New Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US Laptop i7 3615QM 650m Review!

The express cache is faster than the standard hard drive, but slower than the modern SSD. So if you put a SSD in, the laptop will probably be faster if you disable the express cache and just boot from the SSD.

 

Thanks! Is the series 7 17inch smaller than the macbook pro 17? I really wished they launch the 15inch series 7 real soon so we can make comparisons. I'm pretty excited with the love the 17 inch has been receiving over here.

 

Macbook Pro 17inch:

Height:
0.98 inch (2.50 cm)
Width:
15.47 inches (39.3 cm)
Depth:
10.51 inches (26.7 cm)
Weight:
6.6 pounds (2.99 kg)

Samsung Series 7 17inch:

Height:
0.98" (H)
Width:
15.9" (W)
Depth:
10.3" (D)
Weight:
6.26 lb

 

Well I have been tearing into diablo with this thing for the last few days. A few suggestions I have for everyone. Set the max foreground fps to ~ 60. Your monitor can't display more than that and for some reason having it at 150 slows performance somewhat. This thing is only 1 inch thick, that said put it on something that will help cool it down.
Buy a mouse, play the game. Replace the HDD as it is a bit slow and the game querying data off the drive can cause selective stuttering. If you have a SSD turn off express cache, else you will have problems resuming from sleep and slower boot times.
I'd also love to hear installation stories from anyone else with a caddy. EG. Did you have to bend the metal guide things in order to install the caddy? Mine required some jiffying and I may want to replace it.

 

What caddy did you end up using? I ordered mine from newmodeus which is the one that says works with the series 7. I am still waiting on my parts from newegg. They decided to ship my parts the slowest route possible and has been 1 week since it shipped. Should have taken no more than 3 days to arrive to me. Hopefully I will get the parts in today (Monday). I will post the results of the caddy install.

- Garrett

 

With a SSD installed can't u use the EC for something?
Seems like a waste of 8GB (optimal settings/performance).

Someone mentioned for pagefile, though on some websites they advice to turn that off.
Those with a Crucial M4 drive, you guys updated the bios yet?
I think there's a new version that boost the writing speed to 400mb+ instead of 260 (256GB model).

 

I'm using my 8gb ssd for storing pictures to it. No problems with boot.

Sorry for not getting the new heat sinks on and paste I have been running 80 miles a week now and working like a mad man

 

The Newmodues caddy fit just fine, nothing needed to be bent. Pop it in, screw it in, done.

 

I bought a generic one off of ebay for $12. May switch to the newmodus. As far as changing thermal paste goes; I have a very nice liquid cooled desktop, I have plenty of experience applying thermal paste. Personally I would not recommend swapping out the thermal paste on a laptop. Yes you will see an improvement in die temperature ~10% would be my most generous estimate, however dismantling the cooling system on your laptop will almost certainly void it's warranty. You will also have to be careful not to over apply as putting too much on can decrease thermal transfer efficiency (and make a mess of your motherboard socket). Just from examination I would say that a cooling pad may not be as effective at cooling this laptop as opposed to other brands.

 

Just leave no trace that you have been there and if, for example, you need the display fixing then they aren't likely to notice that you have repasted the CPU unless there is a trail of stripped screws.

In my experience the paste should be the absolute minimum to fill the gaps between two metal surfaces (which means very little is needed).

John

 

can anyone tell me how it holds up when video editing? specifically with after effects, Sony vegas and also 3d modelling.

 

Anybody knows about the Europe release date?

 

It's out already in Europe......

 

Can you give links to some webshops? I don't find them...

 

I am also curious when the UK version of this will be available. It's not listed on the Samsung UK site yet or in the typical UK web stores.

 

NP700Z7C-S01NL (change NL to your country code, NL = Netherlands, SE = Sweden/Nordic, DE = Germany, UK = UK, US = America...etc etc...Google!)

Can someone post a clear image of the laptop's adapter and the plug/model number.
Just want to verify something, thinking of ordering one from TigerDirect.
As the supply here in the Netherlands is utterly bullsh...

More interested if I can use it in Europe with this:

universal adapter

It came out yesterday in the Netherlands officially, but I know for a fact that the release in Germany/Scandinavia took place around 8/10th of May.
Samsung is slow at times with updating their website...as well as getting their launches in order.

 

I don't get why the price is in Europe so high? Will it go lower soon or not?

