Buyer beware: Hardware configurations can eat up 25% of Radeon 6800M's performance

[Irata]

Except this is the AMD Advantage edition that AMD claims they built WITH Asus

Yes, and that is the problem. “AMD advantage“ is supposed to tell the consumer they are getting a good system and imo using slow RAM on a supposedly high end system isn‘t it.

It is possible that memory was different during the design phase, but is it too much to ask of AMD to check if design specs = retail unit specs ?

 

[Watzupken]

I am not sure if this single vs dual rank memory difference will have a significant impact on Intel's system, but I agree this is not a good showing considering this laptop is branded as an "AMD Advantage" system. There are certainly some advantages, but they are mostly hampered by these 2 issues. RAM wise, I think its an industry issue that Crucial is selling these crappy loose timing RAMs with the end user not knowing the difference. That's a really sly move from Crucial in my opinion.

The other thing I take issue with this laptop is the 1080p screen. For a high end laptop, its really lame to see a 1080p display. While this is a high refresh rate display, but I wonder how many games out there can achieve FPS to maximise it? The GPU will generally be bottlenecked by the slower mobile CPU at this resolution.

 

[Puiu]

Yes, and that is the problem. “AMD advantage“ is supposed to tell the consumer they are getting a good system and imo using slow RAM on a supposedly high end system isn‘t it.

It is possible that memory was different during the design phase, but is it too much to ask of AMD to check if design specs = retail unit specs ?

I don't think AMD can force OEMs to adopt a certain RAM spec, especially if OEMs want to move larger quantities. In the end AMD's focus with this program could just be on the overall build quality (cooling, power delivery, good plastics/metals, etc) and the screen (which were problematic in the past), and the other details are left for the OEM to decide.

 

[anonymuos]

In my ASUS laptop, even the HDMI 2.0 is connected to the iGPU only besides the internal display. Only the USB-C DisplayPort Alternate mode to external display is dCPU and without a USB 3 Gen 2 hub which are very rare, I lose the 10 Gbps Gen 2 data port on it once I connect it to external monitor. ASUS sucks. They also removed/ didn't implement S3 sleep at the firmware level at all in my laptop with 5800H and RTX 3060, forcing the craptastic Modern Standby in a gaming laptop! My Lenovo Legion doesn't have any of these issues.

 

[yeeeeman]

How long will amd fanboys keep blaming oems? I mean, come on. Asus is the go to oem for amd for 3 generations now so I doubt they have any sort of animosity or bad interests in regards to amd.
Please face the fact that AMD is in fact a small company, with a reputation that is built over the past years and their shitty drivers, their stability issues and many other stupid issues that only amd hardware has is not something people have imagined or invented. It is something that happens on amd machines and doesn't on intel/nvidia ones, simply because these are larger companies and actually do proper q&a.

and I am not talking here about the ram issue, since the ram issue is justified. There is a lack of ram on the market, so in order for this to get out of the market, they had to use whatever there is available. the bigger problem is that amd engineers want people to take their products seriously but cannot make a damn mux in order to give you the full performance on the internal panel of the laptop. That is just dumb.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yes, and that is the problem. “AMD advantage“ is supposed to tell the consumer they are getting a good system and imo using slow RAM on a supposedly high end system isn‘t it.

It is possible that memory was different during the design phase, but is it too much to ask of AMD to check if design specs = retail unit specs ?

Yes, it is too much to ask. AMD has had many golden opportunities to partner with smaller brands and make genuinely good laptops to showcase their APUs but has consistently dropped the ball and let OEMs do their own thing. This is the same AMD that tried to hoist all of their ryzen APU driver development onto OEMS like it was 1997, and only after consumer backlash did they change course.

I don't think AMD can force OEMs to adopt a certain RAM spec, especially if OEMs want to move larger quantities. In the end AMD's focus with this program could just be on the overall build quality (cooling, power delivery, good plastics/metals, etc) and the screen (which were problematic in the past), and the other details are left for the OEM to decide.

Normally they cant, but this is a specific "AMD ADVANTAGE" build, and AMD can impose whatever requirements they want to earn that badge. Certian RAM specs included. AMD coudl tell ASUS they need to meet certian timings to get that advantage sponsorship.

AMD just didnt care. Again.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

How long will amd fanboys keep blaming oems? I mean, come on. Asus is the go to oem for amd for 3 generations now so I doubt they have any sort of animosity or bad interests in regards to amd.
Please face the fact that AMD is in fact a small company, with a reputation that is built over the past years and their shitty drivers, their stability issues and many other stupid issues that only amd hardware has is not something people have imagined or invented. It is something that happens on amd machines and doesn't on intel/nvidia ones, simply because these are larger companies and actually do proper q&a.

Yes, ebcause things like vBIOS limiting core count, a chrome black screen bug that lasted half a year, and insufficient cooling systems never happen to intel/nvidia PCs. Ever. Nor do companies like nvidia have a reputation of burying issues when they occur, trying to lock down OC ability on enthusiaast parts, or force cloud connected logins into your DRIVER STACK.

