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

I'm hunting down too what eat hdd. Yeah I know it's slow hdd and need's to be replaced and so on. But not that slow, and yeah seem's superfetch is the one who cause it. Not like some random process like Tiworker, csrss, or another. So I came acros this threat Windows 8 – performance issues possibly caused by KB2821895 or SuperFetch | blog.bjornhouben.com Witch say's that some win update cause superfetch to slow down pc not, make it faster... It to soon to make any comments right or not, just looking now on it and try'ing to make find rigt solution, witch doesn't include disable superfetch.
p.s that superfetch is turning on it self, at least on my pc, even after I stop it and disable...

 

I'm sure there are people in this forum who partly of fully disassembled this laptop at some point and I wonder if someone has experience with opening up or replacing their keyboard, as I might need to do it..
So I spilled some pop on it around the space, cvbnm area, and even though it was only a few drops, now I have like 8 unresponsive keys, which include t, y and backspace, so it's kinda serious.

I tried everything I could find on the net, so please don't suggest the basic solutions, as they won't help. Safe mode or any other environment doesn't help. Apart for possible software solutions, I tried cleaning the areas behind the buttons with pure alcohol (keys removed), I also removed the motherboard, behind which the keyboard lies and I found... this:



How am I (or anyone, for that matter) supposed to remove the keyboard for thorough cleaning or replacement, if it's melted down with like 40 plastic pins? I don't know if the top keyboard plate can be removed, but I didn't notice any screws inside for that.

So I'm in a pretty bad situation right now, my warranty is void and I have no idea how to fix this otherwise. It would be a shame to toss it out the window or to use the usb or onscreen keyboard all the time, as I carry it a lot..

Any suggestions?

 

Something wrong with new 14-4-mobility-win7-win8-win8.1-64-dd-ccc-whql and win64_153318. I made full uninstall before. Brightness -+ work. Switch of videocard work better then samsung videodriver. FPS in WoT normal. But : r9 m270x not 8870))))

 

That you for sharing this.

Despite the fact that I mentioned it in my previous post, I have to say I don't like the idea of disabling SuperFetch. Unused RAM should be used for caching, and normally it will speed things up, not slow them down. But if something isn't working right with SuperFetch, of course we have no choice but to deal with it.

Please keep us posted about your conclusions.

We get these more often that you might think, so don't be hard on yourself regarding the spill

John Ratsey is a wizard with these things, but is away at the moment. I found a few of the previous discussions here and here and here. See if they contain applicable advice. I basically googled site:notebookreview.com/samsung john ratsey soda spill on keyboard to locate them, because I didn't have the links saved.

We have some threads dedicated to disassembly of the original Series 7 models, linked below. I don't remember similar disassembly guides for the 2013 Series 7 / Ativ Book 8, but many principles should be the same.

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

Finally, you can buy downloadable service manuals on samsungparts.com. I believe they're $12, which I would consider a good investment for this kind of project.

Please keep us posted how it works out for you.

A few others reported the same. If everything is working, and frame rates are good, I would not worry about this.

 

Wanted to post in here in hope that someone can figure out how to get the Ativ Book 8 to output 4k
I just bought a seiki 4k tv for some more desktop real estate and I'm using the damn thing as a giant 1080p screen. Which is a damn shame.

I've already created one thread, see here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...s/751357-problems-ativ-book-8-running-4k.html

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Does not work. Shame... This laptop is one of the biggest crap i've ever seen. Suddenly frame drops, freezing upon alt+tab, ghosting screen...

 

does not work for me either

 

The freezing upon alt+tab and sudden frame drops is what annoys me the most. Playing LoL at 60FPS on very high, but if I change window and go back to the game it's now at 30FPS. Now, if I turn the graphics to low and then back to very high, the performance goes back to normal.

Anyone has a solution to this?

 

I've tried lots of things:

- Clean install of Windows 7, original drivers not samsung ones. Frame drops happen, but no freeze on alt+tab
-Clean intall of Win 8 & Win8.1, both problem occurs

But the wiredest thing is that, if i loop test for example: 3dmark 2006, there is no frame drops!

