*** Official Clevo P65xSA/SE/SG / Sager NP8650/51/52 Owner´s Lounge ***

Dat...speed...

 

Really really enjoying putting linux on this thing and playing the new Bioshock infinite port that was just released. Linux performance is fantastic on the 970M btw.

 

Yeah well the 4K QD1 speeds aren't really that impressive which is what really matters. PCIe SSD = sequential perf e-peen

 

I have just placed my first Sager/Clevo laptop through EXOTIC PC last weekend. It's a Sager NP8651 with LG IPS display and Killer N1525 wireless adapter upgrades. I have some questions regarding this model:
Is the default HDD comes with this model 7mm or 9.5mm?
I am also planning to buy a spare 200+W slim power adapter, and have found these two:
Dell PA-9E or HP 230W slim adapter with this connector
Is it safe to use them? Which one is better?

 

Stock drive is 9.5mm however you can add a separate 7mm drive later. (I have the stock 1TB HDD and an MX100 SSD in mine). You could buy those adapters, though I don't really see the point as 180W is sufficient for gaming even when OC'd

 

On my P650SG I'm using the Dell PA-9E with that adapter, it works fine. Although except for the slimness, the brick massive. The HP should work as well.

I thought it wasn't possible to fit 9.5mm+7mm in the SE? Or did you mod your laptop/remove SSD from casing?

 

The specs on XOTIC PC website says it only fits 2x 7mm drives or 1x 9.5mm HDD. I actually own 2x EVO840 500gb SSDs, so I was just wondering if I can get a lower price with HDD removed.

From what I've read on the P650SE review, the power consumption can go above 200W when fully loaded, and that's the reason I want a 200+W adapter.

 

Do you know if there is a right angle version of that connector? Any heat problem on the connector or the adapter when fully loaded for a long period of time?

And a noob question, does it charge faster than the OEM one? And the dimension of the OEM adapter? Thank you.

 

No idea about right-angle connector. No heat problems. If it charges faster I haven't noticed. Stock 180W is 16.9 x 8.5 x 3.6 cm 844 grams.

 

After using the laptop for a week now, here are my 2 cents.

• The laptop feels extremely solid aside from the screen flex
• Desktop-replacement-like gaming performance in a nice and thin body
• Keyboard was nicer than expected (although I prefer the key print of Gigabyte laptops)
• Touchpad is ok.. two finger scrolling is wonky sometimes
• Temperatures are excellent and I barely hear the fans when I game

Personal gripes

• Would've been nice for the blue power LED and the front green LEDs to match the keyboard
• Would've been nice if the WASD keys didn't have the red arrows
• The blue power LED is abnormally bright
• The fingerprint reader was not necessary
• The power supply is big and heavy

Overall, very happy with my purchase.

----------

Currently testing to see if a thinner 150w power supply will work instead of the thick 180w.



So far, my laptop doesn't seem to pull more than 150w as my battery is not being drained.

I have ran both IntelBurnTest + Unigine Valley/Furmark at the same time.

Currently running AIDA64 CPU + GPU.

This 150w brick is about 2/3 the size, and much lighter.

 

How much did you get it for if you don't mind me asking. I'm getting it off Xotic with and added
LG IPS display, IC diamond thermal compound, first 16gb ram option, 512 samsung 850 pro sad. debating the $20 bigfoot network killer wireless don't know what difference that makes? No OS using Dreamspark because I am a student. I hope the OS isn't a difficult installation process Don't know if I need security essentials software either? Lastly before adding 2 or 3 year warranty? Price comes out to $1,639 anyone know if that's how much this model Sager usually goes around NP8651. Thanks again

 

Oh I agree completely, but it could be useful to find out if that works or not

 

$1100 USD from Eurocom (including shipping and taxes)

They are a Canadian company, and they shipped it from Ontario to British Columbia.

AUO B156HAN01.2 15.6" 1080p IPS
Intel i7-4720HQ
8GB Crucial DDR3-1600
500GB HGST 7200RPM HDD
NVIDIA GTX 970M
Realtek RTL8723BE
No OS

Apparently they use IC Diamond free of charge, but I won't know for sure unless I remove the heatsinks. There seems to be conflicting comments about that on the forum.

