Ionico Update

[barlew]

It does seem odd to me, although PCS have been known to release quite restrictive BIOSes, I don't know why.

That's interesting @SpyderTracks I didn't realise this. Every PCS laptop I've ever owned (both Tong Fang and Clevo) had the Mux switch enabled. It seems like a pretty fundamental function to disable on a gaming laptop.

 

[SpyderTracks]

That's interesting @SpyderTracks I didn't realise this. Every PCS laptop I've ever owned (both Tong Fang and Clevo) had the Mux switch enabled. It seems like a pretty fundamental function to disable on a gaming laptop.

What I wonder is if it's not "disabled" per se, just blanked out in the BIOS with the intention of moving the controls strictly to control center at a software level, although why they couldn't have both enabled I don't know.

When I speak about restrictive BIOSes, for me that's been with regard to virtualisation settings. Often, there just isn't any controls for them in the BIOSes at all but VTx is enabled by default. In the main this won't cause an issue, but for some specialist virtualisation, you really need to address settings in the BIOS.

This sounds like a similar thing.

As you say though, perhaps this is a Beta BIOS or something that wasn't supposed to be on production machines or something like that.

We'll see what happens with a few more, but if it does seem apparent that functionality is restricted, we'll ping the admins a note and raise it with them to get some further answers.

 

[Macco26]

That's interesting I didn't realise that.

I am still mega surprised that its been disabled. Surely its a mistake and they will release a new bios.

If they do within the 14 days return period window I might stay, else I'm already looking at other retailers which DO advertise MUX in their website, for the SAME product and will go with them. There is one even located here in Italy (model wasn't available in the far 27th Jan..)
I mean, ok they make mistakes, but if they want to keep my money they better rush at fixing this

 

[Macco26]

As you say though, perhaps this is a Beta BIOS or something that wasn't supposed to be on production machines or something like that.

We'll see what happens with a few more, but if it does seem apparent that functionality is restricted, we'll ping the admins a note and raise it with them to get some further answers.

On the contrary, funny enough, the 'beta' BIOS was the one with the feature unlocked. So just a bunch of people got this. While the rest for now and forever (until possible a new BIOS release) will keep this thing.

Funny thing, the CC (which do hide the MUX control on my BIOS, despite is the very same downloaded piece which enables the control on MUX enabled Ionicos) has even a button to enable Memory config. You press it, and in the BIOS you can find the Memory Overclocking options.
While, no MUX! No matter what. What the heck!

I am pretty sure it's just a bit to enable/disable this feature in the BIOS. Shouldn't be much hard to re-enable it. But I miss the reasons why they blocked it in the first place.
And today, when UK people responsible for BIOS was contacted by my italian PCS contact via chat, they simply said: your BIOS is the only one we provided on your chassis 17 size. That's not true, as pictures have shown here on the forums.
I am a bit upset by the lack of professionality tbh.

 

[SpyderTracks]

And today, when UK people responsible for BIOS was contacted by my italian PCS contact via chat, they simply said: your BIOS is the only one we provided on your chassis 17 size. That's not true, as pictures have shown here on the forums.

They're all in at the UK office, there's no Italian office. They just have some staff who can speak various languages.

They only have the one UK office though AFAIK.

 

[Romain337]

While I'm happy with the laptop (build quality and hardware), I'm disapointed by the over locked bios (it is way more than other famous and unfamous brands) and lack of official communication from pcspecialists and also no driver yet not even the control center in the download section (Seriously I have to ask by phone or email ? like five years old ?). We know that the chassis are the same than the other brand so it could be nice to have an official communication about what is happening.

Edit: meh, in the end it's not that bad. I'm happy.

 

[SpyderTracks]

While I'm happy with the laptop (build quality and hardware), I'm disapointed by the over locked bios (it is way more than other famous and unfamous brands) and lack of official communication of pcspecialists and also no driver not even the control center in the download section (Seriously I have to ask by phone or email ? like five years old ?). We know that the chassis are the same than the other brand so it could be nice to have an official communication about what is happening.

