M50Sv: Review & Owners' Lounge

3800 with Windows Vista at 1280X720 or 3800 at 1280X1024? there is a big difference.

 

Thanks Ken but arachosia has just answered me
I was talkin about those videos on youtube: how can it be?
And what about the modded driver and the gpu overclocking?
I would be gracefull if someone answered me

440

 

so which is better for gaming? The M50 or M51 series?? even though the graphic card are the same....

these spec are from the official asus website:

M50sv: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M G, 512MB VRAM

M51sn: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M GS, 512MB VRAM External 512MB VRAM , TurboCache: 768M with 1G system memory, 1280M with 2G system memory

it seems the M51sn are better for gaming.....

 

Here is Crysis game video played on XP, same exact settings as the game video played on Vista:

M50SV-A1 Crysis game video:

T9300 2.5Ghz 6MB 800FSB
9500M GS 512MB DDR2 stock driver @475/950/400 no overclock
3GB DDR2 667
Windows XP Professional


3DMark06 shows a big difference but in real world gaming I really can't tell the difference.


On the youtube video, I didn't see the detail video settings so I can't compare it with my game video.

 

Practically the same gaming performance, with the M50 having more facial stuff such as the new touchpad media buttons, light feature intelligently, fancy sound system, and a few more small media stuff. Other than that the two laptops even looks quite similar (depending on which M51sn you’re referring to). I'd go with the M51Sn having a significantly lower price.

 

Yeah, both laptop are pretty similar except speakers, LCD, touchpad and ALS. It's just how much you willing to spend.

 

OH!! i see! thanks for the quick and informative reply.... i was actually confuse abt the graphic card 9500GS since the description on the graphic card were different on the website for both of the M50 and M51 series...so i thought the M51SN have much better graphic card... so both notebook have the same graphic cards with same performance rite??

thank you very much for the reply!!!!!

 

Yes both notebook has the same 9500M GS 512MB DDR2 video card, so is the F8Sn and G1Sn series.

 

Just finish 9 cell battery test:

M50Sv-A1
T9300 2.5GHz 6MB 800FSB
GeForce 9500M GS 512MB DDR2
3GB DDR2 667
250GB SATA 5400rpm
Vista Home Premium 32

9 Cell battery +11.1V 7200mAh @ battery saving mode : 2 Hr 58 min

 

Thanks a lot Ken!
This afternoon I'll see all the videos in my father's office so I could comment better. It seem that on Xp the framerate is around 30 fps, and on Vista it's around 15 fps... correct? I suppose that that in the up-left corner of the image is a 29...
So why do you say there's not a big difference?
Isn't more playable?
I hope you're right (and this afternoon I'll prove it with my eyes) because I do not want to take apart Vista and do the downgrade: it's a real mess and i've waited too much for this notebook (it'll arrive on wednesday theroycally) and i'm not in the mood for waiting more.

Is there any difference between the two videos in the graphic? One should be directx 10 and the other directx 9... has the first video a better graphic aspect? or is there between dx 10 and 9 not this difference?

Thanks a bunch!

440

 

Both Vista and XP FPS are pretty much the same, make sure you are looking at the similar scene of the game, both operating system runs at average of 17~22 FPS.

 

Looks like from the power adjustment that screen brightness was at a little below 50% and I can't really tell but it also looks like bluetooth and wireless are both on in the taskbar. Also appears that you were viewing videos on youtube while working on multiple documents. If that is the case then I would have to say the 9 cell battery results are a bit disappointing and would deter me away from purchasing this notebook. Perhaps a more test strained benchmark would be needed (maximum brightness while watching a dvd?).

Do you believe it is at all possible to stretch the battery to 4 hours? The Sager 2092 and Dell XPS M1530 both have excellent 9 cell results and I was hoping for the Asus to come close to the same results. My dell will be arriving this monday but if the Asus can beat it out in battery life I wouldn't hesitate buying the Asus.

