Sunny's G51VX-RX05 Review

Hi all,
I am new to this forum, so forgive me if I make a mistake. After doing some research ( and reading lots of posts on this forum ), I just picked up a G51 from bestbuy.
The trouble is I did a bit of gaming , Dawn of war 2 around 20iish minutes. My GPU reached a peak of 89C and the CPU around 66. My idle GPU temperature is also high around 59C.
From what I have read in this forum, it seems to a bit high. any opinions??

Thanks for your time
Rohan

 

Mine idles at 50-54 depending on the ambient temp, but even at idle sometimes spikes to 59-60, then goes down, so just check if its constant at 60C, but i think i read somewhere others reporting that idle as well. My G71 used to idle around there, never had a problem with it.

 

sounds pretty normal. my gpu temps have been climbing lately. i used to get no higher than 87/88c (like on cod4 for example). now i get a max of 91-92c all the time with recent games (like cod4). and my idle temps used to be 58-61c, now it's around 65. anyone know why this might be? ambient temps are pretty much the same, haven't changed from stock drivers yet. could it be dust buildup already or something?

 

For idle/non-3D clocks use GPU-Z to see if your card is clocking to 3D speeds. I've noticed mine has been doing that a lot lately. Only significant software change is installing Vista Service Pack 2.

 

Does anyone know of a write up on how to install a second hdd for these laptops? I would like to know how because for some reason so far my games folder is 160 gigs.

 

OK so I installed 186.82 and lowered my temps across the board... under load and idle. So everythings looking as far as performance. However I checked the uninstall programs section in control panel and the driver is listed as 2.88 GB! Am I buggin or is that unusually large for a driver? registry error?

Either way, even if it does take 2.8 gigs, the performance and efficiency increase is well worth it.

 

Does anyone notice while playing games online their ping is kinda high with this laptop? im in the 150 range when im playing cod4 online.

 

lol dude laptop components have nothing to do with ping. ping is how long it takes to respond to the server and back, measured in milliseconds. it has to do with your internet. if you have high ping, you either have crap connection, you are connecting to someone not within close proximately of your location (ex. my friend from china plays tf2 with me every friday/saturday. i play on american servers, i get 30-50ms ping, he gets 200ms ping).

hope you understand that..

 

Hi
so I have some more results. As Forge said, I checked from GPU-Z , and my GPU clocks were at 400/799 MHz. So I installed the powermizer switch and now they are 200/120 MHz. The idle temperature for CPU is around 45 and for 52 for GPU which seem to be much better.

One more thing, before installing powermizer switch I played crysis demo, my gpu temp peakes around 88 and cpu around 65 which seems to be ok.

My question is, since turning on powermizer seems to downclock the gpu ; that means the next time I want to play games like crysis; I should turn off powermizer??

Thanks for your help.

 

Did you do any under/over clocking/volting for those temperatures?

And no, you don't have to do anything to powermizer. Powermizer lets your GPU have full clocks when it needs them. You need (at least?) 500/1250/799 for Crysis, not posting a message on NBR.

 

Im well aware of that I did a test where my gaming desktop and this laptop where connected to the same server in the same house and it was still 100 higher than my gaming desktop. I was just curious as to maybe why. I run bare minimum processes on both I do admit my gaming desktop does run more because I have it hosting some files.

 

no didnt do anything. just stock drivers and options..will do overclocking later maybe. I just downloaded crysis demo to check my peak temperatures on GPU/CPU as it seemed to me that it strains the systems quite a bit.

I just DOW2 , and maybe starcraft2 when it comes out ; so at this time I do not need the extra power.

Thanks a lot for your time.

 

hello
i have got the asus G51VX-RX05
is it realy possible to upgrade the intel processor to a better one?

how can i do that?

 

As to whether or not you can, look at my signature.

As to how, well, how much do you know about switching components?

 

Just checking in to see if any headway has been made in terms of fan control. It's so retarded how it lets the GPU hit 90C before it goes full blast.

 

Not to my knowledge. I haven't even seen Tev post in a while (and he was the one working on it)

 

I wonder if everyone gets different temperature sensors, too?

Mine goes high speed at 87C, or 86 if the room is cool enough.

 

Sure, why not. As long as they chose an insane thermostatic point - why not throw a little variability in there just for fun?

 

while playing NFS Shift my fans were hardly audible until the GPU reaches 92C then it comes in full blast bringing the temps down to around 88C. The fans then slow down again and the process repeats!

As for the ping issue, perhaps its a Windows 7 problem? I have noticed that my pings are worse in windows 7 compared to vista :S

 

Its not a win7 issue I don't think. my ping is usually under 75 and I'm in win7.