 

i agree with this, is has something to do with windows givig resources to other programs, but the funny thing is that i use firefox which run on intel graphich, so why would pc drop fps after maximize league of legends. I think it has nothing to do with gpu

 

Maybe it's enough to edit inf files to match hwid with name of the card

 

R9 m270X and 8870 is the same GPU. AMD renamed 8800 series to R9 series in 2014, thats all.

 

I've monitored what happening with GPU and CPU during games and when frame drop occurs. I've used MSI Afterburner, monitored GPU1 and GPU 2 usage, and all CPU Core usage.

In normal, when fps is good, GPU1 usage moving betwwen 100-64%, and 1 Core of the CPU is almost always 100%, GPU 2 is about 40%.

When frame drops happening, GPU1 turns all the way to constant 98%, CPU falls down to 50-60 percent, and GPU2 falls to 10%.

There is no thermal throttling issue, CPU and GPU is about 60-70C, This is some kind of power limit looks like GPU and CPU fighting each other for power.

I've tried it with only 2 CPU cores ( 6 other were disabled), but same thing.

There is a method which ALWAYS solve the fps problem: In power save setting ( not in graphic settings!), there is a Powerplay setting, change THAT to maximum battery than back to high perfomance. It always work for me (WIN 8)!

 

there has to be a better solution for this, permanent, maybe we should write to samsung to make some kind of fix for this, i am getting sick of fps drops, this should be some op graphich, not crap like this

 

Guys, try this!

/var/log/metasplo.it: AMD ULPS (Ultra Low Power State) disable tool

I dare not to say but looks like it works

Samsung support drops the case. I've try to contact them today via live chat. USA agent says " I understand your concern with this issue" then i was told to chat with my own language agent, who does not know about thew problem...

Than i phoned them, and they say that i have to return my device,,, lol

 

i will try this solution

ps: settings didnt work so i unistalled them, now sw update says failed whenever i want to install settings. Then i downloaded them and installed them and screen settings still dont work

 

New bios update P05ADH, can somebody let me know if the 8 gig returned with this new update?

i have updated but i want to know if it is save to buy the ram now.

 

Hey there, does anybody know if its a good idea or even possible to downgrade to a win 7 systembuilder version? got the NP870Z5E with 8870m and am still not that happy with win 8.1. Are there driver problems for win 7 or even worse conditions than in 8.1? And is it possible to just clean install via extern dvd-writer? thanks in advance

 

Did anyone else try this? does it work?

 

It works with Windows 8.1 as well. I set everything to maximum performance in Powerplay, unstick additional power savings and disabled ULPS. I use drivers from Intel and AMD website not samsung ones. I'm on the newest bios.

I have nice fps rates constantly. Also there is not freezing on ALT + TAB.

 

Hi folks - just flashed with bios P07ABU. The flash went okay (used the bios updater rather than SWUpdate). Anybody have any idea what may have changed in this bios?

 

Actually I'm Seeing the P05ADH update. Has anyone updated to this? Is it good or are their problems? Just for the record i don't use extra RAM so not worried about that issue

 

Flashed P05ADH in my 870Z5E!

All fine!

 

Thank you for reporting, everybody!

We're hoping that this BIOS update will fix the bug in the last version, which broke support for some types of RAM blocks, seemingly arbitrarily. Any confirmation of that from members who suffered this issue is highly appreciated.

As for the difference in BIOS versions members are seeing, that is probably from the two different models covered here: 2013 Series 7 NP770/780 (which seems to be getting BIOS version P07ABU) and Ativ Book 8 NP870/880 (which seems to be getting BIOS version P05ADH). Although the two models are very similar, we know that NP770/780 has Battery Life Extender (a BIOS feature) while NP870/880 does not. There are probably other differences as well under the hood.

 

Samsung officially supports this model with Win7 drivers in SW Update (which you wouldn't think reading some earlier posts in this thread). But there are some considerations to make first, since Win7 generally works best in Legacy BIOS mode (non-UEFI) on Samsung laptops, which requires you to wipe the disk before installing. If you install on a new drive that's no problem, but on the original drive you'll lose Recovery. See this post for considerations before deciding, and this guide for the actual installation (including BIOS settings and disk conversion).

Some members posted a few months ago in this thread about their experience downgrading to Win7. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark it, so you will have to search or scan backwards for it.

