**Official Clevo W150ERQ / Sager NP6165 Owner's Lounge**

The full system specs are in my signature.

Because of the problems and me moving I didn't have much time. I just installed the Sims 3 yesterday and played that for a little while, but apparently it won't use the NVIDIA Graphics, only the Intel. I tried forcing the card by disabling the Intel graphics through the Device Manager but games just refuse to open if I do that They give weird errors.


Sims 3:
Green (Integrated)
70 C / 158 F
11-13 FPS
All High Settings
1920 x 1080 Resolution

I'm getting steam now... Scratch that, steam won't let you choose the Graphics Card. Ugh, I'll figure this out with ISOs or something.

Also, regular just web surfing temperatures seems to be 65-70 C, I think that's a bit too warm. My past computer was around 45-50 C. Is it normal for computers like this to be this hot? Note I have not changed the thermal compound (that's why no inside pics yet).

 

If the software used to manage graphics is anything like in my current laptop, there should be an option to select which one is used in the NVIDIA control panel, possibly under "Manage 3D Settings". I'm not sure if that's the case in the W150ER, but it couldn't hurt to check.

65-70C seems a bit warm for web browsing, I agree. Possibly cause for concern - it's certainly confusing that the light web browsing temperature is only a few degrees lower than the gaming temperature. Maybe the fan isn't kicking in properly, or the thermal compound was improperly applied?

 

@AnonymousETfromMars If you do open up the bottom of your laptop sometime could you post the fan model numbers? I'd like to compare them with the previous models. Thanks!

 

i want to see the internal heatsinks if you ever get a chance to open it up

 

Could you comment on the sound quality of the built in speakers and how loud they get?

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3520M CPU @ 2.90GHz,CLEVO CO. W150ER score: P2263 3DMarks

Where on earth did this person run this

 

Okay, I replaced the thermal compound and now things seem to stay in the 55-63 C. Still seems hot, but now that I see where like the air vents are, it might have been slightly my fault because of the way I'm sitting on my couch. I think I might have to make a slight pillow or something to lift it off my lap a bit.

You can see what I'm talking about here on the lower right and smaller ones on the top. The air vents would be covered by my legs/hips when sitting. For now I'm sitting awkwardly to get off them. But anyways, the circles show the two screw you have to remove, then you just slide it out. This is in the manual, somewhere in the Drivers Disk, but I thought, hell, why not, there's bound to be someone who was as confused as I was.



And here are all the screws needed to get to the CPU, etc. And how to remove the Optical Bay.



And here's the mess that was the thermal compound, it was spilled everywhere around the edges and slightly hard. I cleaned it and replaced it with Arctic Silver. You can also see the fan more clearly, is that the number somebody wanted?

I'm assuming the circled screw is how you get the CPU out?



The speakers suck. They sound okay but they're super super weak.

I do know about the NVIDIA control center thing, but it does absolutely nothing. Since steam games don't seem to be an actual .exe it doesn't want to recognize them, and even though I set the Sims through the Right Click Context Menu (same thing that setting it through the control panel does) it still uses integrated graphics.

I'm trying to get Skyrim installed at the moment from an ISO.

 

I saw that post about 3DMarks and since I was having trouble with actual games I thought I'd run that, I got a 4043, but while the Orange light would turn on in between each test, and I'd set it to the NVIDIA under the card's control panel, it would still switch to integrated while running the test, and on the 3DMark window that shows the system it says, GFX: Intel, but when I go online it says NVIDIA... weird.

 

What if you press the upper left button to run te nvidia cards? Sad, was so looking forward to this laptop. Hope you can find a way to play steam games properly. Really thought this was better than the 6110.


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 6165 or a 6110 as soon as i see reviews when playing games!

 

Read through the thread please. The button has stopped working but it is stuck in orange, the mode that switches between the two cards, so things should be able to run with the NVIDIA, but they aren't doing it for some reason. Even if the button did work, it wouldn't do anything since it would only switch to green mode (integrated graphics only).

 

So, I installed Skyrim but it won't see the graphics card either... ugh.

I give up. If anybody has any ideas I'll try them, I'll keep you guys posted on any updates, and if you want to know any other details I'll try to get them but mainly I bought this laptop for it's gorgeous 95% gamut screen. Plus strangely enough NVIDIA seems to switch on for Photoshop so it works with what I need it to work because mainly I'm a painter/photographer/theme designer. Games weren't really important and with the Intel 3000 they're playable to me.

If I really want to play I can use the Alienware desktop a family member has, or my PS3.

 

That might be an optimus issue in general. Games have to be "Optimus" compatible.

