**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

Is this the version Clevo has on its site for download?

 

262.99 WHQL is meant only for the GTX 580. You will need to create a new .inf instructions list to allow the driver to install for your GTX 460M or any other card. You can download the .inf file here, http://laptopvideo2go.com/infs/260series/26299_win7x64/NV_DISP.INF.

The drivers that Clevo has on their website is 259.39. This is an older driver that derived from the early 259.31/32 and has been surpassed by the stability, compatibility, and performance gains from 262.99. Clevo just endorses a driver that they find to have the most stability (ie. no brightness adjustment issues, wake from sleep problems, downclocking, etc.) and sticks with it until the next time they pay their employees to test a new driver that also returns error free operation. So far I have not found any problems with 258.96, 260.99, or 262.99 after weeks of regular use so there is really no reason to not update to a later driver for any of the current production Nvidia based Clevo notebooks.

For users such as myself with the GTX 280M/GTX 285M, they aren't going to benefit much aside from improvements in the very latest games. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-452.html#post6871053. However, for the GTX 4x0M cards, the new drivers should yield benefits across the board.

 

no , it's a desktop modified version. The one on Sager website is 259.39
Thanks you Sovietsunrise , you gave a good recommedation again. I couldn't play Black Ops with 259.39 , the fps suddenly dropped like hell in Multiplayer.

 

I think the link you have posted is broken. Also, wondering if there is guide out there that walks through this process.

EDIT: Link works. Figured out how to make it work too. Thanks a ton for your help!

 

Note that if you're using 470m ,it will be another story with that driver, i heard many people getting problems

 

Installing the driver is straightforward. Replace the nv_disp.inf file in the driver's setup directory with the linked one and run the install wizard. If, for some reason, that doesn't work, you can force the install through device manager as with any other finicky driver.

What problems have you heard of from these "many people?"

 

Well...the size. Cryo can handle 18" + laptops , so you can have an idea on how big it is. But as I said before, it can be folded half so yeah. And bringing this cooler AND the NP8690...damn the shoulder's getting a workout; I already have back aches bringing my laptop to University hence me buying the EEE PC for mobility

 

BSOD, Bug in some games..for me right now i have problem with controling brightness , the hotkey can't be used anymore .I usually go to Battery setting to change the brightness but that doesn't work anymore either.

 

Hotkey can be used, but the brightness will not work unless you have the mobile version of the driver installed.

Also, dont half- it whenever you're installing a driver, I'm not saying you are doing it. Use this to remove the leftovers completely: Driver Sweeper 2.7.5 and then Install: http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/27590-forceware-26309-gtx580-gtx460-se-released/

 

Sry ,i didn't say it clearly , only brightness hotkeys can't be used anymore. That sounds weird right? the other hotkeys are still functioning...

 

@sagars24

i cant find 1.8 bios for w860cu in clevo website.. can u post the link. Thanks.

 

Let me know when you update, also let me know what brand splash screen it shows. Thanks!

Here is the link:
ftp://cftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/W8xxCU/W86CU_BIOS18.zip

 

Duuuudeeeee i seeeeee now
the whole time i was talking about the Cryo S and you were talking about the CryoLX thats why my mind was all "Huh ???" the Cryo S is up to 15in and has 2 fans thats why i was wondering, i didnt even knew that they had 2 notebook coolers hehehe
anyway its seems sooo well that you wont have any idea how well the Cryo S will do againest the Zalman 3000
"hey Cryo back off a little, zalman come closer now"
anyway i will keep searching and dinging until my notebook arrive then i will cast my judgment on it
again thanks thisisalamp

 

i do not even want to know just how big those 18 inch laptops are.... hell, the 15 inch 8690 is already on that line between carryable and "Holy crap it's huge!"

 

Yea, anyone know when Sager/Clevo releases their version for us or can we use laptopvideo2go's drivers, and somehow find a way to get the brightness control to work?

 

@sagars24

i update it already, and it shows STYLE NOTE splash screen like default orig bios when i purchased my machine..

 

Got the SSD Hybrid today... Boot time down to 20 seconds from 45 second after 6 restarts. Pretty good!

 

20sec? cant be, i got the momentus xt too but its not 20 sec boot maybe my ssd filled it self with other stuff?

 

I guess also because you have a lot of stuff on it. I just got my laptop last week. Prolly going to slow down like all windows computers do. But $50 was totally worth it to get the Hybrid in place of the regular 7.2k.

Final Config:
Clevo w860CU FHD
i7 - 720QM
2x4 GB Ram
GTX 460m 1.5GB DDR 5
500GB Momentus XT w/ 4GB SSD

 

It is possible depending on how many auto starting programs and services you have running. It also depends how many times you reboot too.

