**Official Clevo P151SM1 / Sager NP8230 Owner's Lounge**

Notebook is stock with no software of the sort installed aside from the stock NVIDIA and Intel stuff.

 

Figured it out. It was Steam booting with windows start forcing the use of the dGPU.

 

Interesting, I have Steam loaded at start up every time, it never used the dedicated GPU. What drivers are you using? I have 320.49 installed.

 

Using 311.54 - Where can I get those drivers? Auto-update says I have the latest version. I'm on WIndows 8 (x64) if that makes a difference.

 

Here is a neat tool by Nvidia to help keep the GPU drivers updated: Download GeForce Experience | NVIDIA | GeForce.

This software should update your drivers to the 320.49, or you manually download it from Drivers | GeForce.

Did you install the GPU driver from the disc? I looked up 311.54, it was released in April according to this link: v311.54 Windows 8 64bit | Clevo Mobile - 31x Series GeForce Driver release - LaptopVideo2Go Forums.

 

Thanks! I didn't open the driver disc.

 

Dang, MSI Afterburner forces dGPU? Is there any way around it, or do I just have to close it whenever I want to use integrated graphics? I use the monitoring and overclocking component occasionally when I need it, but I mostly use the application for seeing framerate, taking screenshots easily, and recording video.

 

It only forces the dedicated GPU if its being monitored. You can disable GPU monitoring by deselecting "Enable hardware control and monitoring" in Settings. Afterburner can still monitor framerates, take screenshots, and record videos, you just can't monitor GPU temps, speeds, or overclock.

 

Ah! Many thanks. I couldn't find it under the "Monitoring" tab when I first searched for it yesterday, but now I found it under "General".

 

Hey guys, I've got a couple of newbie questions.

1) How do I install an mSATA SSD on this thing? Is it as easy as popping the back cover and inserting it?

2) How do I remove the optical drive to replace it with an HDD? Also, will any caddy work? Specifically, will this one? Silverstone TS09 12.7mm Height 2.5in HDD/SSD SATA Caddy for Laptops at Memory Express

Thanks.

 

1) YES!, exposed instantly when taking off the cover.

2) Undo the screw (marked on the casing), slide out the ODD, remove the bracket and put it on the caddy, install the HDD into the caddy, insert the caddy and screw it in.

 

Awesome. Thanks, Meaker!

 

The screw to secure the mSATA drive should already be screwed into the post by the way, so take that out, slot in the drive and then screw it down with that screw.

 

I've ordered a new Wi-Fi card for the laptop; can anyone tell me how to access the original and replace it? Do I have to remove the keybed? I can't find any information on how to proceed.

 

Yes you do. Open up the back and insert a slim screwdriver in the hole through the PCB next to the GPU fan, push through and the panel above the keyboard will pop off (do this with the screen in the open position ofc) and the screws for the keyboard will be exposed. The wireless in under the keyboard.

You can just lever up the panel above the keyboard but you risk scratching the case.

 

Hello guys, I am contemplating of purchasing this laptop and my question is, can I upgrade the GPU to 780m or 8970 down the road, given I acquire 180W PSU? Does Bios support it?

I remember earlier models allowed that, but now sure about this.

 

Probably can but that does not guarantee the xx30 series motherboard will allow for long term operation of those 100W card. I don't think anyone has analysed the power circuitry to be sure.

 

I see, so it ultimately one has to take a risk. Thank You.

 

Any mods or unsupported could put you in the crash test dummy chair

 

So when I am using a program like kombustor or afterburner, my 770m core clock seems to stay at 705 mHz regardless of whether or not i have a benchmark running. Is anyone else having this problem?

 

Just curious, specifically what were the issues that were fixed in the newer generation of NP8235?

 

The audio system has been improved so the output is properly driven.

 

Im looking at getting one of these to replace my current laptop (latitude e6410, i5-540m/2x4GB/iGPU) and desktop (i5-2500k/2x8GB/460GTX). My 2 biggest concerns are if the GPU is a worthwhile upgrade over the desktop GPU, and that it can run 2 external monitors along with the laptop screen all off the nVid card. CPU would be a sidegrade at best from the 2500k, but I've got plenty of CPU horsepower already.

Thoughts?

 

You can compare benchmarks like 3D Mark 11 which the GTX 460 averages 4600 vs the 770M in the NP8230 4955 so you will get a bit of an improvement. The external monitors will run off the Intel HD 4600 and can only one run external monitor at a time. If you want the build in and two external monitors you will need a USB adapter for the second external.

 

I can't get RAID drivers to install for some reason while trying to install Windows 7. This machine is frustrating.

 

So the HDMI and displayport connectors aren't connected to the GTX at all? That seems...silly. And more than enough to cross it off my list completely if confirmed true.
I thought the newer cards supported 3 screen at once, since like the 500 series cards.

