Aspire ES1-572-31KW Intel i3 6100U Skylake-U SSD upgrade, InsydeH20 v1.18, Graphics and display

I have several questions;

Firstly,
I'm new to performing any kind of upgrades to a computer. So this may seem basic for most people, I want to educate myself on the absolute best way to manage my system and optimize it for Gaming and Basic video editing. This laptop was a family computer that myself and an ex shared. It sat in a closet mostly untouched. I want to learn as much as I can with this platform before I upgrade to a newer system. I installed a V-NAND Samsung 860 EVO SSD, and 2 sticks of 16gb "2133Mhz" Kingston DDR3L SDRAM. It was the fastest DDR3L memory available. I assume that the only way to achieve 2133mhz is to overlock or XMP? Is it possible to optimize device performance for an extremely voltage-limited system? Can you "non-k" overclock Skylake-U? Or even turbo boost? Like I said, I want it to be a learning experience. Ill get a new system as soon as I'm done having my fun with this guy here;) Give me some good tips on how I can max it out (preferably without flashing the motherboard) Any and all advice is welcomed!
System info:
Item Value
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer Acer
System Model Aspire ES1-572
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU Aspire ES1-572_1085_V1.18
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100U CPU @ 2.30GHz, 2301 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Insyde Corp. V1.18, 1/2/2019
SMBIOS Version 3.0
Embedded Controller Version 1.11
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Acer
BaseBoard Product T-Rex_SK
BaseBoard Version V1.18
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version =
User Name
Time Zone
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.8 GB
Available Physical Memory 11.3 GB
Total Virtual Memory 81.2 GB
Available Virtual Memory 76.4 GB
Page File Space 65.4 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Running
Virtualization-based security Required Security Properties
Virtualization-based security Available Security Properties Base Virtualization Support, DMA Protection
Virtualization-based security Services Configured
Virtualization-based security Services Running
Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View
A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

Accepted answers

aphanic

Darn you went overboard with the data! It's usually the other way around, we asking for data to make educated guesses

And this:

SkylakeU said:

Is the screen I was curious about, other than that the system is running great. If you stay in that tab for a while, does the DRAM Frequency ever get past the 800 MHz mark? Because without overclocking that would be the limit, that would mean the memory is running at 1600 MHz effectively with a CAS latency of 9 clock cycles.

Unless that other RAM you have is better at 1600 MHz, I wouldn't change a thing, what you have is plenty good already. And going past the 1600 MHz would require modifications to the firmware itself at the very least.

By the way, if you If you haven't already given the amount of RAM you have and that it's running in dual channel, enable Samsung's RAPID mode in Magician, it uses part of the RAM as a cache for the SSD making things even faster. I find it useful at least and helps prolong the SSD life (not that you'd have any problems there).

aphanic

SkylakeU said:

It stays at a constant sub 800mhz

Yep, that's what I expected, it doesn't matter that you put faster RAM in there it will not go past the DDR3-1600 the memory controller expects, it's normal and CL9 at those frequencies is pretty good to be honest, in that department I'd leave the HyperX installed and that's it.

As for the operation mode I don't recall how things were, I mean, in my old computer AHCI is the newer kid in the clock, so it may as well be in yours. If it serves of anything, this new one has AHCI and RST; I ran some tests months ago and I didn't appreciate any performance degradation between the two so you're probably good with AHCI already.

All comments

SkylakeU

SSD type is SATAIII

aphanic

Hi there @SkylakeU!

SkylakeU said:

2 sticks of 16gb "2133Mhz" Kingston DDR3L SDRAM. It was the fastest DDR3L memory available. I assume that the only way to achieve 2133mhz is to overlock or XMP?

You are correct in that account, if the memory is DDR3L (and not DDR4) the only way to get to 2133 MHz would be to overclock because your processor (and hence the memory controller) only support up to 1600 MHz on DDR3L. If it was DDR4 it'd be no problem, because that's the frequency it supports for DDR4 memory, but the socket is different, you can't plug a DDR4 chip on a DDR3L socket.

