C90S Review

How upgradeable is the C90 platform ?

Conroe 1066 FSB is capped at 2.93Ghz with the X6800.
The new bearlake are 1333 FSB.
Will intel release new 1066 FSB cpu's, and will Asus release a new bios to flash support?

The gpu is MXM-II which there are no guarantee's of a new gpu in the future.

At best you can buy the C2D 1.8Ghz to save money today since the 8600m is the bottleneck in games, and in the future buy a cheaper X6800 and hope a new MXM-II gpu module will be released.

It is kind of nice that Circuit City is going to have it and you can go look at it in a store. Velocity Micro also seems competitive and supposedly guarantee a ship back upgrade policy.

Part of me is screaming go C90 for potential upgradeability, but how upgradeable is it really?

 

There are confirmed new gpu's comming out, including IIRC the radeon 2600. I will be getting a blu-ray or HD-DVD drive this christmas also. Even in a year, this laptop will be extremely powerfull. Beside the battery, the only negative thing i have to say about it is the placement of the page up and down buttons

 

GPU will definitely get something more powerful, a good amount more powerful. I have faith in the 8800 down the road but hey thats just me...

 

I hope its the 9 series as well. We can only hope.

 

There WILL be more MXM-II cards,

The X6800 is discountinued by Intel, it is not produced anymore, as the E6700 (X6800= $1000, E6850=$329 and the 6850 is stronger, E6700=$350, E6750=$220) I even think they will stop making the E6600 soon, it's the same price as the E6750!. A 6600 will do the job for years, the X2 3800+ does not bottleneck a GF8800GTS and it was the most low-end Dual Core CPU 2 years ago...

The Geforce Go 6600GT was MXM II, the go 7600GT was MXM-II, the Radeon X1600 was MXM II so yeah there will be more (HD 2600XT, 9600M GT at least...)

 

Question for the C90 owners, is there a security slot?

I am going to be using it in a dorm, and have seen many notebook locks that use a standardized security slot, and I haven't seen anything saying whether or not the C90 has this.

 

Yes there is on the back next to the usb ports
It looks the same as the old Powerbook g4's

 

There's a security slot on the back right of the notebook. It works with all Kensington notebook locks (I'm currently using one now)

 

Hey I need some help. Can you guys give me your idle gpu temperatures? thanks in advance.

 

Looks like I'm getting the cicuit city c90s upgrading myself upgrading the hard drive and RAM should be no trouble is there anything I should know?
I was thinking of putting
Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS 250GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Notebook Hard Drive
and for RAM
Transcend 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Notebook Memory Model JM667QSJ-1G

 

Buy it directly from velocitymicro.com or just wait 2 weeks and get it a geared2play/gentech

If you buy it through circuit city, you'll pay for the new part + the old one.

And it might void velocity/circuitcity wwarranty

An d I'd stay with Corsair DDR2 667 for now on the C90

 

VelocityMicro is out of stock anyways. They said it would be 10-14 days until shipping. I assume that means business days.

 

Changing the memory or anything inside of it doesn't void the warranty. This is what I received from VelocityMicro.com:

Good news to hear. And by the way, I went through most of the checkout, and it said the estimate shipping date is August 18th, so I don't believe that doesn't mean it's out of stock. I better grab it soon, though -- don't want to be caught up in the delays.

 

sick review thanks !

 

it didnt crash with overcloacked...uhmmm..the driver 158.22 is downloaded directly from NVIDIA or from some other place??? if it were not to be from nvidia, would you give us a link??//regards

 

in reply to napalm i would say that it looks to be pretty upgradable with the ram and hdd obviously being no problem and the cpu looking good while i have also heard of new mxm-II cards coming out. So it looks good right now. The real question shoul be how upgradable is your old laptop? in which there werent things like th ACE door.

 

README.TXT:

These drivers are a combination of information from DNA forceware 158.22, Laptopvideo2go 162.50 drivers, and some manually modifications by myself. Tested with C90S with 8600M GT w/HDMI.

Email me at [email link removed for safety/security reasons] with any questions!



Fixes:

PERFORMANCE. These are the best performing drivers. I tested using 3DMark06, F.E.A.R., Oblivion, Far Cry, Battlefield 2142, and Quake 4. Not benchmarks but
actually game play with a keen eye.

HDMI OVERSCAN. These, when used with the provided HDTV overscan instructions, offer the proper displaying of the desktop on HDTV via HDMI.

OVERCLOCKING. For overclocking, you will have to flash the bios of your gpu. This can be accomplished by using nibitor to modify the bios already
on the card and nvflash 5.40 to flash the new clock speeds. Dont forget to change the shader clock as well as the core and mem. Also, dont
forget to backup the bios before you flash. TEST the speeds before you flash by using your stock nvidia driver (101.17) on the driver disk along
with ntune!


