**Official Sager NP6370 / Clevo W370ET Owner's Lounge**

**Official Sager NP6370 / Clevo W370ET Owner's Lounge**

Special thanks to Sager and LPC-Digital for providing this information. Sager is announcing their new 17.3" Clevo W class laptop featuring the new nVidia GTX 660m with 2GB GDDR5 video RAM: GeForce GTX 660M | GeForce

It should be available for pre-order today.

ETA LATE JULY 2012

The specs are...

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3210M Processor (2.50GHz), 3MB L3 Cache
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM Processor (2.30GHz), 6MB L3 Cache
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Processor (2.60GHz), 6MB L3 Cache
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM Processor (2.70GHz), 8MB L3 Cache

Intel® HM77 Chipset

17.3” HD+ 16:9 (1600x900) LED-Backlit Display with Super Clear Glare Type screen
17.3” Full HD 16:9 (1920x1080) LED-Backlit Display with Super Clear Glare and MATTE Type screen

Supports Dual Channel DDR3
Three 204Pin SODIMM sockets, support for DDR3 1333/1600MHz (Real operation frequency depends on FSB of processor)
Expandable up to 24GB, depends on 4GB/8GB SODIMM module (32 bit OS editions have a memory limitation of 2.8GB. Other hardware or application limitations may further prevent use of all installed memory. Windows 7 64bit is required for memory configurations of 4GB and above.)

Switchable GPU by NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology - NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 660M GPU / Intel® GMA HD GPU

NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 660M GPU

• 2GB GDDR5 Video RAM
• Support PCIe x8
• Microsoft® DirectX® 11 compatible
• NVIDIA® PhysX® Technology
• NVIDIA® CUDA™ Technology
• Support HDCP Intel® GMA HD
• Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology

supporting shared memory up to 1.7GB

• Intel® Quick Sync Video
• Stereoscopic 3D Blu-ray
• Microsoft ® DirectX® 11 compatible (based on 3rd Gen Intel® Core™ processor)
• Intel® Clear Video HD Technology / Intel® HD Graphics


One changeable 12.7mm(H) Super Multi / Blu-ray ODD, SATA interface

Two changeable 2.5” 9.5mm(H) SATA HDD, (RAID 0/1 support)

High Definition audio interface

S/PDIF digital output

Built-in Microphone

Built-in two speakers made by Onkyo

THX TruStudio Pro Sound System

Full size isolated keyboard with numeric pad

Three instant buttons for WLAN on/off, Mute, CCD Camera on/off

Independent GPU button, support UMA and Optimus mode

Integrated touchpad with Multi-gesture and Scrolling function

1 HDMI 1.4a output Port (with HDCP)

1 CRT output Port

1 USB 2.0 Port

2 USB 3.0 Ports

1 eSATA Port (USB 3.0 Combo)

1 Headphone Jack

1 Microphone Jack

1 S/PDIF output Jack

1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000Mbps)

9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)

1 MiniCard Slot for WLAN module

Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN

Integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN half mini card module or
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetooth™ V3.0 + HS combo half mini card module or
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetooth V4.0 Combo half mini card module
Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN half mini card module
Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN half mini card module

Built-in 2.0M Digital Video Camera

Full Range 120W AC Adapter AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC output 20V, 6.0A

Removable 8 cell smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 76.96Wh

Kensington® Lock

Windows® 7
Windows® 7 (64-bit) Logo

16.26” (w) x 10.93” (d) x 0.69~1.73” (h)

7.06 lbs with Battery Pack
-------------------------------------------------------

 

Here are some pics of this model...

 

OOh! Is that brushed aluminum!? If it is I wish Clevo would offer that on all their laptops. But seems they favor the 17" models with it.

 

Oh god I didn't notice this thread.

But I made another one regarding the same laptop in EU
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/677732-clevo-w370et-now-available.html

 

Hmm, 15" version too in EU?

Also, is this even an MXM card? A chip, or even soldered on?

 

I don't want to spoil the fun for you.

Read Notebookcheck's review on this machine, they wrote it yesterday(it's german, so translate it in Google Translate or something..)

 

Google says page is too large to translate... meh. Plus I don't see any images of the guts. I want guts!

