Razer Blade Stealth(2019) - BIOS 1.06 changelist?

Very interested in this!

Bumping this. Still very curious.

figrin1
Bumping this. Still very curious.

Yeah, I have a feeling Razer isn't going to tell us. Would you be willing to re-do the performance tests you did for the stealth bible post with the new Bios? That would tell us if Razer has again downgraded the CPU performance or maybe they brought it back up to 1.01 levels while keeping the coil whine to minimum? (Also, thank you so much for writing that post, I'm running my Stealth with most of your recommendations daily)

gambiting
Yeah, I have a feeling Razer isn't going to tell us. Would you be willing to re-do the performance tests you did for the stealth bible post with the new Bios? That would tell us if Razer has again downgraded the CPU performance or maybe they brought it back up to 1.01 levels while keeping the coil whine to minimum? (Also, thank you so much for writing that post, I'm running my Stealth with most of your recommendations daily)

That's so great to hear that the Bible has been helpful! Thanks for mentioning that.

Okay, I installed the 1.06 BIOS. What I'm seeing is that the CPU now refuses to go above 15W, and my physics scores in Firestrike have gone from around 10,500 to 8,500. Super disappointing. (This is all in Creator Mode with Windows power profile set to the default Balanced)

I l Personally like Razor blade. Really nice.

figrin1
Okay, I installed the 1.06 BIOS. What I'm seeing is that the CPU now refuses to go above 15W, and my physics scores in Firestrike have gone from around 10,500 to 8,500. Super disappointing. (This is all in Creator Mode with Windows power profile set to the default Balanced)

Hi figrin1! Thanks for checking!! This is really disappointing though. I was hoping that Razer finally addressed the power limitation issue after BIOS 1.02. Did you also install the new EC update (1.02) with it?

ronagergely86
Hi figrin1! Thanks for checking!! This is really disappointing though. I was hoping that Razer finally addressed the power limitation issue after BIOS 1.02. Did you also install the new EC update (1.02) with it?

I didn't install the EC. I'm scared about further performance hits. Honestly though, I know very little about how BIOS and EC interact, so my results may very well have to do with leaving the EC out. Rather than sending anyone down the wrong path with an uninformed recommendation, I think the best course of action for anyone interested in these updates is to actually get in touch with Razer Support and ask them what the updates are supposed to address (even though the chances of you getting a knowledgable, straight answer may not be great). I suspect these updates are meant to further address things like coil whine, speaker crackle, and battery discharge, albeit at the cost of performance ...would reeealllly love someone from Razer to chime in if I'm wrong though! :big_grin_:

figrin1
I didn't install the EC. I'm scared about further performance hits. Honestly though, I know very little about how BIOS and EC interact, so my results may very well have to do with leaving the EC out. Rather than sending anyone down the wrong path with an uninformed recommendation, I think the best course of action for anyone interested in these updates is to actually get in touch with Razer Support and ask them what the updates are supposed to address (even though the chances of you getting a knowledgable, straight answer may not be great). I suspect these updates are meant to further address things like coil whine, speaker crackle, and battery discharge, albeit at the cost of performance ...would reeealllly love someone from Razer to chime in if I'm wrong though! :big_grin_:

Thanks again for all your insights! Yeah, I tried to contact Razer in the past but after two agents being even surprised that there is a BIOS upgrade I gave up on that...but I`ll try it again to see. I asked about the EC because I know that the Synapse Creator Mode actually came only when the EC 1.01 update was applied too, which as you wrote is the only current way to push the CPU a bit further. But just as you wrote, it might also just lead to further system performance hits...

figrin1
I didn't install the EC. I'm scared about further performance hits. Honestly though, I know very little about how BIOS and EC interact, so my results may very well have to do with leaving the EC out. Rather than sending anyone down the wrong path with an uninformed recommendation, I think the best course of action for anyone interested in these updates is to actually get in touch with Razer Support and ask them what the updates are supposed to address (even though the chances of you getting a knowledgable, straight answer may not be great). I suspect these updates are meant to further address things like coil whine, speaker crackle, and battery discharge, albeit at the cost of performance ...would reeealllly love someone from Razer to chime in if I'm wrong though! :big_grin_:

So this is the most I managed to get out from Razer Tech Support: "So, BIOS 1.06 will fix some minor coil, SMBIOS type, and latency fixes. The EC update boost Synapse performance, and ACPI / Power Framework performance. I would advise to update BIOS to ensure that your hardware is communicating with your system properly and prevent any ACPI issues with the battery or the ports. These BIOS updates do not modify anything with draw and volting. It's merely software and your ACPI."

ronagergely86
So this is the most I managed to get out from Razer Tech Support: "So, BIOS 1.06 will fix some minor coil, SMBIOS type, and latency fixes. The EC update boost Synapse performance, and ACPI / Power Framework performance. I would advise to update BIOS to ensure that your hardware is communicating with your system properly and prevent any ACPI issues with the battery or the ports. These BIOS updates do not modify anything with draw and volting. It's merely software and your ACPI."

Wow, I'm shocked they told you even this much. When I opened a support ticket to ask what exactly is in the 1.02 BIOS they just said they don't know. I don't know, I want to install 1.06 to hopefully get rid of the last remaining coil whine(I've given up hope that they can fix the speaker crackle without a hardware fix though), but yeah if the CPU performance is degraded even further then I don't know. I already have 1.02 EC but I'm still using the 1.01 BIOS.

ronagergely86
So this is the most I managed to get out from Razer Tech Support: "So, BIOS 1.06 will fix some minor coil, SMBIOS type, and latency fixes. The EC update boost Synapse performance, and ACPI / Power Framework performance. I would advise to update BIOS to ensure that your hardware is communicating with your system properly and prevent any ACPI issues with the battery or the ports. These BIOS updates do not modify anything with draw and volting. It's merely software and your ACPI."

