Official Sager NP5165 / Clevo W150HR Owner's Lounge

Does anyone have a rough figure on NP5165's battery life? On XoticPC's site, it says 3~5 hours. I'd imagine that would be rated, so in reality the battery life should be substantially lower.

 

I've heard a lot of people saying 3.5-4 hours on the integrated gpu.

 

Yeah 3.5-4hrs on my 5160 running integrated graphics, lite web surfing, and screen turned down to 50%

 

How much do you think that number will go up if you shut off wifi and turn down the brightness another notch or two?

 

Does Sager offer a 9-cell battery option, or only the 6-cell?

3.5~4 hour battery life is respectable for a 15" laptop with a powerful GPU, but I'm hoping somewhere in the range of 5 hours.

 

I believe the 6-cell is the only option, otherwise I probably would have picked up the 9-cell.
Sager NP5165

 

Isn't the 1920x1080 resolution for the GT555m too much if you're going to be playing games?

I can't imagine that a laptop with 1920x1080 at high will get the same settings as a 1600x900 at high for any particular game.

If this is the case...i'll be looking for a seller who offers 1600x900 screens rather then 1920x1080 for the 5165 model.

Also...I forgot where I read this but i've read that the GT555m is weaker than that of the ones in Dell/AW Laptops...is this true? (M14x for AW has the same GPU name...but I don't know if it's any different.)

 

Yeah, it is a bit much, but ONLY for gaming. Everything else you do (watch movies, writing papers, surfing the web) will benefit immensely from the increased screen real estate and the GT 555m is plenty for that. Besides things like extra shaders and AA are more taxing on the GPU than a resolution bump these days. Of course it depends on which game you're talking about too. And you can always game lower than native, but never higher should you find a 1600x900. Last but not least, the 95% color gamut screen is only offered ...in FHD.

Someone posted a spec from an international Clevo builder that the bus width was 128, not 192 bit (which is a downgrade, not default for the SDDR3 version). I would hold off all blanket statements though until someone actually receives a SAGER model NP5165, as there have already been reported disrepancies between Clevo specs and Sager's (such as the NP3250 having a 520m instead of 540m which is on the specs of the Clevo it's based off of).

 

Okay Catan, I see that you ordered one so if you could post back when you get it and tell us after you run GPU-Z or something, i'd really appreciate it!

This is the breaking point for me going with the M14x or the NP5165 haha. I really want a clean laptop...but if performance wise the M14x is going to offer more, I tend to lean more to that.

Appreciate all the help!
Will check back in a few days (It says ETA for you is Mid-May in your Sig)

Here is a GPU-Z of the GT555M in the M14x, just so I won't have to go fishing for it like crazy later haha:



Edit: Yeah...if anyone who has a 5165 could do it, that'd be even better! Should only take like 2 minutes)

 

^^ Yeah...NP5165 is a fail in my dictionary after what I hear is true about cheap GPU up + 125+ price boost for 1080p screen upgrade.

 

But until someone gets a Sager, you're just speculating.

 

Well Catan, I just got mine in. I am writing this post from my new NP5165. I will try to answer the questions that I have seen posted from this forum but don't expect a MrMysterious-esque review

First and foremost, it is very quiet, and not as heavy or bulky as I thought it was going to be. The CD-ROM drive makes a little bit of noise but it is not a big deal.

First problem I encountered was installing the drivers from the Driver disc included with the laptop. There were 2 drivers, the AP hotkey drivers and the USB 3.0 drivers that failed to install. I noticed that MrMysterious had the same problem with his on this NP8175(?), so I can't help but wonder if this is just a problem with all new Sagers. Should not be a big deal as I am sure you can download them from the internet.

Probably the most asked about question was the graphics and monitor. Good news and bad news on that front. The good news is: There is NO blue tint as was found on previous sager models. In fact the screen is very clear and vivid and I recieved NO dead pixels, which is great.

The bad news is most people were hoping that the GPU was going to be 192bit. See below



Still, I think that this will be more than satisfactory for gaming and other purposes.

I think that answers most of the initial questions. If you have anymore, (and I'm sure there are tons) please ask and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge. Just keep in mind that I am not 100% computer saavy.

Also, I am installing Starcraft 2 tonight and will run it tommorow and I'll give you guys the specs on how it handles it.

