[Review] HTWingNut Review of Sager NP8268 / Clevo P150SM-A

I hope you have lots of fun with it

 

I'm looking forward on that. I guess it's going to perfect fit my needs since i'm a not crazy man about fps or playing exclusively on ultra settings. I'm stepping from a i7-2630QM | 4GB DDR 3 | 500GB 5.2k RPM HDD | No discrete GPU |. I guess its going to be like changing a Beetle with a Murciélago lol. I'm pretty excited with it.

 

Intel igp to higher end dedicated, yeah just a bit of a jump lol.

 

Got 8268-S a week back from XOTICPC and absolutely loving it (both laptop and customer service ). Since it is my first gaming laptop, so did not have much to compare with, but personally I really like the screen and it is good enough for me.

 

Whoa, what discount? I've been thinking about buying one. Just worried about longevity with such high GPU temps.

 

The newer nVidia GPUs will throttle themselves before overheating becomes a problem. Even if you run your GPU at the very limit of throttling for years it will still last longer than it's useful life for high end gaming.

That being said, I personally have done everything I can to maximize the cooling system in my Sager.

 

There isn't an active NBR discount at this time unfortunately. Something we used to be able to offer but with the -S configurations being offered right now really negates anything we could provide with Sager. Those models are the best route to go to get the best deal.

 

Based on previous and similar chips (like 780M), there is a medium value for the lifespan of the 870M and 880M?

 

Both should last well into the next generation as relevant.

 

I've read that ghosting is an issue with some Sagers - is that the case with this model?

Pretty disappointing if it is considering it's being sold as a gaming laptop.

Can anybody confirm?

 

These new gens have had very low or almost no issues with ghosting, but previous models did, I want to say 2 gens ago.

 

Hello, i'm in doubt ifi i buy this sager or a msi Gs60. i'm getting frutrated with MSI GS60 temperatures, i don't wanna have problems with that... i saw that Sager np8268 have loud coolers .... this is true? and what the maximum temperature NP8268 reach on full load?

thanks

 

The beginning of this thread is the NP8268's review... You'll have all the details you want to know, including internal and surface temperatures.

 

Just wanted to mention my appreciation for the breadth and depth of the information provided in this review. It has made my research for purchase of a new laptop much less of a trial than I had expected after a few years away from the field. Cheers.

 

what is better sager 8258 or 8268? the difference is just in design?

 

Largely just the aesthetics and the backlit features. The 8258 will also feature an additional 2.5" bay for SSD only where the 8268 just has the one. There are also minor cooling layout and material differences but nothing that largely impacts the cooling performance.

 

Do you guys know a reputable place/site where I could buy this laptop? I live in Alberta, Canada.

 

There are lots of resellers here in the forums and everyone should be able to ship to Canada no problem.

Here is a list of most of the resellers here on the forums.

RESELLERS

 

How much would xoticpc charge me in shipping buying this laptop?

 

Wish I could discuss that here, but can't per forum rules. Go ahead and contact us directly. You can email by clicking my name, hop into our live chat on our site, or call us with the information on our contact page.

 

and what backpack i should buy? i saw these ones very nice, the asus rog is amazing...

http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-Republic-...8568423&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=asus+rog+nomand
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1687860482&pf_rd_i=915398

 

Posting in here since I can't seem to find the owners lounge for the 8258-S.

About to put in a purchase for the W230SS as I've been debating between that and the gigabte for the past couple weeks. I'm coming from an m11x which is about 12.6" total. I carry it around a lot, stow it under my desk and hook it up to a monitor, play games in the car on lunch, and use it in my room when I'm not in my office/gaming room at home. Would the 8258 be to big or would it be somewhat comparable?

Anyone have a screenshot of the 2 near eachother? Just getting out the last remaining questions before I make my purchase. Appreciate it.