 

It was going for 1424,20 Euro incl. tax last week, but due to shortage of stock the suppliers raised the price.
So the shops here raised theirs accordingly also > 16xx Euro.

That's why I'm debating if I should even get this laptop.
I can configure a Alienware M17xR4 with:
7970M
3720QM
BD-drive
Killer 1103 wireless card
8GB RAM @ 1600MHz
1080p screen

For 1674 Euro.... only downside is that it's so damn heavy and huge.
To answer your question once they have supply the price might drop a bit.
As it stands it's way overpriced for a mere GT 650M card.

 

That's the trade-off, I guess. Performance vs awesome styling, thin chassis and lightweight.

 

Guarantee is worldwide?

If the price will be near 1400 Euros somewhere I will take it!

Arai, if you do lot of gaming and don't need to carry the computer with you then take the AW, if you need to carry and are more casual gamer then I would prefer Sams.

 

My girlfriend likes the AW because it's so colorful lol...
I do travel between two countries, but nothing that warrants worries about weight.

I just wanted a slim/metal like notebook that doesn't have excessive fat.

These guys ship internationally)

1400 USD + 154 USD I'nat shipping + import tax in your country.
For me it's 25% import tax and customs thingy...so it would be around 1520 euro.
Check with your country how much the tax is...
I'm trying to find the European adapter for this laptop but Samsung.nl shows 0 result.

I know the adapter/laptop will work in every country, I just need to find the adapter somewhere.

Also the US model does not have a Blu-Ray drive, just DVD.
And no separate input for microphone, EU model ''might" have it.
Samsung made some modification for Europe so those are things to keep in mind.

In the end it's almost not worth importing it, damn EU and their crappy taxes.

 

Import taxes should be like 20% + 2-3% so 1911 USD would be sending here incl taxes which is 1517 EURO, basically it's still the same price.

Deciding is on you now, I would prefer Sams because it's still quite powerful machine.

 

Adapter
Hehe I overlooked something, you can take out the cable and plug in one of your choice.

Since it's a universal adapter I can just switch the cable with a Euro one, while using the same adapter still

 

I am having trouble OCing this 650m. I put it to 660m clocks and the performance barely changes. I believe, and I have read that you can not go over the stock turbo 835mhz core clock as of yet. The memory seems to go up fine, but the core clocks dont change in afterburner post adjustment.

Hopefully drivers or something will fix this, because i would like to OC it to 660m level and see that performance increase.

If someone has successfully OCed this chip please post stock and OC 3dmark11s that show the difference, because i have yet to see it.

 

OC-Freak overclocked the core to 970Mhz I believe.
Look up his posts in this thread.

 

Make sure you have nvidia 3xx drivers, with 2xx drivers this will happen.

I used 301.34, but I guess newer drivers works just as well.

Test results from this post and onwards in the thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...top-i7-3615qm-650m-review-42.html#post8516780

 

Bought a AW M17xR4 instead for 1639,- Euro...I'm out.
Thanks for all the info you guys provided and good luck!

 

Anyone knows how to install the latest Nvidia drivers on this laptop?

 

laptopvideo2go.com download modified inf file for your driver version and replace the inf file in the install folder.

 

Is there a way to stop the screen from auto-dimming? I've already set the Power Plan to Performance, but the ambient light sensor auto dims the screen...it's got be bloatware somewhere! Please help.

 

Press function and f1 will bring up samsung settings, click on display and uncheck auto brightness setting.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks! + Rep

 

Hi everyone,

I have read through the thread, and I know people are saying that the supplied HDD is 1TB 5400 rpm. Has anyone confirmed this with a visual, like when swapping in your SSD? I ask because I intend to keep the HDD as the main drive, and:
(a) Samsung webpage doesn't specify rpm
(b) Some other sites say 5400 but notably not Samsung
(c) One or two blogs say 7200, but that could just be people flapping their gums
(d) At the Best Buy I visited, the salesperson showed me her Best Buy Sales Sheet on her I-phone and it says 7200 [yes, for the NP700Z7C-S01US!].

Obviously it would be cool to have 7200 but that may be wishing for too much. I am not a gamer; I am an astrophotographer and we practice some heavy duty computational processing when aligning/stacking hundreds of large image files. On my 3.0Ghz dual core Dell, such an operation might take 8-10 minutes (snack break). While most of it is CPU-heavy, there's a good amount of read/write, and 7200 would be a noticeable improvement from my current Dell's pain.

