[Review] Sager NP8652 / Clevo P650SG with 980m Initial Impressions and Review by HTWingNut

Don't get the Samsung 4k display... People are complaining about some yellow problem from what I've read.. Also the Sharp IGZO display is gorgeous... Great colours and like Anirudh said, battery performance wise, it's better too due to the IGZO tech..

 

Thanks for the heads up. I may stick with the 1080p display because that's generally better on the go and I'll be plugged into a 2560x1600 display much of the time.

 

That's the reason why I went the izgo is because ut is said to consume slightly more power than the 1080 p and the fact that it's supposedly gsync enabled

 

the sharp 4k is gsync enabled? huh? where did u see that?

 

I saw it in a video review of the izgo display where when the person opened up the panel to see it and behind it it had the gsync logo and the fact that the 980m in overclocked mode will automatically adjust the fps to the fps of the video that is playing in the review could mshow that its gsync compatible I may be wrong

 

its igzo btw...

hm maybe u mixed up adaptive sync or vsync with gsync? do u have a link?

 

Its possible sorry I don't have a link cuz its not saved in my history

 

Does anyone have the model # for the Sharp display? Perhaps there is some information regarding what was mentioned above about gsync, etc.

 

glare: Sharp LQ156D1JX01B

matte: Sharp LQ156D1JW04

theyre both listed on panelook.com havent seen anything regarding gsync though. which is also doubtful at this point in time, since nvidia hasnt officially introduced gsync to laptops yet.

 

I figured as such but it's good to dig up what one can. Thanks jaybee.

 

Well it is an IPS pannel so if it's anything like the LG IPS pannels, it should be GSync capable..

 

has nothing to do with it being IPS though... thus far there was only that one specific LG panel that was supported by the leaked alpha gsync driver...

 

Exactly it's down to the hardware ID.

 

Okay a question about Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) on this Np8652.
Is anyone else running with Ubuntu 14.04?

Do you notice , as I am seeing,that:
1) the fans never run under Ubuntu
2) the area to right of touchpad (lower right of keyboard) gets very hot after a few minutes
3) after about 45 minutes the computer's performance seems to slow down.

(None of these behaviors occur under Windows 8.1)

I did some research on the Ubuntu forums if there was a service or kernel module I needed to control the fans but couldn't find anything specific to Clevo/Sager only the Linux standard Lm-sensors and Fancontrol.

I tried lm_sensors but when it scans the bus it only shows CPU temps (no GPU). Tried fancontrol but not showing any PWM controllable fans. CPU temps are showing mid 40's.

My "speedometer" symbol light (lower left on laptop edge all the way on the left) is always on in Ubuntu, whereas in Windows it switches depending on the software I am running.

Edit: this problem seems to be related to Optimus. I tried Bumblebee for Linux but it doesn't work with the Nvidia card (getting the Intel integrated graphics only).

 

For fan control or to prevent overheating, I discovered that if I use the Clevo hotkey utility under Windows to run fans at Maximum, then I can reboot into Linux and the fans continue to run at Maximum, or vice-versa for "normal" fan speeds. I experimented with a few thermal control or power management system under the Linux side but none would allow me to control fan speed manually.

I think the "hotspot" on lower right of keyboard is solved by running TLP.

Alright at least on the Optimus (Nvidia vs Intel graphics) I have a sort of answer:
Supposedly the Ubutnu 14.04 supports "hybrid graphics" but not very well. Apparently these newest 980m hardware is a problem.
There's alot of information out there about running Bumblebee for Optimus support in linux but as far as I can tell that is old info and with 14.04 LTS it is outdated.
I'm not sure exactly how but after a few days of fooling around (as is typical with Linux) it magically started working.
Here's what I did:
Tried to install Bumblebee, it never worked for me. Eventually apt-get purge'd all of Bumblebee packages.
Tried to install the linux driver direct from Nvidia website: "NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-346.35.run". that left with a system that woulnd't run the GUI after reboot. (hint: if your screen doesn't work after bootup, you can press CTRL-ALT-F1 to get to a text console to make repairs).
After the Nvidia 346.35.run file woulnd't work, I tried:

