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Lenovo X1 Extreme
- Thread starter lcseds
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Yes, all the settings were consistent.
I think I should exchange my X1E just to rule out any hardware issue.
I am a passionate photographer too (nikon d810 and d5 here) and I can feel your pain with a slow machine..
Maybe there is a problem with you machine. Photoshop and Illustrator worked very well on my former X1E.
I haven't as yet, and I would expect that to be better. However comparing my X1E to my L390 which arrived two days earlier, and has the same factory install and the same software and settings at my end, the X1E is slower (it took me about 75 seconds to fully open Lightroom today in 4k resolution vs about 12 seconds on the L390Y). Either there's something up with my machine or the 4k res is slowing things down. I suspect an exchange might be the best option.
Why not reset the settings, that you modified, such as disabling turbo and other things and see how it works. Granted the fans will kick on, and it might run a little hotter, but I think the first thing you want to do, is validate the machine is as fast as you expect it should be.
I would compare your specific model with others, using benchmarks, i.e., compare apples to apples, if the numbers are significantly off, then there is something wrong. Again, in order to compare like items, I'd roll back all of the settings you instituted to get a quiet machine.
You may have posted this already but what was the cinebench benchmark number?
If I configure my i7/2.6Ghz for performance (I too have it set for better battery and what not), I'm pushing nearly 1,300.
Yes, I've tried undoing the quietness settings - no real difference (other than a bit more noise which I don't want). My other laptops have the same quietness settings applied and despite being lower spec they are all a little more responsive than my X1. I really don't want to run this computer at the higher power setting due to the heat and fans kicking in - it should perform very well with the balanced settings I'm using, or at the very least a little faster than my older machines.
Unless this is simply the price one pays for having 4k on a laptop - which I will fully accept if that is the case. It amounts to a slight lag when rendering images in Lightroom, and a slight choppiness/judder when zooming into those images. On my other machines this is completely smooth and more or less instant.
I'll try to do a Cinebench comparison as you suggest. I did the basic benchmark in XTU when I undervolted and got a score of 722 and a temp of 65 degrees C. That was with my usual settings (99% processor state, leaning to better battery). When I redid the test with full performance settings my temp was 89 and my score was 889.
All that said, it does also have coil whine. It seems that's the luck of the draw, irrespective of whether you choose i5 or i7. Sometimes I hear it only on the left side of the keyboard, sometimes on both the left and right sides.
Unless this is simply the price one pays for having 4k on a laptop - which I will fully accept if that is the case. It amounts to a slight lag when rendering images in Lightroom, and a slight choppiness/judder when zooming into those images. On my other machines this is completely smooth and more or less instant.
I'll try to do a Cinebench comparison as you suggest. I did the basic benchmark in XTU when I undervolted and got a score of 722 and a temp of 65 degrees C. That was with my usual settings (99% processor state, leaning to better battery). When I redid the test with full performance settings my temp was 89 and my score was 889.
All that said, it does also have coil whine. It seems that's the luck of the draw, irrespective of whether you choose i5 or i7. Sometimes I hear it only on the left side of the keyboard, sometimes on both the left and right sides.
IMHO you are not going to be happy
You can't fix the 4k and you can't fix the coil whine.
If you exchange it for a hd version, you probably have a better screen for your use case, less or no coil whine and a better battery life.
Of course that is my opinion, I do not want to push you into something you don't want to do of course
If I exchange it I might end up with even more coil whine .....…. but I might have to give it a go.
On that subject, what are your machines like for coil whine? Is it audible from normal usage distances or can you only hear it if you put your ear close to the keyboard? I suppose I'm trying to figure out what is 'normal' for this particular model and if I'm being overly picky.
.....…. but I might have to give it a go.On that subject, what are your machines like for coil whine? Is it audible from normal usage distances or can you only hear it if you put your ear close to the keyboard? I suppose I'm trying to figure out what is 'normal' for this particular model and if I'm being overly picky.
If I exchange it I might end up with even more coil whine
On that subject, what are your machines like for coil whine? Is it audible from normal usage distances or can you only hear it if you put your ear close to the keyboard? I suppose I'm trying to figure out what is 'normal' for this particular model and if I'm being overly picky.
On my X1 Extreme there is no coil wine at all. Hit or miss
If I exchange it I might end up with even more coil whine
On that subject, what are your machines like for coil whine? Is it audible from normal usage distances or can you only hear it if you put your ear close to the keyboard? I suppose I'm trying to figure out what is 'normal' for this particular model and if I'm being overly picky.
At home I use a self built desktop machine. Coil Whine is not applicable there, but if I put my ear near the desktop (around 50 cm) I can hear the fans of course. Perfectly normal for a desktop.
I also use a Surface Pro 4. No coil whine there.
I have a work issued Dell XPS15. I can here some coil whine, but only when I come close to the laptop and not always. It seems to produce some coil whine when the SSD/GPU is busy. It does not bother me, because I only use it when I am in the office or in the train, where the noise level is higher than average anyway. When I work at home I use my desktop machine.
I have had a Surface Book. No coil whine either.
It is a long time ago I had a Lenovo, so I don't remember if it had any coil whine.
Before my work issued Dell I had a cheapish work issued HP laptop (forgot the type) that had some coil whine too, but with the HP the fan noise was more annoying than anything else.
