Official C90/C90S/C91/C80 Owners Lounge

What I'd like to know is if the 8600GT DDR3 is being discontinued is it due to the poor thermal design.
If so, it's more of a defective design and I'd love to see what ASUS will do for those who purchased it.
Since I cannot use my c90 without a cooler, a trade in/up program would be lovely.

 

Now that's some good news, by god! I just didn't like being stuck with one driver. Ken? can you fortify this some?

EDIT: Haven't seen ya around in a while Sarge....how's the ole C90 hangin'?

 

What...8800...for C90S? This is amazing news...now I don't feel bad for buying a C90S with the refresh coming. Did they say anything about a time frame?

 

As I posted, NVIDIA said to ask specific retailers. So, I asked ASUS and they said they had not been given any specific dates, but that it indeed was going to be made available, which was also confirmed to me via a NVIDIA tech. Hate to just reiterate what I already said, but that's all the info I got.

The 256 8600 GT GDDR3 is discontinued do to it's overheating problems. (This is the card I had originally planned on getting.)

I know the Alienware already has the 8800 series, but I beleive they don't use MXM which would explain why it's not out for us yet.

I spoke with Ken on the phone today, he said confirmed the 8600 GDDR3 version being discontinued for thermal reasons. He however, had no time frame for the 8800 though.

I suggest those of you who were lucky/unlucky enough to get the GDDR3 versions should call ASUS and ask what they can do for you.

-Towels

 

Thanks for the news war rep up.

 

Hello everybody, I'm new on this forum and I red a bit about the C90s and it seems to be a good laptop but very controversial at the same time.
I'm currently looking to buy a new laptop with a screen of 15,4" or 14".
I'm looking for the best deal I can find for approximately 1150€ and the C90s seem to be very good for that price.
I found one with an E6600 CPU, 2G of DDR2ram at 667MHz, a 8600M GT 512Mo and a 160Go 5400rpm hard drive plus an ptical mouse and a case for it for 1189€
I'm not really interested in running the latest games on it but I want a laptop able to run games like WoW or two worlds easily.
I red that the overclocking system isn't stable and I would like to know your comments on this.
Finaly you'll understand I think that i want to buy a laptop that I'm going to keep for 3 at least years and want to be able to play a bit with in the future and not being stuck to 10 years old games like I currently am with my laptop.
My question is: Is the C90s the best laptop currently on the market for that price for me?
I'm also attracted by his connectivity (e-sata is a very important point for me) and his high resolution screen.
I was also interested in the Asus F8SV-4S023C but I'm afraid that for the same price it's performance is going to be lower.

 

If you're getting the e6600, the OC is stable, anything higher and it'll be un-stable. This is true for me, at least.

 

C'mon don't say "It'll be unstable" many of us have e6700 and do not have stability issues with the CPU.

However, I would say that the e6600 is a bit better price/performance wise (with OC) than the e6700, unless you get a good deal on it as I did.

 

I might add as a whole, I have not found my C90 to unstable in any respect...Vista at first, yes. The only complaint I have is right now because of the card I have, I am stuck with ONE driver unless I want the performance to fall through the floor.

But, I can't seem to keep a laptop over a year and a half or so, so probably doesn't matter anyway.

 

i got a e6600 and it runs stable with COD4 and Orange box in OC mode. For some odd reason BF2 won't load past the initial splash screen if in OC mode. No big deal as the thing runs fine in regular mode. I also have the 8600GT 512MB DDR2 and it runs well.

 

ah, sry, i meant to put "might be" lol. i wasn't saying that it WILL completely and utterly be unstable, my bad. a friend of mine has the e6700 in his c90s and no stability problems there either.

 

My C90S shipped out today! =)

I ordered a e6600, and a Hitachi 120GB 7200RPM drive to pair up with it as well,

-Towels

 

BF2 is notorious for being a bit sensitive to some OCing even Bios OCs, might be the case, although BF2 does run on my system in gaming mode.

 

What is the fastest ram that ASUS C90S takes?

EDIT: http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=12848&d=1196619815

Apparently those...

Anyone know about name brands?

-Towels

 

Ordered C90S from gentechpc.com. Should arrive by 01/22. My setup:
1. C90s
2. E6600
3. Nvidia 8600GT 512mb
4. 2GB (free from gentechpc.com not sure what brand)
5. extra battery lol I think I'll need it.
6. DVD-RW (classic)
7. Will load windows XP (plus for me when comparing to current only vista laptop offers)
9. 200GB Hitachi 7200rpm (newegg.com had it for $180)
10. wireless a/b/g (not n)

Once ordered, I read some more reviews which kinda worry me:

1. compatibility issues with Intel's wireless a/b/g/n
2. upgrade'ability of the video card
3. overclock heat issues

I chose this laptop for performance and I could not find anything close to it for same money. May be Asus G1 but I always find something I don't like, slow HD, CPU or video, not enough inputs/outputs, missing blutooth, low screen resolution. This one has all (slow video card, but then I'm hoping for 8800m or 9000 series).

