ACTUAL C90 Owner's Lounge

Okay an update:

I have four more benchmarks I will run, not including 3DMark twice more.
I have to take more pictures as well, since my first batch was accidentally taken on low quality mode. That is fine for a few, but about 10 pics have to be retaken.
After that I have to upload all of my pictures onto photobucket.
From there I have to convert the whole thing to BBCode, then I can post it. I have to go to work today, but I am bringing it with me.

And good news? I haven't had any of the problems they have had...Perhaps a hardware thing, perhaps a software thing, but my setup is good. Go with Vista or Linux and quality brands and you should be okay.

 

Mine isnt eSATA its just usb powered by usb. Western digital passport

 

A run-down of what to expect:
-Heat/Noise reports
-Performance/performance/performance (3DMark 4 ways, PCMark two ways, HD Tune, and FRAPS on 7 games.)
-Build Quailty reports
-Feature breakdowns
-Some very strange things found about the system...
-Finally, is it worth it? (in short? yes)

Sorry about battery life, I just have no time, and there are some issues with the ATAPI power-saving mode (which is the motherboard hardwired thing that automatically cranks the system all the way back, you know when it says "AC Power" or "Battery" little blue icon in the top right.) Basically it messes up my WiFi NIC (I think it actually tunes it down, but in effect it is like turning it off.)
Expect a report on bettery life by sunday by either me, Eddie or V.

 

E6700 (2.66ghz)
3gb Corsair DDR-667 (2GB, 1GB)
Windows XP
All original drivers from disc
Arctic Silver 5 on CPU

Okay something is definately wrong here. Asides from the cpu idling at 66 degrees and going to 76 degrees at ANY load no matter how minor. Everytime I enable turbo gear gaming mode (10% overclock to 2.93ghz) and load anything it makes the computer unresponsive. The only thing I can do is move the mouse mabe half an inch at a time. When I went into gaming mode and went straight to oblivion before it coudl become unresponsive, it went to BSOD. The thing is overheating BAD. I opened the ACE door and once again everything was so hot I could feel the heat from about 6 inches form the laptop bay. I have a small house fan blowing into it now to cool it back down after the crash. As noted before, when I go into gaming mode in turbo gear, cpu-z reports the cpu at the correct 2.93ghz. My past experience with computing is that the MEMORY is overheating. Could it be that this laptop needs DDR-800 to work correctly in overclock mode? OR does it need RAM with heatspreaders and a fan. GUESS WHAT? THERE IS A SYS FAN HEADER RIGHT NEXT TO THE MEMORY! Hmmm...interesting...as the memory is flaming hot after i overclock to gaming mode....

 

ALEX, have you been able to run overclock mode and run anything? Also, if you do please use cpu-z v1.40.5 to make sure it is actually overclocking.

 

XP issue? Wasn't someone else who was running on xp having trouble?

 

g'morning everybody. I took my c90 apart and redid the cpu heatsink this time I made very very very sure it was seated 100% perfect and also aded abit more thermal compond. sure enough I till idel in the 60s, infact even hit 70 today (belive since more thermal paste, wich is a bad thing)

Sounds like me and him have similar problems.

Im installing windows vista ult x64 right now btw if all goes well I can see if its an Os issue.

 

I dont know if anyone is going to touch on these points in their reviews so here is some helpful info that I have tested out. Windows XP:

1. The HDMI output works fine. However, the fn/display combo does not activate tv out. You have to go into the nvidia control panel and select clone mode. There is NO overscan. Its plug and play. This was with the original drivers on the cd which are Asus version of Nvidia forceware 101.70. It also carries audio without having to change ANY settings. However, there is a delay in the audio. This is a negative because if you want to play a dvd on your tv you have to have the sound up on the laptop for it to be up on the tv, which means the delay from your speakers vs. tv is annoying. If only you could disable laptop speakers without turning down system volume....

2. Fingerprint reader works fine.

3. Webcam has VERY good clarity in good light. However colors are strange (im black/brown skinned and it makes me look red). In lower light it is decent. I cant figure out how to upload pictures directly to the thread without linking them to another page.

