Asus M50VM Montevina, NV 9600M GS Review

M50VM

Introduction:
The M50VM is the brand new upgrade to the M50SV featuring Intels newest Montevina platform. Asus did great with the M50SV and it only makes sense to keep a good thing going by refreshing it with the newest technology.

M50VM Video: (720p)
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Build Quality and Physical Specs
The build is just like the older M50SV, anything on the outside is exactly the same, it’s all of what’s in the inside that has changed.
If you’re not familiar with what Montevina brings to the table, here are a few of the major changes.

- Faster ram, full DDR2 800Mhz support standard, any memory intensive tasks can now benefit from the higher bandwidth of the ram as can the system as a whole. Note that Montevina also added support for DDR3 but the M50VM used DDR2 memory still and can not be upgraded to DDR3 because the slots are different. DDR3 is still incredibly overpriced right now and only marginally better than DDR2 so don’t let this be a negative thing to you.
-1066Mhz FSB for the cpu,
- Better CPU, The Montevina platform with 1066Mhz of bandwidth to move information along.
- New SATA controller, the chipset features ICH9M the update from the older ICH8M.

Onto the actual M50VM Models to be available at launch.
M50VM-A1:
MSRP: $1299
15.4" 1440X900 WXGA+
Chipset: Intel PM45 Montevina Mobile Platform
Southbridge: ICH9-M SATA Controller
GPU: GeForce 9600M GS 1GB VRAM DDR2
CPU P8400 2.26 Ghz 3MB 1066 FSB
4GB DDR2 800MHz
320GB 5400RPM SATA
Express Gate Technology
Aheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter
DVDRW Super Multi
1.3MB Swivel webcam
Fingerprint Scanner

M50VM-B1:
MSRP: $1449
15.4" 1440X900 WXGA+
Chipset: Intel PM45 Montevina Mobile Platform
Southbridge: ICH9-M SATA Controller
GPU: GeForce 9600M GS 1GB VRAM DDR2
CPU T9400 2.53 Ghz 6MB 1066 FSB
4GB DDR2 800MHz
320GB 5400RPM SATA
Express Gate Technology
Aheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter
DVDRW Super Multi
1.3MB Swivel webcam
Fingerprint Scanner


wPrime:
T9400: 30.311

P8400: 33.571












GPU load:




GPU idle:


The sticker of 9600M GS on the palmrest says it has 512MB, it's just the wrong sitcker, the card is actually 1GB:




So the first thing you probably noticed is that the video card is the 9600M, brand new to the scene loaded with 1GB of video RAM!
The next thing you may notice is that just like the last model the M50 is still fully loaded with a lot of ram and a big hard drive. This time around even better than the M50SV stock with 4GB of DDR2 800 ram and a 320GB HDD . Still even with the upgrades they are very competitively priced.

There is just one thing that is different from M50SV, the new M50VM is missing the Combo port of ESATA and USB, it's now only the ESATA:


While the M50SV has ESATA and USB combo port:


Express Gate


Express Gate is a small built in operating system based on Linux that is there to offer you incredibly quick boot up times if you have small tasks to perform that you don’t need to be in windows for. It has a few different modes. You can boot into internet mode wich will let you use a browswer and turn on your wireless/wired interent so you can just check some mail really fast or look up something online. There is a chat mode so you can use AIM or similar programs to chat with your friends. Plus several other modes like Skype, Photo, Music. This is a neat feature and also acts as a great emergency backup. If you corrupt your windows installation somehow, you still have a way to use your laptop and get things done.


Device Manager:


LCD from Everest report:
Monitor

[ Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB] ]

Monitor Properties:
Monitor Name Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB]
Monitor ID CPT1465
Manufacturer CLAA154WP05A
Manufacture Date Week 26 / 2008
Serial Number None
Max. Visible Display Size 33 cm x 21 cm (15.4")
Picture Aspect Ratio 16:10
Gamma 2.20
DPMS Mode Support None



Keyboard and Touchpad
Since the exterior of the M50VM remains the same, you can expect the same great keyboard and touchpad as the last. Top of its class with a full numeric keypad to use, the backlit media touchpad, good response and no perceivable flex. You could easily ask any current M50SV owner about how the keyboard feels and most would agree that it’s a great experience to use it. Infact if you want a good feel for how the M50SV is built I recommend you check out my review of that product here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=229282


Audio
Best Audio in its class, the M series is geared to be a media notebook, and without a doubt one of the most aspects of media is sound. So the great Altec Lansing speakers return to treat your ears and crush the myth that notebooks cant have good built in speakers.

