Samsung Series 7 Laptops - 15.0" and 15.6" Models (NP700Z4 & NP700Z5)

Thanks for the advice. Tried doing all of that, still get bad results. In DPC latency checker i'm getting the occasional red cpu spikes. This is really frustrating, such a nice laptop but looks like I just might have to return it.

 

My suspicion is that something somewhere is doing aggressive checking of the system. Could you check the latency in Windows Safe Mode? If the spikes are still there then they could be something at the BIOS level where there are few options to disable features. FWIW I'm getting a very regular big spike every 30 seconds on my NP900X4C.

John

 

Hi halcyon,

In addition to John's excellent advice (always try his first!) I would suggest that you try and uninstall Easy Settings and see if it makes a difference (after a reboot, of course). It has several modules that interact with hardware and either grabs interrupts or otherwise kicks in at regular intervals.

I am not suggesting you use the PC without Easy Settings -- although I personally consider it poorly implemented, at the very least do you need it for Fn keys.

But if uninstalling it solves the latency issue, we can re-install it and experiment with disabling one or more of the seven different modules that make up Easy Settings.

Just an idea...

 

You guys are absolutely brilliant.

John Ratsey - I do believe that uninstalling the Intel storage driver helped, however I could not run either DPC latency or latencymon in safe mode - every time I'd open I'd get a system error. I'm not sure why that is, wi-fi was also disabled.

Dannemand - This was a really good idea. I unistalled easy settings, disabled wi-fi and ran the latency test. It was perfect, not even a single yellow spike. This gives me hope. However, when I enabled wi-fi again I got just awful results again.

From the things I read about this laptop I understand that there is a common wi-fi issue? Or is it just my laptop?
For the easy settings, I'm going to attempt installing it again and experimenting with the modules.
Thank you guys again!

 

Thanks for the update. That Easy Settings suggestion was a good idea - it communicates with the hardware. I doubt if there is a problem specific to your machine. The underlying problem is badly-written drivers or software.

John

 

OK, great, thanks for the update.

If you want to re-install Easy Settings and experiment with the modules, open Windows Task Scheduler (Control Panel - Administrative Tools). Under Task Scheduler Library, you will find the different tasks added by Easy Settings, all of which are loaded after user login with various delays. The Easy Settings tasks are:

EasyBatteryManager
EasyDisplayMgr (Fn keys)
EasySpeedupManager
MovieColorEnhancer
SCCSpeedBoot
SmartSetting (Easy Settings GUI)
WLANStartup

You can disable them all, then try enabling them one by one.

The WiFi issue that has plagued these laptops is one of mediocre range -- at least on some models. Probably stemming from the antenna design, although I don't know for sure. I doubt that particular issue is causing the latency problems you experience.

BUT it is very possible that parts of the WiFi driver could cause latency issues. You can try uninstalling the following -- none of which are critical to WiFi operation:

- Intel Wireless Display (if you never use WiDi)

- Intel Bluetooth Highspeed driver (you'll still have basic BT functionality)

- Intel My WiFi Technology (Intel PROSet/Wireless Setup under Windows Programs & Features)

There's plenty of work there for a Saturday night

 

Hey guys and girls,

New to the forum here. I attempted to post in a few different threads but no responses yet. Since this thread is dealing with general topics about these laptops, I'm going to go ahead and paste my other post here, in hopes that someone will have some help for me!

I've gone through basically this entire thread (and a few others) before making my purchase. So far I am really happy with my NP700Z5C-S01US! The only thing keeping this computer from being absolutely perfect for me, like so many others have said, is the screen! I love the screen on the 17" S7, and I really, really wish Samsung had put a similar panel into this one. In fact I almost purchased the 17" version just for the screen, but logic got the better of me since I really need something a little more portable to lug around (I have a nice desktop rig for home use, this is more of on the road/university use). The image itself is nice and sharp but the color/contrast is just so washed out.

This brings me to my question. I have read a couple of other posts where people have attempted to upgrade the actual panel on this model. As far as I have seen though, the attempts failed due to the screen thickness, the 40-pin connector location and other aspects of the replacement/upgrade panels. Has anyone had any success at all upgrading the screen? I'm not even looking for 1080p or IPS; though either of those options would be best, a nice 900p screen would suffice for me.

