*** Official X8100 (Sager 8120) Owners Thread ***

Some users seem fine, others have issues. It's a cutting edge laptop so unfortunately these sorts of issues on some batches are kinda expected, you just need to keep at it til you get a 'good un'.
Esparoba for example seems perfectly happy with his machine, some others here have got issues; but then its usually people with issues who report as such.

 

Hmm, wanted to discuss with someone about the updated drivers on Sager's site.

Anyone available?

 

Sorry mate, missed your earlier post:

.

Generally I'd say that's a good stance to take. I'd consider updating the GPU drivers to Nvidia's latest, but really the rest of the drivers are probably good to go. If you go to Intel's site and use the autoupdate utility, it should recommend the latest Wireless and Realtek LAN drivers they've authorised, alternatively head to Realtek's site for the latest wired LAN drivers as they're even newer.

It's only really GPU drivers (optimisations for new titles, and SLI profiles) that make a massive difference though providing your system is working properly.

 

well im not planning to overclock this.i just want to play xfire for crysis and for crysis 2.hopefully i wont get issues. one more question.if lets say the new cards come out(ati 6800 mob series) next year,can i upgrade my current owned x8100 to those new cards to Xotic?

 

If they offer them, and they're the same form factor, then they may work. Best to ask Xotic when they arrive though, because sometimes BIOS support is a real issue with mobile cards.

 

Has anyone tried the new bios Version 1.00.11oc dated 13-Oct-10 with the new Ati video drivers 8.753.0.0 dated 22-Sep-10 to check and see if it fixed the issues some are having?

Software Upgrade

______________________________________________

 

I believe I've tried that one, but I could be wrong as theres at least a few revisions of .11oc. I'll try it out tomorrow.

Edit:
Couldn't sleep ()...my machine was currently on NS1, and before that it must have been LS2. The new Sager Bios is .11oc.ls3. <If anyone wants the files from the ISO so they can flash from a USB drive, just PM me as I've extracted them from the boot sector of the ISO> The 08 KBC it comes with confirms its a newer release than many of the older ones at least.

I've still obviously got to complete testing with it to watch for any issues, bearing YMMV, but so far I'd suggest all 5870 users get themselves the equivalent from thier vendor, or if they don't give 2 sticks about the splash screen, try this version out.

It doesn't cure all the issues, but it does seem to have a positive effect on the system; whilst I've still seen some 'rolling' in a programme that used to get it, its been probably halved in frequency and severity and Recettear used to suffer immense issues with the shudder effect that I've mentioned a few times. You'd open it up to get to menu and you'd just see the screen shaking constantly, almost looked interlaced! I can happily say that now seems to have been dealt with, and the menu appears perfectly rather than looking like its got a fever. I've yet to find out if that just means its massively reduced (or I got lucky), or actually gone.

Either way its a good sign that progress is being made on resolutions to issues within the BIOS, but these are just initial observations taken from checking some programmes that were always pretty obvious when it came to the issues. This being the case, hopefully .12 when it arrives will put this all behind us.

 

Just to follow up my last post (double post so people realise there's been a new post and take notice), I've just watched through scene 1 of 3dmark06 which always used to manifest the shuddering, although to a lesser degree than Recettear, and it appeared to be AWOL there too

I've been using both modified beta 10.10 (8.72 IIRC) Cats and Clevos 8.753 release (at least with Recettear), so it does seem that the shuddering issue has been addressed if perhaps not fixed (haven't done enough testing to confirm one way or another) at a BIOS level.

Only other issue is the obvious occasional screen rolling, but even that seems less frequent in SF4 bench which had some severe rolling issues previously, this BIOS seems to be a definate step in the right direction...whoo!

I'll be dropping Kobalt an email to get them to push for further new BIOS based on this next week, I suggest everyone else with the shuddering issues etc tries this BIOS, reports back, and then feeds back to thier vendor. Only way we can get action is the vendors like Sager et al push for Clevo to fix the issues, stuff like this, especially when intermittant, can creep through QA quite easily, and without numbers and actual feedback, Clevo will never fully address it.

I had tried the KBC 08 update previously independant on this BIOS update, and it made no difference, so this BIOS is definately attributable to the improvements.

 

I tried this new bios release and it's not better.
Same issues in same games...

 

Strange, its a definate improvement over what I had before, but then it depends on how bad you had it before with your old BIOS I guess. I've certainly not seen any shuddering since shifting to the new KBC/BIOS combo though. That the issues aren't gone does emphasise more work needs to be done though.

