Sunny's G51VX-RX05 Review

Well, running mine on 2.5Ghz OC now, still not getting all that hot on the CPU (topped at 45C playing Farcry 2, Full Screen, 2X AA, mid-high detail). Might throw a friend's copy of [Prototype] in, see how it does then.

I think my next step is to make a cooler specifically for my laptop. I like the Targus I have now and the Zalman has good reviews, but I'd like to make something I don't need keep putting onto the bottom of the rig (snaps on, still allows access to DVD drive) and has fans that blow right into the intakes on the G51VX. Probably also draw from the sides/back vs bottom (be better for nighttime "Yeah honey, I'll go to sleep soon" use )

Should only take me a few days, will take some photos.

 

Really Its running stable I assume?

Are you using SetFSB? If so what are your settings?

Have you tried out a synthetic benchmark like 3dMark06 @ that high OC?

 

45c? mine doesnt even idle that low undervolted

 

I've ordered my G51, but wonder its temp is a big problem ?.
I'm so scared when it get >90C with intensive gaming. Hope that It won't die in about two months with intensive gaming.

 

Proof in the pudding


Did a quick bench with 3DMark06 (Basic)
Pre (idle 43C on both cores, idle 48C on GPU)


Post (Highest 65C on CPU, Highest 78C on GPU)


Interesting aside, only 10126 on 3DMark06 but it also ID'd the GPU as GTX 170M not 260M... strange. Using the latest signed nVidia drivers (using inf hack to get to install on 260M).

EDIT: Der, I answered my own interesting aside. INF hack tells drivers 260M is a 170M to force install.

 

Post from Asus Facebook page...

"ASUS Official Page There are no known issues with the G51 that require a bios update."

Can't they release a Bios Update centered around regulating the fans to deal with high temp GPU output?

 

I'm interested to know if anyone has done a CPU upgrade also, current looking at a Q9100.

I also want to throw another HD in it.. 500GB 5400 probably

who has the cheapest 500GB HD's for notebooks right now?

 

For giggles, took a page from nVidia Guru, pumped the 260m to 600/1000/1500. Up to 10929 now.

Pre (idles about where I expect them)


Post (GPU is only 3C higher, CPU same as before)


Again, this is done with a stock Targus PA248U. Already laying out some fans and a rough clip. Now just working on a base for the clip to go around and for the fans to sit in. Going to take some time for that... working with either Lexan or aluminum... I can get both easily from work)

 

From what I can gather, < 90C is not considered too hot for a GTX 260M. Tomorrow I'll call Asus tech support just to find out, but I have yet to experience a BSoD, crash, or freeze (aside from some CTD in Far Cry 2, but that was because I forgot to patch it up).

 

Yes.

Well, not at the moment, but as soon as that eBay sale ends. I'm now just worried that I overextended myself in shooting for an Extreme.

 

Cool, can you show me how can you OC your GTX260M, do I have to flash its bios or just use some utils? The good new is that you only get highest 78C on GPU. I'll try to install new signed drivers like you and watch the result.

Thanks

 

You can try programs like Rivatuner.

 

To overclock the G51VX (Best Buy), I used SetFSB and nVidia System Tools 6.03.

Overclock CPU

1. Extract SetFSB somewhere you can find it (i.e. C:\SetFSB )
2. Run SetFSB. If you have UAC enabled, it'll complain. Just allow SetFSB to make system changes.
3. Where it says "Clock Generator" select ICS9LPR60AGLF and click "Get FSB"
4. You should now see 1999.99 Mhz by "Current CPU Frequency" and 200/400/26.6/33.3 by Current FSB/DDR/PCI-E/PCI.
5. Drag the slider until the FSB/DDR is where you want it (225/450 yields 2.25 Ghz, 250/499.9 yields 2.5 Ghz)
6. Click "Set FSB".

If your computer freezes, a power cycle will reset the clock speeds.

Overclock GPU

1. Install nVidia System Tools
2. Go to nVidia Control Panel
3. Under "Performance", accept the User Agreement.
4. Under "Device Settings", click the Custom radio button
5. Adjust Core to 600, Memory to 1000, and Shader to 1600.
6. Hit Apply

If you have problems in games, just select the "Factory Defaults" radio button. Note you can problem ramp up the GPU more, but you definately risk damage then!

As far as I know, the GPU overclock will persist over power cycles, the CPU overclock will need to be run every time. I cheated, used Task Scheduler to run SetFSB with highest priveleges with the arguements "-w0 -q -s250" (wait no seconds, quiet mode, FSB to 250) and have it wait 30 seconds after logon (to avoid conflict with Power4Gear, which I found will cause a crash) and not run if the laptop is not plugged in (save power).

