The Sager NP 8130/8150 (Clevo P151HM1/P150HM) Owner-Answered Frequently Asked Questions **READ BEFORE POSTING**

I've posted it in the Guide...I thought it was more appropriate there.

Welcome

Mr. Mysterious

 

^^^^Thanks Mr. Mysterious! We appreciate your work here on the forum! +1!
_

 

+1 Mr_Mysterious

 

Hey something else I have found is an issue with trying to use speakers and a headset at the same time. From what I have been able to work out, I can not find a way to use both the on-board speakers and a headset (i.e. for playing games).

I also can only get my external speakers to work by plugging them into the headset port, so that also eliminates the ability to use a headset.

It isn't a deal-breaker, but it is rather inconvenient... if someone happens to know a fix please let me know. I'd be stoked to get this working.

 

That would be a great service to those of us not familiar with the best resellers.

 

I created a Clevo Guide that addresses just that, Blade. It's in my signature below

Mr. Mysterious

 

First... wow. That is about the greatests FAQ ever. If I did not own an 8150 already that would hav sold me.

I am using VMWare on my 8150 and noticed I am unable to run 64-bit guests. I did some troubleshooting ran the Microsoft Hardware Assisted Virtualization Detection tool and Securable from Gibson research and both indicate hardware virtualization is not enabled.

I was wonding if this is normal or is my VT somehow disabled? I bought my 8150 from Xotic back in June with 16gb of RAM and an I7 2720 processor. Aside from my little virtual glitch I love the thing and am very happy with it.

If a few of you folks have a minutes to kill and could download and run the Microsoft Hardware Assisted Virtualization Detection tool from microsofts web site and tell me what it says I'd appreciate it. That will let me know if VT is disabled by default or if I have a jiggy unit.

download location

Download Details - Microsoft Download Center - HAV Detection Tool

also by bios is version 1.01.011blS1

Once the issue is cleared up it might be good to add to teh FAQ. I use VM's for work a lot and it's very disapointing to be limited to 32 bit guests not running as well as they could with VT support. if it turns out there really is no hardware VT support enabled and usable I would have purchased a different laptop.

Thanks

 

VT-x support should be enabled by default. Download CPUz and check there to see if VT-x is enabled under "instructions". If that doesn't work, you may need to upgrade your bios to a newer version.

 

Updated to include my thoughts on the fan-cycling "issue":

It's not an issue people. It will not affect your performance, and while annoying to hear, it is actually designed to function this way. No need to worry.

Also added the Clevo BIOS thread to the FAQ

Mr. Mysterious

 

hello every1, m completely new here and just wanted to know someone's opinion on the build i just configured on MALIBAL Lotus p150HM:

Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Matte Display

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz

Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM

Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5

Hard Drive: 120GB Intel® (510) SATA III 6Gb/s SSD2 Drive

Optical Drive Bay: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash

Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card

Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU

Please lemme kno if i could add/remove anything
My budget: 2000
Purpose: Gaming, Programming (Java mainly), MATLAB, Photoshop and the usuals

Thanks

 

Vihu,

That looks like a pretty good build! The only thing I might mention is the data (optical bay) drive. Although a hybrid drive sounds like a great deal, it won't be used as often as your drive that your OS is installed on. Therefore you may not get the full benefit of the SSD portion. I'd suggest saving the cash and going for a 500GB traditional drive or maybe a 750GB drive for a little extra storage.

 

Thank you for your suggestion J.P. much appreciated
Actually while building the config I was confused about the OD bay, I think i might go for the standard HD as u suggest n save a few bucks or may be switch to blu ray cuz i dnt hv a blu ray player.

 

Hey no problem. You could always look at getting a hard drive for your optical drive bay and getting an external blu-ray player. All you'll need is a slim-line enclosure for laptop optical drives and a 12.7mm blu-ray drive. Then you can plug and play any time you need it.

 

This thing needs to be updated. Any particular questions?

Mr. Mysterious

 

hi guys, im thinking of jumping ship to Sager/Clevo laptop for its great upgrade ability. I just wrote an email and send to R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder. Though I have no clue if they are reputable or not.

