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

You can't undervolt the Intel Core i CPUs but you can make sure that you have selected a power profile which lets the CPU slow down and grab some sleep when it is not working. The Samsung Optimised power profile should allow this but a Maximum Performance power profile probably keeps the CPU running at higher speed even when there's no work to do (and actually, in my experience, gives very little improvement in performance).

You can use HWiNFO to see the CPU speed and also the Sensors panel will give an estimate of the CPU power consumption. The Processes tab in Task Manager will show what is using the CPU.

John

 

Is the width listed correctly on the samsung website? Because a 15.9in width is larger than the 17in macbook pro(15.49in width), so don't know how the Max Screen and small bezel comes into play here. Also, is anyone who has done a fresh install on an SSD having the ACPI problem or does the heat level seem to be lower?

 

Don't forget that Apple is still using a 16:10 aspect ratio display, so the screen is less wide for a given diagonal than the 16:9 panels used elsewhere.

John

 

As requested:

Quick gaming report on the Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US/ 650m

This is not an indepth review, just some quick report-thing on how certian games handle on this system.

Information on how tests were done.
FPS recorded via Fraps (Latest version). All games are running on 1920×1080 (Native resolution for the display) unless otherwise stated. Vsync off.
Stats in Bold are what I considered to run at an acceptable level.

Team Fortres 2
(no need to take FPS. Runs like butter.)
Max settings on everything. Ran amazing.
Colors looked beautiful on the display.

Crysis 2 - Level played: Dead man Walking.
Game automatically set everything to Ultra settings.
DX 11 & High res texture pack installed.

Ultra settings + Highres textures + DX 11 + Motion blur high
17 - 21 FPS

Ultra settings + Highres textures + DX 10 + Motion blur high
20 - 23 FPS

Ultra settings + DX 10 + Motion blur high
18 - 21 FPS

Extreme settings + Motion blur high
21 - 22 FPS

Exterem settings + motion blur low
21 - 26 FPS

Very High settings + Motion blur high
32 - 40 FPS

very high ettings + Motion blur off
40 - 45 FPS

1680 x 1050 - Ultra settings + Highres textures + DX 11 + Motion blur high (Small black bars around the sides)
35 - 39 FPS (Awesome! This is how I will personally play it.)


Warhammer 40,000k Space Marine - Game mode: Extermanatus
Settings maxed out
32 - 47 FPS (Low FPS recorderd during intense moments when screen full of baddies- plays great!)


Battlefield 3 (Multiplayer, 64 player matches)

Ultra settings
19 -24 FPS (Oddly, still playable. Hard to describe...you can tell framerate was a little bit lower, but it still
ran "Smoothly". Was able to still get kills. Not choppy at all or any noticable input lag.

High Settings
27 - 35 (Not bad.)

1680 x 1050 - Ultra settings
25 -37 (Again, not bad.)

Auto detected settings
35 - 43 FPS (Plays nicely, looks alright. Could see myself rocking auto.

Skyrim (Auto detects configuration and automatically sets it to Ultra High Quality)
31 - 41 (Lower end FPS during intense fights. Avg around 35-39. Looks amazing on this screen!)

Dota 2
Max Settings
36 - 46 FPS

World of Warcraft
Window mode- Ultra settings
FPS 30 - 60 (Stormwind, early morning - not many players on right now. Avg is consistantly 50- 60 while moving around.Will sometimes
drop to 30 -45 sometimes, although I wouldn't notice if FRAPS wasn't running.)

 

Yes, but no comparisons. I've read this thread from the beginning and I was wondering how good it really is. Pictures with comparisons would therefore be very nice. Does anyone who have this PC have a Mac or another laptop for screen comparisons?

Thanks to everyone who have contributed here!

 

Oh boy I hope heat doesn't become an issue. I ordered mine yesterday before I had heard anything about cooling problems. I guess I'll see once I mess with it some...

 

Yes, we can! You are talking to an overclocker here, who has studied desktop core i7 overclocking using vcore/vtt/vdimm/vpll as well as undervolting to reduce heat. I had i7 920 stable at 4.5Ghz on air on one extreme, while I could overclock it to 3.1Ghz while undervolting it below its VID of 0.96V, which is an amazingly paradoxical concept. intel core i7s are amazing CPUs which can take quite a bit of beating on both ends of the spectrum.

But yeah, my experience is with desktop chips and with motherboards which allow playing with voltages. Of course, no such luck with BIOS on a laptop. I was hoping someone is written a program which can allow undervolting for me from within Windows. I haven't researched this part yet. That's why I said "I would try"...

 

RMClock is the name of utility which allows undervolting from within Windows. I would play with it and update if I find something useful.

Found a thread here and yup, John is right. We can't undervolt core i7 using RM Clock....Sorry, John.

 

Page 14 of this thread, more comparison pictures are welcome of course.
Asus G75 vs the Samsung

 

So it's not a true 17". Makes the Samsung all the better. Could we get some pics of the backlit keyboard? Reviews said the SB 15" had one of the best backlit keyboards they had ever seen. And much thanks for the gaming specs. This is looking to be one beast of a machine. I'm ordering mine next week after my exams are over and I'll swap out the optical for an SSD and run some tests.