 

Just looking at the benchmarks makes me excited. I've been waiting for this as it's the best Kepler graphics card you can get without getting the expensive 680. You can see the benchmarks that appear to favor Kepler over the older Fermi architecture and the 660 outperforms or comes within statistical error of the 670, which is based on the older Fermi arch.
I've got an email in to RJTech asking for details on the screen model, etc... I'm hoping to order one this week possibly. I'll be sure to post pics of the guts, benches, etc. I plan on testing out RAID on it with my two Mushkin Chronos SSDs I've got sitting around.

 

Thanks You'll be the first one to do so

Haven't found any owner to do so .. sadly

 

You mean something like these? They're just off to the side, in the column on the right.

 

Ah missed that. So it's a soldered GPU.

 

Didn't quite understand why you meant that's why I quoted Ianas too in my earlier post.. oh well

 

The review posted earlier above said there's CPU throttling when GPU is under load as well. Kind of disappointed that this has the same problem as the W170ER, though I understand the user can work around it.

 

Throttlestop FTW!

 

Problem FIXED, thanks to unclewebb

.. moving on I wonder how the BIOS is in this machine

 

Revised description to show 8-cell 76.96 WHr battery... seems there was a little issue with what battery it came with.

 

It looks like the NP6370 officially released today, at least on Xotic.

I'm strongly considering buying one in the next couple of days. It seems like the best deal you can get on a well-built 17" gaming laptop by a pretty healthy margin. I do wish I knew more about the quality of the keyboard and cooling system, though...

 

Yup officially in stock now, no more pre order. Hopefully we can get our hands on one soon and check out the essentials like keyboard and cooling.

 

Yeah, I am worried about the cooling system on this one--only one fan for both the processor and GPU. At least the fan is facing towards the back of the notebook instead of the left side like the other laptops with ivy bridge and 660m. But still worried the heat will kill the lifespan of the notebook.

Also looking forward to the Clevo W350etq (the 15 inch version of the np6370), but that notebook will probably have only one fan as well.

Btw--is there any difference in performance btwn the 1gb and 2gb versions of the 660m? I noticed the np6370 has the 2gb version.

 

Will you be doing a review on your YouTube profile? Would love one

 

We can confirm that the W350ETQ also has only one fan (we reviewed our sample this week). Here, take these pictures:

W350ETQ


W370ET


We ran some tests with Furmark 1.10.1 + Prime95 in the summer heat, here are the results:

W350ETQ
- CPU 92°C (Intel i7-3720QM)
- GPU 77°C

W370ET
- CPU 81°C (Intel i7-3610QM)
- GPU 74°C

These are the maximum values with Furmark+Prime and they are well within the limits. If you do your fan cleaning routine at least twice a year (better: 4 times a year) there's no need to worry about the life span of this machine. =)

Here are some artsy pictures of the W370ET:

http://www.mysn.de/images/prod/XMG_A722_detail01.jpg
http://www.mysn.de/images/prod/XMG_A722_detail02.jpg
http://www.mysn.de/images/prod/XMG_A722_detail03.jpg
http://www.mysn.de/images/prod/XMG_A722_detail04.jpg

Since we now are owners of this machine as well we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

A couple. Since this is a different keyboard from the last W-series models it's worth asking about the possibility to upgrade it to the clevo or steel series (MSI) backlit keyboard. Do you think it's possible?
Also, can you confirm that the W350ET has the HM76 chip set (no RAID) and not HM77. That's why I ordered the W370, even though I really wanted a 15.6 inch model, was to get the HM77 chip set (and RAID). If it turns out the W350 does have an HM77 then I would be tempted to cancel my order (which STILL hasn't shipped) and wait for the w350.
Thanks.

 

Hi Ianas, we are happy to anwer your questions.

We think the new keyboard is a step forward in terms of typing quality. Overall we think Clevo did a very good job with this chassis. Upgrading the keyboard to the Sunrex keyboard (used in P150EM and P170EM) won't be possible because the W350ETQ and W370ET do not have any connectors or controls for LED backlighting.

Where did you read the W350ETQ would have the HM76 chipset? We can confirm, that the W350ETQ includes the HM77 chipset and is therefor capable of hardware RAID.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. The hm76 was in this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/674252-clevo-w350etq-w370et.html
And in some of the links on that thread. I also saw retailers list it with the hm76, but I also saw retailers list the W370ET with the HM76 as well, so it was a bit of misinformation causing the confusion. Either way it looks like I'll get one sooner by having ordered the 17 inch model anyway. Do the two models use the same motherboard? It sure looks like they do. If they do then it opens up some interesting possibilities and means there may be some empty space in the 17 inch chassis that I could use for other purposes...

