*** Official Clevo P150EM / Sager NP9150 Owner's Lounge ***

They don't boot into Windows for testing... I only know this as they left a test disc in mine when they sent it... it just runs a series of tests... enduro... memory... mother board... graphics... wifi etc... I't doesn't appear to do heavy stress testing though, at least not like Kombuster.

 

That's why you have NBR, where smart nerds hang out when they're bored and want to help people.

Yet another reason why I like Mythlogic, they test with BF3.

 

I went Corsair Vengence you can get 2x8GB 1600MHz SODIMMS ... it had the fastest timings for 1600 MHz 8GB SODIMMs when I last checked 3 weeks back... think it still does. Leaves 2 free slots for later if ever needed for further expansion (possible RAM disk, drive Caching future applications etc).

You can get better timings from 4GB 1600 MHz SODIMMs but that will fill all you slots and you will never in real world notice the difference from 8GB SODIMMs.

Cost for 2x8 and 4x4 are pretty much the same.

I did read that Komputerbay does simular speeds but after reading lots of rewiews decided to stiff well clear of them.

Hi HTWingNut

Have you done an electrical power assessment of the laptop while utilising sound, battery charging, CPU and GPU stress testing?

I'm wandering if I can get away with a 150W PSU for my car.

My sister and one or two others on here had this happen on her P150em when new... it's not happened on my sisters since. One of those mystries of life!!

I've still not seen any blue screens BSOD from my laptop yet...

He's how I installed the latest Clevo, Intel and Realtek drivers...
1) Dumped the Clevo driver CD contents to my desktop...
2) Downloaded the latest drivers from the Clevo web site
3) Downloaded the laters audio drivers from Realtek
Downloaded all the latest drivers from Intel.
4) Replaced all the drivers in the CD folder on my desktop ensuring the exe file names were as the origional ones loaded on the disk.
5) Burnt the folder back to a CD
6) Installed onto laptop.

Note I didn't touch the graphics drivers with a barge pole given I have the HD7970!

 

When I try to configure my backlit keyboard, the left portion of the keyboard never turns any other color except blue. The other sections are fine. Any way to fix?

 

I have a barely week-old NP9150 with GTX675M. However, whenever the laptop switches to the GTX675M (on Photoshop, for example), I will get a nvlddmkm.sys BSOD.

At first I thought it would have been a driver error, and I have since tried numerous drivers - the current one being 301.42 from laptopvideo2go. However, after further testing I found that the BSOD occurs only when the laptop is plugged in. When unplugged, I can run anything on the GTX675M with no errors, however as soon as I plug the charger in, the display freezes with some pink boxes and eventually BSODs.

Might this have anything to do with voltages/faulty power supply/bad software?

 

Wait what? 9150 needs to be propped? I don't exceed 75C just sitting on a table or 80C running max Throttlestop.

 

Try removing the keyboard and checking that the cables are correcly installed... without the ability for software programming the keyboard defaults to blue.

 

Congrats! Great to hear.

I've only run 2 full discharges, but each took ~3 hours and that's not really even fully optimized. I think this notebook has the capacity to run 4 hours for general computing (internet/email/taking notes) if configured properly. Especially once the AMD drivers are corrected for better power management and the stupid GPU fan stops running indefinitely. Also there are speculations that the backlights in the keyboard take quite a bit of juice (6 watts) but its not confirmed yet.

Thank God you avoided KomputerKult. They literally take rejects, slap their labels on, and mix/match the RAM modules they sell. Its like refurbishing but without the actual fixing part.

A user here had many issues like this until he used slower RAM. If yours is higher than 1666MHz you may want to test something else slower.

 

Hmmm... are you sure on battery you can run the 675M? I heard that Optimus toggles the iGPU by default for everything while on battery power.

When you plug in your charger, Optimus uses the 675M, which might cause the pink boxes on your screen, which is weird because the iGPU provides the display.

 

These are my specs: Core i7-3720QM, GTX675M 2GB, 4x 4GB 1600MHz, 750GB 7200rpm hybrid HDD

The RAM isn't higher than 1666MHz as you suggested. Might it still be an issue?

Yes, I can see in the Nvidia GPU Activity taskbar icon that the 675M is running, even on battery. A good example would be when adjusting the 3D settings in the Nvidia control panel, where the 675M will be fired up to show the 3D preview.

If I open the Nvidia control panel on battery, the 3D preview will show correctly while running on 675M but as soon as I plug the charger in, the 3D preview will freeze up and show pink boxes, followed by a BSOD. My reseller can't seem to figure anything out via support chat.

 

Good way to put it, Optimus is just more matured than Enduro is. And from that you, you can expect some differences without resorting to bashing AMD. It's new tech, never before seen until release of 7xxxM series. Nothing is perfect at launch, every game today is buggy at release, Apple iPhones at release for every new product gets in the news for crud, every OS at release is buggy. No matter how much you spent or how entitled you feel, new tech, new innovations, new anything will not be perfect and will require time to mature.

