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

It gets hot if you game heavily, if your a light gamer its not bad......its not "made" for gaming, but its awesome at it (just hot)

I am looking for a solution, but yeah the heat may be a deal breaker if your buying this mostly gaming. You would need a thick laptop with good airflow to keep this new breed of hardware cool.

 

hmm ya i like to play some of recent games... that might be a problem

i had 3 laptops in mind

asus 56
hp dv6-7000
samsung np700

the asus fails with the video card
the samsung heating problem
hp is an hp and that building quality... you guys should know about it

i just think they make problems on purpose :s


p.s i also hear about new lenovo coming (and that theyre going to launch in europe) with good specs... but my friend told me lenovo sucks... the battery died half an year after, other say it's really slow... and the screen sucks too.

there are clevos left but those kinda suck too...

 

GIGABYTE - Notebook / Slate & Device - Notebook & Netbook - P series - P2542G

I was considering this

 

whats the price of that one? and that yellow cover :s
what about reviews?

 

it comes in black cover

dont know price.....look up the old model in notebook check, same design...got good reviews, good build quality and the like. only thing they said was vid card was lacking for 1080p, but the new 660m will make up for that.

not much info on the net, but look into the previous P series gigabyte laptop and you will like.

 

I would also wait until after I get that mini usb fan, that might fix the problem....because this samsung really is the cats pajamas

 

I can say that my experience of the new dv6 is that it heats up like crazy on the left palm and WASD keys - uncomfortably so. I'm trying out the dv7 which people say is not experiencing the heat issues. I've got this Samsung on order just but would really like more assurance about the heat on HEAVY load. Apparently Diablo 3 is not very demanding. More Skyrim, Battlefield, posts would be nice. Internal temps and external 'hand temps'. This thing is very tempting because its so sexy but if looks are not so important another option with similar specs is the MSI ge60 or ge70.

 

ya that sucks with the hp... they gather great specs but then lacks with build quality... asus is the opposite always fails in some components! I was already expecting the heating problems with the samsung because its very thing and i cant find out how it would expel the hot air lool its completly closed...

the gigabyte looks good! just looks a little bigger than the others no?

 

Does anybody know it the dvd/bluray drive can be replaced with a hdd caddy?
because i want to use two harddrives and don't need a internal dvd drive.

Marcus

 

dont know about the samsung... but with the Asus N56 you can... check xoticpc

 

Yeah i'm thinking.about the asus n56 or the samsung. I need two hard drives and need it for videoediting. So i'm a bit sceptical about the heat problem when rendering stuff.

 

Yes it can. A few of us have removed the DVD drive and put in a second HD.

 

found this article: Samsung Series 7 Chronos Vs. Gamer | Best Gaming Laptop

What's this business about the cpu being soldered onto the motherboard? Does this mean we can't replace the thermal paste? Has anyone replaced their thermal paste on both the CPU and the GPU?

 

You should be able to replace the thermal paste. The CPU and GPU is soldered onto the motherboard means that you can't take it out/replace it, unless you are really skillful.

 

Hello all, need some help here.
After reinstalling windows on a SSD I ended up with two
devices in the device manager screen without proper drivers.
1.PCI Simple Communications Controller
2. SM Bus Controller
If someone knows which drivers i ll have to install please tell me.
Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for your answers.

Another Question, did anybody know if a 16gb ram module will work? so you have 20gb of ram.

i now have 16gb and don't want a step back.
is there aperformance loss because of the dualchannel thing?

thanks a lot
Marcus

 

Max is 12 gb

 

Just ordered this & a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB So an Additonal 8GB of SSD Caching.

Edit: Also, anyone have any suggestions on what RAM module to get for this. I'd like to upgrade it to 12GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&IsNodeId=1&name=10&Order=RATING&Pagesize=20

Thinking of the G.Skill for $69

 

do you guys know if there is any difference between different producers of the same video card? For example the GigaByte and Asus they both produce nVidea cards

 

The chip is same but on mobile "cards" the manufacturers can to some degree choose clockspeed and memory type and amount.

So one manufacturer can have the chip clocked at 700MHz, another 745MHz and so on and still call it for example GT 650M. And one manufacturer may choose 2GB of slower DDR3 RAM, while another choose 1Gb of faster GDDR5 RAM.

But quality wise I doubt there is much difference.

