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

Hello everyone, I've had my series 7 for quite some time now and I love it. I was wondering, though, if it was possible to turn on the backlit keyboard even in a bright room. I know its not necessary but i like the way it looks with the backlit keyboard on. Thanks.

 

What happens if you put some black tape over the ambient light sensor?

John

 

I'm shopping for a new laptop this xmas and I basically want a 17 inch that can run guild wars 2 with all the bells and whistles turned on, can this samsung pull it off?

 

Probably not, but it should work just fine. For example, I have the 15" Series 7 with the 640M GPU. While admittedly I'm not overclocked, at 1600x900 and medium detail settings I generally run around 50 FPS questing and around 30 FPS in PvP. At this level the game looks and plays great. While the 17" comes with the 650M, its also a higher resolution screen and assuming you want to play in native resolution (which most people want to) you will probably see similar results.

IMO the Series 7 are great, sleek, attractive and portable systems that are gaming capable, however, they are not gaming laptops. To run GW2 in Ultra you're probably looking at a much larger, chunkier system, such as the Series 7 Gamer.

 

Can I completely disable optimus? I really don't want Intel graphics to run because battery life is not a concern to me

 

What about CPU and GPU temperatures? And fan noise?

 

Not to mention that you won't even notice that the integrated graphics are being used. That's the entire point of Optimus, it automatically switches GPUs based on what demands are being placed on the system.

 

I went in today and they put the new one on hold for me, they're already in stock. Only downside is spending a while messing with settings, re-installing programs, etc again, but it's well worth it! Best Buy guy didn't know the specs changed but once he saw it he totally recommended me exchanging. Thanks for the advice!

 

That guy sounds like a nut job.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...eries-7-chronos-gamer-laptop.html#post8524010

 

That wasn't a concern to me as well, i can use a cooling pad or an ice pack if it is really necessary, so i guess that means the answer is no, i cannot completely disable optimus? But what if i set explorer.exe to use nvidia only?

 

My last 3 systems have all utilized Optimus and it has worked flawlessly every time... It's a simple concept: when you're typing notes or surfing the web it uses the integrated card which eats less power; when you ramp up for gaming it utilizes the dedicated GPU to improve performance, at the cost of power consumption. I fail to see how I'm the one that's nuts for saying that the system works as intended and you shouldn't notice problems with it.

Let's use an analogy. The Intel Card is a Prius. The Nvidia card is a Land Rover. What the system is setup to do is use the Prius when you go to the grocery and the Land Rover when you need to tow a boat through the woods. By disabling Optimus you are using the Land Rover for hauling your boat AND getting the groceries, while all along your Prius sits unused in the garage. Overall, this is racking up unneeded miles on your Land Rover and wasting gas money. It just doesn't make sense, but hey, I'm a nut job.

 

Maybe the dude wants to use the nvidia card for stuff like youtube but honestly wouldn't intel hd even 3000 handle that just fine?

 

Hi, just upgraded BIOS on my NP700Z5C-S01UK to P03AAG, after that i have noticed that the WEI CPU speed dropped from 7.5 to 6.5... anyone else got the same issue ?

 

It's as if Turbo mode got disabled. Go into the BIOS and see if there is an option to enable Turbo mode. BIOS updates often change the settings.

Then run HWiNFO and watch the CPU speed while stressing the CPU.

John

 

Hi John...

no option for Turbo, just new info line was there like INTEL VT-X enabled,but no turbo spoke to customer service and the " advisor " told me, the BIOS has nothing to do with the laptop, OMG!!!!!!!! told them i want to return the laptop, or downgrade the BIOS, they told is not possible!!! so i have to wait for new BIOS, just wondering when it will be released ...

 

I'm sure I'll step on someone's toes here but... I definitely didn't read the "nut" comment as pointed toward you. At least you seemed to have both of your feet safely on the ground.

I also think the idea of turning the Intel HD 4000 "off" (on Optimus systems) is a myth. At least the way I understand it (in caveman terms) is that the integrated card has two roles, first as a device for computing pixel values (i.e, GPU), and second, as the interface through which those values are used to update the display. When the integrated card is "off" it has simply offloaded the first role to the NVIDIA card, BUT it is still responsible for taking the computed frames produced by the discrete card and displaying them. Completely disabling the integrated card should therefore also knock out the display (at least in theory). In other words, Optimus "switching" controls which device is computing pixel values, but has it no effect on the device (i.e., the integrated card) that drives the display.

-Matt

 

That's a load of smokescreen about the BIOS being the wrong one the computer. The BIOS updater looks in the database for any newer BIOS with the same name (last three letters). If the BIOS people in Korea made a mistake then it's up to Samsung to fix the consequences.

