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Clevo P150HM SSD compatibility?

T

tangoseal

[H]F Junkie
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Dec 18, 2010
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My question:

Anyone who owns a Clevo P150HM notebook i.e. Sager, Malibal, etc...

Can you tell me if you have had any issues with Samsung 830 SSD compatibility?

I am about to order a killer 15" with 6990m and going to put my own SSD in it because they are over the top expensive and they offer poopy SSD's.



Bonus question:
How hard is it to remove the CPU and GPU heatsinks in that model of notebook. I am not going to pay $40 to have them squirt $6 worth of IC7 Diamond on them when I can clearly do it if accessible.

Thanks
 
I own a Sager NP8170 that I purchased from Xoticpc. I can tell you for certain that both hard drive sata connections support sata III, 6gb/s. I installed a Patriot Pyro SE 240gb, to use as my primary drive, and consistently get sequential reads and writes over 500gb/s. I cant tell you for sure that you will have problems with Samsung SSD drives, but I would imagine that you wont have any issues. I was using a seagate momentus XT (hybrid drive) before I decided to make the plunge and the difference in full system performance is surprisingly massive. Also, the gpu and cpu fan and heatsink assemblies are very easy to get to. They are both accessible through a single plastic cover on the underside of the laptop. Keep in mind that although modifying and upgrading your NP8150 wont void your warranty, if you cause any damage it will not be covered by your manufacturers warranty. I paid the extra $40 to have them apply the thermal compound just in case I were to damage something. All of the other parts I upgraded myself. I hope you enjoy your new toy. My NP8170 is a beast of a machine.
 
Awesome. Great response. Thank you very much. Since yours and the one I am going to order are different models they are m9ade by the same company so that makes me comfortable thiking that end user engineering is going to be the same.

Mind if I ask what GPU you are running?

Thanks
 
Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM
17 inch FHD LED backlit glossy screen
i7 2760QM
AMD 6990M 2GB
16GB Kingston HyperX @ 1600mhz
240GB Patriot Pyro SE SSD
500GB WD Caviar Black HDD
Panasonic UJ-240 Blu Ray Burner
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
 
Also, I am quite certain that the NP8150 and the NP8170 are built with identical components aside from the size of the screen.

*edit*
A quick look at the manual for the NP8150 shows that it uses its own motherboard, the P150HM, but the physical layout of the laptop and all of the drive covers on the underside are arranged in the same pattern.
 
Last edited:
Thank for that awesome response as well. How do you like your 6990m? Is it a really fast card. I have looked at reviews, youtube video, etc... but peoples experience here is what carries weight and your recommendations are very very encouraged and super helpful.

I was thinking of getting the 2630QM as all I will do is game and do office work on it. Since games are mostly GPU anyways and there will be a 6990m in the machine will a 2630QM be able to feed the GPU well enough?

Do I honestly need to pay for a higher chip? I wont fold, crunch, compress, video convert, none of that stuff on the laptop as my signature rig is an absolute MONSTER for that stuff.

Thanks for the inputs and I am going to buy tomorrow based on a few more recommendations from the folks here.
 
Hey tangoseal,

Interesting thread & question you have here since I was thinking along the same lines.

I actually will have my brand new NP8150 delivered by XOTICPC on Wednesday and am very excited :D

Ordered stock, plus the following changes: 2670QM, 1920x1080 95% glare screen, 6990M, IC Thermal Compound on CPU/GPU, Remove Sager branding, Intel Advanced N wifi.

Considering adding 2x4GB sticks to the build as well as an SSD.

Will be putting up a review of it once it's in by around alte Wednesday (depending on when delivery is)
 
Gaiden133 said:
Hey tangoseal,

Interesting thread & question you have here since I was thinking along the same lines.

I actually will have my brand new NP8150 delivered by XOTICPC on Wednesday and am very excited :D

Ordered stock, plus the following changes: 2670QM, 1920x1080 95% glare screen, 6990M, IC Thermal Compound on CPU/GPU, Remove Sager branding, Intel Advanced N wifi.

Considering adding 2x4GB sticks to the build as well as an SSD.

Will be putting up a review of it once it's in by around alte Wednesday (depending on when delivery is)
Click to expand...

Awesome. Is there any particular reason why you went with the 2670QM over the not much slower 2630qm?
 