Optimus - NVIDIA Forums

Here's the skyrimm info. It seems this has been an issue for awhile and Nvidia just isn't doing anything about it. Might be more reason to wait for AMD's new card.

List of incompatible games for nvidia optimus - NVIDIA Forums

This user can't play any of these games because Optimus isn't working properly.

NVIDIA Forums -> Optimus & Hybrid Graphics Actually if you look at the Optimus forums in general they're littered with that kind of thing. Starting to thinking waiting for a new AMD GPU might be a better idea provided they provide "Switchable graphics" of some sort.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...abling-optimus-smartest-thing-i-ever-did.html

This person from the alienware forums disabled it and it seems to have worked wonders for gaming.

Sounds like Optimus does have a lot of issues though sadly.

 

This is partly the reason Clevo did not implement switchable graphics in the older P150HM/P151HM series and up. Even though battery life would have been improved, the technology just wasn't mature enough to guarantee a good experience with all games. Wiring just a discrete GPU in avoided the software/driver issues completely. Another good option would be a hardware toggle, but having to reboot the machine to switch GPU's isn't the most convenient option either.

 

Have you tried contacting your source to see if they will help you?

 

In my old macbook pro from 2008 switching is fast easy, switch settings, log out, log back into your profile. Wish that was still the case.

 

@AnonymousETfromMars Thanks for the inside views! The fan on the new W150ER is 6-23-AW15E-011 and the old one which is suppose to be relatively quiet is 6-23-AW15H-010, so they seem to be about the same.

Also, your temps should continue to drop a few more degrees from the arctic silver paste. That paste has a curing time of around 200 hours I believe.

 

Hey Anonymous, just a giving you a thanks for all you've done in this thread. Thanks for the reply on the sound question.

 

Well, then it seems that the problem is with the games not supporting Optimus. I tried disabling Intel through the drivers but that caused trouble. I don't want to mess with the Bios.

Now Photoshop might be working because it's trial of CS6. I'll have to check if CS5 that I had before works.

For now I'm having a bit of trouble separating stuff from the SSD to the HDD... ugh it seems no laptop comes without it's issues.

 

Try this to fix your optimus problem ( I read it somewhere else.)

Go to youtube and run a 1080P video then run your game at the same time. Might automatically force the dedicated GPU On. try the same thing if it works with photoshop, run photoshop then the game.
Not the most ideal solution but if it works, hey at least it works.

 

Running a 1080P video doesn't force the card...

I was going to do this but it looked like it switched between the two graphics for example when I had Photoshop and Firefox open, it would switch when I went from one to the other. And I think at one point I did have the game open and photoshop and still it would switch cards.

But today I had to do a reinstall of some things because some stuff was going crazy being divided between my two drives and the NVIDIA Panel ended up in my my HDD, so I reinstalled it again... and now what you're saying works.... strange. I didn't have everything working properly long enough to tell you if this is proper behavior or if the card is accidentally getting stuck...

Edit: It doesn't always work. If I start a game immediately after opening Photoshop it doesn't work. I have to start Photoshop, wait for a minute or so, confirm the card is running under Edit > Preferences > Performance, then run the game. Also, the Sims tells me the Video Card is not supported but it lets me run it anyways. And WOW! I'll get the FPS in a sec.

Maybe if we can get a non intensiveness application (Photoshop always uses up RAM even with nothing open) to use the NVIDIA we can play games this way.

 

Sims 3:
Orange (Discrete)
~ 70 C / 158 F
60-120 FPS
All High Settings
1920 x 1080 Resolution

So that's a huge improvement.

Skyrim:
Orange (Discrete)
~ 70 C / 158 F (I'll edit this after I play longer than an hour.)
30-60 FPS ~45 Usually.
As High Settings as it'd let me, some of them lock up?
1920 x 1080 Resolution

I'll still prefer to play games like Skyrim on my PS3, but for non-PS3 games like the Sims and Minecraft this is great.

So I'm going to try Minecraft, maybe Kingdoms of Alamur, and possibly running 3DMark again.

 

No problem, I used to crawl around these forums (Desktop, Tablet, Notebook) etc, I asked questions occasionally and always got fast responses to everything (except in the Desktop forum, it's a ghost town) and better help than any tech/sales support I've ever called (I mean look, we sort of solved the problem) so I thought since I had the computer and nobody else seemed to have it and I know how desperate I was for any thread of news about it I thought I'd give back to the community. I was a bit busy, moving and all, but I managed it

Anything else you want just ask.

 

Those are some pretty sexy temps too! 70 degrees! Even with 1 fan and heatsink and 650M isn't much of a heat generator it seems which is cool.

