Samsung 2012 Series 7 Chronos (NP700Z3, NP700Z4 & NP700Z5 series) Owners Lounge

@Energized: I've used my Z3A with a 1920x1200 monitor (both HDMI and mini-VGA). Don't know above that.

@Holian: I like mine a lot, would absolutely buy the Z3C if the price was right - or whatever newer Series 7 they come out with.

There was a link somewhere here to a very thorough professional review of the Z3A from about a year ago. Particularly lots of screen measurements.

Update: I couldn't find the post where that review was originally linked. But after some googling, I think I found the review itself:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-Series-7-700Z3A-S03DE-Notebook.69245.0.html

They later posted an updated review of the Z3C as well:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Samsung-Series-7-700Z3C-S01-Notebook.78315.0.html

 

What you're saying about igfxpers.exe is making me think that my Intel Graphics settings are interfering with my calibrated settings. When the screen comes on or when Windows comes on, I see good colors for a split second, and then I get a blue hue flick on. I thought this might just be how the backlight hardware turns on, but maybe this is igfxpers.exe coming on?

 

I installed Windows 8 on my Samsung Chronos. The problem is that he didn't recognize the sd card slot. When I go to device management, It says that there is one unrecognized device. I think this is the SD Slot. I updated al the drivers, even Driver Reviver find no updates anymore. Has someone an idea what is wrong or wich missing driver I have to install?

Thanks

 

@kevin: Did you use Samsung SW Update? I would definitely use that on a new install like this to make sure the right drivers get installed -- and in the right order. You can still uncheck those bloat items you don't want.

On my Z3A (older Sandy Bridge) the card reader is a simple USB device and doesn't require special drivers (which is different from some other laptops I have). Other usual suspects for that unrecognized device might be TPM (Trusted Platform Module) or Intel ME (Management Engine - so-called HECI).

 

I'm a newbie, so I might be in the wrong place. (Please advise if so.)

My daughter has dropped her Series 7 Chronos NP700Z5A laptop off her lap and the power input is damaged (both the socket and the plug).

I can just about get it connected to power, but the socket needs to replaced at the least.

I understand that the power input is part of a sub-component of the motherboard and has various other inputs (usb, LAN etc.) attached, and consequently requires major (expensive) work to fix. Is this correct?

I just wonder whether I could get hold of the sub-component and do the repair myself?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Hi bobbee, welcome to the forum.

Very sorry to hear about what happened to your laptop. I have no first hand experience with parts replacement myself, but John Ratsey, our resident oracle and moderator, has often referred to the website SamsungParts.com. You may want to check that.

Also, although you are technically in the correct thread, it has almost gone dormant. You will find much more action in the Z5C thread linked below. Of course it's mostly owners of the newer Ivy Bridge model, but it is more active, and there are some very helpful people there.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...eries-7-lovers-heres-np700z5c-ivy-bridge.html

Hope it works out for you. That's a nice machine, too early to retire it!

 

The Samsungparts.com list of parts is here. However, I don't see anything that resembles a power jack.

My first action would be to unscrew the base and see whether the power socket is soldered onto the board or is a separate part on a lead (as on the Series 9). The photos here aren't clear enough.

The fact that you can just about get a connection suggests that the damage isn't massive. Perhaps one of the legs fixing the socket onto the board has broken off. This might be fixable by careful use of a soldering iron. If you can get inside and take a photo of the damaged area then we should be able to make a better diagnosis.

John

 

Hey man it looks like eBay's got what you need. New AC DC Power Jack Socket Connector for Samsung NP700 NP700Z5B NP700Z5A | eBay

There may be something cheaper but that's just the first thing I saw.

 

Thanks,

I have removed the casing. The power socket is soldered onto the motherboard.

It is pretty messed up as you can see in the photo.

I have found a replacement part on eBay but I think the motherboard needs to be removed to fit it.

I could probably do it but I don't know how to take the computer apart.

 

Thanks yjgfikl, I found one in the UK.

 

That's a nice shot of a messed up power socket

I think you're in luck: Our other resident oracle, yknyong1, posted a disassembly guide for the NP700Z5A.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...ies-7-chronos-np700z5a-disassembly-guide.html

Admittedly, his guide may not get down to removing the motherboard. But maybe there is other advice in that thread that can help you. I haven't read it myself.

 

Thanks for that.

I've had a quick look and it's a huge thread, but I'll probably find what I need one way or the other.

Oh, not that huge after all.

However, I'm getting the feeling that because the power socket is soldered to the motherboard, it is not possible to replace it.