 

CoderJ are those temperatures from a overclocked G51VX-RX05 without any extra cooling or modifications?

 

eBay, not Best Buy.

And, as of this moment, forty-nine hours.

 

So by just using this targus cooler you were able to significantly bring down the g51's temps? i believe sunny said that the zalman cooler he used brought temps down by about 10 degrees, but you were able to bring idle temps down by like 15? so that's all your using to bring down the temperatures right? if so, that's pretty good. the reviews of the targus cooler don't seem so great though. are the fans really supposed to suck.. instead of blow?

 

Thanks, but can you send me your modded INF file, I couldn't find it.
What is your version ?

 

Using Targus PA248U, no other mods. Ambient is 20C +/- 1C (both work and home)

I would think a fan does both (sucks air in to blow it out the other side). Not the best fans in the Targus PA248U by any stretch, but they're quiet and do their job. I could have also sworn sunny had some heatsink issues on his particular G51VX...


EDIT - Bringing the overclock down on the 260M (crashes Burnout Paradise). Down to 550/900/1450 and sitting rock solid. Temp still getting to 81C... doesn't warrant a pic.

 

I've just installed nvidia driver 186.03 using modded inf, the system known 260 as 170M but I encoutered a problem that I can't change the brightness level by using Fn + F5/F6. Any suggestion? Thanks

 

my volume is lower than i would expect from the laptop, with any kind of headphones ( im using a cheap set) it is greatly amplified and sounds great too!

 

i still haven't done this yet, i'd rather wait for official drivers... or will that take a long time to happen? and, what exactly do the newest drivers do?

 

wait, so is SetFSB preloaded into all laptops? or do i have to download it. sorry.

i cant believe a cooler helps that much. Im idling in high 60's constantly and when gaming i hit 90 before fan kicks in. never gets above 90 tho (92 once so far for a second)

 

I think I should try another driver. For the newer driver, I figured out that I can reduce the temp of GPU by 3C and the Idle temperature should be around 50-55 instead of 66 with stock driver.

 

so your driver, which may or may not cause problems for the volume at this time , is unofficial but reduced your temps that much? should i try it out? im idling in 60's.

 

ok 65c after 3dmark looks more believable, you said 45c AFTER playing crysis in that first post and that didnt sound right at all

have you tried pushing past 600/1500 on the GPU? 620/1550 is as far as ive gotten.

did you run your 3dmark at 1280x1024?

 

Wow, that's one helluva typo, I meant 45C idle and 65C after Far Cry 2 (not Crysis, don't have a copy). No wonder you thought I was crazy .

I didn't try pushing past 600/1500 as Burnout Paradise would CTD after 15 minutes at that high. 550/1450 seems more stable, with a similar temperature.

3DMark06 is running at whatever the Basic Edition 1.1.0 defaults at (Basic doesn't allow resolution change and I'm on the fence about buying 3DMark06... I just don't use it that much except for lately).

 

Here is the picture, I knew when GPU is in idle driver should reduce its clock frequency by more than a half that why I only got around 50 55 in idle mode.
But sometimes in gaming, the temp get 90-92, I'm still very afraid of this deadly temp. By using cooler pad as CoderJ, he could reduced the temp at max 81 that amazing. Maybe, I'll consider to have a cooler pad or returning it to BB .


Anyway, what do you mean with "cause problems for the volume", i got the problem with brightness control only.

 

If you output to a higher resolution monitor then 3dmark defaults to 1280x1024. Since the laptop can only do 1366x768 it defaults to 1280x720. At 1280x720 i can break the 11k mark

 

I'll pop by my buddy's house, he's got a nice 23" with HDMI... should do the trick

 

Nope, you have to download it.

You can set the program to exactly how Sunny has it on the first page and it'll work fine.

Newer drivers nominally address little bugs and help optimize your video performance. Note I say "nominally". For some odd reason, stock drivers on my G50vt-X6 got lower the "higher" I went for driver numbers. It was opposite when I finally got to doing Dox's optimized drivers. They run hotter, and sometime sythetic benchmarks might suffer, but games definitely work better.

 

thanks. I'll be sure to download SetFSB then, and i think ill just OC to 2.25 for now. also gonna download a nvidia driver (1.7.24 or whatever is the one out currently?).

edit: i just OC'd to 2.25 GHz successfully ithink, but how do i get my computer to recognize it? for instance, my "welcome center" still states that i am running at 2.00 GHz, is it just not recognizing it there?

also, does OCing via SetFSB void my warranty in any way?

 

Question on overclocking in the nVidia Control Panel. I am running the 186.03 driver and whenever I change the core or memory clock (shader clock works fine), I get the error "The changes made were invalid and will not be applied." Anyone know what's up?

 

I don't think it hurts your warranty.

