2013 Series 7 chronos / Ativ Book 8 15" owner's lounge (NP770Z5E / NP780Z5E / NP870Z5E / NP880Z5E)

I regret I did that experiment - when on default SW driver I installed Metro Last Light and it was flying on high settings with 45 FPS minimum. But then I installed Far Cry 3 and I was getting 24-35 FPS on medium - I wanted a bit more. Its like others say: some people would only be happy if 8870 card shows at least 95% of its potential, that's why they mess with beta drivers, while the majority are happy with the card showing 70-80% of the potential.

When I tried the beta (13.10) I could not solve the problem of "no settings" error even with uninstalling and installing drivers from SW update - it still gave me the same error. I had to use System Restore, which was a very long and painful procedure, reverting many of my other changes I have done to the system. Now I am happy I was able to go back to the default driver and the graphics seem to work fine

 

Except there is a significant gain and it isn't hard at all to install. I get a 50% fps boost in bf3. That is significant. EDIT: In windows 8, that is. I could say I don't get why you guys are making your life hard by installing win8.1 without a signifigant gain.

Last time I checked on my series 7 chronos (last week) SW update's version still was 12.9. Could you please tell me the driver version number from device manager?

I don't get it, I've done this multiple times on both my machines without ever having an issue. Did you do exactly as described in post #1?

EDIT: Oh wait you're on win 8.1. I'm still on 8. In my case the beta drivers take two minutes to install, are way faster and exactly as stable as the SW update's ones.

Great, thanks.

 

Hi,

The first page says that the BIOS can be upgraded with SWUpdate. However, even though I've seen it download a newer BIOS a few weeks back, I'm still stuck on an older one (P03ADH).
I can't seem to find the BIOS anywhere else on the web, anyone who knows where I can download it and flash it manually?

 

Guys, I don't understand what driver version you are talking about.
In both windows update and SW update I don't get any driver update.
My AMD driver version in windows 8 is 9.3.5.0. And there is no new AMD driver neither with a manual search. So where did you update it to official 13.9? I don't think through SW update...

Anyway If I do a manual search for my laptop model, 770Z5E, I find a newer driver version for intel video card in windows 8.1 menu.
I'm still with windows 8, should I update Intel drivers to the 10.18.10.33 version I manually find under windows 8.1 menu?

 

Try using the standalone BIOS update program as described in the first post in this thread. If that doesn't find a newer BIOS then it is possible that Samsung did release something newer but quickly found a bug and pulled the update. This happened with my X4C a few months ago and, for a while, I was running a BIOS that was newer than the newest being offered. Fortunately, whatever the bug was didn't affect me.

John

 

I am too on Windows 8, but I have Ativ book 8. As I said befor installing 13.10 was a pain (definitely longer than 2 minutes) and then I lost access to graphics settings and switching graphics. I still do not understand why on your machine it installs "like charm" while I (and some others) fail. Perhaps more about my machine: I did not run neither Windows update nor SW update at all, mainly because I am still waiting for someone's advise what to do first: should I install all windows critical updates first and then all SW updates?

 

SWUpdate AMD Driver INF extract:

;-----------------------------------------------
;----------1309030255-13.152-130830a-161966C-Samsung
; AMD display information file
;
; Installation INF for the AMD display driver.
; Copyright(C) AMD 2007-2013
;-----------------------------------------------
; PX - PX Proxy mode
; PR - PX Proxy Ready

[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
Provider=%ATI%
ClassGUID={4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class=Display
DriverVer=08/30/2013, 13.152.0.0000
;;LayoutFile=layout.inf
CatalogFile=C7161966.CAT

 

@John: Thanks, looks like my BIOS is the newest according to the BIOSUpdate application...

Are you guys using Windows 8.1 yet on this machine? I've been using it for quite a few weeks, but then I noticed that Windows Update pushed out a new ATI-driver and now I'm stuck on a black screen and only my mouse cursor. Tried to re-install Windows 8 using the recommended ATI driver on the first page of this thread, but then I can't open the CCC or adjust which applications should be run on the dedicated GPU....

I'm really dissapointed by AMD for pulling the switchable Graphics support....
Any good "best practice" when it comes to this machine and drivers? Should I just stick to Windows 8.0 or try again with 8.1 using only Windows default or SWUpdate drivers?

