**OFFICIAL SAGER 8850-Clevo W880CU Owners Lounge**

Update:
I've reseated the heatsink onto the graphics card and load temps after two hours of Battlefield Bad Company 2 are 70c instead of previous reported mid 70s, therefore fans run slow and I can game all I want without the laptop switching to battery. However this is not a fix since the laptop will still shut off when running furmark.
Houstoned I am eagerly waiting for your results!

 

any of u guys know where's the cheapest place to pick up a Corsair Force 160GB SSD from? cheapest price i could find was $435 + free shipping from amazon.

 

No cheaper prices really, maybe they'll be discounted on Newegg at some point, you can also try eBay.
By the way how are the Furmark results coming ?

PS: I performed another test that confirms that at least the GPU doesn't have a problem: I overclocked the CPU to 3GHz and while running 3DMark06 the switch to battery happened for a second so the increased power draw from the CPU also caused the problem. I have a new 180W PSU on the way, crossing fingers

 

i decided to go with the OCZ vertex 2 180GB instead. it's about the same price, and speed, but the OCZ will give me 20 more GB.

i received my notice this morning.

New status: Phase 4 (Order Shipped)
Some additional notes placed on your order:

Your order with Xotic PC has shipped!

You can track your packages below.

Thanks
Xotic PC

 

Any Used NP8850 for sale

pm me

 

Vertex 2 is the way to go!

 

OCZ shows its new Onyx 2 SSD

 

Vertex 2 is still better but the Onyx seems very solid, from the read/write speeds it's a sandforce drive so it'll be fast and it's probably using very cheap memory hence the price.

 

my laptop should arrive tomorrow.

are there any tips on what i should do upon start up? clean install? update drivers? please suggest anything that u think would benefit my new laptop. then i will begin to download all of the benchmark programs for u guys, and run a few tests.

 

Unboxing Video

 

One thing you might do is make sure you have the latest drivers installed by using the ones HERE instead of what is on the driver CD you get with the system...
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Alright here are your directions. To make your installation faster, flawless and also to thank you in advance for the tests you're going to do for me, I uploaded two zip files with ALL the necessary drivers. The only ones I didn't include are the graphics card's because they're huge and easy to find and 2 others that you get through Windows Updates, download it here:
First Zip File:
W880CU.ZIPX - Clevo, W880CU, Drivers
Second Zip File:
W880CU2.ZIPX
nVidia Display Drivers (Windows 7 64-bit):
NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.96 WHQL

Now, after installing Windows as soon as you log in, perform the following steps:
-Make sure you are not connected to the internet
-Control Panel/User Accounts and turn the account control off
-My Computer/Right click on your SSD and untick "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed", click apply and when the first error pops up, click "ignore all" and wait a few mins for it to complete.
-Then, click Start and type "services.msc" and hit enter in the search text box and one disable "Superfetch" and "Windows Search" by right clicking on them, Properties/Startup Type set to "Disabled"
-If you have hard drive present, create a partition of 2x your amount of RAM
-Then we'll move Windows paging file from the SSD to the new partition you created on the hard drive: Start/Control Panel/System/Advanced System Settings/Advanced/Performance-Settings/Advanced/Change, now untick "Automatically manage paging file sizes for all hard drives". Select your new partition in the menu, tick "System Managed Size" then click Set. Then select C:, tick "No Paging File" and then click Set.
-Restart your computer

Now install the drivers located in the two zip files I've uploaded. Install them in this order and reboot right away when prompted:
-Chipset
-RAID (will install AHCI drivers in your situation)
-Display (that you got from nVidia's website)
-All remaining drivers can be installed in random order

After installing your last driver, make sure you rebooted even if not prompted and now connect your laptop to the internet. Go to Control Panel/Windows updates and click "Check Now" even if Windows claims to have found updates already. Windows Update on the 1st or 2nd run will not only find updates but also driver updates from basic components for which I didn't include drivers, such as LAN etc; install of them. Make sure you ALWAYS reboot when prompted and run Windows update again to see if anything new comes up. Drivers that I highly advise against updating through Windows Update are graphics card drivers, if Windows Update comes up with one, hide it and go check nVidia's website to see if there is anything new. If yes, download, uninstall your display drivers, reboot and then install the new drivers.

