~F3sv Owner's Lounge~

I've used High performance on Battery (vista). It worked fine, It ran out pretty dang quickly but it worked.

Another question. Anyone tried the new drivers on laptopvideo2go? They've had a whole rack recently and I'm wondering if any of them are an improvement over the ones on Asus' site... those are months old now...

I loaded up Crysis and was a tad disappointed so I was hoping maybe someone had a good experience with these.

 

you could always try overclocking your GPU using the latest drivers from nvidia's site (remember to watch your temperature and increase gradually to find a level where you get good performance without melting your GPU), but ill probably try out the new laptopvideo2go ones sometime soon so ill get back to you on that

EDIT: i tried the new drivers (163.67) and tried playing CSS, the video stress test gave me a boost of 3fps over the asus drivers, but in the game i noticed some lag, and a general decrease in fps (by about 5-10 depending on where i was), the level i was on has no water or anything like that (i played cs_office) its just an office level. So, i still recommend the asus drivers.

 

Yeah. They mention something about not being able to use High Performance on them, but it almost makes it sound like thats limited to people with the 7900gs cards. We might be ok. The wording is kind of weird. I'm trying to avoid overclocking for as long as I can, but its starting to look like I'm getting close to needing to. sigh... I had really hoped this thing would keep up stock for a little while longer.

 

If you use nTune to overclock coupled with stock Asus 101.19 drivers, you should get decent performance. I have played Timeshift and Bioshock, at High Settings, with AA 2x and at a resolution of 1280x800, OC'd card to the 650/550 (the max you can do on this card BTW for any one who wants to know, safest before you can damage card) and I get decent frame rate about 20-25 FPS in both games. It is very playable and beautiful.

I tried Crysis but it was terrible. I had issues with Lost Planet aswell. I was able to run World In Conlfict at Medium High, but after a while it would lag.

I have noticed that it depends on how well the game is coded.

Oh Ya and I have played Loki at high settings beautifully as well.

I would not trust any of the bullcrap you get from 3DMark06 about this card.

With the right well coded games and appropriate drivers you can get excellent performance.

 

No doubt the coding is super important. The difference between a super well coded game like Unreal Tournament 2007 and so many of the others that I've tried is like night and day. Now that's a game that runs well. OK. You may have convinced me to try to overclock a little bit. Next day I find myself with the time to test it out. Heck, I barely have time to play these games I'm doing it for...

 

you guys are confusing things...

there is super performance which is maximum clock, and then there is high performance which is gimped in some way.
You CANNOT run super performance on batteries, and therefore will never be able to properly game without AC.

 

like i said last time... xp is different than vista

 

Hey guys, i too have a "Asus F3S series laptop" (F3sv-X1 to be exact).

I've started a community site for the F3S series notebook owners to come in and sign our petition form, we will be filing complaints to BBB (Better Business Bureau) as well so please if you own a F3S series why not join us and contribute by signing the petition form and participating on the forums if you find it that the site is helpful.

I welcome you all to take a look, and by the way I've tried all sorts of over clocking but i keep getting blue-screens after a while of game play (maybe 40 minutes) and i have a cooling pad under my notebook. I tried over clocking with stock ASUS video drivers, which i think are pretty decent and I'm now using latest drivers from laptopvideo2go.com which i posted a link to on my site.

Anyways, come and take a look if u wish (note: i will be getting a dedicated host and domain name for the website, but for the mean time i gotta save some money )

http://asusf3s.3dsbeginners.com

- Intrus

 

Super Performance? Well, I have no idea where that is on my F3sv... I only have High, Entertainment, Quiet Office, and Battery Saving... Maybe I'm an idiot though... Did I miss something? I shudder to think that my computer has been capable of more all this time.

 

he has windows xp, not vista

 

I was running Vista on this for a short time and I swear it was the same deal too! Guess I was wrong, my fault. So I assume there is no issue running max performance on batteries when using vista.

 

that is correct

 

there are quite a few new drivers that just came out yesterday, so you might want to check them out:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=F3Sv

 

OH the irony...

I bought this laptop in July, expecting the price to eventually go down...

But this is ridiculous. I ended up paying around 1600 CAD.

After the US-CAD rate went down for the US, severly, I got jipped around 200 bucks. I could have saved 2 hundred dollars and gotten a year accidental had I waited till about mid September...

W/e the notebook is still a great deal and catch. I have put it through torture and other than a few scratches on the lid and minimal wear on the interior, like barely noticeable unless you do a super inspection, the notebook is in almost new condition. I think the two years global warranty is great, and the overall configuration is still a great deal at 1600 CAD. BTW I have 2 GiGs not 1.