I cheaped out on the NIC since I use LAN when I'm at home and I don't game too much at my girlfriend's place. But surprisingly, I haven't had any WiFi issues and signal is strong. The only con is that it's single 2.4GHz band, so you won't be able to get 5GHz radio with it.. but it wasn't a big deal for me.

 

Just FYI if you're in the States, they ship it from NY

 

That's a lot less than Xotic. I've heard of Eurocom around the forum. I'm in California so would Xotic be a better option? I just don't know why it's so much. I've heard people on the forum getting it for a couple hundred dollars less?

 

It's less because Xotic has 7265ac (or Killer 1525ac) stock where Eurocom has the stock wifi card, and 500GB 7200RPM HDD vs 1TB 7200RPM HDD (xotic). If you match the machines part-for-part, Xotic is cheaper. I've done so already.

 

Is $1,639 the price everyone spends on that configuration? Or are there any other ways to get that price lowered? Will it be easier to haggle with Dell on an alienware with those specs? I'd really like to get the Sager Np8651. It's just a couple hundred dollars out of the price Range.

 

The alienware is a far inferior machine, so I would say to avoid it. If you build the price on any website (like Xotic) then everyone else building it will pay the same.

 

Alright guess I'll try it out then. Should I get two or three warranty? Do I need the PC security installation? Lastly is it easy to install OS?

 

I'd say 2 years at least.

 

Well, adding a 7265AC and a 1TB drive only adds a $40 CAD upgrade, which still makes his configuration $1130 USD.

Not sure what the LG panel is, seeing as it's a $45 upgrade from the stock TN panel and it's a FHD IPS, it's probably on par with the AUO B156HAN01.2 that Eurocom includes by default.

And actually, since he's in the US, I'm not sure what his tax rate is, but if we subtract it, his configuration is around $1080 USD pre-tax.

XOTIC PC's configuration for the same configuration from Eurocom is $1349.. so I don't know where you concluded that XOTIC is cheaper.

Eurocom was the cheapest NA retailer by far when I made my purchase.

EDIT: Hmm.. it seems that if you're browsing the Eurocom page in USD, it comes out to be significantly more than paying it in CAD. I would recommend paying for it in Canadian dollars and letting the exchange rate do the rest of the work.

http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(1,257,0)ec

By default, the stock configuration is $1499 CAD = $1180 USD. With a 10% student discount, it's $1060 USD. But that's only if you view the currency in Canadian Dollars (which is what I did, since I'm Canadian).

If you switch it to USD, it's $1369 by default, which is significantly more.

Is why you said XOTIC PC was cheaper, D2 Ultima?

 

thanks!

 

I updated my previous post. It seems that if you browse Eurocom's P650SE page in Canadian dollars, it comes out to be significantly cheaper than if you were browsing it in American dollars.

I would suggest paying in Canadian dollars and letting your bank handle the conversion (since it'll be much cheaper than XOTIC PC anyways).

If Eurocom doesn't let you do that, feel free to contact me and perhaps I can help you out.

 

Yes, I checked USD to USD prices, and I was not checking with any kind of discount like that 10% you had.

 

I will be getting my P650 from Mythologic end of this week.. super excited.

One noob question: I'm new to OC with zero experience. I read in one of the old posting that we can adjust the core utilisation to lower the heat without affecting most game play. Can anyone guide me on how to do this?

Also, where is the best place to start learning about OC?

 

If you are in the market for a P650SE, the Eurocom M5 Pro will be the absolute cheapest you can go. Price it and pay in Canadian Dollars. Also ask for the 10% student discount. All you need is emailing your student ID to them afterward.

The Eurocom P650SE will come from NY with no tax. It also has ICD by default for sure. My temp under load is significantly lower than others who reported that they have stock thermal paste. XTU stress test gives me 76C after 6 hours. Prime95 gives me 78C after 6 hours.

Other niceties include 500GB 7200RPM 7.5mm HDD (this is quite significant as you will need the space to add your own 7.5mm SSD later on), default upgrade to 4720HQ chip instead of the stock 4710HQ (just don't choose to upgrade the processor when you price it, they already ran out of stock for the 4710HQ motherboard so they just give you the newer chip anyway ), very fast "build" time (mine was only 1 business day), and the AUO IPS Matte screen is pretty decent.

