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

So it splits down into two attached sections (like a butterfly?). One side with the laptop in it with top exposed and the other side with everything else stored in the bag. Is that correct? Also do you place it directly on the belt or in the storage bins? I have to travel and don’t like taking my laptop completely out of the bag. I don’t want to damage it one day because I am rushed. It looks like a great bag for the np8170's that is TSA friendly.

 

It's because you need to Fn+1, to max the fan spreed while gaming.

 

Thats not true at all Kevin, atleast not with the GTX 485M.

 

I know LaptopNut, and a few others with GTX 485Ms, reported hitting 90C without the max fans enabled.

The only game I have to Fn+1 is Crysis.

Also, I was just thumbing through the manual, and saw for the first time, that Fn+5 enables the Enhanced Sound when Realtek Manager is set to Stereo.

Holy crap, what a difference. The subwoofer kicks in and everything.

 

Did you see any pictures on the screen when enabling the Enhanced Sound? Is there any difference using headphones?

 

I have since found that temps vary a lot between games. With some games I can play for hours without hitting Fn+1 and temps would stay around 78-80C while some games like Crysis, temps would climb to around 89C+ eventually. I have been playing GTA IV + EFLC for hours and the max GPU temp is 82C!

I played Red faction Guerrilla for hours on standard fans and the temps were around 83C. Temps are also more effected by ambient s than any other previous GPU's in my experience. Temps of course all depend on how GPU intensive any given game is.

Having said that, I notice that the TheGreatAnonymous's GPU has hit 98C with the fan speed at 30%. On the GTX 485M, the full fan speed would have kicked in way before that temperature and it would have been around 90-100% speeds I think. The GTX 485M's fans would never allow it to reach 98C during gaming from my experience.

 

Wow thanks for that. It messed up my sound settings at first, but once I turned realtek to "stereo" instead of 5.1 everything sounds WAY better. Everything still comes out 5.1 anyway, I'm guessing because of the THX software.

edit: Nevermind, it's the Fn+5 that makes it go through all the speakers. Sounds soooo much better.

 

That maybe reading bug with the 6970M though , because GPU-Z reads my fan speed as 30% no matter it realistically is.

That said, mine will also hit over 90C without kicking in the maximum speeds. I'd say they go up to 70%.

I guess something is up in the BIOS, with adjusting the fans according to the 6970M's temperature..

 

WHOA O_O

Great find! Before I was like- why is the sound so weak on this laptop?

 

Yes, great find on the Fn+5! rep inbound.

 

+repped, good find Kevin

 

Hmm, I guess the Fn+5 didn't work for me. I notice no difference. Set to stereo in Realtek manager and still sounds the same. Strange thing is when I go to test the "back" speakers it kicks in for a half second then the sound runs to the "front" speakers.

 

Just to confirm, you're on this?



The difference is so significant, it'd be impossible to not notice.

 

I on that too, but I dont notice any difference. You dont have a fan for microphone?

 

Fan for microphone?

Maybe you guys should try reinstalling the Realtek driver. It's working for some of us, so we need to figure this out.

fyi, the Enhanced Sound is mentioned on pg. 18 of the manual.

 

I have to agree, the difference is like night and day but only if I hit FN+5 afterward of course. I don't even need to install breakaway audio enhancer anymore too. I found Breakaway also prevented me from changing to stereo as well. If anyone is not noticing this I would check drivers I guess.

 

@ Kevin_Jack2.0
Thanks for the tip about "fn+5".
Works great over here with latest Realtek HD drivers that i just grabbed online.

 

Here's something I just experienced. I had the HD audio on, but when I closed my lid, it went off and wouldn't restart until I rebooted Windows.

So I guess you should reboot and see if it then activates.

 

I just toyed around a bit. I got it to work after a reboot as well. Also the 7.1 speaker config worked too. I uninstalled old drivers and downloaded and installed latest from Realtek and it works in Stereo but 7.1 doesn't play back or center or subwoofer. Although just in stereo it works fine. Doesn't matter much because I use my headphones with USB audio 90% of the time anyhow.