I mainly play MMO's and tether my phone (LTE), do homework (mutiple tabbed browsing ) chat, and video edit/draw ( cintiq )

 

i was in the same. I live in toronto. There is reflexnotebook, but they seem less professional them other, for example xotic is way better . But buying from USA i simulate a 200 CAD taxes fees =/ so for example xotic get more expensive than reflexnotebook for example i've simualte np 8268 with the config that i want and get an amout of

USD 1832,93 - with canada ship that is an amount of CAD 2020,60
but i need to pay import taxes that is CAD262.68
so the total is: CAD 2283,28
at reflexnotebook the same specs get a total of:
CAD $2,164.50

the problem is that reflexnotebook is cheaper and is in Canada, so any problem i think is faster them an US Company to solve.

what i think in my case if xoticpc can give for some customization like Custom Graphic Wrap [A+B+C Surface] would be perfect.

 

yeah i spent some time on that site too, definitely on same boat as you. and if i'm not mistaken, the promotions on sager site is the exact same on reflexnotebook, unlike xoticpc.

 

i'm not a canadian native, do you know if i pay the tax for importing, i will need to pay again for the province tax?
i saw this oficial calculator: Duty and Taxes Estimator
so if i pay 200 CAD as tax i will need to pay again 13% for ontario gov?

 

The sager is a bit bigger but allows for better cooling and upgradability.

 

Do you guys think that 880m deserve 300USD more than 870m? how much the first one is better than the second?

=)

 

Only if money is not an issue. Otherwise, no. 870M runs within 10% of 780M when both cards are stock.

If you don't mind using a modified vbios and possibly modifying the cooling the 880M can be a nice option. Some are having issues getting the 880M running at stock clocks without throttling.

 

The 870m offers the best performance per $ while the 880m offers best absolute performance.

Both ride their tdp limits.

 

See page 1 of this review. It has the benchmarks and comments on heat and power.

Most people on this thread who bought a 8268 opted for the 870 (perhaps with some overclocking?). Based on heat and power the 880 does not have a lot of leeway for overclocking in this chassis so I assume you will use it stock. So, a little bump in speed, or save $300? Or, ask yourself what is going to make the biggest difference for you: an 880, or spending that money going to pure SSD? Or throw in another $100 and get that PS4 (or whatever) you've been looking at. Tradeoffs...

Now if it was a Maxwell GTX-880M that would be a different story but until those exist for consumers our choices are what they are.

 

The 870 and 880 will produce about the same heat at the same clocks, so you will basically get their stock difference riding right through to the tweaked speeds.

 

Have you personally tested this or is this based on expected behavior based on specs because the 880M is abnormally hot. It would shock me greatly if the 870M had heat problems as severe as the 880M, especially since we would have heard about it by now.

The 870M @ 941MHz wouldn't be that far from an 880M at 954MHz and the 880M still runs right around 90C at that point. The 870M is definitely selling much more than the 880M because of the price to performance and I never hear people complaining about the 870M.

Edit: 870M is a nice overclocker and cooler than the 880M.
http://forum.techinferno.com/showthread.php?t=6780
Gtx 870m overclocking..
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

Even if that is true, you don't have to overclock the 870 to the same speed as the 880. Let's say you overclock enough to eliminate 50% of the difference; is that close enough? How much is enough? If you are really trying to get every last frame out of it then this may not be the right computer for you anyway. Go with a bigger box (like a 17" model) or a desktop where you can get even more by overclocking the 880, or getting an SLI.

Of course each of is has to decide for ourselves what those those extra cycles are worth.

 

I'm talking clock for clock. Disabled units won't make much of a difference. The voltage is a step lower as the clocks are a step lower which helps at stock settings.

 

To HTWingNut and everyone who commented, I want to say thanks for all your help and advice. I just placed my order with XOTIC PC so now the waiting begins. Of course when it comes in I'll let you know what I think. Mine will be built with a single SSD (Samsung 840 Pro, 512GB, no spindle drive) and a GTX-870M overclocked by the fine fellows at XOTIC so we'll see how those affect performance and heat on this model.