Whether it is a good idea is very personal, and depends on how much you hate Win8/8.1. I personally like Win8, and am OK with 8.1 -- though I see no benefits of 8.1 that a 3rd party Start Menu cannot do better; and it has more background churn than Win8.

 

Dannemand, I'm going to buy a samsung evo 500, so after all what would you advice, a win 8.1 clean install or an entire disk copy of the stock hdd (properly resized first) that already has been upgraded to w8.1?

 

Still trying to figure this out

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...s/751357-problems-ativ-book-8-running-4k.html

The ativ book 8 doesn't seem to want to output more than 1080.
Trying to run a 4k TV off of it

 

Has anyone figured out a definite way to get the switchable graphics in the NP880Z5E to work? I have tried all of the methods that I was able to find in the hundreds of pages in this forum (currently running Catalyst beta 13.4 (?)), but I am still unable to use the Radeon card in any games. it's BS.

 

Hi zooster,

There are pros and cons to both approaches. I am a clean install kind of guy, but everybody is different, and it largely depends on your preference:

A) A clean install is an opportunity to start fresh, experiment and learn some, and potentially avoid some bloat in the Samsung factory installation (although you probably have cleaned that out by now). But if something doesn't work right, you could end up spending some time compared to cloning a working installation. You won't have Recovery on the new SSD (unless you do something to get it).

B) Cloning preserves your current installation and installed apps. If it runs smoothly, that is a good thing and can save you time. It also preserves your Recovery on the new SSD (assuming you use Samsung Recovery's Disk Copy feature). You need an external USB enclosure or dock.

Cloning gets you started quickly. You can always make a clean install later by formatting the Windows partition and starting over. And you will have Recovery on the new SSD if it gets messed up and you want to factory restore.

If you want to free up space on the SSD after cloning, you can make a non-bootable Factory Image backup on an external HDD, and delete the large Recovery partition (which contains the factory image), but leave the small one (which contains the Recovery software). It is explained in this post.

I just remembered this post I made some time ago which elaborates on four different approaches to installing a new SSD, including two different cloning options. That may be worth a read.

Please keep us posted, as always

 

For 100% disk activity I found out thad it quite imposible to turn of superfetch, as it turns on it self after some time...(as far as I figured some think to do with advanced sector hdd, wich is stock for my 870Z5E-X02) But I also find out that superfetch is working depending from windows experience index(gui in win8). So to be sure I refreshed it by this metod : Windows Experience Index - Update or Refresh WEI Score in Windows 8
And now seem that there is no lagging on everyday use, it sure starts and shut down, slow as turttle, but after that it fine. (It possible to make things quicker if I manage to shut down superfetch manual on startuo )
My score is:<SystemScore>5.9</SystemScore>

<MemoryScore>7.9</MemoryScore>
<CpuScore>7.9</CpuScore>
<CPUSubAggScore>8.1</CPUSubAggScore>
<VideoEncodeScore>7.9</VideoEncodeScore>
<GraphicsScore>6.9</GraphicsScore>
<Dx9SubScore>7.4</Dx9SubScore>
<Dx10SubScore>6.9</Dx10SubScore>
<GamingScore>6.9</GamingScore>
<DiskScore>5.9</DiskScore>
Maybe some one can check score what is stock from shop, to confirm my teory, as I didn't before index refresh.

 

regarding the RAM upgrade discussion, is it possible to upgrade and just not with an 8gig module, or is it not possible at the current state? because i would like to know which kind of module would be the best to up my np870z5e.

 

Omg, I noticed that, after upgrading to win 8.1, now the display shows image retention!
How is it possible? Never had such problem before... How could 8.1 update bring image retention?!
Am I the only one?

 

Same here. Noticed the image retention problem happen a while ago; my machine originally did not have it. It is possible that the problem was not caused by the 8.1 update, but simply something that developed over time.

Are there any users of this laptop that did not experience image retention and never upgraded to 8.1?

 

hey there again, today i tried myself with graphic drivers again and got the 14.4 driver by leekm running. Im a bit confused because its no mantled driver but i finally got the radeon displayed in ccc and my wow fps got up a bit. still sometimes framrate drops when going desktop, but goes up again when right clicken ccc. anyone knows if its the right way to get drivers running?

