**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

Thanks for the link but after reading the 3 pages in it I'm still not sure of the answer... lol. No one gave a final one there but I looked to both cards (images at least) and they are very similar but have small differences that are not clear if it would made a difference or not.

Anyone really tried it?

Edit: For what I see in this pic http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww19/kingkong888_2009/gtx460m-2.png
And in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gykAQ3j65k&hd=1&t=6m12s (when he shows the heatpipe)
It seams that if I have some spare thermal pads around it should be ok

 

PM sent to EditioN to help solve his GPU conumdrum!

 

Ive got W82 at A67 and changed my ratio's to 26/26/22/20 and its been stable always. (I can turn of the throttle back in the bios). I run this overclock without throttlestop, I have the bios unlocked with plenty of options, even ASPM (active state power management) is enabled for every pci slot ).

At 2.6 ghz and 100% cpu usage it doesnt use more then 70w tops out some times at 75w. Max temps when doing 3d rendering is around 87c.

What is a vreg? (I'd like to know what im frying )

 

Vregs are voltage regulators on the mainboard, they provide a constant voltage for the cpu. If the cpu uses more power they get hotter, caused by higher currents, and as everyone know too much heat is bad for the hardware....

 

if you dont mind, please share the bios that you use here, I would like to try it too

 

I hope yours doesn't fry Chaos. I wish I had upgraded to a 840qm instead lol

 

The bios was posted here but it was at post number #4890

It unhides acually alot of options, dont change settings you dont know
Changing turbo and TDC/TDP value's are in hex numbers. so be carefull with what youre doing or you can kill your laptop.

I dont have my current value's at hand nor do I have the time right now to reboot and look in the bios.

 

I'm having a weird issue since I upgraded ti the 6970m. After booting windows the machine "hangs" for 1-2 seconds. The mouse pointer freezes and when it "returns" it is considerably slower. I use a MX518 so I can adjust the DPI from the mouse.

I hadn't thought much of this, but it seems to appear more frequently and last night I experienced it in BF3 as well. I've treid using different usb ports but the problem remains

Also, after playing BF3 there is sometimes a glitchy noise that lasts for less than a second and randomly returns.

I don't know if these two problems are related and what causes them.

Any input?

 

Do you have a seagate momentus xt in your system?
With the older firmware's you get the freezing/ slow downs for a short period. If you dont have a momentus xt then I have no clue.

 

I don't have the momentus xt, just a regular harddrive.

I will do a complete format of the disk and reinstall windows to see if it makes a difference.

EDIT:

After doing a clean install the problem still remains... I've run DPC latency checker, figured it might show up there somehow(?) but it did not.

 

In my previous post you find the download link.

TDC limit is set to "218h" = 67A
TDP limit is set to "290h" = 82w

1 Core ratio limit: 1Ah = 26x multiplier 3.458ghz
2 Core ratio limit: 1Ah = 26x multiplier 3.458ghz
3 Core ratio limit: 18h = 24x multiplier 3.192ghz
3 Core ratio limit: 14h = 20x multiplier 2.666ghz

But by default the throttleling is still on so when it gets in the 80c zone it will turn clocks down. This can be disabled, but this can let your processor overheat and kill it because it no longer throttle's back!

Note:
I have upgraded the cooling and it doesnt crash or overheat under normal use, when doing 3d rendering for a couple of hours it got up to 89c but didnt went up. (yes I know 89c way too hot)

Picture of the bios options. (this is one tab, there are 6 more)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9377/img20111107201307.jpg

Picture of the upgraded cpu cooling:
http://i51.tinypic.com/2hyus60.jpg

Picture of the GPU cooling:
http://i54.tinypic.com/nqpnjc.jpg

PS. if you dont know what youre doing, dont do it!

 

Here my experience with these pads: They are too thin for the memory.

But found a solution for my problem: I modded the 5870m heatsink, because it didn't fit exactly on the 6970m, used the exhausted stock pads and undervolted the card to 0.96V@680/900. Now I can run high performance games like Crysis2 and the card doesn't reach 80°C (on the memIO. Thats the hottest sensor I think) also while running unigine.

I only have problems running NFS shift2. It crashes after round about 2mins driving.

Did you tested it with other ram modules?

PS: Hope my english isn't too bad.

 

just reporting in, still no more black screens. discovered why bf3 was still freezing though, something to do with the realtek audio & punkbuster, according to loads of different websites / forums.

just using the default windows driver now + i ordered a x-fi go pro, had one on my last laptop and it was great.

bumped up the storage space as well, got a 64gb sdhc card, put half my itunes, emulators & classic dos games on it. purchased some mini usb sticks as well. considered the optical bay thing again but i'm not gonna bother with this one. gonna keep this one as portable as possible.

 

320GB HDD? Perhaps you need a larger one I might be selling my 500GB hitachi soon if I decide to get an SSD..

 

it was a bargin price so i snapped it up.

 

Hey guys, I'm having problems with my NP8690.

