# Acer 3830/4830/5830 thread of awesome.



## killeraxemannic

Any stores cary them? I don't want to wait for mine!


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## reflex99

FRY'S does by me.

If you can find someone with an Amazon prime account, they can get overnight for $4 i think. That's how i got mine, a friend overnighted it to me with his prime accnt.


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## hengster

I just bought 3830TG / i7 2620m / GT540m 2g..









have tons of question to ask.. noob with laptops.. this is my first laptop.. i bought it bcos im a multimedia student.. need a laptop to bring to school









looking at the throttle stop software now


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hengster;14612573*
> I just bought 3830TG / i7 2620m / GT540m 2g..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> have tons of question to ask.. noob with laptops.. this is my first laptop.. i bought it bcos im a multimedia student.. need a laptop to bring to school
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> looking at the throttle stop software now


Where did you find that? I was looking for the faster one and could not find it


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## hengster

oh.. im from singapore.. i bought it from a local university notebook fair...


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## redwarrior191

guys..i'm about to buy this laptop, but i have a question..will AMD APUs perform better in games than the acer?? or will the acer be better? here are my other choices:

Choice 2
Ideapad Z575
A6-3400M Fusion Quad-Core Processor (1.4GHz, up to 2.3GHz / 4M Cache)
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
1 x 2GB + 1 x 2GB (third party, separately distributed) DDR3 1333MHz / No Free Slots
750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
15.6" HD Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
AMD Radeon™ HD6520G in processor + AMD Radeon™ HD6650M (1GB Dedicated) (Dual Graphics)

Choice 3
AMD A-Series Quad-Core Processor A8-3500M (1.5 GHz base, up to 2.4GHz / 4MB L2 Cache)
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
2 x 2GB DDR3 1066MHz / No Free Slots
750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
15.6" Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB Dedicated)


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14627587*
> guys..i'm about to buy this laptop, but i have a question..will AMD APUs perform better in games than the acer?? or will the acer be better? here are my other choices:
> 
> Choice 2
> Ideapad Z575
> A6-3400M Fusion Quad-Core Processor (1.4GHz, up to 2.3GHz / 4M Cache)
> Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
> 1 x 2GB + 1 x 2GB (third party, separately distributed) DDR3 1333MHz / No Free Slots
> 750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
> 15.6" HD Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
> AMD Radeon™ HD6520G in processor + AMD Radeon™ HD6650M (1GB Dedicated) (Dual Graphics)
> 
> Choice 3
> AMD A-Series Quad-Core Processor A8-3500M (1.5 GHz base, up to 2.4GHz / 4MB L2 Cache)
> Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
> 2 x 2GB DDR3 1066MHz / No Free Slots
> 750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
> 15.6" Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
> AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB Dedicated)


The GPU in the TimelineX is around 6% faster than the 6650 which is in the A8


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## redwarrior191

but, will the processor GPU in the APU give an advantage over the 540m (the asymmetrical crossfire thing??)???


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14627987*
> but, will the processor GPU in the APU give an advantage over the 540m (the asymmetrical crossfire thing??)???


No. The processor in the A8 even though its a Quad core is slower in benchmarks than the i5 2410 which is a quad threaded dual core. TimelineX The Crossfire thing is irrelevant in laptops anyway. It only apples to desktops which have a discrete graphics card.


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## Rookie1337

Any of you guys gaming with these? I'm curious if the horror stories are true. I've heard a lot about (mostly the TimelineX ones) having major heating issues. I figured they wouldn't be great gaming machines but it makes me wonder how the thing handles even basic HD video.


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## killeraxemannic

Well you can add me to the club! Ordered mine this morning with overnight shipping!

3830TG i5 2410, 540 1GB


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## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14627587*
> guys..i'm about to buy this laptop, but i have a question..will AMD APUs perform better in games than the acer?? or will the acer be better? here are my other choices:
> 
> Choice 2
> Ideapad Z575
> A6-3400M Fusion Quad-Core Processor (1.4GHz, up to 2.3GHz / 4M Cache)
> Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
> 1 x 2GB + 1 x 2GB (third party, separately distributed) DDR3 1333MHz / No Free Slots
> 750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
> 15.6" HD Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
> AMD Radeon™ HD6520G in processor + AMD Radeon™ HD6650M (1GB Dedicated) (Dual Graphics)
> 
> Choice 3
> AMD A-Series Quad-Core Processor A8-3500M (1.5 GHz base, up to 2.4GHz / 4MB L2 Cache)
> Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
> 2 x 2GB DDR3 1066MHz / No Free Slots
> 750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
> 15.6" Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
> AMD Radeon™ HD 6650M (1GB Dedicated)


The thing you need to remember with the TLX. It is only 1" thick. Yes, there are better performing laptops for the money, but they are much bulkier. You pay a bit of a premium for the size.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14627987*
> but, will the processor GPU in the APU give an advantage over the 540m (the asymmetrical crossfire thing??)???


The APU+ dGPU will probably be faster than the 540m, but the i5 2410 is MUCH faster in gaming and most applications than the APU CPU.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Rookie1337;14628615*
> Any of you guys gaming with these? I'm curious if the horror stories are true. I've heard a lot about (mostly the TimelineX ones) having major heating issues. I figured they wouldn't be great gaming machines but it makes me wonder how the thing handles even basic HD video.


Games fine, thermal threshold is about 100c, so as long as you keep it under that, you are fine. I'm still writing it, but if you follow all the steps in the (soon to be) guide in the OP, you can prevent most thermal issues.

and HD videos uses the igp, so yea....not much heat there.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14629771*
> Well you can add me to the club! Ordered mine this morning with overnight shipping!
> 
> 3830TG i5 2410, 540 1GB


yay


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## reflex99

added a section about the mesh vents to the Thermal management section

also added info about the battery


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## Wincet

Add me to the list I have an i5/540 1gb version.

I just got done trying to figure out why my laptop would only use the IGP no matter what program was running. Turns out that when I got the new drivers from laptopvideo2go I didn't overwrite the default INF file correctly. Some drivers don't even let you install if you don't do it correctly, but I guess for these it just disables the 540m







.

Now my only remaining problem is possibly my battery wear. It hovers around 8-10% and I have the Panasonic battery. The heat has not been an issue for me after using throttlestop. I haven't removed the mesh yet or reapplied thermal paste although I'll probably remove the mesh soon.


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## reflex99

^assuming 3830?

it seems like 13.3 is the most popular size.


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## Wincet

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14631043*
> ^assuming 3830?
> 
> it seems like 13.3 is the most popular size.


Yeah it's a 3830


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## hengster

ah i just tried playing BFBC2 on my laptop and the temp hit 98C!! im currently using a cheap old 3 fan laptop cooler..

i didnt change any settings for my laptop.. never use throttle stop also..

didnt remove the wire mesh also.. bcos there a sticker on that states "warranty void if tear" directly on the screw..


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## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hengster;14641512*
> ah i just tried playing BFBC2 on my laptop and the temp hit 98C!! im currently using a cheap old 3 fan laptop cooler..
> 
> i didnt change any settings for my laptop.. never use throttle stop also..
> 
> didnt remove the wire mesh also.. bcos there a sticker on that states "warranty void if tear" directly on the screw..


1. use throttle stop, it is a god.

2. what screw?

BC2 gets pretty warm for me to. The CPU will sometimes get into the like 95 range. But, i dont have a laptop cooler yet.


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## killeraxemannic

Just got mine today!!! I am posting this message from it! Its a sweet laptop!! Great size and seems like its made pretty well! Will be playing some games later!!. I also like the feel of the chicklet keys on the keyboard!!! Its actually better than my macbook I have for work


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## chris.b

First post..

Got the 3830T for a few days now, i actually didnt do any research before buying it i saw it in a retail store and just bought it i guess i was lucky because it seems like a great little device... Long gone are the headaches from using a 10inch eee pc..

Considering about changing the hd to an ssd but i am not sure if its needed as i will only use this machine for internet browsing, movies when travelling and emails.


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *chris.b;14645505*
> First post..
> 
> Got the 3830T for a few days now, i actually didnt do any research before buying it i saw it in a retail store and just bought it i guess i was lucky because it seems like a great little device... Long gone are the headaches from using a 10inch eee pc..
> 
> Considering about changing the hd to an ssd but i am not sure if its needed as i will only use this machine for internet browsing, movies when travelling and emails.


I am gonna throw one in mine if I can find one cheap enough.


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## hengster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14642324*
> 1. use throttle stop, it is a god.
> 
> 2. what screw?
> 
> BC2 gets pretty warm for me to. The CPU will sometimes get into the like 95 range. But, i dont have a laptop cooler yet.


i dont understand how throttlestop works.. need to read more first =/

oh the screw on the bottom of the laptop.. holding the base cover.. need to remove the cover in order to remove the wire like mesh that is restricting the air flow..?

im going to buy a laptop cooler.. looking at Coolermaster U2.. any gd recommendations?

btw.. when running BC2.. what settings are you on?


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## reflex99

cooler master U2 is good.

BC2 is like a mix of mostly medium and some low.

It must be a region based thing, as there is no sticker like that on mine.


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## killeraxemannic

I have a question for you guys.... How do you set the default GPU on wall power? I have an issue where when I play games that don't support the intel HD video chipset like magicka for example I have to go in and manually set the Nvidia GPU to default so that it will see the Nvidia GPU and not the intel one.

Is there a way around this?


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## reflex99

not that i know of.


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## Syjeklye

how are yall's battery life when not gaming?


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## reflex99

haven't tested it yet

but Batterycare reports about 6-7hrs


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## chris.b

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Syjeklye;14650030*
> how are yall's battery life when not gaming?


I get around 7-8 hours but i got the 3830t and i dont do anything more than web-browsing and emails on it.


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## killeraxemannic

Reflex I noticed in the specs on the OP you said that it has HynX ram.... I just checked and mine is kingston!


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## killeraxemannic

Also just pulled the mesh off of mine and noticed a 3deg C drop on the hottest core in BFBC2


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## reflex99

mine indeed does have kingston branded ICs.

I pulled the specs from the NBC review.

and mesh is stupid


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14655964*
> mine indeed does have kingston branded ICs.
> 
> I pulled the specs from the NBC review.
> 
> and mesh is stupid


Whats the mesh's purpose any ways? Its too big to block dust and there are already grills over the holes to prevent foreign objects going into the laptop so why is it there?


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## reflex99

it acutally prevents a lot more dust and hair from getting in.

It gets pretty nasty faster for me since i have a cat


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14658229*
> it acutally prevents a lot more dust and hair from getting in.
> 
> It gets pretty nasty faster for me since i have a cat


I guess I will just have to clean it often then!


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## reflex99

yep, pretty much.


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## killeraxemannic

I ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound for mine and I will be re pasting mine in a few days. Will post some pictures up!


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## redwarrior191

could anyone post any temperature improvements before and after doing those mods (redoing thermal paste and removeing mesh).. i want to know which one is more effective..


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14680105*
> could anyone post any temperature improvements before and after doing those mods (redoing thermal paste and removeing mesh).. i want to know which one is more effective..


I have done both so far.... My tests were bad company 2 after 10 minutes without throttlestop.

Stock: Core 1: 88 Core 2: 90

No Mesh: Core 1: 86 Core 2: 87

No Mesh+ OCZ Freeze paste: Core 1: 84 Core 2: 85

I am not happy with the results of OCZ Freeze and have ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound for mine as well as the Cooler master laptop cooler that was recommended by the OP. I will post my results after I do the new new paste and have the cooler.

I am hoping that the IC Diamond is better. The OCZ is what I had laying around because that's what my local PC shop caries.


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## cdoublejj

does a 5920G count?


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## reflex99

That is not really the point of this thread...no

EDIT: however, that is a beast of a laptop as it uses MXM based GPUs


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## redwarrior191

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14680339*
> I have done both so far.... My tests were bad company 2 after 10 minutes without throttlestop.
> 
> Stock: Core 1: 88 Core 2: 90
> 
> No Mesh: Core 1: 86 Core 2: 87
> 
> No Mesh+ OCZ Freeze paste: Core 1: 84 Core 2: 85
> 
> I am not happy with the results of OCZ Freeze and have ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound for mine as well as the Cooler master laptop cooler that was recommended by the OP. I will post my results after I do the new new paste and have the cooler.
> 
> I am hoping that the IC Diamond is better. The OCZ is what I had laying around because that's what my local PC shop caries.


thanks..looking forward to your IC Diamond results then.. btw, you said those results are without throttlestop, so it doesn't throttle anymore under 90 degrees??


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14682072*
> thanks..looking forward to your IC Diamond results then.. btw, you said those results are without throttlestop, so it doesn't throttle anymore under 90 degrees??


Mine starts throttling at 85 Deg. As soon as one core hits 85 it will throttle down to 1.1 ghz. That is the lowest it will go. If it gets hotter than 85 deg at 1.1ghz it doesn't seem to do anything.


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## killeraxemannic

BTW does anyone's keyboard and speaker grill not lay flat? Mine seems to have a concave in the center and have a rise underneath the 3 key. I thought it might get fixed when I took it apart but it did not. I am going to pay more attention to what is under there when I pull it apart again in a few days for the IC Diamond.


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## redwarrior191

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14684269*
> Mine starts throttling at 85 Deg. As soon as one core hits 85 it will throttle down to 1.1 ghz. That is the lowest it will go. If it gets hotter than 85 deg at 1.1ghz it doesn't seem to do anything.


oh..i see, then i hope the IC thermal could bring the temperature down and completely removes throttling.. looking forward to your results..


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14685932*
> oh..i see, then i hope the IC thermal could bring the temperature down and completely removes throttling.. looking forward to your results..


I would guess that while the IC Diamond compound will help I doubt it will completely get rid of the throttling. I am guessing that the Cooling pad + the new paste will get rid of the throttling.

The heatsync is much too small to cool the GPU and CPU properly at the same time. It is a single fan with 2 heatpipes.

Strangely enough when you stress test just the CPU itself with prime 95 it barely gets above 75 Deg with full turbo core.

Its the combination of cooling the GPU and the CPU at the same time that overloads the heatsync. You can play games all day on the intel integrated graphics and never experience throttling. The throttling and CPU overheating takes place as soon as the Nvidia GPU is switched on.


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## Kai-

Quick question (or two);

What SSD comes with this laptop? I'm guessing it's an OEM of some kind, but is it good?


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Kai-;14697574*
> Quick question (or two);
> 
> What SSD comes with this laptop? I'm guessing it's an OEM of some kind, but is it good?


Mine came with a Segate 500GB HDD but if I had to guess I would say it would be either Kingston or Samsung..

Kingston because they are using Kingston ram in them and may stick with one brand, or Samsung because they do the majority of the OEM SSD's

Either of them would be good quality.


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## killeraxemannic

Well I saw the horror stories about the bad wear on panasonic batteries.... And sure enough after I checked mine it was showing %22 wear in the first week

























I called up acer and explained to their support that the battery was bad and showing excessive wear, and that I knew that there were 2 models... Panasonic and Sanyo. I told them that I had experience taking apart many laptops and that I could replace it myself... and sure enough they overnighted me a new Sanyo battery and gave me the go ahead for my own repair!!! Talked to acer at 10AM 8/22 and got my new battery today 8/24. I will be installing it when I do the IC Diamond thermal paste again! They did not ask for the old battery back either!


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## reflex99

I think i mentioned this phenomena like 5 times already.

Glad it worked for you too.


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## cdoublejj

are there any good minipci minipcie laptop SSDs out there? also any where i can find picture of this heat sink on it on the board in the laptop? we fix this kind of stuff at work finding ways to improve apon the design with as little modification/work needed. thought it might be interesting to give this a littl pondering the whole gpu/cpu over heating thing.


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cdoublejj;14705018*
> are there any good minipci minipcie laptop SSDs out there? also any where i can find picture of this heat sink on it on the board in the laptop? we fix this kind of stuff at work finding ways to improve apon the design with as little modification/work needed. thought it might be interesting to give this a littl pondering the whole gpu/cpu over heating thing.


I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking about getting some thin heatsyncs for ram or something and sticking them around the edges of the GPU and filing them down to fit under the cover


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## cdoublejj

hhmhm plastic isn't a good heat conductor but neither are thermal pads. you could cover the heat pipes with thermal pads to conduct heat through the laptop case. just an idea of the top of my head.

certainly doesn't appear to be lack of air intake some laptops/consoles. hhmmm, maybe if there is a way get shallow heat sink like that fora north bridge no more than an 8th of an inch thing and maybe cute square in the plastic to make room for it stick out some, almost even with the plastic on the out side of the laptop.

whats the outer cover that covers the cpu gpu side of the laptop look like? wait don't tell me the cpu and gpu face the keyboard?

Edit: don't forget the back side of the gpu on the other side of the motherboard, thermal pad and or heat sink that too if possible that will for sure help. GPUs don't get hot on just one side.


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## rcm_rx7

Just wanted to mention that I've been using a Cooler Master X2 laptop cooler for the past couple of days while playing BFBC2. It's allowed me to up my multiplier to 18X using throttlestop and my temps are about 10 degrees lower than before while using a 14X multiplier.

Keep in mind I game on the couch with my 3830tg on my lap.


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rcm_rx7;14709650*
> Just wanted to mention that I've been using a Cooler Master X2 laptop cooler for the past couple of days while playing BFBC2. It's allowed me to up my multiplier to 18X using throttlestop and my temps are about 10 degrees lower than before while using a 14X multiplier.
> 
> Keep in mind I game on the couch with my 3830tg on my lap.


With the mods I have done (Thermal paste, and bottom mesh removal) I can set the multi to 19 and play bad company 2 without a cooler. The CPU never gets over 92 Deg. I know that is pretty hot but its 8 Deg cooler than the max temp


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## rcm_rx7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14710213*
> With the mods I have done (Thermal paste, and bottom mesh removal) I can set the multi to 19 and play bad company 2 without a cooler. The CPU never gets over 92 Deg. I know that is pretty hot but its 8 Deg cooler than the max temp


I removed the mesh a few days ago, it seemed to help as well. I'm holding out on repasting, I really don't feel like taking everything apart quite yet. I'm content with my results so far. What kind of thermal paste did you use?


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## dude120

I hope its not a stupid question, but I am looking at these series of laptops and another ACER with a 2630QM as viable options. How well do these laptops game, considering they have the 540m GPU? And are heat problems more prevalent in ACER laptops in general or just in the timelineX because of the form factor?


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dude120;14711448*
> I hope its not a stupid question, but I am looking at these series of laptops and another ACER with a 2630QM as viable options. How well do these laptops game, considering they have the 540m GPU? And are heat problems more prevalent in ACER laptops in general or just in the timelineX because of the form factor?


These laptops game fairly well if you do a few mods to them to get the temps down as well as run a program to set the CPU to stay around 1.8ghz while gaming. Most games play well at medium settings including BFBC2. The 540M in comparison to a desktop graphics card would benchmark pretty close to a 9800GTX+

Here is a good list of benchmarks.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html

The timelines are heat prone because of the form factor. They have packed a ton of power in a little package and they can only put on a single fan with a dual heatpipe configuration. I honestly think it was done pretty well considering how much power they are cooling with a small single fan heatpipe!!!


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rcm_rx7;14711280*
> I removed the mesh a few days ago, it seemed to help as well. I'm holding out on repasting, I really don't feel like taking everything apart quite yet. I'm content with my results so far. What kind of thermal paste did you use?


I used OCZ Freeze this time because it was all I had. I do not recommend it. I ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound which I will be putting on as soon as I get it. I would expect that to cool it down a few degrees!!!


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## dude120

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14711534*
> These laptops game fairly well if you do a few mods to them to get the temps down as well as run a program to set the CPU to stay around 1.8ghz while gaming. Most games play well at medium settings including BFBC2. The 540M in comparison to a desktop graphics card would benchmark pretty close to a 9800GTX+
> 
> Here is a good list of benchmarks.
> http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html
> 
> The timelines are heat prone because of the form factor. They have packed a ton of power in a little package and they can only put on a single fan with a dual heatpipe configuration. I honestly think it was done pretty well considering how much power they are cooling with a small single fan heatpipe!!!


Thanks for the quick response!








How manageable are the TimelineX series of laptops in terms of size? (like carrying around and such) I keep going back of forth on what to get, because I am trying to go for raw power in as small of a form factor as possible. I'm hoping this will be a good choice if I decide against the timelineX, however, I'm going to look more at this series of laptops. The only other thing I am curious about is how the keyboard is on the timelineX ?


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## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dude120;14711657*
> Thanks for the quick response!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How manageable are the TimelineX series of laptops in terms of size? (like carrying around and such) I keep going back of forth on what to get, because I am trying to go for raw power in as small of a form factor as possible. I'm hoping this will be a good choice if I decide against the timelineX, however, I'm going to look more at this series of laptops. The only other thing I am curious about is how the keyboard is on the timelineX ?


Well in terms of size and manageability I find it very similar to my netbook. It fits in the same size case and it's just as easy to carry around and keep with me at work and when I go out.

I really like the keyboard a lot actually. It feels better to type on than my 2007 macbook I have for work and its a lot better than my netbook keyboard.

The only issue I have with the keyboard is it does not lay completely flat. There is a slight raise under the 2 key on mine. Its more of a looks thing though because you cant feel it when your typing on it.


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## rcm_rx7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14711542*
> I used OCZ Freeze this time because it was all I had. I do not recommend it. I ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound which I will be putting on as soon as I get it. I would expect that to cool it down a few degrees!!!


Can't wait to see the results on that. If you are able to get it down a few more degrees with IC diamond then I doubt I'll be able to hold out on the repasting.

Does anyone know if it's possible to undervolt the CPU or GPU in these? I've done that on other laptops to bring down temps and had no performance hits.


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## cdoublejj

i don't think it's likely it needs a better mod and the best way is to increase the cooling capacity. you know at work we work on nvidia laptops all the time usually we replace the thermal pads on the gpu with a copper slug this isn't the case it's not enough heat sink to cover both CPU and GPU i may give you a warning, a lot of hot running nvidia laptops wind up needing a reflow some time later in their life.

how ever if there is a way to increase the cooling with some small heat sinks or metal plates and thermal pads i don't think that would be the case.


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## Subayai

so the timeline v3's only have one fan?







the v2 has two fans... the v1 I think only had one but they only came with low voltage core 2 and igp. I have a 3820 btw, i5-430 and a ati 5470.


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## killeraxemannic

Ok well I got my IC Diamond thermal paste and got it installed. I noticed only a few degrees cooler temps than the previous OCZ Freeze that I had tried. But with the combination of the new thermal paste, Mesh removal, and a laptop cooler I was able to completely eliminate the throttling problem. This means that the CPU stays below 85 deg and stays at full turbo core.

I recently played BFBC2 with the laptop on the cooling pad and was able to play a full round of BFBC2 without any sign of throttling. I would say if you do these mods to be sure I would still run throttlestop and set the CPU at 2.2 Ghz. This should keep you well below 85C and let you play all day!! Turns out this little guy can be a gaming champ if you work with it a little bit!


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## reflex99

told ya it was possible!


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## redwarrior191

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14746961*
> Ok well I got my IC Diamond thermal paste and got it installed. I noticed only a few degrees cooler temps than the previous OCZ Freeze that I had tried. But with the combination of the new thermal paste, Mesh removal, and a laptop cooler I was able to completely eliminate the throttling problem. This means that the CPU stays below 85 deg and stays at full turbo core.
> 
> I recently played BFBC2 with the laptop on the cooling pad and was able to play a full round of BFBC2 without any sign of throttling. I would say if you do these mods to be sure I would still run throttlestop and set the CPU at 2.2 Ghz. This should keep you well below 85C and let you play all day!! Turns out this little guy can be a gaming champ if you work with it a little bit!


so when you tested it with BFBC2..did you test it with throttlestop running or not?? i'm wondering how long would it run in full turbo core before throttling again.. nevertheless, it's still a great news.. when my 4830tg comes next week i'll certainly do the mod..


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14748647*
> so when you tested it with BFBC2..did you test it with throttlestop running or not?? i'm wondering how long would it run in full turbo core before throttling again.. nevertheless, it's still a great news.. when my 4830tg comes next week i'll certainly do the mod..


