Overheating problems: Is it Sager or Clevo?

Well, after shopping around for laptops, looking at everything from Dell to Toshiba, from Falcon Northwest to Vigorgaming, and Alienware somewhere in that mix, I finally realized after reconsidering Sager, that I don't think I EVER found a brand with as much Processor/GPU strength at as low a price as these Clevo notebooks (at least the NP5793. Are the NP9262 and NP2092 Clevo?)

However, I originally dismissed Sager due to shoddy workmanship claims on resellerratings. Then, when I looked into Vigorgaming, (MUCH better ratings) I couldn't help but notice the extreme similarity with some of their notebooks and ones I had seen previously. That's when I stumbled onto the Clevo connection. And after thorough research, looking for a retailer with great reputation, that included those silver linings on the NP5793 as an option (I wouldn't even consider the orange/red linings) I decided to go with Powernotebooks. Their ratings are so good, it's almost not of this earth.

Unfortunately, they were a Sager reseller, and I was hoping to get a company with custom Clevo laptops. But nothing viable seemed forthcoming. So I'll stick with Powernotebooks, but I don't trust Sager, and I'll explain why in the following question:

If I recall correctly, some people had trouble with heating issues on their Sager laptops (among other bad things.) Is this a problem with workmanship on Sager's part? Or is it an inherit issue with certain Clevo designs? If I knew it was a problem on Sager's end, I could trust Powernotebooks to redeem that issue with good customer service and, fortunately, free shipping if I ever need a replacement (I'll need to look into that more though. Have any comments on Powernotebook service?)

Also, as a more general question, what fan sound and heating quality have you found on your Sager notebooks?

 

i have NO tempearute issues, ( i have the clevo m571ru-silver one) and the hottest mine gets is 60C and thats when i OC...

 

I have no temperature issues whatsoever, my Sager NP5793 stays cooler than my old Dell ever did. And it's built much better, with a brighter screen. I'd highly recommend.

Now's a particularly good time to get the 5793, considering it's built to house the Extreme processor which can be overclocked. If you don't get the extreme processor, then you'll have all the cooling you need.

 

Sager is the largest distributor of Clevo notebooks in North America - Clevo designs and manufactures the notebooks so if they are overheating it is their fault.
I would bet that the overheating comments you read referred to the Pentium 4-based machines. The fact is that all manufacturers, including Dell, HP, and so on, had heating problems with the Pentium 4 processor. It was a horrid notebook processor because it was never designed to be used in them.

I have tested every major Clevo notebook in the last two years and I own one myself - never had any heating issues.

 

the only heating issues that I've had stemmed from blockage of the exhaust or intake ports. When I situate the laptop too close the the wall (on the back, where the exhaust is), it takes about an hour before the laptop starts beeping at me. Moving it about 6" away from the wall, and ensureing the intake ports on the bottom are not blocks remedies the issue. This is not a heat issue with the design, it's my stupidity.

 

Mind you, to-date I'm just a Sager/Clevo gadfly since I don't actually own one (I just play one on TV ); however, since I am a forum gadfly, I can say that, in the course of my constant perusing, I have come accross mention of some overheating problems in some Sager/Clevo systems that appear to be related to the original design of the heatsink system in the original 5790/1 systems. Keep in mind, most (probably more than 95%) of these systems do not appear to have developed any overheating problems; however, a certain number of individual systems appear to have had overheating problems due to either (or both) (i) poor application of the thermal paste to the heatsink/cpu, or (ii) manufacturing defects in the original heat-piping on the heatsink which, because the original heatsink was probably not designed with a large margin for error, resulted in inadequate heat removal.

The possibility of having overheating problems due to item (ii) above appears to have been substantially reduced by the more robust heatsink developed by Clevo that is now standard in the 5793 (which is all you're going to be able to get going forward given that supplies of the older models have now been exhausted (pardon the pun )). This problem, obviously, was primarily due to Clevo's design, not Sager's manufacturing/assembly work.

Overheating problems due to item (i) above are, I would suspect, due to individual lapses in the final assembly by a Sager worker of the particular system suffering from such a problem. However, given the nature of the problem, it should be easily remedied by either the owner (if technically competent) or the reseller/Sager properly re-applying the thermal paste to the heatsink/cpu.

So, on this basis, I do not think that you need to worry about having overheating problems with a Sager 5793 that cannot be easily remedied by the reseller you choose to go with.

As to the Sager 9262, yes, that system is also a Clevo, and is built on the Clevo D901C. BTW, if overheating issues are a particular concern, that system would be advisable because, as attested to by almost every poster here who owns one, they are some of the coolest-running systems around, even under heavy load (the benefit, principally, of having a case that is roomy enough to move massive quantities of air through).

The Sager 2090 is not a Clevo-based system; it is built on the Compal IFL90. The 2090/IFL90 owners' discussion thread is here.

 

Thanks for the comments, especially that last one. Really helps clear up some issues.

While I like the quality of these Clevo laptops, I have a few issues with the look. Don't like the checkered surface around the keyboard. Don't like the red/orange linings (good thing they have the silver.) Can't figure out why oh why they'd make some of the keys with the orange/brown labeling. It all seems dumb. I don't understand why a company would stick that on there customers. It would have been nice to get a laptop with a design like the Area51 m15x, but Alienware's customer service is legendary... and not in a good way. Out of curiosity, I'd like to know, does the silver NP5793 have that same annoying key labeling?

 

The 2090/92 are compal based. Also no heat issues that I've found.

 

The Clevo keyboard has been standard like that for the last 2-3 years of 17" notebooks.

You can always try to mod it your self... by scraping over the white and orange, and laser etch.. or even better, make a LED backlight for the keys.

I have been pondering the way to convert a Clevo keyboard into a backlit keyboard... but it would involve to dismantle each key, cut the letter/number/symbol, then add a thin clean plastic/glass over the individual key, creating LED bars to run underneath to shine the light through each key.

I have found an easier solution... use a black light over the keyboard... its lights up brighter than any backlit keyboard.

I will probably mod my notebook's LCD casing with mini-blacklights w/ a little button to toggle them on.

 

... Well that's hardcore.

You know what they should let you do? Buy your own keys. Standardize the key sockets, so you can find any number of ways to mess with your computer in a highly destructive and questionably enthusiastic manner.

 

I'm not sure how the online pictures look, but the checkerboard pattern barely stands out. As far as the orange, it looks much nicer in person than it does in the pictures, but I still sorta wished they had the silver available when I ordered