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

Alright so I got to play with my new computer some more today and would like to share my further experiences.

First off, I noticed a scratch just above the middle of the screen. I was freaking out about this and it is quite noticeable on a stationary and simple background, such as the grey here on NBR or the blue default Windows background. But I calmed down after hitting Battlefield 3, to be honest, the scratch reflection is impossible to find between all the stuff that is in a game. It can only be seen when looking at the sky and focusing on it. I don't suppose there is a way to make the reflections go away? At least partially.

Anyway, onto the real stuff, I tried playing Battlefield 3 and Skyrim. I'm running the default Clevo drivers and stock clocks and I must say that I didn't experience any utilization issues.

Had BF3 running at 60 FPS (everything maxed out except 2x AA) while there was no action and during intense fights, FPS would average 45-50, with occasional dips to high 30s, only one explosion made it dip to 30. Maximum temperature was 85 with average around 77-81. GPU utilization 98-99%.

Skyrim played even better with max settings except 2x AA, with almost constant 60 FPS at 60-80% GPU utilization, with utilization going up with increasing action on the screen (just as it should). Temperatures around 75.

I must say, with all the talk on these forums, I really didn't expect my 7970m to perform that well, very impressive, performs as well as a high end desktop GPU

Oh, and I play with V-Sync, obviously.

Last thing I want to comment on is the keyboard, the backlighting is very nice and it feels very solid which I like, because my old Acer had a very soft and flexy keyboard. It does seem to miss some strokes though, as others mentioned before me, not that big of an issue, only had to correct my self twice typing this post.

Overall, I'm very happy with my new machine with the only thing bothering me being a 3mm reflective scratch that I'll need to get used to, as I got used to many scratches on my smart phone.

 

Pretty much the same thing for most of us. If you want to see enduro issue, lower your setting and uncheck v-sync, obviously.

 

The little time I spent testing low and without V-sync my FPS were around 80-130.

 

Looks like you are a lucky one then

 

16GB is the minimum amount in a system I would suggest for most people. Also 8GB is not wayyy more than enough, you'd be surprised what a bunch more ram would do for you. The system disk cache will operate much more smoothly, superfetch works better, etc. Especially if you have a regular hard drive and not an SSD having lots of free memory for disk cache will make a big difference to general system speed. 8GB simply isnt enough for me, on my old Dell system with 8GB windows would constantly complain about not having enough ram at work. 16GB leaves a lot of room. 32GB is definitely excess but hey ram is cheap, why not

 

We are talking about utilization and not your fps. That why some people dont notice enduro issue. You will notice it, when you play something really demanding like multiplayer online game. And I dont know how the 7970M can be future proof if we cant lower the setting without losing utilization. I really hope you can understand this issue.

At least you know you have the enduro issue like everyone.

 

I understand what the issue is, but with lower demands, I found it normal to have the GPU sitting at 70% and I did play MP on BF3.

I guess if I were to spend a little more time poking into it, I would notice the issue sooner or later, but what I was hinting at in my first post is that it just doesn't limit me at the moment and with future releases, we will hopefully already have new properly functioning Enduro drivers. Although a lot of people seem to be having a much harder time than me playing Battlefield at the moment.

 

I wouldn't be surprised, because I have a desktop with 12 GB of RAM. And I do especially have a regular hard drive and no SSD on that PC. Yet, I never use more than 7 GB of my RAM, even when rendering videos, playing games, hosting MP servers for games, etc. I could take 4 GB out and notice no difference.

I'm pretty sure that RAM message just happens when a certain number of GB is used. I get it some times (usually when doing some strenuous task with BF3 minimized) and I take a look at my RAM usage and it's only about 6.5 GB.

 

The ONLY time it is normal for GPU usage to not be ~98-99% is if you have the horsepower to run more than 60FPS, and you are using v-sync to cap it down to 60fps. That's it.

 

Finally got my machine . Details in sig.

I haven't had time to do much with it besides set it up, but aside from the first of the drivers freezing on me and requiring a hard shut down the rest of the process went smoothly. Time to install D3 and Tribes Ascend.

