*** Official Clevo P870DM2/P870DM3 (Sager NP9873/NP9872) Owner's Lounge! - The Phoenix 2 is here! **

Welcome! Please let us know your findings.

 

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to NBR. The banding is there but it's not visible unless you are very close to the panel. Like one member said earlier, I think this "issue" is being blown out of proportion. Enjoy your beast!

 

Still waiting to download Photoshop so I couldn't convert the CR2 and upload a high res. but... I bet even this low res preview will show the banding... it is there. Thankfully my eyesight sucks as I cant see it at all until I am at least 6-8 inches from the screen.

 

I agree if it is not visible at all under normal operation... I can also understand wanting something perfect given the price. if it bugs me enough down the road I am under the impression I can buy another panel and stick it in. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Yeah, for me at least, the lines are not visible at 1.5-2 ft.

I am wondering if my single 1080 GTX's idle temp is too high. It's about 57-60 C idle raised on laptop cooler with 22-23 C ambient. I also have the vapor chamber.

 

I will contact Ted also, i want this issue with the panel straightened out one way or another. I was really looking forward to getting the laptop.

 

http://imgur.com/a/knzQv

http://imgur.com/a/tJT3X

http://imgur.com/a/qBVvW

Shows the horizontal lines. First picture is the wide (may not see it). Second photo is zoomed in from the same picture. Very easily seen.

Last link shows viewing angles. Front and side angles are pretty good. Up and down vary much more of course, being a TN panel. Wish black levels were a bit more rich overall, but at least detail can easily be seen.

 

Yes you can go with another panel if you want down the road. I think the cable on the 3K panel is the same on the 4K, so I believe you don't need to buy a new eDP cable, only the panel itself, if you wish to go with a 4K panel.

 

Personal preferences can vary widely. I downgraded from the 1080p 75Hz screen to the 60Hz 4K panel on the Sky X9 and hated every minute of the 4K. At 200% scaling it was basically a high pixel density 1080p screen. There was no advantage whatsoever to having the higher resolution. 4K at 200% is identical usable screen real estate as 1080p. At 100% scaling (my preference) there was gobs of usable screen space, but you need 8x magnifying glasses to read text without your eyes bleeding. Scaling was also horrible for me in W10. I actually found W7 scaling to be an improvement over W10.

The only way I can describe my experiences with 4K laptops, including those prior to the Sky X9, is totally miserable. I've never seen one I liked. I would not want 4K if it were offered to me as a free add-on option and I would go out of my way to avoid it.

 

very true, now all the guides/images I posted will soon disappear and I don't have a clue how to fix them

@brubenstein

 

Do you find it bothersome or noticeable at normal viewing angles? The reason I ask is because just about any monitor one will see pixel separation if zoomed in enough .

 

After careful discussion with my girlfriend on the pros and cons of my DM3, I've decided to return it. This is not a knock on XoticPC or even Sager per say, as the machine has been great out of box. Surprisingly, I had no need to repaste it. The temps out of box were much lower than what was reported earlier in this thread, so I guess someone at XoticPC/Sager has been reading/listening.

With all of that said (rather written), the machine is inherently gimped. While I knew that going in, not being able to have Prema's Bios AND keep my warranty intact has made me reevaluate my order. Again this is not a knock on anyone. I blame myself for not going with my gut feeling.

To anyone thinking about buying this machine, buy it!!! It's fantastic and if you can get it with Prema's Bios (upon their release), you will have a killer beast for years to come!

 

Will you be switching to a different laptop? Just curious what your thoughts are leading forward.

 

Nothing is close to the performance of the P870DM3 with 1080 SLI. I will be likely joining the EVOC team with the same exact configuration I have but I will wait until Prema's Bios are released.

 

Well I spent a long time explaining to you why you should go with a Prema Partner for the Prema BIOS, factory delidding, faster RAM, etc, but you went with Xotic PC...it's your choice

 

I know bro and I'm making amends to myself. I tend to take the road less traveled but even I with my huge amount of pride knows when it is time to take a detour.

 

NP bro, let me know if there's anything I can help you with. At the end, I want what's best for you. Sometimes, the easiest path, is not the best path

 

FYI 126hz was the fastest refresh my 1440p 120hz native panel could sustain.

