*** Official Clevo P950HP6/Sager NP8950 Owner's Lounge ***

So I made the decision to order the P950HP6 from HIDevolution. Specs are below. Total Cost was $1,945, which seems a little expensive for the specs compared to many Black Friday deals, but am excited to try my fist Clevo. Any recommendations on what I should do when it arrives, setup, test it, etc? Should I be undervolting through the BIOS or through software and how would I go about doing this?

EVOC High Performance Systems P950HP6 15.6" Custom Built Gaming Laptop w/ nVIDIA GTX 1060

Laser Engraving
Property of - Your Name and Phone Number and/or email address on the Bottom for Safety - $29.00

Free Game Bundles
Rocket League - Download through NVIDIA GeForce Experience

LCD Panel
15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) IPS FHD LED Antiglare Matte Type Display

Display Calibration
Yes, display professionally calibrated w/ profile saved to USB drive - $50.00

Display Warranty
30 Days Zero Defective Pixel Warranty (perfect panel guarantee) - $35.00

Video Card
nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 1060 w/ 6.0GB GDDR5

Processor
7th Generation Intel® Core™ Core i7-7700HQ Quad Core Processor, 2.8 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.8GHz), 6MB Smart Cache

Thermal Interface Materials
Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut on CPU, Gelid GC Extreme on GPU, and Fujipoly Extreme Thermal Pads on heat sensitive surfaces – BEST PERFORMANCE – installed by HIDevolution - $60.00

Memory
16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4/2400MHz - installed by HIDevolution - $110.00

M.2 PCIe NVMe or SATA SSD Slot 1
500GB Samsung 850 EVO (3D VNAND TECH) M.2 SATA SSD - installed by HIDevolution - $192.00

1st 2.5" HDD/SSD Bay
1TB 5400 RPM 7mm SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive

Wireless Cards
Intel® Wireless-AC 8265 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n 2x2 NGFF w/ Bluetooth 4.2

Operating System
Genuine Windows® 10 Pro, 64bit, English - $130.00

Operating System Reinstallation Media
OS Reinstallation + Drivers USB Flash Drive - $25.00

Office Software
None

Power Adapter
Full Range 150W AC Adapter AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC output 19V, 7.7A

Internal Battery
1 x 4 cell battery - 55Wh (Internal)

Audio
Onkyo Speakers x 2

Back-lit Gaming Keyboard
Customizable Gaming Macro Back-lit Keyboard

Keyboard Language
U.S. English

Branding
No Logo on LCD Cover and Bezel

Warranty and Service
1 Year HIDevolution Limited U.S. Warranty + LIFETIME HIDevolution Technical Support

HIDevolution Limited Global Warranty
NONE

 

Always get a base line test before trying to make any changes to settings so you know your base line

 

Did HIDevolution switch to using the Prema BIOSes on their P950's?

On two other laptops with 7700HQ's in them, I was able to undervolt the CPU by -0.1V to save on temp/battery/noise. I use ThrottleStop to do this -- but my friend uses Intel XTU and it requires fewer Ph.D's to use.

Try lowering the CPU Core and CPU Cache voltages by -0.100V.

 

I don't believe there is a BIOS created for those models by Prema.

 

Just joined the P950HR family. Runs great, but I gotta say,the fans are a bit loud. Is there no way to run the fans at 20%? It seems like mine are either off or full blast.

 

I've recently got the P950HP6 and I've got a somewhat silly question: What program are you all using to monitor the CPU temp? I've tried HWiNFO, Open Hardware Monitor, MSI Afterburner, but none of these manage to detect any temperature sensors for the CPU, only in some cases for the GPU. And as far as I can see the Clevo software also doesn't show it.

I'm asking because I'm trying to troubleshoot an issue I'm having before I'm sending the notebook back. Unfortunately games tend to crash after a random amount of time, sometimes after 5 min, other times after about an hour, and sometimes the crash is accompanied by a BSOD. So far I've kept an eye out on the GPU temps (which don't go above ~70), tried different games to check whether it's not just a bug in the game itself, and did a complete format and reinstall of Windows and all drivers, including up to date ones where possible (NVIDIA and Intel graphics). The one thing I haven't yet been able to check is how the CPU temps are doing, hence why I'm wondering where people here are getting their measurements from.

Edit: Looks like the program mentioned above, Intel XTU, manages to pull it off with its package temperature. Gonna have to see what the results from that are tomorrow.

