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

Any luck with this? I'm experiencing exactly the same issues, and it's become more frequent. I don't think it's a driver issue any longer as I've rolled right back to the original drivers the laptop shipped with. Also had it occur at the boot screen, think it's time to make use of the warranty.

 

1) Yep, its called the P180hm or something similar. Not much out about it so far; but what we do no is it basically seems to be an I7-2 form of X8100, without the HDMI input.

2) I don't think there's an official one out there; although if one arrives with the newer models, it might be possible to swap in; as the size and connector tends to remain virtually identical.

 

beta bios 14

Clevo x8100 Phoenix SecureCore BIOS

anybody care to test and post back if there's fan speed control?

edit: i also am having issues with my x8100, it seems the problem is heat, which is ironic because the m980nu i had before this also suffered from heat, these laptops have serious problems with heat. I'm going to be putting some ic diamond 7 carat this week and attempt a few mod's to get my temps low. Sager's 1 year warranty is bull, they know these laptops get hot.

somebody try the beta bios and see if there's a fan speed control, just crank it all up to 100% fan, it might be noisy but it should solve crashing.

 

I'm curious where you are seeing heat? I have one and mine is not hot. I had a Sager years ago with heat issues that I had repaired and dumped. The buyer kept having to warranty the MB's every few months or so.

So when I was looking at the 8120, I looked at how it handles heat and looked at the "Heat Mpas" that were posted on it and bought it convinced it handled heat well. I have been very happy with mine for a few years now. No issues whatsoever.

So...

Where are you seeing a heat issue?

Also, I'm a little confused why you are asking someone to flash the BIOS, why don't you flash the BIOS yourself?

 

my x8100 is suffering from heat at the moment, and users are posting errors as well i isolated the problem to heat, as well as my temp sensors showing me it is heat. Either 2 things are happening, users who buy these laptops never fully stress test the system to confirm it's 100% functional under various ambient temperatures, or eventually sagers lifespan is about a year on there hardware and then start flunking out, i owned a m980nu which suffered the same issue and the x8100 i have now is showing me signs of heat, it makes perfect sense, i can feel the heat when i game. great laptop but suffers from heat big time, i'm using 285m video cards , don't know how newer grade video cards handle heat


if you feel really confident i suggest you run furmark with crossfire or sli confirmed to be enabled and monitor your temps and gpu usage, let it run for 48 hours, throw in some linpack in there to

 

Guys I will buy this laptop but I have one question for you.

Ati 5870 and Nvidia gtx285m use exactly same fan at x8100??? My vendor says that we haven't got fans for ati 5870 but we can arrange it with stock fan.

Do you think that is it healthy? If they use same fan, there is no problem of course about heating and noise will be at the same level.

 

as far as i know, i haven't heard about any fan specifically for the 5870m, i've checked there service esm, i'd lik to know the part number if this is true. Sounds like bull, alot of sager/clevo rep's crap out the mouth.

 

anybody test out the bios, my x8100 is suffering from serious heat, i even swapped video cards, i'm hitting 100c's waiting for some new ic diamond 7 but this is messed up, these laptops have serious heat problems. when am i suppose to use this laptop, in winter?

 

Hi guys,

I regularly open my laptop (once a week) to clean the fans. I usually clean it with dry brush only to remove the dusts on the fans and the fins.

Unfortunately, when I open my laptop today, after cleaning all the fans, my laptop is not turning on anymore. When I press the power button I can hear the fan and the hard drive spinning for a while and back to death. The G1-G8 light and all the media button turned on, but the screen doesn't turn on at all. The laptop also beeps twice before before turning off

I'm also out of warranty

Thing that I've tried:
Reseat both RAM
Make sure that I have connected all the fan powers
Remove the battery, use only external source

Please help me.

 

Sounds like your heatsinks aren't making proper contact. I've had both the 285s and the 5870s, and neither ran that hot.

Even under furmark my 5870s were hitting about 75, the 285s about 85 IIRC. Obviously this isn't running furmark for two days but you are not meant to use furmark (or linpack) for that length of time as they place unrealistic loads on the hardware and are pure stress tests.

