NP8170 with i7-2760QM & HD6990M Review and Benchmarks

Sager NP8170 Rig Specifications:
17" 1080p Glossy
Intel i7-2760QM CPU
AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU
WD 320GB 7200rpm HDD
Seagate 750GB 7200rpm HDD
8GB DDR3 1333MHz (2 x 4GB)
Intel 6300 Wi-Fi card
Super DVD-RW combo drive
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Origin:
I originally came upon Sager and their resellers after searching the web for a laptop with one must-have item: Fingerprint Reader. I was having some trouble until I stumbled upon NBR and the great multitudes of information available to anyone willing to take the time to read it. It wasn't long before I became overtly impressed with Sager and I remain more than pleased with my choice to this day - not only did I get my FR, I got a very solid machine that is easily upgradable, powerful and sharp.

I purchased my unit from XoticPC because, in the end, I just felt more comfortable with their overall reputation and service history. Along with the whole sales team at Xotic, Justin@XoticPC was very helpful in getting my order changed after the fact. As with most resellers, I liked not having to buy another OS when I had one leftover from my dead-in-the-water Toshiba Satellite P105-S9722. What a step up this is!!!

From the time the order was released for production to delivery was 9 days. Not bad.

Package:
I did not care for how the box that showed up was plastered with SAGERNOTEBOOKS as this just gives people a reason to swipe it if given the opportunity during shipping.

It was very easy to unpack and quick to get setup out of the box. Very professional. It also came with a simple case, a couple of installation discs and miscellaneous items.

Construction/Style:
The build of the machine is top notch. I keep reading reviews of this Sager NP8170 that mention the simple styling of it as though that were a bad thing. Personally, I like it just the way it is. I wouldn't want a machine that is so stylish that it distracts me from the true purpose of using it. Sometimes less is more. That's true here.

Keyboard/Ports:
I really like this keyboard with the spread keys. I do a lot of screenwriting and have noticed a significant drop in typing errors due to this rig's layout. Awesome for me, but not everyone uses this particular laptop to write with I'm certain. For reference, the keys are about one-eighth inches spaced apart. The ports are what you expect.

Sound/Display:
Compared to my Toshiba and actually any other laptop I've ever seen or used, this thing sounds great for both games and movies. Very satisfied. Only con would be that there is no external volume control, but I can live with that. The display is exactly what you would expect - very good. No DP on mine, but I did fork out the $ for it.

Internal Layout:
It was very easy installing my WD 320GB HDD into this beast behind the optical drive, for a faster OS drive than the stock SG 750GB HDD that came with it. Although I will be moving to a SSD later this year, as you can see below, the WD is a little faster than the SG. When loading Windows 7, every little bit helps for now. (Thx Storage Review)


Performance:
I did not overclock anything, and I didn't bother with turning any processes/services off. I will just let the numbers for each benchmark speak for themselves. Enjoy...

Idle Temps:
Initial run before loading many programs...


... after loading tens of programs...



Windows 7 WEI score: the WD drags it down considerably... SSD here I come!



3DMark06
1280x1024; No AA


1920x1080; 4xAA; ASx16



3DMark 11
Performance (720p): P3546 / GPU 3263 / Physics 6765 / Combined 3343


Extreme (1080p): X1123 / GPU 1001 / Physics 6950 / Combined 1303



3DMark Vantage
Coming soon...


PCMark Vantage
PCMark 8979 / Mem 6774 / TV 5376 / Gaming 9085



Lost Planet 2 (1080p, max details)
DirectX 9

Test A: 70.9 FPS


Test B: 65.4 FPS


DirectX 11 (these numbers are somewhat low due to long-term benching)
Test A: 34.9 FPS


Test B: 29.7 FPS



Resident Evil 5 (1080p, max details)

DirectX 9 Variable Benchmark 109.6 FPS


DirectX 9 Fixed Benchmark 89.0 FPS


DirectX 10 Variable Benchmark 99.2 FPS


DirectX 10 Fixed Benchmark 89.1 FPS



Call of Pripyat (1080p, Ultra, HBAO On)



Final Fantasy XIV (1080p; no user configuarable settings)
Score: 3507



Unigine Heaven Benchmark v2.5: (1920x1080, 4xAA, ASx4)



Flight Simulator X

1080p, Medium-High settings = FPS Min: 41, Max: 80, Avg: 63

1080p, Max detail and traffic = FPS Min: 14, Max: 54, Avg: 31

In summary, I think you can do no wrong buying one of these bad boys. But it's early!