 

If it's sold as a separate part and is soldered onto the motherboard -- AND assuming you can get the motherboard out -- one would think it can be replaced. How much work and risk is the big question, of course.

Might be worth calling Samsung and get a quote from them to compare.

 

I've already had a repair quote of £450 (which included a new motherboard, or part of it). The power socket itself costs £2.70.

That was why I was wondering if I could do it myself. Doh.

 

Oh, I see. Well at that price it's definitely worth investigating. If you're not good with a soldering iron yourself, maybe an electronics repair shop will take it on. Show them the £2.70 price of the part and ask them how much to replace it. Just an idea...

 

Yes, I might try that. Thanks.

I haven't recieved the replacement part yet, but it occurred to me that if I can't fit it, I might be able to break it down and use it to rebuild the existing socket; it is the plastic housing that is damaged, not the electrical connectors. At £2.70 a time, it's worth having a go or three.

 

Sorry I didn't realize you were in the UK. I'd say you should try desoldering the old jack and putting the new one on, or at least buying the new jack and taking it to a computer repair shop if you're not comfortable with soldeing. As far as motherboard removal, I feel like it would just be a case of removing the heat sink, unscrewing all the screws, and removing all the ribbon cables but I'm not sure. There is a thread on disassembly, but it's not much further in depth than what you've already done. You may however be able to ask questions about it there.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/632487-samsung-series-7-chronos-np700z5a-disassembly-guide.html

Your power jack looks pretty bad.

EDIT: Oh man I just realized there was another page after your response, so mine is redundant. Eh, I'll leave it up anyway.

 

Hi, thanks for your comments.

The problem with replacing the power jack is that it is soldered from the underside of the motherboard, so it can't be done unless the motherboard is removed.

I also believe that anything soldered to the motherboard cannot be replaced anyway.

But yeah, I'm not paying out the price of a new computer to replace a five dollar socket. I hope...

 

Hi Bobbee

I was wondering how you got on with resolving this? Were you able to get the replacement part soldered on?

I have exactly the same problem on the same laptop. Could you also share with me where you managed to get the part in the UK?

thanks in advance

Michael.

 

Hi Michael,

I discovered that my local computer repair shop could fit the replacement socket relatively cheaply compared to the original quote I was given. (That was from an authorised Samsung dealer.) Apparently power socket damage is quite common so you shouldn't have a problem doing the same.

Although soldering on the new part is quite easy, the difficult thing is dismantling the computer and getting the damaged part off.

I got the socket on eBay:

Samsung NP700Z5A NP 700z5a DC Power Jack pin PORT Socket Port Connector | eBay

Good luck with it.

 

Hi guys,

I'm getting 80 - 85 degrees CPU temps while encoding video on Adobe Premiere. Sometimes it takes 30-45 min to encode each video. What I would like to ask is: are these temperatures critical to the CPU health?

Thanks in advance,
regards.
duarte

 

Did a complete imbecile design the NP700Z7C?

After spending a few months with this laptop, I still could not get used to some of its' features. I thought that I'd be in love with it, given a bit of time, but now I'm just angry at whoever made some design decisions because it could have been an amazing laptop.

First, there is the whole hard drive issue. To put a drive like that into a laptop like this, is completely moronic. It's like putting together a ferrari and then fitting it with some cheap tractor tires to save some money.

Then, there is the mousepad. It has got to be the worst one I've EVER seen. It's basically a regular pad, flipped upside down, just to make it look like the one on a Mac, although it does not work like the one on a Mac. You have to press it in specific places for it to work, only in spots where the buttons would be (or rather where they are, under the plate). You can't even click if you press too high on the right or left. They also put the thing on the left of the laptop, which places it in the middle of the keyboard but not in the middle of the unit or screen. I always keep clicking on the wrong side because I obviously look at the screen when I use the laptop and expect the pad to be in the center. And as there are no buttons, you cannot tell just where your finger lands. The thing is borderline unusable.

In a laptop like this, they should have included designated hot keys. But they didn't do that, going for the FN-activated keys instead and placing the one FN key so far away from them that you cannot press most of the hotkeys with one hand. They put a fn lock key to solve that problem but you keeping that on causes another annoyance - they placed a fn-activated function onto one of the number keys... Oh and they made the little wifi button light up when it's on. Considering that this is a laptop and the light is mostly on, how did nobody consider that this might be irritating to the eye? I mean, the light gets reflected on the screen sometimes!

