Joining the Sager Club soon. Tips Needed!

hey guys,

i've been hearing about sager's great performance for a while now, but have never actually owned one. that will be changing very soon as i will be ordering my Sager NP8850 in the upcoming week or 2. i just wanted u guys to help review my NP8850 build and make sure everything was good and compatible with each other. i also had a few quick questions i hoped u guys could help me out with as well.

1) is the DDR3 1333MHz RAM a good fit for my i7-840QM?

2) where is the cheapest, most reliable, seller to buy from? i've been going to xoticpc.com to tinker with different hardware setups. i probably need the most help with this one cuz i have no sager/clevo ownership/buying experience. if anyone had any knowledge on discounts, that would just be awesome.

3) i will be replacing the HDD with a corsair force 160GB SSD. i was wondering if there were any special steps or precautions i needed to know before opening up my brand new laptop.

Sager NP8850 (Built on Clevo W880CU) Gaming Laptop

- 17.3" FHD LED Backlit 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1080)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-840QM, 1.86-3.2GHz, (45nm, 8MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 480M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
- ~ 6,144MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 4X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- ~ 320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) - Default
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- 11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs

thanks in advance and i'm really lookin forward to this beast!

 

1. I believe the 1333MHz RAM is intended for the Extreme Edition i7 mobile CPUs (940-XM or 920-XM). All that will happen if it is paired with a lesser CPU is the RAM will downclock itself to an acceptable speed (1066 I think?). It would be a good idea to buy 1333MHz RAM right away if your intention is to someday slap a 940-XM or 920-XM into your NP8850.

2. XoticPC and PowerNoteBooks have terrific reputations around here. Either of those two works.

3. Read the service manual. You'll find links to service manuals in therik0's signature. Look for the 8850 service manual. It should give you very detailed instructions on how to replace various parts throughout the laptop.

 

thanks alot for the quick reply!

i checked around and it seems like everyone sells sagers/clevos for just about the same prices. do u guys know of any promotions or discounts that would set one reseller apart from the rest of them, price wise?

 

Just to clarify the RAM issue, the 840QM can use the 1333, so go with that.

As far as resellers I went with Powernotebooks, but next time I buy a laptop I may try XoticPC to see how they perform.

 

Think about the 740QM. Is the 840QM's 7% speed advantage really worth $230? I don't think so.

 

I ordered mine from XoticPC. Ordered it on Monday, got it on following Monday (well, tuesday actually, but UPS tried to deliver Monday)

JustinW, and JustinN were both helpful.

Had a bit of trouble with it, still do on a couple things. I just hope all the work I'm doing trying to FIX it pays off.

But, I can say, the screen is beautiful. Love the widescreen format too.

The back piece that covers the hdmi, usb, and power input is kinda dumb to have there. But is easily removable. Just bend it and it comes off. Kinda like putting a new band on a watch.

Can't say enough about the screen though. Haven't played games or dvd yet, but watched it while the benchmarks were running. Beautiful screen.

 

thanks!

well the i7-940XM was an unjustified (for my usage) $905, so i was fine with settling with the i7-840QM. i don't multitask enough to even utilize 8GB of RAM, so there wasn't really any other reasonable upgrade that i could see.

thanks alot! i've been contemplating about what i was gonna do with that rear flap as well. i'll probably yank it off somehow as i don't see a need for it.

+rep'd u guys.

 

I'm quite disappointed with what I've heard about the 8850, largely due to the same horrific battery the 8760 had. I wish they could bring back the 579X series' design sans the keyboard. If they could lower the price a bit and give it a better battery then I think it would be 10x a better machine. This system is probably about $400 less than what the base X7200 will be with the X7200 having far superior upgradeability. Unless weight is a huge factor, the X7200 would be just a better system. If they lowered the base to about $1,700 then it might be a better deal but it's just too expensive for what it does in my opinion.

 

Welcome to the club (soon)! The world is more beautiful as a member. Legit.

