*** Official X8100 (Sager 8120) Owners Thread ***

It's kind of funny, bifnewman. We are both looking at the same future upgrades. Off topic, I know. Sorry.

 

Made a sweet deal on a X8100 with GTX460M SLi.
When running Furmark (multi-GPU) stability test at default settings noticed GPU 2 gets 6-7 degrees warmer than GPU 1.
Is this an acceptable/expected difference? or can the difference be explained by poorly applied thermal-paste?

 

Ok gents, dumb question of the day.

How do I get the HDMI in port to work? It's a no go for me right now.

 

Hi guys. I´ve read the whole thread but couldn´t find a way to solve the flickering problem that happens on some games. Disabling Catalyst A.I. solves the problem, but decreases performance.
Besides that, using 10.8 drivers seems to solve too, but I don´t wanna use outdated drivers.
Is there any other solution? Should I try to change my CF cable with my seller?
Thanks in advance,
Katabroc

 

What exactly do you mean by shuddering? If you mean where the screen shakes sideways, then yes the CF cable may help, otherwise you might be talking about tearing or a whole host of things.

Disabling Cat AI disables Crossfire which is why performance goes down.

@Tommy Jarvis.

Should be a programme installed (Gamemate) which you use to view the HDMI-In input.

 

Have you downloaded and installed the HDMI driver?

ftp://usftp.clevo.com.tw/X8100/Optional/HDMI-in.zip

 

Hi Alex, that's exactly what happens, the images shakes sideaways next to the bottom of the screen and sometimes it shackes close to the middle too. It doesnt happen everytime but it's getting worst now, not even with 10.8 drivers I'm getting clean images 100% of the time.

Besides the cable, is there anything else I can try?

Thanks,

Katabroc

 

Nope, that definately sounds like the cable issue that at least a couple of us have had an resolved. I had the same thing where you got a lot of shaking, very occasionally rolling. Swapping the crossfire cable completely resolved it (well outside of custom resses the screen didnt like haha), whereas BIOS/Driver changes didn't.

 

This is it : YouTube - Glitch 5870M Crossfire

Video resolution doesnt let you see closer but when the toon gets inside the building the screen starts to goes sideways next to the bottom. As you said, there's some rolling too. It happens only in certain places and at random. I dont have any games to test now besides WoW, but I'm getting SC2 to test.

Thanks for your help, I'll contact my seller.

 

Yep, the occasional rolling I saw there, could just about make out the sideways shaking. Looks very similar to what I had bar I had a pretty severe case that came and went. I'd get your cable swapped.

 

Hi guys.
I´ve asked my seller and they will send me a new cable on next week. I´ve downloaded the service manual, and looks like it´s easy to change it. I´ll have to take off only one 5870 to replace the cable.
Btw, after some research I found a place that sell those cables. I´ve mailed a guy from MXM Upgrade ( MXM Upgrade Home Page) and they said it costs €35,00 with shipping.
Thanks,
Katabroc

 

Due to the age of the machine, anyone with issues cable related *should* be able to get them replaced free

 

Is there any word on single 485m support? I may be grabbing one of these very soon.

 

It might work, there is no bios support for it, TDP wise it should work with the GTX 480M heatpipe dual fan setup. The X8100 is phased out so it will most likely not get bios support for it in the future. The X8100 refresh with SB will probably have support for the GTX 485M, although I doubt it, most likely it will "only" get support for the HD 6970M and lower GTX 400M models. But why not simply buy another Mobility Radeon HD 5870M and have some nice Crossfire performance that even beats the GTX 485M and is also cheaper (buying another Mobility Radeon HD 5870 > buying a single GTX 485M).

 

Could do crossfire, but I know there's a few major bugs in it still. Also, I'll always take one stronger card over two weaker ones. I want CUDA for photoshop as well.

That wouldn't be a terrible option in the end tho.

Are there any serious issues with this unit if I only plan on using one card?

 

As far as I can tell, there are no other 18.4 inch laptops on the market with USB 3.0, which makes this a front runner for me. Can anyone please tell me, though, if there is some way of turning off those nasty blue lights around the build -- I can imagine them driving me crazy when I'm watching a film or just working on a document (when I'm not gaming that is). Thanks.

