Valeon RTX 3080, Ryzen R9 5900HX. Its a bit of a monster really.

[barlew]

So I have spent the morning doing a load more testing and I have just added to my original benchmarks to reflect the results.

As I said in the review I wanted to try to cool the CPU down, and the only obvious way to do this is to reduce the PL1, PL2 states of the CPU. E.g. reduce the performance of the CPU to keep it cooler. I was not wild about the idea for obvious reasons but it did provide some pretty good results.

I reduced the PL1, PL2 states to 30W and set the TGP and Dynamic Boost values for the GPU to 150W and 15W respectively.

The frame rates for the games remained pretty consistent to the original benchmarks. I think the most FPS lost was 4. However the cooling gains were very significant. I saw average CPU temps drop to between 5-12C so that for most of the games they were averaging in the low to mid 80C's, Even more significantly the peaks which were hitting as high as 97C disappeared. The highest peak I saw was 92C very briefly.

So whilst I would still prefer to be able to under-volt, for gaming this works very well.

It isn't all good news however. I also ran the multi core test in Cinebench to see how CPU heavy workloads would be affected. Suffice to say the performance absolutely plummeted compared to where it was.

Fortunately the CC software allows you to make multiple profiles really easily, so I have kept the standard profile and setup another one just for gaming which I can switch between.

 

[KriSta]

My Ryzen settings looks like these below and it draw a fine line between heat and performance . It takes a while to find the balance between the CPU and GPU performance and thermal wise , and I think I`ve found mine .

 

[paul_mulks]

So I have spent the morning doing a load more testing and I have just added to my original benchmarks to reflect the results.

As I said in the review I wanted to try to cool the CPU down, and the only obvious way to do this is to reduce the PL1, PL2 states of the CPU. E.g. reduce the performance of the CPU to keep it cooler. I was not wild about the idea for obvious reasons but it did provide some pretty good results.

I reduced the PL1, PL2 states to 30W and set the TGP and Dynamic Boost values for the GPU to 150W and 15W respectively.

The frame rates for the games remained pretty consistent to the original benchmarks. I think the most FPS lost was 4. However the cooling gains were very significant. I saw average CPU temps drop to between 5-12C so that for most of the games they were averaging in the low to mid 80C's, Even more significantly the peaks which were hitting as high as 97C disappeared. The highest peak I saw was 92C very briefly.

So whilst I would still prefer to be able to under-volt, for gaming this works very well.

It isn't all good news however. I also ran the multi core test in Cinebench to see how CPU heavy workloads would be affected. Suffice to say the performance absolutely plummeted compared to where it was.

Fortunately the CC software allows you to make multiple profiles really easily, so I have kept the standard profile and setup another one just for gaming which I can switch between.

I am a complete tech Noob so are you guys able to post screen shots of the profiles you have setup in the control centre? I know every laptop is technically different but it would really help me if I have something to look at to guide me for when my Valeon arrives. My intent is to lower the temps without it having a massive impact when I'm gaming as this will be the main thing I use my laptop for.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Ch1cc0]

Hello, I would like to share with you my Control Center settings in game.
Doesn't it need to set CPU over 25W for single player games or 35W for competitive games.
With theese setting I obtain about 70° for GPU and 75° CPU and even your ears will thank you.
Remember to not go over 190W max about GPU/CPU (Power supply is only 230W for whole system. If do you want to try 30W or 35W lower GPU (dynamic boost ) by 5 or 10W

 

[barlew]

Hello, I would like to share with you my Control Center settings in game.
Doesn't it need to set CPU over 25W for single player games or 35W for competitive games.
With theese setting I obtain about 70° for GPU and 75° CPU and even your ears will thank you.
Remember to not go over 190W max about GPU/CPU (Power supply is only 230W for whole system. If do you want to try 30W or 35W lower GPU (dynamic boost ) by 5 or 10W

Hi thanks for sharing.