 

Thanks for the confirmation. Does the W350ETQ also have a 2gb 660m like the W370ET? Would you say that the 2gb 660m performs at the same level (in games) as the 670m?

 

The motherboard seems to be exactly the same, so there should be some additional space in the 17.3" model. But we did not tear it open yet.

Yes, it's the same package with 2GB GDDR5 soldered on the mainboard. In our estimates the performance of the 660M is just a notch below the 670M.

 

Hello there,

Anyone preparing a review for this Sager NP6370?

I'm willing to buy one, the configs:

CPU: 3rd Geração Intel® Core i7-3610QM (2.3Ghz Turbo Boost 3.3Ghz, 6MB L3 Cache)
Chipset: Intel® HM77
MEM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600Mhz
Display: 17,3" FullHD 16:9 LED Glossy Surface (1920x1080)
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
Hard Disk: 500GB 7200rpm SATA II
Midia: 8 x DVD±R/RW Combo drive
Audio: High Definition w/ 2 Speakers (By Onkyo) e THX TruStudio
Mouse: TouchPad Multi-Gesture
Ethernet / Wi-Fi: Ethernet 10/1000 Gigabit , Wifi 802.11b/g/N
Slots: 9 x 1 Card Reader Memory e Slot para SSD mSATA
Sec.: Kensington® Lock
WebCam: Digital HD 2.0M e Mic Integrados
Battery: 6-Cell battery pack Lithium-Ion 62,16 Wh
Peso: 3,1 kg / 7,06 LBs (com bateria 6-cell)
Ports: 3 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, VGA, e-Sata
Font: 120W (20V - 6.0A ) - Bi-volt 100 ~ 240V

So, the most important thing i'd like to know is if the cooling system is really capable of cooling it down. Like playing BF3 on the best configs possible, for more than 3 hours sequence. Will i have any problem?

Anyone had any experience?

Another question: Is it worth upgrading my WI-FI card to centrino 6235 ?

Thank You

 

mySN.de, can we expect a longer review of 350ETQ? Either video or text style? Or, preferably, both ?

Also, do you know when will the 350ETQ will commercially available? All my google searches on the subject are failing miserably -__-

 

I read on a notebookcheck.com review that in both these new Clevo Barebones the Clevo Bios deactivates the Intel CPU Turbo Mode completely, when there is any strain on the GPU.

Is that true for the version you have? Do you know if the Tool Throttlestop will work to allow Turbo nonetheless, since the temperatures seem to allow for it, especially on the 17" model and considering one chooses an i5 CPU which is another 10W less TDP.

 

It's true that these models are again affected from this issue. Clevo again states, that the thermal design specifications do now allow to run both Intel TurboBoost and Kepler TurbuBoost at the same time.
We have not yet tested Trottlestop on this machine, but we might do that soon.

 

So the CPU will effectively never run to its full capacity in a game? That's troubling to hear. Being expected to compromise performance to prevent overheating is the absolute last thing I want to deal with after all the heat-related throttling and crashing issues I had with my previous computer.

Maybe I should pay a little extra and go for an MSI GE70 instead...its ventilation doesn't look great, but it's explicitly stated not to throttle under a load and I can't find any actual complaints about crashes or stuttering in the ~2.5 months since it released.

 

ThrottleStop will fix the throttling

 

Hi, I'm seriously thinking of getting a W370ET. But having read this, does this render the GTX 660M card useless? As in, it can't get any better than a 630M per se?

 

Definitely not, the GTX 660M in the W370ET runs at full turbo boost clock the entire time (even under prime+furmark) and it reaches about 75° Celcius, which is an awesome value. Also the GTX 660M is worlds faster than a 630M or a 640M. According to reviews, the GTX 660M is within reach of the GTX 670M (slightly slower and the GTX 670M is not a Kepler card, but a rebranded Fermi).

However, the Intel CPU Turboboost will not activate, when in games. Effectively this means, that if you have a quadcore (or Dual core) the maximum clock (example i5 3210) will not exceed the 2.5 Ghz (although this should be able to go up to 3.1 Ghz when only 1 core is used heavily and the second isn't).

