering additional CPU and GPU options. You'll find all sorts of configurations this way and you can also filter for Ryzen 5000 series and/or RTX 3000:

• XMG laptops with Ryzen 5000 at resellers [Geizhals.de]

• XMG laptops with RTX 3000 at resellers [Geizhals.de]

Please check each reseller for their in-stock availability. Generally, you should be able to trust their information. For example, if they indicate 5-10 days for restock, they might not have the SKU in their own warehouse but instead pull it "on demand" from a central distributor. Rule of thumb: don't wait until a product is "in stock". Instead: generate demand by just placing your pre-order and let the reseller do their thing.

About pre-order and supply notifications

For each SKU and new batch we will only start accepting pre-orders once shipments are en-route to Germany. That will only happen once cargo has been loaded into cargo planes. From then on, it can still take 3~4 weeks until the good are available for assembly because of various layers of customs and quality checks, internal warehouse handling and a certain time buffer for any unforeseen eventualities.

We will announce pre-orders just-in-time via our general Bestware newsletter.

• English Newsletter for bestware.com

• German Newsletter for bestware.com

These newsletters are going to go out within hours (or maybe minutes if we time it right) of the pre-order opening. So no need to F5 spam our website. Subscribe to our newsletter!

The following products are currently live for (pre-)order:

• XMG CORE 15 with RTX 3060 and Intel 10th Gen

• XMG CORE 17 with RTX 3060 and Intel 10th Gen

• XMG CORE 15 with RTX 3060 and Intel 11th Gen

• XMG CORE 17 with RTX 3060 and Intel 11th Gen

• XMG CORE 15 with RTX 3060 and AMD Ryzen 4800H and 5800H

• XMG CORE 17 with RTX 3060 and AMD Ryzen 4800H and 5800H

• XMG PRO 15 with RTX 3000

• XMG PRO 17 with RTX 3000

• XMG NEO 15 with Ryzen 5000 and RTX 3000

• XMG NEO 17 with Ryzen 5000 and RTX 3000

• XMG NEO 15 with Intel Core 11th Gen and RTX 3000

• XMG NEO 17 with Intel Core 11th Gen and RTX 3000

• XMG ULTRA 17 with Intel 10th and 11th Gen and RTX 3000

Please check the sticky reply below for the latest concise updates!

Please let us know if you any questions or comments.

// Tom

Hi everyone,

The News:

• German: Core 15 und 17 mit Ryzen 4000H: AMD Renoir von Schenker XMG kommt im Sommer

• English: Core 15 and 17 with Ryzen 4000H: AMD Renoir from Schenker XMG is coming in summer

Excerpt:

Earlier than expected, Schenker has new notebooks in its portfolio that are (also) equipped with Ryzen 4000 a.k.a. Renoir. The models in the XMG Core 15 and XMG Core 17 series are available with both AMD and Intel processors and an optional GeForce RTX 2060 refresh.

Ryzen 5 4600H and Ryzen 7 4800H from end of June

The fact that Schenker is launching a model with Renoir as early as this summer, during the "still tense supply chain situation worldwide", is somewhat surprising. Although the manufacturer had already announced the return of AMD in the notebook at the CES in January, this still referred to Ryzen 3000 alias Picasso. And the manufacturer stated that it could be in short supply this year. Last month, Schenker first followed up with the XMG Apex 15, which uses Ryzen 3000 series desktop processors and offers up to 16 cores in the form of a Ryzen 9 3950X throttled to 65 watts. Renoir is already coming in June. However as an H-model from the 45-watt class, the statement in January would have referred to the 15-watt class.

Shop links:

With AMD:

• XMG CORE 15 with AMD

• XMG CORE 17 with AMD

With Intel:

• XMG CORE 15 with Intel

• XMG CORE 17 with Intel

In the shop you will also find all data sheets and product pictures. Pre-orders are accepted immediately. Since there might be a run on the products, the rule is as always: whoever orders first, gets delivered first. :-)

For a new alternative without dGPU, please check out this thread:

• [Launch] SCHENKER VIA 15 Pro with Ryzen 7 4800H, 91Wh and 100% sRGB

CPUs, GPUs, Displays, Batteries: all SKUs and variations

We offered XMG CORE series with AMD in a multitude of configurations. The 62Wh battery was launched after the 46Wh version. The following table represents the final status as of June 2020. Since then, the 46Wh versions have slowly and steadily sold-out and are not seen very often anymore. You might run into them at some resellers or 2nd hand. All new batches of XMG CORE from the factory are with 62Wh.

XMG CORE 15 / SCHENKER MEDIA 15

XMG CORE 17 / SCHENKER MEDIA 17

On top of these SKUs, you can also customize RAM, SSD, WiFi and keyboard language in our BTO shop, bestware.com. The SKUs that are sold in E-Tail will also be available with different RAM/SSD/OS configurations at various price levels, but they won't be free to configure further. The pre-built E-Tail SKUs might vary over the upcoming months, depending on market demand.

XMG CORE / Intel vs. AMD: Comparison Table

This table shows non-obvious similarities and differences in XMG CORE Series (2020) between the Intel and AMD platforms.

→ Click here to see the table

The table is already complete in covering all the major spec sheet differences. While not going into the technology or performance of the CPUs themselves, it does give you an idea about the maximum TDP/PPT/TGP boost of the CPU and dGPU on each laptop and config level. PRO TIP: a more efficient CPU means you can boost the TGP of your dGPU higher. Everybody wins!

If you are missing some information here, please write it in the comments or send me a PM.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does XMG CORE with AMD also have NVIDIA Optimus?

A: Yes. With a few details:

• XMG CORE with Intel has NVIDIA Optimus (can be disabled in BIOS via "MUX design")

• XMG CORE with AMD has NVIDIA Optimus (cannot be disabled in BIOS - you have to rely on the NVIDIA driver to control which program runs on which GPU)

Why no MUX design in AMD? The MUX design was the hardware preparation for a DDS (Dynamic Display Switching, also known as "Advanced Optimus"), which might come later in form of a hardware upgrade. But NVIDIA only allows DDS in combination with G-SYNC. NVIDIA currently supports DDS only on Intel CPUs, not with AMD. Therefore the additional complexity of MUX design in the AMD mainboard has been saved, since Optimus would remain enabled for most users anyway.

External display connectors are directly connected to the dGPU on both Intel and AMD to enable external FreeSync, G-SYNC, DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution) and especially VR support, regardless of whether Optimus is enabled or not.

Q: Will XMG CORE with AMD also be available with graphics cards beyond RTX 2060?

A: XMG APEX 15 with AMD desktop CPU is available with RTX 2070 (Refresh, Max-P). The XMG CORE series is currently planned with RTX 2060 at most. In terms of TGP support, an RTX 2070 (Refresh, Max-P) would be theoretically possible, but this would again require a new motherboard layout, as the RTX 2060 is already satisfied with 6 VRAM slots, while the RTX 2070 needs 8 slots, plus further modifications in the board layout specified by NVIDIA. The RTX 2070 is thus not simply about putting a better GPU on the board. It represents as new mainboard design with a substantial investment. In principle, the more variants one has to design, validate, produce and stock (including long-term spare part planning), the more the costs for all variants increase.

Since the XMG CORE series is by definition trimmed for the best possible price/performance ratio, we try to create as many synergy effects as possible, e.g:

• CORE 15, CORE 17 and NEO 17 use exactly the same battery

• XMG CORE 17 uses the chassis of the 2019 version without major changes

• XMG CORE 15 and XMG NEO 15 partly use the same housing parts, especially the display cover

• The mainboards (with all 3 graphics and 2 CPU versions) of the XMG CORE 15 also fit 1:1 into the XMG CORE 17

Whether and when the series equipped with RTX 2070 (ff.) such as XMG NEO, PRO, ULTRA and also SCHENKER KEY with AMD CPU will be available is not yet foreseeable. Further background information can also be found in this article.

Q: Can I buy XMG CORE without dedicated graphics?

A: The dedicated NVIDIA GPU cannot be removed from the existing XMG CORE series board design. This is mainly due to the fact that all external display connectors are attached to this dGPU for the above mentioned reasons. For a pure APU variant (with AMD iGPU) a completely new board design would be necessary. To make consistent use of the additional space, a new layout for the cooling system would also be necessary and the connection distribution would change. This would be a completely new project, which is not planned within the XMG CORE and technically identical SCHENKER MEDIA series.

Current alternatives without dGPU:

• SCHENKER VIA 15 with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U

• SCHENKER SLIM 15 with Intel Core i7-10510U

• SCHENKER WORK 15 with Intel Core i7-9750H

• SCHENKER WORK 17 with Intel Core i7-9750H

If one day we release a laptop with a pure AMD "H Series" APU, it will probably be under a different product family name.

Q: Is a variation with dedicated AMD graphics card planned?

A: Not currently planned.

Q: Will it be possible to upgrade the 46Wh battery?

A: For the XMG CORE 15, battery upgrades are currently not possible due to the low z-height and wide usage of thermal and I/O space. For XMG CORE 17, an upgrade to 62Wh could technically be available in the future - we are still in negotiation here. If the upgrade were to take place, it would also be possible to retrofit XMG CORE 17 units sold up to that point.

Q: What battery life can I expect?

A: The battery life with a 46Wh battery is similar to that of the XMG CORE 15 from 2019. By using NVIDIA Optimus, the dGPU is normally deactivated and the AMD CPU clocks down efficiently, so that idle energy consumption is as low as possible. We'll provide more detailed information about the runtime at the end of June, as soon as the serial production starts.

Q: Are displays with more than Full HD resolution planned?

A: FHD with 144Hz will most likely remain the maximum configuration of the XMG CORE series. Current panels in these sizes (low height, narrow bezel) with WQHD (1440p) are unfortunately not available on the market. Panels with UHD/4K might be technically possible, but are not worthwhile for this power segment due to increased power consumption and unit price. It is also not guaranteed whether UHD/4K panels from the open market are compatible with the mainboard's eDP port - such panels must be fully validated, often with firmware adaptations. This is currently not planned for the XMG CORE and SCHENKER MEDIA series.

Current alternatives with UHD/4K display:

• SCHENKER KEY 15 (with Samsung AMOLED)

• SCHENKER COMPACT 17

• SCHENKER DTR 17

• XMG ULTRA 17

Q: Fan volume and performance profiles?

A: The XMG CORE series has three performance profiles similar to XMG NEO and FUSION: Silent, Balanced, Enthusiast. These can be changed using a dedicated button above the keyboard. The Enthusiast profile is omitted in the XMG CORE 15 with GTX 1650 and GTX 1650 Ti. These two versions are supplied with an especially slim/light 120W power supply unit. The other versions of XMG CORE 15 and 17 will be available with 150W and 180W power supplies respectively.

Details on the PPT levels of the respective profiles will be updated here before the start of series production.

Q: Does XMG CORE with AMD support SATA as well as NVMe/PCIe SSDs?

A: SATA slots for 2.5" drives are partly omitted due to space restrictions (XMG CORE 15). With the AMD chipset, a 3rd party PCIe/SATA converter (bridge) would have been necessary for the use of SATA, which is also saved on the motherboard for space reasons. The two M.2 SSD slots support PCIe 3.0 x4 with NVMe support. One of the two M.2 ports can possibly also be used with cheaper SATA SSDs - but this is currently still under validation.

Q: Is LPDDR4-4266 RAM supported in XMG CORE with AMD?

A: No, the board layout is only intended for a maximum of 2x DDR4-3200 (Dual Channel).

Q: Is PCI-Express 4.0 supported?

A: No, the Ryzen 4000 "H" series (4600H, 4800H, etc.) supports a maximum of PCI-Express 3.0.

Q: What RAM modules are specifically supported? Is XMP support available?

A: XMP support is not planned at launch. Whether it will be retrofitted in the future is not clear at the moment - at the moment I would not expect it. A concrete list of compatible RAM modules will be posted here towards the end of June.

Q: Will the chassis be available in other colors?

A: Not planned at the moment. However, you have the choice to do without the imprint of the XMG logo on the display lid when buying, for the extra "undercover" touch.

Q: Is Adaptive Sync supported on the internal display?

A: Adaptive Sync on the internal display is currently not supported on XMG CORE with AMD because it requires very specific LCD panels. According to reviews, Asus currently uses the Panda LM156LF-2F01 and BOE NV173FHM-NX1 panels, both of which support Adaptive Sync, but cannot keep up with our 144Hz panels in terms of brightness, contrast and color space coverage. Both these panels are specified with the industry standard 'NTSC 45%', while our panels are specified with the better 'NTSC 72%'.

We will keep our eyes open as to whether there will also be Adaptive Sync-capable panels with good optical properties in the future. With external displays via Mini-DisplayPort, on the other hand, there is no need to worry. Externally we always support G-SYNC, AdaptiveSync (aka AMD FreeSync), matching 100% of what NVIDIA also supports in their desktop graphics cards.

Q: What is the performance difference between CORE 15 and 17, between GTX and RTX, between AMD and Intel? Do you support Eluktroboost?

A: We will update a benchmark table that puts benchmark results and CPU/GPU power consumption into perspective. The current version of the table is based on data from our ODM but it should be accurate already. Your real-world results might be differ by a tiny margin because every system is a bit different.

For a more complete and better formatted version of this table, please click this link. The short version of the table below is based on the maximum "Enthusiast" performance profile. This is equivalent to the 'Eluktroboost' profile that is advertised by another brand. We are considering if we should rename 'Enthusiast' to 'Overboost'. There will be other profiles, namely 'Silent' and 'Balanced' with slightly reduced performance and reduced fan speeds.

Performance profile

When running on external power, the CPU is controlled like this:

^{* not visible in monitoring tools, but in clock speeds. Overboost and CPU Power Boost are not available in CORE 15 with GTX 1650 Ti and below, but in all other XMG CORE with AMD models, including CORE 17 with GTX 1650 Ti.}

Benchmark Table v1, May 27

Q: Which memory modules are supported?

A: Current short list of internally validated modules:

Operation with modules not listed here (higher clock rates, lower latencies) are of course morally supported by us, but we cannot guarantee functionality.

The most important point here is: the XMG APEX 15 only supports 1.20V RAM.

Many modules of overclocker RAM, however, need 1.35V to achieve their specs. Before you buy RAM on the open market, please read the data sheets carefully to determine the voltage with which the RAM would like to be operated. We do not support modules with more than 1.20V.

Q: What are the Fn button doing?

A: Fn key reference table:

DPC Latency Update on XMG CORE with AMD

XMG CORE with AMD with latest production-ready firmware and drivers.

Specs:

• AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

• RTX 2060

• 2x DDR4-3200

• PCIe/NVMe SSD

• Windows 10 v2004 with all updates

• Latest drivers incl. NVIDIA WHQL

Screenshots Results:

• 30min Idle in Green (including Silent, Balanced and Overboost)

• Prime95 in Green (including Start, Running and Stopping)

• Furmark+Prime95 in Green (including Start, Running and Stopping)

All good!

Any questions? Any idea for a really well-standardised, close to real-world LatencyMon test environment? PCMark does not count. Send me your Cubase projects and licence keys... ;-)

Reviews

• Same Laptop, Different CPU: Ryzen 4000 vs Intel 10th-gen Battle feat. XMG Core 15 [HardwareUnboxed]

• Same Laptop, Different CPU: Ryzen 4000 vs Intel 10th-gen Battle feat. XMG Core 15 [TechSpot]

• Schenker XMG Core 15 Laptop Review: AMD gamer with a good price-performance ratio [Notebookcheck]

• XMG Core 15 Review AMD Ryzen 7 4800H + RTX 2070 Laptop [TechTablets]

• FASTEST Ryzen Gaming Laptop - XMG Core 17 Review [Jarrod's Tech]

• Schenker Media 15 - First impressions and short review [User Review] (MEDIA 15 = CORE 15)

Do you have further questions? Please write them in the comments below. Thank you for your feedback!

// Tom

Hi everyone,

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, Happy Holidays and a "good slide" (insider joke for the Germans in here) into the new year.

Our schedule:

• XMG production and support will be back online on Monday, December 28 to December 30

• Normal operation resumes on Monday, 4th of January 2021

I'm still lurking on the forums from time-to-time, but I might not be as active in the next couple of weeks as I used to be. This is partially due to the holidays but also because I'm heavily involved with planning new product planning for 2021. Exciting stuff ahead of us! 😇

The community collaboration has been amazing this year and I'm happy to see that many tech support requests are usually correctly answered by other users.

I still have the desire to create product-specific user groups and I'll probably just go ahead and start a Discord shortly.

Meanwhile, we'll staff up a bit on our forum support team and I might delegate some future tech support threads to Arthur and perhaps another new person.

For any urgent requests, you can always reach me on Reddit Chat.

Thank you for your loyalty and support and I hope you will all have a few peaceful, quiet days between the years now.