 

Hope you enjoy the machine

 

Pretty much picked out this computer, thanks to your review Wingnut by the way, and wanted to say thank you for the very nice and detailed review; still haven't fully finished reading but will eventually. Anyways is there anything else really picky about the computer I should know?

Thank you.

 

I have had this laptop for a few months now. With the GTX 880m - 32 gigs ram, 480gb ssd.

Issues so far:

1) I was playing Starcraft 2 on almost all extreme settings and it was running at like 80-100fps, but then I think the computer overheated and frame rate dropped to like 1fps or whatever it is when the computer really gets hot. I would say the temp in my bedroom was like 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I notice that the temperature of the room I am in matters quite a bit for the temp of the graphics card. Anyone else run into this issue? It only happened to me once and since I have turned the graphics settings down.

2) The part of the laptop where my left hand rests, right above the battery is kind loose now. The battery has become a little loose and when I place my hand down on the left side, I hear + feel a creek that sounds like the laptop is splitting in two. Small issue, but it didn't exist before.

3) The one thing I still cannot figure out is how to prevent the screen from automatically diming when I go from a bright screen (e.g. being on google.com) to a dark screen (e,g, photoshop) or vice versa. It auto adjusts the brightness and it is really annoying. I tried the intel settings and what not, and just cannot find a solution for this. Anyone have any luck?

4) The soundblaster XFi control panel seems to always reset the settings upon reboot. So if I go into the "SBX pro studio" tab and turn on SBX pro studio surroundsound, it works. But then when I restart the comp, the setting is turned off, despite the program being on auto-boot with windows. Doesn't make sense and it is annoying to keep opening this software to turn on surround.

Else-wise, awesome computer. The above issues are minor. The main annoying thing is #3, the stupid auto dim of the screen. Can anyone help me with this if you had any luck? Any photoshop developers out there?

 

Cooling is directly proportional to the air being used to cool so that is not a surprise. If its on the edge a repaste may help.

 

New guy here - do these laptops use MXM GPU's to easily swap them out when dated and is the processor upgradable?

 

They are MXM-B but that won't guarantee compatibility. There will need to be compatibility with the card you're intending to use which can extend to needing the BIOS or vBIOS to allow the upgrade. They'll support all the ones currently listed as options but no way to guarantee future compatibility for yet to be released cards. CPU will also be upgradable but again needs to be compatible.

 

Hello Sir, i've found a solution to problem 3. (your biggest concern). To solve that issue, go to the Intel Drivers Options, then go to the 3D options and disable the first feature (Ideal application mode, or something like that since my drivers are in Portuguese).

And i also have the problem 2. And my unit is brand new! When i apply some pressure in the left palm rest i feel that the frame isn't completely tight and i can feel it creaking.

Edit: Actually, here's the definitive solution: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/716567-guide-how-disable-auto-brightness-auto-contrast.html

 

You can upgrade it within the same generation but the HM/EM for instance never have supported the 7 and 8 series from nvidia.

 

Looks like we are seeing results from Futuremark with current generation Clevos though. Looks like it will be possible to upgrade a P15xSM-A to 900M series.

 

I hope they do work Would be a great option for people.

 

I never really understood why Clevo tied the GPU to the BIOS. It's a very anti-consumer policy, even Dell doesn't do that (my old M17xR1 posted with an 880M for flash purposes).

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

It could be worse, at least the cards can be got unlike someone like asus.

 

anyone knows if this is fine for the np8268 as a backup power adapter?

http://www.amazon.com/Home-office-P...388&sr=8-1&keywords=180w+power+adapter+targus

 

Not for the 15 inch, it's the wrong connector.

 

They didn't do it on purpose. Their MXM implementation on HM and EM models was "out of standard" and not "up to date" and thus didn't support the new cards on those systems.