On Quadcores especially (and considering that very few games actually use 4 cores) this is quite the bummer since the 2 cores that games typically use will not be able to overclock themselves.

However, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt since

a) throttlestop can probably work around this issue (basically i am waiting for someone to confirm this before placing my own order of the W370ET, since it would really suck not to be able to use TurboBoost even though thermal budget clearly allows it for the i5 at least, but probably also for the i7)
and
b) in the vast majority of games, the GTX 660m will be the bottleneck, regardless of CPU TurboBoost not kicking in

What is confusing though is the fact that in a notebookcheck.com review, the i7 does not get that hot at all and the notebook stays much cooler than e.g. the GE70 from MSI. Considering that the i5 is another 10W less in Heat dissipation, it is not understandable why Clevo would disactivate the TurboBoost for the i5 CPUs as well (which the reviewers have tested and found out to be the case). The cooling system is designed for the 'maximum configuration' so throwing in an i5 instead of an i7 should result in lower temperatures and more headroom for TurboBoost.

 

Why should I need it, though? If the manufacturer doesn't trust its own hardware to handle its stock components at stock settings (after choosing to remove a fan and a vent compared to previous models, no less), then why should I? The fact that Sager is so quick to gimp the thing right out of the box seriously undermines my confidence in the quality of the computer's overall design.

 

I didn't question your ability to trust anything. I understand you, and I couldn't agree any more, but considering the fact that there is a fix to this, I wouldn't waste my time.

But yes, that throttling is present.. even today at stock settings @ load is a disgrace against us people who pay an insane amount for such crazy machines.

 

I wholeheartedly agree that it is a shame most Notebooks are not designed with enough headroom for the cooling system to properly handle "power-using" the machine.

However, this isn't an issue with just this one model, on the contrary. In comparison, this one runs quite cool and has 'few' throttling issues. If you look at comparable machines with either GTX 660M or GT 650M graphics cards, then most of them are even worse when it comes to heat (components and surface) with the Asus G75V (and other more high-end offerings) being the one big exception (and a lot more expensive).

Note that the Bios comes from Clevo, as well as the decision to 'throttle' the CPUs to a certain extent. Sager has no say whatsoever in this as far as I know.

Also it needs to be added, that the Clevo W370ET is the direct successor of the W370ER, and this line of Notebooks never had 2 vents and 2 fans. It was always the 'midrange' with one fan and a soldered GPU, whereas the high-end machines have 2 fans and an add-in GPU in MXM format (see the clevo P170EM, which would be the Sager NP9170). It just so happens that with the new Kepler series (and the 28nm process) it is possible to make quite a powerful graphics card with a comparably low thermal design power, naming it GTX 660M is only a matter of marketing then.

I believe that the GTX 660M dissipates about 45 Watts of heat, whereas the GTX 680M or the 7970M dissipate around 100 Watts, which is more than twice the amount - or in other words, the graphics card by itself generates more heat than CPU+GPU in the Notebook discussed here.

Do you know for a fact, that throttlestop fixes the issue (i.e. activates the turboboost even though the clevo Bios deactivates it)?

I have been trying to find out for a while, but the best anyone has told me was that they 'assume' it will be possible. But an assumption is not really enough for me to buy the notebook.

 

Hi, thanks for your great replies. The only thing that is stopping me from buying this laptop is the heat issue. Heat literally destroy everything good about a laptop, which is:
- Lowers GPU Graphics
- Lower CPU Speed
- Lowers battery life time (due to excessive fan usage)

You sound so confident that this Laptop would not run into any heating issue. What's your reasons?

 

Well, the W370ET is in my hands at last... the only concern I have is that it feels like plastic. Hard plastic, but plastic none the less. I bought it as a barebones and as I was assembling things I didn't see a single piece of metal in the chassis. At least the ACER models I've torn apart have a metal skeleton piece against the motherboard. That being said, bang for your buck, this guy ROCKS. As for throttlestop, I have an i3, (it was the cheapest processor I could get on ebay for now - I'll get an i7 later) and the i3 doesn't support turbo boost. I can use throttlestop to force it to its max multiplier on battery power with no clock modulation or anything else. So, while I cannot verify the turbo, I throttlestop does function for the supported functions on the i3. I have no reason to believe that it would not stop an i7 from throttling. Before activating throttlestop I could see the CPU multiplier going up and down, so it was throttling below even the max normal multiplier (presumably because I was on battery). I was just using throttlestop's TS BENCH to load the CPU and running Kombustor (FurMark) in the background to load the GPU. Unfortunately, Kombustor was reporting a GPU throttle, I will look in to that later.