Problem:

DVD OR DVD FILE VIDEO TEARING. No matter what driver I use, modified .inf,modifying the .inf, dna drivers, ngo drivers, copying certain files from one version onto another, ANYTHING, I can not
get the video tearing to go away when using clone mode with HDMI in WMP. It is a problem that must be addressed at a video driver file level by Nvidia. Using these drivers there
along with k-lite mega codec pack 3.3.0,there is no tearing with Windows Media Player Classic and Media Center. If you want to use WMP with a dvd file with no tearing you will have
to swap the displays so that the HDTV is the primary display. I also tried every version from 1.35 to 3.3.0 of K-Lite codec pack. This process took me 4 weeks! Trust me, these are the best you will get!

Have fun!

Hybrid Forceware 162.50:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8W0L0T9W

NOW, before you go hollering about "oh no dont flash bios" and "it doesnt need to be flashed", you will HAVE to flash the bios if you want to use drivers newer than 158.22 AND have overscan correction using the included instructions. So if you dont want overclocking or overscan correction on the hdmi out but want newer drivers, then by all means DONT use these. And BTW, if you TEST the overclock for a few hours or overnight before you flash it then you will be safe. Dont bash me for trying to help as ive spent 4 weeks working on the best solution possible. Use it or dont.

Here are the results of my drivers and a clean install of xp. NO tweaks! NO fancy stuff! Just installing windows, all drivers, 3dmark06! CPU at 2.93 and gpu at 530 core 1200 shader 530 mem after looping 3dmark06 each test 15 times for stability test:

 

It looks like the GPU will be the only significant upgrade available for the C90.

The talk on the forum is that CPU will only be able to go as high as the options provided now. Apparently the chipset/motherboard will not support any newer technology that will come out in the future.

The memory is also limited by the chipset/motherboard and is only upgradeable to 3GB, but then most notebooks you buy today will only support up to 4GB. (Who knows if that one GB of RAM is significant enough to provide a huge difference in performance).

From what I've heard the GPU is as pure MxM as any that has come out in a while, so out of the current notebooks out there it has the most likely chance of being swappable, more so than the IFL90/NP2090,NP5790, Asus V1, etc...

 

OK. Please bear with me for I come to you with a head full of questions and I know not where to turn

First off, you guys are amazing! Thanks for the thorough review and everyone else with all this extensive info on the c90s. After reading this thread and the one about the c90s battery-life review I am still not certain whether to purchase this notebook or not. I have an oldish desktop on which I like to game (it's still manages most games I'm in to, though as time passes - less and less) but am going to college in September and I certainly don't have enough cash to upgrade my desktop to keep up with more performance needing games AND buy a notebook. So the C90s should be perfect for me, I think.

There is an if. The only C90s I could get where I live (Estonia) would be a presetup, pretuned, preinstalled Vista HP :::
--
[official specs as stated in http://www.asus.ee/test/details.php?id=87039 available products list]
Name ASUS C90S 15.4 WSXGA+ (1440x900)Splendid,Conroe E6600 2.4Ghz/4MB/1066FSB,GF 8600M GT 512MB,2GB DDR2-667,SATA 160GB 5400rpm, SM DL 8xDVD+/-RW,Gb-e/WLAN 802.11g, BT,Vista HP/Bag,Mouse/4xUSB2.0/1394/S-Video,HDMI/Card Reader/2.0M Cam/8cell/3.1kg/Eng
Product code 23AUB9C90S662G16VP
Vendor Code C90S662G16VP
--
I don't mind preinstalled windows because I'm not much of a power-user and am very new to Vista in general. However it would be very important to be able to tune down the laptop as much as possible for maximum battery-life. Is Vista HP a very bad choice with this in mind or is it possible to disable the flashy programs (like I said, I'm very new to Vista) that would just gobble down battery most of the time?

Another question is true performance of this thing. I don't care for high numbers of benchmark tests as long as I can game for a long time with high settings and no deterioration in performance. I'm actually really new to notebooks in general as well so will I suffer a noticeable performance minority when compared to desktops with similar setups? In the review on this thread there were numbers for tested games and Supreme Commander received 20 at high graphics. Is that 20fps? I know that SC is a very demanding game but isn't 20 a bit slow? And that review was made with a C90s with a more powerful setup than the one that I'm thinking of buying. Simply put: Is C90s going to surprise me gamingperformancewise in a bad way or a good way (i.e. will DiRT run smooth as silk)?

Finally what are the possibilities of linking a standard 5.1 surround pc-speaker system to this notebook? Do I have to get an external USB 5.1 soundcard or is there a cool gadget that could digitally render the audio output to 5.1? I'm planning to sell my desktop if I get this notebook, and link it up to a USB keyboard+mouse, monitor and 5.1 speakers so I'd seemingly still have a desktop

Thanks in advance.
I really hope someone can answer my questions =)

 

Vista is a bit more resource hungry but xp but yes you can do easy things to save battery life and mamixmize your performance. You can disable the aero interface which is not necessary and your desktop and system will just look like xp. You can also disable supefetch and many other tweaks. Basically you tweak vista alot to get the most out of your battery.

