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

I've heard laptop displays make a soft popping sound when the backlight engages (my Alienware Ranger's screen does this) and laptop displays and GPUs making buzzing sounds when on, but nothing like the popping sounds in the recording. Laptops aren't supposed to make that kind of noise. It definitely sounds like crackling/popping you'd hear from thermal expansion or contraction, but the parts inside should never expand or contract to the point where you hear audible noises from them.

 

Very odd, maybe something hitting the fan every so often. I agree running it with the back off.

 

Found the culprit! Here is what I did: I removed all screws from the bottom plate so that I can remove it quickly after stressing the CPU and turning off the laptop, which would allow me to locate the origin of the clicking noise inside. But surprisingly, once the bottom plate screws were removed, the clicking sounds are completely gone!

I guess the sound was somehow related to how the bottom plate was screwed to the laptop and the origin was probably indeed related to thermal expansion/contraction:

1. Maybe the screws of the bottom plate were too tight causing tension that gets released during thermal expansion? I need to test if it still appears after putting the screws back.
2. I noticed that all the 8 screws holding the bottom plate are the long screws. Usually there are 4 long and 4 short screws. After I sent my laptop for an upgrade to my reseller in November, they must have swapped the 4 short screws accidentally for long ones. Do you think if the long screws are installed where usually the short ones go in, this could cause the clicking-sound issue due to tensions after thermal expansion? Is there any danger of breaking something inside the laptop if long screws are used for the bottom plate where the short ones should go? Is there enough space everywhere to hold the longer screws?

 

Interesting that removing the screws solved the problem. It would almost have to be thermal expansion and contraction. I've never personally experienced that before. Really interesting.

How tight were the screws? Did you have any difficulty removing them? Just curious if maybe they were tightened to the point that chassis distortion may have had some influence on the noise you were hearing, at which point thermal expansion and contraction might be exaggerated.

On the X170's I have touched (only two, mind you, so by no means a large sample) all of the screws in the bottom cover are the same length and they are like 8 or 10mm long, and roughly 2mm longer than the screws used in places internally, like those in the fans.

 

I think you are right! I just screwed everything back (trying not to tighten the screws too much) and the noises are still gone! Maybe the screws were too tight as you say. When I removed them, they were tight, but not overly so - as far as I can judge. I hope the noises don't return and the issue is fixed

Thanks for confirmation. I thought that I remembered when I first opened the backplate that there were some short screws as well, but I could be wrong. It's reassuring to get your confirmation that you got long screws on all positions at the backplate.

 

For those of you who don't like taking up 2 power outlets, get this power splitter cable: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Leader...+x2+16awg&qid=1605058991&s=electronics&sr=1-2

Additionally, you'll only need to use 1 power cable to connect both power bricks to an outlet. Enjoy your new cable management and your extra power cable, and enjoy not having to spend $400 on a single 780 watt power supply.

 

Hi i'm looking for new laptop. Please tell me when laptop x170 with a new gpu rtx 3xxx(rtx3080) will release date. How many time i must waiting for the clevo x170 with gpu rtx 3080? [Sorry for my english.]

 

Should be fairly soon... https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/rtx-30-series-laptops/

 

Mobile RTX 3080 seems to do 150W max compared to 200W RTX 2080 SUPER according to notebookcheck. If this turns out to be true I doubt it will be a real upgrade to the 2080.

https://www.notebookcheck.com/NVIDI...-Benchmarks-und-Spezifikationen.497445.0.html

 

my second ram kit came today..... running 128gb ram now.

 

I'll probably pick up the 3070 when they're available, as looking at the tier list on here, it seems to be a sizeable upgrade to my 2070 Super.

 

All depends how they both perform at that power envelope plus memory differences.

 

Well ROG just announced a new lineup of laptops with the 3080 maxing out at 130W. Hopefully Clevo can d better.

Sent from my HTC_M10h using Tapatalk

 

They are all "thin" designs though from what I saw. Not DTR.

 

A 150W 3080M will be DOA.

 

It depends on how high the core and memory clocks are in comparison, as well as CUDA core count. It could actually be an upgrade if it clocks higher and runs more efficiently. My 3090 runs circles around my shunt modded 2080 Ti and draws fewer watts... about 600W at the same clock speed that used 750W with the 2080 Ti.

That being said, if it clocked higher with fewer watts and had more CUDA cores, 200W would make it more awesome than 150W even if it ran stronger at 150W. Better to do WAY MORE with more than more with less. There is no such thing as "too much" performance. I always say do more with more, not more with less. Doing more with less almost always sucks. Even when it's better, it smacks of compromise.

