N81V: Review & Owners' Lounge

I'm getting ready to give mine to the wife, as soon as my new U41JF-A1 gets here.

My N81vp-C1 has been rock solid and is as shiny as the day I bought it. I did replace the stock thermal grease on the GPU with OCZ Freeze right after I bought it. That dropped the temps on the 4650 from the high 90s to the around 80. I can still overclock it well beyond 4670 speeds when I need a little extra and it never gets above 82ish.

I did the faux leather contact paper mod on the lid, since the darn thing is a massive fingerprint magnet. Got lots of compliments on how nice it looked. I went with black, since that was all Home Depot had in stock. I recently took the old paper off and put on some new and the lid underneath is still in perfect condition.

This was my third Asus laptop. My first two, an A7K and then a G50V, are now used by two of my teenagers. To this day, not a single hardware or physical problem with any of them.

 

Hey guys, I have the newegg n81vg-x2. Just wondering what kind of ehat your gpus are giving off during in-game activites.

I recently bumped some graphics configurations up in sc2 and my temp has gone up to 70 degrees. The kicker is that it mostly reaches 70 in the in-game menu interface, not as much during actual gameplay.

It used to peak at 60--I liked that better.

I have changed the paste on this laptop before, but, I wouldnt be surprised if there was an air bubble or something there maybe. Anyways.

How is everyones laptop holding up? Any mods or interesting developments. Has anyone bought a 2rd party battery for this laptop?

 

I am also experiencing massive heat from my N81VP-D1. I suspect the GPU to be the source of the heat. I have hit temps of over 100 deg Celsius when just watching Youtube videos!!! When I open the bottom, I can only access the CPU/heatsink and Hard drive. These areas are free of dust. Could it be that the GPU (which I don't know how to access) is super dusty? Or is the problem more likely a thermal compound issue? The only way I can keep the temps reasonable is by directly blowing a fan at my laptop. Please help!!!!!

 

Its 2011 and Almost the 3rd quarter of the year,

It's time for me to upgrade my laptop! Has been a great gaming machine, and i've actually kept the battery life great and heat pretty low as well. I cleaned the heat sink every few months and got a nice cooler for it

But I think I'm going to splurge on a Sager / Clevo model now

Goodbye good ol laptop!

 

^^^ That makes me sad... I still have to wait almost a year before I buy a new lappy : (.

Well, concerning the overheating issue, double check your copper heat dissipator. Unscrew the fan and blow air into the grille to dislodge whatever might have accumulated in there. Simple step, but always worth doing again if still experiencing heat trouble. Also, make sure your heat sink isn't wobbly or loose. If that fails, either get some AF2 thermal paste (silver only!). Find a youtube video, an old credit card, ~90% alcohol, q tips, a small screwdriver and get to work replacing your paste.

 

I have exactly the same issue with my N81vp-C1. Temperatures are normal. The crashes happen intermittently when I am using Google Maps or watching flash video. My 2-yr warranty expired in May-2011 and Asus won't tell me the cost of repair unless I send them the laptop. I am fairly sure it is a GPU related issue. I am planning to buy the GPU (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650) and replace it myself rather than doing RMA.

I couldn't find this card on Asus e-store (ATI M96-M VGA Board, Part#: 69N0C0V10B03-01). What is the best place to look for such parts apart from eBay?

I read that 4650 used in N81 is an underclocked HD 4670. Is it possible/recommended to replace my 4650 with a 4670 (If I can get one)?

Is it worth spending $200 on replacing graphics card after 2.5 years? Has anyone used an N81 series notebook for more than 3.5/4 yrs?