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

Anybody else have a space bar that misses key strokes a lot?

 

I just tested it right now and it is fine in regular typing and from experience, gaming too. But if you press the spacebar in the extreme corners, it will occasionally miss.

 

There is a difference, and I have never been able to surpass the "current limit throttling" of the benchmark. I am assuming it requires large amounts more voltage than stock or something to that effect... but I've never been able to pass 3.3-3.4GHz on it, and I'm not about to shove a ridiculous amount of voltage into my already bad CPU to test with my poor CPU cooling on this machine, even if I'm only leaving it at stock. This chip for all I know would roll over and die at 1.1v or more. If you have an old 4810, 4900 or 4910MQ lying around though I'll try more stuff, but not with this chip.

The only other instance where I can force a current limit type throttle is in Linpack, but that scales with voltage relatively easily.

 

With the current limit throttling during the benchmark, do you get a corresponding bounce of cpu utilisation and frequency?

 

Yeah sometimes it's related to the headphones you're using, (it only appears with headphones), i tried my brothers bose QC20i, not one hiss in any scenario (XFI off/on, audio content on pause etc), with my klipsch x11 i have a small hiss only when X-Fi is on and audio content on pause/not pllaying.

To be honest i decreased my standards only when i replied to you .

 

Util is never 100% during this point. In fact, it's when CPU util rises that the speed seems to go up. The benchmark just does not work much.

 

See, I hit my space bar around the right-most 25% of the bar, and I often get a missed key stroke. Weird.

 

I had a hiss before but it disappeared, I have no idea how...

 

Hmm well I am typing this by pressing the spacebar with my right thumb. While it is uncomfortable for me, the keyboard doesn't miss a stroke. This is one of those things where it cannot really be diagnosed haha. I tested it out again and if you press the spacebar real lightly on the right side, it does miss like 3/8ths of the keystrokes.

 

I've never missed a single keystroke with the spacebar. Just tested the corners too, and I've gotten response every time.

The touchpad on the other hand sometimes has a hard time registering two fingers for scrolling.

 

Hi everyone, I come from a W230SS and am considering upgrading to the P65X series. I've got several questions -

1. Which GPU do you guys recommend based on price-performance ratio? I play games like Skyrim, The Witcher 2, COD (the later ones), and mainly X-Plane 10. Is there anyone around here who runs X-Plane 10 on a regular basis and has some performance numbers to share? The GTX 980M is four times more expensive than the GTX 970M, and I don't want to cough up $400 more for a 15-20% performance increase that I can achieve with a GPU overclock.
2. I already have two SSDs and a 1 TB hard disk drive from my W230SS - although the SSDs are mSATA. I found an mSATA female to M.2 NGFF male adapter on Amazon - link here. Will it work on the P65X which only has M.2 slots?
3. Which display do you guys recommend? Aftershock PC, the Clevo reseller here in Singapore, has six options: glossy FHD, matte FHD (neither of which add to the base cost), AHVA wide colour gamut FHD, WQHD+ IPS matte, and a QHD 4K PLS display and a QHD 4K IGZO Sharp display. Link here. How does the resolution affect performance, and how well does Windows scale?
4. Has anyone attempted to hackintosh this yet?
5. How hot does the laptop get while gaming, especially in X-Plane 10, which is both CPU- and GPU-intensive?
6. Do you guys recommend I wait for Volta (probably late 2016)? The GTX 860M that's currently in my W230SS is Maxwell first-gen - GM107.

Thanks in advance.

 

1. You just answered that yourself
2. As long as the adapter converts the mSATA into regular M.2 dimensions, I don't see why not
3. I recommend a FHD panel based on battery life and the fact that Windows 8 scales very poorly (but apparently it's better in Windows 10
4. Haven't tried to Hackintosh it, but initial research a while back tells me that you're highly likely going to need to swap out the wireless card with something compatible with OS X or use a USB dongle
5. Laptop stays relatively cool for a 15.6" gaming laptop compared to its competition, so I wouldn't worry
6. Waiting is subjective as there's always going to be something new around the corner, but life is too short for me to be waiting for something that I want

 

The adapter is too wide:





Remember, mSATA form factor is much wider than M.2:



I too was contemplating putting an existing mSATA SSD into my P650SG before I did a little measuring and realized that none of the mSATA to M.2 adapters would fit.

 

Damn. That's $250 down the drain. I really don't want to buy new SSDs if I can (somehow) make the mSATA fit. Is it that tight a fit, such that there's absolutely no space at all, or can I twiddle things in?

mSATA is about 8 mm wider than M.2, so that's about a 4 mm extension on either side:

 

You don't have to buy new SSDs. There are dual mSATA (RAID) to SATA 2.5" adapters.

 

Octicep's solution is probably your best bet.

 

@SRSR333
@octiceps

If I remember correctly somebody posted a pic a while back here or in htwingnut's review with an msata mounted via adapter in the NGFF slot that supports PCIe so it should be possible.

 

Yeah someone a few pages back succesfully mounted a mSATA to M.2 converter.

 

Thanks for this bit of assurance. Is that adapter made by XRP?

