*** Official Clevo P37xSM-A/Sager NP9377 owner's lounge ***

Finally got around to running 3DMark11.

Here is my result with single GPU; (I wasn't present for any error, but I am re-running now to check.)
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9657188

It wasn't able to identify my hardware... I'm guessing that links my 3DMark firestrike error with this somehow? It seems like either program is unable to get information on my hardware. Can this potentially eliminate the possibility of a bad GPU and is a software issue?

 

You might be blocking their system info tool.

 

Just updated Windows Firewall with exceptions to everything in the Futuremark SystemInfo folder. Going to run 3DMark 11 again now.

 

Welp, that didn't work for 3DMark 11 or Firestrike. Still crashing.

HOWEVER! Thanks to Pat@XoticPC I now have a fix/workaround for the blue flicker. I switched my PhysX Settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel from Auto-Select (Recommended) to CPU. That got rid of the flickering. Now, I switched it from CPU to GPU 2 and the flicker is still gone.

Is there some issue with SLI and Auto-Select for PhysX Settings? Also, would there be any performance loss this way? (I would think if it's on a GPU then no, but CPU I'm not sure.)

 

I've been running my physx on auto select with sli since I got mine 3 monthes ago and have experienced zero issues. I don't know if that's the best way to have it or not but it's been working fine .

 

@Player2: What driver are you running?

This is getting really weird now... I set auto back on and my flicker is completely gone. When before it was there last I checked. (Friday)
Here is my new score with 3DMark11;
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9657333
Why is my combined score lower than my first? ( http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9657188) The graphics and overall score is higher but physics and combined are both lower than just running a single GPU.

EDIT: This is also apparent during 3DMark 11's combined test. Single GPU during combined test was 30-50 FPS (Don't remember exactly...) while SLI is 10-20.

 

4930MX, 2 x 980Ms, 1TB EVO mSATA SSD, 2TB 5400rpm storage, 120Hz screen and other bits

I could have saved a bit of cash on the CPU but wanted something that lasts. Plus ARMA3 loves a good CPU. I am really looking forward to the 980s in SLI. I will be playing BF4, Hardline, ARMA3 and maybe some single player games that come out. Oh... and GTAV

I'll be getting an external 144Hz monitor to make the most of the 980s

So excited. Hopefully they can get it to me before the weekend. They've said they'll do their best

 

I am using 347.88.
Three previous drivers worked fine also.
As far as your scores I'm not sure.
Sounds like it definatly has something to do with with switching the physx setting.
Also you shouldn't have to change physx settings to make flikering stop. If you have to do that it would seam like your just masking another problem some how.

Edit . Try all three physx settings with single gpu and run benchmark and then do same with sli. Maybe one gpu is faulty.

 

Others with this laptop what do you guys set your physx setting to in nvidia control panel.
Just curious .

 

Well it depends if you want to use the physx or not. But you would want them both working on it rather than one gpu for graphics and one for physx since it performs better still.

 

Alright, well.... I'm unable to reproduce my SLI blue flickering problem anymore. Still can't figure out how to get the 3DMark's to recognize my hardware... That and I need to figure out why my score with SLI is so low in 3DMark's combined test. All other performance numbers seem to be in the expected ranges when I have SLI turned on. It's just the combined test.

Some posts mentioned updating mobo drivers/bios to fix it? I don't know.

And now... Drum-roll please! There's a whining/rattling coming from the top right corner of the base of my laptop. (Near the power button.) It's been there too. It was faint in my headphones during SLI (Have to triple check this.) Firestrike tests and I wrote it off.

Now that the SLI flickering is gone I've been trying to figure out if there was a setting that was changed to make it stop. So, I reset 3D settings SLI config to default in NVIDIA's control panel and re-activated SLI. Still no flicker. I also tried all PhysX settings like Player2 suggested and still couldn't reproduce the issue.

After I reset 3D settings I went to go run The Witcher 2 and a high pitched whine assaulted my ears. Enabling v-sync reduces it to the low "rattle" I wrote off, but having it disabled produces the high pitched whine. It seems louder in my headphones than when I don't have headphones on, but that's probably because of the computer fans.

Bad and or finicky GPU(s) possibly? Can't think of any reason as to why the flickering stopped. Nor is there a setting which causes it that I've tried so far...

