Hi everyone,
The News:
Excerpt: Earlier than expected, Schenker has new notebooks in its portfolio that are (also) equipped with Ryzen 4000 a.k.a. Renoir. The models in the XMG Core 15 and XMG Core 17 series are available with both AMD and Intel processors and an optional GeForce RTX 2060 refresh.
Ryzen 5 4600H and Ryzen 7 4800H from end of June
The fact that Schenker is launching a model with Renoir as early as this summer, during the "still tense supply chain situation worldwide", is somewhat surprising. Although the manufacturer had already announced the return of AMD in the notebook at the CES in January, this still referred to Ryzen 3000 alias Picasso. And the manufacturer stated that it could be in short supply this year. Last month, Schenker first followed up with the XMG Apex 15, which uses Ryzen 3000 series desktop processors and offers up to 16 cores in the form of a Ryzen 9 3950X throttled to 65 watts. Renoir is already coming in June. However as an H-model from the 45-watt class, the statement in January would have referred to the 15-watt class.
Shop links:
With AMD:
With Intel:
In the shop you will also find all data sheets and product pictures. Pre-orders are accepted immediately. Since there might be a run on the products, the rule is as always:
whoever orders first, gets delivered first. :-)
For a new
alternative without dGPU, please check out this thread:
CPUs, GPUs, Displays, Batteries: all SKUs and variations
We offered XMG CORE series with AMD in a multitude of configurations. The 62Wh battery was launched after the 46Wh version. The following table represents the final status as of June 2020. Since then, the 46Wh versions have slowly and steadily sold-out and are not seen very often anymore. You might run into them at some resellers or 2nd hand. All new batches of XMG CORE from the factory are with 62Wh.
XMG CORE 15 / SCHENKER MEDIA 15 | CPU | GPU | LCD | Battery | Channel |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 | FHD/120Hz | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/60Hz 100%sRGB | 46Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/60Hz 100%sRGB | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | RTX 2060 | FHD/60Hz 100%sRGB | 46Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | RTX 2060 | FHD/60Hz 100%sRGB | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R7 4800H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
XMG CORE 17 / SCHENKER MEDIA 17 | CPU | GPU | LCD | Battery | Channel |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 | FHD/120Hz | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R5 4600H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG @ E-Tail, SCHENKER @ BTO |
| R7 4800H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | GTX 1650 Ti | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 46Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
| R7 4800H | RTX 2060 | FHD/144Hz | 62Wh | XMG, SCHENKER, everywhere |
On top of these SKUs, you can also customize RAM, SSD, WiFi and keyboard language in our BTO shop, bestware.com. The SKUs that are sold in E-Tail will also be available with different RAM/SSD/OS configurations at various price levels, but they won't be free to configure further. The pre-built E-Tail SKUs might vary over the upcoming months, depending on market demand.
XMG CORE / Intel vs. AMD: Comparison Table
This table shows non-obvious similarities and differences in XMG CORE Series (2020) between the Intel and AMD platforms.
→ Click here to see the table The table is already complete in covering all the major spec sheet differences. While not going into the technology or performance of the CPUs themselves, it does give you an idea about the
maximum TDP/PPT/TGP boost of the CPU and dGPU on each laptop and config level. PRO TIP: a more efficient CPU means you can boost the TGP of your dGPU higher.
Everybody wins! If you are missing some information here, please write it in the comments or send me a PM.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does XMG CORE with AMD also have NVIDIA Optimus? A: Yes. With a few details:
- XMG CORE with Intel has NVIDIA Optimus (can be disabled in BIOS via "MUX design")
- XMG CORE with AMD has NVIDIA Optimus (cannot be disabled in BIOS - you have to rely on the NVIDIA driver to control which program runs on which GPU)
Why no MUX design in AMD? The MUX design was the hardware preparation for a DDS (Dynamic Display Switching, also known as "Advanced Optimus"), which might come later in form of a hardware upgrade. But NVIDIA only allows DDS in combination with G-SYNC. NVIDIA currently supports DDS only on Intel CPUs, not with AMD. Therefore the additional complexity of MUX design in the AMD mainboard has been saved, since Optimus would remain enabled for most users anyway.