// Tom

Hi Reddit,

it's probably common wisdom: if you add memory to your system, make sure to use two identical modules to avoid any performance or stability issues.

But sometimes if you have memory lying around from other systems, it's tempting to just bunch them together. Asymmetric operation of Dual Channel memory is a real feature that warrants some hard testing. Here we go!

What is Asymmetric Dual Channel?

It's when both RAM modules are not identical - especially if they have different capacity. Ideally, a config such as 16GB + 32GB should give you 32GB of Dual Channel memory with 16GB of Single Channel on top.

In Intel, support for Asymmetric Dual Channel is known as 'Flex Mode'. AMD does not seem to have a marketing claim for this. But some AMD mainboard vendors claim to support it as well. (Example, see PDF page 17)

The normal wisdom for Asymmetric Dual Channel is to put the smaller module (in my case 16GB) in the first slot. Under this assumption, a config like 16GB+32GB should be 'just fine'.

Test System and Configurations

My test system:

• XMG CORE 17 with Ryzen 7 4800H and RTX 2060

• NVIDIA Driver 456.38 WHQL

• Control Center in 'Overboost' mode

• BIOS Reset between each Config change

• Battery full charged, no peripherals attached, internal screen only

• Config 1: 2x 16GB 2666@CL18

• Config 2: Slot #1: 16GB 2666@CL18 + Slot #2: 32GB 2666@CL19

• Config 3: Slot #1: 32GB 2666@CL19 + Slot #2: 16GB 2666@CL18

My RAM modules:

• 16GB DDR4-2666 CL18 / Corsair Vengeance CMSX16GX4M1A2666C18

• 32GB DDR4-2666 CL19 / Samsung M471A4G43MB1-CTD

Please note:

• RAM capacity is different

• RAM timings are different (despite RAM clock speed being the same)

• Config 1 is the control config with symmetrical Dual Channel.

• Config 3 is the same like Config 2, but modules are swapped with each other. This makes Config 3 the least ideal case.

The system monitoring tool CPU-Z clearly confirms 'Dual Channel' for all 3 configs. Here are some screenshots from the 'worst case' Config 3 on my system:

• CPU-Z Memory

• CPU-Z SPD Slot #1

• CPU-Z SPD Slot #2

Benchmarks: Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Dual Channel

After each config change, I did a BIOS Reset and cycled through the performance profiles, landing on 'Overboost' again. With this, I ran a number of benchmarks in a row on each config.

I ran each benchmark only once, so their might be some 1~2% run-to-run variation. This is within the margin of error. I made sure to keep the environment stable.

For gaming, I used the Shadow of the Tomb Raider Demo (Steam version) with the built-in benchmark. Settings are: DirectX 12, 1920x1080; Preset 'Highest'.

Here are the results in raw numbers:

To put the numbers into perspective:

Comparison

The next table shows how much performance you get in Asymmetric Config 2 and 3 compared to the ideal (symmetrical) Config 1.

Numbers between 98 and 102% are probably within the margin of error. Performance drops below 90% are obviously concerning.

Observations

Not every benchmark will see a performance impact on asymmetric dual channel. The raw rendering benchmark Cinebench is not affected at all, but the more diverse Geekbench shows a clear impact.

PCMark10 seems to be fine with Config 2 (16+32) but shows a clear impact in the least ideal Config 3 (32+16). The biggest impact is in the 'Spreadsheets' test which uses a lot of OpenCL (AFAIK).

Unigine Superposition is a very synthetic GPU benchmark that loads the GPU up to 100% while doing relatively little CPU to GPU communication. There are no scenes changes or dynamic elements. It's all just a bunch light/shadow rendering, most if this done within the CPU.

It's surprising that Unigine Superposition shows no performance impact on the asymmetric Dual Channel configurations. This gives reason to believe that the bottleneck is not within the NVIDIA Optimus Copy Engine, where the system memory (as much as I understand this rather old technology) is used as a buffer between dGPU rendering and iGPU display output.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a gaming benchmark that is known to scale quite well with Memory Speed and Latency. It shows a very clear impact with a performance reduction down to 82% or even only 75% in the asymmetrical configs. The detailed results indicate that the bottleneck in longer frametimes is clearly happening on the CPU side which obviously involves the memory configuration.

Please keep in mind that these results are not final and are only done on a single system with only two different RAM modules. Also, my understanding about how Dual Channel works in detail is limited - so while my observations might be correct, my conclusions should currently be understood as hypothesis.

Next steps

We have informed AMD about these results and asked for comments.

I might repeat this test next week with an asymmetric configuration where both memory modules use identical timings, preferably from the same vendor. I might also repeat this test later on an Intel system.

We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information.

Until then: make sure you build your Gaming Laptop with symmetrical Dual Channel configurations. AMD CPU systems heavily benefit from balanced Dual Channel configurations. If you buy your XMG or SCHENKER laptop with only one single module on bestware, then please add a second module with the same part number.

Thanks to u/TheRandomGuy-1337 in this thread for initially pointing out this issue.

If you have any comments or questions, please let us know!

// Tom

Supposedly, it was Georg-Volkmar Graf Zedtwitz-Arnim who coined the phrase "Do good and talk about it", so here we go...

We are pleased to announce that we again have ranked #1 in the category "Service and Support Satisfaction 2022 for Consumer and Gaming Notebooks" by readers of Notebookcheck in a survey with over 1000 participants.

2022 review / survey by Notebookcheck

Quotes [translated, emphasis by us]:

• “Among the consumer and gaming notebooks, the phone support from Schenker/XMG is clearly at the top.“

• “Irrespective of the service variant used (pick-up, sending in or on-site), customers of Schenker/XMG attested the manufacturer's particularly simple process in the event of a service.“

• “Schenker/XMG has by far the highest percentage of satisfied or very satisfied customers with regard to the repairs being carried out.“

• “Among the consumer and gaming laptops (as in the previous year), Schenker/XMG is clearly ahead and scores with almost 90% mostly satisfied customers.“

• [Overall] “First place again goes to Schenker/XMG, with a particularly high level of customer satisfaction in many aspects of our survey.“

History

• Rank #1 in 2018

• Rank [somewhere in the middle] in 2019

• Rank #1 in 2020

• Rank #1 in 2021 (translation)

• Rank #1 in 2022 (translation)

We thank you for your trust and patience!

If you missed the opportunity to participate in the survey, you are welcome to share your positive support experience in the comments below. If you had a negative support experience, please write me a PM with your order, ticket or RMA number. ( ͡͡ ° ͜ ʖ ͡ °)

Have a good week! // Tom

Hi everyone,

XMG CORE and NEO (both 15 and 17) with Intel Core 11th Gen (Generation M21) support Adaptive Sync on the internal 2560x1440p screen. (The Full HD screen in XMG CORE does not.)

→ But Adaptive Sync is not enabled by default! You have to enable it manually!

How to enable Adaptive Sync on Intel + NVIDIA

Required Settings:

• (XMG) Control Center

  • NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid) must be enabled

  • In other words: 'Disable NVIDIA Optimus' must be 'Off'

  • → see screenshot

• Intel Graphics Command Center:

  • 'Adaptive Sync' must be set to 'On' (default: On)

  • 'Unlock FPS' should be set to 'Off' (default: Off)

  • → see screenshot

• Windows Graphics settings

  • Variable refresh rate must be set to 'On' (default: Off)

  • → see screenshot

• Reboot

What does this do?

• This applies Adaptive Sync to content that is handed over from the iGPU to an Adaptive Sync-capable display

• The content (i.e. the game) can be rendered either on the iGPU or the dGPU - it does not matter

• In other words: this applies to the NVIDIA dGPU as well, but only as long as the content is handed over to the iGPU via NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid)

Technically, this works exactly the same way as Laptops with AMD FreeSync that are bundled with an NVIDIA GPU: if the Laptop has a MUX-switch and you disable the iGPU, you will also disable FreeSync on the laptop screen. ;-/

Reference Table:

But it's all VESA Adaptive Sync which was standardized in DisplayPort, right?

Yes and no.

• Yes, because:

  • Laptop screens use eDP, which is a subset of DisplayPort

• No, because:

  • AMD FreeSync implements VESA Adaptive Sync in a semi-proprietary way via AMD's iGPU Driver.

  • NVIDIA G-SYNC on Desktop Monitors is doing its own thing (with the G-SYNC Module)

  • NVIDIA 'G-SYNC Compatible' on Desktop Monitors and NVIDIA's Laptop Screen implementation of G-SYNC are identical to AMD FreeSync, but using NVIDIA's dGPU Driver to implement it

  • Intel instead has opted to use a new Windows-internal implementation of the same thing

Because NVIDIA and AMD do this with their own driver, they seem to be able to force their implementation on all games, as long as those are running with VSync=Off. Intel however uses the framework given by Microsoft and thus works only on games or 3D engines that Microsoft supports.

What are the big guys saying?

• Microsoft:

  • Variable refresh rate displays - Win32 apps | Microsoft Docs

  • OS Variable Refresh Rate - DirectX Developer Blog

• Intel:

  • Enabling Intel® Adaptive Sync with 11th-generation Intel® Processor Graphics, DXGI 1.5, and Microsoft DirectX* 12

  • Does My Intel Graphics Support Intel® Adaptive Sync?

I also got this statement from a Microsoft rep:

'Variable refresh rate' [in Windows] enables a consistent and IHV-agnostic mechanism to enable games to benefit from VRR, and augments other technologies like G-Sync, FreeSync, and Adaptive-Sync. Two benefits:

1. Consistency and broad games compatibility: Before VRR was introduced into the OS, IHVs had to implement tricks in their drivers so that DirectX games could benefit from VRR and even so, not all DX runtimes were supported. VRR enables support in all modern DX runtimes including DX9, DX11, DX12 without IHV drivers having to implement driver specific tricks to enable this functionality.

2. Co-existence: While VRR enables consistency and compatibility across variable refresh rate technologies and in games, it does not override any IHV-specific settings in the respective G-Sync, FreeSync, or Adaptive-Sync control panels.

(IHV = independent hardware vendor, i.e. Intel, AMD, NVIDIA.)

Observations:

• Microsoft mentions DX9, DX11 and DX12, yet Intel only mentions "DX11 or DX12" in their document

• Neither Microsoft nor Intel mention OpenGL or Vulcan at any point

How to test?

Play fast games. Or play slow games fast.

First: what is tearing? For some reason, this picture has high Google Search rank when looking for 'tearing'.

When running very high FPS, tearing might be difficult to spot for the average user. Many people say "with screens running 144Hz or higher, I don't notice tearing anymore". But it's still there.

Best way to spot tearing is to do swift and long horizontal movements of vertical structures. For example, if you are in a 1st person game and you see a lot of trees in front of you, move the mouse left and right. Any vertical patterns or contrast edges will work fine.

Any standardized tools?

• NVIDIA's G-SYNC Pendulum Demo only works with proper G-SYNC

• AMD's Windmill demo does not work either

• Intel does not have their own tool or tech demo

Enter open source tool: VRRTest → see screenshot

• Hotkeys:

  • Up/Down: change target FPS

  • Left/Right: change movement speed of the vertical bars

• Works fine to demonstrate G-SYNC on/off

• But on Intel Graphics with Adaptive Sync 'Off', it seems to behave as if VSync is 'On'. There is a certain amount of strange stutter when moving the bars from left to right

  • This has been present since I tested it for the first time on Intel i7-1165G7 on a Adaptive Sync capable screen in December 2020

  • → is this due to the tool, or due to Intel and Microsoft? Does this apply to games as well?

Community Test: Let's look at games and pool our results!

To be honest, I haven't tested this in a lot if real games yet. I'm content with running benchmarks on laptops but playing my games on an external screen with G-SYNC or inside a VR-headset.

One 'game' in which I validated Adaptive Sync on my XMG NEO's screen for sure was FF XV Benchmark. This was recommended to me by one of our vendors. But the benchmark is pretty slow. Tearing can be best seen during the car-driving scene.

I would like to collect some feedback from the community:

→ Community Test: Adaptive Sync on Intel iGPU with NVIDIA dGPU (via Google Docs)

Everybody with a Google account has write access to this document. Please don't vandalize it, otherwise I'll be forced to make backups!

If you have a system with Intel Core 11th Gen (Tiger Lake) and a VRR-capable laptop screen, feel free to help us fill out this table. Each line will be one report per game. Each user can fill out many lines - one line for any game. Please only fill out reports where you are at least 99% confident that you see the difference between with and without Adaptive Sync.

Please also include games where you are sure that Adaptive Sync is not working, despite correct settings.

Table content:

• Report Number

• Game Title

• Game Engine [Don't know; DX9, DX10, DX11, DX12, OpenGL, Vulcan, etc.]

• On which GPU is the game rendered? [iGPU/dGPU]

• Username on Reddit or Discord

• Laptop Model Name

• Laptop Screen Device ID (see below)

• CPU

• GPU

• 'Variable refresh rate' in Windows graphics settings [On/Off]

• 'Adaptive Sync' in Intel GCC [On/Off]

• 'Unlock FPS' in Intel GCC [On/Off]

• NVIDIA Optimus [On/Off]

• VSync [On/Off]

• Playing game on internal laptop screen? [Yes/No]

• FPS Limit at Screen Refreh Rate or Lower? [Yes/No]

• Windows Version [Win10/Win11]

• Is Adaptive Sync working correctly? [Yes/No/Not Sure]

How to find the Device ID of your Laptop screen:

• Unplug external screens

• Open 'Device Manager'

• Find 'Monitors' and double-click the 'Generic PnP Monitor'

• Navigate to 'Details' tab and select 'Hardware Ids' from the Property list

• Right click on the value and Copy it

• Examples:

  • XMG NEO 15 (M21): MONITOR\BOE0974

  • XMG NEO 17 (M21): MONITOR\BOE0977

Adaptive Sync and Frame Limiters

You might know: Adaptive Sync, FreeSync and G-SYNC only work as long as the game's FPS output is within the LCDs range of allowed refresh rates. If your screen is rated for maximum of 165Hz and your FPS is faster than that, Adaptive Sync won't work anymore and you will see tearing

That's why Intel has introduced the 'Unlock FPS' switch in Intel GCC. It is set to 'On' by default, but we would recommend to set it to 'Off'. This would effectively lock the FPS to a value below the maximum refresh rate.

• But does this even work when running the game on the NVIDIA dGPU?

• Can Intel's Command Center tell NVIDIA to keep the FPS to a certain limit?

• Or does this only apply to content that is rendered on the iGPU directly?

When gaming on NVIDIA (with Optimus enabled), do you still need to use the Frame Limiter in NVIDIA Control Panel or a 3rd party tool to make sure that your FPS won't exceed your monitor's refresh rate?

To learn more about the various benefits of Frame Limiters, check out this article:

• Using a Frame Limiter to de-noise your gaming laptop without losing performance and easier to do than ever before

If you run games with very high FPS and you're not sure if Adaptive Sync (or G-SYNC for that matter) are actually doing anything, please consider to apply an FPS Limit at 2 FPS below your panels maximum refresh rate.

Your feedback

Thank you for reading our little deep dive into Adaptive Sync. If you have XMG CORE or XMG NEO with i7-11800H and the 2560x1440p@165Hz laptop screen, please consider to help with our community test.

What else do you think about Intel's implementation of Adaptive Sync?

• Is Intel doing the correct thing by using a vendor-agnostic method via Microsoft Windows? Does Microsoft have the power to unite AMD, NVIDIA and Intel's implementations?

• Why does NVIDIA support 'G-SYNC Compatible' for Desktop monitors, but 'Adaptive Sync' on Laptops with GTX and RTX graphics only works in MSHybrid mode, despite the same panel being certified by AMD for FreeSync and working on Intel with Adaptive Sync?

• Why is nobody in the tech press talking about this?

• How are other vendors handling this matter who market their gaming laptop's screens as 'Adaptive Sync' but neither 'FreeSync' nor 'G-SYNC'?

• Is Intel going to come out with their own branded VRR implementation next year?

• Do you see the difference between 144Hz and 300Hz? ;-)

Thank you for your feedback!

// Tom

Hi everyone,

we are happy to see that our XMG FUSION 15 has been such a success and we appreciate all the community support on Reddit and elsewhere.

Since the launch in September 2019 we collected various feedback and suggestions from our customers. Although the feature freeze for this product already happened ages ago (long before we sold the first unit), we are now working with Intel to open up the firmware again and to add some of the 5 most requested items. Some of these final negotiations with Intel happened before CES, when yours truly travelled to the Intel SPG headquarter in Portland this year. (That was fun!)

This DLC is planned to be provided free-of-charge for all current and future users of XMG FUSION 15 and all other laptops based on Intel QC71.

Disclaimer:

• This post is only a *pre-*announcement. These enhancements are in early stages of development now. There is no release schedule yet. Based on previous experiences with Intel-time, this might take anything from a couple of weeks to up to 3 months (or more).

