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    Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C with AMD Radeon HD 7970M/Geforce GTX 675M

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by yknyong1, Mar 30, 2012.

  1. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    The Intel HD is disabled on these systems. As far as NVidia Surround that someone else would have to answer but there is definitely multi monitor support...........
     
  2. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    Wait, so is that why the laptop has the awful battery life?
    because one of my friends has a msi gt60 or something like that and when he pulls out the power plug msi afterburner shows the intel hd graphics is running.
    but for me it just shows my gpu stuck in the lowest p-state...
     
  3. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Correct, we only get to the lowest state. Our overly bright and 120hz screens does not help battery life either.
     
  4. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    It wasn't built for battery life. Bottom line if you want great battery life look elsewhere.
     
  5. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Even the G7A, prior version, did not use the Intel HD and included the same screen. So battery life was well known to be short lived at best. This particular laptop is best suited as a DTR, there are lighter and better suited 17" machines for portable use.

    TBH to feel a bit greener I would have likes NVidia Optimus but I can live without it. Not having the corresponding driver issues is a plus too. That is probably why Samsung skipped the Intel HD as both AMD and Intel have had their issues and avoiding those with a gaming system is a plus.
     
  6. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    wait, going off the topic of this laptop having a mxm slot for the gpu but a strangely shaped gpu would it not be possible to get a 7970m of someone else's series 7 gamer... when on sale ofcourse.
    because im thinking a bout building a desktop later this summer but it would be a far cheaper option to just upgrade this laptop... and going off that is there any way to replace the gpu... as ive tried to disassemble it but always can figure out what to do after removing the keyboard...
     
  7. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    VBIOS is not on the card, it's built into the system BIOS. Would need a hacked BIOS. I seriously doubt they are ever releasing the 7970M version of this laptop, they are a year late on that. Who knows if they ever refresh it, if they were going to release a 770M/780M unit they should have done that already as well. Seems they don't care about it much.
     
  8. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, before i thought it was due to low sales of the laptop, but now i see quite a few people have this laptop, but it is still probably lacking being all their other sales, so they just sort of forgot about it...
    a shame to see such a big push sizzle out...
     
  9. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    How did you get the top cover off? I took off the keyboard but I can't remove that metal plate between the keyboard and the gpu...
     
  10. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    It's not useful as you will never get any other card to work without someone hacking a proper VBIOS into the system BIOS and flashing it. The chance of bricking is probably rather high.

    Someone did hack the bios to be able to oc the 675M. I think I still have that bios laying around but I never tried it out as I don't see a need to oc. I don't think there's enough thermal headroom to make a huge difference in performance anyway.

    Hmmm.. this has me thinking. It would be interesting to see if perhaps the 7870M version of this laptop (the yellow one) would be a good host for a 7970M. At least the gpu is the same brand.

    Someone earlier in this thread got a 7970M to fit in the S01US model but it wouldn't boot due to the VBIOS.

    S01US == 3610QM+675M
    S02US == 3630QM+675M
    T01US == 3630QM+7870M
     
  11. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    as far as thermal headroom. Under Kombuster surely there would be thermal throttling. This as overclocked 85c is easy to obtain in an air conditioned room. Playing though, at least the demos here, I only see about 70c the highest. So for normal usage it should be fine. The problem with the overvolted bios is that it is based on 06aabb revision and we are at 08aabb. Since Samsung does not release info who knows what issues were resolved between the bois revisions.

    A forewarning too, someone over at TI had to revert back to standard vbios but the 2d voltage was still registering as 0.92 instead of 0.80. I've only heard of the one person reverting back so I can't make a claim that this is an issue but beware.

    Edit, as an aside note with our bios I am wondering if a 675mx or 680m would work with our machines? That is even too add the proper vbios later hopefully it should at least boot.
     