I was able to play a full match of BC2 with throttlestop not running without any sign of throttling. It was hanging around 83 deg and it starts throttling at 85. I am not sure if after a while (hour or so) it would finally creep up to 85, but for now I did not see that happen at all!


----------



## killeraxemannic

Here are some tear down pics if anyone is interested


----------



## brettjv

Thanks for all the info guys, think I'm going to pick one up tomorrow.

So ... nobody's gotten it to not throttle w/o a laptop cooler and/or lowering the multi, even after removing mesh and repasting? That's a bit of a bummer, but I can probably live w/that.

How exactly does the Turbo work on these chips? I'm assuming you can get the 2.3 on all four cores, right? But then under what circumstances do you get the advertised 2.9GHz turbo mode?

Does the bios have any proc-manipulation options at all? I'm sure you can't undervolt (is there an app that can do that?), but can you at least turn off cores and/or HT via BIOS? If you do, what happens with the turbo situation? I'd guess that it could ramp up to 2.9GHz if only one core + HT (2 threads) was enabled, is that right?

Probably for BFBC2 you'd rather have lower clock and all 4 threads, but there's a lot of other games where I'd think one might prefer the highest clocks and only two threads ... so I'm wondering if there's any way to 'force' that behavior?

Could maybe running 1 core/2 threads, along w/repaste and mesh job, possibly shave temps down enough that you don't need cooler or throttling software?

How hard is repasting? Is voiding warranty inevitable if you do (i.e. are you breaking seals to do it)?

Any chance the fan could be replaced w/more powerful model?

Any chance that switching to SSD might lower the temps on the CPU/GPU ... how close are they together?

I have ... so many questions









Edit: Based on what y'all are saying, it seems like they really tried to just pack a little too much power into too small of a form factor with this laptop. Bad engineering from Acer? Shocking, really









That's a bit of a shame though, kinda soured my excitement about the unit. Hopefully they come out w/a bios that allows enough flexibility with how you run the processor that one can get this thing to be able successfully game w/o having to resort to throttlestop and laptop coolers. That would sure make this unit more attractive ... although I think I'll buy one anyway cause I don't see anything else that competes with it considering price and size.

I was seriously looking at the $449.99 Asus with the AMD quad with the 6650 + integrated gpu that does crossfire ... in fact I tried calling 3 Best Buys, but none of them have any and don't know when they'll have more. + that thing is quite a bit heavier and I'm not really wanting a 15.6" screen that's only the same res as the one on the Acer. Plus it's not NEARLY as sexy as the 3830









But if I'd found one I'd probably have gone w/that one just because the 6650 is so close to the 540m (+ it does that xfire thingie with the built-in gfx chip, making it even faster), and I'm betting the lower-clocked quad AMD and larger casing makes for a machine that doesn't overheat like this one does. But alas, I don't see being able to get my hands on one of those, so ... 3830 I think it will be, warts and all.

Also ... anyone gamed anything ELSE besides BFBC2? Something that's less cpu-demanding? Do you still get the throttling on dual-core games?


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14793750*
> Thanks for all the info guys, think I'm going to pick one up tomorrow.
> 
> So ... nobody's gotten it to not throttle w/o a laptop cooler and/or lowering the multi, even after removing mesh and repasting? That's a bit of a bummer, but I can probably live w/that.


axe boy up above got it to not throttle, at full turbo speeds, but he uses a cooler
Quote:


> How exactly does the Turbo work on these chips? I'm assuming you can get the 2.3 on all four cores, right? But then under what circumstances do you get the advertised 2.9GHz turbo mode?


2.9 is achieved when temps are under 85c and only one core is loaded

you get different turbo multi's when 2 cores are loaded.
Quote:


> Does the bios have any proc-manipulation options at all? I'm sure you can't undervolt (is there an app that can do that?), but can you at least turn off cores and/or HT via BIOS? If you do, what happens with the turbo situation? I'd guess that it could ramp up to 2.9GHz if only one core + HT (2 threads) was enabled, is that right?


bios is dead to me......nuff said

It automatically scales voltage with speed, so when you limit the multi it limits the vcore as well
Quote:


> Probably for BFBC2 you'd rather have lower clock and all 4 threads, but there's a lot of other games where I'd think one might prefer the highest clocks and only two threads ... so I'm wondering if there's any way to 'force' that behavior?
> 
> Could maybe running 1 core/2 threads, along w/repaste and mesh job, possibly shave temps down enough that you don't need cooler or throttling software?


there is no way to disable cores or HT other than swapping out the proc for an i3. (proc is upgrade/downgradeable)
Quote:


> How hard is repasting? Is voiding warranty inevitable if you do (i.e. are you breaking seals to do it)?


I don't think you have to break any seals. Appearently the south east asia version has a sticker over the main screw, but the US version does not

Technically you void the warranty, but as with most PC parts, ACer will probably not ever notice
Quote:


> Any chance the fan could be replaced w/more powerful model?


unlikely, it isnt exactly a standard size. This is what cooling pads are for
Quote:


> Any chance that switching to SSD might lower the temps on the CPU/GPU ... how close are they together?
> 
> I have ... so many questions


depends on the SSD, some run really hot others really cool

I would guess it would help a bit, but i doubt it would be worthwhile. maybe .3c or something.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Ok to answer a few questions....

I am getting a gskill pheonix pro 120 GB SSD for mine saturday that I got off a forum member for cheap, so I will let everyone know if it changes the temps at all.

Repaisting is no harder than taking apart your average laptop.... If you have done it before it goes pretty smooth if you have not then you might be in for a surprise. I would get a guitar pick to get the case to snap apart without any damage. I would say since I have taken apart many laptops and know what I am doing you would never be able to tell it was taken apart... Acer also OK'd the removal of the top cover of mine to replace the battery and the repasting is literally a few more clips and screws than taking the top cover off. This tells me that they are pretty ok with the user servicing the laptop and I doubt they would refuse warranty to it if it was resembled correctly

Every game I played that used the nvidia GPU throttled. CSS was pretty bad when I was playing it before throttlestop. Probably as bad as BC2. I did successfully play League of Legends on the integrated intel GPU and it never throttled then. Its the combo of the GPU and the CPU that overloads the cooler. You can stress test the CPU all day and it will not overheat by itself.


----------



## brettjv

Thanks for the input guyz. Bummer the BIOS is all locked down, I'd so prefer to not have to run software to mess with the multi.

And once you have to start dropping multi's and lugging around a cooler just to be able to game, you almost have to start considering a 15.6" with a less powerful CPU that doesn't overheat to be just as good (and cost less, like that $449 Asus from Best Buy ... which I've read people are even OC'ing) cause the weight and bulkiness and performance may become about the same









How low do you have to set the multi to NOT need a cooler when gaming, and does that slow down gaming noticeably? It's kinda hard to imagine a 96 core mobile GPU being BN'd by a 4-thread i5 SB chip, even if you had to set it's clock to like 1.5GHz ...


----------



## reflex99

I don't own a cooler. I am using the stock tim. I did remove the mesh

that said, I can play black ops and bc2 at like 1.8ghz just fine


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14794187*
> I don't own a cooler. I am using the stock tim. I did remove the mesh
> 
> that said, I can play black ops and bc2 at like 1.8ghz just fine


That's pretty decent then. I would surprised if there's any significant BN given the relative CPU/GPU power in that scenario. Thanks man


----------



## brettjv

Man, the more I look at that Asus with the 6720G2 setup for 449.99 ... the more tempted I'm becoming, even if I have to wait to get it.

It's obviously a way cheesier unit overall, and apparently lacks USB 3.0 entirely (which is almost a deal-breaker for me) but ... sheesh with the xfire it's got a LOT of gfx power for the kind of dough it costs.

Peep this: the little xfire GPU setup in the Asus can do 1575 on 3dMark11, are you kidding me? That's like ... 25% faster than the GT555m, and only 20% behind a desktop GTS450. That's CRAZY gpu power for $450. It's like the diff between a 9600GSO (which I'm guessing the 540m is like) to a 9800GTX or thereabouts. That's a pretty significant perf gain in the gfx dept, really.

And if it actually runs at 2.3GHz w/o needing a cooler, it might actually end up being around not *that* far behind in the weight/cpu power ratio. Like I said above people are even talking about being able OC this laptop to like 2.6GHz. If so, it's probably not THAT far behind the i5 at 1.8GHz, esp. for gaming.

Does anyone know if the AMD A6 only does Turbo to the max clock when running 1 core, like the 2410m?

And get this ... I read one place that it comes with a single 4GB stick installed with 1 open slot, not 2x2GB and no slots. Not 100% sure on that. But that'd be real cool. It also has the dvd burner. And I've not seen anywhere mention it's a 'non-replaceable' battery.

But damn the 3830 just LOOKS so much nicer. And has the 3.0 USB, which is sweet. Also has the following features, although I doubt I'd use 'em much: way better webcam, bluetooth, way better sound.

I'm really at loggerheads over this decision. IF the 3830 ran flawlessly out of the box, I'd lean a lot more towards it, but when you compare feature sets and the need to either downclock or run a cooler on the 3830, and the $250 price diff ... man ... it's not an easy choice.

What's your 3dMark11 GPU score guys, just curious?

Sorry to be talking about this other laptop on your thread ... I'll probably still get teh 3830 cause it's so sexy, but ... man, the Asus is tempting me.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14794171*
> Thanks for the input guyz. Bummer the BIOS is all locked down, I'd so prefer to not have to run software to mess with the multi.
> 
> And once you have to start dropping multi's and lugging around a cooler just to be able to game, you almost have to start considering a 15.6" with a less powerful CPU that doesn't overheat to be just as good (and cost less, like that $449 Asus from Best Buy ... which I've read people are even OC'ing) cause the weight and bulkiness and performance may become about the same
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How low do you have to set the multi to NOT need a cooler when gaming, and does that slow down gaming noticeably? It's kinda hard to imagine a 96 core mobile GPU being BN'd by a 4-thread i5 SB chip, even if you had to set it's clock to like 1.5GHz ...


You can set the CPU to around 1.8 on the stock thermal paste with the mesh removed and get decent temps. That doesn't seem to bottleneck it much if at all. The alienware M11X that uses the same CPU and GPU has the clocks set to 1.4 ghz so I would assume somewhere around there is where there is no bottleneck.

When the CPU drops down to 1.1 ghz which is where it goes when it throttles it knocks frame rates in half. I will go from getting 40FPS steady in BC2 to 20.

Also carying around a cooler is a non issue for me. It fits perfectly on the back of my laptop bag.


----------



## brettjv

I would want an actual 'laptop' laptop cooler. Are there any of that style that's as light/convenient to carry at the one you got? That one appears to me (correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know much about these things) to be a desktop type of laptop cooler.

Over on this thread, everyone's all messing with their p-states and voltages, undervolting and OC'ing their CPU's and GPU's, running like 2.2GHz on all four cores w/rather large undervolts (I *think* that's what they're saying) and getting temps down around 80. Looks like a fun little machine to tweak with. The more I read ... the harder a time I've having w/the decision







Being able to tweak is always fun









BTW turns out the Asus does have one USB3.0 port, it's just not advertised.

Anyone be so kind as to throw up a run of 3dMark06 from their 3830? I'm curious to see how it does against the Asus (this one has an OC on the GPU but I think the proc is just undervolted, not OC'd ... and there's no mention but I imagine this is with the xfire-thing disabled as that's what GPU-Z says ... so it's just the 6650 chip doing gfx I believe). 06 should be a pretty good measuring stick of 'overall' perf for these machines I would think.

Edit: Ooops, you'd have to use an external monitor to get 1280x1024 to be able to compare w/this score. If you have one ... that'd be awesome to see


----------



## brettjv

So, I absolutely couldn't find the Asus at any BB in the Valley, went to two, called two others who's inventory said they have 1, but nobody there could find them.

So ... I grabbed the 3830









It's a very sexy little unit. I got it charging up now, probably won't get to play with it until tomorrow.

If was gonna replace the ram with 8GB, what sticks do you guys recommend? And what's a good lightweight cooler for that is appropriate for holding it actually on your lap?


----------



## reflex99

you are really taking a hit for the form factor. You need to keep that in mind.

The Asus may be faster/cooler/whatever, but i don't think it is nearly as thin/light

the TLX also has a godlike battery. Mine lasts about 6-7hrs

EDIT:

Cooler's for lap? Idk why do you want to game from your lap? where do you put the mouse? I really don't know of any that would work well on your lap.

For normal coolers, the CM U2 is the go-to recommendation.

Ram, i'd probably just go with whatever is cheapest. I believe the 3830 will accept SPD profiles for 1066 and 1333


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14803447*
> So, I absolutely couldn't find the Asus at any BB in the Valley, went to two, called two others who's inventory said they have 1, but nobody there could find them.
> 
> So ... I grabbed the 3830
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a very sexy little unit. I got it charging up now, probably won't get to play with it until tomorrow.
> 
> If was gonna replace the ram with 8GB, what sticks do you guys recommend? And what's a good lightweight cooler for that is appropriate for holding it actually on your lap?


The cooler I have sits just fine on my lap. I have no issues with it whatsoever. I would probably get kingston ram because that is the OEM but thats just me


----------



## brettjv

I use a trackball mouse for gaming so I can put it on an armrest, or next to me or whatever, cause it doesn't have to physically move. Also, I play a lot of games with 360 controller. So, yeah, I'll game w/it in my lap from time to time for sure.

Axe to me it seems from the picture like if you used that cooler in your lap the fans would be sitting right on your legs ... but maybe I'm mistaken how it's used?

Anyone else had problems w/ large file transfers 'hanging' (like 100GB type of deals)? I've tried to move my steam folder both via usb 2.0 external drive and my wireless network (left that on overnight) and both of them hung after a while (I'm not out of space or anything).

I'm going to try and not 2nd guess myself about the Asus, I do like the looks of this little unit so much, love the cobalt blue, love the size ... if I'd found the Asus I'd have gotten it, but ... this one still seems pretty sweet. I'ma be firing up JC2 as my first game, see how we do on the throttling/temp sitch.


----------



## reflex99

I transfered my steam folder just fine. Not really sure what is going on there.

Have you removed the mesh or messed with throttlestop yet? If not i wouldn't expect you to get very far in JC2


----------



## brettjv

I can't get any games to run.

Tried Crysis, 'slide show' doesn't do justice to whats going on. It takes 10 minutes to get through the splash screens. NV monitor thingy says Crysis is running on nV gpu. Here's what I've done:

1) Prefer nV card for all games (nvcp), and Prefer Max Performance is on.
2) Prever nV card for Crysis (nvcp).
3) PC Power Settings is set to balanced
4) Afterburner is installed ... graphs show the nV GPU never budging from 51/100, even when game is running (if you could call it that).

Even at 51MHz the nV GPU shouldn't take 10 minutes to render the splash screen. I can't figure out wth is going on. This is Steam version of Crysis, btw.

I've not touched the driver, its the original, I believe it's 256 something.

Any ideas? This is really p***ing me off









Edit: This last time the gpu did fire up to 672/1344/900 (in fact it's stuck on it now, after having forcibly quit crysis through TM). The high clocks didn't really change anything. And JC2 won't even start, it just flashes a couple black screens then quits. Getting SO irritated ...


----------



## brettjv

YAY!

Okay, I added -safemode to the command line for game, now it's going. Must've been related to having copied it from my other machine.

Still no JC2 action though ...

Edit:

What's the hotkeys to adjust volume on this machine?

Does the Afterburner OSD work for you guys on this machine? I can't get that to work either. Crysis is now humming along nicely though







Have it on High, except Med Shaders, Shadows, & Post Processsing. I'm still parachuting down to the island (and have no FPS meter) but FPS seems decent so far ...

And now ... bam, right before I hit the water ... black screen, game freezes ... Crysis has stopped working ... DAMN DAMN DAMN ... never got to a save point either ... gotta watch the whole intro again.

Temps on CPU hit 78 and on GPU also hit 78. So I'm pleased about that part. Unfortunately after the unceremonious game exit, the GPU won't go back to 51MHz









Okay, now I restarted crysis after that glitch, and we're back to the slideshow again. Even WITH -safemode this time. Guess I gotta restart after that game crash. This thing is being way lame.

Which Forceware are you guys running, and where'd you procure them?

Edit 2: And now even after the restart (and resetting universal power mgt to: adaptive) I still I'm getting 672MHz on the core. It won't go back down to 51MHz. AAAAAAAND Crysis is back to being a slideshow, even after a restart ... oh, wait, once I start Crysis, THEN the GPU drops to 51MHz. Then I Close Crysis, and it goes back to 672. THAT makes total sense.






























Edit 3: I'm going to try the 280.26 drivers. To me so far this 'Optimus' technology is seeming anything BUT 'optimal'.


----------



## MokFlurry

I'm keeping a close eye on your post brettjv... your experience with the 3830 is going to weigh heavily in my decision of whether I'm going to just jump on it or wait it out for another laptop. haha


----------



## brettjv

Now, after installing the 280.26 drivers, in AB I can see the GPU constantly flicking back and forth between 0 and 53% GPU usage, about once every two seconds. And of course it's staying at 672MHz.

This is after the restart after (clean) installing the 280.26, all I did was open AB once it restarted. Now, I'm getting this speed flickering bullcrap









I'm ready to throw this thing out the friggin window right now.

Edit: Okay, I closed AB, then ran GPU-z, and the GPU load is at zero on the gt540, and clocks went back to 51. Things look okay there. So I re-opened AB, and now it's showing everything working fine as well. Now lets see if Crysis will work finally









AAAAND ... still no love on Crysis. The -safemode thing I did before, I think it was just a coincidence that it started up after I set that in the command line. It hasn't worked again since, out of like 5 times I've tried it. I'm getting so unbelievably freaking





















at this computer right now I can't even express it in words.

Edit again: Okay, I forced 800x600 and dx9 in the command line, now it's running again. Lets see if I can actually get through the intro to the island w/o it crashing like last time.

Edit Again: Okay, Crysis is humming along fine, just got to the first village. It looks like my settings (as desc. upthread) are just a little too high ... I'm down at 20 looking out over the bay from the hilltop ... probably still playable though, we'll see. Both temps are hovering at 80C ... what temp does this thing throttle?

Also guys ... how do I check my 'battery wear' with this unit? I want to make sure I didn't get a crappy panasonic battery and call for replacement if I did.

JC2 is still just quitting after a few seconds, no errors or anything. /Failsafe switch doesn't fix it.


----------



## MokFlurry

Damn, this isn't very encouraging


----------



## reflex99

you cannot use drivers from nvidia site. you need to use drivers either directly from ACER, or modded ones from laptopvideo2go.

The panasonic batteries aren't all bad, mine only shows 4% wear and it hasn't changed in weeks.

You just cannot get a break with this thing. I don't think i have ever seen anyone have this many problems with it. I feel bad for convincing you to buy it now. Sorry









In my experience with switchable graphics, DX11 doesn't always work. Dirt 3 for example needed to be forced to DX9 on my old DV6T.


----------



## brettjv

Yah, no love on JC2 for some reason, but like I said Crysis I finally got working.

Darksiders also works perfect HOWEVER it has 0 options on gfx aside from resolution, and this GPU can only run it at around 15-30fps at the only gfx settings it runs at (at native res) so I probably won't be playing it on this machine









It's cool reflex I'll eventually get stuff worked out









Hey, have any of you guys made a Windows Install thumb drive (that you can use like the Windows disc, since we don't have one), or a used a USB HD for the same purpose? If so, how did you make it (is it bootable and all?). How big a thumb drive you need to be able to put the whole Windows disc on it?

Also aren't there hotkeys for volume and brightness and stuff? What are they ... tried all the obvious stuff, nothing worked.

EDIT: HEY, I finally got JC2 to work, woo-hoo! I set /windowed /failsafe and forced 800x600 and it finally started. YAY ... one of my fave games to just play quick sessions of ... and also cool for showing off your machine's graphics ... stoked I got this one going!

Edit again: Hrmph ... no bokeh or CUDA H2O options in my JC2 choices. It's like the game thinks I have an AMD card or something







oh well, I probably wouldn't enable those anyway w/only a 540m.


----------



## reflex99

1. Where did you get the drivers from? are you using the laptopvideo2go ones?

2. I have never been able to install from USB on any PC....I am probably just really unlucky

3. fn+arrow keys


----------



## grunion

Brett which unit did you end up purchasing?

I'm using the XG 280.26 driver, so far so good.


----------



## brettjv

Got the 3830 Grun. I've had some problems w/starting games after moving my steam folder (and save game folders) from my other machine, some games seem to have problems because of the resolution difference, but I've figured workarounds for all of them so far. The thing is actually gaming along pretty nicely now, and I don't *think* it's been throttling ... if it has, I've not noticed it. Nice little gaming unit so far.

Think I want a bigger, 7200rpm HD for this thing though, along w/more ram









And I sure would love it if someone would tell me how to adjust volume other than the tray tool


----------



## grunion

Look for the hotkey, FN+??, should be a key with a universal volume/speaker icon on it.

And a couple of 425m benchmarks for you.

Crysis pre/patched

View attachment 227302


View attachment 227303


----------



## killeraxemannic

I am using the 280 drivers on nvidia's website without any issues. Seems to work well! Not sure how you are not seeing the throtting. That seems odd. I wonder if they did something to the heatsync on the newer models or something.

I have been using CPUz and GPUz to check the throttling, temps and the battery wear.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14811338*
> 1. Where did you get the drivers from? are you using the laptopvideo2go ones?
> 
> 2. I have never been able to install from USB on any PC....I am probably just really unlucky
> 
> 3. fn+arrow keys


First I used the drivers that came on it, then I switched to using the Forceware laptop drivers from nVidia. They've been working perfect. As of now I've played Crysis, Just Cause 2, Kings Bounty, and PoP Forgotten Sands. They're all running great.

Crysis I played all high except Med on Shaders, Shadows, and PPE (and 0xAA). I can max out PoP w/2xAA but sometimes it drops to around 20fps which is very noticeable when it happens. JC2 I played with all medium except High Textures, and everything was 'on' except SSAO, and 2xAA. Also some dips into the 20's, but still playable.

Highest temps I saw were around 85 GPU/CPU, most of the time though I was looking at temps around 80 on both after a good while of gaming. I've not opened the casing so this is totally stock cooling. Thing is not doing bad on temps TBH. If it throttled, I didn't notice the effect of it happening. I also have NOT played BFBC2 though so keep that in mind ... probably all these games are actually dual-core









I should also add that I'm pretty well impressed w/how good-looking of settings I've been able to rock in the games I've tried so far. This is a solid little gaming machine, no doubt about it. As has been mentioned on various reviews, the sound quality is actually quite impressive for a laptop (key word there) & the sound through the headphones (using the gaming preset in the dolby tool) is real nice. Not as good as my x-fi, but for integrated sound, this chip ain't bad.

Oh ... and I OC'd my gpu to 725/925 (from 672/900), and if it impacted temps it was TINY, and it ran perfect. I may even push the OC a little bit further once I get a laptop cooler









All told my biggest complaint thus far is the horrifically-limited viewing angle. It's amazing how bad it is to me. I can live with it, but it's bad.

They have a Sony VAIO on Labor Day sale right now at Fry's that I almost bought instead for only $100 more ($799, 280 bucks off), that appears to have an IPS screen (it's an F-series, 15.6 inch model, 1080p), because *man* the difference in viewing angle on that vs. every other lappie is just *huge*. Too bad it's only a GT520m ... half the shaders of the 540m. If it'd had just a bit more gfx power I'd have taken that one instead, extra $100 be damned. But the 540m is only a little more than the minimum of what I'd have been happy with, and the 520m is just not quite there.


----------



## MokFlurry

Great news... kinda more tempted to get one now!


----------



## reflex99

glad you got it worked out.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14815107*
> First I used the drivers that came on it, then I switched to using the Forceware laptop drivers from nVidia. They've been working perfect. As of now I've played Crysis, Just Cause 2, Kings Bounty, and PoP Forgotten Sands. They're all running great.
> 
> Crysis I played all high except Med on Shaders, Shadows, and PPE (and 0xAA). I can max out PoP w/2xAA but sometimes it drops to around 20fps which is very noticeable when it happens. JC2 I played with all medium except High Textures, and everything was 'on' except SSAO, and 2xAA. Also some dips into the 20's, but still playable.
> 
> Highest temps I saw were around 85 GPU/CPU, most of the time though I was looking at temps around 80 on both after a good while of gaming. I've not opened the casing so this is totally stock cooling. Thing is not doing bad on temps TBH. If it throttled, I didn't notice the effect of it happening. I also have NOT played BFBC2 though so keep that in mind ... probably all these games are actually dual-core
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I should also add that I'm pretty well impressed w/how good-looking of settings I've been able to rock in the games I've tried so far. This is a solid little gaming machine, no doubt about it. As has been mentioned on various reviews, the sound quality is actually quite impressive for a laptop (key word there) & the sound through the headphones (using the gaming preset in the dolby tool) is real nice. Not as good as my x-fi, but for integrated sound, this chip ain't bad.
> 
> Oh ... and I OC'd my gpu to 725/925 (from 672/900), and if it impacted temps it was TINY, and it ran perfect. I may even push the OC a little bit further once I get a laptop cooler
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All told my biggest complaint thus far is the horrifically-limited viewing angle. It's amazing how bad it is to me. I can live with it, but it's bad.
> 
> They have a Sony VAIO on Labor Day sale right now at Fry's that I almost bought instead for only $100 more ($799, 280 bucks off), that appears to have an IPS screen (it's an F-series, 15.6 inch model, 1080p), because *man* the difference in viewing angle on that vs. every other lappie is just *huge*. Too bad it's only a GT520m ... half the shaders of the 540m. If it'd had just a bit more gfx power I'd have taken that one instead, extra $100 be damned. But the 540m is only a little more than the minimum of what I'd have been happy with, and the 520m is just not quite there.


Did you use afterburner to overclock the GPU?


----------



## brettjv

Yup, used AB to OC.

However, on to a new issue ... I can't figure out how to get Assassins Creed BH in windowed mode (to view cpu-z while gaming), and I seriously suspect my CPU is not kicking up to full speed cause no matter what I do (i've got EVERYTHING on the lowest settings, res included) I'm barely getting 20fps with like 50% gpu usage.

How are you guys graphing/logging your CPU clocks (or do you have an app w/OSD that shows it while gaming) to find out whether you're throttling in-game? Or are you just running windowed w/cpu-z running to check it?

Do I need to get that throttle-stop app and use it for this game, or is there some simple, built-in way to get the proc cranked to full-bore on this machine? Not used to something other than ME deciding my clocks/volts ...

Edit: n/m I grabbed the throttlestop, and it logs clocks for me. Yay. I'll give BH another go ... I set it to 'game' profile and turned on the log ... we'll see how it does.

Yup, it's running at 11 multi when the ACB is running ... even though I chose the 'game' profile. Is there something else I need to do (or is it possible) to force the multi up to 27 when a game runs, using this tool?


----------



## brettjv

Yeah, so ... clocks stay at 12x multi when I play ACB according to log. Temps are not remotely high (73 max) so it's not throttling ... it does it right from the start as well, so ...

Anyways, I tried profile 1 and 2, neither works to hold multi high when playing ... it really kills the perf in that game.

What do I have to do in TS to force the multi to stay high? Or does it not have that capability, unless the chip already 'wants' to be running at a high multi due to load, and TS can defeat that throttling only?

Edit: what's really strange is that when I watch TS just on the desktop (w/firefox running), my clocks are bouncing all over. As soon as I fire up the game, when I check the log after it like the multi drops to 12 very shortly thereafter and stays *exactly* there the whole time I play









Edit 2: If I check 'set multiplier' and choose 23.0, my average multi's go up dramatically from the 8.0 that it's usually hovering at ... but it still doesn't stay at 23.0 (this is monitoring from desktop), it just makes them REALLY bounce all over, with an average multi probably around 18x. Lets see if it makes a difference when gaming, shall we?

Edit 3: Yup, that worked. My fps is incredibly better, and I'm getting the 27x multi pretty much full time. Checking the 'set multiplier' box did the trick.

Edit 4: And yeah, NOW this baby is getting hot when I game. Just checked the log after a gaming session there, and I was up at 97C on the proc ... not good. But man was my game flying! I'm wondering if all the games I was playing before, my CPU was doing the same thing ... locking onto 12x multi from the beginning.

On one hand that's nice to know that actually I have still more power on tap than I thought ... but a bummer in that this thing can't run even get close to running full-bore while gaming w/o overheating.

So reflex, you say you can set yours to 18 times and stays reasonable temps w/o a cooler?

Edit 5: I've went back and tried JC2, and then ACB again and I have to say: I'm definitely having difficulty figuring out the rhyme and reason of this ST tool, and how it interacts w/the chip to decides what voltage to run with each game.

Ya know what'd be sweet is if someone came up w/a mobile Sandy 'voltage reduction' tool, that allows you to pick an amount of voltage to shave off from what VID the chip uses with each multi. Just so we could mess w/it and see if we could get away w/like a .1V undervolt across all P-states. I have a feeling these chips are getting more voltage than they really need, leading to the excess heat that we can't manage in such a small casing.


----------



## reflex99

From my observations:

1. clock modulation on the desktop happens for me to. I think it is normal.

2. Acer's statement is that when the *GPU* gets over a certain temperature, it throtles the *CPU*.

Maybe check your GPU temp?

Other than that, i am running out of ideas.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14816042*
> From my observations:
> 
> 1. clock modulation on the desktop happens for me to. I think it is normal.
> 
> 2. Acer's statement is that when the *GPU* gets over a certain temperature, it throtles the *CPU*.
> 
> Maybe check your GPU temp?
> 
> Other than that, i am running out of ideas.


Thanks, and yeah I'm not concerned w/the clocks bouncing around at desktop, esp. when firefox is open. But this issue with the 12x multi when playing ACB isn't related to temps, like I'z saying, as it was happening like the second I fired up the game.

Now that I've found TS has clock logging I can make better observations of what's going on when playing various things today. What exactly did you do with TS to make it stay at 18x? I presume you checked the checkbox and put 18 in the multi spot there, and that's all you have to do (and turn it on), is that correct?

Guys what's the biggest drive that'll fit in this machine (preferably 7200rpm)? Seemed like 640mb is the largest HD that comes in lappie (that I saw the other day), is that the limit on size for spinning 2.5" drives?

I'd really like a faster, bigger HD than this one, but not sure the best way to go. I've never used external USB 3.0 storage ... how comparable in speed to the internal drive are those portable usb 3.0 HD's (like the Passport)? How about the full-size 3.0 External/backup drives? I'm wondering if either of those is fast enough to be your 'applications' drive, while running OS on an SSD? Or do they lag considerably vs. an internal HD and have problems running games directly off of?

Also: anyone know why my battery reading shows as 92% but only has 3.02 hrs remaining? I thought these things were supposed to run like 6-8 hours on a charge? Does it stay at 100% for the first 3 hours or something?

I unplugged the lappie last night and closed the lid while it was in the middle of shutting down, thinking that it would continue to shutdown and turn off, but it didn't ... so it spent the night on batteries with the lid down, and Windows half-way shut down, and now today I have the battery reading described above ... just trying to figure out why it says 92% = 3 hours.

Edit: Playing JC2 again now, and it throttles back to 12x multi after a little while (and runs WAAAAAY worse when it does) ... it looks like maybe the temp limit for throttling is actually 75C ... is that what you guys are seeing as well? I thought it'd be at least 80, maybe 85. So I've set it to 18x in TS, now seeing the cpu around 85. I presume anything up to 90C is probably safe, eh?

edit 2: Dang, after playing for a while, even at 17x multiplier I'm hitting 92 on CPU/GPU. Getting a little concerned ... dropping to 16x ... Man, we desperately need access to the voltages at each p-state on this machine (like they have w/the Asus with k10stat or whatever it's called). I really think these chips are way over-volted for what they actually need.

Also, still getting the weird fluctuation on the GPU every second, it flicks from 0 to 52% constantly.

edit 3: ok, it looks like I'm fine at 18x multi, just had to give the intake some breathing room, it was sitting flat on my desk before, now I got some room for the intake to suck in air I'm seeing temps in the mid 80's at 18x, which is fine







game plays real good at 18x multi, too. Total Derp!

edit 4: actually as long as my machine has good clearance below, it has no trouble running at 20x, staying in the low 80's. On JC2, that is. Now that I've messed around w/controlling the speed, I've come to realize ... the CPU speed makes a REALLY big difference in how games run. I wouldn't have thought so before, but this little 540m can def. get bottlenecked by this processor if it throttles ... and the bn kicks in at some pretty low FPS.

Srsly, this gpu is really pretty powerful ... I'm literally *amazed* at how smooth JC2 is whilst being SO good-looking. Once you give the CPU the 20x multiplier, this GPU flies, no question about it. You get this machine, you're going to be gaming w/some pretty amazing visuals (for a laptop ... and a small, light one at that!).


----------



## reflex99

1. I use an external USB3 portable drive. Reads are in the 70mb/s area, and writes are limited by the drive at about 60mb/s

playing games from it is perfectly workable. I am probably going to get an SSD for the laptop, and use the external for media and stuff. Most of my stuff is in the cloud anyways, so i don't need a ton of storage.

2. reading from batterycare, or windows? Both are not quite accurate, but batterycare seems a bit more on. Mine will be at about 3:30 on boot, then rise to 6-8hrs depending on what i am doing

3. Im trying yet another mod today. I'll let you know how it goes


----------



## roxxxjay

Hey, new member here with a need to share my experience. Purchased the 3830tg for $700 from frys.

In my experience these 5 days, its been an amazing performer minus the throttling. I also have the panasonic battery, and according to batterybar, I have 0% wear so far of 65,038 mWh. I keep the lappy plugged in most of the time with maybe 1-3 hrs of continous use on battery a day so far.

Theres ALOT of bloatware. So all i did was downloaded the windows 7 iso's, followed some steps online, and cleaned installed from a usb flash drive. Such a nice fresh feeling!









In terms of the throttling issue, I use the Throttlestop and disable the turbo and keep the multiplier at 21x. I only turn TS on whenever im about to start a game. Other than that i leave it off because my lappy also experiences the clocks jumping up and down when im just on the desktop. The only games tested thus far are Super Street Fighter IV and League of Legends. SSIV at max settings with 2x AA and LOL at medium-high settings. Going through my logs i think the max temp was 81 celcius..not sure btu there was no throttling involved.

My impression so far is that even though it may have to be locked at 18x, it still better than a vast majority out there at its price range. However it leaves a bad taste knowing it cant really run its advertised specs, and the fact that we have to do all these extra things in order to make it work below stock settings >_>

Ive been contemplating on returning this to frys. Do any of yall know any information on the Acer Aspire 5750g-9463? Its on sale at microcenter for $800. And IMO $100 bucks more of what i paid for the 3830tg for an upgrade to *i7 2630qm*, a dvd rw drive, and a larger hdd. The 3830tg does, however, have that sleek thinner factor, bluetooth, and a much longer battery life (its like 8.5 hrs vs 5 hrs i believe).

If the 5750g has better cooling and not the same throttling issue as the 3830tg...I just might go with the 5750g.

So what do yall think? Opinions?









http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365196


----------



## reflex99

ok, so here's an interesting one. Over on NBR, it has been decided that the heatsinks lack of mass and surface area, are part of the problem To solve this, we simply add surface area and mass. Here is what I did:










Those are dimes on top of nickles simply sitting on the heatpipes. (i actually traded the dime on the last one for a penny, purely because it fit better.)

So I ran some tests (all tests were run for 6 minutes):

Stock:

-Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). Max GPU temp: *86c* Max CPU temp: *97c*

-prime95 small FTT ((throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, note CPU does not throttle because GPU is still cool) max CPU temp: *Reached 99c so i got worried and stopped*

With Dimes+nickels

-Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). GPU Max temp: *78c*, CPU max Temp *90c*

-Prime95 small FTT (throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, throttling disabled). CPU Max temp: *94c*

I think if you lapped the heatpipes, the coins, and used some sort of TIM, the difference could be even greater.

Keep in mind my tests are still using the stock TIM


----------



## brettjv

I just wanna say ... overall, if you're cool w/having to tweak w/this machine, it's really, really sweet as a gaming system. No joke, it SIGNIFICANTLY dominates the gfx quality of xbox 360 graphics, even w/the CPU throttled at like 16x. And w/cpu @ full bore, it's really not even close.

Having way-better-than-360 gfx in a laptop that's this tiny ... is unbelievable. Think about the size and weight of a 360 + a TV, vs. what you have all in one w/this little machine. Seriously amazing stuff.

Interesting about the coins and such, reflex. Might have to try that!


----------



## reflex99

quickie question for axe,

when putting it back together, i cant seem to get the pwrswitch connector to slot in.

Any tips?


----------



## reflex99

nevermind, fixed it

but, now it wont turn on. The power LED turns on, and then turns off.


----------



## reflex99

well, this is an interesting development.

So i took it apart, redid the TIM, put it back together. No post.

Took it apart again, checked all connectors, put it back together. No post, power LED turns on, then turns off, battery indicator flashes red after being blue with the power button

Not sure what to do here.


----------



## brettjv

Ruh-ro reflex









Did you get it fixed?

I'd be kinda freaking out right now ... well, actually at this point I'd just return it, but if I couldn't ...

Sorry I can't be of any more help, I got no clue. Just a 'good luck man' for ya :thumb


----------



## roxxxjay

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14819444*
> Also, still getting the weird fluctuation on the GPU every second, it flicks from 0 to 52% constantly.


Brettjv, not sure if u fixed this probllem yet but i experienced the same thing. I was able to stop it once i had the "Nvidia GPU" check box unchecked under "Miscellaneous" in the options of throttlestop.

I hope the best for u reflex as Ive been following your informative posts.


----------



## reflex99

I think i'm going to RMA it with Acer, we'll see what happens. At best, they fix it and i only loose $20. At worst, they deny my RMA, and i am screwed.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *roxxxjay;14825923*
> Brettjv, not sure if u fixed this probllem yet but i experienced the same thing. I was able to stop it once i had the "Nvidia GPU" check box unchecked under "Miscellaneous" in the options of throttlestop.
> 
> I hope the best for u reflex as Ive been following your informative posts.


Not sure if you're suggesting that TS 'causes' the issue, but mine was doing that gpu usage flicking thing before I ever even downloaded throttlestop. So even if could get it go away by running TS, I'm not happy about that solution because I shouldn't have to use an outside tool to keep that from happening.

Reflex, best of luck w/that issue man ... that sucks you're going to have to RMA. Your experience makes me afeared to open my laptop and risk breaking my new machine.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *brettjv*


Not sure if you're suggesting that TS 'causes' the issue, but mine was doing that gpu usage flicking thing before I ever even downloaded throttlestop. So even if could get it go away by running TS, I'm not happy about that solution because I shouldn't have to use an outside tool to keep that from happening.

Reflex, best of luck w/that issue man ... that sucks you're going to have to RMA. Your experience makes me afeared to open my laptop and risk breaking my new machine.


I did it and had no issues. I just made sure that I was careful with everything. I think Reflex just got unlucky lol


----------



## reflex99

yea, i'm pretty sure i am unlucky.

Probably doesn't help that i did the whole thing standing on shag carpet.


----------



## manyu882

I've just gotten my 3830tg 2 days ago. I've problems with the num and scroll lock indicator. it doesn't lit up even it's activated. anyone has the same prob as mine>


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *manyu882*


I've just gotten my 3830tg 2 days ago. I've problems with the num and scroll lock indicator. it doesn't lit up even it's activated. anyone has the same prob as mine>










I just tested mine and the lights work fine. If you hit FN+f11 you get numlock and if you hit FN+f12 you get scroll lock. The numlock lights up the light next to the power saver button on mine and the scroll lock doesn't light up anything. I would guess this is the way it is supposed to work.


----------



## xxicrimsonixx

I have an older 3820TG if that counts?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk


----------



## subliminally incorrect

Quote:



Originally Posted by *xxicrimsonixx*


I have an older 3820TG if that counts?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk


i have the 3820T as well. in reality the 3830 is at least 10%-15% faster in specs than the 3830 depending on what configuration you got.


----------



## manyu882

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14840497*
> I just tested mine and the lights work fine. If you hit FN+f11 you get numlock and if you hit FN+f12 you get scroll lock. The numlock lights up the light next to the power saver button on mine and the scroll lock doesn't light up anything. I would guess this is the way it is supposed to work.


ahh.. no wonder....i tested it with my external keyboard. thought it will work synchronise with the laptop keyboard(if i hit the numb lock on the external keyboard, indicator on both side will light up).

And.. Yeap! mine works the same like yours.I think Acer should explain why the scroll lock indicator is not working.






























*EDIT: Just realised that the other indicator indicates CAPs Lock. LOLOL!*


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *manyu882;14840997*
> ahh.. no wonder....i tested it with my external keyboard. thought it will work synchronise with the laptop keyboard(if i hit the numb lock on the external keyboard, indicator on both side will light up).
> 
> And.. Yeap! mine works the same like yours.I think Acer should explain why the scroll lock indicator is not working.


I don't think that has anything to do with the laptop..... The external keyboard has its own lights and functions. I am sure that it would do the same thing on any other PC you tried. The lights are definitely not going to syncronise on any laptop.... It just doesn't work that way lol.

And there is no scroll lock indicator on the laptop anyways. The light next to the Num Lock indicator is the caps lock indicator...

I am going to call PEBKAC


----------



## brettjv

Okay, so I brought in my new toy to show off at the office to all my programming geek co-workers, and this thing let me down big-time ... in what should've been it's shining moment of glory.

For some reason, the GPU was stuck at 51MHz when I was trying to show off the beauty of Alice: Madness Returns. So instead of my being able to pimp how this lappie smoothly spits out frames with near-max settings (low physX, of course), I was instead greeted w/a 8-12fps slideshow









Fortunately the guys here are smart enough to understand my explanation of how my FPS *should* be like 12x higher, since the gpu core clock is stuck at 51MHz instead of the 672MHz it normally runs at ... but I really hated having to make excuses for my brand-new machine that *shouldn't* be having this problem.

Now, it was running on battery at the time, but I don't think that's a proper excuse for this behavior. Frankly, it better not be because I'm expecting to be able to game on battery power alone ... and in fact I was doing so yesterday, showing off JC2 to a friend that came over. It *was* working fine yesterday, but then today ... not so much. I didn't change anything in the meanwhile either









Here's what all I did to try to fix this problem:
1) I went into power settings for the PC and set PCI Express Link from max to moderate power savings ... I'z thinking maybe the slot was throttling me somehow.
2) Went into the game profile in NVCP, and I forced 'use GT540m', and 'Prefer Max Performance' for the game.
3) Opened throttlestop and forced 20x multi, which I've determined keeps temps below 85C w/o a cooler ... as long as it's not sitting flat on the table (which it wasn't today).

Has anyone else experienced issues w/gpu being stuck at 51MHz, even when it has absolutely no business doing so? And if so, were you able to fix it, and how?

Reflex upthread mentioned that the GPU can get throttled based CPU temps, but temps were the same as they have been, when I've gamed successfully for hours. I'm gaming with the multi forced to 20x via TS ... prior to today, the GPU clock has never gotten stuck at 51MHz when a game was running.

Also ... WHY does my gpu usage keep fluctuating from 0 to 53%, back and forth, once a second or so? I start it up, fire up AB to monitor clocks, and this fluctuation is already going on... haven't gamed, haven't opened any other app, nothing. It just 'does it' for no reason. The worst part is that it causes the clocks to stay at full-power 3d ... except when I opened up Alice, then it dropped back to 51MHz







Anyone else have this weird gpu usage issue going on?

Oh ... and also ... I can't see the friggin cursor in the setup screens for either JC2, or Portal 2. I can tell that the cursor is 'there', but I just can't see it for some reason.

I'm becoming slowly becoming convinced that the 'Optimus' system is not really ready for prime-time ... I'm getting an awful lot of what seems to be buggy behavior out of it.

Edit: Today, despite having worked beautifully under the exact same conditions yesterday, JC2 is doing the same thing as Alice ... occasionally the clocks will flick back up to 672 for a few secs, but then it drops to 200, then to 51MHz. The really odd thing about that is ... even when the clocks jumped up to 672, the FPS remained the same, staying near an abysmal 10-15fps. And the multi was locked at 20x, so it's not a BN from the CPU.

And then as soon as I kill the game, the GPU usage starts flicking back/forth to 53% again, and the clocks stay stuck at 672, with nothing running on the machine except TS and AB. It's frickin' so infuriating.

What drivers are you guys running, and where'd you get 'em? Maybe the problems are being caused by the drivers ... I got 'em from nV, and I chose the proper chip from the options ... but either this Optimus system sucks, or these drivers suck. Has to be one or the other.

At this point I'm thinking of taking this thing back and getting a Sony Vaio ... they have an open-box S-series 14" with the same proc, and a 6630 chip for $899 - 5%. Since the only diff between a 6630 and 6650 is clocks, I'm guessing that the 6630 can take a heavy OC. IF that's the case, the 6650 hangs very close w/the GT540m, so it might not be that much of a downgrade. And if it just WORKS w/o all this annoying and glitchy behavior, it'd be worth the small sacrifice of gpu power and the extra $150 or so.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14844390*
> Okay, so I brought in my new toy to show off at the office to all my programming geek co-workers, and this thing let me down big-time ... in what should've been it's shining moment of glory.
> 
> For some reason, the GPU was stuck at 51MHz when I was trying to show off the beauty of Alice: Madness Returns. So instead of my being able to pimp how this lappie smoothly spits out frames with near-max settings (low physX, of course), I was instead greeted w/a 8-12fps slideshow
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fortunately the guys here are smart enough to understand my explanation of how my FPS *should* be like 12x higher, since the gpu core clock is stuck at 51MHz instead of the 672MHz it normally runs at ... but I really hated having to make excuses for my brand-new machine that *shouldn't* be having this problem.
> 
> Now, it was running on battery at the time, but I don't think that's a proper excuse for this behavior. Frankly, it better not be because I'm expecting to be able to game on battery power alone ... and in fact I was doing so yesterday, showing off JC2 to a friend that came over. It *was* working fine yesterday, but then today ... not so much. I didn't change anything in the meanwhile either
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's what all I did to try to fix this problem:
> 1) I went into power settings for the PC and set PCI Express Link from max to moderate power savings ... I'z thinking maybe the slot was throttling me somehow.
> 2) Went into the game profile in NVCP, and I forced 'use GT540m', and 'Prefer Max Performance' for the game.
> 3) Opened throttlestop and forced 20x multi, which I've determined keeps temps below 85C w/o a cooler ... as long as it's not sitting flat on the table (which it wasn't today).
> 
> Has anyone else experienced issues w/gpu being stuck at 51MHz, even when it has absolutely no business doing so? And if so, were you able to fix it, and how?
> 
> Reflex upthread mentioned that the GPU can get throttled based CPU temps, but temps were the same as they have been, when I've gamed successfully for hours. I'm gaming with the multi forced to 20x via TS ... prior to today, the GPU clock has never gotten stuck at 51MHz when a game was running.


I had this happen a few times and a simple reboot will take care of it for me. I don't think Nvidia quite has all the bugs worked out of the Optamus thing yet









Also if your gonna game on battery you gotta take it out of powersave mode by pressing the P on the right side


----------



## MokFlurry

Brett, your experience has basically destroyed my desire for the 3830tg. I'm heavily leaning towards getting the Asus unless something else comes along soon..


----------



## killeraxemannic

I am using the stock Nvidia drivers 280.xx and they seem to be working just fine for me. I don't really have any of the issues you are seeing. All the games I have tried seemed to be working flawlessly.

On a second note I did update all my drivers from Acer's website. I downloaded the latest chipset, audio etc and installed them before I tried to play any games.


----------



## rcm_rx7

I too have had next to zero issues with my laptop, and I mainly use it for gaming. I'm using the latest drivers from nvidia, with throttlestop set at 18X and I can play BF Bad Company 2 all night long without an issue. I have never experienced an Optimus switching, or any other graphics issue.

