**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

I lug it around when I go to work everyday inside a leather briefcase - which is 3.88kg. I don't carry an AC adapter though, because I've bought a spare one and left it at work. My regular exercise helps with reducing strain and I'm fine carrying it with one hand (alternating) for a period of 50 minutes.

This machine is built specifically for those who want to upgrade their components easily. If you open the rear cover, you have direct access to the CPU and the GPU. Check out the videos on youtube and the photos around this thread.

 

im using the g73 backpack, it fit in nicely and i even could bring my spare laptop ul80vt on the same compartment. it is very spacious and with the power adapter for both, im still ok carrying it around.

 

Thanks for the input LaptopNut. I think you are correct in that it is a driver issue, but from what I have seen in older posts, and current experience, I don't think AMD is going to fix much anytime soon. I just bought a used gtx 285 on ebay, so hopefully my experience with that will be better.

 

Since a high number of titles are Nvidia optimised, you might find a better experience partly due to that as well. I have played many recent games and never once had any performance issues and if I did experience any problems due to Drivers, I had literally dozens of others to chose from including Desktop ones. You also have fully functional downclocking with the Nvidia once you have a Driver where Powermizer works correctly with.

If I had never used the GTX 285M before the ATI 5870, I really would have been none the wiser. There was slightly higher fan noise with the 5870 than there was with the GTX 285M although both GPU's had no over heating problems.

Both levels of fan noise were acceptable but the slightly lower noise I got with the 285M really made a huge difference during gaming. In some cases, just a few C can make a big difference to what speed the fan rotates at hence the noise level difference.

Be sure to let us know how you get on and don't forget to ground yourself from static discharge during install

 

Just got mine and i gotta say i had some heat issues at the start, but i found out that the people who made it forgot to remove the CPU black sticker and a piece of paper that was between the CPU and the heatsink, once i removed it my temps went from 90C+ playing BFBC2 to 50C-55C. I also applied MX-3 thermal paste

 

Congrats on your acquisition! May it serve you well as everybody here has

 

Guys, I have read through the forum and it is suggested to remove the black sticker covering the cpu vent. I have opened the back panel and cant find any stickers on the cpu fan itself. Is it the round sheet of black sticker covering the whole cpu air intake grille? If not can somebody guide on this. ^^

 

Yep that's the one. It's glued on by a mucous like substance; rip it lightly.

It looks like this



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

SCE_Sobek has nude photos of his sticker

 

haha.. Its not good to show nudity in the public.. XDXD
Yep, thts the sticker alright. Thx for the help mangbhoy. ^^.. But after removing the stickers my cpu temperature didnt drop much at all.. Is it because of the fact that i am using i5-520 instead of the mainstream i7?

 

What was the difference in your temps? Using stock thermal compound or branded ones? On average, the temps should drop around 3 - 5C ; depending on other variables as well such as ambient temp, thermal paste, etc.

 

Looks like there is no difference at all.. In idle is around 45 celcius.. But before i remove the sticker the temperature is also the same.. One thing i noticed is the temperatures got abit unstable.. For instance when i was browsing the net the temperature suddenly shot up to 57c for a second, but after that remained at roughly 45. Im using ICD7..

 

Are you using HWMonitor for the temps? This is from the top of my hat, I'm thinking your ICD7 may still need 'breaking in' - unfortunately that's as much as I can help you with regards to this issue. I suggest that you continue observing the behaviour for three to five days. 45C is fairly fine.

My average max temps are (with AS5); ambient temp is 24C:
Idle - CPU: 44C ; GPU: 52C
Gaming - CPU: 69C ; GPU: 80C

 

Thanks a lot for your feedback, as well as everyone else who responded to my question. After reading your responses, I don't think the NP8690 will be unbearably awkward to carry around, and I intend to purchase one very soon! Waiting on shipping from the US is going to kill me...

 

lol /10 char

 

Guys, wanna ask whether the ati 10.8 drivers are stable or not for the 5870 gpu? I already installed it and found it quite stable but my friend having an aw m17x said he had problems with 10.8 drivers and he has exactly the same gpu as me. So guys, what u guys say abt this?

