Asus N71JA/X77JA review by OC-Freak

Hotkeys are the asus-specific function keys that can be accessed by pressing the Fn key in combination with another key (mostly F1-F12). There is a tool that allows you to reassign the hotkeys to execute other commands/programs. For your case, you can assign a hotkey to a dos program that can enable/disable device drivers.
So it's not really making your own code, but it does take some effort to do. Also I'm not sure if it is something you want to do on a regular basis, the graphic card drivers seem to be quite sensitive to errors.

I have a different version, the N71JQ, and I absolutely love it. It only works for about 1.5 hours on battery though. The N71JA should be able to run on battery longer than that, because of the different processor, but if battery time is very important to you, you should look for that specifically in reviews. Maybe the N71JV is better for you, I think it has the Optimus switchable graphics thing of NVidia.

 

Thanks for the info.
I just got my laptop, i like it very much.

I have just a couple of problems:

-my usb 3.0 does not work - device manager shows exclamation mark, why is that?I didn't find no special drivers on asus site.

-where can i turn off or on the srs premium sound - do i have to install the program or drivers?i found no sound drivers on asus site?

-should i flash the bios with the downloaded file (from asus site), or should i leave it alone, because everything works ok?


thank you for the help,

k

 

Try reinstalling the USB driver from the driver cd or try these ones:
http://www.soft-go.com/get_driver/A...er-1.0.19.0-for-Win7x64XPXP64Vista_12347.html

You can remove the SRS premium sound through control panel/uninstal programs.

Search the forum for Asus bloatware guide to see what software else you can remove. A lot of crap is preinstalled.

I would leave the bios alone for now unless you run into problems. But don't press Fn-Esc because that will probably freeze your computer . I'm not sure about the JA but for JQ the bios updates didn't do much good.

 

Thank you, it seems to be ok now - i reinstalled the os and the drivers. Since i don't restart at every restart prompt when installing the drivers (never had any problems with that), maybe this could be the problem?No matter, it's working excellent now. Strange that Asus sita has no driver for USB 3.0, i only found it on the supplied cd.

i am monitoring temperatures with realtemp and speedfan, and the cpu temperatures are by some strange reason very different (realtemp gives around 50 idle, whereas speed fan around 40).

Anyway i am so far very satisfied with my laptop, the only minus is no undervolting support for i5 - i used to lower the temperatures a lot with undervolting on my old core 2 duo.

Thanks again for all the help,

K

 

Luckily for you it wasn't a hardware problem. It's always good to restart a lot, depending on which drivers you're installing, a reasonable compromise is to install 2 or 3 drivers per instance. It's not that restart takes too much time anyway

I know for a fact that Real Temp reads the correct temps, so maybe speedfan doesn't work yet with the icore processors? (I suggest a forum search)

Am glad you're happy with it, it is indeed a very nice machine. Maybe undervolting i3/i5/i7's can be done in the future, these processors are still very new.

Cheers,
P

 

It is indeed a nice machine. Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Regards,

K

P.S.: Speedfan has so problems with detecting the temperatures for the new processors - maybe the next release will fix that. Anyway, one can offset the temperature readings in speedfan, matching the ones in realtemp (realtemp is indeed accurate), if speedfan temperature monitoring is preferred.

 

Oh and one more thing, maybe this helps someone:

if you want to monitor all of your laptop temperatures with hw monitor, then you can install the GPU driver from the following site:

32-bit
ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

64-bit
ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

If you install the drivers from the manufacturer, the GPU temperature is not available in hw monitor. By installing the driver from ATI site, some features may be unavailable, but i haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary and it's working just fine.

These are 10.5 drivers.

Regards,

K

 

It's me again!

I am a bit annoying aren't i?

I would like to know about overclocking. I have ATI powerplay enabled, so my gpu frequencies are 100 core, 150 memory. When i disable powerplay frequencies go to default 650/800.
So here is my question - do i have to disable powerplay prior to overclocking, or can i overclock on 100/150?

Thank you and best regards,

K

 

No problem, actually I just found out about this function myself.

You can set the clocks manually and it will override the powerplay function. If you change your power management profile it will probably change back.

Also you can customise your settings in power4gear (if you use it). I like having the high performance profile, but since I don't game much, I have set the ATI Powerplay settings (Advanced\ATI graphics power setting) to Maximize Battery Life when plugged in. This enables the powerplay. Then if I want to game I overclock the gpu manually.