If you are having issues with locked speeds on the GPU, I would guess you have a software issue, or possibly (and I think less likely) a hardware issue. I haven't heard of anybody else experiencing these issues on this laptop.

If this model has any problem that would cause somebody to look elsewhere, it's the amount of heat that the CPU and Nvidia GPU put off when used together. Throttlestop is able to keep the temps in check, and a few other hardware mods will help even more (thermal paste, mesh removal). A decent laptop cooler helps too.

Just want to show my support for this laptop, I love this thing.


----------



## brettjv

OK ... I just fired up Steam, and THIS is what's causing the gpu usage fluctuation to kick in! I had steam previously set up to come on with Windows, which I toggled off before I shut down last time, so it wasn't on when I first booted ... and there was no flux going on. Then, I discovered that firing up the Steam client is what starts the flux. But even when I shut off Steam client completely ... the fluctuation remains









Man, this machine is *really* frustrating me w/it's maddeningly inconsistent behavior, I gotta tell ya.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MokFlurry;14845459*
> Brett, your experience has basically destroyed my desire for the 3830tg. I'm heavily leaning towards getting the Asus unless something else comes along soon..


Well, I wouldn't let me experience dissuade you entirely. When it works, it works great ... I think it's just software issues, which are likely very solvable. If I could've got the Asus, though, I probably would have ... but that's partly cause it's $250 less in the US.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14845901*
> I am using the stock Nvidia drivers 280.xx and they seem to be working just fine for me. I don't really have any of the issues you are seeing. All the games I have tried seemed to be working flawlessly.
> 
> On a second note I did update all my drivers from Acer's website. I downloaded the latest chipset, audio etc and installed them before I tried to play any games.


Okay, I never did the driver updates from Acer's website, so I'll definitely try that next. Would you have a link handy for the page that has all of them on it? I'll probably go back to using the vga driver from Acer as well, at least I didn't have the weird pulsating gpu usage problem prior to installing the latest from nV's website.

BTW, I've never touched the 'P' button ... didn't even know what it was for. I'll definitely try that ... but I didn't have to hit it yesterday, when my games were running perfectly on batteries. Do you know what all hitting that button DOES, by chance? Cause it's not like the proc doesn't ramp up to whatever I set it to in TS, regardless of whether it's on batteries or not









Edit: okay, well every driver on Acer's site says last update of 04/14/2011 ... I'm guessing they're all identical to what the PC shipped with, so I'm not sure I'm going to mess with those unless nothing else works.

Also, neither light is on next to the P button (1 or A), but pressing it toggles a 'green' symbol to come up (with or without a line through it on the screen) ... but it's odd because neither light comes on when I press it ... do those lights 'work' for you? It seems like they'd be 'for' telling you which mode you're in, but they don't appear to work.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rcm_rx7;14846033*
> I too have had next to zero issues with my laptop, and I mainly use it for gaming. I'm using the latest drivers from nvidia, with throttlestop set at 18X and I can play BF Bad Company 2 all night long without an issue. I have never experienced an Optimus switching, or any other graphics issue.
> 
> If you are having issues with locked speeds on the GPU, I would guess you have a software issue, or possibly (and I think less likely) a hardware issue. I haven't heard of anybody else experiencing these issues on this laptop.
> 
> If this model has any problem that would cause somebody to look elsewhere, it's the amount of heat that the CPU and Nvidia GPU put off when used together. Throttlestop is able to keep the temps in check, and a few other hardware mods will help even more (thermal paste, mesh removal). A decent laptop cooler helps too.
> 
> Just want to show my support for this laptop, I love this thing.


Yeah, I *really* want to love this thing, but everytime I think I'm totally happy with it, some other garbage thing crops up for me, like today.

I'm fairly certain the problems I'm having are software-related, but I don't think it's the games, I think it's related to the software that runs the onboard devices ... specifically, the 540m.

So what video driver are you using, cause I think that's about the only thing that could be causing me to have issues others aren't having.

I wonder if the optimus technology driver (I would think there'd have to be a driver for it) are built into the Forceware? Seems like it'd have to be ... which also leads me to wonder if there's not various versions of that driver, and some of them work better than others.


----------



## brettjv

Okay, so I just tried JC2 again AFTER setting the PC into (non-green, or what I'll call) 'Performance Mode', and it ran terrific, no downclocking issues.

So *maybe* that was the problem earlier today. But since I didn't do that yesterday when it also was gaming fine on batteries, I don't know for sure that was the problem before ... unless it just came out of the box with the Performance mode enabled ... I doubt that though because the screen was much more dim on batteries than plugged into the wall ... Performance mode makes the screen much more bright.

I think what that P button actually does is toggle between 'Balanced' and 'Power Saving' modes in Windows. And I don't think that power-saving mode forces the GPU to run at 51MHz ... but I could be mistaken.

I hope that time will show that the issue I had earlier today was just caused by my not hitting the P button before gaming *crosses fingers*.

At this point my only remaining issue is the fluctuation in usage (forcing the GPU to stay in 3d clocks) that happens as soon as I fire up Steam client, and doesn't go away after I shut it down. But that's a pretty annoying issue, I gotta say, cause it means I'm lapping up the juice the whole rest of the time I'm on the PC after I start up Steam ... but maybe hitting P again to go back to power saving mode will cause it to stop? That'll be my next test.

And also ... can someone tell me if the lights next to the P button are supposed to light up when you press P, and/or what they actually both mean if they're not supposed to show you the power mode you're in?


----------



## roxxxjay

The GPU fluctuation issue is annoying. Im not sure what was causing it for me and when i told u before that it stopped as i disabled the nvidia gpu monitoring in throttle stop, well it stopped. Ya very random probably just a coincidence. Either way when i clean installed earlier Ive yet to experience any problems.

As for Steam my GPU is never running when i fire it up. You could force the integrated.

Only the "P" will light up when PowerSmart is enabled. The indicator for "1" is numlock and he indicator for "A" is capslock


----------



## roxxxjay

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14820605*
> ok, so here's an interesting one. Over on NBR, it has been decided that the heatsinks lack of mass and surface area, are part of the problem To solve this, we simply add surface area and mass. Here is what I did:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are dimes on top of nickles simply sitting on the heatpipes. (i actually traded the dime on the last one for a penny, purely because it fit better.)
> 
> So I ran some tests (all tests were run for 6 minutes):
> 
> Stock:
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). Max GPU temp: *86c* Max CPU temp: *97c*
> 
> -prime95 small FTT ((throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, note CPU does not throttle because GPU is still cool) max CPU temp: *Reached 99c so i got worried and stopped*
> 
> With Dimes+nickels
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). GPU Max temp: *78c*, CPU max Temp *90c*
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT (throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, throttling disabled). CPU Max temp: *94c*
> 
> I think if you lapped the heatpipes, the coins, and used some sort of TIM, the difference could be even greater.
> 
> Keep in mind my tests are still using the stock TIM


This was extremely interesting so ive decided to do a minor modification. I went to frys earlier today and purchased some Zalman ZM-RHS1 ram heat sinks.

They are about 6mm in height...so ya to tall. So I used a grinder in the garage to grind out the fins. I did have to take a significant amount as only a small portion of the fins are left. And afterwards I sand papered them a bit.

Similar as in Reflex's post, I placed all 8 heatsinks along the black coated heat sink. All 8 fit perfecty and covered the vast majority.

Ive havnt done much too much testing as im busy with college, but I did run Super Street Fighter IV (i know its not that intensive) on max settings including 16x AA and 16x anistropic filtering. Before in arcade mode i wouldnt be able to finish the game wihout it hitting 85 C and throttling down. As of right now ive completed arcade mode and done a bunch of games and it hasnt gone past 79 C according to Throttle Stop. Btw throttlestop is just monitoring and turned off. It was running at 2.3 ghz the whole time.

Ill try to post pics when i get the chance but definitly more area will help the temps.


----------



## reflex99

I believe that if you sanded off the paint on the heatsink, and used some sort of TIM, it would work even better.

Pretty sure it is just a heatsink mass issue at this point. Too much chip, too little heatsink


----------



## brettjv

I'm interested in hearing more about your experiment Roxx, keep us posted and put up some pics







Thanks for the answers on the lights ... I'd actually just figured it out right before I read your post.

So you say you have (or had) the gpu usage flicking issue as well? What drivers? And are you saying you got rid of the problem w/a fresh install? Did you have an external dvd drive, or did you get Windows setup onto a USB drive, and if so, how did you do that exactly? Are you using the same drivers as you were before?

I have a 250gb portable drive w/two partitions, the first one is 20gb, and it's empty. Does anyone know how (or if it's possible) for me to put the Windows install disc contents onto a 20gb partition (w/o scrapping the 2nd partition ... although I could move it's contents somewhere else if I had to) and make it bootable ... and if so, how? I know how to make bootable cd's w/windows on it, and dos bootable usb sticks, but not a bootable portable drive with Windows. So any insights on that would be fab.

Also, do you know if I can use the windows key from the back of my laptop if I installed from a windows home premium OEM disc that I have?

AFA temps go, like I said before, I'm really hoping for something like k10stat to come out for the Sandy, that way we could undervolt each p-state individually. I suspect these chips would run on considerably lower voltages. Mine appears to throttle at 75C, which is a bit on the low side.

It'd also be really nice if they would mod the bios so that we could disable turbo, set a max multiplier, set # of cores, turn HT on/off, and choose our throttling temperature ... ya know, just the basic stuff that should be in a bios for a high performance gaming machine like this one


----------



## roxxxjay

Im on the nvidia 280.26 driver. Yeah prior to the clean install the gpu was flickering up and down to 53%. Im not exactly sure of the source of the problem but I havnt experienced the gpu fluctuations ever since. Plus u get rid of all the bloat ware and its remains from the clean install

I installed windows 7 from the usb. I pretty much followed these two links:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/428068-legal-windows-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/433602-guide-clean-install-windows-7-acer.html

In the first link i went the iso method route and go for file X15-65733.iso and not the X15-65805.so (65733 is home premium; 65805 is professional i think). The second link just explains how to boot the media from the usb.

Heres the drivers i downloaded (credit to some amazon 3830tg review by Andrej A. Selivra)

AHCI_Intel_9.5.6.1001_W7x86W7x64_A
AHCI_Intel_10.1.2.1004_W7x64_A
AMT_Intel_6.0.0.1179_W7x86W7x64_A
AMT_Intel_7.0.0.1144_W7x64_A
Bluetooth_Atheros_7.2.0.60_W7x64_A
CardReader_Realtek_6.1.7600.74_W7x64_A
Chipset_Intel_9.2.0.1021_W7x64_A
Audio_Conexant_8.54.1.55_W7x64_A
Lan_Atheros_1.0.0.36_W7x64_A
LaunchManager_Dritek_5.0.6_W7x64_A (this is under the software section of the downloads on Acer's website)
PowerSmart Manager_Acer_6.01.3000_W7x64_A (also software, gives you better battery life and enables the "p" key on the upper right)
TouchPad_Synaptics_15.2.9.0_W7x64_A
Turbo Boost_Intel_2.1.23.0_W7x64_A (also software, not really necessary, but let's you see when turbo boost kicks in, kinda cool)
USB_Renesas_2.0.26.0_W7x64_A
VGA_NVIDIA_8.17.12.6721_W7x64_A (need to download the driver from Acer, NVidia's website's driver doesn't recognize the card)
VGA_NVIDIA_9.10.0514_W7x64_A
Wireless LAN_Atheros_9.0.0.202_W7x86W7x64_A

These can all be found ont he acer website. I followed this list except for the comment on how nvidia drivers wont recognize the gt 540m. Ive downloaded the latest driver from Nvidia and its been fine. Its also good to checkif any of the other drivers were updated. Oh and dont forget to update your bios







.


----------



## roxxxjay

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14849481*
> 
> Also, do you know if I can use the windows key from the back of my laptop if I installed from a windows home premium OEM disc that I have?
> 
> :


Yeah you would use the windows key on the back of the laptop.


----------



## brettjv

Thanks Roxx







+1 and welcome to OCN, I just noticed you were new here ... You've gotten right into the swing of how we do things I see









That Amazon review you're talking about was actually the very first review on this laptop I read.

So, I read somewhere that the P button was supposed to bring up an Acer power saving app ... but all I see is the 'eco' symbol overlay when I press it. Do you guys get some kind of app that comes up? I dunno if I accidentally deleted this Acer app or not ...

Also, I'd sure like to understand just what exactly the P button actually does, because it appears it's not just a toggle for the Windows power saving mode ... the machine stays in whichever Windows power mode it was in prior to pressing the button.

Presumably whatever change is affected happens via an Acer power savings app ... but I can't find such a thing in my Programs menu ... and the only sign of such a thing is the ePowerTray.exe and ePowerEvent.exe I see running in TM ... is there an actual UI for this app that we can play around with, create profiles, etc?

I'm really hoping to not have to re-install Windows, as I've taken a TON of time getting this baby set up, moved a ton of games over, carefully placing all my save files exactly where they need to be, and basically done all kinds of stuff to get it how I want it. But if that's the only solution to the flickering usage problem, I guess I'll have to bite the proverbial bullet on that.

Edit: I just did something (just totally at random, dunno even know what I did ... must've accidentally hit some combination of keys) that caused the icons on my desktop to grow larger and become spread further apart ... very strange. Anybody know what it is I might've just done, and how to fix it? Under control panel/appearance & personalization/display settings, I'm still at the 'smaller' 100% size, and my dpi also says it's at the default 100% (presumably those are both the same measurement) ... so I'm lost as to what just happened ... it's like I changed just the icon scaling









Edit 2: Figured out what I did to the icons. Interesting stuff, handy if you have a screen that's relatively small like this. I just made my icons 9 tall on the desktop with this method. Nice! Kinda wish I could reduce the spacing between them as well though









Also, you guys ever have issues with GPU-z (version 5.5) where it stops responding when you click the Sensors tab? That just happened to me, out of the blue. Worked fine earlier today, now it does that every time I hit 'sensors'.

Starting to feel like I'm gonna have issues until I make a fresh install ... REALLY don't want to though


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14850164*
> Thanks Roxx
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> +1 and welcome to OCN, I just noticed you were new here ... You've gotten right into the swing of how we do things I see
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That Amazon review you're talking about was actually the very first review on this laptop I read.
> 
> So, I read somewhere that the P button was supposed to bring up some kind of Acer power saving app ... but all I see is the 'eco' symbol overlay when I press it. Do you guys get some kind of app that comes up? I dunno if I accidentally deleted this Acer app or not ...
> 
> Also, I'd sure like to understand just what exactly the P button actually does, because it appears it's not just a toggle for the Windows power saving mode ... the machine stays in whichever Windows power mode it was in prior to pressing the button.
> 
> Presumably whatever change is affected happens via an Acer power savings app ... but I can't find such a thing in my Programs menu ... and the only sign of such a thing is the ePowerTray.exe and ePowerEvent.exe I see running in TM ... is there an actual UI for this app that we can play around with, create profiles, etc?


When on AC it does nothing.

On battery, it will either force the power saving modes (light on) or not (light off). With the light off, the Dedicated GPU will function.

Mine doesn't bring up any app either.


----------



## roxxxjay

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14850164*
> Thanks Roxx
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> +1 and welcome to OCN, I just noticed you were new here ... You've gotten right into the swing of how we do things I see


I have been a lurker on these forums for a while. After the purchase of the 3830tg (first laptop owned), Ive felt the need to participate.









And ya i get no app or options for the Powersmart too.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14850253*
> When on AC it does nothing.
> 
> On battery, it will either force the power saving modes (light on) or not (light off). With the light off, the Dedicated GPU will function.
> 
> Mine doesn't bring up any app either.


Yeah, I got the message to that effect when I tried pressing it w/the power plugged in.

I'm just wondering what it actually DOES ... like, does it only disable the 540m, or does it also do other stuff? Seems to dim the screen as well but I wonder what all else it does?

In case you've not guessed, I deleted the 'Book' directory on my c:/, thinking it contained some bloatware. Should've checked the contents first ... I've emptied the bin since then too so my manual is gone. Probably should try to find a copy, eh?


----------



## redwarrior191

guys, i just got my 4830tg here.. so if i do not want to reinstall the windows, what are the list of programs that are better removed??


----------



## redwarrior191

also, battery care shows that my battery is sanyo, with wear level of around 2%.. should i do i full discharge now or is it not required until 30cycle??


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14851176*
> guys, i just got my 4830tg here.. so if i do not want to reinstall the windows, what are the list of programs that are better removed??


Just use your common sense and remove anything that you don't want that doesn't say acer on it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14852548*
> also, battery care shows that my battery is sanyo, with wear level of around 2%.. should i do i full discharge now or is it not required until 30cycle??


My Sanyo battery says 2% wear as well and that is pretty normal. I wouldn't worry about it.


----------



## lawlinsee

Looking into buying this little gem too!! Just wondering what gaming performance is like when hooked up to a large monitor running at 1920x1200/1080? I only play SC2 and BF2.. soon to be BF3 though. I play on low settings anyway, but just wondering around about what fps would u get if anybody knew.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lawlinsee;14857216*
> Looking into buying this little gem too!! Just wondering what gaming performance is like when hooked up to a large monitor running at 1920x1200/1080? I only play SC2 and BF2.. soon to be BF3 though. I play on low settings anyway, but just wondering around about what fps would u get if anybody knew.


My take: I've had to kinda make myself 'get over' the fact this unit actually can't game for a sustained length of time (with many games I play anyways) with a multi that's higher than 20x (probably would be more like 22x if I put it on a cooler though), but now that I have done so ... along with having figured out solutions to little issues that've been plaguing me (although the gpu usage sometimes flicking from 0 to 52 every second ... I've not yet solved) ... I'm pretty well pleased with this device.

So, as long as you go into this purchase knowing that, when gaming, this is more like an i5 at 2.0GHz rather than the 2.3-2.9GHz as advertised, and that you'll need to deploy throttlestop to even get the 2.0GHz while gaming (otherwise it throttles to 1.2GHz) you should be pleased w/the unit.

The reality is that the 3830tg is really an incredible amount of gaming power to be packed into such a small and lightweight device. And they clearly sacrificed needed cooling capabilities in order to keep it small and light.

If 'small and light' are not fairly major priorities to you, there are a couple of 15" units at the same or lower price point with similar gaming prowess, that don't have the throttling issues going on ... frankly I would choose one of those if you don't mind a 15", 5+ lbs laptop.

And although I've not actually tried gaming at 1080p resolution, at the resolution of the onboard display, this unit is easily capable of producing a *drastically* better-looking image than a 360 or ps3 does. My guess is that, even with this laptop driving a much-larger 1080p resolution, you'll still end up with an image quality that at MINIMUM matches that of the consoles, and in the majority of cases, handily exceeds their quality. Esp. because you will actually be playing games at 1080p, rather than an upscaled 720p image like w/the consoles.

I'd say that the performance of the gt540m gfx chip is probably somewhere between a 9600gt and a 8800gt. For me, Crysis is very playable (at least in the early maps) at native res with everything on High except shaders, ppe, and shadows on Medium, typically pulling down 30-40 fps. Probably on the later levels, all Medium is about the best I could hope for it to do. To do 1080p you'd probably have to mix in some 'low' settings.

It'll totally max out something like Portal 2 though, no problem. Assassin's Creed BH I'm running pretty much everything right in the middle (still looks very good), and in Just Cause 2 l'm rocking mostly high settings, (no AA or SSAO though) that have it looking totally amazing ... for a laptop.

Basically there's nothing out there you can't play on this laptop on 'low', in fact you can play most of the tough games on 'medium', and stuff on older DX9 engines it'll tear through on 'high' or even 'highest'.

If you just think of yourself as buying an [email protected] rather than a 2.3-2.9GHz model ... i.e. if you feel that it'd still be a good value at 2.0GHz at the price it goes for (personally I think it still is, esp. since that limitation only applies when gaming) ... then you'll be happy with this machine.


----------



## reflex99

brett have you added coins or heatsinks yet?


----------



## redwarrior191

guys..i just realised that my system only detects 4GB of RAM, although additional 4GB OF ram (8gb total) was installed right before the first windows set up.. what should i do now?? is it possible that the additional RAM stick was not installed properly? It was installed by the technicians in the shop where i bought it..


----------



## manyu882

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14862945*
> guys..i just realised that my system only detects 4GB of RAM, although additional 4GB OF ram (8gb total) was installed right before the first windows set up.. what should i do now?? is it possible that the additional RAM stick was not installed properly? It was installed by the technicians in the shop where i bought it..


could be... do a check on your own.

a side note: i've just realised that my laptop run 2-3 deg lower with just one ram.


----------



## brettjv

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14859586*
> brett have you added coins or heatsinks yet?


No sir ... I've briefly removed the back panel to look at the guts of the machine, and that's as close to modding as I've gotten









I figure I'll wait for someone else to come up with 'teh best' materials and methods for this purpose ... also want to see some hard, cold numbers showing what is the exact difference in temps caused by the mod, and see what the actual practical value of it is ... unless it actually allows the machine to run at 23x multi, I may not bother w/it.

Oh ... and I'm also a bit nervous about it, considering what befell your machine pretty much right after you did it










@Red - I would physically check the sticks on your machine and make sure you actually have 2x4gb sticks installed. Maybe the guys who installed them made a mistake. After that, I'd run CPU-Z, as it does give you some details about the nature of the mem stick(s) installed ... such as the make, model, and size.

Edit: BTW, I switched to the 275 drivers from lt2go and the weird constant gpu usage fluctuation is GONE!!!

I've also confirmed that my issues with the gpu staying at 51MHz when gaming was due to the power-saving ('P' was lighted) being activated. Once I turned that off, I was gaming on batteries perfectly.

So ... I'm declaring my machine to be officially working AWESOME now































... but does anyone know if I could use a Momentus (ssd/hdd hybrid) drive in this bad-boy? The HDD perf leaves a bit to be desired ... I guess it's normal for a 5400rpm drive, but I'm not really down with it.


----------



## redwarrior191

i just uninstall and reinstall the RAM stick, and now it's detected.. I think the technician didn't properly attach the stick before..

also, i just tried running crysis 2 for around 1 hour with throttlestop set at 19 multiplier and disable turbo.. the weird thing is, during that session, the cores are running at 24 multiplier from throttlestop log, and not 19.. max temp for cpu is 80C and GPU is 65C.. isn't throttlestop supposed to force the cores to run at 19 multiplier?? how come they still run at the stock multiplier (24).. it isnt a bad thing bud i'm just curious..


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14870653*
> No sir ... I've briefly removed the back panel to look at the guts of the machine, and that's as close to modding as I've gotten
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I figure I'll wait for someone else to come up with 'teh best' materials and methods for this purpose ... also want to see some hard, cold numbers showing what is the exact difference in temps caused by the mod, and see what the actual practical value of it is ... unless it actually allows the machine to run at 23x multi, I may not bother w/it.
> 
> Oh ... and I'm also a bit nervous about it, considering what befell your machine pretty much right after you did it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> @Red - I would physically check the sticks on your machine and make sure you actually have 2x4gb sticks installed. Maybe the guys who installed them made a mistake. After that, I'd run CPU-Z, as it does give you some details about the nature of the mem stick(s) installed ... such as the make, model, and size.
> 
> Edit: BTW, I switched to the 275 drivers from lt2go and the weird constant gpu usage fluctuation is GONE!!!
> 
> I've also confirmed that my issues with the gpu staying at 51MHz when gaming was due to the power-saving ('P' was lighted) being activated. Once I turned that off, I was gaming on batteries perfectly.
> 
> So ... I'm declaring my machine to be officially working AWESOME now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... but does anyone know if I could use a Momentus (ssd/hdd hybrid) drive in this bad-boy? The HDD perf leaves a bit to be desired ... I guess it's normal for a 5400rpm drive, but I'm not really down with it.