 

Don't forget RTX 2080(S) was also rated at 150W max. But Asus, Clevo, Alienware and MSI managed to use 200W part (180W in some cases lol lets just not talk about it). So DTR 3080's most likely will use 200W or even more, as 250W Quadro RTX 6000 on laptops is already there. All depends on Good VRMs, Heat Dissipation, and the good disposition of these companies to make it happen.

Also, they should make AM4 socket LGA on DTRs, as AMD has better efficiency in energy consumption, multicore performance
and now finally beats Intel in single core performance, and also having a better overclock headroom.

 

The Asus StudioBook One uses a 200W Quadro RTX 6000, not 250W.

 

They need to stop applying power limits and let the GPUs (and CPUs) run wild and free. The mere use of the word "limit" totally sucks. They should set the power limits higher than what the part is capable of drawing when pushed to the edge of its functional capacity. When they don't the end result is the product is castrated. They need to knock it off... that's crap.

 

Asus limited it to 200W to use a single 300W PSU instead of two, this is due to i9-9900HK (and also 10980HK) peaks 100W+ in max turbo/oc. But the GPU is in fact rated at 250W, 384-bit interface, and TU102 chip (same as Titan RTX/2080 Ti) and any NVIDIA partner could use it.

https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/...s/quadro-line-card-for-mobile-workstation.pdf

This proves that if NVIDIA wants to, they can make a decent RTX 3080 Max-P for Laptops, which doesn't mean that they will.

 

Forgot to take that into account.

Sent from my HTC_M10h using Tapatalk

 

Depends on what you're upgrading from, but unless something changes or we get 200w parts for the true DTRs for any recent purchases....yeah.

Unless you always want the best price be damned, I can't see upgrading from a 2080 series card to this expecting a killer uplift in performance.

Then again, look at the 2080 to 2080 Super mobile upgrade. Close to marginal at best.

 

The "upgrade" is primarily for the benefit of the person selling it. Unfortunately, that is the case all too often. Remember, some people wanted a Marvel Avengers Edition CPU even though the only thing that made it different was the box it was packaged in. (Yes, pretty stupid in my mind, LOL.)

 

Does anybody have any specific information about the X170KM-G? A video mentioning this new model popped up and its also on the clevo website. I am wondering if it is essentially still the same as the X170SM-G, or whether they use different components (like different mainboard, cooling system, screen etc..)



https://www.clevo.com.tw/ces_2021/X170KM-G.html

 

It's the refresh of the X170SM-G with updated components. There aren't any major changes that I'm aware of.

 

Alreayd

A refresh already???

 

That is an attractive looking marketing piece from Clevo. Probably a refresh for RTX 30 series and maybe a new mobo chipset for Rocket Lake. It will also have a different BIOS for the new GPU and possibly BIOS updates for different screens if those options have changed. @Meaker@Sager may know more technical details if he is allowed to disclose them.

 

That model code for the gpu, RTX GN-E7, that's the same model code that Videocardz.net lists as the model code for the RTX 3080 Mobile.

https://videocardz.net/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-mobile

The mention of "latest core i9 cpus" probably does imply a beefier board or perhaps a new chipset to support Rocket Lake. That's pure speculation on my part but latest does imply newest so it will probably feature support, be that with a Z590 chipset or a bios update that enables support for it. Asrock, Biostar and Gigabyte have all said that their Z490 boards will support Rocket Lake so that's a possibility as well.

Either way, its exciting to hear that 30 series parts will be in the updated Clevo DTR monster. Heck, maybe they'll actually be available since MXM cards can't exactly go into many devices. I doubt scalpers will go for them or for machines that use 30 series parts. Too much of a hassle probably.

 

Would wait a year regardless. They are probably hiding their ultra super extravaganza performance +50w card in their backhand.

 

I wonder if besides the new components did they add new features like the possibility to disable overdrive. Since it will only have 2 display option it should be possible to implement the possibility to disable overdrive.

 

Highly doubt it. Beside you i never seen anyone having a problem with it and their biggest market are asians. So unless you post in one of their places and get a ton of attention it will likely never happen.

 

Do you guys think that Clevo will offer a 4k 120hz panel? I remembered that you could upgrade the P870 yourself, sourcing the panel through AliExpress. But it would be better if companies like ZTecPC or Sager offered the upgrade.

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Won't happen!

Why should they?

They have chosed the direction. Lure you back to the shop next year so you can be lured once again.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/rtx-30-series-laptops/

Nvidia prefer cripple the cards. Give you real performance will only lower Nvidia and the notebook manufacturers chance for more profit the next 3 years. Less people would upgrade the next two years if they got the performance you should expect from the cards.

