Sager NP8651 / Clevo P650SE with GTX 970m First Look

You can't judge response time only on grey to grey transition. the lp156WF4 SP B1 is according to tests of laptops that port that screen, flawless for 60fps movies etc so don't worry.

 

Doesn't make a difference for me, I've already got my LTN156HL01-102 in hand

But still, that's true, and good info for others considering that screen for their systems.

 

Dabeer when do u get ur new PC... Did they send a replacement already?

 

Yeah, I got it this morning... I installed Windows 8.1 Pro, and played around with it a little, but I'm getting annoyed with it already, so I might just go back to Windows 7 Ultimate for a while.

 

That's great... It didn't take too long for the return process. how's it been can u do before and after pics of the screen replacement? Also just stick with 8.1 u will get use to it. I have it on half my devices now. And my benchmarks are better with 8.1 than 7

 

Considering it's the sager with the tn fhd I'm thinking it will be a 30 pin let us know how it goes

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

If it is the missing start menu you're talking about you could install Start8 by stardock like I did. It brings it back.

The Windows 8 Start menu returns with Start8!

Also in case you reconsider, a little fun fact for you techies is that Windows 8 can support up to 512GB of ram. Vs Windows 7 support maxing out at 192GB. Both of these are for x64bit systems.





Memory Limits for Windows and Windows Server Releases (Windows)

 

I haven't gotten to spend much time playing with it yet, and likely won't get to today or tomorrow, either. I'm hoping I'll be able to spend more time with it Saturday and Sunday. As for 8.1... we'll see.

I'm pretty confident it'll be fine, but I'll definitely post an update once I'm sure.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out.

Not a huge factor for hardware that only supports 32GB

 

Only 192GB Oo !! I guess i should throw my windows 7 copy in the garbage feeew...

 

i can also recommend start8, been using it ever since win8 came out

 

Wikipedia has an unbiased list (although details are lacking) of replacements to try out.
- Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unless you're running Windows Home Basic (8GiB max) or Home Premium (16GiB max), Microsoft wants you to pay to upgrade.

Also be aware that Windows can be ignorant of newer CPU platform technologies, and unless you load the required driver, you might be limited on cores utilized. I haven't seen this since Windows 7 Service Pack 1, but I got hit by it with it running Windows 7 pre-Service Pack 1 as well as Vista where it wouldn't recognize a multi-core, single socket CPU, and enabled only usage of 2 cores.

 

Sorry pocket post

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks, I wasn't sure about paying for something without exploring the options first, so that helps a lot.

It's between 7 Ultimate x64 and 8.1 Pro x64 for me, so yeah, not a factor. But thanks for the info.

 

Any one from uk panning to buy ssd, you can buy Intel 730 series 480gb ssd for £129 + you can claim cash back from Intel. Which makes it £109 after cash back.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-060-IN&groupid=1657&catid=2101&subcat=2393

https://toptechcashback.com/uk/en/ssd/

 

Classic Shell, which I use (and I'm still using an older version), was open source, then went creative commons (freeware). I normally trust open source more, and have been trying to find out why the change. The only thing I can think of is that the previous open source release required users to grab the commercial textures from elsewhere, and they may have just licensed and/or used a library/devkit that included them in the newer releases.

I'm at the point where I just stick with the OS that is pre-installed, and if it's Windows 8.1, I load a shell replacement. In the past this is Classic Shell, but it might be way too customizable for some who just want to say "give me a Windows 7-like experience."

All I know is that nothing can be as bad as the Windows 8 to 8.1 upgrade process that required a lot of users, including my wife (which I did), to reinstall her apps. In one case of a IBM program, she lost her license as she was supposed to "unregister" the key (before I did the upgrade). That has to be the worst flop in an OS upgrade of all-time.

 

I like to run my laptop docked when I'm at home. Can this be run with the lid closed?

 

That's an OS setting. The OS is responsible in handling how the lid close works, so you just need to modify it there to accommodate your usage.

 

So now that we see many IPS options popping up on usa resellers like Mythlogic, Xotic, Eurocom, lpc digital, etc. does anyone know if any of the IPS's offered anywhere actually have a GOOD low response time? Or all they high across the board? Im not very familiar with screens...but want a good IPS for gaming.

 

Again, only the quality of the sceen will allow you to judge that, I have an IPS LG 35ms ersponse time on an dell work computer.

games like counter strike or AOE 2 HD @60fps are smooth as hell

 

That's really good to hear I was a little worried about the slow response time as well.
Any ghosting/blurring with the LG screen?
Only reason I'm asking is I need to know the best option before ordering 3K/4K screens are a last resort since I think they are a bit overkill and scaling in Windows is still a bit off.
I really do not want to replace the screen myself since its going to be a gift and I want it all in one piece without me taking apart in pieces
Personally I'm waiting for the GTX 980M SG version for myself

 

Ghosting comes from a bad energy management in gami ng TN panels didn't see it once

 

Thanks....exactly what I wanted to hear, you have eased my mind a great deal.

