angerthosenear

Oh nice! I'll give this BIOS a whirl and see how it does.

Closing thread since I can no longer adequately provide good support.

Things have changed in the 2 yrs since I put this up. This is mostly old information now, useful for those still running Windows 7.

iGPU + dGPU + eGPU isn't worth it in most cases, so just stick to iGPU + eGPU which you can find other threads about.

Good luck with eGPU goodness!

Hello,

I can't run DSDT editor, i tried everything, when i run it a CMD window flashes and disappears straight, i google that issue without success. Any ideas?

Have the same problem, I think we are going in the wrong direction somehow.Hopefully someone will reply

This I'm not sure. Make sure you have Java installed? IIRC the editor runs on Java. Apart from that no idea.

I'm confused, so does having the iGPU, dGPU, and eGPU all enabled at the same time have any advantage if the eGPU performance suffers?

Not so much, a bit with PhysX things if your dGPU is pretty decent. But it is better to just have iGPU + eGPU.

Perhaps it isn't 'toned down' per se, but the base model for the series. Intel doesn't actually make a 2690V3, after all, they make a bunch and give each a final label after testing. Found another L0 (E5 2630V3, QEYW), which does exactly what your L0 does, only clocked to 2200/2700 (should be 2400/3200).

Microcode downgrade is unlikely to help then. Issue was with the Asus bios, btw, not the tools. Maybe ThrottleStop?

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing after doing some more digging.

So yeah, probably not a BIOS issue after all. I tried ThrottleStop to no avail. No settings there do anything. I tried XTU as well. I do see something interesting with hwinfo though:

Now getting OC'ing working would be interesting.

The HP m.2 slot is PCI-E Based, thus leaving me with very little choice of aftermarket SSD's. I got an acceptable offer, 1800 Euro excl. VAT or about 2100 EURO with VAT for G2 17", 4810MQ, 256 GB PCI-E M.2 and 750GB (or was it 1 tb) HDD. The machine comes with k3100m and 2x4 RAM, but I have one 8GB stick that I can use and probably get another 8GB to make it 24GB total. I was wondering if I can go cheaper with m6100 and only HDD included from HP and get the upgrades cheaper from local resellers (I could easily save for 512GB or even 1TB SSD).

Nice, glad it's a PCIe based M.2 slot. Yes the aftermarket options for it are limited, but at least you can get the Samsung SM951 on Amazon (at least in the US).

Did you check with the CAD applications you use to see if they prefer AMD or Nvidia?

I would go with the best GPU you can reasonably afford. Then get the drives + RAM separately (unless HP is giving a reasonable price on RAM).

Well then, it seems I shouldn't worry about HT that much then.

Can you tell me if the 4810QM is unlocked - that would be super cool, as I'm probably going to get this cpu.

I was wondering if I should save a bit on video card and get the Radeon M6100 - it's supposedly on par with the quadro K3100M but I'm not sure if it's a really good choice. (it's cheaper, that's for sure).

I could also get a machine without the Zdrive if that's not such a great performance bottleneck, I could use a regular SSD and get an m.2 SSD later if I need one. I could save the money on the Zdrive and get a traditional SSD double the size for the same money. I could, of course get the 256GB Turbo Zdrive and just put two of my 1tb WD Blue's in RAID.

Yeah, I just leave HT and enjoy the threads.

Yes the 4810MQ is unlocked.

Since you are doing CAD work, check with programs you use to make sure they work with your card correctly. Some things work better with AMD and others work better with Nvidia. You should pick one that suits your programs best.

Guessing Zdrive is the HP name for the M.2 SSD? Personally I always get the cheapest drives possible from the manufacturer (since I always clean install any new computer anyways). I find it a lot cheaper to buy and install the better drives myself. I take what they supply the computer with, format it, and make it a secondary drive (or external). Do you have any programs that use a lot of disk IO? If you don't then you don't really need the M.2, although since you would have two slots, it is nice for fast storage. Also double check to make sure if the M.2 slots are SATA based or PCIe based (same with the SSD).

For PCIe M.2 drives, the Samsung SM951 is super nice. There are two versions, the ACHI and the NVMe. The NVMe version is newer and can be tricky to get a hold of, but motherboard support can be iffy for NVMe.

I'm not sure for SATA based M.2, I never cared to look since my M.2 slots are SATA based.

Wow that ninja posts while typing my replies.

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Please elaborate - I didn't get the overclocking part. How do you overclock a locked multiplier CPU? Does disabling hyperthreading allow for higher clock speeds? Can you give more details on your e-gpu solution?

Not all xxxxQM CPUs are locked. Some of the nicer models are unlocked.

Maybe?? However, disabling HT will not help you get higher performance. Plus, you remove half your usable threads, so that hurts you way more than any minute gain you might ever achieve with disabling HT.