 

Care to give a link? I tried the audio driver from Multicom, but no dice regarding Fn+5.

 

Download Realtek High Definition Audio - FileHippo.com

Download the Vista 64 version.

 

Or At Realtek:

Realtek

 

Did I miss something here. What did updating the driver do for you?

 

It didn't. Only seemed like original drivers seemed to work 7.1 properly in Realtek control panel. But after the new drivers all speakers only work properly with "stereo" selected. But I also uninstalled that other HD sound or whatever it was because it didn't seem to be doing anything.

 

Anyone else thinks it's weird that you have to press Fn+5 to enable the enhanced sound. You would think that it would be the default setup. The standard sound output is so weak in comparison that there is never a reason to use it.

 

Yep, like a butterfly, exactly.

I just put it on the belt, and it goes fine. There is still padding around the laptop when you do that, plus the ballistic fabric, so it's protected well.

I'm always paranoid about damage, too... the only concession I make to my fears is that I put the main case section at the "leading edge" going into the machine, so that if it gets to the end of the conveyor before I can snag it to re-zip it, the part with my extra junk hits the end stop, not the part with the laptop. But then, I'm really paranoid.

This bag is great! I had some real restrictions on size since I often fly a boutique airline between North Dakota and Las Vegas, and they have some of the most limiting rules on carry-ons in the industry. The Kicken fits their requirements, and gives me plenty of room to haul my P170HM-based laptop, sheet scanner, digital camera, accessories for my smart phone, discs for burning content I make as well as game and software discs, my diabetes stuff, portable hard drives, assortment of cables (USB, Ethernet, video, etc), toiletries, and a couple of days worth of clothes. Still haven't come to an "overstuffed bag" condition.

I do suggest this as a good fit for anyone looking for a shoulder bag (courier style) for a P170HM laptop. My previous laptop bag was a big roll-on, but that won't fit the new carry-on restrictions. I don't really miss it, though, as I can load the Kicken with about as much stuff as I did the roll-on.

 

Hi everyone, Noob Sager owner here. I just received mine (with 8gb ram, 6300 wifi and 470 gpu). Question is, I was going to update the geforce driver at nvidia.com but got a message suggesting I go to Sager's website instead. Any advice? Also, is it worth putting the driver disc in or can I assume they were preloaded? I got mine at RK if that means anything. The screen is awesome. No dead pixels, which is good because I didn't pay the extra $100...

 

Could it be for battery life conservation?

 

@Kevin_Jack2.0

Oh yeah, that makes sense. I believe that the subwoofer isn't used unless you hit Fn+5, and powering the woofer would require more juice. I would imagine the difference in battery life would be pretty negligible though.

 

Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

Try here; the official drivers support the new Sagers.

 

Just downloaded the latest driver (270 series) from nvidia. There was not much of a difference at all between the 265 series driver. Used Unigene as my benchmark before and after driver install.

 

Hi all,

I've been searching around to get a new laptop and I must admit that I am torn between getting this Sager NP8170 or waiting for the Asus G74 or a new Alienware 17 (with the 485m) to come out. I've noticed that many people have owned both Alienware and Asus laptops and was wondering if they had any advice for someone about to purchase their first gaming laptop.

I've read most of this post and have done research on previous Asus and Alienware models, so I'm not completely uneducated =)

Also, I read that Kevin_Jack2.0 was extremely pleased with the upgraded 90% Gamut screen. Just wanted to know the consensus on which one to upgrade to.

 

Works for X7200, too. I have this laptop since 2 months and didn´t know it can be so loud .
I should read the manual, maybe there are some other treasures to find .

 

I just got my 8170 (Thanks a million LPC Digital!) and I noticed a slight problem with it.