@wpra might be worth digging up the service manual. Beeps usually correspond to a fault code and the engineering service manual might contain the list. One of the reseller reps might be able to find out for you as well.

 

Let me repeat the question you decided not to answer...

Also, I'm a little confused why you are asking someone to flash the BIOS, why don't you flash the BIOS yourself?

 

i've used 2 different set of heatsinks, contact is 100% on die, why didn't i flash the bios, i dont want to be a guinea pig, this bios comes from a tech who makes alot of custom made bios, usually for systems with phoenix recovery but since clevo decided to LOCK the bios from accessing phoenix recovery it's a risky business, on the other hand you get features, so if anybody out there would like to give it a shot that would be great, i'm personally fairly certain it would work with unlocked features, though i don't believe you can reset CMOS on the motherboard, so caution to overclocking.


just out of curiosity rose1 where are you located and is it COLD there ?


edit: i don't understand why the F am i hitting such high temps, in NYC

 

Like my profile mentions I'm in England. Ambient temp of the room is about twenty to thirty degs celcius dependant on what kit I've had on (as its not a massive room and I run a plasma, av amp and media box pc)

I was pleasantly surprised by my 5870ms, they run cooler than I expected, idle is 38-45.

 

i just reseated the heatsinks again and i'm still hitting 100c on nerely both cards, this makes no sense, proper contact and all, fans spinning, nyc has a heatwave but what the does that mean, i don't use my laptop?

 

running 1 card as of now, will see how hot it get's i await for ic diamond 7 to relieve, also i've compared the fans from a m980nu to a x8100 and the x8100 rates at 0.4 as opposed to 0.5a and it also blows better air, so if somebody claims there's a ati 5870m fan series i'd definitely like to look up the model number, rose could you unscrew one of your fans from your 5870m series and just give the part number, located underneath the fan.

edit: wow hitting 100C with 1 card, .


EDIT 2: my cpu is reaching 100c as well, ? i'm getting tired of this crap with sagers 18" line up

 

i am seriously cooking my cpu reaches 100c my gpu's reach 100c i know it's hot in nyc but what the **** ? and there's no explanation and nothing i can do, no aftermarket cooling.

 

My CPU is 49
Both GPUs 57

Ambient temp in Room is 26C

 

i can't use my laptop now at all, i'm experiencing insane heat i'm idling around 80c, this is bull. everything is connected properly, i've had enough of this company they make CHEAP crap and resell it for high prices, i know i didnt pay for the 2 year warranty but that doesn't mean the quality shouldn't be top notch, especially considering this high end model, there gear seems to fubar about after 1 year.... man, ic diamond 7 aint going to make miracles happen, i get it's hot in NYC but i'm sure texas experiences this kind of climate every day.

 

Why don't you quit B*tching and send it in for repair...

 

take your own advice, and i don't feel like spending $500 on same old trash mobo, $100 for repair service, $400 for same mobo, i'll upgrade to sandy bridge motherboard in a month. Learned a valuable lesson these company's profit of suckers, i'm going to go read now "how to not be a sucker for dummys"

 

Sorry, I'd take a quick look at the fans but I don't have the machine on me right now, and the picture I've got on imageshack doesnt give you any clues as to the part number.

 

SEE Ya, Wouldn't Want ta Bee Ya!

Asta La Vista Bay Bee!

 

Hello guys,
I have a newbie questions about my laptop. I bought it last week.

I have a clevo x8100 and i'd like improve this with a tv Card.
I have a mini pci-e Avermedia A310 for my old acer laptop. Could it work on x8100?
What remote could i buy?? I have a imon remote for my HTPC. could i use with laptop? What software do i need install to work with infrared adapter??

What coaxial adapter do i need to connect laptop to antenna?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hello guys,

I searched but couldn't find. Can I find heatsink for ati 5870 for x8100 anywhere in the internet??

Regards

 

Easiest way to get one would be to order via a reseller. I did see them a while back on ebay, but you've gotta remember this machine is technically discontinued now so you want to be trying official sources who might still have access to Clevo's wholesaler vendors.