Drivers are normally available in your PCS account, it’s just that for whatever reason they haven’t uploaded them yet.

 

[Macco26]

They're all in at the UK office, there's no Italian office. They just have some staff who can speak various languages.

They only have the one UK office though AFAIK.

Well possibly, even though in Italy there is an address at Milan for VAT etc. However my call today seemed to have a child in the background , so COVID might have changed the thingsa bit there (smart working and such).

 

[SpyderTracks]

Well possibly, even though in Italy there is an address at Milan for VAT etc. However my call today seemed to have a child in the background , so COVID might have changed the thingsa bit there (smart working and such).

They’re registered throughout Europe, but they only have a UK branch.

obviously at the moment most customer service agents are working from home as is everyone who can by law.

 

[Cenksenci]

It may sound out of topic but and i may be too dumb for some terms but can someone kindly summerize me those terms:

What's MUX and the other dGPU and iGPU and MSHybrid?
Why these things are important?
Is there any of these significantly impact on laptop?

Thanks guys.

 

[barlew]

It may sound out of topic but and i may be too dumb for some terms but can someone kindly summerize me those terms:

What's MUX and the other dGPU and iGPU and MSHybrid?
Why these things are important?
Is there any of these significantly impact on laptop?

Thanks guys.

iGPU stands for integrated GPU. I.e. the low power graphics processer inside the CPU. generally used for graphically undemanding tasks as it saves power and reduces wear on the Nvidia GPU.

dGPU stands for dedicated or discrete GPU. This is your Nvidia GPU.

MSHybrid is a mechanism which allows the OS to choose which GPU is most suitable for the task. I.e. if you are just working in the OS or using office the iGPU will be used. If you start a game the system should automatically switch to the dGPU.

MUX is a mechanism which works at the BIOS level which allows you to explicitly switch between the 3 modes, MSHybrid, iGPU and dGPU.

If you set the laptop explicitly to dGPU you very often get better gaming performance.

Plus features like G-Sync (if the laptop is enabled for it) will not work unless the laptop is in discrete mode (i.e. switched exclusively to the dGPU).

You may also hear the term Optimus, this is basically the same as MSHybrid.

*edit* spelling.

 

[Cenksenci]

iGPU stands for integrated GPU. I.e. the low power graphics processer inside the CPU. generally used for graphically undemanding tasks as it saves power and reduces wear on the Nvidia GPU.

dGPU stands for dedicated or discrete GPU. This is your Nvidia GPU.

MSHybrid is a mechanism which allows the OS to choose which GPU is most suitable for the task. I.e. if you are just working in the OS or using office the iGPU will be used. If you start a game the system should automatically switch to the dGPU.

MUX is a mechanism which works at the BIOS level which allows you to explicitly switch between the 3 modes, MSHybrid, iGPU and dGPU.

If you set the laptop explicitly to dGPU you very often get better gaming performance.

Plus features like G-Sync (if the laptop is enabled for it) will not work unless the laptop is in discrete mode (i.e. switched exclusively to the dGPU).

You may also hear the term Optimus, this is basically the same as MSHybrid.

*edit* spelling.

You are amazing, thanks brother 🤩😊

 

[barlew]

You are amazing, thanks brother 🤩😊

Any time mate.

 

[nick2077]

got mine ordered 10 days ago still in pre production

 

[kshina]

iGPU stands for integrated GPU. I.e. the low power graphics processer inside the CPU. generally used for graphically undemanding tasks as it saves power and reduces wear on the Nvidia GPU.

dGPU stands for dedicated or discrete GPU. This is your Nvidia GPU.

MSHybrid is a mechanism which allows the OS to choose which GPU is most suitable for the task. I.e. if you are just working in the OS or using office the iGPU will be used. If you start a game the system should automatically switch to the dGPU.

MUX is a mechanism which works at the BIOS level which allows you to explicitly switch between the 3 modes, MSHybrid, iGPU and dGPU.

