*** Official Clevo W230SS/Sager NP7338 Owner's Lounge ***

Coast does this happen if you put the laptop like normal. Case side down?

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I've ordered

Too bad I only now when putting in the order found out you could also choose "freight collect" (which I guess is the correct translation; you pay when you collect the package at the postoffice) and not just only pay in advance with a bank payment. I could have had it right now :/

Anyway I chose (from MYSN.se, "Schenker P304" / W230SS):
1920x1080 (even that in my personal experience will be small on an 13" laptop)
i7 4700MQ (since the 4810MQ is really much more expensive here in Sweden then the $35 you lucky Americans have)
2x4GB RAM (rather run dual-channel then leave the slot empty, upgrading to 16GB will be far off in the future)

From another vendor:
Samsung EVO 250GB mSATA
Huawei ME909u-521 (4G mPCIe card) [Yay testing!]

Things I already have (free):
Windows 8(.1) from Dreamspark
Intel 7260 (802.11ac/Bluetooth)
Prepaid mobile broadband 4G SIM (arrived today as well)

Really excited, was a long time since I've had a good computer to game on (now on an Acer 3830TG w. i5-2410M, GT540M, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD) and its my first Clevo actually

And now we play the waiting game...

---

I'll be sure to update with my experiences and especially about the 4G-module, I'll (as always) follow this thread with great interest until I get my laptop and of course later as well.

Edit:
Haha I really hope "my" Schenker P304 / W230SS has the same layout (i.e. the potential mSATA / mPCIe hybrid and 1x 4G / 3G-antenna) as "yours". I would still of course have bought it and could possible return the 4G-module if it isn't opened.

 

I will do some more tests when I get home tonight and record the exact circumstance the the was performed under with screen shots. When I tried the stress test a couple weeks ago I remember the cpu hovering around 3.49ghz I believe and temps in the low 70's for the duration of the 5 min test.

@ Swede,
Congratulations on the purchase. The waiting is the hardest part. But I'm sure you will be happy once it's in your hands. :thumbsup:

 

Three things come to mind. Bad cpu, bad heat pipe(or the tilted angle effecting the heat pipes ability to cool) or paste. Personally i think the first two are the likely culprits.

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Thanks. I got a monitor and some other accessories as well from my work and they won't be in until a few days so I guess everything should arrive more or less at the same time. Bought a CoolerMaster Notepal U2 Plus which should fit this computer nicely. Have a Zalman NC-3500 but its to big and I got quite a limited space both in my apartment and on my desk so the smaller one will be nice. A good thing is that I can adjust the fans depending on the exhausts and therefore hopefully get better cooling.

 

Get ready for a hot and loud laptop. I currently use a G46VW and got this instead of a W230S(t) and (s).

 

Squaretrade is good let's just say I know someone who works there

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Keep the back raised a little and do a fine repasting job.

 

Can anybody (that already has their machine) tell me if the onboard Intel RAID supports RAID 5? I've got two Crucial M500 480GB mSATA SSDs and a 512GB 2.5" SSD and it would be pretty sweet to get the benefits of a large SSD and some redundancy.

Thanks!

 

What if the machine is stolen or damaged? I would not use a redundant system in a notebook, an external backup is a must in which case having the losses from a redundant array seems to not achieve much.

 

You're probably right, although I've personally experienced more drive failures (3) than damaged/stolen laptops (0). In the course of my RAID 5 research though, I've also found info that you can't boot from that type of array anyways, so my question is probably moot. I'll just keep the 1TB mechanical that's coming with the machine in there and do semi-regular backups to it.

If anybody is already using a RAID setup on theirs and doesn't mind checking for me, I am still surious about the possibility of RAID 5 through the onboard chip.

Thanks again!

 

Well the Intel raid controller does support raid 5 so it should, if not it should be able to be modified.

 

With regard to RAID 5, you CAN boot windows from a RAID 5 array, it's a pain in the butt to install windows (need an extra driver module) but once installed it should work no problem.