I did a test with numbers in my post









and really, for the 2-7 degrees it dropped it, I'd say it's worth it, nit only that, but it is probably the least permenant of any of the things we do in this crazy thread.

on the note of crazy things, I'm probably going to mail mine for rma tomorrow

edit: I don't forsee any problems with a momentus xt, the 3830 isn't known to have ant issues with hdd compatibility.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *brettjv;14870653*
> No sir ... I've briefly removed the back panel to look at the guts of the machine, and that's as close to modding as I've gotten
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I figure I'll wait for someone else to come up with 'teh best' materials and methods for this purpose ... also want to see some hard, cold numbers showing what is the exact difference in temps caused by the mod, and see what the actual practical value of it is ... unless it actually allows the machine to run at 23x multi, I may not bother w/it.
> 
> Oh ... and I'm also a bit nervous about it, considering what befell your machine pretty much right after you did it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> @Red - I would physically check the sticks on your machine and make sure you actually have 2x4gb sticks installed. Maybe the guys who installed them made a mistake. After that, I'd run CPU-Z, as it does give you some details about the nature of the mem stick(s) installed ... such as the make, model, and size.
> 
> Edit: BTW, I switched to the 275 drivers from lt2go and the weird constant gpu usage fluctuation is GONE!!!
> 
> I've also confirmed that my issues with the gpu staying at 51MHz when gaming was due to the power-saving ('P' was lighted) being activated. Once I turned that off, I was gaming on batteries perfectly.
> 
> So ... I'm declaring my machine to be officially working AWESOME now
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... but does anyone know if I could use a Momentus (ssd/hdd hybrid) drive in this bad-boy? The HDD perf leaves a bit to be desired ... I guess it's normal for a 5400rpm drive, but I'm not really down with it.


Momentus XT drives work perfectly in the laptop. I had a 500GB Momentus XT hybrid drive in mine for a few weeks until I decided to get an SSD for it.

I simply used Symantec ghost on the hirens disk to clone the original drive to the momentus XT. Later when I got my SSD I cloned the Momentus XT to the SSD. All have worked out flawlessly.


----------



## robwadeson

i have the acer 3830tg 2410m 540m 4gb 500gb with modded u2 too


----------



## reflex99

little do you know, i have been stalking your for weeks, and added you to the list a while ago


----------



## redwarrior191

hey, i also just realised that my 4830 came with i5-2430, not i5-2410 like the majority here.. but it's not different by much..


----------



## killeraxemannic

I am having issues with getting my bootable linux flash drive to work with this laptop. I have a version of Backtrack on my flash that I used to boot with my old laptop and when I try to get it to boot with this one it will start booting and loading drivers but then hangs at a black screen. I am worried it is something related to the dual video card thing.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14876083*
> hey, i also just realised that my 4830 came with i5-2430, not i5-2410 like the majority here.. but it's not different by much..


yep, the 2410 is discontinued now. Replaced with the 2430 which is a straight upgrade.:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14881597*
> I am having issues with getting my bootable linux flash drive to work with this laptop. I have a version of Backtrack on my flash that I used to boot with my old laptop and when I try to get it to boot with this one it will start booting and loading drivers but then hangs at a black screen. I am worried it is something related to the dual video card thing.


I have heard of the dgpu not working In Linux, but never the fact that you have dual video cards preventing it.


----------



## roxxxjay

Sorry for the bad picture of the added zalman zm-rhs1, but the only thing I got for taking a photo is an old nokia. When I get around to it I will try to do some tests.

I have one question. The part where I marked with red X's, is that portion also copper and molded with the heat pipes? If so, I am going to reposition some of the ram heatsinks of the right end (near the fan) over there..more mass near the heat source is better right.









edit: heres with the cover on


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *roxxxjay;14884828*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for the bad picture of the added zalman zm-rhs1, but the only thing I got for taking a photo is an old nokia. When I get around to it I will try to do some tests.
> 
> I have one question. The part where I marked with red X's, is that portion also copper and molded with the heat pipes? If so, I am going to reposition some of the ram heatsinks of the right end (near the fan) over there..more mass near the heat source is better right.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit: heres with the cover on


Sweet! Cant wait to see some temps!!!

Also can you post a link to the heatsincs you bought?


----------



## reflex99

I would just try to add as much mass as humanly possible. Anything to slow down the temp rise is good.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *killeraxemannic;14885034*
> Sweet! Cant wait to see some temps!!!
> 
> Also can you post a link to the heatsincs you bought?


http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=zalman+zm-rhs1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7656941761992616757&sa=X&ei=69ZqTvncOY3TiAKUo7zHDg&ved=0CCsQ8wIwAA


----------



## roxxxjay

Yup thats the zalman zm-rhs1 heatsinks! But if you can find something with a bit shorter profile the better. It was kinda tedious using a grinder and then sanding them a lil...all 8 heat sinks lol. As you can see they look nothing like how they used to be.


----------



## rcm_rx7

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *roxxxjay;14885148*
> Yup thats the zalman zm-rhs1 heatsinks! But if you can find something with a bit shorter profile the better. It was kinda tedious using a grinder and then sanding them a lil...all 8 heat sinks lol. As you can see they look nothing like how they used to be.


So how is it working out for you?


----------



## cdoublejj

the cooling problem still exists with the laptop it's self.









Apply thermal pads here...









so that it conducts heat here.









Remove paint and use AS5 and these..









copper slugs or copper discs, they are usually used for jewelery but, work great for laptops too. they come in all sizes and thicknesses i would suggest removing the burr with high grit sang paper or stick them on burr side up.


----------



## eightdrunkengods

***UPDATED***

*tl;dr?* SATA III SSDs work fine and are really fast. Use Windows Color Calibration to improve the display. On the i5 machines, the CPU throttles when the GPU hits 75 C. EVGA precision can be used to change the GPU clock speeds.

Hello all. I found this thread while looking for specs and tweaks for my 3830tg. I have some observations which may be useful to some. OP, add me to the owner's list if you like.

3830tg / i5 2410m / GT 540m 1G

Original Kingston RAM was upgraded to: 8GB Crucial CT2KIT51264BC1067 (CPUZ reports this running at 1066, 7-7-7-20 if anyone cares)
HDD replaced with Plextor PX-M2 128GB SSD
All tests performed using the 280.26 drivers from Nvidia

Battery: My machine arrived with a Sanyo battery with BatteryBar reports as having 0.8% wear. This has not changed in the last 7 days.

SSD: I swapped out the HDD pretty much immediately. I updated the firmware and then cloned the original drive to the SSD (after resizing partitions and such) and have not had a single problem. I deleted the recovery partition and resized the main partition to reclaim 12 GB or so. The SSD is SATA III and obviously runs fine. It gets a 7.5 rating in the disk drive portion of the Windows Experience Index. I haven't done any other benching. It's super fast.

The Screen: Like most users, I'm not impressed with the screen. I did manage to make it look better (although the colors are still washed out) by using the Windows Color Calibration and turning the gamma down kind of a lot. You can find this under: Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Calibrate Color.

CPU Throttling: I knew about the throttling issue (and "fix") before I bought the machine. A lot of users are claiming that the i5 CPU throttles when it hits 85 C. I think that, if you look closely, you'll find that throttling happens when the *GPU* hits 75 C (this was suggested earlier in this thread). You can test this with Prime 85 and Furmark. Here's how I did it:

If I run prime's blend test for long enough, I can get CPU core temps of 90-91 C (Speedfan or HWmonitor) but the CPU will still be running at a 23x multiplier (CPUZ). Incidentally, it seems to give up the 29x multiplier for 26x as it warms up and then drops to 23x when the temps are in the high 80s. I kept the CPU temps at about 90 C for 5 minutes since the temps appeared to level off around there. It kept the 23x multiplier the entire time.

If I run Furmark (still monitoring temps with Speedfan and CPU clock with CPUZ) I can watch the CPU multiplier drop to 12 as soon as the *GPU* hits 75-76 C. If I use throttlestop *only to turn off the turbo boost* my CPU temp will still be at about 78 C when the CPU throttles.

This throttling solution is terrible for gaming since, if your GPU is slammed, once the temp gets to 75 C it's probably not going to drop below that, even if the CPU is throttled. I understand the need to throttle hardware to prevent it reaching dangerous temperatures but the way Acer has applied the CPU throttling is particularly annoying since it doesn't actually solve the overheating problem. Gaming and overheating your machine? CPU throttle! Now you're gaming slower and still overheating your machine. Whoops!









Anyway, the CPU throttling is practically completely independent of CPU temp (which surprised me). Obviously, since the case is tiny, the CPU and GPU temps are going to affect one another (a hot CPU = hot case = hot GPU) so it's not *really* completely independent but the *GPU* temp monitor is what sets off the *CPU* throttling. Depending on the game/application, it may be worthwhile to underclock the GPU (if possible, maybe Precision and Afterburner will work?) in order allow a for higher CPU multiplier but still preventing throttling. The turbo boost should clearly be disabled since sustained operation at the 29x multiplier turns this little laptop into a little oven.

Hopefully you guys find all this helpful.

I have a question. I can't seem to get ThrottleStop to reduce the multiplier. It effectively disables the turbo boost but my CPU can run at 23x regardless of how low I set the multiplier in ThrottleStop. Does anyone have a fix for this? I'm using ThrottleStop 3.40. I would also be interested to know whether the smallest Coolermaster U-series cooler (the U1) will hold this laptop effectively or if I should go for the U2. The U2 seems kind of big for the 3830...

Update #1: Underclocking EVGA precision can indeed be used to overclock/underclock the GPU. This does not affect the operation of the Optimus system in any way (i.e. the system switches over to the Intel GPU when the Nvidia is not needed). Overclocking or underclocking yield the expected gains/losses in framerate and also temps. So, underclocking can be used to mitigate GPU overheating and overclocking can nuke your laptop. Leaving the core and shader clocks linked, I was able to run Furmark for an extended period with the GPU clock at 775 mHz. During this time I observed no artifacts or throttling (GPU temp stayed around 73 C). This overclock yielded about a 13% improvement in Furmark score. Changing the memory clock didn't seem to have any impact on framerate or temperatures. Disclaimer: Overclocking such a compact system (or any system) will probably have a negative impact on its lifespan and reliability. Extended or "extreme" overclocking would be pretty foolish. I just ran these tests to determine whether or not the system could be underclocked and to figure out if there was any kind of overhead on the GPU. FWIW, I will not be running any significant OC.

Update #2: Throttlestop and Extra Cooling Throttlestop 3.43 was just released and works beautifully. The CoolerMaster U2 is pretty much the perfect size for the 3830 (13.3"). It is only about 2 cm wider than the notebook.

Cheers.

-Eight


----------



## reflex99

1. The i3's have an Intel set throttling temp of 85, the i5's are higher, so usually on the i5 model, the GPU will reach 75ish before the i5 hits it's throttling temp.

2.the U2 is the smallest, the U1 is really too small.

3. Mid if i add some of the stuff from your post to the OP?

4. No idea about TS, sorry...


----------



## eightdrunkengods

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14930140*
> 1. The i3's have an Intel set throttling temp of 85, the i5's are higher, so usually on the i5 model, the GPU will reach 75ish before the i5 hits it's throttling temp.
> 
> 2.the U2 is the smallest, the U1 is really too small.
> 
> 3. Mid if i add some of the stuff from your post to the OP?


Not at all, use whatever you like.







Thanks for the info about the i3's.


----------



## redwarrior191

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *eightdrunkengods;14929832*
> I have a question. I can't seem to get ThrottleStop to reduce the multiplier. It effectively disables the turbo boost but my CPU can run at 23x regardless of how low I set the multiplier in ThrottleStop. Does anyone have a fix for this? I'm using ThrottleStop 3.40. I would also be interested to know whether the smallest Coolermaster U-series cooler (the U1) will hold this laptop effectively or if I should go for the U2. The U2 seems kind of big for the 3830...
> 
> edited for clarity
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> -Eight


It also happens to me using throttlestop 3.4.. I posted this a while ago.. my multiplier runs at the stock 24 during gaming.. a user from notebookreview forum has reported this and it seems that the author of throttlestop is aware of this issue right now.. maybe he'll release an update soon..

also, i'm using the u2 and it perfectly fits the 4830.. i dont know about the 3830 but from my assumption u1 will still be too small for it..


----------



## brettjv

@8: I can just set the multi in TS 3.4 and check the checkbox there, and my multi will stay at whatever I set it to. It works perfectly for me, and I've confirmed that via the logging system.


----------



## redwarrior191

guys..i'm wondering.. is it better to have the laptop plugged to AC most of the time or just use the battery until it is 20-30% capacity then recharge it all over again? coz my laptop only sits in my dorm most of the time, and i can't remove the battery from this laptop easily..


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;14954747*
> guys..i'm wondering.. is it better to have the laptop plugged to AC most of the time or just use the battery until it is 20-30% capacity then recharge it all over again? coz my laptop only sits in my dorm most of the time, and i can't remove the battery from this laptop easily..


I would say the best advice is don't leave it plugged in for more than 24 hours, and if you start charging it don't stop it in between.

Leaving it plugged in when your using it is not bad for it as long as its not plugged in for so long that the battery starts to get hot. The thing that kills the batteries is getting hot.

I would not wear it down and charge it every time because batteries go on charge cycles and your just wasting one if you use it when you could be plugged in.


----------



## unclewebb

*ThrottleStop 3.43*
http://www.mediafire.com/?dxokx71zhbz3l73

Eason on NBR let me know about the ThrottleStop 3.40 multiplier control problem on the Sandy Bridge based CPUs. Intel made an undocumented change so for Sandy Bridge, you can't use the ThrottleStop Disable Turbo feature and the reduced multiplier feature at the same time. The simple fix was to block a user from doing this and it seems to have fixed the problem.

This latest version should be more efficient compared to any previous versions so even if you don't have this problem, it would still be a good idea to upgrade.

If you have any problems, send an email to the guy in the About... box of ThrottleStop.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *unclewebb;14959746*
> *ThrottleStop 3.43*
> http://www.mediafire.com/?dxokx71zhbz3l73
> 
> Eason on NBR let me know about the ThrottleStop 3.40 multiplier control problem on the Sandy Bridge based CPUs. Intel made an undocumented change so for Sandy Bridge, you can't use the ThrottleStop Disable Turbo feature and the reduced multiplier feature at the same time. The simple fix was to block a user from doing this and it seems to have fixed the problem.
> 
> This latest version should be more efficient compared to any previous versions so even if you don't have this problem, it would still be a good idea to upgrade.
> 
> If you have any problems, send an email to the guy in the About... box of ThrottleStop.


Hey! Thanks for joining our site! Is there any chance that throttlestop will get voltage control on the SB laptop cpus? I would love to undervolt mine!


----------



## unclewebb

Intel removed simple voltage control when they switched from Core 2 to Core i. Being able to undervolt these Sandy CPUs would instantly solve a lot of problems but if it is possible, Intel isn't saying how. They simply said it is no longer possible but they are not always 100% honest. I know there is a way to increase the VID voltage on the Sandy Bridge Extreme CPUs but no known way to lower it.


----------



## reflex99

Boxed up my 3830!

mailing it to texas tomorrow. Hope she comes back ok.


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14962802*
> Boxed up my 3830!
> 
> mailing it to texas tomorrow. Hope she comes back ok.


Good luck man!!! If they won't fix it for you I would be happy to take a look at it if you want me to!


----------



## reflex99

I'm pretty certain this laptop is cursed.

1st acquiring it caused an unneeded amount of drama. (people saying i'm wasting money...yelling taking my iPad etc.)

2nd: i get panasonic battery

3rd: temps a bit higher than average for 3830s

4th: kill laptop during routine TIM replacement, WTH bro

5th: when taking the HDD out to wipe my data, i somehow loose one of the screws, spent 2 hrs searching for it, still lost.

6th: idk. really anything could happen at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if the UPS guy just threw it in the ocean.


----------



## unclewebb

I noticed a couple of comments about the ThrottleStop multiplier going up and down when the CPU is lightly loaded. ThrottleStop accurately reports the average multiplier during each sample period and what it is reporting is exactly what's going on inside these CPUs. Many users think that an idle CPU should just be sitting there in one consistent state but that's not what's really going on inside, ever.

Cores and threads are entering and exiting various C sleep states hundreds or thousands of times a second. Depending on how much time a thread spends in each sleep state will vary the average multiplier that is reported. If you are trying to save power when lightly loaded, seeing this random multiplier variation is usually a good thing because it helps to confirm that your C States are working properly.

I added a new C State monitoring window to ThrottleStop so you can see exactly what percentage of time your CPU is spending in each state. Adjusting your bios or eliminating background processes that are preventing your CPU from entering the deeper sleep states are the best ways to improve your battery run time.

There is also a button in this window that can help limit what deep C States that your CPU package can go into. Most laptop manufacturers have decided to lock this feature in the bios so this can not be adjusted. If this feature was unlocked, on the first generation Core i CPUs, you could set the CPU Package limit to C1 and this would block the CPU package from entering the deeper sleep states. You would end up with a more consistent multiplier at idle but blocking your CPU from going to sleep usually results in increased heat and power consumption.

For consistent validation purposes, the programmer of CPU-Z has decided not to show what these CPUs are really doing while idle.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cpuz;4571680*
> Of course I admit that CPU-Z is not accurate anymore at idle on latest Intel generations, that is why TMonitor was developped.


For ThrottleStop, I decided to simply tell it like it is. If minimizing power consumption is important to you then you don't need to be concerned about the floating average multiplier at idle. Just keep an eye on power consumption that ThrottleStop is reading directly from these Sandy Bridge CPUs. When cores are spending the majority of time asleep, the average multiplier data is not a good way to judge CPU power consumption.


----------



## roxxxjay

Hey guys! Heres an update of what ive been doing with the 3830tg:
















I posted earlier making use of these zalman ram heat sinks..well my friend had a bunch of extra copper ones that I soon got from him. Instead of using a grinder to make them shorter i just got a hammer to bend the fins at an angle. I also sanded the the heat pipes. In addition to that I opted to not use the thermal tape and used some noctua thermal paste i had lying around. The orange and blue looks kinda too much but hey more the better right?







Oh btw I also had to cut some of the plastic with the pink sticker that was covering a portion of the gpu heat sink. So ya warranty voided! lol. Its fine since I baby my products.

























Also, I was browing for a laptop cooler, but decent ones are like $20+. On top of that most of them have so-so fans. So instead I ordered two gentletyphoon ap15s from koolertek.com (came here quick because they are located in tx and so am I!) since they are quiet, ball bearing, and have strong static pressure to go through the vents. After that I spliced an AC-DV 12 v adapter for the fans. Then i got a binder (inspired by [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZ0qfY2Vf0[/ame]) and modded it accordingly. I added a random gaming case and an old heatsink on top of eachother near the front of the binder to help strengthen the face of the binder. This will help stengthen it and avoid bending on the face from weight of the laptop and my hands. Finaly, I put two fan grills, put a velcro for opening and closing the binder, and also a velcro for the acdc adapter to store inside the binder.

Lol, I still havnt done real tests, but what I can tell you is that the current games that I have installed in here (Super Street figther 4 - throttled before mods, Leauge of legends, and Dawn of War II retribution - throttled before mods) all have run so far during long sessions of play with stock settings - meaning turbo mode running without throttling down. I can recall that in SSF4 the gpu temp never went over 64 degrees celsius.

And is it really true about the Panasonic batteries? Ive had my laptop for quite some time now and it lasts forever at school. According to batterybar I still have 0% wear.

Oh and Reflex add me to the owner list!









So ya im pretty happy with the results









edit* Btw I didnt change out the thermal paste for the gpu and cpu. Im to scared to open everything up and mess up as I have little experience with laptops.

edit II* just finished a game of dawn of war II. turbo on. gpu max temp: 68 C. cpu max: 83 C core1 and 80 C for core 2


----------



## roxxxjay

Quote:



Originally Posted by *redwarrior191*


guys..i'm wondering.. is it better to have the laptop plugged to AC most of the time or just use the battery until it is 20-30% capacity then recharge it all over again? coz my laptop only sits in my dorm most of the time, and i can't remove the battery from this laptop easily..


I always leave mine plugged in when im at home. Then when Im at school I just run the laptop on battery. My friend told me that its best to keep the battery charged above 50% with today's laptops to perserve the life. I usualy use my laptop on battery until its around 70% then I just plug it back in. 0% wear so far according to battery bar.


----------



## reflex99

Mailed it!

UPS says it should get there about friday next week..... we'll see then what Acer has to say about it


----------



## brettjv

Uggh ... just installed some battery monitor software (think it was Battery Bar) last night and it said my wear was at like 11% already ... it's been charged/run down to hibernate state like 5 times since I got it, but I've done no 'deeper' drains.

Am I supposed to 'calibrate' it somehow? Should I run it til it actually shuts off from lack of power (rather than hibernating) one time or something? If so, how do I do that, cause I think it won't start back up from hibernation unless I plug it in ... or am I wrong on that? How do I disable the automatic hibernation on low power, IOW?

I dunno what brand of battery I got because the software I installed doesn't appear to tell me that info (again, I *think* it was batterybar but don't have it w/me right now to check) but I have to presume it's a panasonic since the Sanyo's don't exhibit this atrocious wear readings, correct? Should I 'apply' for a Sanyo with Acer and get one sent to me to swap out myself you think?


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *brettjv*


Uggh ... just installed some battery monitor software (think it was Battery Bar) last night and it said my wear was at like 11% already ... it's been charged/run down to hibernate state like 5 times since I got it, but I've done no 'deeper' drains.

Am I supposed to 'calibrate' it somehow? Should I run it til it actually shuts off from lack of power (rather than hibernating) one time or something? If so, how do I do that, cause I think it won't start back up from hibernation unless I plug it in ... or am I wrong on that? How do I disable the automatic hibernation on low power, IOW?

I dunno what brand of battery I got because the software I installed doesn't appear to tell me that info (again, I *think* it was batterybar but don't have it w/me right now to check) but I have to presume it's a panasonic since the Sanyo's don't exhibit this atrocious wear readings, correct? Should I 'apply' for a Sanyo with Acer and get one sent to me to swap out myself you think?



Well just to make it clear the battery swap is 1 screw away from new thermal paste. So it means taking the laptop completely apart but not taking the last screw that holds the motherboard out. Its a fairly in depth job if you are scared of taking it apart I would send it to them for replacement in around 10 months when your closer to the end of your warranty.


----------



## roxxxjay

Interesting review of dynamic switchable graphics vs nvidia optimus technology using the Sony VAIO CA (VPCCA290X) vs the Acer TimelineX 3830TG-6431

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4839/m...mus-technology


----------



## reflex99

Acer claims to have received my 3830.

*fingers crossed they don't see what i've done to it*


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *reflex99*


Acer claims to have received my 3830.

*fingers crossed they don't see what i've done to it*


Good luck to you man!!! Acer seems really laid back about that kind of stuff from what I have seen!


----------



## redwarrior191

guys..i have a problem, my nVidia card suddenly will not operate even in heavy games (checked from GPU-Z log).. i don't know what's the cause.. it just happened yesterday, every games i tried (crysis 2, gears of war, portal 2) will not switch the graphics to the nvidia.. i think i just did windows update and installed several utility stuffs the day before that, and this occured yesterday.. any suggestions on what should i do??


----------



## reflex99

uninstall the stuff that you installed before the problem occurred.


----------



## redwarrior191

i did that yesterday..no effect.. it was only ccleaner and smartdefrag.. i doubt it's because of that, coz i didn't even use those program after installing.. any ideas guys?? i would really appreciate any help now..


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *redwarrior191*


guys..i have a problem, my nVidia card suddenly will not operate even in heavy games (checked from GPU-Z log).. i don't know what's the cause.. it just happened yesterday, every games i tried (crysis 2, gears of war, portal 2) will not switch the graphics to the nvidia.. i think i just did windows update and installed several utility stuffs the day before that, and this occured yesterday.. any suggestions on what should i do??


I would make sure you have the latest NVIDIA drivers. If you do have the latest I would re install them.


----------



## redwarrior191

no i have the stock one..coz i remember when i tried it the first time there was no problem with any of the games i tested.. oh well, maybe i really should install it now.. i'll install the one from laptop2go and report back..


----------



## redwarrior191

btw..what is the reccomended way to update video cards driver?? do i need to remove the old driver first using fancy apps (driver sweeper, etc), or just directly install the new driver it as usual??


