Official Sager NP5165 / Clevo W150HR Owner's Lounge

45-50 GPU and 55-60 CPU idle (depending on ambient temp)
60-70 GPU and 65-75 CPU under load...

I've only seen the GPU go above 70 when overclocked to 720 core clock with MSI Afterburner.

These temps are with the stock heat pads that were included on the headsink (i ordered from rjtech w/o a cpu so the heatsink had pads covered with a plastic strip). I'm using the 2720qm cpu.

I'm going to use thermal paste then check the temps again.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I just checked on a laptop and under Power settings > Advanced settings in the control panel you can choose that the HDD is never shut down while not active when it's running on the battery/is connected to a power outlet. Is this the "effect"/setting that you are referring to?

 

Essentially, yep. If it's being used as a data drive, and you're not running the OS off of it, it's going to just be powered up but not in use. Windows can have the drive "parked" (put into a lower power "off" state) as an option since it's not being used- but like I said, parking the drive and restarting it puts a lot of wear on it.

(to be honest, I know this is more common in Linux than windows. Ubuntu used to do this on older versions automatically and it apparently had a severe impact on drive life. That feature has since been removed from being automatically enabled).

Hard drives can run for years and years if you never turn them off, but it's the power up/power down that strains them.

 

Those are great temperatures on stock fan settings. How about doing another test, except this time you have your fans on full blast? Press Fn + 1, and I'll make a friendly wager with you...I bet the highest you'll come to is 60C.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Can anyone who has tried both tell me how the keyboard with numpad feels compared to one without? My old laptop doesn't have a numpad, and i've rarely missed it, and it seems like it might cramp the keyboard or force you to place your hands off center. Mostly concerned about awkwardness.

Debating between this and a W520 from Lenovo. With similar specs the Lenovo is $300+ more, which is enough of a difference to get an SSD with the Clevo. My only debate is the keyboard and the larger 9cell battery in the W520, with a claimed life of something ridiculous like 8+ hours, which would be pretty amazing. Seems like about double this clevo.

 

The GT 555 in the Clevo will outperform the Quadro in that Lenovo, if you plan on doing any gaming.

Speaking of, has anyone found any good benchmarks or reviews showing the performance difference between the 128 bit GT 555 and the 192 bit GT 555? Is the NP5165 getting shafted when it comes to the GPU?

 

The graphics (assuming you get Quadro 2000) are on par with NP5165's GT 555m, even performing better in some areas (like SCII). However, you do have to pay quite a bit more ($200 from the stock Quadro 1000).

I'll be using the numpad for one thing: Dota item hotkeys.

EDIT: I also second Snypr18's request

 

I posted a few numbers from my 555m in my first impression thread. That's about it.

 

The Quadro is actually very close in tests to the 555m.

A few pages back someone linked a review that used the 128bit card in the 150HRM:

Test Schenker XMG A501 Notebook (Clevo W150HRM) - Notebookcheck.com Tests

This can be closely compared with a review of the 192bit card in the XPS:

Test Dell XPS 17 Notebook (i7-2630QM & GT 555M) - Notebookcheck.com Tests

They use many of the same benchmarks, and any differences can be chalked up to i5 vs i7.

 

I tried function plus 1 but it did nothing. I've tried to control my fan but i cannot, speedfan doesnt pick it up neither does msi afterburner... I wish i had access to my fan but it just has a mind of its own.

 

Fn + 1? Not Fn + F1?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Fn + 1 does nothing, and Fn + F1 turns the trackpad off..

 

Good to know. I was hoping there was some sort of switch to turn it off.

 

Would like to know this as well!

From someone in the m14x benchmarking thread, might be a good reference point. He had an i7 2630.

 

I have a theory on the memory bus scheme on the GT555m and Odd bit handling of the nVidia chipset controller. I believe that 1.5GB of memory is utilizing 192Bits and 512MB is using 64bits and the memory is in 512MB/64bit partitions. If a game only uses 1.5GB then the performance will be no different on the controller than on the normal 192Bit chipset but if >1.5GB is used than the controller probably syncs at 64Bit.

 

fair fair fair

 

Do you have any examples of when something like this has been used?

 

Anyone know if this laptop could take a 2 hour movie on a single charge? if so, are we talking 720p/1080p?