My partner's MacBook 2017 had coil whine too. She does not have the MacBook anymore. She sold it after reading about the keyboard/flexgate issues and after a co-worker of hers experienced keyboard problems with a MacBook 2017.
Coil whine is a strange phenomenon, for instance: Some Dell XPS15 have it and others don't (even if they are the exact same type). This goes the same for any brand.
If you Google on coil whine on any brand laptop (including the X1e) some people are complaining about coil whine in forums and others say they don't have the issue. The same goes for Dell, HP, Apple etc.
It seems luck has something to do with it too
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Yes, it seems to be hit and miss across the board. We have two Dell laptops in the business and both are silent, as is my Vaio (apart from awful fans). It's only my new Lenovo laptops which are showing coil whine - both are i5 models.
I had coil whine so badly on my desktop's GPU (Nvidia 1070) that I became ill. I swapped it for a slightly upgraded model and that one has been silent.
I had coil whine so badly on my desktop's GPU (Nvidia 1070) that I became ill. I swapped it for a slightly upgraded model and that one has been silent.
Well, maybe an exchange will help (maybe a HD screen with an i7? LOL).
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I'm doing some more tests just to be certain I want to exchange it, I still have a few days (we get 14 days in the UK). My issue is really with the coil whine, the other niggles are pretty minor and tied in with the 4k. My unit is very quiet now in terms of the fans.
After undervolting my X1E a couple of days ago I can confirm the fans have only come on briefly once over two days during normal light tasks - 4 chrome tabs open, emails, lots of back to back YouTube videos including a 35 min 4K video. If I then run a slideshow in Lightroom that sets them off (briefly) which is entirely to be expected. And when they do come on they do so at the medium setting rather than full pelt as before. That is the same whether plugged in or not. I think that's a very good result. I have no idea if that is partly attributable to getting the i5 version - perhaps the tiny difference in speed between the next processor on the list is enough to keep me just under the fan tripping threshold.
After undervolting my X1E a couple of days ago I can confirm the fans have only come on briefly once over two days during normal light tasks - 4 chrome tabs open, emails, lots of back to back YouTube videos including a 35 min 4K video. If I then run a slideshow in Lightroom that sets them off (briefly) which is entirely to be expected. And when they do come on they do so at the medium setting rather than full pelt as before. That is the same whether plugged in or not. I think that's a very good result. I have no idea if that is partly attributable to getting the i5 version - perhaps the tiny difference in speed between the next processor on the list is enough to keep me just under the fan tripping threshold.
Coil whine is, unfortunately, one of those lottery things as far as exchanges go. Much like color shifts with displays, etc. If you exchange one for the other, you may get lucky and get one that is perfect or nearly so, but you may also get one worse than the original and then your exchanging that and hoping the next one is the one.
I recall a blog from a guy who had a test unit and fell in love with the keyboard and went through unit after unit after unit trying to find one with a keyboard that felt the same as the test unit he had. The funny thing with that though is we will never know if the test unit was actually perfect by design or if it was actually an imperfect one, yet perfect for him.
Totally agree about the lottery aspect, it's a hard decision. Unfortunately I often work very long hours in a very quiet office and combined with my sensitive hearing I can end up unable to use a machine if it has even a relatively small amount of coil whine. The only question I can ask myself is whether I could live with this one, if the situation was such that there was no alternative. Some days I think 'yes' but then I'll have a period of time when I find the noise overly annoying (mostly when I'm tired). All my other laptops are dead silent, aside from my two recently acquired Lenovos (one of which I think I can put up with). When something is very expensive I think that can drive us to seek the best possible experience.
I remember the keyboard guy - I think that was his X1 Carbon. Agree that keyboards can be very personal. I'd rate the keyboard on my X1E as being 7/10 and the keyboard on my L390Y as 9/10 for comfort and accuracy. On my Vaio it would be 6/10 and our office Dell Inspirion I'd give 1/10.
I remember the keyboard guy - I think that was his X1 Carbon. Agree that keyboards can be very personal. I'd rate the keyboard on my X1E as being 7/10 and the keyboard on my L390Y as 9/10 for comfort and accuracy. On my Vaio it would be 6/10 and our office Dell Inspirion I'd give 1/10.
May we all be saved from the Dell Inspirion, what a piece of corporate base garbage
When I had to suffer them they'd rarely reach the 12 month point before having issues, I'd rather use an abacus Q-6
When I was researching laptops I was quite shocked by what I found with respect to the Dell high end laptops in the XPS range. I've never seen so many quality control complaints in my life - too many to count. And of course epic coil whine and fans. By the amount of reading I've done it seems the Lenovos have far fewer issues which is what drove me to order them. Even my 'budget' Thinkpad L390Y has really nice build quality.
The Dell Inspirion we have has a shiny screen and I can't use it at all - the reflections are too much. My thinkpads have shiny screens yet I haven't once been troubled by reflections.
The Dell Inspirion we have has a shiny screen and I can't use it at all - the reflections are too much. My thinkpads have shiny screens yet I haven't once been troubled by reflections.
So I finally tried lightroom cc classic. Wow it runs faster on this laptop then my desktop I7 5820k...
Look at the pic below.
On my desktop my cpu would hit 100 percent while doing an export and my temps at that load is only 76c...
Something really wrong with your laptop. You should really get the I7 8750h.
I'm shocked at how powerful this laptop is.
