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

Better than a month without a post, either these are great machines or they have all died. I know they do seem to score pretty well on benchmarks.



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If only i could make expresscache work properly and nvidia driver wouldnt crash time to time.

And this thread is slowly dying :'(

 

I am not a gamer so who is to say I do not have the same issues. Only program crash I did have was running passmark but I went to stock clocks and all was well. The thread dying is a good thing if others are having no issues.

 

And indeed, this thread is still alive in that questions consistently get responses, thanks to members like you and other G7C owners. Not quite dead yet.

 

I still look at it time to time. If slv7 gave us a bios that had an embedded VGA bios that worked for either 7970M,680, or 780M you'd see it fire back up.

Samsung looks to have scrapped this line..

 

Yes, I noticed. You guys have been great at monitoring this thread and answering questions. Neither John nor I have this model (and none of us game) so it's great that you are covering it so well.

As for new models from Samsung, there is a real dearth of those, with AB9+ being the only new model since last spring (AB8 hardly counted as a new model since it was mostly small updates to the 2013 S7). It appears they're about to release some for CES next month -- but I suspect they will be consolidating into fewer model series.

 

This series is kind of a hybrid Win8 system, just not a true UEFI bios but a compatible one. This though may have saved it from a lot of the issues with Samsungs and windows 8.x. More than likely one of the reasons there are not a lot of recent posts. That though then become both kind of a good and bad thing, good for the compatibility and bad for not a full implementation of the bios.

If They were to stay with a gamer I hope that it is differentiated from the G7's. In this way it would be realized as a new system and it would be nice to see top end cards with true MXM and off main board vbios. I am not too sure though Samsung will ever be looking to get into that type of system as they are so device driven..................

 

Sadly thread is dying not because its owners are having no issues its dying because its owners are decreasing.

 

It is to be expected that threads for "mature models" become less active, as there are no new owners with questions and problems to solve.

But again, it appears to me that G7C owners are still watching this thread and happy to engage when there is something to discuss. We saw that just last month.

The most active threads are usually so-called pre-release threads (such as this 600 page monster) -- where the only information available is rumors about or announcement of a new computer. Potential owners eagerly speculate about specs and when and where it will become available. These discussions can often get a bit heated, with "my opinion is better than yours", since nobody has any real experience to share yet.

This thread is just the opposite end of that scale, with very experienced members knowing pretty much everything there is to know about their machines

 

Owner attrition is especially true of gaming systems. This being well over 1 and 1.2 years old this is to be well expected. While these will still play games relatively well it is no where near the latest and greatest. For other power users the system is fairly current.

 

Off topic question, but your sig suggests that you have an i7 3820 in your series 7 gamer. Unless it's a typo how did you go about upgrading the cpu in this laptop?

 

I did not do the upgrade. I purchased it already upgraded and by default you can not get to the extra bins but now have them hacked in.

Edit; It should be noted that the core usage drops from 4.1 to real world at 3.9 to 4.0. even at the 2 bins down a 3610 would only run at 3.1 GHz from 3.3 so overall you see about 25% more CPU. This is why I had them put one in, the vendor that is, from the get go. I also started from day one with a 480GB SSD. anyone comes over and sees this run is just amazed.

 

Samsung released a model with an upgraded CPU at some point.

 

The S02 and T01 variants came with the i7-3630 and Windows 8. These did up to 3.4 GHz in turbo.............

 

I own the S02 model but from what I've read the S01 model runs Windows 7 with an i7 3610QM CPU.

 

Stock it did

I'm running 8.1 Pro, works great.

 

Correct as mentioned. Hardware wise the 3610QM is the only difference from the S02 on the S01. The bios is even interchangeable between the two versions. Other drivers stock may not as per the differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8 drivers. This is one of those models that the life span is between the two OS versions.

 

Please keep all discussion of buying/selling/trading in the marketplace. Thanks!