 

In my SW update it says that the latest AMD graphics driver is 9.3.5.0 (no 12.9 or 13.9 as some said earlier), just as zoster pointed earlier. Again I have NP870Z5E. Does anyone understand this mess in SW update?

UPDATE: or maybe the difference can be explained by the Windows versions we are using? I am on Windows 8 and the latest SW driver I see is 9.3.5.0? While someone on Windows 8.1 has 13.9?

UPDATE 2: Or looks like you guys downloaded the latest AMD driver straight from the AMD site as I see there the latest driver version is exactly 13.9

 

If you're on Windows 8, SW update provides CCC 12.9, if you are on 8.1 it will provide CCC 13.9. I posted a link to 13.9 earlier for those holding back from upgrading, since AMD won't let you download the driver from their site, and the mobility verification tool just redirects you to the manufacturer:
13-9_mobility_win7_win8_64_dd_ccc_whql.exe - Solidfiles

 

I used this guide to compare and modify the .inf files from Catalyst Mobility 13.11 BETA 1 and Catalyst Mobility 13.11 BETA 9.5: AMD Catalyst Modding Guide and Performance Test. From the comparison, I learned that AMD has not removed switchable graphics support for the 8770M or 8870M from Samsung. The Vendor and Device IDs are still listed and match the Hardware IDs for Samsung GPUs. While the .inf files are similar, something changed from 13.11 BETA 2 with the addition of the Gaming Evolved App Powered by Raptr. Also, Intel says that users with 3rd party cards installed alongside Intel graphics are experiencing various degrees of Code 31 and Code 43 issues. These are being actively investigated, and we are working with 3rd party vendors to resolve them. Source: Intel Support Community

 

After installing Windows 8.1 from scratch I've installed all drivers from SWUpdate. I can see that Samsung has released newer AMD drivers and a brightness fix for 8.1 which seems to work for now.
The problem is that Windows Update is pushing this driver: http://i.imgur.com/pFAz5e0.png

Installing this gives me the problem with a black screen and only showing the mouse cursor. I've for now hidden the driver. Are you guys also doing so?

 

Why the 13.10 AMD DRIVERS doesnt let you enter the catalyst control center or the switchable graphics?

 

i installed Call of Duty Black Ops and the graphics were really bad. It was lagging and it cant be fixed no matter what i do with the setting. My ATIV 8 meets the requirements needed to run this game but everything is really bad

I really need help. Thanks

 

Hi guys,

I just did a preformance test 8.0 on my laptop np780z5e.. My overall score is 2490. And the best part is it doesnt even recognize the amd card.

Is it normal.

 

Has anyone had come across any protectors for this laptop, whether it be a case or full body coverage through invisibleSHIELD?

 

I got the same issue.

NP-770Z5E (Win8.1)

update: uninstalling AMD 13.10 and installing 13.11 solved it for now.

 

Hi all... this is my first post in this thread BUT I've read every single post to see if this issue had been covered already ...only took 4 days, but who's counting?

Anyway, I've had the BestBuy NP-880Z5E for about 2 weeks now and I love it... fantastic screen, super fast, incredible battery life and awesome styling.

I also bought the 1TB 840 EVO with the laptop (kindly price-matched by BB against the Amazon price - about $280 saved there!) and grabbed another 8GB PNY stick to bring the RAM up to 16GB before even powering it on.

So far, pretty-much everything has been plain sailing... 2 minutes to upgrade the RAM, 2 hours working out what to do in F4 and cloning the drive, 10 minutes getting the bottom off the case and swapping the drive out, then a couple of hours messing around with the Windows updates and SW Update. In fairness, that resulted in some failed Windows updates so I restored back to factory condition and then went through installing the first 10 or so Windows updates one-by-one. After that, the remaining Windows updates all went on without a hitch, and so did the SW Updates.

Flushed with success, I decided to jump in and do the W8.1 update via the Samsung instruction page that I saw linked a few times throughout this thread. Again, all Windows updates and SW Updates just dropped into place.

As far as I can tell, I now have a W8.1 build and everything "just works"... nothing is showing up as needed in SW Update, there are no pending Windows updates and no warnings in Device Manager.

The *only* thing I've noticed (which is driving me nuts) is some kind of random keyboard problem.