I know battery life is VERY low but some encouraging news from nano technology "Breakthrough Could Mean 40-Hour Laptop Batteries" from yahoo http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nf/57832

 

1. Since you are getting the ABG and not BGN, you will have no compatibility issue.
2. There has been very promising news about video card upgrading, read a page or 2 back, the 8800 is coming to the C90x world!
3. Overclocking and heat issues are relative to your setup. If you get a cooling pad you should be fine no matter what.

 

without overclocks, it always run at 533, even if you have 667 or 800 RAM

 

Bah.

So your saying it can accept: DDR2 533 (PC2 4200), DDR2 667 (PC2 5300), DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) and, DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)?

So I guess the ram with the best timings would be optimal? Or PC2 6400 because it will be able to reach it's max settings with ease...

-Towels

 

Yes, that is correct. It's better to have faster RAM if you plan on OC'ing. If you get the DDR2 533, the FSB is actually 266 (266x2=533). And when you OC with the C90S, the FSB goes up, so, you would be running the DDR2 533 RAM past stock which you wouldn't be able to tell is stable or not without stressing it with a program such as Orthos. Granted there is a good chance that the DDR2 533 RAM could run a higher clock speed, DDR2 667 is guaranteed to run 333fsb, and the max OC on the C90S doesn't hit that. SO...

 

can someone direct me a link to the 902 bios in iso format?

 

any news????

 

Any news about what?

No news on MXM II 8800 if thats what you mean.

-Towels

 

It's going to be a while before it hits...

 

Been using my C90S for 2 weeks now and I can say that the only thing I was concern about when I decided to go with this OC monster (hypothetical noise problems) does not exist.

I've been using a Turion64 laptop for the last 2 1/2 yrs and this asus lappie is less noisier (in standard-non-OC mode) than thesmall 12" Turion.

 

Ha, noise problem. Put it into Overclocking Mode and get a program called Orthos, you'll hear how loud the fans are. And when they spin up like that - that isn't even 12v going through them!

 

Received my ASUS C90S today, however the asshat who I bought my processor off of (ebay) has not responded once in over a week. So I filed a claim with my credit card agency, and will follow suit with Paypal and Ebay tommorow.

So sadly, I have a nice new brick.

I ordered another E6600 hopefully that get shipped out soon...

I installed my hard drive which was very simply despite having zero instuctions from Asus, and checked out where everything goes- neat looking.

My first impressions are mostly good.

What I don't like about the laptop:

-Ridiculously shiny cover shows fingerprints extremely easily.
-No provided ASUS instructions on removing the panel for installation. (Tom's hardware has a nice pictorial for this)
-AC power brick is pretty hefty
-Some of the fins on the CPU heatsink came pre-bent, I had to carefully bend them back, not a huge deal.

Other than that, I like how it looks, weight, ect.

I would like to note for others, that the supplied bag included in the sale from Ken at Gentech is an actual ASUS bag, and is very nice in quality. Also, since I didn't buy my processor from him (I prolly should have... damn ebay) the processor heatsink has some thermal paste on it already - look hand done so maybe he put some on there, if so that's nice human touch. Thanks.

On a side note: I turned the computer on, with no processor but with everything else installed, and the screen doesn't turn on at all. Not sure if this is normal or maybe I'm just being paranoid?

-Towels

 

On another note, since some people seem to have a problem with fan noise.

What size are the fans? I'm sure some aftermarket fans could be purchased and installed with ease.

-Towels

 

The size of the fan is 40*40*15mm but it's very hard to find another one.
The problem is that the power connector of the fan is for laptop (~5mm width), and the greatest part of fan that you'll find are sold with a connector for desktop (8mm width).

 

Well, I got my laptop from GentechPC couple days ago. I did assembly myself. All parts but hard drive came from Gentechpc. I got a freebie too as my wireless card is N and not G I paid for. Ken, was nice enough to handpick one that does not have a issues when running on battery mode. I'm very satisfied with Hitachi 7200rpm 200GB drive, instead of 5400rpm one.

Everything is fast. Loading XP in seconds. I guess my future upgrade will be a video card, using 8600gt 512mb, but I'm willing to wait for 9000 series.