 

just got my 5165 today, and i have a few questions. i quickly perused this thread, but didn't find the answers i was looking for.

1) i connected the green plug from my desktop speaker/sub-woofer setup into both the headphone jack and S/PDIF out jack. the headphone jack yields no sound at all, and the S/PDIF sound is VERY distorted. headphones in the headphone jack or nothing connected at all are the only ways to get normal sound. any ideas?

2) the VGA/optimus button that switches from orange to green when pushed...when should i be using this, and what exactly does it do?

3) why do i have "program files" and "program files (x86)" and what is the difference?

thanks in advance for any/all responses

 

2) The button switches between:
integrated graphics forced (green)
optimus mode (orange) which allows use of the dedicated graphics card.

3)
'Program Files' is for 64-bit applications,
'Program Files (x86)' is for 32-bit applications.
You don't need to worry about this, the computer will handle for you where each program needs to be installed.

 

OK, I've finished customizing my Clevo W150HRQ on the cheap and since I've learned so much from this thread I thought I would share my process in case anyone is interested in going this route.

W150HRQ bare bones from rjtech.com: $539
2.2GHz 2720QM i7 (ES) on ebay: $225
Corsair 8 GB DDR3 from Amazon: $85
Crucial 128 GB C300 SSD from Amazon: $200
Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW Wi-Fi Adapter from Amazon: $42

Total: $1091
Comparable XoticPC build: $1443

The biggest savings comes from buying an engineering sample (ES) CPU on ebay here. ES hardware is always risky but I've been torture testing it the last few days and it seems rock solid so far. Anyway, I just wanted to share my build with you guys. Feel free to ask if you have any questions or want to see some benchmarks.

 

As long as the ES part works for you, there shouldn't be any issues. The only problems with them is that you don't know what you're going to get- but it sounds like you've tested it and come off no worse for wear. (sometimes you can get lucky and get *better* parts as ES due to manufacturing tolerances being looser, but this is incredibly rare)

 

I was nervous since this was my first experience with ES but the price, compared to $425 retail, was too good to pass up. I would love to see some CPU benchmarks from someone else in this thread to compare to.

 

What kind of benchmarks do you want? The 2720qm is offered in all the new Sager/Clevo models. I have one in my personal Lotus P150HM, which uses the same chassis as the 8150.

I got 5718 CPU marks in 3Dmark06 and 43127 CPU marks in 3DMark Vantage. (This was based on the original drivers from a few months ago- haven't run others). I can turbo to 2.8 sustained for quite a while, but average is around 2.4.

 

is it possible that other resellers of the w150hrq like ibuypower,prostar etc could have the 192bit 555 or if its a clevo its gauranteed to have the 128 bit?

 

when should i be manually switching it myself? should i ever do it myself? if i dont switch it manually, will the pc switch itself when it deems it necessary?

 

No, sorry.

I suppose the only time to use the manual switch would be to force use of the integrated graphics when optimus wants to use the dedicated card. If you set up all your oprimus profiles correctly (ie tell the machine exactly when you want to use the dedicated card and when not to), using the manual switch would become unnecessary. However, optimus is not perfect, hence the manual switch.

 

How simple was it to put in your own CPU and the wlan adapter

 

k, i seem to be having trouble understanding the integrated gpu vs. dedicated (nvidia) gpu...where do i set settings for when to use/not use optimus? ive used the button on the top near the screen to switch between green/orange, but the light next to that button that indicates when the nvidia card is being used (the thing that looks like a speedometer) doesn't light up when im playing WoW.

am i correct in assuming it should be? the VGA thing is still orange, but the nvidia gpu light never clicks over except when im messing with the nvidia control settings (but it always switches back before it can be of any use).

i guess i just need a step-by-step of how to make sure optimus is on when i need it, and why its not doing it now.

**another weird thing, the nvidia control panel, on the "set physx config" page, seems to be telling me that i need to be plugged directly into the nvidia card (via the 15 hole plug). im plugged in via a HDMI cable...is this the reaso9n my nvidia card isnt being used all the time? do HDMI cables cause the system to prefer the intergrated gpu over the nvidia one?**

 

^+1 to this.

Also what do you guys want benchs from, 3DMark06? Vantage?

 

Very easy, the included heat sink already has the thermal paste applied and the CPU only fits in one way. Just take the obvious precautions: handle the CPU gingerly, avoid static, etc.. As for the wlan, it's just a mini pci express card, pretty hard to mess up.