AMD is no saint, but lets not pretend they are the only company with issues.

and I am not talking here about the ram issue, since the ram issue is justified. There is a lack of ram on the market, so in order for this to get out of the market, they had to use whatever there is available. the bigger problem is that amd engineers want people to take their products seriously but cannot make a damn mux in order to give you the full performance on the internal panel of the laptop. That is just dumb.

Bruh what the **** are you going on about? Memory is one of the few compnents that isnt in short supply. You can freely buy any RAM you want on the DIY market, there is no way there is some mystical shortage of RAM for OEMs (and that of course ignores that the intel systems come with better RAM).

ASUS and AMD are both to blame for design shortcomings here. ASUS is the ODM, after all.

 

[Puiu]

Yes, it is too much to ask. AMD has had many golden opportunities to partner with smaller brands and make genuinely good laptops to showcase their APUs but has consistently dropped the ball and let OEMs do their own thing. This is the same AMD that tried to hoist all of their ryzen APU driver development onto OEMS like it was 1997, and only after consumer backlash did they change course.
Normally they cant, but this is a specific "AMD ADVANTAGE" build, and AMD can impose whatever requirements they want to earn that badge. Certian RAM specs included. AMD coudl tell ASUS they need to meet certian timings to get that advantage sponsorship.

AMD just didnt care. Again.

From what I've read, the memory appears to be "normal" and fits the specs that should be used for gaming laptops with 3200MHz CL22. but in actuality the secondary timings are the problem. it seems like the more expensive laptops do include RAM kits with better secondary timings.

The bigger problem is the Mux switch, but it's not that surprising since Asus seems to not include it even with their RTX 3000 laptops.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Yes, and that is the problem. “AMD advantage“ is supposed to tell the consumer they are getting a good system and imo using slow RAM on a supposedly high end system isn‘t it.

It is possible that memory was different during the design phase, but is it too much to ask of AMD to check if design specs = retail unit specs ?

Wake up!
AMD prefers the hands off approach.
Mantle went to Khronos.

Freesync in the hands of monitor makers.

An "Advantage" that was immediately recognized as interior to Nvidia [gsync] working with monitor makers, or Intel and Evolv.

Don't even get me started on AMDs work with game devs or AMDs garbage software in general. Spoiler: it's tragic.

 

[Irata]

Wake up!
AMD prefers the hands off approach.
Mantle went to Khronos.

Freesync in the hands of monitor makers.

An "Advantage" that was immediately recognized as interior to Nvidia [gsync] working with monitor makers, or Intel and Evolv.

Don't even get me started on AMDs work with game devs or AMDs garbage software in general. Spoiler: it's tragic.

So, don‘t worry about AMD and their products and don‘t buy them. Peace of mind can be so simple.

 

[MaxSmarties]

What kind of “bad timings RAM” are we speaking about ? I read they swapped ram, but I couldn’t find details

 

[Puiu]

What kind of “bad timings RAM” are we speaking about ? I read they swapped ram, but I couldn’t find details

here's one place where you can read about it:

The Asus ROG STRIX G15 laptop with Radeon RX 6800M cannot reach its true gaming potential due to slower stock RAM and missing MUX switch

The slower RAM gimps the gaming performance by up to 20% on the Asus model, while the missing MUX switch is further limiting the potential that should match models equipped with RTX 3080 mobile dGPUs. Similar RAM problems can also be encountered on the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. However, the Lenovo...

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[hahahanoobs]

So, don‘t worry about AMD and their products and don‘t buy them. Peace of mind can be so simple.

How do I post the Leave Britney Alone meme here?

 

[Athlonite]

This is pretty much a story about every OEM you get one good component and the rest have been cheaped out on like using a single DIMM instead of two so you can take advantage of dual channel or the PSU barely being able to power the components in your new prebuilt or lacking off the shelf components yes Dell I'm looking at you with your shitty proprietary mobo's and PSU's

 

[MaxSmarties]

here's one place where you can read about it:

The Asus ROG STRIX G15 laptop with Radeon RX 6800M cannot reach its true gaming potential due to slower stock RAM and missing MUX switch

The slower RAM gimps the gaming performance by up to 20% on the Asus model, while the missing MUX switch is further limiting the potential that should match models equipped with RTX 3080 mobile dGPUs. Similar RAM problems can also be encountered on the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. However, the Lenovo...

www.notebookcheck.net

Thank you.
It must be me, but even in that article I read about "worse timings", especially tRFC, but no details about actual numbers

Since we are speaking about 3200 CL22 memory anyway, I'm really puzzled about a single secondary timing making such a huge difference (we are speaking of 20 FPS !). There must be something else behind.

 

[Puiu]

Thank you.
It must be me, but even in that article I read about "worse timings", especially tRFC, but no details about actual numbers

Since we are speaking about 3200 CL22 memory anyway, I'm really puzzled about a single secondary timing making such a huge difference (we are speaking of 20 FPS !). There must be something else behind.

Yeah, it is weird, but changing the ram does indeed improve performance. Who knows what Asus was thinking when they used them.

It's most likely dirt cheap sticks that they can advertise as "for gaming" because of the 3200MHz clock speed. Really shameful practice if you ask me.