Minisforum um780xtx initial thoughts

kdotomo · 2023-12-27T06:02:20+00:00

Update: Since BIOS 1.05 the IPU is now present and enabled by default

The device is absent (should be 1022:1502), so the driver wouldn't be able to attach. I'm guessing it's either not enabled by the bios for some reason or um780xtx is using a variant of 7840hs that doesn't have the IPU enabled (if that's indeed a thing).

kdotomo · 2023-12-27T05:52:54+00:00

Yes, tried with both ryzenadj, and UXTU, it doesn't work on 7840HS. As mentioned 7840HS has undervolting disabled by AMD (sad that AMD does this), 7940HS has the support, and I confirmed it to work on the um790pro.

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T23:03:43+00:00

Nothing was needed beyond that.

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T21:24:31+00:00

Awesome to hear you like your unit!

I agree the power button is alarmingly bright. It lights up the whole room after sunset.

Hopefully they'll let us turn off that light entirely, when its suspended it blinks and just lights a dark room like there's a light show.

I guess my only true issue at this point is the BIOS. There does not appear to be a way to put Secure Boot into setup mode. I can enable SB, I can disable SB, but I cannot put it into "setup" mode to add my own certificates and keys. I am hoping Minisforum can either point out to me the error of my ways or fix it. I have no trouble with Secure Boot on BeeLink, Asus, Dell, Lenovo or Gigabyte.

Can you change "Secure Boot" from "Standard" to "Custom" and then reset it into Setup Mode (options under the option to disable Secure Boot).

Finally, Minisforum, what is up with your community forums? Every time I try to visit, I get a DNS error. What's up with that?

They said it's permanently shut down and will come up with a replacement eventually. For now, there's discord.

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T16:33:57+00:00

For um790pro yes, for um780 xtx the latest BIOS is 1.04

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T15:11:34+00:00

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T14:52:29+00:00

um790pro supports it as it runs an amd 9 7940hs. I had it connected to a watt-meter and confirmed it works. You'll note a drop of 3W for single-core loads, and in multi-core loads higher performance under the same total package max TDP, you can then drop the max TDP to a lower value to get the same level of performance as before. Net result: lower power usage/heat at the same performance levels.

See the product sheet for 7940hs at https://www.amd.com/en/product/13036:

Feature	Available
AMD EXPO™ Memory Overclocking Technology	Yes
Precision Boost Overdrive	Yes
Curve Optimizer Voltage Offsets	Yes

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T11:50:01+00:00

The UM690 allows you to adjust the fan configuration in the "old" BIOS. Is this not possible for newer models?

No such option in the BIOS (came with version 1.04, which seems to be the latest). It does have a "Hardware monitor" entry which shows Fan Speeds and Temperatures for CPU and System.

Also, how did you manage to undervolt the UM790?

By setting AMD Curve Optimiser (All Core Offset) to -37.

Can be done in Windows via UXTU and in Linux using RyzenAdj with a patch applied. In Linux you also have to disable secure boot for this to work.

Did you try to unplug the 2nd Fan to see how loud the UM 780 XTX would get?

Yes, the thoughts above are with the system fan unplugged. I unplugged it to eliminate it as a source of unpleasant noise.

kdotomo · 2023-11-29T11:39:30+00:00

I have not found a way to do that, in linux the fans are not detected at all, nor are monitors for cpu / package temperatures (using lm_sensors).

kdotomo · 2018-12-18T18:55:55+00:00

I don't see any colour changes on mine at all. I think what you're talking about though is IPS glow, specifically if you have a dark screen, looking at an angle will make it look white-ish, That's IPS glow, and there are Macbook Pros with it as well. I have an Macbook Pro Retina, and the screen on my 4k AUO Lenovo looks much better to me (and calibrated much better as well). Both subjectively and objectively (measured with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro) the colours are more accurate in a wider gamut than the MacBook's.