 

If vsync stops it, it is coil whine. Coil whine tends to get worse when the GPU is pumping at max. It seems to be more common on the 970 and 980 mobile Maxwell cards than Kepler and it is caused by the coils in the inductors vibrating. There isn't anything you can do about it short of replacing the card (sounds like it's the master). My 780 Ti has had coil whine since I got it and my second pair of 880M cards had minor coil whine.

I'm still perplexed by your flickering. I've never needed to touch my PhysX settings, it is on auto and always has been. That's really odd but at least it is fixed.

Your 3dmark issues are baffling too. Do you have any anti-virus or other software that might be interfering?

Physics and combined scores tend to be all over the place with this machine, I always thought it was my 4940MX being the issue, I still haven't fixed it.

 

@Ethrem
The thing that bothers me about the coil whine the most is that when I was running Witcher 2 before I reset the 3D settings I don't recall hearing the high pitched whine at all. (I would have noticed it too. I hope. Lol)

Also, before I reset 3D Settings I would run Witcher 2 with the launcher V-Sync option enabled and my FPS would go well above the 100's. (Unlike v-sync? Not sure, because there are different types and I never looked into it.) After I reset the 3D settings it sits at the 60 cap with the in-game V-Sync on. When it's off the high pitched whine comes in on menus where fraps displays FPS in the thousands. (Didn't do that before?) Also, after I reset the settings is when I noticed the high pitched whine. The lower whine was always there with SLI, but not the high pitched if i can recall correctly.

I use WebRoot Internet Security Plus antivirus. I'll try turning it off and re-running it.

Weird... My actual physics test fpss in 3DMark 11 were like ~25 in single and ~25 in SLI. Isn't the 3DMark 11 physics test strictly CPU bound though? The combined test FPS drops to sub 20 with SLI on and it's 35+. Is your's the same way?

Also, would the Combined test also factor in the "Physics Score" result or just the "Combined Score" result? In SLI my "Physics Score" drops by a few hundred.

@Meaker:
Missed your post, sorry. =/ Got carried away troubleshooting.

Thought so, thanks.

Edit:
Ran Witcher 2 and Firestrike SLI Disabled and no whine was heard. Eliminated GPU 1, or are there some other variables I should check?

Edit 2:
Also, had AntiVirus disabled and Firestrike still crashed.

 

If you have vsync on in game and don't have it set to application controlled in nvidia control panel your gpus will still run wide open . when I first got my rig I had vsync in the game on but the fps were still way above what they were supposed to be until I figured out to set vsync to application controlled in the nvidia control panel.

 

That's the thing though... It was set to use 3D Application in the global settings. I never checked the individual program settings in the panel though. >_< Now I'll never know.

Time to test it again. Lol

 

@Kainez I don't have a clear explanation for your weird issues or the coil whine. I can tell you that coil whine can become a problem over time (it is a physical vibration causing it and vibration can loosen things further), it doesn't always manifest right away. Vsync shooting over 100 is odd unless your display was set over 100hz. Vsync works to reduce tearing my keeping the refresh rate synced, the difference in types is basically related to how much of a performance hit you'll take to enforce it. Regular vsync runs all the time and can cause both a performance hit (excessive stuttering) and constant input lag while adaptive vsync only kicks in when the framerate exceeds the refresh rate. Either way the end result ends up being a fixed frame rate.

(I had already typed this when Player2 posted - I can't speak for vsync issues, I never had to touch the nVidia control panel as mine came set to application controlled by default and I've never heard of it being different out of the box, it sounds like you had some messed up drivers)

As for 3dmark, I have noticed that my combined test tends to tank more if I'm on a single power brick but really the issue is the CPU throttling. I had it pretty much eliminated when i had liquid ultra on the CPU but it took 90W worth of power to force boost... And it still tanked occasionally. Haswell seems to suck variable amounts of power with the same workload, my assumption would be that it is because of the variance in the individual cores. It only seems to be an issue with synthetic benchmarks, games are consistent so I don't worry about it.

 

@Ethrem:
If my GPU was coil whining perhaps it loosened the SLI cable? Lol I'm reaching here, but I'm just as baffled with my issues. I hate when things don't have a clear cause and effect for explanations.

Just for clarification though... Normally coil whine can be heard through headphones as well right? I hear it externally and via headphones on one side.

As for the v-sync.. I'm just gonna chalk it up to it wasn't actually enabled somewhere and I missed the coil whine. (Still bothers me greatly I don't know what it is. Lol)

Makes sense for the physics/combined score then if my CPU is throttling. Especially considering when I look at HWiNFO my core clocks can be all over the place sometimes. (Haven't logged during a benchmark yet. I should probably do that.)

