*** Official Clevo X170SM-G/Sager NP9670M Owner's Lounge ***

Yes, I totally agree with you Brother @Meaker@Sager that it is always a bad idea.

 

I thought that Clevo used the Creative Super X-Fi Ultra audio DSP chips in their laptops. Does anyone know if the X170 have the Creative X-Fi chip in it?

 

Their driver list like also xmg's for instance have realtek drivers with creative components, pity the latter has a script that doesn't seem to work proper, nor installs any app because of course you have to rely on microsoft store..

 

So..my brand new x170 speaker is already exhibiting crackling sounds. Gotta get it replaced.

 

This seems to be such a common problem in laptops that it’s not even funny. I really wanna know how these things are tested because what they do is not working. And yet my headphones have been running solid for years.

 

related to the audio driver turning on and off? or is it something else? If the former, I get it all the time particularly with the fantastic creative inexisting and problematic drivers

 

Audio System
High Definition audio interface
S/PDIF Digital output
Built-in Array Microphone
Built-in two 3W Speakers and a 5W Subwoofer
Sound Blaster Atlas
Super X-Fi Headphone Holography

 

Is that a Toslink port?

 

Yes, it is Toslink

 

Just need the 3.5mm jack adaptor.

 

The port is for a 3.5mm jack, but inside of it is the Toslink signal. Toslink is using a different type of connector so you will need an adapter from the 3.5mm jack to Toslink.

Just do a search for 3.5mm jack to Toslink adapter...and don't spend more than $7

 

Disabling power management on the Realtek Audio should stop that nonsense. This has been an unresolved issue since around 2010-2012. The old Realtek Audio Control Panel use to be the place to disable that crap, but I don't know if the UWP app crap even has that option.

 

I was trying to ask if it had a Toslink digital Optical out port. I didn't even know the toslink adapters existed so that is good info, I guess it doesn't really matter then.


I read a bunch of the X170 owners lounge thread but now I have some questions since I am considering buying a zTecpc X170.


I am unclear on how the keyboard lighting and fans are controlled with the Prema bios. on the zTecpc X17. My understanding is that the Prema Bios doesn't control those features, and that is what Clevo Control Center does, but people don't like CCC because it phones home to UWP Microsoft store so they don't run it, or mess around with limiting it.

So does the zTecpc run CCC or eliminate it?
Or does the Prema bios control the lighting and fans?

Thanks

 

I had a few strange issues with a Creative SoundBlaster card I had in a desktop I built many years back.

 

Yeah, I am not a big fan of Creative either. I can definitely live without anything they have to offer.

 

I wonder, how is one supposed to clean up the fans and fans housings if the latter are directly glued to the heatpipe assembly? Have I missed anything? I could use some tips on the matter, they've already started building up quite the amount of dust.

( So much for cleaning the room incessantly lul)

Edit : PC specialist says 150 euro rupees for an entire new heatsink + great screws
also 155 for a new screen , you know, the one I found stuck pixels with that won't get unstuck

 

Uhhhh...WHAT!? Not only CLEANING, but REPLACING, if necessary!! One of the reasons why I got this laptop and upgraded from my MSI GS63VR Stealth is because, in the 4 years I had it, I had to REPLACE the GPU fans THREE times!!! To say the least I got sick of it...and...as cool as these new Stealth, thin laptops are...they are a PAIN IN THE A##$ to take apart and mess with because all of the stuff you actually need to mess with is on the other side of the keyboard (SSD, RAM, FANs). I wonder if other people have fan issues with those as well...but I REALLY hope that the x170s don't have any fan issues...ESPECIALLY if they are glued on!!!

 

eDP pin 40 controls overdrive on those panels. Default is off, and if the pin is pulled low it is enabled. So you could try taping the pin to see if it disables overdrive.

 

The fans have a self-cleaning feature that run when you power up. You can also pull the bottom cover off and blow them out with compressed air. You can also use a soft bristle brush loosen any crud. I have never found it necessary to remove the fans from the chassis to clean them on any laptop I have had, but all have been out in the open and easily accessible.