Raid 5 needs 3 drives to work, all on the same controller, does this laptop have 1 or 2 controllers? (SATA and mSATA).

 

Note that the 4700MQ in that spreadsheet was ran on Linux. Shouldn't try to compare it to a Windows benchmark.

In reality, dual channel has almost no performance gain over single channel unless you are doing something ridiculously bandwidth intensive. On average you will not get a single FPS from running dual channel over single. It may be a tiny bit faster when using the IGP, but the issue with IGP has always been latency, rather than bandwidth, and dual channel has no affect on latency.

Would not recommend RAID5. RAID1 the two mSATA drives and leave the third for non-redundant storage. You don't really need to store game files etc on a redundant array, so the third drive is fine for that. If you lose the game files, all you have to do is reinstall from Steam.

RAID5 has way too many problems, especially in the case of a crash. If parity is ever broken, you'll have to rebuild the array, which on SSDs will probably cut the lifespan of each drive by a couple months (rebuilding an array is *not* fun).

 

Gotcha, wasn't sure about the RAID 5 boot thing, I found a TechNet article that said otherwise but, now that I think about it, I can't remember checking what version of Windows they were talking about.

I know the chipset supports 4 drives at 6G and 2 at 3G but I believe they're all on the same controller. So I think the question now is whether the 2.5" drive controller is the same speed as the mSATA controller. I have the three drives I need to test it, I'm just trying to gather some info to see if it's even worth trying out.

I'm using an mSATA OS drive with a 2.5" storage drive now and I find it...inelegant. I'd like my storage to be more seamless and, on the surface, the best way to accomplish that with three drives in a laptop is RAID 5 (480GB mSATA x2 and 512GB 2.5" SSD) because I also get the bonus of some redundancy. My next option is the two mSATA drives in RAID 0 with backups to the 1TB 2.5" that is coming in the laptop; 960GB of SSD with half the writes to each drive.

You do have a valid point about rebuiling an array though, hours of sustained reading and writing on the SSDs might be the thing that melts the plastic chassis into a puddle on my coffee table.

Thanks guys!

 

I guess the orientation of the laptop does make a difference on cooling. Sitting normal or 90 degrees one way works just fine with temps staying where they should. Turn it 90 degrees the other way and about 60 seconds into it the temps spike to max and clocks fall to the bottom trying to keep it cool. Never realized the heat pipes work better in certain orientations than others. Did some research last night and confirmed it all.

Now if I can just figure out why the clocks frequency won't go above 3.19ghz running intel's stress test.

Anyway, thanks for pointing to the problem with the heat I was getting.:thumbsup:

 

Is it a 4700MQ? Turbo on the 4700MQ tops out at 3.2 GHz when you are using all cores. Stress a single core and it should go up to 3.6.

 

I should have added that it's a 4810MQ. It only goes up to 3.09-3.19ghz after the undervolt. Left at default it runs at 2.99-3.09ghz. Temps...when I have the laptop in the correct position at least, is high 60's to low 70's during the Intel stress test. I can do things like Blu Ray rips and it runs at 3.59ghz the entire time.

 

Just keep an eye on your temps. Next time i have a chance ill set mine up and run it to see if i get the same behavior. Most people dont realize that inside the heat sink and pipes is a liquid that converts to gas and the back to liquid. That how they're able to tranport the heat from one solid to another in another location. With the laptop on laying on its back after 60 seconds you have enough liquid pooling over the heat pipes to restrict flow. I think it depends on heat sink design on orientation. My main computer has a zalman cooler and its heat pipes dont seem to care what direction it is mounted. It probably explains the helix design of the 4 pipes it has. If one gets blocked up the other three pick up the slack. Glad it was that and not your chip it would have been a first for me to hear of a chip failing in that way. Usually if the internal resistance spike like that it would just fry the first time it happened. Your cooler couldn't save it .

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I finally ordered this laptop from xoticpc (through Amazon). Was torn between this and the p34g, but decided that I could get this and a monitor, for less than the p34g.