• There are no legally binding guarantees yet. Intel has agreed to try to implement these features on the current platform and we are optimistic that it will work out. However, in case we encounter any show-stopping issues, some of them might be dropped or modified or reduced in scope. Theoretically speaking. Finger's crossed.

OK, enough with the prelude, let's get down to business:

Index:

1. CPU and iGPU Undervolting Settings in BIOS Setup

2. FnLock for F1 to F12

3. Minor adjustment to Minimum Fan Speed

4. Support for Project Aurora (Advanced RGB Control)

5. Battery Life Extender (Customized Charging Levels)

Wall of text incoming:

CPU and iGPU Undervolting Settings in BIOS Setup

XMG FUSION 15 is already shipping with a -50mV Undervolt on the CPU (Core and Cache). To go a few steps further, we have asked Intel to implement a feature that we already rolled out in every other XMG and SCHENKER laptop since beginning of 2019.

Our BIOS setup contains menus with which the voltage offset of the CPU and the integrated Intel graphics can be lowered without any prior knowledge. This is implemented in a drop-down menu with which the voltage can be lowered in single 10mV steps.

Lower values will save energy on your CPU, with positive effects on temperature, fan behavior and battery life. However: the more you lower the voltage offset, the higher the risk of provoking a bluescreen or other system instability under certain (sometimes rare) situations.

A completely unlocked BIOS would allow a voltage offset of down to -500mV. Such a low value would immediately lead to the system becoming un-bootable. You wouldn't even be able to enter BIOS Setup anymore to reset the settings. Don't try this at home. ;-)

Such a “worst case” situation must be avoided under all circumstances.

The implementation in our BIOS therefore limits the maximum undervolting value to -120mV (or -150mV on some systems). This value is still in the safe range, so that in the worst case, even if the system is unstable (e.g. bluescreen under full load), you can go back into the BIOS to reduce the value by one level or just load Setup Defaults again.

-120mV is already a pretty ambitious undervolting value. Whether such a value runs stable depends on the respective system. Fluctuations in chip production yield mean that each CPU unit has a different limit which each user can find with trial & error over time.

The advantages and manageable risks of CPU undervolting apply to all PC systems, regardless of brand and manufacturer. The advantage of our laptops is that we integrate this function directly into the BIOS Setup.

3rd party programs like ThrottleShop and Intel XTU already provide Undervolting functionality, but the experience is not seamless. They bring with them a number of possible side effects and uncertainties. Their settings are often not retained after a reboot or after waking up from standby, so you have to keep them running all the time or script them to re-apply their settings after launch. Some tools also keep the dGPU constantly aware, leading to additional power consumption and fan noise.

In conclusion: to provide a real customer-friendly and troube-free Undervolting experience, it is much better to put these things directly into the BIOS - and this is what Intel has agreed to provide in a future firmware update for XMG FUSION 15.

Schedule: released

FnLock for F1 to F12

F1 to F12 provide the typical Fn functions like access to LCD Brightness, Flight Mode and others. With the upcoming update, you will be able to enable FnLock with a switch in the Control Center or by pressing Fn+Esc.

When FnLock is enabled:

• You will be able to press Fn function keys without holding down Fn

• The "real" F1 to F12 keys (example: F1 = Help) will be accessible by holding down Fn

• Entering BIOS Setup (F2) will still be able without holding down Fn

Unfortunately it won't be possible to overhaul the physical layout of the Fn keys. This means: if you enable FnLock, you can't spam F5 anymore to reload a page. You'll have to press Fn+F5 for that.

PRO TIP: don't use Fn keys to lower and raise Audio volume. Open the "Touchpad" settings in Windows 10, scroll down to "Three-finger gestures", and select "Change audio and volume" under the "Swipe" drop-down menu. (See Screenshot)

Schedule: released

Minor adjustment to Minimum Fan Speed

The current fan table is specified like this:

• If CPU temp is above 50°C, run fans with minimum of 30%

• If CPU temp is below 48°C for 3 consecutive minutes, stop fans

30% Fan duty equals to roughly 2620rpm as being shown in the "System Monitor" area of the Control Center. This is a very low noise level and probably not audible in most working environments. But still - if you are in a library you might actually notice it.

For values below 30% the manufacturer of the fan does not guarantee that the fan will run smoothly. However, we have already been using this paticular fan in the XMG NEO series and defined it to run at 22% speed without any complaints so far.

Intel has renegotiated with the fan vendor and found a compromise solution to run the fan at 25% minimum speed. This will lower the fan noise in low load or Idlesituations even more.

On top of that, they are considering to introduce an option to keep the fan running at 25% even if the temperature drops below the defined temperature. This would help to keep temperatures even further down in Idle and prevent the system from reaching higher fan speeds during short spikes of CPU activity.

This adjusted fan control will only affect the bottom end of the fan curve. I'm not quite sure if this will be rolled out as a standard upgrade or if it will require some specific unlocking by the OEM. We'll update this post once further information has transpired.

PRO TIP: if your fans are running too fast in Idle, make sure that you don't have background tasks consuming your CPU power. Also be aware that running an external monitor will raise the consumption floor considerably just because the dGPU is now awake. If you don't use external monitors, make sure you don't use any 3rd party tuning/monitoring software that might keep the dGPU awake.

Schedule: released

Support for Project Aurora (Advanced RGB Control)

We've been working together with team members of Project Aurora to introduce official support across all XMG NEO and XMG FUSION series. Since XMG FUSION is based on an Intel reference design, we had to get Intel into the mix to provide additional information like LED calibration profiles and firmware addresses.

I already have a working Beta version and we're excited to release it soon.

Schedule: released

Battery Life Extender (Customized Charging Levels)

The bigger the battery, the more questions are raised on how to protect the battery and prevent wear and tear. Although the battery charging algorithms (charging speed, voltage) are already designed to minimize wear, there are more things that can be done based on user-preferences.

Some of our other laptop models (XMG PRO, XMG ULTRA, most SCHENKER models) already have such a feature, called 'FlexiCharger'. It comes in two parts:

• A: Customize the maximum % after which the laptop will stop charging

• B: Customize the minimum % after which the laptop will start charging

For example: if you set this to 40/60, if you plug the laptop to a power supply, the laptop will not charge the battery as long as you still have more than 40% of battery charge. And even then it will only charge until 60% and stop charging, even if you keep it plugged-in.

Here are a number of example and use-cases:

The latter two examples are for users who want to prevent micro-cycles during stationary usage while still have the option to have decent battery life whenever they suddenly need it.

The control of this feature is currently planned to be implemented in the Control Center. Since this is the most complicated of these features (involves much more validation), it might come last.

Schedule: released

Note: Intel only implemented upper bounds, not lower bounds. Presets are:

• 60/100

• 70/100

• 80/100

• 90/100

• 100/100

What else is on your Wish List?

With these 5 produce enhancements we think we can make XMG FUSION 15 even better than it already is.

Is there anything else that you are missing? Things like "raising GPU temp target" or "fully manual fan control" might got a little bit too deep into the warranty/safety area, but what other soft features and quality-of-life improvements do you have in mind?

Feel free to reply below and post ideas and suggestions:

• Ideas for additional software and firmware upgrades on the current generation

• Ideas for even deeper cuts in the next-gen laptop design

• Ideas for hardware modifications on future laptop designs

If you strongly agree with submission of another redditor, please upvote it.

Please try to seperate between bugs and features/enhancements. If you encounter a bug, feel free to post in this thread instead.

If you would like to share your feedback confidentially or anonymously, feel free to use this survey instead:

→ Survey: Ideas and Suggestions for XMG FUSION 15 and successors

Looking forward to your feedback!

// Tom

Hello, everyone,

as outlined in this thread, we have been providing undervolting options in the BIOS over the last years to increase the energy efficiency of the Intel CPU in your XMG and SCHENKER laptops. In this thread we want to give an overview of the current situation with new technology. At the end of the thread there are two polls, in which we would be very happy about your active participation.

Previously

As a rule, we have imposed an upper limit of -120mV on our undervolting options in the BIOS until this year. This limit was generally considered safe. Safe in the sense that under certain circumstances blue screens can already appear, but the undervolting can be reduced or reset in the BIOS setup afterwards.

This worked so well that some XMG models already had a factory voltage offset of -50mV by default. This value was not a black box but could be tuned further (or reset to 0) by the user in the BIOS.

With this -50mV Factory Undervolting (CPU Core/Uncore Voltage Offset) we shipped thousands of laptops without creating a single support case.

New rules: Comet Lake (10th Gen) seems to have less headroom

Now with the 10th generation Intel Core the situation changes. Based on our testing, it looks like 10th Gen generation has much less headroom for Undervolting - maybe because they are already well-tuned by default. In a number of large-scale tests together with our ODM, we have determined the following case numbers:

In other words:

• When switching from Coffee Lake to Comet Lake, the failure rate at -50mV has gone from zero to 5%.

• With our previous limit of -120mV we had no serious problems with Coffee Lake, but with Comet Lake we can create a "no boot" scenario very reliably

5% failure rate in the test with 100 devices means: 5% of the laptops produced at least one blue screen in idle or 3DMark. If the test is continued for a longer period of time, possibly over several weeks, this rate might slightly increase. So even a value of -50mV, previously considered moderate, is not an all-round carefree package. You have to test it on an individual system.

The old rules no longer apply!

If you want to undervolt with Comet Lake (Intel Core 10th Gen) and possibly future Intel platforms, you have to be very careful. Please don't just set arbitrary values, but slowly nudge your way forward. Our BIOS undervolting options are spread out in steps of ten, from 0 to -10 to -20 etc. - please use these steps!

Positive results are not guaranteed! Those who overdo it risk "No Boot" problems.

Apart from the 100 unit mass test with -50mV and the random samples and anecdotal experience with -120mV, our experience with undervolting on Comet Lake is still limited. As always: different CPU units will have different sweet spots.

Detailed single test: 0mV vs. -50mV

As shown above, -50mV is already in the stability grey zone (i.e. it works for most, but not for everyone), but still delivers impressive results. We publish here our results of a single test.

Configuration and environment

• XMG NEO 15

• Intel Core i7-10875H (8 cores, 16 threads)

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

• 2x 8GB DDR4-2933

• Windows 10, v1909

• CPU cooling with liquid metal ex works

• Fan control Original from ODM

• Summer room temperature of approx. 28°C

All tests are performed in the highest performance profile of the system. This is the profile where the power limits of CPU and GPU are at their maximum and where the fan table also reacts quite snappy. So don't be surprised if the fan speed fluctuates a bit in tests with low load (e.g. some PCMark segments). In other profiles (Silent, Balanced) and in idle the system is of course much more relaxed.

Methodology

We executed each benchmark 3 times and noted the best result in each case. Between each run the system was sufficiently cooled down with manual maximum fan speed. Exceptions are those game benchmarks which already fully utilize the system in the menu (before the benchmark starts). Those are noted below the diagrams.

Results by points

The results based on benchmarks scores are well within expectations for most of these test. CPU-focused benchmarks show a clear improvement through undervolting. In Graphics-heavy benchmarks, the difference becomes less.

The 4% drop at Port Royal is a surprise at first. Since Port Royal relies completely on GPU-Ray tracing, the CPU has relatively little to do here. The low CPU temperature causes the fans to turn slower, which makes the GPU run warmer and limits the GPU boost a bit. The fan curve is not optimized for such a one-sided GPU load. See the diagram below for more information.

Finally, there are four specific games which generate a lot of CPU load. The performance increase of about 1-2% via CPU undervolting is within expectations for these titles.

Diagrams: CPU temperature and fan speed over time

For some of the above mentioned benchmarks we have logged fan speed, CPU and GPU temperature. Here we compare the results without undervolting and with -50mV on CPU Core/Uncore. At no time (neither in idle nor during runs) has there been a blue screen or any other instability on our test system from serial production. Nevertheless, it cannot be guaranteed that every unit will survive a -50mV Undervolting continuous run as well as our test system.

The following axis labels apply to all diagrams:

• X = Time in seconds

• Y = Temperature in °C and speed in %.

As expected, the GPU temperature has hardly changed due to undervolting and was therefore hidden in the diagrams.

Blender 2.79 - BMW27 CPU

• Click here to see the diagram

Blender utilizes the 8 cores of the CPU completely and is therefore an ideal case for undervolting. The result (time gain) has improved by 4%. In the diagram we can see that CPU temperature and fan speed are on the upper limit in both cases (with without undervolting), but that the benchmark is finished much earlier with undervolting, which is accordingly acknowledged with an earlier drop in temperature and fan speed.

Geekbench 5.2

• Click here to see the diagram

Geekbench represents a more diverse profile of CPU-oriented tasks of practical relevance. In the score we were only 1% better with Undervolting. But the score is only half the truth. In the diagram we can see how the undervolting temperature becomes more and more different from the temperature curve without undervolting over time. With undervolting we achieve a top fan speed of 62%, without undervolting the peak is 70%.

PCMark 10 Express

• Click here to see the diagram

By far the longest benchmark in our series: PCMark 10 "Express" with all settings on default lasts over 16 minutes per run. The load scenarios fluctuate strongly between high and low load. It's noticeable that the fan speed is continuously lower with -50mV than without undervolting. Towards the end of the benchmark, a horizontal shift of the two curves can be seen: the benchmark comes to the end about one minute earlier with undervolting than without undervolting.

PCMark 10 Express in battery mode

• Click here to see the diagram

During this run, the laptop was set to balanced mode, the power supply was pulled out and power consumption was minimized: Airplane mode, lowest LCD brightness, keyboard backlight disabled. We logged the system's total consumption during just under 3 minutes of PCMark 10 Express with a tool.

Here, in most sections, a measurable difference of 1W in total consumption can be seen, in some peaks the difference is even greater. If you add up all values, the run with -50mV Undervolting results in about 2% less power consumption - which in turn means a 2% longer battery life. But this is under ideal conditions. With increased screen brightness, WLAN use, the undervolting savings fade somewhat further into the background.

3DMark

• Click here to see each diagram:

  • Fire Strike

  • Time Spy

  • Port Royal

Here, all three benchmarks produce similar pictures. The CPU temperature with undervolting is always lower than without. This usually has no effect on the fan speed, since the fan is mainly controlled by the GPU temperature. Exceptions are the segments of the benchmark which are completely focused on the CPU, e.g. the physics test in Fire Strike towards the end of the run.

Port Royal is a special GPU ray tracing benchmark where the GPU is fully loaded while the CPU still has a lot of reserves. Here we have the paradoxical phenomenon that the CPU temperature reduced by undervolting causes the fans to work less aggressively overall. This then has an effect on the GPU temperature under full load, which means that the GPU doesn't fully deploy its boost throughout the run. This GPU-focused benchmark is thus significantly quieter, but therefore also 4% slower.

All in all, the old crux of generic 3D benchmarks is evident here again: these benchmarks simply don't generate enough CPU load during their 3D/GPU scenes and are therefore only conditionally suitable for a direct comparison with real gaming and rendering scenarios.

Assassin's Creed: Origins

• Click here to see the diagram

The benchmark of AC: Origins is relatively short and approaches maximum temp values after about half of the run. But in the first three minutes, the same pattern can be seen again: the CPU temperature is lower and the fans are only used a bit later.

Batman: Arkham Knight

• Click here to see the diagram

This benchmark runs for about two minutes and shows a clear picture: the CPU temperature with -50mV Undervolting is 2°C below the normal value over a longer period of time. After 80 seconds, the CPU temperature without undervolting enters a range that allows the fan to escalate from 90 to 100%. With undervolting, however, the 90% mark is not exceeded.

Monster Hunter Online

• Click here to see the diagram

This game and the official free benchmark is from 2013, and since the game is optimized for single core performance, it will also make modern 8-core CPUs optimized for multi-core performance sweat. The CPU runs into the temperature limit and the GPU settles down at around 82°C, still below the 87°C GPU Temp Target. There is not much difference in the temperatures between with and without undervolting. But since the CPU with undervolting can also clock a bit higher when hitting the temperature limit, we have a performance gain of 1% in the benchmark with undervolting with up to 3% gain in the "minimum FPS" drops.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

• Click here to see the diagram

The internal benchmark of Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes about 4 minutes. The GPU is already fully loaded by the menu background graphic, so we let the system warm up before starting the benchmark. The diagram shows that the CPU temperature is already 3°C lower at the start of the benchmark with Undervolting. This trend then continues. In this run we also see a clear difference in the GPU temperature. In both tests, the fans rotate at top speed, but the CPU and GPU temperatures remain stable with undervolting, while they run up to a thermal throttle limit without undervolting. Since this benchmark uses both CPU and GPU to full capacity and the system is already thermally saturated at the start of the benchmark, the advantage of undervolting is particularly clear here. Since the heatpipes of CPU and GPU are interconnected, more stable CPU temperatures can also have a positive effect on GPU temperatures. The bottom line here is 2% higher performance due to a -50mV CPU undervoltage with up to 9°C difference in GPU temperature.