Battery life:

M50Vm-B1 T9400
6 cell: 2 Hours 38 Minutes



9 Cell: 4 Hours and 2 minutes.




M50Vm-A1 P8400
6 Cell: 2 Hrs 50 minutes:




Performance and Benchmarks

WEI:


3DMark06


9500M GS 512MB DDR2 from M50SV


1280x720: 3580
1440x900: 3089

Compare with 9600M GS 1GB:

9600M GS 1GB DDR2
1024x768: 4622
1280x720: 4408
1440x900: 3794










COD4:




Game video:

Crysis:
Resolution: 1280X720

Shaders/Shadows: Low




Shaders/Shadows: Medium



Shaders/Shadows: High




Call of Duty 4




Devil May Cry 4


World in Conflict


____________________________________________________________________________________________
Windows XP:


XP Drivers:





For easy installtion press F2 at asus logo screen to enter BIOS, go to Advanced tab and IDE Controller, setup SATA mode from Enhance to Compatible, press F10 and exit.


Below is the drivers you can install from drivers DVD:

D:\DRIVER\ATK0100\VISTA32\2KSETUP.EXE
D:\DRIVER\KB_FILTER\XP32\2KSETUP.EXE

D:\SOFTWARE\ATKHOTKEY\VISTA32_64\SETUP.EXE
D:\SOFTWARE\ATKMEDIA\SETUP.EXE
D:\SOFTWARE\ATKOSD2\SETUP.EXE

D:\SOFTWARE\CARDREADER\RICOH_R5C833\VISTA32_64\SETUP.EXE
D:\Software\BLUETOOTH\AZUREWAVE_BT-253\VISTA32_64\WIN32\BRCM\DPINST.EXE
D:\SOFTWARE\MODEM\VISTA32\Setup.exe
D:\SOFTWARE\EXPRESSGATE\VISTA32_64\ST_ASUSIF00_HD_V0.7.6.0_20080624.EXE
D:\SOFTWARE\FINGERPRINTS\VISTA32_64\SETUPAIM.EXE
D:\SOFTWARE\TOUCHPAD\VISTA32\Setup.exe
D:\SOFTWARE\WCONSOLE2\SETUP.EXE


Drivers you need to download:

Intel Chipset:
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/12769/a08/infinst_autol.zip

nVidia GeForce Driver:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18823
1: Download driver from the driver link
2: Extract driver into a folder
3: download Modded INF
4: Copy and paste INF file into the extracted driver folder before run setup.exe
5: Run Setup.exe


Wireless for A1 and B1:
Atheros AR928X Wireless lan (use update driver from Device Manger to install):
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14858

Wireless for B2 and B4:
Intel WiFi Link 5100:
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/17156/eng/12.1.2.0_X_Drivers.zip
unzip and click dpinst32.exe to install.


Realtek Audio Driver:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

nVidia HDMI Audio Driver:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/144542


Realtek Lan Driver (Unzip and click setup.exe to install):
Link1
Link2
Link3

Power4Gear:
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/10891/eng/P4G_V1.16_Generic.zip


IR Driver still not work in XP.

There is a question mark on "Audio Device on High Definition Audio BUs" but the sound card works.




3DMark06

1024x768: 4967
1280x720: 4674
1440x900: 3983










Reason to buy
The M50 is probably the best thing Asus has come out with in awhile, very reasonably priced for what you get and all packed into a solid chasis, with a great screen, keyboard, great speakers. It’s a laptop that your happy with for a long time and just feels right. Its fast enough to play games on casually and has a nice neutral look to it so its not too plain like a cardboard box and not sending out neon lasers to reflect off the walls like some of the out of this world gaming notebooks might.
So if you were previously interested in the success that was the M50SV and just didn’t know if it was the right time to buy, or one of the people that knew the Montevina platform was coming soon and hoping for a refresh, well here it is!