----------



## eightdrunkengods

I just went to the nvidia website, selected the 540M, and found the driver installer, downloaded, and ran. http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

I think it's supposed to uninstall the old drivers. I haven't had any problems with Nvidia's installer on either of my machines (the other is a big HTPC SLI machine). I used to uninstall drivers before updating but I think the installers are good enough now that it's not necessary to do so.

Red, also check your settings in the Nvidia Control Panel. Make sure your program and global settings aren't set for "Integrated Graphics." Maybe restore the defaults (it should set everything to "auto select") and go from there.


----------



## redwarrior191

guys..for some reasons i could not open the laptop2go website, so i downloaded the driver from nvidi website directly.. to my surprise it worked flawlessly.. everything is back to normal now, the nvidia gpu will load in every game i test.. but i read somewhere the driver from nvidia website is not compatible with optimus, is that true??


----------



## killeraxemannic

Quote:



Originally Posted by *redwarrior191*


guys..for some reasons i could not open the laptop2go website, so i downloaded the driver from nvidi website directly.. to my surprise it worked flawlessly.. everything is back to normal now, the nvidia gpu will load in every game i test.. but i read somewhere the driver from nvidia website is not compatible with optimus, is that true??


The Nvidia driver from the Nvidia website is the one you should be using. It's made for Optimus....


----------



## eightdrunkengods

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redwarrior191;15085578*
> but i read somewhere the driver from nvidia website is not compatible with optimus, is that true??


The Nvidia website will not automatically find the correct drivers for this system. I think this is what your source meant. I remember reading it too. Anyway, you just have to find the drivers manually (which, I guess, you did). Optimus works perfectly with the 280.26 drivers.


----------



## hagbard

I'm getting pretty frustrated with the one I've had all of three days.

1. I also have the Panasonic battery, started at 5.7% wear, went to 5.1 and is now 8.4%. If I were to decide to change the battery myself, what's involved?

2. Dead pixel in the middle of the screen. Not a huge deal as I actually have to hunt for it to find it.

3. What I find particularly frustrating is the awful colour (pinkish). I found a decent profile, loaded it in, but no matter what I do (setting as default and doing what it says here: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00XOjR) it continues to reload the crappy pink profile.

4. I'm not gaming but I understand it will throttle if I try. Given my past dealings with Acer, I don't really want to deal with them in the future.

With all the problems with this thing, the only thing holding me back from getting a refund is what I paid ($429cdn). Don't really need it so I probably will take it back and wait till someone comes out with something better and cheap that actually works.


----------



## grunion

How's this(9546) for a GTX560m Vantage score?

And how high are you all getting your 560s?


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hagbard;15088954*
> I'm getting pretty frustrated with the one I've had all of three days.
> 
> 1. I also have the Panasonic battery, started at 5.7% wear, went to 5.1 and is now 8.4%. If I were to decide to change the battery myself, what's involved?
> 
> 2. Dead pixel in the middle of the screen. Not a huge deal as I actually have to hunt for it to find it.
> 
> 3. What I find particularly frustrating is the awful colour (pinkish). I found a decent profile, loaded it in, but no matter what I do (setting as default and doing what it says here: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00XOjR) it continues to reload the crappy pink profile.
> 
> 4. I'm not gaming but I understand it will throttle if I try. Given my past dealings with Acer, I don't really want to deal with them in the future.
> 
> With all the problems with this thing, the only thing holding me back from getting a refund is what I paid ($429cdn). Don't really need it so I probably will take it back and wait till someone comes out with something better and cheap that actually works.


replacing the battery requires an almost complete dis-assembly. Not too difficult, just takes a bit of time and patience.

If you really don't like it that much, and aren't willing to put the work into making it better, then it probably isnt the laptop for you. At stock, yes it is a flawed product. It will not function properly without user intervention, but that is part of the fun, making it work, and finding innovative solutions to something engineers paid to do this couldn't .








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *grunion;15107018*
> How's this(9546) for a GTX560m Vantage score?
> 
> And how high are you all getting your 560s?


This guy....


----------



## reflex99

Got my 3830 back! they just replaced the motherboard, and now it works fine! epic winning. put my coins back in, removed the mesh (i put it back in for RMA). Temps are decent, i am still a bit scared from killing it last time, maybe i will attempt TIM replacement some time in the futre


----------



## majinwu

Just wanted to let yall know that I gave reflex99's coin trick a try and am blown away at the results. Big ups to reflex... by far the cheapest and easiest mod to do.

For about 15 min I've been running Furmark with ThrottleStop locking the cpu at 2.8Ghz and both my i5 CPU and GT540 maxes at 83C (this is 3830TG).
Haven't tried reapplying TIM yet and don't think I have to anymore with the coins.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;14820605*
> ok, so here's an interesting one. Over on NBR, it has been decided that the heatsinks lack of mass and surface area, are part of the problem To solve this, we simply add surface area and mass. Here is what I did:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are dimes on top of nickles simply sitting on the heatpipes. (i actually traded the dime on the last one for a penny, purely because it fit better.)
> 
> So I ran some tests (all tests were run for 6 minutes):
> 
> Stock:
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). Max GPU temp: *86c* Max CPU temp: *97c*
> 
> -prime95 small FTT ((throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, note CPU does not throttle because GPU is still cool) max CPU temp: *Reached 99c so i got worried and stopped*
> 
> With Dimes+nickels
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT + kombustor default (with trottlestop @1.9GHz). GPU Max temp: *78c*, CPU max Temp *90c*
> 
> -Prime95 small FTT (throttlestop, full turbo, 2.7ghz, throttling disabled). CPU Max temp: *94c*
> 
> I think if you lapped the heatpipes, the coins, and used some sort of TIM, the difference could be even greater.
> 
> Keep in mind my tests are still using the stock TIM


----------



## hagbard

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;15107530*
> replacing the battery requires an almost complete dis-assembly. Not too difficult, just takes a bit of time and patience.
> 
> If you really don't like it that much, and aren't willing to put the work into making it better, then it probably isnt the laptop for you. At stock, yes it is a flawed product. It will not function properly without user intervention, but that is part of the fun, making it work, and finding innovative solutions to something engineers paid to do this couldn't .


I took it back. Didn't care much for Acer's "support" either so probably won't look at them again.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *majinwu;15247965*
> Just wanted to let yall know that I gave reflex99's coin trick a try and am blown away at the results. Big ups to reflex... by far the cheapest and easiest mod to do.
> 
> For about 15 min I've been running Furmark with ThrottleStop locking the cpu at 2.8Ghz and both my i5 CPU and GT540 maxes at 83C (this is 3830TG).
> Haven't tried reapplying TIM yet and don't think I have to anymore with the coins.


I think taking out the mesh was easier.....









There is a guy in this thread that actually sanded down the heatpipes, and used some thermal glue stuff to use real heatsinks instead of coins.


----------



## majinwu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;15249282*
> I think taking out the mesh was easier.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is a guy in this thread that actually sanded down the heatpipes, and used some thermal glue stuff to use real heatsinks instead of coins.


True... but this had a much greater effect than the removing the mesh.
And sanding the pipes and buying some heatsinks is so much more hassle than just $0.75 worth of coins


----------



## reflex99

I was trying to point out how hardcore he is


----------



## Eason

hai guys ^^

Currently I'm dealing with the GPU not being used issue, I think it's an optimus issue. As of about 1 week ago my computer suddenly decided to stop letting any program except for the control panel use the GF540m GT. The control panel will use it and cause 1% of the GPU to be used, but no other programs/games can access it at all. I've spent dozens of hours trying to figure this out.

I've tried: clean uninstall/reinstall of Nvidia drivers, intel VGA drivers, intel system board drivers, and acer powersmart.
I've also just reflashed the bios. There's only two things that happened in the last few days. 1. windows update started to install intel drivers when the computer froze then restarted. 2. Avast! detected a rootkit which was removed with a killer util. There have since been no other issues.

I've just bought an external drive for the explicit purpose of fixing this ing laptop- but I really don't want to do that unless it's the last resort. It will probably just happen again as it did. I know it's software related because I've swapped out the HD with a month old backup and it works fine, so why can't I fix it by uninstalling the drivers? It makes no sense.

Tonight I'll probably do a repair install to fix it (as well as doing the coin mine, though I'll be doing mine with Hong Kong coins







, I can't wait to try) and hopefully that will be that.


----------



## redwarrior191

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eason;15255006*
> hai guys ^^
> 
> Currently I'm dealing with the GPU not being used issue, I think it's an optimus issue. As of about 1 week ago my computer suddenly decided to stop letting any program except for the control panel use the GF540m GT. The control panel will use it and cause 1% of the GPU to be used, but no other programs/games can access it at all. I've spent dozens of hours trying to figure this out.
> 
> I've tried: clean uninstall/reinstall of Nvidia drivers, intel VGA drivers, intel system board drivers, and acer powersmart.
> I've also just reflashed the bios. There's only two things that happened in the last few days. 1. windows update started to install intel drivers when the computer froze then restarted. 2. Avast! detected a rootkit which was removed with a killer util. There have since been no other issues.
> 
> I've just bought an external drive for the explicit purpose of fixing this ing laptop- but I really don't want to do that unless it's the last resort. It will probably just happen again as it did. I know it's software related because I've swapped out the HD with a month old backup and it works fine, so why can't I fix it by uninstalling the drivers? It makes no sense.
> 
> Tonight I'll probably do a repair install to fix it (as well as doing the coin mine, though I'll be doing mine with Hong Kong coins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> , I can't wait to try) and hopefully that will be that.


it happens to me before, but a clean reinstall of nvidia driver fix everything for me.. i'm not sure about your case, probably if everything fails, a windows reinstall would worth the hassle to try??
oh, and make sure the P button is not lighted when you want to use the nvidia gpu..
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *majinwu;15247965*
> Just wanted to let yall know that I gave reflex99's coin trick a try and am blown away at the results. Big ups to reflex... by far the cheapest and easiest mod to do.
> 
> For about 15 min I've been running Furmark with ThrottleStop locking the cpu at 2.8Ghz and both my i5 CPU and GT540 maxes at 83C (this is 3830TG).
> Haven't tried reapplying TIM yet and don't think I have to anymore with the coins.


i'm interested in trying this mod..but how did you attach those dimes??


----------



## Eason

****, windows disc isn't giving me the option to do a repair install... I'm using OEM Home premium and so is the disc, but no option.

I've tried all drivers but no dice.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:



Originally Posted by *redwarrior191*


i'm interested in trying this mod..but how did you attach those dimes??


friction.

They hold them selves in when you put the cover back on.


----------



## Eason

AGH I was so close! I did a total uninstall of the drivers, system tools, then ran driver sweeper. The result- the GPU now spikes to 53% occasionally when opening windows, but still doesn't totally turn on. :'(


----------



## Eason

Quote:



Originally Posted by *reflex99*


friction.

They hold them selves in when you put the cover back on.


They didn't for me, and that was even with a bit of TIM haha. I ended up using a lot more TIM and they've stayed in place so far. It's not good to have a bunch of coins rattling around inside your laptop during the day haha.

Gave up trying to fix the nvidia thing. I'm currently re-installing windows. If this doesn't fix it, I'm selling it.

edit: nope, TIM does not hold the coins in. I ended up with one lodged over the RAM and one in the fan. This is definitely not a safe or effective solution, unless someone has a better idea how to hold them in place.


----------



## majinwu

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Eason*


They didn't for me, and that was even with a bit of TIM haha. I ended up using a lot more TIM and they've stayed in place so far. It's not good to have a bunch of coins rattling around inside your laptop during the day haha.

Gave up trying to fix the nvidia thing. I'm currently re-installing windows. If this doesn't fix it, I'm selling it.

edit: nope, TIM does not hold the coins in. I ended up with one lodged over the RAM and one in the fan. This is definitely not a safe or effective solution, unless someone has a better idea how to hold them in place.


You stacking one time on top of one nickel in the locations specified in the reflex99's screenshot? It holds in place fine for me... if that doesn't work try penny on top of nickel, as pennies are thicker. And what TIM are you using?


----------



## Eason

I should say that I'm using Hong Kong money not USA money... but I don't really see what the difference should be since I'm using similar ones. I'm using AC5. How much TIM are you using? A whole glob or just a little?


----------



## cdoublejj

i was looking at my 5920g, i know it's not one of the aforementioned laptops but, i noticed the bottom cover was choking off a ton of air to the cpu. so i stuck my laptop on a copy machine and made a 1:1 scan of the bottom and long story shortm I layed out and cut intake holes right over the top of the fan in the bottom cover.

don't really have any before and after comparisons but, it defiantly intakes a good amount of air through those holes because i can feel it with the top of my hand. I may just cut a large circle or square of the plastic cover out and glue in some mesh to really let it flow.


----------



## majinwu

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eason;15276395*
> I should say that I'm using Hong Kong money not USA money... but I don't really see what the difference should be since I'm using similar ones. I'm using AC5. How much TIM are you using? A whole glob or just a little?


Not sure if HK coins is same thickness as US coins. If they are being held in place just try putting in some more coins so the door holds them in place.

I didn't use any TIM actually. Does AS5 provide some level of stickiness for the coins?


----------



## cdoublejj

i've mention before not to use coins use copper slugs they meant for exactly this kind of stuff.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cdoublejj;15280061*
> i've mention before not to use coins use copper slugs they meant for exactly this kind of stuff.


if I had copper slugs lying arround my house, I would.


----------



## Eason

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *majinwu;15279841*
> Not sure if HK coins is same thickness as US coins. If they are being held in place just try putting in some more coins so the door holds them in place.
> 
> I didn't use any TIM actually. Does AS5 provide some level of stickiness for the coins?


Very sticky, especially on my fingers







The problem is they slide off, not fall. The door is mostly being pushed up by the coin on the rightmost (when viewed from the bottom) coin, if my new set keep moving maybe I'll remove the rightmost one so the door fits better.

edit: I tried the coin trick, I only got to do it for 10 minutes before I went to work but DX:HR stayed at 82C running at x22 which is pretty good so far.


----------



## reflex99

nvm


----------



## Eason

I fixed the non-activation problem by forcing an upgrade install. It took about 5 hours but it didn't destroy any data which is the whole point. Edited the scversion.ini to 7077, then ran the upgrade in Vista SP2 compatibility to do it.


----------



## Eason

Don't know how it would be without the coins, but after 2 hours of rage my max temp was 90.


----------



## redwarrior191

hey Eason, you're also from HK?? which coin did you use? the $1 one?? and did you put any nickels between the coins and heatpipe?


----------



## Eason

I'm actually from UK/USA but I'm working here and plan to stay for the long term, get residency







It's funny wor I actually used Korean 100 won with thai 10bht on top, it seems to be working well so far (though I haven't thrown my laptop in my bag and taken it to work since). I've got all this random money but no American haha


----------



## Eason

Can't sand down the others, I get to use my foreign coins


----------



## reflex99

it's beautiful


----------



## cdoublejj

i'm not sure if if i'm being ignored or not fairly sure i am, but for the one or two people who find my posts in this thread via google and find the info valuable...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html


----------



## Eason

Any recommendations on which will be better to use, copper or the GELID aluminum sinks?


----------



## cdoublejj

copper is best with active cooling aluminum is best when there is no active cooling fan blowing on it. Hence why i told people to stop using crappy az coins and use copper shims instead.


----------



## Eason

So in the case of this laptop with it's poky fan, aluminum?


----------



## cdoublejj

yeah aluminum.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cdoublejj;15521752*
> copper is best with active cooling aluminum is best when there is no active cooling fan blowing on it. Hence why i told people to stop using crappy az coins and use copper shims instead.


If i had acess to coper shims, trust me, i would be using them...however, i do not, so coins are the best i can do


----------



## cdoublejj

pennies man, they are aluminum and copper unless your from the UK


----------



## reflex99

Pennies are now 97% zinc

They have never been publicly circulated as Al.

and really, considering the heat has to travel through paint, to a rough surface of the coin, i don't think the metal composition of the coins is going to have much of an effect.


----------



## cdoublejj

600/1000 grit or even a cotton swap of paint stripper ad some thick TIM like as 5. has any tried stripping the paint? does the paint cover the heat sink fins on these models?


----------



## reflex99

last time i took off the heatsink, i killed the motherboard, so I think i will be holding off for a while.

eventually, i will get a serious system set up though, and sand off the paint, and use thermal something+Al fins.

and, i have no idea if the fins are painted all the way though. I don't think the inner matrix is painted, but it could be


----------



## cdoublejj

well if the board is gone and you have nothing to loose put in the oven at just under 350F for for just a tad under 7 min.


----------



## reflex99

I RMA'd it, i have a perfectly working one now


----------



## Eason

Put it in the oven anyway, for science!


----------



## reflex99

I'll put you in an oven for science.


----------



## Eason

That just reminded me that I'm Jewish.


----------



## reflex99

dammit.... :/


----------



## cdoublejj

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99;15540045*
> I'll put you in an oven for science.


lulz, yeah i guess and RMA is a better idea normally i don't condone baking if know what needs re flowed.

i thing i noticed on 5920g was that there was nearly no CPU fan holes on the bottom cover to i made some air defiantly increased there.


----------



## Eason

Here's my current setup lol:


----------



## xinhang

I ordered the following heatsinks: http://www.ebay.com/itm/190527597147?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1820wt_857

I forgot to ask this question before purchasing the heat-sink. When you guys put those coins in, can you still close the case? Is there any side effect?


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xinhang*
> 
> I ordered the following heatsinks: http://www.ebay.com/itm/190527597147?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1820wt_857
> I forgot to ask this question before purchasing the heat-sink. When you guys put those coins in, can you still close the case? Is there any side effect?


no side effect.

I still had the case in.

However, you should use some sort of thermal adhesive or something. I just used pressure to hold mine in, and they started to slide since the plastic casing streched a bit, so i had to take them out

Those should be fine though, if you use thermal tape or something.


----------



## xinhang

I plan to use thermal ceramic compounds to permanently put those things on. The heat issue is actually not too bad as of now. Played an hour of SC2 and the max temperature was only 76, which is acceptable.


----------



## reflex99

got a link to the compound you plan to use? I'm interested.


----------



## xinhang

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=18557&vpn=AA-1%2E75G&manufacture=Arctic%20Silver

I plan to use that. I used it with my Artic cooling memory heat sink for my GTX480. After you apply it, you have to wait one hour, but it is a permanent solution.


----------



## StrictNine

I almost bought a 4830tg, but with all the talk about heat I ended up looking around more and getting a Lenovo y470 with a gt 550m.


----------



## xinhang

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *StrictNine*
> 
> I almost bought a 4830tg, but with all the talk about heat I ended up looking around more and getting a Lenovo y470 with a gt 550m.


good choice! I have actually sold my Vaio SA for this Acer. The vaio was $1200 and this Acer is only $450, and for $450 I cannot complain about its performance. It is just as fast, but at a fraction of the cost. I will be receiving those heat sink soon, and I hope to keep the temperature below 70.


----------



## GoHack

I just bought an AS4830TG-4650.

What software are you guys using in order to measure the cpu, gpu, and system temperatures?

I just ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound (T/C), in order to replace the oem T/C on the AS4830TG hardware. I can't seem to find any tear down of the AS4830TG any place, so I'm on my own on that. I'll try to get some pictures taken.

I also ordered an i7-2720QM. Since I'll have everything torn a part anyway, I just as well replace the cpu now, rather than take everything apart again later.

The memory has been upgraded to 8 gb, and I plan to replace the HD w/a SSD this weekend.

Anyone know if these laptops will take more than 8 gb of memory? The stock i5-2430 cpu, supports up to 16 gb, while the i7-2720QM, up to 32 gb.

.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *GoHack*
> 
> I just bought an AS4830TG-4650.
> What software are you guys using in order to measure the cpu, gpu, and system temperatures?
> I just ordered some IC Diamond thermal compound (T/C), in order to replace the oem T/C on the AS4830TG hardware. I can't seem to find any tear down of the AS4830TG any place, so I'm on my own on that. I'll try to get some pictures taken.
> I also ordered an i7-2720QM. Since I'll have everything torn a part anyway, I just as well replace the cpu now, rather than take everything apart again later.
> The memory has been upgraded to 8 gb, and I plan to replace the HD w/a SSD this weekend.
> Anyone know if these laptops will take more than 8 gb of memory? The stock i5-2430 cpu, supports up to 16 gb, while the i7-2720QM, up to 32 gb.
> .


you have major balls.

I salute your bravery.

May your heatsink burn in peace.

Also, with sandy bridge, if the chipset+CPU support it, it should work.


----------



## GoHack

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> you have major balls.
> I salute your bravery.
> May your heatsink burn in peace.
> Also, with sandy bridge, if the chipset+CPU support it, it should work.


Someone else has done it to an AS3830TG, but set the multi to 19x, so my AS4830TG should be able to take it. The fun part is the taking it apart. Since I'm going through the problem of replacing the thermal compound, I just as well replace the cpu while I'm at it. I may remove the black paint, since that restricts the heat transfer. My Toshiba has no paint on it's heatsink, and it runs a lot hotter than the Acer does, due to its i7-740QM cpu/Nvidia 350M gpu.


----------



## reflex99

I can barely get my i5 + 540m to play nicely at 19x multi (will only last for like 45min in skyrim without a cooling pad thing)

I can't imagine what a quad would do.

and FWIW, the 5830/4830/3830 all use a similar heatsink.


----------



## GoHack

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *roxxxjay*
> 
> This was extremely interesting so ive decided to do a minor modification. I went to frys earlier today and purchased some Zalman ZM-RHS1 ram heat sinks.
> 
> They are about 6mm in height...so ya to tall. So I used a grinder in the garage to grind out the fins. I did have to take a significant amount as only a small portion of the fins are left. And afterwards I sand papered them a bit.
> 
> Similar as in Reflex's post, I placed all 8 heatsinks along the black coated heat sink. All 8 fit perfecty and covered the vast majority.
> 
> Ive havnt done much too much testing as im busy with college, but I did run Super Street Fighter IV (i know its not that intensive) on max settings including 16x AA and 16x anistropic filtering. Before in arcade mode i wouldnt be able to finish the game wihout it hitting 85 C and throttling down. As of right now ive completed arcade mode and done a bunch of games and it hasnt gone past 79 C according to Throttle Stop. Btw throttlestop is just monitoring and turned off. It was running at 2.3 ghz the whole time.
> 
> Ill try to post pics when i get the chance but definitly more area will help the temps.


How about just remove all the black paint from the heatsink, instead of using any additional heatsinks, especially on the radiator end. That paint has to be restricting the heat transfer. Instead of sanding the paint off, use some paint remover instead, so no metal is removed. When I take mine apart to replace the thermal compound (t/c), I plan to remove the paint from, at least the radiator end, by using some paint remover.

Testing my new AS4830TG, before replacing the t/c, I ran Prime95 for over 15 min, and the cpu temperature got no higher than 80C. I ran the Heaven DX11 Benchmark, and my cpu ran as high as 87C, while my gpu ran at 75C. This was all w/o any external cooling.

.


----------



## GoHack

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> I can barely get my i5 + 540m to play nicely at 19x multi (will only last for like 45min in skyrim without a cooling pad thing)
> I can't imagine what a quad would do.
> and FWIW, the 5830/4830/3830 all use a similar heatsink.


Comparing the two models, the 4830 appears to have more ventilation slots, so that should help.

.


----------



## PrototypeT800

I am going to be ordering a 3830tg soon and have a couple of questions. Are temps and overheating a major issue when using the laptop to browse say the web (and when gaming) and what is the average battery life of the laptop for most of you? Is there also anything else I should know about it or look out for?


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PrototypeT800*
> 
> I am going to be ordering a 3830tg soon and have a couple of questions. Are temps and overheating a major issue when using the laptop to browse say the web (and when gaming) and what is the average battery life of the laptop for most of you? Is there also anything else I should know about it or look out for?


1. You cannot overheat anything by just using 1. If you wanna encode a video at full CPU speed (2.3GHz in my case), you could do that 24/7, and it would not overheat. However, add a GPU load, and it will overheat/throttle pretty quick. The two share a heatpipe, which would not normally be a problem (many laptops do this just fine), but here, there is not enough to extract heat from the heatpipe, and remove it from the system. If you set the CPU to ~1.6GHz (in my case) i can play games (CPU+GPU load) no problem. If i use a cooling pad, I can run 1.9GHz in games.

