Introducing The 2013 Series 7 Chronos with AMD HD8870M!

On Amazon.it it's just appeared the 17" version NP770Z7E-S01BE, but with very wrong specs as it has a 13.3" screen or i5 3337u

Netbook 770z7e - S01 I5-3337u/ 128 13.3in Win8: Amazon.it: Elettronica

 

Sorry, what false statement?. Anything you need prove feel free to ask for it.

They have different power consumption so not sure if this even comparable. However, I agree in waiting for the Chronos15" model 8870m model to compare because all we have is the review on the 17" model which wasn't very optimistic.

Anyway, I feel the thread is become more about praising than an informative discussion based on comparable facts. I'm sorry if my posts caused any annoyance but it wasn't the purpose.

 

Quick question: Has the new Chronos appeared on the Samsung USA website yet?

 

Nope

Sent from my Droid DNA w ViperROM

 

Quick graphics poll:
1. Anyone with the 8770 from Best Buy successfully notice their AMD card being used? Steam, Windows Experience Index, right-clicking on the Catalyst task bar symbol (before the below issue) all don't see the AMD. The only way I know it's in there is Device Manager and GPU-Z.

2. I kept SW Update because they push drivers through it, I've deleted almost all other bloatware. Anyone download the labeled "new", generically-titled graphics driver? It is a new tile that has updates. SW notified me of it last night. After the update Catalyst won't work.

I ask these things because I am in contact with some email support person who is puzzled by my issues and is speaking with the product specialist. If it is more than just me experiencing this, I'd like to pass on that information.
Thanks! And any suggestions or education that can provided about my issues would be gladly accepted. I love the laptop, but would like to occasionally play a game and use my 3D work software.
p.s. posting in The New Samsung Series 7 Chronos Thread #2 as well

 

As anyone can see in the firsts two quotes you are have made false statement!
You have tried to pass off a GT650m heavy overclock as if it were a standard performance.
Second you have tried to pass 900MHz as standard clock of GT650m, instead is 735MHz!
Neither with Turbo boost the GT650m used on AsusUX51/U500 can hit the 900MHz, in fact it can reach only 835MHz.

Battery Life: your Asus doesn't win neither with Chronos 17" that has a smaller battery than 15", (15" has 90Wh while 17" has 80Wh) also you must consider 17" screen and that surely affects much consumption.

External temps: Asus hits 59°C in stress test on its chassis while Chronos 17" stops on 50°C on the same test.

RAID 0 SSD is for sure not big value, because they use a proprietary connector and low-end performance SSD, everyone can compare the performance of that RAID 0 SSD with the performance of single 840 Pro to understand which wins in daily usage.
Also you are not able to upgrade you storage or repair by yourself after warranty is ended.

I can continue with others info, but I have already published in other post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...es-7-chronos-amd-hd8870m-137.html#post9093359

Everyone can see where I have found the info published in this post:
Review Asus Zenbook UX51VZ (U500VZ) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
Test Samsung Serie 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

 

Here is my experience...

If I go into Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ System Information \ Components \ Display it says I have 2 graphics cards listed... 'Microsoft Basic Render Driver' and 'HD Graphics 4000'.
If I right click the desktop I get a 'Configure Switchable Graphics' option.

All software recognizes the HD Graphics 4000 and says that is the GPU you are using, but this isn't necessarily the case. The switchable graphics allow the ATI card to render frames and essentially send them to the HD4000's frame buffer. So from the software's point of view you are running the HD4000 but in reality the HD4000 is using the ATI for rendering.

My Windows experience Index is 6.7 for both Desktop and 3d graphics. This is correctly recognizing the ATI 8770gpu.

3dmark 06 and 11 both correctly switched to high performance (using the ATI card) when doing those benchmarks. The new 3dmark did not, and I had to run it once... then right click the desktop and pick 'Configure Switchable Graphics'. From there I could set the 3dmark applications (there were 3) to use high performance. After doing this the benchmarks got considerably better.

