G51 Owners' Lounge

Well the heating problem of the GTX260m doesn't have to be hardware related. The BIO's might not even have the fan GPU on which sometimes happens to be overlooked, my toshiba had that problem for 5 years, although Toshiba sucks. In Nvidia system tools I am not able to turn up the fan or even view the fan % of the GPU ?

 

Okay, just picked up this laptop on Monday from Best Buy (I wanted the G71, but I'm put off by the heat issue... maybe if the BIOS update comes out on time and actually solves the issue I might swap the laptop using BB's 15-day policy).

Reading some people have an issue with the heat, wanted to say while it runs kind of high, I haven't noticed too much of an issue. Of course, proof is in the pictures.


Pic shows SetFSB with the bus setting at default (I've actually been running OC, but for comparison I defaulted the speed). Notice the custom full-screen to fit the G51VX's LCD and idle temp.


Almost 11 minutes in Furmark Stress Test, temp is at 86C. Not the 105C reported by others. I had actually run this for 20 minutes before, but I forgot to set Furmark to admin privileges so I lost the shot

After running, temp dropped right back down.

I should note that I always use my Targus PA248U cooler with this computer, but that doesn't really explain the 19C gap between temps (especially with my test run for double the 105C)

 

awesome!if i picked this laptop up (will saturday likely) and want to run furmark, hwmoniter, or whatever else i should use to check temps and stats, where can i find them? just a link or a hint would be great. Are they all free to download somewhere?

i think if its a high temp-one i mightj ust return it and say the GPU is overheating and i'm unhappy with it, ask for a new one until i get one that s not overheating.

how much recommended is a cooler for when im gaming? avg. price ?

 

It looks like it definitely does. Looking at your ambient temps, they are way below what I am seeing and what seems to be the norm across the two threads (in the 50s). I have not run a big stress on my machine, but after 3DMark06 my CPU is in the 80s.

 

I guess a cooler is a must for this laptop then. I don't really mind, as it gets that burning hot bottom off my lap (not this one specifically, have had others that get real hot).

For giggles, I ran FurMark again; this time with the FSB overclocked so the processor clocks in at 2.25 Ghz. (In advance, sorry but I somehow didn't get a shot out of FurMark... I know I jammed the F9 key and it was in admin mode... argh).


Shows my idle ambient and FSB. I guess the undersized cooler is really working.


After a 30 minute stress test. FurMark reported my GPU at 86C max, so the temp dropped fast after the test.

I guess if one doesn't mind having to use a cooler, this is a great little gaming book. Like I said before, however, if Asus successfully solves the G71's downclock issue, I'm going to trade my G51 right in. One of the good things about buying at BB, their generous computer return policy.

My Targus PA248U cost me about $28 and I picked it up at time of purchase (my wife took my older Belkin to use with her Acer Aspire One machine). The BB site has one here, but it doesn't look anything like mine. Mine has sides the curve in and the power cord/usb connector is detachable (it's also very short). It looks like Asus assumed coolers would be used, however, as there is a USB port located conveniently on the back of the machine... right next to power.

 

Wow, those are much better temps. I'll try to run the same test tonight without the cooler for comparison. I also found yesterday that overclocking to 2.25GHz had effectively no impact of my temps but a measureable impact on performance. I can't notice any change in the already terrible battery life either.

On the topic of coolers, does anyone know of any decent ones that feature an area to use a mouse as well?

 

What did you use to overclock? System tools didnt work for me from Nvidia and I couldn't figure out setFSB for the life of me.

 

I purchased this laptop on June 26. On CPUID, it reads alot hotter than all of yours run, and I'm using a cooler. Should I make an exchange at BB? Core 0 never ever goes below 60. Looking for some advice on this, thanks.

 

I used SetFSB, and if you look at my second set of screenshots you can see the profile to bump the laptop to 2.25Ghz. Here's a step by step...

1. Select ICS9LPR604AGLF from the "Clock Generator" drop down.
2. Click "Get FSB"
3. Set the slider to 485 (it can be dragged, then use the little arrows to fine tune it)
4. Click "Set FSB"

You can play around to get different clock speeds (not 100% what the multiplier is, google could probably tell you...), as sunnyc90 says we should be able to clock as high as 2.5Ghz on these bad boys.

