Clevo w/ 7970 users with NO issues. Show of hands please.

There has been numerous posts from people experiencing issues with their clevos + 7970's. Just curious if there are any users out there who have not experienced a single issue and have a perfectly working laptop. Anyone out there? Beuller?

 

Users who don't have issues usually don't post on forums... So it's a counter-productive, misleading thread IMO.

 

I haven't had my Sager long but so far everything is running perfect.

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Sager NP9170 | 17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080) | AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory | 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Processor | IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU | 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz (2 X 4GB) | 500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive | mSATA SSD Drive Intel 80GB 310 Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured for Intel SR

 

Exactly. There's nothing wrong with the 7970m, problems will ALWAYS occur for some... at the forums we fix them

the 1% is here

 

Makes sense. Wasn't meant to be misleading, just curious to see how many people in the forums actually had a functioning laptop.

*edit*

also would give encouragement for those looking to purchase said laptops.

 

I just got my NP9170 and my 3DMark 11 score was 5841 and my vantage score was 20661. So in terms of the graphics card I look really good. However I do have a stuck pixel. will have to se if I can fix it.

 

sweet! i'm def jealous. I wont have mine for a week or so.

 

i have those same scores, but my 7970m is under-utilized in most games.

 

can you try 3dmark06? this is the easiest way to check if your gpu is performing properly.

 

Everything is ok

 

Bummer about the pixel but everything else looks spot on and my system will ship in almost exactly your configuration. Reckon I need to update my signature and get it posted. Subscribing to this thread and hoping I'm here with a great report of my 7970 once I receive it.

 

I'm so glad I spent £19 to get dead pixel insurance, no way would I buy a laptop at this kind of expense without that additional cover!

 

That's a good idea, I better rethink that option.

 

Mines working fine, benchmark scores in expected range and stays at about 70C under load.

 

No problems here, and yes..definitely no dead pixel option.

 

Out of the three that I have helped order, mine and two of my friends, one with windows and two without and everything has been running smoothly so far. One thing we noticed though is that Skyrim jitters on one of our pc's. From what we've read it happens sometimes when a game is running at too high of fps but only way to fix it slightly was to run in windowed mode.

 

My 3Dmark06 score is a bit low (20k), but 3DM11 is up at 5802.

 

Flawless here

 

Same here

 

everything is good here.

 

Flawless here: 3dMark 2011 P5761. No crashes, BSOD, game incompatibilities.

 

just try 3dmark06 and you will know what happen. if you think 3dmark06 is too old and not valid or scores do not mean anything, you can try bf3, dirt3, crysis 2 directx 11 hi texture.

 

All ok here

 

ok, so it looks like the under-utilization issue affects DX9 more than DX10/11. in MSI Kombustor I get 99% GPU utilization under DX10/11, but only 75% under DX9. I also get 40-50fps more in both DX11 and 10 than in DX9 / OpenGL.
I guess its definitely a drivers issue then, unfortunately its by no means exclusive to DX9 games as it affects Dirt 3, Batman AC, BF3..

 

Happy here.

Crysis 2 maxed graphics (single player, Dirx11+hiRez, Vert synch OFF) and BF 3 maxed graphics (single player, both AA at max, Vert synch OFF)
I am getting 38-90 FPS !!! And GPU utilisation is always 99%, except for scripted in-game videos.

I run OC 950/1350. GPU temps are always under 75c (lol edit: 83c) in BF3 and 83c for Crysis 2.

 

c69k, which drivers are you using?

 

stock______________

 

, mine is at 70-85% utilization, havent seen it get close to 99%.

 

c69k can you run 3dmark06? we those got problems all with low scores with this.

 

Doesn't seem like the appropriate thread to to discuss scores on a 6 year old benchmark that runs DirectX 9. If for some reason you refuse to use 3dmark11 then find a DirectX 11 game that everybody can agree on to benchmark with.

 

People keep recommending 3DMark06 because it is free and displays the same GPU usage issues seen with games. 3DMark11, 3DMark Vantage, Unigine Heaven, and Metro 2033 are all running well for me. In 3DMark06, my CPU usage and GPU usage are BOTH LOW, even with all power settings at high performance. In case you are wondering, that seems to suggest that something is wrong, not that a bottleneck exists. In games with slow performance, I see the same trend. We are just trying to determine if this is an issue with all or some 7970m cards. I can tell you that if my laptop has a problem, I need to return and replace it ASAP, preferably with one from another manufacturer.

The one game that suffers the most for me ATM is Just Cause 2. In the Concrete Jungle benchmark at 1920x1080, all settings at maximum (except the nVidia-specific ones), 4xAA, and 16xAF, I only get 30 FPS. Disabling AA entirely results in the same 30 FPS average. Can anyone with a supposedly functional 7970m and JC2 try the same settings? I know it is DX10, but it is certainly not a 6-year old DX9 program.

 

Awesome feedback guys. I appreciate everyone sharing some positive news on the 7970 for once . Happy gaming.

 

My 7970m seems to be fine. Haven't tested in too many games though compared to some ppl.

However I had a slightly loose connection on the LCD panel (on panel itself not at motherboard). But I just serviced that myself and now entire system is 100%. Basically I was losing the display after sleep or later at random, and then finally completely no LCD after 4 days. (The shell that MALIBAL got must have had this slight assembly imperfection inside screen, visually it looked assembled OK)

 

Yea I thought this was a "my 7970 is working well thread"

There are plenty of complaint threads already.