 

So I have a Kingston Hyper X (2X2GB) and I'm getting BSODs on them since the timings are too high. Is there any program I can use to lower the timings on it?

 

What BSODs are you experiencing?

 

Can you provide the part number or the exact specifications:

Description, Timings and Voltage.

 

Happens whenever playing Starcraft 2. But I forgot then BSOD code, sorry.

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model KHX1333C7S3K2/4G

 

I do not think its the memory you are using. Clevo 860 is based on the PM55 chipset and is compatible with upto 4-4-4-12 DDR3.

Also, I am no expert in this but most ram modules are backward compatible when it comes to timing.

I think you should try a different set of vga drivers and then try the game.

 

Already tried 4 AMD drivers. Still BSODing, I changed my RAM to just a Hynix 1033 and there were no BSODs while playing Starcraft.

 

The Kingston Hyper X memory has a history around here of being hit or miss with the i7 quads. The only way to fix that is to change out your memory to standard memory with CAS 9 timings. I am not sure if you can reprogram the timings of these modules, so no help there.

The memory controller is on the CPU, it has nothing to do with which 5 series chipset you have. The Quads are rated for 1333MHz at CAS 9 timings, just some of us get lucky and have no issue with running the Hyper X which runs at CAS 7. I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

Your statement of timings is totally wrong.

 

Yeah your are right, its the CPU. The Mem controller is on the i7. That is pretty recent with intel. They use to be on the north bridge ?

Do you see a perfomance boost with the CAS 7 Memory?

 

I don't see any boost except BSODs. I'd rather have something stable than something fast but no stability when I'm gaming.

 

I agree.

You know... may be you can try RMA for the RAM and see if that solves the problem. Also, you could sell it on ebay and get regular ram for the same price. I did a little bit of reading after you brought it up and it only seems like there is not much of a difference in performance.

 

my xt also boots in 20-23 secs

 

I have a weird issue with my W860CU. When I first got the laptop, the display began flickering like mad after a few month. Problem can be seen here. This happaned randomly. I sent the laptop in, mySN replaced the GTX 260M and sent it back to me. Sadly, the laptop immediately showed a similiar problem, giving me blue screens when watching AVIs or running 2D applications. So I RMAed again and they found out it was some weird memory malfunction and replaced the GTX 260M again. I got it back and it worked fine for a while until I began playing Guild Wars again. I played that game on the laptop before and as far as I know it is one of the most stable programs on earth. Sadly, if I run GW after like 15 mins one of the following things happens:

• Display gets black for a few seconds until the problem seems to go away again (this happens every 15-30 mins)
• Display gets black. Nothing happens. Laptop resets itself.
• I get a bluescreen saying something about "a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor " (this sometimes happens after 15 minutes, sometimes I get error #1 a couple of times and then this error). Naturally the laptop restarts itself after this error.
• Two times I also got the same error mentioned above (display flickering like mad), one time during gaming, one time writing an E-Mail in Outlook.

So I sent it back to mySN. They sent it back to Clevo. Clevo replaced the display (as over the time it had degraded as well, it came with 1 white pixel somewhere at the side of the screen, which didnt bother me and was below the legal threshold anyway, but around the time I discovered the Guild Wars problem, about 6 dead pixels appeared in the middle of the screen, which was quite annoying and above the legal threshold in the EU). Clevo tested the GPU, but found no error. So a couple of days ago I received the laptop, started up Guild Wars just sitting in some outpost and 10 mins later I got a bluescreen. Needless to say that I made a fresh Windows installation when the problem occured for the first time - it didnt help. All drivers are up to date, temps are in the green. I'm pretty sure there is some hardware malfunction here. My guess is, that something other than the GPU was or for that matter still is broken on the mainboard and that this problem is causes damage to the GPU after a while. All the errors I got seem to be connected. I'm pretty sure mySN and Clevo tested the ram, so you could rule that out (it never got replaced). I was always told not to send in my PSU, but I dont think that is the problem. The only problem I have is recreating this error. When I had the problem that my laptop froze during AVI playback or under 2D applications, I could run furmark for 5 hours without any problem. I just ran Furmark + Prime95 for 1 hour and also had no problem passing 40 GPU mem tests in OCCT. Is there any program that really stresses everything in the laptop? I'm pretty sure it is not just some software issue as I ran Guild Wars on the system before without any problems for several months. I asked mySN about replacing the laptop with new W860CU but of course they are skeptical if they cannot recreate the problem, or what is more important, if Clevo cannot recreate the error, but I'm not imagining things here. I know Clevo builds rock solid laptops, but every now and then there has to be a faulty unit, sadly mySN and Clevo dont see it this way right now. This is by all means no anti-Clevo post, thats why I m not making an own thread about it... I just want to find a way to recreate this problem... even though I m happy with Clevo and mySN, I paid for a gaming laptop and if I cannot play the game I want to with this laptop, then I m not getting what I paid for.