 

Please tell me how to fix "nvidia driver has stopped working and was recovered" its so annoying! Driver updates do not solve anything. I have got no idea how to solve it same with expresscache. Combined with keys falling out I wont buy samsung again. Msi or asus will be my next gaming laptop(probably asus).

 

One thing to try is to get the video card to stay at 3d memory timings and GPU speed. So long as the card is not overheating, forcing the lower modes, you could try the MSI afterburner and force constant voltage option.

 

I'm considering purchasing one of these laptops. How are they? A guy wants $1000.00 and is in like new condition.

Sent using my LG G2

 

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

Not bad, provided it IS in like new condition. Make sure you test it out (if you can). I am leery of buying laptops or desktops from second hand as you never know what was done to it. But whenever I sell my systems I make sure the buyer tries it out to their hearts content. I let them play games, check the specs, and do anything short of pushing it to it's max by running prime 95 and a gpu benchmarking software. (Face it, I don't want possibly 10 or more people pushing the system and shortening it's life.) If they seem truly interested and ask I may let them. But usually gaming and checking the specs compared to online (if it's a factory model) or what have you is good enough for them. As long as it doesn't screw up playing games they picked out it's fine.

Now, I'm not saying everyone is out to get people. But if you can, check the laptop out, and be aware of any issues buyers have had. (Mine had 2 warranty repairs in a year's ownership. It could have been a lemon, and very well probably was as the majority on here seem to be happily chugging along.

Also which version is the guy selling? Specs would tell us if it's a really decent deal. If it comes with the 7870M, $1000 is a little high. I have a friend with that model, and when we compared his to mine (when I had it) there is a huge difference in FPS. A huge one, where I was playing games at 40+FPS and he was pushing 20 FPS with everything set the same. The 7870M is nice, but not as powerful as the GTX 675M by far. Especially at 1080p. For the price difference in models when new it's still reflected today. If he is wanted $1000 for the 7870M offer a lower price. (I'd try maybe $750.) At $1000, just save up a little more and get yourself a Sager with a GTX 770M for about $1500 with an upgraded CPU. The 770M will be on par or a little better than the GTX 675M. But if it's the 675M, that gpu is actually still a capable gpu. $1000 for the 675M, i7-3610QM, and 16GB Ram, 2x 750GB HDD's model isn't bad. I probably would have kept using mine to this day if I wasn't so paranoid and reliant on my laptop for school. So yeah for my personal use it was still good. (Borderlands 1 and 2, Minecraft, Saint Row 3 and 4, Bioshock 1 and 2, Marvel Heroes, Simcity 2013. They were all very playable at "High" or higher and at 1080p on the GTX 675M.

A little more information and I can make an ultimate suggestion for you.

 

I bought this laptop for $850. It has the nVidia GTX 675m, 16GB RAM, 1.5TB drives. It is great condition. Is this a good buy? What are the common issues with these computers? Also, the guy reinstalled Windows 7 and that is it. There is no Samsung software. How do I get the Samsung software back on the laptop?

Sent using my LG G2

 

Not bad one bit. Honestly there hasn't been many common issues that have arisen that I've seen. Just random stuff like mine.

Support - Laptops NP700G7C | Samsung PCs

There is the link to all the drivers and software you should need. Once you have those installed you should be golden. Just pay attention to which Windows version (x64) is what you want. Most are hybrid for both versions. Also where there may be multiple entries just look for and download the latest versions.

Personally, if the laptop/ desktop didn't have drivers installed I wouldn't have bought it and told the seller to install everything that allowed me to play a game on it. As I wouldn't know if any part (primarily the dedicated gpu) was any good. (I've been conned before, I traded an ipad for a laptop to discover it didn't have the graphics drivers installed, the seller didn't install them due to the graphics system was dying and it would have given that fact away.)

If it had all the drivers already, then awesome! I found that the extra software just wasn't worth the time and effort.