 

Sorry.. Seems like I've missed one page. Maybe it was because I read the first 20 or so pages on my smartphone? I don't know...

Anyway... It would be nice with more comparisons, even thought the pictures show that the SAMSUNG has better colours, light and contrast than the ASUS. The ASUS looks really washed-out and bland in comparison.

 

The Screen is top notch beautiful, the gaming is fantastic, the speed is amazing with SSD, the heat from the bottom left side and the middle left keyboard is irritating......im considering return.

 

depending on your return policy you might as well keep it and see what's coming in june for example, hp envy and dell xps refresh.

I love this laptop. yes it gets a bit warm but its on a cooler for me most of the time, plus it doesn't seem to bother me as much... that said, I'm still keeping an eye out on those 2 machines, just in case...

 

I am wondering about the best buy return policy since i installed an SSD, i am guessing just put the 1tb back in and call it a day......or is there reformatting involved?

 

Weird my laptop gets barely warm. Only gets warm towards the back when gaming.

 

Really? Your keyboard doesn't get warm? because the the only part that warms up, the rest of the laptop is super cool. I am going to do a clean install with windows 7 pro in a little bit and see if it reduces some of the heat.

 

Have you overclocked, bensmith0212?

 

Nope, the only thing I have done to the laptop so far is just removed some of the bloatware. And the only activity I have done on my laptop is youtube videos and browsing the web, no gaming yet.

 

That's very weird... Maybe a faulty power interface? Does it get as warm without a cable?

 

What do u expect? He lives in Portland Oregon, which if u did not know is under water most of the year... Water cooling by nature...

 

I was kind of thinking that it might because my laptop is always plugged in, I haven't tried using on battery yet to test out if it gets warm when not plugged in.

 

"Loading the new Samsung 830 SSD up now! Fry's hates price matching online!"

Hi Paul, and others,

I am far from an expert but would like to swap out and install the samsung SSD also. Will use your video as a step by step. Sounds like definitely the way to go.

My question is:
Which one do I get? Which one did you buy Paul?

I went to Frys website and there I found several listed when I punched in Samsung 830 SSD.

Maybe tyou could post a model number or sku for me so I am certain I get the correct one. I plan on looking locally prior to an online purchase but when I walk into the store I want to be confident I know which one I want.

Many Thanks! I'll check back for reply (s)

 

Someone posted that it stays cool when unplugged. I would not be surprised at all that its the power interface, because the back left gets very warm along with the keyboard all around the ac adapter.

 

Adding on to my initial inquiry,

In further browsing I see these samsung 830 SSD's have different suffixes?

Do I want a MZ-7PC128N/AM?
or a
MZ-7PC128 D/AM?, ...or??

What is the exact one I am looking for.

Thanks!

 

Just zipped thru the whole thread:: thanks everyone for the wealth of information. This seems like an awesome laptop.

Has anyone put Linux on this thing?

I'm planning on using Ubuntu 12.04 on this once I get it, and did come across some resources for other models of Samsung Series 7 ( like this), but would like to know if anyone's running *buntu or any other distro on this model.

 

Here you go

 

Crucial 256GB M4 SSD on Amazon again for $199 - Slickdeals.net

I have that in mine.....7.9 windows index for hd.....fantastic deal for a great SSD

 

Another linux user... Yay!

I have it in dual boot setup on my SSD. I use Gentoo linux. There are 2 major issues plaguing it as of now:

1. Wifi is broken. iwlwifi driver fails to initialize the device.
2. Battery life is about half of what it is in Windows. I get around 3-4 hours whereas in Windows, I get around 6-7 hours.

Haven't had the chance to chase these down yet.

 

Is it possible to disable optimus on this laptop? I do not want the integrated graphics card to do any of my laptop's work at all.

 

I just did a clean install and installed windows 7 pro. The laptop runs a but cooler now and less fan noise. The APCI temperature dropped around 7-10 degrees Celsius and the CPU dropped around 5 degrees Celsius.

 

That sounds good. What Samsung programs are you reinstalling? Also, did you reload all the Samsung drivers or exclude some? Still looking at this machine but odn't like heat issues. I am not a gamer but appreciate a machine with excellent screen and performance.

Gary

 

One is the desktop version with the 3.5" Bracket and the other is without. I would get the one with the bracket do a price match from google.

 

I install most the the drivers, but exclude some of the basic stuff I don't use. I think one of the biggest issue was probably the Norton internet security, they are resource hogs.

 

I guess what I and others are wondering is, could there be some background program or driver causing the heating situation and if we oculd identify it? Thanks for your feedback on this though.

Gary

 

Used Speedfan, the temp has been a steady 64C which is pretty hot, doesnt move when unplugged, but seems a little cooler.