The screen model that comes in my unit is SE0006, I'm pretty sure that's the case for a couple of the other latest revisions. Anyways, I hope someone can help me out! I was on the verge of returning it and going with a VAIO S15 just for the nice IPS screen and the slightly lower weight... but I am still leaning towards keeping this because I just like the build too much to let it go: metallic, sturdy, small screen bezel. Plus, this unit has faster RAM, a slightly faster processor, faster GPU, and a faster hard drive (though I might swap in an SSD at some point if I really need it). However, if someone has any way of swaying me toward the Sony, I'm all ears and open to suggestions. My first choice would be swapping the screen, though, so I look forward to some answers, thanks!

 

Man, you're right it is a lot of work!

update:

ok, well I've re-installed easy settings and disabled all of the modules except for ''EasyDisplayMgr (Fn keys)'' and ''WLANStartup'' (without WLANStartup, the wifi drivers in the device managers completely disappear).
I'm running latencymon right now for 12 mins so far. It's showing me that my system is suitable for real-time audio and the results seem to be fine. However, the highest execution driver is ''ACPI.sys'' which crawls into the maximum red within the bar. Is there anything I could do about this driver? From my understanding it is not a good idea to disable it. DPC Latency checker is showing good results for the few minutes that I used it for.

With the wi-fi on, I feel like I'm back at square one, awful results. I've uninstalled all the things you've mentioned too. The highest execution driver is ''ndis.sys'' at about an unacceptable 2 ms. I've investigated into this driver, and went to the Realtek website to download the latest update for it. Installed it, ran latencymon only to still find bad results.

Overall, I could live with producing without having my wi-fi on. I just hope there won't be any further issues. Would you say that the such a wifi driver issue would be resolved anytime soon? I really like this computer, but given this situation I'm not sure if I made the right decision compared to say the Macbook pro. If I know I can produce on this thing without any problems, I would definitely love to keep it, and I do prefer windows 7 compared to OS X.

 

@halcyon: Darn, I'd hoped disabling some of those Easy Settings modules would handle it. But it does appear it's the Wi-Fi driver.

I'll try and play with it a bit, hopefully tomorrow (Sunday). Three things I have in mind: (1) Trimming the Wi-Fi driver install further; if the Intel monitoring module is the culprit, we may have a chance. (2) Playing with the Advanced Adapter Settings (device manager) and see if some of them affect this.

Both of these are long shots, but worth a try.

Whether this will be addressed in a future driver release is impossible to say. Intel/Samsung may not consider it an error.

Another shot would be to install Windows 8: I imagine it might have built-in drivers for your wireless card. Microsoft's drivers are not always the highest performing, but they usually don't suffer from issues like this.

Edit: No, don't disable or otherwise mess with the ACPI device. If you View Devices by Connection in Device Manager, you'll see why: ACPI is the mothership of the entire PC, so to speak.

 

Hi all,
I am on my second 700z5, the first was a 700z5A and the wifi was so poor I had to return it, I now have my second 700 this time its a 700z5C and again the wifi is unusable in 90% of my house. I have updated driveers switched of optimization etc etc. but still it does not match up to any of the other house hold PC's (Sony, Tosh, Dell and a Samsung NC10).

I am very disappointed with this unit for this reason alone, I need my laptop to work on the road in all types of wifi conditions otherwise I can't do my job.

Just for background info the A model had a Broadcom wifi module and the C has the Intel 6235 so the issue is more fundamental.

So now I have wasted 2 lots of shipping charges and probably another 'restocking fee'

I will go back to buying Sony kit as I have for the last 10 years.

 

Re the WiFi, I think the Series 7, like the Series 9, has the WiFi antenna in the sub-optimum location between the hinges because the display back is metal. Signal strength tends to be less than with notebooks having the antennae along the top of the display. However, it is worth trying the latest driver from Intel. Something has changed recently because my X4C is now connecting at 300 Mb/s when close to the router although the connection drops to 54 Mb/s when at the other end of my house from my router (but throughput is at least double where it was a couple of months ago). For travel, I bought one of these as backup for when my X4C's internal WiFi performance was too poor. It will give at least double the connection speed when at the other end of my house. However, in real world usage my X4C's WiFi has been OK.

