*** OFFICIAL Sager NP8760 / Clevo W870CU Owners Lounge ***

It's simply because Kingston is dumb and made a wrong move in making XMP ready memory kits for laptops. That's just the reason, really.

 

You know what they say about fools and their money.. If someone will buy it, might as well sell it.

 

Yep, just found out about the X25M G2 firmware update clusterbleep

I'll also update here re Eurocom experience.

 

You should be used to having to get a kit to install a second hdd by now.

 

All resellers should be including that kit as it comes with the unit from clevo...

 

Would you still get the W870CU if the 920XM was restricted to only a three bin overclock? Two bin? One bin? What I am asking is where would you draw the line seeing that your main drive for getting the W870CU, aside from twin HDD bays, is the ability to manually overclock. The 920XM in the W860CU can already push itself two multipliers higher on all four cores leaving only another two multiplier gap from the W870CU. I honestly think that users that get the 920XM solely for that reason are in it for the e-peen. It's as simple as that. It would be hypocritical of me saying this as I was in the same position as well. However, I did not know at the time that Turbo Boost cannot be stacked with a manual bin overclock on all four cores.

I really don't think that a W870CU BIOS flash to a W860CU will be successful. Don't get me wrong though; I am still optimistic about someone pulling it off so I can stand corrected and also enjoy an extra boost in performance, but right now I just don't think it is feasible. In this forum, I am known for being very conservative when it comes to technology and I don't think that this attempt will be without consequences. There are just too many unknowns that we are treading into and I find it unorthodox for some users that don't even own the system, let alone know the very soul intricate details of their own current notebooks, to make a shot at this.

I say all of this strongly because of the part in your post saying that you bought the HyperX XMP RAM with aspirations of tweaking the timings. I have already covered the unfortunate truth of XMP notebook memory before and after you posted so I have a feeling that you are one of those people that buys stuff on impulse without proper research. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5431993&postcount=14

 

care to explain this with examples?

 

The 920XM can overclock itself to 2.26GHz with the assist of Turbo Boost. Unlocking four multipliers higher through the W870CU BIOS would mean that the 920XM would come to a top speed of 2.93GHz on four cores; 2GHz base + 0.133GHz(2) Turbo Boost + 0.133GHz(4) BIOS = ~2.8GHz. This is in theory though. Because the amount of heat produced and the amount of power consumed would be too great at 2.8GHz, the 920XM can only peak at 2.53GHz on four cores on the W870CU. In short, Turbo Boost and multiplier overclocking cannot stack on four cores as the constraints deem it impossible. This has already been proven with babyhemi's notebook as he is capped at 2.53GHz.

 

If i understand you correctly, you are stacking turbo boost with base clock speed right?

the thing is, correct me if im wrong, i thought turbo boost wont work no matter what if cpu is stressed enough to run on all 4 cores? ie. for a 920XM, the base clock is 2GHz, and if underutilized, it will turbo boost to a max 3.2GHz. and when u add 4x bin OC, what this does is increasing the overall frequency in both base and turbo boost. meaning the base clock will be (1) 2.53GHz (2.0 + 4x0.133GHz) and the max turbo boost will be (2) 3.73GHz (3.2 + 4x0.133GHz). from my understanding, turbo boost does stack up with manual 4x bin OC from the second equation right? just that turbo boost wont kick in when the cpu is stressed enough to run at base clock (2GHz) but the 4x bin OC will still work even at base clock (2.53GHz).

at 2.26GHz, that is the speed on all 4 cores when they are not stressed to a 100%. the question is, at 4x bin OC, will all four cores get that small turbo boost when they are NOT stressed at 100%? because when stressed at 100%, no turbo boost will kick in and it will always run at base speed, which is 2GHz in the 920XM withouth OC, and 2.53GHz with 4x bin OC. and 3 cores, 2 cores, and so on.. yeah, maybe babyhemi can answer this question.

