*** Official Clevo P640RE/Sager NP8640 Owner's Lounge ***

If nothing's changed which I guessed it wouldn't. Why did they discontinue the p640 so early. Months before. They could of still sold the 970m for a while longer? So basically there's literally no point in upgrading then. I don't think I'd rather buy current hardware that sounds weaker than hardware that's the previous gen and sound really powerful despite in reality they are both similar in performance


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Nvidia stopped manufacturing the 970M quite early which is why the P640RF replaced it soon after. The 970M was the last bottom-rung cut down GM204 core which is viable for 980M/970/980-desktop. I'm guessing their yields increased over time which meant fewer chips actually binning that low. It's also why the first gen 965M was axed so early (it was GM204 as well). It wouldn't surprise me if Nvidia wasn't making much margin on the 970M by the end. My own 970M chip had a low ASIC score (~65%) but overclocked to 1330mhz and could've gone higher if it had better VRMs which could indicate that it probably binned higher, but had to be cut-down simply to meet demand.

They kept manufacturing the 965M and 960M for a very long time while they held onto the 1050. Probably to keep ODMs happy as the 960M skews were so popular from a price/performance perspective. Many were produced so holding onto the 1050 means getting maximum sales out of the 960M and less buyer fatigue in that bracket.

I'm guessing they're keeping the P640 alive with the 1050Ti simply because of it's very popular price point. The new one does have some practical upgrades as part of the generational improvements though (mostly in Display-Outs and HEVC decoding/encoding as well as lower thermals). Not sure on numbers, but I get the impression the P640RF sold quite well here (Australia) in comparison to the more expensive P650RE and slightly lower N150RF/RD.

 

GTX1050 (TI) are electrically compatible with the GTX96xM, resulting in very little design changes/cost.
Would have loved to see the 1060 in this class, but it would have required a lot more effort/ an entire re-design.

 

im happy i got my 641RE when i did. still performs like a beast

 

As I'm sure you're aware, the 960M only achieved its exemplary price/performance ratio near the end of its life, i.e. mid- to late last year. Like I mentioned in the D2 Ultima donations thread:

Care to elaborate on what you mean by 'electrically compatible'? I'm interested in the technicalities of fitting a certain GPU in a given laptop...

So would I, but looks like the only options we have are the AW13r3, Blade, GS43VR, and Aorus x3. None have a 2.5" bay. I hope next year's Volta, Navi, Cannonlake and Zen bring some new, better options.

 

I also bundle the 860M in there since they're nearly identical. It was also a signficantly more efficient chip at the time which meant it found it's way into smaller laptops (and likely the sole creator of the true "thin" gaming laptop).

I assume that means they use the same BGA layout with identical solder points which the same functions(display output points, power delivery etc). Kind of like how Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge were "electrically compatible" by using the same socket. So from a fitment point you wouldn't have to change the mobo layout itself, just apply the new GPU instead.

Assuming KabyLake uses the same BGA layout as well, it'd cost them almost nothing for a revision.

I'm in 2 minds about the 2.5" bay. On one hand options are great, but at the same time, that's a lot of space to lose that could've been battery. You can get 2TB M.2 SSDs (granted they're hugely expensive, but 1TB SATA SSDs like the Crucials are somewhat affordable) and the mechanical 2.5" drives haven't gotten any larger in capacity beyond 2TB. Furthermore, they're heavier and noisier.

 

You mean you've not seen those 4tb 2.5 ssds being sold


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I said "mechanical 2.5" drives".

 

Ah. I see. It's alright sometimes some people say things without actually realising a difference. I assumed wrong on that one that you wasn't meaning on a whole.


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There would still be a lot of BIOS work of course

 

Doesn't the GS43VR have a 2,5'' bay? AFAIK it does

 

M.2 and 2.5" in that one.

 

I just went to the nearest PC shop and bought a random "Universal Travel Laptop Charger" with compatible power plug. It is branded Innergie with output of 4.74 Amp and it works just perfect. The original charger branded Delta Electronics has output of 9.23 Amp. So the Innergie charger is 2x less powerful than the original one, but the size and weight of Innergie charger is 2x less than original one which is very important for travelling.
After about half an year of using the third party charger the battery got degraded just for 8% - the original capacity was 45.15 Wh and current capacity is 41.90 Wh. So I think that using a third-party charger with less power is kinda safe.
However your experience may vary.

And my follow-up: I got the same problem after about half a year of usage, and after about 10 months of usage the video cable got completely broken so I had no image at all - just a black screen. So I went to my reseller and they changed the cable under warranty and gave me a spare cable just in case.
Does anyone else has the same problem? I'd like to know if it is common for P640RE's.

 

Wouldn't work for me, either.

 

Any sign of it in the display drivers or windows (device manager, display manager)?

 

ok, so i am about to ask something crazy. gonna be coming up on the end of my warranty pretty soon and im dying to dig into my 640. i was wondering if you guys know of any unused USB headers on the RE mainboard that i can solder a port to for an internal USB.... i know, weird question, but it actually serves a purpose .

 

If you want something completely crazy then you should search for the native 3G module and solder it to the motherboard. If that works - I will do the same

 

i was actually considering it. i do have the proper solder station now. i am just having trouble finding the M.2 keys to do it.

 

May I ask what you plan to do with an internal USB?

 

if i could find the pads i would solder leads to it and setup an internal port to permanently plug in the dongle for my steam controller .

 

You might possibly damage your laptop.. Its not worth the risk, especially with the warranty ending soon.. Even if you had warranty, it would be voided...

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thinking of selling my P640re

 

If you are wiling to lose the m.2 slot.. You have this. Safer than soldering I guess.