After doing all of that, go to Control Panel/System and run the performance assessment ("Your Windows Experience Index needs to be refreshed").

By following my recommendations, not only will you have a clean installation with properly installed (latest) drivers BUT also increased SSD performance and lifespan because we will have greatly reduced the number of continuous writes that occur on it.

One last recommendation that I can make to further reduce SSD wear is to move Windows temp files automatically to your hard drive. On your hard drive, preferably on a partition different than the paging file one, create a folder that you can call "TEMP" and follow this easy guide:
How do I change the location of Windows temporary files?

 

my NP8850 will come with a regular 7.2k platter hard drive. i'm waiting for newegg to restock up on 180GB vertex 2 SSD's so i can order one.

 

Then follow the steps once you get the SSD

 

I think this deserves a separate post.
As speculated, I was able to confirm today that my power issue with the laptop was related to the power brick. Currently studying in Europe it took me long to find a compatible 180W adapter compatible with this laptop and I found one on eBay UK. Got it today, fired it up and crossed fingers while I ran 10 minutes of Furmark and it DIDN'T shut down! The best part is, after 10 minutes of stability testing in extreme burning mode at 1680*1050, the GPU only reached 82c and the fan wasn't even running full speed. However it would be nice to allow the fans to spin faster because they're not noisy and they could keep the GPU under 80c even under furmark load if they ran faster.


I have nibitor 5.8 but it only allows me to alter clocks right now, not voltage so I'm going to wait for better nibitor support to really get into GTX480M overclocking. However i7-940XM... here I come I don't like you running at 2.13GHz on 4 cores.

 

i just started messing with my NP8850, but i'm loving it so far. it's alot less bulky then the pictures implied. i am actually really liking it's aesthetics in person.

right now, i'm downloading all of my important stuff like antivirus, antispyware, HWmonitor, etc. what exactly are in those zip files u linked? no offense, but my mommy told me not to download weird files from strangers on the internet.

 

Lol I zipped all the latest drivers that I am personally using so they're guaranteed compatible and stable. I uploaded these for an hour just for you lol so don't tell me you're gonna use the drivers on your CD!
I agree the laptop is not bulky at all, the quality is VERY nice. I love it a lot so far as well, especially after having sorted my power problem.

 

i just tested out the system out by playing starcraft 2 for about an hour. now, i heard about sager's top notch cooling, but i didn't expect this. i haven't taken any temps off of my cryo LX yet, but on it, my GPU & CPU are barely hitting 64*c! crazy...i thought this was supposed to be some nuclear reactor of a GPU? lol

i did run into a little problem though. i tested starcraft 2 on 1920x1080 resolution and high/ultra settings. everything looked so crisp and clean, and had over 100+ FPS, until my screen was on any base. my FPS's would dip down to around 9 FPS! i tried a bunch of other settings, even medium, and was still gettin 9 FPS everytime my screen was on a base.

my m1530 can play starcraft 2 on medium settings at well over 30-40+ FPS, so there is no way my NP8850 can't do at least that. do u guys think there is a throttling problem going on here, or maybe driver related? the only thing i've done so far is install avira, spybot, ad-aware, and a few other stuff like HWmonitor and IM programs. i've also updated my GPU to the latest 258.96 driver, straight from nvidia.com. i haven't really touched anything else. do u guys have any tips or suggestions on how to get my new laptop to run like how it's supposed to?

@h-emmanuel: i'll look into yur driver files and install them after i figure out why my FPS is dippin so low in starcraft 2. then i can run yur tests and stuff for u.