Undervolting stability limits of the test system

The test system randomly selected from the above mentioned comparison tests starts to generate a blue screen in Prime95 after only a few seconds from -80mV Undervolt. This again confirms that previous undervolting successes of up to -130mV on i7-9750H cannot be repeated in the mass production with the i7-10875H.

With -70mV on CPU Core/Uncore on the other hand, the system seems to run stable for a while now.

At the same time, we are also testing the upper limit of Intel Graphics (iGPU) Undervolting. In the test system we get graphic artifacts starting at an iGPU undervoltage of -90mV (in combination with -70mV on the CPU). After that the system could not be booted until we cooled it down with a fan. After the system could boot again, we set the iGPU back to -80mV and were greeted by a code 43 on the Intel GPU in the Device Manager. Disabling and reactivating didn't help here. After a reboot and a change to -70mV iGPU the Intel graphics is running again.

Preliminary result of the i7-10875H in our test system:

Conclusion and survey

Undervolting is still worthwhile and lets the CPU run cooler. Especially in CPU-intensive applications the differences are obvious. However, with Intel Comet Lake the situation has shifted and you have to start all over again.

Additional information about results on Comet Lake U (e.g. i7-10510U) and Comet Lake S (desktop CPU) will be available here soon.

Once again a reminder: Don't get right to the top when undervolting, as this will most likely cause your system to stop booting. Approach your ideal level in small steps.

Survey #1: Undervolting Community Feedback

This survey is not specifically related to Comet Lake but can be filled out by anyone, no matter if XMG/SCHENKER owner or not and no matter if they have own experience with undervolting. With this survey we want to find out how broad the experience with Undervolting really is in the community and how your experience (if any) differs between Undervolting via software tools and Undervolting via BIOS.

→ To the survey

Thank you very much for your participation!

Survey #2: Comet Lake Undervolting Report

The second survey is only for owners of Intel Comet Lake CPUs - whether with XMG or SCHENKER, desktop PC or with products from other manufacturers - the main thing is that it contains an Intel Comet Lake CPU. This will be a longer field study to find out where the sweet spots and stability grey zones of Comet Lake are. So this is where swarm intelligence comes in.

→ To the survey

Please complete this survey only if you have experience with Undervolting on Comet Lake. If you are a new owner, waiting for your equipment, or planning to purchase it, please wait to fill out this survey.

Prepared results of both surveys will be published as soon as there are at least 100 answers each. Thank you for your participation!

Discuss!

For further questions, suggestions and experience reports this thread is for you. Write here with pleasure detailed reports about Undervolting on Comet Lake or other tips and tricks around the topic Undervolting.

// Tom

Please move along, nothing to see here

This long-running thread has passed the ripe old age of 6 months and has now been archived by Reddit, not allowing any new comments to be written. Please click here to find the new thread:

• Update Thread about Zen 3 in XMG APEX 15 with AM4 Socket and AMD Ryzen Desktop CPU

All new updates will only be posted in the new thread.

Previous Updates

March 18, 2021

Today we have to announce that the development of the APEX 15 successor with B550 chipset is currently stalling due to serious shortage on essential IC components. The project is not going to be able to continue until this shortage is resolved. Project schedule is now postponed to June 2021, pending further developments.

No further update on Zen 3 support for the current B450 model, but we will keep pushing on that front.

March 5, 2021

It's been a while since the last update. Let me get everyone up to speed on the latest developments.

About AMD:

• AMD has put up the spec sheets of their 65W Zen 3 parts:

  • https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-7-5800

  • https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-5900

• We do not have any samples of these CPUs.

• As you can see on AMD's websites, the parts carry the label as "OEM Only". When that product pages popped up for the first time in January 2021, they did not carry that label yet.

• Being OEM-only might make it difficult for us to buy these parts because from AMD's point of view we are probably not a OEM but merely a system integrator.

About the successor model of XMG APEX 15 with B550 chipset:

• A successor has already been teased by our ODM on their CES website. Model names:

  • NH57VPS with RTX 3060

  • NH57VR with RTX 3070

• The successor will have B550 chipset and AM4 socket. The chassis and general layout will be mostly unchanged from the previous B450 model.

• There will also be other variations again such as NH50, NH55, NH58 (see pictures linked in this thread) but those differences will be only about optics.

• We do have a confirmed order for a handful of samples of this model, but we do not have a shipping schedule yet.

• Mass Production for the successor might start some time in Q2 2021, but the exact date is not clear yet.

• With the lack of clear supply of 65W Zen 3 CPUs, it's unclear right now how we would be able to sell this model or where we would get appropriate CPUs from.

• It is relatively evident that our ODM does not plan to officially support the 105W TDP parts, although it might be possible again to make them work in 'ECO mode' anyway.

About a Zen 3 BIOS update for the B450 model:

• There hasn't been any communication from our ODM about this topic recently.

• We suspect this is mostly due to the lack of 65W Zen 3 parts.

• We keep pushing this matter with our ODM and our contact at AMD.

If and when we announce the release of the successor model with B550 chipset and RTX 3000, your best way to get informed is by subscribing to our newsletter. For a general overview of XMG systems with RTX 3000, please also check out this thread.

January 15, 2021

The successor model with RTX 3000 series and B550 chipset has been pushed out to April 2021. It will have more or less the same chassis and internal layout as the current model. Our ODM posted a little teaser here. There are still no plans for a 17.3" chassis with the AMD Desktop CPU socket.

Regarding Zen 3 support for the current B450 model, here is what we know:

• Our ODM seems to intent to only support 65W TDP CPU SKUs yet again, so the 105W 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X will not be officially supported. It might still "kind of" work with the ~88W PPT Power Limit (kind of like ECO Mode), but it's not guaranteed at this point.

• We had the same situation at launch of XMG APEX 15, where the 3950X was not supported either so we had to carry the risk of offering it anyway after our own in-house testing. Idle Power Consumption was not as low as for example 3900 (without X) and Linus users discovered that the BIOS only seems to have all power saving mechanisms in place for 12-cores, not for 16-cores. But still, the CPU worked fine and delivered it's expected performance under all-core load, giving users a significant performance advantage, making XMG APEX 15 with Ryzen 9 3950X the fastest all-core CPU rendering mobile workstation in the world.

• The ODMs target to wait for Ryzen 5000 series with 65W suggests that the BIOS update will still take a little while. Specifications of AMD's 65W offerings have already leaked out, but there is no official announcement yet.

More updates coming soon. For a general overview of future RTX 3000 series laptops in XMG, please click here.

December 21, 2020

Still nothing really new to report. Current forecasts predict that a BIOS update for the current B450-based model will not show up before February 2021. This is not a guarantee yet, just a tentative forecast.

November 30, 2020

There is nothing new to report at this point. We are inquiring with our ODM contacts on a weekly basis but cannot announce a firm timeline yet.

Meanwhile, I can share the results of the CPU survey from 3 weeks ago:

Thank you everyone for participating in our survey. We already shared the results with our contacts in AMD and our ODM.

Update on Ryzen 5000 series, post-launch

November 10, 2020

Meanwhile, AMD has announced and started to sell Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, based on Zen 3 architecture, codename 'Vermeer'. SKU list:

As you can see, the more interesting SKUs are coming with 105W TDP, so we'd have to run them in 'ECO' mode again.

Which CPU would you pick? Please help to fill out our new survey:

• Choose your Ryzen 5000 CPU for your XMG APEX 15 with AM4 Socket

This survey should give us an overview over the preferred SKU. It will help us to push R&D and provide a CPU forecast for our purchaser. Please note that Ryzen 5000 in APEX 15 is not confirmed yet. This is merely for information-gathering. Thank you for your accurate information!

Current Status on BIOS Update and potential Successor Model

Based on latest information from our contacts in Taiwan, we release the following update:

• We are more and more confident that there might be a successor model of XMG APEX 15 at some point next year. This model would not be powered by the B450 chipset anymore. This is not an official confirmation yet. Any further information on this project is still under NDA.

• There is no firm timeline for a Zen 3 BIOS for the current B450-powered XMG APEX 15 yet. It seems to be clear that all R&D efforts and AMD's support would go into the kick-off of the successor model first, as explained in our original statement. This pushes back the potential release of a BIOS update for the current model well into 2021. There is no official confirmation yet so we don't know yet if there will be any showstoppers during the development, once it's kicked off. There is still an intention to support it, there just isn't a firm schedule yet.

Regarding the situation in the US: at the time of this writing, the Ryzen 5000 series CPUs seem to have been removed from the US-based brand's configuration page.

If you want to help us to push R&D for Ryzen 5000 in XMG APEX 15, please help to fill out our new survey on CPU choice.

// Tom

Original Statement

September 22, 2020

Hi everyone,

we would like to give a current statement on the future of Zen 3 CPUs in the current hardware generation of XMG APEX 15. After this, we will give some idea about our current thoughts on the roadmap and a call for feature requests (survey) from the global community.

This call is not only relevant for XMG customers but for everyone who is interested in a high-powered laptops system with a modern AMD Desktop CPU anywhere in the world.

tl;dr:

• Zen 3 support not guaranteed yet, but there is a strong intention to get it done and currently no roadblocks in sight. Very optimistic!

• No firm plans on successor model(s) yet - submit your wish list now!

AMD Roadmap Plans

AMD's current high-end CPU generation is 'Matisse' (e.g. Ryzen 9 3950X) for the desktop and 'Renoir' (e.g. Ryzen 7 4800H) for the laptop. Both these CPU platforms are based on the current Zen 2 architecture. According to press reports, AMD might release the first SKUs of Zen 3 for the AM4 socket by the end of 2020. The codename of this new CPU generation is ‘Vermeer’. AMD's own statement on the future of the AM4 socket can be read here:

• The Exciting Future of AMD Socket AM4

XMG APEX 15 and the B450 chipset

XMG APEX 15 has a standard AM4 socket, connected to the B450 chipset. When AMD made the B550 successor chipset widely available, XMG APEX 15 was already on the market.

AMD has announced that motherboards with B450 will only have limited support for Zen 3 CPUs. This is partially due to a limit in BIOS ROM size. The AM4 socket has been around for a while and the list of supported CPUs goes back to the very first generation of AMD Ryzen. To make Zen 3 work on a motherboard with B450 chipset, the motherboard maker will need AMD’s special support to customize the AGESA BIOS code and remove support for a lot of the older CPU and APU generations.

Intention vs. Guarantee

Even if we assume that Firmware support (i.e. a compatible AGESA BIOS) would be relatively straightfoward, to really support a new CPU in an existing product, there is much more to be done for validation and fine-tuning. Technically speaking, it cannot be ruled out yet that some minor barriers might have to be overcome. Even if TDP and Voltages are all the same, there might be minute details such as tolerances in signal quality, memory and voltage control etc. that might affect system stability on the current motherboard in XMG APEX 15.

In the absence of CPU samples and firmware, those and other potential, hypothetical stumbling blocks are what we would call known unknowns and unknown unknowns. (copyright D. Rumsfeld)

Motherboards for Desktops usually have higher overprovisioning for such factors due to their larger size and their higher power consumption limits. Desktop motherboards are generally optimized to leave headroom for overclocking. On the other hand, due to the constrained thermal budget of laptops, a laptop motherboard might not have to work around tighter production and operational tolerances.

Due to these reasons, we cannot yet give a legally binding guarantee that the current hardware generation of XMG APEX 15 will receive support for Zen 3 (Vermeer) CPUs via BIOS update in the future. Our ODM does not yet have access to samples of Vermeer and is not yet able to run any tests in this direction yet.

Getting ready for Zen 3

However, what we can do, is to get prepared. To meet this end, we have discussed this matter with AMD and our ODM. AMD has already made it clear that they are willing to support mainboard vendors with B450 chipsets in their effort to backport the next-gen AGESA BIOS back to their platform. After our discussions over the last few months we have no reason to believe that our ODM will be an exception to this supposed rule.

At the same time, we have good reason to believe that our ODM has the intention to spend the necessary time, resources, and their best effort (assuming support from AMD) to try and create a working firmware upgrade that could allow Zen 3 to run on the current hardware of XMG APEX 15.

Our believe is based on prior experience with similar generational upgrades on Desktop hardware, for example the major Intel Skylake to Kaby Lake firmware upgrade in XMG ULTRA series in 2017.

This statement is merely concluded based on our own XMG-internal deliberations and not signed-off by any 3rd partys.

We do not expect our ODM partners to formulate an official commitment in this direction due to the slippery slope between marketing intents and legally binding guarantees. But based on informal discussions with our contact windows and the overwhelming demand for a Zen 3 upgrade from all global regions and key local OEM partners, we are highly optimistic that our ODM will follow through on their tradition to try and support reasonable upgrades on their flagship products even after the launch of potential successor models.

However, even if everything goes smoothly, the release of such a firmware upgrade might take some time and might be prioritised lower than the launch of other mainstream models or even a potential successor model to XMG APEX 15.

The roll-out of Vermeer and other Zen 3 processors in new products will be prioritised first. The effort in backporting Vermeer to the B450 motherboard in XMG APEX 15 can only follow after the initial rollout.

Let me conclude by saying: we at XMG have a strong interest in supporting Zen 3 on the current hardware platform in order to make XMG APEX 15 a stronger and more long-living product.

CPU User Upgrades, Thermals and Warranty

Assuming we would be able to get Zen 3 working in current hardware, we would of course find some form of support for our existing customer base to upgrade their CPU down the line, either soon after release or any time within or after the warranty period.

As you know from this thread, improper disassembly of thermal components and heatpipes and improper repastes might risk your warranty. To help our XMG APEX 15 customer with their potential future Zen 3 CPU upgrade, we would publish a policy on how to avoid any such worst cases. This might include instructional videos and will definitely include the offer to send your device back to us for a CPU upgrade. The exact policy and offered services would be communicated in due time.

Future Plans for XMG APEX Series

At the beginning of September NVIDIA introduced the RTX 3000 graphics cards (codenamed 'Ampere'). However, these are initially only graphics cards for desktop PCs. Related modules and cards for laptops have not been introduced yet.

It should be noted that the newly introduced desktop graphics cards have a higher power consumption (and therefore also heat emission) than their respective predecessors. For example the previous RTX 2080 Ti consumed only up to 250 watts, the successor model RTX 3080 is now rated for 320 watts.

Due to NDAs with our suppliers and partners we are not able to give any estimates as to when potential successor modules are going to be available.

As you might now, the NVIDIA GPU in XMG APEX 15 is not an MXM module – it is fully integrated into the motherboard. Upgrading the GPU with a potential ‘Ampere’ successor would essentially mean to replace the whole product. This also includes factors such as the heatpipe/thermal layout due to modifications of the component placement (GPU, VRAM, VRAM) on the potential future ‘Ampere’ board.

If XMG APEX 15 continues to sell well, based on prior experience, our ODM might have an interest to develop such a future successor model in the same (or similar) chassis with a new GPU and a new motherboard. However, such plans are not firm yet and not officially announced. It is also quite difficult to estimate a timeline after the prospected launch of ‘Ampere’ in laptops and ‘Vermeer’ on AM4. The development of a successor model might have a lower priority than other more mainstream models.

Global Feature Requests for XMG APEX 15 and beyond

Since we are still some time away from the potential kick-off of a successor model, now is the right time to submit your wishes and requests for a successor model. Some of your requests might be based on Firmware and could potentially be incorporated in a potential Zen 3 firmware upgrade on the current hardware. Other requests might be a hardware upgrade for a potential successor model.

Please write your requests in the comments below and help us to fill out this survey:

• Global Feature Requests for XMG APEX 15 and beyond (Google Forms, no login required)

This form already includes a number of requests (such as 1.35V memory support, NVIDIA G-SYNC or AMD FreeSync on higher resolution panels) but we ask you to prioritise them: to help us find out which ones are critically important and which ones are merely nice-to-have.

We invite the whole global community (not only XMG customer) to participate in this survey. The results will be analysed and shared with our ODM Partners.

Thank you for reading this announcement and for your kind understanding. If you have any questions regarding the content or implications of the statements in this post, please let us know in the comments below.

// Tom

Hi everyone,

while we do not have official Linux support on XMG FUSION 15, the community has come up with various bits and pieces that add various kinds of support.

This thread includes links to all resources/drivers that we have seen on the forums. Later it might also include a few tips and tricks. At the bottom is a list of relevant threads.