 

for anyone who's upgraded to 301.42 nvidia drivers...did you do an express or custom install?

if custom...did you do a clean installation? and did you avoid 3d vision?

I'm being careful as hell with this install. *rubs his computer gently* lol

 

Can anyone give me a hint on how to disable the 8gb cache in this thing and just force it to my SSD? I can't figure that bit out.

Oh, and how to then wipe that 8gb cache and use it as a drive? I figure I'll use it for pics or something simple. I'm assuming it's just through disk management, but if it's not, lemme know.

 

Go to easy settings and there is an option to turn express cache off there.

 

anyone tested how hot it gets when only the cpu is on full load?

because when i'm rendering videos and animations mostly te cpu is used.
maybe someone can run a cpu stresstest and watch the tamps.

thanks

 

Where's easy settings?

 

Start > All Programs > Samsung > Easy Settings

It took me a while to figure that one one out also.

 

Hey guys, I just signed up but I've been following this forum since paulnelson helped us with the ssd instalation and for that video I salute you paulnelson.
I live in Canada so I had to order mine through the states and my unit has not arrived yet.
I know the laptop can get pretty warm under heavy usage,y..question is about the intake.
Pretty much all my laptops had air intake from the side, and this one sucks air from the bottom. I don't have a cooling pad so do you guys think if I use it on my lap it will actually block all the vents and deteriorate the heating problem?

 

hey rubbo, where did u pick up your's ?

 

I tested the laptop last night with a 12 minute 1920x1080 HD clip from my canon vixia, exported to 1080P MP4 render.

Took 14 minutes to complete, and the temperature did get warm, well let me say the air blowing from the back got warm.

For me the heat generated from an intense CPU task is worth the trade off in the portability and beauty of this machine. If I am coding or doing graphics work, I don't notice any warmth. For video editing and production, I don't care about the heat because I am not going to sit with it on my lap until the render is done. I start it, and go doing something else until it's done.

 

I did a custom clean install of the video driver only. Unchecked all the other options. Works fine.

 

Thanks a lot IronicEnigma.
I bought the laptop today and i like it, put in a new hdd and want to put in a second one but i don#t have a 9,5mm caddy, only the bigger one.

which caddys are you guys using? are these mac book caddy working?

thanks
Marcus

 

Hello.

I've never replaced an HDD with an SSD so please bear with me. I've watched PaulNelson's video and it will be really helpful when my new Samsung arrives. Nevertheless it's a little daunting to open up a brand new computer and thus void the warranty (according to Samsung's website) so I want to make sure I do things right.

Note: I've already decided to use cloning software rather than do a clean install of Windows 7 and all the applications and data and drivers. Therefore ...

Question 1: What's the best way to prepare my HDD before I begin the cloning process so that things will run as smoothly as possible?

Question 2: After I clone my drive (using Crucial's software in the Transfer Kit), will my new drive be exactly as my old drive, including drive letters? So will my new SSD drive have a C: Drive when I first boot it up after I've installed it into my laptop?

Question 3: I understand that I should disable defrag from running on the SSD. What's the best way to do that?

Question 4: Is it a good idea to remove the 8GB ExpressCache from the newly cloned SSD? If so, how is that accomplished?

As I said, I'm new to this and I hope I'm not bothering you too much with my elementary questions but everyone here seems so patient and understanding of the "Newbies".

Thanks in advance.

 

Does taking off the back really void the warranty?

 

Yes, opening the back of the series 7 voids the warranty - that's why I'm trying to get as much information as possible about doing it the right way before I begin.

Here is a copy and paste directly from Samsung's US website, under Support -> FAQ -> Can I Upgrade the Hard Disk Drive On My Notebook?

Important: Upgrading the Hard Drive on the X360, NF310, Series 7 and Series 9 laptops will void the manufacturer's warranty on the computer because you must open the notebook to access the hard drive.

 

Hey mounstarO, I tried calling Tigerdirect.CA and it worked. Really nice service and quick.

 

Then I guess the question is: Can one open the back - to put in an SSD, change thermal paste, etc. - without leaving any signs that the case has been opened.
Can those who have worked on theirs please confirm that this is possible? Are there stickers that will show that things have been tampered with?