 

The problem is that a system with missing drivers or generic drivers over manufacturer drivers can lead to so many problems it's going to be hard to troubleshoot. The first and last thing I'd try before reinstalling Windows cleanly with the drivers I included is to go to your power settings: Start/Control Panel/Power Settings. Click "change settings" for the plan you're currently using and then "changed advanced power settings", scroll down to PCI Express\Link State Power Management, make sure you switch "Plugged in" to off.
Then, go down to Processor Power Management\Minimum Processor State and put it at "100%" for plugged in; make sure it's also at 100% under "Maximum Processor State"
If you still get problems after trying that, well I REALLY suggest that you try that:
-Reinstall Windows
-Turning off the user account control
-Installing all drivers I uploaded for you in the order described and reboot when necessary
-Once done with ALL drivers, connect the laptop to the internet and check for Windows Updates; also install drivers Windows Update finds
-Download the DirectX updater:
Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer
-Install your game and patches if there are any

Also, if you install the hotkey driver for the special function keys, make sure you do this:

 

i have a few stuck pixels and was wondering if it would be too "anal" of me to complain about them. dead/stuck pixels are really an eye sore to me.

 

Wow that's weird, if I understand you bought this computer pre-built, so I don't see how this would go unseen when they turn on the laptop. What color are the stuck pixels?
Place this video over/behind (depending on how you look at it lol) the pixel and using a micro fiber cloth, rub in circles and push a little. Make sure the cloth is absolutely clean! Any solid part and you will scratch the LCD.

 

well i can spot about 3 stuck/dead pixels so far. i thought it was a smudge, or dirt, at first. i tried to rub it with the screen clothe, but had no luck. i then tried to stream a few different movies to see if they were really stuck/dead. well after a few tests, i confirmed that they were dead. the 3 specks (pixels) on my screen are like blue or red when there's a completely dark or light screen.

do u guys think i have the right to complain because it really is an eye sore to me, but might be nit picking for others. it's like talkin to a beautiful girl with some green stuck in her teeth. she's drop dead gorgeous, but u can't help to stare at the piece of lettuce when she's talkin.

 

I know what you mean but I'm pretty sure that if you didn't purchase an overpriced 30 day 0 dead pixel warranty, you're screwed and you'll have to buy a new LCD and change it yourself if you really want to.
Those are technically called stuck pixels since they still light up instead of just being black which in my opinion would be better lol than bright red dots.

 

Sager has a 30day money back guarantee so if you did not opt for the pixel guarantee they will probably want you to return the unit and reorder..

I believe you ordered from Xotic ? So they might be able to handle it differently for you .

As for you nitpicking with 3 stuck pixels ? No way should anyone have to live with that period.. Dont feel like you would be moaning about something that should not have been there in the first place ..

I had a 8760 recently with a single stuck pixel and it went packing as an example... Cant handle those little devils..

 

thanks for the reassurance. i might just give xoticpc a call or chat to see what my options are. i remember asking hutsady about this problem, specifically, before i finalized my order. he reassured me that i did not have to purchase the dead pixel policy, and if my screen has any defects, that i'd have the regular 30 days to return it and have another one sent out to me.

 

Yeah you get all excited about your new 1080P LED LCD to find it out it has stuck pixels. I'm VERY surprised XoticPC saw that and didn't do anything about it.
Sucks though, an extra 10 days of waiting for your new laptop then

 

i just popped in "the losers" on blu ray to test out the screen again. there is one really annoying pixel at the top left half of my screen that shines blue when the screen is dark.

p.s. - how the heck do i get rid of that personal safe icon on my desktop? i'm a minimalist so i hate all those icons all over my desktop!

 

i'm not sure what happened, but i turned off the laptop before i took a nap earlier. i woke up, turned my laptop on, and opened SC2 again. this time, it was silky smooth! i was getting well over 100+ FPS on high textures/graphics while playin 2v2's and 3v3's. when there was alot of action it would dip down to the mid-high 70's. i'm really loving everything so far. highest temp my GPU/CPU has hit so far as 65*c.

@ H-emannuel: do u think it will be ok to download yur drivers right now and benchmark afterwards? or would i have to do a clean install of windows? i haven't installed anything else besides firefox, msn, aim, steam (no games installed yet), SC2, avira, spybot, ad-aware, and HWmonitor.