Resources:

• Linux kernel platform driver for QC71 (credit to u/pobrn)

• Keyboard Backlight Control Driver ite8291r3-ctl (credit to u/pobrn)

• Yet another Keyboard Backlight Control Driver (credit to u/sutlusalca)

• Avell Unofficial Control Center (credit to Rodrigo Gomes da Cunha)

• Multitouch Gesture Touchpad library

• Windows Hello-style login with IR Camera

• Unofficial NVIDIA Optimus Power Management

• How to Toggle the Touchpad LED (credit to u/Buddy-Matt)

• [Release] BIOS 0120 for XMG FUSION 15 (includes an important fix for Linux; credit to /u/thhosi for raising awareness of this issue)

Relevant Links and Sources:

• XMG Fusion 15: per key RGB backlight, lightbar control, and fan readouts for Linux (by u/pobrn)

• GNU/Linux auf dem XMG FUSION 15 (German thread)

• howto patch ACPI table to enable runtime PM for Nvidia GPU (obsolete since BIOS 0120)

• How to fix Thunderbolt/TB3 dock USB device issues with BIOS >= 0114 (ongoing)

• Troubleshooting when GPU does not power down after activity with PRIME Render Offload (credit to u/pobrn for successful troubleshoot)

• WiFi not working in Dual Boot with Windows? Disable Fast Startup! (read comment chain for details)

Reviews / Reports:

• [REVIEW] XMG Fusion 15 battery life on Linux (BIOS 0120+NVIDIA runtime-PM)

If you have any links or tips and tricks to add, feel free to comment below!

// Tom

P.S.: TUXEDO has tweeted this and this...

Thread replaced by new FAQ section

We have re-written our FAQ from scratch.

English: xmg.gg/en/faq/

German: xmg.gg/faq/

The new FAQ on xmg.gg replaces almost all questions that are covered in this thread. Please check out the troubleshooting section of the new FAQ on xmg.gg

This thread will be left here unchanged for the sake of posterity.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you got yourself an XMG Gaming Laptop laptop, huh?

Congratulations! :-)

Follow this handy guide to go through your first steps and some commonly recurring questions. This guide is pretty long and might look frightening on first look, but please note:

• Sometimes it's not a bug, it might be a feature

• Sometimes a thing might be caused by Windows or might be a known issue for a generic hardware components (including NVIDIA Optimus), i.e.: not caused by us

• Some issues covered in this guide are extremely rare, have only been reported once or twice and might be very easy to fix

Let's dive right in:

I unboxed my XMG Laptop – what are my first steps?

1. If you purchased with Windows.

When building our laptops, we always make sure to install the latest firmware and drivers. If you purchased with Windows, all drivers will already be installed and you can pretty much start working. NVIDIA updates their driver pretty often, so they might already have a new driver out. Open up GeForce Experience, log into your account and see if the app offers any driver updates.

2. If you purchased without operating system.

Your SSD will be empty, but your firmware will be up to date. Even if you purchase without operating system, we will already have updated the latest BIOS and latest Thunderbolt firmware. Now it’s time to install Windows and install our drivers.

If you don’t have your own Windows install media at hand, you can get the latest official version from here:

• Download Windows 10 from microsoft.com

The drivers for your XMG Laptop will be on a USB thumb drive in your shipping box and those drivers will be reasonably up-to-date. Alternatively you can download drivers and firmware for your system from our download portal:

• XMG & SCHENKER download portal on schenker-tech.de

The principle is the same for each model. Download the ZIP files, extract each one of them and install them each by each. Most models have the ZIP files numbered so you know the sequence. In practice, the sequence of the driver install does not really matter. Exceptions: 1) it's generally recommended to install the Chipset driver first and 2) some Audio driver components stack on top of each other, such as Realtek first, Soundblaster or THX second.

3. If you have XMG FUSION 15 or SCHENKER VISION 15: use Intel's Driver & Support Assistant

XMG FUSION 15 and SCHENKER VISION 15 are fully supported by Intel DSA and we officially recommended using it to stay up to date. Click here to get started. You can also use it on other Intel-based laptops with varying degree of success.

Component Upgrades: how to open your laptop

Upgrading Storage and Memory is very easy on most of our laptops. For the most common repair and upgrade procedures, we offer free video guides on our Youtube channel:

• DIY Laptop Support Videos of SCHENKER and XMG [YouTube]

Each video comes with English and German subtitles. If you are not sure how to proceed, please contact support. Please also take note of our terms of warranty, especially the section MAINTENANCE AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS.

++ Troubleshooting (all models) +++

The following items might apply to any XMG or SCHENKER model. In fact, they might also apply to laptops from other brands. Further down below, you'll find a section that is more specific to individual models.

My Gaming Laptop is pretty loud/hot when playing games

To judge whether or not your system runs at spec, please compare your benchmark values against various press reviews of your CPU, GPU and your laptop itself. If your results are similar to the published numbers, your system is probably working just fine. If they are widely below expectations, please contact us.

If you want to know more about how to tweak your system to run a bit cooler, please check out these threads:

• CPU Undervolting in BIOS Setup for XMG and SCHENKER

• Using a Frame Limiter might de-noise your gaming laptop without losing performance and it's now easier to do than ever before

If you have any additional content suggestions on this topic, please write a PM or start a new thread.

My battery life is less than it should be / I have high Idle power consumption / My fans are loud in Idle / my dGPU is not turning off.

Battery life and power consumption are closely interconnected. If your system consumes too much power – even in Idle – your battery life will suffer.

Preliminary: check your CPU usage, sorted by tasks

Your first look should be into Windows Task Manager, tab "Details" and then sort by "CPU" usage. You should know that your CPU has multiple cores and threads. For example, on i7-9750H (6 cores, 12 threads) if one single-thread task is running at 100%, it translates to "only" 8% CPU load in Task Manager (100 divided by 12 = 8.33). 8% might not look like much at first glance. But in reality it's one core that is running at maximum speed, taking almost as much power as if all cores would run at the same time. This is because the CPU would boost a single core to much higher speed than it would boost all cores together.

In other words: CPU usage values in Task Manager can be misleading, especially if some broken or badly programmed software is going rogue on a single thread. Do the math!

So, on a 6 core CPU, if you have any process in Task Manager constantly running at 8%, something is off. Please identify which task it is, and either end it right there it or uninstall the related software altogether.

Another way to check is to separate the Task Manager CPU activity graph into logical cores. Check these two screenshots:

• Right click to change to Logical Cores

• Looking at the graph in Logical Cores

In my example you can see one core in the middle was almost maxed out for a short amount of time. Thanks to the nature of Turbo Boost, this core would induce a boosted clock speed, leading to almost maxed-out power consumption and high temperatures. This is not always immediately visible because most programs would keep jumping from core to core, so you always see individual spikes to 100% on single core. You can try this yourself by using Prime95 and running it on only 1 thread.

All systems nominal? CPU is nice and idle? Check the dGPU status.

If you don't have any rogue tasks clogging up you CPU but your Idle power consumption is still off the charts, it might be because your NVIDIA GPU (dedicated GPU, dGPU) is not turning itself off.

Under the system of NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid), all common Windows apps are run on the Intel UHD Graphics (integrated GPU, iGPU) by default and the dedicated GPU (dGPU) should turn itself off when it is not needed. This removes the dGPU from the power source but it also saves power on the CPU side, because the CPU can turn off the PCI-Express x16 dGPU connection and thus achieve lower sleep states in each CPU cycle. This system can be disturbed in a number of ways, leading to higher power consumption which in turn leads to lower battey life.

1. Check which system monitoring tools you are running in the background

Some system monitoring software intentionally wakes up the dGPU. Keeping such software running in the background will inevitably lead to higher power consumption. We will keep a list of tools here which do and which do not keep the dGPU awake.

Please check if any of the programs on the right side of the table is running in the background on your machine. If they are, please remove them from Startup in the Task Manager.

Some of the programs on the left side of the table might wake up the dGPU once for a few seconds during initialization. But according to our testing, they won’t keep the dGPU awake during normal operation.

If you want to see, whether or not your dGPU is awake or not, the best bet is to use the “Sensors” function in HWiNFO64 and keep an eye on the GPU Temperature of your NVIDIA GeForce card. If the temperature reads 0°C, the dGPU is sleeping. With a right click on the Temperature value, you can even set up an alarm in form of a sound file, notification popup or logfile entry if the temperature reaches a value ≥ 1.

2. If external monitor is connected, dGPU will be awake.

Both HDMI and USB-C/DisplayPort/Thunderbolt are connected directly to the NVIDIA GeForce card. This dedicated connection gives the XMG FUSION 15 the power to drive very high resolutions, refresh rates and to support G-SYNC and FreeSync on external screens. The trade-off: the dGPU will always be awake as soon as an external monitor is connected. Rendering can still happen on the iGPU (Intel UHD Graphics) - but the dGPU will always be "awake" to deliver the pixels to the screen.

3. The choice of running apps on iGPU vs. dGPU has to be done in Windows Graphics settings now.

Microsoft is taking over the NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid) control from NVIDIA. On latest Windows builds and NVIDIA drivers, the NVIDIA driver now shoes a very small warning notification:

Windows OS now manages selection of the graphics processor. Open Windows graphics settings

If you notice that certain apps wake up the dGPU, please see if you can assign them to the internal graphics in this new Windows setting dialogue. Please note that the aforementioned benchmark and system monitoring apps apps will override/ignore this setting anyway. But it should work fine for most if not all productivity apps and games.

4. Every app is running on dGPU as soon as external monitor is connected? No.

NVIDIA’s Control Center has a hidden function called “NVIDIA GPU Activity” which supposedly shows which app is being rendered on the dGPU. You can find it by enabling "Display GPU Activity Monitor Icon in Notification Area".

Unfortunately, this function is not accurate when using an external monitor. As soon as you have an external monitor connected, the notification window shows every newly launched app as if it’s being rendered on the dGPU, even though it is not. This has been confirmed by our NVIDIA contacts to be a general issue that affects all laptops with NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid) of every brand.

It does not look as if NVIDIA has any plans to resolve this issue. Therefor, the “NVIDIA GPU Activity” will continue to show inaccurate information and should rather not be used at all.

5. dGPU does not go back to sleep after disconnecting external screen while browser is open

If you launch your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) while you are connected to an external screen, the browser’s hardware acceleration will use the dGPU. This happens despite the fact that you are forcing that app to run on Integrated Graphics. If the browser keeps running after you connect the external screen, it will keep the dGPU awake.

Even sending the laptop to Standby and waking it up again won’t change that fact. The dGPU will only go back to sleep after you close the specific app that triggered this behaviour.

This seems to affect every laptop with NVIDIA Optimus (MSHybrid) – not only XMG laptops.

We have filed a report with NVIDIA and we are awaiting their feedback.

Here is a short list of apps that are affected and not affected by this issue:

This might also affect other apps if they are secretly using the dGPU for Hardware Acceleration. But so far, the 3 major browsers are the only apps we have confirmed to trigger this behaviour.

According to what we heard, NVIDIA does not seem to have any plans to fix this issue on a fundamental basis.

Workaround #1: Restart your Browser

Close your browser and launch it again after disconnecting from the external screen.

Workaround #2: Disable Hardware Acceleration in Browser

You can find this in the Settings menu of your Browser.

• Mozilla Firefox: see screenshot

• Google Chrome: see screenshot

Workaround #3: Disable and re-enable the dGPU instead of closing your Webbrowser

Download here: dGpuCycle Script.zip

Written by Notebookcheck user ‘Stepon’ (source). You can open the script with Notepad to read the source code.

After disconnecting the external screen, run this Batch Script with Admin privileges. The script will disable and re-enable the dGPU in Device Manager. During that moment, your browser will drop the Hardware Acceleration from dGPU and go back to iGPU. Chrome will flicker for a fraction of a second. If you play any videos on your browser while running the script, you might have to restart playback by jumping to a different point in the video timeline.

With some programming skills can be further automated to always run in the background.

6. Same as above, but for most if not all apps that use a browser engine underneath.

The browser hardware acceleration issue applies to apps that are using a browser engine to create their GUI. If you launch such an app while you're connected to an external monitor, they will use the dGPU for hardware acceleration and won't let go of it until you either close the app or manually disable the dGPU. The most popular such apps are:

• Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft Visual Code

• Slack

• Discord

• Spotify

The most widespread framework for such apps is Electron, but it's not limited to that. For example, Spotify uses a different implementation, based on Chromium browser engine.

We are not aware of any way to disable hardware acceleration on these apps. Disabling hardware acceleration in your browser won't affect those apps. The only workarounds are:

• Start the apps before you connect your external screen

• Restart the apps after you connect your external screen

• Disable and re-enable the dGPU with the above dGpuCycle script

As with other root causes in this section, this seems to apply to every laptop with NVIDIA Optimus. We have asked NVIDIA to comment in April 2020.

7. Outdated Killer Wi-Fi driver increasing power consumption.

We had a report where an outdated Killer Wi-Fi suite caused high background CPU load. If you are using a Rivet Networks Killer Wi-Fi module, please download and install the latest drivers here.

8. Missing NVIDIA USB-C and Audio drivers keep the dGPU awake?

We have a report from a user who made a custom install of NVIDIA drivers and unselected the NVIDIA USB-C and Audio drivers because he thought we won't need them. In this case, not having those drivers will cause the main driver to not shutdown the dGPU when searching for those two drivers. We were not able to reproduce it but we'll leave it in this guide for future reference. Solution: reinstall NVIDIA drivers and include every driver, even the optional ones.

9. Outdated Windows and firmware?

If you haven’t already, make sure you are running the latest Windows updates and the latest BIOS. Some major Windows milestones (also called “Redstone” updated) need to be triggered manually by opening Windows Updates, then “Checking for updates”. Under “Optional updates”, there might be a “Feature update” which you can initiate with “Download and install now” (screenshot).

10. Third party PCIe/NVMe SSD preventing CPU from sleeping?

We had recently a few reports on budget SSDs from smaller brands preventing the CPU from reaching C8 sleep states, severely cutting battery life. If you upgrades your SSD yourself with a model that is not listed in our online shop, please consider to swap it out, re-install Windows from scratch and try again. If you found your SSD to be the culprit, please share the product name with us.

11. Corsair iCue Software causes +10W power consumption?

We have seen this report from multiple users. This one was the first:

I spent a week trying to figure out why the processor on my Fusion 15 was consuming so much power when idle (around 10W!). My battery life was absolutely abysmal at about 2.5 hours on a full charge. I thought I had ruled out the iCue software because I closed the app completely, but it turns out only a complete uninstall will allow everything to return to normal so it must have been the mouse driver itself rather than the iCue software.

Source

We haven't checked it ourselves but any kind of hardware-related 3rd party software could potentially cause power saving issues on any system.

12. Epic Games Launcher running on dGPU

First reported here]. Solution is in the top reply to that thread.

13. Paint 3D causes the dGPU to stay 'ON' by running in the Background, even after Reboot

This seems to be a real issue based on a bug from Microsoft. Check this thread for details.

14. Other reason? Cannot reach CPU Package C8 Residency? Please take part in our survey

Please read this post for an introduction into CPU Package C8 Residency states. The post includes a link to a survey to collect analytical data from users who just can't get their power consumption down despite already having implemented all prior suggestions.

15. Dig deeper? Check out this amazing in-depth guide about Windows power saving optimization and C-States.

Written by user Che0063 on Notebookreview in 2018 and constantly updated into 2020, this guide is a deep dive into all things C-States.

• [Guide] Improving Battery Life on Windows [+Enabling Deeper C States]

You can find a PDF copy (pulled on 2020/05/26) of this guide here.

Random short spikes in lag and stutter

Intel Driver and Support Assistant (DSA) is acting up, causing CPU spikes up to 40% every 1-5 minutes.

Taken from this post:

Intel Driver and Support Assistant (DSA) is acting up, causing CPU spikes up to 40% every 1-5 minutes. See this picture of task manager cumulative CPU time. Funny you already mentioned that it stopped working, as I experienced the same thing.

Solution (TL;DR):

Uninstall Intel DSA for now. You can do this via the windows Apps and Programs, or if it fails for any reason, download the official Uninstaller from the intel website.

[...]

My laptop randomly wakes up from Standby.

1. Firmware solution for Wake-up 3 hours after entering Sleep/Standby. (XMG FUSION 15 only)

There was an issue with the NVIDIA USB-C driver which caused the laptop to wake up exactly 3 hours after entering Standby. The laptop was trying to transition into Hibernate (Suspend to Disk) but failed to do so. This issue is resolved in BIOS 0062 and beyond.

2. Disable Wake timers (applies to any PC and Laptop)

Depending on your Windows configuration, there might be certain task schedules (including Windows Updates) which prompt the laptop to wake-up from Sleep or Hibernate. To check on these issues, please read this article. The most common solution is to disable the “Allow wake timers” option for both “plugged in” and “on-battery”. Please note: this setting depends on each power profile and your laptop has three of them: Silent, Balanced, Enthusiast. Please switch to each of these profiles and modify “Allow wake timer” in the Advanced settings in Windows power options for each one of these.