 

Can you remove one of the Nvidia 285s and run it in single card mode? I don't game and don't need the second card. If so, which card should be removed?

 

Still can't get hotkeys to work, probably because I got to deleting some stuff in the registry.
However, almost 1 year later and still loving this laptop! Games like a champ with 2 5870's, and *nobody* else around has a 18+" laptop!

 

is anyone else running a GTX 485M in a X8100?

 

Does anybody upgrade their x8100/x8120 to ATI6970? I need help on BIOS.

The bios won't recognize my card and shows "unknown" states. Because of that ATI driver won't able to install the driver. I need suggestion or solution.

I already update my bios to .14 ver and eu to .08 but still no luck on it

Eurocom x8100

CPU:I7 840qm

HDDx3:500GB,650GB and 60gb

Video:ATI 6970 2GB

Memory: 8GB PC-10666 Mushkin

 

Yes it will work because I use same kind. The coaxial adapter you can find on froogle.com or ebay.

 

So... It's been awhile since i posted and since i last asked for help. I have the original 8120 with 285m's in SLI. Have always had trouble with NVIDIA drivers that were not stock: NP8120 would freeze on transitions in web browsing and within 5-10 min of gaming. After continued searching, someone on another forum suggested changing the Global Settings in the Manage 3D Settings tab of the NVIDIA Control Panel to 'Prefer Maximum Performance'.
BOOM!!!!! 280.26 driver running fine now. No issues for 6 hours, longest ever! Will write back if this eventually flops. Just so glad to have all the new SLI profiles. Have a good one folks.

 

Sounds like powermizer once again causing issues like it was on the M980NU

 

Hello I have a dire question.

I have a Sager np8120 which is about 1 year old now but I've been having a constant problem for some time now. It will freeze up (the screen will some times flicker random colors and the sound glitches) sometimes under stress of playing games like SC2 and sometimes even during web browsing. It doesn't mind WMP unless its running in the background of a game etc. I also notice the HD light dose not blink in this state and only now its getting really bad.

I have a hunch its with the RAD settings. I have one 140GB SSD with Windows installed/games, and two 500GB HDD in RAD 0 with all of my programs/music/videos on it. thou i do have the latest drivers and BIO's installed off the Sager homepage.

Thought it could also be a heating issue. I noticed the CPU cooking at 85 through the nvidia systems monitor and found out that the thermal compound had lifted. fixed this by cleaning chip and heat-sink and applying new compound. Now it idles at 50. Not good but a quick fix for now.

 

Quick question.

I got the x8100 with sli gtx285m's. And considering getting Battlefield 3. And keep readin around that u need newest drivers for nvidia cards. To get the most outof this game. But my problem is , that every official driver from nvidia dont work on my x8100. Some reboots , some bluescreens etc. Im using old stock clevo drivers from 2010/5/14. Everything works fine, bfbc2 works like a charm.

But my question is simply this, do u own bf3 with 2x 285M cards, and what drivers are u using?

I don't wanna go buy a game that i will have trouble playing...

 

newest drivers works like a charm. BF3 last night all night long

 

Good deal!


Can you describe how you updated the drivers? I haven't done mine since new, and that was a while ago!

 

I downloaded it from Nvidia.com started the exe file, and off it went. But it only installed graphics drivers, 3dvision and nvidia update thingie resulted in failed. I choosed express install. And I dont realy need those things anyway.

Im just happy to finaly have official drivers working from nvidia. Tierd of the stock clevo drivers from may 2010.. lol

 

Thanx!

10char

 

I see some folks here have been updating their nvidia drivers for their GTX 285M SLI gpus. I wonder if anyone is experiencing problems since?

I've tried periodically for the past year + to update my drivers. THe stock nvidia drivers (197.16) worked pretty flawlessly for the 285M SLI. However, I've tried about 5 updates since then and not one of them works... or works without serious issues (hardfreezes, BSOD, worse), and in the past I've rolled back to the reliable 197.16 every time.

Currently I've tried installing the latest 285.61. I saw from cjolney's post above that changing the control panel global setting from "adaptive" to "prefer maximum performance" was a work around. This seemed to be working and is something being discussed in the nvidia support forums.