 

Honestly I would recommend a clean installation. The logical steps when installing an operating system are:
-Installing the OS itself
-Installing all drivers
-Updating through Windows Update
AND THEN, you can install applications. For further troubleshooting, I'd suggest that you reinstall today your OS as I described so if you get any problems in the future, at least I'll know that the OS was installed properly with all drivers etc.

If it helps, try to view it like that: when a house is built, you don't move in until it's ready. Drivers are the foundation of the OS, they make your hardware work the way it's supposed to, if you start installing a bunch of stuff and then install your drivers, you increase the chances of conflict, having to reinstall applications to take into account the new drivers etc.

By the way, since you have a Sager W880CU, could you ask them or through ExoticPC if they could release a BIOS update that allows turning off Hyper-Threading in the BIOS. They did it for the W870CU but if we install the W870CU BIOS we might lose GTX480M support = screwed. Hyper threading is useless for us because we don't have any applications that use 8 threads and because of that we lose performance in games.

 

Alright, here are benchmarks scores with the i7-940XM running at 3.465GHz and GPU at 515/1030/1200. The CPU overclock is the absolute maximum benchmark stable overclock; if I increase the multiplier to 27x I get a BSOD during the CPU benchmark runs in 3DMark. I doubt that even my current 26x (3.465GHz) would be stable 24/7 but only time will tell because I can't stress test the CPU because it overheats right away and gets downclocked to 1.2GHz and of course at that speed it won't get a single error.
The only component that has room for some major overclocking perhaps is the graphics card, only running at 0.85v and loading at 64c in all my games it could be heavily overclocked once nibitor supports the card better. So right now, I'm running the GPU overclocked as much as the voltage allows me but as you can see, 20 000 3DMark06 will be easy to break once we can get the GTX480M to run at 0.95v. If we could manually control fans so that the GPU fan spins faster, I'm sure 1.0v would be possible. It's dumb because the fan isn't loud but yet it waits until the GPU is at 83c to start spinning faster and I'm not even sure it's spinning at max speed; what does it take, over 100c for full speed?

 

hey, could u link me to what tests u wanted me to run?

 

Hey,
You don't need to run it anymore, I changed my power brick so it resolved my problem. Now what you can run I guess once you've properly installed everything is 3DMark06 to compare it to the numbers I got previously.

Oh and also please try to contact sager or xotic pc and ask if they get a BIOS that at least allows to turn hyper threading off. They did it after a W870CU user requested it so I don't see why they wouldn't do it for the W880CU.

EDIT: CPU Overclocking information using Throttlestop.
After hours of testing, it seems that the laptop can only supply up to 72W for the CPU, anything more than that and you get a sudden shut off while running Prime95.
So for now I've determined these maximum multipliers depending on number of cores used:
1 Core (2 threads)= 26x = 3.47Hz
2 Cores (4 threads)= 22x = 2.92GHz
3 Cores (6 threads) = 21x = 2.8GHz
4 Cores (8 threads) = 20x = 2.7GHz

It takes 89W minimum to run the 4 cores at 3.47GHz and of course that leads to crashing. All the multipliers I gave fluctuate a bit in reality. I'm pretty sure that this is a power limitation from the laptop and not the power supply because I'm only loading the CPU at the moment.
So the verdict is, if you have an application that is optimized for 2 cores, you better set the application's affinity to 2 cores only.
Changing the TDC appears to have no effect at all.

 

good info on the CPU. i don't use anything that is really taxing on my system, so there's really no need for me to try to squeeze out every bit of performance. i'm just gonna leave everything as is and enjoy it. the most i'll do is the regular maintanence and update my drivers.

as for the 3dmark06 and vantage tests, the free version should be fine right? i know that the free version lets u run a test, but it's in a much lower resolution than our native resolution. wouldn't that kind of nullify our results?

 

In 3dmarks and vantage, you should just use the default settings which everyone else uses.

 

The reason why there is a standard low resolution is in order to have a basis for comparison; it would be unfair if people ran in 1280*1024 and others in 1920*1200 because the higher the resolution, the lower the FPS. 1280*1024 is standard for 3DMark06, however Vantage requires 1680*1050 minimum.