The Nvidia 9500 should at least save about 5-10% in energy consumption over the 8600GT DDR3 and the T9500 should stretch it out too.

 

So it's great... i'll keep Vista.
Sorry for the mistake but i have not seen the videos yet, I only took the image of the link and tried to understand what was that number in the corner... i thought that on xp was 29, it seems I was wrong:
this makes me happy! I won't do the downgrade!

What about this?

Do you think that Portal, F.E.A.R. and Assassin's creed could play on max details on this notebook with Vista?

Thx!

440

P.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Hr8AeZpLA
Check this too if you can: the details are on high (shadow on medium), is it normal?
And the notebook is worse, no overclocking. How can you explain that? (The reason lies in the operative system: xp?)
Sorry if i'm bothering you with you tube videos but why can't i play Crysis at this level if i have a better notebook?

 

FullMetal, I watched the video of Crysis that you linked to and I think it looked really good. The framerate was bad though. It's hard to say if it looked better than the demo Ken provided for the Asus M50SV-A1 because it's a totally different level of the game, plus the footage is pretty blurry. It was also running at a lower resolution, so maybe that's why the user was able to set all the settings to high. The user says that he got 30-60fps when he set the resolution to 800x600, but it definitely looked like the frame rate was a lot lower than that to me.

On paper, it seems that the M50 should be quite a bit better than that Dell M1530. I don't see any reason why the Dell would outperform it. Doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe there are other factors besides the CPU, GPU, and RAM that determine a system's performance.

Oh, and I really have no idea, but I would assume that the M50 can run FEAR and Portal with no problem at all, as they are both older games (OK, Portal is new, but it uses the same engine as Half Life 2, which is older). I think it will have some problems running Assassin's Creed though. That's one of the most beautiful Xbox360/PS3 games out right now, so I highly doubt the M50 can run it on max settings without the frame rate taking a serious hit. Anyway, I might be completely wrong. I'm just trying to use common sense here.

 

Well, the user said the framerate's around 11-19 fps at 1024x769 res, and the framerate, according this info, is very simialr to that on the video posted here. Maybe also on the m50 Crysis can be played on high with 1024 widescreen resolution... can someone confirm it?
Ah, i managed to see the video and it seems quite slow to me too, unfortunately i didn't manage to see the two videos posted here


About Assassin's Creed i'm a bit sceptical...
Look with your own eyes and make your own idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYiMgaqJOiQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvhS1AvCDNg&feature=related
Can't we on paper play it better?

 

I'd like to know if the m50sa, with a 320 gb HDD and an ati hd3650, is available in the States.
Actually I'm french, and here, it isn't available yet.
But if it is in your country, I suppose it will be in mine in a few time...
(sorry for my poor english)

 

I've seen all the videos...
And i'm a bit disappointed...
Sure that Vista has some problem.
On xp it was almost everything on high!!
Well... there is a big difference, i think!
On the vista video crysis didn't look so impressive... it seems to me very similar to far cry! Not much difference, i think it could be better...

Anyway I'm a stupid because i've just bough Crysis

440

 

is it possible to get the blu-ray drive with the faster processor?

 

i would like to know if the case it come with is any good or should i buy a different case?
and what do i do to install windows xp? do i pop in the xp disc then install the drivers after i install xp? and sorry about all the noobish question

 

I am wanting to get a laptop mostly for business use yet still be able play online games when go on trips. Otherwise I use my desktop for gaming.

Does this graphic card work ok for online gaming?

I also was concerned about that comment about the keyboard having flex at the top and the screen being to shiney for office overhead light use.

Anyone own one can comment on these concerns?

I dont want a keyboard thats not studry as this will mostly be for work use.

Like wise my office has overhead lights so I need to be able read the screen.

any comments appreciated.

thx

 

you should buy a business notebook.
They´re offered by Lenovo, DELL or HP.

 

What?
In the video most of the options are set on high and some effect on medium.
So? Is it the same exact settings or no?