John

 

@ Dannemand, I'll definetly look into Windows 8 and try out your suggestions. Let me know if you see any results.

 

Wait, I've been working on this today and have a better answer for you. It's working

But I need some time to wrap it up and write it up. Wife just came back, busy right now.

Update: OK it's gonna take some time to write it all up, and I won't have time to finish it till tomorrow night. Here is the lowdown; it's actually along the lines of what I suggested in a previous post:

I was easily able to reproduce the latency spikes you've described using LatencyMon. I was also able to eliminate them completely while maintaining full functionality.

1) Uninstall Easy Settings. (If you want, save a copy of its Program Files folder first; then after uninstall, add EasyDisplayMgr (dmhcore.exe) into your startup folder or registry. This will preserve Fn keys.)

2) Uninstall Easy Software Manager (You can always check for driver updates manually).

3) Delete Intel WiFi adapter in Device Manager, check "Delete Driver software for this device" when asked.

4) Uninstall Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi software. Remove all, everything.

5) Reboot. Windows should re-detect the WiFi adapter and install the driver included with Windows (version 14.2.1.1).

NOTE: This assumes that Windows 7 has drivers for your WiFi card. On my NP700Z3A it's an Intel 6230 -- and that one IS supported out-of-the-box.

ALSO, it assumes that you do not have a lot of other Samsung utilities -- or anything else that enumerates the hardware tree or changes devices at frequent intervals .

After this you should no longer have any latency spikes and your WiFi should work. My test has been running the Windows Experience index assesment, with LatencyMon staying in he green throughout. That's a pretty rought test!

Again, I'll write more explanation tomorrow night (hopefully )

 

Excellent work. I'm wondering if it would be useful to put this into a separate thread called "Fixing Samsung notebook latency issues" or similar, which I will add to the sticky list. I'm sure that the various fixes apply across the current range.

John

 

These are amazing breakthroughs! After following those steps, I was able to retain the fn keys after the re-boot, but wi-fi wasn't working. I believe I have a different wi-fi card than on your model, mine is the 6235.

For step 3, I just uninstalled Intel 6235 and all of its drivers in device mangers. For step 4, I'm sure that I deleted the Proset/wifi software already.

@John Ratsey, I think that would be a good idea. After solving this issue on mine I could contribute to it too.

 

What happens to the latency spikes if you have the driver installed but disable the WiFi using Fn+F12?

John

 

return it if you still have time! -rofl

it's a nice enough laptop but 'it's always something' not right about it. i did my best liking my S7 but ending up bitingt he bullet and getting the 2012 MacMook-Air, i5, 8GB, 126 SSD... it's faster! granted it's $500 more but it's run win7 better then the S7...

just saying

 

@John, halcyon33: Thanks for the feedback. Sure, good idea with a separate thread. Let me post what I have so far in this thread tonight (hopefully) and see if we can nail the Intel 6235 too. Then we can create a new thread with a proper write-up, with links back to this one for our research and discussion.

Re turning off WiFi (Easy Settings): I tried that (both WiFi and BT) and latencies still spiked -- both because of Easy Settings AND because it's not the actual WiFi traffic that causes the latencies, but rather some of Intel's bloat around the driver. Once Easy Settings and ESWM were gone, I could run speedtest.net without any noticeable latency increases -- even with the full Intel driver installed.

Again, the worst spikes seem to be whenever the hardware tree is being modified or even just enumerated (try disable/enable anything in Device Manager with LatencyMon running). That's why ACPI looks so busy (being root of the the hardware tree). Normal apps don't make such requests -- but Easy Software Manager and Easy Settings DO, even in the background.

Again, I'll look more into the 6235 card. I am thinking of stripping the raw driver out from Intel's package and installing it straight from Device Manager.

What David wrote about buying a Mac instead has some merit for anyone who is into that eco system and already inclined to choose a Mac (I remember you mentioned that, halcyon). But I wouldn't just take for granted that Windows on Mac performs any better with regards to latencies, not without doing some tests first.