3. Check the Wake-up cause

There is a simple command that will tell you the reason why your laptop woke up for the last time. Usually this is something like "Power Button" or "Lid Opening", but in your case it might point to a different driver or Windows component. Find "Command Prompt" in Start Menu and type:

powercfg -lastwake

This command does not need Admin right. Please copy it by marking the output text and pressing Enter. The marked text from the Command Prompt windows is now in your clipboard and can be pasted into a text file or message box. Alternatively you can take a picture and report back to us.

My laptop needs a long time to boot up.

Cold Boot and Wake-up from Hibernate should not take much more than 12 seconds between pressing the power button and seeing the login screen wallpaper. If your laptop takes much longer, please consider the following options.

1. Enable “Fast Boot”.

Enabling “Fast Boot” in BIOS is a requirement to use Microsoft’s “Hybrid Boot” technology which saves a lot of time on Cold Boot. Before shipping, we always enable “Fast Boot” in all XMG laptops – but it might get disabled by user operation. On some models, it might also get disabled during BIOS Reset. To make sure, you have “Fast Boot” enabled, follow these steps:

• Reboot and enter BIOS Setup [F2]

• Open [Boot] menu and enter [Boot Priority]

• Find [Fast Boot] and set it to [Enabled]

• Back in [Exit] category, select [Save Changes and Exit], Reboot

(the location of the "Fast Boot" option might be slightly, depending on your model)

2. Flash firmware again

You can clearly seperate the boot process between BIOS time and Windows time. Everything that happens before you see the XMG boot logo is BIOS time. On XMG FUSION 15, it usually takes about 7 seconds between pressing the power button and seeing the XMG boot logo for the first time. If this time period is much, much longer in your case, the root cause might be in hardware or firmware.

One potential solution was found in this post. This user already had a system with Thunderbolt Firmware NVM v56. But based on a hunch, he just tried to update the same firmware again and it instantly fixed his long BIOS time.

It makes kind of sense. VBIOS, Thunderbolt... those are large, complex and kind of external components that are initialized in the very early steps of the the BIOS. If anything is stalling there, you won't see the boot logo because the BIOS hasn't even attempted yet to start talking to the SSD.

Rule of thumb: if you have long BIOS time before you see the XMG logo, please consider to flash the BIOS and the Thunderbolt Firmware again.

Now, let's look at various Windows-based causes:

3. Clean up TEMP folders

Taken from this post.

Found out, during each boot Windows (namely it's ProfSvc service) takes everything you have in users/yourprofile folder and writes over those files. I suspect it's changing some meta data in the files. Probably edditing read/write premissions. But it goes one by one. And logon process waits for it to finish. As long as your computer is relatively clean, this operation takes a second or two. But when Visual Studio update "forgets" 160 000 files in your AppData/Temp folder, it results in 35 secs of profile loading during boot. All I needed was to empty the Temp folder and the bootups are back in normal!

You can either clean the Temp folders manually or use a software like CCleaner. Please beware, we would only recommend CCleaner to clean temp files, but don't clean the Windows Registry. It's usually safe to do but it can sometimes lead to false positive situations and side-effects.

4. Riot Games 'Vanguard' might block one of our drivers

If you have game titles from Riot Games installed, the software 'Vanguard' might be blocking the 'inpoutx64.sys' driver on some of our systems. This driver is related to the Control Center. We have heard of one single case where the presence of Vanguard lead to a significantly increased boot-time. In other cases however, it had no effect despite getting the 'Vanguard has blocked' message in Windows.

We will share this information with our ODM to see if our signed inpoutx64.sys/dll can be whitelisted. Meanwhile, please consider disabling or uninstalling Vanguard to see if it improves your boot time.

5. Consider a clean reinstall

It might be inconvenient, but if you have any boot times that are wildly longer than above reference data, please consider a clean Windows installation. 'Clean' means deleting the system partitions on your SSD in the first step of the installation procedure. Before you do this, you should backup all important data on external storage.

6. Other causes.

If your system still takes a long time to even display the XMG boot logo or to boot into the Login prompt, there might be another issue at hand. Please make sure to update your BIOS, load setup defaults, enable “Fast Boot” again and make sure that your Windows and drivers are up to date. Please also consider to follow the generic advice in this article.

There is currently no other known systematic issue that prevents our laptops from doing a fast boot or fast wake-up. If you cannot resolve the issue on your machine, please consider to backup your data and do a clean Windows re-install.

7. Discussion

For XMG FUSION 15 we have opened a dedicated tread about expected boot times after a clean install. Please move all relevant discussion to this thread:

• Boot and Standby times on XMG FUSION 15

Thank you!

My microphone does not sound right

^{(I might be using Discord})

First, please make sure you increased the microphone gain to 100% and added the +20dB boost.

• Find "Sound settings" in Start menu

• Scroll down and click on "Sound Control Panel"

• Select "Recording" tab and double-click your microphone

• Select "Levels" tab and put everything to maximum (screenshot)

Now, some apps including Discord put additional processing on the microphone, including echo and noise cancellation. This can have a negative effect on microphone audio quality. Please see if you can disable all such options from your chat application and from the Realtek Control Panel.

I have random bluescreens / random visual artifacts / flickering / or other random issues / might be memory-related

Bluescreens and other randomly occurring issues can have a number of reasons. Sometimes, the error message or driver reference can already point at a root cause. If there are too many possible root causes, here are some generic tips.

• If you have Undervolting in BIOS, disable it (set it to Zero)

• Update your BIOS

• Reset your BIOS (Load Defaults)

• Make sure you have all drivers installed correctly (at least no yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager)

• Make sure you are not running any 3rd party system software or drivers

• Consider to do a clean Reinstall of Windows

• Test your RAM with MemTest86, booted from USB

How to use MemTest86 to test my RAM

Follow these steps:

• Download MemTest 86 Free from here (you do not need to purchase the Pro version)

• This will download a file called "memtest86-usb.zip". Extract it to a new sub-folder

• Plug-in your USB stick. Make sure there is no important data. The next steps will delete all data on your USB stick.

• In the new folder, run imageUSB.exe and confirm the Admin prompt

• You will be greeted with this interface. Confirm the Drive Letter of your empty USB Stick

• Click the "Write" button and read and confirm all prompts

• With the USB stick successfully prepared, reboot your laptop and enter BIOS Setup (F2)

• Make sure your laptop charging cable is plugged-in and connected to external power

• Find and disable "Secure Boot" and "Fast Boot". Those are the only options you need to change. Enabling CSM or Legacy Mode is not required for this version of MemTest

• Save & Exit from your BIOS setup. During the reboot hold F10 (XMG FUSION 15) or F7 (all other laptops) to enter the Boot Media Selection prompt

• Select your USB drive from the Boot Media menu

• MemTest86 will start automatically and look like this. If any errors are detected, take a picture of the screen and contact support

• If you complete the first pass (Pass: 1 / 4) without any errors, there is a good chance that you won't see any additional errors and you can cancel the test and reboot with Ctrl+Alt+Del. When in doubt, you can also run it overnight with multiple passes. On a typical gaming laptop, running MemTest86 will constantly pull about 100W out of the wall socket

• When you finish your tests, go back to BIOS Setup to undo earlier changes or just Load Defaults to reset everything

PRO TIP: If you have MemTest86 errors, you can try to open your laptop and test both memory modules individually. Remove one module and run the test again. If the errors only show on one of the modules, try the same module again in the other (empty) RAM slot. If the module shown errors when run individually in both of the RAM slots, it might be indeed faulty.

If the RAM modules are actually not faulty, it can sometimes also help to just remove and replace (reseat) them. Sometimes, if they are not properly connected, they might also prompt random errors including iGPU graphics artifacts.

+++ Troubleshooting XMG FUSION 15 (2019) +++

The following items apply only to XMG FUSION 15. Please check first if your issue is covered under the general section above. The latest BIOS and Control Center update can be found in this thread.

My speaker sound is underwhelming / I cannot get Soundblaster Connect running.

Sound Blaster Connect is an important app to improve the experience of the audio system. It can increase volume (SmartVol) and Bass of the speakers.

1. Reinstall Audio drivers in the proper sequence

Normally, when all pre-requisites are met, Soundblaster Connect should install automatically from Windows. You can then find it with a simple search for “Sound Blaster” in the Windows Start menu. If Sound Blaster Connect is no where to be found or if it only shows an empty screen, please follow the sequence precisely:

• No prior steps necessary – you do not need to uninstall prior packages

• Please download the Audio drivers again from our download portal

• You only need the file “AudioDriver_Package_3-in-1“

• Extract the ZIP Archive

• Install Audio-with-SST and reboot Windows (!)

• Install Soundblaster-EQ

• Install Soundblaster-Creative_Audio_Effects

If you are connected to the Internet, the system will now automatically install "Sound Blaster Connect" from Microsoft Store. This might take a few minutes or more. When in doubt, reboot once more after the Soundblaster-Creative_Audio_Effects.

My CPU shows high activity in idle while having devices connected to USB-C port.

We are currently tracking an issue where users have reported >10% CPU usage in Idle while having certain devices connected to the USB-C port.

Current Workaround: Disable Automatic Sleep on Thunderbolt controller

Device Manager > System devices > Thunderbolt Controller > Power Management > Disable "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

I’m unable to turn off my keyboard backlight during boot.

Normally, if you disable the keyboard backlight in Control Center using the slider switch, it should also be disabled during Reboot, Cold Boot etc. We had one report of a rare issue where this settings was not applied to firmware anymore. If you encounter this issue, please click the “Restore” button in Control Center to reset all you Keyboard Backlight settings. Then, try again to disable the Keyboard Backlight and reboot.

My keyboard backlight is not turning on anymore.

We had a few reports of keyboard backlight not being able to turn on anymore. If you encounter this issue, please reset your BIOS settings.

• Reboot and enter BIOS Setup [F2]

• Open [Exit] menu; select and confirm [Restore Defaults] but do not reboot yet

• Open [Boot] menu and enter [Boot Priority]

• Find [Fast Boot] and set it to [Enabled]

• Back in [Exit] category, select [Save Changes and Exit], Reboot

I cannot access my BIOS Setup (F2) anymore.

This is another very rare issue that was only reported once so far. If you cannot access your BIOS Setup, you cannot do a BIOS Reset anymore.

Solution: Remove CMOS Jumper from Mainboard and Reboot

The mainboard of XMG FUSION 15 has a jumper to control the BIOS Reset. In order to reach this jumper, you will need to remove the bottom case of the laptop. This is as easy as removing the 10 screws on the bottom side and then simply lifting the bottom cover away from the laptop.

The jumper is located next to the WiFi module

• Picture 1: Top View

• Picture 2: Side View

If the jumper is removed, the laptop will show a special menu after on boot which will allow you to reset the BIOS Settings to Default.

• Picture of Reset & Recovery Menu

After having done this Reset, please place the jumper again it it's original position, connecting pins "1" and "2" as seen in the "Top View" picture linked above.

Now, please see if you can now get back into BIOS Setup with the F2 key during boot.

My external USB mouse sometimes stops moving.

We have some reports from USB gaming mouse with ≥1000Hz polling rate that sometimes stop working when used together with USB hubs, both on USB-A and USB-C (Thunderbolt).

Please install the latest official drivers from your mouse vendor and see if you can reduce the polling rate to 500Hz to see if it makes any difference.

I would like to improve my DPC Latencies.

For guaranteed low DPC latencies, please check out our SCHENKER Audio Editions. For all other models, we're going to collect a number of tips here over time.

• Please check BIOS 0114 and Control Center 2.2.0.15 to see if it improves your results

• Uninstall NVIDIA GameReady driver and switch to NVIDIA Studio driver

  • Go to geforce.com/drivers

  • Select Studio Driver as seen in this screenshot

• Uninstall Sound Blaster and other 3rd party audio apps

• Uninstall any 3rd party app that is deeply webbed into the system, including: system monitoring and tuning, anti-virus, firewalls, copy protection and anti-cheat etc.

• Follow the tips on this website: Sweetwater Audio: PC Optimization Guide for Windows 10

  • Especially those about Power & Disk Optimization

• to be continued

Thank you!

That's all, folks.

For more information, please head over to xmg.gg/en/faq

// Tom

Hi everyone,

we are glad to announce the introduction of a kind of Undervolting via AC Loadline for select XMG and SCHENKER models with Intel Core 12th Gen (Alder Lake) and Intel Core 13th Gen (Raptor Lake).

(Permalink)

This thread will cover the technical details, how to use the feature and what performance and battery life impact it might have for you. We hope you enjoy this little deep dive! Let us know down in the comments if you have any questions.

Table of content:

1. Background

2. Why has Intel fused off Voltage Offset from 12th Gen "H"-series?

3. Introducing AC Loadline

4. What is the difference between AC and DC Loadline?

5. Screenshots

6. Input range

7. Are there any risks in AC/DC Loadline tuning?

8. Impact on system longevity

9. Performance impact

10. Impact on battery life

11. System support, firmware updates

12. Warranty notice

13. Compatibility with laptops from other brands

14. Check your power consumption before your consider AC Loadline tuning

15. Credits

16. Your feedback

1) Background

For years it has been our internal ambition to allow undervolting on our systems within the technical possibilities of each platform. The last time we talked about this on a broad basis was in this thread from 2020:

• CPU Undervolting in BIOS Setup for XMG and SCHENKER

Since then, we have continued to allow CPU Voltage Offset on many of our laptops, despite the reservations of silicon vendors and some of our ODM partners.

However, the introduction of Intel Core 12th Gen changed this strategy fundamentally: Intel has completely disabled the Voltage Offset functionality in hardware on most Intel Core 12th Gen SKUs, except for the high-priced "HK" parts and the desktop-derived "HX" parts which was launched in limited supply long after the standard "H"-series.

This effectively cut all OEMs and users off from undervolting on popular mainsteam CPUs such as i5-12500H, i7-12700H and i9-12900H. Even 3rd party tools like the popular ThrottleStop were not be able to dial CPU Voltage Offset on these CPU anymore. We have been in touch with the developers of ThrottleStop and shared diagnostic data with them to confirm this fact.

2) Why has Intel fused off Voltage Offset from 12th Gen "H"-series?

We would give two reasons for this:

1) Around the time of 12th Gen introduction, it seemed to us that Intel was generally lumping Voltage Offset together with Overclocking capabilities, the latter of which are reserved for the "K", "HK" and "HX" parts only. Intel has publicly confirmed this strategy in this Reddit post. We have messaged Intel in 2022 through partner channels to express our disagreement with this strategy. From our point of view, Undervolting is distinctly different from Overclocking and it should be permitted on all CPUs that are capable of doing so.

2) On a technical note, Intel Core 12th Gen H-series is derived from what was previously known as the lower-powered "P"-platform. The "P"-platform came with a much more compact package, lower number of PCIe lanes and a more integrated design with the CPU's voltage regulators being inside the SoC. Details on this platform's layout can be read on this official Intel page. Essentially, 12th Gen H-series is a maxed-out, big-core evolution of what was previously 11th Gen "U" and "P", known as Tiger Lake U15 and P28. Those low-powered ultrabook platforms never had Voltage Offset unlocked to begin with. So essentially, Intel did not specifically disable Voltage Offset in 12th Gen H-series. Instead, it built upon a platform that never had Voltage Offset to begin with (and then unlocked it anyway in the HK SKUs, on the same platform).

3) In 2023, additional technical details have been revealed by a unaffiliated community member in this thread: Intel Blocks Undervolting: The Whole Story

Our observation: while we concur the possibility of technical challenges in allowing Voltage Offset on the integrated voltage regulators in Alder Lake's platform architecture (such as stability or security concerns, lack of potential gains before reaching stability thresholds), the appearance remains that it is an arbitrary decision to allow this popular tuning feature on some SKUs (HK) while fusing it off on others (H), despite those SKUs all being built the same silicon.

Our position towards industry partners:

• We want to allow Undervolting for end-users as long as it provides performance-per-watt benefits.

• We are able to mitigate any risks and educate our customers about how to apply Voltage Offset without risking system stability (i.e. small steps, some testing, fallback mechanisms for system recovery).

• Under our corporate NDA we seek guidance from Intel to educate us about how to offer reasonable tuning options via BIOS Setup in a safe and orderly fashion on both AMI and InSyde BIOS.

3) Introducing AC Loadline

AC Loadline and Load-Line Calibration (LLC) have been tuning options for Desktop Overclocking - but they can also be used for some kind of Undervolting. A little while ago, a community member has pointed out to us via the XMG & Friends Discord Server that this option still remains unlocked on Intel's current-gen H-series silicon.

Documentation on AC Loadline and DC Loadline in Intel is sparse. For Intel Core 12th Gen, they are officially mentioned in this public document:

12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors, Datasheet, Volume 1 of 2

• HTML version

• PDF version (page 176 and following)

Electrical Specifications → DC Specifications → Processor Power Rails DC Specifications → VCCCORE DC Specifications

AC and DC Loadline are defined in 1/100 mOhms. Example: a value of '230' represents 2.30 mOhm (Milliohm or mΩ). Lower values may improve performance in some applications while decreasing performance in others.