$sudo apt-get install nvidia-331 nvidia-settings nvidia-prime

(I don't know why I tried v331 but all the examples online were using it yeah I guess its obvious now it's too old of a driver for 980m hardware)
rebooted. This time I got the "welcome screen" but after logging-in I got a blank desktop, and error message, and nothing else. CTRL-ALT-F1 again to make repairs, this time I run:

$sudo apt-get install nvidia-343 nvidia-settings nvidia-prime

now I reboot and I login, I get an error message on startup but after clicking-past the error message I do get to working desktop. I am able to run Nvidia X Server Settings and it appears I am running on the Nvidia GPU.

switch bettween Nvidia and Intel graphics using:

$sudo prime-select nvidia
or
$sudo prime-select intel


(requires a logout and login for change to take effect. You can see the Optimus "speedometer" indicator light, on the far-left of your laptop LED status panel, will also change)
if you run:

$nvidia-settings

it brings up the X-server configuration for Nvidia. If most of the tabs don't work it means you are in Intel mode, switch to Nvidia mode (run the command then logout and login) and you will be able to see all the info tabs in the nvidia-settings screen. Including GPU temperature.
I was able to run glxgears demo to test openGL performance:

$glxgears -info

This will give you a rough frame-rate count. In Intel mode it is locked to 60 FPS (the refresh rate). In Nvidia mode (Optimus) it will show much higher. I beleive this is due to a bug in Linux implementation of Optimus where the buffer copy is not synchronized to the Refresh rate, the GPU just draws as fast as it wants and the buffer copy back to the Intel graphics is essentially "without v-sync", if my understanding of the current behavior is correct.

Running multiple OpenGL apps to exercise the GPU, I can see its temp go up a few degrees and the Fans automatically start to ramp-up accordingly so that part works and is operating-system independent.

oops: now for some reason my network connection (eth0) got messed up. Seems to be a known issue , had to do a complete power-off reboot to restore it.

Wow 2 days of goofing around to get Linux that only works 1/3 as well as Windows... not even sure why I bother.

 

Glad you were able to get it working in some kind of regard. I have put Debian Jessie (very similar to Ubuntu 14.04) on my P750ZM and notice that the nouveau driver does not deal with the 980M very well, you might try to disable that module entirely as it could be interfering with the bios's ability to control the GPU fans. Actually, if you have the Nvidia blob installed then it should be blacklisted anyways. Also, I found that the newer Nvidia drivers are best installed via Xorg-Edgers PPA. That PPA has both nvidia-343 and nvidia-346 series drivers which both support the 980M.

Out of curiousity, does suspend / resume work for you? Mine distorts the internal LCD on resume, which more or less renders it useless until a reboot. External displays connected via displayport work just fine, however. Also, have you successfully used the 7265AC wifi chip? I originally received a Killer 1525AC chip which I was unable to make work even with the experimental 3.19rc5 kernel branch. I have yet to receive my replacement 7265AC but curious if anyone else has used it under Linux yet.

 

on the Ethernet issues for Sager NP8652 in Ubutnu 14.04 LTS: searching around it seems to be a known issue that the Realtek drivers (for the built-in ethernet port) are problematic in Ubuntu.

Behavior is: after booting into Ubuntu, the network icon is "strobing" like it is tring to connect and after about 30 seconds says it cannot connect. eth0 appears as a networking device it just doesn't want to work for some reason. WiFi (wireless) works fine its only the Wired port that is a problem.
This behavior randomly occurs from one reboot to another. Sometimes it carries-over into Windows where if the Ethernet port is "broken" then even Windows 8.1 won't see it after a reboot. Have to do a "power off" cold boot into Windows to fix it.

How I fixed it:
Be connected to WiFi, for this you will need it.