 

Awesooooome, how's the heating?

 

Sorry, you mention i3? I thought this model comes with an i7?

 

I bought the barebones (no proc, RAM, HDD, etc...) model from RJTech and used a cheap i3 because I was on a strict budget and needed a machine now. I decided I'd rather dump my money on a nice chassis / mobo and upgrade the rest later. The barebones unit was $689 (if I recall correctly), and the i3 was $70 on ebay. RAM and SSDs I already had laying around, and my budget was only $800 dollars, shipped (because that's all I had). I decided I'd go for potential rather than settling for a mediocre machine and regretting it later. My overall cash outlay will probably be higher by the time I add 250 or so for an i7 from ebay, though I plan to sell the i3 to someone else to get some of that dough back. The 4GB of RAM will of course be replaced some time later this year probably. I can't decide if I want to replace the processor first or RAM. I was going to up the processor first, but now that I'm using the machine I feel more like I'm being bottlenecked by the 4GB of RAM.

 

The heating is not bad. Granted, the i3 I have in there isn't a crazy hot chip, but the GPU hasn't gone very high either. I have only had the chance to run Kombustor for a few minutes at a time, I'll run a more thorough stress test when I get home from work later. I'm actually impressed with the amount of air the fan puts out. It gets up to a pretty impressive "whoosh" noise when it's at max, though it's not a screamer, so it's not annoying. You could easily block it with decent headphones, I think. When I'm just browsing it's completely inaudible unless I put my ear right next to the vent.

 

The W110ER has the same "feature" where Intel Turbo Boost is turned off whenever the Nvidia GPU is activated such as when gaming. ThrottleStop 5.00 has no problem turning Turbo Boost back on for these machines so in theory it should be able to do the same for this laptop. ThrottleStop accesses the CPU directly so it doesn't matter too much what the bios would like.

 

Thanks, that is awesome to hear. I have looked at your Throttlestop guide already and basically the only thing I am interested in is a little Checkbox that says "enable turbo" and have Throttlestop start at systemup (I don't want to change anything else and I am fine with the CPU throttling when on battery etc.). Is that possible or will I need to fiddle with P-States, create profiles, manually switch them etc.?

GPU is not an issue, according to this review Test One K73-2O (Clevo W370ET) Notebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests the GPU only gets up to 75°C and the CPU maxes at 84°C (this is under Prime + Furmark, a scenario you will NEVER reach in games or any other demanding software that isn't a synthetic benchmark).

Now this is with an i7 AND it does throttle. However, in other Notebooks the i7 reaches 95° and more before throttling, so in theory there should be headroom.

However, my confidence is only valid for the i5 (which I am planning to get, as the i7 imho is oversized and won't speed up any games, since the GPU will limit in 90%+ of the cases) which is 35W TDP whereas the i7 is 45W TDP. So basically, the i5 stays cooler and since the heatsink and fan are identical, regardless of which CPU you choose, this will result in cooler temperatures.

All of this put together makes me pretty confident that with an i5 CPU, this Notebook should
a) run cool (both GPU and CPU cool enough that you won't ever have to worry)
b) have a comfortably cool surface while gaming (very important to me)
c) easily have enough headroom for me to use throttlestop with the i5 to use its turbo despite Bios disactivation by Clevo

 

So........ One.de just go their W350ETQ up and running on their website One Gaming Notebook K56-2O by: One - ONE Computer Shop enjoy 660M laptop beast, bye bye all 15" 650M's LOL

 

ThrottleStop is about that simple. A couple of mouse clicks should get your CPU running at its Intel intended speed. Send me a PM if you have any questions or problems or post your questions in the ThrottleStop Guide thread.

 

Wow, that's pretty impressive....
I normally just buy a laptop and leave it as is. I plan to get the Crucial 512 GB SSD though. Any thoughts on that?

 

How "locked" is the bios in these notebooks ?
Maybe Prema could mod it?

 

Yes, he should be able too.

And if you are in luck, the BIOS he's already made should work on this machine "out of the box"