 

Yes you can turn [most of] the lights off
Only ones that don't turn off are the ones on the 'game pad' and the backlight for the volume control. That comment reminded me I turned off the front lights and the lid light so it was less disturbing at night. Completely forgot!

 

Thanks, Alexrose1uk. Could you also tell me how those lights are turned off (is there a button, or is it software...)

... and - sorry to be so ignorant - what do you mean the lights around the "game pad"... which bit is that?

As you mention the volume control, could I just ask also how responsive that is to the touch? My impression from videos I've seen of this computer online is that there is quite some delay between touching the control and the volume changing. Is that about right?
Thanks.

 

Combination of two methods to switch them off.

Holding down the bulb looking icon on the touch section for about 5 seconds will switch the lights under the touch panel off (except for the backlight to the volume display). Changing power conservation mode by right clicking the icon in the taskbar that looks like a laptop, and switching to Energy Star, will switch off the two lights on the front of the machine and the one on the lid.

The game pad lights which stay on are the backlit G1-G8 keys to the left of the keyboard.


With the latest drivers the volume control isn't that unresponsive. Providing it detects you've touched it (I don't always touch it hard enough...but I don't use it all the time as I have an external DAC with its own volume wheel), it generally changes within a second or so. Certainly not what I'd call a massive delay.

Here's a little video to demonstrate. PS. One thing I forgot to mention was when you turn the bar of lights across the top off, the touchpad surrounding light also goes off.
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RkrP2MTWXQI?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RkrP2MTWXQI?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height="344"></embed></object>

 

Oh, random extra note; Eurocom are the kings of lying through thier teeth on hardware components, but I do note they offer the X8100 with Crossfire 6970m.

Whilst I hold it sceptical that they have them, I do find it interesting they consider them compatible with the chassis.

 

From what I have seen in power consumption numbers, they are same TDP as 5870. Assuming heatsinks are also compatible, the trick is just getting the right BIOS then.

 

Uhhhh...



Definitely not the same as the Mobility 5870.

Edit: It's not a lot more though, probably just 10-15 higher.

 

That chart doesn't show me the 5870 for comparison.

What it does show me is a 25W difference from a known 100W GPU. The 5870 is a 65W/75W GPU, dependent on whether you look at the whole card or just the GPU, correct?

 

I have an 8120 with 2 500GB Seagates as a RAID Mirror.

I keep getting mirror degradations. Has happened maybe 5-8 times or so.

Anybody else seeing this?

Other than that problem, has been a great Laptop!

 

Anyone know if the original NP8120 that came with the Dual 285M's Can be upgraded to any of the newer GPU's coming out either ATI or Nvidia?

 

Should be upgradeable to the 5870s, on the rest, unknown, unfortunately the resellers that are willing to sell the cards, by and large, dont seem to have access to the X8100 anymore.

Eurocom allow you to order with the 6970's but whether thats ES, custom bios, different PSU, I've not got any info on, and Eurocom weren't very forthcoming when I asked

 

Lol...someone's out to get me I think. If Pman sees the machine he'll probably either facepalm or just sit there laughing. My machine has gone back again

The old issues I had have been completely rectified (hooray), over the last few months however the machine has been suffering from intermittant 'GPU freezes'.

By that I mean I'll be working on the machine, and sporadically the screen display freezes up, music etc will keep playing, but the display will stop responding. Also, occasionally when I load up games, notably demanding stuff like Cryostasis or Metro2033, when the game is loading, once it has finished and transists to the game, the screen goes blank/off rather than actually completing loading and switching into the game.

[Similar to the issues notebookcheck and MXM-Upgrade saw with dodgy 6970m cards, which makes me think its hardware...that and the fact its persisted through various drivers and a reinstall]

It is very sporadic though, so it's going to be a bit of a nightmare to prove...sods law says I didnt have a camera near me when it happened the other day, and I'm really hoping I get 'lucky' and Kobalt see it quickly. Because its fairly here and there, I've been trying to ignore it over the last few months, but I can't really do that forever.

