Vyper 17 Slow on Battery

barlew

Godlike
Hello Everyone,

The manufacturer has confirmed the issue and are now finalising testing on a new EC (Embedded Controller) firmware update.
We're sorry for the extended wait. I'll be sure to get it in your hands as soon as possible!

Chris

That is fantastic news Chris thanks for the update.

Might I suggest that you send it to @barlew initially? He clearly knows what the issues are and what he's doing. :)

I am more than happy to be the guinea pig.
 

Whirly123

Bronze Level Poster
Good news, I was so close to choosing the DEFIANCE over the Vyper. Well, maybe this is annoying news (for me) as I will be stuck trying to decide again :LOL: .

Thanks for keeping us all informed!
 

barlew

Godlike
Good news, I was so close to choosing the DEFIANCE over the Vyper. Well, maybe this is annoying news (for me) as I will be stuck trying to decide again :LOL: .

Thanks for keeping us all informed!

I've said it else where but I'll say it again. The Vyper 17 a phenominal gaming laptop.
 

Whirly123

Bronze Level Poster
I've said it else where but I'll say it again. The Vyper 17 a phenominal gaming laptop.
They both seem really good. On paper, the Vyper seems better because of battery and thermals (and slightly worse because of webcam placement and a couple of missing keyboard keys). Right now though I don't know what the thermals and battery advantages are in real practical terms so it makes it really hard to decide.

I am actually not much of a gamer, I just want a 17inch laptop that can replace my current PC (also from PC specialist) that besides a gfx card replacement (1080) and a new SSD it is ten years old, so PCS did a great job. I do Computational Modelling and 3D work but I also play VR games so need a real jack of all trades that is still somewhat portable.
 

PCS_Chris

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Hello Everyone,

I've just been given a beta of the new EC for testing and I'm verifying it on our end now to make sure it solves the issue. If it validates here then the manufacturer will fully validate it and make this an official EC.

I can't make any promises yet but testing of this EC is going well so far!

I'll keep you all posted with any new updates.

Chris
 

raygun57

Member
Hi Chris,

Any progress on the validation? Do you know if the new EC will offer different PL settings for the Game and Boost modes or just fix the battery issue (which I also have). An American competitor have managed to get the manufacturer to produce quite a tuned BIOS with lots of options so I am hoping this is what the manufacturer has provided you with!!

Kind regds,

Raymond
Hello Everyone,

I've just been given a beta of the new EC for testing and I'm verifying it on our end now to make sure it solves the issue. If it validates here then the manufacturer will fully validate it and make this an official EC.

I can't make any promises yet but testing of this EC is going well so far!

I'll keep you all posted with any new updates.

Chris
 

PCS_Chris

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Hello Everyone,

I'm happy to say that the EC firmware update is now tested and ready. I've zipped up all the files you'll need and attached them here. In order to flash the EC please follow these instructions:

1. Download and extract all the files in this .zip to an empty USB drive that has been formatted in FAT32.
2. Shut down your system and reboot whilst pressing the F7 key repeatedly until you get a boot selection menu.
3. Select the UEFI:*USB name here* to boot to the USB.
4. If you've booted into the USB correctly you should have a black screen with yellow and grey writing on it.
5. You will see a list of all the drives in your system first, starting from fs0: fs1: etc.
6. The last one on that list will be your USB drive. Type fsX: into the command line where X will be the higest number shown on the list and press enter.
7. Type f into the command line and press enter. The screen should change and you should see some white bars on the screen indicating the progress of the update. Please note that the fans of the laptop will speed up quite rapidly during this process. No need to worry as this is intentional.
8. After the flash has finished the computer will shut down by itself.
9. Power on the laptop and press Del repeatedly until you get into the BIOS. On the main screen you should see EC firmware version. If this says 1.18.00.00 then you have flashed the EC successfully and the laptop should now remain fully functional on battery power.

It is worth noting that you will always lose some performance from a laptop when you unplug it from AC power as batteries run the risk of being overloaded if too much power is drawn from them at once. The laptop will reduce it's total power consumption on battery to ensure this doesn't happen. This was what was causing the issue as it was too aggressive in it's power saving which stopped the laptop performing smoothly.

If you run into any issues or are unsure at any point. Please contact our customer support line where our support staff will be able to help you through it.
 

Attachments

  • Vyper 17 EC update.zip
    405.7 KB · Views: 377

PCS_Chris

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Hi Chris,

Any progress on the validation? Do you know if the new EC will offer different PL settings for the Game and Boost modes or just fix the battery issue (which I also have). An American competitor have managed to get the manufacturer to produce quite a tuned BIOS with lots of options so I am hoping this is what the manufacturer has provided you with!!

Kind regds,

Raymond
Hi Raymond,

This EC only addresses the lower power limits to stop it from dropping down so low that the laptop becomes unusable. It doesn't affect any of the upper power limits at all.