Conclusion
In conclusion, its safe to say that the M50VM did exactly what it was supposed to, take an already great notebook and make it better. Montevina is a worthy upgrade, giving you things that laptops never had before and making it closer to what you would expect in a full size desktop. You could not go wrong with this as your new notebook. I think I see great things coming from it.

 

Great stuff Ken! This is notebook is definately much better for gaming
Just so others can compare easier, the M50SV-A1 (w/ 9500M GS + Vista) scores 3089 in 3dmark06 with native resolution (1440x900) while the M50VM-B1 (w/ 9600M GS + Vista) scores 3794 all on stock settings.

I can't wait to see what XP can do I'm also eager to see what the battery life is like too

Lol... guess nvidia's trying to save some money by not replacing the stickers!

 

so will this be a big improvement? anyone know about the rumored new g series that has a 9700m gt?

 

It's definately a significant improvement (700 points difference) since the 9500M GS and 9600M GS are pretty much the same card with the exception of the smaller die and larger memory. The smaller 65nm architecture makes the 9600M GS more efficient and less power hungry. But the difference is not as huge when compared to the 9700M GT. The 9700M GT, afaik has similar performance to the 8800M GTS.

 

oh so if there are going to be g series with the 97 its going to be a 17 inch?

 

Well, Asus did say that the G50 (15") will have the 9700 GPU, but there's no official release day for that notebook.

Anyways, back with the M50, Ken, could you check if the IR works on XP when you have time?

 

hm maybe ken will have some insight on this subject. when this futre laptop gets released will there be a huge difference between that one and this m50vm? and what price range will it be in?

 

Yes it's about 20% more powerful than the 9500M GS.

Not sure about that, if it pass the thermal test I am sures Asus will use 9700 in their future models.

 

future models. sounds nice and im looking to buy a laptop soon so should i wait for these beastly future models or will those be a little while away? and could that 9700 video card make crysis run on all engines?

 

It's probably too soon to tell, but I don't think the future G series will come cheap.

 

well my budget right now isnt so big like 1500 max (i still need more to get to that mark) so i should get this model? with all these new improvements it looks pretty pimped out

 

That's exactly my thought too. All the user-upgradable parts are pretty much maxed out with the M50VM-B1. I think it would be great for anyone whom was thinking of getting the SV before but didn't. If I haven't got my SV I'd probably be the first to place an order on the VM-B1 model. I especially love the expressgate feature which I know would be very useful for me since I love to surf online while watching tv.

 

this computer rocks but i heard somewhere of the price rising for this in about a month? is this true

 

I haven't heard anything about that. Usually prices go down with time for computers.

 

We have 9700M GTs scores? The 9700M GT is a G96 too (same core as the 9600M GS)

But is the 9600M GS really clocked at 430 on the core? Big OC room imo

 

sweet stuff. bang for the buck. iv seen a couple computers with around the same specs but not the new cpu plus they dont come with the sweet warranties asus does. il be buying this soon. il be able to play cs s again. lol and a lot more

 

3DMark06 on Windows XP:


1024x768: 4967
1280x720: 4674
1440x900: 3983

 

so computers can run a lot better on xp?....

 

it performs better, but there are some components different from the M50SV such as the wireless, bluetooth that I am still trying to find the drivers.

 

sounds good say in two years i try to play a newly released game will this handle it on lowest setings?

 

200pts in 3dmark06 is nothing. But it's ~10% better. 10% of 30FPS is 3 FPS.

 

Can you OC the 9600? I thought I read in one of Ken's other Asus notebook reviews with the 9600 that mentioned OCing was disabled via the BIOS.

 

Well 3dmark06 doesn't always reflect the true potential of a gpu and gaming performance. And depending on what games you play, the increased fps in XP will differ. Gaming on this machine will still be very capable in a couple of years given u use low to med settings.

 

Ken,
Just curious if you get a chance could you test ReadyBoost on this system with the 8GB SSD. I am interested in Windows' load times compared to the M50Sv.

 

Yeah sure as soon as I am done testing Crysis and other games.

 

Question:
How much of a difference does the .25 in cpu between the m50sv-A1 and the M50VM-A1 for gaming and general usage.

 

Crysis game video:

Resolution: 1280X720

Shaders/Shadows: Low




Shaders/Shadows: Medium



Shaders/Shadows: High


---------------------------------------------------------------

Call of Duty 4

 

Was it relatively easy to get XP to install on this laptop? I've been stalling on the purchase of a new laptop until I can be 100% sure I can get Xp to work with it.