You should be good, as other than lemons which were rare (I was just unlucky). Enjoy your new laptop! Need anymore help just ask on here!

 

The recommended route to the latest drivers and software is to install SW Update. The database is better maintained that the web pages and you can often find newer drivers by looking at what is offered for other versions and models.

While SW Update may also offer BIOS updates, I recommend these are best obtained using the stand-alone BIOS Update program (link in first post in this thread).

John

 

I just wanted to report my personal experience with this laptop wasn't very good... After 3 months of back and forth with Samsung I finally got them to buy it back and took the funds and replaced my son's gaming computer with an AW17...

The single biggest problem I had was with the Samsung built in software and driver update apps.. they seemed to create more problems than they solved. The underlying hardware was fine, except the extremely slow drive, but that would have easily been reminded by a SSD, so I cannot hold that against it.

 

So far, it has been running awesome. No problems whatsoever. The screen is amazing. One question though. The guy that had it prior to me re-installed Windows. It has 2 750GB hard drives and a 8GB drive. On the" My Computer", it only shows a 750GB drive. Why isn't the other drives showing up? The guy told me he put the two 750GB drives in Raid 0. How can I tell? I'm new to this Raid stuff. Also, how can I tell if he installed Windows on the 8GB drive? Thanks

Sent using my LG G2

 

This unit doesn't have hardware raid, it's doing it in software if he configured it. It's definitely not raid0 if you only see 750GB of storage. Check Disk management and see if you can locate both drives. It's possible it's mirrored (raid1). Or the other drive is just sitting there unformatted.

If you don't see the drive at all in disk management it's either dead or doesn't exist. If you don't see it remove the bottom panel and see if there are two drives.

The 8GB "drive" is express cache. It's like a slow SSD that will cache accessed data to speed up I/O. It requires drivers to be installed to function properly. It can be formatted and used like a 8GB drive but it's a little small to be useful there.

If you ever install an SSD (recommended) uninstall the drivers for it as it truly pales in comparison to modern SSDs. Mine is just sitting unformatted as I don't find it useful.

 

In Disk Management, it shows 3 drives. One of the 750GB drives shows as unallocated space.

Sent using my LG G2

 

Then there is no raid, the 2nd drive just hasn't been formatted it seems. Try to create a partition and format it.

Edit: this is of course assuming you only see 750GB of space total in explorer for your drives.

 

Just wanted to stop by and say it's been a great run and this is still a formidable notebook, but now that the new Blade 14 is out I'm going to be putting it out to pasture.. (OK, selling it.. Not shooting it.. )

Good luck to you guys who are still keeping the flame burning bright for the Sammy Gamer 7. It'll always have a special place in my heart. And thanks for all the help everyone who posted here.

 

Enjoy your new gear, hfm

But please still swing by here if you ever get the time. Along with other regulars, your help in this thread has been invaluable.

 

I'll be sure to lurk from time to time.

I feel like I'm one of the few people that has 8.1 Pro working flawlessly, it's almost a shame to wipe it back to factory, but alas. I still have a little time left but the wife demands I stop amassing a museum of laptops.

 

Increasingly more members are reporting that they have 8.1 working (different models and threads). So I think you're not alone.

My biggest concern about recommending it broadly is that the upgrade process has proven to be unpredictable (depending on models): Some have hardly any issues, while others have huge problems. Samsung and Microsoft need to work it out where there is a clear procedure with guaranteed result -- and a guaranteed rollback option when it fails.

If course experienced users with backups should be fine trying the upgrade.

 

good luck with the new hardware. It will be a long time for me before upgrading, this especially rtue since I will not touch Windows 8.x on any machine for now.