I don't want videos or stuff like that, I trust your words: can you say me what is the framerate on Vista if you set all the options as in the on xp Crysis Video? And what is the framerate on Xp if you set on medium those settings which are on low?

Thanks if you can answer me

440

 

Agoothelf, et all


I looked at the T61p but the specs on review sites said the best card available in them was a bit weaker then the 8600 that comes with sager 2092 or the asus m50sv. 2 seperate tech sites stated this. And the retooled one in tha asus m50 is better then the one in sager 2092.

Also the cost is higher then the asus m50sv

I wont do indepth gaming, but in a hotel I may do warhammer online or something like that, but not often - i just want the option. This wont be a primary gaming rig.

I need a core 2, 2.5 with 6mb cache for the office work I do.

I was just concerned that review stated the screen was to shiney for overhead lights in office and the keyboard to much flex.

I've been looking for a month and need buy this week.

a 17" i cant carry well, have some disabilities with arms these days

Og and several reviews said t61p warranety work takes a long time. I however found on their site options for 24hr in home service, but very expensive.

Am confused at this point

 

I just priced the T61p, to configure it same a s this assus it will cost almost $300 more. Also there is a list of states their warrenty isnt offered and florida is one of them
would have find a 3rd party warrenty i guess.

 

im buying the m50 tomorrow and what do i do to install windows xp? do i pop in the xp disc then install the drivers after i install xp? and sorry about the noobish question but i need to know because the day after i have school and need to have it ready

 

where are you guys buying this laptop from, or where would you recommend buying it?

 

The GPU that comes on the T61P is very similar to the Nvidia 8600 GT DDR3. The GPU of M50 and the Sager 2092 are DDR2's. the T61P card is actually more powerful. It's just not geared towards games, is geared more towards CAD.
http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_go.html

 

nbuser260 go with which the asus one because the warranty is a lot better than at lenovo in my opinion and could some please answer my question

 

I dont know about changing to xp.

I have been using vista and no problems at all.

Give it a try.

 

i would but most the programs i use are not supported by vista

 

I bought my M50 from xoticpc.com. GenTechPC also carries it and is the one who posted this discussion. ExcaliberPC and Geared2Play are active in these forums and carry it as well.

 

Damn this is one hot notebook. Seems (and looks) a lot like the F8, with the addition of some sweet media features/keys (noticeably lacking on my f8) and decent speakers, for a good price. Even has better battery life. Damn. I would definitely buy this, if I didn't just buy my F8

 

hey,, just some little questions here...
this thread seems more "crowded" than mine..
i'm a future buyer of this hot laptop.. lolz

if i do a HDD upgrade on this laptop (as this laptop in my country only has 4,200 rpm). would it do any "errors" to the laptop and stuff? it also means i must instal a new OS into it, right?
will the (ah i dont know the right word..) "accessories" such as webcam, fingerprint reader still work if i replace the HDD and install a new OS to it and also install all the driver and some of the utilities (excluded the useless ones) ?

thanks.

*sorry for my bad English and bad questions.. hahahs*

 

You might want to consider ordering the M50 from a vendor in the United States who ships internationally. XoticPc will ship out of the US. That way you could order the notebook with the 7200rpm drive. I went for the faster hard drive when I ordered mine.

 

yeah, i have think about it also because there are so many better specs for the same price. but my friend doesn't recommended that as where i live (Indonesia) is so far away from the US. not that it will take some time to arrive, but also if there's some broken parts it would be difficult to exchange or demand it for the guarantee as probably i must ship the product back to the US and it will cost more money.. i think..

 

I tried not to adjust the default settings of the battery saving mode so everything is default.
Yes both Bluetooth and WiFi is on while testing the battery life.

I don’t think 4 hours of battery life is possible, I can maybe get 3 and half hour if WiFi and Bluetooth is turned off and lower the screen brightness.

9500M GS have no problem running FEAR and Portal, even 8600M GS with 3GB of RAM can handle these games pretty easy.