Simply because it's soooo much easier to back-up and/or move to new hardware (and the style of the "host" OS on the device - Home / Pro / Ultimate / etc. - becomes much less relevant), I've got into the habit of running my REAL systems as Virtual Machines under VMware.

My previous machine was the 17" Series 7 Chronos (another awesome beast) so, having got this new one updated, I just installed VMWare 10, copied over the VMs from the Series 7 and fired them up.

However... whilst the host OS (W8.1) and my XP VM work flawlessly, the W7 Ultimate VM (which works fine on the old Chronos) appears to be randomly firing the Windows key, and this results in various Windows and apps being launched - depending on what I'm trying to type when it happens. CPU load, temperature, on battery / on power, etc. seems not to make any difference - the effect is totally random.

I saw a few posts where someone was having a similar issue with the CTRL key, but the strange thing here is that it only affects that one W7 VM .... I've not noticed it happening in W8.1 itself or the XP VM.

So far, I've tried everything I can think of to locate the cause and/or stop the effect (running the VM under different compatibility settings, changing the VM keyboard settings, deleting & re-installing the keyboard driver within the VM OS itself, turning on/off anything remotely likely to interfere, etc.) but nothing has helped. When it happens, I can immediately regain control by switching focus to the other VM (or to W8.1) then clicking back into the W7 VM... sometimes that will fix things for quite a while, sometimes just for 30-60 seconds.

It's the weirdest thing I've encountered and just can't find anything on the web that might lead me in the right direction (hence spending the last 4 days reading this entire thread!)

Any help with this will be much appreciated.

EDIT: Still trawling the web for possible answers... the popular suggestions are either hardware fault or a virus:

1) doesn't seem to be a virus - a full rootkit scan with Avast came up empty
2) can't see it being hardware-related as the host OS and the other VM work fine

 

Hi. I have the NP770Z5E model. What caddy do I get to replace the Optical Drive with the HDD? 12.7mm ou 9.5mm?

 

....do you have an optical drive in the 15.6" model?!?

 

It's the 17'' model.

 

So you installed the 9.5 Beta and modded and got switchable graphics back or what? And what was the performance difference?

 

Ok... having installed the Binary Fortress Tray Status app within the W7 VM, I can now see that the Windows / Start key intermittently shows as being depressed. Anyone come across this before?

 

I was probably the one with the CTRL key problem, and if not, I used to have it pretty bad. I would only notice it in Chrome, and then it would get stuck 'on'. Mashing both CTRL keys would unstick it, and then I would get back to business. I haven't noticed the problem in a while, but I also recently sent the computer in to be repaired (the MB and screen was replaced) and then I swapped HDs and did a clean install of W8. When I had the problem, I can't remember it ever happening in another program which was strange.

I'm not super familiar with VMs--does each VM instance use a clean build of the OS? If not, maybe there is a virus or program conflict only in that VM Maybe refreshing/installing the Windows 7 VM over again would help. You could always try some compressed air, too.

If it's within 14 days, you might just want to swap out the computer for a new one and see if it has the same problem. You shouldn't have to do too much work since you switched out the SSD. Or send it in for repairs, which took about 10 days for me including shipping + two weekends to fix.

 

I'm also interested of that, any way to have a modded 13.11 beta 9.5 driver which would work with our Samsung laptops?

 

Hello,

i am new here. Great forum

Here is my Problem:

I have the NP870z5e-x03de Modell of the ATIV Book 8.
But from the beginning the 8870m won´t work. So i contacted samsung support and they changed the motherboard.
My 8870m now works good but i get another problem:
In the samsung support app, i can´t read my serial number and my bios version is very old. SWUpdate don´t offer me a newer version.
So can anybody upload the latest bios for me ? I hope this can fix my problem.

Thanks

 

Use the standalone BIOS update program. There's a link in the first post of http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/698094-samsung-bios-update-problems.html.

John

 

Thank you John

I will try this

 

Can anyone help, please?

 

Thanks, man! So installing 13.9 on Window 8 will not have any negative effects, like switchable graphics issues?

 

Since the NP770Z7E chassis is so similar to the 2012 Series 7 (for which there is tons of discussion), I am guessing the optical bay is the same, and hence the same caddy. But I don't know first hand, and I don't remember seeing any posts about it for the NP770Z7E, other than a a few questions like yours.

