*** Official Clevo W230SS/Sager NP7338 Owner's Lounge ***

Would you say the w230ss is still good a good buy for 500usd in 2018?
My last machine was an aw 13 r3 with gtx1080 which I sold due to it's deceptively large footprint and high CPU issues exceeding 100%.
I know this system is a downgrade but it's nearly 1/3 the cost of my previous system plus despite both having 13" displays, the depth is significantly shorter. In fact, the aw was taller than most standard 15" systems.
I once owned the w230st with the 960m and had issues with trackpad issue. Sometimes one half of it would get unresponsive.
I've also heard the 860m can be overclocked safely to performance on par with a 970m.

 

You might be better off if you can find a machine with the Intel + Vega chip or the new Ryzen APUs in.

 

No, the 860m is inferior compared to something like a 1080ti desktop GPU for $200 which blows it away. You will struggle to play AAA titles.

I'm still using my W230SS but mostly as a torrent downloading machine, it really needs a windows reinstallation. I just started playing Diablo III but I haven't game on it much, I think I played Wolfenstein a few years ago, that was the last game.

The major limiting factor is the HDMI 1.4a port, which means I can't even do a soft upgrade by starting with a new WQHD monitor, I am stuck on 1080p. I don't really need a gaming laptop anymore, I use a Samsung TabPro S most of the time, it has an OLED screen so it is amazing for browsing and watching videos, even with a slow processor it still handles 30 chrome tabs, and has a touchscreen as well, I love it. That's why my Clevo has been neglected for the past year.

I was looking to replace the Clevo with a small desktop PC and the system worked out to be US$1000 including a screen, which is more than I want to spend right now: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/zan5hin/saved/#view=7mRsZL so in the meantime, I bought a secondhand PS4 Slim (my first ever console) and Last of Us Remastered and Horizon Zero Dawn, so will just start gaming on a PS4 because it's cheaper for now, and I want to try some of these exclusive titles. Between that and Diablo III, I will keep the Clevo for a while longer until I get a new job and the 11 series Nvidia GPUs come out and I can afford to go to 4K 144hz quantum dot gaming.

 

As long as it has no issue , Yes . I've been using it for 4 years straight . Still waiting for GDDR6 and DDR5 Ram

W230SS run hot though . You need to repaste it with Liquid Metal (Thermal Grizzy Conductonaut). If you don't , it will overheat within seconds

Not sure if it can be as fast as GTX 970M , I flashed a new bios on GTX 860M , it can play pretty much every single game out there at medium-high settings . Resolution may vary , somewhere between 900p and 1080p depending on the game , sometimes I have to use custom resolution : 1440x810 (via Intel Graphic Control Center) to be able to run game at high settings

 

Though I do agree that the HDMI 1.4a port is a little limiting given that your limited 4K 30hz. That spec HDMI port however, does in fact support WQHD just fine. I have used the laptop with that port for years on a 1440p monitor and it runs that resolution just fine. Mind you, at 60hz only. You might be using an older cable if you've tried it on that type of monitor before though.

 

My small machine can do my 1440p monitor at 60Hz with HDMI 1.4a.

 

So long, fellow W230SS guys—I sold it in December, and I purchased a Dell Precision 7530 with the specs listed in my signature. Twice as fast on the CPU front, nearly thrice as fast on the GPU. It was a good three and a half years with that machine, and my new Dells' keyboard is very reminiscent of that, except with a numpad, which is very welcome. I don't think I'll be going back to Clevo for a while, as I've got a killer warranty on this machine...

 

Almost 3 grand for that specs
And Intel 8 cores 16 threads CPU is coming ...soon

 

If it was December that was a while ago.

 

I was waiting for Volta/Turing/Ampere or whatever—I presumed that nVidia would release their consumer GPUs around April or June. Clearly I was wrong. I needed a notebook, so I got it. It's extremely fast and powerful, so it's good enough for me