This 6990m is quite an amazing performer given its size restraints and power consumption. I chose to go with the 2760QM because memory support for 1600mhz only works on the 2760QM and higher. That being said, the 6990m will be the bottleneck for gaming, but only because size, weight, and heat have limits when installed in such a small enclosure, not because it is a weak performer. With such a huge difference in price between the 580m and 6990m, and from what I have seen the 580m only beats the 6990m by a small margin in certain games, with the 6990m coming out ahead in others, it would be a waste of money to go for the 580m. As for Gaiden133 going with the 2670QM rather than the 2630QM the upgrade is only $50. If you plan to use this strictly fo ar portable gaming solution then no you most likely wont see much, if at all, real world performance increase going with the 2670QM or the 2760QM over the 2630QM. I have tested the 6990m in several games and it performs amazingly. I only had to lower the settings down from max on a few games such as the witcher 2. The witcher 2 with all settings maxed, no ubersampling of course, at 1080p hovers around 30-35 but during a heavy battle scene it drops down into the mid 20's. I obtained a score of 4871 in PCMark07. The keyboard on this NP8170 is fantastic. The speaker system is a 5.1 with small subwoofer on the bottom of the system, but I am not very impressed with them. They dont quite get as loud as I would have liked and the subwoofer on a notebook is quite ridiculous. Also, the trackpad sucks pretty badly. It has a strange texture to it and is not comfortable to use for extended periods of time, but since I use an external wireless mouse about 99% of the time, which I assume you will also, its not a big issue to me.
 
These might interest you if you are planning to do some upgrades yourself. I took most these the week after I received the NP8170 and they show the location of the easily upgradeable components.

 
I ran a few tests on my Patriot Pyro SE 240gb SSD using Crystal diskmark. This is how they came out.


Default (random)


0 fill


1 fill
 
THose Patriot Pyro seem fast.

I was looking at Samsung 830 256GB for its really good random performance. I am not really focused on simple transfer speed as much as random access of files and higher IOPs performance.

I ordered my Sager NP8150 from Xotic today.

Decided on:
15" 95% NTSC Gamut Matte with dead pixel warranty - I CANT HAVE THOSE sigh ...
2670QM
8GB DDR3 1333 - 1600 not necessary for me, not going to try and bench the thing to death haha
6990m
No optical disc (have a nice usb blu-ray burner already)
Hard Drive caddy for optical disk to place the shipped 500GB 7200 that is coming with it for a general games and media storage.

I will install my own SSD, probably Sam 830 256GB, OS and other stuff.

I hope this notebook is worth the expense. From what Im told and from posters here it looks like it may be just that :p
 
tangoseal said:
THose Patriot Pyro seem fast.

I was looking at Samsung 830 256GB for its really good random performance. I am not really focused on simple transfer speed as much as random access of files and higher IOPs performance.

I ordered my Sager NP8150 from Xotic today.

Decided on:
15" 95% NTSC Gamut Matte with dead pixel warranty - I CANT HAVE THOSE sigh ...
2670QM
8GB DDR3 1333 - 1600 not necessary for me, not going to try and bench the thing to death haha
6990m
No optical disc (have a nice usb blu-ray burner already)
Hard Drive caddy for optical disk to place the shipped 500GB 7200 that is coming with it for a general games and media storage.

I will install my own SSD, probably Sam 830 256GB, OS and other stuff.

I hope this notebook is worth the expense. From what Im told and from posters here it looks like it may be just that :p
Click to expand...

Excellent. You will love it. :D
 
@MGDMN or anyone that owns a 8170/8150, whats that empty slot below the CPU cooler used for? is it a PCIe card slot? or mSata? just wondering, i just recieved my brothers 8130 and has that empty slot also, not sure what is that used for.
 
Abula said:
@MGDMN or anyone that owns a 8170/8150, whats that empty slot below the CPU cooler used for? is it a PCIe card slot? or mSata? just wondering, i just recieved my brothers 8130 and has that empty slot also, not sure what is that used for.
Click to expand...

I dont know that is a good question. It would be cool if it were so you could add a SSD there or something. You sure it is not just an extra RAM slot you are confusing? I dont know yet as well because I am waiting to receive my 8150 from Xotic late this next week or early the week after.
 