I'm rather busy these days, but I really hope to get back to this tonight

 

@John, disabling wi-fi with fn keys shows no latency from what I've gathered.

@David, what kind of problems did you have with the S7? I've had a 2007 macbook pro before I got this. The OS worked great for all of my audio production needs, but there were a lot of hardware issues that I had to pay for to get fixed, and everything was so expensive. I gotta say, I wasn't expecting complications from the S7, but other than this latency issue I don't see anything wrong with it. I still have until this thursday to decide if I wanna return it or not.

Dannemand, I appreciate your time and eagerly waiting for your response!

 

@halcyon:

I have been trying to crack the WiFi adapter latency issue, and after much testing I am afraid I don't have a final answer for you yet. I keep thinking I am almost there... here is my current status:

Turns out I made a stupid mistake in last night's post: That Wireless driver for my Intel 6230 (version 14.2.1.1) is NOT a bundled Windows 7 driver. Had I noticed its date it would have been obvious: It's from 2011! Version 14.2.1.1 is merely the one that came with my Z3A and which is first installed by Easy Software Manager after a clean install. For some reason, when I uninstalled the newer 15.0.0.75 update, it simply rolled back to 14.2.1.1 -- which miraculously elminated latencies.

The good news in my mistake is that, whatever I find out here, should apply to your 6235 as well. The bad news is I haven't yet found a good way to repeat this consistently. It may not be the driver version as much as how that driver is installed.

Also on the positive front, it appears that most of the other Samsung utilities are OK with regards to latencies. I tested a clean Windows install tonight and let Easy Software Manager load all "Essential" drivers and software. The ones that definitely caused latency spikes (even without the WiFi driver) were:

- Easy Settings (Fn keys can still be loaded as previously decribed)

- Easy Software Manager (check for updates manually)

- Norton Internet Security (you want to get rid of that anyway)

Other modules which I had suspected, but which did NOT seem to cause significant latency spikes, were:

- Samsung Recovery Solution
- Intel Rapid Storage
- Intel ME / HECI
- ExpressCache
- Samsung Recovery Solution 5
- CyberLink Youcam
- CyberLink Media Suite
- Intel Wireless Display (no final vedict yet)
- Intel Bluetooth Highspeed (no final vedict yet)

That's good

Something I had begun writing to you yesterday (before deciding to make a quickied post instead) was regarding your WiFi adapter refusing to activate without running the Easy Settings WLANStartup module: I have observed this before and verified it last night: If the Intel WiFi adapter is disabled/enabled in Device Manager, it will subsequently refuse to activate WiFi after reboot UNLESS the WiFi adapter is disabled/enabled again at every reboot. And that's what WLANStartup does behind the scenes. That module basically exists to fix a bug in the Intel WiFi driver.

If you do a clean Windows install, including the Intel WiFi driver, and if you NEVER disable it in Device Manager, you will find WiFi working promtply after login, without any need for Easy Settings and WLANStartup.

Meantime, here is what you can try (assuming you currently have no latency spikes, but also no WiFi driver installed): Install the Intel WLAN driver (15.0.0.75 from samsung.com or a newer one from intel.com) and install ONLY the driver (see attached screendump).



Do NOT disable the adapter in Device Manager (EVER). Since you deleted that device completely yesterday, there is a chance you won't be hit by the disable/WLANStartup bug. Of course a clean Windows install is a sure way to accomplish the same

Once again, I am hoping to make further progress tomorrow. The great thing here is, whatever we find out will help these laptops run a lot smoother -- not just for real time audio.

 

Keep up this excellent work. I'm sure a lot of it applies to other notebooks as well.

John

 

Thank you John. Yes, I am sure this applies broadly, despite the differences between these models -- including how Samsung utilities install themselves for different models, as we discussed in the ExpressCache thread.

@halcyon: Right now I've hit a wall in terms of repeatability with that WiFi driver. I can get it perfect sometimes and "almost perfect" other times.