 

For single core, it will stack, but in my previous posts, I am exclusively talking only about all four cores. But you are indeed correct about single core. This is because the thermal and power constraints on single core are not as impacting as four cores. I don't know about two or three cores yet so I won't touch there.

That is the question that needs to be answered by babyhemi or another W870CU user. Personally I still think that Turbo Boost will not engage when the CPU is already unlocked four multipliers higher. But I am always willing to find out from people who do have the system and the CPU. Who knows, it may just sway me back over to the W870CU.

 

The procedure to test the theory is to run a stress test such as IntelBurnTest without a manual overclock to see how hot the 920XM will get until Turbo Boost will pull back and revert the clock speed back to 2GHz from 2.26GHz. This applies to both the W860CU and W870CU with the 920XM.

I can already feel myself being sucked back towards the W870CU. My logic is stronger when I'm intoxicated or nocturnally deprived, but right now I am sober and well rested. I keep resurfacing arguments to why I should side back with the W870CU. To put it lightly, I am still adamant about anyone paying $1k for a CPU, though this isn't the case for me, but if one were to purchase the 920XM, it would be best to get the most out of it to somewhat normalize the cost per hertz ratio; in other words, get the biggest bang for the biggest buck. And I feel that is where the W870CU will pull through. The other part of my teeter totter decision making is that I may have shadowed my ideals of a 17 inch notebook behind my ideals of a 15 inch notebook. I know what a 17 inch notebook is like; I've owned one since February and I know the very pros and cons of it just as well as I know the very mechanics of the notebook down to the smallest detail. Moving on to a 16:9 17 incher wouldn't be too much different because the increase in width would be minimal. It would mean that I may no longer be able to use my Zeroshock or fit it in my current backpack, but I must remind myself that accessories come last. I have also been fairly shallow about the screen as well. I love the beauty of a large 17 inch screen. I find it to be just as mobile as a 15 incher, but with the versatile size for projector-free presentations, cinematics, immersive gaming, desktop-like productivity, and so on. However, the number one element that continues to draw me towards the W870CU is the ability to mod it more extensively than the W860CU. I've applied my hardware mods to 15 inch Dell's and HP's before and I can tell you that it's a real b*tch. There is very little room to work with and the results are worthy of a mere golf clap at best. If I were to make the decision right now, I would go with the W870CU purely because of the reasons above. But the factor that I have been defending for the previous page remains unsure as I do not know if the 920XM can sustain 2.26GHz on Turbo Boost for as long as I wish. alexnvidia has brought up a good point that a manual overclock gives the W870CU the ability to retain 2.53GHz all the live long day and that reason is reassurance for me to rethink my decision of what notebook to side with.

Right now, I declare myself again, undecided.

 

You wishy-washy pink-o commie!

I hear you, for about 3 hours last night I was considering dropping the 8760 all together for the D900F. That lasted until Gophn's review when I decided I could not in good conscience, overlook the horrible aesthetics of that machine.

I'm always impressed when people get the 920XM.. I'm going to stick with the 820QM and upgrade later, but I will be happy to watch you play with it, assuming you go that route!

 

Aesthetics is at the very bottom of the list when it comes to picking out a notebook, no, a machine in general. I have built some of the craziest desktops for friends by recycling old Dell Optiplex cases that my high school was giving away. It was butt ugly on the outside, but tear down the side panel and it's a world of win on the inside. I don't think the D900F is an ugly notebook, rather it is just really big. But the primary reason why I would never ever consider one is because it bears a desktop CPU. Part of my tech morals and beliefs is that desktop CPU's should stay in desktops and mobile CPU's should be the only pieces of silicon performance in our notebooks.

You can always pick up a 920XM ES on eBay once they are released later in November or perhaps early December. Just make sure you pick one up before the M15x users do because I can guarantee you the price is going to skyrocket just like when the M17x users bought all the QX9300's when the notebook first came out.

 

I don't consider myself very focused on aesthetics either (we are talking Clevo here, after all), but the D900F was too much for me. It looks like a laptop that literally ate another laptop.

