**D900F (Sager 9280) Owners Lounge**

it does matter which is on top.

there should be an inscription on the SATA cable to tell which one is the primary.

 

I ordered my D900F through IBuyPower on Dec. 3rd (with NBD Rush service, hoping its actually Shipping soon) and I'm eagerly looking forward to getting this beast out to me here in Afghanistan!

I know there are better resellers out there I could/should have went with, but it was really hard passing up the great savings I got for the machine specs.

FYI - (Maybe some good info to any Military gamers out there)

www.aafes.com (Army and Air Force Exchange Services) has a few vendors that you can "Configure to Order" PCs from. HP, Dell/Alienware, IBuyPower, and Microtel. The plus side to all this you login to AAFES and configure your rig, add to cart, then it transfer the shopping cart back to AAFES.com, where you don't pay tax and most often shipping is free on most orders over certain $.

Well, I found IBP had a 5% online code that I applied when i was on the aafes.ibuypower.com site giving me approx $155.00 off. Then I also found an online code for AAFES which reduced the already discounted PC another $293 or so.

Here's my specs:
Tundra F1 (D900F/Sager9280)
Core i7 960
6GB DDR3 1333MHz
GTX 280M 1GB
320GB 7200rmp HDD
2x BD-R/8x DVD-RW/16x CD-RW
Windows 7 Home Premium
Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300
Media Center Remote/Receiver
Carrying Case
Rush Service Fee - Ship Out in Next Business Day

Subtotal = $3083.00
IBP 5% Discount = 148.70
AAFES 10% Discount = $293.43
Grand Total = $2640.87

What do you guys think?

 

Welcome to the NBR forums.

That definitely a nice system you ordered.

make sure to monitor the temps... and to clean of the vents and fans regularly.

 

How do you guys keep your vents clean?

I have been doing the occasional vacuuming of the vents from the fan side first then the vent but seems this may be a little harcore ?

 

Trying to decide which notebook cooler to go with for my new rig coming, and I've narrowed it down to the Zalman NC2000 or the NZXT Cryo LX. I know its better to see them in person and compare with the airflow of the chassis, but I'm also in a bind where I don't have that luxury out here in Afghanistan. Does anyone have first hand experience on either of these two coolers, and have any opinions as to which would be best for the D900F?

 

The NZXT Cryo LX is excellent! I did have a Sager 9262, M17x before and with my new rig it works great!

 

compressed air can (or compressor set to 25-50 PSI) is the easiest and more efficient method to clean out the vents.

 

I don't know if this has been discussed and if so, my apologies. I am re-installing my OS on my 900F and wondering, as far as graphics performance goes, should I just download the official NVidia drivers for the 280M or is there really any advantage in using desktop drivers instead (modded to install on a laptop). Has anyone done side-by-side benchmarking on this?

On one of my other laptops (a Sony Vaio Z with a 9300M GS), I attempted many times, many versions of desktop drivers on it. Not only I never saw any performance improvements but invariably I ran into bugs, namely video playback and when using Photoshop under with OpenGL.

I know the 900F is another world compared to the Sony but I wonder if its worth the extra work of trying to make desktop drivers work on it.

Thanks for the feedback

 

Stick with notebook Nvidia drivers... especially since some of the Desktop or official Nvidia.com drivers are known to have bugs (like causing extra heat) on these high-end GTX 280M videocard modules.

 

Thank you very much, I think that's by far the best option.

By the way my 900F does something very peculiar. Every time I restart the laptop, it doesn't. It shuts down windows goes to black screen, the system, fans and all lights are on but the BIOS screen never restarts. I have to force it shut down on the hardware button and then restart manually again. This happened with Vista and I was hoping it was a bug with the OS but now I've upgraded to Win 7 and the same happens. I had previously upgraded the BIOS hoping it would fix the problem and that didn't fix it either.

Does anyone else experience this and is there any work around the problem? It is so annoying and I have no idea what to do.

Thanks again for the input

 

I never ran into that issue with my tests with that unit.

you said you "upgraded" to Win7....

which means that you didn't do a clean install?

so if there was that issue in Vista, it might have carried over to Win7 when you upgraded.

 

No, no, full install clean on new disks. tried it with several different disks and SSDs, nothign to do with it... strange.. happens every single time.. its just annoying that's all..

 

it could be a hardware device that is being held up during the shutdown process... like HDD, USB device (external and/or internal), etc..