Most likely going to call Xotic tomorrow to see what can be done about an RMA to replace my GPU's & SLI Cable.

I'm gonna have to dig more to figure out this error with 3DMark being unable to recognize my hardware... As that's the only issue which seems to be software related. Stupid system info!

 

@Kainez It is actually pretty common for coil whine to cross over into speakers and headphones. There's a thread about it here with some possible solutions http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...are-interference-transmitting-headphones.html

The vibration isn't high enough to loosen the SLI cable and even if it was, the heatsink sits on top of the cable and prevents it from popping off (trust me when I was told to check my SLI cable, I tried to pop it off without removing the heatsink and failed miserably).

If your CPU core is all over the place normally, it definitely will be with the physics and combined benchmarks that hit it hard.

Your 3dmark issue though... Obviously something is blocking systeminfo from working properly but it's anyone's guess what that is if you have eliminated the security software (by the way, Webroot is one of the worst for application incompatibilities - to be perfectly honest, if you are reasonable with your browsing habits the stock Windows Defender is pretty decent protection and layers upon layers more compatible) or another 3rd party program as the culprit. You can disable startup programs by running msconfig and turning everything off as a last resort.

 

@Ethrem: Whew, that's reassuring.

Gonna have to dig further into that coil whine issue. My headphones aren't USB powered. Hopefully after an RMA everything will be in pristine condition and I won't have to worry about it anymore though.

Speaking of heatsinks and everything... Re-pasting, what are the warranty parameters around that and the heatsink mod D2 Ultima mentioned? I can't seem to find a detailed warranty from Xotic or Sager's website. Would love to have the full details so I could go over it in depth. Perhaps I'm not digging hard enough to find it. Lol

 

Sager is pretty lenient on the warranty. You can open it up and repaste, just be careful not to damage anything as that will not be covered under warranty.

 

@Hutsady@XoticPC: Wow, you're always there to quickly respond to questions regarding you guys and Sager. You must be psychic. Lol

Understood. So as long as I don't screw up the re-paste and fry something I'm still in the green.

 

Well coil whine crosses over the 3.5in jack too. Anything not specifically shielded against EMI can be affected. I know about EMI all too well. I used to have turntables and was a DJ for a hobby and I started off with a cheap mixer and it was night and day when I picked up a used Pioneer DJM-600. I didn't really realize how much interference I was actually getting from that Behringer... It is much harder to shield everything in a laptop than a desktop.

And yes, Hutsady is psychic. Lol

As for the heatsink mod, if you're talking about the P370EM heatsinks, just make sure to change the heatsinks back if you send it in for warranty work.

 

@Ethrem:

Oh man... I know that cheap mixer struggle too. Lol I started out as a hobby around 2 1/2 years ago. Started with a American Audio VMS2 and upgraded to a DDJ-SX about a year into it. The difference was unreal... Pioneer is too good at what they do. Lol Also, going back and forth between a DDJ-SX and 2x CDJ-2000 nexus with a DJM-900 Nexus is crazy too. Rekordbox > Serato for days. I wish I owned the CDJ's. =(

I knew it! Lol

Ah I thought so. I read a thread somewhere in which someone got a new 120HZ panel for their machine and they had to send it back in, but they made sure to swap the screens before sending it in.

 

@Kainez I started out with Technics M3Ds and a cheap Behringer mixer and upgraded to two CDJ-800s and a DJM-600 but I had to sell all my equipment a long time ago... I wanna say 2008? It was rough but I was moving back home and figured that I wouldn't have room... Never bought anymore equipment and now I'm in a tiny apartment with paper thin walls so it would be useless anyway.

Anyway, yeah you generally want to send the machine back to them with all the original parts. It just makes sure that you don't get someone who decides you modded the machine and voided the warranty in the process. When I sent mine in, I removed my liquid ultra to make sure they didn't destroy the machine trying to remove it.

 

This is related to a separate thread I have.

Anyone here that using this laptop with an Asus Swift or the new Acer IPS display - if there is anyone - can you PM me or post what you had to do to get it working? Connecting mine basically locks up the machine and doesn't work and before I undertake more drastic measures I just wanted to ask as I can't be the only one with both these pieces of hardware.

 

So guys i order the AUO 90% color camut screen.
Do i need to calibrate it when the screen arrives to have the best visual color result?Or not?
If yes because i dont know the way to do it.
Is it a profile program that i have to install?
Thanks guys!