 

so, interesting thing happening right now. i turned on my laptop while it was unplugged (in entertainment mode, just stating) and the fan started up on full blast from the moment i turned it on. Once i get to my desktop, i check my temps and i get an idle temp between 40-44c (normally it's that cool, but quickly climbs up. but after surfing the web for about an hour, it remained at a steady 45c). Sweet eh? I normally get temps 20 degrees higher than that in idle. Now of course, I take advantage of this full fan thing, and I play Left 4 Dead for about 45 minutes with everything max (4x AA). Max temp? 75c. Hmm, this is interesting because when I normally play L4D, my max temp is around 90c. So, what this is telling me is that my fan is never on 100%. Or maybe it only goes on for a few seconds when it reaches 90, until it goes down to about mid 80's (since when logging in GPU-Z my temps are usually around there, sometimes dipping to high 70's). SO ASUS?! GPU temps would not be a problem if you made the fan turn on earlier, you idiots. Hopefully someone soon finds a way to make the fan controllable... because this is just stupid. My temps have been getting higher lately. I thought it was a bad sign for my gpu, turns out that it's just the sensors being wackier, or the fan just taking longer and longer to turn on. L4D is one of the hotter running games I have. STALKER probably being the hottest by only one or two degrees more. So, yeah, that would be nice. Being able to play games without the temps reaching 80c. That would be GREAT.

 

well i know pretty well how to do it in a normal comp but never upgraded processor in my laptop.
i did upgraded ram in my old laptop.
can i order any new intel processor to upgrade?

 

It's fairly easy. Look at the G50 disassembly guide. They have the same chassis and internal, so you can take it apart fairly easily.

RAM is also very easy to upgrade. Puch the latches, remove, click in the news ones, boom.

For processors, any T- or P-series will work, as well as the X9000 and X9100 (i.e. T9800, P9700). If your primary usage is gaming, I suggest the P9700 because it's still very fast yet runs cool.

 

looks pretty easy to do, thanks.

what is the best processor i can upgrade to?

can i upgrade to the Q9550/Q9650 processor?

 

The RX05 cannot accept quads because of the motherboard revision. Besides, the Q9550 and Q9650 are desktop quads.

The best you can go for would be the T9900. Or if you don't mind the heat, an X9100.

 

so, i don't know what i should do. sometimes when i turn it on the fan stays on full blast until i turn it off, while others it works normally. so, do i have a defective fan then? should i return it even though this is good for the computer temperature-wise? is it unhealthy for the fan to be on full blast for long periods of times?

 

I would suspect BIOS or power management bugs rather than fan problems (although I can't exclude these, of course).

I would advise you update your BIOS if you are not already running the latest version, and maybe reinstall the ATK and video drivers.

Also check your temperatures. Maybe you have a faulty sensor.

I have never had a laptop fan fail on me so these things seem to be pretty reliable. I can give no clear numbers since I'm not an expert in this area, but as a very rough ballpark wet-finger-in-the-wind estimate , let's say that if 25% of the time (i.e., one out of every 4 power-ons) the fan is running full blast, I would still expect that fan to last at least a couple of years without issue. Fans are also easy & cheap to replace (assuming you can find them).

 

thanks for the reply. as far as i know, there has been no BIOS update for the g51. i've been reading through this whole thread since i got it, and i don't recall any mention of a BIOS update. pardon my nubness, but what are ATK drivers? i still haven't gotten any of the better video drivers yet, so i guess i should stop procrastinating and just get that done with. not sure how that would be related to the fan though. and i've been checking my temperatures, thanks to the fan being on full blast, my temps are about 10-15 degrees cooler than it used to be.

 

People who changed the processor for a better one,do you got any benchmarks of before and after?

 

Ask forge, I'm fairly sure his X9100 was a huge improvement.

 

I only ran 3dmark06 before upgrading, from 8732 to 10905 (no oc).

You can also check the following review, he update to T9800.
xcskiier23's G51VX-RX05 Review

If you havent bought it, and are considering upgrade you might aswell check ASUS G51VX-X1A, as they P8700 is very decent and comes with a better screen. Or the XoticPC/Gentech versions.

 

which of those notebook coolers would be best for this laptop?
http://zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=280

there is a list with 3-4 cooler

should it be smaller/bigger than the laptop?

or anyone knows about good notebook cooler?

 

I personally have the nc1000 for the g51 and its great, best laptop cooler ive used out of many. the nc2000 is for up to 20", save your self some money and buy the 15" model which is the nc1000. Unless you plan to upgrade your laptop to a bigger model.

 

hey anyone know if I can just throw a 500 gig hdd in the second bay? or does it have to be another 320?

 

It should, as long as its a 2.5 drive.

Only if you want to raid it.

Depending on the G51 you have, you might wanna consider G50V-1A HDD BRACKET ASSY to install the 2nd drive.

 

Thanks no im not into raiding and all that. I just have installed only half my games on my new BB edition g51 and i only have like 100 gigs left. Yeah Im gonna order that but I heard the foam in there will work for the time being.