It may be worthwhile running the BIOS update again in case it fixes the problem.

Also tell us what is the number of your current BIOS (the BIOS update program will tell you) so that others can avoid it.

John

 

What do you mean, adding a GT 640m? Doesn't the current model already have the GT 640m?

The price is $100 cheaper than Amazon's current.. but 750gb 7200rpm is probably > 1tb 5400rpm.

 

There is a model with 640m already in it in microsoft store, Amazon, etc.

The MSRP for the best buy model is 1,099 according to Samsung so I'm kind of suspicious about why Best Buy is offering that so cheap> I asked my best buy if they are getting that one in this week they said no they had all the ones with windows 8 out already, I'm kind of wondering if they made a mistake. Why would the windows 8 model with better specs be cheaper?

 

Ok the 256 samsung 830 ssd are really cheap right now but I'm thinking a 512 would be awesome in a 840 pro series. But they are like $600 bucks. The Intel 520 looks nice but It seams the samsung are the only ones that hold up on long term performance. Any suggestions on Ssd's?

Right now I'm running my old sataII Kingston 256 v, better than stock but I want more performance.

BTW price is not to much of an issue but I do like a good deal.

Like they say once you go SSD you don't go back.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

DID IT got the Samsung 830 512 for $422 couldn't turn it down. I hope it's here by Friday I want to do a clean windows 8 pro install.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

The sleep function on my laptop has just suddenly stopped working, when ever I put it to sleep the screen goes off and the fan goes mental! it's been working fine, I don't get it! Anyone have the same problem or know how to fix it??

 

Look in Event Viewer's System Log for clues about what is happening at the time when you try to put the computer to sleep.

John

 

Morning John,

what would I be looking for? Its weird because its been working fine since I've had it, I restored to an earlier time but it still does it! the only thing I did do was update Easy settings but I guess system restore would revert that back?

 

I am having some issues with the latest BIOS update (P03AAG) in conjunction with UEFI and Windows 8. I know there are some issues with Easy Settings and UEFI but am loving the 10s boot time and do not want to turn it off and reinstall windows etc. I am wondering which of my issues are UEFI related and if anyone else has experienced them and ideally has a workaround.

I have a fresh install of Windows 8 on an SSD with UEFI enabled in BIOS. I was using P02AAG bios version and was having issues with starting up and rebooting. Basically reboot went to a dark screen and could not continue. Even just turning it on with the power button did not work most of the time - (1s of fan noise then same black screen) but clicking power button a few times coaxed it into life. I managed to install the latest version (1.1.1.4) of easy settings using the rename of setup.exe to setup2.exe that was mentioned elsewhere. This allowed me to use the power Fn keys but running the Easy Settings software failed with a error. I tried to use in win 7 compat mode as others have suggested but this totally locked up the machine (ie no mouse cursor movement and power off required).

I saw that there was a BIOS update so hoped that this would fix the black screen when booting up issue. It did but seems to have introduced more problems. After upgrading to P03AAG (and re-enabling UEFI as BIOS update cleared all settings), it now boots properly but with Easy Settings installed, it completely locks up the machine around 10s after entering windows - when the easy settings software has initialized I imagine. I had to uninstall EasySettings in safe mode to avoid this so am currently stuck without fn keys. Don't know if there are any workarounds until/if Samsung fix Easy Settings.

The other issue that I am seeing is to do with CPU speed. I might be wrong but thought that the CPU would idle at around 1.5 GHz ish and then when loaded would rise to around 2.9 GHz. Now if I choose balanced power mode, it is always at around 2.9 GHz and refuses to drop. Power management settings are min 5% cpu. If I change to power saver, it drops to 1.17 GHz but stays at this speed despite any load I apply. Can someone confirm that this is not correct? Anyone else on P03AAG seeing this with or without UEFI and with win7 or win8?

 

The System Log should record the various processes being suspended or shut down when sleep is triggered. It may also record what can't be suspended, but should be. You can also try the suggestions on this page.

This post a bit further up this thread reports a problem with P03AAG. From subsequent discussion it appears to disable turbo mode. Your experience confirms that there is a problem. Try to get Samsung support to do something about it.

Warning to NP900Z5C users: BIOS update P03AAG may disable turbo mode and reduce your CPU performance.

John

 

I've had a look at the event viewer, it seems to be 3 things that stop it from sleeping, I've attached a picture to see if you can spread some light on the matter.

thanks

 

Those seem to be network-related problems. EapHost is worth investigating. It might be toxic although it is also official.