 

good review, did you get ic diamond or a laptop cooler? the temps seem kinda cool! also did you try to install the newer drivers? and does it have 11.9? i m planning to get one of these bad boys next week!

 

Great review GRazor71,

I recently got my NP8170 and reviewed it here:

Hello everyone

Finally I am able to provide a full review of my very first purchase from XoticPC. My previous computer was out dated horribly and I was looking to purchase a laptop with great capabilities of running 3D and motion design software. After long extensive hours of research here on NBR, I finally decided that a Sager Notebook would best suite my needs. It's been a little over a week since I've received my NP8170. I would like to thank Michael S., Heidi L. and Justin Nolte over @XoticPC.com as well as Larry @LPC-Digital.com for being extremely helpful, making my first purchase effortless. Michael S. was my sales consultant and ordering with him was a swift and easy breeze. He provided help with any information needed and answered all questions as quick as humanly possible. Heidi provided status/phase updates whenever I’d call to check in with XoticPC. Larry @LPC-Digital and Justin Nolte @XoticPC have provided extremely useful posts and threads ranging from tips to suggestions right here on NBR! To clarify the reason why XoticPc became my first choice; it was mainly due to Justin's signature at the time, promoting NBR member exclusive discounts and I became more satisfied with their customer service after completing the sale with Michael but if by any chance the NP8170 was on backorder at XoticPC, LPC-Digital would've been my 2nd choice.
I'm glad to have become part of the Sager family here

As for order issues, the only two problems I encountered throughout the process were based on pricing. The two issues were:

1.) The initial signature under Justins profile advertised "$180" in savings for NBR members and I assumed the amount of money I was going to be saving on my order would equal "$280" but it did not add up to this amount and here is why. XoticPC's "SAGER Sale!!! - $100 OFF When you spend $1500* " is counted towards the NBR member exclusive discount. In other words, when you are customizing your Sager NP8170 or NP8150 order at XoticPC, do NOT assume that $180(NBR discount) ALONG with XoticPC's $100 Sager Sale will apply to your order. Instead, $60 will be taken off from your order as a member exclusive discount as well as around $20 for free ground shipping given if you've selected the $100 OFF Sager Sale when you customized your order, which equals the grand total of $180. I was a bit confused at first but then understood it well so I am giving a heads up on this for first time buyers.

2.) Larry @LPC-Digital made a post about SAGER's announcement of the AMD 6990M price drop to $145.00 as an upgrade (http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...evo-p150hm-owners-lounge-414.html#post8038993) and being that my order was only on Phase 3 at the time and at Xotic PC Nebraska location, It was a no brainer to call in Xoticpc's price protection guarantee on a price match since It was listed for $245 when I ordered a week 1/2 ago. So knowing that I would be paying $100 more then I should, I went with the standard procedure and called in on this matter. I spoke with the Customer Service department and checked in on the status of my order. Secondly I knew my reason for calling in was to notify them that I over paid for a component on my order. I assumed that I spoke on this issue but in reality forgot to mention it to customer service after further investigation. So on Monday I called in and explained the situation and was told that my order had already shipped and there wasn't anything they could do to help.


So lesson learned here and hopefully no one else goes through the same thing. This is to help others before it is late.



I've broken down the review into 8 segments with some parts needing help from my fellow NP8170 owners.



1. RUNDOWN

Phase 1: (Date Ordered) Wednesday October 19, 2011

Phase 2: (Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA) Wednesday October 26, 2011

Phase 3: (From Sager to Xotic PC Nebraska location) Installation of Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) Wednesday November 2, 2011

Phase 4: (Order Shipped) Friday November 4, 2011 (standard ground UPS)

Phase 5: (Delivered) Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 5:33 P.M.

(Note) I can say :Wednesday: is now my favorite day of the week.