 

Try http://openhardwaremonitor.org/files/openhardwaremonitor-v0.8.0.3-alpha.zip if you prefer it over XTU. RE: https://github.com/openhardwaremonitor/openhardwaremonitor/issues/909

What game is crashing on you?

If you have 2 RAM (i.e. 2x8GB), try removing one. Or the other.

 

Thanks! That alpha does indeed do the trick.

It's not just one game, unfortunately. If it was then the game itself might be the cause, but so far Overwatch, Dying Light, Just Cause 3 and GTA V have crashed. Today while I was at the office in a meeting the laptop apparently also bluescreened while it was locked and no intensive applications were running. Another time when I started the laptop, and before I even logged in, the fans started spinning at 100% and it just shut itself off.

I do have two sticks of ram (2x16GB), but I'm not gonna start messing with the hardware on a new laptop. I've contacted the company I bought it from and they're gonna have it picked up this week and make it a priority fix. If they can't find a definitive solution they're just gonna replace the entire thing.

 

Damn, I need to do my research better. Part of what motivated me to order what I did was that I thought I would be able to take advantage of the Prema BIOS

 

So I joined the P950hr club as well now and am happy with it in almost every aspect.

The 1070 max q is nice and fast and when you use maximum fan speed you can overclock it a a little and it runs with an average of 1550 - 1600 mhz at 59 - 60 C.
I did not expect that since the card should only boost up to 1279mhz. But even without overclocking it happily jumps to 1400mhz given good cooling. Seems like it ignores the bost limit once you set the fans to maximum. When keeping the fans under 40db the gpu clocks down to 1100 - 1200 tho, which still gives lots of power considering the quiet fans


That is some great cooling system if turned all the way up. And pretty quiet in daily stuff as well.

What bothers me tho is, I dont get to open it
What I really need as I want to replace that HDD inside with an SSD.

The Keyboard just does not want to pop out, even with some force and I am quite scared to break something when I use more force. Same problem with the backcover if I try to remove it without removing the keyboard first. I am always scared to break something if I push or pull harder...

Does it need force to open up this notebook?

 

Hey, I don't have mine yet but it's already shipped. However like you I'm looking to put in an ssd and as far as I know the keyboard doesn't need to be removed. I've actually found a video that should be helpful to you. they show the removal of the bottom and in red circle the various parts. Hope it helps =D

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

I didn't need to remove the keyboard to install RAM and SSD. At first, I tried to remove the keyboard before removing the back, but it didn't want to come out, so I just took the rest of the screws off and was able to remove the back cover.

 

Hmmm

It just does not want to come of

I removed all 11 screws from the back but it sits extremly tight. I can lift the backcover on the front and on the back but on the left and right it does not move a milimeter. I stopped pulling around when I it started to bend, make slight cracking noises and my fingers hurt. Maybe I am just stupid but that backcover sits so damn tight.

I am desperate for help

As you can see in my very advanced picture the red areas are where the backcover sits so damn tight, on the green ohnes I can lift it easily.

 

Can't see an image sorry, check your link url.

 

you have to right click it and open in a new tab. Dont know why it is like that

 

I can't see your pic either. The backcover is a bit tight and you do need to apply a little bit more force. You're sure all the screws are loosened?

Anyway, I received my P950HP6 on Monday from Prostar, but didn't get mess around with it until Tuesday night. I found out that the 'Z' key on the keyboard is depressed and has less tactile feedback. Upon closer investigation and in comparison with a regular key, it's definitely depressed and molded in. Do I need to send the laptop back to Prostar or is there some way I can fix this?



Edit: Spoke with Prostar over the phone. They were fast with addressing my issue. Looks like I'll be sending it back to them to have the keyboard replaced.

 

This may be a long shot - but is everything removed from the side ports? e.g. no USB, power, SD cards plugged in? Is the 'fake SD card' inserted, or is there a SIM card?

 

That's a shame, sounds like they are sorting it quick at least

 

Yeah, everything removed, all 11 screws, the fake SD card and nothing in there. Backcover still is unremovable

Is there any trick from where I have to pull or so?

 

Take a pic of your actual back cover for us to view. If you can get the front and back portion of the back cover lifted, the middle should be able to unless you missed a screw.

 

Did you remove the two screws in the center of the bottom panel? I just looked: there are 11 screws to remove to take the bottom off.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eWYUnabIzAYuCffn_SftZ5lzgIVPDlhx/view?usp=sharing

Here is a picture. As said, all 11 srews are out and no SD card or anything in. Backcover still is very tight in the middle, movable in the front and back at the fans tho.
It is not possible to remove it even with a decent amount of forece.

