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

I am interested in seeing some real world battery numbers.

Wifi on, ~70% brightness, undervolted, and just browsing the web and non-intensitve stuff. Hoping that I can get at LEAST 4-hrs out of this thing with the brightness at 70%.

 

Order when you you need the machine. There's always going to be some new tech or hardware that comes out right after you order your machine. 20nm will be nice, but I doubt there will be much of a battery life increase compared to the 28nm maxwell unless your actively running a game. I think the biggest battery increase that the SS has over the ST is just a better sleep state for the maxwell chip compared to the 765m. It could also be that the drivers and bios are more mature and they might even be similar or the same now. I'm hoping HTwingnut's review will be able to tell us He's got both versions to play with.

 

Anyone got the latest Clevo Control Center for the W230SS on Windows 7. Clevos website only lists the windows 8 drivers and Sager which has windows 7 options doesnt have this model on it yet. The windows 8 version installs but doesnt work.

Im saying this as i own a w370st with version 7 of the center and i tried the latest version from Clevos website which is version 8 and doesnt work as its windows 8 only Sagers Website provides 7.0.0.26 which is the Win 7 Version and works.
So im trying to see if there is a newer version of the windows 7 version as it will most likely be compatible.
Especially since the Hardware keys are the exact same since they changed the chipset not the chassis

 

Indeed there's always " the next...", and I actually don't really *need* it, but I'm just like any over geek: sometimes the tech appeal is very high and it's hard to resist.
My interest in Maxwell 20nm is that it *could* come in late Q2/early Q3.

HTWingNut will indeed hopefully put the two W230S* in perspective and assess the evolutions of the latter model, as the older one had quite a few niggles that made it a no-go for me (battery times, crazy fan, mandatory tweaking...).

Speaking of battery, it also seems that the battery is the very same for the two models, and thus our petition unsurprisingly went under the radar.

 

HT!!! What's the update on the battery life of w230ss compared to w230st? Is their an improvement?


Thanks

 

The 20nm update will be nice. I can't wait to see what performance increases will come from it. The integrated arm processor should be exciting too. All of that on top of reduced driver overhead and better directx efficiency should make for good times for notebooks and notebook gaming. Intel needs to think about doing the same with their chips. Focus less on performance and more on power efficiency. I'd love a i7 4810mq performance in a 20 watt package.

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Didn't own a 230st, but my 230SS gets 5-6 hours with light web browsing and word processing at 50% brightness on Arch Linux

 

Thinking about getting the Sager NP7378 (Clevo W370SS). Any thoughts? also looking into the ASUS G750JW.

 

How did you, or have you manage to get the nvidia 860m maxwell card working under linux?

Also the bettery seems that it maybe a bit better with the ss compaired to the st from this linux review http://forum.notebookreview.com/lin...-np7330-linux-guide-review-3.html#post9342963

 

Wonder when Prema will be done with his bios!

 

Yesss, new update!! no tracking number on the Xotic order page, so hopefully they will email it to me so I can sit here and click refresh on the tracking info screen every 5 mins

BTW, Anand just reviewed the new Plextor M6M mSATA drive. Does not look super appealing though.

The Crucual M550 does look pretty nice, but the Samsung 840 Evo mSATA looks to be the best mSATA drive out right now...

 

Hey guys,

About to order a XMG P304 from mySN.

And its either the i7-4700MQ with 16GB DDR3 RAM 1600MHz Crucial

...or the i7-4810MQ with 16GB DDR3 RAM 1600MHz Crucial Ballistix Sport

It's about $182 difference between the two and considering the my whole intended configuration is $2,185 or $2,367 its not THAT much.

But would it actually be beneficial at all or is it just "cool to have"?

Not going to OC or anything. "Regular" user doing some gaming but mostly work, illustrator and photoshop with a few open files in each and usually 1-2 really big ones, notepad++ with a load of docs open, 3-4 chrome windows open simultaneously with 15+ tabs each, firefox and opera with a few each, utorrent, spotify, filezilla and xampp running all the time.

 

Sounds like the 16Gb Mem is the most important thing you can do. You'll get more performance out of the 4810mq. Whether or not you want it will be up to you. You would have the option to trim the clock speeds down if you dislike the heat. At worst you could make it the same as the 4700mq and it'll run much cooler. Personally i'd rather have the head room to slow down a processor then to try and do the opposite and overvolt to oc a chip. For me it was a 35 dollar difference so it was a no brainer. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it

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Thanks!