(Hopefully not speaking too soon but then I've been trying programmes which had major issues before and now have lesser issues).

 

How about any one else? Who so far has tried the latest bios posted above with the latest ATi driver? Results?...

__________________________________

 

Are Kobalt going through a very busy period at the moment? My original ETA of 23rd August almost certainly looks like it's going to be overshot by several weeks. I'm just hoping the delay doesn't run over past November or I'll have a real problem getting the laptop.

 

Yes they're busy, along with sickness and training weeks etc. Best giving them a call regularly to get up to date info, as the ETAs are just that, ETA/predicted, not hard dates.

 

A bit difficult calling Kobalt when I'm 8 time zones away with no access to outgoing international calls. I'll just have to wait patiently and leave the occasional note on the order tracking page if it overruns for too long.

I didn't realise SMEs had training weeks, maybe they get refreshers on computer maintenance and the like?

 

Kobalts quite a small company, so when they have staff out on training/sick or whatever, then it hits them that much harder

 

Family-run businesses have it tough on the manpower front.

I'll wait a few days and then leave a note on that order tracking page, hopefully I'll see a reply before the end of the month.

 

Any news on fixing the flickering issue ?
Are there any people that have the 5870cf and dont have the issue at all ?
Some one on youtube, responding at the video someone posted here, said that 10.9 drivers solved the issue. Is that true ?

 

Hello all,

I got mine a few days ago and saw I had a CATV connection, didn't now it was build in. What can I connect to that port ? Can I connect my cable televison on it , i suppose there is an internal tuner , and use software to watch tv ?

 

WOW, what is this ?
Leopard Skin (External Features) : Mobility Radeon Vs. GeForce M: The CrossFire Advantage
I see 2 usb 3.0 there !

Is this a new version of the x8100 ?

 

The X8100 that I'm waiting on has 2 USB 3.0 ports, it's had them for some time as well as a few USB 2.0 ports as well.

 

Unless you ordered it with an internal TV tuner, that CATV jack will not be connected to anything.

 

So all the x8100 with 5870CF has the 2 usb 3.0 ports ?
I never knew there was a x8100 with usb 3.0.
Is that a new revision of the chasis or what ?
Also, if anyone can tell, are the flickering issues solved with catalist 10.9 ?

If i order now from mysn.de the x8100 with crossfire, will it have the new chasis with usb 3.0 ?

 

The Kobalt I'm ordering apparently has 2 USB 3.0 ports on the left side, from the forum posts I've read elsewhere this was introduced a few months ago. I don't know if Germany will do the same nor if the flickering with catalyst 10.9 has been resolved.

Speaking of which, aren't you the poster who's angling for a X7200?

 

Well he is, thing is he wanted the dual ATis in his notebook rather than Having Nvidias. This notebook seems great too but I'm sticking with My NP7280

 

I am, but i don\t like the way they solved the psu issue. Linking togthether 2 300w power bricks is not my ideea of fixing the issues.

Besides, 5870cf is better and cheaper than 460m sli, and overall the x8100 system would be cheaper than a similar specced x7200.

I want to know my option very well before i decide to place an order.

However, the x8100 downside was the fact that it was an "old chasis" and the new x7200 has usb 3.0, among other things. (like irda port in front of the chasis for tv control)

Decisions, decisions !
On the other hand sli support is suppose to be better in drivers. I have heard there are no issues with its implementation in the x7200. Here i learn there are issues with 5870cf.

On the other hand x7200 has the psu problem. I was aiming for a 460m sli and 950 i7 wich should be enough for the 300w power brick, but what if i decide to upgrade in the future.

What ever choice i might make, i will wait until intel 3rd gen ssds show up.
But it seems it is between the 2.

In the past i also considered msi gt660r but the config i aimed was similar priced to a x8100 crossfire solution. Obviously the dual gpu solution provide more graphic power, that what im aiming toward these chasis.

But before that i must gather all the information i can and consider every pro and con. The toughest choice to make.

To ANyone who has the x8100 crossfire, can you please confirm the flickering isn\t solved by the latest catalist (10.9 i believe is NOW the latest version)?

 

There's 10.10 catalyst with the new AA enabled for the 6-series cards, but no one on the Clevo threads has actually reported results from the new drivers.

Bytales: You're going to be waiting a while so why not spread the net out wider and consider more options? Both clevos seem to have deal-breaking flaws in your case.

