PowerSpec 1710 + 1510?

Got this laptop open box from Microcenter last friday and after some undervolting and liquid metal, I love it! One thing that annoys me though is that I can't seem to find a way to change the Fn keys to media keys so they default to volume and brightness etc.. Apparently it's a common complaint on these Clevo/Sager chassis laptops. Anyone know a way to change it to do that? Is there a modded BIOS somewhere maybe?

 

Removing the keyboard isn't necessary. Just lift up the rear.

 

What's the CPU usage at idle? What's the CPU usage with IE on this site? What else did you install on your system?

 

You can also use generic PSU replacements, as the power tip for this model is pretty standard. You can also get one that's rated more than 230W to get some overclocking headroom capacity. For my older Asus G73JH, I purchased a Targus 180w model that outlived the laptop. (Original PSU was rated 150w which was barely minimal, as the unit often drew 170W peaks)

 

Not really. But yea. It does help with better thermal, but I was replacing thermal paste earlier and was testing how much it has improved by giving it as much airflow as possible.
I could've just lifted the bottom up and it would be the same anyway. I don't recommend using it without the keyboard since you might risk shorting the exposed circuit

 

Lol I actually didn't really think about it. I just took the pic then realized that oh hey, your avatar and signature probably give some contrast

 

How much did you get it for? I'm planning to sell mine and considering how much it's worth now

 

Hmm, finding a PSU for this laptop is harder than I expected. I suppose I can use my 180W as an emergency backup since I have the matching tip. Searching by PSU model number fails since many have the power tip that has the pin in it. Figures MicroCenter had to go off-book with another tip.

 

I had cpu OC app on to check the temps. I had this webpage open and like facebook and youtube. I don't know why this page was really laggy it would show that it was refreshing the whole time. CPU utilization would also jump from 8-39% with just webpages open is this normal? As i am typing right now the letters show up a little bit laggy as well. Maybe it is just this webpage?

 

I don't what what plugins you are using in Chrome, but it can happen with craptastic addons. This is why I suggested trying IE with the same pages open and see if you still have the high CPU usage. I use Firefox Beta channel myself, with uBlock Origin.

 

I'm not using any plugins on chrome. I it is actaully just notebookreview.com that lags my computer and makes the cpu temps hot. Do you know any guides for undervolting the CPU?
I played PUBG on my laptop and it avg around 75-80 on cpu is that normal?

 

1) It's the browser running the scripts that are causing CPU spikes, probably due to some unoptimized component. You still haven't told me how this site does on IE. You could also get CPU usage having Youtube open playing in the background.

2) I use IXTU, and you can start with a -.100 undervolt and keep an eye out for stability. If stable, give .115 a try.

3) PUBG is very CPU intensive because it's a very unoptimized POS. I can see CPU temps getting that high if you just lay the laptop on top of a flat surface. Try and get some air ventilation under the laptop.

 

Snagged it for $1150 open box.

 

I usually use a fairly bare chrome for this site, you can always go with a more basic forum design using the style selector in the bottom left.

 

Preparing myself to repaste the cpu and gpu with liquid metal as well as replacing the thermal pads. Anyone know the specific thickness of pads to replace, if it matters at all?

 

What's this Max-Q fan speed? This laptop isn't a Max-Q design lol

How to trigger this:
- Clevo CC 5.0001.1.70.
- Restart laptop.
- Fn + 1 full speed ahead.
- Launch any program that puts stress on the CPU and GPU, like games or stress test apps, then wait until CPU reaches about 80-90°C (I'm actually not quite sure about this, but this was what I did).
- Fn + 1 again to change it back to Automatic.
- In about 1 - 2 sec, it should say "Fan Speed Max-Q"

 

I have an issue. This is the second Powerspec 1510. I returned the first one because one of the usbs did not work and because of bad back light bleed. The second one I got today have a lot worse black bleed. It is so bad it is appearing yellow-ish at multiple places. Do you have this issue and should I bother to go to micro center again?

 

I have an open box 1510 now for 2 weeks. Love it. I use it for business and everything is fast fast fast. Screen is bright and colors strong. There is some back light bleed when looking at an all black screen, but this is not noticeable at all for normal use. Keyboard is significantly better to type on than the 1710 model that I considered. I am on gotomeeting all day with several web apps open at once plus google hangouts. On my HP elitebook the gototmeeting would cut out audio whenever I was doing something on a web app. Not this baby. It has the power to keep all these apps running smoothly and not run out of resources. The display is not as thick and solid feeling as the Elitebook, but I can live with that for the power and speed. Love the fact that I can have 2 hard drives plus the NVME stick all running together. Very pleased owner.

