*** Official Sager NP8170/Clevo P170HM Owners Lounge ***

I will try to find out more info on any other changes with Sager's "split" besides the obvious heatsink.

As for the screen, although the viewing angles may not be the best I wouldn't say the screen is sub-par.

 

I think you have your stats wrong on the 90% or better. Depends on what you are doing. I am getting the 2820 because of the 8mb level 3 cache. It is huge when number crunching, for example rendering. We won't actually know the stats until somebody puts up the numbers of the ATI card and the 485m so we can then see the numbers. And yes, it is fun bantering back and forth.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

AMD Radeon HD 6970M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

To answer why I got the 6970M is basically i wanted to get the best bang for my buck. That enabled me to go with the upgraded screen.

I will be using it for gaming, and the game benchmarks show a similar performance between the two cards (at times 6970M is even better on some games, ex. SC2).

It all comes down to the user. Some people want the most they can get from a mobile GPU despite the cost because that's what works the best for them.
Since I don't belong in that category I simply chose to save my money for almost the same performance for what i need it for.

 

I hope that everyone enjoys their Sager. I have returned mine, I initially thought the screen was ok but over time it just frustrated me. For 2k I would expect a screen that would not require the upgrade. Since this is the best of the best for gaming laptops I am not sure what I am going to do. I appreciate all of the help and tips from everyone here. Sucked to have to pay 60 bucks to send it back but I just wasn't happy with the laptop at all. It just got worse the more I used it.

 

Well, if you returned it for the screen you have other options for a screen. Yes it's more expensive, but you can say the same for hard drive, memory, optical drive, etc. that many users swap out themselves too. Even with the extra money for the upgraded screen it's still quite less expensive than the M17x which is really the only competition. I agree the screen should be better for the level of machine they offer, but since they do offer alternatives you have choice, which has always been my issue in the past, where you're stuck having ONLY one screen.

 

RAM questions of the day. (I7-2720 and up)

What is the MAX amount of DDR3 1600 RAM the p170hm can support? I think it’s 8G is that correct?

What is the optimal RAM configuration for the p170hm?

What would be better for gaming 16G 1333 or 8G 1600?

Thanks for the information.

 

#1. Right now, it's 2x4GB @ 1600MHz
#2. Optimal depends on what you need to do with it.
#3. Neither RAM config will do anything, for gaming, unless you run multiple games at once. And 1600MHz RAM for gaming is a gimmick. Just go 8GB of 1333MHz, which you can have for $80.

 

Or if you want, just get 16GB for $160. That's what I did. Actually I had 8GB and bought another 8GB. IMHO More memory is better than faster memory.

 

Mine is coming with the default 2x2 under the keyboard, so I'll eventually buy a 4GB stick or two, to go under the back panel.

 

I'm looking for an informal poll from the forum members...

Is it worth waiting to purchase a P170HM in 2H11 when the 580m is (possibly) released (as DGDXGDG's post predicts), or succumb to the upgrade urge now?

I was hot for a P170HM until I found out the IGP wasnt wired to the video output and the Sandy Bridge bug, but now that 'fixed' Sandy Bridge supplies are starting to catch up, I'm getting anxious again. I've already waited 4 months so what's 2-3 more months to have a shiny 580m (and perhaps Clevo will rethink that IGP decision)???

Thoughts? Recommendations?

 

The old wait for new tech or upgrade now....I decided to upgrade now. Depends what you are upgrading from. I am moving from a NP2096 to NP8170, expecting large performance increase.


As to the graphics card selection debate, I went with the 6970m. Why, $250 difference, similar performance, the 3D is a don't use/care and PhysX is cool but I would turn it off anyway for more FPS (assuming the game I was playing even has PhysX support).

 

If you need the laptop now, then get it, otherwise, wait. There's always something 2-3 months away. I mean 6970m took until beginning of April to arrive when 485m was back in January. 580m could be August or September, followed by AMD's followup GPU, then Ivy Bridge will only be a couple months away, etc ad nauseum. I usually upgrade either when my laptop isn't sufficient for what I want/need it to do, or if it breaks. My last laptop was a combination of both.

 

^^^^^Oh, how true...
_

 

The problem is that no one ever needs a laptop with a 485M. They want it. And because they want that, they're always going to want something better

 

Well said! You've convinced me that I'm perfectly fine with the 460M I've been having doubts lately.

Mr. Mysterious

 

We asked for further details on this and received the below response from Sager: (Regarding the split)

 

ಠ_ಠ

10char

 

It's MXM3b though. The slot is the slot, right?

I guess we'll see. Once I get my machine, we can compare pictures of the internals.