 

I am sorry, i was a little unclear!

My computer is plugged in and powerplay is set to maximize performance (using power4gear high performance plan), but my GPU clocks are 100/150 until i use some 3D application - after that the clocks are 650/800... It is like some kind of dynamic switching between 100/150 and 650/800.
Shouldn't my clock be at 650/800 when plugged in and high performance?

K

 

Hmm that is odd. Mine (N71JQ but same GPU) doesn't act like that, it just runs at 375/405 with powerplay/maximize battery and at 650/800 without.

Maybe it's some service that I switched off. However, it sounds useful to have it at 100/150 when you're not running any 3D apps. I would just keep it like that and don't touch anything

 

Yes, it's probably best if i leave it alone Maybe my battery will last longer, when on the road...

I managed to OC the HD5730 from 650/800 to 750/1000 and got 8482 3dMarks06, prior to 7276 with default clocks. Screen resolution for both tests was 1280x1024.

Score 8482

SM2.0 3230
HDR/SM3.0 3841
CPU 2761

The maximum temperatures after 3dMArk06 are:

CPU -> 69°C
GPU -> 69°C


After overclocking, i also used Furmark (xtreme test) and prime95 simultaneously (same as OC-Freak). The maximum temperatures were:

CPU -> 86°C
GPU -> 85°C

These temperatures seem a bit high for me to be using the GPU for constant gameplay. Maybe one day, when undervolting of the new processor's will be possible. What do you think?

Thank you for any opinion, best regards.

K

 

Hey K

Your temperatures sound reasonable, I wouldn't worry about that at all. Same as mine basically. Remember that Furmark xtreme burning and prime95 at the same time is likely the most extreme form of pain you can inflict on you lappie Your temps during gaming probably won't get that high. Try monitoring during a long gaming session with HWMonitor, that will store the max temp.

Also you can test if the overclock really adds that much to the temp. I believe the GPU memory OC is mainly causing the temperature increase. I use a OC of 750/900 for gaming, this adds about 2 degrees to my temps. Check my record 3dmark06 in the sig (800/1110, unstable us s**t).

 

Tried some gaming on stock settings (650/800).

My max temps: CPU 71°C, GPU 72°C, using a notebook cooler.
Will try with higher clock speed when i get the chance.

Thanks again for the time and help.

K

 

As long as CPU/GPU stays below 95 C during furmark/prime95 combo it's fine. Remember that furmark generally gives 10-15 C higher temps than "normal" load gives.

 

Hey all! new user here! been reading all the pages and now i know more thx!

questions

-why is the X77JA version so much cheaper than the N71JA? i live in sweden and here it's olmost 300£ more expensive. i can se that the N71JA has bluray compared too the x77JA has a DVD but nothing more!?

So if it is as OC-FREAK says (only bag and mouse) its Absolutely Ridiculous!


- What does the numbers mean? the specs looks the same ? color?

Asus X77JA-TY005V
Asus X77JA-TY006V

i'm a but confused on Which one to buy

//regards Cel

 

Hello!

I can only tell you about N71JA series, but for the X77JA i can only tell from googling. The first post of this thread indicates, that X77JA is actually N71JA - that is generally true, but not entirely.
There is a difference between N71JA's, because they have different CPU and HDD options. For example, OC-Freak's N71JA has i5-430m, where mine has i5-520m. There is also a difference between the HDD's (500 GB 5400 rpm to 2x320 GB 7200 rpm).
So, N71JA is just a serie, where the second part really tells which model it is (N71JA - TY016). I didn't get the bag or a mouse with my purchase - this depends on the country of purchase, i belive (but not sure).

So the difference between Asus X77JA-TY005V and Asus X77JA-TY006V must have something to do with hardware. And it has, check the links.

TY005V (under the "Specifikationer" tab)
ASUS X77JA TY005V - Bærbar - Computer - EDBpriser - find og sammenlign de bedste priser og tilbud på danmarks bedste prisguide


TY006V
Asus X77JA-TY006V Laptop Reviews, Price and Specifications
http://www.prix-portables.fr/PC/5575/Asus,X77ja-ty006v.html

What is the price difference between them in your country?The only difference between them is only the HDD capacity and chipset (as far as i can tell and if the data is correct)...