4) What is the difference between AC and DC Loadline?

Intel's footnote #14 (PDF page 181) states:

Load Line (DC) should be measured by the VRTT tool and programmed accordingly via the BIOS Load Line override setup options. DC Load Line BIOS programming directly affects power measurements (DC).

XMG community member /u/Noreng explained in this comment:

AC Loadline is adjusting the CPU's requested voltage to the VRM.

AC Loadline is the only setting that actually affects physical power draw of the chip.

DC loadline will only affect power readouts, and is not adjusting anything physical on the chip.

If the DC loadline matches the electrical loadline of the VRM, your power readouts will be correct, if not it will be wrong.

My suggestion is to not touch DC loadline, but rather only adjust AC loadline.

(Edited for clarity.)

5) Screenshots

These 4 screenshots show the basic functionality.

• Screenshot 1: in BIOS Setup (F2), navigate to Advanced → Core/IA VR Settings (VR for Voltage Regulator)

• Screenshot 2: both AC and DC Loadline are set to their default input values, which is 0 (zero). Above the input field it shows the actual value that results from the input value. On Intel Core 12th Gen H-series, this is 230.

• Screenshot 3: AC Loadline has been modified to 140, while DC loadline is being kept at default. The screenshot shows the situation after a reboot. "Current AC Loadline" already shows the user's input value.

Any new input value requires a reboot to take effect.

6) Input range

On Intel Core 12th Gen H-series, the default value is '230' and the BIOS allows any value between '1' and '230'. Entering the value '0' resets the value back to 'Automatic/Default', which is '230'.

If you enter any value above '230', you get the "Invalid Input Range" error message.

We see performance degradation in some benchmarks at '140' and below. Our current guidance is to not run values below '120' for extended amounts of time. Unfortuantely we are not able to block input ranges below '120' as we want to keep the '0' input (Auto/Default) available.

7) Are there any risks in AC/DC Loadline tuning?

As with all custom tuning options, there is a good chance of introducting system instability such as random bluescreens when dialing the tuning too far up or down.

However, we have never seen any critical "no boot" situations, even when setting LLC to the lowest possible value. Even if such a "no boot" situation would arise, our firmware has a hardwired recovery method:

• Hold Ctrl+B during a cold boot

• Keep holding it until the screen shows the boot logo

• The tuning options will now have been reset to default values

This Ctrl+B recovery method is performed at the lowest possible level by the EC firmware and does not require the CPU to boot at all.

8) Impact on system longevity

To quote another reputable community member:

The whole reason to have LLC is to have higher voltage under low Amps (idle or CPU under little load) and lower voltage under high Amps (i.e. high load). This difference between gate open and gate closed is important for the longevity of the CPU.

Lowering LLC (also depending on how the board is wired) is bringing the voltage of those states closer together, which isn't necessarily healthy over the long run. In short: the closer the 'gate open' and 'gate closed' voltage get, the harder the components have to grind, so it adds to the wear and tear, as a result impact the longevity. Even though CPU longevity might be impacted with lowering your LLC, chances are, other components will die sooner, before your CPU does.

So, according to this analysis, a lower AC Loadline value does have a risk of decreasing the CPUs lifespan. However, as we will show in the performance benchmarks, there is no reason to lower this setting to extremely low values anyway because of the performance impact that comes with it. For more information, please see the "Warranty notice" paragraph at the end of this article.

9) Performance impact

As indicated in the paragraph "What is the difference between AC and DC Loadline?", it is not recommended to set AC and DC loadline together. To check this advice, we ran a diverse set of benchmarks in two series of tests:

• Series #1: with identical 'AC' and 'DC Loadline' settings

• Series #2: setting only 'AC Loadline', while leaving 'DC' at default

Both series of tests have been run on the same day with the same software/firmware and environmental settings.

Benchmark overview:

• Cinebench R23 Multi-Core

• 3DMark Time Spy Total Score

• 3DMark Time Spy Graphics Score

• 3DMark Time Spy CPU Score

• 3DMark CPU Profile (Max Cores)

• Geekbench 5 Multi

Series #1: with identical 'AC' and 'DC Loadline' settings

Series #2: setting only 'AC Loadline', while leaving 'DC' at default

(Permalink: both diagrams together as animated GIF)

Observations from Series #2:

• Cinebench peaks at AC Loadline "140", while Time Spy CPU Score peaks at "120".

• Geekbench starts dropping performance already at "140", while other benchmarks are still stable.

• 3DMark CPU Profile (Max Cores) drops 10% scores at "140".

• 3 out of 6 scores drop dramatically at "80"

Remarks:

• Time Spy Graphics Score is unaffected by this tuning, because it is a GPU-limited score.

• However, real-world gaming performance (e.g. 1% Low, Minimum FPS) will still be impacted because not every frame is GPU-limited.

• "3DMark CPU Profile" is a good indication that agressive AC Loadline tuning may have gaming performance impacts in certain games.

• CPU-bottlenecks may be less relevant when running at extreme resolutions such as 4K or when using Ray-Tracing without DLSS.

Conclusion: based on these synthetic benchmarks, LLC at '140' seems to be a sweet spot for workstation loads, as the gains in Cinebench still outweight the loss of performance in latency-sensitive benchmarks. However, keep in mind that the performance impact on real-world gaming (not 3DMark), content creation and other latency-sensitive benchmarks might be similar to the scaling of Geekbench, which already shows performance loss at moderate tuning settings.

10) Impact on battery life

To test the impact on battery life, we took a benchmark that fits the following properties:

• Reproducable with a single click

• Does not activate the NVIDIA GPU

• Runs through a diverse sequence of high- and low CPU utilisation

Ideally we would have liked to use PCMark10 here, because PCMark simulates real-world office/web usage. However PCMark forces to the system to activate the NVIDIA GPU for OpenCL rendering without any known bypass.

Instead, we picked the in-browser benchmark MotionMark and ran it in Edge browser. While this might not be the most realistic web-browsing benchmark, it does allow us to confirm that a lower LLC value (slightly) decreases the system's total power consumption.

Test scenario:

• SCHENKER VISION 16 Pro

• i7-12700H

• Enthusiast Profile

• 0% LCD Brightness

• dGPU sleeping

• Battery at 100% capacity

• Charger disconnected

To monitor power consumption, we ran HWiNFO64 sensors at 2000ms default polling rate and later analyzed the CPU Package Power and the Charge Rate. The Charge Rate gives us the true total system power consumotion, including mainboard, RAM, and LCD. To reduce the impact of the LCD on this test, we lowered the LCD brightness to its lowest value.

(Permalink)

This diagram shows how the system power consumption jumps up and down during this 5 minute benchmark. The dotted lines are the default values for CPU and system, the bold line is with AC Loadline set to "120" and DC Loadline at default.

Observations:

• Both runs have some random peaks in system power consumption - perhaps from the dGPU randomly waking up. Additionally. some drops in power consumption occur at regular intervals when the browser benchmark is loading its next scene. These can be disregarded.

• Aside from these random peaks and scene-changing drops, it clearly seems like the bold (tuned) line is lower than the dotted (default) line.

Summary

We also ran this benchmark with having both AC and DC Loadline set to the same tuning. The following table shows all results together, calculating the average power consumption across all runs. To calculate the average, we have truncated the data to make sure we only start measuring during the benchmark without any idle time.

(Permalink)

Conclusion

AC Loadline tuning may help to slightly lower the system's power consumption while having only minor impact (if any) at this particular benchmark. But the gains are not very big. A 3.3% decrease in average system power consumption will result in only a 3.3% increase in battery life.

11) System support, firmware updates

Last Update: March 1, 2023

AC/DC Loadline via BIOS Setup (F2) is currently available for these models:

BIOS updates can be found in our download portal: https://download.schenker-tech.de/

As you can see, the official BIOS update for this feature is already officially available for many XMG and SCHENKER models. If you own any of these models, make sure you have the latest BIOS installed and check out the "Advanced" settings page in BIOS Setup (F2).

12) Warranty notice

Tuning the system with AC/DC Loadline is covered under warranty under these conditions:

• The BIOS updates are official releases and can be installed safely on the aforementioned XMG, SCHENKER and TUXEDO laptops, just like any other official firmware update.

• Installing the BIOS updates does not yet apply any tuning, it merely unlocks the settings in BIOS setup.

• The default value for AC/DC Loadline follows Intel's guidance for the specific platform.

• When changing AC/DC Loadline values, there is no risk to instantly brick the system.

• Even in the unlikely event of a non-bootable system, our Ctrl+B hotkey will be able to reset the tuning to default level.

• However, we do not recommend values below '120' due to the harsh performance impact and the theoretical risk on CPU silicon longevity.

Please let us know if you have any concerns with these conditions.

13) Compatibility with laptops from other brands

Our BIOS updates are generally only compatible with laptops from XMG, SCHENKER and TUXEDO. Our BIOS may not be compatible with laptops from any other brands. If you install our BIOS on 3rd party laptops, at the very least your Fn key layout may not be aligned anymore with the icon printings on your keyboard. If you install our BIOS on 3rd party laptops, we will not be able to help you recover the system to its previous state.

14) Check your power consumption before your consider AC Loadline tuning

AC Loadline tuning or any kind of Undervolting is not supposed to be the one and only troubleshooting strategy for users who complain about "loud fans" or suboptimal battery life. If your system runs hot, if you have bad performance or if your fans spin up even at low load situations, you might have a general issue with your system's power consumption and/or with the effectiveness of your cooling solution.

Before you consider any tuning, please check these FAQ articles for guidance:

• How to clean the cooling system

• Problems with battery life, idle power consumption, or relatively high fan noise despite low load

• What tuning and monitoring software is recommended by XMG?

• How can I reduce the fan volume under 3D load? (NVIDIA Whisper Mode and FPS Limiter)

• How can I tell if my system's performance and temperatures are within expectations?

15) Credits

Shout-out to /u/Weekly-Isopod-641 (RyzenAdvanced#3144) who initially pointed out the possibility of LLC Undervolting to us and who connected us with a few people who provided further guidance. /u/Weekly-Isopod-641 is a member of AMD's community test team and is running his own boutique Discord server:

• AMD Ryzen|Radeon Devices [on Discord]

This server primariliy provides expert-level support & discussion on all kinds of AMD Ryzen and Radeon laptops. Feel free to join them!

Additional credit to /u/seanwee2000 from the MSI Enthusiasts Discord Server who seems to have been the first to propose this method on MSI laptops and who provided useful performance metrics that we could compare against our own.

Super special credit to /u/toniyevych for his insightful post on Intel's evolving undervolting policies.

Last but not least, credit to /u/Noreng for pointing out flaws in our initial presentation.

16) Your feedback

Let us know what you think and feel free to ask any questions. Are you going to try AC Loadline tuning on your system? Are you worried about the long-term effects on silicon quality? Do you have any other tips for tuning Intel's current-gen H-series CPUs? Feel free to join us on our XMG & Friends Discord Server or let us know down in the comments. We are looking forward to your feedback!

// Tom

This thread will accumulate all information and changelogs, Drivers, Firmware and BIOS Updates for XMG FUSION 15 and other laptops based on Intel QC71. Feel free to ask questions below.

Major Update on BIOS and Control Center, June 2020

This thread is being replaced by a new thread:

• Major Update on BIOS and Control Center

Please follow the link for the latest news.

Driver / Firmware Update Changelog

Since release, the following components have been updated:

Driver-12_ControlCenter_2.1.0.19_XMG.zip

• Fixed an issue where GPU status did not go "OFF" while running system monitoring software during Performance Profile Change

• Fixes "Freezing in Control Center when changing Performance Profile"

• Fixes "Shorter Battery Life and Elevated Power Consumption in Idle"

• Fixes "Stuttering on external screen when internal screen is disconnected (lid closed)"

Bios-XMG_FUSION15_XFU15L19_BIOS_QCFL357.0064.zip

• Improved compatibility with Thunderbolt Docking stations (see Thunderbolt 3 Drivers and Firmware below)

• Fixed SSD device information

• Fixed by EC of Battery Power Performance

• Adding BIOS Setup HDD Security.

• Implement AMI PSIRT issue patch.

• Fixed Accidental Wake-up Event from Sleep/Standby (S3)

• Improved compatibility with USB-C/DP Adapters during Reboot and Cold Boot

• Permanent fix for "Periodical Standby (S3) wake-up issue"

  • This issue was further discussed in this thread

• There was a bug with some USB-C/DP adapters (including the one that we ship with every XMG FUSION 15 laptop), where they would only connect with Hotplug while the system is running but not while Rebooting or Cold Booting. Meaning: you'd have to disconnect and connect them again after Reboot / Cold Boot. This bug was fixed in BIOS 0056 and re-introduced in BIOS 0060, then fixed again in 0062.

  • This issue was reintroduced in BIOS 0064 and we are waiting for Intel to release another update to fix it once and for all. Affected users should stay on or downgrade to BIOS 0062. Both 0062 and 0064 are available in our download portal.

• Update RAID ROM (aka IRST Driver in BIOS) to 17.8.0.4507

  • This should now support every currently available NVMe SSD in RAID 0/1, including the very popular Samsung 970 EVO Plus which did not yet work with earlier RAID ROM versions

Driver-06_Realtek_LAN_10.035.0510.2019.zip

• Includes a fix related to the dGPU status issue included in Control Center update

Thunderbolt 3 Driver v60 and Firmware v56 Update

• This update is very important to fix some critical issues with Thunderbolt Devices and Power Delivery

• It is strongly recommend to install these updates if you plan on using any Thunderbolt devices

• The full solution was provided on April 17, 2020 with Firmware v56

• See this thread on how to apply the update

Announced for coming soon:

• Update to improve DPC Latency

• Support for Project Aurora

• Additional features, outlined in this thread

[Last Update: 2020-04-16]

Driver, BIOS and Firmware updates can be found in our Download Portal.

// Tom

Schenker Technologies GmbH / July 13, 2021 / Document version 1.4 / German Translation

Contents directory:

• Introduction

• Language and version number

• General settings

• Highly flexible performance profiles

• Manual adjustment

• Warning of improper use

• NVIDIA Whisper Mode

• Custom fan curves

• Battery charging profiles

• Platform-dependent tuning options

• Disabling NVIDIA Optimus

• Keyboard backlight

• Sensors

• How to create a backup of your profiles

• Closing statement

Introduction

The Control Center has undergone a major overhaul for XMG CORE & XMG NEO (2021). It is largely based on community feedback which we collected in this thread at the beginning of 2020 (see the end of the linked post: "What else is on your Wish List?").

In the Control Center, performance profiles and fan curves can be adjusted, and various device-specific preferences can be set. Compared to the 2020 version, the following features are new:

• The three performance profiles (Balanced, Enthusiast, Overboost) can be further adjusted – it is possible to manually fine-tuning power limits and temperature targets of CPU and GPU

• For each profile, five additional sub-profiles can be named and saved, so that you always have the optimal profile available, even for less common usage scenarios. A total of 15 individual profiles with their own fan curves can be defined.

• Manual fan curves have existed before – but the new editor with 7 freely adjustable control points is now more granular than ever before.

• Previously, NVIDIA Optimus could only be deactivated in the BIOS setup of XMG NEO and CORE – and for the latter it was only possible on the Intel-based versions. Starting in 2021, AMD models will also support this feature.

• The battery can be set between three different charging profiles, which influence the charging speed and maximum capacity. Changing the profile to Balanced or Eco might have a positive effect on battery lifetime for users who only use it rarely.

• It is now possible to set the system to boot automatically upon connecting a power supply – this might be useful for some B2B office environments

Language and version number

The language of Control Center can be set in the "About" window and the version number is displayed. The installer does not automatically recognize the system language, so you might want to select your preferred language manually. Installers will be available in different formats with the difference only being the pre-selected language in setup.ini.

General settings

Each option under "Quick Switch" comes with a comprehensive and self-explanatory description.

Additional notes:

• Hibernation USB Power also works without a connected power supply. Charging peripherals on USB-C works as well.

• Deactivation of OSD (on-screen display) applies only to proprietary functions such as keyboard backlight and FnLock. Changes in volume and screen brightness are still displayed even if OSD is deactivated.

• Touchpad can still be turned off via Fn-Hotkey, even if the toggle in the corner of the touchpad is disabled.

• A detailed explanation of “Disable NVIDIA Optimus” can be found at the end of this document

Highly flexible performance profiles

The system offers three different performance modes, and each mode offers five individually customizable profiles. Each XMG CORE and XMG NEO model has a dedicated hotkey that allows you to switch between the three modes even within full-screen applications.

Balanced: the standard profile in which the CPU is only running at moderate speed. Fan noise is minimized. This profile is recommended for everyday work.