The BIOS itself is a different piece of firmware so unfortunately this will not affect the options available to you in BIOS either.

Kind regards,

Chris
 

GiuFam

Member
Hello Everyone,

I'm happy to say that the EC firmware update is now tested and ready. I've zipped up all the files you'll need and attached them here. In order to flash the EC please follow these instructions:

1. Download and extract all the files in this .zip to an empty USB drive that has been formatted in FAT32.
2. Shut down your system and reboot whilst pressing the F7 key repeatedly until you get a boot selection menu.
3. Select the UEFI:*USB name here* to boot to the USB.
4. If you've booted into the USB correctly you should have a black screen with yellow and grey writing on it.
5. You will see a list of all the drives in your system first, starting from fs0: fs1: etc.
6. The last one on that list will be your USB drive. Type fsX: into the command line where X will be the higest number shown on the list and press enter.
7. Type f into the command line and press enter. The screen should change and you should see some white bars on the screen indicating the progress of the update. Please note that the fans of the laptop will speed up quite rapidly during this process. No need to worry as this is intentional.
8. After the flash has finished the computer will shut down by itself.
9. Power on the laptop and press Del repeatedly until you get into the BIOS. On the main screen you should see EC firmware version. If this says 1.18.00.00 then you have flashed the EC successfully and the laptop should now remain fully functional on battery power.

It is worth noting that you will always lose some performance from a laptop when you unplug it from AC power as batteries run the risk of being overloaded if too much power is drawn from them at once. The laptop will reduce it's total power consumption on battery to ensure this doesn't happen. This was what was causing the issue as it was too aggressive in it's power saving which stopped the laptop performing smoothly.

If you run into any issues or are unsure at any point. Please contact our customer support line where our support staff will be able to help you through it.

flashed correctly, 1.18 in bios after flash. Tested and not change much. Still drop frequently to 0.78ghz under load... so what they fixed? my previous cinebench r20 score was 1600 points with old ec and bug, now is 1800 points. Competitors with same batteries and cpu does without any problems 2600 points with NO DROP under load. Of course on battery we can't have 4ghz under loads, but i expect 2ghz STABLE frequencies, not frequent drop to 700mhz. This is no solution. Report to tongfang and try fix, i spend 2000 euros on this. Keyboard are peeling off, battery not perform as good for both cpu and gpu (my older asus rog with a smaller 66wh and a rtx 2070 score 30 fps on heaven benchmark under battry and this vyper only 16 fps with a 2070 super).

I am annoyed as hell!
 

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    Screenshot (165).png
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Last edited by a moderator:

GiuFam

Member
What the... is dropping extactly like before, even when launching applications it drops to 0.78ghz and of course it slowdown really much, even if a bit better than before.

What's the point to drop to 0.7ghz even when launching an application? Is useless to drop like that after there's an immediate loads
 

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barlew

Godlike
Hello Everyone,

I'm happy to say that the EC firmware update is now tested and ready. I've zipped up all the files you'll need and attached them here. In order to flash the EC please follow these instructions:

1. Download and extract all the files in this .zip to an empty USB drive that has been formatted in FAT32.
2. Shut down your system and reboot whilst pressing the F7 key repeatedly until you get a boot selection menu.
3. Select the UEFI:*USB name here* to boot to the USB.
4. If you've booted into the USB correctly you should have a black screen with yellow and grey writing on it.
5. You will see a list of all the drives in your system first, starting from fs0: fs1: etc.
6. The last one on that list will be your USB drive. Type fsX: into the command line where X will be the higest number shown on the list and press enter.
7. Type f into the command line and press enter. The screen should change and you should see some white bars on the screen indicating the progress of the update. Please note that the fans of the laptop will speed up quite rapidly during this process. No need to worry as this is intentional.
8. After the flash has finished the computer will shut down by itself.
9. Power on the laptop and press Del repeatedly until you get into the BIOS. On the main screen you should see EC firmware version. If this says 1.18.00.00 then you have flashed the EC successfully and the laptop should now remain fully functional on battery power.

It is worth noting that you will always lose some performance from a laptop when you unplug it from AC power as batteries run the risk of being overloaded if too much power is drawn from them at once. The laptop will reduce it's total power consumption on battery to ensure this doesn't happen. This was what was causing the issue as it was too aggressive in it's power saving which stopped the laptop performing smoothly.

If you run into any issues or are unsure at any point. Please contact our customer support line where our support staff will be able to help you through it.

I'll flash and test mine this afternoon.
 

Redcloud

Bronze Level Poster
The PL1 and 2 under load is now 25W instead of 5W (35W at idle). I'm getting about 2200 points in cinebench with an undervolt of -50 set in the bios: 400 points less then before the problem occurred or when in IGPU mode.
My 2080 Super Max Q is still pulling power for no reason and the CPU clocks still drop down to 800mHz when I open an installer or an app causing the windows notification sound to lag, distort and stretch.
So not at all a viable fix but still better then before. Please get back in touch with tong fang.
 