Oh, and N71JA Blu-ray support is optional.

 

kpoopk thank you so much for ur information!

Well in sweden we only have one version of each one and they are at this time.


Asus X77JA-TY005V
Asus N71JA-TY030V

that's how much it sucks to live in sweden

both of them according to the specs have the i5-430M here in sweden. And we never have an option do choose if we want to have a DVD instead of BR player. Atleast not what i've heard when i asked. Always a finished product here, buy it och off is our way..

i want the N71 more than the X77 but the pricedifference is still juggeling my head a bit

heard to from ppl that there will be some new versions out in july, anything u've heard to ?

//Regards Cel

 

Hello.

Based on my experiences regarding computers, i can tell you that every month (or couple of months) there will be a new, better computer that you will like even more. So if you need a laptop, there is generally no right time to buy it (with the new iX processors and DX11 cards maybe the right time is now/this year). My point is the technology advances daily and if you are looking to buy something, just buy it. Of course you should study things carefully, most important question is - what will i use my laptop for? But that is just my opinion.

Gather all the specifications for both models and compare them. But i think i would go for the cheaper, if there are no huge differences between the components.

Regards,

K

P.s.: I have been to Finland and it was nice, so surely Sweden doesn't suck that much

 

yeah i totally agree. I have done all the reasearch and i just wanted to controll it whit u guys u know how u get when u are about to choose the product and still want to do a dubblecheck if u missed something aaaa the sweet paranoia

yeah but i can afford to wait and buy until the end of july then it's a must!

well our girls are much hotter to

 

Hi,
I'm looking to buy an Asus N71JA, but the only thing stopping me is the screen.
I wasn't able to find any information about whether is it glossy or matte?

So if you could write some impressions about the screen.
Is it glossy, an if it is, how bad is it?

I've never had a glossy screen, but from what I've seen the reflection is quite bad and distracting.
Much, much worse than on a matte screen.

I would use the computer mostly at home, but would also carry it occasionally to school and the library.


Thx

 

The screen is a glossy type. As far as I know, it has the same screen as on my N71JQ.
The reflection is in general a problem with all the glossy screen, but it is rare now that you will get a matte screen.
I myself is quite satisfied with it. It is very bright and has relatively good viewing angles.

 

Yes, the screen is glossy - it can be annoying, when there is a bright light source shining directly onto the screen. But from my experience, a small position adjustment of the laptop and the glossy thing is not such a problem anymore.
And furthermore, in darker environment the screen is frickin awsome!!!

This is my first laptop with LED backlight screen and i love it!

Regards,

K

 

Hi guys I'm trying to overclock my N61JA with the i5 430M and 5730 just like the OP but I can't seem to get past 750/850. If I go around or above 900 on the memory I get lots of pink artifacts and if I go past 800 on the core I get the Display stopped responding error.

My temps are around 81 degrees on Furmark and Prime95 going together.

Maybe I don't have enough power?

 

I Managed a stable 773 942 with max temp of 71 degrees while Furmark and Prime95 for 15 mins (ambient 15 degrees lol)

 

Each card behaves different when overclocking, even though the model is the same...

15°C ambient - are you in a freezer lol!

 

15 max temp in Perth Australia atm so bloody cold. Slept with my heater on last night

 

What about switching graphics, and new bios updates is there something new?
Can N71JA switch to integ. Intel GMA HD??

 

Not (yet) as far as i know...

 

How would you like an Core i5-430M running at 2835MHz (up to 3169MHz with max turbo boost?)

I'd like that, so I just did it:



Increased bclk to 166, anything higher will make it unstable. I'm happy that I have 1333MHz memory in my asus, since at 166 bclk the memory is running at 1333MHz.

 

That's very nice. Man, this laptop models are really awesome - a lot of space for cranking it up, if one wishes to!!!

You have beaten my i5 520 by quite a lot (my 3d mark06 CPU score is 2762)!

But your CPU temperatures seem a bit high to me (92°C).

Nice overclock though (also with the graphics card)!!!

I use 5730 at 750/950 and am quite happy (CPU max is around 77°C an GPU max 73°C - on very hot days)! My 3dMark06 scores are in the attachment...

Congrats again on achieving such high clocks!!!

