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7970m hi guys I have clevo p150em, on board 7970m, win 10 and newest official drivers. Can`t oc by afterburner because sliders not moving forward (yes I disabled ulps, changed cfg file in afterburner for unnoficial mode etc. And always using ddu for uninstaling drivers, reinstaled few times) Which drivers I should install and ver. Of afterburner.
Contained Inside:
1. What is Clevo?
2. General Notes about Clevo Laptops
3. Clevo Laptops
4. How to Upgrade a Clevo laptop
5. Where to buy Clevo laptops
What is Clevo?
Clevo is an original design manufacturer (ODM) who creates shells of laptops (the chassis and the specifications). Clevo then sells these shells to other companies who then fill in these shells with components and sells them to us. Many companies such as Sager, a whole host of Clevo sellers, Origin, Falcon Northwest and pre-Dell Alienware use Clevo shells for their offerings. It may not be a name someone off the street would know, but many computer forums recommend their products for their power and their price efficiency. Here is a good but slightly outdated document that explains what Clevo is: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/592609-clevo-guide-v3-0-faq-reseller-info-read-before-posting.html .
General Notes about Clevo Laptops
- Clevo laptops are very value-oriented. To receive the same level of performance that one can find in Clevo models with another company you can expect to pay a significant amount more. This does not mean that the laptops are cheaply built. Many people have had their Clevo laptops for 3+ years.
- When people hear of the Clevo models that have replaceable CPUs/GPUs, they automatically assume that they will be able to buy the new chip 3 years down the line, put it in the laptop and essentially have a new laptop. This is NOT the case. While that is theoretically possible, newer CPUs and GPUs have different sockets. GPUs are currently MXM 3.0b, which hasn't changed for a while, but different Intel processors always need a new motherboard since the socket changes. If you only want to buy a Clevo because it can upgrade to a Haswell processor (Intel's next step after Ivy Bridge), don't do it.
- All Clevo models have Optimus technology for Nvidia GPUs or the AMD equivalent for AMD GPUs.
- The optical drive in Clevo models can be swapped out for another hard drive. This is how many people get 2 drives in their laptops. A external CD drive can be used with the laptop.
- Make sure that the machine you are ordering has Windows selected if you want it. Not everyone offers it in the base model.
- Expect most Clevo models to be around a size up from what their screen size suggests. What I mean by this is that my 15” P150EM will barely fit in a 15” case, I had to obtain a 17” case for it.
- The power bricks that are included with these laptops are really large. If you are reluctant to buy a laptop with a large power brick do not buy a Clevo model.
- I would not say that Clevo laptops have a level of construction similar to a Macbook Pro or some Thinkpads. Mine at least has minimal flex, but I still wouldn't put it on the same level.
- this as more.
Clevo Laptops
Clevo W150ER
This is the point where in my opinion you should start looking at Clevo offerings. This is a 15” laptop with 2 hard drive bays and an optical drive, but remember that this laptop is closer in size to a 17” model from another manufacturer. It isn't too heavy with a weight of 6.17lb (2.8 kg). The GPU on this model is again 650m, which is sufficient to run most games at medium to high settings at native resolution (1080p). This model has a single fan, is made with plastic, the GPU is not removable (it's soldered to the motherboard) and it has 2 RAM slots.
Clevo W170ER
This is a bigger version of the W150ER. It is essentially the same model as the 150ER but with a 17”screen size, 2 hard drive bays and an optical drive. It has a weight of 7.05lb (3.2kg).
Clevo W110ER
This is a small form factor laptop (11”) with the capability to hold only 1 hard drive, but it packs a significant punch and is the best small gaming laptop out right now (especially since the M11x series is MIA). It weighs 3.97lb (1.8kg). It has a single fan, a soldered Nvidia GT 650m and 2 RAM slots. It also has the ability to upgrade to quad-core CPUs, which is not something any other 11” laptop can do at the moment. It is made using plastic.
Clevo P151EM
This is a strong gaming laptop. It has a 15” screen but only 1 hard drive bay and an optical drive, as opposed to the 2 hard drive bays and an optical drive on the W150ER. It has a weight of 6.83lb (3.1kg). The GPU on this model is a 670m, which can run some games on ultra and most on high-ultra settings at 1080p. It has dual fans (one for the CPU and one for the GPU), as well as the ability to replace both the CPU and the GPU down the line, and is made using plastic.
