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

That is a bizarre one but as you say at least it's known where it is and heading to you now.

 

Could someone please clarity- how can I hook this up to a monitor that runs at 2560x1440 that only has a dual-DVI port?

I have a dual-DVI to HDMI adapter. I'm about to buy this laptop but need this confirmed first. Thanks

 

I use NVIDIA Inspector. It showed the voltage control before the Prema Mod but I don't think it really did anything. After the Prema Mod it allows a -12.5mv to +362.5mv range of control and the values you set it at actually stay at that setting.

With Prema's bios you have full, unlocked and easy control of clock speed of the GPU and video memory with the NVIDA Inspector. Before the bios upgrade you can do +135 on the GPU and as high as your memory could handle. After the bios mod the GPU clock speed will go as high as your GPU will handle. I can do +280 on the GPU and +160 on memory with benchmarks but for games I usually run +200 GPU and +120 on memory.

 

You need to run through the benchmark 3-4 times before you get your best score.
Also, check your individual GPU score against others. Many others got the 4812MQ CPU upgrade (or higher) which will elevate the score by 100-150 points overall.
For comparison, mine scored 4250 GPU points on the Firestrike test (3940 overall) with CPU undervolt and GPU undervolt.

As far as external screen on HDMI. My understanding is 1080p is the maximum you can go at 60hz. 2560/3200/4K will work, but only at 30hz or 24hz.
However, Nvidia cards have the ability to output 4:2:0 subsampling which technically allows 4K@60hz over HDMI 1.4 if the TV/Monitor supports it. Problem is, I don't know how that translates to mobile since everything runs through the Intel system.

 

@LostCoast707

I noticed in your sig you use both a 13.3" and 15.6" at 1080p.

I'm really struggling between a very slim 15.6 (Acer V7 @ 2.2kgs) and this 13.3 (W230SS).

Do you find it much nicer on the 15.6? For example, I'm worried I'll be hunching closer to the screen if it's too small. Im used to desktops so I can't compare.

Any feedback on this 13.3" vs 15.6 is welcomed

 

From Mac, maybe Elementary OS?

 

I went from a 15" 1080p laptop to the W230SS @3200x1800 so I know that feeling.

The 13.3" screen is actually not THAT small. Most people think it'll be tiny like Netbooks were which is simply not the case. Find a store with a 13" macbook and that'll give you an idea as to the size of the screen and if you'll need to squint/hunch (note: I don't with mine).

As far as weight, the W230SS at 2KG with SSD is quite easy to hold. It's not as thin as some of the 14/15" laptops getting around, but it has a far better weight distribution (in my opinion). The thin/flat laptops have a terrible habit of feeling like you're holding onto the other end of a see-saw. The sucky bit with the W230SS, is the power brick which is quite large (to accommodate powering a gaming laptop at 120W). I'm in the process of hunting down a lightweight 90W adapter for mine to carry around. After underclocking and undervolting mine, it now maxes out at 80W while gaming and between 17-30W idling/browsing so I should be able to get away with a smaller brick.

 

I used Datacolor Spyder 4 Pro to calibrate my NP7338 display earlier today (display is the standard 1920x1080. I calibrated while on full power mode using the power adapter, ambient was daylight plus indoor lighting). The Spyder 4 software lets you switch between pre- and post-calibration. The pre-calibrated display had a slight green tint to it which wasn't really noticeable until compared to the more accurate calibrated display, but other than that, the default 'factory' setting on the NP7338 display was pretty good. Nice.

FYI, I grabbed the Spyder 4 Pro on sale primarily for my new desktop monitor - 27" WQHD 2560x1440, but thought some here might be interested to hear how the NP7338 performed.

 

Does anyone here know anything about the np7358? I'm finding loads of info about the np7338 but none about the 5...at the moment it's priced lower and includes several attractive free upgrades, in addition to featuring a second hdd bay. The only question is, how's the battery life...

 

The np7358 is the Clevo W350SS, different model entirely. I believe it's a minor variant on the W355SS which has a review thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...urocom-shark-3-clevo-w355ss-quick-review.html

Both of which are also appear to be a newer revision of the W350ST which has a thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-sager-np7370-clevo-w370st-owners-lounge.html

 

Thanks for that helpful response.

I feel like we both want the same thing form our laptops- I too want it to be very portable (including long battery life and a small adapter).

What's your approximate battery life through under-clocking?

I ruled out the QHD because it's glossy (plan for outdoors). Do you think the 1920x1080 version may feel like less space than the3200x1800?

 

I get about 5 hours in Windows with light use. 6-6.5 hours light use in Linux which may increase since I installed it to a spare 2.5" mechanical HDD which is less efficient.
From a more mathematical perspective, Windows lower power usage scenarios draw 22-30W whereas Linux draws 17-25W. That's with a reasonable brightness and on wifi.
I haven't tried a full load/gaming test of the battery since the CPU and GPU get throttled when on battery, but I expect it could probably pull 2.5-3 hours in such a scenario.