Still love my X8100, just hope I get it back quickly, with a conclusive fix, like a part swapout...

 

FYI for those of you with dual 285's, I have not been able to get any non Sager nVidia drivers to work UNTIL the new 270.61 !! No freezing, very smooth, MW2 and ME2 smooth, 1080 res all turned up.

 

Sorry, first time posting here: does someone has any info on X8100's successor? I mean, I hope it comes with Sandy Bridge socket and 3D display. Does someone know?

 

It's expected in the next few months. No word on 3D or any other features. 3D seems unlikely given Sager's lack of 3D support and the fact that there's no other 3D 18.4" on the market. I think most will be happy with what is basically a Sager version of the m18x with 485m support.

 

Hey Guys... having an issue with my Gamekey software not working lately. Anyone else having an issue? I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Chicoy Game-key software, but to no avail. Any suggestions?? Thanks.

 

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if any x8100 owners running SLI 285M's are currently experiencing any problems with the 270 Nvidia drivers? I am aware that owners have had issues with the first batch of Verde drivers, but am not sure if the issue has been resolved.

Cheers

 

Tried uninstalling the drivers, updating BIOS and then reinstall the latest gamekey software? Are they actually lighting up and everything?

 

does the m980nu and the x8100 have the same lcd panel? also is there any top of the line 18.4" aftermarket lcd that can be upgraded to? 120hz or led backlit or led.

other question is would the motherboard be able to support 920xm 2 x 485m with out failing on power? i hear it can do 6970m wondering on the 485ms though

 

Yes, they are lighting up. Bios is up to date, and I uninstalled/reinstalled the software. When I try to manage or change the keys, and hit "apply" or "OK" I get the error ding. I'm wondering if there is something else I may have uninstalled or disabled that is required to run them? Lchgkey.exe is the only program that needs to be open right?

Edit: Just uninstalled/reinstalled. Upon rebooting, it still had my old key settings saved. Registry issue/conflict?

 

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue with my x8100 (SLI 285M's). SLI does not seem to be improving game performance at all.

The second card is detected, however when SLI and GPU physx are enabled (nvidia control panel) my performance in games actually DECREASES. I have also checked the Manage 3D setitngs profiles of the games i have tested, and SLI is enabled there as well.

I have tried Metro 2033, Call of duty Modern Warfare 2 and FEAR 2, all of which have proven to almost double their performance while SLI is active...

Metro 2033: 18 FPS (Single), 15 FPS (SLI)
CoD MW2: 47 FPS (Single), 42 FPS (SLI)
FEAR 2: 49 FPS (Single), 44 FPS (SLI)

While running Metro 2033 i checked the GPU useage stats in HWiNFO32 and they were more or less even.. 70R core load 25% memory controller and 70% memory load on each card.

I have tested driver versions 189.46 (nvidia and sager releases), sager 266 betas and Nvidia 270 drivers. The results are the same.

The only application installed that bares any effect on the GPU's is MSI Afterburner (which i used to monitor temperatures), but after uninstalling that the issue persisted.

I am also running Windows 7 Ultimate fully up-to-date.

The odd thing is that 3dMark06 reports a scoer of 15200, which is very close to the expected SLI score.

Could anyone please advise me of how to resolve this problem?

Thank you

-Zal

 

UPDATE: I set the global settings to single display, which seems to have solved the issue with modern warfare 2 (up from 46 FPS to 90 ) and using Nvidia recommended settings for MW2. It then stopped working, and i had to force alternative frame rendering 2 again to get it working. Not choppy at all.

Metro remained poor, however i forced alternative Frame Rendering 2 under the SLI options for Metro 2033 (nvidisa control panel) and am how getting around 70-100% FPS improvement, however the game is EXTREMELY choppy and virtually unplayable :/

EAR 2 is now working with SLI miraculously, performance is up ~90%. not choppy at all.

