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

I just ordered a Sager 8150 with the AMD 6990 from XoticPC. With the $100 Sager deal, free shipping and NBR discount, it's one hell of a deal. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

 

Thanks roxshot! Business much appreciated. Don't hesitate to contact us if you need any questions answered.

 

I'm considering upgrading my current laptop to the NP8150. My question: How has it been working for you since you got it? Runs everything/most things just fine?

Mike

 

Many users would say all is running great with the latest games and such!

You might ask specific questions to users of this model in the link below..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/546387-official-sager-np8150-clevo-p150hm-owners-lounge-441.html
-

 

who can tell me if a dell gpu will work in a clevo?
i have a w880cu, i know that the clevo/eurocom 6990m works no problem but what about the dell 6990m

 

Can't you put a 6990 on the 8130?

I configured the same specs on a 8150 and a 8130 and there is a $200 difference between the two. I know that the 8150 supports more powerful hardware but what is the $200 difference between the two?

 

Great sticky, really helped me out.

 

The only difference between the two is the power supply (a larger 180w in the P150HM), the stock screen (glossy on the P150, matte on the P151), and the exterior finish (rubberized on the P150).

You can add a 6990 to a P151 yourself, but you'd have to buy the upgraded power supply and you'd most likely not be covered by warranty on it.

 

how can i become an nbr member so i can get a discount because im really about to buy my first 8130 from xoticpc ?

 

After you have posted 5 messages to this board, you are able to send PMs to XoticPC or any other reseller to ask about any benefits or offers to members.

 

Has the memory restriction changed for the second gen sandy bridge processors? There are options for 16GB 1600 and 1866MHz given by the resellers. Would these just run at 1333Mhz?

 

I believe, depending on your CPU, the RAM would run up to 1600Mhz.

 

I feel like that would be false advertisement for the 1866 option though.

 

The Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 HyperX Plug n Play memory that is shipping in the Sager models do run at 1866Mhz with the i7-2670QM on up.

_

 

I am not sure about this, but I think there is an issue with a very slight loss or a delay between the ram and cpu. The 1866 option insures the loss or delay is even less. But, I believe the bottleneck is currently is with the cpu.

 

Hey all,

I have one problem with my new sager, which is that every so often (more typically when I am watching a movie or playing games such as Battlefield 3) my ram/ CPU stutter. They spike up to 100%, causing the movie/ games to glitch for a second or two, and then return to normal. Any advice on how to fix this? Has anyone else had this problem with their NP8130?


I bought my Sager/Clevo NP8130 from ReflexNotebooks for around $1500 -> received on Jan. 13.

Specs:
-Factory matte screen
-16 gigs ram @1333
-IC diamond thermal compound
-I7 2670 processor
-750gb + 8gb SSD hybrid drive
-560m Nvidia GeForce GPU 1.5GB
-Windows 7 home premium
-1yr parts and labour warranty

Review:
Battery -So far it works pretty well, but a bit different from what I was expecting. Battery life is decent for a gaming computer. 2-3 hours for non-demanding things like surfing the internet. 1-2 hours for playing games such as WOW. Intense games like Battlefield 3 are unplayable on battery power.

Gaming - It can play all the games, but not on maxed out settings. For instance WoW: Ultra settings = 9-20 FPS during intense fights. Some ultra + high+med settings= 30-60FPS; Battlefield 3 on the other hand: Ultra settings= from 5-30FPS, medium & high settings = 30-60FPS (during intense fights). I could probably overclock this if I felt confident in doing so, but I see no reason to put added pressure on the laptop seeing as I already have a CPU spiking problem.

Temperature (I have the thermal compound) - idle: GPU= 31C, CPU= 36C; Intense gaming (3+ hrs): GPU = maxed out at 71C, CPU 72C. I am very impressed with the low temperatures. This computer literally does not get hot!!

FAN- I am very impressed with the fans! My god, they are QUIET. My old crappy laptop with NO GPU an thus no need for a big fan is like a jet engine beside this thing. Even when I had Battlefield 3 on maxed out settings the fans were barely noticeable. You can feel the air being pumped out the back, but its whisper quiet.

Keyboard - Its a nice keyboard, however it seems to rattle (especially near the arrow keys and number pad) when i type.

Weight - well, its heavy, what do you expect! Not crazy heavy, but moreso than the average laptop at bestbuy. The brick is kind of rediculous lol. Its a beast, all i gotta say.

