C90S Review

Just ran 3dmark06 in xp with the 101.19 drivers from laptopvideo2go (no need for modded .inf file), fresh install once again....3727 at 500/500 gpu...for some reason i got small little descrepencies in text and some small things in 3dmark fi i took it ANY higher on the gpu...which is odd cause I was able to take it to 510/500 before...

 

I am running 550/500 idling, I always forget to tune it back because the heat never rises.

 

i got the same setup as yours just i only got 2gb =/

 

So your having issueswith 704 bios? So stick with the 502? Mine should ship today and arrive thursday. I hear Company of Heroes calling me to lead Able and Fox company to WAR!! Got so much stuff to do before the comp is ready for use.

 

No issues with the 704, just seems like the windows boot takes long, again maybe I am imagining things. I am having problems getting the new video drivers from laptopvideo2go tho..... the site has been down all night and all day.

I am done with the benchmarks and testing for my review but before I put it all together I want to see if the new drives change things, as is right now all my test show xp has better performance than vista.

 

Don't want to sound like a noob or anything...but with the MXM II module on the C90s motherboard, can you potentially buy an 8600m with the 700MHz RAM and put it in yourself or is it incompatible? I'm just wondering if the RAM selection for the GPU was just to cut out some heat, and not just because of MXM II.

 

Ok, so in lew of all this performance testing/OCing, would you recommend the C90? Aside from the touchpad,screen/whatever else issues which aren't deal breakers for me, I'm concerned with performance. The other laptop I'm looking at the Sager 2090/Compal IFL90...How would the performance of the C90 compare to this other laptop?

 

The sager has the same gpu but the c90 has the more powerful cpu. Also the c90 is mxm I do not think the sager is so you can't upgrade that. The c90 will definitely get some form of upgrade.

Also vicious do you see any obvious improvements with the new bios?

 

Yeah, I know all the specs between the two, what I'm wondering about is actual performance. I want to know if the C90 is actually performing better because of the Conroe proc, or if there really isn't a difference. Just currious on my part

 

well think of it this way if you buy the C90 now in a year or so your most likely be able to buy a new GPU with ddr3 memory which will make the C90 overtake the sager/compal ...

 

the asus and compal will be about equal when talking about games except the c90 may be able to overclock farther the conroe means it does everything else faster

 

Overall people who pre-ordered how satisfied are you at this point. With all these scores being posted do you think it was worth pre-ordering I kinda am questioning my re-seller considering I ordered June 26th and am getting it most likely end of July beginning of august. I am thinking that is wasn't worth pre- ordering.

 

the sager and the compal are the same system, I hope they are about the same =P

EDIT: Also, I am very happy with my system.

 

The resellers probably shouldn't have listed the computer as early as they did. I don't know how common delays like this are, but I certainly had no idea when I ordered on May 15th (and was told it would be in the first week of june at the latest) that I would be waiting over two months. That siad I assume that they were almost as annoyed as we were with the delays.

I'm still happy with my decision at this point (I don't have the computer yet, so fingers crossed regarding some of the problems). I was very confident that this was the best computer for me two months ago, but now that there are a number of other models out, I'm somewhat less certain. Particularly the Dell 1520 looks like it has a lot of bang for the buck. Hopefully upgradability, the faster CPU, and ASUS quality will make up for the slightly higher price.

 

Why have a couple of websites I have checked said that the MXM II and III only supports up to 256mb of memory? They are older web sites (2004, 2006). Just wondering... Trying to pass time until mine comes!

http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=339056&rl=1
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/NVIDIAs%5FMXM%5FGraphics%5FModule/

Eddie and Ken have been quiet today so maybe there working overtime to fill orders. Keep it up!

 

I thought 3dMark06 was more CPU-intensive? Then why is the C90S getting gimped scores with a Conroe processor, and the Santa Rosa-driven laptops such as the IFL90 doing the same if not slightly better?

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the same could be said about the IFL90, especially if the MXMII tends to not be as popular as once hoped.

 

Thats pcmark your thinking about (were the C90 gets well over 6000)
3dmark is moreabout the GPU (btw if you use lower screen res you get over 4500)

 

Im not really sure what you mean... what I meant was that if a GPU comes out with DDR3 memory then you could upgrade the c90 and it will have better marks in both PCmark and 3Dmark06 since it will have both a faster processor and a faster gpu.

As far as I Know you can't upgrade the GPU in the Sager/Compal

 

I think they meant that the only cards in MXM-II at the time had 256 MB or less.

 

Cool. I see that now.

 

has anyone tested the 8500 gt 256? Isn't it gddr3?

