F8SV: Games, photos and benchmark

thanks!... I got myself F3SV B3 last October, wanted to get F8SV but the shipping delays made it impossible...sighh...

 

what shipping delays? are you talking about the A1 or the B1?

 

well..both... at first A1 was suposed to be on october, then moved to mid november. I couldn't wait that long so i decided to go for the f3sv

 

hmmm some sites are listing that the 8600GT actually has GDDR3 memory doubt its true though. Seeing how the m15x is actually 5" thick I'll probably get F8sv.

 

does GenTech ship to Canada for free too?

 

F8SV-A1 3DMark06 benchmark on XP Pro:
T7500
GeForce 8600M GT 256MB @475/400
Driver Version: 169.09 no overclock
2GB DDR2 667



There is a problem I want to mention, it can't run 3GB RAM on XP just like all other Asus notebooks (except F3SA, fixed with BIOS 204), the BIOS has memory allocation issue with Windows XP when 3GB RAM is installed, everything works fine except the video card will not be detect, therefore, the video card driver can not be install, 2GB works fine.

 

Wow....

I must admit, I got a little weak in the knees when I saw that score. It's only about 200 points off a GDDR3 at that res. I'm really starting to think there's something going on with this GPU.

Would you mind reporting what the clock speeds are?

 

Clock speed is 475/400, the only thing I am not happy about is the BIOS issue with 3GB RAM with XP, the video adapter will disappear, same problem with G1S, G2S and other Ensemble notebooks with XP using 3GB RAM, the fixed it on F3SA but nothing on other models.

 

I'm very impressed with these scores. I know it's probably not going to happen, but sometime in the near future, if you get a chance, would you consider plugging in an external monitor to this notebook, just so we can see a score at 1280x1024?

 

Sure I can do the test with external monitor.

 

Video RAM speed is 400MHz, so it's DDR2 for sure.

 

My only thought is that that's a really, really, really nice overclock, especially with those low temps. I'm starting to wonder if it doesn't have 400mhz GDDR3 mem like the F3sv.

 

Yes the 8600M GT GPU temperature is one of the lowest I've even seen on Asus notebooks, I am not sure if it's a new revision or just because it has better cooling system.

 

Hey guys, i m new at this forum, and i m in the hunt for a new laptop.
It took me a while , but i went through the whole 12 pgs of your guys discussion in 1 take, just to be sure I am not re asking the same question.
That being said, I am really considering getting F8SV A1, specially after the 4500 OC score Ken posted.
Now I have few questions:
Someone arround pg 8 or 9 brought up the issues of F8SV comapred F8SA-X2.
To me they both looks the same with the exeption of the video and a clossy finish. However F8SA is cheapper. Am i missing anything here? Or is there already an review somewhere else done on F8SA-X2?

Also you guys said that there are no tv tuner module made for F8SV, so that connection that i see on the rear left side of the case is just a dummy?

And anybody know why F8SV doesn't have a eSATA?

And the last thing i like to know is, is it hard to OC F8SV? Both CPU and GPU? (althogh i have an idea what OC does, i have no experience in practice). Would i need any extra upgrades? like New thermal or heat sink? Does it shorten the life of the chips?

And lastly, between hd 2600 and 8600GT which one will have the most support and easier to work with?

Thanks

 

Both F8SV-A1 and F8SAX2 are pretty much the same except the video card and F8SAX2 does not have turbo memory.

I tested HD2600 on F3SA you can read it here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=176208

Both F8SV and F8SA does not have eSATA port.

 

F8SA-A1 benchmark at 1280X1024 on external monitor

Test 1:
T7500
3GB DDR2 667
Driver: 169.04 @475/400 no overclock
Score: 3155



Test 2:
T7500
3GB DDR2 667
Driver: 169.04 @580/581 overclocked
Score: 4121

 

The lack of eSATA bothered me as well. However, there are more than a few eSATA express cards out there you can use. Most with two eSATA connections on them.

 

there's only one express card slot rite?

 

That's mean.


My 8600M GT max clocks are 500 on the core and 527 on the memory. Higher thn that is system lock-up.

 

Is the F8SV-A1 discontinued? Or is Geared2play wrong?

 

lol, I think someone made a mistake...unless they know something we dont!

 

This is great stuff, thanks! Now...do you know what the max res external WIDESCREEN monitor it will drive? i.e. 1680x1050?