I found one USB device that does not have driver installed but now I'm thinking it might be a bluetooth. I'll check when I get home.

I never was picky with computer noise but these fans do produce this wheezly noise when running on full. I'm thinking you could use centrifugal fan? I'll research my options.

Also, since I do engineering at my company I get lot's of freebies from suppliers. We do LEDs which do need heatsinks. I got this sample of eGRAF zSPREADER, http://www.graftechaet.com/Home/Brands/eGRAF/Products/zSPREADER™-Heat-Spreader.aspx

It is a perfect size to fit right above CPU and GPU. It might help in cooling a bit. Will check it out.

 

Do you know which card it is? Just wondering for the inevitable day when I upgrade my home network to N.

 

It is Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11 a/g/n but like I said Ken hand picked one that works on Asus C90s. I think the problem exists with some cards turning off when running on battery mode. Please research.

 

Quick question for all of you with a cooling pad, which one do you recommend for the c90s w/o any mods? Just curious right now.

 

It doesn't look at as good as a Zalman, but the Belkin wave shaped cooler, white, about 29 bux, is usb powered and easy to take with you. Also, the shape is just made for the C90...it lowered my temps as well as my Vantec Lapcool II.

 

I built my own just the other day. A sheet of Acrylic, I got 20x14 just to be safe, 1/4in thick, a bit of cutting, some glue (Gorilla Glue is what I used...), 2 120mm fans, I have it wired to the 12v on my battery until I get a eSATA Enclosure to mount to it. Dropped my load temps SIGNIFICANTLY. My sig is out of date...don't mind that.

Before:
CPU: 74C
GPU: 96C

After:
CPU: 55C
GPU: 73C

HUGE difference...and it gets even lower if I turn the C90S's fans on.

 

But wouldn't the Zalman cool the c90s better? I mean, ist has that big opening for the air to go directly into the c90s. Haha, ziggo0, post some pics!

 

Good, did you do a topic about it? I wouldn't mind looking at that, and maybe make one. It should be cheaper than a cooler hehe

 

I can make a topic with finalized pictures...didn't make a build log . BTW the acrylic only cost 17$...I used a dremel to make cuts here and there. By all means its one of those first builds that dont look good, I bet I could sell it if i really wanted to

 

They added heat sinks estore for the CPU and GPU, wonder if there the new ones (all cooper)?

 

Great news Ranger. I will try to call tommorrow to find out if they are copper or not. Too bad out of stock though. Great price however!

 

I just got the Belkin, and it does seem to work really well. Nothing scientific, but the bottom of my laptop is now pretty cool to the touch, instead of very hot.

 

I'm thinking of going out tomorrow and getting the Belkin, it seems likes it's a good bet. Any problems using it yet?

 

Need some quick help guys. I recently gotten a tv, so I try to link it via HDMI. Strangely tho, the sound makes a cracking noise when I play any type of audio. So Is it A) Tv is bad, B) Laptop audio is bad. Strange thing is, that Ps3 via Hdmi is fine. Any input will be apperciated.

 

Hey, mightylobo, are you sure that the HDMI isn't transmitting to a surround sound field such as a 5.1 etc if you don't have one? Like...you don't have a surround sound system connected to your TV but the HDMI signal is sending the sound as it would be for surround sound. Just one idea...not sure how to change it so the sound would be sent "regular" signal, whatever that is. You could also set it up so that your TV accepts 5.1 surround sound.

 

Im having problems connecting my external hdd with esata. I have a 500gb external harddrive and it doesnt recognise it.
It works fine when connected through usb. Ive downloaded the drivers form the asus website, but not sure how i go about installing them.

Any suggestions?

 

my esata connection works great. I just had to trim the plastic a little to expose more of the metal on the esata cable before connecting to the c90s.

Also before I reboot I made sure that the esata was connected and the drive was powered on.

 

I used it while away all weekend, and it worked fine. One caveat - the fan is on the bottom, so if you use it on your lap then you'll block the fan.

 

To me the Belkin is the best balance of portability and cooling, even though it has one fan, it works pretty great because of the shape I guess. It's not real high tech looking like the zalman or others, but I'm a function over form guy anyway.

 

So, is there some way to control the fans on the C90S? Mine don't seem to come on when the GPU is under heavy load (only the CPU heating up seems to start them going)...

 

Nope, you must live with it. You can do thing such as running folding@home in the background or a mod (you can find some here)

 

Well, I just bought that Belkin cooler and it's somewhat better than with no chill pad, I suppose. I OC, I used to get around 78~81C but with this, on OC I get about 68~74C easy. I'd say that it was worth the buy, I haven't tried it while gaming however.