Just a note, my laptop is completely stock, except for removed mesh. I have not replaced the thermal compound yet.


----------



## PrototypeT800

I see so in order to play very demanding games you just need to underclock the cpu. Thanks for the tip. Could I ask what your standard battery life is and I assume to underclock the cpu I just need to go into the bios correct?


----------



## reflex99

To underclock, you use a utility in windows called Throttlestop. (see the OP for more detail)

On battery throttlestop automatically sets the CPU to 1GHz (could be 1.2 i don't remember), at at that speed I get just about 7 hours. Since i usually don't game on battery the slow clock doesn't matter much.

I also have the screwy Panasonic battery, so that effects it a little.

oh yea, that's another thing i should mention. Acer sources batteries from 2 vendors, Panasonic, and Sanyo. The panasonic batteries show abnormal wear levels. Acer however will usually either replace the battery (if you have the panasonic) for you under warranty, or mail you a new battery if you tell them you are comfortable replacing it yourself (the upshot of the second option is that you get to keep the Panasonic battery too)


----------



## GoHack

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PrototypeT800*
> 
> I see so in order to play very demanding games you just need to underclock the cpu. Thanks for the tip. Could I ask what your standard battery life is and I assume to underclock the cpu I just need to go into the bios correct?


I don't know about the AS3830TG, but my AS4830TG, stock except for more memory and an SSD, works just fine running the game Star Wars:The Old Republic, for example. I haven't checked if it throttles down, but my temperatures have been 83C cpu/70C gpu, after about an hour of game play, and 45C cpu/38C gpu, idle.

.


----------



## PrototypeT800

I got a 3830T because of how crappy the warranty was with the 3830TG refurb (90 days compared to 1 year for the new) and everything seems good so far. My only issue is that I got Panasonic battery with a wear of 4.8%. If I call Acer will they replace the battery for me (for free) or will I have to do it myself?


----------



## reflex99

Officially, you have to send it in, and they will swap it out under warranty.

However, many people on notebook review forums have convinced acer to let them do it themselves.


----------



## xinhang

I finally received my heatsinks from ebay! I have just attached them to my laptop, and the result could not be better! Normally under full load in SC2 my PC gets up to 85 degrees in just 15 mins, with the heat sink installed it does not go above 78 after 1 hour of playing! A cheap and good mod for anyone daring to try.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Hi everybody im new here and i was wondering what ways can i cool my Acer aspire Timelinex 5830TG also is there a tear down guide for my model of the Timelinex as i want to get rid of the mesh thanks heaps


----------



## Eason

Don't get rid of the mesh whoever posted about that is an *******


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eason*
> 
> Don't get rid of the mesh whoever posted about that is an *******


Um....no need for personal attacks here (maybe a misunderstanding since you are chinese).

Removing the mesh worked wonders for me. 2-5c drop.

Kinda hard to believe you since you just run in here spitting for what we know to be false information, and profanity, without anything to back it up.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> Um....no need for personal attacks here (maybe a misunderstanding since you are chinese).
> Removing the mesh worked wonders for me. 2-5c drop.
> Kinda hard to believe you since you just run in here spitting for what we know to be false information, and profanity, without anything to back it up.


Yes i believe it would help with my laptop as well so is there a guide to fully opening the 5830TG as i could only remove the mesh for the ram so know the ram is a bit cooler but i want all the mesh gone so it will be much cooler.thanks


----------



## reflex99

on the 3830 you just pry it up. nothing to it really.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> on the 3830 you just pry it up. nothing to it really.


Yeah i know but the 5830TG is different i have never opened a laptop before but it seems easy its just when i try to take the back off its like the Mobo and HDD is going with it so thats why i was wondering if anybody has opened there 5830TG.thanks


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> Yeah i know but the 5830TG is different i have never opened a laptop before but it seems easy its just when i try to take the back off its like the Mobo and HDD is going with it so thats why i was wondering if anybody has opened there 5830TG.thanks


AFAIK, you are the only person on OCN with a 5830TG


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> AFAIK, you are the only person on OCN with a 5830TG


Really Cool but than it can also be a bad thing as other people don't have it so there isn't a teardown guide yet but yeah it runs very well and is quite powerful for the price i paid as im from australia.


----------



## ajnauron

@xinhang nice, that sounds amazing.

Using the coin trick lowered my tempss 4C and let me use a 18x multi on my 2310m, but I might try what you've done after seeing your level of success. Also, I used your picture to propose another arrangement: Instead of placing them like this:



I'll place them like this, and get two more heatsinks in:



I might need to cut the corner off the one on the bottom.


----------



## Eason

I've tried that- didn't really notice a difference.


----------



## ajnauron

If you add more heatsinks, cooling capacity will be increased, regardless. The bottom arrangement has two more than the top.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ajnauron*
> 
> If you add more heatsinks, cooling capacity will be increased, regardless. The bottom arrangement has two more than the top.


you have to balance increased mass with airflow. Since the fan does not have vents directly over it, it draws air over from the other openings on the bottom, and if you have too much stuff in there, it can restrict airflow.


----------



## 161029

Was thinking about getting one of these but 1) $700 (for a i5 + GT540M but it's a great price if you ask me) and 2) I'm awed by Trinity and curious about Ivy Bridge.

Never thought of using coins as heatsinks. Great idea. +rep


----------



## reflex99

i'd wait

At this point, SB is getting kinda old, and Acer will probably make another TLX with IB (and hopefully with cooling capable of the hardware inside)


----------



## 161029

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> i'd wait
> At this point, SB is getting kinda old, and Acer will probably make another TLX with IB (and hopefully with cooling capable of the hardware inside)


I'll probably get one unless Asus or Lenovo makes something that's better for the price.


----------



## ajnauron

I should clarify that the 3830TG is perfectly capable of playing games, and with scores of 8-9k 3dmark06, it can play them fairly well. The only thing to be aware of is that you will have to reduce the CPU multiplier to 17-18(or apply cooling mods) to get the machine to run stable during gameplay. This is good enough for most games.

Thus, the only problem(and some would consider this a serious one) is that the machine is not capable of running stably at the stock, advertised CPU speed.

However, if you can get this machine for the price of $500-650 US/CAD, and you are willing to lower the CPU multiplier to 17-18, acknowledging this is enough for most games, then you will be very satisfied with a relatively low cost, high performance laptop, highly portable laptop. Once throttlestop profiles have been setup properly, no more throttling occurs, no more shutdowns due to reaching the CPU's thermal shutdown temp, and I promise you that you will not think about the throttling issue from that point forwards.

The 540M is a great middle class mobile GPU that overclocks like a beast, with or without mods(One NBR member achieved 10,500 3dmark06 scores after doing a re-paste and adding ramsinks) and can be overclocked to effect even in the 3830TG without the need to lower voltages. It can be overclocked to 550M speeds easily and can go well beyond those speeds.

The next closest competitors for the 13" screen size, the Sony Vaio SA(i5-i7, AMD Radeon 6630M) and the LG P330(i5-i7, GeForce GT 555M) are 2-4 times the cost that the 3830TG is being offered at. In addition to that, the Sony SA cannot match the levels of graphics performance offered by the 540M.

If you want an amazing 13.3" gaming laptop for 1/2 to 1/4 the price of the competition, this is it. Lower the CPU multiplier and you will be happy with your purchase.


----------



## reflex99

you can run 18x on the i3 without mods? damn, the thermal paste gods must have been shining on the Acer factory when your's was produced.

To get 18x, i need to:

-remove mesh
-prop it up off the table with this laptop stand thing i have
-use Vsync (on games like CSS where otherwise i would get 250+FPS)

On top of that, my thermal ceiling is a solid 10c higher than yours (I have the i5).


----------



## xinhang

Is it true for the i3, the throttling threshold is 85C? If so, any temperature below 85 shouldnt trigger throttling?


----------



## reflex99

something like that yea. I don't know the exact numbers


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

what would be the best settings to overclock my GT540M would it be wise to get a cooling pad if im going to overclock i know how as i read you can use the NVidia control panel to overclock also if i use throttle stop when i was reading it on the website it said about using a Kill-a-Watt im not sure what it fully is do i need one im from Australia so the power is different im just asking so many questions as i don't want to kill my laptop as its very new.thanks heaps for any help
also is it true i read somewhere if you overclock your GPU the laptop will burn out faster ?


----------



## ajnauron

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xinhang*
> 
> Is it true for the i3, the throttling threshold is 85C? If so, any temperature below 85 shouldnt trigger throttling?


From this post, your CPU gets throttled when your GPU hits 75C. There are a few distinctions to be made here, so I will make them now.

CPU Throttling

This is the "Throttling" that is widely discussed. When your GPU hits a temperature of 75C(Which is safe for GPUs) then in response, the CPU gets "throttled" meaning the speed of the CPU is decreased to 1200MHz.

Since are still in the range of safe temperatures for the GPU, we stop this CPU throttling to 1200MHz by using throttlestop to force a multiplier of 17-18x when under full load. The next section explains why.

CPU Thermal Shutdown

The reason that the throttling decreases the CPU speed to 1200MHz is because if the CPU ran at it's full 2100MHz, it would quickly hit it's thermal shutdown point of 85C(i3)/100C(i5). This is the point where your computer shuts down to avoid heat damage, as the notebook's cooling system is not sufficient to cool the notebook properly at it's designed speed.

Therefore, we use throttlestop to lower the CPU's multiplier to 17-18x, where the notebook's cooling system is enough to cool the notebook and it will game stably. When the OS demands the max performance state of the CPU, the CPU will go to a multiplier of 17 or 18x depending on your choice. It will only go to this designated maximum multiplier when asked, it will not stay in this state when idle.

Overclocking the 540M:

If you want a safe, effective overclock that can be applied on all 540Ms with no hassle, set your clocks to:

Core Clock: 740MHz
Shader Clock: 1480MHz
Memory Clock: 900MHz

This is a minor overclock that turns your 540M into a 550M(3dmark06 scores raised from 8200-8500 to 8800-9000). The vast majority of 540Ms will be capable of handling this overclock, it is actually a very minor overclock in comparison to what this card can reach.

Otherwise, you can do overclocking the traditional way, which means raising clocks 10MHz at a time, testing game stability, and raising until you reach your stable limit and staying there. The GPU can be overclocked like on any other laptop(overclock.net desktop PC users would facepalm at this point, but the folks on NBR, myself being one of them, have been overclocking laptop GPUs just like desktop GPUs for a very long time). Undervolting and notebook coolers can be applied, but are not necessary.

GPU Crashing

It rarely, if ever, happens on cards that have not been overclocked.

GPU crashing occurs when your GPU overclocking has been too aggressive and your GPU crashes. What happens is that you get a black screen and then you are returned to the desktop with the message "Nvidia Driver has crashed and recovered" or something along those lines. Then you go back to your overclocking program and lower your clocks until you're game stable.

3830/4830/5830TG Mods and Eradicating the Throttling altogether:

Cooling mods like removing the mesh covering the grille, adding coins to connect the heatpipe that receives heat from the CPU and GPU, adding heatsinks, and repasting the CPU/GPU, are done in order to cool down the system, more importantly the CPU. *If the CPU can be cooled more effectively, then you will be able to run at a higher CPU multiplier without hitting your thermal ceiling of 85C(i3)/100C(i5) and shutting down.*

For example, with the mods I've done of removing the mesh and adding coins, I have been able to lower my temperatures while gaming by 4C, allowing me to run a 18x multiplier stably, as compared to a multiplier of 17 without any mods applied. After adding heatsinks secured with a thermal compound, I should be able to run at a even higher multiplier.

If your cooling mods have been so effective that you are able to run at your full CPU multiplier without hitting your thermal ceiling of 85C(i3)/100C(i5) and shutting down, having forced the multiplier with throttlestop, then your system is considered to be able to run at the full CPU speed advertised and you have solved the throttling.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

I overclocked my GT540M to GT550M Settings and it seems to run very perfect and its not too hot it reaches around 40C to 80C and the CPU is around 45C to 85C it never gets to 100C plus i was using CPU-Z to see what the speed of my i5-2430M is when running Farcry 2 it goes about 2.4GHz then drops to 768MHz the goes back up again then down its constant is that what throttling is thanks for all the help guys it helps alot of other people as well
also how i overclocked the GT540M i used NVidia System Tools and set rules so it overclocks when im playing a game then it goes back to factory settings when im not so its great.


----------



## unclewebb

CPU-Z over simplifies things but your CPU seems to be throttling.

Run a ThrottleStop or RealTemp log file if you want a more accurate look at CPU throttling.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

What kind of upgrades can i do to my 5830TG just wondering like what kind of ram is supported as speed 1333Mhz and other upgrades Etc.
as the ram that came with mine is a 667Mhz which isn't the fastest for gaming.


----------



## reflex99

i5 2410 supports up to 1333MHz

Higher end i7s (anything higher than 2670) support 1600-1866 (i think)

1333 is the DDR speed, so /2 = 667mhz, which is what you have.

You can also upgrade:
CPU, it supports most all socket G2 processors
Hard drive, supports any 2.5" drive
WiFi card. Supports *most* 2 antenna mini PCIe cards


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> i5 2410 supports up to 1333MHz
> Higher end i7s (anything higher than 2670) support 1600-1866 (i think)
> 1333 is the DDR speed, so /2 = 667mhz, which is what you have.
> You can also upgrade:
> CPU, it supports most all socket G2 processors
> Hard drive, supports any 2.5" drive
> WiFi card. Supports *most* 2 antenna mini PCIe cards


Thanks heaps i own the i5-2430M in my sig rig it says i5-2410m i need to change it thanks heaps for all the help its nice to have help for this laptop ^_^ also i dont think my 5830tg is throttling here is a log of me playing Farcy2 using RealTemp

DATE TIME MHz CPU_0 CPU_1 LOAD%
01/20/12 09:51:55 2434.55 49 49 4.0
01/20/12 09:52:00 2574.24 44 52 7.8
01/20/12 09:52:05 2763.81 45 51 11.4
01/20/12 09:52:10 2793.75 57 58 26.3
01/20/12 09:52:15 2484.44 50 50 8.9
01/20/12 09:52:20 2394.64 45 53 6.5
01/20/12 09:52:25 2354.73 49 53 5.0
01/20/12 09:52:30 2454.50 48 48 3.9
01/20/12 09:55:00 2823.68 79 85 48.1
01/20/12 10:00:00 2394.64 80 83 50.2
01/20/12 10:01:50 2334.77 54 54 4.8
01/20/12 10:01:55 2244.97 56 56 4.6
01/20/12 10:02:00 2783.77 59 62 12.4
01/20/12 10:02:05 2773.79 58 58 17.0
01/20/12 10:02:10 2743.86 54 54 8.6
01/20/12 10:02:15 2883.55 61 69 33.1
01/20/12 10:02:20 2434.55 55 62 12.1
01/20/12 10:02:25 2703.95 57 65 15.5
01/20/12 10:02:30 2614.15 58 64 16.9
01/20/12 10:02:35 2863.59 63 73 35.5
01/20/12 10:02:40 2863.59 68 75 41.0
01/20/12 10:02:50 2833.66 73 76 46.2
01/20/12 10:02:55 2803.72 74 78 47.8
01/20/12 10:03:00 2793.74 76 78 45.4
01/20/12 10:03:05 2813.70 75 79 45.4
01/20/12 10:03:10 2853.61 74 82 45.2
01/20/12 10:03:15 2843.63 79 81 44.2
01/20/12 10:03:20 2803.73 78 81 45.2
01/20/12 10:03:25 2793.75 76 84 47.9
01/20/12 10:03:30 2793.75 80 83 50.5
01/20/12 10:03:35 2813.70 80 85 49.1
01/20/12 10:03:40 2803.72 80 86 47.4
01/20/12 10:03:45 2793.75 81 83 49.5
01/20/12 10:03:50 2813.70 82 83 47.5
01/20/12 10:03:55 2803.72 81 86 51.2
01/20/12 10:04:00 2803.72 83 84 48.5
01/20/12 10:04:05 2813.70 82 85 48.7
01/20/12 10:04:10 2793.75 80 88 49.6
01/20/12 10:04:15 2793.75 83 87 48.8
01/20/12 10:04:20 2803.73 84 85 47.3
01/20/12 10:04:25 2793.75 84 84 49.0
01/20/12 10:04:30 2803.72 84 87 51.3
01/20/12 10:04:35 2803.72 84 86 49.5
01/20/12 10:04:40 2813.70 83 87 50.9
01/20/12 10:04:45 2793.75 85 85 50.3
01/20/12 10:04:50 2803.73 84 88 47.8
01/20/12 10:04:55 2803.72 85 84 47.3
01/20/12 10:05:00 2793.75 85 89 53.1
01/20/12 10:05:05 2823.68 85 86 45.5
01/20/12 10:05:10 2823.68 85 87 47.3
01/20/12 10:05:15 2394.64 79 84 50.8
01/20/12 10:05:20 2394.64 79 85 53.5
01/20/12 10:05:25 2394.64 79 82 48.3
01/20/12 10:05:30 2394.64 80 79 49.2
01/20/12 10:05:35 2394.64 78 83 50.1
01/20/12 10:05:40 2394.64 77 84 52.7
01/20/12 10:05:45 2394.64 79 81 51.0
01/20/12 10:05:50 2394.64 78 82 48.5
01/20/12 10:05:55 2394.64 77 82 48.7
01/20/12 10:06:00 2394.64 77 82 46.0
01/20/12 10:06:05 2394.64 78 80 45.0
01/20/12 10:06:10 2394.64 76 83 45.2
01/20/12 10:06:15 2394.64 76 83 45.0
01/20/12 10:06:20 2394.64 76 83 49.0
01/20/12 10:06:25 2394.64 78 81 45.8
01/20/12 10:06:30 2394.64 78 81 46.0
01/20/12 10:06:35 2394.64 76 83 48.1
01/20/12 10:06:40 2394.64 76 83 48.6
01/20/12 10:06:45 2394.64 77 83 48.0
01/20/12 10:06:50 2394.64 78 82 47.9
01/20/12 10:06:55 2394.64 78 80 50.0
01/20/12 10:07:00 2394.64 77 82 52.2
01/20/12 10:07:05 2394.64 78 82 50.2
01/20/12 10:07:10 2394.64 78 82 50.0
01/20/12 10:07:15 2394.64 78 80 48.7
01/20/12 10:07:20 2394.64 78 83 49.9
01/20/12 10:07:25 2394.64 77 83 49.5
01/20/12 10:07:30 2394.64 78 82 51.9
01/20/12 10:07:35 2394.64 78 81 47.0
01/20/12 10:07:40 2394.64 78 82 48.1
01/20/12 10:07:45 2394.64 76 81 47.1
01/20/12 10:07:50 2394.64 78 81 49.6
01/20/12 10:07:55 2394.64 77 81 46.7
01/20/12 10:08:00 2394.64 77 81 45.3
01/20/12 10:08:05 2394.64 78 78 42.0
01/20/12 10:08:10 2394.64 76 82 43.3
01/20/12 10:08:15 2394.64 78 82 45.5
01/20/12 10:08:20 2394.64 75 82 42.5
01/20/12 10:08:25 2394.64 75 83 45.1
01/20/12 10:08:30 2394.64 76 82 47.5
01/20/12 10:08:35 2394.64 77 80 45.0
01/20/12 10:08:40 2394.64 77 81 47.4
01/20/12 10:08:45 2394.64 77 82 50.0
01/20/12 10:08:50 2394.64 78 80 48.5
01/20/12 10:08:55 2394.64 76 82 43.6
01/20/12 10:09:00 2394.64 77 81 41.5
01/20/12 10:09:05 2394.64 77 79 45.5
01/20/12 10:09:10 2394.64 75 82 43.4
01/20/12 10:09:15 2394.64 76 81 46.6
01/20/12 10:09:20 2394.64 76 80 52.1
01/20/12 10:09:25 2394.64 77 79 45.5
01/20/12 10:09:30 2394.64 77 83 51.1
01/20/12 10:09:35 2394.64 76 84 49.1
01/20/12 10:09:40 2394.64 78 82 51.1
01/20/12 10:09:45 2394.64 78 80 47.7
01/20/12 10:09:50 2394.64 78 83 52.2
01/20/12 10:09:55 2394.64 78 81 50.5
01/20/12 10:10:00 2394.64 76 82 45.9
it doesn't drop to 768Mhz plus i know it isn't a log for hours but i have played for a hour and forgot to log it but i had Realtemp next to the game and it wasn't throttling is it with just some games ?


----------



## Eason

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8263453-post3486.html

someone posted this on NBR:
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *gruenebohne;8263453*
> I'm trying to modify the BIOS of my 3830TG to lower the GPU voltage from 0.98 to 0.85.
> So far i was able to change the voltage in the BIOS file and reflash this file to my laptop. However, the voltage of the GPU does not seem to be changed after I reboot. GPU-Z, NVIDIA Inspector and NVAPITest all show the original voltage. Also, I changed the Subvendor ID, as to check if the new BIOS is active, and it also didn't change. So apparently the modified VBIOS is not active or was not replaced in the BIOS file.
> 
> Ok, here is what I did:
> (1) Download the BIOS from the Acer website (1.07)
> (2) Use PhoenixTool to modify BIOS file: load RW file, check "No SLIC" and "Allow user modifiication of other modules" under Advanced, click "Go", wait until message comes up, proceed with (3).
> (3) Change the respective voltages in the ROM files with NiBiTor. That is, I changed the voltages in all VBIOS files after the modification did not work with just the (seemingly not) rigth file for my system.
> (4) Let PhoenixTool finish the modification.
> (6) Flash the modified BIOS with the provided Tool for DOS.
> 
> Anyone thried this? Any advice?


Looks like a good idea.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

The new bios for the Acer 3830TG,4830TG And the 5830TG is out now on the Acer Website it is now 1.08
http://global-download.acer.com/GDHome.aspx?SC=PA_6&LC=en
Choose your Model Version to get the new bios.


----------



## reflex99

any release notes on this? What does it do?

+rep btw


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> any release notes on this? What does it do?
> +rep btw


Yeah i know i tried to find out what the release notes are but it doesn't say ?.


----------



## reflex99

well

here goes nothing

Ima flash it, with any luck it won't bork the laptop again.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> well
> here goes nothing
> Ima flash it, with any luck it won't bork the laptop again.


Well im going to flash mine as well we say if its successful.
EDIT: it was successful, when i first got my laptop it was on 1.04 then i updated it to 1.07 and i think it made the fan faster ? im not sure what 1.08 has done though ?.


----------



## reflex99

still throttles the same, the second the GPU hits 75c, the CPU knocks itself down to 1.2ghz


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> still throttles the same, the second the GPU hits 75c, the CPU knocks itself down to 1.2ghz


That's too bad,i wish Acer would write what the new updated bios did ? also i'm trying to contact Acer to get a Teardown guide of my Laptop 5830TG does anyone know how to contact them or how to get a Teardown Guide for that model.thanks


----------



## pasoleatis

Hello,

The 4830tg has two bottom panels. The one above the ssd and ram is easy to remove, however I the other one does not come off when I remove all the other screws. How do I open the back part of the 4830tg completely?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

The Latest Nvidia Driver is out now it updates the driver to 295.73 - WHQL
Here is its improvements
http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Results/41704


----------



## reflex99

downloaded

45% in skyrim

I approve


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> downloaded
> 45% in skyrim
> I approve


Yeah that's really awesome so hopefully it improves other games performance as well ^_^.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Just updated my Laptop to 295.73 and the Performance Information and Tools i did a retest as it says to and my Score the
Graphics : Desktop Performance for Windows Aero was a 5.3 and is now a 4.7 but im not sure if its the score for the Intel(R) HD Graphics Family and not the GT 540M ?.