@Stairway: Call Asus support or just bring it in to BB. No reason it should be that high idling. Looks like you have a heatsink issue.

 

Ok, ran the test this evening without a cooler and without overclocking. My question for you CoderJ is if the idle was immediately after start of after the machine had been doing basic tasks for a while. My machine sits in the high 40s during regular web surfing and on battery saver mode. The GPU is idling in the high 50s.

The issue with Furmark shows up pretty fast. My GPU peaks stable at 90 during the test. However, Furtest does not use the CPU at all, so it never broke 51. Seeing as how the copper heat pipe is pretty much shared between the CPU and GPU, I would say running a game that also exercises the CPU (like Crysis) would definitely heat up the CPU be the difference that causes the GPU to break 100C.

One thing to note, the fan really only perks up at peak moments, which shows the machine is designed to run this hot. When I am on battery saving mode, the fan is barely on and the temps are as I posted. The fan does not kick up to full blast until the GPU breaks 85C. I am also surprised the cooler make much of a difference as the bottom of the laptop is actually not hot at all when the temps start to peak (compared to recent metal bottom machines I have used like the Macbook Pro and HP tx2). The left vent is like a space heater. There must be some pretty clear channels in the vents on the bottom of the machine that takes advantage of the airflow from those fans.

Anyway, the chips in the sucker get crazy hot. I'm OK with the temps as they don't actually make the laptop uncomfortable, but I question how this will effect their lifespan.

 

Temps +100 will definately decrese the life of the machine.

 

Both tests for mine were run after idling for about 5 minutes after some light task work (firefox, steam, etc).

Another thing to note is the room I set up in at work is always kept at 17.5C to 18C, and my house is usually around 18C.

I'll write more later... very sever thunderstorm and I'm not 100% if BB will exchange this sucker if it smokes...

 

My temps were taken after about 1.5-2 hours of Steam/Firefox/iTunes and the ambient temp in my house is about 20C, so it looks like the cooler is probably only accounting for a few degrees then.

Has any contacted Asus or even Best Buy support to ask about the heat issues? While I am happy with the machine, the wear from the heat seems like it could be a real problem. I've seen a couple people mention they are returning theirs due to heat (and even more from the G71 owners), so are you guys just eating the 15% ($150-$200) restocking fee?

 

You won't be charged a restocking fee if you can prove that your unit is actually defective. Also I remember that Sunny said that he contacted Asus and they said that temps in the 90ºC's are normal for the G51.

 

It is for this reason I hope someone slaps some AS5 on the CPU and GPU and does some comparison benches pushing the GPU to the max.

 

Quick question: Would it be possible to connect the OLED from the G50 to the G51? Would it work?

 

I was told if you clear why you're returning the laptop before you bring it in, the restock will be waived. I was going to return my G51 for the G71 if Asus could fix the 82C bug before my 15 days were up (I changed my mind, as 17" is too big for the bag I like to use, and my old lady would go batty from the blue laser lights on it), and was told that was fine.

As for the heat burning up the laptop quicker, well, that's what the extended warranty is for. For the price, I won't be sad if it burns up after the extended ends... and if it does before then I'm covered . As long as I don't go and do something stupid, that is.

 

Yeah, I definitely don't want the G71 because I think it manages to be even uglier than the G51 and seemed kind of chinsy. That and the keyboard on the G51 is fantastic, but the G71 has old plastic slabs. I was more considering taking it back and waiting for the G60. I found a place that is preselling the G51 with a quadcore (says it ships in two weeks), but the price is much higher than the BestBuy G51, so I would rather just swap the proc out myself.

 

guys...remember..

1) Like I always said use American Express to buy this laptop, it will add 1 year to your warranty FREE of charge by AE

2) GTX M 260 with 112 stream processor is about identical to the desktop version of 9800GT video card only the 260m is 1 GB vs commonly sold 512mb of 9800GT. So the temperature is really not bad at all thinking about a 9800GT shrink down, double the ram, and shoved in a small chasis.