Details:
1 x Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM () = $1,872.00
Current Promotion SAGER Sale!!! - $100 OFF When you spend $1500* or more! (*excludes accessories, shipping, non Sager items & taxes) NP8150 & NP8170 Only - Confirmation of discount will be provided after Order Processing
Display 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080)
(Will add 4-7 business days to build time) (SKU - X1R504)
NO Monitor Calibration XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration w/ Spyder 3 Elite
nVIDIA Wireless 3D Vision Glasses (For 3D Screens) No Spare 3D Glasses
Dead Pixel Warranty Standard Dead Pixel Policy
Processor 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 2.4-3.5GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - S2R202)
Thermal Compound -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
Graphics Video Card ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD6990 2048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (SKU - S3R151)
External Display Video Adapters No Video Adapter
Ram 8GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (Not Supported by Intel i5-2410M) - Special! (SKU - S4P369)
Branding Sager Branding
Exterior Finish Standard Finish
Primary Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) (SKU - S5R207)
Second Hard Drive None Standard
Raid HDD Raid Settings - OFF
Optical Drive Bay Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included) (SKU - S7R455)
Optical Drive Bay Hard Drive Caddy No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
External Hard Drive (Back Up) No Back Up Hard Drive
External USB Optical Drive NO External USB Optical Drive
Floppy Drive No Floppy Drive
Memory Card Reader Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
Back Up Software No Back Up Software
Bluetooth None Standard--
Wireless Network Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth (SKU - S8R110)
Wireless Network Accessories No Network Accessory
Camera Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
TV Tuner No TV Tuner
Sound Card Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
Case Basic Black Business Case - Included
Battery Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
Car Adapter No Car Adapter
Spare AC Adapter None Standard*
Port Replicator / Dock / Adapters No Dock/Hub/Adapter
Fingerprint Reader Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Mouse / Keyboard Accessories No External Keyboard or Mouse
Notebook Cooler No Notebook Cooler
XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
Operating System No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
Microsoft Office Software No Office Software
Software Bundle (Not Installed) No Software Bundle
Warranty LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
Outside of U.S. Shipping Coverage No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
Build Time Standard Production Time
Xotic Gear No Xotic PC Gear



2. QUESTIONS :
Here I have some questions for owners of the NP8170

a) What is the difference between NP8170 and the NP8170-S1?
b) Monitor Calibration is a feature I wanted but removed it since it requires an OS and I had already purchased my OS from a retail store. Is it recommended/possible to Color Calibrate the NP8170 ourselves w/ Spyder 3 Elite added?
c) What is latest Radeon Drivers available at the moment? I've installed the 6990m NP8170 drivers from Sager's website. For some odd reason when I install the Catalyst 11.10 drivers from AMD's website, the display seems duller and lacks brightness / Sharpness. Is there a fix for this ?
d) During the boot up of my NP8170, the Sager logo flicks twice on start up. This happens every time but I would like to know if this behavior is normal or should It be a concern?
e) I've notice that the is some crackling audio output when playing movies or music. Is there a fix for this or is it normal? Someone mentioned it here as well on this thread: Crackling audio output - XOTICPC Forums
(PS) In reference to "Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio"
Can someone clarify if in fact the NP8170 contains an actual Creative Sound Blaster card within itself or is this Driver based only?
f) Is there a Back light keyboard FN key of some sort or this doesn't exist? & what exactly does the Touch pad driver do for this Laptop?


3. CONCERNS:
So far the concerns i have are:

• 4 noticeable dead pixels
• Low 3dMark Scores
• Dull display when using 11.10 drivers for Battlefield 3
• Quality of speakers

4. OPINION
I would like to get input from everyone on the 6990M situation? Given that I am still within the 14 day period (3 Days left, Tuesday November 22nd)..... would it be sensible to return and order the same model to receive the price difference? Or go for the NP8180 with the same configuration (excluding its dual 6990m's)?

If not then what are some laptop cooling solutions one would recommend for my NP8170 configuration based on stock oem thermal compound? What’s the best 300-500gb SSD one would recommended in terms of performance and which Ram works best with the NP8170 ( Kingston HyperX) , (Crucial Ballistix), others ?



5. PROS
These are the Pro's for me when it comes to the NP8170 based on the configuration i currently have:
Display - The 17.3 display is amazing beautiful. Although I have notice some dead pixels, I really can’t stress enough how easily the quality is noticeable from a standard 15" screen.
Battery life - @2.4ghz the battery life is incredible. The best method in getting the most from your battery is to create a separate profile using the balanced power plan template and further adjust it.
Build - I really like the style and design of the NP8170. The brushed metal look and soft keyboard makes me appreciate Sager notebooks.


6. CONS
Only con I’d mention is the fingerprint sensitive casing and quality of speakers. Nothing more.


7. CONCLUSION
I believe that the NP8170 is a great laptop for those looking for a desktop replacement or sheer power packed into a 17" notebook body. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a simple sleek designed laptop with incredible performance.


(PS) Can someone explain the reason for the Low 3dMark Scores ?
Thanks



8. PICTURES