----------



## reflex99

i wouldn't worry about it. as long as it is over 2.0 (minimum for Areo) you are good


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> i wouldn't worry about it. as long as it is over 2.0 (minimum for Areo) you are good


Thanks man ^_^


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

How do i stop the GPU for saying
Kernel Stopped working its when i overclock it the GT550M speeds only sometimes it does it mostly when it has to load a lot like Crysis ? thanks for any help.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> How do i stop the GPU for saying
> Kernel Stopped working its when i overclock it the GT550M speeds only sometimes it does it mostly when it has to load a lot like Crysis ? thanks for any help.


sounds like an OC instability; dial down those clocks rinse and repeat till they stop happening


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> sounds like an OC instability; dial down those clocks rinse and repeat till they stop happening


Thnx heaps it doesn't seem to do that know ^_^


----------



## no-verclocker

Was just checking out various forums to see what can be done to conserve batt life as it is unremovable. Also couldnt figure out what that on-off switch next to the ram slots was. apparently its a service tool- it allows the battery to be disabled when the units bottom panel is removed, as it auto slides into off position, then slides back into on when panel replaced. anyone here run the laptop with battery disabled at say 50 % in order to conserve battery for when required? thinking of trying this as im predominantly using on ac, but will use the comp for travel etc down the track.


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *no-verclocker*
> 
> Was just checking out various forums to see what can be done to conserve batt life as it is unremovable. Also couldnt figure out what that on-off switch next to the ram slots was. apparently its a service tool- it allows the battery to be disabled when the units bottom panel is removed, as it auto slides into off position, then slides back into on when panel replaced. anyone here run the laptop with battery disabled at say 50 % in order to conserve battery for when required? thinking of trying this as im predominantly using on ac, but will use the comp for travel etc down the track.


1. same stuff with any lithium ion battery.

read around on this website:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

2.it doesn't disable the battery, it prevents the laptop from turning on all together


----------



## HopeUTKN

Hi guys,

Someone is selling his *like new* acer 3830tg, it's the core i3 2310m version with the gt540m, it has 4gb ram and 750gb hdd. he wants 450$ for it, should I buy it? I'm tempted since I want a cheap gaming laptop. And also, I've seen a demo of this laptop and I was disappointed by the screen (there are some kind of vertical pixel lines which are annoying)...
Thanks!


----------



## xxicrimsonixx

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HopeUTKN*
> 
> Hi guys,
> Someone is selling his *like new* acer 3830tg, it's the core i3 2310m version with the gt540m, it has 4gb ram and 750gb hdd. he wants 450$ for it, should I buy it? I'm tempted since I want a cheap gaming laptop. And also, I've seen a demo of this laptop and I was disappointed by the screen (there are some kind of vertical pixel lines which are annoying)...
> Thanks!


Definitely. I paid $600 for a 3820TG (Core i3 370m + 5650m) and couldn't be happier. Screen on mine is perfect, not sure about the issue that you are discussing. I do know that they use 2-3 different brands for the screen, so it might just be a luck of the draw for which brand you get, and also, the screen might have had issues on the demo unit that you tried.


----------



## HopeUTKN

I saw a few demo units and they all had the same screen with the annoying vertical lines. Anyways, I think I'll buy it and mod it like everyone else did. I wonder if there's space for a spare fan :O

Edit: I ended up not buying the laptop because it was not in great condition (as it was announced). It had dents, scratches, the screen was a little bit bent, the computer was VERY dirty and the keyboard was sticky (YUCK!). The AC adapter was not the original, some generic POS that wil probably last a month was included. For $450, it's too much. I would have bought it for $300, but the condition of the laptop was extremely miserable. How can someone do this to a laptop?







Maybe the seller just stole the laptop :O, seeing that he did not have the original AC adapter...


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

any other tips or tweaks that people know about ?


----------



## awilson3342

does anyone know how to fix a speaker that is quiet? my left speaker works but my right one is significantly quieter. i sent my laptop in to acers repair facility and they returned it two weeks later (ugh) saying that it was fine. i talk to them again and they say send it in again which id rather not do at this point. anyone got some advice?

EDIT: My system is the 3830tg 6494 with i5 8gb ram,750gb hdd, 1gb nvidia gt540m


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *awilson3342*
> 
> does anyone know how to fix a speaker that is quiet? my left speaker works but my right one is significantly quieter. i sent my laptop in to acers repair facility and they returned it two weeks later (ugh) saying that it was fine. i talk to them again and they say send it in again which id rather not do at this point. anyone got some advice?
> EDIT: My system is the 3830tg 6494 with i5 8gb ram,750gb hdd, 1gb nvidia gt540m


This may help if not im not sure what it is ok

right click on speaker icon in the taskbar then click Playback Devices then click Speakers then properties then click levels then click Balance then make sure both L & R are 0 so they are both at the same sound Level hope that helps.^_^


----------



## awilson3342

tried that, didnt work. could it be a dying speaker?


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *awilson3342*
> 
> tried that, didnt work. could it be a dying speaker?


Yes, it could be. My friend bought the same laptop and returned it because it had speaker issues. These laptops got speaker issues very often, considering Acer's quality check being poor. He got another one which worked perfectly. I suggest that you send your laptop back, no other choice.


----------



## victaaaa

I recently got the Acer 3830, with the i5-2410 and GT540M.
I just re-applied the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. The temperatures look okay when idling, GPU at ~40C, CPU also around 40C.
But when I run FurMark, the GPU temperature immediately jumps to 95C and goes up to 99C. When I stop it, it drops back down to ~40C.
Anyone know why this is happening?


----------



## Eason

Sounds like it's a loose connection to the heatsink. You get to take that **** all the way apart again


----------



## victaaaa

...great. I also scratched my screen taking it apart before LOL.
Should I re-paste it as well?
Also, am i supposed to paste that third chip as well?...whatever that is


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HopeUTKN*
> 
> Yes, it could be. My friend bought the same laptop and returned it because it had speaker issues. These laptops got speaker issues very often, considering Acer's quality check being poor. He got another one which worked perfectly. I suggest that you send your laptop back, no other choice.


How did you apply the TIM? Sounds like air bubbles are decreasing the efficiency of heat transfer under your heatsink. That, or maybe loose heatsink as someone else mentioned before.


----------



## victaaaa

I used a credit card to apply the TIM. I re-did it before, and I think I've sort of fixed it. I think it was those sticky pads that were the problem. I squashed them down a bit more so there's better contact with the heatsink.
Now when I run FurMark, it jumps to 65C and reaches 88-89C after 10 mins. Is that acceptable?


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *victaaaa*
> 
> I used a credit card to apply the TIM. I re-did it before, and I think I've sort of fixed it. I think it was those sticky pads that were the problem. I squashed them down a bit more so there's better contact with the heatsink.
> Now when I run FurMark, it jumps to 65C and reaches 88-89C after 10 mins. Is that acceptable?


Don't spread the thermal paste. It will create air bubbles.


----------



## victaaaa

Hmm okay, I'll try replacing the TIM...for the 6th time!


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *victaaaa*
> 
> Hmm okay, I'll try replacing the TIM...for the 6th time!


Use the dot method.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Newest NVidia Drivers 296.10 ^_^
296.10


----------



## reflex99

anyone wanna try it?


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> Newest NVidia Drivers 296.10 ^_^
> 296.10


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> anyone wanna try it?


Any results?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

i Installed it and i can't really test many results as the only games i have are a few years old like Half-Life 2 and Crysis Mirror's Edge but i think it did make them run a bit more smoother
also does anyone know why this happens ok

when i overclock my GT540M to GT550M Speeds i will be playing a game then on MSI Afterburner the GPU will Reach 99% Usage then the game will pause and flick then it resets back to Factory Clock settings any help?


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> i Installed it and i can't really test many results as the only games i have are a few years old like Half-Life 2 and Crysis Mirror's Edge but i think it did make them run a bit more smoother
> also does anyone know why this happens ok
> when i overclock my GT540M to GT550M Speeds i will be playing a game then on MSI Afterburner the GPU will Reach 99% Usage then the game will pause and flick then it resets back to Factory Clock settings any help?


I think you should create a thread for your problem.


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> i Installed it and i can't really test many results as the only games i have are a few years old like Half-Life 2 and Crysis Mirror's Edge but i think it did make them run a bit more smoother
> also does anyone know why this happens ok
> when i overclock my GT540M to GT550M Speeds i will be playing a game then on MSI Afterburner the GPU will Reach 99% Usage then the game will pause and flick then it resets back to Factory Clock settings any help?


probably overclock instability~ not enough to BSOD or crash completely but unstable enough for it to reset.

I've had it happen before


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> probably overclock instability~ not enough to BSOD or crash completely but unstable enough for it to reset.
> I've had it happen before


i will probably just overclock it to a speed so its stable thanks ^_^


----------



## victaaaa

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HopeUTKN*
> 
> Use the dot method.


Alright, so I tried the dot method and now temperatures are worse, GPU hits 75C within 10 secs.







I wish I just left it the way it was, now I got a scratched screen and overheating laptop lol
Also, could someone tell me what the third chip under the heatpipes are? The one under the GPU. I took off the thermal pad and pasted it...was that a good idea?


----------



## reflex99

CPU, GPU, and HM65 PCH


----------



## xinhang

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but if anyone is interested in my thermal modded Timeline X, please give me a shot. I'm selling it for $450 + shipping.


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *victaaaa*
> 
> Alright, so I tried the dot method and now temperatures are worse, GPU hits 75C within 10 secs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wish I just left it the way it was, now I got a scratched screen and overheating laptop lol
> Also, could someone tell me what the third chip under the heatpipes are? The one under the GPU. I took off the thermal pad and pasted it...was that a good idea?


then you probably did something wrong . how did you apply the paste and how much?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

What stuff would i need to clean my 5830TG Screen ^_^ thanks


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> What stuff would i need to clean my 5830TG Screen ^_^ thanks


Microfiber cloth + a little bit of water.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HopeUTKN*
> 
> Microfiber cloth + a little bit of water.


Thanks for the advice


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

BIOS 1.10 for 3830TG/4830TG/5830TG
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> BIOS 1.10 for 3830TG/4830TG/5830TG
> http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers


anyone got the balls to try it?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *reflex99*
> 
> anyone got the balls to try it?


i already did try it i'm not sure what it does ?.


----------



## reflex99

any change in the fan profile?

voltages?


----------



## HopeUTKN

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> i already did try it i'm not sure what it does ?.


any change in the throttling issue?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

i haven't done any tests sorry as i am busy.


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Get the BETA Nvidia Drivers 301.24 it fixes some bugs to do with Source Engine games like Half-Life 2 and can now set the Shadows to High instead of just Medium
also there is FXAA setting in the Nvidia Control panel.
Enjoy.
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/43710


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

anyone have a guide on how to teardown the 5830TG.thanks


----------



## reflex99

not that i know of


----------



## Mr.Pie

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *KRaZiGLiTcH*
> 
> anyone have a guide on how to teardown the 5830TG.thanks


i'm sure if you ask here someone will be able to help

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g.html


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mr.Pie*
> 
> i'm sure if you ask here someone will be able to help
> http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g.html


Thnx will do ^_^.


----------



## HopeUTKN

I hope when the 3840TG comes out, the thermal design is as good as the one for 3820TG.


----------



## I AM TEH LAW GIVAH

I just bought a 4830tg for $450 with 10gb upgraded ram and a spare battery with 1 year transferable warranty.
Does anyone have a fix for the throttling yet?







It's arriving on Monday can't wait!


----------



## reflex99

there is no fix, but the workarounds in the OP help.

Also, there are now modded bioses, that allow GPU undervolting. I'll add that to the OP some time.


----------



## I AM TEH LAW GIVAH

what does everybody use to check temps?
Is there anything that allows you to check temps in game?
I just bought a 4830tg and a laptop cooler and ran LoL max settings at steady 60FPS with no throttling.
Diablo 3 not sure what to expect for FPS but it was around 20-30 I can see little skips in gameplay is that the laptop throttling?


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *I AM TEH LAW GIVAH*
> 
> what does everybody use to check temps?
> Is there anything that allows you to check temps in game?
> I just bought a 4830tg and a laptop cooler and ran LoL max settings at steady 60FPS with no throttling.
> Diablo 3 not sure what to expect for FPS but it was around 20-30 I can see little skips in gameplay is that the laptop throttling?


Get ThrottleStop it will show Temps and it can stop Throttling by downclocking to another GHz its on the first page about it.


----------



## santu007

Hellow this is santhosh.

I want to purchase new acer 5733 model laptop (i3 processor with second generation).
But
i dont know how to find second generation and first generation laptops
so please any one can help me how to find it?


----------



## jrbroad77

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *santu007*
> 
> Hellow this is santhosh.
> I want to purchase new acer 5733 model laptop (i3 processor with second generation).
> But
> i dont know how to find second generation and first generation laptops
> so please any one can help me how to find it?


You can tell by the numbering scheme. The rule is,

-1st-gen Core i CPUs have 3 numbers, followed by -M, -UM, -QM, or -XM.
-2nd-gen Core i CPUs have 4 numbers, 2XXXM, or 2XXXQM. The X's can be any number.
-3rd-gen Core i, 4 numbers, starting with a 3.

Here's the complete list of 2nd-gen i3 CPUs. http://ark.intel.com/products/series/53243

Looking at Acer's site, the AS5749 is probably the model you want. AS5733 seems to only have 1st-gen i3's. http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/models/aspire

sidenote, in the future you should start a new thread for a question like this.


----------



## santu007

thanks for ur suggestions


----------



## santu007

hellow, this is santhosh.
I purchased acer e1-571 (second gen core i3-2350M) with default os MS-DOS.
Now I remove dos and installed windows 7 ,It worked properly & after some time i switched on my laptop
but it will not start .First acer screen will came and a black screen with blinking cursor for long time
then I reinstalled win-7 again . After complition of installation same problem will repeat and while installing OS delete partition option was disabled
first I created 5 partitions of my 500hdd.Now I can not delete any partition the delete option is disabled mode
what can I do?

Please any one can tell me answer................


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

New NVidia Drivers for GT540M
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/48693/nvidiaupdate


----------



## HopeUTKN

Man I just wish there was a way to change my Asus' gpu (GT520) for the gpu in the 3830TG (GT540)


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *HopeUTKN*
> 
> Man I just wish there was a way to change my Asus' gpu (GT520) for the gpu in the 3830TG (GT540)


Sorry there isn't a way as they are soldered to the Motherboard.

New GeForce 306.97 Driver
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/50007


----------



## sostenon250

I'm new to the forum but have read and seen youtube videos of people that have readily upgraded their 4830 with an i7 2670m cpu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVfhd6uYaXU

I own a 3803tg with an i5 cpu and someone else on the Notebook Forums posted the question if
the 3830tg cpu be upgraded with an i7 2670m.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g-403.html

So far no one has answered that question nor have I read anyone that has done this.
I'm thinking if you can do the cpu upgrade on the 4830 then there should be no reason why it can't be done wtih
the 3830tg.

I also dread tearing it apart to get to the cpu was really wanting to leave my 3830tg intact and just get a 4830 and do the cpu upgrade.

Any help would greatly be appreciated especially not having to spend for a new 4830


----------



## KRaZiGLiTcH

I'm not sure but i hope someone will notice your Post and Help ^_^


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sostenon250*
> 
> I'm new to the forum but have read and seen youtube videos of people that have readily upgraded their 4830 with an i7 2670m cpu.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVfhd6uYaXU
> I own a 3803tg with an i5 cpu and someone else on the Notebook Forums posted the question if
> the 3830tg cpu be upgraded with an i7 2670m.
> http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g-403.html
> So far no one has answered that question nor have I read anyone that has done this.
> I'm thinking if you can do the cpu upgrade on the 4830 then there should be no reason why it can't be done wtih
> the 3830tg.
> I also dread tearing it apart to get to the cpu was really wanting to leave my 3830tg intact and just get a 4830 and do the cpu upgrade.
> Any help would greatly be appreciated especially not having to spend for a new 4830


Tearing it apart is actually pretty easy. (I've done it no less than 5 times)

The 3830TG will accept a i7, but obviously it will generate more heat. I have never seen anyone put a quad-core i7 in, but it could be possible.

If you have the i3 version, I definitely suggest the upgrade to at least an i5 (the thermal threshold is much higher). If you already have a model with an i5/i7, I don't see much of a reason to upgrade, since all of the known working processors are Dual-core.


----------



## sostenon250

Your insight and comments are greatly appreciated. My 3830TG does have an i5 and going to an i7 dual core would
make little sense but it is i7 2370 qm quad core. The performance would improve but again at what cost
with the amount of heat generated. Then again, I will be using IC Diamond Thermal compound that has been
rated extremely well, better than arctic silver so this may counter the heat. I rarely play games and use the 3830
more for virtual machines and encoding video files to VOBs to burn to dvds.

Since no one has done it, I'm more than tempted to move forward. I have the IC diamond thermal compound
and of course the i7 2370 qm as well as a buddy who has torn apart any and all apple products
and put them back together so well that they appear untouched. Should I get stuck he can easily bail me out
since he is curious in regards to what this Acer model looks like torn apart.

In the end, I know the cpu swap has been done on the 4830 model. I'm 90/10 sure that
the 3830 motherboard architecture should be the same after reading more posts about the cpu swaps.

When I get it done, I'll try and post a You Tube video. It will be either a total success or a warning video
to not do this. Either way, it should be informative.


----------



## reflex99

http://broo2.blogspot.com/2011/07/acer-3830tg-6431-teardown.html

Here's a tear down guide for the 3830TG, I've done it a few times using this method.

Good luck, and tell me how the quad works out. The 3830 doesn't seem to struggle with temps unless you use both the CPU and GPU, so I would guess as long as you don't use the dedicated GPU too much, the quad would probably be fine.


----------



## sostenon250

Again thanks for the link out for the tear down of the 3830tg. Are there any pointers to look out for especially when
it comes time to separate the motherboard to get access to the CPU?
In those instructions, it looks like around step 3 or so, you really have to be careful not to break on of the connectors.

Also, when reapplying the thermal compound, do you suggest using a dab method and let the compound spread out
from the sandwich effect?


----------



## reflex99

1. Tips: The ribbon cables for the touchpad, I/O, front light thing, etc are REALLY finnicky, the connectors use this realllly weird socket, so spend a bit of time trying to figure it out. There are two parts to the socket too, one of them is detachable, so make sure you don't lose it (mistake i made the first time, took forever to figure out why it wasn't working)

2. yes, those connectors (for the battery switch) are very fragile.

3. I usually spread it out, since the mobile SB parts don't have an IHS, so i like to know exactly where the TIM is going.


----------



## sostenon250

Sometimes I should learn from the episodes of the past. I did the cpu swap going i5 to i7 and it was a success. No pieces snapped off no missing parts everything
fit as it should. BUT I just couldn't leave well enough alone and went back in again a day later to redo the thermal spread for the gpu since I forgot to reapply
the IC Diamond compound. My bravado was getting the better of me thinking this is breeze now, the case opens up so easy, all the connectors
and placement were familiar. Redid the GPU put it back together as I had done the first time but now, when powered on, the screen doesn't show anything.
The harddrive spins but nothing. I checked the I/O cable to make sure it was firmly in. I didn't disconnect the video cable since I was able to work
around and get to the motherboard and the cpu heat sink.

I'm taking a break and waiting for any feedback on what might have gone wrong aside from having a bout of pure stupidity. Thanks


----------



## sostenon250

After tearing down the 3830 several times and replacing the original i5 cpu, somehow realized that the i7 2670 that I put in
went bad. So, the machine itself is fine after running the paces with the original i5 cpu, and getting ahold of another i7.

Will repost when completed with the new CPU


----------



## Shauno

Hi Gang,

New user here, got my 5830TG a while back and it has 6gb of ram, but they are'nt a matched pair.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the ram on this computer?

I do video editing on this laptop, so I really need to get as much RAM as I can and wondered what people's experiences where.

Also, the mods on this thread, will they do me any good? (Remmeber, I'm using this mostly as an Editing laptop).

I.e, would the throttle hack help me as well as the others?


----------



## cpetersen4

I'd say the RAM is the least of your worries with this laptop. Fill it with two of the same 4gb sticks and call it a day. That way you get the most that Acer supports and it's fully dual channel due to them being the same sticks.

The modifications on this thread help, but you will only really notice the difference if you play graphically intensive games.

I've got the same laptop in i3 variant and I've done everything except for reapply thermal paste. I am using MSI Afterburner OSD server and HWiNFO64 to view my temperatures in-game. While playing Global Offensive my GPU does not go above 70 degrees and my CPU never hits anything over 75. Even so, the modded BIOS installed prevents the CPU from throttling on it's own until 90 degrees. IT STILL THROTTLES!! For seemingly no reason at all my frames drop from 120+ to under 50.

Is it because I have the i3? Perhaps... I feel like I'm out of luck without an upgrade to the i5... =[

My work DELL Latitude E5530 with the i7 Intel HD 4000 does a better job and NEVER drops my frames. It's a built-in video card!!

Frustration...


----------



## reflex99

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cpetersen4*
> 
> I'd say the RAM is the least of your worries with this laptop. Fill it with two of the same 4gb sticks and call it a day. That way you get the most that Acer supports and it's fully dual channel due to them being the same sticks.
> The modifications on this thread help, but you will only really notice the difference if you play graphically intensive games.
> I've got the same laptop in i3 variant and I've done everything except for reapply thermal paste. I am using MSI Afterburner OSD server and HWiNFO64 to view my temperatures in-game. While playing Global Offensive my GPU does not go above 70 degrees and my CPU never hits anything over 75. Even so, the modded BIOS installed prevents the CPU from throttling on it's own until 90 degrees. IT STILL THROTTLES!! For seemingly no reason at all my frames drop from 120+ to under 50.
> Is it because I have the i3? Perhaps... I feel like I'm out of luck without an upgrade to the i5... =[
> My work DELL Latitude E5530 with the i7 Intel HD 4000 does a better job and NEVER drops my frames. It's a built-in video card!!
> Frustration...


The i3 does have a lower thermal threshold. So it might be the problem.


----------



## brettjv

Hey guys, long time no talk ... looks like this thread has died off pretty bad since last time I was here so I'm not holding out a lot of hope for an answer, but here goes: has anyone swapped out the screen on the 3830 for something better? I still love this lappie but seriously over the last 1.5 years I've grown to despise the screen on this thing.

So my questions are:

1) Is it possible and how hard is it to swap out the panel for something better?
2) Has anyone done so, and what screen did they swap it to, and how much did it cost? I don't mind the resolution so much as the crappy color and overall dullness of the image. I'd LIKE a higher res display if that's possible (around 1600x900 would be awesome if such a thing is available), but mostly I just want a BETTER one ... preferably matte rather than glossy (if that's even do-able).

I also wanted to say that I got a laptop stand for this thing that I LOVE. It's cheap, it's crazy simple, you can move the fan to wherever you want it, or not use it at all, and when on the stand the laptop feels very secure, lots of friction to hold it in place, it's very comfortable to type on when it's on the stand ... Also the laptop fits 'inside' the stand when it's in the laptop bag, so it doesn't increase the bulkiness of your laptop bag, plus it's super light, and it's just the right size for a 13.4" laptop ... just a tiny bit smaller than the machines casing ... makes the laptop look like it's just hovering in mid-air.

Honestly just putting the lappie on this stand makes it run cool enough to not throttle when gaming, as long as your ambients are decent.Literally even without the fan just putting the machine on this stand vs. sitting it on your desk lowers cpu/gpu temps by at least 12C, and the fan (which is reasonable quiet) can bring it down a few more degrees if you place it right. Man, I love this thing


----------



## Justin Cider

Does anyone have a Bios recovery method for this laptop seems mine is toast,I think. It will just turn on but it won't even get to the bios screen. I have looked at a couple of methods but neither have worked. Does any one have a method for this specific model 3830tg-6415


----------



## hotshot90

Do you still need help with the bios problem?
Is it possible the small battery on the main board has died? the bios uses that. Too bad. Its been a year since the last post.
I have a 3830tg too, I'm still happy with the purchase after a few years. I take it apart on a regular basis to clean it (dust accumulation doesn't help the heating problem)
I guess I'm curious as to what can be done to the laptop other than going up to 8 gigs of ram.
upgrading from the i3 to the i5 seems unnecessary considering the price.
Its weird how there is a sim card slot in the case but no hardware for it actually.


----------