I find the sweet spot for my system is:

Works fine whether I am playing online or single player. The temps usually stay between mid 60C - mid 70C on the GPU and 70C - 80C on the CPU.

 

[paul_mulks]

Massive thanks to you both, I really appreciate it 👍🏻

 

[barlew]

Massive thanks to you both, I really appreciate it 👍🏻

No worries mate. Let us know when you get it.

 

[Dutchos]

Hi thanks for sharing.

I find the sweet spot for my system is:

View attachment 31266
View attachment 31268



Works fine whether I am playing online or single player. The temps usually stay between mid 60C - mid 70C on the GPU and 70C - 80C on the CPU.

Hi @barlew - can I check, is altering all these settings in Control Centre similar to the settings you can change in Throttlestop? I.e. undervolting or are you doing something different here? thanks

 

[barlew]

Hi @barlew - can I check, is altering all these settings in Control Centre similar to the settings you can change in Throttlestop? I.e. undervolting or are you doing something different here? thanks

You can change these settings in Throttlestop (although I've only ever done this with Intel chips. I assume it works with AMD too.). It is different to undervolting though. Undervolting is where you reduce the voltage going to the processer but the processor still operates at the same performance level so it runs more efficiently. Reducing the max wattage during the different PL states reduces the performance of the processor. Because the performance is reduced the CPU runs cooler.

It works well with games because the game doesn't use every single one of the cores. This means that you can reduce the wattage but still have one or two of the cores almost running full speed. You don't notice the reduction of the performance and you get huge cooling gains.

The problem comes when you need to carry out multi-core intensive activities. Because the wattage to the chip has been heavily reduced all of the cores can no longer run at max frequency.

 

[Dutchos]

You can change these settings in Throttlestop (although I've only ever done this with Intel chips. I assume it works with AMD too.). It is different to undervolting though. Undervolting is where you reduce the voltage going to the processer but the processor still operates at the same performance level so it runs more efficiently. Reducing the max wattage during the different PL states reduces the performance of the processor. Because the performance is reduced the CPU runs cooler.

It works well with games because the game doesn't use every single one of the cores. This means that you can reduce the wattage but still have one or two of the cores almost running full speed. You don't notice the reduction of the performance and you get huge cooling gains.

The problem comes when you need to carry out multi-core intensive activities. Because the wattage to the chip has been heavily reduced all of the cores can no longer run at max frequency.

Great, thanks for the helpful explanation @barlew

 

[paul_mulks]

Laptop has arrived and so far I'm impressed! Question though, do you leave it on MSHybrid or have it set to dGPU when gaming? It comes under the "Quick Switch" setting then "Display mode"?

No matter what I have selected the fans seem to go crazy??

 

[barlew]

Laptop has arrived and so far I'm impressed! Question though, do you leave it on MSHybrid or have it set to dGPU when gaming? It comes under the "Quick Switch" setting then "Display mode"?

No matter what I have selected the fans seem to go crazy??

I usually just leave it on MSHybrid mode.

Have you set up your power limits yet? What sort of temperatures are you getting?

 

[paul_mulks]

Yeah using the same limits as yourself, temps when gaming are anywhere between 70-85°C and I'm also using a laptop cooling stand, just get the fans going crazy lol

I wasn't sure if having it set to dGPU would be better as the processor isn't working as hard? I'll switch back to MSHybrid and see if that does anything lol I hate not knowing what I'm doing with things 😫

 

[barlew]

Yeah using the same limits as yourself, temps when gaming are anywhere between 70-85°C and I'm also using a laptop cooling stand, just get the fans going crazy lol

Right so there is nothing wrong with your temps they are solid which leads me on to my next question. Please don't don't take this as being patronising but loud fans are subjective, Is this your first gaming laptop? If so the fans will be giving it some even when its running within decent temps.

If your fans are going mental though are you sure you haven't turned Fan Boost on in Control Center?