Speed - Everything pops up nice and fast. Minimal load time for anything. Start-up would be faster with a SSD, but still, nothing to complain about. If you're adamant about instant start-up then just use the sleep mode!

Overall, nice laptop. Pros= cooling, fan noise, processor speed, better battery life than some owners would have me believe. Cons= GPU not as powerful as I thought, keyboard rattles, Ram/ CPU spiking problem!

 

My NP8150 just shipped from Sager and I'm wondering what are the first things I should do with it when I receive it? I've heard things like updating drivers but I've never really done it before on new laptops. Is there a disc it comes with that I just put in or do i search online for each individual item? It's coming with W7 installed.

 

There is a disk, but the drivers will be pretty out of date in most cases. Check out this thread for the current drivers:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/573379-clevo-driver-thread.html

This thread also has some good "what to do next" type info:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/596883-what-do-after-unboxing.html

 

Sounds like you have a Sager branded NP8150 machine.

For the best results to have the latest drivers on a regular basis see the link below...

Software Upgrade

-

 

I'm looking to buy a P150HM w/ the ATI6990m but was a little concerned about the sound. I'm going to have this in a quiet office environment and prefer to keep the system as quiet as possible, can any owners of this comment on the sound/fans?

Edit: recommendations on where to make the purchase would be welcome too.

 

Moved my question elsewhere, sorry

 

I just thought I would share this since it caused me much distress and figured others may experience it as well.

For the first few days after receiving my NP8150, it ran beautifully. It was fast and responsive, never stuttered or hesitated. Then one day....it seemed as though it suddenly aged 5 years over night. All my games slowed down and started stuttering. Videos lagged, even dragging a window across the desktop caused stutters and jumps. It drove me nuts.

After a bit a of searching head scratching, I jumped into the msconfig (click on start, type in "msconfig") startup tab and started to disable stuff. It was Cyberlink PowerDvd. I believe there were 3 or 4 services that Cyberlnk had running in the background that killed my performance. Once disable, my maching is running beautifully again.

Cyberlink came pre-installed with the system and is nessecary if you want to play Blu-rays. If you don't have a Blu-ray drive, it is not needed.

Warning, becareful when playing within the msconfig. If you are not sure about disabling something, research it first.

 

Does anyone have any questions that I can update the list with? I'm going off into the 8130 and 8150 to hunt for some.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Actually yeah, my GPU temps have been slowly climbing lately. It went from 73 on unbox after about an hour, to 83. Same elevation and setup. Im thinking one of 2 things. Vents or thermal paste. Is there any good, detailed threads (with pictures) for rookies like me who havent opened up their computer?

 

There's a whole service manual made available by another forum user, Theriko:

P15xHM_ESM.zip

 

Awesome, exactly what I needed.

 

A couple Qs:

1. Is there a "better" touchpad driver than the current one for the Sager 8130? I find that it constantly increases and deceases the size of my icons and font when I'm browsing the web, even when all I want to do is move the mouse icon.

2. Is anything coming down the pipe that beats the 560m? I realize there are better mGPUs already, but I mean, you know, the 560m successor. I need me some more horses!

 

1. I use Synaptics driver, works great! very smooth + tons of awesome features.
2. There is always a new one coming every year. If you are really into gaming, then waiting would be a better choice.

 

1. I'm not sure what version of the touchpad driver you are running but you can try Drivers | Synaptics if you haven't already done so.

2. It's almost that time of the year for a refresh. Ivy Bridge is coming down the pipe and with it there should be new GPUs as well. We don't know when they will be released, but there is speculation abound in here in these forums. Sit tight, good things are coming.

 

Hi I've just found the sager np8131 and np8151 on xoticpc's site. Anybody know how they differ from the 8130 and 8150? Thanks!

 

As far as I can tell, no there is no difference between the two models. You would be better served asking one of the reps here on the forums. Just shoot them a PM.

Mr. Mysterious

 

The reason you are seeing the NP8131 and NP8151 listed currently is because they are placeholders. Due to NDA, none of us are allowed to discuss actual specifications until the lift, which I believe should be around April 5th.
You should find something similar across most of the resellers.
Just hold tight, we are as eager to post the actual specs as you are to see them.

 

Hi Heihachi_1337 thanks for the info!

 

Hey everyone, I have a Sager np8130 and recently bought an SSD internal hard drive, and plan to use my current hard drive as a secondary drive (replacing my cd/dvd drive). I've already bought a caddy, but I'm not entirely sure what would be the best way of removing the cd/dvd drive.

anyone want to help out?