 

guys, I'm in the uk and I dont know where to get the new np8651 with good price, I need help

 

It is not sold over here. Sager is a US company. Try pcspecialist.co.uk, scan.co.uk and mysn.co.uk instead.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

I will let you know as soon as they ship. I ordered my 8651 from XoticPC the moment they added an IPS option. I should be in the first batch of them hitting customers.

 

I'd would be great to hear everyone's opinion of the IPS screen.
I'm I missing anything or are all the 1080P screens now from LG or are there differnt with each reseller?

 

I'm pretty sure I'm getting an AUO AHVA 1080p with my Metabox.

 

Can you post some pics of the screen?
It's a little confusing with all the screen options now, first no IPS screens now you get many....it's great but....anyway would be great to hear your thoughts on the screen, viewing angles and if you notice any ghosting/blurring with that screen.
So when are you getting your laptop?

 

Hopefully Friday this week. Probably latest Monday week. The guy with the P650SG in the owners lounge has the same screen as I'm getting.

 

Finaaaally...my NP8651 has arrived!!! Looks really good...solid built...installing windows and drivers. ..can't wait to test some games on this beast...

 

My SG with LG ips tomorrow or thursday morning (in europe) ! Can't wait.

 

Hello everyone! I'm really torn between 8268-s and 8651.... I just pulled the trigger on the 8268 this morning but I'm still having second thoughts about my purchase because of the bulkiness of the laptop and the scarcity of the replacement screen as others have pointed out... How hard is it to service/maintain the 8651 do you think? Mainly using the laptop for digital painting, some zbrush (in the future), and some cs go... Should I go ahead and cancel my order and get this instead?

 

All personal preference. 8268 has all modular components including CPU and GPU. The 8651 has soldered CPU and GPU. The 8651 also uses the M.2 form factor over mSATA. Otherwise they are quite similar.

 

Hey guys, I was wondering, if I use the standard 1TB harddrive XoticPC gives you when you buy the P650SE as the maindrive, and then buy an Samsung XP941 128GB and uses it in the Ultra M.2 socket. Will i still get the speeds of the XP941? or do i have to make the XP941 the maindrive to get the speeds?

 

If the OS is installed on the HDD it'll be agonisingly slow. If it's installed on the SSD it'll be lightning fast.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

In other words the XP941 has to be the maindrive? So if I just install Windows 7 on the XP941, and install all my games and other softwares on the HDD, I will still get the SSD speed yes?

 

ull always get the ssd speeds of the stuff uve installed on the ssd

suggestion: install the OS, your programs and the 1-2 games ure currently playing on the SSD and put all the rest on the HDD

 

I see, thank you :thumbsup:

 

Great review but would be cool to have some Steam/Linux overall impression, it's not that easy to find a good Linux gaming laptop.

 

that could potentially change sometime soon with the dawn of steam machines...

 

Good point. I can do a SteamBox UI install and see how it goes.

 

I will be buying this laptop on Monday and was looking for SSD's to put it it. Strictly performance wise, am I better off with this or this? Thanks

 

Msata is not compatible. U need m.2 and the mx100 is not the fastest but will still be fast!

 

The latter you listed is mSATA (mini-PCIe 30x50mm form-factor) and will not work in the P65x series.

You need an M.2 (2280 form-factor, Type B or M), of which, these are two (2) Crucial M.2-SATA 2280 options that will work:
- Crucial m500 M.2-SATA3 (Type B and M compatible): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HBKN2GG/ (240GB option shown)
- Crucial m550 M.2-SATA3 (Type B and M compatible) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITFZTHC/ (512GB option shown, Amazon seems to be missing the 256GB option)

The P65x has two (2) M.2 2280 form-factor slots, one (1) Type B and one (1) Type M. These break down as follows ...
- M.2-SATA3 devices, usually keyed to work in either Type B or Type M, and always legacy AHCI compatible
- M.2-PCIex4 devices, usually keyed to work in only Type M (even though Type B can support PCIe x2), and most are legacy AHCI compatible, with a new general of NVMe compatible coming out in 2015

Eventually the industry will see a plethora of M.2-PCIex4 devices with native NVMe support in 2015, with native system board and OS support for boot-time. Right now most use legacy AHCI for maximum compatibility, although they are still capable of much higher throughput than M.2-SATA3.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVM_Express#Comparison_with_AHCI

 

Did you get round to doing this? I am interested in buying this laptop to run Linux, but the last Clevo I bought has a non-standard GT550M which is not supported by the Nvidia drivers. I'd like to know if you can get the accelerated graphics working.

 

Actually, Linux usually gets the new nVidia features in their proprietary Betas releases first, other than Optimus and other stuff that is completely different architectually (between Windows and Linux). This is because of their heavy workstation/high-end marketshare on Linux. Evrerything else these days are wrappers, whether you call it from DX or GL (pre-ARB, vendor-specific function/API), it's really all about the hardware specifics in the libs, as 3D Labs feared would happen over a decade ago.

