*** Official Clevo P960EP6/ P960ED/ P960EF/ P960EN Owner's Lounge ***

On SOTTR I clocked in at 78 FPS Highest settings preset w/TAA. The CPU would downlock gradually and by the end of the benchmark it was down to 2.5. On my Triton 700 I was get 89fps with my 1080maxq +150 core +780mem

 

Yeah something funky is going on there... Although those number on your 1080MQ are quite good from what I was seeing in reviews. I was thinking about just getting a 1080MQ laptop but the pricing on those things are still pretty ridiculous (to be fair, most 2080MQ laptops prices are quite insane as well).

 

Really curious how the 240w works out I have a dell one here I may just swap the ends out if it works for you.

 

On the Acer store you can get a Trion 700 1080mq for 1999 right now. I was originally going to buy ther Asus Zeph with the updated 8thgen cpu 1080mq until i stumbled on this model for about the same price. Really missing my trion 700 now never had any of these power issues just straight raw performance I could run furmark and cpu z stress test all day no thermal/power throttling.

 

My experience with power supplies is that heat always derates the current rating (in PCB design anyway). Granted I am not sure if the ratings on that brick from Clevo is an 'absolute' or accounts for extended loading. But even if the system is drawing 180W I would want some 20% head room on my power supply to keep it nice and cool. Do you know what the size of the connector is on the model? I couldn't find any info in the manual for it, but I would like to just get one now. Looking at the P955ER, looks like the connector is a 5.5mm x 2.5mm.
If you have a chance and have a ruler near by, It would be great to know what the outer\inner diameters of that plug are.

There are 2 sizes it is most likely:
5.5mm x 2.5mm
7.4mm x 5mm

 

The rating is continuous supply. All clevo/Sager models using a barrel use 5.5x2.5.

 

Congrats on your new computer. How are your thermals? This is the P960EN I suppose. Do you like the keyboard, display, fan noise? Thanks for sharing.

 

Hey guys currently the hardware id's for the Clevo aren't yet baked into the driver .ini file from nvidia so I made one incase anyone is interested.

 

Keyboard is great. I'd give it 8 out of 10

I opted for the liquid metal and I'm not getting anything over 70c full load on the gpu and as far as the processor goes I did a 30 min stress test and it stayed around 80-85c fan noise i guess would say typical to most gaming laptops.

 

Alright guys huge update.

Sooooooo I just saw Lisa's video on single vs dual channel ram. Well guess what I didn't realize I opted for the 16gb ddr4 3000mhz SINGLE ram stick. Should have read the fine print lmao.

Anyways went to Best Buy and bought some vengeance pc2400 2x8gb ram sticks. Maaaan what a huge difference!!

Core+70, mem +875
Liquid metal + Fuji pads

Fire strike 1.1 score 17467
Graphics score 21014
Physics score 16441
Combines score 8065

Far cry 5 TAA Ultra 95 fps
SOTTR (dx12) highest preset smaa 97 fps

 

Great to hear! I got mine configured with 2x 8GB 2666 MHz, so hopefully that works. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but the laptop platform caps at 2666 MHz, so you're not seeing any value from going with 3000 MHz over 2666 MHz.

 

I would now revisit undervolting the cpu. If you can get a Cinebench score in the 1100 to 1200+ range for multi core you’ll be on track for the i7-8750.

 

So with the single ram stick within the bios you have a "overclocking" menu. There I was able to select the xmp profile and it was indeed running at 3000mhz then I double checked it was running at that rated bios speed using CPU-z also.

 

Just ran the CPU test and scored an 1173

-110.4v

Maxed out at 77c

 

XMP support, wow that is nice. When I was looking up ram selections offered they didn't have 2 x 8GB 3000 Mhz, only saw the 1 x 16 or 32GB which is overkill. Most would probably go for the 2 x 8GB 2666 Mhz for $10 but I found the next tier frustrating. How much does a 2 x 8GB 3000 Mhz XMP ram kit cost these days? Maybe you can match that single 16GB.

 

Look up goldkey. That's what's it says here in the ram stick. GKE160SO102408-3000A

 

Hmm Goldkey? First time I've heard about them was in Walmarts overpowered laptops.