That's with a -70mv undervolt, Turbo Boost short power Disabled, underclocked to 2.9Ghz (down from 3.5ghz). I've experimented with further underclocking (2.5ghz) which may squeeze a bit extra out. Prema mod also allows you to disable cores and cut it back to dual-core, but my experience is that it does little to nothing to save power. In Linux it's important to use Powertop to enable the various Intel power-saving features (many of which even Windows doesn't use). One of the primary benefits of the underclock and undervolt is light usage is the temps are so low that the fans don't even activate.

As far as screen resolutions etc. The 1080p screen will essentially be the same. With 3200x1800 you are pretty much forced HiDPI (scaling) mode which basically scales everything to either 1.75:1 or 2:1 based on what you select. So you don't really get more "space" but everything is super sharp. I use 1.75:1 which equates to roughly what a 1828x1028 would look like, which is pretty damn close to 1080p, and everything is readable to me. A 2:1 scaling would effectively look like 1600x900 in my case which is not bad either.

 

I came from a 16.4" Vaio and had no problems adapting to the smaller screen. It's very nice.

 

@Stooj again- super helpful.

To honest I was hoping for a lot more battery out of it. I read in a review that we could expect 5-7 hours. Is this very unlikely?

I've searched for weeks and my final two are: W230SS with a i5 4200M or the Acer V7-582 (i7 i4210u, 850m, 6.5-8 hour bat).

I realize that there's a huge (20-50%) difference with GPU (860 vs 850) but will I see a big difference in between the i5 4200M vs i7 4210u?

 

Is the underclocking only possible with the prema mod, or can Intel XTU do the same? 5 hours is solid

Sent from my HTC One X

 

Intel Core i5-4210U 1.7GHz compare Intel Core i5-4200M 2.5GHz CPU

 

Yeah, lack of DisplayPort is a drawback. I don't own the w230ss yet, but it does have Intel HD Graphics 4600 which drives all displays via optimus. From what I've read it is possible to drive a 1440p monitor via HDMI, but you'll have to manually enable additional resolutions - see this post.

Make sure your cable is rated for these higher resolutions (I believe v1.4a or higher should work), and that your monitor can handle 1440p via dual-link DVI. I've also read that you may only get 50-55Hz refresh rate over HDMI but ymmv.

 

No it's x64 of course, win 8.1...that's funny

Whatever, after several tests I figured out that in 3DMark, the best CPU frequency is 3.4 GB, not sure why but the results are always above even higher frequencies

Sent from my MI 2S using Tapatalk

 

I love the size and feel of the 13.3" laptop. It's solid enough I don't feel like I'm gonna break it with day to day use but light enough to be very easy to throw in a backpack and take with me. It was certainly smaller that the 15.6 but it was very easy to get used to. The power brick is a decent size for a 120 watt PSU, but still pretty big to lug around. I use a 90 watt slim adapter for portability when I know I won't need it for a gaming and it works just fine with no issues. Just the other day I tried to see how it did running a game while plugged into the 90 watt adapter....it did it, but the 90 watt adapter was VERY hot after 15 minutes so I changed it out for the stock power supply. I still grab the 15 incher to watch a movie sometimes but it almost feels too big now, almost like how I felt about a 17.3 inch laptop compared to the 15.6...but that happens less and less now. When I'm at home I just hook it to the TV via HDMI if I want to watch a movie most of the time anyway....games too actually. The 13.3" 1080p screen is very nice and still very capable and comfortable even without access to a larger screen. I never really feel it's 'to small'.

I do have the much hotter and probably more power hungry CPU than it looks like you are looking at so my battery life would probably be a little less. But with undervolting and turning turbo off/underclocking the CPU I can hit an easy 5 hours with web surfing or movie watching. You could probably do a little better with extreme fine tuning but not sure what the upper limit would be. I'm pretty sure some have hit 6+ hours on here. If you really need 8 or more hours you could always just pick up a second battery. I know it's not ideal, but it could get you there. That's what I used to have to do with my HP. Prior to my SSD it would only get 4 to 4.5 hours on an over-sized 9 cell battery. Because of that I would bring the 6 cell battery and the 9 to get me the time I needed. After I removed the HDD and put in an SSD, my battery life shot up. I was able to go an easy 5.25 to 5.75 hours from the 9 cell. Just mentioning that in case you pick an HDD over a SSD when you get a new laptop. I've heard not all switches to SSD vs HDD are that dramatic, but I don't think anyone would argue that any SSD would be worse than a mechanical drive for battery life.

Good luck with what ever laptop you choose. I don't you will be disappointed if you pick a W230SS/NP7338 though.