 

Yes, good idea. I guess I can always disassemble for the sake of the better of the group!

I'm curious what the differences would be. Just odd. Wonder what this means for upgrade options down the road for nVidia or AMD owners?

 

Let me get this right though...the actual laptop GPU cards from NVIDIA and AMD are physically different, yes? I remember seeing it somewhere that when someone wanted to switch over, they had to do some additional modification to their port in order to get the "other company's" card to fit.

So if that were the case then it would make sense to make two different versions of the 8170, right?

Mr. Mysterious

 

As Kevin pointed out, they use a common slot standard, MXM3b. The only difference is going to be the heatsink, but we know for sure the P170 and P150 can handle a slightly different heatsink with zero issues. Of course, they will have to have separate bios and vbios, but this is all software related, hot hardware. That's why everyone is scratching their heads as to why Sager claims the model shave to be separate.

 

I am unhappy with the default screen yes, but i won't return it. Why pay shipping just to return the laptop and get your money back? Just save up a little more money, upgrade the screen, and be happy? Xotic PC told me i could even pay them to upgrade the screen for me if i don't feel like messing with it myself, sure it'll cost shipping there and back plus a $50 service fee and cost of the screen, but i might rather do that then potentially messing up my laptop doing it myself.

Why return it though? The laptop can only get better as you upgrade it.

 

I just felt cheated and refuse to settle for the default screen. I will just use my wife's laptop when I need a laptop and I will just get a desktop to game on for now. Some things have changed and I dont need to be as mobile as I had originally planned.

 

WOW! you gave up so easily!!!

 

My NP8170 finally arrived yesterday and I am really impressed. The sheer speed of the system is mind blowing, the screen is really good but I did go for a higher colour one, the fan noise is barely audible and the battery time is welcome. I watched a 1 hour episode of Dexter last night on low screen brightness and I still had 70% battery left afterward.

I swapped my original 750GB WDD 7200 RPM for my old Momentus XT 500Gb to see if there would be any noticeable improvements and there was a huge speed boost so I am staying with that. Due to everything being so much faster, I have gotten further with my game installs in one day than I had in 3 days with my last laptop (G860).

The sound is much better than other laptops I have used but I still decided to install Breakaway Audio Enhancer and the build quality is top quality. Cooling is also great with my CPU and GPU at 38C and this is during lots of game and software installations.

All specs are in my sig by the way.

Edit: I have noticed that due to the improved performance and the higher quality screen and sound, many games feel as if they are completely new. I have found myself starting from the beginning in quite a few games because the experience is so much better. I noticed another person saying something similar too.

 

Officially a member of the Clevo P170HM club now.

Since im setting up the system from scratch with my Windows Professional license, i would be very happy if someone could either post or PM me what kind of drivers the system uses.

Thanks in advance,
DEagleson

 

They are all here

 

Thank you.
Not the speediest download speeds, but il guess il manage.

 

Congrats! Wich reseller did you used to buy it? And what was the final price including VAT? And of course since I'm from Norway like you, how long does it took to get this lappy?

 

Not really, I only had 30 days to decide if I wanted to keep it. On day 6 I knew I didnt want it. I tried to calibrate the screen and it was terrible. I paid a lot of money for a subpar screen.

 

Display 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (Will add 4-7 business days to build time
Dead Pixel Warranty Standard Dead Pixel Policy
Processor -2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM, 2.3-3.4GHz, (32nm, 8MB L3 cache)
Thermal Compound - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
Graphics Video Card nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
External Display Video Adapters No Video Adapter
Ram ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
Exterior Finish Standard Finish
Optical Drive ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Software
Primary Hard Drive ~ 120GB Intel 510 Series Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA III)


just ordered my 8170! Incredibly excited!

Im still bothered by the GPU choice. It's killing me that I spent 250 extra for the 485 but I didnt want to chance any potential incompatabilities with the 6970.

My primary game, at the moment, is WoW and it seems there are always issues(driver?) with Ati/Amd cards.

Can anybody with the 6970 chime in on their WoW experience with that card? I'd also take comments on performance with the 485.

thanks

 

Welcome to the club.

AMD has fixed their issues, with the 11.x driver series. They are now on par with Nvidia in the mobile driver department.

I won't have mine any time soon.

I was quoted 3 to 5 business days for the eCheck to clear, 6 to 12 for machine building, 4 to 7 for screen installation, then however long to ship it to me.

Worst case scenario is over a month. Yikes.

 

I almost picked up the new ENVY 17. Beautiful screen. But you had better consider oneself on their own because service from HP is nonexistent. Also the dell is nice along with the MSI GT66R. I was torn between A LOT of lappys

 

I have to respectfully disagree. I have owned 2 laptops from HP and both had good CS, provided you didn't call them and instead visited their website and chatted with a rep.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Can someone with the default screen tell me the monitors EXACT Hardware ID?