Long story short: Please throw all the stress/stability test programs at me that you know!

 

Have u tried using the desktop drivers with the modded inf file?

 

I have this exact same problem along with numerous others and it extremely hard to repro, but really annoying at the same time. I posted over in the Xoticpc forums about it just now Clevo W860CU/Sager NP8690 Random lockup,crash,&freezes.

Yeah my video shows a purple screen but I have also encountered the exact same look as your video too.

 

Hey Guys,

So on my system the bass is really low. I am listening to music on headphones. What could be the issue, is it windows 7 or do i need to try some other drivers?

 

Actually mySN was really helpful, replacing the GPU two times, but that does not seem to be the heart of the issue here as it only solved the problem for a while and now mySM seems skeptical and Clevo cannot find any problem. Clevo should admit that there is some problem here, I guess some mainboards just have this issue, so they should replace our W860CUs completely and not just some components... My guess is that it occurs if the "power level" changes, i.e. if the GPU or the CPU or something else downclocks or just uses less power, that would explain why it will not happen if you use any stability program that puts 100% load on everything, because then the system runs at the same (max) power level the whole time. Software wise I've tries almost everything, newer drivers, older drivers, fresh Windows installation, different harddrive with other Windows version, etc. I don't now if the problems only occurs under Windows, but I'm not going to change the os because of this.

No, but what would that serve? I have the GTX 260M, not GTX 460M, maybe you got a bit confused Nvidia has perfect driver support for mobile cards, but nomatter what version I use, the problem still occurs.

 

Interesting, so maybe we can devise a test which will adjust the GPU and CPU usage cyclically to see if we can reproduce the problem.

 

It's not gonna hurt if you try it and it MIGHT fix the problem.

 

Hi Daniel Hahn. I read your PM. I too recently encountered your problem whilst repairing one of my client's notebooks. It was a circa 2008 Toshiba A305. The flicker on the screen was a result of line noise and/or transient voltage from the wall. Dirty power from the wall (or from high current mechanical/motorized appliances attached on the same circuit) either damaged the PSU or the notebook over the course of time. The owner also told me about the history behind that specific outlet duplex as it killed his wireless home phones when plugged into the charging pod, killed his little TV, an external HDD, and other less valuable electronic appliances and devices. A surge suppressor was present, but it was a cheap one that had no noise suppression and most likely exhausted MOV's since the suppressor has been in service in the '90's, though they are slow reacting to begin with having a clamping voltage of 330V. It probably taken a lot more devices victim, but I don't know why he didn't bother to hire an electrician to source and remedy the problem, or purchase high end surge suppressors over the years.

This is a copy paste of a PM I made to another user.

This is my current setup for my home. Essentially I'm stacking multiple MOV's (140V clamp) infront of my end outlets and isolating each pair of outlets from each other. Before when I use to live in campus dorms, I made my own and in conjunction with smaller travel sized suppressors as space was limited and I did not have as valuable devices attached drawing from the wall back then, (fortunately power was clean in that wing of the dorm).

Going back to your issue, line noise and power spikes/surges are can cause unpredictable symptoms for different devices as it depends on where the line disruption travels in the device after it bypasses the PSU. This is only one theory as to what caused it, and needs to be dug into deeper on your own accord, however the issue here is definitely a hardware one that is rooted somewhere on motherboard and not including the core components (CPU, system memory, RAM, GPU, etc).

If you want to test your GPU memory for errors, do not use OCCT. http://forum.notebookreview.com/5368028-post1145.html. I made that post over a year ago, but the version of VMT in the link is still the latest.

I just found out you are from Europe. Maybe this one will do. http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=825&txtModelID=1346

 

This definitely makes sense to me because my house has very terrible wiring (we go through compact fluorescent faster than an incandescent bulb should last, and incandescent bulbs die in a couple months) and the problem seems to be very general and widespread. Sometimes it looks like gpu failures, other times it looks like faulty ram caused a problem, and also that there is no repeatable pattern or any consistency to the type of crashes I experience (every time is a little bit different).

 

Thanks for the comment Soviet, very helpful! The thing is, I'm not 100% sure where I experienced the error for the first time. I bought the laptop in Germany and used it there for one week. Then I went back to Turkey, as I was studiying there during that time - the problem occured only one or two times over the course of three months, which is why I didnt bother, but during the end of my stay and when I came back to Germany the problem started to happen frequently. I was always skeptical that it is just the GPU, but I have no way to prove otherwise. Just one more question: The damage from dirty power is permanent, right? I used the laptop in far to many places (different places in Germany, Turkey, Belgium) and the problem happened at all those places, and at least in Germany there should not be any problem with dirty power (at least not at my home). There still remains the question how I can recreate any of those issues... stress testing is not cutting it.