Details:

I turn it on, screen doesn't turn on, the top two left buttons above the keyboard (email and web) function in the sense that they light up when I press them.

Other than that, completely dead (while the on-blue light is running), the fans are normal, the laptop is cool to the touch all over.

Here's a video of it: Sager np8690 problems - YouTube

 

sounds like your gpu might be completely dead. Does it sound like it boots up?

Perhaps you can log in and hear the log in sound?

 

Nope, it doesn't really boot up. The fan speed control button doesn't work too.

 

Perhaps without the gpu working properly windows won:t boot up completely. Not sure what to advise you to do next. You can try reseating all of your components but other than that it is costly to try new components without knowing what the problem is.

 

Have you tried an external monitor? That will narrow it right down to the VGA. Sager has a great turn around time for RMAs.

 

Hi Guys,

I finaly got my i7 920xm . What a great cpu. I used a liquid metal cooling pad and my temeratures while playing ARMA2 (heavely CPU dependend) are between 75°C and 83°C. I set my clocks to 27/25/23/21 and it works perfecly stabel in games and while TS Bench (comes with throttlestop).

It set the TDP limit to 57W (It uses it... measured with HWiNFO64). I will not set the limit any higher, because I'm afrait frying my motherboard. I made this expirence with my beloved AMD Athlon K7 650Mhz --> 800Mhz stable, 850Mhz dead .

I am quite happy with my machine and I want to say thank you to you guys which answered my questions.

Thanks guys
Arne

 

Great work arne. I am glad someone will learn from my past mistakes! 57W should be absolutely fine just wondering how long can it maintain 2.8ghz x 4 at such a low tdp? On mine it needed 67W to allow a permanent 2.8ghz 21x multi fun at 100% load across 4 cores.

 

I just tested it. Do have 2,8Ghz constantly I need a TDP of 60W.

I ran furmark to get 100 % GPU load and used TS Bench to get 100 CPU load. The clocks shows by Throttlestop stay constant at 2,8 GHz and temperatures are at max. 83°C for the CPU and 76°C for GPU.

After 20 min I got bored because values didn't change anymore. I will leave it at that ...

Arne

 

Good job. I received my M15x today so I will migrate to the alienware section now

Take care everyone. I will check back now and again to see if I can help using my experiences.

 

Hello. I have
visited this forum alot over the past few months and am interested in upgrading my NP8690 (W860CU).

I purchased my laptop in Nov of 2010 right before all the new models came out and it was out-fitted with a Nvidia 460M.

I am considering purchasing an i7-920xm and a 6970m.

Do I just need to find a 180W AC adapter to compensate for the higher power draw of the components??? Do I need to get thermal pads or can I just use MX-2 on everything?? Can I use my existing heatsink or do I need to get another one??

Can my laptop handle the load of the upgraded components?? I seen in some earlier posts that the electronics on the inside of the laptop itself may not hold up well.

 

Your adaptor should be fine if you just get 6970M. 150W or 180W will be necessary if you jump up to 920XM as well. Your heatsink should work ok however talk to oan001 on the forums he may have a modded heatsink that you can have to make life a little easier.

Kiddagoat if you want a 100% compatible 6970M that I used in my w860cu. Head to the NBR marketplace. I am selling it there in the components section.

 

Soooo I have been checking some prices on eBay..... the price difference between a 6990m and 6970m is about $30 USD.

I am highly tempted to just pay the extra $$ seeing how both cards are 100W....
The physical layout of each looks the same, so the heatsink should fit either one.

 

random question...but is anyone having issues with the fingerprint login into windows... mines works most of the time but sometimes the fingerprint option or "user" doesnt even show up?

any ideas?

 

Is your laptop hibernating when it doesn't work?

 

no, my battery no longer works..so no hibernating for me.....so its just when it boots up...like i said, it works most of the time but sometimes it doesnt give me the option...

 

I am getting ready to order a 6970m from eBay and this is my current heatsink:

P/N: 6-31-W860N-061
MFG DATE: 10.09.06

Is this the latest one that does not require modding?? The seller is willing to sell me a heatsink for $25 more.

 

You have the latest heatsink but you still need to modify it.

Here is a helpful post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...870cu-sager-np8690-np8760-15.html#post7785453

 

I got my i7-920XM in the mail today. I ordered it from Laptop Monkey and other than a couple of bent pins, which I fixed, the CPU is working great.

Ran IntelBurnTest for about 10 passes and it reached 83C under the load. Will probably improve temps once I get the cooling pad under there.

Should be getting my 6970m in the mail thursday.

 

Congrats! Are you planning on overclocking the 920xm or are you leaving it at stock?

Are you playing BF3, BTW? I'm wondering if there is a fps boost on the larger B2K maps with the 920xm.

 

I've just installed a 320gb 7200 seagate sata hdd in an AKASA ODD, it was a lot cheaper than buying one from newmodeus. It was a tight fit though, compared to a newmodeus ODD which I had on a previous laptop. At least the dvdrw bezel clips on perfectly
It took a few in/out slides to get the thing to make contact with the sata connector, but once it clicked in, I booted it up and boom, it works.

