**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

Is there a need to under clock the 5870M ? other than to save power consumption and heat ? When I turn my laptop on it usually goes straight to games anyway. Is have to under clock and re set the clock worth the hassle ?

 

Well, it's for times where you have to run it without the power supply and have to run it on UPS power, so the more power you can squeeze out of the UPS the better.

 

Thanks I sorta gathered that's why, how much extra does this squeeze out ?
And can you set it to revert back to stock clocks with a click of a button or does it have to be done manually ?

 

It's all explained in this thread : http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...w-underclock-your-ati-5870-automatically.html
Personally my temps dropped around 5-8 degrees which lowers fan noise from the GPU noticeably, allthough I prolly have pretty high standards considering noise.

I've had my 860cu for around two weeks now and I have 2 (minor) remarks:
Scrolling with the tochpad doesn't work all the time, it also appears that you have to tap the right edges to scroll instead of making a stroke movement. Why clevo didn't opt for a conventional touchpad I don't know. Might try the multitouch driver so I can sroll with 2 fingers though.
The other issue I'm having is a slight beeping noise from the power adapter, when the notebook is running I can't hear it because of the fans but when it's in standby it is audible(not all the time though).

Other than that (y)

 

Do you have the Lite-ON PSU?

 

Did you update your touchpad drivers? That may make a difference.

As far as I know, underclocking won't save any power. At least, I haven't noticed a difference.

I have shortcuts to underclock and reclock to stock. Nice to have that option since underclocking reduces temps so much.

Edit: In an airconditioned room (maybe 25C) and underclocked, my GPU is at 44C.

Also: I tried playing Last Remnant at 800x600 with max settings while underclocked and it was smooth as butter. At native res and all settings maxed, I get slow downs during fights. Might try a bigger resolution to see how far an underclocked 5870 can go.

 

Thanks for the link I will check it our, RE the hot keys I havent got a clue how to assign them might be coming back for questions if its not explained in the thread, thanks again for the link !

 

Errr...have the same problem, but my solution was software based and free :
1. After connecting E-sata port from eclosure to laptop, open device manager(right click my computer>properties>at upper left)>right click your computer name>rescan new harware
2. Download and install intel Matrix Storage Manager
After that that restart you computer

It looks like the E-sata port are handled by intel ich-x southbridge chipset directly

BTW Are you the same "genocide" at local chip local forum?

 

Doesn't squeeze out much battery life, if any. Just lowers the idle temps (not going to say load temps as no sane person will load a game at 300/300). It was determined in that thread that to squeeze out actual battery life, undervolting would be more beneficial.

 

Hmmm... Maybe underclocking is a good idea, playing on stock clock at max settings in Last Remnant, the framerate is so fast I can't see the combat animations properly.

 

i'm going to buy a custom skin today ^_^
and a lcd protector too ^_^

siang gan :beer:


my express card slot probably will be useless for me, so i'll just plug a tv tuner into it.
Do you guys know whether should i remove the tv tuner when my notebook shutdown or not?

 

Please see this for those who's having keyboard spacebar problems: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/487383-keyboard-spacebar-problem.html#post6297306

 

Framerate too fast? Maxed out, I get slow downs during battle when each union attacks. I lowered shadow quality and everything is ok now, though. Slowdowns help with the critical triggers though. Maybe I should lower my CCC settings.

 

^^
to kevind's post, IT REALLY WORKS
the spacebar issue i have is TOTALLY gone after following his steps!!

Again, i appreciate the help ! The spacebar is FINALLY registering all key pushes FULLY!!
Anyone who has ANY problem with the spacebar should DEFINITELY read his thread!

 

Glad, I could be of help

 

Yes, it's too fast, even on those purpose slow motion it passes too fast, I put critical triggers on auto so it's fine. Maybe it's the CPU, console ported games scale too well with CPU.

 

Maybe you have turbo mode on? Press L-shift during the planning phase to turn it off. With turbo on everything goes like crazy. Without it though, I see slowdown.

 

Oh, I suppose the turbo mode releases the speed limit and allow it to go as fast as your card can carry. Because using my old notebook, turning on turbo mode made no difference.

 

it's useless. touchpad is crappy and drivers won't do anything better. it's a sentelic touchpad, and scrolling is meant to be triggered by keeping your finger pressed on the top-right and bottom-right corner of the surface (about 9mm from the edges). it's the most stupid design i've ever seen. what if i want to scroll fast? i can't!

anyway, multitouch support is crappy too. don't expect it to be as near as sensible as a macbook.

 

yep i am bro btw which should i get on that web, there are 2 option for it. the 6mb file ro the 23mb?

anyway i end up and get myself a express card 2 esata port it settled my problem, for my original esata i just use it for external 2.5" 500gb.

 

I use the the 6mb file

 

Kevin, you are a legend for posting that spacebar fix. Unbelievable. +rep

 

No prob mate, anytime Glad I could be of help.

 

It gets here tomorrow!



Edit : today even!!!