 

The cpu will help keep the system snappy under heavier loads, even with the same thermal envelope the 4810qm can burst up much higher for short periods.

 

So just an update on the SSD temperature.

Now with my Samsung 840 Pro 512 GB the temperature during intense game is 45C. I'm glad that I returned the samsung msata SSD and switched to the normal size ssd. The temperature difference is 20 degrees. Which is great because it provides more room for gpu and cpu to cool down.

 

The ssd won't be generating the heat, it will just be absorbing heat from the surroundings so the system won't perform differently.

 

Thanks. I don't have much knowledge on computers so it's good to learn something new!

 

I'm not sure i can agree with you there. Msatas ssds run much hotter than there 2.5" counterparts. There 3.3v devices compared to the 5v of a 2.5". Power draw is virtually the same if you compare similar sized drives at say 4 watts the msata would draw 1.2a of current compared to .8 on the sata 2.5. This isn't huge but when you factor in the area of both types of drives for heat dissipation it can be a big deal. Like you said msatas have the problem of being close to high ambient heat sources especially in the w230ss and st. I cant really find any studies on this but if look at a 3.0 memory stick and do some read writes they get pretty hot (there at 5v too). While not a perfect example it is the closest i can think of that would remove high ambient temp from the picture. Its why i went w a 2.5 and kept the msatas in reserve.

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Well I got home early just so I could check out my np7338 today. I installed my 512gb samsung evo mSATA and removed the stock HDD before I even turned it on. Got Windows installed and all the drivers that came with it on here and I love it. I was afraid it would be to small compared to my 15.6" laptop...but it's perfect. I can't get the Heaven Benchmark to run on it though. It errors out and won't go into the graphical loop once you hit run. If anyone has an idea about that let me know please.

On Edit:
I forgot to mention...this thing runs WAY cooler than my HP dv6t. I did the stress test on Intel ETU and it maxed at 71c. My HP running at the same time was boucncing off 105 and throttling. But, the max cpu frequency was only 3.09mhz on the NP7338 and was 3.6mhz on my HP.

 

Any advantages to running Win' 8 over 7? If not then I'll stick with my much familiar 7.

 

Not sure of the advantages, I'm struggling to get used to as we speak. I only went with 8.1 because it has some better SSD support than Win 7 but I'm but not sure if its all that big of a deal. Today is the first day to ever even try messing with Windows 8 and I really don't like changing things I'm used to, but I'm figuring it out.

 

My Macbook Air (2012) SSD sits at 50*C at idle, and upwards of 65*C when I am in google hangouts. Pretty fricking hot but it seems to be stable.

IDK, I feel like all the mSata SSDs on the market are mediocre, but I really want a 1TB HDD to store mass amounts of data. I hate having to carry externals and I cant afford a huge SSD, so I am left with the option of 1 msata drive and 1 2.5" spinner.
Samsung usually puts out quality products, but I still don't like the idea of running components that hot. I dont really have another choice, and the 840 Evo mSATA is the only mSATA that really impresses me.

I wonder if you can heatsink the onboard controller to bring the heat down a little...

 

Yeah I really can't be bothered getting used to 8, will probably stick with 7. I know pretty much every nook and cranny in 7 and don't want to get out of my comfort zone.

 

Msat temp operating range is from 0c to 70c with a three year warranty(for samsung at least). They have active thermal protection to help throttle the drive if it gets out of the operating range. I doubt they would warranty it for three years if the drive wasn't able to handle it. Cooler is always better, but i don't think you need to worry unless your seeing major drive throttling all the time and temps above 70c

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Wow, when people have reported that these speakers suck, they where not kidding. It even makes little beeps and notification bings sound like crud. I don't even dare try music or a movie without headphones. Honestly, if I was Onkyo, I would ask them not to advertise and plaster on the case that Clevo uses their speakers. The other thing I have found, which I HAD seen in the NP7330 forum was the slight edge around the bottom rim where you palms and wrists hit. I don't notice it when it's on my lap or table, but in bed on my chest at night, it was getting quite uncomfortable on the tender undersides of my wrists. I'm thinking some emery cloth might be able to smooth out the sharpness of that edge. But anyway, that's all I have for now. I will be spending more time with it most of today and will let you know what I like and the few annoyances I find.

 

Damn, I knew the speakers were going to be trash but hearing that even system beeps sound horrible is sad to hear.

Oh wells!