 

i got mine for $1400CAD where did you buy that from? then i bought an extra gig for $35 and some other accessories and it totaled to about 1750

 

I tried out the new video drivers tonight in the Call of Duty 4 and Crysis Demos... Not a lick of a difference as near as I can tell. FRAPS showed basically the same FPS on Optimal settings in both games. Then again Crysis acts pretty weird. I tried downgrading the Res to 800 x 600, I got a boost to over 30 fps for a while, and then it was down to 14 or 15, less than at 1024... That game is weird...

I was really hoping we'd get better results with this new batch though.

 

yah, i tried em out too and i actually noticed a drop in performance playing counterstrike, when i would use a rapid firing gun i would experience some slight lag, enough for me to notice (it wasnt bad though) so i put the old one back on. (i was using the P90 and it would seem to skip every 5th or so shot, its hard to explain but it was noticable)

 

its disappointing to also find out that the driver's date is 5/22/2007 - forceware 101.34. lost track if this is really a new one from nvidia. wc i believe is already at 163xx (sept 2007) for its general 86xx series.

asus has done nothing for gpu drivers improvement for 5-6 months?

 

me and mathishard were just talking about the new one from ASUS, not from laptopvideo2go. I would be interested to know if the new drivers did anything for any game, it could just be the games we tried out that see no improvement.

 

after unpacking the VGA_nvidia_vista from asus, dated 11/02/2007 on their support page, check the dates. its 5/22/2007. the date stamped on the previous driver is 4/28/2007. after 4-5 months of waiting asus provided us a vga driver with 1 month worth of work.

 

wow... that is dissapointing, i didnt realize that, i really hope they come out with a really nice one. But i doubt its possible. I was reading around and apparently nvidia cuts all the pipelines (working or not) so they can sell the card as a GS. Thats why we only have 4/16 pipelines actually working.

 

wow, makes me glad i ordered the g1s instead hehe

 

has anyone tried the Call of Duty 4 demo? how does it do on this baby?

 

I played it. If you use optimal settings it runs reasonably well. Def. playable. BUT optimal settings is like 800 x 600 with Medium settings. Not what I'd call fantastic. They take a huge hit when I up it to 1024 too.

 

from nvidia.com, there are some vista hotfixes recommended in case you should update using their drivers. has anyone have negative feedback after applying these vista hotfixes? kb940105, kb938194, kb938979.

can we use 8600M-gs drivers offered by a different manufacturer, like maybe acer? will it work perfectly? assuming i can find one that matches the f3sv (ex. 8600gs on a 1440X900 15.4" screen) since its only the video drivers im using. oh well, theres still the guys at laptopvideo2go to turn to.

i been reading around nvidia.com, they say their 163xx drivers (wc should be compatible with the 8600gs) "add HD video post-processing for Gefarce 8500 and 8600 series gpu".

but asus has officially only been offering 101xx drivers even in their latest version.

Ranting. and us f3sv owners have verified for ourselves that the gpu hardware is crippled. it "might" be acceptable to believe asus explanation that they did this to fit the gpu on a notebook.

the least asus should do is keep supporting f3sv owners with the latest drivers to bring out the most of this crippled hardware. but we dont feel that support. they should have included that Tv tuner thing to make up for the misinformation on a crippled gpu. end rant.

peace.

 

Yeah. I think I'm going to give those new laptopvideo2go drivers a run through soon. These new ones are... well.. not great. Oblivion seems to have slightly more stable framerates these days though.

 

does anyones wireless work flawlessly.

my laptop picks up a signal, but never actually establishes a WAN connection. its so frustrating because everyone around me has perfect signal, with a full connection

this doesnt happen all the time though..but my success rate is only about 40%

 

well, if its like my school it might be just because the router is maxed out and there is too many people using it at once. I know that when we all pull out our laptops and go to a table (there is other people around too) whoever boots up last doesnt get signal (or the last two or something)

so, try beating your friends to the signal

 

just thought this thread needed a bit of a revive

but, my fan kicked in for the first time really today (well, its been blowing a little bit, but not seriously like it did) dont know why, but it did... now i know what you guys who have the fan going constantly are complaining about

 

This same thing happens to me. I figured it could be because I lot of people are connected to the wireless router, but that doesn't make sense. Not only does this happen very frequently at school, it also happens at home sometimes. It is the weirdest thing because it will connect to the router, but it won't connect to the internet.

Anyway, anyone who got the nvidia linux drivers to work mind posting their xorg.conf file?

 

ill post my xorg.conf file tomorrow when i get to it, but why not just use the guide i got in my sig or envy? either will work fine (i recommend envy though, some recent upgrade screwed up the way i did it)

 

Thats the problem, I can't get it to work. I've tried in Ubuntu 7.04/7.10 32bit and 64bit along with Gentoo (and some variations thereof). I believe I have also tried FreeBSD.