4. The touchpad is fine. The reason why people say it isnt is because its the type you have to touch lighter for it to work smooth. Pressing on it normally causes the cursor and your finger to "stick". Those of you that have used more than a few laptops know what im talking about.

5. The bios has no real configurability. It has standard laptop pages like battery calibration, set date/time, boot options. The only extra is that it has come cpu options but the only thing thats useful in them is to enable/disable speedstep. There is a picture of this page in the official c90/c90s etc thread on page 22 from GenTechPC.

6. I played battlefield 2142 and oblivion, while I cant comment on performance due to problems ive been having, I can compliment on the response time/motion blur of the lcd panel. I went through a 3 month phase of lcds, resonse times, dvi vs. vga etc. I now have the Samsung 226BW (s-panel) which is THE fastest response time lcd at 2ms. I have also gone through 6 laptops in the last 2 months paying attention to motion blur. The c90 does have motion blur that is noticeable. I cant give an exact ms rating because I dont know. On a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the LEAST motion blur, id give it a 7. The best way to test this is to play battlefield 2142 at camp gibralter. pay attentions to the sides of buildings as you turn around. you will see some discoloration on the edges and motion blur. Also, try playing Farcry on the first level. Just before you swim across to the other beach where the soldier camp is, look from left to right and observe the other island from the beach of the island your on. Look for motion blur here.

7. Also, in my experiece with computing, ive noticed some computers/laptops recognize new usb devices faster than others. I use my Corsair Voyager GT 4gb flash drive, a kensington c65i optical wireless mouse, and a logitech G7 laser wireless mouse to test recognition to use time. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the fastest, the laptop gets a 6.

8. On the Asus G1P (the nvidia 7700 go) version, the speakers are located on the front bottom of the laptop. They sounded muffled on the G1 because of their position...at least i thought so....the C90 has the speakers located the same way and sound clear. They arent the best sounding but they sure arent muffled. Both laptops were sitting on a flat table.

9. It comes with NO paper documentation on how to assemble anything.

10. I dont believe the screen using magnetism to close and stay closed but it definately pulls closed stronger as you close it to the base right around 2 inches from the base. This means it takes a little power to open the screen. VERY NICE.

EDIT:

11. Last night i calibrated my battery. I never used the battery before and it was still in plastic wrap. I unplugged laptop, let it cool all the way down, put in battery, plugged power into back of laptop, placed laptop on flat surface, then plugged in power to wall. I allowed it to charge with laptop off (I dont know how full or empty the battery was from factory because i didn turn laptop on to check). I didnt touch the laptop until the orange charge light went off. I then unplugged power adapter from wall, removed battery, let it cool all the way down. Then I installed battery into unplugged laptop, plugged in power cord to back of laptop, then plugged power into wall. I turned on the laptop, went straight into bios and started battery calibration. When it got to point when it asked to unplug ac power, I pulled power chord from back of laptop and it started drain. I let it drain UNTOUCHED with laptop lid open. I watched a movie on my tv while it drained so i would know AS SOON as it finished draining and turned off. As soon as it turned off, i removed battery and sat it upright on its side vertically on a jar and aimed a small house fan on it and waited for it to cool completely down. I then pulled the still plugged in ac adapter from the wall, put the battery into the unplugged laptop, plugged the ac power into back of laptop, then plugged ac into wall. I allowed it to charge overnight untouched and off. this mroning when i got up i unplugged ac from wall, ac from laptop, then removed battery. The battery has been sitting on my wodden desk untouched sense. I explained all this to show that I calibrated the battery the best way possible. I will test battery life later. and edit post to include results.

I hope I have covered some VERY misc. and picky things that others may not notice. Im sure ill think of some more later if I ever get past these problems like overheating.

FYI: If someone tells me how ill upload just about any picture you ask for.

 

GOOD cause im installing Vista Ultimate 32 bit. Ill say what happens soon.

 

Another interesting point: On the Asus driver disc there are drivers for Windows XP and Windows Vista. However, on the Asus website it says "Support Operating System: Supports Windows® Vista™ Home, Premium, Ultimate, Business edition". Maybe the overheating is a problem in the Windows XP os/drivers. Still installing vista now...