Sadly, overclocking on laptops is locked down, and they way it could be achieved is something we can't talk about here because of ACUA (the community agreement) because we'd be circumventing security features (i.e. modifying the machine firmware). Plus, there's no guarantee that it would work, so in that department you may be stuck with running it at the speed you're running it.

For completeness, and to have more data on what you're running, could you download Thaiphoon Burner (the free version is enough) and post a screenshot like the following of mine?

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ui/8rio061lgglb.png

You have to click on the "Read" button and done pay attention to the warning that's shown at the beginning of opening the program, that's because the system is also preventing you from overwriting the SPD of the RAM installed. If the two modules show different readings, post them both please otherwise one suffices.

SkylakeU said:

Give me some good tips on how I can max it out (preferably without flashing the motherboard) Any and all advice is welcomed!

It seems like you're pretty maxed out already! You're running on 16 GB of RAM which may be the maximum for that machine (depends on many things, the processor for example supports up to 32 GB, but you may be limited by the chipset itself). There's a guide on RAM upgrades that could be useful to you from the point of view of learning, not applying, to your current machine: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/608352/guide-how-to-find-out-if-you-can-upgrade-the-ram-and-which-one-you-need

The SSD you chose is good too, I'm running one of those in one of my machines even at SATA II speeds and it works great, no complains there. If you open the computer and see an M.2 slot you may be able to put something faster in there, but other than that I'd say that system is looking good already.

Plus, it being a 6th gen Core iX you can still run it on the latest graphic drivers from Intel (that's where they change the architecture probably, 5th gen and before are not supported). I don't know if they'd give you better performance though, but the possibility is there. These would be the current ones (I'd bet you need to uninstall the current ones first before even attempting to install these, and doing it all without being connected to the Internet to prevent Windows Update from interfering): https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29784/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers?product=80939

SkylakeU

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/wu/divimf42jyqg.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/kc/u2yyv88gfbfq.jpg

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Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/23/chlu070i67hw.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/o6/6zkuc0eoj0l7.jpg

sysinfo.txt

aphanic

SkylakeU said:

Yeah, that's a warning you can disregard, in layman's terms it means that memory overclocking is disabled by firmware. You won't be writing your own SPD profiles anytime soon

I wonder if that DDR3 is actually working with any of the profiles it supports for 2133 MHz or if it is downclocking to any of the others, we could use something more visual like HWiNFO or CPU-Z:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/5q/o9h04ztbh2i0.png

I mean, all things being dynamic nowadays it will downclock for sure when not under pressure to preserve power, but in any of those two programs you'll see the frequency go up and down, see if it ever gets to 1066/7 MHz.

Curious because that's a speed supported by the memory controller but for DDR4 memory and this is DDR3, so if it ramps up to those values you'd be running it at its max, 2133 MHz even when it's DDR3 without the need for modifying anything

SkylakeU

It only gave me one error message

SkylakeU

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/wu/hsdr369600ij.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/tw/xk9forvb04m8.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/gy/s1ayzfjz42pq.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/pl/7d7lsc22mh7c.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/uv/11ffe57bvsxq.jpg

SkylakeU

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/jt/lump5xxczw1m.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/py/zy94dwxvv1r1.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/n2/ouy2ouj6q0w5.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/al/wsalp13c6tr2.jpg

SkylakeU

.....
https://valid.x86.fr/0x7ccg

SkylakeU

I was considering replacing the network card with an NVME drive but there is a post in the way preventing installation. I would never consider modifying the internal case to install one...

SkylakeU

wait... i dont think those are the correct timings for that ram...

SkylakeU

Kingston Technology HyperX Impact Black 8GB 2133MHz DDR3L 1.35V Laptop Memory (HX321LS11IB2/8)

SkylakeU

i have 16gs of ddr3l-1600 ripjaws that i could use as well if the timings on those are better. idk

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GRSL

aphanic

Darn you went overboard with the data! It's usually the other way around, we asking for data to make educated guesses

And this:

SkylakeU said:

Is the screen I was curious about, other than that the system is running great. If you stay in that tab for a while, does the DRAM Frequency ever get past the 800 MHz mark? Because without overclocking that would be the limit, that would mean the memory is running at 1600 MHz effectively with a CAS latency of 9 clock cycles.