Clevo P150EM
It is similar to the P151EM, but has the ability to upgrade to the GTX 675m/AMD 7970m graphics cards because of a larger power brick (180W vs 120W on the P151EM). It also has a backlit keyboard, which the P151EM does not have, and it has a rubberized finish as opposed to a plastic finish.
Clevo P170EM
This is similar to the P150EM, but it has a 17” screen, 2 hard drive bays and an optical drive, as well as some aluminum on the palmrest and an even bigger power supply (220W). It weighs 8.6lb (3.9kg).
Clevo P270WM
This is an upcoming model. It will contain a high end desktop processor, dual video card support, 3 hard drive bays and an optical drive, and an earth-shattering 30 minutes of battery life. It is not portable weighing in at around 12lb (5.4kg). This is quite literally a moveable desktop.
How to upgrade a Clevo laptop (and the ideas apply to most other laptops)
To do this I shall be going through the options available while configuring a P170EM on mythlogic (Mythlogic Pollux 1712) and factoring in a few differences from other laptops.
Screen
All of the Clevo models that I have laid out above (with the exception of the W110ER) come with 1080p screens. This is good.
One of the decisions that has to be made is whether to choose a glossy or a matte screen. Matte screens are sunlight-readable and non-reflective, while glossy screens have more vibrant colours but can act like mirrors and are not sunlight-readable. Consider your intended usage when choosing.
Another choice to make is the colour gamut of the screen that you are choosing. The colour gamut is expressed as a percentage of the NTSC colour gamut (which is a colour spectrum involving all the colours the eye can see). The higher the percentage the more colours the screen can show. To see all the colours in the Adobe spectrum, you require 72% NTSC.
It is worth noting that some people will see the differences and some can't. My mother can point out “look at that shade of blue” while I cannot see the difference when comparing it to another screen. Don't expect everything to be amazing. I will say that my 95% screen has a very nice colour saturation though.
Here is a nice post by mythlogic that shows the differences between the screens.
Colour Calibration
If you take colour calibration, the company you purchase from will use an external colour calibration device to calibrate your screen properly. I would not recommend that many people take this as a simple eye calibration is more than sufficient for most people, and people who need colour accuracy should ideally purchase their own calibration device since colour accuracy changes with room lighting etc...
CPU
Many people go for the largest number with CPUs. Don't.
A CPU performs millions of calculations per second and is the brain of your computer. Anyone doing large amounts of number crunching/calculations or people who are doing photo/video editing heavily should look for a powerful CPU, but games/everyday uses do not use the CPU heavily and most CPUs are sufficient for those purposes.
Ivy Bridge is the latest line of processors released by Intel. Ivy Bridge processors can be identified by the designation iY-3XXX(Q)M.
- The Y represents the lineup and can be either 3, 5 or 7. i7s are the premier CPUs, i5 the mainstream CPUs and i3 the budget CPUs.
- The “3” represents that a CPU is Ivy Bridge. If you see a “2”, it is an older Sandy Bridge processor that is running on older architecture (not the 22nm process in use right now).
- If the model number ends with only M (mobile), the CPU is a dual core model. If the model number ends in a QM (quad-core mobile), the CPU is a quad-core model. Quad-core models are much better for mutlitasking because you can have more threads running at once. All Intel iY models have hyperthreading, which means that each core can support 2 threads. This leaves the thread count on the i3s, i5s and i7 dual cores at 4 and the i7 quad cores at 8.
- Here is a great explanation by LordAlfredo about the differences between the Intel CPU lineups.
I would recommend that most people buying Clevo models opt for the i7-3610QM. It is sufficiently powerful for gaming/heavy multitasking and a large upgrade over the i5s on offer. An i5 model will not however limit your gaming/everyday capabilities, but it may be slower for power users. A 3610QM will also have good futureproofing capabilities.
For power users (people looking to do calculations or photo/video editing) I would go with a i7-3720QM. It is the best CPU in terms of price efficiency. Any higher would be a waste of money.
Thermal Compound
Upgrading the thermal compound to the IC Diamond can lower the temperatures of your laptop by up to 5 degrees. The upgrade is however rather expensive at most vendors.
If you feel comfortable enough to open your laptop and do the pasting yourself, go for it! It'll be much cheaper than having the store do it for you. If not, well, then consider the upgrade.
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