External display connectors are directly connected to the dGPU on both Intel and AMD to enable external FreeSync, G-SYNC, DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution) and especially VR support, regardless of whether Optimus is enabled or not.
Q: Will XMG CORE with AMD also be available with graphics cards beyond RTX 2060? A: XMG APEX 15 with AMD desktop CPU is available with RTX 2070 (Refresh, Max-P). The XMG CORE series is currently planned with RTX 2060 at most. In terms of TGP support, an RTX 2070 (Refresh, Max-P) would be theoretically possible, but this would again require a new motherboard layout, as the RTX 2060 is already satisfied with 6 VRAM slots, while the RTX 2070 needs 8 slots, plus further modifications in the board layout specified by NVIDIA. The RTX 2070 is thus not simply about putting a better GPU on the board. It represents as new mainboard design with a substantial investment. In principle, the more variants one has to design, validate, produce and stock (including long-term spare part planning), the more the costs for all variants increase.
Since the XMG CORE series is by definition trimmed for the best possible price/performance ratio, we try to create as many synergy effects as possible, e.g:
- CORE 15, CORE 17 and NEO 17 use exactly the same battery
- XMG CORE 17 uses the chassis of the 2019 version without major changes
- XMG CORE 15 and XMG NEO 15 partly use the same housing parts, especially the display cover
- The mainboards (with all 3 graphics and 2 CPU versions) of the XMG CORE 15 also fit 1:1 into the XMG CORE 17
Whether and when the series equipped with RTX 2070 (ff.) such as XMG NEO, PRO, ULTRA and also SCHENKER KEY with AMD CPU will be available is not yet foreseeable. Further background information can also be found in
this article.
Q: Can I buy XMG CORE without dedicated graphics? A: The dedicated NVIDIA GPU cannot be removed from the existing XMG CORE series board design. This is mainly due to the fact that all external display connectors are attached to this dGPU for the above mentioned reasons. For a pure APU variant (with AMD iGPU) a completely new board design would be necessary. To make consistent use of the additional space, a new layout for the cooling system would also be necessary and the connection distribution would change. This would be a completely new project, which is not planned within the XMG CORE and technically identical SCHENKER MEDIA series.
Current alternatives without dGPU: - SCHENKER VIA 15 with AMD Ryzen 5 3500U
- SCHENKER SLIM 15 with Intel Core i7-10510U
- SCHENKER WORK 15 with Intel Core i7-9750H
- SCHENKER WORK 17 with Intel Core i7-9750H
If one day we release a laptop with a pure AMD "H Series" APU, it will probably be under a different product family name.
Q: Is a variation with dedicated AMD graphics card planned? A: Not currently planned.
Q: Will it be possible to upgrade the 46Wh battery? A: For the XMG CORE 15, battery upgrades are currently not possible due to the low z-height and wide usage of thermal and I/O space. For XMG CORE 17, an upgrade to 62Wh could technically be available in the future - we are still in negotiation here. If the upgrade were to take place, it would also be possible to retrofit XMG CORE 17 units sold up to that point.
Q: What battery life can I expect? A: The battery life with a 46Wh battery is similar to that of the XMG CORE 15 from 2019. By using NVIDIA Optimus, the dGPU is normally deactivated and the AMD CPU clocks down efficiently, so that idle energy consumption is as low as possible. We'll provide more detailed information about the runtime at the end of June, as soon as the serial production starts.
Q: Are displays with more than Full HD resolution planned? A: FHD with 144Hz will most likely remain the maximum configuration of the XMG CORE series. Current panels in these sizes (low height, narrow bezel) with WQHD (1440p) are unfortunately not available on the market. Panels with UHD/4K might be technically possible, but are not worthwhile for this power segment due to increased power consumption and unit price. It is also not guaranteed whether UHD/4K panels from the open market are compatible with the mainboard's eDP port - such panels must be fully validated, often with firmware adaptations. This is currently not planned for the XMG CORE and SCHENKER MEDIA series.