 

I've read through all 62 pages of this thread, much of it repeatedly. I've been to my local Microcenter a bunch of times and played around with the 1710 and 1510. They both seem to be excellent values, but they each also have some quirks.

The 1710 feels more solid and premium to me, but I ran the benchmarks they'd put on them in the store (Superposition and Heaven) and the 1510 consistently beat the 1710 -- even though I was cheating the test by picking the 1710 up during the benchmark to let it breathe. The 1510 sitting flat on the table was running as cool or at times even cooler than the 1710 being held in midair.

The screens seem about equal to my eyes, although text on the 1510 is naturally a bit sharper. I've read that the 1710 is somewhat brighter and has better gamut coverage, but looking at them side by side I couldn't tell the difference in either.

The speakers on both of them seemed fairly weak, but the 1510 at max volume was barely even audible in the store and I was standing over it with my hands on the keyboard. The 1710 wasn't much better, especially compared to some of the MSI and Alienware and Predator machines they had on display.

The keyboard on the 1710 is not intolerable but it's definitely inferior, much less crisp and more mushy, than the 1510, which itself isn't exactly top-tier.

The battery life on the 1510, even with Optimus active, is pretty atrocious. The 1710 is actually pretty decent. It's hard to really say definitively that one is better than the other given all their assorted pros and cons.

The other thing holding me back is that the local Microcenter has an HP Omen X 17 in stock, 7820HK, GTX 1080, 120Hz FHD screen, the works, for $1799 (open box, down from $1999, which is several hundred less than everyone else is selling it), but what little information I've been able to find on it suggests that it runs very hot and that the 7820HK is totally wasted, and yet somehow the "laptop" manages to weigh more than 10 pounds and is nearly 1.5" thick. How is that even possible? How do you produce a machine with that much heft, surface area, and internal volume that can't dissipate as much heat as machines 1/2 - 2/3 the size? But all that, plus a per-key RGB mechanical keyboard, for $1800, it's still tempting. Maybe with a repaste, and some undervolting, right? But maybe not.

I've been doing a bunch of reading about the Clevo chassis the machines are built on, and pretty much every other reseller is selling these things for far more money than Microcenter.

I think at this point I'd probably pull the trigger on a 1710, which they pretty regularly have in stock open box for $1169, but I do have one question: if I wanted to upgrade the screen to 4K, I'd have to swap out the EDP cable, right? The FHD panel on the 1710 is 30 pin, which I'd need to switch for a 40 pin for the 4K or QHD? But I can't find any definitive answer, and then there's the question of whether the Powerspec BIOS would properly recognize and accept the upgraded screen. If it would work, then I could end up with a machine that would easily cost $2K from other vendors, all for well below $1500.

So, I don't know what to do, basically.

 

The last post made me thinking. Where I can buy 4k screen to install into the 15 inch version instead of the stock?

 

I continued my adventure with Micro center. After the first two 1510 suffered from really intolerable back light bleed, the third one is finally absolutely free of such issues. So, keep in mind this could happen to you. For me is first time to return a laptop, but two times, that's bad luck. Second, someone told me there are 4 slots for RAM. The tech guy from Micro center at Duluth, Georgia literally disassembled it to check if what I told him is correct. He returned and said there are two more slots for Ram under the keyboard. He also mentioned he tested them and they all appear to accept 16 gb of RAM per slot for a total of 64 GB. But apparently it was not easy to get to the other two. He finished with the sentence "I have never seen design like that in my career, it's crazy." So, the info on the Micro Center website is not correct. Of course, the on board speakers on both models are truly awful, but who cares about laptop speakers Also, I tested the both models with my own audiophile gear (the employees at Micro Center really hate me by now) and can confirm the audio. The 1510 has headphone amplifier is LME49720 by Texas instruments and the link for more technical data is http://www.ti.com/product/LME49720 The DAC is Sabre ES9018 which in theory is capable of reproducing 32 bit sound but Powerspec restricted the options to 24 bit/192 sound which is slightly disappointing. It is an old model DAC and not the most capable out there but many, many times better than all the other laptops. It is truly great audio for a computer. But 1710 is whole another story. It is bad, the headphone audio on it really bad. If you want to purchase the bigger 1710 you are getting up to 5 percent less performance long term (pc world review), possible heat issues, only two slots for RAM and inferior in every way headphone audio. But you are gaining a little bit of battery life. The choice is yours

 

Thanks so much for all your thorough in depth replies, my dad picked up the 1510 over at the Marietta location, and am at college right now waiting to come home and use it. I am really hopeful that the heating is fine and I don't want to worry about re-pasting, as I do not want a chance to brick this $1,200 machine being clumsy. How have the thermals been when you run games on ultra?