Also, aside from having to adjust to the spacing of the keyboard I am not getting any issues with keys not registering like some people were reporting on the stock keyboards. Figured I would toss that out in case it helps anyone make a decision. The keys are not re-mapped and those of us with a Steelseries will have to wait until the Steelseries Engine software is released (supposedly this year). Although the fact that the post regarding that question on the Steelseries FAQ page now leads to a message that reads "This article does not exist or is not published." is a little troubling

 

Hey I am looking a buy a laptop for college. I am looking at the p150em, but I am not sure if the battery life will be enough for a full day of classes. I want a laptop that I can take places but can also run games well. Should I look elsewhere or will the p150em work?

 

Definitely not for a full day no.

Check the new W370ET or/and W350ETQ they've got good power and good battery life

 

What kind of battery life do those get?

 

If you're not playing games, the battery on the P150EM will last 3-4 hours. That should be enough for most days, if you sleep / hibernate between classes, especially if you charge it between.

 

Ugh, so I'm confused. I just picked up an SSD, and am going to switch the HDD with the optical bay and put the SSD in its place. If I install windows 7 on the SSD, would all of my applications and junk still be available on the HDD? I mean, like, would the Users/ folder be on the HDD, so that placing items on the desktop would put them in the HDD, not the SSD?

That's a confusing question... it's hard to think of how to say it. Really, what's the best way to install windows 7 to the SSD and keep it out of the way, only using the HDD for all the other data?

 

Yes you can still run all the programs that are installed on the HDD. This is actually popular to do with games when you install a SSD. Games can take 10-25GB depending on the game taking up the expensive SSD space. You can still store things on the HDD and add shortcuts to the installed programs on there to the SSD, you just wont get SSD speeds from those programs. To take full advantage of the SSD I would reinstall commonly used programs to your SSD.

 

Okay, so installing my SSD is as simple as putting it in, installing windows & drivers, and that's it? I guess what I'm wondering is if my C:/Users file would still be fine on the HDD, as in My music/My pictures, and the desktop, would still be linked to the HDD---- It wouldn't make a separate [SSD]:/Users/ would it?

 

No it would not. You can change the location of your different "libraries" folders simply by right clicking and choosing properties of each one and put them no your HDD if you want.

 

Umm, yeah, if you install windows onto the SSD then it WILL make a users directory on the ssd, and you would need to manually redirect it to the regular hard drive if you wanted to do that. You will also need to reinstall all of your programs. That is if I am understanding this correctly and you want to install windows on the SSD (which you should).

 

K. Radical. I get the redirecting thing, but why would I need to reinstall my programs? They'd still be on the hard drive..

 

I am not an avid Windows user, but when you install programs they don't just make a folder in User and/or Program Files. There are changes in registry, libraries, and whatnot during the install process/script, thus you have to/should reinstall them. One thing you can look into is backup software to backup your important programs, program data, and settings and restore them once the OS is installed on SSD.

Source: I fix computers for lots of people, most of whom use Windows, (usually hardware related fixes) and transferring programs from old HDD wholesale to New one does not work I don't dabble in Windows other than to run virus scans and common fixes for people, and lately to play batman aa and ac

I come from a *nix background, so please forgive me if I am mistaken...but I'm fairly certain I am right.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

FINALLY,my laptop just arrived

 

Yes you'd have to reinstall programs. But your data would be safe if you set up a separate library folder on your hard drive. Reinstalling windows means reinstalling all programs you use. Tommytomatoe is right, there are registry and multiple file entries made even if installed on another directory a lot of stuff is installed on your C:\Windows folder like dlls and other config files. Most people reinstall Windows BECAUSE they want a cleaner system than all the crap they've managed to install over time that end up consuming space and resources. Just make sure your important data is backed up regardless.

 

+1 to the P157EM crew (no that 7 is not a mistype).

 

For four weeks i'm the owner of a p150em with i7-3610qm, 16gb corsair vengeance ddr3-1600, radeon 7970m, 256gb samsung 830 ssd, 500gb western digital wd5000bevt, bigfoot killer 1103.

I've optimized the ssd using this guide: The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned - The SSD Review and moved the user folder to the d: drive using this guide: User Profile - Change Default Location - Windows 7 Forums. I'm blown away by the performance of this notebook.