 

There should be a screw retaining the DVD drive and that screw should be in the middle panel where you HDD is located if I am not mistaken. Remove that screw, use a paperclip to pop your CD tray out and then gently pull on the drive, it should come out.
Your face plate for the DVD drive should either come off by prying on 2-3 plastic retaining clips or it may be held in by a couple of tiny screws.

 

Hey guys, where could one find some threads detailing the installation of a 6990M into an 8130? For some reason, the searching function isn't working too well for me.

 

I would first off would like to thank everybody on this thread as it has provided great insight into purchasing a Sager NP. I will purchase the ivy bridge 9150 or 9170.

But, enough of the compliments.

Has anyone run Win 8 comsumer preview on the Sager NPs, what is the current driver situation?

Also, I do alot of 3d modelling work, should I go with the 15' or 17' screen. The big different is the weight, from ~7lbs to ~12lbs.

Also what is the NBR code I use to get further discounts or is specific to a reseller?

Thanks in Advance.

Cheers.

-SGTGunner

 

It all comes down to personal preference for size. Please keep in mind that you can also attach a larger external display to your laptop if you need to. If you don't wish to have an external monitor I would probably recommend the 17" display. It would give you a bit more room to work with for the 3D modeling.

As far as NBR discounts, that should be specific to the reseller as to what you would qualify for.

 

You may want to look at different screen types also if you are particular about colors. As stated 17" is probably easier to see even though it is the same resolution.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking with respect to screen size. Is that, I don't get a huge change in resolution....

 

I'm wondering what Nvidia driver is the best for the GTX 460M? I see the latest driver looks like 301.42 that was just released yesterday. I haven't updated the drivers since I got my 8130 just over a year ago. Any help on the best driver would be great.

Thanks

 

It really depends on what you are doing with your computer. If you are not planning on playing the latest games, the drivers you currently have should be fine.

If you are having some performance issues, mainly during gaming, then the latest drivers should be suited for the task.

 

Can this machine run Arma 2? I want to play Day Z with some friends, but I'm hesitant to buy the game before I know if my computer can run it.

 

Given that Arma 2 was released in 2009 and the 8130/8150 was released in 2011, I would say that, yes these machines should be able to handle that and the Day Z mod.

 

I'm playing Arma2 with Dayz on mine! Runs beautifully!

 

Sweet! I can't wait to play Day Z!

 

Notice to all: I will be getting rid of this thread since it's EOL, and will soon put up a 9130 and 9150 FAQ

If enough people want it, we can leave this thread as a sticky though. Hope I've helped a few people in here!

Mr. Mysterious

 

Hi,

I just got my p150hm back from repairs after the display failure I had a few weeks ago. The motherboard and GPU were replaced.

I just got to testing the machine by playing Battlefield 3 and I had a crash after around 1-2hours. I ran the game again this time monitoring my temps.

My temps with fan on max (sitting on a Zalman 2000 cooler, room temp ~22):

GPU: 87-96C
Core 0: 71C
Core 1:66C
Core 2:64C
Core 3: 58C

Would I be correct in saying these are extremely unhealthy temps?

I was dying to be over my application crashes I have had since I first purchased this laptop almost a year ago but I'm worried my nightmares are not over.

Any advice on what I can do and whether I should contact my reseller (whom I just got my laptop back from this week) again? My 1 year warranty expires in about a week, but do I get an additional warranty period following repairs?

Thanks and have a nice weekend.

 

Those kinds of temps are a clear indication of your thermal paste not working properly. Can you hear/feel the laptop's internal fans? Who is your reseller (they should not have returned a defective laptop to you).

You can't extend your warranty after 30 days of purchasing date.

Mr. Mysterious

 

@Mr. Mysterious Thanks for your reply

My reseller is Logical Blue One (as in my signature). I was told over the phone that it had been fixed, they switched out the motherboard and GPU and it is working. That phone call was last Friday, I got the laptop back on Tuesday (19/June) and I'm testing it for the first time (with an intensive application) today, Friday.

I can hear the fans loud and clear. When I turn them on max I can hear them chugging away; when I say chugging I mean its not a constant sound but rather fluctuates at a high level - the same sound it made when I first took it out of the box a year ago.

My idle temps seem fine though (with just firefox running):
GPU: 39-43C
Core 0: 49C
Core 1:44C
Core 2:43C
Core 3: 42C