[Review] Sager NP8157 / Clevo P650HS-G Review by HTWingNut

Nice kapwa pinoy. I probably want it for multi use. So the most versatile display is the best. 4k over 60 hz? Yea I will order from Helixph.

How is your laptop so far? Build quality wise? I want it to last 5 years atleast. I am careful with gadgets

 

I just sold my 770dm with a 980m + 6700k. I am back to using an alienware. I got mine from lpcdigital as i go to america almost every year. the 770dm was great but i had to tweak/tinker with it to get it running nicely e.g. delidded 6700k +liquid ultra+premabios to get the temps below 90c. I suggest getting the locked cpu to save on money+1080p. 4k on a small screen=meh. imo only content creators need the realestate/4k display. gaming wise, 1440p or 1080p is the sweetspot for a 1060/1070 gpu

 

would you take 8157 over dell alienware? I have been considering Alienware 15, razer 14 and Sager 8157. How has alienware 15 so far for you?

 

had my aw15 for just a couple of days. so far so good might just sell this though. I am into buying and selling laptops in the philippines . get the 8157 try it yourself i have only good things to say about clevo/sager. + the community here is awesome! any questions you might have, this is the place to ask them as people are so active and kind. Clevos are great as they cause they dont scream "i am a gamer" when your out with it in public. I sold my 770dm as i have no need for a laptop anymore and i got a new alienware cause it was a he*l of a deal and as i said, i pretty much part ways with my laptop after a few months of use.

 

4k on a 15.6 is overkill. 1080p IPS or 120hz 1080p TN is fine. I assume you know the difference between IPS and TN (colour quality is the main diff). Backlight issues vary from screen to screen, brand to brand -its luck. Lid flex doesnt bother me at all.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

Perhaps another user can post some info on the iGPU. I have not performed that.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

The only thing to worry about in hybrid mode is looking at tweaking the IGP voltage too

 

Do you have any suggested thresholds for the igpu in hybrid mode? I tried with two lower values but had freezing on both.

thanks

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

Every chip is very different but I would go into IGP mode, set Nvidia to IGP only and stress test some games with it when testing. Mine was around -75mv with my 4870HQ.

 

The link is broken for more GPU benchmarks. Could you fix it or provide me the link by some means? Thanks!

 

Just put in his forum name and that model number he gave in google and it should come up pretty quickly.

 

So I've given up on MSI producing a model with a 1070 that doesn't annoy me in some way(the GS63 is supposedly 4K only, and the GT62 doesn't let you use the integrated GPU at all, and the Apache runs too hot), and I figured I might sail into Sager waters.

So far everything I've seen in the review is fantastic, but I've a few questions.

1) How does the build quality seem overall? Is it sturdy, or does it seem anything on flimsy side? (whoops English)
1b) What's the plastic to metal ratio on the chassis?
1c) I noticed a lot of grating on the bottom, do you think that could get damaged/the grates be ripped? The sides of my old MSI had plastic grating and they got heavily damaged.

2) How hot does the laptop get physically on the outside? Both underside, sides, and keyboard.
2b) An "optimized" power setup was mentioned in the OP, could anyone clarify what that is / means?

3) How good is the keyboard/touchpad?

3b) How good are the speakers?

4) How's Sager as a company overall? I've always felt reasonably favorable to MSI (they seem like the "best quality bargain brand" to me), but I don't know much about Sager at all. Past build quality, customer service, warranty, etc.

 

1. Build quality is very very good. The lid is plastic, and the bottom cover is, the rest is basically all metal. I'd call the lid the weaker point, everything else is very good.
1b. See above.
1c. Hasn't been an issue on mine, I take it in and out of a bag multiple times a day. What damaged your MSI?

2. Not too bad. No idea about underside (I hate gaming on my lap) the keyboard and wrist rest stay comfortable, and the sides where the... hot air is coming out... Will be warmer.
2b. No idea what you're talking about. Maybe the cpu undervolting? That'll drop temps.

3. I quite like them. If business class keyboards like say a Latitude e6430 is an A, I'd give the P650 like a B+. I enjoy typing on it. Trackpad is very good if you like discrete buttons.

3b. Crap, but the headphones jack has a high end Sabre DAC if you have nice headphones.

4. Sager is fine. If you're worried about the machine, it may be worth it to zoom out a little and look at Clevo as a whole. HIDEvolution sells the Clevo P650HS and offers a bunch of services like liquid ultra, backlight bleed reduction, display calibration, the Prema bios etc... That Sager resellers don't offer (or at least all of those together).

 

Do Sager machines last? (Particularly the ones that you can't upgrade) My last MSI held up for 4 years and I'm expecting the same for my next investment.

Also nothing in particular damaged my MSI, it's just over the years the grating slowly chipped off one piece at a time heh.

 

Treat it right and it should, extended warranties can guarantee that of course.

 

Can anyone measure how heavy the NP8157 is with SSD and HDD 1070?. Just wanna make sure how heavy it is. No showrooms in my country. But my friend who has the NP5855 is really light. How does Np8157 compared to it?

 

Our weights listed are for the system as you get it, so 5.84lbs with a single m.2 SSD and HDD.

 

Can someone post a picture of the power brick and the potion of the power cord where it connects the brick. Just want to know the cord is standard desktop PSU cable type or the 3 circular style laptop connector.

 

The 230W brick uses a standard desktop style kettle lead.

 

Thanks for the update. I can then source a good lead locally and ask my friend to ditch the one coming with the laptop (different countries).

 

Sounds like a good plan over using some dodgy plug adapter

 

I'm confused about these viewing angles. All reviews shows something else... and it's same technology

 

Which viewing angles?

 

Is the HDMI port on this HDMI 2?