Device Manager -> double-click Monitors -> right-click -> Properties -> Details tab -> select Hardware ID

 

why is 6970m more exp in the config for sager than in AW? and any idead about gtx 560m? is it just oced 460m or a rebrdanded 470m?

 

I think it's an OC'ed 460M, but only provides a 5-10% increase over it. You can just OC the 460M and get similar results.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Because Dell/AW is charging more for the GTX 460M, thus it looks like the 6970M is cheaper, but in reality it isn't. In cost, the GTX 460M is equal to the 6870M, but Dell charges $75 for the upgrade. So you're paying +$250 either way.

Plus, Dell charges you for 1080p, which is ridiculous.

M17x + 6970M + 1080p = $1899

P170HM + 6970M + OS = $1724

The GTX 560M = GF116; the more refined, efficient core. I'll bet it overclocks to a level the GTX 460M can't reach, on top of the 10% factory increase.

 

oops it's a dp

 

Bah! Still not worth it, IMO

Mr. Mysterious

 

I definitely wouldn't wait for it. It'll be a decent budget option, when it replaces the 460M as the base GPU.

Not enough power for me.

 

I worked for HP in the old days for 13 years. That was the time when we exchanged a product no matter what. My wife had a HP DV9000 with nVidia chip and Intel processor. There is a known defect in the design of the cooling and the nVidia chip. nVidia paid HP millions to get the laptops fixed. However, HP chose to ONLY fix the AMD chipped laptops and pocked the left over cash. If it was an Intel chip, it was not fixed on the "new extended" warranty. Had many go rounds with HP to no luck. All these laptops are going poof! around the 2 year mark. It is a well know fact that every 1 in 3 laptops from HP will break. At the opposite end is the ASUS which is the most reliable. I have a G73JH so we'll see how long that lasts. The longest lasting laptop I have owned is the Toshiba P25-S609. It is built like a 1956 Buick, made of iron, heavy too. It is still running at 6 years!. Just look up HP laptop service and/or customer care. They are really hitting bottom. Sorry about the high horse I got on but I have had other HP products (Compaq) that were well made and lasted a long time.

This is scary:
Laptop Reliability Ratings: Which Laptop is Really Most Reliable?

Here all the info on what HP did. I think it is a dead issue now, so I sold it for parts

HP Lies: The nVidia Defect

Here is another interesting article. I never hear about Sager laptop reliability though. Only through forums like this do I hear that overall generally, Sager are pretty good. all you folks learned me that it would be a pretty safe bet to get a Sager. I have never met anyone personally that owned a Sager. A pretty exclusive club eh?. I'll know in about 3 days as the laptop is with UPS right now on a truck somewhere in middle America.

The Best Laptop Brands: A Comprehensive Review

I also had a cheap Compaq that was about $250 at staples once. it was a great, very portable laptop for travel. It went through the xray machine at the airport and never recovered again. poor thing. HP informed me that for about $100, they would fix it and I would have to pay shipping. I then considered it disposable...

 

Damn! I was hoping for a review of Sager's rep and reliability.

Mr. Mysterious

 

I've just been reading alot of stuff. I am very happy that I finally ordered a Sager from Xotic. A lot of websites said that my G73JH was "cheaper" than a comparable Sager. and I think the G73 is very well built. The only down side is the ATI card in it.

 

I just used msi afterburner to monitor the temps of my gtx 485m while i played Crysis on mostly very high...the max temp went up to 75 degrees after 15 minutes of playing. Would this be considering an optimal temp under heavy load?

Just wanna make sure my laptop is cooling properly.

 

That's very optimal. Below 80C is amazing for such a GPU.

How is the webcam?

[] Terrible at best
[] Disgracefully low quality
[] What a piece of junk

 

o.o? Why is there no option for "good"?

And would it seriously bother you to buy a $30 webcam?

Mr. Mysterious

 

I've dealt with Clevo's webcam quality a few times. The option for "good" has yet to make my personal chart.

And, no, I don't think I should have to buy an external cam, when I deserve to have the one that comes installed to be of at least average quality.

I'm not even asking for HD video quality.

 

It's not very good, it's 2 mp, the contrast levels auto adjust wildly at times, and the framerate seems pretty low on skype. It's just passable i'd say.

 

Paypal says my eCheck clears tomorrow. Now I just wait for the build, and screen replacement.

Well, passable is much better than what Clevo have given me in the past. Thanks.

Would you please check this for me: