**OFFICIAL Sager NP5125/Sager NP5135/Clevo B5130M Owner's Lounge**

The 330m is by no means a bad card, it's a mid-range card that can handle almost any game - just not with everything set to high. At medium to medium-high settings, this laptop can handle just about any game and have decent frame rates.

 

Even at the native 1920x1080?

 

Probably not at native - more like 1600x900 - but when they come in I'll be able to say for sure.

 

It should still play most everything at no less than medium I would guess. Obviously there are exceptions. But even Crysis shows medium settings with beyond good ratings.

 

The thing about StarCraft II is that a higher resolution doesn't give any advantages vs. other players; the same amount of area is viewable. A higher resolution will make it look sharper though. I agree it is unlikely the GT 330M will be able to run it at 1920x1080 (unless maybe you turn the settings down) but it's forgivable given the notebook's price and portability.

If you're looking for benchmarks, there are a number of Sony notebooks that come with the GT 330M - check their forum:
Sony Laptop Forums - Sony Notebook Computer Discussions

 

Yeah, i have a compaq Presario CQ60 right now stock form best buy so anything is an upgrade especially a dedicated gpu. Im still in the process of learning about individual performance parts and such as im a budding computer enthusiast but ill be sure to post a newb review when i get it. Thanks to Xotic PCs my NP5125 should be here tuesday right before my new york trip and the day starcraft 2 comes out.

Also a few mroe technical questions for all of you with more knowledge than me...
What is the estimated battery life for the 62.16 or so extended life battery due in september? ON the note of battery life does switching over to SSD over HDD conserve a significant amount of power? I heard that SSD dont take nearly as much power. If anyone could post thoughts about Power consumption for HDD vs SDD and if it makes a significance woudl be great. Since budget was tight now i opted to 4GB 1dimm ram, and HDD, i plan on going up 8gb (2 dimm) and possibly a SSD. Is a 80gb SSD worth the price for speed, less power consumtion?

Sorry for all the question i just like to make informed decisions

Lets Bow our head for everyone who shops at best buy haha

 

The 62.16Wh estimated battery life is 300 minutes, or 5 hours according to Clevo. While it's true that SSDs don't use as much power, I don't believe it's worth it to make the jump just for that reason, as the amount of battery life you'll gain isn't large at all...maybe 20 minutes on that 5 hour battery? However, performance-wise SSDs are fantastic and I'd highly recommend one.

 

i was jsut reading about undervolting so combining that with ssd could provide a solid 5 hours battery life with expanded since it could be overestimated. BUt assuming its right on i could squeeze almsot 6 hours. And no those are jsut 2 of the aspects im looking at. I want maingly for the speeds for gaming and start up ect. I love that they started having the smaller SSD definetly in the more affrodable range. Im plannign on upping to the 80gb SSD and i have a 250gb external harddrive for anythign important/big.

WOudl you be able to explain the advantages/disadvantages of undervolting/overclocking on a bang for buck computer such as this? or would i be better off posting in hardware section?

 

According to one owner, Left 4 Dead 2 averaged at 32 fps at 1600x900 resolution and high settings. I suppose it will be difficult to run at native resolution then. I'm disappointed but I didn't expect much. The build quality looks really good and I can use that right now (After experiencing HP's Envy...)

 

would i be able to run bad company 2 in 1920x1080 with this?

 

[X] P7615
Intel Core i3 330M 2.1GHz
GeForce GT 330M (575MHz), 1024MB (790MHz) + Intel HD Optimus, 189.72
4096MB RAM


This setup got 32.2 on medium.
It doesn't say the resolution though. To play games I would up the processor. I think this notebook should be able to do this game at FHD on medium with out many problems.

 

yeah i was gonna use the i7-620M.

 

awesome i should be able to rock starcraft 2 atleast on medium with native resolution without hiccups, maybe even high. should definetly run fine at a lower resolution

 

Yeah you should be able to run it at medium settings, probably on high at 1600x900.

 

WOudl you be able to explain the advantages/disadvantages of undervolting/overclocking on a bang for buck computer such as this? or would i be better off posting in hardware section?

 

I don't think there are any programs that let you undervolt i3/5/7 processors. I'm not sure about overclocking the CPU and GPU though, would imagine the gain will be very minimal on a system such as this.

 

to clarify, that's medium settings at 1920x1080?

also, how many hours of video do you think that newer battery could do?

 

dang so no undervolting on the i5 540m to save some power? was hoping to couple that with ssd to add a good half horu to battey

 

I am not aware of anyone that has undervolted the iCore processors. I am not sure it's even possible; the Turbo Boost feature would be very difficult to account for. Also, the fact that the memory controller is onboard now . . . I don't know how that is related to the CPU voltage (if at all).

But you get the point.

There are lots of other things you can do to save power e.g. dim the screen, disable the optical drive and other devices that are not in use, get an SSD, etc.

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To anyone wondering about a CPU for gaming, any of the options offered with the NP5125 will be fine. I think the i5-450M is probably the best price/performance. The i5-540M is the highest I would go.

 

I agree that the i5 540m is best choice also because this is a great bang for buck computer, the i5 has a lower power consumption than the i7 so take that into consideration if you want to squeeze some extra battery life out go for the i5.

by the way does having jsut 1 dimm 4gb ramm make a difference over 4gb 2dimm ram? i opted to have on 4gb stick instead of 2 2gb so i can easily upgrade later. This doesnt make a performance difference does it?

 

Having your memory in Dual Channel mode (2x2GB) will give you a slight performance increase.

However, wouldn't it have been smarter to get 6GB (2GB + 4GB) ?? It is only $5 more, and you would have 4GB of it in Dual Channel mode.

 

well i jstu got a enw computer and my budget was a little tight, but i should have the money for anew 4gb chip soon. SO i didnt want to pay for a 2gb i would replace ina month. I can always take an old ram stick from my old laptop and pop it into the other socket for the other 2gb

 

It depends on how much RAM you use. 4GB is easily enough for gaming. The most economical choice is 2x 2GB.

As Donald noted, there is some performance increase from having two DIMMs because then you have dual-channel RAM; one DIMM = single-channel. The difference will only be noticeable in synthetic benchmarks though, not everyday use.

 

yeah, while msot economical, it is also the easiest way to boost performance since the gpu in this model isnt changeable. Im hoping the full 8gb ram should hold me over to make this laptop be an effective computer for a ways to come

 

So, just curious since we're going to be setting the resolution lower for gaming (fortunately my external screen is only 1600x900 resolution so I shouldn't have a problem once I plug in) will the screen have non-native resolution problems? Most LCD screens (the ones i've used) if you set them at a lower resolution they look a lot blurrier and don't correct nearly as well as a CRT screen would. Does it make sense to get the lower definition screen (i know 1600x900 isn't available yet) and then game at the native resolution of the monitor? Would that give a better picture?

 

Just checking it is a LED monitor not a LCD on the np5125 right?

Because i beleive the backlit LED use alot less power

 

Correct, the display on the B1500M is LED backlit.

 

So does an LED screen still look ok at a non-native resolution? Or should I go with the lower resolution monitor?

 

so im looking into building a custom solar charger to essentially prolong the battery life, possibly significantly. Anyone have the specs on the charger? watts, volts amperage ect?

 

90W AC Adapter, DC output 19V, 4.74A

 

Usually not, once you step away from native resolution everything will have a bit of a "fuzzy" look to it and not crisp and clear. IF the FHD is too much resolution for you it would be best to go with a lower resolution.

 

And the 1600x900 screen has no release date yet?

 

"LED" only refers to the screen's backlighting unit, not the screen itself. The NP5125 has LED backlighting, yes.

As long as you keep the aspect ratio the same (16:9) then lower resolutions will look fine; slightly blurrier but while playing games you won't notice it.

