Samsung Series 7 Lovers - Here's The NP700Z5C Ivy Bridge!

10 Nov 2012

Warning of potential problems with new BIOS

Known as the NP700Z5C series, Series 7 models are now updated to Ivy Bridge, Intel's 3rd generation Core processors!


I believe outlook is the same as Z5A series...
Specifications from Samsung

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 3615QM (2.30 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M Graphics, Optimus™ technology
1 GB GDDR5
Intel HM76
1600x900 15"
8 GB DDR3 System Memory at 1600 MHz
1 TB S-ATAII Hard Drive (5400 RPM) with ExpressCache 8 GB


NP700Z5CH - TECH SPECS | SAMSUNG

Let the fun begin for Series 7 Lovers!

 

I think battery life should be better than its sandy bridge counterpart, which at the moment is pretty is good.

 

Should we send Samsung our Series 7 to get this one as an warranty when it is available .

 

Great news. I've been waiting patiently for it to be announced. I really really hope its memory is upgradable to 16Gb. Or should I not get my hopes up? It do scientific computing, so it's kinda important.

 

I don't like that again there's only 1 DIMM slot, with a second row soldered on with 4GB. That means even if you do shell out for an 8 GB chip, you'll only be at 12

Any word on pricing & release date?

 

Look like they're still using the same components, just the different CPU and GPU. However, the motherboard is new because they need to use chipset HM76, so there might be a chance that they allow us to upgrade up to 16GB.

 

Only if you can find a 12GB chip. And if you do, only if you don't need to make a mortgage payment next month

 

I really wish it didn't have a number pad...

 

if only Samsung manufacture the ram.

Why? I love number pad. Also, I don't feel like to leave all the space empty like the MBP.

 

Can't wait for this thing to show up. Assuming the wifi reception is better, the only things lacking will be the non-HD display, lack of memory expansion, and no Windows 8.

I can live with 12GB and can deal with shelling out for Windows 8 Pro when it eventually comes out, and this display will be more than good enough. I think I've finally found the perfect laptop, now where can I buy it already???

 

So no news on the 17 inch version of this?

 

That would be the NP700Z7C.
Buy Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US Laptop: Core i7-3615QM, USB 3.0, 1TB HDD For Sale & Deals - Best Cheap Laptops | Laptopstops.com
It's supports the 650m instead of the 640m on the 15 inch model

 

Don't forget this one:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...g7c-amd-radeon-hd-7970m-geforce-gtx-675m.html

 

This is what I was looking for, GT 650 DDR5, I am totally going to buy this. I only wished that it has like a 256gb SSD instead of the TB drive or maybe dual hard drive.

 

I just hope the wifi is fixed here. They did in the almost all metal Series 9 by moving the antenna to the bottom where the only non metal part (the hinges) were. With the whole bottom of the series 7 being plastic it should be an easy remedy. They also cite the Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N which gives me hope.

 

The XPS15z and Envy15 don't have number pads, so there's plenty of options without the dreaded number pad.

 

Don't excited too much about that. The body is still same chasis. I would say there is not much change beside CPU, GPU and the board. Wifi card is still the same Intel in the current Series 7 models.

 

Just wonder if they implement BIOS switch for the Nvidia card or they will let the Optimus do the automatically switch. On desktop, even with Nvidia card and Intel onboard, most motherboard OEM provides BIOS with option to force the use of discrete card.

 

What's wrong with the number pad ?

I wonder if they switched the display for a better one or if it's strictly the same ?

 

Same display, but vastly better CPU-GPU and better second GPU (NVIDIA 640)

The display is pretty nice, it's just not full HD

 

Some of us not only don't want full HD, but would prefer to avoid it.

Glad they went to Optimus, it seems to be a more stable and mature switching setup.

 

Curious as to why you want to avoid it, is it a matter of battery life? It's not that critical for me, I just usually assume the more resolution the better.

 

Full HD gives me eyestrain headaches on a 15.6 inch screen, and boosting the DPI just makes things look wacky and out of proportion while still leaving some interface elements too small to deal with. My only options are to get too close to the screen for comfort (difficult on a laptop) or to drop to 1600x900...which looks OK on some 1920x1080 screens, but others don't handle it so well, or worse, don't offer that or anything else between FHD and HD. And a 1600x900 native panel looks better than any 1920x1080 screen operating at 1600x900.

 

Ditto for me. Plus I go back and forth between using the laptop screen and an external monitor, so changing the DPI each and every time I switch would become a hassle.