Running SIns of a Solar Empire - Rebellion through steam it didn't recognize the ATI card automatically so I had to do the 'Configure Switchable' again. Before it was getting 40+ fps in fraps but after it was getting a solid 60 fps on ultra settings.

Running Skyrim definitely defaulted to the HD 4000 only and set graphics to low quality. I configured it for high performance in 'Configure Switchable Graphics' and set quality to ultra... got 18-25fps, reset to high quality and got 25-30fps... further adjusted high settings to cut antialiasing down to 4 samples and disable filtering... that got it to a quite smooth 38-42fps with graphic drawing distance. Of everything skyrim is the only one that got it a bit warm.

So really... you need to try some benchmarks and make sure they are set to use the ATI card to make sure your ati card is working properly. If you have 6.7 in windows experience graphics (both options) its probably there and working correctly though.

 

Wehkamp has it in NL.

Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

I've send my 15" series 9 back and think im getting this. One thing i liked about that thing is that itcould start up in 9 seconds.

1.is it the same with the series 7 chronos...how is startup.

2.i know the ram could be changed easily....what about thw hard drive. How easy is that?

Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

Obviously, you are not aware that there is a GT650m 900Mhz version. I guess this isn't my "false" statement but Nvidias....

GeForce GT 650M | Specifications | GeForce

Where did I say this one or that one wins?!!!! please, get your facts straight, I said to me 6-7 hours is pretty good.

So?did I even stressed temps?

The RAID0 wins. What's new?

Funny that I express an opinion I get called a troll but you expressed your opinions all over the UX51VZ forum and none called you names and, on the contrary, discussed as it is usually done in a forum.

Look, all I will say and was pointing out is that in my opinion regarding price/quality/performance the Asus UX51VZ at CAD $1500 is a much better bang for the buck than the Chronos with the 8770m. We will see what happens when the model with the 8870m comes around.

 

Hmm. So when you click on "View and print detailed performance and system information" in the Windows Experience Index, it lists the AMD? I got 6.7 or 6.8 before that SW Graphics Driver update issue but that was with it listing the Intel HD Graphics 4000.

I need to get the Catalyst Control Center working again, either by finding it/uninstalling or restoring to an old restore point. Then I need to get an old 3d mark! I had only used the latest one.

 

After you have done your first few boots and got all the windows updates installed the stock chronos will boot in 19-21 seconds. Perfectly respectable but not ultrabook boot speeds.

I swapped out the drive in mine for a samsung 840 250g ssd (microcenter has them for $149 now). The new drive boots in 7-9 seconds.

In both examples my boots are to the windows 8 tile screen as I disabled the login prompt at startup.

HD installation isn't bad at all once you get it started... basically remove all the screws from the bottom... then use a credit card or some other plastic card along the FRONT edge of the notebook to separate the bottom from the case... once you get it started you can just slide the card along to pop the back cover out of the case. Then its just a matter of swapping the hd. When reassembling the back always start at the BACK of the unit and move forward clicking it into place. Once its all in place reattach the screws and your done. I recommend using they Recovery app to make a factory recovery USB drive before you start... then just boot from that drive to reinstall everything on your new drive.

Seriously with the 840 installed... this is the fastest notebook ive used... launching excel, word, photoshop, just about anything is near instant. Its sequential reads are over 500mb/s. When combined with the performance and battery in the chronos you end up with all the speed of an ultrabook with the power of a desktop replacement and a runtime on battery longer than the majority of ultrabooks out there.

 

If you got 6.7 it was registering the AMD chip, not just the HD4000. The HD4000 usually gets a 6.3 in 3d Graphics and 5.1 in desktop graphics on most computers.

When i go to 'Vew and print detailed performance and system information" in WEI it only lists the HD4000. As I said, in this hybrid graphics card setup everything recognizes the HD4000 because everything goes through it. The ATI card is only used when performance demands it or if you set an app to use High Performane in the 'Switchable graphics' option you get by right clicking on the desktop.

 

I appreciate this! I had everything I came across set to high performance... whoops. I made a problem out of nothing. I'm off to find that SW update driver and delete it!