---

Manu CAD applications (autocad) use only one thread! In autocad I have 12.5% usage of my quad core 8 thread CPU, which means that the application only uses half of the core! That's probably the reason to include the option in bios, I just wanted to know if it works. So yes - there are some usage scenarios, where I'd want HT off.

So how is HT hurting you here? If it's using one thread, it's using one thread. The fact you have other threads doesn't divide the performance.

Let's say you have a 3.0GHz HT-capable dual core since I'm lazy and don't want to type too much. You have this with HT off

3.0 GHz thread

3.0 GHz thread

You run your CAD application:

3.0 GHz thread (CAD)

3.0 GHz thread (for all the other random background tasks)

Now lets enable HT:

3.0 GHz thread (CAD)

3.0 GHz thread (other background things)

3.0 GHz thread (music?)

3.0 GHz thread (web browser?)

You can spread it around, your clock speed doesn't divide with more threads (kinda). There is a max core ratio multiplier with a certain number of ACTIVE cores. So like:

HT-off:

3.0 GHz thread (active)

(inactive thread)

HT-on:

3.0 GHz thread (active)

(inactive)

(inactive)

(inactive)

Now with more active threads

HT-off:

2.9 GHz (active)

2.9 GHz (active)

HT-on:

2.7 GHz (active)

2.7 GHz (active)

2.7 GHz (active)

2.7 GHz (active)

While they are slower, you are getting a whole lot more done overall.

I haven't used a Zbook at all but I'll answer what I can.

1. Laptops have switchable graphics so the videocard turns on and off as needed. For example Nvidia Optimus.

2. I actually enjoy chiclet style keyboards on laptops. I guess you get used to them.

3. Why would you disable hyperthreading? I cannot see how having less threads will make your performance go up. It's the same CPU, you aren't doing a comparison of a non-HT but super fast quad core vs a HT-capable but slightly slower CPU. It's the same chip, just keep HT on, it doesn't save you anything to turn it off.

4. Overall the whole system is well cooled:

HP ZBook 17 G2 J8Z55ET Workstation Review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

Those are pretty impressive temperatures. I know M.2 SSDs can run pretty warm with low airflow. But I don't think you should worry about it. Plus, that bottom cover is full vented over the M.2 slots.

5. See #4, cooling is quite good. That's a pretty beefy fan in there. And, most laptops only have one fan.

6. How brutal are you ripping your battery in and out??? And why would you take it in and out so often you are so concerned? I used to work in a computer repair shop for a couple years, I've never had this problem come up. With all the laptops HP has made, I'm sure they have figured out how to keep a battery locked in.

Interesting thing I just noticed.

CPU-Z and hwinfo are reporting the QDF of QEYJ. A ES2 version of the 2690 V3 should be QGNY.

Intel Xeon E5-2690 v3 - CM8064401439416 / BX80644E52690V3

Notice how the M1 stepped CPU is a QGNY for the ES version?

Although the reported stepping is L0. I wonder if this a really toned down version before M0 (QFRX) Since it would be in order:

L0: QEYJ

M0: QFRX

M1: QGNY

Release version (M1 stepped as well): SR1XN

From the anandtech link, we at least know the M0 stepped QFRX would be clocked correctly. If this really is a QEYJ then I guess it would be possible for it to be a toned down 2690 V3 with lower clocks. But it's hard to find any info about an Intel QEYJ through normal channels.

Try UEFITool, that seems to work: Z10PE-D8-WS-ASUS-1001_mod.7z

Replaced rev. 14 in Z10PE with rev. 13 of the X99:

If that did the trick then it doesn't bode well ... the only difference between the two is that it's an older revision. What if Intel started cracking down on us ES/QS users ?

I am still seeing revision 14 in the modded BIOS. I tried it anyways and still no dice.

Interesting problem I'm having. I have a Asus Z10PE-D8 with BIOS Version 1001 which you can dl from here:

Server & Workstations | Z10PE-D8 WS | ASUS USA

I currently have a single (for now - despite my signature lol), Xeon E5-2690v3 ES (stepping M1) CPU in there. However this is where I start having issues. The CPU isn't really recognized correctly. The BIOS and Windows (10 Pro) see it as a "Genuine Intel® CPU @ 2.40GHz" and the model as a E5-2400 (which isn't even a real model number on the Intel ARK!).

Here are some screenies from (wide screenshot warning):

hwinfo and CPU-Z

Intel XTU

My CPU runs at 2.4 GHz with a turbo to 2.7GHz, way slower than what it should!

Originally I thought it might just be the ES version causing this, however!

If I look here I see a stepping M0 CPU (mine is M1) and it shows up fine with the correct speeds!

Intel Haswell-EP Xeon 12 Core Review: E5-2650L V3 and E5-2690 V3

I'd guess they are using the Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard for that review, the others appear to be for the E5-2650L-v3.