 

I found out my mistake with the sound. The Sound Blaster suit was turned off. It makes a big difference. Much better now. Big mistake on Clevo's part putting the speakers underneath. On a soft surface...like my chest, it absorbs all the high frequencies and makes things sound horribly flat. Turn the laptop over, and the sound is noticeably better. The Sound Blaster suit helps make up for the speakers shortcomings, A LOT. It's really not bad at all now. I'm listening to music right now and although it does lack bass vs my old HP is otherwise sounds decent.

 

I have to laugh at the amazing difference in opinion on the speakers. For me i couldn't stand the sound blaster overlay and removed it and the upgraded the via hd drivers to the latest. To me it sounded much better.

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My 17" laptop has a sub and sounds just amazing for a laptop; until you plug in decent headphones!

I tend to just hope for good onboard audio chipset or go with USB to a DAC for anything serious in the sound department. Just me, but I want performance first with onboard laptop speakers last on my list, of course, ymmv.

 

Looking at buying this laptop and I have a couple questions. Coming from a 6 year old Lenovo U330 that has served me well, but these new 13.3" laptops look really fun

1.) What is the actual weight of the Sager np7338? First post says 4.6 lbs, just wondering if that is what you are all seeing?

2.) Does the backlit keyboard have brightness adjustments? Or is it all or nothing?

3.) Is the 860m Maxwell chip in these the 28, or 20nm version? As far as I know, Maxwell is only 20mm but someone earlier said they were going to wait for the 20nm version which made me wonder.

4.) How is the battery life and temps with HT turned off? I know back in the P4 and Nehalem generations, turning HT off would really save in power consumption as well as temps, but I know they have improved HT since then.

I'm looking at buying it from https://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?...id=20049205&ramid=80111021&batteryid=10031846 and am wondering about the extra heatsink job for $59, think it's worth it?

 

1. Actual weight of mine with a 2.5 ssd and no msatas is 4.6lbs exact.
2. Backlight is off 50% and 100%.
3. It is a 28nm maxwell chip before they move to 20nm in q3 or q4 in the year.
4. Cant help you much here. I leave ht on. Chip downclocks to max 1.7ghz on battery seems pretty snappy still on performance. I could see 4 to 4.5 hours normal web surfing usage. More if you turned off ht.

I doubt the cooling upgrade will do too much. I think it consists of thermal tape and small copper sinks they stick to the heat pipes of the stock cooler. If there was airflow over it, it might help but there isn't in this model. I looked at it and would rather not take the chance of one of the heat sinks unsticking during travel and shorting something out the next time its turned on. Ask for specifics on the temp difference prostar found on this laptop after the upgrade and make sure they give you it in writing.

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If there is anyone here who uses the on-board 3G feature and want's to help me test something (safe) for the Mod BIOS, please PM me!

THX!

 

Was playing around with 3DMark 11 this morning. It scored P5257 stock clock and P5783 with +135 on the GPU and +155 on the memory with GPU temp maxing at 57c and CPU at 72c.

I was curious..I know with my gt 650m it wouldn't OC more than the +135 ttha the OC programs showed but then when a driver upgrade came I was able to OC to whatever the card would handle, which my 650m would go up to 1120MHz. Does Nvidia unlock older cards after a while and keep new cards vbio locked until they feel like letting people play a little more or what? I tried OC with a .bat file on the 860m and it didn't change anything.

 

My Mod will have the GPU unlocked...

 

Yep, since it's stored in the system bios Prema can integrate that into his mod

 

I did some tests with 3DMark 11, Heaven and Furmark with screenshots. I posted them in the Nvidia Maxwell thread but figured I would post it here also since it was all done on an NP7338. The temps stayed remarkably cool.

Even though 3DMark 11 is showing I have a 4900mq, I actually have a 4810mq.

View attachment 110830
This was running at stock clocks.

View attachment 110829
This was running at the listed OC's

Here are before and after screenshots running Heaven with max settings at 1920x1080.

View attachment 110861
This was right before running Heaven at max setting on 1920x1080.

View attachment 110862
This was after running Heaven Benchmark.

I had a screenshot of the Heaven score but for some reason it won't let me upload it.
The score was as follows:
FPS: 18.3
Score: 461
Min FPS: 11.3
Max FPS: 37.1

Here are the OC screenshots.

View attachment 110863
Before

View attachment 110864
After

And yet again I get an upload error when trying to upload the score screen shot. I will type out the results again. If anyone wants I will take a picture of the screenshot and upload it.

The score was as follows:
FPS: 20.3
Score: 512
Min FPS: 12.1
Max FPS: 40.6

After 15min of FURMARK 1080 burn-in test. Max gpu temps 65c at stock clocks.

