Asus M50VM Montevina, NV 9600M GS Review

^ the m50 only has 1 hard drive cage, so swap the old one or getting an external one would be the plan to take.

oh and does anyone know how to change the hotkeys on the multimedia mode touchpad? I set them both but now I want to change them!

and for everyone who cares, I overclocked my 9600m gs to gt levels and tested 3dmark to verify that it works, getting a score of 4600-5000 at 550/500 clocks on it...obviously I will ramp up to these clocks only when it will be nessesary, but it is good to know that there is even more potential in this beast!

 

Thats good news Hows the temps on it? (Im not sure if OCing changes it lol)

 

I see, so buy new Hdd 7200 rpm and swap with the old one. The old one can become my external hdd. i see see.

What is your opinion? is it worth to buy 7200rpm for gaming?

Should i install windows XP instead?

 

It depends on the 7200RPM hard drive. I have a 7200RPM Seagate Momentus 120GB I bought for my G1S. As the story goes, got a replacement M50VM-B2 after so many problems with it.

It came with a 500GB 5400RPM HDD, and it's faster then the 7200RPM. Mind you, it's slightly larger then the 7200RPM too, but anyway.

I'd check benchmarks before you do anything. RPM's is not the only factor in speed, in fact cache for example is far more important.

 

at my OC level clocks..i get a max of 69-70 degrees on the video card, which is excellent in my opinion. With a notebook cooler and some MX-2 thermal paste....this thing might clock up to 9650gt levels on the m50vn. but i wont do the MX-2 until my warrenty is up. And lets say something happens to my m50vm at the end of my 1 year accidental warrenty...would we possible be able to receive a newer m50 model as the m50vm may be EOL? or maybe pay a bit of difference for a more upgraded model?

 

5400rpm is slow than 7200rpm, the reason why yours was faster is that there were 2 of them (250x2) in RAID, afaik

 

That mean, our M50Vm with 500GB actually has 2x250?

I wonder how many of these M50Vm variant..
Mine have native resolution of: 1680x1050.

at first page, i only see 1440xxxx resolution.

What is the pcie2 mean actually for the graphic card? is it meant to be upgradeable? since it is a PCIE?

 

There are many factors in the HDD speeds and RPM is just one of them. Equally important perhaps is the data density. Also important is the firmware generation -- the firmware is continuously optimized. Hence, a two-generations ago 7200RPM will be slower (perhaps far slower) than a current 5400RPM.

The rule of thumb is that the current-gen largest 5400RPMs are only very slightly behind the previous-gen 7200RPMs; and the current-gen 7200RPMs have an edge on the current 5400RPMs. Given that the 7200RPMs are typically released later than 5400RPMs, in many cases it makes more sense to buy the latest-gen 5400RPM instead. (the alternative being the previous-gen 7200RPM with almost the same speed and lower capacity)

 

Mine Multimedia touch Pad stop working. I still can use the volume bar but can't turn in to the Multimedia mode.

2nd, the speaker volume is very weak.. any tuning can be done to improve it?

 

Touchpad driver reinstallation? As to the volume, make sure all volume sliders are at max in the volume control (in WinXP they are called Master and Wave, I think). And perhaps also check in the BIOS, there is a volume setting -- shouldn't affect Windows volume settings but in some cases it might.

 

No, there weren't. This is the M50VM it has only one hard drive.

Again, as I already stated. RPM is not the only factor that determines the speed of the HDD. So you CAN have a 5400RPM drive that is faster.

 

I notice your signature, my M50 has the same configuration with yours.

How is the Speaker on your M50? is it loud enough? mine is so low..

I used CCleaner to clean up my M50 last time, its changed the desktop preference. Some shortcut icon appear on my desktop and some are gone. Does Asus have some kind of utility that can restore it back to the original? (i preferred no to used the system restore/recovery disk).

 

Not sure about the cause of the desktop change, but I think it's best to just create the shortcuts that you want and delete those that you don't -- I think it's the least painless method.

 

Dose the asus m50vm-b1 supposed to come with a tv out slot?
I bought this pc and i got a cable to conect the pc to a tv screen but the only thing i can fined on the pc is a preparation slot for tv connection
Dose anybody got this pc with a tv out conection slot or is it fine that i got this pc just with a preparation slot?

THANKS
IDAN

 

Not sure what you mean by preparation slot.