 

It's kind of like I always subconsciously saw it, but it's easily dismissable. When gaming I don't realize the horizontal issue is there until it hits a more static screen. Black levels are a bit too grey for my liking, but in terms of TN panels, this is nearly an 8/10. Any professional work will have you sighing a little, but gaming is fantastic.

 

Some people are more sensitive to things like that than others. I'm generally not overly sensitive to things like that, so it might not even be something I would notice. Now, if someone pointed it out to me and I started dwelling on it, that could definitely irk me. I wish I could see a live example of it. I'm having a hard time identifying a problem from the photographs that are posted.

 

LOL, I had mine at 128, running perfect.

 

Did you catch my photos earlier? Not video of course, but pretty easy to spot. Look at the wide non-zoomed in color photo. You can see what looks like white lines on every other horizontal line. I'll try to post a video up, but that photo sums it up as good as a video I think. It's like a noticeable but not over the top feeling. It's almost like looking at an interlaced image now that I think about it.

 

Eurocom doesnt let us just return it. Theres a ridiculously high restocking fee. Also they dont have standard lifetime labor warranty. And their standard warranty is only 1 year parts and labor. And they charge to remove the logo from the lid.

 

and their customer service is appalling!

When I first got my Eurocom Sky X9, I emailed Eurocom and gave them my laptop's serial number which should clearly show them that I did pay for the Prema BIOS upgrade (they charge $200 USD) but when I asked them to send me the latest version, some dude replied back telling me that I need to buy it again and started offering me overclocking online classes that I need to pay hundreds of dollars for.

I replied back saying whaaaaaaaaat? I paid for the BIOS and I just need the new BIOS, then he sends me a reply telling me that I will never get anywhere in life if I am rude! What the heck, I was just asking not being rude in any way, form, or shape.

So then I emailed a contact that I have from Eurocom and he told me to simply ignore him and he sends me the latest BIOS!

Next, I did the same mistake asking Eurocom's support by filling their online form, I asked them to send me the Prema VBIOS for the 980 GTX which I had before actually, it's just that the one I had wasn't the Eurocom exact version so if I were to boot in non-UEFI mode like on Windows 7, I would see a splash screen saying this BIOS is not for re-sale or distribution (something like that) and I wanted the Eurocom one as it didn't have that flash screen upon startup.

Eurocom support gets back to me and tells me "we do not advice you to install the Prema VBIOS as it has issues and it undergoing investigation!

I then asked Prema what was that all about since I've been using that VBIOS for a month and everything works perfectly. He tells me to ignore that message and the Prema VBIOS has been tested and is safe/works perfectly.

Now I emailed my contact last week just to see if there are any new Prema BIOS updates so he could maybe send it to me, he didn't even reply back.

Eurocom = Never again

Thank God I had actually purchased my Eurocom Sky X9 from HIDevolution back then when HIDevolution weren't a Prema partner so even if Eurocom don't support me, I have HIDevolution's excellent service to sort me out.

 

I saw them, but looking at a picture of a monitor through your own monitor inheritly doesn't translate. For color shift and things like that a picture can tell the story though .

What you've mentioned about it having an interlaced feel says alot.
I'll find out soon but I have a feeling I won't be bothered too much .

 

Hi Bro. Yes, I looked at all three of the images. Thank you for posting them. I did not identify anything that looked wrong because I did not know what to look for based on the description you provided.

 

That does seem a bit high, I have a single gtx 1080 with the vapor chamber heatsink and my idle temps sit between 36 - 39c depending on room temperature. What is the clock speed of the idle gpu, mine is around 140 Mhz. Have you set the gpu power performance in the nvidia control centre to max performance? If so this will peg the clock at around 1500 Mhz even when idle and you'll have higher temps. If not you'll probably have to repast, make sure to use more paste than usual, the fit of the heat sink is not always great.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Just to clear this little mystery up...another Member reported the posts mentioning the issue to me. I of course relayed it to Ted, and to Clevo.

However since the issue is with the panel, and is being reported by users of all brands using this panel, there isn't anything Clevo or any of the manufacturers using it can do about it.

Given that this panel is rather outstanding in most ways, and this is the only 17.3" 1440p 120Hz - 5ms panel made anywhere in the world...the banding issue is just something that is being a bit overblown. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

.