What happens if you disable all networking (pull out any network cable, switch off WiFi) before trying to make the computer sleep?

Also check in Device Manager that the power management for the network device has Allow computer to turn off this device enabled and Allow device to wake computer disabled.

John

 

turned off all network activity but it still wont sleep, it won't even shut down now, just hangs after the shutdown screen!

 

If I use anything other than the power saver power profile, the turbo is on constantly even when idling. My 3615QM 2.3GHz stays around 2.9 - 3GHz causing the CPU temp to rise to around 65 when idle. This cannot be good!

 

Really? I am the only one that wants to completely disable optimus and use Nvidia all the time? If that is impossible, then I guess i have to buy macbook and run windows on it, i heard you are unable to use the integrated graphics while running windows.

Look, i know all the disadvantage it brings for disabling intel graphics, you name it, its not my concern, thanks! Let's say if i whitelist explorer.exe to run Nvidia, would it almost disable intel graphics?

 

I wonder if something wants to keep a communications link open. See this about how to monitor about what is using the network.

OK. You are stuck in turbo mode, cEvin_K has no turbo at all. It seems as if BIOS P03AAG breaks something.

John

 

Have you tried

from http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/688064-how-reduce-latencies-samsung-laptops.html

to see if your system still locks up with Fn key functionality?

 

I had a look at resource manager but there doesn't look like anything suspicious in there, I have chrome (which is always running) dropbox, (again, always running) so I have no idea whats causing it, it was working fine tues!

 

Hi, I'm interested in some detail about the 700Z3C's and 700Z5C's discrete graphics (no 700Z4C here in Germany, but 700Z3C is 14" anyway), since I don't get all the details from reviews because of incomplete GPU-Z screenshots.

According to Samsung Homepage, 700Z3C should have a GT 630M 1GB GDDR5. Am I right that GDDR5 for GT 630M means 64-Bit memory interface? Because the only GPU-Z Screen of a 630M GDDR5 I saw (from a Dell XPS 14) showed this, but showed 8 ROPs as well, which can't be right with GF108. So I would like to know: Is only the GF108 used or the GF117 as well, which clockspeed is applied, what mem-interface does it hace and how many ROPs are shown? a GPU-Z screenshot would be prefered.

With 700Z5C things seem to be much easier, since I haven't seen anything leading me to suspect anything less than a GT 640M 1GB GDDR5, meaning full GK107 with 625MHz GPU and 1GHz memory clock. Only if I am wrong and someone has different clockspeeds, correct me.

And what I'd like to know too: As far as I know, i7-3615QM and 3635QM are BGA-1224 only and their PGA-988 only counterparts are i7-3610QM/3630QM, while all other standard power mobile ivy bridge (having a 3xx0M or 3xx0QM number) can be both PGA-988 or BGA-1023/1224.

That would suggest, 700P5C uses BGA-CPUs, which means soldered directly to the PCB and irreplacable. 700Z3C uses i5-3210M only, which could be both PGA or BGA. Of course I'd like to know if the CPU on these laptops is really soldered to thea board, which would pretty much make them uninteresting to me.

 

I managed to stop all the scheduled tasks from running and now it doesn't lock up but I also do not have Fn keys working. If I follow the advice in that post and run dmhkcore.exe manually, I get an error:

Cannot Find SABI.dll(193)!

There is a Sabi3.dll in the folder but renaming it doesn't help!

 

FWIW, I am running P03AAG and have no problems with Turbo. I'm using BIOS mode rather than UEFI mode.

Yes, it is likely that you are one of the very few that want to disable Optimus. If no one is having an issue with Optimus then why would they want to disable it?
I doubt you will find a way to completely disable Optimus because the NP700Z5C uses muxless switching, meaning the framebuffer needs to be copied to the Intel GPU anyway.

 

The photos here of the disassembly of the older NP700Z5A show a soldered CPU. A socketed CPU will require more thickness and I doubt if there is space within the chassis.

John

 

Thank God i find Asus G55VW DS71, which is a gaming laptop without optimus technology at all, that is too bad because it weigh 8 pounds, would have choose samsung if i can somehow use nvidia only. too bad, thanks for replying anyways.

 

When you copied the Easy Settings folder and after uninstalling Easy Settings, did you rename the folder copy to have the same name as the original folder? Otherwise it may be unable to find some files.

Please let me know, so I can update the instructions if indeed it doesn't work on some models.