Finally, they decided to add a function that adjust brightness of the screen automatically... and they placed it right next to the screen so that when you open up a white page, it thinks that it's bright in the room so it dims the screen.

Seriously, Samsung, did nobody test this thing out? I don't even feel like upgrading the HDD because I will probably be replacing the laptop once I see something good. /rant

 

Intel CPUs are set to start throttling at 95C and shut down at 100C (with, I'm sure a significant safety margin from potentially damaging temperatures). 85C is relatively cool and I'm 100% sure that the CPU will outlive the notebook.

John

 

Hey guys, I upgraded my Series 7 (NP700Z5A-S0BUS) to Windows 8 and I got things like Fn controls working. I cannot get the switchable graphics to work though. Even though I can assign the programs, they don't actually seem to work. Is there a fix to this? I have AMD Radeon HD 6750M with the driver version 9.2.0.0. I spent the entire day uninstalling drivers and trying out other unofficial drivers and nothing seem to work. Thank you so much!

 

Samsung suck so badly with driver support for the NP700Z5A, I decided to stick with Win 7 and the only version of the GPU driver that seems to support effective switching. I'd be interested to know when/if you find a solution, though I have little interest in using Win 8 on a non-touch screen laptop.

 

Well the thing is I don't think I set a restore point so I don't know if I can go back without wiping everything, something I don't want to do.

 

@dewgong: I have a Z3A (Sandy Bridge, AMD 6490) and installed Win8 on my test partition a few weeks ago, mostly so I can answer questions about it here. Last weekend I ended up moving everything over and am now making Win8 my primary. (Mind you, that is DESPITE the whole Metro/Start Screen mess and only after installing IOBit Start Menu 8.)

But I must say the Samsung/driver part of this install was a piece of cake using SW Update. I did it several times, testing various choices and sequences (I always do that and make extensive notes). Everything worked every time, pretty much without me having to do anything.

Like you I ended up with the AMD driver version 9.2.0.0, and it's been running smoothly for me.

Now, I haven't gamed in several years, but reading your post this morning I decided to test it more properly. So installed Tomb Raider Underworld and Half-Life 2 Episode One. I know, those are old, but it's the latest I have

And for me switchable graphics works exactly as intended: Games default to the AMD ( High Performance setting) but I can change it to the Intel 3000 ( Power Saving setting). And HwInfo shows clearly whether the AMD is in use or not.

Steam is a mess (if you ask me) and it would claim that I was using the Intel HD 3000 (which it said was an unknown). This would happen even when I set Steam to High Performance. But once I started Half-Life 2, the AMD would kick-in as it should.

I was actually surprised how well these games played in 1600x900 EVEN on the Intel 3000. Goes to show how old they are. I can only image what new games are like, which probably wouldn't even load on my AMD 6490.

I guess all I can say is it SHOULD and CAN work. I know it's not exactly the same hardware as yours, but it's so close I bet most or all drivers are the same. Let me know if there is anything I can test that might help you.

 

I'm glad yours is working. The way that I can tell that switchable graphics works is that when I go into fullscreen games the color changes from a washed out tone to a full vibrant tone in about 1 to 2 seconds. It doesn't happen anymore after the Windows 8 upgrade. Which program can I use to test if the GPU is indeed working? Thanks for responding with such details. I really do not like the washed out colors of the Intel graphics and it's been giving me an unpleasant viewing experience.


Edit: By the way, I used the AMD system monitor (I think that's what it's called) and it never shows any AMD graphics activity other than a random 4% jump or something like that every 5 seconds.

 

Win8 doesn't switch between Color Profiles as much as Win7 did. Could that be what you are seeing?

I use HWiNFO64 to check for CPU and GPU activity. A glorious utility -- and free.



On the System Summary screen shown here, click the GPU dropdown to switch between displaying status for different GPUs. It can be tricky to watch this while in a fullscreen game. I connect a 2nd monitor for that.

BTW, I forgot to mention TRU Setup ALSO only displays the Intel HD 3000 -- but as soon as the game starts, the AMD kicks in.

Let me know what you find out after running HwInfo.

 

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to look at here.

 

Look under Current Clocks (MHz) in the GPU window. On the screenshot you sent me, your AMD is running at 600MHz, which means it's working. When nothing is going on, it's probably just blank or a dash or a low number. At least that's how mine works.

 

Funny thing is that only youtube videos would jack that up to 600. Everything else that's supposed to be running on the AMD is at 100.

Edit: VLC is even weirder (?). MP4 would play at 600 and AVI would play at 100.

 

How are the videos encoded? The Intel GPU has a built-in H.264 decoder in which case there's no need to wake up the AMD GPU.