These are some of my benchmark results using the 8.982.0.0 RC1 beta driver:
- Skyrim: 59,82 fps avg.
- F1 2011: 30,72 fps avg.
- Battlefield 3: 40,81 fps avg.
- Dirt 3: 53,85 fps avg.

- Furmark stresstest: 84 degrees celsius max. gpu temperature.

I'm having no issues whatsoever. Compared to the benchmark results, i think F1 2011 is having the biggest loss in performance caused by enduro. I hope some of those issues will be fixed in the future.

 

One thing I can recommend, since you have a 256gb SSD, is to use it! Don't worry about symlinking directories, etc until you need it (40-50% capacity on the SSD), at which point you use the backup drive for media, but never the entire User folder. You get the SSD for its speed, and trust me there is a difference when your user files are on the HDD.

For about a month or so when I first purchased an SSD (128gb Samsung), I was caught up in the "limited writes" to the SSD, so in fstab I mounted several of my /home directories to the HDD, as well as /tmp and other data. I was pretty happy with the performance, especially coming from a single HDD setup. But after I read more and more about SSD, I realize that the "limited writes" is awfully exaggerated on the internet. I will be ready to replace it well before it dies on me. The best optimization you can do for an SSD is to keep its free space at least 40%. Now that I use the SSD at its potential and only use HDD sparingly for large media, movies, and backups, there is definitely a speed difference compared to using SSD+HDD combo.

Now I have a 360gb SSD and this is how I use it. It is partitioned: 240gb for work (ext4 Linux), 40gb Steam (ntfs), 80gb Windows 7 enterprise (ntfs). This will ensure me ample free space, cause I will never use all of the Windows partition, and the steam partition keeps my gaming at bay lol. 40gb is enough for about two games at a time, and I symlink the remaining four or gives I have to the HDD. I am not a big gamer lol. And currently i only use about 20-30gb for Linux, with most of my work files (30-35gb or so) still backed up on the HDD. Taking an extended break

Your storage needs may be and are probably different than mine. But I do recommend that you stray away from symlinking until you are closer to 40-50% capacity, and even then don't do the entire user folder.

Anyways. Ramble over thanks.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

What's your schedule like? You don't usually have a day of straight classes back-to-back. You can get 3-4 hours of battery life out of it, so as long as you a block of classes that lasts less than 3-4 hours, you will be able to take it to them and recharge it after. And all that is assuming that you can even take your laptop to class, as some professors at many universities are not allowing that anymore.

Worst case scenario, you have to *gasp* write notes on paper!

 

Are you running a P170 BIOS? How are you doing that? I want to use XTU!! Info Please

 

Go here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/681601-clevo-p157em.html

 

Got it, awesome! Thanks!


So, where can one get the P170EM BIOS file?

 

I'd like to purchase a laptop lock for my np9150 for extra security in college. I know the Sager NP9150's are compatible with Kensington Locks. Any suggestions on which specific product to buy? Thanks!

 

Kensington refers to a specific way it secures so you want to get a Kensington lock.

 

The rest of my parts came today! Yay!
-HDD Caddy for Optical bay, so I can install my 1TB drive.
-Vertex 4
-Crucial mSata drive

I forgot how small these mSata drives are, they are TINY!!

 

Whichever Kensington lock you like. I think a combination lock would be better as it would not require you to carry a key around and it can't be picked.

Most colleges sell Kensington locks in their bookstores.

 

Currently I'm using the 302.71 drivers for the GTX 675M. Is there a better version that I should download? I don't have any complaints thus far, but Battlefield did crash twice today so just wanted to see if there was a more stable version. Maybe get a few more fps while I'm at it

 

Noob questions incoming. While reading and researching I have come across the terms V-sync and Triple Buffering which are admittedly foreign to me. I understand the basic idea of v-sync limiting FPS to 60 and If I understand correctly triple-buffering is meant to be used in conjunction with V-sync to smooth out any hiccups if fps drops?

If someone wouldn't mind clarifying these two things for me I would really appreciate it! I am assuming by default I have v-sync and triple buffering off. Should I be running with these items on? Also, where can I locate these two items?

Thanks!