The reason that Windows doesn't recognize it is... I don't know. Some benchmarking tools, like 3DMark06, will see it though. Don't worry. Your computer will run faster whether it sees it or not.

As for drivers, I suggest 185.85 Dox as your highest-performing version. Personally, I use 185.68 because I use Rivatuner to overclock the GPU and 185.65 isn't recognized.

 

<---- just overclocks the video card and leave it there, i mean when your not gaming... its not overclocked Bios flash for the win.

 

So for all of you who use Drivers 185.85 Dox, are you seeing a difference in anything? Or, more importantly, are you having any issues?

And can someone explain how you downloaded them using a modded inf (did some research but wanna get it right)

And one more question, if it does mess up, how do you revert back to stock drivers.

 

Dox drivers are noticeably better. In 3DMark06, using the same Direct Console and RivaTuner overclocks for both trials, I scored 8182 with stock drivers and 8622 with Dox drivers (185.68) There are no issues except there might be a heat increase.

Installing them is simple. Just download the Dox driver. (I again recommend 185.85 for now). It's recommended you re-download your older, stock, official nVidia driver in case something happens. Also, download the most current PhyX drivers. (I think they're drivers. Whatever. Just make sure to download them.) After that, download and install driversweeper.

Now go to your device manager and uninstall your video adapter/video drivers. Restart and boot into safemode. (Personally, I used msconfig to do that, but people just call up the menu at POST). Run driversweeper and ONLY remove the VIDEO drivers. After that install 185.85 normally. Restart into normal mode. Install the PhyX files. Open up nVidia control panel and enable PhyX. Ta-da.

And if someone happens, just do what was explained above, but using your last stable driver.

 

What the heck! price went up to 1049!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...7?skuId=9366651&type=product&id=1218092150636

 

Anyone check in the physical store to double-check if the prices are up?

 

I will be heading out shortly as the stores are still an hour from opening. I would hope/guess that the physical locations have not updated their signage. The price might ring up different but that would be easily rectified by pointing back to the outdated signage. However this would be probably good for the first buyer as they would change it shortly thereafter.

This sux as I know I want either the G51 or G71 but cannot for the life of me pick one, but I don't of course want to pay even $50 more if I can help it.

 

That's why I wanted to post it asap so yall can run to the stores lol. First thing they do in the morning is running around the store and change the tags.. so get there and wait for store to open.

Good luck!

 

Hey guys, will a normal 15.6" sleeve or neoprene case fit alright with this laptop?
Well, I haven't found many but they should fit, right? The dimensions of the laptop are normal aren't they?

 

I can't say the price increase is shocking. Sure they cut some corners on the G51, but it was (and still is for $1050) a bargain for a gaming laptop with some extra quality features not commonly found in other laptops. I jumped on it when I randomly saw it the first day it came out and I would have done the same at $1050 without a second thought. The biggest weakness is the CPU, but looking around the P7350 is actually not a cheap chip on a lot of laptops and has shown to be very overclockable. Like many others in this thread, I am running it at 2.5Ghz and my CPU temps are up only 1-2C in all situations.

 

Well, those BB employees must have been busy little buggers this morning or late last night. I got to one BB right as it opened and the G51/G71 had already been tagged with the increased price.

I drove down the road to another just minutes apart (also in a cheaper sales tax area) and they also had the prices updated to reflect the $50 increase.

This time I actualy went to the salesperson and asked if "stealth" price increases "off cycle" (Sunday to Saturday) were common because of course I was "interested" in either the G51/G71 but sheesh they were $50 less just yesterday. Go figure they asked the store manager who was happy to offer me either at yesterday's price, which I accepted.

So if you still want either a G51/G71 I am sure you can ask today for BB to honor yesterday's price (as it was an off cycle change and a non sale price before) and they will probably be very accomadating. Wait longer and I doubt it.

 

Since you are G51 owners, take a read at this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=397170 and let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance and any info is appreciated!

 

So is that it Forge? As in what I need to do when I receive my computer (Takes about 2 weeks for then computer to get over here) to increase the performance? Update the drivers, OC the CPU & GPU, and ride her home?

 

Definitely the drivers and overclocking the weaker CPU. You might want to overclock the video card, but it's powerful enough that you might not have to.

 

is there any program that overclocks your cpu without you having to set it back all the time, because after i overclock my cpu with setfsb and set it up in task manager it says error 32 and some random icons whenever i try to start setfsb.

 

Yeah, I'm curious about this as well.
Using SetFSB seems to only work until you reboot. Also, is OC'ing to 2.5 safe without using a cooling system?

 

I wonder why asus don't have G51's info and support in their homepage ?

 

is it true that the current batch of G51 has a temperature problem?