 

Yes, but this onlye happens if I tell the laptop to RESTART. A simple shutdown from withing Windows works perfcetly everytime. Its the restart that doesnt go. When I hit restart I see the shutdown dialogues and screens, all goes well, the system goes blank but then the BIOS diagnistics process never comes back to life. I doubt its a hard drive problem because it happens with all I tried plus, if the shutdown command works perfectly nothing is left hanging. Its the restart itself after the shutdown that doesnt happen.. strange things happen in the world of computers So it goes..

 

if it shuts down fine, then it could be a firmware issue with the power management.

try to use another OS... download a Linux Live CD (like Knoppix) and see if it reboots fine or not.

 

At last!
Someone else with this problem, mine doesnt shut down either it just goes black, i tried with vista and win7 both x64 and it still happens, i upgraded the BIOS too now joy,

I have a Eurocom one for what its worth as i think VeEuzUKY has so maybe its just bad workmanship? (Im back to a more expensive Win95 & Win98SP1)

Cheers guys

 

Wow, you also? I thought maybe I was the only one with some sort of a glitch but I guess there is indeed a problem then. I got mine from Sager. I really don't think it matters who the vendor is as these units arrive completely pre-assembled to them. They only drop the HDs, RAM, CPU and possibly Wireless/Network/Bluetooth cards in them and that's that. I would like to know if Clevo is aware of this problem and if they have a solution via firmware update of some sort...

Its funny... a bunch of problems out of the box, no WinXP support initially, no TurboBoost option, no proper shutdown/reboot routines... the 900F was released and taken out of the stove to the consumer's plates before it was ever fully cooked... its still 1/2 raw now... amazing!

And I used to criticize Dell!... funny...

 

Haha, well said, iv heard bad report about Eurocom though and how they install compnents, theres a thread around here i think? id like to know if anyone else has this problem, i only bought Eurocom cause it was the one on eBay ^^, haha

EDIT:
Also my RAM is meant to be 1333MHz but CPU-Z shows up @ 663.7MHz any idea why?
DDR2 DIMMS dont fit in a DDR3 slot?

 

DDR = Double Data Rate

663.7 x 2 = 1327.4

 

*Idiot*
Cheers man,

Whats a safe OC for the 280m?
Iv been doing 625/1600/1100
But i BSOD'd, probably more due to the fact the CPU was @ 3997MHz

 

No problem, it's one of the most commonly asked questions when people get a new computer..."why is my RAM running so slow?"

 

LONG FREAKING LIVE WINDOWS XP!!! And to quote Steve Jobs, I don’t mean this is a small way.

OK, so I solved ALL my endless restart/reboot issues with my 900F I had with both Vista and Vista II.. hum, hum, sorry.. "Windows 7".

Fresh install of Windows XP SP3 and not a single time the machine reboots and restarts without a glitch! Whatever hardware incompatibility my 900F has it relates to the Operating System most clearly.

HOWEVER, it gets better, MUCH better. I benchmarked the laptop with the same tools I had on both Vista and 7... Sandra, Everest and few others. All scores higher. Upon close examination, I realized with Maximum Performance Power Plan the CPU clock speed is stuck at 3450GHz! CPU-Z post the same value. The scores on the 900F are ALL consistently higher than similar configurations of the benchmark applications' databases Im using. This is too funny! Amazing! I have positively no explanation what so ever for this. Again and again, I either fight with Vista or anything else, or things work seamlessly well with XP. I can post screenshots if wanted.

The one thing Id like to ask (see bellow device manager screenshot) is that I have a bunch of identified hardware. But everything is installed and working perfectly. Does anyone know what drivers are needed for these unknown devices or should I simply not worry at all since all hardware is working as it should?

Windows XP! Thanks Microsoft.

 

My D900F is stuck at 3450MHz i dunno how i go about getting a 3450GHz CPU in this thing man

But in all seriousness should i go back to XP from win7?
It will effect my compatibility for 3DSMax 2010 and CS4 and all my other new x64 programs?

Also im worried about driver compatibility too...