I wasn't sure if having it set to dGPU would be better as the processor isn't working as hard? I'll switch back to MSHybrid and see if that does anything lol I hate not knowing what I'm doing with things 😫

So your logic is solid but that's not how the cooling in the laptops work. First of all the CPU and the GPU share a cooling system. When the CPU is working less hard you are right, it's kicking less heat into the cooling system which enables Dynamic Boost to kick in (which you have unlocked and set to 15W I presume along with uplifting the GPU TGP to 150W).

Dynamic Boost is an intelligent technology which allows the GPU to identify that the CPU is not kicking as much heat into the cooling system, meaning there is capacity for the system to dissipate even more heat. This leads to the GPU boosting its TGP, (to a max of 165W in our case) which increases its performance, but of course that performance means more heat to be dissipated therefore you wont see any difference in fan speeds.

 

[paul_mulks]

Yeah this is my first laptop mate so it's likely just me thinking that something ain't right when in fact everything is just peachy 🤣

I have dynamic boost set as advised etc... Everything is working as I hoped and the gaming experience has been fantastic so far, I'm actually sat here now with it on a lap table in front of me, headset on while the wife is watching some crap on the tele haha 👌🏻

 

[barlew]

Yeah this is my first laptop mate so it's likely just me thinking that something ain't right when in fact everything is just peachy 🤣

I have dynamic boost set as advised etc... Everything is working as I hoped and the gaming experience has been fantastic so far, I'm actually sat here now with it on a lap table in front of me, headset on while the wife is watching some crap on the tele haha 👌🏻

I reckon it's probably fine mate lol.

I'm doing exactly the same thing whilst mine reads a book.

 

[barlew]

So we are nearly a month down the line and I thought I would post an update with my thoughts on the laptop after some very heavy use.

So the first most overriding thought is that I am absolutely in love with this laptop. I have used it heavily every day since I took delivery and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

I pretty much leave the power limits configured to the limited profiles which I have previously posted in this thread. When I first discussed this in my review I was worried that I was deliberately reducing the performance of the CPU to control temps as opposed to optimising the power delivery to the CPU. Whilst when I look at bench marks this is the case when I am running the laptop in real world scenarios it seems to make very little difference.

To give an indication of how powerful this laptop is I have spent the last week using handbrake to turn my DVD's into MP4's (I spend long periods in remote countries for work so want my movie collection on my laptop). Encoding DVD's with Handbrake is an extremely CPU intensive process. At the same time as digitising my DVD collection I have been playing Mass Effect 1 remaster, Forza Horizon 3 and the 2016 remake of DOOM on an external monitor (managed to complete all 3). The laptop did not miss a beat, all 3 games were played on the highest settings at 1440p the frames were generally above 100 FPS. I find it absolutely astonishing that the laptop can maintain this level of performance at the standard power profiles let alone the limited ones I have emailed.

I also made comment on the middle hinge design and how It worried me, so far it is absolutely rock solid with no issues at all. If I compare this chassis to problems that historically have occurred in other Tong Fang chassis There appears to be no sign of the same sorts of QC/poor build quality issues, the keyboard is holding up fine, there are no signs of the lettering rubbing off as yet (my Vyper had started losing its letters by this point).

So clearly I love the laptop and would recommend it to anyone, the only downside I can report on is the mouse pad is absolutely horrific. I honestly cannot describe how bad it is.

On a side note I have seen a couple of posts on this forum recently where batteries had failed quite early on, and needed replacing (these were Tong Fang Chassis).

Apart from good battery husbandry i.e disable Hibernation in Windows and unplug the laptop when you are not using it, Tong Fang have also included 3 battery profiles which are kind of hidden in the Control Center. This is something which premium laptop manufacturers start doing and it allows you to tell the laptop how it is being used so that the battery does not get destroyed.

So for example I almost always use the laptop as a DTR so its always plugged in so I have set my battery profile to stationary mode. This should limit the level to which the laptop battery is charged, I.e. will only charge up to 60% and then stop trickle charging. I say should as I have not fully tested it yet and Tong Fang do not explicitly define what the profile does.