 

V-sync as you mentioned will limit FPS to 60, this is because most LCD screen refresh at 60hz so the games runs at the same speed your screen does and wont tear.
Triple buffering is more like holding processed frames in the video RAM. Kinda like when you're streaming video online and it buffers so it can get caught up and play back smoothly. Triple buffering enables that smooth gaming performance as it has processed frames and they are ready to display on the screen.
You find these options in the game settings. Not all games have these options.

 

Here is a great read on triple buffering, v-sync, etc.

 

hey i got like some hair and stuff that has gotten under the keyboard (non chiclet)
how should i clean the stuff out of there?
do i need to remove the keys? if so how do i remove the without messing them up???
thanks

 

Take out the whole keyboard. Pop up the speaker grille carefully with fingers of a flathead screwdriver, be gentle, and it will come up, and then there are like 5 screws holding the keyboard in. Take those screws out and then lift gently and there are 2 ribbons to release, then you can wash the keyboard in the sink. MAKE SURE IT IS 100% DRY BEFORE REASSEMBLY!

 

Wait what?! I dunno if I'd try that. High risk of failure there especially with a backlit keyboard.

You can pop the speaker grille by running a thin screwdriver from behind and pushing up on it, there's a small slot for this, will link to it later if I find it.

 

Hello:

Is the 9150's sound quality worse than the 9170's? (Interference, etc.) Also, has anyone noticed differences in black value and contrast between the respective stock screens? Is the extra weight of the 9170 much of a burden?

I'm a soon-to-be college student deciding between them.

 

A can of compressed air to blow it out would also work. Stand the computer on its side though so the can of compressed air is straight up and down to avoid blowing out that mist.

 

From the posts in this thread, I've read that the audio quality on the NP9150 isn't exactly sublime. My question is: is it really that bad? Also, are the "Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included" and "Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Wireless Sound Card System" different cards? If so, does the latter have better quality, or does it just have the wireless stream feature?

 

I believe the X-Fi is an external sound card.

 

Just got my new sager and i was looking around on it to make sure everything was ok, out of interest i went to dxdiag and noticed that my AMD Radeon 7970M isn't listed under display, instead it has an "Intel HD Graphics 4000" listed. If I go to device manager I can see the 7970M there, i was just wondering why it doesn't appear in dxdiag, and if there's any problem with that? I have played games like Just Cause 2 and Red Orchestra 2 on max graphics smoothly so i'm pretty sure the computer is using the amd, it's just not showing up. i have a feeling it has something to do with the "switchable graphics" feature.

 

Usually for the 7970m to show up anywhere, you have to start a program, such as a game, to turn it on. At least, this is the case with MSI Afterburner, where you have to start a game, and then Afterburner, for it to detect the card.


I have a question, is there some sort of cheap external enclosure for the np9150's optical drive, so that I can replace it with an hdd, but not lose the drive? It'd be better than buying a new external cd drive.

Bleh, while I'm here, what's the best/cheapest hdd caddy for the optical drive? I can get one for $40 (53 with shipping) from xotic, but that's kind of expensive...

 

can i connect my Sony 3D TV to a Clevo P150/170EM and watch 3D blurays using an HDMI 1.4a cable? Or doesn't work out?

 

There are several options regarding external CD/DVD drives available. You can buy one in a case already, they are pretty cheap. Here are a few:

Newegg.com - MSI USB 2.0 External Slim DVD Burner Model UO700-K
Newegg.com - LG USB 2.0 External DVD Burner Model GP30NB20
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG USB 2.0 External USB Blu Ray Re-Writer Model SE-506AB/TSWD


I am not sure about just finding a bay to put your existing drive into, I'm suire they are available somewhere but I don't know where.

As far as the caddy to put your HD in the optical bay, Sager sells one that has the matching bezel built into it as one piece, so you don't have to take the bezel off the CDROM and put it on the caddy and whatnot.

 

I just bought one of these and offered a review up on newegg. Overall pretty impressed--Very inexpensive, but fully functional. I am using it with the Sager's drive.

Newegg.com - BYTECC DVD-100U3 Plastic Black USB 3.0 USB 3.0 External Slim O.D.D. Enclosure for Slim-SATA O.D.D. Devices