Since I bought it "stock" with just the HDD, I bought a Samsung EVO mSATA. I want to re-install windows 8.1 to the mSATA once it arrives. Has anyone had any issues with drivers on Windows 8.1?

Thanks

 

The machine is designed to run more or less flat with the bottom of the laptop down. A slight prop up of the back of the laptop helps with airflow. But anything more than 10-15 degrees will likely cause an adverse affect to cooling. Setting it vertical will cause all sorts of thermal issues.

Also, what CPU do you have? With the i7-4700MQ you likely won't do better than 3.2GHz with all four cores loaded. 3.4Ghz is max on single core, 3.3GHz for dual core, 3.2GHz for three or four core, although that's max boost and typically it won't always maintain that max temperature or sometimes ever reach it.

 

Heat pipes can stall depending on design and implementation so yes, putting it vertical where it is not normally expected to run could cause issues.

 

Are they trust worthy? Very mixed reviews I've seen so far. So how much louder is this laptop? I don't really care much for the noise. Heat and longevity is my primary concern QUOTE=Splintah;9634634]Squaretrade is good let's just say I know someone who works there

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Get ready for a hot and loud laptop. I currently use a G46VW and got this instead of a W230S(t) and (s).



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HTWingNut,
I have the 4810mq. I'm not overly concerned that it's not maintaining clock speed on the stress test. Real world test, such as ripping or games it seems to run full speed...at least when I have checked on it. It would be nice to see it max out it's rated clock speed on Intel's own stress test, but it's not a deal breaker if it doesn't.

Meaker,
Yes I found that out. My old laptop just happened to ran much cooler tipped on it's side and a little desk fan blowing on it allowing me to run my GT 650m at some hefty OCed speeds while being hooked to the TV. This little laptop rebelled quite seriously when trying to run it on it's side. I appreciate everyones input as I have learned something new...yet again, this time about how the physics behind how heatpipes work.

 

It can be tricky because depending on the wick can depend on what angles will have issues or be more or less efficient.

 

For anyone buying in Canada, which reseller are you using, and does anyone have warranty/repair/maintenance experience here? I've never purchased a Sager before (or really any computer without repair facilities nearby), so want to make sure I have decent maintenance options.

Moderately related to this, I have young children that like to touch electronic things and who firmly believe that pushing all the buttons at once makes Toopy & Binoo load faster. Not talking violent bashing, just unnecessarily assertive use. We currently have a lenovo y470 and a y500, both of which are tanks and highly toddler resistant. Acer and macbook prior to that which were even sturdier. How does the w230ss compare?

I'm also seeing the words "hot" and "loud" pop out frequently, which is a bit alarming.

 

Hey all reporting in again. After spending more time with this laptop I'm loving it! My initial review was a bit meh. You have to understand I used my old Asus N80 for about 5 years so I got used to its keyboard and touchpad and was a little annoyed with change.

I'm understanding how haswell operates. I used to have a Core 2 Duo so whenever I would hear the fan ramp up it would either mean the CPU is stressed or something is wrong thermally. I assumed that was the case with the new laptop but its just a completely different architecture.

Most of my issues are software related. Apps that don't support high dpi laptops are going to look blurry. I thought it was the actual quality of the monitor. Rest assured its the apps. Right now firefox and internet explorer look a lot better than chrome. Chrome's text at the top is a bit blurry on high dpi, I'm sure they are working on a fix.

Reran dolphin benchmark, for anyone who cares, the results are exactly where you would expect a 4810mq to be (attached) .

Overall extremely satisfied with my W230SS, and I'm sure you guys will be too. I have never bought a laptop cooling pad. I'm overwhelmed by all the options. Anyone have any recommendations for the W230SS? I want a small and lightweight one to maintain portability, but also one that cools well. One that is designed for laptops 14" and under.

 

I am still waiting for mine to come in, but I have used a CoolerMaster Notepal X2 for awhile now, and like it alot, I probably won't be changing it when I get my W230SS. I have also heard some people are picking up the CoolerMaster Notepal U2 as well. Congrats on the new laptop!