 

It is, but it also has a smaller bus width, and fewer pipelines, it is probably about 10-20 percent less powerful than even the stock clocked DDR2 8600M GT.

 

It would still be nice to test it tho.

 

True, but to find someone who opted for the less powerful graphics card, especially now that we know that the one it has is less powerful than we expected...

 

when will it be available with the ati card?

 

It isn't when it will be available with the ATi card, so much as when the ATi card will be available period, so that we can buy it.

 

when will it be?

 

haha, I wish I knew the answer!

 

... i cant decide what to buy... clevo 570RU or asus c90...

 

from what i see clevo 570RU i think its just better in gaming wise its not portable like the C90s cause its a 17" and its its more expensive and not upgradable and it cost more also so the C90S is the better choice in my opinion

 

Basically, it is a classic case of 15.4" vs 17"

Portability or Power?
Performance/Dollar ratio?

It is really those questions you have to answer.

 

I received my C90S on Monday fully assembled, Thanks Ken. I installed Vista Ultimate (free from work) and I must say the performance is incredible. I used the latest drivers for every component. Response time is amazing. Page flipping or whatever its called is silky smooth. Game play with Farcry was very good. Overall I am extremely pleased. I went wth the 158.45 drivers for the 8600 GT, no lockups or reboots. The left palm rest does get very warm. Vista definately works incredibly on this machine. Thanks for doing a lot of the driver legwork guys! ][V][IKE

 

READ THIS PLEASE:

I was able to test the Asus FAQ listed Nanya memory today at work and it STILL locked up in overclock mode just like every other time I tried:

http://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=untitledbj1.jpg

http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

 

shoot, I bought mine with corsair ram memory I never had problem with that brand on my previous laptops. Plus ASUS is not specific which brand is compatible after 1GB where doesnt show any compatibility with any brand at 2 GB

 

When I started talking about my overheating problems some people said it was because I didnt have the Asus recommended ram. Also, Alex's c90 works fine and he uses the one of the Nanya brand models Asus recommends. SO, I tested the same Nanya model at work today and it DID NOT solve my problems. The only thing that has stopped it from locking up (out of many many test and swapped parts) in overclock mode is putting a house fan on everything. Everything ran smooth that way. Which leads me to believe 100% that its not memory compatibility problems its something in the notebook overheating....maybe not a major part like ram, gpu, cpu, hdd, but SOMETHING.

 

Do you have A/C Swoley?

 

Thank you for your reply. I will see what happen and I hope I wont have any trouble

aAbout the heat sink at the top of cpu is aluminum or copper?? could anyone tell me please...

 

might be the mobo, sense it looks like you've exhausted every other possibility.

 

yes, fortunately the vent is located just over the table I was testing on at just the right angle so that it adds to the air my house fan was blowing on everything. i also tested without the a/c AND with VERY low air. Even with VERY low air it still worked fine. Therefore its overheating.

 

some type of aluminum stuff with a copper core like some desktop heatsinks.

 

Overheating can be due to having seated any of the parts wrong. If there was even a small short it can screw up the mobo sometimes.

 

yeah, i tried to rule that out to by reinstalling, redoing the thermal grease (tried stock first, then artic silver 5, then stuff from thermalright ultra-120 desktop heatsink), and also paying attention to small details when installing....even the screw in cross pattern for the gpu/cpu.

 

Im telling you I went absolutely crazing testing things...as you can find on all the threads. I am sending it back tommorrow though

 

uhmm, if the cooler bottom plate is not copper, this wont work "Coollaboratory Liquid Pro" It will screew the cpu I going to have to go with the Artic 5...

 

dont mess with that liquid pro stuff, its not worth it.

I use AS5 right now but I ordered those metal pads from coollaboratory just too see if i can get lower temps. they dont have the same evil side effects as the liquid metal.

 

it is pretty especific, if the botton is Aluminum DONT USE IT. Tht is why Im asking if it is copper...the liquid metal is pretty good though and no toxic at all and easy to use m8

 

its copper

 

I FORGOT YOU ORDERED THOSE. Between that proven working ram your getting from Ken and those cooling plates you have a great setup for some good further testing! I look forward to it very eagerly!

 

Please god dont let me get a C90 with issues (really sorry for you guys Swoley and vicious) if i do im going to pay trough the roof to have it returned

 

To everyone,

You all have been VERY helpful through all this and informative and I really appreciate it. This has been THE best forum experience ive ever had and yall are very responsive. Looking back, this experience would have been a lot different if it wasnt for this forum and people like you all. Even though I have a defective laptop, the experience has been better and the conversation here has really motivated me to troubleshoot like h*ll! thanks