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I need to vent about the 940MX

T25 Anniversary/Retro
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chx1975
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I need to vent about the 940MX

#1 Post by chx1975 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:05 am

How incredibly stupid was to include that, really, it doesn't provide any positive value (maybe it's part of the retro feeling to include a video card which equals in performance to high end desktop cards from ten years ago?) but it does provide a lot of negative value:

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#2 Post by dr_st » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:18 am

chx1975 wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:05 am
How incredibly stupid was to include that, really, it doesn't provide any positive value (maybe it's part of the retro feeling to include a video card which equals in performance to high end desktop cards from ten years ago?) but it does provide a lot of negative value:
  • Heavier
  • Hotter
Do you have quantitative measurements of these two points? I'm curious about it as well.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

RealBlackStuff
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#3 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:19 am

Let's face it, NOBODY forced you to buy it and there was enough opposition already, before it even got onto the market...

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chx1975
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#4 Post by chx1975 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:26 am

There is not a lot of choice to go up from the T420s full HD I hold. I wish it were better but it is what it is.

Frankly if they released the eGPU w/ the 1050 Ti they teased at IFA with the Yoga 920 I would live with the rest but they didn't.

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#5 Post by Summilux » Thu Nov 02, 2017 4:05 pm

Take solace in the fact that as a buyer, you've encouraged to release more classic-ish laptops. Because Lenovo only understands the market through sales. Thus you sacrificed your money for the greater good.

... or so goes the story pushed by a number of people. You might even have been amongst them.
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#6 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Nov 02, 2017 4:09 pm

Do we know yet if the R25 has any special firmware preventing the transplantation of a T470 motherboard into it without functionality loss? Because that'd be a way to ditch the 940MX.

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#7 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 5:26 pm

What is the R25, the budget version of the T25 with thicker plastics and a 1366x768 LCD :lol: ?
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#8 Post by marsman2020 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:45 pm

chx1975 wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:05 am
How incredibly stupid was to include that, really, it doesn't provide any positive value (maybe it's part of the retro feeling to include a video card which equals in performance to high end desktop cards from ten years ago?) but it does provide a lot of negative value:
I think this is a little overblown in my opinion.

-Heavier: The TP25 is specified at 3.48 lbs and the minimum weight for a 3+3 cell T470 per the PSREF is 3.49 lbs. Doesn't seem any heavier to me. Maybe the 3.49 lbs is for the 940MX version of the T470 and others are actually lighter?

-Hotter: The 940MX should be completely powered off it it's not being used (no 3D programs being used). The only time I have seen the nVIDIA icon in the lower right corner indicate that it is being used was when I ran AutoDesk Fusion 360.

-Charger: I've had no problems charging with the 45W slim tip charger that came with my Helix, both with the machine off and while running. I haven't run a full CPU+dGPU stress test on the 45W charger though.

-Linux Compatibility: Ubuntu Budgie 17.10 works fine out of the box. The 940MX is not used and powered down by default with the nouveau driver installed. Unless you run some command line commands to force programs to use it (nouveau driver) or install the nVIDIA driver+Bumblebee, it will always stay powered off. Basically if you stick with nouveau and don't do anything else, it's like the 940 isn't even there. I have not personally tested external displays but I did see a post elsewhere on Reddit that the Intel GPU is connected to all of the external display ports. I don't have an USB-C display adapter but I can try the HDMI and report back.

-eGPU Restriction: I don't think this is true, at least not in Windows. See official AMD response to someone asking about this on a P50 here - https://egpu.io/forums/pc-setup/is-it-e ... pu-system/

I do like that the larger cooler in the TP25 allows the CPU to maintain ~3.3-3.4 GHz Turbo Boost while running an x264 encode for an hour. That is useful.
En Route: TP25
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#9 Post by dr_st » Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:31 am

marsman2020 wrote:
Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:45 pm
-Heavier: The TP25 is specified at 3.48 lbs and the minimum weight for a 3+3 cell T470 per the PSREF is 3.49 lbs. Doesn't seem any heavier to me. Maybe the 3.49 lbs is for the 940MX version of the T470 and others are actually lighter?
There is no 940MX version of the T470.
marsman2020 wrote:
Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:45 pm
I think this is a little overblown in my opinion.
Probably. Maybe even a lot.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#10 Post by NonesensE » Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:51 am

dr_st wrote:
Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:31 am
There is no 940MX version of the T470.
Isn't there one in Asia, like with previous models? I think so...
Sometimes coming over from the German forum...
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#11 Post by w0qj » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:52 am

I SWEAR a few weeks ago (when T25 got announced) that in our region, the T470 had the 940MX GPU option, 16 GB RAM, i7 dual core CPU, SSD options.
I did seriously compare T470 vs T25 back then.
(Sorry, did not make any screen shots, and no print outs).