Even SpaceX with billions of dollars riding behind it, with the best minds private sector has, still was crap. It had to be delayed, and delayed. And then they had to bring in NASA scientists to essentially take over the project, even though this was supposedly a private venture. And it's still not perfect...

Why should AMD be placed on a pedestal and treated any differently?

 

Can someone please respond to this?? I'm anxious to know how this laptop for most users.. I bought it from the official sager site..

 

Looks great man. Too rich for my budget though!

 

Haha yea lawsuits help lol but I'm looking for like a good quick opinion from someone who owns the machine already..

 

Nice configuation. Mine is pretty similar to yours, except I'm keeping the optical drive (call me old fashioned lol), and I actually downgraded my RAM to 8GB 1333 Mhz. I don't think you need that much RAM (most games use 8GB, max). Maybe you can save some money there. But I DEFINITELY agree with going for the 680M! It's a lot of money, but Keplar runs a good deal cooler than last gen (675M) and the 7970M (at least, right now). I also got the 95% color gamut matte screen, which I hear is beautiful in person!

I would say maybe downgrade your RAM and maybe put that towards getting a 2 year warranty? I'm a risk averse person, you may be different. I hear Sager is generally very good with quality, but this is my first Sager, so I just wanted to be safe.

 

Well I chose 16gb cuz I like to edit video and do multimedia heavy work

 

Ok ok, that makes sense then.

Question for you - since you got the 95% color gamut matte screen, will you be calibrating it yourself? I've heard from some people on this forum that this can be somewhat hard to do if you don't get it professionally done (which I wasn't willing to pay and wait longer for). I know you can download some pre-set configurations that should work well, but I'm just asking because you said you do multimedia heavy work.

 

Well I'm gonna be completely honest I'm a newbie to this sort of calibration stuff and I MOSTLY use premiere pro and after effects with SOME experience in photoshop so what programs can I use for preset calibrations?

And I would still like some other opinions on how the sager is working for them!

 

That's the thing, I don't know - I'm a total noob too. I hear you need to buy calibration equipment, but the way to get around that (as I currently understand it) is to download pre-set configurations that are generally pretty good. Regardless, I've only heard good things about the 95% gamut screen (it's brighter, has better viewing angles, etc)

 

Just buy Spyder 4 express. It's pretty much automated. Have fun

 

Have you tried a full re-install yet? If you have another 180w psu try plugging that in and see if it happens. That way, you'll know if it is just a bad power supply or something more.

 

Quick question to prep myself for my laptop arriving today: I ordered with no OS installed, and plan on swapping the included HDD with a SSD. Outside of putting the SSD into my main drive is the included HDD completely blank? When I put the HDD into my optical bay do I need to do anything in regards to formatting or BIOS setup?

 

Grrrrr... Just tried to get TrueSuite (Fingerprint) to work with Firefox and it would appear that the Clevo version has not been supported in a while by Firefox! And it would appear that I have to buy the latest version from AuthenTec to get support... Or has anyone else found a way around this? Or a free update download?

I really don't want to have to use IE as it's not as nice as Firefox but fingerprint authentication is really nice I forgot how much I missed it since my ASUS lost support with Windows 7!

SOLUTION / FIX

.... Go to following link and download the latest TrueSuite Trial for 32bit of 64bit as required. I just loaded it over the top of the existing TrueSuite and it now works with Firefox 13... would appear to be fully licensed. Not sure if it can be loaded without the Clevo version first:

http://support.authentec.com/Downloads/DownloadManager.aspx?EntryId=25

 

Yes, it is blank. You can either format with a Windows CD or associate a letter to it inside Windows

 

How does everyone set up their Kombuster tests? I've never used it before and I don't really know what to do. I ran the X-score KMark test and got max 73C. This is with stock paste and no mods done.

EDIT: Do most people use the stress test option? I'm running that right now. Running hotter, will update.

EDIT2: The max temp was 81C. Hovered around 79/80C the whole time.

Spoiler

 

O.O those are some ridiculously low temps! I got to 90 C in less than 4 minutes!

 

How long does it usually take XoticPC support to reply to an email? I sent one two days ago, and I've yet to receive a response. Is this normal?

 

Mine is similar to yours. If I run my bench using 1080 instead of 720 and Direct3D 11 - my GPU load reaches 99% and my temps were around 90c. After I did the foil mod on the GPU/CPU my temps stay around 86c.

 

My scores are below average. my x-score is only 2045 or something like that..

 

Try running kombuster in full screen 1920x1080?

 

Has anyone else experienced the problem that voices sound very strange and distorted when listening through headphones? Anything I can adjust to fix this?

 

Have you installed THX TruStudioPro?

 

yes i have! It is really weird and im very newbie so i have no idea how to find the source of the problem.

 

How do i get Skyrim to run off of this? and any idea where I can find the latest drivers and whatnot? I went to Clevo website and downloaded the windows 7 7970m package they had, but that was the only one i did. About Skyrim though, I tried playing it, and i started a character and exited, but it never gave me a popup. I went in and manually added Skyrim launcher.exe and TESV.exe into the high performance. When i go to play though, and go to options, it says that I only have the Intel HD 4000 to chose from under graphics.

