Sager NP9772-S, anything I can do to upgrade further?

G-sync is very nice, all the benefits of v-sync without the input lag.

 

I just sent my NP9772-S back to get an exchange for the MP9773-S...
I was able to use the 9772-S for a bit, and it brought up a question with the M.2 SSD.

I didn't really seem to notice much of a speed increase compared to say OCZ Vertex 4 (from my old laptop). Maybe its the OS Windows 8.1, but it actually seemed slower loading up compared to my older laptop!

My laptop is still on route, and xotic has already asked to place my order for the laptop I wish to have built.. Should I just downgrade to the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 500gb at +90 USD, or downgrade to default? Reviews suggested the speeds of the sm951 were 3x faster of the Samsung 850... However, according to forum users from different sites, they say once you have experienced the speeds of an SSD, faster SSD Speed differences are hardly noticeable...
So.. I probably will not bother with the sm951 M.2.


So... My options are...
1. Default 256gb Samsung 850ev0 M.2 + 500gb Samsung 850evo M.2 (price of laptop: 2549 USD)
2. 500gb Samsung 850evo M.2 x2 (price of laptop: 2639 USD)

It's basically 90 USD to get 250gb of space... Price-wise is it worth it? I may be mistaken, but I also read that larger capacity SSDs last longer.. So I guess 90USD increase for 250gb space and longevity?

 

It is like you said, its harder to see a speed difference once you've had a SSD. Its 3x faster when you look at benchmarks for larger files (Seq). Most daily use is in the smaller 4k size and you don't see that huge of a difference there. If you felt there was no noticeable increase in performance for your use you could look for other ways that would benefit you more.

 

Yeah, I think I will make the switch. I best call xotic now =)
Thank you Hutsady!
I don't think there is anything else I can upgrade as of the moment.
Will this laptop be able to upgrade to a better GPU like the GTX990m I've been reading about in different sites?

 

Happy to help.
For future compatibility we'll only know for sure once new hardware has been released and tested.

 

I see, it would be nice if it was possible to let this laptop last as long as possible. Reason to prefer a desktop! However, due to traveling, I will stick with laptop for the time being.

 

Can't really lug a desktop around if you travel much

 

The nice thing about going with that evo drive is you can add a second one later to increase your capacity, raid them together and get a speed boost at the same time.

 

The previous ASUS G751JY laptop I had had a Samsung XP941 M2 SSD and while the sequential speeds were super fast almost touching RAID kind of speeds, the 4K speeds were much lower than those of my 850 PRO. That's where all the snapiness you perceive as a normal or power user comes from. Not those marketing sequential numbers that rarely if ever really tell the real story.

Samsung XP941 256GB with IRST 13.1.0.1058 [W8]



Samsung 850 PRO 256GB with IRST 13.1.0.1058 [W8]

 

Oh wow, that is nice to know Matrix!
Thank you for the information =)

Is the speed boost noticeable in raid? I thought about getting another evo drive, but was not sure whether to raid or not. I read the risks are somewhat high.

I am still waiting on the RMA to change the order I submitted to Xoticpc, I hope they don't push the order through without seeing the RMA to change the SSD!

 

The chance of a failure doubles with raid 0 in a single drive. However double a very unlikely chance is still not very likely.

As always if there is important data you should have an external backup with one drive or two.

 

The risk does go up, but SSD is still much more reliable the HDD are. I would not worry about introducing additional failure. But as Meaker mentioned, keep any important data backed up like you normally would.

 

My configuration is pretty much the same as yours other than I have 2133 Corsair Vengeance RAM in it, a xp941 SSD (precursor for the SM951) and both a 1TB HGST 7200 RPM HD and 2TB HGST (ST2000LM003) HD in it. I took the 2TB drive out of a Seagate Backup Plus Slim USB enclosure.

The only problem with having 2x platter type drives is that it tends to drain the battery a lot faster but I needed the storage capacity at the time I did that "upgrade". If I could have afforded it, I would have gone with a higher speed 2nd HD but I was pretty broke at the time.

