Introducing The 2013 Series 7 Chronos with AMD HD8870M!

I'm looking for a new notebook quite a while now, but nothing was able to fullfill my wishlist. The new 770Z5E is the closest i have seen till now (<=2.3kg with at least 650M GT GPU Niveau). But i'm a bit concerned with 2 problems: I can't put in HDD+SDD and it seems i have to wait for the new WD series for a serious Hybrid HDD. The Samsung Momentus series has too limited storage and Flash imho.
But mainly i'm concerned with heat. I havn't seen any gaming notebook that isnt getting throtteling problems because of dusty fans after serveral month. Ofc, you can improve things a bit with compressed air, but it seems like the 770Z5E has throtteling issues right from the start ? On the other hand, the fan is pretty silent - is it possible to turn it up a bit ? And how accessible is the fan for compressed air cleaning ?

 

Is there a reason why you just can't pop in an SSD and install Win 8 Pro?

 

As well, in the user guide it states that you can open the laptop to replace the hard drive.

 

appears as though the same questions are being asked regarding the HD to SSD swap, someone should make a quick video tutorial if they have a chance.

 

Because the license key is embedded in the BIOS and will be read by Windows 8 install, the installation will identify that the PC was provided with Windows 8 [Standard] (the install media is identical, it's the key which defines what can/can't be used).

There are a few ways around this, but if you already have a valid key for 8 Pro, it's easier just to change the key on the installation that came with the laptop - that way all the drivers provided by Samsung are already there. To do that, go to the start screen, type "add features" and click "Settings", click "Add features to Windows 8", then "I already have a product key", simply enter the key you already own and watch as Windows 8 automagically updates itself!

 

Great, thank you. I'm considering getting this notebook and adding in this SSD Buy SAMSUNG 840 MZ-7TD500BW 2.5" SATA III SSD - 500 GB | Free Delivery | Currys. Any reason this shouldn't do the job? Unfortunately I cannot stretch to the 840 pro and need the 500gb.

 

I had no problems getting an SSD with Win 8 Pro to work without doing any of this. I just installed Win 8 Pro on an SSD (different computer), popped in the SSD and it booted right up.

The only issues I am having is that the display brightness does not work through the Fn key or through the display setting in Windows. It also appears that most of the Fn keys do not work, volume works though. Is there a way to get this working? And I also am concerned that the switchable graphics will not work and haven't tested that part yet. My assumption is that these may not be working due to not having specific Samsung drivers/software installed and Iam not sure at this point if it is possible to install them separately.

 

I want to buy that one too. I'm wondering too whether that's a good ssd. I couldn't find a cheaper 500+ gb ssd. Less than 500 gb is just too little for me and other 500gb ones were at least €70 more.

 

The reviews here: Samsung 500GB 840 Series Basic SSD - Solid State Drive - MZ-7TD500BW - Scan.co.uk seem pretty good. Most complaints seem to be the price, which I thought was pretty reasonable anyway.

 

Installing on a different computer would get round the issue, so that's clever - but then you have items left over from the old installation, all the drivers from the old machine, etc etc - not really a great workaround, especially if you have a genuine license key! You might be able to get all the sensors and controls working again by installing Samsung SW Update, which is available from the support pages on the Samsung website for these models. Work through installing the Samsung drivers and tools, one of them controls this (not sure which one though).

 

Ahh, OK, then it does makes sense. I just see this more as a data manipulation machine than for large scale data entry. It's fine, and they can be reprogrammed as needed too.
I do find distributing use across the touchscreen, in addition to mouse, touchpad, and keyboard makes the NP8705xE (best buy) machine a very good ergodynamic choice for anyone who must interface with the computer thousands of times per day.
Hoping to attach it with a Leap here soon

 

I'm going to give that a try and see how it works. But the old drivers and whatnot really isn't an issue. If it was Windows 95, even XP I would be concerned but not today. But also I'm not worried about the genuine key, I would otherwise have one just laying around not being used but would be a valid point on using the one that came with the system. I still may go that route, just real curious on what I am trying to do here to see how it turns out.

 

To me, the best and simplest way to do a clean install in this machine is to follow these instructions:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...es-7-chronos-amd-hd8870m-311.html#post9119608

 

If you have read this entire forum you will note that the majority of owners have replaced the HD with the SAMSUNG 840/840 Pro SSD i.e. more revenue for Samsung. Clever really.