Keep an eye out for a thread with every benchmark under the sun

 

Well, CS4 I also use and it works perfectly under 32bit, unless you are working on immensely large files. I use a Nikon D3x for work that generates 24 Megapixel files at around 200MB each and I open and correct multiple pictures at the same time without EVER running into the slightest slow down so I cannot imagine you needing a 64bit OS to run at least Photoshop. On Adobe Premier that also use, the only slowdown I have is needing a render farm... nothing to do with a 32bit environment itself... the 900F can only go so far... that's why some overclocking at hand would be fabulous... As for everything else you use that requires 64bit, of course you should then keep Windows 7. What's more important is a system that works for you. Faster speed, on a leaner OS that works flawlessly and a solution for my restart/reboot problems, does it for me, for sure. If I ever need 64bits, I will try XP 64bit or 2003 Server R2 64bit ANYTIME before I even dream of ever touching Windows 7. But I guess I should rejoice... at least now I still have an option... when Windows 8 is out, it will be worse than Win 7 and by then finding drivers for XP might start being challenging...

On a side note, any other hidden tricks with the 900F like the FN+1 key to max the fans? I didn’t know about it and just tried it.. very cool

 

Cool man thanks for that, what i was thinking was more that i do a lot of AE work and the rendering is HELL, and as im at uni i dont have access to servers untill the weekend, but iv cut ALL of the crap out of Win7 using Black Vipers guide http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm

"Barebones" config FTW!

64-Bit seemed to run a lot smoother in general computing on my old M1730 its strange how much easier programs ran.

Im gonna try all the Fn keys now

EDIT:
Fn+1 is High Fan Speed
Fn+3 is Mid Fan Speed

 

Hi,

This is my first clevo laptop. On comparing with my previous dell laptops the bios in 9280 take 3 times longer to load. can this be improved in anyway ?

Thanks.

 

Your really worried that it takes a long time to get into the BIOS?
Or do you mean into the OS? If OS then buy an SSD, otherwise you cant do much because its flashed to the mobo

 

Hi,

I already have a ssd and i am quite happy with my os boot time. I have a dual boot with linux and windows. My linux OS boots in 12 seconds. However the time it take for 9280 to display the boot loader screen( where you basically choose which os to boot) is three times greater than what it takes for my old dell (with exactly the same setup). Not really sure why..

even the time you have to wait to get into the bios is longer compared to my inspiron e1505.

 

Darklord464: Do you play tf2 on LKM?

 

Hi opnr2000,
No. Currently I am playing Tomb Raider Underworld.

 

Have you looked thru the BIOS setup for a fastboot option? I know some desktop machines have a fastboot mode that skips certain tests and the like.

 

Theres no fastboot option on the D900F BIOS man, its just running through the standard RAID controller settings etc, i had an m1730 and it was a little quicker than this but only 1/2 seconds due to the RAID configuration options that pop up on both systems.

 

I run my 900F with the fans always maxed pressing Fn+1 (thanks for the tip Mutant_Tractor ). Of course I have to do it manually everytime I power-up the system. Is there a way to automate this and have the setting kick-in by itself?..

 

Yes. Program the thumb and index finger on left hand to execute this automatically during each boot-up.

Seriously, no idea. Would be nice though, wouldn't it. Me, I think it's too noisy having the fans on full all the time, but I turn them on max too whenever there's something really hot going on

 

Does anyone know all the hotkeys?
Fn + 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...

I am afraid to try them all... haha

 

Fn+1 = Fans Max
Fn+2 = SRS Sound On/Off
Fn+3 = Fans Medium (Aparrently)
No idea what the rest do

 

Ordered mine tonight. Hope it comes before Xmas.

 

Well it got here! Seems to have no issues, it was delivered with an i7-960 CPU which is nice. Ubuntu 9.10 installed with no issues too, which is one of the reasons I liked the idea of a lappy with a desktop MB.

The power 'brick' is totally a brick too. Size and weight are pretty much the same as a brick, and it gets pretty warm.

 

I have a question. I am considering buying an 160GB Intel SSD for my boot-drive. Since games reside exclusively on the C-drive (I think), I’m guessing that having a solid state might made games function/render significantly faster (HAWX is my favorite). But I don’t know enough to be certain that any improvement would be significant to justify cost.

Anyone have experience with SSDs and noticeable (or theoretical) improvement in gaming? What are the improvements?

Thanks.

 

That is a VERY good question. I just ordered the 9850 and decided to go with three drives with the following config:

x2 500GB 7200 Raid 0
x1 160GB SSD on the third bay

....I want to use the third solid state drive as my gaming drive, and use the two 500gb drives for other stuff like movies. Will this work? And if so, will the third 160gb SSD be on my 'C' as well?