 

Not an expert on displays so quite curious on this matter. Why would a manufacturer not allow the powerful discrete GPU (for which we pay the price!) on the mobo to run displays ie. through the ports. . Can anyone point out any actual technical reasons behind this flawed approach? Why would one want Intel graphics to run the displays when one has nvidia graphics solution?!

 

As that's the only way to run optimus, if the dGPU has to drive a display it must be powered on.

 

Hmmm, seems like a big sacrifice. With your experience will it make a big difference on display signal quality and resolution when one uses Intel instead of nvidia?

 

No, it only affects those who want more exotic display setups.

 

Sounds good. Thanks!

 

Intel have come a long way and the 2d quality is just fine

 

True. But running a couple instances of EVE on 2 external displays with the eye candy turned on at 1080p is still beyond the i4600 GPU.
More importantly, if only the iGPU is connected to those outputs you cant game on an external monitor at all using the GTX770M.

Why not treat the external connections identically to the built-in display?

 

I was told it was the second mSATA slot That was fixed, care to expand what properly driven means?

 

Before the audio output was provided straight from the DAC leading to inferior quality sound, I don't believe that is the case anymore. The external monitors are fully capable of using the optimus system to accelerate the graphics running on them like the internal panel.

 

OK, *that* is the answer I was hoping for.

edit: ok. If its not true I'll just return it. Power notebooks is slightly cheaper than mythlogic (was going to use them). If you are a sales rep which name do I select? Ordering within 15min.

edit2: Welp. +1 owner for the owner's club.
95%, 4800MQ, GTX770M, 2x4GB, 1TB 5400rpm, ODD HDD bay, 801.11AC, no OS. I've got a Samsung 840 250GB which will get slotted into the main bay as the boot drive and move the 1TB to the ODD bay. I'll eventually upgrade to 16GB of RAM but wanted to keep the initial expense down as much as possible. I'll be connecting to my 2x24" screens and various logitech accessories (G13, G15v1, G700s, Z560, G35) most of the time. I'll probably grab a second wall plug soon, too. ETA 7-10 business days.

 

Cool, yes optimus does not care which monitor is connected it spits the frames out to any. If you use meaker people will know who you are talking about lol.

 

Yeah I put meaker on NBR in the note section.
7-10 days...and counting.

 

So, i got windows 8 on my machine, and i cant stand it. I actually could learn to deal with it except for the freezing and other issues that windows 7 just doesn't have.

So, heres my question. I have a vista disc from my xps and a windows 7 upgrade disc, would it work to install vista using my dell vista disc then upgrade to windows 7?

 

IIRC you can install a clean copy of vista and do a clean "upgrade" to 7 with a genuine key. But its been a while since I've done anything like that.

edit: mine hasnt shipped yet. Is it an MXM GPU (upgradable in the future)?

 

Just to let you know, I own this notebook's equivalent model here in Brazil (Avell G1512 NEW, check the link: Notebook para jogos Avell Titanium G1512), and I can play perfectly fine through the HDMI output.

 

It is an MXM slot.

 

Good to know.

Any way to tell when my laptop will arrive? Haven't heard anything since specs were sent out (to sager?). I'm restless.
edit: and I just got a notification that Sager is shipping it to you to re-ship it to me. OK.

 

Just wanted to clear any confusion re: external monitor. I own a w230st, and I when I am gaming I am always on an external monitor. The display settings is all managed by the Intel control panel, but what GPU the system is using does not depend on the display at all. So if your game uses the NVIDIA gpu, it will use it whether you connect an external monitor or not. So no problem there.

 

So, besides the soldered gpu, what other difference does this laptop have compared to the P150sm?

Also is it just me, or does the keyboard just look.....ugly?

 

So after scanning over 30 pages I guess it is my time to post in this thread as I am about 36 hours away from being an owner of this laptop (fingers crossed). As I am from the UK I used PCSpecialist (UK people should definitely look into them, 9.3 on trustpilot).

My spec:
i7 4700mq
4gb 1600mhz (I have Samsung 8gb at home already, I think I will go 16gb Corsair Vengeance for christmas)
GTX 765m with 2gb (I will come back to this)
500gb 5400rpm drive (I have a Samsung 840 250gb SSD which I will put into the laptop when it arrives)
Intel 6235 300mbps + bluetooth (I may buy the killer 1202 later)
Includes 1 year collect and return + parts and 3 year labour support warranty and a 5 day fast track dispatch service all for £835

So the first thing I guess is why the 765m when the 770m was available, well unlike you guys in the US, our prices on laptops is always higher in the UK and so I pretty much paid as much as you would for a 770m but for a 765m, the 770m was £140 more and to me considering I can get the MXM card online for 250, if I need it I will buy it later and sell my 765m for 200 if it works out for the best... Frugality

