**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

OK, not ram problem, RMAed it, but because I applied the thermal compound myself, I might be charged with any cost of replacement parts... a very sad day for me and a painful lesson learnt.

 

Got a question.

What is the best version of Nvidia drivers for the 285M?

I've seen some traffic on this forum as well as laptopvideo2go where some are running 196 drivers on their 8690 when Sager has only 187.71 for download, and mine came installed last month with 188.30.

I need to run a CUDA app that requires greater than 190.00 to run at all.

Who's broken the code on doing this?

Thanks,

S.

Sager NP8690, 1080p Full HD screen, I7-920XM processor, GTX285M, 8Gb 1333mhz, 256Gb C300 SSD, 7-64Ult

 

Another review, this time from notebookcheck.com.

http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Deviltech-Devil-9700-DTX-ATI-HD-5870-Notebook.27057.0.html

 

www.laptopvideo2go.com

 

this could be of some help
others swear its the best atm

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=465071

 

Hi, new to the forums, i have read almost all the posts made on this thread as im getting a NP8690. I heard the sound quality on this is pretty bad, does that mean that if i plug in speakers to the audio jack ill probably get poor sound quality too? If so does getting an express card sound card help?

 

Hi mate welcome, the NP8690 isnt the best sounding notebook out there however I dont think it is as bad as everyone makes it out to be. If however you really want a good sound from you notebook, plugging in speakers will give you a better sound as I think it has been discussed that it ISNT a sound card issue, rather a wiring issue. That said here is a link to a external vs internal sound card thread. It helped me with my decision. If you have the money you could always buy a better sound card to couple with your speakers!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=467198

 

like what fluff said , or you can use a b/t headset or the spdif out.
i personally use the audio jack and although it doesnt sound as good as my older laptop it isnt that bad either. this however could be because my external speakers and headset are quite good.
the sound issue is more like nitpicking if you ask me, its no gamebreaker for sure.
compared to what the other high end laptop owners have gone thru, id say the 8690 is a solid machine.

 

hey guys... need some advice. My temps for my cpu are great from application that Sager did.... I thought my GPU temps were high and so I cracked open the case and reapplied some AS5. I have better temps than when I opened the box but I'm still not happy and have an opinion.... The load temp of the GPU after about 3 runs of 3DMark06 got up 97c. The idle temp was 61-62. When I reapplied the paste I tried several different methods (I have done plenty of desktop jobs but this is my first notebook application) I did the grain method and the temps went up. I then went with the spread with the credit card method to a VERY fine layer. This resulted in even worse temps. The last and most successful attempt was the spread method leaving it thicker than I usually do and the temps are about 4c lower on idle and 5c lower on load than when Sager did it. I noticed that the copper plate is only making contact with 3/4 of the gpu die. I applied more than enough pressure on the plate while screwing in the 4 gpu screws so my thought is that the mxm card is not sitting inside the metal tray completely flat. Does anybody have any suggestions? I thought that I could place an additional space on the 2 front screws (where the card attaches to the tray) and that could even it out.
Maybe I am being a paranoid temp freak and I should just remove HWInfo32.... you tell me... If I run either the 3DMark benchmark or demo more than a few times back to back I am currently topping out at 92-93.

 

search out fzfh posts on this thread or pm him.
your temps are unbelievably high even if ur ambient temp may be warmer.
he accidentally tore off his gpu cooling pads or something like that and from what i remember, his temps are similar to yours.

 

My memory thermal pads are all there and from the imprint on them seem to be in the right place and have good contact with the modules. I will try another round of AS5.

 

Done;

ordered @ xotic pc: 1x Sager NP8690 (Built on Clevo W860CU) Custom Gaming Laptop

now if the damn banks get their act together in transferring the money without ripping me off I hope the thing is shipped soon.

Waited now 3 years for a gaming lappy....

 

afaik thermal paste will give 5*c lower at most. so i doubt if its your thermal paste.
maybe you could also try checking if your fans are indeed spinning as they should, increasing in sound/velocity during higher loads.
also you could check if anything is blocking the rear exhaust and those underneath during usage.
i live in a tropical country and have never gotten anything close to those temps. in fact, i dont think anyone has gotten close to those temps under 3dmark06 on a normal, functioning system.

 

I'm with you, ordered mine Monday.

Anyone know how long Xotic usually takes to actually ship? They say 3-7 business days from they time they send it to be built (Tuesday afternoon for me), but I'm going home on break next week and having it shipped there, so I'm hoping that it will ship sooner rather than later so it arrives while I'm there.

 

Well I finally found a reason to stop lurking. I recently purchased this notebook as well. after having high gpu temps as well I decided it was best to figure out the problem. As you stated the core does not make flat contact with the heatsink. A few things seem to be playing into this the first is check the thickness on the thermal pads as a few of mine were really thick compared to the others so I made them thinner. The second is the aluminum can that is around the card holds the heatsink away from the core; it would appear that it has been made to deep for the card. As a result I bent out the can so the heatsink could move down past the edge of it. This change seemed to help quite a bit as I now idle in the low 50s and even running furmark only get into the 80s compared to high 60s and over 100 when I first got the laptop. I am still not sure if I am totally happy with the thermal pads but the core is making much better contact than it was previously. Also I bent the springy screw arms up a bit to supply more force for the heatsink against the card.