I'm not completely sure but G.Skill's kits may work at 3000Mhz in dual channel. Timing is CL16-18-18-43. Found a 2 x 8GB F4-3000C16D-16GRS on NewEgg for $155.

Edit: add speed

 

So long as the speed and cas latency are the same two sticks should work together just fine.

 

Specv89,

Is this the 2080 variant? Forgive me but I've read over the thread a few times and I can't determine what P960Ex you have. The "EP6" of this thread's title looks like a 1060 variant; surely you aren't getting those kinds of numbers with a 1060. Like someone else said I assume you have the 2080 version.

I'm waiting very (im)patiently to pull the trigger on one of these, but holding off for reviews and hopefully comparisons between the 2060 and 2070MQ variants to see if it's worth $200 more.

Also I've noticed we have a separate "P960Ex Owner's Lounge" thread that should probably be merged/linked with this thread to avoid confusion:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/official-clevo-p960ex-owners-lounge.826841/

 

Maybe that model has the Per Key RGB Keyboard! ... Or not.

Yeah there are many questions for these. How nice is the display? Is it IPS or TN? Is the 16GB 2666Mhz ram also from goldkey? Does it get hot? Is the cpu power throttling under load? How long does the battery last for productivity. Is RTX driver fully supported? Can I use 230w power brick? Who does your hair? Inquiring minds want know!

 

Yeah this is the 2080 variant. Ordered from gentech pc. They are out of California and had a really good experience with them so I would recommend them myself. So the model I have is the Sager NP8963 (Clevo P960EN) you can find more info on it at noteb.com.

Didn't realize I was in the wrong thread.

Ultimately I'm happy with this laptop. Not too flashy yet not too plain. It's a perfect sleek mix and performs to my needs.

 

I don't think you're in the wrong thread any more than the rest of us are. The other P960Ex thread is pretty empty and all the recent posts here are regarding the RTX variants. I'm a little surprised this Clevo line hasn't generated more interest. As a thin and light it's competing against the m15, Aero 15, GS65, Zephyrus M, etc. but has proper webcam placement, a (real) numpad, a bigger screen, choice of RTX gpu, etc. for quite a bit less than those others. Just based on features I'd pick this over the others even if they were priced identically, but it's cheaper. Basically I'm waiting to see what's wrong with it!

 

The one other drawback is the smaller battery, but other than that I agree that it looks fantastic on paper. For people who value form factor, this model just hits the sweet spot. I think the other laptops of this class are just more talked about because of the brand names, and Clevo doesn't exactly spend the huge bucks in advertisement. It's a different sales model for sure, but if it helps to keep prices low and gives more bang for my money...

 

The 62Wh battery still has room for a 2.5” drive and room to upgrade everything without board flipping .

 

Heyy guys forgot to mention something regarding the laptop incase you decide to open it since I almost made the mistake of trying to pry off the under panel since it appears that that's what needs to pop open but that's not the case. When you flip the laptop over you'll notice a cover that seems to come off after you remove the screws to access the hardware. So here's what you have to do and its actually quite easy. Remove ALL screws on the bottom and then on the underside center of the laptop under the keyboard area you'll see a small symbol of a keyboard kinda at an angle right next to a screw hole its a little hard to explain but it's easy to spot. Anyways once you have all the bottom screws off flip the laptop on its side and open the screen as far back as it goes kinda like an obtuse angle so it can sit on its side and using your screw driver poke the hole of that screw hole (with the symbol) to push up on the keyboard. As you are doing that you'll notice the keyboard up top slightly coming up and off don't need much pressure just enough to get a sturdy credit card under the top center edge of the keyboard while you're pushing the screwdriver through the hole under the keyboard. Once you get the credit card in place the keyboard tabs should pop up to disengage the keyboard**(note that once you get at least one tab off you can keep the credit card in place and lay the laptop back down no need to keep it on its side as you are pulling up on the keyboard)** no need to disconnect the ribbon cable just slide it up slightly to see the black screws. Once you remove all the screws on the bottom and one screw on the far right center, put the keyboard keyboard in place but don't snap it in. close the lid and flip the laptop over again. Pull up on the back center where the exhaust fans are and you'll notice the tabs come loose you'll start to hear the tabs come loose all around the edges. Note that the whole bottom half comes off as one piece. I know its a lot to explain but once you figure it out it's quite easy. Note that all the screws are identical so no need to separate them just put them in a small cup or something.