I haven't seen any issues reported with the fans on this system. It is pretty unusual to have issues with laptop fans. They can wear out like any mechanical part. Maybe MSI selected a poor quality part for the GS63VR GPU fan. That experience is pretty unusual and not common among all laptops.

 

I'm well aware about the anti dust function, I mention it because there is already dust build up within the housings, but by your answer I dare say that no, the entire assembly is impossible to disassemble, guess I will have to buy the compressed can and call it a day mostly

 

Hi So it is official. Mine arrived last week. I have a lot of questions, but reading through 377 post in one large thread is proving a little time consuming. Would someone point out how to tweak the thermals and if I need a custom bios, etc, etc,etc.

I appreciate it. I am waiting on additional ram and larger nvme drives to arrive.


[/ATTACH]

 

No, please don't read anything into my comments. I have not tried to take a fan off of the heat sink so I have no idea. I cannot imagine that it would be that difficult, but since I never paid any attention to that I am not in a position to comment one way or the other. And, now I am unable to investigate it further.

The fastest and easiest thing to do to improve temperatures is to apply an undervolt to the CPU. The GPU shouldn't really need any attention. Depending on the silicon quality of your CPU sample, it should handle anywhere from -90mV to -130mV. Start with 90mV. You can use ThrottleStop, XTU or QuickCPU. Or, if you have installed Clevo Control Center you can use that.

 

I meant no disrespect Fox, but I dare say there doesn't seem to be much of a chance of taking it apart to clean it proper, I will use the methods you described earlier, cheers!

 

Either Obsidian Fan Control & Keyboard Controller, or @S.K 's modded CCC, handle these best. You might want to try both to see which you prefer, and then let us know.

 

But you could spend more just like a high end 1 meter HDMI cable!

 

Since someone asked about 144hz panels.

I have one in mine. Gsync enabled. No ghosting issues noticed when playing games, like smite (runs at 144hz, no ghosting, looks great) and Cyberpunk 2077 (runs about 80fps, no ghosting)

 

The 144 Hz screens are the same reliable panels and get the job done very well.

 

Yeah, no need to open up the fans. Just use the right tool for the job. Bought this a few years ago. A lot better option than the canned air. I use it to much more than for cleaning inside the computers.

 

I see. I might be looking at the wrong platform then, because I need something that is mostly ready to go. I don't want to spend my time messing around with modifying it. Pretty much need it set up a certain way, and need to be able to use it.
I am not benching or doing much if any gaming.

 

I think you are misunderstanding. Donald is talking about simply installing software, not modifying anything. The zT X170 is the only product that is "mostly ready to go" out of the box. All of the mods have been done before you get it so you don't have to fart around with issues like you would buying another product that doesn't function correctly from the factory (a common problem with all brands).

There is always some personalization that goes along with purchasing a new product. You can use Clevo Control Center (CCC), which has the performance leeching bloat you would expect from Alienware Control Center, MSI Dragon Center, or any other crappy OEM-provided garbage that you can name. Or, you can install Obsidian Tools as a bloat-free alternative (only need the Keyboard and Fan apps). Or, you can mod CCC (which is a little more effort) as @S.K has provided instructions for.

Choosing what you want to use for the keyboard and fan control will take far less time and effort than subduing Windows 10 to make it a usable and half-way respectable product. (It will never be a great product because it's Windows 10 and it will always suck because of that.)

 

No like actual speaker is booked. I was playing cyberpunk and when I stepped into the bar the speaker popped. Then it was nothing but crackling sound. Rjtech have already sent me a replacement should be here next week.

 

I have a powered compressed air blower too lol that is my go to tool

@Mr. Fox yay finally my 4000mhz kit will be here soon after 1 1/2 months of waiting lol estimated delivery 12/21 let's see if I can get the xmp to work and if I can im gonna have to figure a way to get typhoon burner to work and tune the cl setting cl19 is it but I'm sure I can get them down to 18-18-18-38 maybe even cl17 if I'm lucky. They are 19-19-19-43 @1.35v currently. They sold a cl18 kit but my friend told me they wanted a 200 dollar difference from what he got and they was a gskill set. These are corsair vengance. They are samsung b die but i don't know what kind of die till they get here.