 

isamu,
I just ordered a 9280. I'm not absolutely certain, but this is my take on this. Sounds like you are planning the same result as me. But I think that you must specify at time of configuring your order, which drive you want where. If you want gaming performance like me, I think the SSD should be the C-drive or the first drive you make your order selection from.

And the reason I plan to use the 160GB SSD as my boot drive is because, at least with HAWX..... the program, profiles, and settings files are stored in the programs folder on the C-drive. If you make your SSD the second (disk1) or third (disk2) drives instead of the C-drive (disk0) -- then I believe the game's program files will default to C-drive unless specified elsewhere at time of installing the game.

I prefer to use the SSD as C-drive for another reason. SSDs are known for very fast "reads" and much slower "writes", especially after they approach becoming full. And I only put program applications of my C-drive, no user files; even my "My Documents" are on the Disk2 and media files on Disk1. Disk0 being the boot drive. In this way, a minimum amount of "writes" will be made to the SSD (boot drive). Theoreically, this should make not only the games run faster, but also all other applications, because "fast reads" are their strong suit. "Write" functions on SSDs are much slower and degradate the performance as the drive becomes fuller -- even with Intel's TRIM feature.

I suspect they RAID'ed your disk1 and disk2, and put the SSD as Disk0 (C-drive).

But my question remains to be whether there is a marked improvement in game performance and file handling in a practical sense vs theoretical. Benchmarks are favorable indicators, but who knows how the actual appl will perform. Unfortunately SSD are still expensive and so many may not have experience with them yet.

 

Thanks for the reply garuda that is very helpful information. I will be calling Sager tomorrow and will clarify I want my SSD to be the 'C'(drive 0) and the two 500GB drives to be disk 1 & 2. I am especially gonna need the two 500gb drives in raid O in order to store the 750GB version of District 9.

 

The Yuan Mc 521A is for north America. --ATSC reception . The Mc770 is for Europe.

 

I am seriously considering buying a 9280, but I need to know one thing first. Does the 9280 have "stereo mix" as a recording device ? This is sometimes called "what U hear" and "wave out" . If your not sure, do this : Right click on the volume control. Bring up the recording devices selector/mixer. Stereo mix should be below the microphone. If it's not there, right click on the empty white space underneath the microphone and any other devices listed. But be sue to right click within the devices box. When you do a popup should appear allowing you to enable hidden/disabled devices. Check off any devices listed, and look and see if you now have "stereo mix",, or "what U hear". Please excuse me if this has been too obvious. I need to know if stereo mix exists to be able to record internet radio, or any audio streaming into the laptop. It is a function that all older PCs had that is now dissappearing. Thanks in advance.

Teri

 

This is what iv got man:



Dunno if that helps but i can enable/diable stereo mix

 

Well I've had my the notebook per spec in my signature for a couple months now.

Initially I had some issue with my SSD.

Recently switched to Win7-64bit.

All I can say is I have never been this happy with a notebook to date.

Minor grips (like with my D901c) was the placement of the audio plugs etc.

I love the non-gamer looks, and the fact that the notebooks looks "hide" whats inside. Its a decent gaming notebook but it does not scream gamer... as I am a software consultant, I really dont want bling on my notebook.

What I love most is the power of the CPU, I use VM allot. I dont know if its win7, but it seems to make allot better use of the CPU and the quad core aspect. Usage across the 4 cores seems allot better than when I ran vista-64.

Booting up and shutting down, again maybe win7, with + the SSD its amazing to watch it boot up and shutdown.

Its just staggering what I can throw at this CPU, and it takes it all in its stride: Host OS Win764bit, and in VM RHLE (1GB), VM XP-Pro (1GB) and another VM Win7-Pro (2GB) ... and I can't even feel the performance hits in the VMs.

Gaming, I play AION. I can run two copies with little issues. Though some area (sandstorms) my FPS drops some.

Great notebook, if you like 'em big

 

@brutal,
Whats your boot time to desktop with no password if you know?
Im running 2x Seagate Momentus 320GB in RAID0 and a 3rd as storage and my boot time is slower than my old xps m1730,
I take it your using an Intel X25-M 160GB Gen2?

 

Thanks, that's what I needed to know! Now I think I will order 1. What dealer would be best to order from ??

 

US = XoticPC or PowerNotebooks
UK = Novatech / Rock / eBay in particular this seller (email to ask about 9280 - i bought mine off this guy, first class service)

 

I am familiar with xotic pc, ok then, It's a done deal ! Thanks for your help !