1) does xotic ship win 32 or 64?

2) can I use driver straight from ati?

3) How can I test my space bar to see if I need that fix?

4) For ati heat I need hardware id? right?

 

Is the fingerprint reader problem after system hibernation in win7 issue already fixed by this time?

also, with my gtx280m before i just had to switch to realtek digital ouput to enable sound thru hdmi Now, with my hd5870 i have to go to control panel and change sound playback device to Digital Audio (HDMI) for the sound to output through HDMI, is this normal behavior?

 

1) It depends on how much memory you had installed

3) It needs it. All the 8690's come that way. There IS a bit of an issue with the space bar being more noisy after the fix, but I doesn't bother me. (as long as it works, right?)

 

Sager NP8690 - 15.6" 1600x900 LED, Intel i7-820QM, ATI 5870m, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 500GB 7200RPM HDD

Also what do i download from ati to get the latest drivers?

 

I'm not sure if the spacebar issue is present in all the 8690's. As far as I know, you, me, and Bakedbread were the ones only having this issue. And I've asked Bakedbread about the noise after the fix, he doesn't have it.

 

You'll have 64 bit.

And I don't know about the ATI stuff; I'm an nVidia man.

 

ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

The latest Mobility drivers from ATI (10.5).

 

TY +reps or DKP or whatevers... stanly nickels...

 

ooo, ATI released 10.5 now?

Does anyone know if its worth upgrading from 10.4? I dont really know if they list change logs, but is there any performance/heat/battery life gains of any sort?
or should i not try to fix what isnt broken?

again , +thanks for kevin for that spacebar fix

but yeah, i cant say my spacebar is "noisy" now after the fix...ive tried repeatedly mashing letters such as "c" and "d" over and over , or typing really fast, but i dont notice the spacebar "vibrating". Seems solid now

 

I got mine last friday, installed win7 myself and used the catalyst 10.5 drivers. My temps are very good so far- GPU idling at mid 40 and around 57-58 after gaming solidly for many hours.

Oh and I have the spacebar issue as well. Haven't tried the fix yet, may be this weekend.

 

I still do not have mine and buisness closes in 45 mins....

c'mon ups

 

haha i know how u feel. When mine reached the depot, I called up and told them I'm coming over to collect right now.

 

Ok its here. woop woop.

1) this thing is not loud thus far. Maybe its that I am used to an antec cooler running at all times.

2) chiclets are weird keys.

3) No dead pixels that I see; bullet dodged. Also space bar is responsive from any point i hit.

Now some long installs.

EDIT-
So WoW 60 ish most all the time. Fallen earth over 100 on all high. Halflife 1 21 fps average. So far so good.

temps under stress hit 82 on the gpu but average mid high 70s. everything looks fine fine.

Just cause 2 causes driver crashes. weird.

 

The Release Notes for the 10.5 driver package is here: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/Catalyst_105_release_notes.pdf

The 10.5 drivers are a relatively minor update (unless one of the fixes addresses your specific issue), but they are working well for me. They seem to be somewhat faster and maybe smoother, but they tend not to hold an overclock as well. Could just be my card.

 

i would say: Yes it is

AFAIK 10.5 fix the problem with hdmi output, with 10.4 after connecting external display via hdmi must reboot the laptop to make it recognize it, with 10.5 just plug & play

 

Are you sure about that fix? It's annoying to have to reboot. That HDMI audio out bit is also pretty annoying. Should be automatic.

 

I all .. did somebody know if the W860 supports Hardware Raid0 ? Was thinking to buy an ODD bracket because since i have the book i used the Drive only to install Win7. But for me it makes only sence when the board is supporting this .. for an second ssd. I am also not sure if there are brackets existing that fitting well into the odd bar ?

 

9.5mm hard drive caddys will fit, but you will not get one that forms to the shape of the w860cu

 

Is there an option in the bios of the W860 to disable Hyperthreading?

 

Yes there is, in fact it's disabled by default on mine.

 

Why? 10char

 

Yeah, I'm wondering that as well.

 

new ugly issue. After installing srs sandbox it sounded great.
Now after a reboot no sound ever. Wth?

Anyone try this Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook? I need more base than this....

 

The W870 BIOS does not provide that option (using 1.00.10s). It does provide the option to disable Turbo Boost. How is the hyperthreading option identified in the W860 BIOS?

 

I have got it. Very pleased, bass much better

 

on sale @ dell and sold!

Between you and the few review I read should work out for me better.

 

hey guys, I have been looking for a laptop for quite some time now and I am leaning towards the sager np8690 because I want a laptop that can handle any game I throw at it but also isnt too big because I will be taking it to class very often. I do have a few questions though. Is it noisy? I wouldnt want to have a loud laptop in class. also, is there really an issue with the spacebar or have a few people just gotten unlucky? I do a lot of typing so I could see how this would be very annoying. I realize with a gaming laptop you wont be able to get very good battery life but as long as it is not horrendous I should be okay since I will have it plugged in most of the time.