3) Just ordered mine, will go pick up later Out of 6 stores around me, only 1 has this laptop in stock in as few as 4 days.... crazy !

 

Ah yes, the 9800GT which is simply a rebadged 8800GT

If you dont get my point, ill be happy to explain it.

 

I'm not sure that is very advisable, but best of luck.

 

Correct me if i'm wrong but doesnt the G71 come with a 5400 rpm HDD instead of the 7200rpm featured with the G51?

 

Never in the history of ASUS. If its a best buy spec its the usual typo lol.

 

haha fair enough. Looks like the G71 has just increased in appeal.

 

Since they just got their bios fix for the video card voltage issue things are looking up, they use a different cooling design as well thought it doesnt look as nice as the G70S setup did.

Outside of the G51's possible hot gpu's which shouldnt be a long term/ future problem but will still be a little toasty if correct or yours is fixed. Its really a matter do you want a 15.6 inch or a 17inch.

 

Well in retrospect i used to own a Asus G50Vt-X1 and had some massive heating issues (probably was a lemon) but has set me on edge when i hear about cooling issues. And for some reason I just can't justify spending another 250 dollars on 2 years of warranty. I'll keep my eyes open on future related issues and make my decision from there

 

Dont get the best buy warranty if anything spend the extra money that the reseller versions costs when it comes out which comes with a better warranty, screen/screen res, processor etc. Worth more than the investment in a best buy warranty.

 

Forgive me for being naive with the situation, but can you explain what you mean by resellers versions?

 

Oh ASUS strips down the specs of their laptops and has best buy sell them with a 1 year warranty for cheap. Reseller warranties are 2 Year International standard warranty, with 1 Year Accidental warranty and 30 days bright dot (pixel defect on the screen) warranty.

The reseller version of the G51VX, the A1 has a Q9000 2Ghz Quad Core a Full HD 1080P screen and bluetooth, not sure if i missed anything but it also sells for approximatly 1600. Not sure on the new one but the last model the G50VT-B1 came with a free backpack and mouse.

GenTechPC.com is one place to go, there are others but I uh get shot for mentioning them.... yeah. Their tech support is on here as well GenTechPC is the user name and is very friendly.

 

Excellent, thanks for the advice!

 

Hello forum...Long time lurker first time posting here.


Just got my g51 on craigslist for $700. Its pretty mint only thing is I think the guy I bought it from swapped the hd with an older one. I do have the receipt and I am still within the 30 days return period. But my question is, will I be charged with the restocking fee? Will I even be able to exchange this for a new one? If it matters he bought with a credit card.

 

Did he pay with a credit card? If so, no return. There is a likely a clear reason why he sold the thing to you for 30% less than he paid while it was still within its return period...

 

Yes he did pay with a credit card. Im not really looking to return it, just looking to get an exchange for a new one if possible. Its actually pretty mint in & out. My only gripe is im pretty sure he swapped the hd with an older one which might die a lot sooner than a new one. I ran hdd health on it and it says the life is at 68%. I have a 1 year old lenovo and its hdd health is only at 98%. He seemed pretty legit as he was selling all his machines at discounted prices because he is moving out of state. Still though if its just the hd I think its still a pretty good deal for this laptop thats not even a month old.

Edit: Im loving this thing

 

Chances are they are going to want to see the card or ID. Replacing the drive sure is an odd choice as it is really not that valuable. Once again, I would say this is an odd situation as he could have just returned it himself to BestBuy and gotten $850 + whatever sales tax he paid back on his card for it. The best case is that he is broke and needed a cash advance.

Still, you win in this situation. Even with a bunk hard drive, $700 for a G51 that is still well within warranty is a steal. As along as all the labels on the back are still in place...

 

Thanks for your help Lifespan. I guess I can overlook the deal with the hard drive. Theyre so cheap nowadays anyway. Just going to backup and pickup a bigger drive this weekend to be on the safe side. And yes the lables are still intact.

