Some clarification about the NP150 BIOS and the GTX 675MX

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased a Sager NP9150 and before it arrives, I'm trying to sort out some potential issues that I could have.

I intend to put Windows 8 on the laptop, and I'd prefer to install/boot it in EFI. I read this thread on the subject, but I have a few questions, mainly about support for UEFI in the BIOS.

I checked the Clevo BIOS thread, and it seems like the newest bios version for the Clevo P150EM is 1.02.14, but as I understand, I probably should avoid flashing a Clevo bios on the Sager notebook, to reserve the ability to later flash a Sager bios. So does the latest Sager-provided bios (version 1.00.08) support UEFI? And are there any other significant problems with this version? I read some comments about the fn key and the Windows key getting swapped, but that was corrected... right?

In addition to that, I configured the notebook with a GTX 675MX. I see that the card is clocked at 600 MHz by default. There seems to be a lot of overclocking headroom here, given that the desktop 680 and 680M, which share the same GK104 silicon, run at 1000 and 720 MHz, respectively. Has anyone collected/compiled information about the overclocking potential of the 675MX, or is it too new? And what about modded vbioses, etc? Do any exist, and if so, where would I find out about them?

That's about it. Thanks a ton.

-Zane

 

I can only comment on the BIOS situation: The latest Sager BIOS is based on Clevo's 1.02.14, it's labelled 1.02.14b.LS3 and it supports UEFI. Your laptop should already come with it since it's been out for a month or so.

The reason you don't find it linked in the BIOS thread is probably that only tested BIOS versions are linked there..and since most resellers use the Clevo BIOS, these ones are just more common and easier to obtain as well. Just a guess though, best person to comment on that would be Blacky himself.

For a Sager BIOS update you have to contact their technical support every time. They do respond quickly though.

 

I know the initial 675MX overclocking results, when it was initially heard about, were quite impressive. The chip can handle around 900mhz without any real issue. Gotta love overclocking these days... I remember back when a 75mhz overclock was a stunning achievement...

 

That's what I figured. I'm guessing that the 675MX runs at ~0.98V. Do you think I'll need to go up beyond that (maybe to 1.137V like the desktop 680 runs at) to get clock speeds of 800+ MHz? And if so, how exactly do I go about overvolting? is it a matter of flashing a new vbios or something?

Does anyone have any actual numerical statistics about the card's overclocking potential?

 

statistics dont really mean anything with any kind of OCing. each and every component has its own sweet spot and in order to find that ull just have to start at stock clocks and increase the Mhz incrementally.

standard tactic for gpu (using a tool such as afterburner or nvidia inspector) would be:

- increase core clock in windows without 3D load until u see artifacts and/or BSOD
- go back down 5 Mhz or to the highest possible clock where u dont see artifacts / BSODS happening
- now apply 3D load, for example by using msi kombustor
- let kombustor run for 20 min. if there are artifacts, black screens, driver crashes or BSODS, lower the core clock by another 5 Mhz.
- repeat until kombustor runs those 20 min. without any issues (at max. settings, that is)
- to make sure that core clock is stable, run various futuremark and/or unigine benchmarks or use game benches.
- if necessary, lower the core clock further in 5 Mhz increments until both kombustor and all ur benchmarks are running stable without any issues

in all these steps, keep the memory clock at stock. its better to check the core limit first, since it gives u more of a performance gain than a memory OC. once u found the max. stable core clock, do the same steps i just described, only this time with the memory clocks. be sure to do the OC testing with the core clock at the max stable OC setting.

thing is: if u OC the memory first and find the max. stable clocks the resulting heat will prevent the core from OCing to its true potential, in the end giving u overall lower performance than you could have when u do core first and then memory.

hope that helps! (i know its a hassle, but this IS the only way to find your gpu´s max. stable clocks. anything else is just luck and guess-work. statistics just dont help u much)

cheers

PS: for overvolting ull have to first dump ur vbios (use gpu-z for example) and then send it off to a vbios-expert like svl7, for instance. he can take a look at it and modify it for you with higher voltages. an alternative would be to do it urself by using tools such as NiBiTor.

 

The 675mx has managed to reach stock 680m levels so far reaching 1ghz core.

 

Wait what, the 675mx can reach 1ghz core clock? I can barely get my 680 past 1ghz.
Isn't 680m stock 719mhz?

 

It was likely using a higher core voltage than you are.

I've taken the 680M up to 1080/2600 so it's not too surprising. Less shaders mean less transistors likely to be the slowest one.

 

Ah I see, that's some crazy ocing. I would like to take my core voltage up to 1V but I'm happy with the temps I'm getting now.

 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3740QM Processor,CLEVO P170EM score: P8647 3DMarks

If my little p150EM can do that then your big strong P170EM should cope

 

Wow, I remember those days!! Ground breaking indeed.
Now dell has came around...")

 

Oh I am not resting on my laurels, I intend to improve again

 

Now would be a good time to come back around...lol
I managed to pull a 17.4k gpu score