 

Just flashed my bios towards P05ADH on my series 8, but it did NOT fix the extra memory problem . I'm very disappointed in Samsung, well let's e-mail them again.....

 

Thank you for reporting. Sorry to hear that

And yes, please contact Samsung about it again. That goes for all who have this issue.

 

Sorry if this is stright forward but I have serched for months and never found a confirmation.. is it possible to upgrade my np770z5e-s02se to Windows 8.1 ?

I have the latest bios, sw update, windows update and just installed the new amd driver (14.100.0.0) changing my gpu to Radeon R9 M270X in the device manager. I also did try to install the latest intel gpu driver (15.33.18.64.3496) but that's not possible for some reasons.

Is it ok to try another update or will the screen turn black as usual ?

I'm also not able to enter safemode on my samsung. hitting or holding shift + f8 during boot gives nothing. So I would be happy to avoid another recovery.

Thanks for any help

 

How do you alter your laptop so you can install the Intel and AMD graphics drivers directly from them? Any way I try to do it, they refuse to install saying that they aren't compatible and I should be using my manufacturer's (Samsungs) drivers. Also, by using the direct drivers, are you still using switchable graphics? Thanks for any help given -- Samsung's latest drivers for Intel are a whole 5 major versions behind and that's gotta be a reason I'm having FPS issues...

 

Latest Realtek HD Audio drivers. Download Realtek HD Audio 2.74 driver

Been using them for 2 days and no issues thus far. For those who like to have updated drivers. =)

 

Just download the original AMD Drivers from AMD site. Mobile

It installs without any issue.

 

Same problem here. I started to get severe image retention after installing windows 8.1. But! I am not certain whether it's due to 8.1, or simply because of time....

I would like to know if others also have this problem.

 

Hey Shinji_U. I tried your fix for the fps-bug but sadly it doesn't work like unplugging the laptop in-game does for me. You are using the official 14.4 whql drivers right?.

Also, why use an autohotkey script if fn+f11(silent mode) switches you in and out of the powersaving powerplan? Or doesn't that work?

 

i wanna know that too, because fn+11 doenst work for me like plug and unplug

 

Yes i have the same problem, start to noticed also on win 8.1 update.

 

Now that you mention it, I think I did start noticing the very obvious image retention after the 8.1 upgrade. Strange... I can't think of any reason why it would have anything to do with it though.

 

Is there some way to revert back to 8.0 from 8.1? I am wondering if that will fix the issue...

 

Nice idea indeed.

 

Hello ATnT, welcome to NBR.

Your model is officially supported for Win8.1 by Samsung, as described on this Samsung page which also has general update instructions. You are correct that updating was very tricky in the beginning -- and still can be. But lots of members have since updated, including owners of the NP770/780 series.

I suggest you study our stickied Win8.1 update thread. Start by reading the update in its opening post for context, then scan backwards for posts relevant to your model.

But also, there are tons of Win8.1 related posts right here in this thread, posted almost every single day. If you spent an hour or two scanning backwards and reading the ones that are relevant, you will be much better prepared. Or simply type 8.1 in the Search Thread feature.

My own Sammy is an older Series 7 model, which is NOT supported for Win8.1 by Samsung. After the latest updates from Microsoft, I found that uninstalling Samsung and 3rd party graphics drivers (including LeeKM drivers which I used at first) and relying on ones from Windows Update worked best for me. But you may be able to use the latest drivers straight from AMD, as others are reporting here.

Whether updating to 8.1 is worthwhile, is another question. I find that 8.1 works harder in the background and gives less battery time compared to Win8. And the benefits (including its pseudo-Start button and booting to Desktop) are bested by most 3rd party Star Menu products anyway. But that is a personal choice.

 

I did a clean windows 8 install after i had 8.1 for a half year. And still got the image retention problem on win8 clean install!

Maybe if you go back trouth samsung recovery, but i cant test that because i dont have the recovery.

 

Hey guys,
sorry this has probably been asked before, but is it safe to update to windows 8.1 or should I stay with windows 8 still?
I once upgraded, but the update really slowed down all of my games, so I factory reset back to windows 8 which fixed the problems. Are there graphic drivers from samsung yet or AMD?

Thanks
Keenan