 

Anyone in the UK - looks like it's available...

Buy SAMSUNG Series 7 Chronos 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - Silver | Free Delivery | Currys

Appears to be order to store only, so maybe not available quite yet, but available to order and only £1099.99

 

This is great news! Someone should try buying it...

 

Great news, great price and PCWorld/Currys are expensive so it should be cheaper in internet shops.

 

Great
Let's hope it comes to Canada/the US this week too!

 

would be $1660.65 USD and no SSD, 8GB RAM.

 

Ordered and should be picking it up from PC World on Thursday. As for the cost, John Lewis are still advertising the non-touch version for the same price. I think PC World are better on pricing than they used to be... plus I can`t wait any longer! I`ve also ordered the 840 Pro, this should be a pretty swift laptop!

 

Ordered for collection Thursday - phoned to check first, apparently they have them in the Warehouse, but none in store anywhere yet. Just hope I don't get an e-mail changing the date.
Also ordered a 256gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD - This baby's going to fly!

 

Yea but electronics are way more expensive in europe.
A 13" mac retina starts at $1500 in the US and 1250 pounds in the UK, which is nearly $1900.
So, if a $1900 computer costs $1500 in the us, a $1660 computer would cost around $1300, which makes sense as the 780z5e-S01 costs $1300 regularly in the US.

 

OMG! @Greth - Jinx! Clearly great minds think alike - also got the pack with Office 365 for £60 I will have excel calculating a billion cells in 1.5 nanoseconds!!

 

Ha ha! That is bloody freaky! I`ve everything crossed for an early e-mail tomorrow saying its available to be picked up.

 

Best Buy just changed their policy ... it's 15 days as of this past weekend.

 

Man you're an optimist, I was just sat here thinking "I bet it''s a mistake, it can't be available! How long before I get an e-mail advising that it's not available until April!!" - I hope you're right and that I'm way off!

 

I'm only in FL for 15 days so that's fine by me.
Is the samsung warranty global? Incase they get the 8870m version in and I just buy it down there.

 

No touch screen on the Asus. For me that was a requirement.

Not sure why so many people are caught up on the plastic bottom.

 

I went to the PC World store first (thinking it would be there) but they checked their computers and it said there were 2 at the local depot. Looks promising to me

 

Except the price in the UK includes VAT which is 20% in most cases. So the actual before tax selling price is about $1325 or there bouts. Since best buy's normal price is $1299 (on sale for $1199 right now though) then there isn't alot of price difference... like none really. If it comes available in the US at that price through amazon especially ill have to consider switching.

 

@greth lol - I phoned 'em! They said they had loads at the warehouse but none in stores for the moment. Just hope that this all goes well - it's on their website, I'm sure a company like that wouldn't be stupid enought to make such a huge blunder, so I'm trying to be optimistic!

Anyone else managed to get hold of the full 8870 version yet? Or is the UK the first to have this available? If we're the first, I'm tempted to post an unboxing, demo's and reviews when I get it!

 

Isn't the best buy version a 8770 graphics card? Or have they got the 8870 now? Just curious as I've ordered the 8870 which I've not seen mentioned as being out anywhere yet (though I've not read every post on here for a few days!).

 

You're the first, so unboxing, etc. would be great!

A lot of people are worried about throttling, so I'm sure you'll get a lot of questions about it

 

The only PCWorld that may have it on display is in Harrods.

 

Sorry for the double post, saw this after I replied to the other post.
Yea, the best buy version is the 8770m, but I guess the 8870m will cost around the same.

 

What's the best way to tell if throttling's being used? I'm pretty new to this whole High-end laptop thing - my last laptop was a Vaio, but was far from top-end when I bought it - practically ancient now and only just clinging to life!

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but for me this is not the touch screen model, specially considering the price that translated in € is practically the same of 770Z5E, also if I remember correctly I have seen the same price for the 770Z5E in UK.
780Z5E seems over 1800€ in Europe, that means over 1500 pounds in UK.