 

I get 5-5:30 hours of battery life on average. Tested with both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.1. Staying on Win 7 till it's obsolete

That's with 1 or no keyboard backlight and about 30% brightness. I tinkered with other settings to see if I could squeeze out more but I found personally what I was getting was as good as it's going to get for normal usage.

I'm undervolted and my max CPU speed via intel xtu is set to 2.8ghz.

also I'm using Prima's modded BIOs which I personally believe gave me better battery life then stock ever did. Nothing scientific to back that up as I was only on the stock bios for a few days.

 

Don't know why now, when I close the lid, it goes into hibernation/sleep even if on Windows it's set on "do nothing", before it just switched the screen off(that is actually what I want). May it be due to hotkey app? Does someone know how to set or disable it?

Sent from my MI 2S using Tapatalk

 

I would avoid the i5 option. The idle power usage scenarios are practically identical between all of the i5 and i7 models in that series. Where it changes is in the higher clockspeeds/turbos and for that, you can always underclock/disable turbo etc. So far I also haven't found if it's possible to modify the minimum clockspeed which appears locked at 800mhz. It may also be a case of XTU/HWInfo not displaying anything lower.

To put it in perspective, the CPU package power of my i7 4712MQ on idle is 1-2W. This is nothing in comparison to the other 15W required to keep everything else in the system ticking over.
Similarly, I can set my multipliers to 20/20/20/20 which effectively caps it at 2.0ghz. If I run a stress test at this speed, the max CPU package power caps at 15W.

I'm currently in the process of narrowing down where the other 15W is disappearing to (probably PCH/southbridge/northbridge and accessories). I've already isolated roughly 4W in the screen and since I have the 3200x1800 panel it likely draws more than the regular 1080p option.
I've also found that my default RAM is using 1.5V chips and not the newer 1.35V ones which should drop RAM peak consumption from 5W->2W or so. I've yet to look at if anything can be done with the Intel graphics side of things.

7 hours is likely a bit of a stretch. You could probably hit it at dead idle, minimum brightness, aeroplane mode on, big undervolt etc. If you need more than that you really need to look at ultrabook territory and things like the Macbooks (which derive a lot of their battery capability from the OS optimizations and super low/underpowered cpu package).

 

Long time lurker, first time poster. I Just received my W230SS yesterday with the 1800p display. This thing is amazing..huge step up from my previous lap top which was a HP spectre XT 13" ultrabook that had no dedicated graphics. Dota 2 looks amazing with 100% on everything lol.

I have read the whole thread from start to finish but I just wanted to ask again:
1) What programs do you guys use to monitor the temperature of the graphics card and msata drives
2) how do I tell if the graphics card is working instead of the integrated HD4600 when I'm in a game.

Cheers

 

1) HWINFO64 is a great all-in-one program. You can run sensors-only which just brings up the temps window as well as other nifty stuff.
2) The HD4600 will chug hard and the mouse will be sluggish. You can also open up the Nvidia Control Panel (right-click desktop), go to Manage 3D settings -> Program Settings then click "Add" (DOTA2 will show at the top if its the last thing you played) and you can force it to use either NV or Intel. The auto-detect is mostly ok, but it does mess up sometimes and is quite noticeable when it does.

 

In Nvidia control panel there's an option to show if gtx860 is on or off in the tray icon, pretty useful IMHO

Sent from my MI 2S using Tapatalk

 

I am taking a big risk buying one of these without warranty? Buying it new but from another country...

 

Just wondering, all you guys getting around 5.5 hours out of the battery, are there any particular tricks you have had to apply to get that? Because I don't seem to be able to get over 5 hours with just light web usage on my W230SS and, according to BatteryBar, I don't seem to be able to drop below 13W of power draw.

Anyone have any power-saving tips?

 

Alright guys, I just took a look at XTU (first time overclocker), and everything looks like Greek to me, as with Nvidia Inspector. All I do know is that there are three power profiles I want:

1) Pure performance and speed when connected to AC only
2) Extreme power saving; expect to get >6 hours battery life when out and about
3) Ordinary use; good performance when needed, but also decent power saving when not

What do I do? What do the options mean? Perhaps I should have gone with a more noob-friendly computer, rather than one that was tweakable to one's heart's content.

 

I tweaked the touchpad settings in the Synaptics software, there is some sort of protection against unintentional contact with the pad and disabling it entirely made it bearable. It's still not a good touchpad but at least I don't feel like putting a felling axe through it anymore.

 

Thanks Although when using HWinfo64 and CPUID HWMonitor, They dont seem to detect the GTX860

Got a link? When I google it, Im just taken to a driver download page

 

it's already installed on your laptop

 

Haha it took me a while to realise that I'd be able to access it with a right-click on the desktop

 

I'd like to report that my laptop was actually shipped to my correct address, but UPS had the incorrect data and it was showing the same on XoticPC's side as well. It was delivered to the front desk of my apartment complex instead of my door like packages usually are so I was all confused. XoticPC actually called me a few hours after I got off the phone with them to clear up the mess. I was quite happy. Kudos to them.