 

Every time i run benchmark or play games. Instead of switching my power plan from balance to High Performance. I use the Hotkey 6.0051 / Control Center and I set it to Performance. I also leave the MSI Kombustor running.

 

I have tried a friend's NP9150 power adapter but the BSODs and black logon screens still occur when plugged in. I have not tried full reinstalls, but I don't believe that is the problem here - it'll be tedious to have to set everything back up again after that.

 

Is there a difference between 6.0051 and 6.0045 for hotkey o.o

 

I would look into getting an external soundcard or DAC. Ive found that the internal card just doesnt seem to have the best quality.

 

I needed 6.0051 because I have the steelseries keyboard. Other than that I don't really know the difference

I shouldve just said, Hotkey

 

OK... I've been enjoying my new rig but there are a couple things that sort of suck and need some help/suggestions:

1. The TAB key is horrid. I have to give it a good smack with my finger to have it respond. This is quite a pain for alt+tabbing through windows to say the least. Any way to fix this? Anyone else having this issue?

2. I cannot seem to get my 7970m to run 3D Mark 11. I've uninstalled/reinstalled a couple of times but no luck. GPU-Z also doesn't seem to recognize it. Well, GPU-Z does recognize it but it doesn't show any sort of stats. I'm running this driver 8.981.2.0

Any ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

Is there a program/feature that allows you to limit the amount of charge on your battery? I don't plan on using my laptop on battery power for over a month, so I don't want to destroy my battery by keeping it at 100%. Right now, I discharged to 40% and have taken it out of my laptop, but I was just wondering if there was a program that would get my laptop to only charge it to 40% so I could keep it in.

My keyboard is perfect. All the keys push down easily and with less force than my desktop's Microsoft keyboard. But there have been many reports of hard to push keys. I would see if you could get a keyboard replacement.

 

Just leave it in your laptop, it won't get destroyed. That is an old misconception. The laptop does not heat up the battery either, it's away from the heat. It doesn't constantly charge the laptop, it only charges it when it drops below a certain level (97%?) and it can take weeks to drop to that level. My last Sager I had at 18 months had about 5% wear with maybe a dozen complete discharges otherwise was always in my laptop when gaming or whatever.

 

Any recommendations on one? And can you plug headphones in them?

 

I was told that if I ordered my Sager with Windows, I'd get a Sager branded W7 CD, but will W7 still be preinstalled on the HDD? I'd prefare if the HDD was completely clean, as I'll be using a different drive for the OS.

 

Unfortunately, Sager's licensing agreement with Microsoft requires that the OS be installed if you're buying it with the computer. Luckily, it's not that hard to install on a different drive and format the old one.

 

It's not a misconception. Li-ion batteries lose charge at different rates depending on what charge they have. They discharge the slowest at 40%.

That's correct - mine came preinstalled with Windows 7. It comes up with unopen copy of Windows 7 and a recovery DVD.

 

I know this but it's of little significance. I started a thread asking users to post their battery wear using a set process and indicate their usage patterns and in general most users leave their battery in and those that barely go unplugged still had significant charge after 12-24 months. I just don't like the negatives of NOT having a battery. People spend big bucks on battery backups for desktops that cost many times the cost of a battery in a laptop, yet people fret over a $50 battery that could result in lost data that's invaluable, just by tripping on the cable.

It's like saying you should keep your tires at exactly 40lbs, but if you run it at 35 or 45 it might wear prematurely. It will, but at a matter of likely less than 10%, probably less. So instead of having to change them at 50,000 miles, you have to change them at 47,000 miles. Is there a difference? Yes. Is it significant and worth the hassle of checking your tires for exact pressure once a week? no. (this is of course ignoring fuel economy effects).

Obviously the choice is yours, I just don't like to see people get the idea that their batteries are going to blow up or be dead in six months because they leave them in their laptop. It is helpful to store at 40%, but personally, I'd only do that if I had a spare battery I needed on occasion.

 

That's the reason why I was wondering if a program existed that kept the charge at 40%. Some other laptops have a feature in their BIOS; obviously, the Sager laptops don't. Taking the battery out and checking its charge every few weeks is a nuisance, so if there was a program that kept me from doing this I would be able to avoid the nuisance while keeping the benefits of having a battery in and having the benefits of reducing self-discharge.

 

What program do i download to run during games? I think i saw it here, but im not sure. The guy said it gave him 5-10 fps more than normal or something. I dont think it was Kombustor. By the way, my Kombustor just says its stress testing my Intel 4000, how do i make it see and test my 7970m?

 

1) I had the same problem!... after I finished vinyl wrapping the surface around the keyboard which involved removing it and disconnecting the cables, I reinstalled the cables it worked perfectly after... I also found that I had to hammed the Caps Lock key prior to removing it as well but this was also fixed at the same time.

2) I think there is an issue with GPU-Z I read it somewhere on this forum but I can't remember what was said. So your not alone on that one!