 

How much did you sell it for? How did you sell it?
did you revert back to windows 7 before doing so?
I upgraded to windows 8.1
The problem I am having is with some of the drivers not working the same way they did in windows 7.
An example would be the ModeShift dial.
It no longer shows the animations when switching between modes.
Some of the Options in "Settings" are no longer there as they were in Windows 7. namely the Bluetooth toggle, and the option to disable the touchpad.
Seems like they just abandoned support.
I got the Software updater program from samsung's site and downloaded all Windows 8 drivers. but these are the issues i've had.
What do I do?
HFM, you're the best here.. HALP MEEEEEEE lol

 

I am running Windows 8.1....
I just tried reinstalling the Drivers using SW Update.
First thing to note, is the ModeShift dial is completely useless in Windows 8...
Seems Samsung abandoned support for drivers/functionality.
Something worth noting, is when you "Export" all the latest drivers using SW Update, it says the version for ModeShift is 2.0...
But after installing, when you look in the Control Panel, it shows Mode Shift as version 1.0.
Switching between modes on the dial no longer has the same functionality as it did on Windows 7.
It no longer gives the animations.
It no longer automatically mutes the volume when switching to Library Mode (using Dial)
It no longer automatically turns off the touchpad when switching to Game Mode (using Dial). Instead, you must manually do so using Settings.
In fact, I don't think the dial does diddly squat to differentiate in power modes when switching.
I'm also not convinced the built in 8gb SSD (Express Cache?) is working properly. How can I check that?
I just wish ModeShift's functionality worked on 8.1 as it did on 7.
Any advice?

 

Hi DrunkenClam,

I don't have the G7C myself, so I cannot speak to the ModeShift feature and how you might get that working in Win8.1 -- if possible at all. Otherwise manually switching power plans might be an alternative.

But I can comment on a few of the other items you brought up:

1) As described here in our 8.1 update thread, ExpressCache DOES work in Win8.1, but may require that you uninstall/re-install it first. Make sure you get the latest version ExpressCache version 1.0.94 before you re-install (see this post).

2) Settings does indeed drop some features that were in Easy Settings. Some are better lost and buried anyway (such as Boot Optimization/Fast Boot) but others I miss too (such as Bluetooth control). You can use the Bluetooth toggle in Win8 Charms-Settings-PC Settings-Wireless, but only if you install the Bluetooth driver from SW Update. And it merely disables the adapter in Device Manager, it doesn't power it off like Easy Settings did.

Also, Settings versions 2.0.x still have controls for Battery Life Extender and ExpressCache, while newer versions 2.1.x and 2.2.x do NOT. OTOH, the newer Settings versions work better in Win8.1. I use Win8 and Settings 2.0.0.55 on an older Sandy Bridge Series 7.

I just downloaded a new Settings version 2.3.0.11 the other night, but haven't had time to test it yet. When I do, I'll post results in our Settings/Easy Settings thread.

 

Finally got it working!!!!
Turns out, simply installing ModeShift is not enough. You have to do Win+Q search for "ModeShift" and the actually click on and launch the .exe application that is there.
Everything works on the dial.
The game mode's animation, which I promptly disabled just as I had it on Win7 before.
Game mode also successfully activates limit services, turn off track pad, and disable Win key, and so on. The eyeball with the options for game mode is back in the top right corner, which I like there because my Steam friends list covers it.
Library mode successfully mutes the volume, and quiets the fans.
Eco mode successfully turns off WiFi, and switches to low power profile.
The only thing missing is the animations that used to occur when shifting into balanced, library, and Eco. Not a deal breaker, but I wonder how to get them to work again. I did see some other stuff in the ModeShift file location. Maybe I'll mess around there.
It is worth noting that clicking on ModeShift launched it, but I had to do it again upon reboot. Then again on a reboot. I was starting to wonder, "will I have to set this to auto run upon booting up somehow?". But, oddly enough, on like the 4th reboot, it just automatically works!!!!
It is also worth noting that Bluetooth is BACK in the settings again (I do remember when it was not there in Win8).

 

Good job! Thank you for the update.