 

Just set font scaling to 100%. It defaults to 125% which results in blurry text.

 

I just inked up on the w230ss, mostly because of this forum. I am super excited. I will be coming from a HP envy to this. I can't wait to see how easy a repaste is. With the envy I had to entirely remove the motherboard. I personally prefer Gelid GC Extreme. Do you guys get good results with this machine with a repaste?

The only upgrades I got were 4810qm, and the dead pixel warranty. Everything else is stock.

I will post more when it arrives.

 

Most definitely trustworthy. In the warranty business it's very tough to please everyone, but compared to all the Dell stories I have heard on this forum they are much better.

 

I think I found the ultimate laptop lapdesk + cooler + mousepad. Only thing I can find that has everything I want, and it is collapsible if I don't want the mousepad functionality or if I am using it on my desk.

Amazon.com: XREXS TM Notebook Cooling Pad Laptop Adjustable stand Laptop radiator-black: Electronics


Anyone got anything better they use? The only other thing I would want is height adjustment but that's really not that critical. I mostly want something with a mouse pad that I can use on my lap.


I like this one, but it doesn't have a mousepad area and its kind of expensive, but it is better for lap duty.
Amazon.com: Cooler Master NotePal LapAir - Laptop Lap Desk with Pillow Cushion and Cooling Fan (R9-NBC-LPAR-GP): Electronics

 

Has anyone tried installing Debian on their w230ss machines? any gotchas? How about steam os?

Edit: is -> os

 

Just came

https://www.mythlogic.com/2013_Models/chaos1313a.php

 

TMI dude...

Sent with love from my Galaxy S4

 

Oh dear.... Anyway, have you put it through the paces?

 

I can't wait for mine to arrive.

 

Mine arrived a few days ago, fantastic system but experiencing a few issues..

 

If you repaste, could you take some pics about how to remove the back and heatsink. I want to repaste mine when it comes, but I haven't opened a notebook before except to put in ram.

Thanks

 

This Laptop should be easy. Check for directions for the w230st and it will be almost exactly the same. They did not change much with this model.

From what I understand, you should be able to remove the bottom panel and then directly remove the HSF and apply new paste.

There should be plenty examples if how to apply paste also in the forum.


If you want more help, I will be happy to take pictures when it arrives.

 

I would love some pictures mainly of the heatsink fan removal and applying new paste.

Thanks a lot!

 

What kind of issues are you experiencing?

 

Hi guys,

I recently received my W230SS and spent all day yesterday setting it up. I have noticed a rather frustrating issue; all games making use of the DX10/11 API I have tried thus far stutter insanely when reaching their frame rate cap. This includes the following games:

- Bioshock
- Bioshock 2
- Bioshock Infinite
- Crysis 1-3 and Warhead
- Call of Guty: Ghosts
- Gears of War (DX10 AA enabled)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Battlefield 4
- Metro: Last Light

This only occurs when the game reaches its frame limit. Rather than sitting on 60 FPS, it speradically fluctuates between 58-62 FPS (as indicated by fraps), rendering the games COMPLETELY UNPLAYABLE (performance similar to sub 10 FPS...) This seems to occur when the games are running vsync in full screen mode.

This issue does not manifest if games run below their framerate cap (Metro Last Light and Battlefield 4 running at around 30 FPS maxed with 2x SSAA / 4x MSAA respectively are perfectly playable). All Directx 9 games running no DX10/11 components also work perfectly.

A similar issue was present on the 230ST, and (as far as I am aware) most to all optimus based systems. This was however limited to certain games, such as FEAR 1 and Deus Ex Human Revolution (both games stull run terribly on the W230SS w/ 860m). Other games such as the ones listed above ran perfectly.

Edit: Having experimented further, this issue seems to only be present when the game reaches its framerate cap (via vsync) whil ein full screen mode. Bioshock 1, 2, infinite and CoD Ghosts all work perfectly with vsync enabled when played in windowed mode. All DX9 games work perfectly in full screen mode as well.