Abula said:
@MGDMN or anyone that owns a 8170/8150, whats that empty slot below the CPU cooler used for? is it a PCIe card slot? or mSata? just wondering, i just recieved my brothers 8130 and has that empty slot also, not sure what is that used for.
Click to expand...

That is a tv tuner card slot.
 
You can download the service manual from here if you want some more details about the components and where they are located.
 
Hey tangoseal, are you planning to run some benchmarks on your NP8150, after you get it up and running? I am quite interesting to see the performance of that samsung 830 SSD. I will keep an eye on this thread or if you dont mind just send me a PM. Appreciate it.
 
MGDMN said:
Also, I am quite certain that the NP8150 and the NP8170 are built with identical components aside from the size of the screen.

*edit*
A quick look at the manual for the NP8150 shows that it uses its own motherboard, the P150HM, but the physical layout of the laptop and all of the drive covers on the underside are arranged in the same pattern.
Click to expand...

How do you like the sound quality of the Sager? I've been eyeballing it for my next laptop. The price to performance ratio is better than anything else I've priced.
 
MagicMan84 said:
How do you like the sound quality of the Sager? I've been eyeballing it for my next laptop. The price to performance ratio is better than anything else I've priced.
Click to expand...
On my borthers 8130 the speakers are decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. The best sounding speakers on laptops imo are on the MSIs, but still dont expect the quality of sound you get from full sized speakers, but by far better than the average laptop. Regardless i really liked the build quality, performance, laid back design of the sager, and since the refresh of the new sagers are coming with backlit keyboards, my next laptop probably will be a sager.
 
MGDMN said:
Hey tangoseal, are you planning to run some benchmarks on your NP8150, after you get it up and running? I am quite interesting to see the performance of that samsung 830 SSD. I will keep an eye on this thread or if you dont mind just send me a PM. Appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Actually I ordered the Crucial M4. I went with absolute proven performance as I currently also own a 64GB M4 SSD and it clearly smokes my Sandforce 2200 powered Corsair 120GB Force 3 in random IO which is what counts. I seen so many mixed reviews on the Samsung vs. the Crucial that there was just too much compelling evidence that the M4 was the better choice for me, not downing the Samsung at all. It was clearly on equal grounds in nearly all testing I read about however M4 won me over because I am also a Crucial fanboy in the sense.

As far as the laptop is concerned - here is the good news:
laptoptracking


I will bench the heck out of this machine for people here and the help them make their decisions. I am going to place the M4 256GB on my Desktop and place the 120GB Corsair Force 3 in the lappy with the 500GB 7200 spinner in the optical bay.

I will however be testing the 120GB SSD and posting results here. I am also going to test the 256GB SSD in the laptop before installing into my desktop since it will be fast and easy to install a basic driver loaded copy of win7 Ultimate on the laptop for temporary IO testing. So you will get both! :)

I also opted for Intel 6230 wireless card which is a 2x2 with Bluetooth(a must have for me) instead of the 3x3 6300 ultimate (no BT) so network testing will not be performed via wireless. It wont be anything to gawk over anyways.

I appreciate the feedback and I definitely appreciate the P170 service manual. I was able to find the P150HM service manual applicable to my setup because of your helpful link.

Many thanks MG.
 
Ya no problem man. Glad I could help. As for the guys asking about the speaker quality. They are average I would say. They dont really get loud but they get loud enough. If you are using them in a fairly quiet room then you will have no problems being able to hear them. But if you are in a noisy room then they can get a little difficult to hear, depending on what your are trying to listen to. For the most part, they handle music just fine. Some video, especially on some youtube videos, are not very loud even with the volume at max. If your really concerned with the speaker volume then I would recommend buying a nice pair of headphones.
 
tangoseal said:
Actually I ordered the Crucial M4. I went with absolute proven performance as I currently also own a 64GB M4 SSD and it clearly smokes my Sandforce 2200 powered Corsair 120GB Force 3 in random IO which is what counts. I seen so many mixed reviews on the Samsung vs. the Crucial that there was just too much compelling evidence that the M4 was the better choice for me, not downing the Samsung at all. It was clearly on equal grounds in nearly all testing I read about however M4 won me over because I am also a Crucial fanboy in the sense.