Exclusive | First NVIDIA Ampere mobile benchmarks: Up to 18% faster than Turing mobile, but don't expect Ampere desktop-class performance

 

I don't think they will, but it's possible that a 4K 120Hz panel may be a fourth official option for the X170's screen. So far we have the following as official options:
1. A 1440p 144Hz panel
2. A 240Hz panel (I don't remember what the resolution on this was)
3. A 4K 60Hz panel

The second panel is being replaced with a 300Hz 1080p panel, which I think solves the ghosting issues some forum members were complaining about earlier. Clevo may decide to add a 4K 120Hz panel to that list, but expect to pay through the nose for it if it does appear.

 

One more thing to add to this. Clevo is claiming a battery life of 5 hours and 10 minutes on this newer model. Did they add a MUX switch to it?

 

This is sadly true. Even used 2080ti's are going for 3080 RRP over here. I'm just... waiting and hoping.

Huh. So it's 4 NVME M.2 now instead of 3 NVME M.2 and 1 SATA M.2. That's interesting. Wonder if it's because of more lanes on the new CPU's.

 

Sorry hands are tied, I mostly don't ask so I can speculate with everyone at this point

 

With such a huge TDP range it becomes more important. I fully expect a max TDP 3070 to beat a max q 3080 quite handily.

 

I sure hope so as well. I've been looking for a successor to my Ranger since there isn't a GPU upgrade path left that makes financial sense. I've been eyeing the X170 since I saw the first mention of it, and I've been set on getting one of its revisions in the future. The X170SM-G is a worthy successor to my Ranger, but if the X170KM-G does indeed have a MUX switch, that would complete the dream for me.

I want both desktop performance and good battery life out of a laptop. There's no reason you can't get both in a laptop that does it all, but you can only have one of the two perks active at a time, which is fine with me

 

I've never used my X170SM-G on the battery so far, only via power supply. I consider it as desktop-replacement in the literal sense and only need it to be laptop-sized for travelling between countries (portability). The only wish I have for such a laptop is to get as close as possible to desktop CPU/GPU performance while not frying itself. Other points which the current revision already fulfills is max RAM capability (128GB) and lots of connectors (screens/usb etc...).

 

@ylkiorra What Clevo laptop are you currently using? What has been your experience with thermals? What have you done to try getting thermals under control? I have a P870TM-R. Hell of a machine. But, in the end, it is still an air-cooled laptop. I paid as much for this laptop as I paid for my pre-built desktop. I am awed by the ingenuity others in this forum have shown in taming similar beast such as the X170. Laptops suck. Pure and simple. Resolving the thermal issues have been challenging for me given my limited knowledge and limited confidence in not-breaking something I paid a lot for. I have my P870TM-R sitting all core at 4.7g hz with no changes under the hood since Donald sold me the system.

I would love to buy the X170. I've eyeballed the system at L-PC and Ztecpc over and over. I can assemble a system for about $3000. Obviously, I would wait for a 30 series card to be integrated. But, the reality is my needs for a laptop are 32 GB RAM and at least a 2070-Super. My alternatives are Alienware and Eluktronics. We all know Alienware's history and expectations for future happiness. Eluktronics now offers the Ryzen 5800H and 3080 (neutered) varieties. Still looking at $3000 for a laptop I know will be thrown away regardless.

I admire and respect those not afraid to tinker. I was nervous replacing my RAM sticks and performing a vacuum cleaning of my desktop. Replacing the stock heat sink? No way. I'm not even sure I would not panic once I stripped the soft Clevo screws. But, I have no illusion that getting enthusiast level thermal performance is a stretch goal to say the least.

 

IDK, I have not read over all 377 pages of posts but we would be much better served if this thread was broken up into (Just an Example):

Separate threads like:

1. Clevo Models
   1. X-170
      1. Overview
      2. Thermal mods
      3. Upgrades
         1. CPU's
            
         2. RAM
         3. Storage
         4. Video Cards
            
         5. Power Supplies
            
         6. Screens
         7. Thermal Pad upgrades
      4. BIOS
         
         1. Stock
         2. Prema

         ​
      5. Operating Systems
         1. Microsoft
            1. Windows 7
            2. Windows 10
               1. Home
               2. Pro
               3. Pro for Workstations
            3. Windows Server
               1. 2008
               2. 2012
               3. 2016
               4. 2019
         2. Linux
            1. Ubantu
            2. Fedora
            3. Mint
            4. Centos
            5. Red Hat
         3. OS X
      6. Benchmarking
      7. Real world Performance
         1. PhotoShop
         2. Lightroom
         3. Video editing
      8. Gaming
         1. XXXX
         2. XXXX
         3. XXXX
         4. XXXX
         5. XXXX
   2. XXXX
   3. XXXX
   4. XXXX

 

Don’t you hate it when someone says they’ve read but completely miss my, and other’s, discussions of their personal experiences with the X170, stock and/or modded ones from resellers.