 

I am in a similar situation. I very much prefer ATIs over Nvidias due to their pricing scheme. But.. The desktop chip, in particular the 980X in the X7200 is very tempting. I could come up with the money with SLIs 480m but it just doesn't present itself as a fair value purchase at this moment. The PSU problem doesn't make me want to jump right in as well.

Will a 980X with SLI 460m with 6GB RAM be faster than a 940m with CF 5870m + 8GB RAM?

 

The 980X as a CPU, will demolish the 940M or any mobile CPU for sure in CPU related applications and CPU benchmarks.

As far as gaming we do not know for sure. In a couple of weeks we will know more on the gaming end. The CF 5870's have proven to be a very good gaming setup indeed!

 

Drivers/10.10s - depends on what you mean by flickering?
10.10 mobility official drivers are out. They bypassed the 10.9s which was why there was no official mobility release last month; likely some sort of bug crept in somewhere along the lines so they decided to skip.

The whole shuddering thing I had seemed to be resolved or at least radically reduced by the .11oc.ls3 bios (trust me if you'd seen Recettear before and after you'd agree lol), rather than by drivers.

I point my finger at the BIOS, because the BIOS switch took place before 10.10 were released, and I didnt have 10.9 installed at the time and yet still saw the radical improvement (I may have been on 10.8 mobility, can't remember). I'm pretty sure I've had the 8.753s back on since the BIOS update as well, now if the fix was driver related, the issue would have reoccured, but it hasn't, it actually seems to have been addressed at lower level.

The whole rolling thing isn't gone, but that's always been massively less common, and doesn't seem to happen in everything like the shuddering could, and is therefore less of an issue than the shaking/shuddering screen thing anyway.

The machine/BIOS obviously isn't perfect yet but as far as it goes, in my case the machine is at least pretty damn usable if not perfect.

USB3.0 - the machine has had this since Crossfire was introduced it seems. The underside of the chassis actually says X8100 USB3.0 version. Considering Kobalt told me all newer batches had been coming with this, I'd guess its a slight hardware upgrade across the range and all batches would be coming like this, but you'd have to ask your reseller to make sure.

 

in gaming/single or dual core applications..
a 620/640/920/940/980x will do about the same..depending on how high your dual core over clock is. and since they all sit around 4 ghz. after over clocking....they would be damn near identical
my best wprime is 6.5440 sec/920xm. my 980x is like 3.297@5 ghz

the 920xm is no slouch friends, but it wont be beating no stock 980x at anything using more than 4 cores/ 8 threads and higher than 3.5 ghz..

 

Reading through 65-75 pages, the flickering is described. Ppl say it is mostly caused by the bios.

Can you guys clear this for me ?

Clevo releases regular bios updates for the 5870 ? or is it the motherboard bios we are talking about ?

Where do you get this bios ? And how do you install it ?
Is it usable on all x8100 2nd rev ? (Meaning bought from different boutiq shops ?)

Or is it boutiq made bios (Like mysn, kobalt, sager etc?)

If problems are solved by applying latest bios and latest drivers, than x8100 2nd gen seems like a good buy.

The thing is WOW, wich i'll be mostly playing, is very CPU dependent, and a higher clocked more potent cpu will increase frames, more than a dual gpu.

But hay. i can't have them all.
And i think, from this point of view, a core i7 640m with a 460m would score better in wow, than a 740/840 qm and 5870cf, but i might be wrong.

Still, if the issues are solved, x8100 tempts me, because it's not like i\ll be playing only wow, and most games benefit from 2 gpus.

 

It's the system/mobo BIOS which is still WIP, the GPUs come with a moderately recent BIOS, as shown by the fact they install the stock ATI drivers with no issue unlike the Alienware 5870ms when they first arrived.

BIOS you have to obtain from one of the resellers, as Clevo dont host publically, but you can use one from any reseller on any other reseller's machine as long as its the same chassis.

 

WIP ?

Eurocom lists 460m and 470m sli for the x8100. For an extra few euros you can get to choose the new chasis with usb 3.0 also.

I\m not sure what to say if they do have the posibility to sell what they\re advertising, but their configs are expensive than most.

 

I would wait till there is a definate fix. I could not even see the screen on mine half the time. Sager wanted me to send it to them to "see what the problem was" but I already saw through that RMA nightmare and decided to just outright return it. I am currently pricing out an Np7280. It might not be able to overclock like crazy yet but at least I can see what I am doing.

Aside from the flickering and stuttering in games, the X8100 is a beast though.
There is considerable lag with HDMI in though so don't plan on playing any fighting or fast action games and expect to do well.