View attachment 110865


Tried Prime95 but my CPU will only clock to a non turbo frequency of 2.6MHz...even with ThrottleStop on. It wasn't even very exciting as the CPU wouldn't get any warmer than 73c. Running the GPU benchmarks it would hover around 3.6MHz and still never went past the mid 70's so not sure why they won't go up for Prime95.

I'm hoping cut and pasting works with the attached screenshots...if not I will edit after tracking them down and RE-uploading them on. Fingers crossed.

 

Can anyone post a video of this thing with the fan cranked up all the way? Decibel ratings don't mean anything to me unless I have audio to go with it.

 

I need some advice. I have been doing the benchmark shenanigans since I got this little laptop and now that I have finally downloaded some of my games, I'm having trouble with it. When I opened Heaven or 3DMark I had to right click and open with the "run with graphics processor option" and manually open with the Nvidia card since the default was the integrated graphics. Even when I went in to change the default and changed it to Nvidia card and then hit apply....the default ALWAYS stays on integrated. I had no issues when I picked the Nvidia manually with all the benchmark stuff, as you all saw with my screen shots. But now, even when I open the games and manually pick the dedicated graphics it still runs on integrated. I was really bummed when I opened Need for Speed-Rivals and it was hitting 6-9 FPS. When I closed out I realized the Nvidia card wasn't even running. I have tried all 4 games I have downloaded so far and have the same problem with all of them. I even went as far as making sure when I open the Steam or Origin apps I even opened those with the Nvidia card manually also. And just like the benchmark programs when I go in to change the default inside the Nvidia control panel in never sticks, it ALWAYS reverts back to the integrated being the default. Because of this, I am unable to play anything since I can only get them to run on the Intel chip. If anyone can point me in the right direction to fix this I would really appreciate the help.

 

If you go into the nvidia control panel go to the program list and look for recently run programs. Need for speed etc...then go down the list and select the nvidia dgpu and save the profile. Do that for any games giving you problems

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That's what I had done. I click 'apply' after going through the games and it acts like it saves it but if I close and reopen it, it reverts back. Since the four games I am having trouble with are under Steam or Orgin, I'm wondering if there is something funky there. I will track down Flight SIM X and X-Plane which are both on disc and see if I can get them to work. That's the only difference between the benchmark stuff, which works and the games that don't.

 

Steam shouldn't affect it. I have a bunch of games installed from steam and was able to set the profile. Worse comes to worse i would uninstall your intel vid driver and the nvidia driver then make sure you have the latest intel drivers and install that followed by the nvidia driver.

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Anyone know anything about the 1440p model? I saw Eurocom has the 1800p model, but it's the awful rgbw pentile panel.

I assume the 1440p isn't pentile? Anyone know if/where it's being sold? Also, if there are none being sold at the moment, is it possible to order the panel itself later and swap it out with the 1080p panel?

 

How good are the colors on the laptop? Does it come close to covering the sRGB spectrum? I would appreciate some information on the keyboard and touchpad before I go ahead with the purchase. I must add that I am coming from a 13" Macbook Pro Retina late 2013 model. I was considering the Lenovo Ideapad Y510p but took it out of contention after learning about the horrible touchpad issues.

 

Did the uninstall and reinstall of both drivers plus the update for the intel driver. I am able to now manually pick which video card I want to use successfully, but it still will not save the change when I switch the default from integrated to the Nvidia card. I'm doing the same exact steps I use on my other computer and I can easily change the defaults back and forth with that ones with no issues what so ever. Well, it's fine for now. If it annoys me enough later I will dig deeper.

 

Well I've had this laptop for a day and so far so good, except for the sound. It works, but sounds awful to me. I have the audio driver installed. Do any of you out there have a suggestion for a fix? Appreciate it in advance.

 

Does the sound distort and sound tiny? Is the sound reasonable via headphones. I have a lot of lossless albums and would hate to have a very poor audio system.

 

It's got a small burn in time. The speakers are bad, but they do sound better after an hour of music run through them.

 

Still no review in regards to battery and the single fan bursting in and out on idle?

 

Thanks Solar Eklipze. I will give it some time to burn in.
In regards to Desi Munda, the issue I have with the speakers is that it's really tinny sounding. It doesn't crackle or distort from what I can tell. Then again I'm not an audiophile.

Benchmade, I can give you some preliminary results tomorrow (gaming, balanced, battery).