And skyrimm at 1080p is sexy!

3d Mark scores again would be cool Would ya mind trying BF3 (if they have a demo out there somewhere?) same with Dirt/Metro? (The more graphically demanding games out there)

 

Also any updates on battery life with vid playback? (For those long movie/car rides?)

 

Also would ya mind running another test of general use with the wifi off?

(I travel a lot in cars and such with no wifi so i'm just curious)

 

Agree! BF3 pls! : > thanks!

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

that's pretty much inline with this but a second opinion never hurts

 

I finally ordered my W150ER earlier today after going back and forth between about 4~ different laptop models. I figured I really don't have the time to play games anymore anyway which is why I chose not to go with a higher model. Thanks for the various info! @AnonymousETfromMars

 

I can try video battery life today.

The temps were only after 10-15 minutes of play, I'll play for a while longer and see if they stay the same. The good news is the arctic silver is still lowering the temperature.

And yes, Skyrim at 1080p is amazing.

I'll do the benchmark again today or tomorrow, and I'll try getting those demos and forcing the graphics on those with Photoshop, hopefully it works, but I might not have time until a week or so when I'm settled in, sorry.

I can try no wi-fi with word open editing my novel or writing rainmeter scripts or something like that, when I get on my plane in a few days. From Thursday to Saturday I'll be very busy, I might not even turn the computer on.

 

Hey, I'm planning to get this laptop..
The one with the i7-3610QM Ivy Bridge CPU 2.3GHz - 3.3GHz
Metabox W150ER - Clevo W150ERM - 15.6 inch laptop notebook with GT 650M 1GB switchable graphics

According to previous post in this thread, the battery life is about 4 hours max? Weighing at about.. 2.8kg was it?

About the optimus switching technology, maybe you could try going under the NVIDIA Settings and include the selected game? I did that with my GT 335M and it works perfectly.

 

Battery Life Test 2:

Conditions/Settings:
50% Brightness
VLC Player Open Only
Wireless Off / Bluetooth Off
Standard Definition Video Fullscreen
Power Settings: Adjusted like the previous time to everything Max. Savings on Battery. It was not like that in the default Balanced power plan. And I changed the brightness to something semi-comfortable in daylight in a car.
Set to Sleep at 10% Low Battery Level

Total Time Until Sleep (10% remaining): 3 Hours 10 Minutes

For the next battery test, it'll be Word/Typing only and I'm going to try turning down the Maximum Processor Rate in the Power Settings and any other power tips I can find to squeeze out as many hours as possible.

@mrspng:

Hopefully it will reach 4-5 hours, but keep in mind this will be under extreme battery saving settings.

I've tried that. Programs completely ignore it, and we suspect it's the programs because Photoshop CS6 does switch but nothing else does, everything else has to be forced by having CS6 open.

 

Cool thanks for the update! Interesting that your wi-fi test came in at 3 hours too. Wonder why!

 

Sager NP6165 / Clevo W150ER - XOTIC PC - Sager 15.6" Laptop

Just ordered the NP6165 off xotic

Bought it primarily for gaming. Should I cancel over this Optimus issue or is there a chance nvidia will fix the problem

 

Nvidia's Optimus has always had issues. It's not specific to the 150ERQ just Optimus in general. I'm ordering mine from Mythlogic eventually and they playtest their laptops so I'm hoping it'll come hassle free

 

Is the model number (Sager 5165) in the topic name correct? I thought it was 6165 model for some reason.

 

not sure I just call it clevo 150

 

I am fairly sure that the W150ER is the NP6165, not the NP5165, which was the previous model. It's just a typo.

 

So that's why I can't find this thread.

 

Anyways I've been trolling around the internet looking for Optimus work arounds. Try these and see if they work

Method 1) Search using the start menu search box for "HDMI"
Click 'Connect to an External Display'
Click detect at the top
On the display drop down, click "available GPU"

2) Go into the Nvidia Control Panel under Advanced 3D Settings
Select add program and add the .exe file for the game n question.
Go to the drop down menu and set your preference to the High Performance Graphics Card.

3)1. Right click the WoW Launcher that you use.
2. Go down and select "Properties"
3. in the "Target" box, it 'should' say "D:\Stuff\World of Warcraft\Launcher.exe"
4. Add -d3d11 to the box (adding a space after the ...exe" part)
5. Should look like this... "D:\Stuff\World of Warcraft\Launcher.exe" -d3d11
6. Click apply.
7. Open your game as normal, and enjoy!

This one forces directx 11 on via the target box. (Not sure how it works exactly or if it works for other games besides WoW but there's another possibility at least!)