Current alternatives with UHD/4K display: - SCHENKER KEY 15 (with Samsung AMOLED)
- SCHENKER COMPACT 17
- SCHENKER DTR 17
- XMG ULTRA 17
Q: Fan volume and performance profiles? A: The XMG CORE series has three performance profiles similar to XMG NEO and FUSION: Silent, Balanced, Enthusiast. These can be changed using a dedicated button above the keyboard. The Enthusiast profile is omitted in the XMG CORE 15 with GTX 1650 and GTX 1650 Ti. These two versions are supplied with an especially slim/light 120W power supply unit. The other versions of XMG CORE 15 and 17 will be available with 150W and 180W power supplies respectively.
Details on the PPT levels of the respective profiles will be updated here before the start of series production.
Q: Does XMG CORE with AMD support SATA as well as NVMe/PCIe SSDs? A: SATA slots for 2.5" drives are partly omitted due to space restrictions (XMG CORE 15). With the AMD chipset, a 3rd party PCIe/SATA converter (bridge) would have been necessary for the use of SATA, which is also saved on the motherboard for space reasons. The two M.2 SSD slots support PCIe 3.0 x4 with NVMe support. One of the two M.2 ports can possibly also be used with cheaper SATA SSDs - but this is currently still under validation.
Q: Is LPDDR4-4266 RAM supported in XMG CORE with AMD? A: No, the board layout is only intended for a maximum of 2x DDR4-3200 (Dual Channel).
Q: Is PCI-Express 4.0 supported? A: No, the Ryzen 4000 "H" series (4600H, 4800H, etc.) supports a maximum of PCI-Express 3.0.
Q: What RAM modules are specifically supported? Is XMP support available? A: XMP support is not planned at launch. Whether it will be retrofitted in the future is not clear at the moment - at the moment I would not expect it. A concrete list of compatible RAM modules will be posted here towards the end of June.
Q: Will the chassis be available in other colors? A: Not planned at the moment. However, you have the choice to do without the imprint of the XMG logo on the display lid when buying, for the extra "undercover" touch.
Q: Is Adaptive Sync supported on the internal display? A: Adaptive Sync on the
internal display is currently
not supported on XMG CORE with AMD because it requires very specific LCD panels. According to reviews, Asus currently uses the Panda LM156LF-2F01 and BOE NV173FHM-NX1 panels, both of which support Adaptive Sync, but cannot keep up with our 144Hz panels in terms of brightness, contrast and color space coverage. Both these panels are specified with the industry standard 'NTSC 45%', while our panels are specified with the better 'NTSC 72%'.
We will keep our eyes open as to whether there will also be Adaptive Sync-capable panels with good optical properties in the future. With external displays via Mini-DisplayPort, on the other hand, there is no need to worry. Externally we always support G-SYNC, AdaptiveSync (aka AMD FreeSync), matching 100% of what NVIDIA also
supports in their desktop graphics cards.
Q: What is the performance difference between CORE 15 and 17, between GTX and RTX, between AMD and Intel? Do you support Eluktroboost? A: We will update a benchmark table that puts benchmark results and CPU/GPU power consumption into perspective. The current version of the table is based on data from our ODM but it should be accurate already. Your real-world results might be differ by a tiny margin because every system is a bit different.
For a more complete and better formatted version of this table, please click
this link. The short version of the table below is based on the maximum "Enthusiast" performance profile. This is equivalent to the 'Eluktroboost' profile that is advertised by another brand. We are considering if we should rename 'Enthusiast' to 'Overboost'. There will be other profiles, namely 'Silent' and 'Balanced' with slightly reduced performance and reduced fan speeds.
Performance profile When running on external power, the CPU is controlled like this:
| Profile | PPT Value |
| Balanced + Eco | 25W |
| Balanced | 45W |
| Enthusiast | 54W |
| Overboost | 54W |
| Overboost + CPU Power Boost | 72W* |
\ not visible in monitoring tools, but in clock speeds. Overboost and CPU Power Boost are not available in CORE 15 with GTX 1650 Ti and below, but in all other XMG CORE with AMD models, including CORE 17 with GTX 1650 Ti.)