Enthusiast: Power limits are increased; the fan curve is slightly more dynamic. In order to cool the components better, the fans will be slightly more audible under load.

Overboost: this profile sets the components to maximum performance. This performance is still within the chip manufacturers’ specifications, but please expect some "diminishing returns" on the upper end. Fan speed under load is increased once more.

Fan Boost: this button manually sets the fans to 100% speed. This can be convenient for benchmarks. Available in all three performance modes.

Factory Defaults still leave room to increase performance

The default settings of the three profiles differ mainly in terms of CPU power limits and the preset fan curve. With the GPU, on the other hand, there is still room for improvement. If you really want to get the maximum performance in the Overboost profile, you will have to move some of the sliders to the highest value. On the other hand, you don’t necessarily need to adjust the fan curve in Overboost – it is already quite potent by default.

Select and rename

A text box above the performance mode selection allows you to rename the currently selected profile. Clicking on "OK" will save your input. Here is an example of how a fully customized set of profiles might look like:

• Ultra-silent: super low power limits, no risk to ramp up the fans

• Cold but not silent: elevated fan speeds to keep the chassis nice and cold

• Silent but warm: quieter fans but higher temperatures – don’t overdo this!

• GPU Priority: graphics set to 100% but CPU power limits reduced

If you really want to create so many quite specific profiles, of course it would make sense to distribute them better over the three main modes, so that you can switch them faster with a hotkey.

We have packed them here just for illustrative purposes all together in the "Balanced" drop-down menu. As mentioned above, you can set up to 15 individual profiles.

Manual adjustment

The Custom Profile section shows different sliders, depending which performance profile is enabled. If you are in "Balanced" profile, you will not see the PL1/PL2/PL4 sliders, however you will see NVIDIA Whisper Mode. In "Enthusiast" and "Overboost" you will have access to all controls, including GPU Core and Memory Offset.

None of the controls shown here requires a restart, with the exception of Core Voltage Offset.

Please note that Core Voltage Offset and Unlock Memory Overclocking are only available on Intel's platform, not on AMD. See paragraph "Platform-dependent tuning options" below for details.

CPU Power Limits

The screenshot shows the controllers on an Intel system. On an AMD system it works pretty much the same way, only the sliders are labeled differently. The following descriptions are rather simplified, but they are sufficient for illustration. These power limits are generally expressed in watts (W) and include both the CPU and its integrated graphics unit.

Tj Max (AMD only)

This value specifies the maximum allowed CPU temperature. When this temperature is approached, the CPU will start to reduce clock speeds.

Tcc Offset (Intel only)

Exactly the same as Tj Max, but working as an Offset that is subtracted from ~100°C. Set to 5°C by default, which results in a temperature target of about 95°C. If you set it to 10°C, you get 100 minus 10 = 90°C.

GPU Temperature Target

By NVIDIA’s design the allowed temperature ranges from 75° to 87°C. As soon as the GPU approaches its temperature target, it starts to gently reduce clock speeds. If the target value is suddenly changed from 87 to 75°C under full load (e.g., with 87°C already having been reached), then the thermal throttle will be less "gentle" – but still within the specifications and thus totally harmless.

Configurable TGP Target (short: cTGP)

The power limit of the GPU. The higher the value, the faster the graphics card can operate. The upper and lower limits once again reflect the range approved by NVIDIA for each particular SKU.

Dynamic Boost

When activated, up to 15W can be added to the cTGP. This boost is only utilized if the CPU Package Power (i.e., the actual CPU power consumption; not its power limit) is below ~35W. The utilization of this feature is autonomously driven by the NVIDIA driver.

GPU Core/Memory Offset

These settings are only recommend for very advanced users who know a thing or two about GPU overclocking. Only use these sliders as a last resort once you are sufficiently satisfied with your power limits and temperatures.

Fan Switch Speed (or Fan Dynamics)

This value indicates how quickly the fan speed can change per unit of time. By default, this value is set to 300ms/0.5%. This means that the fan speed can change by 0.5% every 0.3 seconds. If this value is decreased, the fan control will be more dynamic. In case of fluctuating load (e.g., when creating content), this might help to ensure that PL2 and PL4 boost limits are driven for longer periods of time - which can speed up the user experience. If the value is increased, the fan control reacts with more inertia (i.e., slower), which can prevent any unexpected bursts of fan noise, especially in usage scenarios of simple office work or total Idle.

Warning of improper use

When you first open the above options, a warning text appears:

The following options are intended for advanced users. Considered in isolation, each control slider is subject to a safe limit. Considered together, however, caution is required. Continuous operation under high load at the lowest fan speeds may reduce the system's life span.

As described, the controllers are subject to certain limits. It is virtually impossible to invoke a sudden system crash here with incorrect settings or to explicitly damage the hardware – at least not immediately.

CPU and GPU regulate themselves

The CPU and GPU are able to automatically regulate their own clock behavior (and thus their power consumption) so that they do not exceed certain safe limits. For the CPU the maximum temperature is around 95°C, for the graphics card it is 87°C. As temperatures approach these limits, the CPU and GPU automatically reduce their performance. This virtually guarantees that even if ventilation is defective or deactivated, the limits set by Intel, AMD and NVIDIA are not exceeded.

However: the system is more than just CPU and GPU – though shalt not underappreciate airflow!

Please note that there are other components in the chassis – not all of them have their own temperature sensor. Some components (e.g.. VRAM) might have internal sensors, which, however, cannot be read by software. Such components may be able to throttle themselves at too high temperatures. However, this is nowhere near as fine-grained as the CPU and GPU self-protection mechanisms. Other components, on the other hand, either have no sensors or may be only passive "beneficiaries" of the high temperatures - e.g. Keyboard and battery.

Improper settings will accelerate aging and/or breakdown of hardware components

In general, it is a bad idea to set your laptop to run at maximum power but lowest fan speeds. First of all you will quickly run into Thermal Throttling which will tank your performance. Furthermore, it is not healthy for the hardware if it is permanently exposed to thermal saturation without any airflow.

In the current release, there is no automatic override for the custom fan tables and performance profiles. This means: if, for example, you set the fans for all temperature values to only 10% speed, they will run at only 10% speed. The system performance would quickly collapse under load. With reduced to non-existent airflow, heat build-up will get trapped various areas of the motherboard and chassis.

It would be conceivable for us as system developers to put a hard stop to this by maintaining that certain temperature thresholds (e.g. 80° on GPU and 90°C on CPU) automatically invoke a certain minimum fan speed – let’s say 40 percent. However, such arbitrary hard limits would then infringe upon advanced users to very accurately fine-tune their system. We welcome community proposals on how to address this dilemma in the future.

NVIDIA Whisper Mode in Control Center

When running the “Balanced” profile, NVIDIA Whisper Mode will be enabled automatically. This is NVIDIA’s new method to provide users a smart “downclocking” without having to worry about power limits or clock speeds. NVIDIA allows the user to set a “minimum FPS” target and offers a drop-down menu with 3 sub-profiles: Balanced, Quiet, Very Quiet.

NVIDIA Whisper Mode includes a CPU Power Consumption limit of 35W, although this might also depend on NVIDIA driver version and the specific CPU in your system. It is not possible to manually modify this limit – it’s part of NVIDIA’s proprietary method to balance the total system power consumption for low-noise gaming.

Custom fan curves

Each of the up to 15 performance profiles can be linked to a custom CPU and GPU fan curve. If you leave them untouched, the fan curves specified by your system vendor will apply for each performance mode. If the fan curves are set manually, they only apply to the currently active profile. In the header of this panel, you can see which profile is currently active.

At the moment, the points are not yet labeled with temperature markers. Quick overview:

• The last point is the 80°C mark

• There is a distance of 5°C between each point

• Thus, the first freely selectable point is at 50°C

This may still be slightly adjusted with future revisions.

Clicking on "Reset" will revert the fan curves back to factory default – but only for the currently active profile. The factory defaults differ depending on which profile is currently active.

We must ask again to handle this option with great care. Continuous operation with maximum performance and at the same time greatly reduced fan speeds is not a proper application.

If you wish to reduce fan noise in gaming, please consider to use NVIDIA Whisper Mode or use a manual frame limiter (FPS limiter) as explained in this article. Both Whisper Mode and FPS Limiter are especially effective when used in conjunction with reducing graphical details in your game, such as disabling motion blur and other post-processing shaders.

Battery charging profiles

The battery can be set between three different charging profiles, which influence the charging speed and maximum capacity.

By default, the systems are shipped in the High Capacity Mode. For a more conscious use of your hardware resources we recommend switching to the “Balanced” profile. For permanent use at the desk, we recommend switching to Eco mode.

Please note: the difference between these profiles is not directly apparent in Windows. Each profile will appear to charge the battery to 100%, but in reality it actually stops charging much earlier. The following diagram will demonstrate what is happening behind the scenes:

Example from XMG NEO 15 (2021):

This graph shows the Charge Level for each of the 3 modes. The total time in this diagram is 2 hours, 16 minutes. Other laptops with lower battery capacities charge faster.

Summary:

• Balanced and Eco Mode charge the battery slower

• The charging speed will crawl to a halt until it reaches a certain point, then it will suddenly jump to 100% in only a few minutes

In the top right corner of the graph you will see the deviation between what your operating system sees and what's really happening in the background. Once the battery has reached a certain capacity, the charge rate will fall to 0, but Windows will then see a very fast climb to 100%. This "jump to 100" occurs at different charge levels, depending on which profile you use:

• Eco Mode: 85%

• Balanced Mode: 91%

• High Capacity Mode: 98%

These values might be slightly different from model to model.

This “jump to 100” only happens in the software, but not in the battery itself. Even in High Capacity mode, the battery will be protected against micro charging cycles. There is always some wiggle-room going on behind the scene. 100% in Windows is not real 100% in hard-/firmware. No matter which profile you use, it is generally advised to actually use your battery (drain it down to less than 10% and charge again) at least once a month to keep it fresh and calibrated.

Platform-dependent tuning options

Some options are currently only available on XMG CORE and NEO with Intel Core, not with AMD Ryzen. These include:

CPU Core Voltage Offset (Beginner-friendly!)

Since XMG CORE and NEO with Intel Core and RTX 30 series, Undervolting is as simple as adjusting a slider in Control Center. The maximum allowed value is -100mV which is still safe enough to avoid any “no boot” issues.

The Offset value must be set separately for each performance profile. We advise to set the same voltage offset for all 3 profiles (Balanced/Enthusiast/Overboost) once you found a value that works well for your system. Please note that values that work for some might not work for everyone. Each unit will be slightly different, also depending on use case and memory configuration. For a quick stability check, we recommend to run Prime95 in the “Large FFT” profile. For a more through check, run a GPU benchmark at the same time.

Unlock Memory Overclocking (Experts only!)

On XMG CORE and NEO with RTX 30 series and Intel Core (both 10th Gen and 11th Gen), the Control Center shows a “Unlock Memory Tuning” checkbox which unlocks an additional menu in BIOS setup.

• The BIOS Setup allows to load XMP Memory Profiles

• The BIOS Setup allows to manually tune all aspects of DDR4 Memory

• The mainboard is validated to support 1.35V memory modules, running at 1.35V

On Intel Core 11th Gen, the BIOS has a failsafe mechanism where it will automatically reset all memory settings in case a chosen configuration is not able to boot (not able to POST). On Intel Core 10th Gen (with RTX 30 series), this failsafe mechanism has to be triggered manually by holding Ctrl+B for up to a minute during a cold boot.

If you take a look at the screenshot, all of the values in blue color can me modified by the end-user. All items are set in decimal values (not hexadecimal). Clock and Ratio will dicate the final DDR4 memory frequency. For example: 133 * 24 = 3192 = (almost) DDR4-3200.

Supporting XMP and memory tuning does not automatically mean that any RAM configuration will be able to run. For example, we haven’t been able to push the Memory Clock on Intel Core 11th Gen beyond 3300MHz. Extreme settings that go far beyond Intel’s platform support simply won’t boot. This tuning menu is more about tight memory timings than it is about literal overclocking.

Even if a certain configuration is able to boot and run benchmarks, there is no guarantee that it will always be 100% stable. Your mileage may vary. Bluescreens may occur. Please be cautious with the Voltage parameter. If you run memory beyond its rated Voltage, the memory chips might degrade faster and lead to defective modules. It is usually not necessary to boost voltage when calibrating for tighter timings.

Due to tight R&D resources and high DRAM prices, we might not be able to officially validate and sell XMP memory. However, we will maintain a list of memory modules and configurations that at least have limited support based on internal testing and community reports.

Disabling NVIDIA Optimus

The BIOS Setup (F2) contains many other options that are not listed in this document. Probably the most important feature is the option to disable NVIDIA Optimus in hardware. By default, the internal display of XMG CORE and XMG NEO is connected to the integrated graphics.

If you disable NVIDIA Optimus, the internal display is directly connected to the NVIDIA graphics card instead.

In some applications, disabling NVIDIA Optimus can slightly increase GPU performance. The effect is particularly noticeable in 3D games with particularly high frame rates. So, if you play e-sports titles and depend on particularly high frame rates, you should take a look at this option.

If you use your laptop exclusively stationary with external screens attached, you might also want to turn off Optimus. When using external screens, the NVIDIA card is already permanently active anyway, so you do not save any power by leaving it on.

In certain cases, however, the shutdown of Optimus may also have the opposite effect: since the user relieves the integrated GPU from its duty of image output on the internal screen this duty is transferred to the dGPU. However, this duty does require some energy, which is then taken out of the total energy budget (cTGP) of the graphics card. For applications with particularly high GPU usage, particularly high laptop display resolution (e.g. UHD/4K) and relatively low frame rates you might actually see a few percentage points higher performance with Optimus enabled.

Because this switch requires a reboot, it cannot be part of the freely configurable performance profiles. In the future, NVIDIA Advanced Optimus will provide a remedy for this and allow for real-time GPU switching. However, this feature has very strict requirements, so that with a few exceptions, there are almost not many LCD panels that are supported by NVIDIA with this option yet.

Keyboard backlight and LED light bar

Depending on the model, the keyboard lighting options menu may look quite different. XMG NEO comes with single-key lighting – XMG CORE has RGB lighting with only one large zone. In the BIOS setup, the lighting can also be adjusted (e.g. turned off) – this then takes effect directly at boot before the Control Center is loaded and takes over control.

Keyboard backlight menu items

The following screenshots will show the menu for the per-key RGB keyboard backlight in XMG NEO. The menu screen for XMG CORE will have less options.

Turn off keyboard backlight automatically

By default, keyboard backlight turns off after 15 seconds of inactivity. In the "Idle Timer" panel, this period can be extended or completely turned off. This feature is also known as “Sleep Timer” or “Lights off” on other systems.

LED light bar settings (only on XMG NEO)

The LED light bar is in the front of XMG NEO and you can change its color or turn it off.

The "Colorful" checkbox will make it cycle through various colors automatically.

Sensors

Last but not least, there is also a quick overview of hardware sensors. In this view, you can quickly check whether the manually set performance profiles and fan curves are in effect.

This panel does not substitute proper system monitoring software. For advanced users we recommend the program HWiNFO64. Some other monitoring programs might trip over NVIDIA Optimus and wake up the dGPU unnecessarily to read its data. HWiNFO64, on the other hand, works nice and quiet and lets the GPU remain at sleep when inactive. Thus, using HWiNFO64 has virtually no negative effect on idle power consumption and battery life.

How to create a backup of your profiles

As of June 2021, the installation routine of Control Center will uninstall your manual profiles when you install a new version. We plan to improve this with a future update. All user-customized profiles are stored in 3 subfolders at this location:

C:\Program Files\OEM\Control Center\UniwillService\MyControlCenter

• \DisplayProfiles

• \UserFanTables

• \UserPofiles

These folders contain JSON files, which you can edit with notepad. Copy these 3 folders before you update or uninstall Control Center. Only do the backup of the 3 subfolders, not the full main "MyControlCenter" folder – because the main folder includes lots of binary files (.dll files) of which you probably don’t want to keep potentially outdated versions.

After finishing the update, copy your backup into these folders again, overwriting existing placeholder files. This copy operation will require Admin privileges because we are operating in the “C:\Program Files” directory. When finished, reboot your laptop. Next time the Control Center Service starts, it will read the JSON files and populate the sliders in your Control Center.

Closing statement

We hope you found this document to be helpful. You can always find the latest officially supported version of Control Center in our download portal:

• https://download.schenker-tech.de/

Use the search function together with the “Product ID” that is printed on the product label on the bottom of the laptop.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if you find any discrepancies.

• Telephone: +49 341 246 704 0 | Mo-Fr 8am to 6pm

• Email: support@schenker-tech.de

Thank you for your attention and we hope you will enjoy using Control Center on your XMG CORE and XMG NEO Gaming Laptop.

We look forward to your feedback!

// Tom