 

WIP = Work In Progress.
Eurocom are well known for advertising either long before parts are available, or sometimes even based on rumour. Wait until they're available from more than one vendor would be my advice there.

 

Out of curiosity Alex, where exactly are your USB3.0 ports located on the X8100? I believe you said it's 2 out of 4 USB ports available that have been upgraded from 2.0 to 3.0.

 

I think the new chasis has 4 usb 2.0 and 2 usb 3.0 total of six usb ports. Wich is a very good thing. Look here :
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mobility-radon-hd-5870-geforce-gtx-480m-crossfire,2736-2.html

My thoughts exactly.

However, i don\t understand the following.
Lets give for example kobalt computers.

If there is at least one laptop in their offer with 470m, why isn't there in their offer the x8100 and x7200 with 470m sli ?
Or, if there is at least one laptop in their offer with 5870, why isn\t there the option of gettin them in the x7200 ?
Same applies for 460m, why isn't it available in the x8100 if it is available in the x7200 ?

Unless the x8100 and x7200 and all other laptops have different slots for the gpu, i don\t see why not ?

 

Kobalt do have to order their components from abroad and then test them out before deciding on specific hardware configurations for retail to consumers.

As already mentioned, the 470m is very new and most retailers don't have them on sale yet. You'd have to ask Kobalt directly why they offer only certain combinations for different chassis, but don't expect too frank an answer since they have to do business too.

 

Simply put supply.

Its generally easier to get hold of chassis with cards, than the cards alone, so if they have no fixed date on when they can get SLI chassis, whats the point in offering them? The actual cards are not always identical between those intended for single and dual models, the X8100 for example has a slightly different 5870m to those in the 860/870.

Ergo...they might offer X7200 with 460 SLI because they've been able to confirm chassis with the cards are available, or at least a reasonable date, whereas they might not have been able to secure as much on the others.

Its not always as simple as whether they've got the cards, its whether they've got the cards to offer with the machines.

 

Its an additional two sockets, next to the flash card slot, rather than 2 replaced

4 on the left (2 x 2.0, 2x3.0) and 2x2.0 on the right.


Apologies, I missed your post first time round

 

No worries, that's cool then getting an additional 2 slots at (hopefully) no loss of functionality to compensate.

It seems your earlier info about Kobalt's situation has been verified by the people over there as well. Neil(?) or one of the others is so ill they're having trouble getting back up to speed. Hopefully they'll have more time to get more testing done and some of the outstanding issues ironed out before shipping.

 

Maybe that's why eurocom has every gpu in evry chasis combination, because they are a big company and have gpus in stock.

I never knew that mobility radeons crossfire rdy were sligthly different than single version variants.

Man, things are so much more complicated in the laptop world.

 

Quick skim reveals updates on USB3.0 availability and the latest GPU and CPU configurations supported. Thanks for the link.

 

Well not sure what happened but after about a month without them my 'shakes' have reappeared.

Signed Confused/Sad Panda

**** knows what caused them to reoccur, after being gone so long! Was sitting there playing Recettear for about 2 hours this morning, came back this afternoon and they'd returned. Am having to play in windowed mode on that game to get rid of them
Going to try the .13 BIOS Phketan just posted and see if that helps, although if it doesn't I'll guess with this performance I'll have to consider I might have a slightly iffy bit of hardware somewhere; especially after it performed great for the last few weeks and nothing changed today that could bring it back.

Edit: and after the .13 flash the shuddering on fullscreen Recettear has dissapeared again. 0.o
Do you ever get the feeling your machine is ****ing with you for the hell of it haha

Well, guess I'll give this BIOS a run and see how it does, it certainly hasn't made anything worse (that I've noticed yet).
If anyone else wants to try it he's linked it in the BIOS thread. It's a standard release though, .13 standard, no .13oc, which means it doesnt have any BIOS overclocking support. Not an issue for me, but might be for some of you.

 

I'm hoping the BIOS fix does do the trick this time around, for the sake of just about X8100 user out there.

 

having problems with no sound with hdmi out anyone help please i'm sure its just a setting cuz it was working and i might have changed somthing but don't know what...

 

People having X8100 can tell me what are the CPU overclock options in Bios please ? If there are some.

 

Try this: http://a.yfrog.com/img826/7670/hdmiy.jpg

 

I really want to buy this crossfired X8100 for only $2,799.00 AUD but only until Clevo find a solution to the crossfire problems. Hopefully it's tomorrow!

 

Only if you have an i7 9-series CPU will the BIOS support overclocking. That's what the reseller I've ordered from has stated.