 

The thermals on 1510 are fabulous. Very excellent design. 72 C was on Witcher 3 on ultra. I don't think I will be re-pasting. Also, apparently the RAM is relatively easy to add, the tech guy at Micro Center was not aware. Watch this video Also, I highly recommend you install the samsung driver for Samsung NVMe. The link is http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/ Scroll down until you see driver. After you install it, download samsung magician from the same page. Inside the magician software (it is very easy) you will see firmware version. Press update to the latest. It is very safe, no data would be lost. Let the magician soft install the firmware for you, don't download it manually - I have experience. By doing this you would increase the system performance and stability. Hope I helped.

 

Basic servicing and upgrades are always kept pretty easy on Clevos

 

That's not the right model for 1510. It should be P650HS-G

 

It looks to me that the video did the trick. Just added 8 more GB of RAM for the total of 24 GB. Just followed what the guy did in this video and the slots are exactly at the same place

 

@Yavor Moskov : you are correct that to each their own. I prefer the larger size screen, 100Hz GSync, and 16GB is just fine for my needs. As for onboard audio, I find the 1710 just fine; still needs an amp for studio-grade headphones. Plus I already own external DACs if the onboard audio was utter crap. (Creative X-Fi USB HD 116dB SNR)

Also, installing the 3B firmwares for the 960 EVO has had some performance issues, which I'm in process of having Samsung examine in an open ticket. So you if you're on the 2B firmware, stay on it for awhile.

 

That'd be really tiny. Using scaling to make it worthwhile would just be an utter waste of real estate. I'd look into a nice 1440p panel.

 

I am using the Chord Mojo for it or the Sound Blaster E5. I am surprised you are having issues with the 3B, I have 2 drives in my desktop rig and so far so good.

 

You are so right about 4k on a 15 inch real estate. But the big question is who would sell us these nice 1440 p panels. If you know a seller I would appreciate it if you share the info.

 

I haven't done too much into looking for a 1440p replacement, as I am currently docked to a 28" 4K panel most of the time. Also, I'm concerned about losing GSync support, as the replacement panel may not be whitelisted. I was hoping to inquire about a Prema BIOS for this laptop, however, @Prema got deluged by selfish people and work, and shut down to the public for now.

 

Update on my previous post. The HP machine w/ GTX 1080 and 7820HK for $1799 open box was just too tempting, so I brought it home, fired it up and it was amazing -- excellent build quality, fantastic keyboard. And a horrendous electronic clicking noise from the right speaker anytime sound was playing. So, back it went and I picked up a 1510.

Just getting it set up, haven't tested it thoroughly but temps seem pretty good so far. The low max volume thing is really bugging me, though. I'd read about it, of course, and even experienced it to some extent in the store, but I figured in a much quieter environment it wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, it's pretty bad. I've made sure the drivers are up to date, checked all the settings, etc.

It really is just that quiet, huh? And not fixable.

 

Don't worry, the speakers on the 1710 aren't much better. Louder, sure, but not good at all..

 

Undervolted .125 (started there, lazy and impatient today), and it seems stable so far. After 15 or 20 minutes of looping Heaven on 1080p/Extreme neither the CPU nor GPU broke 70C. I left the fans set to auto, then at the very end toggled them to full speed and the GPU temp dropped from 69 to 65-66 and held steady. I have the back of the machine elevated with a little collapsible Targus laptop stand, but I don't even have the (small) fan built into it plugged in.

So, not too shabby.

These speakers, though, wow, they're very weak. Even just watching videos and stuff is kind of a pain. I don't understand why they'd ship a machine this nice with such a glaring flaw.​

 

do you have the 1510 or 1710? My 1710 undervolt to -125mV and it seems stable at first, however later it just freezes and I have to force reboot. I play Overwatch and when a match finishes, everything freezes lol.
Probably I'm not that lucky in the silicon lottery :/

 

I was using -.125v for a long time until one game had issues, and system lockups. So I dropped it to -.115v and it's been OK since.

 

What's your CPU temps when playing? I play OW and it can reaches 99°C maximum as reported by hwinfo (usually around 80s). That's after a repaste with noctua nt-h1.
Also, do you undervolt the iGPU too? Or that's not necessary since we're gaming in Discrete most of the time?

 

It will be doing a tiny bit of work but won't make much of a difference with the IGP voltage.

 

Hey y’all. Recently switched over to a PC after 10 years on a Mac! I started gaming again after a long time and decided to get a gaming laptop. I initially went to micro center to pick up the 1510 since they were running a promotion for it at $1199 but when I got there they had an open box 1710 (returned due to “G” key not working”) that they fixed and I got them to sell it to be for $1100. In my opinion this was a steal!!! So far I love the notebook but I’m having trouble with a couple minor things.

