My Clevo (Blacky's Story)

MY CLEVO

After a long debate, search and reading from various sources. In late 2009 I’ve decided to buy a Clevo laptop. My choice was obvious: a 17 inch notebook that is light enough to carry around and powerful enough to play most games on high settings.
The truth is, while I used to game a lot during high-school, my high-school years are now long behind me and I have very little time for gaming. And to be honest, the games are not even that good anymore, they are becoming pretty cliché. That being said, I still opted for a gaming laptop, because after a hard week of work, even if I get to play only for 2-3 hours, I want those 2-3 hours to have no compromises. It is for this reason that I still opt for a gaming laptop instead of something cheaper. Also, gaming laptops tend to be more reliable and there is nothing worse than having your notebook die when you have an important dead-line the next day.

So, I bought my laptop in 2008 from XXODD, they were a company from the Netherlands that has since gone bankrupt. I opted for XXODD because after sending emails to 8 different Clevo resellers they were among the 5 that actually answered me and they were also the ones having the best prices in Europe at that time. My friend also bought with me a M860TU, which he still uses to this day and doesn’t want to change for the next 1-2 years (he does even less gaming than me ).
I bought the laptop on my company, thus the VAT was deducted. Without the VAT my laptop was actually cheaper than what XoticPC or any other US reseller had on offer.
Back then I was in Belgium and XXODD was kind enough to throw in a free dead-pixel guarantee, which came in handy when I received my laptop, since after a few hours it developed a line of white pixels. XXODD decided to replace my screen free of charge; they also paid for the transport fees.
Overall, a very good company, although after I bought my laptop they started to reply to my emails with some delay.



THE HARDWARE

I got the laptop in December 2008, the original configuration was:
- 1920x1200 glossy AUO screen
- P8600 CPU
- 9800M GTX
- 320 GB HDD
- 4 GB of ram
- DVD-writer

The 9800M GTX was a horrible card, very expensive and although it didn’t run hot, it had its throttling temperature set at 90C, which on some of those hot summer days, was often reached. I soon replaced my 9800M GTX with a 280M (bought from RJTech). The 280M was an excellent card and given that I managed to sell my 9800M for almost the same price as what I paid for the 280M, made me forgive Nvidia’s 9800M GTX mistakes.

Me and my Clevo have been through a lot, dozens of continental and inter-continental flights, research papers, memos, dissertations and so on. I am proud to say, it never let me down. This is even more important given the number of part changes and OCing that my laptop went through. Overall my laptop used all of the below parts for more than one day:

CPUs:
- P8600
- P9700 ES
- T9600 ES
- Q9100 ES
- Q9200 ES
- QX9300 OEM (current)
I can full heartily say that the ES CPUs are inferior to their OEM counterparts. They run hotter and are slightly unstable.

Video cards:
- 9800M GTX
- 9600M GT (I did some testing and it works fine)
- 280M GTX

LCD displays:
- AUO 1088
- LG LP171WU3 (had white pixels)
- Samsung LTN170CT05 (stunning display, very hard to find)

HDDs:
Fujitsu 320 GB 7200
Seagate 320 GB 7200
Seagate 500GB 7200
Hitachi 500 GB 7200 (current)

ROMs:
I had a few Blu-ray readers.
I eventually settled for a SONY BC-5500S from a defunct Acer (it is by far the best Blu-ray reader I used and I am still using)

RAMs:
I lost count of how many RAM kits went into this laptop.
I know I had at least 4 different HYPERX kits.

This is just an overview of the things that went into this laptop, there are other smaller fixes, like a new bigger battery that I bought last year, the X-fi express card and so on.


OC-ING
I know there are a lot of people on this forum that OC their notebooks for bragging rights. I am a very practical person and to me this doesn’t say anything. Reaching a proper OC on your video card, which will work with your laptop 24/7 without damaging your card and maintaining stability, is not an easy task. For me it took months of testing, vBIOS modifications and modding of the cooling system. Eventually I’ve managed to get to the current clocks, which I’ve been running for more than 2 years now. The most difficult task was to keep the temperatures at bay without increasing the laptop’s weight. Part of the solution came from these thermal pads: Aquatuning -Your watercooling and modding distributor - Thermal pads



While it will be very hard to part from my current notebook, especially from its wonderful screen, I know I have to move forward. That’s why I think the time has come for me to get a new notebook…