Here is my current best bet:

1) Uninstall EVERYTHING Intel PROSet: Wireless, Bluetooth the whole shebang (I think you already did that). Unfortunately uninstall of the various redundant Bluetooth modules must be in exact reverse order they were installed, otherwise you may end up being stuck with a module that refuses to uninstall. I don't know how to fix that if it happens.

2) Reboot. Verify in Device Manager that no driver is installed for the Wireless card. (Note that you will still have normal Windows Bluetooth functionality even without all the Intel software.)

3) Download Intel PROSet/Wireless driver version 15.2.0 from this Intel website. Make sure you download the DRIVER ONLY version, NOT the full software. It's called Wireless_15.2.0_Ds64.exe.

4) Install Wireless_15.2.0_Ds64.exe. There are no options to choose, it just runs for a minute or so displaying an animation.

5) Reboot. Let it rest for 5 mins (swap out to pagefile etc). Now try and run your latency tests.

I'll be interested how this goes for you. I've tried multiple clean installs (restoring an image each time ) with mixed results.

Please let me know. If you lose patience and decide to return the Sammy, I do understand. But please let me know in that case as well. I am sure we WILL get this, I am just a little frustrated with the inconsistencies right now

My goal is to be able to provide steps for clean install as well as steps for cleaning out a factory image to achieve an install with minimal latencies.

 

@Dannemand...

This is strange. I followed those exact steps, rebooted, opened up latencymon only to still get awful spikes. Then, I turned off wi-fi (fn f12), ran the test again - back to square one. Now the highest execution driver is ataport.SYS. What just happened?

Today I also installed expresse cache. I also tried installing intel storage driver only to get the message ''your system does not meet the minimum requirements.''

Is there a specific way I have to unistall the current wi-fi driver? or can I just simply install the Intel proset/wireless bundle again?

This is giving me a headache, but I don't think I wanna return this thing. If I could just get it back to when I got perfect latencies with the wi-fi off, I would be satisfied. Plus, I trust you that we will eventually sort this out.

 

Ouch, I'm sorry to hear that.

PROSet drivers should just uninstall. There are definitely other things going on, also if you cannot install Intel RST.

Did you do a clean Windows install originally? Would you be willing to make one - OR to restore your factory image (F4). Of course if you have a lot installed already...

Edit: which model do you have?

Edit 2: Wait, did you install Express Cache before RST? I could see that might be a problem as they both hook into the disk device. Try and uninstall both, then install RST first. I would wait with ExpressCache until we're done messing around. It should install and work fine, though.

 

I'm running a clean windows install originally. Tonight, I'm going to try un-installing express cache and then installing RST (yes, unfortunately I did it in the same order you mentioned). If I still get issues, would you recommend to just do another clean install? It also appears that my wifi loses signal a few mins after startup. My model is S01CA

 

Yes, try that EC/RST thing first. Let me know.

So your model is NP700Z5C-S01CA?

More answer coming up. Working on it

Quick update: Finally! I knew something had to be different since I began with the clean installs the other day: Disable Windows System Restore.

Let me know how it works (including the EC/RST) so I can finally do this write-up of a clean (and lean) install.

 

Yes, that's the full model number.

It didn't really work out, so I'm just doing a clean install again - the whole system felt slow. Should be done soon, so I can start configuring from scratch

 

Wait, wait... I was just about to post an extensive writeup. I would appreciate if you could try and use it when you do your re-install. I am going to make a new thread as suggested earlier by John Ratsey.

Another few mins. I'll post a link...

 

@Dannemand Yes yes for sure, I'll be awaiting your instructions

 

Oops, got so carried away polishing that new post, I forgot the link I'd promised you. Here it is: How to: Reduce latencies on Samsung laptops.

 

Man, I'm still getting spikes with the wi-fi turned on (used the single network driver and disabled system restore). Now I 'm seriously considering returning the laptop.

edit: love the write-up, great work.

 

Admittedly I didn't see as perfectly low latencies with this driver as I did with that magical setup I had the other night (and cannot reproduce).

BUT here is the good news: With this setup you should be able to safely disable the Wi-Fi adapter in device manager, and virtually eliminate spikes.

I guess I should make that more explicit in the write-up.