That's really good news. Which Settings version?

 

Hi all,

I ask your help, hoping this will help every owner of this notebook.

I am in the bad situation of Windows 8.1 installed (fortunately with few problems).

I would like that everybody here will post his configuration, I mean the versions of:

- S.O.

- BIOS

- DRIVER (especially video!)

- Samsung Software (from SW Updates to Settings!)

- ExpressCache situation (works?)

- Any problems to signal to the others



Thank you so much.

 

Hello Pipppero, welcome to NBR and the Samsung forum.

I can speak to three of your questions:

1) ExpressCache DOES work with Win8.1, as described in this post in the Win8.1 update thread.

2) As you probably know, all Samsung drivers and software must be obtained through SW Update ( here) since Samsung does not post updates on their website -- not since 2012. Once installed, SW Update will update itself (if needed) every time it is opened. Normally it detects your model and Windows version and suggests appropriate driver updates automatically, but many have found that this feature is broken in Win8.1. You can always use the Find Model feature to lookup any model (including your own) and download drivers for any Windows version supported by Samsung on that model.

3) The latest version of Settings I was able to find is 2.3.0.11 under model NP930X5J, but I have not tested it yet. You generally need Settings versions 2.1.x or newer for best compatibility with Win8.1, but those versions do not have control for all features on older Samsung laptops (such as Battery Life extender and ExpressCache); these features still work in Win8.1 but Settings versions 2.1.x and newer just don't have the tabs to control them. I personally prefer Settings 2.0.0.55 (available under Win8 drivers for model NP880Z5E-X03CA). I'll post an update in our Settings/Easy Settings thread when I have had a chance to test the new 2.3.0.11.

Hopefully others can speak to the other items you mention.

 

So I've got my 700G7C, but how do I enable to integrated Intel graphics? I want to be able to livestream using quicksync. I know the 3630QM has inbuilt graphics, but theres no sign of it in device manager, and I see no option to enable it in the bios. Help?

 

Can anyone shed some light on this? it's quite important. thanks.

 

I'm 99% sure that Samsung disabled the graphics switching on this model. It was sold as a gaming machine.

John

 

Thanks for your reply. I think you might have misunderstood what I asking. Im not really interested in optimus, or switching between the 2 graphics adapters. I just want know how to enable the intel graphics device, so I can use it for live streaming. I know the CPU in this laptop has intel HD 4000 graphics because I checked it on intels website, but I see no option to enable it anywhere... All I can assume is that Samsung have purposfully went to the trouble of disabling and hiding it. Which to me, isn't really good business practice. When I buy something, I want everything that comes with it, so if I buy a system with an Intel CPU, I expect to be able to my CPU to its fullest.

Shame on Samsung, as I love their products.

 

I didn't misunderstand you. If Samsung disabled the graphics switching in a gaming notebook then they have disabled access to the Intel graphics.

From their point of view not having switchable graphics means one less headache. They didn't anticipate people buying a gaming notebook and then wanting to use the Intel GPU.

I agree that disabling of the integrated GPU is rare but activation / deactivation of features in consumer electronics depending on the pricing is very common.

John

 

John is spot on: The Intel integrated GPU (IGP) is hidden on this model and only the discrete GPU is visible. But I believe you can use the ModeShift dial to select a different mode that uses the IGP. Of course you must have the ModeShift software installed and working.

Neither John nor I own this model, so we don't have firsthand knowledge of this. I suspect the (very knowledgeable) owners who still follow this thread were hoping you would search it, since the subject has been discussed at some length in the past. You can use the search thread feature or Google site:notebookreview.com/samsung np700g7c hd4000.

 

No, the mode shift does not enable the Intel IGP. It is not even seen by the systems and NO drivers are loaded. I too for energy conservation would have liked access to this but it is a gaming system.

I do not run Windows 8 but the latest bios is P08AAB. With windows 7 I just let NVidia keep it updated.