Use this to see what version of Realtek driver you are using:
$lsmod | grep r8

Output should be a line starting with "r8169" (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installed by default)

Remove (unload) the driver from the kernel:
$sudo modprobe -r r8169

(this causes the eth0 to instantly go-away, but I have my WiFi turned on so I can run the next step)
Install r8168 driver instead:
$sudo apt-get install r8168-dkms

Load the driver into the Kernel:
$sudo modprobe r8168
(this step not necessary if I'm going to reboot anyways?)

After this line, eth0 appears but have the same "trying to connect / cant connect" problem that I had before.

I reboot the system and now (in Ubuntu) my wired ethernet port is working again.

Add the line "blacklist r8169" to your module blacklist file "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf" to prevent it from later auto-updating to r8169:
$sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
Add the line "blacklist r8169" to the end, then add a new line after it (hit Enter key) then save and close the blacklist.conf file.

Thank you Linux you wasted another 4 hours of my life on something that should work easily.

 

Yes works fine.

I tested suspend/resume with both an external monitor (HDMI Port) and with only the built-in screen, it work fine both ways on my computer.

 

Here's a brief video showing LG IPS viewing angles and brightness, fan noise, and CPU temps with Prime95...

 

Any way to get a customizable backlit keyboard for this? I really liked being able to pick the colors on my M17x.

Also, is it possible to get an external battery (like a dock or something like that)?

I've tried searching for both of these but there hasn't been a whole lot of discussion about this laptop.

 

u mean, aside from the 5300 posts in the owner's lounge?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Here you go:


Honda eu2000i inverter generator

You can throttle it down, get about 10+ hours of laptop runtime on one tank of Fuel.

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these through xoticpc. Do I go for the bigfoot wireless card or stick with the intel one? Thanks!

 

most users seem to favor the killer card, although i cant say i have had any issues with the 7265 thus far

 

i finally decided to go with the eurocom m5 with the same specs since it was 500 dollars cheeper in canada after the student discount. i love it is really amazing and i benchedmarked it against my friends aw 15 with the 980m and in day to day taks it was way quicker thanks to the i7 4720 hq

 

It's a hit and a miss thing with the Killer and 7265.. Really depends on your luck.. With Intel, Wifi is crap whereas with Killer Bluetooth has problems..

 

will this SSD fit together with the default 1TB HDD that comes with this laptop?

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX100...d|B00KFAGCWK[tid|14249922559523633[bbc|LEPRIX

 

As long as it's 7mm or thinner you will be fine.
I did the same thing on mine: installed a Crucial SSD above the existing 1tb drive.

 

Depends on thickness of the HDD. If it's 7mm then yes. If it's 9.5mm, no unless you mod it.

Edit: I'm a dumbass who didn't read the review

SG = thicker, 2x7mm or 1x9.5mm + 1x7mm

SE = thinner, 2x7mm or 1x9.5mm

 

Amazing build quality with top of the line components my question is why not just get rid of the traditional spinning HDDs and in turn use that space to maybe cram in at least a 6 cell 74+ wh battery?

HDD into pcie ssd or 4 m.2 slots maybe

 

Thats a good thought. For file storage like pics, music, movies etc, its still much cheaper per GB to have a HDD.

 

I still want hard-drive space. SSD + HDD is my setup.
When 1TB SSD is <$100 then you can cut it down to only 1 drive slot

 

No. SSDs still too expensive and low capacity for mass storage.

 

We very rarely see anybody submit orders for pure SSD setups. Of course it's the ideal way to go if you have the pockets to go but doing that would severely impact how many people would find it a viable option as a model.

 

You have a good point a 512 gb m. 2 micron ssd costs around $330+ vs a 1 tb HDD for $110.

Consumers are looking for portability and longevity on a laptop but they also want the power to go along with it also lately people have been obsessed with design.