 

Just a friendly reminder Throttlestop only works on the extreme CPU's with unlocked multipliers, so you could not use it on your system anyway.

 

Yeah I kinda made it confusing by adding it to my already existing post replying to his question. I wasn't sure about double posting, usually it's not appreciated on forums, I've done if before though

Actually that is a good experiment for anyone using an i7-920/940XM in the W880CU, try to overclock it and tell me at which TDP your laptop shuts off.

 

i actually thought about this after i posted, and i guess it makes sense. i'll have some 3dmark06 & vantage results posted up some time today.

thanks, i totally forgot that, that only applies to extreme processors.

BTW: i'm absolutely loving max GPU & CPU temps of 64*c - 65*c. even after hours of SC2.

 

Ya, a nice 100W TDP GPU loading at 64c! The techs at exoticpc did a good job because those are the temperatures I get on my graphics card as well. I can't wait to start overclocking the GTX480M a little, it's asking for it, 64c load, 0.85v ?!!?!?@Q@#^*(&

 

Which has a better Screen the XPS 16, Sager NP8850 or Asus G53 (coming soon)?

Thanks

 

Aha ibraveheart, you gotta jump on our W880CU boat! I don't know about the Asus G53 but if it has an RGB LED LCD, then it will be a little nicer (according to testimonials) than the W880CU's LED LCD. But the W880CU's LCD is gorgeous in my opinion coming from a generic 1xCCFL LCD.

 

Want to get one soooo bad
cant decide which

the lighter the better i, will loose some power but i understand

 

Honestly I find the laptop light enough, it's one of the lightest 17" you'll find actually. At this point, you want to go with a 17" notebook because all the latest high end components run hot and consume a lot of power which a 15" cannot withstand.
Now that I sorted my power problems you can see that this laptop is the real deal, 19,500 3DMarks!!! We will be able to break 20k when we can finally increase the GPU voltage.

 

If I recall correctly the screens on the 8760/8850 are the same as the Asus G73, so if you have seen one that's what you would be getting. The Sager screen is really nice.

Interestingly I just powered on my Asus G1 (15" laptop) to check something, and I was like this thing is tiny compared to my Sager, and I don't think the Sager is that big at all.

Edit: To elaborate more, the screen size is so much nicer (granted the g1 is a 16:10 ratio). I really like having the bigger screen to spread thing out with more.

 

Same here, I used to prefer 15.4" notebooks but wow this 17" notebook is just too awesome to go with a W860CU.

 

Hey All
Just got my hands on this beast. Epic piece of kit. I have a question though. The hot keys under the screen don't appear to do anything. I installed the driver for them when I installed Win7 64-bit, but no go. They light up when I touch them but they don't open any program. Any suggestions?

 

That's weird, so you installed the hotkey thing?

Back to CPU overclocking:
It seems that the laptop has no problem running at 87W TDP, 62A TDC at 26x multiplier (3.47GHz) outside of stress testing applications. I was able to run Arma 2 for an hour and the multiplier only fluctuated between 25.5 & 26. If I really want to lock it to 26x, I need 90W TDP but it crashes within seconds in Prime95 so I'd rather play it safe and leave some margin, won't cry about 30MHz difference
I also bought a kill a watt device to actually measure how much power the laptop is pulling from the power brick, might be interesting to know especially when overclocking the GPU for real.

 

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) Version 5.8 Released | techPowerUp

Here you go. Nibitor finally supported 480m

the proper link located in user comment by JrRacinFan "news link".

 

Nope I have that one since weeks already and I can't edit the voltage table. Someone else try I guess to see if you get the same problem on your GTX480M. I can adjust clocks but it's kinda pointless if I can't increase the voltage.

 

they've just released 5.8 version on 05 octerber. how can you have it for a week?

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v5.8 Software Released! :: mvk.tech :: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 470 465 460 ATI Radeon HD 5970 5870 5850 5830 :: MVKTech :: On the Edge of Technology

the one in the direct link from techpowerup is version 5.7. have you tried 5.8 already?