How can I tell if my system's performance and temperatures are within expectations? Dual Channel, power supply and ventilationOptimal performance is only possible with dual-channel RAM. So, if you decided to save money during BTO configuration by only going for a single stick of memory, you might want to upgrade at some point.Otherwise, we recommend all of the following tests always with our original power adapter connected and with sufficient ventilation: the laptop should stand on a flat (not soft) surface so that the air intake from the bottom panel is not obstructed. The power supply and cables should be placed so that they don't get in the way of the air outlets on the laptop's back or sides.Benchmarks for comparisonGenerally, every XMG laptop is checked for performance and temperatures after assembly. However, if you suspect that the performance is below expectations (e.g. if certain games don't run well or if a low usage already causes very high fan speeds), we recommend the following procedure: Set the system to the highest performance profile. Run standard benchmarks: Cinebench, Superposition or Time Spy. Compare results with public reviews of the respective model. If the results are unclear, repeat the benchmarks and log the sensor data with HWiNFO64 for later analysis. Rule of thumb: if the respective benchmark values are similar to the values determined in reviews, then the CPU, GPU and cooling system are most likely working normally. Reason: in the highest performance profiles, the system reaches its thermal limit relatively quickly. With synthetic CPU load on all cores, this usually happens already after a few seconds thanks to the Turbo Boost behaviour of modern CPUs. Graphics cards usually approach their thermal saturation within a few minutes of full load. Thus, it is clear: if the cooling system does not work correctly, it would quickly become noticeable in the benchmark scores, since the CPU and GPU would prematurely start reducing clock speeds once temperature limits are reached (so-called thermal throttling).We would like to go into more detail about the respective benchmarks here.Cinebench for CPU loadThere are several versions of Cinebench: R15, R20 and R23. R15 is pretty much obsolete at this point. R20 is still the gold standard and can be compared against established results from countless sources. R23 runs for 10 minutes by default and therefore reacts even more strongly to any temperature problems. For a quick comparison with established scores, we would recommend Cinebench R20. In case R20 is within the norm but you still have doubts about the system's CPU performance, you can try again with Cinebench R23.Unigine Superposition or 3DMark Time SpyUnigine Superposition and 3DMark Time Spy are both well suited for fully utilizing the graphics card. Normally, we would recommend Unigine Superposition as it finishes fairly quickly and it doesn't require a Steam account. Recently, however, Superposition doesn't seem to utilize newer laptop graphics cards with Dynamic Boost 2.0 to 100% - we see certain fluctuations in the graphics load (above 90%, but still...), which is why the benchmark might not be so suitable as a "worst case" stress test anymore.Therefore, we would recommend the very established "Time Spy" test from 3DMark for a graphics test. In the free version, the benchmark is unfortunately preceded by a longer demo phase. This drags out the benchmark duration quite a bit, but on the other hand it is also a good warm-up for the system. This way, you can be sure that the benchmark result is not falsified by low temperatures at cold boot.The overall result of Time Spy consists of two components: Graphics Score CPU Score The Graphics Score is a mostly unbiased representation of the GPU performance. The performance of the CPU only plays a very small role. Thus, the Graphics Score is also suitable for your comparison with graphics cards that are attached to CPUs of different strengths.The CPU score, on the other hand, is quite interesting as well. It tests single-core as well as all-core loads and is thus a good additional - for whether everything is okay with the CPU cooling besides running Cinebench.Log power consumption and temperatures for analysisSystem performance is always preconditioned by system power consumption. Temperatures are a result of power consumptions vs. the system's ability to cool itself. To really understand what your laptop is doing and to evaluate if a perceived issue is inside or outside of specifications, you need to log your benchmarks and analyse the logfiles afterwards.