 

I was looking at that but my issue is I don't have a USB drive larger than 8 gigs. Is there a way to just hook up the SSD via the USB port and skip the USB drive step? Which I also. Have tried but it keeps failing.

 

That worked, used my win8 pro key supplied for free by my university
It's used now on desktop + laptop.

Love this machine the more I use it. Since the HDD is gone (and it's noise) it's close to perfect.
Fan stays passive for hours when programming in Eclipse, browsing or Office.
Not even using silent mode. The only negative is when you plug in the power cord fans will start !

Battery lasts for at least 6 full hours with WLAN. Surfed the web for wallpapers and stuff for 2 hours and it still says 5:30 to go

Awesome wallpapers can be found for free @ vladstudio.com, a lot of blue / black ones which are not killing fonts.

 

No doubt about it this is a great laptop especially at this price point. If build quality is high it will really put the new macbook pro costs in perspective. Am I reading the specs right? That the sata connection on this new samsung series 7 is native sata II on the motherboard?

 

The HDD is sata II. Users have reached performance of around 500mb/s. So the connector on the board definitely is sata III.

 

The supplied HDD is very slow in all regards, I put it in an icy box enclosure, made it bootable, installed the paragon disk manager rescue CD and made a folder with Win8 iso contents. When I want to backup partitions simply plug it in, disable fast boot in bios, boot from it and do what needs to be done. For Windows install just swap the root content with contents from win8 folder - then you can boot up win8

Before that I secured the Samsung restore partition on a USB drive using Samsungs clone feature.
It works now like the default restore partition you have on stock versions.
Then did a partition backup and saved it on HDD, so I can use my 32GB stick again and don't need to waste 16GB from my SSD for Samsung garbage

Pressing F4 without a repair partition does nothing, it just boots Windows as usual.

Here are some SSD benches for Samsung 840 pro:

 

I found that the fans kept spinning on mains power after running a windows update, might have been a coincidence, but I think it over-wrote some of the drivers. I did a full re-install and the problem went away, fans hardly ever spin now unless I'm running CPU or GPU intensive programs, and even then only after what I would consider an acceptable amount of time to get warm. Might be worth a try if you have the ability to reinstall (or maybe remove and reinstall the Samsung graphics/other drivers and see if it goes away - it's not normal for them to spin all the time on mains.

 

I can confirm that the supplied HDD is Sata II but that the Mobo interface is SATA III.

 

Yep, setting was bad. It wasn't set to passive in win8 energy profile (Samsung) when PSU is connected.
Fans still start spinning when I plug it in but stop after 20 seconds and go passive.
Now it's silent most of the time

Best is to set up all you need and do a partition backup before you install non-basic software.

 

Yes, there has been nothing in the US yet as far as I can tell.

Is the 15.6" model with 8870m available in Canada and Europe now? Is Samsung re-branding this model the "Ativ Book 8"? (The Chronos sounded much better IMO.)

 

I still think you might have a problem - I have just checked my Samsung power profile, and on battery is set to Passive, but Plugged in is set to Active and i still get no fans unless the machine is being pushed to perform!

 

In Europe it is. In Germany, France, UK, Italy and probably some other countries.

It's the series 7 chronos, only difference is it's black and probably with an SSD.

 

Got two new links for you guys I found today.....

Amazon.com: Samsung ATIV Book 6 15.6-Inch Full HD Touchscreen Laptop (Mineral Ash Black): Computers & Accessories

Series 7 15.6


Amazon calling it the ativ book 6 interesting

 

This is the one I've installed into this laptop and it worked fine and the performance matches the specs nicely.

 

That's exactly what I did and it worked out perfectly. You just need to install all the necessary drivers using SW Update and Windows Update skipping all the bloatware (the memory caching Samsung app - cannot remember it's name, the hard-drive specific apps, etc.). All the F-keys then work exactly like they did with the original hard drive.

 

Ativ book 6 is a different laptop
http://pci34.fishingtree.com/nike2/strategy/670Z5E/

 

It is possible to install clean Windows 8 Pro on the new SSD preserving all the necessary, and only necessary, Samsung drivers/software and end up with fully functional machine with nothing but the stuff you wanted to install on it and nothing you did not want. If you are interested, you can find my very first post in this forum for the steps.