 

Because Alienware sucks? But seriously, maybe your friend did not properly uninstall the old drivers/software and install the new drivers/software. That's as much as I know. Maybe you could try and see if there are similar issues for other users on the Alienware lounges.

Yep, 10.8 has improved my GTA IV & EFLC a bit and has noticeably reduced stuttering when driving around Liberty City - I did a GTA day & night run in different weather conditions as well. It also improved Aion for me, especially during massive PvP battles. As for Dragon Age, no noticeable improvement.

 

few days ago i complained about video card failure that caused my windows live messenger to not responding after i downclocked my GPU to 300/300 and/or set it back to stock clock. But after i installed the ATI 10.8 driver the problems seems to go away, i recommend to update the driver to 10.8 for those who experience the same problems as i am.

also we can now set AA on Starcraft II... yaay

 

does anyone here know the built quality of Forsa FS8890 with HD8750? some say it is "EXACTLY" the same with sager NP8690, both for hardware and its barebone? is it true?

 

the Forsa FS8890 IS the clevo W860CU which IS the NP8690.

Clevo makes the chassis and the resellers add the parts and sell it as their own, so they are one and the same.

 

Thank You, 85% get the forsa FS8890 15% ASUS G73JH-RBBX05.

One left..the built quality..(waiting patiently)

 

*disregard/deleted*

 

Alright i'm am pleased to say i've ordered my first laptop ever.
Eurocom W860CU Cougar
HD5870
i7-620M
8GB DDR3 1066
500G fallsafe HDD
Windows 7 Pro-64bit
Blu-Ray Player
1920x1080 Full HD

I'm so stoked i should get it this friday just before school

 

congrats. good custom build

 

build quality for both should be equal but a big advantage of the 8690 is that it is much more upgradeable than the g73 in that compartments and components are much much more accessible.

 

Pray to the mysterious cpu sticker god that yours will be in pristine working condition. Once you receive your new laptop, use stock drivers first and check if all components are working before upgrading. I'm pretty sure you'll be away from the forums when you get yours

 

Anyone else enjoying Catalyst 10.8? STALKER is the only thing I have played on it thus far and it is cookin right along. The only thing I have noticed is that my Ati Overdrive menu is missing from the Catalyst Control Center. ? Did they disable it or am I missing something? I thought it had it's own menu under the
'Graphics' tab...

 

I got a Sager NP8690 to replace my Dell XPS M1530 about 1.5 weeks ago. This new machine is AWESOME! I cannot believe the performance output of this machine, it's insane.

I do have one question, when using Speccy to check my hardware, it states that my DRAM frequency is 533 MHz? I purchased 1066 MHz, the Transcend that Sager packs, but it's only registering at 533 MHz? I have the i5 450M CPU if that affects anything.

Does anyone know why this may be?

 

its only registering 533 because u use DDR3 RAM, each side running at 533MHz, so if two sides 1066 MHz (CMIIW).

 

It's Double Data Rate memory, so 533 x 2 = 1066. All is well.

 

Does the mySN BIOS for the W860CU get updated frequently to mirror the release of "official" BIOS of the W870CU?

 

@magbhoy

whats the best way to check if everythings working? play a game or are you thinking a specific program

 

Hi,

I wanted to get expert opinion on a possible upgrade.

I just got my Sager NP 8690 and was thinking of making it a RAID 0 configuration by adding a second HDD instead of my Optical Drive

I was planning on using 2nd Hard Drive Caddy for Sager NP8690 / 8690 , also for SSD [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

and then installing another drive of the same size 300GB.

Would it allow me to install a RAID 0 configuration ?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi,
I'm about to buy a W860CU and I can get a (slightly used) 1.8" Vertex 2 120GB SSD very cheap but I don't know if and how this would fit in the Clevo...
I've got a Micro SATA to SATA adapter but I'll probably need some kind of enclosure for the SSD but I can't find anything (I'm from Germany and would like to buy it here...). Do any of you guys know something?
Also I hate glossy/glare displays and will get a matte FullHD one but I've never read any reviews with models that use a matte screen. Does someone know how that one looks like?