 

welcome back Blacky. long time no see.
i bought my m860tu round about the same time as you back in 2008 and only upgraded it yesterday. received my P905 from mySN UK yesterday so spending much time updating and loading software.

i can recommend mySN UK but also take a look at the full list of resellers > http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/652403-clevo-resellers-european-union-v1.html

the standard matte screen ive got is bloody awesome. very bright,vibrant colours.

get your configuration cap on

 

Some story....
I'd rather get a new laptop every year than upgrade anything. Selling a 1 year old laptop with the guarantee on it and not a single scratch is easy and brings about at least 70% of its original price.
Thats what Im gonna do with my P150HM - but first, I need to see the reviews of those 370EM's. And I need to read a lot of text in the forums before purchase.

 

That doesn't work when you buy your laptop on the company. If you resell it within 2-3 years (depending on its value), you will have to pay VAT for it, which kills the whole deal.
I prefer to sell components and and replace them. On the long run it proved to be cheaper, you just have to look for the right deal.
Also changing one's laptop is a hassle... If I have a laptop that works without a hitch, I would rather keep it for a few more years than gamble and get a new machine, which may prove to have issues.
Keep in mind I use my laptop mainly for work and not gaming.

 

That's the thing you always have to weigh.

You can buy the P150EM with GTX 680m now for ~ $1800. This time next year you can sell your P150EM for ~ $1200. It's actually cheaper or close to same cost to do that than buy a new CPU and GPU and sell your old tech. I could probably sell my 680m in a year for $400, and CPU for maybe $100, but spend $800 for a new GPU and $300 for a new CPU (i.e. 3840QM), that's $600 out of pocket. In two years it's more bleak. You could probably sell your P150EM for $700, so in that case, a new GPU/CPU makes more sense, spend $600 for an older tech (but newer than what you have) GPU and $400 for an XM CPU.

 

As I said, you have to look for the right deal.In my case your strategy it's not applicable, I have to keep the laptop for 2-3 years before I can sell it.

Anyway, here's my config:

Clevo P170EM
1920x1080 Matte Screen 72% NTSC Color Gamut
Intel Core i7-3820QM
Nvidia 680M GTX
Wireless card - Killer WirelessN 1103 or 1102
Bluetooth
Corsair Vengeance Laptop Memory Kit 8GB or 16 GB
Blu-ray writer
1st HDD Intel 520 180GB
2nd HDD WD Scorpio Black 750GB 7200RPM 16MB
No OS

 

Looks like an awesome build. To be honest I'd skip the Corsair Vengeance if it's costing you extra money, and consider buying your own SSD, 256GB Crucial M4's are reasonably priced, at least in the US, not sure if in the UK.

 

A standalone kit of 8 GB is 65 USD without VAT here, so no big deal there.
Would the 256GB Crucial M4 be faster than an Intel 520 ?

I've read that the Intel 520 is really fast and reliable. Are there alternatives, as in, same speed and reliability but cheaper.

By the way... can the frequency of the memories be increased? In the P170EM the standard frequency is 1333 MHz right ? So can I set it to 1600 MHz ?

 

The 520's are slightly faster, yes.

Not worth the money unless you actually WILL be benefiting from the speed, M4 is just much cheaper and much more worth it.

 

the samsung have the fastest read/write speed.
i was going to get a samsung but the biggest was 256gb which wasnt enough for me. then decided also on a 128gb msata samsung but it was quite a bit slower but dearer than the 256 so i took advice from here and got the crucial m4 512gb

 

That's a nice story and...

HEY!

No need for insults

Gaming is everything you want it to be. You don't have to play teenage-hour type of shooters if you don't like 'em. There are many beautiful modern thinking-man games, slow and deliberate RPGs and a good game can still suck up your entire day if you let it. It's all a matter of personal priorities.

"We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing".

 

Well, to be honest I don't need that much space. I will use the WD for storage and the SSD for booting up and programs and such.
I have a 500 GB HDD right now and it's filled at 60%.
Speed is an important issue for me, but what I need above everything else is reliability. Since I am not going for a Raid array, I need to know that SSD is going to rock solid.

Right now...
the intel 520 180 GB is 150 euro (120 pounds) (without VAt), I also found a deal for 130 euro.
The 256 GB SSDs can be handed for around 190 euro (150 pounds) (without VAT)
What do you think? Should I go for that 130 euro deal and get it in preparation for my laptop?