Hope this helps anyone else that might be experiencing high temps with the 5870.

 

this is very interesting as i believe there has been no issue like this for the 280/285m cards.
as you stated, the thermal pads and the alu can may not providing adequate thermal dissipation due to thickness and lack of surface contact.
from the benches ive seen with the 5870 in the g73 and 8690/8760 it does seem like the 5870 runs hotter than the 280/285m which is odd.
please correct me if im wrong in this assumption however.

 

I already found out why I had those high temps back then, because I tore off the thermal pads, but I put them back in, however, due to it not being exactly the same position, the height is probably different, causing the core's contact with the copper plate to separate, that's the reason for the high temperature.

However, I got confident after I fixed my graphics card temp so I wanted to bring my CPU temp down further and applied another thermal paste to the CPU, but after that the laptop won't start anymore. Already returned it to Sager, but because I opened up the machine I will have to pay for the repair cost which will be very high, now that I think back, I should just enjoy my brand new Sager rather than opening it up the first day I received it, I will now blame it on this forum for making me think that opening up a brand new laptop is the norm...

 

If the temps were good, what did you try to accomplish. Curiosity killed a cat. Yes blame it on the forum.

 

Modifying the tray to lower the "seat" of the heatsink over the GPU may be an option for me.... I have a service call into Sager before I do anything to see what they have to say..... If I will have to pay for service since I opened it up and re-applied TP then I will just do this on my own...

SP-1, did you just bend the outer rim of the tray outward to allow for the lower heatsink position or did you shave/grind the rim down?

 

Actually after my "meddling" the GPU temperature dropped by 10C even compared to the original, having a high 70C/low 80C on furmark. Though the CPU part really failed me, if they tell me my CPU is spoilt, I think I'll just ask them to ship it back and I'm going to get a ES from ebay instead, a resale 820 is going to burn too big a hole in my pocket. Yes, I blame this forum, if not for this forum, I would just be an ignorant consumer and enjoy my brand new laptop rather than opening it up first day I got it to modify the cooling just to get a degrees off it.

 

What I did was placing a copper piece ontop of the GPU core to maximize contact area, took off 10C from there.

 

hmmm... not a bad idea... just need to find a thin copper piece.

 

The copper works pretty well, I was having issues when I upgraded my the card in my AW, it reduced max temps from like 94C to 71C. I got my copper in the hobby metal display at my local hobby shop. I think you can get it on ebay too.

 

With all due respect, the ultimate responsibility still rests with you. No one forced you to do it.

I have witnessed many impressive feats members have accomplished with their laptops, but I would not be making those changes to my laptop.

If I did, and it did not work out, the fault is on me-

 

Yes I know, was joking.

 

Sorry to hear about your laptop, just to let you know im a fellow Singaporean and ive ordered the NP8690 with 5870 and its due to arrive in 4 days.

 

I just bent it out to see if it would help as I didn't feel like pulling it apart again at the time. I have considered either a copper shim as mentioned our actually sanding the edges of the can down not sure which I might do. I will probably pull it apart again and remove the can to see how spacing looks on the thermal pads and decide from there if I want to try and shim or just sand it down. Honestly I am not sure what the point of the can is beyond some kind of possible EMI shielding it would provide. Maybe it is just to keep careless people from damaging the card during heatsink installation.

 

My apologies. I didn't see the smiley face.

So this makes it your fault.

 

Xotic doesn't actually build/ship the Sagers... they'll come straight out of Sager in CA.

 

I'd like to know how big is the copper piece, thanks Probably gonna get one some time soon, although my temps are fine, due to the insane amount of heat in Australia...having one would definitely help. Does it need to cover the whole heatsink on the core itself or just little pieces to make multiple smaller heatsinks?


How'd you go about placing it/sticking it? Thermal pads? Glue ? If you stuck it that is.

 

What I did was using a copper piece that just covered the core itself, then applied artic silver on both sides of the copper piece.

 

Exactly, just as big as the core die, and paste on both sides. Be careful to get something thin enough though that it won't mess with the height when the heatsink is screwed down and leave the memory with too much space for the pads to cover. I also would be a little worried if you were tightening it down and the only place it really had contact was on the plate and therefore on the core-might produce strain that would be bad in the long term (just a speculation). It worked well on my AW because the core actually originally had a pad like the memory did, so there was space to fill; if the NP8690's heatsink usually makes direct contact with the core, you might have to address the memory differently too (not to say you couldn't make copper plates for that too).

The other option that I did see once was someone made a plate for the whole MXM card, but that would require drilling holes in just the right place, and the height difference of the core and memory could still be a problem.

 

So you mean like this? Because if my memory serves me correctly, the core has direct contact with the heatsink itself. Yeahhh paint skills !

 

Yes it's like that.