Last edited:

barlew

Godlike
Hello Everyone,

I'm happy to say that the EC firmware update is now tested and ready. I've zipped up all the files you'll need and attached them here. In order to flash the EC please follow these instructions:

1. Download and extract all the files in this .zip to an empty USB drive that has been formatted in FAT32.
2. Shut down your system and reboot whilst pressing the F7 key repeatedly until you get a boot selection menu.
3. Select the UEFI:*USB name here* to boot to the USB.
4. If you've booted into the USB correctly you should have a black screen with yellow and grey writing on it.
5. You will see a list of all the drives in your system first, starting from fs0: fs1: etc.
6. The last one on that list will be your USB drive. Type fsX: into the command line where X will be the higest number shown on the list and press enter.
7. Type f into the command line and press enter. The screen should change and you should see some white bars on the screen indicating the progress of the update. Please note that the fans of the laptop will speed up quite rapidly during this process. No need to worry as this is intentional.
8. After the flash has finished the computer will shut down by itself.
9. Power on the laptop and press Del repeatedly until you get into the BIOS. On the main screen you should see EC firmware version. If this says 1.18.00.00 then you have flashed the EC successfully and the laptop should now remain fully functional on battery power.

It is worth noting that you will always lose some performance from a laptop when you unplug it from AC power as batteries run the risk of being overloaded if too much power is drawn from them at once. The laptop will reduce it's total power consumption on battery to ensure this doesn't happen. This was what was causing the issue as it was too aggressive in it's power saving which stopped the laptop performing smoothly.

If you run into any issues or are unsure at any point. Please contact our customer support line where our support staff will be able to help you through it.

So I flashed the EC as per the instructions and the result has been less than ideal.

After the flash I went into the BIOS and confirmed the firmware had updated which it had.

I then restarted the laptop and now the keyboard and mouse do not work. The trackpad LED which indicates it is disabled is permanently stuck on and I cannot enable it.

The keyboard LED's light up but the laptop registers no keystrokes at all. I can no longer get into the BIOS or the boot menu.

Pretty gutted.
 

Redcloud

Bronze Level Poster
So I flashed the EC as per the instructions and the result has been less than ideal.

After the flash I went into the BIOS and confirmed the firmware had updated which it had.

I then restarted the laptop and now the keyboard and mouse do not work. The trackpad LED which indicates it is disabled is permanently stuck on and I cannot enable it.

The keyboard LED's light up but the laptop registers no keystrokes at all. I can no longer get into the BIOS or the boot menu.

Pretty gutted.
something probably went wrong during installation. Did you format the USB stick to FAT32 ? Did you use a USB 2 or 3 stick ? I have none of those issues.
 

barlew

Godlike
something probably went wrong during installation. Did you format the USB stick to FAT32 ? Did you use a USB 2 or 3 stick ? I have none of those issues.

That would be my guess as it stopped working straight after I carried out the exact steps detailed by PCS_Chris.

Yes I formatted it to FAT 32. I actually don't know what USB protocol it is I have had it years.

Like I said the flash happened as was described. The EC is showing the correct new version in BIOS.

I am currently using a USB keyboard and that works fine.
 

Redcloud

Bronze Level Poster
That would be my guess as it stopped working straight after I carried out the exact steps detailed by PCS_Chris.

Yes I formatted it to FAT 32. I actually don't know what USB protocol it is I have had it years.

Like I said the flash happened as was described. The EC is showing the correct new version in BIOS.

I am currently using a USB keyboard and that works fine.
Oh well, hopefully this will be fixable without RMA.
 

PCS_Chris

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for your feedback regarding this. I have given this to TongFang for further review as the beta of this EC did not exhibit this behaviour.

@barlew It sounds like this EC is not one that is intended for your particular chassis. Would you be able to tell me the exact model of your chassis? I'll sort out the correct version of the EC for you and send it over if it does indeed use a different version.

Chris
 

barlew

Godlike
Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for your feedback regarding this. I have given this to TongFang for further review as the beta of this EC did not exhibit this behaviour.

@barlew It sounds like this EC is not one that is intended for your particular chassis. Would you be able to tell me the exact model of your chassis? I'll sort out the correct version of the EC for you and send it over if it does indeed use a different version.

Chris

Thanks for the quick response Chris.

So I had to go out for an hour, I just got home turned the laptop on to try to fault find and weirdly the keyboard is now working. So excellent news, flap over.
I'll just keep an eye on it but I am putting it down to IT gremlins.

My first impression of the fix is extremely positive. It seems to have fixed all the problems I was experiencing however I have only been using the laptop for 20 minutes.

I'll keep the laptop running on battery until the charge runs out but I am confident the fix works as the issue historically would have cropped up by now.
 
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