 

1) The 970m seems to be the one to get from what you've said.
2) It is a tight fit, but you can chance it with the smallest adapter you can find or mount them as Octicep suggested.
3) I have the matte AUO FHD IPS and it's great imo. Some backlight bleed and I can see the 25ms response, but it does't bother me too much. Higher resolutions may be nice for video/photo editing, but for gaming, considering the extra expense, I'd stick at FHD.
4) No idea.
5) The temperatures are good compared to the competition. I haven't tested mine fully, but the temps I'm getting are very low on auto fan settings, gpu especially @61max on Firestrike, and the fans are quiet.
6) You could wait as something better will always be just around the corner. I believe Mysn has an Easter sale atm?

 

1. The 970M is beastly and can be OCed quite a bit even in this small monster.. If you are keeping it for 2-3 years, sure get the 970M.. For any longer though, the 980M is what you should drop your money in.. IMO, I would personally get the Clevo P751ZM to prevent such problems due to upgradeable CPU+GPU
2. I'm qutie sure there is a mSATA to M2 adapter which someone used.. I believe @Freekers was the one who did this??? But this is definetly possible
3. I would say the 3K WQHD + IPS matte is the one I would get or the 1080p AHVA.. The stock display are TN and junk
4. Yes
5. I'd expect you'll need to repaste with Gelid GC Extreme to keep temps in total check but stock paste should do fine..
6. It will be Pascal at most and honestly, probably Maxwell.. Volta will be 2017++.. Personally, I'd for Skylake desktop CPU/mobile CPU's + new GPUs (My next upgrade is new Clevo with desktop Skylake processor + dual GPUs for super overkill )

This another solution...

 

I posted some temps in my review.

 

I'm planning on ordering a 8652 soon (after 3 years with a G55 / 660M), and just finished reading through the whole thread but had a quick question.

There seems to be a perception that m.2 drives run very hot. However every time this is mentioned the pci-e drives are the example (due to their very toasty pci-e controller), and this is extrapolated to all m.2 drives. But no one has shown any data that m.2 SATA drives run hot, not even anecdotal evidence about their own drive being warm.

To anyone who actually has experience with m.2 SATA drives, have you had any issues with their temperatures?

 

those anecdotes are indeed only directed towards pcie m.2 drives and not their sata counterparts.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

No he used this one

 

Yeahhhh its not good with 2 fingers at ALL

 

I have a crucial mx200 500gb ss 2280 and I can tell you that it runs warmer than a normal 2.5" drive(max 61ºC while benching, max 53º under day to day use) due to the fact that all the components are crammed in a small space and there is no casung to act as a heatsink....but nowhere near as hot as people make them out to be.

Bottom line....SATA m.2 drives are safe.

 

I have two 120gb $50 m.2s from amazon in my 8562 with absolutely 0 (noticible) issues at all.
I believe the heat issue is when these two ssds are right next to either or the adapter is used.

 

Funny, I have no issues with the touchpad. Yay for consistency of issues across machines.

 

M.2 SATA drives have no issues. Running 2x512GB M550's and never had the palmrest area get warm.

EDIT: For those of you using Shadowplay on latest drivers and GFE update, do you have the overlay flicker when recording?

 

No it's not. I have the exact same one built into mine:

Correct, that was me

I don't know. I've bought mine off eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-M-2-NGF...-mSATA-18-8-SSD-Hard-Disk-PCBA-/381182131837?
Looks identical to me.

 

The 850 evo m.2 drives are now available so should help increase the good options natively.

 

Correct. The reason I bought the converter is that I still had the mSATA EVO lying around.

 

Indeed. But when I change over, I'll have 2 mSATA SSDs and a hard disk drive in my W230SS that would just be lying around, and I'd have to purchase new M.2 drives, which would cost $250++. So I'd rather use the $250 for a nice paintjob or set it aside for further upgrades, and instead transfer over the SSDs with two adapters of $8 each.

@Freekers, could you do me a quick favour? Could you see if the mSATA adapter fits into the second M.2 slot near the battery?

 

If I remember correctly, it does fit in the second M.2 slot near the battery, but the left side of the converter was touching the SATA connector of the 2.5 inch HDD bay. I would recommand isolating your convertor (and SSD) by simply wrapping it in some tape. I did the same with mine, to isolate the bottom of the converter.

 

Is it true, that only the palm rest of the upper body part is made of metal? When looking at this picture one can see that the brushed metal is cut out from the remaining chassis. That means, that everything else is still plastic (i.e. the sides, and the inside where the screw brackets are). Only the bottom lid is again metal.

Needless to say, that this construction does NOT enhance the longevity or durability of the laptop, because all relevant parts holding the chassis together (i.e. screw holders) are still molded plastic - like in any other laptop. Basically the aluminum here is more illusion than reality. Overall disappointing as I expected a full metal jacket and metal-molded screw insets, not only visual "metal-gimmicks".

However, this delusion explains why the price is so low (1.350€ for basic 970m GTX config). As my mind got stuck by the "aluminum" claims (which automatically associated high quality) - but now debunked - I'll now reconsider "plastic-only" laptops from Clevo. Just mentioning this, if others fall into the same fallacy...