 

I might give it a try. What would I need to do to activate raid 0 if I bought a 2nd evo 850?
Also how does the performance work with a raid 0 on ssd? Is it noticeable?

When looking at the 9773-S model, it states for RAM: 16,384MB (16GB) DDR3 1866MHz (Upgradeable - 32GB* 1600MHz Max).
Is that a typo or something? Or is the model only able to have 32gb at that speed of 1600MHz?

As far as HDDs go, I hope the Samsung Spintop will not be too much of a power drain!

 

According to Sager's website you can get 32GB of 1866MHz RAM.

 

32GB 1866Mhz RAM is supported.

 

While 2133Mhz may not be supported, I have seen performance gains by using it.

 

Less so for the non IGP using devices but there may be a small benefit over 1866mhz but 1866mhz is pretty much the sweet spot.

 

Sorry for the late response.
My laptop is finally entering building phase.
It is a NP9773-S
1x Sager NP9773-S (Clevo P770ZM-G)
- Display: 17.3” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Matte Type Sager IPS Screen (SKU - SSC879)
- Dead Pixel Warranty: 30 Day No Dead Pixel Warranty (On any Sager Screen)
- Monitor Calibration: NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Processor: Sager - 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4790K Unlocked [Z97 Chipset] (4.0GHz - 4.4GHz, 8MB Intel® Smart Cache) (SKU – SPUZ02)
- Thermal Compound: - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- Ram: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Kingston Hyper X CL11(2x8GB)
- Graphics Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 980M (8.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 (Maxwell) w/ G-SYNC™ Technology
- Operating System: ~Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit (64-Bit CD Included) + MS Office 2013 Trial
- OS Redline Boost: No Operating System Redline Boost
- XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance: No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system
- Port Replicators / Docks / Adapters: No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Notebook Cooler: No Notebook Cooler
- Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 6-in-1 Card Reader
- Wireless Network Accessories: No Network Accessory
- Wireless Network: Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Dual Band Wireless-AC N1525 [M.2 Chip] - 802.11 AC/A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Bluetooth 4.0 | (2x2) (SKU - WIFIZ2)
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): No Back Up Hard Drive
- External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
- Second Hard Drive: None Standard --
- Primary Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM [SATA II - 3GB/s] (SKU - HDDYY1)
- mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 2 ): No M.2 mSATA Drive
- mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 1 ): 500GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 PCIe mSATA SSD
- mSATA SSD Drive - Drive Option: mSATA Slot 1 Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: ) / mSATA Slot 2 ( Storage Drive )
- mSATA SSD Drive - Configuration Option: Non-RAID Storage

I was reading around, and I was just wondering about the heat possible heat issues.
I have a cooling pad: Cool Master Storm SF-19.
Are there any other extra precautions I should take?

I also found out that apparently Sager will have to ship the laptop to Xotic and then it will ship to me. I live in California now so it is strange to have to take such a route. I would like to pick it up from Sager, but I would have to pay the tax fee of 200 USD or so. I do not really understand why they need to do this to void the California tax.

 

That should sort you for a while.

 

Since you and Sager are in the same state we would have to collect local sales tax if they shipped it directly to you. If you want to do this we can arrange for it, and you will get the computer faster. To avoid collecting sales tax we have them ship to us in Nebraska first. Since we're in a different state we do not collect sales tax. However every year when you file your taxes, you are supposed to report any online purchases that you did not pay sales tax then they take it out then. Thats actually for all online purchase you make throughout the year. It is typically called a use tax.

 

Thanks for the information on that. Unfortunately, time is short so I probably will pick it up.

I am still deciding on whether or not to upgrade the warranty to 2 years through Sager. However, I saw the other 2 year warranty covering LCD monitor. Would the warranties stack like the original 1 year warranty along with that 2 year LCD screen protection?

 

if I were you I would get the 3 yr warranty I mean you are spending quite a bit of money on this laptop....that is what I always tell people who are getting ready to buy, I think it is totally worth the extra money....as to the stacking warranties I am almost positive they don't if you get the 2 yr warranty with LCD coverage its just 2 years total...