I'm going to troll around and see if I can find some more!

 

Hope the problems that AnonymousETfromMars has been having will
be resolved when official drivers come out for the gt650m,
since i'm gonna be gaming a lot on this laptop ,
but i still haven't decided between this 15.6" model or the 17.3"

 

15.6 model for me, it's not monstrously big, and I really do want the 95% gamut color screen which is supposed to be beautiful!

 

I'm glad i found this thread. I was gonna get this laptop for casual gaming and school but after reading about the optimus problems it made me kinda wary....i dont want this kind of baggage. is this a big deal? will it ruin my gaming that much

 

I was just about to pull the trigger and came across this. Is the problem significant/widespread enough that it warrants avoiding Nvidia Optimus GPUs?

 

Well the problem is that it seems that for the long run many brands are gonna be managing Optimus in Nvidia (Sager,MSI) it's not about if there gonna fix the problems and buggs but , a question of when? and from what i'm seeing in different forums not everyone has these "problems" and if they do it's only in a few games.

 

AnonymousETfromMars could you give us a WEI score please

 

Just Ordered "Base Model" with changes: 3610QM, IC Thermal, 2 Year Warranty. Can't wait to try it out and post back! When should I expect to receive it?

 

I really hope that's the case, but it's hard for me to be optimistic about it. Optimus has been on the market long enough that I expected some/most of this to be fixed by now. I was very close to ordering one of these myself, assuming that the new version of Optimus couldn't be as bad as the original. Now I'm not so sure. The fact that the Optimus control panel still doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to (as observed by AnonymousETfromMars) is particularly disturbing. I think I'm going back into "wait and see" mode for a while.

 

Just pulled the trigger on mine

Mobile Chassis: MYTHLOGIC Pollux 1412 Chassis (Clevo W150ER)
Mobile Display: 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) Matte 95% NTSC Color Gamut LED Backlit LCD (Pollux)
Dead Pixel Guarantee: MYTH Pixel Perfect Guarantee
Monitor Calibration: Free MYTH Professional Monitor Color Calibration
CPU: Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.3GHz, 6M L3 Cache, 22nm, DDR3-1600MHz, Quad-Core Mobile Processor
Thermal Compound: Free IC Diamond Thermal Compound
System Memory: 8GB (2 x 4GB) , PC3-12800, 1600MHz SODIMM (Samsung)
Video Adapter: Intel HD3000/HD4000 Graphics AND NVIDIA GT 650M 1024MB GDDR5 DX11 Compliant with Optimus Tech
Optical: Notebook Black 8X DVD+RW/CDRW Combo Drive
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200 16MB Cache SATA Notebook Hard Drive
Hard Drive: Crucial 128GB M4 Series SATA III 6GB/sec Solid State Drive
Network Card: Onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem
Wireless Card: KILLER WirelessN 1102 - Designed for the best wireless gaming, HD video and audio experience
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 Only With Intel 2230/6235 Wireless
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Anti-Virus Software: Microsoft Security Essentials
MYTHLOGIC Assurance: MYTH Lifetime Assurance with Lifetime Labor + 1 Year Parts Warranty, 1 Yr 2-Way Shipping Canada
Phoenix Upgrade Plan: Lifetime Phoenix Upgrade Plan


woot

 

For those of you that have your machines, what would you say are your grievances about them?

I really want to like this laptop because it's one of the only machines in my budget (I'm in Japan and there is a boutique that's offering this model and it's hard to do other systems because of the awful exchange rate) but it just seems so meh to me. The speakers not only being on the bottom but in the REAR of the system? Was that a deal breaker for anyone? I know most people use headphones or speakers, but for everday browsing like Youtube or playing a random MP3 does it make it unlistenable?

Also, I'm curious to hear about noise levels when idle and under load as well as relative temperatures of the palmrest and keyboard. I don't expect you to do scientific recordings, just your impressions would be nice.

It would help me TONS, thanks!

EDIT: I reread this thread and actually saw that while the speakers are on the bottom they are near the front of the machine, sorry bout that.

Also, if anyone is still having Optimus problems please let me know. I've had a system with the 540m (Optimus) and I don't game much but I never had problems gaming with it. Played League of Legends, Skyrim, Magicka, Portal 1&2 and others using the dedicated card. The only problem I've had is when the driver doesn't automatically detect the game EXE and you have to add it manually in the control panel. Usually just takes a few minutes to figure out. I would recommend starting with the latest drivers from Nvidia.

 

Can you disable Optimus through the BIOS on the W150ERQ and not have issues? Since I'll have a HyperX 3k, it will be not problem rebooting .