**Official Sager NP5160 / Clevo W150HNQ Owners' Lounge**

You are better off doing VMware or VirtualBox since Linux becomes a headache for driver support.

 

thanks 3ply

having read this thread in its entirety last night, the only driver i really have concern about is for the nvidia optimus, which seems to not be switchable under linux at this time.

 

There are folks working on trying to simulate Optimus technology on Linux by writing a custom module to use ACPI to disable the discrete graphics module
Linux Hybrid Graphics.

 

thanks again 3!

may i call you 3? i've seen that site and it looks like they have a work around for the nouveau card but not the optimus. bummer. for the people on here running linux, hows the lack of switching affecting your battery life?

 

I am dual booting with Ubuntu 11.04 Beta (the only one that I could get to work) and so far I have to warn you that the Linux experience haven't being smooth. It must improve sooner or later, though.

It seems Linux kernels still aren't fully compatible with Sandy Bridge somehow. Also, the nVidia dGPU doesn't work at all so it is another workaround to have the GUI working someway stable (using Intel iGPU and not that stable here).

I have created this topic here that might interest you: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lin...n-linux-ubuntu-optimus-notebook-new-post.html
It helped me a lot

But right now I am considering using Ubuntu on a virtual machine under Windows. Perhaps it could have better hardware support, through the VMs virtual devices and Windows, than depending on Linux drivers. But I''ll give some more tries before switching, of course.

Good luck and let us know on your experience!

 

I've been using mine for a couple of days now and love it. No heating problems. It gets a bit warm on the bottom when playing games but it's nothing too bad. I'll pick up a cooling pad eventually and have no problems at all.

 

What are the chanced the 5165 would have the heating issues fixed? I'm hearing nothing about this, and considering you're sticking a more powerful GPU in there I highly doubt the heating issues will be fixed at all. It seems like the 5165 will even have worse issues.

 

thanks ursoouindio. i pulled the trigger and got it with windows and i'll wait for the linux community to get the drivers. i ran the beta of 11.04 and really hated unity, and if it is as you say that 10.10 won't run on sandy bridge, then well, its windows again. yuck.

 

Nice, it is a good machine, I'm loving mine. It fits my needs just right.

You can still run 11.04 on "classic" mode, which means the old good gnome 2.x panels and no Unity.
I see that things are moving and maybe we'll have decent drivers real soon. Until then we need to deal with some workaround and maybe instabilities or going for a virtual machine.

 

I received my Sager NP5160 w/ i7 2630QM and 1080P screen about 2 weeks ago. This is my first Sager laptop and overall I am very pleased with it. The 1080P screen is awesome, but I wish I would have spent the extra money and got the matte version. The glare on this thing is definitely worse than most other laptops I've used. My main concern is with the longevity of this laptop because of the high temperatures it reaches. It idles around 45*C but with light use such as (youtube, ms word, etc.) it seems to average about 60C. But when the GT540M kicks in it gets REALLY hot. TF2 and Bad Comany 2 run a constant 95-100C and even watching a DVD with the videocard on it ran a constant 80-85*C. Should I be concerned with these temperatures? I thought the MAX temp you should allow i7s was 100C and thats dangerous? Maybe thats just the desktop ones? I even tried propping the back of the laptop up to give the fan more cool air but it didn't seem to help much. The hot air coming off of the heat sink on the left side is so hot that after about an hour of playing games it completely softened the hard plastic on my keyboard and mouse USB connections.

Also, I'm wondering if its scaling backing the processor because of temps. This computer seems a lot slower compared to my desktop (i7 920 no o/c w/ 6gigs & 8800GT). I was expecting this laptop to be similar in performance if not faster since its newer but my desktop will run laps around this thing.

edit - After limiting the processor at 99% my tempertures drastically dropped. When stressing the computer for 1+ hours it never breaks 88*C, which IMO is a lot safer than 100*C. No more softened plastic at these temps. Its amazing how much of a difference 10* makes!

 

Melted plastic? This seems very concerning to a future 5160 owner. Hopefully, it is an exaggeration.