 

I will consider the 3 years if that is the case.
I am interested in trying to overclock the GPU and possibly CPU, but since it is my first time I am rather nervous in trying it out. For the GPU, is it possible to overclock to have its power equivalent to... say the GTX 970? Not sure what the best one can do with laptop overclocking.

 

I'm with Brent R. on going for 3 years if you can. No lower than 2 years at least, IMO. However, with the socketable CPU and GPU you do have a bit more peace of mind without an extended warranty. As for the overclocking, the 980m at stock is not far, far away from a GTX 970. Overclocking would just bring it even closer, into the same ballpark. With the cooling of the NP9772/3 you can OC without worrying about heat. The power adapter might limit it at some point though without a higher-watt one, but can probably get a decent OC with the adapter you'll get. With that said, I wouldn't bother with OCing the GPU (or even the CPU) yet at FHD resolution. The 980m @ stock can handle almost all games out now at that res. But to each his/her own, you may have other needs.

 

I am with @E.D.U. there is no reason to overclock the cpu/gpu right now as it can handle anything you throw at it, unless you are just trying to get high benchmark scores or something? What is the reason you want to OC?

 

I guess some things I would be worried about that make me want to OC is games like evolved. When I tried to play it on my previous laptop:
Specs:
GTX 680m
i7 4810mq
16gb DDR3 RAM 1600ghc
256 OCZ vertex 4

I could not play it what-so-ever. I am hoping that will not be the case for this laptop?

 

If the 680M could not play it then there was an issue with the game or machine.

 

Yeah, I think it could have been Nvidia Optimus honestly. When I run games, they would appear under the Nvidia GPU Activity icon I had on the taskbar. However, running Evolve, it would black out the screen and I would have to end task to see a small windows saying that I did not have an adequate Graphics Card or Memory for Graphics (which is not the case as the gtx 680m had 4gb of DDR5). Then pressing okay would launch the game, but everything would be out of sync. The mouse would not align with the cursor in-game, and the game ran at 5 FPS.

 

Well the dual card machines certainly avoid optimus (as do the desktop CPU models).

 

Alright. I will have to give it a try when the laptop arrives!

 

I suspect you will have a lot of fun with it

 

The warranty is a total of 2yrs so it does not stack on the 1yr.

 

I see... That is good to know.
Oh yes, I got that Icy Diamond Thermal paste for the CPU + GPU. I read on a different thread that there was a better thermal paste called Gelid GC-Extreme Thermal compound. Is the difference noticeable?

 

Those two TIMs are very close to each other, maybe within 1-2C. The paste job will be more important. So, get some and be ready to re-paste if needed.

 

IC Diamond is much easier to work with and the temps are pretty close to each other. IC Diamond lasts a long time too and you usually wont need to reapply it.

 

Just don't use a lot of lateral force when cleaning IC diamond off or it will scratch the core, this wont impact performance or operation of the device but some people dislike the cosmetic impact.

 

Thank you for the information everyone!
I received my laptop yesterday, it performs really nicely.
However, I stumbled across one concern. Is the keyboard at all anti-ghost capable?
It does not seem to accept multiple inputs like the 9772 did (unless I was mistaking it for something else).

 

Hi, i want to ask abot 9772 or 9752, 90 *C its really hot, i think its a big risk to burn it?

 

90C is on the high end for the CPU but is within the tolerance it is made for. If that is GPU temp then its too high. You can enable max fan (Fn + 1) to see if that helps with temps.

 

It also depends on what amount of load was causing those temperatures. What were you testing with @JagerUA ?

 

for now i dont havesager laptop, but i lock for some video with benchmarks and its about 90-100*C on CPU, GPU steys cool, but are realy hot

 

Temperatures will vary based on conditions, chip to chip, heatsink to heatsink so it's hard to say exactly. The CPU heatsink does not have a lot of headroom though. The cooling is focused on the GPU.