Are you guys sure removing the keyboard is not important? I mean that also does not want to pop out but well

Never had any issues with opening up Clevo Notebooks, it has always been quite easy to open, upgrade and close them but this one is cracking my head.

Should I contact the Reseller and ask if they changed anything or how they opened and then closed it? Because it seems weird that everyone seems to be able to open it with ease but that one sits tight as ****.

Unless I derped somewhere but I dont know where.

 

You have to remove 2/3 screws under the keyboard otherwise the back cover will not come of (if I'm not mistaken). This also applies for the PA71xx. It's called 'top cover' screws.

 

Ahhh ok, any tipps on how to remove the keyboard? It sits just as tight and I dont know how hard I can push from the bottom to pop it out without breaking it.

 

We use the iSesamo Opening Tool to pop it out (above the F1-F12 keys), not via the bottom. See:

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/...MI5YWMseH61wIV4r3tCh3sigPuEAAYASAAEgKTCvD_BwE

 

I've had my P950HP6 for a month and its ok, the main problem is the noise. I don't understand why in a cold room in the winter, with only the browser open and surfing the net, with the laptop raised 10cm from the table, and connected to a monitor (with windows preset in better battery) it always heats up and turns the fans all the time.

Also battery life is not impressive. Is there any way i can run linux and get better battery life for simple tasks?

 

I thought you wanted to remove the back cover, not the keyboard @Redback, if it is the back you want to remove it's just like the video I posted. The just unscrew all screw on bottom of lappy, then, starting from the back right corner near exhaust with bottom up, pry till loose then left side. Should all come up easy after that.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

@ TheMr.Brown

That sadly does not work like in that video. I knew that video before you linked it, thatnks for that tho I and do not know why it works there and not with mine.
Maybe there are different versions, some needing the keyboard removed, some not.
I am currently looking for a tool such as the one Frits@LaptopParts4Less suggested to pop out the keyboard.

Currently it is impossible to remove the back without removing the keyboard for on my P950hr.


@ ducaca check you bios version and take a look into the fan settings. Mine runs very quiet with just chrome/netflix and such stuff.
If needed you can control the fans yourself.

Batterylife can be up to 5 hours when just browsing on mine. That is with all possible power saving settings on tho.
With normal settings the battery life is indeed no that impressive.

 

Your external monitor will keep the dedicated GPU active.

 

That's probably because you have the Clevo Control Center installed in the conventional way which installs XTU in the background which in turn messes up the fan tables and cause the fans to spin up even whtn the CPU isn't that hot.

1) Uninstall your current CCC then reboot

2) Perform an NVRAM Reset:

Spoiler: How to perform an NVRAM Reset

To perform a soft NVRAM Reset without having to open the laptop and remove the CMOS battery:


Hold FN + D + Power button for 5 seconds, then keep the FN + D buttons pressed and release the Power key, after 30 seconds, you should see the NVRAM reset message on your screen.


Another user also mentioned:

3) Set your BIOS options to back to what they were


4) Install Control Center version from your laptop's driver's download page (AKA Hotkey Driver)

To install the Clevo Control Center without the built-in CPU/Memory Overclocking tool (which contains XTU components):

Edit the OEM.INI file in the Clevo Control Center driver's directory before you install it:

Change SupportXTUFanTable=1 to SupportXTUFanTable=0

 

Does what you mention above apply to the p950hr? I'm considering ordering one from PCSpecialist. I was under the impression that the latest bios fixed these issues, but then again I have no idea what I'm talking about and could very well be wrong!

 

Just curious, has anyone actually successfully remove the backcover for P950HR (mine is Sager NP8952 to be specific) without removing screws under the keyboard??? It would be great if we could remove the back cover without removing the keyboard.

 

Yea, mine was just like the video >.< only part that didn't pop out without any force was the back portion. A little pry though and it opened easily for me. Has anyone else been successful? I popped in a ssd and ram as I bought mine barebone.
Also, @Phoenix should there be a separate forum for the p950hr or maybe have this one renamed to p950xx/xxx.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

For the P950HR, you need to remove the keyboard too it seems. With the P950HP6, I only need to remove the back cover.

 

Really, but on my p950hr just had to remove all the bottom screws... it should be same as p950hp6 I'd assume.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

It sems weird. On some models you have to remove the keyboard to open the backcover, on some not.