 

My temps are not good on my ATI at idle (around 58-60c) and I am thinking this would help. What thickness is the copper plate and did you buy something larger then the core and then just cut it down the size you need? I am thinking a copper "sheet" would work then just cutting it to size.

For those that have done it, can you check this page and see if any of these will work? http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=966&step=2&top_cat=0 or http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1118&step=2&top_cat=0

 

Use pennies!

 

i dont understand why the copper piece helps? its not like it makes the cpu have a better connection....thats what the thermal paste is for.

 

Hey guys i got my Clevo W860CU from mysn now. I have some problems:

1. Install of Windows 7 x64 Ultimate (Trial)
2. Install of ATi Mobile Catalyst 10.3a Preview Link
3. Restart and after the Windows Logo and it stopped to boot --> black Screen
4. After 15 min waiting and hope that it will go on I restarted it again and then I had a bluescreen

Then I took the drivers from my reseller and it worked. But the ATI 10.3a should work ?

I also started a 1080p video on youtube in fullscreen and after a few seconds the screen got black like the 5870 deactivates itself and had to shutdown the Notebook because it bucked very strong. Is there a problem with my ATI 5870 ?

 

The copper piece helps if the gap between the heatsink and the component is too large for the thermal paste to bridge. If the gap is too wide, then the thermal paste simply won't reach far enough to cover that gap, and so you need the copper to fill in the rest of the space.

 

The paste only helps in conductivity and marginal cooling; however copper acts like a heatsink, where heat is transfered from one object to another.
If you open the laptop up you'll see an oversized copper unit on top of both GPU and CPU, these are the ones that transfer heat and dissipate it through the back. Adding more copper makes it more efficient due to more heat transfers. (correct me if I'm wrong but I think I got the general idea)

 

Adding a copper shim between the GPU die and the cold plate itself in a thermal paste sandwich is just more mediums for heat to transfer through. This is not what we want as it reduces efficiency as well as raises the height for the memory chips and the chokes in the back. If the GPU cold plate can rest flat on the die, then the shim is not needed.

The reason why fzhfzh is getting better GPU core temps is because the heatsink is no longer saturating heat from the memory as the raised height from the shim is making the cold plate no longer touch the chips. The temps as reported from the diode other than the GPU core temps in HWiNFO32 are from a thermal zone fairly close to the memory. It is not a gauge of temperature for each of the memory chips themselves, but with the pads removed, they will skyrocket.

The aluminium tray, or "can" as sp-1 calls it, is indeed there for EMI shielding, and also to serve as a brace to keep the whole card rigid when it is bolted down to the motherboard. There are a lot of physicals forces pushing and pulling in both directions, primarily from the heatsink mounted to the GPU die, so the card will not bend as much with the tray attached. It is also needed to keep the whole card flat against the motherboard.

 

Does ^ that apply to CPU as well, as I'm wanting to place the copper shim to the CPU instead of the GPU though

 

The same applies to any component. If your CPU heatsink isn't making flat contact with your CPU to the point where one decides to shove a copper shim in there, then there is something wrong with the fitting of the CPU heatsink, especially when the results after inserting the shim in there are better than without it.

 

Well.... I just added a thin copper shim to my gpu and the idle temps went down 7 degrees and my load temp went down almost 24 degees. I picked up a small sheet at my local hobby shop. (.05cm thick) My idle is now 53c and load topped out at 69c. It appears that the copper plate of the heatsink was not making good contact with the gpu die. I'm pretty confident that the memory thermal pads are still making contact with their modules so I am in the clear on that end. My big concern is that I had to do this on a brand new laptop. This should have been identified and corrected at build/burn in before sending out. I haven't rulled out sending it back to have this fixed.
For those of you wondering the method..... I used both. I used the rice grain method on the contact between the shim and the plate (i applied the shim to the plate first using a great deal of pressure. Then I used the spread method to get a very fine layer on the gpu die...
I should be able to fire up BFBC2 now without worrying about cooking my 5870.

oh yeah... Like your sig Thisisalamp... didnt know they had a stat tracker available for BC2 yet.

 

I see what you mean now SovieS. Mister qbicle here sort of verified it as well. But that doesn't mean I should tighten my CPU's heatsink right? Because it might damage it, no? Heard its about a full turn screw and one quarters back turn.

And about the sig, yeah I love it but I kinda stole the site from someone elses sig haha probably they tracked the stats straight from EA and it updates regularly too.

 

Why has this problem come up with the 5870's and not the 285's?
The 5870's are supposed to run cooler right?

 

yeah that was my question too a few posts ago.
could it be that the heatsink assembly isnt exactly a good fit for the 5870, or that the gddr5 runs really hot?

 

Don't think there's any problem, even before I meddled with the GPU, the temperature was only 86C on stress test, which is completely fine temperature.

 

didnt some 5870 owners complain of high idle temps and temps in the mid 90s on gaming and running 3dmark06

 

I've seen those too.
I know posters come here to troubleshoot some issues and fix some problems they are having but to tell you the truth I have yet to see GPU running hot problems with the 285's.
I know for the most part there are no problems with the 5870's and most owners are very happy but this is starting to irk me