 

Not sure why you expected full metal jacket, but Clevo always used metal screw holes on all "critical" screws (e.g. ones which hold case together) - unless they decided to omit them on this model for some reason.

 

Can't see metal here on the top right, neither on the top middle. It's the same plastic screw fastening as on any other notebook. Imo it belongs to the "critical" parts, as it can break when twisting tightly. In fact it's always these parts which broke off when I disassembled laptops. Not that other laptop manufacturers have better quality... it's just the same.

 

What do you mean by "here"? You mean that frame is plastic? Or that frame screw hole is plastic?

I meant that Clevo is using metal screw holes, at least where it counts. But they are not trying to make their laptops more robust than usual - because they are trying to save on weight too and metal is heavy.

 

The frame screw hole. The plastic column, where a cheap metal ring is layed in, and in which the screw is tightenend. This is a critical part.

And yes - I expected a robust metal column here because the "aluminum body" was praised by review sites. I expected similar metal attachements like what I've seen on some Dells, Samsungs, Macbooks etc. There in this picture you can see in the corners strong metal columns for the screws. That's what I expected. Only this will provide longevity and robustness. But the the plastic attachment on the Clevo will NOT. It's just a cheap solution, like most mainstream notebooks have.

I don't call the Clevo bad by any means, it's just that this construction disproves the AAA quality, which people can assume when they hear the word "aluminum" from various tests or read the notebook "feature-list". These parts (screw attachments) eventually show what is what, and on the P650SX it's clear the brushed metal features on the outside are only for the bling-bling, but the construction holding the parts together is still the same old story.

 

Maybe it's a stupid question but does anyone have some good tutorials about overclocking my gtx 970m? I want to learn more about it.

Thanks

 

Metal palm rest is certainly not just bling-bling because it wears out a lot slower.

I don't see why you need metal screw mountings for screen border. These screws never tightened much and plastic outer border is never subjected to significant forces - all load should be taken by metal frame inside which connected directly to screen.

In comparison, if you look at bottom lid screws, you should see metal holes there.

P65x does not have a "metal body", its metal inlays. Any review site which states "metal body" is plain out wrong.

 

If you can't see it, then I assume you haven't opened up laptops often enough, so it matters to you. Well, it matters to me.

Regarding the "wear-out": my 6 year old rig, heavily used with plastic palm rests has no "wear out" symptoms (except of broken screw attachments of the chassis). Therefore the metal palm rest is no significant argument for robustness. If it were a full metal body with full metal screw attachments than the whole thing would be different story. That's what I expected based on reviews - but I was wrong. Simple as that.

 

Why on earth would you disassemble lid often? Even if you replace screen, you only need it once or twice. Also if you using proper torque screwdriver (and torque for these lid screws is pretty low), it will not cause any problems.

All I am saying that P65x does not really diverge much from Clevo well-proven designs - it just adds some metal in some places. Yes, its still lot of plastics, but Clevo knows pretty well how to make it robust.

Shame for reviews which see a bit of metal and start to blow it out of proportion.

If I would want full-metal frame and such, I'd go for Alienware. But which also will add like 1 kilo of extra weight, so I won't

 

And you wanting a metal chassis/casting would probably up the price significantly. Don't know what the big hoopla about metal is. I prefer plastic phones. Wouldn't mind some of the higher end laptops having a metal base and/or the keyboard area as it would help dissipate heat better but clevo is has always been bang for the buck and most of their laptops are pretty damn good, except the occasional lemon.

 

Its not so about price (after all, these laptops are from high-end expensive side), but weight/size mostly. Up to now, only Apple has unibody construction which keeps it under control - but unibody means very limited customization/repairability (not an option that people would expect for these models).
Without unibody you stuck with panel/frame construction, which will get significantly bulkier and heavier with metal (again, you can see perfect example in Alienwares).

 

Dude...why would you tighten your screws to the point where you're break the mounting?

What you are saying is not the fault of a poor construction but the fault of your mistakes.

Laptops screws should be tightened with a fairly low amount of pressure/torque....


These are indeed alluminium panels and not full metal chasis....the purpose is to give rigidity to the machine and it does so beautifully.

It's near to impossible to twist the base of this machine.

 

I'm not too sure about that smartphone bit - my last two smartphones have been metallic or at least partially metallic (Sensation XE and One M8). Best experience with smartphones I've ever had. I tried my dad's S4 and my sister's S5 - very quickly put them down.

On a laptop, this 'metal unibody' thing is a giant fad because of Apple. In actual fact, it adds a lot more weight when it doesn't need to. The P650S/P750S design actually looks very neat on the outside and even on the inside. Same goes for the equally 'metallic' P750ZM - it looks beautiful on the inside. But the huge heatsinks weigh a large fraction of a kilogram. So it's ridiculously heavy.

 

Guys, this might be as stupid question but I got the Clevo P650SE and it stated on the specs list that you could put a sim card in it but I have tried and tried but it seems that some sort of plastic is blocking the port. How do I put the sim card then, or were the specs just wrongly stated? Thanks in advance for the replies.