I bought this computer NP8157 with GTX 1070 and 4k screen in March and it's been great. When I connect a 4k 120 Hz TV which has a HDMI 2 port to this computers HDMI port using a high-speed HDMI cable, the TV's refresh rate is 29 Hz instead of the expected 60. That's why the question.

 

Ah I'm sorry I didn't mentioned. I'm talking about these from review (1st page).

For example:

 

Different panels can have different properties, each manufacturer has a different balance of features within similar tech too (varying response time, viewing angles etc.

 

So, both Chimei and AUO panels are mixed in 15'6 120Hz? Which one has these "pro" viewing angles? Or only AUO and AUO has good/acceptable viewing angles (vertical)?

 

i might grab one of these if i am able to sell off my modded P870DM-G.

 

So basically never overclock anything to avoid ridiculous Temps and lowering the laptops longevity gotcha. If I see Temps anywhere near 80+ I would be not happy. Anyone getting 90 is absurd for normal max game play. That's why you have them put IC diamond on. My old sager with a 980m had the same chassis and stayed in the 70s ever repasted for 2yrs. Thing never got any dust in it either pretty impressive. Look forward to financing this beast soooon

 

Turbo 3.0 has changed the thermal balance compared to the old series, the chips are overclocking themselves basically.

 

So repasting and undervolting the CPU is something I can do (provided there's a custom BIOS from prema). I'm also curious about doing a TDP bump on the 1070 from the supposed TDP of 115w to 130-135w from a temp and performance stand point.

 

Anybody got any idea how this laptop compares to the new MSI GE63VR? I am undecided between the two

p.s. I mean from a temperasure and performance perspective. Oh and also warranty support (i am based out of Canada)

 

It's a larger machine with a full power 1070 so will perform better in games and has more storage options.

 

^^ What about the temps though? How do those compare to the GE63VR? Btw I'm talking about the 15" machine - 17" is a bit too big for my needs

Oh and since you're a company rep, I presume you would know whether the warranty is covered in Canada or does the laptop need to be shipped to USA (at the customer's expense?) for any RMA instances

 

We have a warranty upgrade to cover Canadian shipping. Temps will be a bit better but as is the case with Nvidia's Pascal arch it will use any thermal room to clock higher.

 

Thanks for the review! It made me settle on this machine compared to other alternatives.

Quick question, does the touchpad use Windows Precision drivers? If not and it has Synaptics drivers, has anyone encountered the rare BSOD caused by the Synaptics driver or has it been fixed?

 

Has anyone else done this? Does this work?

 

Looking at grabbing one soon, anyone have any idea if a refresh is far away? Can they be powered by a power pack (one of the high capacity anker ones)?

 

The concern is more the ability to deliver power per second (wattage) rather than capacity with that. I'm not aware of one that can delivery 180-230W.

 

Anybody experience issue with machine being on/ turned on ; but simply showing a black screen?

Brand new machine; super frusterating to already have issues .

 

Yeah I've had this a few times. Sometimes it corrects itself when you close and reopen the lid. Other times I'd have to force shut down the machine.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

Cold boot, warm boot? How is it supposed to be waking?

Please provide more information.

 

This happened to me on warm boots (waking up from sleep/hibernation). Cold boots, I can't remember, but I think I had one instance compared to many on warm boots.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

I have let power die completely and attempted to turn on; as well as from sleep mode or from powered off; all lead to same result of keyboard lighting up and fans running; but no Sager label comes up and it simply shows a black screen.

 

Contact our support team, there could well be an issue with the machine with that sort of behavior.

 

Hi guys,

I just bought the Micro Center version of this laptop. Powerspec 1510.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/486481/1510_156_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Black

For $1399 you get
7700HQ
1070 8GB(non maxQ)
gskill ripsaw 16gb 2400ram
250gb Samsung 960 EVO M.2
1tb 7200rpm HSGT drive
Intel 8265 wireless
19x12 LG IPS 60hz display w/GSYNC

Now for those interested in this Clevo machine, there really is no beating this deal. But you need to live near a Micro Center since they wont ship it. There is no bloatware at all except for it asking id you want to install ESET NOD32, and if you dont want it, it just uninstalls the installer. I honestly wanted something lighter, but there is nothing that comes close to it price/performance.

So 3 things, from what I can gather there is a Prema bios for this..how do I aquire this? Also, I was interested in maybe upgrading to the 120hz screen. Model seems to be AUO b156htn05.2. Anyone have experience between the 2 panels or have done the upgrade? Also is there a reputable place to get the screen? Also is worth applying Noctua NT-H1 to the CPU/GPU?

Sorry for all the questions. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Hello,

I've really enjoyed reading through this thread, I think it's one of the most informative online regarding the Sager NP-8157.

I purchased my 8157 from Xotic PC and had it delivered just yesterday. It has the 1080p 120hz display with G-SYNC and I paid extra for a professional monitor calibration from Xotic PC. Unfortunately, I noticed very significant issues with the display quality very shortly after turning it on. The colors have a yellow-ish tinge and black is very washed out by the backlight. I took some pictures of it beside my older Sager NP-8658 (not professionally calibrated) and there is a huge difference in quality between the two.

Has anyone else experienced this with their 8157? I'm trying to determine whether I got a faulty laptop or if this is the norm with 8157 displays.

I'm including some images below. The 8157 is on the left and the 8658 is on the right and the brightness is turned all the way up on both. Any help/comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

If you go into device manager what is the hardware ID of your panel?

 

Thanks so much for the quick response. The hardware ID is MONITOR/AUO52ED.

 

I can't see reports of the AUO B156HTN05.2 (the panel for that hardware ID) having a yellow hue.

Here is notebookcheck's statement on a machine with the same panel:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-15-R3-Notebook-Review.196584.0.html

I would say perhaps something happened with the calibration and it could do with re-adjusting.