Gaming wise I play Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander, and Fear combat at asbolute max settings on 1280 x 1024 or actually I can play fear at 1680 x 1050 with lowering settings (mainly aa/af, because they are no longer needed as much). The framerates are highly playable and smooth and no supreme commander I get pretty good framerates avgs about 37-45 and thats with everything at max.

Lastly you will have to buy an external 5.1 soundcard or usb plugged in 5.1 solution to get 5.1 surround sound.

 

Thanks Forerunner =)

However what do you think of that specific setup? I heard that C90s should support 16~~x12~~ resolution but the setup that i'm offered says 1440x900. So what is the C90s's max res. or are C90s's available with different screens? And the setup states an 8 cell battery which is contraversy with asus.com and your guys statements.

 

C90 only has one screen available for now though you can persoanlly switch them if you want. It comes with a 1680 x 1050 as the highest resolution (native resolution). Its a gorgeous screen and is one of the best avai;able on the market for a 15.4 inch. It comes with a 6 cell battery.

Configure it from this site: 1toppc.com Their official name is gentech that is their site for their laptops. It is where I bought my c90 from and they are very trusted reseller.

 

That website allows shipping to only like 6 countries with which I'm not even on the same continent

And I say again. www.asus.com says that screens are available up to 1660x1050, not only WSXGA+. Also, official ASUS dealer in Estonia states in its website that the C90s will come with an 8 cell battery.

I'm scared that C90s is such a new model that it has many baby-flaws and the problem with ASUS where I live is that there is no official dealership (there is a certified dealership that sells ASUS but that's not an ASUS dealership) or warranty-maintenance company so if something were to break or be defective from the start then i'd have to send it back to the assembly or (best case scenario) the nearest maintenance facility which is in the next to the next country from me - 2000km.

I really like the idea of this power and the model seems really cool.. but I'm scared.. How many of you guys have had issues with your brand new C90s? Has anyone gotten a C90s, opened it up from its packaging and not have to worry about any issues with it.???

Thx

 

Do not disable Superfetch. Please do not spread this kind of information if you do not know what you are talking about. If you disable all the features that make Vista Vista, you might as well be telling everyone to buy XP. If that is your intent, go ahead, but do not tell people do disable performance enhancing features without some research done first.

 

What are you talking, plenty of people both on forums and I know personally have disabled superfetch. Disabling it will not cause any errors or malfunctions. I didn't say he should do it, I told him some people do it to increase battery. I personally don't because I don't need much battery life.
What does disabling vista have to do with promoting xp? I didn't mention xp once. People buy vista and then disable aero and thats one of the main features of vista. What research?

Heres a thread to see what else you can do and discuss power saving techniques:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=152460

 

Has anyone gotten a C90s, opened it up from its packaging and not have to worry about any issues with it.???

E: Please also read my previous posts for I'm in dire need of some definitive answers..

 

A good amount of people, obviously most people with problems make new threads and stuff, no1 makes new threads stating the C90 is great over and over.

 

I have not had any issues like Ram and Cpu incompatability. I did have a bad Video card though, but gentech swapped that out really fast and now everything works great

 

Yeah same, only it was simply my gpu overheating and they could not find the source of the problem so they are just shipping me a new c90. Can't wait till wednesday!

 

What was your GPU top temperature?

 

It would hit 88 somtimes and then never go down again. Then it would reach 80-85 in idle and would never ever go down until I played a game then it crashed and I had to restart the computer. Ken is sending me a new c90 and said that the max it reached was 70 degrees. He said they tested it by looping 3dmark06.

 

woow..mine (GPU) get as hot as 80-85 sometimes when i m playing games. CPU steady on 65-70 while gaming and on normal use 57-60 at 2.66 Ghz

 

Yeah but were your fans on? It would be weird like when playing fear combat my gpu would reach 80-88 sometimes and my cpu would still be like 55 degrees to 58 and I noticed the fan does not kick in till the cpu goes to like 65 about. So like after I was done gaming and went to browse the net my gpu would still be 87 degrees like for an hour after. I am still not sure if it was exactly the gpu overheating but I can reach no other conclusion because the laptop worked for the first 2 weeks fine. Also the fans were making some funky noises a bit.

 

REALLY ?????? those are the normal temps for the GPU ? then im in deep trouble. mine is averaging 78-85deg idle... and reaches 90's while under load.. and im on a 6320 processor.... ( supposedly to make it less hot. ) should i be worried ? However, i've never experienced BSOD's... but havent also tried gaming for long hours. bummer.