John

 

I don't know, I'm not too familiar with it. But shouldn't it run with AMD whenever it's open because I assigned it to run as AMD and forced every other setting to use max performance? I ran a lot of things and nothing seem trigger the AMD GPU except for things with videos.

 

@dewgong: Almost forgot about you, sorry I left you hanging.

As John hinted, you don't really want to use the AMD for anything other than hardcore 3D tasks such as gaming or modeling. The Intel HD 3000 can handle most everyday tasks, including video decoding.

If you can see in HwInfo that the AMD never kicks in when playing a demanding game, then I agree something is wrong.

How much have you installed already on this OS? Would a new install be feasible for you? If so, I'd recommend the simplest possible approach:

1) Install Win8 from DVD onto a clean partition.

2) Load Samsung SW Update and let it install drivers except Intel PROset. It makes sure the right ones are installed and in the correct order. One reboot after it's done.

3) Install latest Wifi Driver Only package from Intel Download Center (assuming you have Intel 6230, not Broadcom). Unless you have very specific needs, avoid Bluetooth drivers - they're included with Windows.

4) Done. Test a 3D game.

I can give you a more complete list tomorrow night, but it really should be very simple with your model. If you have to tweak a lot to get it working, something is wrong.

 

It's okay man, you've helped a lot along with John. I really appreciate it. I wouldn't know what to do with a nice forum like this one.

Yeah, just downloaded League of Legends and tried everything on max settings, AMD doesn't do a thing. It averaged about 10 FPS. Yes, I added it to the high performance list.

I just ported over my files and stuff from Windows 7 like 3 or 4 days ago so I can install it again if I can keep all the files. I am having problems with Windows not able to search for update anyway so reinstalling might fix that as well. What do you mean by a clean partition? Can I install it over my current Windows 8? I ordered the disks along with the Windows 8 purchase so I think it might come next week.

 

Thanks for the update, dewgong.

It's good you're getting Win8 disks, that will help you making clean installs. I upgraded and downloaded an ISO for the same reason.

I meant format the partition before installing on it. I believe it's Advanced on the partition screen in Windows Setup. If Windows Update doesn't work (and you do have internet) you definitely should consider a clean install.

One point I forgot earlier: Under AMD Graphics Switching, check the Global Settings to make sure they're not set to Power Saving. I am not at my PC right now and forget exact wording

 

By formatting the partition, will I lose all of my files on board? Is there a way to keep all my stuff and install Windows 8 again? Again, the disks probably won't come until mid next week. I installed Windows 8 by downloading it the first time around.

Yeah, the global settings is on maximize performance for both battery and plugged in. I tried everything I can find to make it work but it just doesn't. My active power plan is also high performance.

Edit: I found this guide on a clean install and it says I'll lose every bit of info on my computer. I'll do it next week since it's spring break for me. I'll go buy a portable hard drive or something. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/ss/windows-8-clean-install-part-1.htm

 

If you format the partition, you will lose everything on it. But you won't lose what is on other partitions.

That is why I always strongly recommend you make a separate Data partition for all your user files. On all my PC's I can wipe my Windows partition and install anew (or restore an image) without affecting any of my data. I do it all the time, it saves a lot of headaches.

That said, you always should have a backup of anything important before messing around and re-installing. Always. Just in case.

Check here for a discussion I recently had with member WSR on that very subject.

 

I'm not super tech savvy but here goes nothing.

Your directions:
1) Defrag your WIndows drive (to make it shrink better).

2) Open Windows Disk Manager, right-click your Windows Partition and select Shrink Volume. I'd say 60GB should be plenty for your Windows Partition (mine is 48GB). It may not allow you to shrink it that much, though.

3) Still in Disk Manager, right-click the blank space and create a new Data partition; format it, give it a name and drive letter.

I'm assuming I only defrag the C: drive and nothing else? Also shrink the C: drive and nothing else? I cannot right click in disk manager, is the create VHD option under the Action tab the same?

After I do all of that, I just need to move my files over to that new drive, correct?


The image below is my Disk Manager thing. What does the 17.99GB thing mean?

 

I concur 100%. I've been doing that for years - perhaps a left-over from the days when one probably needed to wipe and reinstall Windows every month or so after something got broken.

The 17.99GB is Samsung's Recovery Partition. It is best to not disturb it.

John

 

@dewgong:

The 17.99GB is your Recovery Partition (though I am surprised it is so small, it's usually 22-26GB). Don't touch that.