 

Will the Clevo X170SM support 4 NVME drives in the 4 slots?

 

Actually I do understand. And modding CCC or trying to figure out obsidian tools, and figuring out how to reign in Windows 10 software is what I was referring to not wanting to mess with, and are things that need to be done.

I have a few options to get that sorted out but I am not sure the way to go.

I am thinking the best way might be to have someone install a 2019 version of Win10 Enterprise LTSC, and also get rid of the MAPS, BioEnrollment service, Xbox delivery optimization backdoor (dosvc, domgmt), the Windows Update Medic Service, telemetry services, Killer and Intel like I someone did here.

I am not sure if the Farag2's Sophia script, or hush10 would be stable or safe or how it would compare to an enterprise install and I don't really want to mess with it myself.

All I know is a friend of mine that knows quite a bit about locking down windows 10 also started with the enterprise version and locked it down from there.

 

If you don't mind playing you could always take an image backup of your current install and test it out.

 

Hi there. That is all exactly what most of us on here have done. I was using and am using again Win10 LTSC 1809 and we have used scripts and other programs to lock down all the other Windows 10 crap and bloat. O&O Shutup, etc. I did the clean install and then I actually used @S.K 's modded CCC. Installing Windows took MAYBE 10 min with a SSD in an NVME slot, then modding CCC took another FIVE. Then install your normal stuff. I also use a basic Throttlestop setting with a -100 voltage offset...another 2 min. All these "mods" should take you no more than 30 min, from installing Windows to getting CCC modded and Throttlestop (pretty much optional).
I bought my x170SM-G from Eluktronics without RAM or a SSD and it was only a little over $2900 including tax and shipping. A lot of the other guys on here have bought it for way more expensive from a Prema partner or zTech for $3500 or more with everything installed. I bought my SSD and RAM from Amazon for a little over $200 and I saved probably $300 or more instead of having the company install and "configure" them.

 

hi all
any news for prema bios free sale?

 

Please read the thread or use the search feature on top of the page. See post #3343

*** Official Clevo X170SM-G/Sager NP9670M Owner's Lounge ***

 

This sort of stuff takes me much longer to figure out and accomplish than that. Part of the reason is that I don't like doing that and only deal with stuff as needed, then I forget how. So I have to spend weeks of time learning about each thing and how to do it, then I often mess it up. Honestly I find it incredibly frustrating. I am much better at hardware and mechanical things.

So you don't use the Prema bios?

 

That is exactly what I don't want to do.

 

Unfortunately I don't. It wasn't available when I got my x170 and I got it from a company (Eluktronics) that may not carry it. Apparently some of the companies that are Prema partners will be able to flash it once they carry it (like XoticPC). I hope to get it at some point somehow... Hopefully Prema will sell it separately for us who own the x170 but purchased it from a non-Prema partner.

Sent from my OnePlus 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

Doing that is as easy as drinking a can of sparkling water. I forgot to count how many times I installed Windows 10 the other day. Probably 30 or so. You are living in 2020 so you should sound like it too, especially when buying yourself this kind of machine. With NVMe drives and usb-bootable backup utilities like clonezilla, it is totally doable and let's be honest, "no pains, no gains" is as true today as it was when the saying was created.

 

This machine will still run a mile in front of whatever laptop models even with stock config. You say you don't do benching/gaming. Then get it with the 2070 Super and 8 cores i7-10700K for coldest possible running system. Use CCC as is. If you go with ztecpc.com, I'm sure they can make a bootable backup of the system. You will be up and running within 5 min if you run into problems later.

 

I am a total beginner regarding mods / linux / throttlestop / undervolting etc.! But I can confirm the mod is very easy to follow using the detailed tutorial from S.K. It is very well explained and in my opinion can be done by everyone. Thanks again for working this out and for sharing with everyone here!