See this video on youtube




this is a very similar laptop and look at the 38 second mark of the video he is showcasing the laptop with the under half removed so you can use it as a reference.

 

This one has the under light RGB keyboard. Display is great however I did have some minor light bleed along the edges but it didnt really bother me. I'm not sure if the 2666mhz is also from goldkey I'd just call maybe the vendor should know. So I if I run furmak along with the cpu-z stress test together the clock will start at 3.9 and after about 5 minutes clock down to 3.1. when i ran furmark stress test or cpu stress test individually I did not get any power or thermal throttle at all. By the way the thermals on this laptop if you opt for the liquid metal are quite impressive. During gaming sessions (1 to 3 hrs) I was running the msi/rivaturner gaming overlay so I can monitor the CPU and GPU clocks and not once did I get a drop in MHZ for the CPU it would stay at a consistent 3.9.

 

Man I really needed this, since I am installing a hard drive as soon as I get this laptop. You just saved me a lot of frustration.

I edited your directions so they are a little easier for me to read

1. Remove ALL screws on the bottom

2. On the underside center of the laptop under the keyboard area you'll see a small symbol of a keyboard kinda at an angle right next to a screw hole its a little hard to explain but it's easy to spot.

3.Once you have all the bottom screws off flip the laptop on its side and open the screen as far back as it goes kinda like an obtuse angle so it can sit on its side.

4. Using your screw driver poke the hole of that screw hole (with the symbol) to push up on the keyboard. As you are doing that you'll notice the keyboard up top slightly coming up and off (don't need much pressure just enough to get a sturdy credit card under the top center edge of the keyboard while you're pushing the screwdriver through the hole under the keyboard).

5. Once you get the credit card in place the keyboard tabs should pop up to disengage the keyboard
**Note that once you get at least one tab off you can keep the credit card in place and lay the laptop back down - no need to keep it on its side as you are pulling up on the keyboard

**No need to disconnect the ribbon cable just slide it up slightly to see the black screws.

6. Once you remove all the screws on the bottom and one screw on the far right center, put the keyboard keyboard in place but don't snap it in. close the lid and flip the laptop over again.

7. Pull up on the back center where the exhaust fans are and you'll notice the tabs come loose you'll start to hear the tabs come loose all around the edges.

**Note that the whole bottom half comes off as one piece.

I know its a lot to explain but once you figure it out it's quite easy. Note that all the screws are identical so no need to separate them just put them in a small cup or something.

 

Manual \ Drivers for anyone doing a fresh Windows install like me:
P960ED
P960EF
P960EN

The one missing is the fingerprint sensor driver, which it says to contact Sager for... I checked Clevo and they only have the P960EP6 drivers listed (and a different version) - which btw got me looking as to why these laptops are separated...

Even though the specs are VERY similar, the P960EP6 (this thread) has a GTX 1060 and a single M.2 slot. Perhaps a recycled motherboard from the 950EP6 with an updated 16.1" panel.

Where the 960Ex listed above has more or less an overhaul of the motherboard.

Here is the link to the Clevo website for the 960EP6 drivers \ manual:
P960EP6

 

I think the P96x line has potential. I believe the relative silence is caused not only by lack of advertisement but also due to the "in-between" chassis/screen size.

Spoiler: Reference measurements

(Width x depth x height)

Max Q 15.6"
Razer Blade 15: 355 x 235 x 17.8 mm. / 13.98 x 9.25 x 0.7 in.
MSI GS65: 358 x 248 x 18 mm. / 14.09 x 9.76 x 0.71 in.
Gigabyte Aero 15: 356 x 250 x 18 mm. / 14.02 x 9.84 x 0.71 in.
Acer Triton 500: 359 x 255 x 18 mm. / 14.13 x 10.04 x 0.71 in.
Alienware m15: 363 x 275 x 21 mm. / 14.29 x 10.83 x 0.83 in.

Standard 15.6"
Asus GL504: 361 x 262 x 26.1 mm. / 14.21 x 10.31 x 1 in.