If you set the laptop explicitly to dGPU you very often get better gaming performance.

Plus features like G-Sync (if the laptop is enabled for it) will not work unless the laptop is in discrete mode (i.e. switched exclusively to the dGPU).

You may also hear the term Optimus, this is basically the same as MSHybrid.

*edit* spelling.

Cheers Bud.

So are we saying that Ionico MUX is locked?

NooB question - If MUX is locked then does it not automatically detect the graphic nature of the game and switch to dGPU? and why is this different to setting the laptop exclusively to dGPU? I.E not better gaming experience

if you dont require G-Sync then there is no downside?

 

[Macco26]

Cheers Bud.

So are we saying that Ionico MUX is locked?

NooB question - If MUX is locked then does it not automatically detect the graphic nature of the game and switch to dGPU? and why is this different to setting the laptop exclusively to dGPU? I.E not better gaming experience

if you dont require G-Sync then there is no downside?

Check this for definition of MUX: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/understanding-terms-laptops.79487/#post-581591

MUX is quite a bit different than assigning tasks from iGPU to dGPU. That's applied anyway.

And yes, so far with latest BIOS of 26 Feb 2021, Ionico has lost the chance to activate the MUX, old BIOS allowed it no problem.

 

[kshnnnn]

Received my Ionico 17.3" today. I'm happy with it. Solid, aesthetic build. Updated Microsoft all the way through and made sure all my drivers are up-to-date as well. Spent the day configuring everything. I can confirm that my BIOS is only letting me choose between iGPU and MSHybrid. I suppose MSHybrid would be the better option? Then at least the dGPU gets some action when the opportunity arises, right? What now from here regarding BIOS, dGPU, and MUX?

Also, I tried to do a 3DMark test, but it seems I have to pay for it? Is there any way to stress test for free and share it? Or is 3DMark a worthy investment?

 

[Martinr36]

Received my Ionico 17.3" today. I'm happy with it. Solid, aesthetic build. Updated Microsoft all the way through and made sure all my drivers are up-to-date as well. Spent the day configuring everything. I can confirm that my BIOS is only letting me choose between iGPU and MSHybrid. I suppose MSHybrid would be the better option? Then at least the dGPU gets some action when the opportunity arises, right? What now from here regarding BIOS, dGPU, and MUX?

Also, I tried to do a 3DMark test, but it seems I have to pay for it? Is there any way to stress test for free and share it? Or is 3DMark a worthy investment?

follow the link in the first post in this thread

Real Users' Benchmarks - Rank of PCS Laptops

Hi, I would like to share my Firestrike results with you all (especially as my build is a bit uncommon) and, with your help, also create a consolidated thread with benchmarks of most PCS laptops. Hopefully, this will be of help to future buyers looking to compare their current builds and...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[kshnnnn]

follow the link in the first post in this thread

Real Users' Benchmarks - Rank of PCS Laptops

Hi, I would like to share my Firestrike results with you all (especially as my build is a bit uncommon) and, with your help, also create a consolidated thread with benchmarks of most PCS laptops. Hopefully, this will be of help to future buyers looking to compare their current builds and...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Much appreciated!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Received my Ionico 17.3" today. I'm happy with it. Solid, aesthetic build. Updated Microsoft all the way through and made sure all my drivers are up-to-date as well. Spent the day configuring everything. I can confirm that my BIOS is only letting me choose between iGPU and MSHybrid. I suppose MSHybrid would be the better option? Then at least the dGPU gets some action when the opportunity arises, right? What now from here regarding BIOS, dGPU, and MUX?

Also, I tried to do a 3DMark test, but it seems I have to pay for it? Is there any way to stress test for free and share it? Or is 3DMark a worthy investment?

You can get a trial of Firestrike through 3D mark through steam.

It’s such a huge benefit for testing systems though I’d strongly recommend purchasing it, they often do crazy deals on steam where the whole suite comes down to a couple of quid, keep your eyes out, we should get an Easter sale in a couple of weeks.