Check the following threads for useful discussion:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/626915-hard-drive-caddy-series-7-a.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...00z7c-s01us-laptop-i7-3615qm-650m-review.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...ies-7-chronos-np700z5a-disassembly-guide.html

Also, you can try Googling site:notebookreview.com/samsung np770z7e optical bay caddy to see what else comes up.

 

No problems here, same battery life as stock, but much better performance Make sure to uninstall previous AMD driver first. And you may get an 'installer stopped working' error during install, ignore it, everything installs properly happened on my previous laptop too for whatever reason...

 

Considering buying one of these and in that regard would like to tap into the collective intelligence.

I need a matte screen, do you think there is a risk that Samsung will discontinue matte screens with the imminent Haswell refresh?

Would appreciate any opinion.

 

@Doffe
The question is will there be a Haswell version. I waiting for one since the Ativ 8 was introduced.

@collective
Because there doesn't seem to be a Haswell version any time soon, I am thinking about buying the ATIV Book 8 870Z5E X04 with the matte, non touch, screen here in Europe. It is also finally available at a store which switches the HDD to SSD without voiding the warranty.
But there are still some questionmarks in my head. Is the USB HDD standby issue still present in the Ativ 8? How difficult is it to do a clean Win 8.1 install? Do I only need Samsung utility to download all the drivers or would you recommend to get some directly from the manufacturer of the component?

 

The wifi signal on this laptop is really bad. I tried everything I read in the first post of this thread but nothing seems to change that condition.

I have two wifi hotspots I connect frequently to. On both I have probems:
On wifi A really often the speed gets really slow(<<1Mbit/s) and then suddenly speeds up again. I am using 2.4GHz and 802.11b .

On wifi B the (internet-)speed is as fast as on other laptops but I get a signal strength of around -80dBm and I am just 5 meters and 2 really thin walls away from the hotspot. Another problem I am experiencing is that the number of wifi connections I find on this laptop is only 3 whereas I found about 12 wifis on my 5 year old laptop and my phone and nexus 7. here I am using 5GHz and 802.11n.

Actually I think the problem has nothing to do with bad drivers(at least not in my case). The Problem on wifi B also occures when I boot from a live Ubuntu stick(didnt try wifi A on ubuntu).

So, what shall I do? I am thinking about swapping out the 6235 for a better wifi card. I read that the 6235 has integrated bluetooth(is this correct?). i use bluetooth every day, therefore the new wifi card has to also have bluetooth. Are there any pcie mini cards you can suggest so me? I dont care too much about 802.11ac, but i guess its nice to have for futureproofing.

Is anyone experiencing similar problems? Is there anything wrong with my wifi card or the antennas .?

 

I'm on the same boat, since the Chronos 770/780, and I had actually decided to buy an 870 before the Christmas holidays. I was waiting for a small price drop (for 3 days this laptop had a crazy price over here, but unfortunately I missed that offer) and during this period I have noticed the following: Despite the fact that this laptop is a bestseller and the stock is rapidly reduced, the stock is not replenished!
I have seen this only once, when the 770 was retired for the 870 to take its place.
Unofurtunately this is just an indication and nothing solid, but still I don't think they wouldn't stock a bestseller laptop right before Christmas. I'm alsmost sure now we'll see a successor quite soon (CES 2014?).
In short: If you absolutely need a new PC this Christmas get one while stocks last, otherwise, I think the Haswell update is close.

P.S. Samsung please, after the AMD driver support massacre, put a 765M in the new one

 

The new Haswell version has a slower CPU (4702hq) and battery life is already great - why wait?

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

Also no 765M ( it has a 750M )

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

Any link for this info? Source?

 

Apparently it is showing up on some UK websites. There is a thread on this forum titled "How long until a Haswell Series 7 Chronus' that was just updated with this info...

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

Does it seems so or 13.10 drivers don't work with 770Z5E ?(Under win8)

 

After following this model for quite a while I have a feeling that Samsung tries everything in its power to kill its potential. Screen issues with Chronos, driver issues with AMD, wifi module, 750M instead of 765. Etc.

I would speculate that it could have reclaimed a fair share of MBP market if done right.