 

i am currently installing the 186.81 drivers from nvidia 200m download section for windows 7 64bit and they are installing. ofcourse i did also do the windows update version before this and then ran the 186.81

i also added in the intel wimax 5350 and i used the intel drivers and i get wimax not ready error. however device manager says all is ok..... this is a centrino 2 chipset so it should support it right? I did read that wimax is enabled with the bios in all centrino 2 chipsets is that right? did asus leave that out for the g51vx-rx05 from best buy? I also love how light this thing is compaired to my previous g71 which needed to be exchanged and they did not have one at the store....

 

Why did you add a different WIFI card?

 

it has mimo technology and my g71 i had before this one (it died bb would only send it out and another bb store did not have g71 instock so i echanged it for this one. i like because it is lighter, miss the 6gb of ram though.... i might upgrade the cpu. any thing on how to get replacement sticker so they dont know i replaced cpu.) so i replaced the azurus unit in the g71 which sucks with my old router wrt600n and besides the intel 5350 has wimax.

i did look at the g50 disassemble guide and found the bluetooth adapter resides in the pam rest by the headphone jack area i think. to add blue tooth you need to tear apart the laptop and the cover and remove the screen.....

now if only i can find a wimax/wifi/bluetooth/lte/gsm/cdma combo card.....

 

Hey all (I'm back, sorry), I have a quick question. There is a kickass game called Operation Flashpoint 2 (hopefully you've heard of it) and it looks amazing, and everything about it rocks (gameplay and graphics).

Heres the question. Would the RX05 run bad on this game since it says that the recommended system is a quad core processor computer? I played GTA 4, and it ran just decently, since my CPU is only OC'ed to about 2.4, so I'm curious how OF2 is going to handle. My graphics card is clocked at 600/900/1375, so I don't think that I should have any problems running the game at high settings (not highest), but will the CPU suck running this?

 

Hello Eric. I don't think I'm experienced enough to answer your question, but if you don't get a response here you can try asking in this thread. They should be able to tell you how well you can run that game.

 

Thanks ZoeyOs for the link, I'm just hoping that this computer can run this game with most of the graphics all the way, and the CPU able to handle it, cause I've waited to play this game for over 3 years. Again, thanks.

Edit: P.S.: I'm still dreaming of some bios update for this laptop to support Quad-Cores.

 

That's a pretty good improvement.The link you provided is for your personal folder of subscribed topics I think,that's where it leads to(but mine instead)
I think full hd for such a small monitor is a waste of money,I'd rather get the rx05 and upgrade the cpu,it will still be cheaper,for the price difference I can buy an T9800 and it would still be a little cheaper.
I didn't find an overclock thread for this laptop,is there any?

 

The overclocking methods for any of the G51vx variants is the same.

Well, it'll be different, CPU-wise, for the G51j, but there you go.

 

Sry to much copy paste, probably tab to the wrong page, but here it is again in case you haven't seen it yet.
xcskiier23's G51VX-RX05 Review

I would say its more personal choice, overall i do miss a little the 1440x900 of my G71, but the screen colors and view angles of my G51 are better. I wanted a P9700 but found a good deal on T9600 and went with it (couldnt wait much as a friend was on the US so he brought i skiped shiping n taxes coming to me ). But probably one of the best options out there is the P9700, its supose to be a undervolted version of the T9600, @ stock 2.8 not much to envy at the T9800/T9900/X9100, only drawback is too new, and only i could only find it at ebay (couldnt wait for the shiping from hk).

Well TevashSzat Optimization Guide for the Asus G51 is very good read for it, probably anything you need to OC and Undervolt it, its an amazing thread.

 

Hey all,i need some help with nvidia driver update. First of all,when i log onto the nvidia website and perform the automatic driver scan,it tells me that the video card drivers for the G51vx-Rx05 are specific and should be downloaded from the ASUS website.

The ASUS website has drivers are from freekin May. Now im reading all ur posts and you guys are just going rampant with installing general Nvidia drivers and all. I need to update my Gt260M drivers,cuz i dont think im getting a complete performance with these drivers. Mass effect continuously stutters,and so does COD 4. The max FPS im getting for both is ~63. How do i go about doing this without messing up my laptop? Also im getting the windows automatic GT260M driver update and im afraid of even installing that cuz of what the Nvidia scanner said about getting drivers only from ASUS website.

 

These are some of the most popular drivers lately 4 the G51.

NVIDIA GeForce v186.42 WHQL Drivers
NVIDIA GeForce v186.82 WHQL Drivers
186.81 you can download from Nvidia website
185.85 DOX from Laptopvideo2go, you can also find newer drivers there.

 

so im guessing from ur reply that i can safely use regular nvidia drivers,and not just the crap on the ASUS website..

 

You should be able to, but not desktop drivers though, official for laptops. I did try out 186.81 briefly and i had the 2d downcloak issue, aswell as lost 300 points on 3dmark, so went to 186.42, but for others the 186.81 are fine aswell as 186.82/185.88dox, just go try them out see what works for you.

 

Great information guys! Just what I was looking for. Has anyone actually done the hard drive upgrade? I'd like to get an SSD to use as the primary, but just wanted to make sure that the bracket thing Sunny mentioned works.

Has anyone added a second hard drive?