I figured why not ask here too and have you guys' expert opinions. I just copy/paste the content of the email here, hope you guys dont mind:

 

Answers are given above.

Mr. Mysterious

 

thank you so much Mr. Mysterious, do you think I can go and make a topic outside with those same questions and see how the resellers response to it? as well as who would be able to sell the laptop to my requirements?

 

You may want to PM or email specific resellers if you're curious about pricing and customization. NBR forum rules limit resellers from posting too much of that on the forums directly

 

Hi,

On the FAQ it states that the max amount of ram this machine can go up to is 8GB 1600MHZ. Do you know which processor this is for? I was under the impression that the higher end of the i7 processor could go up to 16GB 1600MHz.

TY!

 

No, I said: "Depending on your processor...". Unless you have an XM processor, you can't take full advantage of 16GB of 1600Mhz. You can use it, but you can't utilize it fully. In either case, the differences are negligible.

Mr. Mysterious

 

So what you mean by "utilize", is that the machine can use up to 16GB, but can't at 1600MHz? Or the machine can use the RAM at 1600MHz but won't use an amount above 8GB?

 

Kind of. The machine will still have 16GB of RAM that it will use, but the RAM will downclock itself to the 1333Mhz frequency.

Mr. Mysterious

 

This was taken from the manual for Clevo P15XHM series. The manual was d/led from the Clevo site. I think it's outdated.

RAM:

Dual Channel DDRIII (DDR3)
*Four 204 Pin SO-DIMM Sockets
Supporting DDRIII (DDR3) 1333/1600**
MHz Memory Modules
*Memory Expandable up to 16GB
Compatible with 2GB or 4GB Modules
*Note: Four SO-DIMMs are only supported
by Quad-Core CPUs; Dual-Core CPUs
support two SO-DIMMs maximum
**Note: 1600 MHz Memory Modules are
only supported by Quad-Core CPUs (i7-
2920XM, i7-2820QM & i7-2720QM) to a
maximum of two SO-DIMMs.

Perhaps up to 8GB will be 1600MHz and the other 8GB would run at 1333MHz?

 

Not quite. They're only certified for the two slots. The machine has four RAM slots, but due to the distance of the traces, two of the slots are not certified for higher speeds. So while they work just fine, the company cannot advertise them as fully supporting it.

Also, if you were to run the 2x4GB 1600Mhz and 2x4GB 1333Mhz you suggested- they'd all run at the slowest speed of 1333Mhz. So it's not recommended if you want the full speed out of the RAM.

 

Right, but what would happen if one were to put in 4x4 GB 1600 MHz?

Would 16 GB 1600MHz then run at 1333Mhz? So then only 8 GB at 1600 MHz is supported according to the manual?

I know some are getting annoyed with me at this point , but I keep poking at this issue because everyone is offering the option of 16 GB at 1600 MHz and I keep wondering why.

 

Sager has reported that the Intel i7 2630QM has been phased out. Sorry

_

 

Yes, as long as you have the 2720QM or better, the 1600Mhz RAM will work and run at the advertised 1600Mhz speeds for the full 16GB. Many users here are running 1600Mhz or even 1866Mhz RAM (though the latter can have stability issues in some cases). As I said, the manual only lists 8GB for two slots because that is all it's certified for due to the fact that the other two slots are not in compliance with the standard.

Hope this helps answer your questions

 

Indeed, it does help and answers my question.

Thanks a lot!

 

Hi, I'm very interested in a Sager np8130. Was wondering how the build quality is? I've seen anandtech's reviews and they constantly complain about sager's keyboards but was wondering how the rest of the machine is built! Thanks!

 

The rest of the laptop is very well built. I can't think of any customer that has had any complaints about the actual chassis and build quality besides the keyboard, like you described. However a lot of customers said they got used to the keyboard after a little while

On the few that I've had the chance to play with, they have always come off as a very durable chassis. This is coming from a guy typing on an ASUS G53, too! This thing is built like a tank

 

Many users are reporting that this model is well built.

It is true that some at first thought the keyboard was not the best however, as mentioned they got used to it.

-

 

What about 3G modem in free mini-PCI-E slot? anyone tried to install it?