 

It's not easy, at least I am still looking for the wireless driver.

 

You probably won't find much of a difference in most games, with the exception of Flight Simulator, The Sims 2 and a few more that I can't remember off the top of my head. These games are more CPU dependent, but it's nothing to even sweat about. The extra 250mhz and 3mb cache in the SV-A1 model, would only be most noticeable in benchmarks. For general use such as office apps, web surfing and watching DVD, you won't find any difference at all.

 

Wow... my fears have been confirmed. Thanks ken =) ayayay. I just wish i had this model since i would be gaming on my m50sv-a1 every weekends. What can you say about the real time gaming between the SV and the VM models ken? is it really that noticeable? How about in overclocking? can the 9600m gs be overclocked more?

 

wondering if the 8gb ssd is a promo from you or Asus? will the wireless card be able to a b router?

 

You can compare the game video of M50SV and M50VM, Crysis runs very smooth on M50VM when shadows and shaders set to low.

Can't overclock 9600M GS card, I already tried both M70VM and M50VM and no matter what clock speed I overclock to the 3DMark06 comes out about the same score.

The promotion is from both GenTechPC and Asus.
Yes the wireless card can be connect to a b router.

 

Well the guys from laptopvideo2go are on it i could tell you that =) oh well. i couldn't dwell in the past that much. i will love my m50sv-a1 with all my heart =) thanks so much ken =)

 

I hope so, or maybe Asus locked the GPU and VRAM clock in VGA BIOS.

 

can you post the difference between the 9500m gs and 9600m gs (memory clock, core clock etc) ?

 

Here you go:

 

what do shaders/shadows do.... shadows and wider difference in shades of colours? this baby looks impressive. do you guys notice a big difference with shaders/shadows? and was the middle settings playable?

 

Here's another GPU-Z, but also showing the shader speed on the 9500M GS
This one's from my M50SV-A1

 

Here you go crispymango!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124757

 

Devil May Cry 4 game video, looks amazing:

 

this notebook is fly. will this be able to run far cry 2 with good results?

 

What's the difference between pcie 2.0 from jsut the pcie? gpuz doesn't seem to have the 9600m gs complete specification =)

 

Is there any much difference between the M50VM-A1 and the M50VM-B1 in terms of CPU power? I know the CPU on the B1 has more L2 Cache (and more Ghz), but does it make any difference on how it'll process. (I.E. B1 will have a slightly better and easier time processing things that are dependent on the CPU.)

I am not sure if I can buy a laptop without having to pay a tax of 7.25% because of the wonderful State of California's Use Tax. If I do have to end up paying tax no matter where I get it, then I'll be stuck with the A1, as I would have to wait for a month or so later (Mid-Sept.), and I need a laptop before school begins Mid-August. So I just want to know if I won't see too much of a difference between the two.

Because I'm either getting one of the two of these, or a F8VA-B1, but I don't think I'll like the speakers too much. I would like the smaller size, but speakers are kinda important for me, as well as gaming.

Thanks. ^^

 

Does anyone know what brand/model the HDD inside the M50VM is?

 

The one from the Excalibur PC review was a Hitachi. I'd assume the same.

 

PCI-E 2.0 has the double speed of data transfer rate than PCI-E 1.0.

CPU is the only difference between A1 and B1 but you shouldn't notice big difference when gaming.

It's the Hitachi 320GB 5400rpm 3.0Gb/s Model: HTS54322L9A300.

 

Battery test:


9 Cell: 4 Hours and 2 minutes.

 

Ah, well, thank you. I'll have to figure out if I can find a company that might pay that tax for me or something... but I dunno.

At least I think now that I wouldn't be incredibly devastated if I were to only get the A1 because of price. (Though, if I did have the choice, I would certainly buy the B1.)

 

It'll be too soon to tell since the game requirements are not yet released.

There will be some minor noticeable differences between the the P8400 and T9400 CPUS when using CPU intensive programs such a photoshop, since the difference is in both the clock speed and L2 cache. As far as gaming is concerned, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

You could have the notebook shipped to an out of state friend/family member and have your friend ship it back to you. That way you only pay the shipping costs (which should be about $25 w/ FedEx Home/Ground delivery)