Not yet, at least for now.

Currently there are only two models available, the M50SV-A1 with T9300 CPU no Blue-Ray and M50SV-B1 with Blue-Ray and T8100 CPU.

Most of the drivers worked on XP except some hardwares and utility.

Install the drivers from the original drivers CD and download the rest of the drivers for XP from page one that is not available from the Asus drivers CD.

The video settings I tested are identical for both Vista and XP, watch the video again.
Except the 3Dmark06 score I couldn’t tell the difference of FPS in real world gaming.

 

oops, forgot the Realteck HD audio driver for XP:

ftp://202.65.194.211/pc/audio/WDM_R189.exe

 

Ken,
Am i going mad?
Trust me, i saw the video lots of times and the settings on xp, according the setting control panel, are all on high exept for volumetric effect, game effect, shaders quality and phisic quality which are on low...
Please check again... i'm sure of what i'm saying, i'm not a lier...

Can't you obtain the same results on Vista?
Please say me I've not to put xp on the notebook to play in that way, because i don't want to wait more...

440

 

so ken i basically just pop in xp disc then install the asus drivers then the xp specific drivers

 

I know that in Indonesia it cost around $1600-ish. I don't recommend you to buy it overseas and have it shipped there though. There's risk with the shipping and also the customs and excise bureaucracy which might make you end up paying even more..

 

anyone know, if and what parts of this config are upgradeable? for example the optical drive, to say blu ray in the future, or hard drive...

 

No you not going mad, it was me going mad. I must be blind or something.
You were right, on XP video all settings are at high except:
Physics quality : low
Shaders Quality :low

Volumetric effects quality : low
Game effects quality :low

I'll do another video on XP with settings match the Vista settings.
So yes, XP does perform better than Vista.

 

OK im gettting the m50sv-a1 tomorrow or the day after depends when i can go but is there anything about this laptop that should worry me? build quality, screen anything?

 

Mine should be delivered tomorrow. I'll probably make a post on Wednesday.

 

First you need to slipstream the XP disk with SATA driver before you can install XP:
http://www.nliteos.com/guide/

If you don’t want to do that just simply go into the BIOS by holding F2 key at Asus logo screen,
1: go to advanced tab and set SATA configuration from Enhanced Mode to Compatible Mode.
2: press F10 to save the settings and exit.
3: Press ESC key at Asus logo again that’ll bring up the boot device selection.
4: choose CD/DVD to boot up from XP disk.
5: setup Windows and follow the instructions on the screen.
6: once Windows is installed and boot to desktop, insert the provided drivers CD to install drivers, the drivers listed on page one are the drivers you will need to install on XP.

Upgradeable components are: CPU, Optical Drive, hard drive, RAM and Wireless card (if Intel won’t change the slot type in the future).

 

the first XP video I posted was at high settings on most part, obviously I was drunk at the time.


Here is the new Crysis game video:

T9300 2.5Ghz 6MB 800FSB
9500M GS 512MB DDR2 stock driver @475/950/400 no overclock
3GB DDR2 667
Windows XP Professional

All settings on Medium except:
Physics quality : low
Shaders Quality low
Volumetric effects quality :low
Game effects quality :low



It does play better on XP, the FPS was around avg. 17~22 on Vista and now getting avg. 22~28 on XP.


Overclocked @ 528/1288/428


Huge jump on FPS around 28~46 depends on the scene.

 

Ken,
Thanks a lot...