Benchmark Table v1, May 27 | XMG CORE 15 | XMG CORE 17 | XMG CORE 17 | XMG CORE 17 | XMG CORE 17 |
| Ryzen 7 4800H | Ryzen 7 4800H | Core i7-10750H | Ryzen 7 4800H | Core i7-10750H |
| GeForce GTX 1650 Ti | GeForce GTX 1650 Ti | GeForce GTX 1650 Ti | GeForce RTX 2060 (Refresh) | GeForce RTX 2060 (Refresh) |
| 2x 8GB 3200MHz CL22 | 2x 8GB 3200MHz CL22 | 2x 8GB 2933MHz CL22 | 2x 8GB 3200MHz CL22 | 2x 8GB 2933MHz CL22 |
| | | | | |
| Performance Profile | Enthusiast | Enthusiast | Enthusiast | Enthusiast | Enthusiast |
| Max. CPU Power | 54W | 64W | 75W | 64W | 75W |
| Max. GPU Power | 55W | 65W | 65W | 110W | 105W |
| Max. CPU+GPU Power | 109W | 129W | 140W | 174W | 180W |
| | | | | |
| 3dMark Fire Strike | | | | | |
| Graphics Score | 10175 | 10603 | 10550 | 16855 | 16651 |
| Total Score | 9491 | 9822 | 9279 | 15720 | 14816 |
| Physics Score | 22468 | 22682 | | 21911 | |
| Combined Score | 3967 | 4088 | | 8151 | |
Q: Which memory modules are supported? A: Current short list of internally validated modules:
| RAM SKU | Capacity (GB) | Speed | CL |
| Kingston ValueRAM KVR26S19S8/8 | 8 | DDR4-2666 | CL19 |
| Samsung M471A1K43CB1-CTD | 8 | DDR4-2666 | CL19 |
| Crucial CT8G4SFS832A | 8 | DDR4-3200 | CL22 |
| Samsung M471A2K43CB1-CTD | 16 | DDR4-2666 | CL19 |
| Kingston ValueRAM KVR26S19D8/16 | 16 | DDR4-2666 | CL19 |
| Crucial CT16G4SFD832A | 16 | DDR4-3200 | CL22 |
| Samsung M471A2K43DB1-CWE | 16 | DDR4-3200 | CL22 |
| Samsung M471A4G43MB1-C | 32 | DDR4-2666 | CL19 |
| Samsung M471A4G43AB1-CWE | 32 | DDR4-3200 | CL22 |
Operation with modules not listed here (higher clock rates, lower latencies) are of course morally supported by us, but we cannot guarantee functionality.
The most important point here is: the XMG APEX 15 only supports 1.20V RAM.
Many modules of overclocker RAM, however, need 1.35V to achieve their specs. Before you buy RAM on the open market, please read the data sheets carefully to determine the voltage with which the RAM would like to be operated. We do not support modules with more than 1.20V.
Q: What are the Fn button doing? A: Fn key reference table:
| Fn Key | Function |
| Esc | FnLock |
| F1 | Mute |
| F2 | A- |
| F3 | A+ |
| F4 | - |
| F5 | - |
| F6 | LCD- |
| F7 | LCD+ |
| F8 | LCD Backlight off |
| F9 | WinLock |
| F10 | Touchpad off |
| F11 | Flight Mode |
| F12 | Standby |
| Space | Cycle KB Backlight |
| Arrrow ↑ | Page Up |
| Arrrow ↓ | Page Down |
| Arrrow ← | Home |
| Arrrow → | End |
DPC Latency Update on XMG CORE with AMD
XMG CORE with AMD with latest production-ready firmware and drivers.
Specs: - AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
- RTX 2060
- 2x DDR4-3200
- PCIe/NVMe SSD
- Windows 10 v2004 with all updates
- Latest drivers incl. NVIDIA WHQL
Screenshots Results: All good!
Any questions? Any idea for a really well-standardised, close to real-world LatencyMon test environment? PCMark does not count. Send me your Cubase projects and licence keys... ;-)
Reviews
Do you have further questions? Please write them in the comments below.
Thank you for your feedback! // Tom