 

the Crucial M4 would not be faster than the Intel 520 as the Crucial uses the Marvell controller and the Intel 520 uses the SandForce controller.
It must be noted though that speed differences between Solid-State drives is practically negligible as it is only milliseconds of difference.
The only one that would come close the the Intel 520 SSD in terms of speed and reliability would be the Samsung 830 series SSD.

I don't believe you would be able to change your RAM frequency in the BIOS, Sager/Clevo seems to have locked the NP9150/NP9170 down pretty tight. It would be best to just get the PnP 1600Mhz memory as the Sager/Clevo would accept it just fine.

 

Thank you, that clears a few a things.

I was still under the impression that Clevo's BIOS allows you to change the frequency of the memory with certain CPUs. I need to ask Prema about this.

 

In that case I'll got with the Intel 520 180 GB that I saw on sale for 130 euro (100 GBP) without VAT. I will upgrade later if needed.

As for the RAM...

According to Prema, the following configs:
2x4GB 1866 MHz
4x4GB 1866 MHz
2x8GB 1600 MHz
Should all work at their stock frequencies and not downclock to 1333 MHz.
In which case I will go for the 2x4GB 1866 MHz at first and upgrade later with another kit of 2x4GB if needed.

 

I'd skip the Corsair Vengeance. At least on overclock.net people have had issues with them for a while. I know my ADATA CL9 1600 has been rock solid, and it's cheaper than Vengeance to boot. This ram runs cooler than any ram i've ever used before and 1.35v is a nice plus too. Believe ADATA is a memory manufacturer, Corsair is not.

Are you sure about that? Sandforce is only fast with comrpressable data. At least on my Mushkin which uses the latest gen of SandForce, it blows for incompressable data, I personally wish I went with Crucial or a Samsung, in the future I will avoid any SSD with SandForce.

That and the first one I had BSOD constantly and had to RMA and then wait over a month for a replacement. So yeah, SandForce = No buy for me in the future.

 

Well, any SODIMM CL10 1866 MHz would do to be honest. But I only know of the HyperX - which is more expensive and the Corsair Vengence.
I would happily try any other brand.

 

Wow, thanks for the heads-up. I was just about to make the switch from my originally ordered Samsung 830 to the Intel 520. I can't believe there are still issues with the SandForce controller..

I did read extensively that the Intel is the overall faster drive, though, even though it does compress data in order to work properly. Both drives have their shares of ups and downs, so I think I may as well just stick to the Samsung.

 

@
hulawafu77

I am already using Intel 520 SSDs in some of my servers and they seem to be fine. You sure that the are such serious issues with them ?

 

I really can't see the point of the 520 given the price. The SF controller may have been fixed now, but you do get that rubbish incompressible speed which becomes obvious if you use encryption. Both the 830 and M4 are proven to be reliable and are cheaper.

 

What if the store I'm buying from offers the Samsung 830 and Intel 520 for the exact same price (OK, 5€ difference)? And what if I don't use encryption? Does it still qualify?

 

After doing some reading if you have to choose between Intel 520 and Samsung 830 at the same price, you should go with the Samsung.
Otherwise, go with was is cheaper.

However, in my case, the samsung 830 256 GB is 0.8 euro per GB (w/o VAT) and the Intel 180 is 0.72 euro per GB (w/o VAT).
Thus I have to opt for the Intel 520 180 GB.

 

Intel are using their own firmware with the Sandforce controller. Apparently the firmware is to blame for the past issues with Sandforce controllers. It's slowly getting better.

When I had to chose between the Intel and Samsung I went with Intel. Why? Because their small capacity drives compared to the larger capacity drives don't drop nearly as much in performance as the Samsungs. The Samsung 64 GB is pretty much useless. Too small for a boot drive and the caching performance is much, much better with the Intel 64 GB.

 

Ah yes indeed caching fails on the Samsung.

Although looking past that the larger drives are much more consistent and come with very good cloning software from Samsung, basically overall I would pick the Samsung drive over the Intel anytime (assuming we are talking about 120-128GB drives and up)

 

You can use Intel XTU to change your memory timings and speeds as well as overclock with the P170.

Sounds like you need a barebones, flick me a PM and we can probably sort you something.