Clevo M570U/Sager NP5760 Strange Behaviour

Hi all -
I’m hoping someone can offer some insight into the following situation that is occuring with my ~1.5 yr old Clevo M570U. I bought the system in September 06 and it was optioned with the following specs:
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7400
- nVidia 7900 GTX (512MB)
- 100 GB 7200rpm HDD
- 17” WUXGA LCD Screen (~1900x1200 Res)
Ever since installing Windows Vista it has exhibited strange behaviour with power management modes and running on battery. A strange buzzing noise emitted constantly from the processor when using battery and led me to investigate further which resulted in the discovery that an Intel “engineering sample” processor had been installed in my notebook. I immediately contacted the warranty department who gladly replaced the processor with a genuine retail version (seemed dubious to me - hmmm... how did that get there?) however the strange buzzing continues with this as well. Using Intel’s PID utility shows the processor decreases speed from 2.16GHz (each core) on AC power to 0.99GHz on Battery (and decreases bus speed from 667MHz to 665MHz). I have altered every setting possible related to the processor within Windows and BIOS and there is no way to stop this from occurring which causes me to question why? I have checked this with the warranty department and they have indicated that it is not normal but offer no further resolution. The other issue I have is with power plans under vista... I cannot run the notebook in anything other than high performance mode without severe flickering or artefacts appearing and eventually lock-up. I have tried various drivers including those from Clevo and Sager with no change in this area (the drivers are installing correctly). So after such a long first post - I'm hoping someone with a similar or same spec notebook can confirm or deny similar behaviours... I'm beginning to think the "engineering sample" processor may suggest other compromised hardware components... any info will be immensely appreciated...
Regards,
Windza

 

Have you monitored temps? It might be related to that.

 

Well despite the many drivers I've tried for the Vcard, Ntune will not report any voltages or temps... I've monitored the CPU however and it runs in a seemingly healthy 35-55 degrees C range. I can't see it being related to temps though as the problems I'm having occur instantly... if I switch power plans, it's only a split second before the system starts glitching and usually locks in about 5-10 seconds. With the CPU - you disconnect AC power and the speed also reduces instantly and begins emitting the buzzing sound.
Keep in mind that I'm not sure the two issues are related...

 

there's a lot of notebooks with the Core 2 Duo buzzing noise...

search this forum, you will find a simple solution.

 

I'll assume you're talking about the RMClock solution which I have tried but with no luck... IIRC, most ppl were getting the noise with power connected though as well.... the noise isn't as bothersome as the reduced speed which I'm yet to determine is normal or not...

 

Is there any chance you could still exchange it for a new one? Where did you buy it from? I would be pissed off if I were you. You didn't pay for a notebook with "engineering sample" parts....I would demand resolution from the place you purchased it from. Plain and simple, I do not believe people should have to pay 2K + for a laptop like this and have to "deal with these issues"....good luck to you!

 

In all fairness, I'm not certain that the notebook contains any other "sample" parts - this was just speculation on my half based on the presence of a sample processor, which may have been installed simply due to oversight. In any case, the warranty department dealt with the issue very quickly and I had a new processor within 3 days. I'm yet to hear from someone with the same notebook to know whether or not this behaviour is normal - I'm more inclined to believe the issues lie with Vista and lack of complete drivers than hardware...

 

Just fyi, ES cpu's aren't subpar. They definately don't carry Intel's warranty, and I've heard mixed things about the legality of selling them, but they are hand picked samples Intel sends out. More than half the world record speed benchmarks are held by ES cpu's. They are sought out by overclockers because they also have unlocked multipliers just like the Extreme cpu's without the price tag. And, as you found out, hopefully the manufacturer warrants his products and you never have to deal with Intel on warranty issues.

Since it concerned you, sounds like the manufacturer did the right thing and sent out a replacement. Sorry, just my rant on ES chips, because they aren't as evil as folks make them out to be. Your manufacturer should of told you about it though so you had the option.

I don't think your buzzing is normal. I have the same Clevo rig, but with a 7950 and don't experience this at all... but I'm running XP. Search around like Gophn suggested.