My total came out to be $1087 USD with 4720HQ, 8GB DDR3L 1600, 500GB HDD, AC7265 Intel Card. This was after the Canadian dollar trick and 10% student discount.

I added another 8GB DDR3L matching pair (Crucial) for $52 on Amazon and a 256GB Crucial M550 SSD for $89 on Newegg. Those are much cheaper buying as upgrade afterward.

All in $1228. Cheaper than anywhere else. I cannot get any other Sager/Clevo reseller to match Eurocom price because they said it is a price mistake since you are using the Canadian dollar trick. Whatever.

The only con is you have to put up with the tacky Eurocom logo. Minor annoyance for me.

 

I'd actually prefer it if the power connector was not right-angled on my P651SE, you only really need a right-angled connector is the power socket is on the side, but it's on the back of the P651SE, which means the cable has to bend to point straight backwards down the back of a desk with the right-angled connector, putting stress on the cable. I don't know whey the PSU supplied with these Clevos is like this!

 

Some in another forum reported that if you email and "beg" them, Eurocom actually give you 15% off some time (during the time that they have a 10% off coupon code, along with the 10% student discount). Supposedly, those 2 promotions don't stack but they give you 15% off anyway. Very YMMV but it's worth a try.

 

Okay, I'm having to RMA my P651SE due to the problems I mentioned with hiss on the headphone port, I'm concerned that if they have to replace the motherboard or even the entire laptop that it won't have the great temperatures and stability that I've experienced with my current model and that I may need to re-paste the factory-applied Arctic MX-2.

What's the best, easiest to apply, non-conductive thermal paste for our laptops that isn't diamond-based (which I've read some scare stories about), is it Gelid GC-Extreme? Thanks

 

If a single thing on that mobo is wrong, you have to replace everything but RAM, chassis, keyboard and storage. That's where soldered machines get us. I hope you get another good CPU and GPU if that happens.

GC Extreme yes. But IC Diamond has absolutely nothing wrong with it. People just never removed the bloody thing properly. Feel free to ask @Ethrem about using the actual method (soaking it in solvent or arcticlean then wiping off, and if not all is off, soaking again) as he's I believe the only one other than myself who has actually removed ICD without any scratches. People were using cotton balls or qtips or wipes and basically scraping it off... which would obviously result in the scratching.

 

Yes, but I don't want to have to go the lengths of soaking it in solvent if I need to remove it, just don't want to risk messing about with that. Is GC Extreme the best non-conductive, non-diamond option?

 

That or possibly Arctic Céramique 2.

 

What about Prolimatech PK-3 or PK-2?: http://www.prolimatech.com/en/products/detail.asp?id=1582
It's just that I've read in a few places that Gelid Extreme can be a little difficult to apply, also this review seems to imply if works best for heatsinks with a high mounting pressure, which isn't really the case with laptops: e.g.

"GC-Extreme is the best thermal paste in our round-up, maintaining a slim lead over the runner-up as long as you're using a heat sink with high mounting pressure. If this compound was a little softer, it'd be even more ideal and wouldn't require warming before application. Heating it up a bit does pay off though, and we recommend it for overclockers and enthusiasts. Due to its high viscosity, it's perhaps less ideal for beginners." - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/thermal-paste-performance-benchmark,review-32804-11.html

Is there anything that works better (and isn't diamond or conductive) at low heatsink pressures and would be easier to apply (or maybe I just need tips on how to apply GC Extreme?)

 

GC Extreme is easy to apply if you do it right (as in the dot method and let it spread itself), far far far easier than IC Diamond which doesn't even want to come out of the syringe unless it has been warmed or you put a lot of pressure on the plunger and it works perfectly fine in laptops.

Removing IC Diamond without scratching is actually pretty easy but depending on how much was used can take some time. Just pick up an Arcticlean kit and leave a few drops of Arcticlean 1 on for a few minutes until the IC Diamond breaks down then dab it up with a cotton ball, finish it off with a rolled qtip (if you still have some left, repeat until it's all up) then use Arcticlean 2 to get rid of the residue and apply new paste.