 

Thats what I'm here for. Always good to ask if you're not sure though, its better then doing it and finding out later they do not like it.

 

To get colours as close to real life yes, either use manual windows colour calibration with a set of printed cards or buy a hardware calibration tool.

Depends how picky you are and your work.

 

Hello all, I saw the post about someone possibly modding under the keyboard to get cooler temps on the drives....

I didn't bother to takes screenshots of the temps, but when I first got my NP9377S....it had two 1 tb traditonal/mechanical drives in the spot underneath and to the left of the touchpad. I noticed if I had the laptop on for extended periods of time (heavy gaming), the spot to the left of the touchpad would actually get warm, and my left wrist/palm would literally get warm too (not hot).

After I installed all SSD, that area stays as cool as the rest of the machine.

FYI, I asked a couple questions around March 22nd/23rd regarding "partitioning tables" and "volatile volume cache mode"......looks like no on has answered these...if anyone has any info, would truly appreciate

 

Dang, Eurocom have told me that my lappy won't be here for this weekend now! I was told they'd ship Thursday for Friday in an email... not happy

 

can you install 3 msata drives in the np9377sm-a?

 

There are only 2 msata ports. One on the bottom and one under the keyboard. You can have 2 msata drives and either 2 2.5" drives or 3 if you skip the optical drive.

 

dang opps I am going to have an extra msata drive I am going to have 2 crucial 512 550's and I just bought a plextor 256 from htwingnut... @Ethrem do you know anything about the crucial m550's? Wonder what I should do with the extra drive the Plextor 256gb msata ? the 2x m550's are going to be in raid-0 on the 16th I am buying this laptop with 17.3 FHD Matte 72% Gamut, i7 4810MQ, GTX 980M SLI , 16GB Kingston HyperX, 2x 512GB Crucial M550 RAID 0, 1TB 7200rpm Hitachi HDD, Intel AC 7260, so I am reallly excited also am getting the 120hz display and the cable to connect it but I dunno how hard it will be to install that display so I don't know if I will do it right away or what I will do...sorry for bouncing around from topic to topic here just really excited I have never owned such a beastly machine : thanks

 

Well since you are only going to have one of your 2.5" bays in use, you could look into something like this for the Plextor. I'm not sure about spacing in the laptop, you might need to surround it with some foam or something to make sure it doesn't move.

As for the M550s I have two of the 2.5s in my desktop and love them. I have the M500s in my laptop and I love them too. I am a huge fan of Crucial/Micron. They're not the highest benchmarkers but they are not noticeably different in real use and they are reliable.

I can't speak for the difficulty in replacing the LCD panel but I do know there is a good bit of disassembly involved there. Too much of a hassle for me but I'm lazy, not to mention I have large hands and fingers so I have difficulty with small cables lol.

Specs look great, I think you'll be very happy. I know how you feel about the laptop being such a beast too. I had never dropped the kind of cash on a machine that I dropped on this one. It's quite an exciting thing when you unbox it and power it up

 

Placed an order for this baby and will be joining the club soon.

On ssds, is it possible to stick 2 x 7mm ssd's into the 9377 seeing as there is only one bracket for installation? Would the second unit be floating in mid air and wobbling around seeing as the bay is intended for 2 x 9.5mm drives?

I want to use 2x 850 pros in Raid but these don't come in mSata forms

 

You will want to add in a spacer for the other drive to help it sit flat such as blutak or some plastic (there should be brackets for both)

 

I was looking to see if I could buy stand alone spacers. Surprisingly these are rare!

Would one be needed for each drive or only for the one that doesn't go into the metal bracket?

 

I just put 2 2.5 inch 7mm ssds in mine and I had to use a spacer for both drives.
My ssds came with the spacers so it wasn't a problem. But yes you will need two spacers

 

Thanks. I'll go look for these. Despite paying for so much, the Samsung 850s don't come with their own

 

I'd just use a blob of blutak on each corner myself if I did not want to go hunting for a proper spacer.

 

All the spacer is is a plastic ring that sticks to the back of the drive. You could make one out of almost anything. I thinks meakers idea is a good one because it would still let air flow between the drives.