  12. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, i managed to finially do a full teardont and replace the thermal paste for both the cpu and gpu...
    samsung did a good job on the gpu but it looked like they took a dump and used it as thermal paste for the cpu, because it was all over the place...

    right now the temps are round the same as before but it should get better once cured for a while...

    here are some pics on my dissassembly endevours XD
    IMG_20130710_174352.jpg IMG_20130709_211825.jpg IMG_20130709_212529.jpg IMG_20130709_212846.jpg
     
  13. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    funny you should mention the problem with the 2d voltages, as i too had that... when i reverted back, the 3d clocks were at 0.87 but the 2d clocks were at 0.92

    and regarding the gpu's, would it even fit? i didn't understand you guys when you said its mxm but strangely shaped until i looked at the gpu inside my laptop... it sort of meanders its way around the battery and power in areas
     
  14. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Nice pic's, one day I'll pull it apart and ICD the chips. Maybe it was your posts I saw about the 0.92 but I remember reading a post on that.
     
  15. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, after the repaste for the cpu i noticed the tmemps werent any better as in they still reached 100-105 on prime so i decided to buy some real legit thermal paste (something like ic diamond) and re pasted both the gpu and cpu and now the gpu dosent excede 82 where before it would get to 90 and the cpu dosent exceed 78, which is well worth the 2 days where parts of my laptop were strewn all over my room XD
     
  16. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Cool, makes me jealous though.................
     
  17. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    Wow, that's a serious drop. Good job!

    I've been thinking about doing that for a long time on my old HP HDX18, just never got around to it, knowing how much work it is. Reading your post reinspires me :)
     
  18. vesayreve

    vesayreve Notebook Evangelist

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    Why am I having trouble playing Fallout New Vegas?
    It stutters in wasteland. I had no problem playing Fallout 3 on much weaker laptops and Fallout 3 and New Vegas are basically the same games.
     
  19. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Just installed and fraps shows 80-90 FPS ultra and 1920x1080 in the wasteland..............
     
  20. vesayreve

    vesayreve Notebook Evangelist

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    Mine is 60 fps but constanly drops as i move forward and the game loads new areas. It is annoying :mad:
    Any ideas?
     
  21. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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  22. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    When I play any game I'm on 120hz setting. Also by default it appears vsynch is enabled locking the frame rates. I can not seem to get any settings higher than ultra so it is not that. I did notice going to Prim there was one split second stutter on the roadway but nothing to deter from the smoothness. frame rate does not drop here when I move at all.

    I also tried increasing from 4x to 8x aa and that at places slowed me to the mid 60's on FPS. I windowed the game at 1280x780 to see CPU usage btu im movement even with the added FPS the CPU was barely seeing 30% and no spiked cores limiting a thread. This is with the i7-3820 I have.
     
  23. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey guys, i was wondering if one of you knows where to get the p08aab version of the bios for this laptop, because samsung's utility for some reason isnt downloading it for me and the voltmod that im currently running is on an older version (po6aab) of the bios...

    since i plan on getting a desktop soon i dont need the extra performance and want to update "back" again... i remember doing this a few months ago and it worked fine...
     
  24. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Are you using SW Update to try to get the BIOS? If so, I recommend using the stand-alone BIOS Update program. There's a link in the first post in the BIOS Update Problems thread to a page where you can find it.

    John
     
  25. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    With Samsungs UTIL for the bios it gives you the option to download but since you have the moded bios it may not see them as compatible. I think I remember the system update seeing it as ultimate version or something like that. I put the exe of 08aabb that I downloaded on my site for you to try out.

    www.pcambrosia.com/Files/P08AAB.exe

    Here is the extracted rom from my system

    www.pcambrosia.com/Files/08aabb.zip

    Edit; Disclaimer, while these are for this system and from mine you use these at your own risk.......................
     
  26. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the rom... i tried with the samsung utility but that merely upgrades certain parts of ther bios thus leaves behind some parts unchanged. due to this the 405 mhz state of the gpu was left in the .92 volts, il try to use the bios flash utility to flash your rom to see if it fixes it...
     