 

GenTech gonna have some nice deals coming soon?
i missed the last one

 

It will drive up to 2048x1536.

 

SWEET! Thanks father of the gods

 

But the score is about the same right?

One express card just like all other Asus notebooks.

 

The reason i wanted the eSATA was to instal xp on an external hd, and boot from the eSATA.
Which reminds me, I have been out of the tech loop for a while, so please accept my appologies if this sounds like a dumb question :
does the bios on the laptops( specially asus laptops) allow a eSATA or usb boot?

 

Usually native eSata connections are bootable, but expresscard one's are not. I do not know if Asus laptops have a USB boot option, but it doesn't sound like it.

 

ok, thanks for the info.
Still cant make up my mind on what to get.

 

u guys think that a notebook cooler is necessary?

 

If you tend to play games for long periods of time while overclocked, then a notebook cooler is usually a good idea. If not, then it's not necessary.

 

hmm, okay, thanks a lot!

 

Laptop Cooler is necessary if you want to increase your hard drive reliability/longevity

 

In case some of you complain F8SV doesn't comes with Built-in TV Tuner, try build your own wireless HD TV tuner:
Hardware requirement:

-Belkin Network USB Hub
-Any notebook with Wifi
-Any USB Hub with AC Power











Enjoy the wireless TV Tuner.

 

HAHA looks good
wheres the tv signal comming from?
i dont see a tuner card.

 

Its in the second pic, attached to the USB Hub. Any reason you didn't attached it directly to the belkin?

 

hows this any different than getting regular usb tv tunner and stick straight in to the laptop?

 

The signal coming from your wireless router.

Because it doesn't work when connect direct to Belkin hub, it does not supply enough power, it only works when connect another USB hub with external power to the Belkin Hub.
You can read Greg's review about the Belkin Network USB Hub:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171125

So you don't have to connect the TV Tuner to the laptop's USB port with antenna hanging around.

 

hmm, okay, thanks a lot guys

 

Just an fyi.... The GPU in this notebook(or at least mine) is the G84-300-A2 using Hynix DDR2 @ 400Mhz memory. This was all taken off the chips and xref'd with the manf data sheets.

HYNIX
HY5PS561621B
FP-25 729A

 

speaking off gpu's, after a decent overclock (the suggested one), i get the ~4500 score, and i also noticed that my gpu idealed around 80-84c while gaming. Without an oc, i get around 76-79 while gaming. Are these safe temps? i know gpus typically run hotter than cpus, but these temps still scare me

 

Gob have you installed XP yet? or going to? I put in another drive, installed XP just fine but fails to recognize GPU with 3Gb of RAM, no matter what order installed. I know the F9 had similar issues until a Bios update came out. Guess we'll wait Otherwise with 169.09 drivers I got 3802 in 3dmark06(again in XP).

 

3GB under XP is not gonna work, not until Asus willing to fix it, right now the only Ensemble model works is F3SA with BIOS 204.

 

i havent installed xp yet. i really want to but not untill i can do a proper dual boot

honestly, im thinking of starting a third partion, making it the primary, and booting up without an os so i can install xp (from there, just make vista partition the primary to boot when in xp, or make xp primary to boot when in vista), but last time i did that i got a missing boot manager issue in vista.

i had a clean vista boot disc then (not recovery), so all i did is pop it in and it installed a boot manager for me..... this time around, i dont have a vista boot disk, its a huge risk for me to start the whole computer over now, i'll wait until im done with this semester of college b4 i do some heavy experimentation

 

Hey Ken, will GenTech have an deals with the F8 soon?
Such as free upgrade to 3GB, there was a while back, will the deal be back on soon?

 

um, i have another question, i've been reading some stuff and it says that 5400 and 7200 are pretty much the same
is it worth it to upgrade to 7200 in this case? the f8?

 

Hey GenTech, I'm almost pulling the trigger on the F8Sv-B1... how tight is the mid-December ETA? And I'd like to know if it's worth upgrading to a 7200rpm drive too...

 

Id say no, but it depends

7200rpms eats more battery, theres no heavy benefit in having it out side of a slightly faster start up and a few programs loading up faster here and there

 

what about different brands of HDs?
Been looking for some reviews on laptop hd in this forum, everything i found was a guide dated 2 years ago.

So was wondering if theres any liability and performance reviews done on different brands, like seagate or wester digital?

 

You might find this useful:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage25.html