I don't think the build quality is quite up to the standards of newmodeus but it's good enough. I was more concerned about the bezel.

So if you are on a budget, get one.

 

It's an external case, isn't it?

 

it's one of these, but i got it off ebay with free p&p.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Akasa-Stor-...IS30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329409793&sr=8-1

 

Ahh, ok. I thought you bought something like that: Caseking.de » » Akasa ODD Gehäuse für Slim-Laufwerke - black

I have the same like yours, I think. I bought it for my 128 GB SSD, which is in use for my system partition.

 

Dear forum members!

Once again thanks for the info about upgrading to 6970.

However I would like to ask your help again:

The situation is this, I had crisped a 5870 which came originally with it, so I have ordered a 6970.
Unfortunately my warranty is void.
While I am waiting for the 6970, I got a chance to get a hold onto a 4850 to try it out.

When I switch on the machine, it displays the booting screen, I can enter the bios, I can start to boot up the OS, however after a certain period of time the 3 keyboard leds (caps,num,scroll) starts to blink, and the machine starts to beep rythmically (approx 1 beep / sec) until it shuts itself down.
This happens every time.
The timespan til shut down is almost the same every time.

After power on at first only the GPU fan starts, the CPU fan is still.
After a while, before the beeping starts, the GPU fan starts to speed up like hell and the CPU fan turns on as well, so both fans are working.
It doesn't matter if I enter the Bios, boot up the OS or just pause at the bootup screen, this happens until it shuts down itself.

Similar to my problem is (not my video) Sager NP8690 - Beep and Crash - YouTube but my computer flashes all 3 keyboard leds.

Does anybody know what might be wrong?
Motherboard faliure?
Or do anybody know the beep error codes for the w860cu? I couldn't find any in the service manual or anywhere else.

One another thing, that when I enter the Grub bootloader, it is displayed in pink color, and with strangely looking characters, readable but not smooth. When I start eg. the windows it is displayed in like 8 or 16 colors.
I only could start the windows until the welcome screen, because is shuts itself down around that time (see above).

When I enter the bios, the bios says that the videocard type is unknown.

Could the two problems be related? Or is it possible that the videocard is not working for some reason properly in my computer?

Thanks for your answers in advance,
David

 

Um... i think you might have a hardware failure. Maybe something to do with power supply? One thing you could try might be to use the computer without the battery. If things improve, you can be sure that it is a problem with the power supply.
That's all i've got. no idea why all the lights are blinking for you...

 

Hey guys thought I would give you all an update.

I was having some thermal issues with my 920XM. Under IntelBurnTest it was hitting 86C and then when I went to redo my thermal paste.

I noticed the infamous Black Sticker and removed that..... now I get about 76C under load.

I also received my 6970m from Eurocom. They modified the heatsink for me and went ahead and lined it up with thermal pads. I used some thermal pads left over from my EK blocks on the underside of the card.

Running Furmark it topped out at 86C. I am running Unigine Heaven on it now and seeing how it does after a few hours. I am using MX-2 thermal compound and might be contemplating a CM SF-19 Laptop Cooler.

 

Thanks for the reply,
I've tried to power up with only battery and with only power supply, and with both.
The symptom is the same...

Anyone, beep codes?

 

You might want to disassemble your notebook again & re-seat everything; heatsink, cables, etc. Also make sure graphic card (including VRAM) get proper cooling.

 

I have an issue with my gpu fan wich makes noise, I think the fan will breakdown or something. Ive blown out the dust with a compressor and it still makes noise. (maybe I broke the fan/motor by blowing too much?)

I've removed the metal plate that has those tiny screws and even with that removed it still makes noise so its really the fan itself.

Any idea's?

 

Hi Dave. I think your problems are simply a result of the fact that the w860cu never has supported the 4850. The 6970m should be fine though.

If you have the chance, could you post some pictures of the modified heatsink you recieved?

I would try removing the fans from the fan casing (after you remove the metal plate) and dropping a tiny amount of oil into the hole where the fan is attached. This has worked for me on a previous laptop.

 

hi i bought a intel i7 820qm es model off of ebay and unfortuantly the dia was cracked so he sent me another one it is in perfect condition no scratches, no cracks or anything but this one dosnt work either it dosnt boot up, black screen, and the fans run, and there are no lights that flash for codes, and by the way i have tested another processor in it the intel i5 560m es model and it works just fine. so is there anything that i can do to fix this or do i have to get a refund and get another processor.

 

If it only works with a replacement processor, then there isn't much you can do. A dead processor is something you won't be able to fix yourself.

 

thanks for the reply and also should i just get the 740qm same clocks just has 6 mgs and the 820qm has 8mgs but the 740qm is like 80 dollars and the 820qm is 130

 

That's entirely up to you. The difference between them in terms of performance is only about 5-10% on average, so it's not particularly significant.

Intel Core i7 820QM Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Intel Core i7 740QM Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

ok thanks will get the 740qm