Regards,

K

 

OC-Freak can you explain in some detail how you were able to do the cpu overclock with setfsb manually.

 

I will, just trying some different things first.

 

appreciate it.

 

************WARNING**************
*At your own risk/experienced people only.*

Ok, so here is how to overclock the X77JA/N71JA with SETFSB: SetFSB_HomePage

I'm using the freeware version as I do not have an serial. (Giving my credit card details to crappy paypal? LOL. Not gonna happen).

Step 1: Update or downgrade to bios 0204, as of now I have not found any way to overclock with newer bios versions.

step 2: Start setfsb, and select PLL diagnosis as the clock generator, then go to the diagnosis and push "Get FSB". Now it should look like this:



Change the value of field 0Eh (the one marked) to overclock

B5: 133 Bclk
B6: 134 Bclk
.....
C0: 141 Bclk
.....
D0: 153 Bclk
.....
E0: 164 Bclk
....
E3: 167 Bclk

You may of course use values inbetween these, these are just reference points - to give you the general idea.

Highest possible stable setting I found for my computer is E3: Bclk of 167 (166.8 to be exact).

Tip if anyone wants to try on their JQ model: Downgrade/upgrade to BIOS 0205. Go to bios and set overclocking to 0%, boot and start setfsb and get the same screenshot as I posted here. Save it and reboot and set overclocking to whatever in bios, boot, start SetFSB, and look at what value that changed, you now know what value to change for overclocking

 

I am wondering how I can apply this to my n61jq. Changing the OE value causes immediate black screen crash. Do you have any idea how it would work on the n61 with the i7 720qm?

 

Nope, no idea then. This method doesn't seem to work on every computer or even with every bios version.

 

Aye, I'm thinking about opening it and apply better cooling paste to see if that changes anything. With CPU overclocking the cooling system can't keep up during stresstest (prime + furmark) and the CPU will throttle, as shown on attached picture.

 

Hey OC-Freak do you know how to apply the settings on startup?

 

Another plus for this laptop model is (don't know if all asus models are generally built the same) that you can access the cpu and gpu easily, thus reapplying the thermal paste is relatively simple!

My previous toshiba laptop was awful - i had to disassemble the whole thing, before i reached the heatsink!

I'm planning to do this also in the future. I remember that thermal pastes that contained silver were pretty good, but recently i had heard that this is a big NO! Do you know anything about that?

regards

 

My favourite paste atm is Noctua NT-H1. It's as good(if not better) than alternatives from arctic silver etc

 

Hey guys!

i just got my X77JA! i found a retailer who had it in stock now in sweden so i acted fast!

it was 3000:- SEK cheaper than N71JA so it was not a hard choice
gonna clock it tomorrow if i got the time

I'm very pleased! it's one beautiful pice!

thanks to you all on this thread

 

Any news on getting second hard drive bay populated?

 

Hi!

I have two drives, but that came with the purchase. If you don't have the second connector, you cannot install the second hd. Do i have the same motherboard as the series with only one hd included? I don't really know. Maybe there is no connection on the motherboard for the second hd.

regards

 

he, i have question about cpu whinig. Anyone who poses a n71ja has a whining problem with laptop? OC-Freak how about you?

 

Hi,

i have the same problem - a high pitch noise is coming from the cpu, but only when running on batteries. I contacted the service in m country and they said that it can be resolved with an update. The problem is supposedly in the cpu state...

Check my question on another thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/489067-high-pitch-noise.html

 

Thanks, i will have tomorrow another n71ja. I hope that this one will not have a whining problem.

 

I have a problem with my DVD drive can not read or copy a DVD 4.3 GB, it takes for ever about 30 minutes and has a scratchy sound...

p.s. The Dvd drive its Toshiba(x24) on N71Ja Lap top...pls help

 

That is obviously not good!

- First, make sure that you push the dvd all the way to the bottom of the drive on all sides. This sound could mean that the dvd is not properly inserted.

- Try to clean the dvd, and clean the dvd drive lense with compressed air

- Assuming that you tried to insert another type od disc and it was working - disregard the above and use your warranty!

 

Has anyone tried disassembling n71ja in order to change the thermal paste.

I tried, but I stopped halfway. I thought it was easier to do this, but seems like as with my old toshiba, which was painfully difficult to disassemble - had to disassemble everything in order to get to the cpu.