  27. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Hopefully this will do it for you. I know the rom is where he modifies the vbios portion so hopefully it also will return the proper values of the vcore as well.
     
  28. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, i tried flashing your rom which i understand isnt overvolted, and it still gave me the extra volts in the 405mhz state... its probably something other than finding the right rom...
    as long as the cpu isnt doing much when the gpu pulls the extra volts the power brick should manage...
     
  29. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Actually I'll apologize, but at 405 MHz mine is 0.92 as well with the stock vbios but at its lowest it goes to 0.800 and 0.87 at the highest speed in GPU-z. Now CPUID hardware monitor shows when at 405 per GPU-z that vcore is at 0.85. CPUID never shows vcore above 0.87.

    I think there is something wrong with GPU-Z. Since GPU-Z also grabs the screen capture I cant get a simultaneous shot of it and CPUID..............
     
  30. AZChris

    AZChris Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm back with a question for you experts that helped me so much in the past! My son has decided he would like to downgrade this laptop from Win8 to Win7. All we have is what came in the box. There are no discs, just the win8 "recovery" partition. Is there a "how-to guide" for this process or any recommended steps? Most of his data is backed up already on the second drive so we are good there. Thanks.
     
  31. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Since not Windows 8 Pro unfortunately you have to pay for a windows 7 license. Once you have that essentially have to install the OS. There is no way I know of to do an inplace downgrade. If you want all the original Samsung drivers and software you can get the software updater from Samsung's support site and eventually it will get you through all the updates.

    A fore warning, mine came with a BR player but reinstalling all the software does not give this back to you. If you have BR software get the activation key first. This may be true of other bundled non-Samsung software as well.............
     
  32. vesayreve

    vesayreve Notebook Evangelist

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    Thank you all for F:NV the problem continues but its ok

    Also I was wondering if any of you have one of your buttons dropped?

    @hfm

    I dont want to try any mod. I wanted to try "legacy of x13 mod" because stealth suit mk2 was bugged and it looked amazing but it didnt work properly and now my game crashes time to time.
     
  33. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    As TANWare wrote, you have to get hold of Win7 install media (which you can download from Digital River) and a valid Product Key.

    Once you have that, you can use this Win7 install guide. It covers several different Samsung models, though there may be a few differences on the G7C. If you DO follow it and find any issues or differences, then please post them in that thread (or here, I guess) so that I can update it.
     
  34. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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  35. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    Despite my original hard stance against Easy Settings and other latency hogs (as described in that thread TANWare linked), I have to say that Easy Settings 2.x is much better behaved -- and I recommend most users to accept it's default installation. But do make sure to locate the latest Easy Settings (currently 2.0.0.55).

    The Win7 install guide I linked above tries to balance easy and safe installation (using SW Update) with trimming and manual installation of those items that are known to be critical. It's NOT going to be a bloated installation, guaranteed. But then, it's also not quite as extremely trimmed as discussed in the latencies thread.
     
  36. dragonwolf8504

    dragonwolf8504 Notebook Evangelist

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    How do you get the latest Easy Settings? Mine only installs 1.x (not sure the exact version, but I know it's not any 2.0's) A link for direct download would be awesome as even when I go to Samsung's site and select my model: it's the S01US, it only show like Version 1.1.14 (Or something like that.)
     
  37. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    Samsung stopped posting driver updates on their web site. All updates have had to be pulled through SW Update for some time now. Curiously and annoyingly, they don't update the database to offer newer drivers to older models -- Easy Settings being a prime example.

    The latest Easy Settings can be found by using the Find Model feature in SW Update to look up Win8 drivers for model NP880Z5E-X03CA. There you will find Settings 2.0.0.55 for Win8. Use Export to save that locally. It will include a folder named Win7 with the latest Easy Settings.