I wish I knew what "boost Synapse performance" meant. If other folks decide to try this update out, I hope that they chime in!

figrin1
I wish I knew what "boost Synapse performance" meant. If other folks decide to try this update out, I hope that they chime in!

Ok. Guinea pig here. As a long standing razer fan - despite - all the negative feedback that came up about the RBS 13 2019 - i just ordered mine. It should be arriving tomorrow and I will try to do my best to do comparisons and evaluations comparing before uefi/ec update and after. I am planning on giving all the updates a try. I know a lot of people do not have either the patience or knowledge to do some extended testing and fixing, but I am totally fine with fiddeling around for some hours or even days. Since -afaik- the RBS is still the overall best ultrabook you can get. But this is getting offtopic, sry. Will be reporting back within 48hours. At least if DHL express is doing their Job :D

parac1oXX
Ok. Guinea pig here. As a long standing razer fan - despite - all the negative feedback that came up about the RBS 13 2019 - i just ordered mine. It should be arriving tomorrow and I will try to do my best to do comparisons and evaluations comparing before uefi/ec update and after. I am planning on giving all the updates a try. I know a lot of people do not have either the patience or knowledge to do some extended testing and fixing, but I am totally fine with fiddeling around for some hours or even days. Since -afaik- the RBS is still the overall best ultrabook you can get. But this is getting offtopic, sry. Will be reporting back within 48hours. At least if DHL express is doing their Job :D

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing what you find.

gambiting
Wow, I'm shocked they told you even this much. When I opened a support ticket to ask what exactly is in the 1.02 BIOS they just said they don't know. I don't know, I want to install 1.06 to hopefully get rid of the last remaining coil whine(I've given up hope that they can fix the speaker crackle without a hardware fix though), but yeah if the CPU performance is degraded even further then I don't know. I already have 1.02 EC but I'm still using the 1.01 BIOS.

Yeah, I can understand that you are worried because of potential further CPU performance downgrade! I actually updated mine to 1.06 but my laptop already shipped with bios 1.02 so I though it can not get any worst. I haven`t run much testing yet. With Geekbench 4, I do not see any change though.

figrin1
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing what you find.

Okay, this all took me longer than expected. First things first: It seems, I got a really brand new, freshly produced RBS 2019. The box states production in "07/2019". Aaaand guess what... I already got newest EC and BIOS 1.06 preinstalled. wohoo! :D So I checked and tried, but afaik it is impossible to revert to an older bios version. So now comparisons on my side, sry. But I wanna still do some testings - so which benchmark, and settings did you exactly use?

Merely posting to watch this thread.

ventureRubersecret257
Merely posting to watch this thread.

You know to be fair, this is kinda Spam ;) - there is this "watch thread" button on top right corner of the forum frame. Does exactly what it says :D Your welcome

Cinebench R20 , I get about 1700 multi score if I do a bit of undervolting. Or about 1500 or so stock on 1.02 bios and on creators mode

parac1oXX
You know to be fair, this is kinda Spam ;) - there is this "watch thread" button on top right corner of the forum frame. Does exactly what it says :D Your welcome

Ow. I tried to look for such a button but couldn't find it. Guess I'm blind, thanks and sorry!

parac1oXX
Okay, this all took me longer than expected. First things first: It seems, I got a really brand new, freshly produced RBS 2019. The box states production in "07/2019". Aaaand guess what... I already got newest EC and BIOS 1.06 preinstalled. wohoo! :D So I checked and tried, but afaik it is impossible to revert to an older bios version. So now comparisons on my side, sry. But I wanna still do some testings - so which benchmark, and settings did you exactly use?

I would love to know your physics scores on the firestrike benchmark, and I typically use MSI afterburner to monitor the CPU wattage. Really curious to know if it's getting up to the full 25W for you!

figrin1
I would love to know your physics scores on the firestrike benchmark, and I typically use MSI afterburner to monitor the CPU wattage. Really curious to know if it's getting up to the full 25W for you!

Lustral
Cinebench R20 , I get about 1700 multi score if I do a bit of undervolting. Or about 1500 or so stock on 1.02 bios and on creators mode

Ok i just ran this cinebench r20 thing, wasnt even aware, they have a new version :D I consistently get 1400 with windows power settings configured as recommended, cpu stock voltages and in creators mode. (connected to power ofc) figrin, do you have any cinebench r20 results for comparison? so now for the power draw: CPU package power maxes out at 25W consistently and stable, if thats what we are looking for? At the same time I was amazed by temperatures not exceeding ~65°C for all cores. I read through your well-made-thanks-again guide :D , but by now I am a little confused. Is there still any way to do undervolting with bios 1.06 and ec 1.2 installed?

parac1oXX
Ok i just ran this cinebench r20 thing, wasnt even aware, they have a new version :D I consistently get 1400 with windows power settings configured as recommended, cpu stock voltages and in creators mode. (connected to power ofc) figrin, do you have any cinebench r20 results for comparison? so now for the power draw: CPU package power maxes out at 25W consistently and stable, if thats what we are looking for? At the same time I was amazed by temperatures not exceeding ~65°C for all cores. I read through your well-made-thanks-again guide :D , but by now I am a little confused. Is there still any way to do undervolting with bios 1.06 and ec 1.2 installed?

Thanks for posting this data. I haven't done any cinebench runs yet, but I should. You can undervolt, but you have to do it through software. When I wrote the guide, Throttlestop was the only option though, since Intel XTU didn't want to play nice with the 8565U. They may have fixed that, though.