If any W230SS owners could please test a game running DX10/11 components to see if it stutters heavily while running vsync in full screen mode to confirm whether this issue is present, even speradically so that I can eliminate a hardware issue with my system, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

 

(A) Install latest beta drivers 377.50
(B) Turn off vsync, instead download nVidiaInspector: NVIDIA Inspector Download version 1.9.7.2
Use inspector to set a frame cap. This is different from vsync, since it will just limit the FPS not, target your screen sync rate or multiple of it.

I will test a few games with vsync, but I have never used it because it's always caused issues in the past despite whatever hardware I was using, except for some games that required it like Skyrim.

 

Hi HTWingNut,

Thank you for your quick reply. I will try updating the drivers later this evening.

I have attempted the following with the release drivers to no avail:

- Limited FPS to 58 and 60 (this removes stutter but causes constant screen tearing. In essence this "deactivates" vsync, whether by design or not. I have attempted to use this in conjunction with ingame vsync, forced on driver vsync and d3doverride fored vsync + triple buffering)
- Ensured power settings are on maximum performance and tested with GPU settings set to prefer maximum, prefer consistant, adaptive and driver controlled in Nvidia control panel
- Tested external monitor via HDMI set up to single display / clone display in intel drivers. Issues persist.
- Enabling / disabling triple buffering
- Enabling adaptive vsync / profile specific vsync via Nvidia inspector
- Alternating between forced global and profile specific changes in nvidia control panel.

These issues were present with the W230ST, but to a far lesser extent (games playable but stuttering heavily), and was only limited to two games I owned (although now that I recall, several DX10/11 games simply did not work with vsync at all). The issues I am now experiencing however render these games unplayable in full screen with vsync. Call me old fashioned, but I despise bordered window gaming and screen tearing.

I will continue to try to resolve this once home from work. Thank you for your help.

 

When surfing the net or typing the machine the laptop is pretty docile. Quiet and comfortable. It's only when loading up the cpu and gpu that the fan will kick in. Yesterday, i was sitting in the living room playing eldar scrolls online while my wife and son watched t.v. and the fan wasn't bothering them at all. The machine gets warm while gaming or under heavy cpu gpu loads. I use a cooler and my temps hover around 70c for both cpu and gpu. The fan runs at about 60% too which is a notch lower than without. It makes for a more comfortable gaming experience at least for me. I wanted a powerful laptop in a small highly mobile form factor. Heat and noise was the tradeoff. One thing to note is its very light and easily knocked around by kids. My son is two and knocked off my lap once already. Luckily i caught it with my feet before it hit my hardwood floors. No damage that time, but if it hits the floor i expect to be picking up lots of pieces. Also, with the orientation of the usb and power cords on the sides of the machine it is very easy for them to be damaged by say a two year old climbing into your lap wanting to watch mickey mouse on youtube.

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I use a targus dual fan chillmat. Color and size match this laptop almlst exact. Fans are not speed adjustable but are quiet. Its very light and designed for lap use. You lose a usb port if you use the fans. I think there are better coolers for temps but i like the size and weight of this one. (Very light). Temp drops are 5C average for me with the cooler.

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I havent had any issues in bf4, but i cant swear to vsync being on. I'll experiment tonight. I do know that i grabbed the latest intel driver from intels website (there is a newer o e than the one that gets installed with windows update. Then i installed the original nvidia driver from sagers driver disk and havent had any problems. Are you on win7 or 8?

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Hi Lzealot,

Thank you for the response. I am using Windows 7.

As BF4 runs sub 60 FPS constantly while ingame I have not had any problems with it, however if I drop the settings to medium preset for maximum performance in multiplayer the issue surfaces.

The easiest way to notice it in BF4 is to simply enable vsync and restart the game. The intro video becomes extremely jerky.

 

When i get home tonight ill test. I usually leave the presets in auto (medium) and never had an issue. I cant confirm v sync on off though. Usually i run on the if it ain't broke don't fix it mentality

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