 

Exactly and blutak is safe if it does manage to get lose but is sticky so is unlikely to anyway

 

Just checking in; I've owned Sager's in the past, and actually have an 8268 right now, that I am turning over to my wife, once I get my new laptop. The new one is a MYTHLOGIC Nyx 3713-A Black/ Chassis (Clevo P377SM-A) and I just ordered it yesterday. First time I will have SLI in a laptop; I used to be a big desktop guy, with watercooled NVIDIA cards in double or triple SLI, but I realized that with as much travelling I do, it's better to have a nice high powered laptop so that I didn't have to juggle files between two different computers (which is difficult even with a home NAS and automatic syncing of certain directories). So, I looked at all the Clevo resellers, and the Sager resellers, and the Clevo builders, and decided on Mythlogic, after reading all the reviews and deals and such.

Looking forward to get my new Nyx 3713. Main stats are 32 gB, i7-4910MQ, dual 980Ms, and two Crucial MX200s in RAID 0. Full build below.

Spoiler

Mobile Chassis: MYTHLOGIC Nyx 3713-A Black Chassis (Clevo P377SM-A)
What da Puck??: Gargoyle Beer Money - 6 Pack
Exterior Finish: Rubberized Finish
Mobile Display: 17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) Matte LED Backlit LCD
Monitor Calibration: Free MYTH Professional Monitor Color Calibration
CPU: Intel Core i7-4910MQ 2.9GHz, 8M L3 Cache, 22nm, DDR3L-1600MHz, Quad-Core Mobile Processor
Thermal Compound: Free IC Diamond Thermal Compound
System Memory: 32GB (4 x 8GB) , PC3-14900, 1866MHz SODIMM, CL10 Quad-core processors ONLY!
Video Adapter: 2 x nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 (SLI)
Optical: Notebook Black 8X DVD+RW/CDRW Combo Drive
RAID [Requires Identical Hard Drive Selections]: RAID 0 | 2 Disk Min. Striped set, improved performance, additional storage drive highly recommended
mSATA Solid State Drive: Crucial MX200 500GB mSATA SATA III 6GB/sec Solid State Drive
mSATA Solid State Drive: Crucial MX200 500GB mSATA SATA III 6GB/sec Solid State Drive
Hard Drive: None (REQUIRES mSATA for Bootable Drive)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3
Keyboard: Standard Backlit Keyboard - NON Chiclet
Network Card: Onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem
Wireless Card: Intel Centrino Advanced-AC 7260 2*2 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 350/867MB Total Bandwidth
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth 4.0
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional
Notebook Cooler: Cooler Master NotePal U3 Notebook Cooling Stand for 15"-19" Notebooks
MYTHLOGIC Assurance: MYTH Lifetime Assurance with Lifetime Labor + 1 Year Parts Warranty, 45 Day 2-Way Shipping Cont US
Phoenix Upgrade Plan: Lifetime Phoenix Upgrade Plan
FREE MYTHLOGIC T-Shirt Pick a size: MYTHLOGIC T-Shirt - Extra Large
MYTHLOGIC System Media + Mousepad: MYTH Mousepad and System Media

 

Ended up buying $3 spacer. I felt kinda bad using blutak. I tend to baby my electronics a bit too much. No offence!

I was looking around for RAM upgrades and I came upon several possible choices.

Kingston HyperX Impact 1600mhz CL9 1.35V with CAS latency of 9-9-9-27 - I think this is the upgrade option most resellers offer

Corsair Vengence 1600mhz 1.35v with CAS latency of 9-9-9-24

The two above are almost similar barring small cas latency difference but then i stumble upon this additional choice.

Corsair Vengence 1600mhz 1.5v with a CAS latency of 10-10-10-27

The pricing of the 3 are pretty close ~$5 difference and the only major difference that I can see is voltage and CAS latency, which I don't really understand either. I'd like to hear what other owners opinions are on these. As far as I can tell, both brands are equally good but it looks like the Corsairs are a bit more popular than the Kingstons

 

Mobile haswell can only give 1.35V, so 1.5V modules are no good. If you want faster ram go for 1866mhz sticks as that's where haswell get its peak performance from memory.

 

Gotcha.

I have another curious question though. Optimus is disabled on the SLI profile but is it the same on a single 980m configuration?

 

This machine doesn't support Optimus at all.

 

Yes all display outputs are hard wired to the primary mxm slot so no optimus. There is no mux in any sager machine.

 

Production delay The wait is almost unbearable

 

Im considering this model...

Question though... i am a photographer and will be using this for Photoshop (large stitches) and Lightroom 6 ... both are GPU accelerated programs...lightroom 6 saying it needs at least OpenGL3.3 to take advantage...i know the 980m is 4.4 or something and k5100m is supported as well...

i will max out the RAM and run only SSDs on it...

what graphics card will boost my speed the most?

thanks all!