1) when I try to access the keyboard customization app (Fn + / keys) it doesn’t open the app unless it’s my first time opening the app after a restart.

2) keyboard brightness doesn’t adjust all the time using the Fn keys.

3) the Clevo control center doesn’t work too well for setting up macros. Are there any other apps that I can use for the internal keyboard and external mouse?

4) I really want this laptop to last me 4-5 years minimum. What preventative measures can I take? Should I get a third party extended warranty?

 

@docmd712

1) Update your Control Center. ftp://ftp.clevo.com.tw/P6xxHS/Others/ControlCenter_180122.zip
2) Doesn't your mouse have a macro app? Is it a gamer mouse?
3) MicroCenter sells extended warranty. I got an extra year for $139. (No Accident Protection)

 

Hey, thanks for the quick reply! I’ve already updated the control center from the Clevo website, but it still gives me this issue. My mouse does have its own program but it doesn’t work with the internal keyboard of this notebook.

 

Has anyone had issues with the Ethernet on this laptop? I've had my 1710 for three weeks then just last night it blue screened. Upon restart the Realtek Ethernet was nowhere to be found. It was listed under the hidden items in Device Manager with the error, "Hardware is not installed". There were a handful of other items showing as not installed so I reinstalled Windows. It doesn't show up at all now. I'm assuming it's hardware related and the laptop is obviously still under warranty but MC is 30 minuets away so I'm trying to save a trip. What is MC's warranty like? Will they replace it on the spot since it's only a few weeks old or will they send it off leaving me without a PC?

 

I've been using the 1710 since November of last year and no Ethernet issues so far. Probably you should bring it to them and have them replace since they have a 2-week return policy

 

@Kreskin Check BIOS and see if it's disabled. Also try resetting the BIOS to defaults.

 

Had this for several months now, and am still a bit disappointed with temps and noise, even after doing a full re paste with MX-4. Fans seem to spin up far too easily and lately I have been leaving off the bottom half of the enclosure.

Seems like my only other options at this point are to either re paste again with a liquid metal, or to invest in a laptop cooling pad, which I haven't used in forever.

Are laptop cooling pads/bases still loud and ineffective? Anyone had any luck with a good one making a difference without sounding like a jet engine?

 

Are you propping up the back of the machine slightly?

 

Yes, I should have mentioned that this is how it behaves in regards to temps/fan noise even when it's on a stand that's essentially an open air wire frame shelf sort of thing. Full air flow is available on all sides and underneath. Still gets noisy as heck.

It is probably safe to use for non-gaming tasks even though it gets warmer faster than I would prefer, but once the GPU starts to be stressed, things really start to cook. Like I said, it was dramatic enough that I use it without the bottom of the frame even on unless I'm out and about.

I do think that the ventilation especially on the bottom is very closed off. The grills don't leave a lot of space for actual airflow. A cooling pad would really have to have some force to move things around, and that in itself might be more noise than I would prefer. Frustrating!

 

Are you on the latest BIOS/EC as well?

 

Probably not. Bios says 1.05.07TIP and EC says 1.05.05.

 

So I figured out the LAN issue. After a few Windows reinstalls the ethernet adapter came back.

I was pretty happy so I just chalked it up to a fluke. Then lo and behold today it was working fine, I got up for a phone call, when I came back the 1710 was in sleep mode and when it woke up there was no ethernet adapter. So I connected to wifi and started searching; I found a few pages mentioning Realtek GBE adapters not waking back up after going to sleep so I started there. Changing power profiles didn't work and since the NIC wasn't being given resources in Device Manager I couldn't disable the power savings on the adapter itself. I ran the battery all the way down hoping that would cause it to reset but no dice. I tried using resetting to defaul settings in the BIOS but it doesn't seem to actually do anything as Discrete GPU mode stayed on. There is no specific Ethernet enable/disable in the BIOS; only the Network Stack option which is meant for booting from the network. I tried enabled and disabled anyway just in case. No dice. After a few hours I finally got it working again without reinstalling Windows three more times.

In the end I think this what brought it back:

1) Show Hidden Devices in Device Manger and then uninstall the Realtek GBE adapter.
2) Disable the Wifi adapter in Network Settings
3) Unplug all external devices while Windows is up; plug KBM directly into the laptop (mine was in a USB-C hub). I also unplugged the the mDP cable that connects to my gaming monitor
4) Open a Command Prompt with Admin privileges and enter "netcfg -d" This removes all network bindings
5) Reboot again
6) Windows redetects the network card.
7) Go to Device Manager, right click on the Realtek GBE, go to Advanced, disable Power Saving
8) Plug everything back


Hopefully this helps someone else that might run into a similar issue.