 

Well I'm glad I was of use for this discovery, but I just returned the Samsung today. It's a great laptop, but I decided I need something more reliable for my audio needs. Not sure what I will get now, currently contemplating between a refurbished MBP or waiting for the 15 inch zenbook to come out.

 

Whether you find that those have fewer latency issues remains to be seen.

John

 

@halcyon: It's cool, I understand. As John said, I'll be curious if you find that other PCs have less latency issues - and I'd appreciate if you would briefly post your findings.

Thanks

 

@ John and Dannemand. I will definitely let you know (that is if I don't get a mac), so far I've heard good things about ASUS. Again, thanks for all your help.

 

Can the backlit keyboard be turned off/on? Or is it always on?

 

Launch Easy Settings (Fn-F1) and go to General tab.

 

Thank you, I don't have this computer...yet

 

How's the resolution on these? Are there any issues with screen door effect? The Samsung I just purchased has a terrible monitor and screen door effect, so I'm hoping the resolution on the series 7 will help. This one's going back...I like it otherwise.

 

Got it LOL

Can't speak to pixel density on the 15". I got a 14" and the 1600x900 resolution is perfect on that.

 

I'm heading to Thailand in a few weeks. Can I safely plug my USA purchased Series 7 directly into a 240v outlet in Thailand? It says 100-240v on the adapter but I've never done it before and I'm really nervous about smoking my beloved laptop. I could use a little reassurance from someone who has used theirs in both 120v US outlets and 240v overseas outlets. Thanks!

 

I am surprised you didn't get a response earlier to this.

I haven't traveled with my Sammy yet, but I HAVE traveled extensively with all other laptops I owned for the last 20+ years - including Thailand and throughout Europe. They're all designed to work with 110/220/240V and 50/60Hz.

I have no doubt you'll be fine. Be nice if somebody could confirm who actually traveled with their Sammy.

But remember you need an adapter for the power socket.

 

Thanks for the reassurance. Just to be clear, the adapter you are referring to simply changes the shape of the plug and not the voltage?

 

That's the normal fix. I don't recall challenging my Samsung PSUs with a very wide range of voltages but over the past 20 years my various notebook PSUs have handled from around 100V to nearly 300V at various frequencies. The switch mode PSUs (most of which are made by Delta electronics or Liteon) are very tolerant of input power variations. I'm more worried by bigger power nasties and keep one of these between the mains cable and the PSU.

John

 

Yes, correct. Depending on where you go, Thailand uses European style plugs as well as US style. In particular, hotels that cater to American visitors have US plugs. Mostly there is no ground, though.

 

Hey guys,

it's been about a year since I've last taken a look at this thread. Back then I was considering to buy the NP700Z5 but gave it up due to its appalling screen.

Do you know if there's been any improvement on the screen issue in the latest versions of these laptops? Thx.

 

For anyone who owns the 14" ivy bridge version, what are you getting for idle cpu usage?

 

Hi Everyone. I would like to asko your help in a problem.
I have noticed that the temperatures of my Samsung NP700Z5 Chronos is a bit high, and as I was looking thourgh AIDA64 I see that in "Balanced" mode my CPU-s are running constantly around 2900Mhz. If I set Power Saver it gets back to 1100Mhz but as I change it back is levels up to 2900 again. (without doing anything on the computer, so there is no need to use CPU at that level). If I use the computer from battery the CPU decreases in Balabced mode as well, but as I plug it back to charger it goes back immediatelly. I assume that this high CPU usage causes the higher temperatures (motherboard and CPU 66 Celsius in Idle) I have the i5 3210m processor version. Could anyone help me with this? Should I take it back to the store? Thank you in advance!!!!

 

You are correct that if the CPU is permanently running at full speed then it will run hotter on idle. First check the CPU speed using HWiNFO - it has a nice graphical display of the CPU speed which should normally go up and down according to the workload.

Then check the CPU load on the processes tab in Task Manager. If it is more than a few percent when on idle then identify which process is loading the CPU. There are a few badly-written programs around which can run in a continuous loop but sometimes a file gets corrupted and has the same effect.

Also, are you checking the power settings in Easy Settings as will as in Windows power management? The two can conflict. I use the Samsung Optimized power setting in Easy Settings.

John