Concern Before Buying

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MrWhoHasNoName

New member
Hi.
So I've been looking into buying a new gaming laptop and found a nice configuration for my budget - the 15" Recoil RTX 30 series
(TongFang GM5ZG7W (8GB RTX-3070, R9-5900HX, 165Hz QHD)

I've also been looking around on reviews on this model (and Chassis) and found a concerning amount of them mentioning overheating.
Since I plan to use this laptop for gaming and work, I also want it to last for a longer time (at least 4 years).

From what I understand is that the hotter the components get, the shorter their lifetime. I'm also no computer expert by any means, so I decided to ask here (hoping some if you own this or a similar model) , if the overheating issue is really that bad, if there is a way to fix it post-purchase or if I should just not consider buying this one, since I got the impression it's meant for raw power at the expense of longevity.

Any advice / help will be greatly appreciated!
 
B

barny.z

Member
i was about to buy the same laptop so would also like to hear about these concerns as i also need a laptop that is going to last a few years
 
R

Rairun

Bronze Level Poster
I've had my 15" Recoil (RTX-3070, R9-5900HX) for a few weeks now.

The Tongfang Control Center provides 3 performance profiles you can easily switch between via a dedicated keyboard button: Office, Game and Turbo. You can edit and save presets for each profile, but this is what I found using the default settings:

Office: Cool and quiet. Works very well for general use. Runs Photoshop and Lightroom well, and even Unity (though the game I'm making is not very demanding). I've been playing Mass Effect: Andromeda lately, and the game stutters in this mode.

Game: While playing ME:A, the GPU runs pretty cool (about 71º average?). The CPU was reaching very high temperatures (92º). For some reason this happens even with pretty non-demanding games, so I changed the CPU settings, giving the CPU a lot less power, and now it runs games at about 82º. No performance hit, ME:A still runs perfectly on Ultra.

Turbo: I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Turbo and Game mode in a blind test. I only use this when processing video, etc. I'd probably avoid doing this for hours every day, but it's there when you need it.
 
R

Rairun

Bronze Level Poster
Benchmark using turbo mode: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/25691904

Temp charts:

5GVgPMQ.jpg


Orange: FPS
Green: CPU Temp
Blue: GPU Temp
Red: GPU Load
 
Vergaro98

Vergaro98

Super Star
If you play a bit with the power level in the CC you can play for hours and the CPU doesn't go over 82-83°. In RDR2 with a custom gaming profile I managed to keep the temperature under 80°. It reaches >=90° only for short moments (5-10s) and mostly on some update. Also I buy a cooling pad and at max fans the laptop go down 2-3°. In idle the laptop stay between 35-45° and on basic usage (office, browser, etc.) it stay on 45-55°.
 
M

MrWhoHasNoName

New member
Thank you for the benchmark results @Rairun!

So as I am new to the gaming laptop scene, what are some normal temperatures to expect from the CPU and GPU? Or more importantly, temperatures above what threshold should be avoided?

I also want to know roughly how many years should one expect from a system like this?

Also @Vergaro98, could you share that power profile (or just the parameters), for reference?
 
Vergaro98

Vergaro98

Super Star
Gaming laptop has always high temperature because they're very powerful machines and not very big to dissipate all that heat. The temperature to avoid depends on what kind of operation runs. In general you should keep the temperature under 90° but you understand that if it's 90° on idle there's a problem but 90° for short periods or during very strong tasks are not a problem. For the durability it isn't a minimum, it can last over 5 years, maybe also 10 years but unfortunately it can last also 1-2 years. It depends on many things and a lot of them are beyond our control. (I recommend to put the gold warranty so you are covered for at least 2 years, later you can buy an external warranty from other insurance companies)
For the parameters it depends a lot from the game, however for RDR2 if I don't remember wrong I use SPL 25W s-PPT 35W f-PPT 60W (f-PPT for games isn't very important so you can leave 90W), for warzone I use different parameters.
 
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Vergaro98

Vergaro98

Super Star
Also I notice that temperature on the CPU are higher when you use the MShybrid mode (iGPU+dGPU). If you use dGPU only mode you use more power (so the battery runs out first) but the CPU runs cooler, about 2/3-5° depends on the task.
 
B

barny.z

Member
Rairun said:
I've had my 15" Recoil (RTX-3070, R9-5900HX) for a few weeks now.

The Tongfang Control Center provides 3 performance profiles you can easily switch between via a dedicated keyboard button: Office, Game and Turbo. You can edit and save presets for each profile, but this is what I found using the default settings:

Office: Cool and quiet. Works very well for general use. Runs Photoshop and Lightroom well, and even Unity (though the game I'm making is not very demanding). I've been playing Mass Effect: Andromeda lately, and the game stutters in this mode.

Game: While playing ME:A, the GPU runs pretty cool (about 71º average?). The CPU was reaching very high temperatures (92º). For some reason this happens even with pretty non-demanding games, so I changed the CPU settings, giving the CPU a lot less power, and now it runs games at about 82º. No performance hit, ME:A still runs perfectly on Ultra.

Turbo: I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Turbo and Game mode in a blind test. I only use this when processing video, etc. I'd probably avoid doing this for hours every day, but it's there when you need it.
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hey thanks for this info. As i want a laptop for video editing (4k at the moment but hopefully 8k in the future) then it sounds like the 15inch recoil is not a good option for me as i would likely have it on full load for hours every day.
 
KriSta

KriSta

Silver Level Poster
barny.z said:
hey thanks for this info. As i want a laptop for video editing (4k at the moment but hopefully 8k in the future) then it sounds like the 15inch recoil is not a good option for me as i would likely have it on full load for hours every day.
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You probably need a laptop with bigger cooling , more in terms of an desktop replacement laptop . I could name a few , but because this is a PCS forum for PCS builds only , I`m not allowed .
 
Vergaro98

Vergaro98

Super Star
As Krista said, you don't need a laptop, you need a DTR and the only one offers by PCS is the Recoil 17.3". Any other laptop that they sell will overheat if you use all day for 4k/8k rendering.
 
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barny.z

Member
Thanks guys. I did look at the 17.3recoil but it looks quite big and has 2 power bricks and I really want something i can chuck in my backpack easily as i normally travel a fair bit. There is always a compromise with every choice so i might just accept reality and save myself some money in the short term and get a desktop now and then get a cheaper laptop in a year or so to use for travelling and only do lite work on it.
 
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Vergaro98

Vergaro98

Super Star
barny.z said:
Thanks guys. I did look at the 17.3recoil but it looks quite big and has 2 power bricks and I really want something i can chuck in my backpack easily as i normally travel a fair bit. There is always a compromise with every choice so i might just accept reality and save myself some money and get a desktop now and then get a cheaper laptop in a year or so to use for travelling and only do lite work on it.
Click to expand...
I think that's the best choice for your needs.
 
KriSta

KriSta

Silver Level Poster
Vergaro98 said:
I think that's the best choice for your needs.
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I second that , DTR laptops are big and bulky , nothing one would carry around for longer times , although I did do some extensive traveling with my previous laptop which was a DTR , but then again I could not be without it :)
 
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barny.z

Member
i have travelled alot with my current 15inch laptop, its even gone on hikes in the mountains (Doing that nearly broke me so I wouldnt do it again). Its quite a cheap laptop so its also not to much of a worry about it breaking or anything whereas having a new and expensive laptop might cause me to worry about it all the time and then not take it anywhere! Anyway i have ordered a desktop. Im still not 100% sure its the right choice but ive been needing a new machine for about 6months already and constantly dithering with indecision was becoming a full time job! Thanks again for the advice!
 
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