Well, thanks in advance for any help.

senfgurke2

 

There's no 'best' way per se, but just try out your components (card reader, bluetooth, DVD/Blu-ray,etc.)

As for the CPU and GPU, what I did was to use HWMonitor and observe my initial temps on idle and gaming (I played GTA IV, EFLC, Dirt 2 and AION).

I've seen the glossy and matte screens on identical Macbooks and imo, I prefer the glossy screen because the colours are more alive. It would be a good idea to see it yourself and visit a computer store.

And I quote nickspohn,
"Glossy screens have a reflective coating. Colors appear sharper and more vibrant. They do however produce more glare. Some people like them, others do not. The glare problem is most acute in well lit environments, like an office. Glossy screens tend to be better for multimedia uses like viewing DVDs or photos. If you are unfamiliar with the screen types, we would highly recommend you check some of each type out before you buy. The screen is one of the more important parts on a notebook. You don't want to get stuck with something you don't like."

 

The W860CU/NP8690 will now have 1 USB 3.0 Port...

 

Any other changes?

 

Where can I find the Latest MySn BIOS for W870CU and W860CU ?

 

You can find it in this post.

I have also been using that Bios on my W860CU with no issues.

 

So i got my laptop yesterday. WOW i played BF2 all night long on medium! fantastic. got a huge issue with how my external usb sound card is working but its not the laptops fault.

I'M GOING TO PUT THIS IN CAPS. I READ HOW EUROCOM WASN'T A GOOD COMPANY TO DEAL WITH. BUT I'VE HAD AN AMAZING EXPERIANCE. FROM PRE PURCHASE TO ORDER TO SHIPPING. so i would recommend this company if your in canada. Glad to be an owner of a W860CU

 

O whats the best laptop cooler for our laptops?

 

the 8690 doesnt need a laptop cooler

 

doesnt "need" it but if hes asking maybe he wants to use one anyways..how about giving him some recomendations?

I dont know of any personally

 

i really dont wanna suggest something he doesnt need.
but sure maybe some people have some recommendations

 

Congrats to you! Yeah, BF2 is a blast on this machine, 'xcuse the pun

Check this out:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...rs-what-notebook-cooler-you-using-if-any.html

Also, it wouldn't hurt to search first before asking

 

Guys, my lappie here hanged up twice when I am surfing the web. I cant unstuck it and had to manually shut down the pc. Has anyone of you experienced this? If so, what is the cause of the problem?

 

1.) Which OS and browser are you using?
2.) Which website(s) did you experience this?
3.) How much RAM have you got?

I haven't experienced anything similar to what you have. Though I'm confident that it's not a serious issue.

 

Im using w7 ultimate 64bit and im nt sure which website i on that will trigger this but I think it happens if I open too many tabs (like 10++) on a single browser window. And after that happens my intel turbo boost gauge will fail to operate(need to reinstall again).. Having 4gb of ram.. I hope its not serious though..

 

Which browser are you using?

I've gotta admit, I'm no expert. But when your browser froze, were you able to check how much ram the browser in question has been taking up? It could well be a flash issue; as I've read previous posts of browsers freezing up and got solved by uninstalling and reinstalling flash player properly.

 

Does anyone know if it would be possible to mod the heatsink for the 5870 to fit a 285? Also, does anyone have any idea how much the 460m might cost, is it going to be $800 like the 480m?

 

I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the i7-740 and upgrade the wireless card to the Intel Pro; unfortunately this means I won't be able to purchase this laptop for a while longer as I will need more time to save up.

Does anyone see the merit in getting the 2 or 3 year warranty over the standard 1 year through XoticPC? I've read through this thread and didn't see much discussion. I'm a complete laptop novice and would like this to last at least 3-4 years.