As far as the laptop is concerned - here is the good news:
laptoptracking


I will bench the heck out of this machine for people here and the help them make their decisions. I am going to place the M4 256GB on my Desktop and place the 120GB Corsair Force 3 in the lappy with the 500GB 7200 spinner in the optical bay.

I will however be testing the 120GB SSD and posting results here. I am also going to test the 256GB SSD in the laptop before installing into my desktop since it will be fast and easy to install a basic driver loaded copy of win7 Ultimate on the laptop for temporary IO testing. So you will get both! :)

I also opted for Intel 6230 wireless card which is a 2x2 with Bluetooth(a must have for me) instead of the 3x3 6300 ultimate (no BT) so network testing will not be performed via wireless. It wont be anything to gawk over anyways.

I appreciate the feedback and I definitely appreciate the P170 service manual. I was able to find the P150HM service manual applicable to my setup because of your helpful link.

Many thanks MG.
Click to expand...

Good choice, I just installed an M4 128gb in my p150hm and couldn't be happier! Also glad to see you're installing it in the primary bay, I tried both and it actually made a noticeable difference on file transfers!
 
lttletimmy said:
Good choice, I just installed an M4 128gb in my p150hm and couldn't be happier! Also glad to see you're installing it in the primary bay, I tried both and it actually made a noticeable difference on file transfers!
Click to expand...

Yeah the Primary according to the service manual is Sata III and the secondary(optical) is Sata II. That is prtobably to lower cost and make the laptop more appealing to more people.

I've actually enjoyerd the performance of the M4 256 so much in the two days I have had it I decided to install it to my signature RIG as it is more deserving of its blistering speed. I have decided to install my 120GB Corsair Force 3 in my laptop. Either way they are both quick drives, one on random and the other on brute sequential speed.
 
tangoseal said:
Yeah the Primary according to the service manual is Sata III and the secondary(optical) is Sata II. That is prtobably to lower cost and make the laptop more appealing to more people.

I've actually enjoyerd the performance of the M4 256 so much in the two days I have had it I decided to install it to my signature RIG as it is more deserving of its blistering speed. I have decided to install my 120GB Corsair Force 3 in my laptop. Either way they are both quick drives, one on random and the other on brute sequential speed.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it, My laptop SSD is my first experience with one and I can never go back. My desktop rig is pretty decently powered, but now it feels like it takes an eternity to boot up! It's going to be hard for me to wait a year or two before I do a new build, as I'm determined to hold off until then to do any upgrading on my current system.
 
lttletimmy said:
Glad to hear it, My laptop SSD is my first experience with one and I can never go back. My desktop rig is pretty decently powered, but now it feels like it takes an eternity to boot up! It's going to be hard for me to wait a year or two before I do a new build, as I'm determined to hold off until then to do any upgrading on my current system.
Click to expand...

We all know what thats like. Between my wife and kids and my computer obsession, I never have any extra money. 2 years is WAY too long for me to wait. I have gone through about 5 or 6 systems this year alone. The whole experience of researching, buying, upgrading and ultimately reselling, to start the cycle over again, is as enjoyable to me as using the systems for gaming or whatever else I originally intended it to be used for. I guess most of us can relate to each other considering how much time we spend here on the forums. Having a hobby isnt a bad thing I suppose.
 
Okay here is an update, little one but one non the less.

The laptop is amazing. It feels as fast as my 2500K at stock clocks. I love having a quad core laptop with hyperthreading and lots of cache.

Right now I just discovered that on the NP8150P when you install a hard drive in the optical disc bay both ports revert to Sata II so an SSD test at these speeds will not really matter much.

What I am going to do is wait for a trade I am working on and get a second 256GB M4 and put that in the primary bay and remove my 120GB corsair force 3 then I will bench the M4 with the laptops native SATA III speeds. I decided to install the M4 256GB that I have recently received in my sig rig below since I was always in the red with a 64GB M4 in there previously.

Now I will have a 120GB Force 3 for sale soon if anyone wants just wait for me to post it up in the FS/FT forum.

Stand by a little longer and I will do a slew of benches on the laptop. Right now they are all Sata II so not that impressive.
 
rysher said:
any timeframe on when the backlit kb is coming out?
Click to expand...
The refresh of the NP8150/NP8170 should have backlit keyboards according to the resellers, should be out between march and april, probably more around intels ivy bridge release.
 
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