But even then, outside the highly volatile, fast moving, complex and proprietary GPUs, most Fedora installs I've done since 2008 on Intel reference hardware have had better support than "new hardware" drivers on Windows that were crash happy. Usually 3-4 months after hardware release, Linux has the drivers. At 6 months, the Windows drivers stabilize far better. With all the various OEM off-shoots, especially as they get away from the reference drivers, having the single, unified, open codebase in the Linux kernel becomes an asset. In the rare case, I've had to add the PCI Vendor/HW ID to a header or support file for a new variant. And with a generic design like the Clevo-Sager, Linux support has alwyas been excellent.

Spoiler

Canonical issues their employees System76 units (Clevo). Red Hat issues their employees Lenovos, with IBM-Lenovo putting in a lot of time for their custom, non-reference stuff as they run quite a bit internally (although with some major mistakes at times too). It's really about how high-end you go, as the more costly the unit, the more workstation class, the more Linux marketshare the model gets. If you buy low-end, cheapy, consumer superstore stuff, yeah, there will be some off-shoot that requires a specific OEM driver for some specific variant that hasn't always been captured.

Other than that, it's the common WiFi-firmware issues that the US FCC and others are responsible for. That's always been the case in the Linux world ever since my long-time colleague Mark Mathews wrote the original Intersil Prism driver and he could do all sorts of stuff with the radio outside of the certification. But with the rich 80211 stack in Linux, there's really no reason why they can't support it with little effort. Same goes for SANE (v. TWAIN, especially for network and Enterprise scanning), CUPS (v. GDI and dozens of other variations) for printing, the latter Apple actually bought because the -- literal -- Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) works better than anything Microsoft offers (don't get me started, Postscript everywhere, even emulated, always solves 99% of printer issues), and it's all I've seen in Enterprises the last decade.

It's pretty ironic when the #1 subsystem that crashes Windows, other than drivers, is the Spooler, while the CUPS IPP/PS drivers for Windows literally eliminates them. And it utterly removes the driver "in-fighting" between different printer vendors programs. GDI has never addressed that at all, because GDI is not a well defined standard, while Postscript is (and filters to it are endless).

 

Was it an Optimus configuration where you couldn't either disable it or get the nVidia overlay or use it for at least an external display (separate from the Intel)? That's really the only thing that gets people on Linux with nVidia, Optimus, although there are several options, although not all of them always work (OEM dependent).

Spoiler

With a reference Intel platform and a nVidia card using the proprietary drivers, I could easily live in Linux and do anything, provided people actually ported software. It's funny how many houses are actually running Linux workstations to develop and create the titles, and then have to fit their work into a Windows run-time. Sigh, DX was never supposed to exist, as Microsoft embraced GL for all hardware accelerated graphics in NT, until shunting between x86 and 386 in Windows 95 made GL a slouch, sealing the fate of GL on Windows years before DX hardware ever came about.

Today everything is wrappers to the hardware functions, whether it's DX or GL. No one remembers that Direct "X" technologies were so named because the original implementation was the Direct DOS Memory Map, DirectMM, later Direct2D and the rest is history. Windows 9x was such a poor gaming platform, but it's what consumers got for a long list of reasons.

 

Just got this laptop and I am very impressed.

IPS screen is absolutely dope; great viewing angles, few reflections, and sufficiently bright.

The laptop also runs COLD and QUIET even when gaming. I am able to lay in my bed with underwear on, and play games comfortably while this thing sits on my legs. It's really that good.

 

It's an Optimus, I can get the card to turn off, I can't get the Nvidia kernel module to compile because the card is incompatible with it. I did get the card working with Nouveau at one point but the performance with that was actually worse than the Intel card. If I'm going to get a new laptop I want to make sure the card is compatible with the standard Nvidia drivers.

 

And that's the infamous "Optimus in the middle" causing issues. Again, there are overlay options (Intel controls X11, but nVidia can overlay a window inside of its frame buffer, usually via Xrandr and other support) and/or the ability to use the nVidia card with an external monitor on a separate X11 screen (which can be combined together via Xinerama). But unless you can disable Optimus, the Intel driver will _always_ control X display :0 (even if Xrandr/Xinerama are used).

Actually, the teams work together, since the Nouveau and Intel drivers are open source, so there's a better chance of them working together. Unfortunately, as you found, the 3D features supported by the Nouveau driver are extremely limited. This is unlikely going to change until nVidia actually puts more people on the driver.

nVidia has been very hesitant to do that, ever since the 1999 fiasco. I.e., nVidia released their first generation XFree86 4.x drivers and kernel module completely open source, and immediately got countless cease'n desist letters from SGI (various OpenGL) and even Intel (AGP-DiME kernel support) over improper disclosure of "trade secrets" and other IP. Hence why they went the binary blob route.

Unfortunately, it's that binary blog route that prevents a lot of the Optimus solutions from working, as the nVidia and Intel drivers are developed independently.

Which means you need to find a system that can disable Optimus, so nVidia is always used for all devices and screens.