That cable comes with all ASUS notebooks, regardless of whether they have S-Video out or not.

I think you have HDMI though, so as long as your TV accepts HDMI input you should be fine.

 

Do you mean S-Video out? unfortunately not, all new Asus notebooks doesn't come with S-Video out anymore.

 

nVidia HDMI Audio Driver:

This forum won't allow me to post the link but it's in GenTechPC's guide at the beginning of this thread.

^ This link no longer has the file available for download. It's a Windows XP driver that was posted under the XP drivers that need to be downloaded if downgrading to XP by GenTechPC. Does anyone have another link or can anyone post the file? I'd appreciate any help.

I have a question. I just purchased the M50Vm-X1. It seems to be exactly the same thing as the M50Vm-A1 except for the capacity of the hard drive. Will the Windows XP drivers posted by GenTechPC work for the X1?

BTW thank you very much GenTechPC for posting these drivers. I have run into so many problems with several Vista machines I just gave up on Vista.

 

new link for nVidia HDMI audio driver:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/144542

 

One other question. While doing Windows Updates it offered to install

"ATK - Other Hardware - ATK0100 ACPI UTILITY" under "Hardware Optional" section.

I installed all the drivers Ken listed at the beginning of this thread already. Should I install this driver that is showing up in Windows Update?

 

hey guys, recently my touchpad seems to have formed a air bubble underneath the black film....is there a fix for this, it happened twice, the first time it went back down but this time it seems to be staying this way....is this a defect and could i get a fix from asus for this?

oh yea and the 1 year accidental warrenty, do they give u a new unit or do they just fix the old one? And on the change, could I possibly pay a little more to get a better model, like say the g50vt?

 

You can always ask ASUS about it. This 'bubble' has come up for some other posters and usually goes away over time.

It likely depends on the extent of the damage. I've been trying to stay current on these forums through the past couple months and haven't noticed any postings about the ADW's repair/exchange policy.

In any case, through the regular warranty, I believe there's a 'lemon clause', which grants you a new laptop if you end up RMAing the original more than three times during the warranty period. I've heard of some posters getting a better notebook without paying anything extra due to their original model's discontinuation. I'd assume there would be a similar policy for the ADW if the damage was beyond repair and if the model you purchased was sold out.

 

How are your GPU temps guys? Mine ranges on 56 ~ 61 degrees celcius on doing surfing, and chatting.

I just want a comparison or something so that I can know if my temperature is alright.

Also, how about on gaming? What are your temps? Thanks~

Edit:
My temps on Crysis, 1280x780, with settings on med ~ high, DX9 gave me around 70 ~ 72 degrees celcius. I was wondering if thats a good measure? Not too hot I hope?

I would like to get a comparison among other users if possible, thanks again

 

Hey! The M50VM looks pretty sweet.
I am considering buying one, but I have 2 questions:
1.How is the screen quality on the VM, I heard that in an M50SA-Ak043 the screen is fairly poor?
2.Does it eat up letters while typing? In the same M50SA many complained that sometimes some letters gone missing.

 

on HWmoniter my gpu is 45-50 degrees while surfing the web, it hits 70 in gaming

processor is at 30-32 surfing

 

The screen quality on the M50VM-B2 (AU Optronics in my system) is excellent (IMO).

Some people have reported issues typing, but I haven't encountered any problems typing in Windows Vista 64-bit OS on my M50Vm.

 

I'm slightly disappointed in the screen because of the viewing angles. Still, its okay. A little light bleed at the bottom.

New 209 bios that fixes the keyboard problem (for me, at least)

 

Originally, I wanted to buy the M70Vm-A1, but now the M50Vm seems more attractive in terms of its size and specs. Would anyone know if the two models are EXACTLY the same in terms of looks?

 

AFAIK, m70vm only has larger size and higher res. Same looks overall.

 

I know I'm being really picky but.. they're both fully black on top, right? ;P

 

Yes Thats what Ive always known though. You can always do a little bit of researching yourself.

 

Hey guys, what drivers are going to give me the best results for the 9600gs?

 

Technically, the only M70 that has a higher resolution screen is the C1 model. The others (A1 and B1) are 1440x900, which kinda defies the purpose of having a 17-inch screen, in my opinion.

Probably the newest ones? You can get the latest drivers at LaptopVideo2Go

Seriously though, you can do some crazy overclocking on these without needing to worry about overheating.