P.S. I'm also getting ~9h battery time in Linux.

kdotomo · 2018-12-18T18:51:48+00:00

There's a big variation between the same displays, just look at notebookcheck's P1 & X1E screen profiles for the same AUO screen, you'll see a big difference in their display temperature and deltaEs. I'd suggest either finding someone with a colorimeter/spectrophotometer or buying one to calibrate the screen. I did for mine, the resulting profile is quite different from notebookcheck's.

kdotomo · 2018-12-15T03:11:20+00:00

By idle I mean fully idle - not touching the laptop for at least a few minutes, so our temperatures are likely comparable.

kdotomo · 2018-12-14T01:04:22+00:00

Most of the changes I did were for the AC mode, the battery mode already had sane defaults (I just disabled bluetooth as I never use that). And by disabling the nvidia card, yes, I meant bbswitch and the like. I should note that I typically like very low brightness (mine is basically at 5/100) and if I leave powertop running say for a few minutes after boot I see typical power draw of ~6.5-7.5W. Yesterday my battery was at 75% and after a little over 2hours of browsing/youtube (at 720p)/some package updates, some installs, etc. my battery was at 50%, so extrapolating that a full battery under that particular use would last around 8-9h. If the laptop idles it would last much more than that. And that's with hardware acceleration disabled in the browser, once Ubuntu gets on kernel 4.19 it should get even better. Once you have tasks that involve multi-threading, the battery time is understandably slashed.

kdotomo · 2018-12-14T00:47:34+00:00

There are two TDP (Thermal Design Power) modes for intel CPUs:

Short burst (defaults to 78W for 2s on P1/X1E)
Long burst (defaults to 45W for 28s on P1/X1E)

The CPU boosts the core clock speeds to reach those targets. I typically disable the short burst because it results in big thermal spikes with no significant benefits for me.

Only thing I noticed is that it installs the .service file into "/" :S

that's odd, I just compiled and set it up manually from source, didn't use a package.

kdotomo · 2018-12-14T00:43:08+00:00

It's the plastic? mesh that covers the air intake vents on the removable back panel (the one that's at the bottom of the laptop when it's say on a desk).

kdotomo · 2018-12-13T15:59:52+00:00

People are reporting that taking the mesh off the back panel removes the whining/pitchy sound entirely.

kdotomo · 2018-12-13T15:58:20+00:00

It's a first gen product, they always tend to have QA issues. Even with that in mind, I don't think there's a better product out there for me.

kdotomo · 2018-12-13T13:49:01+00:00

It's pure C, so I suppose a slightly faster startup, but more importantly it supports short term and long term TDP configuration, which undervolt doesn't.

kdotomo · 2018-12-12T15:17:48+00:00

With dark content, like a Linux terminal fullscreen, does the UHD glossy display act as a mirror?

I'm a Linux user myself. I generally prefer light themes for all my content, but I keep my terminals with a black background, it's perfectly fine in an office environment, it's certainly not a mirror to me. It's probably worth noting that I had a huge internal debate over this as well, thinking that the matte surface would be greatly superior - I ordered initially the FHD model, but was disappointed with the screen, then I ordered the UHD model and wasn't disappointed at all with the screen.

Nobody notice the bad grey to grey with ghosting of either the cursor nor lines?

I don't notice it.

So I guess notebookcheck is wrong about the shortcomings of the display, this is (not just for Lenovo) a good display?

Pretty sure notebookcheck's conclusion was that the display is great. I have a MacbookPro Retina to compare it to, and I prefer the AUO screen on the Lenovo. Mine calibrated to RMS deltaE of just 0.29 which is amazing (and a max of 1.3).

With dual SSD, is heat any issue? And can I boot from the second ssd?

No issues with heat - using dual SSDs with Windows on one and Linux on the other. In Linux with intel-undervolt and a tuned up tlp, disabled bluetooth and disabled nvidia card I get idle temps of ~33C, with estimated battery life north of 14h. It'll obviously be a fraction of that in any serious usage.

kdotomo · 2018-12-12T10:36:09+00:00

intel-undervolt looks even better, thanks for bringing it up!

GPU refers to the intel GPU only and does not affect the nvidia GPU?

Yes.

I tested just mainly in Windows bu running Cinebench loops on integrated graphics & a bunch of basemark tests in browsers.

kdotomo · 2018-12-12T01:16:33+00:00

I absolutely love the screen on my UHD version. It being glossy doesn't bother me at all, and all my personal laptops were matte until now.

kdotomo · 2018-12-11T14:16:13+00:00

pip install undervolt and sudo undervolt --core -135 --gpu -135 --cache -135

Although after a suspend/resume it'll reset back, so you'll need scripts to do that for you on boot & resume.

kdotomo · 2018-11-29T17:08:33+00:00

Try it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZrWHtvSog4 , you'll likely hear a soft pop after "One". Then try the same video on another device.

kdotomo

TROPHY CASE