Your best bet is to just try it.
it would be interesting to know why there are such different versions...

 

Ok so just bought the P950HR from pcspecialist and could use some advise for first steps when it arrives on Thursday. I was thinking straight out the box I'd install 3dmark firestrike, and prime95 to test the cpu and gpu loads when stressed. Do I need to run these both at the same time or individually? And which program should I use to monitor temps...HWinfo?

Next I was planning to use Phoenix's clean w10 installation guide. The OS will already be pre-installed but I'm assuming I can still follow most that guide.
After that it was install all my programs and then attempt to undervolt the CPU. The reseller it would installs CCC dated nov 2017 (or so I can tell from teh download page on their website), so I'm assuming it comes with XTU but it's not the messed up one that affects the fan curves...or have I got that completely wrong? I'd like to undervolt the CPU so I was thinking to use xtu or throttlestop, but not sure what's better.

Anything else I'm missing or should definitely do. I don't know if there's an update bios for this model but I'd like to install that if it's required to ensure my fans don't spin up like crazy at the smallest load

 

Seems like mine is not one of those P950HR that could remove back cover without removing those screws under keyboard, sadly. I almost pry the back cover out, but it feels like something is holding middle left (near power connector area) and middle right (near SD card reader area) of back panel and its too scary to pry it open forcefully... I had previously removed my laptop's back cover but that was with keyboard removed as well.

Any comment from Clevo or Sager about this?

Update: Ok I just read my laptop manual and indeed mine will have to also remove screws under keyboard in order to remove back cover.

 

For throttling test, just use MSI afterburner and observe CPU and GPU clock speed during gameplay. At least that's what I did with my laptop.

I was thinking about ordering from PC specialist as well. How long does it take to delivery? They say 4-6 working days in their website, but how long did you waited after placing the order? Would you post a few pictures up?

 

I chose the 3day express option which was done on time

 

There are screws under the keyboard which are very easy to remove.
Remove all bottom cover screws first.
Then there is a hole in the bottom made specially to push the keyboard up, use something thin enough to push the keyboard out.
Raise the keyboard and then remove 3 screws under the keyboard.
You can now remove the bottom cover.
What we usually do for clients who buy these units without HDDs/RAM is send it without the screws under the keyboard, it helps preventing someone from breaking the bottom cover, we also give instructions to then place the screws under the keyboard.

 

Any of you guys here occasionally get like a slowdown or stutter from opening new programs or links on Windows 10? Seems to be an issue with the Creator's Update some have? I posted on the Microsoft support forum, but they have been no help.

 

Add the NVIDIA GPU usage tray icon (it´s a feature on all drivers) - Open NVIDIA drivers, on the top menu select "Desktop" then activate "Display GPU activity Icon in Notification Area"

Now check if the stutter matches a GPU activity.

If it does it means the stutter happens when the system activates the NVIDIA GPU.

 

I did that and it seems my GPU doesn't ever activate when the stuttering occurs.

 

I bought my P50HP6 from PCSpecialist in the UK. Here is my review of the machine.

I'm going to start off by saying that I am not a professional reviewer, and thus this review will simply consist of my impressions of the laptop so far. I am an engineering student and I use this laptop primarily for university work (CAD, work etc) a well as media consumption. I'm a light gamer, and I haven't had the chance to play any games on this laptop yet.

Specs: i7-7700HQ, 8GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM, 128GB ssd + 1TB HDD, Geforce GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5 VRAM), EK-Tim thermal paste

The build quality of this laptop is incredible. There is no flex at all in the keyboard area or palm rests, and the screen is relatively sturdy. The laptop itself is incredibly thin compared the average gaming laptop (e.g. the Dell Inspirion 7577) and is much easier to carry around as a result. Despite its relative slimness, this laptop is dense, and by dense I mean that it is deceptively heavy. This doesn't mean that it's difficult to carry around (it's pretty easy actually), the weight is just a bit of a surprise when picking the laptop up off a desk.

I love the design of this laptop. The lack of red accents on the laptop is a huge plus - it doesn't look like a 5 year's old toy. The "V" on the laptop lid lights up when the laptop is on and I personally like it.

I am not a touch typist, but my impressions of the keyboard so far are extremely positive. The keys are large and have lots of travel, which makes it a pleasure to type on, unlike those awful "butterfly" MacBook keyboards. The trackpad is good and the dedicated left and right mouse buttons makes it very easy to drag and drop things in Windows. My favorite feature of this laptop has to the fingerprint sensor. It is very quick and accurate and saves me from having to enter my password every time I login .