I have personally written that I had access to a full stock X170 at work, for my use; and then bought one for personal use from zTecpc, with the new mods from our able engineers here on this forum.

I wrote how the stock X170 would start taking off (or is that just the fan noise?) just after opening up a few MS programs, as to compared with never the fans turning on when similar programs were opened when using the modded X170.
I’ll be writing a blog post soon, no pictures of the mods other than just the open bottom. So nothing that you can’t find on this forum. But, with my personal experience of it, what I’ve added as far as RAM and PCIE drives.

 

hi all
for make barrier between socket and mb for lm i remove socket from mb put a little shoe wax on frame polish it . put a thermal casket maker on it. put same shoe wax also on radiator system and than using standart screw pulled off. wait for casket maker hardened after without remove it from socket and radiator using medicine scalpel remove excess. clean up by acetone socket and radiator. and all work good

 

@ylkiorra I will attempt to answer the questions you have regarding the X170.

I do agree it would be in zTecpc's best interest to advertise the cooling performance delta between one of their laptops and one from the competition with similar specs. That would help bring in new buyers. However, please understand that the reason @Mr. Fox and @Donald@zTecpc do not want to share the thermal mods is because zTecpc would loose its trump card over its competitors if they did. Donald has built up quite a reputation on these forums over the years, so we trust him. His credibility on these forums should speak volumes about him.

Regarding the effectiveness of the thermal mods, I will first put a disclaimer here since I don't actually own this laptop yet. Based on user experiences and from the videos I've seen however, the improvement is substantial just as Donald has said many times before. I can't point you to any specific posts for the numbers I'm about to give as there are too many to sift through. I may just not be using the right keywords in my searches.

From what I remember, the tests were conducted with X170s equipped with an i7 10700K. The one with the stock cooling solution was able to handle a 140 watt power draw on the CPU before it thermal throttled, and the one with the cooling mods applied was able to handle a 200 watt power draw on the CPU before it thermal throttled. That gives you 60 watts of extra headroom on top of the stock cooling solution. These laptops were either running Prime95 or Cinebench during their testing, and both had Phobya Nanogrease applied as their TIM. On top of the cooling improvements, you also get a built in foam dam should you want to apply liquid metal for even better thermal performance.

In any case, you can always buy the machine and try it out for yourself. The only way you know for sure you like a laptop is when you start using it. Even if you were to go into a physical store and look at something you may like, no matter how much research you do on it, you may end up not liking it after you start using it. The only cost is time if you end up returning the X170. You do not have to pay for shipping and will be given a full refund.

I understand your risk aversion. However there isn't really a risk in this case (in terms of money that is). Think of the time you spend testing the laptop as a trial run, just as you would with a laptop you demo at a brick and mortar store.

 

also use copper sheet 1.5 mm make a copy from original ssd cover
use dremel tool for cutting it and vice to shape
temperature ssd down for 10c from 53 c
i use 3 samsung evo plus 2tb
before it was too hot

 

That's great! Congratulations. Feel free to showcase your masterpiece if you are so inclined. I am not sure I understand all of what you are saying about the shoe wax or the thermal casket maker, but I suspect that may be a translation barrier.

 

I'm guessing the shoe wax is the barrier layer like nail polish so contacts are not shorted.

 

This is on point. The other reasons for not making a specific claim in terms of temperature reduction are:

1. No two systems are identical - besides a silicon lottery, Clevo is famous for having a heat sink lottery... YMMV based on that
   
2. zTecpc sells binned CPUs in tiers - you'll get different thermal results based on what you are willing to pay for on CPU bin quality... less voltage means better temperature
   
3. Work environments vary - a computer running in a space with poor ventilation and/or high ambient temps is going to run like crap no matter what effort is made to improve it

Substantial means exactly what it implies. Substantially better than it would be if appropriate steps are not taken. As noted by Brother @B0B, myself and others... OOBE as shipped, X170 thermal performance sucks. So does the stock firmware. At it's worst, it is better than a turdbook. But, ten times zero is still zero.

I would actually be more suspicious if a vendor did make very specific claims. They would be foolish to place their credibility at risk when there are so many things outside of their direct control.

 

You can't even do delta temperatures as they would shift around too.