 

Dang you guys have really blown this thread up since I last reddit. I've seen alot of complaints regarding temperatures. Someone even previously posted that performing a fresh install of windows improves the temperatures and increases battery life. I'm going to test this theory a bit as soon as I have more free time. For starters I can say that I used Norton Ghost to clone the boot drive of the laptop onto this SSD
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Notebook Upgrade Kit
I then ran Revo uninstaller pro and removed just about every piece of bloatware on the system. Installed Samsung SSD magician and created an unallocated section on the boot drive to assist in garbage collection. Loaded up all of the programs I wanted and set off. I have observed roughly 3-hours of HD video playback off of battery, and roughly twice that when browsing the web.

My keyboard does warm up slightly as suggested by others, however I'm not a programmer and the warming doesn't annoy me as much as it would someone working on their keyboard for hours on end. I haven't had a problem with fan noise either.

 

One thing I am interested in is collecting some information from other laptop owners. In the Easy Settings program there is a small graph that estimates the instantaneous power consumption of the laptop. I'm wondering what people are seeing there during typical usage scenarios. For example I'm using the "Samsung Optimized" power setting on battery (streaming from pandora, with steam downloading) with screen brightness maxed as well as the keyboard and the graph and I'm being told my laptop is using 20W of power. Wondering if these numbers are in line with what other users are getting. Especially those that performed a clean Windows install. Really trying to find out if it's worth it to ditch my cloned installation and just remake the system from scratch.

 

Just ordered this from amazon and should be receiving it on Friday. I can't wait!

 

I plan on doing a clean W7 Pro install on a SSD, so I need some help here.
Which of these programs SHOULDN'T I install (no bloatware)?

Scratch them off with MS Paint or something and re-post the image please.

Note: Mod feel free to re-size the image.

 

Remember before you do a clean install and that is your only computer, make sure you have the wireless driver on a flash drive so you can use the wifi card. As far as downloading drivers goes, the simplest way is to download the "easy software manager" and then download all your drivers from there. The only thing you even need from that list is the easy setting and the easy software manager.

 

Thanks Paul for your reply. It leaves me confused however? Since posting my question I see many show links and they are all of the 'laptop version' it seems? The "SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256N/AM" and NOT the D/AM version.

Why do you say to get the desktop version? For the bracket? why? Is that the one you installed? Why do I need the bracket. It doesn't appear you used one in your How to Video?

What do you mean when you say "do a price match from google?"

BTW Mine arrived via UPS at 6pm this evening from Amazon. I think its beautiful and works like a dream come true so far. I played around setting it up and changing some settings for perhaps two hours and my keyboard didn't get warm at all. Of course I was doing nothing demanding.

I am very anxious to purchase and install a new 830 SSD, had myself convinced to buy the laptopp version / SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256N/AM, But now with Paul saying to buy the desktop one with bracket I need to wait for your reply sir to see why you recommended that one instead if you would be so kind as to expand on your earlier reply.

ALSO: I have a Lenovo, Y570 I believe it is. It has a switch on the front of the case. Flipping this switch will kill the intergrated graphics card completely and run everything solely off the dedicated vid card. ...Easy Cheesy. I see no such switch on this samsung. :cry:

So, - Please if anyone knows? Is it possible somehow to disable the optimus on this laptop? I want the intergrated graphics card to NEVER kick in/be used. I'd like to have the GT650M always in use. POSSIBLE? If so how to do please.

Thanks!

 

Go to nvdia settings ---> manage 3d settings (on side bar) --> "high performance nvidia processor" from the drop down menu. I think that should do the trick.

 

Thanks! I'll surely give that a try tomorrow. Time to cal it a night for now. ...Hope that does it!

I remember when I first got the lenovo about 6 months ago, (since sold it to a friend) I installed Skyrim and it played like crap. Only to figure out the next day it was because it was running with the intergrated graphics. All I did was flip the switch on the front and it became bearable.

 

Paul did mention it in his latest video, but it would be great if he could do a follow up on how to do it.

As for the bracket it's probably because you would have to order the bracket separately in-case you want to use the SSD in a desktop later on.

 

Hey Arai,
Thanks for your comments.

Pauls latest video? Did I miss one? Last one I saw was the SSD install with the short bit of messed up audio near the end. Is there one after that?

As for your deduction as to the bracket if its just for the sake of having it extra in case I would want to put it into a desktop later, ...After reading how hard it is to get the back off and difficult (for me) to swap it out. Once its in the laptop I have No plans on ever removing it!

So if that IS the only reason for wanting the bracket / desktop version?, Then I don't care about the bracket and would buy the laptop version.

 

I'm referring to the SSD video, he mentioned that you can disable the IGP and let the 650M do everything.

As for the bracket I can't speak for Paul, it would be my assumption...best to await his reasoning

 

bleh issues w/image. anyway, these are max temps after 20 min of Starcraft2, using CPUID

max temps
cpu: 78
gpu: 69

 

You should upload to image to imgur and then post a link to it here. It is what I do and I find it to be the simplest way.

 

Aren't those temp within range though?