Also, this thing is a beast. I shelled out extra cash for 2tb worth of mSSD fun. 13.3 screen is the perfect size for me although a little too small for 1920x1080. I'm going to do my own full review after I re-paste it and get all my little customizations going.

 

Your GTX 860M isn't detected because it is asleep until you start something that wakes it up. Just open nvidia control panel and then open HWinfo64.

 

I would like to retract my previous statement that 1920x1080 is too big for this screen size. Games have never been so pretty.

 

Good to hear it's gained your approval!

 

Haha, yes even if you can't pick out every extra detail, they are there and you can notice it

Enjoy

 

By my estimates, this thing can hit as much as 9 hours with all the advanced BIOS power saving options on. The test machine I had a few weeks ago was pulling like 6-7W while idling under Windows 7. I'm sure with Windows 8 the results are even better because you can also enable Runtime Power saving (which causes BSODs on WIn 7)

The real godsend with this model in terms of power saving is the more efficient LCD screen in combination with Maxwell and the shrunken PCH. All that adds up to about 3 W worth of power savings.

I'm seriously debating getting this machine for myself now, haven't been able to because Life + Desktop upgrades have really eaten in to the budget. The trusty W110er is showing its age really fast, the GDDR3 RAM is suffocating the GPU to high hell. When a laptop can no longer play DOTA2 then I retire it for the kids to play Minecraft.

 

Still no luck, even with a game open that is clearly using the GPU as shown by the Nvidia control panel task bar icon

 

You have to click the dropdown which says "GPU #0" and select "GPU #1".

 

How do you get the system that low. Mine with undervolt -80mV still shows 9,5W - 11W in the Battery Bar Program. My i7-4710mq is also set to 4x 1,5 GHz. I can reach 5 hours with minimum LCD brightness (WHDQ). Premas CPU options set to power saving in the BIOS. what else could i tweak to save battery? Hotkey APP is set to entertainment.

 

I don't fully remember since I don't have access to the machine anymore, but have you enabled all the possible ASPM settings, ACPI 3.0 plus also allow C7s for the CPU?
That machine I tested actually couldn't run the lowest ASPM settings or C7s before BSODing due to Windows 7.

Ahhh screw it, Broadwell be damned since it'll be Pin compatible anyway, I'm getting one of these bad boys before DDR3 becomes obsolete (and DDR4 being extremely slow).
Gonna pay an extra $200 for the Carbon Fibre finish Metabox Carbon

 

I was thinking of ordering one of these soon...are they available with the 3k screen yet?

 

Good god, my wallet hurts so bad, $1400 gone in the blink of an eye.
I debated whether to get the 3k screen (Metabox has them available), however, I prefer the color accuracy and stability of 1080p IPS vs raw pixel density.

 

Thanks. there was no 'GPU #1' option available until I updated the program.
There doesn't seem to be a temperature sensor on my gpu that I can find.

 

There will be a GPU temperature sensor, have you tried GPU-Z?

 

Hi Yes! they are available on eurocom.com. They call the w230ss the M4. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks! They seem to be based in Canada. Do they ship to the US? Also, could those members with a 3k screen chime in and give their opinions on it? Should I go with a 1080p screen or 3k screen?

 

Well I just placed an order this little monster of a machine from xoticpc! Here are the specs:

1x Sager NP7338 (Clevo W230SS)
- Display: 13.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" LED Anti-Glare Screen (1920x1080) (SKU - SSC007)
- Graphics Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 860M (2.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 w/ Optimus™ Technology
- Primary Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM [SATA II - 3GB/s] (SKU - HDD097)
- Processor: Sager - 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4810MQ (2.8GHz - 3.8GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache) (SKU – SPU401)
- Ram: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz [1x8GB] Dual Channel Memory (SKU - RAM02S)
- Wireless Network: Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (SKU - WIFI97)

Planning on doing a repaste and installing an ssd as the primary OS drive once I receive it!

 

Hey everyone,
I have this laptop with a 4810MQ "overclocked" (by changing multipliers, power settings and limits in Intel XTU) to 3.4GHz on 3&4 cores. However when I run the laptop on battery, the CPU doesn't go over 1.70GHz no matter what I do, I tried the following:
-max performance profile in Windows power settings as well as the manufacturer's power application
-set min processor state to 100% in power profile
-applied overclock via XTU on battery

I don't really have a need to have the CPU running at 3.4GHz on battery but I'd like to be in control of how much it downclocks on battery. Anyone knows if it's a BIOS setting or something?