 

the one on amazon has the same specs as the best buy chronos

 

Hi everyone! I would ask you something to clarify my doubts about a pair of issues i was reading about this laptop (NP770Z5E):
- throttling issue: i know what it is used to (to prevent heating and stuff), what i dont know is if this throttling can be disabled via bios, or maybe some update in the future, (i think about assassin's creed 3, maybe some patch to fix its problem with this game, and other games too, due to throttling);
- UEFI issue;
- centrino advanced n-6235: this issue i discovered by my self, because i bought a series 9 np900x4c (wich have the same wifi card) for my little brother, and i seen that the wifi range is very, very low.. is this due to bad wifi card quality? In my current notebook i have an Intel wifi link 5100 agn, and is a very powerful wifi adapter, 5 years old; i cant believe this new 6235 get less wifi range than my old 5100.
Thanks

 

I started some tests regarding throttling. Tools used: Furmark, Prime95, Realtemp, CPU-Z

1. With just Prime95 CPU stays constantly @3,2 ghz if under 80°C. After few minutes it goes up to 83°C, limiting CPU to 2,4ghz mostly still jumping up and down to 3,2ghz.

2. Furmark only utilizes GPU to 100% if it stays below 70°C. Hitting 71°C GPU is slowed down to 86%, jumping up and down to 100%. Heats up pretty fast to 70°C but won't go to 72°C+. 70°C for GPU is nothing ! Demanding GPU games will kill this machine.

3. Furmark + Prime95: CPU mostly stays at 2,4ghz and throttles down to 1,2ghz pretty often, max temp seen is 87°C. GPU moves between 20%-60% in furmark with max 77°C

So, what kills this machines FPS are the decisions made and bad (static!) balance between GPU and CPU usage. You can't let the GPU go higher if CPU is under heavy load because it will add to CPU heat and lead to overheating. On the other side, Samsungs detection sucks if there is no CPU usage the GPU still gets limited ! This means sometimes you will see the real power of HD8870 and sometimes you won't. The more GPU based a game is, the worse it gets. I hope they fix this soon by BIOS updates or something.

PSU Label states 19V @ 4,74A, that gives us a max. of 90W !
It gets hot where the power connector is but stays cool on the other side.

Power draw with furmark only test 68W
Power draw with prime95 only 75W
Power draw with prime+fur 88W - drops down to 78W when throttling kicks in (in few seconds)
Power draw IDLE on 100% charge: 15W

It's definitly limited both ways, heat and PSU while the PSU won't give more than 88W.
GPU uses 68-15 = 53W @100%
CPU uses 75-15 = 60W @100%

PSU should have 53+60+15 = 130W to not limit anything.
But since the heat turns into an problem, 90W+ makes only sense for short period power boosts while the hardware is below 80°C.

I bet in games, where you hit demanding scenes occasionaly, it will mess up your frames due to PSU shortage. The more constant the FPS are, the better benchmarks should be - if not exceeding heat anyway. Will test some gaming now, starting with Crysis and Skyrim. Shouldn't take long, im behind 100mbit

Conclusion: not a gaming machine but good enough for more than casual stuff. A lot of possible performance is ruined by stupid decisions made by Samsung, PSU beeing the worst and unfixable problem.

/edit
damn, black is really black on this thing

 

May I ask you how did you measure the power consumption?

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

Any chance you can dig into the machine and apply some better thermal paste, to bring the temps down a few degrees? Also, how difficult would a PSU upgrade be? Just curious.

 

Given that the WiFi on my NP900X3B (Intel 6230) is better than on my NP900X4C (Intel 6235) I have to wonder whether there are some unfixed bugs on the newer card. However, the fundamental problem with the Series 9 and the Series 7 is that the antennae are along the back of the chassis between the hinges where shielding from other metal reduces performance compared with having the antennae along the top edge of the display (but needs more thickness and plastic cover which these notebooks don't offer).