I need your serious opininons for a more than serious matter.
Firs af all, see this video on youtube, maybe you can be interested in it...
(trust me, it's interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bxeFdaKUoE

I contact, as you can see , the user who posted it...
And he reply in this way:

***

Frames Per Second(FPS): 15-22FPS with lowest drop at 10FPS. Unfortunately the FRAPS version I have doesn't seem to work with Crysis under Vista, so I'll try to get that working for a better video


Hi there, I'll be glad to help you out. To make best of Crysis on your machine I advise you to install the latest Nvidia drivers (for your graphics) at www.laptopvideo2go.com/
FYI. I had 174.60 driver installed

Go to Control Panel/Power Options and make sure your power plan is on High Performance and your notebook plugged into the wall. Now you can right click on properties and go to theme and change your theme from Windows Vista to Windows Classic while gaming; this will slightly improve your gaming. Also make sure you exit Sidebar while gaming as its just useless and taking system process. What can significantly improve your gaming is overclocking your graphics card by no more than 10%. You can use such programs as RivaTuner:
( http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163)

Please read into overclocking a little at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=219954

Finally I advise you to install Crysis Patch 1.2 and Patch 1.21 Hotfix at www.ea.com/crysis/home.jsp or any other place where it can be found.

Good luck and feel free to message me for further questions.

***

What do you say?
Is it a fake or can I trust him?
And can I o.c. the gpu by no more than 10% without damaging the asus notebook? Will it make my notebook's life shorter?
Cause I want it to last me five yeats ay least...

Could you also tell me which are the best stable overclocked gpu parameters (core, shaders, memory) beyond which I've NOT to go? And which can't damage the notebook? In which way I understand if I've o.c.ed too much?
Please it's important...

(It's my first o.c. ... and I think I'm running a serious risk... so I ask to an exper like you)

THX for everything

440


***
post-edit addictions

He gave to me these O.C. frequencies: 561/1122/451
Can I use them? Will it make my notebook's life shorter?
Can the notebook in this way last five years at least?
In which way I understand if I've o.c.ed too much?
What Have I to do if the laptop is too much hot?

 

I believe him, I don't think one would try to fake the video that when other people with same notebook can just post the same video on YouTube to prove he is faking it.

His game video seem play very smooth although the video is blury and no FPS on screen, it seem more than 15~22 but can't see his detail video settings, you can show him where to download the latest FRAP here: http://www.fraps.com/download.php

Yes, Windows sidebar and Vista theme slows down the performance and by disable it you'll get better performance.

Did he overclock? on my test I don't need to overclock to get 15~22 FPS, I didn't install hotfix since I am testing it on demo version.

I found out to get better overclock result the faster CPU is needed, I am not sure which model of M50Sv he is got but with the T9300 CPU it can overclock more than the same GPU on M51Sn, see my performance review of M51Sn here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=222056

The same GPU with T5450 on M51Sn has less overclock capability, I guess 1.66GHz T5450 can't show the full potential of the 9500M GS GPU.

I can overclock it @ 544/1304/488 but just to be safe I ran the game @ 528/1288/428, I can't tell you if it'll last 5 years because it'll take 5 years to test just to find out. my suggestion is set a overclock speed and run 3DMark06 at least 15 times, if it does crash one time then it's not stable and try to lower the speed and run it again 15 times.

 

Indeed
Yes he did...
Have you seen the details' level?

No Anti-aliasing
Texture Quality: Very High
Objects Quality: High
Shadows Quality Medium
Physics Quality: Very High
Shaders Quality: Medium
Volumetric Effects Quality: High
Game Effects Quality: Very High
Particles Quality: Very High
Water Quality: Very High
Sound Quality: Very High

I saw that according to youtube man's frequencies (561, 1122, 451) you always overclock (even in the m51 review) more than him the shaders clock... but he overclocks more and more the other levels (core and memory)... can you try for me these levels and say to me if they are stable? (I have no time i think to do such many proves... and I can't download 3d Mark 06 here) ...
What about the temperature? What I do if it seems too high? What if the notebook crashes suddenly during a game?
And most of all: Do I use these overclock frequencies in every moment or I have to disactivated them once I've played? What's more sure to do?

Thanks a lot!!!!!

440

 

Hey guys

I'm keen on getting this it won't be in for another two weeks here in Australia from my distributor...

Wondering if it comes with LightScribe?

I guess it doesn't cause it wasn't mentioned in the review?

Long time reader, first time poster