Max Q 16.1"
Clevo P960x: 380 x 249 x 18.6 mm. / 14.96 x 9.8 x 0.73 in.

Max Q 17.3"
MSI GS75: 396 x 259 x 19 mm. / 15.6 x 10.2 x 0.74 in.
P97x: 398 x 268 x 19.9 mm. / 15.67 x 10.55 x 0.78 in.

Screen real estate % increase
15.6" to 16.1" is an increase of 6.51% screen area.
16.1" to 17.3" is an increase of 15.46% screen area.
15.6" to 17.3" is an increase of 22.98% screen area.

The P96x is basically an inch wider than the smallest 15.6" models while only giving a 6.51% real estate "advantage" (for those looking to get bigger screens). For what is almost half an inch more one could get a 22.98% real estate advantage (and better battery life). It's easy to see why it's a difficult position to be in market-wise.
What Clevo should come to the competition with is better performance/cooling and a considerable reduction in price. It will be hard to ignore a better performing/cooled notebook that is ~20-25% cheaper than the "big brand" names

 

GenTechPc has a teardown video of there older P950 if you jump ahead to the 13:45min mark you will see the keyboard / back panel removal. @Specv89 is this disassembly similar to the P960? This is obviously older with the split gpu / cpu heat pipe design and only one m.2 used for storage. It shows how far the improvements have come. Kinda cool. I love the keyboard is easy to swap out. Maybe we can put the per key rgb in it later as long as all the ribbon cables match.

 

Some details provided by Metabox for 17" version, copied dimensions.
Clevo P970x: 398 x 268 x 19.9 mm / 15.66 x 10.55 x .78 in. / Weight 2.5 kg / 5.5 lbs

 

Some good news! Jarrod’sTech is going to be reviewing the Metabox Prime S 16 version of this RTX laptop real soon.



Edit: added 1st review with 2060 P960ED

 

From seeing the video the keyboard appears to just lift however the model I have, you have to kinda push it out from the back though the screw hole to get the credit card in place to pop the tabs around the keyboard and no need to disconnect the ribbon cables. When he flips it over I see the bottom half just comes off note that there are tabs holding it in place with the P960EN.

 

Nice! About a week or go or so I was talking to Jarrod on one of his rtx max q videos on youtube! I offered to send mine in if he wanted to do a review until I found out where he was located and that's a pretty long distance from where I am at. (Texas, USA to Australia) Didn't want to deal with the logistics and insurance in case it were to get lost/stolen/damaged during transit.

 

The Origin EVO 16-S version is advertised to have an "IPS-level" screen. I can't imagine there's more than one type of 16.1" panel being made for these things at this time. Also Origin advertises per-key RGB, which makes me optimistic that maybe all the P960s have this, and maybe the vendors are wrong (though the Metabox page suggests there are indeed 2 different keyboards out there). That last part's no big deal as I usually make all the keys the same color anyway.

I'm this -><- close to pulling the trigger on a 2060 variant from GenTech (because of their practically free cooling upgrades). After pouring over 2060 and 2070MQ benchmarks I'm convinced the two are so close in performance as to not warrant spending the extra money. Turing is such a disappointment after waiting so long that I'm really just wanting a stopgap that'll get me through 2-3 years, then I can give it to the kids. There's nothing else I can find where I can get the same price/performance/form factor/features.

I noticed the Origin EVO17-S (which I believe is a P970Ex) is advertised as having a G-Sync display on the main page, however it's not mentioned on the customizer. I also haven't seen any other sites mention G-Sync, however Meaker@Sager mentioned in the P970Ex thread that the P970Ex has hardware switchable graphics. If that means a mux switch, I believe that's something that would make sense in order to have both G-Sync and Optimus. I was really hoping for a smaller machine, but the P970Ex is still thinner and lighter, and almost the same WxD, as my P650SG.

The P970Ex is almost the same price as the P960Ex on some sites. If it does end up with G-Sync (for not a lot more) it would be worth it to me.

I realize I'm doing way too much speculating at this point and should just wait another month or so for some proper reviews and hands-on information.