    I know... not exactly intuitive :rolleyes:
     
  38. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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  39. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    hey guys, i was wondering if any of you guys have problems with the video outs on the laptop? as with hdmi the 2nd monitor flashes every time the gpu core clock changes and if i use vga the gpu seems to be stuck in the performance state and since its overvolted leads to a fairly toasty keyboard (800mhz is unneeded for web browsing but the gpu dosent seem know this XD)
     
  40. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    if with HDMI you are getting those screen flashes they are usually related to a ground loop. You need to break ground from either the laptop or monitor, either not the best choice. You can also buy adapters that will safely stop the ground loop, if this is the issue. Now breaking the ground, IE ground lift, is not recommended except to briefly test the ground option as being the cause.

    Amazon.com: Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter: Electronics

    Edit; another way to test this is run the laptop battery only as then there is no ground, note this may lock the GPU at lower clocks too...........
     
  41. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Personally, I prefer to run my laptop ungrounded because it means that I can use a thinner and lighter (and hence more portable) mains power cable. I've also encountered places where the ground wire in the building isn't properly grounded in which case it can get voltage on it from leakage in other connected equipment so using a power cable without a ground avoids any associated risks.

    John
     
  42. LordKarango

    LordKarango Notebook Enthusiast

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    Wait so is the ground loop due to the laptop power supply or the grounding of the house? as im planning to build a new rig/ desktop and the screen randomly flashing is going to be fairly annoying...
     
  43. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    Having done home and light industrial electrical work for many moons before working for a Telco I can only say one thing here, do this at your own risk. Disclaimer in place, yes you are right with equipment such as this where there is a battery in the power loop to isolate the user and almost all bricks are plastic non conductive covered to prevent electrical shock. So this is a fairly safe risk especially where an UPS is in play too. Over the boards though I just can never bring myself to give this advice only the proper CODE advice.

    This is a hard call just over the net, you would need to test them. Again with disclaimer in place, if there is an issue run the desktop and monitor behind an UPS (both on the battery backup) and lift one of the grounds if there is still an issue.

    Edit off topic but those 3-2 prong adapters usually have a tab for the outlet plate screw. This is the ground tab meant to ground the plug to the outlet so that either is (very old wiring) run too by BX wiring using the case then as a ground or hopefully grounded with romex. So these are not being used to code unless you use that ground tab properly.

    http://www.amazon.com/45086-3-Prong-2-Prong-Electrical-Adapter/dp/B00166TT3G
     
  44. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    You can sometimes get stray current flowing round in a loop between different equipment. It's called a ground loop or hum loop. See this explanation.

    I would hope that a good electrician should make sure the ground system works properly. However, this isn't always the case.

    I'm only stating my own preference and, so far, I've survived. However, this discussion reminds me of a colleague in Egypt over 25 years ago who had to provide a separate ground wire into his garden from a desktop computer in order to stop getting shocks from it.

    John
     
  45. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    LOL, but it is true with the old substandard wiring. Yes we would all hope a good electrician would have originally placed proper grounds but real world this is not always the case. Would be nice if it were. Just watch some of these renovation shows and again trust me real world can be MUCH worst..................
     
  46. vesayreve

    vesayreve Notebook Evangelist

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    Does the touchpad have vertical scrolling?
     
  47. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    Yes. Two-finger or edge scrolling. The latter requires a little tweaking to configure, but it's doable.

    Edit: Oops, forgot which thread I was in. The above is true on models with Elan touchpad. I presume that covers the G7C as well.
     
  48. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    The elan software allows 2 finger and one finger (edge) scroll can be selected as well.....................
     
  49. vesayreve

    vesayreve Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks! @Dannemand @TANWare
     
  50. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    NP, I use mine as a desktop so the track pad is disabled while a mouse is plugged in, that is 100% of the time. My son in law and daughter though use the track pad 100% of the time. Since mine is the most secure machine in the house they order online from mine. It is funny to watch them go at the pad feverously until remembering it is mouse only. Then to watch their awkwardness at first with the mouse just as I am when forced to use the track pad. Guess it is what you are used too.

    Of the pads I've used, admittedly a limited amount, the ones on these machines works well.
     
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