 

Thats why i got ultimate x64

 

drivers are installing now, last night i confirmed its a heat issue or a driver issue in xp, because I got a reboot in game mode while benching aquamark3...

 

Really. thats bad since I planned on installing XP. maybe i'll have to reconsider or dual boot (since i need xp's compatibility with some programs)

EDIT: Viscious do you mind posting your core temps from speed fan in vista so we can compare. Thanks.

 

Something else: I remember once seeing that 3dmark06 and 05 DEMO version leaves out some of the test versus the full version, this may be responsible for lower scores. Good thing I am a tech slave and have the FULL VERSION of 06!

 

THEN GO TEST IT OUT U SILLY GOOSE STOP TALKING =P sorry just had to say that...

 

Heh, like swoley2k, I've also got a complete copy of 3DMark06. When my C90S arrives, I'll make sure to do a full set of tests...maybe we can find out where the mystery 4k 3DMark06 scores are coming from.

Also, does anyone know of a good reseller of MXM-II cards?

 

Ok Vista Ultimate 32 bit installed. All drivers from cd installed plus turbogear. NO changes to any other settings. I went into gaming mode (10% overclock to 2.93ghz). Cpu-z reports 1.752ghz due to speedstep. To put it on load and get out of speedstep I ran Prime95. UNBELIEVABLE!!! THE FANS GOT SO LOUD AND FAST IT LITERALLY SOUNDED LIKE A JET AT THE AIRPORT. They got so loud it was SCARY and i mean that. Incredible...anyway though just as in XP computer became unresponsive but much worse. I culd only move cursor maybe .5 of an inch at a time and coudlnt do anything else. I had cpu-z running also and it was at 2.93ghz. So um....Vicious...?

EDIT: Meant to say Vista Ultimate 32 bit

 

Alex and others, you may want to use cpu-z to make sure your cpu is actually overclocking to 2.93ghz at load cause um...it may not be and thus giving you low 3dmark scores. I will now to test 3dmark at normal speed 2.66ghz in order to compare with your scores to see if it is indeed the issue of demo version of 3dmark not including certain test.

 

Hurry Up!!!

 

See my post in the "review" thread -- but I ran 3DMark06 (the demo only version) this morning on a 2+ year old Dell desktop (P4, 7800GTX) and scored 4100. I seriously doubt the demo version is hampering scores.

 

Sorry its taking so long. 3Dmark06 asked me to install directx. I opted to go download the latest redist package of directx 9 (june 2007) vs. installing the one built into the installation. Its running through the test now....so far the fps look VERY low. I remember the fps being much better during these test when i had my Asus G1P (nvidia 7700 go version)....it will be done in a few minutes. In the meantime can someone please tell me how to post pictures directly in the thread without having to link to them elsewhere?

 

3DMark06 score: 2998 (1280x1024)

Keep in mind this was with a fresh install of Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit. Fresh driver install directly from supplied cd. NO SETTINGS CHANGED! Could it be that Asus ran 3dmark06 at 640x480?!

 

Also, remember I can run the test in overlock mode because it will lockup.

 

Demo vs. full version of 3Dmark06 NOT an issue.

 

Definitely disappointing. Struggling to get 3K is not something I thought this machine would do.

You might want to try the latest NVidia drivers and run in the overclocked mode.

However, I'm willing to bet that won't even get you past 3500. Worth a shot though.

 

Ok, i found a way to test 3dmark06 with the overclock...but um I cant discuss it. Its running 3dmark06 now and will be done in a few minutes...

 

Yeah, im covering from the ground up first though. Assuming that when Asus quoted that score they were using the default drivers from the cd. After these test I will update some drivers and try it that way...also clock the gpu higher and maybe disable some vista features...and run at a slightly lower resolution.

 

3dMark06 score: 3088 (1280x1024)
Overclocked to 2.93ghz
Heat was NOT an issue THIS time (trust me)

 

/delete message

 

Do the regular ForceWare drivers work with these cards, or do you need to use a special laptop variant?

Give a shot at the 162 drivers when you get a chance. I found that the current computer I'm using got a 200 point boost in 3DMark (from 700 )
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

 

swoley.... great work man, appreciate all the efforts... rep up!