Unless that other RAM you have is better at 1600 MHz, I wouldn't change a thing, what you have is plenty good already. And going past the 1600 MHz would require modifications to the firmware itself at the very least.

By the way, if you If you haven't already given the amount of RAM you have and that it's running in dual channel, enable Samsung's RAPID mode in Magician, it uses part of the RAM as a cache for the SSD making things even faster. I find it useful at least and helps prolong the SSD life (not that you'd have any problems there).

SkylakeU

aphanic said:
By the way, if you If you haven't already given the amount of RAM you have and that it's running in dual channel, enable Samsung's RAPID mode in Magician, it uses part of the RAM as a cache for the SSD making things even faster. I find it useful at least and helps prolong the SSD life (not that you'd have any problems there).

I actually just did a fresh reinstall of windows a few days ago and forgot to download magician, so when i was inbetween benchmarks i enabled it. should i be running in Ahci or Sata?

SkylakeU

It stays at a constant sub 800mhz

aphanic

SkylakeU said:

It stays at a constant sub 800mhz

Yep, that's what I expected, it doesn't matter that you put faster RAM in there it will not go past the DDR3-1600 the memory controller expects, it's normal and CL9 at those frequencies is pretty good to be honest, in that department I'd leave the HyperX installed and that's it.

As for the operation mode I don't recall how things were, I mean, in my old computer AHCI is the newer kid in the clock, so it may as well be in yours. If it serves of anything, this new one has AHCI and RST; I ran some tests months ago and I didn't appreciate any performance degradation between the two so you're probably good with AHCI already.

SkylakeU

Thank you for all of your help! I guess I will be upgrading systems this week then😒 Any recommendations on cutting edge products to include in my build? Once again, main focus is Gaming/streaming/video editing(rendering)

aphanic

It would depend on the systems, but for example, in the RAM department I've had good results with the HyperX branch of Kingston and with Vengeance from Corsair.

For SSDs pretty much any brand has higher grade, enthusiast stuff. I was considering going with Samsung for my last build but I opted for an ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro in the end, works perfectly but I must warn you that either there's no newer firmware or I am unable to update. Their generic control panel is nothing like Magician and it won't even recognize the drive in RST mode...

Mechanical hard drives, here the only thing I'm wary of is SMR. There was a current debacle about it and if you search about it you'll understand it better than what I'm able to explain, but basically if your workload is dependent on many writes or modifications of data, you don't want any of those. At least Seagate's NAS drives (IronWolf and IronWolf Pro (these are 7200 RPM)) use traditional recording technologies. In 2.5'' I haven't seen anything bigger than 500 GB, that is new (because surprisingly in the past it was possible), that doesn't use SMR. So those laptops shipping with 1 or 2 TB HDDs yeah... light workloads or they'll run rather slow. They have big caches though to allow the disk to keep up, but if you're faster than that speeds drop considerably.

Graphics cards and the like I'm out of the current trends, there's no sensible advice I can give you there I'm afraid.

SkylakeU

I'm thinking of going the AMD route.. ryzen 7 3700x build on a b450

aphanic

SkylakeU said:

I'm thinking of going the AMD route.. ryzen 7 3700x build on a b450

It's the sensible thing to do to be honest, I'd do the same. Hell, about a year ago I had to build a budget gaming rig for a friend and it was AMD at the core but I don't recall the motherboard we ended up choosing, but I think it was based around the B450 as well. The only thing I remember is that the processor was an APU because he didn't have money at the time to get a proper graphics card and that would go down the line. So it could have been a 3200G or 3400G.

At least in the desktop realm the bang for buck is unbeatable at the moment for AMD, Intel isn't competitive enough at the compared to what AMD is offering with Zen 2. I wonder what the future will bring, but with those rumors of leaked Intel internal designs and all it doesn't fare well for team blue.

They're supposed to announce some new parts on the mobile space, Tiger Lake based, on Sep. 2nd, but they've been delaying things for years and even right now if I were to choose between Comet Lake or Ice Lake on a laptop, I'd still go with Comet Lake to be honest. But I'm very interested in trying one of the Zen 2 Ryzen mobiles there are, I have yet to get my hands on one of those.

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