 

Fantastic news! I love Jarrod Tech's videos, and really looking forward to his review. My machine is still being built ayyy

 

A MUX switch would be pretty phenomenal. @Meaker@Sager, can you confirm MUX switch on the P97x series?

 

The 17 inch of this chassis has always had mux, check our specification section on the machines, it gives you the details.

(While true this generation has removed it)

 

You were referencing the PA7x, got it!

 

See later correction.

 

Thanks. I hadn't heard of Microsoft Hybrid Graphics before. I assume it works like this:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1021797/Eurocom-Sky-Mx5.html?page=69

What are the advantages of something like this over Optimus alone? I assume it's required if you want to use a G-Sync compatible panel (assuming one existed). Would you also need it in order to use G-Sync on an external display? Beyond that is it mainly just a nice feature to have for VR and other small case compatibilities?

 

Can anyone comment on hooking a VR headsets up for this type of laptop? I don’t recall if the P960xx series is VR ready or not but I would like to think ahead about cable management.

Oculus Headset you need:
1x HDMI / 3.0 USB
2x UBS 3.0 for 2 sensors
Optional extra sensor 1x USB 2.0

So 1 hdmi and 3 to 4 USB ports with 3 ports having a min 3.0 requirement. Kinda rough for a laptop.

HTC Vive
1x HDMI, or DisplayPort 1.2+ / USB 2.0
2x base stations sensors use Bluetooth only?

The Vive seems way more port friendly which leaves room to hook up other devices.

I don’t know what the USB power requirements are though.

For the laptop’s left side one powered USB 3.0 Type-A port is available which is the same side of the video output ports. It’s interesting that one USB 3.1 gen 2 type-c offers display port 1.3. So can that be used to combine the 2 headset cables in one for both / either the Rift or the Vive? If so that will leave some ports available for external displays / mouse keyboard and oculus sensors.

Update $19.99
This adapter may prove useful for VR!

The Smallest USB C Hub with HDMI and USB 3.0, USB C HDMI 4k Multiport Adapter, Compatible MacBook Pro 2018/2017, MacBook Air 2018, ChromeBook, Surface Go and More USB-C Devices.

 

P970EN - It’s being sold now, RJTech has barebones and complete (still requires windows license).

Search the site for the EF versions.

 

Why do so few of these have g-sync? Is it really not necessary?

 

Probably because without hardware switchable graphics, you can only have either Optimus or G-Sync, and most people probably would prefer to have Optimus. I hardly ever use my laptop on battery, let alone game on it, so I have little use for Optimus, but it comes in handy every once in a while.

I have a G-Sync monitor hooked up to my desktop, and while I know it works, I can't really tell the difference between it and normal vsync, which I've always used. It supposedly causes micro-stuttering but I've never really noticed. I'm afraid to start looking for it.

 

I assumed that when you said

you were refering to the "relatively thin and light" 17 inchers from Clevo and not the twenty days since this particular chassis has been announced.

More good news!
Didn't check out the P96x but had seen the P97x one. Much improved website since last time (and explicitly noting Max Q). Kudos!

 

My understanding of gsync is that if I can’t hit 144 FPS on a 144 hz screen, it will lock me to 72, correct?

 

That's vsync, sort of (but without triple buffering). I imagine a 144hz monitor using vsync would display at 144, 72, 48, 36 fps etc, causing stuttering as the fps jumps around. I know there's a lot more to it than that. Gsync is supposed to change the hz on the screen to match the exact frame rate.

Here's 9 minutes of quality education, since I'm not very good at explaining this stuff:


To make things more interesting, I've heard that laptop G-sync is and always had more in common with Freesync because it just goes straight through the display port rather than a separate module.

Basically for me G-sync is a feature that I know is nice, I *might* be able to tell it's on if I look for it or make comparisons when it's off, however I've lived without it most of my life just fine, but if I can get it on my next laptop without making a significant compromise I'll take it.

Right now I'm trying to determine whether 144hz vs 60hz would make screen tearing and vsync stuttering less noticeable (especially at lower fps), thereby reducing the need for G-sync.

 

The thin and lights this generation basically use the same chassis as last generation, much like the p870dm, km and tm all used the same base chassis.

 

Cost is one factor, nvidia charge a license fee. Then you have even the rtx 2060 giving very good 1080p performance.