Mostly, I like the 17" Samsung 7 for its screen (really sweet when seen at Best Buy) and form factor (I've scoured the earth for a thin 17", and this has gotta be the thinnest 17" out there, and lightest too). My Dell is falling apart rapidly, so I might pick up the Sammy from Best Buy tomorrow... especially if someone says Eureka the HDD says 7200 on it : ) Please advise!

Sky

 

The hard drive is 100% sure 5400 rpm. I don't have my laptop box with me right now to check, but I am pretty sure that it tells you the drive speed is 5400rmp on the side of the box, along with the other specs. So you can look for it when you pick up the laptop from best buy. Also, if you look earlier in the thread, there should be a picture or two of the hard disk, and on the hard disk, there is a model number, just google the number and it will also tell you that the drive is 5400rpm.

 

I can confirm it's 5400RPM.

1TB in 2.5" are not available in 7200RPM as far as I know.

 

Read the first post! I have a picture of it in my hand and it's Samsung 5400 rpm I was getting 60-85mbs on it

 

Thanks to all. I didnt know whta to buy: Asus n76vz or Samsung 700Z7. Read the whole thread and bought the samsung, right decision. What a laptop! No problems with heat, gets a little bit warm in normal use at the keyboard area, but hardly to notice. Brilliant display, very quiet, excellent keyboard, very good sound, long battery life, fast (with a SSD) and beautiful piece of hardware. Came from a hp elitebook 8560p and Im happy. But I dont play any games, use it for video- and audioproduction. Best laptop I could buy.
Only changing the harddrive was a mess.

 

Thanks Paul and everyone. Should have thought of the pictures!

More questions: if I get a big USB stick that is USB3.0 and keep it on one of the USB3.0 ports, is there a way to designate it for something similar to the 8Gb cache? Or, if I just keep key files on it, will a USB3.0 stick be faster than the 5400 HDD?

Sky

 

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have been following the comments on this thread and based on the rave reviews I bought the critter.
My first question is how can I disable the HD 4000 GPU and just use the nVidia 650m all of the time? I don't care so much about battery life.

 

Right click on desktop, open NVIDIA control panel.

Once in the control panel, go to the manage 3d Settings.

You can change it here to use the dedicated GPU 100% of the time or switch it to a program by program basis.

One of the coolest settings in the control panel is under the DESKTOP tab at the top. Enable "Add Run with graphics processor to the context menu" and whenever you right click an application, you can set whether to use the nvidia or integrated GPU. It's a very fast method to determine things.

 

I hear you. I wished they either used metal and not plastic at the bottom or had the metal finish at the top rolled into the sides. Putting the plastic cover back on was kind of a pain in the butt. Had some issues with the one clip by the vga port.

- Garrett

 

Quick question. Even though I have it set up to use the intel integrated GPU for pretty much all tasks other than gaming, would I receive further battery savings by underclocking the 650m, even though it is never at load?

I can see that I can underclock quite a bit, but I am unsure if I actually save any battery if the GPU isn't under load.

Thoughts?

 

I would also like an all metal case as well, but Samsung said that they made the bottom plastic because it was better for cooling.

 

Probably not, I mean it might save you a tiny bit battery life, but nothing you will notice. You could always test it out and see for yourself.

 

Does this laptop have a 5ghz wifi card?

 

I'm pretty sure I tried this already but I'm not in front of my computer as I'm at the office. Would care to elaborate on the steps involved in the highlighted part. Maybe I missed something. Thanks for the prompt reply.

 

At the bottom right of your screen is the nvdia button --> right click it, nvidia control center --> on the left side of the screen, click on 3d settings--> there should be a drop down list, it is at auto right now, change it to high performance graphics card.

 

I did that already but the curious thing is that there is an applet that shows nVidia GPU activity(a check box in the advanced settings I think). And when I run some videos and stuff the applet shows no GPU activity used by the nVidia card. It seems like it's just running off of the integrated HD 4000.

 

Hi guys, ok I've got a question. I looked at the 15.6" samsung series 7 at best buy last winter but passed it up because of the sharp edge where the wrist rest and plastic casing come together. So how about the 17.3" samsung? Does it have a sharp edge too? Also on the 15.6" series 7 that lower plastic piece was very flexible too, how about on the 17.3? Thanks!

 

Yes the edge is somewhat sharp, but since the wristrest is decent sized I don't notice it. Not felt the plastic being flexible. The only slight build issue I've found is that the screen is a bit wobbly due to hinge design.