Tuesday, March 31st 2020
XMG APEX 15 is a Laptop with AMD Ryzen 3950X CPU Inside
Have you ever wondered how a laptop with a desktop CPU that has 16 cores and 32 threads would look like on a laptop? Well, today is your lucky day as XMG, a German laptop maker, has decided to launch a laptop that has AMD's latest and greatest desktop CPU - the Ryzen 3950X 16C/32T monster. The 3950X CPU, while featuring a regular TDP of 105 W, has been configured to 65 W in Eco Mode, and it runs anywhere from 2.6 to 4.2 GHz. The CPU also isn't soldered to the motherboard and there is a full AM4 socket, that is capable of housing any 3000 series desktop CPU.
Besides a powerful CPU, there are options for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or RTX 2070 graphics cards, which drive a 15.6-inch Full HD 144 Hz IPS panel equipped with anti-glare technology. The GPUs are a "Max-P incarnation" as XMG calls it, which presumably means that they are designed for maximum performance i.e. possibly higher boost speeds. Additionally, you can configure the laptop with up to 64 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz RAM. This configuration, containing Ryzen 9 3950X, RTX 2070, 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB NVM, costs around 2631 EUR. For more configuration options, you can check out this website. Availability is supposed to be in 6-8 weeks.
Source:
VideoCardz
Besides a powerful CPU, there are options for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or RTX 2070 graphics cards, which drive a 15.6-inch Full HD 144 Hz IPS panel equipped with anti-glare technology. The GPUs are a "Max-P incarnation" as XMG calls it, which presumably means that they are designed for maximum performance i.e. possibly higher boost speeds. Additionally, you can configure the laptop with up to 64 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz RAM. This configuration, containing Ryzen 9 3950X, RTX 2070, 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB NVM, costs around 2631 EUR. For more configuration options, you can check out this website. Availability is supposed to be in 6-8 weeks.
56 Comments on XMG APEX 15 is a Laptop with AMD Ryzen 3950X CPU Inside
Massive CPU... But not even a 2080 option?
So much noise from the fans and heat on the keyboard... who needs it?!Yeah, I was thinking the same, the graphics acceleration is going to run on the CPU :D
Although I'd be more bothered by the fact that RAM speed is limited to 2666 MHz. That's just sad on AMD's current platforms.
This chassis does not support XMP but rather requires memory with 3200MHz JEDEC profiles. Those are pretty new and are just coming out. At launch we were not ready yet to commit to either GoldKey, Crucial, Micron or Samsung, but I think we have that figured out now.
Q: What RAM modules do I need to hit the 3200MHz speed?
A: Over the last few years, DDR4 RAM speeds beyond 2666MHz were achieved by using XMP: Extreme Memory Profiles. In 2020, this will change. XMG APEX 15 is our first high-end model that does not support XMP. This will also apply to every subsequent model released with next-gen Intel H series CPUs.
In other words: most RAM modules that are advertised with 3200MHz (or more) won’t be able to run at 3200MHz in this machine. They will clock down to their highest JEDEC profile, which is usually 2666MHz.
In order to hit the 3200MHz speed, you need RAM modules that can already achieve this clock speed on JEDEC profiles. This requires new RAM modules that are coming out now in 2020. We will keep this list up to date over the upcoming months:
Any modules not on this list cannot be guaranteed to run at the desired 3200MHz.Yes.
Q: Will you offer XMG APEX 15 with other NVIDIA GPUs?
A: At launch, XMG APEX 15 is offered with RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 and supports up to 115W TGP on the GPU. Since the RTX 2080 requires 150W or more, it won’t be possible in this current chassis. Our ODM offers a downgrade to GTX 1660 Ti, but we decided not to carry that option because the price gap between GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2060 has become relatively small and NVIDIA is going to push RTX features like DLSS 2.0 even more in 2020.Correct.
NH57ADS = RTX 2060
NH57AF1 = RTX 2070
You will get different factory options, depending on which brand you buy:
Chassis-Design: Our ODM is offering this chassis in 4 different variations.
- NH50: Picture 1 - 2 - 3
- NH55: Picture 1 - 2 - 3
- NH57: Picture 1 - 2 - 3
- NH58: Picture 1 - 2 - 3
The features, mechanical engineering and mainboard layout are identical on each one of these – the chassis is purely about cosmetics and haptics. We picked the NH57 variation because it’s the only one where the LCD lid is made from metal. You can really feel the difference – it’s a much more quality / high-end feeling. NH55 was a close contender but it was covered in a semi-glossy IMR coating which is a bit too prone to collect fingerprints – it looks more matte on the pictures than in real-life.Overall, the NH57 is the best choice, even though it costs a couple of dollars more in production.
Fingerprint-Reader: the F/P Reader is situated in the top left corner of the touchpad when you order XMG APEX 15. Other brands might not offer this convenient feature.
TPM: the ODM usually offers the mainboard with either dedicated TPM (dTPM) or with a Firmware TPM implementation (fTPM). In Intel, the fTPM is called Intel PTT. AMD does not seem to have a specific marketing name for their own fTPM solution. Regardless, we are building XMG APEX 15 with dedicated TPM 2.0 from Infineon.
Keyboard Layouts: our ODM has their own unique keyboard design – love it or hate it. We at XMG make our own keyboard layouts and our layout for this model will differ from the ODM standard. The keyboard in this model is the same as in previous XMG PRO so the layouts have already been drawn for over 20 keyboard languages for the pan-European market.
LCD: the NH series is available with 3 different panel specs: 60Hz with either 45% or 72% NTSC Gamut and the 144Hz top spec, likewise with 72% NTSC. We are committed to build all XMG APEX 15 with the best available LCD panel.
BIOS: our ODM’s standard BIOS usually only comes with a minimal amount of options and features. We have worked with our ODM to extend those options to deliver as many expert tuning options as reasonably possible. This includes various Undervolting options. At the same time, XMG APEX 15 can also be tweaked with RyzenAdj and Ryzen Master.
Brand: we offer a fully debranded option where your laptop will remain completely blank with no printing and no laser-etching on any of the surfaces. Our brand will only remain on the rating label and in the BIOS boot logo. On top of that, all XMG and SCHENKER models are delivered without any stickers (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, HDMI etc.) on the palm rest area. Where possible, the stickers will be put into the shipping package for your personal usage.
(FAQ taken from our Reddit thread)
We'd be happy to answer more questions from the community!
Cheers,
Tom
The chassis from the following but with the X3950;
bestware.com/en/xmg-ultra-17.html
Or just a 17" version of the Apex 15.
Computex is delayed to September 28~30, 2020. I'm sure we will see some major roadmap updates then. We hope, XMG APEX 15 will have already sold well until then so that our ODM might consider to kick-off additional such projects. Wheels are sometimes turning slow here in Taiwan, but they do turn.
Cheers,
Tom
I think it would work.
Because I want to ditch that battery off when gaming. It is really unpleasantly to use the battery when gaming.
Seriously, my laptop always connects to electricity when gaming and unfortunately it's very difficult to detach the battery.
It runs very hot easily and quickly degrades the battery itself.
Even if you keep it connected: the BIOS has the "FlexiCharger" feature where you can customize the battery charging levels. For example:
- Don't charge when capacity still above 40%
- Stop charging when capacity hits 60%.
40~60% level is supposed to be ideal for storage.Cheers,
Tom