The only wish I have towards the community would be a tutorial or description about how to tune your "software-modded" system afterwards regarding your CPU performance. For beginners it is very difficult to get the overview what tools and programs to use, which settings and parameters are important, which settings and parameters should better stay untouched to not damage your computer and how to stress test your system for stability. I admit that there are many tutorials online for specific steps of that tuning process, e.g. ThrottleStop undervolting. But the problem is that those tutorials are usually for previous CPU generations or not for Desktop CPUs, and often only cover a specific aspect of the complete tuning process. To give an example what I mean: I imagine the CCC controlled all aspects of your CPU performance in the background (although in a sub-optimal manner). Now without the CPU part of the CCC I feel a bit lost how to tune CPU performance besides undervolting. The CPU clock speed curves under stress, temperatures and most surprisingly the max stable undervolting capacity behave suddenly completely different compared to before (change from -100mV to -70mV). And there are many settings to adjust besides undervolting such as Speed Shift, SpeedStep, C1E, Power Limit settings (maybe even some more I don't have a clue about yet). Some of them should be enabled in ThrottleStop by default as far as I could read online (such as Speed Shift), but it wasn't. My guess is that it wasn't either because of ThrottleStop not supporting Intel i9 Dekstop CPUs fully by now, or it is an optional performance setting that was controlled by the CCC before but now needs to be enabled by the user (that's just my guess). It would be nice to get some input from the veteran users from this forum which settings should be adjusted by default and how they ended up tuning their own CPUs (which tools, which settings). I understand every CPU will be different regarding undervolting capacity, but I guess the rest of the settings would apply for many. Maybe someone could share a few screenshots of their tools used and settings they set in the optimized condition. That would be very much appreciated by the newcomers like myself.

 

No.

3 slots on the left are NVME. Slot on the right is M.2 SATA.

 

Been using my X170 for work, from zTecpc, Prema Mod and all the goodies; and I haven’t heard the fans come on at all during heavy intensive use of programs. I run 20-30 Chrome tabs, photoshop, acrobat, illustrator, word, and multiple notepad files open.

I also have access to another stock X170 from another provider, and the fans would turn on usually right after I started working in photoshop.

zTecpc’s X170 is a beast that works perfectly for any office. As to gaming, I haven’t had the pleasure to take her on a ride, I’ll leave those opinions to others.

 

It is nice to spend more time using something and not constantly trying to figure it out and work on it. I have enough of those already. Guess I can be my computers slave, wouldn't want it to have to work too hard.

 

I was thinking 2060 and I7. Any important reason I should get the 2070 over the 2060 if I am not gaming or video rendering?

 

In the beginning, there is always a learning and tuning curve involved before you can start using a machine for your day to day use. It does not matter where you get it from, there is no escape. If you don't want it, you will have to pay the price in terms of sloppy performance, risk of premature failure (in case something gets knocked loose during shipment) or both, and the risk of not getting as much out of it as you could potentially get otherwise. It's a lose-lose situation. But everyone is not an enthusiast and a power user so that is understandable. It's not about slavery. It's just an intelligent being tuning the machines that he owns to get the most value out of them.

None what so ever. For casual gaming, 2060 should be plenty enough. 10700K is a solid performer too.

 

I was thinking if I messed around with programming when I don't know what I am doing, that was a good way to end up with sloppy performance and premature failure. I have messed stuff up on my computer before that I couldn't figure out, and I spent lots of time trying also.

That said if it is that easy I may dig into trying them. I just need to figure out which ones to do and what os to start with. And if using enterprise takes different methods, and if that method is documented.

I want to lock down windows ten big time, but can a person still do updates after that? Are updates even necessary?

Then there is the browser, I dislike chrome more than win10, and so that leaves me with edge since ie isn't really supported and I have to be able to use my ie7 favorites library.
Will locking down windows 10 do any good if I am still using edge?


I was considering the 2070 and I wondered if it was a big upgrade in performance for a small amount of money or if it was a small performance gain for a lot of money.