Good to know, I wasn't around for QX9300 buy up.. Maybe I should by one, use it, then re-sell it the AW people.. Free usage for a while, plus a little extra on resale.

 

I guess I can agree with you there. The D900F does look a little bit raunchy. It's nowhere compared to the updated 2009 style of the W series since the D900 notebooks have used the same basic design for over four years. I can somewhat say the same about the M570 notebooks, but they have had subtle changes over it's lineage to keep up with the times.

 

Soviet, you remind me of John Kerry. Did anyone get a 1080p screen yet and if so, how do you like it and who is the manufacturer?

 

Originally Posted by babyhemi View Post
Many come with new HannStar Displays that have just been released. Mine looks great. The brightness, colors, and contrast is very nice!

Everest report is:

Monitor Name Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB]
Monitor ID HSD06A5
Model HSD173PUW1
Manufacture Date Week 36 / 2009
Max. Visible Display Size 39 cm x 23 cm (17.8")
Picture Aspect Ratio 16:9

 

I got the green light from the GF to get this W870CU if I want it. Hmm just gotta decide if it's worth getting going from my current Asus. I could probably dump the Asus for 1100ish, got another $200 coming from eBay and $150 from bing. The rest I could make up for the difference..don't know if the mediocre gain from T9600 to i7 is worth it though. How big is the foot print on this thing compared to the W860CU or Asus G51?

 

babyhemi received a HSD panel in his Sager branded W870CU, and it looks pretty decent from what he says. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5439060&postcount=168

Going from a T9600 to a 720QM is a big jump overall. Going from a thermally constrained GTX 260M to an aggressively overclockable GTX 280M is also a modest jump.

Here are the measurements.

G51VX: 37.1 x 26.2 x 4.1cm
W860CU: 37.5 x 25.4 x 5.1cm
W870CU: 41.3 x 27.9 x 5.7cm

 

Seems the 870 isn't much bigger than the 860 or G51 which is good. So the biggest increase is probably the display size which is fine with me (I don't care for the constrained size in a 15.6"). Any reason I should consider W860 over this? BTW I'd be going with an 820QM b/c of the faster dual core clock and extra cache. Another question, where's a good place to buy a new video card (e.g. fermi or ati 5800 series) if and when they are released?

 

The W870CU is quite small for the power it packs and the size of it's screen. The bezel around the screen is incredibly small making it one of the smaller 16:9 17 inchers on the market in terms of footprint.

The two main factors that I see from others buying the W870CU over the W860CU is screen size and the twin HDD bays. Few others would say the ability to overclock when paired with a 920XM, but for most users getting a 820QM or 720QM, this isn't the case.

 

Well the screen is definitely a factor for me since I detest AUO. I've never had a HannStar display so I have no opinion of them. The footprint also matters and as long as the 870 is close to the G51 in size, that's all the better. BTW I edited my last post asking about where I could get a new video card if/when the the need arises (e.g. 5800 series release or fermi/whatever).

 

You can get your GPU from RJTech.

 

i've been on the fence between the asus g51j the sager 8690 and 8760 i've pretty much decided on the 8760 because of the 2 hdd. i was wondering if anyone could give me an idea how if it would be better to purchase a laptop with 2 drives or get 1 and install an aftermarket. a coulple of you guys touched on it but im not the most computer literate person so alot of it was over my head. how hard would it be for someone not that computer savi to instal the secondary drive and would that affect the warranty at all? i was thunking about getting a solid stat drive as my primary will be the 500gb because ive heard there great for fast memory access if anyone has time if they could elaborate on the best course of action for me to take that would be much appreciated. i plan on using the laptop to record music and do some gaming thanks in advance.

 

Installing a second hard drive takes around three minutes at most.