Chris

 

Thanks for noticing!

 

yes thank you

 

I'm curious how you took care of the heat - did you have the AC blowing directly on it? Run it in the freezer?

 

Please dont ask because I cant tell

 

Sorry this is taking so long guys im running into problem after problem. NOTHING WITH THE LAPTOP but other software related problems.

 

Anything other than the default 1280x1024 means nothing really. That's why there is a default -- a standard by which everyone compares.

I'm not saying literally don't do it -- because it would probably be neat just to see what the score is at something like 1024x768 etc. But I don't think any stock can or should be put into 3DMark06 numbers that come from anything other than a 1280x1024 resolution.

 

ever, or just for now? Mysterious...

 

Yes, I agree.

 

Darn, it looks like im the only posting about the c90 in the whole forum now....and right now these software problems are getting on my nerves. If I can ever get past them I can get back to testing the laptop!

 

Im waiting for my laptop. supposed to be here today

 

Well, I certainly appreciate it as I'm sure most others do too.

I would have thought by now we would have had at least a good three or four or maybe more people all giving feedback at this point -- now that they've shipped.

I'm kind of surprised. I expected more fanfare!

 

Can anyone verify a version of forceware that recognized the 8600M GT and does NOT block overclocking!? It has to be a version newer than 101.70. Take note of what I asked...i said VERIFIED meaning you have proof it works. I dont need speculation right now.

 

I personally greatly appreciate all that you guys are doing, reviews, benchmarks, etc. I was seriously considering purchasing a C90 but it looks like it would just be too much of a hassle for someone as green around the gills as I am. I think I'll just go with a G1S and using some advice from you forum gurus, overclock it a little.

But I am happy for all of you and I hope you enjoy your C90's. With your upgradability and 2 Megapixel swiveling webcams and fingerprint readers. Personally I find the C90 to be a beautiful machine, moreso than the other notebooks I was considering buying. I hope everything works out for you guys :/

 

Hopefully Asus will realize the problems people are having and find a solution. I would perfer to use XP on my machine as I use it with VJ software for shows.

][V][IKE

 

Ok heres the deal. The Asus G1s has been out for months BUT i noticed they havent updated the nvidia forceware drivers on the Asus website for it since May 17 (version 101.19). So why havent they updated the drivers? They took the time to include version 101.70 with the C90 is though. SO, im thinking both laptops use the same gpu so why the lack of update to AT LEAST 101.70 on the website for the Asus G1S. This aids in my speculation that the drivers for the c90 included on the cd are heavily modified. Also there is the evidence of the default clockspeed being so low (475/400). So what ive been doing for the last hour or so is trying to find drivers that will work with the 8600M GT that arent in the 100 series. I tryed the latest beta I could find that I could get to work with the 8600M GT which was 162.15 beta (I would have gotten 163.11 beta but there was no modded .inf file to support the 8600m GT). But they dont allow overclocking. I tried soem others too but there was always the problem of it not recognizing the 8600M GT, not having a modded .inf file to make it recognize it, or it blocking overclocking. SO, the closest thing I can do is go with the Asus G1S drivers on the Asus website. My justification for this is 1. Since the G1S is kicking the C90s butt why not try the drivers it uses? (it may even be heavily tweaked to IMPROVE performance over stock version of 101.19) 2. Usiing the G1S drivers (101.19) would still be different from the C90 drivers 101.70 thus breaking out of that area of drivers (101.19 vs 101.70).

SO, im about to run 3Dmark06 the SAME way as before, no vista settings changed or features changed, 1280x1024. Only this time with the Asus G1s drivers directly from its page on the Asus website AND at 510 core/500 mem. It will be done in a few minutes....

 

Now that's exciting news Swoley, rep added and I look forward to hearing how that works out.

 

While I have everyones attention, has anyone come across bad video tearing when using two screens, whether it be a monitor and tv or just two monitors. Its another problem ive been working on for over a week now...

 

thanks for all the updates swoley. I just got my C90 up and running, I'll be following your progress closely, hope the whole G1s driver idea works.

 

I hope its around 3900 as posted at Computex! Seems like misleading/false advertising if not.