 

Thanks for the information rubbo

 

Looking at the disassembly guide and Paul's video ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...ies-7-chronos-np700z5a-disassembly-guide.html
Samsung 7 Intel i7 3615QM Nvidia 650M 17" Laptop SSD & Memory Install by Paul Nelson - YouTube)
I don't see how there would be any sign that one has opened the casing, i.e. Samsung wouldn't know unless you told them.
Can anyone confirm this?

 

Got this laptop and love it, but want to use the iSSD inside to do the caching for the 1 TB drive I installed in the optical bay (installed SSD). This post says it is capabile of doing this with a special driver, anyone know where I could find the driver / software from? Looked all over and have not been able to find it. Thanks!

 

Just confirmed with Samsung in chat that removing the casing will indeed void the warranty. So, my question is, will removing the casing leave any sure signs that I have done so? Are there any stickers or tabs that will show that I've opened it? It seems like Samsung wouldn't know unless I told them. Thanks for the help. Mine arrives today so I'd like to be sure on this point if at all possible.

 

Hey,

This is my first post on this site but I am a long time follower. I am thinking about buying this laptop but the heat issue has me a bit worried as I tend to game quite a bit. I mostly play Diablo III, Civ V, Skyrim, and some less demanding games. With that said, I do plan on buying more PC games once I get this, or another, laptop that is capable (?) of playing said games on higher settings.

My question is will this laptop be able to run the games that I play on high settings without the heat affecting performance? Also, I know this is a stretch, but if anyone has this laptop and also has Diablo III or Skyrim, would you be willing to record some video of it running the games at high settings?

I really appreciate any insight anyone can offer.

Thanks!

-Jon


Edit: I should have mentioned, I have this cooling pad so I'm hoping the heat problem is reduced:

http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-ZM-NC2...XFPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338502407&sr=8-1

 

I have been playing Diablo 3 on max settings, 40-50fps. How is that notebook cooler? I have seen really good reviews for it and thought about buying it but the price tag is a tad high for a laptop cooler.

 

I just ordered this laptop, should be here monday, hopefully. I have a ssd and hard drive caddy on the way as well (i just bought a cheap universal 9.5mm caddy off amazon as i was ordering some other stuff, if it doesn't work, i will send it back and get the newmodeus one).

i plan to move the 1tb drive to the caddy. i saw a few people earlier in the thread mention using the 8gb express cache as a cache for a HDD. i would like to use it as a cache for the 1tb drive. has anyone done this? some directions on how to do so would be really helpful.

 

The price is definitely high but I've been using this cooling pad for three years now and it really does work well. My old computer would really overheat and sometimes cause the computer to actually just stop working without the cooling pad. With the pad, the computer would fun well and actually stay relatively cool (think about 70 C). I definitely recommend this cooling pad.

 

Not possible.

 

I gave in and bought it. Picking it up tomorrow at Best Buy. I had a gift card so my final price was $1335.60 after taxes. I'll post my impressions after playing around with it tomorrow afternoon.

 

i don't think diablo is too demanding...it will be fine for that. I'm currently playing the witcher 2 on it and its demanding as hell...this laptop struggles with that game...i've turned down the resolution to 1600x900 keeping most setting at high...shadows and such a low blur effects turned off...and i get about 30 frames per second...so its playable and still looks sweet...but not 1920 x 1080 sweet :-/

 

Just received this in the mail. Can anyone who's opened theirs to install an SSD or thermal past, etc. confirm that one can do this without leaving clear signs that one has been tinkering - i.e. thus 'voiding' the warranty? Basically, can one do this without leaving a trace? (maybe not the thermal paste...). If there is a problem with my machine, I want to be able to remove my SSD and send it off for repairs under warranty. Please help.

 

I too am interested in how the cooling pad performs. Diablo i have at max settings with 1600 x 900 resolution, shadows on high is worth the lower res for smooth play IMO. It really doesnt get too hot playing diablo, and when i say hot i mean keyboard, the internals are well within safe boundaries.

Still though, instead of buying an expensive laptop cooler, it would be fantastic if you stressed the system hard with benchmarking or gaming and post the speedfan temps without your cooler, then do the same thing with cooler and post the temps showing how much reduction there is......especially the temp on the mobo chipset that relates the hotter keyboard area.

Would be awesome if anyone with a cooler did this so we can compare! I am getting a dinky little one and i will let you guys know of my results.

 

Is anyone getting the annoying glitch where after you adjust the Gamma in Diablo III it is constantly resetting... This game is all about setting the right brightness