 

lol i wasnt implying for him to use this tool for gaming, it was just a pointer to get the cpu to the max one core frequency, thats all

 

Can you tell us that coupon code?
Tried looking and asked and they never got back to me...yet.

 

To whoever was asking about an underclock, take a look here for a simple tutorial.

 

I seriously doubt that's a test with 8 workers and without manually underclocking the core in XTU bellow the default 3.4GHz

 

Prolimatech pk-3 is worse than gelid when it comes to viscosity.

If you just warm up the syringe in a cup of boiling water gelid is really VERY liquid.

 

Oh, okay. What's the best application method for the Gelid GC-3 Extreme for the CPU and GPU? One small pea/rice-sized blob in the die centre of each, then just plonk on the heatsinks? Or a apply a line of paste? Or spread it thinly?

 

Okay I have a pretty serious problem here.
Whenever I switch to battery within 1 minute System process in Windows will take off! It won't settle again until I reboot.
Looks like this:

Now I used ProcExplorer from Microsoft got this:

As you can see ACPI.sys+0xe730 is going nuts.

Don't know if problem comes from BIOS, tried both Prema 1.03 and XMG 1.03.

I have of course also formated Windows 8.1 multiple times, checked for viruses, messed around with the software and all that.
I read it could be the Wake On Lan function (Couldn't find it in BIOS) and I read you could disable LAN and it should go away, but that only worked one single time.

Can anyone try and reproduce this? Basically you unplug your laptop while running and wait for "System". This could very well be why people have bad battery life as well!!

Thanks in advance..

PS: Weirdest thing.
If I scan for hardware changes in Device Manager, it will momentarily go away, but come back real soon

PSS:
It seems to have been a driver problem. I got RealTek and Intel Drivers directly (They are newer) and rebooted.
So far no problems.
I must say this is bad considering the official drivers from Clevo are causing this.

 

I cant say the same about my temps. I get 98 degree celsius on prime95 28.5 and 94 degree celsius on 26.6. I bought mine from eurocom and have mostly the same build.

 

Do you have the Clevo utility installed? there was just a post a few days ago about it throttling on battery and driving up system processes simultaneously.

 

What about currency exchange rate charges on the credit card? If payment was made using a US based credit card...

 

Yeah it was actually me. I thought it had an influence, but I got fooled by the effect of the throttling in respect to CPU usage.
Regardless the real fix is updating all drivers from the respective companies not from Clevo's driver base, since it's outdated and ill-functioning. (At least on my P651SE)

 

In my experienc, ICD isn't too hard to apply.. You just need to put your tube in a cup of warm water for 5 mins before applying to melt it slightly.. Removing is problematic hence when I repaste next time, I shall try getting some Gelid GC Extreme... IMO, the best way to repaste is a small line through the middle of your CPU die (from along 1/4 of length to 3/4 of the horizontal length of the die)...

 

Can any owners of the a Sager NP865x tell me if these laptops have TPM 2.0 chips built in? Eurocom explicitly calls it out on the M5 Pro so I would think it's there, but the sites I've checked so far make no mention of whether or not these laptops have the chip built in.

 

I did UV it about -75mV stable. Also fan was on max setting with Fn+1. Also my ambient temp is 18C in an AC room. No laptop cooler tho.

Edit: Nm, tested with the latest Prime95 64bit Small FFTs today and I got to around 95C.

I used Paypal and they handled the exchange rate. No fee but their rate was a bit higher than the market rate or my total should have been $1069 at the time.

 

I wasn't able to find all the drivers from the companies, e.g. I could find anywhere to download the fingerprint scanner drivers, despite going on the company's website!

 

I just received my Sager NP8651 (Clevo P650SE) and I had a question about the "Sound Baster X-Fi MB3" software. I noticed that if I change the "SBX Pro Studio Settings" I get much better sound out of my headphones. But once I reboot, the previous settings in "SBX Pro Studio Settings" are not applied. I have to manually enable it every time I reboot. I've read elsewhere that this might be the expected behavior, which is fine. But I'm wondering if I mucked with something and screwed up the SBX startup configuration. Any thoughts, comments? Thanks in advance.