As a reminder, please find my specs below.

Display: 15.6" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card: 2GB GDDR3 Nvidia GeForce GT 555M GPU with Optimus Technology / Embedded Intel HD Graphics
CPU Processor: 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-2520M Processor ( 3MB L3 Cache, 2.50GHz) Operating System Genuine MS Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition ( 64-Bit Preloaded )
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 2 X 4GB
Primary Hard Disk Drive 500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Disk Drive in Optical Drive Bay with Caddy case 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software

 

Much love, in a thank you sort of way.

 

JPoll215, could you run 3dmark06 and tell us the score as well? yea it's synthetic but it would give me a ballpark idea of what i'm missing out on (or not)

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

10,000 to 11,000
If you scroll down to the 3dmark 06 and click "2 benchmarks and specifications" that is a general estimate and will vary slightly depending on each individual pc. Seeing as he is running an i5 his might be slightly lower.

 

The 3Dmark score came up to be about 9000. This is lower than expected but
As the previous post mentions I am only using an i5. I also have no attempted to overclock it yet (which I will).

I also tested it in 1920x1080,which as another previous post mentions is VERY large and probably very hard for games to run. When I run it in the 1600x900 I get a score of over 10000.

 

Can you run it in 1280x1024? This will give me a good idea as to how accurate notebookcheck is.

 

That's a bit of a shame then. If they offered a 9 cell option, I'd jump on it.

Thanks for the reply.

Just one more question: How is NP5165's speaker? From the picture they might seem a bit underwhelming.

 

1260x1024 gives 10724.

Ive been tinkering with this for hours now and its 4am here! Off to bed with more to come tommorow.

EDIT: Anyone know how to overclock the processor? I may not do it but I am curious.

 

The speakers are pretty good for laptop speakers. I always have my stereo system plugged in and it sounds great. I unplugged it and it still sounded good, gets pretty loud without distortion. It doesn't have the subwoofer that the np8175 has.

 

Aww...that's a bummer. Well, I guess the verdict is in, GPU-Z don't lie.

That being said, it has read a few memory buses wrong before that needed to be patched later (usually ATI cards though). Here's to more faint hoping .

 

I'd be more curious to see the GPU-Z shot of the 555M from an M14x with the standard 1.5 GB memory configuration. What you posted is from the optional 3 GB model. Could the stock card be similar to what's in this Sager?

I'm wondering how much faster the 5165's card is versus the 540M found in the 5160.

 

Hm, might go posting around the AW's forum section to get that for you. But in all likelihood, the 1.5GB Stock Option would have the same specs as the one I previously posted.

Similarly, i'm just wondering if the performance difference will be noticeably different vs the M14x. I love clevo laptops way more so...

 

Notebookcheck got a score of 11110 with their 555m in a dell xps17 on 1280x1024, however they were using a 2630qm cpu; their 555m is a 192-bit with 3gb ram I believe. If the difference in score could be explained by the difference in cpu, how is this 'nerfed' 555m achieving similar results?

 

That's a very good question. And even then, the difference between Notebookcheck and JPoll is just a shade more than 3%. That's bordering on margin of error and could easily be explained by the CPU.

Based on the screenshots, though, the device IDs of the M14x and 5165 are different. I'd be more inclined to think the issue a software reporting error if the IDs were the same. Perhaps there really is that small a difference between the 192- and 128-bit parts. It's not as if the GT 555M is the most high-end GPU out there. I'd be willing to bet there would be a much greater difference in performance if we were talking about a GTX-class GPU.

 

I don't think you can actually overclock it but I know throttlestop will keep it from slowing down when it starts to heat up.

 

Anyone care to copy the benchmarks made in this review (scroll down to gaming performance) of a XPS 17 with 2630qm, gt 555m and 7200rpm drive?

I think it would give us a good comparison since the only thing that differs would be the gfx and possibly how the OS is set up, if that would make any significant difference.

 

Here is nvidias link showing the card having 192 with ddr3 and 128 bit with gddr5
GeForce GT 555M

 

Yes, however this is the ddr3 version and it is still showing 128bit. It has something to do with the memory size.

 

Maybe on e of the vendors can explain why. I would think if it has the correct memory, then it should be utilized. Just saying.