 

Good info. I am extremely tempted to give this a shot. Not only would I get my stuff faster, I get the fun of building my own PC (which I love doing on the desktop side). I also have a 120 gig SSD laying around, which helps the cause for sure.

Can you swap out the 555m for a GTX 460m? Or is there a power/pin restriction?

 

Because of Optimus, the GPU is soldered on to the motherboard. No swapping on this model.

 

Nooooooooooooooo!!!11!!11!

 

All lower end graphics cards (555m, 540m, 425m, etc) are soldered in. Only the newer/higher end cards like the 460m, 470m, 480m, 485m, and 6970m are MXM cards that are easily user replaceable.

You'd have to replace the whole motherboard- which wouldn't help because that model doesn't offer a board with MXM slots to upgrade. You'd just get an exact replacement.

 

My notebook retailer made a mistake about Memory frquency (he gave me DDR3 1066) so he wanted me to give him the laptop for changing.

Just to say if you're under ubuntu or another linux distro and want to help open source developers about optimus support, just give a try to:
Optimus on Linux Problem Solved | Martin Juhl's Blog
and post your issues at :
https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/issues
Disabling nVidia discrete seems to work.

 

Is the power brick for the NP5165 the same as the NP8130?

 

i believe the power brick for 8130 is 180w. don't quote me on that though. the 5165 is 120w i think.

 

The power bricks are as follows:

W150HN (5160) - 90w
P151HM1/W150HR/W170HR (8130/5165/5175) - 120w
P150HM (8150) - 180w
P170HM (8170) - 220w
x7200 - 300w (possibly x2)

 

haven't peeps been saying the 5165 comes with a 120w brick? some people were on the fence about that because who wants to carry a monster brick if you don't have a gaming laptop?

 

Review Schenker XMG A501 Notebook (Clevo W150HRM) - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

MYTHLOGIC's staff has apparently been testing the 5165 with the 5160's 90W AC adapter, and the system runs perfectly fine. As such, I elected to add one of those to my order. I'm going to keep the stock 120W unit for use at home and use the 90W for when I travel. I do very little gaming on the road, so I don't anticipate there being any issues. I probably wouldn't run the machine 24/7 on the 90W, but for being on the road, it should be just fine.

 

Can anyone help with this? Im having the same issue.

When in the NVIDIA control panel the 555M is activated. I went in and told it to default to the NVIDIA card when running 3DMark06. When I start 3DMark06 the 555M appears to activate but then turns off as the tests start.

Im also getting random crashed of the NVIDIA control panel. Running on the 275.27 driver.

 

Do the tests run and complete normally with a score that is in-line with what it should be for this GPU? I thought there was some kind of bug in 3DMark that causes it to list the integrated GPU when in reality the tests actually do run on the discreet one.

Another thing to try is actually right-clicking on the shortcut, choose "run with", and select the NVIDIA GPU.

Have you tried the older driver that comes with the system? The crashes might be coming from the modified .inf that's required to install the newer drivers on these machines.

 

It definitely wasn't using the 555M before. FPS were at like 17 max.

I rolled back to the driver that came with the machine and everything works fine again. No NVIDIA control panel crashing and the FPSs are much better.

EDIT: Running on the old driver I pulled a 10493 3DMark06 score. I searched through the threads, saturnotaku do you have a link to where everyone's posting their results? My CPU test seemed hella low for some reason.

 

You can check it against the benchmarks on notebookcheck for sure

NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Your 3DMark06 score is just about dead on with theirs for the 555m

 

Need a new laptop for college, and I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on this one. I'm moving from a 4 year old Dell Latitude that's built like a tank, so would anybody be able to tell me how the build quality on the 5165 seems to hold up? Also, would sticking with an i5 over an i7 make a difference in the heat output and battery life of this machine?

 

The build quality is not going to be as good as a Latitude or other business-class machine (ThinkPad, HP Pro/Elitebook, et al). Go into the "what notebook should I buy" forum and create a thread by filling out the form located in the first sticky there.

 

I may be one of the first to get a 5165 with a 95% CG screen, which is today...woot!

 

Looking at various retailers, if you look in specs, almost all of them say 120W AC Adapter for the 5165...Is that Wrong...or...?