 

I'm not really sure, but the people in this thread will be more than happy to let you know how to test it

 

Yep the 8770 is the best buy model. I have one now, Love it... but if i can get an 8870 for the same price It may be worth the trouble to swap my ssd and return the best buy model.

 

Well I just read the review of the Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews on note book check. It's just translated really from the German review last week. No real big surprises I guess, but the disconcerting thing is the heat this thing generates. In a much earlier discussion we discussed the bottom if it was going to be metal or plastic.... Well it's a good thing it's plastic otherwise you might be able to flip it over and cook yourself some breakfast. I know that thin laptops geneate heat but 95c for the CPU and 87c on gpu is rather toasty, if this would potentially cause motherboard damage down the line is anyone's guess. We also did some speculating about the low benchmark scores on some games. I thought it was because of drivers and others thought it was throttling. It appears we were both right but I was less right according to Notebook check the 17" throttles like crazy and they believe its mostly do to the power brick being 90watts. They suggested an Core I5 may be preferable In this laptop do to the I5's lower power requirements. Most of the Bench marks on games they tested didn't look bad though. I would imagine that the 15.6" is going to have very similar results to their testing on the 17". Well I continue to wait with antisipation, but I'm closer to the middle of the fence now.

 

It says touch screen all over the spec and information written about this laptop - I can't imagine they'd make that big a screw up - We'll just have to wait until we can get our hands on it - here's hoping you ARE wrong.

It DOESN'T however give the full model number anywhere, so we'll see. If it's not the highest available spec, I'm asking for my money back, I'd rather wait.

 

I imagine a metal chassis would be much better for cooling, as it would act as a heat sink. You certainly don't want to run demanding apps or games with this sitting directly on your lap, of course.

Hope the throttling is not worse for the 15.6" model.

 

It seems that you haven't ever seen a review of Notebookcheck, temps around 90°C are perfectly normal on a notebook while it was performing a stress test.
What do you think of a notebook that with only Prime95 (that means only load on CPU) hits 104°C on CPU while it's throttling @1.2GHz?
Review Apple MacBook Pro 15 Retina 2.3 GHz Mid 2012 - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

For aluminum lovers, just look at Asus UX51/U500 Notebookcheck review, there are 15°C of difference on notebook bottom respect at Chronos 17" with the same conditions.
Review Asus Zenbook UX51VZ (U500VZ) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

Which model did you buy?

 

I have contacted Canada Computers (they have a NP780Z5E-S02 listed at Canada Computers | Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets | Samsung Nike II High (NP780Z5E-S02CA) Notebook | Intel Core I7_3635QM 8GB RAM, 1TB_5.4KR/16G EC, DVD-RW | 15.6" FHD PLS Touch AMD HD8870M 2GB; Windows 8).

Here is their answer :

I'm now torn between waiting or go straight for an ASUS ux51. If Asus could release their touch u500vz already...

 

If Greth just bought the £1099.99 one which I've also just ordered, it doesn't specify the exact model number, but all specs point to it being the NP780Z5E-S01UK model.

The same shop also stocks the lower-spec (which I believe to be the) NP780Z5E-T01UK, here, priced at £899.99 - bizarrely this seems to be the direct replacement for the older model as they're quoting that it's previously been priced higher, which it hasn't been as they've not stocked it before,

 

They've told me different things, so I'm not sure what to believe
Just noticed that the 1tb hd has 16gb of express cache, I guess it's hybrid

 

You are exactly right.. just for confirmation, it`s this one - SAMSUNG Series 7 Chronos 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - Silver Deals | Pcworld

 

Hello NBR,
I'll try to get some new facts in here and keep it brief. First posting lurker, so please forgive anything oafish.
I've had the Best Buy machine (NP8705Ze-S01) for about a week. Many thankyas to the folks
figuring out the SSD, throttling, 8770, dual boot, VM, etc.

PROS: The screen, 8770, and battery are great. I7 is gravy.
CONS: sullied by the slow hard drive, very limited expansion, and goofy interface choices. Samsung support seems iffy.