 

Really? Have you tried OCing your 9600m GS?

 

i hope i count as an over clocker ...with my clocks, which are core648/shader1620/ram491 i score 5600 at the resolution 1280x800 with nothing else turned on (eg AA)...eh i guess thats okay i think it is better than a stock 9600m gt but thats nothing to phone home about.

one problem, everytime i restart i have to open up ntune and clock it again...i dont know of any program that actually works at overclocking this thing at the moment with automatic profiles...anyone know is there is a profile system inside ntune that would keep it at that clock. There is also NW's thread about swapping the c90s to a 9600m gt. i read he altered the actual default clocks with bios editing so...that could be a possibility.

 

How was your temp demons?

 

the max i saw in gpuz while running 3dmark06 is 72...which is very cool in my opinion, i think itll be the card that will cap off before the temperature. weird thing tho, my 3dmark06 goes way down when i clock my mem chips to 500, yet not at 491...maybe its just a coincidence but maybe there could be some kind of lock on it. the core is fine all the way up until 675 but it just wont touch 700!!

 

the max i saw in gpuz while running 3dmark06 is 72...which is very cool in my opinion, i think itll be the card that will cap off before the temperature. weird thing tho, my 3dmark06 goes way down when i clock my mem chips to 500, yet not at 491...maybe its just a coincidence but maybe there could be some kind of lock on it. the core is fine all the way up until 675 but it just wont touch 700!!

 

Which drivers are you using at those clock speeds, demons? My clocks always set back to stock after about 30sec into 3dMark06 when I OC with nTune and won't set back to my preferences unless I restart. Temps haven't been an issue and it works without any hitches until the framerate drops. Or maybe I should try reinstalling nTune...

And I wouldn't sell your overclocking short. You're given almost a 50% performance gain for free. I was surprised by how much smoother the graphics test ran after OCing (before it slowed back down to a crawl).

 

ahhh here is something, i did find out that for me so far the only drivers which allowed me to overclock is 178.13 and then it shud work from there....and dam...the n50vn-b1b is very tempting for me, i love the classy look of it and this multimedia pad of mine has an air bubble in it and it isnt going away...im assuming somehow it stetched the plastic such that it isnt going back to normal.

also, can ayone gime me a detailed procedure as tot he steps i should take to RMA...??

 

Btw, I was wondering if the temps (72, OC'd) was at room temp? I seem to already get that temperature by playing Crysis, lol.

 

For GPU that is a normal idling temp for my 8600GT gddr3 card in this C90s. If it's CPU, it's high.

 

Oh. Well I meant, demon OC'd his GPU and got 72 during a benchmark, while I get 72 w/o OCing my GPU, while playing Crysis. So I was thinking if thats normal. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

And, why is your GPU so hot that it gets 72 while idling?

 

That's normal for this gddr3 card in sig...most C90 owners have the same temps...it's not hot, not cool, but not hot.

 

Oh ok. Temps just tend to scare me most of the time.

And still curious bout that OCing temp

 

Yes, to clairfy, my GPU temps are 72 highest at my max clocks, while my CPU goes up to about 53ish on 100% load with Orthos but that is with my undervolted + a bit underclocked t9400, i remember it being 60 ish before i undervolted it. yea if therecomes a new program which allows CPU undervolting with half-multis...then my 3dmark06 would go up by another 100 points......almost 6k......dam....somehow i must reach 6k

 

lol and I have.... That's the funny thing about it.. and I came to the forums for some 'real' answers hahah. Even the store isn't completely sure. And that's just sad.

 

GUYS i have a question... whats the forceware version you are running?

and getting the best results?

im running the one in my sig and im getting terrible gameplay..

UT3 lags... fifa 09 lags etc. when before i never got any lags

 

Im using my stock, actually. And I can play those @ high, with native res.

There's driver 180.43 in laptopvideo2go.com, why dont you try that?

Or you can just wait for a response from another forum member who has tried the latest driver in that website

 

I need some help with something. I think I accidentally activated some sort of function for my LCD. The contrast is way too high now, I know for sure I pressed something because I saw one of the icon things pop up then disappear like when you change battery modes or lcd modes. This is really annoying the hell out of me, I've gone through every page of the manual and found nothing on this. It's starting to get on my nerves, how the hell do I switch it back.

 

Try Fn + A for the Ambient Light Sensor?