I consider myself quite knowledgeable when it comes to Linux (having used it for a few years), but I just can't get the nvidia driver to work.

In the past, it would always hang up on a blank screen and become totally unresponsive. Now instead of that, it just reboots when I try and activate the nvidia driver (luckily the vesa driver works). Recently, I have been able to get more out of it like a screwed up color screen with a a responsive cursor. On the attached image, the square thing in the middle is the cursor.

Hopefully, I can get this to work soon.

Do you think you can tell me your average FPS on 'glxgears' (I'm pretty sure that is what it is called)?

 

you mean you cant get any visuals at all? (is that all you get is what you put in that thumbnail?) because that is quite odd, i was able to boot in low graphics mode without a problem and run the envy installer

glxgears:

Code:

cleippi@Christopher-PC:~$ glxgears
29482 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5896.370 FPS
29906 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5981.154 FPS
30262 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6052.370 FPS
30175 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6034.874 FPS
30337 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6067.315 FPS
30411 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6082.125 FPS
30260 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6051.357 FPS
30157 frames in 5.0 seconds = 6031.377 FPS

xorg.conf:

Code:

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder26)  Thu Oct  4 10:49:07 PDT 2007

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder26)  Thu Oct  4 10:48:30 PDT 2007
# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Default Layout"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
    InputDevice    "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "v4l"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Generic Keyboard"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "CoreKeyboard"
    Option         "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Configured Mouse"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "CorePointer"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Synaptics Touchpad"
    Driver         "synaptics"
    Option         "SendCoreEvents" "true"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto-dev"
    Option         "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Failsafe Monitor"
    VendorName     "Generic LCD Display"
    ModelName      "LCD Panel 1440x900"
    HorizSync       31.5 - 56.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 65.0
    Gamma           1
    ModeLine       "800x600@56" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
    ModeLine       "800x600@60" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
    ModeLine       "1280x768@60" 80.1 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 -hsync +vsync
    ModeLine       "1280x720@60" 74.5 1280 1336 1472 1664 720 721 724 746 -hsync +vsync
    ModeLine       "1280x800@60" 83.5 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -hsync +vsync
    ModeLine       "1440x900@60" 106.5 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "monitor1"
    VendorName     "Plug 'n' Play"
    ModelName      "Plug 'n' Play"
    Gamma           1
    ModeLine       "640x480@60" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -hsync -vsync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "CMO"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 75.0
    VertRefresh     60.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Failsafe Device"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    BoardName      "vesa"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    BoardName      "vesa"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Videocard0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 8600M GS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Default Screen"
    Device         "Failsafe Device"
    Monitor        "Failsafe Monitor"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Virtual     1440 900
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1440x900@60" "1280x800@60" "1280x720@60" "1280x768@60" "800x600@60" "800x600@56"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"

	#
    Identifier     "screen1"
    Device         "device1"
    Monitor        "monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "640x480@60"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Videocard0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1440x900 +0+0; 1280x800@60 +0+0; 1280x720@60 +0+0; 1280x768@60 +0+0; 800x600@60 +0+0"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

hope that helps you out.

 

Has anyone been able to get better battery life? Has getting a non-stock battery helped?

 

no, both of my batteries still only get ~2 hours of battery life...

 

The vesa xorg driver works fine. I can even get 1680x1050, but the nvidia driver either resets the computer or does that crazy color thing.

I'm gonna try this again once I get a new hard drive (this windows partition is corrupted and formatting doesn't help).

Speaking of battery life, one of the main reasons I bought this laptop is because newegg.com advertised it as having a 4 hour battery life. I figured I would get at least 2.5-3 hours out of it. But in reality, I can barely get 1.5 hours.

 

Hey guys. I know I'm new around these parts, but I've read through all 50+ pages in this thread and it has been immensely helpful in my buying decision and as "tech support."

That said, I've got a problem. I have an Asus F3SV-B3 laptop. I like everything about this laptop thus far. Beautiful looks and impressive hardware. But there is one hitch...

What the f%%k is with Vista? Who made the decision this operating system was finished and ready to be released? And who made the decision to not include XP as an option for default operating system?

I kid you all not, that I have had so many problems, I have wiped the drive and reinstalled Vista 3 times in less than 3 weeks (bought the laptop on the 1st of November). This is unacceptable and I'm sick of it.

Anyone pondering any ideas that could help me out? I'm trying to get an XP recovery kit for this laptop, but right now the only option I have is a custom version of XP Pro (used nLite), but the drivers for this new hardware don't seem to like XP. I just can't use or put up with Vista another second without putting a gun in my mouth.