The other main driving force behind it was that 770m is 30 to 50% better but look at the converse, 765m performs at 66 to 75% compared to 770m. I personally dislike the way people use these figures though because to the hardcore gamer every % makes a difference, but I looked at the actual implications and this is how I saw it:

At this stage bear in mind that I only want to play games in a good quality at 35/40+fps which I consider acceptable for myself, you may be different
Firstly it looks like all the older games are happy to run in ultra so thats a win (of course I dont include the ridiculous games that need GTX titan SLI which are only made to make sure GPU technology progression is made). With all the latest games there's a trend of high settings being so much less demanding than ultra on notebookcheck, so even though the 770m outperforms the 765m, this is only really an advantage in a handful of games because if the 765m does high at 40fps, the 770m does 50, but in the same game the 765m does 20 at ultra and the 770m does 26... its better for sure, more apparently in other games but I only found maybe 5 or 6 where it made and unplayable setting on the 765m playable. Do note that notebookcheck has very specific settings requirements though for their tests, I just thought if I can sacrifice shadows of 8xMSAA for 4x or FXAA then the fps difference makes up for itself. Its a FHD screen on a 15.6inch laptop, I don't think I will ever need 8xMSAA personally but I could be wrong.. Also the fact that Razer put the 765m into the Razer Blade laptops and Alienware made it the top upgrade for their Alienware 14 (which I believe is more comparable to this P151SM1 than the Alienware 17 because Alienware 17 = Clevo P170SM competition in my eyes) makes me believe this GPU is a sound choice for a regular sizes portable gaming laptop. Also the power requirements are some 10Watts less than the 770m, which also I heard is clocked lower than its standard stock clock in here too (707 vs 810 or something).
That wasn't a rant, just a justification. If anyone has the 765m and has anything good or bad to say please let me know your thoughts.

So I ordered this on saturday and it was processed on monday, they gathered the parts for it yesterday and it was built today and went into testing about 6pm UK time. From other peoples experience the quality checks only last an hour so it should be dispatched tomorrow so I get it on Friday (fingers crossed).

Blankenship7, I saw your review before coming here and really liked what you had to say, I will do a video review once I have it, although mine will be british and by that I mean pretty much the same as yours with different voice-over and without an iphone camera as I don't own an iphone.
Also I saw the plextor m5m 128gb msata drive on amazon and it has a consistent 5 star review from everyone in the UK, looks like Plextor really has a good quality product so thanks for reiterating the review, I think this will make a nice addition to my 250gb Samsung 840

Finally a question, there seems to be some confusion on my side as people cannot decide if this machine has dual msata or not. The first msata slot is located near the cpu and battery, but the second one in the p150sm was under the 2.5inch hdd bay, is this the case here? Someone else told me that the second msata slot is actually under the keyboard which was further confusing, but regardless Clevo have said that dual msata is an option on their site so I would really like to know if you guys have it and where the second bay is.

 

A question for XoticPC:

As you guys are based in the US and I'm in the UK I feel crap for not being able to customise my laptop with you guys. I saw your customisation list and the Carbon Fiber Wrap intrigued me, when I saw the video on youtube of the Asus in carbon fiber it looked really nice, but I didn't know if you shipped to the UK and even if you did it would be completely unfeasible as the tax man in the UK would have a vice around my balls for this one.

If you are able to share some information, I was just wondering do you guys use a carbon fiber wrap/vinyl sold by 3M? I would like to do this myself at home, but not as extensively as you have done in your video I would just do a rough job of it to make it look acceptable, and maybe in an Orange colour for the lid as I think a deep orange colour really looks amazing against black, courtesy of my old old old sony walkman phone.

Cheers

 

The GPU isn't soldered in. Uses the MXM slot just like the P150SM. The power rating is just cut on it so you can't drop a 780M in there. Though, I'm assuming it would fit physically.

 

1. That's great if you can have a 765m in this clevo chassis! . Clevo P151sm1/ P150sm both have <770m + dual cooling> & the Asus N550JV touch has <750m + dual cooling>. That's something I would wish ie. somewhere in between where you hit a decent price point without sacrificing graphics + cooling (765m + Dual cooling sys). As you point out, you certainly can acheive decent performance with 765m compared to 770m just by turning off some high end options and still play 1080p.

2. Will be nice to post an alternate indepth video review!

3. Yes the (NP8230) P151sm1's have dual msata but the 2nd msata had issues before. Sager has removed such issues in the NP8235 but I do not know about other manufacturers. 2nd slot should be under the HDD bay.

 

Ah, my mistake then.

So.....what other differences are there besides the keyboard? Like how is the body compared to the P150SM?