 

Fixed that for ya . Just a joke to ease the tension lol.

To be honest, my 7970m is working very well in a few AAA games. Combined with the upgraded Sager matte screen, this GPU truly is a monster. I never thought I would be able to play Metro 2033 on a laptop at near-full settings.

It would be nice to combine all the threads, positive or negative, so we could figure this out. We need rock hard data to identify any trends. Just saying, "My 7970m works beautifully in 3DMarkXX" or "Every game runs at -273.15 FPS" (points for you if you get the reference) demonstrates nothing. What works well? What doesn't? Is there some hardware flaw (unlikely) or are the drivers performing poorly (likely)? What are the key differences between the functional units and the problematic ones? What are the confounding variables? Any non-response bias? Will the Cubs ever win another World Series?

 

ok, how about dirt 3, or BF3 or Batman Arkham City? all of them are under performing, and they are all DX11 games. 3dmark06 is just an easy way to demonstrate the issue, as you get a set score that you can compare against other systems. Dont get hung up on the fact that its 6 years old - its still a measure of your cards performance.

 

No problem with mine whatsoever. Malibal Satori (P170EM) with 7970M. The highest temp when I play is 63*. No BSOD, no problems. Driver I'm using is 12.3 8.951.6.0 (I think).

 

bf3 ultra i get lowest of 20 fps, so do a lo of clevo owners 7970m. im not sure if that is "issue free" i also get the same benchmark results as most clevo 7970m users at stock clocks.

 

Dirt 3, BF 3 and Batman AC are measures that matter, 3dmark06 is not. The approach to troubleshooting has been so undisciplined that no progress has been made that I have seen. Pick a game and start a thread on it. If your just going to whine this isn't the appropriate thread. If you want more mature drivers right out of the gate then spend another $300 and get nVidia.

 

Sorry, I think this benchmark is too old and DirX 9. In 3dmark11 I have P5870, if this helps. In release notes for AMD Mobility driver for Win 8 I read that in some DirX 9 games/benchmarks the 7970M underperforms and it is a well known issue. This maybe also applies for Win7. I played MW3 (DirX 9) all maxed with 55% GPU utilisation but the frames were always over 60 (V sync ON).

I have to say that until I have put 2 fat marker pens under my laptop to raise it (2 cm thick), my GPU utilisation in Crysis 2 was also 60-70% = overheating = throttling. Now my temps are 11 c lower but I also repasted with IC7.

I confirm again, I have (still) 99% utilisation in BF3 and Crysis 2.

 

you have 99% GPU utilization in BF3 most the time? or only for like one second? because accodring to my afterburner chart I only average 50-70% GPU usage during gaming. It only reached 98% utilization for like one second. what drivers are you on also?

 

I have it 99% all the time except in-game videos (single player). Stock drivers from supplied CD = sager/clevo official drivers downloadable from their web sites.

 

were you running throttlestop while playing? because i just used throttle stop on bf3 maxed out everything and was getting 45-60 FPS on vsync and my gpu usage stayed at least at 80 all the way to 99%. when i dont run throttle stop my GPU usage stays in 40-60% usage. I was literally jumping up and down after seeing the performance increase and become a lot more stable after turning on throttle stop.

 

C69k, give us the secret

 

I used no throttlestop during gaming, I use it only for stress tests on my processor.

The only secret things I can come up with is that I have played BF3 and Crysis 2 in single player campaign only so far as I have 'problems' connecting to servers lol. I have repasted with IC7 and my laptop is 2 cm above the table.

 

I want to get the 7970M when I order in a few days, I'm just worried from the issues I've been seeing. I really want an Nvidia GPU badly. I just can't justify $300 more for the 680M.

 

can you try BF3 multiplayer and check your utilization? i get 99% in single player as well, but FPS and utilization is all over the place in multiplayer.

 

ok, enlighten us then.. in what way the approach to troubleshooting has been undisciplined? so far i've reinstalled every driver possible, wiped my hdd and reinstalled windows 4 times now just in case some remnant of another driver was a factor, installed drivers only from manufacturer's dvd in specific recommended order with reboots between installs, made sure no other software but benchmark / games and installed, removed one by one all extra peripherals, extra dimms of ram, tried turning down brightness and disabling extra CPU cores to see if its a power draw issue, removed my 2nd ssd, removed my 1st ssd and reinstalled windows on to my 2nd one, switched to 2 different CPUs, memtested my 16gb of ram, which took a 14 hours, tried all the beta drivers, tried updating intel / chipset drivers, repasted CPU, GPU, etc...

so then, if the same problem is present in 3dmark06, BF3 multiplayer, Batman Arkham City, Dirt 3 and probably most other games, your suggestion is that all of these are separate problems and that I should waste time in finding a separate solution for each platform and start a separate thread for each one?

 

i tried BF3 single player with everything maxed and i get around 48-50fps average but the temp can go up to 90c
GPU usage is 99% all the time

that's with 12.7 driver

 

That's a good sign. Just tested BF3 on my system and had full 99% GPU usage in afterburner just as a reference on a 6990m. So if anyone is seeing less than 99% GPU in BF3 on a 7970m, I can only suspect heating/thermal issues.