 

Well like I said other people have said their gpus have reached over 90 degrees. Maybe my gpu or something else was just defective. Don't panic if its not crashing or anything then you are fine. I think I am the only one was had this problem, so you are fine.

 

interesting
90 degrees seems very hot.. Mine seems to idle at around 70-75 and doesnt mind hitting 87 88 under load.

i tried o'c with asus turbo gear to power saving mode and got freeze up. However gaming mode works, but have not tried
I have also heard that temps should remain the same in all modes.

We need fan ControL

Running Kingstonmax 1x2GB 667(reading 533). This is probably the reason i cant run my pc on battery, might have to go buy a 1Gb stick!!!




Purchased 2 weeks ago from excalibur
very fast. 1 week , it was sent to the other side of the world


C90s
Conroe e6600 (2,4 GHz)
2GB K/M DDR2 RAM
120GB HDD 7,200 RPM
Nvidia 8600gt 512 MB DDR2
a,b,g,n + Bluetooth

 

Could you give me the link to excalibur? I live in a place where most internet stores don't ship to at all. I should check it out =)

 

Yep sure
http://www.excaliberpc.com/parts-mode---2.html sorry mis-spelled before

adding to my prev. post,
does anyone know about the black strip of plastic on the mxm2 on top of the fixed heat disperser
seems to be protection. not sure if it is supposed to stay on or not.

 

Also would like to know if this plastic strip is supposed to stay on or not.

 

I have not had any issues with the C90 so far. I did have some Vista compatibility wonkiness, but that has since been smoothed out.

 

Hmm.. I thought that the C90s was designed for Vista?

Which brings me to yet another question: Are all the special features (such as Turbo Gear) compatible with XP as much as Vista? If I got a C90s with Vista HP, formatted it and installed a fresh XP Pro SP2, would I be in for some serious crap with the drivers, setup etc. ?

Edit: While in Rome - Does the C90s draw its cold air from beneath the laptop and release it from the sides/back(Turbo Gear) as do most laptops? I.e. could I purchase a rack for the C90s with a bunch of vents blowing cold air up and would it provide excess cooling rather than mess up the air ventilation signature of the C90s?

 

Vista home premium absolutely no problems whatsoever. Yeah there are plenty of good notebook coolers the c90 is compatible with.

 

So does anyone knows what TPM drivers are for?? they are on the asus website.

 

Trusted Platform Module is used for Bitlocker

 

GPU 70 oC by looping 3dmarks seems really cold. Usually 3dmarks loads your gpu more than a game. I didnt try 3dmark checking what my gpu temperature reaches but imagine if on normal gaming I get 80-85 oC, I wonder how much would go up on 3dmarks06. The only good thing that as soon I stop gaming, mine goes down in few seconds to 68 oC-70 oC so I guess my fans are working fine. This was done under standard mode and air conditioning room (not too cold though, heat in SOuthamerica is pretty highthese days ) Now my CPU does reach close to 70 oC on gaming

 

mine gets up to 90c while gaming havent had a bosd about it yet but last night suddenly fps went down a lot to he point i couldnt played anymore... i closed the game with no actual crash.

getting worried again, ill download 3dmark and see how it goes.

 

During gaming it caps at around 102 tops normally around 96-100 HL2 max settings 1680x1050 and 88-90 idle, note the HL2 is no forced V-sync it doesn't bother me only in CS:S

EDIT: 163.17 Nvidia from LV2GO

EDIT2: When its not in use and I am in class its locked via cable on a wooden desk in A/C room in hibernate.

 

Im having an issue with hibernate (or sleep not sure) whenever it goes to sleep/hibernate mode i cant get the screen to turn back on (the laptop itself does since i can use the fp and hear the ok sound) i reverted back to stock drivers since new ones have the same issue.

anybody has any idea why is this happening?

 

turn off auto turn off screen, haven't had it do the screen thing since that

 

To answer one of Moskwiz' questions: Yes, I opened the box pulled out the notebook, started 'er up and not had a problem that I couldn't solve myself. No hd probs, no video card issues, no memory problems, no overheating (knocking on wood).

I have been playing games like World of Warcraft, Fable, Quake 4, Cellfactor, etc with no problem.

The only issues I can think of with this notebook are driver support and the lack of media buttons.

Another Moskwiz question: Built for Vista? My notebook is running XP SP2 and all the functions on the notebook work, like turbogear, the crappy wireless selector, cam, bluetooth, etc. The only problems I have had in that area are poor drivers. The original card reader driver gives my comp a case of teh BSODs. The Bluetooth driver didnt work right so I had to search for one that would.

But either Windows will work fine on this, and Ubuntu or other *nix operating systems should work too with the same amount of hunting and installing that needs to be done with Windows.