EDIT: I wanted the same thing for my P650SE, so it got me searching the deep pages of eBay and Chinese manufacturers and I came up with this collection
You don't even need to lose the M.2 slot, only the SATA one.

Again, safer than soldering.

 

You can always convert an M.2 (if it's sata) to a 2.5" and use a the M.2 for something else and those adaptors are pretty easy to find

After all PCI-E is just PCI-E hooked up to the southbridge

 

Yep, but it's much more fun to have SATA->mSATA->USB

I was thinking of doing something for my P650SE, so I could connect the Steam Controller and a G403 Wireless dongles. But I think the case can interfere with the communication and it's safer to use them in the appropriate ports

 

SATA to USB could cause some interesting driver issues, you don't see many peripherals running off of it.

 

The SATA -> mSATA part does carry USB.
The reason mSATA -> USB works is in most modern mSATA machines they're actually a mini-PCIE slot with SATA multiplexed by the PCH so they can be dual-purpose.

On newer M.2 machines, most Clevo's have a M.2 x1 PCIE slot reserved for 3G/LTE which also carries 2 USB3.0 channels that would serve the purpose perfectly. Unfortunately, in the case of the P650 series that is the 2nd M.2 SATA slot as well as it runs triple purpose (x1 PCIE, SATA and 1 USB channel).

The next problem is space. Ironically, the only place you could probably even fit 2 USB dongles (without opening them up) would be in the 2.5" bay

Granted it's not the Steam Controller, the Dual-Shock 4 may be a better bet for portability as it can pair over Bluetooth and is supported natively in Steam now (or ds4windows outside of Steam).

 

So the above would work fine with no drives

 

I've got an heavy ghosting problem with my Clevo that I've bought from ceg, but I don't know what to do:
1. Buy myself an LCD and replace it;
2. Send it to ceg, but they said that it's an "use problem", so I don't know if they will repair it under warranty and I don't want to pay 50€ to reject a fake quote.
What should I do?

 

Depends if the issue is related to the panel choice or if it's an issue that has developed over time. Taking videos and pointing out an issue with a reseller first and agreeing it looks like an issue can help.

 

I've done it, but when I ask something about warranty they do not respond (the "strange" thing is that they respond only to give informations to send the product).
I will fix it by myself and I will never buy from them again

 

well guys, my 640RE just puked on me hardcore today. was sitting there playing lara croft and it just shut off. no warning. re-seated the ram, pulled the battery, BIOS battery, etc but nothing. no bueno.
kinda depressing, haven't even had it for a year.

 

Dear me... So sorry to hear that happened... Any luck getting it fixed?

 

ya, i was lucky. i walked away and left it for a few hours, came back, tore it down and realized the thermal paste was toast, i replaced that and i haven't had any issues since. so i am keeping my fingers crossed....... im seriously considering my next system to be non BGA.

 

Which part of the thermal paste was screwed? The one on the CPU or GPU?

 

both were, they were dryer than the sahara desert.

 

What paste did you use?

 

i put MX-4 on it, so that should last a while.

 

It's doing it again. Was turned off and would not power up (except as noted above) when I went home for lunch. Working fine when I powered off this morning.

I have noticed the fans have been running more, I have some Artic MX-4 coming and will repaste when it gets here. I don't think this is the issue though.

I did update the firmware / BIOS from here ( https://repo.palkeo.com/clevo-mirror/P64xRE/) after R & J Tech did the internal video cable repair under warranty last year. It didn't do this "no boot" issue before the repair and this is the third time it has done it since I updated the firmware / BIOS. Can I roll back to the previous versions?

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

MX-4 is junk! Get ICD or Gelid GC Extreme!

 

you want to be careful with those, from my personal experience i have seen ICD actually scratch the silicon, causing damage. its great for CPU's with the IHS but not for directly exposed dies.

 

You have seen the scratches damage the chip? The only ones I have seen have been cosmetic and not impacted anything important.

 

let me correct my previous comment, i don't know if it caused performance impacting damage, but it scratched the die either way which left me uncomfortable about using it on my system.

 

Oh, my dies were scratched terribly as well. I used 3200 grit sandpaper to smooth it down.

 

Hi, My monitor on the laptop is dead. It has been behaving real strange before it totally died. For almost half a year I could get the monitor to work if I almost closed it, but now it is totally dead and I have to use an external screen. I was wondering if flashing the BIOS might help. Or it might be a loose cable from the board to the monitor. Does anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

I have the same problem...

 

The intel IGP is the only controller wired up IIRC. Make sure you are on the latest BIOS/EC.

 

Hey, I have been searching this thread and others for a specific problem of mine, sometimes my laptop just gets way too noisy for no apparent reason. It's not under any load, I have Chrome running and the motherboard is the only thing that gets close to 60C. Everything else stays between 45C- 55C and that's in Power Saving, if I change to Balanced or High Performance the fans go crazy with just idling and the temperature rises to ~65C.

I will be changing my Thermal Paste tomorrow, I just ran out recently and the stock was never replaced (don't judge, it's my first laptop I was scared to even open the back just a few months ago, I am like this with everything 'new' I own for a while ). It started a month ago or so, did a reinstall, tried to use the included drivers, but it gave no result. I've been messing around with undervolting, which gave me a small boost in terms of temperature, but the fan speed stays the same. I've been thinking of updating EC and BIOS (Currently on 1.05.08, I read that .10 is out), if the the paste won't change anything.

Any thoughts? I read that a few people experienced the same, but in terms of performance I didn't notice anything. Although I haven't touched any games since. Even on maximum fan speed the temperature gets way too high during.

 

Well whoever assembled my laptop... was a nut job. I am surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Spoiler

 

While excess paste is not great it should not hugely impact thermal performance. Check if a background process is eating resources.