Is having to tweak the SLI settings for eery game you play normal, or are these one-offs? ><

Note: running driver 189.46

 

Has anyone with dual 285m's tried to upgrade to dual 460m's, is it worth the money?
Any BIOS thats actually support 460m's? Stability?
Thanks

 

Well, first of all, I found that the game keys are useless

1. Stiff
2. Doesn't register well
3. Hard to reach
4. Very poor driver support

I think the only reason they are there is just to close the gap between the keyboard.

Anyway, have you try to assign it with simple keys, e.g. a,1,num1,f1,etc
When I try to assign it with Vol up/down, or any other hotkey, its just doesn't work.

 

I've been having trouble with my HDMI-in lately. When I install the HDMI-in drivers and open Gamemate, I'm presented with a "Can't detect device" message. It used to work but after I sent in the laptop for repair, it stopped working. :s

Could anyone give me some tips?

 

Reinstall your Gamemate?
Sometimes my Gamemate doesn't work as well, but it will work after restart, so try that.
Last, the most obvious 1, make sure you plug it in the hdmi in

 

I'm having some problems, has anyone else experienced weird graphical glitches when in normal use.

The issue is that the screen goes fuzzy then then to a blank white screen. There is also at times freezing of the system. I haven't been able to pin point the problem as yet because its intermittent.

I have a feeling is a driver issue, as when the screen goes fuzzy if I suspend the system and then immediately bring it back out of sleep the screen comes back just fine. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Hi everyone,

I recently picked up a second hand x8100 with SLI 285m's / Win 7 Ultimate and have been experiencing some isses with it.

I attempted to use newer driver versions (270.xx) but experienced fairly frequent lock-ups, stuttery performance and the screen fading to white with black horizontal lines.

I was aware that many people have had issues using drivers older than the clevo / sager release (187.46) and have rolled back to them. After a while i did as well, and although the random lockups with repeating sound have vanished, i still have stuttery performance with vsync enabled (when below 60), and the occasional white screen with black lines issue.

I recorded the issue earlier today (sorry for the poor phone quality): Gamefront

Make sure to use the "Click Here" option to download.

This occurs completely randomly. I have not experienced this issue while idling / surfing in Windows, but have experienced it both while playing full screen games and watching full screen videos.

After occuring sound continues to play for a while, but the system is completely non responsive, and requires a hard shutdown and boot.

The system had been sent in for a similar (i believe) issue and had its SLI bridge replaced shortly before i purchased it.

Doe sanyone know what might be causing the issue?

Cheers

 

Well, try update the bios to the latest sager BIOS and combine it with 270.61 if problem persist, try to open your laptop and re-seat the graphics card.
Have you ever monitor the temps on your cards? The random lockups might be caused by high temp.
Have you try the BETA version from sager? And make sure that you do CLEAN INSTALL everytime you change/update graphics driver.

 

I have uninstalled -> driver sweeper clean -> installed new driver version every time.

The card temps are absolutely fine, confirmed that.

Hopefully one of the cards is just poorly seated, ill check soon, cheers

 

Just a note. I have recently had driver problems with the initial drivers installed when I received my laptop. With the newer games and the steam updates sometimes I would freeze up. The Sager drivers including the beta drivers caused flickering so I installed the latest Nvidia drivers 275.33 and they seem to have resolved all the game issues. No flickering

Has anyone successfully upgrade their graphic cards from the 285m sli's?? If so what did u upgrade to and what changes did u have to make (ie bios upgrade etc)? Thanks

 

I tried to boot from a SDHC card today in the card reader and it didn't work. Has anybody done this before, if so, what is the trick? I have Backtrack 5 on my card.

 

I want to buy a clevo x8100. Laptop is for Uni/gaming/HD video/surfing the web.

Which processor do you buy?? 4-core i7-740QM or 2-core i7-640M
graphics card?? ATI 5870 or 460M single gpu.

is possible with i7-640m processor switch between integrated graphics card and ati 5870??

 

5870m is marginal faster so choose that. The x8100 cannot use integrated graphics. I'd go for a quad processor myself.

 

Guys, i have 2 questions

1- Is there any news for new 18.4 screen clevo laptop?

2- for x8100 somehow backlit keyboard is possible? someone did this manually?