This laptop performs exactly as a you would expect any laptop with a i7 7700HQ and a GTX 1060 to perform. The CPU doesn't throttle under load and neither does the GPU. CPU temperatures out of the box are not great - they can easily exceed 90C. This is easily remedied by undervolting the CPU by -100mv and lifting the laptop off a desk by using a stand. The results of these tweaks are quire incredible; for me they dropped CPU temperatures by 30C to 60C while running prime95! This is probably because of the extensive air vents at the bottom of the laptop which do a really good job of maximizing air flow. I haven't had a chance to stress test the GPU yet.

My one reservation about this laptop is the screen. It may be a 120Hz screen, but the colours on this screen are not good. Out of the box, everything has a really horrible bluish tint which hurt my eyes to look at. Thankfully, I fixed this by a applying a icc profile to the screen. Compared to a good IPS screen like the one on my phone, the difference between the two becomes really apparent when watching videos. The contrast is OK, but not great, and the viewing angles are much better than a TN panel, but inferior to an IPS panel. If you are not really a gamer, or you don't play fps titles, ask PCspecialist to swap this screen for a good 1080p IPS screen.

As I mentioned before, I do a lot of CAD with SolidWorks on this laptop. It runs SolidWorks very well, and I've had no crashes in the time I've had this laptop. If you are planning on doing CAD on this laptop, I would really recommend on you setting the display scaling setting to 100% instead of the default 125% because it gives you a lot more screen real estate to work with. I tend to work with small assemblies with less than 100 parts, so I use the iGPU to run SolidWorks as this means that fans will run a lot quieter and the battery will last longer.

The battery lasts about 4 hours on a full charge, with the screen set to 50% brightness and browsing the web in Chrome. The speakers are not good - they are quiet and have almost no bass. This doesn't really bother me, as I use headphones.

 

Hello guys, please help me I've tried almost everything, but I can't make the CPU fan shut up. Here are my fan settings in CCC and CPU temps.
https://yadi.sk/d/lJKYdFts3QyhsQ
Even at 45 degrees the fan turns on for a shot period of time and it makes me mad. I don't understand why the fan decides to turn on.
I ve got all the latest driver updates incl. the CCC, BIOS/EC are v. 07/08, but that annoying noise makes me mad.
Please, is there anyone who solved this problem? Seems like fans don't react on CCC fan settings.

 

Could you be so kind and explain more detailed how to proceed NVRAM reset? I ve tried several times, both methods, never seen any message about NVRAM. I just don't have enough time to keep hold these buttons, system starts much faster. Do I need to do any manipulations in BIOS before this procedure like disabling UEFI boot? Ultimately, are you sure that fn+D+power combo works on this laptop model?
And when I should start pressing buttons? When the lap is turned off or when it starts to turn on?

 

Lighter Power Supply options for P950HR

Included: Chicony A15-180P1A (22.1 oz)
Tested OK: Delta ADP-230EB (27.1 oz)
Tested OK: Asus (Delta?) ADP-180MB (20.3 oz)

The included supply appears to have a 5.5 * 2.5 * 10mm (OD * ID * Length) connector.

I was looking for extra power supplies for home, work, and carrying and figured I'd experiment with a few. I carry the Asus ADP-180MB because it's lightest and I like the right-angle connector for the tip; they're also easy to get at $40-50 each.

 

FN+D+POWER ON - this is done with laptop turned off and when you do it, it should turn the laptop on.

 

I can confirm that the Asus/Delta ADP-180MB works fine for the P950HR, though for me the experience (at least in terms of mobility) has been somewhat different.

While the Asus adapter "block" does feel lighter (and by your data, looks like it really is), it is also quite a bit bulkier... which was surprising actually, considering it actually looked smaller in the pictures I found online.

Plus, the cable (laptop AND plug end) used on the ADP is also a tad thicker compared to what the Chicony OEM has, so the ADP is STILL bulkier even when wrapped up for transport.

So yeah, myself I've chosen to lug around the less bulky "feeling" Chicony OEM adapter. I WILL be getting more of the cheaper ADP-180MB for stationary use (home/work base) though, considering just how cheap they are compared to the OEMs.

A tad miffed that there aren't any lighter/thinner alternatives but yeah, not sure how much smaller a 180W unit can even be lol.