 

Wondering if anyone ever found out what the battery life of this laptop with the 48.84Wh battery and i5-450M. I'm considering this laptop but I am a student so batter life is a must. It appears this unit is now available for order so wondering if anyone has experience first hand.

 

I ordered the Barebones from RJtech last week with 1920x1080 screen with the Intel ultimate 6300 N.

Bought the CPU from Ebay i5-430m and 8 GB of DDR3 1066GHZ from Newegg.

Will post some pics and quick review.
I'm going to try to install windows XP 32bit windows 7 X64 and
Mandriva 2010.1 Power Pack KDE 4.4 X86-64 <--------- bad OS.

Does any body know when they will start shipping?

 

This model will not be available with a 1600x900 screen.

It already has started shipping

 

yup i got mine rush ordered to arrive tuesday so ill post my thought on what i can when i get it. I may be a newb but ill give my two cents

for the RAM for anyone whos been following my posts, i have 1 4gb module, do i need the exact same model/size/brand of ram for optimal performance or will it hamper it if i mix and match? if so what 4gb module comes with the xotic pcs?

 

You do not need the same brand of RAM for optimal performance, just make sure it is at least the same speed.

 

Any ETA on those impressions? I've been drooling over this all weekend and was hoping to order one today, but I've been holding out for a review.

 

Probably next week. Hopefully someone here gets theirs soon.

I can't confirm, but I think this notebook is very similar to the NP5125 externally (might be the same); here's my review:
AVADirect Clevo W765CUH Review

 

i get mine tommorow so ill let you know

 

Looks very different (to me, anyway)

 

That model is the older Sager NP7652. The NP5125 is built on the B5100M from Clevo. We have our video review uploading and we have some initial benchmarks below.

 

how would i go about disconnecting the optical drive when not in use to conserve power on the np5125 since it more than likely except when watching movies not be in use. Can i proactively disable it to extend battery?

 

Good to know. The temperatures look good and so do the scores.

 

for thsoe of us not familiar with the 3d benchmarks and such could you rbeak down its performance for us charles? i'm a gamer and how will it actually perform for me?

 

Just got my tracking number from ups, might be here tomorrow.?

Now I just need the cpu to come in.

All I got is the memory 8GB on my disk.

 

3DMark06 is a synthetic benchmark but you can get a basic idea of how well it will perform in games from the scores.

Justin's NP5125 got 6115; that's an "above average" score. A lower-end card like the ATI Radeon HD 4570 will get 2500-3000, and a higher-end card (ATI 5850, Nvidia GTS 360M) will get 7500+.

Based on that score I estimate that the GT 330M can play most modern games at 1600x900 with medium-high settings. That means games like Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, StarCraft II, etc. Source engine-based games like Left 4 Dead 2 should run 1920x1080 with medium-high settings no problem; I can play them quite well on my old 9600M-GT, which gets only about 3000 in 3DMark06.

The bottom line is, the GT 330M will run modern 3D games with enjoyable visual quality. I think it will be good for gaming for 2-3 years to come.
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Edit: On a side note, because I have seen a lot of questions in other forums asking "which configuration is best" - here is what I think is a good price/performance configuration for those in the market for a laptop to use as their main machine.

-Core i5 processor (450M or 520M); an i3 will be fine in a pinch.
-4GB RAM (2x 2GB sticks)
-7200RPM hard drive (320/500GB)
-Windows 7 Premium
-Nvidia GT 330M, ATI HD 5650 or better GFX card

That kind of setup represents a very good value and will perform very well in most applications. If you need a better CPU (if you do a lot of encoding (Photoshop, video editing, etc)) then go for an i7-740QM quad-core CPU.

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Feel free to PM me for specific help.

 

You do not and if you can it would be all but completely pointless.. The optical drive should take next to nothing while idle.

I don't think you understand where your battery life goes. Read this and especially look at the pie chart.
Windows 7 Energy Efficiency - Engineering Windows 7 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

 

I will pay for IC Diamond thermal paste with my order. Is it okay to expect 65~ CPU and 60~ GPU temperature under load?