I purchased an SSD aftermarket (Crucial 128GB) to use as my main drive. I replaced the existing HDD with the SSD and moved the spare HDD to the slot under the optical drive. When I went to format the spare HDD it wouldn't format and spat out a "Cannot format drive" error message. I then noticed a bunch of error messages in the windows log indicating that the drive was having some issues. After some troubleshooting which included:

1. Formating the drive on another computer (worked but the drive generated regular error messages)
2. Changing from ACHI to IDE in the BIOS (should be ACHI if you're using SSD)
3. Running Check Disk
4. Moving the spare HDD back to the original spot and moving the SSD to the spot under the optical drive

#4 worked and my machine seems to be behaving now

I found this solution a little odd but I'm not complaining about it. It cost me a few hours and a reinstall but at least it's working. I hope this helps someone.

BTW, I boot to Win 7 in about 10 seconds. WIN

 

I just found out, that there's a memory leak in the latest Synaptics driver. According to Task Manager, my 'Synaptics Touchpad Enhancements' process is currently using nearly 2.7GB of RAM.

 

Do you use the touchpad much or mainly mouse? If mouse, then use this reg update to auto disable if a mouse is plugged in. At least a good temporary fix.

Just extract the zip and double click both reg entries then reboot.

Touchpad_auto_disable.zip

 

Wow fn+5 is such a money, money discovery. Thanks!

 

@ tim0chen

If more of us bothered to read the manual we would have known about it. Fact is, most of us (including myself) probably jump right in without reading anything.

 

Just finished to replace the LG screen with the AU 173 V5 screen.
What a difference !!!! Now I am really happy withthe Laptop.

 

Yep, I agree with that

 

How hard was it to replace the screen? Did you use any sort of guide?

 

Isn't it crazy that you have to replace the screen on a 2k dollar laptop? I was beyond disappointed.

 

Anyone know which parts Kobalt use for their screens in their G170?

Particularly interested in the matte screen - is it AUO or the LG, or something completely different?

 

Be sure to update drivers from the Sager site if you do a clean reinstall of Windows 7 or else you will see controller errors in the Windows logs.

 

The hardest part was to get the screen. I ordered the AU 173 from "Computer Bliss" and they sent me a LG saying that they are allowed to send compatible ones. At least they accepted it as return, but about $90 in shipping is gone down the drain. Seccond attempt was from ebay (screenintaipei), which sent it straight away (took about 1 week). I am in Australia.

Before I did anything I removed the computer from the power and removed the battery.

There is a link to how you do it in this thread here, around page 100.
Put it simple: Remove the plastic thingy around the front panel, remove screws, remove screws that hold the plastic back, separate the to plastic parts of the top panel (use your fingernails)remove the screws that hold the lcd panel. remove CAREFULLY the pin/cable from the lcd. remove the lcd, insert the new one, and rescrew everything and press the two plastic parts together.

 

It is crazy indeed. If I knew it before, I would have organized the retailer to replace it. As in Australia I can salary sarcifice the laptop and I would have probably saved 150$ in total. But It's worth it.

P.S. Now I have to reply Crysis 2, because the color are so much better then withthe LG.

 

My AMD Driver Version is 8.810.0.0 Is this the latest drivers for it?

 

Definitely. Its one of the main reasons why I am hesitant to take the plunge and buy one. That and the touch pad, keyboard and camera don't seem to be top notch either. Debating whether or not I should just wait for the G74 to come out and settle for that.

 

Keyboard and touchpad are nice. I haven't seen such a great keyboard on any machine to be honest with you. It's just the fact that they use a 15" keyboard in a 17" chassis is what bothers me the most.

The touchpad is above average from what I've used, granted I don't use them too much, but it has been no issue switching from mouse to touchpad when I do.

I guess camera is a personal choice of course. Too bad you can't update the one in the machine, but I've used it for Skype and it's clear and bright, and no issue. Not sure what people look for in a built-in webcam though, considering it's mainly used for things like Skype, and it's worked better than the webcam in my previous Sager. My mom was quite impressed with getting a better image of her grandsons first time we hooked up.

Primarily viewing angles of the screen are what bother me, otherwise it's a crisp, clear, and bright screen. I do agree though that the screen could have been better. Perhaps even the 72% matte as standard.

I don't think you'll get any better in the G74 (has it even been confirmed?), not to mention cooling and ease of upgradability.

 

I tried the latest 11.4 update too and i get the same error message as you. What's your driver version number?