So now, I'm thinking oh, it's just a motherboard thing not seeing it correctly. And with a lot of digging around, it might be the microcode?

So I was looking around here and tried UBU:

[Tool Guide+News] "UEFI BIOS Updater" (UBU)

So after fiddling around with MMTool v5 and UBU I tried pulling the microcodes from the Asus X99 Deluxe and inserting them into the BIOS of the Z10PE-D8. anddddd. No dice! It refuses to save and sooooo.

Leads to this!

RE: AMI Aptio UEFI MMTool v5 available - 4

So now I'm pretty much stuck. What else could I try to get my CPU recognized correctly.

At least physically it looks like the normal 2690v3!

Ordered up the DK2, waiting for it to arrive. I look forward to fiddling around with it!

Very nice eGPU setup and implementation! Thanks for sharing.

I have the Golden version of the same card, looks like you are getting about the same clocks too! I get around 1550 with the stock limits of the voltage slider. It feels like it could keep going though. They are nice cards.

I want to know whether the naked GPU without a case would have some problems. Like easily get dusty or broken? I think it's pretty fragile...

And how do you protect this naked GPU when you are not using, like using a plastic case or something? Or..just leave it naked?

GPUs aren't that fragile. I have an MSi GTX 970 as well and it has a pretty solid build. Just don't smash up the fan and your will probably be fine.

Since it's open air, the dust kind of falls off of it. Of course it still gets dusty, but it's not too bad. I ran my first eGPU open air for months without issue.

---

Note to @LukeHero, be careful with splitting PCIe power with that wiring, you get close to the limit of the wires, I've seen them fail before like that. Especially overclocking. At least with the 970 you are software-capped to a fairly low voltage (NEED MORE VOLTS). Just something to think about.

This game is wonderful. I really enjoyed it except for the room with all the floating boxes. Didn't know you had to drain that crystal lol...

I still preferred Mirror's Edge since it was a bit more fluid. A Story About My Uncle is well executed, some parts can be tedious and others are way ahead of the skill curve in the game. But it's worth pushing through those, it is a very enjoyable game. I even replayed it with a controller, it plays surprisingly well with one too.

I see. Thanks for the info. I ordered the cards from bestbuy on 7/17 but...

One card is PNY GTX 980 and the other is plain reference Nivida GTX 980. They are still unopen box right now.

Are you planning to use both? I'd love to buy one from you.

Rust is hilariously fun. I really recommend everyone to come join in.

just picked one up from best buy, even though the only nearby microcenter was a guy working out of his house doing computer repair under the microcenter name, but hasn't done business in 2 years. First person I got knew what he was doing and saw that it wasn't for sale in my state and denied. I came back 5 hours later and got someone else who was a bit more lenient.

Any chance to score another one or two? Or pretty much sold out there now?

No love from Office Depot, the manager said he called MicroCenter already and knew it was no longer available.

Anyone that can manage to get this still should certainly get as many as possible. I would certainly buy two or three if I could.

I'll walk into OfficeDepot in a bit to see if they can order it for me. Might as well try it while I can!

Yeah. I did some reading and found out that the problem is just with Staples. Best Buy, Fry's, Office Depot, etc. are all delivering. Walmart just flat out denied the price matching.

Can I go into the store to order it there? They don't have any in the store, but maybe they can place the order for it?

They had some 600- and 700- series cards at my local BestBuy. I cried a little. I was going to get 3x of those 980s.... if you see any more @badbadbad :nudge nudge:

Wow that is some very unacceptable performance drop. Affect desktop cards too? I sadly must run the latest drivers due to W10, old drivers break a lot of things.

Try over-volting the GPU core a bit. Leave the clock speed as is. Maybe you got a really bad core that fails under load?

I'm just guessing though, after that - no idea what would be wrong ;-;

I'd try a different driver. I enjoyed the game ready driver for Grand Theft Auto V. Seemed pretty good for all my games. I would still be using that but Windows 10 update broke it haha.

I've gotten that game freeze + audio loop a few times in the past, and I'm pretty certain I kept trying different drivers till it worked.

I don't see much point on core swapping a 980 onto a 970 since you already have the 980. I suppose it would work.

So far I have been doing a mix of toaster oven and heat gun. I have access to a reflow oven, but I don't want to worry about the fast heating rate destroying the die packaging so I've just been using the toaster.

The P150EM's MXM circuitry is rated for over 200W and overall power at 400W. I can easily raise it if I start getting close, so power draw is no problem.

Yeah, certainly no point in doing it, but would be interesting seeing if the 3.5GB VRAM issue would go away.

Are you having to use stencils and all that fun stuff to clean up the pads for the core swap?

Glad power isn't and issue, what about thermals? I know you did that cool radiator mod, so that'll help some. I guess we'll find out the more you do!