However, it seems that for many applications, the "Global settings" do not stick -- I noticed for Firefox browser (where i'd gotten a few crashes) that you have to manually change the 'perfer max. performance' setting. This then raises the question -- how many key applications do you need to hunt through to see if the Global Settings are actually working?

I just booted up my lappy and got an immediate screen flicker crash. I went and added "Windows Explorer" to the nvidia control panel settings -- lo and behold, it was using "Adaptive" as its default power setting. Haven't had a crash since, but I can hear the GPU fans whirring away, and now my cards are idling at 53C and 44C respectively. Too warm for just running windows.

The nvidia thread on this ongoing struggle with the powermizer is pretty dismal (but revealing) reading:

Notebook Powermizer Issues - Please post here - NVIDIA Forums

I guess i'm just wondering if any of my fellow Sager NP8120 / Clevo users with original 285M cards are experiencing this frustration. I'd like to keep the new drivers -- in fact, did a quick benchmark on Shogun 2 with the 197 drivers (25 FPS) and the new 285 drivers (51 FPS) -- that's a huge difference that i'd hate to give up just to use the old but stable drivers.

Thoughts?

EDIT -- not that this saga is especially important to anyone but myself, but i just *once again* rolled back to the 197.16 stock drivers after finding that I could no longer put my computer to sleep without it crashing -- I went to wake it a few times and found I had to reboot. what a drag that these nvidia drivers should be so buggy.

 

[Solved] Clevo X8100 Crossfire ATI HD 5870 problem - YouTube

I have had the exact problem shown in this video for going on a year now. I've sent my system back in to be "repaired" three times now, having several sets of cards (allegedly) swapped in and out of her, as well as supposedly checking the crossfire cable. Is it possible that simply two defective cables were tested in my machine? I ask this because I have literally tried every other possible solution, but I'm STILL having this issue in games.

 

It's possible you've got a duff card as well. I did have the same issue though and it turned out to be a bad cable. Replacing the cable resolved it for every game I have except for one small indie game, where its very literally a crossfire bug with that game, whereas before the cable was swapped I had the issue with everything and it obviously wasnt a bug but a fault

 

Hi guys...

I want to replace dvd recorder for bluray unit.
Can I use any laptop bluray unit ?? or i have to buy a clevo bluray unit???

Thanks in advance...

 

You should be fine with any slim 12.7mm laptop Bluray drive The only issue might be trying to replace the plastic bezel to match the case (you'd swap the old bezel for the one on this)

 

The old bezel clips off pretty easily from experience

Make sure to get a SATA not PATA drive too

 

The below one has worked well...

Panasonic UJ-240 6x Blu-Ray Drive for Notebook Laptop Bluray Blu ray BD BD-R | eBay
-

 

So I've gotten myself a TOSLINK cable and have it hooked up from the fourth audio jack (identified as an S/PDIF out jack in my manual) and have it running to the optical-in port on my sound system, but no sound is being produced. The "test" function shows the little green bars filling up as if sound is being pushed through the sound card and to the device, but no red light comes out the other end of the cable. Additionally, plugging any 3.5mm jack into any of the other ports causes Windows to be alerted something has been plugged in, but not so with this port. It's almost as if it's dead in the water. Strangely, plugging in the S/PDIF cable to the mic-in jack prompts Windows to ask if I plugged in a mic, subwoofer, or S/PDIF, though picking that option does nothing for me.

Any ideas what's going on?

 

I can't find any good pictures of the internals. How easy to is to upgrade this laptop. If it is even possiable to upgrade?
It says it holds three HDD how???
Also can it do raid?

 

It is super upgradable and will hold 4 HD's Howz that.

You may want to dl the manual, it has a VERY detailed owners manual, the most detailed on a laptop I have ever seen.

Such as, I used the manual to remove one of my video cards, and it's all in the manual. Awesome PIX.

This is the easiest to work on Laptop I have ever had.

I am running 3 HDs, 2 in a RAID.


RTFM

 

These manuals are great!!! I really want one of these machines now!!

 

Sager makes the best Laptop IMHO.