 

I agree. Although it's a little disappointing, it is one of the best 17" panels (3K, 120Hz, overall good colors). Unless your face is right next to the monitor and you're looking for it, you will most likely never see the issue. If you need the most professional grade monitor for the 17" class (4K Adobe RGB) get that one. Otherwise, this is the best fun you'll have gaming on a laptop.

 

I recently installed the latest Control Center and ever since my fans have not calmed down. This was not happening with the version the laptop came with originally.

Also my GPU's are reporting 1556mhz even though I am not running any applications, I am pretty much idle.

See pic

 

OK in going to sleep now I'll connect to you within 10 hours so we can try vx.81

If that doesn't solve the fans spinning up when the Temps are not high then we'll go back to the stock version that you had bro

Regarding the GPU try setting the power back to optimal in the nVIDIA control panel

 

Have you set nvidia's default to maximum performance in the global profile? If so that could be the cause, I would recommend using the DDU utility to scrape all the nvidia drivers and do a clean install to start. Long story short something is triggering the GPU to be active when there is no need and in result your fans are running to keep the heat from building up.

 

I had the same problem. A fresh install of the nvidia drivers fixed it. Use DDU as @GTVEVO mentioned. I think a previous poster also had the same problem.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Well said and thanks for the clarity.

 

That being the case, I possibly would never see, know or care... and, will likely go ahead and get one of these screens as an upgrade later on, once availability isn't such a problem. There were so many orders ahead of mine there's no telling how long I would end up waiting for it with the 1440p screen.

 

The best approach to take on drivers and software is always "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and it's a common error in judgment that newer means better. With computer stuff it can frequently be said that the latest ain't the greatest. Never upgrade drivers just because there is a newer one available unless you've got a proven and convenient exit strategy ready in advance. People that are OCD about having all of the newest drivers for everything are their own worst enemy.

 

Problem fixed I used DDU and reinstalled the gpu driver, I also had it set on max performance on the nvidea control panel. Will it affect performance in gaming or benchmarks if I leave it on optimal powerl? Or would I have to keep switching settings then rebooting?

 

'
You should be able to leave the global profile as default and set the individual program on the "Program Settings" tab as you wish to deviate from the global profile. Is there a need, not really in gaming unless its causing a problem. During benching its always best to use max performance to take it out of the equation though. You should not have to reboot for the settings to take affect FYI to save yourself from some hassle.

I believe optimal power is the default so you should be fine with that.

 

FYI I did some additional testing and the stock 1080 VBIOS runs right up against the power limit which is nvidia typical but still, bummer . Why provide an overclocking utility when it won't make a whole lot of difference, crazy clevo/nvidia lol.

my vBIOS image

 

Probably it's Chrome as by default it runs in the background unless you change that setting

 

LOL. the reason I canceled my order is you. first the screen and now this but luckily the latter will be fixed by Prema VBIOS

 

LOL, you canceled! Very true, its just typical of Clevo gimped BIOS/EC and Nvidia as always. The foundation is there and it will start stomping soon.

 

Good marketing strategy

 

After reading all the threads about the 3k panel, I am going to have to see it for myself and give judgement then.

 

Yeah, it makes me wish I had it now. I could be wrong, but I'd be willing to bet I won't see a problem with it.

Maybe Ted will send me the 1440p screen from the system @Phoenix cancelled. I can't remember the last time I used a computer with my face close to the screen. Actually, I don't think that I ever have. Probably like 2 feet is the closest my face ever gets to screen, and that's when I have it in my lap.

 

Every sample is different and it depends on the game too.

 

I was able to connect to my new machine at HIDevolution using TeamViewer with @thattechgirl_viv and it's looking good. Hoping it ships out tonight or tomorrow. She is going to repaste once more to get the temps lower on the one GPU that is a little warmer than ideal, but the temps are not bad overall. Here is a stock Heaven run.

 

Awesome bro! I'm really exc!ted for j00

They are doing a live build with you just like they did with me! This is what I call customer service !

 

Oh Mr. Fox & Phoenix...please understand you get special treatment. We do not ordinarily allow customers to TeamViewer in during production.

That special service is reserved for Prema, Mr. Fox, and Phoenix only.

 

Oh I know, it would be very time consuming to do so. Thanks for that though