 

Does anyone know if there will be an Ivy, nvidia 14" ? If so, I'm going to be livid. Samsung just switched me from a QX411 with nvidia to this series 7 with amd and I'm having nothing but problems. No one has replied to my loud fan thread...I may have to re-record.

 

Vastly better? Come on, it's not even noticable in most cases except for a slight lesser power consumption, which isn't that big of a deal since the CPU during normal usage isn't the power hog anyway.

As for the Nvidia 640, I don't know the actual performance of it, but the 6750 beats the 550, so I'm guessing it will not be a huge upgrade there either, but yes, it will be better.

Overall, if you already have an S7, there is more or less no reasons to buy a new one.

Unless you are running something that requires Cuda or PhysX perhaps...

 

Realistically, what kind of performance will the 640m have with modern games?

 

Seems like it actually packs quite a bit of more punch. Just looked up some stats on it.

3DMark Vantage
640M : 6631
6750M : 4545
550M : 3865

 

Yes, vastly better based on benchmarks:

" Not surprisingly, the Intel HD 4000 graphics didn’t fare all that well compared to high-powered discrete GPUs, but it showed a significant improvement over Intel HD 3000 GPUs."


Intel Ivy Bridge Tested: Full Benchmark Results Revealed

 

Spec comparison of Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge intel chips in the Samsung line:
Compare Intel® Products

 

Integraged GPU and CPU does improve, but what do you actually do with the notebook that requires such upgrade? Most people do not need this extra computational power because the CPU and iGPU hardly gets saturated.

Main usefulness I can see is that maybe this translates to longer battery life, and/or less heat and noise.

 

The computational power is necessary for resource intensive (often wasteful) applications, especially within Adobe Creative Suite

 

the 640m can be compared to gtx 460m which is better than the 6750m by a good amount. i personally wanted fhd screen.. now i gotta c if im willing to sacrifice that

 

Ah, I missunderstood you. I was comparing the to CPUs to eachother from a CPU standpoint, where there are little difference, not the GPU part, which I know has alot bigger difference, but I thought it would be irrellevant since the machine has a real GPU aswell.

 

The i7-3615QM/3610QM is roughly 20% faster than the current Chronos' i7-2670QM and has about the same performance as the i7-2920XM. Not an incredible change, but a nice improvement.
The GT 640M with GDDR5 should be 20~30% (or possibly more or less...only benchmarks are w/ DDR3 and a ULV CPU) faster than the HD 6770M. Again, not a huge deal, but a decent improvement.

I hope that Samsung changes the screen in the Series 7. I'm fine with 1600x900, but the current LCD panel isn't so great. :/

 

1600x900 is so older than 2004...even my Ins 1520 has 1680x1050. c'mon!

 

There was no 1600x900 in 2004, because there was no 16:9 in 2004. It was 1440x900 and I liked that resolution too, though I could (barely) live with 1680x1050.

But with the rise of 16:9, there's no longer an in-between step.

 

To anyone who has owned or currently owns the older NP700Z5A, do you like it? Is it worth the the buy?

I've read a lot of people having trouble with the track pad and the AMD graphics switching. I'm really hoping samsung fixed these issues

 

The Z5C uses Optimus, which is better IMO.

 

When is this thing coming out? The wait is killing me. I desperately need 1080p laptop...

 

The laptop's resolution is 1600x900

 

Guys, GT 640M with GDDR5 is no slouch for sure

 

Yeah, I know. I commented about it above. What I did not realize was that I was not responding to 17.3" thread....

 

I hope so.
Although wikipedia and other sources state that the GDDR5 version of the GT640M has 2GB of memory while this model only has one...

 

I believe this laptop has been upgraded?

Samsung's 17-inch Series 7 Chronos dances over the Ivy Bridge -- Engadget

1900x1080 and Nvidia 650m 2GB DDR5

EDIT: Doh. NVM, this is a 15" you guys are looking at lol.

 

Yes 15", I've been waiting for this exact computer for about 6 months now. I'll be placing one of the first orders as soon as it hits US retailers

 

1GB of video of memory is more than enough considering its memory bus width unless you're considering multiple displays. The GDDR5 memory certainly makes up for that bottleneck.

 

Hopefully Samsung did put a better screen in it...the previous Series 7 had a horrible screen.

 

I've been using mine for alot of hours every day since I got it in December. What's so horrible about it? I think it's great.

I don't care what it looks like from the side, since I am sitting in front of my computer, which I think most others do aswell.

 

From specs it seems to be the same screen, which means average contrast and poor black values. At least it's matte