 

Does any body know where i could acquire a new keyboard for the ativ book 8 . I am planning to the buy the Ativ book 8 but the laptop will be equipped with a German keyboard, while i need a International/US keyboard. changing it myself with complete new one or just some keys is no problem for me.

i could not find a international keyboard or keys for the ativ book 8 on the internet, anybody got some ideas?

 

This may sound like an odd request, but can someone with a series 7 chronos that has the 8850m 2gb ddr3 video card dump his bios and extract the vbios(or just pm the dumped bios to me, i could probably extract it). I need the vbios for a crazy project and the samsung bios update program doesnt even include the full bios, just the modules to be updated. This is the only laptop that contain the 8850m with ddr3 memory, and its bios the only shot on getting the right vbios for the project.

 

Thanks, man. I installed the 13.9 via your link and indeed the performance improvement in games is around 30%. However I did not uninstall the previous AMD (default driver) - despite this I cannot notice any problems, everything seems to be working just fine. The only thing - once installation completed in the log file it told me about some errors during installation, but obviously I cannot see that these errors manifest themselves in real life/usage. Is there anything I should bee aware of because I did not uninstall the previous driver?

Just a small update from my experience with Ativ book 8 (matte screen) - I ordered it in my home country, Ukraine, and the first version delivered to my home came with a dead pixel I immediately asked to give me another model, and in 2 more days (delivery in Ukraine is typically done to your door by a currier and is free of charge). The second version seems to be fine - absolutely gorgeous screen (compared to my previous Asus n43sn glare type). I am impressed with the sound system too - expected it to be not better than Asus Bang & Olufsen speakers, however it is in fact noticeably better with some bass audible). HDD is a disappointment, that's true - not only it is slow (5.9 in Windows performance rating) but also the most audible component when I use the silent mode. I am considering SSD upgrade in half year or more

for those who are waiting for the Haswell model - I do not understand why you are waiting for that so much - according to all tests the ivy bridge model is only slower by a tiny bit, however its maximum operating temperature is 105 not 100 as in Haswell - that's quite important I believe since I know that some competitor notebooks have a CPU throttling problem (Lenovo y510p or Asus N550JV) - might be because under load (gaming) they operate in the temperatures much closer to the maximum CPU limits. Also if the refreshed model will come with Nvidia 750M - that's a big downgrade compared to AMD's 8870. 765 would be nice though

 

It will definitely be faster than the 1TB 5400rpm drive that is installed at the factory. However, most of that speed improvement will be due to the fact that most SSHDs are 7200rpm, not due to the 8GB of flash storage in the drive. Also, due to the higher rotation speed your power consumption will likely increase a bit, meaning shorter battery run times.

Honestly, unless you need large amounts of storage or you find a really good deal on an SSHD that will fit, I'd skip it and go straight to SSD. For the price difference the performance gains are outstanding. I have a 250GB SSD in mine, but I have multiple computers and don't need a great deal of storage space.

 

might be an odd question, but have you set the wireless adapter to high performance mode in advanced Power Options?

 

I was waiting for the Haswell update, mainly hoping for an Nvidia 760 or (even better) the amazing 765. Not because the 8870 is bad, but because of the AMD driver support. However, the 750 that appears in the british websites is definitely a downgrade even if it's the DDR5 version. A 750 will never be able to surpass ~3000 3dMark11 points, while the 8870 easily goes now to 3400-3500. Also for CAD, AMD is infinetly superior. Moreover the 4702HQ is according to the Notebookcheck review of XPS 15 around 3% slower than the 3635QM. In total: A disappointing update and what is worse is that is might have a QHD screen (for me a BIG problem - thanks Apple for starting this idiotic trend)

All things considered... I pulled the trigger for the 870 a couple of minutes ago and I'm picking it up tomorrow morning from my local store (I just booked it online). I think it's a lot of laptop for 880Euros...
I'll keep you updated after installing the 500 Gb EVO that I also ordered

 

Hey guys I have the ativ book 8 with an 8870m card. I'm a hardcore WoW player and so far I've only had minor success with the 13.6 beta driver, every other driver I've tried has underperformed badly.

Does anyone here know of a driver that enables the laptop to run wow perfectly? Would be a huuuuge help!

 

In my opinion the Haswell version is a downgrade not an upgrade...

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk