[Review] Sager NP9873 / Clevo P870DM3 Quick Review by HTWingNut

The early ES P870DM3 was quiet a bit thicker...that was before DM2 and DM3 received the same body.

 

Question about the dual converter:

From reading elsewhere, the full potential of the system can only be exploited with at least two power supply units working in tandem. I take it this means the SLI configuration doesn't perform as well if it's limited to a single power supply unit? (New to SLI and keen on getting this system but need to do more research)

Also, the review doesn't mention what the dual converter is or looks like. If I do need one to maximise the system's full potential, what DOES one look like? I assume places like Amazon would stock such an item but need to have an idea what to look for.

 

First picture in OP you will see the converter on top of the PSU

 

Ah, so that's what the dual converter looks like. When I type in "dual converter" in Amazon I get a variety of results that don't look like the item in the picture at all. Since I'm incompetent, could someone give an example to point me in the right direction?

What kind of performance degradation would one expect if SLI was enabled under a single 330W power supply compared to the 600W aggregate used for the benchmarks? I've got another thread going and someone provided me with a review of the Asus 1080 SLI offering and the benchmarks there seem to indicate SLI on a single power supply unit varying in performance with a single 1080 card (some games see improvements, others have significant performance degrades relative to single card due to lack of power).

 

Would presume that your Clevo reseller/builder would be able to sell the converter and extra power supply.

 

Yes to the latter but no to the former (it's not listed in the system configurator so presumably it's an optional extra).
Like I mentioned earlier, I'm new to the whole SLI business and would like to get the basics down before I can confirm the purchase.

 

The EC has no way of knowing whether you have one or two supplies connected, so it'll try to draw all the power it can from the 330W. Once the power draw goes too high, the PSU current limit gets tripped and your computer will instantly shut down.

 

In simple English: No SLI unless system is powered by two PSUs connected to laptop by special adapter?

 

I think 2 PSUs will be needed to run BOTH cards in SLI. It appears you can get away with shutting one card down and then run on a single PSU, but again, this is just using a single GPU .

@Johnksss@iBUYPOWER has SLI running on a single PSU. See the beginning of this post - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...oenix-2-is-here.794530/page-325#post-10329155

 

Sounds similar to the review of the Asus 1080 SLI machine I was referred to. Much worse performance with 2 cards enabled on just a single PSU compared to just one card.

Good to know though, I'll have to make enquiries on the reseller end to see what's the arrangement when 2 PSUs are ordered and how they are used together (maybe a similar arrangement with the review machine).

 

My apologies. I have since edited my post, as the other post changed as well. When you get a chance, please refresh your browser to get the updated info.

 

I noticed. The SLI machine purchase price just went up for me because of the need for a second PSU.

The machine (if I do get it) is going to test the limits of the word "portability" with the machine and all its extras together weighing in at over 8 kg!

 

I've had a ~6.5 kg for 5 yrs. It's worth the effort (assuming you don't have to walk 10,000 steps to get where you're going). Over time, you get used to it

 

I carried a Alienware 18xr2 and aw18 in and out of airports for 6-7 years and back and forth to my office everyday. If anyone is looking at a machine of this caliper weight shouldn't even be in the thought process. If weight is then look at some thin and light BGA machines.

 

Fan Noise...



EDIT: What a mess of a video, lol. I didn't say half the things I wanted to. Turn annotations on please.

 

Thanks for that. I wanted something to compare the 870DM3 with my current 5-year old Clevo model.
Idling noise is probably the same but when the system is running something intensive the fan noise appears to be loud enough to be audible even with speakers and the like working audio and music.

 

With auto fans, it really isn't that noticeable. With full fans definitely.

 

How long does your machine take to "cool down" and go back to auto?

Aside: I posted earlier asking where you got the little toggle that allowed you to connect two PSUs together to fuel the system. Did that come with your purchase or did you buy it separately?

 

Depending on how hot it gets it can take a couple minutes to ramp down.

The toggle box comes with the system if you get SLI.

 

Is there a high speed exhaust fan behind that "wall" behind the laptop?

If not, all that exhaust noise is bouncing back sound toward the user - making it seem louder than it would be directed into free space.

And, more importantly being that close to the wall all the HEAT is bouncing back to the laptop and into the air intakes, raising the ambient incoming air temperature higher and higher.

I have found people doing this complaining about *hot* CPU's and GPU's, and when they point their laptops heat exhaust into the open air they get large CPU / GPU temperature drops.

Worse than a flat wall is 2 or 3 flat walls, like in a corner or nook, without adequate ventilation you can bake a laptop, or any heat generating electronics that way.

I hope you did this setup for the sound test only, not the temperature measurements

 

Thanks for both answers!

 

I get similar temps if it's sitting on the desk like that or in the middle of a room. I do my filming there but testing in a more "open" environment.

 

Instantaneous temps maybe, but over time the heat will build and raise the ambient temps during long gaming sessions, or other duration uses.

The hot air bounces back and under the laptop, continually storing heat in the wall, desk, and laptop.

If that's the only operating position you have, I have used a fan coming in from the closed side to blow hot air out toward the direction of open space.

Opening up a gap between the desk and the wall can help too, much of the bounced air drops under the desk. A laptop cooler can help too, it pushes some of the hot air up.

 

@HTWingNut thanks for satisfying our curiosity on what sort of sound these little things put out.

 

There's normally about a 6-9 inch gap between the desk and wall, and I have a fan underneath usually drawing air out.