 

What do you mean, what is correct in this case?

 

I have installed Starcraft 2 on the NP5165. It runs very smoothly on cinematics and does the gameplay on Ultra, never falling below 40fps and usually having over 80fps.
So atleast there is that.

 

According to Nvidia, the DDR3 version is supposed to have 192bit bus yet this one only has 128.

 

What resolution are you running it in? If you could try it in FHD with ultra-settings to really push it that would be appreciated. (and any other games you might have that were tested with on the XPS 17 in the review on the previous page)

For the XPS 17 the numbers are

StarCraft 2

Resolution Settings Value
1920x1080 ultra 24 fps
1360x768 high 46.4 fps
1360x768 medium 62.6 fps
1024x768 low 234.2 fps

 

But it almost sounded like he meant they sager/clevo are getting the 192bit cards from nvidia and then replacing them mem with worse.

 

The vendor/reseller needs to report on what the real specs are for this card since its so different. Meanwhile can someone run 3D Vantage?

 

Calling a vendor to help explain why this is only 128 rather then 192 for the GT555m!

 

I am running in 1920x1080 resolution on Ultra settings for video graphics and the highest possible sound quality. It runs very very smoothly. I must say, considerng I only have the i5 processor and the 128bit video card, this is impressive.

Starcraft 2 is the only game in my repertoire right now that is any kind of worthy for a review (hence why I got a new laptop )

 

Awesome, should be atleast 20+ fps if it's running without a hitch I'm guessing. Do you possibly have fraps so that you could get some more info on the min/max/avg fps you're getting?

There's a version here otherwhise Download Fraps 3.4.2 free version

Edit: I checked out notebookcheck again and they have two tests with starcraft @ FHD @ ultra with the 555m (seems to be W150HRM, aka NP5165?), getting 22.3 fps coupled with a Core i5 2410M and the other is the XPS 17 with a 2630QM instead getting 24 fps, a diff which might as well be attributed to the CPU- difference.

semiedit: After looking a bit more I noticed that many more of the tests had 555m 2gb vs the 555m 3gb (practically the same as the 1,5gb) and the diff seems to be 10-15% depending on the settings used, but then again I don't know how much of this difference can be attributed to the weaker CPU. Maybe someone else here know which games are cpu-intensive and which aren't.

 

I don't think the extra 1GB of VRAM makes any difference, if any at all, but the 128-bit bus certainly will. As will the CPU. I believe Starcraft 2 is one of those CPU intensive games, which my 2720QM will handle well

 

Yeah, was thinking the same thing about the ram, and it's been discussed to death (well) at the m14x-forum.

Would be interesting to see some tests with a 2630qm (or the 2720qm, not much diff between those two) in the sager to compare to the xps 17-review. I'm guessing the diff wont be much over 10% in most cases which honestly is much less than I guessed it would be.

 

Most of the naysayers in this thread often forget the fact that this is the highest configuration with Optimus

In my book, that goes a long way...

Mr. Mysterious

 

I don't forget a thing.

Sucky thing is that while for example 460m is optimus-capable, no one enables it. Imagine the possibilities!

 

Lol if that was the case, I wouldn't even have had to pause to think about the 8130. Instant-buy

Mr. Mysterious

 

Yeah...I wanted a Sager since January so no regrets about my purchase. If they quietly bumped up the bus width to 192 a month later, I wouldn't be surprised, nor peeved.

 

It is still a great machine Catan. . I have one with lower-end customizations and it still runs extremely well. I think you will be very pleased

 

Lol, JPoll, did you take a jab at me earlier with a "Mysterious-esque' reference?

I don't think my review was that bad lol...

Plus, I don't think the difference between 192 vs 128 is that much...probably at most a 10% difference, nothing that can't be solved with a mild overclock...

Mr. Mysterious

 

Oh yeah, totally. This is replacing my dv5t with its palm-burning 9600m gt.

And I run things by the SC2 metric (don't play games that much) so as long as it can run high on 1080p or ultra 768p, that's fine.

 

Can any1 with this system please post a picture of the inner workings of this system.

I am specifically interested in the location of the mPCIe slots and how the cooling looks.

thx in advance

 

Absolutely not. Your review was awesome. I certainly don't have the patience to take pictures of my brand new laptop before I even get a chance to use it.