Update: Just re-read your post: You said you stopped all the tasks from running (I presume you mean in Task Scheduler). EITHER leave Easy Settings installed, and tweak the task loading as described in this post (that was a link) OR uninstall Easy Settings completely, but leave a copy of the program folder (with the same name as the original program folder) and sideload dmhkcore.exe. Hope I am making sense

 

Well, I have an interesting update on Best Buy's new 15" NP700Z5C- S02UB: it's got all the promised features (upgrade to 640m, Win8, etc.) but perhaps most importantly, it looks like the panel has been updated: I checked the Hardware ID, and it's SEC0007 (the previous ID was SEC0006). And due to a stroke of good luck, the 17" NP700Z7C-S01US was sitting next to the new 15" model (the 17" has a much better display than the older 15"). So I systematically compared several desktop backgrounds on the old 17" and the new 15". While the 17" still won the battle, the newer SEC0007 has definitely closed the gap -- colors are much richer and blacks are much deeper. In the end, it seemed as though maybe the 17" has a slightly gloss finish, which makes colors pop just a bit more. Otherwise, they were very close.

I also noticed that the trackpad on the S02UB had no major build issues -- in particular, the right click is opposite of and symmetric with the left click, and doesn't take (much) extra force to click.

I walked away VERY impressed -- for $999 +tax, I don't see anything else with the same build quality, processor speed, weight and portability, battery life, and heat management. I may wait until after the Win8 launch to see if Amazon gets anything comparable or better (e.g., there seems to be a German unit with a 16GB ExpressCache), but I think I've finally found the right machine.

-Matt

 

Great information - and great news about the screen. Thank you, Matt!

 

I did some poking around online but can't seem to find any info on the new panel. I hope it really is better, and not just my eyes playing tricks on me!

-Matt

 

You know, at first the grammatical errors in this post threw me, and so I checked your 7 other posts, and of course when I saw you'd posted in 8 different forums, and in each, tried (but failed) to embed a URL, I realized what you were up to.

NOW I understand why we have the 10-post rule before URLs are allowed!

Nice try. Pretty valiant attempt, but...not. Please go spam somewhere else.

-Matt

 

My Best Buy had the win 8 version out but not set up all the way so I couldn't really play around with it (unless I wanted to screw up their set up settings!) but to my eyes the screen also looked better than the old version I saw in the msoft store. To refresh your memories I owned the 14 inch version and loved it but the heat management sucked during gaming -- my fingers would be sweaty from all the heat around WASD. I've been told the 15 inch handles heat better and I hope you guys are right because I'll be grabbing it tomorrow or soon

If it loses the heat problems of the 14 inch and everything else stays the same, then yes for $999 I really don't see it being beat. Yeah yeah lenovo with 1080p you can get for that price but that thing apparently overheats like a campfire and is heavy and has terrible battery life -- and honestly 900p looks nice enough to me and should fit well with a 640m.

 

well I'm really regretting ordering the S03/04 from Amazon now. Thought this model from Best Buy wasn't available yet...

 

Speaking of Win8, it was also my first hands-on experience with it, and it took me all of 15 seconds to get oriented. I've heard so much complaining about "where's the Start Menu?!??!?!" but really, just press the Windows button and it toggles between Modern and Classic desktop. Need an app or a utility? Toggle to Modern and type a few letters, JUST like the search function in the Start Menu! I had no problems at all finding the Device Manager, Computer Properties, CMD shell...all the good stuff under the hood in Win7.

-Matt

 

I wish this one will come with Z7C panel & 1080P. I will buy it. 17" is simply too big for me

 

You might be interested in the updated Asus N56 -- Amazon has the N56VJ-DH71 also at $999, with a Core i7, 8GB RAM, 1TB 5400RPM, and the GT 635m. The two things that make it competitive with the Z5C are (1) 1080p panel, and (2) 5lb weight. On that last one, though, I haven't been able to independently confirm Amazon's specs. That could very well be a typo, since the other N56 models weigh ~6lbs. I also owned the N56VZ for a week or so, and found that the palmrest area ran kind of hot -- the palmrest on the Z5C and Z7C is one of the best I've seen...er, um...felt.



-Matt

 

I had an asus for like a week and it was 6 pounds -- the 5 pounds weight seems kind of suspicious. It was very good in terms of performance, super powerful, could run all games at 1080p on at least medium settings very smoothly, and it didn't get hot at all on the body, (a lot of hot air running out of the vent but eh who cares?)

Problem is it also gave me a huge blaring sound out of the speakers randomly and paused my video when it did it. And before that I had the speaker "farting" problem that eventually i fixed through some software gimmickry. And in general a laptop that expensive shouldn't have so many problems!

1080p (and Retina I guess if you're a multimillionaire...) are nice but 900p I feel is a good compromise on smaller laptops. Maybe it'd start looking bad on a 17 inch, sure..