 

That 3G modem slot is manufacturer-select, Sager disables it when they order Clevos

However if your laptop is a Clevo model, you may want to contact the company that sold it to you to see if they have it enabled.

 

Updated with the 3G info

Mr. Mysterious

 

Xotic PC has great reviews, going to order from them for sure now

 

For those of you who applied your own thermal greases, which brand did you use and how were the results?

I just applied some Arctic Cooling MX-2 and I'm getting HORRIBLE results. It makes me wish I hadn't tried to fix what wasn't broken. On stock I was hitting ~67c max on load with Prime95 but now I'm getting 90c(!) on load. Ridiculous.

 

Shin Etsu is a good brand I've heard. 67C maxed out is pretty good though, I hope someone didn't tell you otherwise... The only time you should repaste is when the heatsink leaves the CPU for reasons other than you wanting to repaste lol

 

Thank you sir! Feel free to PM me or contact a sales advisor if you have any questions.

You can find comparisons here:
Thermal Compound Roundup - November 2011 | Hardware Secrets

Also, possibly relevant:
How To Correctly Apply Thermal Grease | Hardware Secrets (in case you wanted to compare how you applied it)

Edit: Also, did you ever get that Turbo Boost issue figured out?

 

Laptop is running hot as ever. Luckily none of my games/programs use 100% so the highest it's running at is 80c at the moment. Just waiting for my IC Diamond to get here to do a comparison test.

And yes, I did get it sorted out. Thank you for your consideration. I'm just concerned about the heating issue now more so than anything else.

Update: The temperature seems adequate now after really screwing the heatsink down. The temps aren't amazingly cool but at a stable rate now.

 

3G modem Dell 5530 already successfully installed, but need an antenna 6-23-7X510-011 and cable 6-40-M55J2-030 Where i can buy its?
p.s. Did anyone can take pictures of these parts?

 

Out of curiosity,

XoticPC offers up to 32GBs of RAM with the 8130 if you have Windows 7 Pro. This guide says that the max supported is 16GBs.


I guess what I'm asking is - what's the max ram the middle of the road i7-2760 can effectively handle? And which processor would be needed to push the 32GBs?

(not that I need 32GBs of course - I'm just curious.)

 

You can support the 32GB if needed. The only reason the machine lists 16GB as the top end is because 8GB DIMM's weren't in existence yet. They are now, but they're still quite expensive.

 

Hey guys this is Urgent....!!

i received my SAGER 8150 2 days ago was pretty happy with the performance.

I played nfs run on ultra settings and also pes 2012.

however today while doing documentation work i suddenly experienced a screen flickering issue in laptop and the laptop automatically turned off.

now the laptop is not starting.

Is this a serious problem i dont know exactly what to do.

 

Have you contacted your reseller or dealer yet? Even though it is a weekend they should be ready and willing to assit you.
-
-

 

I tried calling SAGER and XOTICPC... but i guess since weekend they are not responding to the calls outside business hours.

 

hey iceberg, I shot you a PM, let me know if that helps at all.

 

Hi JP Thanks for the help. Feel a bit eased out now.

i replied your PM back...!!
have a look at it
thanks,

 

If portability is not an issue, should I still go with the 8150 over the 8170? The 8150 is slightly more expensive in how I have it configured because I have the 95% gamut screen, but they are relatively close. The only advantages I see for the 8170 are that it is bigger and it has two HDD bays (i'll be have the optical drive serve as a second HDD bay if i get the 8150). Anything else I should be aware of?

 

If portability is NOT an issue, why not go for the 8170? The stock screen on this model is good many here have said.

Yes it is nice to have the 2 hard drive slots AND the optical drive at the same time.

Of course if you really want the 95% screens then the 8150 may be the one for you.
_

 

Get the 8170 because it has a bigger screen

On a side note I just wanted to say that this thread has more than helped me make a final decision on which laptop to buy. I'm getting the NP8130 from Power Notebooks

It blows my mind how many people have never even heard of Sager. Their products are so affordable. It would be no small task to find another laptop with the same specifications as the NP8130 for the same price.

Anyway thanks for the great thread!