 

try asus-switcheroo to get nvidia/nouveau working

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo/blob/master/README
https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/

 

LL unless i'm missing something, thats not going to work with the optimus card.

These drivers will not work if the system has only the "optimus"
_DSM. Sorry, I don't have a laptop with that to hack on.

thanks

 

@ursoouindio i was having other issues besides the dislike of unity. i was having to reboot several times a day which got really annoying after a while. i'm waiting for the 28th when the lts comes out

 

I wouldn't say melted at all, they softened where you could put a finger nail into them but they still held their shape. That's still pretty hot though, I've never had USB connectors go soft before.

Overall though I think I would recommend this laptop, I really like mine. It only reaches 90+ when gaming, which I don't do often.

 

Really liking the new heat softening feature on the 5160, guys.

Seriously, nobody should be buying this machine.

 

I've been confirmed an order on the 555m version of this laptop. Yesterday I was told stock should be arriving "within the next 7-10 days." If I'm going to have heating problems with this laptop, I want them epic.

 

^ lolwut. Give us the name of the reseller please.

 

got mine a few days ago and the heating issue is very manageable. for most uses you can just you know, cap the cpu at 99%. very satisfied with the blazing speed and all around features.

 

Kobalt Computers (UK)

 

I had temperatures up to 98 C while gaming and I managed to get them slower (around 90 C) by turning Turbo Boost off: on the power planning, leave the maximum performance to something else then 100%. I use 99% and the processor goes until 2.2 GHz (its nominal frequency).

For most gaming it is plenty enough, the bottleneck usually is the GPU anyway...

 

Awesome

 

Clock is ticking for those that want GT 555m AND 95% matte...those screens are running out.

 

Can you even get the 555m with the 95% matte in a 5160?

 

I don't mean to gloat, but...

 

Is there really heating issues with this laptop?

That's not sounding too good, especially if this laptop was #1 in my search for a new laptop.

 

I'm thinking about buying either this one or the 8130/8150.
But just because of the better cooling, I have no need for the best graphical performance

:edit: Does anyone have this laptop with a dual core processor?
I've read it would improve battery life and lessen the heat production significantly.

The option I'm considering is an i5-2540M.

In this review of the XPS 15 and in this report Notebookcheck states that a dual core is more than enough for the Nvidia GT 540m graphics card.

So in short, is it safe to assume that the noise and heat production, which are a major problem in the review of the Schenker XMG A501 (Sager NP5160), are fixed by using a dual core processor instead of a quad core, even without ruining any kind of gaming performance?

If so, wouldn't the laptop be a lot better to do so? Though less future proof hardware wise, it would certainly not cause any kind of overheating in the next 2-3 years.

 

Dual core wouldn't improve battery life significantly; the processor will turn off cores which aren't being used, in which case they will not use power. When all four cores are in use, they will be used for a shorter amount of time to perform the task, or run at a lowe clock speed, so battery life wouldn't be impacted that much.

As for heat, again when the extra 2 cores are not in use they will not produce heat, but of course when all four cores are in use, more heat will be produced, but how much I cannot say.

 

It seems heat is only a issue when your playing games or anything very demanding for a long period of time. Under normal use the computer doesnt get over 60C.

 

I see... Quad core it is

:edit:
Let's presume i'm doubting between the XPS 15 FHD and the NP5160 FHD.
Which one would be my best bet right now?
Apparently the XPS offers better speakers and cooler temperatures/less noise, but with the same warranty and specs, it's about 500 dollars more...

 

what heat issues with the 5160? i am pleasantly surprised at the lack of heat. with turbo boost on, my quad reached 80's. so i turned maximum processor to 99%. when playing games the 540m and 2630m barely in the 70's full blast. and even then my quad 2630m usually doesn't go past 65*c with the games i play. i haven't even changed the stock tim yet.

 

The dual core processors do consume less power. Then like 10 watts lower. But this probably won't impact your battery a huge deal

I get mine on Tuesday. I've only heard of heating issues when gaming or doing heavy CPU task. Turning the turbo boost supposedly helps. When gaming I expect the bottle neck to be the GPU as someone stated early. No need for all that CPU power in my eyes.

 

Just ordered mine today!

Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

What do you guys think of the quality of a basic sound card on this thing? I find it a little low of volume and the quality seems to be poor to what a lot of other manufacturers are doing

 

The sound card seems ok to me. The problem is the speakers, but you can (should, in any notebook actually) plug some nice external speakers or some nice headphones.
I've never seen a notebook that could really sound good alone. And it makes sense if you compare the size of notebook speakers to any decent external ones.
But if you compare to the average on notebook speakers, this one really is below it. Not a big deal for me, and I am quite an audiophile.

 

You should listen to my HDX16t, the MSI GX660R or some of the newer Beats Envy laptops.

btw: I'm talking about sound quality, not necessarily loudness. Sometimes I accidentally mix the two, lol.

Mr. Mysterious

 

So you're disappointed with the sound quality of your 8130?

 

No, I never said that. It's loud and good and I'm very satisfied with it

In either case it's hooked up to a good 2.1 system pretty much 24/7.

Mr. Mysterious

 

I'm worried about the soundcard more then anything else at the moment myself. I couldn't care less about the speakers myself and I thought the beats audio speakers in the dv7 were horrible. What I did like about the beats audio was the soundcard, it drove headphones really well, crisp and plenty of power, with that I really wasn't missing my asus Essence Stx all too much. I'll be happy as long as they aren't noisy, has 24bit playback, and can drive my sr225's alright.

 

Anyone have any decent options for laptop coolers for the 5160?

Thoughts on:
1.Coolmaster U3
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Notebook Cooler Model NotePal U3 R9-NBC-8PCK-GP

2. Zalman 2000
Newegg.com - ZALMAN Notebook Cooler Model ZM-NC2000 Black

 

Yeah, that's the point, you will never have a great sound experience from a notebook...
The best sounding ones probably will be good, but you always can have much better sound by plugging it to an external sound system, which isn't a big deal at all.

I do have a nice 2.1 system connected to it on my desk.
When I want to take it to bed, to watch some movie or something, I use a base with external speakers. When I'm traveling I use headphones.

Every notebook speaker is restricted to fit the notebook space and the pair will be separate by 1 ft the most. Good bass sound needs space to reverberate, and speakers have to be properly separated for a nice stereo experience.

 

get the zalman. the cooler mASTER sucks. i have the u2. i have it set up right underneath my intake and my trusty antec notebook cooler s does a much better job. i read reviews about the fans grinding right outta the box. mine doesn't do it often, but every once in awhile i hear a growl from the fans so i use it on the floor when i want to lay down. the antec is my desk cooler where i use my laptop most often.

 

thanks for the advice pukemon

 

Hi,

I got mine working (w/ HD5870 3DMark06 = 18024)

w/ half mini PCIe and full mPCIe L502x. I thought NP5160 is similar w/ full and half mPCIe. This way we can also eliminate heating issues w/ the internal GPU and have the best desktop GPUs available now (gtx580 590+ / HD6990 and future GPUs.)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/568268-vidock-w-sandy-bridge-l1502x-l1702x.html

Re: DIY ViDock Experiences

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Is it safe to go with the stock thermal compound if I'm just getting the base 5160 config (i5, 4gig ram..etc)? ... Whenever I'll be doing some intensive work I'll very likely have a notebook cooler anyway, on the road or at uni I'll only be doing basic MS Office work.

Actually on that note, would you guys say the Sager build quality is good enough to last ~4 years taking it with me every day to school? ... I have an Acer whose screen hinge broke off after about one year of light use

 

I would advise against using stock thermals... These babies can get quite hot when you have the GPU and the CPU's Turbo Boost working together.

And I would say Sager has better build quality than Acer. The chassis of this one is pretty solid, but the screen lid isn't that much so you better take some care carrying it around.

 

Woohoo! Just got mine in today. Will post pics and review later

 

Nice, pal!
Looking forward to your impressions.

 

Can you post the dates for each stage please? I'm trying to gauge how much time I have left to wait haha.

 

umm i'll just say it took about 5 weeks after ordering from xoticpc. I got a Matte screen and custom skin so those two things alone probably added close to 2 business weeks.