 

Hooray! My 8760 w/ 720QM just came in the mail today, and it's alive and well! It's a damn powerful rig, and 1920x1080 is a lot of pixels! (well, compared to my meager 1440x900 Toshiba)

I am currently annoyed by the keyboard. I may get used to it eventually, but to this day I still don't understand why everyone doesn't just use Toshiba's full keyboard layout - every key is in exactly the spot you'd expect it to be! This keyboard is missing separate pg up/pg down, home, and end keys (Fn + arrows does this - am I the only one who thinks that's stupid?). I am also very annoyed that there are only four USB ports (my Toshiba had 6, and it was awesome! Why doesn't anything carry 6 USB ports anymore?). I kind of miss having separate volume control buttons (or, better yet, my Toshiba's scroll-wheel for volume, which worked wonderfully), but I think I can get used to the Fn + F keys for volume control.

Not a perfect rig. But pretty sweet.

 

I think the most I've seen in laptop is about 5 USB (4 USB +1 ESATA). If you want more usb, why don't you buy usb hub or sth?

 

Having fun with the Intel Turbo Boost Monitor. Even though it probably is not accurate at times, it shows on mine during installs and such that it hit 6.80GHz, 5.70+, 4.53 and others several times over the 3.73 that was supposed to be the highest. This is with the settings of 3X overclock it the bios, not the highest 4x. Just a fun note to pass on.

 

BTW, the fan noise is less than the M17x and the D900 series too....

 

3x yields 3.73GHz? how bout 4x?

 

I'm tempted to buy the W870 now but with news of the looming nvidia die shrink + ATi's 5800 series around the corner, I'm not sure what to do. I'd hate to buy now and in dec see the new cards come out.

 

We have a similar case, though I'm on the verge of buying the W870CU. I hope an official news comes out soon regarding these video cards.

 

You guys really think the next generation cards will be released in the next couple months??

 

No sir, I do not. Not putting off my purchase, so unless something *big* happens in a month, I'm still going with the W870CU.

 

around the corner means 3-4 months lol

just get it and worry later

 

3x is 3.6GHz. 4x is 3.73GHz.

 

i thought so, but babyhemi claims otherwise.. that's what got me confused

 

I have it configured in my cart. I'm still contemplating. I like the 30-day satisfaction guaranty.

 

Less talking, more ordering..

 

Less cookies, more fruits.

 

Hrmm.. Perhaps a fig newton then.

 

Wow, is the volume really this quiet? I mean, my Toshiba had some awesome speaks and could really put out some noise, but this is *very* quiet. I feel like there's a missing volume control I can't find, or a set of speakers is off. At maximum volume, it's barely above a whisper. Even the crappy $700 HP I was borrowing and an 8-year-old eMachines both put out twice the noise as this machine.

Is this bothering anyone else? Should I just go out and buy some external speaks?

 

Wow that's disappointing to hear. Especially considering they used extra space to fit those speakers.

 

The speaker volume on mine is fine, it can get pretty loud. Definitely not the whisper that you described. The sound quality is a different story though, but it's laptop speakers - what can you expect?

 

I want to iron out some details first. I probably won't hear from xoticpc until Monday.

 

the subwoofer does not help at all?

 

Since when are you supposed to find speakers similar to those of the Qosmio laptops in the w870cu?... Get a headset or some external speakers.

 

Don't let the display hold you back from getting this one. Mines a beauty! Here is Notebookchecks review of it...

"17.3 inch display has an LED backlight, is in a 16:9 format and impresses with a FullHD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Above that, the reflective display's results are very impressive. Whilst the luminosity turn out sufficient to good with an average of 194.2 cd/m2 and illumination of 78%, the other results play out their trump. The very good black value of 0.22 cd/m2 as well as the excellent contrast of 968:1 is flabbergasting. Subjectively, the intense and true-to-life colors were very pleasing. Because the display is usually one of the biggest weak points in most notebooks, we were more than just pleasantly surprised."

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-mySN-XMG7-c-Notebook.22205.0.html

 

194 cd/m2 is okay but not great. The reason it has a great contrast ratio is because the panel isn't very bright. I'd rather it had a 500:1 contrast ratio and a 250 cd/m2 or greater brightness.

 

I'd take contrast over brightness. I'm only using my display at 42% brightness and it is bright enough for me.