So, close enough to dreamy, can't wait for months, will spend other money on peripherals.
Expecting it to serve for several years as semi-portable power.
*Really hope the warranty isn't affected by cracking the case. If so, then SSD should bump up the resale value or create true love.

Expected add-ons/hassels to get it right.
1. Adding a proper SSD or hybrid is another 160ish,
2. another 50 for 8gb RAM (Adata, I guess) minus selling the 4gb. Crazy not to have 16GB.
3. another 100 or less for driving additional monitors.
4. a piggy bank for a battery exchange (but surely it's not that hard for owner to change)
5. hope the 8770 gets proper support and isn't a card.
6. 100-200 for Win8pro, so it's a proper home base.



DISPLAY:
Screen seems to able to hold all or most brightness when on battery, very good.
IMO, touchscreen is likely Samsung's cPVA, something that's efficient. There is a slight issue with contrast variance off center, nothing dramatic. The vertical is great for sharing via laptop. Whether it is 6 or 8bit for color, I don't know, but my reading suggests it is corrected somehow if it is 6. There is no ghosting that I can tell. So, the screen is well rounded and basically amazing.

Picking over a perception of "graininess" while ignoring the glare inherent with a glossy screen baffles me. If it's dark enough to see grains, then reflections and finger smudges are likely obscuring the nuances whatever is being considered. If it's bright outside, that'll blast aside any grain. I suppose I would prefer non-glossy, or plasma, for when watching at 160degrees in the disco. This is my first glossy, and I'm already used to it.
I'll will try a screen to kill the glare, however. As is, I can use this for microscope images, so the contrast and resolution are quite nice for a laptop. I'm hoping it'll hold it's calibration (waiting on a used Spyder3elite).

The tension is too great to open the computer one handed, but then it's still a bit wobbly. I wonder how it'll hold up against using it as a touch interface.

DISPLAY OUT:
HDMI out is limited to 2560x1440 at 30hz for my Dell U2713HM monitor (new, 2560 X 1440).
Haven't messed with EDID, and I shant. Slow cable limited it to 1920 at first. Fast cable got it to run at 30Hz.
Will try 1.3HDMI cat2 cable to DVI-D (hopefully just Dell limiting it's HDMI input for TV, or something...)

Video plays at 2560x1440 is great, even if the card says 30hz, I haven't found anything yet to play that can show an obvious problem. Nevertheless, while I'm pretty sure Samsung uses the 1.4 HDMI standard here, I don't yet know whether this can be overcome. Clearly, the videocard can handle it, and the monitors can, but until I can test a dual link DVI connector, I don't yet know.

And a second monitor port has to be VGA, which is sad. No optical drive because what hip buyer needs one, but they need a VGA and a keypad? Does not compute... With the HD4000 and the 8700 in here, and no dock available, why not a proper dual link DVI, or at least another HDMI? Apparently, this super powered machine is meant to be paired with a TV and a toaster...

fine, I can find a USB to DVI/HDMI solution for under 100$, but that's just feeds the octopus. Anyway, not a deal breaker.


Other Hardware:
wifi does seem a bit weak, but not wretched.
no indicator lights other than power.
no dedicated function keys (but a numerical keypad!)
no accelerometer for harddrive protection.
Ethernet, thank you!
combo mic/headphone port is stingy. Doubt it's digital. Not sure how to get digital audio

through HDMI to headphones.
Keyboard travel is fine, layout could use more consideration for primates.
no mSATA connectors


Thoughts:
Samsung's product differentiation is overly complicated, implying shoddy support, or maybe it's just that good...
Power button where one would typically hold the machine.
Power cable out the side will wear faster.
Exclusive at BB, yet without updated 8770 drivers...?! Hope that improves soon...

In all, good alternative IMO if the 8870 doesn't work out.

 

I suggest to others UK people to wait until the notebook is in your hand (next Thursday), because for me there is an high probability that this retailer has made some typo in description and the model is not the touch screen model, but instead the 770Z5E.