I suspect that Samsung have coded some rules into the BIOS to limit the maximum power based on heat dissipation capacity. Remember that this is an exceptionally thin chassis so, most likely, there are compromises somewhere relative to the full potential of a thick chassis with big fans and a bigger PSU. It's likely the chassis will carry over to the Haswell platform which will probably provide more performance within the same thermal envelope.

John

 

Plugged in the power cord into an measuring device, then the device into an electric socket.
It measures exactly, shows 60W on 60W bulbs and 30W for 30W bulbs.

Now I need to find better tools to log background activity and hardware usage for games.
WLAN is VERY good, hitting wlan b/g of ~7-9mb/s through a brick wall. Crysis 1 already 75% done in Steam - never saw this on my other laptop. But maybe Steam percentage is wrong, for b/g thats to fast.

/edit
oh, my ISP updated my fritzbox (router for cable internet). it now has a b+g+n mode
maximum LAN speed here is ~12mb/s, this thing hitting ~10mb over Wlan N is very nice.

 

Alas. Thanks for the info, though!

 

Thank you, very clear

 

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but i have to ask: if we use a new power pack that provides an higher wattage the notebook will stop throttling?

 

This was a point of discussion a few (now many) pages back. I believe the consensus was that the wattage limitations were tied to the computer itself also, not just the PSU. But maybe if you put the laptop on a block of dry ice and bought a higher-wattage PSU... who knows

 

hahah yes, i put it on my fridge! ok so the way to prevent throttling is just to keep it cool? now im wondering if all these tests was done with a fan mat under the notebook.. thanks for reply!

 

Wait a minute...
Keeping it cool by whatever means you choose will probably reduce thermal throttling. (BTW, unless your fridge sucks, the outside of the fridge shouldn't be appreciably cooler than the room temps. It might even be warmer.) I don't believe the thermal throttling will be fully eliminated. I'm pretty sure the benchmarks posted used no external cooling measures.
Anyways, from the gist of the thread I'm getting that the PSU throttling is a bigger issue.

 

Need a better tool than hwinfo64. It won't log GPU frequency to file but shows changes in tray !
Shows always 350, no matter what (HD4000). Or how to switch logs to AMD?

/edit
figured it out, gpu needs to run for this tool to detect sensors

 

You have to run something that uses 8870 BEFORE running hwinfo. Otherwise, it will monitor HD4000


Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

So there's no way to do a clean install on a ssd enabling after the uefi...

 

OMG in the last 10 pages it must have been explained at least 20 times how to do a clean install on this damn laptop!

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

8770m? Are they kidding me?

On the good side, this means the black version will likely be here soon! AWESOME! I will for sure be getting that version. But it really sucks that it says 8770m instead of 8870m, what's up with that? Hopefully the 8870m will be added soon.

 

So here are some Crysis1 benches loggend with HWInfo.
I started the GPU benchmark bat file located in bin32 folder.

1920x1080 and options very high. It ran 3 loops and closed itself down.
Average FPS was 21 FPS. On high settings + 1600x900 it was 36 average - but thats not logged.

PSU used 72W constantly. Looks like Samsung overdid it with heat care.
CPU could even take 10°C more but they shut them down before they can even start.

Installing Metro 2033 to compare to notebookcheck GPUs. Crysis 1 is still one of the most hardware demanding games.

 

So, a more serious test of HD8870 compared to this one with same settings:
Benchmark Results: DiRT 3, Battlefield 3, And Metro 2033 : Origin PC Eon11-S: Great Gaming Performance From A Tiny Notebook?

770Z5E completly destroys 650M results on this page, even 660M is garbage.
It's between 660M and 675M with 44 FPS average ! On top of that, the linked machines have more RAM and better CPUs !

I let it run 10 Loops to make sure it heats up enough - that's csv logged run.
PSU draw 80W power on peak. CSV and Bench results in .htm included in Zip file.

It's Samsungs precautions throttling which denies better results. As soon as CPU and GPU have high load, GPU jumps around 64%-100%. It's ok if you play demanding games for a longer time since you hit 82°C+ but it's bad for medium demanding games with FPS peaks. So PSU doesn't seem to be the problem, never hits those max 90W.

All I can say is that such thin notebooks can't deal the heat at all. GPU power is wasted.
If Intel manages to bring down CPU temps for Haswell, you can except a boost by 30%+ with same GPU.