 

I've been rereading your posts numerous times to try to find a way to diagnose the symptoms. From what I am seeing, the problems are only arising when the system changes power. But I'll start with the one that may have a remedy. For your CPU, you might want to remove it from the socket and blow out the pins and the socket itself. Half the pins on CPU's nowadays are ground pins so something ferrous probably got into the socket or onto the pins. As for the screen going 5150, all I can think of is related to my previous post; the MOSFET's (should be four of them in the board schemas) that direct current after the DC input have been damaged from dirty power or overheating due to the increased load it has to deal with from a >120W PSU. They become damaged in that they can no longer reliably switch and divert power.

Damage from dirty power can have short term, long term, or permanent damage. For example, when my friends and I were doing this one gig at a community center, the idiot DJ had the entire sound rig plugged through some POS Belkin strip. During our sets, my bass amp would pick up voltage cuts from my guitarist's Soldano tube amp every time he hits his pedal switch. This is only a short term temporary effect that only happens when it happens. Because computers are much more sensitive devices, damage is cumulative and spans over a long period of time.

Since the problems only occur when your notebook changes a major power state, you can try dynamically testing the CPU and GPU with stress test applications by firing them up and stopping the application in intervals. With this method, I'm sure you have the idea of how it works; change the amount of time between each interval and how long each interval runs for.

I say this all the time, but electronics need safe driving too. Surge suppressors are the condoms for electronics. You always want to protect yourself from those nasty infections that can bite you in the rear later on. By now you should have had your motherboard replaced under warranty by Clevo (through the distributor you bought it from).

 

Thanks again! I only used the standard 120W PSU. The only thing I modified was removing the CPU fan sticker, but the system has been with my reseller and Clevo a couple of times and they never put it back on so it cannot be that vital. However, they never changes my mainboard. First and second time I RMA'ed they found the GPU to be the problem and now they say they could not find any problem with the GPU. I'll try recreating the problem somehow and then send it back to get the motherboard replaced. Might try reseating the CPU as well, but I'd rather not take any risk of dealing any damage myself. I only want to recreate the problem for now. I asked them a couple of times to replace the whole laptop, or just the mainboard for that matter, but apparently they are reluctant to do so - which is understandable, but one the other hand there is clearly something wrong with the laptop. Your right about that electronics need safe driving, but surge suppressors is definitely something you would not consider a must have if your living in Germany or in some European major cities and I treated the laptop as good as you can expect - regular cleaning, no overclocking whatsoever... but I'll add dirty power protection to the list, thanks god this is not my only laptop, otherwise I would have a real problem with sending it in every few months. Anyway, will try to recreate the problem and call my reseller tomorrow and ask them how to proceed.

 

Hi,

is there a clear statement that the new GTX460M/470M will not fit in the old revision (without USB 3.0 etc.) of the W860CU?

Thanks,
nose

 

sry for being a bit late, but i already had the laptop since Nov 5. quite a while indeed. What's the holdup with yours?

 

@ChronoBodi: Lol quite late bud xD, anyway mine is still in phase 4 but it reached Dubai since a week and was suppose to be with me since yasterday but they have their national day and therefore everyone gets a free vacationa and my lovely laptop will gonna wait for couple more days in some storage place T__T any way the vacation ends tomorrow so i will probably get it tomorrow morning or evening ^___^

 

I guess shipping times were also very different for us.

Anyways, I got the tapping issue accross and they have issued an RMA. My sound jack is also not working correctly. The tech person said they dont care if i return it and order a new or they can take a closer look and make sure everything else is ok.

He also said that clevo has less than 1%RMA and I should stick to cleve even if I re-order and now switch to the Asus G53.

 

No it will work with the clevo w860cu / sager 8690's WITHOUT USB 3.0. I have the 460m running in mine (without USB 3.0) currently. You just need to update the bios to the most recent and you're golden.

 

Here is the link to the Bios file you will need.

tp://cftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/W8xxCU/W86CU_BIOS18.zip

Updated my system. It seems stable and everything went how it is suppose to.

 

Make sure you follow this guide BEFORE you go flashing the .18 BIOS. http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/416916-clevo-bios-thread.html Then scroll down until you get to the w860cu BIOS downloads.

You need to first flash the EC then you can flash the BIOS. Meaning you will need to first flash the 1.00.11 BIOS (which includes the EC I believe...unless you are already on it or are currently running a BIOS posted after that date) then flash the .18. Somebody please confirm this!!!!!