Note: I don't feel the problems I've experienced point to hardware, but when and if all else fails, I will get the laptop sent in for RMA/repairs.

SemperFi,
- Joey

 

just what are you problems with vista? i rather like it compared to XP... But, i personally use linux for almost everything (but i did use vista for a few months when i first got the notebook) maybe you should look into getting linux on? ubuntu 7.10 runs very well and i will be giving fedora 8 a test run soon.

 

Hi Fittersman,
I have just downloaded Avast Pro from the avast site.
I will install it tonight after uninstalling ZoneAlarm Security Suite.
You mentioned previously that Avast is free. Does it require registration code or ongoing fee for updates?
I assume Avast is just antivirus. What should I use for internet security?
Does Vista have internet security protection? Or firewall protection?

 

For anti-virus, the best one I use is AVG free. For spyware, there is Spyware-Blaster, Spybot - Search & Destory, AVG Anti-Spyware and A-Squared. For internet security, I don't like ZoneAlarm anymore, so I use either GhostWall or PC-Tools firewall free. GhostWall has some conflicts with Vista, but works decently none-the-less. These are all free.

@ Bittersman: Wow. Ummm... Vista won't start up sometimes, just produces a black screen before it reaches log-in. Vista won't shut down, it just says "shutting down" forever. Vista also has untold problems with virtually every application I use. Vista has problems with gaming due to incompatibility and DirectX10 backwards-compatibility (even though some games and app's won't install without DirectX9). The other night I had no audio, using either the built-in speakers/mic or my SB X-Fi notebook card. I also can't use the wireless internet, Vista would crash upon turning on the wireless net. On Monday night, I could not use my laptop at all, for even the most simple thing, it was just simply not functioning, so I wiped the drive (again).

Those are just a few of the problems I can describe. But you get the idea.

As for Linux, I'm not a Linux expert, but I have experience with most of the popular distro's. I just don't expect it to work with the hardware. In fact, I tried installing a few distro's such as Fedora, CentOS and Slackware, without luck. What gives? Do I have any alternative to Vista???


SemperFi,
- Joey

 

im not sure, but i think avast home is the free one. You can get a free registration code from them to register it. All i use is avast antivirus and i think my computer is pretty clean, but i only use vista for gaming... (so, im not really sure what avast protects against)

and for PanzerKrieg-USMC those problems with vista are strange... maybe make a new thread in the windows os section, someone may be able to help you because i am having no problems liek that at all. Another point about linux, i have installed fedora 7 and ubuntu 7.10 without any problem. (the only thing you need to do is get the nvidia driver working, then it works near flawlessly)

 

Yeah, I'll do that. But as for Linux, I can't get Linux to install and most of the LiveCD's won't work or don't work right. For example, Fedora 7 keeps asking for installation media, seemingly unable to detect the drive. And LiveCD's such as Ubuntu can't run graphically.

SemperFi,
- Joey

 

yah, for fedora you need to use vista partition manager and make a 3.3GB partition to put the fedora image on, then when you get the installer going you need to point to that partition for the installation media.

As for ubuntu, you need to download the alternate cd and install in text mode.

 

Not necessarily, my ubuntu worked from the start with the standard live-dvd. After the installation it suggested the non-open nvidia-drivers, and they to worked directly after installation. Only thing that doesnt work is the memory-cardreader and the webcam (don't really care about the latter).

 

my memory card reader works and there is a way to get the webcam working. I only tried ubuntu 7.04 with the live cd, after that i just downloaded the alternate install cd because i assumed 7.10 would have the same problems as 7.04 did.

 

Hey Guys.

I'm surprised that soo many people are using the same laptop as me

F3SV-a1 didn't realize it was THAT popular.

anyways, my laptop has been acting funky and I want to give it a nice reformatting.

...............

I want to reformat to windows XP. But I'm having a very hard time finding drivers for stuff.

like, video card, webcam, fingerprint scan, LAN, wireless... etc.

Is there an easy way for me to get these drivers which work..

has anyone done this and can point me in the right direction?

................

or would it just be easier to reinstall vista :S

 

I'm using 7.10. I don't really need the webcam, but the memory card reader would be nice. I am still searching for a solution to that...

 

hmmm... mine worked out of the box

 

Wanted to know if anyones tryed connecting the F3SV to a HD TV....

DVI-HDMI cable

Any success let me know.... also I couldn't get my S-Video working, which I contacted ASUS about because I read on this forum that certain cables shipped don't work, but they just said "the cable was correct".

 

my F3SV-B3 is coming this friday... I'm thinking of installing XP on it. Searching the net for clues and drivers, I found this website:

ASUSTreiber.de(babefish translated)

but I don't know what would be applicable for F3SV...since F3SV is not on the list, maybe lower models with same drivers could also work..