Just visited ThinkPad regional site today, and the T470 has been neutered into *no* 940MX GPU option, 4 GB RAM, i3 CPU only, and HDD only (no SSD).
Guess ThinkPad has a habit of neutering its older models to cut prices, when newer models comes out for our region.
In this case, ThinkPad 25 is positioned as a mid-tier option to T470.

Oh, the T470p still keeps the 940MX GPU option, and other top-end bragging rights of course.
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#12 Post by dr_st » Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:06 am

I guess I'm wrong, there are a few T470 models with 940MX:
http://psref.lenovo.com/Product/ThinkPad_T470
(scroll down toward the middle)

But they don't seem to be offered at the moment.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

chx1975
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#13 Post by chx1975 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:10 pm

marsman2020 wrote:
Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:45 pm
I did see a post elsewhere on Reddit that the Intel GPU is connected to all of the external display ports. I don't have an USB-C display adapter but I can try the HDMI and report back.
Please. This would be the news of the decade :) (just to stick to overblowing it :D ) because then yes, the whole thing becomes moot. I do need the external display ports on the road, (DisplayPorts, even) because I have two PackedPixels :) but when at home I would like to use an eGPU and also I would like my eGPU to be highly portable because my travel patterns often involve travelling to one place and then staying for a few weeks (right now, months, I won't meet my T25 until January 13, sniff).

Since you seem to be my savior have you seen an USB C MST hub with power passthrough? There are USB C to single DP adapters with power passsthrough (Xiaomi has a particularly nice one with lots of USB ports to power my PackedPixels), there are USB C to MST hubs (Club3D has a cheap one) but not the two in one.

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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#14 Post by Ibthink » Sun Nov 12, 2017 4:31 pm

Indeed, the 940MX shouldn´t be connected with any display connector: https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1qdd18w.txt
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#15 Post by gofishus » Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:14 pm

w0qj wrote:
Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:52 am
I SWEAR a few weeks ago (when T25 got announced) that in our region, the T470 had the 940MX GPU option, 16 GB RAM, i7 dual core CPU, SSD options.
I did seriously compare T470 vs T25 back then.
(Sorry, did not make any screen shots, and no print outs).

Just visited ThinkPad regional site today, and the T470 has been neutered into *no* 940MX GPU option, 4 GB RAM, i3 CPU only, and HDD only (no SSD).
Guess ThinkPad has a habit of neutering its older models to cut prices, when newer models comes out for our region.
In this case, ThinkPad 25 is positioned as a mid-tier option to T470.

Oh, the T470p still keeps the 940MX GPU option, and other top-end bragging rights of course.
Compared to TP25:
T470 has no 940MX and no retro keyboard
T470s has no 940MX, no retro keyboard, no removable battery but weighs 0.5lbs less
T470p weighs 0.5lbs more, no retro keyboard, exchanges T3 for miniDP but has quad core processor

The TP25 is a good middle ground between the T470s and the T470p and is strictly an upgrade over the T470 (though costing on average $300 more)
2017 TP25 | 2016 X1 Yoga | 2014 X240 | 2007 X61

NonesensE
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#16 Post by NonesensE » Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:43 pm

gofishus wrote:
Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:14 pm
Compared to TP25:
T470 has no 940MX and no retro keyboard
T470s has no 940MX, no retro keyboard, no removable battery but weighs 0.5lbs less
T470p weighs 0.5lbs more, no retro keyboard, exchanges T3 for miniDP but has quad core processor

The TP25 is a good middle ground between the T470s and the T470p and is strictly an upgrade over the T470 (though costing on average $300 more)
There is (was?) a version of the T470 with 940MX in some countries, so the TP25 really is just a top-of-the-line T470 with a different keyboard (and palmrest and touchpad).
Sometimes coming over from the German forum...
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Re: I need to vent about the 940MX

#17 Post by marsman2020 » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:47 am

So, I tested the HDMI output and confirmed that with the default drivers installed by Ubuntu 17.10 (modesetting open source driver for intel card and nouveau open source driver for 940mx) - the 940mx remains powered off while the HDMI port is in use.

I'm going to order a USB-C -> DisplayPort adapter off Monoprice so I can test that as well, but I don't see any reason it would be any different.

All of the outputs appear to be attached to the Intel card based on the command output below.

Code: Select all

root@ThinkPad-25:~#  cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0
1:DIS: :DynOff:0000:02:00.0
root@ThinkPad-25:~# xrandr --listproviders 
Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x67 cap: 0x9, Source Output, Sink Offload crtcs: 3 outputs: 5 associated providers: 1 name:modesetting
Provider 1: id: 0x3f cap: 0x4, Source Offload crtcs: 0 outputs: 0 associated providers: 1 name:nouveau
Edit: Tested in Windows as well and the monitor on the HDMI port shows up as being connected to the Intel IGP in the Device Manager tree view, and there is no activity shown on the nVIDIA icon in the system tray.
En Route: TP25
Current Daily Driver: Helix (1st Gen)
Classic Collection: 340, 701CS, X31

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