For myself the perfect laptop would mean:

A unibody CNC Machined aluminum build 15.6 inches similar to a rMBP

Under 1 inch thickness

Edge to edge glass 4K IPS IGZO display with 100% Adobe sRGB with anti reflective coating ( like rMBP )

Broadwell Quad Core i7 CPU
GTX 980M
Soldered 16gb ram
1 TB PCIE SSD
92 wh battery

Anti ghosting keyboard

2 USB 3 ports
2 lightning 3 ports
1 HDMI port
1 SD card reader

If I had this kind of specs I would more than gladly pay $3k for it.

 

My 2TB M9T cost me $80

 

Indeed.. My 7K 1000 1TB HD was like £48-50... I wish SSD prices went down to this level but it will be another 5-10 years probably... BTW, I would never sacrifice my 2.5" HDD slots for more battery life.. I rather have a smaller swapable battery and my 2 2.5" slots.. Sadly this isn't possible with the Sager and many newer laptops..

 

They have made the sacrifice of 2.5" bays in smaller machines, in larger machines people value the extra storage options.

 

Indeed. My Alienware 17 has room for up to 3 2.5" drives and one MSATA slot

 

Does anyone with this laptop have a weird stuttering issue with video playback on websites? Here is an example of a Facebook video that straightens itself out in the end. I have this problem on multiple other sites too. I have the GeForce Game Ready Driver Version 347.52 which I believe is the newest version and have had the problem on at least one previous version. I also have the 4k screen.

 

Hi Guys!
Any idea why am I missing a PCI driver? watch the image. (Windows 7)
I just got this laptop from Xotic, shipping was fast, I got the stock version with no modifications at all, and to save some money I bought from Amazon the SSD Samsung XP941 PCIe 2.0 x4.

Now, I have 3 questions:

1. Do you know why am I missing a driver? I installed all drivers and some optional as well, but I couldn't fine what is the missing PCI, any idea??



2. Is this the normal performance for the SSD Samsung XP941 PCIe 2.0 x4? or am I missing something? I was expecting some better numbers for write. Should I return it and get a SATA SSD?



3. Where should I place the thermal pads?

Thanks for your time!!!

 

1. Probably IMEI. Another option is to not install the driver (I doubt you need it) and disable it in Device Manager to make the warning go away.
2. Looks normal
3. Keep them in a safe place. They're spares for your GPU's VRAM chips in case the current ones ever get damaged while repasting or something.

 

arent the thermal pads included for m.2 drives? especially for the 941 id use them....

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Oh, you're right.

Didn't even think of that since mine only came with a 500GB HDD.

 

Has anyone ever used an alternate power adapter for this computer? The one it comes with is huge and heavy, I wanted something more portable to take on the road and doesn't weigh a ton.

Back in Post #36, HTwingnut said he used a "Dell PA-19 230W power supply and adapter to work with the Clevo notebooks" but what about something smaller/lighter?


Edit: answer is "no".
you need 180 watts, no other way around it.

 

Hi Sharp,

There is an original design manufacturer (ODM) for Clevo in Turkey, they are under the Monster Brand.
Here is the link:

Monster TULPAR T5 V4.1.1: http://www.monsternotebook.com.tr/urun_detay.aspx?urn=472329&kat=6453&lang=tr-TR#.VQBE1GjF87e

I imagine you will get warranty from there, better than get it from Sager.

Cheers!

 

Indeed getting it local will save you on expensive shipping (notebooks are not cheap to ship)

 

How does the brightness compare on the 1080p LG IPS vs. the 4K Sharp screen? Does anyone know the part number on that 1080p IPS? I can't seem to find that info anywhere...

 

Do you know if the mouse touchpad recognize two fingers?

I have an ASUS and I love scrolling up/down/right/left using two fingers (like in a Macbook). I was wondering if the Sager NP8652 / Clevo P650SG does the same, so far I can't but maybe is because I need to install a driver or something.

What do you think?
Thanks!

 

those touchpad gestures should be supported via the synaptics driver suite pretty positive on that