 

I love this machine. It's notably slower on startup than my G50vt-X6, but it plays Crysis much better.

Does get a bit hot, but everyone knows that, and I use a cooler anyway.

 

Would anyone happen to have another realtek hd audio driver? The built in speakers don't produce any sound and the only way I can hear sound is when I plug in headphones. I have everything set for the speakers and not the digital/hdmi out.

 

Try http://www.realtek.com/downloads/

or

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Generic-Audio-Drivers-&-Media-Codecs_c30.html

 

Thanks for the links abula. +Rep

 

Thanks for the owners' lounge! It's been added to the Info Booth and to the Reviews & Owners' Lounges Index.

 

Asus G51 XP SP3 32bit Downgrade

G51 Xp downgrade/w drivers

This post is for the G51 users who prefer to use Windows XP over Vista/Windows 7. I know you dont get to use the whole 4gb of ram (just 3gb with PAE) but some (like myself) just prefer it over the newer Vista/Windows 7. Included are 98% of the drivers needed for all hardware to work properly. I zipped them up and uploaded to mediafire for your convenience. DON'T FORGET to install the Intel chipset driver first and REBOOT after installation.

|Notes|
*The Nvidia driver thats included is version 19015 with a modded .inf file. Both were downloaded from laptopvideo2go.com. You can update your driver to whatever version you want but I just wanted to let you all know this is the version I included.

*I had the IRC driver installed but it still had the yellow exclamation point in device manager which led me to believe it will not work with XP, so I excluded it from the pack of drivers I provided. It will show as an "Unknown Device" in device manager

*This one isnt a big deal for me since I use wireless all the time, but I also had trouble finding the ethernet driver for XP. I got it to install via Windows update but it too has the yellow exclamation point in the device manager. If anyone can provide a working driver for this that would be great!

*P4GHybrid is not compatible with XP therefore it isnt included.

*I didn't include ExpressGate into the package, but there is an XP version available at the Asus website www.asus.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I missed anything in the drivers pack please let me know, and I will search for it if need be. Or you can post a link if you find it .


Drivers Included:



Download drivers via mediafire:
Drivers Part 1
Drivers Part 2

(the files were split into two differnt rar folders due to mediafires' 100mb limit size. Total size of both rars together is 104mb)

 

Good job with the "downgrade"??? I believe it might still be an upgrade in performance!

On another note, where do you buy the hard drive holder for the second hard drive for the G51??? I am thinking of getting a SSD, but I obviously would need the HHD holder first. Thanks!

 

I agree with you on the upgrade in performance.

As far as the hard drive caddy goes, Sunny posted link to it here but unfortunately they're out of stock. You can maybe find it from another online retailer.

 

You don't need a bracket for a second hard drive. The foam inside of the HDD bay will work fine.

 

I will have to see it for myself, my G51 comes tomorrow! Been thinking of the Corsair P128 but I have not made any final decisions.

 

Might I suggest the below SSD (both MLC). Its much cheaper (and no icky rebate), very user friendly and includes an external HDD case if you don't want to keep the stock HDD inside the G51 but still use it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139005

Amazon also carries it and offers you a return policy
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-2-5-Inch-Notebook-SNV125-S2BN-128GB/dp/B002BH3UAW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247689704&sr=8-1

 

This is good news. Save some cash. Thanks for the info

 

HMMMM...warhammer you do have a point with the price being lower. The one difference I see is the read/write speeds.

Kingston= Read-100Mbs/Write 80Mbs

Corsair= Read 220Mbs/Write 200Mbs

The reviews for both are stellar. The Corsair offers more performance though, but is it worth the extra $$$? I turn 21 on Sunday, therefore I will asses my funds after receiving B-Day money lol. PLUS I don't drink so I won't be wasting my sweet moola on beer, I can waste it on computer components!

 

Confirming that. My second hard drive is working just fine using only the foam as a cushion.

(This is a standard hard drive, by the way, no an SSD.)

 

Would like to ask G51 owners some questions since I plan on buying one by December...

How is the battery life when you're just web browsing/word processing?

Does the Bios update work in bringing down temps?

Thanks guys.