The 7.49GB is the ExpressCache partition on your iSSD. Don't touch that either.

The 100MB SYSTEM partition is the Windows boot partition. When you make a clean install, you can delete this and Windows Setup will recreate it. But ONLY if you install from a DVD; if you install from USB, DO NOT delete that SYSTEM partition.

The big 913 GB is your Windows partition which is also currently used for data. That's the one you want to shrink.

You need to right-click in the lower part of Disk Manager where the partitions are shown graphically. That should allow you to shrink it. (See image below, ignore the fact that I have two Windows partitions). Know that shrinking can sometimes take a long time (hours).



I am guessing you must have made an upgrade installation from Win7 to Win8, correct? That could explain some of the issues you had. It SHOULD work, but doesn't always.

In that particular situation -- since you're looking at a clean install anyway, PLUS shrinking your Windows partition first, THEN copying data to a new Data partition -- I would personally do a very thorough backup instead, clean sweep, then restore data. Whether that's preferable for you as well is a matter of preference.

Here are the steps if you choose to go this route:

1) Make very thorough backups of all data to external drives. IMPORTANT: Make TWO backups to different external drives, so you never have a single point of failure when you wipe your HDD later. Seriously! One backup could be using a backup program, the other a plain File & Folder copy (Windows File Explorer or ROBOCOPY on the command prompt).

2) Disable Fast Boot in BIOS setup (F2).

3) Boot the Win8 DVD: Immediately after Power On, hit Esc or F10 to select boot device, depending on your model. If you you don't catch it, power off and try again.

4) On the partitions screen in Win8 Setup, click Advanced. Delete all partitions EXCEPT the Recovery. Create a new partition for Win8 (I suggest 50GB). Format it as NTFS.

5) Select the new partition as destination for Win8. Let it install.

6) After Win8 is up and running, use Samsung SW Update to install ONLY drivers and Settings, nothing else (unless you know you want a specific utility). Ask or search if you need more details.

7) Avoid having SW Update install Intel PROset Wireless drivers. Instead, download and run the Driver Only package for your Wi-Fi adapter from Intel Download Center. Ask or search if you need more details.

8) When you have Windows running nicely the way you want, use Disk Manager to create a Data partition in the remaining space and restore your backups.

9) Done.

Again, which route you choose is a matter of preference. Let me know if you need more details.

Update: Oops, I see that John beat me to it. Writing this response took a little longer than I intended

 

I only addressed the matter of the recovery partition in case there was an urge to zap it while you were preparing your comprehensive response.

John

 

Good thinking! I cannot count the number of times we got involved only AFTER that Recovery Partition was deleted.

 

Hi there,

I bought a Chronos series 7 np700z5 with a processor intel core i7 3635QM.
My cpu isn't being used at its maximum capacity and I don't know why. The results on SuperPi (31 seconds 1mb) and Wprime (24 seconds 32mb) are way worse than my previous core i7 720QM and way worse than most of CPUs listed here does.

On the energy/power settings in control pannel, I put the High performance plan and set to use 100% of the cpu either at minimum and maximum processor state and set the cooling policy Active, I disabled the power saving option in the SETUP. Even after that, my CPU continues to underperform. When I check the CPU usage and the temperature, it's always low.

What can I do increase the performance of my CPU and use it at its maximum capacity?

Thanks.

 

@vasantonio: Check if you accidentally activated Silent Mode. You toggle it using Fn-F11. You can also set it and configure it using Settings (called Easy Settings if you use Win7). You open Settings by pressing Fn-F1.

Hope that helps. Please keep us posted

 

I didn't know about that. Anyway, I just checked and the silent mode was already off

 

Thank you John and Dannemand, I'll attempt this next week when I receive my disks. I'll keep you guys posted!

And yeah, I did upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8.

 

There have been a few instances of similar problems which seem to get resolved although I can't think of a single fix.

What happens if you use the Samsung Optimized power plan? Also check for any BIOS updates. These should be offered by SW Update or you can use the separate BIOS update program linked to here.

Then run HWiNFO, which has a very useful dynamic CPU speed display, and see what the maximum speed of the different cores is under single / multiple core loading.

John

 

Hey guys, so I got the discs and made a separate partition to store my files. I just reinstalled Windows 8 and I can't find SW Update anywhere. The Samsung support website doesn't have it either. Do you mind telling me where it is find? Thanks

I think this clean install went well because I can search for Windows Update now.

Other than the fact that I think I messed up my partition because I have about 500 GB unallocated space in the harddrive. How do I put it back into my data partition?