 

congrats for the purchase! I only have the 8760 but the cooling is worth buying over again! and I understand the 8850 is better.

 

congrats on your choice of notebook.
iirc the 8850 is the only notebook right now that has the thermal headroom to use the 480m, and from the initial benches it seems that it keeps the card at a cool mid 70's under load. with that in mind, i can see the 8850 taking in most upcoming high end gpus from both ati and nvidia, as long as have bios support and are mxm 3b(?), making the 8850 very upgradeable.
also the thermal headroom will allow you to overclock the hell out of an extreme cpu if you wish to, but may require you to get a more powerful psu.

 

thanks alot guys!

@ trvelbug: i've never had a laptop that was really user upgradable, so that's something i will definitely look into later on. thanks for the info.

 

hey guys,

a buddy of mine said that his brother gets really good hook ups on computer parts, so i might consider ordering a barebones W880CU from RJtech if the discounts are worth it. i was wondering if u guys had any suggestions on a specific or certain brand/type of RAM i should get? since it's supposed to be discounted prices, i'll probably go with 8GB of RAM just for the heck of it. please let me know if i'm missing anything as well. this is what my price check list is composed of so far :
cpu: i7-840qm, i7-920xm, i7-940xm
thermal paste: IC diamond
RAM: ??? ( please help)
drive: corsair force 160GB SSD
OS: windows 7 premium or ultimate x64

RJtech's clevo W880CU comes with:
- 17.3 1080p screen
- nvidia 480M
- 4x bluray drive
- intel 6300 ABGN wifi card
- internal bluetooth
- battery & adapter

thanks much!

 

At this point, I would wait a bit, to see what Clevo is doing with the GTX 470M. It would make the W88 much more attractive.

As far as RAM goes, there's no reason to buy anything but the cheapest 1333MHz available.

 

could u please explain? does the 470M perform better? from the reading i've done so far, the 470M is slower than the 480M. i'm not doing any OC'ing so the OC'd 470M argument is pretty mute for me.

on a better note, i will be ordering some time this upcoming week, or next at the latest.

 

If they carry the 470M, it will be a few hundred cheaper than the 480M, while being within 5-10% of its performance.

Time of availability is up in the air though.

 

geez, so much new information popping up everyday. keeps making me hesitate on ordering cuz i want to know everything before i pull the trigger. thanks for the info though. 480M it is for me. will be ordering the np8850 in my signature.

 

Just fyi, Eurocom has become the first to have added the 470M as an option, on the W880CU. It's $400USD cheaper.

Maybe hold off for that week, to see if our US retailers follow suit. I'd say that's worth the wait.

 

the 470M is not what i'm lookin for. i want the 480M.

 

Well good for you that you've made your mind... Too bad for people like me who still don't know if waiting for sandy bridge is a good thing or not.

 

I know you made up your mind, but I would only get the GTX 480M if I plan on overclocking it, only if you can bring it close to GTX 465 clocks will it be worth the money. Remember, for the price your paying for that single GPU W880CU you could get a laptop with dual GTX 470M SLI which will perform WAY better than that stock clocked GTX 480M. A GTX 480M is a failure, we should not encourage Nvidia to pull something like this again by buying those cards ;-)

 

honestly, i've been wanting to buy a laptop for at least half a year already. there's always some kind of rumor about some super duper awesome new technology that'll make u question yur decisions along the way.

i went from alienware, to the asus g73, and now have finally made up my mind on the NP8850. i just wanted my next laptop to be equipped with the best single GPU. it doesn't hurt either that i have a preference towards nvidia GPU's. i think i'm gonna be ordering around wednesday-friday.

i know what u mean, but my main requirement for this laptop is: best/fastest single GPU setup without OC'ing. the 480M might not be a giant leap from it's predecessors, but it certainly does meet my main requirement.

honestly, if i were to go with a dual GPU setup, i'd definitely go with the m17x cuz of it's WUXGA RGB screen.