Here's where I normally test and fuss though, in an open area of my bedroom.

 

Looks awesome, just right, I prefer fresh air myself, nice windows and view

 

Part DEUX posted in original post. Just go there and search "Part Deux".

 

Regarding the GPU tests, I assume you combined the power supplies for the SLI results rather than relying on a single 330W power unit?
Anyone considering this machine absolutely has to get dual power supplies by the looks of things (I'm an SLI newbie and didn't know the power requirements for such a system were that exorbitant).

 

Bad news having corresponded with one of the local retailers.

1. It appears AUO B173ZAN01.1 (4k screen) is not G-Sync compatible (nor does said retailer have any plans to introduce new screens in the future). Most of the comments here are about AUO B173ZAN01.0, is that G-Sync compatible?

2. Buying two power adaptors from this retailer means one is a spare (isn't this is an SLI system?!) as there is no Y converter allowing both power supply units to do the job. If I can buy the converter from someplace else, I'll still be happy getting the system though. If I can't, the optimum power draw the 870DM3 needs means I'll have to look elsewhere for the system.

 

I think they're opting for higher quality LCD's over G-sync. G-sync has too many restrictions especially when it comes to 17" LCD's.

If you get an SLI machine you need to get two power bricks and the converter. No way around it. The system draws over 450W at load, unless they managed to find a 500W power brick for this machine.

 

There seems to be a bewildering number of screen choices for this model, some people say 60Hz with G-sync, others have 120Hz screens without. Not to mention the choice of 1080p or 4k.
I had a look at the panelplus website and there's only one choice for 4k screens at the moment. Unfortunately I can't tell from the website whether any of the screens in production are G-Sync or not (might as well get it since it's useful when the dual cards start struggling after a few years).

I've found one retailer not in the US that does sell the SLI machine with 2 power units and a converter, but it's not local and if there are any problems shipping it back for repairs will cost a bit.

Decisions, decisions. At least I know the bad news now while I'm doing the research rather than shafting myself down the road without prior preparation.

 

Fast 1080p for a gamer on the go with an external 4k/1440p high refresh at home is the ideal combo IMO.

 

That is crazy, crazy loud. Even running TimeSpy that is ridiculously loud even compared to the 870DM and that's with an undervolt and repaste? Yikes....

 

I have found running the CPU at around 4.2ghz with a nice undervolt for a gaming session allows thermal room for the GPUs to run as fast as possible.

 

That's good to hear that you can achieve a nice little OC with an undervolt so the GPUs can stretch their legs, but I still do not like the interdependence of the cooling systems where you have to sacrifice cooling of one to help the other and vice versa. I know it was a needed design decision and the idea of walking around with a portable howitzer of a gaming laptop of this magnitude is insane, but that shared heatsink design and primarily those fans are just the ultimate deal breaker for me.

 

4.2GHz is plenty tbh.. Sadly with the amount of power in that space, the heat will always be an issue.. My mini-ITX desktop struggles to cool the Asus Strix 1080, temps wise, hitting 80C in BF1 even with high fans on GPU.. So in comparison, with the smaller size, the P870DM3 is doing a good job IMO..

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

Or take the GPUs down a notch like in other systems and push the cpu up. The choice is yours given the fin area available.

 

BIOS, Desktop Apps, and LCD overview:


Benchmark Summary:

(Has music with permission from my online buddies from UK Spoony-Metal and Japanese sensation Babymetal... enjoy! )

 

Indeed, however I'd personally tune the CPU down and tune the GPUs up..

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

For the vast majority this is the best tuning so that's how it is stock.

 

Is the adobe coverage 97% or 75%? Text says one, picture says the other.

Thanks

 

Dunno if it has been mentioned yet (probably has several times, but I haven't browsed the entire thread, just read the review itself), but the ESS Sabre HiFi and Burr-Brown stickers are referring to the D/A converter and amp respectively. From what I've heard so far, the external audio connection seems to be some serious high-end stuff.

 

All the models sporting the Sabre HiFi certification use the same combination:

ES9018 + LM49720 + OPA1622

 

Hi @Meaker@Sager

Can you confirm if B173HAN01.2 is true 8-bit? In HWInfo it says 8-bit, even in the Nvidia CP. The panelinfo site does not have anything yet on it.

Regards,
Mark

 

I see no banding in this test:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/content/6bit_8bit.htm

 

I recently bought a single 1080 version of the Sager NP9873. I quickly got the CPU temperatures under control by undervolting but am still playing around with the GPU temperatures. If I run in overclock mode I am maxing out around 68C but in Automatic mode am peaking around 91C. I was wondering are there any programs that can currently be used to set up my own fan profile with this laptop? I would like to run the fans somewhere in between in order to run in the low 80's with the fan noise being a little less than overclock mode.

Thanks,
Lance

 

Can you hold with max fans 68C if you run heaven for at least 2 hours?

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I have never gotten into benchmarking was just basing my GPU temps off of battlefield 1. I did run Heaven for 10 minutes with max fans and the GPU topped out at 70 C. This was with a repaste with Arctic MX4.

Thanks,

Lance

 

Have you played with the custom fan mode in the clevo control center?

 

I have and it is sort of limited. I have already tuned out the fan noise and am just running BF1 on overclock mode which keeps the GPU cool. The noise is really not that bad on overclock mode when I wear my headphones I do not notice it. Was just wanting to set up a custom fan profile but I guess with the laptops you are limited as the fans are not recognized in other programs.

Thanks,

Lance